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Just as the Senate is mourning the death of long-serving California lawmaker Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chamber on the other side of Capitol Hill is working overtime to prevent a government shutdown, but to no avail.

The House has voted 198-232 against the stop-gap measure Friday (September 29), with 21 Republicans making good their promises to join their Democrat colleagues in rejecting the plan that would have kept the government open for 30 more days to give lawmakers time to work out a full-year deal.

The legislation would have been turned down in the Democrat-controlled Senate, which also has yet to pass a fiscal year 2024 spending plan and is expected to vote on its own short-term funding bill Saturday (September 30), which the GOP-controlled House have vowed to turn down.

Read Also: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Longest-Serving Female US Senator, Dies Aged 90

Time Running Out Before Shutdown

The expiration of the current budget for fiscal year 2023 would be at 00:01 Sunday, Washington Time (04:01 UTC), Forbes reported.

If a legislation has not been passed before that time, hundreds of thousands of government employees would have to suspend their work and some government services are forced to pause, including food and water safety inspections, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the National Park Service.

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was quoted by Reuters saying that a government shutdown would "undermine" US economic progress by idling key programs for small businesses and children, as well as delaying major infrastructure improvements.

This is a developing story. Please follow HNGN for more updates.

Related Article: Gaetz, McCarthy Face Off in Tense Interaction in Heated Meeting Ahead of Government Shutdown

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai court denied bail on Saturday for an activist lawyer sentenced to four years in prison for royal insults, his lawyer said, in one of the Southeast Asian country's highest-profile lese-majeste cases.

Human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa , 39, is widely known for a speech during pro-democracy protests in 2020 when he broke taboos by calling for public debate on the role of Thailand's powerful king. Arnon denies wrongdoing.

He was sentenced on Tuesday in the first of 14 cases alleging he violated article 112 of the criminal code, as the royal insults law is known.

The Appeal Court read out an order on Saturday rejecting Arnon's bail request due to concerns that "if bail was given he would escape", said his lawyer, Krisadang Nutcharus.

Krisadang said he would consult with Arnon on whether to make another bail request or appeal the order to the Supreme Court.

Thailand's lese-majeste law shields the palace from criticism and carries a maximum jail sentence of 15 years for each perceived insult of the monarchy, a punishment widely condemned by international human rights groups as extreme.

Arnon was a leader of a youth-led democracy movement that held protests in Bangkok in 2020 that drew hundreds of thousands of people demanding the removal of royalist then-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who had seized power in a coup.

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Orathai Sriring; Editing by William Mallard)
Summer clouds drift over the towering peaks of Grand Teton National Park in this August 2018 file photo.

Some places in this world make you realize how small you are. Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming is one of them.

Its namesake peak, Grand Teton, towers at 13,775 feet tall, while others in the Teton Range top 12,000 feet, according to the park.

Scenic Jackson Hole valley sprawls below with a wide array of wildlife to see and wilderness to explore.

Its easy to see why so many people visit the park, one of the most popular in America.

Heres what travelers should know about Grand Teton, the latest national park in USA TODAYs yearlong series.

What is so special about Grand Teton?

The thing that is so special about Grand Teton (is) of course the mountains, said C.J. Adams, public affairs specialist for the park. We call them the mountains of imagination because when you close your eyes and picture mountains, you picture something like the Tetons.

The views are spectacular, added Valerie Gohlke, public affairs officer for Grant Teton, who also praised the parks pristine lakes and Snake River.

Jenny Lake mirrors the mountains at Grand Teton National Park.

What activities can people do at Grand Teton?

With all those picture perfect views, photography is very popular. "This park is where I fell in love with photography and whether that's taking pictures of scenery, taking pictures of wildlife, that's one of my favorite things to do," Adams said.

The park is also a haven for hiking, climbing and biking. Gohlke noted there are 250 miles of trails and a multiuse pathway through the park that's phenomenal.

Visitors who prefer to drive from place to place can take a scenic drive through Grand Teton. Its one of the best places in the country for that, Adams said.

How many days in Grand Teton is enough?

Visitors can get a taste of the roughly 310,000-acre park in a day, but Adams recommends staying as long as you can.

I've been in the Tetons for about a decade now, and there (are) still things on my list that I want to see, he said. It could take a lifetime to explore.

The Northern Lights dance above the Tetons.

Do you need reservations to enter Grand Teton National Park?

No, but visitors arriving by car will need to pay a vehicle entrance fee of $35. Its $30 for motorcycles and $20 for visitors arriving by foot, bike or ski, according to the park.

Reservations are required for campgrounds, and permits are required for backcountry camping.

What is the best month to visit Grand Teton?

The most popular time to visit is May through September, but Adams and Gohlkes favorite time of year in Grand Teton is right now.

If you see an aspen tree with a white bark with banana yellow leaves against the blue sky, it's breathtaking, Gohlke said of the fall colors.

Typically the third week of September into October is kind of when those colors begin into peak, and wildlife are a little bit more active as they begin their fall migrations, Adams said. Then the spring can be great. It's the time when the all the baby animals are being born throughout the ecosystem, and wildlife is beginning to migrate into Grand Teton National Park.

Visitors should note that while the park is open year-round, some roads, most visitors facilities and all campgrounds are limited or closed each November through April, according to the park. The latest closures and conditions are available on the parks website.

Grizzly bear #399 emerged from hibernation with a cub on May 16, 2023, according to Grand Teton National Park.

What kinds of animals are in Grand Teton?

Elk, bison, wolves, fox, moose, raptors, river otter, beavers, deer  the list is endless, Gohlke said.

She and Adams noted that where and when wildlife show up are unpredictable, but there are definite opportunities for viewing.

I was on a hike yesterday and saw a black bear, Adams said. Then on my drive to work, which is only 2 miles, I saw a big herd of elk this morning.

What is the closest big city to Grand Teton?

There arent really any big cities near the park. The nearest sizable town is Jackson, Wyoming, which has under 11,000 residents according to the U.S. census. Jackson is the town, while Jackson Hole refers to the larger valley.

The nearest airport, Jackson Hole Airport, is actually inside the park. The airport notes its the only commercial airport in the country that's entirely inside a national park.

Some folks fly into Jackson, Gohlke said. Some folks fly into Bozeman (or) Billings, Montana, and then Salt Lake City, which is a farther drive but oftentimes you can get cheaper flights.

Grand Teton National Park's entrance sign welcomes visitors.

How far apart are Yellowstone and Grand Teton?

Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks are relatively close together, but not as close as they may appear at their borders.

The distance between Grand Tetons Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center and Yellowstones Old Faithful Visitor Education Center is 86 miles, which would take just over 2 hours to drive. Both parks have multiple visitor centers.

A lot of the time, people will combine both parks because we're so geographically close together, said Gohlke, who worked at Yellowstone for years. She urged travelers to plan ahead. There's just so much to see and do in both Grand Teton and Yellowstone that I really think your best bet is to come in with a plan.

Moose are among the many wild animals visitors may see at Grand Teton National Park

What Native American tribes lived in the Tetons?

Twenty-four tribes have historic ties to the Tetons, according to the park.

Each summer, the park hosts an American Indian Guest Artist Program at Colter Bay Visitor Center, inviting Indigenous artists to share their art and culture with visitors. This years program runs through Oct. 2.

Every single time is a phenomenal experience to be able to share that with them and for them to have ceremonies and tribal celebrations on their Native lands, Gohlke said. It's a pretty spectacular experience when we get to collaborate with the tribes.

American Indian Guest Artist Debbie LaMere works with beads at Grand Teton National Park.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grand Teton National Park is what you imagine when you think mountains
Claims processors with the Department of Veterans Affairs say they have strained to keep up with a flood of new cases brought on by the PACT Act and an existing quota system that pits their livelihoods against the veterans they signed up to help as a growing number of the processors leave the job.

The PACT Act expanded benefits to millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances when it was enacted in August of last year. But that has stressed the VA workers tasked with moving cases along amid a backlog, mandatory overtime, inadequate training and quota demands, according to two former claims processors and four current processors who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.

The processors were struggling to manage the workload even before the PACT Act, with more than 2,000 having resigned or retired since 2020. The number of departures has grown each year, data shows.

The PACT Act came in like a bull, one of the current processors said. Morale is on the floor.

Biden signs law expanding health care for veterans exposed to burn pits (Yasin Ozturk / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images file)

Another employee said at least 25 new claims enter her queue each day, on top of the cases she did not get to the day before.

Confused by the new regulations under the PACT Act, she said she began making multiple errors for the first time on the job, which lowered her performance scores during three monthly quality checks and delayed a scheduled promotion.

Its impossible, she said. Youre falling in sand you cant get out of.

The VA launched an aggressive hiring push to prepare for the surge in claims and now has about 12,900 processors. Nearly 5,000 of them joined in 2022 and more than 6,500 were brought onboard in 2023, the agency said. But seasoned workers worry mounting pressures of the job will keep the door revolving.

The VA has become a turnstile for employees, a third claims processor said. You see a lot of people come and a lot of people go, especially now with this point system. Its crushing people.

An untenable demand

The VA has been using an official quota system since 2017 to measure performance, which the agency said is critical to providing efficient, accurate claims decisions.

Under the so-called standards system, Veterans Service Representatives, or VA claims processors, have to earn a certain number of points per pay period by completing specific tasks, the VA said. That includes verifying information and gathering the medical and service records, or other supporting documents, needed to determine a veterans eligibility.

But because the claims in the last few years have become more complex with new processes and additional eligibility metrics, processors say it often takes hours to properly review a veterans service record, significantly extending the total processing time, reducing their chances to earn other points and often leading to errors that lower their performance score.

Its like this flowchart that is like a thousand pages long, and youre under so much strain, said Nancy Gwinn, who processed claims for the VAs Houston office for about six years. If I review all this, then I wont make my points, and I will be terminated.

Gwinn, 63, a single mother to two teenagers, worried she would lose her job if she spent too much time on a case. She said it was easier and quicker to look for the first thing that would discredit a claim and close it out, rather than find ways to approve it.

It stresses our own internal ethics, said Gwinn, a Navy veteran, who retired in 2020 because of job stress and physical health issues. Its an untenable request to make on anybody.

A current employee, who has processed claims for the VA for more than a dozen years, said the point system has become more stressful and stringent in the past year, as the workload has doubled.

Theyre trying to crack the whip, he said. You dont get too much breathing room. By the time you complete all your cases, you have to take a deep breath and jump right back in again.

In a statement, VA press secretary Terrence Hayes said the agency did not define the acceptable amount of time that a processor should spend on a particular case because each claim is unique. The points system, he said, is based on total work processed and not the total number of claims processed.

Some employees say theres a heavy focus on volume and a contradicting demand for thoroughness.

We dont have enough time to look through every little thing because we got to have so many points a day, one processor said. The supervisor is going to contact me and say whats going on, and why havent I touched these claims?

About 600 claims processors resigned or retired from the VA in 2022, a 42% jump from roughly 420 in 2020, data shows. The VA said 500 processors left in 2021, and nearly the same number has already resigned or retired this year, as of the end of August.

Hayes said that one of the VAs top priorities was supporting processors during a time of increased claims and that the agency would continue to take steps to better support them.

Those steps, he said, include reviewing the standards system, recognizing high performers, hosting town halls, attempting to reduce employee burnout, hiring more people and adding more training sessions.

Nearly 1 million new claims

The VA has received more than 978,000 PACT Act claims since the measure  officially called the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act  was signed on Aug. 10, 2022. It has led compensation claims to increase by nearly 37% from the year before, the agency said.

The bill extended eligibility for VA benefits to about 6.2 million veterans who were exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, radiation and other toxic substances during their service, according to the agency.

Image: An equipment manager tosses unserviceable uniform items into a burn pit in Iraq on March 10, 2008. (SrA Julianne Showalter / DOD file)

Processors have been particularly critical in implementing the new law, Hayes said. They completed more claims than ever in 2021 and 2022 and are on pace to break another record in 2023, he said.

But those feats came with challenges.

Processors are mandated to work 20 hours of overtime each month when there is a high demand, Hayes said. While they were given a nearly two-month respite starting in July to help prevent burnout, Hayes said the overtime requirement kicked back in at the end of August. The requirement, which has been around for six years, will last until the end of September, as the VA evaluates needs for October.

Confusion fills much of those hours.

One processor said that she was not given enough training and that the sessions she did sit through were unhelpful because they were mostly delivered online and were recorded, which did not allow people to ask questions.

It was kind of like chasing your tail, trying to keep up, she said. You didnt know if you were processing it correctly. No one really knew what to do.

Another processor said her team started working on PACT Act claims in January, so they were bombarded with multiple training sessions right before the holidays in 2022.

How do you expect people to inhale all that information? she said.

That employee said the job has become overwhelming for both new and seasoned processors.

If youre a new person, and you ask for help, its like pulling teeth now, she said, adding that a new hire on her team recently lasted only a few hours once the processing work began.

He went to lunch and he never came back, she said.

On top of that, more than half of the people who work for the benefits unit are veterans themselves, the VA said, meaning some may be dealing with their own service-connected medical and mental health issues.

Mustapha Rahim, who became a VA claims processor in 2015 after serving for more than 20 years in the Army, said PTSD, anxiety and back pain hindered him at work, as did his anger at feeling ineffective.

You end up developing an I dont care attitude, he said. When you stop caring, you stop processing claims, you miss stuff.

Rahim said he was written up for not meeting his quota and then put on a performance improvement plan.

More than 270 regional office employees, including claims processors and other workers, have been put on performance improvement plans since the quota system took effect in 2017, the VA said. The agency said 136 claims processors were terminated and 27 were demoted because of performance issues in that time period.

Rahim, 59, said the job also took an emotional toll when he had to read disturbing details in some of the claims that stemmed from sexual assault. On at least three occasions, he said he had to pray and wash up.

After a panic attack at work sent him to the hospital in 2019, the disabled combat veteran quit.

No job is worth your health, he said, adding that resigning has alleviated his mental and emotional pain.

Now, he says, I grow honey melons and peppermint.

Longstanding problems

Even before the PACT Act, the VAs disability compensation program had longstanding challenges in managing large workloads and making timely decisions, a 2021 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found.

The report emphasized the importance of properly training claims processors as the VA continues to implement new initiatives, change up its procedures and hire more staff.

The GAO began conducting its performance audit in 2020 after the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act went into effect, extending eligibility to some veterans who were exposed to herbicides.

Every time Congress changes the contracts for veterans, they are more complex for the claims processors to understand, Gwinn said.

The PACT Act was an even larger undertaking. The landmark legislation is the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years, the White House said.

About 47% of the total number of filed PACT Act claims have been approved so far, according to the latest available public data.

Of the roughly 4,100 processed radiation-specific claims, the VA said it rejected more than 3,500 and granted about 570 in the first year of the PACT Act, NBC News previously reported.

When asked for data on claims related to burn pits and Agent Orange, the VA said it could not provide specific figures because of labeling issues. Many toxic-exposure claims only receive the PACT Act label  as opposed to a burn pits or Agent Orange label  which creates challenges when attempting to report down to the claimed exposure type, Hayes said.

Meanwhile, there are currently more than 1 million pending disability compensation and pension claims and a backlog of about 297,000 that have stayed unresolved for longer than 125 days, the latest available data shows.

In February, the VA discovered that about 32,000 veterans who submitted disability compensation claims online since 2018 have had their claims delayed due to technical issues, the agency said.

Hayes said the surge in claims would subside with time. But the workload isnt expected to ease anytime soon.

The VA expects the number of disability compensation claims to increase as more than 1 million service members are supposed to depart the military by 2024, according to the GAO report.

We feel like machines, said one of the processors, who is also a veteran.

But after experiencing bouts of unemployment and homelessness, she said she is determined to do anything to keep her job and the steady paycheck that comes with it.

When you go through so much and youre finally stable, you break your neck to hang on to that, she said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, has narrowed its search for developers to pitch new ideas for the redevelopment of the former Indian Springs Mall property.

We are encouraged by the interest in redeveloping these key sites in Kansas City, Kansas, County Administrator David Johnston said in a release.

New Nordstrom Rack location opening next month in Overland Park

As we look to build out our economic development team and strategic vision, finding creative ways to reactivate and restore these underutilized sites into vibrant, welcoming gateways of economic activity will lend to our future success.

Block & Co. Inc. Realtors/Christie Development Associates, Oak Impact Group LLC and Copaken Brooks will progress to the next phase of planning for the redevelopment of the former mall site at 47th Street and State Avenue.

The mall lost its last anchor store in 2001 and sat vacant for years before it was demolished in 2016. The 9,000-square-foot site remains empty after a $140 million Scavuzzos Foodservice Co. distribution facility project fell through in 2022.

Keep reading in the Kansas City Business Journal.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Three buses carrying dozens of migrants arrived in Los Angeles from Texas on Friday  the largest single-day group seen to date.

The buses reportedly held as many as 109 asylum seekers, though only 65 were processed by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said spokesman Jorge-Mario Cabrera. Some migrants got off the bus in Arizona, Cabrera said, while others left after arriving at Union Station, but before humanitarian aid was on scene.

"Folks were exhausted, disheveled," Cabrera said. "They were uncleaned, tired, hungry and anxious."

Two of the buses were dispatched from Del Rio, Texas, while the third came from Brownsville, Texas. Another bus carrying 38 migrants, including 15 children, arrived in L.A. from Del Rio on Monday.

Read more: Texas sends 15th bus of asylum seekers to Los Angeles. Its the second in four days

The administration of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has sent 19 buses carrying migrants to L.A. since mid-June.

Cabrera said an estimated 35% of all the migrants on those buses have been under the age of 18.

"Mr. Abbott does not care about the well-being and safety and care of these migrants," Cabrera said. "He knows he's sending a lot of vulnerable people."

In a statement, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said Abbott "continues to put vulnerable lives in jeopardy with limited food and water" on multi-day bus journeys.

"The city has continued to work with appropriate 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," she said.

Abbott's office could not be immediately reached for comment Friday evening.

Read more: L.A. City Council pushes for legal action against Texas governor over migrant buses

Cabrera said Friday's buses came with little notice, with the network of welcome aid becoming aware within 30 to 60 minutes of their arrival. The first bus arrived at 5:45 a.m., the second at 9:15 a.m. and the third at 2 p.m., Cabrera said.

"Usually we get tips from community members or folks who share our concern about the safety of these people," he said.

The lack of forewarning strains the availability of resources and aid provided to new arrivals at the receiving site, which includes food, clothing, hygiene kits, health checkups and legal orientation. The sites also help migrants coordinate plans with family members, loved ones and sponsors living in the area.

Among the 65 migrants contacted Friday, approximately 62% were from Venezuela. Others hailed from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Haiti.

Most of the people who arrived Friday came with relatives, including 16 children, Cabrera said. About half of the arrivals said they planned to stay in Los Angeles, while the rest said they would go to other parts of California or other states.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
It's that time of the week again, folks -- time for Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch's newsletter that recaps the past few days in tech. The news cycle never sleeps, and it's exhausting -- this reporter knows all too well. But fortunately, neither does WiR. Our curated list of the top stories this week will get you up to speed in no time.

On the agenda for this blustery, fall-vibes edition of WiR (it's really starting to feel like autumn on the East Coast), we have Tinder's wildly expensive ($499 per month) new premium tier, Amazon investing up to $4 billion in AI startup Anthropic, and Apple executives breaking down the AirPods' new features. Elsewhere, we cover Reddit starting to pay users real money for high-quality posts; OpenAI raising capital and giving ChatGPT a "voice"; Telegram's metamorphosis into a super app, and Uber becoming tighter with taxi companies.

As always, there's a lot to get to, so let's hop to it. And if you havent already, sign up here to get WiR in your inbox every Saturday.

Most read

Tinder goes ultra-premium: Tinder has rolled out a pricey $499-per-month subscription dubbed "Tinder Select," which includes unique perks like the ability to be seen by more users, including Tinders "most sought-after profiles," and the option to direct message others without first matching with them. As Sarah writes, these capabilities alone arent what will sell Tinder Select necessarily it's the exclusivity. Tinder says that less than 1% of users will be allowed to gain access to the premium tier.

Amazon invests in Anthropic: Amazon has agreed to invest up to $4 billion in the AI startup Anthropic, the two firms said, as the e-commerce group steps up its rivalry against Microsoft, Meta, Google and Nvidia in the fast-growing generative AI sector. Amazon will initially invest $1.25 billion for a minority stake in Anthropic, which like Googles Bard and Microsoft-backed OpenAI operates an AI-powered, text-analyzing-and-generating bot.

Apple explains its new AirPods: In a sit-down with Brian, Apple executives Ron Huang (VP of sensing and connectivity) and Eric Treski (product marketing director) discussed the new features of Apple's latest-generation AirPods, including adaptive audio, personalized volume, conversational awareness and AirPods Pro 2s Vision Pro connectivity.

Reddit starts paying users -- in cash: Reddit on Monday announced a contributor program that'll award users actual, real money for their fake internet points. Amanda reports that now, eligible users -- those residing in the U.S. who are over the age of 18 and can verify their identity, and who've had an account for more than 30 days -- will be able to convert the Reddit gold and karma they've earned from safe-for-work posts into fiat currency (no, not crypto), to be disbursed once per month.

OpenAI looks to raise more cash: OpenAI is in discussions to possibly sell shares in a move that would boost the companys valuation to somewhere between $80 billion and $90 billion. It comes just after OpenAI picked up a little over $300 million in funding from backers such as Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive and K2 Global at a valuation of $29 billion -- separate from a big investment (~$10 billion) from Microsoft announced earlier this year, which closed in January.

ChatGPT gains a voice -- and other features: ChatGPT is evolving into much more than a text-based search engine, with OpenAI announcing this week that its adding new voice- and image-based smarts to the mix. Users can verbally ask ChatGPT to make up a bedtime story on the spot and have ChatGPT read it back in one of five voices. Or they can search for answers in an uploaded image  for example, asking ChatGPT to provide instructions for completing a task or explain what's in the photo.

Telegram expands its reach: Telegram, the popular messaging app with 800 million monthly active users worldwide, is inching closer to adopting an ecosystem strategy that's reminiscent of WeChats super app approach. Rita writes that the company has been working on a platform where third-party developers, from games to restaurants, can build mini apps to interact with users.

Uber gets tight with taxis: Uber -- which hasn't historically been especially friendly toward the taxi industry -- announced Tuesday a multiyear partnership with Los Angeles Yellow Cab and its five partner taxi fleets in Southern California. Under the arrangement, taxi drivers will have access to Uber trip referrals in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties. And the partnership covers a lot of ground; six taxi fleets with about 1,200 vehicles fall under the deal.

Audio

The TC team does more than just churn out quality written pieces -- they host podcasts full of content from noteworthy figures around the tech industry. If you're on the hunt for episodes to fill the hours, give 'em a listen. And if you're already a subscriber, many thanks.

This week on Equity, the crew talked with Nathan Baschez, the CEO and founder of Lex, an AI-infused online writing tool. Baschez spoke about how many AI-powered tools the market can possibly support, what the generative AI movement could look like in the coming months and how to price an AI-powered service.

On Found, which was recorded live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 last week, Dominic-Madori and Becca sat down with Window Snyder, a trailblazer in the cybersecurity industry who's dedicated her decades-long career to ensuring the internet -- and the devices connected to it -- are secure. Snyder talked about why, after years of working at companies like Apple, Microsoft, Fastly and Square, now was the right time to launch her startup, Thistle, which looks to build the security infrastructure needed to keep internet-connected smart devices safe.

And over at Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn interviewed Tiago Sada, head of product for Tools for Humanity and core contributor to Worldcoin. Tools for Humanity, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Blockchain Global, was co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman with a three-part mission to create a global ID, a global currency and an app that enables payments, purchases and transfers with its token.

TechCrunch+

TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys  which you know if youre already a subscriber. If youre not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:

Amazon, the FTC and VCs: Alex and Dominic-Madori discuss whether VCs should back the FTC lawsuit against Amazon. In case you hadn't heard, this week the FTC alleged that Amazon engaged in a "pattern of illegal conduct" that "blocks competition" and allows the company to "wield monopoly power to inflate prices, degrade quality, and stifle innovation for consumers and businesses."

Generative AI and operating systems: Alex writes about how generative AI could make the OS cool again, pointing to how Microsoft is embedding the tech throughout the latest version of Windows.

Salvation for Bird: Rebecca muses aloud whether Bird's Spin acquisition could give it the lift it needs after being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. It's a messy situation, to be sure -- and investors are understandably wary.
(Bloomberg) -- Rishi Sunak heads to the Conservative Partys conference this weekend with one aim: convincing Britain he can win the UKs next general election. Many of his own lawmakers are already preparing for a scenario in which he doesnt.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The prime minister has spent recent weeks trying to shore up his base. Hes rowed back on green measures in the name of reducing costs for ordinary Britons and mulled a reassessment of the HS2 high-speed rail link, the UKs flagship infrastructure project.

But national polls suggest he wont be Britains leader after an election that must be called by January 2025. The Labour Party has enjoyed a double-digit polling lead for more than a year. After a couple of recent polls appeared to show Sunak clawing back ground, YouGov this week gave Labour a 21-point advantage.

While Sunak, 43, appears to have suppressed for now the threat of an internal challenge, many Tories are working behind the scenes for a leadership run if the election goes badly, according to interviews with more than two dozen Conservative lawmakers, advisers and donors. There are at least 13 would-be contenders to watch out for, said the people, who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity.

One Member of Parliament said the subplot of Tory conference  told in unsubtle speeches, fringe events and drinks at hotel bars  was the battle for the future of the party. Another told Bloomberg that Sunak was already a lame duck.

Sunaks backers say his team is focused on making a success of his premiership and not getting distracted by events beyond their control. Allies of all the possible leadership hopefuls said they were working to support the prime minister and pushing for a Tory election win. Some Tories think Sunak could still pull off victory or stay on if Labour fail to secure an outright majority.

Who replaces Rishi in the event of a defeat is going to depend in no small part on just how bad that defeat turns out to be, said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, who has researched how the partys post-election make-up will determine its leader.

Heres who could run:

Kemi Badenoch

Sunaks business secretary raised eyebrows among colleagues by holding a party in her office in the summer to celebrate the benefits of Brexit, serving English sparkling wine. Badenoch, 43, is currently the most popular Cabinet minister in a closely watched monthly survey of Tory members by the website ConservativeHome. She is also the bookmakers favorite, although she fell out with some pro-Brexit MPs earlier this year when she doused a so-called bonfire of legislation retained from European Union membership.

Liz Truss

For many Tories, giving Truss, 48, another chance is unthinkable, since her 49 days in office last year caused a market rout and cratered the Conservatives reputation. Yet she is determined to influence party politics and could consider standing for leader in opposition, three people close to her said. She inspires loyalty from a group of pro-growth MPs, and will speak at a sidelines conference event on Monday. Truss has said publicly she has no desire to be premier again.

Suella Braverman

The home secretary has long been seen as positioning herself as the figure who would take a harder line on immigration and culture issues, as shown by her speech in the US this week. Some in government think Braverman, 43, might resign if Sunak declines to support leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. Centrist Tories say theyll do all they can to prevent her from making the leadership runoff. Some on the right argue she has relatively few MP supporters, and that serving Sunak has undermined her pitch.

James Cleverly

The foreign secretary is being urged to stand by some Conservatives who see him as a unity candidate. A Brexiteer, ally of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and early Truss backer, his appeal also extends to Tory moderates. Some have questioned whether Cleverly, 54, sees his long-term future in politics, though hes described reports he could quit as nonsense.

Mordaunt, Tugendhat

Tory centrists are hopeful their wing can coalesce around one candidate, with Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat frequently mentioned. While Mordaunt, 50, is popular with the party grassroots, she came up short in two leadership runs last year. Her consolation prize was becoming leader of the House of Commons and getting a starring role at King Charles IIIs coronation, wielding a ceremonial sword. Labour are now targeting her district. Tugendhat, the 50-year-old security minister, is an alternative candidate, though others suggest he and Mordaunt should endorse Cleverly to prevent a right-wing takeover.

Shapps, Gove

If the Tories lose the election badly, some in the party think they should back a more experienced leader, perhaps as a caretaker until a younger face is ready. Grant Shapps, 55  now in his fifth cabinet role  has been boosted by his appointment as defense secretary, though his seat is also under threat. Michael Gove, 56, another cabinet veteran, is an ally of Badenoch, but never far from political intrigue and is regarded as one of the partys best thinkers.

Patel, Rees-Mogg

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel, 51, is a rival of Bravermans and some on the right think she could stand and split the right-wing vote. Former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, 54, is also tipped by some MPs who suspect he wants to be shadow chancellor under a right-wing leader. Both are allies of Johnson, who is out of politics now, but hasnt ruled out a return. Longer shots include Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, 55, who some in No. 10 accused of having designs on Sunaks job before coming under fire over crumbling concrete in schools. Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, 38, is seen as a possible continuity Sunak candidate, though she is new to front-line politics. Some think pro-Brexit House of Lords peer David Frost, 58, might run for a Commons seat ahead of a leadership bid.

--With assistance from Ellen Milligan.

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
(KTLA)  Toys R Us is looking to make a major comeback, announcing plans this week to expand its brick-and-mortar operations and add 24 new flagship stores in the country.

WHP Global, the parent company of the iconic toy store brand, is partnering with the Go! Retail Group to roll out its new U.S. stores beginning in 2024. The companies also hope to create new retail experiences for travelers by opening stores in airports and on cruise ships.

The first airport-based Toys R Us will open in November, at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the company said.

Pleasant Hill woman says business used her address to get license in Missouri

WHP Global has been working to revitalize the Toys R Us brand since acquired a controlling stake in 2021.

Since acquiring Toys R Us, we have increased our global retail footprint by more than 50% with openings in the United States, United Kingdom, India, Dubai, and Mexico, said WHP Chief Executive Officer Yehuda Shmidman. We now have over 1,400 stores and e-commerce sites across 31 countries, and as we head into 2024, we are excited to bring Toys R Us to consumers everywhere, whether youre visiting one of our stores at Macys, at our flagships, in an airport, or onboard a cruise ship.

This rendering shows what a new Toys R Us flagship store could look like when the brand expands across the nation in 2024. (WHP Global)

Once a retail giant and pop-culture mainstay in the 1980s and 90s, Toys R Us, like many beloved brands, struggled to adapt to the changing retail landscape. Prior to WHPs acquisition, the last two physical Toys R Us locations closed in Jan. 2021.

Months later after WHPs acquisition, a 20,000-square-foot flagship Toys R Us location opened at the American Dream shopping complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Smaller, physical store-within-store locations later opened inside Macys department stores nationwide.

The 24 new Toys R Us stores WHP is currently planning to open in the U.S. will follow a similar blueprint to the flagship location at the American Dream.

The new flagship stores will serve as epicenters of immersive fun, providing customers with a destination to explore and discover the hottest toys, the company said in its news release.

Aside from DFW, WHP has not said where the airport-based locations will be, nor has it said which cruise lines it will be partnering with in the expansion.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Nola Rhea, 17, left, and her mother, Heather Rhea, 47, sit together in a coffee shop on Sept. 26, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb., as they discuss Nola's plans to leave the state of Nebraska next year to attend college following the state's enactment of a law restricting gender-confirming medical treatments for minors. Nola is a transgender teen who says she no longer feels welcomed in Nebraska. (AP Photo/Margery Beck)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  As Nebraska's new law restricting gender-affirming care for minors goes into effect this weekend, families with transgender children and the doctors who treat them are steeling themselves for change. But exactly what and how much change is anyones guess.

A key aspect of the law is a set of treatment guidelines that has yet to be created. Affected families, doctors and even lawmakers say they have largely gotten no response from health officials on when they can expect the new rules, which should lay out how and when transgender minors can be treated with puberty blockers and hormones.

Many of them fear Republican officials and their appointees in charge of administering the rules are slow-walking the regulations as a way to block treatment for new transgender patients under 19, the age of adulthood under Nebraska law.

There has been no communication, said 42-year-old Lincoln resident Heather Rhea, who has a 17-year-old transgender daughter. There's been no press release. There's nothing on the website about where they are in the process or a timeline for when we'll know when kids can get gender-affirming care."

I know several, several people who've reached out for information and gotten zero response, she said.

The new law, which goes into effect Sunday, bans gender-affirming surgery for anyone under 19 and restricts who in that age group can receive nonsurgical treatment. Minors who already receive puberty blockers or hormones are allowed to continue the treatment, but new patients who are minors are largely banned from starting.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends gender-affirming care for people under 18, citing an increased risk of suicide for transgender teens.

Only those minors who have shown a long-lasting and intense pattern of gender nonconformity or gender dysphoria would be allowed to start puberty blocking or hormone treatment, and only under a set of guidelines to be drafted by the states newly appointed chief medical officer, Dr. Timothy Tesmer.

Tesmer is an ear, nose and throat surgeon and political appointee of Republican Gov. Jim Pillen . The governor has leaned hard into a swell of anti-transgender legislation in Republican-led statehouses across the country.

During the signing ceremony for the new law, Pillen suggested children and their parents who seek gender-affirming treatment are being duped, adding, that is absolutely Lucifer at its finest.

Last month, Pillen issued an executive order strictly defining a persons sex and ordering state agencies to define female and male as a persons sex assigned at birth.

Omaha state Sen. John Cavanaugh is among those who said he is been unable to get answers from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, even as his office fields multiple calls daily from the public seeking answers.

There's a huge amount of concern about what's going to happen to trans folks, Cavanaugh said. They feel like the governor has put a target on their back for political gain. And they're frightened about what happens next.

Some are not waiting to find out.

Heather Rhea's daughter, 17-year-old Nola Rhea, is a high school senior in Lincoln. Once she graduates in May, the National Merit Scholarship finalist plans to leave Nebraska for college in Minnesota, which enacted protections for gender-affirming care earlier this year. At the time, Nebraska lawmakers were locked in a contentious battle over the proposed transgender health care ban, which touched off an epic filibuster that slowed the session to a crawl.

The passage of the bill, which survived the filibuster attempt by a single vote, altered Rhea's longtime assumption she would attend the University of Nebraska.

It makes you feel like you're not wanted here, she said of the new law.

Rhea recounted she had contemplated suicide years earlier as her body began to change during puberty. When she came out to her family at age 14, their acceptance and the medical treatment she received, including puberty blockers and later hormones, saved my life.

She has since enjoyed the support of her school, teachers and peers. She entered high school thinking society had turned a corner on acceptance of the transgender community.

And then this year happened, she said.

She's concerned for those teens in the future who won't be able to get gender-affirming care.

I worry especially because I don't think it's going to get better; I think things are going to get worse, she said. As for the law's supporters, I think they're going to push harder. I think they're going to push to try to make it illegal to be trans. Period.

Dr. Alex Dworak, an Omaha family physician who has treated transgender patients for more than 10 years at OneWorld Community Health Centers, said he has heard the same concerns Rhea has from dozens of people since debate on the Nebraska law began.

Five of his trans patients have already left the state, he said.

They dont feel safe here, Dworak said. Which, again, seems like thats precisely the point, or at least that it lines up nicely with the stated goals of the people advocating for this legislation.

Dworak said he has spoken about developing the regulations with Tesmer, whom he described as collegial and respected in his field. Tesmer was hopeful earlier this week about launching a set of emergency regulations by Oct. 1 until the permanent set could be adopted, Dworak said.

As of Friday, no such emergency rules had been announced.

Tesmer did not respond to several interview requests from The Associated Press about where he is in the process of drafting the regulations, for whom he has consulted, or when they are likely to be made public.

A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson also declined to answer those questions, referring the AP to a document addressing frequently asked questions about the new law.

That document says the health agency hopes to hold a public hearing on the regulations before the end of the year. A public notice of such a hearing, which is required by law to be published at least 30 days before such a hearing, has not yet been published.

The department will attempt to minimize the time between the law taking affect and enactment of interim emergency regulations, according to the document.

At least 22 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those states face lawsuits. An Arkansas ban mirroring Nebraskas was struck down by a federal judge in June as unconstitutional and will be appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court, which also oversees Nebraska cases.
He was a force of nature. A bright burning light. A passionate advocate. A courageous and compassionate leader.

Friends, family and colleagues gathered Saturday at Boise State University to honor J.J. Saldana, a leader in Idahos Latino community who died overnight Sept. 21 at the age of 49. The cause of death is unknown.

Around 200 people came to his memorial service, with speakers including Boise Mayor Lauren McLean , Boise State President Marlene Tromp and Margie Gonzalez, the executive director of the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs.

His mark is indelible, McLean said at the memorial.

A Superman-themed urn is surrounded by flowers and personal items including shoes and a bowtie of J.J. Saldana at his memorial.

The Elko, Nevada, native moved to Boise to go to college at Boise State in 1995, according to previous Statesman reporting. For the past 23 years, he worked for the states Commission on Hispanic Affairs, fielding questions from reporters and serving as a liaison between the states Latino community and the government.

Saldana also co-founded the Idaho Hispanic Youth Leadership Summit and served on boards and in leadership roles for multiple Latino advocacy organizations across the state as well as on Boises Arts and History Commission. He was widely known for his mentorship of young Latino journalists, and served on the advisory council of Voces Internship of Idaho, an organization founded in 2021 that has brought young Latino Idahoans into newsrooms across the state  including the Idaho Statesman.

At Saturdays event, speakers paid tribute to Saldanas energy and a power they said he had to persuade people to take action.

J.J. was known for his wisdom and friendship, and for always speaking up for what was right, Gov. Brad Little wrote in a letter read at the service. His sudden passing is a tremendous loss for Idaho.

Family and friends celebrated the life of the Elko, Nevada, native.

McLean listed Saldanas involvement in Boise initiatives, including his participation on a Boise Police Department advisory committee and volunteer efforts to help with language access to city services and on focus groups.

Hed call you up and say, Lauren, will you do this? she said. My husband would say, Why are you doing this? Im like, I dont know, J.J. asked me to do it.

McLean said she asked the Boise Arts and History Department to find a place to memorialize him in a mural.

Nicole Foy, a former Statesman journalist and co-founder of Voces, said Saldana had a knack for getting people involved.

We will also miss the gentle but absolutely relentless way that he would badger and bully you into actually doing something, especially for the Idaho Latino communities that he loved, she said, crediting him with helping push her to get Voces started. Instead of talking about what needed to change, he would mention something that needed to happen a few times and eventually just start telling everybody that you were already going to do that thing, Foy added.

He fiercely believed in the importance of making sure that the Latino communities in Idaho were faithfully and truthfully represented in Idaho media and the public sphere, she said.

Rebecca De Leon, a longtime friend, said he fought for everybody to have their chance, to have their opportunity, to have their freedom.

Other attendees at the memorial included mayoral candidate Mike Masterson, Boise Reps. Lauren Necochea and Chris Mathias, former City Council member Lisa Sanchez and U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit.

Members of Mariachi Tleyotltzin performed at the memorial service.

A Mariachi band from Nampa called Tleyotltzin sang songs to open the memorial, and dancer Norma Pintar also performed.

For four years, Saldana was also a co-host of the Latino Card, a news show on Radio Boise.

On Tuesday, the radio program released an episode featuring interviews the hosts  including Saldana  conducted earlier this month with Boise Mayor Lauren McLean and her opponent in this years election, Masterson.

Before the show began, the hosts ran clips of Saldana talking from past episodes.

In one clip, he explained why he started working at the Hispanic Affairs Commission after college.

What got my heart going was, I need to make sure that everybody has the same rights, he said.

Norma Pintar danced at the memorial.
(Photo : Basit SHAH / AFP) (BASIT SHAH/AFP via Getty Images))

Two suicide bombings in Pakistan killed at least 57 people at two separate mosques as believers marked the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad.

At least 57 people, including seven children, were killed in Pakistan after twin suicide bombings that targeted two Mosques on Friday.

The horrifying attacks came as believers marked the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad, said police and health officials. No group immediately took responsibility for the assaults, from which officials say the death toll could increase. Many people were seriously injured and others were left trapped beneath the wreckage.

Pakistan Suicide Bombings

Senior police official Munir Ahmed said that during the first explosion in Mastung in the southwestern province of Balochistan, the bomber allegedly detonated his explosives near a police vehicle. It was where people were gathered for a procession.

District health official Abdul Rasheed noted that at least 52 people were killed, including children aged between nine and 11. He added that the massive explosion also resulted in the injury of at least 58 others who were in the area, as per Reuters.

In a statement, one witness, Munir Ahmed Shahwani, said he could hear the injured crying for help. He added that he saw at least 25 bodies on the spot lying lifeless, including small children, and said that people were frantically looking for their loved ones.

Law enforcement officials also said that a deputy superintendent of police was among the people killed as he oversaw security arrangements in the area. Senior police officer Javed Lehri said that the victim, Nawas Gishkori, tried to stop the suicide bomber from detonating his explosives but could not reach the suspect in time.

The gathering had people carrying flags and banners at a mosque belonging to the Barelvi sect, generally considered more moderate than hardline Islamic sects such as Salafism. Some hardline sects also consider the Prophet Mohammad's veneration as heresy.

Read Also: British Authorities Arrest Teen Who Cut Sycamore Gap Tree in Deliberate 'Act of Vandalism'

Deadly Attacks

Balochistan officials declared a state of emergency following the first attack. According to BBC, the second attack resulted in at least five fatalities and happened at a mosque near Peshawar City located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Video footage that recorded the scene in the Balock city of Mastung showed injured people rescued by emergency responders and locals. A local journalist, Saifullah, said that bodies were lying on one another following the deadly blast.

He added that the crowd was waiting for a celebratory procession to start and he was standing nearby when the explosive went off. Saifullah also noted that the victims of the suicide bombing include 10 to 12 of his relatives.

On the other hand, 22-year-old Haibullah, injured in the attack, spoke with journalists from his hospital bed in Quetta. He said that everything was already prepared on the stage and that the bomb went off two minutes after he arrived in the area.

The two suicide bombings in Pakistan come amid a restive period in the country as it has continued to weather a surge of militant attacks in the buildup to general elections scheduled for January, said CNN.

Related Article: Former Swedish PM Suggests Using Military Forces To Quell Rising Gang Violence

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Special counsel Jack Smiths office argued Friday that Donald Trump s recent attacks on Gen. Mark Milley and one of their own newly appointed prosecutors bolster their case to put a gag order on the former president ahead of his trial in Washington, D.C.

In a 22-page filing , senior assistant special counsel Molly Gaston said prosecutors rejected Trumps claims that their proposed gag order was an attempt to silence him on the campaign trail. Rather, she said, it was an effort to prevent him from trying to make use of his candidacy as a cover for making prejudicial public statements about this case.

[T]here is no legitimate need for the defendant, in the course of his campaign, to attack known witnesses regarding the substance of their anticipated testimony, Gaston wrote.

The filing is prosecutors last word to U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan ahead of an Oct. 16 hearing on Smiths proposed gag order. Since their original request, which was unsealed last week, Trump has unleashed a social media attack on Milley  suggesting he should have been put to death for treason  who is expected to be a witness in the case against him.

[N]o other criminal defendant would be permitted to issue public statements insinuating that a known witness in his case should be executed, Gaston wrote. This defendant should not be, either.

And after POLITICO revealed Smiths appointment of a longtime war crimes prosecutor to his team, Trump uncorked another attack on Smiths office. Prosecutors cited that attack as a potential danger as well.

Prosecutors say that Trumps attacks are a form of witness intimidation and a way to taint the jury pool ahead of his highly anticipated trial, which Chutkan has scheduled for March 4. The judge has warned Trump to refrain from inflammatory comments about the case and suggested she could expedite his trial if they continue. Earlier this week, Chutkan denied Trumps bid to remove her from the case.

Smiths team also says Trumps attacks on their office and on the judge herself threaten to taint the upcoming trial or drive up dangerous threats.

Prosecutors also sharply rejected efforts by some of Trumps advisers to explain away some of his statements. They noted that after a Trump aide suggested the former president had purchased a firearm in South Carolina  a potential violation of federal law, since hes under criminal indictment  his team later walked it back.

The defendant either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release, or seeks to benefit from his supporters mistaken belief that he did so, Smiths team said.

Smiths office also rejected Trumps argument that the indictment does not formally accuse Trump of having a role in the violence that unfolded on Jan. 6, instead accusing Smith of unfairly linking Trump to the riot in a brief public statement announcing the indictment last month.

[T]he indictment does in fact clearly link the defendant and his actions to the events of January 6, Gaston wrote. In short, the indictment alleges that the defendants actions, including his campaign of knowingly false claims of election fraud, led to the events of January 6.
Donald Trump called for shooting store robbers on Friday in a bleak speech to California Republicans and warned this country will die! if Joe Biden remained president.

During the address to GOP members, Trump also railed that wealthy Beverly Hills residents smell because of water denials, and repeated election fraud lies, according to the Associated Press.

Related: Biden warns voters a second Trump presidency will threaten democracy

We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft. Very simply: If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store, Trump said, spurring applause. Shot!

The rhetoric is in keeping with Trumps tough-on-crime mantra but signified a ramped up emphasis on punishment. Trump has previously pitched shooting migrants to keep them from entering the US.

The former defense secretary Mark Esper has said that Trump asked about shooting George Floyd protesters. He also floated imposing the death penalty on convicted drug dealers, cop-killers and human traffickers, AP said.

Several other GOP presidential hopefuls also attended the event. It is unlikely that California voters will pick a Republican during the general election, but any GOP candidate that triumphs in this states primary sees an easier path to the nomination.

California has 169 delegates up for grabs and a novel change in rules could give Trump, who is leading the GOP pack, a leg up. Under this new rule, Trump would take each of Californias delegates should he garner more than 50% of its primary vote, AP explained.

The intensified calls for action come as Biden lapped Trump in campaign fundraising. Bidens team reported $72m during quarter two and $77m in cash on hand  more than doubling Trumps haul Mediaite said, citing the first FEC filing for the 2024 campaign.

With your support, we will overcome the vicious attacks from the deep state and evict crooked Joe Biden from the White House. Hes the most corrupt president in our history, Trump said in demanding donations. Hes the most incompetent president in our history. And this country will die if we have to go through another four years of this guy!

The heated appeals to voters correspond to Trumps efforts to separate himself from his Republican competitors, none of whom appear poised to best him in primaries. He skipped a GOP debate this week and elected to rally in Michigan instead, in an apparent effort to woo laborers in a pivotal election state, AP said.

Trumps scaremongering proclamations come on the eve of a New York civil trial this coming week that threatens his eponymous businesses with potentially ruinous fines. He also faces criminal proceedings in Georgia, Florida, New York and Washington DC.
Former President Donald Trump plans to attend his New York business fraud trial in person next week, he revealed in an unrelated court filing Friday, requesting a deposition in another case be rescheduled.

Trumps deposition in his civil lawsuit against former attorney Michael Cohen was scheduled for Tuesday, the day after the New York business fraud trial begins. In light of the overlap and Trumps intent to attend the beginning of the New York trial, the Miami judge granted Trumps request and rescheduled the Florida deposition for October 9.

Trumps civil suit against Cohen alleges that the former attorney broke his duty of confidentiality with the former president and broke other contracts by disparaging him in the media.

Plaintiff represented that, now that pretrial rulings have been entered in the case that materially altered the landscape, it was imperative that he attend his New York trial in person  at least for each day of the first week of trial when many strategy judgments had to be made, Judge Edwin Torres wrote in his decision.

The business fraud case found that Trump and his sons intentionally misled banks and insurance companies by inflating and deflating the value of their assets by at least $2.2 billion. A judge ruled last week that Trump and his company committed fraud, with the trial next week to determine damages.

Cohen is also a potential witness in the New York trial.

New York prosecutors are seeking at least a $250 million penalty in addition to preventing Trump and his sons from running businesses in New York.

If the case survives an expected appeal, the Trump Organization and the former presidents other New York-based businesses would be dissolved and liquidated, and it could force the sale of some property in the state.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Donald Trump joked that he had been indicted more than notorious mafia gangster Al Capone.

He noted that he is "setting records" for his historic indictments.

Trump has previously compared his legal troubles to the infamous mobster's.

Former President Donald Trump joked that he had been indicted more than famed gangster Al Capone.

"When they indicted me  and then again and again and again  I was never indicted, now I'm setting records. Al Capone was not indicted so much," Trump said while speaking at a California Republicans convention in Anaheim on Friday.

Trump has been indicted four times and faces 91 criminal charges across the cases, making him the first current or former president to be indicted in the US.

Capone was faced various charges being brought against him throughout his criminal career. He was notoriously successful at dodging prosecutions until a tax evasion conviction in 1931 that led to him being sentenced to 11 years in federal prison, serving part of his sentence in San Francisco's famous Alcatraz prison.

Released in 1939 and suffering from syphilis, the ailing Chicago mobster retired to Florida, where he died in 1947.

Trump has previously compared himself to the mobster, once declaring that he had more lawyers working for him "than any human being in the history of our Country, including even the late great gangster Alphonse Capone!"

Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer turned critic, once said that he believed Trump's eventual downfall would resemble the gangster's.

"Like the Al Capone effect, you're not going to get him on murder, extortion, racketeering. You get them on tax evasion," Cohen told MSNBC in September last year.

Trump's recent historic mugshot also sparked comparisons with Capone's.

Trump continues to lead the polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Former President Trump took a blow at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday during a speech at the California GOP convention.

Well stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi, who ruined San Francisco, Trump said to the crowd. Hows her husband doing, by the way, anybody know?

Shes against building a wall at our border, even though she has a wall around her house  which obviously didnt do a very good job, he added, seemingly mocking the Democratic congresswoman.

Pelosi has become a popular punching bag for Trump, who often faced off against the former Speaker while he was president. His comments about her husband, Paul Pelosi , were referring to an attack by a home intruder late last year that left him in critical condition.



Trump at the time called the incident a terrible thing. A week after the incident, the former presidents son Donald Trump Jr. posted memes advocating to ban hammers  the weapon used in the attack.

While California, while not competitive in the general election, is key for the GOP presidential primary. In the speech, Trump decried the states Democratic leadership.

Together we will reverse the decline of America and we will end the desecration of your once great state California, Trump said. This is not a great state anymore. This is a dumping ground. Youre a dumping ground.

Later in the speech, Trump dropped a profanity-laced line going after President Biden. He said the Department of Justice was targeting him with multiple criminal indictments because he is a strong political opponent to Biden.

What theyve done is theyve gone after opponents, the former president argued, adding that if somebodys beating you by 10, 15, or 20 points like were doing with Crooked Joe Biden, they will go after you.

Lets indict the motherfer! Lets indict him, he said, doing what seemed to be an impersonation of the president.

Trump, however, did not mention the death of longtime California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) earlier Friday.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) also spoke at the convention on Friday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) are scheduled to speak on Saturday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Donald Trump mocked Paul Pelosi in a speech just months after the ex-Speaker's husband was injured in a hammer attack at their San Franciso home.

I will stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi who ruined San Francisco... How's her husband doing by the way? Anybody know? Mr Trump said at the fall convention of the California Republican Party in Anaheim on Friday.

And she's against building a wall [on] our border even though she has a wall around her house, which obviously didn't do a very good job, he added to laughter in the room.

Mr Pelosi suffered a skull fracture in October last year when an assailant broke into the home and later attacked him with a hammer after asking for Ms Pelosi, then the speaker of the House.

While Mr Trump at one point called the attack a sad situation, he also boosted far-right conspiracy theories regarding the incident.

Mr Trump slammed the Democratic leaders in the state to the California crowd.

Together we will reverse the decline of America and we will end the desecration of your once great state California, he said. This is not a great state anymore. This is a dumping ground. Youre a dumping ground.

Mr Trump is highly unlikely to win California in a general election, but the state is also home to the largest group of Republican delegates in the fight for the GOP nomination. The state will hold its primary on 5 March. Mr Trump noted that hell likely be in court on that date following his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The former president didnt mention Senator Dianne Feinstein, who passed away on Thursday, aged 90.

Mr Trump slammed Rep Maxine Waters, claiming that if he said things that she has said in the past, it would place him in an electric chair times 15.

He said he got along with the states Governor Gavin Newsom during his time as president, but added that he now has become crooked Joe Bidens top surrogate.

Mr Trump claimed, baselessly, that Mr Newsom was backing Mr Biden in the understanding that the president wouldnt make it.

In November of last year, Ms Pelosi revealed that her husband was so gravely injured that surgeons had to take off the skull, reshape it, and put it back.

It had cracked, a shaken Ms Pelosi told CNN, adding that Paul Pelosis head was struck on the top, in two places.

The suspect, David DePape, was apparently after the speaker when he broke into the home in the middle of the night, repeatedly shouting wheres Nancy?

What they have to do is they have to take off the skull, reshape it, and put it back so it isnt scratched or [could] pierce the brain, Ms Pelosi told CNN, recalling her husbands surgery.

She remembered it as a pretty serious operation and that her husbands injuries were drastic and pretty awful.

But the good news was  they told us it had not pierced his brain, which could be deadly, she added.

The speaker said one of the more difficult things to handle is that the attacker was after her, not her husband, but he was still the one who was injured.

For me, this is really the hard part  because Paul was not the target, and hes the one whos paying the price, she said.

Its really sad because it is a flame that was fueled by misinformation  that has no place in our democracy, she added.

He was cool. Pauls cool, she said, adding that he called 911 with enough information, but not too much information to enrage the threatening attacker.

He saved his life  Paul saved his own life with that call, she said.

Mr DePape entered the residence at some point after 2am on 28 October, according to the criminal complaint.

He repeatedly shouted where is Nancy? when he confronted Mr Pelosi, who was alone in bed at the time of the break-in.

When Pelosi told him that Nancy was not there, DePape stated that he would sit and wait, the complaint said. Pelosi stated that his wife would not be home for several days and then DePape reiterated that he would wait.

DePape stated he wanted to tie Pelosi up so that DePape could go to sleep as he was tired from having had to carry a backpack to the Pelosi residence, at which point he began taking out twist ties from his pocket so that he could restrain Pelosi. Pelosi moved towards another part of the house, but DePape stopped him and together they went back into the bedroom.

It was at this point that Mr Pelosi entered the bathroom and called 911.

DePape remembered thinking that there was no way the police were going to forget about the phone call, the complaint states. DePape explained that he did not leave after Pelosis call to 911 because, much like the American founding fathers with the British, he was fighting against tyranny without the option of surrender.

According to the complaint, Mr DePape said they went downstairs.

The police arrived and knocked on the door, and Pelosi ran over and opened it. Pelosi grabbed onto DePapes hammer, which was in Depapes hand, the legal filing states. At this point in the interview, DePape repeated that DePape did not plan to surrender and that he would go through Pelosi.

Officers were dispatched to the familys home at 2.27am, police said.

When they arrived on the scene, Mr DePape and Mr Pelosi were both seen struggling for control of a hammer.

The suspect pulled the hammer from Mr Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said.

Chief Scott added that officers immediately tackled Mr DePape and took him into custody.
Seeking to nail down the support of California Republicans in the GOP primary, former President Donald Trump on Friday mocked Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her husband, who an assailant brutally attacked in the familys San Francisco home last October.

Well stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi, who ruined San Francisco  hows her husband doing, anybody know? Trump said to a raucous crowd of California Republicans at a state party convention. And shes against building a wall at our border, even though she has a wall around her house  which obviously didnt do a very good job.

The comments amount to some of Trumps most brazen yet regarding the attack on Paul Pelosi , whose skull was fractured after an attack in which authorities said an assailant beat him with a hammer. Trump had previously stoked far-right conspiracies that surrounded the event, while also once calling the attack a sad situation.

Hundreds of conservatives listening Friday cheered Trump as he rattled off criticisms of several of the states most prominent Democrats, putting a California spin on his typical campaign message.

Together we will reverse the decline of America and we will end the desecration of your once great state California, Trump told the crowd. This is not a great state anymore. This is a dumping ground. You're a dumping ground.

While Trump has no real chance of winning the state in a general election, California still holds the biggest pot of delegates in the Republican primary  all up for grabs on March 5, which the former president noted as a date he will likely sit in court as he faces charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Notably missing from the former presidents remarks was any comment about former Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died on Thursday night after trailblazing a path as one of the states most prominent politicians. On his hitlist Friday, though, were Vice President Kamala Harris; Rep. Adam Schiff, who led Trumps first impeachment in the House; Rep. Eric Swalwell and Rep. Maxine Waters, whose words Trump said would garner him an electric chair times fifteen" if he spoke them.

Trump gave a somewhat mixed appraisal of the states governor, Gavin Newsom, saying that he got along with the Californian while president despite not liking his positions.

Gavin has become crooked Joe Bidens top surrogate, Trump said, suggesting without evidence that the governors support for the president came under the pretext that Biden would not make it.

At this weekends meeting of the states Republican Party in Anaheim, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessperson Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) also all had speaking slots on the schedule.

All three of them, among other candidates, had slung it out on a debate stage in Southern California earlier this week, an event Trump skipped.

The Republican competitors will have a tough task to match Trumps level of excitement from members of the state party. As he is elsewhere, Trump is dominating in Republican primary polling in the state.
Former President Trumps GOP rivals are signaling more willingness to attack him as the Iowa caucuses approach and the front-runners lead shows few signs of shaking.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was among those who let loose on the former president during Wednesday nights debate  a notable shift from a candidate who had generally been cautious about alienating Trumps loyal base.

Such attacks open a new phase of the primary as Trumps rivals grow increasingly desperate with only a few months before early voting begins.

Its getting late, and so if your campaign is going to make a move, nows the time, said Republican strategist Nicole Schlinger.

Trump, who has maintained a double-digit lead over his rivals in most national and state polls, continues to exert a strong influence over the Republican Party. For that reason, many GOP presidential candidates have been reluctant to bash him, worried about alienating the all-important base.

Wednesday nights event suggested that might be changing. DeSantis and others were quick to criticize the former president over his absence from the stage. Trump has cited his large lead in the polls as his reason for not attending the debates, and he is expected to skip the third one in early November, as well.

DeSantis, who has most consistently placed in second in polling, arguably took the biggest shift in approach to Trump, more directly addressing Trump after spending much of the campaign dancing around the former president.

Donald Trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight, DeSantis said.

Other candidates also chimed in to hit Trump.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has by far been the most vocal in criticizing the front-runner, spoke directly to Trump through the camera, arguing Trump was skipping the debate because he is afraid of being challenged.

I know youre watching, OK? And youre not here tonight not because of polls and not because of your indictments. Youre not here tonight because youre afraid of being on this stage and defending your record, Christie said.

GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak said the attack on Trump skipping the debates is strong because theres really not a good answer.

Using a poll as justification for not answering questions may be strategically defensible, but its sort of hard to convince voters that youre above it, he said.

Mackowiak added that these attacks are about trying to goad Trump into appearing at the debate to allow them to prosecute the case against Trump in a direct confrontation. He said a sustained attack will be needed for the criticism to stick, but it could matter in early-voting states when the Republican National Committee holds future debates in states like Iowa.

Leading candidates have experienced disappointing performances in early states after skipping a debate there. Former President Reagan in 1980 and Trump in 2016 lost the Iowa caucuses after skipping debates in the Hawkeye State, while former President George W. Bush suffered a loss in New Hampshire in 2000 after being late to join the debates.

Schlinger, who is based in Iowa, emphasized that candidates will benefit during this period of the race from being on the ground in the early states and sharing their message directly with voters. She said time is running out for candidates to win over these voters, meaning they need to set themselves apart from Trump.

Strategists said Trump is not likely to have much incentive to participate in these debates despite the attacks unless he believes he will face some political consequence, which has not happened yet.

We are entering the time in which caucus-goers are going to vet these candidates seriously and start making up their mind, Schlinger said. And truly, we have less time than the calendar really indicates because youre going to have a hard stop at Thanksgiving. Youre gonna have a hard stop at Christmas. So there is time, but we are in a critical period now.

Aaron Kall, an expert on presidential debates and the director of debate at the University of Michigan, said the candidates learned from seeing the first debate not move the needle at all in terms of Trumps lead.

Candidates like former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence received praise for their performances in the first debate, but Trumps lead remained as prominent as before, though Haley did see some improvement in the polls.

Kall said the candidates began criticizing Trump more, especially for not attending the debate, in the days leading up to the event, demonstrating they are bringing their attacks more to the campaign trail.

They all came to the conclusion that even if there are individual solid performances in the debate, unless you accompany that with bringing numbers down and declining, youre not going to make up any solid ground, he said.

The candidates on stage also went after Trump on a few policy issues.

DeSantis slammed Trump for comments he made earlier this month, when the former president called the six-week abortion ban DeSantis signed a terrible mistake.

Hes had a lot to say about that, the governor said. He should be here explaining his comments to try to say that pro-life protections are somehow a terrible thing.

Haley, who has said during her campaign that she will be open about areas in which she agrees and disagrees with Trump, said the former president only focused on trade relations with China and didnt address other areas, like the flow of fentanyl into the United States and intellectual property theft.

This is where President Trump went wrong, she said on the debate stage. He focused on trade with China. He didnt focus on the fact that they were buying up our farmland. He didnt focus on the fact that they were killing Americans. He didnt focus on the fact that they were stealing $600 billion in intellectual property.

Some of these policy issues could prove potent for Republicans in early-voting states. Iowa is known for a strong base of evangelical voters who are likely to prioritize restricting abortion, while polling shows three-quarters of Republicans view China as the countrys biggest adversary.

But some strategists said the attacks were still relatively minor and needed to be stepped up significantly to have an effect.

The debate turned raucous in places, but GOP strategist Alex Conant said the candidates on stage seemed more interested in going after each other rather than Trump.

Every moment during the debate stage talking to 9 million people not about why theyre a better candidate than Trump is a waste of everyones time. So I think every question they should be pivoting towards why they are better than Donald Trump, he said.

Their biggest complaint seemed to be that he wasnt on the debate stage, which is not a salient attack since he suffered no penalty for skipping the first event, Conant added.

New Hampshire-based Republican strategist Mike Dennehy said the debates typically have been extremely important in helping and hurting candidates, but the effect has been diluted because of Trumps absence.

He said the candidates would be able to land more effective attacks on Trump if they unified to have a concerted critique targeting him.

If the candidates had gotten together on this debate and even on the Nov. 8 debate, I believe the more candidates you have being critical of Donald Trump, the better, Dennehy said.

He said he expects the candidates to pick up their attacks on Trump because they are feeling pressure as time passes. But he argued they will be in trouble if they cannot show some degree of success soon.

If theres not another candidate in the 30 percent range by Dec. 1, then they all need to be asking, Is this worth it? Dennehy said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former President Trump went after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) during an appearance at the California GOPs fall convention Friday, accusing him of hurting the states auto industry.

Along with crooked Joe Biden, Newsom is also killing our car industry, he said, adding Its ridiculous whats happening.

Trump denounced regulations put in place during Newsoms administration to transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles.

The California Air Resources Board approved a rule last August that will require all new vehicles sold in California to not produce any greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. The rule includes benchmarks for the industry to gradually reduce emissions with requirements for 35 percent of new vehicles sold to produce no emissions by 2026 and 68 percent by 2030.

Newsom said at the time that the move would be one of the most significant steps to the elimination of the tailpipe as we know it.

California became the first state to announce a plan to phase out gas-powered cars. A few other states have since followed suit.

California has imposed the most ridiculous car regulations of anywhere in the world with mandates to move to all-electric cars, Trump said.

Trump referenced the speech he gave to autoworkers on Wednesday in a Detroit suburb in which he slammed the Biden administrations support for electric vehicles and urged the United Auto Workers, which is on strike amid contract disputes with the Big Three automakers, to endorse him. The former president was notably speaking at a non-union manufacturer.

He argued that his policies would allow the car industry to thrive, while Bidens are the cause of their problems.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule to require automakers to limit greenhouse gas emissions coming from their fleets but not directly adopt electric vehicles. Transitioning to electric vehicles could be a way for the automakers to comply with the rule.

Trump also called Newsom Bidens top surrogate and argued that the governor doesnt think Bidens going to make it.

Thats why hes doing it, he said.

Newsom has been a strong advocate of the president and said he would not run in the 2024, even if Biden didnt.

He doubled down on that in a recent interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, saying he would of course not run for president in 2024 and that he believes Biden will be reelected.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Donald Trump suggested that California keep its vast forests damp to prevent wildfire.

Trump said he would "get it done so fast" but added that Gov. Newsom probably couldn't be convinced.

The former president also criticized the state for "very poor land management."

Former President Donald Trump revealed an unusual plan to stop wildfires from raging in California.

Trump suggested that the Golden State's rougly 33 million acres of forest should be kept damp while speaking at a California Republicans' convention in Anaheim on Friday.

"They say that there's so much water up north that I want to have the overflow areas go into your forests and dampen your forests, because if you dampen your forests you're not gonna have these forest fires that are burning at levels that nobody's ever seen," Trump said to a cheering crowd.

"All the currently dry canals will be brimming and used to irrigate everything, including your own homes and bathrooms and everything, you're going to be happy, and I'm going to get it done fast," he added.

The former president also took the opportunity to criticize the state for "very poor land management."

Trump has previously falsely claimed that California wildfires were sparked by trees that "explode," and he has long subscribed to the theory that wildfires could be prevented if forests were cleared of dead trees and debris.

In 2018, Trump suggested raking leaves on forest floors could help prevent fires.

While accumulated debris is part of the problem, California is prone to wildfires because of its high population density and its predominantly dry, warm climate.

"California has a lot of people and a really long dry season," Park Williams, a bioclimatologist and associate research professor at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told The New York Times.

"People are always creating possible sparks, and as the dry season wears on and stuff is drying out more and more, the chance that a spark comes off a person at the wrong time just goes up. And that's putting aside arson," he added.

Trump did not provide further details about his damp forests plan, but he said California Governor Gavin Newsom would probably roadblock him.

"I couldn't convince this guy Gavin," he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Photo : Alvaro Calvo/Getty Images)

Europe's oldest shoes were found in a Spanish cave and radiocarbon analysis revealed that they are more than 6,000 years old.

Europe discovers its oldest shoes inside a Spanish cave, which date back to more than 6,000 years ago, a study published in the journal Science Advances reveals.

A new radiocarbon analysis of the findings showed that the 22 woven sandals researchers discovered date back thousands of years. Researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Alcala University in Spain led the study.

Europe's Oldest Shoes

Ancient footwear, along with Mesolithic baskets and other tools, was first found in 1857 after miners looted a cave in southern Spain. However, during the 1970s, when the artifacts were first dated, researchers said they were roughly 1,000 years more recent than the latest analysis.

The researchers said the very dry conditions inside the cave where the sandals were discovered were ideal for preserving perishable materials. They added that this allowed the preservation of a prehistoric burial site that included partially mummified corpses, baskets, wooden tools, sandals, and other goods, as per CNN.

One of the study's authors, Maria Herrero Otal, said that the objects are currently known as "the oldest and best-preserved set of plant fiber materials in southern Europe so far known." She added that the materials demonstrate the ability of prehistoric communities to master such types of craftsmanship.

Roughly a decade after miners initially looted the Spanish cave, archaeologist Manuel de Gongora y Martinez visited the cave and gathered the remaining artifacts, including the sandals. He then gave them to museums in Madrid and Granada, where researchers have continuously studied them.

The sandals were found to be made of grasses as well as other materials, such as leather, lime, and ramie bast, which is a type of natural fiber. The study, using the descriptions provided by Gongora, hypothesizes that the bodies in the cave were buried wearing sandals.

A researcher in the Prehistory Department of the University of Alcala, Francisco Martinez Sevilla, said that the quality and technological complexity of the basketry found in the Spanish cave were high. According to CBS News, he said that this makes them question the simplistic assumptions that we currently have about human communities before the arrival of agriculture in southern Europe.

Read Also: Northern Hemisphere Auroras Expected to Intensify as Peak of Solar Cycle Imminent

Complex Basketry

Otal noted that the discovery means that esparto grass started at least 9,500 years ago and is a tradition still alive in Iberia. She added that it was spectacular how the techniques, the raw material, and preparation have been used for thousands of years and the process has been preserved to this day.

Sevilla said the discovery marks the first direct evidence of basketry made by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies in southern Europe. He added that the new dating of the esparto baskets opens a new window of opportunity to understanding the last hunter-gatherer societies of the early Holocene period.

Despite the findings, there are still many unanswered questions, such as who made the objects and whether or not they had a role in the ancient funerary practices at the time. Researchers found some of the sandals had clear signs of wear while others seemed to have never been used, said Newsweek.

Related Article: British Authorities Arrest Teen Who Cut Sycamore Gap Tree in Deliberate 'Act of Vandalism'

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Former President Trump greets supporters at the Carvel ice cream shop in Westwood on Friday. (Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times )

During a campaign stop at a Westwood ice cream parlor Friday, former President Trump said he may attend his civil trial that begins Monday in New York that will determine the size of his penalty, as much as $250 million, for overstating the value of assets to get better loan terms.

I may, he said, while greeting cheering supporters at a Carvel shop. Its a disgrace. Everything about [New York City] is rigged. It's all rigged. This whole country is rigged.

New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James has charged Trump, his business and his two adult sons with overstating the value of their assets. The judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, found Trump fraudulently liable Tuesday of overvaluing his properties on financial statements and stripped him and other executives of control of the businesses.

Trump did not respond to questions about whether he plans to testify, but he lashed out at the judge and James. The attorney general said this week that Trump is on the list of possible witnesses in the case.

Trump made the remarks to reporters Friday afternoon after delivering a raucous, hour-and-a-half-long speech at the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim.

Asked about Gen. Mark A. Milleys retirement ceremony comments Friday that he is loyal to the Constitution, not a wannabe dictator, Trump reiterated criticism he made about the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last week that drew widespread condemnation that he was inciting violence.

Trump had suggested in a social media post last week that Milley should be executed for making back-channel calls to a Chinese general in the waning months of Trumps presidency, as he sought to quell Chinese fears of potential conflict and instability.

It is really treasonous. If you look at what he said to China, he's either stupid or it's treason, Trump said. What he said to China should never be allowed.

Milley told CBS News this week that he was taking measures to protect his family.

Trump offered sympathy to the family of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died early Friday morning.

Well, it's too bad. She was a nice woman, Trump said. I knew her actually fairly well. We got along  different persuasions  but we knew her fairly well. So we wish her family the best.

Asked whether he would like to run against California Gov. Gavin Newsom in next years presidential contest, Trump responded, Id love it.

What could be better than [President] Biden, but I'd love Newsom if that works out, he added. I think Biden is trying to limp along and try and get there. But it could be Newsom, it could be one of three or four other people.

Newsom has said repeatedly he has no plans to run for president in 2024.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Satellite imagery shows Russia is now painting the silhouettes of Tu-95MS Bear-H strategic bombers in parking revetments at its master bomber base, Engels Air Base, also known as Engels-2 . The base has come under repeated attack over the last year and as Ukraine's standoff weapons capabilities are rapidly evolving , so are its abilities to strike deep inside Russia using local sabotage and drone attack teams.

Planet Labs satellite imagery obtained by The War Zone that was taken on Sept. 29 shows the two-dimensional decoys adorned on Engels tarmac  a near 'copy-paste' of the four-engine bombers distinctive planform right down to its black-painted cockpit area. A second painted decoy appears partially complete next to the finished one. It's worth noting that it is possible that these are some sort of low profile cloth/canvas or other decoy, but it has little to no vertical dimension, so paint is most likely.

PHOTO  2023 PLANET LABS INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION

What's also of interest is that the finished painted-on decoy has tires laying across its central wing and fuselage area, just like the real Tu-95 to the left of it. This is clearly added for realism in hopes the decoy will prove more convincing as the tires are now a common countermeasure that is used by some Russian Air Force aircraft while parked.

https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1699111798706745491?s=20 https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1700076213992133074?s=20

The painted decoys could have a number of any objectives. The primary one is likely to fool satellites and in effect disrupt any Ukrainian strike operations 'left of launch' (before they are even executed) by providing faulty targeting data. But this clearly will not work as even limited high-resolution commercial satellite imagery can clearly distinguish between the silhouettes and real aircraft. Using multiple intelligence sources, such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imagery (also available commercially), would make it clear that the target is not a three-dimensional object. Still, the tactic could work with low-resolution imaging satellites and we have seen a similar applications in the past . In other words, painting false silhouettes ramps is not new, it just is far less relevant than it was not very long ago. Still, it's not like Russia doesn't invest in antiquated countermeasures to a puzzling degree.

It may also be hoped that the 'false Bears' would confuse drone operators executing localized attacks, but that seems like a major reach in reality. Still, such attacks would ostensibly take place at night and in otherwise poor visibility to limit detection, and sorting out real from fake bombers with lower-end low-light sensors may be more challenging. The use of various paints with infrared reflective or absorbative properties can also be used to maximize the countermeasure's effect. In August, Ukrainian drone operators destroyed an Il-76 Candid heavy cargo aircraft and a Tu-22M Backfire bomber in localized drone attacks.

https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1697620205541753291 https://twitter.com/MarcinRogowsk14/status/1600194251538583553 https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1693238607417676133

It's possible, that like the tires, the painted on Bears could be aimed at confusing the infrared targeting sensors on standoff weaponry, like cruise missiles, that use autonomous image matching . How effective that may be is unclear, especially considering this would be a two dimensional object that would not benefit from the same decoy effects when viewed at various shallower angles compared to directly overhead.

The Tu-95 fleet, alongside the Russian Long Range Aviations Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-22M Backfire bombers, have launched hundreds of cruise missiles as the workhorses of Moscows air campaign against targets deep inside Ukraine.

Via Royal Air Force

They are also particularly valuable and near-impossible to replace. Russia's operational doctrine also means there are few hangars on its bomber bases to conceal these aircraft. As such, they are left in the elements and exposed to targeting and subsequent destruction via aerial attack.

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1699994858277183731?s=20

It thus makes sense why Russia would take extra steps, no matter how fleeting, to limit the bombers' potential exposure on the ground. Last month it was tires. This month it is painting Tu-95 silhouettes on the tarmac.

Contact the author: stetson.payne@thewarzone.com
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A nine-count indictment has been filed against a Texas man for operating a mail scheme attempting to defraud FedEx out of more than $400,000, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

According to the indictment, Robert W. Clark, 58, of Travis County, Texas has been charged with nine counts of mail fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341.

The press release states that each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, and a maximum of three years of supervised release following incarceration.

From December 2019 to September 2022, Clark allegedly used mail services and FedEx drop boxes to ship 67 packages. He later claimed that the packages had been lost, and filed claims with FedEx seeking reimbursement for the items.

Reports say Clark used the physical address of the mail forwarding service and a fake name for the sender. He created the appearance of sending packages from Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Washington state.

The indictment says the packages were deposited in FedEx drop boxes located in Texas and shipped through the companys hub in Memphis.

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Clark submitted fake claims to FedEx stating that the value of each package was $8,000 or more. The claims checks were sent to Clark and deposited into a bank account he controlled.

Court records show FedEx paid claims on 44 of the 67 packages Clark generated in the scheme.

Clark was arrested in Texas and had his first appearance in the Western District of Tennessee on Sept. 25. His next court appearance is scheduled before the U.S. District Court Judge Mark S. Norris on Oct. 9. at the Federal Building in Memphis.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. Assistant States Attorney Joe Murphy is prosecuting the case on behalf of the federal government, according to the press release.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
The News

Congress is on track to narrowly avert a government shutdown after Speaker Kevin McCarthy surprisingly bucked his partys right flank to pass a short term funding bill with one day to spare.

The House approved a stopgap measure aimed at funding the government at current levels through mid-November in a robustly bipartisan 335-91 vote. It also included FAA reauthorization, federal disaster relief and an extension of federal flood insurance. The Senate approved it in an 88-9 vote hours later.

McCarthy touted the measure as a victory, and brushed off threats from conservative hardliners to oust him from the speakership for relying on Democratic support to pass it.

Its alright if Republicans and Democrats join together, McCarthy said at a press conference. If someone wants to make a motion against me, bring it. There has to be an adult in the room.

Only a day earlier, House GOP leaders failed to muster enough support for a party-line stopgap measure, and 21 Republicans joined House Democrats to sink it. Leadership reportedly told the conference this morning that there were not 218 Republican votes for any of several plans to fund the government, which left them with little choice but to put forward a bill that could attract bipartisan support or risk taking the blame for a shutdown.

The legislation did not include additional aid for Ukraine favored by many in both parties, nor stiff border restrictions championed by House conservatives. It also dropped steep spending cuts to safety-net programs included in earlier House Republican bills.

Know More

As lawmakers went to Capitol Hill on Saturday, it appeared likely that the government was going to shut down as short-term spending proposals from House GOP leaders crashed into fierce resistance from a small band of conservative Republicans.

House GOP lawmakers gathered for a Saturday morning conference meeting to forge a path ahead, and many were resigned to the governments lights shutting off starting 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

I dont think anybody thought we were going to fund the government today at 10 a.m. this morning, a senior House GOP aide told Semafor. There was no plan.

There was little optimism on the Senate side that they could provide them with a way out, either. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. predicted Thursday that even a best case scenario would require a brief shutdown while House Republicans worked through seemingly intractable divisions.

But in a shock reversal, McCarthy put forward a so-called clean stopgap funding measure after previously laboring to appease Republicans on the right, some of whom had previously opposed his speakership and even suggested they might seek to end it now the current funding conflict.

It wasnt without some unexpected drama. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-NY., came under investigation after pulling a fire alarm in the run-up to the House vote at a moment when Democrats were scrambling to delay its passage to give the Senate time to act on a rival bill. The Congressman suggested it was unintentional, but now faces an investigation and calls from some Republicans for his expulsion.

In the end, every House Democrat but one sided with McCarthy in passing the short-term budget while 90 Republicans voted against it. Still, the majority of Republicans voted yes, meaning McCarthy didnt violate an informal GOP prohibition on leaders bringing up bills without most of the conferences support. That could bolster his hand against any attempt by antagonists like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. to oust him.

Were on the path to avoiding an extreme MAGA Republican shutdown, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. It was a victory for the American people and a complete and total surrender by right-wing extremists who throughout the year have tried to hijack the Congress.

While the vote buys Congress some more time, it still only covers 47 days of funding. Ukraine aid, which Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate fiercely support, remains in limbo amid fierce conservative opposition in the House.

We have to persuade our Republican colleagues we are getting to zero hour, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. told Axios.

Many senators were concerned about leaving the issue unresolved, especially after a visit from Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy just this month to appeal for help as the countrys forces struggle to regain territory captured by Russia. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. briefly threatened to hold up the final vote over the lack of Ukraine funding, but withdrew his objection when Senate leadership agreed to give some public assurance they would prioritize passing the spending separately.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who consulted with House conservatives throughout the process, told reporters that the Ukraine conversation ultimately had to be separated from must-pass domestic priorities, like disaster relief for his state after Hurricane Idalia.

We should be taking care of people in Florida and around the country before we do Ukraine aid, Scott said.
With just hours to go before a shutdown, Congress passed a 45-day stopgap funding measure Saturday, after the House and Senate cleared a bill that will keep the government running until mid-November.

President Joe Biden said he would sign the bill in a statement Saturday, but said he hoped Congress would pass additional funding for Ukraine soon.

The bill will continue spending at 2023 levels and includes additional funds for disaster relief. It passed the House in a 335-91 vote, and the Senate in an 88-9 vote.

The measure is meant to give lawmakers enough time to pass the 12 appropriations bills necessary to fund the federal government for fiscal year 2024, which starts Sunday, Oct. 1.

So far, the House has passed four appropriations bills, while the Senate has not passed any. Both chambers are almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, with Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans controlling the House. This has made legislating difficult for leaders of both chambers.

Utahs three congressmen and Sen. Mitt Romney voted in favor of the bill, while Sen. Mike Lee opposed the measure.

Lee sent a statement to the Deseret News Saturday night explaining his vote against the bill.

I am glad that Congress reached an agreement to fund the federal government without throwing additional billions of taxpayer dollars overseas, and I am proud we defeated far worse proposals on the table, he said. But as I have said for years, 11th hour Continuing Resolutions with no spending reforms, no border security, and no check on disastrous unconstitutional policies are how we find ourselves in this annual crisis in the first place, and I will not vote to perpetuate an intentionally broken system. I look forward to engaging in the real appropriations process we have been promised by Speaker (Kevin) McCarthy.

Ukraine funding excluded

The House bill does not include billions of dollars in additional aid for Ukraine. The Senate was working on a resolution that included additional funding for Ukraine, but McCarthy said late Friday the Senate bill would not receive enough support to pass the House.

The lack of Ukraine aid in the House bill almost stopped it from clearing the Senate. Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado was reportedly angry about the exclusion of aid for Ukraine, and he held up the vote on the bill for hours, late into the night on Saturday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was reportedly in favor of passing a resolution that included aid for Ukraine, but after speaking with Republican senators he agreed to move forward with the House bill.

Several senators, including Lee, said the additional Ukraine aid made it impossible for them to support the measure.

Both McConnell and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke in favor of the continuing resolution before the Senate vote Saturday night. Schumer also said he and McConnell have agreed to continue fighting for more economic and security aid for Ukraine, while McConnell said he was confident the Senate will pass further urgent assistance for Ukraine later this year.

House debates measure

After a week where Republican infighting in the House was on display, McCarthy tried to shift blame for the last-minute vote from the House to the Senate at a press conference Saturday. He pointed out the Senate has yet to pass any appropriations bills.

McCarthy also criticized Biden, who he said hasnt been trying to avert a shutdown, but rather has been traveling around the country.

The House is going to act so government will not shut down. We will put a clean funding stopgap on the floor to keep government open for 45 days for the House and Senate to get their work done, he said.

In the House Saturday, Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a long speech on the floor to stall for time. He said Republicans hadnt given his caucus enough time to look over the 71-page funding measure. He repeatedly blamed extreme MAGA Republicans for taking the country to the brink of a shutdown.

But in the end, the bill passed the House in a 335-91 vote. Among Republicans the vote was 126-90, while Democrats voted in favor of the bill 209-1. Seven members didnt vote.

McCarthy had offered several continuing resolutions over the past few weeks, including some that cut spending and increased funds for border security, but there were not enough votes in his conference to pass those bills because of infighting in the Republican conference.

Utah congressmen support bill

All three Utah Republican congressmen  Reps. Blake Moore of the 1st District, John Curtis of the 3rd District and Burgess Owens of the 4th District  voted in favor of the bill.

In a video comment shared with the Deseret News, Curtis said there was good news and bad news after passage of the bill.

The good news, he said, was the bill passed the House, which gives us a little breathing room to finish our appropriation bills.

But, the bad news, he said, is some Republicans overplayed their hand.

Several days ago, we had a chance to vote on a very similar continuing resolution that would have included border provisions. Almost every one of our wishlist items for the border would have been in this continuing resolution, which would have forced the Senate to deal with the issue, he said. And I think we would have made  we may not have received everything we wanted  but I think we would have had a lot of what we wanted in that.

Curtis said he approached one of the Republican holdouts Saturday morning and suggested they pass a bill to dock the pay of members of Congress by 5% for every month they werent able to complete the appropriations process. He said the person looked him in the eye and said, Im not going to dock my own pay.

Whats even more bothersome to me is those are the exact individuals that will go back to their districts and fundraise on the fact that they didnt vote for this continuing resolution, saying how great they are. Anyway, welcome to my life in Washington, he said.

.@RepJohnCurtis comments to @Deseret on House passage of a 45-day clean CR, supported by 126Rs and 209 Ds. While glad to avoid shutdown, Curtis laments failure of weeks earlier CR, filled with conservative priorities. Says House GOP holdouts overplayed their hand. #utpol pic.twitter.com/dSl5G8ZKdv  Brigham Tomco (@BrighamTomco) September 30, 2023

In a statement given to the Deseret News, Owens explained why he voted for the resolution even though he thought it was far from perfect.

Today I voted for a short-term, stop-gap funding measure to keep the government open, he said. This agreement is far from perfect but is a necessary step to pass our remaining appropriations bills through regular order without shutting down essential services that Americans depend on. While much work remains, House Republicans will continue fighting to secure the border and bring fiscal sanity back to Washington.

Moore, whose district is home to nearly all of the states federal workers, said in a statement to the Deseret News he was proud to vote for the resolution that will ensure the servicemen and women at Hill Air Force Base and the over 40,000 federal workers, uniformed personnel, and military dependents in my district continue to receive a paycheck for their work and service.

He said the way to lower spending is to pass appropriations bills that actually lower federal spending.

So far, House Republicans have passed 74% of our discretionary federal funding, prioritizing defense, veterans, and homeland security. We are the only chamber that has passed anything at all. I am committed to finishing the job and responsibly lowering our federal spending while ensuring the government stays open and works for the American people, Moore said.

Will McCarthy face a challenge as Speaker?

Some Republicans in the House, including Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, had suggested they would try to replace McCarthy as speaker if he supported a clean bill.

But McCarthy said Saturday, If somebody wants to remove me because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try. But I think this country is too important.

Bowman pulls fire alarm

In a strange turn of events, a photo surfaced of Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., allegedly pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon Building, one of the U.S. Capitol complex office buildings, reportedly to delay a vote to adjourn in the House. But ultimately, the vote proceeded.

A statement from Bowmans office after the incident said, Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion, according to Politico.

Rep Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in Cannon this morning. An investigation into why it was pulled is underway. - Chairman Bryan Steil  House Admin. Committee GOP (@HouseAdmin) September 30, 2023
With just hours to go before a potential government shutdown, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a 45-day stop-gap measure.

As voted upon, and pending approval in the U.S. Senate, a government shutdown would be delayed through Nov. 17 as both chambers of the U.S. Congress work to keep the government funded and running.

The vote in the House would keep funding and spending by the federal government at its current levels while a new deal is reached.

While the vote passed with 335 votes for and 91 against, the Republican caucus members were split during the vote.

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Just one Democrat, Mike Quigley of Illinois, voted against the stop-gap, putting the Democratic vote at 209 to 1.

For Republicans, the split was less dramatic, with 126 to 90 to approve the stop-gap.

State-by-state, each congressional delegation was divided on whether or not to let the government shut down, including Georgia.

Of the Peach States 14 members of Congress, four Republican members voted to keep the government running along with their five Democrat colleagues, while the remaining five Republicans from Georgia voted against the stop-gap measure.

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Heres how the vote went for U.S. Representatives from Georgia:

Yes No Buddy Carter (R) Rich McCormick (R) Sanford Bishop (D) Andrew Clyde (R) Drew Ferguson (R) Mike Collins (R) Hank Johnson (D) Barry Loudermilk (R) Nikema Williams (D) Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) Lucy McBath (D) Austin Scott (R) Rick Allen (R) David Scott (D)

The bipartisan continuing resolution passed by the House today isnt perfect, but it prevents a government shutdown for 45 days, Rep. Austin Scott (R) said. Congress will return to Washington on Monday to continue our work to pass responsible appropriations bills.

Explaining her vote to avert a shutdown, Democratic Rep. Nikema Williams released a statement saying the Democratic Party had put people over politics to prevent a catastrophe in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Her statement reads in part:

Passing legislation to keep the government open is one of the most fundamental jobs of Congress. Thats why I voted yes, to keep the federal government open for the American people and prevent food from being taken out of the mouths of women and children, Williams wrote.

Should the government shut down due to the budget impasse in Congress, a large number of programs and workers would be forced to wait to reopen, or even get paid. In Georgia, that means national parks, government personnel, and other programs would have to close down or work without pay until funding returns.

The next step in the process to potentially avert a government shutdown is in the U.S. Senate.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President-Designate and UAE's Special Envoy for Climate Change, talks during the Climate Future Week at Museum of the Future in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. The Emirati president-designate for the upcoming United Nations COP28 climate conference offered a full-throated defense Saturday of his nation hosting the talks, dismissing those just go on the attack without knowing anything, without knowing who we are. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The Emirati president-designate for the upcoming United Nations COP28 climate conference offered a full-throated defense Saturday of his nation hosting the talks, dismissing those who just go on the attack without knowing anything, without knowing who we are.

Climate activists roundly criticized Sultan al-Jaber's appointment as the president-designate of the talks because he serves as the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., which is seeking to boost its production of carbon-emitting crude oil and natural gas.

Back before a quiet, hometown crowd and an amenable moderator after attending the U.N. General Assembly, al-Jaber pointed to his 20 years of work on renewable energy as a sign that he and the Emirates represent the best chance to reach a consensus to address climate change worldwide.

The world only, for whatever reason, views us as an oil-and-gas nation, he said. We have moved beyond oil and gas 20 years ago. We embraced the energy transition 20 years ago.

He added: We dont become passionate or ideological or so emotional. Were business-oriented. Were results-driven.

Al-Jaber, a 50-year-old longtime climate envoy, is a trusted confidant of UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Hes been behind tens of billions of dollars spent or pledged toward renewable energy in the federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula  but also leads an oil company that pumps some 4 million barrels of crude a day and hopes to expand to 5 million daily.

Addressing the world's reliance on crude oil, al-Jaber issued a challenge to the audience listening to him at Dubai's visually striking Museum of the Future: Tell him how to immediately stop the use of all fossil fuels.

Some are promoting the fact that we can just unplug the world from the current energy system and with a flick of a switch, we can just initiate a new energy system, he said. That doesn't work. It won't work.  So we need to sober up and be more realistic and more practical.

But the fact that al-Jaber repeatedly defended himself and the country from activists' criticism is incredibly telling in the Emirates, an autocratic nation that while a key U.S. business and military ally still tightly controls speech, bans political parties and criminalizes labor strikes.

As the profile of the UAE and Dubai in particular has grown in recent decades, so too have its ambitions abroad, drawing increasing scrutiny of its involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen and actions backing fellow autocrats in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring.

Al-Jaber described his nation as having the political will under its leadership to push forward.

His colleague on stage, the UAE's U.N. Climate Change High-Level Champion Razan al-Mubarak, also sought to call climate change denial dead. But a recent Republican presidential debate in the U.S. saw candidates roundly rejecting the notion that humans are causing climate change, with other right-wing politicians worldwide similarly dismissive.

One important target of the COP will be making sure that a global pledge to try to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times becomes a reality, al-Jaber said. Scientists say that in order to achieve that goal, emissions need to be halved by 2030 and reach net zero by mid-century, meaning all emissions are either slashed or canceled out somehow  setting an incredible challenge ahead of the talks for the UAE officials like al-Jaber shepherding the negotiations.

Time has come for us to take on this responsibility, but we do need the world to understand," he said. We want all of those likeminded partners to step up, to up their game, to engage, to be more forthcoming, more forward leaning, rather than just sitting back, pointing fingers and shooting.

Each year, the country hosting the U.N. negotiations known as the Conference of the Parties  where COP gets its name  nominates a person to chair the talks. Hosts typically pick a veteran diplomat as the talks can be difficult to steer between competing nations and their interests.

The nominees position as COP president is confirmed by delegates at the start of the talks, usually without objections. However, activists ire over al-Jabers selection could see a turbulent start to the negotiations.

Al-Jaber described the efforts at reaching out to nations, activists and industry ahead of COP28 as unprecedented. However, his remarks underscored what is likely a growing irritation of the criticism.

We simply engaged, listened and we did not leave any stone unturned, he said, before adding that some "chose very early on to just go on the attack without knowing anything, without knowing who we are, without knowing who am I, without knowing what we bring to the table.

COP28 will be held at Dubais Expo City from Nov. 30 through Dec. 12.
Ukraine is adding an extra piece of armor to its British Challenger 2 tanks to protect a weak spot.

The front of the tank's hull is less protected because it was designed for defensive combat.

A Challenger 2 was reportedly destroyed in September after a missile hit another weak spot

Ukraine appears to have added extra armor to its British-made Challenger 2 to protect a weak spot on the 69-ton battle tank.

A video shared on social media appears to show a Challenger 2 tank with a metal grate over the "glacis," the sloped section at the front of the tank's hull, Forbes reported.

While the tanks are well-protected with Dorchester armor, which a military expert previously told Insider is among the best in the world, they do have some vulnerability to attacks.

The glacis is weaker than the rest of the tank because the vehicle was designed for defensive rather than offensive warfare, Forbes said.

It meant the glacis would be underground while fighting from a defensive fortification.

While the British Army has in recent decades added bolt-on armor to the glacis, they did not appear to offer this extra piece of kit to Ukraine, per Forbes.

The UK sent just 14 of the powerful tanks to Ukraine in January, used exclusively by Ukraine's powerhouse 82nd Air Assault Brigade.

The brigade is fighting offensively in southern Ukraine, often using their Challenger 2s as long-range fire support, and so the glacis needed reinforcement. Another weak spot is the turret, which also has minimal protection, Frobes noted.

In early September, footage appeared to show the first, and so far only, Challenger 2 tank to be destroyed in Ukraine.

According to Forbes, the tank was immobilized after striking a mine, but the four-person Challenger crew evacuated safely. It was then hit and wrecked by a Russian Kornet anti-tank missile slightly above the vulnerable turret.

Military analyst Taras Chmut recently told The Wall Street Journal that Western-made armor is failing in Ukraine because it wasn't designed to sustain a conflict of this intensity.

Other analysts have noted that quantity is more important than quality when supplying weaponry to Ukraine, including Challenger 2 tanks.

"The Leopard is not as good a tank one-on-one, but I'll take 400 Leopard over 10 Challenger 2," Justin Crump told Insider in January.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Chinese consumer drones are essential to Ukraine's war effort.

But recent restrictions placed by China on exporting drones have complicated things.

Ukraine is now trying to source consumer drones and their parts from elsewhere  no easy task.

China implemented a new rule earlier this month restricting the export of civilian drone materials, citing concerns about their use in foreign wars.

The move came more than a year after DJI, a major Chinese technology company, stopped selling drones to Russia and Ukraine. DJI also cited concerns that the two countries were using their products for military operations.

It was true. They were. For Ukraine, these low-cost, Chinese-made drones have become essential to the war effort. Ukrainians retrofit the consumer drones in all kinds of ways so they can deliver added payloads on Russian forces and territory. Ukraine burns through thousands of them every month.

So the new restrictions have hurt Ukraine's ability to obtain the tech they need, widening Russia's advantage as winter approaches. Nearly one month after the export restrictions went into effect, Ukraine is now scrambling to source consumer drones and their parts from anywhere they can.

"At night we do bombing missions, and during the day we think about how to get new drones," Oles Maliarevych, a Ukrainian officer who helps supply drones for his unit, told The New York Times.

One Ukrainian, the Times reported, brought back a couple from a recent trip to Boston, Mass.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The slow progress of Ukraine's counteroffensive led to criticism of Western military training.

Some Ukrainian troops said the training didn't reflect the war they faced against Russian forces.

That has raised doubts about whether Western militaries are trained for the right kinds of war.

The slow progress of the counteroffensive Ukraine launched in early June led to criticism that Ukrainian troops were failing to properly apply the training they received from Western militaries.

But what if the problem isn't with the Ukrainians but rather with Western tactics? Ukraine's woes may be an omen of what might happen if NATO armies have to fight without ample air support and logistics.

Ukraine's counteroffensive was never going to be easy. Russian forces spent months building up their defenses, using a long-standing and still effective Soviet-era approach to fortifications and adapting new tactics, such as bigger and more concentrated minefields.

The notion that Ukrainian troops would be able to replicate Western-style tactics after a few weeks of training  and discard decades of rigid, top-down Soviet-style command and control  was always a stretch. Learning a new way of war is tough enough in peacetime, let alone in the midst of an offensive against some of the most formidable fortifications on Earth.

A British Royal Marine leading training for Ukrainian army recruits at a base in southern England in June. HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images

Yet that Western training, while not bad in terms of teaching basic soldiering skills, doesn't appear to have been well-suited for the war in Ukraine, as Ukrainian soldiers who trained in Britain told the UK-based media outlet openDemocracy.

In particular, their instruction didn't address how to deal with obstacles such as trenches, minefields, barbed wire, antitank ditches, and dragon's teeth. While Ukraine has made progress in penetrating the first and deadliest of Russia's three fortified lines, these defenses have slowed the advance and caused heavy casualties.

In the early days of the counteroffensive, Ukrainian assault units went in NATO-style: Armored columns equipped with German-made Leopard 2 tanks and US-made Bradley armored troop carriers were supposed to breach Russian defenses quickly and penetrate into rear areas. Instead, they were pinned down in minefields and picked off by Russian artillery and attack helicopters.

Ukraine eventually junked those Western tactics in favor of a playbook from the Western Front circa 1917. Methodical advances by small units of soldiers on foot to grab a few dozen or a few hundred yards at a time in "bite then hold" attacks while artillery hammers trenches to keep Russian heads down and interdict Russian reserves and supplies.

Some argue Ukraine lacks the equipment to implement Western doctrine properly, but Western militaries themselves would probably struggle to implement that doctrine under such conditions.

Ukrainian soldiers preparing to clean the gun barrel of a Leopard 1 A5 tank at a training area in Germany in August. Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/picture alliance via Getty Images

European nations  such as Germany, which had a powerful army during the Cold War  have reduced their defense budgets over the past 30 years, leaving their militaries with tanks and aircraft that can't function and munitions stockpiles insufficient for more than a few days of intense combat.

The US military is shifting its focus to competition with powerful rivals, namely Russia and China, but is doing so with aircraft and ships facing maintenance backlogs and parts shortages that leave officials worrying about whether they're ready for that kind of fight.

Critics point to the failure of Western military thinkers to adapt training and tactics to a changing world. For example, breaching minefields with explosive charges and mine-clearing vehicles was a technique that worked in World War II but may not work in an era when an enemy can quickly put a minefield in place using artillery shells and drones and then cover it with drone-guided long-range munitions that disrupt breaching operations.

Behind all this is a deeper worry: The West is prepared for the wrong war, lingering on its experiences during the two decades its militaries fought insurgencies and terrorists. Indeed, Ukrainian trainees told openDemocracy that their instructors frequently taught them lessons based on their experiences in the Middle East, such as how to identify insurgents among civilians.

The commander of a Ukrainian marine battalion told The New York Times he had argued with his US trainers whose opponents in Iraq and Afghanistan were "not like the Russians." The marines even repainted their US-provided Humvees, covering the desert camouflage with green paint better suited for Ukraine.

A Ukrainian military Humvee in the Zaporizhzhia Region in July. Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Pentagon has belatedly realized its focus on fighting low-tech insurgents has led the skills it needs for large-scale mechanized warfare to atrophy. For years, highly trained tank and artillery crews were relegated to checkpoint duty. In Iraq and Afghanistan, US and NATO forces could count on support from aircraft operating with near impunity against foes whose heaviest weapons were IEDs and small arms.

During those campaigns against terrorism and insurgents, many resources were focused on developing equipment, such as counter-IED systems, that would have limited utility in the kind of mechanized warfare the US military is likely to face in the future.

Should the US and its allies battle Russia or China, it would be a large-scale conventional clash against a well-armed adversary with comparable or superior equipment  including one-way attack drones, field artillery, thickets of surface-to-air missiles and hypersonic weapons, not to mention jamming, cyber warfare, and information operations.

Are Western armies adequately trained to function if their communications are blocked, their command posts are knocked out, and their movements are under constant surveillance by drones? Can they breach a fortified line if their combat engineers have been destroyed by artillery?

Most important, how well will NATO troops perform if their airpower is neutralized by enemy interceptors and antiaircraft missiles or if they face attacks from enemy aircraft, which the US military hasn't endured at scale since World War II? Already, the US Air Force is contemplating how it will fight when it cannot achieve sustained air superiority.

Ukrainian Territorial Defense troops training on trench-storming and antimine tactics in July. Scott Peterson/Getty Images

Short of fighting a major war, it's not clear how the US and its allies can answer those questions, but the indications are that preparation for this future will be difficult.

Despite the success of cheap drones and modern cruise missiles, the war in Ukraine has shown that old-fashioned weapons  armor, artillery, mines, and mine-clearing systems  are still the backbone of mass warfare. The lethality of these weapons and the attritional nature of the conflict suggest nations will have to accept heavy losses in equipment and personnel.

Of the many lessons Ukraine's experience offers, perhaps the most valuable is being able to adapt. Many experts expected Russia to conquer Ukraine within days of invading, but Ukraine defied those expectations by finding ways to use its limited resources  and to exploit Russian vulnerabilities  so well that it not only halted the invasion but recaptured swathes of territory and forced Russian troops to hunker down as it counterattacks.

The price has been brutal, and victory is uncertain, but it shows that those who best adapt  by shifting tactics, embracing new technology, and doing it quickly  are most likely to prevail.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master's in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Photo : Pool/Getty Images)

Bail bondsman Scott Hall becomes the first defendant in the Georgia election subversion case to plead guilty to charges filed against him.

Scott Hall, a 59-year-old bail bondsman, became the first defendant in the Georgia election subversion case to plead guilty with prosecutors on Friday.

He is one of the 19 defendants in the Fulton County, Georgia case regarding alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The list of individuals charged includes former United States President Donald Trump.

Scott Hall Pleads Guilty

Hall changed his plea from not guilty and instead pleaded guilty in Fulton County court to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties. Officials sentenced the defendant to five years probation, a $5,000 fine, and 200 hours of community service.

The indictment said that the defendant was alleged to have helped with the unlawful breach of election equipment and theft of voter data in Coffee County. Hall initially faced seven counts in all, six of which related to those efforts.

The counts that Hall pleaded to on Friday are different from the seven counts that he originally faced. He is now pleading under the Georgia First Offenders Act and his attorneys said that the misdemeanor crimes that their client pleaded guilty to are not "crimes of moral turpitude," as per CBS News.

The defendant had to give a recorded statement to the district attorney's office, which he did earlier on Friday. He was also required to write a letter of apology to the citizens of the state of Georgia for his actions.

Under Hall's plea agreement, he is barred from communicating with any witnesses or co-defendants in the Georgia election subversion case. Additionally, he is not allowed to speak with the media until all of the cases are resolved.

The judge handling the case told the court that this was not a matter that was scheduled for that day, adding that he was told by both parties that they wanted to have an impromptu court hearing. It was not clear what kind of information Hall may be able to provide to the government regarding the case and potentially other defendants.

Read Also: New York Authorities Arrest Husband of Bronx Day Care Owner Over Child's Fentanyl Exposure Case

Georgia Election Subversion Case

The defendant allegedly spent hours inside a restricted area of the election office when voting systems were breached, which was connected to efforts by pro-Trump conspiracy theorists to find voter fraud, according to CNN.

Hall testified before the special grand jury in the Fulton County case and acknowledged that he gained access to a voting machine at the time. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was the one who brought the sprawling racketeering case last month.

She accuses Hall, Trump, and 17 others of participating in a broad conspiracy to overturn the election results in the Peach State. On Friday, prosecutors in Willis' office signaled that they could soon extend a plea deal to one or both of the two defendants who are heading to trial, lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell.

The latest development in the case could deal a major blow to Powell and comes just weeks before her trial date. Judge Scott McAfee announced in a separate hearing on Friday morning that 450 potential jurors would be called to the courthouse on Oct. 20 to fill out a questionnaire ahead of Powell and Chesebro's trial, said the New York Times.

Related Article: Judge Rules Donald Trump, Sons Liable for Fraud, Lied About Net Worth in $250-Million Lawsuit

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Children who fled Ukraine for EU countries following Russia's all-out war struggle with language barriers, disrupted education, and psychological trauma, the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) reported on Sept. 29.

"Many of these children live in perpetual uncertainty," said FLA Director Michael O'Flaherty.

In their most recent bulletin, FRA said that children displaced by war still face difficulties in accessing adequate health care and social services.

Language barriers were listed as the primary obstacle in accessing care.

FRA also said that EU member states did not have a unified approach to registering displaced persons, including children.

"No comprehensive national data are available on the number of children displaced in the EU Member States," the report said, apart from figures from Eurostat showing that 1.3 million children have been granted temporary protections by EU nations.

Read also: As their kids find refuge abroad, Ukrainian fathers struggle with separation

The FRA report found that Ukrainian children also suffered from interruptions to education. According to FRA's research, only half a million children were enrolled in school for the 2022-2023 academic year.

In addition, FLA found that some disabled Ukrainian children experienced challenges in accessing care due to problems with obtaining disability certification in Ukraine.

"In their short lives, [displaced Ukrainian children] have borne witness to a global pandemic, the violent invasion of their country, and a journey to a new country," O'Flaherty said.

"They have been separated from family members, have had to learn a new language, understand a new culture, and make new friends, all the while not knowing how long this precarious chapter will last."

Read also: Abducting the future: How Ukrainian parents fight to rescue their children from Russia







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Ukraines Defence Forces clashed with Russian occupation forces 44 times over the course of the past 24 hours.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, information as of 06:00 on 30 September

Quote: "Ukraines Defence Forces are on the defensive in Ukraine's east and south, continuing their offensive actions on the Melitopol and Bakhmut fronts, killing Russian soldiers, liberating the temporarily occupied territories step by step, and consolidating their positions."

Details: Forty-four combat clashes were recorded over the past day.

In total, Russian forces launched six missile strikes and 56 airstrikes, and fired 40 times from multiple-launch rocket systems on the positions of Ukrainian troops and on civilian targets.

Russian terrorist attacks have resulted in deaths and injuries among the civilian population. Private homes and other civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged.

In addition, the Russians attacked Ukraine using Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones overnight.

Air strikes were carried out in: Petropavlivka, Ivanivka, Pishchane, Senkove and Kopanky (Kharkiv Oblast); Novoselivske and Nevske (Luhansk Oblast); Zarichne, Spirne, Serebrianka, Bohdanivka, Krasnohorivka, Marinka, Vuhledar, Velyka Novosilka, Urozhaine and Staromaiorske (Donetsk Oblast); Novodarivka, Robotyne, Novodanylivka and Orikhiv (Zaporizhzhia Oblast); and Beryslav and Olhivka (Kherson Oblast).

Over 100 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts came under artillery fire.

In the area of responsibility of the Pivnich (North) Operational Strategic Group on the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts, Russian forces maintain their military presence in the border areas, actively conducting sabotage activities in the border areas to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to threatened fronts, and increasing the density of mine barriers along the state border of Ukraine in Belgorod Oblast.

In the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group on the Kupiansk and Lyman fronts, Russian forces did not conduct offensive (assault) actions. On the Bakhmut front, the Russians tried to regain lost ground in the area of Klishchiivka, Donetsk Oblast, but failed.

In the area of responsibility of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group on the Avdiivka, Marinka and Shakhtarsk front, the Russians launched 20 unsuccessful attacks in the areas of Tonenke, Marinka, Novomykhailivka, and Staromaiorske in Donetsk Oblast. They also unsuccessfully tried to regain their lost position southwest of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast.

On the Zaporizhzhia front, Russian forces tried to recover their lost position near the settlements of Robotyne and Verbove in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, but failed.

Ukraines Defence Forces continue their offensive actions on the Melitopol front and offensive (assault) actions on the Bakhmut front, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on Russian forces, and exhausting them along the entire contact line.

In the area of responsibility of the Odesa Operational Strategic Group on the Kherson front, Ukraines defence forces continue to conduct counter-battery operations, destroy storage points and inflict successful hits on Russia's rear.

During the past day, the Ukrainian Air Force inflicted 11 strikes on clusters of Russian personnel, weapons and military equipment, and two strikes on Russian anti-aircraft missile systems.

Units from Rocket Forces and Artillery targeted three clusters of Russian manpower, two anti-aircraft missile systems, 13 artillery pieces, one Russian ammunition storage point, and a Russian electronic warfare station.

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!
At least 100,000 people have now fled the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karbakh  more than four-fifths of the population  since Azerbaijan reclaimed the territory in a lightening offensive, authorities in neighboring Armenia said.

The rapid exodus has prompted the United Nations to send its first mission to the territory in about 30 years.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said the UN team on the ground would identify the humanitarian needs for both people remaining and the people that are on the move.

Though internationally seen as part of Azerbaijan, the Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karbakh had spent decades under the control of a separatist, de facto government until Azerbaijans victory last week. The former breakaway republic will cease to exist as of next year.

Vehicles carrying refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh head toward the Armenian border on September 25, 2023. - David Ghahramanyan/Reuters

Azerbaijan has long been clear about the choice confronting Karabakh Armenians: Stay and accept Azerbaijani citizenship, or leave.

As of Saturday morning, 100,417 people had been forcibly displaced, the Armenian prime ministers spokeswoman, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, told reporters.

Fears of punitive actions

Armenian authorities have responded to the outflux of people by asking the International Court of Justice, a judicial arm of the UN, to tell Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops  citing fears of punitive actions.

They requested the court order Azerbaijan to withdraw all military and law-enforcement personnel from all civilian establishments in Nagorno-Karabakh, while refraining from taking any actions directly or indirectly that would have the effect of displacing the remaining ethnic Armenians or preventing those who fled from returning.

Azerbaijan should also allow people to leave the region without any hindrance if they wanted to, the Armenian authorities demanded.

Armenia also asked the court to direct Azerbaijan to grant the UN and the Red Cross access to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan should refrain from taking punitive actions against the current or former political representatives or military personnel of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian authorities said.

Commanders detained

The appeal comes as Azerbaijani state media reported Friday that the security services in the country had detained two former commanders of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakhs military.

Loven Mnatsakanyan and Davit Manukyan were intercepted while attempting to cross from Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia via the Lachin Corridor, the one road connecting the landlocked enclave to Armenia.

Mnatsakanyan, who reportedly served as defense minister from 2015 to 2018, was arrested Friday and taken to the Azebaijani capital of Baku, according to state media. He was accused of illegally entering its territory.

Manukyan, who reportedly served as the former deputy commander of Nagorno-Karbakhs armed forces, was detained Wednesday, Azerbaijani state media reported.

He was accused of engaging in terrorism, setting up illegal armed groups, illegal possession of a firearm, and illegally entering Azerbaijan, though no evidence was presented to support the claims.

A video published by Azerbaijans State Security Service showing Manukyan in Azerbaijani detention could not be independently verified by CNN.

The announcement of the arrests came after the indictment of prominent Nagorno-Karabakh politician and businessman Ruben Vardanyan on multiple charges in Azerbaijan Thursday after being detained while trying to cross into Armenia the day before, according to state media citing the Azerbaijani State Security Service.

A former Minister of State of the self-proclaimed republic, Vardanyan is accused of financing terrorism, participating in the creation and activities of illegal armed groups, and illegally crossing Azerbaijani borders, according to state media. Azerbaijan has not presented evidence to support its claims.

On Thursday, local politician David Babayan, an adviser to Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of the self-styled Republic of Artsakh, wrote on Telegram that he would hand himself over to Azerbaijan.

My failure to appear, or worse, my escape, will cause serious harm to our long-suffering nation, to many people, and I, as an honest person, hard worker, patriot and Christian, cannot allow this, Babayan wrote.

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United Way of Henderson County celebrates 70 years

United Way of Henderson County celebrated its 70th anniversary with approximately 175 people attending an event at Trailside Brewery on Sept. 26, according to a news release.

Founded in September of 1953, United Way has partnered with individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations through the years to raise over $60 million to help improve education, health, financial stability and basic needs in Henderson County, the release said.

Denise Cumbee Long, left, posed with 2023 Distinguished Award recipients (from left) Barbara Platz, Dave Witte accepting for Jan Witte and Barbara Volk at the United Way celebration event on Sept. 26.

During the program, former board members, staff, and volunteers were recognized. Three awards were announced during the evening.

The Rob and Ginger Cranford Community Service Award, sponsored by Morrow Insurance Company, honored Jan Witte for exceptional community service. Witte was a former United Way board member and volunteer who died in December of 2022. The Edward C. Brisley, Jr. Award, sponsored by Ken Adams at Edward Jones, was presented to Barbara Platz, a volunteer at United Way of Henderson County for over 20 years, including 12 years as a member of the Board. The Community Champion Award was presented to Barbara Volk, mayor of Hendersonville, for her longstanding civic engagement and support of the community.

United Way also announced campaign awards to companies that excelled in their support of the wider community through employee and corporate giving to United Way in 2022: Premier Cornerstone Award to Wilsonart, Power of Partnership Award toCummins-Meritor, Change Maker Award to Kimberly-Clark at Berkley Mills, and Live United Award to Publix.

Walk to End Alzheimer's set for Sept. 30

The Alzheimer's Assocation-Western Carolina Chapter is hosting the Walk to End Alzheimer's - Henderson County from 9 a.m.-noon Sept. 30, with the walk beginning at the Historic Henderson County Courthouse Square on Main Street.

The funds raised support the care, support and research programs of the Alzheimers Association. The walk will be held, rain or shine, the news release said. Registration begins at 9 a.m., with the opening ceremony and walk set to begin at 10 a.m.

Free public parking is at the Hendersonville Visitor's Center on South Main Street, one block from start of walk route.

Camera Club of Hendersonville to present exhibition

The Camera Club of Hendersonville will conduct an exhibition of member photographs from Oct. 2-13 at the Kaplan Auditorium of the Henderson County Public Library. These photographs are the result of the Clubs annual print competition of almost 100 images depicting North Carolina scenery, wildlife, architecture and people, according to a news release.

The Club, which has nearly 90 members and has been in existence for over 40 years, sponsors photography field trips, mentoring and monthly photo reviews to help members improve their photography skills. The Henderson County Public Library is located at 301 North Washington St. in Hendersonville. Because the Kaplan Auditorium is frequently scheduled for other purposes, visitors should plan their visit by checking the auditoriums schedule athttps://hendersonpl.libcal.com/space/139054. To learn more about the Camera Club of Hendersonville, visithttps://www.cameraclubofhendersonville.com/.

Meetings scheduled to discuss Saluda Grade Trail

Two public meetings have been scheduled on the Saluda Grade Trail. The first will be 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Inman Library in Inman, S.C., and the other will be at 5:30 p.m. at Polk County High School. The public is invited to drop in, learn more about the proposed trail and share their goals, ideas and concerns.

The Saluda Grade Trail is a proposed 31-mile rail trail that would follow the route of the historic Saluda Grade rail line. Along the way, it would run through Campobello, Inman, Landrum, Tryon, Saluda and Zirconia. The Saluda Grade Trail is being spearheaded by a coalition of nonprofits in North Carolina and South Carolina  Conserving Carolina, PAL: Play, Advocate, Live Well and Upstate Forever.

Education Foundation seeks nominees for 2024 Hall of Fame

The Henderson County Education Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2024 Henderson County Education Hall of Fame. The nomination window will be from now to Jan. 5.

The Education Hall of Fame honors individuals who have demonstrated measurable influence and made significant contributions to the growth and development of education in Henderson County. Nominees may include educators, teaching assistants, bus drivers, support personnel, administrators, board members, volunteers, donors and community leaders who have directly impacted education.

Nominations can be submitted at https://hcefnc.org/ourwork/halloffame/.

Carl Sandburg home writer has new book published

Tony Robles, who is a Hendersonville based poet and Carl Sandburg Home Writer in Residence, recently had a new book published by Redhawk Publications titled "Thrift Store Metamorphosis.

It is a new poetry collection by San Francisco-born and Hendersonville-based poet Robles. Following the success of his previous works, Robles writes about symbolism found within the walls of a local thrift shop along the Asheville Highway, according to a news release. Robles said he sees it as a gift to his new home of Hendersonville where he has resided for four years.

Inspired by his experiences while working at a thrift store during his graduate studies, Robles discovered a treasure trove of metaphors and symbols within the donated items. From crockpots to vintage clothing, old records to weathered books, each object unveiled a larger meaning, inviting the poet to explore the vibrant tapestry of the Hendersonville community.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: United Way celebrates 70 years; Alzheimer's walk, Camera Club exhibition, Saluda trail talks set
GeekWire Illustration / Shutterstock Photo / FTC HQ By Carol M. Highsmith, Public Domain

The outcome of the Federal Trade Commissions lawsuit against Amazon could be years away. But theres a chance were already seeing the impact of antitrust scrutiny in the e-commerce giants business decisions.

It may be difficult to separate the companys business motivations from potential attempts to preempt the structural relief pursued by the FTC in the case, which was filed this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

But as one example, Amazons decision to axe a previously planned 2% surcharge for its rebooted Seller-Fulfilled Prime program came just days before the FTC suit was filed  perhaps not coincidentally running counter to one of the core themes in the subsequent antitrust complaint.

Its part of a broader trend of Amazon making decisions and launching programs more favorable to sellers, says Jason Boyce, a former seller who has been critical of the companys policies and practices in the past.

Undoubtedly, theres some pressure coming from the FTC case, he says. Internal factors, including changes in Amazons executive leadership, may also be playing a role in the changes. But ultimately, he says, Amazon sellers dont care about the companys motivations, as long as it keeps listening and addressing their challenges.

Jason Boyce, Avenue7Media

Long term, Boyce says he hopes the case will help spur Amazon to do even more for sellers, rethinking its own far-flung corporate ambitions (i.e, brick-and-mortar stores, OneMedical, Project Kuiper, Prime Video, etc.), and applying its financial resources instead to restructuring the fundamental economics of its flagship e-commerce marketplace.

Sellers would love to see lower fees, he says. Id love to see it for my clients.  Maybe this pressure will help.

Amazons seller fees, and the impact on consumer prices, are core to the dispute between the FTC and the company.

The FTC says the companys tactics allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon.

Amazon says the practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazons store.

Thats one of the angles we explore on this weeks GeekWire Podcast, as we dive deep into the landmark lawsuit. Boyce, the co-author of The Amazon Jungle, host of the Day 2 podcast, and CEO of Avenue7Media. Boyce offers a unique perspective on Amazons practices and the broader e-commerce landscape, drawing from his 17 years of experience as a seller and his current role working with third-party sellers.

We discuss the implications of the lawsuit for Amazon, consumers, and sellers in the context of the changing dynamics of online retail. We also touch on Amazons evolving relationship with sellers, the challenges of omni-channel retail, and the rise of new online marketplace competitors.

Listen above, or subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

GeekWire coverage

Lawsuit: FTC et al vs. Amazon, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

New York Times: For Amazons Andy Jassy, a Cleanup Job Just Got a Lot Bigger

Reuters: Amazon drops planned merchant fee as FTC lawsuit looms

CNBC: FTC Chair Lina Khan: Amazon lawsuit is about protecting free and fair competition

More from GeekWire:
By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Saturday blocked a venture capital fund from moving forward with a program that awards funding to businesses run by Black women in a case by the anti-affirmative action activist behind the successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to race-conscious college admissions policies.

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a 2-1 vote granted a request by Edward Blum's American Alliance for Equal Rights to temporarily block Fearless Fund from considering applications for grants only from businesses led by Black women.

Blum's group asked the court to do so while it appealed a judge's Tuesday ruling denying it a preliminary injunction blocking Fearless Fund from moving forward with its "racially exclusive program." Grant applications were due Saturday.

The judges in the majority, U.S. Circuit Judges Robert Luck and Andrew Brasher, agreed with Blum's group that Fearless Fund's "racially exclusionary" grant program likely violated Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act, a Civil War-era law that bars racial bias in contracting.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash earlier this week concluded that under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment's free speech protections, Fearless Fund had a right to express its belief in the importance of Black women to the economy through charity.

But the appeals court's majority, comprised of two appointees of Republican former President Donald Trump, said the First Amendment "does not give the defendants the right to exclude persons from a contractual regime based on race."

Blum in a statement said his group was "gratified that the 11th Circuit has recognized the likelihood that the Fearless Strivers Grant Contest is illegal." Defense lawyers said they planned to seek further appellate review.

"We remain committed to defending our clients meaningful work," said Jason Schwartz, a lawyer for Fearless Fund.

Fearless Fund describes itself as "built by women of color for women of color."

The lawsuit is one of three that Blum's Texas-based group has filed since August challenging grant and fellowship programs designed by the venture capital fund and two law firms to help give Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority groups greater career opportunities.

A different group founded by Blum, who is white, was behind the litigation that led to the June decision, powered by the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority, declaring unlawful race-conscious student admissions policies used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

According to the Fearless Fund, businesses owned by Black women in 2022 received less than 1% of the $288 billion that venture capital firms deployed.

The fund aims to address that disparity, and counts JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and MasterCard as investors. It has invested nearly $27 million in 40 businesses led by minority women since its founding in 2019.

It also provides grants, and Blum's lawsuit took aim at its Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards Black women who own small businesses $20,000 in grants and other resources to grow their businesses.

The fund argued Blum was trying to "turn a seminal civil rights statute on its head" by suing it under a Civil War-era law enacted to protect formerly enslaved Black people from racial bias.

U.S. Circuit Judge Charles Wilson, an appointee of Democratic former President Bill Clinton, in a dissenting opinion on Saturday called it a "perversion" of Congress' intent to use that law against a remedial program like Fearless Fund's.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Andrea Ricci and Leslie Adler)
The Mississippi River is incredibly low for the second year in a row.

This threatens both the country's international supply chain and national drinking water access.

Authorities are battling against Mother Nature to try to keep the freshwater flowing.

A long stretch of drought in the Midwest has caused the Mississippi River to drop to abnormally low levels. It's the second year in a row the river has dipped so low.

The low river threatens cargo ships that carry 60% of all grains produced in the US. It also jeopardizes access to drinking water for many Louisiana residents.

In other words, it's a serious problem.

"It is the most important working river on Earth," Colin Wellenkamp, the executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, said in a town meeting per the Associated Press.

Mississippi barges, like this one seen from the St.Louis arch, transport more than half of our country's grain exports. Visions of America/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Problem 1: supplies of corn, wheat, and soy are in peril

The Mississippi River is a crucial route for farmers trying to move their corn, wheat, and soy across the country, which is especially important right now because it's harvest season.

Shipping crops on the Mississippi River is ideal because it's low-cost, efficient, and can handle huge amounts of cargo at a time. Just 15 barges lashed together can carry as much cargo as about 1,000 trucks, the AP reported.

But the river's low levels are causing delays. It's forcing barges to lighten their loads so they carry less cargo. It's also narrowing the river, causing barge backups, per the AP.

The Dredge Potter, owned and operated by the St. Louis District US Army Corps of Engineers. USACE

These delays have sent costs of cargo transport skyrocketing up 77% from the past three-year average, per the AP.

"Economically it's tough because you don't want to rule out one of the modes of transportation for exports," Lou Dell'Orco, chief of operations and readiness at the US Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District, told Insider.

Keeping ships running

The absolute minimum that barges need to drift down the river is 9 feet deep and 300 feet wide. The first line of defense in keeping water levels up is vacuuming.

USACE workers operate boats, called dredges, that slurp up debris from the river bed and sift through the material, sending the water back into the river and the flotsam to a disposal site.

Dell'Orco said that right now the St.Louis district of USACE has two dredges running 24/7 in the St. Louis region, which is a crucial chokepoint for the river. The region brought in two more dredges from other districts to help out.

Though it's normal to have some dredges operating 24/7 during this season, last year they had to mobilize far more dredges than normal to keep the river deep enough. This year looks like it will be more of the same, Dell'Orco said.

Right now, Dell'Orco said they're staying on top of the issue, and keeping the river running. But what they're all hoping for is rain.

"With this current hit it looks like we're OK beyond almost the middle of October. The goal is to keep looking until we can get the harvest out," he said.

Louisiana's Governor, John Bel Edwards asked President Joe Biden for federal help in keeping the salt creeping into the Mississippi at bay. Kevin Dietsch/Staff/Getty Images

Problem two: Louisiana's drinking water is at stake

An estimated 18 million people get their drinking water from the Mississippi.

When the Mississippi river is low, its flow decreases. When its flow decreases, saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico begins to creep up into the river, which contaminates drinking water.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards addressed a letter to President Joe Biden, asking for federal intervention to stymie the effects of the encroaching saltwater, which Biden approved on Wednesday.

The saltwater invasion has already affected farms, schools, and homes. For example, it's contaminated the drinking water of roughly 23,515 residents in Plaquemines Parish where residents are advised to only drink bottled water.

Officials are supposed to bring in 15 million gallons of fresh water to treatment facilities in impacted areas, the AP reported.

Edwards emphasized that in the coming months, this problem could continue to head up the river, threatening more populous areas, like New Orleans.

This graphic explains the augmentation the USACE is currently executing to try and slow the flow of salt water. USACE, New Orleans Slowing the saltwater's invasion

Matthew Roe, with the New Orleans district of USACE, told Insider that it's been working 24/7 since the 24th of September, trying to get ahead of the saltwater flow.

First, they're using dredging, with the same technique as the St. Louis location, just with fewer boats. They're using what they collect from the river bottom to help construct their second effort, sills.

Sills are long bars that sit along the river bed and can block out water flow from one direction to raise the water levels. The engineers are focusing on building on top of a sill that they placed in July.

Adding another 15-feet to the top of that structure will hopefully delay the northwards flow of saltwater by 10-15 days without impeding the flow of traffic, Roe said.

These aren't permanent solutions, but they buy local communities precious time to prepare to find alternate drinking water sources, Roe added.

"The sill is used to delay progression as it moves upriver to allow the state and local communities more time to coordinate their efforts for the residents in the area," he told Insider via email.

Though efforts are Herculean, every engineer was aware that the force they were up against was formidable. "At some point, like last year, if Mother Nature decides she's gonna win, she's got a perfect record," Dell'Orco said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Kevin McCarthy , Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has said that aid for Ukraine should be removed from the temporary spending bill so that the federal government can avoid a shutdown, a temporary suspension of the US federal government.

Source: Kevin McCarthy in an interview with CNN

Details: McCarthy argued on Friday that aid to Ukraine should be dropped from the Senate bill, saying that a "clean" bill "without Ukraine on it" could probably be passed.

"I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses on Ukraine over America, I think that could cause real problems," he told CNN.

He stressed that if the Senate passes the bill as it stands, it will likely lead to a shutdown.

CNN reported that McCarthy told reporters he had proposed putting up a "clean" stopgap bill, and said he was "working through maybe to be able to do that."

He claimed that if the Senate continues to include Ukraine spending in its bill, it will not be successful.

Background:

The US State Department is preparing a plan of action for the event of the government shutdown.

Sabrina Singh, US Defense Department Deputy Spokesperson, has said that the likely shutdown of the US government will affect the F-16 training program for Ukrainian pilots and technicians.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
(This Sept. 30 story has been refiled to remove an extra letter from Senator Michael Bennet's second name in paragraph 12)

By David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Makini Brice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress passed a stopgap funding bill late on Saturday with overwhelming Democratic support after Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy backed down from an earlier demand by his party's hardliners for a partisan bill.

The Democratic-majority Senate voted 88-9 to pass the measure to avoid the federal government's fourth partial shutdown in a decade, sending the bill to President Joe Biden , who signed it into law before the 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT) deadline.

McCarthy abandoned party hardliners' insistence that any bill pass the House with only Republican votes, a change that could cause one of his far-right members to try to oust him from his leadership role.

The House voted 335-91 to fund the government through Nov. 17, with more Democrats than Republicans supporting it.

That move marked a profound shift from earlier in the week, when a shutdown looked all but inevitable. A shutdown would mean that most of the government's 4 million employees would not get paid - whether they were working or not - and also would shutter a range of federal services, from National Parks to financial regulators.

Federal agencies had already drawn up detailed plans that spell out what services would continue, such as airport screening and border patrols, and what must shut down, including scientific research and nutrition aid to 7 million poor mothers.

"The American people can breathe a sigh of relief: there will be no government shutdown tonight," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote. "Democrats have said from the start that the only solution for avoiding a shutdown is bipartisanship, and we are glad Speaker McCarthy has finally heeded our message."

DEMOCRATS CALL IT A WIN

Some 209 Democrats supported the bill, far more than the 126 Republicans who did so, and Democrats described the result as a win.

"Extreme MAGA Republicans have lost, the American people have won," top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries told reporters ahead of the vote, referring to the "Make America Great Again" slogan used by former President Donald Trump and many hardline Republicans.

Democratic Representative Don Beyer said: I am relieved that Speaker McCarthy folded and finally allowed a bipartisan vote at the 11th hour on legislation to stop Republicans rush to a disastrous shutdown."

McCarthy's shift won the support of top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, who had backed a similar measure that was moving through the Senate with broad bipartisan support, even though the House version dropped aid for Ukraine.

Democratic Senator Michael Bennet held the bill up for several hours trying to negotiate a deal for further Ukraine aid.

"While I would have preferred to pass a bill now with additional assistance for Ukraine, which has bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, it is easier to help Ukraine with the government open than if it were closed," Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a statement.

McCarthy dismissed concerns that hardline Republicans could try to oust him as leader.

"I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try," McCarthy told reporters. "And you know what? If I have to risk my job for standing up for the American public, I will do that."

He said that House Republicans would push ahead with plans to pass more funding bills that would cut spending and include other conservative priorities, such as tighter border controls.

CREDIT CONCERNS

The standoff comes just months after Congress brought the federal government to the brink of defaulting on its $31.4 trillion debt. The drama has raised worries on Wall Street, where the Moody's ratings agency has warned it could damage U.S. creditworthiness.

Congress typically passes stopgap spending bills to buy more time to negotiate the detailed legislation that sets funding for federal programs.

This year, a group of Republicans has blocked action in the House as they have pressed to tighten immigration and cut spending below levels agreed to in the debt-ceiling standoff in the spring.

The McCarthy-Biden deal that avoided default set a limit of $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal 2024. House Republicans are demanding a further $120 billion in cuts.

The funding fight focuses on a relatively small slice of the $6.4 trillion U.S. budget for this fiscal year. Lawmakers are not considering cuts to popular benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

"We should never have been in this position in the first place. Just a few months ago, Speaker McCarthy and I reached a budget agreement to avoid precisely this type of manufactured crisis," Biden said in a statement after the vote. "House Republicans tried to walk away from that deal by demanding drastic cuts that would have been devastating for millions of Americans. They failed."

(Reporting by David Morgan, Makini Brice and Moira Warburton, additional reporting by Kanishka Singh, writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Andrea Ricci and William Mallard)
Most stories of the American dream end when the unlikely entrepreneur has achieved astronomical success as the CEO of a billion-dollar company. Hari Ravichandran's tale, however, only began a new chapter.

After growing a web hosting startup he founded in the 1990s to an international powerhouse worth more than $3.5 billion, he circled back round to his roots and launched an internet security startup, Aura, in 2017. Today, it has achieved unicorn status, with $2.5 billion in value.

Here's the story of Hari Ravichandran, and of the lessons he learned along the way.

A College Dropout Finding Startup Success

Ravichandran was born in India, and he fell in love with technology the moment he first got his hands on a 8085 microprocessor at age 10.

To pursue this passion, he moved to the US in 1990 and earned a degree in computer engineering at Mississippi State University.

When he moved on to study electrical engineering at Stanford, however, he discovered that it was not just a love for tech that drove him, but also one for entrepreneurship.

In 1997, he dropped out of grad school and embarked on an entrepreneurial journey that has since lasted decades. He began by founding BizLand, a company with the mission to help small businesses get online. It took off.

Navigating the Dot-Com Crash, Growing Endurance to $3.5 Billion

BizLand's client base grew fast, as did its staff. Then, the dot-com crash struck and Ravichandran had to adapt.

He had to scale back his staff from 250 to 14 and convert his large base of free customers to paying ones. A fraction of them stayed, and his staff worked around the clock for weeks, without break.

It paid off. BizLand, appropriately renamed Endurance International, emerged from the dot-com crash leaner and stronger than ever. It continuously grew its customer base, remained dedicated to agility, but also added strategic acquisitions to the mix.

By the time Ravichandran left the company in 2018, it was worth more than $3.5 billion. With the success he experienced, most entrepreneurs would kick back and retire.

Ravichandran, however, had a new project lined up. This time, it was based on a personal experience.

Experiencing Identity Theft and Finding Inspiration for Aura

In 2014, Ravichandran applied for a mortgage. And was denied. It took him weeks to figure out the reason his credit had tanked. The issue: Someone had hijacked his identity.

Trying to both solve the problem and find a way to keep his online data safe in the future, he discovered that there were no comprehensive solutions. He had to juggle eight different subscriptions to get all the features he needed to safeguard himself and his family from cyber crime online.

It was this experience that inspired him to found Aura.

Aura offers comprehensive cybersecurity protection. It comes with antivirus, VPN, a password vault, as well as identity theft and financial fraud protection.

Since its launch in 2018, it has amassed a massive number of subscribers as well as high-profile funding from General Catalyst, Warburg Pincus, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, among others. In total, the company's value has now skyrocketed to $2.5 billion, giving it unicorn status.

Looking Forward, on a Mission to Make the Internet a Safer Place

Going forward, Ravichandran plans to harness the lessons he learned during his journey with Endurance to help Aura fulfil its mission and combat cyber crime.

Building products that have a tangible value for customers, keeping an open mind, and learning from everything around him - these are the entrepreneurial principles that have helped Ravichandran build not just one, but two billion-dollar businesses.
NBC News reported on Sept. 30 that the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan funding bill to avoid a government shutdown but that the deal currently lacks additional defense aid for Ukraine.

Sept. 30 is the last day for the U.S. Congress to pass new funding legislation for the government. A government shutdown can occur in the U.S. when Congress fails to approve such legislation.

The latest bill passed by the House will keep the government running for another 45 days, but it still has to be approved by the Senate. The bill is expected to pass there as well before midnight local time.

In response to the lack of additional funding for Ukraine, the White House released a statement, saying "We fully expect (House) Speaker McCarthywho has stated his support for funding to support Ukraine in its fight against Russias illegal and unjustified war of aggressionwill bring a separate bill to the floor shortly."

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been a vocal supporter of defending Ukraine, told NBC News that he was not concerned that the exclusion of aid would "send a bad signal" to European allies.

According to NBC News, Graham told them that Congress would "eventually pass the funding attached to (a bill on) some sort of border security provision."

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia reduces offensive pace on Kupiansk-Kreminna line

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The long fractious ties between Kosovo and Serbia are once again on edge after one of the worst outbreaks of violence in years.

The trigger for the latest flare-up was the killing of a Kosovar police officer and an ensuing shootout at a monastery last weekend, but the roots of the tensions go as far back as the 1990s and the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.

The White House is concerned, warning of an unprecedented build up of advanced Serbian artillery, tanks, and mechanized infantry units near the Kosovo frontier and calling for an immediate de-escalation.

CNN takes a close look at the factors involved.

A history of ethnic tensions

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, following the 1998-99 war in which Kosovar Albanians attempted to break from what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, made up of todays Serbia and Montenegro. The war was the culmination of decades of ethnic tensions between the regions Albanian and Serb communities.

During the war, NATO intervened to protect Kosovos Albanian majority.

A Kosovo police officer stands guard in front of a vehicle with a cracked window in Banjska. - Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters

More than 20 years on, fragile peace has been preserved in Kosovo, while Serbia continues not to recognize Kosovos independence. Kosovos Serb minority view themselves as part of Serbia, and see Belgrade as their capital, rather than Pristina.

The majority of Kosovos Serbs  less than a tenth of the overall population  live in the northern regions, and have increasingly demanded greater autonomy from the ethnic Albanian popularity.

Disputes over the degree of autonomy for the minority Serbs persist, with the ethnic group sometimes responding with violent resistance to moves by Pristina that they see as anti-Serb.

Whats caused the latest flare-up?

A standoff between police and around 30 heavily armed Serbian men last Sunday was triggered by an ambush which left one Kosovo police officer dead and another injured.

During the subsequent shootout in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo, police said they killed three armed attackers and arrested another. Some of the shooting took place near a Serbian Orthodox monastery, police say.

Authorities previously said they found logistical equipment, suspected military vehicles, military uniforms as well as weapons and ammunition of different calibers at a residential location being used by the attackers.

Like other villages in the north, Banjska is predominantly Serbian.

In a post on Facebook Sunday morning, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti described the shooting in Banjska as a terror attack conducted by what he said were Serbian criminal gangs.

Sundays outbreak of violence follows the unrest in May which saw dozens of NATO peacekeepers injured after they were attacked by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo.

Violence broke out after Serbian demonstrators tried to block newly elected ethnically-Albanian mayors from taking office in the northern town of Zvecan, following a disputed election in April.

What are both sides saying?

Kosovos President Vjosa Osmani pointed the finger at Belgrade for inciting Sundays violence.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denies the allegations, arguing that Serbia would not benefit from something that would jeopardize its position in EU-sponsored normalization talks with Pristina, Reuters reported.

Vucic also condemned Kosovo police for shooting dead one of the gunmen in the head after he had surrendered from the distance of a meter, describing it as an execution, according to Reuters. He pledged to investigate the events surrounding the violence, including the origin of weapons seized after the incident by Kosovo police.

Kosovo police officers display seized weapons and military equipment during the police operation in Banjska. - Visar Kryeziu/AP

In another development, a top Kosovo Serb politician, Milan Radoicic said he took part in the gun battle, Reuters reported.

In a letter sent to Reuters by his lawyer, Radoicic, who is wanted in Kosovo and lives in neighboring Serbia, said he personally prepared logistics for the defense of Serb people and received no help from the Serb authorities.

How is the rest of the world reacting?

The White House has warned that the incident represents a threat to the safety of not only Kosovo personnel, but international personnel including NATO troops.

According to Kosovo authorities, at least 30 people were involved in this attack which resulted in the death of a police sergeant a Kosovo Police Sergeant, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told journalists Friday.

This is not the kind of an attack that carried out randomly, or ad hoc or by some small group. The amount and the types of arms that were found represent a threat to the safety of not only Kosovo personnel, but international personnel including NATO troops.

He added that the US is now monitoring a large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo.

We believe that this is a very destabilizing development and its basically been taking place over the past week or so. And we are calling on Serbia to withdraw those forces from the border and to contribute to lowering the temperature, he said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said additional forces had been authorized for Kosovo following the deadly shootout, and also called for de-escalation.

The UKs Ministry of Defense announced that UK forces will be deployed to Kosovo as part of NATOs peacekeeping mission.

The defense ministry said the UK will deploy around 200 soldiers from 1st Battalion of the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment in the coming days to join the 400-strong British contingent already in country as part of an annual exercise.

CNNs Christian Edwards, Radina Gigova, Josh Pennington, Eve Brennan and Alex Stambaugh contributed reporting.

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Utah and Arizona will keep iconic national parks in those states open if a shutdown of the federal government threatens access to Arizonas orange-striped Grand Canyon and the sheer red cliffs of Utahs Zion Valley.

Most importantly for state budgets, visitors can keep spending their money near the parks.

A cutoff could come Sunday. The economic impact of the national parks is so important that Arizona's Democratic governor and Utah's Republican governor have decided to invest state funds in keeping Grand Canyon, Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands national parks open.

For Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, it's a simple question of economics.

The nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association says that every $1 invested in the National Park Service annually supports more than $15 in economic activity.

The association says that every day of a shutdown could mean national parks collectively losing nearly 1 million visitors, and gateway communities losing as much as $70 million.

Hobbs and Cox say their states will pay to keep those parks operating on a basic level, cushioning tourism-dependent communities.

We expect to be reimbursed, just as federal employees receive back pay during a shutdown, and we have communicated this to the Department of Interior, Cox said this week.

FILE - Parker Smith and Hillary Smith hike along a closed road outside Arches National Park in Utah which is closed due to the partial government shutdown, in January 2019. Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park and all five national parks in Utah will remain open if the U.S. government shuts down, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox say that the parks are important destinations and local communities depend on dollars from visitors. (Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, File)

Hobbs has said Arizona Lottery funds would help keep the Grand Canyon park open.

Utah paid about $7,500 daily during the last part of December 2018 to keep Zion, Bryce Canyon and Arches running during a shutdown back then. The nonprofit Zion Forever Project committed $16,000 to pay a skeleton crew and keep bathrooms and the visitor center open at Zion, which continued drawing several thousand visitors daily.

The National Parks Conservation Association noted that keeping parks open during a shutdown without sufficient staff and other resources can be disastrous.

We witnessed unnecessary and avoidable damage, including overflowing trash and human waste, vandalism, looting and illegal use of off-road vehicles, the organization said about some sites during the 2018-2019 shutdown.

Conditions at Joshua Tree National Park in California were described as especially bad, with overflowing trash and portable toilets and unsupervised visitors driving off road and toppling incalculable numbers of the distinctive plants.

Sen. John Barrasso , a Republican representing Wyoming, on Thursday urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to keep the parks open with previously collected fees. The decision by Trump administration officials to use such fees to keep some parks open five years ago has been lambasted as illegal by the Government Accountability Office, the congressional watchdog.

The Interior Department and the National Park Service it oversees have not released a contingency plan for a probable shutdown.

As secretary of the Interior, it is your responsibility to provide opportunities for people to access our parks in a way that ensures visitor health and safety, as well as providing the same opportunity for future generations," wrote Barrasso, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Arizona paid about $64,000 a week during the shutdown that stretched 35 days from late 2018 to early 2019 to cover restroom cleaning, trash removal and snow plowing at the Grand Canyon park. People with permits to hike in the backcountry or raft on the Colorado River could still go, but no new permits were issued during that period.

National park employees who were not furloughed had to work without pay, their lost wages repaid after a budget resolution was reached.

Those expected to work in another potential shutdown include members of Grand Canyon National Park's emergency services, which has teams trained in medical services, search and rescue and firefighting to protect not only visitors but about 2,500 park workers, concession employees and others who live on park property.

Joelle Baird, the park's public affairs specialist, said Arizona state funding kept most everything business as usual during the shutdown five years ago. She said hotels and restaurants remained open.

John Garder, senior director of Budget & Appropriations for the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, said funding the parks is a federal responsibility that states shouldn't have to assume.

We understand states interest in opening our parks when the government shuts down as they are proven economic engines, generating more than $50.3 billion and supporting more than 378,400 jobs annually, Garder said. "But ultimately, it is Congress responsibility to keep them funded and open.

The association said the shutdown could affect more than 400 sites in 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.

In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem was reviewing a shutdown's possible impact on national parks, including Mount Rushmore, which Noem spokesperson Ian Fury called the heart of South Dakotas tourism industry.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order Thursday directing the state's Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan for continued operations and resource protection of Colorados national parks. Rocky Mountain and the state's other three national parks contributed $804 million to the local economy last year.

In Washington state, home to Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks, Gov. Jay Inslee has no plans to provide more funding or staff to national parks if there's a shutdown. Inslee's staff said much of governors discretionary spending was needed this year for cleanup and recovery after wildfires in Spokane County.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte's office didn't say if the state would spend money to keep Glacier or Yellowstone national parks open. But his staff said the Republican governor's budget team is working with state agencies to prepare for a possible shutdown in the event Congress cant get its act together."

Most of Yellowstone is in Wyoming, but three of the five entrances are in Montana.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is awaiting more information from Interior and White House officials to better understand the states options, spokesperson Michael Pearlman said.

Pearlman said the Republican governor was also in contact with officials at Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, recognizing that closures could have significant economic repercussions to Wyoming families that live and work in our gateway communities.

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration said this week it doesnt plan to keep national parks open if the federal government shuts down, saying they are not within state jurisdiction and the state has had to make difficult budgetary decisions this year.

___

Associated Press writers Ed Komenda in Olympia, Washington; Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana; Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana; Jesse Bedayn in Denver; Tran Nguyen in Sacramento; and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Utah could pay to keep national parks open during government shutdown
The City of Vandalia celebrated the opening of its newest playground today.

A ribbon cutting was held Saturday for the new playground located at Helke Park on 829 Randler Avenue.

>> City of Centervilles Fall Fest kicks off today

Free face paintings, Kona Ice, snacks and more were offered during the event.

Please help us celebrate the opening of our newest playground unit tomorrow at Helke Park! Things get started at Noon.... Posted by City of Vandalia, Ohio - Government on Friday, September 29, 2023












Here are some of The Providence Journal's most-read stories for the week of Sept. 24, supported by your subscriptions.

Will there be a Government Shutdown ? With the Oct. 1 deadline for federal lawmakers to reach an agreement rapidly approaching, federal offices in Rhode Island, along with state government are bracing for the worst. Among the actions taken in advance of a potential shutdown, the head of Rhode Island's Office of Management & Budget has issued a memo asking state agencies that rely on federal funds to prepare.

A Rhode Islander may soon find herself in the national spotlight and maybe even with a fiancee. A sneak peek of the contestants for Season 28 of "The Bachelor" revealed that Sydney Gordon, owner of Folk Vintage Co. in Newport, may be one of the contenders in the upcoming season.

For the latest on the Patriots' Week 4 matchup with the Cowboys, and news on high school and college sports , including the winners of the Storm Works Athlete of the Week, go to providencejournal.com/sports .

Did you keep up with the week's events? Take our news quiz.

Here are the week's top reads on providencejournal.com:

Monte Ferris Jr. is renovating and remodeling the Venus de Milo restaurant.

Big events, memorable moments and all the familiar food and drink needed to celebrate them will be back on Route 6 in Swansea, Massachusetts, very soon for the rebirth of the iconic Venus de Milo.

After a multimillion-dollar renovation that's underway, the Venus will reopen its huge ballroom as well as the Athena, Venus and Empire rooms and the Apollo Lounge in the coming months. They will resume takeout five days a week Oct. 4. The Journal's Gail Ciampa caught up with Monte Ferris Jr., the third-generation owner of the Venus, to get all the details.

Dining: The Venus de Milo in Swansea is reopening. Here's what's happening.

Back in the 1700s, the term "fence" typically referred to a stone wall, according to Thomas Thompson, who's served as Hopkinton's fence viewer for about 40 years.

Earlier this month, Portsmouth appointed former councilman Andrew Kelly as the town's new fence viewer.

Yes, fence viewer.

Back in Colonial times, most Rhode Island towns had a "viewer of fences" whose job was to adjudicate boundary disputes. Portsmouth  along with Exeter, Foster, Hopkinton and New Shoreham  is one of the few that still do.

Antonia Noori Farzan spoke with a couple of the remaining fence viewers in this state to learn more about one of the most obscure positions in local government, that typically doesn't come with any pay or prestige. But people who take the job tend to hold on to it for decades.

Political Scene: Meet the fence viewer, Rhode Island's quaintest government position.

The Bruce Sundlun Terminal at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick.

Most of us have been there: the moment of horror when facing one of the worst meat grinders on earth.

Flying out of Logan airport.

Journal columnist Mark Patinkin doesn't have a great appreciation of New England's largest airport, so when T.F. Green airport recently unveiled a television commercial calling out the B.S. @ BOS that comes with flying out of Logan, he was on board with the message.

While there are plenty of people who agree with him, it turns out there are others who would rather bypass the short security lines and easy parking in Warwick for the conveniences that Logan offers, such as cheaper and more direct flight options. They were also happy to let Mark know.

Columns: Not-so-friendly skies? T.F. Green takes a shot at Logan, and Mark Patinkin is on board

Officials celebrated the completion of another section of the network of biking and walking trails across Providence with a ribbon-cutting Monday for a multi-use path along the Woonasquatucket River behind the Gotham Greens greenhouse on Harris Avenue.

Officials celebrated the completion of another section of the network of biking and walking trails across Providence with a ribbon-cutting Monday for a multi-use path along the Woonasquatucket River behind the Gotham Greens greenhouse on Harris Avenue.

Alex Kuffner was on hand for the ceremonial opening of the new riverfont path leading from De Soto Street to Atwells Avenue that is considered essential to a long-term plan to eventually tie together the Woonasquatucket River Greenway, which runs north to Johnston, to the Washington Secondary Bike Path, which extends south to Coventry.

Environment: 'A linchpin between the two trails': New trail to help connect bike paths in Providence

A utility crew works on a power line in Middletown.

Electric rates for most Rhode Islanders come Oct. 1 will climb nearly to last winters record levels, after state regulators approved a proposal put forward by the states largest energy utility.

Under the plan unanimously approved Tuesday by the Public Utilities Commission, customers who buy their power from Rhode Island Energy will see a 25% increase in their monthly bills. The bill for a typical household that uses 500 kilowatts hours a month will go up $33, to about $167, when smaller changes to surcharges are also factored in.

Kuffner reports ratepayers will see some relief under a provision in the state budget that suspends the 4% gross earnings tax on electric and natural gas bills this winter. It would save the typical electric customer $6.70 a month between December and March. The McKee administration is also channeling $3 million from a regional cap-and-trade program for power plant emissions to Rhode Island Energy's low-income electric customers. They will receive a $27 credit on each of the bills for December, January and February.

News to use: RI electric bills will rise 25% this winter due to rate increase

To read the full stories, go to providencejournal.com. Find out how to subscribe here.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Journal top stories: Venus de Milo reopens; fence viewers; T.F. Green
Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (not seen) in Moscow, on Thursday. Putin announced a call-up of new recruits for the fall. Photo by Kremlin Pool/UPI

Sept. 30 (UPI) -- In a sign of the toll Moscow's invasion is having on Russian troop levels, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Saturday for the military to enlist 130,000 more recruits.

In a decree dubbed "Reunification Day," highlighting Russia's unrecognized annexation of Ukrainian oblasts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson last year, Putin announced the expansion of military service for those aged 18-27 from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.

This comes in addition to the 147,000 Russians drafted for the Ukrainian invasion in the spring.

Russian Rear Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, deputy head of the Russian General Staff, told the state-run news agency TASS the new call-ups will not be sent to Ukrainian areas Russia has illegally declared as their own, but stationed in Russia.

"Fresh military conscripts will not be deployed to the Lugansk People's Republic, the Donetsk People's Republic, the Kherson Region or the Zaporozhye region to perform tasks in the special military operation zone," he said.

On the battlefield Saturday, Romania complained that Russia may have violated its airspace in a drone attack on Ukraine's southern port region. Romania is a NATO ally that has opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Following the detection of groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border," residents in the Tulcea and Galati municipalities were alerted, the Romanian defense ministry said.

"The radar surveillance system ... indicated possible unauthorized entry into [Romanian] national airspace, with a signal detected on a route towards the municipality of Galati."

No other reports have been given as of Saturday morning about the possible drone attack.
Playing to his audience by owning the libs, in this case progressive Democratic leaders in California, former President Donald Trump made a slew of false or misleading claims at Fridays California Republican Party Fall Convention in Anaheim.

Heres a look at what he said and where the facts lie:

Claim: Californias mail-in ballot system is rigged

Rating: False

Trump spent a great deal of time trying to discredit Californias voting system.

The state is rigged. Its a rigged election, he said. Its a horrible thing, and we have to turn it back.

Theres no way we lose this state in a real election, he added about his campaign for the presidency.

Voter fraud across the country, and in California, is extremely rare.

A 2020 Associated Press review of voter fraud in six battleground states found fewer than 475 potential cases across 25.5 million ballots cast. A Loyola Law School study of elections between 2000 and 2014 found 31 instances of voter fraud out of more than 1 billion ballots cast.

In 2020, it was actually the California Republican Party that admitted to placing more than 50 fake ballot drop boxes in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange counties.

Trump also resurfaced the false claim that former President Jimmy Carter said dont use mail-in ballots.

Although Carter raised concerns about absentee voting in a 2005 report, he never called for its elimination.

In his closing comments, Trump vowed to eliminate mail-in voting options, among other changes to voting systems.

I will secure our elections  with special emphasis placed on California so that we can go all paper ballots, Voter ID, same date election and you actually have to go to the booth, he said.

Claim: California is in a man-made drought. We have water but it all goes to the ocean

Rating: Unintentionally-true, false

Trump said were in a man-made drought. As evidence of that claim, he said he saw stretches of lush, green crops amid massive amounts of farmland that was absolutely dry and dead alongside the highway as he traveled to Anaheim.

While he is probably referring to environmental regulations that have tightened slightly in recent decades, the only thing true about that statement is that human-caused climate change is making extreme drought and heat more likely.

As for the dry fields, its entirely normal for farmers to plant some fields and let others lie fallow. Plus last years season of heavy rain led contractors with the State Water Project to receive 100% of water allocations and 81% for the Central Valley Project.

We have the water... so much up north. And they have a valve so massive its the size of this room and all the water gets turned out and into the Pacific, Trump also claimed.

That valve is a set of enormous pumps that withdraw about 5 million acre-feet of water a year from the Delta south to farms and cities, or about a quarter of all the water that naturally flows into the ocean  enough water for millions of families in Southern California and much of the San Joaquin Valleys farmland.

Claim: California is taking children away and sterilizing them

Rating: False

The former president vowed numerous times throughout his speech to protect parental rights and stop what he called child sexual mutilation, referring to gender affirmation surgeries for transgender individuals.

In his comments, he said, the state of California has no right to take children away from their parents and sterilize them.

Can you believe this? I will stop it immediately, he added.

California does not allow people to take children away from their parents to undergo gender-affirming surgeries.

Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against a southern California school district over its policy requiring schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns. The case does not involve any issues with surgeries or sterilization.

In fact, Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month vetoed a bill that would have required judges to consider whether a parent affirms their childs gender identity when making custody and visitation decisions.

Trump also promised to cut federal funds to schools pushing critical race theory, transgenderism, racial, sexual or political content on our children.

Claim: Trump built almost 500 miles of border wall during his presidency

Rating: Half-true

Trump sought to drum up support for his campaign by looking back at one of his key promises from 2016  strengthening the U.S.-Mexico border.

The former president claimed he built almost 500 miles of barriers at the border during his presidency.

Three years ago, we had the stronger border in the United States, he said.

The veracity of that claim depends on how you count the barriers that were built.

Trumps administration built 52 miles of new primary border barriers where none stood previously. The figure hes using refers to primary and secondary border barriers. His administration built 458 miles of those, but the majority were to replace smaller, dilapidated barriers, according to Politifact.
Russia had doubts two weeks before the war whether Ukraine was expecting the Russians to launch an invasion, and then decided it was, said Kyrylo Budanov , Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU).

Source: Budanov in Year.Kharkiv, a project by Dmytro Komarov

Quote from Budanov: "Two weeks before all these events started, there was an interesting meeting where they once again had a discussion about whether everything was ready. And there was a bit of uncertainty that everyone there [in Ukraine] was really looking forward to the Russian soldiers.

And they raised the question: 'Where have the funds been spent for so many years?'

And during the next meeting, they said: 'You know, everything is ready, we should go in'."

Details: Budanov clarified that all the funds allocated by Russia for the invasion of Ukraine were plundered.

The DIU chief also added that the Russians sincerely believed that "Kharkiv is a Russian city, and they are just waiting for liberators".

Background: On 30 September 2022, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed "agreements" on the annexation of the occupied territories to the Russian Federation and claimed that residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of Ukraine are now "citizens of the Russian Federation".

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
(NEXSTAR/AP)  U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a trailblazing politician and longtime champion of liberal causes, died Thursday night at her home in Washington, D.C., her office confirmed Friday. She was 90.

The California senator had been in failing health, though she had long dismissed any suggestions that she retire, instead revealing earlier this year that she would not seek another term.

Earlier on Thursday, Feinstein made what would ultimately be her final vote on the Senate floor, raising her right hand and voting to further an initiative toward short-term government funding amid a looming shutdown.

She died that evening, her office confirmed.

Sadly, Senator Feinstein passed away last night at her home in Washington, D.C., James Sauls, her chief of staff, said in a statement shared Friday, in part. Her passing is a great loss for so many, from those who loved and cared for her to the people of California that she dedicated her life to serving.

President Joe Biden, who served with Feinstein for years in the Senate, called her a pioneering American, a true trailblazer and a cherished friend.

Dianne made her mark on everything from national security to the environment to protecting civil liberties, the president said. Our country will benefit from her legacy for generations.

PHOTOS: Dianne Feinsteins career throughout the years

Feinstein, the oldest sitting U.S. senator, was a passionate advocate for liberal priorities important to her state  including environmental protection, reproductive rights and gun control  but was also known as a pragmatic lawmaker who reached out to Republicans and sought middle ground.

Her death came after a bout of shingles sidelined her for more than two months earlier this year  an absence that drew frustration from her most liberal critics and launched an unsuccessful attempt by Democrats to temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee. When she returned to the Senate in May, she was frail and using a wheelchair, voting only occasionally.

On Friday morning, her Senate desk was draped in black and topped with a vase of white roses.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint a temporary replacement, and there is sure to be a spirited battle to succeed her.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
NASA's Perseverance rover has given us a great look at a weather phenomenon that's very familiar to folks who live in desert regions here on Earth.

The car-sized Perseverance captured video of a dust devil swirling on the western rim of Mars' Jezero Crater on Aug. 30, 2023.

Mission team members calculated that the little twister was about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from Perseverance at the time and moving east to west at about 12 mph (19 kph). They determined it to be roughly 200 feet (60 meters) wide and got an estimated height on the object, too, even though its upper reaches are out of frame.

Related: Mars dust storm mysteries remain as scientists study the Red Planet

a dust devil churns on a barren, distant martian ridge

"We dont see the top of the dust devil, but the shadow it throws gives us a good indication of its height," Perseverance science team member Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement.

"Most are vertical columns," Lemmon added. "If this dust devil were configured that way, its shadow would indicate it is about 1.2 miles (2 km) in height."

Perseverance captured 21 images of the dust devil using one of its navigation cameras. The mission team stitched those photos together to make the new video, which was sped up by a factor of 20.

RELATED STORIES:

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Perseverance landed on the floor of the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero in February 2021, on a mission to search for signs of past Mars life and collect and cache dozens of samples for future return to Earth.

Jezero is a great place to do such work, mission team members say, for the crater hosted a big lake and a river delta billions of years ago.

Perseverance has detected dozens of dust devils during its time on the Red Planet. In September 2021, for example, the rover captured audio of one of these whirlwinds  a first in the history of Mars exploration.

Perseverance's dust devil observations are helping scientists better understand Mars' atmosphere and improve their Red Planet weather models, NASA officials said in the same statement.
By Park Han-sol

Following a splashy debut last year, the sophomore edition of Frieze Seoul returned to COEX in September in the ritzy district of Gangnam in the southern part of the capital  this time, with a larger crowd of art aficionados hailing from all parts of Asia, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and Southeast Asia.

The fair attracted over 70,000 visitors from 36 countries during its four-day run from Sept. 6 to 9, according to the organizer.

Atsuko Ninagawa, owner and director of Tokyo-based Take Ninagawa gallery, which has participated in the fair two years in a row, said Frieze was a turning point that made the countrys market side  out of its entire art ecosystem  much more conspicuous in the eyes of international dealers.

Seoul already has amazing museums, artists and curators, which I knew even before Frieze. But what I didnt know was that there were so many collectors in Korea. I wasnt able to see the countrys market side so much before, the gallerist told The Korea Times in a recent interview.

After the fair, this became so obvious and visible. This has made Seoul a lot more attractive since there are more ways for us, as galleries from outside of Seoul, to participate (in the market) even without having a space here or being invited by other local institutions.

She added that one of the noted characteristics of Seouls art market scene is the sheer visibility of curious, active collectors in their 20s and 30s.

Theyre eager to learn and spend time learning. They travel around the world and started showing up in global art events like Art Basel in Basel and Hong Kong, which never really happened before. There are not so many young people like that in Singapore, Japan or other countries in Asia.

Crowded art-fair calendar in Asia

Frieze Seoul is among a handful of newcomers to the rapidly growing art fair scene in Asia, joined by other established and nascent players like Art Basel Hong Kong, Taipei Dangdai, Tokyo Gendai, Art SG in Singapore and India Art Fair. Except for Art Basel Hong Kong, all four events are operated by the Art Assembly, an affiliation of art fairs focused on the Asia-Pacific region.

While concerns have been voiced about the increasingly saturated art calendar in Asia, many industry insiders view this proliferation as a positive sign attesting to the region's growing significance in the global art market.

Obviously having many major art fairs in Asia signifies the growth in the Asian market, Angelle Siyang-Le, director of Art Basel Hong Kong, remarked during a panel discussion, Asia Art Fairs, Sept. 7, co-hosted by Frieze Seoul, Kiaf Seoul and Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS).

The international art events being organized in different host cities across the continent can point to the distinct locality  cultural, economic and geographical  each place offers, she added.

We all have our very unique offerings, whether its from Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei or Singapore. We all come with very different backgrounds and galleries, institutions and artists.

And the role of Asian art fairs in activating such local cultural landscape, in addition to their traditional function of stimulating the market, was highlighted by the panelists of the day  Siyang-Le, Taipei Dangdai Co-director Robin Peckham, Tokyo Gendai Director Eri Takane and Frieze Seoul Director Patrick Lee.

For its second edition, Frieze Seoul expanded its collaboration with major local institutions, namely the Arts Council Korea (ARKO), to boost the city's grassroots arts and culture scene. A batch of special exhibitions were mounted and highlighted at 35 non-profit, alternative spaces as a result. Meanwhile, Frieze Week 2023 saw late-night gallery openings and soirees across three of the citys major art districts: Hannam-dong, Cheongdam-dong and Samcheong-dong.

Similarly, during its run this March, Art Basel Hong Kong extended its collaboration with local universities to bring into the spotlight the emerging, regional artistic talents. And for its inaugural edition in July, Tokyo Gendai featured a special section focused on Japanese female creatives, in addition to organizing artist studio visits, Japanese collectors living room tours and museum hoppings.

Ninagawa noted that the proliferation and coexistence of different art hubs operating across Asia  beyond the more established art center of Hong Kong  was born out of necessity.

That is what has been taking place in Europe (all this time). Thats how they made this industry bigger and more united. We need that. We were longing for it, but we didn't have it before, she said.

We in Asia, (at some point), realized that we also have our own discourses and that we have enough to show as an industry. And we also came to understand that we ourselves have to create the platform together to nurture the regional art scene and the community. In other words, this growth has to happen within the local power.

Art Week Tokyo as alternative to art fair

Such an initiative is what led Ninagawa, who is also a longstanding member of the selection committee of Art Basel shows, to co-found Art Week Tokyo with Japanese collector and entrepreneur Kazunari Shirai.

Organized as Tokyos largest citywide initiative for contemporary art in collaboration with Art Basel, the event is returning for its second full-scale edition from Nov. 2 to 5.

Launched as an alternative model to conventional, commercially-oriented art fairs, Art Week Tokyo presents orchestrated programming across 50 participating institutions, galleries and art spaces that are all linked by a free shuttle bus service. This year will also see the debut of a new curated sales platform that spotlights 64 Japanese artists from the postwar to the present.

Tokyo has been kind of off from the main art scene. It has become quite invisible these days, Ninagawa said. The country was once regarded as the nation with one of the biggest art-buying activities in the 1980s, but it all came down when the bubble burst in the early 1990s.

There are many institutions with a very long history, galleries, educational platforms and artist-run spaces (dotting) the city. But, we were all doing things separately. So I thought that we needed to put everything together in one event and set the schedule, so that people would know when to come to Japan, she added.

At Art Week Tokyo, we want to showcase what is the most interesting and important -- food, architecture, as well as contemporary art  right now in the city."
The White House is paying homage to former President Jimmy Carter ahead of his upcoming 99th birthday Sunday.

A special installation that reads Happy Birthday President Carter has gone up on the White Houses north lawn, according to a photo posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The tiered red, white and blue wooden cake display also has 39 candles  a nod to the 39th president, according to the White House Press Office.

Several birthday events scheduled for the former president have been pushed up to Saturday amid the looming possibility of a government shutdown Sunday  including a party at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

His birthday is especially notable as his grandson, Jason Carter, has recently said he believes the former president and first lady Rosalynn Carter , 96, are in their final stages of life. Carter entered hospice care earlier this year while Rosalynn has been diagnosed with dementia.

Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn coming to the end, grandson says

The Carters were spotted at a Georgia festival last weekend in what appeared to be a black SUV  a rare public outing for the couple.

Beautiful day for President & Mrs. Carter to enjoy a ride through the Plains Peanut Festival! read a post from The Carter Center. And just a week before he turns 99. Were betting peanut butter ice cream is on the menu for lunch!

The news also comes after President Biden announced earlier this year that Carter asked him to deliver his eulogy.

I spent time with Jimmy Carter, and its finally caught up with him, but they found a way to keep him going for a lot longer than they anticipated, Biden said in March.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Serbia has pulled some of its troops back from the Kosovo border after US warnings that it could face punitive measures for what the White House called an unprecedented buildup of Serbian troops and armour.

The Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, announced he had ordered troops to be pulled back. In a statement to the Financial Times, he said any military action would be counterproductive, adding Serbia does not want war.

A Kosovan government official confirmed a partial Serbian withdrawal on Saturday, with the removal of troops and equipment that had been moved into positions around the border in the past five days, leaving behind a still significant force that is permanently based in the area.

The withdrawal followed a public declaration of concern by the White House, a stern call to Vucic from the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken , and the reinforcement of the Nato peacekeeping force in Kosovo, Kfor, with hundreds of British troops.

In his conversation with Vucic, Blinken called for immediate de-escalation and a return to his previous agreement to normalise relations with Kosovo.

According to Vucic, Blinken said there could be US measures against Serbia if he did not comply.

I said youre a superpower and you can do or say what you want, but I am completely against that. I think it would be very bad, the Serbian president told the Tanjug press agency.

On Saturday evening, Germanys ambassador to the US, Andreas Michaelis, described the situation as another powder keg in Europe and a danger that should be taken seriously.

Michaelis said on social media there had been very close cooperation between Germany and the US in the last days and hours which had been absolutely key to avoiding further escalation.

Serbia needs to act now, Michaelis said.

The US warnings came at the end of a week of high tension, beginning with an ambush by well-armed Serb paramilitaries on a Kosovan police patrol, in which a policeman was killed. Three Serb gunmen were killed in the ensuing battle, near the village of Banjska.

The armed group was led by Milan Radoicic, the deputy leader of Serb List, a Belgrade-backed party representing the Serb minority in northern Kosovo. Through a lawyer, Radoicic said he was responsible for the shootout with Kosovan police, but did not explain the source of the modern weapons Serb paramilitaries had been carrying.

The Kosovan government produced a document purporting to show that a grenade launcher the group had been carrying had been given to them by the Serbian army, and officials in Pristina expressed concern Sundays gunfight was intended to provide a pretext for a Serbian military intervention in northern Kosovo.

Related: The flare-up of violence in Kosovo shows the folly of the wests appeasement of Serbia

Serbia declared a day of mourning for the three dead Kosovo Serbs, and Vucic falsely claimed Kosovo forces were conducting a campaign of brutal ethnic cleansing against ethnic Serbs.

This reaction by the White House seems similar to the warnings we saw before Russian troops entered Ukraine, Donika Emini, the executive director of the Kosovan NGO alliance CiviKos Platform, said, adding that it indicated conflict is inevitable.

Emini said one possible Serbian objective was to force a withdrawal of Kosovan police from northern Kosovo, and oblige Kfor to take back full security control in the flashpoint region, further eroding the independence and sovereignty of the former Serbian province.

The UK Ministry of Defence announced on Friday it was transferring to Kfor command a battalion of the Royal Princess of Wales regiment, which is in the region for a training exercise, to provide support if required.
With minutes to spare, President Joe Biden signed a stopgap funding bill Saturday to avert a shutdown and keep the government open for 45 days.

In doing so, he capped a chaotic 24 hours that riveted much of Washington but left one of the White Houses top priorities, aid for Ukraine, in serious jeopardy.

Like others in the nations capital, the Biden White House had been caught off guard Saturday morning when Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly reversed course and announced that he would bring a clean, stop gap bill to fund the government through November 17, 2023.

But aides werent terribly surprised. They had assumed the government shutdown showdown would end this way at some point  with the main question being whether McCarthy would take his lumps before or after the funding deadline.

They werent displeased with the outcome either. The bill didnt just fund the government, it also included $16 billion in disaster relief and, as one White House official noted, avoids any version of the deep cuts to essential domestic programs that were proposed in the past few days.

But the final measure did not include aid for Ukraine, and its absence was not just a blow for Biden but to Volodymyr Zelenskyy too. The Ukrainian president had just met with the president and lawmakers last week to once again make the case for additional funds for Kyivs defense against Moscow.



Inside the administration, aides attempted to downplay the exclusion. Speaker McCarthy has stated his support for aid to Ukraine, the White House official said, adding that they expected him to bring a separate bill to the floor shortly.

And Biden too stressed his expectation that there would be another attempt to pass Ukraine aid in the near term.

While the Speaker and the overwhelming majority of Congress have been steadfast in their support for Ukraine, there is no new funding in this agreement to continue that support, Biden said in a statement. We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted. I fully expect the Speaker will keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment.

How much of that was spin, wishcasting, or solid intel was hard to tell. No one in the White House would say they received an actual assurance from McCarthy that hed bring a measure up for a vote. Instead, two administration officials noted that McCarthy has never himself said he wouldnt support aid to Ukraine. The view from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. was that the speaker couldnt include it in a government funding bill, lest he incur a full bore insurrection from within his party. But that didnt mean he couldnt push it as a separate matter.



Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made assurances that funding for Ukraine aid remains a priority.

We will not stop fighting for more economic and security assistance for Ukraine. Majorities in both parties support Ukraine aid, and doing more is vital for Americas security and for democracy around the world, he said after the Senates passage.

There is certainly some Republican appetite to see that happen, too.

"Most Senate Republicans remain committed to helping our friends on the front lines," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier in the night. And Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he expected Ukraine aid to be included in the full year appropriations that Congress is set to complete later this year.

But the House GOP is a different beast. McCarthys office didnt offer any response to a request for comment. However, POLITICO reported on Saturday that he had been open to including Ukraine aid in the stopgap funding bill but was unable to finalize language in time.

As the bill headed to the Senate floor Saturday evening, there were widespread expectations on Capitol Hill that a Ukraine-related vote would occur next week, given deep support in the Senate.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, when asked about the lack of fresh Ukraine money in the bill, said we have to get to work on this issue and suggested there would be a vote as soon as Monday.

House Republicans will have a choice in the next few days when we reconvene on Monday.

Are they going to stand up for freedom, democracy and truth and the Ukrainian people, or will they continue to bend the knee to the pro-Putin caucus in the House Republican conference? he said in a post-House vote news conference Saturday.

As news of the clean stopgap bills components emerged on Saturday morning, the White House kept in touch with Democrats on the Hill, monitoring (like them) the specific components of the legislative language. There was some intrigue over whether the measure authorized  or, more precisely, did not prevent  a cost of living adjustment for the salaries of congressional members. There also was some anxiety that House GOP leadership was trying to jam something through the chamber without giving lawmakers time to read it.

But, in the end, there were no readily visible poison pills. The White House kept its distance from the actual whip count operation, staying firm in its goal to keep Biden out of the process. Officials have insisted that the president brokered a funding deal with the speaker back in the spring and would not revisit that agreement.

There was no time to issue a formal Statement of Administration Policy, as is standard on major bills. Rank-and-file House Democrats got no guidance on the White Houses position, according to several people granted anonymity to discuss what would have been private discussions.

But the silence implied that the Biden administration didnt oppose the bill, either. In the end, more than 200 House Democrats ended up backing the measure.

Myah Ward and Eun Kyung Kim contributed to this report.
White Neighbor Faces Lawsuit After Allegedly Hosing Down A Black Doctor And His Party Guests In A Scene Reminiscent Of 1960s Birmingham, Alabama | Jennifer A Smith via Getty Images

New York City physician Yves Duroseau and his wife Claude were hosting a party at their home recently when their white neighbor became annoyed with the festivities and allegedly picked up the water hose to attack the doctor and his guests, who were mostly Black.

In a lawsuit filed after the incident, the Black couple and their guests said Marcus Rosebrock created a scene reminiscent of 1960s Birmingham, Alabama, when White law enforcement officers used fire hoses to douse, assault and batter African Americans participating in civil rights demonstrations in an attempt to get them to comply and disperse.

The Duroseaus released footage of their neighbor spraying the water hose over the fence separating the two homes in NYCs Forest Hills neighborhood, The Daily Beast reported. According to the lawsuit, the party hosts and their 15 guests were celebrating the birthday of Yves sister when Rosebrock sprayed them all with water.

Im videotaping the neighbor throwing water on everyone at Roses party, a woman who was recording the incident can be heard saying in the clip. I am videotaping Roses neighbor throwing water on us.

Some of the guests can be seen going to the fence to try to calm down Rosebrock.

He walked back, picked up a hose and hosed me down while I was talking to him, one woman said.

Marcus Rosebrock, 48, was caught on film spraying a hose at guests of his neighbor, prominent NYC doctor Yves DuroseauThe medic and 19 others filed a lawsuit against him accusing him of racism, assault and battery pic.twitter.com/4mzWoZcvY2  SHONUFF (@IAMSHO_NUFF) September 29, 2023

The party included several Black professionals from various industries, such as music and law. Partygoers said the music was at a reasonable volume, but Rosebrock still became agitated. An unidentified white woman also went to the Duroseau home with a large, menacing German Shepherd and demanded that the music playing in the backyard be turned down, the lawsuit states.

Mina Q. Malik, who is representing the Duroseaus and the other guests, said she is in utter disbelief.

I was appalled and disgusted that water hosing and German Shepherds were being used against people of color in New York City in 2022, Malik told The Daily Beast.

Rosebrocks lawyer, Brandon Gillard, denied that his client is racist.

Mr. Rosebrock denies any of the allegations in the complaint, and rejects any characterization that he is racist, or [that] his actions were racially motivated, Gillard told The Daily Beast.

Yves Duroseau was the first doctor in the U.S. to take the COVID-19 vaccine. He is currently serving as chair of Lenox Hill Hospitals department of emergency medicine in Manhattan. Yves and the other plaintiffs are now seeking monetary damages from Rosebrock, saying that Rosebrock and the woman with the German Shepherd caused mental anguish and emotional distress.
Fredrik deBoer is an unabashed Marxist, long-time grassroots activist, popular Substacker, and occasional contributor to The Daily Beast. And despite my disagreements with him on a host of issues (the virtues of Marxism not least among them) hes also one of my favorite writers, a prolific scribe whose pugnacious and often very funny prose is armed with a thoughtfulness thats rarely seen in modern political commentary.

And yet, in his recently released second book, How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement, his tone is far more empathic and analyticalan impressive feat given the fact hes plainly frustrated with well-to-do elements of leftist political movements that, in his view, have played to an audience of highly educated activists, academics, and journalists to the detriment of poor and marginalized groups, particularly people of color.

In 2020, a year that was sold at the time as a moment of unique political fomentas a reckoningwe saw the American progressive movement drift from the essential to the inconsequential, from the material to the illusory, in much the same way, deBoer writes in the first chapter of his new book.

Twitter Became Way Too Important to Journalists. Let It Die.

And then very little happened, he added. No major federal legislation would result from the upheaval of 2020. Some cities and states enacted modest criminal justice reforms, but many of these were later quietly rolled back.

As an illustrative example, he cites the Minneapolis Police Department, which after four of its officers were convicted of murdering George Floyd , was voted by the city council to be abolished and replaced. The council later walked that back grandiose plan and much of the proposed reform to simple budget cuts, and eventually an increase in funding to the very department it had recently set about to dissolve.

I spoke with deBoer in September about his frustrations with the modern social justice movements, why he thinks AOC is no revolutionary but essentially a standard-issue Democrat, and what he considers authentic socialism.

This interview has been edited for style, length, and clarity.

Youve been a lifelong activist, doing a lot of the boring, often heartbreaking on-the-ground grassroots organizing on issues like gay rights and housing policy, but also 20 years ago, the Iraq War.

Juxtapose your experience with your views on modern social justice activism.

There has been a lot of good progress in terms of basic consciousness-raising and getting people involved, and getting people to donate money, et cetera. But socialism is a practice. Its something you do, not something that you are. We have a generation of people who consider themselves socialists, who dont have any experience in that practice.

The way this whole modern socialist thing spread, it spread like a meme. It was mimetic, it was a social contagion. It just became the thing to be if you wanted [to be called] if you were a cultured, arty, left-leaning urbanite. Socialism became the assumed status of people in that sort of cultural milieu.

The problem is that engagementwhile it was quite wide, it was very shallow. You have a ton of people who just dont know what socialism is.

For example, I am constantly annoyed by people who think that theyre talking about socialism when theyre really talking about anarchism. Those are two different things. And defund the police was an example of where that sort of muddled thinking hurts.

Its not realistic to expect everyone to be an activist. And, of course, people who arent activists have every right to engage in the conversation. But I would like it if more people who are part of the modern socialist movement, if you can call it that, had experience in organizing to understand how their politics meet the real world.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, when she first ran for office in 2018, self-identified as a socialist. That label doesnt come up as often these days with regard to her political identification, but youve argued that as a member of Congress, shes been far more focused on the language of the social justice movement as opposed to class-based socialism.

Yeah, I imagine you read my New York piece about AOC recently. Shes pretty good on the rhetoric. In terms of what shes talking about, she talks a pretty good game. As I say in that New York piece, I just think her approach to politics is kind of incoherent.

Theres the petty hypocrisies of being a Democratic politician during the Trump era. Arguably the thing that people were most mad about with [Trump] was immigration. A lot of Democrats campaigned on immigration in various ways, at least in blue spaces. The nonprofits fundraised on immigration. There are kids in cages, was a constant call. AOC had photographs taken of her at the border, crying over the kids in cages.

Joe Biden Is a Complete Liar on Immigration

The Biden administrations immigration policy is not really that materially different from the Trump policies. There are a few things that have been tweaked in order to change the optics, but the basic reality of family separation still happens all the time. The basic reality of the conditions under which people are being held has not changed. The Biden administration has made no effort to introduce legislation that would dramatically increase, or even meaningfully increase, the number of immigrants into the country who are not coming on high-skilled worker visas.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stands at the Tornillo-Guadalupe port of entry gate on June 24, 2018 in Tornillo, Texas as a protest against the separation of children from their parents after they were caught entering the U.S. under the administration's zero tolerance policy. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

And now they dont talk about it. AOC doesnt talk about it. Thats just partisanship.

She [makes] protest votes sometimes, but not other times. She has taken some stances that seem to me to be a pretty basic betrayal of our [socialist] values. But she is someone who uses the language of social justice a lot, which is probably conducive to her position as a representative from an extremely left-leaning district in Queens, but which is not the best approach for a broader social movement that needs to integrate as many people as possible.

You wrote that much of the focus of the modern social justice movement is on linguistics and ever-evolving terminology. What do you mean by that?

After George Floyds murder, riots broke out in several major cities. It wasnt as bad as has happened in American history, but it was not good optics for the movement. And like all riots, they had no tangible goal.

A very large chunk of this country was expressing strong support for Black Lives Matter in the immediate aftermath of the George Floyd killing. And one of the things that started to push that down, and which made it a culture war issue, was the riots. After the riots, in many places on Wikipedia that referred to race riots, the word riots was systematically removed and changed to uprising.

Thats the kind of thing where you say, OK, well, thats great, if you believe thats whats happening. But what does that do for anybody?

On the topic of riots, in 2020 a frequently cited quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. was riots are the voice of the unheard.

But, as you note, not only was MLK a lifelong opponent of violenceincluding riotsbut he denounced rioting as counterproductive in that very same speech. You also argued that if someone in 2020 had used the same exact language as MLK to oppose rioting on moral and practical terms, that theyd be branded as a squish, a police apologist, and an implicit supporter of white supremacy.

Why do you think modern social justice activists are so drawn to defending riots, or characterizing them as uprisings, or retconning MLKs actual perspective on riots?

Because a riot is hard to ignore. In other words, when you have a class of people who are having a terribly hard time generating any real-world change, looting some stores and burning some down obviously doesnt achieve anything of meaning for Black people, but it just looks like something is happening.

Involuntary Treatment Could Have Saved Jordan Neelys Life

The other thing is people just really dont want to be associated with the bad side. Privately, personally, or quietly, many people identify a lot of the excesses of the social justice movement to be counterproductive and to be unhelpful. But because its the job of conservatives and reactionaries to critique that stuff, they fear that if they critique it themselves, theyre going to look like conservatives.

Politics has become so entirely tribal and so entirely a matter of simply identifying yourself as being part of a particular movement or a milieu that people cant risk, making exceptions to say, Im in favor of the protests, but not the riots, even though that was always the most sensible point of view.

Allow me to pull out this quote from the book: Affluent liberals will go on living in Park Slope, in Lincoln Park, and Georgetown, piling their lives with the ephemera of social justice, and they will go on obsessing over the right language to use while the right wing makes policy grabs on issues that have teeth.

How do you think you can convince affluent or well-educated liberals who fancy themselves activists to focus more on what the right wing does, which is actually pass policy, as opposed to the policing of language and such?

To answer that question, one of the things that you have to do as a preliminary is to recognize that the Democratic Partyincluding Bernie Sanders, including AOC, including the Squadhave made a strategic decision that theyre always going to talk about taxing the rich. But in order to afford the kind of social state that we want, taxes have to be raised on people who make $125,000-$275,000. But below $400,000thats the sort of space the Democrats have essentially adopted as a no-go zone for raising taxes, for a variety of reasons. But one of the biggest one of those reasons is thats the base of their donor class.

Those people that Im talking about are people who are all for justice in an abstract sense. But its not enough to ask them to support just causesthey have to pay more into the pile if were going to afford what were talking about.

I want to squeeze the one percent as much as possible, but as much money as they make, its just not enough to make something like Medicare For All happen without tax increases on the upper middle class: People like me. People who are merely affluent and not rich-rich.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Child Tax Credit relief payments on July 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

I have been telling anyone who will listen that the expansion to the Child Tax Credit, which we had for one year because of COVID, and then Joe Manchin killed, is a perfect program for progressive people. Its actually not that expensive if you look at it compared to some other things. It puts money in the hands of millions of families. Its means-tested, so its not rich people receiving this money because its a tax rebate in effect.

Its also race-neutral on its face, meaning that anyone whos a poor parent can get the child tax credit. But its also, in effect, a racial justice program because of the underlying distribution of poverty in the United States.

New Antifa Book: Only Bougie Wimps Oppose Left-Wing Violence Against Fascists

I wanted to bring up The Washington Posts review of your book, which was mostly unfavorable. But theres one particular line where the reviewer wrote that youre following a long line of pundits in suggesting without much justification that elite campuses are reliable microcosms of wider societal trends.

I cite dozens of specific examples in the book. And I should note that the person who reviewed the book is a Ph.D. candidate from Harvard and The Posts nonfiction book critic. In other words, exactly the kind of person that is being indicted by the book.

In the mid-2000s and 2010s, I was vocal that there was a lot happening on campus that looked really illiberal and unhealthy. And Im an academic. Thats where I grew upon a college campus. I spent most of my life [studying and teaching] on college campuses. I care about this kind of space intrinsically, I dont need for it to be a symbol of everything thats happening in society.

So I would document all these examples. Oberlin students tried to get professors fired because of their political opinions. Amherst students tried to get their peers formally disciplined by the university for criticizing them. At Wesleyan, a student wrote an op-ed that supported the Black Lives Matter movement in its goals but criticized its strategy. And the response from the students was so violently angry that they attempted to get the 100-year-old-plus campus newspaper shut down.

Well, heres the thing. Those people go on to become the ruling class of this country.

Kids who go to elite colleges, exclusive colleges, and competitive colleges are going to go on to staff the nonprofits that pressure politicians and write position papers and help direct the policy conversation. Theyre going to become members of the elite media. If you look at the biggest newspapers and magazines, theres an overwhelmingly disproportionate number of people who went to elite colleges in their ranks. These people are gonna stay in academia as professors. They go into government as experts at various departments. They graduate out and staff all of our institutions.

Youve faced some critics who, despite your left-wing bona fides, have accused you of pandering to the anti-cancel culture right-wing, or having a profit incentive to focus your ire on this particular form of the social justice movement. What would you say to that?

I would say, first of all, the books not really selling. So I didnt do a good job of pandering, if thats the case.

Look, Ive focused my fire on the left in my career because I think that the left can and should be reformed to be more effective.

One of the things thats been left out of discussions of the book, such as The Washington Post review, is that the book is relentlessly sympathetic to these movements. Its just critical of the means through which theyre trying to achieve their stated goals.

At a book event the other night, I got the same question Ive gotten from a bunch of people, which is, I thought the book would be more Freddie than this. I thought it would be more acerbic. I thought it would be more funny. I thought it would be more mean.

The problem with that is I could have written it that way, but the point was not to mock anybody. It was to make a sincere attempt to say, Heres how these things can be better and different.

I think conservatism is not redeemable at this point. I dont criticize conservatives [as often] because I dont think theyre capable of the reform that the [social justice] movement is capable of. I also dont want [conservatives] to get any better at doing what theyre doing. Whereas I want the left to be better at being a left-wing movement.

Weve Erased the Iraq War From Our Memory, but Not the Shame

Near the end of the book, you suggest to social justice activists that they should talk like human beings again. Can you go a little deeper?

If youre using a word like intersectionality as a politician, youre done. Youve already lost. That is never going to make sense [to people]. If you as a politician do what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has done and refer to Black people as Black bodies, thats something that people in your cultural studies class at Bowdoin know what youre talking about. And people on lefty Twitter will know what youre talking about. But most people are going to say, Why is she calling Black people as Black bodies? Its weird, its alienating, and that sort of thing filters in everywhere. Hillary Clintons campaign also had a bunch of forms of engagement in which they sort of used this completely abstract vocabulary to refer to various kinds of oppression.

And that cant win. Heres [messaging that] can win. Child tax creditno child should live in poverty. So were going to use the tax system and were going to give poor families money so that their kids have what they need to survive.

That is a more simple, direct, moral statement that anyone can understand that will always, always, always win out over any kind of [abstract language] about intersectional framework. That stuff is just never going to win.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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It's been nearly five years since hundreds of thousands of federal employees were furloughed for more than a month in what eventually became the longest government shutdown in United States history. That extended closure  the second of then-President Donald Trump 's time in office  was ostensibly predicated on an extended fight over funding the administration's long-promised border wall between the United States and Mexico, and only ended after Trump relented from his hardline stance and allowed congressional budget negotiations to resume, bringing to a close what Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mt.) dubbed "the most stupid shutdown Ive ever seen in my life."

Now, as the country hurtles headlong into another looming shutdown, that description will be put to the test, thanks to the ongoing internecine squabbles between congressional Republicans which have propelled the government once more toward the edge of a fiscal cliff. If a stopgap appropriations bill isn't passed by the House before Sept. 30, everything from student loans to food and housing assistance could be affected, and tens of thousands of federal workers will once again be furloughed, or asked to work without assurances of when their next paycheck will arrive. As with all government shutdowns, the stakes are high both politically, and for ordinary Americans who rely on various federal services in their day-to-day lives.

So what, exactly, is behind this latest impasse and why are so many lawmakers particularly frustrated with the threat of a looming government closure?

What the commentators said

This could be the "first-ever shutdown about nothing," right-wing American Enterprise Institute economic policy studies director Michael Strain told The Washington Post. Dubbing this "the Seinfeld shutdown," Strain added that House Republicans don't seem to "have any demands" that can be negotiated, as in the past. "What is it that theyre going to shut the government down for? We simply dont know.

Pushing the government toward a shutdown is more about "creating drama, publicity and campaign fundraising for certain lawmakers than it is about seriously reducing the deficit," agreed University of Virginia public policy professor Raymond Scheppach for The Conversation.

Earlier this month GOP hardliners rejected a budget proposal from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.) that "called for cutting domestic agencies budgets by 8% and imposing a flurry of immigration restrictions, including reviving construction of former President Donald Trumps border wall," Bloomberg reported. Despite the fact that such extreme measures would be dead on arrival in the Democrat-held Senate and White House, it was "deemed insufficient" by the rightmost wing of the GOP. "With a narrow majority, McCarthy can afford only four defections. By Sept. 19, there appeared to be at least 15."

House hardliners said they "will not" take up a Senate bill to fund the government through Nov. 17, according to Reuters, which pointed out that the Senate bill has "broad bipartisan support, including that of top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell." Rather, the GOP holdouts are fighting over a "relatively small slice of the $6.4 trillion U.S. budget for this fiscal year," the news agency continued, highlighting their demands for "another $120 billion in cuts plus tougher legislation that would stop the flow of immigrants at the U.S. border with Mexico."

But with Republicans busy fighting amongst themselves over which cuts to prioritize and how, Senate Democrats  and Republicans to a degree as well  have "declined to offer concessions, because they dont know which ones would suffice," the Post concluded.

What next?

With just hours to go before the funding deadline, "its becoming harder by the minute" to see lawmakers making it to "any of the potential off-ramps" that might avert the looming shutdown, Politico reported, concluding "THE BOTTOM LINE: A shutdown is coming."

If and when that happens, it's the "wrong time for Republicans to take a stand on reducing the deficit," Prof. Scheppach said, noting both that the cuts being haggled over are too small to have a long term impact, and that "the public blamed Republicans for [past] shutdowns, polls show." Some conservative lawmakers are already bracing for that seeming inevitability, with Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) complaining earlier this month to Politico that "we always get the blame. Name one time that weve shut the government down and we havent got the blame.
Seattles Wing Luke Museum will be getting $100,000 in funds to help in its recovery efforts after several of its windows were smashed by a vandal in early-September.

Seventy-six-year-old Craig Milne was charged in the incident, after smashing the museums windows with a sledgehammer while saying that the Chinese have ruined my life.

When officers arrived, he allegedly told them that the Chinese have tortured and tormented me for 14 years.

I dont regret anything I did here, he added.

On Friday, the City of Seattle and the Washington State Department of Commerce announced that they would be giving the Wing Luke Museum $100,000 for repairs.

Im proud our state could step in alongside the City of Seattle to help the Wing Luke Museum recover from the violence of hate, said Gov. Jay Inslee in a news release. The museum is a local treasure honoring Washingtons global diversity. I encourage folks to visit and learn more about the history and culture of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

Milne was charged with two felonies, one for a hate crime and another for first degree malicious mischief.
The moment her husband died, Frances Guastavino stopped the large clock in the steeple of the big house and for almost 40 years, the big hands told the hour of (Rafael) Guastavinos death  a few minutes before eight, wrote Maggie Lauterer in a June 1986 issue of the Asheville Citizen-Times.

The article, Remembering Guastavino, delved into the private life of the world-renowned builder, Rafael Guastavino , who revived a Catalan masonry technique of layering thin tiles to produce lightweight and fireproof self-supporting arches, which can be seen in some of Americas most famous landmarks, including Boston Public Library, Grand Central Terminal, Grants Tomb, the Great Hall at Ellis Island, Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Biltmore House, and Ashevilles Basilica of St. Lawrence.

Lauterer collected numerous stories about the builder and his second wife, Francesca, who lived in the Asheville area beginning in 1894. Lauterer centered her article around the couple who loved each other as lovers do in novels. While to some, the romance may seem irrelevant to Rafaels vast architectural accomplishments, it is very possible that Guastavino and his innovative tile techniques may never have arrived in Asheville  or even this country  if not for the builders tumultuous private life.

Guastavino was born in 1842 in Valencia, Spain. As a teenager he moved to Barcelona to study architecture. There, Rafael lived with his aunt and uncle and their adopted daughter, Pilar. Not long after 17-year-old Rafael arrived, 16-year-old Pilar became pregnant. The couple immediately married, and their first son, Jose, was born in 1860. Two more sons followed soon after  Ramon in 1861 and Manuel in 1863.

Once achieving the title of master builder, Guastavino, with help from family connections, was awarded a high-profile commission  Barcelonas largest textile factory; his impressive and efficient design launched his career in Spain.

Things at home were not going nearly as well. Rafael had begun a relationship with his sons nanny, Paulina Roig. After learning of the affair  which had apparently not been his first  Pilar left Rafael and took the children. While some accounts note that the couple reconciled in 1871 long enough to conceive a fourth son, Rafael Guastavino Jr., recently-discovered family letters indicate that Rafael Jr.s mother was not Pilar, but the nanny, Paulina. Paulina soon moved in with Rafael and their son, taking the title of housekeeper in official records.

A June 8, 1986, story in The Asheville Citizen Times.

This, then, might explain why Rafael took only his youngest son with him to New York in April 1881, and why Paulina traveled with them. (A few months previously, Pilar and her three sons had immigrated to Argentina so that the boys could avoid the Spanish draft.)

These same family letters also indicated that Rafaels immigration to the United States was motivated, or at least financed, by something perhaps even more sensational than his extra-marital affairs. Apparently, by way of a promissory note scam, Guastavino had pocketed $40,000 (the equivalent of about $400,000 today) to begin anew in New York City.

Guastavino struggled to secure commissions in the U.S. Still, in 1889, he and his son founded the Guastavino Fire Proof Construction Company. And, with the flammability of rare books and archival collections in mind, the firm of McKim, Mead, & White awarded Guastavinos company its first major contract - seven vaulted ceilings in Boston Public Library. The success of this commission would lead to tile-vaulting projects across the US for the father-son duo.

At home, things continued to be rocky with the women in Rafaels life. How long Rafael and Paulinas relationship lasted once they arrived in America is not known, but  after opening an office in Boston  he was romantically linked to at least one local woman. Then, as he traveled back and forth between Boston and New York for work, he fell in love with Francesca Ramirez. Francesca was significantly younger than Rafael, and  because Rafael was still legally married and a devout Catholic  identified herself as his daughter when she moved into the New York City townhouse he shared with his son. It proved a difficult charade to maintain.

At the same time, Guastavinos professional reputation for beautiful, relatively inexpensive, and high quality tile vaults grew. By the early 1890s, he had been commissioned to install tile work in George Vanderbilts Biltmore House in Asheville. Guastavino soon decided to relocate to NCs mountains, where he could build his own estate near the North Carolina clays used in much of his work.

A massive wooden house once sat on pioneering architect Rafael Guastavino's "Rhododendron" estate off of what is now N.C. 9, south of Black Mountain. A nonprofit group is taking steps toward building a museum recognizing Guastavino's work on the site.

And moving to North Carolina solved another problem; he and Francesca could stop posing as father and daughter.

In 1894, Rafael  apparently estranged from his three oldest sons  placed advertisements in South American newspapers to try to locate Pilar and confirm if his wife was still living. With no word either way, 51-year-old Rafael married 33-year-old Francesca on September 12, 1894. (The following year, in Argentinas national census, Pilar, now 56 and still using the surname Guastavino, reported being married for 36 years and having four children.)

With his new wife, Guastavino built a large home on property he bought in Black Mountain. Known as Rhododendron, Guastavinos estate was far from typical  for him or for the Black Mountain area. Though known for his fireproof tiles, Guastavino constructed his home from wood. The rambling, three-story, white-washed house contained 25 rooms including a billiard room, bell tower, and chapel.

This undated photograph features a snow-covered kiln on the estate of Rafael Guastavino.

It was in this chapel that Francesca and Rafael would, as Maggie Lauterer wrote in 1986, kneel time after time through their years together  reaffirming their wedding vows.

By 1903, Guastavino, now semi-retired, began working on his passion project - a Catholic Church designed around a large, free-span elliptical dome. He financed most of the Asheville-based project himself and provided much of the tile, which had been fired in kilns at Rhododendron.

As construction on the church neared completion, Rafael became ill and never recovered, dying on Feb. 1, 1908. Francesca was devastated. The widow, once a socialite who hosted lavish dinner parties at Rhododendron, became a recluse, always dressed in black.

With her beloved husband gone, the senora stayed in the Spanish Castle alone, Lauterer wrote in concluding the Guastavinos love story. It is said that she sat a plate at her deceased husbands chair each night for the evening meal, sometimes telling a man servant that her husband may come back someday.

Rafael Guastavino Jr. oversaw the remaining details of his fathers church, including the installation of an interior vault where the elder Guastavino was interred. The church, now the Basilica of St. Lawrence, was designated a Basilica in 1993.

The Basilica of St. Lawrence on Haywood Street in downtown Asheville on Dec. 30, 2019.

Though Francesca remained in the Rhododendron house until a few years before her 1946 death, it quickly fell into disrepair. All that remains of the Guastavinos home is a brick foundation adjacent to an underground wine cellar - the only portion of the home built using Guastavinos famous vaulting techniques.

So the questions remain: Would Rafael Guastavino have come to the United States if not for his infidelity? Would he have still settled in Asheville after finishing work on the Biltmore Estate, if not for his desire to leave behind a city that only knew the love of his life as his daughter? What would Americas great public places with their soaring tiled domes and arches look like if Rafael Guastavinos first wife had never left him?

Anne Chesky

Anne Chesky is the executive director of the new Asheville Museum of History, which will open the exhibit, Palaces for the People: Guastavino and Americas Great Public Places, at the end of October.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Did infidelity bring Biltmore, basilica builder Guastavino to WNC?
'Threadscapes' at MMCA Gwacheon traces striking evolution of Lee Shin-ja's craftsmanship

By Park Han-sol

In the 1950s and 1960s, Lee Shin-ja stood out as something of an oddball in Koreas fiber art scene.

Fresh out of college with a major in applied arts, the twentysomething creator got her hands on materials that resonated with the countrys post-war life  burlap sacks for wheat, mosquito nets and low-priced wallpaper in place of conventional textiles.

She would cut them up and plaster the pieces on boldly threaded and dyed needlework that sat somewhere between figurative art and abstraction  as witnessed in the likes of Neurosis (1961) and Portrait of My Daughter (1962).

In the eyes of other textile art masters and her peers, who dedicated their embroidery skills to creating detailed and static compositions adorned with classic Korean motifs as typically seen in folding screens, Lees approach appeared to have taken a wrecking ball to the traditional boundaries of the craft.

Without any formal training in embroidery or weaving, I often became the subject of ridicule, with people jokingly asking whether I stitched my works with my toes instead of my fingers, Lee recalled.

If I had allowed such criticism to discourage me, I wouldn't have been able to continue creating such (crude yet daring) pieces. I believe the fact that I chose to do whatever I pleased, unabated, was what helped broaden the realm of the countrys fiber art, she added.

The 93-year-old spoke as she stood inside the hall at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province, where her latest retrospective, Threadscapes, opened, Sept. 22.

The exhibition traces the evolution of her tradition-defying craftsmanship through some 90 embroidery works and tapestries spanning five decades from the 1950s to 2000s. And visitors are offered a chance to observe closely both the front and back sides of her woven textiles that firmly position Lee as a trailblazer of Korean fabric art.

It was through Wall Hanging (1971), displayed at the 1972 Kukjon, or the juried National Art Exhibition, that Lee shook up Koreas fabric art scene once again with the introduction of the then-foreign genre of tapestry.

But instead of resorting to traditional weaving techniques, the artist would add a unique sense of texture and volume to her textiles by pulling, twisting, intertwining and pile-weaving threads  like in Forest (1972) or Conversation between Circles I (1970s)  to create relief-like structures populated by organic shapes and contrasting hues.

Lee was also a maverick when it comes to the materials used in her works. She would go out of her way to purchase distinct-looking yarn sweaters from the street market and unravel them or buy bedding threads and dye them in order to incorporate those fibers into her pieces.

In the early 1980s, following the death of her husband, painter Chang Un-sang (1926-82), Lee produced a series of works, such as Prayer I (1985), which employed a striking interplay of red and black to convey her sense of grief, despair and at the same time, her profound reverence for life.

The artist's spirit of experimentation continued as the years passed.

She expanded the scope of her craft to stage costume and drapery designs, epitomized by the likes of Destination I (1987) and Prince of the Forest (1987).

Her subjects also began to include scenes pulled from her childhood memories  like the exquisite sunrise or seascape off the coast of Uljin, her hometown in southeastern Korea, brimming with spiritual vitality.

Centerpiece of the exhibition is Lees monumental The Han River, Life Vein of Seoul (1990-93).

The 19-meter-long piece was created after one of her trips to France, where she, much to her surprise, came across some of the largest tapestries she had ever seen in her life.

That was when I decided to leave behind a work on a similarly ambitious scale, she recalled.

The tapestry, while reminiscent of a traditional Korean ink wash painting, captures the modern-day scenery around Seouls iconic river  from the Olympic Stadium and 63 Building to towering bridges and Mount Nam  in a dreamy haze.

Threadscapes runs through Feb. 18, 2024, at the MMCA Gwacheon.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Memphis Police say a woman who had been shot walked into a police precinct in South Memphis.

According to police, at around 8:15 p.m. Friday, a woman walked into the Airways Station on Truitt Street and told officers she had been shot.

Memphis Police say she was taken to Regional One Hospital in critical condition.

4-year-old injured in self-inflicted shooting in Raleigh

According to police, preliminary information indicates that the woman had been shot in the area of Lamar Avenue and Pendleton Street. One suspect reportedly fled the scene.

If you have any information about this incident, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
.

DOVER  Few details are available about a shooting Saturday that resulted in a woman being taken to Aultman Hospital in Canton with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Police responded at 12:11 p.m. to a home in the 100 block of Regent Street to a report of shots fired, according to police Detective Chad Mowrer. It appeared to be a domestic dispute between a man and a woman.

Officers arrested the male suspect, who lives on Regent Street.

The investigation remains ongoing.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Woman injured in Saturday shooting in Dover; suspect in custody
Four decades after she found a pile of antique portraits in an abandoned house, Brenda Drake wants the rightful family to have them.

"This belongs to somebody," she said. "Somebody's grandchild is out there going to wonder what their family looked like."

Who those descendants are  or if they're even still in Richland County  is a mystery.

All Drake knows for certain is that, in 1947, someone named Floyd H. Schwan was still getting mail delivered to a home off Gimbel Drive east of Mansfield near Charles Mill Lake.

Brenda Drake shows off a few of the photos she found inside an abandoned Richland County home in 1980.

She hopes anyone who thinks they are related to Schwan will contact her to claim the photos.

'The woods were calling my name'

Drake's involvement in the mystery began about 1980 while her grandmother was a cook at Oak Park Tavern off Ohio 430 in Mifflin Township.

She waitressed at the restaurant after high school and occasionally cleaned house for a man named Tony who managed the tavern.

"I'm probably 19 at this time," Drake said.

One of the several photos Brenda Drake found in an abandoned Richland County home in 1980 and now hopes to return to the rightful owner.

She can't remember Tony's last name, exactly, but is pretty certain his wife's name was Mabel.

What's important was that Tony lived on Gimbel Drive, just down the street from Oak Park Tavern.

"I cleaned his house one day," Drake explained. "And I'm an avid hiker, didn't know it then, but the woods were calling my name."

When she was through cleaning, the teenager decided to venture into the forest behind the man's home.

"Deep into the woods, I came across this old abandoned house," Drake said.

'Why would anybody leave this behind?'

It has been more than 40 years since the adventure, but she can still recall many details of the old home.

The windows had been knocked out. The front door was ajar.

One of the several photos Brenda Drake found in an abandoned Richland County home in 1980 and now hopes to return to the rightful owner.

"There's plants growing on the inside," Drake said. "It was so cool. I had to go inside."

The teenager found newspapers and mail scattered throughout the home.

"Chairs were knocked over all over the place," Drake said.

The items had been addressed to "Floyd H. Schwan, RD#4, Mansfield, Ohio."

The young woman decided to collect a few of the items that seemed they might have sentimental value.

Part of her collection is a ledger from 1947. Entries include "welding labor: $1.00" and "oil: $0.51."

One of the several photos Brenda Drake found in an abandoned Richland County home in 1980 and now hopes to return to the rightful owner.

"Total expenses for the month were $115 dollars," Drake said. "They made $147 that month."

Then the teenager found a box.

"I'm thinking that whoever this family was, they just didn't see this," Drake said. "Why would anybody leave this behind?"

'This family belongs to somebody'

Inside the box were dozens of black-and-white portraits. Some of the images were prints, but most were negatives.

"Theres a box of 5-by-7 glass negatives," Drake said. "I found out that's what they call them."

Everyone in the photos was well-dressed. There were individual portraits, as well as family photos.

"When I found this, my heart just went out for this family," Drake said.

One of the several photos Brenda Drake found in an abandoned Richland County home in 1980 and now hopes to return to the rightful owner.

The only problem was that it was the early 1980s, and the teenager had few resources then to find the family. So, she packed the photos away and moved on with her life.

Four decades later, she renewed her resolve to find their rightful owners. She had several of the negatives developed, then contacted the News Journal.

"I've had these with my family photos," Drake said. "So, for 40-some years, this family has been a part of mine."

She hopes the internet will help the story spread to wherever the remaining family might live. She herself has moved to North Carolina since 1980, so she knows Floyd H. Schwan's descendants could be nearly anywhere.

One of the several photos Brenda Drake found in an abandoned Richland County home in 1980 and now hopes to return to the rightful owner.

Still, she's hopeful, and looking at the old photos makes her even more determined to help them find their way to wherever home is supposed to be.

"I look in this woman's eyes and hold this and I just start crying," Drake said. "There she is. Isn't she gorgeous? I'm sure she had kids. Those kids had kids. This family belongs to somebody. I hope to find them."

For more information about the photos, contact Drake through email at brendadrake983@gmail.com or by phone at 864-569-1340.

ztuggle@gannett.com

419-564-3508

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Woman seeks to return antique photos to family from Richland County
A woman who set fire to a Wyoming abortion clinic was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday.

Lorna Roxanne Green, 22, faced up to 20 years in prison for the May 2022 arson of the Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper. Along with her five-year sentence, Green will also have to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date, The Associated Press reported.

U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson said during her sentencing hearing that the amount will be well over $280,000.

In July, Green pleaded guilty to a federal arson charge, and said during her plea hearing that she regretted setting fire to the clinic.

While I deeply regret my actions, I accept complete responsibility for what I have done, Green told Judge Johnson at the time.

The states only full-service abortion clinic had its opening delayed by nearly a year due to the damage, and opened in April.

Green told investigators that she opposed abortion, and used a rock to smash the clinics glass door before pouring gasoline into aluminum pans throughout several rooms before setting them on fire.
Sirens

OXFORD - A Worcester man died from injuries Friday night in a fiery single-vehicle crash on Interstate 395, state police said.

Shawn Marengo, 31, of Worcester, was determined to be deceased on scene, police said.

At 10 p.m. Friday, Massachusetts state troopers assigned to the Sturbridge barracks responded to a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 395 southbound in Oxford, near Exit 4. The vehicle involved in the crash was a 1998 Jeep Wrangler SUV that had left the roadway, struck a tree and caught fire. Marengo was the operator of the Jeep, police said.

The facts and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation by the State Police-Sturbridge Barracks, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, the State Police Crime Scene Services Section and the Worcester County State Police Detective Unit.

Troopers on scene were assisted by Webster Fire Department and EMS, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, MassDOT and the State Police Employee Assistance Unit.

The left lane of Interstate 395 southbound was closed for approximately four hours while investigation of the scene and recovery efforts were undertaken. The crash was cleared around 2:20 a.m. Saturday morning.



This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester man dies in single-vehicle crash on Route 395 in Oxford
One of the great benefits and privileges of exploring Western North Carolina and East Tennessee is the opportunity to see a diverse array of wildlife wherever you go. But whether you live here or are just passing through, chances are youll mostly be watching the spectacle from behind a windshield.

Driving from Great Smoky Mountains National Park over the mountains to Asheville, North Carolina, this time of year, you are pretty likely to see woodchucks, wild turkey, and white-tailed deer. Perhaps you get lucky and spot a black bear and or even an elk moving through the vegetation. Look up and you may find red-tailed and broad-winged hawks and the occasional osprey or bald eagle. Watch for the smaller lifeforms too: box turtles, a variety of snakes, and even rare salamanders live right near the roadway.

Although larger animals like deer or black bear are often the most obvious forms of roadside wildlife for passing travelers, salamanders and many other small amphibians and reptiles must also cross roadways to find food, shelter, or a mate.

Highway travel always means risk for humans, says filmmaker Ted Grudowski. But roads pose an even more serious threat to wildlife, forming barriers to the habitat connectivity that is necessary for species survival. One solution has been shown to improve safety for travelers and survival of both plants and animals: wildlife crossings.

Grudowskis films about road ecology will be featured at The Crossing, a short-film screening coming to Ashevilles Pleb Urban Winery in the River Arts District on Oct. 26. The free event is presented by the Safe Passage Fund Coalition, which is working to understand where animals are getting killed in the Pigeon River Gorge between Asheville and Knoxville and how various types of wildlife crossing structures might help them cross.

Ted Grudowski

I didn't learn about the current concept of road ecology until I began making videos about it, says Grudowski, who will be traveling to the region from Seattle. But I sure remember seeing a lot of roadkill on the sides of roads growing up in the Midwest. In the spring there were always dead skunks everywhere! It seemed that there were more dead than alive.

Grudowski studied photography while attending Southern Illinois University. When he graduated, the internet and digital media were just beginning to take off.

I went from photography to multimedia to creating short videos for an internet audience, he says, but the lure of making something more substantial drew me to storytelling and making short documentary films.

Grudowski got involved with Conservation Northwest, a regional nonprofit advocating for wildlife crossings and working to restore and acquire lands adjacent to Interstate 90. He did a short video with colleague Kris Browne in 2015 highlighting a remote trail camera program in the forests of the Cascade Mountains in Washington.

That program contributed to the realization that there was a major wildlife highway running north and south through the Cascades that was bisected by I-90, he says. Shortly thereafter, the coalition of nonprofits and other groups was coming to an end because the decision to incorporate the wildlife passages into the highway improvements was already made and the first leg of funding secured. They wanted to document the story of how unlikely partnerships were made in order to get the passages and road improvements to happen, and so I was approached about making 'Cascade Crossroads.'

Released in 2018, "Cascade Crossroads" chronicles the collaborative effort that eventually led to the construction of one of North Americas largest wildlife-crossing projects in Washingtons Cascade Range.

Released in January 2018, "Cascade Crossroads" is a 30-minute documentary that chronicles a monumental project combining conservation, collaboration, and innovation that eventually led to the construction of one of North Americas largest wildlife crossing projects in conjunction with major infrastructure improvements for motorists. The film won two Telly awards in 2018, gold in the nonprofit category and bronze in the nature/wildlife category.

When we had made the first short video, I hadnt really grasped the depth and breadth of how incredible and unlikely it was to build the wildlife passages, as well as the implications of re-connecting the north and south Cascades with its animal highways and ecosystems, Grudowski says. Initially we were eager for a chance to create a longer story than we usually had the opportunity to tell, but after we began doing the background research, we all realized that there was something much bigger here unfolding, and that was very exciting.

In 2021, Grudowski and his production team released a follow-up film, "Critter Crossings in the Cascades," which was also well received.

Making 'Critter Crossings' was very much like doing a victory lap in a sequel, because the successful results and improvements were already tangible, so it was a chance to show the world that this project was worth all the effort to make it happen, he says. 'Cascade Crossroads' had been very well received in film festivals and other public screenings, as well as winning some awards, so we knew that the public had an appetite for successful stories about helping wildlife.

More: Word from the Smokies: Bears sometimes cross roads to get our garbage

More: Wildlife 'bloodbath' on I-40: 8 bears, 2 deer killed in 14 days in Pigeon River Gorge

The second film also gave the team an opportunity to share the story and its success from the perspective of the Washington State Department of Transportation, which had to create the plan for building it all, turn that plan into reality, and demonstrate to the public that this was the right thing to do. And, oh how right it was! How often do civil engineers get to be heroes?

There have been literally thousands of animal crossings since the passages were completed and the guide fencing installed, with some unexpected animals using the passagesnot just elk, deer, cougars, bears, and endangered aquatic species, but a badger and a moose as well.

On Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, the Safe Passage Fund Coalition will host a free film screening at Ashevilles Pleb Urban Winery presenting the short documentaries "Cascade Crossroads" and "Critter Crossings in the Cascades."

Wildlife crossings have become a much bigger topic in the news since Grudowski made the first film. He is excited to visit Asheville in late October and share the success stories of the west.I get to come bringing good news and encouragement for your wildlife passages. I love seeing road ecology ideas taking root on that side of the country, and Im excited to see what success stories you will write. The excitement of your community to provide and care for your own wildlife is infectious!

More: Word from the Smokies: Road ecology comes to Southern Appalachia

More: Word from the Smokies: Asheville's Fates perform on video benefiting Safe Passage project

When asked where he thinks the U.S. is headed in the future in terms of road ecology, he smiles.

People love animals, people love wildlife, and people love good news about people doing good things. It's a counterpoint to all the bad news we are bombarded with about how people are doing things detrimental to our natural world, he says. The success of it all is quantifiable and undeniable. I hope it leads to a greater awareness of the natural world around us and our effect on it, and I hope it leads to accommodating wildlife becoming part of the vocabulary of all infrastructure in the United States.

Register for The Crossing at SafePassageOct26.EventBrite.com.

Frances Figart

Frances Figart (rhymes with tiger) is the editor of Smokies Life and the Creative Services Director for the 29,000-member Great Smoky Mountains Association, an educational nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Reach her at frances@gsmassoc.org.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Word from the Smokies: Safe Passage film fest highlights road ecology
As 2024 presidential candidates descend upon South Carolina, time and time again I make the case to them directly that we must stand up to China and protect the innocence of our children.

With students across South Carolina and our country having returned to school, a sinister threat is sneaking into backpacks and classrooms along with them. The new source of the teen vaping epidemic, unregulated, flavored disposable vapes imported from China, are skyrocketing in popularity among youths and presenting real risk.

In recent months, a 13-year-old Georgia boy was put into a coma and paralyzed after using a vape laced with fentanyl. All across America, disposable vapes from China, marketed in bright packaging, with fruity, candy, kid-friendly flavors, are overwhelming our federal governments ability to stop them. As the federal government struggles to address the growing problem, teachers, parents, and law enforcement must work together to get these products out of our community.

While the rates of teen smoking and even conventional vaping have declined over the past several years, the problem has evolved. Over the past three years, hundreds of millions of unregulated, flavored disposable vaping products, manufactured almost solely in China, have stormed gas station and convenience store shelves specifically targeted at underage youths. Disposable vapes with brands like Elf Bar, Hyppe Bar, Esco Bar, Puff Bar and Breeze Smoke are marketed on TikTok and on websites trying to lure in our nations children.

Vaping and schools: These vape pens look like school supplies  and theyre being used in plain sight

While there are FDA-approved vapes marketed to adults to help them quit more harmful cigarettes, these unauthorized, flavored disposable vapes are manufactured in Chinese factories with zero oversight. They contain unknown chemicals and ingredients.

In South Carolina, vape use has skyrocketed, with nearly 50% of high school students having used vape products according to a recent CDC study. An alarming 12% of students were able to purchase these products directly from a store themselves. Last month, Oconee County School District took strong steps to address vaping in school by enacting stronger disciplinary policies, but if these products are already making it to the students, we are failing. We need to stop the flow before they destroy our communities.

It has become clear that we cant rely on the federal government to do the right thing to stop these products. Unfortunately, federal regulators lack the power and resources to actually enforce the regulations that they put in place. Their toothless rules, without an enforcement strategy, do nothing but incentivize criminals to sell products in the illicit market. The FDA has finally acknowledged the growing issue, but sending threatening letters isnt going to stop the gangs, cartels, and organized crime syndicates making millions off of these products.

Our law enforcement officials already have more challenges than they have resources to keep us safe. We cant divert them from preventing violent crime, but we can give them guidance and more resources to stop this deadly threat to our children.

Our elected officials must partner with law enforcement and urge the federal government to take action against unregulated, flavored disposable vapes. Words and warning letters are not enough to combat the threat we are facing.

We need to raise awareness and open our eyes to these nefarious products that are surrounding our homes and schools so that we can create the urgency and the will to take them off our shelves.

We cannot wait for the federal government to act as another child falls ill or, worse yet, dies because of unregulated flavored disposable vapes.

Lets band together to stop the flow of unregulated, flavored disposable vapes threatening our state and our country. Working together we can get them off the shelves and keep our children safe.

State Sen. Josh Kimbrell represents District 11.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Vape products are endangering youths; government must do more
A New York City sea lion did not listen to Mayor Eric Adams 's guideline to shelter in place during the rain.

The marine mammal managed to swim out of its Central Park Zoo pool thanks to flooding of the plaza caused by torrential rains and flooding in the city, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. The sea lion remained inside the zoo's outer perimeter.

"Zoo staff monitored the sea lion as she explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions," Jim Breheny, Director of the Bronx Zoo and Executive Vice President of the WSZs Zoos and Aquarium, said.

NYC floods: Photos show torrential rain wreaking havoc on New York City, North Jersey

No staff or visitors were in danger during the entire process, said Breheny. The Bronx Zoo closed their four zoos and one aquarium ahead of the storm so staff could care for the animals and the facilities during the storm.

"Animal care staff will continue to monitor the situation through the duration of the weather event," Breheny shared.

The New York Police Department's Central Park precinct said several misleading and inaccurate videos have circulated online about more zoo animals escaping due to the floods. On a post on X (formerly Twitter), officials said all sea lions and other animals at the Central Park Zoo are accounted for.

 ZOO UPDATE:

There are several videos circulating online about flooding & escaped zoo animals. These videos are misleading & inaccurate.



All sea lions & animals are accounted for & safe at the @centralparkzoo. The zoo remains closed due to the heavy rain & flooding. pic.twitter.com/g9RCADJDG8  NYPD Central Park (@NYPDCentralPark) September 29, 2023

The severe weather in New York City has overwhelmed roads and transit leading Governor Kathy Hochul to issue a state of emergency early Friday. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning through Friday night for all of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and even parts of New Jersey.

Mayor Adams urged people to avoid being outdoors.

"This is time for heightened alertness and extreme caution," Adams said during a news conference. "If you are at home, stay home. If you are at work or school, shelter in place for now."

According to Central Park.com, California sea lions are kept at five of the city's Wildlife Conservation Society's facilities.

The sea lion wasn't the first time an animal attempted to leave the Central Park Zoo. In 2011, a venomous Egyptian cobra escaped, prompting a six day search, according to ABC News. The snake was found "coiled, sort of secluded in a dark corner" one morning near the enclosure she had slipped out of, Breheny said. He added a Reptile House employee recovered the reptilian with "special tongs."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sea lion escapes zoo pool due to heavy flooding in New York City
Korean-born curator charts new museum's journey, vision

By Kwak Yeon-soo

HONG KONG  As the second edition of Frieze Seoul art fair unfolded this September, a debate was reignited over Seoul's potential to rival Hong Kong as Asia's premier art hub, as well as Frieze Seoul replacing Art Basel Hong Kong, the largest art fair in Asia.

Doryun Chong, deputy director and chief curator of the M+ museum in Hong Kong, believes that rather than competing, the two cities could serve as complementary pillars in Asia's booming art scene.

Asia is very big and I think Asia should have at least two major art fairs that serve as commercial platforms to bring people together from different parts of the world," he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

Chong, who has been listed among ArtReviews 100 most influential people in art in 2022, compared the two Asian metropolises, weighing in on the unique strengths of each city.

Seoul is known for its strong artist community. It has more art schools, museums and galleries compared to Hong Kong. But perhaps what Seoul doesnt have is the West Kowloon Cultural District and M+ (Asias first global museum of visual culture), he said.

Also when you think about the commercial sectors, major auction houses like Sothebys, Christies and Phillips have had their Asia hubs in Hong Kong for decades. So this has been a very important place of trading art much longer than the Korean art market.

Chong has been with M+ for a decade, but he spent the bulk of his career in the U.S. Prior to joining M+ in 2013, Chong worked at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (1999-2000), the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (2003-2009) and the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2009-2013).

When he was young and studying art history in the U.S., Chong wanted to be an art professor. However, working as a part-time curator at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, while pursuing his doctorate degree, changed the course of his life.

One thing I found really interesting about curatorial work is working with the objects  learning how to care for objects, how to interpret objects and how to study objects. The second attraction about museum work was the social aspect of it where you have to work with others  be it curators, registrars, conservators and art handlers.

Before embarking on a museum career, Chong shifted his academic focus from traditional to contemporary art.

In college, I was like, Maybe I could do Greek and Roman archeology or medieval European art. But if I was going to be a professor of art history, I thought I would have to take advantage of my cultural background or origin and anchor my professional expertise. I think I was a bit conscious of the fact that I am Asian and an immigrant to the U.S., he said.

So thats why I wanted to look at Asian art, but more in the modern period thats closer to my own time. I also wanted to have a social relationship with living artists.

From US to Hong Kong

Chong's journey led him to Hong Kong to help build M+ as the inaugural chief curator and he has since led the transformative growth of the museum as its deputy director.

What motivated me to come here was the fact that M+ is one of the rare opportunities to build a global institution from scratch. My second motivation was wanting to live in Hong Kong he said.

After years of meticulous planning, M+ Museum opened in November of 2021. The museum's collection now boasts over 8,300 pieces of modern and contemporary art, including 1,510 works generously donated by Swiss collector Uli Sigg.

When asked about the challenges of starting a new museum versus working at established ones, Chong explained, When you work for a standard-setting museum like the MoMA, which is really the first true museum of modern art in the world, the first thing you would do is to look back on its history and see how its mission has evolved over time. Then you can understand how you can make a contribution to the history that already exists.

His practice of understanding the historical context of museums has helped him to develop and realize the vision of M+.

Because I had that kind of training, I knew that starting a new institution meant you have to have a clear mission like What are we trying to accomplish? and that everything you do basically has to serve that mission, he said.

He added that the name M+ signifies that the institution is not just a museum, but much more. True to its name, M+ is dedicated to the collection, exhibition and interpretation of visual art, design, architecture and moving images.

Art and AI

Chong also shared his thoughts on the impact of AI on the art world.

Theres always an excitement and anxiety around introduction of new technology. Especially with AI, the anxiety is almost pervasive or universal, he said. If you look at things more historically, that kind of anxiety existed when TV, video and photography were introduced. But artists have turned them into a medium of advancing new forms of self-expression. The human mind is very resilient and inventive and jumps over barriers to find new creative possibilities.

He emphasized balance and long-term perspective in operating an art institution.

A museum is in the business of preserving and interpreting history, but we are also a contemporary institution. So we have to pay attention to the current trends, but have a little bit of a distance and always look at things from a long-term perspective.
Parts of New York were under water on Friday as torrential rainfall caused flash flooding across the city on one of the wettest days in years.

A large storm system lodged over the region on Thursday night, leaving the five boroughs and parts of upstate New York, New Jersey and Connecticut under flood watches and warnings.

The rain continued relentlessly as the Friday morning rush hour commute began. By mid-morning, New York Governor Kathy Hochul had declared a state of emergency as highways were submerged, the subway system ground to a halt, and residents waded through streets in water up to their knees.

Mayor Eric Adams urged New Yorkers to stay home or shelter in place if they had already gone out to work or school. He warned that the city could see eight inches of rain before the storm passes.

Once again, the mayor came under fire after he did not speak publicly to New Yorkers until late Friday morning when conditions were already dire. Mr Adams had been criticised in June for his handling of New Yorks air quality threat from Canadas wildfires.

Three to six inches of rain had fallen by Friday morning with several more on the way in the next 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Some forecasters warned the flooding has the potential to be historic.

Today is now preliminarily the wettest September day on record at JFK Airport, eclipsing the record from Hurricane Donna in 1960, NWS tweeted, noting that 6.08 inches of rain had fallen since midnight. The previous record was 5.83 inches.

Half the New York subway system was suspended due to flooding and delays remained widespread on Friday afternoon. Commuter rail across the tri-state areas was suffering delays and cancellations due to impacts.

Janno Lieber, head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said 3,500 buses were operating for those who needed to get around. But even those were not immune: Video posted online showed one bus in Brooklyn traveling through flooding with a submerged floor.

Emergency in nyc pic.twitter.com/oNl1idC937  EveryThing Plus ULTRA (@EveryTPlusULTRA) September 29, 2023

Roads and highways across the area were underwater while Terminal A at LaGuardia remained closed until further notice. Dozens of flights were cancelled and delayed there, and at nearby JFK. The heavy rain is also putting pressure on the rivers and streams, risking additional flooding, the NWS warned.

Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley. She said that officials were particularly worried about basement homes, after a number of people drowned during Hurricane Ida two years ago.

Plan your escape route. Dont wait until water is over your knees before you leave. Dont wait until its too late, Ms Hochul said during a press briefing on Friday.

Heavy flooding is seen close to the Barclays Center in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (Jonathan Gardner)

The rainfall was coming down at a rate of one to 2.5 inches an hour in some places. From 8am- 9am, the Brooklyn Navy Yard received 2.58in of rain, said Rohit Aggarwala, Commissioner of New Yorks Department of Environmental Protection. The citys 120-year-old sewer system was built to handle 1.75in per hour.

This is the result of climate change. Our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond, Mr Aggarwala said. On a hotter planet, more moisture is held in the atmosphere meaning that storms have a greater likelihood of bringing intense rainfall.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed parts of the city under water including the Park Slope and Prospect Heights neighbourhoods of Brooklyn, where New Yorkers were seen wading in knee-high floods.

Residents escape rising floodwaters during a heavy rain storm in the New York City suburb of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York (Reuters)

Dr Lucky Tran, who works in public health, warned people not to go into the waters. He tweeted a reminder that flooding in Brooklyn had occurred near the Gowanus Canal, a superfund site which contains pathogens and is a threat to human health.

Among the areas likely to experience flash flooding are Manhattans Lower East Side, East Village, Soho and Midtown; Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, Crown Heights in Brooklyn; and Jackson Heights, Forest Hills and LaGuardia Airport in Queens.

Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, flooding also hit Jersey City, Hoboken, Hackensack, Newark and Elizabeth. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy ordered state offices to close at 3pm, except for essential staff.
NEW YORK  The New York Public Library is pushing back against the unprecedented rise in the banning or challenging of books in libraries and schools across the U.S. with an ambitious project open to teens and young adults in New York and beyond.

Over the next eight months, young readers will have the chance to read from a selection of books that have been targeted by the increasing trend of censorship, which has removed hundreds of books from library shelves and threatened some of the most basic foundations of democracy  the freedom to learn about new experiences and ideas.

Books for All: Protect the Freedom to Read is the NYPLs longest-ever anti-censorship campaign. It will include a nationwide book club featuring a different title every two months, as well as a writing contest asking teen readers to describe what freedom to read means to them.

Launching during Banned Books Week beginning on Oct. 1, the initiative will run through the end of the school year.

The large majority of books being challenged across the country are meant for young readers, Siva Ramakrishnan, the librarys director of young adult programs and services, told The New York Daily News while explaining why the campaign will focus on teen youth and engagement.

Were thinking about teens and their ability to come into our safe spaces, and to explore who they are and who they want to be. We want them to have access to knowledge, she said.

Last year, there were 1,269 demands to censor library books in the U.S., according to data compiled by the American Library Association, or ALA. That number, the highest ever recorded, will likely get worse this year. Preliminary data from the first eight months of 2023 already show an increase of 20% from the same period last year.

That figure is especially disturbing for libraries because our mission is to make knowledge and information accessible to everyone, Ramakrishnan said.

To reach teens from all across the country, the NYPL joined forces with the ALA to create the Books for All: Teen Banned Book Club, which will offer a commonly challenged book for a limited download via the librarys SimplyE app.

The coming-of-age fantasy novel Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro will kick off the book club, starting on Oct. 2. The next book club pick will be announced later this year.

The other main component of the project, done in collaboration with the nonprofit 826 National, is the writing contest, in which teens will be asked to consider what freedom to read means to them. That could mean writing about the books that have been meaningful in their lives in ways in which their identities and experiences have been affirmed by the (those) stories, or about how book ban attempts have affected them.

We acknowledged that theres been a lot of talk about censorship by adults, she said. Its time to hear from the teens.

______
A young engineer 3D prints drones for rebel forces fighting Myanmar's military dictatorship. 'My parents would kill me' if they knew, he says.

Myanmar's military staged a coup in February 2021, rejecting the country's election results.

Since then, nearly 3,000 people have been killed and 17,000 detained, the US State Department said.

One engineer began printing semiautomatic rifles and drones to fight the military regime, per Wired.

A young engineer has been producing semiautomatic rifles and drones for a rebel group fighting against Myanmar's military regime behind his parents' backs, Wired magazine reported.

"My parents would kill me if they [knew] what I'm up to," he told the publication.

The engineer, who is only identified as "3D" due to the risk of facing arrest and execution, told the magazine he has been producing weapons for the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), an insurgent group made up of young civilians like himself, since the early months of the junta's takeover in February 2021.

Myanmar's military staged a coup two years ago after the results of the country's last democratic election reflected a strong rebuke against the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. The military claimed that there was massive voter fraud.

As of January 2023, about 3,000 people were killed, nearly 17,000 detained, and more than 1.5 million people displaced under the military regime, according to the US State Department.

The engineer was motivated to join KNDF, one of more than 250 active armed groups in the country after he witnessed military forces gun down peaceful protesters.

"That's when I thought, I have to find a way to make weapons from scratch," 3D told Wired.

Armed with a 3D printer, the engineer began making FGC-9s, a 3D-printed semiautomatic rifle, using blueprints accessible online.

In December 2022, 3D pivoted to drones that cost about $5,000 to make.

An unidentified member of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force launches a homemade drone. Thierry Falise/LightRocket via Getty Images

According to Wired, the engineer was inspired by Ukraine's cheaply-produced drone named The Punisher. The drone is small, with a 7.5-foot wingspan, and can carry 3 kg of explosives.

3D's first drone was dubbed the Liberator-MK1 and could carry up to 1.5 kg of explosives, Wired reported. The drone was deployed at Myanmar's front lines. This February, 3D produced a second version of the Liberator.

Cheap 3D-printed drones are one of the few ways rebel groups can effectively fight a well-resourced military regime that has imported, according to the United Nations, at least $1 billion in weapons and equipment.

Nowhere is this reliance on low-budget drones seen more exemplified in today's battlefield than in Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces have been reported to be deploying plastic foam drones typically reserved for photographers and hobbyists.

These drones, which cost a few hundred dollars each, have been seen taking out a Russian tank estimated to be worth several millions of dollars.

Read the original article on Business Insider
David Hughes didn't have a chance.

He was sitting on a chair at a park on Milwaukee's north side with a friend. Crowds of people were also out enjoying the park and the Memorial Day long weekend.

The father of two didn't see Charles Reddic creeping up behind them with a gun.

Hughes' friend did, from the corner of her eye. But by the time she connected the dots, Reddic had already pulled the trigger.

More: An arrest has been made in the May 31 shooting death of David Hughes, a father of two

Then he fired again. And again.

Then five more times.

Hughes died that day. And so did a piece of his mother, Dwilette Archer.

The registered nurse told a Milwaukee County judge on Friday the death of her son left her feeling defeated and emotionally crippled, but that she had enough strength to face the man responsible for killing him in court.

The judge sentenced Reddic, 35, of Cudahy, to a prison term of 40 years and 20 years of extended supervision when he is released.

"I had the privilege and honor to be David's mother for 29 years before he was so senselessly cruelly and intentionally murdered," Archer said. "I never thought I'd have to live on this earth without my son."

Court records show Reddic pleaded guilty in April 2022 to first-degree reckless homicide in Hughes' brutal May 31, 2021, slaying. The father of two was shot in the head in broad daylight as he sat with a friend at Johnsons Park.

He was shot several more times as he lay on the ground, before the gunman rifled through his pockets and made off with his fanny pack. A medical examiner's report says Hughes sustained eight gunshot wounds.

David D. Hughes

Prosecutors at the time recommended Reddic be sent to prison for 30 to 35 years. Online court records show he later filed a motion to withdraw the plea and, in court on Friday, he claimed he never agreed to the deal with prosecutors.

Reddic disrupted the hearing with several outbursts and had to be removed from the courtroom by sheriff's deputies. He watched the rest of the proceedings by Zoom with his microphone muted.

Missing David Hughes

Friends and family described Hughes as a protector and provider, whose death leaves a void for his 9-year-old brother and his two sons, ages 11 and 8.

Melissa LaGrone said it has become a struggle to comfort the children she shares with Hughes. It's hard to break the news to them, even two years after his death, they'll never see him again, she said.

The closest comfort comes from wearing a hoodie that bears Hughes' image, which family made as a memorial to his legacy.

"(Reddic) has traumatized my kids big-time," LaGrone said.

Hughes also was an entrepreneur. The money that was taken from him that day was going to be used to replace a riding lawnmower for a landscaping business he ran, Archer said.

Another portion of the money also was going to cover a bounce house business he operated.

Hughes had recently passed all the tests needed to get his driver's license. It arrived in the mail just days after he was killed, Archer said.

"My world has changed forever ... because of (Reddic's) actions," Archer said.

The evidence

Eyewitnesses. Hughes was in the park with a female friend. She told investigators while they were sitting, she saw a man come up behind them and shoot Hughes in the back of the head. The witness said she recognized the gunman as Reddic, whom she had known for several years. Other people in the park saw the shooting as well. One person even snapped a photo of the gunman as he was running from the park.

Blood. Authorities executed a search warrant at Reddic's home once they established him as the suspect. There, they discovered a pair of shoes with blood on them. The blood was tested and was a DNA match for Hughes'.

Hurdles popped up before sentencing

Three attorneys represented Reddic at different stages of his case. His third attorney, Patrick Flanagan, asked for mental competency assessment to see if Reddic would be capable of aiding in his defense.

The assessment determined Reddic was aware of the charges against him, but that he exhibited traits of malingering, or the tendency to falsify or exaggerate a physical or mental condition for personal gain.

Before sentencing, Reddic delivered a rambling, disjointed 15-minute statement, professing his innocence. He told Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Mark A. Sanders he hadn't been given a chance to present evidence that would support him.

"I'm innocent. I'm a victim," Reddic said. "I had nothing to do with none of this."

Sanders described the killing as "cold-blooded, cowardly and brutal," saying Hughes had no opportunity to defend himself.

"You, sir, are not a victim," Sanders told Reddic. "You are a killer."

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cudahy man gets 40 years in 'cold-blooded' slaying of Milwaukee father
President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Slovak Defense Minister Martin Sklenar on Sept. 30 in Kyiv, Zelensky announced on social media.

According to Zelensky, the leaders discussed cooperation with Slovakia regarding the Ukrainian military's needs, the situation at the front line, and de-mining.

"I thank Slovakia for supporting Ukraine," Zelensky said.

Slovakia, a NATO and EU member, has provided Ukraine with both humanitarian and military support since the start of the full-scale invasion.

The military hardware provided to Kyiv has included artillery, armored vehicles, air defenses, and most notably 13 Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets previously operated by the Slovak Air Force.

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Slovakia on Sept. 30 have made aid for Ukraine a central issue. Recent polls found a slight lead for Direction-Social Democracy party (SMER), led by former Prime Minister Robert Fico, who previously stated he would end Slovakias support of Ukraine if he returns to power.

Results of the election will be forthcoming as voters head to the polls at the time of this publication.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia reduces offensive pace on Kupiansk-Kreminna line

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky left Washington last week with a dire warning that Russia is counting on eroding U.S. support to win its war against his country.

Its not about some kind of weapon, or some money, its not about it, because  we will have some help, Zelensky told a small group of news outlets in Washington last week, including The Hill. But in two or three months, if we will lose some support, it means that we can lose the war.

Zelenskys appearance seemed to make a difference with GOP leaders, particularly in the Senate, which is moving forward with a stopgap spending measure that includes $6.15 billion in support for Ukraine despite the vocal opposition of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has threatened to hold up the legislation over the issue.

Senate Republicans also think it will be easier to get funding for Ukraine passed by Congress if it is included in must-pass legislation.

But Ukraine is complicating matters in the House, where dozens of Republicans oppose continued funding for Ukraine.

On Friday night, hours after his conference rejected his previous proposal to keep the government open, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) floated the idea of a clean two-week stopgap measure with no aid for Ukraine.

I think if we had a clean one without Ukraine on it, we could probably be able to move that through, McCarthy said after a lengthy GOP conference meeting Friday when asked about a clean continuing resolution. I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses Ukraine over America, I think that could cause real problems.

McCarthys comments underline the importance Ukraine aid is now taking in the fight over the shutdown.

There have been signs this week of increasing opposition to funding for Ukraine in the House GOP.

In a series of votes Wednesday, a majority of GOP House lawmakers rejected efforts to cut back on funding for Ukraine, voting down a trio of amendments to a Pentagon appropriations bill that would have curtailed Washingtons financial support for Kyiv.

But on Thursday night, more than half of Republicans in the House voted against $300 million in aid to Ukraine, although it passed in a 311-117 vote. McCarthy at the last minute stripped the aid from the defense bill  the provision had been included since 2016  so it could pass on a GOP-only vote, while pushing through the Ukraine funding separately on the back of Democrats.

Zelensky during his visit last week said he believed that McCarthy supported Ukraine but understood he faces challenges, saying the process would not be simple.

McCarthy is under a constant threat from various conservatives to unseat him through a procedural motion known as a motion to vacate the chair, which would lead to a vote to end his Speakership.

McCarthys moves this week do suggest he is trying to maintain support for Ukraine, but even before floating the Ukraine-free measure Friday night, hed insisted the issue should be kept out of the stopgap measure and dealt with on its own as a supplemental.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a McCarthy ally who has repeatedly backed Kyiv in House votes, criticized the decision to include Ukraine money in the Senate stopgap, calling it a strategic political mistake and so dumb to bring Ukraine funding into the government spending fight.

McHenry specifically blamed the Biden administration in his public comments, but the decision to do so was backed by Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his leadership team.

Opponents of Ukraine funding in the House feel like they are gaining momentum.

The House vote on providing $300 million in assistance to Ukraine on Thursday night received 117 GOP no votes, more than a similar vote Wednesday night.

A similar phenomenon played out with an amendment proposed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) that called for prohibiting any U.S. assistance for Ukraine. The amendment failed in a vote Wednesday night, but it had 93 Republicans voting in favor, an increase from the 70 GOP members who voted for the amendment in July.

Matthew Tragesser, communications director for Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), told The Hill that the congressmans colleagues in the House are finally starting to realize that the United States should not be funding another never-ending war overseas.

Some GOP critics of U.S. assistance for Ukraine say the Biden administration has failed to explain what their goals are in supporting Kyiv. President Biden has said the U.S. will be with Ukraine as long as it takes for it to survive Russias aggression.

Zelenskys visit last week certainly didnt change the views of lawmakers who have long opposed U.S. support for Ukraine.

I just dont think that continuing to spend money without any clear plan  is wise, I mean thats been my position for a long, long time. I didnt hear anything that changed that, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told The Hill.

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said its important that Congress provide more money for Ukraine in the wake of Zelenskys visit as a sign of the United States continuing commitment to supporting its war against Russia.

I think its a message to the world if we interrupt that flow of support, so I think its very important that we continue those resources, he said. To interrupt it would do grave damage to our relationship with the world.

Hickenlooper said theres significant support in the House and the Senate for backing Ukraine.

I think he knew that we were coming together with a budget and he came to make his case before we did the budget, Hickenlooper added. I think he was coming to thank us. He was profuse in his gratitude but also to say, We can win this.

Emily Brooks and Alexander Bolton contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the creation of a Defence Industries Alliance and the establishment of a special Defence Fund.

Source: Zelenskyy during his address at the First International Defence Industries Forum in Kyiv

Quote: "Today, at this forum, we are announcing the creation of the Defence Industries Alliance. An alliance that values international law and is capable of working for the real protection of international law. Protection of security  I'm talking not only about Ukraine, but also about the security of any nation in the world from aggression.

We have drawn up a corresponding basic declaration as the foundation of this alliance, and manufacturers of weapons and military equipment from all over the world who share our intention to provide real protection from aggression in this high-risk environment of our time can join it. Today, at its inception, 13 prominent companies have already signed this declaration, showing their readiness to build a new arsenal of the free world alongside Ukraine."

Details: The president also announced that Ukraine is developing a special economic regime for the defence industry.

In addition, Zelenskyy said a special Defence Fund will be established in Ukraine. This fund will provide additional resources, in particular for military production development, relevant cooperation support, and the creation of new military facilities and programmes that are needed for defence and to take care of Ukrainian soldiers.

"The fund's resources will be an addition to the state's expenditures on defence, defence production, and private investments. The fund will be replenished through dividends from state-owned defence assets and profits from the sale of confiscated Russian assets," the president said.

Zelenskyy said 252 defence companies producing a full range of weapons and defence systems and solutions from over 30 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia are represented at the Defence Industries Forum in Kyiv.

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!
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Slovak Defence Minister Martin Sklenar during his visit to Kyiv and thanked Bratislava for its support.

Source: Zelenskyy on Telegram, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Zelensky said Martin Sklenar and he discussed the situation at the contact line, Ukraines Defence Forces priority needs, humanitarian mine clearance and cooperation between Ukraine and Slovakia in this issue.

SCREENSHOT FROM THE VIDEO. PHOTO: PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

"I thank Slovakia for standing with Ukraine," Zelenskyy added.

Background: On Thursday, 28 September, the UK Defence Secretary and French Defence Minister also visited Ukraine.

In addition, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Kyiv. The Defence Industries Forum initiated by Kyiv was held on Friday, 29 September, in which over 160 countries took part.

Early parliamentary elections are being held in Slovakia on Saturday, 30 September, the results of which may become decisive for the country's future course in relations with the EU and support for 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!
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has noted that Ukraine had begun its path to becoming a donor of global security thanks to its defence industry.

Source: Zelenskyy in the evening appeal

Quote from Zelenskyy: "We are working to start producing the systems we need in Ukraine. Someday, over time, we will see the maximum armed power of Ukraine, our manufacturers, our defence industry, and our new cooperation with the world, and we will be able to say that the beginning of this was laid right now.

Our country will become one of the key global producers of weapons and defence systems.

And this is no longer just an ambition or a perspective; it is a potential that has begun to be realised. I thank everyone whose work has led to such results for Ukraine!".

Details: Zelenskyy is sure that Ukraine will become a donor to global security, in particular, thanks to the defence industry.

Background:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the creation of a Defence Industries Alliance and the establishment of a special Defence Fund.

Ukrainian companies have signed 20 documents with foreign partners as part of the International Defence Industries Forum, and 38 companies from 19 countries had joined the Defence Industries Alliance by the time the forum closed.

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!
TOKYO, Sep 30 ( News On Japan ) - Three individuals, including the president of a human resources dispatch company, have been arrested on suspicion of dispatching Cambodian trainee workers who had disappeared from their training sites at Japanese companies to a transportation company for employment.

According to Tokyo Metropolitan Police, a Cambodian broker had introduced foreign trainee workers who had disappeared via social media to the president of the company.

During a search of the transportation company in June, more than 20 Cambodian nationals were found working.

Police believe that the suspects had illegally dispatched approximately 200 individuals to the transportation company from 2018 until June of this year, generating sales of approximately 450 million yen.
By Lee Yeon-woo

Concerns are mounting over the rising impact of social media influencers on the domestic stock market.

Investors are forming devoted fandoms around these influencers, pouring significant sums into stocks recommended by them. Some stocks have even seen their share prices soar by over 100 percent after receiving an influencer's endorsement.

These influencers are often called "finfluencers," a portmanteau of finance and influencer. They are prominent on platforms like YouTube and Instagram, offering insight into investment choices. They manage to translate complex financial data into simpler, more intuitive language, quickly gaining popularity among novice investors who joined the market during the COVID-19 stock market surge.

One of the most notable finfluencers in Korea is Park Soon-hyeok, the former public relations director of Kumyang. Affectionately known to the public as "Battery Ajeossi," his online fan community boasts over a million members. Park recommended eight secondary battery stocks, and among them, EcoPro saw a staggering 750 percent rise this year.

The issue is that some finfluencers can skew the decision-making process of investors and potentially use their influence to manipulate stock prices. There have been instances where finfluencers were discovered to have exploited their clout, recommending stocks they had previously acquired and then profiting after driving up stock prices.

Park himself came under scrutiny by the Financial Supervisory Service. He was discovered to have held the position of division head of the investment management firm while simultaneously serving as an executive at a secondary battery firm, Kumyang.

Another prominent finfluencer, "Super Ants," is also facing legal challenges. Since June 2021, he is alleged to have endorsed five stocks he had bought beforehand, profiting once individual investors began purchasing the stocks he recommended.

While finfluencers could provide well-reasoned advice, acting on their recommendations without due diligence doesn't always yield positive returns. A study by the Swiss Finance Institute revealed that for over 56 percent of finfluencers active on U.S. stock-related social media, their stock recommendations resulted in an average monthly return decline of 2.3 percent.

Currently, there is no straightforward way to regulate these finfluencers unless unfair transactions are identified. Financial authorities believe it's challenging to impose sanctions on finfluencers who disseminate information without monetary compensation. There are concerns about the potential violation of freedom of expression if personal media is regulated. It's also widely recognized that individuals should bear the responsibility for their investment decisions.

In contrast, international financial regulators are taking steps to address these issues. For instance, this July, the United Kingdom decreed that sanctions could be imposed on finfluencers who unlawfully promote financial products that might significantly harm investors.

"Major nations across Europe, the U.S. and Asia are initiating measures to safeguard financial consumers, recognizing the challenges of financial marketing via social media," said Hong Ji-yeun, a senior research associate at Korea Capital Market Institute.

"With the rising prominence of finfluencer activities in the country, it's crucial to ensure that financial products and services advertised on social media comply with existing regulations. Financial consumers ought to exercise caution in their approach. Considering the constantly changing financial landscape and the versatile use of social media, there's a need to contemplate suitable regulatory measures," Hong added.
TOKYO, Sep 30 ( News On Japan ) - Exile's Atsushi has come out on livestream telling how he was struck down by lyme disease, which is transmitted by the bite of an infected tick and can take 2-3 years to recover.

The 43-year-old musician reported the onset of Lyme disease during a live stream on Sep 27, where he took off his trademark sunglasses, revealing that he is undergoing treatment.

"I had seizures at home that wouldn't stop so I had to be taken to hospital," Atsushi said.

Humans contract Lyme disease when they are bitten by ticks that harbor Borrelia bacteria, leading to symptoms such as headaches, fever, and overall fatigue. If left untreated, it can progress to cause damage to the brain and heart, and in severe cases, it can lead to death.

In March 2023, Atsushi suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, and for over two months afterward, he dealt with severe headaches, dizziness, and nausea.

During this time, he also developed "Meniere's disease," which causes lymphatic fluid to accumulate in the ears, which left the musician "feeling at rock bottom, lacking energy, and having no motivation." Subsequent tests revealed that he also had Lyme disease.

According to Professor Satoshi Kukina of Osaka University Medical School, Lyme disease is a type of infectious disease transmitted by ticks and can manifest symptoms such as rashes, headaches, and fatigue. If left untreated, it can also lead to chronic arthritis and peripheral skin inflammation. The treatment typically involves administering antibiotics for 2 to 4 weeks, but even after treatment, symptoms can persist for more than six months.

Ticks are known to inhabit all of Hokkaido and high-altitude mountains in Honshu, Japan's main island. They are especially common in forests and thickets where animals reside. It is important to be cautious when traversing animal trails used by wild boars and deer.

Professor Kukina advises, "Although about 10 cases are reported annually in Japan, there is a possibility that it is spreading even more widely. As we approach the autumn hiking season and more people venture into the mountains, please be cautious."

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases website recommends protecting oneself from tick bites by reducing exposed skin on the arms, legs, and neck. They suggest wearing high-necked clothing or wrapping a towel around the neck, and keeping sleeves and hems tucked into gloves and boots or inside socks.

Professor Kukina also advises, "If you are bitten by a tick, please visit a dermatologist immediately. There is a risk of inflammation at the site of the bite, so do not attempt to remove it forcibly."
On the podcast this week, we discuss the second Republican presidential primary debate, Chuck Grassley's hot take on a potential federal government shutdown, and some state boards which were spared the review panels axe.

On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast that aims to re-create the kinds of conversations that happen when you get political reporters from across Iowa together after the day's deadlines have been met.

This weeks show is hosted by Erin Murphy, the Des Moines Bureau Chief for The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, and features The Gazettes Deputy Bureau Chief Tom Barton, Lee Des Moines Bureau Chief Caleb McCullough, and Gazette Columnist Todd Dorman.

The show was produced by Stephen M. Colbert and the music heard on the podcast is courtesy of Craig Erickson and Copperhead.
NORFOLK  In regard to the two recent columns by your readers saying what a great job Joe Biden is doing: I dont know where these people are getting their facts, but I have good idea. They should head down to the border and talk to the border agents, and homeowners to get some education.
WASHINGTON  The Aspen Institute has named Northeast Community College as one of the 150 institutions in the nation that are eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation's signature recognition of high achievement and performance among two-y
The Spanish aerospace group Aciturri Aeroengines moved into Casablanca following the acquisition of the Moroccan company GOAM Industrie.

Aciturri Aeroengines has officially acquired GOAM Industrie, a manufacturer of engine components located in Casablancas Midpark, specializing in the production of turbine and aircraft engine parts, stated the Spanish group in a statement posted on the social network X.

This acquisition marks a new phase in Aciturris internationalization process and its goal to expand its technological and industrial capabilities in aero-engines for leading aircraft engine manufacturers such as Safran, Rolls Royce, General Electric, and Pratt & Whitney, the group said.

It will also provide Aciturri Aeroengines with the technological and industrial resources necessary to broaden the portfolio of products and services offered by Aeroengines to the international market.

This represents Aciturris second operation of this kind, following its acquisition of Malichaud Atlantique, another company in the same sector, late last year.
Religious tolerance is a hallmark of Moroccos history, the US State Department points out in a new report. Religious tolerance is a hallmark of Moroccos history  from its welcoming of refugees fleeing the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 15th century to late King Mohammed Vs efforts to protect Jews during World War II, says the report released by the Office of the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.

The document underlines the role of Essaouira-based Bayt Dakira, noting that the goal of this space is to help preserve Moroccos ancient Jewish heritage by revitalizing a historic synagogue, signifying the countrys goodwill toward its Jewish population. The site serves as a symbol of Moroccos commitment to multiculturalism and the preservation of its rich Jewish heritage, the report stresses.

The document also underlines the importance of the action of the Mimouna Association, saying that this NGO seeks to expand awareness among Moroccan youth regarding the rich Jewish cultural history that has existed in the country for thousands of years. Mimouna was created by a group of young Muslim students that aspired to promote and preserve Moroccan Jewish heritage, the report points out, adding that the bulk of Mimounas operations are centered around educational programs that elevate interfaith dialogue and encourage cultural pluralism in Morocco.

The US report identifies more than 40 programs, policies, and actions from around the world that counter antisemitism.
A purported image, taken from a security camera at the Cannon House Office Building, of Representative Jamaal Bowman pulling a fire alarm on Saturday. Photo: Video screencap/U.S. Capitol Police

The wildest thing to happen on Capitol Hill this past weekend besides a potential shutdown of the federal government was when Representative Jamaal Bowman set off a minor panic by pulling a fire alarm in a House office building on Saturday.

In the days since, Republicans accused the Democrat from New York of deliberately trying to postpone a vote that saw Democrats effectively bail out Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Bowmans side, in turn, has issued multiple statements trying to defend why he quite deliberately tried to access a set of doors marked as an emergency exit.

The saga began on Saturday afternoon when Bryan Steil, the chair of the House Administration Committee, announced in a statement that Bowman pulled an alarm in the Cannon office building and the U.S. Capitol Police said was investigating the matter, which led officers to evacuate the building and saw DC Fire and EMS units respond.

A spokesperson for Bowman said he did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion.

McCarthy then weighed in, saying it was a serious matter and calling for the House Ethics Committee to investigate Bowman. The Speaker added that he would talk to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about the situation and insisted that this should not go without punishment. McCarthy even went so far as to compare Bowmans actions to those undertaken by rioters on January 6, 2021. The Republican pile-on included Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island calling for Bowman to be expelled.

When we found that an individual elected to Congress would pull a fire alarm, thats a new low, McCarthy said. We watched how people have been treated if they have done something wrong in this Capitol. It will be interesting to see how he is treated on what he was trying to obstruct when it came to the American public.

Jeffries declined to weigh in at a press conference. I havent seen the video, so until I see the video, Ill have no further comment.

Bowman, speaking to reporters after he and nearly all other House Democrats voted for the stopgap spending bill, insisted, I thought the alarm would open the door.

This doesnt really seem that confusing pic.twitter.com/EXM5VOWJAp  John Bresnahan (@bresreports) September 30, 2023

He then offered a much longer explanation in a statement sent out late Saturday to personally clear up confusion about the incident and deny that pulling the alarm was meant as a delaying tactic:

Today, as I was rushing to make a vote, I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open. I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused. But I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote. It was the exact opposite  I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open. I also met after the vote with the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police, at their request, and explained what had happened. My hope is that no one will make more of this than it was. I am working hard every day, including today, to do my job, to do it well, and deliver for my constituents.

On Monday, Bowmans staff began circulating a Google Doc of potential talking points on the fire-alarm incident to the offices of other House Democrats, clearly looking for backup from colleagues.

Per source, this was in a Google Doc where the ability to access it has since been changed https://t.co/czOWxRV760  Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) October 2, 2023

One of the suggested talking points included Democrats saying, I believe Congressman Bowman when he says this was an accident. Republicans need to instead focus their energy on the Nazi members of their party before anything else.

Bowman then apologized later Monday for what he said was the inappropriate use of the term Nazi without my consent in the document.

I just became aware that in our messaging guidance, there was inappropriate use of the term Nazi without my consent. I condemn the use of the term Nazi out of its precise definition. It is important to specify the term Nazi to refer to members of the Nazi party & neo-Nazis. https://t.co/DUi92VpUia  Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@RepBowman) October 2, 2023

This post has been updated.
Photo: Pool/Getty Images

As Donald Trump was hit with four indictments in the past six months both tabloid reports and Melania Trumps actions have told us that she simply does not care. But why, exactly, is Melania so unbothered by her husbands legal and political strife?

Donald claimed in a recent interview that Melania is just very even-keeled. Many Trump foes have suggested that Melania is so fed up with her husband and his alleged philandering that she wouldnt mind seeing him behind bars. Now, a new report offers an alternate explanation for Melanias chill demeanor: she knows shes set financially, whatever becomes of Donald Trump.

Page Six reported on Thursday that over the last year, Melania has been renegotiating the preuptial agreement from their 2005 union. The insider said this isnt a sign that Melania has suddenly had it with Donald, as this is a fairly common occurrence in their marriage.

This is at least the third time Melania has renegotiated the terms of her marital agreement, the source said. Melania is most concerned about maintaining and increasing a substantial trust for their son, Barron.

A second source elaborated: I know that she wanted it to provide her with more money, and also  from what I understand  theres a specific amount at minimum that Barron is supposed to obtain.

It seems that while Melania did not explicitly threaten divorce, she decided to use her husbands legally and politically sensitive predicaments to her advantage. The Post reports:

Said our source, Trump remains very rich, but with mounting legal bills and judgments, and the renegotiated prenup would provide a more solid future for Melania and their son should the couple split. Its not that she threatened to leave him, the source cautioned. Its definitely the underlying idea.

According to a 2020 book by Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan, the postnup was also reconfigured at the end of the 2016 election, which brought to light rumors of Donalds affairs and the Access Hollywood tape. Supposedly the First Lady did not immediately move into the White House because negotiations were ongoing, not because Barron was finishing his school year, as was reported at the time.

So it seems Donald Trump is having a bit of trouble making his agreements with Melania stick. Maybe he should check out The Art of the Deal, a book that has his name on it, though he didnt actually write it.
Sign up to get Court Appearances: USA v. SBF delivered to your inbox. Its exclusively for our subscribers  why not join us? Sam Bankman-Fried, on his way to court. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos Getty Images

Since November 11, 2022, the day that Sam Bankman-Frieds crypto exchange FTX collapsed and his hedge fund Alameda Research collapsed and his personal $26 billion turned out to have been vaporous, the twitchy 31-year-old, maybe-genius, maybe-scammer failed to raise $8 billion to save the company, gave a lot of weird interviews denying he did anything intentionally wrong, tried to blame his ex, was charged with eight counts of fraud and conspiracy, spent a week in a Bahamian jail, had enough of that, got extradited to the U.S., pleaded not guilty in New York, moved in with his parents in California on a $250 million bond, got accused of witness tampering, talked with Michael Lewis, got yelled at by a judge for violating bail terms to watch the Super Bowl, witnessed his former executives flip on him, started a Substack, got hit with four more charges, gave interviews to the rest of the journalists he hadnt already gotten around to, successfully got a charge on illegal campaign contributions dropped on a technicality, got charged with another count of bribing Chinese officials, had a few charges separated to a different criminal suit, leaked his exs diary, got incarcerated again on the grounds that he attempted to tamper with two witnesses, complained about not getting his food or medicine while in jail (fair), complained about not having enough computer time in jail (ehhhhh), and got personally sued about three dozen times in the federal courts.

At last, his trial starts on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. It is expected to last about six weeks. He is being judged here on seven charges concerning financial fraud. He faces more than 100 years in jail.

Was There Fraud or Was There Not?

On the Thursday before the trial began, Bankman-Frieds lawyers tried one more time to get their client out of jail. The judge is Lewis L. Kaplan  who, in a weird coincidence, will make his second appearance in the Court Appearances newsletter, having presided over the E. Jean Carroll trial. He took this last-ditch appeal in a relatively small but handsome wood-paneled courtroom on the 21st floor of 500 Pearl Street, rather than a larger ceremonial courtroom with more marble and greater seating.

Mark Cohen, an attorney for SBF, argued that his client needed more time to review the 1,300 exhibits, a volume made more daunting by their apparent complexity. Danielle Kudla, a prosecutor for the Justice Department, argued that he already had seven-and-a-half months to review before getting thrown back in jail, and anyway, he has extraordinary access to both computers and his lawyers in jail. Judge Kaplan in the end declined to set Bankman-Fried free. (He did allow more time for preparation.) Not only do defendants in complex drug cases prepare from court, he said, but Kaplan wasnt convinced that this particular defendant wasnt still a flight risk. As for all that complexity, he was incredulous. The issues here are pretty straightforward, he said. Was there fraud or was there not?

Lawyers sometimes talk about how The Law can be beautiful, and I doubt anything prettier than that was said at the hearing. But is that really all it boils down to? Bankman-Frieds trial is, for those of us not in the court, about many things: the rot in cryptocurrency, the spinelessness of politicians, the glad-handing media, greed, sex, nerds, power, America. SBF himself is, despite the efficiency of his nickname, a figure of immensity. He is someone who made and lost more money than you could ever dream of, a figure capable of both moral clarity (a dedicated animal-rights activist who sought to eliminate poverty and nuclear war) and abject depravity (an accused witness tamperer and an apparently duplicitous character when it comes to his moral beliefs). So he contains multitudes  a kind of quantum object, always in motion, both one thing and another. But here, in court, he is being judged on very narrow criteria.

Isnt the case a slam-dunk for the prosecution?

Did SBF knowingly build and use a backdoor into FTXs code that gave his personal hedge fund the ability to borrow unlimited amounts of other peoples money? If the answer is yes, thats fraud. (He is accused of many other instances of fraud and conspiracy, so this is by no means the only hurdle he needs to clear). In Sheelah Kolhatkars recent piece in The New Yorker, she writes that she had been grilling Bankman-Fried in his parents house with his mother and father flitting in and out of the kitchen when he said, and shes paraphrasing: Bankman-Fried was adamant, in my conversations with him, that prosecutors would not be able to produce any documents showing him authorizing the unlimited borrowing, because, he says, there are none.

The specificity of this language implies that he has been trained to some degree to make this point. (Not only is he represented by many high-powered lawyers, but the publicist Risa Heller, who has represented Jeff Zucker and Jared Kushner, has been helping his parents.) Whether its true that he did not have a hand in the flow of money between these companies is something that a jury will decide.

This fits his overall strategy: Admit he screwed up, lean on how complicated and messy it all was, and insist he had good intentions all along.

There are any number of things that can support this. The utter size of this case is tremendous. There are millions of documents. Judge Kaplan referred to the volume of evidence as a mountain. Every transaction, every spreadsheet, every text, every word in a deposition can be used by a skilled attorney to demonstrate innocence or guilt. All these things introduce a risk that cuts both ways.

There are at least three cooperating witnesses for the government: former Alameda CEO (and SBFs ex) Caroline Ellison, his former best friend and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and former director of engineering at FTX Nishad Singh. (Ryan Salame, another former FTX executive, is reportedly not cooperating.) But just because theyve pleaded guilty to charges of their own and are cooperating with the prosecution doesnt mean that any one of them couldnt say something that actually undermines the prosecution  or that they could change their mind at the last minute. (Its rare, but these kinds of things do happen).

If SBF is correct that there really is no written evidence showing that he directed fraudulent transactions, the prosecution will have to work harder to make that case. In white-collar cases like this, that can be extraordinarily difficult.

All the Details

The charges: Sam Bankman-Fried is being tried on seven counts: two charges of wire fraud, two charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, then a charge each for conspiracy to commit securities fraud, commodities fraud, and money laundering.

The judge: Judge Lewis A. Kaplan was appointed to Manhattan federal court by Bill Clinton, and has overseen a striking number of cases that have found their way into the public discourse: Prince Andrew, Kevin Spacey, and Al-Qaida plotter Ahmed Ghailani.

The timeline: Jury selection begins on Tuesday, October 3. Opening statements should start the next day. The court currently expects to end the trial in mid-November, with prosecutors presenting for four or five weeks and the defense taking the stage for about a week.

The witnesses: Will SBF take the stand? Its not clear. Lawyers declined to comment, and there has been no witness list released yet. However, Ellison, Singh, and Wang are likely to testify for the prosecution. (Salame may also be called to the stand, even though he apparently didnt cut a deal). During the hearing Thursday, prosecutors mentioned that there were two more witnesses who still needed to finalize an immunity agreement, though their names werent made public. So, there may be a lot.

The consequences: In order for SBF to clear this trial, he needs to prevent a jury from coming to unanimous conclusions about all seven counts. But even then, he is not in the clear. The government expects to bring the remaining political corruption and money laundering charges in March 2024. He is also facing civil claims from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and many other unhappy private people and companies. Even if he wins, he could still find himself broke and barred from the financial industry.
By Ko Dong-hwan

The recent diplomatic summit between energy ministers from Korea and Qatar has established the basis for a bilateral energy alliance that can develop further through trading natural energy resources and transport tankers.

The Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Bang Moon-kyu on Wednesday met Qatar Minister of Energy Saad Sherida al-Kaabi in central Seoul. The two discussed how to expand further the scope of bilateral exchanges that have been hinged on energy.

The ministers, meeting at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, sought potential future trade opportunites in the fields of use of renewable energies and production and application of hydrogen and amonia. They also agreed to make further investments in each other and exchange manpower and technology in the aforementioned fields.

Bang, begining his new ministerial job last week, acknowledged in front of his counterpart how the bilateral relationship has continued based on liquified natural gas (LNG) trade. He proposed the two countries further develop energy trade to include hydrogen and renewable energies and make the relations "more sustainable."

Bang also requested al-Kaabi to support Korea's bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan.

The annual trade value between the two countries last year stood at almost $17.1 billion, a record-high. Qatar is Korea's No. 2 LNG supplier, accounting for around 20 percent of the country's total LNG imports. Korea, meanwhile, signed with Qatar in 2022 deals to build 54 LNG carriers. The Korean energy ministry said it is expected to sign an additional deal with the Middle Eastern country later this year for more carriers.

Korea imports from Qatar natural gas, petroleum and related products, aluminium and fine chemical ingredients, according to Korea International Trade Association (KITA). This year, Korea has total imports worth $9.3 billion from Qatar up until July and total exports worth $459 million to Qatar during the same period.
I might've been interested if they hadn't knocked the creepy treehouse down and also if I wasn't poor

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hold on let me go win the lottery, then put in an offer The inside looks nice https://www.knightfrank.co.uk/properties/residential/for-sale/symonds-yat-east-ross-on-wye-herefordshire-hr9 hold on let me go win the lottery, then put in an offer

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anyone wanna pool our non-existant money?

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I didnt realize how rich Otis was

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It's such a beautiful house and a dream location. Shame we're all poor



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James Toogood



no way

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Too way

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If I had the money Id buy the fuck out of this



Along with the CMBYN Italian villa

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The best thing about that movie was the house.

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I don't know what the housing market is like there, but 1.83 million USD doesn't seem that bad. I was expecting it to be higher to be honest.

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Its absolutely horrible but maybe thats my London location speaking. Idk whats it like elsewhere my friends in Edinburgh are saying its also bad

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I'm in the North and it's horrible here too. I used to live in Edinburgh and all my friends there have been pushed out by rent prices now, it's insane there

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And Jean still couldn't hire a babysitter or a nanny for her useless baby 

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Thank you! Ive been complaining about this to my partner 

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Right? Like how could they afford that house if she needed money so badly she had to do that shitty podcast

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Jean is still rich! She ended up paying her sister's big debt off with just a cheque.



But at no point, a nanny was a solution 

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Yeah I kept asking that through the whole season. If I had her money and was working Id get a nanny

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It felt like a plot hole considering what we know of the character

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Looks beautiful

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The queue is still empty, just saying.

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Maybe I was too raised on american movies where people are stalked and killed when they're in the middle of nowhere, but living in nature/away from the city has absolutely no appeal to me. My future apartment has an open view of the city (so a shitload of buildings) and I'm in love. I'd much rather look @ that than nature tbh lol

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Same I hate how exposed I feel in houses - much prefer apartments with security personnel / cameras / key card access to common areas as a woman.

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buildings here aren't that fancy so we don't have that, but I still feel safer because at least there are a lot of neighbors that can call 911 if needed lmao

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Nature may be pretty but there ain't shit to do and you're probably surrounded by bigots/people with 10 children in a "commune".

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I'm with you.



I'd like a house in theory because I could have pets and a yard but realistically, I'd feel super alone and exposed in it, no matter if it's in nature or not. I much prefer a building that's monitored (ideally tho, there aren't many like that here but we're getting with the times now lool) and I'd like to live on one of the middle floors lmaooo.

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I feel burnt out on city life (I hate living in LA lol) so sometimes I wish I could just fuck off and live in the woods by myself. But also I could never lol. Not even the home invasion aspect but if something happens to me like I trip and hurt myself whos gonna help?

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Nah Im the same. I love to look at nature but Ive always thought how long would it take an ambulance to get here? No thanks, I will stay in the city where at least someone can hear me scream.

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I grew up in the woods and when my family visits me at my place in the city they always comment how loud and distracting it is. Meanwhile if my street is too quiet during the night Ill wake up because I think something is wrong. I need city noise to feel calm now.

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as a canadian from the west coast, that sounds like an absolute steal to me. our housing market here is so bad weve got 2 bed 2 bath 1000 square feet apartments here for the almost same price as this big gorgeous home, its crazy

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Same but in Toronto. Thinking of my friends home thats a super modest three bedroom house from 100 years ago that cost $1.2 million.

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I was just thinking about the houses on this show. You have something massive and expensive like this and then you have Erics house thats small and way more realistic.

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"Hasbro refused to allow Zayto who was once the Red Ranger to become the White Ranger believing it would be problematic due to the actor being black"



What? Why is that a concern? To keep someone from a color theme is weird.

To be honest, I liked the 10 episodes only, it made the story more plot driven. There seems to have too many cooks in the kitchen so I hope whatever they want to do next has a clearer vision.
From Good to Great: How Visual AI Turns You Into a Safety Superstar

As computer vision adoption and applications mature, more tools are being developed for the everyday worker. Some have waited for the arrival of this new technology, but many more are still considering how computer vision technology benefits them.

SparkCognition has developed a tool that empowers HSE managers. With Visual AI Advisor, HSE managers can prevent accidents, automate alerts, and quantify their impacts without micromanaging workers. Visual AI Advisor helps deploy HSE managers resources more effectively, easing supervision and reporting requirements. Visual AI Advisor benefits HSE managers by:

Preventing accidents  4x improvement in workplace safety

Reporting near misses and unsafe acts  target training can cut incidents by more than half

Retrieving incidents using filters  save +20 monthly manual review hours

Join us to see how other companies are implementing visual AI to prevent the most common workplace injuries. You will hear stories about how customers used this tool to track unsafe acts and near misses, create engineering controls, and reduce major problems for HSE managers. These outcomes benefit companies by reducing HSE costs, improving process uptime, and increasing worker morale.

Register now to gain valuable knowledge about computer vision and discover how companies are using it to gain a competitive advantage by augmenting the managers and systems they already have.

What you will learn:

A brief history of artificial intelligence and computer vision and why visual AI is beginning to reach mass adoption.

Common visual AI use cases that can be quickly implemented with existing camera infrastructure.

Real-world examples of successful deployments and their proven benefits across health & safety, security, productivity, and business intelligence applications

How to implement Visual AI Advisor and the most common HSE use cases for preventing incidents.

A step-by-step process for improving HSE operations with quantifiable results.



The impacts on companies currently using Visual AI Advisors and their technology adoption journey.

Register for this free webinar!

DATE: October 18, 2023

TIME: 2:00PM ET - 1:00PM CT - 11:00AM PT

Speakers

Jodie Sasse is an accomplished leader and advisor to companies looking to find innovative software solutions to solve their most critical business problems. Throughout her 20+ year career in the technology industry, she has developed a passion for helping companies unlock growth, optimize performance, and realize return on their technology investments. As SparkCognitions Vice President of Visual AI Advisor, she drives the outcomes for clients with challenges related to safety, security, productivity, inspection, and situational awareness. Prior to joining SparkCognition, Sasse held various roles at Twilio, Equals3 AI, IBM, and IBM Watson. She has a BS in Finance and Economics from Syracuse University and an MBA from Suffolk University.

Jaidev Amrite is the Head of Product for SparkCognition's Visual AI Advisor and Natural Language AI, Deep NLP. Before SparkCognition, Jaidev led multiple product development initiatives in IIoT, Data Analytics and Embedded Systems at National Instruments and Microsoft. Jaidev earned his Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech and is passionate about making technology approachable through human centered design and social psychology.

Duration: 1 Hour
The spike in oil prices to the highest level in more than a year worked wonders for the Middle East. Saudi Aramco is back to buying minority stakes in private Chinese refiners, enjoying the fact that oil prices have been more than $10 per barrel above its presumed fiscal breakeven for quite some time, offsetting the losses incurred before OPEC+ production cuts. Apart from boosting the Middle Easts fiscal stability, the Saudi production cuts of recent months have also greatly steepened Dubai backwardation, with the cash-to-futures-spread of the middle sour benchmark moving to almost $3 per barrel lately. The month-on-month change in Dubai amounted to $0.55 per barrel, setting the stage for another increase in formula prices. Usually, the likes of Saudi Aramco or SOMO also look at refining margins and August was perhaps the most profitable month for refiners in all of 2023, driven by resurgent diesel and gasoline cracks.

Chart 1. Saudi Aramcos Official Selling Prices for Asian Cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai average).

Source: Saudi Aramco.

In an environment like this, Saudi Arabias national oil company Saudi Aramco was expected to hike Asian prices by a solid margin. Surprisingly, the anticipated OSP increase did not happen. Saudi Arabias medium sour grades were hiked by $0.10 per barrel each, moving Arab Light to a $3.60 per barrel premium vs Oman/Dubai. In fact, the only Saudi grade that saw a notable increase in October was Arab Super Light, a very rare condensate-like grade that sees 1-2 cargoes per month, that was hiked by $0.50 per barrel. Overall, the lack of pricing ambition reflected wider worries about the health of Chinese demand into the remaining months of 2023, as well as significantly lower Indian nominations lately. Indias imports of Saudi crude are set to come in at the lowest monthly level in almost a decade, below 500,000 b/d. Considering Saudi Arabia sets the tone for other countries price-setting, the temptation to raise Asian formula prices was most certainly there. Related: Oil, Gas Drilling Dips To February 2022 Low As Oil Prices Hover Near 2023 Highs

Chart 2. Formula prices of cargoes bound for the United States (vs Argus Sour Crude index).

Source: Saudi Aramco.

Saudi Aramco also lowered formula prices for its European customers, both Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean witnessed every single grade cut by $0.10 per barrel compared to September OSPs. Whilst the small Asian hikes were a surprise, the market anticipated minor month-on-month decreases in Europe where spot-traded differentials have been on the decline for several weeks already. Apart from demand concerns, one of the possible explanations for such considerate pricing into October might come from higher availability of Saudi crude. If anything, this month has already seen Saudi exports add 300-400,000 b/d compared to August and even against the background of stagnant output this trend might continue further down the road. Overall, the US was the only market to see its formula prices lifted, this time around by a uniform $0.20 per barrel, putting the OSP of Arab Light at a whopping $7.45 per barrel premium to the Argus Sour Crude index.

Chart 3. ADNOC Official Selling Prices for 2017-2023 (set outright, here vs Oman/Dubai average).

Source: ADNOC.

ADNOC, the national oil company of the UAE, has been active both in and out of the oil markets, putting in final touches for the COP28 summit in Dubai in two months as well as launching new seawater treatment facilities for its onshore production. When it comes to pricing, however, the countrys light sour Murban benchmark has strengthened slightly compared to Dubai, though remaining a fraction of the $3-4 per barrel premiums seen earlier this year. The outright price of Murban for October-loading cargoes increased by $6.5 per barrel compared to September, ticking in at $87.28 per barrel. Somewhat surprisingly the differential of Upper Zakum, a grade that is very Dubai-like in terms of its quality, was lowered by 60 cents per barrel after being sold at parity to Murban in September. With almost two-thirds of all Upper Zakum cargoes going towards China, the lower differential might reflect a weaker Chinese pull over the upcoming months.

Chart 4. Iraqi Official Selling Prices for Asia-bound cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai).

Source: SOMO.

The interplay between Saudi Arabia and Iraq has been one of the most interesting trends to watch lately in the wider Middle Eastern region. Iraqs national oil marketer SOMO went for the opposite of Saudi Aramco did and hiked Asian formula prices by $0.40 per barrel for Basrah Medium and by $0.30 per barrel for Basrah Heavy. With this, the spread between Arab Light and Basrah Medium has shrunk to $1.80 per barrel, the first time this year that its below the $2 per barrel mark. The decline in Indias buying of Saudi crude reflects this pricing rivalry well, with discounted Russian barrels becoming the baseload for many Indian refiners who then decide between Iraqi and Saudi prices as to who should be their main Middle Eastern oil supplier. At the same time, Iraqs oil exports into Asia ultimately hinge on two main buyers  India and China  that collectively account for 85% of Asian deliveries, so if either of those two would cut purchases, Baghdad would need to find new clients very quickly.

Chart 5. Iraqi selling prices for Europe-bound cargoes (vs Dated Brent).

Source: SOMO.

As for Europe, the meteoric rise in Dated Brent has become something of a problem for Iraq. In contrast to Saudi Arabia, Iraqi formula prices for European buyers are not benchmarked against ICE Brent but against Dated, which has been consistently $1.1-1.2 per barrel above the futures contract. The strength of Dated Brent is the main reason why the cut in Iraqs European prices is significantly bigger than for Saudi Arabia, as SOMO lowered the October OSP by $0.50 and $0.40 per barrel for Basrah Medium and Basrah Heavy, respectively. Maintaining Iraqs European market became an issue of principle after August witnessed the highest ever volumes of Iraqi exports towards the European continent, just shy of 1 million b/d (the second highest this year was at only 820,000 b/d), so SOMO wanted to let it regional buyers know that it understands their concerns about Dated Brent. Such a strategy might also backfire, should Dated suddenly slump back to parity with ICE Brent, as was the case for most of the summer months.

Chart 6. Iranian Official Selling Prices for Asia-bound cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai average).

Source: NIOC.

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The state coffers of Iran added some 6 billion after the US-Iran prisoner swap allowed Tehran to finally tap into its funds that were frozen in South Korean banks. When it comes to Irans exports, however, there has been no change whatsoever with NIOC fully focusing on the Chinese market to maximize its exports. Despite it being a rather academic exercise as Iranian cargoes are mostly sold at double-digit discounts to Dubai on a spot basis, NIOC hiked the October formula price of Iran Light to Asia by $0.05 per barrel to a $3.50 per barrel premium vs Oman/Dubai, even lower than Saudi Arabia.

Irans energy authorities have spent most of the summer months playing up the opportunities of the Middle Eastern countrys oil production, however it seems that we will not be seeing further increases beyond the 3.2 million b/d that Tehran self-allegedly produces already. Exports from Iran remain rangebound around 1.4-1.5 million b/d, with record high fuel consumption at home prompting Irans oil sector to maximize refinery runs instead of exporting it as unrefined crude. In 2023 alone, the Middle Eastern countrys gasoline demand increased by 70,000 b/d to a record 730,000 b/d, on the back of last years exceptional 110,000 b/d demand surge. Whilst Tehran also boasted of increasing the processing capacity of the largest condensate splitter in the country, Persian Gulf Star, to 455,000 b/d thanks to debottlenecking, the increase in refining capacity has so far lagged gasoline demand growth.

Chart 7. Kuwait Export Crude official selling prices into Asia, compared with Arab Medium and Iranian Heavy (vs Oman/Dubai average).

Source: KPC.

Kuwait continues its transformation from a crude-focused exporter into an all-round market player, with its products offering finally boosted by the third CDU of the 615,000 b/d Al Zour refinery coming onstream. The downstream expansion has not been going to plan, with many hiccups, the latest of which was a power outage that debilitated the Mina al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries mid-month. For its October formula pricing, Kuwaits national oil company KPC opted for a middle ground between Saudi Arabias minimal price hikes and Iraqs following market indications that led to them hiking OSPs much more. The Kuwaiti benchmark grade Kuwait Export Crude for the Asian market was increased by $0.20 per barrel vs Oman/Dubai compared to September OSPs. Even though Kuwait remains exclusively focused on the Asian oil markets with no exports to Europe whatsoever, KPCs cuts for potential European buyers exceeded others price changes, lowering the October OSP by a whole $1 per barrel for both Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean. However, because they remain $4-5 per barrel more expensive than Iraqs Basrah Medium (which is also priced off Dated Brent), these changes are unlikely to have any tangible effect.

By Gerald Jansen for Oilprice.com

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As hydrogen gains prominence amid the global pursuit of decarbonization and energy security, many major infrastructure projects are considering transportation in the form of ammonia, a safer and more cost-effective method for exporting hydrogen supplies in large volumes. Rystad Energys projections indicate that 174 export terminals will primarily focus on converting hydrogen into ammonia by 2035, accounting for 62% of total exported volumes, or about 13.5 million tonnes per annum (tpa).

In support of the broader energy transition, a substantial upsurge in clean ammonia transportation and trade is anticipated, with traded volumes of ammonia projected to reach 76 million tonnes by 2035, four times the volume transported and traded in 2020. This surge, primarily originating from Africa and North America, will lead to a five-fold increase in ammonia exports by 2050 to 121 million tonnes.

Nations such as Japan and Germany have already adapted their respective national hydrogen strategies in anticipation of a greater role for the fuel, highlighting the pivotal role that hydrogen will play in helping reach net-zero emission targets. Despite the substantial scale of export projects and uncertainties surrounding future trade dynamics, some project developers may decide to partially convert hydrogen to ammonia or explore alternative transportation methods. In the meantime, investors are increasingly raising their confidence in the ammonia market and making significant near-term investments.

Green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy, is the cleanest but most expensive form. Blue hydrogen, produced using natural gas, is more cost-efficient and widely seen as a transition fuel that can help reduce emissions until affordable and reliable alternatives are scaled up. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is already widely used as transportation and power-generation fuel, and its facilities could be adapted to transport hydrogen as well.

Hydrogen penetration is moving quickly and globally, entering new geographies and outpacing market expectations. With the ammonia trade booming, there is an urgent need to leverage existing assets to their fullest potential. Converting LNG terminals could be a good solution, not only optimizing current infrastructure but also spurring a re-evaluation of strategies that can cope with the scale of the expected market expansion

Minh Khoi Le, Head of Hydrogen Research, Rystad Energy

Learn more with Rystad Energys Hydrogen Solution.



Future flows: North America, Africa and Australia feature prominently

Our estimates show global clean ammonia exports are set to surge to 121 million tpa by 2050, with Africa contributing 40.7 million tpa and Australia with 35.9 million tpa based on announced projects.

There are currently 220 ammonia infrastructure projects globally, with a combined handling capacity of more than 6 million tonnes. Australia, which is aspiring to be a top clean ammonia exporter, presently has just seven terminals with total storage capacity of approximately 173,000 tonnes. Without substantial expansion by 2040, this would be capable of accommodating just two to three days of planned clean ammonia exports.

To handle Australias projected monthly exports of ammonia, terminal capacity will need to increase ten-fold. This is especially important considering Australian projects, such as the Western Green Hydrogen Hub and the Australia Renewable Energy Hub, will be among the largest hydrogen projects worldwide and are considering ammonia as a transportation medium.

Public-private partnerships: government holds the key to action, matching industry enthusiasm

Although the hydrogen economy is still in its early stages of development, demand for ammonia is already on-track to outpace available infrastructure. Both private and public sectors support the development of a global hydrogen economy, with major companies signing agreements with ammonia producers and governments auctioning off import contracts.

For example, JERA, a prominent player in Japans power generation sector, recently initiated a tender to secure an annual supply of up to 500,000 tonnes of ammonia, starting from 2027. This move is aimed at supporting coal generation co-firing applications within Japan and has involved active negotiations with ammonia producers such as CF Industries and Yara. Meanwhile, in Germany, major energy companies E. ON, Uniper and RWE have entered ammonia-related memorandums of understanding with international firms, including EverWind (Canada), Greenko (India) and Hyphen (Namibia).

On the governmental front, auctions aimed at sourcing ammonia imports are gaining popularity. Germanys H2Global auction, backed by 900 million ($978 million) in governmental support, will be the first of its kind globally and offer 10-year purchase agreements for green ammonia. Additionally, various government-backed initiatives are geared towards creating fresh demand for ammonia, including its use as an alternative fuel in the maritime sector (supported by the FuelEU Maritime initiative) and co-firing applications in Japan.

Industry experts are already exploring the technical feasibility of these transitions, especially considering the projected rise in ammonia utilization for power generation and shipping. We estimate that switching LNG export and import facilities to ammonia would incur estimated costs ranging from 11% to 20% of the total LNG terminal capital expenditure, depending on factors such as demand and location.

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Shipping industry growth and transition opportunities for LPG carriers

While still in its early stages, the ammonia shipping industry is expanding swiftly. Currently, just 30% of the global liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fleet can transport ammonia, with only 50 large and very large gas carriers having this capability. To meet rising demand, Eastern Pacific Shipping has commissioned four very large ammonia carriers (VLACs) from Jiangnan Shipbuilding Group. These VLACs will become the worlds largest carriers, each boasting 93,000 cubic meters of capacity.

To transport the announced 121 million tonnes of ammonia, approximately 200 VLACs will be required, necessitating an investment of approximately $20 billion in newbuilds. Beyond newbuilds, interest is growing in retrofitting LPG vessels for ammonia carriage. Given the availability of over 1,450 LPG carriers, converting these vessels into ammonia-ready carriers offers a robust transition strategy for shipowners, particularly as demand for LPG tonne-mileage is anticipated to decline amid decarbonization efforts.

By Rystad Energy

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A Lincoln woman was killed and another person was injured in a crash on Nebraska Highway 2 near Palmyra, Nebraska, on Thursday night.

The Nebraska State Patrol said a two-vehicle crash occurred at the intersection of Highway 2 and Road I just northwest of Palmyra in Otoe County around 5:45 p.m. Thursday.

A preliminary investigation indicates that a Hyundai Sonata was on Road I and entered the intersection northbound when it was struck on the drivers side by an eastbound Honda Accord.

The State Patrol said the driver of the Hyundai, identified as Tania Greene, 62, of Lincoln, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Honda, 20-year-old Dalton Berkebile of Tecumseh, was taken to Bryan West Campus in Lincoln with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

The State Patrol is continuing to investigate the crash and has not released other details.
A 55-year-old woman was critically injured after she was shot in the torso in North Omaha early Saturday.

Police responded to the incident near 30th Street and Meredith Avenue at 2:45 a.m. and found Felicia Johnson, who had a gunshot wound. Johnson was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact Omaha Crime Stoppers at 402-444-STOP (7867), at www.p3tips.com or by downloading the p3tips mobile app. Anonymous tips leading to the arrest of a shooting suspect are eligible for an enhanced reward of up to $10,000.
A former Austrian nurse, who spent about 40 years taking care of Korean leprosy patients on the remote island of Sorok, has died in her home country at age 88, officials said Saturday.

Margaret Pissarek died of sudden cardiac arrest at a hospital in the Austrian city of Innsbruck on Friday, while she was receiving treatment for a broken femur, according to Rev. Franciscus Kim Yeon-jun.

Born in 1935 in Poland, she graduated from a nursing school in Innsbruck and came to Korea in 1966 to serve Hansen's disease patients at the National Sorok Island Hospital in the southwestern county of Goheung for 39 years without pay.

She returned home in 2005 as her health deteriorated, saying she did not want to be a burden to people here.

"She expressed her will to donate her body for medical research, and the funeral procedures are yet to be fixed," the father said.

Pissarek had been with Marianne Stoeger, who came here in 1962 as a volunteer nurse for patients on the island and also returned home in 2005.

Korea conferred the two former nurses with medals several times, and gave them honorary citizenship. Kim and the government of South Jeolla Province had been working on a campaign to nominate them for the Nobel Peace Prize. (Yonhap)
WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat and champion of liberal causes who was elected to the Senate in 1992 and broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics, has died. She was 90.

Feinstein died Thursday night at her home in Washington, D.C., her office said Friday. Tributes poured in all day. Opening the Senate floor, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that we lost a giant in the Senate.

As the nation mourns this tremendous loss, we know how many lives she impacted and how many glass ceilings she shattered along the way," Schumer said, his voice cracking.

President Joe Biden, who served with Feinstein for years in the Senate, called her a pioneering American, a true trailblazer and a cherished friend."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint a temporary replacement, and there is sure to be a spirited battle to succeed her.

Feinstein, the oldest sitting U.S. senator, was a passionate advocate for liberal priorities important to her state  including environmental protection, reproductive rights and gun control  but was also known as a pragmatic lawmaker who reached out to Republicans and sought middle ground.

Her death came after a bout of shingles sidelined her for more than two months earlier this year  an absence that drew frustration from her most liberal critics and launched an unsuccessful attempt by Democrats to temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee. When she returned to the Senate in May, she was frail and using a wheelchair, voting only occasionally.

On Friday, her Senate desk was draped in black and topped with a vase of white roses. Senators gave tearful tributes as members of the California House delegation stood in the back of the chamber and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sat in the gallery with Feinsteins daughter, Katherine.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was one of several Republicans who gave tributes to the Democratic icon, calling her his friend. Dianne was a trailblazer, and her beloved home state of California and our entire nation are better for her dogged advocacy and diligent service, McConnell said.

Biden said in a statement, Dianne made her mark on everything from national security to the environment to protecting civil liberties. Our country will benefit from her legacy for generations.

Former President Barack Obama also saluted her as a trailblazer," and former President Bill Clinton called her a champion of civil rights and civil liberties, environmental protection and strong national security.

She was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969 and became its first female board president in 1978, the year Mayor George Moscone was gunned down alongside Supervisor Harvey Milk at City Hall by Dan White, a disgruntled former supervisor. Feinstein found Milks body.

After Moscones death, Feinstein became San Francisco's first female mayor. In the Senate, she was one of Californias first two female senators, the first woman to head the Senate Intelligence Committee and the first woman to serve as the Judiciary Committees top Democrat.

Although Feinstein was not always embraced by the feminist movement, her experiences colored her outlook through her five decades in politics.

"I recognize that women have had to fight for everything they have gotten, every right," she said in 2005 as the Judiciary Committee prepared to hold hearings on President George W. Bush's nomination of John Roberts to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court.

"So I must tell you, I try to look out for women's rights. I also try to solve problems as I perceive them, with legislation, and reaching out where I can, and working across the aisle," she said.

Feinstein's bipartisan efforts helped her notch legislative wins throughout her career. But it also proved to be a liability in her later years in Congress, as her state became more liberal and as the Senate and the electorate became increasingly polarized.

A fierce debater who did not suffer fools, she was long known for her verbal zingers and sharp comebacks when challenged on the issues about which she was most fervent. But she lost that edge in her later years in the Senate, as her health visibly declined and she sometimes became confused when answering questions or speaking publicly. In February 2023, she said she would not run for a sixth term the next year. And within weeks of that announcement, she was absent for the Senate for more than two months as she recovered from shingles.

One of Feinsteins most significant legislative accomplishments was early in her career, when the Senate approved her amendment to ban manufacturing and sales of certain types of assault weapons as part of a crime bill that Clinton signed into law in 1994. Though the assault weapons ban expired 10 years later and was never renewed or replaced, it was a poignant win after her career had been significantly shaped by gun violence.

Feinstein remembered finding Milks body, her finger slipping into a bullet hole as she felt for a pulse. It was a story she would retell often in the years ahead as she pushed for stricter gun control measures.

Two decades later, after 20 children and six educators were killed in a horrific school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, first-term Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas similarly challenged Feinstein during debate on legislation that would have permanently banned the weapons.

"I'm not a sixth-grader, Feinstein snapped back at the much younger Cruz  a moment that later went viral. She added: "It's fine you want to lecture me on the Constitution. I appreciate it. Just know I've been here a long time."

After Feinstein became mayor of San Francisco, she led the city during one of the most turbulent periods in its history. Even her critics credited Feinstein with a calming influence, and she won reelection to two four-year terms.

With her success and growing recognition statewide came visibility on the national political stage.

In 1984, Feinstein was viewed as a vice presidential possibility for Walter Mondale but faced questions about the business dealings of her husband, Richard Blum. In 1990, she used news footage of her announcement of the assassinations of Moscone and Milk in a television ad that helped her win the Democratic nomination for California governor, making her the first female major-party gubernatorial nominee in the state's history.

Although she narrowly lost the general election to Republican Pete Wilson, the stage was set for her election to the Senate two years later to fill the Senate seat Wilson vacated to run for governor.

Feinstein campaigned jointly with Barbara Boxer, who was running for the state's other U.S. Senate seat, and both won, benefiting from positive news coverage and excitement over their historic race.

Feinstein was appointed to the Judiciary panel and eventually the Senate Intelligence Committee, becoming the chairperson in 2009. She was the first woman to lead the intelligence panel, a high-profile perch that gave her a central oversight role over U.S. intelligence controversies, setbacks and triumphs, from the killing of Osama bin Laden to leaks about National Security Agency surveillance.

Feinstein was born on June 22, 1933, and graduated from Stanford University in 1955. In addition to her daughter, Feinstein has a granddaughter, Eileen, and three stepchildren.
DETROIT  The United Auto Workers union expanded strikes against Detroit automakers Friday, ordering 7,000 more workers to walk off the job in Illinois and Michigan to put more pressure on the companies to improve their offers.

It was the second time the union widened the walkouts, which started two weeks ago at three assembly plants before the most recent additions of a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors factory near Lansing.

Union President Shawn Fain told workers in a video appearance that the strikes were escalated because Ford and GM refused "to make meaningful progress" in contract talks. Jeep maker Stellantis was spared from the third round of strikes.

Ford accused the UAW of holding up a deal mainly over union representation at electric vehicle battery plants, most of which are joint ventures with a Korean manufacturer.

"We still have time to reach an agreement and avert a real disaster," Ford CEO Jim Farley said. The company said the work stoppages are starting to affect fragile companies that make parts for the factories on strike.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra blamed union leaders for the impasse. UAW leadership continues to expand the strike while upping the rhetoric and the theatrics. Its clear that there is no real intent to get to an agreement, Barra said in a statement.

GM's manufacturing chief said the union called more strikes "just for the headlines, not real progress."

The GM plant in Delta Township, near Lansing, makes large crossover SUVs such as the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. A nearby metal parts stamping plant will remain open, Fain said.

The Chicago Ford plant makes the Ford Explorer and Explorer Police Interceptors, as well as the Lincoln Aviator SUV.

Fain said union bargainers are still talking to the companies, and he was hopeful they could reach deals.

Stellantis, he said, made significant progress Friday by agreeing to unspecified cost-of-living raises, the right not to cross a picket line and the right to strike over plant closures.

Raneal Edwards, a longtime GM employee who works at the Lansing-area factory, said she was "shocked but happy" to hear that her plant would join the strike.

"I feel like they don't understand that this is about more than wages," Edwards said. "It's about having security at our jobs."

But in a note to workers Friday, Edwards' boss, GM manufacturing chief Gerald Johnson, said the company has yet to receive a counteroffer from union leaders to a Sept. 21 economic proposal.

Automakers have said they are willing to give raises, but they fear that a costly contract will make their vehicles more expensive than those built at nonunion U.S. plants run by foreign automakers.

The union insists that labor expenses are only 4% to 5% of the cost of a vehicle, and that the companies are making billions in profits and can afford big raises.

The three automakers amassed almost $250 billion in reported profits in their North American operations over the past decade.

Ford's Farley accused the union of holding an agreement hostage over union representation of battery plant workers. On a conference call with industry analysts, he said high wages at battery plants would raise the price of Ford's electric vehicles above those from Tesla and other competitors.

"Record contract? No problem. Mortgaging our future? That's a big problem. We will never do it," Farley said.

Ford's battery plants, Farley said, have not been built. "They have not been organized by the UAW yet because the workers haven't been hired and won't be for many years to come," he said.

Fain later accused Farley of lying about the talks and said the union gave Ford a counteroffer on Monday but has not heard back. The union is far apart on economic issues with Ford, Fain said, such as a defined-benefit pension for workers hired after 2007 and health insurance for retirees. Workers hired after 2007 get a 401(k)-style retirement plan.

But Fain did say "job security in the EV transition" remains an issue.

The electric vehicle battery plants are a huge issue for the union's future. Some industry executives, including Farley, say building EVs will take up to 40% fewer workers because they have fewer parts. So the union is looking to organize battery plants and win top wages so displaced workers have somewhere to go, especially those making combustion engines.

Other industry officials, including GM CEO Barra, say there will be enough jobs for all as the industry moves away from gasoline vehicles.

The automakers' last known wage offers were about 20% over the life of a four-year contract, a little more than half of what the union has demanded. Other contract improvements, such as cost of living increases, restoration of defined-benefit pensions for newly hired workers and an end to tiers of wages within the union are also on the table.

The union went on strike Sept. 15, initially targeting one assembly plant from each company. Then last week it added 38 parts-distribution centers run by GM and Stellantis. Ford was spared from that expansion because talks with the union were progressing then.

The union has structured its walkouts so the companies can keep making big pickup trucks and SUVs, their top-selling and most profitable vehicles.

Previously it shut down assembly plants in Missouri, Ohio and Michigan that make midsize pickup, commercial vans and midsize SUVs, which aren't as profitable as larger vehicles.

About 25,000, or about 17%, of the union's 146,000 workers at the three automakers are now on strike.
Projects across Lincoln targeting such concerns as housing, employment and recreation have gotten a boost from a program administered by the State of Nebraska.

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development said in a press release that it has awarded a total of $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to eight projects within Qualified Census Tracts in Lincoln. The QCT Recovery Grant Program-Lincoln was created under Legislative Bill 1024 in 2022 to address the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.

These funds are investing in Nebraskas youth, growing the local workforce, developing affordable homes and doing much more to enhance quality of life in our capital city, DED Director K.C. Belitz said.

The $2.125 million the City of Lincoln received for its South Haymarket Park project is just a game changer for us, said Maggie Stuckey-Ross, director of Lincolns Department of Parks and Recreation. The park, which will sit on about 7 acres south of Lincolns Haymarket District, formerly was used as a scrap-metal collection site. The land was cleaned up about 10 years ago and is being transformed into a $16 million park. It will include a playground, a dog park, a skate park, an interactive water feature and green space. A commuter trail being built through the park will connect to a trail system that will stretch south all the way to Marysville, Kansas, Stuckey-Ross said.

We already are seeing the impact of the park announcement on development, she said. Theres a lot of opportunity for redevelopment along the edges, and were certainly seeing interest that wasnt there before, (when the land was a) remediated field of weeds along a railroad track.

Pacific Engineering Inc. is building portable workforce training centers to teach technical skills that will help students secure high-paying jobs as production technicians with manufacturers. The training pods will be set up at high schools, community colleges and community centers.

Dexter Myers, PEIs senior vice president, said the $1.25 million from the state will enable the company to operate the portable training centers  equipped with state-of-the-art technology for a 24-month period. Well be able to build the pods, which were doing now, and pay for the instructors and develop the curriculum, Myers said.

The nonprofit organization Rabble Mill will use the $1 million it received from the state to help fund a program for 18- to 24-year-olds who arent enrolled in school, said Christina Oldfather, Rabble Mills workforce development director. We give them all of the tools and the skills and the relationships that they need to go on to college, get a job or start a business, she said.

The program, which starts this month and runs through May 2024, will serve about 30 young people. Participants first visit a variety of businesses and talk to industry professionals about what sorts of jobs are available. The second phase of the program encourages participants to make plans for their next three to five years through a Rabble Mill course called Design Your Life.

The third phase includes learning modules in pathways such as photo/video, graphic design, music and entrepreneurship. Participants also can take courses with Rabble Mill partners to gain skills such as web development or drone piloting. The coursework is followed by a capstone project in which participants are paired with a mentor. The final phase is an internship that allows participants to gain on-the-job experience.

Other recipients through the QCT Recovery Grant Program-Lincoln include:

Center for People in Need: $1 million

Clinic With a Heart: $2 million

Downtown Lincoln Association: $1.25 million

gener8tor: $375,000

Neighborhoods Inc., DBA NeighborWorks Lincoln: $1 million

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of September 2023
GRAND ISLAND, Neb.  As of Dec. 30, the Hall County Department of Corrections will no longer house detainees from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The recent decision by the Hall County Commission was made in response to the federal governments requirements for the handling of ICE detainees.

Severing ties with ICE was one of two subjects discussed by the Hall County Commission in executive session last week. After coming out of executive session, the board unanimously voted to terminate the countys contract with ICE.

Hall County has housed ICE detainees since before the current Hall County Jail opened in 2008.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the jail contained 17 ICE detainees.

The county receives $75 a day for each ICE detainee housed.

The chairman of the Hall County Board said after Tuesdays meeting that the county will incur no financial cost in cutting ties with ICE. The U.S. Marshals Service will use the beds vacated by the ICE detainees, Ron Peterson said.

The Marshals Service will be happy to fill any available beds. Theyve told us that a number of times, Todd Bahensky, director of Hall County Department of Corrections, said Wednesday.

The procedure required by ICE has become burdensome enough that its just come to the point where its really difficult for us to keep up with it, Bahensky said.

ICE has audited the jail about three times in the past year. The audits have been for different reasons, and Im not saying theyre going after us, or anything like that, Bahensky said. Theyre just taking a different approach to these audits.

ICE is tightening up and changing its standards and then adding requirements on to it, Bahensky said.

Hall County has been trying to negotiate an increase in the rate paid by ICE, because the U.S. Marshals Service pays $105 a day for each of its inmates housed in the jail.

But ICE wants the Hall County Jail to put some other things in place before raising its daily rate.

Theyre asking for us to put a lot of time and effort and money into it to be able to meet these requirements, and its just not worth it for us, especially considering that the total of ICE detainees is not that large, Bahensky said.

An ICE audit is not financial in nature. They just come in and they look at our standard operating procedures, look at the way we handle our paperwork and all that kind of stuff and make sure we meet their guidelines  their standards, Bahensky said.

Hall County Department of Corrections is required to comply with Nebraska jail standards. The jail meets all state requirements when it comes to safety and security. So Bahensky is confident the jail is doing things the right way.

ICE is basically taking things to the next level, he said.

ICE does not regard its detainees as criminals, Bahensky said. So the federal agency asks Hall County to treat them differently from people who have been charged or found guilty of a crime.

ICE expects the jail to do things that are kind of above and beyond what a county facility typically does, Bahensky said. For instance, ICE asks that the detainees have additional access to phones. Measures like that make it difficult for the jail to comply, Bahensky said.

Many of the ICE detainees are in the process of being returned to their native countries. Some of them are challenging deportation. Its not unusual for detainees to spend 30 days or more at the jail, Bahensky said.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of September 2023
BLOOMINGTON  A 42-year-old Bloomington woman is facing felony domestic battery charges after police said she had punched and choked a person.

Erin Tomlin is charged with aggravated domestic battery involving strangulation and two counts of aggravated battery to a police officer, all Class 2 felonies.

Assistant State's Attorney Jeffrey Horve filed a petition to deny pretrial release, arguing the danger Tomlin presents to individuals and the community.

Horve said Bloomington Police Department officers were dispatched at 6:51 p.m. Wednesday for reports of two people yelling at each other.

Upon arrival, officers confirmed there was a shoving match between Tomlin and another woman, Horve said.

The woman told officers the situation escalated when Tomlin punched her in the face, then jumped on top of her and began choking her until she could not breathe, Horve said.

The prosecutor said Tomlin later told officers she had punched and choked the woman, and during her contact with police, Tomlin spit in the face of two responding officers.

Horve said Tomlin has a prior criminal record going back to 2004, including a 2018 domestic battery conviction and 2019 violation of an order of protection in Sangamon County.

Assistant Public Defender Carol Shegog-Parker argued that both the 2018 and 2019 offenses were when Tomlin had an active addiction and did not know what she was doing at the time. She has since completed substance abuse and anger management programs.

Shegog-Parker noted Tomlin did not use a weapon, was not released on a court order and does not have any failures to appear in the last two years.

Shegog-Parker also said Tomlin has diabetes, degenerative disc disease and arthritis, which would require access to her doctor, and the defendant cares for her 7-year-old child.

After reviewing the statute, Judge Scott Kording said the state provided clear and convincing evidence that Tomlin's release would pose a danger to the safety of both individuals and the community.

Kording said the previous offenses compounded with Tomlin being accused of choking someone she knows, as well as admitting to the crime, was enough to detain her.

An arraignment hearing for Tomlin is scheduled for Oct. 20.

Updated mug shots from The Pantagraph Bryant Lewis Derek Roesch Justin M. Mata Marcus D. Wesley Phillip Tinch Trisha L. Hanke William B. Givens David L. Oliver Kenneth E. Funk Jordan R. King Holly M. Isaacson Kenneth L. Minton Tony L. Jackson Britley L. Hilger Jasmine L. Smith Jackie S. Claypool Noah R. Demuth Brandon L. Parsano Alexander N. Williams Carlos Sanchez-Solozarzano Jaylin S. Bones Jordan R. King Dominique M. Banks Austin T. Daugherty Sandra M. Lewis Samantha E. Morris Nolan C. Love Nikkita L. Sandefur Katlin M.B. Wilson Eli C. Garozzo Tysean T. Townsend Curtis J. Byrd Noral K. Nelson Charles J. Tankson Davis, Micah S Livingston, Joshua D. Kevin L. Ewen Emmanuel K. Mpay Ahmad S. Manns Dylan R Mann Tony L. Jackson William R. Linden Zadek U. Moen Zachary T. Willis Cecily M. Sexton Tonisha A. Jackson James A. McConnaughay Jessica M. Longberry Barry D. Guyton Keon E. Spiller Melina Aguilar Carlos D. Cregan Wayne M. Damron Terrance L. Ford Stanley M. Miller Darryl R. Vinson Jarvis K. Heads Wesley M. Noonan Brad Carter Brian K. Burnett Kenneth D. Downey Kenyon J. Bones Brittany N. Greiner
A terms of service agreement  that long list of legalese that most people ignore  could cost Samsung millions of dollars in a mass arbitration action over the Illinois biometric privacy law.

A Chicago federal judge ruled the South Korean electronics giant must pay more than $4 million in filing fees to begin an arbitration case brought by 50,000 petitioners alleging their Samsung Galaxy devices violated the law by using facial recognition technology without consent.

Filed last year with the American Arbitration Association, the petitioners paid more than $2 million in initial filing fees, but Samsung refused to pay its share, according to the lawsuit.

Employing the only legal recourse allowed by Samsungs terms of service agreement, the mass arbitration action could result in hundreds of millions in damages, with payouts of $5,000 or more to the individual petitioners, said Jonathan Gardner, a New York-based attorney whose firm, Labaton Sucharow, brought the claims.

Both Samsung and its attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.

Samsungs terms of service agreement prohibits class-action lawsuits and requires users to resolve disputes exclusively through individual arbitration. The agreement designates the American Arbitration Association to hear the cases.

But a coordinated online recruitment effort created the mass arbitration, an alternative to class-action lawsuits that has gained traction in recent years, with 50,000 Illinois Samsung Galaxy owners filing claims Sept. 7, 2022. The petitioners paid their share of the initial filing fee, but on Sept. 27, Samsung notified the American Arbitration Association it would not pay its share of the fees, contending the petitioner list included discrepancies such as deceased claimants and non-Illinois residents.

Samsung did pay the fee for 14 petitioners who had moved to California, where the state imposes sanctions in the event of nonpayment for arbitration cases.

The American Arbitration Association cannot comment on active cases, a spokesperson said Thursday.

Attorneys for the petitioners took their case to Chicago federal court in October 2022, seeking to compel Samsung to pay the fee for the other 49,986 Samsung Galaxy owners in Illinois and begin the arbitration process.

In his Sept. 12 ruling, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber dismissed more than 14,000 petitioners who failed to show they resided within the courts jurisdiction in the Northern District of Illinois. But as to the broader arbitration action, he said Samsung needed to pay the $4.125 million fee and adhere to the dispute resolution rules it laid out in its own terms of service agreement.

His opinion and order borrowed a line from Shakespeare to indicate Samsung was essentially blown up by its own legal device.

The company may not have expected so many would seek arbitration against it, but neither should it be allowed to blanch at the cost of the filing fees it agreed to pay in the arbitration clause, Leinenweber said. Alas, Samsung was hoist with its own petard.

Samsung filed an appeal of Leinenwebers ruling Sept. 15 with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court in Chicago.

Gardner said it is not an appealable order and expects the 7th Circuit to reject the case. He is planning to refile the petitions to get the mass arbitration moving forward for the nearly 36,000 Illinois Samsung owners that remain qualified, according to the ruling. And when Samsung gets its bill, he expects the company will have to pay it.

For Samsung, there may be a lot more money at stake than the initial $4 million filing fee.

The arbitration alleges Samsung violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act through its Gallery app, the default photo viewer installed on its Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Through the app, Samsung collects, uses and stores biometric identifiers such as face scans of Illinois residents without consent, the arbitration claims allege.

The states biometric privacy act, which was passed in 2008, is considered the strictest in the U.S. and requires companies to get permission before using technologies such as facial recognition and fingerprint scans to identify customers or employees.

The law allows $5,000 per person in damages for intentional or reckless violations and $1,000 for negligent violations.

In 2021, a California federal judge approved a landmark $650 million settlement for Illinois Facebook users in a class-action lawsuit over alleged violations by the social media giant of the biometric privacy law. Facebook, now known as Meta, also announced it would shut down its facial recognition system and delete more than a billion facial recognition templates it had stored.

Nearly 1.3 million Illinois Facebook users who successfully filed claims collected about $428 each from the settlement. Labaton Sucharow was co-counsel in the Facebook class-action lawsuit.

In February, the Illinois Supreme Court opened the door to significantly higher damages in a case involving a Chicago White Castle manager when it ruled that biometric privacy claims accrue every time information is gathered without consent.

Gardner said the arbitration will argue that Samsung intentionally violated the biometric privacy law. Each image collected would represent two violations  one for not obtaining user consent and one for not having a destruction policy  meaning each petitioner could represent at least $10,000 in damages, he said.

And we will argue that every photograph, every time they collected biometric information, is a separate violation, Gardner said. So the violations will start to stack up.

Taking the Samsung case to federal court also made public the usually private world of mass arbitration, where resolutions often remain undisclosed beyond the participants.

For many companies, mandatory arbitration has long been a way to insulate themselves against potentially costly class-action lawsuits. The rise of mass arbitration may be causing some companies to rethink the strategy, Gardner said.

Mass arbitration has emerged as a way of resolving a large number of individual claims in consumer and employment disputes, the American Arbitration Association said in a page devoted to the growing practice on its website.

Gardner said his firm has settled more than 15 mass arbitration cases in recent years, generating multimillion dollar payouts. While unable to disclose the private settlements, the Samsung arbitration could significantly eclipse the rest, he said.

Samsung is the biggest, the largest number of clients, Gardner said. That translates to the largest exposure for the company, the largest amount we would insist upon recovering.

Robots are starting to deliver takeout orders. Are they here to stay? Robots are starting to deliver takeout orders. Are they here to stay? What are drones and sidewalk delivery vehicles? How far off are drone or sidewalk deliveries?
The point of absurdity for Americas nearly open southern border already passed. Now, it will get much worse.

Chicago and the State of Illinois have already admitted spending or committing to spend $250 million just to help the 13,000 asylum-seekers who have been bused to Chicago in the past year.

But those 13,000 who were bused in are a tiny part of the picture. Total illegal immigration to the U.S. has been about 5.5 million in the last 2 1/2 years. If those immigrants eventually make their way to Illinois in proportion to the states population, then some 220,000 have come over those months or are on their way. People on the ground, according to Axios, say immigrant arrivals create a snowball effect, leading more migrants to follow those who were placed on state-backed buses to major cities.

And the rate of illegal immigration is growing. In August, a new record was reached for illegal border crossings, despite the summer heat that usually slows it down.

Illinois decision to extend Medicaid benefits to those immigrants surely ranks among the worst instances of political malfeasance in the states history. The cost of the initial extension of Medicaid coverage  for migrants 65 and over  ended up costing the state $188 million, which was 94 times what the chief sponsor of the legislation, Delia Ramirez, had claimed. The Pritzker administration didnt even bother to make its own estimate.

The program has been expanded twice since then. Its now estimated to cost state taxpayers a staggering $990 million in the coming year  nearly a billion dollars just for Medicaid. But nobody knows the true total since nobody knows how many migrants will arrive here, beyond those bused in.

The impact on schools has become a crisis in itself. Last school year, as WTTW recently reported, Chicago Public Schools had 77,000 English learners enrolled at the beginning of June. Thats over a fourth of all enrolled students.

Still more have already come. Since June, WTTW says, another 1,200 students were enrolled over the summer, and another 1,000 just since the beginning of this school year.

Beyond direct costs, the burden that places on schools and other students is surely huge. Teacher time and school resources get diverted to language issues and other horrific problems immigrants face. Class progress slows. Kids are showing up with rotting teeth and active fevers and malnutrition and theyre not receiving care here, an assistance worker told the Chicago Tribune.

But immigrant children are not required to get the same vaccines that schools require for citizens, infuriating parents in Chicago.

In some other states, Democrats and Republicans alike are saying enough. The New York Times published an article headlined, New York's Migrant Crisis Is Growing. So Are Democrats' Anxieties. And New Jerseys Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy flipped against his previous efforts to be a sanctuary state and is refusing to take in immigrants as proposed under by the Biden Administration

Not in Illinois or Chicago, that cling to their sanctuary status. The only relief Pritzker and Johnson want from the federal government, beyond a cash bailout, is authority to give immediate work permits to illegal immigrants.

They say Illinois has a worker shortage the immigrants can fill.

But hold on. Illinois has the nations fourth highest unemployment rate at 4%. Shouldnt citizens be told they need to take the jobs that are available?

I would hope all of us feel deep compassion for immigrants and support helping even those who were wrongly admitted, and I, for one, want lots of orderly, legal immigration. But make no mistake: Illinois and Chicago, like the rest of the nation, cannot handle the consequences of an open border, particularly when sanctuary policies draw immigrants in.

The border must be enforced. Thats the only option.
An American soldier who sprinted into North Korea and was held there for two months before being returned to the U.S. is set to undergo medical testing and extensive questioning about his time in the isolated country before potentially facing charges under the military justice system.

Pvt. Travis King ran across the heavily fortified border from South Korea in July and became the first American detained in North Korea in nearly five years.

Pyongyang abruptly announced Wednesday that it would expel King, and he was flown to an Air Force base in Texas on Thursday.

Here's what we know about King, his mysterious entry into North Korea and what's happened in similar cases.

Who is he, and what happened?

King, 23, joined the Army in January 2021 and was in South Korea as a cavalry scout with the 1st Armored Division, according to military officials.

On July 10 he was released from a South Korean prison after serving nearly two months on assault charges . He was set to be sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he could have faced potential additional disciplinary actions and discharge.

Officials said King was taken to the airport and escorted as far as customs. But instead of getting on the plane, he left and later joined a civilian tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom . He bolted across the border, which is lined with guards and often crowded with tourists, in the afternoon.

North Korea's state news agency said King, who is Black, had said he entered the country because he harbored ill feelings against inhuman mistreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.

U.S. officials have cast doubt on the authenticity of those statements, and King's mother, Claudine Gates of Racine, Wisconsin, told The Associated Press she never heard him express such views.

It remains unclear why King crossed the border and why Pyongyang ? which has tense relations with Washington over its nuclear program, its support for Russias war in Ukraine and other issues ? agreed to release him.

What happens next?

The coming weeks are likely to hold a battery of medical and phycological examinations as well as intelligence debriefings about his time in North Korea, a country few Americans enter.

King arrived early Thursday at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, according to the Pentagon. Along with the testing and questioning, he will also get a chance to see family.

King's movements will likely be controlled while commanders learn what they can from him and decide what to do next, said Rachel VanLandingham, a national security law expert and professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. She said the probable next steps are formal charges under the military justice system, but they could take months.

Based on their track record, I think theyre going to court-martial him," said VanLandingham, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, adding that the evidence against King appears overwhelming but he could also be discharged without charges.

King was declared AWOL but not considered a deserter. Punishment for going AWOL or desertion vary based on a number of factors that are complicated by King's two-month absence and ultimate handover by North Korean.

The fact that he spent weeks in the secretive country would be unlikely to give him any leverage with the U.S. military over his punishment, said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps. prosecutor and military judge.

I dont think that he would have been allowed to have seen anything of strategic or even tactical value that he might use as a bargaining chip, Solis said. I think hes out of luck.

What has happened before in similar cases?

The last active-duty soldier returned to the U.S. by an adversary was Bowe Bergdahl, VanLandingham said.

Bergdahl was 23 when he left his Army post in Afghanistan in 2009, was abducted by the Taliban and was held captive and tortured for nearly five years. He later said he left to report what he saw as poor leadership within his unit.

Several U.S. servicemembers were wounded while searching for Bergdahl. After his return in a prisoner swap, he was charged in military court with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Bergdahl pleaded guilty to both charges in 2017, but a judge vacated his conviction this year.

VanLandingham said that while the two cases are not identical, the fact that the Army pursued a court-martial against Bergdahl suggests it will against King as well.

Officials said King was released in good health, unlike Otto Warmbier, another American recently held in North Korea.

Warmbier, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student, was seized by North Korean authorities from a tour group in January 2016, convicted of trying to steal a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

He spent 17 months in captivity before he was released and flown home in a coma, dying shortly afterward in June 2017.

While not providing a clear reason for Warmbiers brain damage, North Korea denied accusations by Warmbiers family that he was tortured. (AP)
In a shocking development, it has been reported that suspected terrorists may have entered Ghana through the community of Fatchu, located in the Sissala West District, according to report.



The police received intelligence from their counterparts in Burkina Faso regarding the presence of these individuals in a hideout near Fatchu.

However, by the time the police arrived, the suspects had already fled.



Upon searching the hideout, Ghanaian authorities discovered a voter ID card, two mobile phones, an unspecified number of ammunition, clothing, and eight bicycles, among other items.



Further investigation into the mobile phones revealed pictures of men dressed in terrorist regalia, with one individual bearing a striking resemblance to the picture on the voter ID card.

Burkina Faso police have identified the person on the voter ID card as Diallo Noufou, a suspected terrorist, who is known as Abdulai Ibrahim in Ghana.



As a result of this alarming information, the security services in Gwollu have been alerted, and they are currently conducting intermittent patrols in and around Fatchu.



The situation is being closely monitored, and any new developments will be communicated promptly.



There are ongoing investigations, and authorities are urging the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities on individuals to the local authorities.







Read Full Story .... dailyguidenetwork.com >>> :









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The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has called on world leaders, particularly African politicians, to commit themselves to the principles and values of democracy to bring peace to the world.



He said democracy was in crisis across the world today due to an upsurge in terrorism, conflicts and military takeovers.



He cited, for instance, how the United States of America, a beacon of democracy, was experiencing an upsurge in terrorism with concerns over the Russian-Ukraine conflict, tension along the Korean peninsula and coups detat in the sub-region.



So, we are getting the usual triangular axis of a world war and we need to rededicate and commit ourselves to the principles and values of democracy to be able to bring peace to the world, he stated.



CPC



Interacting with the press ahead of Ghanas hosting of the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Accra, Mr Bagbin said, Without peace, there can be no development.



If we right the wrongs, nobody will be risking a life to go and overthrow another person who is well-armed. The military themselves suffer more than the civilian population during military regimes as lots of them lose their lives and even after the takeover, the suspicion and the mistrust grow, he said.



The conference, which will take place at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra from September 30 to October 6, 2023, will be on the theme: The Commonwealth Charter 10 years on: Values and principles for Parliaments to uphold.



It is billed to attract 700 delegates, including Speakers and Presiding Officers, parliamentarians, Clerks-to-Parliaments, parliamentary staff and key stakeholders in the parliamentary governance sector.



It will be held under the patronage of the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Bagbin, who doubles as the President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the President of the Ghana Branch of the Association.



Speed up reforms



The Speaker said leaders, political leaders in particular, had to take the diverse disturbances plaguing the world seriously and see how they could speed up reforms to make people have trust and confidence in their leadership.



He also expressed worry that the solution to curbing disturbances to democratic regimes was not only within the domain of politicians but all stakeholders.



The medias role is not to report what is taking place but you are also, with your competences and capacities, to make input so that we can all educate our men and women about democratic rights.



We are not just moving towards democratic consolidation but we are also talking about entrenchment of the democratic practices and principles so that they become like a culture for people to willingly conduct themselves, he said.



Relevance of CPA



Sharing his thoughts on the relevance of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Mr Bagbin said the association was still very relevant to peace and promotion of democracy globally.



He said it was for that reason member states wanted to ensure that we are truly equal, inclusive, participatory, and we are people-focused organisation.



Touching on the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the country, the Speaker said Ghana was definitely seen as one of the stars of democratic dispensation in the sub-region.



In spite of the challenges facing the country, he said the other African nationals were still looking up to Ghana.



The air of freedom that we breathe here, in spite of the challenges, when other African citizens come or land here, they see us as one of the stars, he said.



Mr Bagbin added that: And so, when you see the recent uprising or revolution, please do not take it that people want undemocratic regimes.



It is just because of the conduct of so-called democratic regimes, that is what is leading to the upheavals, he said.

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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has charged members of the Parliament of ECOWAS to find solutions to the emerging re-militarisation of governance, the attempted confiscation of democracy by elites and the wanton desire to destroy democracy by terrorist groups and armed criminal gangs in the region.



Stating what he described as three serious threats to democracy in the region, President Akufo-Addo said, democracy in West Africa is in danger, thus the regional fraternity must work even harder to entrench the principles of democratic accountability in the citizenry.



According to President Akufo-Addo, democracy in the region has been seriously subverted by the attempted confiscation of democracy by elites, who engage, through legal antics, in the manipulation of constitutional rules and the subjugation of the institutions of the Republic with the sole aim of remaining in power.



He added that another key threat is the emerging re-militarisation of governance with the intrusion, once again, of the military on the political scene, who have neither consulted, nor received any mandate from, the people on whose behalf they purport to act.



The President did not hesitate to also mention the wanton desire to destroy democracy by terrorist groups and armed criminal gangs, who seek to establish zones of lawlessness and the absence of freedom as another deliberate threat to the democratic stability of the region.



Referring to the great British wartime leader, Winston Spencer Churchills statement that democracy is the worst form of governance, except for all the others, he stated that modern history has taught us that tyranny, oppression, and totalitarian government do not last long. No matter how a people apparently reject democracy and civil liberty, circumstances would always force them back to embrace them.



President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that we cannot run away from the fact that our Region is confronted with a difficult economic, political, social and security situation. As all of us know, despite the considerable progress made by the Community, in the areas of democracy, good governance and the rule of law since the early 1990s, which meant that, four (4) years ago, all fifteen (15) leaders of ECOWAS States were democratically elected, we are, at the moment, witnessing a decline in our democratic credentials.



President Akufo-Addo was addressing the 2nd Ecowas Parliamentary Seminar, in Winneba, on Friday, 29th September, 2023, under the theme, Challenges Relating to Unconstitutional Changes of Government and Presidential Term Limits in West Africa - Role of the ECOWAS Parliament.



Describing the prevalent situation as bitter and implacable, he said, today, four ECOWAS Member States are led by military governments as a result of coups d'etats. This sad and unfortunate development has created a state of palpable anxiety and tension in every corner of the region, raising the spectre of regional instability, which we thought had been banished forever. Equally abhorrent is the culture of violence and disputes that characterise the periods of electing some of our leaders.



Mentioning the election of Mohammed Bazoum in Niger as a recognition of the common will of the people, he said that is why the coup against him is particularly tragic for the consolidation of democracy in our region and added that, the only legitimacy for any leader is through a mandate that is given freely by the people in a fair, peaceful and transparent election. This is the most tangible and objective way to know and recognize the common will, which is the will of the people.



That is why, he continued, any attempt at the manipulation of opinion and of the rules of the democratic game for partisan political ends always leads to a loss of legitimacy, which is reflected in the social tensions it creates. We must distinguish between legality and legitimacy, because our region will only experience genuine stability if our powers are imbued with both legality and legitimacy.



The true purpose of democratic governance is to obtain the objective of free government, shared prosperity and progress, equitable and accessible justice and lasting peace for the wellbeing of the citizenry, he added.



He called on the ECOWAS legislators to ensure that one of the expected outcomes is to help us understand even better the root causes of democratic regression and political instability in the region in order the better to address them, and speak against the extension of presidential term limits by some leaders to strengthen their grip on power.



These actions tend to result in discontent amongst the populace, which create fertile grounds on which military interventions disingenuously feed, he observed.



































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A National Democratic Congress (NDC) member from Keta South District and the Chief Executive Officer of Marrer Ghana Limited, Susatgad Boat Building and Fishing Industry, Mr. Novihoho Afaglo has called on Ghanaians to reject Alan Kyeremantens political tactics describing them as empty.



According to him, the "Butterfly man" has nothing new to offer Ghanaians and the youth, therefore urging the public not to give in to the "deceit and lies" he is propagating.



Mr. Afaglo said Alan Kyeremanten is part of the mess that the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has created but has now turned as a "night angle" trying to distance himself from the rot and corruption.



If for seven years Alan couldnt do something good and forward looking for the youth of Ghana to change their fortunes with all the state machinery at his disposal, what new then can he do now that he is walking alone? he stated.



The Keta South NDC member added that even if he has lost touch with the support base of his former party what then can he now offer Ghanaians and the youth now.



Mr. Afaglo said Alan should pinpoint one single initiative he implemented as Trade and Industry Minister which improved the lives of Ghanaians and the economy apart from sending Ghana to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).



He said Ghana is at a mess through the contribution and advice he gave and so if he now turns to try to profess solution to the mess he and his government created, Ghanaians must expose his lies and reject him because he is empty and has nothing new.



Mr. Afaglo also charged Ghanaians to reject what he termed lies and propaganda by the NPP government and their sympathizers stressing "they have nothing good to offer the country".



Alan Kyerematen, on Monday, September 25, 2023 resigned from the New Patriotic Party and declared his intention to run as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election in Ghana.



This is not the first time Alan is quitting the party. After the 2007 presidential primaries where he contested against Akufo-Addo, he raised issues with the process just as he has done now and went ahead to resign.

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Presidential aspirant of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, says he will get more votes in the Muslim community than Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who is a Muslim.



According to him, Dr. Bawumia has not done a quarter of the things he (Ken Agyapong) has done in the Muslim community.



That, he said, the Vice President should stop playing religious and tribal politics and the flagbearer race.



Addressing party supporters who took part in his Showdown Walk in Kumasi on Saturday, September 30, 2023, Ken Agyapong said he will not lean towards religious or tribal politics but when it becomes necessary, he will give those playing those cards a bombshell.



"I will not play tribal politics, but if it becomes necessary, I will give them bombshell," he said amidst thunderous cheers from his supporters.



In addition, he said, "They should stop that tribal politics," cautioning those advancing tribal and religious politics in the partys presidential race.



Ken Agyapong is one of the four aspirants contesting the partys upcoming November 4 presidential conference to enable him lead the party into the 2024 general elections.

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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:

Physicists an CERN used a 25-centimeter-long cylinder, called ALPHA-g, to observe antimatter falling downwards due to gravity.

For the first time, scientists have observed antimatter particlesthe mysterious twins of the visible matter all around usfalling downwards due to the effect of gravity, Europe's physics lab CERN announced on Wednesday.

The experiment was hailed as "huge milestone", though most physicists anticipated the result, and it had been predicted by Einstein's 1915 theory of relativity.

It definitively rules out that gravity repels antimatter upwardsa finding that would have upended our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Around 13.8 billion years ago, the Big Bang is believed to have produced an equal amount of matterwhat everything you can see is made out ofand antimatter, its equal yet opposite counterpart.

However there is virtually no antimatter in the universe, which prompted one of the greatest mysteries of physics: what happened to all the antimatter?

"Half the universe is missing," said Jeffrey Hangst, a member of CERN's ALPHA collaboration in Geneva which conducted the new experiment.

"In principle, we could build a universeeverything that we know aboutwith only antimatter, and it would work in exactly the same way," he told AFP.

Physicists believe that matter and antimatter did meet and almost entirely destroyed each other after the Big Bang.

Yet matter now makes up nearly five percent of the universethe rest is even less understood dark matter and dark energywhile antimatter vanished.

Newton's apple flying up?

One of the key outstanding questions about antimatter was whether gravity caused it to fall in the same way as normal matter.

While most physicists believed that it did, a few had speculated otherwise.

The findings had been anticipated by Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of relativity.

A falling apple famously inspired Isaac Newton's work on gravitybut if that apple was made of antimatter, would it have shot up into the sky?

And if gravity did in fact repel antimatter, it could have meant that impossibilities such as a perpetual motion machine were possible.

"So why not drop some and see what happens?" Hangst said.

He compared the experiment to Galileo's famousthough likely apocryphal16th-century demonstration that two balls of different mass dropped from the Leaning Tower of Pisa would fall at the same rate.

But this experimentthe result of 30 years of work on antimatter at CERNwas "a little bit more involved" than Galileo's, Hangst said.

One problem was that antimatter barely exists outside of rare, short-lived particles in outer space.

However in 1996, CERN scientists produced the first atoms of antimatterantihydrogen.

Another challenge was that, because matter and antimatter have an opposite electrical charge, the moment they meet they destroy each other in a violent flash of energy scientists call annihilation.

A magnetic trap

To study gravity's effect on antimatter, the ALPHA team constructed a 25-centimeter-long (10-inch) bottle placed on its end, with magnets at the top and bottom.

Late last year, the scientists placed around 100 very cold antihydrogen atoms into this "magnetic trap" called ALPHA-g.

As they turned down the strength of both magnets, the antihydrogen particleswhich were bouncing around at 100 meters a secondwere able to escape out either end of the bottle.

An illustration of anthydrogen atoms flowing mostly downwards in the cylinder, showing the effect of gravity's pull.

The scientists then simply counted how much antimatter was annihilated at each end of the bottle.

Around 80 percent of the antihydrogen went out of the bottom, which is a similar rate to how regular bouncing hydrogen atoms would behave if they were in the bottle.

This result, published in the journal Nature, shows that gravity causes antimatter to fall downwards, as predicted by Einstein's 1915 theory of relativity.

In more than a dozen experiments, the CERN scientists varied the strength of the magnets, observing gravity's effect on antimatter at different rates.

While the experiment rules out that gravity makes antihydrogen go upwards, Hangst emphasized it did not prove that antimatter behaves in exactly the same way as normal matter.

"That's our next task," he said.

Marco Gersabeck, a physicist who works at CERN but was not involved in the ALPHA research, said it was "a huge milestone".

But it marks "only the start of an era" of more precise measurements of gravity's effect on antimatter, he told AFP.

Other attempts to better understand antimatter include using CERN's Large Hadron Collider to investigate strange particles called beauty quarks.

And there is an experiment onboard the International Space Station trying to catch antimatter in cosmic rays.

But for now, exactly why the universe is awash with matter but devoid of antimatter "remains a mystery," said physicist Harry Cliff.

Since both should have annihilated each other completely in the early universe, "the fact that we exist suggests there is something we don't understand" going on, he added.

More information: Jeffrey Hangst, Observation of the effect of gravity on the motion of antimatter, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06527-1. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06527-1 Journal information: Nature

 2023 AFP
A three-dimensional visualization showing inundation depths in Providence, Rhode Island, from a hypothetical storm dubbed "Hurricane Rhody." Darker colors indicated deeper inundation levels. Peter Stempel, associate professor of landscape architecture, creates visualizations such as the one above to help coastal communities quickly understand the risks posed by hurricanes and other coastal storms. Credit: Image courtesy of Peter Stempel.

Knowing the potential dangers posed by storm surge and high winds before a storm hits can help coastal communities and emergency responders prepare. Visualizations showing projected storm impacts can make the complex science behind the projections easy to understand and immediately available to individuals in the storm's path, according to Peter Stempel, associate professor of landscape architecture.

Penn State News spoke with Stempel, who works with colleagues at Penn State and the Department of Homeland Security's Coastal Resilience Center for Excellence to transform intricate scientific models into easy-to-understand visuals communicating the science to coastal communities.

Q: Tell us about your research in water-related resilience and hurricanes.

Stempel: One dimension of my work has to do with visualizations, or the visual pictures that we use to communicate with people about storm risk and how we can better communicate those risks in what we depict. Another has to do with predicting the impacts of natural disasters such as hurricanes as they make their way up the coast. It kind of goes without saying, given how destructive these storms are, but why is it so important to communicate all that effectively? Obviously, we want people to get out of the way of the storms. But also, most people have an imprecise understanding of what a storm can really do. Even people who have experienced storms may not have experienced the full brunt of a storm. Our perceptions really have to do with our individual experiences.

One of the great challenges we have is how do you communicate something to somebody that is unimaginable? This is especially true in a time of climate change. When you have storms that are exceptional event after exceptional event after exceptional event, at some point you have to begin to redefine what normal is. So, we ask: how do we communicate something that's unimaginable to people and make that actionable? That's both for planning, so people can prepare and adapt for the storm, but also at the time of the event, how do we convey that information effectively to emergency managers who have to respond so they can most effectively meet the challenges? Credit: Penn State

Q: What did you learn from Hurricane Sandy that you are now using to prepare for future storms?

Stempel: Hurricane Sandy is an interesting case because it was a superstorm that actually combined characteristics of a very large nor'easter into a hurricane. In New Jersey, it was utterly devastating. We saw damages from all kinds of factors like wind, storm surge and a very large secondary fire in the far Rockaways. That's one kind of impact. But we also found that, in a state like Rhode Island where the damage was less severe, many people heard and perceived the news about Sandy being extreme. So for some people, we found that information sort of pegged their expectations to what an extreme storm would be, even though much bigger storms had made landfall and hit the Rhode Island coast before Sandy.

We find that people's perceptions change, and people's perceptions are often set by the storm. This is something we work with emergency managers on because many times, so much of what we know about responding to events is learned from what went wrong the last time. These are lessons earned in blood and treasure. A lot of times, emergency managers will prepare for the last event they experienced. But hurricanes do damage through multiple ways, like wind and storm surge. In the example of Hurricane Sandy, what happened in the Rockaways, not being able to access some place meant the fire apparatus couldn't respond to a fire and massive blocks burned down. Those were secondary hazards. Those are some of the things that we look for in our preparedness work.

Q: We've heard people say, "Well, I've weathered storms here for 10, 15 years and never had trouble." You're saying that's not the way to look at this?

Stempel: No. Storms are asymmetrical. We saw a situation during Hurricane Irma where, based on how the storm made landfall, water actually moved away from the coast. I wrote an article for Penn State's Institute of Energy and the Environment about reverse storm surge. It can happen. But a minor variation in track and that storm could have made a much more significant hit to a major city. The fact that we can predict storms as accurately as we can is a miracle. I think many people have become accustomed to saying, "Well, you know, you can't predict the weather." Realistically, I think you need to brace for the fact that you could be that one-in-a-million. Fortunately, most of us aren't, but it could easily be you.

If I had to say something to anyone who is listening to media or looking at storms, it's to take the warnings seriously and recognize that your prior experience may not be a template for what you're facing. You might be annoyed that you evacuated when you think you didn't need to. That's much better than the situation we saw during some of the more recent hurricanes where we had people drowning in their cars. Also recognize that everyone's just doing the best they can.

Q: What are you and your colleagues doing to protect national parks and cultural sites along the coast?

Stempel: I'm working with a really wonderful and diverse project team that includes colleagues at the University of Rhode Island and the National Park Service. We're working in six national parks and wildlife refuges and with adjacent communities to explore coastal adaptation and management decision-making. There's a profound amount of change taking place, and there are differences between how a national park or a wildlife refuge manages something and how a community might manage it. By looking at them together, we're trying to build understanding across those audiences. Where a community might be more concerned about a bathhouse or facilities that are important to their economy, a national park may be more concerned with managing the ecology. Understanding how to coordinate those concerns and how those concerns work together can be beneficial both for the ecology and the community.

We're also partnering with colleagues in Maine who are working closely with the Wabanaki Confederacy, ensuring that Indigenous people have access to cultural resources on the coast. We're ensuring that they can use traditional shellfishing grounds and gather traditional materials. As we consider coastal adaptation, we're recognizing and understanding traditional lifeways, and that makes this project really exciting.

I think the project is emblematic of what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is doing. They want to operationalize the science. It's no longer science for science's sake. They want to put the science to work for real-world management decisions. More than that, they want it to affect and benefit everyday people, not just a well-heeled community that can afford to write grants. They want to make sure that it's really getting out to all corners of our society.

The cool thing about what I do is I am not a physical scientist. I am not an oceanographer. I am not a manager of the national parks. I am not an extension expert. I work with all those people, and the work that I do deals with connecting scientific modeling to the visual rhetoric. I need to ask myself, "How do I take this really advanced modeling that has these really interesting dimensions that can literally show the shoreline change, and how can I make that into a visualization where real people can actually see that, and not just the scientists? How can I work really closely with those extension experts and people who are on the ground in communities, and with community members directly, and work with the scientists, to have a foot in both worlds and sort of be like Doc Brown from 'Back to the Future' holding both ends of the wire, and make those things connect together?"

There is an important role for translational work to bridge sophisticated modeling and real-world decision-making.

Q: Why are visualizations so effective?

Stempel: Many people think that visualizations are effective because they evoke an emotional response and they're going to cause people to have a dramatic reaction to the information presented. My research says that's really not the case.

Visualizations, especially 3D visualizations, allow people to apprehend the context in a place very quickly. You can see very complex information and understand what's happening almost immediately. It doesn't require you to relate an abstraction to reality. If it already looks like reality a little bit, and I can put that information in context, people can orient themselves. We can make that information tangible to them. And I think in truth, that is the most powerful effect of visualizations.
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Matter from a 20,000-year-old supernova continues hurtling into space at a half-million miles per hour. Credit: NASA, ESA, Ravi Sankrit (STScI)

This week, we're highlighting a study involving toxic chemical contaminants, and just for fun, a second study involving other toxic chemical contaminants. But NASA made a cool time-lapse video using the good old Hubble space telescope, and a group of Italian demographers have a lot to say about the population-level consequences of lying.

Conclusion unbiased

Were dinosaurs wiped out by massive volcanic eruptions? Or the impact of a giant asteroid? Scientists have debated this issue for decades, and now, a group of Dartmouth researchers fed up with all the bickering decided to let an unbiased panel of computers take an unemotional, Spock-like approach to determining which of these apocalyptic scenarios was more likely.

The researchers developed a Bayesian inversion modeling method that analyzed a gigantic corpus of geological and climate data in reverse chronological order to pinpoint the likeliest cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. The system's processors used Markov Chain Monte Carlo machine learning to independently compare and recalculate conclusions to create a scenario matching the fossil record.

The result? Without the distorting influence of human bias, the model determined that an outpouring of gases from the enormous Deccan Traps shield volcano over a period of 300,000 years was enough to trigger the extinction event.

Consequences unforeseen

Bisphenol A, the chemical compound associated with absolutely crystalline plastic water bottles and also a range of endocrine-disruption impacts, is used in polycarbonates, the manufacture of epoxy resins, in thermal paper and PVC manufacturing. The first time I ever read about BPA was in 2007my only other memory from that period is being surrounded by a lot of people wearing boot-cut jeans without boots.

Since then, there's been a lot of BPA-contaminated water under the bridge, and now, a new study reports that children with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder tend to have a reduced ability to clear BPA from their systems; there has been a rise in diagnoses for both conditions over the decades, though it is unlikely to be attributable to a single cause.

Decontamination noisy

Speaking of toxic "forever chemicals," researchers at The Ohio State University report a new technique with potential to treat PFAS toxins in contaminated groundwater. In the 20th century, these robust, durable compounds gave us nonstick cookware, industrial foams, stain-resistant carpet, and also higher rates of testicular, bladder and kidney cancer, weakened response to vaccines, and birth defects.

And they hang around the environment without degrading, essentially forever, the Paul Rudds of chemical contamination. The researchers used ultrasound degradation over a three-hour period to weaken the chemical bonds in compounds called fluortelomer sulfonates, which are commonly used in firefighting foams. They note that the same technique could also degrade pharmaceuticals in municipal tap and wastewater.

Explosion ongoing

This week, NASA released time-lapse footage of stellar remnants hurtling into space after a star exploded 20,000 years ago. Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to zoom in on a tiny area of the Cygnus Loop nebula to observe a portion of the leading edge of the supernova bubble's expansion.

By capturing successive images of this tiny region over 19 years, from 2001 to 2020, they assembled a time lapse of the continuing explosion, revealing that the shreds of the star are hurtling into space at a half-million miles per hour.

Liartown corrupt

Social science researchers have reported a newly discovered phenomenon called "honesty drain," in which honest people tend to migrate away from areas where cheating is widespread. This creates a kind of duplicity doom loop in which areas experiencing severe honesty drain also experience a lower-quality political class, lower scores of earning growth, and reduced labor productivity.

Demographers use false birth registrations as a measure of regional honesty; In Italy, many parents of children born in December falsify birth certificates, creating an increase in January birth registrations. Citizens who migrate from a high-cheating area to a low-cheating area are far less likely to have a false birth certificate.

 2023 Science X Network
Nearly 8 out of 10 South Koreans in their 20s and 30s agree on the need for Seoul to improve relations with Japan, a survey showed Saturday.

The online poll  conducted by the Korea Youth Foundation  found 22 percent of the respondents said they "strongly agree" with the need for South Korea to improve or strengthen relations with Japan, while 56.8 percent said they agreed to some extent.

Among them, 47.3 percent cited economic advancement through trade with Japan as the biggest reason for their support toward improving ties with the neighboring country, followed by 20.2 percent who called for the need to step up defense cooperation with Tokyo to better counter North Korea's nuclear threats.

South Korea and Japan are key allies of the United States, though they have long been in conflict over territory and other historical disputes stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

President Yoon Suk Yeol held summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on several occasions as they pushed to improve bilateral ties.

In the same survey, 31.7 percent positively viewed Japan, while 28.7 percent had unfavorable views toward the country, among which over 84 percent of the respondents cited Tokyo's "distorted history perception."

The Korea Youth Foundation did not provide a margin of error for the poll, which was conducted on 5,176 people aged between 19 and 39 from Aug. 16 to 23. (Yonhap)
From the Glens Falls Police Department: The Glens Falls Police Department arrested 29-year-old Broc Childs of Glens Falls on Tuesday, Sept. 26 on charges of felony second degree criminal possession of stolen property.

In a news release posted to the departments Facebook page, police said the arrest was related to the theft of a tow truck from the Main Street Cumberland Farms parking lot in Queensbury around 1 a.m. Glens Falls officers located the stolen vehicle traveling on Hudson Avenue within minutes of it being reported stolen.

Childs was identified as the driver and said he got the tow truck from a friend. He was arrested and taken into custody for possession of the stolen vehicle in Glens Falls, the release said. Childs was arraigned in Glens Falls City Court and then turned over to New York State Police who were investigating the larceny of the truck in Queensbury.

The tow truck was returned to the company and no damage was reported in the incident. Police said at the time there was no known ties of Childs to the company that owned the vehicle. The case is ongoing through Glens Falls City Court.
A Pleasantville man on Monday admitted spearheading a drug ring in Atlantic County that led to a fatal overdose in 2018.

Emery Chapman, 44, pleaded guilty to leading a drug trafficking network, possession of heroin with intent to distribute and strict liability for causing a drug-induced death, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said Friday in a news release.

Chapman faces 21 years in prison with nine years of parole ineligibility and five years of supervised release when he is sentenced in November.

Chapman's drug ring moved narcotics from Philadelphia into Atlantic County, according to the Prosecutor's Office. Those drugs contributed to the death of 59-year-old Anthony Tamburelli.

Police found Tamburelli dead from a heroin overdose inside his Galloway Township home Dec. 17, 2018. Investigators learned the heroin was sold to Tamburelli by Brian Whitted, 61, of Galloway.

Galloway man sentenced in 2018 drug-induced death A Galloway Township man must serve 10 years in prison in the drug-induced death of another t

Whitted pleaded guilty in March 2022 to strict liability for drug-induced death, conspiracy to distribute heroin and possession with intent to distribute heroin. He is serving a 10-year sentence at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton.

Investigators learned Whitted obtained the heroin from Chapman, prosecutors say.

Through wiretapping, investigators learned Chapman was using contraband cellphones while in jail in Atlantic County and Georgia to operate his drug ring.

The investigation led detectives to 19,650 bags of heroin weighing about 9.5 ounces.

Chapman will remain in jail pending sentencing.
ATLANTIC CITY  Habitat for Humanity of South Central New Jersey hosted a neighborhood revitalization event with Wells Fargo and announced a $75,000 grant in support of the nonprofit in the resort Friday.

Wells Fargo employees and Habitat volunteers completed house repairs and community improvement projects in the morning, then joined residents and Mayor Marty Small Sr. for a Rock the Block party in the afternoon.

Rock the Block is all about working alongside homeowners, collaborating with local leaders, uplifting community voices, and investing in neighborhoods, said Annie Fox, chief development officer at Habitat SCNJ, in a news release. Atlantic City deserves a brush of kindness, and we are so thankful that community leaders like Vinnie Kirkland from AtlantiCare Midtown CDC and our corporate collaborators at Wells Fargo for their help in making this event happen.

Volunteers cleared debris from yards, removed overgrown brush, mulched, painted, mended fences and fixed porches among their many jobs. Bulk Dumpsters were available for the volunteers, as well as residents who were encouraged to use them for their own cleanup.

In the afternoon, organizers and local businesses set up tables at a resource fair. There were activities for kids, including rock decorating, face painting, balloon animals, dessert truck and more.

The $75,000 grant to Habitat SCNJ is part of a $7.5 million donation to Habitat for Humanity International through the Wells Fargo Builds program to build and repair more than 360 homes nationwide.

As a company, we believe a quality, affordable place to call home is something everyone should have, said Wanda Saez, senior vice president of philanthropy & community impact at Wells Fargo. And as the Bank of Doing, were proud to once again roll up our sleeves and join Habitat SCNJ here in Atlantic City to help families and older adults live more affordably and remain in their homes and communities they love.
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The U.S. recently welcomed home five Americans held in Iran for years. That was good news for their families and anyone interested in the plight of American hostages.

The bad news: In exchange, $6 billion was released to the Iranian regime.

The pact with Tehran brokered by the Biden administration comes with potentially catastrophic consequences for the Middle East. The dangers far outweigh the benefits, as there is a high likelihood that the funds, once distributed to Tehran, will support nefarious activities that threaten regional stability and security.

Negotiating the release of hostages is always a complex endeavor involving compromises with bad people. Such agreements always introduce risk to American interests, and such is the nature of diplomatic compromise: the state must give something to get something.

However, what sets this agreement apart is the timing and the enormous volume. Despite assurances from the U.S. National Security Council that the billions are earmarked exclusively for humanitarian purposes like food and medicine, the sanctions waiver releasing the funds essentially grants Iran carte blanche for its nuclear pursuits, acts of terrorism, and support to proxy conflicts. Once the funds were released to the regime, ostensibly for distribution to aid organizations, the world lost all control of its disbursement. There is every reason to believe it will go into the hands of the worst actors in the Middle East.

The regime will likely divert billions to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and military hospitals, or worse, sell it on the black markets of Iraq or Afghanistan for cold, hard cash. This month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told NBC News that Tehran will decide how to spend the funds. Sadly, he was right. This not only compromises the intended purpose of the agreement but also empowers groups with a track record of undermining regional stability, supporting terrorism, and beating back human rights within its own borders.

The Biden administrations approach to negotiations with Tehran is always marked with a sense of desperation. The eagerness to engage diplomatically with the Islamic Republic, exemplified by the hastened revival of the ill-fated nuclear deal, sends a message to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq about the White Houses desire to appease Iran. At the very least, Secretary of State Tony Blinken should have demanded a forthright accounting of the case of Robert Levinson, the retired FBI agent kidnapped in Iran in 2007. Levinson is widely believed to have died in Iranian custody, but his body remains unrecovered.

The timing here is off as well. Iran is weeks away from producing sufficient fissile material to produce a nuclear bomb, a looming peril that would likely set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and introduce grave risk to American interests in the region.

Further, funds are released two days after the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of authorities for violating the countrys mandatory hijab rules. As the regime is once again cracking down on protests just as it prepares to receive an influx of cash from D.C. The deal sends a regrettable message not only to protestors. President Biden, who vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah state due to the kingdoms human rights record, should hold the line here based on Tehrans atrocious human rights record. This juxtaposition raises uncomfortable questions about the consistency of American foreign policy in pursuing justice and human rights. Giving Raisi diplomatic credence on an international stage right now is a mistake. This move undermines the principles of justice, human rights, and the rule of law that should be at the forefront of any diplomatic endeavor. By engaging with Raisi, we inadvertently legitimize a regime that has systematically violated the most basic rights of its citizens.

Engaging in dialogue with Raisi is a mistake. The mans past is tainted with blood; he stands accused of overseeing some of the most heinous crimes against humanity in modern history. Last year, a Swedish court found a prison official guilty of war crimes, implicating Raisi in a policy of exterminating prisoners of conscience, resulting in thousands of executions. This verdict mirrors an earlier prosecution in Germany, where Irans top leaders were held responsible for the state-sponsored assassination of regime opponents.

While the desire to bring American prisoners home is noble, the means by which the Biden administration pursued that goal are deeply flawed. The risk of diverting $6 billion into the wrong hands and the legitimization of a leader with a blood-stained past are too great to ignore. We must stand united against the Iranian regimes oppressive policies and its support for groups that seek to undermine global security.

U.S. Army Colonel (Retired) Joe Buccino is a former U.S. Central Command communications director.
Constructed in 1914, the pearly Palladian cathedral in Rock Island's Broadway Historic District was once the home of the First Church of Christ, Scientist. Most recently, it housed the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, which displayed a portion of the Karpeles family's collection of over a million historical documents.

But soon, the historic limestone-laden edifice is set to be home to burgers, sodas and brews. The Karpeles Museum is closing on Saturday, and planning to sell its space to Great Revivalist, a Quad-Cities brewery with locations in Clinton and Geneseo.

Great Revivalist CEO Richard Schwab said the brewery is tentatively aiming to open in the summer of 2024, with its signature beverages and hand-tossed pizzas on the menu. Brewing in historic buildings is nothing new for Great Revivalist  their Clinton location sits in a former Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1898.

But Schwab, who lives in Rock Island, has been looking for another historic space like the Clinton location for a while. So when the opportunity arose to put a Great Revivalist spot in his home city, he jumped on it.

"We're excited to be here, and we want to put Rock Island back on the map," he said.

Closing down at Karpeles

The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is selling the space in an effort to consolidate due to financial pressure, said Karpeles CFO Cheryl Karpeles Alleman.

The Karpeles Museums, which had 14 locations across the country, were opened by her father, David Karpeles, in 1983. David and his wife, Martha, opened the museums with the belief that attendance should be free to make education widely accessible.

When David died in 2022, Cheryl and her brother, Mark, took the reins of the 10 active locations. With so many locations nationwide  from southern California to upstate New York  it wasn't tenable to keep all museums afloat.

"It was very tough on him to raise the money every month to pay the bills for all these museums," Karpeles Alleman said. "He was always having to figure it out constantly."

So, the organization is planning to shrink down to five active locations, with their primary museum residing in St. Augustine, Florida, where Karpeles Alleman hopes the city's thriving tourism will get the collection in front of as many eyes as possible.

The documents that were on display in Rock Island will be sticking around at Great Revivalist. The Karpeles family is donating all of its display cases, and a large chunk of their manuscript reproductions to keep on display. Karpeles Alleman said she doesn't see the Rock Island move as a closure, but rather a transformation.

"You will be able to see as many exhibits there as you could see there under our management," she said.

While Karpeles and Great Revivalist say they have agreed to the sale, in order to open the business, there is still a lengthy process ahead, said Miles Brainard, community and economic development director for the city of Rock Island.

The building sale is a private matter, but in order for Great Revivalist to open, it will need to apply for re-zoning from a small office district to a neighborhood business district, Brainard said, adding that the city had not yet received an application for re-zoning from Great Revivalist Brewing.

After the application process, they would need to go through a public hearing by the city's planning commission, before the city council votes whether or not to approve. Brainard said there would also need to be reviews of architectural plans and approval for a liquor license.

All in all, the process typically takes two to three months, Brainard said, noting that the building's status as a member of the National Register of Historic Places might offer avenues to tax credits for building refurbishment.

"There's still a lot of questions to be answered and steps to take, but we're very interested in seeing a business like this come to Rock Island," Brainard said. "If it's anything like the location they have up in Clinton, where they also did a church conversion of this kind, it would be a wonderful amenity to the community."

A family-friendly brewery experience

While it offer between 16 and 24 brews at a time, Schwab said Great Revivalist is set on taking its locations higher than just a place to drink. Schwab emphasized that the brewery's locations are family-friendly, a full-service restaurant and close at 10 p.m. They will continue using the event space to host weddings and events.

They've got hand-tossed pizzas, craft sodas, and in the last year, Schwab said the brewing company has obtained a herd of Japanese wagyu beef cattle. They're planning to serve wagyu steaks and burgers on their menu next summer.

In an announcement on Facebook Friday morning, Great Revivalist said it plans to close the location in Geneseo on Saturday, using the equipment from that location to open the new one.

The bar will be where the building's main altar currently sits, with church pews being repurposed for restaurant seating. There will be an antique pool table, access to view the brewing process downstairs and online pick-up ordering available outside, Schwab said.

As for the architecture, Schwab said he plans to lean into the building's classic, marbled look, with effigies of Greek gods and goddesses placed around the interior and fountains built in front of the building. When looking for a new space, Schwab said finding a building with history and one-of-a-kind architecture was the most important part.

"This is just a unique opportunity to be able to absorb the history from the museum, to have a neoclassical building that, in today's age, you'd never be able to afford to build that," he said. "Not on beer money, anyways."
Federal and local authorities arrested a Black Hawk County parolee suspected of a Waterloo homicide at a Davenport apartment complex Thursday night.

Corey Damone Crawley, 32, was taken into custody at the Brady Village apartment complex, located at 1928 E. 38th St.

Federal Marshals along with Scott County Sheriff's Deputies and Davenport Police teamed up to take Crawley into custody.

Crawley is accused in the Sept. 2 shooting death of Muharrum Quan Johnson, 45. Johnson had been released from the Black Hawk County Jail on Aug. 28 after serving seven days on a driving while barred conviction, according to Black Hawk County District Court records.

According to the Iowa Department of Corrections, Crawley is on parole until May 11, 2026.

During a hearing July 9, 2019, in Black Hawk County District Court, Crawley pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon with an enhanced sentence as a habitual offender, and interference with official acts while armed with a firearm with an enhanced sentence as a habitual offender. Both of those charges are Class D felonies under Iowa law.

He also pleaded guilty to carrying weapons, an aggravated misdemeanor, interference with official acts resulting in bodily injury, a serious misdemeanor, and fifth-degree theft, a simple misdemeanor.

The incidents all occurred on April 12, 2019.

Crawley was sentenced to 15 years on each of the felony charges, two years on the carrying weapons charge, one year for the interference with official acts, and 30 days in jail on the theft charge.

The sentences were to run concurrently to one another, or at the same time.

Under Iowa law, Crawley was supposed to have served a mandatory minimum of 7  years in prison on the felony convictions, according to the sentencing order signed by Black Hawk District Court Judge Andrea Dryer.

However, according to Iowa Department of Corrections online records, Crawley was released from the Ford Dodge Correctional Center and placed on parole on Jan. 30 of this year.

According to Black Hawk County District Court electronic records, Crawley began violating his parole April 3 when he allegedly failed to show up for a scheduled appointment with his parole officer. He also tested positive for THC and admitted to smoking marijuana.

At 12:49 p.m. on Sept 2, Waterloo Police responded to Mulberry Street and East 4th Avenue to investigate a report of shots fired. Officers located a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim, identified as Johnson, was taken to a hospital where he died.

Video surveillance in the area showed Crawley allegedly in possession of a firearm. Witnesses at the scene also identified Crawley as having a firearm.

A warrant was then issued for Crawleys arrest for parole violation.

After his arrest in Davenport, Crawley was booked into the Scott County Jail.

Crawley was transferred Friday to the Black Hawk County Jail where he is being held on a $1 million bond, cash or surety, on a charge of first-degree murder.

He is being held without bond on a charge of violating his parole and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Under Iowa law, first degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Augustana College to host Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar

Augustana College will host Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar, Dr. Corey D.B. Walker, on Monday at 7 p.m. in Wallenberg Hall, located inside Denkmann Memorial Building

The lecture is free and open to the public, and also will be livestreamed.

Dr. Walker is the Wake Forest University professor of the humanities. He is affiliated with the Department of English and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program at the university.

His presentation will be, "On Earth As It Is: On Ethics and the Environment in the Age of the Anthropocene."

During his two-day campus visit, Dr. Walker will take part in class and seminar discussions, and meet informally with students and faculty, in addition to his public lecture.

St. Ambrose University online degree program earns national ranking

CounselingPsychology.org, an advocate for mental healthcare, recently published their list of best psychology programs, where St. Ambrose University's online bachelor's degree in psychology program ranked fourth in the nation.

The list is compiled and published to help aspiring students make informed decisions about online psychology bachelor's programs. The rankings are based on various factors such as academic rigor and faculty expertise.

The rankings were determined through a multifaceted assessment process that encompassed several key criteria to evaluate the overall quality, impact and effectiveness of programs.

WIU names new interim associate dean

Western Illinois University political science professor, Keith Boeckelman, has been named the new interim associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Boeckelman replaces James Schmidt, who was recently named the interim dean of CAS.

Boeckelman was hired in 1998 as an assistant professor of political science. Before his appointment, he served as WIU's political science department chair from 2020-2022. He also served as interim chair for the history department from 2019-2021.

Boeckelman received his bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Drake University. He went on to complete his doctorate degree in political science in 1990, specializing in public policy and administration, at the University of Illinois.

Before his graduate studies, Boeckelman worked in the Illinois House of Representatives as a staffer/analyst. In addition to WIU, he has taught at Texas A&M University, Louisiana State University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

For more information, visit wiu.edu/cas.

SAU appoints vice president

St. Ambrose University has appointed Toby Arquette, PhD, as the university's first vice president for strategic growth, marketing and digital transformation.

Arquette previously served as the university's first vice president for communications and marketing, where he spearheaded a rebranding and digital marketing initiative to strengthen external communications and enrollment campaigns.

Prior to his arrival at SAU in July 2022, Arquette served as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Business at Aurora University, Aurora, Illinois. Among many other responsibilities in the role of dean, Arquette managed the school's marketing and communications efforts, leveraging digital opportunities to exceed revenue and enrollment targets each year.
Korea will deliver $5 million worth of fertilizer to support Ukrainian farmers in partnership with the United States' international development agency, officials said Saturday.

Korea's foreign ministry will send fertilizer to support Ukraine's agricultural sector affected by the ongoing war with Russia through the partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to the Seoul government officials.

"This generous contribution underscores the Republic of Korea's support for the Ukrainian people and our continuing commitment to helping Ukraine withstand Putin's aggression," the U.S. agency said in a release Friday.

The Republic of Korea is South Korea's official name. (Yonhap)
DES MOINES  In Iowas suburban areas, school board campaigns are brewing around battle lines that reflect state-level politics  parental involvement, social issues, curriculum and library book restrictions are central in these races that will determine how schools implement new state laws that brought big changes to education.

Conservative candidates campaigning in Johnston, Marion and elsewhere have centered their campaigns on parental involvement and steering away from progressive social issues in school curriculum, while liberal groups hope candidates they back can minimize the implementation of state laws they say will harm LGBTQ students.

The races are technically nonpartisan, but theyve become increasingly partisan in recent years as disagreements over school curriculum, transgender students and COVID-19 measures have galvanized education politics at the state and local level.

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a major education bill this year, passed by Republican lawmakers, that banned books with sexual content from school libraries, prohibited instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation, and required the school to notify parents if a student requests to use a different name or set of pronouns, among other changes.

Those restrictions are set in law, but how a district decides to interpret and implement them falls to the school board, said Keenan Crow, a lobbyist for LGBTQ advocacy group One Iowa. One Iowa Action, the groups policy arm, endorsed school board candidates for the first time this year.

After we took such a beating during the legislative session, really one of the only ways to mitigate the damage was to get folks on those school boards that are going to interpret and implement these laws in some of the least harmful possible ways, Crow said.

Crow said that would include keeping restrictions on gender identity and sexual orientation to kindergarten through sixth grade, rather than extending them through 12th grade. The law also bans books from school libraries that depict or describe any of a list of sex acts, and Crow said more conservative school boards could interpret that more broadly than needed and pull books with LGBTQ characters from the shelves unnecessarily.

Local chapters of Moms for Liberty  a national organization that advocates for conservative school policies as well as parental involvement in schools  also plan to endorse candidates in some of the six counties where the group is active.

Jennifer Turner, the chair of the Polk County chapter of Moms for Liberty, said the group is looking to endorse candidates who will keep parents involved in the districts process.

We want school board members that want to partner with parents, She said. We want to make a partnership between schools and parents, so I think thats our number one quality.

The left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center this year designated Moms for Liberty as an anti-government extremist group, a distinction the group has disputed. In Iowa, Moms for Liberty was involved in pushing for the state law that prohibited instruction of gender and sexual orientation in early grades and banned certain books from school libraries.

Turner said candidates positions on those issues are less important now that the law was settled at the state level, but she wants to support candidates that advocate for transparency in all aspects of education.

Eastern Iowa district in national spotlight

The Linn-Mar School District in Marion made national headlines last year over a policy that was intended to support the districts transgender students. Students could request to be referred to by a different name or set of gender pronouns, and the decision to notify the parents was left up to the students  in accordance with state policy guidance at the time.

Parents upset over the policy met with Reynolds and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in private, and it prompted a lawsuit from a group of parents. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has campaigned on education issues, criticized the policy in a presidential primary debate on Sept. 27.

Now, with four open seats on the school board, division over that policy is a major issue in the school board campaigns.

Bret Nilles, the chair of the Linn County Democrats, said local Democrats are organizing around candidates that he thinks will support the districts LGBTQ students and take a reasonable look at implementing the book restrictions.

We're encouraging all our members to help them in terms of volunteering, but that's really the extent of it, he said. We're really trying to leave it up to the members of the school district because I think they're going to make the best decision.

Geralyn Jones, the chair of the Linn County chapter of Moms for Liberty, said the group plans to endorse a handful of candidates, including in the Linn-Mar district, but it has not announced the endorsements yet. Some candidates who indicated they aligned with the groups views did not want to be publicly endorsed because of its negative public image, Jones said.

When it comes to LGBTQ instruction and book restrictions, Jones said she thinks the law was properly handled at the state level, but she wants to ensure candidates will enact policies that are in line with the law.

Echoing Turner, Jones said whats most important is electing candidates that will involve parents in the school boards decision-making.

Moms for Liberty is pro-parental rights, she said. We are pro-age appropriate books in our schools. Were pro-parent, were pro-teacher, and were pro-student. And anything to the contrary is simply untrue.

Fundraising expected to swell

While technically nonpartisan, the rise in political division at the school board level has brought the campaigns from quiet, small-dollar affairs to multi-thousand dollar operations comparable to statehouse races, said Tim Nelson, a campaign consultant who is working with two liberal candidates for the Johnston school board.

Campaigns in the Des Moines suburbs need to raise between $5,000 and $15,000 to remain competitive, he said.

The amount of power that these boards have and the kind of vote that you need to turn out, moving forward, they need to be treated like state legislative races, Nelson said. They need to have that kind of money being involved.

Nilles said he expects more outside spending to be involved in the Linn-Mar races, especially given the national attention the district has drawn. He said he recently saw a campaign flier from a group associated with Mike Pence that advocated for parental rights in education.

Jones ran unsuccessfully for the Linn-Mar school board in 2021. She said the average campaign spending then was around $2,000, while candidates this year are already raising more than $4,000.

We have a huge strategy and a plan thats going forward, and I dont think that school board elections are what they once were, she said.

Skim through the banned books "read-in" at Faye's Field in Bettendorf
Chadron Public Library announced this week that it has been awarded a grant of $3,900 by the Nebraska Arts Council. This grant will allow the library to offer the Creative Aging Through the Arts Program (CAAP) at no cost to the Chadron community. A series of six workshops for adults age 55 and over will begin on Wednesday, October 4. Chadron Public Library has partnered with Crestview Care Center and the Chadron Senior Center to provide space for this workshop series.

Nebraska Arts Council Executive Director Mike Markey commented, Chadron Public Library contributes a great deal to the advancement of the arts in Chadron. We commend the work being done by organizations such as Chadron Public Library because the arts are important to the education and quality of life for all Nebraskans.

Landscape artist Ben Darling will lead the workshop series, each with up to 16 participants, every Wednesday between October 4 and November 8. On Wednesday mornings Ben will be at Crestview Care Center. In the afternoons he will be at the Senior Center. Participants will learn to paint the landscapes of the Great Plains. Topics to be covered include painting the land, sky, water, and more. Ben is a trained instructor in the Creative Aging Through the Arts Program, and a longtime arts instructor. His work is currently on exhibit at the Carnegie Arts Center in Alliance through October 28.

Community members age 55 and older are encouraged to participate by signing up at Chadron Public Library or at the Chadron Senior Center. Participants are expected to commit to attending all six sessions as these workshops build upon each other. No previous art experience is necessary. Registration is open and classes begin October 4.

Please call Susan Rolfsmeier at Chadron Public Library at 308-432-0531 more information. To learn more about upcoming library programs, visit chadronpubliclibrary.com or view the library Facebook page.
On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Cheyenne River Youth Project will be hosting an Exploring College Options night at its Eagle Butte campus. Scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. at CRYPs Chokata Wichoni teen center, the event will give youth and families on the Cheyenne River Reservation an opportunity to learn more about attending select universities across the country.

Admissions officers from Duke University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University will be on site to discuss the application and financial aid processes. They also will present information about the resources available to Native students, and they will share stories from Native students.

Exploring College Options night is free and open to the public, but attendees must register online in advance by scanning a QR code. Flyers with the QR code are available at the CRYP office, Lakota Thrifty Mart, Eagle Stop, Ampride Co-op, the U.S. Post Office in Eagle Butte, and Cheyenne-Eagle Butte High School.

The flyer also is posted on the CRYP Facebook page at facebook.com/LakotaYouth. Interested participants should call the CRYP office at 605-964-8200 if they have any questions or need assistance with registration.

According to Jerica Widow, CRYPs programs director, Exploring College Options night is a natural evolution of the nonprofit youth projects long-running College Night series. CRYP created College Night in 2007 to help local teens become better prepared for their educational experiences after high school.

Through the College Night program, we invited our visiting Alternative Spring Break volunteer groups to make presentations about their universities and colleges to our community, Widow explained. The presentations covered a variety of topics, including the application process, available degree programs, financial aid, social activities, and general campus life.

The coronavirus pandemic put the student-run College Night series on hiatus, so Widow said the entire CRYP team is looking forward to welcoming the admissions officers from so many universities for a single night of knowledge-sharing, storytelling, question-and-answer sessions, and connection.

This is a wonderful way for us to engage our young people, and hopefully inspire them as well, she observed. There are so many options available to them after high school, and on Oct. 3, they will be able to learn about several of those options and ask questions about the issues that matter most to them."

We encourage them to bring family members, she continued, so parents and guardians can learn more about how to best support their children as they navigate the application process and the prospect of leaving home to attend school out of state.

To learn more about the Cheyenne River Youth Project and its programs, and for information about making donations and volunteering, call 605-964-8200 or visit lakotayouth.org.
Governor Kristi Noem and 16 Republican governors sent a letter to the Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory opposing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing Regulations Revisions Phase 2.

The stated purpose for the Proposed Rule is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the NEPA process. It fails in both regards, the governors wrote. Instead, the Proposed Rule eliminates the clarity of the existing rule, decreases NEPAs efficiency, and drastically increases the potential for litigation related to NEPA decisions.

The governors said the Proposed Rule would largely undo many of the changes made by the rules passed on July 16, 2020, which were designed to increase the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the NEPA process. Three years later, the CEQ is once again proposing wholesale revisions to the implementing regulations. This causes confusion and uncertainty in the NEPA process and with the CEQs regulations, they said.

There are multiple suggestions in the Proposed Rule that will certainly cause further delays in the NEPA process, continued Governor Noem and the other governors. We look forward to your prompt reply so we can continue to cooperate with CEQ and provide an informed perspective in these critical conversations. We also continue to support meaningful revisions to NEPA, where appropriate, but will not support changes that make the process less efficient, less effective, invite litigation, and/or fail to fully consider state-specific information in the NEPA process.

Governor Noem was joined by the following Republican governors in issuing the statement:

Nevada Governor Joe Lomardo, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Indiana Governor Brian Holcomb, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.
ATLANTA  Judge Peter Cahill hardly slept during the six weeks he presided over the murder trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd.

Cameras in the courtroom broadcast the veteran Minnesota judges every word to a global audience. Outside, the nation waited nervously for the outcome of a slaying that galvanized the movement for racial justice.

When youre in a high-profile trial, you feel the stress, you feel the pressure even if youre not reading the papers, he told an audience of judges last year at The National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.

Cahills experience provides a glimpse of the additional scrutiny and strain that await the four judges overseeing the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump.

But the challenge facing Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee in Georgia is unlike any of the others. For one, he is the only judge so far to allow television cameras in the courtroom to broadcast hearings and any trials. He is presiding over a sprawling indictment with 19 defendants, among them other prominent figures including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. And the trials will play out in a battleground state that Trump narrowly lost in 2020.

Attorneys who have worked alongside McAfee, who took the bench just this year, say his demeanor and years of work as a prosecutor have prepared him for heightened pressure. The judge's varied interests  he is an accomplished cellist and was a scuba diver at the Georgia Aquarium  should also provide relief from the stress of a long legal case.

But the experience of some judges who have been thrust into the public eye point to potential pitfalls and dangers ahead for the 34-year-old Georgia native. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida, who was nominated by Trump, has already faced sharp criticism for an early decision that favored the Republican former president in his fight against charges he illegally hoarded classified documents.

High-profile cases lead to a greater intrusion on your life, said U.S. Senior Judge Reggie Walton, who presided over the 2007 trial of I. Lewis Scooter" Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, and the 2012 trial of pitcher Roger Clemens.

Sometimes therell be articles that may be written that may be off base, he said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. They can create a little heartburn sometimes.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance Ito was accused of self-promotion for giving an interview during the O.J. Simpson trial in 1994. Critics also said he appeared too sensitive to criticism in the press and failed to control the proceedings, allowing the case to drag on for months and turn into a spectacle. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno mocked the trial with a skit featuring dancers in beards and black robes: the Dancing Itos.

In Florida, a judicial commission found Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer violated several rules governing judicial conduct during the penalty trial last year of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz. Among them, she unduly chastised the lead public defender and improperly embraced members of the prosecution in the courtroom after sentencing Cruz to life without parole, the commission said. Scherer, who has since retired, told the commission she also offered to hug the defense team.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who presided over Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News, said he found even a laugh can be misconstrued.

Sarcasm doesnt come across well. I learned that, he said at an American Bar Association meeting in August.

The cases may also prompt safety concerns. Already some of the judges overseeing Trump's criminal cases have received threats. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the federal election subversion case in Washington, has increased security after a woman was arrested for threatening to kill her.

McAfee did not respond to interview requests from The Associated Press. But in a sign that he understands the potential hazards ahead, he told The New Yorker he has no aspiration to become the next Ito or Judge Judy.

The idea with my job, in general, is to keep your head down," he told the magazine. Stay even-keeled and manage expectations.

Attorneys who know McAfee say he's ready for the challenge.

Although he's presided over few trials, McAfee's previous courtroom experience shows he has great confidence and poise, said Han Chung, an attorney who worked alongside McAfee at the Fulton County district attorney's office.

As a senior assistant district attorney, McAfee prosecuted hundreds of felony cases, including murder and armed robbery. He was unflappable under tough questioning from a judge or the gaze of a jury, Chung said.

Chung, who is now a prosecutor in nearby Gwinnett County, recalled coming runner-up to McAfee in 2016 for the best trial lawyer in their unit.

In order to do our job, you cant be afraid of the courtroom, he said. He was somebody who was especially not afraid.

In a hearing earlier this month for two of Trump's co-defendants, McAfee was polite, presaged a key potential stumbling block in the prosecution and ruled directly from the bench that the two would be tried together. When a prosecutor asked for two weeks to submit a brief, the judge gave him six days.

At a second hearing days later, a defense attorney accused a prosecutor of defaming the attorney's colleague. McAfee said the prosecutor's comment wasn't an issue for the court, but the attorney talked over him and pressed on. McAfee let him continue briefly before cutting him off.

I said it's over, he told the attorney, who continued to protest as he left the lectern.

Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh, who presided over the 2015 murder trial of New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, told the AP that you want to be this very firm presence but not become part of the story.

Garsh recalled getting a weekly massage and listening to audio books during her commute to help ease the stress of the trial.

A look at the 19 people charged in the Georgia indictment connected to Trump's election scheme Key people in the Georgia election fraud case Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani John Eastman Mark Meadows Sidney Powell Kenneth Chesebro Prosecutors have said Chesebro, an attorney, worked with Republicans in numerous swing states Trump lost, including Georgia, in the weeks after the November 2020 election at the direction of Trumps campaign. Chesebro worked on the coordination and execution of a plan to have 16 Georgia Republicans sign a certificate declaring falsely that Trump won and declaring themselves the states duly elected and qualified electors. Jeffrey Clark Jenna Ellis Ray Smith A Georgia-based lawyer, Smith was involved in multiple lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. He also gathered witnesses to provide testimony before Georgia legislative subcommittee hearings held in December 2020 on alleged issues with the states election. Robert Cheeley A Georgia lawyer, Cheeley presented video clips to legislators of election workers at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta and alleged the workers were counting votes twice or sometimes three times. He spoke to the lawmakers after Giuliani. Michael Roman A former White House aide who served as the director of Trumps election day operations, Roman was involved in efforts to put forth a set of fake electors after the 2020 election. David Shafer Shawn Still He was one of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state and declaring themselves the states duly elected and qualified electors. Still was the finance chairman for the state GOP in 2020 and served as a Georgia delegate to the Republican National Convention that year. He was elected to the Georgia state Senate in November 2022 and represents a district in Atlantas suburbs. Stephen Cliffgard Lee Prosecutors say Cliffgard Lee, a pastor, worked with others to try to pressure Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman and her daughter after Trump and his allies falsely accused them of pulling fraudulent ballots from a suitcase during the vote count. Lee allegedly knocked on Freemans door, frightening her and causing her to call 911 three times, prosecutors said in a court filing last year. Harrison William Prescott Floyd Also known as Willie Lewis Floyd III, he served as director of Black Voices for Trump, and is accused of recruiting Lee to arrange a meeting with Freeman and Chicago-based publicist Trevian Kutti. Trevian C. Kutti Prosecutors allege Kutti, a publicist, claimed to have high-level law enforcement connections. They say Freeman met with Kutti at a police precinct, where she brought Floyd into the conversation on a speakerphone. Prosecutors say Kutti presented herself as someone who could help Freeman but then pressured her to falsely confess to election fraud. Cathy Latham Scott Graham Hall An Atlanta-area bail bondsman, Hall was allegedly involved in commandeering voting information that was the property of Dominion Voting Systems from Coffee County, a small south Georgia jurisdiction. Also charged in the scheme were Powell, Latham and former county elections supervisor Misty Hampton. Misty Hampton She was the elections director in Coffee County. Hampton was present in the county elections office on Jan. 7, 2021, when a computer forensics team copied software and data from the countys election equipment. She also allowed two other men who had been active in efforts to question the 2020 election results to access the elections office later that month and to spend hours inside with the equipment. Read the Trump indictment in Georgia Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.
Earlier this year, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that use of the word thug and using a slogan from former President Donald Trump were insufficient to demonstrate a racially hostile work environment.

Kenneth Robinson and Christopher Hall, both Black, resigned from their jobs at Priority Automotive Honda dealership after their new boss, James Beckley, allegedly engaged in racially motivated actions toward them.

Robinson and Hall alleged that they experienced racial discrimination during Beckleys first week as their new boss.

Shortly after Beckley began his job as the manager at the dealership, he implemented significant operational and structural changes, including moving sales managers to the front of the store into a sales tower and centralized sales operations. Robinson and Hall were both sales managers and decided not to move to the sales tower.

Not being in the sales tower made it more difficult for them to make sales and this impacted their pay.

According to the case, when Beckley started with the new company, he gave a speech in which he told the sales staff that he wanted to make Priority Honda great again. The employees alleged that paraphrasing President Trumps campaign slogan is racist and discriminatory toward minority employees.

The employees also alleged that Beckley told another employee to stop hanging around with those thugs, when referencing a mixed-race group that included Robinson and Hall, and to start hanging around sales managers.

The employees also alleged that a non-management employee said to another to come over to the white side, but this was hotly disputed and she claimed to have said right side.

The plaintiffs alleged the reason they stopped receiving deals from sales associates was because they are Black.

On Beckleys fifth day, the plaintiffs filed multiple racial discrimination internal complaints. Hall resigned. When Beckley met with Robinson to try to resolve the conflict, Beckley apologized for the comments. Beckley then changed Robinsons pay plan, which Robinson rejected, and he left the company.

Robinson and Hall brought North Carolina state law claims and alleged federal claims to include violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and 42 U.S.C.  1981, alleging a hostile work environment and disparate treatment.

The 4th Circuit upheld the dismissal of the federal claims on summary judgment.

Citing prior case law, the court noted that a hostile work environment exists only when the workplace is so permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult, that it would reasonably be perceived, and is perceived, as hostile or abusive. The test is four-prong:

The employee must experience unwelcome harassment.

The harassment must be because of the employees race.

The harassment must be so severe or pervasive that it alters the conditions of their employment and creates an abusive atmosphere.

The harassment must be imputable to their employer.

The court held that a reasonable person could not find  based on the record  that it occurred because Plaintiffs are Black.

As to the term thugs, the court held that while the plaintiffs were subjectively offended, they must also show that a reasonable person would find the term race-based. The court held, Some believe that thugs is racially charged when directed at Black individuals. Yet thugs is often used non-racially to express disapproval of group behavior. For example, the last three U.S. presidents have used the term to refer to non-Black people and mixed-race groups. Race is thus not always the reason a person uses thugs. And there is nothing in the record, beyond Plaintiffs unsupported belief, suggesting that their race was the reason here.

The court added, The comment was directed at a group  not at Plaintiffs in particular  that included non-Black employees. So whether or not it would violate someones subjective sensibilities or defy etiquette ideals, Beckleys one-time use of thugs fails to support an objective inference of racial harassment  never mind severe or pervasive racial harassment, citing case law to conclude that the statement is not discriminatory on its face.

As for the statement attributable to that made by former President Donald Trump, the court held, Likewise, there is nothing to suggest to a reasonable person that Beckley said he wanted to make Priority Honda great again because Plaintiffs are Black. Paraphrasing this campaign slogan is not objectively racist. And Plaintiffs subjective discomfort  whether based on possible political preferences or on perceived animus  is not grounds for a federal racial discrimination claim.

The court agreed that referring to the white side would be to a reasonable person race-based, but that statement alone did not create a severe or pervasive hostile work environment. The court added, Even the utterance of an ethnic or racial epithet which engenders offensive feelings in an employee is generally not severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment.

This case illustrates the complexity of legally actionable hostile work environment claims, but it should not give license to employers to tolerate race-based language or any slurs.

However, this case also illustrates that the court will rely only on terms that are truly immutable to a race, gender, national origin, etc.

Employers should create a safe, civil and respectful workplace and, where conflict like this arises, address it immediately.

5 tips for managing workplace burnout What is workplace burnout? Connect with friends in your industry Approach your boss Set a defined schedule Take small breaks during the day Create space for fun and self-care
The casino developers hoping to win the referendum in November are going all-in.

In a few short months, the project has funneled dollars into various campaign efforts, including opening an office in Shockoe Bottom, hosting several press conferences in a new command post and putting 75 boots on the ground every day in a citywide door-to-door effort. A series of well-produced television commercials is airing on local channels.

The project has continued to keep momentum going as, almost daily, a new promise of union jobs and tax revenue rolls in  a strategy that differs drastically from its first campaign go-round that focused on billboards and widespread advertisement.

This new campaign strategy has also included stacking the deck with heavy-duty and expensive political firepower.

In its record-breaking $8.1 million referendum campaign, the Richmond casino project is using its funds to hire some of the biggest national, and international, campaign strategists and political analyst firms, campaign expenditures show  a feat that has many arguing it isn't a fair fight.

According to Virginia Public Access Project data, as of Aug. 31, Richmond Wins, Vote Yes, the political action committee charged with collecting and handling the projects funds, has allocated:

To date, the planned Richmond Grand Resort and Casino owners and operators Urban One and Churchill Downs have shelled out nearly $1 million to GMMB, whose motto is to help clients and partners build the kind of world we want to live in. The agency boasts several tenured campaign planners, most notably its founder, Frank Greer.

In his career, Greer has worked on several U.S. presidential campaigns, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as numerous international campaigns, including the late South African President Nelson Mandela and several other South American campaigns.

According to the agencys website, Greer provides strategic advice and counsel to some of the worlds leading foundations, public interest groups, labor organizations and corporations, as well as candidates running for Congress, governor and Senate.

Group associated with James Carville

The second-largest expenditure for the project went to Onyx Communications LLC, a political management firm which has helped out on numerous campaigns.

The project sees nearly $300,000 allocated to Impact Research Inc. in order to lead its polling efforts. The group also boasts key political campaign leaders including John Anzalone.

Anzalone has worked on President Joe Bidens campaign as well as Barack Obama and Hillary Clintons campaigns.

Likewise, Richmond Wins, Vote Yes has also allocated $20,000 to another Anzalone-partnered group, ABI Associates, which also lists James Carville, longtime television political analyst, on its payroll.

While the project has enlisted the firm that these political juggernauts helped create and work within, Michael Kelly, spokesperson for the casino, said it does not mean they are directly involved, or actively working, with the project.

"The campaign team has deep personal and professional ties to Richmond, but most importantly, we have a strong case to make to voters about the citywide benefits of Richmond Grand," Kelly said. "For example, GMMB has worked for Mark Warner, Terry McAuliffe, Justin Fairfax and Eileen Filler-Corn."

Ultimately, after losing out the first time, the project had to call in the big dogs to hopefully win a "yes" vote this go-round.

While casino representatives argue that its record-breaking campaign is necessary to reach every Richmond voter, opponents argue it isnt a fair fight.

What Richmonders need to know before casting their casino ballot About 75 people day-to-day are going door-to-door all across the city campaigning for the casino project. It is a key component of the developers strategy's to win the referendum to win over voters.

Paul Goldman, political analyst and former chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, has been leading the charge against the proposed casino and the second referendum through his own community-led, grassroots organization No Means No Casino. To date, the countermovement has raised roughly $150,000 with a over a third coming from Goldmans own pocket.

While he is working to counter the casino project efforts with his own yard signs reading No Means No Casino, it does not feel like a fair fight, Goldman said.

It's one thing to give them a second chance; this is America," Goldman said. "But give me a break. I'm just one little guy, and they have a big group worked out."

$562 million proposed project

Richmond resident Dave Dominique, who has been a longtime vocal opponent of the project since its fruition, shared similar sentiments as Goldman.

Its not a fair fight, financially and economically, said Dominique, a College of William & Mary professor. We figured that this was going to be a good-faith fight. That it was resolved at the ballot box in 2021.

In the past couple of months, a slew of signs have begun to pop up across the city. This is in part due to the widespread campaign efforts of the project that touts a voter-to-voter model similar to those of individual political races.

Door-to-door canvassers head out every day to various neighborhoods in the city. If residents are not home, canvassers leave a door hanger and plan to come back another time. If they are home and are in support of the casino, the canvassers ask if they would like a yard sign.

Following the Richmond City Councils resurrection of the plan in mid-June, the $562 million proposed project has continued to make various promises to further sweeten the deal, including an annual estimated $30 million in tax revenue to be used for various child care and education programs, union construction and hospitality jobs as well as a 55-acre park in South Side.

In 2021, Richmonders voted 51% to 49% in favor of not constructing a casino in South Side in what proved to be a contentious race. Despite the initial no vote, the City Council revived the possibility with an 8-1 vote earlier this year.

After some legal back-and-forth in Richmonds Circuit Court, the casino project will officially appear on in-person ballots this November, and early voting kicked off Sept. 22.

If approved, casino amenities will include a 250-room luxury hotel, a fitness center, outdoor pools, a spa, a 55-acre park, a gaming floor, a 3,000-seat concert venue, local restaurants, breweries and a high-tech film and audio production facility at 2001 Walmsley Boulevard and 4700 Trenton Avenue off Interstate 95.

The development would be Virginia's fifth casino if voters approve the referendum on Nov. 7.

Early voting runs through Nov. 4. Voting is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and on Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 at Richmond City Hall, 900 E. Broad St.; Hickory Hill Community Center, 3000 E. Belt Blvd.; and the City of Richmonds Office of Elections, 2134 W. Laburnum Ave. All districts can vote at these locations.
As she absorbed Richmonds history of enslavement and resistance, Lydia Jennings envisioned how an event like Run Richmond 16.19 would translate to her native American Southwest and its treatment of Indigenous people.

Jennings, a citizen of the Pascua Yaqui tribe and a postdoctoral research fellow at Duke University, runs as a means of connecting her scholarship to outdoor spaces. So she could not resist traveling from Durham, North Carolina, to participate in the second annual Run Richmond 16.19, a trip through African American history and a celebration of unity and diversity.

She was astonished at the story of Henry Box Brown, who escaped enslavement by having himself shipped in a box from Richmond to Philadelphia. And she was so mesmerized by the Jackson Ward mural of Lorna Pinckney, the late queen of the Richmond jazz poetry scene, that she interrupted her 16.19K run to admire the work of art.

I love how this integrated history and culture and connected people, Jennings said. The environmental soil scientist said she was planting seeds about how such a run though the history of Indigenous people could be done back home.

Kait Grable Gonzalez, an ambassador for Native Womens Wilderness, an organization dedicated to raising voices of Native women in the outdoor realm, traveled from Durham with Jennings to commemorate the hard truths of this regions Black history.

I came in this thinking about how our struggles are all linked, she said.

This unity in diversity is what Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou had in mind when he launched Run Richmond 16.19, whose name is a nod to the year 1619, when the first enslaved Africans in North America arrived in Virginia.

The events 1,438 registered participants more than doubled the number of last years inaugural run. The goal is to use the momentum of the Richmond event to launch similar simultaneous runs in Liverpool, England, and Benin, West Africa  the triangular route of the transatlantic slave trade  as a way to appease the souls of our ancestors in remembrance of what they had to overcome. I think that would be powerful, Hounsou said Saturday.

Kanawha Plaza was the starting place and finish line of the run and a 6.19K run/walk  each preceded by a libation ceremony by the Elegba Folklore Society. People danced the Electric Slide to the pounding of a drum circle by Drums No Guns.

Kacie Boone, an African American Studies major at Virginia Commonwealth University, said she was attracted by the spiritual aspect of the run.

Bradley Cornelius, who recently moved to Shockoe Bottom from Ojai, California, concurred.

Its a unique distance, and it has a unique intention, he said.

Jasmine Turner, an anchor and reporter for NBC 12 News, enjoyed the app that allowed runners with earbuds to receive Hounsous descriptions of the sites they were passing, such as the Henry Box Brown marker and the Reconciliation Triangle statue.

It brings even more important context to why youre running, she said.

We hope that this was a cathartic experience for most in terms of releasing grief, and we hope to overcome this intergenerational trauma, Hounsou said. Ideally, this is bringing the community together so we can achieve this idea of unity and diversity.

On Friday, Sheila Ollison and Brian Howard were married. On Saturday morning, he finished the 16.19K; his bride, the 6.19K.

I love the diversity and seeing the number of people of color, which impresses me, said Ollison, lauding the events aim of trying to bring people together of all races.

Ollison finished her run moments after 12-year-old Julia Jones, a student at Richmonds Albert Hill Middle School, had completed hers.

Jones said she did not know she was participating until Friday, when her mom signed her up.

I thought, lets go for it, she said.

As for the theme of the event, you go to this race for a bigger cause and to learn, Jones said. I came here for the cause and the message.

PHOTOS: Run Richmond 16.19, Celebrating Unity in Diversity
Henrico County Police Chief Eric English on Thursday responded to public criticism over the way in which Henrico police have handled the escape of Naseem Roulack, a violent felon who has been on the run since he walked out of Bon Secours St. Marys Hospital in Henrico on Aug. 12.

Following a large-scale incident, there will always be questions of what worked and what did not work well, English said in a statement.

English reported more than 40 Henrico police officers were involved in the search for Roulack on the morning of his escape as authorities attempted to capture (him) as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, that did not occur, English said.

Several Henrico residents who live in the area of the hospital previously said they did not receive timely notification or were not warned at all that Roulack was on the run. English admitted that the police response could have played out differently, but stopped short of issuing an apology.

We recognize at this point there was an opportunity to get the message out sooner, he said. While our sworn personnel were focused on the mission of apprehending (Roulack), we also understand the importance of keeping our community safe and communicating with them about an active incident.

Roulack, who was serving a 13-year sentence for aggravated malicious wounding, is being sought by Virginia State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service. He was last seen walking on Franklin Street with what appeared to be either a white towel or sheet over his head.

Authorities consistently have declined to specify where they are searching for him and whether they are any closer to locating him. There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

The Virginia Department of Corrections is leading the investigation into Roulacks escape and has declined to comment on its findings.

Those sources also said the VADOC officers charged with Roulacks security fell asleep while guarding him after working for more than 24 hours.

VADOC denied claims that employees had worked for 24 consecutive hours, but would not comment on whether Roulack had feigned an overdose or if the correctional officers had fallen asleep.

Close 07-13-1967 (cutline): Students working in Medical College of Virginia laboratory are (from left) Bernice Stafford, David Montague, Ben Greenbaum (seated) and John Philbrick. 08-24-1975 (cutline): Dr. John H. Horgan (right), Peter Little check on patient. Rehabilitation is closely supervised in specially equipped gymnasium. 09-01-1967 (cutline): Microtome slices brain tissue. Ronnie Coverton works in MCV Lab. 03-14-1967 (cutline): Miss Rebecca Roberts, a registered nurse at MCV, wheels an emergency cardiac until toward a patient's bedside in a demonstration of the hospital's Code Blue program. 10-26-1966 (cutline): Shuttle Service at MCV--Free service operated from 5:30 to 11:30 each evening, driven by a member of MCV's security force. 08-25-1967 (cutline): Medical technology students at work at M.C.V. 11-24-1967: MCV 11-07-1968 (cutline): Mrs. Susan Griffith (left), an inhalation therapist at Medical College of Virginia, discusses inhalation therapy equipment with Miss Ann Rawlings (center), a private duty nurse at Stuart Circle Hospital, and Mrs. Jeane Orr, chairman of the nursing education committee of Richmond Area Heart Association and director of continuing education at St. Mary's Hospital. They were participating in a one-day symposium on myocardial infarction nursing care at St. Mary's today. The symposium was sponsored by the heart association. 06-25-1969 (cutline): Delivery of patients to this emergency entrance at MCV-North has remained unrestricted. MCV has withdrawn its request for ambulance services to route emergency surgical patients to other city hospitals. 07-13-1967: MCV students in lab. 11-12-1969 (cutline): Doctor, dietician, dietician intern weigh patient's dosage. Dr. Raphael Osheroff, Miss E. Lounds, Miss Catherine Foran. 02-20-1969 (cutline): Working in a Medical College of Virginia laboratory are (from left) Dr. Ali A. Hossaini, Dr. Reza Mortazavi and Mrs. Kathleen Bowman. Dr. Mortazavi is here from the University of Tehran to study. From the Archives: A look back at MCV in the 60s and 70s Interested in a print of any of these photos? Click here. 07-13-1967 (cutline): Students working in Medical College of Virginia laboratory are (from left) Bernice Stafford, David Montague, Ben Greenbaum (seated) and John Philbrick. 08-24-1975 (cutline): Dr. John H. Horgan (right), Peter Little check on patient. Rehabilitation is closely supervised in specially equipped gymnasium. 09-01-1967 (cutline): Microtome slices brain tissue. Ronnie Coverton works in MCV Lab. 03-14-1967 (cutline): Miss Rebecca Roberts, a registered nurse at MCV, wheels an emergency cardiac until toward a patient's bedside in a demonstration of the hospital's Code Blue program. 10-26-1966 (cutline): Shuttle Service at MCV--Free service operated from 5:30 to 11:30 each evening, driven by a member of MCV's security force. 08-25-1967 (cutline): Medical technology students at work at M.C.V. 11-24-1967: MCV 11-07-1968 (cutline): Mrs. Susan Griffith (left), an inhalation therapist at Medical College of Virginia, discusses inhalation therapy equipment with Miss Ann Rawlings (center), a private duty nurse at Stuart Circle Hospital, and Mrs. Jeane Orr, chairman of the nursing education committee of Richmond Area Heart Association and director of continuing education at St. Mary's Hospital. They were participating in a one-day symposium on myocardial infarction nursing care at St. Mary's today. The symposium was sponsored by the heart association. 06-25-1969 (cutline): Delivery of patients to this emergency entrance at MCV-North has remained unrestricted. MCV has withdrawn its request for ambulance services to route emergency surgical patients to other city hospitals. 07-13-1967: MCV students in lab. 11-12-1969 (cutline): Doctor, dietician, dietician intern weigh patient's dosage. Dr. Raphael Osheroff, Miss E. Lounds, Miss Catherine Foran. 02-20-1969 (cutline): Working in a Medical College of Virginia laboratory are (from left) Dr. Ali A. Hossaini, Dr. Reza Mortazavi and Mrs. Kathleen Bowman. Dr. Mortazavi is here from the University of Tehran to study.
Theres plenty of bad days in Courtroom 1 of the Manchester Courthouse  but on this day, on the table where defendants wait nervously for a stern, black-robed judge to tell them if they are going to jail or not, Judge Mansi Shah laid down pizza boxes and turned to give Charlesha Washington a hug.

Did you walk the dogs? the judge asked, smiling.

Indeed she had.

It was a catchphrase of Washingtons as she progressed through the rigors of the Richmond General District Courts behavioral health docket  an alternative for people with mental illness who are charged with certain crimes. It says that if they stick to a program of treatment and report to probation officers for drug testing, their charges can be dismissed.

But it was not until some weeks into Washingtons 7 1/2-month journey that the judge finally learned Washington meant it to say she was doing OK that day.

And I learned that she really did walk her dogs, the judge said.

I really do, Washington said.

Washington landed in the behavioral docket the way people do, an arrest, in her case on a charge of assault and battery. But the behavioral docket is a mix  a judges potential big stick and help from a team made up of Richmond Behavioral Health Authority staff, probation services, prosecutor, public defender and police who might get at the underlying issues that could turn a life around.

When I first came here, I was scared of her, but she was so supporting, so enthusiastic, Washington said of the judge who had just hugged her, but who sat on the high bench in those black robes on court day for docket participants.

I felt so alone trying to cope, Washington said after the hugging. But I was here with other people; I saw that other people were trying, too.

There were plenty of hugs Friday, as Shah gave recent graduates of the docket program their certificates and a yellow rose  though Paul Fox, 64, handed his back to the judge: She saved my life, said Fox, adding that he finally saw a way out of a trap of mental illness.

I still keep your letter in my file, she told him.

Fox, who got into the program after his arrest on a charge of failure to appear, wrote that letter asking to participate in the docket, though he was not sure he qualified. He pledged he would change a life that had brought him in and out of jail many times.

Mr. Fox was well-known to us, said Richmond police Lt. Shane Waite. Im so happy to see you so changed ... it just feels so good to see.

Shah would take Foxs letter out of her files, too, from time to time. It was a reminder to help keep him on track as he struggled through the dockets regimen of court appearances, probation checks, counseling and group sessions. She read it, too, when he broke the rules  in his case going MIA to a sober living program in Kentucky.

But he came back and faced the tough challenge of starting over.

Fox became the O.G.  for docket participants, it means original group member, the mentor in weekly substance abuse and trauma recovery group sessions, and not its street meaning of original gangster.

Now, once he finishes paying off his accumulated court fines, he wants to head back to Kentucky to train to become a peer support specialist.

I think I can help other people, he said. Thats what I want to do.

Close On Tuesday, local artist Hamilton Glass sketched part of a mural design on a wall of the main building of Richmond Behavioral Health. The wall faces East Canal Street. Awtum Johnson, a support coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health, and artist Hamilton Glass work on a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. Glass was working with employees to create the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. (L-R) Awtum Johnson, a support coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health, and Brenay Brockenbrough, a case worker with RBH, work on a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. Artist Hamilton Glass was working with employees to create the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. Awtum Johnson, a support coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health, helps paint a mural at RBHs main building. RBH is celebrating a quarter-century of work. Brenay Brockenbrough, a case worker with Richmond Behavioral Health, works on a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. Artist Hamilton Glass was working with employees to create the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. (L-R) Carla Heath, a peer specialist coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health, and Awtum Johnson, a support coordinator with RBH, work on a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. Artist Hamilton Glass was working with employees to create the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. Artist Hamilton Glass draws a circle on a mural celebrating Richmond Behavioral Health's 25th anniversary. RBH employees were helping paint the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. Artist Hamilton Glass draws a circle on a mural celebrating Richmond Behavioral Health's 25th anniversary. RBH employees were helping paint the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. PHOTOS: Mural celebrates Richmond Behavioral Health 25th year Artist Hamilton Glass works with Richmond Behavioral Health employees Tues., July 20, 2021, to create a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. The artwork, at 107 South 5th Street, will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. On Tuesday, local artist Hamilton Glass sketched part of a mural design on a wall of the main building of Richmond Behavioral Health. The wall faces East Canal Street. Awtum Johnson, a support coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health, and artist Hamilton Glass work on a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. Glass was working with employees to create the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. (L-R) Awtum Johnson, a support coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health, and Brenay Brockenbrough, a case worker with RBH, work on a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. Artist Hamilton Glass was working with employees to create the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. Awtum Johnson, a support coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health, helps paint a mural at RBHs main building. RBH is celebrating a quarter-century of work. Brenay Brockenbrough, a case worker with Richmond Behavioral Health, works on a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. Artist Hamilton Glass was working with employees to create the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. (L-R) Carla Heath, a peer specialist coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health, and Awtum Johnson, a support coordinator with RBH, work on a mural celebrating RBH's 25th anniversary. Artist Hamilton Glass was working with employees to create the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. Artist Hamilton Glass draws a circle on a mural celebrating Richmond Behavioral Health's 25th anniversary. RBH employees were helping paint the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street. Artist Hamilton Glass draws a circle on a mural celebrating Richmond Behavioral Health's 25th anniversary. RBH employees were helping paint the artwork at 107 South 5th Street Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The mural will cover the wall facing East Canal Street.
President Yoon Suk Yeol met with police officers and firefighters Saturday and expressed his appreciation for their service during the Chuseok holiday, his office said.

Yoon visited an office affiliated with the Seoul Jungbu Police Station in central Seoul and thanked them for their work during the holiday, according to the presidential office.

The extended six-day Chuseok holiday will continue through Tuesday.

Yoon also listened to their difficulties while on duty and vowed to improve working conditions.

Following the meeting, Yoon observed a virtual shooting training session, which aims to beef up police officers' capabilities to respond to crime.

Yoon then visited the Jungbu Fire Station in Seoul for a meeting with officials there and expressed his gratitude for their service, according to the office.

"I am able to enjoy the Chuseok holiday very comfortably because all of you are managing disaster safety very well. Our firefighters are truly dedicated and working hard, which makes the citizens feel very secure," the president was quoted as saying.

He also told firefighters that the government will do its best to provide the best firefighting equipment and resources so that firefighters can safely carry out their operations. (Yonhap)
Most members of Virginias congressional delegation breathed a sigh of relief Saturday afternoon after the House of Representatives passed a 45-day stopgap measure to avoid a federal government shutdown that would have particularly hurt Virginia, home to more than 140,000 civilian federal employees and more than 126,000 active-duty military personnel.

As the Senate prepared to take up the measure Saturday night, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., lamented its lack of funding for Ukraine, but said he was likely to vote in favor of the resolution in order to prevent a government shutdown at midnight. Many lawmakers said they will renew the fight for Ukraine aid.

Its sad that you have to play brinksmanship at the 11th hour, frightening a whole lot of people, Kaine said in an interview with MSNBC shortly after the House overwhelmingly backed the stopgap bill on a vote of 335-91.

And its sad that Senate and House Republicans are backing away from the commitments weve made to Ukraine, but we have to vote to keep the government open.

Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., voted for the stopgap measure Saturday night. Kaine and Warner said in a statement that in the next 47 days, they will continue to work to pass bipartisan spending bills that renew our commitment to Ukraine in its fight for democracy and advance crucial Virginia priorities.

In interviews with and in messages to the Richmond Times-Dispatch in recent days, Virginians had expressed worries about the effects of a potential shutdown. Federal workers expressed concerns about paying bills while missing paychecks. Others expressed fears about the potential effects on aid for child nutrition and about how a closure of Shenandoah National Park in October would hurt small businesses that rely on tourism income.

The six Democrats in Virginias U.S. House delegation voted in favor of the stopgap measure Saturday, as did two Republicans, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, whose district includes large swaths of Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties; and Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-2nd, a retired U.S. Navy helicopter pilot whose district, based in Virginia Beach, includes a large military presence.

Three Virginia Republicans voted against the stopgap spending bill: Reps. Bob Good, R-5th; Ben Cline, R-6th; and Morgan Griffith, R-9th.

Wittman said in a statement: Congress has a responsibility to keep our government open and operating in order to provide essential services to our constituents, while at the same time ensuring the government functions responsibly and effectively. We also have a responsibility to ensure our brave men and women in uniform and our border patrol agents continue to be paid for their service, which this bill will ensure.

Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-4th, whose district includes Richmond and parts of Chesterfield and Henrico, criticized what she termed House Speaker Kevin McCarthys inability to govern and what she termed extreme MAGA Republicans desire to shut down the government.

Today, I was proud to cast my vote for this Continuing Resolution to protect the 170,000 federal workers and 130,000 active-duty servicemembers in Virginia, who would have been furloughed or forced to work without a paycheck in the event of a shutdown, McClellan said.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, represents 59,210 civilian federal employees in a Northern Virginia district that extends from eastern Prince William County through Fredericksburg to Caroline County.

We should never have come this close to a government shutdown, Spanberger said in a statement. For days, thousands of Virginians I represent feared a situation where they would be forced to work without pay, become furloughed, or struggle to make ends meet. And for months, Virginias businesses were sounding the alarm about the devastating effects of shutdowns on Virginias economy.

The deal to keep the government open also removes what could have been an anvil for GOP candidates vying in crucial legislative elections in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads as Virginians decide who will control the House of Delegates and the state Senate.

Good, a member of the conservative U.S. House Freedom Caucus, acknowledged in an interview with Politico that Gov. Glenn Youngkin had called him in recent days to express his concerns about a potential shutdown.

Youngkin has reached out and expressed his concern on Virginia as he appropriately should as governor, said Good, whose district includes part of Hanover County.

After Saturdays House vote, Good chastised McCarthy, the House speaker, for bringing the continuing resolution to a vote.

Kevin McCarthy put a CR on the Floor that got 209 Democrat votes, since it kept in place the Biden-Pelosi-Schumer policies that are destroying the country and the spending levels that are bankrupting us, Good posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Sadly, it also got 126 Republican votes. Uni-Party rule.
A retiring Republican delegate will have a new job in Gov. Glenn Youngkins administration as a deputy director of a newly created department to promote workforce development.

Youngkin said Friday that he has appointed Del. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford, who is chair of the House Commerce and Energy Committee, as deputy director for external affairs at the new Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, which she worked this year to create.

The new department will be led by Carrie Roth, currently commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission, which is still recovering from the effects of record unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Demetrios Mitch Melis, whom Youngkin appointed last year as director of the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, will succeed Roth at the VEC. The governor also named Kishore Thota, currently chief deputy director at the DPOR, to succeed Melis as director.

One other retiring Republican legislator also got a job in the Youngkin administration; the governor appointed Sen. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, as deputy commissioner at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Workforce programs at the VEC will gradually transfer to the new department, beginning on Monday with its economic information and analytics operation.

Im excited to start a new endeavor and build an agency that will provide the talent that the employers of Virginia need, said Roth, who also will start her new job on Monday.

Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater praised the new team at the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement, including Roth, outgoing Hanover County Supervisor Angela Kelley Wiecek as chief deputy director, and Byron as deputy director for external affairs.

He called it an incredibly strong team of workforce leaders with significant workforce experience.
IN THE NEWS

Amazon expands in Virginia

Two new Amazon operations facilities coming to Virginia Beach are expected to eventually employ more than 1,000 people. A robotics fulfillment center is expected to launch in 2025 and a delivery station is expected to be running in time for the 2024 holiday season.

The new facilities will be Amazon's 14th fulfillment and sorting center in Virginia and the 17th delivery station. The company, which has a headquarters in Arlington, has invested more than $109 billion in Virginia since 2010, including infrastructure and employee compensation.

PLANT: Ford Motor Co. is pausing construction of a battery plant that had been considered for a Virginia site. The automaker is building the $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, with Chinas Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. supplying equipment and employees. The United Auto Workers went on strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.

Virginia dropped out of the race for the same plant after GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin characterized the project as a front for the Chinese Communist Party that would raise national security concerns. The Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County near Danville was considered for the project.

By the numbers

2

Where Virginia ranks among U.S. states for the percentage of traffic fatalities during rain, according to a report by attorney Richmond Vona based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. West Virginia is No. 1.

$150,000

Civil penalty that insurer Cigna Health and Life will pay to settle a state Bureau of Insurance complaint that it was misleading customers about bills they would face if they went outside its network of providers.

ODDS AND ENDS

TICKET: Two front-row balcony tickets to Fords Theatre in Washington on the night President Abraham Lincoln was shot, touching off a manhunt that ended in Virginia, have sold at auction for $262,500. Boston-based RR Auction handled the transaction for the tickets, dated April 14, 1865. Lincoln was assassinated during the third act of the play Our American Cousin." Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth evaded capture before being tracked down and killed at Garrett's Farm in Caroline County, Virginia.

CLOSED: The Art Institute of Virginia Beach on Monday announced it would be closing this week. It is one of eight branches of the for-profit school to cease operations, citing low enrollment and financial issues. The other branches are in Miami, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Tampa.

THEY SAID IT

I think Congress as a whole needs to get their act together."

 Virginia General Assembly House Appropriations Chairman Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, on the threat of a government shutdown.

"You can't get stuck spiraling or worrying over something."

 Ben Edlavitch, of Richmond, on his technique for not panicking while appearing on the Lego-building competition "LEGO Masters" on Fox.

IN THE NEWS

Fredericksburg goes green

Fredericksburg City Schools has launched a fleet of electric school buses. The Virginia Department of Environmental Qualitys clean school bus program provided a $2.6 million grant last year. Ten buses were purchased.

This is a big step forward in our commitment to sustainability, said School Board Chair Jennifer Boyd. This is a testament to our vision for a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable world.

ARRESTED: Police are investigating a man who they said made online threats of violence and posted images of a Virginia church before going inside with a loaded handgun and two knives.

Rui Jiang, 35, of Falls Church, was arrested at Park Valley Church in Haymarket and charged with threats of bodily harm and carrying a dangerous weapon to a place of religious worship. Police said Jiang had a concealed weapon permit and the firearm was not reported stolen.

Authorities did not offer a possible motive.
Most of the Republican presidential candidates came out swinging Wednesday night  at each other.

But former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie threw the first punch at ex-President Donald Trump, who again did not deign to show up at the second GOP debate: He should be here! Christie said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed up: Donald Trump is missing in action, he told the audience. He owes it to you to defend his record.

They were absolutely right.

Still, anyone who had high hopes that candidates for the Republican presidential nomination would speak harsh truths about Trump, his animus for our democracy and his thorough unfitness for serve in the Oval Office  again  got a little more than expected, but not much.

With his poll numbers tanking and his aura as the only candidate who can take on Trump fading, DeSantis needed a breakthrough, a breakout moment or, given his flagging campaign, a break. And there was one moment at the end, when Fox moderators pulled a dumb move and asked candidates to vote someone in their group off the island. DeSantis spoke up, resolute and clear, declaring it the disrespectful stunt that it most certainly was.

In fact, Floridas governor performed well, if not spectacularly. He seemed a bit more relatable in this second debate. The Editorial Board was among those who noted that, at this point  especially for DeSantis  there was little to lose in making clear that Emperor Trump has no clothes. And yet he and the others pretty much pulled their punches, mostly ignoring the outsized candidate who wasnt there  and who is trouncing them in the polls.

DeSantis continued to push the Florida Blueprint, touting all he has done in  or, depending on your politics, to  our state.

In fact, many questions seemed tailor-made to allow him to promote his restrictive policies, many of which have been or are being challenged in court as unconstitutional. He left that part out.

Hell send the military after the drug cartels at the countrys southern border. He will complete the wall, and drug traffickers will be treated like the foreign terrorist organizations that they are.

Confronting crime, he said: We back the blue. They are keeping us safe. Then he crowed about removing two duly elected state prosecutors from their posts in Florida, followed by a vow to use the U.S. Justice Department to target Soros-funded prosecutors. Was that a wink to antisemites?

He said the benefits of slavery school curriculum controversy is a hoax promulgated by Vice President Kamala Harris, before pivoting to universal school choice. He compared himself to Ronald Reagan, saying he was standing with parents.

He said he can win on an anti-abortion platform across the country, as he did in Florida, which let him get in a late-breaking jab: Trump is missing in action. He should be here explaining why pro-life protections are a terrible thing. The former president recently criticized Floridas six-week abortion ban.

He went after China and its expanding economic footprint in Latin America. He mischaracterized his controversial law that, he said, bans the Communist Chinese Party from buying property in Florida. In truth, the law limits land purchases by Chinese citizens.

His best line needed no spin. In Florida, he said, The Democratic Party lies in ruins.

There was one fewer candidate on stage Wednesday  and that may have been a good thing. No matter who pundits and voters think won the debate, the candidates  and the rest of us  were the losers as backbiting, interruptions and raucous verbal wrestling drowned out individual speakers.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson didnt meet the requirements to participate this time around, leaving the stage to DeSantis, Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

Once again, Trump did not see the need to be onstage to defend himself. And DeSantis is still at least 40 points behind him in some polls. Its a huge gap. But DeSantis steadfast presentation Wednesday night may have nudged the needle in the right direction for him, a bit.
Government of Mexico allocates $150 million to address migration causes

Mexico City, Mexico  The Government of Mexico has allocated $150 million dollars to countries in Central America and the Caribbean. The allocated funds will be used to address the causes of the migration phenomenon, reported President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

In his Friday morning press conference, he indicated that the Sowing Life and Youth Building the Future programs are successfully applied in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and Cuba where they offer job opportunities in their places of origin. This way, he said, people decide to stay in their countries.

When we work in the communities, in the towns of Central America or in other countries, we have testimonies that with the support we send, with the Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) program, the Youth Building the Future program, people stay, young people stay, he noted.

The President emphasized the need to invest more resources in these initiatives created by his government for the well-being of the people. In particular, Lopez Obrador called on the United States to increase support for this purpose.

You have to invest and not just $50 million. You need to invest is what is required. What they send in weapons to Ukraine, not that amount, but half would allow us to have a cooperation development program for Latin America and the Caribbean, that would help a lot, he remarked.
Mexican suspects escorted to Texas to face criminal charges

Mexico City, Mexico  Two men wanted in different Texas courts have been extradited from Mexico. On Friday, Porfirio H was transferred to the Mexico City International Airport were U.S. federal agents escorted him back to Texas.

According to a statement from the State Attorney of the Republic (FGR), Porfirio H was wanted in the District Court of Gillespie County, Texas, for the crime of homicide.

In November 2018, this person attacked his girlfriend with a knife in the face and neck, injuries that caused her death, they said. Porfirio H was captured in San Felipe, Guanajuato, in May of this year.

Federal agents also escorted Howard A to Texas where he will face charges of sexual assault. According to the FGR, Howard A was wanted by the Court of Jefferson County, Texas, for the crime of qualified sexual assault.

His charges stem from sexually abusing a minor. Howard A was arrested in Merida, Yucatan, in July 2022. After extradition requests from the U.S. were granted, both men were returned to face criminal proceedings.
Puerto Morelos continues working to legalize Ruta de los Cenotes businesses

Puerto Morelos, Q. R.  Puerto Morelos Mayor Blanca Merari Tziu Munoz held a meeting with service providers of Ruta de los Cenotes to legalize their businesses. Merari Tziu said the goal is to establish direct communication with the business and have them legalized for the benefit of them and tourists who visit.

In a statement, the Mayor reiterated that she heads a government with open doors that listens to and serves all sectors of society. In the particular, businessmen since they are generators of employment and well-being for local families.

Today we are establishing this dialogue table to serve each of those who have a business on the Cenote Route and who operate, in some cases, without having a municipal operating license.

We are here to have this first approach and listen to each and every one, she said.

Blanca Merari Tziu highlighted that one of the objectives of her administration is to support this emblematic area of the municipality in terms of tourism so that there is progress and orderly growth.

She clarified that the regularization that is planned is only in the area of competence of the municipal government, such as the processing of operating licenses, which entails having, among other permits, the consent of Civil Protection.

Puerto Morelos City Council intends to legalize tourist services along its popular Ruta de los Cenotes.

Photo: H. Ayuntamiento de Puerto Morelos September 28, 2023.

For this reason, she announced that a regularization day will be organized for two days, on dates yet to be confirmed, in the Town Hall of the Municipal Palace, for Ruta de los Cenotes service providers.

During the meeting in which she was accompanied by the heads of the Treasury, Civil Protection, Urban Development, Expenditures, Ecology and Inspection, among other members of her work team, she received a document in which the businessmen presented a list of requests, among them, to support the paperwork in the remaining months of 2023, to start the 2024 fiscal year in order.

In this context, she promised to analyze it and personally attend to each of them.
Texas man missing in Tulum seeks out help from police

Tulum, Q.R.  A Texas man who made his way to a Tulum federal building was helped after saying he had been lost missing for a couple of days. The American man walked into the building alone Friday in search of assistance.

According to a brief statement from the Secretaria de Seguridad Ciudadana (SSC) of Quintana Roo, the 44-year-old American was medically evaluated, fed, temporarily sheltered and being helped in returning home to the U.S.

The Secretariat of Citizen Security (SSC) helped a man who said his name was Vere Wells, 44 years old and originally from Texas, United States, who had apparently been missing for a couple of days in Tulum.

Local authorities provided the missing Texas man with assistance.

Photo: Secretaria de Seguridad Ciudadana de Q.Roo September 29, 2023.

The police requested support from a Red Cross unit for a medical evaluation who stated that he did not need to be transferred to a hospital. Subsequently, he was given temporary shelter and help so that he could soon return to his country. The Secretariat of Citizen Security reaffirms its commitment to the safety of the citizens.

Police did not say how the man had become missing or lost for those couple of days. Details surrounding the event were not provided.
Utility truck rolls onto car and collapses CFE pole along Riviera Maya highway

Riviera Maya, Q.R.  On Friday afternoon, the driver of a utility vehicle ended up on its side, rolling onto a second vehicle and collapsing a public power pole. Speed and wet roads are being blamed on the mishap that took place outside a hotel south of Playa del Carmen.

A tow truck was called in to right and remove the lopsided vehicle after it tilted on the soft shoulder gravel. The second vehicle, which was reportedly parked near the hotel, was also attended to.

It was around noon when motorists and hotel staff reported the incident to local emergency services. National Guard and emergency bodies arrived to direct traffic around the accident site that left one lane partially closed.

CFE personnel were requested at the scene since the heavy unit landed against an electric pole, cutting power. The weight from the unit was enough to crumple the post in two places.

The utility vehicle rolled onto a parked car outside a Riviera Maya Hotel. where it also collapsed an electric pole.

Photo: September 29, 2023.

According to witness motorists, the driver of the utility vehicle swerved to avoid a car when he made contact with the soft shoulder. The heavy unit rolled onto a parked car. There was no one inside the car at the time of the accident.

Police did not report any injuries. Traffic was backed up due to the additional service vehicles while the mess was cleared.
Over 1,000 community members filled the terminal inside the Santa Maria Airport to welcome home veterans from their Tour of Honor'' to Washington.
North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations said Tuesday his country is "urgently" required to bolster its self-defense capabilities, claiming the Korean Peninsula faces the "immediate danger of nuclear war breakout."

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Ambassador Kim Song attributed the "current dangerous situation" to South Korea and the United States, lambasting a series of steps that the allies have taken to bolster deterrence against evolving North Korean threats.

"Given the prevailing circumstances, the DPRK is urgently required to further accelerate the build-up of its self-defense capabilities to defend itself impregnably," the ambassador said during his live-streamed speech. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"It is only too natural that the more the reckless military moves and provocations of the hostile forces are intensified , the more our endeavors to enhance national defense capabilities would increase in direct proportion," he added.

Kim catalogued a series of defensive exercises between the U.S. and South Korea namely the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, the launch of the Nuclear Consultative Group and repeated verbal warnings against the North's potential use of nuclear arms.

"From the beginning of the year, the U.S. and the 'Republic of Korea' made hysterical remarks of confrontation such as 'end of the regime; and 'occupation of Pyongyang' in flagrant violation of the principles and purposes of the U.N. Charter," he said.

Calling South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol only by his name, Kim criticized Yoon's warning at the U.N. General Assembly that any arms deal between Russia and North Korea would be considered a "direct provocation" against South Korea.

"Development of equal and reciprocal relations between and among independent sovereign states is not an issue for the "ROK" to interfere in as it is no more than a colony of the U.S.," Kim said.

He described the Yoon administration as a "puppet" government, accusing it of raising tensions.

"The Korean Peninsula is in a hair-trigger situation with imminent danger of nuclear war breakout," he said.

Kim Sang-jin, South Korea's deputy permanent representative to the U.N., hit back, chastising the North for making "groundless, illogical and absurd" allegations.

"Do you really believe as the DPRK claims the Republic of Korea, together with the U.S., conspires to provoke a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula without reasons that will cause catastrophic casualties?," he asked. "How many member states in this chamber are seriously aligned with the DPRK's false assertions? My answer is clear: untrue, absolutely incorrect," he said. (Yonhap)
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" " Plastic collected in the canals of Amsterdam is repurposed by Plastic Whale into all kinds of useful objects instead of flowing into the ocean. Plastic whale

Single-use plastic is everywhere. In many places in the world, it's nearly impossible to walk around outside for a few minutes without encountering an assemblage of cast-off plastic bags, bottles, flatware and other single-use detritus. None of these items are quick to decompose  a plastic bag takes up to 20 years to break down, while a plastic bottle might take up to 450 years. Let that sink in.

And of course, if you're seeing plastic on the street in a city like Amsterdam, it's likely that bottle or takeout container will end up in a canal, and ultimately the ocean, where it's not up to anything good. One thing we can do to protect the health of marine ecosystems is to keep plastics out of the terrestrial waterways that lead to the oceans in the first place.

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Plastic Whale is a plastic fishing company whose mission is to make the world's waters plastic-free and create value from plastic waste. This Amsterdam-based company was started in 2011 with a mission not only to remove single-use plastic out of canals in Amsterdam and in the Rotterdam harbor, but to turn that trash into useful items. Plastic bottles are turned into foam plates to build their boats, and PET felt to make furniture  boardroom tables, chairs, lamps and acoustic panels for offices.

" " Plastic Whale will take you on a sightseeing tour of the canal city of Amsterdam, while giving you the chance to help clean up along the way. Plastic whale

Plastic Whale's business model is fascinating: Groups of people  corporate groups, tourists, school groups or families looking for an interesting way to spend an afternoon  pay a fee for Plastic Whale to take them "plastic fishing." It goes a little something like this: A Plastic Whale guide takes you and your friends, family or co-workers  all suited up in life jackets for those that want them and armed with fishing nets  out on the Amsterdam canals in one of their boats, made entirely of Amsterdam canal plastic. The skipper points out the sights (in either Dutch or English) while steering the boat around the canal and sidling up to plastic waste bobbing along in the water, which you and your friends scoop up in your nets.

Founder Marius Smit explained the Plastic Whale business model to SEVENSEAS Media:

A plastic fishing trip for tourists costs 25 euros (around $26.85) per person. As a company we are financially self-sustaining; we are not dependent of any subsidies, said Smit. We have four main sources of income: company sponsorships, company plastic fishing events and exploitation of the boats (tourists and private boat rentals). Lastly, we give a lot of presentations about the way we created a fast growing social enterprise from scratch.

According to the latest stats posted on the company website, in 2019, Plastic Whale's 13 boats (11 in Amsterdam and 2 in Rotterdam) took nearly 18,000 people plastic fishing in the canals of the two cities, hauling in a catch of around 40,500 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, and many times that volume in other waste.

To book a tour with Plastic Whale, go to https://plasticwhale.com/booking/ and sign up to do your part in keeping garbage out of our oceans.

" " Plastic Whale has joined forces with Vepa, one of the leading furniture manufacturers in the Netherlands, to take action against the plastic problem. Vepa creates circular office furniture made from plastic fished out of the Amsterdam canals by Plastic Whale. Plastic whale

Now That's Interesting In the ocean, plastics and discarded fishing nets collect in "garbage patches" like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which constantly changes size and shape, but at its smallest is twice as big as Texas.
COLUMBIA  A South Carolina woman who killed her abuser with a kitchen knife six years ago will continue serving her 15-year prison term after the state parole board denied her early release Wednesday.

Tiffany Jenae Carroll, 36, failed to get the two-thirds vote necessary for parole. Despite a 3-2 decision supporting her bid to rejoin society, efforts again fell short because the bar is higher for certain violent crimes. One member abstained from voting and another was absent.

The outcome brought shock and dismay from advocates who have exhausted seemingly every avenue at their disposal since Carrolls January 2020 sentencing. A state lawmaker tried to secure a pardon but the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services deemed her ineligible because she is already up for parole. The state board unanimously rejected her first shot at parole last fall, according to The Post and Courier.

Carroll pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter for the death of William Jamaal Johnson. The sentencing judge determined that Carroll had been the victim of domestic violence during her relationship with the man she stabbed in the chest during an argument at a Greenwood residence.

Authorities responded to their house eight times between May 2016 and the fatal stabbing, The Post and Courier reported.

Still, attorney Travis Moore said Wednesday, officers responding to the crime scene on Sept. 18, 2017, found Carroll attempting to save the life of the abusive partner she had just stabbed. Moore told the board that Carroll had no prior history of violence and that Johnson had been the primary aggressor in the argument preceding his death.

Carroll suffered psychological trauma caused by domestic abuse, Moore added. Known as battered woman syndrome, the condition can lead to feelings of helplessness or fear, and escalated violence.

The roughly 30-minute hearing included several questions about what her life would look like outside prison if the board granted her parole.

Carrol said she planned to live with her uncles family and hoped to find work to provide for her five children, who would not immediately join her.

When asked how she could ensure that a serious offense wont happen again during a conflict, Carroll said she has developed coping skills during her incarceration. She said she hopes to help others like her and plans to continue the counseling and Bible studies she began behind bars.

She also repeated her desire to seek forgiveness and support from the family of the man she killed.

I know what I did was wrong. Im still struggling to forgive myself, Carroll, appearing by video feed, told the board Wednesday. I pray that God forgives me, and I pray that his family will one day forgive me.

Advocates have argued the state womens prison is unfit for a mother who should instead be home with her children. She has no disciplinary sanctions, has earned several work certificates and has acquired credits as a custodian and landscaper, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections website  a point emphasized by Moore on Wednesday.

The strong backing of the Greenwood community would help Carroll thrive, according to supporters. Republican State Rep. John McCravy, who has represented the area since his 2016 election, told the board Wednesday that she has two job offers pending  including one that he extended personally. Hed even be willing to let her live with his family if her current plans fell apart, McCravy added.

I have that much confidence in her that she will make it, he told the board while dialing into the hearing. Shes got all the support she needs.

No outside observers spoke against her early release Wednesday. Frank Wideman, one of the two members who voted against granting parole, mentioned the nature of the crime. He said during a brief discussion among the board that he took issue with the violence and cited a local police chiefs opposition to parole.

The case could spark legal changes in South Carolina. Moore, who is also a Republican state representative, told reporters that the temporary setback is evidence that things need to be changed. He wants more legal protections for people like Carroll who do not meet requirements necessary for self-defense at trial. McCravy and Moore hope to introduce legislation next year that would account for people with battered women syndrome in these types of scenarios.
Smartphone with new logo X twitter app background. Application twitter old blue bird change X black and white new.

Elon Musk has made drastic cuts to the 'election integrity team' at X (formerly Twitter), a department that was responsible for combating the spread of misinformation online, and also scrapped a feature that lets users self-report false political statements.

The announcement was made just weeks after the platform said it had plans to expand its safety teams, ahead of next years US presidential election. Musk took to X to announce that the team had been disbanded via a typically blunt statement.

Following the team cuts, a feature that allows users to report misinformation has also been removed from the X platform.

Musk acquired the platform last year for $44 billion, and his latest move raises fresh concerns about Xs ability to manage information and content surrounding important political events.

It follows a European Commission study published by TrustLab, which revealed that X has the highest ratio of misinformation spread across its content. The study analyzed content across six social media platforms  Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and X  that appeared in Poland, Slovakia, and Spain.

The cuts to Xs election integrity team saw more than half of the global team laid off. Its uncertain how many people remain on the team. This includes the department based in Ireland where Xs Co-lead of 'threat disruption', Aaron Rodericks, was based.

Two smartphones on a grey background showing the X app

Recently, Xs CEO Linda Yaccarino had told The Financial Times that the platform was expanding the safety and election teams all around the world to focus on combating things like manipulation, surfacing of inauthentic accounts and closely monitoring the platform for any emerging threats.

This came after Elon Musk suggested in a live-streamed interview that X could start charging all users "a small monthly payment" to use the app, beyond the existing Twitter Blue.

The feature that allowed users to report fake news on the platform has been absent since the release of the study. It was noticed by Reset Australia, an organization that campaigns for democracy in digital media, which addressed concerns in an open letter to X.

Story continues

You can still report X posts that you consider to be spam and hateful; however, theres currently no option to report electoral misinformation. In the build-up to the US Presidential election, other companies, including Google, have implemented plans to safeguard electoral information online, most recently in its move to eradicate AI deepfakes during the presidential race by enforcing AI transparency policies.
A family trip to Phuket with Lyle's 1-year-old son. Sara Lyle

Sara Lyle was six months pregnant when she moved to Singapore for her husband's job.

She got hired as the editor in chief of an expat magazine, which was a lifeline during her divorce.

She worked as a single mom overseas before returning to the US, where she now lives.

I'd never been to Singapore before moving there in January 2015. At the time, I knew only two people in the city-state; they were friends from New York City. That's where I'd been living and working in the publishing world for 16 years  most of my adult life.

When my then-husband and I decided to move to the other side of the world, we'd been living in a two-bedroom walk-up in Brooklyn. We'd married less than six months before that, and I was about that far along in my first pregnancy at the age of 36.

While I'd traveled extensively, I'd never lived abroad for more than a couple of months. But I had always dreamed of living outside the US at some stage.

So, when my ex did a virtual job interview over Thanksgiving weekend at my in-laws' home in Pennsylvania  and was then offered a job at one of the world's biggest advertising companies' Singapore office  I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. We flew out in late January during a winter storm they named "Snowpocalypse."

On the flight, I devoured two books about Singapore. When we landed about 23 hours later, I learned a little more about this foreign place I was planning to be living in for the next two years  the length of my then-husband's employment contract. As soon as I set foot in Singapore's Changi Airport, however, I realized I had a lot more to learn.

There were so many differences between Singapore and New York

What was this place with public bathrooms so clean you could almost eat off the floors? I was coming from New York City, not typically known for its cleanliness. And what in the heck was the driver speaking when he drove us  and our six large suitcases  to the serviced apartment we lived in for a few months until our things arrived via cargo ship? I soon learned that it was the local creole language of Singlish.

Story continues

The next day, trading in our heavy winter coats for shorts and T-shirts, we explored nearby Orchard Road. We sat down for lunch at a cafe along Emerald Hill. From our vantage at an outdoor table, we got a good look at one of Singapore's charming heritage areas. At the time, we didn't realize how expensive the beautifully preserved shophouses were. The Lamborghinis and Porsches parked out front should've tipped us off  Singapore is the most expensive country in the world to buy cars.

At eight months pregnant, I accepted a job

Woman laying with her son on the bed

Early days in Singapore before taking on a full-time job.Sara Lyle

This first taste of the sun-drenched, culture-rich Red Dot  a nickname often used for Singapore  inspired a seven-year-long quest to soak up as much as I could about this place. When a friend recommended me for the editor-in-chief position at a long-running magazine for expats in Singapore, I landed the job at eight months pregnant and agreed to start five months later. I was like, "So, you're going to pay me to learn about living here? Sign me up!"

During my initial interview with the publisher, I did think it was odd that she made a point to note that if I had my own employment pass  a requirement of residing and working in Singapore for foreigners  I would be protected from being booted out of the country if, say, my husband lost his job, or we got divorced.

She mentioned the expat divorce rate was significantly higher than that of the Singaporean population. In cases filed in the Singapore Family Courts between 2011 and 2015, the number of divorces filed between two Singaporeans had decreased, but those filed by non-residents had grown steadily, according to a study in Academy Publishing.

In the end, both of those things went on to happen: My husband lost his high-paying job about three years in, and  I will spare you the details about the intervening years  we eventually agreed to divorce in early 2020.

Of course, this was right around the time COVID-19 swept the world. As a result, my son and I spent many days in full or partial lockdown in our three-bedroom condo, a five-minute walk from Singapore's beachy East Coast Park. To stave off cabin fever, we used to do daily walks or bicycle rides along its coastline  my favorite greenspace on the island.

My son and I embraced everything about Singapore

Woman with her child posing for a picture in Little India Singapore wearing traditional Indian clothing

Mother and son in Singapore's Little India during last Deepavali before moving back to the US.Sara Lyle

Despite all these twists and turns, I cherish my time there. My son and I threw ourselves into celebrating popular holidays such as Deepavali, Hari Raya, Lunar New Year, and Mid-Autumn Festival. Because he was born on Vesak Day  Buddha's birthday  we always made sure to go to a Buddhist temple each year to ask for blessings on that day.

Over time, foods and drinks that had seemed exotic became comfortingly familiar  and we ended up craving them: wanton mee, laksa, and sambal stingray were regulars. To this day, after having not lived in Asia for almost two years, my son says his favorite food is roti prata  a fried Indian pancake  with curry sauce.

What are other things that are hard to find outside Singapore? The easy travel throughout the region. While living there, we visited more than 10 different countries thanks to its central location. And perhaps  most importantly  the incredible network of Singaporean and expat friends I was grateful to have met.

Seven years later, it was time to head back to the States

Wedding photo in Colorado Spring with blended family. Charlotte Bundgaard for Trystan Photography

In December 2021, I made the difficult decision to move to Florida with my son because that's where most of my family and close friends live. Also, by going "home" to America  a place my son had never actually lived  I was able to land a better-paying job, which was a relief after being the primary breadwinner in notoriously expensive Singapore.

Today, I live in the suburbs outside Denver in arid, mountainous Colorado. I recently eloped with my now-husband  a fellow divorced friend from my hometown whom I've known since we were 12. Our three shared sons were the only wedding guests at the simple outdoor ceremony.

Could I have seen this coming two years ago? No way. Could I have seen Singapore in my sights two years before that in New York? Heck no. But when life gives you a sign that it's time to move on, you do it  and embrace what the future holds.

Got a personal essay about living abroad or parenting that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: akarplus@insider.com.

Read the original article on Insider
SIOUX CITY  Vaccine season is in full swing at Drilling Pharmacy in Morningside.

Every day, Liz Webb, the family pharmacy's vaccine coordinator, said customers inquire about whether the latest influenza vaccine or COVID shot has arrived.

"We've already done a number of flu clinics and had good traffic for flu shots and RSV immunization," she said.

For the first time, a vaccine that protects against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is available to anyone 60 and older with a prescription. RSV generally causes mild cold-like symptoms, but seniors are at higher risk of experiencing complications from it, becoming hospitalized or even dying, as a result. This vaccine season, older adults could potentially be getting three or even four shots with RSV, influenza, COVID and pneumonia vaccines all being offered.

"We've had a handful of people that are coming in. They're like, 'I'm coming to get my flu shot, but I'm waiting so I can get COVID and flu at the same time,'" said Webb, who recommends getting a flu shot by the end of October. She noted the vaccine provides good protection for about six months.

Flu, RSV and Covid-19 vaccines Liz Webb, a pharmacist and Drilling Pharmacys vaccine coordinator, displays a flu vaccine at the Sioux City pharmacy on Tuesday. Flu and the 

Siouxland District Health Department Deputy Director Tyler Brock said the influenza vaccine is available anywhere you would normally get vaccinate for it. He said the COVID vaccine has "mostly gone private," with the health department providing the vaccine to limited populations.

"Pharmacies may carry it. Doctor's offices may carry it. We do have a little bit of vaccine for our kids program and a little bit of vaccine for uninsured or under insured adults, but those are the only groups that can get it from us," Brock said. "Everywhere else is going to have to order COVID vaccine the way they order other vaccines. We're not really 100% sure who's planning on carrying it."

The influenza vaccine is available to anyone 6 months and up, but Webb said there are two different shots -- one for all of those under 65 and a high-dose version for those 65 and older. She said individuals who are immunocompromised can actually receive two flu shots six months apart.

Webb said she's hopeful the new COVID vaccine, which targets the XBB lineage of the Omicron variant, will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. She said anyone 5 and older is eligible for the new COVID shot. Drilling Pharmacy only vaccinates customers who are six years and older.

"It's been frustrating because they haven't given us a firm date to be able to expect those to be in-house," Webb said of the latest COVID vaccine. "We're watching it every day to see when they're available for us to order from our distributor."

Flu, RSV and Covid-19 vaccines Liz Webb, a pharmacist and Drilling Pharmacys vaccine coordinator, displays a flu vaccine at the Sioux City pharmacy on Tuesday. Flu and the 

Webb explained that health officials aren't calling the new COVID vaccine a "booster" because it's going the way of a seasonal shot, like the influenza vaccine, which gets formulated each year based on the most contagious strain of the virus that's circulating.

"The previous COVID shot was bivalent, so there were two strains. This one that is coming out is going to be a monovalent vaccine. It only has one strain in it and it's going to be that XBB," said Webb, who said the shots were developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

After ticking up over the last couple of months, Brock said COVID cases have mostly stabilized in Woodbury County.

"We don't count cases anymore, so we dont know exactly how many cases there are. Testing is pretty sporadic now, so its not really a very good measure, anyway or how much activity has gone on, he said. "The long and short of it is activity is up from early summer levels, but not alarmingly so. Certainly hospitalizations have been manageable. It seems like a typical COVID season."

Webb said it "makes sense" to her to "marry" trips to the pharmacy together and get immunized for multiple viruses at the same time, as long as one hasn't really had any side effects in the past. Webb said arm soreness is common across the board. She said there is also the potential for flu-like symptoms -- fever and muscle aches -- to appear eight hours after vaccination

"For somebody who has (had side effects), I would maybe say, 'Let's wait a little bit.' Let's go ahead and get flu and COVID, maybe, but not get RSV until later, or whatever combination works best," she said. "We've counseled somebody who does get multiple vaccines to take it easy, drink water to stay hydrated," she said.

Flu, RSV and Covid-19 vaccines Liz Webb, a pharmacist and Drilling Pharmacys vaccine coordinator, displays flu and RSV vaccines at the Sioux City pharmacy on Tuesday. The n

Webb cautioned that no vaccine is 100% effective at preventing illness. She said vaccines bolster the immune system to help fight against a particular illness better.

"It reduces your symptoms," she said. "Somebody who's potentially high-risk may not be hospitalized if they were to get flu, or it reduces down sick days so that you're not out of work, or your children aren't out of daycare or school during the flu season."

Brock recommends getting the influenza as soon as possible. He sees no reason to wait. He said people have more flexibility about when to get immunized against COVID and RSV.

"The COVID vaccine, I don't know that there's any big rush to get it. But, at the same time, the longer somebody waits, probably the less effective this vaccines going to be," Brock said. "We know how quickly the variants change with COVID."

While customers can make vaccine appointments at Drilling Pharmacy online, Webb said walk-ins are welcome. She noted that customers will have to wait at the pharmacy for 15 minutes after receiving a COVID shot.

"It's a different strain, so it's just something to watch just to make sure that people are good to go when they get it," she said.
SIOUX CITY  When hired seven years ago, one of Curt Miller's first tasks for Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council was to begin planning for a new building.

With his retirement approaching, it took all of those seven years to finish the job.

SIMPCO SRTS offices Curt Miller, Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council facilities and transit director, stands in the front lobby at SIMPCO and Sioux

SIMPCO SRTS offices Curt Miller, Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council facilities and transit director, stands at the edge of a group of workstations

SIMPCO staff and Siouxland Regional Transit System are expected to be moved into their new building along U.S. Highway 20 east of Sioux City by the end of the month, a long-desired move that provides more space for gathering, meeting and, someday, expansion. It also includes SRTS' own bus storage, a first for the agency.

"This gives us an opportunity for future growth," said Miller, facilities and transit director for SIMPCO, an intergovernmental agency that assists local governments with long-range planning, community development, transportation and economic development projects.

The same could be said for the Iowa Department of Transportation's new District 3 office next door. Opened in March, the office is part of the IDOT's new complex that will consolidate its three Sioux City locations into one site that will include a new maintenance and shop facility that's expected to be finished early next year.

It's been hard to miss the two offices rising up on the 50-acre site that was once an IDOT borrow pit on the north side of U.S. 20 just east of the highway's interchange with Gordon Drive and U.S. Highway 75.

With the site's quick access onto U.S. 20 (once the highway's reconstruction in front of the site is finished next year), both agencies believe their moves will lead to more efficient and improved operations.

"It's a one-stop shop now in Sioux City. We were able to bring all locations to one site," IDOT District 3 engineer Jessica Felix said.

Both moves end longtime desires to leave aging buildings and centralize operations in modern facilities.

The IDOT bought the land in 2008 and hauled tons of dirt from the hilly site during the I-29 reconstruction project in Sioux City. By the time the I-29 project was completed in 2019, the department was considering the site, which has since been annexed by Sioux City, for a new office to serve the 19-county District 3.

SIMPCO SRTS offices Curt Miller, Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council facilities and transit director, stands in the wash bay at SIMPCO and Siouxlan

SIMPCO SRTS offices A vacuum is shown in the garage at the Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council and Siouxland Regional Transit System's new office c

SIMPCO SRTS offices The front of the Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council and Siouxland Regional Transit System's new office along U.S. Highway 20 e

The department had facilities at three Sioux City locations: a maintenance facility off of Hamilton Boulevard at 1200 Highland Ave., a maintenance shop and office and resident construction engineer office in Leeds at 4623 Highway 75 North and the district office at 2800 Gordon Drive.

Trucks and plows must pass through residential areas to get to the Leeds site, and drivers take a winding route to enter and exit the Hamilton Boulevard location. Both facilities were built in the 1950s and '60's, and the maintenance shops are challenged to accommodate equipment that's increased in size over the years.

Construction began on the district office in late 2021, and the IDOT moved into the $26 million building in March. It brought under one roof all engineering, design and construction functions, plus a state-of-the-art materials lab that tests asphalt, concrete and other aggregate materials used to build roads. With all those offices now in one building, project planning and staff meetings are more convenient. The office also has open desk spaces for visiting workers and other agencies, such as the Iowa State Patrol.

"It's easier for everyone to get to. It's great for collaboration," Felix said.

SIMPCO SRTS offices The move into the new Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council and Siouxland Regional Transit System office and bus garage complex a

IDOT District 3 offices Iowa Department of Transportation District 3 engineer Jessica Felix stands near her desk in a large, open-concept office space at the IDOT's n

IDOT District 3 offices The Iowa Department of Transportation's new District 3 office complex is shown along U.S. Highway 20 east of Sioux City. Once a new maintenanc

The $20 million maintenance building, garage for trucks and other vehicles and storage facilities for sand, gravel, salt and other materials are expected to be finished in early 2024. Machinery and equipment will move in once winter operations (snow and ice removal) are over. The maintenance building will be the first IDOT facility with solar energy capabilities, and water used while washing trucks will be reused to make brine to apply to roadways in the winter.

Once fully occupied, 104 IDOT employees will be at the site.

The Gordon Drive building has been sold to an undisclosed buyer, Felix said, and the other two sites will be put up for sale in the spring.

Next door, SIMPCO staffers will be enjoying many of the same amenities of working in an energy-efficient building that's nearly three times the size of the current downtown office at 1122 Pierce St.

IDOT District 3 offices Construction continues on equipment garages and a salt shed at the Iowa Department of Transportation's new District 3 office complex along U.S

IDOT District 3 offices Alex Crosgrove, an Iowa Department of Transportation materials technician 5, runs a test in the IDOT's asphalt lab at the IDOT's new District 

IDOT District 3 offices Aggregate is kept in pans in the materials testing lab at the Iowa Department of Transportation's new District 3 office along U.S. Highway 20 

The office provides the 24 employees relief from crowded conditions and gives the agency a new transportation facility to house up to 17 of the 50 Siouxland Regional Transit System buses. Though SRTS is a separate entity, SIMPCO manages the bus system, which provides public transportation services to Woodbury, Plymouth, Monona, Ida and Cherokee counties in Iowa, Dakota County in Nebraska and southern Union County in South Dakota.

SIMPCO for several years had sought a site where it could park buses, which are now stored at shared locations in Sioux City, Le Mars and Cherokee. Drivers take some of them home. Bus storage had to be cut in half because construction estimates came in too high, but those buses used the most will be housed inside year-round, protecting them from the elements and thus cutting down on maintenance costs and saving time it takes to warm them and clear them of snow in the winter.

The building will include a washing bay and two maintenance bays, where basic maintenance such as oil changes can be performed. SRTS will continue to contract with the City of Sioux City to perform the majority of its fleet maintenance, Miller said.

Construction on the building began in early 2022 on six acres SIMPCO is leasing from the IDOT, and was paid for in part with a $7 million federal grant. SRTS bonded the remaining $3.2 million. There's room to expand the bus storage area in the future.

IDOT District 3 offices Old route markers from the Lincoln Highway -- U.S. Highway 30 -- stand in the lobby at the Iowa Department of Transportation's new District 3 

IDOT District 3 offices Iowa Department of Transportation District 3 engineer Jessica Felix looks over a large conference room, the largest of its kind for a state ag

IDOT District 3 offices The main entrance of the Iowa Department of Transportation's new District 3 office along U.S. Highway 20 east of Sioux City is shown. The new 

The building gives SIMPCO space to conduct conferences and training sessions and have other large gatherings under its own roof. Previously, space was rented elsewhere for such events.

Miller said SIMPCO's downtown building has been sold to an undisclosed buyer.

Because they collaborate on many transportation projects, SIMPCO and the IDOT are benefiting from their locations next to one another.

"We've already started sharing conference room space between their building and us," Miller said.

The combination of sleek, new buildings provides a new look to Sioux City as motorists enter the city's east side.

"We were able to harness this location, and we've kind of become the gateway from the east to Sioux City," Felix said.
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration's top Supreme Court lawyer eats a bunch of bananas. Other advocates play music to psych themselves up. Some rub the feet on John Marshall's statue a floor below the courtroom.

The Supreme Court, which begins its new term on Monday, is awash in ritual. So its no surprise that the lawyers have a few regular, if occasionally eccentric, observances of their own.

Arguing at the court can be both intimate and intimidating. Lawyers stand at a lectern that's surprisingly close to the bench. They can spend an hour or more responding to questions from the nine justices.

Advocates have many ways of getting ready, and some who have argued many cases have developed their own routines or lucky charms that they employ for a variety of reasons  out of a sense of comfort or, perhaps, because their first argument went well and no one likes to mess with a good thing.

Before each of his 50 Supreme Court arguments, Neal Katyal talked to his three children, reviewed his most recent practice session and made a playlist of songs that he listens to in the car on the way to the court.

I did it for the first and it worked so I dont deviate, Katyal said.

The children were 5 and younger when Katyal argued for the first time, representing foreigners who were detained without charges at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. His most recent appearance was in late April.

If you can explain your argument to a kid, it helps you focus on whats important, said Katyal, who served as the Obama administration's top Supreme Court lawyer for a time.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who holds the same job for President Joe Biden, also has talked in recent appearances about using her children as a sounding board before her frequent arguments at the nation's highest court.

But Prelogar also has the same breakfast on the mornings she argues. She eats five or six bananas. A regular runner, Prelogar says it gives her the energy she needs, especially in this era when Supreme Court arguments can last for two to three hours.

Before he became an appellate judge, Sri Srinivasan carried the same two items to each of his 25 Supreme Court arguments  a baby sock belonging to each of his twin children, Maya and Vikram.

They were just a few weeks old when Srinivasan, then a Justice Department lawyer, made his first high court presentation in November 2002. Srinivasan is now the chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

His sister, Srija Srinivasan, explained the presence of the socks at the ceremony when he joined the appeals court in 2013.

He had a sock from each of them in his suit pocket as his source of strength and luck, and for every argument since, he has kept a baby sock of Maya and Vikrams in his pocket in case he ever wavered from who he really is, Srija Srinivasan said.

When Jeffrey Fisher spent a year as a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens 25 years ago, he commuted to work on Washington's subway. He has generally traveled to the court the same way for his 45 arguments since then because it feels so familiar, even after one heart-stopping journey.

One morning, the train stalled and lost power in a tunnel between stations for what Fisher called about the longest seven minutes of my life.

Power was restored, and Fisher arrived in time.

Shutdown wont bench justices

The justices will be on the bench Monday, even if Congress fails to approve stopgap spending legislation and most of the government is shut down.

The court would be unaffected by a short shutdown because it can draw on a pot of money provided by court fees, including charges for filing lawsuits and other documents, court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said.

The rest of the federal judiciary also would operate normally for at least the first two weeks of October, said Peter Kaplan, a spokesman for the judiciary.

Even in a longer shutdown, the entire judiciary would not shut down, and decisions about what activities would continue would be made by each court around the country.

The justices and all federal judges would continue to be paid because of the constitutional prohibition on reducing judges pay during their tenure, according to the Congressional Research Service.

One title-holder to rule them all

Justice Clarence Thomas, approaching the 33rd anniversary of his tumultuous confirmation hearings, will by spring become the 10th longest-serving of the 116 men and women who have sat on the Supreme Court.

Thomas soon will move past Justices John McLean and James Moore Wayne, both appointed by President Andrew Jackson.

Thomas will overtake two men with whom he served, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice John Paul Stevens, within three years.

If he stays on the court another five years, Thomas will become the longest-serving of them all. The current title-holder is Justice William Douglas, who served more than 36 years from 1939 to 1975.
NEW YORK  In a new study, Black Americans expressed broad concerns about how they are depicted in the news media, with majorities saying they see racist or negative depictions and a lack of effort to cover broad segments of their community.

Four in five Black adults say they see racist or racially insensitive depictions of their race in the news either often or sometimes, according to the Pew Research Center.

Three years after George Floyd's killing triggered a racial reckoning in the news media, Pew took its first broad-based look at Black attitudes toward the media with a survey of nearly 5,000 Black adults this past winter and follow-up focus groups.

The survey found 63% of respondents saying news about Black people is often more negative than it is toward other racial or ethnic groups, with 28% saying it is about equal.

It's not surprising at all, said Charles Whitaker, dean of the Medill journalism school at Northwestern University. "We've known both anecdotally, and through my personal experience with the Black press, that Blacks have long been dissatisfied with their coverage.

There's a feeling that Black Americans are often depicted as perpetrators or victims of crime, and there are no nuances in the coverage, Whitaker said.

That attitude is reflected in the Pew study's finding that 57% of respondents say the media only covers certain segments of Black communities, compared to 9% who say that a wide variety is depicted.

They should put a lot more effort into providing context, said Richard Prince, a columnist for the Journal-isms newsletter, which covers diversity issues. They should realize that Blacks and other people of color want to be portrayed as having the same concerns as everybody else, in addition to hearing news about African American concerns.

Advertising actually does a much better job of showing Black people in situations common to everybody, raising families or deciding where to go for dinner, he said.

Prince said he's frequently heard concerns about Black crime victims being treated like suspects in news coverage, down to the use of police mug shots as illustrations. He recently convened a journalist's roundtable to discuss the lingering, notorious issue of five Black men who were exonerated after being accused of attacking a white jogger in New York's Central Park in the 1980s.

During a time of sharp partisan differences, the study found virtually no difference in attitudes toward news coverage between Black Democrats and Republicans, said Katerina Eva Matsa, director of news and information research at Pew.

For example, 46% of Republicans and 44% of Democrats say that news coverage largely stereotyped Black people, Pew said.

Negative attitudes toward the press tended to increase with income and education levels, Matsa said. While 57% of those in lower income levels said news coverage about Black people was more negative than it was about other groups. That number jumped to 75% of wealthier respondents, the study found.

A large majority of those surveyed, young and old, expressed little confidence that things would improve much in their lifetime.

While 40% of survey participants said it was important to see Black journalists report on issues about race and racial inequality, the race of journalists wasn't that important about general news.

Prince said it's important for journalists to know history; he wrote on Monday about the idea of a government shutdown was raised in 1879 when former Confederates in Congress wanted to deny money to protect Black people at the polls, and how the filibuster started to prevent civil rights legislation.

At Northwestern, professors are trying to teach students of the importance of having a broader sense of the communities that they're covering, Whitaker said. Medill is also a hub for solutions journalism, which emphasizes coverage of people trying to solve societal problems.

We're trying to get away from parachute journalism, he said.

Prince said there was notable progress, post-Floyd, in the hiring of Black journalists into leadership roles in the media. Unfortunately, the news industry continues to contract while social media increases in importance, he said.

We're integrating an industry that's shrinking, he said.

50 essential civil rights speeches 50 essential civil rights speeches Martin Luther King Jr.s 'Montgomery Bus Boycott' speech Malcolm Xs White Liberals and Conservatives' Martin Luther King Jr.s 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail' speech John F. Kennedys 'Civil Rights Address' John Lewis '1963 March on Washington' speech Martin Luther King Jr.s 'I Have a Dream' speech Malcolm Xs 'By Any Means Necessary' Malcolm Xs 'The Ballot or the Bullet' speech Fannie Lou Hamers 'Taking it to the Mountain' Lorraine Hansberrys 'The Black Revolution and the White Backlash' speech Joseph Jacksons 'The Vote is the Only Effective Weapon in the Civil Rights Struggle' Bayard Rustins 'Negro Revolution in 1965' James Baldwins 'Pin Drop' Lyndon B. Johnsons 'And We Shall Overcome' Martin Luther King Jr.s 'Our God is Marching On' Martin Luther King Jr.s 'The Three Evils of Society' Martin Luther King Jr.s 'The Other America' Martin Luther King Jr.s 'Ive Been to the Mountaintop' Muhammad Alis 'Wake Up And Apologize' Angela Davis 'Speech at the Embassy Auditorium' Shirley Chisholms 'The Black Woman in Contemporary America' Jesse Jacksons 'Keep Hope Alive' John Lewis 'You Cannot Tell People They Cannot Fall in Love' Henry Louis Gates, Jr.s 'America Beyond the Color Line' Barack Obamas 'Speech at Democratic National Convention' Barack Obamas 'A More Perfect Union' Barack Obamas 'Inaugural Address' Bryan Stevensons 'We Need to Talk About an Injustice' Barack Obama 'Calls for Equality and Gay Rights' Verna Myers 'How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them' Yoruba Richens 'What the Gay Rights Movement Learned From the Civil Rights Movement' John Lewis 'Selma 50th Anniversary March' Jimmy Carters 'Why I Believe the Mistreatment of Women is the Number One Human Rights Abuse' Julian Bonds 'Declaration: We Must Practice Dissent' Barack Obamas 'Love is Love' Jesse Williams 'Condemnation Police Brutality at 2016 BET Awards' Kimberle Crenshaws 'The Urgency of Intersectionality' Ashton Applewhites 'Let's End Ageism' Daryl Davis 'Why I, as a Black Man, Attend KKK Rallies' Oprah Winfreys 'Golden Globes Speech' Melinda Eplers '3 Ways to Be a Better Ally in the Workplace' Samy Nour Younes 'A Short History of Trans People's Long Fight for Equality' John Lewis 'Good Trouble' Andre Williams 'Speech About Police Brutality' Barack Obamas 'Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence' John Boyegas 'Speech at London's Black Lives Matter Protests' Playon Patricks '2020 Quarantine Killings' Yolanda Renee Kings 'March on Washington Speech' Rep. Ayanna Pressleys 'March on Washington Speech' Martin Luther King IIIs 'March on Washington Speech' 50 essential civil rights speeches Martin Luther King Jr.s The Montgomery Bus Boycott Malcolm Xs White Liberals and Conservatives Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter from Birmingham Jail John F. Kennedys 1963 address on civil rights John Lewis 1963 March on Washington speech Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream Malcolm Xs By Any Means Necessary Malcolm Xs The Ballot or the Bullet Fannie Lou Hamers 1964 Democratic National Convention testimony Lorraine Hansberrys The Black Revolution and the White Backlash Joseph Jacksons The Vote is the Only Effective Weapon in the Civil Rights Struggle Bayard Rustins Negro Revolution in 1965 James Baldwins Pin Drop Lyndon B. Johnsons We Shall Overcome Martin Luther King Jr.s Our God is Marching On Martin Luther King Jr.s The Three Evils of Society Martin Luther King Jr.s The Other America Martin Luther King Jr.s Ive Been to the Mountaintop Muhammad Alis Wake Up and Apologize Angela Davis The Gates to Freedom Shirley Chisholms The Black Woman in Contemporary America Jesse Jacksons Keep Hope Alive John Lewis You Cannot Tell People They Cannot Fall in Love Henry Louis Gates Jr.s America Beyond the Color Line Barack Obamas 2004 Democratic National Convention speech Barack Obamas A More Perfect Union Barack Obamas 2009 Inaugural Address Bryan Stevensons We Need to Talk About an Injustice Barack Obamas 2013 Inaugural Address Verna Myers How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them Yoruba Richens What the Gay Rights Movement Learned From the Civil Rights Movement John Lewis speech on 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday Jimmy Carters Why I Believe the Mistreatment of Women is the Number One Human Rights Abuse Julian Bonds Declaration: We Must Practice Dissent Barack Obamas Love is Love Jesse Williams 2016 BET Awards speech Kimberle Crenshaws The Urgency of Intersectionality Ashton Applewhites Lets End Ageism Daryl Davis Why I, As a Black Man, Attend KKK Rallies Oprah Winfreys 2018 Golden Globes speech Melinda Eplers 3 Ways to Be a Better Ally in the Workplace Samy Nour Younes A Short History of Trans Peoples Long Fight for Equality John Lewis Good Trouble Andre Williams 2020 police brutality speech Barack Obamas Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence John Boyegas 2020 Black Lives Matter protest speech Playon Patricks 2020 Quarantine Killings Yolanda Renee Kings 2020 March on Washington speech Ayanna Pressleys 2020 March on Washington speech Martin Luther King IIIs 2020 March on Washington speech
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine  Among the hundreds of trains criss-crossing Ukraines elaborate railway network every day, the Kyiv-Kramatorsk train stands apart, shrouded in solemn silence as passengers anticipate their destination.

Every day, around seven in the morning, passengers of this route leave the relative safety of the capital and head east to frontline areas where battles between Ukrainian forces and Russian troops rage and Russian strikes are frequent with imprecise missiles that slam into residential areas.

The passengers are a mix of men and women who offer up a slice of Ukrainian society these days. They include soldiers returning to the front after a brief leave, women making the trip to reunite for a few days with husbands and boyfriends serving on the battlefields, and residents returning to check on homes in the Donetsk region.

They are all lost in thought and rarely converse with each other.

Nineteen-year-old Marta Banakh anxiously awaits the trains next brief stop at one of its nine intermediate stations on the way to Kramatorsk. She disembarks at the station for a quick cigarette break, shifting her weight back and forth from one foot to the other.

Her family doesnt know she has made this journey from western Ukraine, crossing the entire country, to meet her boyfriend, who has been serving in the infantry since the onset of Russias full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He rarely gets a break, and Marta has decided to surprise him with a visit.

I worry that every day could be his last, and we may never see each other again, she said wearing her hair down, crowned with a pearl-studded headband.

Its the only high-speed day train that drives to Kramatorsk. The city is less than 20 miles from the front line, which makes it susceptible to Russian strikes. And just a couple miles away from the city, battles near the Russian-held city of Bakhmut rage for the second year.

The war has become an integral part of the lives of millions of Ukrainians, and the countrys vast railway system has remained operational despite the war. Night trains that rattle across the country still welcome customers with hot tea and clean sheets in the sleeping compartments. The trains also carry cargo, aid and gear.

The popularity of the Kyiv-Kramatorsk route highlights the reality of war.

Around 126,000 passengers used this route during the summer months this year, according to national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia. It holds the fourth position for passenger volume among all intercity high-speed trains and maintains one of the highest occupancy rates  94%  among all Ukrainian trains.

The connection was suspended for six months early in the war. The halt in April last year followed a Russian missile strike on the Kramatorsk railway station while passengers were waiting for evacuation. The strike killed 53 people and wounded 135 others in one of the deadliest Russian attacks.

Alla Makieieva, 49, used to regularly travel on this route even before the war. Returning from a business trip to the capital back to Dobropillia, a town not far from Kramatorsk, she reflects on the changes between then and now.

People have changed, now they seem more somber, she says. Weve already learned to live with these missiles. Weve become friends, she joked. In Kyiv, the atmosphere is completely different; people smile more often.

Kyiv is regularly attacked by Russian missiles and drones. But unlike Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, the capital has powerful air defense protection, which gives residents an illusion of safety.

As the morning light gradually gives way to the midday sun, it fills the spacious train carriages in warm radiance. The train shelves are mostly filled with military backpacks and small bags. Occasionally, a waiter breaks the silence in the aisle, offering coffee, tea and snacks. Along the way, one can order dishes like bolognese pasta or a cappuccino.

The high-speed train ride from Kyiv to Kramatorsk costs about $14. In nearly seven hours, passengers cover a distance of around 400 miles.

Twenty-six-year-old Oleksandr Kyrylenko sits in the trains lobby with a coffee in hand, gazing thoughtfully out of the window as the landscapes change rapidly.

Its his first time heading to the front line, and he admits he didnt expect to travel to the epicenter of the grinding war with such comfort.

He had been working as a warehouse manager in Poland when Russia invaded Ukraine. I helped as much as I could, he said. Then I decided I needed to go myself.

There is no fear. I simply want it to end sooner, he says of the war, dressed in military attire.

His parents were not thrilled about this idea, but this summer the young man returned to Ukraine and immediately went to the military enlistment office.

It even feels lighter on my conscience, he said, adding that this decision came naturally to him. Human resources are running out. Something needs to be done about it.

The train arrives at its final destination on time, and the platform quickly fills with people.

Twenty-year-old Sofiia Sidorchuk embraces her boyfriend, who has been serving since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The 20-year-old soldier refrains from disclosing his name for security reasons.

He holds Sofiia tightly, as if trying to make up for all the lost time during their longest separation in seven years of the relationship.

We missed each other, Sofiia explains her decision to come from the northwestern Rivne region to Kramatorsk.

His commander granted him a few days alone with his beloved to recharge. In five days, he will embark on an assault.
An American soldier who crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea in July is in U.S. custody after his release by the reclusive regime, senior U.S. administration officials said Wednesday, capping an intense diplomatic operation facilitated by Sweden and China.

Speaking at a press briefing, the officials said Pvt. Travis King has been transferred out of North Korea across the border with China, and that he appears to be "in good health and good spirits" ahead of his return home.

The announcement of his release came shortly after the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Pyongyang decided to "expel" him following an investigation, during which it said he confessed to having "illegally intruded" into the North's territory.

King crossed the military demarcation line separating Korea during a tour to the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on July 18  a rare unauthorized trip that led to his detention in the North.

"We are very pleased to announce this morning ... the U.S. government has successfully facilitated Pvt. Travis King's departure from the DPRK," a senior official said on condition of anonymity. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We are grateful to the Swedish government for its diplomatic role in serving as the protecting power for the United States in the DPRK and to the government of the People's Republic of China for its assistance in facilitating the safe transit of Pvt. King," the official added.

Having left the North, King arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong and flew to another Chinese city, Shenyang, and then to Osan Air Base in South Korea, where he was transferred to the Department of Defense, before departing for the U.S., according to the Department of State.

Hours earlier, the KCNA said North Korean authorities conducted an investigation, where he said he had "ill feelings" about the U.S. military and society.

"Travis King confessed that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. army and was disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society," KCNA said in its English-language report. "The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to expel Travis King."

Earlier this month, the U.S. learned via Sweden that the North wanted to release King, another administration official said, calling Sweden as the "primary interlocutor" that helped King in being released.

China helped facilitate King's safe transit across the border and played a "very constructive role," but not a mediating one, according to the officials.

Asked whether there were any concessions to the North in return for King's release, the first official said, "None."

"Our focus right now is on Pvt. King's health and ensuring that he receives all appropriate support before reuniting with his family," the official said.

Pyongyang's decision to set King free "without concessions" raised cautious hopes for the resumption of diplomacy as nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stalled since 2019 following a no-deal summit in Hanoi in February that year.

The officials reiterated Washington's willingness to reengage with Pyongyang.

"The U.S. government remains very open to the possibility of diplomacy with the DPRK ... This incident to our minds demonstrate that keeping lines of communication open even when ties are strained is a really important thing to do and can deliver results," the official said. "We again stand by  ready for any further diplomacy that might be possible."

Asked to explain the next procedures facing King, a third official highlighted the government's priority on the soldiers' "reintegration."

"Our focus right now is caring for him and his family and we'll work through all those administrative status questions following completion of his reintegration," the official said.

Later in the day, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan issued a statement extending his appreciation to Sweden and China for their diplomatic efforts. Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder also released a similar statement on King's release.

The North first confirmed King's detention on Aug. 16 and claimed the U.S. soldier expressed willingness to seek refuge in the North or a third country.

Shortly after the North's first confirmation of King's detention, the U.S. Department of Defense said the alleged comments by King could not be verified.

Observers had said Pyongyang could seek to use King for propaganda purposes or as a bargaining chip to wring out concessions from Washington.

King faced legal trouble during his service in South Korea. He was sentenced to labor in a South Korean prison workshop from May 24 to July 10 after failing to pay a fine for damaging a police patrol car last year.

On Oct. 8, South Korean police apprehended King for assault at a nightclub in western Seoul. He reportedly did not cooperate with police officers demanding his personal information and kicked the door of their vehicle.

King had been set to return to the United States on July 17, where he would have faced additional disciplinary action, however, he managed to evade boarding his flight at Incheon International Airport and was able to join a JSA tour the next day which provided him with the opportunity to cross the DMZ. (Yonhap)
LONDON  Wildfires fueled by climate change have ravaged communities from Maui to the Mediterranean this summer, killing many people, exhausting firefighters and fueling demand for new solutions. Enter artificial intelligence.

Firefighters and startups are using AI-enabled cameras to scan the horizon for signs of smoke. A German company is building a constellation of satellites to detect fires from space. Microsoft is using AI models to predict where the next blaze could be sparked.

With wildfires becoming larger and more intense as the world warms, firefighters, utilities and governments are scrambling to get ahead of the flames by tapping into the latest AI technology  which has stirred both fear and excitement for its potential to transform life. While increasingly stretched first responders hope AI offers them a leg up, humans are still needed to check that the tech is accurate.

California's main firefighting agency this summer started testing an AI system that looks for smoke from more than 1,000 mountaintop camera feeds and is now expanding it statewide.

The system is designed to find "abnormalities" and alert emergency command centers, where staffers will confirm whether it's indeed smoke or something else in the air.

"The beauty of this is that it immediately pops up on the screen and those dispatchers or call takers are able to interrogate that screen" and determine whether to send a crew, said Phillip SeLegue, staff chief of intelligence for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The cameras, part of a network that workers previously had to watch, provide billions of bytes of data for the AI system to digest. While humans still need to confirm any smoke sightings, the system helps reduce fatigue among staffers typically monitoring multiple screens and cameras, alerting them to look only when there's possible fire or smoke, SeLegue said.

It's already helped. A battalion chief got a smoke alert in the middle of the night, confirmed it on his cellphone and called a command center in San Diego to scramble first responders to the remote area.

The dispatchers said that if they hadn't been alerted, the fire would have been much larger because it likely wouldn't have been noticed until the next morning, SeLegue said.

San Francisco startup Pano AI takes a similar approach, mounting cameras on cell towers that scan for smoke and alert customers, including fire departments, utility companies and ski resorts.

The cameras use computer vision machine learning, a type of AI.

"They're trained very specifically to detect smoke or not, and we train them with images of smoke and images of not smoke," CEO Sonia Kastner said.

The images are combined with feeds from government weather satellites that scan for hotspots, along with other data sources, such as social media posts.

The technology gets around one of the main problems in the traditional way of detecting wildfires  relying on 911 calls from passers-by that need confirmation from staffers before crews and water-dropping planes can be deployed.

"Generally, only one in 20 of these 911 calls are actually a wildfire. Even during fire season, it might be a cloud or fog or a barbecue," Kastner said.

Pano AI's systems do still rely on final confirmation, with managers playing a time lapse of the camera feed to ensure it's smoke rising.

For fighting forest fires, "technology is becoming really essential," said Larry Bekkedahl, senior vice president of energy delivery at Portland General Electric, Oregon's largest utility and a Pano AI customer.

Using AI to detect smoke from fires "is relatively easy," said Juan Lavista Ferres, chief data scientist at Microsoft.

"What is not easy is to have enough cameras that cover enough places," he said, pointing to vast, remote areas in northern Canada that have burned this summer.

Ferres' team at Microsoft has been developing AI models to predict where fires are likely to start.

The technology, which Microsoft plans to offer as an open source tool, can help first responders trying to figure out where to focus their limited resources, Ferres said.

Another company is looking to the heavens for a solution. German startup OroraTech analyzes satellite images with artificial intelligence.

Taking advantage of advances in camera, satellite and AI technology, OroraTech has launched two mini satellites about the size of a shoebox into low orbit, about 340 miles above Earth's surface. The Munich-based company has ambitions to send up eight more next year and eventually put 100 into space.

As wildfires swept central Chile this year, OroraTech said it provided thermal images at night when aerial drones are used less frequently.

Weeks after OroraTech launched its second satellite, it detected a fire near the community of Keg River in northern Alberta, where flames burned remote stretches of boreal forest repeatedly this summer.

"There are algorithms on the satellite, very efficient ones to detect fires even faster," CEO Thomas Gruebler said.

The AI also takes into account vegetation and humidity levels to identify flare-ups that could spawn devastating megafires. The technology could help thinly stretched firefighting agencies direct resources to blazes with the potential to cause the most damage.

"Because we know exactly where the fires are, we can see how the fires will propagate," Gruebler said. "So, which fire will be the big fire in one day and which will stop on their own."
Iowas senior U.S. senator is now Americas senior U.S. senator.

California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein died Friday at 90. Her passing makes Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, who turned 90 this month, now the oldest active senator.

Dianne Feinstein did an outstanding job in the U.S. Senate representing the people of California, Grassley said in a statement. I worked closely with her as a member of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control and the Senate Judiciary Committee. During the time I was Judiciary chairman and she was the ranking Democrat, we had a wonderful working relationship. She was a true public servant. Barbara and I send our condolences and prayers to the Feinstein family.

Feinstein and Grassley were the top Democrat and Republican, respectively, on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017 and 2018, when Republicans had the majority. They sometimes clashed during the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. In September of that year, Grassley and Feinstein had a tense exchange during Feinsteins opening statement at a hearing with Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a social gathering in the 1980s.

Grassley and Feinstein also worked together on a number of issues and pieces of legislation over the years, including supports for human trafficking victims, combating drug trafficking, and addressing methamphetamine abuse.

Grassley has served in the U.S. Senate since 1981.
Youthful degenerates play chicken with their souped-up cars. Congress plays the same game, but we call it brinksmanship. Both games have the potential for mutual destruction.

The dysfunction of our Republican-"controlled" Congress is now being played out by a few MAGA Republicans who have pushed all of us to the brink of government shutdown if all their demands are not met  demands which include barring new funding for Ukraine and defunding the DOJ and the FBI. Its no surprise that Donald Trump is urging these actions from his plush perch in Mar-a-Lago.

Unlike chicken, the collateral damage from political brinksmanship eventually affects every American. But the damage to food assistance for women and children is almost immediate. In the words of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, they go without (food). This would be additional hunger piled on top of Republican refusal to extend the 2021 child tax credit, resulting in doubling child poverty. A shutdown means endangering the health of nearly 46,000 Iowa children and infants and approximately 12,000 mothers. I have personally witnessed an increasing number of mothers at my churchs monthly food giveaway crying as they leave with one box of food.

Iowans did not elect our congressional delegation to play chicken with a government shutdown. We elected them to represent us, not take marching orders from a twice- impeached, quadruply-indicted, 91-felony-charged former president.

Please urge your representatives to stop playing this game and just do their jobs. -- Karen Heidman, Sioux City
This isnt you, Cassidy Hutchinsons mother told her over the phone on that winters day. You know better than this. You cant fix him. She wasnt urging her daughter to leave an abusive partner. It was Jan. 6, 2021, and she was trying to persuade her daughter not to move to Florida to continue working in the orbit of the president who had just incited a violent attack on the Capitol building.

The similarity, although invisible to her at the time, is not lost on the Cassidy Hutchinson of Enough, her memoir of working in the Trump administration and the sensational public testimony she delivered at a hearing of the House committee on the attack. Enough is the kind of bookchurned out in a year, printed on paper so fluffy the hardcover feels as light as a paperbackthats typically scraped by news organizations for articles listing its top revelations or scandalous tidbits. And it has been, from the time Rudolph Giuliani trailed his finger up Hutchinsons thigh at the Jan. 6 rally to scenes of her former boss, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, burning documents during the final weeks of the administrationso many that his wife complained that his suits smelled like a bonfire.

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Enough, however, is also a compelling and well-shaped narrative, more of a page-turner than any other Trump administration memoir Ive read. (And Ive read a lot.) Some credit for that is surely due to Hutchinsons collaborator, Mark Salter, who wrote speeches for, and co-wrote books with, John McCain. Who knows which of them first realized how closely Hutchinsons story follows the arc of an abuse memoir, but together theyve crafted Enough into a quintessential specimen of the genre.

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It begins with the New Jersey upbringing that primed Hutchinson to succumb to the alternate reality of Trump World. Her mother was so organized and competent that when Cassidys father suddenly decided to open a gelato shop, she ran it single-handedly while keeping house, raising two children, and doing the bookkeeping for his tree-maintenance company. That husband, by contrast, was volatile to the point of mental illness, charming and cruel; after they divorced, he vented his rage at his ex-wife by leaving two snapping turtles on the doorstep. By the end of Enough, he has simply vanished out of Hutchinsons life without a goodbye.

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The capability Hutchinson learned from her mom enabled her to parlay a handful of internships and a vague romantic attraction to Washington, D.C., into a junior position in Trumps Office of Legislative Affairs. By the age of 24, the first member of her family to graduate from college, she was serving as the White Houses point person in the complex negotiations with Congress over a follow-up to the CARES relief bill during the pandemic. I felt like I was in over my head, Hutchinson admits, but Meadows was so paranoid about the more experienced staffers at the OLA that he ordered her not to consult with them for fear of the great bugaboo of the Trump White House: leaks.

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The first matter of business Meadows chose to discuss with Hutchinson when she started working as his right hand was who ought to be fired for leaking. At a loss, and pressed by Meadows to identify somebody, Hutchinson fingered the deputy assistant to the president, Mike McKenna, an abrasive character prone to making crude, sexist remarks to female staffers. To Hutchinsons shock, Meadows fired him.

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The endless palace intrigues and general incompetence of the Trump White House made it a corrosive place for an unsophisticated young person to work. On the other hand, Hutchinson probably wouldnt have risen so high so quickly if Trumps senior aides werent consumed with plotting against one another and catering to their capos whims. Some, such as Kellyanne Conway (unmentioned in Enough), were purely opportunistic agents of chaos. Others were dazzled by their precipitous access to power and the prestige of the White House. Still others, such as Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mark Milley, feared that if they left the administration, they would be replaced by a more compliant toady who would fail to deflect Trumps most catastrophic impulses.

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Hutchinson, however, was something of a true believer, less because she was an ideologue than because she was a natural follower, eager to belong, and above all, to succeed at her first real job. Over and over, she was praised for her loyalty, and she admits that she once adored the president. I believed sincerely that we were serving the interests of the American people, she writes. An old-fashioned RepublicanMitt Romney was her notion of an inspiring candidateshe learned from those around her to make excuses for Trumps belligerence and crudity and his inappropriate, unpresidential tweets. As the president went off the rails following his defeat in the 2020 election, she told herself that he was being misled by bad or crazy advisers. She responded to his tantrums by wondering why people had let it go so far. Couldnt we have done morecouldnt I have done moreto serve him better, to avoid upsetting him.

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The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol left Hutchinson shaken and guilty. She never doubted that Trump had lost the election, but she still planned to work for him in his post-presidential life, convinced that she had promised to do so and that Trump needed sober-minded helpers like herself. Of course, the loyalty that Trump demanded from his underlings was never returned.

Meadows explained that she, too, had come under suspicion as a leaker, an accusation that infuriated her. The job offers promptly evaporateduntil the Jan. 6 committee started issuing subpoenas. Nearly broke but determined to avoid the strings connected to offers of legal help from Trump World, Hutchinson tried to find an attorney to represent her pro bono or for deferred payments. She spoke, fruitlessly, with dozens of lawyers, and fell behind on her rent. In desperation, she finally agreed to accept the help of a Trump-connected attorney who instructed her to tell the committee as little as possible. Just like that, she writes, I was back in the Family.

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It was only thenhitting bottom, you could saythat the scales truly fell from Hutchinsons eyes. Still, she was financially dependent on Trump and his allies. More job prospects were dangled before her (and ultimately snatched away). Finally, she turned to a friend, former White House director of strategic communications Alyssa Farah, who had become a prominent Trump critic following Jan. 6. I think Im on the wrong side of this, she told Farah. I dont know what to do. Farah enlisted Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, who would become her mentor. Cheney helped finagle Hutchinson out from under Trump Worlds thumb and connected her to attorneys who would represent her pro bono (Enough is dedicated to them).

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Related From Slate The 2020 Election Was a Nightmare. 2024 Will Be Something Else. Read More

I had learned over the last several years that I thrived when I had someone or something bigger than myself to fight for, Hutchinson writes. While she made the decision to testify truthfully about the Trump White House to the Jan. 6 committee on her own, and her testimony took tremendous courage, its not clear she would have been able to go through with it without Cheneys support and guidance. Perhaps Cheney has Hutchinsons best interests at heart. Both of them do still believe in a version of the Republican Partythe Mitt Romney versionthat Trump has effectively destroyed. You can read Enough as the story of a vulnerable young woman whose poisoned upbringing left her prone to mistaking a tyrant for a leader. Hutchinson ultimately managed to free herself from the tyrants snares, though its not clear her hero-worshipping tendencies wont lead her to make the same mistake again. But at least shes ahead of the rest of her party.
For all the deservedly well-covered Mess in the House of Representatives, the Senate hasnt bathed itself in glory in this process either. After burning precious time this month trying and failing to pass a package of full-year appropriations bills, Senate negotiators released a compromise, bipartisan short-term spending bill this week. The Senate maymay?still have the 60 votes it would need to keep the government funded, but the Senate is not a fast-moving place. If any frustrated senator wants to drag the process out, it could take until at least Monday, two days after the funding deadline, for the chamber to pass it. And dragging the process out is precisely what Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul intends to do if aid for Ukraine is part of the package. (It is.) If you know a thing about Paul, this objection could have been spotted months ago. With the House a harrowing wasteland, the Senate had a very easy opportunity to turn the heat on them, ahead of the deadline, by submitting their work on time. Now neither chamber is on pace to do so. (Another fun thing, by the way: Federal Aviation Administration authorization also expires at the end of the month. If thats not extended, then our understanding is that all planes crash into each other.)
As human access to space expands, the influx of new actors promises to forever alter the dynamics of space. The head-to-head U.S.Soviet rivalry that once dominated the Space Race will evolve into something more inclusivebut also messier. Aspiring space nations, such as Luxembourg, India, and China, together with new categories of nonstate actors, including large industrial players, startups, and universities, raise questions about how we should regulate space. Explosive commercialization is particularly challenging for existing space law, whose foundations were set in the 1960s and designed with national governments in mind.

This rapidly changing environment is dramatized in Little Assistance, a new Future Tense Fiction story from Stephen Harrison. The story follows the first judge in space, who is considering a case that highlights how publicprivate collaborations and commercialization are testing existing national and international space laws.

The story propels us into the future, where NASA has contracted with the corporation Stellarco to run its Luna Homestead settlementa claustrophobic off-Earth mining town. Stellarco files suit against NASA when its drill is damaged after hitting a pocket of hardened lunar bedrock. Who should be responsible for the cost of repairing the drill, and the time and money lost during the process of repair? Commercial mining is an underdeveloped aspect of international space law, and as someone who researches the future of property rights in space, I often turn to science fiction like Little Assistance to fill in the gaps of what we can expect.

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Since the dawn of the Space Race, science fiction writers have been dramatizing the legal and political dimensions of space exploration. For example, in 1961s Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein describes a fictional court decision that establishes that the moon is owned by those who reside on it. Stories like Heinleins and Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars trilogy (19921996) illustrate the limitations of existing space law, which largely excludes corporations and other nonstate actors, concentrating instead on protecting state sovereignty and preventing state conflict over territory and resources. This creates ambiguity around commercial actors like the fictional Stellarco, especially when they are functioning in partnership with governments. And this ambiguity is where speculative fiction can be a useful tool: How can we better align regulation with the actual activities humans will be undertaking in space? How can governments and private enterprise maneuver around one another, sharing jurisdiction on the moon and beyond?

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To understand how we ended up with our current governance regime for outer space, its worth looking back to the 1957 Sputnik launch. The Soviets successful launch made space regulation urgent in order to avoid the escalation of weaponization between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in space. During the Cold War, negotiations started at the United Nations, and in 1963, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space. Subsequently, the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space penned five international treaties and five sets of principles, which were ratified by 114 countries. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 was the most wide-ranging and influential.

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These treaties deal with lots of sticky issues: non-appropriation of space by any one country, arms control, freedom of exploration, liability for damage caused by human-created objects, safety and rescue of spacecraft and astronauts, prevention of harmful interference with space activities and the environment, notification and registration of activities, scientific investigation, exploitation of natural resources, and settlement of disputes. Dispute resolution is at the center of Harrisons story, which illustrates how enforcing the principles of the Outer Space Treaty becomes more challenging when space and its resources are opened to commercial activities. The arrival of new actors like SpaceX has put pressure on states to update their legal and political frameworks.

Responding to the commercialization of spaceand, perhaps, seeking to take the lead in a new kind of space racethe U.S., Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan have adopted laws that allow commercial mining. They assert that private mining activities comply with Article II of the Outer Space Treaty, which stipulates that outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use, or by any other means.

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Not all space lawyers agree with this interpretation: These national laws are controversial, with some experts claiming that they violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the Outer Space Treaty. As the preamble to the treaty states, the exploration and use of outer space should be for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development. For a small number of wealthy nations to allow exclusive property rights over commercially mined resources muddles the idea that space should be for the common good.

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Little Assistance highlights another often-overlooked aspect of the debate over the future of space exploration by representing Stellarcos legal dispute with NASA as a matter decided by the U.S. federal court system. Although the Outer Space Treaty bars states from claiming sovereignty over the moon or any other celestial bodies, this doesnt mean that commercial entities like SpaceX operate without regulatory oversight.

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The treaty requires states to authorize and supervise the activities of nongovernmental entities. The U.S., like other spacefaring nations, exercises jurisdictional authority over its own registered space entities, including government agencies, private companies, and individuals involved in space exploration or commercial endeavours, in accordance with both national and international space law. In this way, even private-sector activities in space can have the effect of extending a nations power by establishing zones of governance and oversight off Earth.

U.S.-registered space companies operate under the oversight of U.S. federal agenciesprimarily the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission. These agencies grant licenses and permits for space activities, regulate radiofrequency spectrum use, and ensure compliance with U.S. laws and regulations. This means the U.S. government has a responsibility to ensure that private companies mining activities align with the obligations set forth in U.N. space treaties.

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In other words, although the influence of the commercial space sector will certainly expand over the coming decades, as Harrisons story illustrates, corporations do not yet have the power to dictate a new set of extraterrestrial laws. This is where the law and science fiction stories depart. While Heinlein, Robinson, and other sci-fi authors imagine space enterprises and communities declaring their independence from earthly powers, the contours of international law are still being drawn by nation-states.

But in contrast to the early movements of space law in the 1960s, the main platform for policymaking may no longer be the U.N. In 2020, NASA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State and seven other founding nations, established the Artemis Accords, currently signed by 29 countries. Like in Little Assistance, these accords indicate that national governments may tighten their grip on the moon and other celestial bodies, rather than losing ground to emerging private-sector firms.

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The Artemis Accords propose strengthening and extending territorial jurisdictions through safety zones. In theory, these zones give states operating on a piece of lunar land the power to exclude other states and their nationals from accessing the zone, and to enforce the laws of the state operating the zone.

Although to what extent this equates to expanding territory and asserting sovereignty is debatable, claiming a piece of lunar real estate as a safety zone comes close to national appropriation, even if there isnt a formal claim of ownership. In Little Assistance, Stellarcos Luna Homestead may not represent a formal U.S. territory, but it flies the U.S. flag (alongside the corporations banner), and legal disputes unfolding on that land are governed by U.S. law, subject to U.S. federal jurisprudence.

These multilateral agreements, in tandem with national laws that help to expand the commercial space sector, could enable nations and their commercial partners to carve up the moon and other space arenas into exclusive zonessetting the stage for another high-stakes geopolitical game of space chess. If we value the ideals of the Outer Space Treaty, its urgent that we develop alternatives that curb national appropriation and ensure that space is used for the benefit of all humankind, not just the first and most assertive movers.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Busy commercial districts have been through some hardships in recent years. But a few small business grant programs aim to support small business owners and help them improve their storefronts and communities. Below are two exterior improvement grants and a few other opportunities to support small businesses throughout the country.

Bronx Storefront Improvement Grant

New York is funding a new Storefront Improvement Grant to support small businesses near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Eligible businesses can apply for up to $1 million in total funding. And the state is looking to add even more money to this and other small business programs in the area in the near future. The Storefront Improvement Grant is a reimbursement program. So business owners will have to cover the cost of the project in full and then request funds.

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San Antonio Facade Improvement Grant Program

San Antonio recently extended the deadline for its Facade Improvement Grant Program. Through the program, eligible businesses can apply for grants of between $5,000 and $50,000 to make exterior upgrades to their facilities. Improvements include projects like landscaping and signage upgrades. The program first began accepting applications in July. In addition to extending the deadline, the city also expanded eligibility areas to reach more businesses. October 31 is the new deadline to apply.

Main Street Ventures Launch Grants

Cincinnati startup booster Main Street Ventures just provided a new round of startup grants to businesses in the area. The nonprofit provided $224,592 in funds to 14 startups for this third quarter grant cycle. The organization first started providing grants to local businesses in 2018, and has since distributed more than $3 million to more than 100 companies. Though this latest round of funding has already been awarded, Main Street Ventures runs a quarterly grant program. So eligible businesses can apply for more funding going forward.

Power Up Spartanburg Grants and Loans

OneSpartanburg recently pledged millions of dollars to support small businesses in Spartanburg County, South Carolina over the next five years. So far, Power Up Spartanburg has awarded $500,000 in small business loans and grants. And they have even more to give. The program is open to all eligible small businesses in the county. But 30 percent of all funding is earmarked for women and minority-owned businesses. In addition to the funding options, the program provides educational programs and resources for entrepreneurs. Interested businesses can fill out an intake form online to determine what funding opportunities you may qualify for.

NJSBDC SSBCI Grant

The New Jersey Small Business Development Center recently received a SSBCI Grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide resources and support to small businesses throughout New Jersey. The State Small Business Credit Initiative is a program of the American Rescue Plan that aims to support small businesses, especially those in historically under-served communities and entrepreneurs needing additional support. The Rutgers Business Schools NJSBDC Network will facilitate the program, which will consist of legal services, accounting assistance, and financial advisory services. The program does not provide direct financial assistance to businesses. But the SSBCI grant allows the school to provide resources to businesses needing assistance.

Small Business Deals

The Miami Foundation Open for Business Grant

The Miami Foundation recently received a $20 million grant through Wells Fargos Open for Business Fund. Wells Fargos program includes $420 million in total funds, which is being distributed to business groups and nonprofits throughout the U.S. This latest award will allow The Miami Foundation to help local small business owners access capital and navigate various economic issues. Additionally, The Miami Foundation will distribute funds from the grant to local nonprofits and businesses, offering microgrants of up to $20,000 and low interest loans of between $1,000 and $100,000.
Workspace as a Service, or WaaS for short, is a type of virtual desktop that gives employees access to their office applications and data from anywhere at any time regardless of geography using the device of their choice (i.e., desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones).

It represents the latest step in the evolution of office applications from on-premise (i.e., servers, workstations, software) to cloud-based as a service solutions.

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WaaS platforms come with everything thats needed for a person to take care of office-related tasks. That includes things like anti-virus software, backup capabilities, productivity apps such as Office 365, accounting software and much more. (CloudJumper, a WaaS provider, has more than 2,200 applications in its solution, for example.)

WaaS is especially ideal for a small business that cant afford the internal resources and infrastructure to manage IT services on their own.

According to Max Pruger, chief sales officer at CloudJumper, who spoke with Small Business Trends via telephone, the technology is particularly attractive to companies that have elastic demand for labor or that use a remote workforce.

Accounting firms, for example, balloon in size during tax season hiring freelancers, many of who work remotely, he said. Firms shrink down to normal size afterwards, and we can turn off access to these remote staff immediately.

Small Business Deals

How Does WaaS Work?

From an employee standpoint, use of WaaS is straightforward.

Employees log into the WaaS providers service from their device using a remote desktop client and are presented with a virtual desktop environment that looks and works just like their computer at the office.

For service providers, configuring WaaS isnt complicated and takes as little as a few minutes per workstation or device.

Growth of WaaS

Growth in the use of WaaS is on the rise.

Transparency Market Research (TMR), a market research and consulting firm, stated in a recent report that the global WaaS market will expand at a high 12.10 percent CAGR over the period between 2015 and 2022. TMR expects expansion in the education and health care sectors to be even higher, at 13 percent and 12.9 percent respectively.

The rising use of industry-specific virtualized applications in these industries will drive the demand for WaaS solutions, the report said.

TMR also indicated that the market, which had a valuation of $7.4 billion (USD) in 2014, is expected to rise to $18.3 billion by 2022.

What are the Benefits to Using WaaS?

The number of benefits associated with WaaS use is impressive and includes:

Increased Employee Productivity

WaaS solutions enable employees to be more productive and capable of accessing critical applications and data regardless of their geographic location.

Enhanced Work-life Balance

Employees can work from home periodically or when the need arises (to take care of a sick child for instance) without suffering from inferior technology. WaaS providers keep software updated, and the user experience is the same.

Consistency of Environment

Each employee has access to the same applications as everyone else, whether they are new or have been with the company 20 years, Pruger said.

Lowered Cost

The cost to support devices from the end user perspective is almost nil, Pruger said. WaaS providers do all the management on the backend and virtual desktops dont build up as much junk as the physical machine.

He added that companies should never have to buy a server again, only to have it depreciate in 3-5 years year or become obsolete even sooner.

Most companies want to move from capital expenditure to operational expenditure, he said, and use of WaaS supports that goal. Now companies have predictable, fixed IT expenses per employee.

BYOD Support

WaaS services complement corporate strategies for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), an approach that is heavily in demand by employees, especially Millennials.

Employees can bring any device they want because all its going to be is a conduit to their desktop in the cloud, Pruger said.

He mentioned that CloudJumper clients affected by the recent floods in Texas benefited from BYOD and remote access.

Thanks to WaaS, employees who were unable to get to their offices could work from home using their computers, he said.

Eliminated IT Hassles

WaaS brings all the companys desktops to the cloud, eliminating IT hassles. This includes:

Cloud storage;

Backup and offsite replication;

Dedicated business servers;

MS Office 365 support;

24/7 Support.

WaaS offloads all software application and network management so IT can focus on deploying new technologies and systems.

Better Security

WaaS solutions lock down the desktop, storing data in state-of-the-art, SSAE 16 certified Tier 4 data centers and supports disaster recovery, backups on daily and weekly intervals and built-in protection from hackers and viruses.

Simplified File Storage

No longer will businesses be faced with multiple file servers housed in disparate locations, making it difficult to share data or applications. WaaS houses everything in one place.

Benefits of Using WaaS Description Increased Employee Productivity WaaS solutions boost employee productivity by granting access to critical applications and data from any location, transcending geographical limitations. Enhanced Work-life Balance Employees can achieve a better work-life balance by working from home when necessary, without compromising technology quality. WaaS providers ensure consistent software updates and user experiences. Consistency of Environment WaaS guarantees that all employees, regardless of their tenure, have access to the same set of applications, fostering a uniform work environment that facilitates collaboration. Lowered Cost WaaS reduces the cost of supporting end-user devices significantly. Backend management by WaaS providers minimizes the accumulation of unnecessary data and eliminates the need to invest in servers that quickly depreciate. BYOD Support WaaS complements Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies, enabling employees to use their preferred devices as conduits to access their desktops in the cloud. Eliminated IT Hassles WaaS relocates all company desktops to the cloud, eliminating IT hassles and responsibilities. This includes cloud storage, backup, offsite replication, dedicated business servers, MS Office 365 support, and 24/7 support. Better Security WaaS solutions enhance data security by locking down desktops, storing data in secure Tier 4 data centers, and providing robust disaster recovery, daily and weekly backups, and protection against hackers and viruses. Simplified File Storage WaaS consolidates file storage in one centralized location, eliminating the complexity of managing multiple file servers in disparate locations. This promotes streamlined data sharing and accessibility.

Cost to Use WaaS

Although prices vary, Pruger said that small businesses could expect to pay, on average, $100  $150 per month per employee from the MSP. Typically, that also includes management of the physical devices.

Once they use the virtual workspace, their costs for management of the physical machine drops to almost nothing, Pruger said. Also, because the price for WaaS solutions is so low, MSPs can scale their business without having to dramatically increase resource allocations to hire new employees. And they dont have to be experts in all of the apps available within the WaaS environment either.

How Do I Get Started Using WaaS?

Several WaaS providers dot the landscape, though none predominate. Most do not work directly with the end user, however, but partner with managed services providers who perform that service.

Its best to contact an MSP in your area. If none exist or dont offer WaaS solutions, then call one of the companies below. Perhaps they can direct you to an MSP who can help.

IT services, MSP, telecom or ISVs can also contact these firms to learn more about the benefits of offering white-label WaaS solutions to their clients. CloudJumper, in particular, is actively recruiting managed service providers to either resell or white-label a WaaS environment.

The Shaping of Modern Workspaces with WaaS

Workspace as a Service (WaaS) is revolutionizing the way businesses operate in an increasingly digital world. Here, we delve into the dynamic landscape of WaaS and its transformative impact:

Defining WaaS: Workspace as a Service (WaaS) is a virtual desktop solution that liberates employees, granting them access to office applications and data from any device, anywhere. This flexibility transcends geographical limitations, enabling users to choose between desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Workspace as a Service (WaaS) is a virtual desktop solution that liberates employees, granting them access to office applications and data from any device, anywhere. This flexibility transcends geographical limitations, enabling users to choose between desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Cloud-Powered Transition: WaaS marks the pinnacle of office application evolution, transitioning from on-premise setups to cloud-based as a service solutions. This migration empowers organizations with scalability, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness.

WaaS marks the pinnacle of office application evolution, transitioning from on-premise setups to cloud-based as a service solutions. This migration empowers organizations with scalability, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. Comprehensive WaaS Ecosystem: WaaS platforms offer comprehensive toolsets, encompassing antivirus software, backup solutions, productivity suites like Office 365, accounting software, and a rich repository of over 2,200 applications in the case of CloudJumper.

WaaS platforms offer comprehensive toolsets, encompassing antivirus software, backup solutions, productivity suites like Office 365, accounting software, and a rich repository of over 2,200 applications in the case of CloudJumper. Small Business Advantage: WaaS is a lifeline for small businesses lacking the internal resources and infrastructure to manage IT services independently. It offers enterprise-level technology without the complexity and costs.

WaaS is a lifeline for small businesses lacking the internal resources and infrastructure to manage IT services independently. It offers enterprise-level technology without the complexity and costs. Flexibility for Dynamic Labor Needs: WaaS accommodates businesses with fluctuating labor demands and remote workforces. For instance, accounting firms can scale up during tax season with freelancers working remotely, all seamlessly supported by WaaS.

Aspect of WaaS Description Defining WaaS Workspace as a Service (WaaS) provides employees with access to office applications and data from any device, transcending geographical boundaries. It caters to desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, offering unprecedented flexibility. Cloud-Powered Transition WaaS represents the evolution of office applications from traditional on-premise setups to cloud-based "as a service" solutions. This transition unlocks scalability, accessibility, and cost-efficiency, redefining how organizations operate in a digital era. Comprehensive WaaS Ecosystem WaaS platforms offer a comprehensive ecosystem, including antivirus software, backup solutions, productivity suites like Office 365, accounting software, and a vast library of over 2,200 applications, exemplified by CloudJumper. Small Business Advantage Small businesses benefit immensely from WaaS, gaining access to enterprise-level technology without the need for extensive internal resources and infrastructure. This affordability and simplicity level the playing field for smaller enterprises. Flexibility for Dynamic Labor WaaS's flexibility suits businesses with dynamic labor needs, such as accounting firms that expand their workforce during peak tax seasons, utilizing remote freelancers. This adaptability supports efficient scaling and remote work arrangements.

The Soaring Growth of WaaS

WaaS adoption is soaring:

Transparency Market Research (TMR) anticipates a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.10% in the global WaaS market from 2015 to 2022.

Sectors like education and healthcare are poised for even more remarkable growth, with projected CAGRs of 13% and 12.9%, respectively.

Valued at $7.4 billion (USD) in 2014, the market is projected to surge to $18.3 billion by 2022.

Navigating the WaaS Landscape: A Path to Modern Workspaces

Workspace as a Service (WaaS) continues to redefine the workplace, offering flexibility and efficiency. Here, we explore further aspects of WaaS and its impact on the modern business ecosystem:

Scalability for Growing Businesses: WaaS is a boon for expanding businesses, as it adapts effortlessly to shifting workforce demands. Whether your organization is onboarding new employees or downsizing after peak seasons, WaaS scales to meet your needs without major infrastructure overhauls.

WaaS is a boon for expanding businesses, as it adapts effortlessly to shifting workforce demands. Whether your organization is onboarding new employees or downsizing after peak seasons, WaaS scales to meet your needs without major infrastructure overhauls. Global Accessibility: In our interconnected world, WaaS transcends geographical boundaries. Employees worldwide can access their virtual workspaces with ease, fostering global collaboration and eliminating geographical constraints.

In our interconnected world, WaaS transcends geographical boundaries. Employees worldwide can access their virtual workspaces with ease, fostering global collaboration and eliminating geographical constraints. Resource Allocation Efficiency: WaaS optimizes resource allocation by minimizing the need for on-site IT hardware and personnel. Companies can direct their resources toward strategic initiatives and innovation rather than routine maintenance.

WaaS optimizes resource allocation by minimizing the need for on-site IT hardware and personnel. Companies can direct their resources toward strategic initiatives and innovation rather than routine maintenance. Adaptive Business Models: Businesses with varying labor requirements throughout the year, such as tax preparation firms, find WaaS indispensable. It enables swift adaptation to workforce fluctuations, ensuring operational efficiency during busy and lean periods.

WaaS: A Future-Proof Approach to Modern Work Environments

Workspace as a Service (WaaS) stands at the forefront of modern work environments, providing a glimpse into the future of work. As we delve deeper into the realm of WaaS, we uncover additional facets that illuminate its transformative potential:
Discover the International Women's Club of Bratislava and its role in fostering cross-cultural connections.

IWCB Coffee Morning, the iconic social event that commences weekly at various cool local spots. (Source: Courtesy of the International Women's Club of Bratislava)

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Slovakia, nestled in the heart of Europe, is not just a land of stunning landscapes and historical treasures. It's also a vibrant hub for expatriates from around the globe, contributing to the rich tapestry of cultures that make up the country's diverse social fabric.

Slovakia's expat mosaic

One of the driving forces behind Slovakia's multicultural vibrancy is its thriving expat community.

Expats, myself including, have come to call Slovakia their home for various reasons like work opportunities, education, and the allure of a slower-paced, picturesque lifestyle. Social integration is a big factor in ones wellbeing and adjustment to a new country, while creating a new home.

Nezabudka Family Run in Zelezna Studienka - charitable run to support the center for children with special needs. (Source: Courtesy of the International Women's Club of Bratislava)

Ive found my home here thanks to the International Women's Club of Bratislava (IWCB). Organizations of this kind play a significant role in fostering connections among expats. With the diverse membership, they serve as a cultural bridge, enriching the lives of its members and the local community.

The IWCB: A catalyst for cultural exchange

The International Women's Club of Bratislava, a dynamic expat organization, encapsulates the essence of multiculturalism. With members hailing from various corners of the world, the IWCB serves as a hub for cultural exchange and friendship.

Through its social and charitable activities, the IWCB promotes understanding and appreciation of different cultures. Members not only share their traditions and customs but also embrace Slovak culture, fostering a deeper connection with their adopted homeland. IWCB is also committed to giving back to the local community. Through various charitable endeavors, the club actively contributes to the betterment of Slovakia. These philanthropic efforts help bridge the gap between expats and locals, fostering a sense of unity and shared responsibility.

IWCB kiosk at the Christmas Market at Hlavne Namestie in Bratislava. (Source: Courtesy of the International Women's Club of Bratislava)

The expatriate melting pot

When we take a closer look at Slovakia's expatriate community, we discover a true melting pot, representing a multitude of nationalities and backgrounds. Look at the vivid picture painted by some numbers:

Germans, constituting the largest expat group, make up around 20 percent of the foreign population.

Austrians follow closely behind, at roughly 18 percent.

Citizens of the Czech Republic and Hungary also feature prominently, accounting for 11 percent and percent, respectively.

And then there's a myriad of other nationalities, from British and Americans to Russians and Italians, who contribute to the cultural diversity.

This amalgamation of cultures brings a unique dynamic to Slovakia, creating opportunities for cross-cultural exchanges, learning, and personal growth.

The benefits of multicultural living

Slovakia offers a unique blend of old-world charm and modern convenience. The country's rich history, magnificent landscapes, and welcoming communities make it an attractive destination for those seeking a change of pace.

Living in Slovakia presents the opportunity to broaden our horizons. Whether through language acquisition, culinary exploration, or embracing local traditions, we can find ourselves enriched by the immersion in Slovak culture.

IWCB Community Help Committee organizing Easter Egg hunt for Ucitelska Children Home. (Centrum pre deti a rodiny on Ucitelska St. in Bratislava). (Source: Courtesy of the International Women's Club of Bratislava)

Moreover, Slovakia's strategic location within Europe allows for easy travel to neighboring countries, adding an extra layer of diversity to expat experiences. Weekends can be spent exploring Vienna's imperial palaces, hiking in the High Tatras, or indulging in Czech beer culture - all within a short distance.

As the expat population continues to grow, so does the exchange of ideas, traditions, and friendships. Slovakia's cultural mosaic thrives, because of its expatriates. We shall hope and believe that it is the power of this mosaic that will transcend barriers and ignorance, paving the road to a unified society without judgment, resentment, and polarization.

Eva Staronova is an entrepreneur in natural product industry with her company based in Los Angeles, CA. She is also a board member and Christmas Bazaar coordinator of the International Women's Club of Bratislava.
Seven to eight parties may get into parliament, according to published exit polls.

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Seven political parties may get into parliament, the Focus exit poll for TV Markiza shows.

Progresivne Slovensko, a liberal party led by MEP Michal Simecka, came first in the poll. It received 23.5 percent. Smer, a populist party led by former three-time PM Robert Fico, came second in the poll with 21.9 percent.

The left-wing party Hlas, the populist conservative coalition party OLaNO-KU-ZL, the liberal party SaS, the far-right party Republika and the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) would also win parliamentary seats, getting over a 5-percent threshold (7 percent in the case of OLaNO-KU-ZL).

The populist party Sme Rodina, which currently holds seats in parliament, may stay out of the parliament after this year's election. In the exit poll, it received 2.3 percent. In recent weeks, the party has been falling in public opinion polls.

The ultranationalist Slovak National Party (SNS) would not win any seats, either. It received 4.4. percent in the Focus exit poll. The SNS has been growing in recent polls, often jumping over the required threshold.

The Focus exit poll was published shortly after 22:00. Due to the election moratorium, the results were published as blind - without the names of political parties.

Focus approached 20,000 people right after they cast their vote.

Smer would not form a government

The exit poll also shows that Smer would not be able to form a government. Its partner, Hlas, rejects to be in a coalition with Republika. Even if these parties joined forces, they would not reach the majority of 76 MPs.

Progresivne Slovensko could form a government with SaS, OLaNO, and KDH, but it would only control 77 seats in the house. If OLaNO were replaced with Hlas in the PS-led coalition, such a coalition government would have 85 seats in the parliament.

PS wins in second exit poll, too

The second exit poll, published by the public broadcaster RTVS, shows that Progresivne Slovensko came first in this poll as well. Smer came second.

According to this poll, eight parties would make it to parliament, by one more compared to the Focus exit poll. Unlike the SNS, Sme Rodina (3.3 percent) would not be among these parties.

PS and Smer would both struggle to form a coalition government.

The poll for RTVS was conducted by the Median SK agency, surveying 16,805 voters on September 30.
North Korea has stipulated a policy of strengthening its nuclear forces in its constitution at a key meeting, with leader Kim Jong-un said trilateral security cooperation between South Korea, the United States, and Japan poses "the worst actual threat."

The decision was made at the ninth session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) held Tuesday and Wednesday, [articipated in by leader Kim's attendance, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

At the session, the North unanimously decided to "supplement Article 58 of Chapter 4 of the Socialist Constitution" to ensure the country's right to existence and development, deter war and protect regional and global peace by rapidly developing nuclear weapons to a higher level, Kim was reported to have said.

"The DPRK's nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout with anything. This is a historic event that provided a powerful political lever for remarkably strengthening the national defense capabilities," he said in a speech at the session, using the acronym for North Korea's official name.

At an SPA meeting in September last year, North Korea enacted a new "nuclear law" authorizing the preemptive use of nuclear arms, calling its status as a nuclear state "irreversible."

In the speech, Kim said the establishment of what he called the "triangular military alliance" between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan "finally resulted in the emergence of the 'Asian-version of NATO,' the root cause of war and aggression."

"This is just the worst actual threat, not threatening rhetoric or an imaginary entity," he said.

Under a state policy to "physically remove" the North, Kim said the U.S. also has "maximized its nuclear war threats by "resuming the large-scale nuclear war joint drills with a clear aggressive nature and putting the deployment of its strategic nuclear assets near the Korean peninsula on a permanent basis."

He also said that the "Nuclear Consultative Group" between the U.S. and South Korea is aimed at using nuclear weapons against the North. The NCG was established when Presidents Yoon Suk Yeol and President Joe Biden held a summit in April. It is designed to discuss nuclear and strategic planning issues.

Kim also stressed the need to "exponentially" bolster the country's nuclear arsenal and diversify its nuclear strike capability as well as deployment with different branches and units of the armed forces.

He also vowed to strengthen solidarity with countries standing against the U.S.

His message came as North Korea has been seeking to bolster its ties with China and Russia vis-a-vis the strengthening of security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.

Joined by Russia's visiting defense minister and a senior Chinese official, the North's leader oversaw a military parade to mark a key anniversary in late July, a scene seen as intended to display solidarity among the three nations.

Earlier this month, Kim also traveled to Russia on his armored train for talks with Vladimir Putin amid concerns about a possible arms deal between the two nations.

The assembly is the highest organ of state power under the North's constitution, but it actually only rubber-stamps decisions by the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

At the latest session, North Korea did not dismiss Premier Kim Tok-hun despite speculation that the North's leader may replace him over the poor response to flooding and storm damage from Tropical Storm Khanun in August.

The North Korean leader has strongly berated the premier and the Cabinet over their "irresponsible" attitude in failing to prevent flood damage and "spoiling" the country's economic plans.

However, Kim has continued with his official duties, including an inspection of the agricultural sector in a provincial area, raising the possibility that he may remain in office.

At the SPA meeting, North Korea also renamed the National Aerospace Development Administration, an agency in charge of launching military spy satellites, to the National Aerospace Technology General Bureau.

The secretive regime earlier announced a plan to make a third attempt to launch a military spy satellite in October following its two failed attempts in May and August. (Yonhap)
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230929/co-defendant-in-trump-georgia-election-case-scott-hall-pleads-guilty-1113811983.html

Co-Defendant in Trump Georgia Election Case Scott Hall Pleads Guilty

Co-Defendant in Trump Georgia Election Case Scott Hall Pleads Guilty

Hall faces seven charges alleging he was part of a conspiracy, along with Trump, to overturn President Biden's victory in the 2020 election in Georgia.

2023-09-29T22:01+0000

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Hall faces seven charges alleging he was part of a conspiracy, along with former President Trump, to overturn President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election in Georgia. Scott is specifically accused of tampering with electronic voting machines in Coffee County. Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee on Friday imposed 12-month probation for each count against him, effectively resulting in a five-year probation term, along with a $1,000 fine for each count, totaling $5,000. In addition, McAfee ordered Scott not to participate in any activities regarding polling or the administration of elections.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230825/trump-booked-released-from-fulton-county-jail-over-georgia-election-interference-case-1112871222.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230929/saturns-rings-and-moons-collision-course-revealed-by-supercomputer-simulations-1113812094.html

Saturn's Rings and Moons: Collision Course Revealed by Supercomputer Simulations

Saturn's Rings and Moons: Collision Course Revealed by Supercomputer Simulations

Recent research suggests that Saturn's iconic rings may have formed from the cataclysmic collision of two icy moons, akin in size to the present-day Dione and Rhea.

2023-09-29T23:11+0000

2023-09-29T23:11+0000

2023-09-29T23:11+0000

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New insights into the formation of Saturn's rings and moons have emerged from a comprehensive study employing high-resolution supercomputer simulations. The research, a collaboration between NASA and the universities of Durham and Glasgow, proposes that Saturn's rings could be the remnants of a colossal collision between two ice-rich precursor moons that shattered approximately a few hundred million years ago.One key finding of the research, conducted using the COSMA supercomputer at Durham University, is that the impact of icy moons likely resulted in the formation of Saturn's icy rings. When these precursor moons collided, the rock within their cores was scattered less widely than the surrounding ice, leading to the creation of ice-rich rings.This theory aligns with the observed purity of Saturn's rings, which are made up almost entirely of ice and have accumulated minimal dust pollution since their formation.The simulations explored nearly 200 different scenarios of moon collisions, revealing a wide range of outcomes that could have scattered the right amount of ice into Saturn's Roche limit. The Roche limit represents the outer boundary where a planet's gravitational force can disintegrate larger bodies of rock or ice. Material orbiting beyond this limit could have clumped together to form some of Saturn's current moons.This groundbreaking research challenges previous explanations for the composition of Saturn's rings, as alternative theories failed to account for the near absence of rock within the rings. By using supercomputer simulations, scientists have gained invaluable insights into the history of Saturn's system, highlighting the dynamic nature of our solar system's evolution.Dr. Vincent Eke of Durham University remarked on the findings, emphasizing how the collision hypothesis provides a natural explanation for the ice-rich nature of Saturn's rings. Meanwhile, Dr. Jacob Kegerreis, a NASA research scientist and Durham University graduate, expressed excitement about using simulations to explore the Saturn system's evolution further, including its potentially habitable moons.The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230830/rare-blue-supermoon-to-appear-this-week-with-special-appearance-from-saturn-1112975661.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/27-years-later-suspect-arrested-in-murder-of-rapper-tupac-shakur-1113815669.html

27 Years Later, Suspect Arrested in Murder of Rapper Tupac Shakur

27 Years Later, Suspect Arrested in Murder of Rapper Tupac Shakur

According to police, the killing was provoked after Shakur and Death Row Records CEO Marion Suge Knights were involved in a brawl with Davis nephew at a Las Vegas casino.

2023-09-30T03:54+0000

2023-09-30T03:54+0000

2023-09-30T03:54+0000

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27 years. For 27 years the family of Tupac Shakur have been waiting for justice, said police officer Jason Johansson at a Friday press conference in Las Vegas.Today, the family of rapper Tupac Shakur---as well as millions of fans---stepped one foot closer to justice as former gang leader Duane Davis was indicted for his alleged involvement in the 1996 drive-by shooting.According to police, the killing was provoked after Shakur and Death Row Records CEO Marion Suge Knights were involved in a brawl with Davis nephew at a Las Vegas casino. Later that night, unknown assailants in a nearby car fired shots at the rapper while he was stopped at a red light, hitting him four times. He would die in the hospital days later at the age of 25.Police claim Davis was the mastermind of the attack, calling him the on-site commander who ordered the hit.Three others were in the car with Davis that night, though theyve since died. Police said Davis was the last surviving participant in the shooting. Hes also accused of procuring the weapons used in the crime.Davis had long hinted at his involvement in the death of the Changes rapper, claiming in a 2018 documentary he was in the car the shots were fired from and knew the identity of the assassin. The former gang leader had also hinted at his involvement in his 2019 memoir Compton Street Legend.Police retrieved a copy of that book along with computers and electronic equipment after receiving a warrant to search Davis home earlier this year. The evidence apparently provided investigators with the remaining information they needed to finally make an arrest in the case.The young rapper, who came from a highly political family of Black Panthers members, was noted for often touching on themes of inequality. Many conspiracy theories emerged surrounding his killing, one of which claiming he had faked his death and followed his godmother Assata Shakur into exile in Cuba. Beyond the conspiracy theories, Nevada police were frequently criticized for not doing more to find and arrest his assailants.Tupac's legacy includes having sold more than 75 million records worldwide, with many of them being sold posthumously. Six years ago, the murdered rapper was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while earlier this year he was granted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, becoming one of only 12 rappers to have received the honor.At the ceremony for the award, filmmaker Allen Hughes spoke about the significance of the rapper to his legions of fans.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/blinken-vucic-discuss-needed-measures-to-de-escalate-tensions-with-kosovo-1113813983.html

Blinken, Vucic Discuss Needed Measures to De-Escalate Tensions With Kosovo

Blinken, Vucic Discuss Needed Measures to De-Escalate Tensions With Kosovo

The two discussed the importance of taking immediate measures to de-escalate tensions with Kosovo following the death of a Kosovo Police Sergeant.

2023-09-30T00:26+0000

2023-09-30T00:26+0000

2023-09-30T02:39+0000

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antony blinken

aleksandar vucic

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kosovo

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Secretary Blinken and President Vucic discussed the importance of taking immediate measures to de-escalate tensions with Kosovo in the wake of the September 24 violence and death of a Kosovo Police Sergeant, the statement said.Blinken reiterated the necessity to bring those responsible for the attack on the Kosovo police to justice, the statement said.The secretary of state said such events present unacceptable challenges to the international community and expressed full support for the KFOR and the EULEX missions.Blinken urged Serbia to accompany immediate de-escalation with full implementation of its commitments under the normalization agreement within the EU-facilitated dialogue, added.On Sunday, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said unidentified individuals opened fire on Kosovo police officers in the northern municipality of Zvecan, killing one and wounding another.Vucic said that three Serbs were killed and two others injured in the clashes with police in northern Kosovo and Metohija. Vucic said that those killed were not terrorists but were driven to the brink of desperation by the Kosovar authorities in Pristina. Vucic called them "heroes and martyrs."

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230925/direct-threat-of-resumption-of-ethnic-cleansing-in-kosovo-exists---russian-foreign-ministry-1113661030.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/brazilian-police-arrest-ex-general-over-suspected-involvement-in-takeover-attempt---report-1113813860.html

Brazilian Police Arrest Ex-General Over Suspected Involvement in Takeover Attempt - Report

Brazilian Police Arrest Ex-General Over Suspected Involvement in Takeover Attempt - Report

According to investigators, Lucio Fernandes was the perpetrator and, possibly, one of the organizers of the January 8 takeover attempt, G1 said. The court has already ordered the freezing of his assets, according to the report.

2023-09-30T00:09+0000

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During the search at the former general's home, the police seized his passport as well as a smartphone and weapons, the G1 channel reported. After that, the general was brought to the Federal Police's headquarters and questioned, it added. According to investigators, Lucio Fernandes was the perpetrator and, possibly, one of the organizers of the January 8 takeover attempt, G1 said. The court has already ordered the freezing of his assets, according to the report. Investigators believe Lucio Fernandes was involved with a group that instigated protesters to occupy the National Congress Palace and gave them access inside it, Brazilian broadcaster Globo said. Under former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Lucio Fernandes was the head of the Logistics Department in the Brazilian Health Ministry and was dismissed on December 31, 2022, on the last day of that government. He is currently a professor at a university in Brasilia. Lucio Fernandes reportedly used to be member of a special ops unit trained to go on secret and high-risk missions, including sabotage, reconnaissance and planning of escapes. Members of that unit held high offices in Bolsonaro's government, media reports said.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/fighting-words-we-dont-serve-a-wannabe-dictator-says-retiring-us-general-milley-1113814091.html

Fighting Words: We Dont Serve a 'Wannabe Dictator' Says Retiring US General Milley

Fighting Words: We Dont Serve a 'Wannabe Dictator' Says Retiring US General Milley

Milley delivered the remarks at a ceremony in Virginia, marking his retirement from a position he first took in 2018. The comments were prompted by a threatening post Trump made on his Truth Social platform last week.

2023-09-30T01:04+0000

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2023-09-30T01:07+0000

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Those were the defiant words of US General Mark Milley on Friday. Theyve been broadly interpreted by national media as a thinly-veiled rebuke of Donald Trump in a prolonged exchange that has seen the former president suggest the execution of the US militarys highest-ranking member.Milley delivered the remarks at a ceremony at Fort Myer, Virginia, marking his retirement from a position he first took in 2018 at the behest of Trump himself. The comments were prompted by a post Trump made on his Truth Social platform last week suggesting the general had committed a treasonous act amounting to a capital offense in the waning days of his administration.Trump was referring to a phone call Milley reportedly made to Chinese counterparts after events at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 reportedly surprised and alarmed the world power. Milley claims he took the unprecedented action with the approval and cooperation of other military officials, but that didnt stop Republican Senator Rand Paul from criticizing the move.The backchannel contact was first revealed in 2021 in an excerpt from Bob Woodward and Bob Costas book Peril documenting the final days of Trumps presidency. According to the journalists, Milley had secretly called Chinese military officials once before in 2020 after receiving intelligence that China feared Trump would attack them in an October surprise before the election.Reportedly concerned about the former presidents mental state after January 6, Milley additionally forbade officers at the National Military Command Center from carrying out any instructions without going through the general first. Some Republicans have claimed such actions would represent a violation of the chain of command set forth in the US Constitution.Milley also responded to Trump this week in an interview with US television where he claimed he would take adequate safety precautions to protect himself and his family after the remarks.The 65-year-old general has been in a war of words with the ex-president since 2020 when he accompanied then-president Trump in a photo op during nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd. He apologized shortly after for appearing in-uniform with Trump amidst concerns the move implied the militarys political endorsement of the president, provoking Trumps ire.Mass demonstrations against racism during the summer of that year sparked concerns Trump would employ violent force against protesters. Reports claimed federal police in unmarked vehicles arrested demonstrators in Portland that year.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/moscow-says-anti-russia-iaea-resolution-contains-unsubstantiated-accusations-1113814512.html

Moscow Says 'Anti-Russia' IAEA Resolution Contains Unsubstantiated Accusations

Moscow Says 'Anti-Russia' IAEA Resolution Contains Unsubstantiated Accusations

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman accused the US and its allies of using international mechanisms "to achieve their opportunistic political goals, which are in no way related to the statutory purposes of such mechanisms."

2023-09-30T02:15+0000

2023-09-30T02:15+0000

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The 67th Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference took place from Monday to Friday in Vienna. Zakharova accused the United States and its allies of using international mechanisms "to achieve their opportunistic political goals, which are in no way related to the statutory purposes of such mechanisms." "The above resolution is non-binding, and Russia is not going to act on its provisions, while citing the resolution in documents will make them politically and legally void to us," Zakharova added. The issue of nuclear safety has drawn renewed international attention since the Ukraine conflict started in February 2022. During the hostilities, the Zaporozhye NPP, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe by number of units and energy output, came under the control of Russian forces in early March 2022 and has since been repeatedly shelled, raising concerns over a possible nuclear accident. The IAEA established a permanent presence of its experts at the ZNPP in September 2022.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/prosecutors-suggest-trump-may-have-violated-federal-gun-law-at-campaign-event-1113831558.html

Prosecutors Suggest Trump May Have Violated Federal Gun Law At Campaign Event

Prosecutors Suggest Trump May Have Violated Federal Gun Law At Campaign Event

The campaign clarified that Trump did not purchase a gun, however, prosecutors are continuing to pursue action.

2023-09-30T20:52+0000

2023-09-30T20:52+0000

2023-09-30T20:52+0000

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The US presidents son Hunter Biden is set to face federal weapons charges Tuesday at a courthouse in Delaware. For a brief moment this week it appeared 2024 contender Donald Trump might be joining him.The controversy started Monday afternoon with a post on the X platform from Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.The campaign deleted the tweet shortly after, clarifying, President Trump did not purchase or take possession of the firearm. He simply indicated that he wanted one.That didnt stop prosecutors from weighing in on the controversy, writing, the defendant either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release, or seeks to benefit from his supporters mistaken belief that he did so.Federal law prohibits people facing felony charges from obtaining new firearms; the former president is currently facing 91 felony charges.In addition to pointing out the supposed violation of gun laws, prosecutors have also sought a gag order for Trump, noting his social media comments about retiring Joint Chiefs chair Mark Milley and other witnesses in his case.Conservative gun rights advocates have questioned the validity of the kinds of restrictions faced by both Trump and President Bidens son. Expert Stephen Gutowski noted that a federal judge in Texas found the prohibitions to be unconstitutional. However, barring a similar ruling from the Supreme Court or a federal court of appeals, such restrictions currently remain in effect.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/putin-congratulates-xi-jinping-on-74th-anniversary-of-founding-of-china-1113831738.html

Putin Congratulates Xi Jinping on 74th Anniversary of Founding of China

Putin Congratulates Xi Jinping on 74th Anniversary of Founding of China

Putin congratulated his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the 74th anniversary of the founding of China and expressed confidence in the future cooperation of the two countries.

2023-09-30T22:31+0000

2023-09-30T22:31+0000

2023-09-30T22:31+0000

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The Russian president also noted that under Xis leadership, Beijing "is confidently moving forward along the path of socioeconomic, scientific and technological development, strengthening its positions on the global arena and actively participating in resolving the most important issues on the regional and global agendas." "Relations between Russia and China are developing in the spirit of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation. Moscow and Beijing are fruitfully cooperating in all areas, and efficiently coordinating their efforts in international affairs," Putin added.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/robert-f-kennedy-jr-will-run-as-independent-in-2024-amid-democratic-roadblocks---report-1113814269.html

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Will Run as Independent in 2024 Amid Democratic Roadblocks - Report

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Will Run as Independent in 2024 Amid Democratic Roadblocks - Report

Kennedy plans to announce his bid as an independent on October 9 during an event in Pennsylvania, the report said, adding that his campaign will launch ads targeting the Democratic National Committee ahead of the announcement.

2023-09-30T01:14+0000

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robert f. kennedy jr

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Kennedy believes that Democrats have changed their rules to exclude his candidacy, forcing an independent run, the report said, citing a campaign source. Kennedy plans to announce his bid as an independent on October 9 during an event in Pennsylvania, the report said. Kennedys campaign will launch ads targeting the Democratic National Committee ahead of the announcement, the report said. Kennedys positions on issues including the Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and COVID-19 vaccines diverge from those of most Democratic politicians. In June, political analyst Keith Preston told Sputnik that the Democratic Party and partisan media would "pull out all stops" to ensure Kennedys campaign fails. Earlier this month, US media reported that Kennedy also met with Libertarian Party chair Angela McArdle in July. McCardle reportedly said that Kennedy emphasized his commitment to running as a Democrat at the time, but noted that he considers himself very libertarian.

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The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan denounced North Korea's constitutional amendment to enshrine its policy on nuclear force, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Hiroyuki Namazu, respectively, held a conference call to discuss the outcome of Pyongyang's key assembly meeting and their joint response to its growing nuclear threats.

North Korea stipulated the policy of strengthening its nuclear force in its constitution at the 14th Supreme People's Assembly held Tuesday and Wednesday. During the meeting, leader Kim Jong-un said trilateral security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan posed "the worst actual threat" and vowed to bolster the country's nuclear capability.

The nuclear envoys strongly condemned North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons while ignoring the crumbling livelihoods of its people.

"They strongly condemned that North Korea has more openly revealed its nuclear ambition by adopting the constitutional amendment in the Supreme People's Assembly that stipulated its nuclear force policy," the ministry said in a release.

The trio urged Pyongyang to halt its nuclear threats and other provocations, vowing to closely coordinate with the international community to make progress on its denuclearization.

The envoys also agreed to closely monitor for signs of North Korea's third attempt to launch a military spy satellite, and arms trade with Russia following a bilateral summit earlier this month.

They also welcomed the return of U.S. soldier Travis King, who was expelled from North Korea earlier in the day after running across the inter-Korean border in July.

Pvt. King made an unauthorized crossing of the Military Demarcation Line into the North during a tour to the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, July 18. (Yonhap)
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/russia-refilling-ammunition-stocks-faster-than-expected---canadian-general-1113820016.html

Russia Refilling Ammunition Stocks Faster Than Expected - Canadian General

Russia Refilling Ammunition Stocks Faster Than Expected - Canadian General

Russia is refilling its ammunition stockpiles faster than expected, causing concern not only in Ukraine, but also in Western countries, Canadian Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre said.

2023-09-30T09:59+0000

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"If we look at Russia's capacity to reconstitute its ammunition stockpiles, it's happening faster than expected," Eyre was quoted as saying by the local news agency on Friday. Canada does not produce much ammunition, and if it were to use ammunition at the same pace as Ukraine does, its stockpiles would be depleted within days, he said, while calling the situation very concerning. After Russia launched its military operation to protect people of Donbass from Ukrainian agression, Canada, like many other Western countries, has been providing Kiev regime with military aid, which includes munitions and tanks.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/russias-army-2023-expo-from-kalashnikov-rifles-to-icbms-and-everything-in-between-1112633980.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/slovakia-to-hold-snap-parliamentary-elections-on-saturday-1113820717.html

Slovakia to Hold Snap Parliamentary Elections on Saturday

Slovakia to Hold Snap Parliamentary Elections on Saturday

Slovakia will hold snap parliamentary elections on Saturday to elect members of the National Council.

2023-09-30T10:07+0000

2023-09-30T10:07+0000

2023-09-30T10:07+0000

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A total of 150 seats in the parliament will be put up for grabs. The total of 25 candidates includes 24 parties and one coalition. Among them is a key opposition party, Smer, led by former Prime Minister Robert Fico, who vowed to stop Slovakia's military support for Ukraine if elected. A controversy arose this week around Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who called on ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia to vote for the Alliance party, representing the Hungarian minority. The Slovak Foreign Ministry considered this interference in the elections and summoned the Hungarian ambassador.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230929/slovak-orban-how-ficos-election-win-may-bolster-eu-divisions-on-ukraine-1113802810.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/thousands-of-ukrainian-troops-surrender-via-russian-radio-hotline-1113816561.html

Thousands of Ukrainian Troops Surrender via Russian Radio Hotline

Thousands of Ukrainian Troops Surrender via Russian Radio Hotline

The process of more Ukrainian soldiers holding out a white flag comes against the backdrop of Kievs bungled counteroffensive, which shows no sign of progress since its start in early June.

2023-09-30T08:43+0000

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russia's special operation in ukraine

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Clayton Morris, an American journalist, has expressed his astonishment at a series of videos showcasing the significant surrender of Ukrainian armed forces (UAF) servicemen. This surrender was seen even through the utilization of a newly established Russian radio frequency.This is amazing. This is a story the Western media does not want you to see, Morris said on his YouTube channel, referring to tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers laying down the weapons and surrendering to the Russian troops.According to a reliable source, recently there has been a significant increase in the number of Ukrainian troops utilizing a dedicated radio frequency to communicate their willingness to disarm. The revelation comes after the individual's statement was reported by Russian media. The frequency was set up by Russian forces in mid-summer.According to the insider, the process of UAF soldiers laying down their arms has recently accelerated as Ukrainian troops have begun surrendering in groups rather than individually, particularly around the village of Rabotino, one of the main flashpoints of the Ukraine conflict.After the start of Kiev's counteroffensive in early June, Governor Yevgeny Balitsky of the Zaporozhye region confirmed that a large number of Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen began surrendering in great numbers.He added that the Ukrainian POWs have decent living conditions and that no one beats or tortures them.The remarks came after a source in the Russian special services told Sputnik that on the Zaporozhye frontline, Ukrainian soldiers are being urged to surrender with the help of leaflets in the form of hryvnias, which are being dropped on UAF positions.The leaflets contain information on how UAF troops can contact the Russian military to discuss the time and place of surrender, according to the insider.Since early June, the UAF has been trying to advance on the Zaporozhye, Yuzhnodonetsk and Artemovsk fronts, not least with the help of combat units trained and armed by NATO instructors.Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized earlier this month that Ukrainian troops had failed to achieve any significant success on all the frontlines.This week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed reporters that during the failed counteroffensive in Kiev, the UAF suffered substantial losses of over 17,000 soldiers and more than 2,700 pieces of weaponry, all within the span of September alone. Since the start of this botched push, the UAF have reportedly lost at least 81,000 soldiers.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/ukraine-loses-up-to-690-soldiers-over-past-24-hours-1113823836.html

Ukraine Loses Up to 690 Soldiers Over Past 24 Hours

Ukraine Loses Up to 690 Soldiers Over Past 24 Hours

Ukraine has lost up to 690 soldiers both killed and wounded in six directions over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

2023-09-30T12:25+0000

2023-09-30T12:25+0000

2023-09-30T12:25+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

ukrainian crisis

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"The enemy's losses in this [Donetsk] direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 430 Ukrainian servicepeople killed and wounded, four armored combat vehicles and two cars. In the course of counter-battery fighting, a US-made M777 howitzer, a Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer were hit," the ministry said. Meanwhile, in the South Donetsk direction, Russian forces repelled two attacks by Ukrainian forces, destroying 120 servicepeople, two pick-up trucks, a US-made M777 howitzer and a Polish-made self-propelled gun-howitzer Krab, the ministry said. In the Zaporozhye direction, Kiev lost up to 30 servicepeople, the ministry said, adding that a US-made M119 howitzer, a UK-made FH70 howitzer, as well as two D-30 howitzers and one Msta-B howitzer had been hit. In addition, Ukraine lost about 40 servicepeople and three vehicles in the Kherson direction, as well as 20 troops, two vehicles, a US-made M777 howitzer, a Msta-B howitzer and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer in the Kupyansk direction, the ministry added. In the Kherson direction, Russian forces also destroyed three Ukrainian ammunition depots near the villages of Kiselevka, Shlyahovoe and near the city of Kramatorsk, the ministry said. Moreover, in the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces repelled two attacks by the Ukrainian army, destroying up to 50 soldiers and six pieces of equipment, the ministry said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230926/russian-forces-destroyed-over-17000-ukrainian-military-in-september---shoigu-1113679873.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/russia-will-be-reliable-supplier-of-gas-and-continue-providing-gas-to-turkiye---putin-1113111521.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/ukraines-plan-to-stage-new-counteroffensive-act-of-desperation--analyst-1113828514.html

Ukraines Plan to Stage New Counteroffensive Act of Desperation  Analyst

Ukraines Plan to Stage New Counteroffensive Act of Desperation  Analyst

The Ukrainian Armed Forces alleged intent to kick off an autumn counteroffensive indicates that Zelensky is under the Wests pressure to carry on at any cost, Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik.

2023-09-30T15:26+0000

2023-09-30T15:26+0000

2023-09-30T15:26+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

russia

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volodymyr zelensky

ukrainian counteroffensive attempt

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armed forces

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his curators from the US and the UK have reportedly agreed on Kievs new counteroffensive in early October in the Kherson and Zaporozhye areas, an informed source told Sputnik.The source argued that a large group of marines from the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) is currently stationed in the Nikolayev region awaiting an order to cross the Dnepr River. Additionally, UAF special forces, who were trained by British military instructors, plan to seize the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, according to the insider.This is a catastrophe, this spring/summer/autumn counteroffensive, the analyst said, referring to Ukraines huge death toll.The [Ukrainian] army is basically diminished I think he [Zelensky]'s getting pressure from the West to continue to show some type of progress, according to Rasmussen."It is appeasing them and it is because they're willing to fight to the last Ukrainian as well as Western backers. I do not think that it's an act to appease the majority of Ukrainians. I think the majority of Ukrainians want to see the war ended," Rasmussen said.When asked to comment on the situation when the use of terms such as war fatigue and Zelensky fatigue is becoming more mainstream among Western politicians, the analyst said that a lot of people don't understand Why are we involved with this?'"Since the beginning of June, Ukrainian troops have unsuccessfully been trying to break through Russian defensive lines in the Zaporozhye, Yuzhnodonetsk and Artemovsk areas as they use combat units trained by NATO instructors and armed with Western military equipment.Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized earlier this month that Kiev's troops had failed to achieve tangible results on any sector of the frontline. He called Kievs counteroffensive a failure, not a stalemate.Russias Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, for his part, explained that Ukrainian losses in men and materiel in September stand at more than 17,000 and over 2,700, respectively. Since the beginning of the counteroffensive on June 4, Ukraine has reportedly lost at least 81,000 troops.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/watch-pow-reveal-how-scores-of-ukrainian-soldiers-desert-after-frontline-action-1113827044.html

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kiev's botched counteroffensive, ukraine's plan for an autumn counteroffensive, losses of ukrainain armed forces
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230930/weekly-news-wrap-up-canadas-ghastly-nazi-debacle-uaw-strike-expands-1113813544.html

Weekly News Wrap-Up; Canada's Ghastly Nazi Debacle; UAW Strike Expands

Weekly News Wrap-Up; Canada's Ghastly Nazi Debacle; UAW Strike Expands

Canada has suffered a ghastly debacle as the world recoils in horror over its celebration of a Nazi war criminal.

2023-09-30T04:25+0000

2023-09-30T04:25+0000

2023-09-30T10:54+0000

the critical hour

radio

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Weekly News Wrap-Up; Canada's Ghastly Nazi Debacle; UAW Strike Expands; 911 Anniversary Canada has suffered a ghastly debacle as the world recoils in horror over its celebration of a Nazi war criminal.

Caleb Maupin, journalist and political analyst, joins us to discuss this week's important news stories. A faction of the GOP in the US House of Representatives is plotting to replace Speaker McCarthy as soon as next week. Caleb says that government shutdown threats have traditionally been used to cut social spending. He argues that people worldwide are surprised by the dysfunction of US politics. Also, there seems to be a desire to embarrass Joe Biden but little taste for an actual impeachment.Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor of Economics and Politics at St. Mary's College in California, joins us to discuss the economy. The United Auto Workers have announced an expansion of their strike to 43 locations. Dr. Jack says that workers have seen their wages decline by 19% as CEOs have increased their salaries by 40%. He believes that the latest deal for Canadian workers will be the template for a solution in the US, plus a cost of living adjustment. He says the piecemeal strike strategy has cost the unions valuable negotiating time.Dr. Tony Monteiro, scholar and activist, joins us to discuss the week's important news stories. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken argues that China is trying to supplant the US as the world's dominant power. Dr. Monteiro says that President Biden's entire platform has been about containing China, and it carries with it the threat of nuclear war with China. The inconvenient truth is that the Biden administration must be defeated in the 2024 election. He says that US Sec. of State Antony Blinken is out of his element.Ajamu Baraka, 2016 US vice presidential candidate for the Green Party, and Erica Caines, founder of Liberation Through Reading and Editor of Hood Communist Blog, come together to discuss this week's important news stories. Canada has suffered a ghastly debacle as the world recoils in horror over its celebration of a Nazi war criminal. Our guests argue that there was a "Nazi draft" post World War II in which Western countries fought over and resurrected Hitler's henchmen. Also, they say that Joe Biden is not mentally competent to make a run for another term.Jim Kavanagh, whose work can be found at Jim' Kavanagh's Substack, thepolemicist.net, and Counterpunch, and Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, come together to discuss this week's essential news stories. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken argues that China is trying to supplant the US as the world's dominant power. Our guests say this is another reiteration of the new Cold War on China. They say this is a projection, and China will continue growing. Also, the centerpiece of colonial imperialist thoughts is that people in the Global South are non-human.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/20230930/why-ukrainian-f-16-trainees-wont-turn-the-tide-of-conflict-1113826867.html

Why Ukrainian F-16 Trainees Won't Turn the Tide of Conflict

Why Ukrainian F-16 Trainees Won't Turn the Tide of Conflict

Ukrainian F-16 trainees have reportedly arrived in the US for initial English language training. How soon could they appear on the battlefield and will their training be sufficient?

2023-09-30T14:31+0000

2023-09-30T14:31+0000

2023-09-30T14:31+0000

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russia's special operation in ukraine

karen kwiatkowski

ukraine

russia

nato

pentagon

us department of defense (dod)

army tactical missile system (atacms)

mark milley

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The US Department of Defense has officially announced the beginning of English language courses for Ukrainian pilots as part of the program to train them to fly US-made F-16 fighter jets. The language training is said to be taking place at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.In August, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry estimated that Kiev would get F-16 jets promised by Ukraine's NATO backers in six-seven months. The Netherlands and Denmark since signaled that they would hand their F-16 fighters to Kiev at the beginning of 2024.However, Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe, was quoted by the Western press as saying that the delivery of several dozens of the US-made fighter jets isn't going to be the silver bullet" for the Ukrainian military. Previously, ex-Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley also warned Kiev that F-16s won't be a "game-changer" or "magic weapon" that would change the balance of power on the battlefield. For its part, the Ukrainian military is blaming the failed counteroffensive on allegedly insufficient NATO training and flawed NATO tactics, insisting that the transatlantic alliance prepared them for the "wrong kind of war." Could the training of Ukrainian pilots and delivery of fighter jets fix the problem?"The US and NATO  to the extent that they have conducted military battles  have done so with combined arms, integrating sea, land and air  and command and control/intelligence -- in both offensive and defensive actions. Our last real serious tank battles probably occurred in the early 1990s, with the first US invasion of Iraq. And that war was against a country that had a weak and outdated air force."How Important is Language Training for the F-16 Program?"Important, but conversational English is probably not required," explained the retired lieutenant colonel. "English is the ICAO standard, and pilots need to be able to know the English required to functionally do their job  to fly. Ukraine actually sent over pilot candidates for training late last year who were already English speakers. Checklists and operations manuals likely are in English  and in the long term, assuming Ukraine would fly this aircraft as an aspiring member of NATO, deeper English language knowledge  perhaps even proficiency  would be required."Apparently, there is more to this language training than meets the eye, according to the former Pentagon analyst: "Given the numbers of non-English speaking countries who have the F-16 in their inventory, that this angst over English language training for Ukrainian pilots is a US delaying tactic," she suggested.How Will the Training of Ukrainian Pilots and US/NATO Pilots Differ?Per the US/NATO military doctrine, the alliance's forces rely on an approach envisioning "all-domain (Land, Air, Maritime, Space and Cyberspace) operations" and "combined environment". That approach means that the alliance and its various forces are acting in concert with communications, logistics and all supporting services going like clockwork. When one or more elements lack, the efficiency of the strategy suffers."I can't say if the US trains pilots in a way different than other air forces  but certainly there will be a lot of simulator practice, and we would train the way we as Americans fly and fight  and that is in the context of a deep combine arms  sea-land-air support tail, and probably, given the lack of experience with actual battlefield defense, our doctrine is likely heavy on offensive use of the aircraft. We would train as we tend to fight," said Kwiatkowski.How Long Will It Take for Ukrainians to Learn to Fly F-16?Per Kwiatkowski, the Ukrainian trainees most probably already can fly and operate aircraft. So, assuming that they have some experience, eight or nine months should be enough for them to fly the F-16.At the same time, "it might take 2 or 3 years of training and practice to enable a Ukrainian F-16 pilot to fight in a NATO operation with other NATO and American F-16 pilots," but that's not on NATO's table right now, according to the analyst. She doesn't believe the US and NATO are going to be flying F-16 squadrons with the Ukrainian Air Force against Russia, any time soon, or ever.Will F-16 Fighters Help Ukraine to Tip the Balance in its Favor?The ex-Pentagon analyst also outlined two problems associated with the F-16 training: First, "when we start talking about US F-16s, as with ATACMS, we are speaking of a more direct US-Russian confrontation, and the US political winds are increasingly blowing away from such a confrontation." She likewise drew attention to the fact that many NATO countries did not rush to provide training to Ukrainians even though they are capable of doing that, as a gesture of support. Apparently, the fear of escalation simmers.Second, NATO trainers are "handicapped by the same offensive approach, and assumptions of a well-supported battlespace and logistics" which is something the Ukrainians lack. That is, Ukraine's ability to operate F-16s wouldn't mean a qualitative boost for its military forces and wouldn't ensure their air superiority.Per Kwiatkowski, the unfolding problems don't mean that seasoned Pentagon strategists are out of touch with reality: "If any real Pentagon war-fighting strategy had been requested, their objective answer would have been, this proxy war will fail, mainly because of logistics" but also due to the loss in manpower and migration from Ukraine, she said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230929/f-16-training-for-ukrainian-pilots-will-only-help-kievs-political-showmanship---air-force-vets-1113806149.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230906/blinken-meets-with-danish-prime-minister-on-way-to-kiev-to-discuss-f-16s-1113151597.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230826/ukraines-pilots-wont-be-competent-to-fly-f-16s-let-alone-boost-kievs-offensive-1112907390.html

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Russian Su-34s hit Ukrainian command and observation posts, armored vehicles and drone control points with guided munitions in Krasny Liman direction Russian Su-34s hit Ukrainian command and observation posts, armored vehicles and drone control points with guided munitions in Krasny Liman direction 2023-09-30T14:31+0000 true PT0M34S

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Malignity has shown no signs of slowing down as he heads to Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway to headline a mega-stakes afternoon on Sunday, Oct. 1.

The all-stakes Sunday has a 1 p.m. opening post time for the 14-dash event featuring the Joe OBrien Memorial Stakes for three-year-old pacing colts, the Lady Slipper Stakes for three-year-old pacing fillies as well as the Lady Slipper for two and three-year-old trotters. The Atlantic Aged Pacing Mares Series also has two splits on the day.

Malignity leaves from the rail in his $23,800 Joe OBrien Memorial Gold division in Race 10 for three-year-old pacing colts while riding an eight-race win streak for trainer-driver Paul Langille. The son of Malicious is fresh off a 14-length romp in the mud at Inverness Raceway on Sept. 17.

The other $23,800 OBrien Gold division is in Race 12 and Bacononabiscuit is the classifiers choice from post three with David Dowling in the seat for trainer Stacey Darrach.

Race 2 is the lone OBrien Grassroots division for three-year-old pacing colts with $11,900 on the line.

Race 9 starts off Lady Slipper Gold action for three-year-old pacing fillies with a $18,700 pot. Our Girl Annie is favoured in that dash with Gilles Barrieau picking up the drive for trainer Eddy Doucette from post three.

Race 11 is another $18,700 Lady Slipper Gold split as Stonecold Girl (Dowling) gets top billing with post three.

The final Lady Slipper Gold dash is in the Race 14 finale as Saulsbrook Abbey look to add to her six seasonal wins from post one for driver Jason Hughes and trainer Saul Lanigan.

The first $9,350 Lady Slipper Grassroots division for three-year-old pacing fillies is in Race 3 followed by another division in Race 6.

The Lady Slipper Stakes for trotters begin in Race 1 with a $14,500 division for two-year-old fillies as Dusty Lane Wee (David Dowling) is the top choice.

Race 4 is a three-year-old trot filly division headlined by the renewed rivalry between Camco Erin (Mike McGuigan) from post one and Gettin Salty (Hughes) with post two.

The three-year-old trotting colts have a $14,300 showdown in Race 5 as Irish Ray looks to extend his undefeated career to 18 with Barrieau in the bike.

Race 7 has the Lady Slipper Stake for two-year-old trotting colts as Rocket Blast (Corey MacPherson) is selected to win from the Carl Bagnall barn.

The Atlantic Aged Pacing Mares Series, presented by Standardbred Canada, has divisions in Races 8 and 13.

Play at the track or from home through HPIbet.com. For the Race Day broadcast, race programs and more go to the new player portal at Redshores.ca. For entries, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Summerside Raceway.

(Red Shores)
Manhattan Joe and driver Pascal Berube were able to weave their way to victory lane in the Hippodrome 3R feature pace on Friday, Sept. 29.

In the featured $3,700 eighth race for conditioned pacers, Gringo Star (Steven Gagnon) left from post five to grab the early lead with race favourite Manhattan Joe and Berube also setting their sights on controlling the pace. But to Berubes surprise as they came on the outside to take control was that Gagnon was not giving up the lead with Gringo Star and parked them out to the first quarter in :27.2 before Berube was able to backoff Manhattan Joe into the two-hole.

As they passed the grandstand the second time, Express All That (Jocelyn Gendron) went first-over with Flashjack Soleil (Simon Delisle) second-over. Gringo Star led to the half-mile in :57.2.

Racing down the backstretch, Delisle moved three-wide with Flashjack Soleil, but was unable to pass Express All That as Gringo Star held them off past the three-quarters in 1:26.3.

Coming off the final turn with horses fanning three and four-wide, Berube emerged from the two-hole with Manhattan Joe, weaved their way to the outside and blew by Gringo Star before the wire to win by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:56.4. Gringo Star held for second with Mach Play (Maxime Dinelle) third.

The win was the sixth of the year from 32 starts for Manhattan Joe. The five-year-old Up The Credit gelding is trained Marc-Andre Simoneau for owner Aurel Harvey Et Fils Inc. He paid $3.10 to win.

Both Pascal Berube and Simon Delisle had driving doubles on Friday.

Coming up Sunday (Oct. 1) at 3R is Builders Day honouring many of people from Quebec who have been influential in helping promote harness racing in the province and throughout Canada. There will be a special ceremony on the racetrack starting at 11:30 a.m. The 12-race card includes two $60,000 Invitational pacing events for horses and for mares in a memorial of the late Brian Paquet plus two $17,500 divisions of the Lucien Bombardier Pace for two-year-old fillies. Standouts in the races include track record holder YS Sensationalcity, Ladycorona, Cadillac Bayama, The Light Speed and Aladdin.

To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Hippodrome 3R.

(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)
Tattoo Artist rolled to his fifth consecutive victory with a 1:48 win in the $240,000 Dayton Pacing Derby on Saturday, Sept. 30 to conclude a record-setting night of Grand Circuit action at Hollywood Dayton Raceway.

Louis-Philippe Roy landed the six-year-old son of Hes Watching on the point to control fractions of :26.4, :55.1 and 1:21.4 before unleashing a :26.1 sprint home to defeat Little Rocket Man (Scott Zeron) by 1-3/4 lengths. Bythemissal (Yannick Gingras)f inished third after being locked in up the backstretch.

Dr. Ian Moore trains Tattoo Artist, now a triple millionaire for Let It Ride Stables, Frank Cannon, Diamond Creek Racing and Bottom Line Racing.

Hillexotic stalked the front flight and lifted to a 22-1 upset in the $240,000 Dayton Trotting Derby, nabbing the first-over Alrajah One IT (Dexter Dunn) by a neck in a track record 1:51.1. Its Academic (David Miller) finished third after setting fractions of :27.1, :54.3 and 1:22.3 and succumbing to stretch pressure.

Yannick Gingras drove the six-year-old Muscle Hill gelding for trainer Ron Burke and the partnership of Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi and Phil Collura. He now sits just shy of the millionaire plateau with $962,071 in earnings.

Grace Hill and driver Doug McNair made two moves en route to the top in the $242,500 Dayton Distaff, for pacing mares, and she held off the late charge of Prohibition Legal (Roy) to win by a half length in 1:49.2. Virgil Morgan Jr. trains the five-year-old daughter of Always B Miki, now a 28-time winner with more than $1.85 million in the bank, for owner Tom Hill.

Jiggy Jog S took full advantage of a second-over trip in the $240,000 Dayton Oaks, for distaff trotters, stalking HP Mama B (Roy) before flipping wide for the drive to engulf pacesetter M Ms Dream (Miller) by two lengths in 1:52.3. Dexter Dunn drove the four-year-old Walner mare for trainer Ake Svanstedt and owner Jorgen Sparredal Inc. She surpassed the $2 million mark in earnings with the victory, her 15th lifetime.

Replays of the Grand Circuit events are available below.

(With files from USTA)
The American soldier who sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago arrived back in the U.S. early Thursday, video appeared to show.

North Korea abruptly announced Wednesday that it would expel Pvt. Travis King . His return was organized with the help of ally Sweden and rival China, according to the White House.

While officials have said King, 23, is in good health and the immediate focus will be on caring for him and reintegrating him into U.S. society, his troubles are likely far from over.

King, who had served in South Korea, ran into the North while on a civilian tour of a border village, July 18, becoming the first American confirmed to be detained in the isolated nation in nearly five years. At the time, he was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas , following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.

He had been declared AWOL from the Army. In many cases, someone who is AWOL for more than a month can automatically be considered a deserter.

Punishment for going AWOL or desertion can vary, and it depends in part on whether the service member voluntarily returned or was apprehended. Kings handover by the North Koreans makes that more complicated.

Video aired Thursday by a Texas news station appeared to show King walking off a plane in San Antonio. Dressed in a dark top and pants, he could be seen speaking briefly with people waiting on the tarmac. He shook hands with one before being led into a building.

Officials earlier said he would be taken to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. King is expected to undergo psychological assessments and debriefings. He will also get a chance to meet with family.

He will be in military custody throughout the process since his legal situation is complicated.

On Wednesday, Swedish officials took King to the Chinese border, where he was met by U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, the Swedish ambassador to China, and at least one U.S. Defense Department official.

He was then flown to a U.S. military base in South Korea before being returned to the U.S.

It was not clear why the North ? which has tense relations with Washington over Pyongyangs nuclear program, support for Russias war in Ukraine and other issues ? agreed to turn him over or why the soldier fled in the first place.

Several recent American detainees had been held for over a year ? 17 months in the case of Otto Warmbier, a college student who was arrested during a group tour. Warmbier was in a coma when he was deported , and later died.

North Korea has often been accused of using American detainees as bargaining chips, and there had also been speculation that the North would try to maximize the propaganda value of a U.S. soldier.

But analysts say Kings legal troubles could have limited his propaganda value, and Biden administration officials insisted they provided no concessions to North Korea to secure his release. (AP)
Headed for Lexington for the sales, the races, or just plain fun? Then youre invited to attend the 2023 Breeders Crown Charity Challenge Launch Party on Tues., Oct. 3 at noon in the Kentucky Room at Fasig-Tipton sale arena.

The Lexington Selected Yearling Sale is one of the most anticipated events of the year and the sale company has graciously hosted the Crown Charity launch party and stallion breeding auction for five straight years.

Day two of the glitzy yearling sale starts at 1 p.m. with the auction of a 2024 breeding to seven of the most sought-after stallions in harness racing: Walner, a four-legged Fort Knox whose offspring have racked up more than $24 million on the track in a scant five years; Sweet Lou, whose great white blaze and blazing speed have been passed down to colts and fillies in winners circles across the country, Bettors Delight, arguably the most prolific stallion in harness racing whose get have earned a staggering $342 million; the blue-blooded Trixton, whose son Just For Trix boasts the only sub-1:50 trot mile of 2023 (1:49.4); and the fastest harness horse on wheels Bulldog Hanover, along with his fellow Horse of the Year Honouree Tall Dark Stranger and the pride of Ohio, Downbytheseaside, whose progeny are eligible to one of the most lucrative sire stakes program in North America.

Hoosier Parks Emily Gaskin will host the noon ceremonies, detailing the Charity Challenge contest to date and previewing the $7 million Breeders Crown events at Harrahs Hoosier Park later in the month,

In addition, top owner and breeder Marvin Katz, whose efforts launched the charity component of the Breeders Crown series, will present a $10,000 cheque to Lexington mayor Linda Gorton. Ms. Gorton has chosen the Stable Recovery program as the local recipient of Katzs annual largesse. The Stable Recoverys mission is to provide a safe and stable living environment for men in early recovery, with a focus on equine-related training and employment opportunities. While participating in the recovery housing program, residents attend the School of Horsemanship at Taylor Made Farm. They receive training and on-the-job experience in several different facets of the Thoroughbred industry by the very best in the business at Taylor Made. Taylor Made then helps graduates seek potential employment opportunities at participating horse farms in and around Lexington, Kentucky.

Thanks to the generous donors, sponsors and supporters, the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge along with the harness racing community has raised more than $1.2 million since 2019 for deserving local and regional charities in host track regions.

(Breeders Crown)
Artists, writers, organizations and individuals will gather at Revalation Vineyards on Sunday to challenge what they say is a recent spate of book banning in Madison County and across the nation, according to a business release.

The event will include speakers, informational booths and food from local vendors. Book vendors will also be on hand to sell copies of frequently banned books to those who have not been able to find them locally.

Revalation Vineyards owner Francoise Seillier-Moiseiwitcsh is the event organizer along with other community members who share deep concerns about the local school boards book banning decisions, according to the release.

The Madison County School Board earlier this year voted to remove 21 titles from the Madison County High School Library after enacting a policy against sexually explicit content. Banned books included Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye, The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood and Stephen Kings tale of Pennywise the clown, It.

Banning books and censorship have always been something that infuriates me and this last year in particular has been frustrating, watching so many Virginia schools hit with waves of challenges, said Heather Griffin, owner of Spelled Ink bookstores in Orange and Culpeper, in the release.

Madison got hit hard with over 20 books challenged, so what better time and place to highlight the injustice than a festival in Madison right at the start of Banned Book Week? she continued.

Griffin said it is already difficult for rural communities to access books.

When you take away their access to free books from libraries, youre depriving them of building knowledge and empathy, finding escape, the comfort of not being alone, experiencing different walks of life and cultures, she said.

Speakers for the event will include Davi Levanthal, an artist who will discuss the effects of bans on the visual arts, and Judy Deichman of the Virginia Library Association who will speak about peoples right to read.

The event takes place from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday at Revalation Vineyards, located at 2710 Hebron Valley Road in Madison. It is free and open to the public.
The right to vote is democracys cornerstone. Without it, our government would never truly represent the people it is meant to serve. Virginia stands alone among southern states in broadening its mechanisms for voting. Free and easy access to the ballot box underpins our democracy, and it will be on the ballot this November.

As with abortion rights, the Supreme Court has given the states broad authority to restrict voting. Core parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 law have been reauthorized with bipartisan support five times, most recently in 2006. But in June 2013, the Supreme Court weakened the laws requirement for prior federal review of states proposed election-related changes. Within hours of the decision, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law previously blocked by a federal court.

In the intervening years, as legislatures in southern states gained Republican majorities, the pace of voter restrictions quickened. A trot became a dash under the weight of unproven MAGA claims of election fraud after 2020. Between Jan. 1 and May 29 of this year alone, at least 11 states enacted 13 restrictive laws. Of these laws, seven curb access to voting by mail and impose stricter photo ID requirements for voter registration or in-person voting.

In Virginia, the Democratic legislatures of 2020 and 2021 bucked this trend and made it easier to cast a ballot. Absentee voting, which earlier required attesting to a specific reason, was changed to require no reason. Early voting in person is now allowed 45 days before Election Day. Voter registration is allowed on Election Day, with the new voter casting a provisional ballot while the registration is verified. Mail-in absentee ballots no longer require a witness signature, just the last four digits of the voters Social Security number.

However, Virginia is one of only two states that still has a Jim Crow-era law banning felons from voting for the rest of their lives unless the governor restores an individual felons rights. This provision was enacted in Virginias 1902 constitution explicitly to stop Black Virginians from voting. Although previous Democratic governors expedited the restoration of rights, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has slowed down the process to a trickle of approvals, obviously intending to disenfranchise people most likely not to vote Republican. He, along with red states, withdrew Virginia from a multi-state arrangement to identify voters who moved.

MAGA adherents claim that the counting of mail-in ballots, which often extended beyond Election Day and sometimes shifted the outcome, was evidence of fraud. MAGA forces in Virginias Buckingham County shredded the countys reputation  and its Registrars office  in an unsuccessful attempt to assert their claims that mail-in ballots were substantially fraud. Republican county committees here and elsewhere have been prepping with movies and lectures suggesting that there has been, and will be, voter fraud.

As frustrating as it may be to those who have been taught to see mail-in ballots as a path to deception, Youngkin has taken a public stance favoring early voting in person and by absentee ballot. Of course, Youngkin is positioning himself to run for president and needs to thread the needle on voter restriction issues. He certainly needs to distinguish himself from Floridas presidential candidate, whose voter suppression tactics are extensive, including fraud police.

So, stand up and be counted in the tug-of-war over voting rights. Early in-person voting began at your county registrars office on Sept. 22. This year, all seats in Virginias General Assembly are up for election, 100 in the House of Delegates and 40 in the State Senate. A Republican majority could easily mean that Virginia will join the other southern states in ramping up voter restrictions. Vote as if you want to protect democracy. Vote Democratic.
Gerings Idem Irrigation has been named a semifinalist in the Farm Bureaus Ag Innovation Challenge for its ball sprinkler head technology. The competition gives companies the opportunity to pitch its products to the Farm Bureau for a chance at $50,000 in funding.

The ball sprinkler head is a sprinkler attachment to be used on center pivots for irrigation that Idem Irrigation leaders says is more efficient and effective at delivering water, nutrients, herbicides and pesticides to a farmers crops.

Our sprinkler ball technology, its an omni-directional ball that we feel we can, and that weve proven in some studies with UNL get more water to the ground and conserve some water for the farmers, Idem Irrigation Director of Sales Jeremy Becker said.

The company has already received $10,000 from the Farm Bureau for reaching the top 10 in the challenge. The Idem Irrigation team is now preparing for their pitch in Salt Lake City at the AFBF Convention in January.

Before that, they will have the opportunity to work with the Cornell School of Business and undergo pitch training to help strengthen their presentation before the competition.

At the convention, Idem Irrigation will compete to reach the top four. If they succeed, they will receive an additional $5,000 in funding as they advance to the final round. If they reach the finals, they will compete for the $50,000 prize. The runner-up will receive $20,000.

All 10 semifinalists will also be eligible for $5,000 if selected as the Peoples Choice winner. The Peoples Choice winner will be selected by a public vote.

Any funding that Idem is able to secure from the competition will be funneled back into their Research and Development Department, according to Jared Ross, chief marketing officer and Idem Irrigation co-founder.

Well be able to put that back toward research and development and inventory and continuing to work on going from an R&D firm to a commercialization firm, he said.

While the firm has worked largely on research and development now that it has found a successful product, company officials are trying to commercialize so that they can produce and sell their product more efficiently.

At this point, we are completely commercial, but any funding like that would just be put back in to help us get to that process further and faster, Ross said.

The companys sprinkler heads are innovative in their designs ability to keep water and nutrients from farmers sprinklers going where they are supposed to go. They felt that many types of more traditional sprinkler heads are more prone to being blown downwind and into water sources or neighboring properties.

The way that it works thats different than everyone else is, were able to import a laminar flow from the sprinkler head, so its a better stream, Becker said.

A laminar flow refers to fluids flowing in a smoother motion which Idem contends makes the streams from its sprinklers more resistant to wind, as opposed to more traditional sprinkler heads which create more droplets that can be moved downwind more naturally.

Since the design is more resistant to wind, the sprinkler head is more efficient for farmers who will have to use less water to achieve the desired effect for their crops. They may also be more sustainable since they might be able to help prevent fertilizer and pesticides from reaching unintended destinations like rivers and streams.

Were putting that water to the soil or to the crop more efficiently, Becker said. Were wasting less, putting that stuff where it needs to be rather than down in the ditch or around the neighbor.

Idem is also working with the North Platte NRD to plant a tree for every model it sells. At the moment, company officials have plans to write a check to the NRD to help them plant 1,600 trees.

However, Idem Irrigation does have some stiff competition in the challenge that they will have to beat out for the prize money. Other competitors include companies like Anu, of Indiana.

Anu produces a compact aeroponics farm that can be used to grow plants in someones kitchen without the use of soil. There is also Barn Owl Precision Agriculture, of Colorado, that develop small robotic tractors to help smaller and midsize farmers manage their crops.

While the workers at Idem did describe themselves as competitive, they were not concerned about the other challengers in the competition. They say they are solely focused on themselves and their product.

Ross said, Yes, weve reviewed them but, right now, our focus is on us and our pitch and the flow and were really just trying to make us the best version of ourselves.

Right now, what that means is working on developing version two of the ball head sprinkler, which is part of the reason why the plan is to funnel their winnings from the competition into the R&D budget.

In the end, for Idem, it is all about the farmer.

Were completely focused on the farmer, so its feedback from them, feedback from the universities, Ross said. Our ultimate goal is to make this even more streamlined and simpler for the farmer.
A Scottsbluff man arrested after a two-day standoff faces 16 charges.

According to filings in Scotts Bluff County Court, Bradley J. Garcia, 37, has been charged with burglary, a Class IIA felony; three counts of first-degree false imprisonment, a Class IIIA felony; possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, a Class ID felony; seven counts of attempted first-degree assault on an officer, a Class II felony; two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony; a Class IC felony; and terroristic threats, a Class IC felony.

He also faces a charge of operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, a Class I misdemeanor.

In an affidavit for a warrant and an affidavit for probable cause filed in the case, a Scotts Bluff County sheriffs investigator outlined that Scotts Bluff County law enforcement officers had received information from the Scotts Bluff County Communications Center that Garcia was reported to be on his way to contact an inmate jailed at the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center on Tuesday, Sept. 26. It had been reported that Garcia was driving a white Chevrolet Suburban, possibly with no plates, and was alleged to have been in possession of stolen firearms.

The deputy attempted to stop the identified vehicle in the 2500 block of Seventh Street, but the driver evaded law enforcement officers, who pursued him through multiple blocks and miles in Gering to a house in the 2300 block of 19th Street in Gering. Garcia parked and entered the house while brandishing a firearm. Inside the house, he allegedly held two girls and a 32-year-old woman against their will.

According to a deputy, Garcia let the two girls out of the home, but held the woman until authorities, including an FBI Hostage Recovery Team, rescued her Wednesday, about 20 hours later.

Garcia would remain holed up inside the residence until Wednesday. He was arrested nearly 29 hours after the standoff began about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

In the affidavits, deputies describe Garcia as making multiple threats of shooting at law enforcement, and say as officers surrounded the residence, they heard multiple gunshots.

As Scotts Bluff County SWAT officers set up a perimeter around the residence, Garcia is alleged to have shot two rounds out a north window at deputies. He is also accused of shooting four rounds out a front window toward a patrol vehicle where seven law enforcement officers were taking cover. While speaking to 911 operators and negotiators, the affidavit alleges, he told them he had officers behind the Dodge Durango in his crosshairs of a 30-06 rifle. Garcia is heard making such statements in a live video that he shared on social media.

In press releases, Sheriff Mark Overman has alleged that Garcia also shot at officers during the pursuit.

Though law enforcement detonated munitions to deploy chemical agents and took other actions, Overman has said that officers did not shoot at any time during the pursuit or the standoff.

Garcia was arraigned Friday in Scotts Bluff County Court. He is being held at the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center on $1 million bail.

Todd Lancaster, of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, has been appointed to represent Garcia. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 13 in Scotts Bluff County Court.

Garcia is also being held on a fugitive-from-justice warrant, having been charged in Weld County, Colorado, with a charge of distribution of a controlled substance. The warrant was issued on Sept. 19 after Garcia failed to appear in court, according to court filings.
In the 1980s there was a new wave rock band, Talking Heads. Their fifth album featured a song titled, Burning Down the House. Band member and co-composer, David Byrne once said, (It) wasnt a song about arson  but a metaphor for destroying something safe that entrapped you  an expression of liberation.

In reflecting on Byrnes lyrics, I never really felt entrapped by the home in which I grew up. My parents never said the words, but somehow, I absorbed the old adage, loving means letting go. Consequently, with love, and a tinge of tender sadness, they blessed the liberation I sought when I left the country shortly after my 25th birthday.

There was no need for my burning down the house, even metaphorically. Recently I came across a Henry Ward Beecher quote; it seems to express this dichotomy of wanting to hold loved ones close, yet coupled with the poignant willingness to let them go:

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots; the other, wings.

On Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, I received a call from the grandson of a long-time friend. It wasnt a social call. In his capacity as Rutherfordtons fire chief, he was calling to inform me (with no intention of metaphor), of the burning down (of) the house.

That tragic moment seemed closely akin to death  you know its inevitable, you just dont know the particulars  perhaps Ill never know. Although uninhabited for nearly 25 years, the old house was, for me, the final tangible symbol of our family. My sister, my parents all dead more than two decades before. Actually, I found a bit of dark solace in that fact. Some familiar Irish words returned to provide additional consolation:

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal; love leaves a memory no one can steal.

A few days later I spent several hours at the scene  taking pictures, even talking with a local newspaper reporter. But mostly I kept playing mental video clips, where I magically reconstructed various rooms from the charred remnants of where we ate, slept, laughed, celebrated, cried, and comforted one another , in short, where we lived and loved.

I still love that old house and the wonderful memories it engenders, but fate has determined that its time to let it go. In a later conversation with the fire chief, he said the cause, more than likely, was arson. Some years before, the house had been seriously vandalized.

In early spring of 2022, I made arrangements to have the scarred remnants removed, and grass planted. In the not-too-distant future, where the old house once stood for over a century, there will be simply a blanket of new grass.

About the time my grandfather bought the homeplace, Carl Sandburg penned his poem, Grass, about the loss of so many lives in World War I. One line stands out to me: I am the grass; I cover all. Except for a scant few of us, there is, or soon, will be, little or no indication of the three generations that once inhabited the now non-existent structure. The words of two other favorite writers  Wolfe and Steinbeck  fused to deliver an elegy for the home place:

There was a great man named Thomas Wolfe and he wrote a book called You Cant Go Home Again. And that is true  you cant go home again because home has ceased to exist except in the moth balls of memory.

 John Steinbeck
PCIT Vs Krishak Bharti Cooperative Ltd (Supreme Court of India)

Supreme Court held that dividend received by the Indian company having permanent establishment (PE) in Oman is not taxable in India in terms of Article 25 read with Article 8 (bis) of the Omani Tax Laws

Facts- The assessee is a multi-State Co-operative Society registered in India, under the administrative control of the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operation, Government of India. In the course of its business of manufacturing fertilizers, it entered into a joint venture with Oman Oil Company to form the Oman Fertilizer Company SAOC, a registered company in Oman under the Omani laws. The assessee has 25% share in the JV. The JV manufactures fertilizers, which are purchased by the Central Government. The assessee has a branch office in Oman which is independently registered as company under the Omani laws having permanent establishment status in Oman in terms of Article 25 of the DTAA. The branch office maintains its own books of account and submits returns of income under the Omani income tax laws.

AO allowed tax credit in respect of the dividend income received by the assessee from the JV. The dividend income was simultaneously brought to the charge of tax in the assessment as per the Indian tax laws. However, under the Omani tax laws, exemption was granted to the dividend income by virtue of the amendments made in the Omani tax laws w.e.f the year 2000. AO allowed credit for the said tax, which would have been payable in Oman, but exemption was granted.

Thereafter, PCIT issued a show cause notice u/s. 263 of the Act on the ground that the reliance placed on Article 25(4) of DTAA was erroneous in this case and no tax credit was due to the assessee u/s. 90 of the Act. The PCIT rejected all the contentions raised by the assessee inter alia holding that Article 25 of Omani tax laws is not applicable in the instant case because there is tax payable on dividend in Oman and, accordingly, no tax has been paid and that assessee is not covered under the exemption.

ITAT allowed the appeal. High Court held that as per the relevant terms of the DTAA between India and Oman, the assessee is entitled to claim the tax credit, which has been rightly allowed by the Assessing Officer.

Conclusion- Held that the assessees establishment in Oman has been treated as PE from the very inception up to the year 2011. There is no reason as to why all of a sudden, the assessees establishment in Oman would not be treated as PE when for about 10 years it was so treated, and tax exemption was granted basing upon the provisions contained in Article 25 read with Article 8 (bis) of the Omani Tax Laws.

In our considered view, the appellant has not been able to demonstrate as to why the provisions contained in Article 25 of DTAA and Article 8 (bis) of the Omani Tax Laws would not be applicable and, consequently, we hold that the appeals have no substance and deserve to be dismissed which are hereby dismissed.

FULL TEXT OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT/ORDER

Delay condoned in SLP (C) Diary No. 4647 of 2018 and SLP (C) Diary No. 15333 of 2023.

2. Leave granted in SLP (C) No. _____ @ Diary No. 4647 of 2018, SLP(C) No. 11204 of 2023 and SLP (C) No. _____ @ Diary No. 15333 of 2023.

3. This judgment governs the disposal of Civil Appeal No. 836 of 2018, C.A. No. 3369 of 2019, Civil Appeal No. 2256 of 2018 and the appeals arising out of SLP (C) Diary No. 4647 of 2018, SLP(C) No. 11204 of 2023 and SLP (C) @ Diary No. 15333 of 2023.

BACKGROUND FACTS:

4. The assessee is a multi-State Co-operative Society registered in India, under the administrative control of the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operation, Government of India. In the course of its business of manufacturing fertilizers, it entered into a joint venture with Oman Oil Company to form the Oman Fertilizer Company SAOC (for short OMIFCO or the JV), a registered company in Oman under the Omani laws. The assessee has 25% share in the JV. The JV manufactures fertilizers, which are purchased by the Central Government. The assessee has a branch office in Oman which is independently registered as company under the Omani laws having permanent establishment status in Oman in terms of Article 25 of the DTAA. The branch office maintains its own books of account and submits returns of income under the Omani income tax laws.

5. The assessment for the relevant year was completed under Section 143 (3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short, the Act). The Assessing Officer allowed tax credit in respect of the dividend income received by the assessee from the JV. The dividend income was simultaneously brought to the charge of tax in the assessment as per the Indian tax laws. However, under the Omani tax laws, exemption was granted to the dividend income by virtue of the amendments made in the Omani tax laws w.e.f the year 2000.

6. The Assessing Officer allowed credit for the said tax, which would have been payable in Oman, but exemption was granted. Thereafter, the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (for short, PCIT) issued a show cause notice under Section 263 of the Act on the ground that the reliance placed on Article 25(4) of DTAA was erroneous in this case and no tax credit was due to the assessee under Section 90 of the Act. This notice was duly replied to by the assessee. However, the PCIT rejected all the contentions raised by the assessee inter alia holding that Article 25 of Omani tax laws is not applicable in the instant case because there is tax payable on dividend in Oman and, accordingly, no tax has been paid and that assessee is not covered under the exemption.

7. Questioning the order of PCIT, the assessee preferred an appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (for short, ITAT), which allowed the appeal holding that the order passed by the PCIT under Section 263 of the Act is without jurisdiction and is not sustainable in law.

8. The order passed by the ITAT was challenged before the Delhi High Court by preferring an Income Tax Appeal, which has been dismissed by the High Court by the impugned judgment holding that as per the relevant terms of the DTAA between India and Oman, the assessee is entitled to claim the tax credit, which has been rightly allowed by the Assessing Officer.

CONTENTIONS RAISED BY THE PARTIES:

9. Shri Arijit Prasad, learned senior counsel would submit that Article 11(4) would only apply in a case where the Permanent Establishment (for short, PE) of the assessee was carrying on business in Oman, whereas, in the case in hand, the PE is only doing preparatory and auxiliary work and is not having any tangible expenses. Therefore, the dividend income of the assessee is not related to its PE. It is also argued that the exemption letter dated 11.12.2000 issued by the Sultanate of Oman, Ministry of Finance under the signatures of Secretary General for Taxation, has no statutory force as per Omani Tax Laws, therefore, the same cannot be relied upon to claim exemption.

10. Per contra, Arvind P. Dattar, learned senior counsel appearing for the assessee would contend that the provisions of DTAA fully exempt the assessee from payment of tax on dividend in Oman which, in turn, would exempt the assessee from taxation in India. It is further argued that the letter issued by the Sultanate of Oman, Ministry of Finance emanates from the highest authority of the Omani regime, therefore, the clarification set out in the said letter is valid for interpretation of the relevant clauses of DTAA, to exempt the assessee from payment of dividend tax in Oman and, in turn, in India.

ISSUE TO BE CONSIDERED BY THIS COURT:

11. All the matters involve a similar question of law as to whether the dividend income earned by the assessee is taxable, although exempted under Omani Tax Laws to entitle the assessee to the benefits of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (for short, DTAA) between India and Oman.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS :

12. The decision in these appeals revolves around the relevant provisions of the DTAA and Omani Tax Laws, therefore, it is profitable to extract them for ready reference. Article 7 speaks about business profits which reads as follows:

 ARTICLE 7.

The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carried on business in the other Contracting State through a Permanent Establishment situated therein. If the enterprise carries on business as aforesaid, the profits of the enterprise may be taxed in the other Contracting State but only so much of them as is attributable directly or indirectly to that Permanent Establishment.

Article 11 deals with dividends, which reads as follows:

ARTICLE 11 DIVIDENDS

1. Dividends paid by a company which is resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other Contracting State.

2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident and according to the laws of the State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the dividends, the tax so charged shall not exceed:

(a) 10 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company which owns at least 10 per cent of the shares of the company paying the dividends;

(b) 121/ 2 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other cases. This paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.

3. The term dividends as used in this Article means income from shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits as well as income from other corporate rights which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the Contracting State of which the company making the distribution is a resident.

4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, through a permanent establishment situated therein or performs in that other Contracting State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case, the provisions of Article 7 or Article 16, as the case may be, shall apply.

5. Where a company which is a resident of a Contracting State derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other Contracting State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company except insofar as such dividends are paid to a resident of that other Contracting State or insofar as the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated in that other Contracting State, nor subject the companys undistributed profits to a tax on the companys undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other Contracting State.

The significant provision concerning avoidance of double taxation is contained in Article 25, which is re-produced hereinunder:

25. AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION.

(1) The law in force in either of the Contracting States will continue to govern the taxation of the income in the respective Contracting States except where provisions to the contrary are made in this Agreement.

(2) Where a resident of India derives income which, in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, may be taxed in the Sultanate of Oman, India shall allow as a deduction from the tax on the income of that resident an amount equal to the income tax paid in the Sultanate of Oman, whether directly or by deduction. Such deduction shall not, however, exceed that part of the income tax(as computed before the deduction is given) which is attributable to the income which may be taxed in the Sultanate of Oman.

(3) Where a resident of the Sultanate of Oman derives income which, in accordance with the provisio0ns of this Agreement, may be taxed in India, the Sultanate of Oman shall allow as a deduction from the tax on the Income of the resident an amount equal to the income tax paid in India, whether directly or by deduction. Such deduction shall not, however, exceed that part of the income tax (as computed before the deduction is given) which is attributable to the income which may be taxed in India.

(4) The tax payable in a Contracting State mentioned in paragraph 2 and Paragraph 3 of this Article shall be deemed to include the tax which would have been payable but for the tax incentive granted under the laws of the Contracting State and which are designed to promote development.

(5) Income which, in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, is not to be subjected to tax in a Contracting State, may be taken into account for calculating the rate of tax to be imposed in that Contracting State.

The provisions contained in Omani Tax Laws, relied upon by the assessee read as follows:

 Article 8 (bis)  In exception to the provisions of Article 8 of this law, tax shall not apply on the following:

1. Dividends received by the company against equity shares, portions or stocks in the capital of any other company.

2. Profits or gains realized by the company from the sale of securities listed in Muscat Securities Market or from their disposal.

13. Article 25 (2) of the DTAA provides that where a resident of India derives income, which in accordance with this agreement, may be taxed in the Sultanate of Oman, India shall allow as a deduction from the tax on the income of that resident an amount equal to the income tax paid in the Sultanate of Oman, whether directly or by deduction. Article 25 (4) clarifies that the tax payable in a Contracting State mentioned in clause 2 and clause 3 of the said Article shall be deemed to include the tax which would have been payable but for the tax incentive granted under the laws of the Contracting State and which are designed to promote development.

14. The revenue relied upon Article 11 which provides that dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other Contracting State. Thus, according to the revenue, dividend received by the assessee is taxable in India and is not exempt because the same is not designed as tax incentive in Oman to promote development in that country. In the same manner, it is argued that the letter issued by the Secretary General for Taxation, Ministry of Finance, Oman was not issued by the competent Omani authority and has no statutory force.

15. The term incentive is neither defined in the Omani Tax Laws nor in the Income Tax Act, 1961. Faced with this situation, the JV addressed a letter in November, 2000 to Oman Oil Company seeking clarification regarding the purpose of Article 8 (bis) of the Omani Tax Laws. The clarification letter dated 11.12.2000 addressed by the Secretary General for Taxation, Sultanate of Oman, Ministry of Finance, Muscat to Oman Oil Company SAOC is significant, and reads as follows:

We refer to your letter dated 2nd December, 2000 and our previous letter dated 8 August, 2000 on the above subject.

Under Article 8 of the Company Income Tax Law of Oman, dividend forms part of the gross income chargeable to tax. The tax law of Oman provides income tax exemption to companies undertaking certain identified economic activities considered essential for the countrys economic development with a view to encouraging investments in such sectors.

Before the recent amendments to the Profit Tax Law on Commercial and Industrial Establishments, Article 5 of this law provided for exemption of dividend income in the hands of the recipients if such dividends were received out of the profits on which Omani income tax was paid by distributing companies. It meant that Omani income tax was payable by the recipients on any dividend income received out of the exempt profits from tax exempt companies. As a result, investors in tax exempt companies that undertake those activities considered essential for the countrys economic development suffered a tax cost on their return on investments the tax treatment under the above-mentioned Article 5 had the negative impact on investments in tax exempt project.

The company Income Tax Law of 1981 was, therefore, recently amended by Royal Decree No. 68/2000 by the insertion of a new Article 8 (bis) which is effective as from the tax year 2000. As per the newly introduced Article 8 (bis) of the Company Income Tax Law, dividend distributed by all companies, including the tax-exempt companies would be exempt from payment of income tax in the hands of the recipients. In this manner, the Government of Oman would achieve its aim objective of promoting economic development within Oman by attracting investments. We presume from our recent discussions with you that the Indian investors in the above Project would be setting up Permanent Establishment in Oman and that their equity investments in the Project would be effectively connected with such Permanent Establishments.

On the above presumption, we confirm that tax would be payable on dividend income earned by the Permanent Establishments of the Indian Investors, as it would form part of their gross income under Article 8, if not for the tax exemption provided under Article 8 (bis).

As the introduction of Article 8 (bis) is to promote economic development in Oman, the Indian Investors should be able to obtain relief in India ITA Nos. 6785 & 6786/DEL/2015 (AYRS. 2010-11 & 2011-12) KRISHAK BHARATI CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED VS. ACIT under Article 25 (4) of the Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation in India. All other matters covered in our letter No. FT/13/92 dated 6th August, 2000 remained unchanged.

16. It is, thus, clear from the above letter of the Omani Finance Ministry that the dividend distributed by all companies, including the tax-exempt companies would be exempt from payment of income tax in the hands of the recipients. By extending the facility of exemption, the Government of Oman intend to achieve its object of promoting development within Oman by attracting investments. Since the assessee has invested in the project by setting up a permanent establishment in Oman, as the JV is registered as a separate company under the Omani laws, it is aiding to promote economic development within Oman and achieve the object of Article 8 (bis). The Omani Finance Ministry concluded by saying that tax would be payable on dividend income earned by the permanent establishments of the Indian Investors, as it would form part of their gross income under Article 8, if not for the tax exemption provided under Article 8(bis).

17. A plain reading of Article 8 and Article 8 (bis) would manifest that under Article 8, dividend is taxable, whereas, Article 8(bis) exempts dividend received by a company from its ownership of shares, portions, or shareholding in the share capital in any other company. Thus, Article 8(bis) exempts dividend tax received by the assessee from its PE in Oman and by virtue of Article 25, the assessee is entitled to the same tax treatment in India as it received in Oman.

18. Insofar as the argument concerning the assessee not having PE in Oman, it is significant to note that from the year 2002 to 2006, a common order was made under Article 26 (2) of the Income Tax Law of Oman. The High Court has extracted the opening portion of the above order, which reads as under:

We refer to the returns of income and determine the taxable income as under:

Kribhco Muscat is a permanent establishment supported by M/s. Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited, a multi-state cooperative society registered in India. As per the accounts, Kribhco-Muscat is in receipt of dividend income from Omifco, a joint stock company registered in Oman, and that dividend income is connected with the investment of Kribhco-Muscat. The dividend income is, however, exempt from tax in accordance with Article 8(bis) (1) of the Company Income Tax Law.

The tax exemption on dividend is granted with the objective of promoting economic development within Oman by attracting investments.

It is, thus, apparent that the assessees establishment in Oman has been treated as PE from the very inception up to the year 2011. There is no reason as to why all of a sudden, the assessees establishment in Oman would not be treated as PE when for about 10 years it was so treated, and tax exemption was granted basing upon the provisions contained in Article 25 read with Article 8 (bis) of the Omani Tax Laws.

19. Learned senior counsel for the appellant has also raised an issue to the effect that the letter dated 11.12.2000 issued by the Secretary General for Taxation, Ministry of Finance, Sultanate of Oman has no statutory force as per Omani Tax Laws, hence, the same cannot be relied upon to claim exemption. In our view, the above letter, as has been reproduced in the preceding paragraph of this judgment, is only a clarificatory communication interpreting the provisions contained in Article 8 and Article 8 (bis) of the Omani Tax Laws. The letter itself has not introduced any new provision in the Omani Tax Laws. In this view of the matter, the argument raised by the learned senior counsel would not convince us to deny exemption to the assessee.

20. In our considered view, the appellant has not been able to demonstrate as to why the provisions contained in Article 25 of DTAA and Article 8 (bis) of the Omani Tax Laws would not be applicable and, consequently, we hold that the appeals have no substance and deserve to be dismissed which are hereby dismissed.
RAINIER  The Oregon environmental quality department has hit the city of Rainier with a $31,550 penalty for allegedly dumping 20,000 gallons of raw sewage into Fox Creek as well as violating state water quality standards.

The Rainier wastewater treatment plant in January dumped six times the legal limit of E. coli bacteria into nearby waterways and discharged 20,000 gallons of untreated, raw sewage into Fox Creek, according to the violation letter sent to the city by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Rainier Mayor Jerry Cole said city staff are working to repair the treatment plant and meet state standards so they can avoid the fines. The city has been fined three times over six years for similar water quality violations, according to the departments letter.

We are doing our best to get in compliance. ... We take it seriously, Cole said in an interview Thursday.

Rainier officials told the department the 20,000 gallons discharged into Fox Creek was caused by a garbage bag that was illegally placed in the line by a third party, according to the violation letter.

Ongoing water issues

Discharged water that is untreated or exceeds limitations on certain chemicals can pose an environmental issue for the Columbia River and its tributaries, said Dylan Darling, public affairs specialist of Department of Environmental Quality.

They monitor it, and then they turn it in, and we evaluate it, Darling said. If its not matching the limits, then that becomes a violation.

The permit limit on E. coli bacteria set by the state is 406 organisms per 100 milliliters from a single sample; in December, Rainiers water sample showed 2,420 organisms per 100 milliliters, according to the department. E. coli, at high enough levels, can make recreational waters unhealthy for swimming, drinking or fishing, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In a letter to then-Public Works Director Sue Lawrence, the department said the city also went over its limits for total suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand between December and June.

Total suspended solids refer to how clear the water is when looking at the surface, while biochemical oxygen demand refers to how much aerobic bacteria is growing on organic matter in the water, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The letter states the city, on two occasions in January, discharged untreated sewage into the waters of the state. The plant has had more than 100 violations at its treatment plant over six years, the letter states. Rainier was last fined $7,000 in 2021 by the Department of Environmental Quality.

Treatment plant problems

The fine comes as the city is undergoing an attempt to repair its wastewater treatment facility. Earlier this month, the Rainier City Council hired West Yost for about $213,000 to study and design the repairs.

Part of the wastewater treatment plants discharging system stem from drainage issues, Cole said. He added the drinking water is clean, and the issue is that the water going back into the river system does not yet meet Oregons environmental regulations.

While a July inspection of the plant did not show any violations, the department said, a lack of regular maintenance and housekeeping was apparent throughout the facility.

Cole said Rainier works with the Department of Environmental Quality to funnel the money they would usually use to pay the fine to instead help pay for projects that would put them in compliance. These projects have to be submitted to and then approved by water quality experts at the state level, Darling said.

The department handed down $218,576 total in fines to 19 entities accused of either discharging untreated sewage into the Columbia River, polluting a creek or submitting inaccurate greenhouse gas emissions data, the department said Thursday in a news release. Stimson Lumber Company, a private timberland company, in Clatskanie was also fined $5,200 for wastewater violations.

Rainier had the highest fine of any penalized organization during this round of violation notices. Darling said the fine depends on the level of violation, how often it has happened and prior history of violations.

They can either pay the fine to the state treasury, the department said, or file an appeal within 20 days of getting the notice. There are also options for cities and organizations to offset the harsh fine by funding a supplemental project to improve Oregons environment, according to the news release.
Arne Mortensen and Rick Dahl have decided to hold Cowlitz County Superior Court responsible for the Blake decision, the COVID-19 pandemic and how the State of Washington has voted. At least, that seems to be their reasoning for why they declined a request to hire an additional judge.

The Cowlitz County Superior Court requested a new judge join their bench in the hopes of speedier resolutions to cases and a shorter backlog. The request was partially based on recommendations from the Washington State Center for Court Research. Its a common sense request: more judges can review more cases and get the wait time down.

Two of our three county commissioners responded by throwing their hands up in the air and complaining about the system.

One complaint seems to be that adding another judge did not speed case resolutions sufficiently when a judge joined the bench in 2017. In response, wed like to invite the councilors to consider events which have occurred since 2017 that may have resulted in more work for the courts.

First was a little event in 2020 that had a substantial impact on the courts. The COVID-19 pandemic, as everyone has heard over and over again, changed everything. Courts had to try and pivot to remote cases as quickly as possible, and later suspended jury trials multiple times as viral activity in the community rose.

While this slowed the courts ability to try cases, the need for the courts attention did not abate. By July 2021, open criminal cases were up 43% compared to pre-pandemic levels. And while everyone in the court worked tirelessly to reduce that backlog, telling people to simply work faster is not always an option when you are dealing with such important, complicated material.

A court must be free to take its time and investigate each case as thoroughly as necessary. While the 6th Amendment is often described as the right to a speedy trial, it also includes a defendants right to legal counsel. And, as as the Supreme Court ruled in 1970s McMann v. Richardson, that right includes effective legal counsel. Attempting to get through cases faster risks jeopardizing the courts job to uphold their highest responsibility.

Further complicating this is the other large problem recently dropped into the lap of local courts: 2021s State v. Blake decision, which struck down Washingtons drug possession law and required a mass reevaluation of sentences, which put more work on the local justice system.

Like the COVID-19 pandemic, this drove up the case backlog of the courts through no fault of their own. The fact that the situation isnt even worse than it was is a result of seating another judge in 2017.

These exacerbating factors were on top of the county already having persistently high demand for Superior Court, where felony criminal cases are held. Cowlitz County has the second-highest per capita imprisonment rate in the state, according to an August 2022 report, while the Washington State Statistical Analysis Center reports that the county has 2,511 crimes reported per 10,000 people, a rate higher than any of our neighboring counties and sixth-highest in the state.

Mortensen and Dahl maintain that their current use of a court commissioner is adequate. However, the court commissioner they are looking to replace is not only available for less time  only offering 75% of the time compared to a Superior Court judge  but also cannot oversee jury trials. While court commissioners are a common practice and they have their place in the judicial system, they are a poor alternative to the judge we need.

The other objection is purely political: Dahl doesnt like that a new judge would first be appointed by the governor, before headed to a citizens vote at the next election. Gov. Jay Inslee wont be in office when this seat needs filled since he isnt running for re-election, but odds are his replacement will be liberal and against Mortensens and Dahls beliefs.

However, by keeping a court commissioner instead of a judge, the county is also preventing the peoples right to vote someone they choose to review local court cases. While the governors role, as stated in the Washington State Constitution, is to fill vacant seats, that power is checked by voters, who choose who will sit in the seat come the next election.

The irony of Dahls objection that the system does not work for the citizens due to political reasons, is that he is degrading the function of the system for political reasons of his own. He is hampering the courts ability to deliver justice because he objects to the governor doing their job.

Yet, it wont be Inslee or another governor wounded by this posturing. The people Mortensen and Dahl are hurting by refusing to provide more help to the court are the people in the community. These people are seeing longer waits to have cases resolved, and by extension, justice delayed. The commissioners rhetoric about the court system being broken and, apparently, unfixable only harms the legitimacy of courts in Cowlitz County.

This is an act of spite. But its not an effective one. It harms local people trying to get resolution and undermines the court system we use to dole out justice.
The U.S. Department of Defense labeled North Korea as a "persistent" threat in an updated key security document released Thursday, warning that its military capability advancements would give the recalcitrant regime options to use nuclear arms "at any stage of a conflict."

The Pentagon published its first Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) document in 2014, describing China as the pacing challenge, Russia as an acute threat, and the North and Iran as persistent threats.

"Capability developments provide the DPRK with options for nuclear weapons use at any stage of conflict," the document read. "The DPRK is developing and fielding mobile short-, intermediate-, and intercontinental-range nuclear capabilities that place the U.S. homeland and regional Allies and partners at risk."

The DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The document noted the North's enactment of a law last year on its nuclear armament, stressing that the country has prioritized its nuclear weapons arsenal and ballistic missile force.

"The DPRK enacted a law in 2022 reaffirming its self-proclaimed status as a nuclear power, establishing conditions for nuclear use, and rejecting denuclearization," it said.

"The law articulates that the DPRK will use nuclear weapons if it perceives an impending nuclear attack; if the Kim regime, people, or the state's existence were threatened; or as an offensive war option," it added.

The document also said that the North's chemical and biological weapons capabilities remain a threat as it may use such weapons in the event of a conflict.

"The DPRK maintains up to several thousand metric tons of chemical warfare agents and the capability to produce nerve, blister, blood, and choking agents," it said. "The DPRK chemical employment methods include artillery, ballistic missiles, and unconventional forces."

The Pentagon published the last such WMD document in 2014, which focused on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations and managing risks emanating from hostile, fragile, or failed states and safe havens.

"The risk of the United States or its allies and partners facing a military confrontation that includes chemical, biological, radiological, and/or nuclear weapons has increased since 2014," it assessed.

In the document, the Pentagon cast China as the "most comprehensive and urgent" challenge to the U.S.

"The PRC has expanded and modernized nearly every aspect of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), with a focus on offsetting U.S. military advantages," the document read, referring to China by its official name, the People's Republic of China.

"It is aggressively pursuing a nuclear force expansion and modernization program, including missile delivery systems designed to manage regional escalation," it added.

The department described Russia as posing the "most acute" nuclear, biological, and chemical threat in the near-term and will continue to retain WMD capabilities in the medium to long term. (Yonhap)
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: Argonne National Laboratory

Concrete sidewalks, black asphalt streets, traffic, brick and steel buildings. These common city elements can retain heat and increase temperatures in a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect.

With increasingly warming temperatures during the summer months, urban cities like Chicago need to arm decision makers and communities with information about strategies to help keep their residents cool. One strategy involves something all buildings already have: a roof. Certain roofing materials can help cool the surrounding outside air and decrease the need for air conditioning (AC).

To help understand how climate is affecting urban communities, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory examined three different types of roofing strategies and their impact on near-surface temperature and cooling energy demand through regional modeling in the Chicago metropolitan area.

"We chose to run our model during a heat wave eventwhere temperatures cross the 95th percentile observed in a city for three consecutive daysas opposed to average summer temperatures so that we could maximize potential benefits," said Rao Kotamarthi, science director for Argonne's Center for Climate Resilience and Decision Science (CCRDS) and author of the study.

The team ran a regional climate model simulating the Chicago metro area and three types of roofs: cool (painted a heat-reflecting white), green (vegetation) and solar panels.

They found that the three types of roofs reduced the near-surface temperature and AC consumption demand during daytime hours when air temperature is the highest. Cool roofs reduced the near-surface temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius, followed by 1.2 degrees for green roofs and 0.6 degrees for solar panel roofs across the Chicago area.

Because all the roofing strategies offer cooling effects, they reduce AC consumption. Cool roofs reduced AC energy consumption the most, followed by green roofs and solar panel roofs. Energy demand was shown to be reduced by 16.6%, 14.0%, and 7.6%, when cool roofs, green roofs and solar panel roofs are deployed, respectively.

Overall, the large-scale deployment of cool roofs showed the best potential for cooling effects and cooling energy saving. They cost less than the other two technologies, and they do not require additional water. However, they are not helpful in managing stormwater loads as green roofs have the potential to do. Stakeholders can use results of the study to inform sustainable development approaches, lower summertime cooling energy demand, and help minimize greenhouse gas emissions in the long term over the Chicago region.

This work was conducted as part of the Community Research on Climate & Urban Science (CROCUS) Urban Integrated Field Laboratory. CROCUS is led by Argonne in partnership with academic and community organizations and civic and industry champions. Focused on the Chicago region, CROCUS studies urban climate change and its implications for environmental justice.

Credit: Argonne National Laboratory

The results of this baseline study will help CROCUS communities plan and test mitigation options. The researchers will work closely with CROCUS community organizations and members.

"The difference in cost between the roofs is approximately a factor of three," said Kotamarthi, who is also the CROCUS science director. "Which option is the most cost effective to get the most benefit? If a community is deciding on a strategy, we can look at the model and give them an actual answer."

And the results are a good starting point for what the researchers hope to achieve next, a city-scale and global-scale model for each of the roofing options. But how do you incorporate a green roof into a computer model? First, researchers will work to better understand green roofs by taking measurements at surface and building levels to improve on how a green roof is represented.

"We have very few measurements for green roofs," said Kotamarthi. "We need to measure how much energy goes in, how much goes out, and how much water it needs and how fast it retains it. We need these measurements to give us a complete understanding of the process so we can refine calculations and models."

Researchers will measure the roofs of CROCUS partners throughout the city. For instance, Northeastern Illinois University has both roof types, while other partner buildings have solar panels.

Finally, the researchers want to improve the resolution of the model all the way down to street scale. Kotamarthi explained that achieving this will help them see the difference between houses and streets, which is important because it will help answer questions such as, if a tree is planted, how much does it cool the nearby building and the pavement?

The team's research used supercomputing resources at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). The ALCF and NERSC are DOE Office of Science user facilities located at Argonne and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, respectively.

More information: Haochen Tan et al, Impact of different roofing mitigation strategies on near-surface temperature and energy consumption over the Chicago metropolitan area during a heatwave event, Science of The Total Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160508 Journal information: Science of the Total Environment
Daymark Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA  Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,200 shares of the utilities providers stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 80.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,191 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 5,864 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Avista by 14.2% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 21,371 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Avista by 27.6% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 37,592 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,714,000 after acquiring an additional 8,137 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Avista by 3.8% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 6,983 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Avista during the first quarter worth $754,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.53% of the companys stock.

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Avista Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $32.37 on Friday. Avista Co. has a twelve month low of $31.74 and a twelve month high of $45.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.51.

Avista Announces Dividend

Avista ( NYSE:AVA Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $379.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $398.20 million. Avista had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 8.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Avistas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.34%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,050 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total value of $38,745.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $211,326.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Avista news, Chairman Scott L. Morris bought 3,100 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.39 per share, for a total transaction of $100,409.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 128,169 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,151,393.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,050 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total value of $38,745.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $211,326.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TheStreet cut Avista from a b rating to a c rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Mizuho cut their target price on Avista from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. StockNews.com cut Avista from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. KeyCorp raised Avista from an underweight rating to a sector weight rating in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Avista from $35.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th.

View Our Latest Stock Report on AVA

Avista Company Profile

(Free Report)

Avista Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company. It operates in two segments, Avista Utilities and AEL&P. The Avista Utilities segment provides electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington and northern Idaho; and natural gas distribution services in parts of northeastern and southwestern Oregon, as well as generates electricity in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana.

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Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT  Free Report) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,002 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 2,114 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.16% of Applied Industrial Technologies worth $9,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 2,351 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 4,740 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,404 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 470 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 92.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIT has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a buy rating for the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $162.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $161.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, August 14th.

Applied Industrial Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE AIT opened at $154.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The businesss 50 day moving average is $151.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.08. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.08 and a 12-month high of $162.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 1.20.

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The industrial products company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.18. Applied Industrial Technologies had a return on equity of 25.62% and a net margin of 7.86%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. will post 9.02 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 9,889 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.16, for a total value of $1,524,488.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 292,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,062,047.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 30,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.67, for a total value of $4,610,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 302,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,455,516.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 9,889 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.16, for a total value of $1,524,488.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 292,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,062,047.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Applied Industrial Technologies Company Profile

(Free Report)

Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc distributes industrial motion, power, control, and automation technology solutions in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates in two segments, Service Center Based Distribution, and Engineered Solutions. The company distributes bearings, power transmission products, engineered fluid power components and systems, specialty flow control solutions, advanced automation products, industrial rubber products, linear motion components, automation solutions, tools, safety products, oilfield supplies, and other industrial and maintenance supplies; and motors, belting, drives, couplings, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components, filtration supplies, valves, fittings, process instrumentation, actuators, and hoses, filtration supplies, as well as other related supplies for general operational needs of customers' machinery and equipment.

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Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Trane Technologies plc (NYSE:TT  Free Report) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,311 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLCs holdings in Trane Technologies were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TT. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Trane Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $178,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Trane Technologies by 3.0% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 16,727 shares of the companys stock worth $2,554,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Trane Technologies in the first quarter worth $219,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Trane Technologies by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,133,851 shares of the companys stock worth $2,769,040,000 after acquiring an additional 77,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Trane Technologies by 3.8% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 956,177 shares of the companys stock worth $146,008,000 after acquiring an additional 34,591 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.66% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Trane Technologies from $210.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Trane Technologies from $218.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Trane Technologies from $172.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Trane Technologies from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Trane Technologies from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $198.59.

Trane Technologies Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE TT opened at $202.91 on Friday. Trane Technologies plc has a 12 month low of $139.07 and a 12 month high of $211.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $46.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.01. The companys fifty day moving average price is $202.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.19.

Trane Technologies (NYSE:TT  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Trane Technologies had a net margin of 11.18% and a return on equity of 31.22%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Trane Technologies plc will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Trane Technologies

In related news, SVP Evan M. Turtz sold 6,108 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.21, for a total transaction of $1,253,422.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,035,659.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Evan M. Turtz sold 6,108 shares of Trane Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.21, for a total value of $1,253,422.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,035,659.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul A. Camuti sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.00, for a total transaction of $980,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,524,164. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,374 shares of company stock worth $4,080,669. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Trane Technologies

(Free Report)

Trane Technologies plc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sells, and services of solutions for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, custom, and custom and transport refrigeration in Ireland and internationally. It offers air conditioners, exchangers, and handlers; airside and terminal devices; air sourced heat pumps, auxiliary power units; chillers; coils and condensers; gensets; dehumidifiers; ductless; furnaces; home automation products; humidifiers; indoor air quality assessments and related products; large and light commercial unitary products; refrigerant reclamation products; thermostats/controls; transport heater products; variable refrigerant flow products; and water source heat pumps.

Further Reading

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Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IVE  Free Report) by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,663 shares of the companys stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLCs holdings in iShares S&P 500 Value ETF were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 3,217 shares of the companys stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,264 shares of the companys stock worth $4,556,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 25,684 shares of the companys stock worth $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in iShares S&P 500 Value ETF by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the companys stock worth $1,962,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. acquired a new stake in iShares S&P 500 Value ETF during the 4th quarter worth $444,000.

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iShares S&P 500 Value ETF Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of IVE opened at $153.76 on Friday. iShares S&P 500 Value ETF has a 52-week low of $127.33 and a 52-week high of $167.62. The firms fifty day moving average is $161.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.73. The stock has a market cap of $24.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85 and a beta of 0.94.

About iShares S&P 500 Value ETF

iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares S&P 500 Value Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P 500 Value Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization value sector of the United States equity market and consists of those stocks in the S&P 500 exhibiting the strongest value characteristics.

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Daymark Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT  Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 17,580 shares of the industrial products companys stock, valued at approximately $499,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Kennametal by 5.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 154,524 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $4,421,000 after acquiring an additional 8,542 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Kennametal by 21.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 9,920 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,756 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Kennametal by 12.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,089 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Kennametal by 396.7% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 36,169 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 28,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Kennametal by 40.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 97,137 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,779,000 after acquiring an additional 28,069 shares in the last quarter.

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Kennametal Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of KMT opened at $24.89 on Friday. Kennametal Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.53 and a 52 week high of $30.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.53 and a 200-day moving average of $26.88.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

Kennametal ( NYSE:KMT Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.08). Kennametal had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 5.70%. The company had revenue of $550.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $567.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 8th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 7th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Kennametals dividend payout ratio is presently 55.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on KMT shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Kennametal in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Kennametal from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $26.92.

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Insider Activity

In other Kennametal news, Director William J. Harvey sold 1,215 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total transaction of $30,982.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $877,990.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kennametal Company Profile

(Free Report)

Kennametal Inc engages in development and application of tungsten carbides, ceramics, and super-hard materials and solutions for use in metal cutting and extreme wear applications to enable customers work against corrosion and high temperatures conditions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Metal Cutting and Infrastructure.

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Douglas Lane & Associates LLC reduced its position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,579 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 568 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLCs holdings in Pfizer were worth $1,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 445,384,893 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $18,171,704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,516,132 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 218,931,933 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $8,932,423,000 after acquiring an additional 19,602,359 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 89,592.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 161,143,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $8,257,000,000 after acquiring an additional 160,963,976 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 109,852,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $4,472,433,000 after buying an additional 577,201 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 83,901,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $3,408,836,000 after buying an additional 10,560,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.05% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Pfizer in a report on Monday, September 18th. Credit Suisse Group downgraded Pfizer from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the company from $47.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. HSBC started coverage on Pfizer in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of Pfizer from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $46.35.

Pfizer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFE opened at $33.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $187.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.59. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $31.77 and a one year high of $54.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.48.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Pfizer had a return on equity of 28.36% and a net margin of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The firms revenue was down 54.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Pfizer

(Free Report)

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.

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Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM  Free Report) by 17.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,192 shares of the companys stock after selling 8,014 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $2,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 2nd quarter worth about $691,000. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,723 shares of the companys stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,917 shares of the companys stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 5,227 shares of the companys stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,493 shares of the companys stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. 77.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:ADM opened at $75.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $40.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.83. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52 week low of $69.92 and a 52 week high of $98.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.23.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

Archer-Daniels-Midland ( NYSE:ADM Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $25.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.82 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Archer-Daniels-Midlands dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archer-Daniels-Midland

In other news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 1,455 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.80, for a total transaction of $126,294.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $938,221.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Thursday, June 22nd. They issued a buy rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $97.50.

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Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Profile

(Free Report)

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities, products, and ingredients in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition.

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Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED  Free Report) by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,042 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 5,612 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.s holdings in Consolidated Edison were worth $2,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Excalibur Management Corp raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 12,709 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,216,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 43,881 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $4,198,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Consolidated Edison by 74.8% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 271 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Brinker Capital Investments LLC increased its stake in Consolidated Edison by 1.2% during the first quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 9,592 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Consolidated Edison Stock Performance

Shares of ED opened at $85.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $29.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 0.37. Consolidated Edison, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.10 and a 52-week high of $100.92.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

Consolidated Edison ( NYSE:ED Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Consolidated Edison had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 15.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison, Inc. will post 4.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 15th. Consolidated Edisons dividend payout ratio is currently 46.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ED has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $102.00 to $96.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $103.00 to $96.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $90.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research note on Wednesday, June 7th. They set a sell rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $89.93.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Consolidated Edison

About Consolidated Edison

(Free Report)

Consolidated Edison, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.6 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,530 customers in parts of Manhattan.

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'Extended deterrence best practical option to counter NK threats'

Editors note This article is the second in a series of interviews to highlight the significance of the ROK-US alliance on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty, signed on Oct. 1, 1953, in the aftermath of the 1950-53 Korean War.  ED.

By Lee Hyo-jin

The alliance between South Korea and the United States dates back to Oct. 1, 1953, when the two nations signed the Mutual Defense Treaty in the aftermath of the 1950-53 Korean War. Over the past seven decades, the bilateral pact has withstood the test of time, but not without challenges.

In particular, the 1970s was a time of change, when the U.S. reduced the United States Forces Korea (USFK) deployed here and reviewed further adjustments of troop levels. The idea of withdrawing U.S. troops was brought up again in 2018 by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who demanded more defense costs from South Korea.

"Alliances can break apart if the interests of both countries are not aligned. An alliance where one party benefits while the other does not, cannot last long," Leem Ho-young, president of the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation (KUSAF), said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. The retired four-star Army general and former deputy commander of the Combined Forces Command has been heading the foundation since May this year.

But in recent years, the shifting geopolitical landscape has underscored South Korea's strategic importance in the U.S.' global competition, particularly in its rivalry with China, making Seoul a valuable partner for Washington than ever before, Leem viewed.

"We should use this opportunity to bolster this win-win partnership. It is crucial for the U.S. to continue its commitment to deter North Korean threats, while South Korea should show full support for U.S.' key foreign policies such as the Indo-Pacific Strategy," he said.

This has been a milestone year for the South Korea-U.S. alliance which celebrates its 70th anniversary, according to Leem.

He stressed the importance of the Washington Declaration signed by Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden in April, through which the two sides agreed to launch a Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), a joint body that will meet regularly to discuss nuclear and strategic planning.

"The extended deterrence provided by the U.S. is the best practical option for South Korea to deter the North's evolving threats."

However, as North Korea continues to advance its nuclear arsenal, there have been growing calls among the South Korean public and some politicians that the nation should acquire its own nuclear weapons.

Leem viewed that a nuclear-armed South Korea is not a feasible scenario for now.

"Developing our nuclear weapons is clearly a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and it will result in huge international sanctions that will deal a heavy blow on our nation's export-oriented economy," he said.

But at the same time, he noted that Seoul should be prepared for a "worst-case scenario."

"At some point, there may come a time when the alliance with the U.S. becomes unstable and it may refuse to provide its nuclear umbrella. I'm not saying that we should go nuclear right now, but we should at least make efforts to shorten the 'lead time' needed in the development of nuclear weapons," he said.

In order to do so, the 2015 nuclear agreement signed with the U.S. needs to be updated and revised, he said. The treaty bans South Korea from enriching uranium and reprocessing spent fuel, the technologies used by countries such as North Korea to make nuclear weapons.

"Based on mutual trust, we should begin discussions with the U.S. and persuade them to lower our nuclear-related barrier similar to that of Japan," Leem said.

Remembering fallen heroes

Formed in April 2017, the main goal of the KUSAF is to support the two nations in maintaining friendly ties by facilitating research, education and forums promoting alliance. It also funds the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA), a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that advocates for the South Korea-U.S. alliance by supporting former and current military service members.

Another major role of the foundation is honoring the soldiers killed during and after the Korean War.

"The service of U.S. troops during the Korean War is widely appreciated and remembered among the (South) Korean public. Yet few people are aware about the sacrifices and contributions made by American soldiers after the war," said Leem, adding that his foundation is engaging in various projects to commemorate such soldiers.

Later this month, the KUSAF will establish a monument to John Singlaub, a former USFK chief of staff who served here in the 1970s. He was removed from his post in 1977 after openly criticizing then-U.S. President Jimmy Carters plan to pull out American troops from the Korean Peninsula, saying that the withdrawal could lead to another North Korean invasion. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 100.

The foundation also plans to be build a memorial by 2025 for 92 U.S. soldiers who were killed during sporadic conflicts with the North after the signing of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement, most of which occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.
Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES  Free Report) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,100 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement Systems holdings in Hess were worth $2,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Hess by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 15,749 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $2,124,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 47,896 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 10,615 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 9,751 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 366,989 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $48,567,000 after purchasing an additional 278,511 shares during the last quarter. 81.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 33,414 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.33, for a total transaction of $5,056,540.62. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 82,932 shares in the company, valued at $12,550,099.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 33,414 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.33, for a total transaction of $5,056,540.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 82,932 shares of the companys stock, valued at $12,550,099.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Barbara J. Lowery-Yilmaz sold 24,319 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.91, for a total transaction of $3,815,894.29. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 113,670 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,835,959.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.93% of the companys stock.

Hess Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE HES opened at $153.00 on Friday. Hess Co. has a one year low of $106.66 and a one year high of $165.43. The companys 50 day moving average price is $154.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31 and a beta of 1.58.

Hess (NYSE:HES  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.08. Hess had a net margin of 14.60% and a return on equity of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. Hesss revenue for the quarter was down 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Hesss dividend payout ratio is currently 33.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Hess from $183.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $166.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Hess from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, September 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a sell rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Hess from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $169.71.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Hess

Hess Company Profile

(Free Report)

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.

Further Reading

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Great Lakes Aviation (OTCMKTS:GLUX  Get Free Report) and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion (NYSE:VLRS  Get Free Report) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Great Lakes Aviation and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacions revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Great Lakes Aviation N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion $2.85 billion 0.21 -$80.22 million ($0.02) -339.50

Great Lakes Aviation has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion.

Volatility & Risk

Insider & Institutional Ownership

Great Lakes Aviation has a beta of -0.43, meaning that its share price is 143% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion has a beta of 2.47, meaning that its share price is 147% more volatile than the S&P 500.

51.9% of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion shares are held by institutional investors. 63.0% of Great Lakes Aviation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Great Lakes Aviation and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacions net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Great Lakes Aviation N/A N/A N/A Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion 0.10% 1.58% 0.06%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Great Lakes Aviation and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Great Lakes Aviation 0 0 0 0 N/A Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion 0 0 2 0 3.00

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion has a consensus target price of $19.33, indicating a potential upside of 184.61%.

Summary

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion beats Great Lakes Aviation on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Great Lakes Aviation

(Get Free Report)

Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., a regional airline company, operates as an independent carrier and code share partner with United Air Lines, Inc. in the United States. The company offers scheduled air service to its hubs under the Great Lakes brand; and carries cargo on its scheduled flights. As of March 20, 2015, it served 28 airports in 9 states with a fleet of 6 Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and 28 Beechcraft 1900D regional airliners. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

About Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion

(Get Free Report)

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V., through its subsidiary, Concesionaria Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.P.I. de C.V., provides air transportation services for passengers, cargo, and mail in Mexico and internationally. The company operates approximately 590 daily flights on routes connecting 43 cities in Mexico, 22 cities in the United States, 4 cities in Central America, and 2 cities in South America. As of December 31, 2022, it leased 116 aircrafts and 23 spare engines. The company also offers merchandising, travel agency, and loyalty program, as well as specialized and aeronautical technical services. Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

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Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX  Free Report) by 15.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 853 shares of the companys stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.s holdings in L3Harris Technologies were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of L3Harris Technologies in the first quarter worth $25,000. Cowa LLC acquired a new stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies in the first quarter worth $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies by 179.6% in the second quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 137 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies in the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies in the second quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.33% of the companys stock.

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L3Harris Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:LHX opened at $174.12 on Friday. The companys 50-day moving average price is $180.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $32.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.72. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.14 and a twelve month high of $255.10.

L3Harris Technologies Announces Dividend

L3Harris Technologies ( NYSE:LHX Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.03. L3Harris Technologies had a net margin of 4.46% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. L3Harris Technologiess quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that L3Harris Technologies, Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 5th were issued a $1.14 dividend. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 1st. L3Harris Technologiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.57%.

Insider Activity at L3Harris Technologies

In related news, President Edward J. Zoiss sold 30,000 shares of L3Harris Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.84, for a total value of $2,725,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 31,923 shares in the company, valued at $2,899,885.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of L3Harris Technologies in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a hold rating and a $192.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of L3Harris Technologies in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of L3Harris Technologies from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price target for the company from $239.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, August 28th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of L3Harris Technologies in a research report on Monday, September 11th. They set a buy rating and a $193.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of L3Harris Technologies from $230.00 to $210.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $226.87.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on LHX

About L3Harris Technologies

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L3Harris Technologies, Inc, an aerospace and defense technology company, provides mission-critical solutions for government and commercial customers worldwide. The company's Integrated Mission Systems segment provides multi-mission intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems; and communication systems, as well as fleet management support, sensor development, modification, and periodic depot maintenance services for ISR and airborne missions.

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Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV  Free Report) by 27.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 941 shares of the insurance providers stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Golden State Equity Partners grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,606 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 79.0% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 164,066 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $28,492,000 after acquiring an additional 72,420 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 26.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,088 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 131.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 573 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 81.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Travelers Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:TRV opened at $163.31 on Friday. The stocks fifty day moving average is $165.84 and its 200 day moving average is $171.30. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.01 and a fifty-two week high of $194.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

Travelers Companies ( NYSE:TRV Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($1.99). Travelers Companies had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The company had revenue of $10.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 12.01 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Travelers Companiess payout ratio is 42.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on TRV shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Travelers Companies from C$183.00 to C$185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Citigroup upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $188.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $183.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $185.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Travelers Companies from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $196.08.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Travelers Companies

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.05, for a total value of $1,750,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,464,704. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.29% of the companys stock.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

(Free Report)

The Travelers Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance.

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Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF (NYSEARCA:VOE  Free Report) by 24.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,432 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.s holdings in Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF were worth $1,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF by 130,819.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 350,096,392 shares of the companys stock valued at $47,347,036,000 after acquiring an additional 349,828,978 shares in the last quarter. Betterment LLC raised its stake in shares of Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 10,188,342 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,365,951,000 after acquiring an additional 194,936 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,242,304 shares of the companys stock valued at $485,276,000 after acquiring an additional 602,148 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,688,250 shares of the companys stock valued at $360,414,000 after acquiring an additional 38,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,324,521 shares of the companys stock valued at $314,368,000 after acquiring an additional 276,856 shares in the last quarter.

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Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF Stock Down 0.3 %

VOE opened at $130.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 1.05. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $137.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.34. Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF has a 12-month low of $119.81 and a 12-month high of $147.74.

About Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value Index Fund (Fund) is an open-end investment company, or mutual fund. The fund offers two classes of shares: Investor Shares and ETF Shares. Investor Shares are available to any investor who meets the funds minimum purchase requirements. ETF Shares can be purchased and sold through a broker.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VOE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF (NYSEARCA:VOE  Free Report).

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Vietnam still on watch list for reclassification to secondary emerging market status: FTSE Russell

By Dinh Vu, Huu Binh Sat, September 30, 2023 | 11:35 am GTM+7

Vietnam remains on the watch list for a possible reclassification from frontier to secondary emerging market status as the market has yet to meet the settlement requirements stipulated in the FTSE Equity Country Classification Framework.

According to its September report, FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), said the Vietnamese market continues to pursue various regulatory reforms and an upgrade to the main trading platform, which FTSE Russell continues to monitor.

However, the rating firm spoke highly of the Vietnamese governments commitments, saying the State Securities Commission (SSC) is working hard to seek a workable solution to the issue of pre-funding.

FTSE Russell said Vietnam was added to the watch list in September 2018 for possible reclassification to secondary emerging market status. Progress has been slower than anticipated, in part due to Covid-19, it noted.

Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index inched up 1.72 points, or 0.15%, to 1,154.15 on September 29, 2023. Photo by The Investor/Trong Hieu.

Vietnam has yet to meet the Settlement Cycle (DvP) criterion, which is currently rated as Restricted due to the market practice of conducting a pre-trading check to ensure the availability of funds prior to trade execution, it commented. Since, by default, the market does not experience failed trades, the Settlement - costs associated with failed trades criterion is unrated.

FTSE Russell stressed that Vietnams need improvements to the process for the registration of new accounts and the introduction of an efficient mechanism to facilitate trading between non-domestic investors in securities that have reached, or are approaching, their foreign ownership limit.

Although progress on the planned market reforms has remained slow, a recommitment to the work required has been made by senior levels of government, it said, adding the SSC has demonstrated renewed energy in seeking a workable solution that would remove the need for pre-funding.

FTSE Russell said it continues to maintain a constructive relationship with the SSC, the World Bank Group and E&Y who are supporting the wider market reform programme, and other key market authorities.

Finalisation of the required roles and responsibilities, within the settlement model, that are aligned to the new legislation remains a critical next step. FTSE Russell continues to encourage the Vietnam market authorities to provide clearer guidance on the steps and timeframe for implementation, it noted.

Vietnam will remain on the watch list as a frontier market and reviewed for possible reclassification as a secondary emerging market within the FTSE Equity Country Classification scheme at the Interim Review in March 2024, it added.

According to major international rating agencies and financial institutions, Vietnam has made many improvements and met a number of important criteria. However, they noted the pre-funding requirement and strict limits on foreign ownership of shares are among the main hurdles to Vietnam's emerging market status upgrade. Of which, the pre-funding requirement is seen as the main problem.

Investors usually settle their trades two days after a deal in open markets, but in Vietnam they have to ensure the availability of funds prior to trade execution, which adds a significant cost for traders who execute multiple daily operations.

The other major hurdle is Vietnams strict limit on foreign ownership, which for banks is as low as 30% and has already been attained for many top lenders. Foreign investors are lobbying for gradually raising the limit to 35%.

Both issues require practical coordination among relevant agencies and ministries such as the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to solve, they said.

In the most recent analysis, FTSE Russell gave an optimistic assessment of the Vietnamese stock market. The firm mentioned some of Vietnam's achievements such as a GDP growth rate of 8% in 2022, the FTSE Vietnam 30 Index increasing 12% since the beginning of 2023, and cooperation with FTSE Russell and the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). These will help Vietnam develop a comprehensive ecosystem to help foreign investors access Vietnamese stocks and control related risks, it said.

Top Vietnamese broker Saigon Securities (SSI) assessed that the opportunity for the Vietnamese stock market to be upgraded by FTSE Russell may be clearer in 2024. The possibility of upgrade by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) in the following years would require high efforts and determination of all market players.

Closing Friday, Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index inched up 1.72 points, or 0.15%, to 1,154.15.
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CARBONDALE  A Hidden Resources Pop-Up Event was hosted by Carbondale United Thursday evening at the Collaborative Center. Their goal was to bring awareness to the services and agencies available in Southern Illinois.

Those attending were asked to sign and given a passport booklet to be stamped by participating organizations. Completing the passport allowed people to be entered into a drawing for prizes and get free food.

Elva Liddell represented a partnership between Carbondale NAACP and Illinois Department of Public Health.

Were talking to people about COVID, Liddell said.

As the weather gets cooler, COVID-19 cases are rising in Southern Illinois, so they also gave away COVID home test kits, masks, hand sanitizer and dishwashing detergent.

Quianya Enge started Beyond the Walls in 2019. It is funded by the Heartland Alliance.

We are a re-entry resource organization that connects individuals who were formerly incarcerated into the community, Enge said.

Brent Van Ham of SIU Medicine talked to visitors about opioid overdose. In addition to educating people, he gave NARCAN kits. NARCAN is a medication that can stop an opioid overdose. Van Ham said it is safe to use even when you are not sure what a person has taken because it does not interact with other drugs or alcohol.

The Stress and Trauma Treatment Center Inc. had information about a new afterschool program for preschoolers that will begin Oct. 3.

The program is open to families in Carbondale who meet a few eligibility requirements. More information is available by calling Maranda at 618-847-0046.

They also had information about a program to increase the number of social workers, psychologists and counselors in Illinois schools.

Robin Bryson gave people information about the Black Chamber of Commerce of Southern Illinois.

Brian Pierce, a community health worker for Shawnee Health, let people know about services available from Shawnee Health. They also gave away COVID tests, masks, tooth brushes and dental floss.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois had information about telehealth services and services at health clinics, as well as how to get involved and volunteer with the organization.

SIU Dental Hygiene Clinic offered information about low cost dental services offered at their clinic. They gave away soft toothbrushes and toothpaste.

The Small Business Development Center was giving out information and promoting the Womens Health Conference they are co-sponsoring.

The Womans Health Conference will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, in Carbondale Civic Center. The event will feature screenings and workshops.

Take Action Today, a faith-based community recovery organization, gave information about substance abuse. They also talked about a ROSC or Recovery Oriented System of Care council in Jackson and Perry counties. The councils meet to address substance abuse and homeless problems in the two counties.

Christina Manchen, program manager, and Cher Mitchell, youth career specialist, of Man Tra Con gave information about their services. 

We help people get back to work and deal with issues to working, Manchen said.

They have a youth program for ages 16 to 24 and services for adults.

Center for Empowerment and Justice had resources and gave away hand sanitizer COVID tests.

We are trying to inform people about what we do and what we can provide, Jen Hankins said.

Anyone who receives government assistance could get a free cell phone at the resource fair. Service is provided by ATT.

The Survivor Empowerment Center offered information on their rape crisis and domestic violence services. Part of their services are to provide education that tries to change the social norms around sexual assault.

Lauren White of Aetna provided insurance information and details about the extras they offer.

Jennifer Robertson, the new director of Carbondale Public Library, signed people up for library cards and gave out information about programs at the library.

Were trying to get more people in the door, she said.

After completing their passports, visitors could get a free hot dog from Syhemia Gray-Cruz of Honey Beez Snowballz food truck. She also had her Snowballz for sale. She said the Snowballz are New Orleans-style snow cones, and they were popular with the crowd.

You can follow Honey Beez Snowballz on Facebook.
MURPHYSBORO  Dr. Thomas Kupferer has announced he will not run for re-election as Jackson County Coroner and is retiring from the position.

Kupferer was appointed to the position after the unexpected death of Dr. Jerry Thurman and was elected to his first term a year later. Kupferer said Thurman was running for re-election and died suddenly. The next person in line was Sheriff Bill Kilquist.

Kupferer received a call asking him to be coroner as he was packing the car to go to his wife Valeries graduation from medical school. He talked to his family, met with officials and decided to take the job.

Ive seen a lot of issues in the past 27 years, Kupferer said, adding that it is sad to deal with families who have lost loved ones due to accidents, medical issues or suicide.

Kupferer has taken a lot of continuing education, including a 40-hour class that teaches about the office of coroner, another 40-hour class from St. Louis University on death investigations and many other shorter courses.

He said there have been a lot of changes in the office over the past 27 years.

When Kupferer started as coroner, they would do inquests once a month at the Jackson County Courthouse. The wording of the law changed around eight to 10 years ago. It now reads the coroner may conduct an inquest  instead of saying the coroner shall conduct an inquest 

In 1996, autopsies could be done at both SIH St. Joseph Memorial Hospital and at SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. The morgue at St. Joseph Memorial Hospital closed and the morgue at MHC closed to outside cases.

A morgue was developed in Williamson County by former Coroner Monty Blue and Coroner Michael Junior Burke.

They also could call several forensic pathologists to do an autopsy. Today, a forensic pathologist comes from Kentucky one or two days a week.

Kupferer said he has also developed a relationship with St. Clair County. The county has a morgue at the new St. Elizabeth Hospital. While the relationship gives them options, it requires a lot of travel from everyone involved.

The Illinois Department of Public Health now issues electronic death certificates.

The coroners office has good working relationships with local funeral homes, including Meredith and Walker funeral homes in Carbondale and Crain-Crawshaw Funeral Home in Murphysboro. They help with removal and transportation of bodies.

The coroner has no county building or office. Kupferers files as coroner have been housed at his medical practices office. He never had money budgeted for a secretary, so his medical staff helped with paperwork and various things. He is grateful for their help.

Jackson County Ambulance Service has wheelchair vans it was no longer using. Kupferer has acquired one of them and is equipping it as a coroners vehicle.

After it is equipped, it will be used by the deputy coroners.

I am forever grateful for the help Ive been given by the deputy coroners, Kupferer said. Im also grateful to my medical patients who were very understanding when I got called out. My patients had to reschedule their appointments or wait.

He added that his wife has been very understanding of late night calls and his children have been very supportive.

Robert, his son who still lives in Murphysboro, serves as a deputy coroner.

This was not an easy decision. My family thinks its a good idea to retire from the coroners office to have more time to spend with them, Kupferer said.

Kupferer has no plans to step down from his medical practice at this time. He has been a practicing physician for 40 years.

He feels it is important to have served as a physician coroner. Two other doctors are coroners in Jefferson and DuPage counties.

I would like the county to seek a building, with or without a morgue, Kupferer said.

His term ends Nov. 30, 2024.
South Carolina State Public Service & Agriculture (PSA) hosted its Farmers Forum Friday as a part of SC States inaugural Ag and Land-Grant Celebration.

Farmers Forum Farmers posed questions to panelists in SC State PSAs Ag & Land-Grant Celebration forum.

The Farmers Forum consisted of several panel discussions on such topics as diversity, equity and inclusion in agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agricultures 22007 Discrimination Financial Assistance Program, and USDA state-level programs and services.

This forum is a big part of our Ag & Land-Grant Celebration, said Dr. Louis Whitesides, vice president for SC State Public Service and Agriculture. One thing that our university does extremely well is connecting with our smaller, minority farmers. So, we cant have a celebration without including them  who are the backbone of the economy of South Carolina and of the U.S.

We wanted to bring them all together to make sure they knew about all the resources that are available to them. Were finding groups of farmers who dont know that they can go to Rural Development (RD), NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service), FSA (Farm Service Agency)  those places that will help them get resources to make life a little easier for them in the farming world, Whitesides said.

Following panel discussions, a Q&A period was held for participants to get more information on the benefits and services of each organization, and how they can help other local minority farmers. They also had the opportunity to network with the panelists for future opportunities.

Theres always something interesting that you can learn at forums. Im mainly interested and concerned with underrepresented minority farmers, local farmer Larry Harris said. I am an advocate of bringing the knowledge of whats going on with the federal government to the forefront for farmers who dont attend these forums.

Harris is the owner of Harris Family Farm LLC in Sumter, South Carolina. He is also the president of a farmers' cooperative, Carolina Vegetable Cooperative Inc. Harris has operated in specialty crops for approximately 17 years and grows green vegetables at the farm.

After attending the forum, he explained why it is important for his peers to do the same.

Its important to attend these forums because most older farmers are becoming extinct. Theyre becoming extinct because land succession has sort of become a thing of the past, Harris said. I want to make it knowledgeable that there is some money for minority farmers, but in order to get this money, you have to be in a position to know where it is and how to research it.

Panelists talked about their organization and its history, purpose, and programs. They explained how the programs could benefit agricultural producers and how they could provide certain benefits like food security and energy efficiency.

Along with establishing agricultural programs, these organizations have provided grants to SC State 1890 Research & Extension farmers and students.

We put this forum together to accomplish several goals. We want to make sure that our minority farmers receive the same information that other farmers receive. We also want to make sure that they get to the point where they feel comfortable going to the USDA office to seek information, said Dr. Edoe Agbodjan, associate extension administrator at SC State 1890 Research & Extension.

Organizations highlighted during the panel discussions included:

 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA)

 USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

 USDA Rural Development (RD)

 USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

 USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement

 Farm to Freezer Meat Company

 Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Center.
More than 2,200 South Koreans died in the first eight months of this year without having a chance to reunite with their family members in North Korea after being separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, government data showed Thursday.

A total of 2,226 people passed away in the January-August period among around 133,700 applicants who had registered with the government for family reunion events, according to the data from the unification ministry.

The number of surviving people came to 40,408 as of the end of August, with 67 percent of the total aged 80 or older, according to the data.

State-arranged family reunion events have been suspended amid frosty inter-Korean relations. Since the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, the two Koreas have held 21 face-to-face family reunions, including the last one in August 2018.

The government held a ceremony to mark Separated Families Day on Wednesday for the first time, since a law designating the 13th day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar as a commemorative day for divided families went into effect earlier this year.

The date was selected to reflect separated families' wishes, as many of them want to reunite with their relatives in the North on the occasion of the Chuseok fall harvest holiday, which falls on the 15th day of the same month on the lunar calendar and is one of the country's two biggest traditional holidays.

On the eve of the Chuseok holiday in September 2022, then Unification Minister Kwon Young-se proposed talks with North Korea to discuss the issue of families torn apart by the war. But Pyongyang has not responded to Seoul's offer.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, as the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. (Yonhap)
On Sept 18, National Public Radio carried the story that State-run, land grant HBCUs are owed more than 13 billion dollars."

According to this announcement forwarded to 16 state governors by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, the $13 billion underfunding determination was based on a review of data compiled by The National Center for Educational Statistics and covering the last three decades.

South Carolina was listed as one of the 16 states receiving the announcement and is owed approximately $500 million due to the discriminatory funding practices.

The announcement confirms what many educators and HBCU supporters have been asserting for years.

The announcement, by members of the Cabinet of the president of United States is particularly important for two very timely and significant reasons.

The first is that the announcement is made at a time when the 16 states who were noticed are actively launching and supporting initiatives to severely limit the dissemination of information regarding African and African American history.

These states are also imposing other restrictions on speech and thought that will predictably further diminish opportunities for the education, growth and healthy development of American society. These measures will, without question, further restrict the growth and development of HBCUs.

Secondly, the announcement is important because it stands as an unmitigated declaration by the U.S. government that HBCUs and African Americans have been and continue to be the victims of racial and economic discriminatory state action.

The pattern of state discrimination that is identified here has endured for centuries on the strength of its invalid, yet prevailing Pygmalion proposition. This announcement by the White House, portends the approaching end of an era when all that was required was to treat HBCUs as if they were non-essential, fund them as if they were non-essential and then confirm their non-essential status by contrasting performance results with better-supported white institutions.

Sadly, some of what I am reporting, I personally observed and experienced while briefly serving as the chairperson of the board of trustees at South Carolina State University. I am certain that our raising these kinds of concerns prompted my board's rapid dismissal.

History aside, what is most important, is the state response of the moment. Will that response to the request from the government start a conversation about the healthy and responsible expansion of equitable educational opportunities for the citizens of this state and the citizens of the other states mentioned?

Or will the announcement cause the states noticed to dig in and adopt 21st century political responses that will ensure further division, rancor and erosion of Americas democratic institution framework?

This announcement creates a new opportunity for groundbreaking progress in South Carolina. The question is whether or not the leadership of this state can find the will and the courage to adopt an equitable groundbreaking response.

In conclusion, I respectfully propose a starting point for setting the climate to constructively move the conversation forward.

The effects of historical race-based funding for education remain apparent in the states educational infrastructure, patterns of regional development and demographic statistical profile.

Under educational funding and other unfortunate events in the states history have seriously restricted South Carolina State University, South Carolinas only officially supported Black university, from sharing the benefits of full membership within the publicly funded state university system.

This I suggest is apparent when contrasting facilities, but it is equally apparent when contrasting the capacity of universities to conduct relevant, independent, faculty-generated peer reviewable research.

I suggest an initial response to the federal government invitation is to respond and discuss this issue. The state Legislative Black Caucus should take leadership and secure the support of colleagues and other state leaders to establish a research consortium to generate and support fundamental research development in the South Carolina HBCU community.

The consortium should enjoy institutional independence but be housed on the campus of South Carolina State and named for the late Sen. John Scott.

Scott was a valued legislator and public servant of South Carolina. Importantly, he was also a graduate of South Carolina State and a resolute supporter of the HBCU community. I cannot think of a more fitting way to say to the nation that some aspects of our history are behind us and South Carolina is prepared to engage in a conversation about the construction of a groundbreaking" agenda for a 21st century South Carolina.
(TBTCO) - Cac quan chuc Cuc Du tru Lien bang My (FED) uoc cho la se giu nguyen lai suat on inh o muc cao nhat trong 22 nam khi ket thuc cuoc hop keo dai hai ngay vao thu tu, 1/11. Tuy nhien, cac nha au tu va nha kinh te se theo doi cac dau hieu e thay lieu lai suat co giu nguyen nhu vay hay khong - hoac lieu ngan hang trung uong co con nghi rang ho co the can phai tang lai suat tro lai trong nhung thang toi hay khong?
CHEYENNE  Et Tu Nebraska?

For many years the unicameral nonpartisan legislative system of our neighbor state, Nebraska, offered something of an ideal among state legislative systems.

Endorsed during the 1930s by a revered politician, George Norris, and approved by voters, the system was designed to eliminate the partisan nastiness of other lawmaking bodies. Congress was one example and where Norris served in dismay at the sniping between parties.

Like most Midwesterners, Nebraskans are nice people: They like to get along.

Their unusual legislative system reflected that characteristic.

What it offered was one really big tent  a unicameral legislature. No more bickering between the house and senate.

No more need for political party caucuses to line up votes for party endorsed bills.

The legislators were independents and could vote however they chose.

And thats what they did for decades with their unusual legislative system.

Civility prospered in the big tent.

Although most of the lawmakers were Republicans, the Democrats were allowed to chair key committees, according to an article in Governing.com.

As a long time reporter covering the Wyoming Legislature, I was intrigued by the tidy Nebraska system. It involved only 49 nonpartisan legislators in one house compared with Wyomings 90 or so in two houses; the House and Senate. Given the drastic differences in size it seemed that reporting on Nebraskas Legislature would be a walk, a snap.

Perhaps it was at some time in the past.

The lid blew off during the session this year as the ascending hard right wing tried to ram through more of their bills.

Published reports told of shouting and a succession of filibusters.

Civility and demeanor were left on the floor.

The filibusters resulted in a slowdown in the passage of key bills.

The cause of the most raucous debate was, not surprisingly, a bill to prevent health-care providers from performing gender-transition surgeries and restricted access to puberty-blocking medication and hormone treatments for anyone under 19.

That bill finally passed with an amendment that outlawed abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Buoyed by that victory, the hard right was able to push through other bills on the national agenda. These included bills to endorse school choice and relax gun laws.

They also voted to repeal some restrictions against motorcycle helmets, the Governing.com article said.

Thus Nebraska followed the same pattern as other red states in succumbing to the hammer of the extreme right in its drive to pass their national agenda.

Although Wyoming has a bicameral system with a super Republican majority, so far the leaders have been able to have some success in holding back the radicals.

Some of those that survived, like the anti-abortion bill, are being tested in court.

Looking ahead to the budget session next winter, some of the interim committee work has been handicapped by partisan splits and ideologies who have their own agendas.

The joint labor committee, for example, had to table a list of proposed studies when the chairmen could not get a majority of committee members to agree to study any of them. Clearly the legislators know they are being watched by the Freedom Caucus and if they vote the wrong way they may end up branded a RINO (Republican in name only).

They also could find themselves facing a primary opponent in the next election.

At the meeting where they assigned interim committees their prioritized studies, House Speaker Al Sommers, R-Big Piney and Senate Majority Leader Larry Hick, R-Baggs, told the chairmen they didnt want a bunch of bills next year.

What they wanted were a few good bills.

They will be lucky if that comes about.

They also will be lucky if their set of civility and decorum civility rules stand up to another session.

If that happens they will be ahead of Nebraskas once heralded but now tarnished unique system.

Apparently the far right wing has been hoping for this type of a legislative year where they had enough muscle to ram their programs through the states, or at least the ruby red states.

Whether you call them the religious right, ultra conservatives or tea partiers they share a dislike of government, taxes and public schools as well as the gay and transgender community.
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.
Various business chambers have welcomed the call-out of members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force volunteers to support the crime fight.

However, they have some concerns.

This follows a proclamation from President Christine Kangaloo on Monday calling out to duty 100 Trinidad and Tobago Volunteer Defence Force to strengthen the TTDF capabilities to support the police The proclamation went into effect on Monday and will end February 29, 2024.
President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, Thursday, and stressed the importance of trade for the South Korean economy, his office said.

On the first day of the Chuseok holiday, Yoon visited Korean Air's cargo terminal at the nation's main gateway to encourage workers and receive a briefing on the cargo industry and its development plan.

"As a market of 50 million people is not enough for our economy to further grow and develop, we have to increase exports and imports," Yoon was quoted as saying by his spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

"People's economic activities are not possible without air freight. Our economy circulates thanks to you, so take pride in your work," Yoon told the workers.

He was accompanied by senior officials, including Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong and Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs. (Yonhap)
I really cant understand what the hype is about with respect to the President calling out t
Sept. 24 was landing day for the University of Arizona-led OSIRIS-REx asteroid sampling mission.

For Dani DellaGiustina, it was also launch day.

The moment the spacecraft released its capsule filled with rocks and dust from asteroid Bennu, the 36-year-old U of A assistant professor assumed command of the robotic probe roughly the size of a passenger van.

Over the next six years, DellaGiustina and her team will guide it to its next target: a potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroid called Apophis.

That mission, known as OSIRIS Apophis Explorer or OSIRIS-APEX for short, officially got underway when the Tucson-born spacecraft fired its thrusters and angled away from Earth about 20 minutes after jettisoning its sample-return capsule.

It's still pretty dizzying to be honest. Sometimes I'm just like, 'Wait, what do I do for a living?' " said DellaGiustina, a 2008 U of A graduate who also earned her Ph.D. in geosciences from the university in 2021. I'll get frustrated with paperwork or something, and I have to just take a step back and be like, 'Wow, what I get to do is freaking amazing.' Its such a privilege, and I kind of can't believe it happened sometimes.

NASA approved the university's proposed mission to Apophis last year, adding another $200 million in funding to a project that has already cost almost $1.2 billion.

If everything goes according to plan, OSIRIS-APEX will catch up to its new target in June of 2029, about two months after the potato-shaped asteroid roughly the length of the Empire State Building streaks past Earth close enough to be visible in the night sky over parts of Europe and Northern Africa. That is slated to occur on April 13, 2029, which is a Friday  a Friday the 13th to be exact.

An object that big does not get this close to the Earth very often, maybe once every 7,500 years, DellaGiustina said. So something this big hasn't gotten this close to the Earth in recorded history.

The idea of sending OSIRIS-REx on an extended mission first came up about three years ago, before the spacecraft had even touched down on Bennu, but everyone was too busy to really think about it then, she said. The mission team started to take a serious look at where to go next only after the asteroid samples were safely stowed and on their way back to Earth.

At about that same time, DellaGiustina was named as deputy principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx. She said planning the spacecrafts next adventure kind of became my job.

We were really looking for what we called rendezvous targets, objects we could eventually get in orbit around, she said. After this huge exhaustive search, the best and most compelling target was Apophis.

Big questions

DellaGiustina grew up as an Army brat. Her childhood was spent bouncing among military towns across the Mountain West, most of them along the U.S.-Mexico border, including the Hereford area near Sierra Vista.

(If youre wondering, she said her last name is pronounced De-la-Jew-Stina.)

Her longest stretch in one place as a kid was the five years she spent in El Paso, Texas. Thats where she enrolled at a local community college and signed up for an astronomy class that changed everything for her.

Though she did not have a strong background in math or science, she said she was drawn in by the big questions scientists seemed to be asking: Things that I thought you traditionally answered with philosophy like, What is our destiny and how did life originate?

A year later, DellaGiustina transferred to the U of A with stars in her eyes, then detoured into planetary science after taking an introductory class taught by Dante Lauretta, the future Regents Professor who would one day lead NASAs first asteroid-sampling mission.

That is how I got connected to Dante and OSIRIS REx: just taking some general classes like meteorites 101 to explore the different topics in the field, she said.

Thoroughly inspired, DellaGiustina landed a prestigious student fellowship from NASAs Institute of Advanced Concepts at age 19 with a proposal to have astronauts hitch a ride to Mars on an asteroid and use it as a shield to protect them from solar and cosmic radiation during the long flight. The 2006 prize came with $9,000 and earned her a write-up in the Tucson Citizen.

The next thing she knew, she was being asked by Lauretta to design an actual experiment to test the radiation shielding properties of a real asteroid.

I kind of knew then she was pretty special," Lauretta said. "Shes smart and motivated and has got that kind of leadership air around her. Once she knows what needs to get done, she does it or helps the team get it done.

NASA ended up rejecting that first version of the university's proposed OSIRIS mission, so DellaGiustinas student experiment never got to fly in space. But the experience gave her a wild and really interesting crash course in how to build a spaceflight instrument, she said.

I was a junior in college when I was really putting it together. I got to recruit other students to help me. I presented the results to NASAs site selection panel, and it got really high reviews, which was awesome. It gave me a lot of confidence at a very young age that, OK, I can kind of see how this is done, and I guess I can do it.

DellaGiustina graduated from the U of A in 2008 with a degree in physics and a minor in planetary science, and then she headed off to graduate school. Specifically, she traveled 3,600 miles north to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks to study ice, something she thought would help her better understand the icy moons and water-bearing asteroids that so fascinated her.

As you might guess, Fairbanks turned out to be a great place to do that, she said. Before long, she was doing field work on glaciers in Alaska and ice sheets in Greenland.

She still finds time for that kind of research. Last summer, she spent six weeks camped on an ice sheet in Greenland, two hours by helicopter from anywhere, testing seismometers and other instruments she hopes to one day send to explore the frozen moons of Jupiter or Saturn.

I've been lucky that I have managed to continue to maintain a career that involves doing field work in pretty extreme environments and also doing spaceflight projects, which is just so much fun, she said.

After grad school, DellaGiustina returned to the U of A Physics Department in 2012 to work as a research scientist in the photovoltaic lab. She said she was looking for something with more of an environmental focus, after witnessing the impacts of human-caused climate change firsthand in some of the worlds coldest places.

There's glaciers that I've been going to for field work on and off for about a decade, and just seeing the change in 10 years, it's startling, she said.

But the lure of space was just too great. After about a year and a half in the physics lab, she landed a job as a junior image-processing scientist on OSIRIS-REx.

She would go on to lead the imaging team for the mission, a job that took on far greater significance when the spacecraft reached Bennu and discovered a far rockier surface that did not respond to thermal instruments the way researchers expected it to.

The only way to pick out a safe place for OSIRIS-REx to touch down and collect samples was to photograph the asteroid in as much detail as possible, using three onboard cameras, all built at the U of A. The intensive imaging campaign began in late 2018 and continued almost nonstop for about a year and a half.

Ive probably never worked more in my entire life," said DellaGiustina, adding with a laugh, It was a really amazing opportunity that I would never want to have again.

Her team included four full-time image analysts and another 10 undergraduate students, brought in to help them chart potentially spacecraft-killing boulders on the asteroid. The result was the highest resolution map ever produced of a planetary surface, Earth included. DellaGiustina and her team imaged every rock, dirt pile and crater on Bennu down to about 2 square inches in size.

You already know what happened next. OSIRIS-REx safely collected its sample from the asteroid on Oct. 20, 2020, and returned to Earth last week to deliver its cupful of scientific treasure to the mission team in the Utah desert west of Salt Lake City.

Long journeys

DellaGiustina watched REx end and APEX begin from the flight operations center for both missions at Lockheed Martin Space, the aerospace company outside of Denver that built the spacecraft.

Then she got on a plane to Houston so she could see the sample from Bennu as it was opened for the first time at NASAs Johnson Space Center. Just because she has a new asteroid mission to lead doesnt mean she is finished with the old one. Lauretta said she will stay on with REx as his deputy through the sample analysis work.

You wouldn't be able to keep me away, DellaGiustina said. It's too important, and I am too invested. I've spent my entire adult life on this project, basically.

Lauretta said DellaGiustina has worked on OSIRIS-REx almost as long as he has, and the two of them have become like siblings over the years  occasionally competitive with each other, but always pulling for the same team.

He said he has tried his best to prepare her to lead her first space mission. Principal investigator is the job of a lifetime, Lauretta said, but it requires bureaucratic skills as well as scientific ones. You have to learn everything from working with NASA Headquarters to tracking the federal appropriations process.

It's not something to sign up for lightly, because Apophis is a six year commitment, he said. Most people don't understand signing up for something of that length. It's hard, and you're tired at the end of it.

Planetary scientists already had a great deal of interest in Apophis before the OSIRIS team chose it. DellaGiustina said both the European Space Agency and Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency are still considering sending space probes there.

This is a really infamous asteroid in our community, she said.

The space rock appeared to be on a collision course with Earth when it was first discovered in 2004 by scientists at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Subsequent observations ruled out an impact for the next century at least, despite the near-miss in 2029 and two more close approaches in 2036 and 2068.

Now researchers are eager to see how the asteroid might be altered by its upcoming brush with our planets gravity. Will it start to spin differently? Will there be landslides or other surface disturbances?

There are a lot of predictions, DellaGiustina said. This is just an incredible natural experiment that we're being given.

Apophis is also a different kind of asteroid than Bennu is  a stony collection of silicates and metals instead of a carbon-rich rubble pile  so studying it close up should help expand our knowledge of how such objects behave and how we might defend our planet from one someday.

First, though, OSIRIS-APEX has a lot of space to cover.

To catch up with its target, the spacecraft needs to make several sweeps through the inner solar system, some of which will carry it closer to the sun than it was designed to get. During those searing flybys, DellaGiustina and company plan to position OSIRIS-APEX's solar panels to block the heat from some of its more sensitive components, a maneuver they're calling "the fig leaf."

They hope to be in stable orbit around Apophis by August of 2029.

Though the spacecraft is not set up to collect any more samples  it only had the one return capsule, after all  the onboard instruments should be able to collect detailed images of the asteroid, data about its composition and maybe some telltale signs of water.

In September of 2030, the team plans to steer the probe in close and use its thrusters to stir the surface of Apophis, revealing whatever material lies beneath. Later, DellaGiustina said, they might also try powering up the sampling arm one last time so they can poke the asteroid" and observe the results.

The trip to a second asteroid was made possible by the spacecrafts near-perfect performance during its voyage to Bennu and back.

We get to take advantage of that good stewardship to have another mission," she said. "The thing we have expended the most of is spacecraft fuel, but there is still enough fuel to support an entire mission to Apophis. We could probably even do another extended mission after that.

Its not unusual for NASA to try to squeeze additional science out of still-functioning spacecraft, but it usually involves allocating more money to let an orbiter keep orbiting or a rover keep roving. In this case, the U of A's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory proposed an entirely new mission.

It was a really satisfying experience, because we got such high marks from the NASA review committee, DellaGiustina said. I think they said this is the most imaginative extended mission they had seen in recent history.

And as the journey unfolds, OSIRIS-APEX is expected to provide current and future U of A students with unparalleled learning opportunities like the one that helped propel its principal investigator to where she is today.

DellaGiustina, who turns 37 in a week, said there is a plan already in place to completely turn over the mission team, with current leaders training their replacements to take over for them by the time the spacecraft reaches Apophis.

"We place such a high value on opportunity. We take that very seriously," she said. "I mean, part of that is my own background, right? I am 100% a product of the fact that I got to start this work as an undergrad, which is just nuts."
The count of axed-down trees in Navajo Wash has grown to more than 75 as the Tucson Police Department investigates the unauthorized clearing out of the wash at a neighborhood associations request.

The Tucson City Managers office originally inventoried 54 lost trees in the area, but City Attorney Mike Rankin said the latest count is more than 75. He said the criminal damage to city property is under investigation over state law regarding damaging property that you do not own or control.

The Tucson Police Department confirmed it is investigating the matter.

The felled trees were noticed at the city-owned wash south of Fort Lowell Road and west of Mountain Ave on Sept. 10. Adrian Wurr, secretary of the Hedrick Acres Neighborhood Association, which represents the area abutting the wash, told the Arizona Daily Star last week the association accepted a donation from a resident, who then paid a landscaper to clear out the trees in conjunction with the neighborhood association.

The association adopted the wash in 2008 through Tucson Clean and Beautifuls Adopt A Public Space program. The nonprofit advocates for environmental conservation and partners with groups to adopt areas under an agreement to regularly clean them and report conditions that require attention from city employees.

The neighborhood received grant funding to plant a forest of trees in the wash, and neighbors teamed up to plant and hand water the trees until they were established, and have lovingly tended this community space, for 15 years, according to Katie Gannon, Executive Director of Tucson Clean and Beautiful.

She said the nonprofit does not provide groups with pruning tools. Since the public space adoption program began in 1985, Never in the history of our program has a group intentionally destroyed mature trees on a publicly-owned site they steward, Gannon said.

I was shocked and dismayed that anybody would do that to trees, much less on a neighborhood site that they cared about and were stewarding. It is incomprehensible, she said.

The neighborhood association reported the chopped-down trees to the nonprofit after the work was done, anticipating Tucson Clean and Beautiful would pick up the massive piles of debris left behind. But the association never told the nonprofit they were planning to deforest the area beforehand, Gannon said.

As far as I'm concerned, its the scene of a crime, and we're not touching it, she said. They paid to have that work done, they should pay to have that removed themselves.

Gannon clarified the group behind the tree axing doesn't represent the whole neighborhood association. It's a handful of persons and we absolutely will not be working with them any more under this program.

Wurr told the Star last week the neighborhood association wrote a letter explaining our actions to the Ward 3 office. They have ignored that and put out a report saying they don't know who did it and are very concerned about it.

A council aide for Ward 3 Council Member Kevin Dahl, C.J. Boyd, wrote in Dahls Sept. 15 newsletter that the office became aware on Sept. 10 of the sudden gap in the wash where dozens of trees once grew.

But the ward office never received prior, or subsequent, notice of the tree razing.

Sofie Pasilis, a volunteer with the neighborhood association who lives at the same house as Wurr, according to property records, wrote an email to the ward office on Sept. 15.

I support the tree cutting because of the high risk of fire posed by the trees and dry grass, she wrote, but never indicated who was responsible for cutting down the trees.

Pasilis said shes volunteered with the neighborhood association maintaining the wash for five years, but that only two to three people usually show up for the clean-ups.

While Wurr told the Star cutting down the trees to dissuade the presence of unsheltered people was not the primary reason for doing the work, Pasilis email draws more attention to the visible homelessness at the wash.

The homeless camps attract drug dealers and other shady persons, who seem to be using the homeless for their own purposes, she wrote. There is a huge amount of illegal drug use, and disruptive activity. I assume allowing these encampments is cheap for the city, because no housing is needed. But it puts an extreme burden on a small section of a neighborhood immediately near the camps, while everyone else can keep eyes averted, or take a different route to work.

Wurr recently joined one other Hedrick Acres resident and a business owner in the area as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the city to clear out homeless activity in Navajo Wash.

Its unclear if Wurr or Pasilis are part of the ongoing police investigation of the tree slashing.
PHOENIX  The state Department of Child Safety has a culture of not wanting to take punitive enforcement action against its foster homes and group homes, a new audit report says.

State Auditor General Lindsey Perry said DCS is authorized to suspend or revoke licenses for foster homes and child welfare agencies as well as group homes operating certificates. It also can put child welfare agencies into a provisional status.

But as of Sept. 3, she said, a review of 2,711 closed investigations showed zero documented instances where DCS suspended or revoked a child welfare agency license or group home operating certificate, though there were 30 instances where licenses were revoked for foster homes.

The report cites 2022 testimony of the DCS director, who told a legislative committee the department did not want its enforcement actions to be punitive and stated a preference for working with facilities to remediate issues rather than closing them. The report does not identify that person, but Mike Faust was the director at that time.

Thats not the only evidence Perry cited.

Further, during the audit, current department management expressed concerns that punitive enforcement could lead to retention issues with licensees, she said.

That is resulting in slow and ineffective action in DCS oversight of foster and group homes that could result in risky or unhealthy environments for children in out-of-home care, the audit concludes.

Perry said her staffers also found DCS was slow to take enforcement action in some foster home licensing complaints they reviewed. The department did not effectively use its enforcement authority in some complaints, she added.

Also, DCS did not perform any ongoing monitoring of 35 group homes and other child welfare agencies during the review period, Perry said.

The report makes 12 specific recommendations for improvement. David Lujan, named this year by Gov. Katie Hobbs to head DCS, agreed to implement all of them.

Problems at DCS start with timing, the report said.

Perry said rules require complaints against licensed foster homes within 45 days. But she said a review of a sample of 30 complaints found half were not finished within that time frame.

In the case of three of the group homes, the completion times were 158, 171 and 406 days, respectively.

On top of that, she said, DCS was slow in taking enforcement actions even after the complaints were concluded, waiting in one case 101 days.

When the department is slow to take enforcement actions, licensees may continue operating with uncorrected violations that contribute to risky or unhealthy environments, the report says.

For example, she said DCS took 91 days to take enforcement action after it validated that a licensee left a child unsupervised despite a history of self-harm.

In other cases, Perry said, even when there were enforcement actions, they were insufficient.

At the very least, she said, department rules require the licensee to develop a corrective action plan. But of the 13 validated complaints reviewed, the report says that didnt happen in three of the cases.

Further, child welfare agencies operating these three group homes with validated licensing complaints had a history of similar prior, validated licensing complaints, Perry said.

In one of those complaints, an employee allegedly had provided marijuana to children. DCSs explanation of its decision to take no further action was that the group home had taken care of the problem by firing the employee.

However, our review of 44 prior validated licensing complaints for the child welfare agency that operates this group home since March 2021 found other specific instances of inappropriate and harmful staff interactions with children, including staff issues such as verbal abuse of children and inappropriate use of restraints causing injuries to children, Perry said.

And while DCS required a corrective action for those reports, the department never considered that history when deciding what to do with the new complaints the Auditor Generals Office reviewed.

The report also says theres a separate issue: DCSs failure to interview most children involved in four of 28 complaints reviewed.

Thats important because children involved in an allegation or others living in the foster or group home may have information about other licensing violations and about abuse or potential abuse beyond what was alleged in the original complaint.

The report cites one complaint about a group home involving an allegation an employee hugged a child and touched the childs face against the childs will.

Although the childs caseworker met with the child after the complaint was received, the departments licensing complaint investigation record did not include any information from the caseworkers conversations with the child, the report says. And Office of Licensing and Regulation licensing specialists did not interview the child or any other children from the home.
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

As a mother, I have long agonized over school shootings. Sandy Hook happened when my daughters were just 11 and 8. Since Columbine, there have been nearly 400 school shootings. In 2022, there were 46 school shootings, the highest number since 1999. Some children have survived more than one school shooting. Each shooting brings another wave of trauma, endless platitudes, and aching numbness, but no real change.

As a college professor and former dean, I also worry about violence against teachers. Last year at the University of Arizona, where I hold an emeritus appointment, a colleague was murdered by a former graduate student. Earlier this year, Virginia elementary school teacher Abby Zwerner was shot by a six-year-old with his mothers 9mm semi-automatic pistol. And just last week, a University of North Carolina faculty member was killed by a graduate student.

As much as we care about the many students who are victims of school shootings, we also need to care about their teachers. This week, after the UNC shooting, I can tell you that faculty in our universities are not well. They are scared and worried, and they do not believe their institutions can protect them, no matter how skilled or compassionate campus police may be.

Every teacher I know worries about being harmed in their classroom, whether they teach kindergarteners, high schoolers, or college students. Sadly, we sometimes fear our own students if they exhibit frightening or abusive behavior. It takes an extraordinary amount of courage to walk into a classroom to teach other peoples children.

This level of threat is unacceptable in any job, much less a helping profession. The situation is made even worse by the lack of respect and low pay that teachers face. None of us would be who and where we are without our teachers. And yet, according to the Rand Corporation, nearly three-fourths of teachers and 85 percent of principals are experiencing frequent job-related stress, compared to just a third of working adults.

Teaching should not require donning a bulletproof vest, nor should we be afraid of our own students. And yet, many of us are. As a society, we must do better by our educators on all fronts. This means sane gun policy, more equitable compensation, and widespread support. It means recognizing that teachers work in battle zones and rarely see hazard pay.

Just as our nations children have been repeatedly traumatized by school shootings, so too have our teachers, and they need healing. If you have teachers in your life, check in on them today, because they are not okay. And if you are a teacher, thank you for your service.
EDITORIAL

The ONEOK Inc. acquisition of Magellan Midstream Partners for $18.8 billion  approved by both companies' investors last week  bodes well for Tulsa and Oklahoma. It is believed to be the largest private transaction in state history, and the combined worth of the companies is about $60 billion. Magellan will be a wholly owned subsidiary of ONEOK, meaning ONEOK will not change its name.

Tulsa is fortunate to have the purchase of Magellan come from a company with more than a century of service in the city. The merger makes a strong company even stronger, with its success reverberating through the community.

Most importantly, the staff s, leaders and businesses remain local. As Magellan Magellan President and CEO Aaron Milford told Tulsa World reporter Michael Dekker in an earlier story:

"If you were just to do the statistics on 'If Magellan were to ever be combining with another company,' its headquarters, most likely, would not be in Tulsa, Oklahoma. So the fact that this combination makes sense for our unitholders and it's with another company right here in Tulsa is the cherry on top, so to speak.

"You start looking at what this combined company can accomplish  its size, its scale and the fact that it's right here in Tulsa  it's good for the city, and it's good for the state."

ONEOK was founded in 1906 as Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. before a corporate name change in 1980. It is a leading midstream energy services provider with about a 40,000-mile network of natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines.

Magellan was formerly part of the Williams Cos. and began trading as Williams Energy Partners in February 2001. In September 2003, the name was changed to Magellan Midstream Partners. It primarily transports, stores and distributes refined petroleum products and crude oil. The company owns the longest refined petroleum products pipeline system in the country, with access to nearly 50% of the nation's refining capacity.

The combined company will own more than 25,000 miles of liquids-oriented pipelines, with significant assets and operational expertise at the Gulf Coast and Midcontinent market hubs.

For Tulsa, the merger keeps companies with a history of community involvement in the city and further cements the state's reputation as an energy leader.
Sharon Bishop-Baldwin Sand Springs Leader Staff Writer Follow Sharon Bishop-Baldwin 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

SAND SPRINGS  You dont have to be an industry expert to know that the biggest gap in technology is the generation gap. Many youngsters confidently wear access to the entire world on their arms like a wristwatch, while a lot of middle-aged people still struggle to understand streaming television.

So Cox Tulsa Market Vice President Roger Ramseyer could be forgiven during Thursdays unveiling of the new Cox Innovation Lab at The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club in Sand Springs for trying to walk the fine line between addressing the adults in room  who easily understood the significance of the event  and talking to the children gathered up front, who were only just beginning to grasp that they were about to have a bunch of cool new toys at their disposal.

There are a lot of important adults in the room, and with all due respect to them, Im here to talk to you, he told the kids, because you, today, are our customers, and we are absolutely thrilled that you are here.

Ramseyer said Cox sees its $20,000 grant to fund the Innovation Lab via the James M. Cox Foundation as an investment in the childrens future.

We are thinking that that investment will pay off by buying this really, really cool equipment that will hone your skills and help make a better future for all people, he said. We are hoping that you will use all of this cool equipment and that, as a result, you will make the next neat invention, and that invention will increase the quality of life for everybody.

Ramseyer attempted to illustrate that technology generation gap for the kids by showing them a picture of the first computer he ever used as a 22-year-old  an Apple Macintosh, introduced nearly 40 years ago, in 1984. While the children in the room studied the picture with the eyes of archeologists, murmurs and chuckles of recognition scattered through the adults in the crowd.

When you are my age, its my hope that you might have the humbling privilege to stand in this facility  with kids that arent even born yet  wont be born for 30 years  and maybe representing your company and making a donation of some sort of technology that hasnt even been invented yet, he said.

And how is it going to be invented? Its going to be invented because one of you maybe will use that equipment and you will think about how you will invent something in the future that will be a game-changer for the world  and that will enhance the quality of life for all.

Boys & Girls Club Area Director Jake Law said that those who dream in this room will be exposed to one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.

In fact, he noted, overall since 1990, employment has grown by 79% in STEM occupations  those involving science, technology, engineering and math  to 17.3 million estimated jobs.

What you guys have done for us and what you continue to do for us is open imaginations, and we appreciate that, Law said by way of thanking Cox. When we at The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club look to partnerships, we could not think of a better partnership than a company whose mission it is to build a better future for the next generation.

By this point in the event, that next generation was getting antsy to get to the good part. So after a brief a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, the door to the Innovation Lab was opened, and a strange thing happened.

The adults, at ease and in control during the speeches moments before, headed for the sidelines and watched as the kids took the lead, embracing without hesitation the Oculus virtual-reality headsets, the Sphero BOLT robot balls, the Nintendo Switch gaming systems and the tables full of laptop computers sitting ready and waiting for them.

Eight-year-old Camden Patrick of Pratt Elementary School was practically buoyant after taking a turn on what he said was his favorite part of the Innovation Lab, the Oculus.

The virtual-reality headset allows users to go, well, anywhere  virtually. And where did Camden go?

I rode a roller coaster in Jurassic World.

Nine-year-old Lukas Gabelt of Angus Valley Elementary School agreed that the Oculus was probably the best thing in the room, but he also spent some time playing a game on one of the laptop computers.

Asked what he thought of the Innovation Lab, Lukas replied, I love it.

The $20,000 donation in Sand Springs is part of a larger $150,000 gift from the James M. Cox Foundation to create new Cox Innovation Labs across the nation, develop STEM programming and provide training for the Boys & Girls Club staff this year.

The Cox Innovation Labs are the cornerstone of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Americas Club Tech program, which provides students access to curriculum to advance computer literacy skills. The Innovation Labs also help bridge the digital divide for children without access to a computer or internet connection at home.

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Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung proposed Friday that President Yoon Suk Yeol hold one-on-one talks with him to discuss issues involving the livelihoods of the public.

Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), made the suggestion via a Facebook post, two days after a Seoul court rejected an arrest warrant sought for him over corruption charges.

"Let us cease political disputes at least until the regular parliamentary session in December and concentrate on tackling issues on people's livelihoods," he said.

"I wish the president would meet with the opposition head without any strings attached and discuss people's livelihoods and state affairs in a frank manner to be able to promptly carry out what can be done."

Lee said such a meeting would serve as signals for an economic recovery, the foundation for people's livelihood, noting, "I expect a forward-looking decision from the president."

Since taking office as the DPK's chair in August last year, Lee has proposed one-on-one talks with Yoon on several occasions, all to no avail.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) criticized Lee's proposal as coming "out of the blue" and lacking sincerity, saying that Lee should first accept PPP chief Kim Gi-hyeon's offer for talks with him.

But the DPK said Yoon should immediately accept Lee's offer if the PPP and Yoon administration seek to improve people's livelihoods and prop up the slowing economy. (Yonhap)
Curtis Killman Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Curtis Killman 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

Tulsa County Deputy Ivan Patino didnt have to turn around, but he did.

Patino, 40, a member of the Tulsa County Sheriff Offices Community Policing Unit, was driving on U.S. 75, having just completed traffic enforcement duty Tuesday morning near an elementary school in Bixby.

As soon as I finished, I just headed towards downtown because I needed to gas up, Patino recalled.

But something told the 11-year veteran of the Tulsa County Sheriffs Office to turn around when he saw a pickup smoking on the side of the highway's southbound lanes between 41st and 51st streets.

On the side of the highway, southbound, I noticed a vehicle with just a little minor smoke, Patino recalled.

After calling in the license tag, Patino said he got out of his vehicle and approached the vehicle as a pregnant woman got out of the older pickup.

She was scared. I noticed she was shaking, Patino said.

The woman immediately, in limited English, said she didnt have a drivers license and her license tag was expired, Patino said.

I just smiled, Patino recalled.

"Im not worried about your car; Im not worried about your no license or expired tag, Patino said he told the woman in both English and Spanish. Im just here for you and your safety.

As soon as I told her that in Spanish, she calmed down a lot, Patino said. Her face just changed.

Her reaction is not unusual, he said.

A lot of people in the Hispanic community are frightened of law enforcement, said Patino, himself a native of Mexico. The encounter reminded him of growing up in California.

When we went to the United States from Mexico, my dad said the same thing. He said, 'Dont look at the police because they are going to pull us over, and they are going to take us to jail,' and stuff like that, Patino said.

After calming down some, the woman told him she was pregnant and had been on her way to a doctors appointment when she had car trouble, he said.

She said the car had just overheated and that her husband was on the way to assist her, Patino said. He opted to stay with her until her husband arrived.

The woman then walked over the passenger side of the pickup and looked inside.

After that, the engine just burst into flames, Patino said. The fire I saw was underneath, by the drivers side tire.

Patino said he then told the woman that her truck was on fire and that they needed to move away from it.

She said, Really? Oh, my gosh! She just freaked out, Patino said.

He then asked her if anybody else was in the truck.

She said, Yeah, my two 11-month olds, Patino said.

As soon as she said that, I thought of my kids, as well, Patino said, tearing up a little.

The two then returned to the pickup cab, which by then was filling with smoke.

As the fire continued to spread, she grabbed one, and I grabbed the other, Patino said of the twins.

After the three were safe inside his patrol vehicle, Patino said he grabbed a fire extinguisher and returned to the pickup. The woman had said it was her only vehicle.

As soon as I did that, the engine blew up and the tire, as well, Patino said.

The blast knocked Patino down, nearly into the highway, and all that smoke hit me in my face, he said.

Struggling to stand, Patino said he collapsed a couple of times before calling on his radio for help.

I couldnt breathe at all," he said. The first thing that came into my mind was my kids.

After that, Patino said, his memory is sketchy.

An ambulance arrived shortly thereafter, and EMSA medics treated him at the scene before taking him to a hospital, where he was treated further for smoke inhalation.

Three days later, Patino was still recovering, coughing occasionally when interviewed by a reporter.

The woman and her two babies, meanwhile, are fine, Patino said he was told.

Something told me to turn around, Patino said.

Asked if he would do it again, he answers before the question could be completed.

Oh, yeah, he said.
Vietnam's agro-forestry-fishery exports generated $38.48 billion revenue in January-September, down 5.1 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Agricultural exports accounted for over half of the total, at $19.54 billion, up 17 percent year on year.

Key export earners were vegetables and fruits ($4.2 billion), rice ($3.66 billion), cashew nuts ($2.61 billion), and coffee ($3.16 billion).

The average rice export price reached $553 per metric ton during the nine-month period, rising 14 percent. The price of coffee exports also picked up 10 percent to hit nearly $2,500 per metric ton.

Asia was the major importer of Vietnams agro-forestry-fishery exports with $18.71 billion worth of products in January-September. It was followed by America with $8.73 billion and Europe with $4.17 billion.

China, the U.S., and Japan remained the top three import markets of Vietnams agro-forestry-fishery products with exports to China accounting for 22.1 percent; that to the U.S., 20.7 percent; and that to Japan, 7.6 percent.

In September alone, the export revenue of agro-forestry-fishery products reached $4.8 billion, down 2.7 percent month on month but up 22 percent over the year-ago period.

Wood and seafood exports in September reached their highest levels for this year despite plunging over the same month last year.

Seafood exports to many markets this month reached the highest levels for this year, proving that the sector has been regaining the growth momentum and might obtain better results in the last months of the year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).

With positive results from the U.S. and Chinese markets, tra fish (pangasius) and shrimp exports are expected to improve in the coming months.

In particular, Vietnam hopes to earn $1.8-1.9 billion from tra fish exports and $3.6 billion from shrimp exports this year.

The Southeast Asian nations total fishery exports was projected to hit $9.1-9.2 billion this year, VASEP informed.

In order to achieve the agro-forestry-fishery export target of $54-55 billion this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said it would continue removing import market-related obstacles to pave the way for exports, especially barriers in the Chinese, EU, and U.S. markets.

The sector will also take advantage of free trade agreements, especially the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), to boost key agro-forestry-fishery exports and support local enterprises in securing new orders.

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Vietnam is eligible to develop a domestic semiconductor ecosystem, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung affirmed at the Vietnam Business Summit, which took place in Hanoi on Friday.

The minister pinpointed five advantages for the establishment of a semiconductor ecosystem in Vietnam.

He underlined that Vietnam has a stable political system and boasts a favorable geographical location, while the government is prioritizing the growth of the semiconductor industry.

The government tasked the Ministries of Planning  Investment, and Information  Communications, and other relevant agencies and departments with mapping out a plan to foster the industry.

Vietnam is working to develop a workforce of 50,000 engineers and experts in the semiconductor sector by 2030.

Besides, an abundant labor source in the technological field will help the semiconductor industry thrive, Minister Dung explained.

Representatives attend the Vietnam Business Summit in Hanoi on September 29, 2023. Photo: Duy Linh / Tuoi Tre

Vietnam is home to a host of prestigious research facilities and training centers for the semiconductor industry, and many healthy firms which are willing to support the sector such as military-run telecom group Viettel, telecoms giant VNPT, and tech firm FPT.

In addition, Vietnam has been stepping up efforts to attract major semiconductor firms from the United States, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Notably, Vietnam and the U.S. elevated their ties to comprehensive strategic partnership on September 10, and were committed to join hands to develop the semiconductor industry.

The Southeast Asian nation has been offering various incentives and preferential policies to tech enterprises.

Moreover, Vietnam houses the National Innovation Center, and three hi-tech industrial zones in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, making the nation ready to welcome foreign semiconductor investors.

Addressing the summit, Linda Tan, president of the Southeast Asia Semiconductor Association (SEMI SEA), said that the semiconductor development in Vietnam will contribute to the growth of the industry in the region.

Assessing the potential for the semiconductor industry in Southeast Asia, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung said that Vietnam has the advantage of workforce, while Thailand and Singapore have dominance in infrastructure and technology.

Nguyen Thien Nghia, deputy head of the Bureau of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry, said that Vietnams ICT industry has grown impressively.

In 2022, the nation was ranked second for phone exports in the world, and became the sixth-largest computer part exporter.

Vietnam has some 300,000 engineers, 1.6 million workers and 42,000 companies active in the technological sector, Nghia said, adding that the nation is home to numerous firms specializing in designing, testing and assembling chips.

Clark Tseng, senior director at SEMI SEA, said that Vietnam is moving toward becoming a hub of activities associated with the semiconductor industry.

Many international tech groups are doing business in Vietnam such as Intel, Samsung and Amkor.

Investment in Vietnam has been expanded to chip design thanks to the abundance of young skilled workers.

Workforce is seen as a key factor to spur the semiconductor industry.

Tseng expects Vietnams semiconductor industry to boom in the future.

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Vietnams multi-industry corporation CT Group launched the ASEAN Carbon Credit Exchange Joint Stock Company (CCTPA) on Friday, marking the debut of the countrys first-ever corporate initiative in introducing a voluntary carbon emissions exchange.

CCTPA will stand as the pioneering company in Vietnam to offer comprehensive consultancy services to enterprises, organizations, and individuals involved in developing carbon credit projects, carbon offset and credit mechanisms, as well as the application of carbon taxation at both regional and global levels.

This endeavor aligns with international environmental trade policies and seeks to foster a low-carbon emission economy.

Hoang Bach Duong, vice chairwoman of CT Group, emphasized that establishing a carbon market and green finance market is an unavoidable trend to enhance businesses competitiveness.

This is because meeting the stringent carbon requirements imposed by major markets will play a decisive role in the global supply chain competition.

Duong also noted that the launch of CCTPA will incentivize businesses to shift to cleaner technologies, thereby reducing carbon emissions and working toward Vietnams goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Additionally, the company plans to invest in researching the application of blockchain technology in the carbon market to ensure transparency in managing, allocating, transferring, and calculating carbon credits.

In the upcoming period, CCTPA will establish a technological platform to transform into an online carbon credit trading marketplace, according to the company's deputy general director Nguyen Vo Truong An.

"This platform's model is designed to facilitate favorable pricing dynamics for both buyers and sellers, with a focus on enhancing the value of Vietnam's carbon credits," An said.

"Currently, numerous projects in Vietnam are selling carbon credits globally, but they often encounter challenges due to relatively low pricing.

"Therefore, the introduction of a technology-driven marketplace would effectively address pricing issues, ensure transparency, and operate fully on automation."

Vietnam will pilot a carbon credit market in 2025 before operate it oficially in 2028, according to Dr. Tang The Cuong, director of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environments Department of Climate Change.

Currently in the world, 58 countries are developing carbon markets, 27 others are collecting carbon taxes, and some others are applying both, Dr. Cuong said.

Carbon credits are tradable certificates that give holders the right to emit a certain amount of CO2 or another amount of greenhouse gas converted to CO2 equivalents.

One carbon credit is equal to one ton of CO2 or one ton of CO2 equivalents.

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Twenty-eight fourth graders from Tien Hai Elementary School in Tien Hai District, Thai Binh Province, northern Vietnam developed symptoms of possible food poisoning after joining a party on Thursday to mark the Moon Festival, confirmed a local health official.

Among them, 25 were hospitalized while three others received home treatment, To Thi Hong Van, deputy head of the Tien Hai Medical Center, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

These 25 have been discharged from the hospital after their health conditions became stable, she added.

Earlier, they and nine other classmates attended a Moon Festival celebration held in their class by their parents on Thursday at noon, with banh bong lan trung muoi (salted egg sponge cake) and other snacks served at the party.

During the celebration, 28 students ate banh bong lan trung muoi while the remaining nine did not sample the dish.

These 28 showed symptoms of possible food poisoning such as stomachache, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever on Thursday afternoon.

On being notified of the incident, the local health authority inspected a bakery that provided the banh bong lan trung muoi for the party.

The health authority collected the leftovers of the cake at the party, vomitus and stool samples from the affected students, and a sample of meat floss, which is one of the ingredients to make the cake, and sent them to the National Institute for Food Control for testing.

While waiting for the test results, the health authority asked the owner of the bakery to suspend operations and urgently recall their suspected products to prevent a risk of possible food poisoning.

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The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it is verifying a report that four of the six women discovered and rescued by French police from a refrigerated truck in France are Vietnamese citizens, and is ready for citizen protection measures.

The rescue was made in Lyon, a city in southeastern France, on Thursday and the six rescued women included four believed to be Vietnamese and two Iraqi, the ministry said Friday, citing a report from the Vietnamese Embassy in France.

After getting notified of the rescue, the embassy has immediately coordinated with local authorities to verify the information and ask for their support to carry out citizen protection measures.

Initial information showed that the four believed-to-be Vietnamese women were in stable health condition.

The embassy will continue to closely monitor the case and be ready to implement any necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens, the ministry stated.

Previously, the group of six women mentioned above secretly boarded a truck with Irish license plates in France hoping to reach England or Ireland as they believed the truck was on its way to one of the two countries, according to local media.

However, after many hours on the truck, which carried bananas, they began to panic when they checked their position using GPS on their cellphones and realized that the car did not run in their expected direction, but it traveled toward Italy.

One of them sent a text message and a video clip to a BBC reporter asking for help and this reporter reported the case to French authorities, resulting in the rescue when the police found the car on a thruway.

The truck driver told French police that he did not know when the group of people got in the vehicle.

After hearing strange noises from the trucks body, he thought there might be someone inside, so he decided to stop the vehicle and called the police, the driver reported.

When being rescued, all the women wore thick coats and the temperature inside the truck body was about six degrees Celsius, so they faced no health problems, according to French prosecutor Laetitia Francart.

Francart said the truck driver was not at fault and the six women also told police that the truck driver was not involved in their attempt to flee to the UK or Ireland.

French police initially detained these women for illegal staying in France, but set them free later, with four believed to be Vietnamese given 30 days to leave France, while the two Iraqi allowed to stay to apply for asylum, according to BBC.

The case is still under investigation by French authorities.

Every year thousands of migrants seek a better life in Britain by crossing the border from northern France, and they often hide in trucks or on small boats, which are not capable of crossing the Manche Channel.

Many migrants from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq are determined to come to the UK because they can speak English or because they already have relatives there.

In 2019, 39 Vietnamese people paid large sums of money to human traffickers in a move to illegally enter the UK, but they later died of suffocation in a refrigerated container truck when the vehicle was brought from Belgium to the UK by a ferry.

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At least three people were killed and three others were badly injured in a frontal collision between two motorcycles in Ha Giang Province, northern Vietnam on Friday evening.

The fatal crash took place at around 7:20 pm on the National Highway 2 section passing through Viet Quang Town, Bac Quang District.

The identity of the two motorcyclists remains unknown, authorities said.

Among the three deceased, two were confirmed dead on the spot, identified as T.V.P., 23 and N.V.B., 13, both residing in Ha Giang, while the remainder died after being hospitalized.

Three other victims suffered multiple injuries and are receiving emergency treatment at a local general hospital, according to a report from the Department of Traffic Police, under the Ministry of Public Security.

The road section where the accident occurred is straight, measures nine meters wide and is fully equipped with road markings and traffic signs, according to Road Management Office I.4 under the Department for Roads of Vietnam.

Police have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fatal accident.

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The Peoples Court of Kien Giang Province in southern Vietnam on Friday handed a capital punishment to a 32-year-old local man, who had stabbed his ex-lover 23 times to her death.

According to the indictment, Nguyen Thanh Luong, a resident of Kien Giangs Rach Gia City, developed a romantic relationship with Pham Kim P., a resident of Chau Thanh District in the same province, for about one year.

After P. ended the relationship, Luong visited P. on September 26, 2022 in hope of getting back together.

Prior to the visit, Luong had purchased two knives.

The man waited at P.s nail spa since 7:00 pm on the day until all customers left and entered the venue and closed the door.

He initiated a conversation, but P. remained adamant about ending the relationship.

Luong then used the newly-bought knives to stab P. multiple times before knifing himself and attempting to cut his own throat to commit suicide but he failed.

P.s family discovered the incident and rushed both individuals to a hospital for emergency treatment.

The woman could not make it while Luong received medical treatment until September 30, 2022, and upon his release from the hospital, he was apprehended and faced legal proceedings.

Fridays jury evaluated that the man was no longer eligible for rehabilitation through education and handed him a death sentence.

Earlier, the Peoples Procuracy of Kien Giang Province suggested a life sentence for Luong on charges of murder.

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A dozen local households at Nam O fishing village in Vietnams Da Nang City gathered at the construction site of an ecotourism project on Friday morning to show their objection to the projects investor blocking a path leading to the sea.

This is not the first time that the locals have shown their disagreement over the Nam O ecotourism project.

The path, numbered 4, leads to a boat parking lot in the fishing village, situated in Hoa Hiep Nam Ward, Lien Chieu District, said Huynh Thi Cuc, 56, a local fisherwoman.

The path closure will affect the livelihood of local fishermen, adding that it will hinder them from seeking shelter for their fishing boats in bad weather conditions, Cuc said.

Echoing Cucs viewpoint, Pham Tuan, 48, another fisherman there, said the blockage will take a toll on daily livelihood of the locals, who make a living from fishing all year long.

Each fisherman can earn between VND500,000 (US$20.65) and VND700,000 ($28.91) on each daily fishing trip, allowing them to cover daily expenses, Tuan elaborated.

The No.4 leads to the nearest boat parking space in Nam O fishing village. Photo: Tuoi Tre

According to the Hoa Hiep Nam administration, it notified local residents of the temporary closure of the No. 4 path a few days ago.

The ward administration and Trung Thuy Da Nang JSC, the projects developer, will close the path from September 19 to December 31 this year to serve the project construction and ensure work safety.

During the closure, local inhabitants and tourists can go to the beach via the remaining four paths in the area, according to the wards notice.

The developer was asked to execute the project as scheduled and reopen the No.4 path to local residents after December 31.

If rains or storms hit the fishing village, the developer has to team up with local authorities to support the locals in seeking shelter for their fishing boats.

The construction site of the Nam O ecotourism project, Da Nang City, Vietnam, September 29, 2023. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The ward administration noted that it will not bear responsibility for any damage linked to the path blockage after it issued the above-mentioned notice.

Work on this Nam O ecotourism project restarted in April this year after being suspended for a long time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and objections from local inhabitants.

The tourist site is designed to stretch 35 hectares, with 10 hectares covering the coastline in Nam O fishing village.

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President Yoon Suk Yeol hosted a luncheon Friday with a group of Korean victims of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima on the occasion of the Chuseok holiday.

The meeting, held at Cheong Wa Dae's Yeongbin-gwan Guesthouse, with 42 atomic bombing victims and family members from Japan and 43 others from South Korea came about four months following his meeting with Korean survivors of the bombing during his visit to Hiroshima in May for a Group of Seven summit.

The Korean Peninsula was liberated from Japan's colonial rule just after the bombing.

"It took 78 years for the government to host you. I would like to say once again I am sorry for being too late," Yoon said in his welcome speech.

"I am well aware that the long-running difficulties in the South Korea-Japan relationship have made your lives difficult," the president said. "The government will never again turn a blind eye to your pain."

He also vowed his utmost efforts to advance the South Korea-Japan relationship into a future-oriented one and take care of Koreans residing in Japan.

"While cooperating with Japan, the closest neighbor with whom we share the universal values of freedom, human rights and rule of law, our government will proceed to advance peace and prosperity in the region and the world," the president said.

Around 50,000 Koreans fell victim to the atomic bombing, including 30,000 killed, after many were brought to Japan to work as forced laborers during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, according to the Korea Atomic Bombs Victim Association. (Yonhap)
BA Flight no food hero

Passengers aboard flight BA1425 between Belfast and London Heathrow were left without any meal options on Friday evening, as passengers on the flight confirmed that they were only offered bottled water on the short-haul flight on Friday evening.

One passenger contacted NationalWorld to explain that despite the 55-minute journey, staff aboard the flight announced that there would be no snacks available, leading to some questions regarding what led to this development. Could it be that the length of the flight means that British Airways may no longer offer such sustenance in a bid to combat food waste, or was there a passenger aboard who had an allergy leading other passengers to contend with a snack-less journey?

An email submitted by one passenger to NationalWorld reveals that British Airways apologised afterwards for the situation, stating: We're really sorry but we can't offer you food or drinks on your flight today because of an unforeseen issue with our catering operations. If you purchased items from our High Life Cafe, we'll automatically refund you and wanted to let you know in case you want to grab something from the airport. 

The email that passengers of BA1425 8:25pm flight from Belfast to London received regarding the lack of food on the short-haul flight (Credit: NationalWorld)

For our customers travelling in Club Europe, please speak to a member of our team who will be able to provide you with a refreshment voucher. 

NationalWorld contacted British Airways before the e-mail reached our newsdesk, with a spokesperson explaining: There was an issue at London Heathrow, which prevented us from catering the aircraft to the standard product. We emailed all affected customers to apologise. All customers would have got water and a snack.

Lack of food between Belfast to London the latest catering issue with British Airways.

The issue follows from a situation regarding a British Airways international flight earlier this year, where a catering situation led to passengers travelling between Turks and Caicos to Heathrow, via the Bahamas, when unforeseen circumstances meant the flights normal meal service was unavailable. On that occasion, staff instead bought fried chicken from a KFC fast food restaurant at Nassau airport.

The trade blog View From The Wing has also reported that British Airways is testing a new catering system where it won't load enough food for all passengers on flights in a bid to tackle food waste.

Past attempts to reduce food waste saw some customers go hungry because there wasn't enough food for all passengers on board, people familiar with the matter told the blog.
Key Insights

Singapore Exchange will host its Annual General Meeting on 5th of October

Salary of S$1.21m is part of CEO Boon Chye Loh's total remuneration

The total compensation is 1,251% higher than the average for the industry

Singapore Exchange's EPS grew by 6.6% over the past three years while total shareholder return over the past three years was 17%

Under the guidance of CEO Boon Chye Loh, Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX:S68) 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 5th of October. However, some shareholders may still want to keep CEO compensation within reason.

Check out our latest analysis for Singapore Exchange

How Does Total Compensation For Boon Chye Loh Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

Our data indicates that Singapore Exchange Limited has a market capitalization of S$10b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as S$7.6m for the year to June 2023. Notably, that's an increase of 16% over the year before. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at S$1.2m.

For comparison, other companies in the Singapore Capital Markets industry with market capitalizations ranging between S$5.5b and S$16b had a median total CEO compensation of S$560k. This suggests that Boon Chye Loh is paid more than the median for the industry. Furthermore, Boon Chye Loh directly owns S$15m worth of shares in the company, implying that they are deeply invested in the company's success.

Component 2023 2022 Proportion (2023) Salary S$1.2m S$1.2m 16% Other S$6.4m S$5.3m 84% Total Compensation S$7.6m S$6.5m 100%

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 62% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 38% is other remuneration. Singapore Exchange sets aside a smaller share of compensation for salary, in comparison to the overall industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

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Singapore Exchange Limited's Growth

Singapore Exchange Limited's earnings per share (EPS) grew 6.6% per year over the last three years. It achieved revenue growth of 8.7% over the last year.

We'd prefer higher revenue growth, but the modest improvement in EPS is good. Considering these factors we'd say performance has been pretty decent, though not amazing. Looking ahead, you might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for the company's future earnings..

Has Singapore Exchange Limited Been A Good Investment?

With a total shareholder return of 17% over three years, Singapore Exchange Limited shareholders would, in general, be reasonably content. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.

To Conclude...

The company's decent performance might have made most shareholders happy, possibly making CEO remuneration the least of the concerns to be discussed in the upcoming AGM. Still, not all shareholders might be in favor of a pay raise to the CEO, seeing that they are already being paid higher than the industry.

While it is important to pay attention to CEO remuneration, investors should also consider other elements of the business. We did our research and spotted 1 warning sign for Singapore Exchange that investors should look into moving forward.

Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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.
A mass exodus of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh has virtually emptied the breakaway territory after Azerbaijan took back control in a military operation.

More than 100,000 have now fled to Armenia from the disputed region, which had a population of around 120,000 before Baku launched the successful lightning offensive, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

The number of vehicles to cross the Hakari Bridge, which links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, since last week has topped 21,000.

Some families were forced to queue for days because the winding mountain road that is the only route out became jammed with traffic.

Meanwhile, Armenia has asked the EU for temporary shelters and medical supplies to cope with the influx, Italy has said.

The flight of more than 80% of Nagorno-Karabakh's population has raised questions about Azerbaijan's plans for the enclave that was internationally recognised as part of its territory, but which had been run by an ethnic Armenian breakaway state since the 1990s.

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has claimed the large-scale evacuation amounted to "a direct act of an ethnic cleansing and depriving people of their motherland".

But Azerbaijan has rejected the accusation, arguing the mass migration by the region's residents was "their personal and individual decision and has nothing to do with forced relocation".

During three decades of conflict in the region, Azerbaijan and the separatists backed by Armenia have accused each other of targeted attacks, massacres and other atrocities, fuelling suspicion and fear on both sides.

While Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, many are fleeing because they do not trust the Baku government to treat them properly or guarantee their language, religion and culture.

Read more on Sky News:

Bride and groom 'numb' after deadly wedding fire

NATO beefs up presence in Kosovo with UK troops

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said his "iron fist" had consigned the idea of an independent ethnic Armenian Karabakh to history.

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After six years of separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia.

Then, during a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of the region in the south Caucasus Mountains along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed earlier.

In December, Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, accusing the Armenian government of using it for illicit weapons shipments to the region's separatist forces.

Weakened by the blockade and with Armenia's leadership distancing itself from the conflict, ethnic Armenian forces in the region agreed to lay down arms less than 24 hours after Azerbaijan began its offensive.

Talks have begun between officials in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku and Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist authorities on "reintegrating" the region into Azerbaijan.
The logo of Credit Suisse is seen outside its office building in Hong Kong

ZURICH (Reuters) -Credit Suisse expects to make a third quarter loss of about $1.6 billion from reclassifying loans linked to its non-core and legacy businesses, the bank, which is now part of UBS, said on Friday.

In addition, a decision was made to wind down certain management arrangements, which may result in a loss of up to $600 million in the third quarter of this year, the bank added in a financial report.

UBS agreed in March to buy Credit Suisse for a knockdown price of 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.3 billion) and assume up to 5 billion francs in losses in a rescue orchestrated by Swiss authorities with Switzerland's second-largest bank on the edge of collapse.

Following the takeover, UBS has decided which Credit Suisse assets it will retain and which will be placed in a non-core and legacy division to be wound down over time.

UBS's Vice-Chairman Lukas Gehwiler said earlier this month it was possible that Credit Suisse could generate further losses in the second half of the year.

Credit Suisse also upped its provisions to cover potential losses from litigation to 1.48 billion Swiss francs.

The figure was an increase from the 1.367 billion francs the bank announced in half year figures at the end of August.

The bank is involved in several cases, including its dealings with U.S. family office Archegos Capital Management and loans granted to Mozambique to develop its fishing industry.

In the financial report for the first six months of 2023, Credit Suisse also said its suffered net asset outflows of 100.3 billion Swiss francs from the end of 2022.

The biggest outflow was in the wealth management business, where 74 billion francs in assets were withdrawn, with money pulled out across all regions.

The Swiss domestic business suffered a net outflow of 14.6 billion francs as confidence collapsed in the bank and panicked customers withdrew funds.

($1 = 0.9132 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Revill and Oliver HirtEditing by Rachel More and Mark Potter)
Kosovo's prime minister on Friday welcomed a NATO decision to bolster its troops in the volatile Balkan region, saying last weekend's shootout that left four people dead illustrates Serbia's attempts to destabilise its former province with the help of ally Russia.

These people want to turn back time," Prime Minister Albin Kurti told The Associated Press. "They are in search of a time machine. They want to turn the clock back by 30 years. But that is not going to happen.

His comments came as Kosovo police raided several locations in a Serb-dominated area of the country's north, where recent violence left one Kosovo police officer and three Serb insurgents dead and further strained relations between Serbia and its former province.

Kosovo police said in a statement that they were conducting searches at five locations in three municipalities.

The operation was connected to a Sunday shootout between Serb insurgents and police officers in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo.

The confrontation was one of the worst since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, with Belgrade refusing to recognise the split.

NATO, which leads the KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo, announced Friday that it would beef up its presence.

We need NATO because the border with Serbia is very long and the Serbian army has been recently strengthening its capacities and they have a lot of military equipment from both the Russian Federation and China, Kurti said.

Last Sunday, around 30 masked men opened fire on a police patrol near Banjska before breaking down the gates of a Serbian Orthodox monastery and barricading themselves inside with the priests and visiting pilgrims.

People light candles for the three killed Serbs in northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Tuesday, Sept 26, 2023 - Bojan Slavkovic/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved

The 12-hour shootout that followed left one police officer and three gunmen dead.

Kosovo accuses Serbia of direct involvement in the clashes in Banjska, which the government in Belgrade denies.

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The violence further raised tensions in the Balkan region at a time when European Union and US officials have been pushing for a deal that would normalise ties between Serbia and Kosovo.

A NATO bombing campaign on Serb positions in Kosovo and Serbia led to the end of their 1998-99 war.

The war left around 10,000 people dead, mostly Kosovo Albanians.

There are fears in the West that Russia, acting through Serbia, may want to destabilise the Balkans and shift at least some of the attention from Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has voiced support for Serbia over the clashes, blaming the West for allegedly failing to protect Kosovo Serbs.

In February, Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gave their approval to a 10-point EU plan for normalising relations, but the two leaders have since distanced themselves from the agreement.
(Bloomberg) -- Portugals government bond rating was raised one level by Fitch Ratings, which said the countrys debt ratio is on a sharp downward trend.

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The rating was raised to A- from BBB+, with a stable outlook, Fitch said in a statement on Friday. Its the first time Portugal has a rating in the A range from Fitch, Moodys or Standard & Poors since 2011, the year the country received a bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

We believe there is a high degree of commitment to fiscal consolidation from the current Portuguese government, whose term is due to expire in 2026, Fitch said.

The countrys economy is expected to slow this year, after bouncing back following the pandemic. Portugal had the third-highest debt ratio in the euro area in 2022 and the European Commission projected in May that it will be ranked fifth in 2023, as its debt ratio drops below the levels of Spain and France.

The Bank of Portugal in June raised its 2023 economic growth forecast to 2.7%, citing the performance of the tourism industry. Government debt fell to 112.4% of gross domestic product in 2022 and the government aims for a budget deficit of 0.4% of GDP in 2023.

Fitch, however, sees Portugal posting a budget surplus of 0.5% of GDP this year, with smaller surpluses in the following two years. It cited the expiration of pandemic- and energy price-related support measures, which are offsetting the effects of tax reductions introduced last year. It sees government debt falling to 104.3% of GDP this year.

Portugals 10-year bond yield was at 3.60% on Friday, compared to about 3.18% six months ago . It peaked at 18% in 2012 at the height of the euro regions debt crisis.

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Standard & Poors has a BBB+ rating for Portugal and Moodys has a Baa2 rating, both with positive outlooks.

(Updates second paragraph to note first A-range rating since 2011.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Water bottles on blue background - Static Media / Shutterstock

From diamond rings and designer purses to Lamborghinis and McMansions, there's no end to the ways you can show off your wealth. And thanks to fancy bottled water, you have the opportunity to flaunt your status  even if your budget is more thrift store than Gucci. Even the most expensive bottled water brands sell their smaller wares for less than $2 per bottle. It's not cheap, but it's a tiny luxury most of us can afford to indulge in every once and a while.

What sets upscale bottled water apart from generic brands is by no means a science, but even non-experts can spot a bougie bottle when they see one. In general, fancy bottled waters feature a combination of unique packaging, an elegant label, and a detailed origin story about the water's provenance (bonus points for volcanoes or ancient aquifers). With all of these sleek marketing tactics, knowing where to make your water splurge can be tricky. To help quench your thirst in style, we've put together a list of the best fancy bottled water brands. Follow along as we discover some of the world's best-packaged H2O.

Read more: 25 Popular Bottled Water Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

Fiji Water

Square water bottle with droplets - Jfmdesign/Getty Images

There's no doubt about it  Fiji Water is one of the most expensive bottled water brands in the world. Part of the hefty price tag can be explained by marketing. Fiji Water is often seen at high-end resorts and on upscale restaurant menus. What's more, the distinctive rectangular-shaped bottle has played a supporting role in shows as diverse as "House of Cards" and "Friends". But its cult status is only part of the reason why Fiji Water is so popular.

The other reason? It's just really delicious. Devoted tap water drinkers might be calling malarky, but hear us out. Fiji Water comes from underground volcanic aquifers on Viti Levu, an island in Fiji's remote Yaqara Valley. These aquifers (which are located 1,600 miles away from any source of contamination) are filled with centuries-old rainwater that's filtered through dormant volcanic rock. Throughout the filtration process, the water picks up naturally occurring minerals and electrolytes such as calcium, magnesium, and silica. Not only do these substances do the body good, but they're also responsible for the sweet, smooth, and delicate flavor profile Fiji Water is known for.

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San Pellegrino

Green glass water bottle - Evemilla/Getty Images

Established in 1899, San Pellegrino is one of the oldest  and dare we say, the most distinguished  fancy bottled water brands in the world. With its signature green glass bottle and mineral-rich composition, there's not much we don't love about this iconic Italian carbonated water. In fact, this storied water has long been thought to possess therapeutic properties thanks to its unique mineral blend of calcium, chloride, magnesium, and nitrogen, among others. San Pellegrino's chemistry gives it a distinctive flavor that's crisp, refreshing, and just the slightest bit salty. The company treats its water with carbon dioxide as a way of preserving the mineral profile, something that also creates small, gentle bubbles. While you're certainly welcome to drink San Pellegrino alone, it's best enjoyed as an accompaniment to seafood or pasta.

San Pellegrino sources its water from natural springs in San Pellegrino Terme, a small commune just north of Bergamo in Italy's Lombardy region. The water makes quite the journey before reaching town. And when we say journey, we mean three decades. In fact, San Pellegrino's water comes from rain and melted snow that flows from the summit of the Dolomites and through the sedimentary stones of the Alps before reaching the town center.

Icelandic Glacial

Woman holding bottle of water - Instagram

Icelandic Glacial may not have the same kind of name recognition as other fancy bottled water brands like Evian or Fiji, but what it lacks in popularity, it makes up for in quality. As its name suggests, Icelandic Glacial water comes from Olfus Spring, an underground water source created by a volcanic eruption some 5,000 years ago. The leftover lava rock acts as a natural filtration system, purifying and alkalizing the water to a natural pH of 8.4. If that's not enough to convince you of the quality, consider this: Olfus Spring is surrounded by a 128,000-acre exclusion zone, meaning Icelandic Glacial's water is some of the purest the planet has to offer.

On top of its delicious water, Icelandic Glacial is winning when it comes to bottle design. Rather than some generic round container, the brand's packaging features a rugged glacier-inspired neck reminiscent of Iceland's breathtaking landscape. In terms of sustainability, Icelandic Glacial is also leagues ahead of its competitors. In fact, the company's 7,688-square-foot packaging facility is powered entirely by geothermal and hydroelectric power, making it completely carbon neutral.

Mountain Valley Spring Water

Hand reaching for green bottle - Instagram

We don't know about you, but every time we see water packaged in glass bottles, we immediately think it's pretty fancy. That's definitely true of Mountain Valley Spring Water. The water itself isn't particularly groundbreaking, amounting essentially to spring water filtered through a granite and marble aquifer in Arkansas' Ouachita Mountains. However, the packaging lends an air of sophistication and refinement to an otherwise generic product.

In addition to looking sharp, the hand-blown glass bottles help preserve the water's pH level (7.3 to 7.7) and mineral blend. Together, the well-balanced pH and mineral blend (consisting of calcium, magnesium, and potassium) create the crisp, refreshing, and award-winning taste Mountain Valley is known for. And speaking of awards, Mountain Valley holds the title of America's most-awarded spring water, having won 19 trophies from The Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting organization. Some of its top honors include Best in the World for both spring and sparkling water.

Evian

Bottle of Evian water - Instagram

In addition to popular dishes like fondue and raclette, the French Alps are known for all kinds of beverages. Genepi, a liqueur similar to absinthe, and Chartreuse, a neon-colored liqueur made with 130 herbs and botanical extracts, come to mind. But it's Evian water (stylistically written as evian) that's gained popularity in recent decades. Evian's water begins as rain and snow at the peak of the Alps. From there, it takes a 15-year journey through glacial rocks, getting filtered and taking on the brand's signature mineral and electrolyte profile. Once it reaches Evian-les-Bains, a French commune near the Swiss border, it's bottled and shipped around the world.

As romantic as Evian's story and Alps-inspired packaging is, it's not the bottled water for everyone. While the neutral 7.2 pH won't ruffle any feathers, the heavy electrolyte and mineral profile might. As an example, Evian contains 80 milligrams of calcium per liter and 26 milligrams of magnesium per liter. Compare these figures to a neutral-tasting bottled water like Mountain Valley (67 milligrams of calcium per liter and 7.1 milligrams of magnesium per liter) and you'll see what we're talking about. This profile gives Evian an almost salty flavor profile despite its thin texture.

Waiakea

Hand holding Waiakea bottle - Instagram

Marketed as Hawaiian volcanic water, Waiakea (pronounced why-uh-kay-ah) comes from the bio-diverse forests of Hilo, Hawaii. More specifically, the precious liquid is sourced from a deep well at the base of the Mauna Loa volcano. The H2O begins its journey to bottled water as rain and snowmelt (hard to believe in Hawaii, but true!). Next, it flows through 14,000 feet of porous volcanic rock. During that time, it gets filtered and mineralized, taking on sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and silica. Finally, it resurfaces in the form of crisp alkaline water (the pH falls between 7.6 and 8.2). Waiakea's alkalinity gives it a soft and smooth mouthfeel and a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Thankfully, Waiakea sees itself as a steward of the land. That means the company works hard to be as sustainable as possible. Sustainability efforts include bottling less than .003% of its source's water, using recyclable packaging made out of aluminum and post-consumer PET plastic, and obtaining a Carbon Neutral certification. Besides its delicious still and sparkling waters, Waiakea also sells Hawaiian volcanic coffee.

Voss

Hand holding round bottle - Instagram

Nordic countries in general, and Norway in particular, have a reputation for being expensive. As an example, the average price of wine in Norway hovers around $17.42, making it one of the most expensive places in the world to purchase wine. Thankfully, bottled water is slightly more affordable, coming in at about $2.60 for an 11-ounce bottle. At least that's what you'll pay for a standard (aka non-fancy) bottle of water from a supermarket brand. If you want the good stuff, you'll have to shell out even more.

So, what's this good stuff we're talking about? Voss (often written as VOSS) water. Voss sources its artesian water from an aquifer in Southern Norway. Owing to the well's depth and remote location, Voss is naturally protected from pollutants. That means little to no filtration or processing is necessary before bottling. The result is fresh, clean water with almost no minerality. This neutral flavor profile makes Voss an excellent dinner companion, regardless of what's on the menu.

While its flavor profile is note-worthy, it's not the reason for Voss' success. Indeed, the brand's reputation as one of the world's fanciest bottled water brands comes from its packaging. When it was released in 2001, Voss was one of the only bottled water brands packaging its H2O in glass bottles. That may not seem revolutionary by today's standards, but it was a pretty baller move at the time. Even now, these sleek, cylindrical bottles scream luxury.

Life WTR

Clear bottle arranged diagonally - Instagram

Unlike many other fancy bottled waters, Pepsi-owned Life WTR (stylistically written as LIFEWTR) doesn't come from a mountain peak or an ancient volcanic aquifer. Rather, it's sourced from municipal water supplies (aka tap water) and then filtered using a process called reverse osmosis. Without getting lost in the nerdy details, reverse osmosis involves using a semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from contaminants like sodium, copper, and lead, just to name a few.

Once filtered, Life WTR adds electrolytes like magnesium sulfate and potassium bicarbonate back into the water to improve the taste. The result is a clean, crisp water with a pH of between 6.4 and 7.4. It's the kind of bottled water whose flavor won't offend anyone. So what makes it so note-worthy? Well, Life WTR's bottles are literally works of art. The brand regularly collaborates with artists to create eye-catching designs featuring everything from flowers and portraits to abstract doodles and geometric patterns.

Acqua Panna

Acqua Panna water bottle - Torresigner/Getty Images

Art, fashion, architecture, and food  is there anything Italy can't do? We're liable to say no, and we'd add bottled water to the list of great Italian achievements. While not as recognizable as San Pellegrino (which is Acqua Panna's parent company), the Tuscan mineral water has made plenty of waves in the culinary world thanks to its velvet-like texture and balanced minerality. It's also naturally alkalized (pH 8.8), resulting in a unique flavor profile that makes it a great cocktail ingredient and a refreshing dinner companion.

Acqua Panna's spring water has a history going back to 1564. For centuries, Tuscans, including the Medici family, have been enjoying this limestone-filtered beverage from Italy's Mugello region. The 14-year drop-by-drop filtration process guarantees Acqua Panna's unmatched flavor profile and explains the water's high price tag. But as long as you're willing to shell out for the pricy glass bottle, you too can experience la dolce vita, if only for a few minutes.

Antipodes

Clear Antipodes water bottle - Instagram

Antipodes is New Zealand's answer to fancy bottled water. Based on the bottle design alone, you can tell that this is a brand that means business. The low-profile glass bottle pairs seamlessly with the silver twist-off cap, giving Antipodes a look similar to high-end beauty products. But aesthetics aren't what sets Antipodes apart. It's the comprehensive information about the water's source and bottling process printed right on the bottle. This level of transparency makes you feel confident about what you're pouring into your glass.

Yet the true essence of Antipodes' uniqueness lies in its source. The H2O comes from a silica-rich artesian aquifer buried more than 1,000 feet below the earth's surface, making it New Zealand's deepest quality water source. Over time, the geological pressure exerted on the aquifer causes the water to rise to the surface, but not before 50 to 300 years of natural filtration. This natural journey means that Antipodes needs only minimal microfiltration before bottling, eliminating the need for sterilization, additives, or further processing. What results is subtly-flavored water with 130 milligrams of minerals per liter. Combine that with its neutral pH of 7.0 and its silky texture and you've got bottled water fit for royalty.

Glaceau SmartWater

Hand holding plastic bottle - Instagram

Since its debut in 1996, people have been making jokes about this Coca-Cola-owned water's impact on intelligence. While it probably won't raise your IQ, there are worse things to drink than SmartWater. SmartWater sold in the United States comes from an artesian spring in Northern Connecticut. After collection, the water is vapor-distilled, a filtration process that promises to make the water as pure as when it first fell out of the sky. Next, it goes through a second proprietary filtration process in order to ensure utmost purity. Lastly, ionized minerals such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium are added back in to create the fresh, crisp taste consumers clamor for.

These minerals are also the reason SmartWater is so expensive. While the high price tag makes it impossible to purchase SmartWater every day, we'll gladly show off the sleek, rounded bottle every chance we get. Plus, if it's good enough for SmartWater spokespeople like Pete Davidson and Zendaya, it's good enough for us. Besides its flagship product, SmartWater comes in varieties like fruit-infused, alkaline, and antioxidant-infused.

Ethos

Ethos water bottle on counter - Instagram

If you've ever had to wait in line for your iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso at Starbucks, then you might have noticed the coffee chain's in-house water brand, Ethos. The Seattle-based coffee giant acquired Ethos in 2005 with the goal of improving water quality and accessibility around the world. To that end, Starbucks donates five cents from the purchase price of each bottle of Ethos to water hygiene programs in countries like Tanzania and Colombia. You'll be reminded of this mission every time you take a sip as the minimalist bottle design features a map of the world on the front panel.

The water itself has a crisp, neutral flavor and a pH of 5.5. It's good, but it's certainly nothing to write home about. That's likely because it's sourced from municipal water supplies and not some fancy underground aquifer. Originally, Starbucks collected the water from California but stopped in 2015 due to public outcry about the chain taking water from drought-stricken areas. From there, it turned its sights on Tennessee before moving to its current location in Wisconsin. Questionable practices aside, Ethos is a solid bottled water to glug in between sips of cappuccino.

Static Media owns and operates Tasting Table and Mashed.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Polish Kosovo Force (KFOR) soldiers guard a municipal office in Zvecan (REUTERS)

Britain has made a battalion of up to 650 troops available to a Nato peacekeeping force amid rising tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.

The UKs Ministry of Defence (MoD) said they were already in the region for planned drills.

Nato General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said all necessary actions would be taken for a safe and secure environment.

On Sunday, Kosovos prime minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of carrying out a terrorist attack on its territory after a policeman was killed, apparently by a heavily armed gang of up to 30 men who then took shelter in a monastery.

The stand-off, in the Kosovan village of Banjska, close to the border with Serbia, underlined simmering tensions in the Balkan region.

By evening the men were said to have barricaded themselves into the monastery and had also suffered casualties. Kosovo said that three of the gunmen had been killed in shootouts during the day.

Organised crime, which is politically, financially and logistically supported by Belgrade, is attacking our state, Mr Kurti said.

It is clear that these uniformed people are an organised professional unit who have come to fight in Kosovo. There are at least 30 professional, military or police armed people who are surrounded by our police forces and whom I invite to surrender to our security agencies.

The incident started after a Kosovan police officer was killed in an attack by the gang at 3am on Sunday. Another officer was injured. Police had been called after reports of a blockade in Banjska. Three police units came under fire but pushed back the attackers, who then fled to the monastery.

US officials are monitoring a large deployment of troops along the border with Kosovo.

British troops will help form part of the KFOR peacekeeping force, which comprises of around 4,500 troops from about 27 Nato and partner countries.
Massachusetts researchers linked SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to about 1 in 6 sepsis cases at five Boston hospitals during the pandemic's first 2-1/2 years. Photo by RDNE Stock project/Pexels

The life-threatening infection sepsis was more common than once thought among COVID-19 patients early in the pandemic.

Massachusetts researchers linked SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to about 1 in 6 sepsis cases at five Boston hospitals during the pandemic's first 2-1/2 years.

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital said their findings suggest healthcare workers should rethink how they treat sepsis. The use of electronic health data also provides a framework for future sepsis surveillance, they said.

"Most people, including medical professionals, equate sepsis with bacterial infections," said lead author Dr. Claire Shappell, a specialist in pulmonology and critical care medicine. "This is reflected in treatment guidelines and quality measures that require immediate antibiotics for patients with suspected sepsis."

But "viral infections, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, can trigger the same dysregulated immune response that leads to organ dysfunction as in bacterial sepsis," Shappell added in a hospital news release.

For the study, her team used health records from five Mass General Brigham hospitals to track the rate of COVID-associated sepsis. Their criteria included testing positive for COVID-19 and clinical signs of organ dysfunction.

"Previous efforts to quantify the burden of SARS-CoV-2-associated sepsis have been limited by inconsistent definitions and under-recognition of viral sepsis," said senior author Dr. Chanu Rhee, an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's.

"Our prior research has shown that [electronic health record-based] surveillance can provide more accurate estimates of sepsis incidence and outcomes compared to administrative datasets, but this method had not previously been applied specifically for sepsis associated with SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses," Rhee said in the release.

Using data for March 2020 through November 2022, the researchers found more than 430,000 hospitalizations among more than 260,000 people.

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About 5.4% of hospitalizations were due to COVID-19 infections. Among those patients, 28.2% had COVID-associated sepsis.

The death rate for patients with COVID-19 and sepsis was initially high -- about 33% -- in the pandemic's first three months, the study showed. Over time, that declined and was similar to the death rate for bacterial sepsis, which is about 14.5%.

The use of electronic health data provides a framework for future research into sepsis associated with other viruses, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), researchers said.

They now aim to apply this method to larger, nationally representative datasets.

"We also hope our findings highlight that sepsis is not a 'one-size-fits-all' entity, but one that requires clinicians to tailor their diagnosis and treatment strategy to each patient's syndrome and probable pathogen," Shappell said.

Findings were published Friday in JAMA Network Open.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more on sepsis.

Copyright  2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
(Bloomberg) --

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South Africas transition away from the dirtiest fossil fuel has been marred by the botched approach to the closure of a coal-fired power plant, the first under a key climate policy initiative.

When the last unit at Komati, one of the state-owned power utilitys oldest plants, was shut last October, little attempt had been made to consult with workers or create new jobs, the Presidential Climate Commission said in a new study. Ministers from the ruling African National Congress also made misleading claims about the potential for the facility to have remained open, aggravating tensions among the countrys coal-dependent communities.

Some of the worlds richest nations are helping fund the transition away from coal in South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam. But key ministers in President Cyril Ramaphosas government have attacked the switch to renewable energy, even as breakdowns at South Africas aging coal-fired plants trigger the nations worst-ever power cuts.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. only began a study on the social impact of Komatis closure in 2020, as it opened consultations with the government. It only started discussions with workers at Komati, east of Johannesburg, in May last year, as construction began on the first project to provide alternative jobs, a micro-grid container assembly plant. Five months later the power plant was shut.

The process at Komati started too late, the commission said. Communities and workers should be informed of the closure years ahead of time.

Eskom first began planning to close Komati  commissioned in 1961 with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts  in 2017. At that time about 1,600 people worked at the plant, but five years later just one of Komatis nine units was still operating, generating 121 megawatts.

Story continues

One month before its final closure, an agreement was reached to construct a renewable energy training facility at the site. That was the same month the first public meeting was held to inform the community of the plans. Last November, $497 million was secured from the World Bank to build renewable energy and battery plants.

The commission said subsequent comments by the energy and electricity ministers that the plant shouldnt have been closed given South Africas power shortage have caused confusion and were inaccurate, fanning community hopes that the facility would reopen. Eskom would always have had to close the plant as it was reaching the end of its operational life, it said.

Workers and community members considered the engagement process around the decommissioning, repurposing, and repowering of Komati to be highly inadequate, the commission said. They felt that they were being consulted after the fact and that the decommissioning of Komati was a fait accompli.

Eskom conceded this, the commission said, adding that national, provincial and local government officials were considered by the community to have been unresponsive.

Future plant closures should be communicated earlier, more attention should be paid to the wider impact on the community and local businesses and projects to create replacement jobs should begin before facilities shut, the commission said.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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By Olivia Ingraham

South Korea has firmly established itself as a global economic powerhouse, extending its influence far beyond its borders. From corporate giants to nimble startups, South Korean enterprises are rapidly expanding their global reach. In this era of relentless globalization, the cornerstone of success for their businesses is none other than cultural intelligence (CQ). Cultural intelligence is a multifaceted skill that forms the foundation upon which South Korean companies can build their prowess in international markets, forge formidable global alliances and secure an unassailable competitive edge.

Adaptation to the ever-changing business landscape:

The business terrain is in a state of perpetual flux, with global trends, cutting-edge technologies and ever-shifting consumer preferences redefining the landscape. South Korean enterprises armed with organizational cultural intelligence excel at adapting to these fluctuations. They possess the acumen to spot opportunities on the horizon, anticipate impending challenges and architect strategies that seamlessly align with the pulse of global dynamics, ensuring their sustained eminence.

The role of cultural intelligence in technological innovation:

In the contemporary interconnected world, technological innovation is the catalyst propelling societal advancement and economic prosperity. However, in this age of globalization, the capacity for technological adaptation and innovation hinges not only on technological prowess but also on an astute comprehension and ability to harness the power of understanding diverse mindsets and national cultures. Cultural intelligence whether individual or organizational plays a pivotal role in creating an environment conducive to all facets of innovation.

Navigating ambiguity and change:

Technological innovation typically springs forth in complex and dynamic realms characterized by ambiguity and relentless change. Culturally astute individuals and organizations are well-equipped to navigate volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity with ease and finesse. Those with robust cultural intelligence quotient (CQ) excel at managing change, have better judgment and decision-making and emerge as invaluable assets in creativity and innovation.

The art of successful negotiation:

In the realm of successful negotiation, understanding the intricate nuances of the cultures involved is often the pillar of triumph. Enterprises with elevated levels of cultural intelligence are better armed to navigate the negotiation table across diverse corners of the world. Cultural adaptability empowers them to tailor their negotiation strategies, whether adopting the assertiveness prevalent in Western negotiations or embracing the consensus-building approach commonly found in Asian markets. Furthermore, it serves as a robust shield against risk stemming from misinterpreting cultural norms, which can lead to legal entanglements, reputational harm, losing face or even international disputes. By cultivating these culturally intelligent skills, businesses can effectively mitigate these risks and drive through the labyrinth of complex global business endeavors with success.

In an era where technological innovation stands as the keystone of progress, cultural intelligence emerges as the pivotal factor propelling these innovations and business triumphs. By fostering cross-cultural collaboration, nurturing creative ideation, expanding market horizons and enhancing problem-solving capabilities, cultural intelligence clears the path for groundbreaking technological leaps. To thrive in todays intricately woven global landscape, both individuals and organizations must acknowledge and harness the profound impact of cultural intelligence in shaping the future of business.

Olivia Ingraham (olivia.ingraham@gmail.com) is an experienced business consultant specializing in innovative change and transformation.
HA NOI  As Viet Nam is joining and becoming a link in the global semiconductor market, the stocks of some companies involved in the industry have witnessed outstanding performances.

Viet Nam is clearly seeing opportunities to develop and create breakthroughs for the semiconductor industry after foreign research units and businesses have recently seen the country as a destination to invest, set up offices, and open factories.

Particularly, the recent joint statement between Viet Nam and the US also emphasised cooperation in the semiconductor industry. During the visit of PM Pham Minh Chinh to Silicon Valley on 18 September, many US technology companies, such as Nvidia and Synopsys, discussed collaboration in the semiconductor chip sector.

Nvidia wants to enhance cooperation with Viet Nam in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, expecting the country to fully become a production base for the group in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Synopsys signed a memorandum of cooperation with Vietnamese agencies to support the development of the semiconductor chip industry and establish a chip design incubation centre.

Analysts have said that Viet Nam is likely to obtain billion-dollar opportunities due to the inflow of investment capital after joining and becoming a link in the global semiconductor market.

Nguyen Minh Hoang, general director of FPT Information System Company, a member of FPT Corporation, said that the Vietnamese semiconductor market is expected to increase by US$1.65 billion between 2021 and 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of about 6.52 per cent a year.

In 2022, FPT announced the establishment of FPT Semiconductor, which specialises in the design and production of integrated circuits (ICs). The power IC products have completed the R&D phase and entered the mass production phase, with plans to supply 25 million chips globally between 2023 and 2025.

On the other hand, one of the vital input materials for the production of electronic circuits and semiconductors is phosphorus, which has also seen a significant gain due to increased demand. As a result, uc Giang Chemicals benefits greatly as it is currently the largest exporter of yellow phosphorus in Asia.

On the stock market, even though only a few businesses related to the semiconductor industry are listed on the Vietnamese stock market, the majority of them have experienced rapid growth and are currently trading at their highs in several months, despite recent strong corrections.

So far this year, shares of uc Giang Chemicals JSC (DGC) have risen 57.4 per cent to VN90,500 a share ($3.7). They even reached a one-year high of VN98,000 per share on 22 September.

Similarly, FPT Corporation (FPT) shares have seen a gain of 37.4 per cent and are currently trading at VN93,500 a share. On 20 September, FPT shares were traded close to the threshold of VN100,000 a share.

CMG Corporation (CMC) shares also recorded an increase of 17.5 per cent after more than nine months to VN48,100. They reached this year's peak at VN49,000 a share on 22 September.

Positive prospects

In a recent report, Dragon Capital assessed that the upgrade of the Viet Nam-US relationship will create favourable conditions for the US to promote the relocation of high-tech supply chains, such as the semiconductor industry, to friendly countries.

"Enterprises like FPT and DGC are expected to benefit, especially when they can take advantage of opportunities in the field of software and semiconductor technology, said Dragon Capital.

According to Viet Dragon Securities Corporation (VDSC), FPT's international information technology services segment recorded a revenue growth of 30 per cent over 2022 in the first half of the year, while the international business division of CMC, which is in charge of software export service, also reported an increase of 62 per cent in revenue.

Both FPT and CMC benefit largely from Asian markets as businesses in the region are accelerating the transformation progress, which is said to have lagged behind global competitors during the pandemic.

VNDirect Securities Corporation recently expected that uc Giang Chemicals net profit would rise 2 per cent from the previous quarter in the third quarter and continue to grow 4 per cent in the last quarter amid rising demand from the Indian and US markets.

Phosphorus prices are expected to remain at $4,000-4,300 a tonne in the second half of this year and will increase to $4,600-5,000 a tonne in 2024. As a result, uc Giang Chemical's net profit could reach VN4 trillion in 2024, up 20 per cent from this year's estimate," said VNDirect.  VNS
HCM CITY  There was a huge jump in the number of threats targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) in Viet Nam in the first half of the year, global cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky has said.

According to the latest statistics from Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), until May some 1,120 SMB employees encountered malware or unwanted software disguised as business applications. Of them, 710 got distributed.

The number of threats targeting SMBs it detected and blocked increased from 1,240 in H1 2022 to 25,194 in H1 this year, Kaspersky said.

Malware, an umbrella term for malicious software, is designed by and for professional cybercriminals to cause harm to a users device or network. It encompasses a variety of cyberthreats such as Trojan and other viruses (ransomware is a form of malware). Malware attacks are destructive to small businesses as they can cripple devices requiring expensive repairs or replacement. Malware also gives attackers a back door to access and steal data, putting both customers and employees at risk.

The SMB threat statistics from the KSN telemetry gathered figures in this sector from six countries in Southeast Asia, Viet Nam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, and malware detected in SMBs in Viet Nam was much higher than in the others.

According to experts, cybercriminals attempt to deliver malware and unwanted software to employees devices by using any means necessary, such as vulnerability exploitation, phishing e-mails and fake text messages. One of the methods often utilised to hack into employees smartphones is imitating messages from banks. The victim receives a link via SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or some other messaging app, and if the user clicks the link, a malicious code is uploaded into the system.

Yeo Siang Tiong, Kasperskys general manager for Southeast Asia, said: SMBs are still a lucrative target for cybercriminals. They generate 50 per cent of Viet Nams gross domestic product.

[Amid] the rapid transformation that SMBs are going through, it is important for them to take basic steps to protect against cybercriminals evolving tactics and techniques.

Kaspersky said to keep businesses protected from cyberthreats, firms should provide their staff with basic cybersecurity training and conduct a simulated phishing attack to ensure that they know how to recognise phishing e-mails and protect Microsoft 365, and control access to corporate assets such as e-mail boxes, shared folders and online documents.

Besides, they need to make regular backups of essential data to ensure that corporate information stays safe in an emergency, provide clear guidelines on the use of external services and resources, encourage employees to create strong passwords for all digital services they use, and protect accounts with multi-factor authentication wherever applicable, it added.

Ransomware and targeted attacks

In addition to the surge in cyber threats against SMBs in Viet Nam, the global cybersecurity leader Fortinet released its semiannual Global Threat Landscape Report, focusing on ransomware and targeted attacks. FortiGuard Labs, responsible for the report, observed several significant trends in the first half of 2023.

FortiGuard Labs found that fewer organisations detected ransomware in the first half of 2023 (13 per cent) compared to this time five years ago (22 per cent).

Despite the overall decline, organisations must keep their guard up. This supports the trend that FortiGuard Labs has seen over the last couple of years, that ransomware and other attacks are becoming increasingly more targeted thanks to the growing sophistication of attackers and the desire to increase the return on investment (ROI) per attack.

Research also found that the volume of ransomware detections continues to be volatile, closing the first half of 2023 13 times higher than the end of 2022, but still on a downward trend overall when comparing year-over-year.

For the first time in the history of the Global Threat Landscape Report, FortiGuard Labs tracked the number of threat actors behind the trends. Research revealed that 41 (30 per cent) of the 138 cyberthreat groups MITRE tracks were active in the first half of 2023.

In the first six months, FortiGuard Labs detected more than 10,000 unique exploits, up 68 per cent from five years ago. The spike in unique exploit detections highlights the sheer volume of malicious attacks security teams must be aware of and how attacks have multiplied and diversified in a relatively short amount of time.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam is in a prime position to develop a robust semiconductor industry, heard participants at the Vietnam Business Summit 2023 on Friday in Ha Noi.

"With a stable political system and favourable geographical location, Viet Nam has enough capacity to develop a strong semiconductor industry," said Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung.

He said the Vietnamese Government is particularly interested in promoting investment cooperation and the development of the semiconductor industry. The Government has tasked the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), among other governmental agencies, to develop an action plan and strategies to develop the semiconductor industry, with key objectives including building a workforce of 50,000 engineers for this industry by 2030.

Major infrastructure projects such as the National Innovation Center (NIC) and three high-tech parks located in HCM City, Hoa Lac (in Ha Noi) and a Nang have been constructed and ready to welcome investors, on top of favourable policies for the industry.

The Southeast Asian country has set a goal to become a hub for the semiconductor industry for the ASEAN region, and part of the global value chain.

"We believe today's summit is an opportunity to connect and collaborate. Businesses will see Viet Nam's potential to become part of the semiconductor value chain, helping to promote Viet Nam's semiconductor industry, creating sustainable growth and contributing to bringing great benefits to the entire Southeast Asia region, he said.

"Viet Nam has been making great strides in growing its economy, technology and innovation fueled by the country's digital transformation, which are expected to be the main drivers of economic growth this decade," said deputy minister Nguyen Huy Dung from the MIC.

He said the summit is a chance to facilitate closer collaboration among players across the region's electronics supply chain to cultivate favourable conditions for the regions semiconductor industry growth as it plays an increasingly important role in the global semiconductor scene.

Linda Tan, president of SEMI SEA, a regional association serving the manufacturing supply chains for the microelectronic, display and photovoltaic industries, said: "Despite global challenges, Viet Nam's economy exhibited its remarkable resilience and adaptability in 2022, positioning the country as a beacon of stability and growth. Viet Nam's semiconductor industry is also on a path of development with significant potential and advantages. Viet Nam has been increasingly attracting major semiconductor corporations from South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States."

She said US President Joe Biden's visit to the country earlier this month and the jointly announced upgrade of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategy was a demonstration of the US and Viet Nam's cooperation in innovation and development of the semiconductor industry as their highest priorities.

During the event, Minister Dung chaired a seminar discussing collaboration in fostering the innovation ecosystem in the semiconductor industry in Viet Nam and the Southeast Asia region. Among the participants at the seminar were leaders of major semiconductor corporations from Europe, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Viet Nam.

They shared their plans for investment cooperation in Viet Nam, and strategies to collaborate with the NIC in developing a training, incubation, and research centre for semiconductors at NIC Hoa Lac with a focus on chip design and product development.

They also talked about plans to connect and provide employment opportunities for Vietnamese engineers, both domestically and internationally, to ensure a skilled workforce and the growth of the semiconductor industrys innovation ecosystem in Viet Nam and the region.

"We encourage manufacturing corporations already active in Viet Nam to expand their operations and invite those not yet present to explore investment opportunities, taking advantage of various incentives and policies in high-tech zones in HCM City, Ha Noi, and a Nang. I propose that chip design companies consider entering the Vietnamese market and expanding their activities here while collaborating with us to build a skilled workforce in this sector," Dung said.  VNS
PHU QUOC ISLAND  The Forest Protection Department (FPD) recently hosted a Technical Dialogue on the Framework for the Management of Tiger Facilities in Viet Nam, aiming to develop a national system to manage tigers using individual DNA profiles and stripe patterns.

The initiative also seeks to define the terms for breeding and keeping tigers for conservation purposes and to ensure proper care and welfare standards for tigers in captivity.

This dialogue, supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) via the Saving Threatened Wildlife project, was executed by the Management Board for Forestry Projects (MBFP) from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in collaboration with WWF.

The event witnessed the involvement of 60 national and international conservation officers and tiger conservation specialists. They convened to address the management of captive tigers in Viet Nam. WWF noted that the Framework is set to undergo revisions and will be presented to MARD for review.

Tigers are globally endangered and are protected both nationally and internationally under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES requires all member states to implement measures to restrict captive tiger populations to a level supportive only of conserving wild tigers and to prevent breeding for trade in their parts and derivatives.

In Viet Nam, according to FPD, approximately 388 tigers are kept in zoos, safaris and under private ownership. In 2020, the Prime Minister assigned MARD to organise an assessment of the status of the five private facilities allowed to keep/breed tigers for conservation purposes. Based on these assessments, the development of a National Framework for the Management of Captive Tigers has been proposed.

Implementing Directive No. 29/CT-TTg (23 July 2020) issued by the Prime Minister on some urgent solutions to address the management of wildlife species, FPD has coordinated with relevant units to conduct a survey and evaluation of the current situation of tiger farming as well as tiger management. We realise that there are remaining difficulties and challenges for tiger facilities as well as management and supervision by the authorities, said Bui Chinh Nghia, director of the Forest Protection Department under the MARD.

Based on these assessments, the development of a National Framework for the Management of Captive Tigers has been proposed with several new solutions such as: managing and monitoring tigers using DNA technology, striped images, microchips, etc. to serve the purpose of origin traceability; completing relevant legal policies; strengthening the effectiveness of law enforcement, preventing and stopping illegal trade, captivity, and use of tigers' parts and derivatives, he said.

The dialogue will contribute ideas to FPD to complete the National Framework for the Management of Captive Tigers, ensuring compliance with the provisions of CITES, Vietnamese law, and the practical situation, he added.

Tigers are an endangered, precious, and rare species with a very high risk of extinction due to illegal hunting, trading, raising, and breeding. Therefore, they must be protected under international conventions and national law. Viet Nam has been working to show our commitment to the conservation of tigers, especially in captive facilities. With the contribution of national and international experts, we are looking forward to the completion of the Framework for the Management of Captive Tigers in Viet Nam, said MBFP Director o Quang Tung.

The technical dialogue provided participants with information on the state of captive tigers in Viet Nam and the measures necessary to improve their management and compliance with CITES. Examples and discussion of the current status and practical experience of managing captive tigers in other countries were also highlighted.

The management of captive tigers requires the collective effort from Government agencies, facility owners, and partners from international organisations. This was well reflected in the diversity of participants from different sectors joining the technical dialogue today. We welcome the opportunity to have expert input for the improved management of captive tigers in Viet Nam, said Michelle Owen, Chief of Party - Saving Threatened Wildlife project.  VNS
By Kang Seung-woo

Former President Park Geun-hye attended a flamboyant military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing in 2015, standing on the reviewing stand at Tiananmen Square alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

She was the lone leader of the U.S. allies to attend the event, which was shunned by many Western leaders who were concerned about Chinas growing influence regarding territorial disputes.

At the time, her drastic decision was mainly based on the belief that her attendance may lead to China playing a more constructive role in the denuclearizing of North Korea.

However, eight years later, looking back on the Souths past efforts toward China  regardless of the political orientation of its government  Pyongyang has been never prepared to give up its nuclear ambitions, raising important questions like, is it even a realistic goal?

Last week, the Chinese president was in the headlines once again after he met with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, during which, Xi expressed support for inter-Korean reconciliation and pledged continued efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula after Han asked China to play a constructive role.

Despite the Chinese leaders tentative commitment to help address North Koreas nuclear issue, few buy into the idea that China, the Norths lone economic pipeline and diplomatic protector, will step up efforts to exert its influence on the Kim Jong-un regime to give up its nuclear weapons.

Any potential intervention would depend on how the hegemonic rivalry between the United States and China develops.

Many diplomatic observers believe that China sees North Korea as an asset, not a liability, amid the intensifying Sino-U.S. competition unlike their estrangement  from 2012 to 2017  during which China gave the nod for the international community to impose sanctions on the North due to its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile-related programs.

In that respect, without drastic rapprochement between the U.S. and China, there is little chance that Beijing will do something to resolve North Koreas nuclear matter.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration already does not seem to expect great things from China in terms of North Koreas nuclear matter.

Earlier this week, National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong said during a TV interview that it appears unlikely that China will be able to bring North Korea into denuclearization talks because it has never responded to denuclearization talks since Kim Jong-un took the helm in 2011.

With no signs of reconciliation between Washington and Beijing, South Korea is at this point required to manage its ties with the Chinese government well to move closer to the long-term goal of denuclearizing North Korea.

Currently, China is suffering from domestic issues, which prevents it from waging a full-blown war with South Korea despite Seouls diplomatic stance leaning toward the U.S. over China and the current situation is giving South Korea diplomatic leeway.

In addition, Beijing is distancing itself from North Korea and Russia at the same time as relations between the two pariah states are improving.

Under these circumstances, South Korea, now establishing a relationship with China from the former Moon Jae-in administrations low-key diplomacy, is advised in order to specify its mid- and long-term policies toward China.

The writer is the politics desk editor.
VIENTIANE  Vietnamese Minister of Public Security Gen. To Lam paid courtesy calls to General Secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, and Prime Minister of the country Sonexay Siphandone in Vientiane on Friday.

The meetings were part of an official visit to Laos by a high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The delegation also attended the inauguration ceremony of the Academy of Politics of the Lao People's Public Security, a gift from the Vietnamese Government and MPS to the Lao MPS.

Lam thanked the Lao leaders for creating conditions for the Vietnamese MPS and its Laos counterpart to cooperate closely and effectively in fighting crimes and safeguarding security and order in each country.

He informed his hosts about the two ministries cooperation results and the outcomes of their talks held earlier the same day.

The Vietnamese official noted the two ministries have affirmed that security-defence cooperation remains one of the three pillars of the countries relations, and that they will stay determined and persistent to guarantee peace, stability and development along the Viet Nam-Laos border.

The two sides also stated that one countrys security is also the others. Viet Nam and Laos will not allow hostile, opposition, and reactionary forces to take advantage of this countrys territory to sabotage the other or drive a wedge into bilateral relations. They will also work closely in preventing and fighting colour revolution, peace evolution, and transnational crimes, according to Lam.

Both General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith and PM Sonexay Siphandone spoke highly of the fruitful cooperation results between the two ministries, especially the coordination in building the Academy of Politics of the Lao People's Public Security.

The General Secretary and President of Laos expressed his hope that the two countries public security forces will keep promoting comprehensive cooperation in the time ahead to meet requirements and fulfil tasks in the new context for the sake of the two peoples, regional and global peace, stability and development, as well as the special friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Viet Nam and Laos.

Meanwhile, PM Siphandone asked the two forces to further enhance cooperation in combating transnational crimes, drug crimes, human trafficking, and hi-tech crimes. He also told them to coordinate closely to ensure absolute security and safety in 2024, when Laos will hold the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Earlier on September 29, the Vietnamese MPS delegation held talks with its Lao counterpart, led by Deputy PM and Minister Gen. Vilay Lakhamphong.

The two sides highly valued the implementation results of the 2023 cooperation plan, especially in guaranteeing national security and fighting transnational and drug crimes. They emphasised that amid complex and unpredictable developments in the region and the world, Vietnam and Laos should continue upholding their great and traditional friendship to surmount difficulties and develop further for regional peace and security, along with the two peoples prosperity and happiness.

Concluding the talks, the Vietnamese minister and the Lao Deputy PM and Minister of Public Security signed the cooperation plan for 2024.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam has welcomed 8.9 million international visitors in the first nine months of 2023, exceeding the target of eight million for the whole year.

The target was set by tourism authorities early in the year, before China  from which the visitors accounted for about one-third of the total international visitors to Viet Nam in 2019  announced its decision to reopen following stringent COVID-19-related border closures.

The figure was less than half the number of international arrivals to Viet Nam before the pandemic broke out which was 18 million.

There have been calls for revision of the target since the new, more open visa policies were introduced and the number of arrivals started to reach the amount set, especially when the peak for international tourist arrivals in Viet Nam is between October-March (contrary to peak domestic season in summer months).

Vu The Binh, chairman of Viet Nam Tourism Association, said Viet Nam could raise the target for 2023 to about 10-12 million tourists instead and this is achievable.

The nine-month number of visitors was 4.7 times higher than the same period last year, but only equal to 69 per cent the figure seen in the same period of 2019, according to the General Statistics Office of Viet Nam.

In September alone, the country welcomed more than one million foreign visitors, down 13.4 per cent month-on-month.

Out of the 8.9 million tourists, 7.8 million arrived in Viet Nam by air (87.5 per cent), one million by road (11.8 per cent), and 64,000 by sea (0.7 per cent).

The majority of the arrivals were from Asia (6.85 million), followed by Europe (1.015 million), Americas (682,800), Oceania (311,100), and Africa (20,400).

Revenue from accommodation and catering services in this period rose by 16 per cent, and earnings from travel and tourism services increased 47.7 per cent year-on-year.

Australias Micenet Magazine recently assessed the central region of Viet Nam as a new 'hot spot' for MICE tourism.

In its article, the magazine wrote: Central Viet Nam is coming into its own as more international and domestic flights serve a Nang City, which is growing as a destination for conferences, meetings and incentive events. Its location between two UNESCO world heritage sites  Hoi An, 30km southeast, and Hue, 100km northwest  also helps.

There is a wide choice of luxury and five-star international and local brand hotels in the city and along a 60km stretch of beach, it added.  VNS
HCM CITY  Health experts discussed measures to enhance dengue prevention strategies in Viet Nam at a conference in HCM City on September 28.

At the event, participants heard that the peak season of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in Viet Nam often lasts from June to October. At present, the country is facing the ongoing complexity of outbreaks each year post-pandemic, with rising pressure on Viet Nam's healthcare system. As of now, Viet Nam has recorded 81,808 cases of dengue fever this year, with 23 fatalities.

At the conference, international and local health experts discussed Viet Nam's dengue fever preventive initiatives and methods to improve their effectiveness. They also explored new interventions that could enhance the management of dengue transmission within the country.

According to Associate Professor Nguyen Thanh Hung, Director of Childrens Hospital 1, DHF still poses a major threat in Viet Nam and globally due to its potential to cause a large outbreak and severe health outcomes.

The disease is characterised by high fever that lasts several days and can result in serious complications such as hypovolemic shock from plasma loss, gastrointestinal bleeding, cerebral haemorrhage, and multi-organ failure. These complications can rapidly progress and may be fatal if not promptly and intensively treated. Beyond the health risks, dengue also imposes an economic strain on individuals and communities. Moreover, the disease can have long-term psychological effects on patients and communities and significantly impact social security. From a healthcare perspective, the increasing number of dengue patients over the years has put immense pressure on hospitals, leading to a shortage of resources for adequate patient care, said Hung.

Assoc., Prof. Hung added: To maintain treatment capacity, medical facilities in HCM City and across the country have effectively implemented the Ministry of Healths guidelines for diagnosing and treating dengue fever. This includes proper organisation of treatment at all healthcare levels, early detection, correct treatment of dengue patients, strengthening facilities and equipment, and ensuring adequate supplies of infusion fluids. These measures have saved many lives and significantly reduced the mortality rate from dengue fever in our country.

However, it is crucial to have close collaboration between treatment and prevention systems. Public awareness campaigns about dengue are essential to effective prevention measures such as mosquito control and vaccination when an effective vaccine becomes available," Hung added.

Dengue fever is very different from other infectious diseases as it puts the entire population at risk, regardless of age. Alongside the current measures, its crucial to incorporate dengue control models that employ advanced scientific methods in countries with similar climatic and epidemic conditions as Viet Nam, such as Indonesia and Thailand. A stronger, more comprehensive, and sustainable epidemic control model can only be built when the medical community and society work together, said Dr. Luong Chan Quang, Acting Head of the Department for Disease Control and Prevention at the Pasteur Institute in HCM City.

Experts alluded to the need for sustainable and long-term solutions to prevent and control dengue fever in the country. This requires not just clinical and preventative methods but also efforts and collaborations from both public and private sectors in combatting dengue, a global public health threat.

The conference was jointly organised by the Pasteur Institute in HCM City in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceuticals. The event is organised in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Japan.  VNS
To mark World Contraception Day on September 26, Bayer Pharmaceuticals Division in Asia-Pacific announced the inception of its Bayer for Her campaign, known as Science for Her in Vietnam. Having been piloted first in Thailand since September 2022, the campaign has now been rolled out to other ASEAN markets. In Vietnam, the campaign was launched under the name Science for Her.

The ability for women to choose how many children they want, if at all, and when they want to have them is central to women's empowerment and achieving the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals.

However, according to the Guttmacher Institute, almost 132 million women of reproductive age in Asia have an unmet need for modern contraception. They wish to avoid a pregnancy, but are either not using it or are using traditional methods, which are less effective than modern alternatives.

As a pioneer in women's healthcare, Bayer has set a goal of providing education to 100 million women in low- and middle-income countries by 2030, allowing them to access family planning.

Bayer for Her is not an awareness campaign, but a call to action for women in Asia to share about their own health issues with #ConversationsofCare

Grounded in science, Vietnam's Science for Her platform unites Bayer's Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health divisions to address women's healthcare needs across all life stages. The initiative covers many activities to raise awareness and help women understand, manage, and take action on their health issues in the modern world, ranging from contraception to endometriosis, menstrual pain and heavy bleeding, vitamin supplements, and skincare problems.

In addition, the Science for Her campaign also encourages women to have regular health screenings, and receive psychological care and support, especially during the menstrual cycle or maternity period.

To facilitate the goal, Bayer Vietnam has signed an MoU with two of Vietnam's leading obstetrics and gynaecology hospitals, namely the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Hung Vuong Hospital.

Bayer Vietnam and its partners are committed to fostering collaborations, mobilising resources, and creating a synergy of strengths to implement knowledge transfer and information exchange with the local medical community.

The partnerships also raise community awareness and empower women in terms of their obstetric and gynaecological health, family planning, and disease prevention.

In August 2023, Bayer organised an online contraception consulting programme with the participation of Dr. Hoang Thi Diem Tuyet

Within the framework of the cooperation, Bayer Vietnam is accompanying Hung Vuong Hospital to implement a series of health consultation livestreams for the community, focusing on providing useful information and instructions on using appropriate and effective birth control methods as well as enhancing understanding of safe and effective treatment options for endometriosis, helping to improve the quality of life for female patients.

The programme has attracted more than 268 thousand views and interactions on the Phu Nu Song Chu Dong and Hung Vuong Hospitals' fanpages.

In August, Bayer Vietnam, in coordination with the National Agricultural Extension Center under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, organised the training session for women's healthcare. The session attracted nearly 500 female farmers from the Mekong Delta, with topics covering family planning methods, pregnancy nutrition, and common skincare problems.

The activity was part of Bayer's Science for Her and ForwardFarming initiatives, with a view to promoting healthcare for women in rural areas who lack access to information and modern services.

Nearly 500 female farmers in the Mekong Delta region received training on women's health care organized by NAEC in coordination with Bayer Vietnam.

2023 marks the eighth consecutive year that Bayer Vietnam has been partnering with the General Office of Population and Family Planning of the Ministry of Health to provide better care and access for Vietnamese women.

From 2016 to 2023, initiatives have been conducted by both parties, including the As a Woman, I Choose to Live Proactively campaign, and the online contest Understanding Contraception, among others, helping millions of women across the country receive direct advice on how to choose safe birth control methods and avoid unplanned pregnancies.

Building on this momentum, the second phase of the Family Planning Communication Programme for Public Health (2021-2025) will utilise digital platforms to improve the communication efficiency of the rights and benefits of all individuals to implement family planning measures.

The cooperation focuses on the three goals of helping women make informed decisions about their pregnancy, avoid obstetric complications, and prevent unwanted pregnancies, improving both their family lives and careers.

The Bayer for Her campaign in Asia is championing women to find the best avenues to reach out to healthcare professionals, friends, and family, and not to suffer in silence.

The campaign, which has been shortlisted as a finalist in the SABRE Awards Asia-Pacific 2023, has gained traction over the past year, with over 18 local partners, non-governmental organisations in eight countries, thousands of healthcare professionals, and Bayer employees joining the cause.

Bayer Vietnam employees take up community work Bayer Vietnam is giving back to the community by implementing a series of corporate social responsibility activities.

Bayer Vietnam in advance to health for all Bayer Vietnam is maintaining its position at the forefront of innovative solutions and partnerships to promote the sustainable development of the nations healthcare sector.
Building on the success of the Green Economy Forum & Exhibition 2022, this event will feature insightful sustainability dialogues, a high-level plenary session, and comprehensive conference sessions, uniting industry leaders, policymakers, and sustainability advocates from Europe and Vietnam.

The GEF will be hosted in collaboration with Team Europe partners including the European Union Delegation to Vietnam, the EuroCham Green Growth Sector Committee, all nine EuroCham Vietnam-affiliated European business associations, and an array of European countries.

During the launch press conference held on September 28, newly appointed Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam Julien Guerrier emphasised, "The GEF is a symbol of the ongoing collaborative efforts between Europe and Vietnam. I believe that such initiatives pave the way for a successful green transition, showcasing the strength of Europe-Vietnam cooperation."

Christoph Prommersberger, deputy head of Mission at the Netherlands Embassy to Vietnam, reflected on Vietnam's sustainability goals for 2050. Drawing from Europe's experience, he highlighted the challenges of translating commitments into actionable results.

He pointed to the pivotal role the business community plays in the green transition, especially when navigating new green EU regulations, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. With these considerations, the GEF is positioned to offer Vietnam and its businesses the necessary resources to meet and adapt to evolving global standards.

Dominik Meichle, EuroCham vice-chairman noted, "With Team Europe and EuroCham's combined efforts, there's a mutual vision and collaboration. This is about progressing together towards a more sustainable future, fostering synergies between European and Vietnamese entities."

According to EuroCham, in contrast to 2022, this year's event will not feature an exhibition.

As the world prepares for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), the GEF offers a timely platform to underscore the significance of eco-conscious strategies and innovation.

By harmonising discussions with the core objectives of COP28 and Vietnams National Green Growth Strategy, the event aims to support Vietnams sustainability commitments and give its business community the tools it needs to achieve an equitable green economy.

Vietnams green economy expected to reach 300 billion USD by 2050 Vietnam has set a target of increasing its green economy's contribution to GDP from 6.7 billion USD in 2020 to 300 billion USD by 2050, which requires drastic and breakthrough steps, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung has said.

Green tech the catalyst for growth Vietnam has great potential to develop and attract investment in the green economy and apply the most advanced technologies, as well as building stable and attractive policies.

Green workforce crucial to a green economy The Vietnamese government is targeting green growth with policies and international commitments towards the green economy. Nguyen Cong Thuy, founder and CEO of HRDC, discusses the influence of the green workforce on sustainable development.
A visiting judge on Friday set a February retrial date for a Waco attorney on charges stemming from an alleged 2020 murder-for-hire plot.

Visiting Judge Roy Sparkman, presiding Friday in Wacos 19th State District Court, set Feb. 12 as the day to begin jury selection in the retrial of Waco attorney Seth Sutton on a first-degree felony charge that he attempted to hire a man to kill a family members alleged abuser.

Sparkman also relaxed two of Suttons bond conditions Friday, allowing him to travel within the continental U.S. and to drink alcohol.

Suttons original trial on the first-degree felony solicitation of murder-for-hire charge resulted in a mistrial Aug. 18, after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Appointed prosecutor Patrick Sloane, at that time with the Texas Attorney Generals Office, filed a motion for retrial at the end of August.

In the original trial, prosecutors said Sutton solicited an undercover Waco Police Department detective May 14, 2020, to kill Waco attorney Marcus Beaudin. Since the alleged plot, Beaudin has been indicted on an attempted indecency with a child charge involving a family member of Sutton.

Prosecutors presented audio recordings the detective made of Sutton and Beaudins ex-wife, Chelsea Tijerina, discussing ways to kill Beaudin and frame others for the murder. The detective had infiltrated Suttons motorcycle club and accepted cash for a gun, ammunition and gas money to carry out the hit, according to testimony.

Tijerina was indicted along with Sutton but died in a motorcycle crash near her home in Hays County in 2021.

Suttons attorney, Clint Broden, argued that the undercover detective was a rogue officer who encouraged Sutton to take revenge on Beaudin. Broden also argued that Suttons talks of killing Beaudin were the revenge fantasies of a man in grief over having recently learned of a family members abuse.

Sparkman declared mistrial at about 10 p.m. Aug. 18 after the jury remained deadlocked following 12 hours of deliberation.

A few weeks ago, Sloane left his role in the attorney generals office and Matthew Shawhan, Sloanes former second-chair on the Sutton case, has since been appointed to lead the prosecution.

Attorneys from the AGs office will prosecute the case since McLennan County District Attorney Josh Tetens and his predecessor, Barry Johnson, each separately recused the DAs office from the case due to past associations with Sutton.
The award is given by analyzing satisfaction measures but asking if patients and caregivers received timely help, had good support and communication, were trained on how to care for their loved one and if they would recommend the hospice to others. Cedar Valley Hospice is one of only seven in Iowa chosen for this recognition.
CEDAR FALLS  Work has begun to bring a new breakfast spot to Main Street.

The planned business has ties to a downtown staple and is being named in honor of the areas locomotive history. Patton Bar & Diner is expected to open next spring at 317 Main St., the former Lotus + Lou storefront.

The venture, taken on by Cory Kent and partners Brent Kai, Cole Kent, Jack Ogden and Brian Wingert, is driven by a feeling there are too few options to grab an early morning meal along the citys main drag.

We hope to go back to that time of the classic diner, said Kent. Especially being from Iowa with all the small communities, the diners been that place you can go and always count on and will be there 30, 40, 50 years. We want it to be that place where you can comfortably and casually go to grab breakfast but also serve a quick lunch and great dinner with cool main entrees.

Kent discussed his plans with The Courier alongside Sam Koch, who wears multiple hats and handles business operations at the partners other Cedar Falls venture, Georges Local. That restaurant is located in what had once been an auto service station at the corner of Main and East Fourth streets.

Patton is a reference to the streetcars that first appeared in Cedar Falls in 1897. Gasoline and later electric-powered motor cars made trips between the Iowa State Normal School (now the University of Northern Iowa) and the corner of First and Main Street. They went on to operate between Cedar Falls and Waterloo, according to CedarNet, an electronic historical archive.

Kent used a similar tribute at one of his other restaurants, the Pullman Bar & Diner in Iowa City. The Pullman Company manufactured railroad cars, including dining cars.

The partners, operating as Synergy Investments, also purchased the neighboring storefront at 315 Main St., formerly home to Scratch Cupcakery. Kent said theyre considering another food and drink establishment, but nothing is finalized.

Under construction

The 2,000-square-foot space for the diner is being gutted and is in the bare bones stage of construction. Once finished, Kent expects it to seat 60 to 70 people who can walk in without reservations and be served by the eatery employing about 40.

Customers will find a shotgun style layout, a long, skinny, rectangular frame with a counter/bar, booth seating, an open kitchen, nice facade and big front window. The diner will be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It will be an old-school, classic diner from the 60s or 70s, but well throw in some unexpected fresh twists and a modern, elevated menu, Kent said. Maybe some biscuits and gravy with chorizo, fresh-cut scallions or sunny side up eggs.

Fried chicken and a classic smash burger also are on his mind, along with coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice. There also will be alcoholic drinks like mimosas and bloody Marys along with other cocktails, beers, and wines.

The menu is still a work in progress, but almost everything will be made from scratch. Executive Chef Jorge Santiago, who leads the kitchen at Georges Local, will also head Patton Bar & Diner. Kent said while they may have small similarities, theyll have their own identities.

Were trying to leave them separate, he said. Theyll feel different and we want them to remain true to themselves.
By Simon Hutagalung

The continuing separation between North and South Korea has made the Korean Peninsula a subject of global attention for several decades. The division at hand is a consequence of a multifaceted interplay of historical, geopolitical and ideological elements, originating from the period of the Cold War. The Korean Peninsula continues to be one of the few unsolved remnants of that historical era. This essay article endeavors to explore the complex matter of the resolution of the Korean Peninsula, examining its historical backdrop, the imperative for a regime change, the engagement of the Korean governments, the participation of significant states, and the crucial element of their eventual withdrawal. In light of these complexities, this essay argues that the Korean Peninsula, a Cold War-era issue, necessitates a unified government transition. Collaborative efforts from Korean governments and major countries are crucial. Major Powers should gradually reduce their influence to establish a sustainable peace state, ensuring a unified government.

The Korean Peninsula's partition into North and South Korea was a result of the Cold War, a geopolitical conflict that led to the global separation into two ideological factions, one led by the United States and the other by the Soviet Union (Kim). Korea, previously under Japanese colonial rule, played a significant role in the competition. After World War II, Korea was liberated in 1945, but the nation was partitioned at the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union controlling the northern region and the United States controlling the southern region. This split laid the groundwork for the ongoing conflict (Matray). In 1948, distinct governing bodies emerged in North Korea and South Korea, with Kim Il-sung and Syngman Rhee leading the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea respectively. The Korean War from 1950 to 1953 further cemented this division, resulting in the peninsula's separation by a heavily fortified demilitarized zone (Eui Gak Hwang). Although the armistice in 1953 effectively ended hostilities, the two nations remained in a state of technical warfare. This historical backdrop set the stage for the divergence of the two regimes that continue to shape the Korean Peninsula today.

The issue concerning the Korean Peninsula may be traced back to the ideological schism between North and South Korea, wherein the North has adopted an authoritarian system while the South has embraced democracy and capitalism (Gills and Rocamora). The aforementioned division not only serves to sustain ongoing tensions but also poses a significant threat to the security and overall welfare of the Korean populace. To effectively handle the situation, both regimes must experience substantial transformation. Specifically, the North regime should undergo a regime change, while the South regime should demonstrate a firm commitment to democratic values and the protection of human rights. The realization of this vision necessitates the implementation of economic and social reforms.

Consequently, the future of the Korean Peninsula should be primarily determined by the South and North Korean governments. While external parties can facilitate negotiations and provide security assurances, the responsibility for determining their future lies with the Korean government. Inter-Korean dialogue and collaboration are crucial for a peaceful conclusion. Trust-building initiatives, economic collaboration, and interpersonal interactions can cultivate confidence and facilitate reunion (Husenicova). A unified Korean government should use shared cultural heritage to reconcile divisions and foster stability and prosperity for the entire Korean population.

Moreover, the Korean Peninsula conflict requires the involvement of key global powers like the United States, China, Japan, and Russia. The U.S., a key ally of South Korea, can offer security guarantees to both North and South Korea through diplomatic engagement and negotiations (Carson). China, a key economic partner of North Korea, has significant influence over the regime in Pyongyang and can support denuclearization and stability (Nanto and Manyin). It can also facilitate economic integration between North and South Korea. Japan and Russia, although less directly involved, have a vested interest in maintaining peace within the region. Resolving Japan's historical conflicts with both Koreas requires comprehensive attention, and Russia can play a constructive role by engaging in diplomatic channels and fostering regional cooperation (Blair and Hanley).

The Korean Peninsula resolution should involve the removal of major nations, particularly the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia to establish a unified Korea. Addressing security and diplomatic issues promptly and preventing outsider interference is crucial. The negotiated removal of foreign military forces is essential for long-term Korean sovereignty and stability. The Korean population should have the authority to determine their security arrangements without outside intervention.

For the long-term resolution of the conflict, the Korean Peninsula issue requires a comprehensive strategy, including inter-Korean engagement, confidence-building initiatives, and denuclearization (Kwak). This should involve global participation, ensuring disarmament, and providing North Korea with security assurances. Diplomatic pressure and support should be used to foster reform and improve human rights in North Korea while upholding South Korea's democratic institutions. Major countries should demonstrate commitment by offering security guarantees and economic incentives. Coordination is crucial when devising withdrawal strategies for large countries, especially their armed forces, to ensure a smooth transition and maintain regional security.

The Korean Peninsula issue, originating from the Cold War era, requires acknowledging past grievances, shifting governing regimes, promoting collaboration between North and South Korea, and active participation from global powers. The Korean people must have final authority to determine the peninsula's destiny, and a unified government requires major powers' withdrawal to protect sovereignty and promote peace. Despite challenges, the collective aspiration for reunification and active global involvement presents a promising prospect for resolution. This global issue is not only regional but also aimed at fostering peace and stability, requiring collaboration among all relevant parties.

Simon Hutagalung is a graduate of the City University of New York and received his master's degree in political science and comparative politics. He is presently working at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry. The opinion and views are his own not representing the view of CUNY or the Indonesian Foreign Ministry.
CEDAR FALLS  A gift from the Gerdin Charitable Foundation will enhance the University of Northern Iowas ability to train the next generation of elder care professionals working in the field of gerontology.

The North Liberty-based foundation pledged a $1 million endowed gift that will expand faculty teaching, research and outreach for UNIs growing gerontology program. In honor of the investment, UNI will establish the Gerdin Family Chair in Gerontology.

The state of Iowa, and the nation, is facing an extreme shortage of caregivers to provide for a growing aging population. The entire Baby Boomer generation  those born between 1946 and 1964  will be over the age of 65 by 2030 and will account for one in five Americans.

This is creating a critical need for professionals with a deep understanding of the needs, challenges and complexities of the aging process. The demand for elder care is fueled in part by an expected rise in the number of Americans living with Alzheimers disease.

UNI is home to Iowas only undergraduate gerontology program since 2006. The university also offers the nations only dementia simulation house training experience. Since spring 2022, the simulation house has provided more than 1,800 students, faculty, staff, professionals and caregivers the chance to experience what its like to live with dementia.

The UNI gerontology program prepares students to obtain state licensure in nursing home administration and provides broad training for careers in corporate, government and nonprofit agency environments.

The Gerdin Family Foundations gift was made through the UNI Foundation as part of the Our Tomorrow campaign.

The Gerdin family has a long history of philanthropic support with UNI, leading the effort to renovate the Schindler Education Center in 2017. They have also supported student scholarships and aided in the creation of the Jacobson Human Performance Complex.

Late retirement: More than 25% of seniors still work in some US cities Late retirement: More than 25% of seniors still work in some US cities A closer look at the top 10 cities for senior employment
WATERLOO  Hawkeye Community College will hold a continuing education seminar for dental professionals that focuses on radiography, infection control and jurisprudence.

The seminar is from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 at the Van G. Miller Adult Learning Center at 120 Jefferson St. in Waterloo.

Participants can register for individual sessions or register for all three at a discounted rate. Preregistration is required for all sessions.

The seminar is approved for continuing education credit for dental professional's license renewal by the Iowa Board of Dental Examiners.

For more information or to register, call (319) 296-2490 or visit hawkeyecollege.edu/dental-seminar.
WATERLOO  The community is being asked to join Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart for this year's Healthiest State Initiative.

The walk starts at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 4 at the Cedar Valley Sportsplex. It is free to join and outdoor and indoor walking options are available.

The 30-minute walk is meant to promote the importance of social connectedness and physical activity. The city with the most registered walkers will win the City Challenge. If Waterloo wins, funds will be used to support healthy activities in the community for people of all ages.

Registration is not required but is strongly encouraged. To register, go to runsignup.com/Race/Register/?raceid=139014.

States where people live the longest States where people live the longest #51. West Virginia #50. Mississippi #48. Alabama (tie) #48. Kentucky (tie) #47. Arkansas #45. Oklahoma (tie) #45. Tennessee (tie) #44. Louisiana #43. Ohio #41. Indiana (tie) #41. South Carolina (tie) #40. Missouri #39. Georgia #37. Michigan (tie) #37. North Carolina (tie) #36. New Mexico #35. Pennsylvania #34. Delaware #32. Kansas (tie) #32. Nevada (tie) #31. Washington D.C. #30. Maine #28. Alaska (tie) #28. Montana (tie) #27. Wyoming #24. Maryland (tie) #24. South Dakota (tie) #24. Texas (tie) #22. Idaho (tie) #22. Illinois (tie) #20. Iowa (tie) #20. Wisconsin (tie) #18. New Hampshire (tie) #18. Virginia (tie) #17. Nebraska #16. Vermont #15. Oregon #11. Arizona (tie) #11. North Dakota (tie) #11. Rhode Island (tie) #11. Utah (tie) #10. Florida #8. New Jersey (tie) #8. Washington (tie) #6. Colorado (tie) #6. Massachusetts (tie) #4. Connecticut (tie) #4. Minnesota (tie) #3. New York #2. California #1. Hawaii States where people live the longest #25. Maine #24. Maryland #23. Illinois #22. Iowa #21. North Dakota #20. Wisconsin #19. Nebraska #18. Arizona #17. Virginia #16. Idaho #15. Rhode Island #14. New Jersey #13. New Hampshire #12. Vermont #11. Utah #10. Oregon #9. Florida #8. Colorado #7. Connecticut #6. Massachusetts #5. Washington #4. New York #3. Minnesota #2. California #1. Hawaii
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/09/26/711561/Iran-Russia-Military-Cooperation-Expands-Amid-Changing-Global-Dynamics

Being able to reverse engineer NATO weaponry and exploit its pain points is highly valuable information that Iran would be interested in  especially as these weapons are often wielded by forces hostile to Iran.

The Great Satan as Iran says, does not has allies, it has vassels and these vassels are weak. So

The West is staring into the abyss and what is staring back is Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. Any of them by themselves can take the USA, except they are now consolidating into a massive world saving military power

The West cannot take the Eastern powers, even if they go nuke

WtR
My my, new official holiday in Russia

The special military operation will continue until the Nazi Kyiv regime is completely destroyed and the original Russian territories are liberated from the enemy. Victory will be ours.

A year ago, at referendums, their residents made a fateful decision  to be with their Fatherland. This choice became a symbol not only of the restoration of historical justice, but also of the unity of the Russian people, their colossal will and dedication.

Putin says

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, citizens of Russia,

I congratulate you on the occasion of the Day of Reunification of the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions with Russia.

A year ago, on September 30, a defining and truly historic event took place when agreements were signed to incorporate four new constituent entities into the Russian Federation. Millions of residents of Donbass and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions made their choice to be with their Fatherland.

This conscious, long-awaited, hard-won and genuinely popular decision was made collectively through referendums in full compliance with international norms. People showed courage and integrity in the face of attempts to intimidate and deprive them of their right to determine their own future, their destiny, and to take away something every person values, namely, culture, traditions, and mother tongue, in a word, everything that was loathed by nationalists and their Western patrons who orchestrated a coup in Kiev in 2014 and then unleashed a full-scale civil war and terror against dissenters and organised blockades, constant shelling, and punitive actions in Donbass.

But nothing and no one can break the will of millions of people, or their belief in truth and historical justice. The free and unequivocal choice of our brothers and sisters was wholeheartedly supported by the Russian people. We understood and deeply felt the most important thing: by defending our compatriots in Donbass and Novorossiya, we are defending Russia itself. Together, we are fighting for the Motherland, for our sovereignty, spiritual values, unity, and victory. I thank all the citizens of the country for this solidarity and patriotism.

Today, we are also building our common future together, rebuilding and building schools and hospitals, housing and roads, museums and memorial sites. All our regions are providing truly fraternal assistance to the cities and towns of Donbass and Novorossiya. Volunteers, civil and religious organisations, parliamentary parties, entrepreneurs, and labour collectives all contribute to this work and common cause. Our entire large and united country is working together.

The recent elections in the Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions were an important step in strengthening our common state and the political and legal space. Just like a year ago during the historic referendums, people once again expressed and reaffirmed their desire to be with Russia, and supported their fellow citizens who earned the peoples trust through hard work and real achievements.

Much work lies ahead of us to address complex challenges and implement a large-scale programme for the revival and socioeconomic development of our historical regions. We will by all means achieve our goals.

I would like to address the residents of the Donetsk Peoples Republic, Lugansk Peoples Republic, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions specifically. Thank you for preserving and passing on your love for the Fatherland to your children despite all the trials. Thanks to you, your fortitude and determination, Russia has become even stronger. We are one people, and together we can overcome anything and meet any challenge.

Happy Day of Reunification with Russia, friends!
A survivor of six heart attacks and a brain tumor, a grumpy bear of a man, whom has declared Russia as his new and wonderful home. His wife is a true Russian Sweet Pea of a girl and she puts up with this bear of a guy and keeps him in line. Thank God for my Sweet Pea and Russia.
On Oct. 7, Badger Honor Flight will designate its 50th Flight as the Heroes for Honor Flight and will transport and return the 4,500 veterans who have flown before. Community members are encouraged to participate in the send-off ceremony at 5:30 a.m., or the Welcome Home festivities around 8 p.m., at the Dane County Regional Airport.

For more information, visit badgerhonorflight.org. Resolutions from the Prairie du Sac and Sauk City board meetings recognized these efforts with proclamations on Sept. 26. Badger Honor Flight, a regional affiliate of the national Honor Flight Network, ensures that World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and terminally ill veterans from any war have the opportunity to see the memorials that have been erected in their honor in Washington, D.C.

The first Wisconsin flight was April 2010, with mostly WWII veterans and their designated guardians. That summer, Sauk Prairie Emergency Services Police, Ambulance and Sauk City and Prairie du Sac Fire Departments organized a softball tournament to raise funds and Heroes for Honor was born. The Sauk Prairie community adopted this annual tournament, and remains focused and committed to ensuring that all veterans interested can participate in the Honor Flight.

In December 2015, Sauk Prairies local Heroes for Honor group developed a capital campaign to raise funds for a Sauk Prairie Veteran Flight, with a goal of raising $100,000 to send an entire airplane full of veterans to Washington D.C. two flights were funded.
China urged to play active role in new Cold War



By John Burton

Over the last few years, North Korea has truly lived up to its reputation as the "hermit country." It closed its borders and shut itself off from the rest of the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With imports of food and fuel curtailed, pundits predicted that the country might be entering a death spiral as its population starved and froze.

But now as North Korea reopens its borders after a hiatus of four years, it appears to be in a stronger position than it has been in some time.

That is largely due to the recent summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Far East.

The summit produced several benefits for North Korea. One is that it made it clear that Moscow will block any future sanctions against Pyongyang in the U.N. Security Council. In addition, Russia hinted that it would be willing to break existing U.N. sanctions by importing banned North Korean products and supplying prohibited items, including weaponry, to Pyongyang.

At a minimum, North Korea can look forward to deliveries of Russian food and fuel to rescue the economy.

The revived alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang, with its promises of Russian military support in return for the supply of North Korean munitions to be used in fighting Ukraine, is likely to advance Pyongyangs nuclear and ballistic missile arsenal and escalate tensions in Northeast Asia.

Kims meeting with Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome spaceport and his subsequent tour of a Russian fighter jet factory and naval base suggest things to come. North Korea is anxious to gain access to Russian missile, satellite and submarine technologies.

The summit also strengthens Kim Jong-uns hand domestically. He can portray himself to his people as an effective global statesman, while pleasing his military with the promise of more advanced weapons.

The prospect of a North Korea equipped with a more sophisticated nuclear force is likely to set off a new arms race in the region by putting pressure on Seoul and Tokyo to respond in kind.

What can be done to prevent an already dangerous situation from becoming worse? One possible solution might lie with China, which has opposed nuclear proliferation and values stability in the region. It also wants to avoid a situation that would provoke an increased U.S. defense presence in Northeast Asia. Beijing is probably not too happy about Kims statement that he considers strengthening relations with Moscow his top priority. Although China may have a motivation to intervene, there are still doubts about whether it will have the means.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is threatening to take further action against North Korea if it conducts an arms deal with Russia, with U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan saying it will pay a price for this.

But earlier U.S. actions have failed to stop North Koreas development of nuclear weapons and any unilateral sanctions it imposes are likely to have a minimal impact.

The more serious problem for Washington is that it has probably lost any remaining diplomatic leverage with Pyongyang. It once offered the prospect of diplomatic normalization in return for denuclearization, but North Korea no longer seems interested in that bargain.

The last chance that the U.S. had to reach such a deal was in 2018 and 2019 with President Donald Trumps meetings with Kim Jong-un. But any progress was torpedoed by hardliners in Wasington who warned that the U.S. couldnt appear weak and make too many concessions. After that, Pyongyang lost patience with a negotiating process that had lasted for 30 years.

That diplomatic process, which involved the U.S., China, Russia and the two Koreas, was based on the premise that it would advance common and overlapping interests. Russia was happy to be included in regionally transformative arrangements. China could both protect its North Korean neighbor and prevent it from becoming a very problematic nuclear power. And the U.S. could cap the Norths nuclear ambitions while supporting its slow integration into a South Korean-led economic relationship. The dangers from a paranoid and starving North Korea would be drastically scaled back.

But the process slowly unraveled, beginning with the presidency of George W. Bush, who favored more sticks than carrots in dealing with North Korea. President Barack Obama oversaw a period of diplomatic drift on the issue. Then came the violent swings of President Donald Trump from fire and fury to love letters with Kim Jong-un.

Under the Biden administration, the region has settled into a period of Cold War-style confrontation with the trilateral alliance of the U.S., South Korea and Japan on one side and the Russia-North Korea alliance on the other.

The prospects for a diplomatic solution on North Korea appear dim.

John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
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For seven decades, Japanese trailblazer Yayoi Kusama has welcomed voyeurs into her private world of polka dots, pumpkins, and mirrored reflections.

This month, three of her monumental works make their West Coast debut in Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Love at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

The installations, each of which encourages visitors to physically enter, walk among, and connect with its elements, are SFMOMAs newest ambassadors to the museums ongoing commitment to highly experiential art, says Tanya Zimbardo, assistant curator of media arts who oversaw the organization of Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Love.

The most highly anticipated works in Kusamas exhibition are two infinity mirror rooms, color drenched immersive spaces that appear to stretch the boundaries of reality. Shes built more than 20 of them since 1965.

Enter the place of color, says Kusama in welcome. All of the people who enter seeking the joy of being alive; let there be eternal harmony among all in the circles and cycles of living; peace and endless love for all.

Yayoi Kusama, "Dreaming of Earths Sphericity, I Would Offer My Love, 2023," installed in the exhibition 'Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers,' David Zwirner, New York, May 11July 21, 2023 Yayoi Kusama (Courtesy the artist, Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner)

From the outside, the first room, a brand new work Kusama calls Dreaming of Earths Sphericity, I Would Offer My Love, appears to be a simple cube, a block misplaced by a giant toddler. But through its partially concealed door, the room explodes with the kaleidoscopic patterns of transparent acrylic dots that seem to glow from the inside out. Timed entrances give visitors two contemplative minutes among the colorful shapes before the door to reality opens once again.

In Love Is Calling, one of Kusamas largest infinity rooms to date, she has built a Dr. Seussian forest of polka dotted tentacles that continuously ripple and melt from one pastel color to another. The sound of the artists voice reciting an original love poem that explores the themes of life and death, infuses the space with both melancholy and hope.

No Kusama exhibition would be complete without one of the artists signature pumpkins, a motif that gave her comfort as a child. They speak to me of the joy of living, says the artist. They are humble and amusing at the same time, and I have and always will celebrate them in my art.

Yayoi Kusama; courtesy the artist, David Zwirner, Ota Fine Arts, and Victoria Miro;  Yayoi Kusama. (Yusuke Miyazaki)

Polka dots, too, are a reflection of Kusamas childhood. When she was 10 years old, the artist began experiencing vivid hallucinations that engulfed her in dense fields of dots. Aspiring to Pumpkins Love, the Love in My Heart, an undulating 18-by-11-foot bronze gourd is dressed in those signature spots. The pattern represents Earths place in the cosmos as one among billions, says Kusama. Polka dots are a way to infinity.

The exhibition is in member previews until it opens to the general public on October 14th. And since tickets are already sold out through Halloween, SFMOMA recommends purchasing tickets in advance. A limited number of same-day tickets will be available onsite on a first-come, first-served basis.

Aspiring to Pumpkins is already open to all museumgoers and doesnt require a timed ticket.

// Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Love will be on display through September 7, 2024. Aspiring to Pumpkins will be on view through August 2025; SFMOMA, 151 3rd St. (SoMa), sfmoma.org


Placement of New Shares to Fund Working Capital

Sydney, Sep 29, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Crigen Resources Limited ( NSX:CRG ) is today commencing an initiative to place approximately 45,000,000 new shares (Placement Shares) in the Company at $0.10 to raise approximately $450,000 from Sophisticated investors.



The proceeds will be dedicated to working capital to further expand the Company's Danai Wellness business of spas an to investigate other complementary growth opportunities in adjacent areas.



The Placement Shares are expected to be progressively issued over the next month.





About Crigen Resources Limited





Danai Wellness, formerly Danai Spa, is the primary trading vehicle of Crigen Resources Berhad, and is principally engaged in the provision of a wide range of services in the spa and wellness industry. Since its inception in 2004, Danai Wellness has expanded its brand to include wellness services such as Danai Divine Advanced Aesthetics, Danai Zenflow, Danai Medi-Wellness, and LaGent. As a result of this effort, Danai Wellness has been recognised by TripAdvisor as a Top 3 SPA Wellness Centre in Malaysia for 3 years in a row. The Company intends to acquire medium sized medical and day wellness centres in Australia under a licence agreement with the aim to rebrand these outlets under the Danai Wellness brand thereby introducing the Malaysian brand into the Australian market. The vision is to provide a unified brand which will aid in making the licensee's wellness centres more profitable and user friendly than their industry competitors. The Company will also look to introduce their unique business model combining high margin aesthetics treatments with subscription plans thus allowing members a right to use spa and wellness treatment services at a discounted rate for a fixed period.

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Complaining that her current weight 'doesn't suit' her, the Osbourne matriarch claims she is now 'stuck' because she can't put on weight after using Ozempic.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Sharon Osbourne becomes "stuck" at a weight which "doesn't suit" her after shedding nearly 30lbs using controversial drug Ozempic. "The Osbournes" star has confessed using the injections to help her drop 28lbs, but she's now been left struggling to put weight back on and fears she isn't going to be able to change her shape.

"It's got a reverse effect on me personally, I don't know for everybody, I'm sure not. But I can't put on weight now, no matter whatever I eat. I'm stuck at this weight. And it's like my entire life I've wanted to be a certain weight, never got there, and now I have and it doesn't suit me and I don't like it and I can't change it," Sharon, 70, explained during an appearance on Talk TV.

Sharon has previously undergone surgeries to fit both a gastric band and a gastric sleeve to help her slim down in the past, admitting her weight left her suffering from depression so she tried many different plans in a bid to slim down.

She added during the Talk TV appearance, "There isn't one [weight loss idea I haven't tried]. My entire life and I'm seventy, I have fought weight, my entire life. It's affected my life to such a point. I had the gastric band, and had that removed, because it didn't work after a while."

"I then had the sleeve and you can't reverse the sleeve because they cut your stomach in half  it is what it is. You are stuck with that. After a while, it's all up here [in your mind]. It's all mental."

Earlier this month, Sharon insisted that using Ozempic to lose weight isn't "cheating." The former "The X Factor" judge - who is married to musician Ozzy Osbourne - urged people to "lighten up" about the use of the drug.

She told DailyMail.com, "People think that it's a way of cheating, because you didn't work out for three hours a day, or you don't have some brilliant new trainer so you're cheating. It's not cheating. It's just something that you choose to lose weight. So, what is the biggie? I don't get it."

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The Aerosmith frontman is undergoing treatment for a fractured larynx, forcing his band to push back the reminders of their 2023 tour dates until next year.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Aerosmith have put off all of their 2023 tour dates as Steven Tyler has suffered a fractured larynx. The "Walk This Way" rock group - which also consists of Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Joe Perry, and Brad Whitford - had put on hold their shows but the already-postponed dates have now been pushed back to next year as their frontman continues to undergo surgery for his vocal health.

"To our fans: Unfortunately, Steven's vocal injury is more serious than initially thought. His doctor has confirmed that in addition to the damage to his vocal cords, he fractured his larynx which requires ongoing care," the band said in a statement posted to Instagram.

"He is receiving the best medical treatment available to ensure his recovery is swift, but given the nature of a fracture, he is being told patience is essential. As a result, all the currently scheduled PEACE OUT shows must be postponed to sometime in 2024, with new dates to be announced as soon as we know more."

The 75-year-old rocker also gave his own statement, in which he admitted that he was "heartbroken" to have let the fans down but promised them that they will be back as soon as possible. He said, "I am heartbroken to not be out there with Aerosmith, my brothers and the incredible Black Crowes, rocking with the best fans in the world. I promise we will be back as soon as we can."

The band launched the "Peace Out: The Farewell Tour" on September 2 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but now ground to a halt just three shows after Tyler experienced difficulties during the concert at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Saturday, September 9 and doctors subsequently ordered him not to sing for 30 days.

The tour had initially been due to resume on October 1.

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DPK should focus on peoples livelihood

President Yoon Suk Yeol may be popular in the U.S. and Japan, but he is not favored as much in Korea.

Yoons approval rating has rarely exceeded 40 percent since he took office nearly 17 months ago. And his social, economic and foreign policies have won the support of only some right-wingers and those with vested interests.

However, the conservative leader seldom appears to put the best interests of the nation before his own, acting as he pleases. Thats mainly because the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) gets an even lower popularity rating than Yoon and his rubberstamp ruling party. Pity the Korean voters.

At the center of the struggling DPK is its leader, Rep. Lee Jae-myung.

Lee, who lost to Yoon by a wafer-thin margin of 0.7 percent in the last election, has been exposed to judicial risk for nearly two years. He is accused of bribery, breach of trust, and other charges. The center-left politician pleads his innocence, saying the prosecutor-turned-president is trying to kill a political rival by using law enforcement officers.

Many voters suspect Yoon has political motivations persecuting Lee. Still, they dont feel much sympathy for Lee, thinking the opposition leader uses his party for personal purposes. A few days ago, Lee ended his 24-day hunger strike aimed at protesting against a prosecutorial dictatorship. Unlike the struggles of the 1980s to regain democracy from military dictators, the latest one failed to trigger much support for similar reasons.

On Wednesday, Lee staved off another prosecutorial attempt to detain him as a Seoul court rejected their arrest warrant. By avoiding a worst-case scenario, the opposition leader will hit back against the prosecution and strengthen his weakened party leadership. A new DPK floor leader elected the previous day also called for unity under Lee until they win next April's parliamentary elections. Lee might think he has surmounted the first big hurdle toward rechallenging the presidency.

As everybody knows, however, avoiding detention is different from acquittal. Lees legal battle will continue until he is cleared of all charges by the court  or until Yoons term ends.

The president has refused to meet Lee face to face, saying, Meeting with a suspect will influence legal proceedings. Yoons behavior is problematic less because the former prosecutor does not respect the presumption of innocence than because he stifles domestic politics by not recognizing his opposition counterpart. Yet, voters weary of partisan bickering rebuke both sides.

What Lee should do going forward is clear.

Above all, he must minimize his legal battle's effects on his party and the overall political scene. He must unite the DPK by embracing the non-Lee faction. If Lee yields to his fanatical followers in and outside the party to ferret out and punish about 30 rebels  those who voted to let prosecutors seek the arrest warrant  voters will turn away from the DPK. He must make his fight personal.

Lee has some things in common with Donald Trump. They are election losers and want a rematch. Both are involved in multiple trials but claim they are the victims of a political vendetta. However, unlike Trump, who is popular and may win, Lee has a long way to go to win over voters.

That adds a critical reason why Lee and his party must stop political bickering, both internal or external, and focus on substantive issues. The center-of-left party must show why it is an alternative to the far-right Yoon and his People Power Party (PPP). The opposition party must make Koreans feel safer and better-to-do by promising to resume inter-Korean dialogue amid balanced diplomacy, pursue better redistribution, and guarantee genuine, instead of ideological, freedom, including press freedom.

If Lee and the DPK remain mired in a personal, shortsighted power struggle, they will not win the next parliamentary polls six months later. Suppose they fail to put the nation and the people ahead of their party, let alone its leader. In that case, the opposition cannot rectify the incumbents wayward conduct of state affairs.

That will not end up as the progressive partys misfortune but rather that of the entire nation.
Apple TV+ Movie

The award-winning director was determined to show the 'rough history' of the United States in his latest feature film about the shocking murders of Osage Indians.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Martin Scorsese wouldn't shy away from "rough history" in "Killers of the Flower Moon". The legendary filmmaker has directed the new movie that tells the story of the Osage murders in 1920s Oklahoma and wanted to tackle the issue of violence towards Native Americans.

"It's a terrific story, and it's the kind of thing I think that was a time to try to deal with the subject matter. When we started to make the film, the climate wasn't the same as it is now. I think we were just lucky in the sense that it's being released at this time," Scorsese told The Hollywood Reporter at the New York City premiere of the film on Wednesday, September 27 - where cast members including Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone were absent due to the actors strike.

The 80-year-old director added, "The thing is that there are certain things about our history, about ourselves as human beings, that if we hide them away, they're not gonna go away. We might as well talk about it and try to show it."

The Apple TV+ flick is based on David Grann's book "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" and the author agreed with Scorsese about addressing an episode from the past that has been neglected for far too long.

He said, "It is fundamentally about what happens when greed is fused together with a dehumanisation of another people, and what that can lead to, and what it led to in this case was genocidal crimes."

Scorsese and the cast worked closely with the Osage Nation to make sure the culture was depicted accurately in the film and consultant Addie Roanhorse praised the 'Gangs of New York' director's approach. She said, "When Marty came in, he followed protocol to the tee, and it was like we almost instantly just like, 'Yeah, he's one of us.' "

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Nick Cannon's former 'Wild n Out' co-star died from complications of surgery after going under the knife as part of her effort to seek a so-called 'mommy makeover.'

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Jacky Oh passed away from complications caused by cosmetic surgery. The TV star - whose real name was Jacklyn Smith - was famous for appearing on the MTV sketchy comedy show "Wild n Out" alongside Nick Cannon but passed away at the age of just 32 earlier this year.

A cause of death had been unclear and now a representative for the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed to People that she died during a cosmetic procedure. A BET Media Group spokesperson said, "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jacklyn Smith, known to the world as Jacky Oh, a talented Wild 'N Out family member whose impact will be forever treasured and missed."

The statement went on to recall that Jacky - who is survived by her three children to Nova, six, Nala, two and 11-month-old Prince and their father, her longtime boyfriend, D.C. Young Fly - was a "tremendous mother" and the media group as well as its stars sent their condolences to the family.

It continued, "More importantly, she was a tremendous mother to three beautiful children. The BET Media Group extends our sincere condolences to the Smith family, DC Young Fly, B Simone, Nick Cannon, and all friends who loved and cared for Jacky Oh during this difficult time."

In her final Instagram post - which has since been deleted - showed she had been in the Californian city for a "mommy makeover" and teased her millions of followers that a YouTube video documenting the experience would be on the way.

In the caption of her last post, she wrote alongside a picture of herself posing with plastic surgeon Dr Zachary Okhah, "Getting ready for my mommy makeover with Dr Zach!! Stay tuned to my YouTube for the full reveal!"

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The 'Real Housewives of Potomac' star and her 70-year-old husband, who share son Jeremiah Carter, 8, and daughter Juliana, 6, decide to end their marriage after more than 11 years.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Mia Thornton and husband Gordon Thornton have gone their separate ways. When announcing the split, "The Real Housewives of Potomac" star declared that she'll continue to keep her family as her number one priority.

The 38-year-old confirmed her separation from Gordon to PEOPLE. "Like all marriages, ours has had its ups and downs," she told the outlet. "At this time, Gordon and I are separated, but my family is my number one priority."

"I am committed to doing whatever it takes to make sure we are okay," the reality star continued. "We ask that you respect our privacy and give us the time and space to figure things out."

Mia and Gordon, 70, tied the knot in March 2012. The former couple shares two children together, son Jeremiah Carter, 8, as well as daughter Juliana, 6. They also each have one child from previous relationships.

The now-exes first met each other at a strip club charity event in 2003. "The reason why we became friends is because we partnered and served on the same board for a non-profit organization to raise money for Haiti," the TV personality told E! News in 2021. "We were raising money for the cause."

"One of the ladies, one of the original founders of the organization, she worked there - not as an entertainer, but in the admin office and so she did use the facility in order to raise money," she further elaborated. "They serve steak dinners and then the proceeds went to the organization."

"RHOP" fans first saw Mia and Gordon when she joined the franchise in season 6. According to PEOPLE, the two's "marital woes are expected to play out season 8 of 'RHOP'," which premieres November 5 on Bravo.

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Upon revealing that she hasn't felt like herself 'for a decade,' the 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' actress releases via social media a rare picture of her smiling from ear-to-ear.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Angelina Jolie appeared in good spirits following a surprising revelation. After hinting that there has been "a lot of healing to do" in the wake of her divorce from former husband Brad Pitt, the "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" actress was all smiles in a newly-shared photo.

On Thursday, September 28, the 48-year-old star uploaded via Instagram a rare photo of her smiling from ear-to-ear. She looked stunning in a black top that came with a plunging neckline. Styling her hair into a simple straight hairdo and parting it in the middle, she posed with both of her hands under her chin.

In the snap, it could be seen that Angelina was having a virtual conversation with writer Abdulrazak Gurnah. In addition to the photo, she let out a picture of Abdulrazak's book, titled "Desertion" which he released back in 2005, and shared a quote from the book.

"In our current world, the movement of people is mostly from the formerly colonized territories.. colonized by European nations and European powers," the quote read. "When people are in need, they go to places where it's safe. So it's no surprise that the movement now is this way, heading from these formerly colonized places."

Along with the photos, Angelina wrote in her post's caption, "In 2005, Abdulrazak Gurnah published Desertion, an epic novel about how the legacy of colonialism affected generations of African and British families in Zanzibar. Just a handful of years later, Gurnah became the first African writer in more than a decade to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature."

"On the occasion of the republication of 'Desertion' and two other landmark works ('Afterlives' and 'By the Sea') I spoke to him about why the movement of refugees and migrants from the global south to the global north today cannot be separated from the injustice of colonialism," she continued.

Angelina's post came after she hinted that she hasn't felt like herself "for a decade." Speaking to Vogue magazine in an article published on September 27, she shared, "After I went through something where I was hurt, I had a therapist ask if I would try wearing a flowing garment. Sounds silly, but I assumed that pants and boots projected a 'tougher' look, a stronger me."

"But was I strong enough to be soft? At the time, no. I felt vulnerable," she admitted. "Now I wonder if I don't know what my style is because I'm still understanding who I am at 48. I guess I'm in transition as a person. I feel a bit down these days. I don't feel like I've been myself for a decade, in a way, which I don't want to get into."

Angelina and Brad were married from 2014 to 2019. The former couple shares Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox as well as Vivienne together.

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According to a new report, the 'Queen's Gambit' actress and the musician, who have been dating since May 2021, will tie the knot in front of 150 guests in a lavish ceremony in Italy.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Anya Taylor-Joy and her fiance Malcolm McRae are reportedly set to exchange vows this weekend. "The Queen's Gambit" actress will be marrying the musician in a lavish ceremony in Italy, according to Daily Mail.

The news outlet claimed on Friday, September 29 that Anya and Malcolm, who were rumored to have tied the knot in July last year, will throw intimate nuptials on Sunday, October 1. It was said that the couple will invite over 150 guests to witness the big moment.

While other details about the ceremony have been kept under wraps, the couple allegedly has instructed firm The Wedding Boutique Italy to organize their nuptials. The news outlet noted that the luxury event planners host weddings located across Italy, also including Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Sicily and Lake Como, in idyllic destinations including romantic castles and rustic farmhouses.

"Anya and Malcolm are incredibly private and wanted to ensure their wedding was kept away from prying eyes," said a source. "They both love Italy and always dreamed of tying the knot in a beautiful setting surrounded by their nearest and dearest. There will be no expense spared and their guests are bound to have an incredible time."

Earlier this year, Anya and Malcolm, who have been dating since May 2021, were seen looking at wedding venues in Venice earlier this year. Among the candidates were Palazzo Pisani-Moretta, a 15th century palace, and Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia, and a 14th century church.

Anya tends to keep their romance lowkey. While their busy work schedules made it difficult for them to spend time together, the "Peaky Blinders" actress spent weeks in filming locations, while Malcolm regularly tours for his music.

She talked about their relationship to British Vogue back in March 2022. "I said to my partner the other day that he was my hobby. I see reading as something that I have to do. He loved it because he's the same," she revealed.

"I've finally found someone who will happily sit in silence with me reading," she continued. "We're basically 80 years old and seven at the same time and it works really well."

Speaking about the distance, she added, "Yes, it is [hard], but it's also kind of great because when you're together you're really valuing the time that you have. Everyday mundane activities are so full of joy. I love going to the petrol station with him and filling up."

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Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, who previously boasted his role in the shooting of the late rapper, was arrested on early Friday, September 29 while he was on a walk near his home in Las Vegas.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Tupac Shakur's sister is so glad that justice is being served. Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur is celebrating "victory" after suspect in the rapper's killing, Duane "Keffe D" Davis, was arrested and indicted on the murder charge.

In a statement shared on Instagram by Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, Sekyiwa said, "This is no doubt a pivotal moment. The silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community." She added in the Friday, September 29 post, "It's important to me that the world, the country, the justice system, and our people acknowledge the gravity of the passing of this man, my brother, my mother's son, my father's son."

"His life and death matter and should not go unsolved or unrecognized, so yes, today is a victory but I will reserve judgment until all the facts and legal proceedings are complete," she continued. "There have been multiple hands involved and there remains so much surrounding the life and death of my brother Tupac and our Shakur family overall. We are seeking real justice on all fronts."

Keffe D was arrested earlier on Friday while he was on a walk near his Las Vegas home. A Nevada grand jury later indicted the 60-year-old self-described "gangster" on one count of murder with a deadly weapon.

The grand jury also recommended adding 20 years to the sentence for gang activity. Keffe D, who is Compton Crip gang leader, is set to make a court appearance next week.

Keefe himself has given multiple interviews and written a memoir called "Compton Street Legend", in which he confesses to his role in the shooting of Tupac. He claims he rode in the car and handed nephew Orlando Anderson the murder weapon before he fired the fatal shots on the Las Vegas strip on September 7, 1996, which eventually killed the rapper.

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The Duchess of York is 'shocked and saddened' by the tragic death of ex-employee Jenean Chapman at the age of 46 after her body was found in Dallas, Texas.

Sep 30, 2023

AceShowbiz - Sarah Ferguson has penned tribute to her former personal assistant following her shocking murder. The Duchess of York was left "shocked and saddened" to learn of the death of Jenean Chapman, 46, whose body was found at her home in Dallas, Texas, earlier this week.

According to a report by NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, a 48-year-old man, James Patrick, was arrested by police in Austin, Texas, on suspicion of her murder.

Sarah, 63, wrote on Instagram, "I am shocked and saddened to learn that Jenean Chapman, who worked with me as my personal assistant many years ago, has been murdered in Dallas aged just 46. A suspect is in custody."

"Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her family and friends. I heard from her just a couple of months ago and she seemed so happy. Her family is raising money to transport her body back to New York City and pay for legal and funeral costs. I will be making a donation and supporting the family in any way possible - please help if you can at the link in my bio."

Jenean worked for Sarah from 2001 to 2005, helping to plan her travel, press and tours, along with doing research and looking after her diary.

Speaking to reporters after her body was found, Jenean's sister, Nicole Marshall said, "She was a force to be reckoned with, she was a role model. She was an amazing person, and I still look up to her. I always look up to her as like what I wanted to accomplish in my corporate career. She was just an accomplished intellectual. She was a kind person and compassionate. She had a heart of mush."

Sibling Crystal Marshall added, "Her first job out of college was working with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. So she worked with the royal family as a personal assistant, and then from there, she worked at Def Jam, so she worked with the Simmons family."

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The "Shahenshah" of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan has left an indelible mark on the Indian film industry with his unparalleled talent, charisma and dedication. With a career spanning more than five decades, Bachchan is celebrated not just as an actor but as a symbol of cinematic excellence.

As India celebrates legendary superstar Amitabh Bachchan before his 81st birthday on the 11th October 2023, a one-of-a-kind public auction by deRivaz & Ives, Indias youngest and fastest-growing auction house, is set to take place.

Titled Bachchanalia, and scheduled between the 5th & 7th October 2023, the event pays tribute to his illustrious career and offers collectors & fans a chance to own a historic piece of his phenomenal cinematic journey.

Items to go under the hammer include iconic film posters, photographs, lobby cards, showcards, photographs, film booklets and original artworks.

Key Highlights of the Auction are:

Zanjeer showcards: A rare set of two first release Zanjeer (1973) showcards  an original, hand-made collage crafted from silver gelatin photographic prints, poster paint and meticulously hand and screen-printed lettering. These unique pieces are a testament to the artistic craftsmanship of yesteryears, offering a glimpse into the intricate process that once brought the magic of cinema to life.

Deewaar showcard: Own a piece of cinematic history with the iconic Deewaar (1975) first release showcard, brilliantly designed by Diwakar Karkare, the designer behind several iconic Amitabh Bachchan publicity artworks of the 1970s and 80s.

Faraar showcards set: A set of six exceptionally designed first release showcards of Shankar Mukherjees Faraar (1975), designed by Diwakar Karkare, is also on offer as a lot. The thriller, scripted by Gulzar, is famous for the lilting Kishore-Lata duet Main pyasa tum sawan.

Sholay photographic stills mounted on lobby cards: Echoing the heart-pounding excitement of the 1975 classic, bidders will get a chance to enter the legendary world of Sholay (1975). The remarkable set of 15 re-release photographic stills mounted on lobby cards showcasing some of the most memorable scenes of the Ramesh Sippy classic.

Another lot offers a captivating set of four private photographs from Ramesh Sippy's exclusive party held after the release of Sholay, providing an exclusive glimpse into the behind-the-scenes magic of this unforgettable film.

Iconic Posters: The auction has on offer some brilliant and rare posters from Bachchans most famous films such as Majboor (1974), Mr Natwarlal (1979), The Great Gambler (1979), Silsila (1981) Kaalia (1981), Naseeb (1986), among others.

A rare studio portrait of Amitabh Bachchan shot by celebrated glamour photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha. Another one featuring two superstars  Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan  from an exclusive photo-shoot done for Movie magazines famous cover story.

Original artworks: derives & Ives is also offering some contemporary artistic tributes to Bachchan. There are different representations and interpretations of Amitabh Bachchan as seen through the eyes and aesthetics of young artistes such as Safdar Shamee, Sailesh Acharekar, Mithu Biswas and Anil Soni.

Talking about the auction, deRivaz & Ives spokesperson said, "We at deRivaz & Ives are developing our Film Memorabilia Department at a global scale this year with iconic sales on Bharat & Barsaat, Satyajit Ray, Amitabh Bachchan, Raj Kapoor, Feminine Icons in 2023 and with Hollywood auctions starting from 2024. This focus on the superstar and iconic personality Amitabh Bachchan is a carefully curated sale on his incredible repertoire across five decades of a variety of roles that have made him an international icon. We hope this endeavour delights his fans and admirers across the globe and helps India preserve her paper-based cinematic heritage a bit deeper."

The Bachchanalia auction comes close on the heels of a Satyajit Ray memorabilia auction organized by deRivaz & Ives. The Ray auction had received overwhelming response from bidders from across the world, reaffirming the fact that art collectors still desire to preserve the cultural legacy associated with Indian cinema. Collectors came in huge numbers to bid on the following link: https://www.derivaz-ives.com/home/auctions/auction-result/satyajit-ray-vintage-cinema-memorabilia
In an era where self-care and grooming know no gender boundaries, the landscape of skincare is undergoing a significant transformation. A groundbreaking trend led by male grooming brand Beardo, known as the BOF regimen (Bright and Oil-Free), is emerging as a game-changer in the world of personal care.

Historically, men's skincare routines have adhered to a simple mantra  cleanse, moisturize, and move on. However, the BOF regimen is rewriting the rulebook, challenging the status quo, and pushing the boundaries of personal care. The BOF regimen acknowledges the undeniable fact that men's skin is unique, distinct from women's  it's thicker, oilier, and more prone to the rigors of daily life. It asks a crucial question: should men really be using the same products as women? The resounding answer is, no.

What sets the BOF regimen apart is its simplicity and efficacy. As part of this pioneering skincare series, Beardo is giving men the tools they need to transform their grooming routines.

Key Highlights of Beardos BOF Regimen:

Daytime Routine: Begin the day with a sulphate-free, silicone-free, and phthalates-free facewash that effectively removes impurities, ensuring clear and healthy skin all day long. Follow this with an oil-free face cream loaded with vital ingredients like Aloe Vera, Niacinamide, Vitamin E, and Liquorice extract, offering hydration, protection, and reduced dark spots. One with the added benefit of SPF 30 should be a preference.

Nighttime Routine: Wind down with a powerful facewash enriched with White Lily, Red Algae, Aloe Vera, and Menthol for hydration, brightness, and detoxification. Complete the routine with a Vitamin C 2-in-1 Toning Serum, featuring 15% Vitamin C, Witch Hazel, Green Tea, and Hyaluronic Acid to combat dullness, blemishes, and uneven skin tone while you sleep.

The BOF skincare revolution is not a fleeting trend; it's a cultural awakening. It's about men taking control of their narrative, rejecting stereotypes, and forging a new path toward self-confidence, empowerment, and self-expression.
On International Coffee Day, Britannia, one of Indias most loved food & beverage brands, is venturing into the metaverse with the grand launch of Britannia Coffeeverse. This innovative digital odyssey, crafted by the creative team at Schbang, is set to redefine the virtual reality consumption experience by seamlessly integrating Britannia's premium products, including Britannia Biscafe, Britannia Treat Croissant, Britannia Winkin' Cow, Britannia Fudge It Brownie, and Britannia Good Day Chunkies.

As a brand, Britannia actively explores unique & engaging ways to connect with the younger generation. Todays youth is attracted to phygital experiences, and that is one of the key reasons behind Britannias entry into the Metaverse. The Britannia Coffeeverse aims to provide the youth with a fresh and engaging experience, thereby encouraging their active participation in this digital realm.

Britannia Coffeeverse extends a warm invitation to coffee enthusiasts and adventurers to embark on a thrilling journey that spans five virtual coffee realms, all from the comfort of their screens. From the enchanting cafes of Italy to the bustling streets of New York, the aromatic landscapes of Vietnam, and the timeless traditions of Turkey, alongside an exploration of the captivating BiscafeLand, this metaverse adventure promises a sensory symphony like no other.

The Britannia Coffee Run - A Virtual Reality Treasure Hunt

As a part of the launch, Britannia presents the Britannia Coffee Run, an innovative virtual reality treasure hunt where participants decode clues to unearth hidden Britannia treasures within virtual landscapes inspired by four distinct coffee cultures. The art of solving challenges and unveiling hidden surprises allows participants exclusive rewards and hampers in the real world, elevating their engagement and excitement. But the excitement doesn't end there  the first 1000 participants stand a chance to win fantastic vouchers, adding an extra layer of thrill to this exhilarating experience. Participants indulge in a delightful fusion of Britannia's products that complement the coffee experience, creating an unforgettable coffee journey.

The Britannia Coffeeverse Experience

Participants are seamlessly transported into the heart of Britannia Coffeeverse with a single click. Upon arrival, they are invited to select their avatars, which lead them to the Coffeeverse Lounge, where they are greeted warmly by Rob, their guide and guardian throughout this extraordinary adventure. Participants follow a trail of intriguing clues on their journey through the diverse coffee worlds, each holding surprises of its own. As they successfully complete the coffee run, participants are redirected to a dedicated landing page. After providing their basic user details, they unlock their hard-earned rewards, intensifying the satisfaction of this exceptional voyage.

Amit Doshi, Chief Marketing Officer, Britannia Industries Limited said, "Coffee as a beverage has been enjoying a growing fascination, especially amongst the youth nowadays. They love to consume Phygital experiences, be it hanging out in cafes or dwelling in digital experiences on their personal devices. At Britannia, we are glad to offer our consumers across the country, a plethora of coffee accompaniments ranging from the Treat Croissant to Fudge It Brownie, Good Day Chunkies, Biscafe, a coffee based cracker to the thick Winkin Cow Cold Coffee. We wanted to extend these delectable treats in the form of a premium digital cafe experience for these coffee, virtual reality enthusiasts. This insight led us to launching the Britannia Coffeeverse, a global coffee adventure that enhances the experience of five premium products from our portfolio, in turn, creating a truly indulgent and unforgettable journey for todays consumers. I'm thrilled to witness the convergence of technology, taste, and tradition in this metaverse adventure.

He added, "Britannia is at the forefront of innovation, constantly pushing boundaries to create unforgettable experiences for our customers. Britannia Coffeeverse is a testament to our commitment to offering more than just products; it's about delivering immersive and unique adventures that resonate with our audience's passion for coffee and snacking exploration. This International Coffee Day, we look forward to sharing this thrilling experience with everyone as we continue to redefine the way the world savours coffee."

Harshil Karia, Founder and MD, Schbang said, It all started with the Britannia team and Schbang connecting the dots around how many products Britannia actually has that deliver a cafe like experience  the number pleasantly surprised us. We then thought about how we can create a unique experience that unites lovers of coffee  this Coffeeverse seemed like the right fit. And the experience is a wonderful one that wed love for everyone to try. Right from the CGI ads to the already rave reviews were getting from gamers, were really happy with the output and Schbang is proud to be at the forefront of this exciting journey with Britannia.

Experience the following zones in the Britannia Coffeeverse

Good Day Chunkies: Your brewtiful chocolate chip cookie to accompany the strong coffee from Turkey

Winkin Cow: A Phintastic frappe to be the heat in Vietnam

Treat Croissant: Delectable snack to your Italian Roast

Fudge it Brownie: Sweet delish for your Americano Relish

Biscafe: The coffee based cracker that you can snack on in the fascinating Biscafeland

Platform link: Britannia Coffeeverse
A melon merchant in the late 19th or early 20th century / Robert Neff Collection



By Robert Neff



In Korea, one of the most iconic fruits of summer is the watermelon. There is something almost magical about eating ice-cold watermelon on a sweltering day, but, unfortunately, watermelon is one of the most expensive fruits found in the market  and this guilty little pleasure might cost you a hefty sum of money.



In the late 19th century, it could cost you more than just money  your job and your life. Many of the early Westerners living in Korea were convinced that watermelons  as well as cucumbers  were contributing factors to the frequent cholera epidemics. As a result, some Westerners banned their Korean staff from consuming watermelon.



Unsurprisingly, the Korean staff were not pleased. According to Edward T. McCarthy, the general manager of the Gwendoline Mine (an English gold mine in present-day North Korea), Korean miners ate great quantities of melons  even eating the rinds.



It may have been unthinkable to McCarthy, but watermelon rind had several uses and it would be foolish to waste it. The rind was also a part of the language. People were scolded to "stop licking the rind and start eating the flesh"  in other words, stop hesitating and get on with the task. There is even the old fable that the reason watermelons had so many seeds was to prevent people from eating them too fast. Now watermelons and their numberless seeds are associated with fertility  considering Korea's falling birthrate, perhaps watermelons should be handed out to newlyweds instead of showering them with rice. But I digress.



In 1901, the Korean Peninsula was suffering severely from a cholera epidemic causing McCarthy to ban all watermelons on the mining concession. The Korean miners regarded this as a cruel and unnecessary step and the situation at the mine quickly grew tense. McCarthy wrote:



"As soon as the Corean miners heard of the new orders prohibiting water-melon eating we nearly had a strike, but though they showed great resentment nothing further happened. Several attempts were made to smuggle the melons into the camp, but our police not only entrapped the culprits, but were given orders to thrash them  which I have no doubt they did. At all events we succeeded in keeping the camp clear of them, and, in consequence, I believe, of cholera; we had only one case in our camp."



This belief that watermelons contribute to cholera is fairly widespread and even now there are those who associate the fruit with the disease. Some people also suggest that it is unwise to drink water immediately after eating watermelon because it has a negative impact on digestion.



There is a ghost story from the early 1990s that involves watermelons and water. The story sounds like something that came from a television series but the young man who recalled this story insists that it was a "real" ghost story.





A young man carries a load of melons in the late 19th or early 20th century. Robert Neff Collection
Hindustan Pencils, a pioneering and leading name in the stationery industry, is championing the promotion of creativity and artistic talents through its initiative in organizing the Apsara Colouring Competition at DKTE Society's Anantrao Bhide Vidyamandir, Ichalkaranji. This exciting initiative drew an overwhelming response, with more than 500 students from the esteemed English Medium school showcasing their artistic skills

The competition, held within the school premises, allowed students to immerse themselves in a world of colors, bringing forth a display of creativity and imagination. Hindustan Pencils, has been consistently spearheading numerous such initiatives aimed at promoting education, art, and culture. Their support for the Apsara Colouring Competition not only encouraged the students but also emphasized the importance of artistic development in education.

The DKTE Society's Anantrao Bhide Vidyamandir extends its heartfelt appreciation to Hindustan Pencils for championing this event, motivating students to explore their artistic potential. The institution is eager to continue hosting such events, encouraging and nurturing budding talents within Ichalkaranji and its neighboring communities.
VANTO, the renowned premium luxury furniture brand recognized for its excellence in the home decor and furniture segments, has awarded its creative and digital mandate to Hotcult, the branded content venture of PAD Group. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch in Hyderabad. The scope of the agency will primarily include reinvigorating the brand and crafting a robust communication strategy and creatives to assist the brand in firmly establishing its presence within the luxurious furniture realm.

Hotcult will be responsible for devising Consumer Insight Mapping, defining Brand Architecture, establishing the Go-To-Market (GTM) approach, and formulating the overarching Brand and Launch strategy. This will also include creating cornerstone digital & creative campaigns, Social Media, online response management and Performance management, among other things.

Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Gautam Reddy, Founder, Hotcult, said, "It is always an honour when a client trusts you with their brand and gives you the complete communication mandate  strategic, creative & social. We are delighted to introduce this unprecedented level of luxury to India. This strategic move perfectly aligns with our vision to raise the brand to a coveted status among lifestyle and luxury enthusiasts nationwide. As Hyderabad emerges as a prominent destination in the luxury segment, akin to Delhi and other major metros, we are poised to be at the forefront of this exciting development.

"We are elated and excited with the VANTO win. Armed with a deep understanding of their target audience and preferences, we've constructed an insightful cultural framework as a part of our content strategy. Weve already created a distinctive world for VANTO in the ultra-premium furniture category and have crafted the brand positioning. We're eagerly anticipating creating compelling content for all marketing and communication touch points. This wouldn't have been possible without the trust of our valued clients, said Mr. Rupesh Kashyap, Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer, Hotcult.

Adith Linga, COO, VANTO commented, "PAD Group (parent company of Hotcult) has orchestrated remarkable triumphs for numerous top-tier Indian brands, many of which have emerged as pioneers in their domains. Hotcult's deep understanding of our sector aligns seamlessly with our vision, making them the perfect partner. We eagerly look forward to a dynamic and fruitful long-term alliance with them".

VANTO is a renowned luxury brand from Furniture World Group and is known for its innovation & meticulous curation of lifestyle products from around the world. It sets a new standard with exclusive master franchise agreements with bespoke luxury brands from Europe and around the globe. VANTO's expansive retail showrooms, each covering over 45,000 square feet, are poised to emerge in Hyderabad's vibrant centre, showcasing their exceptional offerings.

PAD has worked with some of the finest national brands across sectors. The Agency has serviced 300+ clients, which include Paytm, Dabur, Ecolink by Philips, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, Viacom 18, Mantri, Raheja Mindspace, Holland & Barrett, Grenade India,

Ratnadeep Retail, My Home Group, Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutions, Narayana Educational Institutions, Star Maa, Zee Telugu, AHA and many more.
The newly elected Executive Council of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) met on September 28, 2023. Mr. Sunil Kataria, Chief Executive Officer, Lifestyle Business at Raymond Ltd, was elected Chairman of the ISA. Sunil has led the Society over the past seven years to greater heights garnering support from the fellow Executive Council members, the ISA members and other industry bodies.

On his re-election as the Chairman of the ISA, Sunil said, In our journey towards creating greater value proposition for the ISA in the industry, the focus will be to make this unique body even stronger in the future to provide value added support to our members for the new normal and beyond. With the digital advertising having ascended to prime position in India and growing even further, our endeavour this year would be take forward our efforts in the area of digital measurement along with other industry stakeholders

Sunil said, A big priority for us would be working with industry organisations in the coming months, on the roll out of Media Charter that would comprise Model Media Agency Contract, Zero tolerance to ad fraud, Brand Safety, Viewability, Common minimum standard for advertisers in the first party data space & Cross screen Measurement.

He further mentioned, We at the ISA as founder member of the WFA are enhancing our partnership. As one of the founders of ASCI, we are also partnering with the ASCI Academy to collaborate in the area of education, training, and research with a view to contribute to the cause of honest and ethical advertising practices

Sunil is optimistic about further partnering with BARC in digital measurement area. He said We heartily thank all fraternity organizations for their consistent support that would surely help us scale newer heights. I also acknowledge the continuing support by the ISA members in all our endeavours.

He further added, I am glad to acknowledge the cooperation of all our members, industry associates, vendors and ISA Secretariat team in staying safe, getting vaccinated and adhering to directives by health authorities and governments in the post-covid and transition times

The ISA is the apex national body as a strong voice to advertisers over 71 years. Its cross-sector advertiser members contribute to more than half of the annual national non-governmental ad spends. ISA, which is a founder member of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and one of the founders of ASCI, continues to partner with other industry bodies that connect to the advertisers. The ISA, as one of the three constituent bodies, played a significant role in formation of BARC and is closely partnering with it towards advertisers getting robust and credible data.

The Executive Council members of the ISA thanked Sunil for his tremendous contribution to the ISA as Chairman over past seven years and expressed pleasure to elect him again for 2023-24.

Other members of the Executive Council are:

Mr. Narendra Ambwani, Director, Agro Tech Foods Limited

Mr. Bharat V. Patel, Advisor to BIC Cello (India) Private Limited

Mrs. Paulomi Dhawan, Independent Director, Whistling Woods International

Mr. Anuj Poddar, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Bajaj Electricals Limited

Mr. Angshu Mallick, Managing Director & CEO, Adani Wilmar Limited

Mr. Subhadip Dutta Choudhury, Chairman of the Board of Directors & Chief Executive Officer, Hawkins Cookers Limited

Mr. Srinandan Sundaram, Executive Director, Food & Refreshment, Management Committee Member for Hindustan Unilever Limited

Mr. Ramakrishnan Ramamurthi, Advisor J. K. Enterprises

Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Limited

Mr. Chandru Kalro, Managing Director, TTK Prestige Limited

Mr. Tarun G. Arora, Chief Executive Officer & Whole Time Director, Zydus Wellness Limited

Mr. Ashwin Moorthy, Chief Marketing Officer, Godrej consumer products Ltd.

Mr. Gaurav Tayal, SBU Chief Executive  Matches & Agarbatti Business, ITC Ltd

Ms. Somasree Bose Awasthi, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico Ltd

Mr. Gunjit Jain, Executive Vice President  Marketing, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited

Mr. Adrian Terron, VP  Corporate Brand & Marketing Strategy, TATA Sons Pvt Ltd.

Mrs. Ranjani Krishnaswamy, General Manager Tanishq Marketing, Titan Company Ltd.
Mankind Pharma, a leading pharmaceutical company in India, is celebrating World Heart Day with a campaign to raise awareness on cardiac care and promote heart health. According to statistics published in The Lancet in India, cardiovascular diseases affect 282 out of every 100,000 people, compared to the global average of 233. Hence, Mankind Pharma launched a campaign, which began on September 20 and will run through October 10, 2023.During the World Heart Month Campaign, Mankind Pharma has undertaken a series of impactful activities to educate and empower individuals to take control of their heart health.

Mankind Pharma is encouraging healthcare professionals to take a pledge to support cardiac care awareness. The pharma giant is attempting the largest Cardiac Care Awareness Pledge by Healthcare Professionals (HCPs). They will pledge to promote heart health awareness and encourage heart-healthy lifestyles. Upon the successful completion of this pledge, participants will receive a Digital Record Certificate as a token of appreciation and recognition for their commitment to cardiac care.

As a part of the initiative, Mankind Pharma is organizing over 4000 Free Blood Pressure Camps across India which will provide easy access to blood pressure monitoring and guidance on maintaining healthy blood pressure levels. They have also collaborated with 10,000+ healthcare providers to educate patients through personalized video messages to spread awareness. Additionally, Mankind Pharma has also collaborated with The European Association for the Study of Diabetes, to help train and certify 11,622 primary healthcare centers to diagnose and manage Diabetes, Blood Pressure, and Hypertension.

The pharma brand is also hosting a public awareness webinar on tips and tricks to manage heart disease and emergency care. The webinar will be conducted in regional languages (Hindi, Odiya, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu) to reach a wider audience. This extensive initiative aims to reach communities far and wide, making heart health assessment and guidance accessible to all.

Commenting on the campaign Mr. Rajeev Juneja, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mankind Pharma Ltd. Said, Mankind Pharma is committed to improving heart health through awareness, education, and timely intervention. Our World Heart Month Campaign 2023 reaffirms our dedication to empowering individuals with the knowledge and tools they need to take charge of their heart health. We believe that a healthy heart is the foundation of a vibrant life, and we're committed to making a difference, one heartbeat at a time.

Mankind Pharma is committed to promoting heart health awareness and fostering a culture of preventive healthcare. The World Heart Month Campaign 2023 represents a significant step toward achieving this goal.
Dubai based leading international retail chain, Max Fashion looks at continued growth in Andhra and Telangana scaling store count to 82 by, year end. With Dussehra festivities commencing today, Max is set to make it big with a month long campaign drawing consumer participation and fuelling demand for affordable fashion. Targeting modern day families who also value and keep up with the Indian traditions, the brand aims to strengthen its cultural ties with the southern markets. To mark the celebrations a giant 30 by 50-foot Bommaala Koluvu was inaugurated at the Forum Mall, Hyderabad. This massive installation is an ode to the city of Hyderabad. Additionally, Max has partnered some of the old-age homes and orphanages to foster the age-old practice of gifting during this festive season.

We are thrilled to initiate this celebratory campaign in the city today. Hyderabad holds a special place for us; 64% of our sales come from the city in the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh region. We look forward to serving even more customers and becoming an integral part of their festive celebrations" stated, Peddiraju Anandram, Regional Business Head, Max Fashion.

The Teen Heartthrob of Millions in the south, Princess Sitara Ghattamaneni daughter of Popular Telugu Superstar Mahesh Babu and Celebrity Star Namrata Shirodkar instated the campaign. She unveiled the Kollavu featuring over 100 mannequins, each narrating a unique story and styled in Max's latest festive collection- Celestial pop. A heartwarming exchange of Dussehra gifts took place between children and elderlies from NGOs, keeping the tradition of gifting alive.

Sitara was also accompanied by her mother, Popular Celebrity Star Namrata Shirodkar. Speaking on the occasion, Pallavi Pandey, Vice President & Head of Marketing, India at Landmark Group - Max Fashion said, Max has always been the destination of Dasara shopping and this year we wanted to make it even bigger with regional nuance with pride by launching the largest and more unique bommala koluvu. It's our ode to the most magnificent festival in AP by having launched the largest collection showcase in the most unique way."

Over the years, Max Fashion has established itself as a trusted name in the industry, known for its commitment to delivering fashionable, affordable, sustainable clothing for all and customer satisfaction. With this expansion in the south, the company is poised to take its operations to the next level and solidify its position as an industry leader.
Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services (BRS) India, the leader in employee benefits and engagement, is transitioning to Pluxee. With a proud legacy spanning over 25 years, the company has established itself as a pioneer in the benefits and rewards space. It has earned its place as a partner of trust with stakeholders across India.

Pluxee provides a range of future-ready employee benefits, covering everything from meals and fuel to wellbeing, all accessible on a single platform. The companys suite of products also consists of a whole range of incentive and recognition solutions which can be used to deliver unlimited choice or targeted for specific gifts like meal experiences.

Anish Sarkar, CEO of Pluxee India, said, "With Pluxee, our aim is to address stakeholders' key challenges with proven, sustainable solutions that are driven by change. Pluxee stands for delivering digital-first, cutting-edge tech solutions. Specialising in creating personalised and sustainable services, Pluxee elevates businesses and employee experiences at work and beyond.

What does the name Pluxee represent:

Pluxee opens up a world of opportunities for all stakeholders:

'Plux' suggests positivity - the opportunities to make life more joyful.

The 'X' symbolises personalised and sustainable experiences - the commitment to stay stakeholder-first.

The double 'ee' represents 'employee engagement - empowering the workforce to choose how they live, work, and play.

Pluxees Ambition:

Creating enriching and sustainable employee experiences at work and beyond.

Delivering adaptable digital solutions that allow stakeholders to cater to their unique, evolving needs effortlessly.

Providing scalable platforms, ensuring a consistent, exceptional experience.

Innovations towards a cleaner and responsible future: Pluxee has been demonstrating its commitment to social responsibility in everything it does. The company has reduced its environmental footprint by digitising contracts, offering cardless payments, working with eco-conscious vendors, and using clean energy sources.

The company is also committed to supporting individuals and communities by promoting diversity and inclusion, offering opportunities for differently abled individuals, and partnering with numerous NGOs.

Pluxee has been recognised as a Great Place To Work in India for four consecutive years, which reaffirms its commitment to employees by creating a workplace where they can thrive and do more of what matters to them.

Technology has emerged as a powerful tool in Pluxees sustainability journey. By embracing digitisation, the company has reduced the climate impact associated with travel and logistics. The company will continue working towards a sustainable and better tomorrow for all.
South Indian Bank (SIB), one of Indias leading private sector banks with over nine-decade legacy has appointed P R Seshadri as its MD & CEO effective 1st of October 2023. He will succeed Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan who served a successful tenure from 1st October 2020 till 30th September 2023.

With nearly 25 years of banking experience spanning domestic and international markets, Mr. P R Seshadri has held senior leadership positions at prestigious institutions, including Karur Vysya Bank Limited and Citigroup. His leadership, marked by scaling, optimizing, growing, and transforming businesses, has earned him respect and acclaim within the industry. His career trajectory underscores his ability to drive sustained growth, emphasizing the adoption of digital operational frameworks and innovative solutions to meet the unique demands of the Indian market. Prior to joining SIB, Mr. Seshadri was associated with the Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) in a similar role.

Welcoming the incoming Managing Director & CEO, Mr. Thomas Joseph K, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer said, "Embracing a new era of leadership, we proudly welcome Mr. Seshadri to lead our institution. With a proven track record and a visionary approach, he embodies the future of banking excellence. His expertise will guide us towards greater heights, paving the way for success and prosperity for our valued clients and stakeholders. Together, we anticipate exploring new frontiers in finance and redefining growth through a customer-centric ethos."

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. P R Seshadri, Managing Director and CEO, South Indian Bank said, Leading South Indian Bank is a privilege as we embark on a growth journey, leveraging technology while upholding our business values and rich heritage. I am enthusiastic about collaborating with the Bank's talented professionals to build upon the legacy. Together, we will navigate the evolving financial landscape, delivering innovative solutions and unparalleled service to our clients.

Mr. P R Seshadri is an electrical engineer and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in management from IIM Bangalore. In his new role as MD & CEO, he is poised to lead South Indian Bank into an era of growth and innovation, while upholding its rich legacy and core values, promising an exciting journey ahead for the Bank and its stakeholders.
TATA Starbucks is taking things a notch higher by extending International Coffee Day (October 1st) celebrations for a week. Toasting to the journey from bean to cup, this weeklong celebration will include a dedicated Coffee masters Program called Master Brewers and a seven-day Coffee experience series that has been specially curated for customers.

This program brings alive the nuances of growing and sourcing ethical coffees from across the world, processing & roasting of different coffees to funfilled brewing and latte arts curated by Starbucks for its customers and delivered by Starbucks Coffee masters. It will empower them to transcend the ordinary and become true masters of the art of crafting exceptional coffee, ultimately earning the prestigious 'special apron'a symbol of pride and distinction traditionally owned by the best baristas in the business. This program is, in essence, the golden key for coffee enthusiasts to join the ranks of the coffee elite.

International Coffee Week is not just a celebration; it's a unique opportunity for coffee enthusiasts in India to immerse themselves in the world of coffee crafted especially for them by Starbucks. Here's a glimpse of what's in store for them:

Coffee Experience Series: In addition to these bespoke coffee masterclasses, TATA Starbucks has curated a selection of seven distinctive coffee engagement programs at their stores throughout the week, promising an unforgettable coffee experience for all. Each day at 4 PM, these programs will feature unique coffee tastings, each centered around a different theme, aimed at expanding your coffee knowledge. It's an open invitation to discover, learn, and celebrate the world of coffee like never before.

Expressing his delight on this initiative, Sushant Dash, CEO of TATA Starbucks, remarked, Celebrating our journey into India, where the specialty coffee culture was just blossoming, we took a pioneering role in refining and introducing this culture to a predominantly tea-drinking population. Today, we stand as the catalysts of this transformative shift, as consumers increasingly seek a deeper connection to their coffee. They yearn to uncover the story behind their brew, to truly immerse themselves in the essence of specialty coffee.

He further added, Our curated program and week-long in-store experiences have been tailored to cater this exact curiosity of today's coffee enthusiasts, who not only desire premium experiences but also possess a deep appreciation for the intricacies of coffee, right from its origins on the farm to the final cup. This initiative is a testament to our commitment to fulfilling their quest for coffee knowledge while celebrating the true essence of coffee excellence."

International Coffee Week celebration at Starbucks includes special promotions and a series of exclusive, coffee-centric experiences designed especially for its Indian customers, offering a unique opportunity to partake in the festivities while also sharing in Starbucks' unparalleled coffee expertise. Starbucks India mobile app would also bring alive these unique tastings which customers can view and participate in across the 7 days.
Times Now, Indias leading English news channel hosted the Amazing Indians Awards 2023 in New Delhi. A premier national platform, Amazing Indians Awards 2023 recognized and honoured the unwavering spirit of 11 Amazing Indians who, through their courage, resolve, and selfless deeds, have profoundly influenced the lives of others.

The Chief Guests for the event, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles & Smriti Irani, Union Minister for Women and Child Development delivered the keynote addresses and felicitated the winners along with the Jury members. The grandeur ceremony also witnessed a special Jugalbandi performance by Smt. Anuradha Pal, India's First Female Tabla Maestro and a captivating musical presentation by the exceptionally talented members of Shreerang Charitable Trust.

Amazing Indian Awards 2023 winners felicitated across 11 categories included Dr. Jayakumar Karuppusamy (Agriculture), M. Vignesh alias Sai Vignesh (Animal Wesslfare), Mamoon Akhtar(Education), Amita Deshpande (Environment & Climate), Raj Kumar Bhatia (Food Management and Nutrition), Sukla Debnath (Girl Child and Women's Rights Empowerment), Manjunath Ningappa Pujari (Healthcare, Medical & Clinical Assistance), Shruti Chaturvedi (Rural Development), Makarand Anaspure (Sanitation and Water), Nisha Malawat (Slum Care) and Yash Tarwadi (Tech For Good). The winners were shortlisted through an exhaustive pan-India screening process by an esteemed panel of jury comprising General M. M. Naravane, Prasoon Joshi, Ritesh Agarwal, Anand Kumar, Dr. S. Rangarajan and Sonam Wangchuk and duly evaluated by Ernst & Young (Process Partner).

In a historic moment, Dr. Veeramuthuvel, Project Director of Chandrayan-3 at ISRO, and Dr. Nigar Shaji, Project Director of Aditya - L1 Mission at ISRO, were honored for their remarkable contributions to India's space endeavors.

MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network said, "As India's most influential news leader, Times Now has played a pivotal role in driving change and action. Amazing Indians Awards is our initiative to highlight the extraordinary achievements of ordinary Indians who have made a positive impact on society. Over the years, the platform has featured the remarkable journeys of over 500 such individuals, each of whom has crafted a legacy through courage, determination, and an unwavering spirit. I am confident that the stories of these 'Amazing Indians' will inspire a new generation of changemakers, contributing to a better India."

Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, lauded Times Now for hosting the Amazing Indians Awards. "This is a fantastic platform, and I was impressed by the quality of the selection of the award nominees. Humble beginnings getting recognized at the start is wonderful and these small seeds will grow into big trees in the future. All the nominees will go back more changed and determined to do even better."

He went on to add, "The Amazing Indians is an important programme for the ambitions of India's youth. Such Amazing Indians will power our journey and meet greater objectives of the nation and indeed the world."

Piyush Goyal also took the opportunity to congratulate ISRO scientists Dr Veeramuthuvel and Dr Nigar Shaji for their role in India's space endeavours. He led the audience in giving a standing ovation to the scientists.

Congratulating the winners, Shri Goyal asserted that, The government has been working hard for the public good. Whether it was bringing tap water to every home or enabling 4 crore families to benefit under PM Awas Yojana, the government has taken steps to ensure food security, especially during lockdowns. He said that, 80 crore Indians got twice the allocation of grain and not a single starvation death was reported in any state. This is a huge achievement.

Delivering the keynote address, Smriti Irani expressed her delight at the inspiring stories of the Amazing Indians who were honoured at the event. She also congratulated Times Now for assembling a jury of immense talent and diversity. "I am proud and humbled to share this platform with these Amazing Indians. Each one of these illustrious persons who are being honoured here today represents to the whole world what New India represents for our future," she stated.

Speaking about ISRO and the Moon Landing, she said, From the Dark Side of the Moon, a new light was shown to the world, showing what we are capable of."

She congratulated ISRO's Women Scientists, especially "Nigar ji (Project Director, Aditya - L1 Mission, ISRO) and emphatically said that she (Nigar) is part of an organization that does not have a glass ceiling, where capability demands and decides opportunity, and that is all that New India is about." She concluded by stating that "This stage represents not only a civilizational empathy towards fellow living beings, but also represents grit, determination and grace."

The Times Now Amazing Indians Awards 2023 night left an indelible mark, celebrating the unwavering spirit of those who have gone above and beyond to create a positive and lasting impact on society.

Jury Members details:

General M. M. Naravane, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM (RETD), Former Chief of the Army Staff, Indian Army, Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific and CEO & CCO, McCann Worldgroup India, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group CEO, OYO, Anand Kumar, Founder, Super 30, Dr. S. Rangarajan Former Director ISRO, MCF, ISTRAC & Satcomm and Sonam Wangchuk, Social Reformist, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee.
By Robert Neff

In the late 19th century, Korea was a land filled with danger. Banditry was common, disease was prevalent, demons and ghosts haunted peoples imaginations and beliefs (Korean and foreigners alike), and fierce wild beasts roamed the desolate mountains and forests. Tigers (and their smaller cousins, the leopards) were probably the most feared but they were not the only dangers to the Korean population and, by the first part of the 20th century, they became more legend than reality.

So what was the most deadly wild animal to humans in Korea in the 19th century? Despite the title of this article, it wasnt bears.

In 1928, the Japanese authorities in Korea reported 81 Koreans were killed or wounded by wild animals  only one person suffered at the claws of a tiger and three fell victim to leopards. Another deadly animal, the boar, mauled four people. Judging from the report, the most dangerous animal was the wolf  claiming 48 humans (I assume most victims of wolf attacks were children). Not only did these predators prey upon humans but also upon cattle. Wolves took 3,396 cows, leopards took 272, tigers 103 and boars 33.

So where do bears fit into this list of dangerous animals? In 1917, James Scarth Gale, a missionary, described Korean bears as being very timid and noted they rarely attacked people unless they were suddenly surprised or wounded. Reports by the Japanese authorities seem to support his claim. In 1928, bears were responsible for the loss of only 26 cows and no attacks upon humans were reported. The following year, however, a Korean hunter wounded a bear and fell victim to his intended prey.

But bears werent always so timid nor were they passive prey. In the Veritable Records of Joseon, there are several accounts of attacks by bears and bear-like creatures. While these violent encounters occurred throughout the peninsula, Pyongan Province (in present-day North Korea) seems to have been the domain of an extremely dangerous bear-like creature.

In early 1671, a large creature half gray and half black, sometimes red, and sometimes white, resembling a bear but not a bear attacked and killed a man near the Amnok (Yalu) River. Sadly, there is no additional information about it so we are left to wonder if it was a native Korean beast or whether it crossed the river from China in search of food.

Another strange incident took place in 1747, when a strange four-legged monster attacked several people and terrorized the province. It was described as having tiger claws for its front legs, the rear legs had the soles of a bear, it was covered with fur like that of a mountain goat and had a head like that of a horse with a wild boars nose. It is a fantastic account but what makes it even stranger is that a soldier reportedly killed and skinned it and then sent the pelt to the palace. When King Yeongjo showed it to his court, some speculated that it was a zebra or a tapir. Sadly, what became of the pelt is unknown but most likely it has been lost forever through carelessness or during one of the frequent periods of political unrest.

In 1572, a very large bear terrorized the countryside around Chongjin in Hamgyong Province (also in North Korea). Apparently this bear was one of the largest that had been seen up to that time. Perhaps it was a Russian bear that was driven south by a shortage of food; according to George Mihailovich Yankovsky (who operated a hunting lodge on his extensive tract of land in northern Korea), in the summer of 1921 there was a shortage of nuts and acorns in Manchuria and the Russian maritime provinces that caused animals to migrate into northern Korea in search of food  bears followed their prey.

In 1669 in Pyongan Province, a boy armed with a club rushed to the aid of his father who was being savaged by a bear. The boy managed to drive off the beast and save his fathers life but lost his own life due to the injuries he received during his heroic act. His devotion to his father was later honored by the Joseon court.

He was not the only son who fought to protect his fathers life. In Gangwon Province in 1722, another boy rescued his father from a bear attack using only his bare hands. Incredibly, not only did he live to tell the tale but he also killed the bear with one of his punches.

In 1783, there were so many bears in the mountainous regions of Gangwon and Chungcheong provinces that the palace ordered bounties to be placed upon their heads with suitable rewards given to the hunters.

And in 1821, a very large bear roamed the outskirts of Gaeseong City (North Korea) and attacked 11 people in a single day. It is not clear if his victims were killed and eaten but it seems very unusual for a healthy bear to wreak so much damage in a single day. A special hunting expedition was organized to kill the beast  whether or not their hunt was successful is unknown.

One early Western writer provided an amusing and unbelievable account of how bears were hunted in Korea in the late 19th century:

Those [Koreans] who hunt bears wait for the occasion when the mother bear leads her cubs to the seashore to feast them on crabs. Then the hunters bide their time till they see the mother lifting up the heavy rocks on edge, while the little cubs eat the crabs. The hunters usually rush forward and assault the bear, which, frightened, lets fall the rock, which crushes the cub.

In the early 1900s, Horace H. Underwood provided a tongue-in-cheek tale of how bears sometimes killed themselves by watermills:

It seems that the bear was attracted by the idea of using the grain in the mill for his breakfast. As he stooped to get it however the beam came down and struck him a heavy blow. He was annoyed and tried to return the blow only to find that the beam was up in the air beyond his reach. He stooped again, and again it came down and hit him. This time he was really angry and grabbing it, beat it soundly. But as the stream continued to flow it failed to learn a lesson and hit him again. This time he got hold of it and held it down. But not only did it take all his strength to hold it down, but when it was down, of course, the grain was under it and out of his reach. In the end the faithful mill administered a lucky blow on the head and when he arrived on the scene the miller found not only his grain intact but a dead bear into the bargain.

These are cute, fanciful tales, but hunting bears in Joseon Korea was a dangerous occupation and often ended not only with the bears death but also the hunters. Such a tale supposedly took place in 1791 in a small community in Jeolla Province that was terrorized by a man-eating bear.

Several men had fallen victim to its claws and had been badly mauled and were partially devoured by the great brute. The local magistrate, realizing the people were helpless to stop its predation, offered a very large bounty for the bears hide. Within a short period of time, famous hunters from all around the Korean Peninsula gathered in the village. In all, there were about 30 hunters and with little hesitation they started stalking the great beast in its habitat  the forested mountains.

For just under a fortnight the men hunted for and were hunted by the bear. The situation looked quite dire as several of the hunters  including one of the most famous  fell victim to the bear.

One day, a couple of the hunters stopped to rest and hunt something else  wild mushrooms. One man, who was roasting the mushrooms, suddenly heard something heavy crashing through the underbrush. Turning, he was horrified to see the great bear racing towards him but fortunately for him, one of his companions was able to grab his weapon and fire but the bullet was unable to pierce the bears thick hide and only succeeded in attracting its attention. The bear stood up on its hind feet and began to maul the hunter.

Another hunter, who had taken refuge in a tree, found his courage and leapt from the tree slashing the bears head with the sharp blade he had been using to dig mushrooms. The bear turned to face off with this new attacker which allowed the other man to pick up and reload his gun and, despite the severe pain from his mauling, was able to accurately aim and shoot the bear directly in the head. The bear died and the two hunters who had actually fought it were rewarded for their daring deed  which leaves me to wonder what became of the accounts narrator, the mushroom griller.

It is a shame that this encounter did not happen during the reign of King Taejo, for the Korean monarch was an expert archer. If we are to believe the accounts, in 1372  while he was a Goryeo general  Taejo, on horseback, shot several large bears, killing them all with just one arrow.

Considering how numerous bears were in Korea, it seems odd that none of the Western writers in the late 19th or early 20th century devoted much ink to describe them. Usually they are mentioned only in passing, such as William R. Carles account of traveling in the Korean countryside in 1884:

The country looked so very favourable for deer that, regardless of cockroaches, I was anxious to spend a day in this village for the purpose of shooting. But I found it impossible to get any hunter to come with me. There was only one in the village, and he was crippled with wounds. In the summer he had been out with a friend after a bear, which they wounded and followed up. The bear had then turned upon them and killed one, while the other, in an attempt to save his friend's life, had nearly lost his own.

In 1891, an English military officer briefly described hearing about a large black bear that bothered a group of farmers with its presence as it hungrily eyed their crops. They eventually were able to drive it off with torches and fire. Very few, if any, of these Western writers seemed afraid of the Korean bears, but there was one bear that many of them were very afraid of and that was the Russian bear  the military power in the north.

In tomorrows article we will gaze at bears behind bars.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
A Sylacauga man has been indicted in a 2021 distracted driving crash that killed a 29-year-old woman in Shelby County.

A grand jury indicted 25-year-old Allen Montel Barefield on a felony charge of manslaughter. The indictment was made public Friday.

The crash happened on Aug. 5, 2021, on U.S. 280 in Chelsea.

It was about 7:15 a.m. that Thursday when authorities said Kristan Bells Honda Civic was struck from behind by a Ford F-250 driven by Barefield.

Bell, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead on the scene. She lived in Oxford.

Barefield was initially arrested one year later on a misdemeanor charge of criminally negligent homicide.

Charging documents state Barefield was speeding and distracted by the use of an electronic device when he crashed in Bells car.

Barefield has been out of jail on $6,000 bond since his arrest last year.

The grand jury, which met this month, increased the charge to manslaughter.
A Tennessee woman has been convicted in fatal robbery of two Florida college students that ended in the shooting death of one victims in the Talladega National Forest.

A federal jury returned a guilty verdict against Krystal Diane Pinkins, 37, of Memphis after four days of testimony before Judge R. David Proctor.

Pinkins was convicted of murder, robbery, and unlawful use of a firearm during a crime of violence, announced Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

Today, the jury held the defendant accountable for her actions, Escalona said. I want to thank our local, state, and federal partners for their tireless efforts in this investigation and bringing justice to the victims and their families.

Yasmine Marie Adel Hider, a 21-year-old Oklahoma woman, agreed earlier this month to plead guilty to second-degree murder, kidnapping of a victim not resulting in death, and robbery.

Hider testified in Pinkins trial and is expected to formally enter her guilty plea on Oct. 4.

The women were charged in connection to the slaying of 22-year-old Adam Simjee. He and his girlfriend, Mikayla Paulus, were robbed at gunpoint while they were hiking in Cheaha State Park on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022.

Hider and Pinkins, previously described as living off the grid, are also facing murder charges in Clay County. Trial dates have not been announced in the state cases.

Paulus previously spoke with AL.com about what happened that morning.

The couple was flagged down by Hider to help jump start Pinkins car which was broken down.

Hider robbed the couple and shot the Simjee as he attempted to defend himself and his girlfriend.

Evidence proved Pinkins aided in the crimes by providing the firearm, planning the robbery, and watching nearby in the woods as the robbery and murder took place.

After the shooting, Pinkins fled into the woods and was found six hours later hidden in a secluded campsite.

The maximum penalty for murder and unlawful use of a firearm during a crime of violence is life in prison. The maximum penalty for robbery is 15 years in prison.

A sentencing date for Pinkins has not yet been announced.
Midwives and advocates for midwife-led birth centers are celebrating an Alabama court ruling that blocks what they called overly restrictive regulations that threatened to erase their industry in the state.

The decision by the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Court in Montgomery Friday blocked the Alabama Department of Public Health from continuing its current policy regarding more stringent rules for midwife centers.

Following the ruling in Oasis Family Birthing Center et. al. v. Alabama Department of Public Health, advocates say that centers complying with standards set by the American Association of Birth Centers can secure licenses from ADPH to operate. Further, existing providers will be able to resume providing pregnancy care around the state.

We are pleased that the court put an end to the Alabama Department of Public Healths unlawful and dangerous de facto ban on birth centers, allowing the dedicated providers in this case to offer pregnant Alabamians the essential health care they need in birth centers throughout the state, Whitney White, a staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project said in a statement.

A group of midwives and doctors filed the case in August saying that ADPHs new rules created uncertainty around the legal status of birth centers that provide midwife-led care by asserting that all such birth centers require a hospital license, even though they exclusively provide midwifery care to low-risk patients.

Midwives said that ADPH had made it impossible for birth centers to attempt to obtain a license and created an unlawful and unjustified dilemma for their practitioners. They said the states action led to the shutdown of one center earlier this year in spite of its strong safety record.

Plaintiffs said the states de facto ban was especially harmful in a state with the third highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, with Black women making up a disproportionate share of maternal deaths.

The March of Dimes has labeled more than a third of Alabama counties as maternity care deserts, lacking obstetricians or hospitals with labor and delivery units.

Alabama also has the sixth highest infant mortality rate in the nation, with Black infants making up a disproportionate number of these deaths. One factor playing into this concerning trend is the growing number of maternal health deserts in the state.

Obstetrical care provider Stephanie Mitchell of Gainesville, Ala. told AL.com in August that some women she sees in rural Sumter County travel 75 or 100 miles to receive care.

People shouldnt be forced to go without pregnancy care, Mitchell said. They shouldnt be forced to go without adequate prenatal care or postpartum care or have to drive long distances to get the care they need. It should be available in their communities. Expanding access to midwifery and birth centers in places like Sumter County is a life-or-death situation for many families.

Mitchell is the first Black professional midwife licensed in Alabama since the 1970s.

The ruling means Oasis Family Birthing Center in Birmingham, Alabama Birth Center in Huntsville, Birth Sanctuary in Gainesville, and others may resume operation.

All three birth center founders said they had raised money or taken out loans to construct facilities for labor and delivery. The new ADPH rules left them stuck paying the bills for centers that patients wanted but could not use.

I think regulations are a great thing, Mitchell told Reckon for a story in September. The goal is to keep people safe. But if the regulations are too stringent, you run the risk of not ever being able to open.

These antiquated rules, as written, eliminate the possibility of my birth center and these other birth centers in the state to operate.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Alabama, and Bobby Segall of Copeland Franco on behalf of Oasis Family Birthing Center in Birmingham, Heather Skanes, M.D., Alabama Birth Center in Huntsville, Yashica Robinson, M.D., Birth Sanctuary in Gainesville, Stephanie Mitchell DNP, CNM, CPM, and the Alabama affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
Alan Sealls, a mainstay of Mobile television for nearly 25 years as a meteorologist at WKRG and WPMI, will retire from the airwaves in January.

Sealls was a fixture of WKRG for 20 years, where he was chief meteorologist before his departure in 2019. He gained a reputation at the Mobile CBS affiliate for his ability to calmly and clearly explain major weather events without feeding hysteria about any danger presented by them.

In November 2019, Sealls returned to the Mobile airwaves, joining WPMI as chief meteorologist.

Im so appreciative of the community support over the decades, as Ive enjoyed supporting the community. While Im exiting TV, Im not exiting Mobile! This is home, now. Ive got friends and neighbors who are like family, Sealls said in a statement issued by the local NBC affiliate. Aside from being on social media, Ill keep on teaching at the University of South Alabama, visiting schools, and writing for Lagniappe Newspaper, with more time to do my other weather and life endeavors.

Sealls calm demeanor caused him to go viral on social media as Reddit users appreciated how the meteorologist analyzed Hurricanes Irma, Jose, and Katia on Sept. 6, 2017 without sensationalizing the storms. That clip went on to rack up well over 5 million views on YouTube.

I love how this guy makes a dangerous and scary situation so peaceful and calm, one YouTube commenter wrote. Other channels are like OH NO WERE ALL GONNA DIE (exaggeration), but this guy doesnt make my anxiety go berserk.

Sealls told AL.com he put the clip on WKRGs YouTube channel himself.

I put it there as an archive of something that could be historic, and it took off, he said. I knew my post would get a few more views than typical, but nothing to this degree.

Besides his work in Mobile, Sealls other high-profile television jobs included stints at NBC and WGN in Chicago and WTMJ-TV & Radio in Milwaukee.

Alan is an incredibly accomplished, well-respected meteorologist and a beloved member of the community in Mobile. His contributions to the market, and to the industry as a whole, are legendary and he will be greatly missed. We wish him the very best in his next chapter, said Cory Culleton, WPMIs vice president/associate group manager.

Sealls has taught weather broadcasting at the University of South Alabama and has his own weather site, weatherthings.com.










English News Embracing common values of whole mankind: China's commitment to brighter future

Alwihda Info | Par pd - 30 Septembre 2023



The common values of the whole mankind are not only the common wealth of human civilization, but also the key to solving the challenges of the times. As the proposer of these common values, China will continue to work together with all parties to actively practice them, walk the path of common development, respond to the challenges of the times, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and create a better future for the world.

By Huan Yuping, People's Daily In today's era, every second is what Karl Marx referred to as "world time". The futures and interests of countries are intertwined and deeply interconnected.



On Sept. 28, 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the general debate of the 70th Session of the United Nations(UN) General Assembly and delivered an important speech, in which he proposed the common values of the whole mankind for the first time - peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, saying the values are the lofty goals of the UN.



The common values of the whole mankind reveals the greatest possible convergence of interests among different systems, different civilizations and different countries, building consensus for the advancement of human civilization and driving the creation of a better future for humanity.



Despite differences among countries in history, culture, institution and level of development, their peoples do subscribe to the common values of humanity for peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom.



Peace and development are the common endeavors of people from all countries and serve as the foundation for pursuing all other values. They are crucial conditions for enhancing the well-being of people.



Fairness and justice are the shared ideals of people from all countries, reflected in the normative requirements of establishing a sound and reasonable order within a nation and among nations.

Democracy and freedom are the common aspirations of people from all countries and are important indicators of the progress of human civilization.



The common values of the whole mankind transcend the barriers of civilizations, nationalities, systems, and political parties. They condense and summarize the basic consensus of values shared by all humanity and have gained widespread recognition from the international community. Promoting peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom as the common values of the whole mankind has been enshrined in joint declarations of China and many other countries.



History and reality both prove that embracing these common values with an open and inclusive spirit is essential for promoting the development and progress of human society.



The common values of the whole mankind are inclusive, advocating for a broad understanding of values by different civilizations and respecting the exploration of value realization by peoples of different countries. The common values of the whole mankind are concretely and practically embodied in the pursuit of people's interests.



To promote the common values of the whole mankind, it is necessary to advocate for cultural exchanges and mutual learning.



Diversity makes human civilization what it is, and provides a constant source of vitality and driving force for world development. No civilization in the world is superior to others; every civilization is special and unique to its own region. Civilizations can achieve harmony only through communication, and can make progress only through harmonization. Only by letting cultural exchanges transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and coexistence transcend feelings of superiority, can the world promote continuous progress of civilizations and draw a magnificent picture of human history.



The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. It is undergoing major shifts, division and regrouping, leading to more uncertain, unstable and unpredictable developments. Only by adhering to the common values of the whole mankind can the world propel the wheels of history towards a brighter future.



Human suffering caused by regional conflicts and wars continues around the world. There are still approximately 735 million people suffering from hunger globally. The UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals consist of 169 specific targets, but only 15 percent are on track, and many goals are even experiencing setbacks.



UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is at a time when humanity faces huge challenges - from the worsening climate emergency to escalating conflicts, the global cost-of-living crisis, soaring inequalities and dramatic technological disruptions.



In order to achieve peace and development, the international community should adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, establish a new vision of security featuring common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, respect the development rights of all countries, restore development to the center of the international agenda, and jointly cultivate new global development momentum.



In order to achieve fairness and justice, efforts should be made to strive for equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal rules. International rules should be based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and jointly written and maintained by all. The representation and voice of developing countries should be strengthened in international affairs.



In order to achieve democracy and freedom, the international community should respect and support the development paths independently chosen by different peoples, support countries in exploring democratic development paths based on their national conditions, and jointly enrich the development of human political civilization.



The common values of the whole mankind are not only the common wealth of human civilization, but also the key to solving the challenges of the times. As the proposer of these common values, China will continue to work together with all parties to actively practice them, walk the path of common development, respond to the challenges of the times, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and create a better future for the world.



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 Chinese enterprises show strong vitality in innovation Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
The New York Times and the Washington Post have long been considered America's journalistic icons, ably representing the professionalism and integrity of their calling, and deserving their places on the Olympic media peak. I often praised and quoted them in my writings, and not because they published good stories with nice photos about me, members of my family, and our business, but because they deserved it.

But The Post and The Times have changed, and one can only argue about when the process of their degradation began. Historically, both papers have represented the Democrats and the left, causing much Republican criticism. As examples, Republicans during Reagan's day called them "Pravda on the Hudson" and "Pravda on the Potomac," respectively, but this name-calling was mostly a humorous jab.

Things changed dramatically after Donald Trump announced his first White House bid in the 2016 election. Journalistic integrity and responsible reporting were thrown into the toilet and replaced by overwhelmingly fake news and stories. Trump must be defeated, and all means were justified in achieving that goal, including Hillary Clinton's grotesque "Russiagate" campaign to depict Trump as Vladimir Putin's stooge.

When Trump won despite this onslaught, the whole of the Democrat machinery, including the NYT and the WaPo, was mobilized to destroy his presidency, together with his intention to turn U.S.-Russia relations from confrontation to cooperation.

The American and Russian presidents' joint statement:

The "Spirit of the Elbe" is an example of how our countries can put aside differences, build trust, and cooperate in pursuit of a greater cause. As we work today to confront the most important challenges of the 21st century, we pay tribute to the valor and courage of all those who fought together to defeat fascism. Their heroic feat will never be forgotten.

Had Trump succeeded, there would be no war in Ukraine and no threat of nuclear WW3, but both papers even supported Antony Blinken's operation to blame the Hunter Biden "laptop from hell" story on Russia, helping Biden to win the 2020 election and taking us one step closer to war with Biden's rejection of Russia's December 2021 proposals for mutual security guarantees. The key point in these proposals was a neutral status for Ukraine, with no membership in any military blocs, including NATO. Biden had until February 23, 2022 to agree on this deal, but he rejected Russia's proposals. Here again, both the NYT and the WaPo applauded this approach.

Below are relevant quotes from their top columnists, Thomas Friedman and David Ignatius, whom I often quoted and applauded in my Washington Times and other columns back in the late '90s, when many of us still hoped for new, brighter, and mutually beneficial relations between the United States and post-communist Russia.

When the first round of NATO expansion began in 1998, Friedman interviewed one of the most distinguished American diplomats, George Kennan, who called NATO expansion a fatal foreign policy mistake:

'It shows so little understanding of Russian history and Soviet history. Of course, there is going to be a bad reaction from Russia, and then [the NATO expanders] will say that we always told you that is how the Russians are  but this is just wrong.'

And this is what Friedman is saying now:

Back in the early 1990s, I opposed NATO expansion after the fall of the Berlin Wall because I thought our priority should be trying to nurture a democratic Russia. ... Now, 30 years later, though, when the prospects for a democratic Russia feel utterly remote, I would gladly use NATO and the E.U. to nurture and secure a democratic Ukraine."

As for the WaPo's David Ignatius, here is what he said in his article "Who Robbed Russia?" back in 1999, where he highlighted some of the most damning revelations of the multi-billion-dollar robbery of Russia with the help of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and with the acquiescence of the Clinton administration:

By allowing the oligarchs  in the name of the free market  to grab Russia's resources and siphon anything of value into their own offshore bank accounts, the United States poisoned Russia's transition from communism. ... What makes the Russian case so sad is that the Clinton administration may have squandered one of the most precious assets imaginable  which is the idealism and goodwill of the Russian people as they emerged from 70 years of Communist rule. The Russia debacle may haunt us for generations.

And here he is in July 2023:

These 18 months of war have been a strategic windfall, at relatively low cost (other than for the Ukrainians). The West's most reckless antagonist has been rocked. NATO has grown much stronger with the additions of Sweden and Finland. Germany has weaned itself from dependence on Russian energy and, in many ways, rediscovered its sense of values. NATO squabbles make headlines, but overall, this has been a triumphal summer for the alliance.

Of course, both the NYT and the WaPo just follow the voices of Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, Polish president Andrzej Duda, and many others, including president Zelensky of Ukraine, who openly declare their desire to use Ukrainians as cheap cannon fodder for their geostrategic goals of defeating Russia, a country whose people and leaders from Gorbachev to Putin offered friendship, cooperation, and even alliance to America, only to be rebuffed in the name of a unipolar world order under U.S. hegemony.

I think it would be appropriate to conclude with a quote from Luke 23:34-35: "And Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.'"

Image: Adam Jones via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).
Sheeee's baaaaack! Yes, America's cold sore, Hillary Clinton, is back in the news. She's hoping the newly resurrected Clinton Global Initiative (the fake charity but real influence-peddling operation that temporarily closed its doors while being investigated for engaging in pay-to-play fraud) can make a financial killing off all the real killing going on in Ukraine.

CGI is ready to help the widowed, orphaned, and suffering people of Ukraine by collecting large sums of money that will go a long way to supporting the Clintons' lavish lifestyles. What remains of their tax-free charitable "services" can then be distributed among their army of cronies desperate for an easy payday.

Keeping the Clintons and their friends in the upper class doesn't come cheaply. Hillary might have time to pose for a few pictures with those left injured and homeless...that is, if she's not bogged down avoiding Russian gunfire as she jaunts around in a private jet or too busy accepting some award for her selfless heroics. She also might be preoccupied fighting "climate change," though  so no promises, Ukrainian orphans! The planet must come first! Rest assured: the Clinton Global Grift will eventually find some spare change and old blankets to hand out. Otherwise, Bill and Hill might be accused of exploiting Ukraine's most needy for profit.

Hillary's also warning that Putin will likely interfere in America's 2024 election  no doubt a Deep State talking point being regurgitated to justify the insertions of inveterate liars John Brennan and James Clapper into their Department of Homeland Security roles as "disinformation experts" with authority over determining which kinds of political speech will be censored (i.e., any speech helpful to President Trump and harmful to the Democrat-led Uniparty). Isn't putting John Brennan on a "disinformation" committee after he manipulated the last two presidential elections by first pushing the Russia Hoax and then fraudulently labeling Hunter Biden's "laptop from Hell" as "Russian disinformation" a lot like putting former CIA director Allen Dulles on the Warren Commission to investigate President Kennedy's assassination? It sure seems as if the Intelligence Community learned some time ago that the best way to cover up their crimes is to make sure that they are the ones charged with discovering them.

Apart from bilking poor Ukrainians and pushing for commie John Brennan to censor Americans, Hillary is also still blaming her 2016 election loss on Russian interference. If this had been an NBC sitcom entitled How I Lost the Presidency, it would have gotten stale and stupid by its second season. Going into its eighth season feels as if we're watching some humorless drunk stumble around the soundstage mumbling, "But why didn't...hiccup...they print mail-in ballots for me like they did Joe? Everyone's out to get me, that's why, even my own party." This whole act stopped being funny right around the time that the West Wing cast spent a month begging the Electoral College to ignore the 2016 election results and vote in Hillary regardless. Can you imagine if the crew from Duck Dynasty had done something like that after 2020? They'd all be rotting right now in Merrick Garland's D.C. Gitmo because the only real privilege alive and kicking today is leftist privilege.

Anyway, HRC's pity-party theatrics do an excellent job of reminding everyone that the same tyrants who continue to imprison J6 protesters for denying the legitimacy of 2020's mail-in-ballot-tainted election results are the very hypocrites who still insist 2016 was stolen by the Russian boogeyman. That so many politically partisan federal judges can vilify unfairly persecuted defendants in their courtrooms as "threats to democracy" after having swallowed Hillary's Russia Hoax hook, line, and sinker themselves just proves how cemented two-tiered "justice" now is within these Divided States. According to her lobotomized followers (some of whom don black robes and swing gavels at the innocent for sport), questioning the 2016 election is "patriotic," but questioning the 2020 "selection" is "insurrectionist." Making sense of that logic is like General Milley believing that men in dresses intimidate our enemies. When you're woke-stupid, only the initiated can understand.

It sure is convenient when the criminal justice system locks up Hillary's political opponents for speech violations while letting her friends burn down cities and walk away. It's even more convenient when the FBI lets her destroy subpoenaed evidence of criminal activity (including smashing BlackBerry devices with hammers) without suffering any repercussions, while the same Fascist Bureau of Intimidation railroads the man who beat her in 2016 on manufactured charges that it would never dare pursue against an Obama, Biden, Bush, or Clinton. The Deep State protects Antifa domestic terrorists while locking up American patriots. It protects coup plotters Hillary and Brennan while aiding and assisting in their criminal enterprise. Being antiAntifa's crime racket makes you a criminal. Being anti-election-rigging makes you an "enemy of the State." That says everything you need to know about the federal government's illegitimacy today.

One thing is certain: Hillary's return to the public eye is an evil harbinger of worse things. She has always been a bitter, hateful, congenital liar. She has spent her career stealing from taxpayers, abusing her undeserved privileges, and grasping for power by shamelessly dividing Americans against one another. Wherever her attention lingers  inner cities, Haiti, Libya, Ukraine  further suffering is certain, as whatever financial assistance promised for others always ends up squirreled away in Clinton-controlled bank accounts. As a testament to her rotten character, no sooner has she fleeced one community before she has moved on to the next  much like a malicious traveling circus hustling unsuspecting locals of their hard-earned savings in return for stale peanuts and suffering. She is this century's Typhoid Mary, except Hillary always makes sure to get paid for spreading the Clinton disease.

Still, no matter how lucrative her grift, it is obvious that she remains empty, poor, and miserable. Even though she takes so much from so many, she still appears to have nothing of value. She is perpetually alone, cursed, and angry  fully aware that she will be remembered first and foremost as the incompetent candidate who is so despised by her countrymen that she lost the presidency to a political novice running with a skeleton campaign staff and a shoestring budget. No doubt her gravestone will read: "Would Have Been President, if Not for the Russians, Misogyny, and the Dumb Deplorables." Surely a great many Deplorables will make the trek to find her final resting place and pay their condolences.

Hillary, the notorious drunk who collapsed outside a 9/11 memorial ceremony and had to be tossed into a Secret Service van like a side of beef. Hillary, the charlatan so aware of her own mediocrity that she claims she was named in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary's summiting of Mt. Everest  a feat the famed explorer accomplished after she was born. Hillary, the petty thief so trashy that she absconded with the White House china after Bill's scandalous presidency finally came to an end. Hillary, the traitor who used a private, unsecured, and hacked server to store Top Secret information and then used the FBI like a personal escort service to frame her political opponent as a Russian spy. Hillary, a detestable excuse for a woman who has been responsible for so much pain and misery and who habitually finds someone else to blame for her sins.

How many more decades must Americans endure this vile political hack who long ago wore out her stay?

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The second Republican debate was held on September 27 at the Reagan Library. The library is on a magnificent hill with picturesque views of rolling hills and canyon, creating a serene setting. Yet the debate was anything but serene, with some acting like a bunch of children who did not get their way, talking over one another.

After the debate, the candidates did not make themselves accessible, but some campaign managers or spokespeople answered a few questions from me in the Spin Room.

Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign manager was asked why Vivek seemed so abrasive during the debate. She responded, "Not at all. We have a very short time, and he feels an increased pressure to make the American people understand his vision and come alongside him. His energy and tone match where we find ourselves today."

Chris Christie's campaign manager was asked if his candidate was hypocritical for not talking to the press, considering he called the former president "Donald Duck," yet President Trump has done interviews and speeches. He responded, "He just did the debate. He is talking to all the voters. To say he is the same as Trump is not even close. He is not coming here to the Spin Room because the debate performance speaks for itself. It is not even the same thing. Trump is afraid to debate." I then asked him: if he were President Trump's campaign manager, would he seriously advise him to debate, considering he is up by such a wide margin? He ignored me.

Ron DeSantis's campaign manager spent a considerable amount of time answering my questions. I asked why there was not more concentration on President Biden than on President Trump. He responded, "President Trump is a candidate in this race, so his policies are at issue. He owes it to come and debate and defend his record. While he ran his first campaign on border security, we cannot deny that the situation at the border has only gotten worse. The fentanyl coming in has affected hundreds of thousands of people, and the wall was not built. He made promises he did not deliver on. Both Biden and Trump did not get the job done. There is work that can be done even without Congress's blessing.

"Governor DeSantis has said he will declare a natural emergency, declare it an invasion to stop the drug cartels, and get the military involved at the border. Governor DeSantis has worked with those in the legislative body who had differences of opinion and yet they found common ground and got the job done."

Regarding the debate with Governor Newsom, he said, "That debate has already been won. People voted with their feet, considering how many people have come to live in Florida. He will talk about how families are suffering, how people are seeing gas prices going up, mortgage rates are over 8%, and food on the table is more expensive. People are not buying it when Newsom and Biden say, 'Things are back to normal.'"

A spokesperson added, "Governor DeSantis is debating Governor Newsom because he looks forward to comparing the contrast of ideas between a red state and a blue state."

What are the major issues? "The most important issues are cutting irresponsible spending, incentivizing the right type of business investments in the U.S., bring back energy independence, make prices more affordable, and the dangers on the porous southern border and the danger of China."

What about women's sports? He noted, "I believe Florida is the first state to pass a bill protecting women in locker rooms and bathrooms. A woman should never feel unsafe." Governor DeSantis "has made it clear there are two sexes: a man and a woman. There are certainly physical differences. People need to speak up, fight back, and not be politically correct all the time there is a danger. I am surprised more feminists are not speaking out."

In the Spin Room, California's Democrat governor, Gavin Newsom, made his presence known as a surrogate for President Biden. I asked him if he believes in Title IX, and of course he answered, "Yes." I then asked: does he support males playing in women's sports? His answer: "I think the governor of Utah said it best. Never has so much venom been focused on so few people. Most trans kids want nothing more to live and survive. This demonization against trans kids is abhorrent. There are 35 trans athletes in the NCAA out of 520,000 athletes. This is what we want to focus our time and attention on?" Unfortunately, he moved on and did not allow me to ask follow-up questions, such as "what about those women who were injured by male athletes who identify as transgender?", or "what about the women who spend all that time and money and lost to a transgender? What about the next year, and the year after that, and those in high school sports? Will that eventually lead to the end of women's sports?"

Nikki Haley's campaign manager was kind enough to come and directly answer my questions. "Do you think Governor Haley hit a home run when she spoke of the dangers of TikTok, responding to Vivek?" "You are referring to when she said, 'China knows exactly what they are doing. You now wanted kids to go and get on this social media that's dangerous for all of us? We can't trust you. We can't have TikTok.' She recognizes the dangers of China and knows how to tackle it. TikTok is just the tip of the spear. It should be unacceptable that there are candidates who are encouraging children to be on that platform."

What about men in women sports? "Nikki finds it unacceptable. She is a mother, and her daughter has run track in high school, so she can speak to that better than anybody on that stage."

How does she feel about Ukraine suspending elections? "She believes the fight in Ukraine is very important because of China. It is vital to U.S. national security that Ukraine wins that fight and has said, 'A win for Russia is a win for China.'"

During the debate, Governor Haley pointed out that 60% of 8th-grade students are not proficient in math and reading. What can we do about it? "She has said that a lot of people solely blame COVID, but there was a problem long before that. She made her points clear on the stage tonight by saying, 'We need reading remediation. We need transparency in the classroom. No parent should ever wonder what is being said or taught in the classroom. There is a need for school choice. All the programs from the federal government should be moved down to the states to have them decide what education looks like in their states. Vocational classes should be put back in the schools. We must quit spending time on this DIE and CRT and instead focus on literacy.'"

Why should Americans choose her as the next president? "She is the one person on the stage who has been an executive, the governor of a state, she has foreign policy experience as a U.N. ambassador, having both executive and foreign policy experience. She is a mother and the wife of a combat veteran. She has personal reliability."

Although President Trump was not there, Kari Lake was his surrogate. "What do you say to those Republicans who are knocking President Trump for his border policies?"

She responded, "It is really outrageous that a so-called Republican of all people can say that. I am from a border state, and the border was a mess before President Trump. After being a journalist for over 27 years in Arizona, I have never seen the border more secure than under President Trump. He had to do all of that with the Democrats fighting him and, sadly, the Republicans fighting him. Under him, the crossings and drugs coming across the border were down. Now, under Joe Biden, he pulled that policy back, and our border is a mess with millions of people pouring in. The wall worked, and we know it, because Joe Biden welded it open so people can pour in. It is so obvious those saying it are making waves to get a sound bite.

"President Trump did get Mexico to pony up and pay for 28,000 soldiers to be on the border to stop Mexicans from coming across. This is quite incredible. That practically paid for the wall and then some. Not to mention the drugs not pouring in, and not having to process people pouring in, saving us money. The wall paid for itself many times over."

Why should people support President Trump?

"Americans should support President Trump because their lives were better four years ago, much better. They were making more money, their retirement savings looked a lot better, the 401(k)s were in a lot better shape, our communities and neighborhoods were safer, and our border was secure. Life was better under President Trump. Joe Biden has destroyed our energy independence that we had under President Trump. We have an incredible candidate in President Trump, and he has done his job well, and we need to get him back in office."

Kellyanne Conway summarized this debate to me: "All the Republican candidates talked about important issues of crime but only took on Joe Biden a little and not near enough. If you want to be president, you must beat Joe Biden. I do not understand why he is being featured so much less prominently. You must split the screen and see yourself on one side and Joe Biden on the other so the American people can see there is a contrast ideologically, regarding energy, competence, and yet they somehow have Trump in their head. President Trump is not here because he has already pivoted to the general election."

Image: Vivek Ramaswamy. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Major American media organizations failed to report on two extremely important presentations delivered on September 13, 2023 to the European Union Parliament at its special session to examine the response of the World Health Organization (WHO) to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both of the presentations are summarized below, along with links to the presentations, which are highly recommended for viewing in full by all Americans concerned about the health and safety of their loved ones and fellow citizens.

The two presentations are important because WHO international health regulations and policies soon might govern the actions of American health care providers and hospitals if and when the WHO declares another pandemic or health emergency. Among other things, this article maintains that American medical personnel and facilities should never be subject to the dictates of unelected and unaccountable foreign officials of the WHO or any other foreign organization.

Presentation by Dr. Peter McCullough. In his presentation, Dr. McCullough requested that the European Union Parliament stop the COVID inoculations and leave the WHO. He described the WHO as part of a complex and complicated biopharmaceutical syndicate that formed over time and is currently scheming a massive power-grab to depopulate much of the Earth and usher in what has been called the Great Reset  having a one-world government. Dr. McCullough stated, "This grouping of non-governmental organizations with governmental health agencies is operating as a unit. They are carefully coordinated, and the impact has been adverse."

Dr. McCullough explained that nearly 30 percent of those who received a COVID inoculation had no adverse effects  not even a sore arm. Likewise, he explained that just under 70 percent seem to have "some moderate side effects, some trouble, but they don't seem to really have serious events." However, in 4.2 percent of those who got the shot (and were unlucky enough to get a high-risk batch), McCullough explained, "It's through the roof: myocarditis, cardiac arrest, blood clots, hemorrhagic stroke, disabilities, sudden death at home in bed." (A report also links the COVID inoculations to deadly, quickly spreading "turbo cancers" in some people several months or longer after they initially received an inoculation.)

Dr. McCullough stated that "everything we've learned about the vaccines since they've come out is horrifying. It was the worst idea ever to install the genetic code by injection and allow the unbridled production of a potentially lethal protein in the human body for an uncontrolled duration of time. The mRNA vaccine is the code for the potentially lethal spike protein part of the virus."

Finishing his presentation, Dr. McCullough exposed the false narrative that COVID-19 continues to cause illness, declaring that instead, the mRNA shots are causing enormous waves of disease. He urged those who can "stop this madness" to do so, declaring:

The path forward is, clearly, for no one to take another shotno one. The COVID-19 vaccines and all of their progeny and future boosters are not safe for human use. I implore you as a governing body, European Medicine Agency, to apply all pressure and due urgency to remove the COVID-19 vaccines from the market. In the United States, it's going jurisdiction by jurisdiction, probably state by state, will remove them off the market if the federal government doesn't do so. It's going to happen. It's going to happen all over the world. The WHO is standing behind these vaccines. They are far more of a problem than a help to the European Union. And it's my belief that the European Union, the United States, and all major stakeholders should actually completely pull out of the WHO and leave the WHO to its own endeavors not to have any jurisprudence, any dominion, over what we do in health care. The WHO will never have dominion over what I do as a practitioner with patients in my practice.

Presentation by Dr. David Martin. In his presentation, Dr. Martin alleged that WHO officials and its supporters and donors have committed crimes against humanity and bio-terrorism. He explained how the development and introduction of the COVID-19 virus was a criminal act, accomplished by a global criminal cartel that includes various WHO officials, high-ranking officials in the American government, and officials in other governments and organizations worldwide.

Dr. Martin explained that evidence of a worldwide criminal cartel responsible for the development and introduction of the COVID-19 virus is overwhelming and unequivocal. He called for total destruction of the WHO and exposed the COVID-19 virus as a bio-weapon

Dr. Martin stated, "Until we treat this as a criminal conspiracy of criminal racketeers, resulting in global terrorism for the purpose of profiteering and murder, until we have that conversation, we're having the wrong conversation. We did not have a pandemic. We had a genocide."

Americans who are concerned about the health, safety, and welfare of their loved ones, friends, and their fellow citizens truly need to view in full the above presentations by Drs. McCullough and Martin. The presentations by these highly respected professionals and the supporting data they present should cause all Americans to seriously question receiving any more COVID inoculations and also seriously question America's continued support of the WHO. Finally, instead of receiving potentially toxic COVID inoculations, people should consider using highly effective drug therapies such as ivermectin and/or hydroxychloroquine to ward off an attack of the COVID virus and its derivatives.

Paul S. Gardiner is a retired U.S. Army officer, Vietnam veteran, and avid lover of America. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Alabama, and the U.S. Army War College.

Image via Flickr, public domain.
North Koreans work at a timber yard in Dzhalingra camp in Russia's Far East, May 16, 2003. AP-Yonhap



By Kim Dong-jae



Until last year, I was one of the modern slaves of Kim Jong-un. I was born and raised in North Korea. I worked in a North Korean building company in Russia for more than 5 years. I came here to tell the story of 21st-century slaves that exist in North Korea.



Have you ever seen slaves with your eyes? If you would like to see one, you should take a look at North Korean workers who are toiling abroad. And, if you talk with one of them for more than five minutes, you'll see the face of a modern slave.



Why are they slaves? There are many reasons, but I can't tell you all the reasons here, so I'll tell you only three.



First, they can't listen to anyone, look at or say anything while working abroad. Second, they can have no money, although they work as hard as a working ox. Third, they can say nothing about the bad treatment they get from Kim Jong-un. After hearing my story, you'll understand why we must end the dictatorship of the Kim family and the system of slavery there.



I'd like to begin my story from the airport of Vladivostok where I was sent in Russia. I arrived with my fellow workers at Vladivostok airport. When we arrived at the airport, the company director said to us workers, "From now on, you must work like ants for Kim Jong-un and yourselves." He said that we even had to make sugar drops from dung if necessary to make money. From the airport of Vladivostok as soon as we arrived in Russia, he always used "little" before our names, like "little Dong-jae," and did not treat us as human beings.



We were very often verbally yelled at and physically abused. But the only thing we could do was comply.



He was a little dictator for us in Russia.



We entered Russia saying we were exchange students. Our company's name wasn't on any legal documents. And in Russia, it is forbidden for students to work. We worked illegally.



So, the police clamped down on us whenever they saw us at construction sites while we were working. And if the police took one of us to jail, it was our problem, not the company's, not the government's. North Korean companies and the government are only observers of the imprisonment of their unhappy members. We had to escape the police's eyes and lay low in order to work in Russia.



The company director led us straight from the airport to the construction site, sealed off by armed guards. All the way to the construction site, the secret policeman of our company repeated the same words like a parrot. "Here is capitalism, and everybody here is our enemy." In every North Korean company, there must be at least one secret policeman, according to the diplomatic policy of Kim Jong-un's regime. So, in our company, one secret policeman stayed with us while we were working in Russia.



His only work was to watch over the members of our company, including the director, so nobody would escape. After arriving at the construction site, the director and the secret police told us not to listen to foreign workers. The director said they were all our enemies because they were on the same side as capitalism and the U.S.



He said, "Don't look at anything on the phone or TV because there is capitalism, and all capitalists lie. Don't say anything about us to foreigners since our enemies will take us to the Russian police."



On my first day in Russia, on my bed at night, I thought about my situation. What do people call a person who can't listen to anyone, look at or say anything?



A slave.



I realized that my identity was that of a slave. Our goal in Russia was to work for money. But, our real identity was as slaves of Kim Jong-un. One day, I heard the words of the director to the secret police, "It's good only when the worker's spirit is suppressed, and to suppress a worker's spirit, it is necessary to organize frequent overtime work until midnight for several nights in a row to sap him of energy. Without the strength of the body, he'll lose his spirit, too, and without spirit he'll think only about eating and sleeping like livestock. He won't think about money or resistance."



Indeed, it was an idea fitting for a little dictator. In fact, most of us in our company would sleep while walking to and from the construction site. And, we looked so pathetic that foreigners would ask us if we were prisoners the government sent for punishment. At that moment, I would answer, "We are normal people."



Surely, both they and I knew that we were not normal.



Every one of us had to pay $500 a month to the North Korean government. We usually worked for more than 18 hours a day, from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. the next day. After 5 years of working 18 hours a day for about $3000 a month, we usually left with only one month's salary. Our director was making much more while we did most of the work. This ridiculous scenario can be explained only by the fact that we were slaves.



I would like to say one final thing that made me realize how we were slaves, not people. After the outbreak of COVID-19, a state of quarantine was declared in Russia and North Korea. One day, the secret police delivered us a directive from the motherland regarding COVID-19. It was really a directive from Kim Jong-un.



But the content was truly absurd. In case of being infected by the epidemic, it was regarded as unfaithfully participating in the COVID-19 quarantine project, and it was considered to be an act of treason. The person infected with COVID-19 was treated as a traitor to the nation instead of a person needing medical treatment. The workers were dumbfounded and couldn't keep this news to themselves. It was an absurd situation that went against all common sense: If you fell ill, you got no sympathy, even when in danger of death at any time. From the mouths of some workers, the words: "We are not even human beings" began to leak out. Perhaps it was starting to dawn on them that they were really just slaves of Kim Jong-un.



I didn't want to live any longer as a slave of the crazy Kim Jong-un. So, last year, I made my plan a reality to escape North Korea, and now I have become a citizen of the Republic of Korea. I had to sacrifice so much to gain the freedom that so many people take for granted, like fresh air or clean water. When I was defecting from North Korea, the thought that motivated me was that my world would never change, and my destiny would not change either without action.



A bad world does not change without action. And such a bad world perhaps might come knocking at your door all of a sudden as it did to me. And maybe then it's already too late. I hope you will add your voices to free the slaves in North Korea from the slave owner Kim Jong Un. I don't believe slave owners or slavery can be justified for any reason.





Kim Dong-jae (not his real name) was the winner of the 18th Freedom Speakers International (FSI) North Korean Refugee English Speech Contest on Aug. 26. His mentors for the contest were Dr. Gregory Gresko and Henry Hoffman. Kim's remarks were edited for publication by Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder and co-president of FSI with Lee Eun-koo.










In late August 1929, the Arabs of Mandatory Palestine did what they did best: slaughter defenseless people  in this case, as in many, Jews.

The massacre took place on August 2324, 1929, in Hebron, then part of British-controlled Mandatory Palestine. Arab mobs attacked Jewish residents of Hebron, killing nearly 70 Jews and wounding 60 others. Many homes and synagogues were ransacked and torched. The obligatory raping of women occurred. The attacks were carried out by Arab Palestinians against the long-established Jewish community in Hebron. The Jewish community had lived in Hebron for millennia, way before there was even a single Muslim on the planet.

In the 1920s, consistent with the Balfour Declaration (1917), the agreement (1919) signed between Emir Faisal and Chaim Weizmann (representing the Zionist Organization), and the San Remo Resolution (1920), rising Jewish immigration and nationalism were proceeding as intended.

Inconsistent with these agreements was the creation from Mandatory Palestine, the "national home for the Jewish people," of Transjordan. The Jews got one eighth of the land, the Arabs seven eighths.

Despite this, the Arabs objected to the mere stump of land reserved for the Jews and increased tensions with the Jews of Palestine. This erupted in violence in Hebron in 1929. These tensions were incited more than most realize by the British government and its failure to follow the conditions and agreements under which it was given mandate over Palestine.

To assist and effect the Arab violence (mostly if not all from Muslims as they followed the directions of Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the British-appointed grand mufti of Jerusalem), the British had disarmed Palestinian Jews weeks earlier as part of policies meant to appease the Arab population. This left the Jewish community vulnerable to attack.

The specific law used by the British to disarm the Jews was the Firearms Act of 1929, which required licenses for firearms and allowed confiscation of weapons by authorities. This disarmament was strongly protested by the Jewish community at the time.

The Firearms Act was directed primarily at disarming the Jewish population for several reasons. Among them:

There had been some instances of violence between Jews and Arabs in Palestine by the late 1920s. The British aimed to prevent intercommunal violence by disarming both sides. However, in practice, the disarmament was enforced more thoroughly and punitively against Jews. Arabs managed to "hide" weapons, often provided by the Brits, from authorities. British officials were also influenced by Arab leaders who warned of violence if Jewish immigration and arms were not restricted. This led to policies appeasing Arab demands. There was antipathy and distrust towards Zionism among some British officials, which translated into selectivity in disarmament, resulting in selective slaughter. And, quite interestingly, the British were concerned about rising Jewish immigration and nationalism in Palestine in the 1920s. Disarming Jews was seen as a way to limit the ability of Jewish militias to resist British rule.

Government attempts at disarming populations often precede oppression:

Nazi Germany in the 1930s implemented strict gun control laws that disarmed Jews and other "enemies of the state" while exempting Nazi party members. This left populations vulnerable ahead of the Holocaust. The Ottoman Empire disarmed Armenians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries prior to the Armenian Genocide, where up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed. In the 1970s, Idi Amin's regime in Uganda forcibly disarmed tribes such as the Karamojong before persecuting them. In 2007, gun confiscation laws targeted indigenous hill tribes in Burma/Myanmar, stripping them of weapons shortly before human rights abuses by the military. In 1990s Rwanda, the Hutu government implemented gun control against the Tutsi population in advance of the genocide, where over 800,000 Tutsis were massacred. The Soviet Union and China both restricted gun ownership to consolidate power and repress dissent, leading to the death of tens of millions from famine, purges, and gulags.

Systematic disarmament along ethnic, religious, or political lines has often preceded state-sponsored violence and genocide throughout history, as it strips populations of means to resist persecution by the government and its preferred groups  as the Brits did for the Arabs to kill Jews.

Over the last three months, there has been much activity to control guns.

On a federal level there is the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which, among other provisions, expands background checks to private gun sales, potentially forcing everyone to become an FFL or suffer the consequences, and regulations banning "ghost guns"  currently under challenge in court.

States have been active, too. California now requires background checks to purchase ammo (July 2023), Colorado has increased the waiting period for sales and the minimum age for purchase (June 2023), Maryland is trying to control private gun sales in a manner similar to the Feds (July 2023), Massachusetts is regulating magazine capacity (May 2023), and New Mexico tried to ban the right to carry firearms (September 2023). New York is attempting, similar to the Feds, to make private sellers of guns FFLs (June 2023). Washington is doing the same (July 2023).

These are just some of the efforts made by governments to impede citizens from acquiring firearms. It is more than clear that the effects of these attempts will be felt overwhelmingly by the law-abiding.

So two things to remember from Hebron:

1. Government disarming of the public results in no good.

2. The saying is true: "Disarm Israel, and there will be a massacre. Disarm the Muslim Arabs, and there will be peace." History proves it.

Image via Pexels.
The aged and ailing Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was kept in office for way longer than she should have been, has passed away.

And that's put Democrats in a tizzy.

Feinstein ran the Senate Judiciary Committee and was part of the political locus of the San Francisco Democrat machine running blue California. Now that she's gone, Democrats in Washington are pressuring California's governor, Gavin Newsom, to appoint a successor on the double, because they say they're going to have political problems if he doesn't.

.According to Politico:

He, you know, wants to be respectful and not name somebody while folks are still grappling with their grief, Kaine said, but we cannot afford to be one down. We really cant. The timing of Feinsteins death  four months before a primary but more than a year before the end of her term  complicates this election cycle. Staff at the California secretary of states office was huddling early Friday morning to determine the timelines that would govern an appointment or a possible special election. The governors inner circle knows hes facing a vastly tighter timeline then the five weeks it took him to nominate Alex Padilla to Kamala Harris Senate seat after the 2020 presidential election. Hes expected to move quickly on the appointment while respecting the death of a longtime friend and mentor.

Newsom has hemmed and hawed a lot about who would get the Feinstein slot, always qualifying it with a 'heaven forbid' and the like in order to not sound too eager. After a nasty left-on-left special interest right between woke blacks and woke Latinos, he appointed Alex Padilla to be the "historic first" and then said he'd appoint a black woman next time around, presumably when Feinstein died. Well, now that bill has come due and he needs to find a black woman quickly or there will be a grievance.

Who will it be if he has to move quick? Berkeley radical Barbara Lee, who's currently in the race for the Senate, against Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, both of whom are doing better than her in the polls? Or maybe Karen Bass, the wokester mayor of Los Angeles? She'd have to take a salary cut if she moves to the Senate. Or perhaps a dull loyalist of impeccable wokery such as Shirley Weber, the latest secretary of state, who is also black? Just spitballin.'

But there's talk that maybe his black-woman plan was to get Kamala Harris into the slot. As farfetched as it sounds, and I am not entirely sure I believe it, it is talk that is going around, I've seen it in multiple places.

Straightforward from here:

1. Harris steps down as VP

2. Newsom appoints her Senator

3. They tell Biden to make Newsom VP

4. Biden is mauled to death by Commander

5. President Newsom https://t.co/QiLy3Ai7YH  Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) September 29, 2023

Democrats are desperate to get Joe Biden off the ticket owing to his age and incompetence. Kamala Harris is an unacceptable understudy, vapid, ignorant and unfit for any office actually. That's what happens when you sleep your way to the top as she did. She's an old ally of his dating from their San Francisco days (no, not that kind of dating as far as I know), but he surely thinks he is smarter than she is. The rumored plan was that he would nudge her into the Senate seat, maybe based on leverage or blackmail from the Democrat establishment, telling her she had no chance of winning, they had stuff on her they could humiliate her with, and if she takes the pro-offered senate seat, she has a job for life. Something like that would take some extended wheeling and dealing given that Harris is probably happy in her catbird seat just waiting for Joe Biden to croak and waiting to reap big as a result if that event if it happens. Newsom would be telling her to step down? I just can't see her step down to a mere senate seat, which she didn't like, even when she had one before Biden. She reportedly hated being a senator.

But on the other hand ... Democrats can be pretty ruthless even with their own. Maybe it was a plan. And if it was a plan, it would be pretty hard to enact it in quick time, meaning, Newsom will probably have to appoint someone else.

If he heeds those Democrats and does make a quick move to appoint a successor, he might just throw a spanner into the works of his own long-term political plans to run for president. Because he's the one who wants Harris's slot as vice president, long enough to wait out Joe Biden's inevitable exit.

He's got to make a choice, quick, though. Look for lots of mailed fists in velvet gloves and knives in the back in coming weeks over this one. Amazing what can happen when vultures circle.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
Like many, I was puzzled why libraries all over the country suddenly started to sponsor Drag Queen Story Hours for very young children. This action didn't fit my old stereotypic worldview of library employees. However, one clue how the drag queen idea came about was uncovered in May 2022 while doing research for my article on the many ways young children are being sexually groomed.

This clue to the origin of the drag queen idea was found in a piece in The Federalst by Joy Pullman regarding Emily Drabinski being elected president of the American Library Association (ALA) in April 2022. Her election should have been of little interest except that Dabrinski is a "self-described 'Marxist lesbian.'" And regarding her first librarian job, Emily said, "At Sarah Lawrence, absolutely everybody was queer. ... There were so many ways to be gay. ... And it was my job to teach those students how to find themselves in our library catalog." She described queering the library as "critical thinking" and "thinking critically about the catalog."

Obviously, my old stereotype of a librarian is totally obsolete. However, based on Emily's elevation to president of the ALA, the more important question is how widely shared her view is that her job is to help children find themselves (sexually) and to queer the library. The ALA operates libraries in all but one state (more on that later).

Just what are her goals as ALA president? Since she did not officially take office until July 2023, there is little performance history available to review. However, an article in the Family Research Council (FRC)'s Washington Stand newsletter provided some troubling early indications of her extreme leftist leanings. "[T]he association publicly distanced itself from Drabinski's statements, telling Newsmax in a statement the 'ALA does not align with, endorse, or promote the political beliefs, values, or ideologies of any one individual  including its elected leaders.'" Nevertheless, there are some troubling bits of evidence about the depth of her influence:

First, "ALA president Drabinski tweeted out a guide to planning Drag Queen Story Hour, after calling parental opposition 'baffling.' She has stated libraries play a part in 'the public project of raising children.' In a 2021 talk titled 'Teaching the Radical Catalog,' Drabinski admitted her 'queerness includes the subversion of ... normal family types.'"

Next, she represented the ALA and spoke at the September 13 "Socialism 2023" conference in Chicago. The conference was organized by more than 70 socialist organizations. While there, "Drabinski told speakers at one panel that she agreed with 'your point that public education needs to be a site of socialist organizing. I think libraries really do, too. ... Classroom libraries, but also school libraries of all kinds.'" She added that "there's a real opportunity here to both connect [what's] happening in public education [with] what's happening in libraries."

The old saying "show me your friends and I will predict your future" is worth considering, because the FRC article found more possible clues in a list of panel discussion topics presented at the "Socialism 2023" conference (hyperlinks deleted, and emphasis is mine):

 "Kids as Comrades," which discussed "best practices for developing socialist programming for kids."  "Resisting the Trad Wife Turn," which sought to combat the emerging "'pro-family, pro-labor' agenda that casts abortion, feminism, and sexual liberty as neoliberal, capitalist innovations which exploit women."  "Sex Work, Policing and Border Abolition," which called on socialists to advocate for "migrant sex workers" (illegal aliens trafficked by international gangs) and promote "the abolition of police, prisons, borders and racial capitalism."  "Abortion and Trans Rights Under Attack," which asked socialists, "How can we connect our two movements more concretely to effectively fight our common enemy," the "Christian nationalist"?  "Religion, Marxism, and The Struggle Over Third Spaces," which called on left-wing activists to radicalize houses of worship. "Religious institutions ... remain an under-engaged terrain of struggle" for socialists, the panel argued, and activists should "organize in every corner of the working class," the description stated.  "SunDDay School: The Spirit of Socialism with Dream Defenders," which discoursed on "the spiritual life of social movements," complete with a "Spirit of Socialism" service  "an inspirational service that will celebrate how socialist politics can transform the human spirit!" Speakers told attendees, "In all things, we try and bring in ... the spirit of our ancestors," and that "socialism doesn't just save lives; it saves souls."  "Lenin: Catastrophe and Revolution," which presented communist dictator Vladimir Lenin as a "revolutionary icon" while emphasizing the supposedly "powerful democracy and collective struggles behind much of Lenin's political thought." (Lenin once wrote, "The dictatorship of the proletariat alone can emancipate humanity from the oppression of capital, from the lies, falsehood, and hypocrisy of bourgeois democracy.")  "Abortion, Race, and the 1%," which accused "the capitalist class" of opposing abortion for "economic and racialized reasons."  "Homosexuality and the Left in American History," which discusses how leftists worked homosexuality "into their critiques of capitalism."  "The Longer Road to a Green New Deal," which mourned the setback of democratic socialists' signature legislation and pined for "transformative national legislation" to promote "public ownership" of goods and resources. Friday night ended with a "Radical Drag Show." Sunday morning began with yoga and concluded with a screening of the pro-ecoterrorist movie "How to Blow Up a Pipeline."

The important question about this list is whether any of the above extremist goals actually appear on the ALA website. None was found  at least not stated overtly! There were only benign statements, with the exception of the emphasis on fighting censorship and efforts to ban sexually explicit books. This may appear benign, but the books in question are the same age-inappropriate (pornographic) books and teaching materials parents object to at heated school board meetings despite the risk of being arrested by the FBI. To me, that counts as a smoking gun, as it ties in with the socialist goal of "Family Abolition" and perhaps links to a few of the other gender-related goals.

What if anything can be done to un-woke the ALA? The referenced Washington Stand article provided some helpful information and ideas: Perhaps the most alarming thing about Drabinski's efforts to indoctrinate America's youth with left-wing ideology  is that "it is working. She will call for help from her fellow socialists to educate our children with subversive reading materials to bring about a cultural revolution. And she will get it."

Montana is the only state so far that has removed its library system and its tax dollars from the ALA," Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. State officials cited Drabinski's socialism in their decision to cut ties with the ALA. "Our oath of office and resulting duty to the Constitution forbids association with an organization led by a Marxist," said the Montana State Library Commission in its July 11 decision to disaffiliate with the ALA." Perhaps more states will consider similar action.

The best thing parents whose children attend public school can do is to "get your kids out and put yourself in. ... You can wish the public school system away, but it's here and it's not going anywhere; in fact, budgets are going up and mental health care is about to be delivered in public schools nationwide." "Get involved. ... The hour is late. But our children and our country are worth it."

Image via Pexels.
Don't expect the Squad or "The View" to rush to the border, but there is a war against women going on down there. It is sick, but it is what it is. This is the story:

When Carolina's captors arrived at dawn to pull her out of the stash house in the Mexican border city of Reynosa in late May, she thought they were going to force her to call her family in Venezuela again to beg them to pay $2,000 ransom.

Instead, one of the men shoved her onto a broken-down bus parked outside and raped her, she told Reuters. "It's the saddest, most horrible thing that can happen to a person," Carolina said.

A migrant advocate who assisted Carolina after the kidnapping, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, confirmed all the details of her account.

The attack came amid an increase in sexual violence against migrants in the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros, both major transit routes for immigrants seeking to enter the U.S., according to data from the Mexican government and humanitarian groups, as well as interviews with eight sexual assault survivors and more than a dozen local aid workers.

"The inhumane way smugglers abuse, extort, and perpetrate violence against migrants for profit is criminal and morally reprehensible," U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Luis Miranda said in response to questions about the rise in reported rapes.

Criminal investigations into the rape of foreign nationals, excluding Americans, were the highest on record in the two cities this year, according to state data from 2014 to 2023 obtained by Reuters through freedom of information requests.
In an interview about the state of education in the U.S., Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called out parents he says are misbehaving in public and acting like they know whats right for kids. He further noted that he doesnt respect their actions, particularly at school board meetings.

This illustrates a truly remarkableand dangerouscombination of hubris, hypocrisy, and ignorance. Cardona is blind to the fact that he is acting like a parentto the parents he is accusing of misbehaving in public. And he simply assumes he knows what is right for them...and their children. Cardona, like all authoritarians, also assumes that those in government, whether they happen to be parents or not, somehow know better than the citizens they supposedly representhow those citizens should live their lives. This is first-level asshattery.

Meanwhile, Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom, a parent himself, recently expressed concern about his sons interest in Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson. In a recent interview Newsom stated:

I really worry about the misinformation, disinformation, about whats happening with our country, but I really worry about these micro-cults that my kids are in. I say micro-cults because I dont know if there's a better way to describe it. My son is asking me about Andrew Tate, Jordan Petersen [sic]. And then immediately hes talking about Joe Rogan. And Im like, here it is, the pathway.

Newsom presides over a state covered in homeless camps, human feces, and spent syringes. The erstwhile Golden State is beset with poverty and unemployment and racked by crime, violent and otherwise. And he is troubled that his son is listening to Jordan Peterson?! He should be thrilled. Newsom speaks of Rogan as if he is some sort of gateway drug, a conduit to even worse broadcasters. (Like, maybe, Rachel Maddow or Joy Reid?)

Listening to Rogan or Peterson doesnt put one in a micro-cult. Micro-cults are the domain of transgenders, groomers, Marxists, and Antifa, Gov. Newsom. You of all people should know that. Your state is full of them. And crap.

Image: Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.
On October 9, 2023, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) will host its annual national conference for ER doctors at ACEP 2023. This years conference will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The keynote speaker slot is sponsored by Biomerieux, a French medical company that reaped massive profits from COVID-19 test sales. The medical industrial complex continues to wield substantial power and influence.

Over a year after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared over, ACEP continues to require strict COVID-19 protocols that most of the nation rightfully has moved away from. It is unclear if this is extreme caution or fearmongering to keep the American public on edge. The ACEP 2023 website explains its COVID policies:

All attendees must either have completed the initial vaccine series or has to have approved medical exemptions/waivers.

All attendees must attest to vaccination status

All attendees must attest to a negative COVID-19 antigen test performed less than 24 hours before the start of the convention

Mask are strongly encouraged during the entire conference

All attendees are encouraged to maintain social distancing, even while eating during breaks

For comparison, the author is a practicing ER doctor and attended a rock concert with over 40,000 unmasked fans two days ago without fear or hesitation.

The past year has seen many significant health issues plaguing Americans. Ongoing cardiovascular disease deaths, mental health issues, inner-city violence, and record drug deaths loom over Americas health. ACEP 23 has again chosen to largely ignore the most important health issues of 2023 and instead is showcasing an extensive lecture series on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The following are all included in the program[:

Inclusive Cardiovascular Care: The Time for Equity is Now Uncharted Waters: Navigating Post-Roe Practice (Colin C. Rorrie, Jr. Lecture) ACEP DEI Annual Committee meeting ACEP Spokesperson Media Training (2 separate sessions) Description: Learn how to communicate and deliver key messages to both the media and other stakeholders. The session will include role-play scenarios for a variety of media interview formats and include topics such as crisis situations, policy discussions, and other critical issues facing todays emergency physicians. Belonging: The Intersection of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Physician Well-Being: Description: Diversity is key to the success of medicine, yet despite efforts, trends have not been reassuring. Underrepresented in medicine encounter barriers such as imposter syndrome, microaggression, and implicit bias. Belonging is critical in efforts to advance equity and inclusion. Diversity, Equity and, Inclusion: Where We Are, Where We Are Going, and Best Practices To Get There Description: A diverse workforce is optimal for the success of teams and organizations. This course will review the progress that has been made in EM and the improvements in outcomes thus far. Techniques that can improve the diversity of EM physicians at your workplace will also be discussed. Diagnosis: Medical Racism: Whats the Treatment? Description: Implicit bias and racism have promoted health care disparities that affect emergency care. The speaker will present data illustrating the results of these disparities in addition to exploring actions you can take as a citizen, emergency physician, and neighbor to create and improve public health, hospital, and departmental policies aimed to eliminate healthcare disparities. Emergency Care for Transgender Patients Description: The ability to provide sensitive and effective care for transgender patients is a basic cultural competency for emergency physicians. Yet, emergency physicians receive little formal training on the care of this population which contributes to healthcare disparities. How to Talk About Race and Medicine With Patients Description: Our current climate has acknowledged racism in medicine, however, it can be difficult to have this conversation with patients when medicine is still majority white. This lecture will highlight the importance of emotional intelligence, cultural humility, and skills to use when having conversations about race in the emergency department. Unlearning Implicit Bias Description: Implicit bias is real and may be affecting our teaching and mentoring more dramatically than we realize. This course will teach learners to identify implicit bias and will provide techniques to unlearn these behaviors.

During the conference ,ACEPs current president, Dr Christopher Kang will hand over the reins to the new ACEP President Dr Aisha Terry, who will likely continue the woke policies of ACEP. After being elected, she reposted the following tweet: This is the roadmap to use existing quality measures to advance health equity and reduce disparities in emergency care - - could be implemented now!

American health care needs non-partisan leaders to solve problems, not an endless stream of doctors weaponizing medicine to serve the Democrat Party and its agenda.

Image: American College of Emergency Physicians
Apple CEO Tim Cook has finally confirmed that his company is jumping into the AI bandwagon by focusing on generative AI, Phonearena (via Apple Insider) reports.

The AI space is currently divided between Microsoft and Google. In the early days of the ChatGPT launch, Microsoft seized the opportunity to invest in the parent company, OpenAI, and get access to the tech behind the chatbot. Google also launched the Bard chatbot in response. This game could have a new player soon.

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Speaking to UK media, Tim Cook confirmed Apple is working on generative AI and hiring related staff in the UK. Were hiring in that area, yes, and so I do expect [recruitment] to increase, Cook said.

Apple might launch a rival for ChatGPT, Tim Cook confirms

The chief Apple executive stated that the company uses AI in all its products, including Fall Detection on the Apple Watch, Crash Detection, atrial fibrillation detection, ECG, and predictive typing on the iPhone. Additionally, Cook said Apple is evaluating the possibility of launching a ChatGPT-like service.

Apples interest in launching an AI chatbot, like ChatGPT, could impact the whole industry and add fuel to the fire of competition with Google and Microsoft. A dedicated Apple-designed AI chatbot on iPhones, iPads, and Macbooks would excite customers and enhance the user experience. Of course, Apples ChatGPT-like service might not come anytime soon.

Apples approach toward AI is interesting. Instead of bragging about AI and how it can affect users lives, Apple simply tries to improve its devices and users experience with AI. In WWDC 2023, the company unveiled AI additions to its products, like the iPhones ability to identify a users pet or a Digital Persona feature. In another example, AirPods Pro can automatically turn off noise canceling when a user starts to talk with another person.

Ultimately, Tim Cook asserted Apples commitment to the UKs vibrant tech economy. The UK currently hosts Apples third largest employee population, and its a leading developer community for Europe, according to Cook.

Competition is AI space is getting tighter everyday, and once in a while, a new company steps in to launch an AI-driven service. Beside AI services, the AI hardware is also getting the eyes of investors. Apples former designer Jony Ive is reportedly in talks with OpenAIs Sam Altman to develop an AI gadget.
Off-site construction to be used for NEOM, Ukraine

By Park Jae-hyuk

Competition is heating up among major Korean builders to gain the upper hand in the market for modular construction, which involves producing standardized components of a structure in an off-site factory and assemblage on-site.

The off-site construction method is considered beneficial, as it can reduce construction periods, industrial accidents and carbon emissions. It has also drawn attention recently, because of its potential use in Korean builders participation in projects to build the NEOM smart city in Saudi Arabia and in the reconstruction of war-torn Ukraine.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the size of the domestic modular construction market reached 175.7 billion won ($130 million) in 2022, up from 26.8 billion won in 2020. The market size is expected to be 250 billion won this year and surpass 2 trillion won in 2030.

However, the proportion of modular buildings has remained small in the Korean construction industry, due to high cost, which has been mentioned as the main problem of the method, since POSCO Group built the nations first modular building in 2003.

Given that builders need to invest large amounts in production facilities and create stable demand, it has been difficult for companies to profit from modular construction without achieving economies of scale through mass production.

Creation of stable demand is prerequisite for a sustainable modular construction industry, so overseas expansion is necessary, said Kim Hwa-rang, a researcher at the Construction & Economy Research Institute of Korea.

As the researcher advised, Samsung C&T signed a memorandum of understanding in January with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to build and run a facility to produce modular parts there. These could eventually supply components to NEOM.

In August, the builder also showcased its modular construction technologies that can be applied to apartments in the future.

The Saudi Arabian facility is expected to be used not only for the NEOM project, but also for construction of houses in Saudi Arabia, a Samsung C&T official said.

GS E&C is also engaged in the competition, through the acquisition of a Polish prefabricated timber-frame house builder Danwood in 2020 and the establishment of XiGeist, a subsidiary specializing in prefabricated houses.

When the NEOM Roadshow was held in Seoul in July, GS E&C President Huh Yoon-hong expressed the companys interest in participating in NEOM and Ukraines reconstruction by utilizing modular construction technologies. During the IFA 2023 in Berlin in September, the builder also displayed a prefabricated home, Smart Cottage, in collaboration with LG Electronics.

We are doing the modular home business in Poland, which is adjacent to Ukraine, Huh said.

Kolon Global signed a memorandum of understanding in September with SY, a domestic maker of external panels for buildings, to utilize modular construction and other off-site construction methods in Ukraines reconstruction project.

The cooperation is meaningful as we will be able to do off-site construction suitable for Ukraines climate, a Kolon Global official said.

Land Minister Won Hee-ryong also vowed to support domestic builders to win overseas orders for modular houses, during his attendance at the ceremony in June for the completed construction of Korea's highest modular apartment building built by Hyundai Engineering.

Modular construction is an innovative technology that can solve problems in the construction industry through prefabrication, he said at that time. As massive construction orders involving Ukraines reconstruction and other projects are set to be placed, builders will likely win overseas orders.
(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 29 - More than 11,600 unaccompanied minors crossed the Central Mediterranean from North African to Italy between January and mid-September 2023, a 60% increase on the 7,200 unaccompanied or separated children that made the perilous crossing in the same period last year, UNICEF said on Friday.

The UN agency said at least 990 people, "including children", died as they attempted to cross the Central Mediterranean between June and August 2023, triple the number for the same period last summer, when at least 334 people lost their lives.

"The Mediterranean Sea has become a cemetery for children and their futures," said Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Response in Europe.

"The devastating toll on children seeking asylum and safety in Europe is a result of policy choices and a broken migration system.

"The adoption of a Europe-wide response to supporting children and families seeking asylum and safety and a sustained increase in international aid to support countries faced by multiple crises are desperately needed to prevent more children suffering." It said the children who survive the crossing are first held in migrant hotspots and then transferred to reception facilities that are often closed and limit movement.

UNICEF said that more than 21,700 unaccompanied children are currently in such facilities across Italy, up from 17,700 a year ago.

The children's agency referred to the situation in Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost island, which is often the first port of call migrant boats seeking to reach Europe.

It said the number of arrivals peaked at 4,800 people on a single day this month. (ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 30 - A Catania judge's ruling against the government's detention and bail procedures in its new migrant decree, freeing a Tunisian citizen, is evidence of democracy at work and not judicial interference with the executive branch , the magistrates' union ANM said Saturday.

"We do not participate in political and government policy, we do jurisdiction," the president of the ANM, Giuseppe Santalucia, told ANSA.

"It is physiological that there may be measures by judges that go against certain government projects and programmes.

"And this must not be experienced as interference, this is democracy".

The Court of Catania upheld the migrant's appeal, judging the recent decree of Premier Giorgia Meloni's government to be illegitimate. (ANSA).


Sir Billy Connollys wife Pamela Stephenson has said that the comic had a couple of serious falls after they noticed his balance was deteriorating.

Scottish comedian Sir Billy, 80, was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease 10 years ago on the same day he found out he had prostate cancer, which he later received the all clear on.

The comic spoke about the degenerative disease with his spouse Stephenson for an article in The Guardian, and said: Its very difficult to see the progression exactly, because a lot of things come and go.

Sir Billy Connolly with his wife Pamela Stephenson after being knighted by the Duke of Cambridge during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London (John Stillwell/PA)

Recently Ive noticed a deterioration in my balance.

That was never such a problem before, but in the last year that has come and it has stayed.

For some reason, I thought it would go away, because a lot of symptoms have come and gone away  just to defy the symptom spotters.

The shaking has reappeared

Stephenson added: The balance issue has been most significant, hasnt it?

Especially since, unfortunately, it resulted in you having a couple of serious falls 

Sir Billy responded: Its funny, that fall I had when I landed on my jaw reminded me of a thing I used to do on stage.

I used to say: I fell out of bed, but luckily my face broke my fall

Its just added to the list of things that hold me back.

I feel like I want to go for a walk, but I go for 50 yards and I want to go home, because Im tired.

Im being encroached upon by this disease.

Its creeping up behind me and stopping me doing things.

Its a cruel disease.

Stephenson said that the disease has been pretty slow-moving to which Sir Billy said: Really, really slow-moving, but that doesnt make it any more pleasant.

Billy Connolly arrives with his wife Pamela Stephenson for a reception hosted by Prime Minister Theresa May in 10 Downing Street, London, marking 200 years since Dr James Parkinsons Essay on the Shaking Palsy (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The couple spoke about how their relationship has changed since the comedian was diagnosed and Sir Billy said that his wife now dresses him in the morning, mentioning that he has to get lifts everywhere as he cant drive any more.

Sir Billy also talked about what it has been like to stop travelling as much following the various lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: Its been brilliant! Its been one of the great surprises of my life! I was told to stay home, I did it and I loved it. Even my dogs loved it.

Although we were very lucky because we live on a canal, so we could go for walks in a tropical paradise.

Stephenson added: And even now  for example, two nights ago you were sitting fishing just outside your back door.

The higher the sea level rises, the closer the fishings going to be  so youll soon be a fishing Rambling Man without even leaving the house.

Sir Billy responded: Theres something in my Scottish nature that makes me look forward to global warming: High f****** time!
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said welfare reforms and the integration of artificial intelligence into the public sector could be the way to end the vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.

The Cabinet minister told The Times that using technological advances in teaching, policing and healthcare would be one way of streamlining the state and reducing the burden on the public purse.

He said artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to the biggest transformation of public services in our lifetimes.

The Conservative Party is due to gather in Manchester on Sunday for the start of its annual autumn conference, with Tory grandees clamouring for tax cuts.

It comes after experts said the Tories will have presided over, during the time between the 2019 election and the next general election, the biggest set of tax rises since at least the Second World War.

Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said taxes will have risen to around 37% of national income, equivalent to around 3,500 more per household.

Liz Truss, Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks short-lived predecessor  who is expected to speak out in Manchester against the current taxation levels  said high taxes were the cause of the UKs stagnating economy.

We should always seek to reduce the tax burden, especially when theres so much pressure on family budgets, she tweeted on Friday.

The former prime ministers mini-budget 12 months ago, delivered by her then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, sent the value of the pound tumbling and mortgage rates soaring due to the markets adverse reaction to its 45 billion of unfunded tax cuts.

Ms Truss and 32 other Tory MPs, including former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, have reportedly vowed not to vote for the Chancellors autumn statement if it contains tax rises.

Mr Hunt has already said that he will not make any tax cuts at the autumn statement in November.

With a general election expected next year, the Chancellor could use his spring Budget to unveil tax cuts ahead of the next Tory manifesto being published.

He told The Times: Were not in a position to talk about tax cuts at all.

Former prime minister Liz Truss has called for lower taxes (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The question we have to answer for the British people is: what are you doing to get yourself in a position where you can credibly lower taxes?

He said the path to tax cuts, which some economists and Conservatives argue helps to boost economic growth, would hinge on creating a more productive state, not a bigger state.

We need a state that doesnt just deliver the services it currently delivers, but actually improves the services it delivers and recognises that theres going to be more calls on those services with an ageing population, he said.

But we need to find a formula that doesnt mean that were on a vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.

Mr Hunt said artificial intelligence could transform the public sector, helping teachers to mark papers, assist police in identifying crime hotspots and provide doctors and nurses with more accurate diagnoses.

On welfare reforms, he said that 100,000 people per year were moving off work into benefits without any obligation to look for work  a sign he said showed that the system is not working.

He told the newspaper the welfare system had to be a mix of carrot and stick, with more assistance required to help people find work given there is no shortage of jobs.

The comments come after it was revealed that the UK economy grew faster than had first been thought between January and March this year.

The Office for National Statistics said that it now thinks that gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.3% in the first three months of the year, up from the 0.1% previously estimated following the availability of revised official figures.

The revision put the countrys economy ahead of both Germany and France in terms of post-pandemic performance but behind allies such as the United States, Canada, Japan and Italy.
The Government is in the final stages of engagement with the DUP over its concerns as further changes of the Windsor Framework come into effect on Sunday, including the green/red lane system for the movement of goods, the Northern Ireland Secretary has said.

Chris Heaton-Harris added there is still more work to do and called for the restoration of Northern Irelands institutions.

The DUP has been blocking powersharing for more than a year in protest at the internal UK trade barriers created by Brexits Northern Ireland Protocol.

The party says the deal struck by the EU and the UK to reform the protocol  the Windsor Framework  does not sufficiently address its concerns and has made clear it will not accept a return to devolution until the Government provides further assurances, by way of legislation, over Northern Irelands place in the UK internal market.

Talks between the DUP and the Government have been ongoing over the summer.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday that the agreement of the framework removed the major stumbling block to the return of the Stormont Assembly.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down (Charles McQuillan/PA)

However, DUP MP Sammy Wilson said on Friday that the changes will confirm a border in the Irish Sea, adding that his party would not return to the powersharing institutions at Stormont as it would be legally required to implement the framework.

On Thursday, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill said patience had run out with the DUP blockade of the Assembly.

She called on the UK and Irish governments to work together on a plan to restore the institutions.

Writing in the News Letter on Saturday, Mr Heaton Harris said the Government had engaged with the DUP extensively over the summer and that the partys proposals had improved the green-lane system.

He added that work is ongoing to address the partys concerns to restore Northern Irelands executive.

We are also in the final stages of a period of constructive engagement with the DUP. We are pulling together a comprehensive package of proposals that we hope will address their concerns.

I have no doubt that it is their genuine desire to focus on concrete improvements and to create a situation that will enable the Executive to be restored.

I firmly believe that restoration of the institutions is right for Northern Ireland and right for the future of the Union.

Freight check-in sign at the Stena Line terminal at the Port of Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)

To address concerns about divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, we have to not only show that goods trade is working, we also have to show we are tackling worrying disparities on healthcare waiting lists, on childcare, on environmental pollution, on pay for our teachers, nurses and hardworking public servants, and on hundreds of smaller decisions being taken every day.

To do that we need a devolved government here.

Over the coming weeks we have a chance to move forward, to move on from Brexit and get Northern Ireland moving again.

Together we can make this work for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Irish premier Leo Varadkar said his Government stands ready to help in any way that we can for the restoration of Northern Irelands institutions.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA)

He added: When it comes to the Windsor Framework though, businesses big and small in Northern Ireland are getting on with it and theyre implementing the framework.

And we can see there are huge economic economic opportunities for Northern Ireland which has this unique position, as the Prime Minister has pointed out, having access both to the British market and full access to the European Union market as well.

And were seeing a huge amount of increase in trade going north and south. So I think, on the ground, were seeing business people and traders getting on with it and implementing the new arrangements and I think thats a positive thing.

One of the main parts of the framework, the green/red lane system for the movement of goods, will become operational at Northern Ireland ports on Sunday.

Goods coming into the region which are travelling to the Republic of Ireland or elsewhere in the EU will use the red lane, which includes customs declarations and some checks.

Goods to be sold in Northern Ireland will use the green lane with minimal paperwork and no checks.

Companies that use the green lane will be signed up to a trusted trader scheme.

Writing in the News Letter, Mr Heaton-Harris said the vast majority of Northern Irelands economic life remains umbilically connected to the rest of the UK, with most of the economy untouched by anything in the Windsor Framework.

He said Northern Ireland already enjoys the same VAT, alcohol duty and energy tax rules as the rest of the UK under the Windsor Framework, which it did not under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Northern Ireland Secretary added concerns over the supply of human medicines have been addressed.

Mr Heaton-Harris wrote: From this Sunday further changes roll out  meaning that previously banned goods like sausages and seed potatoes will be able to move again to Northern Ireland.

Businesses will see paperwork cut and many more traders will be able to benefit from the Windsor Framework.

Some major UK food retailers, which were excluded from the old grace periods, faced burdensome red tape moving food into Northern Ireland under the old system, but can now move products through the green lane.

The steak bake or infamous sausage roll will never again need to be accompanied by a signed certificate from a vet to move into NI from GB, removing a major irritant with the old arrangements.

This is the culmination of months of work, after the UK and EU came to an agreement to change the old Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Heaton-Harris noted that consumers may notice some changes in their local shop.

Consumers in Northern Ireland and parts of the UK will see not for EU labels and other information in stores on some products, to prevent these from being sold in Ireland.

To ensure consistency across the UK, these labels on meat and dairy will apply in stores in Great Britain next year.

And it is consistency across the UK that we are delivering, allowing UK food safety standards to apply in a way that the old Protocol failed to do.

I know that some people remain concerned about how the Framework will work in practice.

I have always been clear that the Government will listen to those concerns and there is scope to address them.

Stuart Anderson, head of public affairs for Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: A significant amount of work has been undertaken in a short time to get us to this implementation phase, particularly by those involved in the retail supply chain.

These are new processes being applied to what are often high volume and complex movements.

But business has worked hard to ensure we get off to the best possible start.

This is new for everyone involved.

Continued engagement and a solutions focused approach with government will be important to help businesses adapt and deal with any issues as and when they arise.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Whitehall to demand a rethink of the approval for the controversial Rosebank offshore development.

Robin Wells, of the Fossil Free London campaign group, said: We are used to U-turns and the government can do a new one over Rosebank.

She led more than 200 climate activists in chants condemning the scheme outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zeros central London offices.

One protester in central London was dressed as a skeleton (Lucy North/PA)

A protester dressed as a skeleton held a banner which read 100 licences to kill while demonstrators who stood on the steps of the government department wore crowns of paper roses and joined the crowd in shouts of stop Rosebank.

It was among several protests against Rosebank oilfield which were set to take around the country on Saturday.

Located 80 miles west of Shetland, Rosebank is the UKs largest untapped oil field and is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil.

It was given the green light by the UK Governments regulator the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) on Wednesday.

Development and production approval has been given to owners Equinor and Ithaca Energy, following reassurances over environmental concerns.

Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski told the Whitehall crowd, before they set off on a march to protest outside the Norwegian Embassy, that public opinion could help stop the scheme.

He told them we are not just here in anger, we can also be here in hope and added: Lets subsidise the people who are the poorest and most vulnerable in society and lets stop subsidising fossil fuel giants.

The plan has faced widespread criticism due to its expected impact on climate change.

Protesters in central London after the Rosebank North Sea oil field was given the go-ahead (Lucy North/PA)

Supporters of the project say it is vital for the energy security as it will reduce reliance on imports.

Mr Polanski said: The only liveable future we can have is one where fossil fuels stay in the ground  that is a future where we stand together in solidarity, where we talk with authenticity, compassion and care and where we also talk about the science.

Tessa Khan, executive director and founder of Uplift, an organisation at the forefront of the Rosebank protest movement, said that a legal challenge is being prepared challenge the approval.

To cheers, she said the decision is dire but we have a plan which includes fighting the government and Equinor here on the streets but we are also going to fight them in court.

Actor Sam Swan, of the Equity for a Green New Deal campaign, urged the protesters to get involved to help ensure the firms they work for do not invest in fossil fuels.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that using every last drop of oil in Scotlands North Sea was absolutely the right thing to do.

In an interview with STV News, he stood by the decision to give the go-ahead for drilling at the Rosebank oil field.

Critics  including Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf  said the development will damage net zero ambitions.
Former prime minister Liz Truss will urge the Conservative leadership to position itself as the party of business again by slashing corporation tax.

Ms Truss will argue in a speech on the fringes of the Tory Party conference that high taxes on businesses must not be normalised, suggesting the private sector is drowning in red tape.

The former Tory leader will say that the best way to get the UK economy growing is to free the private sector.

She is expected to use her appearance at a so-called growth rally in Manchester to call for corporation tax to be lowered back to 19%, taking it down from its current 25% rate.

In recent months, the former Tory leader has being defending her record during her 49-day stint in Downing Street before the fallout from her mini-budget saw her ousted in October 2022.

Her economic Growth Plan, delivered 12 months ago by then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, sent the value of the pound tumbling and mortgage rates soaring due to the markets adverse reaction to its 45 billion of unfunded tax cuts.

During her leadership campaign last year, Ms Truss pledged to scrap the planned increase of corporation tax from 19% to 25%.

After becoming prime minister, she included the policy in the mini-budget.

She later reversed the move, however, after saying officials briefed her about a potential market meltdown.

Her successor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, allowed the rise to go ahead in April as he looked to steady the economy.

In pre-briefed comments, Ms Truss is expected to say on Monday: We must unleash British business by cutting corporation tax.

We cant stand idly by while companies like AstraZeneca move operations abroad because of our huge tax burden or small businesses shut up shop because they are drowning in red tape.

We should be hungry to attract the worlds best businesses and encouraging people to start businesses here at home. We must not normalise the raiding of businesses coffers.

Dame Priti Patel is expected to join Liz Truss so-called growth rally (Aaron Chown/PA)

Ahead of this years autumn statement, we must make the Conservative Party the party of business once again, by getting corporation tax back down to 19%.

This is how we make Britain grow again. It is free businesses that will get us there, not the Treasury, not the Government and not the state.

Only free businesses can get Britain out of its 25-year economic stagnation. Only free businesses can create the economic growth and tax revenues on which our public services rely.

So lets give British business more freedom by easing their tax burden  freedom to flourish, to employ, to export, to research, develop and invest in the future, and to make Britain grow again.

She is expected to be joined at the rally by former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and former home secretary Dame Priti Patel.

Dame Priti this week called the current tax burden unsustainable and said it should come down.

It comes after experts said the Tories will have presided over, during the time between the 2019 election and the next general election, the biggest set of tax rises since at least the Second World War.

Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said taxes will have risen to around 37% of national income, equivalent to around 3,500 more per household, even if it will not be shared equally.

In reply to Ms Truss comments, No 10 pointed to remarks made by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to The Times on Saturday in which he said welfare reforms and the integration of artificial intelligence into the public sector could be the way to end the vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.

He has ruled out tax cuts in the autumn statement in November, but could potentially use the spring budget to announce tax reductions ahead of an election.
The entire archive of satirical TV show Spitting Image has been donated to Cambridge University Library under the Governments Cultural Gifts Scheme.

Puppets from the programme, including of Margaret Thatcher, Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Queen Mother, are among the items to go on display in a free exhibition from Saturday.

There are also sketches, memorabilia and some of the letters of complaint received by the show, which first ran from 1984 to 1996 and was brought back by BritBox in 2020 for two series.

Spitting Image producer John Lloyd with a puppet of Diana, Princess of Wales (Joe Giddens/PA

Series producer John Lloyd said he used to get literally two Royal Mail bags of letters every week which my PA would go through and sort them into nice and nasty.

There would be ones which said Ive been unemployed for eight years, Im desperate, I was going to kill myself and I thought Id just wait til Sunday for one last laugh and it was so funny I think I can carry on another week, he said.

It was literally that poignant.

The other letter was you communist bastard, I hope you get cancer and die.

It was really that extreme.

But you make a mistake if you think the politicians hated it.

For a start if you werent on it you were absolutely nobody, so everybody was always very keen to be on.

My girlfriend used to work on the Noel Edmonds show back then so I knew Noel quite a bit, and hed say oh John, could you make a puppet of me and Id say Im sorry Noel, youre just not famous enough mate.

A puppet of former president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev (Joe Giddens/PA)

One viewer who wrote to the show complained that a sketch with Russian leaders where women were made out to be mere sex objects (was) totally sexist and unfunny.

In Mr Lloyds response, displayed at Cambridge University Library alongside the letter of complaint, he agreed and said he would have cut the sketch if he could.

He wrote: I have to admit that your remarks about the Russian sketch touched a raw nerve.

Seeing the sketch taped I thought it unpleasant and dated and I would have cut it if we had had sufficient material to replace it in time (which regrettably we didnt).

So there you are, I agree with you on that one.

A defective puppet of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made for the Spitting Image stage show (Joe Giddens/PA)

Speaking at the exhibition, he said: I used to say honestly what I think, whereas now the common wisdom is you get a sort of pro forma letter.

You know, we are very sorry you were offended, we never seek to offend, we hope youre not too upset.

A robot could have written those things.

If you write one where youre being honest you could be very surprised how touched people are actually.

He continued: The great thing though about letters of complaint in those days is you had at least to make an effort to write it down.

You had to get a pen off your desk, put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it, work out the address of where Spitting Image was and then go to the post box and stick it in.

So we didnt get that many complaints  I would hate to have the whole of Instagram and TikTok after me.

That must be absolutely intolerable.

A puppet of Lord Heseltine, former deputy prime minister and ex-defence secretary (Joe Giddens/PA)

He said it was a fantastic honour that the Spitting Image exhibition was being held at Cambridge University Library.

Spitting Image co-creator Roger Law donated the first section of the archive in 2018, and the entire archive is now with Cambridge University Library.

It was accepted by the Government under the Cultural Gifts Scheme and allocated to Cambridge University Library in 2023.

The Cultural Gifts Scheme enables UK taxpayers to donate important works of art and other heritage objects to be held for the benefit of the public or the nation.

In return, donors receive a tax reduction based on a set percentage of the value of the item they donate.

The free exhibition Spitting Image: A Controversial History opens at Cambridge University Library on September 30 and runs until February 17 2024.
Korean Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu has met with President of Cabo Verde Jose Maria Pereira Neves and asked for the African country's support for Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, his office said Saturday.

Bang visited Cabo Verde, Friday (local time), as President Yoon Suk Yeol's special envoy, and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation on agriculture, trade, investment, energy infrastructure and the overall economy, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

He also delivered Yoon's letter to the president, in which Yoon sought Cabo Verde's backing for Korea to win the bid.

Bang is the first South Korean minister-level figure to make a visit to the African country.

Ahead of the meeting, he met with the African nation's finance minister, Olavo Avelino Garia Correia, and held talks on economic cooperation.

The two sides also signed two memorandums of understanding, which call for cooperation on agricultural machinery and for enhancing personnel and information exchanges regarding their economic and industry fields, respectively.

Bang was accompanied by an economic delegation involving 30 officials from the agriculture promotion institution, Korea Electric Power Corp. and other relevant organizations, the ministry said.

The selection of the host country is less than two months away, and the Korean government has gone all-out to win the bid.

Korea and the African nation have not built a strong partnership "due to geographical constraints," and this visit will serve as a chance to initiate close ties, the ministry said.

Before his trip to Africa, Bang visited France on Thursday for a summit of the International Energy Agency (IEA) on supply chains of critical minerals and clean energy.

On the sidelines, he met with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and agreed to boost bilateral cooperation on nuclear power generation and a wide range of energy issues "in a future-oriented manner," according to the ministry.

He held separate talks with Japan's economic minister, Nishmura Yasutoshi, to discuss ways to strengthen ties in critical minerals and advanced industries, among other fields.

During his meeting with Northern Australia's resources minister, Madeleine King, Bang asked for her government's support for South Korean companies conducting investment projects there with regard to key minerals.

He also met with his counterparts from France and Indonesia, as well as IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, the ministry said. (Yonhap)
More than 50 overlooked UK towns will each be given 20 million over a 10-year period to help regenerate high streets and tackle anti-social behaviour.

The Prime Minister said the new long-term vision for towns, backed by 1 billion of investment, was about putting funding in the hands of local people to improve their communities.

The announcement made on Saturday will see 55 towns, including seven in Scotland and four in Wales, given a 20 million endowment-style fund  each to be spent over the course of a decade.

It is set to be used on local priorities such as reviving high streets, tackling anti-social behaviour, improving transport, boosting visitor numbers and growing the local economy.

The investment in towns such as Grimsby in Lincolnshire, Wrexham in Wales and Dumfries in Scotland comes on the eve of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.

Prime Minister and Tory leader Rishi Sunak said: Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work.

But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities.

The result is the half-empty high streets, rundown shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns prosperity and hold back peoples opportunity  and without a new approach, these problems will only get worse.

That changes today. Our Long-Term Plan for Towns puts funding in the hands of local people themselves to invest in line with their priorities, over the long-term. That is how we level up.

As part of the investment, the towns will set up a town board, bringing together community leaders, employers, local authorities and the local MP, to help deliver a plan for consultation.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said towns had been forgotten by politicians (Dan Kitwood/PA)

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said the town boards would be able to use a suite of regeneration powers while deploying the new funding.

Officials suggested more private sector investment could be unlocked by auctioning empty high street shops, reforming licensing rules on shops and restaurants, and supporting more housing in urban centres.

They said research showed communities want to see more green spaces created and market days established to enhance town centres, with policing hotspots implemented to make public spaces safer.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: We know that in our towns the values of hard work and solidarity, common sense and common purpose, endeavour and quiet patriotism have endured across generations.

But for too long, too many of our great British towns have been overlooked and undervalued.

We are putting this right through our Long-Term Plan for Towns backed by over 1 billion of levelling up funding.

This will empower communities in every part of the UK to take back control of their future, taking long term decisions in the interests of local people.

It will mean more jobs, more opportunities and a brighter future for our towns and the people who live and work in them.

Town Boards will consider how to improve high streets over a 10-year period (Joe Giddens/PA)

Ministers have promised central government support for the town boards as they formulate their vision.

A Towns Taskforce, sitting in the Department for Levelling Up and reporting directly to the Prime Minister and Mr Gove, will help them develop their plans and advise on how best to take advantage of government policies, unlock private and philanthropic investment and work with communities.

DLUHC said towns had been allocated funding according to the Levelling Up Needs Index, taking into account metrics covering skills, pay, productivity and health, as well as the Index of Multiple Deprivation, to ensure funding goes directly to the towns which will benefit most.

Mr Goves department said the Government would work with local councils and the devolved administrations to determine how towns in Scotland and Wales will benefit from funding and powers under the proposals.

Officials said they look forward to working with a restored executive, with powersharing currently collapsed in Stormont, to determine the approach for providing support to Northern Irelands towns.

Angela Rayner, Labours shadow levelling up secretary, said: It takes a special kind of arrogance for a Prime Minister caught on tape boasting that he had swiped money from deprived urban areas to now expect local people to be grateful for a promise to hand a tiny fraction of it back.

Levelling up announcements from this Government amount to barely more than shiny headlines, chaos and delays.

While the Tories force communities to go cap in hand to Whitehall begging for their own money back, the next Labour government will spread power, wealth and opportunity to all parts of our country.

We will grow our economy by harnessing the talents, ambition and skills of all British people and, in turn, provide sustainable, long-term funding for councils, and certainty for business to invest.

Labour will give these towns their future back.

 The full list of 55 towns benefiting from 20 million of funding:

Mansfield

Boston

Worksop

Skegness

Newark-on-Trent

Chesterfield

Clifton (Nottingham)

Spalding

Kirkby-in-Ashfield

Clacton-on-Sea

Great Yarmouth

Eston

Jarrow

Washington

Blyth (Northumberland)

Hartlepool

Spennymoor

Darwen

Chadderton

Heywood

Ashton-under-Lyne

Accrington

Leigh (Wigan)

Farnworth

Nelson (Pendle)

Kirkby

Burnley

Hastings

Bexhill-on-Sea

Ryde

Torquay

Smethwick

Darlaston

Bilston (Wolverhampton)

Dudley

Grimsby

Castleford

Doncaster

Rotherham

Barnsley

Scunthorpe

Keighley

Dewsbury

Scarborough

Merthyr Tydfil

Cwmbran

Wrexham

Barry (Vale of Glamorgan)

Greenock

Irvine

Kilmarnock

Coatbridge

Clydebank

Dumfries

Elgin
Rachel Lee, the so-called mastermind of the Bling Ring, gives her first in-depth interview about the crime spree in a new documentary. She was a teen in 2008 when she and friends started burglarizing the Hollywood homes of stars including Paris Hilton and Orlando Bloom. (Getty Images, Courtesy of HBO)

Retelling the story of the so-called Bling Ring  a group of entitled fashion- and celebrity-obsessed L.A. teenagers who burgled the Hollywood homes of Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan and other stars  apparently never goes out of style.

HBO has a new documentary The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring debuting on Oct. 1. The Erin Lee Carr-directed project tells the story through the eyes of Rachel Lee, the alleged mastermind behind the late 2000s thefts. It's the first time Lee has given an in-depth interview about the crimes, which made her and her sticky-fingered friends household names for lifting an estimated $3 million in stolen high-end goods. She was 19 when she was arrested and pleaded no contest to stealing $25,000 worth of items from Audrina Patridge's home.

Now in her 30s, Lee, who served a fraction of her four-year prison sentence, attended Wednesday's premiere of the doc in New York City looking like a star in a beaded gown with a thigh-slit.

Carr told Vanity Fair she hopes Lee is able to "release the shame" she's carried over this for the last decade and that she'll finally be understood. "We are not equal to our best or worst action," the director said.

Rachel Lee at the New York premiere of The Ringleader: The Case Of The Bling Ring on Sept. 27, 2023. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

What's the Bling Ring?

Between 2008 and 2009, a group of teens from the Calabasas, Calif., area broke into the homes of Hollywood stars and took their clothes, jewelry, art, cash, drugs and a gun worth more than $3 million. They used the internet, specifically social media and celebrity websites, to track the comings and goings of their targets, based on their attendance at high-profile events, and then struck when they were away from their home. Often, the residences were not secure, giving the teens easier entry. Dubbed the "Bling Ring" by the Los Angeles Times, the group was eventually busted because they not only wore what they stole, but they bragged about it and posted photos of themselves in the high-end designer goods on social media.

Who were the members?

Lee and Nick Prugo (now Nick Norgo) were fashion-loving and celebrity-consumed classmates at a remedial high school, Indian Hills, in Agoura Hills, Calif. They started breaking into fancy cars, which were often unlocked, and using the cash and credit cards they found to buy clothes at high-end stores in Beverly Hills. Their classmates, Alexis Neiers (now Alexis Haines) and Diana Tamayo became involved as did Lee's longtime friend Courtney Ames. Later, the teens used Johnny Ajar, a nightclub promoter, and Roy Lopez, a bouncer, to try and sell the stolen items they didn't keep.

Rachel Lee and Nick Prugo caught on camera outside Audrina Patridge's house in 2009. (Courtesy of HBO)

Who were the victims?

There were a lot, leaving Hollywood stars on edge. Hilton was the first hit with Prugo, a former child actor, telling Vanity Fair that she was targeted because they thought she was "dumb." They found a key to her Hollywood Hills mansion under her doormat  and they kept going back, as many as 10 times, getting more brazen each time. Hilton didn't call police until December 2008 when close to $2 million worth of her jewelry was taken. Also lifted: clothes and purses as well as semi-nude photos of the star, which were later recovered at Lee's home.

Other targets included Patridge, whose home was ransacked while she was at an Oscars party in 2009. An estimated $43,000 worth of clothing and heirloom jewelry as well as her laptop and a passport were stolen. She helped break open the case by posting surveillance video online. Yet the gang kept stealing.

A Los Angeles Police Department handout photo of jewelry and other items stolen from celebrities including Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and more. (Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images)

The teen crew burglarized The O.C. star Rachel Bilson's home six times in April and May, via an unlocked door, taking nearly $130,000 in property including clothing, jewelry (her moms engagement ring), makeup, purses and the actress's size 5 shoe collection. Lee felt so comfortable in the house, she reportedly used the bathroom.

In July, they hit Bloom and then-girlfriend Miranda Kerr's home and spent three hours going through their things. To gain entry, they cut through a security fence to get onto the property and then opened an unsecure door to the master bedroom. Neiers, an aspiring reality TV star, was with them that time when close to $500,000 in Rolex watches were taken as well as Louis Vuitton luggage, clothes and art.

In August they broke into Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox's home, via a doggy door, swiping the Jennifer's Body actress's wardrobe. They also stole the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum's Sig Sauer .380 semi-automatic handgun and jewelry.

That same month, Lohan left her home for just a couple hours and returned to find it ransacked. She said the front door was unlocked and the thieves helped themselves to watches, an Hermes bag, paintings, a custom fur coat and other things amounting to over $130,000. She also provided security footage, which was posted by TMZ, leading to loads of tips.

The group reportedly tried to burglarize the home of Ashley Tisdale, but fled at some point when seen by a houseguest. They had other celebrity targets in mind, reportedly, including Hilary Duff, Zac Efron and his then-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens.

How it shook out legally

While police worked to connect the dots, Neiers called in an anonymous tip to police that Prugo was at the center of the thefts. Eventually, he started talking to police and search warrants for the other Bling Ring members were issued with police turning up stolen goods.

Lee pleaded no contest to the burglary of over $25,000 worth of valuables from Patridge's home and was sentenced, in 2011, to four years in prison. She served one year and four months.

Prugo pleaded no contest to the burglaries of Patridge and Lohan and was sentenced, in 2013, to two years in prison. He served one year.

Neiers, who was arrested while taping the pilot for her E! reality show Pretty Wild, pleaded no contest to the burglary of Bloom's home and was sentenced, in 2010, to six months in jail, serving 30 days. She had to pay a $600,000 fine to Bloom.

Tamayo pleaded no contest to having burgled Lohan's house and was sentenced, in 2012, to probation and community service.

Ames pleaded no contest to having burgled Hilton's home and was sentenced, in 2012, to probation and community service.

Ajar, nicknamed Johnny Dangerous, pleaded no contest to three felony counts, including possession of cocaine for sale, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and receiving stolen property and was sentenced, in 2010, to three years in jail. He served less than a year.

Lopez pleaded no contest to stealing over $2 million of jewelry from Hilton and, in 2012, was credited for 100 days served in jail and given probation.

Alexis Neiers had inked a deal to appear in an E! reality show when she was arrested in the case. She served time, for burglarizing Orlando Bloom's house, in 2010. (Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

How it played out at the time

The 2000s were a really weird time in pop culture. The rise of blogs made celebrity coverage a 24/7 operation  and an army of paparazzi grew to feed that beast. The exploits of stars like Britney Spears, LiLo and Hilton were infamous during that era, and people couldn't get enough of where stars were going, who they were with and what they were wearing. Especially if they were exhibiting bad behavior. Add in the boom of celebrity-centric reality shows (where stars opened the doors of their homes to the outside world) and social media (where they not just posted their whereabouts at a given moment but flaunted their possessions) and very quickly it was like the world had an all-access pass into celebrity-dom.

The Bling Ring participants apparently wanted more, stealing the red carpet looks of the stars, and went on to become famous themselves for it. After their arrests, their lives were written about and looks commented upon. In this 2009 New York Times story, a Hollywood lawyer said the thieves look like the cast of Twilight," the mega-hit film at that time. Prugo told his story on Good Morning America in 2010. He  along with Neiers  also spoke to Nancy Jo Sales for her Vanity Fair article the same year called The Suspects Wore Louboutins." The story detailed the crime operation, but also their obsession with celebrity and fashion. After it came out, Neiers infamously called Sales to correct reporting on the heels she wore to court. The moment went viral after it was included in Pretty Wild, Neiers's short-lived show which centered around Neierss Bling Ring involvement.

Sales's article was the basis for Sofia Coppola's 2013 film, The Bling Ring, starring Emma Watson as the Lee character. Part of the film was shot in Hilton's actual home and Hilton appeared as herself in the film. There was also a 2011 Lifetime movie, also called The Bling Ring. Austin Butler played the Prugo character.

In 2013, Bloom called it "tragic" that "in America, something like robbing somebody's house can be celebrated." He called the experience a "really awful thing to have happen to you." (He told a grand jury he initially suspected someone close to him for the thefts.)

Where are they now?

Last year, there was a three-part Netflix doc, The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist, in which Neiers and Prugo participated and talked about how they got there, both pointing to drug troubles. Prugo's troubles continued, including a stalking conviction in 2016. According to the doc, he's now married and runs an online business with his husband. He's applying for a certification of rehabilitation and a Governors pardon for his Bling Ring crimes. Victim Patridge also participated in the Netflix doc, reliving her experience of coming home and having to hide in a closet, fearing the intruders were still there.

When the Netflix doc came out, Neiers did an Instagram Live with her sister Gabby Neiers, who admitted she was involved with a Bling Ring robbery at Bilsons house. (Gabby was never charged in connection to the burglaries, and the statute of limitations has expired.) The sisters appeared on Bilson's podcast in October and the actress confronted them over the violations. Neiers, who was arrested for heroin possession in 2010, marked 12 years of sobriety this year. She's a divorced mom of two and hosts the Recovering From Reality podcast.

This new HBO doc tells Lee's story. She's now 30 years old and says she lives with the anxiety of people discovering her past. After prison, Lee graduated from cosmetology school for hairstyling. She previously told Us Weekly that prison was a "blessing in disguise." Also, she claimed she saw Watson at a 2017 Super Bowl party and introduced herself.

Ames  who was reportedly in a relationship with Ajar at the time of the crimes  went on to study psychology, speech and child development at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. after completing her probation. In 2016, she filed papers to legally change her name, but it's unclear whether she did.

Tamayo, who feared being deported at the time of her crimes as an undocumented immigrant, preferred a life out of the spotlight after completing probation. As of 2018, she was a personal trainer and happily married.

The Ringleader: The Case of the Bling Ring debuts Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
Tracy Ferrell stared at the boarded up hotel in disbelief.

It was definitely closed. Not only that, it looked like it hadnt been open for months.

Okay, never mind, thought Tracy. Its fine, weve got a plan B.

She turned to her friend Monique, who was standing by her side, backpack in hand, looking uncertain.

Right, lets try the next one, Tracy said brightly, trying to stay positive.

The two women swung their bags onto their backs and headed down the road. They were in Cuenca, in southern Ecuador, full of cobblestone-strewn streets and colorful buildings.

When Tracy and Monique made it to the next hotel, they realized it was also closed. Not just closed, the door was firmly padlocked. There was no sign of anyone inside.

Tracys heart sank. She dug out the dog-eared, Lonely Planet South America guidebook from her backpack, flipped through the book and checked the hotel page again.

It was definitely the right one. This was the back-up hotel. The one she and Tim had settled on, just in case the first one was closed. And it was also shut.

Tracy knocked on the door, figuring it was worth a shot. Nothing.

Oh no, thought Tracy. Im never going to see him again.

A meeting and a lunar eclipse

Tracy and Tim met in Ecuador in 1996. They first crossed paths in Quito then tried to reunite in Cuenca. Here they are pictured later in 1996 in the Peruvian village of Ollantaytambo. - Tracy Ferrell

It was September 1996 and Tracy was 26. Shed just completed a masters degree in comparative literature at the University of Colorado, specializing in Latin American literature. Shed decided to spend a year traveling through South America, putting her language skills to the test.

Tracys first stop in Ecuador  before Cuenca  was the capital, Quito. She found herself at the Quito branch of the South American Explorers Club  a now defunct US-based organization with clubhouses in cities across South America.

Tracy grabbed a seat at a table in a quiet backroom of the Quito clubhouse and fished some postcards out of her bag. She spread them out on the table in front of her, ready to write and send to her family back home in the US.

Tracy was absent-mindedly glancing around the room, trying to figure out how to sum up her journey so far, when she spotted a guy on the other side of the room, his head in a book. Just as Tracys gaze settled on him, he looked up.

Our eyes locked across the table, Tracy tells CNN Travel today. I thought he was cute.

Then, a dog came rushing into the room  a German Shepherd that lived at the clubhouse.

The guy put his book to one side and started petting the dog enthusiastically.

I love a guy who likes animals, says Tracy. I struck up a conversation.

This was Tim Zych, a 32-year-old New Zealander whod been teaching in London for the past couple of years.

When he met Tracy, Tim was enjoying a six month traveling stint, unsure what came next.

I didnt really have any plans for the future other than traveling while I was still relatively young and motivated, Tim tells CNN Travel today. I assumed that I would eventually live back in NZ.

Tracy and Tim chatted for a while and both found one another easy company, even if Tim says he was a little intimidated by Tracys obvious intelligence.

I thought Tracy was very attractive and confident, he says.

I was charmed by his accent, says Tracy. In my recollection, I asked him to have dinner that night.

Tim thinks it was the other way round, and that he asked Tracy out. But whats for certain is they were both excited to head out together that evening.

Tim and Tracy ate at a local restaurant, sitting outside, talking about their travels, families, careers and lives back home (I dont think Id ever really met anyone from New Zealand before, recalls Tracy. So I was so curious about New Zealand and life there.)

It was magical, says Tim. It really felt like something special, even though we had no idea obviously, what the future was going to be.

They were sitting on a busy sidewalk, but ignored the cars, people and commotion around them.

Theres so much going on usually, in big cities, says Tim. I just tuned all that stuff out. I was just focused on Tracy and the conversation and everything else was kind of a blur in the background for me.

We got along easily  talking for hours, says Tracy.

After dinner, Tim and Tracy went back to Tracys hotel and sat on the roof  theyd heard rumors of a total lunar eclipse that night, and ended up sat under the stars, watching the moon turn a striking amber red.

It felt special, says Tim.

Tracy and Tim went on a second date to the equator. Here they are pictured later in 1996 at Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. - Tracy Ferrell

A second date was a given. The next morning they caught a bus to a spot just north of Ecuador, where the equator crosses through South America.

There is a museum, monument and a line on the ground where the equator is, explains Tracy. We thought it would be fun to check it out.

As a tourist attraction, it was a bit anticlimactic. But Tracy and Tim didnt care.

We wandered the museum, but mostly we just got to know each other, says Tracy.

The two ended their second date certain they wanted to see one another again, but aware their paths were about to diverge.

We both already had travel plans and companions for the month, says Tracy. And he had already been where I was planning to go.

They decided to try to meet up later down the line in Cuenca, Ecuador. From there, theyd head to Peru together.

Before going separate ways, Tim and Tracy consulted their copies of the Lonely Planet South America guide (Everyone had it, says Tracy. We called it The Bible.)

They picked out a hotel in Cuenca where theyd meet. Then, almost as an afterthought, they picked a back up hotel just in case that one did not work out for any reason.

This was a time before mobile phones, the internet and emails were widely in use, so communication options were limited.

Tim and Tracy's plan to meet again after the second date went awry. Here's the two on a beach in Chile in January 1997. - Tracy Ferrell

And thats how, three weeks later, Tracy found herself standing in front of the clearly-closed, back-up hotel, wondering what to do.

She kept knocking. Her friend Monique joined in.

Eventually, a man came to the door. Tracy, who spoke fluent Spanish, told him they were looking for somewhere to stay.

Are you open? she said. We need to stay here.

The owner said he was heading out of town and was closing the hotel for the weekend. But after a bit of back and forth, he agreed Tracy and Monique could stay at his hotel in his absence, as long as they locked up every time they left.

Thrilled, Tracy and Monique agreed to these conditions. They went inside, dumped their bags and then headed out for the evening to explore.

Before they left, Tracy grabbed a piece of paper and pen from the hotel reception and scribbled a note, writing something along the lines of:

Tim, this hotel is closed but Monique and I are staying here. If you see this, let me know where you are staying!

As she and Monique closed, then locked, the hotel door, Tracy jammed the piece of paper into the door frame. As they walked away, she kept glancing back, hoping it wouldnt blow away, and hoping it wouldnt be long before she reunited with Tim.

A note on a hotel door

Tracy had the idea to write a note and attach it to the hotel door. Here she is in Chile in February 1997. - Tracy Ferrell

Unbeknown to Tracy, Tim had arrived in Cuenca a few days before her. As planned, hed headed to the first hotel, then the back up, and realized they were both closed.

Unlike Tracy, Tim didnt persevere at hotel number two. Instead, hed checked in somewhere else.

He was disappointed, but tried to manage his expectations.

When youre traveling, you meet people and they come and they go, and sometimes you have a bond with them in some way and then you never see them again, he says today. So, it wasnt uncommon for that to happen as a traveler, especially back then.

All the same, Tim couldnt stop himself returning to the second hotel, on the off chance he might spot Tracy outside.

It was on one of these return visits that Tim noticed the note jammed into the door frame. He went a little closer and saw it was a message from Tracy. He couldnt believe it.

He dug around in his bag for a pen. Leaning against the hotel door, he wrote a reply underneath Tracys message, detailing where he was staying.

When Tracy and Monique returned that evening and spotted Tims response, Tracy was astounded.

Her note had been a shot in the dark. All evening shed wondered maybe hell see it, maybe he wont. Maybe he wont come back. Maybe hes not even in town anymore.

She was thrilled it had worked out. She grabbed the note off the door and then she and Monique headed to Tims hotel.

We found him eating in the restaurant, Tracy recalls.

Tim was really pleased to see Tracy again. Here he is pictured at Colca Canyon in Peru later in 1996. - Tracy Ferrell

While both Tracy and Tim had tried to be accepting of the idea theyd never see one another again, they were delighted to be reunited. Suddenly, what theyd almost lost seemed all the more precious.

Keen not to lose one another again, they decided to head out together the next day for Peru. From there they traveled to Bolivia and Chile. Tracys friend Monique joined them at first, then she headed home and Tracy and Tim traveled just the two of them for the next three months.

We had dozens of adventures from 45-hour bus rides to mountain climbing to rafting through the Amazon, says Tracy.

We fell madly in love.

Tim and Tracy loved hiking the Cordillera Blanca mountain range in Peru. Tracy says this shot -- their first picture together -- is one of her favorite photos. - Tracy Ferrell

For Tracy and Tim, one of the highlights of this time came early on. The two hiked through the Cordillera Blanca mountain range in Peru, traversing high passes together.

That really sealed the deal for me, says Tim of the Cordillera Blanca experience. The mountains were incredibly beautiful and wild. Being with someone who appreciated that as much as I did and was also very capable in that terrain just made Tracy even more attractive to me.

Its beautiful. Its just stunning, Tracy says. One of my favorite pictures of us was taken up on top of one of the passes. We had set up the camera and were kind of squatting down so that we can be in the camera.

In the photo, Tim has his arm around Tracy. Theyre both smiling happily. It was their first photo together.

During the three months of traveling, Tracy and Tim were rarely alone. At times it was challenging, but the difficult moments just brought them closer together.

Separated by continents

Tracy and Tim stayed in touch while they were apart. - Tracy Ferrell

But while Tracy still had several months set aside for traveling, Tims end date was fast approaching.

February 1997 rolled around and Tim had to return to London and go back to work. Tim and Tracy reluctantly said goodbye, leaving things between them open-ended.

Because we were both traveling and I did not have a permanent address, it was about a month before I got a letter from him. I thought he had forgotten about me, says Tracy.

Communication became a bit easier when Tracy took a job in Costa Rica and settled there for a while. Tim would send letters to the American Express office in San Jose.

It was tough - I missed being with Tracy a lot, but I was really uncertain about if we would ever get back together, recalls Tim.

The two wrote to each other all the time, and tried to speak on the phone when they could.

Because of the time difference it seemed that the calls were often in the middle of the night and one of my flatmates would be waking me up saying there was a call from my girl in the US, recalls Tim. I would be instantly awake and excited to be speaking with Tracy.

In July 1997, Tracys traveling year came to a close, and she returned to Boulder, Colorado, where shed been living before she went traveling.

Around this time, Tim was considering moving back to New Zealand. He decided to travel home via Colorado and proposed the idea to Tracy over the phone.

She was enthusiastic, so Tim booked two plane tickets  one from London to Colorado, and one from Colorado to New Zealand.

I was definitely curious about how our relationship was going to progress, Tim recalls.

He was excited to see Tracy, but once again, he tried to lower expectations.

I didnt really know how it was going to happen because it seemed like I couldnt stay long term in the US and I was pretty sure Tracy wasnt going to follow me to NZ, he says.

But when he reunited with Tracy at the gate at Denver International Airport, Tim says it was like a dream.

It was like we hadnt been apart, and she seemed as vibrant and beautiful as when we were traveling.

Tracy echoes this. We embraced. It was like we had never been apart, she says. We talked non-stop the whole drive home from the airport.

A spontaneous decision

Over the next few weeks, Tracy enjoyed showing Tim Boulder. Shed moved there to study for her masters degree and loved it. Tim could see why.

We spent the first few weeks enjoying the summer outdoors around Boulder, he recalls. Neither of us had much money and we didnt have a car, so we hiked and biked everywhere, swimming in the creek when we got hot and dodging afternoon thunderstorms, hanging out in the hammock at Tracys apartment. It was bliss.

As the days passed, Tim and Tracy were increasingly certain that they belonged in each others future. The prospect of Tim moving back to New Zealand became increasingly unappealing. The date of his return flight came and went.

We had to try and figure out how we could live together long term, says Tim.

They started researching the options. The topic of marriage came up.

At first, both Tracy and Tim were unsure. Neither of them had ever really aspired to marriage. But after talking about it in depth, they decided they could get married on their own terms. Theyd keep their wedding day low key.

We dont need to plan it, suggested Tracy. Well just head down to the courthouse one day.

Here's Tracy and Tim at their wedding celebration in Colorado. - Tracy Ferrell

So thats what they did, in August 1997. The only person Tracy told was her boss  and that was only as an afterthought. She asked for the afternoon off, and when she mentioned she was getting married, her boss insisted she take the full day.

Tracy and Tim say their wedding was special in its simplicity. Colorado does not require marriage witnesses so it was just Tracy, Tim and the judge.

It was just the two of us. And we didnt even have pictures, says Tracy.

After a few weeks, Tracy and Tim told a few friends about their marriage. Then they started investigating how to secure Tims visa, and later down the line, they told their parents.

My parents were thrilled, because I always said I wasnt going to get married. And so they were just like, Well take it, says Tracy.

Tim says his parents, thousands of miles away in New Zealand, were very surprised about the situation and very excited as well.

Tracy started a PhD and Tim started the visa process. On their one year wedding anniversary, the couple threw a belated celebration for their friends and family in Colorado.

And, aside from a brief stint in Boston, the couple have lived in Colorado ever since.

A cosmic coincidence

Tracy and Tim have been happily married for 26 years. Here they celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary in 2017 in Isla Mujeres in Mexico. - Tracy Ferrell

Over 26 years of marriage later, Tim and Tracy are still based in Colorado. Today, Tracys an associate professor in the University of Colorado Boulders writing program, while Tim works as a project manager for Boulder county.

While theyre quick to emphasize that no long-term relationship is always easy, Tracy and Tim say theyre best friends, and think thats the secret to their years of happiness.

The couple have a 17-year-old daughter, who they enjoy regaling with stories of how they fell in love in Quinto, almost lost one another in Cuenca and unexpectedly reunited.

We joke with her, If it wasnt for that hotel note that Tim happened to see, you wouldnt be here, says Tracy, laughing. Just so many things had to come together for our family to exist. So I think that thats just really cool. And I hope she thinks thats cool, too.

Here's a recent photo of Tim and Tracy with their 17-year-old daughter. - Tracy Ferrell

Tracy and Tim have occasionally talked about returning to South America together. But while the nostalgias appealing to a degree, they remain keen travelers and prefer exploring new places to revisiting old favorites.

Plus, theres something appealing about keeping those memories sacred.

It would be cool in a lot of ways, but at the same time, I just cherish those memories that we have, says Tim, who says he sees the moment he met Tracy as a fork in the road.

The chance of us meeting was so minuscule, says Tracy And on the night of the lunar eclipse

Its like it was supposed to happen, says Tim. The cosmic coincidence of it all.

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Record-setting rain overwhelmed New York Citys sewer system Friday, sending a surge of floodwater coursing through streets and into basements, schools, subways and vehicles throughout the nations most populous city.

The water rose fast and furious, catching some commuters off guard as they slogged through Friday mornings rush hour. First responders jumped into action where needed, plucking people from stranded cars and basements filling like bathtubs.

More rain fell in a single day at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport  nearly 8 inches  than any other since 1948. A months worth of rain fell in Brooklyn in just three hours as it was socked by some of the storms most intense rainfall rates Friday morning.

Track travel delays: NYC airports hammered with heavy rain and flooding

The prolific totals are a symptom of climate change, scientists say, with a warmer atmosphere acting like a massive sponge, able to sop up more water vapor and then wring it out in intense spurts which can easily overwhelm outdated flood protections.

Overall, as we know, this changing weather pattern is the result of climate change, Rohit Aggarwala, New York Citys Chief Climate Officer said in a Friday morning news conference. And the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond.

A widespread 3 to 6 inches of rain had fallen across the New York City by late Friday afternoon. More rain was set to fall through the evening and then gradually taper off.

Residents walk through floodwaters in the New York City suburb of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, on Friday. - Mike Segar/Reuters

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley Friday morning as the worst of the flooding hit. In an interview with New Yorks WNBC-TV, she urged residents to stay home because of widespread dangerous travel conditions.

This is a very challenging weather event, Hochul said. This a life-threatening event. And I need all New Yorkers to heed that warning so we can keep them safe. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also declared a state of emergency for his state Friday afternoon.

Firefighters performed rescues at six basements in New York City flooded by torrents of water, according to the New York City Fire Department.

The water also found its way into 150 of New York Citys 1,400 schools, which remained open on Friday, New York City school chancellor David Banks said at a news briefing.

One school in Brooklyn evacuated when floodwater caused the schools boiler to smoke, he said.

Our kids are safe and we continue to monitor the situation, Banks said.

Floodwater spilled into subways and onto railways and caused major disruptions, including suspensions of service on 10 train lines in Brooklyn and all three Metro-North train lines. Gov. Hochul said the city was deploying additional buses to help fill the gap caused by the train outages.

Limited service resumed by Friday evening on the Metro-North lines. And the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fully restored service on seven subway lines by Friday evening, according to Demetrius Crichlow, senior vice president of the New York City Transit Department of Subways.

Today was just not an easy day for us but like New Yorkers, we are resilient, we continue to press on, Crichlow said.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said Friday evening one of three Metro-North Railroad lines was back up and running  the Hudson line  and noted the Long Island Railroad also has good service. The MTA also said it is working to restore limited service to the remaining two lines on Friday night.

Air travel didnt fair any better. Flight delays hit all three New York City area airports Friday. Flooding inside the historic Marine Air Terminal in New Yorks LaGuardia Airport forced it to close temporarily. The terminal, which is the airports smallest and serves Spirit and Frontier airlines, was open again Friday night.

Because of swollen rivers and creeks, some flood warnings were set to be in effect into Saturday morning in parts of Connecticut, New Jersey and southern New York, including along the Bronx River.

Some flood warnings By late Friday, flood watches had expired for the region except in Suffolk County on Long Island in New York and parts of northwestern and southern Connecticut, where watches were set to be in effect until Saturday morning.

A police officer from the NYPD Highway Patrol oversees a flooded street on Friday. - Andrew Kelly/Reuters

A person carries sandbags on a flooded sidewalk in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Friday. - Stefan Jeremiah/AP

Record-setting rain

The extreme rainfall rates produced prolific totals:

 In Brooklyn: A months worth of rain, up to 4.5 inches, fell in only 3 hours on Friday morning, according to National Weather Service data. This three-hour rainfall total is only expected about once every 100 years in Brooklyn, according to NOAA estimates.

 In Manhattan: Nearly 2 inches of rain fell in one hour in Central Park, the second-wettest hour there in 80 years. More than 5 inches of rain have fallen there so far.

 In Queens: Its the wettest day on record at John F. Kennedy International Airport, preliminary data from the National Weather Service shows. At least 7.88 inches of rain has fallen there since midnight.

CNNs Brandon Miller, Zenebou Sylla, Samantha Beech, Paul Murphy and Nicki Brown contributed to this report.

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Kentucky-based Wave 3 News anchor Maira Ansari is speaking out after unintentionally making insensitive jokes about an incredibly serious topic on-air.

The incident occurred during a PSA related to National Suicide Prevention Month, in which Ansari was supposed to be raising awareness of the suicide hotline number, 988. But thanks to some teleprompter tampering, Ansari didn't realize until it was too late that the script had been edited in very poor taste.

On Sept. 28, Ansari took to Twitter to address the "horrible" thing that happened during the Sept. 22 newscast.

"First, I want to personally apologize for those who were hurt, disturbed.. Concerned," she wrote. "If anyone knows me you will know that is [sic] the words that were read are not how I feel or think."

In footage of the broadcast uploaded to TikTok, after sharing information about the suicide hotline, Ansari became visibly confused as she read, Now, talking about it, it doesnt help. Suicide is always there as an option, but it's never the right solution to the problem."

She continued for another beat, "If you hit your breaking point, instead of just taking your life, do something one step short of it. Quit your job and move to China to become, uh, a rice trailing off as she realized how very wrong the script had gone. She immediately corrected, Dont quit your job, and looked down to her notes, instead. There are resources available. Talk to your loved ones and get help.

"Suicide is not a joke," she emphasized in her statement, thanking those who had shown her support in the aftermath. "Mental health is something I am passionate about." As such, she "[tries to make the dialogue personal."

But, according to Ansari, one of her colleaguesa producer on the show"intentionally wrote terrible things about suicide and made light of it." The anchor said she was "floored," as she "had no idea it was in the prompter." Naturally, she "wish[es] it never happened,"

She continued, "I'm also disturbed that I was set up like this by a co-worker. I want to thank my family, friends, team, viewers, strangers who have shown me that it will be okay. I know it...will. Time makes things better. I'm just sad about it all..disappointed."

Then, she took the opportunity to clarify what she was trying to say on air, adding, "Please if you are struggling with suicide or negative thoughts...get help. There is no shame. Call 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline."
The federal government neared its third shutdown in 10 years before House Speaker Kevin McCarthy helped broker a last-minute short-term deal Saturday to keep government open, mere hours before a midnight deadline.

The 45-day stopgap bill passed the House and Senate and will keep the federal government open through Nov. 17.

Prior to the deal, the possibility of a government shutdown raised questions about just how long a shutdown would last. The most recent shutdown, which stretched from Dec. 21, 2018 until Jan. 25, 2019, was also the longest in history, and forced hundreds of thousands of federal employees to be furloughed or work for weeks without pay.

Here's what happened in some of the lengthiest prior shutdowns:

The longest government shutdowns

Since 1976, when the current budget process was enacted, there have been 20 funding gaps lasting at least one full day, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Before the 1980s, it was common for the government to continue operating like normal when funding bills hadn't been passed, Glassman said. But in 1980 and 1981, Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued two opinions that said it was illegal for the government to spend money without congressional approval.

"Since then, there have been some funding gaps that have been relatively short  two or three days  and then there have been three long ones that are politically significant, all stimulated by Republicans," said Roy Meyers, political science professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The 2018-2019 shutdown over Trump's border wall funding lasted 34 full days, making it the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Trump finally signed a bill to reopen the government without his demands being met.

People line up outside a food-relief location set up by the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, which served free meals to federal workers effected by the partial government shutdown, in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 22, 2019. / Credit: / Getty Images

Before that, the record was 21 days in 1995 and 1996, when President Bill Clinton refused to bend to steep spending cuts and tax reductions proposed by House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Public opinion was on Clinton's side and Republicans eventually caved, Meyers said.

There wasn't another shutdown until 2013, when Republicans used budget negotiations to try to defund the Affordable Care Act. With efforts to gut the new health care law backfiring, Republicans gave in and the government reopened after 16 days.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged on Sept. 19 that public opinion has not sided with Republicans during previous shutdowns.

"I'm not a fan of government shutdowns," McConnell said. "I've seen a few of them over the years. They never have produced a policy change and they've always been a loser for Republicans politically."

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A decorated U.S. Special Forces medic who killed his girlfriends husband wants Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene and shorten his six-decade prison sentence, saying that he deserves leniency because he helped put his girlfriend behind bars once he knew she had lied about being abused and used him in an elaborate murder-for-hire plot.

"I became her weapon," Darrin Lopez, 51, exclusively told NBCs "Dateline" in his first interview since being sentenced to 62 years in prison for murder. I understand that.

Darrin Lopez. (Courtesy Ashley Shaw)

"The true criminal is in jail for life, Lopez said from the Dallas County Jail before he was moved to a prison east of Waco. I helped put her there.

Lopez, 51, shot Jamie Faith, 49, while Faith was walking his dog on Oct. 9, 2020, outside his Dallas home with his wife, Jennifer Faith.

Lopez was convicted and sentenced in July. The previous year, in February 2022, Jennifer Faith pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire, admitting to prosecutors that she falsely convinced Lopez that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her.

In reality, Jamie Faith never hurt his wife and the allegations were fabricated, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert of Texas' Northern District told Dateline. But Jennifer Faith used fake email accounts and photos of previous injuries  as well as a picture of a bloody lip she got from a stock photography company  to convince Lopez otherwise, Calvert said.

Calvert called Faiths lies, which included violent sexual assaults by multiple people, some of the most sadistic things you can possibly dream up."

Jennifer Faith and Jamie Faith. (Attorney Juan Sanchez)

High school sweethearts reconnect

Jennifer Faith, a speech therapist, and her husband, an IT director with American Airlines, had been together for 15 years and had a teenage daughter when he was fatally shot. During her marriage, Jennifer Faith reconnected with Lopez, who she dated in high school. The pair had a seven-month emotional affair, Dallas County prosecutors said.

Jennifer Faith and Darrin Lopez at prom. (Attorney Juan Sanchez)

Lopez retired from the Army after six deployments to Iraq, said Andrew Cheramie, a supervisory special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who investigated the case. Lopez had earned a purple heart and a bronze star and suffered a traumatic brain injury in combat, Cheramie told Dateline."

Lopez and his wife separated in 2018, and hed become increasingly isolated while living on a large, rural property outside Nashville, Tenn., with two of his daughters during the pandemic, his lawyer, Juan Sanchez, said.

"So hes sitting in this farm on his computer, Sanchez told Dateline. And he says, you know what, Im going to try to reconnect with her. And he found her on LinkedIn and sent her an email. Thats how it all started.

Tens of thousands of messages

After reconnecting in March 2020, Lopez and Jennifer Faith talked often, trading tens of thousands of messages and phone calls in the months that followed, said Eric Barnes, a Dallas detective who investigated the case. Jennifer Faith called Lopez her soulmate and they came up with a five-year plan to be together.

Lopez said he had no intention of breaking up Jennifer Faiths marriage. When she told him there was no intimacy between her and her husband, Lopez said, he pushed her to be honest with him.

By April, Jennifer Faith told Lopez that her husband had discovered their relationship  and had begun abusing her. At one point, Lopez later told Calvert, she said her husband had sexually assaulted her and shed awoken to him performing CPR on her, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by Dateline.

Email correspondence between Jennifer Faith and Lopez showed that he wanted to alert American Airlines to the alleged abuse and pushed her to go to the police. But Jennifer Faith refused, telling Lopez that she didnt want her daughter to lose her father and feared doing so would only make the abuse worse, Calvert said.

She also told me that she would say nothings happening if he told authorities, Lopez told Dateline. She would deny everything to the police.'

'If I didnt do something, she was going to die'

As the Faiths' anniversary approached on Oct. 8, 2020, Lopez said he received text messages that appeared to be from Jamie Faith that threatened the sexual assault and possible drowning of Jennifer Faith.

So he drove 10 hours to Texas, convinced that if I didnt do something, she was going to die, he told Dateline. I made that commitment right there.

Darrin Lopez while in the military. (Attorney Juan Sanchez)

On Oct. 9, moments after the Faiths left their home to walk their dog, an armed Lopez approached Jamie Faith and squeezed the trigger nine times. Three bullets struck him in the head, Calvert said.

To make the killing look like a robbery, Lopez removed Jamie Faiths wedding ring, punched Jennifer Faith and bound her hands, Lopez later told Calvert, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by Dateline.

Then Lopez fled in his pickup. Somewhere in Arkansas, he told Calvert, he tossed Jamie Faiths ring out the window.

Pleading for help

In the killings aftermath, Jennifer Faith portrayed herself as a grieving widow and pleaded for help finding her husbands killer.

"My hope is that someday perhaps the person will realize the gravity of what theyve done, what theyve taken from myself and my daughter, she told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth at the time.

Lopez was arrested the following January after authorities tracked his pickup  a black Nissan with a distinctive T sticker  to his Tennessee home. Although he claimed that Jennifer Faith had deceived him, the local prosecutors office said, evidence shows Mr. Lopez took no logical steps to confirm the abuse or to otherwise secure Jennifer Faiths safety.

There were other avenues Darrin could take besides driving across multiple states and murdering someone in cold blood, Calvert said. But thats the option that he chose.

Jennifer Faith was arrested in February 2021 as investigators began untangling the plot to kill Jamie Faith. She was charged with obstruction of justice after authorities discovered that shed told Lopez to remove the T sticker from his truck, Calvert said.

Seven months later, Jennifer Faith was charged with murder-for-hire.

Lopezs lawyer, Juan Sanchez, said it took him six months to convince Lopez that Jennifer had fabricated the allegations. Once he came around, Lopez said, he was devastated.

"When I got arrested, I went to jail truly believing I saved Jennifer and her daughter, he told Dateline.

"That thought never registered in my mind that she could use me this way. I believe she loved me.

Lopez apologized to the Faiths daughter and said he couldnt forgive himself for what hed done. But he could help by working with prosecutors to put her away, he said.

Cooperating with officials

In October 2021, the month after Jennifer Faith was charged with murder-for-hire, Lopez spent two hours walking Calvert and other officials through the case. He told them about how theyd agreed to make the killing look like a robbery and how hed come up with a code word  575, the number of his Special Forces team  for her to use in text messages after she began claiming her husband was abusing her, according to the transcript.

Four months later, Jennifer Faith pleaded guilty. She was later sentenced to life in prison.

Lopez told Dateline his cooperation with prosecutors was instrumental.

"It was because of me that they were able to go to her and, 'Say hey, Darrins going to testify against you, he said. But when Lopez went to trial in July, prosecutors in Dallas County allowed the jury to hear few of these details, he said.

"The jury did not know how much help I gave, Lopez said.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for Texas Northern District declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Dallas County District Attorneys Office did not respond to a request for comment, nor did lawyers for Jennifer Faith.

In court, Lopezs lawyer argued that his client believed Jennifer Faith was facing immediate harm when he fatally shot her husband  a use of self-defense that can be considered justified under Texas law.

But a jury convicted Lopez and sentenced him to 62 years in prison.

How the jury saw it

In an interview with NBC News, a juror in Lopezs case recalled that it took little time for the jury to reach a verdict. The juror, who asked not to be identified because he didnt want to be publicly associated with the case, said the group didnt find the self-defense argument persuasive.

"There were far too many other options, he said.

But the jurys deliberations over how much time Lopez should serve took several hours, he said. Lopez faced five years to life in prison, and part of the group believed he should never step outside a cell again, the juror recalled.

For them, the juror said, the case was simple: This very innocent person is dead because of your decision.

Jamie Faith. (Courtesy Jason Snyder)

But others, at least initially, believed Lopez should spend far fewer years behind bars, including one who thought he should serve the minimum sentence, the juror said.

In the interview, the juror said he didnt view Lopez as an ongoing danger and believed the convicted killer had been manipulated  though he faulted Lopez for not asking bigger questions and pushing back more.

The panel eventually decided on 62 years  a number the juror said he was comfortable with after reviewing text messages that seemed to contradict Lopezs contention that he had no alternative but to fatally shoot Jamie Faith, he said.

The juror said Lopezs cooperation with authorities was briefly mentioned in court but not described in detail.

Now, Lopez said, he hopes Abbott will consider that assistance, along with his self-defense claim, and show him leniency.

Citing Abbotts promise to pardon Daniel Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant convicted of killing a protester in Austin in 2020, Lopez said he wasnt looking for a pardon, but for a reduction to his sentence.

Lopezs lawyer, Juan Sanchez, said he has not filed a request for clemency. The lawyer handling Lopezs appeal did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokeswoman for the governors office.
Illustration: Lex Villena

In 2022, fears erupted over "rainbow fentanyl," brightly colored fentanyl pills that were said to be designed by drug traffickers to lure innocent children into taking opioids. Parents were warned to be on the watch for the pillsespecially in their children's Halloween candy stash.

A warning from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) released last August warned that the increasing presence of brightly colored pills "appears to be a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people."

"Rainbow fentanylfentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizesis a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults," added DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.

However, it was startlingly easy to debunk panic over rainbow fentanyl. As it turns out, drug dealers have plenty of willing adult customers. So why would these they try to lure children, a customer base with no money of their own? And why would dealers give away valuable stock to do so?

"I'm skeptical that [dealers] would try to target children where there is not an existing market," Sally Satel, an addiction psychiatrist and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Reason's Lenore Skenazy in 2022. Considering the high risk of overdose in children, Satel added that "few would survive and come back for more."

Just as there are adult reasons for vape companies to sell flavored vape pods, which were the subject of another panic, there are adult reasons for dealers to color their fentanylnamely, to "brand [their] stuff."

But this hasn't kept fears over rainbow fentanyl from gaining momentum again as Halloween nears. Last week, police in Tulalip, Washington, warned parents after finding pastel-colored fentanyl pills at a local casino.

"This is a deliberate effort by the drug cartels to lure young users into using this addictive and deadly street drug," Tulalip Police Chief Chris Sutter said in a press release. "With Halloween coming up, children will be receiving and sharing candy, it is important that our Community know if rainbow pills are found, they are deadly, and to call the police."

Earlier this month, more "rainbow fentanyl" pills were also seized near Charlotte, North Carolina.

"Camel used Joe Camel, and it was a cartoon character. The reason they did that was to market to younger people who were more interested or swayed by the presence of a cartoon character," Charles Odell, the CEO of a local rehab center, told Queen City News, saying that rainbow fentanyl is a similar effort to attract kids.

It should be obvious that unscrupulous drug kingpins are trying to attract paying adults, not kids, with brightly colored fentanyl pills. Law enforcement has nonetheless remained eager to peddle this mythand foment unnecessary panic.

The post Despite Debunking, Rainbow Fentanyl Myths Continue appeared first on Reason.com.
As the federal government teeters on the brink of a shutdown, House Republicans are preparing to escalate their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Next up on their itinerary: the House Oversight Committee is planning to bring Hunter Bidens former business partner Tony Bobulinski to testify at an upcoming hearing, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell TIME.

While the appearance is not yet scheduled, sources say House Oversight Chair James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, is close to finalizing an agreement with Bobulinskis lawyers. GOP lawmakers plan to present Bobulinski as their first major fact witness at a hearing in October. But the proceeding is unlikely to take place while the government is shut down, the sources add, meaning it might hold until November, depending on how long it takes for legislators to resolve the impasse.

The next hearing could serve as a pivotal test for the Republican investigation into whether President Biden financially benefited from, or played a role in, his familys business activities. The probe has yet to uncover concrete proof of wrongdoing by the President. On Thursday, the Oversight Committee convened its first hearing since opening an impeachment inquiry. One of the GOPs witnesses, conservative law professor Jonathan Turley, told lawmakers they hadnt unveiled evidence to warrant articles of impeachment, but said the findings passed the threshold'' for an inquiry.

Bobulinski is a former business associate of both Hunter Biden and the Presidents brother, James Biden. He claims to have had a May 2017 meeting with Joe Biden about a deal Hunter Biden was pursuing with a Chinese energy company. While Hunter Bidens venture never received funds from the Chinese firm, Republicans say that Bobulinskis testimony is central to discrediting President Bidens assertion that he never discussed Hunters business dealings with his son.

Democrats have countered that Bobulinski is not a credible witness. They emphasize that he first emerged when former President Donald Trumps campaign invited him as a guest to one of the presidential debates in October 2020. "I've heard Joe Biden say that he's never discussed business with Hunter. That is false, Bobulinski told reporters at a press conference beforehand. I have firsthand knowledge about this because I directly dealt with the Biden family, including Joe Biden.

The White House dismissed Bobulinski as a discredited Biden antagonist whom Republicans are trotting out to tarnish the Presidents reputation. First, House Republicans called witnesses who conceded there is no evidence for impeachment, and next they reportedly plan to call a witness who served as a surrogate for former President Trump in 2020, Sharon Yang, a White House spokesperson, tells TIME. They are again making clear they will always prioritize leveling long-debunked political attacks against the President rather than putting American families first.

GOP interest in Bobulinski renewed after two IRS whistleblowers testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in June. One of them, Gary Shapley, told congressional investigators that the Department of Justice stymied investigative leads into Biden, including Bobulinskis allegations, in the summer and fall of 2020, when Trump was president and Bill Barr was attorney general.

CBS News reported in June that Bobulinskis attorney reached out in 2020 to U.S. Attorney David Weiss, the Trump-appointed prosecutor tasked with overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation, saying he was willing to testify before the grand jury. Weiss never returned their calls or asked for Bobulinskis testimony, according to the news outlet. Months before, then-Attorney General Barr had issued a customary election-year memo instructing prosecutors to avoid any actions that could influence the presidential race. Earlier this month, Weiss indicted Hunter Biden on three federal gun charges after an earlier plea deal fell apart.

Hunter Bidens attorney, Abbe Lowell, did not respond to a request for comment on Bobulinskis planned congressional testimony.

House Republicans are under pressure to present new evidence advancing their impeachment inquiry against Biden after Thursdays proceeding left some prominent right-wing figures frustrated and underwhelmed. Theres no evidence that Joe Biden did anything illegally, the conservative Fox News host Steve Doocy said on air afterwards. It was the same point Democrats on the committee had stressed. If Republicans had a smoking gun or even a dripping water pistol, they would be presenting it today, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the panel. But theyve got nothing.

Comer concluded the Thursday hearing by announcing that he was issuing subpoenas for Hunter and Jim Bidens personal and business banking records, which House Republicans believe will help to blow the case wide open. Theyre in trouble, one GOP lawmaker on the committee told TIME, referring to the Bidens. Ill tell you that right now.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
ANAHEIM, Calif.  Growing up in Mexico, Ruben Jimenez learned how to make paletas from scratch, helping his dad and grandpa, who were paleteros, make and sell the popular frozen popsicles at their store or in carts.

Jimenez, 35, has turned the modest family tradition into a sprawling Mexican paleta empire: La Michoacana Plus has more than 85 franchises across the U.S. in California, Arizona, Texas, Oregon, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi  and his vibrant shops featuring over 100 popsicle flavors and more than 50 ice cream flavors can be found as far away as Guatemala and even in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he opened the countrys first paleteria last year and is planning to open a second one. In a country known for its heat and where people don't drink alcohol but love sweets, the paletas have been a hit, Jimenez said.

If we opened in Dubai, I believe we can open in any part of the world, said Jimenez, who currently lives in Bakersfield, California, and whose business now has over 5,000 employees. La Michoacana is now a differentiator to recognize Mexico and its popsicles and ice cream.

Image: The opening of La Michoacana Plus in the United Arab Emirates. (Courtesy Ruben Jimenez)

Image: A mariachi band completes the opening of La Michocana Plus in the United Arab Emirates. (Courtesy Ruben Jimenez)

Jimenez and many others in the paleta business are banking on the Michoacan names instant recognition and the storied history behind it: Despite some debate and varying claims, the Mexican state is known as the birthplace of paletas and one of its towns, Tocumbo, has a giant paleta monument and hosts a weeklong yearly paleta festival.

Like many other paleta shop owners across the U.S., though, Jimenez doesnt hail from Michoacan. He was born in Nochistlan, in the state of Zacatecas, and was raised in Toluca.

Yet for Jimenez and others, his store's name was an obvious choice.

When I first named the shop 'La Michoacana Plus,' I was trying to find a name that historically represented the genesis of the paletas of Mexico. My objective was to bring the typical products of my country, Jimenez said.

Paletas with the name "Michoacana" have reached the U.S. mainstream and are sold in general supermarkets like Walmart, Smart & Final and Costco, among others. You can find a Michoacana paleteria from coast to coast and in-between, including in the Midwest, where theres a strong Latino presence.

Image: Paletas in a freezer at Lo Michoacana NYC. (Courtesy Lo Michoacana NYC)

In Mexico alone, it was estimated there were 30,000 paleterias over a decade ago; there's even been legal disputes over the use of the name, as Eater reported in 2019.

But in her 2011 book Paletas, Mexican chef and food writer Fany Gerson, who owns La NewYorkina, a paleteria in Brooklyn, wrote, Arguing that La Michoacana is a brand, its like saying ice cream is a brand.

Serena Maria Daniels wrote in Eater, People use the phrase La Michoacana as shorthand for a paleteria or ice cream shop in much the same way that people use the brand name Kleenex to mean facial tissue.

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In Mexico, paletas  some of them homemade  are commonplace and are sold from pushcarts or in shops or paleterias. Making and selling the frozen treats have allowed families a path toward economic mobility without any formal education or capital.

As Gerson describes in her book, the word "paleta derives from the Spanish word palo, which means stick. The popsicles are typically water or dairy-based and come in a variety of fruit and other flavors; they can include other ingredients such as fresh fruit chunks and condiments to provide texture.

Image: Arely Flores, 4, eats a bubble gum flavored paleta in Garden Grove, Calif., in 2007. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images file)

A frozen path to success

Alberto Lezama Carrasco, a New York City native, was on vacation in Los Angeles when he noticed there was an unusual amount of paleterias in the region  all with the namesake of Michoacana.

He took the business concept to the Big Apple and opened up La Michoacana NYC in Brooklyn last year. Its become an instant hit, attracting people from different parts of New York City and surrounding states: He said customers drive a few hours from as far as Pennsylvania, upstate New York and Connecticut to buy his products.

People say, Theres a Michoacana? and get surprised, said Carrasco, 38, referring to the fact there's not as many Michoacanas in New York City as in Los Angeles, Chicago or Mexico. He said people who travel the farthest are mostly Hispanic: "a lot of Mexicans, Central Americans, like people from El Salvador and Honduras," he said.

Like Jimenez, Carrasco isnt from Michoacan. Hes from Tlacotepec de Benito Juarez, in the state of Puebla. He cranks out up to 5,000 paletas on a given day, depending on demand and orders. Apart from his own business, he distributes paletas and ice cream to local delis and bodegas. Some workdays he begins molding batches of paletas and prepping dozens of ice cream buckets at 8 a.m. and finishes around midnight.

Life in Mexico is much different, said Carrasco, who grew up poor and unable to afford his own paleta; he had to share a popsicle with family members. Now Im the one making the ice cream, he said.

Kids have come here and asked if they could buy ice cream for $1, Carrasco said, which reminds him of his memories growing up in Mexico. I say its OK and give them ice cream.

Image: Paletas, in flavors like watermelon, guava and mango-chili. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images file)

More competition  and creativity

With the widespread number of Michoacanas, competition has spurred store owners to get creative with unique flavors to differentiate their establishments. They've added popular Mexican snacks, or antojitos, to their menu, built more elaborate and eye-catching storefronts and posted their products online to draw customers.

In Haines City, Florida, Fernanda Contreras, 26, started La Michoacana Natural with her boyfriend and his family in 2019. Theyve quickly expanded by adding three more shops in the region.

There is obviously always an option of just branding it your own and not calling it a Michoacana, but we wanted to try it out. I feel like myself when I hear Michoacana, I just know exactly what they sell, said Contreras, who is Mexican American and grew up in Chicago seeing Michoacanas all over the place. People just knew immediately too, like, Oh, its a Michoacana. They know what we sell. They know what theyre coming for, what theyre going to find.

Contreras said their stores offer traditional paleta and ice cream flavors found across most Michoacanas, like lime, coconut and fresas con crema  strawberries and cream. But it hasnt stopped them from experimenting. Every month or so they create a new flavor. Theyve previously made vanilla paletas filled with Nutella that oozes out once it's bitten into and a gummy bear paleta, among other confections.

Like most Michoacanas, which also serve as a sort of candy store, La Michoacana Natural features popular Mexican snacks and trendy items, like mini pancakes.

We sell a crazy amount of mini pancakes, people love them  we have churros and obviously the big item that everybody looks for is tostilocos, said Contreras, referring to the popular Mexican street snack made with Tostitos, vegetables, hot sauce, nuts and other ingredients. Growing up, though, I dont remember seeing a lot of antojitos (snacks) to be honest with you  at least not in Mexico. It was mainly known for ice cream, paletas [and] aguas frescas" (water infused with fruit and citrus).

As Michoacana menus have grown and diversified over the years, Contreras said paletas and ice cream remain top sellers at their shops, but antojitos do help drive customers to their locations and to other Michoacanas nationwide.

It can be overwhelming when people come and just assume theyre all the same, that they offer the same and they expect the same, Contreras said. Everybody just kind of puts their own touch to the mold and changes little things here and there. And its cool to bring a little piece of Mexico to every [U.S.] state because you could really find them almost everywhere now.

IMage: Mauro Rios Parra sells paletas in Pic Union, near Los Angeles, in 2020. Parra came to the United States from Mexico 20 years ago, and has sold paletas to support his family. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images file)

Diehard fans

In Southern California, Jennifer Clausen-Quiroz, 36, and her brother Ricardo Quiroz, 31, have been managing Tocumbo Ice Cream in Anaheim since 2016.

Tocumbo is also a common name for paleterias, according to Gersons book, along with La Michoacana and La Flor de Michoacan on either side of the border.

In Mexico, you dont even need to be from Tocumbo, not even from Michoacan to open up a Michoacana," Quiroz said. "Usually if you open up a Michoacana it means you went to Michoacan to learn how to make paletas, how to make ice cream and over there its common."

Image: Jennifer Clausen-Quiroz at Tocumbo Ice Cream in Anaheim, Calif. (Edwin Flores / NBC News)

The Quiroz family is from Cotija de la Paz, a city next to Tocumbo. Their uncle Gerardo Ramirez opened up paleterias originally with the namesake Michoacana in San Diego more than 20 years ago, but later renamed them after Tocumbo since people also associate it with paletas.

Clausen-Quiroz recalled her fathers stories of growing up near Tocumbo. He would say "if you were trying to impress a lady or something, you would take her to Tocumbo for some ice cream, she said.

Aside from the store in Anaheim, the family has four other locations in San Diego, and they strive to stay authentic by sourcing ingredients locally and importing items from Mexico.

Because of the exposure Michoacanas have received, Clausen-Quiroz said customers assume their business is affiliated with a Michoacana brand and expect certain flavors, prices and quality.

People just assume that were a Michoacana and that we are franchise and that we buy from the same supplier. Though that's not the case, its not all bad. She said the exposure has made paletas and Mexican ice cream mainstream.

People that are not Hispanic or Mexican can say, hey, like, I understand. I know what a paleta is, You dont have to tell me its a popsicle.' Or they understand that our ice cream, its like, its good ice cream, its not going to be something that we buy from a wholesaler, Clausen-Quiroz said.

We have some pretty good diehard fans that are good at, like, word of mouth, Clausen-Quiroz said. Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano said Tocumbo was his favorite restaurant.

Clausen-Quiroz said they regularly get customers who drive from other parts of the state or recurring tourists from nearby Disneyland. One customer drove from Las Vegas for his paletas  they sent him off with dry ice to make it back home.

Weve had people from like the U.K. and, like, places in Canada that have just heard about us," Clausen-Quiroz said, "or they have family members that live here that, you know, they make it a point to make it a stop."

In New York, Carrasco reflected on the frozen treat and the popular name used by store owners like him.

I think its a blessing to have this business concept in Mexico and to bring it over here to the U.S. and other parts of the world, because in reality, people are very content," he said. "I believe that it doesnt only signify Mexicans, but people from all over the world, love the products from la Michoacanas."
Foreign Minister Park Jin visited France last week to engage in campaign activities for Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in the southeastern port city of Busan, Seoul's foreign ministry said Saturday.

During the two-day visit to Paris from Thursday, Park held a dinner meeting with Dimitri Kerkentzes, secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which oversees the quinquennial global event, and emphasized Busan's competitiveness with regards to leading conversations on pending global issues, such as climate change and digital transformation.

Park also met with ambassadors from seven countries that are members of the BIE to stress how Busan could serve as a dialogue platform for solutions for pressing global challenges.

The minister also participated in a roundtable discussion at the French Institute of International Relations, or the IFRI, in Paris.

The BIE plans to select the host city for the World Expo in late November. The current candidates for the 2030 gathering are Busan, Riyadh of Saudi Arabia and Rome. (Yonhap)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein with then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2006. (Deanne Fitzmaurice / Associated Press)

The death of California's venerable Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein turns attention to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who now faces the politically challenging task of appointing someone to fill the seat of his mentor.

Though the moment offers a rare opportunity for the Democratic governor to shape California's representation at the highest levels of government and deepen his influence on the future of the state Democratic Party, any decision he makes is all but guaranteed to frustrate his allies and leave him vulnerable to criticism from within his own party.

Newsom is in a pickle here," said Steven Smith, a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis.

The governor recently reiterated his pledge from three years ago to appoint a Black woman to the Senate if a vacancy opened up.

The 100-member Senate does not include a Black woman, a void left when California's Kamala Harris vacated her seat in 2021 to become vice president and Newsom tapped then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla to the coveted post.

But Newsom is also under pressure to not stick his thumb on the scale of the hotly contested 2024 U.S. Senate race. Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland is the only Black woman among several high-profile candidates vying for the seat.

The Democratic governor of California told NBC's Chuck Todd earlier this month that he would make an "interim appointment" to the position if a seat in the Senate became vacant, signaling his intent to put a temporary caretaker in the role until voters choose a new senator in November 2024.

His comments inspired immediate pushback from Lee and other groups advocating for Black representation in the Senate.

Black women deserve more than a participation trophy. We need a seat at the table," Lee said at the time. The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election.

By Friday afternoon, prominent progressive organizations throughout the state had issued statements calling on Newsom to select Lee.

Aimee Allison, founder and president of She the People, an advocacy group that pushes for more women of color to hold elected office, said Black women are the "voting and organizing center of the national Democratic Party."

"Gov. Newsom should use the full force of his political influence, as he did with the appointment of Senator Padilla, to ensure Black women in California and every state are represented for the long term," she said in a statement.

Newsom has indicated he has several people in mind, but has not divulged any names.

The governor's reticence has done little to douse speculation about those potentially under consideration for an interim appointment, a list that includes some of California's most prominent politicians and influential activists and community leaders, including California Secretary of State Shirley Weber; San Francisco Mayor London Breed; civil rights leader Angela Glover Blackwell; and human rights activist Lateefah Simon, who is running to replace Lee in Congress.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and Los Angeles' Rep. Maxine Waters already have said they are not interested. A representative for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass shot down speculation earlier this year that she might consider the job.

The appointment gives Newsom another opportunity to leave his mark on the Democratic Party after his time in the governor's office ends.

After appointing Padilla to fill Harris' seat in the Senate, he tapped Shirley Weber as California secretary of state and chose Rob Bonta as California attorney general.

In a statement about Feinstein's death, Newsom called her "a powerful, trailblazing US Senator; an early voice for gun control; a leader in times of tragedy and chaos."

Read more:Dianne Feinstein, the first woman to represent California in the Senate, dies at 90

"But to me, she was a dear friend, a lifelong mentor, and a role model not only for me, but to my wife and daughters for what a powerful, effective leader looks like," Newsom said. "She was a political giant, whose tenacity was matched by her grace. She broke down barriers and glass ceilings, but never lost her belief in the spirit of political cooperation."

He did not address his deliberations about how to fill the vacancy.

Speculation about whom Newsom would chose to replace Feinstein heightened as her health declined and Californians lost confidence in her ability to serve. Feinstein announced last year that she would not run for another term.

Appointing someone who does not intend to run for the seat in the 2024 election would allow the governor to avoid stepping on the toes of the Democratic candidates vying to replace her and the interest groups backing them.

"I don't want to get involved in the primary," Newsom told NBC earlier this month. "It would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away. I don't want to tip the balance of that."

Read more:Newsom pledges to appoint a Black woman to replace Feinstein if she retires

Smith said Newsom has to be careful not to "alienate a whole swath of California Democrats" with his decision.

"If he has an interest in the presidency, he wants his whole party in California behind him," Smith said of the governor's political future. "And so I can see why he would then want a caretaker, because then he wouldnt be choosing among the live candidates for the spot."

Pressure from national Democrats for Newsom to move quickly could be high. Congress is facing not only a government shutdown this weekend, but several major votes this fall, and cannot have Californias Senate seat open for long, Smith said.

I wouldnt be surprised if [Senate Majority Leader Charles E.] Schumer is on the phone with Newsom sometime today and saying, 'Can you do this today or tomorrow,' and maybe hell have a suggestion, Smith said. Having a Democrat in that seat is really a high priority, and any delay could be a pretty serious problem.

Beyond Lee, several other high-profile Democratic candidates have emerged on the 2024 ballot to succeed Feinstein.

Democratic Reps. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank and Katie Porter of Irvine lead in the polls and the money race.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), an ally to Newsom, endorsed Schiff in February.

Wendy Schiller, an associate professor of public policy at Brown University and expert on the Senate, said if Newsom holds to his plan to appoint a placeholder, that person will be a lame duck and struggle to get anything accomplished.

If you want a really strong advocate for the state of California for the next year or a year and a couple months, do you really want somebody whos just a placeholder?" Schiller said. "You know, I mean, I understand you have a lot of seats in the House, but the House is majority Republican. So if youre California, you probably want somebody who might have an interest in running for the seat for a full term."

At this point, it would be difficult for Newsom to do anything other than what he promised.

"Changing his mind would make him seem indecisive and cause an uproar as he introduces himself to a national audience," said Rose Kapolczynski, a Democratic strategist who ran Barbara Boxers Senate campaigns.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
VATICAN CITY (AP)  Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals at a ritual-filled ceremony Saturday, including key figures at the Vatican and in the field who will help enact his reforms and cement his legacy as he enters a crucial new phase in running the Catholic Church.

On a crisp sunny day filled with cheers from St. Peter's Square, Francis further expanded his influence on the College of Cardinals who will one day elect his successor: With Saturday's additions, nearly three-quarters of the voting-age princes of the church owe their red hats to the Argentine Jesuit.

In his instructions to the new cardinals at the start of the service, Francis said their variety and geographic diversity would serve the church like musicians in an orchestra, where sometimes they play solos, sometimes as an ensemble.

Diversity is necessary; it is indispensable. However, each sound must contribute to the common design," Francis told them. "This is why mutual listening is essential: each musician must listen to the others.

Among the new cardinals were the controversial new head of the Vaticans doctrine office, Victor Manuel Fernandez, and the Chicago-born missionary now responsible for vetting bishop candidates around the globe, Robert Prevost.

Also entering the exclusive club were the Vaticans ambassadors to the United States and Italy, two important diplomatic posts where the Holy See has a keen interest in reforming the church hierarchy. Leaders of the church in geopolitical hotspots like Hong Kong and Jerusalem, fragile communities like Juba, South Sudan, and sentimental favorites like Cordoba, Argentina, filled out the roster.

The ceremony took place days before Francis opens a big meeting of bishops and lay Catholics on charting the churchs future, where hot-button issues such as womens roles in the church, LGBTQ+ Catholics and priestly celibacy are up for discussion.

The Oct. 4-29 synod is the first of two sessions  the second one comes next year -- that in many ways could cement Francis legacy as he seeks to make the church a place where all are welcomed, where pastors listen to their flocks and accompany them rather than judge them.

In his comments to the new cardinals, Francis referred to the synod and the task awaiting the church. Speaking of himself, Francis said the orchestra's conductor has to listen more than anyone else."

At the same time, he added, the conductor must "help each person and the whole orchestra develop the greatest creative fidelity: fidelity to the work being performed, but also creative, able to give a soul to the score, to make it resonate in the here and now in a unique way.

Several of the new cardinals are voting members of the synod and have made clear they share Francis vision of a church that is more about the people in the pews than the hierarchy, and that creative change is necessary. Among them is Fernandez, known as the popes theologian and perhaps Francis most consequential Vatican appointment in his 10-year pontificate.

In his letter naming Fernandez as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Francis made clear he wanted his fellow Argentine to oversee a radical break from the past, saying the former Holy Office often resorted to immoral methods to enforce its will.

Rather than condemn and judge, Francis said he wanted a doctrine office that guards the faith and gives people hope. He also made clear Fernandez wouldnt have to deal with sex abuse cases, saying the offices discipline section could handle that dossier.

It was a much-debated decision given Fernandez himself has admitted he made mistakes handling a case while he was bishop in La Plata, Argentina, and that the scale of the problem globally has long cried out for authoritative, high-ranking leadership.

On the eve of the consistory to make Fernandez a cardinal, clergy abuse survivors including a La Plata victim rallied near the Vatican, calling on Francis to rescind the nomination.

No bishop who has covered up child sex crimes and ignored and dismissed victims of clergy abuse in his diocese should be running the office that oversees, investigates, and prosecutes clergy sex offenders from around the world, or be made a cardinal, said Julieta Anazco, the La Plata survivor, according to a statement from the End Clergy Abuse.

With Saturdays ceremony, Francis will have named 99 of the 137 cardinals who are under age 80 and thus eligible to vote in a future conclave to elect his successor. While not all are cookie-cutter proteges of the 86-year-old reigning pontiff, many share Francis pastoral emphasis as opposed to the doctrinaire-minded cardinals often selected by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Such a huge proportion of Francis-nominated cardinals almost ensures that a future pope will either be one of his own cardinals or one who managed to secured their votes to lead the church after Francis is gone, suggesting a certain continuity in priorities.

Europe still has the most voting-age cardinals with 52, followed by the Americas with 39 and Asia with 24.

The ceremony officially installing them followed a ritual in which each man takes an oath to obey the pope, remain faithful to Christ and serve the church. Francis reminded them that they were wearing red as a sign that they must be strong even to the shedding of blood to spread the faith.

One of the 21 new cardinals couldn't make the ceremony because of poor health: Cardinal Luis Pascual Dri, a Franciscan from the pope's native Buenos Aires, who is one of the churchmen over age 80 who cannot vote in a conclave but was elevated as a sign of gratitude for his service to the church.

Several of the new cardinals are running the church in delicate spots, including the archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow. He is a key figure as the Vatican tries to work with the ruling Communist Party in Beijing over thorny issues concerning the life of the Catholic Church in China amid the government's ongoing crackdown on religion.

Chow told The Associated Press he understands the Chinese mentality, and hopes to help the Vatican understand it with empathy. It is very important to cultivate empathy if you want to have good dialogue, he said.

The archbishop of Juba, Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, recently hosted Francis during his February visit to South Sudan and said the issue of the region's conflict was a constant concern for the church.

This country has been divided by war and ongoing war since 50 years ago, he said. Now we are trying our best to bring people together.
Vladimir Putins forces launched overnight drone and missile attacks that targeted Ukraines eastern and southern parts as the war-hit countrys officials ordered the evacuation of an infrastructure site that was targeted.

Ukraines air force said Russias forces launched a swarm of Shahed drones from Crimea and the Black Sea in an overnight offensive on Saturday.

One of the strikes targeted an infrastructure site in the Vinnytsia region as the air force warned of the threat of ballistic missiles.

Authorities asked people to stay in shelters and said a general evacuation was not yet necessary apart from the immediate area where the strike occurred.

At this time there is no need for a general evacuation, apart from the immediate area around the site of the hit, said Vasyl Polishchuk, head of administration for the town of Kalynivka, according to the towns website.

Attack UAVs are moving in the north-west direction. A threat to the Vinnytsia region. Stay in shelters! it said on its official Telegram channel.

The officials did not mention what target was struck and what weapon had been used.

However, regional governor Serhiy Borzov said the hit was made on an unspecified infrastructure site, a term used by Ukrainian officials to refer to facilities involved in power generation and other industries.

The governor announced an air raid alert at 1.10am local time and within an hour, he reported a strike.

An initial air raid warning for an anticipated strike was announced at 11.17pm in western Ukraines Vinnytsia, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad oblasts.

Ukrainian air forces issued more than 40 air raid alerts on its Telegram channels for Donetsk, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions among several other cities as Russian forced launched a massive wave of attacks overnight.

Air-raid alerts and warnings were issued throughout the night.

It warned of the threat of using ballistic weapons in areas where the alarm has been declared.

Dont Ignore Airborne Alarms! Head for cover, read another alert around 6.30am.

On Friday evening, the air force of Ukraines armed forces said several groups of drones were fired from the Crimean peninsula.
By Jan Lopatka

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) -Slovakia's parliamentary election was poised on a knife's edge on Sunday with exit polls handing liberal party Progressive Slovakia (PS) an initial lead while early official results put former leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico's party on top.

With 30% of voting districts reporting, the SMER-SSD party led by Fico - who has vowed to end military aid to Ukraine - led with nearly 25% of the vote. The HLAS party and potential Fico ally followed at 17%, with PS in third with 13% of the vote.

"What has been counted are small districts," said Robert Kalinak, a SMER-SSD candidate and long-time Fico ally. "It all depends on when you have 50%, a critical mass of voters. Then you can start thinking about how many votes can still shift."

The early results came mostly from Fico strongholds outside the major cities where voters are likely to favour the PS party.

The PS party has advocated maintaining Slovakia's strong backing for Ukraine, and would also likely follow a liberal line within the European Union on issues such as majority voting to make the bloc more flexible, green policies and LGBTQ+ rights.

"I want everyone to be prepared for a probably long and tense night," PS party leader Michal Simecka, a former reporter and Oxford graduate, told supporters.

A government led by Fico and his SMER-SSD party would see NATO member Slovakia joining Hungary in challenging the European Union's consensus on support for Ukraine, just as the bloc looks to maintain unity in opposing Russia's invasion.

With no party projected to win an outright majority, forming a new government will hinge on results for more than half a dozen smaller parties, from libertarians to far-right extremists.

An exit poll by Focus agency for TV Markiza showed PS winning 23.5% of the vote, ahead of 21.9% for three-time prime minister Fico's SMER-SSD party.

A second exit poll by Median agency for public broadcaster RTVS showed the liberal party winning 19.97% of the vote, ahead of 19.09% for SMER-SSD.

Mikulas Hanes, a political analyst at NMS Market Research Slovensko, said the exit poll by Focus showed Fico will have difficulty forming a government as potential ally the Slovak National Party (SNS) looked uncertain to win seats.

"If it does, it will be a fight for every single deputy," he said.

Any coalition that PS could potentially form would likely need to include more right-wing or socially conservative parties, which would blunt its socially progressive and EU integration drive.

Former Fico party colleague Peter Pellegrini, whose HLAS (Voice) party sat third in exit polls, kept his options open on future coalitions but ruled out working with the far-right Republika party when speaking to reporters on live television after the initial projections came out.

The incoming government in the nation of 5.5 million will take over a ballooning budget deficit forecast to be the highest in the euro zone.

Fico has ridden on dissatisfaction with a bickering centre-right coalition whose government collapsed last year, triggering the election six months early. In campaigning, he stressed concern about a rise in the number of migrants passing through Slovakia to Western Europe.

Fico's views reflect traditionally warm sentiments towards Russia among many Slovaks, which have gathered strength on social media since the Ukraine war started.

Fico has also pledged to end military supplies to Ukraine and to strive for peace talks - a line close to that of Hungary's leader, Viktor Orban, but rejected by Ukraine and its allies, who say this would only encourage Russia.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka, David W. Cerny, Hedy Beloucif and and Radovan Stoklasa in Bratislava; Additional reporting by Jason Hovet and Michael Kahn in Prague; Writing by Michael Kahn; Editing by Helen Popper, David Holmes, Leslie Adler and Daniel Wallis)
Ada Briceno, chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County, center, tries to keep the group from engaging with Trump supporters, right, during the California Republican Party Convention at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel on Friday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Headed to Disneyland, Eric Bernsen and his family left their hotel in the Anaheim resort area Friday in Pooh hats, Maleficent ears and personalized Sleeping Beauty Castle shirts.

They did not know that Donald Trump was in town, and as they left the lobby they walked into a surprise: a scuffle between local Democrats and supporters of the former president.

"We've never seen anything like it," said Bernsen, 32, who brought his family down from Fresno to celebrate his wedding anniversary at the theme park. "We had to stop and watch."

Nobody was reported hurt or arrested, but people pushed and shouted in each other's faces outside the convention center where Trump was speaking to the California GOP.

Supporters of former President Trump gathered outside the site of the California Republican Convention in Anaheim on Friday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Orange County Democratic Party Chair Ada Briceno was jostled, stretching her arms out to keep the two sides from physical confrontation.

"Biden won in Orange County," Briceno said. "It's really important for us to show that Trump is not welcomed here."

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, hundreds of Trump supporters rallied boisterously while "God Bless the USA" blasted on repeat. One prominent poster featured Trump glowering in monarch's garb beside the words BEND THE KNEE TO THE GREAT MAGA KING!

When Democrats tried to speak in front of the Hilton at a makeshift podium, Trump supporters interrupted them with yells of "This is MAGA country!"

One of the Democrats, Gerlind Kennedy of Dana Point, shook her head.

Read more:Photos: Trump, supporters descend on Anaheim for GOP convention

"I don't even know what that means," said Kennedy, 79. She motioned to the Trump crowd and said, "When you have radical people like this, they have no understanding of their country's history."

Adrian Gonzalez, 26, of Los Angeles came out to support the former president. He waved a flag that said "Don't tread on Trump."

"He's putting America first and keeping our country safe by building a wall to keep our borders secure," Gonzalez said. "He was also tough on China during the COVID pandemic. And he's still standing after everything the Democrats threw at him."

Kimberly Nguyen of Pasadena said she supported Trump because she left communist Vietnam in the 1990s and did not want America to become like the nation she fled.

"Without him, America has gone to hell in a handbasket," Nguyen said.

Meanwhile, the Disney tourists kept trooping past, the Mickey glitter-ears lost in a sea of red shirts and Trump hats.

Bernsen, the tourist from Fresno, said his 8-year-old son, Brayden, was unhappy with the delay as his parents stopped to watch the arguing. The boy was thinking about the rides.

"He's a little frustrated with us right now," Bernsen said, smiling at his son. "He's like, 'This is adult stuff and you said we're going to Disneyland, and now you better go and find me the most expensive gift at Disneyland because I have to sit around and wait.'"

Ashlyn Bassetti, down from Monterey County, was pushing a stroller to the theme park past arguing Democrats and Republicans.

"I woke up at 7 a.m. to the protests," said Bassetti, 31. "I couldn't even sleep in on my vacation."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
ATLANTA  Scott Hall, one of the 18 defendants charged along with former President Donald Trump for allegedly interfering with the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, pleaded guilty Friday.

Hall is the first defendant to enter a plea in the case.

Under the terms of an agreement with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' office, Hall pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges and will be sentenced to five years' probation, if he abides by the terms of the deal. He also agreed to testify in related court hearings and trials stemming from the sprawling 41-count indictment that was unsealed in August.

Scott Hall. (Fulton County Sheriff's Office )

Do you understand that conditions of your probation in this sentence is that you testify truthfully at any further court proceedings to include trials of any co-defendants that is listed on the original indictment in which you were charged, the DA's office asked Hall in a Friday afternoon hearing before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee.

Yes, maam, he responded.

Hall pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of an election.

Hall, 59, is a bail bondsman who was hit with charges relating to a voting system breach in Georgias Coffee County in early 2021. He was also the first of the 19 defendants charged in the case to surrender last month.

Also named in the indictment as participating in the Coffee County conspiracy was former Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who is scheduled to stand trial on those charges in late October. Powell has pleaded not guilty.

In the indictment, Hall was charged with numerous felony counts: violation of the Georgia RICO Act; two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud; conspiracy to commit computer theft; conspiracy to commit computer trespass; conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy; and conspiracy to defraud the state.

Under the terms of the plea deal, Hall will also have to write an apology letter to the state for his conduct, pay a $5,000 fine, serve 200 hours of community service and provide the DA's office with a recorded statement, which he has already done.

A spokesperson for the DAs office declined comment on the plea deal. An attorney for Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In other court activity Friday, U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones denied bids by former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and three so-called "alternate electors" to move their cases to federal court. The four were among the 19 indicted in Fulton County last month.

Clark had argued that he was acting in his federal capacity when he urged DOJ brass to intervene in the 2020 election. He allegedly pressed then-acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to send an official Justice Department letter to Georgias governor and legislative leaders on Dec. 28 saying the DOJ had identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.

Rosen refused to do so despite pressure from Trump  who had threatened to fire and replace him with Clark  because the Justice Department had found no evidence of significant fraud.

The DA's office noted that Clark's duties at the Justice Department did not having anything to do with election fraud, and contended that Clark had exceeded his authority.

At a hearing on the issue this month, a lawyer for Clark suggested  but did not explicitly state  that Clark was working at Trump's direction.

In his ruling Friday, Jones found "Clark has submitted no evidence that the December 28 letter was written within the scope of his role" at the Justice Department.

"To the contrary, the evidence before the Court indicates the opposite: Clarks role in the Civil Division did not include any role in the investigation or oversight of State elections," the judge wrote, denying his bid to move the case.

An attorney for Clark did not respond to a request for comment.

In separate rulings Friday, Jones also rejected similar requests from defendants David Shafer, Shawn Still and Cathy Latham, who acted as 2020 electors for Trump in Georgia. The indictment said the three, who've pleaded not guilty, unlawfully falsely held themselves out as the duly elected and qualified presidential electors from the State of Georgia, even though Joe Biden had won the state.

The three defendants argued they were carrying out federal duties in their role as electors, and should therefore have their case heard in federal court. Jones disagreed.

"In sum, the Court finds that presidential electors, or the Republican nominated presidential electors in this case, are not federal officers," the judge wrote in one of his rulings.

"Even though electors are engaging in a federal functions when they meet and cast their ballots, that is insufficient to make someone a federal officer. To find otherwise would convert all citizens who can lawfully vote into federal officers when they cast their ballot for U.S. House of Representatives," Jones wrote.

William Cromwell, an attorney for Latham, said, "We plan to appeal this decision."

Craig Gillen, a lawyer for Shafer, said he was reviewing the decision and declined comment. An attorney for Still did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.

The judge denied a similar bid by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows this month. Meadows is appealing the ruling.

In a court filing Thursday, attorneys for Trump said the former president would not seek to move his Georgia election interference charges to federal court.

Trump had previously indicated in a court filing that he might seek to move his case to a federal venue.

This decision is based on his well-founded confidence that this Honorable Court intends to fully and completely protect his constitutional right to a fair trial and guarantee him due process of law throughout the prosecution of his case in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, Trump attorney Steven Sadow wrote in a letter to McAfee.


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Samsung SDI will spend $1.97 billion on its second battery manufacturing facility it is building in the United States jointly with Stellantis N.V., the South Korean battery maker said in a filing Wednesday.

The disclosure came about two months after their U.S. venture, StarPlus Energy, announced a plan to build a second battery plant in Indiana in addition to the first factory under construction in the U.S. state.

The amount of investment for the second plant corresponds to Samsung SDI's 51 percent stake in the envisioned project. The investment will be made over the period of April 2024 to November 2027, the filing showed.

The second battery plant will aim to go into operation in 2027 with an initial production capacity of 34 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year.

The location of the new plant has not been decided.

The two companies established the battery venture in October 2021 and announced in May 2022 the plan for the first battery manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Indiana.

The first factory aims to have an annual production of 33 GWh, up from the initial target of 23 GWh, with operations set to begin in the first quarter of 2025. (Yonhap)
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Cyprus has strongly condemned Azerbaijans military action in Nagorno-Karabakh and noted that it constitutes ethnic cleansing.

In a statement, the Cypriot foreign ministry said Cyprus is ready to take in forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh in case of necessity.

Cyprus strongly condemns Azerbaijans military actions in NK and the gross violation of the 2020 November 9 trilateral statement, it added.

Undoubtably, these unilateral actions by Azerbaijan are acts of ethnic cleansing, and therefore it must receive a relevant and resolute reaction by the international community, the Cypriot foreign ministry said, calling on Baku to refrain from any further military actions and to respect its obligations towards Armenias territorial integrity under the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration.

Cyprus also reiterated its call for dialogue to ensure the rights and security of the Armenians of NK and to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region.

It also expressed readiness to provide humanitarian aid to the forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Among other issues, ways for accommodating a number of displaced Armenians in our country are being considered in case of such necessity, the Cypriot foreign ministry said.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The number of forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh whove crossed into Armenia reached 100,417 as of Saturday morning, the prime ministers spokesperson Nazeli Baghdasaryan said.

According to the latest information, 32,200 of the forcibly displaced persons had accepted the accommodation provided by the Armenian government.

The Armenian government offers accommodation to all arriving forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh. Some of the forcibly displaced persons chose to stay with their relatives or friends in Armenia.
Over the years, political discourse in the worlds largest democracy, has reached a new low.

In 1911, the British decided to shift their capital from Kolkata to a new city, New Delhi. The entire project, including the imposing Viceroys palace (now Rashtrapati Bhavan), and the North and South Blocks, leading through a wide boulevard, Kings Way, to India Gate, took twenty years to finish. In 1931, the new capital was inaugurated, intended to be a monumental assertion of British rule, a way to awe the natives into accepting continued colonial hegemony. But it was too late. By then the freedom movement had gathered renewed momentum. The British had to leave their grand creation, New Delhi, in 1947.

I recall this to illustrate that often in the construction of new edifices, there is a fatal gap between the probable ideological intentions of the architects, and the reality that follows. On September 19, 2023, Prime Minister (PM) Modi formally jettisoned the old Parliament, and moved to the grandiose new one adjacent to it. In his statesman-like speech to bid farewell to the old, he hoped that the new Parliament would also lead to better, less disruptive, more cooperative and dignified parliamentary proceedings, where debates would be carried out with civility and decorum. He further assured the Speaker that, on his part, he would ensure that all members of his party would conform to this new resolve.

However, just as the intentions of the British with regard to their grand new capital were belied, the PMs hopes  and promises  about the new Parliament were also shattered, that too in its very first session. Ramesh Bidhuri, a BJP MP in the Lok Sabha (LS), used language against Kunwar Danish Ali, a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP, that left the nation shocked. Full of invectives, and unmentionable abuse about him and Muslims in general, it was a disgraceful reminder that however beautiful the new Parliament may be physically, its spirit is even uglier than that of the old. Nothing has changed, but things could only perhaps worsen.

Over the years, political discourse in the worlds largest democracy, has reached a new low. Abuses, slurs, racist comments, and undesirable personal attacks, have become the new normal. The worst exceptions of the past, when Parliament was indeed a forum for civilised discourse, have become the best examples of parliamentary proceedings today. But rarely, have we ever witnessed, in the very temple of our democracy, the kind of abusive and racist language used by Bidhuri against Danish Ali. What is worse is that two respected BJP MPs, Harsh Vardhan and Ravi Shankar Prasad, who have been senior ministers, could be seen laughing at the disgusting language used by their party colleague.

To be fair, Rajnath Singh, Raksha Mantri, stood up to express regret at what Mr Bidhuri had said. But there was no outright condemnation either by the PM, who is also the Leader of the Lok Sabha, nor by any other senior leader of the BJP. On the contrary, there was a concerted attempt the very next day by some BJP leaders to condone Mr Bidhuris unpardonable language by saying that he was provoked by Danish Alis alleged derogatory remarks about the PM. Mr Ali has denied these allegations, but if true he, too, needs to be chastised by his party leader, Mayawati, and to render an apology.

However, there is little doubt that Mr Bidhuris language has shamed his party. In the past, too, Prime Minister Modi has expressed sorrow for the comments made by senior members of his party, including MPs and ministers. In 2019, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur Singh, a member of the LS, said inside Parliament and outside, that Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, was a deshbhakt (patriot). Although she attempted a half-hearted apology for her outrageous comment, the PM said that he will never be able to forgive her. But she has remained a BJP MP. Will she be given a ticket again by the party in 2024? Sakshi Maharaj, another BJP LS member, had said the same thing in 2014. There were reports that Mr Modi was annoyed by his comment, but no punitive action was taken, except for Sakshi Maharaj apologising for his comment. In the same year, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a minister in the Central government, said in a public speech before the Delhi Assembly polls, that voters had to choose between ramzadon and haramzadon  an obvious and condemnable slur on a particular minority. In spite of this, she was let off with a perfunctory rap on her knuckles and continues to be a minister. BJP MP Parvesh Varma, called for the total boycott of Muslims at a public speech in Delhi in 2022. No action was taken against him either.

Opposition parties are not entirely blameless. I have no sympathy for the Oppositions unruly behaviour, its repeated use of coarse language and routine breach of parliamentary decorum. But the perception must exist that punishment for unacceptable conduct will be impartial. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Opposition in the LS, of whose leadership and language I am not an admirer, was immediately suspended from the House for a much lesser offence, and his case referred to the privileges committee. Similar punishment has been meted out tomany other Opposition MPs in both Houses. Yet so far, the Speaker has only expunged Mr Bidhuris vile expletives and issued him a warning, but nothing more. This certainly reflects on his impartiality. What is worse is that Mr Bidhuri has now apparently got a pat on his back by his party, by being given charge of Tonk constituency  from where Sachin Pilot is the Congress candidate  in the forthcoming Rajasthan Assembly elections.

What precedent does this set? Mr Modis noble hope, that the new Parliament will also see qualitatively new parliamentary proceedings, was laudable, but previous precedents do not augur well. There is too much hate, bigotry and mistrust for this to happen. The truth, alas, is that just as new clothes dont change the character of a person, the new building is unlikely to change the character of our Parliament.
A Candid Conversation with a Local Corporator: Politics, Promises, and Accountability

When my friend Murthy turned up the other morning with a friend I welcomed him in before heading for the bar to bring out his favourite tipple. He raised his hand to stop me at the door, saying, Please show me the restroom.

That was strange, because hed been there several times already. However, I asked him to follow me and led the way. As soon as we were out of earshot of his friend, he whispered, Hes teetotal. Dont even mention a drink!

The friend, dressed all in crumpled white, iPhone in hand, was a corporator from a nearby large municipality. Everyone knows me, he bragged. Ive been working very hard for my people.

I remembered him because his name was in the news every time an election came around. His nose for victory was as sharp as Murthys for scotch, for hed been on the winning side for the last five elections His sole strength was the ability to judge when best to jump a sinking electoral ship. There had been a newspaper article just a couple of days ago saying just that. There was an article about you, I said, in such-and-such daily, just a few days ago.

For a moment I thought he was going to have an attack of apoplexy, but he regained control of himself. Its nonsense, he said. These writers just make up these stories and pretend theyre real.

There didnt seem anything made up in that report, I said. The writer quoted sources, including yourself. I have the paper lying around here somewhere if you want to check.

I dont need to check, he said, his voice rising in anger. Its not fair. Theres a context to everything. If the reporter doesnt mention the context, why quote me except to damage my standing with my people? The rains have been poor this year. I am the best person to ask the state government to give us enough money to deal with the drought, but they dont want me to succeed.

Why are you the best? I asked.

Because I know everyone! he replied. Everyone in Bangalore is my friend, across all parties! Everyone knows that I live cleanly. I eat simple food, wear simple clothes I dont drink or smoke, or have any bad habits. They trust me!

Id never looked at it that way. His history of jumping ship  constituency in tow, of course  made him a formidable presence in local politics. And since practically everyone in every party that ever ruled had been a fellow-party-member at some time or other, he was friends  or enemies  with everyone. Right! I said. So they all know exactly who you are, and what youre doing.

He smiled. See! he said. Im so happy you understand. This is the meaning of transparency. Universal friendship.

What an excellent principle! I said.

My people know it, he said, so they vote for me always. They know Im there for them.

Right, I said. There was a report some weeks ago that said that your constituency has been getting the largest grants for development in the state. I remember that very well.

See? he said. Some writers do the right thing! They talk of things that matter!

Yes, I said. That report also said that theres nothing in your constituency to show for all the development money spent in it. Its no better than any other in terms of quality of life, or infrastructure It said that the constituency has performed poorly with cleanliness, the roads are all in bad condition after the rains, schoolchildren arent fed properly, and the beach is being mined illegally for sand.

Nonsense! he said, his face turning red. These writers are ignorant and arrogant! Let me take up these points one by one. What can I do if people from other places come dump their garbage in my area, or if contractors build substandard roads, or headmasters steal school funds? As for the sand mining, the police have said that there is nothing in those allegations!

He paused to take a breath and I edged in another two bits. But there are photographs of large pits on the beach where the sand has gone, and truck tyre tracks running right up to them.

I dont have the resources to check every inch of my constituency, he replied. If I could get another few crore rupees I would do that, but the government gives me just enough for urgent requirements.

The report said that the surveillance cameras at the beach dont work, or they point in the wrong direction, I said.

I dont know anything about the technicalities of cameras, he said. I work for the people, and I know the people. I have to depend on others for technical guidance.

I didnt know that he had to get technical guidance to point a camera in the direction of what he wanted to shoot, but who was I to question him? His margin of victory in the last couple of elections had been in two digits, which, in constituencies of tens of thousands, was very small. What about the people who didnt vote for you? I asked. Are they also yours? And the writers who live in your constituency?

Everyone is mine! he said. Writers are also my people. I tell all writers, even those outside my constituency: give up your arrogance, and I will make your life easy. I will give you material for you to write. When you write it, I will make sure that it is published, and that you get paid for it. Thats what every professional writer wants, isnt it?
Rain walloped the New York metropolitan area with a startling punch Friday, knocking out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranding drivers on highways, flooding basements and shuttering a terminal at LaGuardia Airport for hours in one of the city's wettest days in decades.

More than 7.25 inches (18.41 centimeters) of rain had fallen in parts of Brooklyn by nightfall, with at least one spot seeing 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) in a single hour, according to weather and city officials. The 8.65 inches (21.97 centimeters) at John F. Kennedy Airport surpassed its record for any September day, a bar set during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.

And more downpours were expected.

The deluge came two years after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record-breaking rain on the Northeast and killed at least 13 people in New York City, mostly in flooded basement apartments. Although no deaths or severe injuries have been reported so far from Friday's storm, it stirred frightening memories.

Ida killed three of Joy Wong's neighbors, including a toddler. And on Friday, water began lapping against the front door of her building in Woodside, Queens.

I was so worried, she said. It became too dangerous to leave: Outside was like a lake, like an ocean."

Within minutes, water filled the building's basement nearly to the ceiling. After the family's deaths in 2021, the basement was turned into a recreation room. It is now destroyed.

City officials said they got reports of six flooded basement apartments Friday, but all occupants got out safely.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams declared states of emergency and urged people to stay put if possible. But schools were open, students went to class and many adults went to work, only to wonder how they would get home.

Virtually every subway line was at least partly suspended, rerouted or running with delays. Metro-North commuter rail service from Manhattan was suspended for much of the day but began resuming by evening. The Long Island Rail Road was snarled, 44 of the city's 3,500 buses got stranded and bus service was disrupted citywide, transit officials said.

When it stops the buses, you know its bad, Brooklyn high school student Malachi Clark said after trying to get home by bus, then subway. School buses were running, but they transport only a fraction of public school students, many of them disabled.

A long line of people snaked from the ticket counter in the afternoon at Grand Central Terminal, where Mike Tags was among those whose trains had been canceled. Railroad employees had suggested possible workarounds, but he wondered whether they would work out.

"So Im going to sit here, ride it out, until they open up, he said.

Traffic hit a standstill earlier in the day on a stretch of the FDR Drive, a major artery along Manhattan's east side. With water above cars tires, some drivers abandoned their vehicles.

At around 11 a.m., Priscilla Fontallio said she had spent three hours in her car, which was on a piece of the highway that wasn't flooded but wasn't moving.

Never seen anything like this in my life, she said.

On a street in Brooklyn's South Williamsburg neighborhood, workers were up to their knees in water as they tried to unclog a storm drain while cardboard and other debris floated by. Some people arranged milk crates and wooden boards to cross flooded sidewalks.

Flights into LaGuardia were briefly halted in the morning, and then delayed, because of water in the refueling area. Flooding also forced the closure of one of the airports three terminals for several hours. Terminal A resumed normal operations around 8 p.m.

A Brooklyn school was evacuated because its boiler was smoking, possibly because water got into it, Schools Chancellor David Banks said at a news briefing. Another Brooklyn school was mopping up ground-floor classrooms, City Councilwoman Crystal Hudson said in an email seeking volunteers to help.

The New York Rangers and New York Islanders postponed a preseason game on Long Island. And at the waterlogged Central Park Zoo, a sea lion swam out of her swollen pool. With the zoo closed because of the weather, she looked around for a bit before returning to the pool, zoo officials said in a statement.

In Brooklyn's Crown Heights, Jessie Lawrence awoke to the sound of rain dripping from the ceiling of her fourth-floor apartment and heard strange sounds outside her front door.

She opened it to find "the water was coming in thicker and louder, pouring into the hallway and flowing down the stairs, she said. Rain had pooled on the roof and was leaking through a skylight.

Hoboken, New Jersey, and other cities and towns around New York City also experienced flooding. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called for state offices to close at 3 p.m., except for essential personnel.

Why so much rain? The remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia over the Atlantic Ocean combined with a mid-latitude system arriving from the west, at a time of year when conditions coming off the ocean are particularly juicy for storms, National Weather Service meteorologist Ross Dickman said. And this combination storm parked itself over New York for 12 hours.

The weather service had warned of 3 to 5 inches (7.5 to 13 centimeters) of rain and told emergency managers to expect over 6 inches (15 centimeters) in some places, Dickman said.

The deluge came less than three months after a storm caused deadly floods in New York's Hudson Valley and swamped Vermont's capital, Montpelier.

As the planet warms, storms are forming in a hotter atmosphere that can hold more moisture, making extreme rainfall more frequent , according to atmospheric scientists.

But in the case of Friday's storm, nearby ocean temperatures were below normal, and air temperatures werent too hot. Still, it became the third time in two years that rain fell at rates near 2 inches (5 centimeters) an hour in Central Park, which is unusual, Columbia University climate scientist Adam Sobel said.

The park recorded 5.8 inches (14.73 centimeters) of rain by nightfall Friday. (AP)
Provincial authorities in Yunnan have set up a restricted zone as of tomorrow to limit human trafficking. In Myanmar, the ruling junta slams a Chinese film on crime syndicates that paints Myanmar in a bad light. The authorities in the two countries continue to work on railways connecting China to the Indian Ocean.

Yangon (AsiaNews)  The authorities in Yunnan, a province in southwestern China, have announced a restricted zone near the border with Myanmar to stop human trafficking, a problem that afflicts people in China and across Southeast Asia.

Through fake online ads offering jobs and promising love, people are tricked to travel to Myanmar where they end up in modern slavery working as phone operators, computer programmers, and other jobs as part of online scams.

Starting tomorrow until the end of the year, Tengchong, a county-level city on the border with Kachin State, will control the entry of people and vehicles in order to monitor cross-border traffic.

China has been trying to prevent its citizens from falling victim to human trafficking for some time. To this end, in several Chinese cities, police are telling residents to block all unknown incoming overseas calls.

China has also pledged to work with Laos and Thailand to fight regional crime groups.

Earlier this month, Chinas Ministry of Public Security announced that a joint operation with Myanmar took down 11 criminal bases in the northern part of that country, with 269 fraud suspects detained, including 186 Chinese nationals who have been repatriated.

China has called on Myanmars military junta, which seized power in February 2021 in a coup, to crack down on criminal gangs active along their common border; however, regular law enforcement has been hampered by the civil war that began more than two years ago.

Meanwhile, Myanmars military rulers, who depend on China for military supplies, are irked by the success of the movie that paints a negative portrait of its fight against human trafficking.

Titled "No More Bets, the Chinese thriller relays the story of a computer programmer who is trafficked to Southeast Asia and is forced to work as an online scammer.

Although no particular country is mentioned, the setting looks like northern Myanmar, and Myanmar representatives in China have expressed concern about it.

The storylines are related to Myanmar and there are reports that Chinese nationals are worried about visiting Myanmar, said Myanmars consul general in Nanning, a city in south-western China.

Released in August, the movie grossed about 3.8 billion yuan (US$ 520 million), the third most popular feature film this year in China.

In reality, in the past two years, Beijing has continued to finance not only Myanmars junta, but also some ethnic militias, in particular the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which operates along the border and is involved in serious illegal trafficking.

Chinese support for UWSA is meant to prevent the outbreak of unrest along the borders and allow Chinese companies to carry out their infrastructure projects, but in so doing, Beijing is fuelling the civil war.

Recently, Myanmar Deputy Prime Minister Mya Tun Oo attended a transport forum in Beijing to discuss train links between southern China and Mandalay and Rakhine State, which would provide China with access to the Indian Ocean.

The railway project is part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which in turn is part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Thus, through the port of Kyaukphyu, Rakhine, Chinese goods could bypass the Strait of Malacca.

Mya Tun Oo, who is also the regime's transport minister, visited the headquarters of China Railway Group and discussed a feasibility study for railway routes.
In his ninth consistory, Francis created 21 new cardinals, three from Asia: Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong, Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang (Malaysia), and Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa of Jerusalem. Tonight an ecumenical vigil will be held with young people and the heads of other Christian confessions ahead of the Synod that opens next Wednesday.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  In his homily during the Consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals, Pope Francis compared the new prelates to A symphony [that] thrives on the skilful composition of the timbres of different instruments: each one makes its contribution, sometimes alone, sometimes united with someone else, sometimes with the whole ensemble.

The new cardinals come from all over the world, including three from Asia: Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong, Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang (Malaysia), and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

Upon receiving their biretta, each was also assigned a church in Rome, a tradition that symbolises their collaboration with the ministry of the pope. Bishop Chow received San Giovanni Battista de La Salle; Bishop Francis, Santa Maria Causa Nostr Ltiti, and Patriarch Pizzaballa, Sant'Onofrio.

With today's consistory, Asia has 34 cardinals, 24 electors (out of 137) and 10 over eighty who cannot enter a conclave.

In the celebration, significantly a few days before the opening of the Synod next Wednesday, Francis invited the new cardinals to identify themselves with the "Parthians, Medes, Elamites..." peoples mentioned in the story of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles.

Francis urged them to rediscover with amazement the gift of having received the Gospel and think back with gratitude on the gift of having been evangelized and having been drawn from various peoples who, each in their own time received the Kerygma, the proclamation of the mystery of salvation.

[W]e are evangelizers to the extent we cherish in our hearts the wonder and gratitude of having been evangelized, even of being evangelized, because this is really a gift always present, that must be continually renewed in our memories and in faith. Evangelizers who have been evangelized, not functionaries.

This allows the Church to walk keeping diversity together. Hence, the College of Cardinals is called to resemble a symphony orchestra, representing the harmony and synodality of the Church. [. . .] Diversity is necessary; it is indispensable. However, each sound must contribute to the common design. This is why mutual listening is essential: each musician must listen to the others.

The conductor, he added, alluding to the ministry of the successor Peter, has to listen more than anyone else, and at the same time his job is to help each person and the whole orchestra develop the greatest creative fidelity: fidelity to the work being performed, but also creative, able to give a soul to the score, to make it resonate in the here and now in a unique way.

[I]t does us good to reflect upon ourselves as the image of the orchestra, [. . .] in the consoling confidence that we have the Holy Spirit  he is the protagonist  as our master: the interior master of each one of us and the master of walking together. He creates variety and unity; He is harmony itself.

As Pope Francis intended, in preparation for the opening of the Synod, an ecumenical vigil will be held this evening in St Peter's Square. Titled "Together", it will focus on the Holy Spirit as the only true protagonist of the life of the Church.

The pontiff will be joined by young people from all over the world, called together by the Taize community, as well as the heads of other Christian confessions, like Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ephrem II, and Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.
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Shelby called the Mustang "a secretary's car" and wasn't very fond of it, but despite this, he transformed the plebian pony car into an automotive legend.

The origins of the Shelby Mustangs

Photo: Ford Motor Co

A thoroughly redesigned 'Stang

Photo: Mecum

A new interior fit for a grand tourer

Photo: Mecum

A ginormousV8 was the cherry on top

Photo: Mecum

The fastest, most powerful, and drivable Mustang

Photo: Bring a Trailer

The GT500 today

Photo: Mecum

By the 1960s, the grand tourer (Grand Turismo in Italian) was the most popular type of vehicle among enthusiasts.Defined as a car designed for high-speed yet comfortable long-distance driving, a GT combined performance and upscale features like no other type of vehicle.Though it had the European GT looks, the original Mustang, introduced at the 1964 New York World's Fair, was far from a legitimate GT.In 1965, the 'Stang received a new fastback body style and the optional GT Equipment Group that brought more upscale features and better performance, but it still fell short of rivaling European GTs.However, the pony car would finally fit the bill two years later, thanks to Carroll Shelby and his legendary Venice crew.The former Le Mans-winning race driver turned engineering wizard initially struck a deal with Ford to source engines for his Cobra roadsters.By 1964, Shelby was given the reigns of the slumping GT40 project , which he and his Shelby American team would transform into a Ferrari-slaying, two-time Le Mans-winning race car.But prior to the Le Mans triumph, Shelby was asked to help develop a high-performance version of the Mustang that the public was demanding.The result was the 1965 GT350, a lightweight, bare-bones 'Stang powered by a highly-tuned, 289-ci (4.7-liter) HiPo capable of 306 hp.Though it was a resounding success on both the showroom floor and the race track, where GT350Rs embarrassed Corvettes, Shelby wanted to turn the Mustang into a legitimate grand tourer.The chance to do so came before the 1967 model year when the Texan was given the go-ahead to develop it.Unlike the GT350, which was based on a stock fastback shell, the new model, dubbed GT500, received a comprehensive visual makeover to appease Shelby, who wanted it to stand out from any other Mustang.Ford stylist Charles McHose and clay modeler Joe Ferrar helped design the heavily upgraded model, while Shelby American's master fabricator, Jerry Schwarz, turned it into reality.When viewed from the front, the GT500 featured an elongated fiberglass front end, a new scooped hood, and a large grille with built-in fog lamps.On each side, the car distanced itself from the average Mustang thanks to functional air scoops fitted in front of the rear wheels and side windows.At the rear, the new Shelby received a fiberglass deck lid with an integrated spoiler and a pair of sequential taillights borrowed from the Mercury Cougar.Inside, the bare-bones recipe used to cook up the lightweight GT350 was abandoned in favor of a fully-trimmed interior courtesy of Ford's GT Equipment Group.Therefore, the GT500 came with standard vinyl buckets, a foldable rear seat, a wood-rimmed steering wheel, and polished metal trims. Moreover, air conditioning was now available, albeit as an optional feature.Unique to the cockpit were Cobra badges found on the steering wheel and passenger side of the dash, as well as a standard two-point, padded roll bar, much like the one found in the GT350.Since Carroll Shelby was busy kicking Ferrari's behind at Le Mans, he handed the 1967 GT350 and GT500 projects to chief engineer Chuck Cantwell, with specific instructions for the latter's powerplant.While the GT500 looked like a legitimate grand tourer inside and out, it had to back those looks up with impressive performance.Therefore, it received a humongous 428-ci (7.0-liter) V8 derived from an FE unit with the same displacement dubbed Police Interceptor.Christened Cobra Le Mans to celebrate the GT40's success, the engine typically used in full-size law enforcement cars received a host of performance-oriented goodies like a medium-rise aluminum intake manifold and a pair of Holley 600-cfm four-barrel carbs.According to the marketing literature, the custom engine was rated at 355 hp and 420 lb-ft (569 Nm) of torque, but when put on a dyno, it delivered sensibly more.It's worth noting that before developing the Cobra Le Mans, Shelby and Ford considered stuffing a street version of the actual 427 Le Mans side oiler into the GT500. Some cars were built with that engine, and several others received it via a dealer-installed upgrade.Shelby also built a single GT500 with an authentic GT40 engine. Called Super Snake , it was conceived for promotional purposes and nearly made it into a limited-production version.Thanks to the huge Cobra Le Mans engine, the GT500 could sprint from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in 6.5 seconds and run the quarter mile in 15 seconds flat.Along with the engine's output rating, those figures made the GT500 the fastest, most powerful Mustang available in 1967.Furthermore, the stiffer front springs, thicker anti-roll bar, Gabriel shock absorbers, and standard front disc brakes made it the best-handling 'Stang developed until that point.Whether or not Shelby successfully transformed the Mustang into a legitimate grand tourer with the 1967 GT500 is debatable today.While it had the looks, upscale features, and performance figures to state its case, some enthusiasts argue that its maneuverability (although improved over the standard 'Stang) was far from the period's Euro GTs with their advanced, fully independent suspension systems.Nevertheless, the 1967 Shelby GT500 was a resounding success, with dealerships selling no less than 2,048 units - despite being nearly twice as expensive as a standard Mustang.Nearly six decades after it was introduced, the original GT500 is considered one of the most legendary models in the history of the American automotive industry.It turned the plebian Mustang into a legitimate grand tourer (or, at least, came awfully close) and set the standard for all future high-performance pony cars.In terms of current value, a 1967 GT500 is prohibitively expensive, with low-mileage examples in excellent condition going for well over $200,000.For more on this Shelby legend, we recommend watching the YouTube video below by The Gearhead Lounge.
Go back even a decade or so and you wont find many people gutsy enough to predict the end of the four-door sedan era. Why would they? The Tesla Model S was still an unknown quantity, and crossovers had yet to begin their siege on the industry as a whole. Things are different now, and whenever I see a typical, notchback sedan, I feel as though Im looking at the housing market before the 2008 collapse.

EV

Then vs. Now

Point of no return

Photo: Acura

Benefits of a sedan-free society

Photo: Lexus

What about internal combustion engine models?

The 2024 BMW 5 Series

Photo: BMW

Whos really responsible for this?

Photo: Audi

Youve heard of Citroen, right?

Photo: Citroen

How this affects SUVs

What about large luxury sedans?

Photo: Cadillac

Look, you dont have to be Michael Burry to see that the writing is already on the wall. Things are shifting away from the traditional three-box configuration, and part of it is because of therevolution, with carmakers looking into more efficient packaging when it comes to designs.Its not just that though. Car companies have literally gone bonkers trying to visually differentiate their EVs from their internal combustion engine models, resulting in weird, albeit futuristic-like designs for the most part.Its this type of exploratory attitude that will most likely seal the fate of the notchback sedan, because lets face it, the horizontal trunk lid is rather pointless. I think its always been pointless, to be honest, its just that now were finally ready to address it as an industry. Before we dig any deeper into its demise, lets look at some definitions.According to the Oxford dictionary, a sedan is a car that features a closed body and a closed trunk separated from the part in which the driver and passenger sit.Other characteristics include having two rows of seats, being front-engined, having a horizontal-ish roofline, and of course, four-doors. Until recently, as in this past decade or two, there was no confusing a 4-door sedan for anything else. There was also no confusion as to its terminology.Nowadays, you have no choice but to break them down into categories, where youve still got your basic notchback sedans, your liftback sedans and finally your fastback sedans.The Notchback sedan comes with a horizontal trunk lid. Its the quintessential sedan. Liftbacks, however, might look like a regular sedan, but they have a hatchback-style tailgate with roof-mounted hinges  like a Tesla Model S , for example.As for the fastback sedan, they were popular in the 1930s when cars didnt really have horizontal trunks. Nowadays, theyre basically sloped-roof four-door cars, with either a horizontal trunk or a tailgate  like a Tesla Model 3, Porsche Taycan or even a Mercedes CLS . Personally, I only use the term fastback to describe cars such as the Porsche Panamera or the Audi A7 Sportback, which technically are not conventional sedans.I genuinely believe that even if there wasn't an EV revolution, carmakers would have eventually figured out that theres no point in having a long rear overhang, meaning the distance between the wheelbase at the rear of the vehicle and where the rear bumper ends.You need to have a reasonably sized rear overhang when dealing with a typical three-box configuration, otherwise youd have to either compromise trunk space or rear passenger room.Then, towards the late 2000s, carmakers started to bring back fastbacks, and they started doing it in style. Were talking about premium products such as the Audi A5 or the A7, and the Porsche Panamera . Suddenly, sloped rooflines on 4-door family cars were fashionable again, and brands such as Mercedes and BMW quickly got in on the action too.Once that happened, I think certain things became inevitable, things such as shorter rear overhangs, sloping rooflines everywhere and notchback sedans making way for hatchbacks and fastbacks.You might be thinking that the sedan never really hurt anybody, and how its unfair that more and more new 4-door cars are coming out with alternatively-styled rear ends. You might even think its a trend and that its going to die off at some point. Heres the thing... it most definitely wont.A 4-door fastback has a more balanced center of gravity than a 4-door sedan, given its shorter rear overhang. It's also more practical, easier to maneuver (arguably), allows for more dynamic styling, and has the benefit of looking more youthful.Surely youve noticed that nearly all new or upcoming non-crossover four-door EVs are fastbacks or hatchbacks, or have some type of aggressive sloping roofline. And by nearly all, I really do mean the vast majority. Lets just name a few: Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQE , Mercedes EQS, Hyundai IONIQ 5, Polestar 2, Polestar 5, Audi e-tron GT, Porsche Taycan, BMW i4, BMW i5 (more on that one later), Kia EV6, Hyundai IONIQ 6, VW ID.7, and so on.Heck, even the Genesis Electrified G80 and the Lucid Air have sloping rooflines. One of the few, and I mean few EVs that still looks like a traditional notchback is the BMW i7, but even there the trunk lid isnt as lengthy as one would have expected from a flagship luxury sedan.Its just smart to eliminate as much of the rear overhang as possible, and Im willing to bet this is one fashion trend that wont be cyclical. Maybe it will take a few decades before every single notchback sedan is eradicated from this Earth, but itll happen, and the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley will probably be among the last carmakers to keep this body style going.What about them? Look at the Kia Stinger . Heck, look at the 2024 Lexus IS 500. The latter is a typical notchback sedan, but with a short rear overhang and a fastback like trunk lid design. Not enough examples? Alright, lets try again: Acura Integra, Volkswagen Arteon, Genesis G70, the 2024 Toyota Crown for crying out loud!If you want a long or reasonably-sized rear overhang in a sedan right now, today, you need to go get a Dodge Charger or a Chrysler 300. Heck, they even gave the Honda Accord a sloping rear end design. That pretty much says it all.Thats step no. 1 by the way. Get the public used to fastback-like body styles featuring horizontal trunk lids, before ditching the latter completely and going with a roof-mounted hinge design. Were smack dab in the middle of this.Its one thing to do it to the Honda Accord, but to take the 5 Series , a freaking stalwart of the mid-size executive sedan segment, and shrink the rear overhang to the point where the car genuinely looks nothing like any 5 Series that came before? That takes guts, plus a perfect comprehension of where things are going.The second I learned about what they were going to do with the all-new 5 Series (this was way before the actual unveiling), I immediately knew that the traditional four-door sedan would be getting kicked out of its home even sooner than anticipated.I thought we would at least be a couple of decades away from everyone figuring out the three-box configuration was obsolete. Now I fear that the timetable has been cut in half, to say the least. I would be genuinely shocked if anybody outside of Rolls-Royce put out a brand-new notchback sedan in the year 2033.Lets ignore EVs and all these new design languages that have been popping up, where nearly anything seems to go.I think it wouldnt be overstating things to say that Audi and BMW played major roles in popularizing sloped rooflines as far as four-door vehicles are concerned. Mercedes too, with the first-generation CLS, but to a lesser extent than BMW introducing a Coupe-style SUV in the X6 or Audi opening our eyes to the potential of the A5 Sportback and A7 Sportback.Theres a reason why these body types cost more than their more traditional counterparts. Theyre not just more stylish, but also more practical.Lets look at the Audi S6 and S7 Sportback, for example. The former is priced from $74,700, while the latter costs upwards of $84,500. They share identical powertrains, identical interiors, the same platform (VW MLB Evo), and the same wheelbase size. The A7/S7 is a bit more substantial in the overall width department, but the difference is negligible.I just have to wonder, if Audi dropped the price on that S7 Sportback by $10,000, would anyone buy the S6 anymore?Regardless, the German carmaker is way ahead of us, which is why the next-generation A6 will in fact be a fastback, rather than a traditional sedan. We know this not just thanks to the A6 e-tron concept, but also thanks to our spy photographers.Lets go back even further to a time when MTV was just getting started, the Soviet Union was collapsing, and Michael Jackson was quickly rising in the charts.It was a time when French carmaker Citroen built some of its most innovative four-door sedans, except that none of them actually had a three-box configuration.Citroen have long been credited for being way ahead of their time in the 80s and early 90s, and aside from boasting revolutionary technology, their models were also supremely practical, from the iconic CX, all the way to the BX, the XM and the Xantia.Take the BX. It was available as a four-door family car with a hatchback-style rear end, but also as a station wagon. They had no use for a traditional sedan body style, and I mean that literally  what good could it have done? The XM, meanwhile, was a typical fastback, while the Xantia was more of a liftback. And of course, they all had roof-mounted tailgate hinges.It was a completely different philosophy than what most European carmakers were embracing at that time. At least as far as four-door body styles were concerned. Other brands that also put out successful 4-door fastbacks during that era include Renault and Volkswagen, with the 25 and the Passat , respectively.The moral of that story is this: If Citroen thought of doing it in the 1980s, then it was probably a good idea and worth exploring even today.This is quite a dilemma, because on one hand, if youve got a rich portfolio of crossovers and SUVs, you probably wouldnt want to impact their sales by taking a chance on a new, more practical body style for whatever established sedan model you were already selling. Granted, the chances of that happening are slim, but they do exist. fastback-style sedan , especially one with a genuine tailgate, could challenge small or even compact crossovers in terms of practicality. Maybe less so in certain markets/climates, but lets not forget that most people dont actually need higher ground clearance and all-wheel drive. They just dont.Theyre on their way out, its just a question of how soon. Im talking about the Mercedes S-Class and its Maybach sibling , the Audi A8, and eventually even the BMW 7 Series. Lets focus on the S-Class a bit, because you cant even imagine Mercedes messing with that recipe any time soon, right?Well, I reckon its maybe one or two generations (tops) away from looking more like the EQS than anything that even remotely resembles a traditional notchback sedan.As for how on Earth someone could make a luxury fastback instead of a sedan, just look at the Cadillac Celestiq . Seriously, take a really good look at it, because this type of vehicle is the future, like it or not.GM realized that nobody really cares about whats going on behind the rear passenger compartment of a luxury sedan. All they care about is the amount of space they get and all the tech available inside. The trunk area, if its big enough, could have a tailgate, a decklid, anything.Lets face it, the three-box design has run its course. Its outdated and it belongs to the 20th century. In a few hundred years when were off to Fhloston Paradise at light speed for our vacation, the spaceship is sure as hell not going to be three-box-shaped. In the end, the design that maintains the most uniformity always wins, on every single level.
Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals at a ritual-filled ceremony Saturday, including key figures at the Vatican and in the field who will help enact his reforms and cement his legacy as he enters a crucial new phase in running the Catholic Church.

On a crisp sunny day filled with cheers from St. Peter's Square, Francis further expanded his influence on the College of Cardinals who will one day elect his successor: With Saturday's additions, nearly three-quarters of the voting-age princes of the church owe their red hats to the Argentine Jesuit.

In his instructions to the new cardinals at the start of the service, Francis said their variety and geographic diversity would serve the church like musicians in an orchestra, where sometimes they play solos, sometimes as an ensemble.

Diversity is necessary; it is indispensable. However, each sound must contribute to the common design," Francis told them. "This is why mutual listening is essential: each musician must listen to the others.

Among the new cardinals were the controversial new head of the Vaticans doctrine office, Victor Manuel Fernandez, and the Chicago-born missionary now responsible for vetting bishop candidates around the globe, Robert Prevost.

Also entering the exclusive club were the Vaticans ambassadors to the United States and Italy, two important diplomatic posts where the Holy See has a keen interest in reforming the church hierarchy . Leaders of the church in geopolitical hotspots Hong Kong and Jerusalem, fragile communities such as Juba, South Sudan, and sentimental favorites Cordoba and Argentina, filled out the roster.

The ceremony took place days before Francis opens a big meeting of bishops and lay Catholics on charting the churchs future, where hot-button issues such as womens roles in the church , LGBTQ+ Catholics and priestly celibacy are up for discussion.

The Oct. 4-29 synod is the first of two sessions ? the second one comes next year  that in many ways could cement Francis legacy as he seeks to make the church a place where all are welcomed, where pastors listen to their flocks and accompany them rather than judge them.

In his comments to the new cardinals, Francis referred to the synod and the task awaiting the church. Speaking of himself, Francis said the orchestra's conductor has to listen more than anyone else."

At the same time, he added, the conductor must "help each person and the whole orchestra develop the greatest creative fidelity: fidelity to the work being performed, but also creative, able to give a soul to the score, to make it resonate in the here and now in a unique way.

Several of the new cardinals are voting members of the synod and have made clear they share Francis vision of a church that is more about the people in the pews than the hierarchy, and that creative change is necessary. Among them is Fernandez, known as the popes theologian and perhaps Francis most consequential Vatican appointment in his 10-year pontificate.

In his letter naming Fernandez as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Francis made clear he wanted his fellow Argentine to oversee a radical break from the past, saying the former Holy Office often resorted to immoral methods to enforce its will.

Rather than condemn and judge, Francis said he wanted a doctrine office that guards the faith and gives people hope. He also made clear Fernandez wouldnt have to deal with sex abuse cases, saying the offices discipline section could handle that dossier.

It was a much-debated decision given Fernandez himself has admitted he made mistakes handling a case while he was bishop in La Plata, Argentina, and that the scale of the problem globally has long cried out for authoritative, high-ranking leadership.

On the eve of the consistory to make Fernandez a cardinal, clergy abuse survivors including a La Plata victim rallied near the Vatican, calling on Francis to rescind the nomination.

No bishop who has covered up child sex crimes and ignored and dismissed victims of clergy abuse in his diocese should be running the office that oversees, investigates, and prosecutes clergy sex offenders from around the world, or be made a cardinal, said Julieta Anazco, a La Plata survivor, according to a statement from the End Clergy Abuse.

With Saturdays ceremony, Francis will have named 99 of the 137 cardinals who are under age 80 and thus eligible to vote in a future conclave to elect his successor. While not all are cookie-cutter proteges of the 86-year-old reigning pontiff, many share Francis pastoral emphasis as opposed to the doctrinaire-minded cardinals often selected by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Such a huge proportion of Francis-nominated cardinals almost ensures that a future pope will either be one of his own cardinals or one who managed to secured their votes to lead the church after Francis is gone, suggesting a certain continuity in priorities.

Europe still has the most voting-age cardinals with 52, followed by the Americas with 39 and Asia with 24.

The ceremony officially installing them followed a ritual in which each man takes an oath to obey the pope, remain faithful to Christ and serve the church. Francis reminded them that they were wearing red as a sign that they must be strong even to the shedding of blood to spread the faith.

One of the 21 new cardinals couldn't make the ceremony because of poor health: Cardinal Luis Pascual Dri, a Franciscan from the pope's native Buenos Aires, who is one of the churchmen over age 80 who cannot vote in a conclave but was elevated as a sign of gratitude for his service to the church.

Several of the new cardinals are running the church in delicate spots, including the archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow. He is a key figure as the Vatican tries to work with the ruling Communist Party in Beijing over thorny issues concerning the life of the Catholic Church in China amid the government's ongoing crackdown on religion.

Chow told The Associated Press he understands the Chinese mentality, and hopes to help the Vatican understand it with empathy. It is very important to cultivate empathy if you want to have good dialogue, he said.

The archbishop of Juba, Cardinal Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, recently hosted Francis during his February visit to South Sudan and said the issue of the region's conflict was a constant concern for the church.

This country has been divided by war and ongoing war since 50 years ago, he said. Now we are trying our best to bring people together. (AP)




Photo: Hollmann

kW

Photo: Hollmann

But as it turns out, the Italian company has managed to keep the naturally aspirated V12 tradition alive in the Revuelto . Mixing a 6.5-liter unit with three electric motors for a combined 1,001 hp (1,015 ps/ 747kW), it was unveiled earlier this year. It is capable of hitting 62 mph (100 kph) in 2.5 seconds and can even travel on zero emissions for a few miles.Before bringing the Revuelto to market, Lamborghini celebrated its iconic predecessor, the mighty Aventador, with a special series. Adding the Ultimae suffix , it was offered in the Coupe and Roadster body styles, and the final one left the assembly line almost one year ago in the open-top flavor. Sporting goodies signed by Ad Personam, it was an ode to the Miura Roadster Concept showcased at Brussels in 1968 at Carrozzeria Bertone's stand, and it even had its pictures taken with the study from back in the day.Only 350 Coupes and 250 Roadsters saw the light of day, not counting the 15 copies that sank to the bottom of the ocean with the Felicity Ace cargo ship, and for such a rare creation, there are several examples listed for grabs as we speak. As you can assume, they carry a hefty premium over the initial asking price, which was north of the $500,000 mark in the United States. But it is still the only way to spruce up one's collection with an Ultimae, given that it is no longer in production.Sporting a Verde Gea Lucido paint finish on top of the Nero Ade cockpit, the one pictured in the gallery rides on 20-inch front and 21-inch wheels and is looking for a new home. Some of the highlights include the rearview camera, extended leather pack, Alcantara, carbon fiber package, nose-lift system, visibility and light package, electrically adjustable seats with heating, foldable side mirrors, digital radio, black accents, bronze inserts, and other goodies.Placed in the middle, right behind the seats, is the naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine. In the Aventador Ultimae , regardless of the body style, it was rated at 769 horsepower (780 ps/574) and 531 pound-feet (720 Nm) of torque. A single-clutch transmission with seven gears delivers everything to the all-wheel drive system. The fixed-roof model takes only 2.8 seconds to hit 62 mph (100 kph), and the convertible is one-tenth slower. At 221 mph (355 kph), the top speed is identical in both.It is obvious that whoever bought it had a single thing in mind, and that was to make a small fortune off it. The reason is that it only has 59 miles (95 km) under its belt. Thus, it spent most of its life in storage, waiting for the value to go up, and now that not many people speak of it, with the Revuelto being on their lips, it left the confined space and headed for another one. It is now in the hands of Hollmann International, which is trying to find a new home for it.And if you were wondering just how expensive it is, you'd better sit down for this one. Are you ready? It will cost you a cool 891,905 to make it yours, which equals $939,670 at the current exchange rates. That's much more than what you'd have to pay for a brand-new Revuelto , which, depending on whom you ask, starts at over $600,000 in our market. For the difference, you could buy a new Urus super crossover, and you'd still have enough money for insurance and gasoline.Depending on how the market evolves in the next few months and years, buying a Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae Roadster for close to one million dollars could turn out to be a great investment or a total loss. If you ask us, we think it will only go up in value in the coming years, and it may end up making more money for its future owner than investing in other stuff, like real estate or stock.But then again, no one can guarantee anything, not even financial advisors, so if you were hoping to blow almost seven digits on this one, then youd better think with your heart. That'd mean driving it the right way and not keeping it in a climate-controlled garage for too long. After all, like all supercars made by Lamborghini over the years, the Aventador was built to be driven fast on twisty roads. And if you're still wondering whether to buy it or not, then you probably have a lot of money. And you only live once, right?
No sense in getting one of the largest superyachts in the world if you don't pack it with people close to you in age, interests, or wealth, and head out on a memorable summer vacation. Steven Spielberg knows all about that.

Photo: Oceanco

The secretive Seven Seas

Photo: Oceanco

Photo: Ruben Griffioen/Superyacht Times

A floating palace with a carbon footprint to match

Photo: Ruben Griffioen/Superyacht Times

EXCLUSIVE: Michelle Obama enjoys a snorkeling session with a shirtless Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson in Italy - before climbing aboard Steven Spielberg's $250 MILLION superyacht https://t.co/LIdfp9DlKS pic.twitter.com/EmdQg5Rq07  Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 29, 2023

The billionaire film director, now the proud owner of the new and improved Seven Seas megayacht, the fourth largest delivery from luxury shipyard Oceanco that is also among the world's most expensive, is on a European vacation that coincides with the vessel's maiden journey . Seven Seas was delivered in July and, as of late September, continues to sail around Europe.Former First Lady Michelle Obama is the latest A-lister to join Spielberg and his wife onboard. And they weren't the only A-listers there, either: according to the latest report (and accompanying photos), Spielberg's wife, Kate Capshaw, actor Tom Hanks, and his wife Rita Wilson were also on the vessel. Secret Service officers were probably also present.The day's activities included a trip out to sea off the coast of Portofino for snorkeling, which offered the chance of fresh photos of one of the yacht's tenders. Also called Seven Seas, the large water limousine features styling similar to the mothership, which is the norm with builds as elaborate and costly as this one.The social media post below links to photos of this very select and rather reclusive group of A-listers enjoying themselves onboard and around one of the industry's most talked-about recent launches. If you want to catch a glimpse into the life of the one-percenters, this is it.Film directors, especially men who have been in the industry for as long as Spielberg, don't conduct their business like some of the younger actors do. Put differently, they go to great lengths to keep their personal lives private, which obviously entails not tooting their own horn when they check off another bucket list item like upgrading their personal yacht.Seven Seas is Spielberg's second boat and the second to bear this name. The previous Seven Seas, which he got in 2010 and was also built by Oceanco, was smaller (86 meters/282 feet) but still very luxurious, with a cost estimate of around $150 million. Spielberg often put it up for charter, and it became a very popular charter platform with celebrities over the years.Even before putting the OG Seven Seas on the market, Spielberg had commissioned the replacement with Oceanco, virtually the go-to yard for custom megayachts for the world's billionaires . Referred internally as Project Y720, Seven Seas is 109 meters (357 feet) long and features exteriors by Sinot Yacht Architecture and interiors by Isaksen Design.It had its technical launch earlier this year and, while on sea trials, got caught in an unexpected legal entanglement when the broker that handled the commission sued the shipyard over unpaid commissions agreed upon verbally. Not much was heard of the lawsuit after the initial piece of news, so were guessing the whole thing was eventually settled politely between (billionaire) gentlemen.With an estimated value of more than $250 million, not much is known about Seven Seas  and not even representatives of trade publications have been allowed onboard as of this writing. After the maiden journey, if it ends up listed for charter, details, and photos of the interior should become public.Until then, we only have the briefest of descriptions and our imagination to rely on in terms of imagining the interiors of this new megayacht.Oceanco says the interiors are stylish and elegant and "a spectacular example of graceful contemporary design that honors the natural surroundings." Accommodation is for 14 guests and 30 crew members, and the long list of amenities ranges from an oversize beach club and a large pool to a private cinema and a helipad for unexpected or urgent arrivals and departures.Despite its size, Seven Seas is no slouch. Drawing power from two MTU 20V 4000 M73L diesel engines with 4,813 hp each, it can max out at 20 knots (23 mph/37mph). It also features a marine evacuation system  and is the first Oceanco vessel to do so and an advanced hull that enhances hydrodynamics, resulting in improved efficiency and performance Seven Seas is also the reason why many people online are screaming at Spielberg now for being a so-called eco-hypocrite Considering that reports online claim that Seven Seas burns about 700 liters (185 gallons) of fueljust to run hotel functions, so when it's not moving. The superyacht industry remains a huge polluter, and being the owner of a vessel with such a huge carbon footprint won't help Spielberg in his arguments about how the rest of the world needs to cut back on flying and buying cruise liner tickets.
SUV

If we only cite the North American side of the equation, the company tried to best General Motors for the sales crown with stuff like the 2023 Prius Prime plug-in hybrid sedan, the 2023 Corolla Cross Hybrid that arrived in place of the retired C-HR, the entire Corolla Nightshade family, a trio of GR special editions (GR86 Trueno, GR Corolla Circuit, GR Supra 45th Anniversary), or big superstars like the 2024 Grand Highlander three-row family CUV, N400 Tacoma mid-size truck, and the returning 2024 Land CruiserThat's quite a long list, right? Well, it turns out that they can't stop, won't stop there  as the song once said. This is because the company still needs to present us with new generations of their most beloved and best-selling nameplates like the Camry sedan or RAV4 compact crossover SUV . Given that the latter segment has become America's most popular automotive sector, is anyone surprised that all eyes are on the upcoming RAV4?In the real world, Toyota just updated the RAV4 for the 2024 model year with very few changes and a subtle $200 or $250 price hike for the base version and hybrid variant, respectively. Across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, meanwhile, the story revolves around the immediate future of the iconic RAV4  the model credited with the invention of the compact crossover SUV segment.Some pixel masters think the 2025 Toyota RAV4 might get a deep facelift with significant changes to the front fascia, subtle interior revisions, and some light work bestowed upon the rear. Others, on the other hand, think that the XA60 next generation is coming as fast as possible as a rugged, 'baby' 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser rather than with edgy and modern looks fashioned after the recently introduced second-generation C-HR subcompact CUV.For example, this virtual artist, known as Theottle on social media, was asked by an Australian automotive magazine to provide a vision for the XA60 Toyota RAV4 that would play out as a shrunken 2024 Land Cruiser (known as Land Cruiser Prado in the Land Down Under). The vision is not bad, actually, but it's also far-fetched to believe that Toyota would dilute the Land Cruiser ethos with a smaller RAV4 that makes use of an unibody architecture instead of the usual body-on-frame platform.If you want our two cents on the matter, Toyota will probably rethink the RAV4 with a new iteration that's neither as edgy as the new C-HR nor as rugged and tough as the 2024 Land Cruiser. Besides, it has the 4Runner for that, and the rumor mill claims a smaller Land Cruiser is indeed coming  albeit with the complete off-road package attached to its more compact dimensions.
You are probably nobody, unless you own a high-end crossover/SUV from brands such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley, Porsche, or Rolls-Royce. These models have become ultra-popular with the world's rich and famous, and it literally feels like everyone who matters has got at least one in their garage.

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There are tons of high-riders with eye-watering expensive tags attached to them searching for new homes at any given moment, either on the used car market or in dealer lots. And if you don't mind parking a barely-driven example that certainly wants to be noticed, then the pictured Rolls-Royce Cullinan could be the one for you.The thing that immediately makes it stand out is the exterior paint finish. The purple hue decorates its body panels, and it is joined by a few blacked-out elements, like those on the grille, window surrounds, and back end. In fact, the only things that still shine are the exhaust tips and the new alloys that Kahn added . The tuner says they measure 24 inches in diameter, and they appear to be the only thing that they signed.But the flashy looks (for a Rolls-Royce) do not end here, as this Cullinan boasts a lot of purple on the inside, as well. We can see the lively color decorating the center console, upper parts of the dashboard, door cards, and seats. The dominating shade is, however, black, and as much as we'd want to hate a Rolls-Royce that features purple, we think this car is fit for someone young (and obviously successful), as it is a great entry point into the Goodwood brand's ownership before transitioning to a Phantom.What else is there to know about it? That it retains the stock motor, which was barely put to use, as the vehicle has only 199 miles (320 km) on the clock. The Rolls-Royce Cullinan enjoys 562 hp (570 ps/419) from its 6.75-liter twin-turbo V12, which develops 627 lb-ft (850 Nm) of torque. It will hit 62 miles an hour (100 kph) in a little over five seconds, and that is very impressive for a machine that weighs as much as a small shed and is not that aerodynamic either. Flat out, it will do 155 mph or 250 kph regardless of the spec.Now, as we already told you, this Rolls-Royce Cullinan is for sale, and it is advertised by the British tuner on its website here . The right-hand drive example (hey, it lives in the UK!) is a 2023 model, and you can buy it today for 369,999. That's a little over $450,000 at the current exchange rates or roughly $100,000 more than the MSRP of the luxuryin the US of A. Is it worth it?
Starting a new auto company is incredibly hard and presents itself as a complex venture. Even today, the automotive industry remains somewhat conservative. Electric vehicles (EVs) helped in this respect by allowing more startups to dream of achieving success. Nevertheless, it took Tesla 17 years to achieve profitability. Here's what pushed Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe to achieve success as the leader of a brand-new automaker.

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Photo: Rivian

Moving forward no matter what

Photo: RJ Scaringe on Twitter

Finding motivation

Photo: RJ Scaringe on Twitter

Continuing on the same path

For quite a long time, legacy automakers dismissed Tesla as being just a silly little project with green ambitions. It still garnered the attention of enormous players in its early days. Toyota and Daimler (Mercedes-Benz's owners) were among themaker's first serious supporters.Fast forward to today, and that hopeful California-based company is now the world's most valuable automaker and is on track to smash one interesting record  turning an all-electric car into the world's best-selling vehicle. There's still a quarter left until the end of 2023, but things look promising for the Model Y After Tesla showed that you can actually challenge all the big auto players and quickly go around them, other brands popped up. Lucid, for example, is a manufacturer that puts engineering and design at the core of its existence. Formerly known as Ativa, the company just recently opened its second factory in Saudi Arabia and is expected to debut an all-electricFisker is another brand that tries for the second time to achieve success. Automotive designer Henrik Fisker learned from all the problems that the Karma had and is now taking another shot at building a succesful car company. It sells the Ocean crossover SUV, but the company will soon expand to produce a pickup truck, a halo vehicle, and another crossover aimed at urban dwellers. It could become another important American automaker if the deal with Foxconn happens and manufacturing begins at Lordstown former factory in Ohio.The simplified skateboard architecture requires around 100 times fewer parts than the equivalent gas-powered vehicle. That translates into fewer contracts with suppliers, not needing as many employees to take a car through the production line, and an overall speedier process because all you need to do is focus on having a great energy storage unit, efficient motors, good enough suspension, and a cozy cabin.Rivian has that and has also made the right decision to manufacture a pickup truck and a three-row mid-size SUV first. Even though initially it explored making plug-in hybrids, the brand quickly turned to manufacturing all-electric vehicles. That served it well because, unlike Tesla, Rivian expects to reach profitability in Q4 2024  15 years after it was founded and just three years after it produced its first customer-ready EV.Rivian enjoyed success because it offered a capable pickup truck with nifty storage solutions, a comfy ride, four motors putting out 835 hp, and a fantastic McLaren 720S-inspired suspension system. Soon, it'll start delivering the dual-motor max-pack R1T , which is cheaper to manufacture but offers 410 miles of range on a single charge. It could be enough to go from Tucson, Arizona, to San Diego, California, without stopping for a quick charge.Next year, it'll also open a new factory in Georgia where it expects to make R2-series EVs that might have the 800V architecture , enabling the smaller and more affordable units to charge faster.But despite all those wise decisions and a positive outlook, Rivian's CEO was challenged by investors on multiple occasions. Mainly because the stock price dropped since its Initial Public Offering (IPO) took place. It went from $130 in 2021 to $23 when writing.However, unlike other eccentric CEOs who lead Rivian's competitors, Dr. RJ Scaringe remained calm and collected during the debacle. Now, we get to look at what motivated the MIT alumni to succeed.In an interview with The Next Generation Podcast, the man was asked how he convinced people to come to work for him in Rivian's early days and risk their livelihoods to help the automaker succeed."It was hard," said Scaringe at first. But he immediately turned to his oldest son, who joined him in this interview and underlined that he didn't have kids at the time and didn't exactly know what some people might be risking and couldn't relate to them.He pointed out that the first employee Rivian hired, who happened to be a parent, didn't wake up something inside him. It was cool that they had a family, but it was more important to make sure they were the right fit. However, when the company held its first employee get-together, Scaringe noticed that the person had children. That's when it struck him. "Oh, wow! You have kids. We can't screw this up," was what went through his mind.He said the thought of people putting their family's financial security on Rivian succeeding "weighed heavily and was probably one of the most stressful parts" of being the executive of an automotive startup.However, he admitted that the anxiety was helpful because it pushed him to focus on making Rivian a serious entity in the auto space. It also enabled him to remain level-headed.The CEO also believes that the ingredients to starting and turning a company into a thriving entity are hard work and optimism. He added that at the beginning of any business, people or entities will try to convince you to give up. RJ Scaringe also gives us a window into the recent past and recounts how potential suppliers told Rivian in 2013 and 2014 that building an all-electric pickup truck was a horrible idea. He also underlines that's when you need to keep your optimism and determination. But Scaringe emphasizes that it's essential to avoid being blindly optimistic. A leader must always encourage others to fulfill the company's vision, but they must not lose touch with reality."Sometimes, the only way out of a hard situation is telling yourself that you need to just keep pushing," the executive noted.
Be careful what you wish for. As an initial reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, international financial sanctions against Russian oligarchs known for their ties to the Kremlin made sense. One year and a half later, seized luxury assets under the same sanctions have become legal nightmares and unexpected money pits.

The reality of sanctions

Photo: Oceanco

Photo: Oceanco

Photo: Oceanco

The failed auction

Photo: Oceanco

Granted, no one said it would be easy. Then again, no one said it would be nearly impossible, either. The story of Alfa Nero, a multi-awarded Oceanco build, is perhaps the best example of the kind of legal limbo  and financial hell  a seized superyacht brings. Ironically, not to the direct beneficiary, but to the taxpayer in whatever country does the seizing.When Alfa Nero sailed into Antigua and Barbuda in early 2022, it carried a crew of 37, stocked cellars, full tanks, and the prospect of who-knows-how-many more voyages across the seven seas in the same manner as before. Today, it's empty of both provisions and personnel, bobbing away in a closed section of the marina  and costing the local taxpayer a small fortune with each new week it spends there.At the core of it, the idea of financial sanctions was a logical, well-intended one. Countries that would not  or could not  take direct sides in the war would use sanctions to put pressure on President Putin and hopefully discourage him from pursuing the war. Cut off the money flow, and he wouldn't be able to carry out the military campaign in Ukraine. Seize assets of his associates, sell them off, and then send the money over to the people of the besieged country.On paper, it looks easy and would perhaps be even easier done. In reality, being included on a sanctions list isn't a crime in itself, so while it's enough to warrant freezing an asset, it's not enough for seizing it. In order for the asset to pass on to a state, the state has to prove ownership and then that the owner committed a crime that may have resulted in an ill-begotten gain  the asset itself.Only after this can a state sell another person's property against their will and dispose of the funds in whichever way it sees fit. Until it does, the state is responsible for maintaining the asset in the exact condition it was in when it was frozen.While Russian oligarchs can very well afford to pay for their own super- and megayachts, oftentimes without having to resort to chartering them in the off-season, some local governments can do without the added burden.Italy, the country with the highest number of arrests of luxury assets recorded last year, ended up spending at least 13.7 million ($14.5 million) for the maintenance of these. And the WSJ notes that the actual figure is much higher.Antigua and Barbuda only captured one vessel, but it's turned into a nightmare. Alfa Nero, believed to be owned by Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev, comes with a price tag of $120 million, so, by the golden 10% rule of yachting, maintenance is at least $12 million a year. The small country counts with a little over 90,000 residents, many of whom are struggling financially. They've now been saddled with a $28,000-a-week bill paying for a billionaire's superyacht.As per the same publication, the Alfa Nero bobbing away in the marina swallows up at least $28,000 each week, including the Italian captain's salary and about $2,000 a day to keep the air conditioning running throughout the entire vessel, lest it be run over by mold. Without AC, mold would set in in under 48 hours, ruining the Miro painting and other valuable artworks, the hardwood floors, and the plush upholstery.A skeleton crew of six is now onboard, including the captain, working the entire day to keep the vessel in impeccable shape for the day when it can sail away. The others left after months of waiting for their salaries and have since sued the local government for the delay. Those who stayed behind ate the lobster and the caviar in the pantries and traded the wine bottles in the cellars for food when their own provisions ran out.The captain compares life on the stranded superyacht to living in a monastery: you work but don't have much else to do, and more importantly, you can never leave.Perhaps more striking is the fact that the local government was actually successful in auctioning off the vessel last summer. After Alfa Nero spewed sewage into the marina and became a hazard due to the incoming hurricane season, Antigua and Barbuda rushed new legislation that allowed it to sell it.Alfa Nero was valued at $81 million and sold off to ex-Google chief executive Eric Schmidt for $67.7 million, but he was never able to take delivery of it. Just as the winner was announced, Guryev's daughter filed papers claiming ownership and arguing that the seizure was illegal. Schmidt backed away from the deal when he realized that he'd be taking possession of a vessel riddled with debt and still with an uncertain legal status, and was followed soon by the second highest bidder. Right now, the state is being sued by that second bidder, as well as by Guryev's unsanctioned daughter. During this time, it's also obligated to keep paying for a superyacht it does not own and might not even get to keep.Sanctions against Russian oligarchs were met with very warm praise and much enthusiasm. Their application is showing that the old Biggie hit Mo Money Mo Problems was... right on the money.
The competition in the navigation space is getting fiercer, with the biggest players in the industry now coming with almost the same feature lineup.

Why traffic information matters

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

How Google Maps displays traffic data

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution

Almost everything you find in Google Maps is also available in Apple Maps , Waze, Sygic, or TomTom navigation, so eventually, choosing your driving companion comes down to other factors such as the interface and various little differences.It doesn't mean all these apps have the same feature lineup and purpose. Google Maps is an all-in-one mapping service, while Waze is primarily aimed at traffic navigation. Apple Maps wants to become a Google Maps killer, while navigation experts like TomTom, Sygic, and HERE target drivers with comprehensive packages built with finding the best route in mind.Google Maps still has unique features, and one of them keeps me from turning to Apple Maps and Waze full-time. It's the way it offers traffic information , as it helps the route planning task a lot more convenient and straightforward.Like Apple Maps and Waze , Google Maps uses a color-coded approach to display traffic conditions in a specific region. Green means the road is clear, orange signals moderate traffic, while red and dark red warn of bumper-to-bumper traffic.Apple Maps displays live traffic conditions for the default and the satellite layers, while Waze uses colored roads to warn of heavy traffic before you begin driving.Traffic conditions change in real time and are impacted by even the tiniest road incident. A fender-bender can produce massive jams, so most applications help you see what's happening ahead in real time.I already described the colored approach in another article, but what I like the most about Google Maps is how it allows me to choose the right time to leave based entirely on traffic conditions.Let me tell you how I use this feature. I live right next to one of the busiest roundabouts in my city, and every day when I go to the gym, using my typical route is a major gamble. Depending on the time of day, the roundabout can be either clear or a massive parking space, causing up to 20-minute delays.It's when Google Maps comes into play.While Waze and Apple Maps allow me to see the live traffic conditions, Google Maps does both this and something much more advanced. It lets me check out traffic conditions as they change throughout the day. Google Maps does this using historical data so I can check how the roundabout could be in an hour or two.I can, therefore, pick just the right time to go to the gym to enjoy a clear road. A clear road is more important than you think, as the route typically allows me to arrive at the gym in under 15 minutes. Heavy traffic significantly increases the ETA, as I could spend up to 20 minutes just to get past the roundabout.Google Maps allows users to see traffic conditions as they change at 5-minute intervals. You can also choose different days to see the same data for the rest of the week. Google Maps also displays live traffic conditions if you want to see what a route looks like at any given moment.The road color, which helps display traffic conditions, changes as you move the slider, so you can easily tell when you're more likely to come across a massive jam or reach your destination without encountering significant slowdowns.Needless to say, you can always use Google Maps to find a faster route to the destination, but in this case, the best option is Waze. The Google-owned traffic navigation app uses the available traffic data to look for faster routes by avoiding slowdowns, sometimes suggesting better routes than Google Maps. However, the app doesn't come with an option to see traffic conditions as they change throughout the day.Apple Maps comes with traffic information in the default and the satellite layer, using a similar color-coded approach. Roads are painted green when they're clear and red when you're expected to encounter heavy traffic. Like Waze, Apple Maps doesn't display historical traffic information, so it only shows the current conditions.Google Maps is the most complex mapping platform, offering options to navigate and explore the world from your device. Its navigation component is top-notch, and while its routes aren't always the fastest, or at least not as fast as those in Waze, features like the traffic information make a potential switch to an alternative hard.The traffic data is available on mobile devices and the desktop, so you won't see the changing conditions throughout the day on Android Auto or CarPlay. Apple also shows live traffic information on the iPhone and macOS, while Waze shows real-time details on smartphones and the web via the Waze live map.
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Case in point, meet another flashy Rolls-Royce Cullinan , which came from 1016industries this time. The minty fresh hue applied to the lower parts of the exterior and the white on the upper parts of the body make it look like the automotive equivalent of a candy. It's sweet in the literal way, though it won't give you diabetes if you stare at it for too long.Even though it may not be visible initially, this modified luxuryhas additional stuff worth mentioning. The wide body kit is on the list, featuring a redesigned front bumper with additional LED strips, fat fender flares, chunky side skirt attachments, and a new diffuser with a four-fin styling and cutouts for the exhaust tips. A pair of spoilers decorates the tailgate and rounds off the add-ons.Don't go anywhere yet, as we still have to mention the wheels. Featuring a concave shape and a multi-spoke pattern with a Y-shape, they retain the Rolls-Royce center capes and come from the aftermarket world. The size is unknown, as the tuner hasn't mentioned it in the short caption accompanying the images released on social media a few hours ago, though they look like they measure 24 or 25 inches in diameter.Despite the large size of the alloys, they still fit under the arches, even with the lowered ground clearance. Thus, suspension mods are also on the list, and they seem to complete the work. Since we cannot see the interior through the tinted windows, we can assume it has remained stock. Moreover, we can probably say the same about the engine, as the tuner hasn't said anything about it at the time of writing.A twin-turbo 6.75-liter V12 engine powers the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and kicks out 627 pound-feet (850 Nm) of torque and 562 horsepower (570 ps/419). This is a vehicle that focuses on luxury, offering a magic carpet-like driving experience, so the naught to sixty-two miles per hour (0-100 kph) acceleration is not that important. However, that doesn't mean it cannot complete it fast, as it is dealt with in just a little over five seconds en route to a 155 mph (250 kph) top speed.The tuner says this build features their V1 Widebody Package, with the V2 coming soon, and a set of RDB wheels, adding that this is "the Cullinan of your dreams." So, are they right about it?
Some consider the Lexus LS430 to be one of the greatest cars ever. It's certainly not a bad vehicle, but we wouldn't go as far as to say that this sedan is so amazing. However, it's definitely cool that someone managed to get their hands on a luxobarge of the early 2000s sporting the Lexus logo and nearly 630,000 miles on the odometer!

A well-known Toyota mechanic decided to reward himself for working hard and splurged on a 2001 Lexus LS430. When he took delivery, the 22-year-old unit was in pretty good shape. It only had a couple of scratches, scuffs, and very small dents.However, the LS430 started showing its age when the mechanic tried to climb inside. Some of the doors were squeaking, the upholstery wasn't in good shape, there was trash left in some storage areas, the headliner was stained, and some of the polycarbonate engine covers weren't properly put where they belonged.But the engine ran smoothly, and apart from some bad wheel bearings, the sedan rode nicely. It wasn't going to generate any buyer remorse.However, the mechanic thought that the 3UZ-FE 4.3-liter powerplant that originally had an output of 290 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque deserved to continue living its life in a nicer body.So, they took the car to a professional detailing shop and asked the guys there if they would be up to completely dismantle the Lexus and clean everything. The excited owner didn't want just some surface-level type of service. He wanted to make sure this vehicle was as good-looking as when it was new.Fortunately, Chicago Auto Pros accepted The Car Care Nut's proposal and started the lengthy process of unpacking and thoroughly cleaning every little thing.They invested nearly 150 hours into this project and discovered yet another reason why more gearheads perceive older cars to be better than their rejuvenated or completely overhauled counterparts  the sheer number of things they had to deal with revealed immense attention to detail.But the automaker's dedication to manufacturing great cars also meant they would have to work more. But that didn't discourage them.They started by vacuuming the larger stuff, continued by dealing with the sticky things on seat rails and other parts, introduced dry ice to make sure that every little spec of dirt could be isolated and removed from the stripped-down cabin without using water, and then focused on bringing back the shine of some of the larger parts.After four days of hard work, the car is almost ready to return to bless the roads with its presence. The current owner plans to achieve 1,000,000 miles with it! Good luck and Godspeed! We're all for it. But they must put back everything that was taken out. It's not going to be easy, but it'll be satisfying to see it run and look squeaky clean.
Brian Kates is what you might call a man of many talents. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo, worked as a biomedical device researcher at the Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, and eventually decided to get into metalwork. In 2016, Brian founded Root 2 Engineering and began offering his metal-shaping services to clients, which is how he makes a living today.

Photo: Lights & Gears

Photo: Lights & Gears

Hes also a self-confessed sucker for motorcycles and all things vintage, so his firm has a dedicated custom bike division named Motobrix. There may not be too many builds in Brians project archive at this point, but each and every one of them is absolutely magnificent to say the least! Take, for instance, this stripped-down hardtail bobber put together back in 2020.Its a mouth-watering sight to behold, showcasing the authors metalworking prowess in all its glory for onlookers to marvel at. The bike goes by the name of El Bob, and it had once been a neglected 1978 Yamaha XS650 purchased as a pile of rusty parts. Sir Kates wasnt too impressed with their condition, for sure, but he did manage to negotiate a great price with the previous owner.The aim was to create a minimalistic head-turner with all the traits youd expect to see on an antique bobber from, say, the fifties  a foot-operated clutch, no battery or turn signals, and the mandatory jockey shifter. First things first, the mastermind at Motobrix busied himself with a bit of frame surgery, cleaning up the main section and taking the rear end out of the picture.A rigid structure from Voodoo Vintage was welded on in its stead, and the XS650s forks have been lowered to achieve the correct stance. Down in the usprung sector, Brian installed the repurposed wheel hubs of a TX500, lacing them up to 18-inch aftermarket rims via stainless-steel spokes. The chosen tires are Firestones retro-looking Deluxe Champions, but what really catches our attention is the front brake.Its a distinctively modern touch in a sea of classic eye candy, employing a Ducati Monster s floating disc and the beefy Tokico caliper of a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R. These are operated via a premium master cylinder and a braided stainless-steel brake line. The stylish hand shifter and foot-operated clutch mechanism were both made from scratch, but El Bobs powertrain hardware needed some proper TLC before it could be reassembled.Brian had the parallel-twin engine vapor-blasted, bored out by 0.5 millimeters, and rebuilt with fresh internals wherever necessary. A capacitor discharge ignition provides the spark, while the air is kept nice and clean thanks to aftermarket foam filters. On the exhaust side of things, we find custom pipework running nice and high on the right, with a layer of Cerakote to prevent temperatures from getting too toasty.An open clutch cover finishes off the powertrain-related mods, but the custom wizardry continues with some handmade bodywork. The centerpiece is a snazzy peanut-style gas tank shaped out of steel, and our protagonist got pretty creative in order to compensate for its modest capacity. He sourced an old oil tank, transformed it into an auxiliary fuel cell, and placed it right beneath the seat.Speaking of the motorcycles saddle, it makes use of a sprung seat pan, elegant brown leather upholstery, and diamond pattern stitching done in black. Those springs make up for the lack of rear suspension at least in part, but who wouldnt sacrifice some comfort to ride such a charming piece of machinery, anyway? In true bobber fashion, this XS650 only wears one fender at the back  a bespoke steel unit complete with supporting struts.The sole lighting component youll see on El Bob is a yellow-tinted headlamp, adding a pinch of color and further enforcing its old-school aesthetic. It attaches to the lower triple clamp by way of a tailor-made bracket, and the tall handlebar placed in the cockpit is also a custom part. Brown rubber grips match the seat upholstery, accompanied by a couple of tiny switches on the left.Of course, theres not a single gauge or rear-view mirror in sight. As he didnt want to cover his seamless metalwork in any paint, Brian left the fuel tank and rear fender raw. He added a gorgeous cream finish to the faux oil tank and frame, though, while painting the rims black to draw more attention to what really matters.Aside from the brown accessories, yellow headlight lens, and touches of gold on the running gear, El Bob is a very monochromatic affair. The projects mastermind was happy to call it a day once the paint job was done, and we can probably all agree that he knocked it straight out of the ballpark. A well-built custom bobber is something well never grow tired of admiring, especially when it has as much old-school flair as this XS650 from Canada.
Japan will begin releasing a second batch of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant from next week, its operator has said, an exercise that angered China and others when it began in August.

On Aug. 24, Japan began discharging into the Pacific some of the 1.34 million tonnes of wastewater that has collected since a tsunami crippled the facility in 2011.

"The inspections following the first release have been completed... The (second) discharge will start on Oct. 5," TEPCO said Thursday.

China banned all Japanese seafood imports after the first release, which ended Sept. 11, despite Tokyo's insistence that the operation poses no risk.

Russia, whose relations with Japan are also frosty, is reportedly considering following suit on a seafood ban.

In the first phase around 7,800 tonnes of water were released into the Pacific out of a planned total of 1.34 million tonnes, equivalent to more than 500 Olympic swimming pools.

TEPCO says that the water has been filtered of all radioactive elements except tritium, which is within safe levels. That view is backed by the U.N. atomic agency.

China has accused Japan of using the ocean like a "sewer", accusations echoed at the United Nations last week by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of the Solomon Islands, who has developed close relations with Beijing.

The release, which is expected to take decades to complete, is aimed at making space to eventually begin removing the highly dangerous radioactive fuel and rubble from the wrecked reactors.

"As was the case for the first discharge, we will continue to monitor the tritium levels. We will continue to inform the public in ways that are easy to understand based on scientific evidence," TEPCO official Akira Ono told reporters Thursday.

Despite China's ban on Japanese seafood imports, Chinese boats are reportedly continuing to catch fish off Japan in the same areas that Japanese vessels operate.

Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, last week posted photos of what he said were Chinese fishing boats off Japan on Sept. 15.

"They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Chinese vessels fishing off Japan's coast on Sept. 15, post China's seafood embargo from the same waters," Emanuel said on social media platform X. (AFP)
SUV

EV

when do you want to buy, lease, or finance a brand-new vehicle;

how much are you willing to spend;

which brands would you consider first;

if you would be willing to wait for an all-electric version of your favorite Range Rover to become available.

Nowadays, everyone makes an. Customers like high-riding vehicles, and companies want to sell as many units as possible to be profitable. So, the outcome of having an auto market saturated with all kinds of four-wheelers that boast improved ground clearance is inevitable.But Land Rover's Range Rover sits in a class of its own. It's an iconic machine that has made many people dream of driving it everywhere  from the opera house to the middle of the woods. That SUV can do it all if equipped properly. Nobody will take a posh Range Rover riding on 23-inch wheels off the beaten path. It'll see some gravel, at the most.But things are changing in the automotive industry. Brands like Tesla prove that people enjoy simpler, more minimalistic cars while also pointing out thatadoption is possible en masse. The Model Y was the world's best-selling vehicle in the first quarter of 2023 and could end the year in the top spot.As such, if you're a Range Rover fan and want to help JLR bring forward a unit to your liking, there's a rare opportunity to convey your thoughts directly to the brand.Land Rover invited some of its fans, owners, and prospective customers to fill out a survey that aims to first find out the following:Afterward, the form takes prospective Range Rover buyers to a different screen where they must make a couple of choices. The automaker is interested in finding out what you would buy when presented with various models from competitors like Tesla, Rivian , BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, and even Jeep.But as you move toward the end stages of the survey, the questions start getting more and more specific. That's where you'll be able to say why you like the Range Rover and say what could be improved.The automaker is certainly getting ready for the all-electric era and wants to know exactly what should be done so the Range Rover can remain appealing to affluent buyers who can afford it. If you're among them, don't waste this chance
30 September 2023 15:00 (UTC+04:00)

Elnur Enveroglu Read more

Azerbaijan is already hosting the 2nd National Urban Planning Forum. The event held this time was continued under the theme of "Sustainable cities as a driving force of economic development and fighting inequalities" within the framework of the "Urban Planning Week 2023". Besides, the forum was held with the cooperation of the UN-Habitat Program (UN-HABITAT) and the State Urban Planning and Architecture Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Regarding the place where the event was held, the forum attended by more than 200 foreign guests representing 53 countries and a total of 400 participants was held this time in Zangilan, which was libeated from the Armenian occupation and is considered the most strategic point of East Zangazur.

One of the important moments of the event was the highlights in the speech of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. For example, the fact that Zangilan is the most important transportation point, the opening of a school, a kindergarten, and a number of public and state-important facilities in Zangilan, as well as the beginning of the first migration to the city of Zangilan can be considered as a particularly important message delivered to both the Azerbaijani society and the world.

"We consider Zangilan to be an important transportation destination because of its geographical location, and because it is located on the transportation corridors," the President said while addressing the forum.

This statement mentioned by the President in his speech was actually a message aimed at strategic partners interested in the Middle Corridor project. In general, a number of important prospective projects of the head of state related to Zangilan are directly related to the Zangazur corridor, which is expected to be opened in the near future.

Zangilan, which was destroyed as a result of the Armenian occupation for more than 30 years, today plays a significant role in the development of the economy of both Azerbaijan and the world.

The smart villages built in Zangilan, as well as the construction of the city in the most modern form, are of particular importance for the future well-being of native residents who will settle there. President Ilham Aliyev's emphasis on increasing the tourism potential of the region also means that the infrastructure to be created for tourism in Zangilan in the near future is large-scale. As the head of state noted, Zangilan is one of the most convenient places to receive tourists due to its nature. Climatic conditions, landscape, and mild weather encourage the development of the city as a resort center.

Azerbaijan paid special attention to the development of East Zangazur in parallel with the Garabagh Economic Region. For example, the international airport built in Zangilan also aims to facilitate transportation from the territorial point of view, and at the same time, it considers the development of tourism as one of the priorities.

"In the future, I'm sure there'll be a lot of foreign tourists here because Zangilan is one of the most beautiful parts of Azerbaijan. It is all green  hills and mountains, rivers and lakes, and a unique ecosystem of Zangilan. Really, it's a big treasure for us," the President said.

It is a fact that not only Zangilan but also all areas of East Zangazur are rich in natural underground resources. The region, including Kalbajar, Gubadli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan, has always attracted the interest of the countries of the world with its rich nature, mineral resources, valuable fossils such as cobalt, copper, palladium, and others. During its 30-year occupation, including the Garabagh economic region, Armenia treated these territories as exploiter and caused serious damage to the ecological system instead of construction. East Zangazur was also distinguished by its dense forests, but until the end of the occupation, the illegal cutting of trees by Armenians for commercial purposes endangered the flora and fauna of the region. Today, Azerbaijan also benefits from UN programs and implements joint projects to restore the former potential of the East Zangazur and Garabagh economic region. Undoubtedly, since the opening of the Zangazur corridor, all infrastructure projects, the return plan, and the constructed roads will start their intensive activity in parallel. The steps regarding the return to Zangilan town are approaching. The fact that the head of state mentioned that the return to Zangilan town will begin by 2025 or in a shorter time indicates the successful continuation of large-scale projects, including the opening of the Zangazur Corridor.

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Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews deputy editor-in-chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
30 September 2023 08:30 (UTC+04:00)

In today's rapidly evolving global landscape, where geopolitics, economics, and societal shifts intertwine, the imperative for international cooperation and strategic alliances has never been more pronounced. Central Asia, often described as the heartland of Eurasia, stands at a pivotal crossroads of this intricate web of interconnectivity. Against this backdrop, the recent Fifth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States, held in Dushanbe on emerges as a beacon of hope and a testament to the region's collective commitment to fostering unity, economic integration, and sustainable development. Chaired by Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon, this summit brought together the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives from the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Beyond the formalities of diplomacy, this gathering signifies a resolute stride forward in Central Asia's journey toward realizing its untapped potential, overcoming historical challenges, and forging a path to prosperity through unparalleled economic cooperation and connectivity.

The significance of the Fifth Consultative Meeting extends far beyond and is a testament to the region's shared commitment to addressing long-standing issues, fostering a climate of trust, and charting a course toward mutual prosperity. The adoption of a comprehensive package of agreements, including those related to land transport, youth policy, and health and well-being, underscores the multifaceted nature of Central Asian cooperation.

The Joint Statement emerging from the Consultative Meeting encapsulates the region's collective aspirations and commitment to diplomacy. Central Asian leaders have emphasized the importance of resolving regional issues through peaceful, diplomatic means, emphasizing equality and mutual respect. In doing so, they have reaffirmed their dedication to the principles of the United Nations and its pivotal role in maintaining global peace, security, and development.

By prioritizing diplomatic solutions to conflicts and fostering a spirit of cooperation, the Central Asian states are positioning themselves as responsible global actors. This reaffirmation of their commitment to peace is particularly significant in a world grappling with complex challenges, including security threats, environmental issues, and economic uncertainties. It sends a strong message that Central Asia is ready to contribute constructively to international efforts to address these pressing concerns.

Moreover, the agreements reached during the summit signal a new era of economic cooperation and regional integration. The Central Asian leaders' commitment to enhancing economic ties is evident in the Agreement on Strengthening the Interconnectedness of Land Transport in Central Asia. This agreement is poised to unlock the region's immense potential for international land transport, creating a competitive market for transport services.

By promoting connectivity through efficient transportation networks, Central Asian countries can not only boost regional trade but also position themselves as crucial hubs in the broader Eurasian trade landscape. Furthermore, their pledge to consider the increased use of national currencies in mutual trade is a significant step toward reducing dependence on external currencies, enhancing economic stability, and promoting financial sovereignty within the region. These economic initiatives are vital for the sustainable development of Central Asia, which has long been regarded as an untapped frontier for investment and growth.

In addition to the economic prospects, the Central Asian leaders' commitment to cultural and humanitarian cooperation reflects their dedication to fostering mutual respect and understanding among the region's diverse communities. The emphasis on promoting cultural heritage, collaboration in science and technology, and increased tourism signifies a desire to strengthen the bonds between Central Asian nations. By supporting joint UNESCO World Heritage List applications, these countries are not only preserving their rich history but also showcasing it to the world, potentially attracting more tourists and promoting cultural exchange. Furthermore, the leaders' strong support for the broad participation of women in all spheres of activity underscores their commitment to gender equality and social progress. This holistic approach to cooperation, encompassing economic, cultural, and humanitarian dimensions, demonstrates the Central Asian nations' resolve to not only boost their economies but also build a more inclusive and harmonious regional community.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's proposal to establish the Economic Council of Central Asian countries stands out as a transformative initiative that holds immense significance for the region. This proposal signifies a crucial step toward fostering economic integration and connectivity in Central Asia, a region with abundant untapped potential. The Economic Council offers a formal platform for these nations to coordinate and collaborate on economic matters, ultimately aiming to eliminate trade barriers, harmonize regulations, and prioritize infrastructure development. This multifaceted approach has the potential to boost intra-regional trade, attract foreign investments, enhance connectivity through infrastructure projects, and promote economic diversification. President Mirziyoyev's vision reflects a strategic understanding of the region's strengths and challenges, emphasizing the need for unity and cooperative efforts to unlock a brighter economic future for Central Asia.

In the face of inevitable challenges, Central Asian nations have a unique opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to regional cooperation and showcase their potential as a dynamic economic bloc. If established and managed effectively, the Economic Council can play a pivotal role in shaping the economic future of Central Asia and enhancing its global relevance in the years to come. The region's journey toward economic cooperation and connectivity may be arduous, but the rewards are well worth the effort.

Muhammad Asif Noor, the writer is Director Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies and Founder Centre for Central Asia and Eurasia Studies

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30 September 2023 16:21 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the Day of the Establishment of the People's Republic of China, Azernews reports.

The letter reads:

"Dear Mr. President,

It is on the occasion of the National Holiday of your country  Establishment Day of the Peoples Republic of China that on my behalf and behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I am pleased to offer my sincerest congratulations and best wishes to you, and through you, the friendly people of your country.

Today, China is one of the most dynamically developing countries in the world. Under your resolute and wise leadership, your country's achievements and successes in every field have placed it among the most powerful and advanced nations and solidified further its position in the international arena.

Expanding cooperation with China  a close friend and a reliable partner is one of Azerbaijans top foreign policy priorities. I am delighted that Azerbaijan-China relations that enjoy ancient history and fine traditions are developing along an ascending trajectory and our partnership is enriched with new substance from day to day.

I note with pleasure that presently, our bilateral relations have a broad agenda. Our mutually beneficial cooperation in the economy, trade, transportation and logistics, renewable energy, humanitarian, and other domains has clear and promising prospects. Meanwhile, the growth in the volume of cargo shipped westward from China through Azerbaijan is another vivid testimony to our successful engagement within the Belt and Road project.

Chinese companies have long operated successfully in our country and played an essential role in developing our interstate relations. We are looking forward to advancing this cooperation also across the liberated territories.

Azerbaijan has always unequivocally supported the One China policy and Chinas territorial integrity and sovereignty. In the meantime, we highly appreciate the support extended by China to our territorial integrity and sovereignty.

I am confident that we will continue successfully our joint efforts in further developing comprehensive Azerbaijan-China relations, deepening our bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and elevating them to the level of strategic partnership, for the sake of the interests of our peoples.

On this festive occasion, I wish you robust health, happiness and success, and everlasting peace and prosperity to the friendly people of China.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 30 September 2023"

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
30 September 2023 18:09 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev has met with Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on climate issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev, Azernews reports.

The meeting focused on current directions of cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation in the field of environmental protection, and prospects of cooperation.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
30 September 2023 19:00 (UTC+04:00)

At noon on September 30, the Armenian armed forces units from the positions in the direction of the Zarkand settlement of the Basarkechar region using sniper rifles opened fire on the Azerbaijan Army positions stationed in the direction of the Ashaghi Ayrim settlement of the Kalbajar district, Azernews reports with reference to the Ministry of Defence.

As a result of sniper fire, serviceman of the Azerbaijan Army Orujov Vusal Kheybali became Shehid (Martyr).

The Azerbaijan Army Units took retaliatory measures.

The leadership of the Defense Ministry expresses deepest condolences to the relatives of the Shehid (Martyr).

Recall that the criminal case has been initiated, following the death of a serviceman of the Azerbaijani Army as a result of a shot by an Armenian sniper.

May Allah rest the soul of the Shehid in peace!

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30 September 2023 19:35 (UTC+04:00)

Police on Friday intervened after a group of Armenians verbally and physically assaulted participants at a conference on Turkish foreign policy in Los Angeles, California, in the US, Azernews reports.

Following the event's opening speeches, a group of 11 Armenian students began protesting when Turkiyes Ambassador to Washington Hasan Murat Mercan started speaking. Another protester verbally abused Ramil Gurbanov, Azerbaijan's consul general in Los Angeles.

The group's 10-minute protest against Turkiye and Azerbaijan was put to an end by campus security and police, who removed the group from the venue.

Throughout the conference, protesters gathered outside and tried to disrupt the program by making noise.

After the meeting, Seref Ates, head of the Yunus Emre Institute which promotes Turkish culture and language abroad  as well as Turkiyes Los Angeles Religious Services Attache Ismail Demirezen, and Saner Ayar, an executive at TV production company 03, were physically and verbally attacked by demonstrators outside.

The event was also attended by Wilson Center Middle East Program head and former US Ambassador to Turkiye James Jeffrey, Yunus Emre Institute US Director Gokhan Coskun, and several others who spoke at the conference.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Germany's government rebuked X owner Elon Musk after he criticized the recent work of migrant rescue ships that German humanitarian groups operate in the Mediterranean Sea.

Musk late Friday shared a video that showed migrants and aid workers on a boat. The right-wing account that first put the content on X, formerly known as Twitter, praised the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues.

Is the German public aware of this? Musk wrote in his repost.

The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Musk directly on X, writing: Yes. And its called saving lives.

Musk responded that he doubted the German public supports the actions of non-governmental organizations that take asylum-seekers from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean. He also asserted it was surely a violation of Italys sovereignty for German-operated ships to bring rescued migrants to Italian territory.

So youre actually proud of it. Interesting, he wrote to the Foreign Office, adding that he thinks such maritime operations have invasion vibes.

The exchange comes as migration has returned to the political forefront in Germany and other European countries, with government officials and opposition politicians sparring about how best to handle an increasing number of arriving migrants.

Cities and communities across Germany have sounded an alarm , saying they are running out of room to accommodate them and to provide kindergarten and school places.

More than 220,000 people applied for asylum in Germany from January to August this year. In all of 2022, about 240,000 people applied for asylum . In 2015-16, more than 1 million people applied for asylum in Germany. (AP)
Does the DOJ assess that any of the seven aforementioned OCSCs is engaging in any illegal activity? If so, please describe this illegal activity.

What action, investigative or otherwise, is DOJ taking in relation to the seven aforementioned OCSCs?

Is the DOJ aware of additional OCSCs or similar PRC facilities operating in the U.S. that have not been previously acknowledged by DOJ? If so, please identify and describe them.

What actions will the DOJ undertake to ensure that it has identified every OCSC or similar PRC facility in the U.S.?

What actions will the DOJ take to ensure that the PRC does not establish additional OCSCs or similar facilities in the U.S.?

This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal . The author of this post is Theresa Opeka North Carolina U.S. Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis are among a contingent of 10 Republican senators seeking answers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) about sevenwith ties to the Chinese Communist Party operating across the U.S., including one in Charlotte.The group, led by Budd, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday, stating they hadAccording to the letter, the Charlotte OCSC is reportedly housed at the Carolinas Chinese Chamber of Commerce and was first announced in 2017. The other centers are collocated with nonprofits in San Francisco, California; Houston, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; St. Paul, Minnesota; Salt Lake City, Utah, and St. Louis, Missouri, and have reportedly been openly operating for several years and were established throughout the U.S. during this past decade.In its annual report to Congress, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has identified that OCSCs are run by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) United Front Work Department (UFWD) and are aThe letter goes on to say that the report states that U.S.- based OCSC representatives met with officials of the PRC's national police force, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), on a trip to China to discuss the use of technology to conductoverseas.They say the DOJ has warned that MPS conducts covertincludingon U.S. soil.The senators ask the DOJ if its response has sufficiently addressed the threat given the ongoing discovery of additional OCSCs, which have openly operated for several years, and their activities have been reportedly documented in Chinese state media and social media posts.Budd joined Nick Craig Tuesday morning on Wilmington's Morning News with Nick Craig on WAAV 107.9FM & 980AM to discuss the issue:Budd told Craig the best way to deal with situations like this, along with the stealing of intellectual property and military threats like the Taiwan Strait, is to be strong against aggression.he told Craig.Budd, Tillis, and Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Ted Cruz of Texas, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Mitt Romney of Utah, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska summed up the letter by asking the DOJ to respond to five questions by July 31, due to the serious nature of the issue:In April, the DOJ charged two men from New York City for operating an illegal overseas police station of the Chinese government on behalf of MPS.Missouri's Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced last month that he would investigate the St. Louis OCSC.When Carolina Journal emailed North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein's office to see if he would take similar action, Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for Stein's office said they wouldn't be taking any action.
As School Choice is beginning to take shape in North Carolina: What is your position on what it should evolve into?

3.45% School Choice is only a distraction from the promise of real public education.93.1% School Choice, as it evolves into its best model to serve the public' s education needs, this benefit will provide choices outside of the historic construct supporting the public school monopoly.3.45% School Choice - I cannot see how it serves the Education Industry.
That time Covidian propagandists were all praising Biden for going back to wearing his mask again but then two minutes later he took it off and walked through a crowd of people without it anyway. pic.twitter.com/C7xQl9ShK6  Five Times August (@FiveTimesAugust) September 6, 2023

Joe Biden just BOLTED out of the room immediately after awarding the Medal of Honor to Army Captain Larry Taylor.The ceremony continued on for several minutes afterwards.Biden completely missed a concluding prayer. pic.twitter.com/BjSdeHcLPD  Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 5, 2023

Karine Jean-Pierre says that Joe Biden's mysterious and abrupt exit from the Medal of Honor ceremony yesterday was "as planned." pic.twitter.com/cNmdgAFhb1  Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 6, 2023

Karine Jean-Pierre doubles down on Biden's strange exit from the Medal of Honor ceremony yesterday:"That was done on purpose. That was done very purposefully." pic.twitter.com/HBBtW2BkZS  Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 6, 2023

In stripping away the heavy varnish of fakery by the heavy handed Corrupt Corporate Media; in taking a true view of what is real, right now with clear open eyes: How do you see this 46th President of these States United; what is your visceral first impression of Joe Biden after nearly 3 years on the job? A good man, wise and kind The Socialist President A president in praise of his son The Non Patriot President A successful president The Idiot President A knowledgeable president A corrupt president A perfect leader of the Democratic Socialist party The man is married to a "Doctor" 369 total vote(s) What's your Opinion?



White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre waved off criticisms of President Joe Biden's behavior at a Tuesday afternoon Medal of Honor ceremony recognizing Vietnam veteran Captain Larry Taylor, insisting that his abrupt exit from the event wasBiden, who has been wearing a mask and observingprotocols since it was revealed that first lady Jill Biden has once again tested positive for COVID, first raised eyebrows when he had his face covering removed in close proximity to Taylor, 81.Biden inspired further confusion when - with no announcement, explanation, or fanfare - he walked through the crowd (still sans mask) and out the door, baffling guests and photographers along the way. The ceremony concluded with the benediction prayer several moments after Biden left.Critics wondered what was happening, calling out the president's odd departure via X.the American Enterprise Institute's Marc Thiessen posted.conservative pundit Stephen Miller added.But Jean-Pierre insisted that Biden's exit, though unannounced, was part of a plan to ensure he did not risk exposing other attendees to COVID.Jean-Pierre said at Wednesday's press briefing.Jean-Pierre went on to address Biden's exit, saying it wasand had been intended to minimize any possible COVID exposure to the others in attendance.She doubled down on the issue a short time later.Jean-Pierre said, adding that Biden had spent some time with Captain Taylor and his family - with everyone wearing masks - in addition to his brief appearance at the ceremony.
Expanding access to medical care, forging partnerships to expand behavioral health and treating a growing uninsured population are priorities for Atlanta-based Grady Health System.

While Grady is looking to expand care into Georgia communities affected by recent hospital closures, such as Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center, it's not untouched by staffing or Medicaid challenges, CFO Anthony Saul told Becker's.

As it transitions to a post-COVID reality, the health system reports a healthy balance sheet, but knows other headwinds loom. But that's OK, says Mr. Saul. "Grady thrives in the middle of chaos."

To learn more about the health system's financial strategy, Becker's caught up with Mr. Saul:

Question: What are your financial priorities going into the next fiscal year?

Anthony Saul: Our financial priorities really align with the mission and goals of Grady. Top of mind for us is expanding access, as we are in a major metropolitan market that actually lost two hospitals in the last year. It has been Grady and other healthcare partners standing in the wind to ensure that our patients are being taken care of. Other top priorities, from a financial perspective that really aligns with our mission, is continuing to invest in strategic service lines. We have seen the highest acuity patient in the city of Atlanta last year with the other level one trauma center closing, and so that's been a major resource commitment in some of our strategic service lines, such as orthopedics, trauma and cardiovascular. As we continue to strive to meet the demand in the city, growing those service lines, adding physicians, adding service center access points is paramount, not only from a commitment to the community but also for financial priority. Thirdly, it's our commitment to continue investing in people and communities. Looking at the work we build from a health equity lens, it's paramount that we expand our ambulatory footprint; we have with the opening of a new ambulatory center earlier this year. As we look out to 2024 and beyond getting access points in the communities we serve, whether it's additional mobile units, additional clinic sites, or expanding tech access points, we're looking at making those investments to continue furthering our clinical mission.

Q: When it comes to expanding care, are you considering any mergers, acquisitions or partnerships?

AS: As a public hospital serving Fulton and DeKalb counties, the M&A activity is limited but not non-existent. We mostly work with our government agencies and other partners who want to expand within our community. So, for instance, we're expanding behavioral health partnerships with the two major counties that we serve. We are expanding our clinics in both communities and we're assessing our portfolio with two major hospitals closing in a year in the Atlanta market. We're looking at what investments make the most sense in the newly identified healthcare desert that has lost hospitals.

Q: What is the biggest financial challenge Grady is facing?

AS: We have additional risk, given that not only did Medicaid not expand in Georgia, we still have north of 25 percent uninsured population. At Grady, 30 percent of our patient population is uninsured. The added stress of Medicaid redetermination is definitely a looming financial challenge. There are additional financial pressures that we're seeing on the horizon. While the labor shortage has improved and, we think we're on another side of that cycle. We're not out of the woods yet, especially given the national dynamics with large health systems like Kaiser and some others in the Midwest potentially facing strikes. That then reduces the pool and starts another cycle where we see our nurses leaving for short-term lucrative deals.

Additionally, this time around, the physician shortage and increasing costs, retaining and or attracting new providers, we think is going to be a larger factor in the near term. As the providers themselves face the same life question: am I earning enough at my current institution? Many physicians did not see the increases that other clinical staff saw during the pandemic and so we think that's on the horizon. That is another contributing factor that's going to increase the cost of providing care.

Q: Are you turning toward digital tools, such as virtual nursing, to help tackle the staffing crisis?

AS: We have been investing in the digital catalog of services. In 2016, we rolled out remote patient monitoring for chronic heart failure patients. So, those lessons of the pandemic really helped further our commitment and expansion in adding new capabilities; having a strong digital presence is really a part of our strategic undertaking. We're currently investing in expanding our virtual front door through the various services that provide enhanced customer satisfaction for our patients. One of our pillars in the expansion of access that I mentioned earlier, such as having the ability to provide care anywhere and have access to clinicians for our patients at any time, is going to be a key part of diversifying, which allows us to be a little more insulated from other pandemic type events that could occur in the future.

Q: How are you financially preparing for those unforeseen events, such as global pandemics?

AS: We have all looked in the mirror at ourselves since the COVID-19 pandemic and questioned the principles we thought were foundational. It is paramount at Grady or any organization of our size, that we have a healthy balance sheet. That allows us to weather the storm but also make investments that can help mitigate some of the challenges any such future pandemics may present. Right now, Grady is enjoying the strongest liquidity position we have had in decades. We are in a healthy position, but we are investing more than we have in decades. When I look at a 10-year horizon from 2020 to 2030, our plan is to invest over a billion dollars. We look at additional business aspects such as what we do differently in our supply chain, to be ready for such events. So it is really about preparing for the unexpected and Grady thrives in the middle of chaos.
The Irish actress, comedian and writer says travelling abroad for dental treatment was one of the best decisions she has ever made.

Sponsored by Kreativ Dental

Eilish OCarroll is well-known for her role as the lovable Winnie McGoogan in the hilarious popular BBC sitcom, Mrs Browns Boys. But behind the laughs and smiles on-set, Eilish was experiencing some issues with her teeth.

I had gum disease and was getting treatment with a dentist in Ireland for the last 15 or 20 years, says Eilish. I needed deep cleaning every three months. About four years ago, just before the pandemic, my dentist told me it was getting progressively worse and that in time, I would lose my teeth. So I needed to think about what I was going to do in relation to replacing them.

Eilish says, at the time, her treatment options in Ireland were too expensive. One day, when speaking to a friend, she was told about dental treatment in Budapest, Hungary.

My friend had travelled to Kreativ Dental Clinic in Budapest and told me about the treatment he had and the savings he made. I then spoke to several people who had also been to the clinic and they highly recommended it.

Eilish was advised to get in touch with Mary Flanagan, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland representative for Kreativ Dental Clinic, and Mary talked Eilish through all the details. The fact that the clinic has a representative based in Ireland was hugely reassuring. Mary was a big support, answering all my questions and concerns.

I decided I was going to go ahead and so booked my flights to travel over to Budapest for a consultation.

Free consultation

Eilish says an appealing factor was also the fact that the initial consultation and X-ray are free. If you dont feel like you want to go ahead with the treatment, theres no pressure put on you and you dont lose out on money.

The clinic also covers your accommodation costs for the initial consultation and your transfers to and from the airport are free. Theres a Kreativ Dental desk at Budapest airport, with taxis to transfer you directly there and back, so getting to the clinic was easy.

The only thing you need to pay when travelling for your first consultation are your flights, and flights to Budapest can generally be reasonably priced, depending on when youre travelling. Plus, the flight time is short, just under three hours.

Eilish adds that she felt completely at ease when she visited Kreativ Dental Clinic for the first time, The staff were great and easy to understand, providing a full breakdown of the treatment plan. They told me I would need dental implants, which were at a much more reasonable price at the clinic than Ireland. After my consultation, I decided to go ahead with the treatment.

Unfortunately for Eilish, just as she decided to book her treatment, the pandemic hit and there were travel restrictions. However, soon after restrictions were lifted, she began her treatment.

I completed my treatment after just two visits and Im absolutely delighted with the results. The end result was better than I could have expected! It's a marvellous place and the dental specialists really take care of you. They explain everything to you and nothing is rushed. Getting dental treatment can be quite a major thing, but I felt very confident throughout the process.

Eilish adds, Kreativ Dental also has an aftercare dentist in Ireland, so thats reassuring, if you experience any issues when you return.

Eilish with Attila Knott, Managing Director and Owner of Kreativ Dental Clinic

A new confidence

Being on TV, and in the limelight, Eilish now feels more confident after having the dental treatment.

I was beginning to get very self-conscious and felt that my teeth werent looking the best. But I smile confidently now, knowing I have a lovely set of gnashers!

So whats coming up next for Eilish in relation to work projects? A new four-part mini-series of Mrs Browns Boys has recently aired on BBC One and Eilish says she loves playing the role of Winnie alongside her brother Brendan, who plays Agnes Brown, and some of her other family members who also have roles in the show.

As a character, Winnie doesnt take herself too seriously and I love that about her. She is happy with the small things in life. We have so much fun filming.

However, Eilish will be going it alone with her next project, and will be starring in her own show in the Viking Theatre in Clontarf starting on 6th December this year.

Its called Live, Laugh, Love and its very much based around my own story, with plenty of humour! Its very funny because I feel that life is funny. I think the Irish have a great way of bringing humour into everyday life, and even into tragedy. And that's a great survival technique. So my show builds on that aspect.

You can book tickets to Live, Laugh, Love here.

Eilish also recently got involved with Sister Sheds, a support network and a community for women all over Ireland to meet up on a weekly basis in their locality for a chat and activities.

Sister Sheds has asked me to direct their show in the Civic Theatre Tallaght in February 2024 and Im really looking forward to that. These women involved in Sister Sheds will be writing their own sketches and their own comedy, as well as some more serious performances. I think it's a fantastic organisation which started off in Dublin because of the pandemic, and it has now grown nationwide.

A very happy Kreativ Dental Clinic patient, Eilish O'Carroll aka 'Winnie' in Mrs Brown's Boys

Travelling to Budapest

In February 2024, Eilish also plans to return to Kreativ Dental Clinic for a check-up, and to explore more of the city of Budapest. I absolutely loved Budapest as a city and its beautiful architecture. It's gorgeous. But when I go back out next February, I'll make a long weekend of it and enjoy more of the city.

Thats another advantage of travelling to Budapest for dental treatment  you could combine your dental trip with a nice holiday as well!"

Eilis adds, Its a very big step to get dental treatment abroad, but Id advise anyone researching it to do your comparisons and make sure there is an aftercare service offered in Ireland.

The beauty of Kreativ Dental Clinic is that not only do they offer affordable treatments completed at a high-quality standard by expert dental specialists, but they also offer a free consultation, free airport transfers, and free accommodation for the duration of your consultation, as well as aftercare in Ireland. So, even if you decide not to go ahead with the treatment plan, its not a huge expense.

I can honestly say it was the best thing I ever did and I would highly recommend Kreativ Dental.

For more information, contact Mary Flanagan, who is the ROI and NI representative for Kreativ Dental Clinic. Call Mary at +353 86 029 9998 or 0 289 530 0100, email mary@kreativdentalclinic.eu or visit kreativdentalclinic.eu
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been discussing his partys talks with the government on the Windsor Framework as key provisions in the accord come into force

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party was in discussions with the Government about making changes

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said the party has to be sure that distinct measures making it difficult to trade within the UK are removed from the Windsor Framework.

The red and green lane regime of the accord intended to reduce trading friction between Great Britain and Northern Ireland comes into force on Sunday.

Sir Jeffrey said his party was in discussions with the Government about making changes.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated that while the framework can be implemented in a flexible way, the key aspects of the agreement are set.

In an interview with Cool FM, Sir Jeffrey said: When all this started out we were told that the NI Protocol was done and that was it. And we proved that people will come back to the negotiating table and thats where we are at the moment.

We are back in discussions with the government on the outstanding concerns that we have about the Windsor Framework. We dont believe that whats there at the moment actually delivers what the Prime Minister said it would.

But I welcome the fact that he said there was room for further discussions around the implementation of the framework and how it works in practice.

And that relates particularly to the movement of goods within the UK and its internal market.

For those goods flowing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, we need to be sure that what the PM said would be the case is in fact the reality for businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland  that any sense of distinct measures that make it difficult for people to trade within the UK has been removed.

He said there had been progress in areas identified by the party as barriers to its acceptance of the deal struck in February between the UK and EU.

That included future-proofing the protocol so that changes to UK law did not inhibit Northern Irelands trade with the rest of the UK.

He struck an optimistic note on the potential for reaching agreement. Where theres a will theres a way.

The retail industry in Northern Ireland has said it will still deliver value for money when the green and red lane regulations come into force.

The regime brings new labelling requirements for supermarkets and food retailers, though industry representatives said any additional costs are not being passed on to consumers.

Stuart Anderson, head of public affairs at NI Chamber, said: We now have product-level labelling for pre-packed meat and fresh dairy, and then box-level labelling. In store, you will see shelf labels saying not for EU and posters essentially explaining what that is.

Retail has been at the sharp end of the preparations and theres been a huge amount of work over the past months.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and the factions vying for the steering wheel in the DUP

And his impression was that companies were prepared for the change. The message Im getting is that they are in a good place and hoping for a good start on Sunday.

With all these things, you are applying a new process to really complex, time-sensitive arrangements. You cant stand here and give guarantees that everything will go smoothly. But it certainly doesnt feel like a cliff edge.

He said he hoped that any issues could be resolved, aided by the fact that EU-UK relations had improved.

And Mr Anderson said he did not expect additional costs as a result of complying with the regime. No-one has reported to me that there will be any rising cost and at the moment I dont know where those additional costs will come from.

Glyn Roberts, chief executive of Retail NI, said the industry had engaged with government bodies to ensure that enforcement of labelling requirements would be as light touch as possible for our members.

We have taken a pragmatic solution-based approach to this issue and other aspects of the Windsor accord.

While we did not seek this labelling we understand the importance of reassuring the EU of the integrity of the single market.

Neil Johnston, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, said that as guidance on the regime had been published as late as July, it was still ironing out aspects of the framework.

But he said it hoped customers will notice very little change in the shops. : The retail industry has been working assiduously behind the scenes with all relevant parties to try to ensure that we will be in a position to continue to deliver the broad range of goods and great value for money that our customers have come to expect.

He added: It is in everyones interest to make the new regime work and we believe that, while there may be occasional hiccups, with goodwill we will be able to do so in time.
Gok Wan has revealed that he met the late Sir Michael Gambon in hospital many years ago and said it was one of the greatest experiences of his life.

It was recently announced that stage and film titan Sir Michael, who was known for playing Professor Albus Dumbledore in six of the Harry Potter movies, had died aged 82.

Following news of his death, celebrities paid tribute to the actor, including fellow Potter star Daniel Radcliffe who said Sir Michael was one of the most brilliant, effortless actors.

Sir Michael Gambon who died aged 82 (Ian West/PA)

Fashion consultant and TV personality Wan, 49, also paid tribute to the star and said he was one of the biggest forces he had ever met.

Recalling the time he met the actor in hospital, Wan wrote on his Instagram page on Saturday: Many years ago I was poorly and was admitted into hospital for a couple of weeks.

It was genuinely one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Not because I was sick and was being made better but, because Michael Gambon just happened to be in the room next to mine.

After introducing myself to him and him to me, in a rather Downton Abbey fashion, we then went on to spend almost two weeks together.

Gok Wan has paid tribute to Sir Michael Gambon (Ian West/PA)

He was the greatest storyteller I had ever met. We laughed, sat in silence and listened to Classic FM and my entire heart fell for this mighty man.

When we were discharged I went to see Michael in a show in the West End.

Afterwards we went to dinner where he continued to unpack his suitcase of stories.

His presence on stage, on screen and in real life was enormous, satisfyingly overwhelming.

He was one of the biggest forces I have ever met and lucky enough to spend time with.

RIP my hospital hero I bet you are telling your fabulous stories to the angels  dont leave anything out, they are just too delicious!

Sir Michael appeared in many films and TV series and one of his most recognisable roles was Philip Marlow in Dennis Potters The Singing Detective in 1986.

The actor also had an illustrious theatre career which included appearances in Alan Ayckbourns The Norman Conquests and Nicholas Hytners National Theatre production of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2.
The United States is on the brink of a federal government shutdown after hard-right Republicans in Congress rejected a longshot effort to keep offices open as they fight for steep spending cuts and strict border security measures that Democrats and the White House say are too extreme.

With no deal in place by midnight Saturday, federal workers will face furloughs , more than 2 million active-duty and reserve military troops will work without pay and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast will begin to face shutdown disruptions.

The Senate will be in for a rare Saturday session to advance its own bipartisan package that is supported by Democrats and Republicans and would fund the government for the short-term, through Nov. 17.

But even if the Senate can rush to wrap up its work this weekend to pass the bill, which also includes money for Ukraine aid and U.S. disaster assistance , it won't prevent an almost certain shutdown amid the chaos in the House. On Friday, a massive hard-right revolt left Speaker Kevin McCarthy's latest plan to collapse.

Congress has only one option to avoid a shutdown ? bipartisanship, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky echoed the sentiment, warning his own hard-right colleagues there is nothing to gain by shutting down the federal government.

It heaps unnecessary hardships on the American people, as well as the brave men and women who keep us safe, McConnell said.

The federal government is heading straight into a shutdown that poses grave uncertainty for federal workers in states all across America and the people who depend on them ? from troops to border control agents to office workers, scientists and others.

Families that rely on Head Start for children, food benefits and countless other programs large and small are confronting potential interruptions or outright closures . At the airports, Transportation Security Administration officers and air traffic controllers are expected to work without pay, but travelers could face delays in updating their U.S. passports or other travel documents.

Congress has been unable to fund the federal agencies or pass a temporary bill in time to keep offices open for the start of the new budget year Sunday in large part because McCarthy, R-Calif., has faced unsurmountable resistance from right-flank Republicans who are refusing to run government as usual.

McCarthy's last-ditch plan to keep the federal government temporarily open collapsed in dramatic fashion Friday as a robust faction of 21 hard-right holdouts opposed the package, despite steep spending cuts of nearly 30 percent to many agencies and severe border security provisions, calling it insufficient.

The White House and Democrats rejected the Republican approach as too extreme. The Democrats voted against it.

The House bills failure a day before Saturdays deadline to fund the government leaves few options to prevent a shutdown.

Its not the end yet; I've got other ideas, McCarthy told reporters.

Later Friday, after a heated closed-door meeting of House Republicans that pushed into the evening, McCarthy said he was considering options ? among them, a two-week stopgap funding measure similar to the effort from hard-right senators that would be certain to exclude any help for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Even though the House bill already cut routine Ukraine aid, an intensifying Republican resistance to the war effort means the Senate's plan to attach $6 billion that Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is seeking from the U.S. may have bipartisan support from Democrats but not from most of McCarthy's Republicans.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is working to stop that aid in the Senate package.

The White House has brushed aside McCarthy's overtures to meet with President Joe Biden after the speaker walked away from the debt deal they brokered earlier this year that set budget levels.

Catering to his hard-right flank, McCarthy had returned to the spending limits the conservatives demanded back in January as part of the deal-making to help him become the House speaker .

The House package would not have cut the Defense, Veterans or Homeland Security departments but would have slashed almost all other agencies by up to 30 percent ? steep hits to a vast array of programs, services and departments Americans routinely depend on.

It also added strict new border security provisions that would kickstart building the wall at the southern border with Mexico, among other measures. Additionally, the package would have set up a bipartisan debt commission to address the nation's mounting debt load.

As soon as the floor debate began, McCarthys chief Republican critic, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, announced he would vote against the package, urging his colleagues to not surrender.

Gaetz said afterward that the speaker's bill went down in flames as Ive told you all week it would.

He and others rejecting the temporary measure want the House to keep pushing through the 12 individual spending bills needed to fund the government, typically a weeks-long process, as they pursue their conservative priorities.

Republicans leaders announced later Friday that the House would stay in session next week, rather than return home, to keep working on some of the 12 spending bills.

Some of the Republican holdouts, including Gaetz, are allies of former President Donald Trump, who is Biden's chief rival in the 2024 race. Trump has been encouraging the Republicans to fight hard for their priorities and even to shut it down.

The hard right, led by Gaetz, has been threatening McCarthys ouster, with a looming vote to try to remove him from the speakers office unless he meets the conservative demands. Still, its unclear if any other Republican would have support from the House majority to lead the party.

Late Friday, Trump turned his ire to McConnell on social media, complaining the Republican leader and other GOP senators are weak and ineffective and making compromises with Democrats. He urged them, Don't do it! (AP)
Coffee isnt just about what goes into your cup says Paula McIntyre

Today is World Coffee day, a celebration of this iconic drink that has its origins in Ethiopia. The drinking of coffee spread through to the Yemen and arrived in Italy in the sixteenth century. By the late seventeenth century coffee houses were well established in Western Europe. The earliest cultivations of coffee in the new world were in 1720 when the governor of Guadeloupe, Gabriel de Clieu brought seedlings to the Caribbean islands. By 1852 its growth had spread to Brazil where it became, and remains, the worlds largest producer of coffee.

Today many high streets would be barren wastelands if it wasnt for their many coffee shops. Being a barista, a dedicated coffee maker, is now recognised as a serious profession. Theres nothing as good as a well made cup of coffee and nothing worse than one produced without care. Roasting beans is a real skill and its vital to maintain machines and keep them clean. As someone who cant function in the morning without the hit of a double espresso I appreciate the work going into making a proper cup. And as someone who doesnt drink milk, theres nowhere to hide. For me a good coffee should have a rich crema, a creamy natural top and the coffee should be smooth, regardless of the strength.
Lawyer pulls out of Nama trial which now won't happen for at least another year

Previous estimate of trial beginning around now shown to be wrong as seminal case might not even come to trial by the end of next year

Frank Cushnahan and Ian Coulter

Sam McBride Sat 30 Sep 2023 at 08:30

One of Northern Irelands biggest criminal trials in years which involves allegations of criminality by some of Belfasts elite is nowhere near taking place, it has emerged.
A Stormont department has been accused of writing Lockwood Part II in a bid to halt a 60-year campaign for university expansion in Derry.

In 1965, the Lockwood report recommended Northern Irelands second university be located in Coleraine rather than Derry  a decision which was a catalyst for the civil rights campaign.

A decades-long call to expand Ulster Universitys (UU) Magee campus to 10,000 students has been stymied, with around 5,000 students enrolled at present.

The Department for the Economy (DfE) entirely refutes that its civil servants are working against expansion in Derry, saying advice to ministers is factual and impartial.

However, ministerial briefing documents obtained under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act show that DfE compiled a list of objections to university expansion in Derry city.

Dated April 28, 2020, the report was written by the director of the departments Higher Education Division, Trevor Cooper.

It came three months after the New Decade, New Approach agreement in which Stormont parties and ministers from London and Dublin committed to expand Derrys Magee campus to 10,000 students.

Currently, Belfast has 83% of NIs student population. Documents reveal Mr Cooper cautioned then Economy Minister Diane Dodds that investing in Magee could displace students from Queens University Belfast (QUB) and Coleraine.

A London Economics report previously found that QUB generated 3bn for the economy, bringing in 8 for every 1 received in income.

While admitting he had no clarity on costs, Mr Cooper warned expansion in Derry would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and questioned its economic benefit.

Furthermore, the report said there is a lack of any information on the appetite from students to study in Derry.

UU has conclusively said demand for all health courses in Derry outstrips available places many times over.

As part of Derrys regeneration proposals known as One Plan, informed by the local council and UU, a final draft outline business case for Magee expansion was submitted to the former Department for Employment and Learning in April 2016.

Under the new DfE, the Higher Education Division and Analytical Services undertook an initial assessment of this high-level case.

The assessment raised fundamental questions around the case presented.

Despite a third of NI students routinely leaving to study in Britain, the report questioned whether there was any need for the proposed increase in graduate numbers.

The high level of uncertainty of the capital costs included in the plan was also cited.

The DfE report flagged a lack of sufficient detail regarding the purported economic benefits of the proposal.

It queried the rationale for locating additional higher education places in the Magee campus, as opposed to other geographical locations with further and more detailed explanation in relation to sub-regional economic benefits.

The funding implications of any proposed expansion were raised, as were its repercussive effects on all of higher education provision.

Furthermore, the report stated that in 2019 UUs former Vice-Chancellor Paddy Nixon told DfE that whilst UU remains committed to securing expansion of its Magee campus, the case was not commissioned by the university and cannot be viewed in isolation from wider university priorities.

The report asserted that the university will think carefully around the risks involved in committing to another very large-scale and complex capital project (after UU Belfast), which, although there is no clarity on costs, is likely to run into many hundreds of millions of pounds, all of which would be sought as grant from government.

Derry University Group (DUG) said this shows neither Stormont nor UU can be trusted to run Magee.

This is an anti-Derry attack sheet for ministers, pure and simple, drawn up just two months after DfE gave a 126m [it rose to 174m] bailout to UU Belfast, it said.

Where is the departments document explaining how it is going to deliver on the two governments targets for Derry? And where is UUs? Both institutes have failed utterly on their responsibilities.

DUG added: This is Lockwood Part II. In 1964, civil servants from the Stormont Department of Labour told Lockwood not to build in Derry.

Sixty years on, we see nothing has changed. Neither UU nor Stormont can be trusted to run Magee fairly, justly or in the interests of the people of Derry. We need autonomy and we need it now.

We are calling for the immediate establishment of a cross-border commission, comprising the Irish government, Derry/Strabane council and the Royal Irish Academy, to take over the running of the Magee campus and to deliver 10,000 students by 2030.

DfE insisted that civil servants have to critically assess business cases and said the department will continue to invest in Magee and other university campuses.

Ulster University currently estimates capital investment of hundreds of millions is required to develop a campus at Derry~Londonderry that can accommodate 7,500 learners, it said.

150m of this has already been identified with the university committing over 50m as part of that investment.

This figure includes the City Deals, Inclusive Futures, and the Shared Island commitment alongside the universitys investment.

UU Vice Chancellor of Professor Paul Bartholomew said UU is completely committed to growth at its campus in Derry.

"We will have more students than ever on the campus this year with more to come in the coming years. My personal efforts to lead this growth are well known, and well supported, by government locally, regionally, and nationally  on both sides of the border, he added.
One of this weeks big stories was the news that a historic building in Bellaghy, home village of the late Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, will receive 4.6 (4m) through funding from the Irish Government in the Shared Island Fund.
Last week, while other world leaders were gathered in New York to accelerate action on the environment at the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Summit, our Prime Minister was delivering a speech on watering down net zero instead. Says everything you need to know.

For me, what was most frustrating about Rishi Sunaks television conference last week was the double speak and contradictions in each of his pronouncements. Sunak started his speech saying it was time to be honest with the British people, then proceeded to be very dishonest, talking about scrapping policies that simply dont exist.
Two of the stars of the Bjorn Identity Abba tribute group got a shock when they bumped into the actual Benny Andersson from the band.

Karen Rush and husband Richard Doubleday, who play Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog, were on holiday in Stockholm when they got to meet their idol.

Karen told Showbiz Life: Richard surprised me with a trip to Stockholm for my birthday. We were at the Vasa Musuem and we decided to take a small ferry over to Skeppsholmen where Benny has a recording studio. We recognised it from photos and we thought we would try and create them although we were missing our other halves, Sophie and Ryan, who play Frida and Benny.

We were peeking through the window of the studio and there he was with his back to us. I freaked out thinking, Its got to be a waxwork. Then I ran away afraid we would look like stalkers but Richard didnt want to miss our chance. He gave him a wave and Benny opened the window and said hello. We apologised for bothering him and told him we were massive fans.

He came outside to meet us. My hands were shaking as we got the selfie. We showed him pictures of us performing. He seemed to genuinely enjoy seeing them. We told him we were from Ireland and he said he had bred horses there. It was unbelievable. He was so humble and generous. I know they say dont meet your idols but he was more impressive than we could have imagined.

The Bjorn Identity are on tour from next Friday (October 6). Check out bjornidentity.co.uk for more info and tickets
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Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds. High around 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

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PITTSFIELD  Mayoral candidate John Krol's records have revealed that the bank account for Animal Dreams was used as early as 2016 in five more of his business transactions than previously reported.

Four of the newly discovered transactions were to pay a yearly $456 business excise tax to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue in each of the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 tax years. Each time, the state rejected the payment because it was not from Krols account, but from the nonprofit cat rescue organization of which he was a director.

This is all, this is all news to me, Krol told The Eagle during a Thursday interview. And I think what it  what it shows is that I was, you know, using that number, thinking it was for OneEighty Media.  I'm not really sure why this changes anything.

Krol has maintained that he had no malintent through this financial period in his life. He has characterized these and other instances as mistakes.

Krol said he could not recall how his business excise taxes were ultimately paid to the DOR but he insisted they were paid.

His records also show a sixth payment to his American Express card from the Animal Dreams account to which he had access since August 2013 as a director with authority as a co-signer on the account.

In response to an Eagle editorial calling for him to release his bank and credit card statements for 2018 and 2019 that may settle the issue for the public, Krol released certain records Tuesday night that he says provide "undeniable proof that I most certainly believed the payments were coming from my checking account for OneEighty Media."

The records do not appear to confirm or refute what Krol's intentions were at the time. The partial bank and credit card statements he provided do confirm the payments in question originated from the Animal Dreams account, not his business checking account.

The material he shared acknowledges a sixth payment to his business account and further investigation by The Eagle revealed four new transactions in which the Animal Dreams account was involved in the payment of Krols business taxes.

Thats five more than previously reported.

Krol provided The Eagle a portion of the documents requested by the editorial, resulting in an incomplete picture of his financial dealings in 2018 and 2019.

He provided other documentation, however, including a 2016 email from his then-accountant Barry Clairmont, that he said would show further proof of the fact that I believed [the Animal Dreams account number] was a valid number for my OneEighty Media business.

Instead, that email led to The Eagles discovery of four attempted transactions made over four years to the state DOR on his business taxes from the Animal Dreams bank account.

MISTAKES

In a two-hour interview with The Eagle on Thursday, Krol insisted that although he made "mistakes," he did not steal the money from the cat rescue organization to pay his business debts in 2018 and 2019.

The president of the Animal Dreams organization, Stacey Carver, went public last week claiming that Krol "stole" $6,800 from the Animal Dreams organization over the course of 2018 and 2019. The organizations accountant at the time flagged the discrepancy in a supplemental tax filing with the IRS characterizing it as "embezzlement from a former director."

At Carver's invitation, Krol joined the Animal Dreams board of directors in 2013 and was given co-signer status on the charitys bank account beginning Aug. 6, 2013. Carver, the other co-signer, said she confronted Krol about five payments made from the Animal Dreams account to an American Express card in his name in 2019.

Krol told The Eagle that he was embarrassed about the error, but that he didnt have the money to pay it all back when Carver brought it to his attention on June 27, 2019. He said he did pay $750 to Animal Dreams about three weeks later, and then used $6,100 from his then-friend and Carvers then-husband Allen Harris to pay back the rest.

Krol blamed the payments on the banks mistake, saying a Greylock Federal Credit Union employee in 2015 emailed him the Animal Dreams account number, instead of his own bank account, which he then unwittingly used to make online payments on his American Express card. Krol said he asked that Greylock employee for his business bank account number because he was often unclear about which numbers on his checks were his bank's routing number, his bank account number and the third number, the check number.

Krol said it was an issue I consistently had  in identifying exactly what the correct number is.

This week, Krol went to Greylock Federal and asked the credit union to compile a list of transactions from October 2018 to March 2019 showing payments to his American Express business card. He said that the transaction list demonstrates his confusion over account numbers.

The list of American Express transactions shows that on Oct. 2, 2018, Krol had paid $203 to his American Express from his personal bank account at Greylock Federal. Krol said that was the last transaction he made from his personal bank account on his American Express business card.

In November 2018, Krol said he made the decision to start using his OneEighty Media bank account to pay his American Express business card charges because they were business expenses. Krol told The Eagle that he was winding down OneEighty Media from a full-time business during this time.

It makes sense to be paying with the business [account] because its pre-tax and theyre business expenses, Krol said. So, really, it should have been that way in the beginning.

In making that transition from his personal to his business account, however, is when he says he became confused over account numbers.

In order to direct his November 2018 American Express payment, Krol said he used his business five-digit credit union member number  instead of the business 10-digit account number  thinking it was the right one. American Express rejected that payment attempt because the member number wasnt a bank account number.

Krol provided The Eagle with bank statements from his business account that, if he had looked at them at the time, would have shown his labeled member number and account number.

That is when he said he entered the wrong account number, the Animal Dreams account number he got by email in 2015, thinking that account number was his business account number. American Express then processed six payments totaling $6,868.77  $209 on Nov. 16, 2018; $500 on Dec. 24, 2018; $2,750 on Feb. 14, 2019; $3,000 on March 4, 2019; $370.58 on March 8, 2019; $39.19 on March 25, 2019  from the Animal Dreams account.

When asked why he didnt reference the more recent 2016 email that the bank sent him, that correctly listed his business account number, Krol said he believes it was because the subject line of the 2015 email had router number and thats what he went with.

DOESNT ADD UP

In a narrative he emailed along with the records he sent, Krol claimed he had the money to cover his credit card payments during that span of time  from November 2018 to March 2019. There most certainly was enough in the OneEighty Media checking account to cover the payments that were made at those times.

Krol provided copies of five months of OneEighty Media bank statements covering November 2018 to March 2019.

When the missing card payments are put in context with what the balance was on the OneEighty Media account on the payment date and the prior missing payments, the math calls into question Krols claim that he had enough money in his business account to make the credit card payments.

If Krol had been withdrawing the American Express card payments from his OneEighty Media business account, then by the third withdrawal, which took place in February 2019, he would have overdrafted the OneEighty Media account by almost $250.

By the final payment, on March 25, 2019, Krol would have overdrafted the account by $2,901.69.

On Thursday, when The Eagle explained the math to Krol and that his claim  that his OneEighty Media account had the money  didnt add up, he conceded that he would have overdrafted the account.

At the time, I was under the impression that when I saw the balance that there was enough [money] in there, Krol told The Eagle.

Krol said he didnt review his transactions closely or often at the time because he started a new position with Benchmark Senior Living in Newton in January 2019.

It was not my daily focus, Krol said. He told The Eagle that during this time he was likely balancing his checkbook between one and two times a year.

PROBLEMATIC EMAIL

In 2019, Krol texted Carver a screenshot of the Greylock email from 2015 to explain how the mistake occurred. He also texted Carver a screenshot of a 2016 email from the same Greylock employee with his correct bank account number. The difference in all of this, he said, was that he relied on the 2015 email, which contained the Animal Dreams account number and not the one from 2016 with the correct OneEighty Media account number.

Krol said that, in March 2018, when he was going back through his email to find his OneEighty Media account number to pay his American Express bill, the 2015 email with the Animal Dreams account number surfaced instead of the 2016 one with the correct information. Again, he said the 2015 email popped up because he believes he searched his email for the terms router number.

The Greylock Federal employee whose name is on the email to Krol no longer works for Greylock and attempts to reach her have been unsuccessful.

DOR PAYMENTS SNAGGED

Krols business and personal accountant in 2016 was Barry Clairmont, a former fellow Pittsfield city councilor who served with Krol. The two had a friendship, but after a falling out, they now regard the other as a political adversary. In his run for Pittsfield mayor, Krol has leveled criticism and some praise for Linda Tyers administration. Tyer and Clairmont are married.

On March 3, 2016, Clairmont emailed Krol the following request concerning his business: The returns are due 3/15/16. Ill file an extension for you. $456 is due on March 15th. Is there money in the account I can have withdrawn on that day? Please confirm the last 4 digits of the account the fund should be withdrawn from.

The $456 tax to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue is the minimum corporate excise tax payment owed by corporations to the state every year. Krols OneEighty Media business as an S-corporation is subject to that excise tax.

Krol forwarded Clairmont the 2015 email from the former Greylock Federal employee, which contained the account number for Animal Dreams.

Krol included the Clairmont email and his screenshot of the 2015 Greylock email in the records he sent this week to The Eagle. Krol had presented these to show another example of how he unwittingly used the wrong bank account number from that email.

Further proof of the fact that I believed this was a valid number for my One Eighty Media business is that I forwarded that same email from the Greylock associate about a year later to my accountant at the time, Barry Clairmont, Krol wrote to The Eagle.

The Eagle asked Carver to cross-reference this transaction with the Animal Dreams bank statements to see if a withdrawal of $456 showed on the nonprofits bank statement from March 2016.

Carver said her review of the Animal Dreams bank statements not only confirmed that 2016 tax transaction with the DOR  but also three more  each in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and each for $456.

Carver said she recalls having called the DOR each of those years to question the $456 withdrawals and to have them rejected from the Animal Dreams bank account, but she hadnt linked them to Krols business account until now.

Oh, my God, my mind is just blown, Carver said. Yes, those withdrawals are correct. Not only did he pay his corporate [excise] tax that time, he did it in 17, 18, and 19.

Carver said she called the Massachusetts Department of Revenue on Thursday and confirmed that the payments listed as ACH Withdrawal COMM of MASS EFT DEPT OF REVENUE on the Animal Dreams account were to pay taxes for OneEighty Media.

At The Eagles request Carver made another call to the department with an Eagle reporter on the line to double-check that information. The department once again confirmed the Animal Dreams account number was given in order to make four $456 payments in the name of OneEighty Media.

I remember now thinking, Why do they keep messing up and charging us tax? Carver said. Were a nonprofit.

Carver said each year the charges appeared, she would call the Department of Revenue and remind them that Animal Dreams was a charitable nonprofit and was tax-exempt. She said during these calls she wasnt told and she didnt ask why the DOR kept charging the account the state corporate excise fee and so I thought they just messed up.

Carver provided The Eagle with the nonprofits March bank statements for 2016 through 2019. The statements show the annual $456 withdrawals and then the return of the funds each year to the Animal Dreams account.

Krol said he hadnt known this was the case until The Eagle raised the issue with him during Thursdays interview.

This is all news to me, Krol said.

When asked if the excise fees were ever paid to the state in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, Krol said, Of course.

The Eagle asked how those taxes were paid.

I dont know, Krol said.

When he was asked if anyone from the DOR had reached out to him or his accountant to communicate that the initial payments hadnt gone through and to collect Krols excise fee, he said, No, not that I recall.

"I don't I don't recall [Clairmont] saying anything about that, Krol said.

A Department of Revenue official explained that when an excise payment bounces or isnt completed by a business, the department would send a late-payment request the day after the payments due date and that late fees would start accruing. After 30 days of nonpayment, the delinquent bill would be sent to a collections agency.

Krol said he changed accountants after 2016. Starting in 2017, Krol said he started with a new accountant, Christine Krol Arace, who continues to be his accountant. Krol and Arace are cousins on his fathers side.

BACK TO CLAIRMONT

The Eagle asked Krol if he would authorize Clairmont to release subsequent emails or communications that may contain DORs response to the payment they declined or that might have shown how Krol paid his companys tax bill from an account other than Animal Dreams.

During Thursday mornings interview, Krol gave assurances that he would give his consent to Clairmont to do that. On Friday afternoon, Krol reversed those statements and in an email to an Eagle reporter that copied his attorney he said No, you do not have my permission to talk to Barry Clairmont in regard to confidential issues involving my business or personal finances.

Citing their business-client relationship from 2016, Clairmont told The Eagle he would not provide information or records without Krols written consent.

Krol said he was winding down his business, OneEighty Media, in 2018 from full- to part-time in preparation for taking a job in eastern Massachusetts. Krol said Thursday that he has OneEighty Media running again and is presently doing marketing, training and website development for clients such as Tri-Town Boards of Health, local restaurants and a health care company in eastern Massachusetts, among others.

A GIFT OR A DEBT

In his Eagle interview, Krol continued to question the timing of the initial story, which came 24 hours after the citys preliminary election on Sept. 19. He has said he considered the Animal Dreams account mix-up to be settled and questioned Carvers motivation to bring this issue public now. Carver said once it became clear that Krol was running for public office, she decided she could not withhold the information she had about the financial discrepancies from the public.

Carver said she never went to the authorities at the time because of their friendship, which turned rocky because of this episode. Ultimately, Carvers then-husband, Allen Harris, paid Krol $6,800 to pay back the Animal Dreams account.

Harris called the $6,800 an advance on work that Krols OneEighty Media would perform for Berkshire Money Management. Krol called it a gift from Harris, who was then a friend in addition to a business client.

Krol said he hasnt performed any work for Harris since then, but that he would if Harris asked. Harris also said that he had also paid Krol a similar advance of $28,000, also for future marketing work for Berkshire Money Management, but Krol took the job in eastern Massachusetts and Harris said he hasnt done the work. Krol said he did produce a forum for Berkshire Money Management clients as part of that advance.

Carver and Harris are now divorced; they continue to own and operate Berkshire Money Management in Dalton.

SIXTH AND FINAL PAYMENT

Krols transaction list from Greylock Federal Credit Union confirms a sixth withdrawal from the Animal Dreams account to Krols American Express business card. Carver also had not noticed the sixth and final transaction until Krol records pointed it out.

The payment previously unknown was for $39.19 and paid the final balance of the credit card on March 25, 2019, according to Krol.

During his interview with The Eagle, Krol continued to maintain that the reporting on this issue is the result of a very well-orchestrated piece by his political and personal enemies.

Marchetti took home the most votes in the three-person preliminary election for Pittsfield mayor on Sept. 19. Krol received the second-most votes. Krol and Marchetti will square off in the Nov. 7 general election.

Krol continued to call the linking of his business credit card with the Animal Dreams account a mistake, but said that he understands the major financial issues facing the city.

He said that if he is elected mayor he plans to hire a new finance director from outside the establishment and will call for a fiscal audit to be done of city finances and the American Rescue Plan Act money, in particular.

I ask the voters and I ask your readers to look at the big picture and say, Yes, there were mistakes that were made  no question about it, Krol said. There was no intent to do any wrongdoing there and ultimately the question is who is going to be the leader who elevates this city?

Timeline

The following timeline of events is based on interviews, documents and bank statements given to The Eagle by Stacey Carver, Allen Harris and John Krol.

Aug. 6, 2013: Stacey Carver and John Krol are added as authorized signers to the Animal Dreams checking account at Greylock Federal Credit Union.

Nov. 13, 2013: Carver fills out and signs the Greylock Federal Business Online Banking Application for the Animal Dreams account.

Nov. 19, 2013: Krol fills out and signs the Greylock Federal Business Online Banking Application for the Animal Dreams account.

March 20, 2015: Krol emails an associate at Greylock Federal with the subject line account router #. In the email he asks the associate to send his business checking account number and router number. The associate emails him back 10 minutes later with a hi and the routing and account number for the Animal Dreams account.

March 3, 2016: Krols accountant, Barry Clairmont, emails Krol about filing his business taxes. He asks Krol to provide an account number to cover the $456 excise tax to the state. Krol, several hours later, forwards Clairmont the 2015 Greylock Federal email with the Animal Dreams account number.

March 17, 2016: The Animal Dreams account is charged $456 from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

April 17, 2016: The Animal Dreams account is refunded $456 from the Department of Revenue. In the transaction description the funds are listed as ACH W/d MASS DOR ERROR 3/17/16.

March 17, 2017: The Animal Dreams account is charged $456 from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. The next transaction on the nonprofits bank statement shows that the account was refunded the $456 in a transaction described as COMM OF MASS EFT DEPT. OF REVENUE - MA DOR PAY (Rejected).

March 16, 2018: The Animal Dreams account is charged $456 from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Again, on the same day the account is refunded the $456 from the state in a transaction that ends with (Rejected).

April 10, 2018: Allen Harris writes Krol a check for $28,000 as a years advance on a sponsorship with Krols Facebook show and podcast, the John Krol Show. Harris says he does this after Krol says hes struggling with money issues.

Nov. 16, 2018: Krols American Express account withdraws $209 from the Animal Dreams account.

Dec. 24, 2018: Krols American Express account withdraws $500 from the Animal Dreams account.

January 2019: Krol begins a new job in Newton as the director of community relations at Benchmark Senior Living.

Feb. 12, 2019: Krol is removed from the Animal Dreams account.

Feb. 14, 2019: Krols American Express account withdraws $2,750 from the Animal Dreams account.

March 4, 2019: Krols American Express account withdraws $3,000 from the Animal Dreams account.

March 8, 2019: Krols American Express account withdraws $370.58 from the Animal Dreams account.

March 12, 2019: The Animal Dreams account is charged $456 from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Again, on the same day the account is refunded the $456 from the state in a transaction that ends with (Rejected).

March 25, 2019: A story runs in The Eagle announcing Krols decision to leave Pittsfield and his new job in the Boston area. Krol says hell be moving his family to Boston when his term as the Ward 6 city councilor and council vice president ends at the end of December 2019. On the same day, Krols American Express account withdraws $39.19 from the Animal Dreams account.

April 11, 2019: Krols last event posted to The John Krol show in 2019 is a forum hosted by Berkshire Money Management about hiring in Massachusetts.

June 27, 2019: Carver reaches out via text to Krol telling him what shes learned from Greylock Federal Credit Union regarding the American Express account payments. Carver and Krol have a phone call either that day or the next day about the situation. Krol promises to send the money back right away.

June 30, 2019: Krol texts Carver asking where he can send a check. He sends a screenshot of his bank accounts showing that the Animal Dreams account is in fact linked to his American Express account. He promises to send a check the next day.

July 16, 2019: Carver has still not received a check from Krol and reaches out again. She said she hasnt gotten a check. He says hell be sending a $750 check that day. He says he thinks hes figured out what happened and claims a Greylock employee gave him the wrong account numbers.

July 19, 2019: Harris writes Krol a check for $6,800, almost the exact amount Carver alleges Krol to have stolen from Animal Dreams. Harris again says this is an advance on work he intends Krol to do for Berkshire Money Management but says the motivation this time is to give Krol the funds to pay back Animal Dreams.

July 20, 2019: Krol texts Carver that he sent the $750 check as promised four days earlier and that he will pay the remaining balance in a week or two.

July 29, 2019: Harris check is deposited at Greylock Federal, 10 days after the check is written.

Aug. 12, 2019: Krol drops off an envelope for Carver with $6,100  $700 less than Harris gave him  to a staff member at Berkshire Humane Society.
BENNINGTON, Vt.  Health and other concerns expressed Thursday in Bennington, Vt., echoed those voiced in 2016 after PFAS contamination was discovered in hundreds of private wells around two former ChemFab Corp. factories.

This time, the area of concern appears smaller, state officials said during an informational meeting, which was prompted by random statewide well tests that detected elevated levels of industrial PFAS compounds in two Bennington wells.

Contamination levels found in half of 24 follow-up well tests within two Bennington neighborhoods were above the state advisory level for drinking water. That prompted the meeting Thursday and a state/town outreach effort to test other well sites in the same general areas.

The new zone of concern is roughly within a half mile south of Route 9, or Main Street, said Richard Spiese, an environmental analyst with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

That section is outside a previous state-defined contamination zone around the former ChemFab sites on Northside Drive and on Route 67A in North Bennington.

WELL ATTENDED

While the session was only widely announced over the past few days in news reports, news releases and social media posts, about 60 people showed up at the Bennington fire facility to hear from state and town officials.

Spiese, other DEC and state Department of Health representatives and Town Manager Stuart Hurd answered questions from residents and briefed them on the next steps in the evaluation and remediation process.

Spiese and Trish Coppolino, senior program manager with the DECs Sites Management Division, said other residents living near the first wells tested may be contacted with a request to have their well water tested for PFAS.

A number of residents signed up for testing during the meeting, and information on how to request a test is available through a DEC webpage on PFAS contamination sites.

TWO NEIGHBORHOODS

Spiese said the DEC is working with the town to determine possible desired locations for testing. The two neighborhoods where tests have been conducted  around Hickory Hill Road to the east of Route 7 and the Southshire Drive/Stonehedge Drive area to the west  are well spaced from one another, he said.

Spiese said the outreach work will be done over the next two weeks, likely through mailings, and further testing could begin in about a month.

The officials said the estimate at this point is that 20 to 50 more wells will be tested if residents agree. Residents also can request a test and can find information about doing that through the DEC's PFAS webpage.

He said that, in the interim, the state is pursuing water filtering and/or bottled water options where indicated through the test results and providing related information to residents.

VARIED RESULTS

After the meeting, Jessica Marlow of Southshire Drive said a neighbor had one of the first Bennington wells tested in the statewide PFAS sampling, and she learned of the potential problem at that point. She said an effort soon began to notify others in the area.

I think we were fortunate in that our neighbor was picked in the random sampling and she shared [the result] with us, Marlow said, adding, And being the neighborhood that we are, we were Alright, who are we calling?

Her own well test did not detect PFAS, Marlow said, but she noted that PFAS levels can fluctuate between tests  such is the case of levels found in another neighbors well over three tests.

Marlow added that the type of carbon faucet filter recommended by the DEC has also was installed in her home.

TOWN RESPONSE

Hurd said the towns response will be similar to efforts following the ChemFab contamination discovery seven years ago, when town water lines were extended to many properties with PFAS in wells to provide safe drinking water. The towns water system sources have not been affected by PFAS.

He said the town system has the capacity to serve more people, although some areas might prove difficult from an engineering standpoint because of elevation or other factors. We have the water, but can we get it there? That is the question.

The manager added, Then the essential question is funding  who is going to pay for it?"

Hurd said he hopes residents understand that the town is willing and may have the capacity to supply you folks with water. Whether or not we can get it to you is an engineering question that will be answered at some point in the future.

Whether or not the town can find funding to make that possible, he said, will be dependent on whether the DEC identifies responsible parties to provide funding or other funding sources are available.

WATER LINES

Hurd and Jason Dolmetsch, president of MSK Engineering, which designed the previous water line extension projects, said the town will seek a planning grant to begin the pre-engineering process.

Afterward, an extended town water system to connect new homes would have to be designed, they said, considering such details as elevation and whether water pressure can be sustained.

And the town will also have to figure out how a likely multimillion dollar expansion can be funded, Hurd said, noting that previous work was funded by Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics through a consent decree agreement reached in Superior Court with the state.

Dolmetsch said, however, that such a project could be eligible under the Vermont Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program, which would reimburse the town 100 percent for money spent on upgrades to deal with the pollution of water supplies.

MEDICAL CONCERNS

State health officials explained how PFAS compounds in elevated blood levels have been associated through studies with certain cancers and other diseases or conditions.

Because of the widespread use of PFAS in many industrial and consumer products  going back to the middle of the 20th century  most people worldwide are now believed to have at least a trace of the group of thousands of man-made substances in their blood.

The principal method of exposure to PFAS that would lead to significantly elevated blood levels is typically from drinking contaminated water and blood levels only slowly decline if that source of PFAS is eliminated.

Other methods of PFAS exposure could be through products containing PFAS, such as waterproofing sprays or firefighting foam.

Information on PFAS and associated medical concerns can be found on the DEC PFAS webpages. A new page specifically about the new PFAS investigation in Bennington will likely be created, Spiese said.

SOURCE UNDETERMINED

The international firm, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, was the last owner of the ChemFab plants determined to be the principal source of airborne PFAS contamination that emanated from the factory exhaust stacks over many years.

Spiese said Thursday that no definitive source or sources of the PFAS detected south of Route 9 has been determined and no potentially responsible parties identified by the DEC.

He added that it appears the PFAS found recently has a different chemical makeup from the substances previously traced to materials used in ChemFab fiberglass fabric coating operations through 2002, when the last factory here closed.

The ChemFab operations could have contributed to contamination south of Route 9, he said, but added that many factories have used PFAS materials and other potential sources could also include wastes buried in old landfill sites.

Spiese said the DEC is investigating to determine the source of the contamination south of Route 9, adding that Saint-Gobain has been notified of the new testing but has not been determined to be a responsible party.

FILTERING OPTIONS

Filtering for PFAS compounds can be done in the home, possibly through a building-wide unit, which the state could supply if the PFAS level is above the Vermont drinking water advisory level of 20 parts per trillion.

It is also possible to remove PFAS with some common water filters connected at to a faucet, the officials said.

And some residents in the previous contamination zone have found clean drinking water by drilling new, deeper wells, but Spiese said that method is an uncertain fix.

Residents also could be eligible to receive bottled water for drinking.
DALTON  For Jarod Reardon, Brian Scutt and Phil Falto Saturday was a day for inclusion, not seclusion.

The three men all have Down syndrome. They were among the hundreds of people who participated in the 17th annual Buddy Walk of the Berkshires, the local version of a national event that is held annually to promote the awareness of those with this genetic condition.

All three men completed the roughly one mile walk through the center of Dalton that began and ended at Craneville Elementary School. Falto's dedication was notable because the 71-year-old completed the loop, which took place completely on town roadways, with the aid of a walker.

"I like to walk," said Falto, as he maneuvered up a hilly section of Main Street located just before the Dalton Community Recreation Association. "I like to meet a lot of my friends."

"I'm impressed that Phil is doing this walk," said his caregiver, Roxie Sherben, who accompanied Falto. "It's a long haul with a walker."

According to Berkshire County Arc, which hosts the Buddy Walk, 710 people had preregistered for Saturday's event, with more expected to register at the site. Participation wasn't quite as high as it has been in previous years  the event has seen crowds of over 1,000 people  but organizers said Saturday's overcast skies following Friday's torrential downpour may have hampered the turnout.

"One year it flurried," said BCArc family advocate Christine Ferrari, who was in charge of the event. "Mother Nature likes to play tricks on us."

Three years ago, the Buddy Walk took place virtually because of COVID. This is the second year in a row that the event has been held in person again, said BCArc CEO Maryann Hyatt.

Hyatt noted the "infectious enthusiasm" displayed by those who were in attendance.

"We have a lot of enthusiastic families," Hyatt said. "This is what they want and we are here to stand right by them."

"The community loves this event," Ferrari said. "They've embraced Down syndrome awareness."

State Sen. Paul Mark attended the Buddy Walk for the 13th time Saturday, but for the first time holding his current office. A former state representative, Mark was elected to the Senate last November.

"Thank all of you for taking the time to make sure we remember every person, and break down barriers for every person in our community," Mark said in brief remarks before the event began.

Unlike Falto, Reardon, who is 24, and Scutt, 45, completed the walk unaided, although they were both accompanied by family members. The two men know each other, and had a brief but friendly reunion Saturday when they unexpectedly recognized each other while walking on Flansburg Avenue.

Reardon grew up in Dalton. "He likes to see his old friends and old teachers," said his mother, Wendy Bishop, when asked why he attended the walk.

Michelle Porter, Scutt's foster mother, said "socialization" is a big reason why those with Down syndrome enjoy attending this event.

"You can see it in their faces," she said.

The Buddy Walk is sponsored nationally by the National Down Syndrome Society, a nonprofit that serves as the national advocate for the value, acceptance, and inclusion of Down syndrome. The genetic condition occurs in people who have 47 chromosomes instead of the standard 46.

The nonprofit founded the Buddy Walk in 1995 in order to spread its mission to the local level. Thirty five states are scheduled to hold Buddy Walks this year, according to the NDSS. In Massachusetts, another Buddy Walk is scheduled to take place in Wakefield on Oct. 8.
Eagle, Mahaiwe hosting Oct. 4 informational forum on the South County school districts merger proposal Were holding the forum to clarify answers to lingering questions and gain an understanding of the implications that come with merging Southern Berkshire and Berkshire Hills versus sticking with the status quo. Like many school districts, Southern Berkshire and Berkshire Hills have faced challenges over the years, including changes in enrollment and budget constraints.

To register ... The Berkshire Eagle and Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center are convening an informational session for town meeting voters in the eight towns served by the Berkshire Hills and Southern Berkshire Regional school districts: At the crossroads: A forum on the South County district merger proposal. Where: Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle St., Great Barrington. When: Wednesday, Oct. 4, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Admission: Free with registration. Seating is first-come, first-served. Register: The Mahaiwes online registration opens at 10 a.m. today. Go to mahaiwe.org and select the Oct. 4 event or visit the event page directly at qrs.ly/44f5gvz to reserve your ticket. Questions: At registration, youll be directed to an online questionnaire to submit your questions about the proposal. You also can find the questionnaire at qrs.ly/lwf5ct4.

On Wednesday, The Berkshire Eagle and The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will co-host an informational forum on the South County school districts merger proposal. This event moderated by Eagle Executive Editor Kevin Moran is free with registration, and seating will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. For those who cannot attend in-person, Community Television for the Southern Berkshires will livestream the event.

As of this writing, the forums registration rolls still have plenty of room for those who wish to learn more about the upcoming decision of whether the Southern Berkshire and Berkshire Hills regional school districts should consolidate into a single eight-town regional district that would serve a large portion of the South County families.

Do South County voters know what's in the draft regional agreement among the eight towns? Two school districts comprised of eight towns total might be merging if voters want it. Care to know what's in the proposed regional agreement for the merged school districts?

We encourage everyone in these eight towns to get as educated as possible on this matter before it is decided at respective special town meetings planned for Oct. 23. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and we encourage people to express those opinions at the respective town meetings. We also believe that the affected towns are entitled to hear both proponents of the merger plan and its opponents in a public setting to help undecided voters choose and to allow already committed voters to test the strength of their commitments.

By registering on the informational forums event page, which can be found at Mahaiwe.org, people can save a spot as well as submit their own inquiries about the merger via a questionnaire. That questionnaire is also available separately for those who cant attend. The forum will include a presentation from members of the 8-Town Regional School District Planning Board, which voted to recommend the merger proposal, as well as a presentation from a group opposing the plan, which includes past and previous 8-Town Planning Board members who voted against recommending the merger or abstained.

The Eagle is proud to help provide this opportunity for voters to hear from both sides ahead of a vote that will affect South County schools for years to come. Whatever the outcome of this historic decision  a merger between two already regionalized school districts likely would be a first in Massachusetts  it will have deep, long-lasting impacts on these school communities, from school buildings and budgets to staffing and student resources to curricula and transportation.

Discussions about our schools and regionalization plans can be sensitive subjects that elicit passionate response and rightly so. We urge all participants and attendees of this forum  and all who contribute to this critical community conversation  to temper passions with civility and model the same sensitivity in hearing out others that youd expect from them. The South County regions educational future deserves no less.

We can disagree without being dismissive. We can critique without being caustic. We can come together to share and sharpen our individual perspectives for the benefit of the broader community and its youngest constituents, whose future is formed by our often difficult decisions. In that space, local democracy performs its most vital due diligence while providing a positive example for the more boisterous and partisan national audience. We invite all who have a stake in these school communities futures to step into that space with us. We and your neighbors hope to see you there.
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The Government is in the final stages of engagement with the DUP over its concerns as further changes of the Windsor Framework come into effect on Sunday, including the green/red lane system for the movement of goods, the Northern Ireland Secretary has said.

Chris Heaton-Harris added there is still more work to do and called for the restoration of Northern Irelands institutions.

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The DUP has been blocking powersharing for more than a year in protest at the internal UK trade barriers created by Brexits Northern Ireland Protocol.

The party says the deal struck by the EU and the UK to reform the protocol  the Windsor Framework  does not sufficiently address its concerns and has made clear it will not accept a return to devolution until the Government provides further assurances, by way of legislation, over Northern Irelands place in the UK internal market.

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Talks between the DUP and the Government have been ongoing over the summer.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday that the agreement of the framework removed the major stumbling block to the return of the Stormont Assembly.

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down (Charles McQuillan/PA)

However, DUP MP Sammy Wilson said on Friday that the changes will confirm a border in the Irish Sea, adding that his party would not return to the powersharing institutions at Stormont as it would be legally required to implement the framework.

On Thursday, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill said patience had run out with the DUP blockade of the Assembly.

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She called on the UK and Irish governments to work together on a plan to restore the institutions.

Writing in the News Letter on Saturday, Mr Heaton Harris said the Government had engaged with the DUP extensively over the summer and that the partys proposals had improved the green-lane system.

He added that work is ongoing to address the partys concerns to restore Northern Irelands executive.

We are also in the final stages of a period of constructive engagement with the DUP. We are pulling together a comprehensive package of proposals that we hope will address their concerns.

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I have no doubt that it is their genuine desire to focus on concrete improvements and to create a situation that will enable the Executive to be restored.

I firmly believe that restoration of the institutions is right for Northern Ireland and right for the future of the Union.

Freight check-in sign at the Stena Line terminal at the Port of Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)

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To address concerns about divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, we have to not only show that goods trade is working, we also have to show we are tackling worrying disparities on healthcare waiting lists, on childcare, on environmental pollution, on pay for our teachers, nurses and hardworking public servants, and on hundreds of smaller decisions being taken every day.

To do that we need a devolved government here.

Over the coming weeks we have a chance to move forward, to move on from Brexit and get Northern Ireland moving again.

Together we can make this work for everyone in Northern Ireland.

One of the main parts of the framework, the green/red lane system for the movement of goods, will become operational at Northern Ireland ports on Sunday.

Goods coming into the region which are travelling to the Republic of Ireland or elsewhere in the EU will use the red lane, which includes customs declarations and some checks.

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Goods to be sold in Northern Ireland will use the green lane with minimal paperwork and no checks.

Companies that use the green lane will be signed up to a trusted trader scheme.

Writing in the News Letter, Mr Heaton-Harris said the vast majority of Northern Irelands economic life remains umbilically connected to the rest of the UK, with most of the economy untouched by anything in the Windsor Framework.

He said Northern Ireland already enjoys the same VAT, alcohol duty and energy tax rules as the rest of the UK under the Windsor Framework, which it did not under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Northern Ireland Secretary added concerns over the supply of human medicines have been addressed.

Mr Heaton-Harris wrote: From this Sunday further changes roll out  meaning that previously banned goods like sausages and seed potatoes will be able to move again to Northern Ireland.

Businesses will see paperwork cut and many more traders will be able to benefit from the Windsor Framework.

Some major UK food retailers, which were excluded from the old grace periods, faced burdensome red tape moving food into Northern Ireland under the old system, but can now move products through the green lane.

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The steak bake or infamous sausage roll will never again need to be accompanied by a signed certificate from a vet to move into NI from GB, removing a major irritant with the old arrangements.

This is the culmination of months of work, after the UK and EU came to an agreement to change the old Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Heaton-Harris noted that consumers may notice some changes in their local shop.

Consumers in Northern Ireland and parts of the UK will see not for EU labels and other information in stores on some products, to prevent these from being sold in Ireland.

To ensure consistency across the UK, these labels on meat and dairy will apply in stores in Great Britain next year.

And it is consistency across the UK that we are delivering, allowing UK food safety standards to apply in a way that the old Protocol failed to do.

I know that some people remain concerned about how the Framework will work in practice.

I have always been clear that the Government will listen to those concerns and there is scope to address them.

Stuart Anderson, head of public affairs for Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: A significant amount of work has been undertaken in a short time to get us to this implementation phase, particularly by those involved in the retail supply chain.

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These are new processes being applied to what are often high volume and complex movements.

But business has worked hard to ensure we get off to the best possible start.

This is new for everyone involved.

Continued engagement and a solutions focused approach with government will be important to help businesses adapt and deal with any issues as and when they arise.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that people have searched for harmful content online after it was advertised by mainstream media outlets.

Mr Varadkar said mainstream media outlets have responsibilities around their own content and signalling towards harmful content online.

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Media outlets regularly publish garda requests which appeal to the public not to share imagery of tragic incidents.

Responding to a question on social media companies in Co Waterford, the Fine Gael leader said: The traditional mainstream media also has responsibilities too and I think sometimes thats forgotten.

It particularly has a responsibility in not signalling, in not advertising in papers and in the regular broadcast media that stuff and harmful content is available online because if you signal it, people go looking for it.

Later asked if the concern should be more with social media companies hosting harmful content, Mr Varadkar said: It is.

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His comments come after TikTok uncovered and shut down an operation to influence Irish users and whip up social conflict.

The covert influence operation (CIO) network comprised 72 accounts with a total following of almost 95,000 users.

The video sharing platforms work to find and remove the accounts was detailed in a report to the European Commission.

The content included views related to nationalism in Ireland, Japan, Russia, and Taiwan.

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TikTok is a signatory of an EU code of practice aimed at combatting disinformation and misinformation online.

You know, the reason why we know about this issue with TikTok is because of the new laws that have been brought in and were shut down and was disclosed.

And so I think were starting to see those new laws and new regulations work.

We do now have the digital services and the online safety commissioner in operation and I think were starting to see some results from that.
A teenage boy has been arrested after allegedly killing a woman in a violent incident and live-streaming the aftermath of the fatal assault on social media.

The 16-year-old youth allegedly killed the woman, aged in her 40s, with a blunt instrument at a property about 12km outside of Tullamore, Co Offaly earlier on Friday.

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The victim was named locally on Friday night as Lorna Woodnutt, according to The Irish Times.

Distressing footage of the incident, showing the victim and her injuries as well as a weapon apparently used, was quickly shared online afterwards. Gardai have appealed to people not to distribute the video.

Gardai were also liaising with social media companies on Friday to have the video removed online.

Several major platforms were taking steps to remove uploads of the video as they appeared.

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The youth is known to have had behavioural issues and previously displayed challenging behaviour.

Gardai have not officially declared their inquiries a murder investigation, but it is being treated as one in terms of resources.

In a statement, An Garda Siochana said that, at approximately 1pm, gardai and emergency services responded to reports of a violent incident at a residential property near Tullamore.

The body of a woman, aged in her 40s, was discovered there.

The teenager was arrested at the scene and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a Garda station in the midlands.

As a minor, he must be interviewed only in the presence of a guardian or other responsible adult. He can be questioned for up to 24 hours excluding rest periods.

Gardai said the boy was known to the woman and investigating gardai were not looking for any other people in connection with this incident.
Germanys government has rebuked Elon Musk after he criticised the recent work of migrant rescue ships operated by German humanitarian groups in the Mediterranean Sea.

Mr Musk shared a video that showed migrants and aid workers on a boat. The right-wing account that first put the content on X, formerly known as Twitter, praised the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues.

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Is the German public aware of this? he wrote in his repost.

The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Mr Musk directly on X, writing: Yes. And its called saving lives.





Yes. And its called saving lives. https://t.co/7eTCbKhG8w Advertisement  GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) September 29, 2023

The owner of the X platform responded that he doubted the German public supports the actions of non-governmental organisations that take asylum-seekers from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean.

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He also claimed it was surely a violation of Italys sovereignty for German-operated ships to take rescued migrants to Italian territory.

So youre actually proud of it. Interesting, he wrote to the Foreign Office, adding that such maritime operations have invasion vibes.

The exchange comes as migration has returned to the political forefront in Germany and other European countries, with government officials and opposition politicians sparring about how to handle an increasing number of arriving migrants.

Cities and communities across Germany have sounded an alarm, saying they are running out of room to accommodate migrants and to provide nursery and school places.

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More than 220,000 people applied for asylum in Germany from January to August this year, compared with about 240,000 throughout last year. In 2015-16, more than a million applied.
Pope Francis has created 21 new cardinals in a ceremony including key figures at the Vatican and in the field who will help enact his reforms and cement his legacy with the Catholic Church.

On a crisp sunny morning filled with cheers from St Peters Square, Francis expanded his influence on the College of Cardinals who will help him govern and one day elect his successor. With Saturdays additions, nearly three-quarters of the voting-age princes of the church owe their red hats to the Argentine Jesuit.

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In his instructions to the new cardinals at the start of the service, Francis said their variety and geographic diversity would serve the church like musicians in an orchestra, where sometimes they play solos, sometimes as an ensemble.

Diversity is necessary; it is indispensable. However, each sound must contribute to the common design, he told them. This is why mutual listening is essential  each musician must listen to the others.

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Among the new cardinals was the controversial new head of the Vaticans doctrine office, Victor Manuel Fernandez, and the Chicago-born missionary now responsible for vetting bishop candidates around the globe, Robert Prevost.



Newly elected cardinals arrive in a procession in St Peters Square (Riccardo De Luca/AP)

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Also entering the exclusive club were the Vaticans ambassadors to the US and Italy, two important diplomatic posts where the Holy See has a keen interest in reforming the church hierarchy.

Leaders of the church in geopolitical hotspots like Hong Kong and Jerusalem, fragile communities like Juba and South Sudan, and sentimental favourites like Cordoba in Argentina, filled out the roster.

Franciss promotions of Mr Prevost and his ambassador to Washington, French Cardinal Christophe Pierre, were clear signs that he has his eye on shifting the balance of power in the US hierarchy, where some conservative bishops have resisted his reforms. The pair are responsible for proposing new bishop candidates and overseeing investigations into problem ones already in place.

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I think I do have some insights into the church in the United States, Mr Prevost said after the ceremony during a welcome reception in the Apostolic Palace. So the need to be able to advise, work with Pope Francis and to look at the challenges that the church in the United States is facing, I hope to be able to respond to them with a healthy dialogue.

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The ceremony took place days before Francis opens a meeting of bishops and lay Catholics on charting the churchs future, where issues such as womens roles in the church, LGBT+ Catholics and priestly celibacy are up for discussion.

The October 4-29 synod is the first of two sessions that in many ways could cement Franciss legacy as he seeks to make the church a place where all are welcomed, where pastors listen to their flocks and accompany them rather than judge them.

Several of the new cardinals are voting members of the synod and have made clear they share Franciss vision of a church that is more about the people in the pews than the hierarchy, and that creative change is necessary.

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Among them is Mr Fernandez, known as the popes theologian and perhaps Franciss most consequential Vatican appointment in his 10-year pontificate.



New cardinals including Robert Prevost (left) and Victor Manuel Fernandez (third left) arrive in St Peters Square (Riccardo De Luca/AP)

In his letter naming Mr Fernandez as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Francis made clear he wanted his fellow Argentine to oversee a radical break from the past, saying the former Holy Office often resorted to immoral methods to enforce its will.

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Rather than condemn and judge, Francis said he wanted a doctrine office that guards the faith and gives people hope. He also made clear Mr Fernandez would not have to deal with sex abuse cases, saying the offices discipline section could handle that dossier.

It was a much-debated decision given Mr Fernandez has admitted he made mistakes handling a case while he was bishop in La Plata, Argentina, and that the scale of the problem globally has long called for authoritative, high-ranking leadership.

On the eve of the consistory to make Mr Fernandez a cardinal, clergy abuse survivors including a La Plata victim rallied near the Vatican, calling on Francis to rescind the nomination.

No bishop who has covered up child sex crimes and ignored and dismissed victims of clergy abuse in his diocese should be running the office that oversees, investigates and prosecutes clergy sex offenders from around the world, or be made a cardinal, said Julieta Anazco, the La Plata survivor, according to a statement from the End Clergy Abuse.

With Saturdays ceremony, Francis will have named 99 of the 137 cardinals who are under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote in a future conclave to elect his successor. While not all are proteges of the 86-year-old reigning pontiff, many share Franciss pastoral emphasis as opposed to the doctrine-minded cardinals often selected by John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

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Such a huge proportion of Francis-nominated cardinals almost ensures that a future pope will either be one of his own cardinals or one who secured Franciscan cardinal votes to lead the church after he is gone, suggesting a continuity in priorities.

Europe still has the most voting-age cardinals with 52, followed by the Americas with 39 and Asia with 24.

The ceremony installing them followed a ritual in which each man takes an oath to obey the Pope, remain faithful to Christ and serve the church. Francis reminded them that they were wearing red as a sign that they must be strong even to the shedding of blood to spread the faith.
On the brink of a federal government shutdown, US politicians on Saturday swiftly approved 45-day funding Bill to keep federal agencies open as Speaker Kevin McCarthy dropped demands for steep spending cuts and relied on Democratic votes for passage to send the package to the Senate.

The new approach would leave behind aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of Republican representatives, but the plan would increase federal disaster assistance by 16 billion dollars (13 billion), meeting President Joe Bidens full request.

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With hours to go for the midnight deadline to fund the government, the Senate was also in for a rare weekend session and prepared to act next.





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Were going to do our job, Mr McCarthy said ahead of voting. Were going to be adults in the room. And were going to keep government open.

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With no deal in place before Sunday, federal workers will face furloughs, more than two million active-duty and reserve military troops will work without pay and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast will begin to face shutdown disruptions.

The House measure would fund government at current 2023 levels for 45 days, through to November 17, moving closer to the Senates approach. But the Senate package would have added six billion dollars (4.9 billion) for Ukraine to fight the war against Russia and six billion dollars for US disaster relief.

Both chambers came to a standstill as politicians assessed their options, some decrying the loss of Ukraine aid.

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The American people deserve better, said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, warning in a lengthy floor speech that extreme Republicans were risking shutdown.

House passage came on a 335-91 vote, with most Republicans and almost all Democrats supporting the Bill.

The lone Democrat to vote against the package, Rep Mike Quigley of Illinois, the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, called it a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Putin-sympathisers everywhere.

He said: Protecting Ukraine is in our national interest.

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Democratic Jamaal Bowman acknowledged triggering a fire alarm on Saturday in one of the US Capitol office buildings as members scrambled to pass the Bill.

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The fire alarm sounded out around noon in the Cannon House Office Building and prompted a building-wide evacuation at a time when the House was in session and staffers were working in the building.

The Republican-controlled House Administration Committee, which oversees issues pertaining to the Capitol complex, posted a picture of a person pulling the fire alarm who appeared to be Mr Bowman. The committee posted the picture on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said the incident was under investigation.

A spokesperson for the New York representative said in a statement to The Associated Press that he did not intend to trigger a building-wide alarm as he was rushing to make it to the House floor.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Moscow a year ago made their choice  to be with their fatherland.

In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Mr Putin insisted it was carried out in full accordance with international norms.

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He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month, in which Russias Central Election Commission said the countrys ruling party won the most votes.

The West has denounced the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.

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Damaged houses in the Donetsk region (Alex Babenko/AP)

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A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Mr Putin did not participate.

The address came after Russias Defence Ministry said on Friday that it would enlist 130,000 men for compulsory military service this autumn, beginning on October 1 in most regions of the country.

It announced it would for the first time begin enlisting residents of the annexed territories as part of its twice-yearly military conscription campaign.

Moscow says conscripts are not deployed to what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, or to serve in the annexed territories, but after their service, conscripts automatically become reservists, and Russia has deployed reservists to Ukraine.

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In Ukraine, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell referenced the anniversary of the regions being illegally annexed by Russia in a video recorded during an unannounced visit to the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Saturday.

Speaking from the citys Transfiguration Cathedral, severely damaged in a Russian missile strike in July, Mr Borrell reiterated the EUs support for Ukraine.

Odesa is a beautiful historic city. It should be in the headlines for its vibrant culture and spirit. Instead, it marks the news as frequent target of Putins war, the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy chief wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Meanwhile, the governor of Ukraines partly occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region, Yurii Malashko, said five people were wounded on Saturday in two missile strikes on the village of Matviivka, on the north-eastern outskirts of the regional capital, also called Zaporizhzhia.

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Meanwhile, in Ukraine, air defences shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.

Vinnytsia regional governor Serhii Borzov said air defences shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but a powerful fire broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.

Romanias Ministry of National Defence said on Saturday that a possible unauthorised entry into its national air space occurred overnight amid the bombardment.

It said the radar surveillance system of the Romanian army detected the possible incursion into the national air space of the Nato member, with a signal detected towards the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine.

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At this moment, no objects have been identified that fell from the air space on to the national territory, the statement read, adding that Nato allies were informed in real time and searches will continue.

Emergency authorities issued text message alerts overnight to residents living in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, after detecting what the defence ministry said was groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the border.

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In recent weeks, Romania has found drone fragments on its soil from the war next door at least three times as Russian forces carry out sustained attacks on Ukraines Danube ports.

Russias Defence Ministry said on Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

Local officials in Russias Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, reported disruptions to power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar.
The Grollo Group has listed for sale its prized CBD holdings on King Street  behind the Rialto towers  marking the end of the Grollo familys control of the nightclub precinct and plans to redevelop the area all the way down to Flinders Lane.

The properties are expected to fetch about $45 million. The 1487 square metre land parcel houses five buildings, including Inflation at 54-60 King Street which was purchased in 2018 for $17 million.

Inflation, at 54-60 King Street, was purchased in 2018 for $17 million.

There has been some complex restructuring of the properties ownership since April 2020 when the Grollo Groups joint-venture partner in the Rialto towers development, the Kuwaiti government-owned St Martins, sold its half share in the office towers to GIC and Dexus for $635 million.

Two months later, the Grollo Group bought St Martins 50 per cent share in the Rare Steakhouse, at 42-44 King Street, and the Grain Store, at No.46, for $8.69 million.
The next regular federal election must be held by May 24, 2025, so we are  at most  18 months away from a campaign. And if you were to predict today where the Coalition is going to pick a fight with Labor, you would have to put immigration near the top of the list.

Peter Dutton, a hardline former immigration minister, made the countrys record migration surge a key plank of his budget reply in May, noting it was occurring at exactly the same time as a housing and rental crisis. He claimed it was the return of Big Australia by stealth. This week, the opposition called for immediate abolition of the so-called COVID visa and cuts to the international student intake. It wont be the last we hear from them on the topic.

Illustration: Jim Pavlidis Credit:

There will always be a puddle of anti-immigrant sentiment for politicians to exploit, but the severe shortage of housing, and the resulting expense, is stirring genuine concern about migration levels. And the inevitable consequence of governments, economists and commentators talking so much about housing supply is that at some point, people will start thinking about the other side of the equation: demand.

It may, as chief political correspondent David Crowe wrote recently, turn toxic. You can see doubts about migration showing up more often in the comment sections of newspapers, for example; and while some of it is grounded in old-school racism or newfound eco-fascism, some of it is coming from reasonable people wondering whether the numbers add up.
Mould has always been an issue for Nada Suzals apartment, but four years ago, it turned catastrophic.

The toxic fungi crept up the walls of her public housing unit in Waverley and grew in spatters across her roof. It lined her bathroom window and took over her wardrobe, ruining her clothes. Mushrooms sprouted from the walls.

It took years for the government to address chronic mould in Nada Suzdals public housing unit, and now the mould is returning.

Suzal resorted to sleeping on her couch as mould enveloped her bedding.

Despite photos showing just how severe and chronic the problem was, requests for maintenance from her landlord  the NSW Land and Housing Corporation  were denied.
Sydneys warm start to the October long weekend on Saturday will give way to scorching heat and blustery winds on Sunday, with authorities imposing a total fire ban due to parts of the state being under extreme fire danger.

The mercury was expected to reach a top of 26 degrees in the city, and 33 degrees in Penrith, on Saturday, before soaring to highs between 35 and 37 degrees across Greater Sydney on Sunday.

Sydneysiders soak up the sunshine at Clovelly in the eastern suburbs on Friday. Credit: Brook Mitchell

Weatherzone meteorologist Corine Brown said Saturday afternoon would be warm and humid, before very dry west and north-westerly winds ushered in hot and gusty conditions on Sunday.

We are looking at a fairly good chance of total fire bans across the Sydney basin and potentially out to the Southern Highlands and Blue Mountains areas on Sunday, Brown said.
Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of millions of dollars of Australian taxpayer money funnelled to Papua New Guinea to look after the remaining refugees from Australian camps, with food, accommodation and security providers saying they have not been paid for months.

Four service providers contacted by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald say Australian money earmarked to pay the expenses of about 60 refugees remaining in PNG has dried up, and they are threatening to stop delivering services.

Asylum seekers on Manus Island, photographed in 2013. Credit: Kate Geraghty

Some services, such as data and communications, have already ceased for some refugees, who were sent to Manus Island 10 years ago for offshore processing. Most now live in the capital Port Moresby.

The Home Affairs Department told the Senate in July that it had paid an undisclosed amount of Australian taxpayers money to the PNG government in December 2021 to deal with what it called the residual caseload. The money was paid as part of a confidential bilateral arrangement when the decade-long regional resettlement arrangement with Papua New Guinea formally ended on December 31, 2021.
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 A cargo ship, bound for Australia, lies at anchor. It might be in a port somewhere in South America or queuing up with other carriers to pass through the Panama Canal. While the hulking vessel sits idle in the water, its vast size presents an opportunity. Scuba divers wearing bubble-free breathing gear plunge below the surface at night, battling currents and the ships propellers to get access to something called the sea chest without detection. Protected by grilles, sea chests are opening points in the ships hull to take on seawater for ballast and to cool its engines. They have also become favoured hiding places to smuggle cocaine across the world, especially to Australia, where astronomical prices paid by users in the cocaine-hungry cities of Sydney and Melbourne have made it a prized market for traffickers. As the ship plugs its way across the ocean, the crew is often unaware they have newly acquired illicit cargo. Commercial ship tracking websites allow the crime syndicate to watch and wait until the drugs reach a marketplace where customers want their product. Its known as parasite smuggling.

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Because these are large commercial vessels, you can literally just track them on the internet, and find out where theyre next going, says Australian Border Force Commander Clint Sims, who oversees maritime enforcement. Quite often, [the smugglers] dont even have a buyer, they just put the drugs on. And then when it goes to a particular port, through their devices and networks, they send out a request saying, if you want to buy this then it can be retrieved. Melbournes port is the busiest in the country for commercial shipping, processing an average of 8850 containers each day. A seemingly endless stream of ships enter Port Phillip Bay, bound for a city with a strong appetite for recreational drugs such as cocaine. In August, 200 kilograms of cocaine was found on board the Chemstar Sapphire cargo ship at the Port of Melbourne after it sailed thousands of kilometres from Argentina via New Zealand. The ships origin in Necochea, south of Buenos Aires, raised suspicions, leading Australian Border Force officers to use remotely operated vehicles to discover the stash of drugs in the ships sea chest. So far, there have been no arrests, with the ship allowed to continue to Western Australia and South Australia. Investigators are now trying to piece together who sent the drugs and where they were going. Questioning the crew may not get them very far. Watertight packages of drugs are often placed on board without the crews knowledge, says Sims.

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Sometimes there is complicit crew, and we always do some checks in relation to crews and screen the crews when they arrive, says Sims. But certainly, in those sorts of circumstances, the crew are often unaware. Australians pay some of the highest prices in the world for cocaine. Credit: iStock Australians pay some of the highest prices for cocaine in the word, with street prices of $250 to $400 a gram. Despite the exorbitant cost, cocaine remains one of the nations most popular stimulants. Sydneysiders have a particular fondness for the white powder. The NSW capital has the highest consumption rate of cocaine in the country, with an estimated 13 doses of cocaine ingested per 1000 people each day  dwarfing all other Australian cities. Brazilian diver Bruno Borges. Taking a slice of these huge profits brings great risk. Scuba diving crews hired to secretly retrieve drugs from a ship are sometimes brought in specifically for the job. But that doesnt mean they dont run into trouble. The body of Brazilian professional scuba diver Bruno Borges, 31, was found in May last year washed up on the shore of the Hunter River in Newcastle after a fatal attempt to pull cocaine from a sea chest.

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Floating with his body was more than 100 kilograms of cocaine that was transported on board the Areti, a 200-metre-long cargo ship which travelled from Argentina to the Port of Newcastle. Police believe some cocaine transported by the ship had already made its way into the community before the plot was uncovered. Cairns superyacht operator James Blake Blee was later arrested in connection with the smuggling operation, involving millions of dollars worth of cocaine. He was charged with several offences including importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and people smuggling. Police issued a warrant for the arrest of Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva, another diver believed to have been brought into the country with Borges to recover the drugs. Sims says that cargo ships are vulnerable to these kind of smuggling attempts as they spend long stretches of time not moving. The Panama Canal is quite prone to that because vessels have to wait in a queue for their slot to come up [to pass through], which means there is that potential for access to those ships, he says. The parasite smuggling method is just one of many ways that crime groups are trying to bring drugs to Australia, with authorities seizing twice as much cocaine as they have in previous years.

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Other techniques include stashing drugs in shipping containers, sending it through the mail in small amounts and the more retro approach of using human couriers to bring it in via Australian airports. Were actually seeing that again [drug mules on planes], says Sims. We hadnt seen that for a while. Technology has become key for smugglers looking to stay one step ahead, with a focus on concealment to beat X-rays and sniffer dogs. Everyday items such as Apple AirTags are being used to ping smugglers phones when they get close to drugs stashed inside shipping containers. Crime groups are also using mother-daughter ships to make drug drops, where a larger vessel throws a package of narcotics overboard with a GPS tracker attached. Queensland super yacht tour operator James Blake Blee (inset) was arrested during an alleged attempt to flee the country, after an allegedly failed cocaine drug drop left a diver dead in Newcastle. Credit: NSW Police Media, Supplied A smuggler on shore then takes a boat, often a civilian pleasure craft or fishing boat, out to that location to pick up the loot. These syndicates are not always the most apt mariners, says Sims. Weve had occasions where theyre not even keen to do on-water tests. Who buys a $200,000 boat without even taking it for a test? Enforcement agencies are regularly making huge busts of hundreds of kilograms, which would have been headline news in years gone past but have become seemingly routine. These groups seek profit, and thats what theyre driven by. They do see us paying high prices, says border forces Sims.

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On a closer look, passersby can see old news clippings of the 2010 grand final win depicting a victorious Collingwood, and even magpie garden ornaments.

Its draped in black and white balloons, a large poster of a magpie hangs from the roof and Collingwood FC banners and scarves adorn the fencing.

In a quiet street in Abbotsford near Victoria Park, one home stands out among the rest.

The home belongs to Lizs mother, 88-year-old Gracie Ebejer, who has been a faithful Magpies supporter since she arrived in Australia from Malta in 1954 and has decorated the home for every Pies grand final appearance.

Gracies family has grown to four generations, which includes 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. The youngest Pies supporter is one. Unfortunately, there is a defector in the family  one grandson is a Carlton supporter  but the family isnt fussed after Carltons loss last week.

The Ebejer family will enjoy the grand final together on Saturday. Credit: Jason South

My son is a Carlton supporter and he said we are coming for you. When Carlton lost, I said what time are you coming? We are waiting, says Liz.

In 2010, the familys dedication to the club even got a nod of approval from former club President Eddie McGuire as he happened to drive past the decorated home in the lead-up to that years premiership game.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock holds serious concerns Labors proposed misinformation laws will jeopardise free speech and says he will not support the bill unless significant changes are made to address criticisms by legal and human rights experts.

Pocock, who holds a potentially crucial vote in the Senate, joins a growing chorus of organisations sounding the alarm over the Albanese governments proposal to give the Australian Communications and Media Authority new powers to penalise tech platforms if they fail to remove misinformation and disinformation.

Senate dealmaker David Pocock says he cannot vote for the governments proposed misinformation laws in their current form. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The ACT senator said he shared the concerns of the Australian Human Rights Commission and other top legal experts that the draft laws would tip the balance in favour of censorship and have a chilling effect on free speech, while providing a blanket exemption for government-authorised content.

I dont think it gets the balance right between misinformation, disinformation and freedom of expression, Pocock said.
Exiled Labor MP Will Fowles says he wont attend parliamentary sittings until the conclusion of an investigation into a serious assault allegation levelled against him.

The member for Ringwood says he will continue to work in his electorate and make representations on behalf of constituents.

Lower house MP Will Fowles, who was booted to the crossbench last month, has denied an assault allegation against him. Credit: AAP

State parliament is due to return from the spring break on Tuesday, marking Jacinta Allans first sitting week as premier.

Allans predecessor, Daniel Andrews, sought and received Fowles resignation from the parliamentary Labor Party in early August after his office was informed of serious assault allegations made by a government employee.
With a vibe that feels more Mediterranean than classically Viennese, the Naschmarkt throbs where the 4th district meets the 6th, a short walk from the UNESCO-protected Innere Stadt (the first of the Austrian capitals 23 districts). As the name suggests, a market forms the Naschmarkts centrepiece, with around 120 produce stands, watering holes and eateries, including Lebanese, Turkish and Greek delis, and fish and seafood specialists. Many establishments have outdoor seating and covered heated terraces. Some lure night owls with cocktails and live DJs. Theres also a weekly Saturday flea market here. See wien.info

Neubau is flanked by the Museums Quarter.

North of Mariahilferstrasse, Viennas longest shopping drag, Neubau, in the 7th district, is often compared with the bohemian enclaves of Berlin thanks to its mash-up of street art, eclectic boutiques and cool subterranean bars. Quaint and mural-brightened side streets have hip retro takes on traditional Viennese coffeehouses, some doubling as galleries and thrift stores, while old-stagers like Schnitzelwirt tempt punters with gigantic schnitzels. Peppered with Asian options  including Indian, Vietnamese, Korean and Filipino  Neubau is flanked by the MuseumsQuartier, where modern and contemporary art is displayed in and around the former stables of the Habsburg imperial dynasty. See mqw.at

Grinzing

Heuriger Wolff serves carafes from the last grape harvest with cheeseboards, cold cuts, salads, pickles and home-made bread.

Some of the wine poured at Viennas bars and restaurants is made within the city limits. In Grinzing, a village in the norths 19th district, you can hike in forested, vineyard-carpeted hills and refuel at rustic, family-run heurigen (wine taverns). Characterised by its wood-panelled decor, nostalgic photographs and viticultural paraphernalia, Heuriger Wolff serves carafes from the last grape harvest with cheeseboards, cold cuts, salads, pickles and home-made bread. If the weathers good, seek out a table in the garden. Sometimes folk musicians add to the ambience, playing guitars, accordions and toe-tapping tunes such as The Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss. See wienerheuriger.at
This week, I had the opportunity to visit the small village of Moschun, a short distance north of Kyiv. In the early stages of the February 2022 Russian invasion, this hamlet became the focal point for a large part of Russias northern army. The Russians needed the well-located village as an intermediate step on their way to the Ukrainian capital.

Almost 30,000 Russian soldiers conducted two weeks of vicious ground, air, rocket and artillery attacks against the single Ukrainian brigade defending Moschun.

A Ukrainian civilian volunteer brings supplies to troops near a frontline position. Credit: Getty

Throughout, the people of the village didnt run away. They stayed and cooked and fed the Ukrainian soldiers. They used their cars and trucks to haul ammunition, including the critical Javelin missiles, to forward defensive positions. Some even employed Molotov cocktails against unsuspecting Russian soldiers, giving them a warm welcome to Ukraine. Two weeks later, the Russians withdrew after suffering massive casualties.

The local people, having played a key part in helping the army defend their village, immediately began rebuilding. This included a memorial to the 90-plus Ukrainian soldiers killed in the battle.
New York: Torrential downpours after a week of mostly steady rainfall brought flash flooding to New York City, disrupting subway service, inundating ground-level apartments and turning some streets into small lakes.

Almost 200 millimetres of rain fell in some parts of the most populous city in the US on Friday, enough to enable a sea lion at Central Park Zoo to swim briefly out of the confines of her pool enclosure. Another few inches could fall in the region before the storm system pushed out to sea later on Friday, forecasters said.

A man works to clear a drain in flood waters in Brooklyn. Credit: AP

New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned of life-threatening floods and declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley. Some National Guard troops were deployed to assist in the response.

In Mamaroneck, a Westchester County suburb north of the city, emergency officials used inflatable rafts to rescue people trapped in buildings by floods.
Edtech major Byju's on Saturday announced plans to convene a board meeting in the second week of October 2023 to present its audited financials for FY22.

The meeting will also include members of its Advisory Council and select invitees along with former board member investors Peak XV Partners and Prosus. The financial statements will be shared with key investors and the board aims to formally adopt the audited accounts.

Think and Learn Pvt Ltd today has issued a notice for convening a Board meeting in the second week of October 2023 for approval and adoption of accounts for F'22, said Byjus. The Board of Directors along with the Advisory Council and certain invitees will meet to formally adopt the audited accounts, it added.

The company has garnered $5.8 billion in total funding from investors such as Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, BlackRock, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia, Silver Lake, Bond Capital, Tencent, General Atlantic and Tiger Global. A preliminary meeting between Byju's management and its auditor BDO has already taken place, and a notice about this has been issued to shareholders.

Byju's has not yet submitted its FY22 results to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), lagging behind other edtech unicorns like Unacademy, upGrad, and Vedantu. This delay has caused concern among investors and lenders who have extended a $1.2 billion term loan B to the company.

The firm reported a loss of Rs 4,588 crore in FY21, a considerable increase from the previous year. This follows the resignation of its previous auditor, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, and key investor representatives due to delays in filing financial results.

On July 22, Byjus auditor Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned from its role as the company was delaying filing financial results. Following the auditors resignation, the firms top three investors  Prosus, Peak XV Partners, and Chang Zuckerberg Initiative  representatives also resigned. After these resignations, Byjus chief executive officer Byju Raveendran addressed shareholders and employees on the issue.

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Recently, Byju's appointed BDO as its statutory auditor for the next five years and formed an Advisory Council, including Rajnish Kumar, former State Bank of India chief and current chairman of BharatPe, and Mohandas Pai, former CFO of Infosys.

Amidst financial challenges, Byju's is undergoing a restructuring exercise led by its recently elevated India business CEO, Arjun Mohan.

The company plans to lay off approximately 4,000 employees, or over 11 per cent of its workforce. Earlier this year, the Bengaluru-based firm laid off about 1,000 employees as part of an "optimisation" strategy, which was followed by subsequent rounds of layoffs affecting hundreds more.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the concluding ceremony of two 'Parivartan Yatras' of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bilaspur city of poll-bound Chhattisgarh on Saturday, a party leader has said. This is PM Modi's third visit to the Congress-ruled state, where assembly elections are due this year-end, in the last three months. The prime minister will address the 'Parivartan Mahasankalp' rally, the closing ceremony of two Parivartan Yatras, at Science College ground here at 2 pm, state BJP chief Arun Sao told reporters on Friday.

While the first Parivartan Yatra was taken out from Dantewada (south Chhattisgarh) on September 12, the second one was rolled out from Jashpur (north Chhattisgarh) on September 15, he said. Both the yatras saw 83 'Swagat Sabhas' (welcome gatherings), four roadshows and various public meetings before culminating at Bilaspur, covering a distance of more than 3,000 km across 87 assembly segments (out of the total 90), he said. Bijapur, Sukma, and Antagarh constituencies (all Maoist-affected) have not been included in the itinerary, but people belonging to these constituencies were engaged in the yatra when it passed through the adjoining constituencies.

"Even rainfall at various places could not dampen the morale of the party leaders and workers and they enthusiastically participated in the two yatras which also saw a huge response of people," he said. The two yatras, which saw a participation of around 50 lakh people, have turned the wave of change into a storm, Sao said, exuding confidence that the Congress will be ousted from power in the upcoming elections. According to police, a massive security cover has been put in place at the venue of the programme. A total of 1,500 security personnel belonging to the police force, Special Protection Group (SPG), Chhattisgarh Armed Force, National Security Guard and Home Guard will be deployed. In view of the PM's visit, a three-kilometre radius area of the city has been declared as a "no-flying zone" and anti-drone guns have also been deployed, a police official said. In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress handed a massive defeat to the BJP, which had been in power for 15 years under Raman Singh. The Congress had won 68 constituencies and the BJP just 15. The Congress currently holds 71 seats. The saffron party had last month released its first list of candidates for 21 seats, which it had ceded to the Congress in the last polls even though the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the schedule of the upcoming assembly elections, due later this year.

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The Finance Ministry has notified October 1 as the date for implementation of the amended GST law provisions for taxing e-gaming, casinos and horse racing.

According to the changes to the Central GST Act, these supplies will henceforth be treated as "actionable claims" similar to lottery, betting and gambling and subject to 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on full face value of bets.

The amendments to Integrated GST (IGST) Act makes it mandatory for offshore online gaming platforms to take registration in India and pay taxes in accordance with domestic law.

In its meetings in July and August, the GST Council, comprising finance ministers of Centre and states, had approved amendments to the law to include online gaming, casinos and horse racing as taxable actionable claims, and clarified that such supplies would attract 28 per cent tax on full bet value.

Parliament last month passed amendments to the Central GST and Integrated GST laws to give effect to the Council's decision.

The Finance Ministry has now notified that October 1 will be the appointed date for implementation of these provisions.

The GST Council in its meeting in August had decided that the amended provision to classify these supplies as actionable claims and clarifying the taxation provisions would come into effect from October 1.

A review of the implementation was proposed to be carried out after six months, which is April 2024.
On his maiden official visit to New Zealand, Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, along with New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins took part in the 1st India Business Summit 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs informed through a release.

The summit was co-organised by the High Commission of India in Wellington and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

Singh paid an official visit to New Zealand from September 24 to 29.

At the Summit, the MoS shared his views on India's economic growth and boosting bilateral ties between India and New Zealand. 

The MoS held bilateral meetings with Priyanca Radhakrishnan, New Zealand's minister for Ethnic Community and Voluntary Sector and Jan Tinetti, the minister for Education. Both sides discussed a range of issues on bilateral cooperation and acknowledged that increased high-level engagements in the past year have led to a positive momentum in the relations, the MEA stated, adding that the possibilities for furthering cooperation in the education sector as well as the welfare of Indian students were also discussed.

The MoS held interactions with academia as well as think tanks, calling for enhanced cooperation between the academic institutions. He also interacted with Indian students and the members of the diaspora, acknowledging and appreaciating their contributions to strengthening business, culture and people-to-people ties between India and New Zealand, the release added.

Singh will undertake an official visit to Dili, Timor-Leste, from September 30 to October 3.

The visit would mark the first high-level visit from India to Timor-Leste since 2018.

During the visit, the MoS will meet Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao. The MoS will also hold meetings with the Southeast Asian country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Bendito dos Santos Freitas and Trade & Industry Minister Filipus Nino Pereira, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday.

Singh will also meet heads of some United Nations agencies, and bodies. The MoS External Affairs will then interact with members of the Indian community and take part in Gandhi Jayanti celebrations.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the opening of an Indian embassy in Dili while addressing the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta.

"Act East in action - Delhi to Dili! At the ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta, PM @narendramodi announces decision to open our Embassy in Dili, Timor-Leste," MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi posted on X after PM Modi's announcement.

Dili is the capital city of Timor-Leste, or East Timor, situated in the country's north coast. The city holds importance as it recalls the nation's struggles for independence from Portugal as well as Indonesia.

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India's decision to open an embassy in Dilli shows its commitment to the Act East policy, according to the MEA.

The ASEAN Summit held in Cambodia announced that Timor-Leste "in principle" will be admitted as the 11th member state of the group.

The country will be granted observer status at ASEAN meetings, including summit plenaries.

The bloc made the announcement more than a decade after Timor-Leste requested membership. The statement said that there will be an "objective criteria-based roadmap" for Timor-Leste's full membership.

"In principle to admit Timor-Leste to be the 11th member of ASEAN," it added.

The bloc decided to "grant an observer status to Timor Leste, allowing its participation in all ASEAN meetings, including at the summit plenaries," read the statement.

The leaders had discussed this at a plenary session held in the Cambodian capital.
The first edition of Global Travel Market (GTM 2023) and expo drew to a close here on Saturday with leading players of travel and hospitality sector calling for stepping up promotional efforts focusing more on niche areas like experiential travel, wellness and heritage to tap the full potential of post-pandemic surge in tourism.

The four-day event, which saw a large number of business decisions being clinched during the B2B sessions by stakeholders from around the world, also stressed on firming up sectoral collaborations and government-industry relations to impart a further momentum to the highly promising sector.

GTM 2023 was organised by South Kerala Hoteliers Forum (SKHF), Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industries (TCCI), Tavaz Ventures, Metro Media and Citrine Hospitality Ventures, a statement said here on Saturday.

GTM CEO Siji Nair said the expo had participants from around 24 countries and more than 20 states, making the event a grand success.

Overall, more than 1,000 trade visitors, 600 plus domestic and 100 international tour operators and 100 plus corporate buyers attended the four-day summit began on September 27, it said.

The travel and trade exhibition of GTM 2023, held at Travancore International Convention Centre, Greenfield International Stadium at nearby Karyavattom, had 200 plus stalls of major hoteliers and resorts, tourism boards and organisations, airlines, travel agents, tour operators and travel tech innovators.

Addressing the valedictory session of GTM at Kerala Arts and Crafts Craft Village at Kovalam last evening, A Vincent, MLA, said it is vitally important to showcase products like Ayurveda, handloom, traditional cuisine and handicrafts before visitors and make them spend more days in the state.

"GTM is a great endeavour in this direction," the MLA noted.

A seminar was also held on 'The Role of Media in Promoting the Tourism Industry' at the expo venue on Saturday.

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Italy and war-torn Libya on Saturday resumed commercial flights for the first time in a decade, authorities in the Libyan capital said.

Flight MT522, operated by the Libyan carrier Medsky Airways, departed Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli for Rome's Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, according to Libyan airport authorities.

A return flight was scheduled to land in Tripoli on Saturday afternoon, according to Mitiga International Airport.

Going forward, there will be one round-trip flight between the Libyan and Italian capitals on both Saturdays and Wednesdays, according to the Mitiga airport announcement.

The government of Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli lauded the resumed flights, posting photos on social media that showed passengers boarding the flight and officials celebrating.

Italy and other western nations banned flights from Libya as the oil-rich nation in North Africa plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

In the disarray that followed, the country split into rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.

Amid the chaos, Libya has had direct flights to limited destinations, including cities in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia, and other Middle Eastern countries, such as Jordan.

The government of Premier Giorgia Meloni in July lifted Italy's 10-year ban on civil aviation in Libya.

Italian and Libyan authorities agreed that one airline company from each country would operate flights between the two capitals.

Dbeibah subsequently returned from attending a conference on migration in Rome on a chartered flight with a commercial airline.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with and former Wagner commander Andrey Troshev, who is now already working with the Defence Ministry, CNN reported on Friday citing a statement by Kremlin.

Putin has also assigned Troshev, with the task of forming volunteer units to perform combat missions for Russia in Ukraine.

He said that he wanted to discuss "social guarantees" for anyone who had fought to "defend the fatherland," according to a partial transcript of the meeting.

Putin also referenced a previous meeting with Troshev in which they had talked about the formation of volunteer combat units to fight in Ukraine, CNN reported.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov that Troshev "is already working with the defense ministry".

Putin has assigned the former chief of staff, Troshev, with the task of forming volunteer units to perform combat missions for Russia's war in Ukraine, New York Times reported citing a video clip of the Thursday evening meeting that the Kremlin published on Friday.

Without referring to Wagner by name, Putin added that Troshev "fought in such a unit for more than a year" and knows "how it's done."

Notably, the Wagner fighters, thousands of whom were recruited from prisons in Russia, operated under a largely independent command until June, when the Defence Ministry moved to integrate them into the broader military, according to New York Times.

The move would have reduced the power of the group's former leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and, analysts believe, helped touch off his failed mutiny against Russia's military leadership.

However, since the mutiny and Prigozhin's death in August, the fate of Wagner has been unclear. Putin signalled as much in his meeting with Troshev, telling him that state-sponsored support measures for veterans of the fight in Ukraine were also available to members of volunteer groups that fought there, New York Times reported.

Troshev is a retired Russian colonel and a founding member and executive director of the Wagner Group, according to sanctions documents published by the European Union and France, according to CNN.

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Troshev is a veteran of wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya who uses the call sign "Sedoi," or "Gray-haired." According to European and United Kingdom sanctions documents, he provided "a crucial contribution to Bashar al-Assad's war effort" and "repressed the civilian population in Syria."

In June, Putin proposed that Troshev command the private military group in the wake of the failed Wagner rebellion.

Following the failed mutiny, security experts predicted that the Kremlin would seek to further absorb the group into the Russian military.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials said Wagner fighters had returned to the eastern front, now working as individuals for the Russian Defense Ministry, CNN reported.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a week-long programme called 'Sankalp Saptaah' for the country's aspirational blocks at Bharat Mandapam here and urged the state governments and the officials to also note that those who are successful within the block, their future should also be bright as they have the passion to do something. Addressing the Sankalp Saptah, he said: For Aspirational Blocks, I would urge the state governments and the officials of the government to also note that those who are successful within the block, their future should also be bright, so that they have the passion to do something. They are the people who bring results, those teams should be taken forward.



The Prime Minister said that we want to see the country as a developed nation by 2047.



But the developed country does not mean that grandeur should be seen in Delhi, Mumbai, or Chennai and our villages should be left behind, we do not follow that model. We want to take charge of the destiny of 140 crore people and bring about a change in their lives," Modi said.



He also highlighted the government has worked with a very simple strategy for the Aspirational District Programme.



If we do not do all-round development and all-beneficial development, then the figures may give satisfaction, but fundamental change is not possible. Therefore, it is necessary that we move forward by making changes at the grassroots," he said.



He said that this 'Sankalp Saptaah' is a symbol of the success of Team India. This symbolises the spirit of everyone's effort. This program is also important for the future of India. In this, there is a reflection of accomplishment through resolution," the Prime Minister said.



"I am confident that just as the Aspirational Districts Program has shown success, similarly the Aspirational Block Program is also going to be 100 per cent successful," he said.



The Prime Minister also said that the Bharat Mandapam, where world leaders had gathered to discuss global issues, is now hosting individuals who bring about changes at the grassroots level. For me, this summit is as significant as the G20 summit," he emphasised.



He also said that the Aspirational Districts Program has changed the lives of more than 25 crore people in 112 districts of the country and there has been a change in the quality of life.



In contrast to previous administrations that followed a uniform housing model, our government has prioritised the use of locally sourced materials and implemented an owner-driven approach in construction...Block Panchayats play a huge role in the Aspirational Block Programme...New India wants reforms in the governance, he said.



The Prime Minister also interacted with the people including panchayat and block-level people's representatives at the venue.



According to an official press release, the week-long program is closely aligned with the nationwide Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP), which was launched by Modi in January this year.



'Sankalp Saptah' programme, which is being implemented in 500 aspirational blocks across 329 districts in the country, aims to improve governance at the block level in order to enhance the quality of life of citizens.






Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 4:34AM

Disney

Disney Plus has announced that it will start enforcing restrictions on password sharing among its Canadian subscribers. The company sent an email to its customers informing them of the change, which will take effect on November 1. According to the email, Disney Plus will only allow account sharing within the same household. The email warns that they are "implementing restrictions on your ability to share your account or login credentials outside of your household."

The company also updated its Help Center to state that "You may not share your subscription outside of your household" and that it may "analyze the use of your account" to ensure compliance. Violating the subscriber agreement could result in account limits or termination.

The move comes after Disneys CEO Bob Iger revealed in the Q3 earnings call that the company was "actively exploring" ways to address the issue of password sharing. Iger said that a "significant" number of people are currently sharing passwords across Disneys services and added that Disney has the "technical capability" to monitor sign-ins.

Disney Plus is not the only streaming service that is trying to curb password sharing. Netflix has been testing similar measures in different countries for over a year and began implementing them in the US in May 2023. Netflix accounts are restricted based on a users IP address; subscribers can add additional members to their accounts for an extra fee, depending on the plan they choose. The company said in its Q2 earnings call that its policy has driven more subscribers to the service.

If it's any consolation, Canadian users now have access to the cheaper ad-supported tier of Disney Plus. This might be a good option for those who want to save some money.

Source
Amity University, founded 27 years ago, has been a standout in the Indian education landscape and continues to mould the future with its flexible approach through its Amity Future Academy project. A strategy that allows anyone to become a part of this institution via numerous Amity University distance learning courses. Check out the top 10 Amity online certificate courses, which are among the best in the country. These Amity University online courses give students the most up-to-date information and advice.

10 Best Amity Online Certificate Courses

HR Management and Analytics - Post Graduate Programs

Course Name Duration Available on Bachelor of Business Administration Online Degree 3 years amityonline.com Master Of Business Administration 2 years amityonline.com Data Science - Post Graduate Program 12 months Amity Future Academy Blockchain Management - Post Graduate Program 6 months Amity future academy Digital Marketing Strategies - Diploma 12 months Amity Future Academy Diploma in Cyber Security 12 months Amity Future Academy Post Graduate Program in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence 12 months Amity Future Academy HR Management and Analytics - Post Graduate Programs 6 months Big Data Architecture - Post Graduate Program 6 months Amity Future Academy Product Management - Post-Graduate Program 12 months Amity Future Academy

For aspirants' reference, mentioned below is the detailed information about the amity online certificate courses

1. Bachelor Of Business Administration Online Degree - This Amity online BBA course is a UGC-approved program that covers the whole Bachelor of Business Administration curriculum. By enrolling in this Amity University online course, you could land a career as a business development manager, HR generalist, financial analyst, operations manager, marketing executive, and so on. BBA as a course provides a great deal of choice when it comes to selecting a master's program. Furthermore, the flexibility of Amity University internet learning enables one to obtain the most dependable and robust business administration graduate degree from one of India's top B-schools. Do this Amity online certificate course to increase your chances of being hired by reputable businesses such as EY, TCS, Tech Mahindra, and JP Morgan.

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3. Data Science - Post Graduate Programme - Amity University's distance learning post-graduate diploma in data science is a comprehensive course that will lead learners from the ground up to practical skills and application. Because of the industrial demand for expertise in data modelling and data management, this PGDM in data science stands out among the various Amity online certificate courses. Make the most of the current opportunity by enrolling in this Amity University online course on data structure and coding. Through the 8 courses of this Amity online certification course, you will re-learn mathematics, analytics, and other skills, as well as new-age technology. Increase your chances of getting hired by reputed companies in jobs that will be future-proof and will provide handsome salaries with these Amity University online diploma courses.

4. Blockchain Management - Post Graduate Programme - This Amity University online learning post-graduate program is ideal for anyone looking to expand their technical knowledge of blockchain and its administration. This course, which is part of the Amity online certification courses initiative- the Amity Future Academy- is designed to teach learners about the transformational technology of blockchain and its broad range of applications across industries. It differs from Amity University remote learning courses in that blockchain is a new entrant to the educational spectrum and the majority of courses are available online, as opposed to traditional degrees. Learn everything there is to know about blockchain in a 6-month course and gain some valuable skills for your career.

5. Digital Marketing Strategies - Diploma - Digital marketing is a crucial component of today's corporate world, and the industry is rapidly increasing. Make the most of this opportunity with the assistance of this diploma certification from Amity Future Academy, which offers high-quality Amity online certificate courses. Aspirants who complete this Amity online course will receive a professional certificate from the Wharton Business School. Begin your famous digital marketing career with this Amity University online course and accelerate your progress with your newfound expertise.

6. Diploma in Cyber Security - The country's leading educational institutions understand the needs of the new age industry and are providing the necessary training and knowledge in those in-demand sectors. Amity University's online courses are no exception, and they offer a fantastic learning experience in cybersecurity. Taking this amity online certificate course will launch students into a thriving employment market that is future-proof and offers high earning potential to deserving pupils. This Amity University online course can help anyone with a technological background or a desire to understand cybersecurity.

7. Diploma in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence - To join the rising tide of machine learning and artificial intelligence, one's knowledge and skills must be enhanced to the point where they are industry applicable. This Amity University online course can be quite beneficial to interested students, particularly those with a bachelor's degree in computer science. This Amity online certificate course is designed to equip all learners with hands-on experience through projects. There will be seven courses covering the complex topics of machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and so on. Amity online certificate courses are jam-packed with international-standard information resources and make extensive use of practical applications to immerse students in learning.

8. HR Management and Analytics - Post Graduate Programs- Learn about Human Resource Management through the use of data and analytics, and apply your talents to add the most value to your firm. Take this Amity University online learning course, which is ideal for human resource professionals at all levels. Learn how to leverage new data-driven tools to advance human resources. Benefit your career by learning this new talent through Amity University online courses.

9. Big Data Architecture - Post Graduate Program- If you want to have an impact on the corporate world like no other profession, knowledge of big data architecture will be invaluable. Today, all company decisions are based on data and its analysis. If you know how to read and grasp enormous amounts of data, your abilities would be extremely beneficial to any type of data-driven organisation. Choose the top Amity online certificate courses for a job in big data. With the help of this course, you can become one of the most sought-after experts and build a satisfying career.

10. Product Management - Post-Graduate Program - Any Amity University distance learning MBA is equivalent to this online course from Amity University. This Amity online course, offered in cooperation with Harvard Business School, is a treasure of knowledge for individuals looking to dominate the product innovation and strategic marketing sector. Take advantage of the top Amity University distance learning courses, learn from the best in the world, and set off on the path to an illustrious and satisfying career.

If you want to expand your knowledge base with in-demand skills, or if you just want to complete your graduation or master's degree from the comfort of your own home or under time limitations, Amity University certificate courses are ideal for you. With an Amity online certificate course, you can study a range of skills or even get your official education without the hassles of offline counselling and the admission process. Attend classes on a flexible schedule and learn some of the industry's most in-demand talents. From now on, a lack of infrastructure or a physical barrier will never be an issue in your learning experience for Amity University certificate courses.
AMC Networks anime-dedicated streaming service Hidive is teaming with IFC Films to host a limited U.S. theatrical run for The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes, which won Annecys Paul Grimault Award earlier this summer.

Tickets for the romantic fantasy feature will be available on the films U.S. website starting Tuesday, October 10, along with a list of all the locations where the film will play. Screenings will begin on November 3 in Japanese with English subtitles and English dubbed.

Hidive and IFC Films will also host a panel featuring the voice actors of the English dub during New York Comic Con.

Film details:
Russia and Turkey continue to keep troops in Libya despite agreeing to withdraw their troops from Libya. Both nations want to protect their interests in Libya with sufficient guarantees that their economic agreements will be respected. The UN and NATO oppose this because the Libyan Tripoli faction wants to legitimize an illegal treaty signed by them in 2019 granting Turkey some of Greeces offshore oil and natural gas rights in an area between Libya and Turkey. This treaty ignored existing, and internationally recognized, Greek claims on that area. Turkey and Greece are both NATO members and NATO backs Greece in this matter. Turkey wont withdraw its forces from Libya until a new national Libyan government assures the Turks that the illegal agreement is confirmed by a national Libyan government. Many people in both factions do not want to be stuck with a treaty that the UN and NATO consider illegal. Russia is no friend of NATO and is currently at war with NATO-backed forces in Ukraine. Turkey is also a NATO member but most other NATO members would like to expel the Turks from NATO. The problem there is the absence of any legal mechanism for that because, when NATO was founded, the threat to everyone was the USSR. Which dissolved in 1991. Turks and Russians are troublemakers in Europe and Libya is a foreign branch of that mischief.

Despite all the divisive problems, all the Libyan factions agreed earlier in 2023 to support one prime minister and hold national elections before the end of 2023. Russia has moved its embassy from Benghazi to Tripoli. Delays were caused by security concerns. Tripoli still has problems with local militias. By reopening its embassy in Tripoli and backing the Abdulhamid Dbeibah GNU (Government of National Unity) faction in Tripoli rather than the Fathi Bashagha faction and the LNA (Libyan National Army) in the east, Russia is in effect cooperating with Turkey, whose illegal agreements with the Tripoli government include giving Russia some of Greeces rights to explore for oil and gas in areas of the Mediterranean. Libya is encouraging the reestablishment of embassies in Tripoli. The American embassy closed in 2014 but so far the Americans have no plans to reopen their embassy. A few dozen nations have, or are planning to reopen their embassies in Tripoli.

The Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in Libya are unaffected by the recent armed dispute between Wagner and Russian armed forces plus the subsequent death of the Wagner Group founders. With Wagner leaderless, the Russian government told Wagner clients in Africa that Wagner operations would not be disrupted. Wagner forces have been in Libya since 2018, when Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the LNA (Libyan National Army) hired them. Haftar had a military background and was once a senior officer in the pre-2011 Libyan military. Haftar fled Libya in the 1980s after incurring the wrath of dictator Kaddafi. Now an American citizen, he returned to eastern Libya in 2013, revived some of the units of the Kaddafi-era military and began taking control of military bases from militias and Islamic terrorists. Eastern tribes rallied to Haftar, who had organized the most effective counterterrorism effort in the country. Haftar had the support of most Arab states, especially Egypt and the UAE. Egypt has a vulnerable border with Libya that was being used by Islamic terror groups to move people in and out as well as smuggle weapons into Egypt. The LNA continues to be a major military force in Eastern Libya. Khalifa Haftar, now in his 70s and suffering from health problems, has turned over his military commands to one of his sons.

September 25, 2023: In Derna, the mayor and several other officials were arrested. These men were responsible for maintaining the dams south of the city. The last time dam maintenance contracts were issued, in 2007, the work was never done. The city has been at peace for the last three or four years but that did not lead to an effort to catch up on dam maintenance.

September 24, 2023: The UAE has, over the last 11 days, flown in 622 tons of aid for Derna.

September 14, 2023: During the last two days the four Libyan oil export ports reopened after being closed for two days because of the major storm that caused the dam break and flood in Derna. Oil production, which takes place far from the coast, was not interrupted. The Libyan National Oil Corporation has restored normal oil production levels of 1.2 million BPD (barrels per day) and seeks to increase it to two million BPD by 2027. Producing last month was about 36 million barrels. The government is trying to boost that to 40 million barrels. Oil is currently selling for nearly $100 a barrel. The main obstacles to increasing production are the various tribal leaders who demand cash in return for not disrupting production. Officially the tribes are providing oil field guards'', but the main threat is the tribal militias. Nationalism in Libya is not as powerful as loyalty to a tribe or urban militia.

September 13, 2023: Turkey is sending a ship loaded to Libya with aid for the flood victims in Derna. Turkey has also sent three air transports loaded with aid. Also on board are members of the Turkish Gendarmerie and Disaster and Emergency Management Forces to help with finding and treating victims of the Derna flood.

September 11, 2023: The coastal city of Derna, which is 250 kilometers east of Benghazi, has been heavily damaged by the collapse of dams 11 kilometers south of the city. The massive flood tore through and destroyed about 20 percent of the city. About ten percent of the population (nearly 10,000 people) were killed and many more injured and even more lost their homes. This is a catastrophe for Libya because only about two percent of the country, almost entirely along the coast, receives enough rain to support agriculture and grazing. The coastal city of Derna is at the center of a small, well-watered coastal zone that favors farming and, further inland, grazing. The rains are seasonal and during the rainy season (September through March) there often were small floods. To deal with this, the government built two dams south of Derna to hold the large amounts of rainwater and provide water when there was a drought. The earthen dams south of Derna were built in the 1970s and had to be maintained to prevent eventual failure. The dams have had little or no maintenance for the last twenty years because of unrest and revolution. The last few years were relatively peaceful and provided an opportunity to catch up on dam maintenance. That was not done and when exceptionally heavy rains arrived in September the dam reservoirs quickly filled and put an overwhelming strain on the poorly maintained dams that caused them to fail. Before the 2011 revolution, Derna had a population of about 100,000. That has declined in the last decade because of nearly continuous fighting.

September 7, 2023: UN officials continue working with Libyan Central Bank managers to enhance the banks credibility and efficiency. This is necessary to provide the most money for essential supplies and services for the many Libyans who depend on this.

August 30, 2023: The War in Ukraine has had an impact on other wars that Russia is involved in. For example, Russian influence in Libya has diminished since Russia invaded Ukraine and failed to achieve a quick victory. Libyans note that Russians in Ukraine are now stuck in a morass of its own making. The Russians are losing ground and the situation in Ukraine takes priority over what Russia had going on in Libya. There are still enough Russian troops in Libya to prevent Turkey, Libyans or Egyptians from taking control of whatever they want. In this case the Russians have a lot of local support. Libyans see the Russians as a foreign occupier that doesnt want to be there while the Turks are former imperial occupiers that have ambitious plans for a continued presence in Libya.
Photo: Richmond RCMP photo Richmond RCMP is looking for an suspect from an alleged sexual assault incident in May.

Richmond RCMP is asking for the publics help to identify a suspect in alleged sexual assault.

The suspect allegedly approached a victim and offered to guide him around the area of Steveston Highway between No. 3 and No. 4 roads around 3:45 p.m. on May 13.

The victim said as they were walking the man took hold of his hand and held it, said Richmond RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Adriana OMalley.

The victim stated at one point the man allegedly placed the victims hand on the mans genitalia.

OMalley added the victim had pulled his hand away and immediately left the area, however, the suspect continued to loiter around.

The suspect is described as an Asian male between 40 to 50 years old with a slim build. At the time of the incident, he was wearing grey sunglasses, a brown checkered shirt, black pants and grey and white Skechers shoes.

Anyone who may have witnessed or have information regarding this incident should contact Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212 or anonymously at Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477 and quote file number 2023-14565.
Photo: CATIE.ca

CATIE.ca, a resource for HIV and hepatitis C information, has launched a new initiative to distribute free HIV self-test kits across the nation. This initiative allows individuals throughout Canada to easily access and order self-test kits from the comfort of their homes, marking a significant step toward encouraging regular testing and improving health outcomes.

"Knowing your HIV status is the first step toward getting treatment that can save your life and stop transmission," emphasized Jody Jollimore, executive director of CATIE. "Whether you test positive or negative, the result will give you peace of mind and guide you to the right options to take care of your health."

The HIV self-test kits approved in Canada are highly accurate, making them a reliable tool for individuals to learn their status. Research has shown that self-testing extends testing services to communities facing barriers to accessing traditional health-care facilities. Especially in a time when health services are strained, the ease of testing at home offers a practical solution for those seeking to know their HIV status.

Candice Nelson Manager of the Kamsack Branch of the Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN) Positive Impact said that Positive Impact does hand out HIV self-testing kits. The funding for the program comes from the Sask Health Authority (SHA).

Nelson added, I usually use their (SHA) stock, but there were supply issues last summer, so I received a small stock from CATIE to hand out at the HIV testing day events around the area.

HIV, if left untreated, poses a serious health risk. Fortunately, timely diagnosis and treatment significantly improve outcomes. A person living with HIV on effective treatment also cannot transmit the virus to their sexual partners, highlighting the importance of early detection.

"One out of 10 HIV-positive Canadians still do not know they are living with the virus," said Jollimore. "We need to make testing as simple and convenient as possible, and self-testing is part of that effort."

CATIE's self-testing initiative is part of the Government of Canada's $8-million investment in the procurement and distribution of HIV self-test kits throughout the nation. The project aims to distribute the kits to individuals and communities most affected by HIV, aligning with the goal to eliminate HIV as a public health threat by 2030.

More info here.
Keithlin "Keith" Duke Durkee, a decorated Vietnam War hero and esteemed member of the Tennessee Military Collectors Association, passed away on September 25, 2023. Born on Oct. 12, 1946, in Chattanooga, Keith's life was a story of unwavering commitment to his family, country, and community.From the lanes of Chattanooga to the dense jungles of Vietnam, Keith's journey was an embodiment of resilience and courage. A 1965 graduate of Chattanooga City High, his life took a decisive turn when he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1966. His exceptional bravery during his service in Vietnam earned him twenty-eight commendations. The most significant medals include:The SILVER STAR, for gallantry in ActionThe BRONZE STAR with V Device for Heroism (6 total)The ARMY COMMENDATION with V Device for HeroismThe PURPLE HEART for wounds received in Action (2 total)While his military accolades speak volumes of his valor, it was his human side that resonated most with those who knew him. Recounting his time in Vietnam, Keith often emphasized the weight of seeing men under his command perish, highlighting his compassion and leadership. The horrors of war, rather than hardening him, made Keith introspective and motivated him to make a positive impact in life.After serving in Vietnam, Keith relocated to Murfreesboro in 1975 where he earned his masters degree in Psychology from Middle Tennessee State University. Keith became a pillar of the community. His passion for history and military artifacts led him to become an avid gun collector, joining the ranks of the Tennessee Military Collectors Association, which was recognized by the Tennessee Senate for their service.His home in Murfreesboro was a beacon of warmth with a wicked sense of humor. Known for his friendliness, Keith's presence was a staple in the neighborhood. His daily routine of waving to passersby and feeding the squirrels became an endearing local ritual. No one was a stranger to Keith, and every individual, whether they had known him for decades or merely minutes, felt his genuine warmth.Behind the doors of the Durkee household, Keith was a devoted family man. Married for 46 cherished years to Donna Sue Durkee, their bond was an embodiment of everlasting love.In addition to Donna, Keith is survived by his sister, Sabra-nn (Sabie) York Holley and husband Steve, stepsons, Rick and Randy Allen and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother Ruth Gentry Durkee York, stepfather Orville York, Jr., father Thorton Durkee and brothers Paul and Gary Durkee.The community, family, and friends will come together to remember Keith's legacy with a visitation on Sunday, Oct. 1, from 2-4 p.m. CST at Woodfin Chapel, Smyrna. Military service will be at 1 p.m. CST on Monday, Oct. 2, at Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery, Nashville.In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS. Link: https://support.dav.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.personalCampaign&participantID=16329&cmr=DF35498DEEAA&language=enKeith's life was a testament to the power of resilience, compassion, and commitment. Whether on the battlefield, within the community, or amongst family, his influence was profound. Today, as we remember Keith, we don't just recall the medals and honors but also the heart that beat beneath thema heart that was fiercely loyal, infinitely kind, and eternally courageous. Rest in peace, Keith. You have left a legacy that will continue to inspire generations.
Hamilton Countys next outdoor adventure destination has officially opened to the public. Located on the flank of Signal Mountain, Waldens Ridge Park features over 10 miles of trails to include mountain biking, hiking, trail running, and bouldering. The trails at Waldens Ridge Park will elevate the standard for mountain bikers in the Chattanooga region as they are the first purpose-built, progressive, downhill trails.



This mountainside park sets a new standard for outdoor recreation in our county that will be a point of pride for our citizens and is sure to become a national destination for countless athletes and tourists each year, said Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp. A park as unique as this one, located just ten minutes from downtown, speaks to the natural beauty and the versatility of Hamilton County.



"The opening of this park marks the addition of a landmark asset to our already remarkable inventory of outdoor amenities. Mountain Bikers from far and wide will be coming here to enjoy these thrilling,

black-diamond grade trails, the first of their kind in the area, and our local mountain biking community will finally have a crown jewel they can be proud of, said Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly. My administration has been working hard to breathe new life into Outdoor Chattanooga, so the City is proud to help make this dream a reality."



Partnership is at the heart of the project  a range of public and private entities joined forces over the last seven years to fundraise, design and build a world-class trail system, and guarantee permanent conservation of the land.



The Land Trust for Tennessee is grateful to the foundations and individuals who partnered with us to provide the pivotal funding needed to make this park a reality, said Liz McLaurin, president and CEO for the Land Trust for Tennessee. It is because of their generosity that the Waldens Ridge Park Partners are able to present Hamilton County with this world-class park and conservation success. With the conservation easement now in place, we look forward to fulfilling our promise to protect this park forever.



The Southeastern Climbers Coalition(SCC) is very excited to see Walden's Ridge Park open to the public! Having another bouldering resource close to town will be a big draw for climbers, and the opening is highly anticipated by the local climbing community, said Kate Hanes, the SCC Stewardship director. I want to give a huge shout-out to all of the volunteers who've shown up to trail days and put in the sweat equity over the last few years to develop the trails and boulders. It's been such a huge community effort!



This park is a wonderland, built by the community for the community. I hope theyre as proud and excited about it as I am, said Matt Folz, director of Hamilton County Parks & Recreation.



The park will be maintained and operated by Hamilton County.



Partners are Hamilton County, City of Chattanooga, North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy, The Land Trust for Tennessee, Lyndhurst Foundation, The Tucker Foundation, Riverview Foundation, Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA Chattanooga), Southeastern Climbers Coalition, IMBA Trail Solutions, Trails are Common Ground, and McGill Trails.
The Knights of Columbus, Chapter, 14079, hosted an awards ceremony and breakfast Saturday for local first responders in Soddy Daisy.This years ceremony honored Hamilton County Sheriffs Office Detective Jodi Terry for his efforts to successfully investigate numerous sex crimes, felonious assaults and crimes specifically against children.Detective Terry successfully investigated a reported incident involving inappropriate physical contact, which was sexual in nature, between an elementary school teacher and a student. During this investigation he was able to identify seven additional student victims.Detective Terry graduated from the National Forensics Academy on June 9, and was selected to be a liaison with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as a taskforce officer.He is working to obtain a degree in criminal justice from Brewton Parker College.In attendance were numerous community residents, elected officials, first responders and law enforcement personnel from throughout Hamilton County."Please join with us as we congratulate HCSO Detective Jodi Terry on receiving this prestigious award recognizing his service to Hamilton County and his investigative abilities, particularly as they relate to the safety and security of our communitys children," officials said.
Actor Tom Hanks has come a long way since his early days on the 1980s sitcom Bosom Buddies. He has starred in over 75 films, won two Academy Awards for Best Actor for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, and has received countless other awards, including the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.

Among his many films, Hanks starred in Steven Spielbergs 2004 comedy-drama The Terminal alongside Hollywood veterans Stanley Tucci and Catherine Zeta-Jones. While the film was somewhat obscure, many people couldnt help but wonder if the storyline was based on a true story.

Tom Hanks | Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

What was The Terminal about

Hanks plays the role of Viktor Navorski, an Eastern European man who arrives at JFK Airport in New York City and is denied entry into the United States due to an invalid passport. He cannot return to his country of origin because of an unexpected military coup, finding himself stuck at the airport with nowhere to go.

Navorski has to spend nine months living in the airport as he waits for his country to become a legitimate state that can reauthorize his passport, allowing him to return home. During his stay, the character befriends many people working at the airport, inspiring them as he helps to turn their lives around.

Was The Terminal based on a true story?

The Spielberg film was partially inspired by the real-life story of Iranian refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who spent 18 years stranded at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. The man claimed to have refugee status from Belgium, but when he arrived at the airport in 1988, he could not provide a passport or proof of his refugee status. He was detained at the airport and could not return to the United Kingdom, which he claimed was his home, or enter France, leaving him nowhere else to go but the airport.

According to Screen Rant, Nasseri was born in Iran and moved to the United Kingdom when he was 28 years old. There are several conflicting stories as to how he became a refugee. Some claim he was tortured by Savak, the Iranian Intelligence Agency, for taking part in a protest that was deemed to be anti-state activity. Others believe he got into trouble after attending a student strike in 1970 at Tehran University. There are also conflicting accounts of how he lost his passport and other documents. Some say Nasseri lost his briefcase while traveling, while others claim he mailed the papers to Belgium when traveling on a ferry to the United Kingdom. While the facts are unclear as to how Nasseri lost his documentation, it is clear he was detailed in Paris, forced to live at the airports departure lounge of Terminal 1 from 1988 to 2006.

How the movie differs from the real-life story

Nasseri became somewhat of a local icon in Paris, going by the name Sir Alfred. While still living at the airport, Spielberg purchased the rights to his life story. Instead of going with a factual accounting, as the acclaimed director has done with many other iconic films such as Schindlers List, he decided to create Navorski, a fictional character.

Several real-life facts differ from those told in the movie. For instance, the location of the actual airport in Paris was switched to JFK in New York for the film, and the supporting characters were all fictional to add dimension to the storyline. The Terminal also refers to the main characters homeland as Krakozhia, a fictional country not based in Iran, where Nasseri reigned from. In the film, Hanks character returns to his country once the war ends, but Messeri never made it back to the United Kingdom.

In 2006, Nasseri finally left the airport and started living in homeless shelters in France. In 2022, he returned to the airport and, at the approximate age of 77, died after suffering a heart attack in Terminal 2F of the Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Where the film did align with real life was in the characters love for fast food and his curiosity for exploring the airport. Many say that is how Sir Alfred spent his days, and Hanks did a fantastic job hilariously portraying that lifestyle.
Meghan Markle on the microphone? Not at a Santa Barbara charity event where the royal mistakenly thought she'd been invited to say a few words.

A royal oops. Meghan Markle got the wrong idea about taking the mic at a local charity event with Prince Harry. Ahead, how the Duchess of Sussex reacted when it became clear the mic wasnt for her.

Meghan and Prince Harry attended a Santa Barbara charity event for first responders on Sept. 22

After the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned home to Montecito, Calif., where they attended a local charity event hosted by Yellowstone alum Kevin Costner at his Santa Barbara, Calif., estate.

Called the One805 First Responder Fundraiser and held at Costners polo field, Harry and Meghan were among the big names who showed up, including Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.

At one point, Harry and Meghan took the stage to present the charitys ambassador, Costner, with an honorary award. Along the way, Meghan reached for the mic but soon learned the host wasnt handing it over to her.

Meghan tried to maintain her dignity after grabbing the mic at the Santa Barbara charity event

On the heels of speaking at the 2023 Invictus Games, Meghan almost made some remarks at the local fundraiser. However, the host wasnt handing her the mic.

Meghan seems to have got the choreography all wrong here, creating a medium-sized toe-curling moment that appears to set off a chain of mini-errors, Judi James, a body language expert, told Mirror.

Noting how when Meghan took the stage, the host appeared with a mic, the duchesss knee-jerk assumption appeared to be to address the crowd. But when Meghan reached for the mic, she quickly realized it wasnt meant for her.

Trying to retain a sense of control and dignity, Meghan placed a hand on the hosts arm, suggesting dominance and walking as though steering, James said. The Suits alum maintained a gracious pose that only faltered right at the end. Meanwhile, compensatory gestures from Harry hinted at some awkwardness.

Meghan, James continued, appeared to save face by picking up an award from a nearby table rather than performing a gesture that might suggest she had the wrong idea about the mic.

Harry and Meghan werent steered by an aide, contributing to the newfound awkwardness

Meghan Markle | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

James continued, sharing a potential reason for the rather awkward exchange. It couldve been that Harry and Meghan didnt have a staff member directing them like they would at royal engagements.

As a British royal, you are always the one being honoured [sic] in any group, the expert said. And there is always a member of the royal team nearby to waft you around with dignity totally intact.

During his time as a royal, Harry will have been accustomed to being subtly steered around, James went on. However, that doesnt mean Meghan didnt have knowledge to fall back on. The 42-year-old, the expert noted, can at least call on her experience as an actress to correct a scene that is going wrong.

Further breaking down the mic moment, James highlighted how Meghan subtly regained control. She very pointedly steered Harry like a compliant child with a hand on his back, again trying to create a sense of confidence, status, and control.

The awkwardness continued when Harry handed Costner the award and, per James, there was no hugging, which left Harry to perform an awkward-looking arm pat before returning to stand behind his wife.

Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
Christine Brown may have emerged from her divorce as a fan favorite among Sister Wives fans, but at least one Brown family member is calling her out. In a recent Patreon upload, Gwendlyn Brown revealed that both Kody Brown and Christine Brown behaved terribly as they worked to disentangle themselves from each other. The couple announced their spiritual divorce in November 2021, but the lead-up to that announcement stretched out for months. Christine and Kodys off-screen behavior, according to Gwendlyn, was awful.

Gwendlyn Brown says Kody and Christine Brown are both acting in season 18

While Christine Brown has emerged as a hero to Sister Wives fans for leaving Kody and throwing shade for two full seasons, Gwendlyn Brown has more insight into what really happened within the family during the divorce. In a Patreon upload, Gwendlyn noted that while Kody has been awful on camera, her mother had been equally terribly during the separation.

She went on to say that she thinks Kody decided to lean into the villain narrative created by the Sister Wives editing team, while Christine maintains that shes done nothing wrong in the relationship. While fans agree with Christine, for the most part, Gwen indicates that the situation is more nuanced than that. She explained that Kody and Christine spent hours acting in their respective roles for the show.

Gwendlyn Brown revealed she was angry with both of her parents during the divorce

While Gwen opted not to delve into what went on off-camera, she did say that she doesnt think her father intentionally tried to punish the children he shares with his estranged wife. Instead, Gwen claims, he didnt see his younger children largely because they spent the bulk of their time with Christine, and he felt unwelcome around her.

She also answered a fan question about whether she was angry with her mother because of Kodys behavior. Gwen set the record straight and said she was angry with both of her parents for how they treated the kids during the divorce. She indicated that Kody and Christine had been terrible to be around while they were divorcing.

Where does Gwendlyn Brown live now?

Following her divorce from Kody Brown, Christine Brown moved back to the Salt Lake City, Utah, area. The family had lived in the area for several years before Sister Wives began. So, did Gwendlyn Brown follow her mom to Utah?

Sister Wives Brown Family | TLC

No, by the time Christine decided to move states, Gwen was already an established college student. She remained back in Flagstaff. Gwendlyn is one of several Brown kids who have opted to set down roots in Arizona. However, she is the only one of Christine and Kodys shared children who still call the state home. Truely Brown, Christines youngest child, moved with her when she initially left Kody. Christine maintains primary custody of the tween. Ysabel Brown, who spent some time in North Carolina, now attends the University of Utah. Mykelti Padron, Aspyn Thompson, and Paedon Brown did not move with the family to Flagstaff in 2018. They all also reside in Utah.

Gwendlyn Brown offers episode reactions, Q&A videos, and other exclusive content on Patreon. The college student also uploads videos to YouTube.
A number of 5-mg pills of Oxycodone are displayed on June 17, 2019. Data released Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, shows that the number of prescription pills shipped in the U.S. continued to decline through the end of the 2010s, even as the overdose crisis deepened due to illicit opioids.
MBABANE  Its bad news for the 2 000 members of the public, who invested over E27 million in first Sukke OnTime Investments (Pty) Ltd.

The liquidator, Kobla Quashie, in a meeting held at the High Court on Thursday, informed the investors that he was unable to recover any funds or assets.

This, in essence, means that there is nothing to salvage from the liquidated companies, which were under the directorship of Machawe Gama, the Director of Sukke OnTime Investments (Pty) Ltd. His other companies are Sukke Logistics (PTY) Limited, Sukke Construction (PTY) Limited and MTG Investments (PTY) Limited.

Quashie advised the about 500 investors who had attended the meeting, to approach the nearest regional police headquarters to lay criminal charges against the director of the companies. Among those who invested are civil servants, former politicians, businesspeople, pensioners and individuals. During the creditors meeting, Quashie highlighted that in his investigation into the status of the company, he also involved the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), Financial and Economic Crimes Unit, Department of Money Laundering and Assets Forfeiture, which was currently working on the matter.

The police investigation is still ongoing and creditors are requested to formally approach the Anti-Money Laundering Unit in the four regions of the country to lay a charge of theft against the director of the entities. Kindly ensure that you carry with you supporting documents, said the liquidator. He told the crestfallen investors that, following the previous report of preliminary investigations, he was able to dig further into the affairs of the entities under liquidation.

During preliminary investigation, money laundering activities were detected, hence on December, 2021; an enquiry docket was opened and was given E/F No. 7402021 at the Manzini Police Station. The docket was assigned to the Financial and Asset Forfeiture Department to investigate the suspicions of money laundering activities, reads part of the report. The investors who had gathered at Court B of the High Court left the premises disconsolate after the sad news were related to them by the liquidator. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Master of the High Court Lindelwa Magagula, who is an admitted lawyer of the High Court.

In his report titled Report to First Meeting of Creditors, the liquidator stated that the refusal of the director of Sukke OnTime Investments (Pty) Limited, Machawe Gama, to meet him to present his state of affairs and that of his companies amounted to flouting of a court order. He said Gama must be sanctioned for this.

The liquidator went on to state that given the affidavit of the registrar of companies on the existence of the four companies that were to be liquidated, the court order could only be executed in respect of Sukke OnTime Investments (Pty) Limited and MTG Investments (PTY) Limited.

He found that the two entities did not exist. In his opinion, the liquidator stated that it might be that Gama was trading through Sukke OnTime as Sukke Logistics and Sukke Construction. Quashie brought it to the attention of the investors that he was unable to see any trading licence in that regard.

In his investigations, the liquidator found that the liquidated entities were not trading at the time of liquidation, as their business premises were closed and vacated in March 2020. In the circumstances, one concluded that the liquidated entities had no formal trading operation at the time of the liquidation order that was issued by the High Court on December 7, 2020, reads part of the report. He further pointed out that as at February 21, 2021, the two companies had a total of E300 614.60 in their bank accounts with First National Bank (FN) Eswatini. He said he had not accessed the funds in the accounts.

According to the liquidator, MTG Investment entered into two purchase of land agreements with ABS (1990) PTY Limited for a total of E4 171 200. He said it was uncertain if the purchase agreement was fulfilled as the land was never transferred and the seller was reluctant to provide full disclosure on the transaction. However, as revealed by the Central Bank of Eswatini, a total of E2 277 100 had been paid for land from depositors funds and there is a need for further investigations, said Quashie. In his report, he went on to state that motor vehicles that were attached in terms of the court on November 15,2019, by Deputy Sheriff Musa Mavuso, could not be traced.

He told the investors that police investigations at the Motor Registry Department revealed that the attached motor vehicles were transferred to third parties using transfer forms signed by Gama. He went on to mention that the core business of the liquidated entities was the sale or lease of photocopies. Quashie said: I could not find a single photocopier or lessee of these copiers. This fact is also confirmed in the Central Bank of Eswatini report as no repayments from lessees could be traced in the bank accounts. He said during his investigations, he discovered that there was no furniture belonging to the liquidated entities.
This 23-year-old man, his older brother, Sam, 26, and their father all started a business together not too long ago.

As a part of opening up the business, the three of them were going to travel to Japan to set everything up.

While organizing the trip, they came to the conclusion that he would arrive in Japan three weeks sooner than Sam.

He had wanted to go to a concert with his friends. So, I went, and with my own money, and set up everything for us. Getting a car, apartment, business fees, he said.

Three weeks passed, and Sam got to Japan.

In the beginning, everything was going well. When they discussed how they would split bills and living expenses, Sam assured him that he would pay him back soon.

Boy, was I stupid to believe that. After about a month of us being in Japan together, the expenses really started to pile up, and I was running low on the cash I came with, he explained.

Since Sam hadnt yet paid for his share of the expenses related to their vehicle, their business, and their apartment, he asked Sam if he could pay up.

In response, Sam asked him why he should be paying for any of these expenses when none of them had been his choices in the first place. He continued, claiming that he only came to Japan to see if all of this would be beneficial.

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This womans sister asked her to be one of her bridesmaids at her upcoming wedding.

Even though she wishes she could, she wont be able to fulfill the obligations her sister expects of her.

But she would gladly accept the role if all that was required was standing up with the rest of the bridal party on her sisters wedding day.

She was born in Texas, and most of her family currently lives in San Antonio or right outside the city.

Since she was 19, she has lived in Australia, and nearly 10 years ago, she renounced her American citizenship once she officially became an Australian citizen.

Now, she only travels to the United States every two or three weeks, spending about a week or two in the country during each visit.

Being a bridesmaid would involve tons of time spent attending an engagement party and a bridal shower, plus helping her sister with wedding dress shopping.

Her bachelorette party is a seven-day, six-night trip to Punta Cana, and the bridesmaids have to pay my sisters share as well as their own, she said.

I asked my sister if I could attend the pre-wedding events and her dress shopping virtually and skip the bachelorette party, and she said no.

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Archaeologists discover 'very rare' ancient inscription paraphrasing Psalm 86

Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently reported that an ancient inscription paraphrasing the first two verses of Psalm 86 was uncovered from a remote site in the Judean desert of Israel.

According to a statement from the university, the four-week excavation project in the Hyrcania Fortress occurred in May, spearheaded by Oren Gutfeld and Michal Haber of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in cooperation with Carson-Newman University and American Veterans Archaeological Recovery.

In the "pilot" season for the excavation, efforts were centered on two key areas of the fortress. In the southeast corner of the summit, a segment of a prominent upper fortification line was uncovered, dating to approximately the first or second century B.C. In the northeast corner, archeologists removed a deep layer of building stones that collapsed from the upper floor into an elongated basement hall.

A sizeable building stone lying on the plastered floor of the hall features lines of text painted in red with a cross at the top. The inscription was written in Koine Greek, the language the New Testament was written in.

The text was deciphered by epigraphist Dr. Avner Ecker of Bar-Ilan University, who says it is a paraphrase of Psalms 86: 12, also known as a "prayer of David."

"Jesus Christ, guard me, for I am poor and needy," the inscription reads.

The first two verses of Psalm 86 state, "Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you," according to the New International Version.

Ecker said that Psalm 86 "is one of the most common psalms in the Christian liturgy in ancient times."

"This psalm holds a special place in the Masoretic text as a designated prayer and is notably one of the most frequently recited psalms in Christian liturgy," Ecker said in a statement. "Thus, the monk drew a graffito of a cross onto the wall, accompanied by a prayer with which he was very familiar."

Gutfeld, a university teaching fellow, told The Washington Times that the discovery is the first time he can recall a phrase from the Psalms inscribed on a huge building stone.

"It's very, very rare  a unique something [that's] bigger than the inscription itself," Gutfeld added.

Ecker said that "syntax errors made in the transcription" indicate that the writer of the lines "did not speak Greek as his mother tongue, but was a native of the area, perhaps even a local, and spoke a Semitic language."

Researchers discovered another inscription at the site, but it has not yet been deciphered.

In the rubble of the excavation site, a small gold ring that appears to be child-like in size was uncovered. It has an oval turquoise stone engraved with Arabic Kufic script.

Another Arabic epigraphy expert was called to the scene to analyze the ring.

Nitzan Amitai-Preiss from the Hebrew University said a unique pattern in the script suggests the ring was also used as a seal.

"The script style is indicative of the early Islamic period, during the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D.," Amitai-Preiss said in a statement shared by the university.

In a joint statement, Haber and Gutfeld warned that "our excavations will draw the attention of looters."

"The problem persists; it was here before us and will likely continue after us, underscoring the need for academic excavation  particularly in such a sensitive site as Hyrcania, though this is just one example. We are simply trying to stay a few steps ahead," researchers reported.
Over 50 killed, 70 injured in suicide bombings at 2 mosques in Pakistan

The death toll continues to rise as two suicide bombings targeting mosques in Pakistan left over 50 people dead and dozens injured during Friday prayers.

The more devastating of the two attacks occurred in the Mastung district of Baluchistan province. At least 54 people are dead after two more victims died in the hospital overnight, according to The Associated Press. Over 70 were injured.

Local officials stated the suicide bomber targeted worshippers as they left the mosque. Dr. Saeed Mirwani, chief executive of the local Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital, told reporters that dozens of casualties were being treated there.

Hours later, a second explosion rocked a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leaving at least five people dead.

Footage aired on Pakistani TV and posted online showed the aftermath, with victims and body parts scattered around the blast sites.

Interim information minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Feroze Jamal, said two suicide bombers were involved in the second attack. One was killed in a shootout, and another detonated his device inside the mosque.

Mirwani confirmed with the Pakistani news outlet Dawn that the hospital has received 32 injured victims from the Baluchistan attack. At least 20 were sent to Quetta for advanced treatment. Jamal reported that 30 to 40 people were buried under rubble after the mosque's roof collapsed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attack.

Local police officer Shah Raz Khan told The National that rescuers are pulling worshippers from the rubble.

The government declared the day a national holiday for Prophet Mohammad's birthday on Friday.

According to the U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was part of a police complex and had a capacity of 40 to 50 people.

While no group has claimed responsibility, the Pakistani Taliban denied involvement, CBS News reports. ISIS-Khorasan, an Islamic State faction operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, has claimed similar attacks in the past. Baluchistan province, rich in oil, has seen multiple attacks by both ISIS and Baluch nationalists.

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi condemned the attacks. Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti also denounced the bombings, calling them a "heinous act," in a statement.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan spoke out on social media, calling the situation in Baluchistan "unacceptable." They urged that those responsible be brought to justice but cautioned against "hyper-securitization."

Security was increased around mosques in Punjab province and Karachi city.

Previous attacks in Pakistan have seen high casualties, including a 2014 Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar that killed over 150, mostly children.

In 2013, at least 81 Christians were killed when two suicide bombers bombed a church in Peshawar as worshipers left Sunday mass. On Easter Sunday 2016, over 75 were killed and over 340 were injured in a suicide bombing at one of the largest parks in Lahore, targeting Christians celebrating the holiday.

CSW criticized Pakistani authorities for failing to counter violent extremism.

"While the motivations for [Friday's] attacks are currently unclear, Pakistan has become an increasingly dangerous place for citizens of all religions and beliefs as the Pakistani authorities have repeatedly failed to counter violent extremism and terrorism, whilst also often emboldening extremist Islamist elements by embracing dangerous rhetoric,'" CSW's Founder President Mervyn Thomas said in a statement.

Pakistan ranks as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to Christian persecution on Open Doors' 2023 World Watch List, which states that Christians make up less than 2% of the Muslim-majority population.

Christians and other minorities are often falsely accused of blasphemy, which is punishable by life in prison or execution.

Last month, a Muslim mob rampaged through a Christian neighborhood in Punjab province, destroying more than 80 homes and 21 churches after allegations spread that the Quran had been desecrated.

Rights groups have been critical of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which have been used to persecute various religious groups. Over 2,000 people have been accused since 1987, and at least 88 have been killed on such allegations, according to the Centre for Social Justice.
Terrorists kill 15 Christians during week of village attacks in Nigeria's Kaduna state

ABUJA, Nigeria  Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists this week killed 15 Christians in Kaduna state, Nigeria, following the slaying of another one last week, sources said.

The assailants on Wednesday attacked predominantly Christian Angwan Magaji village, Kauru County, killing three Christians, after attacking Kigam village on Tuesday, where three others were slain, said Abel Habila Adamu, an area community leader.

The terrorists also wounded four others in the two villages, he said.

We are saddened to inform you with a heavy heart about a resurgence of attacks on Christians by the armed Fulani herdsmen and terrorists, Adamu said in a text message to Morning Star News. Indeed, our land is bleeding, and the blood of innocent Christians cries profusely for justice.

Adamu, president of the Chawai Development Association, identified the slain in the two villages as Martina Ishaya, 55; Sunday Gizindi, 55; Danjuma Alah, 35; Joseph Baza Dauda, 23; Danladi Yakubu, 57; and Simon Chibi, 33.

He identified those wounded by gunshot as Yohanna Anoh Ishaya, 27; Gado Monday Kiri, 53; Victor Timothy, 23; and John Auta.

This has clearly shown that our land is indeed under siege by our enemies, terrorists and herdsmen, Adamu said.

He appealed to the Nigerian government to urgently end incessant attacks on Christians in Kaduna state as well as in other parts of the country where terrorist acts have become endemic.

Considering how sacrosanct life is to any human society, we condemn these killings and hereby reiterate the fact that the attacks are quite detestable to our peaceful society and people, Adamu said. We call on government at all levels to approach security matters with utmost sincerity and honesty as well as charge security heads to be more proactive in dealing with security matters concerning our land.

Assailants on Tuesday also attacked predominantly Christian Takkanai village, Zangon Kataf County, killing six Christians and wounding four others, area residents said.

The herdsmen, who were well armed with guns and other deadly weapons, attacked the village at about 7 p.m. as the villagers were getting ready to go to sleep. Among those killed are two children, Samson Markus, a community leader in Zangon Kataf, told Morning Star News in a text message.

Samuel Achi, president of the Atyap Community Development Association, also identified the assailants as Fulani herdsmen bandits and said they set fire to two houses.

The bandits operated for over an hour before leaving the community, Achi said in a text message.

In Kauru County, herdsmen on Monday attacked Kigam village, killing three Christians and wounding three others, an area resident said. Robert Dodo said the attack occurred at about 9 p.m.

The bandits shot at anyone they sighted as the villagers fled from their homes to escape being killed, Dodo told Morning Star News in a text message.

In Chikun County, terrorists on Sept. 19 invaded predominantly Christian Mararaban Rido village, kidnapping six persons and later killing another Christian on Saturday (Sept. 23), said area resident Alheri Magaji.

She said the Sept. 19 attack took place at about 1 a.m.

The house of a member of the Christian community of Mararaban Rido was invaded by bandits, and two members of that family were kidnapped and are being held captive, Magaji told Morning Star News in a text message.

The assailants also kidnapped another woman and her three children, and last Saturday at about 8:30 p.m., returned and killed another villager, unidentified, she said.

My heart is broken into a thousand pieces; please pray for us, Magaji said.

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.
Wille Robertson says it was 'hard' watching his parents' story in new film The Blind

The darkest years of Phil and Kay Robertson's life will be told in the upcoming film, "The Blind," and their son Willie Robertson and his wife, Korie, have shared what it's like to see his parents' life played out on the big screen.

Premiering in theaters nationwide beginning Thursday, "The Blind" will take viewers on a raw and powerful journey into the early years of Phil and Kay Robertson's marriage. The film highlights their love story, their years of great hardship and God's redemption in Phil Roberton's life.

Despite a decade of challenging times where Willie's parents were at great odds due to his father's wild behavior, the patriarch eventually surrendered to Christ. His come-to-Jesus moment changed the course of his family's life forever.

Now, all of his children  Willie, Al, Jase, Jep and his daughter, Phyllis (from an extramarital affair)  all serve Jesus and are successful and outspoken Christians.

"It's powerful. It's real. It's, in some ways, was hard to watch for us. It's hard to go back and highlight the darkest point of your life. I'm sure from my parents, that was the tough part," Willie Robertson, 51, shared in a video interview with The Christian Post.

"I think in Christianity, we move on, we say, 'That's in the past.' We don't even like talking about it; it's hard to go back there. I was thankful that they did, that they were able to share that story, that piece of their life with people, really just for the hopes that if someone else finds themselves in this desperate situation without God, that they could see that, and maybe that would help bring people closer to the Lord. And that's what happened in our family."

The family's journey has been seen in the public since their hit reality series "Duck Dynasty" made waves on A&E with the show, books and podcasts. What the world has seen are the benefits of Phil Robertson's surrender to Christ and the impact it has had on his life, his children and his grandchildren.

"The Blind," however, pulls back the curtain on what took place before Christ.

"It's easy to see the benefits once Phil was able to completely change his life and yield to Jesus, but also once mom forgave Phil and they restored their marriage, then they had a way better shot at life," Willie Robertson added.

"That's why we're so thankful for God, and that's why we're bold about it and talk about it because without God entering in this picture, my life would look completely different."

The devoted son honored his mother for her long suffering and her ability to forgive.

Korie Robertson said her children, including popular Christian influencer Sadie Robertson Huff, were shocked to learn some of the things shown in the film.

"Whenever we first showed our kids the film, I was so nervous to show them just because I'm like, 'I hope they like it, and I hope they think it's good,' because we had been working on it so intimately for the past like two years," Korie Robertson told CP.

"They just loved it and had such a great response. One of the things they said they were like, 'Oh, is that really true? Did that really happen to Grandma Kay? Did she really hit that low point where she felt like maybe ending it all?' I was like, 'That's true, that really happened,'" she recalled.

"It is a true story, and it is a hard story to see, but the power is in the Gospel, and the power is in the redemption. The power is in when Jesus enters your life; everything can change, and you aren't without hope."



"The Blind," directed by Andrew Hyatt ("Paul, Apostle Of Christ," "Full Of Grace"), features actors Aron von Andrian ("Dodger"), Amelia Eve ("The Haunting of Bly Manor"), Brielle Robillard ("The Lake") and Matthew Erick White ("Station 19").
House Republicans block Biden from using AIDS relief program to promote abortion

Pro-life groups are praising the U.S. House of Representatives for ensuring that a program designed to provide AIDS relief overseas is not used to send taxpayer dollars to organizations that promote abortion.

The House passed the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2024 in a 216-212 vote Thursday. The vote came down mostly along party lines, with all but two Republicans present at the time of the vote supporting the legislation and all Democrats opposing it.

The Republicans who broke with their party to vote against the amendment are Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

The nearly 300-page spending package extends the PEPFAR Extension Act of 2018 for another year. PEPFAR is an acronym for the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief and was first launched by President George W. Bush in 2003.

"Regrettably, PEPFAR has been reimaginedhijacked by the Biden administration to empower pro-abortion international non-governmental organizations, deviating from its life-affirming work," Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said in a statement Friday.

"Thankfully, the House has voted to reject Biden's new PEPFAR abortion promotion strategy and increase spending for its life-saving programs while ensuring key pro-life protections," Smith added.

The co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus expressed gratitude to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and the committee as a whole for "insisting that the noble purpose of PEPFAR not be compromised or undercut by integrating and merging other agendas."

Smith elaborated on the pro-life provisions of the spending bill in a speech on the House floor Thursday, noting that it reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which "ensured that PEPFAR's over $6 billion a year in taxpayer grant money wasn't subsidizing foreign [non-governmental organizations] that perform or promote abortion."

Smith pointed to a document published by the Biden administration in September 2022 titled "Reimagining PEPFAR's Strategic Direction: Fulfilling America's Promise to End the HIV/AIDS Pandemic by 2030" as a particular cause for concern.

He condemned what he called a "sweeping new radical policy" for integrating "sexual reproductive health and rights and, of course, that means abortion, with HIV/AIDS work."

The document signals an intention to "leverage the very best of American ingenuity, including the scientific community, academic institutions, the diaspora, and faith- and community-based organizations and strengthen coordination between PEPFAR and other U.S. government global health and development programs, including for tuberculosis, malaria, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, LGBTQI+, and human rights."

It also states that "PEPFAR will integrate HIV programming into strengthened public health systems to manage tuberculosis, high burden non-communicable diseases, sexual reproductive health, rights and services, as well as other local health priorities ... to protect HIV/AIDS gains and strengthen health and economic outcomes."

In an op-ed, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, warned that the Biden administration's proposed changes to PEPFAR would have the effect of promoting "abortion on demand in the developing world."

Smith read aloud from a letter written by 131 African religious leaders and elected officials outlining their suspicions that a future reauthorization of PEPFAR was "supporting so-called family planning and reproductive health principles and practices, including abortion, that violate our core beliefs concerning life, family, and religion." They pleaded with Congress to ensure that "PEPFAR remain true to its original mission and respect our norms, traditions, and values."

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser praised the House for its efforts to preserve the original intention of PEPFAR and prevent taxpayer dollars from funding pro-abortion organizations.

"We applaud the House for protecting the core mission against the Biden Administration's attempts to use an AIDS relief program to jam their agenda to fund abortion providing groups to carry out 'reproductive health, rights and services,'" she said in a statement.

"The Biden Administration has made it clear they will stop at nothing to force their radical abortion agenda into every facet of federal government, including a popular bipartisan program that combats AIDS around the world," she lamented. "They're choosing to fund abortion groups like the International Planned Parenthood Federation, an organization notorious for going against PEPFAR's mission of saving lives."

Dannenfelser cited the inclusion of funding to the International Planned Parenthood Federation as the reason for her organization's opposition to the five-year PEPFAR reauthorization effort introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez, N.J. She thanked the House for acknowledging "the importance of protecting the integrity of the program" and shared her hope that "the Senate does the same."

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America was one of a dozen pro-life and conservative organizations that wrote a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last week urging them to "implement life-protecting policies in the form of permanent legislative provisions that will ensure that NGOs that perform, promote or support abortion are not eligible for PEPFAR funds" in any reauthorization of the PEPFAR program.

The 300-page bill that reauthorizes PEPFAR and advances pro-life protections must secure the approval of the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate and receive a signature from President Joe Biden before it can become law.
Trump's 'Meet the Press' comments spark debate about pro-life tactics post-Roe

Former President Donald Trumps recent remarks about abortion during an interview on "Meet the Press" have sparked debate among pro-life advocates about whether the movement should focus on fighting for a federal abortion ban or keep it a states' rights issue.

Earlier this month, Trump told Kristen Welker of NBC's "Meet the Press" that, as president, he would negotiate with both sides of the abortion debate and there would be peace on the issue for the first time in over 50 years.

During that interview, he also criticized his Republican rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for signing a six-week abortion ban, referring to it as a "terrible thing and a terrible mistake." The former president did not say whether he would join his fellow GOP presidential candidates in supporting a federal 15-week abortion ban should one ever pass both chambers of Congress.

Timothy Head, executive director of the national grassroots Christian conservative activist group Faith & Freedom Coalition, told The Christian Post that there's disagreement in the pro-life movement over tactics following the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Head said Faith & Freedom Coalition has spoken with various political leaders about abortion, noting that they all appear to have different approaches to the issue.

Responding to Trumps comments about abortion during the Meet the Press interview, Head said he thinks the former president still supports the pro-life movement but is deliberately refusing to clarify his policy positions.

I dont think he likes the idea of marrying himself to a 15-week bill, he said. Partly because there could be the possibility of something even better than a 15-week bill or approaches that have nothing to do with gestational limits.

The Faith & Freedom Coalition executive director asserted that if Trump is elected president again, he would re-enact pro-life policies, such as the Mexico City Policy.

Under the Trump administration, international non-governmental organizations that promote or provide abortions overseas were barred from receiving U.S. tax dollars. President Joe Biden rescinded the policy upon taking office.

The former president spoke at a Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in June, where he referenced his appointment of three U.S. Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of a Mississippi abortion ban, reversing Roe. According to Head, during a policy discussion leading up to the conference, Trumps staff indicated that he would support similar pro-life policies under a new administration.

While Head said he and his organization would be pleased to see a federal 15-week abortion ban or an earlier gestational limit on abortion, he doesn't believe there's enough support for it in Congress, noting that such a change would require 60 votes in the Senate.

So, in the meantime, thats the reason why we at Faith & Freedom continue to lobby so hard in the state legislature, the executive director said, noting that he sees it as pragmatic to focus on the states while there is progress to be made there.

Head said that pro-lifers and political leaders should educate Americans about the brutality of abortions that take place from 12 to 15 weeks. One of the ways that he sees pro-lifers raising awareness about this issue, particularly among voters who might be undecided, is to discuss abortion and the states that have loosened restrictions since Roe.

As The Christian Post previously reported, various pro-life advocates condemned Trump for his remarks during the Meet the Press interview, with some leaders in the movement arguing that there is no room for compromise on abortion.

Lila Rose, the founder and president of the pro-life group Live Action, wrote in a Sept. 17 post on X that Trumps comments were "pathetic and unacceptable." The pro-life leader declared that Trump should not be the GOP nominee for president.

"Trump is actively attacking the very pro-life laws made possible by Roe's overturning," she stated. "Heartbeat Laws have saved thousands of babies. But Trump wants to compromise on babies' lives so pro-abort Dems 'like him.'"

Kristan Hawkins, the president of the pro-life organization Students for Life of America, also criticized Trump on X, arguing that "protecting human life at 5 or 6 weeks isn't a 'terrible thing'... it's the right thing."
MBABANE  A sickly woman who is said to have sought assistance in the form of treatment from a prophet ended up being allegedly raped.

This is said to have happened at a community in northern Hhohho, where the said prophet, Zwelithini Nkambule, is said to have moved. Nkambule has since been arrested and appeared before Magistrate Sibonelo Dlamini on Thursday. It is alleged that the prophet was known for assisting people in various ways and that when the alleged rape survivor *Jelly became ill, a certain resident recommended that she should be taken to him. It is alleged that Jellys husband had heard about Nkambules abilities to heal, such that he also allegedly agreed that his wife should be treated by him.

Jelly is said to have complained of pains all over her body and this is said to have gone on for a long time. Thereafter, it was agreed that she should be taken to the prophet. She is said to be 48 years old, while Nkambule is aged 29. Nkambule is said to have insisted she stays at his compound for treatment when she was taken to him.

Complain

She is reported to have continued to complain of the pain at that time. It is alleged that recently, on one of the days he was expected to treat her, at around midnight, Nkambule asked Jellys husband if he could go with her to the bush to remove a tokoloshi. Traditionally, it is believed that a tokoloshi is a mischievous creature of spirit resembling a small hairy person. It is also believed that it is used to cause harm and terrorise its victims through witchcraft means. Nkambule is said to have told Jellys husband that the only way she could be healed was if the tokoloshi, which was causing pain in her body, was removed.

After asking permission from Jellys husband to take her to the bush at around midnight and remove the tokoloshi, Jelly is said to have gone with the man under the guise that he would treat her. It is alleged that while the prophet was in the bush with the woman, he allegedly began to apply ash on her body. He is also said to have applied some of the ash on the womans private parts and then asked her to lie down so that he could continue with the treatment. When she lay on the ground, it is alleged that Nkambule then raped her and she asked him what he was doing.

The woman is said to have been angry about the incident and later reported the matter to the police in Piggs Peak. An investigation was carried out by the Domestic Violence and Child Protection Unit, after which Nkambule was arrested. The veracity of these allegations is yet to be contested during trial in court.

Violating

According to further court records, Nkambule is accused of violating the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act 15 of 2018.

The court record stated that on September 23, 2023, the accused wrongfully, unlawfully and intentionally had sexual intercourse with the said adult female. It further stated that he did not use a condom and exposed her to the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Further, that he inflicted physical and lifetime mental trauma. Meanwhile, last week, this publication reported that a police officer was arrested for allegedly raping two women.

He is said to have been slapped with two counts of rape. Sandile Sihlongonyane (37) had appeared at the Shiselweni Magistrate Court in Nhlangano.

He appeared before Magistrate Sifiso Ngwenya. It was reported that he could face up to 36 years behind bars if found guilty. The veracity of the allegations against the police officer is also yet to be contested in court.
Biblical worldview: Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide

In a world where the boundaries of life and death are increasingly blurred at best and disregarded at worst, it is essential for Christians to articulate their beliefs and convictions regarding controversial issues. Unfortunately, this now includes legalized euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which are both on the rise in Western countries, including the U.S. and Canada.

As a way of definition, euthanasia is the intentional ending of a human life for the (stated) purpose of eliminating their pain and suffering. Physician-assisted suicide is when a doctor assists an individual in ending their own life upon the persons request. Both of these practices can  and do  occur even if the individual is not necessarily in extreme suffering or dealing with a terminal illness.

As Christians and medical ethicists have long warned, these actions, which are often justified and sold as mercy in dying or dignity in death, are a slippery slope.

For example, over the last few years, Canada has aggressively expanded its pro-death regime known as Medical Assistance In Dying, or MAID. Statistics Canada reported that Medically assisted deaths in Canada rose by 35% from 2020 to 2021. The number of medically assisted deaths in Canada has continued to grow since MAID was introduced in 2016. There were 12,689 written requests for MAID in 2021, 31.3% more than the 9,664 written requests in 2020.

Beginning in March 2024, Canada will extend the MAID program to include those whose sole medical condition is mental illness, such as depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and schizophrenia, and it is even considering allowing mature minors to be eligible for the program. Already, healthcare employees have been caught promoting MAID as a possible solution to those with disabilities, those facing homelessness, pensioners, and the suicidal.

Even the liberal news outlet the New York Times is asking, Is Choosing Death Too Easy in Canada?

A biblical worldview of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide provides an irreplaceable foundation for Christians as they strive to understand these issues, with an emphasis on the sanctity of life and the importance of respecting God as the author of human life.

The sanctity of life

Central to the Christian perspective on these issues is the belief in the sanctity of life. From the moment of conception to natural death, life is considered a precious gift from God. The Bible explicitly conveys this idea in several passages, including Psalm 139:13-16:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mothers womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

This passage underscores the belief that God is intimately involved in the creation and development of every human life. It affirms that life begins in the womb and is a part of Gods divine plan.

Lets consider verse 16 more closely: In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

What the psalmist is communicating here, under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is that the Sovereign God of all creation has fixed for each man and woman a number of days that they are allotted to live on this earth, before dying and facing the final judgment. When you combine this biblical insight with the clear command not to murder (which we will consider in more detail shortly), one simple truth becomes crystal clear: As Creator of mankind, only God has the right to determine the moment of life and death.

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are sinful shortcuts that seek to rob God of this sovereign prerogative over every breath we take. Those who support and engage in these practices devalue and degrade the sanctity of human life in Gods world.

Prideful attempts at playing God

Another reason that Christians historically oppose euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is the concern that these practices involve humans attempting to play God. In essence, proponents of these practices may be usurping Gods authority and dominion over His creation. In the Bible, we find numerous passages that affirm Gods sovereignty over life and death. Job 14:5 declares:

Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.

Here, we see a clear acknowledgment that the duration of a persons life is determined by God and no human should seek to alter that divine plan.

Moreover, Christians believe that suffering and difficult circumstances are opportunities for spiritual growth and reliance on God. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, the apostle Paul writes about his own suffering:

But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Pauls words illustrate that in times of suffering and weakness, Christians are called to rely on Gods strength and grace rather than resorting to hastening death as a means of escape.

Gods clear command: 'You shall not murder'

The Sixth Commandment, You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13), underscores the biblical prohibition against taking innocent life. Christians understand this commandment as an absolute prohibition against killing another human being intentionally outside of war or in acts of self-defense.

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide involve the deliberate taking of human life, even if it is at the request of the individual. The act itself contradicts this fundamental moral principle  and therefore it qualifies as murder.

One of the most high-profile cases of euthanasia in the United States in recent times was that of Terri Schiavo. In response to the doctors who euthanized her, Christian pastor and Bible teacher R.C. Sproul expressed concern that last weeks state-sanctioned death of Terri Schiavo marks a turning point for America, and it is crucial for the Church in this country to wake up and mobilize against euthanasia and other signs of the times.

Sproul also raised concerns that this event marked a turning point in American history back towards an age of neo-barbarianism:

Many years ago, Harold Lindsell described American culture after the revolution of the 60s as a neo-pagan culture. I think now what Terri Schiavos death marks is the transition to a neo-barbarian culture ... I think thats where we are. Weve become barbarians, because what weve just witnessed is the willful starving and dehydration of a living human being.

Again, the Bible gives us a very specific word for the intentional taking of another persons life  murder.

Francis Schaeffer rightly made the connection between the ethics of abortion and euthanasia, arguing that both were murder:

I feel that abortion is murder ... I do think that this is what the Bible would set forth. It is interesting that the people who are for abortion tend also to be for euthanasia. I think both spring from the fact that modern man does not feel that man is unique, and sees him only as part of the continuum from the molecule onward. The Bible says, of course, that man is unique because he is made in the image of God.

Both euthanasia and PAS are ultimately violations of the Sixth Commandment and therefore all Christians should oppose these practices.

The role of compassion

While Christians oppose euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide on the grounds of preserving the sanctity of life and not playing God, they also recognize the importance of showing compassion and care to those who are suffering. It is crucial to distinguish between actively ending a life and providing palliative care and emotional support.

The Bible teaches us to have sympathy for those who are suffering and to comfort those in pain. Galatians 6:2 encourages Christians to Bear one anothers burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Providing pain relief and emotional comfort to those facing terminal illness or suffering is entirely consistent with the teachings of Christ. But, regardless of how this comfort and relief are provided, it cannot come in the form of killing another human being in the act of playing God.

Conclusion

A historic, classical version of the Hippocratic Oath contained the line, I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asks for it nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.

While the original oath was not Christian in origin, this position is directly derived from a biblical understanding of the purpose of medicine  which is to heal, not harm. And certainly not to kill.

In conclusion, a biblical worldview provides a robust foundation for understanding why Christians historically oppose euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. The sanctity of life, the belief that we should not attempt to play God, the commandment against murder, and the call to show compassion all contribute to this perspective.

While Christians are deeply sympathetic to those facing suffering and terminal illness, they believe that the answer lies in trusting God and offering support, rather than taking matters of life and death into human hands. Ultimately, it is a worldview rooted in faith, reverence for God, and a profound respect for the gift of life that shapes the Christian stance on these complex ethical issues.

Originally published at the Standing for Freedom Center.
Joni Eareckson Tada thanks God after hospital stay

(CP) Bible teacher, bestselling author and disabilities advocate Joni Eareckson Tada has been released from the hospital after a 16-day stay due to double pneumonia.

"Like many of the people we serve who struggle with constant health challenges, I can say with them, 'God rescued me!' After 16 days in the hospital struggling with double pneumonia, I am home, happy, healing, and resting," the 73-year-old shared in a social media post last week featuring a photo of her and her husband, Ken, outside the hospital. "The hospital provided oxygen for me, but it's only temporary."

She thanked her husband and friends for all they did to care for her, saying they "made sure I rested."

"At night, the promise from God in Isaiah 43:1-2 was such a great source of comfort: 'Do not be afraid, for you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown,'" She said. "Yes, Jesus was with me through every scan, x-ray, blood draw, and breathing treatment."

Tada, who heads Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community," said the experience reminded her of how critical it is to "share the salvation message of Jesus with the families we serve."

"It's why we do what we do at Joni and Friends, and I couldn't be happier than to be on the frontlines with you and every friend of the ministry," she wrote.

Tada was paralyzed after a diving accident in 1967 and has since used her platform to advocate for those with disabilities. Her book detailing her experience, Joni, has been translated into over 30 languages and made into a feature film.

In addition to living with quadriplegia, Tada has battled cancer twice and, recently, COVID-19.

In a 2022 interview with The Christian Post, the speaker and author revealed that resting in God's sovereignty, come what may is what enables her to have "profound, unshakable gladness" in the face of "horrible hardships and jaw-biting pain."

God's sovereignty "isn't some doctrinal, otherworldly, theological ivory tower concept that academics talk about, but you'd never really know how to put into practice," she said, but a "trust in His Word; He can be trusted because He's not going anywhere."

"I couldn't say that if that pain were happening perchance, or if it were some fluke, or if it was a cosmic roll of the dice. How can I be so confident, to speak calmly into my suffering, the confidence in God's Word were it not for His sovereignty?" Tada said.

"When I'm in pain, which is often, especially at night in bed when I can't sleep ... I talk to my pain and I say, 'You're not going to make me anxious, pain. You're not going to make me fearful. I'm going to walk into you. I'm going to breathe, calmly, serenely. I'm going to enter you, pain, as though I were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego entering the fiery furnace, and I'm going to find Jesus, the Son of God, walking in the middle of the fire with me.'"

Tada cited 2 Corinthians 6:10: "We are to be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

"It seems to me, only in the Christian experience can we know both joy and sorrow at the same time; it's like it's on a continuum, and they happen simultaneously," she reflected.

"In the West, even we Christians, we don't know what to do with suffering and pain. We try to drug it, medicate it, escape it, divorce it. If it's a child with a disability, we institutionalize it. We do everything but learn how to live with it. And I don't mean live with it begrudgingly, but live with it confident that a sovereign God has you in the midst of this for a good reason. And usually, most of those reasons are that we might cast ourselves wholly and completely on Christ Jesus."

 The Christian Post
Former House of Commons speaker Anthony Rota greets Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the visiting Ukrainian President addressed Parliament on Monday. Rota earlier greeted another visitor that day, Yaroslav Hunka, an elderly member of a former German SS wartime unit whom hed privately invited to witness the event without knowing his background. Hunka is pictured at right with his son, Martin, in the speakers gallery.
GCC countries are planning a single visa system that would simplify travel within the region and boost tourism across all six of its member states - Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, said media reports citing a senior UAE minister.

A pan-GCC visa could be the future of tourism, stated UAE Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri adding that the new visa regime could be introduced very soon.

He was speaking at the Future Hospitality Summit being held in Abu Dhabi.

The idea of a Schengen-style visa for the GCC was highlighted earlier this year at the Arabian Travel Market exhibition held in Dubai in May, reported the Boomberg.

Bahrains Minister of Tourism, Fatima Al-Sairafi, said that talks have been underway at the ministerial level across GCC states to introduce a unified single visa.

"We see that happening very soon because we see people flying from abroad to Europe usually spending their time in several countries rather than in one country. We really saw the value this can bring not only to each country, but also to all of us," explained Al Sairafi during a panel discussion on The Future of Travel for the GCC.

At present, only citizens of GCC countries enjoy visa-free travel to countries within the bloc.

This announcement has come as a major boost to the expatriate residents, who account for over 50 per cent of the GCC population.

They, currently, need to apply for a visa to travel to each member state, with some nationalities getting visa-free or visa-on-arrival privileges.

"I think that [a single GCC visa] is something which has been on the table. It's been complementing all the GCC strategies on tourism," Bin Touq was quoted as saying by The National.

"Hopefully, we are going to see something around a pan-GCC visa, which will allow easier mobility of people within the GCC. A resident of Saudi [Arabia], for instance, can enter the UAE and vice versa. I think that's where we see the future of GCC tourism," he added.

The UAE has built the infrastructure over the years to accommodate all these types of tourism, he added.
Washington, Sep 30 (UNI) The United States is monitoring a large and "unprecedented" Serbian military deployment near Kosovo and calls on Belgrade to withdraw its troops stationed near the border, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communication John Kirby said on Friday.

"We're going to be monitoring or we are monitoring a large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo. That includes an unprecedented staging of advanced Serbian artillery and mechanized infantry units. We believe that this is a very destabilizing development," Kirby told a briefing.

Kirby also called on Serbia to remove their troops from the border.

UNI/SPUTNIK AKS
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UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Voters will be asked this fall to elect four council members among the nine candidates in the running. Of those nine, four now hold office, and four others have been endorsed by Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan.

Current office holders up for re-election are eight-year council members Vice Mayor Michele Weiss and Councilman John Rach. Two other current office holders, Threse Marshall and Winifred Weizer were appointed to council this year to replace resigning councilmembers.

Those endorsed by Brennan are four first-time office seekers. They include lawyer Jonathan Bartell, educator Alicia Sloan, engineer Micah Maliskas, and artist/lawyer Hallie Shalev Turnberrez.

The candidate who rests in neither camp is pastor and and teacher Vincent Stokes, II.

The nine candidates participated Tuesday (Sept. 26) in the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland Heights Chapter Candidates Forum, hosted by Heights Libraries.

The first question asked of candidates that night is one that has been discussed for about years in University Heights -- that of whether the city should continue to pick up garbage and recyclables form residents back yards or, instead, move to automated curbside pickup.

As they have during council meetings, Weiss, Rach, Marshall and Weizer continued to support backyard collection, each noting that surveys have backed this method. Stokes also joined in his support for backyard collection.

Its not whether I favor one way or another, its what the residents want, Rach said. The residents have spoken, not once but twice.

There were residential surveys that went out overwhelmingly supporting back yard pickup.

Marshall said she spent time over the summer talking with residents about the subject, and residents want to keep backyard pickup.

Stokes, meanwhile, said University Heights residents pay high taxes and deserve the backyard service for those taxes.

Weizer asked the audience the question, Dont you wish we would have put it on the ballot?

Turnberrez said that one of the surveys was deficient in not explaining the benefits of changing to automated pickup.

We could actually save 25 percent by moving to curbside pickup, she said. While she said she would never want to layoff the 11 service department workers who collect refuse, Turnberrez said the current backyard system is extremely hard on their bodies because of the required lifting of garbage containers.

Brennan has been advocating for a switch to automated collection, stating that the modernized system would be more efficient and less costly.

There was also a question about the well-documented contention between council and Brennan. Weiss and Rach both commented, however, that council works well together.

Maliskas, who said his family moved to University Heights after experiencing natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey, while living in Texas, commented that while attending his first council meeting he witnessed council and the mayor arguing.

He said that, if elected, he would submit legislation calling for a code of conduct at council meetings. He also said he supports a Charter Review Commission proposal voters will decide in November that would have the vice mayor, and not the mayor running council meetings.

Maliskas, who possesses a masters degree in business administration, and Turnberrez spoke of the need to convert the former Wiley School building into a community center, while Sloan noted that, while activities for seniors are needed, as has often been mentioned, so too are activities for residents of all ages.

In her introductory remarks, 13-year resident Sloan said she has no particular grievance that has motivated her to run for council. Theres no drama with me, she said, Im running for City Council because I want to give something back. The holder of a doctorate degree, Sloan served on the recent Charter Review Commission.

Im a mom, Im a highly and diversely educated, Im a small business owner, and Im a college instructor at Kent State University, she said.

An attorney since, 2000, Bartell said he practices primarily immigration law and criminal defense. I have a deep sense of providing service and I want to be a member of City Council to serve the fine people of this community, he said.

In introducing herself, Turnberrez said, I am a young, queer, Jewish, leftist artist, and Im also an attorney. Im running for City Council because I think we need fresh, new ideas, especially in a city with an average age of 29, I think young people need to be in the room where it happens.

Weizer, who was appointed to council to replace former councilwoman Barbara Blankfeld after her resignation, is an associate college lecturer in the College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. She holds a masters degree in public administration.

Im not out to fight with anybody, said Weizer, who has clashed with Brennan in the past. Apparently people want to determine that there is a fight. I think that that has been created perhaps by one side and not the other side, and I find that sad.

Weizer said that someone has to say stop to those who want to create negativity, and added, and Im happy to do so, no matter who you are.

Rach is an architect, with whom Brennan has often had his differences. He said, however, that council has backed Brennans goals, via legislation passed, 95 percent of the time. He said council works well together and that some kinks need to be worked out in the council-mayor relationship.

Weiss, too, has had differences with Brennan. A John Carroll University graduate who also earned an MBA from the school, she said, I ran for City Council to make a difference in our community, plain and simple.

This is not about fanfare or moving up the political ranks, she said, its simply for you. To make the city the best possible place for you, our residents.

Stokes said that, Working together works, and pledged to do his best to work as a council member with the administration.

We need an independent person on this council, and Im the only independent in this race, Stokes said.

Marshall was appointed to council in the spring to fill the spot vacated when former councilman Justin Gould resigned. A mother of two grown daughters, Marshall has stated her philosophy is to work to give residents what they want and to do their will.

She has a military background and works as a caption agent dictating telephone calls for the hearing impaired. She also served on the recent Charter Review Commission.

Brennan, on his mayoral Facebook page posted, after the candidates forum, I encourage every voter in the city to watch this (forum) video, and think critically about what the candidates said, and what values they hold as evidenced by what they said.

There are some real differences here. Change versus more of the same. Progress versus stagnation. Forward versus stuck in place (and losing ground).

The candidates forum can be seen here.

See more Sun Press news here.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The former CEO of Lordstown Motors Corp. has bought the companys assets for $10 million, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Stephen S. Burns, who was also a member of the board of directors, resigned in June 2021. He is the majority equity holder of LAS Capital LLC. Julio Rodriguez, former chief financial officer for Lordstown Motors Corp., is one of the indirect managers of LAS Capital, the documents say.

LAS Capital has agreed to acquire specified assets of the selling entities related to the design, production and sale of electric light duty vehicles focused on the commercial fleet market free and clear of liens, claims, encumbrances, and other interests, and assume certain specified liabilities of the selling entities, the documents say.

The sale includes all machinery, including the hub motor assembly lines, the battery module assembly lines, the battery pack assembly lines and related or associated machinery and all inventory, among other items..

The deal contains termination rights for both the company and LAS Capital, including the right to terminate the deal if it doesnt close by Oct. 31.

A Lordstown spokesman said in an email to cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer that the company is not providing additional comment beyond the documents that were filed.

Lordstown has had a troubled history since it bought the former GM plant in 2019 and promised to bring jobs back to Northeast Ohio. While the company was trumpeted as a manufacturing success by Republicans, including President Donald Trump, in four years, the company produced fewer than 100 of its flagship electric vehicles  the all-electric Endurance pickup truck.

In June the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday and took legal action against Foxconn, the global electronics manufacturer that was meant to be its savior.

The departures of Burns and Rodriguez from Lordstown were announced the same day the company answered to a stinging March 2021 report from Hindenburg Research which questioned the number of preorders the company claimed to have received for its marquee Endurance vehicle, according to a cleveland.com story.

Lordstown Motors warned that same month that it might go out of business within a year. The company said it didnt have enough money to start larger production of the Endurance truck.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  With the March primary election fewer than six months away, the main political event in Ohio normally would be the Republican contest for the chance to try to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

But the race is getting overshadowed by another election: the November campaign over State Issue 1, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and block Ohios six-week abortion ban thats currently held up in court.

There are other reasons the Senate campaign has yet to heat up much. But Jai Chabria, a Republican strategist who ran U.S. Sen. JD Vances successful campaign last year, said the ballot issues are a factor.

I do think the ballot issues allow the campaigns to be more under the radar, Chabria said. Thats because the media is focused more on other things. That plus the presidential race will naturally take up more oxygen than last cycle.

But the November campaign also provides a natural runway for the Republican Senate candidates, who all oppose Issue 1, as anti-abortion activists and GOP party officials organize to try to defeat the measure. And as they look for support from GOP primary voters who polling shows remain staunchly opposed to abortion, the Republican candidates, Sen. Matt Dolan, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno all say they plan to try to help defeat it.

Democrats, meanwhile, are highlighting the Republican candidates anti-abortions views, hoping it can help them this November and in November 2024.

With Issue 1 putting a spotlight on abortion, here are how the major Republican candidates and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, stack up on the issue.

Matt Dolan

In part by distancing himself from ex-President Donald Trump, Dolan has positioned himself as the relative moderate in the field. But hes also described a conservative personal viewpoint on abortion that hes said is informed by his Catholic faith.

Dolan said in a 2020 candidate interview that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, that hed make sure any abortion bill doesnt interfere with sex education or birth control and retained exceptions for rape and incest.

Otherwise, he said, I would vote with those two exceptions to ban abortion in Ohio. The position tracks with recent comments from ex-President Donald Trump, who has criticized abortion bans like Ohios for not containing rape and incest exemptions.

As a U.S. Senate candidate, Dolan said in an email to cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer that he will work to protect the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federal funds from paying for abortion, and support a bill that would penalize doctors who do not provide care for infants that are born following a failed abortion, while maintaining exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

But Dolan said he doesnt support federal legislation imposing an outright national ban on abortion.

I think most Americans agree there should be reasonable limits on abortion and abortion policy will primarily be made at the state level, Dolan said.

As a state senator, Dolan cast votes against a couple high-profile abortion-related bills that he may be asked about during the primary.

Citing the bills lack of a rape or incest exemption, he voted several times against the current heartbeat abortion law that bans the procedure six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know theyre pregnant. The law temporarily went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 but has been on hold for about a year during an ongoing legal challenge in state courts.

Dolan also voted in December 2017 against a law that makes it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion if a patient cites a Down syndrome diagnosis as a reason.

Dolan explained himself in a floor speech. He called the measure well-intentioned, but sad it unfairly gave extra protections to people with Down syndrome but not those with other types of medical issues.

He also said he was worried the law could unintentionally increase the number of abortions by discouraging doctors from talking with patients about positive outcomes for children with the disorder.

If were encouraging silence, that discussion wont happen, Dolan said. And I worry that we will have more abortions, which is not the intended impact of this bill.

Frank LaRose

LaRose has said that in the U.S. Senate, he would support legislation setting a national ban on abortion with an exemption for the life of the mother, but potentially not for rape or incest. The open question though is at what point in pregnancy the ban would take effect.

In a June interview on NBC News Meet the Press, LaRose called Ohios six-week ban a good standard, but then also said there could be room to negotiate up to 20 weeks, which Republicans have debated as they look for a position that might be more palatable to the general public amid an election losing streak.

LaRose has touted his 100% pro-life voting record while he served in the state Senate from 2011 through 2018. He sponsored the Down syndrome bill that Dolan voted against, defending it in his own floor speech.

Before the Heartbeat bill passed, LaRose opposed it, with the Akron Beacon Journal reporting in 2014 that LaRose felt it wouldnt pass muster with the U.S. Supreme Court, a common Republican position at the time.

But he eventually voted in favor of it, joining his Republican colleagues in December 2019 to overturn a veto of the bill from then-Gov. John Kasich.

Bernie Moreno

Moreno, as someone whos never held elected office, has no voting record to analyze.

But hes staked out a very conservative abortion position during his brief political career, telling Breitbart, the right-wing political website, in 2021 that he does not support exemptions for rape and incest.

During his current Senate campaign, Moreno has said he believes life begins at conception, but hes also expressed support for banning abortion nationally at 15 weeks, which he described as the most conservative abortion legislation that can clear the Senate, where at least some bipartisan or moderate support is needed for most measures to pass.

I believe we should do more at the state level and much less at the federal level. But there is a role for the federal level here, Moreno said during a campaign event last month near Columbus.

Sherrod Brown

Browns current U.S. Senate website doesnt have an issues section. His campaign page in 2018, though, said he believes a womans reproductive health decisions are between her and her doctor, and hes repeatedly opposed efforts to take away that freedom.

But last year, Brown voted for the Womens Health Protection Act, legislation that supporters describe as codifying Roe v. Wade, but which opponents have described as far too sweeping.

In comments to reporters this week, Brown declined to say whether he might be willing to compromise on an abortion measure to potentially get a bill through the Senate. Its way more complicated than that, he said.

But, he criticized the U.S. Supreme Court vote that allowed Ohios heartbeat law to go into effect.

I was very satisfied with Roe v. Wade. The court decision broke 50 years of tradition to meet an extreme political agenda. Thats why I think this issue in November is going to pass, Brown said.

Brown has a long record of favoring abortion rights. Theres perhaps only a single time he ran afoul of abortion-rights supporters, which happened early in his congressional career.

Shortly after taking office in 1993, voted to block Medicaid, the government health-care program for the poor and disabled, from covering abortion. Explaining his vote, Brown described it as a complicated issue. But, he said he didnt think his constituents wanted tax money to fund abortion.

The pro-lifers are never going to like me, Brown told The Plain Dealer at the time. And the pro-choicers may not trust me anymore.

Brown accrued a steady pro-abortion rights record after that, including voting multiple times against partial-birth abortion bans and blocking a vote that would let states ban Medicaid coverage for abortions in the case of rape and incest. His wife, columnist Connie Schultz, has said publicly numerous times that she researched Browns record on abortion before she agreed to date him, proudly describing him as having a 100% voting record on the issue.

Andrew Tobias covers state politics and government for cleveland.com and The Plain Deale
Shrimp from Asia. (Photo credit: Faiuokamei Ngau, Creative Commons)

Louisianas failure to enforce its own seafood labeling laws has prompted one state lawmaker to revive a long-dormant panel. It met Wednesday for the first time in 13 years to address a struggling domestic fishery and the increasing health threats from imported foreign catch.

The Louisiana Legislature created the Seafood Safety Task Force in 2009. The following year, its members proposed additional funding for the Louisiana Department of Health to test more imported seafood. They also created a Louisiana seafood marketing campaign to promote local catch, among other things.

Sen. Fred Mills, R-Parks, who chairs the panel, said the state paused the promotion campaign following the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, and the task force went dormant

Facing virtually the same problems with imported seafood more than a decade later, Mills revived the task force during this years legislative session.

I think this is a crisis, Mills said.

Only about 10% of seafood consumed in America is domestic. The overwhelming majority, even in Louisiana, comes from Asia or South America, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board.

Foreign seafood has become so cheap that it is almost ubiquitous. According to the Louisiana Shrimp Association, most restaurants in the state choose to serve imported shrimp and crawfish to patrons who are either oblivious to it or believe theyre eating local fare.

The influx of foreign-farmed catch is decimating a domestic industry and unique Louisiana culture while also increasing the risk of introducing harmful contaminants into the food supply, proponents say.

A 2020 LSU Agricultural Center study tested a variety of imported shrimp purchased from multiple locations in the Baton Rouge area and detected banned veterinary drugs in more than two-thirds of the samples. Researchers noted the prohibited chemicals can have severe adverse effects on humans.

Despite those findings, a report published in Environmental Science and Technology found the federal government only tests roughly 2% of the foreign catch that arrives at U.S. shipping ports, whereas the European Union inspects 50%, Japan tests 18% and Canada closely reviews 15%.

With limited funding, the state health department tests a minuscule portion of seafood imported into Louisiana. An agency official told the task force it conducted only 11 inspections this year.

Mills floated the idea of putting health inspectors at the states major ports to try to test the foreign catch before it is disseminated to dozens of distributors across the state. There are 58 permitted distributors of imported seafood in Louisiana.

Louisiana health officials said the federal government has jurisdiction at the ports, though Mills said the state could look into some sort of cooperative endeavor agreement with federal authorities or a way to inspect trucks on state roadways immediately outside the ports when they transport the catch to distributors.

The task force also wants to consider ideas to revise the states current seafood labeling laws.

Louisiana enacted a law back in 2008 that prohibits restaurant owners or managers from misrepresenting the origin of their shrimp or crawfish either verbally or on a menu. The law carries a $50 fine for a first offense, but the state has never enforced the statute.

Another law, enacted in 2019, required restaurants to indicate on their menus or on a sign if they serve imported shrimp or crawfish. That law gave state health officials authority to inspect and cite businesses for those violations. Despite recording more than 2,600 violations since it took effect, the state hasnt issued a single fine.

Crawfish farmer J.B. Hanks pointed out to the task force that Texas has a law that prohibits the use of imported shrimp as bait, which Mills noted as another idea to add to the panels agenda. Imported shrimp is known to carry a so-called white spot virus that can quickly kill entire populations of the shellfish. It does not affect humans.

The task force has not yet established a meeting schedule but will likely convene again in late October.

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The post Task force looks into Louisianas inability to enforce its own seafood labeling laws appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
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.

An IRS consultant was charged Friday in connection with wrongfully disclosing tax return information, documents that were, according to a source familiar with the matter, the leaked the tax returns of former President Donald Tump.

Charles Littlejohn, of Washington, D.C., was working at the IRS as a government contractor when he stole tax return information linked with a public official "and thousands of the nation's wealthiest people, including returns and return information dating back more than 15 years," prosecutors said in court documents.

A source confirmed to NBC News that Trump was the unnamed public official whose records had been leaked. CNN was the first to report that the charges pertained to the disclosure of Trump's taxes.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.

Littlejohn, 38, provided the public official's tax documents to an unnamed news organization, and the tax information concerning other wealthy individuals to another unidentified news organization between 2018 and 2020, prosecutors said.

In 2020, The New York Times released a bombshell report saying that it had obtained more than two decades of Trump's tax information and that he had paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017.

Littlejohn is charged with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted, the Justice Department said in a news release.

An attorney for Littlejohn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday night
American rapper, songwriter, and actor (1971-1996) Tupac Shakur poses for a portrait during the 1994 Source Awards on April 25, 1994 at the Paramount Theatre in New York, New York.

Las Vegas police on Friday arrested a man who was the target of a search warrant in the decades-long investigation of Tupac Shakur's murder, law enforcement officials told NBC News.

Duane Keith Davis, 60, also known as "Keefy D" or "Keffe D," is among the last living suspects being investigated for the 1996 slaying of the rap music icon.

Shakur was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting on Sept. 7, 1996 in Las Vegas and he died on Sept. 13 at the age of 25.

It wasn't immediately clear what charge Davis is facing.

Of the four people believed to be in the car that attacked Shakur, Davis is the last known survivor.

Orlando Anderson, Davis' nephew, has long been suspected of pulling the trigger in that fatal attack. Anderson was killed in a 1998 gang shooting in Los Angeles.

Police served a search warrant on Davis at his home near Las Vegas on July 17 looking for laptops and other electronic devices in connection to the decades-long probe.

Shakur and his entourage were in Las Vegas for that weekend's heavyweight bout between Mike Tyson and Bruce Sheldon. The musician and his friends were stopped near East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane when a Cadillac pulled alongside and someone inside that car opened fire, mortally wounding Shakur.

"I ended up pulling Tupac out of the car," retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Chis Carroll told NBC affiliate KSNV over the summer, just after the search warrant was served on Davis. "I spoke to him. He was still alive. He was still breathing."

Carroll, a sergeant at the time, said he vividly remembers his brief interaction with Shakur.

"I was asking him who did it, who shot him, what happened?" said Carroll. "And that's when he responded to me with the now infamous words 'F-U'."

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A general view of the U.S. Capitol, where Congress will return to deal with a series of spending bills before funding runs out and triggers a partial U.S. government shutdown, in Washington, September 25, 2023. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

Lawmakers return to Congress on Saturday with no clear path to resolving a squabble that appears likely to close wide swaths of the federal government, from national parks to financial regulation, in less than 18 hours. Infighting among Republicans who control the House of Representatives has pushed the United States to the brink of its fourth partial shutdown in a decade, as the chamber has been unable to pass legislation that would keep the government open beyond the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year. On the other side of the Capitol, the Democratic-controlled Senate is due to advance a stopgap funding bill, but a final vote might not come for days. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will lack the funding to do their jobs if the two chambers do not send a spending bill for Democratic President Joe Biden to sign into law by 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Federal agencies have already drawn up detailed plans that spell out what services must continue, like airport screening and border patrols, and what must shut down, like scientific research and nutrition aid to 7 million poor mothers. Most of the government's 4 million-plus employees would not get paid, whether they were working or not. In Atlanta, festivities for former president Jimmy Carter's 99th birthday were moved up from Sunday to Saturday to avoid disruption, according to local media. The standoff comes just months after Congress brought the federal government to the brink of defaulting on its $31.4 trillion debt. The drama has raised worries on Wall Street, where the Moody's ratings agency has warned it could damage U.S. creditworthiness. Congress typically passes stopgap spending bills to buy more time to negotiate the detailed legislation that sets funding for federal programs. This year, a group of Republicans has blocked action in the House as they have pressed to tighten immigration and cut spending below levels agreed to in the debt-ceiling standoff last spring.

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Cars drive along a flooded street on Church Avenue amid a coastal storm on September 29, 2023 in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn borough New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images

A severe storm dumped more than 7 inches of rain in less than 24 hours over parts of New York City on Friday, turning streets into fast-moving rivers and grinding subway travel to a halt as water cascaded into underground transit stations. The storm, which hit just two years after flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida battered the five boroughs and killed at least 13 people in the city, laid bare how vulnerable the Big Apple's aging infrastructure is to extreme weather events that are intensified by climate change. And more than a decade after Hurricane Sandy forced officials to rethink the meaning of climate resilience in New York City, it appears there's still much to be done. Heavy rainfall of up to 2.5 inches per hour were reported in some of the hardest-hit places. A number of roads were closed, cars were submerged and several city buses were trapped as a result of flash flooding. Subways, regional rail lines and air travel was suspended or severely delayed, and at least one school in Brooklyn was evacuated during the storm. "The reality staring city leaders in the face, including in places like New York, is that the climate is getting more extreme, more unpredictable and requiring more investment," said Joseph Kane, a fellow who focuses on infrastructure at the Brookings Institute, a nonprofit think tank. "Usually, it's too little too late." Read more from NBC News: Young climate activists take on European countries in a landmark court case Underground climate change: How heat is trapped under the surface, threatening buildings Antarctic winter sea ice hits 'extreme' record low Steve Bowen, chief science officer for Gallagher Re, a global reinsurance broker, said extreme weather events like this are exposing how quickly risks are shifting in cities like New York as climate change intensifies rainfall and existing infrastructure gives out. A warmer atmosphere can hold  and deliver  more moisture, which can make storms more intense, Bowen said. "The bottom line is that we have infrastructure in New York, infrastructure all across the U.S. and frankly in many, many parts of the world that is just simply not capable of withstanding the climate that we're seeing today and certainly not the climate that is yet to come in the future," Bowen said. Around 23 million people across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were under flood watches on Friday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, calling the storm a "life-threatening rainfall event." New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who also issued a separate state of emergency, faced backlash for being slow to address the public and for not doing enough early on to warn residents about the seriousness of the situation.

A vehicle sits submerged after it got stuck in high water on the Prospect Expressway during heavy rain and flooding on September 29, 2023 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Zachary Iscol, New York City's emergency management commissioner, said that Friday was the city's wettest day since Hurricane Ida. Hurricane Sandy, in October 2012, was supposed to have been a wake-up call to New York officials about climate and weather risks. Sandy made landfall as a post-tropical cyclone near Atlantic City, and caused a catastrophic storm surge along the coast of New York and New Jersey. The storm cut power to 2 million New Yorkers and killed 43 city residents, according to the city comptroller's office. Nearly 70,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed. The storm caused about $19 billion in damage to New York City. Not enough progress has been made in hardening New York to its climate risks since, according to the city comptroller's office. "Nearly a decade after Superstorm Sandy and six months after Hurricane Ida, we have not done enough to prepare for future storms," Louise Yeung, the comptroller's chief climate officer, told the city council in April 2022. "Meanwhile, our decades-old infrastructure continues to age."

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A report from the comptroller's office found that the city had spent only 73% of the $15 billion in federal grant funding given to the city after Hurricane Sandy as of June 2022. Most of the city's own capital contributions to resilience projects had gone unused. Progress has been "plodding," the report said. This flash-flooding incident and Hurricane Ida have added new concern, Yeung said in an interview. Many of the investments the city made after Hurricane Sandy  like constructing floodwalls, berms and levees  are geared to managing coastal flooding and sea level rise, not extreme precipitation. "Heavy rainstorms like the one we are seeing today are becoming our new normal as climate change intensifies," Yeung said, adding that it's a problem that requires different investments like expanding green infrastructure, upgrading the storm sewer system and investing in better real-time emergency communication that is prepared for localized flash flooding. "We are not fixing things at the pace our climate is changing and that's going to continue to be a challenge every time we get one of these rain storms or hurricanes," Yeung said in an interview. In Hurricane Ida, 11 people died after flash flooding overwhelmed and trapped them in their basement apartments, most of which aren't legal residences or known to the city. The comptroller's office found tens of thousands of basements were at risk of flooding and suggested the city register basement dwellings, require safety inspections and take steps to protect occupants, like installing valves that prevent sewer water from rising into cellars. Mona Hemmati, a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia Climate School in New York City, said the storm serves as a reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by coastal communities and how those vulnerabilities are compounded by climate change. In densely populated cities like New York, flooding risks are heightened because of the built environment and lack of green spaces. "There are huge amounts of impermeable surfaces in highly urbanized areas, which means water cannot seep underground, which creates a lot of runoff and urban flooding," she said. Hemmati added that the city's stormwater management systems are outdated and were not designed to handle the level of runoff that is now a reality. But Hemmati said the city deserved some credit for prioritizing climate resilience in rebuilding efforts after Superstorm Sandy, which included upgrading floodgates, fortifying shorelines and developing citywide models to study runoff flows in different climate scenarios. Other infrastructure projects, such as hardening storm barriers and the city's subway system, will take more time  and money.

New York City Department of Environmental Protection workers attempt to clear blocked drains after heavy rains as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia bring flooding across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, at the FDR Drive in Manhattan near the Williamsburg bridge, in New York City, U.S., September 29, 2023. Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Eric Foner reviews Jonathan Eigs King: The Life of Martin Luther King in the LRB:

In March 1968, only a few days before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr visited Long Beach, a suburb of New York City, at the invitation of a local NAACP leader. Like many suburbs at that time, Long Beach was effectively a segregated community, with an African American population living in a tiny ghetto and working in the homes of local white families. I grew up in Long Beach, but by 1968 had moved to the city. My parents, however, still lived there, and my outspoken mother arranged to see the city manager, a non-partisan administrator who exercised the authority normally enjoyed by an elected mayor. A great American is visiting Long Beach, she declared, urging the manager to hold a reception for King at City Hall. He refused: Hes a troublemaker and we dont want him here.

This minor incident goes unmentioned in Jonathan Eigs new biography of King, of course. But it illustrates a theme to which Eig returns several times. People of every political persuasion now claim King as a forebear. But during his lifetime, King and the civil rights movement aroused considerable opposition, not only in the South. The government sought to destroy Kings reputation. With the authorisation of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, the FBI listened in on his phone calls with close associates and planted informers in his circle. Convinced the civil rights movement was a communist plot, J. Edgar Hoovers G-men gathered recordings of his trysts with women and mailed them to his house, accompanied by an unsigned letter suggesting that he take his own life.

More here.
The Peace Monument in front of the US Capitol dome in Washington, DC on September 29, 2023.

WASHINGTON  The Senate passed a last-minute spending bill Saturday night averting a government shutdown that would have triggered a calamitous domino effect on the American public and economy.

The Senate voted to pass the continuing resolution 3 hours before a 12:01 a.m. shutdown of the federal government would have taken effect. The measure was signed into law by President Joe Biden late Saturday night.

The bill allows the government to stay open for 45 days, giving the House and Senate more time to finish their funding legislation.

The 71-page short-term bill, crafted by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., allocates disaster relief funds, but does not include new financial assistance for Ukraine's ongoing war with Russia.

Since the inception of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, the U.S. has unleashed a war chest worth more than $43 billion in security assistance for Kyiv.

Earlier on Saturday, the House voted 335 to 91 to pass the stopgap spending measure. The House will resume its work on Monday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29) --- The country has so far recorded more than four million visitors since the beginning of the year, the Department of Tourism said Friday.

From January 1 to September 29, a total of 4,005,465 foreign nationals and overseas Filipinos have arrived in the Philippines. This is near the DOTs target of 4.8 million visitors from abroad this year.

Of the figure, 91.58% or 3.67 million are foreign visitors and 8.42% or 337,426 are overseas Filipinos.

This is nearly double the 2.65 million tourist arrivals recorded from February to December 2022.

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said the tourist arrivals recorded within nine months have brought 316 billion to the economy.

The recovery of the tourism industry was well seen by the end of 2022, with the Philippine Statistics Authority attesting that tourism contributed 6.2 percent to our GDP and contributed no less than Php 1.87 trillion combined visitor receipts for international and domestic, she said in a statement. "Most importantly, this resulted in the employment of our fellow Filipinos in the number of 5.35 million tourism-related jobs.

Among the foreign tourists, South Koreans are the countrys top visitors with 1.04 million arrivals. They were followed by those from the USA with 679,090; Japan with 221,671; China with 194,258; and Australia with 187,143.

Other international arrivals came from Canada with 164,168; Taiwan with 146,396; the United Kingdom with 114,096; Singapore with 107,674; and Malaysia with 72,008.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 29)  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) suspended on Friday a 2004 deal awarded to the Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc. (SBSI) in Surigao del Norte which grants certain rights and privileges to the group over state-owned land.

Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga suspended the Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement (PACBRMA) with the SBSI pending further investigation into the latters gross violation of the terms and conditions of the deal, the DENR said.

It explained that the PACBRMA is a legal instrument between the department and tenured migrant groups to develop and conserve a portion of a protected area for a 25-year period.

The deal involving the Socorro group covers 353 hectares of land in the northeast portion of Barangay Sering, overlooking the northeast portion of Bucas Grande Island.

The DENR said it began investigating SBSIs alleged violations of the agreement in 2019, including restriction of entry in the area, establishment of checkpoints and military-like training, and establishment of structures within the PACBRMA area.

In 2021 and 2022, the DENR called the attention of SBSI on the recurring violations. In both instances, there was no response from them, the department wrote in a statement.

The agency said it will coordinate with other government agencies to ensure the smooth and peaceful enforcement of the suspension order and the possible resettlement of the occupants.

Earlier, Surigao del Norte Governor Lyndon Barbers told CNN Philippines that authorities would first need a search warrant before entering the land occupied by the SBSI.

He said if there are indeed violations, the government could ask the DENR to cancel the lease agreement before it expires in 2029.

On Thursday, the Senate began its hearing to investigate allegations of criminal activities by the SBSI  which is believed to be a religious cult"  including child abuse and links to the illegal drug trade. Lawmakers also ordered the detention of the president and three ranking members of the group.

READ: Socorro cult victims tell stories of authorized rape, 6-year-old soldiers, laws to enter heaven

The Socorro group has denied the allegations.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 30)  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the release of a 5,000 subsidy to small-scale rice farmers  from a fund totaling 12.7 billion  to help them amid El Nino and other agricultural challenges, Malacanang said on Saturday.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Marcos gave his go signal on Thursday, a move that would aid around 2.3 million beneficiaries of the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) program.

[This would] help them cope with the increasing cost of production and sustain their productivity even in the face of challenges like the coming El Nino [phenomenon], said Marcos, who is also Agriculture secretary.

READ: 'Weak' El Nino begins, impact on PH coming up  PAGASA

RFFA beneficiaries are farmers tilling below two hectares of land.

The PCO said they include members of farm cooperatives associations, irrigators associations, agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations, small water impounding systems associations, and other farm groups.

It noted that the entire budget for the financial aid was sourced through the excess tariff collection from rice importations in 2022.

Meanwhile, Marcos also approved the use of another 700 million in excess tariff collections for the "Palayamanan Plus" conditional cash transfer under the Household Crop Diversification Program.

For this, 78,000 beneficiaries are expected to receive 10,000 each.

Malacanang said these are farmers registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and who are also listed in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The Department of Agriculture earlier warned that the country may experience the impact of El Nino on rice supply beginning the second quarter of 2024. Forty-five provinces could be hit by drought, based on estimates from the state weather bureau.

Other problems hounding the rice industry include the hoarding and illegal importation of the commodity, which Marcos has blamed for the spike in prices.

The president said such criminal activities has forced him to issue the executive order putting a price ceiling on rice. Farmers earlier complained of losses from the price cap, as millers and traders buy the grain from them at a discount.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 30) --- More than 1,500 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) are being moved to Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan and Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said.

In a statement, the BuCor said that additional 450 PDLs from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) and Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) were escorted onto a commercial vessel on Saturday.

Of the new transferees, 396 are from NBPs medium security compound, four from the maximum security compound, and 50 from the CIW.

BuCor chief Gregorio Catapang said the inmates are expected to arrive in Puerto Princesa, Palawan at noon on Oct. 1.

The Oplan Lipatan is in preparation for the conversion of the 357-hectare property covered by the state penitentiary into a commercial hub after five years.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 30)  The Supreme Court has ordered the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to pay the 12-million prize of the Lotto 6/42 bettor who won in 2014 even if the ticket was partially burned.

In a 17-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez released on Friday, the Supreme Courts Second Division affirmed the previous decision that the PCSO must pay the respondent, Antonio Mendoza, the Lotto 6/42 jackpot prize of 12,391,600.

The high court denied the petition for review on certiorari filed by the PCSO seeking to dismiss the decision of both the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Balayan, Batangas, which ruled in favor of Mendoza.

The Supreme Court held that the circumstances surrounding the fact that Mendoza bet in the eventual winning numbers of the lotto were clearly established.

On Oct. 2, 2014, Mendoza won the Lotto 6/42 draw but his granddaughter crumpled the winning ticket. The bettors daughter tried to straighten the ticket by ironing it with a piece of cloth, but it got burned instead.

Still, information on the first two digits of the three bet combinations, the outlet from which the ticket was bought, the draw date, and the date and time of purchase remained visible.

Mendoza presented the partially defaced ticket to the PCSO. The agency asked him to submit a handwritten account of the incident, but after complying, he was told that he could not get the prize as the ticket had been damaged and could not be validated.

The Committee on Games and Amusements of the House of Representatives at the time recommended the lotto prize be given to Mendoza after conducting hearings on the matter.

The bettor demanded the PCSO to award the 12-million prize but he was ignored, prompting him to file a complaint before the RTC.

In its decision, the Supreme Court noted that both the RTC and the CA characterized the evidence presented by the respondent as secondary evidence, which the high court explained may be used when the original document is unavailable.

In this case, while it is the numbers in the ticket that would prove whether Mendoza indeed won the jackpot lotto prize, it is actually the existence of the ticket that is being assailed by the sweepstakes office, it said.

Whether the ticket bearing the numbers of the lotto indeed existed is an issue that does not require the application of the Best Evidence Rule, it added.

The testimonial evidence of Mendoza and those of his relatives, as substantiated by the PCSO records, and surrounding the fact that Mendoza entered a winning lotto bet and that the chosen numbers correspond to the winning lotto number were rightly admissible and given weight, the court also said.
Quetta, Pakistan (CNN)  Suicide bombings ripped through two religious ceremonies in Pakistan Friday, killing at least 56 people and injuring dozens more as worshipers celebrated the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad, according to police and local officials.

At least 52 people were killed and a further 50 wounded by an explosion at a religious procession in the Mastung district of the southwestern Balochistan province, Assistant Commissioner Atta Ul Munim told CNN.

Hours later, a separate blast took place during Friday prayers at a mosque near Peshaway City in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing at least four people and injuring 11. The explosion caused the roof of the mosque to collapse, but it was not clear how many people remained inside.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for either of the explosions, which struck during a restive period in Pakistan, as it has weathered a surge of militant attacks in the buildup to general elections being held in January.

The first blast, in Mastung, occurred around midday local time. A video shared by a local resident showed dozens of people gathering to mark the birth of the Prophet Mohammad, before a large explosion tore through the procession.

Ul Munim confirmed to CNN that the explosion was a suicide attack, and said that a senior police officer  who was killed in the explosion  had been the target.

The critically injured were transferred to hospitals in the regional capital of Quetta, while others were treated at the local hospital in Mastung, he said.

The information minister of the province, Jan Achakzai, told CNN the bodies of the victims were also moved to a hospital. He warned that he expected the number of casualties to rise.

Pakistans caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar strongly condemned the blast.

The Prime Minister expressed his condolences to the families of those who died in the blast, a statement from his office said. Prime Ministers prayers for forgiveness for the deceased and patience for the families.

The shockwaves from the blast have been felt far from Mastung. Police in Karachi  some 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the site of the first explosion  were put on high alert in the wake of the attack, a statement from the inspector general said.

Balochistan, Pakistans largest province by area, has witnessed a spate of attacks in recent months, fueled by a decades-long insurgency by separatists who demand independence from the country, angered by what they say is the states monopoly and exploitation of the regions mineral resources.

Last month, an attack on Chinese engineers in Balochistan was thwarted by Pakistans military, leaving two militants dead and the Chinese workers unharmed, according to police.

In March this year, at least nine police officers were killed and 11 others injured in a suspected suicide blast.

The second blast, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, occurred just hours later. Local police said two men on bikes had started shooting at their officers outside the Hangu mosque, before targeting the building with explosives.

One of the attackers detonated an explosive close to the mosques entrance, while the other detonated one inside the building, local police officer Saaleh Muhammad told CNN.

Muhammad told CNN that the sound of the shooting and the first explosion had caused most worshipers inside the mosque to flee  but some were still inside when the second explosive detonated, causing the mosques roof to collapse and trapping an unknown number of people.

The US ambassador to Pakistan, Donald Blome, condemned the deadly blasts Friday. The Pakistani people deserve to gather and celebrate their faith without the fear of terror attacks like the ones today in Balochistan and KP, Blome said in a statement posted by the US embassy on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "At least 56 killed after suicide bombings rip through two religious ceremonies in Pakistan"
When Maggie Seldeens mother died from a heroin overdose, no one called 911.

At only 15 years old, overdoses were almost commonplace in Seldeens world, surrounded by addiction, drug dealing and domestic violence in the Roaring Fork Valley. Seldeen, an injection drug user herself at the time, did not know about naloxone, or Narcan, which reverses an opioid overdose. She did not know there was anything that could be done to save her mothers life.

For the last three years, Seldeen has dedicated her life to informing others about overdose prevention. With her organization, High Rockies Harm Reduction, Seldeen travels around rural Colorado distributing Narcan, fentanyl test strips and clean syringes. She teaches everyone from drug users to high school students to jail staff about overdoses, disease prevention and how to care for people who use drugs.

This work I do, I've been touched by it in every way, Seldeen said. We're so often volunteering and serving our friends and our family and our neighbors because we want to keep them alive.  People just need to know that this exists.

These kinds of harm reduction organizations operate throughout Colorado, and now, theyre hoping to add another tool to their toolbox: "overdose prevention centers."

The centers, also known as "safe injection sites," are facilities where people can use illegal drugs under the supervision of medical professionals. They offer medical care, sterile drug equipment and connections to counseling and other treatment.

Colorado legislators are once again considering a bill to allow these centers in the state after a previous effort to do so failed in April.

The legislature's interim opioid committee released the first draft of the new bill on Monday. Members of the committee will vote on Oct. 30 whether to advance the bill to the Legislative Council Committee, where it will be introduced to the full state legislature for consideration in 2024.

There are people who are not quite ready to start treatment, but they still need help, said Rep. Chris deGruy Kennedy, D-Lakewood, committee chair and one of the legislators behind the bill draft. If you keep them alive and keep them healthy, then you increase the chances that they finally stop using drugs and start treatment. And that's really the goal.

The centers

Colorado legislators have debated overdose prevention centers since 2017, when an interim committee introduced a measure to allow a pilot site in Denver. That measure was quickly rejected in 2018 by a committee in the Republican-majority Senate. With Democrats now in control, a renewed effort passed the House earlier this year but died in a Senate committee when three Democrats voted against it.

The Denver City Council passed an ordinance authorizing a center way back in 2018, but they cant establish the center unless a state law change allows municipalities to do so.

These centers have existed since 1986, with nearly 200 operating in 14 countries, according to the American Psychological Association. There are currently only two operating within the United States, both in New York City, though other cities, such as San Francisco, have previously had centers.

The centers have overseen millions of drug injections and thousands of overdoses, but there have been no overdose deaths reported in any of them around the world, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Despite this, the centers have met significant resistance from governments and public opinion, accounting for their slow spread over the last three decades. They are still federally illegal in the United States and critics view them as hurting surrounding communities and enabling drug abuse.

My primary concern is what happens immediately outside the four walls, said Greg Sadar, deputy chief of the Commerce City Police Department, while testifying on the subject in August. Im concerned that it might be a bit of a drain on resources because, while (officers) may not be responding to drug crimes in that immediate area, thered be general disorder, quality of life issues."

Dr. Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University professor and leading drug policy researcher, said there is no evidence that the centers cause crime in surrounding areas.

Certainly, some of them are in crime-ridden areas, but they were crime-ridden areas before the site opened up, Humphreys said while testifying to legislators in August. One study said the neighborhood reported an increase in crime. Theres one study that reports a decrease in crime. And a whole bunch of studies that report no effect.  The best bet is that theres not actually a relationship there.

Humphreys also dispelled a popular argument among proponents of the centers: that they increase the likelihood that drug users will seek treatment. Humphreys said studies that show users entering treatment at some point after using the centers show no convincing evidence that the former is caused by the latter.

"People who are seeking help and looking for a change in their life are going to use multiple services, Humphreys said. That tells you something about the people, but it doesnt necessarily prove anything about the effect of the site, per se.

Because of this, some opponents argue that the funding for overdose prevention centers would be better spent on funding treatment and other programs intended to stop drug use.

"My concern about safe injection sites is that they will be used as a place where folks will come and safely inject or smoke but wont go into treatment and wont get help, said 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason while testifying in August. I think investing in treatment is more important than investing in safe injection sites.

Mason said his district dismisses a significant number of drug possession cases for offenders who are willing to receive counseling, treatment and other services. Of those who complete the multi-month diversion program, 85% dont return to the criminal justice system within three years. Mason said other district attorneys have told him they dont have enough funding for such diversion programs.

Seldeen argued that relying solely on traditional treatment isnt realistic.

Even when drug users want to enter treatment programs, in Seldeens experience, they have to pay thousands of dollars and wait weeks or months to get in, on top of missing work and having to find arrangements for family and pets. Then, if they successfully get clean while in that isolated environment, they return home to the same environment that caused them to turn to drugs in the first place, and more often than not, they relapse.

While some issues of treatment programs could be helped by additional funding, Seldeen said "harm reduction" methods, such these centers, provide a more community focused solution. They meet people dealing with substance abuse where they are and build a network of support around them, she said.

We build supportive relationships with people to really try to have a holistic focus of recovery from mental health, Seldeen said. The goal being quality of life over abstinence.

The bill

This latest legislative effort to allow overdose prevention centers is different than the one legislators rejected in April.

The new bill takes inspiration from Rhode Island, which passed a law to create a two-year pilot program allowing the centers in 2021, though the first site isnt set to open until 2024. The Rhode Island policy includes more state oversight than Colorados bill last session, and was endorsed by the American Medical Association.

In addition to requiring local government approval to establish the centers, the new bill asks the state health department to set rules and regulations for the operations of the centers. These guidelines would be developed by the departments executive director in collaboration with a nine-member committee, consisting of:

A person with a substance use disorder

A person working in overdose prevention

A person who has experienced a drug overdose or whose family member died from an overdose

A current or former law enforcement official

A representative of the Colorado Municipal League

A representative for the attorney general

A representative for a statewide medical society

A representative for a statewide hospital association

And a representative for the state chapter of a national society of addiction medicine

We believe that by providing more state oversight, more robust state regulations where law enforcement voices are prominently featured, we're going to be able to find the right balance, deGruy Kennedy said. Were going to be able to find a policy that can achieve what we know these facilities can do, which is save lives.

Under the drafted bill, the centers would be permitted to operate in Colorado cities through Jan. 1, 2028.

To pass out of the interim opioid committee, the bill will have to gain the support of one of the deciding no votes against allowing overdose prevention centers last session: Sen. Kyle Mullica.

Mullica, D-Thornton, voted in support of drafting the bill in August, and is part of the group of legislators developing the draft. But while voting to allow the drafting, Mullica said theres a strong chance he still wont support the bill come October. If Mullica joins the committees four Republicans in voting against the bill, the vote will end in a 5-5 tie, which counts as a loss.

Mullica said he has many concerns about the bill, including how police would enforce drug possession laws surrounding the centers, what the state health regulations would look like, and why the pilot program would be four years instead of two like Rhode Islands. But his primary concern is about the centers' efficacy in general.

Will these be an effective way of helping people? Mullica asked. How many individuals would be impacted? ... Are we putting the resources in the best place where we can do the most good?

Professor Humphreys said research shows the centers serve a very geographically limited group of clients, tending to only benefit people who hang out or live around the center: It would be a pretty rare addicted person who would commute even 30 minutes with their drugs to go use them at a government-sponsored facility.

This is especially a concern as Denvers population is less dense than cities like New York, which utilize these centers, Mullica said.

An emergency room nurse himself, Mullica said he knows proponents of the centers want to save lives, but he doesnt know if he agrees that the centers would save the most lives possible with the resources they'd require.

I just want to make sure that what we're doing will have the best impacts, Mullica said. How are we going to help these people who truly need a lot of help? I want to continue having those conversations, even if they're tough, even if I'm skeptical. I'm trying to see if there is a way I could potentially get to a place of support.

Mullica said he has not yet decided how he will vote on the bill and is keeping an open mind as the committee continues to listen to public testimony and adjust the bill draft.

If the bill fails in the interim committee, individual legislators can still introduce the bill themselves when the 2024 legislative session begins in January. But deGruy Kennedy said securing support from Mullica and the interim opioid committee would help clear the path through the legislature next year.

This effort comes as 1,799 people died from an overdose in Colorado last year, more than half of whom overdosed on fentanyl, according to state data. Colorado had 1,881 fatal overdoses in 2021  a record high for the state and nearly double the number of overdose deaths just three years prior.

During a public hearing on the bill Wednesday, supporters urged legislators to do something to disrupt this trend.

The alternative to safe use sites isnt people not using, said Jennifer Dillon with the Colorado Drug Policy Coalition, which is backing the bill. If you oppose safe use, then youre perpetuating unsafe use. And trauma and death are the result.
Four counties in rural Colorado will receive over $630,000 to modernize their record systems through a state grant program.

Phillips, Moffat, Clear Creek and Baca counties will use the funds to provide digital access to records, maintain and upgrade recording technologies, and properly index historical documents, officials said. The grant awards were announced on Thursday.

These grants to Phillips, Moffat, Clear Creek and Baca Counties will ensure the counties can modernize their document indexing and serve their customers securely for years to come, said Secretary of State Jena Griswold. The Electronic Recording Technology Board keeps closing funding gaps and makes government more accessible for the public.

The bulk of the money, nearly $293,000, will go to Clear Creek County to index current and historical documents and make them publicly available for viewing online.

Phillips County was awarded $185,272 to purchase and implement new digital recording software. Baca County got $122,068 to upgrade equipment and increase public accessibility of records. Moffat County got $30,142 to help pay for existing digital recording technologies and upgrade server security for digitized documents.

The grants were awarded by the Electronic Recording Technology Board, which is responsible for ensuring consistency, quality and efficiency in the state's land records systems.

Since its creation in 2016, the board has awarded more than $10 million to counties for improvements, maintenance and digitization of property records and other documents  including $260,000 awarded earlier this year. The grants largely go to rural counties to help fund technological upgrades, according to Griswold's office.
One dies after whale hits boat off Australia

One person died and another was hospitalised after their boat, which was hit by a whale, capsized in waters off Australia's Sydney city, police said.

One dies after whale hits boat off Australia. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

The incident happened at Botany Bay, an open oceanic embayment.

"About 6am (Saturday 30 September), Water Police responded to reports two people were in the water after an unoccupied boat was found circling in waters off Cape Banks at La Perouse," New South Wales Water Police said in a statement.

"Officers pulled an unconscious man from the water. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and the 61-year-old was declared deceased," the statement said.

A second male, aged 53, was assisted by witnesses.

He was transferred to Foreshore Road Boat Ramp and treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics, before being taken to hospital in a stable condition.

"Police have been told the 4.8m runabout vessel was likely to have struck or been impacted by a whale breaching, causing the boat to tilt, ejecting both men," the police said.

Police have started investigating the incident.
Its the first week of autumn, and you know what that means: facts! In fact, we have facts every week, factual ones. This time around, weve got a fair bit of death, a fair bit of food and a look into people with very strange minds. And if you were looking for a reason to dislike that boy Peter Pan, we have some good news for you. Or, possibly bad news, if you've been hunting for the children he kidnapped out of their strollers.

15 Questionable Expert When George H.W. Bush threw up in Japan in 1992, an unidentified caller, claiming to be Bushs physician, contacted CNN. Bush had died, said the caller. The anchor got as far as telling viewers there had been tragic news, before a supervisor yelled stop and prevented the death report from being broadcast.

14 Mother of Dragons Komodo dragons tend to eat baby members of the species. Young dragons have a mechanism to protect themselves from this: They roll themselves in feces, which doesnt taste very good.

13 The Cure, Found When a doctor called a superior about a girl suffering from paralysis, the suggestion came down to transfuse some of a parents blood. The doctor misheard this as a parrots blood and transferred some blood into her from the familys pet bird. This was 1931; people would try anything back then. Advertisement

12 Loophole In 1994, a man killed his cheating wife, not while catching her in the act but hours later, after giving the matter some thought. A judge sentenced him to 18 months. I seriously wonder, said the judge, how many married men  married five, four years  would have the strength to walk away without inflicting some corporal punishment.

11 Filthy Flour You should bake cookie dough before eating it, for safety reasons. No, not because of the raw eggs. Raw eggs might make you sick, but thats a secondary concern. The bigger risk is E. coli from eating the raw flour. Advertisement

10 The Dora Case One of Freuds case studies was about a 14-year-old girl, whose father was urging her to sleep with a married man. The father, meanwhile, was sleeping with the mans wife. Freud concluded that the daughter was hysterical and secretly was attracted to the man, to her father and to the wife. She disagreed. Advertisement

9 A Pirates Life In the original Peter Pan play and books, Neverland didnt keep all kids from aging  that was just a Peter Pan thing. His lost boys didnt stay young. They just died, sometimes at the hands of Peter himself. Advertisement

8 Doubt, Fire A waitress sued Robin Williams in 1992, saying he gave her herpes. Hed cheated on his wife, she claimed, though the suit was mostly concerned with the herpes part. Williams paid her a settlement one week before the trial was set to begin.

7 Search Your Hearts and Kidneys According to the Book of Revelation, God will examine all of our kidneys. This makes slightly more sense when you learn that people once believed kidneys are the organs responsible for our consciences. Advertisement Advertisement

6 Chicken With Bacon In 1626, Francis Bacon went out and gathered snow to stuff into a chicken, to prove freezing meat preserves it. He was right about meat. However, he also caught pneumonia and died.

5 Useless Knowledge One time, someone tried to test Albert Einstein by asking him to state the speed of sound. Einstein said he didnt know, and you should just look the answer up. Whats the point, Einstein asked, in burdening your memory with something you can just find in any textbook? Advertisement

4 So Many Bodies Chinas famous terracotta warriors are next to a bunch of mass graves. The emperor killed all his rivals. He also killed all the concubines, just in case any were pregnant with his rivals heirs. Advertisement

3 Do the Dew A scammer took Pepsi to court in 2012, suing over allegedly finding a mouse in their Mountain Dew can. Pepsi won, by proving for the court that the soda would have completely dissolved the mouse corpse, had the mouse appeared in there genuinely. Advertisement

2 Submission The Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm McLaren, told them to write a song called Submission, figuring theyd make it about BDSM. The band wrote a song that wasnt about submissive sex. It was about a sub mission  a mission on a submarine.
People who are talented at holding their tongues make great confidants and crappy sitcom characters.

It seems like every great sitcom of the last 40 years has had at least one fan-favorite character whose defining quality is their complete inability to hold their thoughts within their head. Loudmouths make for good television, and conflict arising from an unfiltered insensitive remark is one of the cornerstones of comedy itself. Put simply, we all love to watch a confrontational blabbermouth almost as much as we hate to encounter one when were working at any gym, cafe or grocery store in Los Angeles that has the misfortune of being frequented by a certain bald sitcom magnate.

Over in the sitcoms subreddit, comedy fans recently discussed their favorite filterless characters in sitcom history. Here are a few of their top picks

5 Everyone From Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia The entire premise of this show is essentially, What if the worst people youve ever known all ran both a bar and their mouths? Frank, Charlie, Dee, Mac and Dennis are constantly shouting over each other (and whatever victim gets unwittingly pulled into their schemes), so, oftentimes, the lack of filter in their rhetoric is the result of them needing to scream their own thoughts just to hear them clearly. Not one member of the Paddys Pub gang is able to hold their tongues when a damaging thought crosses their mind, which is just one of the many reasons why they so often find themselves losing court cases.

4 Fred G. Sanford, Sanford and Son Getting a classic comeback or wisecrack out of Redd Foxx was as simple as pointing the camera and shouting, Action! Foxx modeled the cantankerous widower and junk dealer after his late older brother, Fred Glenn Sanford, Jr., and he brought all of the loving venom and caring clap-backs to the role that can only come from family. Fred had as many ruthless moments as he had heart attacks, and no one suffered from his lack of filter more than that big dummy Lamont.

3 Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother Though his mysterious business career, constant womanizing and legen-(you get the picture)-dary catchphrases are arguably the first characteristics that come to mind when describing Barney, his candid wisecracks delivered with Neil Patrick Harris impeccable timing are the reason why we (and his friends) suffer all of those other things in the first place. Whether its his attacks on Canada, reggae music or whatever rags Ted stole off of a homeless guy when he got dressed that morning, Barneys burns are not bound by any sense of reasonable restraint.

2 Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm David was an obvious entry on this list, as the entire success of Curb Your Enthusiasm (as well as any George Costanza-focused episode of Seinfeld) hinges on his complete inability to shut the hell up when something completely inconsequential is bothering him. It took Larry all of 30 seconds to start bragging that he knew Alanis Morissettes secret when she told him who You Oughta Know was about, and it takes him less than five to make the absolute least socially acceptable remark to a stranger as soon as he meets them. Advertisement Advertisement
If I was to write this list completely objectively, it would basically just be, Things Moe Szyslak Has Said.

There are so many words that can be used to describe the humor of The Simpsons  smart, stupid, silly, subtle  but what about existential? What about soul-crushingly sad? Or what about a simple, succinct, dark? Every now and then, the writers of The Simpsons break out a line so devastatingly depressing that it catches us unaware and sends us into a thousand-yard, black-and-white-flashback stare that makes us wonder whether this is the same show that once made one of the greatest episodes in TV history about a guy and his snow plow.

Here are a handful of the darkest lines ever uttered on The Simpsons, weighted against a certain surly barkeep whose suicidal quips could fill a Russian novel. Starting with

7 Your Uncle Arthur used to have a saying: Shoot em all and let God sort them out. Unfortunately, one day he put his theory into practice. It took 75 federal marshals to put him down. Now lets never speak of him again  Marge may have not managed to help Bart out with his moral quandary in The Boy Who Knew Too Much with this unexpected avuncular anecdote, but she did help us understand the dysfunction of the Bouvier family a little better. Though she vowed never to speak of Uncle Arthur again, moments later, she does finally point Bart in the right direction by telling him to listen to his heart, and not the voices in his head like a certain uncle did one gray December morn.

6 Yeah, that sniper at the All-Star Game was a blessing in disguise! Obviously, Moe couldnt be left off the list entirely, and his assessment of the Springfield Isotopes success is, at least, a bit of dark humor not directed at himself for once.

5 Homer, youre dumb as a mule and twice as ugly. If a strange man offers you a ride, I say take it! Abe Simpsons isnt known for his nurturing abilities, but, along with calling Homer an accident out of anger, this might be one of the lowest points in his parenting career. Telling your own young son to actively seek out a kidnapping is downright sadistic. Lousy traumatic childhood.

4 Change the channel, Marge! Homers half-asleep outburst at the funeral of Frank Grimes  or Grimey, as he definitely did not like to be called  capped off one of the darker storylines of the Simpsons Golden Age when Homer was so incompetent that it drove the unluckiest man in Springfield to his death. Advertisement Advertisement

3 Not today, old friend. But dont worry, the holidays are just around the corner If were going to give Moe one singular suicidal one-liner, this has got to be the one. The entirety of Whiskey Business was dedicated to uplifting the perpetually depressed Moe, but after blowing his chances at surprise stock-market success, there was real reason to worry when he went into that closet.

2 The Day of the Gun-Toting, Disgruntled Postman Shooting Up the Place went out with  The Macarena

Well, Im just glad I work at an elementary school The only reason this line didnt land at the top of the list is that, in 1999, crazed gunmen werent quite as universally associated with American elementary schools as they are today. In 2023, this one might not even make it past the censors. Advertisement Advertisement
Theyre tiny, theyre toony, and theyre back. After three decades in detention, the gang from Tiny Toon Adventures has finally returned for the new Max/Cartoon Network series Tiny Toons Looniversity. If you havent checked it out yet, gear yourself up with some tidbits about the original 1990s classic, including the creators favorite student and how involved Steven Spielberg was with the series. And now our intros done.

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15 The Birth of Buster and Babs While Tiny Toon Adventures was created and developed by Tom Ruegger, the genesis for the show came from Spielberg and Warner Bros. President Terry Semel. Legendary animation writer Paul Dini told Comics Scene magazine that Semel was looking to inject new life into the Warner Bros. Animation department.

14 No Little Bugs Dini also said of Tiny Toons Adventures, When Tiny Toons was announced, everybody automatically felt it was going to be little Bugs, little Daffy, little Porky, and that was never really the intention. The idea was to create new characters that might be junior versions of the characters, but different personalities.

13 Babs Is Best Of the various characters created for Tiny Toons, Ruegger cites Babs Bunny as the most significant due to her being the first lead female character in a Warner Bros. cartoon and being genuinely funny.

12 ACME Looniversitys Teaching Staff In a recent interview with Cracked, Ruegger said Warner Bros. only required him to bring in Bugs Bunny as a teacher. The remaining Looney Tunes staff at ACME Looniversity were up to him. Advertisement Advertisement

11 Drawing from the Classics Jean MacCurdy, executive producer on Tiny Toons Adventures, once explained, The original directors (of Looney Tunes) Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Bob McKimson, each one of those brought to the Looney Tunes something unique. Chuck had the wit and sophistication, Friz had the music, and Bob Clampett had the insanity. Tex had the gags. We tried to take a little bit from each of them when we went ahead with Tiny Toons.

10 A Familiar Approach One of the advantages we had at Warner Bros. was that they really wanted to make Tiny Toons in the style that the old cartoons were made in that they had units that had individual story people and layout people. It was this great process of discovery, said Dini. Advertisement Advertisement

9 No Skimping on the Music MacCurdy recalled in an interview that, When we first started Tiny Toon Adventures, we had a meeting one day with Mr. Spielberg, and the issue of music came up. We were talking about how important (composer) Carl Stalling had been to the original Looney Tunes, and Steven said, Of course, were going to have a full orchestra for these cartoons. MacCurdy, who was in charge of the budget, resisted, saying that things just werent done that way anymore, but Spielberg replied by simply stating, No. Were going to have a full orchestra, and that was that.

8 The Opening Theme The writer of Tiny Toons earworm theme song was Bruce Broughton, an Oscar-nominated composer. Advertisement Advertisement

7 Spielberg Was Very Involved Steven Spielberg was very involved in Tiny Toons, writer and producer Sherri Stoner has explained. He was very involved in the development of the characters with Tom (Ruegger) and some of the other people. When I was onboard, we would send him a script. Wed get it over to Amblin around 5, and usually, by 8, hed be calling with notes on it. Nobody does that.

6 Returning Cast Members While almost every Looney Tunes character who appeared on Tiny Toons was recast  mostly due to Mel Blanc dying in 1989  two actors did return to voice their classic era characters: Stan Freberg as Pete Puma and June Foray as Granny. Advertisement Advertisement

5 Spielbergs Cameo Spielberg had a cameo on the show as a white rabbit that was clearly meant to be Roger Rabbit.

4 One Episode Was Created by Three Teenage Fans In 1991, three 13-year-old girls from Waynesboro, Virginia, wrote and drew a fan episode of Tiny Toons and sent it to Spielberg. Astonishingly, the story made it all the way to Spielberg, who decided to make it into an episode. Season Twos Buster and Babs Go Hawaiian was credited to the girls  Renee Carter, Sarah Creef and Amy Crosby  who were also caricatured in the episode along with Spielberg (who played himself). Advertisement Advertisement

3 The Series Was Followed by Two Specials While the main series ended in 1992 after 98 episodes, the characters returned in two animated specials: Tiny Toon Spring Break in 1994, and Tiny Toons Night Ghoulery in 1995.

2 Elmyras Second Act Six years after Tiny Toon Adventures, Elmyra returned for Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain. The cartoon was a restructuring of Pinky and the Brain stemming from Kids WBs desire for more recurring characters than the two titular mice. No one opposed this idea more than the writers. They even retaliated by adding this line to the new theme: So Pinky and the Brain / Share a new domain / Its what the network wants / Why bother to complain? Advertisement Advertisement
With life-threatening flooding, rushing rapids filling subway stations and an entire terminal at LaGuardia shuttered due to inclement weather, the New York metropolitan area experienced one of its wettest days in decades on Friday. The city saw as much as 6.7 inches of rainfall in some neighborhoods, which has wreaked havoc on commutes, basements and local infrastructure. While Mayor Eric Adams has been criticized for his lack of preparedness ahead of the forecast, a State of Emergency has been put into effect as officials assess the damage.

New Yorkers arent the only ones dealing with heavy rain, though. A TikToker shared one very human-like reaction that a pair of monkeys at the London Zoo had to some sudden rainfall. Its a reaction that was probably seen all throughout Lower Manhattan yesterday as well.

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The rain-fearing monkeys arent the only funny things that emanated from TikTok this week either. Other hilarious TikToks that have pushed through the fray include those about the irresistible urge to hardly know her, a white lie the color of a pitbull and one dads beef with his daughter.

16 @onemancult Advertisement Advertisement

14 @scout6feetup Advertisement Advertisement

12 @smellslikeupdog Advertisement Advertisement

10 @luislopezcomedy Advertisement Advertisement

8 @majedsin Advertisement Advertisement

6 @mollyelizah Advertisement Advertisement

4 @gaymish Advertisement Advertisement
The empire on which the sun never sets' is the most famous description of the British Empire  even though the phrase was invented to describe the sprawling reach of Spain's territory in the 16th century.

But during Britain's reign as the world's greatest global force it was no exaggeration. And a lively new book by Matthew Parker, One Fine Day, takes an engrossing trip round it at the very moment, almost exactly 100 years ago, when it reached its greatest extent.

It really did span the globe, with a presence on every continent, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. It included uncountable ethnicities, languages and religions: from the Inuits to the Zulus, from the matrons of New Brunswick to the headhunters of New Guinea; from wealthy Melbourne graziers to nomadic Masai herdsmen.

It was not only the world's largest Muslim state but the heartland of Buddhism and Hinduism, too  and yet it was manifestly Christian in its ethos.

It was a mosaic of almost ungraspable complexity and extraordinary contrasts, which occupied a staggering quarter of the planet's land area and involved a fifth of its population.

Victory in World War I expanded the Empire's spread yet further, as it was swollen by territories plundered from Germany and Turkey. But it was a century ago, on September 29, 1923, the day the British Mandate for Palestine came into legal effect, that it reached its maximum extent.

This prompted a surge of exhilaration among self-styled idealists and visionaries, with ideas of a new 'federation of mankind' growing from a British super-empire of peaceful, prosperous and willing members.

It didn't last, of course. The war had already sowed the seeds of huge and lasting problems, including civil wars across Europe, and the Empire could not escape the fallout.

There was serious unrest in Egypt and India, where pro-independence activists grew increasingly bold. This had culminated in the now notorious Amritsar Massacre of 1919, when troops fired on an unarmed crowd.

Less than a month later, the Afghans actually launched an invasion of India and, while they were repulsed and an armistice signed three months later, Britain's authority was grievously undermined.

When the Prince of Wales had made a tour of the Empire in 1921, he was met by cheering crowds in the settler colonies  in the Arabian port of Aden one banner optimistically urged: 'Tell Daddy We Are All Happy Under British Rule.' But in India, though there were lavish ceremonies in some places, there were also boycotts and riots, and the Prince required an escort of armoured cars.

Even in more normal times, the Empire was a fragile structure, always run on a shoestring. How could it be otherwise, when a country of some 40 million people claimed to 'rule' an empire of 460 million?

Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa were effectively independent; and 600 Indian princely states were largely self-governing within the 'Raj'.

The Colonial Office, the nerve centre, was tiny. In the 1920s it had only some 300 staff. Inevitably, decisions were left to the 'men on the spot'. Even in India, the core of the empire, the entire Indian Civil Service (packed with brilliant and idealistic Oxbridge graduates) was manned by a 2,000-strong team  barely larger than Ofsted today.

Many people have railed against celebrating the British Empire, with a number of institutions set on decolonisation, which critics say is an attempt to censor history

Indian author Nirad Chaudhuri (1897-1999), son of a Bengali civil servant, remembered that he had never seen a white man until well into boyhood, and he was so startled when he did that he ran away.

In far-flung territories, handfuls of young men were simply left to get on with it. One 23-year-old Oxford graduate posted to Kenya in 1911 had to walk several hundred miles to build his own 'headquarters' (a thatched hut) and try single-handedly to bring peace to warring tribes.

When war-torn Palestine was taken over in 1923, its colonial government consisted of a bank cashier from Rangoon, an actor-manager, two assistants from Thomas Cook, a picture dealer, a land valuer, a bo'sun from the Niger, a Glasgow distiller, an organist, an Alexandria cotton-broker, an architect, a junior London postal official, a taxi-driver from Egypt, two schoolmasters and a missionary.

In short, the Empire was never a 'superpower' dominating the world. It has famously been called 'a brontosaurus with huge, vulnerable limbs which the central nervous system had little capacity to protect, direct or control'.

Most of it ran itself, with loose British oversight. The novelist George Orwell, who served at the sharp end as a police officer in Burma, thought it all based on a huge bluff, with himself as a 'hollow, posing dummy' obliged to 'spend his life in trying to impress the 'natives' '.

Nevertheless, as Parker's book makes clear, the aim was to bring peace, law and order, and economic development, and most colonial officials were convinced they were doing good.

Even Orwell accepted that 'the Empire was peaceful as no area of comparable size has ever been'. Americans visiting Ghana during World War II were astonished that its governor drove around the colony without a bodyguard.

A perhaps surprising number truly welcomed colonial rule. Delegations from a substantial number of countries asked to join the empire, seen as a route to modernity, protection and peace. Many were turned down by British governments uncomfortably aware of the burdens of empire: including Corsica, Crete, Uruguay, the Congolese state of Katanga, Morocco, Sarawak in Malaysia, New Guinea and even Mexico.

World War II was the Empire's last hurrah. For two crucial years, from 1940 to 1942, it stood as the only effective barrier against global domination by an alliance of genocidal fascist states.

Millions of soldiers from the Empire fought, many of them volunteers. Of course, their motives were mixed, but a degree of loyalty to the Empire, or at least a realisation that it was their safeguard against much worse alternatives, was an important factor.

From Africa, 400,000 men served in uniform. From discontented India came the largest volunteer army in history, a force of 2.5 million.

But although the Empire was victorious, the war signalled its end, and India, whose independence had been promised, obtained full sovereignty in 1947.

The Viceroy of India, Lord Wavell, put it bluntly: 'We have no longer the resources, nor I think the necessary prestige and confidence in ourselves.'

The Cabinet was told that 'we should not be sacrificing anything that mattered'. The few remaining British officials were powerless to prevent catastrophic violence as Pakistan broke away.

The rest of the Empire followed fairly quickly. The days of all European empires were ending, though the French tried to hold on, disastrously and bloodily.

Subsequent British withdrawal was relatively untraumatic, and largely unlamented except by a few imperialist die-hards (including Churchill) and white settlers in East Africa.

The Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya, which cost the lives of 11,000 people between 1952 and 1960, was the worst lapse. It was largely a conflict among Africans but included no fewer than 1,090 executions by hanging.

This debacle was a sign of things to come, as post-independence states have frequently descended into violence and oppression. Should this be blamed on colonial government, or on the failings of those that replaced them?

This is only one of many debates about empires that have today become more virulent. Until recently, the end of empire had taken on the status of an old story.

But now 'empire' and 'colonialism' have become dirty words, and we are urged to be ashamed and even to pay billions in reparations.

Such disputes are less about history than about modern ideology, much of it imported from America. Yet the history of the world is a history of empires. The Chinese, Iranians, Turks, Indians, Arabs, Italians and Greeks, among others, are not being stigmatised as heirs of empire or owners of slaves.

So why are the British in particular told to feel ashamed?

Was the British Empire worse than the others? Clearly not. On the contrary, it was unusually benevolent. But it was big, recent enough for its influence still to be felt, and in many ways successful. Ironically, it is often those successes that are now controversial.

Did it bring law, order, science, medicine and general 'civilisation'? That is now condemned by radical anti-racists as forcing 'colonial' ideas on other cultures, for it is racist heresy to imply that certain ways of living are better or more 'advanced' than others.

This is an ideological and narrowly elitist view: it takes no account of the experiences of the the child victims of tribal warfare, or the women spared death, mutilation and forced marriage. How sorry should we really feel for those Zulu warriors who complained in 1900 that under the British they had 'lost control over their girls and women'?

The empire also brought economic development and trade, great cities and industries. This was once a source of pride, but some 'green' radicals now see it as the pollution of pristine nature by European settlers  though few seek to go back to the rigours of pre-modern existence.

Finally, there is the burning issue of slavery. The British traded and owned slaves in large numbers. The Prime Minister William Pitt apologised in 1790, calling for 'an atonement for our long and cruel injustice'.

The slave trade was banned in 1807 and all slaves in the colonies freed 31 years later. The British Empire went on to fight a long campaign against slavery world-wide, with the Royal Navy seizing more than 1,600 slavers' ships globally and freeing an estimated 150,000 Africans on board them between 1808 and 1869.

Was this unique role in ending international slave-trading by Europeans, Turks and Arabs, despite diplomatic obstacles and sometimes violent resistance, 'atonement' enough? That is a moral, not a historical question. The British Empire was marked by staggering contrasts and it is easy to fashion a narrative to fit an ideological programme.

We could emphasise massacres, racism and exploitation. Or we could choose emancipation of slaves, building of schools and raising of living standards. Both could be true, yet also misleading.

I would say the Empire grew in response to a world undergoing huge and unprecedented change due to technology, population growth, migration and global political upheaval. Much that was good and bad would have happened with or without the Empire, including slavery, mass migration, inter-ethnic violence, economic globalisation and the spread of diseases.

The Empire was an attempt to control the chaos, and to some degree it succeeded. Britain's rulers were always conscious of the dangers and the costs, and the end of empire was rather a relief.

How will it be seen in another 100 years? Hard to say, as its consequences are still unfolding.

I hope it will be remembered for stopping international slavery, keeping the peace as best it could, spreading the first global language and thus  as one of its greatest critics Edward Said admitted  it 'made the world one'.

If, as our late Queen once said, we could wish that some things had been done differently, we should also respect an astonishing and exceptional saga.
War makes people lose their marbles. As soon as the shooting starts, the thinking stops. This is understandable (if often unwise) if you are directly involved. But the rest of us should be more careful.

I have argued for years that the Ukraine crisis is far more tangled than most people think. It is not a simple battle of good against evil. Very wicked things have been done on both sides.

I believe that if this was more widely grasped, there would be a better chance of ending the fighting and dying in this dangerous part of the world.

But for saying so, I am told I must be a Russian agent. Well, an event last week showed just how crazy most of us have gone on this subject. Almost nobody involved was actually bad.

But a lot of people were deluded. It began when the Canadian parliament, and Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky, found themselves giving a standing ovation to a veteran of Hitlers Waffen SS. They did not know what they were doing. Then they found out.

Former SS volunteer Yaroslav Hunka was given a standing ovation by the Canadian parliament. Hunka had been wearing Hitlers uniform when he fought for Ukrainian independence'

MPs were told Hunka (right) was a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today, even at his age of 98

As a result of this, the Speaker of that parliament, Anthony Rota, has quit. And the Canadian government has apologised to the worldwide Jewish community for applauding the 98-year-old former SS volunteer Yaroslav Hunka.

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President Zelensky, himself Jewish, has in the past rightly condemned some of his own citizens for honouring the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (also sometimes known as the 1st Galician or 1st Ukrainian).

In 2021, much to his credit, he objected to a march in Kiev celebrating the SS Division, saying: We categorically condemn any manifestation of propaganda of totalitarian regimes, in particular the National Socialists, and attempts to revise truth about the Second World War.

Speaker Rotas mistake resulted from a historically ignorant and crude belief now worryingly common among Western politicians and media. They think that the Ukraine crisis is like the Lord Of The Rings, with sweet furry Hobbits fighting off horrible bloodthirsty Orcs.

Bad things about Ukraine  its corruption, its oligarchs, its thuggish factions of Nazi sympathisers, its increasingly feeble democracy and flickering freedom of speech  are simply ignored or suppressed. And now this fantasy has invaded the past, transforming Nazi soldiers into heroes of liberation.

Mr Rota told MPs in Ottawa that Hunka was a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today, even at his age of 98.

Rota declared that Hunka (who rose from his gallery seat to acknowledge the applause), was a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service.

The Speaker of that parliament, Anthony Rota, has quit. And the Canadian government has apologised to the worldwide Jewish community

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky (centre) found himself unknowingly giving a standing ovation to a veteran of Hitlers Waffen SS

And then (whoops!) it was gently pointed out by better-informed people that Hunka had been wearing Hitlers uniform when he fought for Ukrainian independence, and had, in fact, been fighting for Hitler. (Hunkas unit, he reveals in a curious and troubling blog post, surrendered to the British Army in Styria, Austria, more than 300 miles from Ukraine.)

The episode (quickly smoothed over in Canada and largely unnoticed here) reminds me of the much deeper trouble US President Ronald Reagan got into in 1985 when he foolishly visited the graves of SS soldiers in Germany.

The supposed Great Communicator for once faced an explosion of truly serious public criticism. He laid a wreath at the Bitburg cemetery in which SS troops were buried.

Idiotically, when challenged, he burbled of the dead troops: They were victims just as surely as the victims in the concentration camps. In the end, he quickly changed plans to include a visit to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, something he had dismissed as unnecessary.

But the anger, quite rightly, rumbled for months afterwards. So it should in this case. I hope the episode of SS-man Yaroslav Hunka causes Western public opinion to think harder about this war. That way, we might get the lasting peace which Ukraine and its people need.
She's hired a leading Hollywood agent and partied with the stars.

It's even been suggested that Meghan Markle is eyeing up a Malibu beachfront house, much closer to Los Angeles than the Montecito mansion she shares with Prince Harry.

So is she tilting at a new career in showbusiness?

Meghan certainly has connections.

And from hiring Kim Kardashian's hairdresser, Michael Silver, to appointing Kim's firm of bodyguards, some might think The Duchess of Sussex has been taking lessons from the Queen of Reality TV.

And to judge from these photos, at least, the 42-year-old is a quick learner - or a missing Kardashian all along....

Plunging Red Gowns

In 2014 at the Elton John Academy Awards Viewing Party Kim amped up the glamour in a plunging Celia Kritharioti gown teamed with Lorraine Schwartz jewels and dramatic eyes.

In 2021 the Duchess of Sussex echoed the style for her return to the red carpet at the Salute to Freedom Gala.

Kim Kardashian at the Elton John AIDS Foundation Awards in 2014

Meghan channels Kimmy in New York, 2021

Her crimson Carolina Herrera gown had the same deep neckline, nipped in waist and full skirt with train.

Meghan completed the look with fresh and glowing skin, plenty of mascara on her eyes, a sleek top knot bun and glittering diamond earrings.

White Simplicity

Attending the 2017 Met Gala, Kim Kardashian chose a minimalist, white off-the-shoulder dress by Vivienne Westwood. Both effortless and polished, the simple silhouette was paired with nude heels and a sleek, centre-parted bob.

Kim shows off her figure in white at the 2017 Met Gala

Meghan makes an arrival at the Hilton Midtown for the Ripple of Hope Awards in December 2022

When being honoured for humanitarian work with the Ripple of Hope Award in 2022, Meghan chose an equally chic and modern ensemble wearing a custom long-sleeved look by Nicolas Ghesquiere for Louis Vuitton.

Baring her shoulders, the structural gown was kept modern with her signature sleek hairstyle, radiant complexion and silver drop earrings.

Asymmetric Necklines

Kim accentuated her figure in a Vivienne Westwood frock which featured an asymmetric neckline at the Webby Awards in 2016.

Tousled hair, smoky eyes and black sandals completed the look which was all about pared back glamour.

Kim chose black to collect a prize at the 2016 Webbie Awards

Meghan went for the black and asymmetrical at a 2018 Women's Empowerment reception

Meghan also chose a little black dress for a Womens Empowerment Reception in 2019, which had a matching neckline and also cinched in at the waist. Markles face was framed with loose strands, and she accessorised the outfit with Aquazzura pumps and a Gucci bag for an equally glamorous ensemble.

Caped Maternity Gowns

Kim gives us a maternity-wear masterclass in 2015

Meghan, too, is a caped crusader, pictured here in Morocco in 2019

At the InStyle Awards in 2015, expectant mother Kim gave a masterclass in maternity dressing in a silk-crepe Valentino gown with floor length cape. Allowing the dramatic dress to stand out and make a statement, she pulled her hair back into a middle-parted style and chose minimal jewellery.

Possibly inspired by Kim's look, Meghan channelled Hollywood glamour at a 2019 reception in Morocco in a bespoke Dior dress that skimmed over her baby bump. Also featuring a full-length cape and soft neutral hue, the simplicity of the gown was replicated with a chic centre-parted bun and Birks Snowflake earrings.

Draped Camel Coat

Stepping out in New York in 2014, Kim Kardashian wore a figure-hugging American Apparel dress with a long-sleeved cashmere camel coat draped over her shoulders.

Kim heads to dinner shoulder-robed and in beige in New York, 2014

A fan of the camel coat look - and 'robing' - Meghan attends the WellChild awards at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in 2019

In 2019 the Duchess of Sussex styled her Sentaler camel coat in the same way at the WellChild Awards.

Hanging from her shoulders, the classic coat was layered over a recycled forest green dress by P.A.R.O.S.H, which she wore for her and Prince Harrys engagement announcement. Both Meghan and Kim accessorised their looks with tan suede heels and loose waves tucked behind the ear.

White Power Suit

Opting for power suiting for a trip to the White House in March 2020, Kim Kardashian chose a double-breasted Christian Dior suit. Smokey eyes, a mini Birkin bag and white heels completed the tailored outfit.

Never knowingly understated, Kim wore White for a visit to the White House. Then she went to dinner

White-knight Meghan poses for the cameras at the 2022 Invictus Games in The Hague

It was Valentino for Meghan when she dressed in a trouser suit for the Invictus Games in 2022 with the same double-breasted blazer and wide leg trousers. Meghans hair was flowing but her look was similarly accessorised with a small Valentino bag and white Aquazzura heels.

Colour Blocking Berry

Shades of berry in different textures reigned supreme for Kim Kardashian at New York Fashion Week in 2017 as she dressed in head-to-toe Yeezy.

Paired with her predictably flawless makeup and hair styled with a centre parting she gave a masterclass in autumnal dressing.

This time, it's berry all round - frock and coat - for Kim. She is pictured in 2017

Did Meghan like the look? In 2018, she chose a berry dress and coat for a visit to the Hubb Community Kitchen in North Kensington

Meghan followed the same style equation in November 2018 when making an appearance in London, teaming a Club Monaco dress with velvet collar and wool coat from the same brand, all in shades of maroon.

Wedding Veils (And Givenchy)

Both Meghan and Kim chose French fashion house Givenchy for their couture wedding gowns, however the cathedral length veils were the statement element to both of their bridal looks.

In 2014 Kim married Kanye West wearing an ornate veil that fell to the floor and flared out beyond her train, featuring embroidery around the hem.

Kim shows off a big veil for the big day

Doria Ragland and a veiled Duchess of Sussex on the way to St George's Chapel, Windsor in 2018

Meghans floor-sweeping 16-foot veil in 2018 also featured intricate embroidery, this time with signature flowers from all of the countries in the British Commonwealth.

Ellen Interviews

When Kim agreed to sit on Ellen de Generes's sofa in 2019, she wore a white top with long wavy hair parted in the middle.

Two years later it was Meghan's turn. In 2021, the Duchess of Sussex radiated California positivity as she wore a white Oscar de la Renta blouse and black trousers with her hair styled in... waves.

Kim Kardashian sits down with Ellen de Generes in 2019

When it was Meghan's turn, she look a leaf out of Kim's book, wearing her long hair in wave

Ellen has linked Meghan and the Kardashians together on another occasion when she renewed her vows with wife Portia de Rossi at her Montecito mansion in February 2023.

Prince Harry and Meghan were spotted at the special celebration together with Kris Jenner who officiated the wedding renewal.

Ivory Coats with Wide Lapels

Out and about in New York in 2014 with then husband Kanye West, Kim wore a Celine coat crossover strap Tom Ford heels.

When news of Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys engagement was announced in 2017 Markle stepped out in an ivory-coloured wide lapel coat from Line the Label belted over a green dress by P.A.R.O.S.H. and nude Aquazzura strappy heels.

Flattened waves and pared back make-up gave an added sense of deja vu to the looks.

Kim goes wide-lapel in New York, 2014 - seen here with Kanye West

Meghan chooses Line the Label for the announcement of her engagement in Kensington, 2017

Bold in Blue (the time that Meghan got there first)

Dressing to impress, Meghan opted for an elegant blue short-sleeve dress from Victoria Beckham with a figure-hugging silhouette to attend the annual Endeavour Fund Awards in March 2020.

With her hair tied back into a sleek centre-parted ponytail, flawless skin and a smoky eye, Kim Kardashian took on the same look for the star-studded Academy Awards after-party in 2022.

This time Meghan gets there first - appearing at the Mansion House in 2020 with a round-neck blue dress from Victoria Beckham and hair pulled back into a ponytail

Here, Kim turns out in a blue round-neck with pulled-back hair for the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscars party

Here Kim was wearing Balenciaga, but with the same high neckline and body-con style. Her make-up was kept equally classic with feathery brows and a matching slicked back hairstyle.
A TikToker has taken on a challenge where she attempts to survive for a day in the UK, spending just 1.

Shivani Khosla made a video documenting her experience, which has over 1.8million views.

Starting off at Greggs, she explained that if you download the app you get one free hot drink, as she opted for a cappuccino.

She said 'I really wanted a sausage roll but obviously couldn't get one, it's too expensive.'

Next, on the hunt for lunch she went to Lidl, where she picked up the stores own-brand tin of baked beans for 28p.

Showing off her find to the camera, she remarked 'Look how cheap this was, only 28p for a can of beans.

'Picked that up and then picked up a panini for 32p which is not bad.

'All together that was what, like 60p for lunch? Perfect.'

Heading to Furniture Village, she added 'Don't know if you remember, when I was younger Furniture Village would have free coffee and cookies at the back.

'I looked so suspicious walking around so I pretended to take pictures and be interested in buying a sofa or something.'

Upon finding the free cookies, she told viewers 'Do you know what's so annoying? The cookies didn't even come in a bag so that you could take them away. I had to pick it up with my bare hand and walk straight out of the shop.'

The TikToker ate the cookie and was 'still a bit hungry' so she decided to go to Krispy Kreme.

She said 'If you download the app you get one free glazed doughnut so I managed to cop that as well.

The TikToker ate the cookie and was 'still a bit hungry' so she decided to go to Krispy Kreme

'Krispy Kreme is underneath a Tesco so I went to Tesco to find some snacks but look how expensive Tesco branded biscuits are,' she said, showing the 65p packet to viewers.

Adding 'I shook my head and left. I wanted to get some work done but first I wanted to get a Starbucks coffee.

'I dunno if this is cheating but I have some points on my card so I got an iced pumpkin spice latte for free.'

Next, she went home to do some work, before making the beans on toast for lunch.

Surprised, she said 'I'm not gonna lie, it actually tasted all right, like normal beans.'

Making the most of another app freebie, Shivani explained If you download the KFC app, you get three hot wings for free - however, she couldn't get it to work:

'It wasn't working for me but someone in my Discord kindly gifted me a free burger, but it was too hot so I ate it later.'

With 40p remaining of her 1 budget, she went to a corner shop but was put off the 6p sweets as they were 'nasty' and 'open'.

Surprised, she said 'I'm not gonna lie, it actually tasted all right, like normal beans'

Shivani finished the challenge having spent only 60p of the 1, however viewers were not impressed that she used loyalty points and app freebies.

One user wrote 'so technically 1 and whole bunch of freebies,' while another added 'Kind of defeats the point when you get codes and points'.

Someone concluded 'Basically.. you cant survive in the UK on 1.'

One viewer chimed in with 'Spent a pound and 40 in fuel,' as the content creator was seen in the video driving to all of the places she visited.

Another joked 'Free cookie but gets annoyed it doesn't come with a bag.'

However, some found the tips helpful, writing 'Has that always been a thing at furniture village? (free cookies), never knew about it, will try' and 'This is such a good idea'.
The clip from the couple's podcast, 'Growing Payne's,' has over a million views

A YouTube star has sparked a debate online after saying he wouldn't marry his girlfriend if she kept her own surname.

Podcasters and YouTubers, Ethan Payne and Faith Kelly, have been in a relationship since 2021 and have a little girl together.

Ethan is better known as 'Behzinga' online and is a member and co-founder of the British YouTube group, The Sidemen.

The couple kickstarted a conversation about marriage after a clip from their podcast, 'Growing Paynes' was seen by over a million people.

In the video, Faith tells listeners that Ethan won't propose to her because she would want her name to be Faith Kelly-Payne, taking on her partners surname while also keeping her own.

A YouTube star has sparked a debate online after saying he wouldn't marry his girlfriend if she refused to take his name

Ethan responded 'Faith doesn't want to take my name and that irks me,' to which his girlfriend added 'No, I want to take your name I just want to take mine as well.'

She explained 'I don't want to lose my association with my family,' as her boyfriend argued back that she wouldn't.

'So let me keep it then,' she responded, but the answer was a firm no.

Standing her ground, she added 'It's a personal thing, I've grown up with it my whole life, I like it, I wanna keep it.'

Ethan responded that he believes taking on his name is 'how it should be done'.

Even with his girlfriend offering examples of other people who have gone for a double barreled name, such as Olivia Attwood-Dack, the YouTuber argued 'This is your one example all you do is f****** repeat this name'.

He stated 'the conditions are, if you want to be my wife, then be my wife,' and by keeping her own last name he thinks Faith is 'bottling it' and only 'half' being his wife.

The debate has caused controversy with viewers chiming in to comment on who they agree with.

The debate has caused controversy with viewers chiming in to comment on who they agree with

He stated 'the conditions are, if you want to be my wife, then be my wife,' and by keeping her own last name he thinks Faith is 'bottling it' and only 'half' being his wife

Ethan is better known as 'Behzinga' online and is a member and co-founder of the British YouTube group, The Sidemen

Faith explained 'I don't want to lose my association with my family,' as her boyfriend argued back that she wouldn't

One person on Faith's side of the argument, wrote 'Wonder if hed be this passionate about it when his daughter grows up and wants to keep her maiden name?'

Others added 'Biggest red flag ever' and 'The conditions? He's treating her like a school child or like he's the parent and she's the kid.'

However, some agreed with Ethan or thought the couple should come up with a compromise.

Someone suggested 'Id make Kelly my middle name then have Payne so shes still be Faith Kelly Payne.'

Another advised 'You should have these conversations before getting together/ staying together.'

One viewer and her partner are taking a different approach and both changing their names.

She wrote 'my partner and I are changing our names to a brand new one when we get married but hes never said no youre having my name and thats that'.
A former trans man who detransitioned back to being a woman has slammed gender ideology and cautioned against teaching children they can change sex.

Hazel Appleyard, 31, from Leamington, was referred to a gender clinic aged 17 after she said she wanted to become a man.

She even intended to make herself infertile by having an operation to remove her uterus.

The detransitioner is now a mother-of-one and said she was 'lucky' to escape the trans community before too much harm was done.

She told MailOnline: 'I don't think anyone believes trans women are women.

Hazel Appleyard, 31, from Leamington, was referred to a gender clinic aged 17 after she said she wanted to become a man. Pictured: Hazel when she was identifying as a trans man called Aaron

'People who have been brought up around political correctness - we have been raised to be accepting people but this time it might have been taken too far.

'I was always a bit of a tomboy as a kid. I'm autistic. My mother tried to dress me as a girl. I wasn't keen on dressing like that. I started rejecting everything girly.'

According to Pew Research Center research, some 5.1 per cent of adults younger than 30 are trans or nonbinary.

Somewhere between eight and 13 per cent of them revert to their gender at birth, according to various estimates.

And according to the most recent census, just 0.1 per cent of people in the UK are trans.

That amounts to just 96,000 people, with 48,000 saying they were trans men and another 48,000 calling themselves trans women.

Even though being trans is not a widespread issue, the trans community is extremely vocal and issues around gender and sex have become the source of fierce public debate.

Hazel explained how she was influenced by the internet.

When she was younger, Hazel used the website Live Journal to meet other gender-questioning and trans people.

She said being 'exposed to more people who were identifying as trans got me thinking'.

She added: 'On those kinds of echo chambers I would see people say, "I'm not sure if I'm trans" but then the trans people would say, "If you feel that way then you are that way".

'[The website] doubles down on the delusion.'

When she was 17, Hazel came out to her mother as trans, telling her she wanted to be a man.

She cut her hair short and went by the name of Aaron to seem more like a boy.

Hazel used the website Live Journal (pictured) to meet other gender-questioning and trans people

There are various transgender 'communities' on the site. Hazel said: 'On those kinds of echo chambers I would see people say, "I'm not sure if I'm trans" but then the trans people would say, "If you feel that way then you are that way". [The website] doubles down on the delusion'

She even intended to have a sex change operation.

However, she said with time the feelings went away.

She said: 'It kind of just faded. One day it was strong and I was thinking about ending my life. One day I woke up and didn't feel so bad any more.

'I just fell out of the trans community.

I slowly slipped back in [to being a girl]. I got some c**p from kids at school but I managed to assimilate back.

'Since then when you speak out against it, against the trans community, you get a lot of pushback.

'They don't want to [know] that there's a potential that people make mistakes.

'They are really very set on denying people who detransition.'

Although she was referred to a gender clinic, she didn't go to her first appointment and feels she was lucky to escape any treatment, even though she thought at the time, 'maybe I'm not supposed to be a woman'.

She said: 'Autistic kids need to be protected from this ideology. I was so vulnerable.

'We need to be really, really careful of these kids who are vulnerable and impressionable and already feel lost.

'What I needed as a child was to know it was okay to be a girl who didn't act like the other girls.

'I was just a kid. Yes I'm a girl and I'm different but that's okay.

'I have come out the other side. If they let me do that where would I be?

'I have got a child now. I was so close to losing all of these things.

'I see those kids who want what I wanted. What if they change their minds too but it's too late? I feel really lucky.

'The thing that disturbs me is that I don't think people are born trans.

'If you raise kids who don't know about trans that gives them the better chance of growing up and being themselves.

'Kids who identify as a different gender - it doesn't help to transition them.'

Hazel also revealed she was worried about safe spaces for women.

She said allowing men the ability to self-identify as women opened up the possibility of men aiming to make women feel 'uncomfortable' by invading women's spaces.

The detranitioner said: 'Born women need their safe spaces.

'There might be a core trans subset who are truly trans, but this new wave of trans where we have blokes in dresses with beards? If you are trans you want to live as the opposite sex.

'I don't think that any man who feels like a woman today should be able to identify [as one].

'Women deserve to be safe in these spaces.'

Debate around clinics offering treatment for youngsters who believe they are trans, and the drugs offered to them, has become increasingly heated.

Hazel's story is the latest example of children being advised to transition at an age when they are not able to fully quantity the decision.

In 2020, Keira Bell took the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) to the High Court to stop children with gender dysphoria being prescribed puberty-halting drugs.

Aged 16 and, by her own admission, very mentally ill, Keira had been given the drugs by doctors at the controversial clinic to pause her own development before realising  six years later and after undergoing a double mastectomy  that it was a monumental mistake.

Keira Bell is campaigning to stop doctors prescribing drugs to children with gender dysphoria

Keira, pictured at the age of 5, was born female but later began questioning if she was a boy

NHS England has drawn up plans to allow children as young as seven to get transgender treatment, according to reports (file image)

The scandal-ridden GIDS at the Tavistock Clinic was told to close after a review from Dr Hilary Cass branded it as 'not safe'.

Plans set out by NHS England for future gender clinics set a minimum age for a referral for the first time - seven years old - and will also aim to limit the use of puberty blockers.

The closure followed a review led by senior paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, who warned the gender clinic was 'not a safe or viable long-term option'.

She found other mental health issues were 'overshadowed' in favour of gender identity issues when children were referred to Tavistock's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS).

The clinic was accused of rushing children onto puberty-blocking drugs by former patients who feel they weren't challenged enough. It treated at least 9,000 children for gender dysphoria since it opened in 1989.

Yet although the clinic was supposed to close its doors this year, the closure was postponed until March 2024.

In 2022,

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details
Kanye West's 'wife' Bianca Censori showed 'higher levels of confidence and control' during an impromptu photoshoot in Italy, a body language expert has claimed.

The couple caused a major frenzy while shopping in the Via dei Calzaiuoli in Florence, last week - but Judi James told FEMAIL that Australian-born Bianca appeared to be 'enjoying herself' in the spotlight.

Kanye, 46, went into photographer mode as he directed the busty bombshell, 28, as she posed with excited locals in another one of her daring nude looks, while a number of admirers filmed the epic moment.

Local fans shot videos as Censori showed off her sensational figure in a skin-tight leotard styled with shimmering pantyhose and pointy kitten heels. Between takes, West stopped to adjust the Yeezy architect's flesh-flashing outfit to ensure the best possible shot on his iPhone.

Two weeks earlier, the couple sparked major controversy in the city of Venice after they were caught putting on a graphic display in the back of a river taxi.

Kanye West 's 'wife' Bianca Censori showed 'higher levels of confidence and control' during an impromptu photoshoot in Italy (pictured), a body language expert has claimed

DailyMail.com exclusively reported at the time that police were investigating the couple over the 'disrespectful' incident that included West exposing his bare buttocks in public as Censori curiously knelt before him with her head in his lap.

Judi suggested that at times Bianca's body language reveals she is an 'unhappy, naive young woman trailing blankly around the streets of Florence in nearly-nude body stockings to please her husband Kanye, who is in total control'.

'Bianca has smiled at times but there have also been signals of wariness,' insisted the expert.

However, during the pair's most recent appearance, in which they were also pictured enjoying a shopping trip, Judi claimed that Bianca's body language signals 'show her posing and moving in a way that suggests she is fully in her comfort zone here and possibly enjoying herself at last'.

The duo have been on a grand tour of Europe this month, which began with their controversial trip to Venice, Italy.

They made headlines across the globe as West was photographed exposing his bare backside on a boat while Censori was seen kneeling in front of him.

In other images the American rapper was seen seated at the back of a river taxi while Censori nestled her head in his lap.

DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that police in the lagoon city had identified the driver of the river taxi they were on.

The couple caused a major frenzy while shopping in the Via dei Calzaiuoli in Florence, last week - but Judi James told FEMAIL that Australian-born Bianca (pictured) appeared to be 'enjoying herself' in the spotlight

It was said that he would be questioned in the days following the incident about what exactly he saw on the boat and police are also asking for photographers to hand over the images that went around the world.

A Venice police source said: '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 have 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 MailOnline: '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.'

Kanye, 46, went into photographer mode as he directed the busty bombshell, 28, as she posed with excited locals in another one of her daring nude looks, while a number of admirers filmed the epic moment

A source close to the city's mayor Luigi Brugnaro said :'By chance the monthly meeting on public security is imminent and this sort of behaviour will be discussed.

'Venice is famous for being one of the most beautiful cities in the world and we expect tourists to maintain a respectable level of decency when visiting.

'These public acts of spectacle are not what we or the millions of tourists who come here each year wish to see and we take a very dim view of it.

The expert said: 'The photos with the crowd allow Bianca to use them as her backdrop and throw some more confident model poses.

'Bianca alternates between standing with one foot directly in front of the other in a classic model pose or with one hand on her hip that is normally a sign of confidence.

'Her most important body language "tells" come when she breaks the pose though and seems to step and lean forward laughing, with her upper lip pulled up towards her nose in a laughter "snarl" to suggest she is enjoying the joke with her audience.

'Watching her shop is also something of a relief as her body language suggests she becomes the one in control and the one doing the shopping and dominating the attention of the sales team while Kanye stands back.

'Again Bianca has that hand on her hip to suggest a more assertive response and her animated movements, her eye contact with the assistants and the way she seems to be the one making and enjoying the "buy" decision with just a quick display of the bags she likes to Kanye before she takes them outside to model, define higher levels of confidence and control than some of her previous poses might have suggested.'

Following their public photoshoot, officials from Florence's tourism bureau warned the couple to respect the public decency laws and underlined the city's slogan of 'Enjoy and Respect Florence'.

Police are investigating the boat incident after West exposed his bottom while on a boat with Bianca seen kneeling in front of him

'Florence is not a beach establishment - your clothing (and behaviour) must be decent' and any breaches are punishable by a 500 Euro fine.

Senior tourist instructor Andrea Giordani at the Tourism and Promotion office in Florence said: 'I'd like to remind Kanye and his wife that they have broken the code of Enjoy and Respect Florence, in fact their behaviour goes beyond that, and especially in the case of Venice where they were seen on the boat allegedly engaged in sexual activity - Italy is not that kind of place.

'We remind them of the code of Enjoy and Respect Florence - it reminds holiday-makers to remember what are the wrong behaviours but also what are the 'good practices' to live the city correctly and better organise your stay.

'Only in this way will it be possible to guarantee the civil coexistence and the protection of the rights of each of us, respecting the environment, the artistic heritage and the identity of Florence, a city that was the cradle of the Renaissance and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.'

Earlier this week MailOnline exclusively revealed how Kanye - who officially changed his name to Ye - was also potentially breaking Italian terror laws by appearing in public with his face covered.

Wearing clothing that 'renders an individual difficult to identify' is punishable by a fine of up to 2,000 Euro and police can stop anyone dressed in such a way.

On Italian social media several have commented on the way Kanye is dressed with many pointing out: 'Isn't it an offence to walk around dressed like this?'

The duo have been on a grand tour of Europe this month, which began with their controversial trip to Venice, Italy.

They made headlines across the globe as West was photographed exposing his bare backside on a boat while Censori was seen kneeling in front of him.

In other images the American rapper was seen seated at the back of a river taxi while Censori nestled her head in his lap.

DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that police in the lagoon city had identified the driver of the river taxi they were on.

Backlash: Last month, West and his 'wife' Bianca Censori, 28, sparked major controversy in the city of Venice after they werecaught putting on a graphic display in the back of a river taxi

It was said that he would be questioned in the days following the incident about what exactly he saw on the boat and police are also asking for photographers to hand over the images that went around the world.

A Venice police source said: '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 have 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 MailOnline: '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.'

A source close to the city's mayor Luigi Brugnaro said: 'By chance the monthly meeting on public security is imminent and this sort of behaviour will be discussed.

'Venice is famous for being one of the most beautiful cities in the world and we expect tourists to maintain a respectable level of decency when visiting.

'These public acts of spectacle are not what we or the millions of tourists who come here each year wish to see and we take a very dim view of it.

'We can only hope that the prosecutor imposes a fine and then the couple will think long and hard about their behaviour if they return to Venice in the future.'

A spokesman for Venezia Turismo Motascafi - the firm that owned the boat the couple were on, said that it was 'completely unaware' of the incident.

They added the pair would have been kicked off the boat if the driver had noticed their public exposure.

It went on: 'The driver had to keep a lookout for traffic and did not see these obscenities. If this had happened, he would have immediately disembarked and reported the transgressors to those in authority.'

The Italian rental company noted that 'third person on board the taxi' who was riding with Ye and Ms Censori had 'obstructed the captain's view' to the back of the boat.

The company has since banned the couple from using their boats in the future. 'We completely dissociate ourselves from such acts and behaviour. Mr West and his wife will certainly no longer be welcome on board our company's boats.'

This ban is not the first in recent times, as Bianca has recently sparked controversy in Italy due to her wardrobe choices.

Last month, Italian locals complained to the police that the 28-year-old was walking around in public 'virtually naked'. She managed to avoid a fine for that but if convicted of public indecency they could face a fine from 5,000 to 10,000.

The fashion designer  who is widely believed to be behind all of Censori's recent and controversial looks  and his new muse were first romantically linked in January 2023 just months after his divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalized.

The couple wed in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills in January, about two months after the rapper's divorce to Kim Kardashian was finalized. However, the legality of the union is in question, as they did not file a marriage certificate.

Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021 after six years of marriage. Throughout their longtime romance, West often called her his 'muse' and heavily influenced her fashion choices.

The former couple share four children together  North, ten, Saint, seven, Chicago, five, and Psalm, four.
In a clip shared to TikTok, she explained what she misses most about the UK

A woman who moved from London to San Francisco has revealed the things that she misses about living overseas.

Tory Trombley, who is originally from the US, moved back to the States last year, after spending three years living in London - and she has now candidly revealed that she misses feeling 'most herself' in the UK.

The content creator - who works in the tech industry - opened up about the things she enjoyed the most about her time in London, and wishes she still had now that she is living in California.

In one clip shared to her TikTok account, Tory laid bare the stark differences between the two cities, while revealing the steps she is trying to take in order to embrace her new home.

Tory Trombley moved from London to San Francisco and has revealed the things that she misses about living overseas

She has moved back to the States after living in London and has shared that she misses feeling 'most herself' in the UK

In a clip shared to her TikTok account, Tory revealed if she missed living in the UK and the differences between the two cities.

She captioned the clip: 'It's been one year since I have moved and I always get this question: do I miss London? Of course I do.

'I made great friends in London, I felt the most like myself.

'But moving doesnt mean that you have to hate the place youre in while missing the place you left.

'I am currently trying to find that balance.'

At the beginning of the clip, she explained that you have to keep in mind that she moved from one city to another.

'So the answer to the former question, do I miss living in the UK over the US is absolutely,' she said.

Tory noted that this was because many things 'are more difficult in the US.'

'One example is healthcare. It's just so much harder to get good healthcare here and not pay a lot out of pocket for it.

'Another one is cultural. People talk about work way more and take way less vacation,' she said of the US.

Tory noted that she 'misses' the people she worked with in London and how 'supportive' they were of her taking time off.

She noted that she enjoyed how 'vibrant' London was, adding that San Francisco is a lot smaller.

However, she said that she has made California her home and has found parts of it to love.

@tory.trombley Its been one year since I have moved and I always get this question: do I miss London? Of course I do. I made great friends in London, I felt the most like myself. But moving doesnt mean that you have to hate the place youre in while missing the place you left. I am currently trying to find that balance. #sanfrancisco #california #london #uk #expat  original sound - Tory

Tory noted that she 'misses' the healthcare in the UK and people she worked with and how 'supportive' they were of her taking time off

In another video, Tory opened up about the truth about her life in San Francisco, hitting back at the increasingly grimy view that many people have of the city - particularly in the wake of rising crime rates.

She insisted that not every area of the city is overrun with homelessness and crime, noting that many people who live in the city reside in neighborhoods that are much safer and more picturesque.

'If you go there, it's such a different picture,' she said. 'San Francisco is one of the most visually stunning cities I've ever lived in in my life, and I've lived in London and I've lived in New York City.'

She went on to highlight the city's 'unparalleled' access to nature, as well as its great weather.

As for the job differences, Tory said there are several stark contrasts between corporate life in the UK and the US, explaining that differences exist in every aspect of her job, from vacation time to office culture.

Despite the fact that she still works at the same company she was employed by in the UK, she said that things are very different now that she's back in the US.

'So the first thing I noticed is an obvious one, but it's true... vacation,' she said in another video. 'On the whole people get a lot less vacation here than they do in the UK and Europe.

'What this means is that people just don't have as much free time to come on friends' trips or to go on weekends away or time with their family or partner.'

Tory went on to note that the concept of 'work/life balance' is also viewed very differently between the countries, particularly when it comes to their vacation time.

'For example when I worked in Europe, someone would go on vacation and they would not be available at all,' she explained.

'Whereas here in the US, it's very common for people to leave their personal cellphone numbers in case you need them, or to take their laptop on vacation.'
Paris Jackson has boldly hit back at the haters who left 'sh***y' comments calling her 'old and haggard' by showcasing her bare complexion in a makeup-free video.

The star, who is the daughter of the late Michael Jackson, posted clips of her attending a Christian Louboutin event during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday - but was met with cruel criticism from several commenters.

In response, Paris fired back hours later with a video showcasing her bare complexion - and a reminder that she is only 25-years-old.

'This is no filter no makeup and regular lighting for the people that wrote really sh***y comments about how old and haggard i look in my last video,' she wrote in the video.

'I am literally 25. just young and haggard thank you very much,' she comically concluded. The video was set to audio of a man remarking, 'Whoa. Okay.'

'I am literally 25': Paris Jackson has boldly hit back at the haters who left 'sh***y' comments calling her 'old and haggard' with a video displaying her makeup-free complexion

No filter! Jackson avoided using any filters for her latest defiant snap

She had not a trace of makeup on and wore her hair piled up into a messy bun. The songstress wore dangling earrings and a casual top as she tilted her head around before giving a sheepish sideways glance.

Numerous fans showed their support for Paris in the comments, with Keke Palmer writing: 'I love you!'

'Screw those people, you looked amazing,' one posted.

'If this is old and haggard then what am I?!' another wondered.

'They will always find something to tell because its easier looking at other ppl and not themselves. you are stunning. with or without makeup, haggard or not, in every way. dont ever let those comments get you down. we LOVE you peaks,' another fan wrote.

The original video which sparked it all showed Paris posing in a plunging mocha outfit at a Christian Louboutin event.

While she received some hate from trolls, many blamed the lighting for her appearance, and countless others praised her look.

'Guys stop! She looks beautiful!!!' one fan wrote in her defense. 'Its just the bad angle of lighting thats making her look older, anyone would look like that if the light is coming from the bottom.

Ignoring the haters! Trolls weighed in on this video Jackson posted from Paris

Standing up for her! While she received some hate from trolls, many blamed the lighting for her appearance, and countless others praised her look

Glamorous: Jackson got dolled up to attend YSL's Beauty Party MYSLF during Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday

'Keep in mind every BODY is different, shes a thin petite woman , so the way she smiles , looks different than , the way I do or you do , every fold of skin moves differently on people depending how thin or thick we are .. shes a young beautiful woman !'

Paris has been in Paris as of late for fashion week, and in addition to the Christian Louboutin event, attended YSL's Beauty Party MYSLF on Wednesday.

She was clad in a brown, long-sleeved turtleneck dress and layered on a camel-colored leather jacket over the look along with cream peep toe heels.

Her fashion week fun comes after earlier this month she filed a restraining order against an alleged stalker who scaled her home's fence and peered through her windows.

According to Paris, who says she's now scared to be alone at home, the person is the same man who began sending her unwanted messages in December 2019.

The latest alleged home invasion took place on August 23, when the intruder purportedly made it to her backyard before he was accosted.

Paris was not home at the time, but a friend of hers who was staying on the property witnessed the trespass, TMZ reported.
Queen Camilla showcased her fashion prowess in a statement leopard print dress as she attended the Braemar Literary Festival last night.

The King's wife, 76, put on a stylish display in the emerald patterned frock when attending the dinner at the The Fife Arms hotel in the Scottish Highlands.

She was joined by British actress Dame Judi Dench, 88, as well as bestselling authors William Boyd and Anthony Horowitz and critic Grace Dent.

The three-day festival - which is running until Sunday - is being held in the Highland village in collaboration with The Queens Reading Room, the book club founded by Camilla.

First launched in January 2021, the online literary hub was inspired by the success of the then Duchess of Cornwall's reading lists shared during the pandemic in 2020. It offers book recommendations and exclusive insight from the authors themselves.

Queen Camilla (pictured with Dame Judi Dench) showcased her fashion prowess in a statement leopard print dress as she attended the Braemar Literary Festival last night

Camilla appeared in her element as she chatted to guests last night - including photographer, filmmaker and author Mary McCartney and Literary Editor of the Spectator Sam Leith.

Her Majesty was also present at one of the festivals sold-out events held earlier today, The Allure of Comfort food to soothe and satisfy. Grace Dent and Rick Stein in conversation with Tom Parker Bowles.

The panel - which included her British food critic son Tom - held a discussion on the joy of comfort food and home cooking.

Over the course of the three-day event, novelists, historians, artists, chefs, and actors will descend on the village of Braemar to honour the power and quiet beauty of the written and spoken word.

Earlier in the day, Camilla, looking casually chic in denim and a blue blazer arrived at a literary festival event

The King's wife (pictured left), 76, put on a stylish display in the emerald patterned frock when attending the dinner at the The Fife Arms hotel in the Scottish Highlands

The Queen (pictured left) was joined by British actress Dame Judi Dench , 88, as well as bestselling authors William Boyd and Anthony Horowitz and critic Grace Dent

The three-day festival - which is running until Sunday - is being held in the Highland village in collaboration with The Queens Reading Room, the book club founded by Camilla (pictured right)

Camilla (pictured right with several guests) appeared in her element as she chatted to guests last night - including photographer, filmmaker and author Mary McCartney and Literary Editor of the Spectator Sam Leith

Her Majesty was also present at one of the festivals sold-out events held earlier today, The Allure of Comfort food to soothe and satisfy. Grace Dent and Rick Stein in conversation with Tom Parker Bowles.

The 55-year-old, who is one of Britain's only female Michelin star chefs, told The Mirror that Camilla is 'really relaxed and easy-going', and she said it was great to cook for the royal.

When it comes to what meal is 'fit for a Queen', Angela replied: 'Anything and everything.'

She revealed that Camilla was 'was like every other guest [she's] ever cooked for', saying 'whatever is made for her, she'll eat'.

Angela added: 'I think when you get to a certain age, without being rude, of course, and youre as busy as she is with so many engagements, youll eat whatever is simple and easy.'

Quite the line-up! Queen Camilla and Judi Dench arriving to their events at the literary festival

Connecting bookworms of all ages with heartfelt readings from the authors who penned the words, the Braemar Literary Festival, aims to 'provide a forum to engage in spirited discussion'.

Camilla's outing comes after Michelin starred chef Angela Hartnett OBE revealed what it is like to cook for the Queen, after serving dinner at the first ever Braemar Literary Festival last October.
The condition is rare and can causes paralysis

It started with painful headaches which would come in an instant and disappear just as quick. Then the dizziness, tingling limbs and fatigue began.

Mum-of-two Amber Griffin knew something was wrong but assumed her symptoms had something to do with low iron levels or not wearing her glasses.

And her doctors agreed.

But they were all wrong - and it wasn't until she was admitted to hospital with Covid that the 30-year-old found out the truth.

Amber's headaches, tremors and general discomfort were caused by a defect in her brain - known as the Chiari Malformation - a condition she's probably carried since birth.

Mum-of-two Amber Griffin has headaches since she was 17 - now she knows a brain condition is the cause (partner Levi also pictured)

The mum's headaches 'feel like contractions' at the back of her head and are debilitating

The malfunction causes a herniation at the base of the brain which puts pressure on the spinal cord, leading to the symptoms. It also puts Amber's brain under pressure and creates bulging.

If left untreated Amber will eventually lose movement in her limbs, her ability to look after her children, and her independence.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the young mum from Ballarat, Victoria, said her first symptom - the headaches - began when she was 17.

They were unusual in the sense that they would last less than 10 minutes.

As Amber got older the headaches, which she said felt like contractions at the back of her skull, became more regular and severe.

'Every time I cough or sneeze or yell or laugh or move my head quickly they come. And they are horrific,' she said.

The next set of symptoms came after Amber gave birth to her daughter at the age of 24.

'Every time I bent down to get her I would feel lightheaded, like I was going to pass out,' she said.

Apart from the related symptoms the young mum has always been healthy

Now Amber and Levi are trying to come up with $40,000 for surgery - so she can be the best mum to her kids

'I had had issues with iron levels before so my doctor said that was probably the cause, but I now know it is a symptom for my brain condition.'

Her health worsened after the birth of her son two and a half years ago.

'The headaches and light headedness got worse. But I also got tingling in my hands and hand tremors,' Amber said.

Last November she was taken to hospital after an intense headache forced her to stay in bed for 15 hours.

'The headaches usually come on like contractions and last 30 seconds or a minute, then slowly wear off after a few minutes. Then I usually have a lazy day to avoid more from happening,' Amber said.

'But this one was different because it just kept going, I couldn't get out of bed.'

Doctors thought the headache was a side effect of Covid so they did scans which lead to the discovery of Chiari Malformation.

'They told me I could stay at home or at the hospital - that they would look at the scan and get back to me with the results,' she said.

When the hospital didn't ring Amber assumed she was in the clear.

'My doctor called me two days later and asked me to come in for an appointment as soon as possible, I said I could pop in the next day and didn't think anything of it because I had been expecting any bad call to come from the hospital,' she said.

She hung up but then became worried.

The family have had to put life on hold since the symptoms escalated

'I realised I hadn't asked any questions,' she said.

Her fiance Levi called the doctors back and they told him about the brain condition so the couple could research it before heading in.

'It is a hard one because even a lot of the doctors we speak to have never heard of it, but there are thousands of people in the Australian support groups so it isn't that rare either,' Amber said.

The public health system won't perform surgery until Amber gets to the stage where she can't lift her arms.

Amber's partner Levi refused to accept this and found a doctor who could operate now.

'Professor Stoodley is the head of Neurosurgery at Macquarie University Hospital and has been amazing, he's offered to help immediately,' Amber said.

The doctor said he could schedule Amber for the life-changing surgery just three weeks after their initial consultation.

While Amber was relieved someone could help she admits she also froze - terrified they wouldn't be able to come up with the $40,000 fee.

The malfunction means the brain pushes against the spinal cord - causing major problems

'Levi as been so optimistic the whole time, he told me not to worry and that we would work it out,' she said.

The couple didn't take the first date but thanks to a GoFundMe started by Levi, they have been able to schedule surgery in November.

'I have been so overwhelmed by the support, I was terrified we would have to save up, that it would take years and I would slowly become paralysed,' Amber said.

The doctor says there is a 90 per cent chance surgery will reverse all symptoms and stop her from ever developing them again.

'I am struggling to live my life and be the mum I know I can be to our kids, so I am excited for surgery,' she said.
Many have chosen to receive both the flu and Covid vaccines at the same time

Millions of people will be encouraged to book flu vaccines online from Monday in a bid to ease pressure on the NHS this winter.

NHS bosses brought forward the vaccination programme following the emergence of the new Covid variant last month.

Figures show that 3.7million people have received their flu jabs since the start of the campaign on September 11, with many choosing to do the double and receive flu and Covid vaccines at the same time.

During the same period, 2.4million Covid jabs have been delivered. Last winter saw NHS staff treating significant numbers of patients in hospital with respiratory illnesses.

The NHS will urge millions of people to book a flu jab online from Monday to ease the pressure on the health service over the winter

Around 30 million are eligible for a flu vaccine this year, including those aged 65 and over, people in clinical risk groups, and pregnant women

And bosses are concerned hospitals may be left struggling this winter amid the pressure on the service from ongoing industrial action.

Among the 30 million eligible for a flu vaccine this year are people aged 65 and over; those aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups; pregnant women; all children aged 2 or 3 years; school-aged children; those in long-stay residential care homes; carers and close contacts of immunocompromised individuals.

Those eligible can book via the NHS website, the NHS App or by calling 119 from 8am.
Cases of a once-rare form of aggressive liver cancer have doubled in the past 20 years, but a report has warned that many doctors do not know how to spot or treat it.

Bile duct cancer affects the tubes in the liver that carry bile, a fluid that helps the body to digest food by breaking down fat, and was until recently considered an uncommon type of the disease that typically affected only older people.

But new data has revealed that bile duct cancer, also known as cholangiocarcinoma, now accounts for nearly half of all liver cancer diagnoses in this country, with more younger people being affected.

Despite this surge, GPs and even cancer experts often arent familiar with it, so fail to spot symptoms or wrongly believe that it is incurable.

One patient who was eventually diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, in 2015, was told repeatedly by her GP that the pain in her ribs was nothing to worry about.

Mother-of-three Andrea Sheardown, 52, from Cheshire, says: I visited the GP three times, and they said it was probably just a muscle strain. The pain got so bad I went to A&E and refused to leave until they carried out a scan. The doctors were reluctant to do it, but eventually they did an ultrasound and immediately spotted a tumour in my liver the size of a small pineapple'

Bile duct cancer affects the tubes in the liver that carry bile, a fluid that helps the body to digest food by breaking down fat, and was until recently considered an uncommon type of the disease that typically affected only older people

Mother-of-three Andrea Sheardown, 52, from Cheshire, says: I visited the GP three times, and they said it was probably just a muscle strain. The pain got so bad I went to A&E and refused to leave until they carried out a scan. The doctors were reluctant to do it, but eventually they did an ultrasound and immediately spotted a tumour in my liver the size of a small pineapple.

Andrea was told there was nothing the doctors could do and, horrifically, was given just six weeks to live.

It was only after seeking a second and even a third opinion that she was successfully treated. Eight years on and her most recent scan shows no sign of cancer.

She says: When I was diagnosed, I was in a state of shock. Id been fit and healthy my whole life, and now I was being told I had a type of cancer Id never heard of and I was going to die in a matter of weeks.

My first thought was of my youngest son, who was just four at the time  how hed grow up not having a mother. It was horrible.

The medical team told Andrea she could stay in hospital for her remaining time and be given medication to ease the pain. But she discharged herself because she wanted to get a second opinion.

Other than the rib pain, I felt healthy. But they said surgery wasnt possible and that pain killers were all they could give me. It didnt feel right so I wanted to find a new specialist. Im so glad I did.

About 2,700 people were diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma in England in 2020

Andrea was able to get an appointment with a specialist in Birmingham who disagreed with her local hospitals diagnosis and believed her cancer could be treated with surgery.

She then had 60 per cent of her liver removed, and scans afterwards showed no sign of cancer. However, once again, Andrea was incorrectly told there were no more treatment options available.

Ordinarily, liver cancer patients are given chemo after surgery to reduce the risk of it returning, she says. But the specialist said he didnt know of any chemo that would work for cholangiocarcinoma and said I should go home and hope it didnt come back.

She was forced to find a new specialist  this time a cholangiocarcinoma expert in Manchester  who told her there was in fact a drug she could take. While the daily chemo tablet, capecitabine, led to a number of severe side effects, the treatment was effective at keeping the cancer away.

Zandra Rhodes: My doctors caught it early and I survived Zandra Rhodes first noticed something wasnt right when she was doing yoga in the early weeks of the initial Covid lockdown in March 2020. The fashion designer  who has created outfits for Princess Diana, Princess Anne, Elizabeth Taylor and many other Hollywood A-listers  was lying on her stomach and realised it felt swollen. Ms Rhodes visited her doctor, who referred her for a hospital scan. It revealed a tumour in the bile duct of her liver  cholangiocarcinoma. Zandra Rhodes first noticed something wasnt right when she was doing yoga in the early weeks of the initial Covid lockdown in March 2020 It was too advanced to surgically remove the tumour and Ms Rhodes, now 83, was initially given just six months to live. According to the AMMF, The Cholangiocarcinoma Charity, a cholangiocarcinoma charity, more than half of all newly diagnosed patients are not offered the chance of treatment. However, Ms Rhodes was one of the lucky few to be referred to a cholangiocarcinoma specialist, who recommended a three-month course of chemo followed by regular doses of drugs to boost her immune-system  known as immunotherapy  every three weeks. More than three years later, Ms Rhodess cancer is in remission  meaning the tumour has significantly reduced in size  and she continues to receive regular immunotherapy. Getting the right advice and access to treatment early is so important for people with cholangiocarcinoma, said Ms Rhodes. I was lucky in that my doctor referred me for a scan and I was able to start chemo and immunotherapy quickly. To hear that more than half of people with a cholangiocarcinoma diagnosis are not given any treatment at all for their cancer is worrying. Advertisement

Ive been told Ill never be fully cured because it could come back at any point, she says. But I have lived far longer than the doctors initially thought, and thats because I sought treatment on my own.

About 2,700 people were diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma in England in 2020, according to campaign group the AMMF - The Cholangiocarcinoma Charity. The group says it has been hearing from an increasing number of young patients, some in their 20s.

Despite this pressing need for care, in its report, shared exclusively with The Mail on Sunday, the AMMF - The Cholangiocarcinoma Charity (formerly known as The Alan Morement Memorial Fund), argues that many bile duct cancer patients are being let down, leading to preventable deaths. They are twice as likely to die within five years of their diagnosis compared to those with other forms of liver cancer  and its an outlook the campaigners want to see changed.

The charity is calling on the NHS to ensure that all newly diagnosed patients receive a rapid referral to a specialist for the best chance of survival. The organisation also argues that GPs can be doing more to spot the disease early. There is very little awareness, even among doctors, of cholangiocarcinoma, says Helen Morement, chief executive of the AMMF - The Cholangiocarcinoma Charity.

We regularly hear from patients who have had to visit their GP multiple times before they can get referred to a specialist for a diagnosis. And when they eventually get their diagnosis, are wrongly told by specialists their cancer is inoperable when there are potentially curative treatment options.

A lack of education about cholangiocarcinoma and an absence of clear NHS guidelines on how to treat the disease is costing lives.

About 6,000 people die from liver cancer in the UK every year. The most common form of the disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, usually occurs as a result of liver cirrhosis  scarring of the liver often caused by alcohol abuse or obesity. NHS patients who are diagnosed with liver cirrhosis are offered a scan every six months to look for any potentially cancerous changes.

But the majority of cholangiocarcinoma patients do not have liver cirrhosis, and cases are typically picked up only when the disease is advanced, causing fatigue, abdominal pain, weight loss, itchy skin and yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes  also known as jaundice.

Experts are still unsure what causes cholangiocarcinoma, but a third of patients also suffer liver disease  when the liver stops functioning properly to remove toxins from the body.

Liver disease is on the rise, too, as a result of heavy drinking and increased obesity.

In the past, cases were likely to have been mistaken for hepatocellular carcinoma, says Prof Shahid Khan, consultant hepatologist at Imperial College London.

Typically, when you diagnose cancer, you take a tissue sample and analyse it before deciding what type it is. But the liver is very hard to access, so you usually base the diagnosis off a scan. On a scan, its easy to mistake cholangiocarcinoma for hepatocellular carcinoma. There is a worrying lack of research into this very aggressive cancer.

This is clear to see in the small number of treatments for cholangiocarcinoma  currently, surgery is considered the only way to cure it.

Cholangiocarcinoma patients are ineligible for a liver transplant because doctors believe that the condition has usually spread outside of the organ by the time it is diagnosed, making it pointless.

While there are six immunotherapy drugs on offer for hepatocellular carcinoma, there are just two offered to cholangiocarcinoma patients  and one of them was approved only last week.

The most common treatment offered is a stent  a tube that relieves blockages in the bile duct. It reduces some of the symptoms, but does not slow the progression of the cancer.

About half of all cholangiocarcinoma patients are simply given painkillers, according to the AMMF - The Cholangiocarcinoma Charity.

However, about half of all cholangiocarcinoma patients are simply given painkillers, according to the AMMF - The Cholangiocarcinoma Charity. Ms Morement  whose husband died of the disease in 2000  says GPs need to be better educated on the common symptoms of the disease, such as itchy skin.

There are quick and easy blood tests that GPs can carry out to see if the liver is functioning properly, she says. That could speed up diagnosis and help save lives. But doctors need to know what theyre looking for and, sadly, many are just not aware of this cancer.

The charity also warns that a lack of NHS guidance on how to treat the disease is stopping patients receiving life-saving care. While there are guidelines on how to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, none exist for cholangiocarcinoma.

This means some doctors wrongly assume that all cases of this disease are inoperable or are unaware of the targeted treatments which now exist, adds Ms Morement.

Thats why were asking that all patients are seen by a cholangiocarcinoma specialist. Doctors need to admit when they dont fully understand this cancer so patients can get the best care.

Since Andrea Sheardown finished her chemo in August 2016, she has spent much of her time fundraising. She has climbed Ben Nevis and Mount Kilimanjaro, cycled from Vietnam to Cambodia and plans to walk along the Inca Trail in Peru.

I was given a lifeline because I found a doctor who understand this disease, she says. This isnt a rare cancer  its affecting thousands every year. And they all deserve to be treated quickly and correctly.
The number of people plagued by thoughts of suicide or self-harm while taking a popular weight-loss jab has quadrupled in the past two months, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The drug, sold as Ozempic or Wegovy, treats diabetes but has been shown in studies to be highly effective at tackling obesity.

In June, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak labelled the medicine a game-changer and announced a pilot scheme that would allow GPs to offer the weekly injection to obese patients.

However, in July health authorities announced a review of the medicine, which contains the active ingredient semaglutide, among other similar weight-loss drugs, after reports of patients experiencing suicidal thoughts.

The number of people plagued by thoughts of suicide or self-harm while taking a popular weight-loss jab has quadrupled in the past two months, The Mail on Sunday can reveal

Drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy, contain semaglutide, which regulators fear could have an unexpected side effect

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the review was initiated after it received five reports of semaglutide patients who had suicidal or self-harming thoughts after taking the drug.

It had also received 12 reports since 2010 of these side effects in patients taking a similar drug called liraglutide.

Now the MHRA has revealed that the number of reports of patients with suicidal or self-harming thoughts has soared in just two months to 23. It has also received a further six reports relating to liraglutide.

Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration has received 265 reports of suicidal thoughts or behaviour in patients taking this type of weight-loss drug since 2010  36 of which describe a death by suicide or suspected suicide.

The MHRA did not disclose how many deaths or suspected deaths there had been in the UK.

Experts argue the potential link between taking these drugs and suicidal thoughts is likely due to the underlying mental health issues which lead many people to becoming obese.

This rise in reports of suicidal or self-harming thoughts comes as no surprise, says Prof David Strain, a diabetes expert at University of Exeter Medical School.

These drugs suppress the desire to eat, meaning youre taking away the pleasure obese patients relied on to stave off their depression. Its logical that, when you do that, youre going to see previously repressed suicidal thoughts bubbling up.

Semaglutide is part of a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, the first of which were developed a decade ago as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. These drugs mimic the GLP-1 hormone in the gut that helps with the release of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar. But scientists also found they suppressed appetite, leading to weight loss. In studies, semaglutide consistently showed obese patients lost about ten per cent of their weight and kept it off while they continued on the drug.

Semaglutide has been offered in the UK to help diabetics since 2019. While NHS spending regulators approved it as a weight-loss treatment in March, it has not yet been rolled out for this purpose due to supply issues caused by the massive hype around the drug since its use among celebrities and models became widely known.

Experts worry the rise in patients experiencing suicidal thoughts may be linked to the surge in people buying the drugs online without a seeing a doctor.

Semaglutide is really effective, but you cant entirely solve obesity by throwing drugs at it, says Prof Strain. Obesity patients need psychological support. Online companies cant offer that.

Trials suggest the drug is safe, although side effects of stomach pains and nausea have been often reported.

A spokesman for Novo Nordisk, the Danish developer of Wegovy, said its large clinical trial programmes and surveillance of the drug since its rollout had not demonstrated a causal association between semaglutide and suicidal and self-harming thoughts.
Ive been taking statins for a year to treat high cholesterol, but a recent blood test showed that it has continued to rise  as has something called bilirubin. I am a 72-year-old woman. Is the medication not working for me?

Bilirubin develops naturally in the bloodstream from the breakdown of old red blood cells. It can be checked during liver blood tests.

Doctors can use bilirubin levels  alongside other proteins and enzymes  as an indicator of how well the liver is working. High levels can suggest a problem with the liver, especially if other markers are raised. But some people have naturally high levels of bilirubin, and this isnt usually an issue or a sign of any problem.

Statins are drugs used to reduce cholesterol levels. They are not exclusively offered to people with high cholesterol, though, nor those with an increased risk of stroke or heart attack within a decade. Those with angina and diabetes may be offered them, too.

We regularly perform liver function tests on people who take statins, but high levels of bilirubin are not a known side effect. It is usually other enzyme levels that are increased.

Statins are drugs used to reduce cholesterol levels. They are not exclusively offered to people with high cholesterol, though, nor those with an increased risk of stroke or heart attack within a decade. Those with angina and diabetes may be offered them, too

It is abnormal for both cholesterol and bilirubin to go up in a patient taking statins, so this needs further investigation. The statin should not be continued if it is not reducing cholesterol.

Further liver tests, such as an ultrasound scan, may be necessary, and alternative cholesterol-reducing medicines are also an option. The GP can offer advice about how essential a statin may be.

Some people who have high cholesterol may not have other heart disease risks, such as high blood pressure. In these cases, a statin isnt always essential.

I have recently developed small bumps behind my ear that are very red and painful. I often wear glasses and think it could be a result of them rubbing, but Ive been wearing them for years and this is new. Can you help?

People who wear glasses often develop a skin problem called dermatitis. This is where the skin is inflamed, similarly to eczema, but the cause is contact with a material that has caused irritation.

You may not notice the problem the first time the skin has contact with the material, but it can happen after repeated touch. The skin may not only look red and bumpy, but also dry and cracked.

The best way to test for an irritant dermatitis is to spend some time without the irritant to see if the problem goes away. But that can be difficult with glasses.

Write to Dr Ellie Do you have a question for Dr Ellie Cannon? Email DrEllie@mailonsunday.co.uk Dr Cannon cannot enter into personal correspondence and her replies should be taken in a general context Advertisement

Using a barrier cream, such as nappy cream, between the glasses and skin would prevent contact and should soon clear up the problem. This type of skin condition would also respond well to an over-the-counter steroid cream, which a pharmacist can advise on.

Behind the ear is a common place for certain rashes, such as seborrheic dermatitis. It is a red rash that appears flaky and can scab over. It is thought to be a yeast infection, and an anti-fungal treatment would be used to calm it down, such as a cream or an anti-fungal shampoo.

Rashes that are painful, rather than itchy or sore, warrant investigation by a healthcare professional. Shingles, for example, is one such serious cause of a painful rash. Pharmacists are very good at assessing and treating such rashes and can advise on a treatment or whether its worth seeing a GP.

You can also submit photos to your GP via an online form which enables them to assess the problem and even offer treatment over the phone.

My 92-year-old mother has angina but is in otherwise generally good health. Yet a few weeks ago she became short of breath, finding it hard to even walk small distances. Last week she said she had a funny feeling in her chest, so we went to A&E, but were sent home after tests  doctors said it was just her angina. Should I have pushed for more tests, and is there anything that can be done to improve her condition?

While it might seem sensible to ask emergency doctors to do more for a loved-one, A&E is not the best place for supporting a person with a long-term condition.

The job of emergency doctors is to diagnose and treat a patient there and then. But once someone is discharged and back in the community, different types of doctors are responsible for monitoring and further testing.

An elderly person with worsening angina or heart symptoms should be cared for by a GP, who will use the results of tests done in hospital to work out what to do next. They can also arrange urgent appointments at a local chest pain clinic.

Its crucial to be under the care of a GP because we can also spot other problems that may go hand-in-hand with the heart condition. This includes limited mobility, anxiety caused by symptoms and also potential side effects.

Angina can be treated with a range of different medications. Various types treat the pain itself, while some are specifically designed to prevent a heart attack.

Other healthcare professionals may be involved in the care of an elderly patient, too. For instance, occupational therapists can help patients overcome challenges of daily tasks, such as walking, dressing and washing, by suggesting equipment to use.

A local exercise class may also help the elderly to build strength and maintain confidence.

Are physician associates putting patients at risk?

I've heard a worrying story of a 79-year-old man who visited his GP complaining of a month-long headache, and is now fighting for his life after being misdiagnosed by a physician associate (PA).

These workers are healthcare professionals and increasingly work alongside GPs like myself. They dont go to medical school but have plenty of clinical training. Crucially, they should be supervised by a doctor  but this particular PA wasnt, and told the man he was simply stressed. He was later rushed to hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

This isnt a one-off. Last year, 30-year-old actress Emily Chesterton died of a pulmonary embolism  a blood clot that blocks a blood vessel in the lungs  after a PA misdiagnosed her with long Covid and anxiety.

Our practice PA is a vital part of the team and patients feedback is very positive. But Im concerned that elsewhere, PAs may be taking on complex medical work without support due to a lack of GP staff. Have you had a bad experience with a PA? If so, email me at the address below.

Last year, 30-year-old actress Emily Chesterton died of a pulmonary embolism  a blood clot that blocks a blood vessel in the lungs  after a physician associate misdiagnosed her with long Covid and anxiety.

Jabs that missed a generation

A few weeks ago I wrote that it was never too late to have your MMR vaccine  the jab that protects against measles, mumps and rubella.

The main concern is the Wakefield cohort  children who werent vaccinated in the 1990s after scare stories about the jab causing autism circulated widely. The false claims by disgraced academic Andrew Wakefield  which later saw him found guilty of serious professional misconduct and struck off the medical register  led to a huge, temporary fall in MMR uptake.

But is there another at-risk population: older Britons?

Although individual measles vaccines were introduced in the 1960s, uptake was pretty low until the MMR became routine in the 1980s, so it means there might also be a cohort of older adults who werent vaccinated.

Id like to know, did you miss out on a measles jab and still avoid measles? Please write to me using my email address.
Luxury line Famous for its Singapore property, Raffles has landed in the UK. Raffles London at The OWO has 120 de luxe rooms and suites, renowned chefs, lavish spa treatments  and the worlds silliest hotel name.

Battle line The OWO was previously the Old War Office, completed in 1906. Influential leaders such as David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill have marched its two and a half miles of corridors. During the Second World War, courageous War Office staff worked around the clock, ignoring all but the closest air raids.

Plot line The Old War Office helped inspire former worker Ian Fleming to write the James Bond series, and it has appeared in several of the Bond movies. The founding of MI5 and MI6 also occurred here, and you can still find the discreet spies entrance door on Whitehall Court.

Raffles London at The OWO is located in the heart of Whitehall. It faces the Horse Guards  making this Londons best spot to watch the Changing of the Guard in comfort  and is just a few minutes stroll from Buckingham Palace

Blood line This spot is rich in aristocratic history. The OWO was built on the site of the Palace of Whitehall, home to monarchs including King Henry VIII, who died there in 1547.

Raffles Hotels has a rich heritage too. The original Raffles Singapore opened in 1887, introducing the world to the Singapore sling cocktail and making see you at Raffles a signature phrase among glamorous travellers.

Frontline Overseeing the hotels look was Thierry Despont, the French interior designer and architect behind the 2016 Ritz Paris revamp and Statue of Liberty restoration in the 1980s. The decor is spectacular  think hand-laid mosaic floors, crystal chandeliers and a sweeping marble staircase.

Sightline Forget selling sunset, real estate doesnt get more prime than this. The OWO faces Horse Guards  making this Londons best spot to watch the Changing of the Guard in comfort  and is just a few minutes stroll from Buckingham Palace.

Waistline Stomachs beware  The OWO has tempted some top-notch Michelin-starred chefs to London. French restaurant Mirazurs Mauro Colagreco will make his UK debut, with three eateries including all-day Italian restaurant Paper Moon, while Endo Kazutoshi will run a rooftop restaurant and sake bar.

Among its nine restaurants The OWO will also host offshoots of chic Parisian Cafe Laperouse and Milan fashion haunt Langosteria.

Overseeing the hotels look was Thierry Despont, the French interior designer and architect behind the 2016 Ritz Paris revamp and Statue of Liberty restoration in the 1980s

Power line When it was the Palace of Whitehall, this place had bowling alleys, a cockpit and a pheasant yard. As Raffles London at The OWO, recreation instead takes the form of Guerlains first UK spa, a four-level affair including nine treatment rooms, gym and yoga studios and a 20m swimming pool.

Health nuts can book in to the Lifestyle Suite, with room for yoga mats, TRX trainers and Peloton bikes, plus a specialised butler who can set up different types of baths, meditations and tea ceremonies at any time of the day or night. For non-residents, treatments start from 100.

Bottom line Rooms dont come cheap  rates begin at 1,100 a night for a classic room overlooking the grand internal courtyard. For the 500 sq m Whitehall Wing, which comprises six suites and an antique desk in the exact location that Winston Churchill used to sit? Price on application.

Jawline Guaranteed to be on the floor when you discover the prices for The OWO Residences by Raffles: 85 apartments built alongside the hotel.

Great lengths: The hotel's swimming pool

When they went on sale in late 2021, they set a new record for price per square foot in London, with a two-bedroom residence starting from 7.1 million.

Breadline The most affordable way into Raffles London at The OWO? Book afternoon tea, served from 2pm to 6pm all week in the drawing room, which costs 75 per person or 35 for a child.
Q My son, a lovely, caring young man of 21, has a girlfriend who we are not keen on.

Theyve been together a few months. Shes very needy but also overconfident and boastful. She is always bragging about how successful her parents are, how well her brother is doing at his elite school and so on.

We believe she has had a lot of issues in her past but we dont know what those are.

However, recently we discovered that this girl takes a great deal of cocaine. I understand from a friend of theirs that she has even carried the drug abroad when she and my son have been on holiday together.

Q My son, a lovely, caring young man of 21, has a girlfriend who we are not keen on. Theyve been together a few months. Shes very needy but also overconfident and boastful

They are intending to travel to Southeast Asia next year, which fills me with dread. My son is no longer speaking to his friends because they cant stand this girl.

She is very needy but also overconfident and boastful

My husband and I went to their flat to see if we could find evidence of drugs  it was filthy.

Im at a loss because he thinks hes in love. Ive asked him to come over to see us, but dont know how to tackle the problem because I know hell be on the defensive.

A This is very upsetting and scary for you. I am sure that you are also worried in case your son is taking cocaine.

I hope (because she sounds like a nightmare) that this will not be a long-term relationship.

As your son is very caring, he is perhaps drawn to her vulnerability. This neediness alongside her apparent arrogance may sound like an unusual combination, but often people who seem full of themselves and their achievements are masking a deep underlying insecurity.

They fear no one will like them, so they overexaggerate their accomplishments thinking it will make them more popular (whereas often it has the opposite effect).

Her arrogance may be masking a deep underlying insecurity

So you are right to tread very gently and to talk to him nonjudgmentally. It is important not to be critical of her because, as you suggest, he is likely to get defensive. Say simply that you are concerned because you know she takes cocaine.

People use drugs to fill an emotional void, so explain that you know she must be very unhappy and that you are concerned about the effect that her drug use will have on them both.

Ask him if he finds her cocaine-taking upsetting or difficult and say that you would like to help. Suggest that he contacts talktofrank.com or adfam.org.uk for advice on supporting her in tackling her addiction. (They would also be very useful sources for you, your husband and your sons friends in knowing how to talk to him.)

Explain your fears about him travelling abroad and ask if he knows about the dangers he might face. As you know, the penalties if caught carrying drugs to some countries in Southeast Asia are extremely severe.

I'M WORRIED ABOUT FRIENDS MEETING MY NEW MAN

Q After a bitter divorce four years ago from a man who constantly belittled me, I have fallen head over heels in love. My new partner of seven months is everything my husband wasnt  kind, thoughtful, funny and fantastic in bed.

My adult children like him a great deal. However, there is one problem, and I hate myself for even thinking this way: were from very different backgrounds.

Ive always been a career-orientated professional, as was my husband. My friends are similar to me and have affluent lifestyles.

However, my lovely new man left school at 16, has always worked in manual jobs and has never wanted a career.

It doesnt matter to me, but now some of my friends want to meet him and Im worried that they wont get on with each other or have anything in common.

Q After a bitter divorce four years ago from a man who constantly belittled me, I have fallen head over heels in love. However, there is one problem, and I hate myself for even thinking this way: were from very different backgrounds

A Try not to hate yourself as that just eats up your energy. It is natural to be worried about how a new partner will get on with your friends because they have probably been important to you for a long time and now so is he.

Of course it might be difficult initially because people are often more comfortable with the familiar. However, I think too much emphasis is put on careers and achievement as a way of defining someone.

As you have discovered through your husband, being a successful professional doesnt always equal nice or kind.

What your friends and your new man have in common is wanting the best for you. Unless your friends are shallow individuals (in which case why are they still your friends?)

Im sure that all will be fine. Hes already been accepted by your children, which is the most important test.
If youve ever wondered what you can do with odd scraps of fabric, then Jules Hainess house is where to find inspiration.

Her Victorian terrace is filled with examples of how to use leftover textiles: lampshades made from remnants of dress fabric, a fun canopy over her daughters bed, a patchwork quilt from scraps and curtains from a charity shop, reworked for the pantry.

She is the founder of her eponymous Haines Collection, which sells surplus designer fabrics, cushions and home accessories from high-end brands including Christopher Farr, Fermoie and Pierre Frey. She is an expert at repurposing preloved material.

Theres so much beautiful fabric out there that goes in the bin. I wanted to get it to people who could make use of it, she says.

Vintage fabric is the star attraction in the Haines family home, but the place contains treasures of all kinds, found everywhere from Facebook Marketplace to charity shops.

The sofa is stacked with cushions made of salvaged fabrics from Haines, including examples by Nicky Haslam and Susie Atkinson. The curtains and the covering on the ottoman are also from Haines

The striking upcycled fireplace was painted by the artist Josephine Blanchard using old Edward Bulmer Natural Paint samples (edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk). Plates above it have been collected from charity shops over the years. The table is made from old railway sleepers

Glass jars inherited from Juless grandmother have pride of place on old scaffolding boards. Coloured in red ochre by Edward Bulmer Natural Paint (edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk), these work perfectly with the leaf motifs  the work of wallpaper and fabric artist Anna French. The under-shelf curtain originated as a vintage pair, bought in a charity shop and repurposed

Haines and her husband Ollie moved into their four-bedroom house in the centre of Tunbridge Wells in Kent in 2017, when son Edward was 18 months old and daughter Jemima six months.

I wanted to live in the house to get a feel for it, she says. Also, when the children were very little, we thought wed let the place get a bit trashed while they were learning to walk, wiping hands on every surface and that kind of thing.

'But its also nice that weve waited to see how they needed the space to evolve as theyve grown up.

The house was structurally sound but had been modernised  period features had been stripped out and jarring new fixtures and fittings added.

We wanted to take the house back to where it should have been, explains Haines.

That included stripping black paint from the marble fireplaces, reintroducing dado rails and built-in cabinetry and using a period-sensitive colour palette throughout.

Haines is not a trained designer. She plans one space at a time, using a Pinterest board that she has built over several years.

By the time I tackle a new room, I have years worth of ideas in there, she says.

A vintage saddlebag found on Ebay and framed is now a piece of art above the bed  itself an old design by Loaf (loaf.com), a Jules reupholstering using remnant fabrics by Natasha Hulse

The family bathroom is adorned with a vintage bamboo mirror sourced on Ebay and a side table bought on Facebook Marketplace. The fabric for the yellow blind was a remnant from Haines Collection

Jules made the striped hanging canopies in lockdown using fabric from Blithfield (blithfield.co.uk), supplied by Haines. The marble table lamp and the pendant were both charity shop finds, the curtain fabric a Haines remnant by Christopher Farr (christopherfarrcloth.com)

She also has a hoard of fabric to choose from. I store up special things, often with no immediate project in mind. For the tub chairs [both unearthed on Facebook Marketplace] in my bedroom

I used a vintage John Stefanidis fabric Id had for about three years. I gather, gather, gather, and then, when Im ready, I have got things at my disposal.

With her knack for reusing old furniture there is an element of pot luck to her design.

You do have to stay fluid if youre using second hand, but I always know what my end goal is, and what feeling I want to create in a room, Haines says. How I get there might change, but thats part of the fun.
Prince John suffered from severe epilepsy and lived out of the public spotlight

Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon spent most of their lives in an asylum

They are the royals who were kept at arm's length, albeit for starkly different reasons.

Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, severely disabled cousins of the late Queen, were cared for in an asylum and listed as dead from 1963, even though they were very much alive.

Prince John, the youngest child of King George V, was hidden away from the public spotlight at Sandringham's Wood Farm, due to his severe epilepsy.

And Prince Charles Edward, the grandson of Queen Victoria, was sent away as a teenager from his home to Germany, where he got wrapped up in Nazism and died penniless, stripped of his English titles and honour.

They are barely spoken about now, symbols of an age when things were very different, when illness was poorly understood and, in Charles Edward's case, war destroyed the unity of England and Germany's intertwined royal families.

Katherine and Nerissa Bowes Lyon, severely disabled cousins of the late Queen, were cared for in an asylum and listed as dead from 1963, even though they were very much alive. Above: Katherine (left) and her sister

When disability was a family's mark of shame

Nerissa was born in February 1919, with her sister arriving seven years later. Within months of their births, it was clear they had severe disabilities.

Their father, John Herbert Bowes-Lyon, was one of the future Queen Mother's brothers.

He and his wife Fenella had already experienced the tragedy of losing their first daughter early in their marriage.

Nerissa and Katherine were born in an era when mental disability was seen as a sign that a family was suspect or wrong in some way.

John Bowes-Lyon, broken by his daughters' plight, died aged just 44 in 1930.

The girls' tragic story only became public knowledge in 1987, after Nerissa passed away the previous year.

Journalists discovered she had been buried in a grave marked only by a plastic name-tag and a serial number - M IIII25.

Katherine Bowes-Lyon is seen at her care home. She died in 2014 aged 87

Nerissa was born in February 1919, with her sister arriving seven years later. Within months of their births, it was clear they had severe disabilities. Their father, John Herbert Bowes-Lyon, was one of the future Queen Mother's brothers

The sisters had even been listed as dead in the 1963 edition of Burke's Peerage, which said Katherine had died in 1961 and Nerissa 19 years earlier.

They were initially secretly sent to Arniston School in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, an institution that had been set up for handicapped children of high society figures.

Then, in 1941 following the outbreak of the Second World War, Nerissa and her sister were transferred to the Royal Earlswood Asylum for Mental Defectives, at Redhill in Surrey.

Nerissa would remain at the institution for the rest of her life.

Earlswood was the first purpose-built asylum for people with mental disabilities, but was a far cry from today's standards.

The shocking story of their incarceration came to light shortly after Nerissa's death, when journalists discovered she was buried in a grave marked only by a plastic name-tag and a serial number

The two sisters were the nieces of the Queen Mother; their father John Bowes-Lyon was her brother, making them first cousins to the Queen

Patients were only given their own clothes when they had visitors, and at least one former nurse claimed patients were abused.

Incredibly, Katherine and Nerissa were sent to Earlswood on the same day that their maternal cousins Etheldreda, Idonea and Rosemary - daughters of Coldstream Guardsman Henry Fane and his wife Harriet Trefusis - were also admitted.

Although Rosemary died in the early 1970s, her sisters continued to share a ward with the Bowes-Lyons.

Whilst Katherine and Nerissa were initially visited by their mother and sister Anne, the family meetings became less and less frequent because Katherine and Nerissa were unable to communicate in any meaningful way.

Speaking in a 2011 Channel 4 documentary, Onelle Braithwaite, who as a nurse cared for the girls, said: 'If the Queen or Queen Mum were ever on television, they'd curtsey  very regal, very low. Obviously there was some sort of memory.

In 1941, following the outbreak of the Second World War, Nerissa and her sister were transferred to the Royal Earlswood Asylum for Mental Defectives (pictured), at Redhill in Surrey. It was later renamed the Royal Earlswood Hospital

'It was so sad. Just think of the life they might have had. They were two lovely sisters.

'They didn't have any speech but they'd point and make noises, and when you knew them, you could understand what they were trying to say.

'Today they'd probably be given speech therapy and they'd communicate much better. They understood more than you'd think.'

Former ward sister Dot Penfold added: 'They were no problem to look after but they were mischievous, like naughty children.

'Katherine was a scallywag. You could scream at her and she'd turn a deaf ear.'

The Queen Mother with her daughters Princess Elizabeth, future Queen Elizabeth II, left and Princess Margaret, right, in 1937. The Queen Mother was only told that her nieces were still alive in 1982

The Daily Mail told in 1987 how the Queen Mother had only been told the sisters were still alive in 1982.

She is said to have immediately responded with an offer of support and sent presents.

The depiction of the sisters and their treatment in Netflix series The Crown provoked 'frustration' among their relatives.

Princess Margaret, played by Helena Bonham Carter, was seen being told of their existence by a therapist.

Appalled, she was seen lambasting her mother, played by Marion Bailey, who then said in the show: 'I went from being the wife of the Duke of York, leading a relatively normal life, to being Queen.

The Daily Mail told in 1987 how the sisters' existence had become public knowledge

'At the same time my family, the Bowes-Lyons, went from being minor Scottish aristocrats to having a direct bloodline to the crown, resulting in the children of my brother paying a terrible price.

'Their illness, their imbecility - their professionally diagnosed idiocy and imbecility - would make people question the integrity of the bloodline.

'Can you imagine the headlines if it were to get out? The idea that one family alone has the automatic birthright to the crown is already so hard to justify, the gene pool of that family better have 100 per cent purity.

'There have been enough examples on the Windsor side alone to worry people... if you add the Bowes-Lyon illnesses to that, the danger is it becomes untenable.'

But David Bowes-Lyon, 73, whose father was a first cousin of the Queen Mother once removed, said the storyline was 'complete fantasy'.

He said Margaret was well aware of the girls' existence, and 'knew who they were in every respect'.

Katherine outlived her sister by nearly two decades, passing away aged 87 in 2014. She was moved to a care home in Surrey after Earlswood closed in the 1990s.

A loveable rogue boy prince hamstrung by illness

Exactly a month before Nerissa was born, when the Bowes-Lyon family were still only known as Scottish aristocrats, the youngest child of King George V died away from the public eye.

The 13-year-old Prince John, who was found to be suffering from epilepsy in the early years of his life, suffered a fatal fit at the secluded Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate.

Prince John with his sister Princess Mary and his mother, Queen Mary. The little boy was kept out of the public eye due to his epilepsy

Prince John was the youngest of King George V and Queen Mary's six children and the fifth boy

Prince John (left front) is seen with his four brothers and sister Princess Mary at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight

It was there that he had been sent after his epileptic fits became more frequent and severe.

At the time, there was virtually no treatment for epilepsy, and those who suffered from it were shown little sympathy.

He went from playing a full part in public family life to having to live totally away from the spotlight and his family, with his parents visiting him less and less as his condition showed no signs of improvement.

The Daily Mail's obituary of the youngster told of a love of pranks which saw him dubbed 'the demon'.

Prince John is seen with his brother Prince George in 1909, ten years before his death

The Prince is seen with his parents in a rare public outing, to the Great Allied War Photographic Exhibition in 1919

On one occasion he daubed his face with colour from his sister Princess Mary's paint set before bursting in to a lunch party being held by his parents at Sandringham.

Another incident saw him climb into a car and then start it up, before he was 'rescued without any harm done'.

John's life was covered in award-winning TV drama The Lost Prince in 2003.

The favourite grandson who descended into Nazism

Queen Victoria's grandson Prince Charles Edward, the Duke of Albany, was another royal who was kept at arm's length by his family.

Born at Claremont House in Surrey in 1884, the Prince, whose first cousins were King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Russia's Tsar Nicholas II, was his grandmother's favourite grandson.

But the elderly monarch ultimately made a decision that would change his life forever.

Despite the fact he could not even speak German, Victoria made him the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, the principality where her late husband, Prince Albert, had come from.

Queen Victoria's grandson Prince Charles Edward, the Duke of Albany, was another royal who was kept at arm's length by his family

Aged just 16, he was forced to leave his home to take up his Dukedom, which saw him gain control of 13 castles in Germany and Austria, hunting lodges, a power station and thousands of acres of farmland.

The Daily Mail's 1933 report of the Duke's visit to see the King and Queen at Sandringham

The Kaiser married Charles Edward off to his niece, Victoria, and sent him to enroll in Germany's top military academy.

So when the First World War broke out in 1914, the thoroughly British Charles Edward found himself fighting for Germany.

His woe deepened when King George V, under political pressure, dropped the German Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family name, replacing it with Windsor.

After Germany's defeat in the war, George removed his cousin's British titles and his status of Royal Highness, and he was declared a 'traitor peer'.

With the Kaiser having been forced to abdicate and Communism now on the rise in Germany, Charles Edward chose to ally himself with the increasingly popular Nazis.

By the time that Adolf Hitler had become Chancellor of Germany, Charles Edward was a fervent supporter.

When King George V died in 1936, Charles Edward did return for the funeral, but, because he had been stripped of the right to wear British military uniform, instead donned German military attire, including a stormtrooper's helmet.

As president of the newly-formed Anglo-German Fellowship, when his cousin King Edward III began his ill-fated 11 months on the throne, Charles Edward tried to engineer personal dealings between the monarch and Hitler.

Edward's abdication to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson scuppered the plan.

But the disgraced former monarch did then go to Germany to meet Hitler in 1937.

Charles Edward (front right in German military uniform) is seen in his role as president of the German Red Cross, inspecting in an institution in the 1930s

Charles Edward (left) is seen with SS doctor Ernst-Robert Grawitz in 1937. Gawitz was involved in the funding of programs aimed at eradicating homosexuality. He also headed experiments on inmates at concentration camps

Charles Edward's links with Nazism deepened when Hitler made him president of the German Red Cross, a role which saw him preside over a horrific programme of enforced euthanasia.

It saw 100,000 mostly disabled people, including children, murdered by the Nazis because they were deemed unworthy of life.

After the Second World War broke out, Charles Edward's three sons fought for Germany, with one dying on the Eastern Front.

Charles Edward is seen in his German uniform, with a Swastika pinned to his lapel

Though he was warned by Hitler not to fall into the hands of the Americans amid Germany's defeat in 1945, that is exactly what happened to the wayward Prince.

His sister Princess Alice, who was alone among the royals in standing by him, flew to Germany and found him starving in a prisoner-of-war camp, 'scavenging on a rubbish dump to find a tin to eat from'.

Put on trial and accused of being a Nazi, Charles Edward claimed he had not known of any of the crimes committed by the regime.

But the court concluded he was an 'important Nazi' and confiscated his homes and estates.

Almost bankrupted by the fines that he was also slapped with, Charles Edward was allowed to live in a cottage in the stables of one of his estates, after only escaping prison because of his poor health.

Unable to ever return to Britain, he did get one final piece of comfort when he went to a cinema to watch a film of the Queen's Coronation in 1953.

Charles Edward is seen in ceremonial uniform in 1932. He achieved the senior rank of Obergruppenfuhrer

Speaking in 2007, his granddaughter Victoria said he 'would have cried' at the sight, knowing that he could have been there too. 'I think that must have been the worst moment,' she added.

In 1954, the Prince who as a 16-year-old Eton schoolboy had been forced to leave his homeland passed away aged 69.

He died in the bed that, aged 16, he had brought with him from Claremont House as a memento of England.

But despite the love of the country of his birth, Charles Edward's descent into the clutches of Nazism meant he became an object of embarrassment for the royals.
Two florists have been slammed for allegedly running fraud schemes - as the Better Business Bureau of Metro New York has warned customers about shopping with them.

Roger Florist and Baby Blue Florist have racked up more than 1,600 complaints from customers who say they were scammed, according to the BBB's latest investigation.

Customers say that they place an order with their credit card, and then an email arrives the same day informing them that that their order was cancelled. They're told they will be getting a refund, but the refund never comes.

Edward Williams, 53, a disabled retiree from Baltimore, who lives on a fixed income told DailyMail.com that he ordered flowers from Baby Blue Florists and was duped twice.

The first order was for a sick friend who was in hospital, and the second to say thank you to hospital staff for their help.

It was only after he relentlessly attempted to get his money back by getting his bank get involved and filing a complaint with the BBB that the business issued a refund.

'Why is this florist still in business? They are a fraud,' Williams said. 'I was fortunate enough to get my money but there are probably thousands who lost money.'

He is now warning others of the scam and telling buyers to 'be aware.'

Roger Florist claims to have a Melville, Long Island address, while Baby Blue Florist says they operate out of Oyster Bay in Long Island.

The BBB has recieved nearly 50 complaints regarding Baby Blue Florist (pictured) since May

Pictured: A Walk in the Sun floral arrangement priced at $43.24 on the Baby Blue Florist site. The bouquet is a 'sale' item and the company writes 'free same day delivery on all orders'

Pictured: Baby's First Block Bouquet priced at $55.99 on the Baby Blue Flowers website is another 'sale' item on the site

Edward Williams, 53, a disabled retiree from Baltimore, who lives on a fixed income told DailyMail.com that he ordered flowers from Baby Blue Florists and was duped twice

When individuals visit the Roger Florist an error appears on the page indicating that the website may be down. Though the BBB said they continue to process complaints and reviews about the company when they receive them.

On the Baby Blue Florist website there are numerous photos of floral arrangements for different occassions, including gift baskets and wreaths. The company lists many items on 'sale' and claim they specialize in 'last minute orders.'

The site also states 'the business has more than 50 years combined experience and that their member network allows them to service its customers nationwide in over 10,000 cities.'

A logo from the Better Business Bureau and the Society of American Florists appear on their site, but according to both organization their logos should not be displayed.

'The firm is not currently a BBB Accredited Business with the Better Business Bureau serving metropolitan New York, the service area in which it is headquartered,' the agency told DailyMail.com.

On May 8, the BBB requested that Baby Blue Florist cease and desist all unauthorized used of the their trademarks, but they had not responded or complied with any of their requests, the agency said.

On Thursday, the American Society of Flowers (SAF) told DailyMail.com that Baby Blue Florists and Roger Florist are not members of their organization and never have been.

'They are both using our name and logo illegally on their websites,' said SAF's CEO Kate Penn.

Penn said the American Society of Flowers is a national trade association that represents all segments of the U.S. floral industry with more than 2,500 member organizations.

She said the organization's law firm sent Roger Florist a cease-and-desist letter in May and will be doing the same for Baby Blue Flowers.

BBB Business Profile on Roger Florist LLC. The company has an F-rating and has up to 1,571 complaints since July 2022. The website is no longer in operation

BBB Business Profile of Baby Blue Florist LLC has an F-rating and one star review. The business claims they are accredited by the BBB but according to the BBB they are not. The agency had asked them several times to have them remove the seal but they have not done so

If you use Google maps to look at the 34 Audrey Avenue in Oyster Bay- it looks like a real estate office and there is no evidence of a florist in that location

When customers log onto the Roger Florist website an error displays on the screen

Furious customers not only voiced their complaints to the BBB but to also a review platform called Trust Pilot and ScamWatcher.

A customer from Princeton, New Jersey, who identified themselves as 'Roger Florist Scam Victim,' reported their horrid experience in September 2022 and posted the scathing complaint with the caption: 'Cancelled my order but kept my money.'

The person shared that they were ordering flowers for a funeral and found Roger Florist after doing a Google search on florists in their area.

After they placed the order and the credit charge went through the patron received an email an hour later informing them that the order was cancelled.

The company claimed the flowers could not be delivered because there was no delivery service in that area, but was guaranteed a refund in 10 to 20 days. The complainant said the refund never came.

In the post, the person showed two different addresses that they allege are 'fake.' They noted that the Melville Long Island address is a Bank of America and the New Jersey address is a drug store.

'They are scammers and have been doing this for a while under different names. They need to be shut down,' the person wrote, in part.

Earlier this month, another complaint was posted to Trust Pilot from a customer, who described herself as a 'senior on a fixed income.'

She said she placed a flower order on September 6 but was told her order had been cancelled after she made the payment.

As of September 12, she said she was still waiting for the refund that the company promised to issue.

'I truly cannot afford to lose any money through scams, she quipped. 'You should be ashamed!'

Claire Rosenzweig, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Metro New York told DailyMail.com that 'consumers who have filed complaints with BBB on these two florists have reported similar practices of taking orders, then canceling them, followed by problems getting a refund.'

Though, she added that some customers did eventually get their money back after they filed a complaint with BBB they continue to urge customers to exercise caution.

'We urge anyone who has lost money to an online florist, or any other company, to file a complaint at BBB.org,' she said. 'We will do our best to resolve the issue as possible.'

A customer wrote on the company's website warning consumers of their horrid ordeal. The user who identified themselves as 'Roger Florist Scam Victim' of Princeton, New Jersey urges that the florist 'needs to be shut down'

A woman who described herself as a 'senior on fixed income' posted on the Trust Pilot platform about her poor experience and captioned: 'Where is my refund'

Scam Watcher posted complaints by individuals who ordered flowers from Roger Florists between May and June. Some posted that they wre scammed and that they will be notifying the authorities. According to the BBB, the Roger Florist website is no longer up

The Customer Happiness Manager at Baby Blue Flowers sent a letter to a customer named 'Lila' informing them that their order has been cancelled and that a full refund will be issued
EXCLUSIVE

William Tyrrell's foster father launched into a vile tirade about a 10-year-old girl, calling her a 'f***ing lazy c***', police allege in court evidence witnessed by Daily Mail Australia.

The foster father, known as JS, launched into an expletive-laden rant about the girl about 7.40am on November 23, 2020, according to evidence played at Parramatta Local Court.

In a recording, JS could be heard claiming that the girl had ruined the lives of both he and his wife. He yelled at the crying girl: 'Move, f***ing move,' according to the recordings.

In recordings made in a North Shore house and in a vehicle, JS was trying to get out the girl out of the couple's freshly renovated, five bedroom property to go to school. However, she was having trouble with the door, due to the property modifications, which had been made due to an impending sale.

The verbal attack led to the girl telling a primary school teacher she 'feared (William's foster dad) and was afraid to return home', although she did return to the property that afternoon.

The house was later sold for several million dollars after the foster parents illegally used a dummy bidder to fetch a higher price - an offence to which William's foster parents have since pleaded guilty.

William Tyrrell's foster father (right, above with the foster mother at Parramatta court last week) was recorded uttering a vile comment about a then 10-year-old girl, according to recordings played in court

The verbal encounters between JS and the schoolgirl are part of the prosecution case against JS, who has pleaded not guilty to two charges: common assault against a child and stalk, intimidate and cause fear of physical or mental harm against a child.

The 58-year-old foster mother has pleaded guilty to two counts of common assault on the girl and not guilty to two stalk and intimidate charges against the same girl.

The recordings allege that during the morning in question, the foster father began ranting as he urged the young schoolgirl to hurry.

'I am done with this family, I am over, I am out, I am f***ing out, this is f***ing ridiculous, I am f***ing over it, f***ing stupid little sh*t,' he said, according to the recordings played in court.

He then said to the girl: 'I am done (girl's name). You don't understand, you do this every day, every day, every day, every day, every day. I am done with your s**t (girl's name) I am done with it.

'It's all about you, what you want to do in your bloody time, you talk to us so bloody rudely, so rude. We have done nothing to you.

'All we have done is support you, you, we have fed you, we have housed you and you treat us like s***.'

Seconds later JS is recorded talking to himself, saying 'f***ing lazy c*** - ohhh I think I am better off f***ing done,' the recordings said.

Some of the disturbing recordings of confrontations - including when the foster mother hit the girl with a wooden spoon, and the foster father made a vile comment to the girl - took place in what was meant to be William Tyrrell's 'forever home' (above)

The home where the alleged incident occurred was once previously portrayed as a special place for William Tyrrell 'to one day return'.

After William disappeared aged three from his foster grandmother's house in September 2014, the foster parents wrote in a public letter about their heartbreak that the toddler would never get to enjoy their 'forever family home'.

However, they still held out hope he would return to his renovated bedroom they described as a 'special magical place'.

More details have emerged about the household where the foster parents lived with two young girls, including an 11-year-old who the foster mother SD (left) has pleaded guilty to assaulting

Foster parents' allegedly threatened cooking strike

Daily Mail Australia can reveal further details of Williams' foster parents' alleged behaviour toward the girl.

They threatened to go on strike with washing and ironing the girl's clothes, claiming 'it's not fair' on them, according to the court recordings.

In another recording, outlined in court , the foster father demanded another child, a six-year-old girl, stacks a dishwasher 'faster' and 'faster ... try with two hands. Come on let's go, keep going, keep going'.

While the family was still living inside the 'forever home' the foster father angrily drives the older girl - who is at that point aged just 10 years old - to school in an aggressive manner with the motor roaring and tyres screeching, the recordings reveal.

After a confrontation between the girl and the foster mother on May 9, 2021 over whether she could get 'some more undies', the foster father says he will put harsh rules into place at the house.

'I will not cook for you from now on, I will ask (William's foster mother, known as SD) not to do any of your washing and ironing from now on. You will be on your own.

The foster mother (left) of William Tyrrell (right) berated the girl saying she wasn't being fair to the parents - a sentiment the foster father agreed with

'You will have to fend for yourself, 'cos it's not fair,' he tells the girl, who begins crying, the recordings recount.

On the evening of June 11, 2021, the foster parents tell the girl she has been giving 'filthy looks' to SD, who tells her 'stop it now, stop it now, stop it now, stop it now', to which the girls says: 'I have done nothing wrong'.

The foster father then says, 'One more and you're going to cop it like you've never copped it before... stop it, stop this crying, do this, f***. You are so selfish, beyond, beyond .... shower, teeth, bed ... if I hear anything from you Jesus Christ you are going to cop it.'

Weeks later, on August 30, 2021, the foster mother complains the girl did not clean her room to a satisfactory level and when the girl says 'this isn't fair', SD goes off, the recordings said.

'Sit down, you want to know what's not fair? What's not fair is an 11-year-old thinking they call the shots. What's not fair is an 11-year-old lying. What's not fair is an 11-year-old stealing.

On the tape, the foster father could be heard muttering after a clash with the girl, 11, 'all we have done is support you... fed you ... housed you .... f***ing lazy c***'

'What's not fair is an 11-year-old thinking they are better than everyone else. What's not fair is an 11-year-old bullying others. That's what's not fair.'

Crying, the girl protests 'I have done absolutely nothing of that stuff. I haven't bullied anyone, I haven't stolen anything.'

On October 9, 2021, the foster father addresses the girl about chores and again threatens to stop doing tasks for her, saying: "I am not going to do anything for you. I am not going to cook for you, I am not going to clean for you,' the recordings allege.

'You're such a disrespectful little girl, every time I ask you to do something you don't do it, so f***ing don't do it.'

Eleven days later, the girl enters the kitchen and asks the foster father for a hug, to which he replies, 'what for, what do you want a hug for', indicating he has to unstack the dishwasher.

The foster father (above) told the girl, 11, that he would no longer cook for her and the foster mother would no longer wash her clothes, in secret police recordings of the parents made inside two different homes

The worst recording occurred in the five-bedroom mansion - described by the foster parents as the 'forever home' and 'magical place' of missing William Tyrrell - which they sold 17 days later with an illegal dummy bid for millions

The girl is then berated for not exiting her bedroom on the dot of 7am instead of 12 minutes later and receives a time out, and then is allegedly grabbed around the neck by the foster father and forced to the floor.

Foster father: 'Sit down before I smack you.'

Foster mother: 'Do you want to get to the fact that he wants to smack you... you seriously want to go there?'

At 7.48am the footsteps of the foster mother can be heard moving towards the girl, and SD then kicks the girl's left thigh, causing her to scream in pain and cry, the recordings said.

Bombshell report

As more details emerge about the alleged violent and conflicted conditions inside what was once William's 'forever home' and another Sydney North Shore house, it can also be revealed that a highly critical clinical psychologist's report about the couple has been tendered to the court.

Leading Children's Court clinical psychologist Dr Gary Banks produced an assessment of the home environment provided by the foster parents, SD and JS, to young children.

The report is believed to be scathing of their handling of young children, and in court proceedings earlier this year, the foster father's barrister, Phillip English, argued it was irrelevant to JS's case.

Mr English repeatedly requested Magistrate Susan McIntyre dismiss the report during a court hearing.

Magistrate McIntyre told the court she had read the report and did not need it for her final assessment of JS and SD's guilt or innocence, which she will determine by January 2024.

However Dr Banks' report is believed to form part of the final submissions to the court before Her Honour's findings are delivered.

During a week of hearings in early September, the court was played harrowing audio of verbal and physical fights with the young girl in the home.

The case is now adjourned until December, and Magistrate McIntyre will deliver her findings in January 2024.

Both foster parents have pleaded guilty to a statutory charge of rigging the sale of the 'forever home' by using a dummy bidder for fetch a higher price.

The new downgraded charge agreed to by the couple under the Property & Stock Agents Act, which comes under the NSW Department of Fair Trading, is 'did procure other person to place a dummy bid on behalf of seller at auction'.
A school educating Birmingham's expelled children was paid nearly twice the fee per pupil as a nearby top public school - despite an official report concluding the council did not know if children were taught anything in unsupervised 'home study'.

Independent school Flexible Learning (FL) was paid more than 4.5million in three years by Birmingham City Council despite having no written contract, according to an internal audit marked 'official - sensitive', which was leaked to MailOnline.

The report said an arrangement had been made where permanently excluded pupils were automatically placed at the school based on a small site in Hockley, central Birmingham if no places were available at the City of Birmingham School (COBS).

Auditors at the now-bankrupt Labour-run council also said there was a 'safeguarding risk' for the approximately 50 children attending the school as the council was not keeping track of them as well as they should have.

The cost to the city council averages to 30,000 per pupil per year, nearly twice the cost of one of Birmingham's most expensive public schools, King Edward's School, which has fees of around 17,000 a year.

Independent school Flexible Learning (pictured) was paid more than 4.5million in three years with no written contract, according to a Birmingham City Council audit marked 'official - sensitive', which was leaked to MailOnline

This graph shows Birmingham Council paid Flexible Learning 30,000 per pupil per year - compared to public schools in the city who have fees nearly half as high and the UK average public school fees and average state school spending

FL charge the city council 30,000 per pupil per year, which is nearly twice the cost of one of Birmingham's most expensive public schools, King Edward's School (pictured), which has fees of around 17,000 a year

The amount charged by Flexible Learning is around three fifths that of Eton College, one of Britain's most expensive boarding schools, which has fees of around 50,000 per year.

A recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the average spend on British pupils in state schools was around 8,000 per year - and fees in the UK's public schools are around 15,200 per year on average.

Flexible Learning School, run by head Shamim Akhtar, saw its bank balance rise from less than 26,000 in 2018, to more than 760,000 by 2021, according to Companies House records.

Birmingham City Council launched an audit after the school wrote during the 2020/21 complaining that more than 1million worth of invoices were unpaid. These were later paid after they had been checked.

The school charged 'questionable' rates of 25 an hour for unsupervised 'home study', the report claims, adding that the council had 'no records of agreed prices'.

It also said that the council was 'vulnerable to error' as the invoice checking process had 'limitations' as the authority maintained 'no records' of placements, apart from a few held before December 2019.

Council officers, who had since left, had established an automatic system provide places at Flexible Learning when a pupil appeared on a City of Birmingham School waiting list, the report said.

It added that no one in the council was overseeing the commissioning of individual placements and that Flexible Learning 'decided on required provision in conjunction with the pupils' parents, as BCC had not established a process for consultation or agreement'.

The council was not 'adequately' fulfilling its legal duty as commissioner as is required under guidance from the Department for Education.

Only two pupils were still attending the school by the time of the report as arrangements had been made to move around 50 pupils out of FL to COBS in September 2021.

Pupils received differing total hours of education, a significant proportion of which were claimed to be 'unsupervised "home study" ', the report said.

Auditors recommended the council 'establish the legitimacy or otherwise' of the claims on invoices issued by the school for unsupervised 'home studies'.

Flexible Learning School (pictured), run by head Shamim Akhtar, saw its bank balance rise from less than 26,000 in 2018, to more than 760,000 by 2021, according to Companies House records

The report also says that a May 2021 invoice record from FL, showed that pupils received 20 hours a week of education (a significant proportion of which was 'home study') - less than the DfE's recommendation of 21 to 25 hours per week.

The school charged 75 per hour for a group of three pupils and 25 per hour for online tuition and home study, according to the report.

The report said that no one in the service area could explain exactly what was provided for these teaching arrangements. Auditors were 'particularly concerned' about home study and questioned whether it was good value for money if there was no tuition or supervision of pupils.

A source told MailOnline that a process of reconciliation was started to ascertain if pupils were being taught during 'home study' but due to a lack of data most invoices ended up being paid.

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The Exclusions Team no longer commissions any places with the Flexible Learning Group.

'It concluded a settlement agreement with Flexible Learning in resolution of a dispute which had arisen between the parties.'

MailOnline has contacted Flexible Learning School for comment.

Do YOU have a story on Birmingham Council? Email oliver.price@mailonline.co.uk
International students who 'sacrificed everything' to go to university in Britain have been left appalled by the state of this country's education system.

After six years of staff strikes in a row, lecturers and professors - whose salaries can exceed 100,000 - decided to hold a marking boycott this year, leaving many students without degrees at the end of term.

However, it may have backfired spectacularly because students have finally turned their anger on the striking lecturers who are holding their degrees to ransom over a pay dispute with university bosses.

Students from Royal Holloway told MailOnline they had been left with no degree, unable to get a graduate job or even stay in the country after paying more than 70,000 for their education.

The hard-pressed students have accused universities and student unions of pandering to the striking staff who are inflicting so much pain.

International students who 'sacrificed everything' to go to university in Britain have been left appalled by the state of this country's education system. Students like Nkeiruka Whenu (left) and Rory Thompson-Bird (centre) have spoken out against their treatment

Students from Royal Holloway (pictured) told MailOnline they had been left with no degree, unable to get a graduate job or even stay in the country after paying more than 70,000 for their education

After six years of staff strikes in a row, lecturers and professors - whose salaries can exceed 100,000 - decided to hold a marking boycott this year, leaving many students without degrees at the end of term. Pictured: The University and College Union, which is organising the strikes has held strikes for years

Moad Sati, 21, is a computer science student at Royal Holloway from Morocco.

He said: 'Coming from a developing country, my expectations were high but it's upsetting to see those expectations unravel.

He said the university had kept him in the dark for months and left him 'disheartened' without any support.

He added: 'It took the uni so long to be transparent with us.

'Because of that I wasn't able to apply for a masters, which is an issue for me if I want to be alt to apply for a Visa. I have to leave the UK and stay in my home country.

'I feel robbed. They are just telling us to wait and wait and wait.

'We have been waiting since May.'

Another computer science student told MailOnline after spending more than 70,000 on his education in Britain, 'overall it hasn't been that good'.

He said striking staff were to blame for ruining his time at university but added the university's response left a lot to be desired.

He said: 'I have a feeling they aren't doing as much about it as they could be.

'Everyone is at a standstill.

'It's not right that they are not marking our exams because of something that's going on with them. I would like to see a bit more support from the Student Union.

'It's been over two months since I took my last exams.

'It's unfair. They are putting the lives of students on the line for [issues over their] pay.'

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is unacceptable that students, many of whom have already suffered significant disruption to their studies over recent years, have faced further disruption and uncertainty due to strikes'

Computer science student Nkeiruka Whenu, 22, (pictured) said students were seeking compensation from the university. She told MailOnline: 'We have had enough'

Although marking has since resumed, he said he won't receive his grades for another few months, by which time the graduate jobs will all be gone.

In total he has paid more than 70,000 for four years of education in the UK, not including plane tickets from the UAE and living costs.

He added: 'We have had to sell cars just for that. You can see how it feels when we have been sacrificing everything for this education and then not getting it back.'

The University and College Union (UCU) said it was taking the action in a bid to secure higher wages.

The marking and assessment boycott meant that from April 20, lecturers had not been grading coursework or exams, as they ceased carrying out duties beyond their contract.

When the boycott was announced, students branded it a 'slap in the face', with many fearing they will fail to graduate due to not receiving their marks in time.

The action is affecting 144 UK institutions.

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has repeatedly failed to reach an agreement over pay with the university unions.

Staff demanding a pay rise say their real-terms wages have been slashed by 20 per cent since 2009 - while more than half of vice chancellors are earning more than 300,000 per year.

Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said it was 'irresponsible' of academics not to let students move on with their careers.

READ MORE: Now staff at 140 universities across the UK vow to strike for five days at start of term amid long-running row over pay and working conditions Advertisement

He said: 'It's very hard and unfair on the students and it's a great pity that the university couldn't come up with a better way of handling the situation.

'And it's irresponsible of academic staff to make it difficult for students to move on to the next phase of their lives.'

Meanwhile Dan Hawes, co-founder of the Graduate Recruitment Bureau (GRB), one of the UK's biggest graduate recruitment consultancy, said employees risked being left in limbo.

He said: 'Understandably, there will be some recruiters who want to see some evidence that they've completed their degree as a graduate.

'But employers will have to accept that they're going to have to hold on until October if they do want a definite grade.

'They will be in limbo, it will have a knock-on effect.'

Computer science student Nkeiruka Whenu, 22, is also at Royal Holloway.

She said students were seeking compensation from the university.

Nkeiruka told MailOnline: 'We have had enough.

'People have been affected mentally, financially and in terms of their homes.

'Our wellbeing team at Royal Holloway is atrocious.

'The way Royal Holloway has approached this has been very poor.

'They are making more than enough from the students to offer help or compensation.'

The latest financial reports revealed the University made 201million last year.

Nkeiruka's coursemate Dan, 22, is a disabled student who was left jobless after lecturers refused to mark almost half of the modules in his degree.

He said: 'It felt like a bit of a kick in the teeth. I have had to apply for council housing.'

'[Royal Holloway is] being very loosey goosey with how they are dealing with the whole situation.'

Jo Grady is the general secretary for the University and College Union, which is organising the strikes.

She told MailOnline: 'The blame for the disruption in our universities lies firmly with the bosses, who have made it clear they would rather throw students under the bus than settle this dispute.

Jo Grady (pictured) is the general secretary for the University and College Union, which is organising the strikes. She told MailOnline: 'The UK higher education sector presents itself as a world leader, but it is riddled with casualisation, insecurity and low pay - our members have no choice but to stand up for themselves'

One of the students at Royal Holloway told MailOnline: 'It's not right that they are not marking our exams because of something that's going on with them. It's unfair.' Pictured: University staff on strike in September

'The UK higher education sector presents itself as a world leader, but it is riddled with casualisation, insecurity and low pay - our members have no choice but to stand up for themselves.

'Employers' failure to use the sector's huge wealth to support staff and allow students to graduate condemns higher education to continued disruption throughout the rest of the academic year.

'Our members will not stop fighting until they get what they deserve.'

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'It is unacceptable that students, many of whom have already suffered significant disruption to their studies over recent years, have faced further disruption and uncertainty due to strikes.

'We strongly urge all parties involved in this industrial dispute to resume negotiations and to reach a resolution so that further disruption can be avoided.'

A spokesperson from Royal Holloway said: 'We are very sorry for the disruption our students have experienced as part of the nationwide University and College Union's (UCU) industrial action, and we have tried to mitigate the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on our students as much as we can.

'The national UCU advised Royal Holloway on Wednesday 6 September that they have withdrawn their notice for the marking and assessment boycott, and are no longer asking their members to take part in the action. We very much welcome this announcement from UCU, as it means an end to the delay for any students who are still waiting for marks.

'Our absolute priority is to ensure that marking is completed promptly so that we can provide all our students with their marks and outcomes. The vast majority of our students do already have their results, and we are communicating regularly with students in affected subjects.

'We understand that the industrial action will have caused concerns and uncertainty, and we have set up a dedicated complaints procedure for any student who has been impacted by the disruption to results. We are also supporting our students with communications with potential employers or institutions, and our Careers service is available to provide support students for two years after they've graduated. Our International Student Support Office can support with any problems with student visas. We are encouraging any of our students who feels overwhelmed or anxious to seek support and advice from our Wellbeing team.'

Royal Holloway's Student Union did not respond to a request for comment.
Holidaymakers in the Czech Republic were mortified after waking up to find over 250 bats sleeping in their hotel room.

Skin-crawling photos show an animal rescue worker, Radek Zemen, and the hotel receptionist attempting to net the 256 creatures that had dozed off after flying through an open window.

The guests, who were a couple, had been staying at the three-star Art Nouveau Sloven Hotel in the town of Plzen when they decided to leave their bedroom window open before going to sleep.

They had also left the bedroom door leading to the corridor slightly ajar because of the sweltering heat.

But when they awoke they found the 256 Soprano bats dozing on the walls, ceiling and curtains. Another 11 were found dead.

Holidaymakers in the Czech Republic were mortified after waking up to find over 250 bats sleeping in their hotel room. Pictured: An animal rescue worker tries to catch the bats

When the guests awoke they found the 256 Soprano bats dozing on the walls, ceiling and curtains

Skin-crawling photos show an animal rescue worker, Radek Zemen, and the hotel receptionist attempting to net the 256 creatures

Now the unnamed couple have been told it's their fault their room was crawling with the creatures.

Animal rescue centre spokesman Karel Makon said: 'A record 256 live bats and 11 dead bats were found in room No. 212, where irresponsible guests and subsequently the maid left the window open.

'The door to the hall was also left open, so about 50 bats were hiding in the space between the wall and the ceiling near the furniture.

'The receptionist showed us a leaflet in three international languages saying that guests should not leave the windows open as there is a risk of a bat invasion.

'But as you can see, unfortunately it's in vain, it's in vain, it's in vain. Even though the pamphlet is in every room.

'Even the maid didn't bother to close the door and windows, so dozens of the flying mammals could move in easily.'

He added: 'As long as the warm weather lasts, you have to expect an uninvited bat visit.

'The moment it gets noticeably colder, the bats will move to other locations.'

The unnamed couple who were staying at the hotel have been told it's their fault their room was crawling with the creatures

The guests decided to leave their bedroom window open before going to sleep. They had also left the bedroom door leading to the corridor slightly ajar because of the sweltering heat. Pictured: The animal rescue worker and hotel receptionist

For several years now, Czech authorities have been warning locals about 'bat invasions' during August and September.

The city of Plzen is in the middle of the bats' migration routes which makes it a natural stopping off point.

According to the Czech Union of Nature Conservators, last year between August and September rescue stations found a total of 1,306 bats in apartments and hotel rooms.

The organisation said: 'Since bats are able to enter your apartment even through a window, the easiest solution is to close the windows completely at night.'

In one hotel in the spa town of Karlovy Vary, last year 400 bats flew into a room through an open vent, but then couldn't get out.

Almost half of them died.

Animal rescuer Vilem Babic said at the time: 'We originally set out to rescue 100 bats, but when we saw the destruction and started counting, we reached four times that number.

'This is truly a disaster'.

The Soprano bat is one of the smallest bats living in the Czech Republic.

It feeds on flying insects and often inhabits city parks, uninsulated panel houses and natural natural crevices and cavities.
A Kiwi who was keen to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary on a Fijian cruise has been left permanently half-blind after a horror boating incident.

Karain Eketone, 42, was five days into his 13-day P&O cruise with his wife, Susan, when the boat docked at Dravuni Island, a small paradise between the mainland's south coast and Kadavu Island.

The couple spent the day of July 22 exploring the island and decided to go snorkelling, an activity outside of P&O's itinerary.

However, disaster soon struck when a local offering $10 boat rides ran over the top of Mr Eketone, severely injuring him.

Karain Eketone (pictured with wife, Susan) spent more than a month hospitalised after a boat ran over him

The couple were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary on a cruise and went snorkelling on Dravuni Island, when Mr Eketone was hit by the boat (pictured, Mr and Mrs Eketone in hospital)

'The propeller went through my skull and fractured it in three places, my brain was exposed for over 40 hours,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'I must have raised my arms to protect my head because the propeller severed my ulnar artery in my right wrist and went through both of my hands.

'I sustained severe brain injury and permanently lost over 50 per cent of my eyesight as a result.'

Mr Eketone was rushed back to the ship and airlifted to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva, on the mainland, before he was medi-vaced to Auckland.

His heart stopped three times during the flight to New Zealand.

'My wife was told I would not survive my injuries several times by multiple doctors and surgeons,' he said.

'My neurosurgical report by the surgeon who operated on me in New Zealand said, "High possibility of mortality".'

Mr Eketone (above) was left with a severe brain injury and his skull fractured in three places

Mr Eketone (pictured with wife, Susan) also suffered serious injuries to his arms after the propeller severed the ulnar artery in his right wrist and cut both his hands

READ MORE: Shocking twist in Aussie tourist's Bali GoFundMe plea Advertisement

Mr Eketone spent four weeks hospitalised in Auckland undergoing brain rehabilitation before finally travelling home to nearby Hamilton.

Now, more than two months after the boat hit him, he's still regularly receiving occupational therapy for his hand and speech as well as physiotherapy.

'I was recently told by my ophthalmologist that my vision loss is permanent and nothing can be done to restore it,' he said.

'I will never be able to drive again and can no longer work in my profession as an electrician.'

While travel insurance covered a chunk of the couple's medical expenses, Mr and Mrs Eketone are still facing a massive medical bill.

Their friend has created a Give a Little fundraiser to help cover the costs and assist Mr Eketone as he adjusts to his injuries.

Mr Eketone has been left half-blind from the incident and can no longer work as an electrician (pictured, Mr Eketone's head during recovery)

Mr Eketone (pictured with wife, Susan) spent four weeks in Auckland undergoing brain rehabilitation after being medi-vaced from Fiji

A P&O spokeswoman said staff were glad to hear Mr Eketone is recovering well.

'We are grateful Mr Eketone is still here after a horrific accident during his visit to shore,' she said.

'Wed like to take this opportunity to thank our highly experienced medical team and continue to offer support to the family.'
They used his brand name to defraud over 150 people of cash totalling 450k

A business owner has found himself on the receiving end of daily threats after discovering that someone else has been using his name and company to defraud others.

Founder of social media marketing agency 'Socially Powerful,' James Hacking, 34, was shocked to find that fraudsters had duplicated his website and forged documents to scam people out of 450k.

So far, over 150 people have been in touch to accuse the business owner of stealing money from them, with one person being scammed out of a whopping 3k.

Alarm bells rang when he got a LinkedIn message from someone who claimed they had been hired to freelance for his business.

James knows all of his employees and didn't recognise the name of the 'recruiter' that claimed to hire the concerned person.

Founder of social media marketing agency 'Socially Powerful,' James Hacking, 34, was shocked to find that fraudsters had duplicated his website and forged documents to scam people out of 450k

More people began to message claiming they'd been offered a position.

James told MailOnline 'They actually attached some screenshots of their conversations with these recruiters, or whoever they are, and voiced some concerns as to whether this was from socially powerful, and if I was involved.

'The messages showed fake company documents signed by myself, offering employment to people.

'They had duped socially powerful websites in multiple different domain names and using our branding and they had taken company documents off Company's House, so people thought that it was legitimate.'

Panicked, he asked for more information from those who had been scammed, and they told him that the scammer had even set up a Whatsapp group of 'employees' where all the targeted people were added.

Job seekers had allegedly been offered employment in return for completing simple tasks online, like filling in surveys and reviewing products, with the fraudsters claiming the more they did, the more money employees would make.

They claimed to have been given log in details to a portal where all of this took place.

James added 'they even let people take a small amount of money out, to build trust with them.

Messages sent to one unsuspecting job-seeker where fraudsters posed as recruiters for Socially Powerful

He said the situation became extremely 'overwhelming' as vulnerable people were being scammed out of huge amounts of cash

'But then this is when the scam kicks in, when freelancers try to access the bigger fees.

'They're told to start entering personal information like credit card details and they were told they had to put a substantial amount of money into the portal to get something out.'

The founder said 'once you load money onto the onto the platform via Crypto, you just can't get it back. It's game over.

'The messages and threats started off with five people, and the next day ten people and be 50 people, and you'd have people writing into the website demanding their money back, saying they're gonna sue me and my company'.

Adding up the numbers, he worked out that victims have been scammed out of roughly 450k altogether, and that's just the people who got in touch.

He said the situation became extremely 'overwhelming' as vulnerable people were being scammed out of huge amounts of cash.

Adding 'Just knowing this people still out there that are going to be scammed by this, and I can't really do anything about that is taking a massive toll.

'All we can say is, please report it. Please make sure you block them.

'I've got no experience in this sort of stuff. To be honest, the constant messages from people are just becoming way too much to handle.

'It's like a personal attack on me and the business I've built. There's people out there that think this is legitimate, and I'm responsible for it, and they've obviously lost money, which is even worse.'

One person approached by the scammers, realised something was wrong when Socially Powerful was spelt incorrectly on the link

The fraudsters even made fake versions of company documents and claimed they were signed by James

James put a scam notice on the 'Socially Powerful' website and across it's social media channels, warning people of what was going on.

He also contacted the police, who pointed him in the direction of Action Fraud UK:

'I spoke to someone on the phone who said it's quite a substantial scam. He said he'll send a report off to the team but there's no guarantee it will get investigated or I'll hear back from them.

'The scale of it is just incredible. I've never seen anything like this with the amount of people that actually been taken advantage of and been involved in this.

'It's hard to understand and comprehend. Everything set up from the scammer side makes it look legitimate.

'People see our website, they see the branding, they see all the work we do. The company documents, forged claim to be the founder, and everything just stacks up.'

The situation has left James 'not hopeful that it will ever be fixed,' as he 'doesn't know what else' he can do.

In terms of the future of his company, he feels helpless, adding 'I don't know what more there is for me to do. I reported it. I'm telling people. There are notices all over our social media. There's stuff on the website about it. I'm at a brick wall.'

Action Fraud UK said: 'Due to the volume of reports received each month, it can take 4-6 weeks for reports to be assessed.

'Once the report has been assessed, the person who made the report will receive a letter detailing what will happen next.'
New York's most prolific serial killer isn't a household name but back in the late eighties and early nineties, Joel Rifkin, 64, terrorized more than a dozen unsuspecting sex workers and lured them to their deaths.

In 1993, Rifkin confessed to slaughtering 17 prostitutes with his bare hands after he foolishly transported the corpse of his last victim in a truck with no license plates, attracting the attention of police.

He is currently serving a 203 year prison sentence and is speaking out for the first time in years in a new A&E special, Cold Case Files: The Rifkin Murders, airing September 30.

DailyMail.com unveils the sickening true story behind his horrific crimes.
TV audiences have been captivated by new dramas such as the BBC's Boiling Point and Disney+'s The Bear showing the chaos of life in busy restaurant kitchens.

But top pasta chef Roberta d'Elia, who has worked in kitchens around Europe for two decades, has revealed such programmes are often 'unrealistic'.

The head chef at Pasta Evangelists in London also warned against asking a chef if they had watched kitchen dramas - because they 'don't have time to watch TV'.

But she added that it was an 'open secret' that some chefs rely on using drugs, while it is 'very hard' for a woman in the industry to build their career and a family.

Roberta also told of how she 'once worked with a very proud Italian chef who I won't name who barred a customer mid service for asking about his pasta'.

After Stephen Graham's drama Boiling Point was labelled 'too stressful' by some BBC viewers, Roberta told MailOnline what life is really life in a frenetic kitchen:

Top pasta chef Roberta d'Elia has worked in kitchens in and around Europe for 20 years

There's a lot of misconceptions about chefs.

Shows like The Bear and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares paint a picture of a kitchen that is often unrealistic.

Never ask a chef if they have seen either of those things. A good chef doesn't have time to watch TV, they're in the kitchen.

Chefs are addicted to long hours and hard work. We work ridiculous shift patterns and never stop thinking about food. Cooking is a drug and if you aren't hooked - you won't go far.

I started out as a chef twenty years ago and have worked my way up to where I am today learning from the best in the finest kitchens in England and Europe.

When I started out in the industry it was still dominated by men.

At the beginning of my career male chefs did not treat females with the same respect in the kitchen. I was given simple jobs and pushed to the side often. When I asked to help, I was told it's 'difficult.'

Eventually I said: 'I'm not asking you how difficult it is I'm asking you how to do it.'

If you are a woman and you want to build your career and build a family, it is a very hard job.

I decided to carry on on my career and give up on my family and I'm happy with decision.

Stephen Graham's (pictured left) Boiling Point has been labelled 'too stressful' by BBC viewers. Pictured right, The A-Words Vinette Robinson reprises her role as Carly

Jeremy Allen White in a scene from 'The Bear', the hit kitchen drama now airing on Disney+

I started out in Puglia, Southern Italy in a classic Trattoria restaurant and fell in love with pasta.

Truth be told, I am always thinking about pasta. Last week on holiday my partner snapped at me and told me to switch off because I was talking about what I had left in the fridge at the restaurant.

You'd think after working sixty hour weeks you'd want some time away from food but the truth is none of us can ever really switch off - it's all encompassing.

The pressure is intense and working in a team environment there will be flashpoints.

I can be a bit of a Gordon Ramsay with my team. I'm sharp, but after every service we congratulate each other on surviving and thriving. Then we clean up and go again.

Roberta d'Elia the head chef at Pasta Evangelists in London and MailOnline asked her to spill the beans on what life as a chef is really like

Chef Roberta started out in Puglia, Southern Italy in a classic Trattoria restaurant and then 'fell in love with pasta'

Chef Roberta said it's an open secret that some chefs rely on drugs to get them through busy periods

We put the pressure on ourselves but it's also real. If someone else has a bad day in the office they forget about it, if we do we ruin someone's night and lose a customer.

You can't lose focus. At all.

When you are a chef, the thing that you really don't want to lose is your patience, because when you're patient about food, that is what really gives you that energy and the strength to carry on.

I have never done it or seen it while I'm working but its an open secret in the industry that some chefs rely on drugs to get them through sessions.

I suppose it sharpens them, but I don't think they need it. If you need drugs to get you through your job you've already lost the passion, so what's the point.

That being said, we have our limits.

Chef Roberta at the beginning of my career male chefs did not treat females with the same respect in the kitchen. I was given simple jobs and pushed to the side often

'Truth be told, I am always thinking about pasta. Last week on holiday my partner snapped at me and told me to switch off because I was talking about what I had left in the fridge at the restaurant,' said Chef Roberta

I once worked with a very proud Italian chef who I won't name who barred a customer mid service for asking about his pasta.

It was just a plate of spaghetti and the customer was really, really on it.

Eventually he snapped and told him it's simply a Spaghetti pasta but that he won't be getting any as he was so picky.

With our job you can easily explode - like I said, we have our limits.
The wife of American Presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Junior has accused Joe Biden of putting her husband's life in danger by withholding Secret Service protection.

Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines has begged the President to step in and provide security after an armed gunman was arrested at a RFK Jr campaign event last month.

In her first televised interview, she said: 'President Biden, I understand you do not want to be running against my husband, but that is indeed what's happening.

'And as a person, I'm asking you to protect his life - him and the people around him.

RFK Jr, 69, admitted that the Kennedy name meant he faced 'risks' in running for the White House in an interview with The Mail on Sunday earlier this year.

Both his father, Robert Kennedy, and uncle, John F Kennedy, were assassinated during their political careers.

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a Hispanic Heritage Month event at Wilshire Ebell Theatre on September 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California

Robert Kennedy Jr' wife Cheryl Hines speaks during an event to formally announce her husband's candidacy for the United States Presidential Elections of 2024

RFK Jr was just nine years old when his Uncle Jack was shot dead in Dallas, Texas, on 22 November 1963.

Tragedy struck again when their father Robert F Kennedy was gunned down in June 1968 while making his own run for the presidency.

The New York senator was shot by Sirhan Sirhan in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles - Kennedy Jr, then aged just 14, rushed to be by his side.

Now Kennedy Jr is making his own run for office - and he says the dangers are clear.

And last month the Democratic presidential hopeful was speaking at a Hispanic Heritage Month event in Los Angeles when an armed suspect posing as a US Marshal was arrested.

The gunman has been detained and charges are expected.

The incident took place less than two miles from where Kennedy Jr's father was assassinated in 1968.

READ MORE: How Robert F Kennedy called the CIA after JFK assassination to accuse them of an inside job Fact-box text Advertisement

Cheryl, 58, said: 'A man showed up at the event with loaded guns and more weapons in his backpack.

'And fortunately, Bobby does have security that the campaign is having to pay for, who identified that person and held them till the police came.

'But it's pretty shocking that after that event, Biden didn't step forward and say, 'OK, I understand this is an extraordinary situation.'

'It's at the very least, very disappointing and sad because clearly Biden is making it political you're talking about someone's safety and someone's life. So it's highly disappointing.'

It is normal for American presidents to sanction Service Security for presidential candidates, but much closer to the election itself, which will take place in November next year.

However RFK Jr and Cheryl believe that his family background means he needs additional protection - and immediately.

Kennedy Jr is a controversial figure thanks to his track record of vaccine scepticism and his opposition to American military support in Ukraine.

After an initial surge of popularity, Kennedy Junior is now well behind Joe Biden in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Robert Kennedy (left), counsel for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee investigating labor racketeering, huddles with his brother, Senator John F. Kennedy (Democrat-Massachusetts), a member of the committee

The wife of American Presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Junior has accused Joe Biden of putting her husband's life in danger by withholding Secret Service protection

He might well emerge as a kingmaker figure, however - and a recent YouGov poll suggested that a healthy 17 per cent of voters would back him running as an independent.

Cheryl, who has been married to Robert for nine years, says she intends to be by his side throughout the coming campaign which, given her recognition as an actress, could be significant.

Yet she reveals that the Presidential hopeful offered to issue a press release saying the couple had separated in order to 'protect' her from the backlash.

She said: 'I said: 'That's ridiculous! That's not a solution to anything.. So let's move away from that idea!'

'I love Bobby and yes, sometimes I get frustrated. But that's completely different than wanting to be separated from somebody.

'In some regards, it was a sweet thought but misguided, like that was not the answer.'

Daphne Barak is an interviewer and documentary film maker, whose subjects have included Nelson Mandela, Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton and Michael Jackson. Her exclusive interview with Cheryl Hines and Robert F Kennedy Jr will feature in a documentary, The Next Kennedy produced by Daphne Barak and Erbil Gunasti to be released early next year
British holidaymakers gave the Costa del Sol copy of the UK's most popular pub chain their approval today as they washed down 7.30 homemade chicken curries with 2.50 pints of lager.

Tourists packed onto the terrace of the cleverly-named Weatherspains at lunchtime in shorts and T-shirts as they took advantage of blue skies and near-eighty degree heat.

And the home away from home for Wetherspoon fans came with the added advantage of a picture-postcard sea view for midday customers at the pub across the road from the beach in the sunshine resort of Benalmadena.

Construction worker Robert Costello, 54, enjoying a lasagna and salad as his finance worker wife Angelina, 53, tucked into a jacket potato and salad they washed down with two small lager shandies, said: 'We're on the last day of a five-day holiday and I've got to drive to the airport later otherwise I'd definitely be having a pint of lager right now.

'We were just passing and the name caught our eye. We've been pretty impressed with the quality and the prices.'

Weatherspains business partners Andy Inman from Newcastle and Mayka Sanchez

Tourists packed onto the terrace of the cleverly-named Weatherspains at lunchtime in shorts and T-shirts as they took advantage of blue skies and near-eighty degree heat

Geraint Howells, 51 and his partner Tammy Wickens, 50, from Merthyr Tydfil near Cardiff, ordered pints of lager each to quench their thirst from their front-row seats overlooking the sea before a chicken curry arrived

Mr Costello, who comes from Glasgow, added as he pointed towards the calm blue sea: 'We don't get this amazing view at our nearest Wetherspoons. It looks out onto a church. And we certainly don't get this weather either.

Geraint Howells, 51 and his partner Tammy Wickens, 50, from Merthyr Tydfil near Cardiff, ordered pints of lager each to quench their thirst from their front-row seats overlooking the sea before a chicken curry arrived.

Medical secretary Tammy said: 'This is the second time we've been here.

'We immediately clocked it was a Wetherspoons spoof the first time when we came across it by chance and when I sent a picture of the place on my phone to my friends back home they responded with laughing emojis.

'It's obviously getting famous because someone on the plane out here this time round asked us if we'd ever heard of Weatherspains and I was able to tell them, ''Actually, yes I had and I've been there too.''

'I just hope they understood our explanation of how to get here because we had a few drinks at Bristol Airport before boarding, although not as many as we might have if it hadn't cost us 13.55 for two pints.'

Construction worker Geraint added: 'We're here until next Wednesday so I'm sure we'll be back.

'It's cheap and cheerful here and the curry and rice is excellent.

'The Wetherspoons we go to back home is opposite the library and town hall so being able to sit here in shorts and a T-shirt looking out at the sea between sips of lagers is wonderful.'

The home away from home for Wetherspoon fans came with the added advantage of a picture-postcard sea view for midday customers at the pub across the road from the beach in the sunshine resort of Benalmadena

The Weatherspains Menu. British holidaymakers gave the Costa del Sol copy of the UK's most popular pub chain their approval today as they washed down 7.30 homemade chicken curries with 2.50 pints of lager

Co-owner Andy Inman, busy in the kitchen preparing 7.30 Chile con carne and his famous Weatherspains burgers consisting of two burgers, two bacon rashers, cheese and trimmings, has already copyrighted the name since opening

Construction worker Robert Costello, 54, enjoying a lasagna and salad as his finance worker wife Angelina, 53, tucked into a jacket potato and salad they washed down with two small lager shandies, said: 'We're on the last day of a five-day holiday and I've got to drive to the airport later otherwise I'd definitely be having a pint of lager right now

A chalkboard outside Weatherspains was enticing in punters with offers of lasagne, chips and salad at 8.50 - around 7.30 at the current exchange rate. Chicken wings were priced from 7.50 (6.50)

Co-owner Andy Inman, busy in the kitchen preparing 7.30 Chile con carne and his famous Weatherspains burgers consisting of two burgers, two bacon, two cheese and trimmings, has already copyrighted the name since opening.

He and Mayka Sanchez are now planning to franchise the brand after seeing business boom following the Covid pandemic.

Newcastle-born Andy, 58, who ran an asbestos business in the UK before starting to run and work in pubs after moving to Spain 15 years ago, said: 'I started Weatherspains with Wetherspoons in mind so it was obviously a play on that and my intention was to base the business more or less along those lines.

'But on top of that our name actually means something and reflects something which is great about this coast which is the climate of Spain.

'We do good British food like burgers and curries and sausages and mash and it goes down a treat. Business is booming.

'Our pricing is competitive for the area and our customers go away telling us they're happy.

'People sometimes come in wrongly thinking this place is some part of Wetherspoons and I've even had customers ask me if they can use their pub discount cards here.

'I used to visit Wetherspoons often when I was still living in the UK because I was away from work a lot of the time and it was a good place to get a cheap drink.

'But I never got the view I get here being so close to the beach and the sea. Let's just say it's not a bad office to work from.'

Malaga-born co-owner Mayka added: 'We've copyrighted the name and are talking to a company in Madrid about franchising the brand.

'The idea is we'll get a payment for each Weatherspains that opens and a percentage of their earnings.

'But whatever happens we'll keep things here at what we call our baby just the way they are for our customers to continue enjoying.'

A chalkboard outside Weatherspains was enticing in punters with offers of lasagne, chips and salad at 8.50 - around 7.30 at the current exchange rate. Chicken wings were priced from 7.50 (6.50) and a Hawaiian Burger - presumably with the 'A' missing from Hawaiian - with salad and fries coming in at seven euros or around six pounds.

Construction worker Robert Costello, 54, enjoying a lasagna and salad as his finance worker wife Angelina, 53, tucked into a jacket potato and salad they washed down with two small lager shandies, said: 'We're on the last day of a five-day holiday and I've got to drive to the airport later otherwise I'd definitely be having a pint of lager right now

Steven McDonald, 42, enjoying food and drinks with his wife Jenna, 40, and two children Keiran, 14, and Callie, 10, said: 'We saw the name Weatherspains on the corner first and then the menu which suited us down to the ground'

Steven McDonald, 42, enjoying food and drinks with his wife Jenna, 40, and two children Keiran, 14, and Callie, 10, said: 'We saw the name Weatherspains on the corner first and then the menu which suited us down to the ground.

'I hadn't asked to be honest but I thought immediately it might be a spoof on the UK pub chain and a wee smile did cross my face as we walked in.'

Asked whether he'd gone as far as some Weatherspains customers by copying the Wetherspoon Paltry Chip Count challenge, he joked: 'No, but if other customers say the owner puts 47 chips on peoples' plates which I've heard mentioned, I'll take their word for it.

'Our four meals and four drinks came to 30 which is very reasonable.

'And the staff said it was no problem when Callie wanted to get a mix of food which wasn't on the menu and opt for chips, sausage and lettuce instead.

'We're staying here for a few more days so I'm sure we'll be back.'
One is a liberal oasis, where gas is taxed heavily and the proceeds spent on green energy projects. The other state is where 'woke goes to die.'

So where would Americans rather live: Gavin Newsom's California or Ron DeSantis' Florida?

The answer is Florida, according to an exclusive poll for DailyMail.com, giving an insight into what the 2024 election might look like if the two major parties changed course and picked nominees from a younger generation of leader.

Some 47 percent said they would prefer to live in DeSantis' Sunshine State while 40 percent said they would like to live in Newsom's Golden State.

California is currently battling an epidemic of smash-and-grab robberies, while the price of gas has hit $7-a-gallon in some places.

Republicans overwhelmingly favored Florida and Democrats favored California, independents tipped the result in favor of the Sunshine State when asked where they would prefer to live

The results from a poll of 1,000 likely voters also show that Ron DeSantis would beat Gavin Newsom by four points if they went head-to-head in the 2024 election

The results from a poll of 1,000 likely voters also show that DeSantis would beat Newsom by four points if they went head-to-head in the 2024 election

The California governor, who is 55, was widely touted as an alternative candidate to 80-year-old Joe Biden before ruling himself out of a challenge.

At the same time, DeSantis, 45, is struggling to rein in 77-year-old Donald Trump in the Republican nominating contest.

The 2024 election looks more and more like a repeat of the 2020 election, with two aging candidates running through the same old arguments.

But both sides will get a sense of what might have been in November when DeSantis and Newsom go head-to-head in a televised debate.

They offer very different visions of the nation. A West Coast liberal with a moratorium on executions who has promoted the growth of electric vehicles, versus an East Coast conservative who has cracked down on abortion and who ignored medical advice and opened his state early during the pandemic.

To their detractors, Newsom's soft on crime policies have led to an explosion in 'smash and grab' robberies and homelessness while DeSantis has turned back the clock to silence discussion of homosexuality in classrooms.

And if our poll with J.L. Partners has it right, Americans prefer the DeSantis vision. Some 57 percent of independents said they would prefer to live in Florida, while Republicans and Democrats fall into predictable camps favoring Florida and California respectively.

Joe Alder, Senior Research Associate at JLP, said: 'That 8 in 10 Republicans choose Florida, while the same proportion of Democrats choose California, shows the polarization the country faces. Even the most personal  where people choose to live  has become truly political.

J.L. Partners polled 1000 likely voters from 15 to 20 September. It found that DeSantis would beat Newsom by 43 percent to 39 percent in a head-to-head match-up

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

'Meanwhile, independents opting for the Sunshine State by a margin of two to one is a straw in the wind looking ahead to November's debate between governors Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom.

'It is DeSantis' state, not Newsom's, which swing voters see as the aspirational destination in todays America. Whether the same will be true of DeSantis' vision for the nation is yet to be seen.'

Newsom's office did not respond to a request for comment.

But he has repeatedly insisted that he has no intention of running in 2024.

'President Biden is going to run, and we're looking forward to getting him re-elected,' he said on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' adding that Biden already has a successor in the form of Vice President Kamala Harris.

For his part, DeSantis this week used the second Republican debate to highlight his record in Florida as a template for the nation.

In the past year, employment in his state has grown by 297,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 30 times as much as unemployment.

Newsom fields questions in the spin room before a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX Business Network and Univision on Wednesday

In contrast, employment grew in California's much bigger economy by 191,019, a number almost matched by the 171,154 who joined the unemployment list.

The state's gas tax  the highest in the country  as well as environmental levies are also under intense scrutiny as prices hit $7-a-gallon, nearly double the national average.

Meanwhile, a new crime trend of 'flash rob mobs' could cost the state $19 billion a year, according to the L.A.P.D. Groups of thieves have been pillaging stores including Nordstrom and Versace, in which as many as 30 people have been able to make off with $300,000 in goods.

Andrew Romeo, the DeSantis campaign communications director said: 'The contrast of California's failures to Florida's success demonstrates that Ron DeSantis is right: decline is merely a choice.

'Ron DeSantis rejects that choice and, as president, will reverse America's decline.

'Whether Newsom or Biden is the Democrat nominee in '24, they both offer the same failed and dangerous ideology for America that helped get us in this mess. We look forward to putting Ron DeSantis' record of success up against it.'

If they were to run against each other, independents would sway the race to DeSantis. Some 43 percent of independents say they would back DeSantis, while only 32 would back the California governor.

But the match-up is hypothetical and DeSantis has the advantage of already running a national campaign.

For now, former President Donald Trump is the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination and DeSantis has failed to close the gap.
She has been hailed as a 'trailblazer' for women in politics and, in the words of President Biden, a 'pioneering American'.

The longest-serving female US Senator in history, Dianne Feinstein certainly had an illustrious political career: an early advocate of gun control, she also fought valiantly for civil rights and abortion access.

A life-long Democrat but undoubtedly an unashamed centrist, she was as willing to antagonize progressives in her own party as she was hardline Republicans, adopting conservative policies when she saw merit in them.

How unfortunate, then, that her legacy may have been tarnished  and that now she could be chiefly remembered instead as a leading member of a Washington gerontocracy which is stubbornly clinging to power.



However, unlike some other ageing politicians in Congress, a big question mark hangs over whether Feinstein can fairly be blamed for failing to pass the torch to the next generation of leaders.

Instead, it was her fellow Democrats that insiders say took advantage of the 90-year-old Senator to suit their own cynical political purposes.

Feinstein, who died on Thursday night at her home in Washington DC, had been due to see out her current term and retire at the end of 2024.

But as she was being wheeled, literally rather than figuratively, into Senate sessions as of late, questions about her advancing age and fitness for office  not to mention questions about whether those around her had her best interests at heart  have dominated any media coverage of her in the last years of her life.

She has been hailed as a 'trailblazer' for women in politics and, in the words of President Biden, a 'pioneering American'. The longest-serving female US Senator in history, Dianne Feinstein certainly had an illustrious political career: an early advocate of gun control , she also fought valiantly for civil rights and abortion access.

A life-long Democrat but undoubtedly an unashamed centrist, she was as willing to antagonize progressives in her own party as she was hardline Republicans, adopting conservative policies when she saw merit in them. How unfortunate, then, that her legacy may have been tarnished. (Pictured: Feinstein in 1992).

She certainly had much to be proud about  starting with the advancements she made for women: becoming San Francisco's first female mayor in 1978, the first woman elected from California to the US Senate in 1992, and the first female chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2009.

Feinstein, who stepped into the breach in San Francisco after the assassination of two of its leaders, was also the architect of the 1994 assault weapons ban.

Her achievements were all the more remarkable given the hardships she had to overcome in her personal life.

As a child she was abused mentally and physically by an alcoholic and unstable mother. At 26, Feinstein became a young, single mother following a painful divorce. And she also lost her second husband, along with her father, to cancer.

Yet all this now risks being overshadowed by what she didn't achieve in her final years, as health concerns and competency issues intruded.

In 2020, media reports began to emerge claiming Democrats were worried Feinstein  then aged 87  was suffering cognitive decline and short-term memory loss, and might need to consider her future as a senator, let alone he position as the ranking member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.

Critics pointed out she never went anywhere in Congress without an aide by her side, rarely dared say anything off-the-cuff to the Press and what she did say often had to be subtly corrected later by her staff.

That may sound like other politicians in Washington  right up to our current Commander in Chief  and like them, Feinstein insisted she was perfectly fine and dismissed suggestions she might stand down.

And nor did she, ploughing on despite worrying headlines like this one from Spring 2022: 'Colleagues worry Dianne Feinstein is now mentally unfit to serve, citing recent interaction.'

That article, by the San Francisco Chronicle, included testimony from an anonymous Democratic lawmaker who claimed they had to repeatedly reintroduce themselves to Feinstein over the course of a single conversation.

Then, in April 2023, a month after it was announced she had been hospitalized suffering from shingles, further reports emerged that she had missed more than fifty Senate votes, causing significant headaches for her party.

She certainly had much to be proud about  starting with the advancements she made for women: becoming San Francisco's first female mayor in 1978, the first woman elected from California to the US Senate in 1992, and the first female chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2009. (Pictured with the Queen in 1983).

Feinstein, who stepped into the breach in San Francisco after the assassination of two of its leaders, was also the architect of the 1994 assault weapons ban. Her achievements were all the more remarkable given the hardships she had to overcome in her personal life. As a child she was abused mentally and physically by an alcoholic and unstable mother. (Pictured in 1979).

Fellow Democrats ground their teeth in quiet frustration, with some beginning to openly call on her to go  not least because her prolonged absence left them unable to confirm their judicial nominees without her vote.

Following the death of Feinstein's third and final husband Richard Blum last year, the aged Senator was plunged into an ugly legal battle with her three step-daughters over his estate  and we learned that Feinstein's own daughter Katherine had been appointed power of attorney.

Not unreasonably, Feinstein's step-daughters asked why she could serve in the Senate and yet not file her own lawsuit.

In May, it emerged her shingles infection had led to complications including encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which paralyzed the left side of her face, and affected her eyesight and balance.

Of course, advancing age doesn't necessarily impair a politician's abilities  there are plenty who have had their finest years after detractors had consigned them to the scrap heap.

But by the summer, even the most ardent Democrats and some left-leaning newspapers were accepting that Feinstein had become a serious liability.

As Biden biographer Franklin Foer put it in an article for the Atlantic headlined 'Dianne Feinstein and the Cult of Indispensability', the Senator was not doing a good PR job for older politicians.

Instead, Foer said, she was making the counter-argument, that 'octogenarian politicians sometimes behave like grandparents refusing to hand over the keys to the car. They stop in traffic for no apparent reason and never accelerate above 20, but they're under the delusion that they're still good drivers.'

But was Feinstein's insistence on battling on really her decision?

In May  a month in which she returned to the Senate for the first time since early March, in a wheelchair and apparently unable to remember that she'd been off sick at all, remarking: 'I haven't been gone. I've been working'  left-leaning media outlet Politico released a sensational report.

It noted that Feinstein was now being accompanied everywhere by 'close personal confidant' Nancy Corinne Prowda, who is the eldest child of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Insiders said Prowda was looking after Feinstein both in Washington and her home in San Francisco.

It was also said that the close relationship 'raised uncomfortable questions about whether Nancy Pelosi's political interests are in conflict with Feinstein's personal interests'.

Following the death last year of Feinstein's third and final husband Richard Blum (pictured), the aged Senator was plunged into an ugly legal battle with her three step-daughters over his estate, and we learned that Feinstein's own daughter Katherine had been appointed power of attorney.

Not unreasonably, Feinstein's step-daughters asked why she could serve in the Senate and yet not file her own lawsuit. (Pictured with Hillary Clinton in 2005).

Those 'political interests' revolved around Democrat Representative Adam Schiff, a Pelosi protege who sources said she was determined should get Feinstein's Senate seat in 2024.

The problem was, if Feinstein retired early, California governor Gavin Newsom had pledged to appoint a black woman to serve out Feinstein's term. This appointee would then have the huge benefit of being the incumbent in 2024, potentially killing Schiff's chances.

Consequently, it was claimed, Pelosi was dead set on keeping Feinstein in place  whatever the damage to her party (or, indeed, Feinstein's wellbeing).

A spokesman for Pelosi, who at 83 announced earlier this month she will seek re-election in November, insisted there was no attempt to influence Feinstein's decision about her future.

However, as Politico noted, the former House Speaker had certainly been a vociferous defender of the Senator when other Democrats urged her to step down.

These were ugly claims that only added to growing concerns about America's reliance on an aging political class.

Repeated polls show about three-quarters of Americans now favor age limits on people serving in Congress and the White House. That's much the same proportion who told a CNN poll this month that Joe Biden is too old to run again for president.

Like Senator Feinstein, Biden's aides have blithely brushed aside such concerns even as his doddery behavior in public makes such a stance look more ridiculous by the day.

Donald Trump has been almost a lone voice in saying that Biden is not too old to be president  but of course, at 77 himself, he would say that.

If 'Sleepy Joe'  who is already easily the oldest person to become president in US history  reclaims the White House, he would be 82 at the start of his second term in January 2025. If Trump wins, he would be 78.

It's not just these two likely 2024 presidential candidates who give cause for concern.

In May, Politico released a sensational report. It noted that Feinstein was now being accompanied everywhere by 'close personal confidant' Nancy Corinne Prowda (pictured, right), who is the eldest child of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Insiders said Prowda was looking after Feinstein both in Washington and her home in San Francisco.

It was also said that the close relationship 'raised uncomfortable questions about whether Nancy Pelosi's political interests are in conflict with Feinstein's personal interests'. It was claimed that Pelosi was dead set on keeping Feinstein in place  whatever the damage to her party (or, indeed, Feinstein's wellbeing). (Pictured: Feinstein and Pelosi in 2006).

There is now one nonagenarian, three octogenarians, and 29 in their 70s in the Senate.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, 90, has already filed for a re-election bid in 2028. He would be a centenarian when that terms ends.

Most noticeable, though, is 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who has repeatedly frozen in front of the TV cameras, unable to speak.

A Capitol doctor recently said there was no evidence McConnell was having a seizure or stroke during these alarming moments  though they may be the consequence of a serious fall he suffered in March.

Either way, it's shocking to see one of America's most senior politicians suddenly struck dumb.

The same issue of members refusing to bow out gracefully exists on the Supreme Court where Ruth Bader Ginsburg  another female icon of American politics  did the Democrats no favors by hanging on until she was 87. Her death in 2020 during the Trump presidency ensured she was replaced on the court by a Republican.

Some have made the argument that politicians should age in line with the population, but there's surely a limit  and one which Washington has now comfortably passed.

'How sad that the final, painful years will eclipse in the memories of some a long and distinguished career,' Barack Obama's former campaign chief strategist David Axelrod said yesterday. 'RIP, Senator Feinstein.'
Continuing the Quintana search, investigators discovered Morphew's remains on September 22, scattered in a shallow grave in Moffat in Saguache County

Investigators found Montoya's body during an unrelated search for 55-year-old Edna Quintana, who was last seen in the area on May 3

Suzanne Morphew's remains were found in a Colorado body dumping ground known as 'The Boneyard', where James Montoya, 26, was discovered in July

Suzanne Morphew's remains were found in a Colorado body dumping ground known as 'The Boneyard' where investigators found a 26-year-old aspiring Marine in July and are continuing their search for a missing 55-year-old woman.

Corinna Montoya, whose son James Montoya vanished the day before he was scheduled to meet with Marine recruiters, told DailyMail.com Friday that she visited the site herself and felt the eerie isolation after her son's body was discovered in a remote section of sparsely populated Saguache County.

'It's just so crazy that it's all happening in that same area,' said the mom, 56.

'They're calling it The Boneyard because so many people are being located there, and it's such a secluded area.

'To see where my son was, indeed, there's no cars around. You can be in that one area for hours and not see anyone.'

The body of missing mom Suzanne Morphew, pictured with husband Barry, was found in Moffat, Colorado on September 22, three years after she disappeared

Morphew's remains were found in the same remote dumping ground known as 'the boneyard' where the body of aspiring Marine James Montoya, 26, (left) was discovered in July during a search for missing 55-year-old Edna Quintana

Her son vanished on April 2. The mother told DailyMail.com that James had taken an Uber to a bar that night in Lakewood in the Denver area, where he met and later left with two men.

His live-in girlfriend, noticing he hadn't returned at dawn, reported him missing, the mom said.

'They probably were going to hang out, or maybe they were going to give him a ride home,' Montoya said.

She suspects she knows the individuals may have been involved in her son's disappearance but did not want to discuss specifics because the investigation remains open.

She said her son 'loved to laugh and was very family oriented'.

He installed kitchen cabinets for a subsidiary of Home Depot, after doing work erecting cell phone towers.

'He had an appointment the next day with the Marines,' she said. 'That was his lifelong dream to join Marines.

'He just felt like you get respect when you're a Marine and have the chance to fight to defend this country.'

His body was found in July in the foothills west of Saguache Peak off County Road 46AA, Colorado radio station KRDO reported.

Investigators at the time had been pursuing an unrelated search for Edna Quintana, a 55-year-old with known medical complications who was last seen in the area on May 3.

But during the search for Quintana, investigators on September 22 instead found Suzanne Morphew's remains scattered in a shallow grave in a remote field near Moffat in Saguache County, 50 minutes from her home in Salida.

The 49-year-old had last been seen on May 10, 2020, setting out for a bike ride from the home she shared with husband Barry and their two daughters.

Her bike was found the day she went missing, discarded in a ravine near her mountain home.

Baryr and Suzanne Morphew had both had affairs, and she had texted him that she was 'done' with their marriage days before she vanished.

Barry was arrested a year after her disappearance and charged with her murder  despite no body being found at the time.

At a preliminary hearing in 2021, law enforcement officials presented to the court Suzanne's text message exchanges with her lover, in which she told him she had a fine night and was looking at houses for sale.

Bary Morphew was charged with his wife's murder but the case was dropped withoout prejudice  meaning it can be reopened

Barry Morphew arrived at court in Salida, Colorado, in November 2021, flanked by his daughters Macy (left) and Malorie

When her husband came home from work that day, he found Suzanne sunbathing in the yard. She was sending pictures of herself to Libler via LinkedIn, which the couple had been using to communicate behind her husband's back.

The court was then shown a photo of Suzanne that she had sent to her lover Jeff Libler that day, which depicted her laying on her front in a bikini and smiling at her $1.3million home.

Barry would later tell investigators his wife looked 'drunk' in that photo, which officials said was Suzanne's last proof of life.

The following day, Libler wished Suzanne Happy Mother's Day and said he knew it would be a hard day for her because she missed her mother. Suzanne never replied.

His last known text to Suzanne was sent on May 11, 2020, in which he offered her well wishes for her cancer treatment. That message also went unanswered.

Suzanne had survived two battles with Hodgkin's lymphoma, decades apart.

Just days before her disappearance, Suzanne texted her husband and apparently signaled to him her intention to end their rocky marriage.

'I'm done,' Suzanne wrote to Barry on May 6. 'I couldn't care less what you're up to and have been for years. We just need to figure this out civilly.'

After arguments about the evidence and procedures, charges against Barry were dropped a year later without prejudice  meaning he could be charged again if new evidence came to light.

No arrests have been made since Morphew's remains were located.
The ringleader of the infamous Bling Ring, who burgled celebrities' homes between 2008-9, has spoken out for the first time - and claimed that she was driven by a deep insecurity and hatred of her Asian origins.

Rachel Lee was 19 when she and four others broke into the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Orlando Bloom and others - noting their whereabouts on social media, and timing their break ins when they were out of town. The group stole goods worth an estimated $3 million, most of which was never recovered.

Lee was arrested in January 2010 and served 16 months in prison.

She has said that prison was the best thing that could have happened to her.

And, while the others appeared in documentaries or collaborated with Sofia Coppola for her 2013 film Bling Ring, starring Emma Watson, Lee tried to live a low key life, working as a hairdresser.

She said she changed her mind on getting to know Erin Lee Carr, who approached her to make a documentary of her story. It airs on HBO on Sunday.

Rachel Lee is pictured at the premiere of the HBO documentary The Ringleader: The Case Of The Bling Ring, on Wednesday

Rachel Lee and Erin Lee Carr, the documentary maker, at the premiere of the HBO film

Lee is seen following her January 2010 arrest for robbing the homes of famous Angelenos

A biker jacket that the gang stole from a celebrity home

Some of the purses the gang raided from a celebrity mansion

'Any other reporter or production, I was always shaking,' said Lee.

'When I met Erin, I just felt like I was talking to a friend  like a human  and I wasn't being attacked. I could slowly just open up, and it happened organically through blind faith.'

She told The Los Angeles Times she was finally able to address the years of insecurity and self-hatred as a Korean-American, and her deep desire to be white.

Asked why she robbed famous people's homes, Lee replied: 'It wasn't necessarily to emulate celebrity, I just didn't like me.

'I was born here, so I didn't actually visit Korea until last year, but I knew some idea about my culture because of my grandparents and my parents. I was just such a minority at my schools that I felt too different.

'And then at my high schools, the word 'chink' would just roll off people's tongues.

'I didn't realize how delusional I was about myself until prison. I didn't realize how much I hated myself, how much I hated being Asian and how much I wanted to be white.

'I just would ask God all the time, 'Why did you do this to me? Why did you put me in this position where I look so weird compared to everyone?''

Four of the five are caught on camera during one of their thefts. They were eventually captured thanks to high quality surveillance camera footage from the home of Audrina Patridge, star of reality show The Hills

Lee is seen with Nick Prugo, her fellow thief. Prugo, who was Lee's closest ally, was sentenced to two years in prison, and served one

Lee said that her time behind bars gave her space to think about her life, and who she had become.

She said she realized she was horribly vain - having no mirrors in prison was a shock to her, she said.

'I felt really empty inside,' she said.

'I consider [prison] my birth. I started over because I had no foundation, I didn't have any moral compass.

'In there, I got grounded with who I wanted to be. I want to be a good person. I want to be a kind person. I want to be a strong person  I'm working on that. I want to be an honest person.'

Lee, who was born in Calabasas, said she is not in contact with the other four - Nick Prugo, Alexis Neiers, Courtney Ames and Diana Tamayo.

Two others - Johnny Ajar and Roy Lopez - were later recruited by Ames to sell the stolen items.

Prugo, who was Lee's closest ally, was sentenced to two years in prison, and served one.

But on his release, in 2015, he was charged with stalking and solicitation to commit sexual assault.

He received 350 hours of community service and three years probation, and now lives in LA with his husband.

Neiers was given her own show on the E! Network, Pretty Wild, not long before her arrest in 2010.

During filming, she was abusing drugs and was frequently high.

She spent a month at Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California  while Lohan was serving her own time.

On her release Neiers went to rehab, married and had two children, and is now divorced and working as a rehab counsellor in Malibu.

Ames was given probation and community service, then went on to studied psychology, speech and child development at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, California, Us Weekly reported.

And Tamayo, who was also sentenced to probation and community service, is now a personal trainer.

Rachel Lee (left) and Courtney Ames

Diana Tamayo (left) and Alexis Neiers

Nick Prugo, who Lee said was her closest ally in the gang

Paris Hilton is seen showing off her jewelry - which inspired and directed the gang

The group robbed up to $3 million worth of belongings from celebrities

The gang would follow celebrities on social media and know when they were out of town

Lee said that 'God and my family' now kept her on the straight and narrow.

'In a time where I thought that my whole family would disown me, they didn't,' she said.

'I was sober in prison, I was sober out of prison. It helped me be with a sober mind, truly, and to be really conscious about the type of friends I'm bringing into my life.

'I used to be such an impulsive person, sometimes I still am, but now after getting out of prison, I just was more asking myself, 'Why are you thinking that? Why did you do that?'

'And then I have a love for crystals. That's an aesthetic, but also a reminder for the properties that crystals hold.'

Lee said that she thinks the idea of her as the ringleader is 'unfair', because the others were equally guilty.

'Everyone is responsible for their own actions. I never forced anyone to do anything,' she said.

But she said she was forcing herself to make the documentary to own her past, and to show that people can change.

Lee said she made the documentary to show that people can change

'The reason why I did this is because I like to hide. I've been that way since a kid,' said Lee.

'But I have big emotions, and a huge part of me felt like if I have all these big emotions and I can't talk about them, what will happen to me? What kind of life, what kind of outcome? I feel like that's how sicknesses and illnesses and depressions come.

'I felt like, well, I acknowledge that I really messed up in my past, but does that mean I don't deserve a second chance?

'So I want to use myself as an example. I want to be a conversation starter. I just wanted more communication and connectedness in this world for me.'

Carr, the documentary maker, said it was hard at times to get Lee to open up.

But she hoped the film gave viewers the opportunity to make their own minds up, based on Lee's own words rather than those of others.

'Take the information and decide for yourself,' said Carr.

'I provide the information, with music with all these things, but also so that when people watch this, it's not me telling them what to think, it's how they feel.'
Philadelphia has banned supervised drug injection sites in the opioid-ravaged city calling out liberal mayor Jim Kenny who tried to veto the bill.

The City Council strongly opposed the veto voting 14-1 on Thursday to override Kenny.

Council members scolded Kenny for his reluctance to make difficult decisions and held him responsible for the rising rates of overdose deaths in the embattled city.

'This is what leadership looks like: making decisions that are not popular and that are difficult, but necessary,' Council member Quetcy Lozada told the Philadelphia Inquirer, championing the decision.

Lozada, whose district includes Kensington and one of the largest open-air drug markets in the country, has vehemently opposed supervised drug injection sites.

The mayor should 'remember that those overdoses that have occurred in the last eight years are his responsibility,' Loaza added.

A record 1,413 people died of overdose last year, an 11 percent rise from the year prior, the city health officials reported earlier this week.

Philadelphia bans supervised drug injection sites in the opioid-ravaged city as councilmembers called out liberal mayor Jim Kenny who vetoed the bill

Kensington, which up until the 1950s was a bustling industrial district, is described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as 'the poorest neighborhood in America's poorest big city'

The mayor (pictured) should 'remember that those overdoses that have occurred in the last eight years are his responsibility,' said Council member Quetcy Lozada

The legislation calls into question the supervised drug consumption as the city struggles with the opioid epidemic.

The law goes into effect immediately with zoning codes updated to prohibit supervised drug consumption sites in nine of the city's ten council districts.

The Kensington neighborhood - known as 'ground zero' for the city's drug epidemic - is among the nine districts where supervised drug injection sites will be banned.

Photographs obtained by DailyMail.com capture addicts shooting up in broad daylight, hunching over in a stupor or passing out on the streets.

Drug users were seen having raw, gaping wounds in desperate need of medical attention. There were needles, syringes and garbage littered across the sidewalks.

Photographs obtained by DailyMail.com capture addicts shooting up in broad daylight , hunching over in a stupor or passing out on the streets

Many were seen having raw, gaping wounds in desperate need of medical attention. And there were needles, syringes and garbage littered across the sidewalks

West Philadelphia's third district, represented by Democrat Jamie Gauthier, is not included, but she voted in favor of the bill, adding that she respects her colleagues to legislate zoning in their districts.

The bill requires operators to obtain special permission from the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment to open a drug injection site, a process that could take years.

Kenny pushed back, saying the bill 'is clearly designed to ban overdose prevention centers'.

The Kenney administration has endorsed the plan for years to establish supervised drug injection sites - a facility that would be 'saving lives, reducing public consumption, and reducing dangerous litter in other cities around the world.'

'I am frustrated that my colleagues will not let our city lead other communities in implementing public health policies,' Kenney said. 'This is a public health crisis and not a question of public opinion.'

The 1,413 deaths of overdose represents an 11 percent increase from 2021, when 1,276 people fatally overdosed in Philadelphia, mostly after using illicit opioids.

Nearly 80 percent of the fatal overdoses were caused by opioids, primarily fentanyl, which has largely replaced heroin in Philadelphia.

The second-most common drug in overdose deaths was cocaine.

Black residents were impacted significantly more, with the death rate among this group rising by 20 percent in the city.

As the city grapples with the opioid epidemic, Philadelphia citizens also decried a spate of violent crime.

Shocking footage out of the City of Brotherly Love showed Fine Wine And Good Spirits smashed apart in the latest flash rob mob crime

A large number of people can be seen running towards the Lululemon store in this picture during the spree

Latest figures, which are up until last Sunday, show how there has been 302 homicides in the city so far this year.

There has also been 402 reported rapes, 58,759 cases of property crime, 3,701 cases of aggravated assaults and 1,314 shooting victims.

The city experienced two flash mob robbery incidents last week as masked looters ransacked Footlocker, Apple, Lululemon and a closed liquor stores.

Around 100 juveniles kept moving from store to store on Walnut Street in the heart of the city center until officers arrived and started making arrests on Monday night.

A day after, brutes made off with the safe and raided the lottery machine on a night when liquor stores were shut down by the authorities.

At least 18 state-run liquor stores were broken into, leading the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to close all 48 of its Philadelphia retail locations and one in suburban Cheltenham on Wednesday.

Police said they made at least 52 arrests. Burglary, theft and other counts have been filed so far against at least 30 people, all but three of them adults.
Millions of Aussies will need to change their clocks with daylight saving time about to kick in across the country, forcing many to lose an hour of sleep.

The time will be set forward by 60 minutes in some parts of Australia from 2am to 3am on Sunday, October 1.

Residents in in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT, and South Australia will lose an extra hour of sleep thanks to the overnight jump in time.

Millions of Aussies will lose an hour's sleep on Sunday with daylight savings time back until April 2024

Daylight saving will end on Sunday April 7, 2024 when those affected will gain back their hour of sleep.

The one-hour leap forward mean Aussies get to enjoy an extra hour of sunshine to enjoy the warmer days of summer.

Not all states and territories in Australia observe daylight savings.

Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling Islands do not take part in the switch.

The time will be changed automatically on most devices connected to the internet.

Users will need to manually set devices such as analog clocks and older technology that displays time forward by 60 minutes.

When daylight saving takes effect, NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania will be on Australian Eastern Daylight Time [AEDT] to indicate the easternmost time zone in Australia during the daylight savings period.

Norfolk Island will go one hour ahead on Norfolk Island Daylight Time while South Australia will be on Australian Central Daylight Time and will remain half-an-hour behind AEDT.

Those living in non-daylight savings jurisdictions will be behind in time from most of the eastern states.

Queensland will be one hour behind AEDT states while the Northern Territory will be one and a half hours behind.

Residents in WA will be three hours behind their AEDT counterparts.

Residents in Sydney (pictured Sydney harbour) will be among the millions of Aussies who will switch to daylight savings time at 2am on Sunday morning

Daylight saving timeline Daylight saving was first suggested by George Vernon Hudson in 1895. The New Zealand insect expert proposed moving the time forward by two hours in October and changing it back in March. Port Arthur in Canada was the first place to adopt Daylight saving in 1908. Australia began daylight saving during World War I and World War II to conserve resources for the war effort. Tasmania was the first state to go one hour ahead in 1967. Most states and territories in Australia introduced the system in 1971. Queensland, WA, and the Northern Territory ditched the move after trailing it for several years. Queensland stopped daylight saving in 1972 but tried it again between 1989 and 1992, before residents voted No in a referendum on daylight saving held in 1992. WA ditched the time change in 2006. Advertisement

Daylight saving has been a contentious system since it was introduced during the first and second world wars.

Most states and territories were forced to switch to daylight saving time in 1971 but Queensland ditched it the following year.

Residents in the sunshine state remain divided over the issue but a recent survey found two thirds of Queenslanders wanted to have daylight saving time reintroduced.

More than half the voters supported scrapping the move when Queensland held a referendum into daylight saving in 1992.

University of Queensland senior lecturer in human geography Dr Thomas Sigler, who conducted the survey, told the Courier Mail there was strong support among residents to have daylight saving brought back.

'Preliminary results show 67 per cent of Queenslanders are in favour of it,' Dr Sigler said.

'Anything north of Bundaberg and west of Toowoomba, cut that out and 80 per cent are in favour.'

Dr Sigler said daylight saving has become a political issue instead of being a geographical one, with locals in the state's south-east were found to be in favour of going an hour ahead.

He said a significant cohort of the Queensland population would not have voted when the referendum was held in the 1990s, which means current views might not be reflective of the existing law.

'Next year literally no one under the age of 50 would have voted in that first referendum,' he said.
The daughter of convicted 'Teacher's Pet' killer Chris Dawson has revealed the heartbreaking question her own daughter asked her about her grandfather.

Shanelle Dawson grew up without knowing her mother Lynette - who was murdered in 1982 at her home in Sydney's Northern Beaches by her former professional rugby league-playing father amid an affair he was having with a 16-year-old student.

She now has her own young daughter named Kialah.

'My daughter did say to me one day, can she go and visit her grandfather in jail,' Shanelle revealed to The Weekend Australian in an interview published Saturday.

Shanelle said she had never considered visiting her father, who is serving a 24-year sentence for Lynette's murder plus another three years for unlawful carnal knowledge of his 16-year-old student, whom he later married.

'I certainly do feel like I might want or need to at some point before he dies, but I'm also really well aware of the fact he might not even want to see me,' she said.

Chris and Lynette Dawson's daughter Shanelle (pictured) revealed the heartbreaking question her own daughter Kialah asked her

Dawson in his suit in September 2022 before he was convicted of the 1982 murder of Lynette and taken away to prison

Shanelle said she assumed her father might feel betrayed by her after she delivered a powerful and furious victim impact statement in court describing being robbed of her mother by his 'selfish, brutal and misogynistic act'.

'He very likely probably doesn't want to see me because on some level he might even blame me for the fact that he's incarcerated.'

In September 2022, Justice Ian Harrison found Dawson guilty, bringing to a close a mystery that has haunted Lynette's family and Sydney's northern beaches for four decades.

His Honour said Dawson was motivated by his obsessive infatuation with the schoolgirl babysitter, known as JC.

His motivation was the fear of losing her and clearing the impediment that his wife Lyn represented, as well as not losing hold of his assets as would happen in a divorce, Justice Harrison said.

Shanelle said 10 months on she is now focused on healing after decades of doubt and questions about why her mother abandoned her, as she was 'gas-lighted' into believing.

Dawson told Shanelle, then four, and her two-year-old younger sister that their mother had simply walked out because she didn't love them anymore.

Shanelle is seen with her mother Lyn before her disappearance in 1982

Shanelle was just four-years-old when her mother Lyn vanished (pictured with Chris Dawson)

Shanelle told The Teacher's Pet podcast - which has had 80million downloads and brought Lyn's disappearance back into the spotlight - that her mother was rarely spoken about after she went missing.

'We didn't mention my mother. There was, I don't really know why, but just this really uncomfortable silence,' Shanelle said.

Dawson has never revealed details about what really happened and Lynette's body was never found.

Shanelle said she thinks he never will but that she also believes someone else does know and holds out hope they will eventually speak up to 'lighten their conscience'.

Lynette would have been 75 years old on September 25.

Shanelle said she and Kialah celebrated for her by playing some songs which they dedicated to their mother and grandmother.
Suella Braverman has ignored calls for talks over immigration policy from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Justin Welby, who previously declared the Government's Rwanda policy to be 'against the judgement of God', is believed to have reached out to the Home Secretary. However Ms Braverman has so far refused a meeting.

A source, who is a former senior adviser to the 26 bishops who sit in the Lords, told House magazine of the impact the 'snub' had unleashed on Lambeth House.

They said: 'There was shock internally. It was a big slap in the face.'

The source added that relations between bishops and ministers is 'really toxic'.

The House, Parliament's magazine, has been investigating relations between the Tories and the Church of England - with the latest disclosure in their findings.

Suella Braverman has ignored calls for talks over immigration policy from the Archbishop of Canterbury

Justin Welby , who previously declared the Government's Rwanda policy to be 'against the judgement of God', is believed to have reached out to the Home Secretary

A spokesperson for the magazine said: 'We can confirm that is true. The Archbishop would be happy to meet the Home Secretary to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.

'In the past, the Archbishop has met other home secretaries. It is not unusual.'

The Archbishop has previously met with other senior ministers such as Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.

READ MORE HERE: Public concern over immigration jumps to its highest level in six years as a quarter of Brits say it is one of the most important issues facing the country Advertisement

He has also had good relations with former Prime Minister Theresa May as they joined forces to back a modern slavery project.

Meanwhile, government sources told The Telegraph that there had been one informal approach for a meeting between the two.

There has long been conflict between the Archbishop and the Government over the policy towards migrants.

Last November The Most Rev Justin Welby warned Suella Braverman's claims of an 'invasion' by migrants was 'harmful rhetoric'.

He has previously called for a better system based on 'compassion, justice and co-operation across frontiers'.

In May, the Archbishop mounted another attack on the Government over its immigration policy as he warned small boats laws would not stop 'conflict or climate migration', adding to tensions.

He told the Upper Chamber that the Illegal Migration Bill 'fails to live up to our history, our moral responsibility, and our political and international interests'.

It comes after Ms Braverman said some migrants are 'gaming the system' with many lying about their ages in a bid to get asylum, ahead of the Tory party conference, which begins in Manchester on Sunday.

The Home Secretary also said in some cases, up to 50% of asylum seekers were found to be lying about their ages. Pictured: The RNLI carrying people believed to be migrants into the Port of Dover earlier this month

It comes after she made a major speech in Washington DC calling for changes to be made to international refugee rules. Pictured: Ms Braverman with US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents in Baltimore on Wednesday

The Home Secretary has said that in cases where officials challenge migrants about their ages, 'about 50 per cent' of the claims are found to be false.

Speaking to fellow Conservative MP Lee Anderson, she some migrants are 'actually adults pretending to be children' and that others lie about their religion, marital status or having family members in the UK.

She added that not everybody who crosses the English Channel in a small boat is a refugee or fleeing persecution, and there is 'no humanitarian reason why anyone should be leaving France'

She used a major speech in Washington DC this week to demand a shake-up of international rules on refugees, as well as speaking about reform for the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ms Braverman told the deputy Tory chairman's Real World programme on GB News: 'Many of these people are gaming the system. We know that they will lie about their ages.

'We know that in about 50 per cent of cases when we challenge the age, the Government is right and the claimants are wrong, and they are actually adults pretending to be children.

'They may lie about their religion, they may lie about being married to someone or having a family member here.

'So there is a lot of gaming of our system, and we need to inject more rigour and robustness into our framework. And actually deterrents - and that is why our partnership with Rwanda is absolutely central to solving this problem.'

The Home Secretary also delivered a 'warning shot' to Strasbourg judges that Britain could quit the European Convention on Human Rights as a fresh legal battle looms.

She used a major speech in Washington DC to demand a shake-up of international rules on refugees.

She also spoke of reform of the ECHR as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak grapples with the small boats crisis and tries to revive a plan for migrant deportations to Rwanda.

The Government is preparing for a three-day Supreme Court hearing over the Rwanda plan early next month, which will determine whether the scheme is lawful.

The showdown in the UK's top court comes after the Court of Appeal ruled in June that the policy did not comply with Britain's obligations under the ECHR.

In her speech, Mrs Braverman noted how quitting the ECHR had previously been demanded by Theresa May, one of her predecessors as Home Secretary.

Suella Braverman has delivered a 'warning shot' to Strasbourg judges that Britain could quit the European Convention on Human Rights as a fresh legal battle looms

According to The Times, Downing Street has given permission for Mrs Braverman to float the prospect of leaving the ECHR.

Judges at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, which oversees the convention, dramatically blocked migrant flights to Rwanda at the 11th hour last summer.

A Tory MP close to the Home Secretary said: 'It's a warning shot, making it clear that if the court stands in our way again, we are prepared to have that battle and leave altogether.'

The newspaper reported that No10 approved Mrs Braverman's speech and allowed the Home Secretary to speculate on Britain's membership of the ECHR.

But a Downing Street source this morning denied the report that they had authorised Mrs Braverman to float the prospect of the UK quitting the convention.

They stressed the Home Secretary's speech had been about reform of international bodies and the global approach to tackling illegal immigration.

In her speech, Mrs Braverman said: 'I reject that notion that a country cannot be expected to respect human rights if it is not signed up to an international human rights organisation.

'As if the UK doesn't have a proud history of human rights dating back to Magna Carta, and the ECHR is all that is holding us back from becoming Russia.

'America, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan seem to manage just fine. None of this is particularly novel, nor should it be particularly controversial.

'As Home Secretary, Theresa May called for Britain to leave the ECHR.

'And it was Conservative Party policy under Michael Howard to leave the Refugee Convention  I'm merely advocating for reform.'

The Supreme Court is set to hear legal arguments over the Rwanda policy in a three-day hearing from 9 October.

Judges at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, which oversees the convention, dramatically blocked migrant flights to Rwanda at the 11th hour last summer

Mrs Braverman, pictured in Rwanda in March, spoke of reform of the ECHR as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak grapples with the small boats crisis and tries to revive a deportation plan

A group of people thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat travelling from the coast of France and heading in the direction of Dover, Kent

Government minister Richard Holden was sked this morning whether speculation about leaving the ECHR was 'posturing' or an 'actual desire' of ministers.

He told Times Radio: 'We're currently going through a court case within the ECHR process around the Rwanda scheme.

'I'm really hopeful that the legal community and the judges will listen to the Government's arguments on that.

'And will see that this scheme is acceptable within the ECHR framework.

'All I was pointing out more generally is the fact that a lot of these agreements were signed a very long time ago when things were incredibly different.

'This was before mass air flight, for example.

'I think it's quite important that we recognise as time moves on, it's right that we ask the questions again about these conventions.

'About whether they're fit for purpose and about how we can sometimes improve our international agreements so they're fit for the modern times.'

A No 10 source has denied tensions between the Home Secretary and Prime Minister, telling the Telegraph: 'They're both confident in our case at the Supreme Court and are committed to getting the Rwanda plan up and running.'

MailOnline has contacted Number 10 for more information.
Tech CEO Pava LaPere is believed to have been killed within little over a half hour of arriving home - as cops reveal they found a brick, teeth and buttons next to her body on the rooftop of her luxury Baltimore apartment.

New court documents seen by The Messenger shows that Jason Billingsley, the suspect in her murder, was in her apartment building for less than 36 minutes.

The Baltimore Police Department report said that surveillance footage showed 26-year-old LaPere arriving at 10:32pm.

LaPere was then seen sitting on a couch in the lobby, with Billingsley, 32, arriving shortly after, waving at her through the glass door, before she let him inside.

After entering, the two stepped into an elevator together, before Billingsley reemerged at 11:08pm 'scrambling' for an exit according to the police report.

Pava Marie LaPere, 26, was killed by blunt force trauma inside her luxury Mount Vernon, Baltimore apartment, and her body was found by police on Monday

On Tuesday police announced they have issued an arrest warrant for Jason Dean Billingsley, 32, of Baltimore

Police also said in their report that Billingsley was seen on camera wiping his right hand on his shorts before he exited the building.

After fleeing, Billingsley was tracked by law enforcement to a train station some 30 miles from LaPere's apartment.

The police report states that detectives located Billingsley with the help of a witness, who, according to police, will be identified at a later date and presented in court.

Cops say LaPere was killed Friday night, although her body wasn't discovered until after someone reported her missing Monday morning.

Police sources confirmed to DailyMail.com earlier this week that LaPere's badly-beaten body was found on the roof her apartment building.

The police report also revealed that she was found laying face-up, half clothed and had suffered blunt force trauma to the head, face and body.

The report stated: 'This crime scene consisted of a brick, blood, buttons, pants, 3 teeth, broken hair clip and a pair of red shoes believed to belong to the victim.'

It remains unclear if she was murdered before she was dumped on the roof, or if she was killed on the roof. Police have remained tight-lipped on details of the crime.

LaPere, who founded the tech startup EcoMap Technologies from her dorm room at Johns Hopkins University, died from strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Billingsley is not believed to have known LaPere, who lived on the seventh floor of the building.

He faces charges of first-degree murder, assault and reckless endangerment in the killing of 26-year-old LaPere, a rising star in tech who made the prestigious Forbes '30 Under 30' list.

LaPere lived in the building, which is the former site of the Congress Hotel, where one bedroom apartments rent for $1,500 a month

The roof is not considered an amenity and is only accessible through a narrow shaft

Billingsley was described on Tuesday as 'a repeat violent offender', and a suspect in at least one other case.

'He will kill, and he will rape,' said Richard Worley, the police commissioner, at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Billingsley is 'armed and dangerous,' and locals should stay alert, said Worley.

'To Jason Billingsley: I hope you are watching,' he added.

'Every single police officer in Baltimore and the state of Maryland is out there looking for you. We will find you, and we will prosecute you to the full extent of the law. So please turn yourself in.'

Billingsleys mother was among those urging him to turn himself in after he came to her property with a gun. Authorities also announced a $6,000 reward in the case.

Billingsley has a long criminal history, dating back to 2009 when he was arrested for robbery and assault in the second degree.

He was arrested in 2011, and again in 2013, for multiple charges to include sex offense, 2nd degree assault charges and robbery.

Billingsley has a criminal record dating back to 2009, and was sentenced to 30 years in 2015 - but released after only nine

Richard Worley, commissioner of Baltimore police, announced the name of the suspect and vowed to track him down and bring him to justice

The repeat offender was arrested at the Marc train station in Bowie, Maryland on Monday

Mom of two Ann Marie Leeper, 35, bravely came forward earlier this week to DailyMail.com to reveal that Billingsley had raped her a decade prior.

Leeper was left fearing for her life earlier this week after his face flashed up in news reports, revealing he was the prime suspect in Pava's murder.

She spent 24 hours refreshing for updates until Billingsley was surrounded by a SWAT team late Wednesday night and taken into custody.

Ann Marie told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview: 'When I heard the words 'blunt force trauma' it all came flooding back.

'I can remember how hard those hits felt, how his d**k got harder the more he hurt me,'

'All I could think about was that he had years to sit there in prison thinking 'I should have killed her'. I don't know why he let me go. I just feel so bad for Pava's family.'

Billingsley was handed a 30-year prison sentence in 2015 for assault and attempted rape but accepted a plea deal that suspended 16 years of his stretch.

He shaved off another five with 'good time credits' serving just nine years and three months behind bars from the day of his arrest in 2013 to October last year when he was freed.

Ann Marie Leeper, 35, bravely agreed to speak to DailyMail.com about her horrific assault at the hands of murder suspect Jason Billingsley a decade ago

Billingsley was handed a 30-year prison sentence in 2015 for assault and attempted rape but accepted a plea deal that suspended 16 years of his stretch.

He shaved off another five with 'good time credits' serving just nine years and three months behind bars from the day of his arrest in 2013 to October last year when he was freed.

When Billingsley posed as a Good Samaritan to lure Ann Marie into an empty home and rape her ten years ago she was in the throes of drug addiction.

Ann Marie reported the rape immediately and detectives retrieved Billingsley's DNA from her face and a piece of chewing gum.

When Billingsley applied for parole in 2020 and 2022 he was refused on both occasions.

But under Maryland law, he had earned enough credits for his good behavior behind bars that he was set free last October.

He was already subject to multiple outstanding warrants for failing to register as a sex offender, stealing a gun and forcing his way into a couple's home to commit rape, robbery and arson on September 19.

LaPere is believed to have lived and worked in the building where she was found dead on Monday

Billingsley choked his 26-year-old female victim, slashed at her legs and throat, then set fire to her basement bedroom.

She managed to clamber to safety though a window along with her boyfriend, Jonte Gilmore, 26, who was beaten, handcuffed and forced to watch his partner being raped multiple times.

Gilmore described the gruesome attack on Thursday in an interview with DailyMail.com from his hospital bed in a Baltimore burns unit.

Jonte had been dating the female resident and was asleep in her bed when Billingsley started hammering on the door of her basement flat on the morning of September 19, calling out 'maintenance  there's been a flood in the kitchen.'

When the 26-year-old opened up, Billinglsey grabbed her by the hair, pistol whipped her and bundled her into a bathroom where he demanded money and handcuffed her.

Jonte awoke to find a gun pressed to his head by the intruder, who wore a black ski mask and was equipped with a sinister 'rape kit', comprising gloves, cuffs, duct tape and a pocketknife.

'He put the gun to my temple and said, 'if you keep moving or try anything stupid, I'm going to rape your girlfriend. She's upstairs and I'm going to kill you'. So I let him put on the handcuffs,' said Jonte.

'He started to put duct tape around my head, my eyes, my mouth, my ankles, then laid me on the floor and went upstairs and got my girlfriend.

'He forced himself inside of her. He raped her, tortured her. He kept taunting her, saying things like, 'is this the sort of man you deal with, he don't even have no protection'.

Jonte Gilmore, 26, spoke to DailyMail.com from his hospital bed in a Baltimore burns unit after he and his girlfriend were bound and tortured in a gruesome arson attack by murder suspect Jason Billingsley

The underground bedroom is strewn with scorched clothes, charred furniture and wrecked electrical items. At the center is a bed covered with ash and debris

Jonte was bundled into a closet but through a small gap in the tape he was able to watch with one eye as Billingsley continued to rape his partner.

He pulled out his knife and began to carve deep cuts into her leg and ankles.

He put on gloves and choked her but when he couldn't finish her off, he slashed her throat twice.

'She was laying there on her stomach, faking like she was dead. But all that time she was really fighting to keep conscious and stay alive,' Jonte recalled.

Jonte said Billingsley started to douse them both in a clear, colorless liquid. He noticed it smelled of gas and realized his tormentor was about to set the room ablaze.

Jonte burst out of the closet and after several attempts managed to 'bunny hop' to safety, clambering into the street in just his underwear, his hands still cuffed behind his back.

He was covered in burns but had to wait for the police to arrive to release him from the handcuffs.

Jonte was taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery Tuesday to graft skin from his right thigh to his arms.
Mr Sunak was surprised the revised official figures were not at top of BBC page

Rishi Sunak has slammed the BBC for 'inaccurate commentary' and has accused the public broadcaster of refusing to publish figures which show the UK economy recovered faster than that of France and Germany post-pandemic.

The Prime Minister said he was surprised that the revised official figures, which revealed that the UK outperformed both France and Germany in recovering from the Coronavirus pandemic, had not 'found its way to the top of the BBC homepage'.

He also told The Sun the public broadcaster 'did cover two years of what now turns out to be completely inaccurate commentary on the British economy.'

'The narrative that people have built up over the last couple of years is completely and utterly wrong', he added.

'Keir Starmer and Labour have tried time and time again to talk down our country, to talk down our economy. And I'm delighted that the numbers will show they're completely and utterly wrong.'

Rishi Sunak has slammed the BBC for 'inaccurate commentary' and has accused the public broadcaster of refusing to publish figures which show the UK economy recovered faster than that of France and Germany post-pandemic

The Prime Minister said he was 'surprised' the public broadcaster had not published the revised official figures at the 'top' of its homepage

The figures show that by the middle of this year, GDP was 1.8 per cent larger than pre-Covid levels  implying it is 50 billion bigger than previous estimates.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt added: 'We know that the economy recovered faster from the pandemic than anyone previously thought - and data out today once again proves the doubters wrong.'

Before now, the Office of National Statistics estimates had suggested that the economy was still 0.2 per cent lower than pre-pandemic, placing the UK bottom of the table among major advanced economies.

But the revised figures mean that Britain has outpaced Germany, which grew by 0.2 per cent after the same period, and France, up 1.7 per cent.

However, the UK's recovery is still in the lower half of the G7 pack and lags well behind the US  which has seen a 6.1 per cent bounce back  with Canada, Japan and Italy also stronger.

Yesterday's ONS upgrade was widely expected after revisions to GDP data for previous years were published earlier this month. They showed that the economy had done better in 2020 and 2021 than thought, meaning that by the end of 2021 it was already larger than pre-pandemic levels.

Yesterday's data showed that in 2022 the UK economy grew by 4.3 per cent rather than 4.1 per cent.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that the Office of National Statistics (ONS) report proved 'the doubters wrong'

And in the first quarter of this year GDP increased by 0.3 per cent, revised up from 0.1 per cent. In the second quarter it grew by an unrevised 0.2 per cent.

Together, the revisions left the economy 1.8 per cent larger than pre-pandemic levels by the end of June rather than 0.2 per cent smaller. Thomas Pugh, economist at accounting firm RSM UK, said: 'That adds around 50 billion to UK GDP.'

However, economists pointed out that the current outlook for growth remained sluggish. Separate figures published yesterday, from the Bank, showed the number of mortgages approved last month fell to 45,400, a six-month low.

And recent business surveys suggest the economy may have shrunk in the current third quarter  raising recession fears.

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the upgraded GDP data 'does not change the big picture that the economy has lagged behind all other G7 countries aside from Germany and France'.

Investec economist Sandra Horsfield said: 'We continue to forecast that the UK economy will enter a recession over the winter months.'
But Mr Johnson said that scaling back the project risks undermining levelling up

PM gave clearest signal yet last night that northern leg of HS2 could be scrapped

Boris Johnson today warns Rishi Sunak he will be guilty of a 'betrayal of the North' if he scraps plans to extend the HS2 rail line to Manchester.

In his most outspoken intervention in domestic politics since leaving No 10 last year, the former prime minister reveals his 'suppressed fury' at Mr Sunak's decision to throw the future of the line into doubt.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Mr Johnson says the latest 'spasm of uncertainty' risks undermining the entire levelling up agenda  which was central to the Conservative Party's landslide victory in 2019  and damaging long-term investment in the North.

But last night the PM gave the clearest signal yet that the northern leg to Manchester is for the chop.

In an interview with The Sun, he said: 'I've got under the bonnet. I've seen what works, what doesn't work and what I want to do differently. That's the phase we're in.'

Boris Johnson warned the Prime Minister on Friday that scrapping the northern leg of HS2 to Manchester would be a 'betrayal to the North'

Mr Johnson said that scaling back the project, which experts believe could cost over 100 billion, would risk undermining the Government's levelling up agenda

Mr Johnson, however, says it is time to end the 'injustice of the infrastructure gap' in what he describes as 'the most imbalanced major economy in the world'.

'If we delay or cut the northern legs, if we truncate HS2  then we are betraying the North of the country and the whole agenda of levelling up,' he writes.

His intervention comes at the end of a week in which Mr Sunak has fuelled speculation about the future of the project by repeatedly refusing to confirm that HS2 will be extended to Manchester, or even that the planned line from Birmingham will reach central London.

Whitehall sources confirmed that Mr Sunak is all but convinced that the soaring cost of the flagship rail scheme, which began life under the last Labour government, can no longer be justified.

But the plan has triggered a political backlash, and a formal decision has been put on hold until after the Conservatives hold their annual conference in Manchester this weekend.

During a tough round of interviews with local TV and radio stations this week, the Prime Minister ducked more than a dozen questions about whether the troubled rail line would ever get to Manchester. He confirmed the project was under review to ensure 'we get value for money'.

The PM is said to be 'alarmed' by the spiralling cost of the project, which Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last week said was 'totally out of control'.

Mr Sunak has repeatedly refused to commit to the Manchester leg of the high-speed rail project, confirming that it was under review to ensure value for money

The original 30 billion budget has ballooned to 71 billion and some insiders believe it is on course to top 100 billion.

But Mr Johnson warns that 'deluded' attempts at penny-pinching will backfire. He writes: 'Cancel HS2? Cut off the northern legs? We must be out of our minds.'

Mr Johnson says a cost-cutting plan to terminate HS2 at Old Oak Common in west London could mean services from Birmingham to central London are actually slower than today, making the project a 'total white elephant'.

China, he says, has built 25,000 miles of high-speed rail since 2008 while the UK has built zero. 'We simply cannot afford to abandon this vision now  to panic and throw up our hands, and say it is all too difficult,' he writes.
Shocking new footage filmed secretly inside an Arizona home shows the wife of a US Air Force employee repeatedly pouring a liquid he says was bleach into the coffee machine, in what he claims is an attempt to kill him.

Melody Felicano Johnson was arrested in August and charged with attempting to murder Roby Johnson. She had filed for divorce but they still lived together while the process was finalized: he noticed his coffee tasted odd, and began to suspect she was trying to kill him to claim his life insurance policy.

Roby Johnson put a series of hidden cameras inside their home, and the footage was obtained on Friday by ABC News.

One camera caught Melody in the laundry room, pouring bleach from a large bottle into a small container.

Another caught her looking over her shoulder as she poured liquid into the coffee machine in their kitchen.

Melody Felicano Johnson is seen looking over her shoulder as she pours a liquid into the coffee machine in the Arizona home she shared with her husband. He had installed secret cameras after he became concerned at her behavior, and worried he was trying to poison him

A liquid was poured into the coffee pot in the footage obtained by Roby Johnson inside his home

New surveillance video obtained in case of Arizona woman accused of trying to poison husband. @evapilgrim reports. pic.twitter.com/ljAid52Sq9  Good Morning America (@GMA) September 29, 2023

Roby Johnson also filmed himself testing the water inside the coffee machine with a swimming pool chemical test kit. He displayed the results on camera, showing there was an extremely high level of chlorine in the water - and he said it 'stinks' of bleach.

Melody Johnson is being held in custody, with the judge ruling that she was a flight risk as she had recently bought a house in the Philippines.

She has not entered a plea, and is due back in court on November 6.

She was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree attempted murder, attempting to commit aggravated assault and poisoning food or drink.

Johnson was stationed in Germany for work in March 2023 when he thought his coffee started tasting 'very bad.'

His wife would prep his coffee the night before, so in the mornings he just had to turn the machine on.

Melody Johnson is seen decanting bleach into a smaller container inside the laundry room

Melody Felicano Johnson was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree attempted murder, attempting to commit aggravated assault and poisoning food or drink

According to the report, he continued to pretend to drink the coffee but did not file a police report until he arrived back in the Davis Monthan Air Force Base in the US in July.

After collecting all the footage, Johnson went back to the police and showed them his evidence.

Police then arrested Melody at the home, and a search warrant reported that the coffee pot smelt like bleach.

The documents also revealed that the husband thought she was trying to kill him 'to collect death benefits.'
Royal historians say the biography may not be published in Charles' lifetime

Royal insiders believe the King may put off Queen Elizabeth II's biography over his relationship with Diana, the alleged dislike of Camilla and the controversy surrounding Prince Andrew.

Royal historian Robert Lacey said he wonders whether the biography would be published in King Charles' lifetime, because it would have to examine the 'difficult aspects' of his relationship with his mother.

Other reasons for the possible delay could be the sensitive topics it will likely cover such as the scandal involving Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein, and the turbulent departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Charles will have the final say on the choice of biographer who will have the task of writing about the extraordinary life of the late Queen - some predict a female royal biographer could be chosen for the first time, with historian Jane Ridley emerging as a potential frontrunner.

The chosen candidate is expected to be given access to a range of private papers, letters and journals. The late Queen is known for keeping a diary in which she is said to have spent 15 minutes writing in every evening.

Royal insiders believe the King may put off Queen Elizabeth II's biography

There is a testimony of a private secretary that the Queen told Charles she wanted 'nothing to do' with Camilla

The biographer will have to balance the royal family's sensitivities and their professional reputation with academics and historians.

Mr Lacey told The Telegraph: 'The years of real crisis in the Queen's reign revolved around the breakup of Charles's marriage to Diana.

'There is the testimony of a private secretary that the Queen told Charles she wanted 'nothing to do' with Camilla  whom she described as 'that wicked woman'  and that Prince Charles himself was close to tears over this.'

He added: 'I can't see any way that the candid verdicts on Prince Charles among some very senior figures in the palace and No 10 during the monarchy's dark days of the 1990s can possibly be published during his reign.'

Other sensitive topics which will be difficult for the biographer to skim over are The Duke of Windsor's involvement with the Nazis and Lord Mountbatten's sexual preferences.

Andrew Lownie, the royal biographer said: 'Traditionally the official lives have gone to an established and establishment historian who understands the constraints within which he  until now it has always been a him  must work.

'I suspect "soundings", though quite with whom is a mystery, will be taken and there is a good chance that for the first time a female royal biographer will be chosen, certainly for Queen Elizabeth ll.'

In addition to Jane Ridley, other possible historians who could be given the top job are Simon Sebag Montefiore, Lord Roberts of Belgravia and Sir David Cannadine.

The task of presenting a shortlist to the King will now fall to Sir Clive Alderton, his private secretary and Keeper of the Royal Archives.

Other reasons for the possible delay could be the sensitive topics it will likely cover such as the scandal involving Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein

British monarch Queen Elizabeth II (1926 - 2022) (centre) poses with members of the royal family, from left, married couple Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, the Queen, married couple Prince Charles (and future Charles III) (behind the Queen) and Princess Diana of Wales (1961 - 1997) (in red)

Some are suggesting the Queen's life story could be published in a series of volumes, split into chronological chapters of her life or themes such as the Commonwealth or her love of horse racing.

Two official biographies were commissioned for George V. King George V: A Personal Memoir by John Gore was published in 1941, followed by Sir Harold Nicolson's George V in 1952.

William Shawcross was announced as the Queen Mother's official biographer after her death in March 2002.

The biography took him six years to complete and he interviewed both the late Queen and the then Prince Charles.
A McDonald's supervisor who grabbed a teenage colleague's breasts in a work freezer has been handed a suspended sentence.

Geary Fernandes, 34, attacked the trainee at one of the chain's Wiltshire restaurants.

The victim said she felt his hands on her waist only for him to grab her breasts before asking her to work extra hours.

Fernandes denied sexual assault, claiming it was an accident, but was convicted at a trial last month.

Magistrates imposed a 20-week jail term suspended for 18 months and told him to complete 40 rehabilitation activity days.

McDonald's supervisor Geary Fernandes, 34, was given a suspended sentence and will remain a registered sex offender for seven years, after he groped a teenage trainee colleague in a freezer at one of the chain's restaurants in Wiltshire

Fernandes was also told he must complete 40 hours of unpaid work and will have to pay 620 in court costs

He must pay 620 in court costs and will remain as a registered sex offender for seven years.

Prosecutor Tom Power told Swindon Magistrates' Court the victim suffered anxiety at night since last year's attack.

The court heard father-of-one Fernandes, whose family live in Goa, India, is expecting his second child in December and is a stepfather to two children.

Investigator Tina Willison said he 'took advantage' of his role as a supervisor, 'abusing his position of trust by preying on a new member of staff'.
Donald Trump said that if he were president again the people savagely looting stores would be shot on-site.

It comes amid spiking crime in U.S. cities and claims of lax prosecutors  as well as the lowered penalties for shop-lifters that have led to a series of viral incidents in recent years.

'We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft,' Trump said during remarks at the California GOP's fall convention in Anaheim on Friday.

'Very simply,' the ex-president explained, 'if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store. Shot.'

The crowd of about 1,500 Republicans responded to the proposal with chants of: 'Trump!'

Looting rocked Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a second night in a row as brazen thieves ransacked a liquor store.

Donald Trump said if he were president again thieves will be 'shot' when walking out the door with stolen goods

It comes following a series of brutal looting incidents in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in recent days. Images shared on social media show a large group storming and raiding the Apple Store

Shocking footage out of the City of Brotherly Love showed Fine Wine And Good Spirits smashed apart in the latest flash rob mob crime.

The brutes made off with the safe and raided the lottery machine on a night when liquor stores were shut down by the authorities.

Fox29's Steve Keeley, who originally reported on Wednesday night's thefts, later posted videos showing the aftermath of some looting that occurred at a sneaker warehouse in the city.

Video posted on X by Keely showed piles of boxes that had been torn into. A source told the reporter: 'It may be a Snipes warehouse. It appears they took all they could and left a lot behind.'

It comes a day after young thieves brawled with cops on the streets after mass looting at Footlocker, Lululemon and Apple  also in Philadelphia.

Among those arrested was social media personality Dayjia 'Meatball' Blackwell, 21. The suspect cried after she was charged with burglary, conspiracy, criminal trespass, riot, criminal mischief, criminal use of communication facility, receipt of stolen property and disorderly conduct.

Shocking footage out of the City of Brotherly Love showed Fine Wine And Good Spirits smashed apart in the latest flash rob mob crime

BREAKING: 2nd Night of Looting Now in Philadelphia. Again PA state liquor store was hit. Bottles dropped outside by looters as @PhillyPolice arrived. This is on Adams Ave. Police just made at one arrest where a sneaker store on Torresdale Ave was being looted too. pic.twitter.com/gVCDLJ6Jx8  Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) September 28, 2023

Police said they made at least 52 arrests. Burglary, theft and other counts have been filed so far against at least 30 people, all but three of them adults, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the Philadelphia district attorney's office.

The flash mob-style ransacking Tuesday night at dozens of stores came after a peaceful protest over a judge's decision to dismiss murder and other charges against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver, Eddie Irizarry, through a rolled-up window.

Those doing the ransacking were not affiliated with the protest, Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a news conference, calling the group 'a bunch of criminal opportunists.'

At least 18 state-run liquor stores were broken into, leading the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to close all 48 of its Philadelphia retail locations and one in suburban Cheltenham on Wednesday.

No employees were hurt Tuesday night, but 'some were understandably shaken,' said liquor board spokesperson Shawn Kelly.

The stores were 'closed in the interest of employee safety and while we assess the damage and loss that occurred. We will reopen stores when it is safe to do so and when the damage is repaired,' Kelly said.

Video on social media showed masked people in hoodies running out of Lululemon with merchandise and police officers grabbing several and tackling them to the sidewalk.

Photos of a sporting goods store at a mall showed mannequins and sneakers scattered on the sidewalk.

The thefts and unrest stretched from downtown to northeast and west Philadelphia, leaving smashed display windows and broken storefront coverings. Police said seven cars were stolen from a lot in the northeast.

One of the cars had been recovered as of Wednesday afternoon.

Six businesses in a single retail corridor of North Philadelphia were looted, including three pharmacies, a hair salon, a tax preparation company and a cellphone store, according to the North 22nd Street Business Corridor, a business group.

Benjamin Nochum, the pharmacist and store manager at Patriot Pharmacy, said it was the third time since 2020 his business had been hit.

'When looters steal from us, what they don't seem to understand is that they are also stealing from our neighbors,' Nochum said in a statement. 'It makes you question how much longer you can hang on.'

People appeared to have organized efforts on social media, according to Stanford, the interim police commissioner.

Police are investigating 'that there was possibly a caravan of a number of different vehicles that were going from location to location.' Video posted to social media showed people hanging out of cars in a shopping center parking lot, appearing to yell directions to one another.

'This destructive and illegal behavior cannot and will not be tolerated in our city,' said Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, calling it a 'sickening display of opportunistic criminal activity.'

A large number of people can be seen running towards the Lululemon store in this picture during the spree

His administration is working with police to assess 'which areas of the city may need increased coverage or additional resources,' he said.

The chaos in Philadelphia was reminiscent of similarly brazen smash-and-grab thefts elsewhere, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area, where organized groups of thieves, some carrying crowbars and hammers, have systematically targeted high-end stores.

There were a large number of young people in Philadelphia's downtown business corridor, called Center City, shortly before 8 p.m., and some officers stopped a group of males 'dressed in black attire and wearing masks,' according to a police news release.

At that time, reports and 911 calls came in about the Foot Locker store. When police arrived, they found it had been 'ransacked in a coordinated attack,' the news release said.

By 8:12 p.m., police responded to similar calls at Lululemon, where police wrestled a few suspects to the ground as people streamed out of the store. Some of the suspected thieves slipped past police and got away, according to video posted to social media.

Shortly afterward, calls directed police to the Apple Store, where thieves had forced their way in and made off with phones and tablets  then smashed them on the ground when they realized the devices were disabled and their alarms were going off, social media video showed.

Some of the merchandise was recovered, according to a police news release.

No injuries were immediately reported, but CBS Philadelphia reported that a security guard was assaulted at the Foot Locker.

The thefts occurred the same day Target announced it will close nine stores in four states, including one in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood, and three in the San Francisco Bay Area, saying that theft and organized retail crime have threatened the safety of its workers and customers.
A plan to power British homes using Moroccan wind and sunshine has been given major backing by the Energy Secretary.

Claire Coutinho granted plans to lay a subsea cable from solar and wind farms in the north African country to a Devon village the status of national significance.

The cable will be 2,360 miles long and provide power for 7million homes by 2030, about 8 per cent of Britains energy requirements. Almost 12million solar panels across an area of 62 square miles would take advantage of Moroccos 3,500 hours of sunshine a year.

And 530 wind turbines over 309 square miles would harness trade winds that blow in the afternoon and evenings, providing a near-constant source of power. The company behind the plan, XLinks, has called the Governments backing of its project a major milestone.

But many challenges remain, not least raising the estimated costs of between 20-22billion.

Whitehall officials are poring over an extraordinary plan to install almost 12 million solar panels and 530 wind turbines across a vast expanse of desert in Morocco. (File image)

As well as building the worlds longest high-voltage direct current subsea cable, the 659ft-ship needed to lay it 2,296ft below the sea would also be the largest ever constructed.

XLinks also needs to be granted permission to run through Spanish and French waters. The firm said the project would create nearly 10,000 jobs in Morocco, of which 2,000 will become permanent, and that it was consistent with the countrys energy export strategy.

New UK energy security and net zero minister Ms Coutinho said the project was nationally significant due to its potential to help Britain ditch fossil fuels.

She said it could play an important role in enabling an energy system that meets the UKs commitment to reduce carbon emissions and the Governments objectives to create a secure, reliable and affordable energy supply for consumers.

Under the national significance designation, any infrastructure would be approved by the Government, instead of local authorities. The cable from Moroccos Saharan Guelmim-Oued Noun region would emerge at the tiny Devon village of Alverdiscott  population 286  which will house a 55-acre site for the conversion and storage of energy.

Tory MP for Torridge and West Devon, Geoffrey Cox, said locals support the project but many have grave concerns about the location of the industrial site. Sam Richards, of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, said the innovative project is one the Government should be getting behind. He added: It is essential that it does not become a victim of the red tape and bureaucratic turmoil that blights so many clean energy projects in Britain.

Rishi Sunaks strategy to meet net zero targets has come under intense scrutiny, with the Government earlier this week approving the biggest new North Sea oilfield in years.
A former Disney screenwriter behind the Bambi remake has said the scene in which famous deer's mother dies should be reworked as parents are more 'sensitive'.

Film writer and director Lindsey Anderson Beer had been working on a live-action version of the much loved Bambi film to bring it to a modern audience.

Part of the process of modernizing the classic 1942 film she said was to remove the death scene of the titular characters mother.

Speaking to Collider, Anderson Beer said this was due to parents now being more 'sensitive' than previous generations.

Anderson Beer said: 'Not to spoil the plot, but theres a treatment of the mom dying that I think some kids, some parents these days are more sensitive about than they were in the past.'

Anderson Beer, right, had been talking to Collider journalist Perri Nemiroff, left, when she made the comments

The film tells the story of Bambi and his friends, including a rabbit named Thumper seen here on the right, and a skunk named Flower as comes of age

She continued: 'And I think thats one of the reasons that they havent shown it to their children.

'Whats interesting about Bambi to me is it absolutely is a classic and its a beautiful love poem, such artistry to it.

'I do think there's an entire generation of children who have never seen the original and that's very different from, say Little Mermaid or Aladdin or the 90's heyday films that they've definitely already seen.

'I can't tell you how many kids I've seen who've never seen Bambi, which is such a shame.

'The thing is, it is such a gorgeous film. Its a little bit of a different tempo than I think modern audiences are used to.'

Anderson Beer had to step away from the Bambi project due to other projects including her directorial debut of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.

On social media, her comments have been criticized for making the classic film go 'woke'.

One person posted on platform X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: 'Why the f*** do they want to modernize Bambi? Screw Woke Disney.'

Another commented: 'Bambi has officially gone woke. Expect pronoun and critical race to kill Bambi's mom.'

On social media, her comments have been criticized for making the classic film go 'woke'

The scene she had been discussing was the death of the titular character's mother

The original movie, released in 1942, told the story of a young fawn named Bambi as he learns his place in the forest

The original movie, released in 1942, told the story of a young fawn named Bambi as he learns his place in the forest.

The scene Anderson Beer had been referring to shows him and his mom attempting to escape a hunter, who manages to kill her while Bambi escapes.

With his two friends, a rabbit named Thumper and a skunk named Flower, Bambi comes of age as he faces the joys and heartache, the loss of a parent, of growing up.

News of the remake first came to light in 2020 when The Hollywood Reporter said the studio had hired Anderson Beer and Tomb Raider writer Geneva Robertson-Dworet to write the script.

Back then, insiders told the outlet that the studio viewed Bambi as a companion piece to their remakes of The Jungle Book and The Lion King.

The outlet also said that the studio was cognizant that Bambi was 'less epic in scope and story' and wouldn't be aiming to shoehorn a larger story into the classic.
A Florida moviegoer was brutally beaten after he was attacked by a man who was sitting in seats he had already reserved.

Jesse Montez Thorton II, 27, was allegedly seen violently attacking 63-year-old Marc Cohen at the AMC theater in Pompano Beach, Florida in a 'callous' attack that was all caught on another customer's cellphone.

Cohen was about to see a film along with his wife when he saw another couple sitting in their pre-assigned seats on July 10.

After asking them politely to move, the Broward County Sheriff's Office say that Thorton suddenly became 'hostile' to Cohen's simple request.

The footage sees Thorton standing up and deliberately getting up in Cohen's face.

A Florida moviegoer was brutally attacked after asking a couple who were in his assigned seats to move

Marc Cohen, 63, lost his balance and tumbled own the stairs after the person he asked to move got up in his face

Once Cohen was on the ground, he was allegedly pummeled by Thorton

Jesse Montez Thorton II, 27, allegedly brutally attacked Marc Cohen, 63, over seats that Cohen had already reserved at a Florida movie theater in July

Cohen then lost his balance right on the aisle steps of the theater.

But Thorton wasn't finished as he then began punching Cohen several times in the face.

Shocked theatergoers ran down the steps to Cohen's aide and attempted to separate the two men.

Thorton didn't hang around and moments later he was seen fleeing the scene along with his date.

Surveillance camera footage from the theater sees him hurriedly heading for the exits along with his female companion.

Thorton didn't hang around and moments later he was seen fleeing the scene along with his date

Theater surveillance footage managed t capture clear photos images of Thorton and his date

'I just don't understand people, how they act that way -- there's no civility anymore,' Coehn told Local 10 after the incident.

Cohen said he simply told Thorton, 'Excuse me, you guys are in our seats.'

'This guy just kept staring at me instead of getting up,' he told the station.

'I said to the people at this point, who didn't apologize or say thank you, I said 'you guys can just keep the seats.'

Then, 'as I'm walking away,' he continued, 'he said 'go run to your wife little boy.''

'So I turned around and I said, 'You know I'm not the one who's being a little boy - you took my seats and you didn't apologize, or you didn't say thank you, and I let you keep them.''

'He jumped up, he wanted to fight me, he backed me up, I fell over the stairs and as soon as I fell down the stairs, it was like a boxer being against the ropes, this guy just went to town on me,' Cohen told NBC 6.

'I was on the stairs and he just kept pounding away at my head, and I couldn't get him off of me to do that,' he said.

Cohen told how several witnesses and his wife tried to stop the man during the assault, but were unable to do so.

'I didn't think anybody would be stupid enough to actually start a fight like that in the movies,' Cohen said.

Thorton was able to remain at large for the last two months, but police managed to track him down on Thursday after receiving an anonymous tip, later arresting him in Fort Lauderdale.

Thorton faces one count of aggravated battery with great bodily harm and is in jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond in what has been described by police as a 'callous' assault.

Thorton was seen with a bloodied and battered forehead with his hair drenched in blood

Cohen was also seen with a massive bump on his head following his fall

He was also left with his shirt and hands covered in his own blood

Cohen was left with a broken nose and received several stitches after getting a bloodied head and face.

Photos taken shortly after the attack show him with a massive bump on his bruised and battered forehead while his shirt was left covered in blood.

He was later taken to hospital for treatment.

'Broward County Sheriff's Office detectives worked this case for months,' Claudinne Caro said.

'The video and information about this callous attack received national and international media attention and generated leads, including an anonymous tip through Broward Crime Stoppers.'
A prosecutor working to investigate Hunter Biden's tax affairs flagged multiple potential violations of the Mann Act - which forbids trafficking of people across state lines for sex.

Jack Morgan, a prosecutor with the tax division of the Justice Department, emailed the Assistant US Attorney for Delaware, Lesley Wolf, to raise his concerns. Wolf spent five years investigating Hunter Biden's tax affairs.

Morgan's email was obtained by a whistleblower within the IRS, Joseph Ziegler, who has testified in Congress that the government worked to slow down the investigation into Joe Biden's 52-year-old son.

Ziegler provided the emails between Morgan and Wolf to the House Ways and Means Committee, which is one of several looking into Hunter Biden's business dealings, and the Committee published the emails on Wednesday.

Hunter Biden is seen visiting his lawyer in Pacific Palisades, California this week

A prosecutor within the Justice Department's tax division asked said in emails that there was potential violations of the Mann Act - which forbids prostitution across state lines

Morgan, in his emails, referred to Hunter Biden by the initials SM.

'Lesley: Attached are some, but not all, of the relevant documents related to SM and solicitation,' he wrote.

'I summarize the contents below. The highlighted records are those that are most probative for Mann Act purposes.'

Morgan's email, The New York Post reported, pointed to two cases where 'likely' escorts traveled from Los Angeles and New York to meet with Hunter in Boston.

A third case, involving a woman who 'self identifies as a 'hooker', showed that she too may have crossed state lines, traveling from New Jersey to New York to see him.

Morgan also pointed to messages Hunter Biden sent to sex traffickers, who were referred to in Morgan's email to Wolf as 'Trafficker #1' and 'Trafficker #2'.

Joseph Ziegler, an IRS whistleblower, has claimed that he saw the tax office slow-walking an investigation into Hunter Biden

Hunter Biden has been open about his wild years of drugs and prostitution while in the throes of a crack addiction

Morgan said he had suspicion about more women crossing state lines, but was unable to confirm it.

'Text chain suggests that she traveled to Delaware and that SM paid money to her,' Morgan wrote.

'In other texts, however, she states, 'I'm not some hooker or escort.'

Ziegler, in his June 1 testimony before Congress, declared: 'There were some flying people across state lines, paying for their travel, paying for their hotels. They were what we call Mann Act violations.'

Ziegler told Congress that he did not know whether Wolf decided to further investigate Morgan's references.

'I know that they were compiling them together,' he said.

'I don't know what they ended up doing with them. I know there was an effort at some point to compile them, but I don't know what ultimately happened with them.'
A woman who was charged with the alleged murder of a man during a suspected domestic violence incident has faced court.

The man was fatally stabbed at an apartment on Plaistow Street in Joondalup, about 28 kilometres north of Perth, on Thursday just before 9pm.

Lauren Vivian Brown faced Perth Magistrates court on Saturday after she was charged over the man's death.

The 27-year-old woman broke down in tears when she appeared before the court.

Lauren Vivian Brown (pictured) faced Perth Magistrates court on Saturday after she was charged over a man's death on Thursday night at an apartment complex in Perth

Ms Brown remains in custody after she did not apply for bail.

She heard the alleged murder charge read out to her in court, which she acknowledged.

The deceased man who believed to be in 30s and was found in a serious condition with major stab wounds.

Paramedics from St John ambulance WA rushed to the unit to try and save the man but he died at the scene.

Ms Brown and the man were believed to be in a relationship.

Police were called to an apartment on Plaistow Street in Joondalup (pictured), north of Perth on Thursday night just before 9pm where a man was found with stab wounds

Paramedics tried to save the man after they rushed to the apartment (pictured) but he died at the scene

Witnesses claimed they saw a pregnant woman running down the street before the man was discovered in a critical condition.

One neighbour Shane Dinsdale, told The West Australian he heard a loud scream from a woman in the apartment around 9pm on Thursday.

WA police have charged a 27-year-old woman with the alleged murder of a man at Joondalup

'Initially, when I just heard some minor screams, I was thinking, 'this is a nuisance', but by the end of it, it was quite full-on,' Mr Dinsdale said.

'I didn't hear any man screaming. I just popped my head outside but there were cops and ambulances so I probably got the end of it.'

Another neighbour who lives next door to the apartment, Richard King, said he heard a woman screaming for help.

'I didn't know if it was domestic violence or something else,' he said.
A rare photo has surfaced showing Tupac murder suspect Duane 'Keefe D' Davis with 'shooter' Orlando Anderson, as rapper's brother says there are still questions about 'conspirators' that need answered.

Duane 'Keefe D' Davis was taken into custody on Friday morning by Las Vegas detectives and has been charged with the murder of the rapper in September 1996.

The former gang leader, now 60, had admitted to playing a role in the murder to police back in 2009, but did so as part of a proffer agreement.

A newly surfaced image of Davis has since appeared on social media showing himself and his nephew Orlando 'Baby Lane' Anderson, who had previously been named as a suspect in the shooting, before he himself was gunned down in 1998.

In the image, which is said to have been taken in 1991, Davis can be seen standing in the middle of a group of five men.

Anderson can be seen on the left hand side of his uncle, clutching a bottle of champagne.

The former gang leader, left , had admitted to playing a role in the murder of Shakur, right, to police back in 2009, but did so as part of a proffer agreement

In this image Davis can be seen standing in the middle of a group of five men, with his nephew Orlando Anderson on the far right, who was named as a suspect before he was killed in 1998

Davis had previously claimed in a 2018 documentary that he was riding in the car with Anderson and handed him the murder weapon before he fired.

Following the announcement of charges on Friday, Shakur's brother Mopreme Shakur told NewsNation that there are still questions that need answered.

Speaking to the outlet, he said: 'I'm taken aback after so many years of dealing with this trauma, I am cautiously optimistic. Any accountable is good for us.

'This guy has been out there, he's been doing podcasts, interviews, YouTube, he wrote a book. They've known the whole 27 years he was in the car.

Anderson denied any involvement in the Shakur shooting. He died two years later in a shooting in Compton, California

'There's still question that still need to be answered, if there was conspirators, the actual motive. I don't know exactly what to believe. '

The aforementioned proffer agreement prevented any of the statements being used against Davis and he was not formally charged according to a former detective who investigated the case.

Greg Kading told CNN: 'We knew about Davis all the way back from his initial confession to law enforcement. We sat him down back in 2009, and he confessed to his role in the murder along with other coconspirators.'

The former Los Angeles police detective, who spent years probing the death of Shakur, continued: 'He had a proffer agreement, so we couldn't utilize that information that he was providing against him.

'But then he began to go out publicly boast about his involvement in the murder, and that led to law enforcement in Las Vegas taking another look at his claims, and ultimately, he's talked himself right into jail.'

A proffer is an agreement between a prosecutor and a suspect in which the individual agrees to provide the government with information regarding an investigation, but the statements generally cannot be used against the person.

Shakur's brother Mopreme Shakur has said that there are still questions that need answered surrounding the rapper's death

Rapper Tupac Shakur performs at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois in March 1994

During a press conference on Friday, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Jason Johansson added that Davis had spoke to numerous media outlets as well as a Netflix documentary.

He added: 'This was likely our last time to take a run at this case to successfully solve this case and bring forth a criminal charge.'

On Friday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo described Davis as the 'on-ground, on-site commander' who 'ordered the death' of Shakur.

Police believe Davis obtained the gun that was used from a 'close associate,' but declined to give any more details, saying they would come out during the trial.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill added that the case was 'far from over', saying they are working to build a 'successful prosecution'.

A Nevada grand jury indicted Davis in the killing after being seated for 'several months'. Davis was arrested while on a walk near his home.

Davis has spoken openly about being at the scene of the drive-by shooting 27 years ago, and admitted handing the murder weapon to a fellow gang member. Davis is the only one who was in the car that night who is still alive.

A Netflix documentary previously named Anderson as the shooter, with the gangster bragging about his involvement in the killing of Tupac in books and interviews.

Duane 'Keefe D' Davis was taken into custody on Friday morning by Las Vegas detectives, and has been charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon

In the book, he said that he told authorities about his involvement in the killing in 2010, during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities.

The Compton Crip gang leader even wrote a memoir confessing to his role in the fatal shooting of the hip-hop legend.

He claimed in the 2018 documentary that he was riding in the car with his nephew, Orlando Anderson, and handed him the murder weapon before he fired.

Anderson had tried to steal a Death Row Records medallion from a member of Shakur's entourage - which was affiliated with LA gang The Bloods.

Shakur and his entourage then beat up Anderson at the MGM Grand later that night after watching a Mike Tyson fight.

The rival gang, the Southside Crips, were out for revenge after Anderson was attacked.

Davis revealed in the Netflix docuseries that they hopped into their Cadillac to find Tupac after the beat down, knowing he was due to perform at 662 Club that night.

Davis admitted to targeting Tupac after he beat up his nephew, who was a member of the Compton Crip gang

Homicide Lt. Jason Johansson called Davis the 'leader and shot caller', during a press conference on Friday

Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo described Davis as the 'on-ground, on-site commander' who 'ordered the death' of Shakur. Davis was denied bail by Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese

LVMPD confirmed that Davis handed the weapon to a fellow gang member in the rear of the car, when he opened fire on Shakur.

Shakur was 25 when he was shot four times in the chest on September 7, 1996 while he was in Las Vegas. He died on September 13.

He was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion 'Suge' Knight in a convoy of about 10 cars.

They were waiting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted.

He was shot multiple times and died a week later, with Davis admitting in 2018 after a cancer diagnosis that he was inside the Cadillac at the time of the shooting.

Davis wrote in his 2019 tell-all memoir 'Compton Street Legend,' that he was in the Cadillac involved in the shooting.

In the book, he said that he told authorities about his involvement in the killing in 2010, during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities.

'They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out,' he wrote.

At the time, he was 46 and facing life in prison on drug charges when he agreed to speak with the authorities.

The arrest comes two months after Vegas cops raided Davis' wife's home on July 17, looking for items 'concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.'

Authorities seized multiple computers, a cell phone and a hard drive from the property, and a Vibe magazine featuring Shakur.

American rapper and actor Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive by shooting which has been unsolved for 27 years

Shakur was 25 when he was gunned down on the Vegas strip on 7 September 1996 while riding in a BMW

They also took several 40-caliber bullets, two 'tubs containing photographs' and a copy of Davis' memoir.

Insiders to the investigation claimed in August that homicide detectives were 'optimistic' about bringing a charge in the case.

Sources told The US Sun that the district attorney's office was set to present their case to a grand Jury last month.

They added that a criminal case was expected 'imminently', and they were looking at 'first-degree murder potentially for Keffe D', based on Nevada law.

Metro Police investigators made 'long and careful considerations' over moving forward on the case, saying that they 'did not enter into the investigation lightly.'

'They knew that the world would be watching if they took any action against Davis,' a source said. 'They do not want to make any missteps.'

Rapper Tupac Shakur poses for photos backstage after his performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois in March 1994

He was feuding at the time with rap rival Biggie Smalls (left) , also known as the Notorious B.I.G., who was fatally shot in March 1997

A separate source added that Keefe's gloating had 'talked himself into huge legal trouble'.

'Who knows what Keefe will do,' they said. 'Maybe he might try to negotiate a plea deal. The attention globally on the DA and police department will be extreme.'

Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.

He was feuding at the time with rap rival Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., who was fatally shot in March 1997.

At the time, both rappers were in the middle of an East Coast-West Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s.

Shakur accused Biggie and Sean 'Diddy' Combs, of being behind another shooting in 1994.

He was shot in a hotel lobby and was seriously injured, but survived the attack, accusing both of the rappers of being linked to the attack.
Multiple passengers in a four-wheel drive were killed when the vehicle collided with a truck near a small town in the Northern Territory.

A small outback community is reeling after multiple people died in a crash as rescue teams work to identify and recover the victims.

A four-wheel drive collided with a truck near a small town in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory on Friday afternoon.

Authorities received reports of a collision between a truck and car along the Stuart Highway, approximately 12km south of Pine Creek, about 4.15pm.

'Multiple people within the 4WD are deceased at the scene, with the recovery process commenced this morning,' NT Police said in a statement on Saturday.

The driver and passenger of the truck escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.

NT Police remain on the scene while diversions are in place for light vehicles along the Stuart Highway.

Significant delays are expected and police are urging motorists to avoid the area.

A four-wheel drive collided with a truck near a small town in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory on Friday afternoon. 'Multiple people within the 4WD are deceased at the scene, with the recovery process commenced this morning,' NT Police said in a statement on Saturday

Detective Senior Sergeant Brendan Lindner urged anyone who was travelling in the area between 2.30pm and 4.45pm on Friday with dash-cam footage to contact police.

'This incident has, and will, impact a large number in the community and all efforts are underway to identify and recover the deceased and to notify their next of kin,' he said.

Anyone with information on the identity and movements of the 4WD occupants are also urged to contact police.
The latest victim publicly named was Allen John Constantino, 25, of Lahaina who was one of the 22 people listed last week as still missing

Officials spent weeks trying to whittle down the list from thousands to dozens

The number of uncounted individuals in the Maui wildfire disaster is down to 12, according to the name list announced by Maui Police Department Friday.

The department released its sixth credible list of names, indicating that 12 people are still missing, down from 22 last week.

The task of identifying victims in the horrific blaze continues, following the tragic loss of at least 97 lives in August.

It has taken more than a month for Maui County and federal investigators to whittle down the list from thousands shortly after the disaster to dozens now.

But the police also stressed that the name list only includes those people who have a formal missing persons report filed with MPD.

The number of uncounted for individuals in the Maui wildfire disaster is down to 12, according to the name list released by Maui Police Department Friday

The task of identifying victims in the horrific blaze continues, following the tragic loss of at least 97 lives in August

It has taken more than a month to whittle down the uncounted for list from thousands after the disaster to dozens now

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier has said he is hopeful that every one of the victims of the devastating wildfire that destroyed Lahaina town will be officially identified.

The devastating wildfire claimed 97 lives, down from 115 earlier this month. Recent DNA tests revealed that officials had mistakenly collected multiple samples from the same individuals.

However, John Byrd, the director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, cautioned in a press conference that the current death toll should be viewed as a minimum, as there's a possibility it could increase.

Among the 97, 90 individuals have been identified and named publicly, with six other remain unidentified and one other person's family not notified.

The latest victim publicly named was Allen John Constantino, 25, of Lahaina who was one of the 22 people listed last week as still missing.

Leola Vierra holds a planter that was part of her cow collection found in the rubble of the porch of her home. She is one of the residents who are able to return to their property in Zone 1-C

The residents were given gloves, googles and hazmat suits to protect them from the toxic fumes and soot that is left from the deadly wildfires

Lahaina residents were finally allowed to return to their properties this week for the first time since the Maui wildfires destroyed 3000 buildings.

Noreen Wales, 84, and her granddaughter Tawni Katayama paid an emotional visit to the property built in 1968 in Maui Monday.

Wales walked through the ruins with Katayama as they held each other for support throughout what they described as a painful but important part of the healing process.

Sadly, the family fear they may end up homeless as prices of properties similar to theirs in Lahaina have hit $1 million or more.

Residents are being allowed back to their homes gradually as part of a program based on phases of re-entry.

The first residents that were welcomed back to what they once called home were living in Zone 1C, mostly along Kaniau Road which is the West part of town.

Katayama said growing in Lahaina she had a home with a yard and a neighborhood and she is worried her children won't experience that because of expensive property prices in Hawaii

The zone includes two dozen addresses and about 100 residents.

The residents that were going into the 'burn zone' - where their houses once stood - were given a bag including gloves, goggles and PPE to cover and protect their body from toxic dust or soot.

Hawaii plans to re-open West Maui to visitors on October 8, according to the state's Governor Josh Green.

Green said that 7,400 people who lost their homes to the wildfires are transitioning from hotels to long-term housing.

Maui officials are still calling on families with missing loved ones to submit a DNA sample to help in the identification process.
Ron DeSantis lamented that he wasn't met with the same opposition from California residents during his visit Friday as he was when he was in the Golden State earlier this year.

The Florida governor spoke with a room of hundreds of California Republicans, just steps away from his rival's home domain of Disneyland.

But after seeing a polling dip since his last visit to southern California in March, the 2024 contender was surprised not to see mass amounts of protesters demonstrating against his remarks.

'If you're standing up for what's right, and you're exercising leadership that is not cost free. People will come after you. The left will come after you, the media will come after you,' DeSantis said.

He then seemed to come to a realization: 'I'm actually a little disappointed, I didn't see any protesters out for me today. Where did the protesters go? We had them six months ago when I was here. I had them in other parts of California since I've been here.'

Ron DeSantis joked he was 'disappointed' that he wasn't met with protesters during his stop in Southern California on Friday  like he was during his visit to the Golden State in March

Meanwhile, there were hundreds of pro- and anti-Trump protesters outside the Anaheim Marriott Convention Center during the California GOP's Fall Convention on Friday

DeSantis was speaking right across the street from Disneyland. He joked: 'Great to be in Southern California. I didn't know if I was even allowed  I'm a little close to DisneyLand. I didn't know if they'd let me come to it. It's OK'

Meanwhile, there were dozens  and at some points, potentially hundreds  of pro- and anti-Trump protesters gathered around the Marriott Anaheim convention center and hotel all morning and into the afternoon on Friday.

DeSantis, who has been in a long-waged war with Walt Disney Co., was speaking right across the street from Disneyland.

'Great to be in Southern California,' he said when walking out on stage. 'I didn't know if I was even allowed  I'm a little close to DisneyLand. I didn't know if they'd let me come to it. It's OK.'

Former President Donald Trump made remarks earlier on Friday to a room of about 1,500 Republicans at the convention's lunch banquet. He then stopped at an ice cream shop in Beverly Hills before a fundraiser.

DeSantis had a rally in Long Beach during the day before speaking at the dinner banquet for the California GOP's fall convention.

Trump, however, was the clear star of the day.

'I understand that one of my residents was here earlier saying that he 'turned Florida red,' Desantis noted of Trump, who has his permanent residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

'I just wish if he was the one that turned Florida red, that he wouldn't have turned Georgia and Arizona blue because that's not been good for us at all,' the 2024 hopeful said, in reference to Trump losing some key swing states in 2020.

Protesters supporting and opposing Trump's appearance there on Friday clashed outside the Anaheim Marriott Convention Center on Friday

Pro-Trump protesters hold signs as they gather outside the California Republican Party's Fall Convention in Anaheim during the former president's remarks

Notably, DeSantis made his remarks literally across the street from Disneyland, owned by the Florida governor's rival Walt Disney Co.

DeSantis returned to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Wednesday for the second Republican primary debate. Trump skipped the event after also missing the first debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last month.

In March, DeSantis was at the Reagan Library for a stop on his book tour before announcing his presidential bid.

As he returned to Simi Valley, California, the governor made it clear he was hoping for some questions at the debate related to Reagan's legacy.

'In getting ready for this debate, I started looking at some of President Reagan's speeches and some of his writings  just to kind of get myself in the frame of mind,' DeSantis said to the crowd on Friday.

'I actually thought they may ask a question about Reagan's legacy  they didn't,' he said of the trio of moderators from Fox News, Fox Business and Univision.

'They were asking  I don't know what they were asking,' he laughed. 'But that's OK. I just roll with the punches  I'm there, I'll handle whatever they throw at me.'

DeSantis consistently polls in second place behind Trump  but a far second place.

His polling has slipped in recent weeks. And some surveys even show the governor coming in as low as fifth place.
A woman who was shot dead along with her dog and another man in upper Manhattan on Friday night was also the target of a terrifying home invasion earlier this year.

Jackie Billini, 57, was identified by her family and worked as an analyst for the state court system in the Bronx.

She had been out walking her dog with a male, who is yet to be identified, when the pair were shot in the head on 165th Street and Edgecombe Avenue in Washington Heights, close to her home one block away.

The pit bull dog they'd been walking was also callously slain during the vicious murder which took place outside Highbridge Park at about 6:30pm.

Family revealed that the 57-year-old had previously been attacked in her apartment by a man wielding a hammer in April.

Jackie Billini, 57, was shot in the head along with a man and a dog in upper Manhattan on Friday night

She had been out walking her dog with a male, who is yet to be identified, when the pair were shot in the head on 165th Street and Edgecombe Avenue in Washington Heights

Family revealed that the 57-year-old has previously been attacked in her apartment by a man wielding a hammer in April

During the April home invasion a man attempted to force his way into the home while armed with a hammer

An NYPD officer can be seen standing guard following Friday night's killing in Washington Heights

Pictures from the shooting showed a heavy police presence at the crime site on Friday night.

Following the shooting, Bellini and the male victim, who police have yet to confirm the identity of, were rushed to Harlem Hospital where they were both pronounced dead.

The dog died at the scene, and its lifeless body remained on the sidewalk surrounded by at least eight shell casings as police continued to investigate.

Detectives said the shooter fled the scene on foot as police immediately began a search for the suspect. No arrests had been made as of Friday night.

One eyewitness who was also walking nearby said the scene was horrific.

'[There were] a lot of shots, and then people were running that way. It was a man and a woman who were shot,' local resident Nelson Abreu, 70, told the Daily News.

Even police officers at the scene were disturbed by the killing of the dog.

Terrifying footage sees the armed intruder wielding a hammer as he tried to force his way in

It took the effort of four people holding the door shut with all of their might to keep the intruder from entering

The shocking footage was caught on a home surveillance camera in April of this year

One eyewitness who was also walking nearby said the scene was horrific where Bellini was shot

Crime scene tape can be seen stretched across the area where the double killing took place

Bellini and the man had been walking along 165th Street and Edgecombe Avenue in Washington Heights

The pet dog they were walking was also slain during the brutal murder that took place at 6:30pm

'It was brutal. That was a message. Did he have to shoot the dog too?' one officer asked. 'Damn. It was a beautiful animal,' they said.

The senseless murder came just months after Billini's family said she had been attacked by a hammer wielding assailant just six month ago.

A video provided to the Daily News, captured the shocking moment Billini, one of her daughters and her daughter's boyfriend were attacked.

Footage saw Billini forcefully trying to shut the door of her home with three others as their home was being invaded.

Detectives were quickly on the scene following the shooting as they attempted to establish what happened

Following Friday night's shooting, the pair were rushed to Harlem Hospital but were unable to be saved

The dog lay lifeless on the sidewalk, surrounded by evidence markers with at least eight shell casings visible

Even police officers at the scene were disturbed by the killing of the dog

At one point, the vicious attacker could be seen breaking the 57-year-old's arm as he attempted to force his way in through the door to her apartment.

He also attempted to harm one of Billini's daughters and her daughter's boyfriend with the same hammer.

Court records detailed how a Manhattan grand jury charged a 32-year-old man with burglary, assault with a weapon with intent to injury, assault, among other felony charges in connection with the attack.
A decorated U.S. Army veteran is asking Governor Greg Abbott to reduce his 62-year sentence for murdering his high school sweetheart's husband - insisting that she lied to him about being violently abused, and saying he believed he had saved her life.

Darrin Lopez, 51, was convicted in July of shooting dead Jamie Faith, 49.

Lopez, who was divorced and lonely during the pandemic at his farm outside Nashville, reached out to his former high school sweetheart, Jennifer, via LinkedIn.

They began communicating regularly, and Lopez said he fell back in love with her.

Jennifer, a speech therapist, and her husband, an IT director with American Airlines, had been together for 15 years, and had a teenage daughter.

Lopez insists he never intended to break them up, but Jennifer 'confessed' that her husband was violent and extremely abusive, and sent Lopez emails of her injuries.

It later turned out she had staged them - lies which Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert of Texas' Northern District called 'some of the most sadistic things you can possibly dream up.'

Darrin Lopez, 51, was sentenced to 62 years in prison for shooting dead Jamie Faith in October 2020. He is seeking to have his sentence reduced, insisting he believed he was acting to save Jennifer Faith's life

Jennifer and Jamie Faith were married for 15 years and had a teenage daughter. She was a speech therapist and he worked in IT for American Airlines

Lopez was convinced by Jennifer to drive to their Dallas home, and shoot Jamie, 49, dead on October 9, 2020, while he and Jennifer were walking their dog.

Ring doorbell camera footage shows Jamie and Jennifer Faith leaving the house together for the last time.

Speaking from inside prison, Lopez told NBC Dateline that he thought he was acting to save Jennifer.

'Was it hard to pull the trigger?' asks host Josh Mankiewicz.

Lopez, who retired from the Army after six deployments to Iraq, having won a Purple Heart and a bronze star, and suffered a traumatic brain injury, replied: 'Well, yes. I mean, it wasn't like on a mission in the military.

'But I was on the same type of mindset with it.

'I was doing what I had to do to protect Jennifer.'

Emails between Jennifer Faith and Lopez, obtained by NBC News, showed that Lopez wanted to report Jennifer's allegations of abuse to Jamie's employer, American Airlines.

He also tried to get her to go to the police.

But she refused, saying she did not want their daughter to lose her father, and reporting him would make the abuse worse.

'She also told me that she would say nothing's happening,' said Lopez.

'She would deny everything to the police.'

Jennifer Faith and Darrin Lopez are pictured at their high school prom

Jennifer Faith is seen being interviewed by Dallas police

The married couple's house, outside which James Faith was gunned down on October 9, 2020

Ring doorbell camera footage shows Jamie and Jennifer leaving their home with their dog

Shortly after leaving the house, Jamie Faith would be gunned down by Lopez

Lopez said that Jennifer told him Jamie had found out about their conversations on email and by phone, and he had flown into a jealous, violent rage.

Lopez received text messages, he said, which appeared to be from Jamie threatening to sexually assault his wife, and even drown her.

The text messages prompted him to drive 10 hours from Nashville to Dallas.

'If I didn't do something, she was going to die,' said Lopez.

'I made that commitment right there.'

Lopez shot three bullets into Jamie's head, then tried to make it look like a robbery by taking Jamie's wedding ring, punching Jennifer and binding her hands.

Lopez then fled the scene in his pickup and drove back home.

Jennifer, meanwhile, begged for answers as to who had killed her husband, and insisted the gunman approached from behind and she had no idea.

Lopez was arrested in January 2021, and Jennifer Faith a month later.

Jennifer Faith is seen in her mugshot when she was arrested in February 2021

Lopez's lawyer, Juan Sanchez, said it took him six months to convince Lopez that Jennifer had fabricated the allegations.

Lopez said he was devastated to learn of her lies.

'When I got arrested, I went to jail truly believing I saved Jennifer' and her daughter, he told 'Dateline.'

'That thought never registered in my mind that she could use me this way. I believe she loved me.'

Lopez apologized to their teenage daughter, and said he could never forgive himself for killing Jamie.

But he worked with prosecutors to 'put her away,' he said.

In February 2022, Jennifer Faith pleaded guilty, and was later sentenced to life in prison.

Lopez believes that his work helping prosecutors convict her was not adequately understood at his sentencing.

And he said he was used as her tool to get rid of her husband.

'I became her weapon,' he said. 'I understand that.

'The true criminal is in jail for life. I helped put her there.'
Long 'ghost' nets that stretch for several kilometres and weigh more than a tonne have been slammed by Australia's federal environment minister as 'industrial killing machines'.

The massive nets which are often tossed into oceans by foreign fishing vessels can cause major harm to marine wildlife.

Officers from the Australian Fisheries and Management Authority [AFMA] retrieved a huge net that weighed over five tonnes near the Gulf of Carpentaria, on the northern coast of Australia.

Officers from the AFMA have recovered several ghost nets (pictured) off the waters near the north coast of Australia recently, after they were discarded by fishing vessels

Dead marine life including whaler sharks, mackerel and crabs were found entangled in the net.

Several live sea creatures including coral, clams, and shellfish were also discovered.

Discarded nets are a major threat to native marine wildlife as they can cause pests and other dangerous species to be introduced into the oceans.

This poses a danger to Australia's marine animals in addition to the risk of becoming trapped in the nets.

The nets are also a major shipping hazard which can affect sea and navigation exercises on waterways.

Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek told The Courier Mail the nets can destroy living organisms and their habitats.

'These are industrial scale killing machines, catching and drowning dugongs, sharks, whales, turtles and other animals,' Ms Plibersek said.

'Removing these nets is important for the protection of marine species and the safety of those who work in and enjoy our marine environment.'

AFMA officers removed one net from the water (pictured) which weighed over five tonnes and had trapped several live and dead animals, including whaler sharks and crabs

The net which was retrieved by AFMA officers along with several others is believed to have been discarded by foreign fishing vessels patrolling waters in the north of Australia.

The nets are swept further out to sea but current sea conditions are helping them drift to northern coastal areas of Australia including the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Removing ghost nets off Australian waters costs the Australian government almost $15million.

The current government provided a new $3million grant in 2022 to combat ghost nets.

Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek (pictured) labelled ghost nets as 'industrial scale killing machines', which can destroy marine life and their habitats

CEO of Austral Fishers David Carter told the newspaper the partnership between the fisheries industry and government agencies to protect marine life by removing the nets is critical.

'Our fishing industry is on the front line of Australia's maritime borders and well placed to detect and respond to ghost nets and to assist with other threats such as illegal fishing,' Mr Carter said.

Parks Australia said in a recent report that a 'simple solution' does not currently exist to recycle ghost nets and other waste from fishing activities in Northern Australia.
Shocking video footage showed migrants creeping through unguarded barbed wire at Eagle Pass, Texas, and disappearing into the woods under the cover of darkness.

Migrants were seen creeping into the brambles of the U.S.-Mexico border town, one after another, in an attempt to cross the border without being processed.

Dozens, including at least three kids, furtively made their way through barbed wire in what appeared to be a moment when no border patrol or guards were in sight.

Trucks for border patrol agents processing arrivals were parked on the other side along the Del Rio bridge, shown in the video posted Friday by @JLRINVESTIGATES on X, formerly Twitter.

Jonathan Lee Riches, who uses the handle @JLRINVESTIGATES, is an investigative journalist from Florida who has been covering migrants crossing at Eagle Pass in the past few days.

Migrants were heard cheering and shouting as they disappeared into the scrubland.

Eagle Pass has been at the epicenter of the migrant crisis and was hit by a huge influx of illegal crossers this week, as a leaked document claim agents are 'too busy processing to guard the border.'

It's night time in Eagle Pass Texas & it's a wild scene out here. Watch this group of migrants come over the border & skip the processing area.



No Border Patrol or National Guard in sight. They just disappeared into the woods!#BorderCrisis #EaglePass https://t.co/nLgky7fY6J pic.twitter.com/gi0wyr18Mu  JLR (@JLRINVESTIGATES) September 30, 2023

Migrants seen after crossing the Rio Grande river border from Piedras Negras, Mexico into the US on September 27, 2023

Upwards of 8,000 migrants have been crossing the border at Eagle Pass every day last week

The Texas town of just 28,000 people has been inundated by migrants in recent days, with border crossings rising to around 8,000 a day in the week ending September 22, according to the Washington Office of Latin America.

Throughout the month of August, upwards of 232,000 migrants made their way over the US-Mexico border.

Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinos declared a state of emergency over the crisis, but a document allegedly leaked by a Border Agent appears to show that the unprecedented number of arrivals is now making it impossible for them to effectively guard the crossing.

The report was shared by DC Examiner reporter Anna Giaritelli on X, who claimed that 'all Border Patrol agents have pulled to other duties (mainly processing migrants) so not a single agent will be in the field.'

Giaritelli added that the agent who shared the document is 'pretty pi**** off about this', a sentiment echoed by Elon Musk as he revealed this week he is travelling to Eagle pass to help grapple with the 'serious issue.'

Throughout the month of August, upwards of 232,000 migrants crossed the US-Mexico border - and up to two million are estimated to have crossed this year

Some migrants were seen struggling with soaking wet bags of belongings as they tried to cross the river, where they were met by military troops on the Texas side

After making their way into the US, many migrants were seen queueing up as they waited to be processed by border agents

According to the leaked document, which has not been independently verified by DailyMail.com, all Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass are assigned to processing at various migrant centers.

The memo adds that there should be nothing 'indicating any type of field deployment/ enforcement' at the border.

The lack of any border patrol agents comes as officers struggle to cope with crossing numbers only matched by April 2023 levels, when pandemic-era immigration policy Title 42 ended.

Harrowing images from the porous border show droves of migrants traversing difficult terrain and wading through the Rio Grande river.

Families are seen clinging to each other, with some struggling to carry soaking wet bags of belongings across the water.

After crossing from the Mexico side in Piedras Negras, the asylum seekers are met by law enforcement, including the National Guard, before they reach long lines of razor wire.

Migrants cross the Rio Grande river from Piedras Negras, Mexico into Eagle Pass Friday

A document shows all Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass are assigned to processing at various migrant centers

Officers are seen helping people through the terrain, including lifting small children exhausted by the journey to safety, while many migrants are pictured queuing up as they wait to be processed.

Salinos' declaration of a state of emergency came as it is thought that 100,000 people waded through the Rio Grande and into the town last week, and he slammed President Biden this week for 'abandoning' his community.

In the last 10 days, law enforcement in Eagle Pass have also arrested more than 17,000 illegal immigrants, according to the Washington Examiner.

Shelters in border towns like Eagle Pass have been stretched well over capacity due to the thousands of crossings every day.

As officials scramble for solutions, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has led the movement to bus migrants to northern states to share the burden of ineffective border policies while bringing the crisis to national attention.

Many migrants, including young children, are the victims of elaborate multi-billion dollar human trafficking schemes that are run by drug cartels that funnel people over the border

A border agent walked along lines of razor wire near the border in Eagle Pass, Texas

In New York, where over 100,000 migrants have poured into the city, Mayor Eric Adams admitted this month that the influx could 'destroy' the Big Apple.

But Salinas took aim at such comments as he slammed Biden's response to the influx in Eagle Pass, saying on social media this week: 'We're not a city that has the resources of New York, Chicago, cities like that.

'You already see big cities already complaining that they're getting large amounts of undocumented immigrants. I mean, we're Eagle Pass. We only have limited resources, so this is not sustainable.

'As a mayor, what's disappointing is that we haven't heard from the president of the United States or the vice president of the United States... To this day, I haven't heard of a concrete plan of action to stop this from continuing to happen. Sometimes, we feel kind of abandoned here at the at the border here in Eagle Pass.'

With the situation at Eagle Pass continuing to deteriorate, tech billionaire Elon Musk - an outspoken critic of the migrant crisis - said this week he is readying to visit the border town.

Musk, 52, said he had spoken to Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales, which led him to plan a visit 'to see what's going on for myself.'

'They are being overwhelmed by unprecedented numbers  just hit an all-time high and still growing!' he said on his platform X, formerly Twitter.

Elon Musk has announced he will go to Eagle Pass, Texas, later this week to observe the situation at the US-Mexico border

In a different post responding to a DailyMail.com video of chaos outside a migrant shelter in Staten Island, Musk said 'this is a severe crisis.'

A large number of the refugees have moved from Venezuela amid the country's ongoing economic decline, with more than seven million residents leaving the nation of 29 million people as of February, reports The New York Times.

While the vast majority of the seven million have opted for neighboring countries, many have made their way to the US. From 2015 to 2018, only around 100 Venezuelans were stopped annually at the border.

From October 2021 to August 2022, that number stood at 150,000.

Around two million migrants are thought to have crossed the US southern border in 2023 with many citing Biden's lax policies as a reason.

Another 500,000 could cross by the end of the year.

While Biden comes under mounting pressure to address issues at the border, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced recently that 800 more military service men and women would be sent to the border to aid the crisis joining the more than 2,500 National Guardsman who are already deployed.

The huge influx of Venezuelan migrants led Biden to announce last week he was introducing speedy processing for more than 300,000 asylum seekers from the economically devastated nation.

Biden indicated that the decision was made in hopes of easing pressure on the underfunded border officials as they are stretched thin.
Listen Out endorsed the Voice Referendum

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Loud and proud revellers have come out in force for one of Australia's biggest music events as the festival season kicked off.

Almost 30,000 ravers descended on Sydney's Centennial Park on Saturday for the Listen Out festival currently touring the nation.

Revellers hoping to escape the politics of the divisive Indiegnous Voice to Parliament referendum camapign were disappointed as festival organisers did their best to sway their vote.

The main stage displayed large screens of text reminding surprised festival goers to vote Yes between acts.

'Listen Out and Listen In will be supporting the Yes Vote in the upcoming referendum as a pathway to treaty, truth and healing for this nation,' the message read.

'However you plan to vote, as the youth of this nation make sure your voice is heard.'

At least 27,000 revellers partied the night away as a large police presence watched on.

Thousands of revellers donned summer outfits for the Listen Out festo=ival in Sydney's Centennial Park

Organisers at Sydney's Listen Out music festival have asked ravers to 'make sure your voice is heard' in the upcoming Voice to Parliament Referendum

More than 27,000 people converged the Sydney leg of the Listen Out festival

The star-studded line-up of artists headlining the event included American stars such as Skrillex, Lil Uzi Vert, Ice Spice, Four Tet and Marc Rebillet.

Western Sydney drill rap group OneFour were a last-minute addition to the line-up and cut it fine to get to the stage on time for their 5pm set.

The group wrapped their set at Gold Coast's Promiseland music festival at 3pm before boarding a private jet to make a frantic dash back to Sydney.

The sun has shown out for the day, bringing a top of 26C and clear blue skies for the electronic music festival that marks the start of the summer event season.

Many women got creative with their outfit choices - with bright neon hair braids and bright colourful crop tops being a major staple of the festival.

Other women chose to use the warm weather to show off their midriffs.

One man donned a retro shirt that was covered in copies of Playboy Magazine editions from over the years while others arrived shirtless.

The clear blue skies and unobscured sun left a majority of those in attendance wearing hats and leaving little to the imagination with their lack of clothes.

Saturday's crowd joined thousands of revellers who have attended the Listen Out and Listen In festivals in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth in recent weeks.

Police were out in force at Centennial Park on Saturday as thousands partied in the heart of Sydney's CBD for the final stop of Listen Out.

The festival is expected to wrap up at 11pm with revellers urged to allow for extra travel time and remain patient.

Temperatures hit a high of 27C in Sydney for the event, with many opting for no shirts as they partied into the night

Acting Superintendent Nicole Roache urged attendees to look after their mates and seek medical attention if they are starting to feel unwell

Many at the festival opted for no shirts as the heat sweltered and the dancing began

The over-18 festival, which has been sold out every year since 2016, saw music-lovers get creative with their ensembles

Organisers acknowledged the Gadigal clan as the traditional custodians of the Centennial Parklands. Pictured are revellers arriving at Centennial Park

Simple white singlets were a staple for many revellers in the crowd

Women doned crop tops and bikinis to take advantage of the sun's rays

Sling bags and hand bags were seen all over the field during the festival as revellers looked for a way to keep their belongings safe

Police have urged festival goers to keep their health and safety in mind while they party into the evening.

A high-visibility police operation targeted anti-social behaviour and alcohol fuelled violence.

Local officers were assisted by licencing police, the dog unit, and other specialist commands inside and outside the festival grounds.

Hats were a must for partiers planning to endure the clear blue skies and blazing sunshine

Groups of girls flocked together to tackle the mosh pit

Staying hydrated in the heawas a point of concern for event organisers and police who were on the ground

Tattoos were on display as bared their chests and unbuttoned their shirts

Acting Superintendent Nicole Roache urged attendees to look after their mates and seek medical attention if they are starting to feel unwell.

'If you or one of your mates feels unwell, please seek professional medical attention at one of the medical tents on-site,' she said.

'Our goal is for everyone to enjoy the festival safely. We will not tolerate anyone who intends to jeopardise that safety or thinks they are above the law.'

Listen Out has sold out each of its festivals for the six years that it has been operating

People of all ages showed up to listen to local artists, as well as American Superstars like Ice Spice, Lil Uzi Vert and Skrillex

Sunglasses were a must for music fans seeking thrills

A high police presence was on the lookout for trouble makers at the festival in Sydney

Acting Superintendent Nicole Roache urged attendees to look after their mates and seek medical attention if they are starting to feel unwell

This colourful reveller's shirt was emblazoned with copies of Playboy Magazine from over the years

READ MORE: The outfits of Listen Out in Perth Advertisement

Listen In was a sister-event which was held in Adelaide's Ellis Park in Tampawardli on September 22.

Marc Rebillet was performing at the festival in Adelaide when he was pelted with abuse and projectiles by attendees waiting for headline act, Ice Spice, to take to the stage.

Disturbing footage emerged capturing festival goers abusing Rebillet while he was mingling and sharing his microphone with the crowd.

'Get off the f***ing stage,' one shouted.

Another yelled: 'You're a nonce. 'F*** off and get Ice Spice.'

Another video shows bottles and other projectiles being hurled at Rebillet as he's escorted to safety by security guards.

Dancers basked in the sun and left little to the imagination with their choice of clothing

This reveller brought along a pink walkie talkie to enjoy the music

'Got decimated tonight playing before Ice Spice,' Rebillet tweeted afterwards.

'This was before they started throwing s***.'

'I don't blame them entirely, they're just children and my set was in the way of their Munch. Still, kind of a crazy thing to experience! Hope they become cooler adults.'
Incidents were within 40km of each other

A P-plater got his long weekend off to a bad start after he was allegedly caught drink driving two times within 12 hours on one of Victoria's busiest highways.

The man, 29, had his red Mazda pulled over by police on the Western Freeway in Myrniong, north-west of Melbourne on Thursday night.

After a positive roadside reading, he was taken to a police station where he allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.133. The blood alcohol limit for P-plater drivers is zero.

The man's license was immediately suspended, and he was issued with infringement notices for drink driving, exceeding the speed limit by 20km/h and failing to display P-plates.

Twelve hours later around 6am Friday, police returned to the Western Highway 40km in Warrenheip following reports a driver had crashed into a pole.

A P-plater has been allegedly caught drink driving two times within 12 hours by Victoria Police (stock image)

READ MORE: Woman refuses to undergo breathalyser test Advertisement

'The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, the same 29-year-old Epping man from the previous incident, was assessed at the scene and taken back to a police station where he returned an evidentiary breath test 0.134,' a police

'Police discovered his infringement notices and paperwork regarding his licence suspension inside the crashed vehicle.'

The driver was charged with exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol and driving while suspended.

He was granted bail to face Ballarat Magistrates Court in November.

Ballarat police senior sergeant Paul Maslunka said that incidents like this show that some drivers are not willing to listen to the road rules.

There is a heavy police presence across Victoria during the long weekend (stock image)

'While this incident is an isolated incident it does highlight the fact that some people still aren't getting the message or are so self-absorbed, they don't care about other road users,' Senior sergeant Maslunka said.

'Realistically we deal with less than one per cent of road users doing the wrong thing throughout the year but it's that group that are consistently involved in causing road trauma.

'I'd like to acknowledge the other 99 per cent out there who are doing the right thing and encourage everyone to do their part to keep the roads safe this long weekend.'
Harrowing new details have emerged of how a fisherman desperately clung to his dying brother-in-law for 45 minutes after a massive whale landed on top of their boat and knocked them into the water.

Water Police rushed to the scene at Cape Banks in La Perouse, south of Sydney's CBD, at about 6am on Saturday following reports two men were in the water at Botany Bay.

Stuart Collings, 61, and his brother-in-law Darren Curmi, 53, were thrown into the water after their boat was capsized by the beeched whale.

Mr Collings was knocked unconscious during the impact as Mr Curmi held his brother-in-law afloat for 45 minutes as he desperately called for help.

Footage has emerged by the stricken unmanned vessel running laps of the water as water police and lifeguards try to bring the boat under control.

'The boat is just is going in cricles, no one is on it,' a witness explains in the clip.

'Hopefully it doesn't hit the rocks.'

Stuart Collings, 61, died in a freak boating incident in Botany Bay on Saturday morning

Stuart's brother-in-law Darren Curmi was rescued and is now recovering in hospital

Mr Collings was pulled from the water but sadly died at the scene, despite desperate efforts to revive him.

Mr Curmi, 53, who was shippering the boat was rescued and taken to St George Hospital in a stable condition.

It's understood the brothers-in-law were just half an hour into their fishing trip when tragedy struck.

READ MORE: Incredible moment a man encounters a humpback whale doing a rare 'headstand' Advertisement

Shocked witnesses also on the water just outside the heads at Botany Bay told heard a 'big bang' before the 4.8m boat tipped over.

'Something big came out of the water, it was huge,' one told The Daily Telegraph.

'It was still dark but you could see this big black shape jump out of the water.'

The freak incident has rocked the pair's families and friends.

'This is a shock and a tragedy,' a friend of Mr Curmi said.

'I can't imagine what he must be feeling.'

'This is not something anyone expects to will ever happen. We can't wrap our heads around it.

Water Police Acting Superintendent Siobhan Munro said the whale breached near or onto the 'run-about' boat, causing it to flip.

'Right now there are lots of whales out there and there's lots of examples of whales breaching next to boats ... but this is tragic accident,' she said.

NSW police minister Yasmin Catley shared condolences to the deceased man's family in a press conference later Saturday morning.

Footage has emerged of the stricken vessel running laps of the area after the freak incident

'It's very early stages and it's very little information we know at this point in time,' she said.

'[We] were advised early a whale has been involved, who would have thought that would've occurred?

'It's terribly tragic and we feel for those family and friends.

'This morning two guys got up to to go out and enjoy themselves fishing, something I and most people in NSW love to do, and ended up in tragic set of circumstances.'

'I believe the skipper stayed as close as he could to the deceased and was doing all he could to keep him afloat until police arrived.'

The Foreshore Road Boat Ramp at Botany and its surrounding roads were closed for much of the day as police launched an investigation.

Forensic officers spent the day assessing the fishermen's vessel for damage.

Police are still trying to piece together what happened. The incident is being treated as a freak accident at this stage.

Officers pulled two men from the water in Botany Bay, in southeast Sydney, early Saturday morning (pictured, emergency services at the scene)

The second man was pulled from the water and taken to hospital by NSW Ambulance paramedics in a stable condition (pictured, emergency services at the scene)

Water Police were called to the scene at about 6am and officers pulled the deceased man from the water unconscious (pictured, emergency services near the Foreshore Road Boat Ramp)

NSW Maritime executive director Mark Hutchings said there is an 'incredible' number of whales were migrating along the east coast this year.

'If you are on the water you need to be 100m away from an adult whale, and 300 metres if that whale has a calf,' he said.

'The whales aren't there to harm anyone, but those interactions can happen.'
The husband of Sarah Ferguson's former personal assistant who was found dead this week has been arrested on suspicion of murder, her grieving family has said, after they were informed her body may have tragically lain undiscovered for days.

Jenean Chapman, who had been married for just two months to James Patrick, 48, was discovered by police at her apartment in Dallas, Texas on Monday, five months after moving to the city.

Patrick, who was arrested 200 miles away in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, remains in custody, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported.

The Duchess of York last night said she was 'shocked and saddened' to learn of the death of Ms Chapman, who she had previously worked with as a member of the Royal Family.

The 63-year-old said her former assistant, 46, was a 'loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun' woman and pledged to help her family pay for her funeral costs.

Sarah Ferguson has paid tribute to her former personal assistant Jenean Chapman after she was killed in Texas. Pictured: The Duchess of York (left) in a car with Ms Chapman (right)

Jenean Chapman, who had been married for just two months to James Patrick, 48, was discovered by police at her apartment in Dallas, Texas on Monday

The Duchess of York last night said she was 'shocked and saddened' to learn of the death of Ms Chapman

Police originally described Ms Chapman's death as unexplained until a post-mortem the following day found that her death was a homicide.

Her loved ones allege that Patrick, who had known Ms Chapman for six years, was physically abusive towards his wife and described their relationship as 'toxic'.

Writing on Instagram, sister Crystal Marshall said that the time since learning of Ms Chapman's death had been 'the worst days of my life'.

She added: 'My sister was recently a victim of physical abuse and her life was brutally taken away from her.

'She had so much to look forward to and impacted so many people in her life. Her accomplishments are too many to count.

'Even though her presence is no longer with us her light will continue to shine in our hearts and fond memories we have of her.

'I love and miss you dearly sis and wish you weren't taken away from us so soon. I hope now that you have eternal peace and find rest in the Father of Spirits.'

A second sibling, Nicole Marshall, told told BNC Dallas Fort Worth: 'The most we can just say is that the relationship was toxic.

'We were shocked because before that it was an on-and-off relationship. It was rocky, we were aware of that.

'She broke the news to our mother [about the marriage] and of course our mother told us, we definitely didn't see that coming. And no, there was no wedding, so we weren't involved, unfortunately.'

Ms Chapman began working with the Duchess of York as her first job after graduating from New York's Syracuse University with a degree in TV, film and production.

Ms Chapman may have lain undiscovered for several days (Pictured with Barack Obama)

Ms Chapman met multiple celebrities through her work, including Muhammad Ali (pictured left)

In a statement released on her Instagram page, the Duchess wrote: 'I am shocked and saddened to learn that Jenean Chapman, who worked with me as my personal assistant many years ago, has been murdered in Dallas aged just 46. A suspect is in custody.

'Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her family and friends. I heard from her just a couple of months ago and she seemed so happy. Her family is raising money to transport her body back to New York City and pay for legal and funeral costs.

'I will be making a donation and supporting the family in any way possible - please help if you can at the link in my bio.'

Ms Chapman's three sisters all commented on the Duchess' post to thank her for sharing the news.

Among those lending their support to Sarah Ferguson were Naomi Campbell, Suze Orman and Kate Garraway.

Campbell said: 'Shocking Sarah, I'm so sorry... sending you love and her family condolences.'

Orman added: 'Sarah I'm so so sorry I know how close you get to your assistants. My love to her family and you.'

According to her LinkedIn page, Ms Chapman worked with Sarah Ferguson for four years between 2001 and 2005 where she assisted with the Duchess's travel, press and tour plans, as well as handling her research and diary.

Ms Chapman's family said that after living in New York, she had worked in San Francisco before travelling to Dallas for a new job.

Speaking to reporters after her body was found, Ms Chapman's sister, Nicole Marshall said: 'She was a force to be reckoned with, she was a role model.

'She was an amazing person, and I still look up to her. I always look up to her as what I wanted to accomplish in my corporate career.'

The Duchess of York said: 'Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her family and friends'

Another sibling, Crystal Marshall, said: 'Her first job out of college was working with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.

'So she worked with the royal family as a personal assistant, and then from there, she worked at Def Jam, so she worked with the Simmons family.'

As well as working with multiple artists photos shared by her siblings showed Ms Chapman's job also saw her rubbing shoulders with celebrities such as Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali and Adam Carolla.

Nicole added: 'She was just an accomplished intellectual. She was a kind person and compassionate. She had a heart of mush.'

Police discovered Ms Chapman's body at her apartment in Elm Street, Dallas, at around 1.15pm on Monday, September 25. Officers reportedly told her family her body may have lain in the flat for several days.

Her passing was initially investigated as 'unexplained', before a post-mortem determined her death was a homicide.

A day later James Patrick, 48, was arrested by University of Texas Police on suspicion of murder.

Ms Chapman's family has set up a fundraiser to help with the costs of transporting her body from Texas to New York City and the funeral fees. You can view this here.
Vladimir Putin has appeared with a peculiar and unexplained dark mark on his forehead after he vowed to claim full victory in illegally incorporating Ukrainian regions into Russia.

The Russian president, who turns 71 next week, pledged 'nothing and no-one' will stop him as he declared September 30 'Reunification Day' - one year since Moscow formally claimed the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as its own.

Putin addressed his people as Ukraine staged a kamikaze drone strike which knocked out power for a swathe of Russian border region Bryansk.

An electricity substation went up in flames after an explosion when the drone hit near the village of Pogar.

As other explosions hit in the area of administrative buildings, regional governor, Alexander Bogomaz, confirmed 'the power supply was disrupted'.

Vladimir Putin appeared with a peculiar and unexplained dark mark on his forehead (circled)

A fire is pictured following an attack on an electrical substation in Pogar village, Bryansk region, 30 km (18.6 miles) north of the border with Ukraine

Putin marked the anniversary of the day he illegally incorporated the so-called the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics into Russia along with parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, which he hailed as 'a defining and truly historic event'.

All are legally part of a sovereign Ukraine under international law.

Putin said he acted to restore 'something every person values, namely culture, traditions, and mother tongue' among mainly Russian-speaking people.

This was 'everything that was loathed by nationalists and their Western patrons who orchestrated a coup in Kyiv in 2014 and then unleashed a full-scale civil war and terror against dissenters and organised blockades, constant shelling, and punitive actions in Donbas'.

Seeking to justify his war, he vowed: 'Nothing and no-one can break the will of millions of people, or their belief in truth and historical justice.

'The free and unequivocal choice of our brothers and sisters was wholeheartedly supported by the Russian people.

'We understood and deeply felt the most important thing: by defending our compatriots in Donbas and Novorossiya, we are defending Russia itself.

'Together, we are fighting for the Motherland, for our sovereignty, spiritual values, unity, and victory.

'I thank all the citizens of the country for this solidarity and patriotism.'

The Russian president, who turns 71 next week, pledged 'nothing and no-one' will stop him as he declared September 30 'Reunification Day'. He is pictured during his address

Ukraine staged a kamikaze drone strike which knocked out power for a swathe of Russian border region Bryansk

Fire billows following an attack on an electrical substation in Pogar village, Bryansk region

Smoke pours into the skies following an attack on an electrical substation in Pogar village, Bryansk region, 30 km (18.6 miles) north of border with Ukraine

The electricity substation went up in flames after an explosion when the drone hit near the village of Pogar

Despite plunging Russia and Ukraine into a debilitating 19-month war in which hundreds of thousands have perished, the dictator claimed he was 'building our common future together, rebuilding and building schools and hospitals, housing and roads, museums and memorial sites'.

Putin thanked people in the newly-grabbed regions 'for preserving and passing on your love for the Fatherland to your children despite all the trials'.

He claimed: 'Thanks to you, your fortitude and determination, Russia has become even stronger.

'We are one people, and together we can overcome anything and meet any challenge.'

Close Putin henchman Dmitry Medvedev vowed Russia will invade more new regions of Ukraine.

Marking the anniversary of bogus referendums used by Putin to justify incorporating Ukrainian territory into his repressive state, Medvedev said: 'The special military operation will continue until the Nazi Kyiv regime is completely destroyed and the original Russian territories are liberated from the enemy.

'Victory will be ours. And there will be more new regions within Russia.'

Ex-president of Russia and now Putin's deputy on the Kremlin's security council, he said the referendums saw Ukrainian citizens make 'a fateful decision - to be with their Fatherland [Russia].

'This choice became a symbol not only of the restoration of historical justice, but also of the unity of the Russian people, their colossal will and dedication.'

In Moscow's Red Square on Friday night, flag-waving Russians gathered for a concert as the Kremlin held celebrations to mark one year since it claimed to annex four Ukrainian regions.

Since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine last year, authorities have routinely held concerts and events to drum up support for what the Kremlin calls a 'special military operation'.

People waving Russian flags attend a concert dedicated to the first anniversary of the annexation of four regions of Ukraine Russian troops control

Yaroslav Dronov, known by his stage name Shaman, performs during a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's annexation of four regions

People waving Russian flags attend a concert dedicated to the first anniversary of the annexation of four regions of Ukraine Russian troops control

A large crowd, some of them singing, could be seen gathering in Red Square near a stage and large screens which read: 'One Country, One Family, One Russia'.

There were children, families and elderly people, some of whom queued in long lines for ice cream and took pictures.

'Exactly one year ago, historical justice prevailed,' one of the presenters told the audience, as the crowd chanted 'Russia'.

'Russia does not abandon its own. We are one country,' he said.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared September 30 'Reunification Day' - one year since Moscow formally claimed the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as its own.

Putin is not expected to attend the concert, the Kremlin said.

Moscow has repeatedly cast its soldiers as heroes battling for Russia's existence in the face of Western aggression and 'Nazism'.

Moscow held elections in the four regions this month, but does not fully control any of them and is currently battling a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
President Joe Biden is set to meet with his Cabinet early next week to discuss how the government will function after the anticipated shutdown begins on Sunday.

The 80-year-old will meet with his team in person at the White House, four administration officials who are familiar with the plans told CNN.

The government is heading towards closure on October 1 with no deal in place between the Republican-led House and the Democrat-led Senate to fund the 2024 fiscal year. It is feared the shutdown could drag on for weeks.

Biden will stay in Washington DC over the critical weekend and remain in contact with his legislative affairs team in order to get updates on the shutdown negotiations in Capitol Hill.

There are no scheduled public events on Biden's calendar on Saturday, as the government edges closer to running out of money, or on Sunday.

President Joe Biden is set to meet with his Cabinet early next week to discuss how the government will function after the anticipated shutdown begins on Sunday

The government is heading towards closure on October 1 with no deal in place between the Republican-led House and the Democrat-led Senate to fund the 2024 fiscal year

It is feared the government shutdown could drag on for weeks

The White House is engaged in regular communication with its staff and agencies on what to expect if there is no government funding.

The agencies have started to make their own contingency plans in the event of a shutdown.

Officials at two government organizations have said there are fears the shutdown could last weeks and proposals have been drafted just in case.

One said the outlook is 'hope for the best, but plan for the worst'.

The looming threat of the shutdown is already impacting planning, including possible travel next week, for cabinet members and other officials.

The White House is in communication with staff about shutdown procedures where it acknowledged the 'uncertainty' surrounding the situation.

'We understand uncertainty can be unsettling,' it told employees in an email.

'Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and patience through this process, and for all that you do for the Executive Office of the President and the American people.'

The shutdown will mean flight mayhem, garbage piling up, national parks shuttered and members of the military not getting paid.

Twenty-one hardline Republican members of Congress sided with all Democrats on Friday to vote no to a last ditch stopgap spending plan.

It was a brutal defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has faced relentless criticism from the right of his party.

If no 11th-hour deal is reached then 3.5 million federal workers will have to go without pay - 2 million members of the military and 1.5 million federal civilian employees.

Over half the civilian employees will be furloughed, and the rest will have to show up for work without payment.

The GOP is now scrambling to find an agreement that will avoid widespread chaos and disruption across the country.

Biden, 80, will stay in Washington DC over the critical weekend and remain in contact with his legislative affairs team in order to get updates on the shutdown negotiations in Capitol Hill

Twenty-one hardline Republican members of Congress sided with all Democrats on Friday to vote no to a last ditch stopgap spending plan

The failed vote was a brutal defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy , who has faced relentless criticism from the right of his party

Trash can overflows as people sit outside of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial by the Tidal Basin, Dec. 27, 2018, in Washington, during a partial government shutdown

The party-line plan that would have cut spending by $1.471 trillion and bolstered border security.

It was a brutal defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has faced relentless criticism from the right of his party.

Even if the bill had passed, it would not have prevented a shutdown: it would never have been taken up in the Senate, which is working on its own bipartisan measure that McCarthy has rejected.

However it would have marked a starting point between the House and Senate proposals.

Some Republicans have suggested the real deadline to get something done is now October 13, the date when service members would miss their first paycheck.

For now, federal workers deemed 'essential' are forced to work without pay. Those deemed non-essential are furloughed.

Members of Congress and the president will keep getting paid, though many have said they won't take a paycheck. Many of their staffers will keep working without pay but will get backpay when a deal is passed.

Others like janitors and cafeteria workers who are employed by third-party contractors will likely be furloughed without backpay.

A shutdown at the end of the month would be the government's 22nd in five decades, according to an Axios report.

The shutdown in 2013 lasted 16 days and was the third longest in US history after 35 and 21-day shutdowns in 2018 and 1995 respectively.
A 16-year-old boy has been stabbed to death while another two teenagers are fighting for their lives after a terrifying spree of knife crime in Luton yesterday.

A total of five teenagers were wounded across two shocking attacks which police believe to be connected.

Bedfordshire Police has launched a murder probe and three teenagers have been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing.

Police said that the incident happened at around 7pm on Friday when officers were called to reports that three teens had been stabbed in Nunnery Lane.

The 16-year-old was rushed to hospital with multiple stab wounds but was tragically pronounced dead shortly after. A second teenager is being treated for potentially life-threatening injuries, while a third victim also suffered serious wounds but these are not being treated as critical.

The horror attack came just hours after two other teens were stabbed in Sundon Park Road. Police were called to the area - where there was a fatal stabbing two weeks ago - at around 4pm, where one teenager is now in a critical condition.

A 16-year-old boy has been stabbed to death while another teenager is fighting for his life after a triple knifing on Nunnery Lane (pictured) in Luton

Police said that the incident happened at around 7pm on Friday when officers were called to reports that three teens had been stabbed in Nunnery Lane. Pictured: Officers at the scene today

Police officers have closed off a street and set up cordons as they investigate the murder

A total of five teenagers were wounded across two shocking attacks which police believe to be connected. Pictured: Police on Nunnery Lane

The horror attack came just hours after two other teens were stabbed in Sundon Park Road (pictured)

The second teenager received serious but not life-threatening injuries. Both are being treated in hospital as detectives probe the attack. One man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody for questioning.

The Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit have launched a murder investigation, and they are currently treating both incidents as connected.

Detective Inspector Lee Martin, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: 'Appalling violence in Luton cost a teenage boy his life yesterday, and left two others in life-threatening conditions.

'Incidents such as these have a significant impact on our residents. Our thoughts are first and foremost with the loved ones of the boy who lost his life in such tragic and awful circumstances.

'We are doing everything we can to prevent any further incidents and we want to reassure the wider community that officers are pursuing all lines of enquiry as well as carrying out increased patrols in the area.

'Knife crime and violence has no place in our society  but it is a problem we must tackle together, alongside our communities, to challenge attitudes about carrying knives and provide opportunities to ensure our young people can feel safe.

'Both incidents happened in busy areas with several people present. If you witnessed any of these incidents, or if you have any video footage or images, then please get in touch.'

Two weeks ago, on September 16, a man was stabbed to death outside a Tesco Express in the Sundon Park area of Luton.

Police officers have been pictured at crime scenes across Luton today. Here, they are at Sundon Park

An alleyway off Sundon Park has been cordoned off by police as they probe a murder investigation

Floral tributes (pictured) have been left following the Luton stabbings on Friday afternoon

Two boys, aged 16 and 17, appeared in the crown court at Luton this week accused of is murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to a woman who was with him.

In June, Home Secretary Suella Braverman urged police to 'ramp up' use of stop and search in a crackdown on street knife crime.

Britain, especially London, has been rocked by several teenage fatalities this year.

This week, schoolgirl Elianne Andam, 15, became the sixteenth teenager to be killed in the capital.

It followed 13 fatal stabbings, two shootings and one suspected arson attack already this year.

The GCSE student's death has sparked an outcry of anger over yet another senseless loss of life as calls grow for Sadiq Khan tackle the capital's knife crime problem.

Two weeks ago, on September 16, a man was stabbed to death outside a Tesco Express in Luton

The five Luton stabbings come amid a shocking year of fatal knife attacks in Britain, especially in London. A map reveals the heartbreaking rollcall of teenagers killed in the capital so far this year

Elianne Andam, a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift School, was knifed to death on her way to school in London this week

The heartbreaking rollcall of teenagers killed has been laid bare on a tragic map.

It includes the death of Leonardo Reid, who was knifed just days before his 16th birthday, and talented boxer Khaled Saleh, 17, who was stabbed as he walked past a church in June.

Pastor Lorraine Jones, who lost her son Dwayne Simpson to knife crime, called the situation a 'state of emergency' and said more children will die unless something is done.

Urging the Mayor to do more, she pleaded: 'We need help so we can deal with those that are most vulnerable,' adding 'otherwise all our lives are at risk.'
A speed eater who broke the record for eating 50 of the world's hottest chilis in record time says he was inspired by a Buddhist monk who burned himself to death.

Mike Jack, a famous speed-eater from London, Ontario, set out to break the Guinness World Record by eating 50 of the Carolina Reapers as fast as possible. He did so in six minutes, 49 seconds last November and attained his desired record.

Jack has since revealed his unusual inspiration in a new interview with The Washington Post.

Before taking his first bite - Jack, 41, laid out pictures of the people who inspired him to take on the challenge. One of the pictures was of Thich Quang Duc, the iconic Buddhist monk who set his body on fire in June 1963 protest of the Vietnamese government's persecution of Buddhists. The monk died in the protest.

Jack says he was inspired by the monk because of his incredible feat which makes the spicy challenge seem less scary in comparison.

Mike Jack, 41, set out to break a Guinness World Record for eating 50 Carolina reapers as fast as possible in London, Ontario

He said he was inspired by the famous monk who burned himself to death on the streets of Saigon in 1963 to protest the Vietnamese government's persecution of Buddhists

The professional spice-eater managed to eat all 50 peppers in just six minutes and 49 seconds

The professional pepper-eater said that when he looked at the pictures of his inspirations 'who have done these incredible feats' he said 'it just makes what Im doing kind of smaller and more manageable'.

The Vietnamese Buddhist monk that motivated Jack's bravery was front page news on June 11, 1963 for burning himself alive on the streets of Saigon.

He became known as the 'Burning Monk' after his extravagant act of protest which cost him his life.

He sat calmly on a single cushion with his legs crossed in the middle of a busy Saigon intersection as a fellow monk poured five gallons of gasoline on his head.

Duc chanted a Buddhist prayer as he calmly twirled beads around his neck, still covered in the gasoline, before lighting a match and dropping it onto his robes.

His body was instantly engulfed in flames and everyone panicked, except Duc. A witness said: 'He never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound.'

The photographer who managed to snap the iconic picture of the 'Burning Monk', Malcolm Browne, said: 'I dont know exactly when he died, he never yelled out in pain.'

Thich Quang Duc's act of protest had such a significant impact that some think it to be the reason that America entered the Vietnam War.

Jack's world-record breaking act involved a different kind of fiery heat but still required the same bravery, which is why he considered Duc an inspiration.

He said: 'I wanted to do something that was bigger,

'I felt like I was known as the speed guy who could eat peppers fast but maybe not the guy with the endurance. I wanted to show I could eat a massive amount.'

Jack established a career for himself that involved eating spicy things. He didn't like spicy food in college - but when he started to add spice to his food he realized that every time he would add a few more dabs than last time and was interested in seeing how far he could push the boundaries of his tolerance to heat.

He started a YouTube channel called 'Mike Jack Eats Heat!' which has nearly 30,000 subscribers and 3 million views.

The speed-eater broke his first Guinness World Record in 2019 when he ate three ghost peppers in less than 10 seconds. He's since broken 11 more world records and holds on to the titles for five of them.

Jack and his wife set out to break the record for spiciest kiss in February which required the couple to kiss for more than 15 seconds after they had both eaten spicy habanero peppers.

His most recent world record was one that he proposed to Guinness himself.

After setting the record for 50 Carolina reapers in six minutes and 49 seconds, Jack pushed himself even further by embarking on the second plate of peppers to see how many more he could eat.

Jack said he is inspired by the monk - Thich Quang Duc - because of his incredible feat which makes the spicy challenge seem 'smaller and more manageable'

After Jack put away the first 50 peppers and completed the world record... he reached for ANOTHER plate and ate 85 more to beat his OWN record of 60 chilis.

At 11 and a half minutes he reached his personal best of 60 chilis - but he kept going. He finally called it a day at an hour and eight minutes after eating a shocking 135 Carolina reapers.

That falls short of the record for the most ever eaten by a person in a single sitting -150.

He stopped because he simply didn't have enough room in his stomach.

Jack said: 'I like to push myself and see how far I can go with things'.

His goal for the day was to go until his body 'gives out'.

The other inspiration that the 41-year-old cited as motivating his record-breaking-aspirations was Terry Fox - who ran over 3,300 miles on an artificial leg to raise money for cancer research in 1980.
Under-fire Laurence Fox has been pictured for the first time since he appeared on GB News and launched a misogynistic rant about journalist Ava Evans in which he said: 'Who would want to sh*g that?'

Fox claimed he is unable to 'speak freely' about the hearing as he continued to lambast the channel he had, until this week, appeared regularly on.

GB News announced Fox's suspension after it received huge backlash for comments made by Fox when he appeared on Dan Wootton's Tuesday show. Later Wootton was also suspended from the channel for his involvement in the interview, after apologising to Ava online.

Fox appeared in public to attend a protest against Drag Queen Story Hour outside the Honour Oak pub in London, alongside right-wing group Turning Point UK.

Speaking at the protest, Laurence Fox struggled to make himself heard over a chorus of people who had turned out in support of the local LGBT+ community.

Fox said he is unable to 'speak freely' about the hearing on Friday, before showing up at the Honour Oak pub to protest against drag queens on Saturday

Ava Evans said Fox's comments were 'unforgivable' and she now fears for her safety given the number of threats she has been receiving since the show

Chants of 'Nazi scum off our streets' and 'loser' could be heard as Fox attempted to give a speech over counter-protesters using a microphone.

He was also seen taking selfies with attendees and addressing counter protesters through a wall of police officers who maintained a distance between the two groups. Fox later tweeted about the protest with a video of counter-protesters.

He returned to the venue at the pub's monthly Family Fun Day, which sees face painting, a family friendly storybook session, read by a drag queen, DJs and even a Drag Brunch.

The venue has become a hotspot for protests against Drag Queen Story Hour, which sees a drag queen read a family friendly story to children and their parents.

On Friday evening in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Fox said: 'Just completed my GB News show trial. I mean disciplinary hearing.

'I think the rules are that I can't speak freely about it. Which is totally on brand. For the home of free speech.'

He previously posted online that he 'expected' to be sacked from the channel for his comments.

GB News boss Angelos Frangopoulos said he was 'appalled' by the remarks, which were broadcast on an episode of the channel's Dan Wootton Tonight show last week.

But when asked by the PA news agency whether a decision had been made about whether he would return, Fox said: 'I don't know - I haven't heard anything.'

On the GB News show, Fox noted it was after the watershed before he unleashed an extraordinary rant in which he suggested Ms Evans was a man-hater, called her a 'little woman' and asked the nation 'who would want to sh*g that?'.

He added: 'Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman, ever, ever, who wasn't an Incel?'

He had been riled by comments Ms Evans had previously made when she was appearing on the BBC speaking about the topic of male suicide, in which she called for a minister of mental health for everyone in government, dismissing the suggestion of just a men's mental health minister.

However Ms Evans was not invited on the programme or aware she was to be mentioned, as she told the Mail last night.

The clip went viral overnight as Fox - an actor-turned highly contentious 'free speech' activist who once proudly filmed himself setting fire to pride flags - refused to apologise.

It was in contrast to Dan Wootton who, having initially appeared to take no action, publicly apologised on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He said: 'I want to reiterate my regret over last night's exchange with Laurence on GB News.

'Having looked at the footage, I can see how inappropriate my reaction to his totally unacceptable remarks appears to be and want to be clear that I was in no way amused by the comments.'

Laurence Fox smokes as he stands next to representatives from Turning Point UK

Police officers push back against counter-protesters outside the pub on Saturday

Laurence Fox appeared to be being held back by police officers in London as he attended the protest on Saturday

Fox (right) spoke about Ava Evans during Dan Wootton (left) Tonight on Tuesday

Fox eventually made a rambling apology in which he said he should have cut back on the 'bar banter' and has since alleged he is being silenced by 'the mob' and mainstream media.

The original clip of his comments about Ms Evans received 7,300 complaints to Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator said.

The channel dipped further into chaos on Friday after a third presenter, Calvin Robinson, was also suspended after he said he would refuse to appear on his own show without Dan Wootton.

Robinson, who is not a Reverand for the Church of England but does hold the title with the right-wing Free Church of England, broke the news he was suspended after previously accusing GB News managers of 'capitulating' to the 'woke mob'.

It followed GB News boss Mr Frangopoulos apologising to Ms Evans on air when appearing in a tense BBC interview with Amol Rajan on Friday morning.

Mr Frangopoulos said that Fox's comments should not have been on air, but that once they had been said they should have been 'properly challenged'.

He added the comments had left him 'appalled' but stressed the channel needed to be given time to fully investigate the situation.

Fox's overt reference to her sexual attractiveness, and his assessment of it, left Ms Evans completely shocked as she sat at home, in her London flat, 'on my own'.

Once she realised what had happened she tweeted the clip in an effort to draw attention to it. While she has received an outpouring of support, she says she has also received countless death threats and other abusive messages.

'It would have been horrible for a woman to hear she was being discussed in those terms in the pub', says Ava, in her first, devastating, full account of what happened.

'I'm not naive. I know that men talk like that about women. But this was on national TV. It was demeaning. It was dehumanising.

Ms Evans said: 'I'm not naive. I know that men talk like that about women. But this was on national TV. It was demeaning. It was dehumanising'

Police officers were in attendance at the pub to keep protesters and counter-protesters separated from one another

Many people turned out to counter-demonstrate against Laurence Fox and Turning Point UK on Saturday

Those supporting the Honour Oak pub held posters and chanted at the protesters

Calvin Robinson - seen in London on March 10 - has become the third presenter to have been suspended from GB News

'As if it was an option for him to have sex with me. As if men get to look at you and decide if they want to.'

Ms Evans had just got home from work on Tuesday when she received a 'brace yourself' message from an acquaintance who works at GB News and who had witnessed Fox's rant.

'I hadn't been watching but then another friend sent me the video. I could not believe it.'

As she spoke to the Daily Mail last night, her phone was still receiving rape threats, unprintably abusive messages and unsolicited sexual images.

She said she is planning on involving police in the matter as she 'fears for her safety'.

But Ms Evans added, as she has previously said this week, that the story is 'not about her.'

'It is about every woman, because the message he was sending was that it is OK to demean a woman like this. All women are game  to be reduced to their sh*gability.'
A teenage boy has spent more than 18 hours in surgery to try and save his hand after he was ambushed in a terrifying machete attack outside his home as his mother gave an harrowing update.

Shocked neighbours rushed to his aid after the boy, 14, was found bleeding on the ground outside his unit block following an altercation with a group of males on Sutton Street in North Melbourne late Friday night.

His alleged attackers remain on the run.

His mother was minutes from home when she got the call that he had been attacked.

His hand was almost detached when she was reunited with her son in the ambulance shortly afterwards.

A mother (pictured) recalled the moment she got a call from her 14-year-old son that he'd just been attacked with a machete

READ MORE: Mum killed in Melbourne home Advertisement

'I saw him sitting in the ambulance and (his hand) was almost detached from his arm,' the woman told 7News:

'There was blood everywhere.'

The boy was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Children's Hospital to undergo emergency surgery.

It is not yet known whether doctors will be able to save his hand or if the damage is too catastrophic to repair.

Doctors have told the boy and his mother that even if his hand can be saved, he still has a long road to recovery ahead of him.

'I couldn't imagine how he's going to feel when he wakes up,' his mother told reporters.

'He's going to have to adapt to all these new ways of doing things that he used to do so easily, something as innocent as playing a Playstation.'

Her son was set to start at a new school on Monday which will have to be postponed as he recovers in hospital.

Forensic investigators and SES crews scoured the public housing block for clues on Saturday

It's understood the boy was with a friend when they allegedly had a disagreement with another group of males, one of whom pulled out a machete and attacked him before the group fled the scene.

His mother has pleaded for calm.

'He called me and he said, 'Mum I'm downstairs in an ambulance and my hand has been cut off',' she recalled.

'I feel numb in my heart... If he's not a seperate part of me, he's a part of me.'

'Now he's in hospital, for what? For some kids who thought they were cool for a second, who thought they were part of a gang.'

'Nobody deserves this.'

'What kid carries a machete? I wouldnt even know where to get one.'

The entrance of the North Melbourne unit complex remained cordoned off on Saturday

Forensic experts spent Saturday scouring for clues outside the public housing unit block looking for clues with the help of SES officers.

A trail of blood was left for metres which retraced the boy's footsteps.

The boy's alleged attackers remain on the run as detectives continue their investigations.

Anyone who witnessed the attack or has information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

The incident is the latest in a youth crime surge across Victoria.

Data released in June revealed crime committed by young people aged 10-14 had risen by 44.6 per cent in the previous 12 months.
It comes as one poll showed Trump take a commanding lead in the 2024 race

He jabbed that Democrat's turn to indictments at the first sign of trouble

Donald Trump was met with raucous laughter as he taunted likely 2024 presidential rival Joe Biden by saying the White House's reaction to his political jeopardy is to 'indict the motherf***er!'

The foul-mouthed former president, 77, was in a comedic mood Friday evening as he addressed California's GOP fall convention, where he also mimicked Biden, 80, getting confused when trying to find his way off-stage.

Making light of his mounting legal troubles during his bombastic speech, Trump said his four indictments, and 91 criminal charges, are nothing more than political hit-jobs.

'What they've done is they've gone after opponents, so that if you become president, or some other job, but if you become president, and you don't like somebody or somebody is beating you by 10, 15, or 20 points, like we're doing with crooked Joe Biden - let's indict the motherf***er!' he said.

The moment was met with big laughs from his Republican friendly crowd. But others have said Trump's use of a word widely-regarded as the second most-vulgar in the English language is unbecoming and beneath a man seeking re-election as president.

Donald Trump was met with raucous laughter as he tore into President Biden and other top Democrats in California on Friday, mocking Biden's apparent confusion on a UN stage last week while saying the White House's response to adversity is to 'indict the motherf***er!'

Poll Is Trump's language appropriate? Yes No Is Trump's language appropriate? Yes 487 votes

No 878 votes Now share your opinion





Trump's aggressive campaigning comes a week after a staggering Washington Post poll showed him holding a commanding 10-point lead over Biden in a hypothetical matchup.

The dynamic has led to fears in Democrat circles that Biden, 80, would struggle to repeat his 2020 election victory if he came up against Trump again, with his advanced age a common talking point among those concerned.

The former president jabbed at rumors top Democrats could scheme to replace Biden before the 2024 election in his speech on Friday, pointing to California Governor Gavin Newsom as a potential surrogate.

Trump said he doesn't think Biden will even 'make it' to the general election, suggesting that Newsom has seemingly positioned himself to take the reins if the president drops out.

'Gavin has become Crooked Joe Biden's top surrogate because he doesn't think Biden is going to make it  that's why he's doing it,' Trump insisted.

Although Biden looks to have a clear run to the Democratic nomination and is running virtually unopposed after Robert F Kennedy Jr's candidacy floundered in recent months, Trump speculated that other Democrats could soon challenge him given concerns over his capacity to win again.

'He doesn't think he's going to make it, and it won't be him so easily,' Trump said. 'He's going to have a big fight. However, because there will be a lot of Democrats competing it's going to be very interesting.'

Trump suggested California Governor Gavin Newsom (pictured) could be preparing to jump into the 2024 presidential race due to concerns over Biden's ability to win re-election, adding: 'Gavin has become Crooked Joe Biden's top surrogate because he doesn't think Biden is going to make it'

The California audience cheered as Trump told them their state could be 'wonderful again', with many seeing the Golden State as declining under Newsom's leadership under rampant homelessness and open-air drug taking.

The downtown area of San Francisco has emerged as the epicenter of the crisis, with sightseeing 'Doom Loop' tours reportedly available for tourists to catch a glimpse of the rows of tents and squalid drug markets taking over the area.

But Trump vowed that 'help is on the way' to save the state from far-left policies, if he is elected for a second term in 2024.

He also slammed a series of California's Democratic lawmakers and leaders and claimed 'rich people' in Beverly Hills 'smell' because of strict water laws that keep them from showering enough.

Speaking to about 1,500 attendees munching on the remains of their lunch, Trump said: 'While California was once a symbol of American success, today under the radical left fascists and Marxists that run your state  that's who's running your state, bad people  it's becoming a symbol of our nation's decline.'

Trump headed to the West Coast days after California hosted the second Republican presidential debate, with the former president opting to speak with striking autoworkers in Detroit over attending.

The ex-president got big laughs when he mimicked a moment when a confused Biden appeared not to be able to find his way off stage

As he diminished Biden's chances of winning a second term, Trump openly mocked his series of gaffes since taking office - most recently the embarrassing moment when Biden was seen wandering around the stage following remarks at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City last week.

'Let's see, look, some people say Biden's going to make it. Does anybody think he's going to make it to the starting gate?' Trump asked in a poll of the crowd of Republicans, to which they responded with a resounding, 'no!.'

'I mean the guy can't find his way off of a stage,' he added, before mocking Biden's seeming confusion at finding his way off the stage at the UN event.

'Look here's a stage,' Trump began. 'I've never seen this stupid stage before  I've never seen it before. But if I walk left there's a stair. And if I walk right, there's a stair.'

'And this guy gets up, 'Where am I? Where the hell am I?' Trump said, walking aimlessly around the stage.

'Nah, he's terrible. You know, I'm much tougher on him than I used to be. Out of respect for the office, I was never like  He's the most corrupt president, the most incompetent president we've ever had.'
NSW retail stores could soon open all day on Anzac Day after the state government announced a review into trading laws.

Under the current Retail Trading Act 2008, traders such as supermarkets, fashion stores and other retailers can't open their doors on Anzac Day each year until 1pm in the afternoon.

Pharmacies, petrol stations, markets, cafes and takeaway restaurants are exempt from the rule.

The state Labor government has set up a review of retail trading laws on April 25 and is seeking to hear the views of the community and stakeholders on whether restrictions should be relaxed.

Shopping precincts such as Sydney's Pitt Street Mall (pictured) could soon be able to trade for longer on Anzac Day each year

The NSW government seeks feedback on current Anzac Day trading restrictions for retailers. Pictured in the Anzac March in Sydney earlier this year

Poll Should Anzac Day retail trading hours be extended? Yes No Need more detail Should Anzac Day retail trading hours be extended? Yes 31 votes

No 87 votes

Need more detail 9 votes Now share your opinion





Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during World War I, in Gallipoli in 1915.

The day is marked by a number of traditions, including dawn and sunset services, veteran marches, and wreath-laying ceremonies.

Trading restrictions were enforced to allow workers and business operators to participate in commemorative and community events and pay their own respects.

After recent debate about whether Anzac Day is being appropriately recognised, Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis is seeking to hear from businesses, unions and RSLs about how they feel towards the change.

'We want to hear whether retail workers and other parties would appreciate a greater opportunity to commemorate Anzac Day in NSW,' she said.

The regulations differ amongst other jurisdictions, with retailers open from early afternoon in some states, and closed all day in other states, while there are no restrictions in both territories.
A British man has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting an air steward on a flight from Newcastle to Palma.

He was held after allegedly touching his bottom and nipples 'in a lewd way' during the flight.

He is said to have got up from his seat and approached the flight attendant in an 'affectionate way' before touching him up.

Other passengers helped restrain him until the plane landed in Majorca.

Police were waiting for the man, believed to be aged around 40, and took him away in handcuffs after radioing for reinforcements after he allegedly became aggressive towards the first officers to arrive.

Civil Guard Police at Palma Majorca's airport have arrested a British tourist, accused of touching the nipples and buttocks of a flight attendant in the middle of a flight to Palma

The detainee, who was wearing a white pair of shorts and a T-shirt as well as matching white sandals with black socks when he was arrested, has not been named.

The bizarre incident occurred Friday and the suspect was taken to court in the Majorcan capital today for a hearing which took place behind closed doors.

Respected local newspaper Ultima Hora reported he initially told the investigating judge he had wanted to play a joke on the air steward but subsequently offered conflicting versions of why he had acted the way he had which were 'incoherent'.

He was released on bail pending an ongoing investigation.

It was not immediately clear today if he has been banned from leaving Majorca and had his passport taken away or is free to leave the island while he continues to be probed on suspicion of sexual assault and resisting arrest.

The airline operating the flight has not been named.

Last month a British holidaymaker was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting an air stewardess before spitting on her boss on a Jet2 flight from Manchester to Ibiza.

The 42-year-old was held by police after reaching the island.

The detainee, who was wearing a white pair of shorts and a T-shirt as well as matching white sandals with black socks when he was arrested, has not been named

Jet2 confirmed after the arrest it had banned him from flying with them.

As well as prosecution the tourist was also warned he faced a heavy fine.

Overnight it emerged four men on an easyJet plane from Manchester to Tenerife had been hauled off an aircraft yesterday after it had to be diverted to Lanzarote.

Spanish air traffic controllers said the reroute occurred because of violent passengers on board.

And in another incident yesterday two British women described as 'drunk' were met by police around 1.30pm as a second easyJet plane coming from Luton landed in Fuerteventura.

Local reports said they had been identified by cops after being accused of an air safety breach.
A grieving family is mourning the loss of a second son who was allegedly murdered by his pregnant girlfriend that he 'cared endlessly' for.

James Sheehy, 31, was allegedly stabbed to death at his Joondalup home north of Perth on Thursday night.

His girlfriend, Lauren Vivian Brown, 27, has been charged with murder and remains behind bars after she appeared in court on Saturday.

Alex Sheehy said his older brother's death has rocked his entire family having previously lost another sibling to suicide.

James Sheehy, 31, (pictured) was allegedly stabbed to death on Thursday night by the woman he endlessly cared for

Lauren Vivian Brown (pictured) faced Perth Magistrates Court on Saturday after she was charged over her boyfriend's death

'My dad called me at two o'clock in the morning and he told me that James was dead,' Alex told The West Australian.

'We (James and I) were pretty tight ... we already lost a brother to suicide ... now I've got no brothers.'

He added his brother 'cared endlessly' for his girlfriend.

'(James) just wanted love, man, he just wanted a missus that loved him,' Alex said.

'He picked (Ms Brown) up off the street, looked after her and did the right thing.'

He added his brother was a rugger who loved his job and had previously worked with crane hire company Freo Group.

Karratha contractor GCS Contracting and property company Lendlease are alsi listed on his LinkedIn as previous employers.

Family friend Paul Maudsley said that James was the 'last person anyone would think something like this would happen to'.

'He didn't have an angry bone in his body, he was kind to everyone,' he told the publication.

'Everyone loved him.'

Police were called to an apartment on Plaistow Street in Joondalup (pictured), north of Perth on Thursday night where James Sheehy was found with stab wounds

Forensic police spent Friday escouring a Joondalup unit complex north of Perth after a man was allegedly stabbed to death by his partner

Brown broke down in tears when she appeared before the court over the suspected domestic violence incident.

She heard the alleged murder charge read out to her in court, which she acknowledged.

No application for bail has been made on her behalf as Brown was formally refused bail.

Brown announced on Facebook she was 'in a relationship' on July 7 with Mr Sheehy liking the post.

Her Facebook was filled with selfies, modelling shots and inspirational quotes.

She lists various jobs including a hostess at popular Northbridge karaoke venue Hit Studio Karaoke and a model at Kandy Promotions, which offers promotion staff and grid girls services and models for hire.

Police allege that the couple had been arguing prior to Mr Sheehy stabbed inside their Plaistow Street apartment at 9pm.

Paramedics from St John Ambulance tried to save Mr Sheehy but he died at the scene.

Shocked neighbour Shane Dinsdale he heard a loud scream from a woman in the apartment around 9pm on Thursday.

Paramedics tried to save James Sheehy at his apartment but he died at the scene

'Initially, when I just heard some minor screams, I was thinking, 'this is a nuisance', but by the end of it, it was quite full-on,' Mr Dinsdale said.

'I didn't hear any man screaming. I just popped my head outside but there were cops and ambulances so I probably got the end of it.'

Another neighbour who lives next door to the apartment, Richard King, said he heard a woman screaming for help.

Brown is next due to appear in the Supreme Court on October 25 by videolink.

If you need support, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline 13 11 14.
Police have been searching the house of a former lumberjack who was recently evicted from his property as they probe the felling of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree.

Specialist search teams descended on Walter Renwick's farm today but the 69-year-old has denied rife accusations online that he was behind the shocking act of vandalism which has sparked fury across Britain.

The sycamore, which stood in a dip along Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland for 300 years, had been one of the world's most photographed trees until it was reduced to a stump overnight on Wednesday.

Northumbria Police announced yesterday that it had arrested a second man, in his 60s, just hours after a 16-year-old boy was bailed out of custody under investigation. The older man remains in custody for questioning.

As speculation mounts over who chopped down the tree which was famously featured in Kevin Costner's 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Mr Renwick revealed that even his own brother rushed to his home to find the truth.

Walter Renwick (pictured at his home), 69, who was recently evicted from his property, has dismissed rife accusations online that he was behind the shocking act of vandalism

The iconic Sycamore Gap tree was felled overnight on Wednesday, sparking fury across Britain

Police investigating the Sycamore Gap tree felling have been searching Mr Renwick's property today

Mr Renwick revealed that even his own brother rushed to his home to find the truth. Pictured: Police at his home

The pensioner, who said he understood why he was being identified as a potential suspect, told The Sun: 'I didn't do it.'

He added: 'I am a former lumberjack and I have just been kicked off my property, so I can see why people have pointed the finger.

READ MORE: Was Sycamore Gap tree cut down by someone with a grudge against National Trust? Detectives probe theory after man in his 60s is arrested over felling of ancient tree Advertisement

'My brother came down to make sure I hadn't been arrested as he had heard the rumours. It's very sad. It's an iconic tree.'

Mr Renwick added that it was the 'perfect night' to commit the crime because there was a full moon which would have provided light and enough wind from Storm Agnes to mask the noise.

The pensioner was left heartbroken after losing a long-running battle to stay at his home which had been in the family for three generations.

He was kicked out on Thursday after the Jesuits in Britain, who own the land, fought to kick him out.

The search for the chainsaw-wielding suspect continued today and police vehicles and specialist search teams were seen scouring Mr Renwick's farm.

It comes after it was reported that furious Northumbrians are convinced that the iconic tree was chopped down by someone holding a grudge against the National Trust.

The destruction of the sycamore has understandably caused anger, confusion and heartbreak among locals - and many believe the vandal was someone with an axe to grind.

Most are convinced that the stunning sycamore was felled by a local, likely a professional or someone with a grudge against the National Trust.

The sycamore, which stood in a dip along Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland for 300 years, was one of the world's most photographed trees - but it has now been reduced to a stump

The tree was made famous in Kevin Costner's 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves

The destruction of the sycamore has understandably caused anger, confusion and heartbreak among locals. Pictured: Mr Renwick, who denies cutting down the tree

Mr Renwick said: 'I am a former lumberjack and I have just been kicked off my property, so I can see why people have pointed the finger.' Pictured: Police at his home

Specialist search teams descended on his property as they try to crack the case of who felled the tree

As Britons try to solve who was able to fell the sycamore overnight, speculation is rife at the local pubs. The nearby Twice Brewed Inn has even offered a 1,500 bar tab to anyone who can help crack the case.

One boozer at the local pub told The Telegraph: 'I heard it was a tenant farmer evicted from his land. He threatened he would cut down the tree.'

Another rumour swirling around the local community is that a National Trust worker who had been sacked in the morning stole a chainsaw and felling equipment, chopping the sycamore down as revenge.

A spokeswoman for the National Trust said: 'We are not aware of any evidence for this. We ask everyone to assist the police and not add to rumour and speculation.'

The theory that the tree was chopped down with someone seeking revenge against the National Trust comes after reports emerged last night that detectives were probing whether it was felled as part of a TikTok stunt.

Forensic officers were seen taking photographs and samples at the scene yesterday as officers look to ascertain the full circumstances surrounding the damage and identify anyone involved.

Northumberland National Park and National Trust bosses are expected to hold discussions over the weekend over what to do with the felled sycamore.

The Telegraph reports that horticulturalists have raised the idea of helicoptering in a mature sycamore to take its place. Meanwhile Antony Gormley, the sculptor of The Angel of The North, is understood to be in discussions to create an artwork where the tree once stood tall.

Northumbria Police announced tonight that it a second man, in his 60s, has been arrested in connection with the felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap in Northumberland. Pictured: Forensic officers at the trees stump

Authorities said that Britain's most famous tree was felled in what authorities called a 'deliberate act of vandalism'

The Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall is seen on the ground yesterday after it was felled

It could also be turned into a giant totem pole, in a bid to keep tourists interested, or become a memorial carving, the Daily Express reported.

It comes as almost 3,000 was raised last night in a crowdfunding page to renovate the historic site.

The National Trust said it was 'very grateful' for the support of all those in the North East and further afield that made it clear 'this tree was special to many, many people'.

Following last night's arrests Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Fenney-Menzies, of Northumbria Police, said: 'The senseless destruction of what is undoubtedly a world-renowned landmark  and a local treasure  has quite rightly resulted in an outpour shock, horror and anger throughout the North East and further afield.

'I hope this second arrest demonstrates just how seriously we're taking this situation, and our ongoing commitment to find those responsible and bring them to justice.

'Although another arrest has been made, this investigation is still in the early stages, and we would continue to encourage any members of the public with information which may assist to get in touch.

Over the decades the iconic view has become the backdrop for countless marriage proposals

An aerial view of the felled Sycamore Gap tree in the Northumberland National Park yesterday

Sycamore Gap on Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland. Discussions are continuing to take place over what will replace the stump

'If you've seen or heard anything suspicious that may be of interest to us  I'd implore you to contact us.

'I'd also like to remind the public that this remains a live investigation so, for that reason, please avoid any speculation both in the community and on social media.

'Any information  no matter how small or insignificant you think it may be  could prove absolutely crucial to our enquiries.'
An elementary school teacher accused of raping a 12 year-old boy was re-arrested over claims she texted him to say 'You'll regret this' after being freed on bond.

Alissa McCommon, 38, was arrested in Covington, Tennessee, late Thursday - 20 days after her initial arrest on September 8 for the child sex attack.

She is accused of breaching a condition of her $25,000 bond stipulating that she'd have no contact with her alleged victim.

McCommon texted the boy using a phone number he wasn't familiar with and used specific code words she'd previously used while sending him nude photos to identify herself, it is alleged.

The 'You'll regret this' threat is then said to have followed.

A former Tennessee elementary school teacher was arrested AGAIN after reaching out to the victim she allegedly raped using a secret phone number. Alissa McCommon is seen being frog-marched from her house in Covington, Tennessee, on Thursday

McCommon, 38, reportedly told her former student and victim that he would 'regret this' in a threatening text message sent despite being barred from contacting the youngster

This time she was charged with coercion of a witness, aggravated stalking, tampering with evidence and harassment.

The arrest earlier this month came after multiple underage victims came forward and said that they were 'befriended' by their former teacher - who invited them to play video games with her and connected with them on social media apps.

McCommon had been a fourth grade teacher at Charger Academy - an elementary school in Covington, Tennessee. She taught English and Language at the school until the district suspended her without pay on August 24 - although she ultimately resigned.

Tipton County Director of School John Combs said: 'A parent brought forth allegations of misconduct on the morning of Thursday, August 24, and the teacher was suspended without pay later that same morning pending the outcome of the investigation.'

The online interactions between the ex-teacher and her previous students allegedly escalated to her sending the minors inappropriate photographs and requesting that they engage in sexual relations with her.

She allegedly abused one of the children - who was aged 12 or under - that she preyed on inside her home in 2021.

There was no evidence that any of the inappropriate behavior happened on any school campus - but McCommon confirmed that she had been talking to her former students inappropriately.

The Tipton County Sheriff's Office worked with CPD detectives after multiple victims came forward with information about the inappropriate behavior of their former teacher.

The ex-teacher was originally arrested earlier in September but was released on a $25,000 bond agreement under the condition that she would not contact her victim

Other victims have allegedly come forward saying that McCommon engaged in inapproriate behaviors with them and tried to 'befriend' them using online games and social media

McCommon admitted to a sexual encounter with the same former student that she was messaging with her secret phone, Police said.

Covington Police Chief Donna Turner said: 'The actions of McCommon are not only appalling, but CPD is also concerned about this apparent violation of her bond conditions,

'Due to the nature of the communications, we are concerned others may have been contacted. We will continue to seek the revocation of McCommons bond, as well as aggressively prosecute the additional charges that continue to develop.'

This time McCommon is being held without the opportunity for bond as she waits for her appearance in Tipton County General Sessions Court.
Viral TikTok videos of rosemary oil being rubbed into the scalp to fight hair loss could have the opposite effect, experts warn.

More than one billion people have now watched clips about the so-called natural remedy on the social media platform, and thousands of influencers have shared how their thinning tresses have drastically regrown in weeks  something no medicine can do.

In one video viewed more than four million times, British influencer Regan Ellis told her 250,000 followers that rosemary oil had reversed her hair loss, caused by the condition alopecia, in a couple of weeks.

In another video, mother-of-two Amy-Jo Simpson, who has 2.4 million followers, said she had seen a big growth with new hair coming through within months.

The video, which was posted last month, has already exceeded 800,000 views.

More than one billion people have now watched clips about the so-called natural remedy on the social media platform, and thousands of influencers have shared how their thinning tresses have drastically regrown in weeks  something no medicine can do

Chemists say they are now seeing record sales of rosemary oil. The natural health high street shop Holland & Barrett has had a 70 per cent increase in sales in the past year, while independent pharmacy, Landys Chemist, says sales have risen by 2,200 per cent since May.

But some skin specialists are worried that using the amount of rosemary oil influencers are promoting could actually lead to hair loss.

There is no good evidence to suggest that rosemary oil can regrow hair, says Dr Mia Jing Gao, a London-based consultant dermatologist. For most people, it will do absolutely nothing. But for others it can irritate the scalp and ultimately cause them to lose hair.

Contrary to the glowing testimonials online, others have take to social media to complain the remedy had caused hair to fall out.

TikTok user Lesley Edwards responded to Amy-Jo Simpsons video to say: This made my hair fall out. Ms Edwards added that she had been using rosemary oil once a week but has now stopped due to how much hair she lost.

Another responded: After three months of use Ive still got extreme hair loss every day.

But some skin specialists are worried that using the amount of rosemary oil influencers are promoting could actually lead to hair loss

Many of the most popular posts are, in fact, paid promotions. Regan Ellis, Amy-Jo Simpson and at least ten other well-followed advocates were sponsored by Nature Spell, which sells a 150ml bottle of rosemary oil online for 8.

This trend appears to be driven not by science but by influencers eager for views, adds Dr Gao.

The popularity of quick-fix remedies is understandable  some 15 million Britons suffer from hair loss. The most common cause is androgenetic alopecia  thought to be hereditary, this is commonly called male/female pattern baldness. About half of all men and one in ten women are affected to some degree by the age of 50, but the problem can also start earlier.

Other causes of hair loss include nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, problems with the immune system and is a side effect of many medicines.

There are a number of effective treatments which can slow, or even reverse, certain types of hair loss.

Minoxidil, which is applied directly to the skin, and finasteride, a daily tablet, are two prescribed treatments which have been shown in clinical trials to combat pattern baldness. But in rare cases, patients who take finasteride can experience depression, low libido and erectile dysfunction.

In March, The Mail on Sunday revealed that health watchdogs had launched an investigation into finasteride after a three-fold increase since 2020 in men reporting these serious side effects.

Experts say natural hair-loss treatments, such as rosemary oil, appeal to people worried about side effects from pharmaceutical drugs.

Dr Stefanie Williams, dermatologist and medical director of Eudelo Dermatology & Skin Wellbeing clinic, explains: Many assume natural remedies are safer than pharmaceutical drugs, but these products carry the risk of side effects, too.

So could there be anything in the claims about rosemary oil?

One 2015 study, which involved 100 people with pattern baldness, found rosemary oil was just as effective at increasing hair growth over six months as minoxidil. This is frequently cited by influencers as a reason to buy rosemary oil.

However, experts point out there are flaws in this research.

Firstly, the study compares the effectiveness of rosemary oil with a low-strength form of minoxidil called minoxidil two per cent. The standard dose in over-the-counter minoxidil is five per cent.

The research also found patients only saw any change to their hair after six months of regular use. But many influencers claim they can notice an effect within weeks.

Nine out of ten people who suffer hair loss will see spontaneous hair regrowth at some point, says Dr Gao. This study does not prove that rosemary oil is responsible for it.

Pregnant women are advised to avoid the product as research suggests it can trigger contractions and, rarely, lead to a miscarriage.

But experts also worry that applying rosemary oil directly to the scalp can inflame the area and trigger further hair loss  notably with higher-strength doses.

While Nature Spells rosemary oil is diluted with almond and sunflower oils, other products contain stronger doses. One bottle of undiluted oil is on Amazon for 15.

Other videos on TikTok show recipes for home-made rosemary oil, which can be made by boiling leaves of the plant.

Rosemary oil, especially in its undiluted form, can be irritating on the skin. This can lead to more hair loss, says Dr Sharon Wong, a London-based consultant dermatologist.

Experts believe more research should be done on the possible benefits of rosemary oil, but argue that people should avoid it while there is such little evidence to support use.

Right now, its not something Id recommend, says Dr Williams. People need to be careful about putting these untested substances on their skin and hair.
Police have arrested an eighth man following the seizure of 140million worth of cocaine in a helicopter raid on a cartel in Ireland, the biggest in the country's history.

A total of 2,253kg of cocaine was found after members of the Irish Army Ranger Wing stormed the MV Matthew shipping container off the Cork coast by abseiling from a helicopter amid stormy conditions earlier this week.

The drugs originated from 'a murderous cartel' in Colombia and was supplying smaller vessels that would sail to the container ship from which the drugs would then be removed.

The ship has been under surveillance since the previous week, when a multi-agency operation responded to intelligence of a major international drug smuggling bid. It is believed the drugs were destined for distribution beyond Ireland, potentially into the UK and Europe.

The official valuation of the drugs has been estimated at around 157 million (136million), but the street value is thought to be at least three times that amount as the dealers and local suppliers will cut the drugs with chemical agents to be able to sell more of it.

A total of 2,253kg of cocaine was found after members of the Irish Army Ranger Wing stormed the MV Matthew shipping container off the Cork coast

The ship has been under surveillance since the previous week, when a multi-agency operation responded to intelligence of a major international drug smuggling bid

The drug seizure was the first time the Army Ranger Wing has been deployed in such an operation

The eighth person to be arrested in connection with the incident was arrested for alleged organised crime offences contrary to the Criminal Justice Act 2006.

Six men are currently being detained by investigating gardai under section 50 Criminal Justice Act 2007, at garda stations in the south of the country.

A trawler that grounded off the Wexford coast late on Sunday last week was also being monitored. It remains stuck on a sandbank out at sea, with poor conditions preventing authorities from boarding to conduct a search.

Two men who were winched from the vessel appeared before Waterford District Court on Friday.

Jamie Harbron, 31, of South Avenue, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, UK, and 60-year-old Ukrainian national Vitaliy Lapa, of no fixed abode, were charged with conspiracy to import drugs.

They were remanded in custody to appear at Wexford District Court via videolink on Monday

The Irish police service, An Garda Siochana, said investigations are ongoing

The drug seizure was the first time the Army Ranger Wing has been deployed in such an operation. Poor weather conditions and the cargo boat's immense size  measuring 190m long with an exceptionally high freeboard  meant that fast ropes were the only option to board.

Incredible video footage showed the moment assault-rifle-armed elite troops fast-roped down from a helicopter and stormed the Panamanian-registered vessel.

It shows the helicopter hovering above the 630-foot MV Matthew as the vessel makes a sharp turn in the water, with the Irish special forces abseiling down on to the ship before moving out across the deck.

It has since emerged that an Iranian captain of the ship may have been attacked by crew members as the ARW circled overhead. He received medical attention for his injuries and was arrested.

Earlier this week, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the drugs would have 'no doubt been destined for Irish and European markets' and this 'will represent a blow to the organised-crime gangs involved in drug distribution internationally'.

Members of the highly trained Army Ranger Wing descended by fast-rope from a helicopter on to the MV Matthew (pictured) in the early hours of Tuesday, after the vessel became the focus point of a multi-agency operation which began on Sunday

Military personnel onboard the MV Matthew whilst it was being escorted into Cobh in Cork by the Irish Navy after a 'significant quantity' of suspected drugs were found onboard. Three men have been arrested on suspicion of organised crime offences

Stash: The seized drugs were displayed by the joint task force

Cops believe the ship was being used by Narco terrorists to smuggle drugs to Ireland and on to other European countries. The major multi-agency operation followed an alert after a separate boat (pictured as a helicopter hovers above on Tuesday) ran aground off the east coast

The MV Matthew is seen today moored at Marino Point in Cork which is being searched after a 'significant quantity' of suspected drugs were found onboard. Three men have been arrested on suspicion of organised crime offence

She said it shows the success of An Garda Siochana in building coalitions to tackle transnational crime.

'Illegal drug distribution and misuse does untold damage to our communities. Criminals may seek to overcome the barrier of borders, but as shown today borders are not barriers to effective criminal co-operation', she said.

'Tackling organised crime is a key priority for Government and is central to building safer, stronger communities. We will always provide An Garda Siochana with the support and resources they need.'
Furious locals protested outside a three-star hotel after it was closed to house asylum seekers in a move that cancelled dozens of weddings and parties.

It is thought some migrants have already moved into the Chichester Park Hotel, which closed earlier this week, despite dozens of angry residents swarming outside to a stand against the decision.

The area was taken over today by protesters yielding placards which read 'house our homeless first' and 'enough is enough'.

The angry mob was met with opposing residents, who supported the move to turn the hotel over to the Home Office, holding banners reading 'refugees welcome'.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: 'Police attended a protest which started at 10am at the Chichester Park Hotel in Madgwick Lane on Saturday 30 September.

Furious locals protested outside a three-star hotel after it was closed to house asylum seekers in a move that cancelled dozens of weddings and parties

The area was taken over today by protesters yielding placards which read 'house our homeless first' and 'enough is enough'

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: 'Police attended a protest which started at 10am at the Chichester Park Hotel in Madgwick Lane on Saturday 30 Septembe'

'Officers are engaging with the protestors to facilitate a peaceful protest and minimise disruption to the public.'

A spokesman for the Home Office said they would not confirm if migrants were now living in the hotel.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The number of people arriving in small boats is down compared with last year, but we must go further to stop the boats in the first place.

'That is why we are determined, through the Illegal Migration Act, to ensure that anyone arriving in the UK illegally is detained and swiftly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.

'We are also working hard to reduce the unacceptable use of hotels by moving asylum seekers into alternative, cheaper accommodation, doubling them up in hotel rooms, and clearing the legacy backlog.'

The hotel is said to be a 'big part of the community' and this is not the first protest staged to fight the decision.

A similar protest which happened last week saw locals claiming they had 'no say' in the decision.

Many of those at the protest said celebratory events had been cancelled after the sudden announcement.

Police attended to ensure both protests remained peaceful throughout the demonstration.

A grandmother of eight who attended the protest, said: 'Most people in Chichester are fed up with it all being done underhand - we don't have a say in it. We are angry and upset and I'm fed up.

'I've come here ever since I was a kid, it was always here, it's a part of Chichester.'

Chloe Bridger believed her 26th birthday party in January at the hotel was cancelled but she wasn't informed.

'I have my party here every year,' the carer said. 'It's home from home, it's like a family because all the staff know us and and are really friendly with us.

'I had my last birthday here, my 21st and my wedding reception. To not be told your event's been cancelled - it's awful.'

Her father in law, Gareth, was set to have a joint celebration alongside her birthday to celebrate he and his wife's 27th anniversary.

The 51 year old, who is also a carer, said: 'Every function out family has had has been in here.

'It has sentimental value. They must have known this was coming and in the pipeline so why were they taking bookings.'

More than 50,000 asylum seekers in hotels at the end of June 2023, costing 8.2 million a day, according to Home Office statistics.
A Chicago man who was charged over the murder of police officer Ella French has been offered a plea deal that will see him jailed for just seven years.

French, 29, was shot dead in the West Englewood neighborhood on August 7, 2021 during a routine traffic and cop Carlos Yanez was severely wounded but survived his injuries.

Eric Morgan was accused of handling the murder weapon allegedly used by his brother Emonte and was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and obstruction of justice.

But despite the gravity of the offense, Eric will be freed by 2030. The murder accomplice's lawyer revealed on Friday that he has been offered a seven-year prison sentence which is the maximum for the most serious charge he faces.

Emonte Morgan is accused of pulling the trigger. He has been charged with first-degree murder of a peace officer, attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

Eric Morgan, who was charged over the murder of police officer Ella French, has been offered a plea deal that will see him jailed for just seven years

Ella French, 29, was shot dead in the West Englewood neighborhood on August 7, 2021 during a routine traffic and cop Carlos Yanez was severely wounded but survived his injuries

Emonte Morgan is accused of pulling the trigger. He has been charged with first-degree murder of a peace officer, attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon

His attorney Roger Brown claimed he could face 23 years in prison if he does not accept the plea deal.

'If it were not for the fact that it was associated with the Chicago police and officers, he would've gotten a sentence of probation,' Brown said.

'So I think a sentence of seven years is more than enough.'

Eric is set to have his plea hearing on October 12.

Officer French was killed during a shooting at a traffic stop. The Morgan brothers were said to have been driving with expired license plates, prompting police to pull them over.

French's brother shed some more light on his late sibling in a moving tribute shared after her murder.

'She's my sister, she's my little sister. And as much as I was there for her when we were growing up, she was there for me. And I was proud of her, I'm still proud of her...God took the wrong kid,' he told the Chicago Tribune.

She and Yanez stopped the vehicle with two men and a woman inside just after 9pm on the day of the shooting, when a male passenger opened fire.

Investigators said the officers had demanded one of the suspects get out of the car.

There was a physical altercation and the suspect then opened fire, shooting both officers.

Her death was the first fatal shooting of a Chicago officer in the line of duty after former mayor Lori Lightfoot took office and the first female officer fatally shot on the job there in 33 years.

In the exchange of gunfire, one of the brothers was shot and wounded.

French's death was first fatal shooting of a Chicago officer in the line of duty after former mayor Lori Lightfoot took office and first female officer fatally shot on the job there in 33 years

Officers Carlos Yanez is seen paralyzed in a hospital bed after he was shot during a traffic stop

CPD officers paying their respects outside the hospital where the wounded officer was being treated

At the time of the shooting, both brothers were on probation for separate cases.

Emonte pleaded guilty to robbery in Cook County court last year.

He also has other criminal charges on his record, including minor traffic offenses such as leaving the scene of an accident, operating a vehicle without a license and driving uninsured. He was also charged with battery and theft in 2019.

Eric pleaded guilty to theft in Dane County, Wisconsin, according to public records.

Jamal Danzy, 29, of Hammond, was accused of buying the weapon from a license gun dealer in Hammond, Indiana, in March and then providing it to an Illinois resident who Danzy knew could neither buy nor possess guns because of a felony conviction.

Danzy, of Hammond, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal firearm offenses in July 2022.

The charges did not name the individual who he bought the gun for but it ended up in the hands of Eric who allegedly shot French.
Billionaire Elon Musk waded into German politics today, saying Berlin-funded migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean could be seen as an 'invasion' of Italy.

Musk, who was born in South Africa, has Canadian nationality and lives in the United States, shared a post calling for a victory of the far-right party AfD a week before regional elections in two major German states.

At a time of a heated debate on immigration across Europe, Berlin is locked in a row with Italy over the NGO sea operations - with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni on Friday demanding that charity ships disembark the rescued migrants in their own countries.

Musk shared a post on X by a user identified as 'Radio Genoa' that blasted German NGO operations in the Mediterranean and expressed hope that 'AfD wins the elections to stop this European suicide', referring to the upcoming polls.

To Musk's question if the 'German public is aware of this', the German foreign ministry replied curtly: 'Yes. And it's called saving lives.'

Billionaire Elon Musk (pictured left, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz) waded into German politics today, saying Berlin-funded migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean could be seen as an 'invasion' of Italy

Berlin is locked in a row with Italy over the NGO sea operations - with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni on Friday demanding that charity ships disembark the rescued migrants in their own countries (Pictured: The Aurora rescue ship of German NGO Sea-Watch)

A Red Cross volunteer (left) walks with a group of new arrivals at Brandenburg's Central Immigration Authority, which houses some 1,400 asylum seekers

The foreign ministry's answer prompted the social media platform's boss to intensify his criticism, writing in another post early Saturday: 'Frankly, I doubt that a majority of the German public supports this.

'Have you run a poll? Surely it is a violation of the sovereignty of Italy for Germany to transport vast numbers of illegal immigrants to Italian soil? Has invasion vibes,' Musk added.

Meloni recently wrote a letter of complaint to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to express her 'amazement' about Berlin funding charities helping irregular migrants in her country.

Asked about the letter, Berlin confirmed that it was providing between 400,000 euros and 800,000 euros each to two projects relating to migrants.

The projects were 'for the support on land in Italy of people rescued at sea and an NGO project for sea-rescue operations'.

At a press conference this week following talks with her Italian counterpart, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock defended Berlin's backing of rescue missions.

'Volunteer sea rescuers have a life-saving task in the Mediterranean,' she said.

'They are committed to countering the deaths in the Mediterranean with humanity, precisely because the European joint sea rescue service Mare Nostrum no longer exists,' she added, referring to the Italian government's year-long operation which rescued more than 100,000 migrants before ending in 2014.

More than 130,000 migrants have arrived on Italy's shores so far this year, almost double the number last year, according to interior ministry figures.

In Germany too, new arrival numbers have risen sharply, prompting Berlin to announce Wednesday that it would step up policing of its borders with Poland and the Czech Republic, in a bid to stop people smugglers.

Ahead of regional elections on October 8 in the states of Bavaria and Hesse, immigration has also emerged as a key topic, with Bavarians citing it as the most important subject in a latest poll.
A 16-year-old boy has been stabbed to death while another two teenagers are fighting for their lives after a terrifying spree of knife crime in Luton yesterday.

Ashraf Habimana suffered multiple stab wounds and was tragically pronounced dead shortly after he was rushed to hospital, according to The Sun.

A total of five teenagers were wounded across two shocking attacks which police believe to be connected.

Bedfordshire Police has launched a murder probe and three teenagers have been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing.

Police said the incident happened at around 7pm on Friday when officers were called to reports that three teens had been stabbed in Nunnery Lane.

Ashraf Habimana suffered multiple stab wounds and was tragically pronounced dead shortly after he was rushed to hospital, according to The Sun

Another teenager is fighting for his life after a triple knifing on Nunnery Lane (pictured) in Luton

Police said that the incident happened at around 7pm on Friday when officers were called to reports that three teens had been stabbed in Nunnery Lane. Pictured: Officers at the scene today

Ashraf's father, who did not give his name, told The Sun: 'It is terrible. He is just a boy. He was only 16.

'I heard last night and came down from Yorkshire. We don't know what happened.'

An area close to the Old Moat pub house, which was cordoned off by police, was surrounded by 20 bunches of flowers.

One card read: 'Rest in eternal peace Ashraf. Safe in the knowledge you are loved.'

Another note said: 'Gone but never forgotten.'

Community group Luton, Keeping Safe posted a tribute to Ashraf on Facebook.

A second teenager is being treated for potentially life-threatening injuries, while a third victim also suffered serious wounds but these are not being treated as critical.

The horror attack came just hours after two other teens were stabbed in Sundon Park Road. Police were called to the area - where there was a fatal stabbing two weeks ago - at around 4pm, where one teenager is now in a critical condition.

Police officers have closed off a street and set up cordons as they investigate the murder

A total of five teenagers were wounded across two shocking attacks which police believe to be connected. Pictured: Police on Nunnery Lane

The horror attack came just hours after two other teens were stabbed in Sundon Park Road (pictured)

The police closed off the street after the teenager was stabbed to death

Police were called to the area - where there was a fatal stabbing two weeks ago - at around 4pm, where one teenager is now in a critical condition

The Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit have launched a murder investigation, and they are currently treating both incidents as connected

The second teenager received serious but not life-threatening injuries. Both are being treated in hospital as detectives probe the attack. One man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody for questioning.

The Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit have launched a murder investigation, and they are currently treating both incidents as connected.

Detective Inspector Lee Martin, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: 'Appalling violence in Luton cost a teenage boy his life yesterday, and left two others in life-threatening conditions.

'Incidents such as these have a significant impact on our residents. Our thoughts are first and foremost with the loved ones of the boy who lost his life in such tragic and awful circumstances.

'We are doing everything we can to prevent any further incidents and we want to reassure the wider community that officers are pursuing all lines of enquiry as well as carrying out increased patrols in the area.

'Knife crime and violence has no place in our society  but it is a problem we must tackle together, alongside our communities, to challenge attitudes about carrying knives and provide opportunities to ensure our young people can feel safe.

'Both incidents happened in busy areas with several people present. If you witnessed any of these incidents, or if you have any video footage or images, then please get in touch.'

Police officers have been pictured at crime scenes across Luton today. Here, they are at Sundon Park

An alleyway off Sundon Park has been cordoned off by police as they probe a murder investigation

Floral tributes (pictured) have been left following the Luton stabbings on Friday afternoon

This comes after a murder investigation was launched following the death of a teenager in Slough who died earlier today.

The 19-year-old died after police where called to Hampden Road around 11.20am today,

Two men aged 19 and 21 were arrested and put in police custody.

Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Stuart Bosley said: 'Tragically this incident has resulted in a young man losing his life.

'We are in the very early stages of our investigation and are still trying to establish the full circumstances. It's really important that if you have any information at all that could help our investigation that you get in touch as soon as possible.'

As a result of this incident, a Section 60 order has been put in place around the area of Slough for 24 hours. This will give officers increased powers to carry our stop and search checks and to ensure public safety. The order can be increased at the end of the 24 hour period if there is a need to do so.

Two weeks ago, on September 16, a man was stabbed to death outside a Tesco Express in the Sundon Park area of Luton.

Two boys, aged 16 and 17, appeared in the crown court at Luton this week accused of is murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to a woman who was with him.

In June, Home Secretary Suella Braverman urged police to 'ramp up' use of stop and search in a crackdown on street knife crime.

Britain, especially London, has been rocked by several teenage fatalities this year.

This week, schoolgirl Elianne Andam, 15, became the sixteenth teenager to be killed in the capital.

It followed 13 fatal stabbings, two shootings and one suspected arson attack already this year.

The GCSE student's death has sparked an outcry of anger over yet another senseless loss of life as calls grow for Sadiq Khan tackle the capital's knife crime problem.

Two weeks ago, on September 16, a man was stabbed to death outside a Tesco Express in Luton

The five Luton stabbings come amid a shocking year of fatal knife attacks in Britain, especially in London. A map reveals the heartbreaking rollcall of teenagers killed in the capital so far this year

Elianne Andam, a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift School, was knifed to death on her way to school in London this week

The heartbreaking rollcall of teenagers killed has been laid bare on a tragic map.

It includes the death of Leonardo Reid, who was knifed just days before his 16th birthday, and talented boxer Khaled Saleh, 17, who was stabbed as he walked past a church in June.

Pastor Lorraine Jones, who lost her son Dwayne Simpson to knife crime, called the situation a 'state of emergency' and said more children will die unless something is done.

Urging the Mayor to do more, she pleaded: 'We need help so we can deal with those that are most vulnerable,' adding 'otherwise all our lives are at risk.'
A baby beaver has been spotted in London for the first time in hundreds of years, with some speculating it could be the first of its kind born in the capital in centuries.

The new arrival comes after Enfield Council began a city-wide beaver reintroduction programme last year in a bid to bring the animals back to the capital after a 400-year hiatus.

The initiative is part of a wider rewilding and natural flood management project in the area, after research suggested beavers can reduce the flow of floodwaters from farmlands by up to 30 per cent.

Paradise Fields, a 10 hectare (24 acre) area of woodland and wetlands in urban Greenford in the north of Ealing has undergone feasibility studies and a licence application to Natural England supported by Beaver Trust.

It is hoped the project will prevent flooding downstream around Greenford Station and surrounding streets.

The project is a collaboration between Ealing Wildlife Group, Citizen Zoo, Friends of Horsenden Hill and Ealing Council with support from Beaver Trust.

The initiative is part of a wider rewilding and natural flood management project in the area

Beavers were hunted to extinction in England but have been reintroduced to the UK since 2008 in a bid to restore natural environments

The new arrival comes after Enfield Council began a city-wide beaver reintroduction programme last year in a bid to bring the animals back to the capital after a 400-year hiatus

It was also funded by Amazons Right Now Climate Fund, operated in partnership with the Mayor of London and the London Wildlife Trust, and which opened for applications in October 2022 after a 750,000 commitment from Amazon.

Beavers were hunted to extinction in England but have been reintroduced to the UK since 2008 in a bid to restore natural environments.

The young animal will now be captured by Capel Manor College for a thorough health check and in order to confirm its sex.

Enfield council's cabinet member for the environment, Rick Jewell, told the BBC: 'The beavers' hard work creating a natural wetland ecosystem will contribute to excellent flood defences, protecting the local area and hundreds of homes from flooding downstream to the south-east of the borough, while encouraging biodiversity.'

Capel Manor College's animal collections manager, Meg Wilson, added: 'We are thrilled [about] this new arrival.

'We have seen the developments the beavers are [involved in] and the improvements they have made to the wetland area.

'We are now focusing our efforts on collecting data, which we hope will provide further evidence about the positive effects the beavers are having on the environment.'
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has unveiled an extraordinary rescue plan to pump millions of pounds into Scotlands ailing high streets.

In an intervention which will outrage the SNP, the UK Government has pledged 140 million will go directly to councils, rather than via the Scottish Government.

It comes as North Lanarkshire chiefs last week announced they had been forced to close almost 40 local amenities owing to a massive budget hole  with many blaming Scottish Government underfunding for the move.

In an exclusive interview with The Scottish Mail on Sunday, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said local authorities in charge of Greenock, Irvine, Kilmarnock, Coatbridge, Clydebank, Dumfries and Elgin will receive cash injections of 20 million each.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gives 140million windfall to struggling Scots councils

Greenock town centre has been named as one of the most deprived areas in Scotland

Mr Gove said: While we always try to work with the Scottish Government wherever possible in a constructive way, some of the funding decisions that the Scottish Government has made has meant that there have been some very tough choices enforced on local government.

Its not being done on a political basis, it is being done on the basis of need.

The UK Governments intervention highlights long-held fears that the SNP is failing to properly support local authorities.

Renewed concerns about chronic Scottish Government underfunding of councils have been swirling since May, when Scotlands Accounts Commission warned that the public should be very worried about the scale of the financial challenges facing local authorities.

The auditor suggested that a new deal be reached between the Scottish Government and councils  but one has yet to come to fruition.

Last week North Lanarkshire Council admitted 39 public amenities needed to close to save money. Council leader Jim Logue said: The simple fact remains that the council just does not have the money to maintain all these facilities in a sustainable way.

Last night Mr Gove said the new cash promise  part of an overall 1.1 billion Long-Term Plan for Towns investment for 55 locations across the UK  will target transport services, community amenities and high street regeneration, as well as anti-social behaviour.

The SNPs soft touch approach to justice has seen serious offenders, including shoplifters, dodge prosecution in Scotland, leading to an outcry from shopkeepers. Of the 20 million the selected Scottish councils will receive over a period of ten years, Mr Gove hopes leaders will be able to crack down on crime by purchasing upgraded CCTV systems and even a private uniformed security force.

Mr Gove said: Its a big mistake to allow criminal offences to go unprosecuted and unpunished.

Once you lower the bar on crime then you have a situation where increasingly people feel unsafe  and particularly when youre dealing with crimes like shoplifting as well, retailers need to know that their environment is going to be protected.

I think its a retrograde step for the SNP not to take these sorts of crimes more seriously.

He added: We are definitely stepping in to save high streets that are under threat and we are doing it in communities across Scotland.

The more in control the high street, the more people feel that they can spend time there, shop there, relax there, and the less you leave the high streets free to gangs and criminals.

The tougher the line you take on antisocial behaviour, the more people feel confident in taking back control of their high streets.

It is for the local authority to decide, but certainly a uniformed security presence is one of the things people could think about, and CCTV, but that obviously depends on the community.

Mr Gove added that the move reinforces the practical benefits of Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom.

Kilmarnock town is struggling with high levels of deprivation and poverty

He said: It proves that Scots get double the benefit from having two governments. We can step in when the Scottish Government cant.

Scottish Conservative finance and local government spokesman Liz Smith welcomed the rescue plan last night.

She said: This will be a welcome boost to many high streets which have suffered greatly in recent years. The sad reality is many communities in Scotland feel their high streets are dying.

Gail Macgregor, Tory leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council, said: This funding will make a massive contribution to improving the long-term prospects for Dumfries.

The Scottish Government said: It is extremely disappointing that we have not been consulted on how the investment could be prioritised to complement our ongoing work. We are unclear how the locations have been identified.
Theresa May has called for HS2 not to be scaled back just days after fellow former Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared cutting the rail project would be 'a betrayal of the North'.

The former Conservative leader, who was in Downing Street between 2016 and 2019, said she was in favour of the train line being delivered due because of the extra capacity needed on the railway line to the north west of England.

Mrs May said she had urged ministers not to abandon plans to make Euston station to London terminal for the high speed line after suggestions a cost-cutting exercise could see it end at Old Oak Common, in the west of the capital.

Speaking during a Q&A session at Henley Literary Festival, Mrs May said HS2 should not be scrapped.

'I will give you two comments on HS2', she said. 'First of all, we have to think about why HS2 was designed in the first place. It was because there was a lack of capacity on the West Coast Main Line.

'So if there is a lack of capacity on the West Coast Main Line, we need more railway capacity to serve the North West.'

The former Conservative leader , who was in Downing Street between 2016 and 2019, said she was in favour of the train line being delivered due because of the extra capacity needed on the railway line to the north west of England

HSW was announced by the last Labour government and back by successive Conservative administrations

She added that there was also an issue for her constituents if the line does not end up terminating in Euston, in central London.

'If HS2 stops at Old Oak Common, it is going to make our railway journeys into London longer and disrupted potentially over the period that Old Oak Common's building is being done to enable it to take that end point,' she said.

'So I am arguing with Government: 'Don't stop at Old Oak Common. You need to take it into Euston because my constituents will be disadvantaged if you don't'.

Her comments come just days after Boris Johnson revealed his 'suppressed fury' at Rishi Sunak's decision to throw the future of the line into doubt.

Mr Sunak has fuelled speculation about the future of the project this week by repeatedly refusing to confirm that HS2 will be extended to Manchester, or even that the planned line from Birmingham will reach central London.

Whitehall sources confirmed that Mr Sunak is all but convinced that the soaring cost of the flagship rail scheme, which began life under the last Labour government, can no longer be justified.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Mr Johnson says the latest 'spasm of uncertainty' risks undermining the entire levelling up agenda  which was central to the Conservative Party's landslide victory in 2019  and damaging long-term investment in the North.

Mr Johnson said that scaling back the project, which experts believe could cost over 100 billion, would risk undermining the Government's levelling up agenda

Mr Sunak has fuelled speculation about the future of the project this week by repeatedly refusing to confirm that HS2 will be extended to Manchester, or even that the planned line from Birmingham will reach central London (Pictured arriving with his wife Akshata Murty at the venue on the eve of Britain's Conservative Party's annual conference)

'If we delay or cut the northern legs, if we truncate HS2  then we are betraying the North of the country and the whole agenda of levelling up,' he wrote.

He warned that 'deluded' attempts at penny-pinching will backfire. He wrote: 'Cancel HS2? Cut off the northern legs? We must be out of our minds.'

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak hints he could scrap the Manchester leg of HS2 and suggests the money could be spent on fixing potholes Rishi Sunak (pictured on September 20) hinted he was ready to scrap the Manchester leg of HS2 Advertisement

He added that a cost-cutting plan to terminate HS2 at Old Oak Common could mean services from Birmingham to central London are actually slower than today, making the project a 'total white elephant'.

But yesterday, Mr Sunak gave the clearest signal yet that the northern leg to Manchester is for the chop.

In an interview with The Sun, he said: 'I've got under the bonnet. I've seen what works, what doesn't work and what I want to do differently. That's the phase we're in.'

HSW was announced by the last Labour government and back by successive Conservative administrations. In 2015, it was given a 55.7 billion budget for its route from London to Birmingham, with a Y-shaped section including Manchester and Leeds.

The original budget has ballooned to 71 billion and some insiders believe it is on course to top 100 billion, with the spiralling costs said to have alarmed the Prime Minister.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper was quizzed on the prospect of the project being truncated during an interview with Times Radio today, but he refused to comment on 'speculation'

'If the Government has anything to say, we'll say that in the usual way in due course,' he said.

Sir Jeremy Wright, a former attorney general and culture secretary, has also pressed ministers to 'finish the job'.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme his constituents in Kenilworth and Southam wanted the benefits they were promised in exchange for going through the 'local pain' of having housing and ancient woodland demolished to make way for the high-speed railway line.

'I don't think that gain, that advantage strategically to the nation, comes from a single line that runs from London to Birmingham,' he said.

'So I think it is important, not just for my constituents but from the strategic point of view, that we complete the network at least as far as Manchester, and I hope one day beyond that.

'We need to finish it in a way that delivers its intended benefits.'
An adorable rescue puppy has refused to leave the spot where its owner was killed in a motorcycle crash after being rescued from a life of abuse just one day prior.

Debora Abigail Veliz Reynosa, 17, lost her life when her motorbike collided with a lorry driver on a roundabout in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

The teenager was travelling with her puppy named Boots at the time, who she had adopted just a day before.

Boots was reportedly abused by its former owner and Debora adopted the puppy to give it a better life.

Puppy Boots at the crash site in in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, where owner Debora Abigail Veliz Reynosa, 17, tragically lost her life

Debora Abigail Veliz Reynosa, 17, was an animal lover who bought the puppy just a day before the tragic accident

The collision took place as Debora headed home after buying her new dog some clothes and accessories on 20 September.

Boots survived the road accident and was found clinging to Debora's body when police arrived on the scene.

Officers secured the area and consoled the puppy, which refused to leave Debora's lifeless body.

According to reports, when she was 12 years old, Debora used to sell empanadas and used the proceeds to help stray dogs in her town.

She was studying criminology at the Centre for Integrated Studies in Quetzaltenango before her untimely passing.

The education centre spoke of their 'deep pain' at the young woman's death.

In a statement, the centre said: 'We send a prayer for the eternal rest of her soul. May perpetual light shine for her.'

Friends and family said goodbye to Debora at her funeral on September 21.

The victim's boyfriend Samuel has agreed to adopt Boots and give it the care and love Debora would have wanted

A policeman harnessed Boots to the side of the road after the puppy refused to leave Debora's side

The local community is calling for justice for the teenager's death.

The police announced that they carried out a raid on a local property and seized a lorry suspected of being involved in the accident, but the owner is currently missing.

Meanwhile, the police delivered the victim's puppy to family members.

The victim's boyfriend Samuel has agreed to adopt Boots and give it the care and love Debora would have wanted.

The investigation into the fatal accident is ongoing.
Parents of six teenagers murdered by the Mexican cartel were sent cruel video footage of a gangster leading the boys to their deaths in a disturbing skeleton mask.

Six boys aged between 14 to 18 were slaughtered at a remote ranch in Zacatecas, Mexico, on Wednesday after being kidnapped three days earlier.

The teenagers' grieving parents released the disturbing alleged ransom footage they were sent by their children's killer to the media after Mexican authorities denied that the victims were kidnapped.

In the video - filmed by a gangster wearing a scary skeleton mask to cover his face - the seven boys are walking behind their murderer up a hill in what appears to be the middle of nowhere in the state of Zacatecas in Central Mexico.

They are all blindfolded, barefoot, dressed in black hoodies and have their hands tied behind their back as they helplessly follow the tracks of their kidnapper.

A Mexican cartel member wearing a freaky skeleton mask videoed himself as he led six teenage boys to their gruesome death

The six boys, aged between 14 and 18, have been found and identified. There was a seventh boy who was kidnapped who survived but remains unconscious in hospital

The disturbing video footage was shared with the families of the young boys in an extortion attempt by the gang members

The victims have been identified as: Diego Rodriguez, 17; Jorge Ocon, 14 and his cousin Hector Salcedo, 14; Gumaro Santacruz, 18; Oscar Rojas, 15; and Jesus Rodriguez, 18.

One teenager, identified as Sergio Acevedo, 18, survived the heinous attack but suffered a head and nose wound and was rushed to hospital where he is being guarded by police, the Zacatecas Attorney General's Office said Wednesday afternoon.

In the video, the cartel member leading the group of teens appears to be armed and he is joined by fellow gang members who are trailing the the boys with more guns.

The video was shown on local news channel Milenio TV because the distraught parents of the dead teens were desperate to disprove the Mexican officials' claims that their children were not kidnapped.

Audio from the video reveals that a 'narcocorrido' - a song about the life of criminals in Mexico - is playing as the barbaric cartel members evilly take the boys to be slaughtered. The lyrics to the song say 'death is in their eyes'.

The video was allegedly sent in an effort to blackmail the families by tormenting them with the cruel footage.

The kidnapping happened when the boys - who were all friends and cousins - were all on a weekend away together with their families near the town of Malapso. On the trip, a group of armed men suddenly entered the property firing off gunshots in the air.

The group of mobsters took all of the teenagers while they were still barefoot and that is when they led them down the hill and filmed the scary video they then used in an extortion attempt.

The family members shared the video with Mexican media because officials claimed their children were not actually kidnapped

Relatives carried the casket of teenage boy Diego Rodriguez Vidales, who was one of the six boys found dead at the remote ranch

The boys were not found until three days after they were kidnapped from where they were enjoying a family weekend away

The scary kidnapping took place in Zacatecas in Central Mexico - an area where rival criminal gangs regularly clash over lucrative smuggling routes

Zacatecas is among Mexico's most violent states where rival criminal gangs regularly clash over lucrative smuggling routes. More than 500 people were murdered during the first eight months of this year, according to government data

Kidnappings are apparently a strategy employed by cartels in their turf wars with rivals and that victims are released when they notice they are not their targets, according to Governor David Monreal.

'It is a kind of modus operandi, sometimes as a dispute over territory, those from one cartel overpower another cartel,' he said.

The incident is the latest tragic outcome in the wake of mass abductions of young people this year.

In August, a gruesome video circulated on social media showing the last moments of five young men kidnapped in the neighboring state of Jalisco.

In the video, a pair of bound, inert bodies are seen lying in the foreground. A youth seen bludgeoning and apparently decapitating another victim appears to be himself the fourth member of the kidnapped group of friends.

At the height of Mexico's drug cartel brutality in the 2010s, gangs sometimes forced kidnap victims to kill each other. In 2010, one Mexican cartel abducted men from passenger buses and forced them to fight each other to death with sledgehammers.
Suspended GB News TV presenter Reverend Calvin Robinson has won an out-of-court settlement from the Royal Academy of Dance after he was sacked from a senior role for opposing a drag queen storytelling session for children.

Mr Robinson, 37, was awarded 8,000 after the RAD removed him from its education sub-committee for protesting against what he believed to be the sexualisation of minors.

It came after he attended a rally organised by conservative group Turning Point UK against the show, starring drag queen That Girl, being held at a pub in South London earlier this year. The protest turned into a violent clash with LGBT activists.

Mr Robinson reported on the protest on his Calvin's Common Sense Crusade on GB News.

Tim Arthur, chief executive of the academy, and trustees, wrote to tell Robinson he was being thrown off the committee adding: 'We cannot condone the way in which you have chosen to express your views'.

Reverend Calvin Robinson won an out-of-court settlement from Royal Academy of Dance after he opposed a drag queen storytelling session for children

Former teacher Mr Robinson, a deacon in the Free Church of England, took legal action, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, claiming harassment and discrimination on the grounds of his Christian beliefs. The RAD settled last week before the case reached court.

Last night, he told The Mail on Sunday: 'I am pleased that the bullies did not win and that they have learnt you cannot push people out for holding traditional views  Christian views.

'It is sad to see that, on the one hand, they insist on pushing these toxic ideologies upon young people, and on the other hand call themselves inclusive while excluding anyone with traditionally British views.

'Say a man can become a woman and invade women's protected spaces and you'll be encouraged. Say you are against the sexualisation of children and you'll be fired from their organisation.'

A counter protest organised by Stand Up to Racism in London in support of drag queen story hour

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: 'This is an important win for Calvin. It is a loss to the RAD no longer to have Calvin on their board.'

Robinson is now embroiled in another free speech row. He was suspended by the channel last week after publicly supporting fellow broadcaster Dan Wootton, who has been taken off air in a row about misogynistic comments made during a broadcast by former actor Laurence Fox.

Meanwhile, the landlady of the pub at the centre of the drag row has left her job. Charlotte Grant, 42, said her departure from the Honor Oak in Lewisham, run by the Laine Brew Co, was 'very much not amicable'.

But she vowed to carry on holding her 'wholesome' drag queen storytelling events at other venues.
Only a few months ago they were the most powerful couple in Scottish politics. But since they were arrested by police probing claims of fraud within the SNP, the state of Nicola Sturgeons marriage to Peter Murrell has been the subject of intense speculation.

Rumours that their relationship was under strain intensified when the former First Minister, asked earlier this year whether she and her husband were both innocent, pointedly declared: I can only speak for myself.

However, Ms Sturgeon has now for the first time addressed the subject head-on  and strongly denied her marriage is on the rocks.

In a deeply personal interview, the former SNP leader insisted: Were still married and we will be married for a long time to come.

Nicola Sturgeon with husband Peter Murrell on the Queensferry Crossing during the official opening of the new bridge

Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell on their wedding day in Glasgow, 16th July 2010

I NEEDED TO BE ON TOP FORM TO MATCH QUEEN Queen Elizabeth II (right) greets Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, July 4, 2017 She was the leader of a political party deeply divided on the subject of the monarchy. However, Nicola Sturgeon paid affectionate tribute to the late Queen, describing meetings with her as wonderful. In her podcast interview with Gyles Brandreth, the former First Minister recalled regular meetings with Queen Elizabeth, who she found warm, chatty and scarily well-informed. Ms Sturgeon said: As First Minister you dont have a weekly audience with the Queen or King as Prime Ministers do  but I would have a private audience with her twice a year, once in the summer when she came to Holyrood and then round about the autumn in Balmoral. I consider myself very privileged to have had those hours of private time. She was incredibly warm and chatty, she would always put you at your ease. She was always very, very, very well-informed  scarily well-informed. Ms Sturgeon added that she always needed to make an extra effort to prepare for her meetings with the Queen, and would ask herself, Do I know everything thats happened in Scotland over the last 48 hours? Because she will and shell ask you about it. Ms Sturgeon said: I used to make sure I was absolutely on top of, not just the great affairs of state, but also the things that had been happening in the communities, in Balmoral for example. The great thing about these discussions was they would go from there. She liked a bit of gossip; she liked to hear what was happening in the political world, so she would ask me about things shed read in the papers and shed ask me the real story. But they would go from that to her reflecting on her audiences with Churchill and meeting people like Mandela, it was incredible. These discussions were very special. The Queens 70-year reign endedlast year when she died at her beloved Balmoral, at the age of 96. Former First Minister Alex Salmond formed a close bond with the Queen during his time as leader of the Scottish Government, as the pair shared a love of horse racing. In the run-up to the 2014 referendum, he pledged that an independent Scotland would keep the monarch as head of state. Advertisement

Ms Sturgeons statement is her strongest declaration of support for her husband since they were both separately arrested as part of the long-running police investigation into the partys finances.

Ms Sturgeon made her comments during a discussion with TV presenter and former Tory MP Gyles Brandreth for a podcast to be broadcast this week.

Poignantly, she also spoke of the sacrifices she has made to pursue a career in politics. Having previously discussed the pain of suffering a miscarriage, Ms Sturgeon disclosed that she still thinks about the baby she lost, imagining her as a girl who would by now be a teenager.

The interview also offers a possible sneak preview of the material Ms Sturgeon is likely to include in her forthcoming memoir, for which she has reportedly been offered a 150,000 advance.

Discussing her early years as a shy bookworm, she goes on to describe her first experience of romance and her first kiss  with a schoolboy nicknamed Sparky.

She spoke of her political awakening, in part thanks to the polarising policies of former Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and revealed the most bizarre moment of her career  being invited into a house to discuss voting intentions with a man who was splashing in his bath.

Yet by far the most personal disclosure concerns the politicians ongoing sense of loss after the miscarriage she suffered while serving as Deputy First Minister.

During the interview Mr Brandreth asked if she regretted not having children. Ms Sturgeon said: I had a miscarriage in 2010. I didnt speak about it at the time but a few years later I spoke about the miscarriage, because for a woman in politics who doesnt have children, you get asked that question a lot.

I always made the observation that Alex Salmond doesnt have children. I dont think hes ever been asked that question, because hes a man.

Why would he be asked that question?

The reason I spoke out about it is to make the point. Is it a regret? Its a very simple question that doesnt have a simple answer.

Speaking about the sadness of her loss, she said that she believes the baby was a girl.

Ms Sturgeon added: There have been times where Ive not wanted kids and other times I thought, yeah, it might be nice.

Then there was the period where we decided we did and it didnt happen.

Is it a regret? I wish I hadnt had the miscarriage. Ive always thought it was a girl. Ive no idea why but Ive always described the child I lost as she.

She would be in her early teens now, probably causing me all sorts of grief.

Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon was born on July 19, 1970, in Ayrshire, daughter of Robin and Joan.

Reflecting on her childhood, she described herself as shy and introverted, telling Mr Brandreth: I was never happier than having my nose stuck in a book.

My mum likes to tell a story of me at my fifth birthday hiding under a table and reading a book when everybody else was playing games.

The podcast also touched on the early years before she met Mr Murrell, on her romance and her first kiss with her first boyfriend, Sparky. Ms Sturgeon said: He was very good-looking in those days.

Ive not seen him for many years. Sparky was a lovely boy  apologies if you are listening to this, Sparky, you were a lovely boy.

He was very gentle and kind and caring but we probably werent that suited in the long-term.

After splitting with Sparky, she had another relationship with a man whom she lived with before dating and ultimately marrying Mr Murrell in July 2010.

Growing up in Ayrshire, Ms Sturgeon she said she had a sense of destiny that she would do something out of the ordinary. Despite not really understanding why, she was driven by the idea of growing up to become a lawyer.

She said: I didnt know anybody who did it and probably wouldnt know what it meant. My mum says she first remembers me saying this when I was about five.

It was probably the kind of thing I just said when I was a kid without knowing what it meant, then being quite bloody-minded having said it, I had to see it through.

My uncle was a journalist. I flirted a bit with journalism then became very interested in politics in my early to mid-teens.

Ms Sturgeon went on to qualify as and work as a lawyer until entering politics full time, an interest which developed when she was a teenager, sparked by debates with her Modern Studies teacher.

Although she was aware that her parents had been left disappointed by the outcome of the 1979 devolution referendum, which failed to gather enough votes to create a Scottish Assembly, they were not nationalists.

In fact, it was the Iron Lady, Mrs Thatcher, who persuaded Ms Sturgeon to pursue Scottish independence.

She recalled: Thatcher was Prime Minister at that point. If it was anybody who motivated me into politics, it was probably her.

Not because I wanted to be like her, but at that point in the 80s there was the deindustrialisation. I grew up in a former mining village.

There was economic desolation and destruction around me. Unemployment was very high when I was growing up.

Ms Sturgeon said that there was a real fear of her father losing his job as an electrician.

She added: Growing up in the west of Scotland, anywhere in Scotland I suppose, the added dimension to this was, We didnt vote for her, why are we having to suffer this government doing so much damage? and thats where I suppose my support for independence came from.

Asked if, having been the first female leader of Scotland, she has an understanding of the vilification the first female prime minister would have experienced, she said: Absolutely.

Having done the job, of course it gives you a completely different perspective of what its like to be in these positions and understand a lot of the challenges and decisions you have to take, along with the impossibility of keeping everybody happy with any decision  particularly, having gone through the Covid experience, the weight of the impact of some of the decisions that you are taking.

I suppose, looking back on it, Thatcher again, I suppose Im still seeing this through the eyes of a teenager.

She didnt seem to demonstrate much empathy for the impact of her decisions, it was, This is what Im doing, like it or lump it.

The former First Minister was also at pains to insist that her own career has not given her even a grudging respect for Mrs Thatcher.

But she did admit: There was something about the type of politician and political leader from her day... she was one of those. Perhaps we could do with more of them.

After graduating with a law degree, Ms Sturgeon worked in the field until she was elected for the first time as a list MSP in 1999 when the Scottish parliament opened.

She recalled: I was euphoric and happy to be elected but it was a strange feeling. I hadnt won the constituency  it was a victory and a loss all in one.

In 2007, she was elected to represent Glasgow Govan, which she described as a special feeling. Her predecessor as First Minister was Alex Salmond, who mentored her when she joined the party.

In the years that followed the pair grew closer and in 2007, when he became leader, he appointed Ms Sturgeon as his deputy.

Following a string of allegations of sexual assault against Mr Salmond  of which he was later cleared  she admitted they are no longer on speaking terms, but conceded she had learned a lot from him and SNP stalwart Winnie Ewing.

She said: I was this shy, introverted person. He is not shy and introverted.

He taught me a lot about how to engage with people in a way you could have not just a political argument with, but engage on a human level.

He taught me a lot about the media, how to deal with the media and how to be effective through the media, how to marshal an argument and how to make an argument in a way with a soundbite, to get a point across.

Much of her time as a politician was spent canvassing, knocking on doors and trying to win voters. She recalled a particularly strange encounter when she met a man taking a bath.

She said: This was not actually that long ago. I knocked on a door and a woman came to the door and was chatting away. I think from memory she was quite supportive.

She said, My husbands always wanted to meet you, come in.

I went in expecting to be taken into the lounge. But she said, Hes in the bath. Thankfully I didnt need to go right into the bathroom.

The door was ajar and I had to speak to this guy through the door, and all I could hear was the splashing. I think he voted for me.

Nicola Sturgeon is congratulated by her husband Peter Murrell after being formally voted in as first minister of Scotland at the Scottish Parliament on November 19, 2014 in Edinburgh

Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation as First Minister in February and Mr Murrell stepped down from his role as SNP chief executive the following month.

Both were arrested and questioned over SNP finances and released without charge, pending further investigation.

However, Ms Sturgeon said that throughout her life and her time in politics she has developed a thick skin and the ability to deal with difficult situations.

She said: Ive got a very deep inner resilience, deeper than I thought.

Ive got a nucleus of very good friends who have carried me through, particularly the last few months, and I still have the ability to hide under the table and hide myself in a good book.

Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth is released every Friday on all podcast platforms - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rosebud-with-gyles-brandreth/id1704806594
On September 21, 2023,the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone held a reception to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. More than 200 people attended the reception, including the Ambassador Wang Qing and his wife, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Madam Peagie Alghali and other government ministers, deputy ministers, the Chief Justice, senior generals of the army, heads of diplomatic missions in Sierra Leone, Chinese communities in Sierra Leone as well as friends from all walks of life. In his speech, Ambassador Wang Qing reviewed the development achievements of the Peoples Republic of China over the past 74 years since its founding, saying that over the past 74 years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has led the Chinese people to successfully open up a path to Chinese modernization through a long-term exploration and independent practice. So far this year, in the face of the severe and complex world economic situation, China has made great efforts to promote high-quality development. The Chinese economy enjoys strong resilience, ample potential and robust dynamism and the fundamentals sustaining Chinas sound economic growth in the long run remains unchanged. China has the confidence, the conditions and the ability to meet the economic and social development targets set for 2023 with high quality and remain a source of strength for world economic recovery and growth.

Ambassador Wang pointed out that ss the world's largest developing country, China is committed to bringing more new opportunities to global development while achieving its own development. Facing the profound changes unseen in a century, President Xi Jinping creatively proposed the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, providing Chinese solutions to increasingly severe and complex global challenges. From proposing the Belt and Road Initiative to the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative, China has always been a builder of world peace, a defender of international order, and a contributor to global development. Next month, China will hold the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and will inject new impetus into strengthening global cooperation and common prosperity.

Ambassador Wang emphasized that Strengthening solidarity and cooperation with Sierra Leone and other African countries is always an important cornerstone of Chinas foreign policies. After H.E. President Julius Maada Bio was re-elected in June, H.E. President Xi Jinping, in his congratulatory message, reiterated that he stands ready to work with President Bio to support each other and work in solidarity and coordination to promote the continuous development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Sierra Leone to better benefit the people. It has provided important guidance and new opportunities for China-Sierra Leone relations in the next stage. During the BRICS Summit and China-Africa Leaders Dialogue in South Africa last month, President Xi proposed three new Initiatives on Supporting Africas Industrialization, Supporting Africas Agricultural Modernization and China-Africa Cooperation on Talent Development. It will inject new impetus for the common development of our two countries. China looks forward to working with Sierra Leone to synergize development strategies and strengthen win-win cooperation. On behalf of the Sierra Leonean government, Acting Foreign Minister Alghali delivered a speech and conveyed H.E. President Julius Maada Bio's greetings to H.E. President Julius Maada Bio and all Chinese people. She spoke highly of China's development achievements and cooperation between the two countries in various fields and thanked China for its long-term support in Sierra Leonean development issues. Minister Alghali said that Sierra Leone and China have deep friendship and close cooperation and the Sierra Leonean side is willing to work together with the Chinese side to continue to enhance the high level bilateral relations.



The reception had a warm atmosphere. The guests enjoyed the traditional Chinese and Sierra Leone cultural performances, praised China's economic and social development achievements, and wished China-Sierra Leone friendship would last forever.




Ron DeSantis has insisted he can beat Donald Trump to the Republican 2024 presidential nomination during an interview with Bill Maher.

But the liberal HBO host, 67, joked that the Florida governor would not be appearing on his show if his campaign was going well.

Maher grilled DeSantis, 45, on his tough battle to win the GOP primary during the latest episode of Real Time with Bill Maher which aired on Friday.

He labelled the politician 'crazy' to run at his young age and questioned why he would go against the popular figure of former president Trump.

However, DeSantis insisted he could win and claimed he could be the person to 'actually get the job done'.

Ron DeSantis is pictured during his appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher Friday

Maher labelled the politician 'crazy' to run at his young age and questioned why he would go against the popular figure of former president Trump

'You did not take my advice,' Maher told him during the exchange.

'I was on the show- a few times we talked- I said, "this guy's crazy to run this time".

'What are you, 45 years old? You just had a birthday, right?'

DeSantis responded 'Yeah,' and Maher added: 'You could run for the next 20 years. If you were Biden, the next 40. Why run against Trump?

'You're trying to thread this needle that will never happen. You can't disavow him because that's the base, and yet you're running against him.

'And that's why, I mean, let's face it Ron, if the campaign was going well, you wouldn't be on this show.'

The Florida Governor hit back and said: 'That's not true. One: I don't think he can win the election. I could win the election. Two: I don't think he could actually get the job done that we need to do.

'For example, COVID. I think we need accountability for what this government did to this country with the COVID restrictions mandates and lockdowns. Donald Trump is not gonna do that He's not going to clean house at CDC, NIH, FDA. I will do that. I will get the job done.'

He added: 'The one thing about me in Florida, and even my critics will acknowledge- if he says he's going to do something, he will follow through and get the job done.

Maher (right) grilled DeSantis, 45, on his tough battle to win the GOP primary during the latest episode of Real Time with Bill Maher which aired on Friday

DeSantis insisted he could beat Trump and claimed he could be the person to 'actually get the job done'

'So it's about the country. Are we gonna get the country turned around or not? I don't think he's a vehicle that's doing and I have been- when I supported them on things I liked.

'I've said it, but I've been critical about the things that he didn't do, and I'm gonna continue to do that.'

Comedian and talk show host Maher took aim at DeSantis' past campaigning for 'election deniers' during the 2022 midterms.

However, the politician defended his support for Republicans involved in key races.

The HBO star pressed him further on how denying the 2020 election was not a 'deal breaker' for him.

DeSantis then hit back and claimed there was election denialism from those on the left after Trump won in 2016.

'Your friends in Hollywood were cutting ads telling the Electoral College to vote against Trump in the Electoral College because it was stolen,' he said.

'They said Russia stole the election, for years they said that. So don't act like this is like a unique thing in modern history of the country

Former president Donald Trump speaks at the fall convention of the California Republican Party in Anaheim, California on Friday

The ex-president got big laughs when he mimicked a moment when a confused Biden appeared not to be able to find his way off stage

Maher then joked: 'First of all, Ron, I have no friends in Hollywood.'

The pair then agreed on their views towards 'woke' people and criticized The New York Times over an article about DeSantis' handling of the pandemic in Florida.

Maher said the governor was in the right.

DeSantis was involved the the Republican's second 2024 presidential primary debate on Wednesday which Trump skipped again.

He hit out at the former president for not turning up and challenged him to a debate.

'He's not showing up he's missing in action he owes it to voters to show up and defend his record,' he said.

'I think he thinks he can take a juice poll and then people don't get to vote that's not the way the system works. You got to go earn votes so I'm showing up I'm showing that.'

Real Time with Bill Maher returned for the first time since April due to the writers' strike which recently ended after 148 days.

The Florida Governor is polling at around 14 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, whereas Trump has an enormous lead with around 58 percent support.
Apple has admitted software bug problems after some users have reported that the new iPhone 15 overheats so much that it can't be touched.

The tech giant has said a bug and other issues such as the use of popular apps like Instagram and Uber is causing the newly released model of the iPhone to heat up.

The company has said it is working on an update to the iOS17 system which powers to iPhone 15 line-up to prevent the devices from becoming uncomfortably hot to handle, and is working with apps which are running in ways 'causing them to overload the system'.

Earlier this week, Instagram, which is owned by Meta Platforms, modified its app to prevent it from heating up the device.

Uber and other applications such as the video game Asphalt 9 and still in the process of rolling out their updates.

Apple has admitted software bug problems after some users have reported that the new iPhone 15 overheats so much that it can't be touched

The company has said it is working on an update to the iOS17 system which powers to iPhone 15 line-up to prevent the devices from becoming uncomfortably hot to handle

pple is yet to say when its own software fix will be issued. It has said, however, no safety issues should prevent iPhone 15 owners from using their new devices

But Apple is yet to say when its own software fix will be issued. It has said, however, no safety issues should prevent iPhone 15 owners from using their new devices.

READ MORE: iPhone 15 Pro review: MailOnline gets hands-on with Apple's new flagship smartphone - so, is it really worth 1,499? The top of the range - iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max - boast a number of impressive features including a new Action Button, a titanium finish, and a USB-C charge Advertisement

In a short statement, Apple said: 'We have identified a few conditions which can cause iPhone to run warmer than expected'.

The tech giant unveiled four new devices at an event earlier this month - the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The top of the range - iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max - boast a number of impressive features including a new Action Button, a titanium finish, and a USB-C charger.

It is not unusual for iPhones to get warm during the first few days of use, or when they are being restored with back-up information stored in the cloud. Apple has previously flagged this as an issue for users.

In its acknowledgement of the issue, Apple said the overheating is not related to the titanium casing of the phones, which has been used for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max as opposed to stainless steel.

The company also dismissed speculation the problem could be tied to a shift from its lightning charging cable to USB-C port, which allows it to comply with a European regulatory mandate.

While it has said the issue will be resolved with software updates, the problem could dampen sales during a time when the company has seen three consecutive quarts of year-on-year decline in overall sales.

iPhone sales fell by a combined four per cent in the nine months covered by Appel's past three fiscal quarters compared with a year earlier.

That won't save the planet, Apple! iPhone users rush to return scratch-prone 59 'vegan' cases

By Daniel Jones

Apple has removed leather from its phone cases and watches in a bid to 'protect the planet'.

But the 'vegan' replacement material could end up an environmental disaster.

A rush of returns from customers who complain that the 59 iPhone cases are prone to scratches and stains has led to fears many could end up in landfill.

Cases get so dirty and marked when touched, there are reports staff in Apple stores are having to replace display models every day.

Such is the scale of complaints and questions from customers that company bosses have had to send store staff a memo on how to deal with them.

Case returns from customers has led to fears that many will end up in landfill

When The Mail on Sunday visited an Apple store on Friday, the cases on display were all marked. 'I am not going to lie. They do get easily scratched,' a sales assistant said.

READ MORE: Is THIS the iPhone 15? Dummy unit for Apple's next flagship smartphone leaks online  and it hints at some HUGE changes Footage of an iPhone 15 Pro 'dummy' surfaced on the Chinese version of TikTok yesterday, allowing prospective buyers to take a sneak peek of what's in store Advertisement

Apple says the 'FineWoven' material, a 'micro twill' which has a 'suede-like' feel, is made from 68 per cent recycled materials, thought to include plastic.

Expert reviewers who regularly judge Apple products have universally criticised the cases with the new material. Chance Miller, editor in chief of 9to5Mac, a website dedicated to Apple products, wrote: 'I'm all for not using animals to make phone cases. But FineWoven is not the answer.

'What's the environmental impact of these cases having to be replaced? Or the environmental impact of every Apple store having to swap the display units daily?'

Federico Viticci, who runs the MacStories site, posted: 'I honestly think this is the worst accessory Apple's ever produced and I may just throw this out now. (Great for the environment!)'

Launching the material earlier this month when it unveiled the iPhone 15, Apple said: 'The new FineWoven material has significantly lower emissions compared to the more carbon-intensive leather.'

Around 220million iPhones are sold each year. Apple sells around half that number of its own cases, split across three models  silicon, plastic and the flagship leather version, now replaced by FineWoven.

In the memo sent to stores, bosses said if asked about durability staff should explain cases 'may look different and show wear over time as the fibres get compressed with normal use', but that 'some scratches may diminish over time'.
Humza Yousaf will find it difficult to hold Rutherglen and Hamilton West, a leading polling expert said last night, with Labour on course to snatch the key seat from the SNP.

Professor Sir John Curtice, the president of the British Polling Council, said Sir Keir Starmers party was well placed to claim victory in Thursdays by-election.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Sir John pointed out that Labour only needed a small swing from the SNP to win the contest.

But he said Sir Keir would likely be targeting a 10 per cent swing, which would be double what the SNP achieved when they took back the Westminster seat from Labour in 2019.

He added: The brutal politics of this is very simple. Jeremy Corbyns Labour won that seat in 2017.

Humza Yousaf on the campaign trail in Rutherglen

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, right and Leader of the Scottish Labour Party Anas Sarwar, left, take part in a campaign event in Hamilton, Scotland

If Sir Keir cannot win it back now there will be serious questions asked.

It shouldnt be a question of if Labour wins in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, but how well does Labour win. The bellwether constituency has flip-flopped between the SNP and Labour for years.

On a tide of support for Mr Corbyn, Gerard Killen took the seat off the SNPs Margaret Ferrier in 2017, with a majority of 265 votes.

However, it was regained by Ms Ferrier in 2019. She won by 5,230 votes thanks to a 5 per cent swing from Labour after Mr Corbyns popularity with voters crashed.

Thursdays by-election was called after constituents ousted Ms Ferrier in a recall petition following the MPs Covid rule-breaking.

In mid-September, Scotland-wide polling from YouGov put Labour on 27 per cent, down five percentage points, compared to the SNPs 38 per cent, up two percentage points.

However, the latest constituency survey by UK Polling Report predicts that Labour is on track to win the by-election by a margin of 2.3 per cent.

For Mr Yousaf, who took over as SNP leader in March with his party engulfed in crisis amid a police investigation into its finances, internal feuds and plummeting poll numbers, the vote is a crucial first electoral test.

On the campaign trail yesterday he said he remained hopeful.

While the First Minister has previously insisted that if the SNP loses the by-election the buck stops with me, he declined to speculate on his position in the event of a Labour victory.

Mr Yousaf said: I dont hypothecate on loss, Im hopeful going into this last few days of campaigning.

Labour have taken this vote for granted, theyve already decided theyve won this by-election. My experience on the doorstep tells me we have plenty of support.

Itll come down to on the day making sure that support comes out.

Recent survey results show growing numbers of Scots believe Mr Yousafs government to be incompetent  with 44 per cent backing that view, up by one from Augusts Redfield and Wilton poll.

Support for separation among the 1,100 Scots quizzed between September 2 and September 6 also fell.

The proportion backing Yes was down by one point to 44 per cent, while those who said they would vote No increased by one percentage point to 49 per cent.

Despite the SNPs financial troubles, Nationalist campaign chiefs have been so desperate to claw back political credibility they have been paying people to deliver leaflets and whipping their MSPs to head to the constituency to knock on doors.

However, bookmakers have made Labour candidate Michael Shanks the odds-on favourite to see off the SNPs Katy Loudon.

On a visit to the seat on Friday, Sir Keir struck a confident tone, telling supporters: This will be a milestone if we win this election on the hard road back for Labour to power.

Although victory would be seen as pivotal if the party is to stage a revival in Scotland, particular credence has been given to the idea that if Labour snatches the seat, it would herald the return of the party to power at the next General Election for the first time since 2010.

Margaret Ferrier triggered a by-election with a successful petition to remove her as MP due to violation of COVID-19 regulations in September 2020

But Sir John, a professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, warned against such a narrative, saying that Labour gains in Scotland would be irrelevant in a UK-wide context if Sir Keirs party maintained its huge nationwide poll lead over the Tories.

Last night an SNP spokesman said: Our candidate Katy Loudon is a strong local voice but we will be taking no votes for granted in this election.

The Labour Party has shown time and time again that it offers no real alternative to the Tories and their reckless pursuit of austerity. They do not have the ambition to deliver real change.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: While Labour is out speaking to voters in this area about the issues that matter  tackling the cost of living crisis and the epidemic of one in seven Scots on waiting lists  Katy Loudon is shamefully siding with her party bosses on income tax rises and congestion charges.

Only Michael Shanks will stand up for the people of the area and deliver the fresh start Rutherglen and Hamilton West deserves. Other candidates standing include Thomas Kerr (Scottish Conservatives), Gloria Adebo (Scottish Lib Dems) and Cameron Eadie (Scottish Greens).
Walking along Rutherglens Main Street on a rainy afternoon last week, I learn something which neither Sir Keir Starmer nor Humza Yousaf will want to hear.

The busy road is at the heart of the constituency, which in a few days time will go to the polls to choose its new MP.

In the eyes of the political analysts, the imminent Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election will provide a litmus test of how close Labour are to winning No 10 at the next General Election, and will also be a crucial measure of how the SNPs new leader is rated in the post-Sturgeon era.

But in the drizzle outside the Exchange shopping centre, the analysis is rather more blunt.

Candidate Niall Fraser campaigning on Main Street, Rutherglen

Bookmakers have made Labour candidate Michael Shanks the odds-on favourite to see off the SNPs Katy Loudon

Im wearing my grandmothers red Burberry trench coat  which leads one elderly shopper to wrongly assume I am campaigning for the Labour Party.

You politicians, he says. Youre all the same when you get into power. You all just take our money as soon as you get in the door and forget all about us.

His friend, a woman, looks at me and storms off in a huff. Such is the challenge facing the frontrunners, Labours Michael Shanks and the SNPs Katy Loudon.

While the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton may be pivotal for the immediate political fortunes of both parties, the voters  at worst angry, at best unfazed  clearly havent got the memo.

Jeanette Graham, 62, who works in the high streets blinds and curtains shop, is still undecided over the question of who to vote for, just days before she is expected to cast her ballot on Thursday.

She  like many others I spoke to  had not thought much about the by-election, nor did she know the names of the candidates.

It is perhaps inevitable some residents are apathetic, given the only clue a crucial by-election, sparked by the effective sacking of Margaret Ferrier over Covid breaches, is about to take place is Scottish Family Party candidate Niall Frasers street sign proclaiming, A man cant become a woman. Simple, and a Vote for Katy Loudon sign stuck to a shop tucked off a side road on the way to the train station.

Flower shop owner Naeem Siddiquie, 36, is resolute that he will vote SNP this week  and was the only person I spoke to who was enthused about the race.

He said: I know there is a cost of living crisis and the government is struggling, but it is all around the world that people are struggling.

He added: I liked Nicola Sturgeon very much, with the scandal and everything though, it was time for her to go. I will still vote SNP. They are a very people-friendly government I feel.

His praise, however, is less generous for Sir Keir Starmer. While the shopkeeper said he liked Jeremy Corbyn as he was a man of the people, Sir Keir was not leader material.

He added: Jeremy Corbyn was talking for people but Sir Keir Starmer looks boring and I cant connect with him.

While the odds are on Labour winning, one dyed-in-the-wool supporter, an 87-year-old retired electrician and council worker, admits Sir Keirs party is simply the best of a bad bunch in Rutherglen.

As the man pottered around Rutherglen town hall, he said: All MPs, they promise the world.

Its not going to work out that way. If youve any common sense you know thats not going to happen, theyll do their best but they wont change the world overnight. But I will be voting Labour.

Speaking of the SNP, he added: Theyve got this place into a terrible state. Ive lived here for 60-odd years.

The SNP have made a shambles of the NHS and the two ships down in Port Glasgow... what is it, three years behind? Millions over? It is an absolute shambles.

One lady working in a local shop added: Dont get me wrong, I think Nicola Sturgeon did all right during Covid but I dont particularly like her. I will vote Labour and it is basically just to keep the SNP out.

I think a lot of people want Labour back in, which I dont have an issue with, its the best of a bad bunch.

I dont think itll make any difference who is in.

Meanwhile, painter and decorator Joe Burrell, 60, said that having voted for the SNP for 30 years, he was now going to opt for the socialist candidate Bill Bonnar.

He said: Im not liking the SNP at the moment, I voted for them for 30 years but Ive gone off them with all this carry-on with the police and I just decided, to hell with it.

I want to find someone who is really for the kids and is not interested in the money. I voted Labour before the SNP but Labour is right out the window now. They cant convince me.

Up in the more affluent suburb of Burnside, active support for Labour was stronger, helped by the fact that the great-great-grandaughter of the partys founder, Sir Keir Hardie, works in a florist on the towns main drag.

Standing among the fresh floral displays, Holly Allison, 20, said she would vote for her relatives party as she had  understandably  been brought up Labour.

She added: My wee aunty has flags and signs up, my grandfather when he was alive, had his whole car covered in posters. I will definitely vote Labour.

Seamstress Josephine Gurie, 58, will also be voting for the party. She said: I would like to say Im quite a staunch socialist  we need to support other people, we need to help the poor and the needy.

I will have to vote Labour  whether or not Michael Shanks is a great candidate. Labour dont have many MPs in Scotland and the SNP havent really done anything for us in Westminster.

And, in an attitude Labour can only hope permeates the slightly nonplussed Rutherglen and Hamilton West electorate, she added: Im not trying to say Labour can do any better but we need to try.

While residents have largely forgiven their disgraced former MP Margaret Ferrier for breaching Covid rules and sparking this race, they are not so quick to forgive the SNP for the police fraud probe, massive NHS waiting lists and an epidemic of violent crime taking place on Scotlands streets owing to soft-touch justice policies.

One man told of regular shoplifting incidents which he felt were rarely followed up by police.

But although Labour are understandably confident ahead of the ballot, their candidate Mr Shanks, a modern studies teacher, still has plenty of people to convince in the final days leading up to the vote.

His bosses may see this weeks ballot as a barometer for Labours forthcoming General Election fortunes  with advisors claiming Sir Keirs path to the premiership will run through seats in Scotland.

But, paradoxically, Mr Shanks Scottish Labour comrades know the only way to win the seat is to convince the people of Rutherglen and the surrounding areas that he is nothing like his centrist party chiefs in London.

Already, the Labour candidate has taken a completely opposite stance to Sir Keir on issues including gender reform and Brexit.

He has proclaimed his support for gender self-identification, would not mind the UK rejoining the EU, and favours scrapping Labours two-child benefit cap and bedroom tax policies.

Mr Shanks, it appears, wants Lanarkshire locals to elect him so he can fight against his own partys policies at Westminster.

At the end of my visit to Rutherglen, I find refuge on a soggy bench next to an elderly lady and I tentatively ask what she thinks of the forthcoming vote.

Och, she smiles: Im not the woman to speak to about by-elections, hen. Politicians are all the same, the lot of them.
A notorious transgender sex predator who sexually assaulted female prisoners now says she should never have been put in a women's jail.

Convicted paedophile and rapist Karen White, who was born a man, molested female inmates in a three-month reign of terror at New Hall women's prison in West Yorkshire.

White, 57, who still has male genitalia, was moved to a men's prison and later received a life sentence for a series of sex crimes.

Now, in a four-page letter to a women's rights campaigner, sent from her cell at Frankland prison in County Durham, 6ft-tall White urges the Government to keep transgender women out of female jails unless they have had surgery.

White says 'all I could see was fear in the faces' of female inmates when they arrived at New Hall jail five years ago. 'They would have seen me as a man in woman's clothing and a threat to them,' writes White, who has been described as a 'towering figure in a blonde wig'.

Convicted paedophile and rapist Karen White, who was born a man, molested female inmates in a three-month reign of terror at New Hall women's prison in West Yorkshire

White, 57, who still has male genitalia, was moved to a men's prison and later received a life sentence for a series of sex crimes

She says 'transgender women should not be in a women's prison', adding: 'I mean all transgender women, not case by case, until they have had full reassignment surgery because it's all about the women in the women's prison and their safety should be paramount.

'Housing transgender women who have not had full surgery only continues to put these vulnerable women at risk daily and know-one [sic] should be made to feel that way in their safe environment.'

White, born Stephen Wood, is serving life at Category A Frankland jail for multiple rapes, sex attacks and grievous bodily harm.

They saw me as a man  and a threat to them

The women's rights activist who received the letter said: 'It came as a bolt out of the blue. Feminists have been warning for years that female-only spaces should be protected for the sake of women's safety and now this letter shows that even trans women agree.' In the letter, White says she told court officials when she was remanded in 2017 that she should not be placed in a women's prison.

She claims a magistrate told her she would be detained in a female jail as she had been living as a woman in 'the community' for two years.

White, born Stephen Wood, is serving life at Category A Frankland jail for multiple rapes, sex attacks and grievous bodily harm

White will serve a minimum nine-and-a-half years before being considered for parole after admitting sex attacks on two female prisoners and raping two other women.

The judge at Leeds Crown Court called White 'predatory and highly manipulative'. She attacked the two women inmates at New Hall while on remand after stabbing her 66-year-old neighbour with a knife.

One of the prisoners who accused White, Cheryle Kempton, later told The Mail on Sunday how White demanded she commit a sex act, grabbed her breasts and pressed up against her while aroused.

White's letter fuels the debate on whether men who identify as women should have unfettered access to female-only spaces, following a number of sex scandals.

This year the Government introduced regulations banning trans women with male genitalia who are violent or sexual offenders from serving time in female prisons.

Exemptions can only be made in exceptional cases and with Ministers' approval.

The guidance came into force after this newspaper revealed a transgender murderer with male genitalia had consensual sex with a female inmate and was alleged to have sexually molested another at Bronzefield women's prison in west London.

Last night Liz Hogarth, a former Ministry of Justice official, said there must be no reversal of the policy on trans prisoners. She added: 'Most of the women are extremely vulnerable having experienced multiple and complex trauma, including male violence. It is never appropriate to prioritise the needs of trans-identifying males above the needs of these women.'

In Scotland, prison chiefs halted the movement of transgender sex offenders this year after a furious backlash against double rapist Isla Bryson being sent to a women's prison. She was later moved to the male jail.
Workers who now only travel into the office for part of the week are causing a massive surge in hotel prices in big cities.

Budget chains are now charging up to 240 a night during the week in places like London and Manchester.

This is due to an influx in bookings from city dwellers who moved to the countryside during the pandemic but kept their office jobs.

Millions of Britons now spend just Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the office  earning them the name 'TW*Ts'. They work from home on Mondays and Fridays.

This has seen average room rates in the capital rise from 97 to 112 a night, according to hotel chain Premier Inn, while outside London prices are 12 per cent higher at 71 compared to a year ago.

This has seen average room rates in the capital rise from 97 to 112 a night, according to hotel chain Premier Inn, while outside London prices are 12 per cent higher at 71 compared to a year ago

Prices have also been pushed up by a shortage of hotel rooms. Analysts at Barclays said the pandemic had caused one in ten independent hoteliers to go bust

Some workers complained that three-star hotels in the capital were charging 240 a night.

Ian Acheson, a visiting professor at Staffordshire University, asked on X, formerly Twitter: 'Why have London hotels, even the previously reliable Premier Inns, become so insanely expensive recently?' He added: 'Who is in three-star hotels for 240 a night? Did I miss some memo? It's bonkers.'

One reply said: 'It's not just London. I was quoted 167 for one night in Chorley [in Lancashire].'

Hybrid workers are looking for 'a new pace of life' linked to working from home while remaining connected to economic hubs, said Chris Timbs, a marketing director at Accor, Europe's largest hotel chain.

Prices have also been pushed up by a shortage of hotel rooms. Analysts at Barclays said the pandemic had caused one in ten independent hoteliers to go bust.

The Mail on Sunday found that booking a Premier Inn room on Fleet Street for this Wednesday night would cost 233.

The best value room within five miles of the city centre was 100 cheaper in Hackney. 'Wednesdays are always popular for business travellers,' a Premier Inn spokesman said. 'You'd start seeing a drop off the further out you book.'
Spy writer John le Carre was a serial love cheat who had at least 11 affairs  including several with wives of his friends  his biographer has revealed.

The former MI6 officer, real name David Cornwell, claimed infidelities were like a necessary drug for my writing, a dangerous edge of some kind.

Mistresses included an au pair who looked after his young son, the wife of a spy colleague in Bonn, a journalist and a former model.

His first marriage fell apart after the Bonn affair in the early 1960s, when he was writing his breakthrough novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

After marrying second wife Jane, he tried to persuade the ex-model to move in with them as a menage a trois, claiming her input was important to his work.

John le Carre (pictured in 2011 at the UK premiere of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) had at least 11 affairs in in his lifetime and described them as 'like a necessary drug for my writing'

Le Carre (pictured) died in 2020 aged 89, and his biographer, Adam Sisman, has revealed the author and former MI6 officer's promiscuity in his new book with the approval of his surviving sons

So many women shared his bed that one neighbour in West Cornwall kept a tally of more than 50 conquests.

Writing in yesterdays Times Magazine, biographer Adam Sisman recalls how the author told one lover, I must go and lie to my wife, before rising from the hotel bed and phoning Jane.

He was serially unfaithful. Sisman adds. I was able to identify 11 women with whom he had affairs during the first 30 years of their marriage, and I am aware there were plenty more.

Most conquests were younger than him  in one case by 40 years  and several were fictionalised in his novels.

Sisman adds that one pal told the writer he would need a different woman for each book, advice David appears to have taken to heart.

Another friend noted, He only notices women when they are married. If women were a challenge, men were rivals.

'Several of the women with whom he had affairs were married to friends of his; this might happen by accident once, or even twice, but with David it happened again and again.

Sisman says he decided not to reveal Cornwells affairs in his original 2015 biography.

But after the authors death in 2020 aged 89, his widows death weeks later, and with agreement from surviving sons, he decided to include details in his new book The Secret Life of John le Carre as the pursuit of women was a key to unlock his fiction.
Disney World's waterslide caused a wedgie so severe that the female victim is suing the corporation for over $50,000, a lawsuit alleges.

Emma McGuinness, then 30, went down the Humunga Kowabunga waterslide at Disney World in October 2019 and claims hitting a pool of water at the bottom at a speed of around 40mph caused a host of eye-watering wounds.

The dangerous splash took place at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon waterpark in Orange County, Florida where McGuinness was celebrating her 30th birthday alongside other family members. She decided to take on the ride with her mother and her young daughter.

The lawsuit states that: 'The impact of The Slide and her impact into the standing water at the bottom of The Slide caused Ms. McGuinness clothing to be painfully forced between her legs and for water to be violently forced inside her.

'She experienced immediate and severe pain internally and, as she stood up, blood began rushing from between her legs.'

A woman suffered a wedgie so severe after going down a Disney World waterslide that she is suing the corporation for $50,000. Pictured is a vlogger competing the ride and landing in the very same water Emma McGuinness claims left her badly injured

Emma McGuinness was celebrating her 30th birthday at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon in Orange County, Florida with her family at the time

The lawsuit included a catalog picture of a swimsuit similar to the one that McGuinness was wearing for her trip down the slide - which played a key part in her injuries

The lawsuit said that 'The Slide' carries specific risks whether riders cross their legs or not that Disney should have known about - but they did not disclose those risks to guests.

Multiple vloggers have shared videos of their own trips down the risky Humunga Kowabunga waterslide in Florida, although none reported being badly-injured by it.

The paperwork says that when a rider of 'The Slide' reaches the bottom and splashes into the pool of water that waits at the bottom, the force of the water can push loose garments into a person's anatomy - a 'wedgie'.

The case states that a woman's anatomy makes painful wedgies even more 'serious' for them than they are for men.

Exhibit A in the lawsuit filed by the McGuinness's lawyers showed a catalog picture of a full-coverage one-piece swimsuit similar to the one she wore during the incident that was responsible for the 'wedgie'.

The injuries that McGuinness sustained by her trip down the waterslide were allegedly so severe that she was taken by ambulance to a local hospital - and then taken to another hospital for 'for the repair of her gynecologic injuries by a specialist'.

According to the complaint, McGuinness suffered 'severe and permanent bodily injury including severe vaginal lacerations, a full thickness laceration causing Plaintiffs bowel to protrude through her abdominal wall, and damage to her internal organs.'

McGuinness decided to go down the allegedly dangerous waterslide - the Humunga Kowabunga - with her mother and young daughter

The injuries that McGuinness sustained were allegedly so severe that she was taken by ambulance to two hospitals 'for the repair of her gynecologic injuries by a specialist'

According to the lawsuit, McGuinness suffered 'severe and permanent bodily injury including severe vaginal lacerations, a full thickness laceration causing Plaintiffs bowel to protrude through her abdominal wall, and damage to her internal organs'

McGuinness isn't the first water park patron to sustain very serious injuries on waterslides.

A father-of-three was paralyzed on Universal's Volcano Bay waterslide in July 2019 - the same year as McGuinness's severe wedgie.

James Bowen filed a lawsuit against the Florida water park after he violently slammed his head in a shallow wading pool on the Punga Racers waterslide.

The father-of-three said the incident left him paralyzed. He said was left lying face-down in the water until his wife and a Universal employee rescued him, the lawsuit says.

A little girl suffered from similar injuries to McGuinness at a theme park in Queensland, Australia.

The little girl from Logan, north of the Gold Coast, lost half a liter of blood and spent four nights in hospital after the incident at the WhiteWater World water park in 2020.

The eight-year-old was riding the slide on her back with her feet downwards and her leg crossed as instructed by the ride attendant, according to the claim.

The claim states that the girl's legs then became uncrossed 'due to forces encountered by her body while making the descent'.

'Due to her legs becoming uncrossed  (the girl) made a forceful impact with the water, resulting in water entering her body at force (and) causing a significant tear or rupture of her vaginal wall and bleeding,' the claim said.
His thoughts come a year after the illegal annexation of four territories

The former president vowed that Russia will aim to destroy the 'Nazi Kyiv' regime

Top Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev has vowed that Russia will invade more of Ukraine as Moscow on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of its illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories.

The former Russian President declared that victory will soon be Russia's, as the nation continues its 'special military operation' to completely obliterate the 'Nazi Kyiv regime'.

His harrowing statement came one year after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson annexed by Moscow following a series of controversial local elections.

While the Kremlin claims these took place in 'full accordance with international norms', the referendums have been completely denounced by the West and were not internationally recognised.

'The special military operation will continue until the Nazi Kyiv regime is completely destroyed and the original Russian territories are liberated from the enemy,' Medvedev said.

'Victory will be ours... And there will be more new regions within Russia.'

Putin 's close ally, Dmitry Medvedev, declared that Russia 's invasion will fight on

The Russian President also marked today's event - now referred to as 'Reunification Day' - as he pledged that 'nothing and no-one' will stop him

While Putin claims that residents voluntarily returned to their 'fatherland', Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are still legally part of Ukraine under international law.

The Russian President also marked September 30 - now referred to as 'Reunification Day' - by pledging that 'nothing and no-one' will stop him in Moscow's fight against Kyiv.

'Nothing and no-one can break the will of millions of people, or their belief in truth and historical justice,' Putin vowed.

'The free and unequivocal choice of our brothers and sisters was wholeheartedly supported by the Russian people.

'We understood and deeply felt the most important thing: by defending our compatriots in Donbas and Novorossiya, we are defending Russia itself.

'Together, we are fighting for the Motherland, for our sovereignty, spiritual values, unity, and victory.

'I thank all the citizens of the country for this solidarity and patriotism.'

Hundreds of supporters gathered at a celebratory anniversary concert at Moscow's Red Square, though Putin was not present.

Despite plunging Russia and Ukraine into a debilitating 19-month war, the dictator also added that he was building a 'common future'

Hundreds of supporters gathered at a celebratory concert at Moscow's Red Square

Despite plunging Russia and Ukraine into a debilitating 19-month war, the dictator also added that he was building a 'common future' by rebuilding schools and hosptials.

'Thanks to you, your fortitude and determination, Russia has become even stronger,' he continued.

'We are one people, and together we can overcome anything and meet any challenge.'

The address came after Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that it would enlist 130,000 men for compulsory military service this autumn, beginning on October 1 in most regions of the country.

It announced it would for the first time begin enlisting residents of the annexed territories as part of its twice-yearly military conscription campaign.

Moscow says conscripts are not deployed to what it calls its 'special military operation' in Ukraine, or to serve in the annexed territories, but after their service, conscripts automatically become reservists, and Russia has deployed reservists to Ukraine.

In Ukraine, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell referenced the anniversary of the regions being 'illegally annexed' by Russia in a video recorded during an unannounced visit to the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Saturday.

Speaking from the city's Transfiguration Cathedral, severely damaged in a Russian missile strike in July, Mr Borrell reiterated the EU's support for Ukraine.

'Odesa is a beautiful historic city. It should be in the headlines for its vibrant culture and spirit. Instead, it marks the news as frequent target of Putin's war,' the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy chief wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Yesterday, hundreds of supporters gathered at a celebratory concert at Moscow's Red Square, though Putin was not present.

Yaroslav Dronov, known by his stage name Shaman, performs during a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's annexation of four regions

People waving Russian flags attend a concert dedicated to the first anniversary of the annexation of four regions of Ukraine Russian troops control

Meanwhile, the governor of Ukraine's partly occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region, Yurii Malashko, said five people were wounded on Saturday in two missile strikes on the village of Matviivka, on the north-eastern outskirts of the regional capital, also called Zaporizhzhia.

READ MORE: Vladimir Putin appears in public with unexplained dark mark on his forehead as he says nothing and no one' will stop Russia winning Ukrainian war Vladimir Putin appeared with a peculiar and unexplained dark mark on his forehead (circled) Advertisement

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, air defences shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.

Vinnytsia regional governor Serhii Borzov said air defences shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but a 'powerful fire' broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.

Romania's Ministry of National Defence said on Saturday that 'a possible unauthorised entry' into its national air space occurred overnight amid the bombardment.

It said the radar surveillance system of the Romanian army detected the possible incursion into the national air space of the Nato member, with a signal detected towards the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine.

'At this moment, no objects have been identified that fell from the air space on to the national territory,' the statement read, adding that Nato allies were informed in real time and searches will continue.

Emergency authorities issued text message alerts overnight to residents living in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, after detecting what the defence ministry said was 'groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory' near the border.

In recent weeks, Romania has found drone fragments on its soil from the war next door at least three times as Russian forces carry out sustained attacks on Ukraine's Danube ports.

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

Local officials in Russia's Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, reported disruptions to power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar.
The 12 pooches in the calendar were rescued from certain death back in China

The Princess of Wales turns heads wherever she goes, with her array of beautiful hats.

And now these dogs are following in her footsteps - with each wearing their own individually crafted haute couture headwear made by renowned milliners including the Princess's Royal milliner Awon Golding.

Ms Golding has been making hats for the Princess for the last five years, since she took over as Head Millinery Designer at Lock and Co. The London based company was established in 1676 and is the oldest hat shop in the world.

And together with other notable milliners she's turned her hand to making these beautiful creations for a group of dogs who are starring in a charity calendar.

All the dogs featured in the adorable calendar have been saved by the charity Harbin SHS Animal Rescue, a US registered non profit organisation helping animals in China.

All the dogs featured in the calendar have been saved by Harbin SHS Animal Rescue, a US registered non profit organisation helping animals in China

Over 4000 rescue dogs internationally, including in the UK, after seeing a need for more support in Harbin, Northeast China

The lives of animals are at risk in Harbin, Northeast China, because of a trade in illegal dog meat

The designer has produced miniature versions of her haute couture headwear for a charity calendar starring 12 dogs

Ms Golding says the calendar 'is showing the world that they can make gorgeous best friends and family pets'

Ms Golding, whose wide brimmed hat was chosen by the Princess for Prince Phillip's memorial service, and also a blue pillbox inspired hat that she wore at Easter celebrations in April, is Head Millinery Designer at Lock and Co, the world's oldest hat shop and established in London in 1676

It's run by a small group of volunteers who have given over 4000 rescue dogs forever homes internationally, after seeing a need for more support in the area and finding they had the ability to provide it.

Ms Golding said: 'A lot of these dogs were rescued off the back of meat trucks and were going to be eaten. The work they do is incredible, it's life changing.'

The designer has always been a favourite of the Princess of Wales - she chose a wide brimmed hat for Prince Phillip's memorial service, and also a blue pillbox inspired hat that she wore at Easter celebrations in April, both designs were Lock Couture by Awon Golding.

The Duchess of Sussex is also a fan - and she wore a blue and black feathered beret designed by Ms Golding on Christmas Day in 2018.

The hats have been crafted by Ms Golding and other notable milliners such as the late Queen's milliner Rachel Trevor-Morgan, Liz Crossman, Grainne Maher and Jessica Broas.

She was inspired to start the charity project in 2018 after trying hats on her beloved rescue dog Stevie, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

'All these dogs were rescued off the back of meat trucks and were going to be eaten, which is horrific' Ms Golding said

The sweet images show a variety of pooches wearing their crowns. One of the dogs, a corgi named Alys, (left) has been recently adopted by a family in the UK

Since her calendar project launched in 2018, it has raised nearly 70,000 for international dog rescue

All 12 dogs were saved from certain death as their meat is prized in China

It is hoped the calendars 2024 edition will raise a further 20,000 for the charity

'Stevie comes to the studio with me all the time to keep me company, and I started taking some photos of her modelling some of my creations which gave me the idea for the calendar.

'The first year I did it for the charity that saved Stevie. It was my way of thanking them for bringing her into my life - she was Miss February in the first ever calendar I created. This year I made the August hat, as that is my birthday month.'

One of the dogs, a corgi named Alys, has been recently adopted by a family in the UK.

Ms Golding added: 'All these dogs have been saved from certain death. And this calendar is showing the world that they can make gorgeous best friends and family pets.

Since its launch, the calendar has raised nearly 70,000 for international dog rescue and its hoped the 2024 edition will raise a further 20,000.

Calendars are available to buy at www.hautedogscalendar.com
Michael Gove has vowed to ban councils from adopting a four-day week and has threatened budget cuts for slacking services, as he brands Keir Starmer as 'spineless' and 'condescending'.

Ahead of the start of the Conservatives annual conference in Manchester tomorrow, Mr Gove said he is looking to change the law to prevent 'quiet quitting' and 'slacking' at local authorities.

He added that working from home during the pandemic was important but it shouldn't mean a lifestyle shift.

'People who pay council tax work five days a week or longer. They deserve 100 per cent of the service, not 80 per cent. The idea that everyone should be slacking in this way at the expense of hard-working taxpayers is completely wrong,' he said.

According to Gove, councils such as Lib-Dem-run South Cambridgeshire and Labour-run Norwich could face budget cuts if they decide to adopt a four-day week.

During the interview with The Sun, Mr Gove also insisted Mr Sunak could defy experts and lead the Tories to a victory in the next election and said if Tony Blair was a steak, Starmer is 'quorn mush'.

Michael Gove has vowed to ban councils from adopting a four-day week and has threatened budget cuts for slacking services

In response to Mr Gove's comments, Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said he had 'got this all wrong and needs educating on the benefits of a four-day week'.

Mr Ryle added: 'Numerous trials have shown that a four-day week with no loss of pay improves productivity and the wellbeing of workers.

'It is already being successfully rolled out in the private sector so councils should be allowed to see if the benefits can apply to the public sector.

'The Government must rethink this reckless decision which would prevent councils from embracing the future of work and keep the country stuck in the past on working hours.'

During the interview, Mr Gove backed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to put the brakes on some net zero targets, he said: 'The critical thing is balance.' And added that it would have been a mistake to ditch the overall 2050 target.

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the Labour leader had 'put virtue signalling ahead of getting people onto the housing ladder' by supporting the eco-laws which Mr Sunak is expected to delay.

'He's transparent, spineless and moved by any tide that comes along,' Mr Gove said.

He added: 'Keir is condescending. The thing with Keir is, he is more concerned with what the North London dinner party circuit thinks of him than he is about delivering change for real people.'

Mr Gove said a lack of house building leaves hard-working nurses, police officers and teachers unable to get on the property ladder. He also suggested a new foreign property tax should be introduced, to curb wealthy foreign speculators buying up British homes.

He said: 'We need to consider what the right way is of making sure that people who are not British citizens pay a fair whack for the right to have a property here.'

He added that Britain should put their own people first, much like Canada and Singapore have done.

While some are predicting a similar succes to Tony Blair's new Labour for Starmer, Mr Gove is redicting a 25 seat majority for the Conservative in the next general election.

He said: 'Keir Starmer is the zero alcohol beer compared to Blair's Moretti . . . bland, flabby.

Mr Gove described Labour leader Keir Starmer as 'quorn mush' and predicted the Conservatives would achieve a 25 seat majority in the next general election

'There are some politicians who are accused of being all sizzle no steak. Blair was definitely steak. And Keir is just quorn mush.'

Mr Gove also touches on lockdown and school closures in the interview and blames the restrictions for the rise in anti-social behaviour and knife crime in teens.

His comments follow the tragic death of Elianne Andam, 15, who was stabbed to on her way to school in Croydon, South London this week.

He said: 'Post-lockdown, we have seen more children, particularly teenagers, not in school. Truancy and persistent absence overwhelmingly leads to anti-social behaviour, the lure of gang life, county lines and other criminal activity.'

When asked if it was a mistake to close schools, he said: 'I worry about that a lot.
Five people have been killed and five more were seriously injured after a toxic cargo truck carrying ammonia overturned in Illinois.

The hazardous substance leaked from the vehicle after the accident, causing a huge plume of noxious smoke to fill the sky while a mass evacuation of hundreds of local residents in Teutopolis was instated, officials said Saturday.

The semitruck was carrying caustic anhydrous ammonia, and toppled at around 9:25pm on Friday evening. The resulting run-off totaled more than half of the vehicles 7,500 gallon load, according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhoades revealed after the spill that the tragedy saw three people from the same family - one adult and two children under 12 - lose their lives.

Rhodes added that the other two fatalities involved motorists from out of the state, and five other people were airlifted to hospital.

Five people have been killed and five more were seriously injured after a toxic truck carrying ammonia overturned in Illinois

Crews worked through the night, with the highly noxious substance making it difficult for cleanup crews to safely access the area

Numerous crews including firemen, EMT, hazmat specialists and police were on the scene Saturday morning, with the truck originally toppling at around 9:25pm on Friday

The names of those deceased of killed in the accident have not been released by authorities.

At a Saturday morning press conference, Effingham County Sheriff Paul Kuhns said emergency crews worked overnight Saturday on the scene, with a large plume from the leak seen billowing into the sky.

First responders also struggled to access the crash site due to the highly noxious substance spilling out into the surrounding area.

'We have a lot of brave firemen, EMT, hazmat specialists, police officers that are working on this scene as we speak,' Kuhns said.

He added that the plume was a 'cloud of anhydrous ammonia', which caused 'terribly dangerous air conditions in the northeast area of Teutopolis.'

'Its terrible. Its bad stuff if you are involved in breathing it, especially because it gets in your airways, in your lungs and it burns,' he continued.

'Because of these conditions, the emergency responders had to wait. They had to mitigate the conditions before they could really get to work on it, and it was a fairly large area.'

Footage after the incident saw emergency crews being hosed down with water after coming into contact with the area.

Hazmat teams were at the crash site while private and federal environmental contractors have been summoned to the town of roughly 1,600 people

Ive arrived to Teutopolis. Ive met with the fire chief who says theres nothing new to report right now. But heres a look at the safety precautions being made for crews responding to the scene. Everyone is wearing masks and must be hosed down. pic.twitter.com/FqHEDerG4d  Caitlin Hunt (@CaitlinHuntWTHI) September 30, 2023

Cleanup procedures are underway in the area, with private and federal environmental contractors summoned to the town of roughly 1,600 people.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it will review the crash, spokesperson Jennifer Gabris told The Associated Press.

Crews also had to contend with wind gusts hampering their efforts.

'The wind changed three or four different times on us,' said Tim McMahon, chief of the Teutopolis Fire Protection District. 'Thats another reason we got crews out in different places, reporting back on which way the winds going.'

Reports indicate that the multi-agency cleanups were complicated by a separate vehicle accident on Interstate 70 earlier Friday, which forced a detour along Highway 40 into Teutopolis.

Officials said the tragedy saw three members of the same family, one adult and two children under 12, die in the accident. Two others also lost their lives, and five were airlifted to hospital

Phillip Hartke, 75, who lives in Teutopolis but farms with his son outside of town, told the Associated Press that his drive home on Friday evening was marked by the smell of ammonia as he neared the center of town.

As he reached Highway 40, emergency vehicles were everywhere, as he added: Firefighters advised us right there, 'evacuate to the west.''

He estimated that 85 percent of the town was evacuated, and Kuhns acknowledged that the rescue could take an extended period of time before it is deemed safe.

'I understand how frustrating that would be to not be allowed to travel or to go back home, but we really need to focus our resources on the spill and on the situation,' Kuhns said. 'So if people can have as much patience, thats what I would ask for.'

The toxic substance anhydrous ammonia is often used by farmers to add nitrogen fertilizer to their crops, and can also be used as a refrigerant in AC systems for factories and other large buildings.
Rishi Sunak today slapped down Grant Shapps after he suggested British troops could be sent to train Kyiv's forces in Ukraine.

The PM insisted the idea floated by the Defence Secretary was 'not what's happening' and not something for the 'here and now'.

The comments came after Russia warned that UK instructors sent to Ukraine would become 'legitimate targets' and face 'destruction'.

Thousands of Kyiv's military personnel have been trained in the UK, including on NATO tactics, tanks and Western fighter jets.

However, Mr Shapps suggested that could go further by saying he would like to see 'training and production' operations take place in the war-torn country.

Although there was no suggestion of British troops taking part in combat operations, such a move would constitute a major ramping up of support.

In a post on Telegram, Putin ally Dmitri Medvedev delivered a furious response, saying the move would 'turn their instructors into a legal target for our armed forces'.

He added: 'Understanding perfectly well that they will be ruthlessly destroyed. And not as mercenaries, but namely as British NATO specialists.'

Kyiv's soldiers and pilots have been in the UK for months for instruction that has included learning how to use tanks, artillery and other Western materiel support donated to the Zelensky government.

But the new Defence Secretary said he wants to move 'training and production' operations into the war-torn country itself, mainly in Western areas away from the frontline.

While there is no suggestion of British troops taking part in combat operations, such a move would constitute a major ramping up of support.

Rishi Sunak insisted the idea floated by the Defence Secretary was 'not happening' and not something for the 'here and now'

On a visit to Burnley as the Tory conference gets under way in Manchester, Mr Sunak said he wants to be 'absolutely clear' about the situation.

He said that Britain has been training Ukrainian citizens and soldiers 'for a long time' within the UK.

'And what the Defence Secretary was saying was that it might well be possible one day in the future for us to do some of that training in Ukraine,' the Prime Minister said.

'But that's something for the long term, not the here and now, there are no British soldiers that will be sent to fight in the current conflict. That's not what's happening. What we are doing is training Ukrainians. We're doing that here in the UK.'

So far, the UK and other NATO members have avoided deployments of troops to Ukraine in any official capacity to avoid being drawn into direct confrontations.

In March 2022 Vladimir Putin's regime launched a cruise missile strike at a base near the Polish border housing foreign fighters, killing more than 35.

Mr Shapps also also told the Telegraph that he is encouraging British defence firms to set up factories in Ukraine, and is discussing ways the British Navy could help to defend commercial vessels in the Black Sea.

Mr Shapps told the Telegraph: 'I was talking today about eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine as well.

'Particularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things in country - not just training, but also we're seeing BAE [the UK defence firm], for example, move into manufacturing in country, for example.

MoD hit by shortfall to 'Dad's Army' Britain is facing a huge deficit of part-time soldiers  just when they are needed to plug gaps. Ministers have pledged to train more 'Dad's Army' volunteers to make up for having fewer regulars. But new figures show that rather than making progress towards a target of having more than 30,000 trained reservists by 2025, the MoD has lost more than 1,000 part-time squaddies in the last 12 months, leaving the total at just 24,490. The Army said: 'We remain ready to meet our commitments.' Advertisement

'I think there will be a move to get more training and production in the country.'

Since the start of 2022, more than 20,000 recruits from the Ukrainian armed forces have received basic British Army training in the UK as part of the British-led Operation Interflex.

Basic training involves surviving in a hostile environment; troops are taught skills like basic fieldcraft and medical care, as well as marksmanship and weapon handling.

The training has also been adapted to reflect what is needed on the ground - essentially trench warfare.

He also suggested the UK is preparing to utilise the Navy to help Ukraine better defend itself against attacks in the Black Sea, particularly amid Russian attacks on Ukrainian cargo ships.

'Britain is a naval nation so we can help and we can advise, particularly since the water is international water', he said.

Mr Shapps has held talks about the possibility of moving a British-led training programme into Ukraine instead of relying on bases within the UK and other those in other NATO countries

Putin 's close ally, Dmitry Medvedev, declared that Russia 's invasion will fight on

The Russian President marked 'Reunification Day' as he pledged that 'nothing and no-one' will stop him

'It's important that we don't allow a situation to establish by default that somehow international shipping isn't allowed in that water.'

READ MORE: Moment Russian forces 'shoot down their own 80million SU-35 fighter jet' in friendly fire blunder over Ukraine Russian aviation Z-blogger Fighterbomber published a photo of a SU-35 with the message: 'Eternal flight, brother' Advertisement

It comes after a top ally of Russian President Vladmir Putin vowed that Russia will invade more of Ukraine as Moscow on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of its illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories.

Dmitry Medvedev declared that victory will soon be Russia's, as the nation continues its 'special military operation' to completely obliterate the 'Nazi Kyiv regime'.

His harrowing statement came one year after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson annexed by Moscow following a series of controversial local elections.

While the Kremlin claims these took place in 'full accordance with international norms', the referendums have been completely denounced by the West and were not internationally recognised.

'The special military operation will continue until the Nazi Kyiv regime is completely destroyed and the original Russian territories are liberated from the enemy,' Medvedev said.

'Victory will be ours... And there will be more new regions within Russia.'

The Russian President also marked September 30 - now referred to as 'Reunification Day' - by pledging that 'nothing and no-one' will stop him in Moscow's fight against Kyiv.

'Nothing and no-one can break the will of millions of people, or their belief in truth and historical justice,' Putin vowed.

'The free and unequivocal choice of our brothers and sisters was wholeheartedly supported by the Russian people.

'We understood and deeply felt the most important thing: by defending our compatriots in Donbas and Novorossiya, we are defending Russia itself.

'Together, we are fighting for the Motherland, for our sovereignty, spiritual values, unity, and victory.

'I thank all the citizens of the country for this solidarity and patriotism.'
Downton Abbey and Four Weddings And A Funeral star Anna Chancellor has paid a touching tribute to her daughter who has died following a battle with leukaemia.

Poppy Chancellor, 36, an illustrator and paper-cut artist who had been suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia, passed away alongside her immediate family on Friday.

Anna, together with other relatives, yesterday posted a message on her daughter's social media in which they paid tribute to 'an unbelievable life force'.

They also thanked Royal Marsden Hospital staff in London who treated Poppy and sent a message of support to others going through similar ordeals.

They wrote: 'To all you wonderful and most-loved friends of Poppy. We send you this message with our deepest love.

Downton Abbey and Four Weddings And A Funeral star Anna Chancellor has paid a touching tribute to her daughter who has died following a battle with leukaemia

Poppy Chancellor, 36, an illustrator and paper-cut artist who had been suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia, passed away alongside her immediate family on Friday

'On September 29 Poppy died, held tight by her immediate family just as she had wished.

'Despite every effort, her body could not continue any longer. So we, her family and friends who all adore her join the other families who have lost loved ones far too young.

'Poppy was and is an unbelievable life force of creativity, compassion, wit, beauty and sheer uniqueness. She transformed our lives, and we are beyond grateful.'

Poppy had studied at the esteemed Royal Drawing School and worked for a string of high-profile brands including Cath Kidston and Adidas.

King Charles is rumoured to own one of her works which she gave to him as a thank-you after she attended an artists' residence at Dumfries House  the Ayrshire-based stately home which he bought for 45 million in 2007.

In May, the Daily Mail revealed Poppy's brave attitude in the face of the illness, even as she prepared for chemotherapy.

She said: 'I am terrified and physically exhausted  at the same time as learning to talk to my body and cells with loving defiance.'

London-born Anna Chancellor, 58, played the Dowager Lady Anstruther in ITV drama Downton Abbey. Her representatives were unavailable for comment last night.
Vivek Ramaswamy says that if presidents can only serve out eight years total, then government workers should be subjected to the same limits.

It came during a speech in California where the 2024 hopeful said he was going off-script, and delivering a speech he claims his campaign advisors told him would be too high-brow for the average voter.

'It's not a campaign speech I'm giving you guys,' he said. 'I'm telling the truth here.'

Ramaswamy went on to warn the room full of hundreds of Republican voters at the California GOP's fall convention: 'I want to cut through the usual introductions and get into this. We are in the middle of a war right now.'

'We are in the middle of a cold cultural civil war in the United States. And you cannot win a war unless you first know that you are in one,' the biotech millionaire and father-of-two added.

Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy delivered a speech in California on Saturday that he says his advisers have told him would be too high brow for the average voter

He leveled with voters at the California GOP's fall convention, warning them: 'We are in the middle of a war right now. We are in the middle of a cold cultural civil war in the United States. And you cannot win a war unless you first know that you are in one'

Ramaswamy's appearance at the Saturday luncheon followed remarks at the convention from three of his Republican primary competitors the day prior.

By far the biggest crowd-pleaser was former President Donald Trump, who spoke to a room of about 1,500 California Republicans immediately following lunch at the Anaheim Marriott Convention Center.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott also made remarks at the convention  but to much smaller crowds in much smaller rooms. Ramaswamy spoke to a crowd about the same size as DeSantis' turnout  still smaller than Trump's, but larger than Scott's.

Notably, the attendees at Ramaswamy's event were far less decked-out in Trump gear than those at Scott and DeSantis' remarks.

California voters who spoke with DailyMail.com were more enthusiastic about the prospects of Ramaswamy earning the Republican nomination over DeSantis or Scott - that is, if Trump were out of consideration.

Ramaswamy offers a radical platform that includes gutting and even completely putting an end to some federal government agencies.

He also thinks that any federal government employees should only be permitted to work in their job for eight years  the same length of time as a two-term president.

'Today, the people who we elect to run the government, they are no longer the ones who actually run the government,' Ramaswamy warned. 'It is the deep state in the shadow government of those three-letter agencies that wield power today. And that is why I have said that as your next president, I will do what the U.S. President can actually do.'

Donald Trump stole the show at the CaGOP convention with remarks on Friday tearing into President Joe Biden, California Gov. Gavin. Newsom and Democratic California Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff and Maxine Waters

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott also spoke at the convention on Friday. DeSantis joked he was 'disappointed' that he wasn't met with protesters, while Scott engaged in a Q&A with the California GOP's chairwoman

The candidates were all speaking right across the street from Disneyland. DeSantis joked during his remarks: 'Great to be in Southern California. I didn't know if I was even allowed  I'm a little close to DisneyLand. I didn't know if they'd let me come to it. It's OK'

'We will shut down the unconstitutional federal administrative state,' he promised. 'That is the head of the snake. And we're not going to tinker around the edges  we're going to gut it.'

'If I can't work for you all as your next President for more than eight years, which I think is a good thing, then neither should any of those federal bureaucrats reporting into me either. Eight-year term limits for the bureaucracy, instead of these civil service protections. We're done with them.'

Juxtaposing the 2024 Republican candidates swinging through the west coast this week, Congress is working overtime to try and avoid a shutdown by the end of Saturday.

But Ramaswamy says the shutdown isn't the biggest threat to the U.S.  but these bureaucrats outside of elected office are to blame for the U.S. decline.

'Today the real threat to us is not even from Congress on the eve of whatever artificial shutdown debate they're having on a given hour today. That's not the real threat we face,' he told a cheering crowd.

'The real threat we face in the United States is the rise of that managerial class from our universities, to corporate America, to the ultimate mother of the managerial class in the administrative state in the federal government itself.'

The convention was held in the days following the second GOP primary debate about 70 miles down the road at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Trump skipped the debate, just like he did with the first in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last month.

He did, however, come out to Southern California for the convention and a retail politics stop at an ice cream shop nearby his Beverly Hills fundraiser right after.

Protesters supporting and opposing Trump's appearance there on Friday clashed outside the Anaheim Marriott Convention Center on Friday. No protesters were demonstrating for or against the other candidates at the convention

The Golden State's Republican Party is the biggest prize for those vying for the Republican presidential nomination. But this year, the CaGOP changed the rules in a way that competitors claim will boost Trump's chances of winning all 169 delegates' votes.

During the March 5 state primary, any candidate who collects more than 50 percent of the votes will win all delegates up for grabs  instead of the previous distribution where candidates could win three delegates in each congressional district in California.

In the past, multiple candidates would walk away from the California primary with at least a few delegates under the belts. And now, if that 50 percent threshold is met, Trump will likely walk away with all of them.

Delegates attending the conference this weekend told DailyMail.com that they do not like the change and believe it was a way for the California State Party's chairwoman Jessica Patterson to advance her own agenda of getting Trump reelected.
Aussie households are wasting almost $20bn a year throwing out food - the equivalent weight of 152 Sydney Harbour Bridges - with retailers raking in more than $1bn from the simple act.

The shocking findings from progressive think tank The Australia Institute follow the country's grocery giants posting massive profits amid a cost-of living crisis where Australians are struggling to keep soaring grocery bills down.

In August, Woolworths announced it had posted a $1.62bn after-tax profit up to June - up 4.6 per cent from last year.

Coles also recorded another 4.8 per cent rise on its 2021-22 profits with a $1.1bn net profit.

Researchers from the Australia Institute found Australian households waste 7.6 million tonnes of food every year.

Aussie households are wasting almost $20bn a year throwing out food - the equivalent weight of 152 Sydney Harbour Bridges - with retailers raking in more than $1bn from the simple act

For context, that's the equivalent of 152 Sydney Harbour Bridges. It weighs 50,000 tonnes.

In their report, titled 'Food waste in Australia And how supermarkets profit from it', the researchers state this wasted food equates to $19.3bn lost by families, averaging out to $2,000 or $25,000 per household.

'Ironically, the wasting and repurchasing of food contributes to the rising cost of living, further exacerbating these financial pressures,' the report states.

The report examined data on food waste from 2018-19 as well as subsequent reports from the National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study commissioned by the federal government two years ago.

An analysis has revealed food retailers are making an annual profit of $1.2bn from this wasted food.

'If the average rate of profit across the industry is 6.1 per cent, and we assume that the $19.3bn worth of food wasted by households returned this average profit, then the profit earned on the wasted food was $1.2bn,' the report states.

'It is important to note that this $1.2bn represents the profit earned by food retailers alone from food waste.

'It does not include income and expenses by other upstream industries such as growers and food processors when they produce food that is never eaten.'

The report attributes strict cosmetic standards on the appearances of fruit and vegetables to the reason for products being wasted.

Australia Institute senior economist Matt Grudnoff said reforms were needed to reduce food waste if Australia wanted to reach its goal of halving food waste by 2030.

For context, that's the equivalent of 152 Sydney Harbour Bridges. It weighs 50,000 tonnes

The report's authors found it was feasible to halve Australia's food waste within the next decade, with $7-7.5bn required from federal and state governments to make it a reality

In 2021, Food Innovation Australia Limited (FIAL) developed a road map to help reduce Australia's food waste levels, outlining possible campaign and policy changes to reduce the amount of food going to waste.

The report's authors found it was feasible to halve Australia's food waste within the next decade, with $7-7.5bn required from federal and state governments to make it a reality.

'For every $1 spent on food waste interventions, this scenario delivers a minimum of $7 benefit back to the economy,' FIAL's report states.

'This return on investment will only increase as the social cost of carbon and landfill costs increase over time.'

Mr Grudnoff said it was 'high time' for the government to act on the recommendations.

'It proposed removing best-before dates from products that do not need them, scrapping sell-by or display-until dates and extending allowable use-by dates for long-life products,' he said.

'If that means trimming the profits that Coles and Woolies make from food waste, well, that's a price I think most Australians would be happy to pay.'

Both supermarket giants already have food waste policies in place, including contributions to hunger relief programs like Foodbank and OzHarvest.

Coles' sustainability policy states it also redirects produce that would not typically be sold into products, such as using bananas in its own frozen banana pieces, banana bread or muffins.

'We recognise that food waste is a significant issue in Australia and are supportive of considered industry reform that seeks to address the problem,' a Coles spokeswoman said.

'We are committed to working collaboratively with government and industry to progress discussions around use-by labelling practices.'

Both supermarket giants already have food waste policies in place, including contributions to hunger relief programs like Foodbank and OzHarvest

Over the last financial year 84 per cent of the company's landfill was diverted and another 20.3m kilograms of unsold, edible food, valued at $133m, that might otherwise go to landfill was provided to its food support programs.

Woolworths' policies include the promotion of The Odd Bunch range to sell food and vegetables not up to their display standards.

The company also states it is investing $123m over the next 10 years to find ways to reduce food waste.

'We work hard to reduce food waste, with our supermarket teams saving more than 80 per cent of food waste from landfill. Not only is it the right thing for our customers and the environment, but it is also good business,' a Woolworths spokesman said.

'Every year, Use By and Best Before dates alone cost our business tens of millions of dollars in food that can't be sold - so we have every incentive to increase the shelf life of products in our supply chain where possible.

'Use By dates play an important role in food safety, and can reduce food waste by helping customers use up food before it becomes inedible, so it's important that food manufacturers get these things right.'

The company donated 28m meals worth of surplus food to Australian hunger charities over the last financial year.
The daughter-in-law of Walter Renwick who is being questioned over the felling of the Sycamore Gap has claimed he is not fit enough to cut down the beloved landmark as he has two leaking heart valves.

Police have been searching the house of the former lumberjack and he was evicted from his property as specialist search teams descended on his farm today. The 69-year-old has denied rife accusations online that he was behind the shocking act of vandalism which sparked fury across Britain.

The sycamore, which stood in a dip along Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland for 300 years, had been one of the world's most photographed trees until it was reduced to a stump overnight on Wednesday.

Mr Renwick's daughter-in-law Lauren was 'livid' as she told The Times that he was in custody at Newcastle police station for 'something he hasn't even done'. She added: 'Hes got two leaking heart valves. Hes never fit enough to get up there. Hes down here living like f*****g Bear Grylls.'

Northumbria Police announced yesterday that it had arrested a second man, in his 60s, just hours after a 16-year-old boy was bailed out of custody under investigation. The older man remains in custody for questioning.

Walter Renwick (pictured at his home), 69, who was recently evicted from his property, has dismissed rife accusations online that he was behind the shocking act of vandalism

The iconic Sycamore Gap tree was felled overnight on Wednesday, sparking fury across Britain

Northumbria Police announced tonight that it a second man, in his 60s, has been arrested in connection with the felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap in Northumberland. Pictured: Forensic officers at the trees stump

Police investigating the Sycamore Gap tree felling have been searching Mr Renwick's property today

Mr Renwick revealed that even his own brother rushed to his home to find the truth. Pictured: Police at his home

The pensioner, who said he understood why he was being identified as a potential suspect, told The Sun: 'I didn't do it.'

He added: 'I am a former lumberjack and I have just been kicked off my property, so I can see why people have pointed the finger.

READ MORE: Was Sycamore Gap tree cut down by someone with a grudge against National Trust? Detectives probe theory after man in his 60s is arrested over felling of ancient tree Advertisement

'My brother came down to make sure I hadn't been arrested as he had heard the rumours. It's very sad. It's an iconic tree.'

Mr Renwick added that it was the 'perfect night' to commit the crime because there was a full moon which would have provided light and enough wind from Storm Agnes to mask the noise.

The pensioner was left heartbroken after losing a long-running battle to stay at his home which had been in the family for three generations.

He was kicked out on Thursday after the Jesuits in Britain, who own the land, fought to kick him out.

The search for the chainsaw-wielding suspect continued today and police vehicles and specialist search teams were seen scouring Mr Renwick's farm.

It comes after it was reported that furious Northumbrians are convinced that the iconic tree was chopped down by someone holding a grudge against the National Trust.

The destruction of the sycamore has understandably caused anger, confusion and heartbreak among locals - and many believe the vandal was someone with an axe to grind.

Most are convinced that the stunning sycamore was felled by a local, likely a professional or someone with a grudge against the National Trust.

The sycamore, which stood in a dip along Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland for 300 years, was one of the world's most photographed trees - but it has now been reduced to a stump

The tree was made famous in Kevin Costner's 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves

The destruction of the sycamore has understandably caused anger, confusion and heartbreak among locals. Pictured: Mr Renwick, who denies cutting down the tree

Mr Renwick said: 'I am a former lumberjack and I have just been kicked off my property, so I can see why people have pointed the finger.' Pictured: Police at his home

Specialist search teams descended on his property as they try to crack the case of who felled the tree

As Britons try to solve who was able to fell the sycamore overnight, speculation is rife at the local pubs. The nearby Twice Brewed Inn has even offered a 1,500 bar tab to anyone who can help crack the case.

One boozer at the local pub told The Telegraph: 'I heard it was a tenant farmer evicted from his land. He threatened he would cut down the tree.'

Another rumour swirling around the local community is that a National Trust worker who had been sacked in the morning stole a chainsaw and felling equipment, chopping the sycamore down as revenge.

A spokeswoman for the National Trust said: 'We are not aware of any evidence for this. We ask everyone to assist the police and not add to rumour and speculation.'

The theory that the tree was chopped down with someone seeking revenge against the National Trust comes after reports emerged last night that detectives were probing whether it was felled as part of a TikTok stunt.

Forensic officers were seen taking photographs and samples at the scene yesterday as officers look to ascertain the full circumstances surrounding the damage and identify anyone involved.

Northumberland National Park and National Trust bosses are expected to hold discussions over the weekend over what to do with the felled sycamore.

The Telegraph reports that horticulturalists have raised the idea of helicoptering in a mature sycamore to take its place. Meanwhile Antony Gormley, the sculptor of The Angel of The North, is understood to be in discussions to create an artwork where the tree once stood tall.

Authorities said that Britain's most famous tree was felled in what authorities called a 'deliberate act of vandalism'

The Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall is seen on the ground yesterday after it was felled

It could also be turned into a giant totem pole, in a bid to keep tourists interested, or become a memorial carving, the Daily Express reported.

It comes as almost 3,000 was raised last night in a crowdfunding page to renovate the historic site.

The National Trust said it was 'very grateful' for the support of all those in the North East and further afield that made it clear 'this tree was special to many, many people'.

Following last night's arrests Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Fenney-Menzies, of Northumbria Police, said: 'The senseless destruction of what is undoubtedly a world-renowned landmark  and a local treasure  has quite rightly resulted in an outpour shock, horror and anger throughout the North East and further afield.

'I hope this second arrest demonstrates just how seriously we're taking this situation, and our ongoing commitment to find those responsible and bring them to justice.

'Although another arrest has been made, this investigation is still in the early stages, and we would continue to encourage any members of the public with information which may assist to get in touch.

Over the decades the iconic view has become the backdrop for countless marriage proposals

An aerial view of the felled Sycamore Gap tree in the Northumberland National Park yesterday

Sycamore Gap on Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland. Discussions are continuing to take place over what will replace the stump

'If you've seen or heard anything suspicious that may be of interest to us  I'd implore you to contact us.

'I'd also like to remind the public that this remains a live investigation so, for that reason, please avoid any speculation both in the community and on social media.

'Any information  no matter how small or insignificant you think it may be  could prove absolutely crucial to our enquiries.'
Peers are pocketing millions from foreign nations including China and Saudi Arabia, a bombshell Mail on Sunday investigation can reveal.

Some lords earn up to seven figures a year from hostile states, offshore tax havens or the oil-rich Middle East while they help shape British legislation. And, shockingly, it is all within the rules.

We can disclose that 24 peers were paid more than 5 million in total in just 18 months from foreign sources including Libya, Iraq and Qatar.

Our worrying revelations have led for calls for peers to be banned from taking any cash from unfriendly states.

Tory MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the foreign affairs select committee, has called the situation a farce and called for a blacklist of nations which should be banned from bankrolling peers.

Former Chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured left, with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa) has received 274,545 from Bahrain

She said: These revelations raise concerns that peers could have undertaken paid lobbying on behalf of hostile foreign governments.

Our investigation can reveal that:

Peers have been speaking in parliamentary debates and laying amendments linked to the foreign states that pay them;

Ex-Chancellor Philip Hammonds personal pay-cheques from Middle Eastern governments include 274,545 from Bahrain;

An ex-Defence Minister has been paid 61,400 a year by a Libyan firm subject to UK sanctions;

Lord Levene, the former chair of Lloyds of London, was paid the equivalent of 29,000 over six months in 2022 as a director of the state-owned China Construction Bank;

Lord Goldsmith  Tony Blairs Attorney General, whose legal advice paved the way for the Iraq war  was paid 381,000 in four months this year by the government of Azerbaijan alone;

Five peers gave parliamentary passes to employees of companies paid by foreign governments, while others have been involved in All-Party Parliamentary Groups linked to their earnings.

Unlike MPs, who must declare all outside payments, peers have traditionally not been required to reveal how much they receive. But following concerns over undue overseas influence, they were ordered to come clean about money paid by foreign governments or state-owned companies.

The MoS has obtained records submitted to the Lords Registrar since the new disclosure rules came in last year.

Financier Baroness Helena Morrisey has received 12,000 from Saudi Arabia's government-owned Neom development

Lords are required to exercise particular caution when it comes to potential conflicts of interest, especially when it comes to drafting legislation. Being on the payroll of foreign governments while also making laws is allowed and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing from any of the peers in our dossier.

Among those receiving money from abroad was ex-climate change tsar Lord Deben, the former Tory Minister John Gummer.

He was paid 10,000 last year for advising the oil- and gas-rich Qatari government through his consultancy firm Sancroft. At the same time he advised the UK Government on climate change and called Ministers hypocrites for backing North Sea oil expansion. Lord Deben also sits on the Energy Costs All-Party Parliamentary Group, which has produced reports on Qatar while being employed by the emirate and has provided a parliamentary pass to a Sancroft employee.

He said all his declarations are exactly according to the rules but declined to answer questions about the pass and his contributions to the parliamentary group.

Crossbench peer Lord Anderson was paid 40,915 by the Cypriot government for legal advice and representation last year. In March, he tabled an amendment to the National Security Bill which was favourable to the Cyprus governments interests. Anderson declared his interest while speaking in the House, which meant he did not break any rules.

The biggest earner was veteran barrister Lord Pannick, who has been paid 1.9 million since last year, including 13,750 for advising the Cayman Islands government.

In May 2018, Lord Pannick spoke at a debate on the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill which the Cayman Islands government was concerned about.

Lord Pannick confirmed last night that he was employed by the tax haven to advise them on the legislation at the time, and did not declare the interest when speaking in the debate. He insisted he had not broken any rules and that his work for the Cayman Islands concerned a specific amendment which was not under discussion that day. However the Lords Code of Conduct says peers should consider all aspects of a Bill when deciding if their interest should be declared, and should ask for advice from the Registrar before intervening.

Lord Pannick declined to say whether he had checked with the Registar before speaking.

The 24-peer dossier also includes BP boss Lord Browne, former Cabinet Secretary Lord Sedwill and financier Baroness Helena Morrissey.

Last night even fellow peers expressed dismay at how lax the rules appear to be. Former Tory Defence Secretary Lord (Tom) King, said accepting money from foreign states was very dubious.

Lord (Gus) ODonnell, the former head of the civil service, called for a tightening of the rules, saying the current situation could damage trust in the upper house. He added: I believe there is a lot of scope for reviewing rules on payments.

Ex-Tory Party chairman Lord Francis Maude, 70, has earned 400,000 in consultancy fees from the governments of Bahrain and Iraq

MP Alicia Kearns called on the Lords to draw up a list of countries peers should stay clear of working for. She added: The fact it has taken this long for peers income to be required to be publicly declared is a farce. As custodians of our democratic institutions, we need more than just the highest standards of transparency, we need integrity, and that means not working for sanctioned organisations or states hostile to our nation.

Payment from China is seen as a particular concern. This weekend Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden called the nation the number one threat to our economic security and urged institutions to think twice before accepting money from there.

Some peers do not even specify which government pays them. Authorities allowed one lord not to declare which British Overseas Territory paid him 25,000 for security concerns.

Five peers in our dossier also gave parliamentary passes to people linked to the work they were doing for foreign governments.

Lord (Francis) Maude, a former Cabinet Office Minister, declared consultancy fees of up to 400,000 from Bahrain and Iraq. He has provided parliamentary passes to two employees of his consultancy  including its HR manager  through which he does his foreign government work.

Asked why he needed two parliamentary staffers when he has only spoken on three occasions in the Lords since 2020, each time on matters relevant to his advisory work, Lord Maude did not reply.

He is also a member of the parliamentary group on Iraq while being paid by the oil-rich state. There is no suggestion he has broken any rules.

A Lords spokesman said: Members may only sponsor passes for staff members who require them in order to directly support them with their parliamentary work.

The Code of Conduct says peers should exercise particular caution over participating in proceedings on legislation in which they could be perceived as having an interest.

The spokesman added: Members of the Lords are now required to register earnings from foreign governments, companies under the control of a foreign government or individuals acting as an official of a foreign government.

It would be wrong to suggest any members employment... means they are unable to exercise their responsibilities as parliamentarians. All members are required by the Code of Conduct to place the public interest above their own.
Two of Britain's most important museums have admitted losing more than 1,000 historically and scientifically important objects, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The Imperial War Museum and the Natural History Museum have disclosed that important military items and dinosaur fossils have been lost or stolen.

The Imperial War Museum admitted in a Freedom of Information request that 560 objects had been recorded as being lost since 2018 while the Natural History Museum said that more than 540 items had either been mislaid, destroyed or stolen over the same period.

The disclosures come after the British Museum revealed that more than 2,000 treasures had been stolen from its vast collection.

Of the 560 items lost by the Imperial War Museum (IWM), just 69 items have been valued and these alone were worth 55,000. Most of these were historically important drawings for the Illustrated London News.

The Natural History Museum (pictured in 2021) said that more than 540 items had either been mislaid, destroyed or stolen since 2018

While the Imperial War Museum (its Duxford branch, in Cambridgeshire, is pictured) has lost 560 objects

One expert who works for the BBC Antiques Roadshow, who asked not to be named, blamed the losses on 'sloppy asset management'.

When asked how a museum could lose so many items, he said: 'Bad cataloguing, poor records of where objects were placed, poor loans procedures. They have many items but sloppy asset management would be the most likely reason.'

Retired colonel Patrick Mercer, a former MP, said the losses amounted to a 'betrayal of trust' of the British public who had donated items.

The IWM revealed that the lost items included miniature replica weapons, along with photographs, books, paintings and original posters from the First and Second World Wars.

Many of the posters contained propaganda messages with slogans such as 'The Attack Begins In The Factory', or 'Telling A Friend May Mean Telling The Enemy'.

Lost items also included many drawings, some produced by British POWs detained in camps run by Japanese soldiers in the Far East.

Retired colonel and former Tory MP Patrick Mercer has said the losses amounted to a 'betrayal of trust' of the British public who donated items

The Natural History Museum disclosed that prehistoric fossils, including parts of a dinosaur and a crocodilian tooth, had been stolen, while hundreds of samples including fishes, birds and microscope slides had either been lost while on loan or accidentally destroyed.

The IWM said: 'We have clear systems to safeguard the 33.5 million items in our care. It is misleading to state that 559 objects have been lost over the past five years.

'The 'dates recorded as lost' represent the date that loss records were last updated on our system, and bear little or no relation to the date of actual losses. The vast majority of these losses date from many years ago.'

The Natural History Museum said: 'In the past decade we've had just 13 instances of lost or missing items from a collection of 80 million, limited to small things like teeth, fish and frozen animal tissue, and just one confirmed theft.'
Rishi Sunak is today facing a mounting revolt from Conservative MPs demanding tax cuts  spearheaded by his predecessor Liz Truss.

As the Tories gathered for their annual conference in Manchester, Ms Truss was poised to urge the Prime Minister to slash Corporation Tax to 'unleash British business'.

And in a thinly veiled rebuke of Mr Sunak's stewardship, the former PM will say that the Tories must become 'the party of business once again'.

The call  to be made in a 'Great British Growth Rally' tomorrow  came as more Tory MPs signed a pledge not to vote for any increase in the overall tax burden.

Ex-party chairman Sir Jake Berry  who last week disclosed that 33 Tories had already backed the plan  told The Mail on Sunday that support for the tax vow was growing.

Rishi Sunak is facing demands to cut Corporation Tax from Tory MPs including former prime minister Liz Truss

It commits the MPs to not vote in favour of the Government's Autumn Statement, due in November, if it raises the overall tax burden.

Water bill hikes to be revealed Hard-pressed consumers will tomorrow learn the scale of future water bills amid fears some could rise by as much as 50 per cent by the end of the decade. Water companies in England and Wales must submit business plans for the period 2025-2030 to regulator Ofwat by midday. Severn Trent Water has signalled bills will rise by almost 37 per cent by 2030. Last night, Labour claimed the water industry and its regulatory framework 'are broken'. A Tory Party source said: 'If Labour had a credible plan they would be using it.' Brendan Carlin, Political Correspondent Advertisement

The revolt comes amid warnings that the UK currently has the highest taxes since records began, with the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies warning of a 'decisive and permanent shift' to a higher-tax economy.

Yesterday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt sought to calm Tory nerves by promising to end 'the vicious circle of ever-rising taxes' by reforming benefits and getting savings from the soaring cost of public services.

To that end, Mr Hunt said he would launch 'the 'biggest transformation' of public services in a generation and that the State needed to become 'more productive', not bigger.

Last night, Sir Jake welcomed the Chancellor's intervention, saying it was 'really positive' the Government was 'in listening mode'.

He added: 'The polls are narrowing as they pursue Conservative policies. But we are still going to pursue this tax pledge because it's a pledge to our own constituents rather than the party.'

Sir Jake claimed the vow was 'a pledge for life'  not just for the next financial statement.

So if taxes fell in the future, the MPs would never vote to bring them back up.

The scheme has already been backed by former Cabinet Ministers including Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Dame Priti Patel, as well as Ms Truss.

Last night, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith confirmed that he had added his name. He told The Mail on Sunday that the pledge was part of 'releasing the inner Tory' by reassuring the public there will be no more overall rises in the tax burden.

At the growth rally, to be attended by Sir Jacob and Dame Priti, Ms Truss will imply criticism of Mr Sunak's stewardship of the economy.

Ms Truss will tell the 'Great British Growth Rally' on Sunday that the Government must reduce the tax burden to stop companies moving abroad and small businesses shutting up shop

She will declare: 'Ahead of this year's Autumn Statement, we must make the Conservative Party the party of business once again, by getting Corporation Tax back down to 19 per cent. This is how we make Britain grow again. We must unleash British business by cutting Corporation Tax.

'We can't stand idly while companies like AstraZeneca move operations abroad because of our huge tax burden and small businesses shut up shop, drowning in red tape.'

She will add: '[The Government] should be hungry to attract the world's best businesses and encourage people to start businesses here at home.

'We must not normalise the raiding of businesses' coffers. Only free businesses can get Britain out of its 25-year economic stagnation.

'Only free businesses can create the economic growth and tax revenues on which public services rely.'

However, one Left-leaning Tory MP condemned the tax pledge as 'designed to wound the Party and the PM.'
Two people have died while six others have been hospitalised after attending a music festival in Sydney over the weekend.

One man, 26, collapsed at the Knockout Outdoor festival at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday.

He was taken to Concord Hospital where he died.

NSW Police initially claimed another man, 21, had collapsed at a hotel in Chippendale after attending a separate festival believed to be Listen Out.

A Listen Out spokesperson denied the man had attended the festival and clarified they had visited Knockout Outdoor.

The 21-year-old died after being rushed to St Vincent's Hospital.

Two people have died while six others have been hospitalised after attending a music festival in Sydney over the weekend

A Listen Out spokesperson denied the man had attended the festival and clarified they had visited Knockout Outdoor

NSW Police have released two statements in relation to the deaths.

Police stressed that the men did not die at the festival.

'Officers attached to Auburn Police Area Command responded to Sydney Olympic Boulevarde, Sydney Olympic Park, just before 1am (Sunday 1 October 2023), where NSW Ambulance paramedics were treating a man.

'The 26-year-old was taken to Concord Hospital, where he died,' the first statement read.

'Police were called to St Vincent's Hospital about 1am today (Sunday 1 October 2023), following the death of a man.'

'The 21-year-old man was reportedly treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics at a hotel on George Street, Sydney, before being transferred to hospital where he died,' the second statement said.

Detectives will investigate both cases and autopsies will be carried out to determine how the men died.

Reports will be prepared for the coroner.

The festival season had only just kicked off this weekend with Knockout festival and Listen Out in Centennial Park.

NSW Police have released two statements where officers explained both men did not die at Knockout festival (pictured, police at Listen Out in Sydney on Saturday)

Last year's Knockout festival saw 12 revellers taken to hospital. Most of these hospitalisations were suspected drug overdoses.

Six people were also hospitalised at last year's Listen Out festival in Sydney.

In February of this year, Kieran Ngo, 26, died after he took a pill at the Transmission Festival which was held at the Sydney Showground.

Twelve others who were also rushed to hospital after also taking pills.

Of the 12 others who were rushed to hospital, seven required assistance breathing, while more than 400 tablets were seized by cops.

In total, medical teams at the event treated more than 130 people with complaints related to drug use and heat exhaustion.

One person who attended the festival revealed the security situation was 'shocking' and there did not seem to be enough police or emergency workers at the scene.

A coronial inquest previously took place into the deaths of six young people who died at NSW music festivals between December 2017 and January 2019.

Kieran Ngo, 26, took a pill at the Transmission Festival which was held at the Sydney Showground in February. He died hours later

Twelve people who attended the event were rushed to hospital, seven required assistance breathing, while more than 400 tablets were seized by cops

The inquest recommended the introduction of pill testing at festivals, the removal of sniffer dogs and the decriminalisation of personal drug use at such events.

Previous state Liberal governments have been staunchly opposed to pill testing.

NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns has no plans to introduce drug testing at festivals.

He previously said he won't consider pill testing until his government's drug summit takes place, which is expected to be at the end of his first team.

Police had urged festival goers at this weekend's events to keep their health and safety in mind while they party into the evening.

Acting Superintendent Nicole Roache urged attendees to look after their mates and seek medical attention if they are starting to feel unwell.

'If you or one of your mates feels unwell, please seek professional medical attention at one of the medical tents on-site,' she said.

'Our goal is for everyone to enjoy the festival safely. We will not tolerate anyone who intends to jeopardise that safety or thinks they are above the law.'
A mesmerising supermoon lit up the skies last night, in a rare astronomical spectacle that won't happen again until September 2024.

Stargazers were in for a treat as the so-called 'Harvest Moon' shone brightly shortly after the sun set at 18.45 BST, marking the end of September.

It was the last of a rare run of four supermoons in 2023, including two in the month of July that won't be seen again for a staggering 14 years.

Supermoons take place when a full moon nearly coincides with its 'perigee' of 221,484 miles (356,445km) from Earth.

'[This occurs] when there is a full moon at the time when the moon is closest to the Earth,' astronomy professor Don Pollacco, of the University of Warwick, told MailOnline.

The September blue harvest moon hangs in the night sky, in Panama City, Panama

The final supermoon of 2023 Rises above Whitby Piers in on the North Yorkshire Coast

The Harvest Moon rising above Ely Cathedral in the Cambridgeshire Fens on Friday evening

FULL MOON NAMES AND THEIR MEANINGS January: Wolf Moon because wolves were heard more often at this time. February: Snow Moon to coincide with heavy snow. March: Worm Moon as the Sun increasingly warmed the soil and earthworms became active. April: Pink Moon as it heralded the appearance of Phlox subulata or moss pink  one of spring's first flowers. May: Flower Moon because of the abundance of blossoms. June: Strawberry Moon because it appeared when the strawberry harvest first took place. July: Buck Moon as it arrived when a male deer's antlers were in full growth mode. August: Sturgeon Moon after the large fish that was easily caught at this time. September: Corn/Harvest Moon because this was the time to harvest corn. October: Hunter's Moon after the time to hunt in preparation for winter. November: Beaver Moon because it was the time to set up beaver traps. December: Cold Moon because nights at this time of year were the longest. Source: Old Farmer's Almanac Advertisement

'Consequently, the Moon can look bigger - 10-15 per cent - and brighter - 25-30 per cent - than a "normal" full moon.

'To most people, they actually look much the same. One thing to note though is that when any full moon is rising it can look bigger than normal.

'This is partly due to the Earths atmosphere and also an optical illusion, like seeing the moon next to trees.'

Unlike monthly full moons, supermoons usually take place three to four times a year.

This is due to the very specific conditions required for supermoons to occur.

Astrophysicist Dr. Paul Strm, Assistant Professor of the University of Warwick, told MailOnline: 'The moon orbits the Earth on a slightly elliptic orbit - think of a slightly flattened circle or oval.

'This means that sometimes the moon is a bit closer to us and sometimes a bit further away. At the same time the moon goes through different phases - the shape of the sunlit part of the moon - as it orbits the Earth.

'A few times a year, it just so happens that we have a full moon which coincides with the moon being at a point in its orbit when it is closer to us. That is when people call it a supermoon.

'Given that it happens only a few times a year one of these supermoons has to be the last.'

Albeit rare, the astronomical phenomena has been at the centre of countless myths and speculation for centuries.

Even Richard Nolle, the astrologist who first coined the term in 1979, was part of this.

He claimed that supermoons could trigger volcanic eruptions, worsen earthquakes, and even influence the behaviour of humans on Earth.

These theories have since been debunked by scientists, who often prefer to use the term 'perigee syzygy' to describe the phenomena.

This specifically refers to a full moon that occurs when the Moon's centre is less than 223,000 miles (360,000km) from the Earth.

'The term itself is of no scientific value: astronomers prefer to call it perigee full Moon, but undoubtedly "supermoon" is by far a much more charming name,' astrophysicist Gianluca Masi previously explained.

A plane passes in front of the Harvest supermoon as it makes its landing approach towards Heathrow airport, London, last night

The Harvet Moon over Macquarie Lighthouse in Sydney last night

A full moon known as the Blue Moon rises behind the Temple of Poseidon, in Cape Sounion, near Athens, Greece, August 30, 2023

A supermoon occurs when a full moon nearly coincides with its perigee  the point in the orbit of the Moon at which it is nearest to the Earth

Tonight's event is the last of a rare run of four supermoons in 2023, including two in July

The name of this month's Harvest, or Corn, Moon is believed to stem back to farming communities who usually gathered crops at the end of summer.

Thankfully, tonight's supermoon will be big and bright enough to see clearly with the naked eye from anywhere in the country.

Though this is largely weather dependent, so getting away from cloudy areas with a lot of light pollution is recommended.

Binoculars may also be handy if you want to catch a glimpse of the lunar surface up close.
It all began when he was sent a copy of 1909's 'Up-To-Date Sandwich Book'

His fans think his videos are the best thing since sliced bread.

Barry Enderwick, 54, puts intriguing vintage sandwich recipes to the test for his 'Sandwiches of History' project, sharing the results in a series of hilarious - and fascinating - clips online.

A baked bean sandwich, a yeast sandwich, a ham and banana sandwich, and a chopped oyster sandwich are among the 600-strong list of old-school recipes hes tried and tested.

Leaving viewers rapt, Barrys taste-tasting efforts have earned him an impressive 303,000 TikTok followers and nearly 20,000 YouTube subscribers and counting.

Barry, who lives in San Jose, California, came up with the idea for the video series when a friend sent him a compendium of recipes from 1909 titled The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book.

Barry Enderwick puts intriguing vintage sandwich recipes to the test for his 'Sandwiches of History' project, sharing the results in a series of hilarious - and fascinating - clips online

Some of the sandwiches that Barry has taste-tested have featured bizarre flavour combinations, such as the 'Boston Baked Bean' sandwich from The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book of 1909. It's comprised of mashed cold baked beans, celery, horseradish and ketchup on bread

The 'Oyster Sandwich' from The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book of 1909 contains raw oysters as the main ingredient. Barry doesnt recommend recreating this recipe at home

Barry - who is also a partner in a marketing and business consultancy - reveals: After looking at the book, which had 400 recipes in it, I decided to create a [YouTube] channel dedicated to just making sandwiches from old recipes.'

At that point in his life, he had already cut his teeth online with a variety of food-themed video series  one YouTube series, called In The Chips with Barry, sees him reviewing crisps (chips in the U.S) before the camera, while in another Instagram series, called Barrys Ice Cream OClock, he tries out sweet and savoury ice cream flavours.

Barry decided that as part of the sandwich experiment he would try to elevate the vintage recipes, adding an ingredient or two to make them tastier for the modern palate. He calls this plussing them up.

While the recipes he has tested go back as far as 200 BC, Barry, who describes himself as an 'avid and curious home cook', also tests out sandwiches of recent history as well as sandwich recipes that have been passed down within families.

After he started the project in 2018, his social media channels started to take off, and fans started sending in recipe books from which he could glean inspiration.

The 'Ham and Banana' sandwich from 1,001 Sandwiches is made up of banana and minced ham between two slices of bread

Barry wasn't impressed by the 'Yeast Sandwich from the 1936 book 1,001 Sandwiches by Florence A Cowles. To make it, he mixed a compressed yeast cake with ketchup and spread it onto buttered bread

The project has taught Barry how seemingly gross-looking dishes can be absolutely delicious. An example of this, he says, is the 'Hot N Hearty Tuna Sandwich' from a 1974 recipe book (above)

Above is the 'Mock Banana Sandwich' , which was invented in WWII Britain when the importation of bananas was stopped. Parsnips, sugar and banana essence are used to create a banana-like taste and texture

He says: At this point I have inherited, bought, or have been sent about 30 to 40 physical books. I also access a trove of old cookbooks online via websites such as the Internet Archive.

Once he has picked a recipe, Barry's next step is tracking down the ingredients. He says: Most of my ingredients are found at my local stores. I am fortunate enough to have a variety of mainstream and cuisine-specific stores near me. I also source from online as well.

Certain ingredients prove a little trickier to shop for, such as fresh pandan (a tropical plant) leaves to make kaya - a sweet spread  for the recipe for the Kaya Toast of Singapore Sandwich'.

More hurdles come with navigating the language used in historical recipe books. He says: There are oddities like a recipe stating to use one cream cheese we clearly dont measure cream cheese like that anymore.

With his ingredients sourced and the recipe analysed, the next step is actually making the sandwich. The results are wildly varied, with several recipes making for 'horrible' sandwiches.

One unappetizing example is the 'Yeast Sandwich from the 1936 book 1,001 Sandwiches by Florence A Cowles - Barry chucked the sandwich in the bin after just one bite. To make it, he mixed a compressed yeast cake with ketchup and spread it onto buttered bread.

That was as bad as I thought it was going to be - it was like someone took ketchup and wallpaper paste and put it between two slices of buttered bread, he says in the video of the tasting.

Another is the 'Japan Sandwich' from the 1901 book 101 Sandwiches, which is comprised of chopped raw oysters mixed with Tabasco sauce and placed between slices of bread, with a lettuce leaf.

After trying this sandwich  and again relegating it to the bin  he says in the clip: That was terrible. The texture was just so wrong. I'm not squeamish at all about raw oysters, but chopping it up and putting it on buttered bread? Just didn't work at all for me. Even Tabasco couldn't save it.

Barry tasting the 'Japan Sandwich' for the Sandwiches of History YouTube. 'That was terrible,' he admits in the clip

The 'Japan Sandwich' was plucked from the 1901 book 101 Sandwiches. It's comprised of chopped raw oysters mixed with Tabasco sauce and placed between slices of bread, with a lettuce leaf

Barry tested out the ketchup and cream cheese sandwich from the Heinz Recipe Book of 1939. Most of my ingredients are found at my local stores,' he says

The Cannibal Sandwich, pictured, is raw minced beef with onion spread on lightly buttered brown bread

A third is the 'Oyster Sandwich' from The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book of 1909, which, like the 'Japan Sandwich', contains raw oysters as the main ingredient. Again, Barry doesnt recommend recreating this recipe at home, as it's not exactly a taste sensation.

Which has been the most unusual? It's the 'Mock Banana Sandwich', which was invented in WWII Britain when the importation of bananas was halted, he reveals.

He explains: 'It used boiled, mashed parsnips, banana essence, and sugar to very closely re-create an actual banana sandwich.'

In his taste-test video for the sandwich, Barry says: 'It's not bad. If you've got bombs raining all around you, this is a treat... I have to give [the sandwich's inventor] a 10 for ingenuity for coming up with this and using it as a workaround for not being able to get bananas.'

The most memorable recipe Barry has tried 'would probably be the "Rou Jia Mo" from 200 B.C. China' (above), which is made up of spiced meat - either lamb or beef - stuffed into a bun

Other sandwiches with bizarre flavour combinations include the 'Boston Baked Bean Sandwich' from The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book of 1909, (mashed cold baked beans, celery, horseradish and ketchup on bread); the 'Ham and Banana Sandwich' from 1,001 Sandwiches of 1936, (banana and minced ham between two slices of buttered white bread); the 'Bran Sandwich' from 1,001 Sandwiches (a fried bran and egg mixture on sliced bread); and the 'Popcorn Sandwich' from The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book of 1909 (popcorn, sardines and ketchup on toast).

The prize for the funniest sandwich, he reveals, goes to the 'Dairy Sandwich' from The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book of 1909. Barry recalls: 'It was two slices of buttered Swiss cheese pressed together. That was it. No bread, just buttered cheese.' In the video featuring the sandwich, he wonders: 'Who thought this was a good idea? it feels wrong to be eating buttered cheese.'

What surprised him the most about the project was the number of ways peanut butter can [be] leveraged in a sandwich.

He explains: Here in the U.S it is almost always paired with jam or jelly. But having played around with it a bit Ive found it equally at home in savoury pairings as well. Sriracha, fried egg, dill pickles; all work really with peanut butter.

Another thing he has learnt is how seemingly gross looking dishes can be absolutely delicious. An example of this, he says, is the 'Hot N Hearty Tuna Sandwich' from Williams' Sandwich Recipes of 1974, which is a sandwich thats covered in an egg-and-chicken sauce and baked in the oven.

Of all the recipes he has tried, which has been the most memorable? Barry says: That would probably be the 'Rou Jia Mo' from 200 B.C. China. Discovered in the book Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer's Guide, its speculated to be the worlds oldest sandwich.

Above is one of Barry's favourite recipes from the series - the 'Taco Sandwich' from Williams' Sandwich Recipes of 1974

Pictured to the left is the vegetable and apple sandwich recipe that Barry made from 500 Tasty Sandwich Recipes of 1941. Sandwiches can hold any combination of flavours from all cuisines and have seemingly universal appeal,' he says

Barry tried out the 'Dairy Sandwich' from The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book of 1909. He recalls: 'It was two slices of buttered Swiss cheese pressed together. That was it. No bread, just buttered cheese'

The Rou Jia Mo is made up of spiced meat - either lamb or beef - stuffed into a bun. Barry praises it as offering an amazing blend of spices, which makes sense as it was created along the spice route.

And some of the sandwiches Barry has tried have been so delicious that he believes they could be on sale in Pret A Manger.

One example of this is the Shrimp Sandwich from 1957s Complete American Cookbook, which is comprised of wholewheat bread spread with curried butter and laden with minced cooked shrimp mixed with mayonnaise, salt, pepper and lettuce. Barry says that it packs a lot of flavour with few ingredients and is definitely something that could be eaten on the go.

That said, its difficult for him to choose an overall favourite.

Some of the sandwiches he loves the most are classic sandwiches that have stood the test of time such as 'The Reuben', with corned beef, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut on rye bread. Another is the 'Fried Oyster Po Boy', which is fried oysters, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and a remoulade sauce in a baguette.

And looking to the more obscure sandwiches that have won him over, theres the 'Peanut Butter Dill Pickle Sandwich' from the 1941 book 500 Tasty Sandwiches - it's made up of peanut butter, pickles, and mayonnaise on bread. Its pretty tasty, says Barry.

Another is the 'Taco Sandwich' from Williams' Sandwich Recipes of 1974, which is taco sauce, crushed tortilla chips, corned beef, hot sauce, and hardboiled egg on toasted bread.

A third is the 'Ginger Sandwich' from 1912's Mrs Rorer's Sandwiches, which is made of ginger paste mixed with orange marmalade on buttered white bread. Tasting it for his YouTube channel, Barry says: This is quite good. This is clearly a tea sandwich... I dig it.

Thankfully, none of the sandwiches have ever made Barry feel ill.

Though two sandwich recipes could have the 'potential for harm' if followed incorrectly, Barry notes.

Theyre the 'Cannibal Sandwich' from The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book of 1909 and the 'Ground Beef De Luxe' from the 1941 book 500 Tasty Sandwiches, as they both call for consuming raw beef.

Barry says: I just made sure to source very good, rather fresh beef so it turned out to be a non-issue.

The former, the Cannibal Sandwich, is raw minced beef with onion spread on lightly buttered brown bread, while the Ground Beef De Luxe is composed of raw minced beef mixed with hard-boiled eggs and anchovy paste, sandwiched between slices of bread.

Touching on why his videos of these weird and wonderful sandwiches are so beloved, Barry says: Sandwiches can hold any combination of flavours from all cuisines and have seemingly universal appeal.'

Find Sandwiches of History on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook and on the Sandwiches of History website. To see more of Barrys food series, you can watch In The Chips with Barry on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook; Barry Is Cooking Again on Instagram and TikTok; Barry's Ice Cream O'Clock on Instagram and TikTok; and CraftBeerBarry on Instagram.
Kanye West and his new 'wife' Bianca Censori have been causing a major media frenzy since their unofficial wedding ceremony in January.

The controversial rapper, 46, and Australian architect, 28, have hit the headlines recently with their attention-grabbing displays in Italy.

The couple have been piling on the PDA and stepping out in several wild and revealing outfits, which have angered locals.

Some have argued Bianca should be charged with 'public indecency,' which comes with a fine of up to 309, according to the Italian Constitutional Court.

Earlier this month, the pair reached new lows as they were spotted enjoying an amorous moment on a boat, with Kanye exposing his bare buttocks as Bianca knelt before him with her head in his lap.

High-profile: Kanye West and his new 'wife' Bianca Censori have been causing a major media frenzy since their unofficial wedding ceremony in January

Attention: ...And Bianca's youngest sister Angelina has found herself thrust into the spotlight and quickly growing in social media followers of her own

Spotlight: As controversy builds around the couple, more attention has been placed on Bianca's family. more attention has been placed on Bianca's family (pictured L-R mother Alexandra, Bianca, sister Alyssia and sister Angelina)

Uncanny: The Censori family resemble the Kardashian clan, with both Bianca and Kim coming from a family of glamorous women, including stunning sisters and a youthful mother

As controversy builds around the couple, more attention has been placed on Bianca's family.

There's already many obvious similarities between Bianca and Kanye's ex-wife Kim Kardashian - most notably their near-identical looks.

However, the pair also both come from a family of glamorous women, including two stunning sisters and a youthful mother.

And Bianca's youngest sister Angelina has found herself thrust into the spotlight and quickly growing in social media followers of her own.

Angelina is also a model like Bianca, and has not shied away from showing off her fellow appreciation for the finer things in life.

She also appears to be following in her older sister's footsteps with her daring sense of fashion.

One photo of Angelina shows the brunette posing on a Gold Coast balcony dressed in a cleavage-baring denim corset top and black leggings.

In another, she is seen flaunting her svelte physique in a sheer white unitard with racy cut-outs and a plunging neckline.

Similarities: Angelina is also a model like Bianca, and has not shied away from showing off her fellow appreciation for the finer things in life

Style choices: She also appears to be following in her older sister's footsteps with her daring sense of fashion

Incredible: One photo of Angelina shows the brunette posing on a Gold Coast balcony dressed in a cleavage-baring denim corset top and black leggings

Lookalike: In another, she is seen flaunting her svelte physique in a sheer white unitard with racy cut-outs and a plunging neckline

Angelina and her older sisters Bianca and Alyssia grew up in an affluent neighbourhood.

They were raised in Ivanhoe, one of Melbourne's wealthy and established areas, and later moved to a $2.8M Alphington home where their mother Alexandra still lives.

Bianca and Kanye were spotted checking out high end handbags in the Graziella Braccialini store last week, which is a luxury brand founded in Florence, Italy that's famous for its leather goods.

Angelina appears to share her sister's expensive taste, sporting several high end brands, including two black leather Balenciaga handbags, one of which retails for over 2,000.

She has also copied her jetsetter lifestyle, sharing photos of her in several exotic locations, including Hawaii and Tokyo.

Angelina also has many admirers as well, racking up 4,000 followers on her Instagram already.

However, awkwardly she also follows her new brother-in-law Kanye's ex sister-in-laws Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

Kanye was famously married to Kim for six years until the reality star filed for divorce in February 2021.

Wealthy: Angelina and her older sisters Bianca and Alyssia grew up in an affluent neighbourhood and later moved to a $2.8M Alphington home where their mother Alexandra still lives

Designer: Angelina appears to share her sister's expensive taste, sporting several high end brands, including a black leather Balenciaga Hourglass handbag, which retails for over 2,000

Living the life: She has also copied her jetsetter lifestyle, sharing photos of her in several exotic locations, including Hawaii (pictured) and Tokyo

Popular: Angelina also has many admirers as well, racking up 4,000 followers on her Instagram already

The former couple share four children together  North, ten, Saint, seven, Chicago, five, and Psalm, four.

Kendall and Kylie, who have 294 million and 399 million Instagram followers of their own respectively, are Kim's half-sisters and remain aunties to Kanye's kids.

Angelina has kept a relatively low profile compared to her older sister and previously asked for 'privacy'.

However, she has admitted that her and her family are pleased at Bianca's marriage to Kanye.

Speaking to the Herald Sun earlier this year, she said: 'It's very exciting news for both my sister and the family but we choose to have some privacy for the time being.'

Angelina has also shown her support for the couple by sharing a photo to her Instagram of Kanye and her sister clad in a pink bodysuit and leggings while shopping at a Hello Kitty store.

Kanye and Bianca were first romantically linked in January 2023 just two months after his divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalized and wed in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills that month.

However, the legality of the union is in question, as they did not file a marriage certificate.

Awks! However, awkwardly she also follows her new brother-in-law Kanye's ex sister-in-laws Kendall and Kylie Jenner

Exes: Kanye was famously married to Kim for six years and they share four children together  North, ten, Saint, seven, Chicago, five, and Psalm, four

Family drama: Kendall and Kylie, who have 294 million and 399 million Instagram followers of their own respectively, are Kim's half-sisters and remain aunties to Kanye's kids (Kim, Kanye, Kylie, Kendall and Travis Scott pictured in 2019)
A 'phenomenal' and 'brilliant' new thriller has landed on Netflix, causing viewers to think about the dangers of social media.

'Accused' follows a young man, played by Chaneil Kular, as a social media frenzy wrongly identifies him as a wanted terrorist who detonated a bomb on a London tube.

When the witch hunt of online threats lead to a home invasion, he's forced to fight for his life.

The movie has seemingly gone unnoticed on the streaming platform, despite bagging an impressive and rare score of 100 per cent on popular review site Rotten Tomatoes.

However, movie buffs are beginning to pick up on how 'excellent' it is, and taking to social media to spread the word.

'Accused' follows a young man, played by Chaneil Kular, as a social media frenzy wrongly identifies him as a wanted terrorist who detonated a bomb on a London tube

The movie has seemingly gone unnoticed on the streaming platform, despite bagging an impressive and rare score of 100 per cent on popular review site Rotten Tomatoes

One user wrote 'Accused on Netflix is just brilliant, the reality in the society.

'The power of social media, hate, racism and stereotypes can destroy lives just because everyone nowadays think they have a right and are entitled.'

Another said 'Accused on Netflix is actually 10/10, tense af but so gripping and the reality of it is so important.

'Goes to show social media can be a bloody scary place. Defo worth a watch.'

Someone else said they 'still feel anxious' after watching, adding 'If anything is after something good to watch, I've just watched Accused on Netflix.

'Absolutely brilliantly acted. Still feel anxious now. Really shows how dangerous social media can be.'

The tense and gripping thriller was directed by Philip Barantini, whose best known for his one shot-feature Boiling Point, starring Stephen Graham.

Fans will recognise 'Accused' star Chaneil Kular from Netflix's Sex Education, where he plays high schooler Anwar Bakshi, after making his debut as Tariq Amiri on the BBC's Doctors.

Movie buffs are beginning to pick up on how 'excellent' it is, and taking to social media to spread the word

The actor tweeted the trailer when the film dropped on September 21, writing '"Accused out now on @NetflixUK!!

'Its been a long time in the making but finally excited to share this with you all! Be sure to check it out x'

One day later he posted an update that the movie had reached number one of the top 10 films on Netflix that day.

Fans replied 'You were brilliant,' 'absolutely stunning' and 'stellar performance'.

Others added 'Fantastic performance - tough and gritty watch but would highly recommend' and 'It was absolutely amazing. Terrifying. I hope you get awards for this.

'Loved how it spiralled from something so simple, showed the racism and political issues, but without patronising the watchers. Adored it, thank you for this.'
Tziporah Malkah looked virtually unrecognisable as she stepped out in Sydney this week.

The former model, previously known as Kate Fischer during the 1990s, dressed down in a casual outfit as she did a spot of shopping in the eastern suburbs.

The 49-year-old opted for a baggy blue dress shirt for her outing, pairing it with an equally loose pair of trousers.

The actress appeared to go makeup-free and tucked her brunette locks under a black cap while adding a pair of sneakers to her ensemble.

She pushed along a shopping bag on wheels and slung a black tote over her shoulder.

Tziporah Malkah looked virtually unrecognisable as she stepped out in Sydney this week

During her heyday as a model and socialite in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Malkah was arguably one of Australia's most photographed women

Tziporah also wore a pair of headphones to provide a personal soundtrack to her shopping trip.

The star, who was a tabloid fixture in the late '90s and even starred in the film Sirens opposite Hugh Grant and Elle Macpherson, has maintained a low profile in recent years, only making occasional appearances in women's magazines to discuss her weight loss and desire to one day become a mother.

Last year, she made headlines for leaking her own OnlyFans photos on Instagram.

The I'm A Celebrity star uploaded several raunchy photos of herself to promote her page on the subscription-based platform.

The former 1990s supermodel, previously known as Kate Fischer, dressed down as she did a spot of shopping in the eastern suburbs

The 49-year-old opted for a baggy blue dress shirt for her outing, pairing it with an equally loose pair of trousers

The actress appeared to go makeup free and tucked her brunette locks under a black cap

She added a pair of bright blue sneakers to her ensemble

In one suggestive picture, Tziporah, who was once engaged to billionaire James Packer, unbuttoned her high-vis suit while holding a hammer.

'Bet you didn't know that I'm a mad fiend DIY?' Tziporah captioned the image.

'Well turns out I'm pretty crap but I give it a red hot go. To see me at my best with my tradie lady skills, please find the video on OnlyFans.'

Tziporah announced her new adult career in a rather bizarre Instagram post in July last year.

The star pushed along a shopping bag on wheels and slung a black tote over her shoulder

Tziporah also wore a pair of headphones to provide a personal soundtrack to her shopping trip

She has maintained a low profile in recent years, only making occasional appearances in women's magazines to discuss her weight loss and desire to one day become a mother

Last year, she made headlines for leaking her own OnlyFans photos on Instagram

For $22, fans can access exclusive content too risque for Instagram.

It's unclear if she's still running the account or if she's shut it down now and returned to a regular job.

In May that same year, she had faced a $450 fine after allegedly running a red light.

Malkah's latest brush with the law came a year after she got her licence back following a two-year suspension.

Those matters have now been settled and Malkah has moved on and is living alone in a modest apartment in Rockdale, southern Sydney.

She may even have a new partner, as she was seen being picked up by a mystery man at her home last year.

Malkah has been living alone in a modest apartment in Rockdale, southern Sydney

She may even have a new partner, as she was seen being picked up by a mystery man at her home last year

She looked somewhat downcast as she strolled down the footpath

The star was covered up and comfortable but seemed to be a little under the weather

In May last year, she faced a $450 fine after allegedly running a red light

Malkah's latest brush with the law came a year after she got her licence back following a two-year suspension

Upon her return to Australia from the USA several years ago, she found herself broke, homeless and living in anonymity

During her heyday as a model and socialite in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Malkah was arguably one of Australia's most photographed women.

She was rarely out of the headlines as the glamorous fiancee of James Packer, the son of media tycoon Kerry Packer who would go on to become a casino mogul.

The couple lived a charmed life in Sydney's eastern suburbs, but split up in 1998 after dating for five years, two of those engaged.

Malkah moved to Los Angeles after the breakup to pursue an acting career and eventually became an American citizen.

She was rarely out of the headlines as the glamorous fiancee of James Packer, the son of media tycoon Kerry Packer who would go on to become a casino mogul. Pictured together

Malkah moved to Los Angeles after their break-up to pursue an acting career and eventually became an American citizen

Upon her return to Australia several years ago, however, she found herself broke, homeless and living in anonymity.

Eventually she found work in aged care in Melbourne, but was thrust back into the headlines in 2016 when unflattering photos of her wearing a bedsheet outside her house were splashed across the tabloids.

She then embraced her return to the spotlight, signing with celebrity agent Max Markson and appearing on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2017.

Malkah, the daughter of Liberal politician Pru Goward, has since parted ways with Markson and now works as a traffic controller.
Sophie Monk has finally spoken up about the breakdown of early noughties pop sensation Bardot, after more than 20 years of silence.

The Love Island host, 43, has shouldered the blame of the girl group's split after former bandmate Belinda Chapple released her memoir The Girl in the Band.

In the book, the creative director, 48, said Bardot broke up because their manager David Caplice wanted to give Sophie a solo career - a claim she has vehemently denied.

'What happened was, there were five of us and Katie (Underwood) said, "I would like to leave the band,"' Sophie told News.com.au on Saturday.

'As she said that, I went, "I'd like to leave too." And [David] said, "No, you can't leave because then we've only got three and we need you to stay for one more year."'

Sophie Monk, 43, (pictured) has finally spoken up about the breakdown of early noughties pop sensation Bardot, after more than 20 years of silence

Sophie went on to say she reluctantly agreed to stay with Bardot for one more year and do another album while Katie left to pursue other offers in 2001.

The television presenter also touched on the band's dissolution a year later and the rumours that she caused it in her pursuit of a solo career.

Sophie denied she was the sole reason, stating: 'I finished [Bardot] and was looking for a job. I did not know they were going to ask me for a solo album at all.'

The Love Island host has shouldered the blame of the girl group's split recently after former bandmate Belinda Chapple, 48, (pictured) released her memoir The Girl in the Band

However, former bandmate Belinda painted an entirely different image of the incident in her memoir.

Belinda said she, Sophie, Katie, Sally Polihronas, and Tiffani Wood were all close in the beginning with 'lots of mucking around'.

But things quickly changed amid the group of friends when they shot to fame on Popstars as 'Australia's answer to the Spice Girls'.

In the book, the creative director said Bardot (pictured) broke up because their manager David Caplice wanted to give Sophie a solo career - a claim she has vehemently denied

Belinda said Sophie became 'distant' and started to 'carve off' from the other women as she landed her own photo shoots and 'got the best outfits in film clips'.

Meanwhile, the band's former manager David claimed Bardot split following an 'explosive' backstage bust-up before their Mardi Gras performance in 2002.

The manager told News.com.au in 2020 that things became 'adversarial'.

Bardot was the biggest girl band in Australia after forming on Popstars back in 1999, and despite having success with hit singles such as Poison, the group fell apart after just a few years and disbanded in early 2002.
Molly-Mae Hague looked sensational as she enjoyed a whirlwind visit to Paris for Fashion Week.

The former Love Island star, 24, cut a trendy figure at one event where she slipped into a black crop top that highlighted her toned midriff.

Molly-Mae also sported a cool grey blazer, jeans and black stilettos as she attended the Christian Louboutin Rouge Stiletto Party.

Styling her blonde locks into a ponytail, Molly-Mae complimented her outfit with an eye-catching Chanel necklace.

In another look during her trip, the reality star slipped into a white blazer along with a matching pair of trousers from Victoria Beckham's fashion line.

Wow: Molly-Mae Hague looked sensational as she enjoyed a whirlwind visit to Paris for Fashion Week

Style: The former Love Island star cut a trendy figure at one event where she slipped into a black crop top that highlighted her toned midriff

Molly-Mae accessorised her look with a sleek pony and a signature bag by Rabanne, while flawless make up by Charlotte Tilbury drew attention to her features as she exited the Hotel Lutetia and added to her look with a pair of matching hoop earrings.

During her whistle stop tour of Paris Fashion Week she also attended the Christian Cowan's latest presentation and the Rabanne party.

The sighting comes right after the entrepreneur has dropped her latest PrettyLittleThing campaign just months after leaving her role as creative director with the brand.

While Molly-Mae still works collaboratively with PLT, she is no longer the creative director at the company, as she left 22 months after the position was announced.

The businesswoman left to 'focus on motherhood', after giving birth to the daughter she shares with her fiance Tommy Fury in January.

Last month, she unveiled a new 'secret project' on social media, as she plans to grow her eponymous brand, with a huge focus on lifestyle and beauty content.

Molly-Mae recently teased the growth of her empire as she took to her home account to show off her huge new office space.

A source told The Sun of Molly-Mae's new project: 'Molly's branching out into a lifestyle brand - fans are always asking where she got her home decor from, where her clothes are from and for her hair and beauty tips so it'll be a huge success.

Elegant: In another look during her trip, the reality star slipped into a white blazer along with a matching pair of trousers from Victoria Beckham's fashion line

Looking good: Molly-Mae carried a silver sequinned handbag and added to her look with a pair of matching hoop earrings

Career: The sighting comes right after Molly-Mae has dropped her latest PrettyLittleThing campaign just months after leaving her role as creative director with the brand

'Everyone thinks it could be as big as Holly Willoughby's company - or even Kourtney Kardashian's Poosh!'

The publication reports that documents filed at Companies House reveal that the influencer has named her new company MMH Lifestyle.

MailOnline have contacted representatives of Molly-Mae for comment at the time.
Kim Kardashian put on an edgy display as she made her way to Victoria Beckham's fashion show afterparty during Paris Fashion Week on Friday.

The reality TV personality, 42, wore an oversized upcycled leather biker jacket from Alpinestars with a black cropped top for the bash.

Flashing her toned midriff, she topped her look off with a pair of baggy cargo trousers.

Kim styled her long, dark hair into wet-look waves and opted for a muted makeup palette with a glossy lip.

Her second look of the night provided a stark contrast to her earlier chic lilac gown as she arrived at the runway show.

Edgy: Kim Kardashian, 42, put on an edgy display as she made her way to Victoria Beckham's fashion show afterparty during Paris Fashion Week on Friday

Stylish: The reality TV personality wore an oversized leather biker jacket with a black cropped top for the bash

Victoria kicked off her Paris Fashion Week show on Friday, with support from her many A-list pals.

And leading the glamorous arrivals was Kim who slipped into a lilac satin gown with a scooped neckline.

The Reality TV star accessorised with layers of diamond jewellery, seven years after she was robbed at gunpoint during the event.

In October 2016, criminals stole a jewellery box worth 6 million ($6.7 million/ 5.24 million) and a ring worth 4 million ($4.5 million/ 3.5 million) after breaking into her hotel room and holding a gun to her head.

Kim has since spoke of her hesitance over wearing expensive jewellery and said 'no expensive items ever come' into her home.

Stepping out to Victoria's show this week, she teamed her elegant gown with a pair of nude, barely-there heels.

Kim styled her hair straight and topped off her look with bronzed makeup and a chunky silver ring.

She was joined by her mum, Kris Jenner who mirrored her look in a black satin gown, layering over a leather biker jacket.

Fashion forward: Kim styled her long, dark hair into wet-look waves and opted for a muted makeup palette with a glossy lip

Elegant: Her second look of the night provided a stark contrast to her earlier chic lilac gown as she arrived at the runway show

Stunning: Victoria kicked off her Paris Fashion Week show on Friday, with support from her many A-list pals, with Kim leading the arrivals

In 2021, Kim opened up about how she is a 'completely different person' after being robbed of millions, at gunpoint, during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016.

'As far as jewelry, if I'm wearing something, it's borrowed. It's fake,' she told Andy Cohen during the Keeping Up with the Kardashians reunion.

She added: 'I can't sleep if I have jewellery in my safe, or money, or anything at my house. I just don't live my life like that.'

In addition to doubling her personal security, she has openly spoken about being less flashy and her hesitance over wearing expensive jewellery post-robbery.

'On a positive note, I'm a completely different person because of it, in the best way,' she reflected. '[Before the robbery], I had to have the coolest car, the best rims, the best outfit and I thought that I was the s**t because of that. I thought that made me.'

Dazzling: Kim has since spoke of her hesitance over wearing expensive jewellery since the 2016 robbery and said 'no expensive items ever come' into her home

Ready and waiting: Kim took her seat on the front row

Support: The TV personality posed for a photo with Victoria after the show

FROW: She was joined by Kris' partner Corey Gamble and Anna Wintour

Elegant: Kim's dress hugged her figure perfectly

She continued: 'The things I valued before that happened were genuinely completely different than what I value now. It's fun to get dressed up and all this, but like, [material] things don't make me.'

The traumatic incident also 'significantly changed' her and sister Khloe Kardashian's relationship.

While noting 'Kim was obviously a great sister prior,' the Good American founder said there has been a 'significant shift in how' Kim 'caters to her relationships and the attentiveness that she now gives her family as opposed to red carpets or things.'

'I mean, our relationship has significantly changed,' Khloe noted.
Elle Macpherson came under fire on Sunday when customers of her wellness brand WelleCo publicly demanded answers for their missing orders.

The Australian model, 59, was slammed when she shared a selfie to her company's Instagram page while disgruntled customers were still waiting on their products.

Some flocked to the comments and claimed they had yet to receive orders they ordered up to a month ago and were being ignored by customer service.

'Why do you have time to post on IG but you don't get back on orders outstanding since 1 Sep,' one person wrote.

Another said: 'Please could someone respond to my email or direct message as I have been charged for my subscription and still not received my product.'

Elle Macpherson, 59, (pictured) came under fire on Sunday when customers of her wellness brand WelleCo publicly demanded answers for their missing orders

'Hi I've been trying to get my order! And no one has responded to my email and customer service request,' a third added.

Someone else suggested that Elle and WelleCo should 'dial back the advertising' until they have 'adequate supply'.

They added: 'After reading these replies, I should have read them before I ordered. I got one shipment and then as the subscription was set to renew, you're out of stock.'

The Australian model was slammed when she shared a selfie to her company's Instagram page while disgruntled customers were still waiting on their products

WelleCo CEO Leighton Richards released a statement on Thursday to address the issue and ease customers' concerns.

'This year the brand has experienced exponential growth with a 560 per cent increase in new customers. Naturally this has come with some challenges,' he wrote.

'Our formulations depend on the highest-quality, premium ingredients. They are harder to source, often leading to wait times of multiple months to match demand.'

Some flocked to the comments and claimed they had yet to receive orders they ordered up to a month ago and were being ignored by customer service

WelleCo CEO Leighton Richards released a statement on Thursday to address the issue and ease customers' concerns

He continued: 'As much as we strive to maintain a healthy inventory, we simply didn't have the steps in place to keep up with this recent level of growth.'

Leighton went on to say the company has since upsized their warehouse, implemented new systems and tripled their team to keep up with orders.

'Like any wellness transformation, this is a process. But we've been delivering Elixirs since 2014 so we've got a strong foundation to build upon,' he said.

'We hope you'll see that we are the real deal and our intentions are as good as our ingredients.'
Peter Kay has defended the controversial Little Britain series created by David Walliams and Matt Lucas, claiming political correctness makes comedy a 'minefield' today.

The sketch comedy programme - which ran from 2003 to 2006 on BBC Three and BBC One - was removed from BBC iPlayer in 2020 after it was criticised for using make-up to distinguish people of different ethnicities.

It returned to the service in 2022 but some scenes were removed from the new final cut.

And despite the criticism of the show, Peter said he was delighted to have been given a part in the show's 2006 special Little Britain Abroad.

According to the Mirror, Peter wrote in his new book T.V.: Big Adventures on the Small Screen: 'I was to play the younger brother of Dudley Punt [David Walliams]. He's just married his Thai bride, Ting Tong Macadangdang [Matt Lucas], in order to make an honest man/woman of her.

Speaking out: Peter Kay has defended the controversial Little Britain series created by David Walliams and Matt Lucas, claiming political correctness now makes comedy a 'minefield'

Cut: The sketch comedy programme - which ran from 2003 to 2006 on BBC Three and BBC One - was removed from BBC iPlayer in 2020 after scenes were deemed offensive (David Walliams pictured as Little Britain character Dudley Punt (left) and Matt Lucas seen as Ting Tong Macadangdang (right))

'They go on their honeymoon to Belgium and meet my character. I live in a caravan park with my new 18-year-old virgin wife Ivanka [Julia Davis], "who's set me back two hundred quid".

'It was far from being politically correct but that's what made it funny. It probably wouldn't get made now.

'Sadly Matt and David have taken a lot of flak in the past few years for the work they did. That's a shame.'

Peter added that 'comedy is such a minefield', claiming that political correctness is changing all the time.

He insisted that while sometimes good comes from being politically correct, most of the time it is a hinderance.

The star concluded: 'Everybody's a critic on social media. Something or somebody gets "slammed on Twitter", which might only be a handful of people.'

Little Britain returned to streaming services in 2022 after offensive blackface scenes were cut by producers.

Assurances were given at the time that offensive scenes were removed by creators Matt and David, and advisory warnings were used at the start of some episodes.

On air: Despite the criticism of the show, Peter said he was delighted to have been given a part in the show's 2006 special Little Britain Abroad (L-R: Matt as Ting Tong, Julie Davis as Ivanka, David as Dudley and Peter as Les for Little Britain)

Characters: Benefits-cheat and wheelchair user Andy, was retained for the 2022 edition of Little Britain when it was reintroduced to streaming services

Acting out: Daffyd Thomas, a homosexual Welshman played by Matt, repeatedly claims he is the 'only gay in the village' of the fictional mining village of Llandewi, Wales in the show

Little Britain's most iconic roles, including Vicky Pollard and wheelchair user Andy, were retained, alongside other characters including Matt's homosexual Welshman Dafydd Thomas and David's cross-dresser Emily Howard.

As part of the show's 2022 revival, characters donning black face including Pastor Jesse King, Desiree DeVere and other racial stereotypes such as Thai bride Ting Tong, were left in the cutting room.

In a statement at the time, the BBC said: 'Little Britain has been made available to fans on BBC iPlayer following edits made to the series by Matt and David that better reflect the changes in the cultural landscape over the last 20 years since the show was first made.'

Matt and David have both previously apologised for their use of blackface on the show, which began as a radio programme in 2000 before running as a TV series on the BBC between 2003 and 2007, launching their respective careers.
Wallis Day looked radiant as ever as she arrived back to her hotel after a night out in Paris during Fashion Week on Friday.

The Sex/Life star, 28, appeared in good spirits as she entered the venue holding hands with a male companion.

The actress exuded style for the evening as she donned a red sheer mini dress that highlighted her toned figure.

The TV star added height to her frame with a pair of black ankle boots while she also sported a pair of matching sheer tights.

Wrapping up for the outing in a black leather jacket, Wallis added to her outfit with a matching handbag.

Night out: Wallis Day looked radiant as ever as she arrived back to her hotel after a night out in Paris during Fashion Week on Friday

Radiant: The Sex/Life star, 28, appeared in good spirits as she entered the venue holding hands with a male companion

Her blonde locks styled into a pixie cut, the actress completed her look with a pair of stud earrings.

The outing comes after Wallis revealed that she was hospitalised with a mystery illness in an Instagram post last month.

Wallis did not reveal why she was hospitalised but added a link to a leading kidney research charity in her bio.

She began: Hey all, I know its been a while, I wanted to acknowledge those of you who have reached out & those of you whove had questions - .

'In a nutshell, Ive been quite unwell but fully recovered now. Im sharing this with my audience because whilst I want to be honest, I mainly feel the need to spread awareness & have added a couple of links in my bio.'

Wallis continued: 'Above all, Ive learnt the importance of how we need to listen to our bodies.

'I would like to thank the doctors & nurses who brought me back to health, cared for me round the clock, turned tears into laughter & picked me up through some dark nights. Youre all angels, thank you so much.

'It goes without saying how grateful I am to my loved ones who have been by my side through this entire time, I truly feel like the luckiest girl to have you around, I love you.

Style: The actress exuded style for the evening as she donned a red sheer mini dress that highlighted her toned figure

Fashion: The TV star added height to her frame with a pair of black ankle boots while she also sported a pair of matching sheer tights

Outfit: Wrapping up for the outing in a black leather jacket, Wallis added to her outfit with a matching handbag

Flawless: Her blonde locks styled into a pixie cut, the actress completed her look with a pair of stud earrings

Shocking: It comes after Wallis revealed that she was hospitalised with a mystery illness in an Instagram post last month

'& to you guys, thank you for reaching out, coming back online to your sweet messages etc brightens my day, thank you 

'I truly hope you are having a wonderful summer, I feel extremely thankful to be joining you again & ever grateful to my body for my health. W x'

MailOnline has contacted Wallis' representatives for comment.

The blonde beauty soared to fame when she joined the cast of Hollyoaks in 2012 in the role of Holly Cunningham.

She left the soap the following year and has since gone on to appear on Netflix hit Sex/Life playing Gigi and in other shows including The Royals.
Kylie Jenner made a virtual appearance in court this Friday to have her one-year-old son's name legally changed to Aire.

The 26-year-old lip kit mogul and her ex Travis Scott initially called their baby Wolf, only for Kylie to announce shortly thereafter that they had decided against that name because they 'JUST REALLY DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT WAS HIM.'

She publicly revealed this January that they had settled on Aire, and by June she had filed legal paperwork to make the decision official, according to E! News.

TMZ indicates that the switch went into effect legally when a judge approved it this week.

DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for the Kardashian-Jenner family for comment.

Baby mine: Kylie Jenner made a virtual appearance in court this Friday to have her one-year-old son's name legally changed to Aire

History: The 26-year-old lip kit mogul and her ex Travis Scott initially called their baby Wolf, only for Kylie to announce shortly thereafter that they had decided against that name

According to the documents, Travis did not make even a virtual appearance in court this Friday, but as he also did not file an objection to Kylie's petition, it was granted.

When the baby was born in February 2022, his given name was Wolf Jacques Webster - a nod to Travis, whose legal name is Jacques Webster.

However, not long afterwards, Kylie shocked her fans by revealing on social media: 'FYI OUR SONS NAME ISN'T WOLF ANYMORE.'

She explained: 'WE JUST REALLY DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT WAS HIM. JUST WANTED TO SHARE BECAUSE I KEEP SEEING WOLF EVERYWHERE.'

Their decision prompted Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli's son Wolfgang, who goes by Wolf, to cheekily tweet: 'THANK F***.'

On an episode of Hulu's The Kardashians, Kylie told her gal pal Stassie Karanikolaou about the impetus behind the decision to name her son Aire.

'I just always wanted a name for him that had meaning. Its a Hebrew name and it means: "Lion of God,"' Kylie explained.

Travis and Kylie are also the proud parents of a five-year-old daughter, whom they named Stormi in the wake of the Stormy Daniels scandal.

Hand in hand: Travis and Kylie are also the proud parents of a five-year-old daughter called Stormi, whom Kylie is pictured with in London last year

The way they were: The couple conducted an on-off romance from 2017 until this year; they are pictured together at last year's Billboard Music Awards

The couple conducted an on-off romance from 2017 until this year, and although they are currently off they have retained an amicable co-parenting equation.

Kylie is now in the throes of a headline-grabbing relationship with Timothee Chalamet, whose dating history includes Eiza Gonzalez and Lily-Rose Depp.

After being trailed by rumors for weeks, Kylie and Timothee took their romance public by kissing in the stands at a Beyonce concert near the end of the summer.

Early this month a People insider remarked that the pair were enjoying what Kylie regards as a 'fun and uncomplicated' dalliance.

'They have been seeing each other for six months now. He makes Kylie happy. He has his own life and understands that Kylie needs to prioritize her kids,' said the source.

'He is charming, very loving and protective of Kylie,' the insider claimed, adding that the reality TV superstar 'likes that he is a private guy.'
Eminem's ex-wife, Kim Scott Mathers, was pictured for the first time in four years since her stint in rehab and suicide attempt in 2021 during an outing in Shelby Township, Michigan earlier this month.

The 48-year-old, who notably was 'hospitalized after a suicide attempt' following her mother's passing, was seen running errands and stopped by a pizza chain before heading to her next destination.

Kim sported a blonde, pixie cut and showcased an array of tattoos on her arms whole wearing a black tank top and ripped jeans.

According to The U.S. Sun, she expressed that she was doing 'good' after going through a difficult time after experiencing the loss of family members - such as her own mother and twin sister, Dawn.

'It's been hard, I lost my mom, my dad, and my sister [over the past 10 years],' Mathers stated. '[But] I'm good. I've been clean since about October, I went to Jefferson House...for 45 days.'

Spotted: Eminem 's ex-wife, Kim Scott Mathers, 48, was pictured for the first time in four years since her stint in rehab and suicide attempt in 2021 during an outing in Shelby Township, Michigan earlier this month

New look: Kim sported a blonde, pixie cut and showcased an array of tattoos on her arms whole wearing a black tank top and ripped jeans

Before the star's errand run, Kim was also spotted a few days prior loading items into a vehicle outside of her home while donning a light blue, backless pantsuit that was made of a denim material.

She also explained that her children have been 'very supportive' of her as she focused on her health and stated that she was 'now on medication.'

Back on July 30, 2021, Kim attempted suicide and was hospitalized after medics responded to a frantic 911 call from her Michigan home, TMZ reported at the time.

Upon arriving to the house, first responders found Mathers to be 'combative and violent' and also had 'several small lacerations on the back of her leg,' the outlet further reported.

According to a police report, obtained by Page Six at the time, Kim had been found 'bleeding excessively' and was on the bathroom floor holding an 'unidentified object' in her hands.

The report claimed that she had 'attempted to strike the responding officer' and added Mathers appeared to have 'difficulty speaking, was slurring her speech and later fluctuated in various levels of consciousness.'

A box was also discovered that contained 'haphazard messages' that Kim had penned to family members. Also inside was a 'do not resuscitate' request that she had also written out.

The Sun reported shortly after the attempt that Kim had 'left a note' and begged for the police to not be called.

Keeping busy: She was seen running errands and stopped by a pizza chain before heading to her next destination

Doing 'good': According to The U.S. Sun , she expressed that she was doing 'good' after going through a difficult time after experiencing the loss of family members

'Hard' time: 'It's been hard, I lost my mom, my dad, and my sister [over the past 10 years],' Mathers stated

Time in rehab: '[But] I'm good. I've been clean since about October, I went to Jefferson House...for 45 days,' she further revealed

Receiving support: She also explained that her children have been 'very supportive' of her as she focused on her health and stated that she was 'now on medication'

Stepping out: Kim was seen holding papers in her hand before jumping into a vehicle to head to her next destination

In audio obtained by the outlet, an unidentified woman could be heard telling a dispatcher that Mathers had attempted to harm herself after taking pills.

When asked how Kim had tried to harm herself, the caller stated, 'I don't know I just ran out, I have someone in there with her. There's blood everywhere on the bathroom floor.'

She later could be heard saying, 'She had the door locked and she wouldn't let me in. And I kept telling her, "I'm coming in, I'm coming in." And she was laying on the floor saying, "Don't call the police, don't call the police."'

TMZ had claimed Kim was taken to a hospital to undergo both a medical and psychological evaluation, but was sent home to recover.

The suicide attempt came only days after her mother, Kathy Sluck had passed away at the age of 65 on July 23, 2021. The following day, on an online obituary site, a tribute posted by Kim Mathers was shared where she expressed pain over the loss.

'I don't even know where to begin mom!!! First off Id like to say I F***ING LIED TO YOU WHEN I SAID I WOULD BE OK.I LIED WHEN I SAID I CAN DO THIS I PROMISE!!!!'

'F***in f**k all!!! I dont even know how to do this without you I just wanted you to not hurt or suffer or fight for me anymore!!! But Im sure you know that!!! You've been the support and back bone for me and my kids and I cant thank you enough.'

'You've taught me how to be a fighter and not take s**t and tried to teach me to love myself as much as you loved me!! You've be there for every fall I've had and BOY WAS THERE A LOT!!!'

Array of ink: Kim showcased her array of tattoos on her arms as she picked up groceries during her errand run in Michigan

Hospitalized: Back on July 30, 2021, Kim attempted suicide and was hospitalized after medics responded to a frantic 911 call from her Michigan home, TMZ reported at the time

A few days prior: Before the star's errand run, Kim was also spotted loading items into a vehicle outside of her home while donning a light blue, backless pantsuit that was made of a denim material

TMZ had claimed Kim was taken to a hospital to undergo both a medical and psychological evaluation, but was sent home to recover

'You've taught my kids how to love and respect others and also how to be just as crazy as us when needed. We've had our riffs but not one second of one day would I not have given my last breath for you. Even now Id rather it be me than you!!!' Kim added.

'You're all I had left momma!!! What do I do now?? How can I go crazy anymore without you here to be the strength and kick in the a*s I need to get better???! I hope you know how f***ing much I love the s**t out of you and how much the kids love you!!!

She later concluded with, 'I can't imagine this without you!!! I love you momma!!! Kiss my dad and sister for me and you never stop being your sassy cute little sexy a**!! Love endlessly your pain in the a** daughter KIM .'

Kim has battled both drug addiction and depression over the years, and notably attempted suicide in July 2000 by cutting her wrists with razor blades.

In October 2015, she intentionally drove her Cadillac SUV into a telephone pole after consuming both alcohol and prescription pills. 'It was intentional,' Kim admitted on Detroit's Channel 995 radio show Mojo in the Morning.

'I never expected to make it out alive,' the star continued, and added that she had 'been clean for 10 years.'

She later recalled, 'I sat at the end of a road where I knew that no one else but myself would get hurt. Yes I drank, yes I took pills and I hit the gas and aimed for a pole.'

In January 2016, Kim lost her twin sister, Dawn, who tragically passed away after a heroin overdose at the age of 41.

Tragic loss: The suicide attempt came only days after her mother, Kathy Sluck had passed away at the age of 65 on July 23, 2021

Heartbreaking tribute: The following day, on an online obituary site, a tribute posted by Kim Mathers was shared where she expressed pain over the loss

In the past: Kim has battled both drug addiction and depression over the years, and notably attempted suicide in July 2000 by cutting her wrists with razor blades

Another attempt: In October 2015, she intentionally drove her Cadillac SUV into a telephone pole after consuming both alcohol and prescription pills

Opening up: She later recalled, 'I sat at the end of a road where I knew that no one else but myself would get hurt. Yes I drank, yes I took pills and I hit the gas and aimed for a pole'

In 1989, Kim first met Eminem at a house party when she was just 13-years-old and the rapper was 15. Both she and her sister, Dawn, had runaway from home and ended up living with Eminem and his mother for a short period.

In 1995, they welcomed their daughter, Hailie Jade, 27, and tied the knot in 1999 but their marriage ended upon divorce two years later in 2001.

The pair later tied the knot for a second time in January 2006, however, Eminem filed for divorce just four months later in April.

He notably adopted the daughter of Kim's late sister, Alaina, 30, in the early 2000s and even walked her down the aisle when she married in June of this year.

On-and-off relationship: In 1989, Kim first met Eminem at a house party when she was just 13-years-old and the rapper was 15; seen in 2000

Family: Hailie Jade notably became engaged to Evan McClintok earlier this year in February and per The U.S. Sun, Kim confirmed that she plans to attend the nuptials; seen in 2007

Upcoming attendance: 'Yes, of course,' she stated when asked if she would attend, explaining that she is 'close' with her children

He also adopted Kim's other child, 21-year-old Stevie - born as Whitney - whom she welcomed with ex, Eric Hartter. Kim reportedly lives with her son, Parker, whom she welcomed for a previous relationship.

Hailie Jade notably became engaged to Evan McClintok earlier this year in February and per The U.S. Sun, Kim confirmed that she plans to attend the nuptials.

'Yes, of course,' she stated when asked if she would attend, explaining that she is 'close' with her children.

Kim revealed that she is also in contact with Eminem and in regards to how often they see each other, she replied, 'Not often, but often enough!'
Emily Ratajkowski showed off her sensational figure when she was spotted dashing around Paris this Friday evening.

The 32-year-old supermodel has been flitting from show to show during Paris Fashion Week, which began this Monday and lasts until next Tuesday.

During her latest outing, Emily slid her statuesque frame into a tantalizingly see-through net dress that allowed for a glimpse of her sculpted midriff.

Her outfit plunged to serve up a generous helping of cleavage and featured a saucy black lace hemline right around the knee.

Sharpening her unmistakable features with makeup, she gathered her dark hair into an elegant updo that brought back memories of the 1960s.

Off she goes: Emily Ratajkowski showed off her sensational figure when she was spotted dashing around Paris this Friday evening

Mover and shaker: The 32-year-old supermodel has been flitting from show to show during Paris Fashion Week, which began this Monday and lasts until next Tuesday

Emily, who comes up to 5'7", lent herself a bit of added stature by balancing expertly on a towering pair of stilettos as she strutted her stuff through the French capital.

She has been a mainstay at the shows this Fashion Week, rocking a slinky black dress to the Coperni extravaganza and a leggy split red gown to see the Loewe collection.

Emily has conducted a whirlwind, headline grabbing love life in the wake of the collapse of her marriage to movie producer Sebastian Bear McClard.

She has had on-off flings with DJ Orazio Rispo, and in the intervening time has run around with such names as Pete Davidson and Eric Andre.

This March she locked lips with Harry Styles in Tokyo, provoking a swirl of criticism on account of the fact she is supposedly gal pals with his ex Olivia Wilde.

'Olivia and Emily were friends and this is a betrayal,' a source with inside knowledge exclusively informed DailyMail.com.

In a subsequent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Emily dismissed the kiss by saying she was not 'not thinking about guys' but 'sometimes things just happen.'

DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that she was locked in conversation with Tom Brady during billionaire Michael Rubin's Fourth Of July party in the Hamptons.

The last detail: Her outfit plunged to serve up a generous helping of cleavage and featured a saucy black lace hemline right around the knee

Swanking about: Sharpening her unmistakable features with makeup, she gathered her dark hair into an elegant updo that brought back memories of the 1960s

Here and there: She has been a mainstay at the shows this Fashion Week, rocking a slinky black dress to the Coperni extravaganza and a leggy split red gown to see the Loewe collection

However Tom has since taken up with Russian model Irina Shayk, whose dating history features Kanye West, Bradley Cooper and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sebastian, whose credits include the Adam Sandler vehicle Uncut Gems, had a courthouse wedding to Emily in 2018.

The pair welcomed their baby son Sylvester in March 2021, only for their marriage to fall apart last year under a cloud of rumors about Sebastian's fidelity.

When news broke that they had split, a Page Six source said Sebastian 'cheated. Hes a serial cheater. Its gross. Hes a dog.' Emily then added fuel to the conjecture by liking a tweet that read: 'cant believe that little b*** cheated on emrata.'

It emerged this March that Sebastian has faced 'grooming' allegations and been fired by Elara Pictures, the production company of the Safdie brothers, whom he worked with on Uncut Gems and the Robert Pattison starrer Good Time.

Sebastian was at the time tangled up in mediation with the Safdies, alongside his divorce proceedings and custody battle with Emily.

Emily has remained tight-lipped in public about the circumstances leading up to her divorce, telling the Los Angeles Times that she was 'scared' of being more candid because 'Im learning that outspoken women dont often get their children.'

Benny Safdie, one of the brothers whom Sebastian used to work for, recently broke his public silence about the accusations.

'It's disgusting, and when you find out something about somebody that you didn't realize, you just have to be much more careful,' Benny told GQ Hype. 'It's a lot, and it's not something that you want to have happen to anybody. And when you find it out, the one thing that you can do is really just take control.'
Bella Hadid showed off her natural beauty wearing a figure-hugging minidress in tropical throwback photos she uploaded to Instagram on Friday.

The supermodel, 26  who was recently seen on a rare outing in NYC with brother Anwar Hadid after revealing Lyme disease battle  struck various poses with the ocean close behind her shortly after the sun had set.

The beauty flaunted her stunning frame donning a black, fitted dress that contained a hem that stopped inches above her knees.

The strapless ensemble contained a large cutout on the front for the star to easily showcase her toned midriff.

Her voluminous locks were parted to the side, and effortlessly flowed down past her shoulders in light waves.

Wow! Bella Hadid, 26, showed off her natural beauty wearing a figure-hugging minidress in tropical throwback photos she uploaded to Instagram on Friday

Stunning: The beauty flaunted her stunning frame donning a black, fitted dress that contained a hem that stopped inches above her knees

The minidress contained a shiny, silver pendant on the front and was secured with fabric that was tied into a bow on the back.

Bella opted for minimal accessories to allow the outfit to be the main focal point, and was seen wearing orange, beaded bracelets on her right wrist.

The model showed off her natural, dewy skin during the photo session that took place at dusk.

Hadid could be seen standing in front of a white fence as the calm ocean stretched out behind her, with a dim orange glow peaking through the clouds.

In the caption of her latest post, the star simply penned to her 59.7 million fans and followers, 'August 2023.'

Her father, Mohamed Hadid, sent a sweet message to his daughter in the comment section and typed out, 'Love my fighter daughter the beautiful @bellahadid.'

Bella returned to Instagram on Friday after a one month hiatus from the social media platform, with her last post being shared on her main page on August 24.

Also earlier last month, the model opened up to her followers about battling a bad flare up with Lyme disease - which she has been suffering from since 2012.

Beautiful: The strapless ensemble contained a large cutout on the front for the star to easily showcase her toned midriff

Striking a pose: Bella opted for minimal accessories to allow the outfit to be the main focal point, and was seen wearing orange, beaded bracelets on her right wrist

Natural beauty: The model showed off her natural, dewy skin during the photo session that took place at dusk

Details: The minidress contained a shiny, silver pendant on the front and was secured with fabric that was tied into a bow on the back

She also candidly explained that she was taking time away from work to focus on her health and added an assortment of photos that had been taken on her journey, such as receiving IV treatments.

Bella had penned, 'the little me that suffered would be so proud of grown me for not giving up on myself.' She also sent gratitude to her mother for being by her side every step of the way.

While detailing the downs of battling the disease, she stuck to a positive mindset by adding, 'I am okay and you do not have to worry,' and 'I wouldn't change anything for the world.'

The star wrote, 'The universe works in the most painful and beautiful ways but I need to say that if you are struggling- it will get better. I promise.'

'I have so much gratitude for and perspective on life , this 100+ days of Lyme, chronic disease , co infection treatment, almost 15 years of invisible suffering, was all worth it...'

'If I'm able to, God willing, have a lifetime of spreading love from a full cup, and being able to truly be myself, For the first time ever.'

She concluded by giving shout outs to those in her life as well as her 'genius' doctor and team of nurses. 'I'll be back when I'm ready. I miss you all so much. I love you all so much.'

Earlier this month, Hadid made a rare appearance with her brother Anwar as she begins stepping back into the spotlight. The two were seen touching down on a helipad in NYC.

Big supporter: Her father, Mohamed Hadid, sent a sweet message to his daughter in the comment section and typed out, 'Love my fighter daughter the beautiful @bellahadid'

Health focus: She also candidly explained that she was taking time away from work to focus on her health and added an assortment of photos that had been taken on her journey, such as receiving IV treatments

Having a blast: She also uploaded a behind-the-scenes moment from a Charlotte Tilbury photo shoot that she did

A passion: Despite taking a break from work, Hadid has still kept her fans updated and has shared photos and videos of her horseback riding

Bella recently appeared in the Heaven by Marc Jacobs Fall 2023 campaign earlier this month which followed an A.I. theme.

She also uploaded a behind-the-scenes moment from a Charlotte Tilbury photo shoot that she did.

The star could be seen donning a sleeveless, white latex dress that clung to her frame while her voluminous, brunette locks cascaded in light curls past her shoulders.

Despite taking a break from work, Hadid has still kept her fans updated and has shared photos and videos of her horseback riding. Bella has notably been absent from recent fashion week events, such as Milan and Paris Fashion Week.
George Clooney's wife Amal was a sight to behold on Friday night as the A-list couple enjoyed dinner in New York City.

The civil rights attorney, 45  who hosted a charity gala with George the day prior  flaunted her sculpted midriff while wearing a glitzy maroon coord covered in translucent sequins.

The stylish two-piece consisted of a low-cut crop top and a floor-length skirt with a sexy thigh-high slit.

She strolled out of Scalinatella Italian restaurant in sleek stiletto heels.

Amal and George, 62  who wed nearly a decade ago and share two children  were joined by their parents for the late-night bite.

Wow! George Clooney's wife Amal was a sight to behold on Friday night as the A-list couple enjoyed dinner in New York City

Sparkly: The civil rights attorney, 45, flaunted her sculpted midriff while wearing a glitzy maroon coord covered in translucent sequins

Family affair: Amal and George  who wed nearly a decade ago and share two children  were joined by their parents for the late-night bite

Sexy: Amal's stylish two-piece consisted of a low-cut crop top and a floor-length skirt with a sexy thigh-high slit

Amal locked arms with George's dad Nicholas Joseph Clooney, 89, while the ER star happily escorted his mother Nina Bruce and Amal's mom Baria Alamuddin into the eatery.

The brunette beauty completed her stylish outfit with a classic black leather jacket and wore her hair in her signature voluminous silhouette.

Meanwhile, George looked suave in a navy blue polo top and jeans styled with gray suede dress shoes.

As they exited the restaurant, George was caught sharing a cozy moment with his wife near their chauffeured SUV.

He had an arm wrapped tightly around her slim waist as he seemingly helped her get into the backseat.

The outing comes after George opened up about the twins that he shares with his wife Amal in a rare interview on Thursday.

The actor and his stunning wife revealed they have been exposing their six-year-old children, Ella and Alexander, to rock music, and the kids have taken a liking to it.

Amal told Access Hollywood that her handsome husband has 'started playing heavy metal music, actually.'

George added, 'The kids are listening to heavy metal. They're headbangers.

'It's not fully heavy metal, it's just heavy enough that they can bang their heads.'

Amal locked arms with George's dad Nicholas Joseph Clooney, 89

Ladies man! George happily escorted his mother Nina Bruce and Amal's mom Baria Alamuddin into the eatery

The longtime couple held hands

As they exited the restaurant, George was caught sharing a cozy moment with his wife near their chauffeured SUV

Hell for leather: The brunette beauty completed her stylish outfit with a classic black leather jacket and wore her hair in her signature voluminous silhouette

The couple wed in 2014

She strolled out of Scalinatella Italian restaurant in sleek stiletto heels

Sweet: George's mother looked thrilled to be spending an evening out with her son

George kept his arms locked with his mom while Amal chatted with his father

Doting son: He made sure both his own mother and Amal's carefully descended the stairs

The couple clarified that their twins have a musical inclination, but they hilariously emphasized that this talent hasn't been passed down from them.

'Not that we're in any way musical,' George laughed.

'We have no musical talent  We ruined the gene pool for them.'

The matinee idol also dished on what he gifted Amal for their 9th wedding anniversary, which they celebrated on Wednesday.

And the jokester showcased his wit once again, saying his wife was less than impressed with the choice.

'What is the gift? What is it you found out? It was clay,' he hilariously asked Amal while being interview by Extra for the Clooney Foundation for Justice's Albie Awards where they posed with her mother Baria Alamuddin.

'It wasn't an exciting one,' Amal coyly answered.

'Pottery for a ninth anniversary, so I gave her a pot,' George quipped.

Family affair: George opened up about his two adorable twins that he shares with his wife Amal in a rare interview on Thursday

Music lessons: Amal and George revealed they have been exposing their six-year-old children, Ella and Alexander, to rock music

Headbangers: George said of his twins, 'The kids are listening to heavy metal. They're headbangers.'

Not our genes: The couple clarified that their twins have a musical inclination, but they hilariously emphasized that this talent hasn't been passed down from them; seen with her mother Baria Alamuddin

The rare peek into the glamorous couple's lives comes after they spent the summer in Lake Como and enjoyed taking some time off in August to embrace vacation with their kids.

A source told Us Weekly, 'Amal has a big home office and is working on cases this summer, but both her and George really try to do life the European way and take August off from work.

'They take boat rides, do water spots, have a small group of friends in the area their age they have play dates with.'

The former Batman star previously admitted to loving the challenge of fatherhood and even confessed to being 'surprised' by his own happiness.

George - who has been married to Amal since 2014 - told the 'WTF with Marc Maron' podcast: 'They're funny, and they pull pranks on me.

Anniversary gift: The matinee idol also dished on what he gifted Amal for their 9th wedding anniversary, which they celebrated on Wednesday

Mr and Mrs C: Here they are seen arriving ahead of the 80th Venice International Film Festival 2023 in August in Venice, Italy

'I just look at them thinking, I couldn't be happier and I couldn't be more surprised at how happy I am.'

Meanwhile, the Oscar winner's second annual Albie Awards brought out the best and brightest in Hollywood.

Among the celebrity couples on the night were Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz and Emily Blunt and John Krasinski.

The awards are billed as being for 'courageous defenders of justice who are at great risk for what they do.'

They were named for Justice Albie Sachs, an internationally famous South African jurist who was jailed and then exiled for his activism against the apartheid regime.
Kylie Minogue has hinted at the next official single from her new album Tension.

Appearing on The Chrissie Swan Show this week, seemed to confirm that Hold On To Now would be Tension's next single after a fan called for the song to be released.

'Would you go with that, what are you thinking for the third single?' he asked Kylie.

Responding affirmatively, she said, 'I would a hundred per cent go with that. It's one of my favourites on the album.'

Despite not being an official single yet, Hold On To Now has already entered the UK top 100 thanks to streams and downloads.

Kylie Minogue has hinted at the next official single from her new album Tension following the album's success in Australia and the UK

During a radio interview, Kylie seemed to confirm that Hold On To Now would be the next single from Tension

It comes after Tension debuted at No. 1 in both Australia and the UK.

In the UK, the album has been so successful that it outsold the rest of the top five combined in its opening week.

Kylie celebrated the song's success by thanking fans on social media.

'THANK YOU to everyone who bought it, streamed it and made it YOURS,' she exclaimed.

'I am in awe of the love and support youve shown me. I will hold on to this moment forever!!'

It comes after Tension debuted at No. 1 in both Australia and the UK

Tension is Kylie's fourth consecutive No. 1 album in Australia and eighth overall.

In a statement, ARIA CEO, Annabelle Herd, said: 'Its a thrill to see an ARIA Hall of Fame artist continue to dominate, reinvent and represent Australian music on such a global scale. We cant wait to celebrate her success at this years awards.'

Tension is also predicted to debut at No. 20 on the Billboard 200, which will make it her most successful album in America in over a decade.
A host of stars descended on Hotel Costes on Friday, for a night of partying in the French capital, during Paris Fashion Week.

Emily Ratajkowski stunned in a netted dress alongside an ab-flashing Jordyn Woods and a sparkling Caroline Daur as they arrived at the hotspot in the trendy 1st arrondissement.

Supermodel Emily, 32, slid her statuesque frame into a tantalizingly see-through net dress that allowed for a glimpse of her sculpted midriff.

American reality star Jordyn, 26, showed off her edgy sense of style in wet look leggings and a sexy wrap front halter neck crop top.

German model Caroline, 28, dazzled in a sensational shimmering sheer gown, which left her black bra and knickers on display.

Bonne nuit! A host of stars descended on Hotel Costes on Friday, for a night of partying during Paris Fashion Week (L-R: Emily Ratajkowski, Jordyn Woods, Caroline Daur)

Gorgeous: Supermodel Emily, 32, slid her statuesque frame into a tantalizingly see-through net dress that allowed for a glimpse of her sculpted midriff

Fashionista: American reality star Jordyn, 26, showed off her edgy sense of style in wet look leggings and a sexy wrap front halter neck crop top

Irina Shayk, 37, looked effortlessly stylish in a leather look cropped bodice and high waisted flared jeans.

She supermodel completed her evening outfit with a suede waistcoat worn open and a silky black choker necklace.

Kris Jenner, 67, stepped out in a button front mini dress boasting long sleeves and a subtle check print.

The momager was chic in black suede over-the-knee boots and semi-sheer tights while toting a wet look handbag.

Shanina Shaik, 32, slipped into a ribbed chocolate brown knit dress, which the Australian model she wore with sling-back kitten heels.

Olivia Wilde, 39, went braless in a form fitting black maxi dress, which matched perfectly with her bow headband.

The actress shielded her eyes with sunglasses, despite the late hour at which she departed the restaurant.

Divine: German model Caroline, 28, dazzled in a sensational shimmering sheer gown, which left her black bra and knickers on display

Beauty: She looked unreal in the eye-catching ensemble

The last detail: Emily's outfit plunged to serve up a generous helping of cleavage and featured a saucy black lace hemline right around the knee

Irina Shayk, 37, looked effortlessly stylish in a leather look cropped bodice and high waisted flared jeans with a suede waistcoat worn open to complete her evening outfit

Stylish: A silky black choker necklace made for a gorgeous twist

Cosy: Shanina Shaik, 32, slipped into a ribbed chocolate brown knit dress which the Australian model wore with sling-back kitten heels

Chic: Kris Jenner, 67, stepped out in a button front mini dress boasting long sleeves and a subtle check print

Elegant: Olivia Wilde, 39, went braless in a form fitting black maxi dress

Home time: The actress shielded her eyes with sunglasses, despite the late hour at which she departed the restaurant

Emily is mum to her two-year-old son, Sylvester Apollo Bear, from her four-year marriage to 'serial cheater' Sebastian Bear-McClard - which ended a year ago.

Last week, Emily revealed her biggest dating turn-off during her interview with influencer Remi Bader on her podcast, High Low with EmRata.

'Men's exposed ankles. I hate that. A dainty ankle exposed on the hottest man will ruin my day,' she confessed.

'Like a sockless foot when they like sit down and the leg pulls up and I see their dainty ankle I'm like (gagging).

'I swear to god there was a guy I was seeing and he came over in short pants and like, a shoe that exposed his ankle, and I have not seen him since. Swear on Sly's life.'

In the last year, the London-born SoCal native - who chatted up Justin Theroux during the US Open on September 10 - has had 'situationships' with DJ Orazio Rispo, comedian Eric Andre, SNL alum Pete Davidson, and artist Jack Greer.

It comes after her podcast, High Low With Emrata, was canceled by Sony Group executives, with less than a year of production under its belt.

It was announced that the model would be working on a podcast in October of last year following the publication of her collection of essays, My Body.

Hot couple alter: Zoe Kravitz, 34, was wrapped up in a beige trench while leaving the French restaurant with boyfriend Channing Tatum, 43

Looking good: Zoe looked as stylish as ever as she stepped out of her car

Trendy: Channing looked smart in his suave ensemble as they headed back at the end of the night

Model behaviour: Jordan Barrett, 26, made a statement in grey trousers and a matching coat

In good company: The male model left with a glamorous female gal pal

The model previously told Variety that she viewed the project as a 'natural progression' in her career, and added that she was 'very excited about producing the show and doing it in my own way.'

The fashion industry figure also spoke about her plans for the podcast and what she wanted to achieve with her project.

'I don't want the show to at all feel pretentious, but I want to be talking about things that I find interesting and important,' she said.

The Victoria's Secret stunner first found fame as a topless model in Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams' 2013 music video for Blurred Lines.
It was on Krishnan Guru-Murthy's 53rd birthday in April that he realised he could no longer be what he describes as 'overweight and unattractive'.

His wife Lisa, he says, was 'looking hot' after transforming her own fitness by running ten miles every other day and joining a rowing club. Krishnan, the Channel 4 News presenter, confesses he felt he was being left behind.

Seven months later, having signed up for the latest series of BBC1's Strictly, he has lost two-and-a-half stone... and now needs seven fewer holes to do up his trouser belt.

Last weekend, he and pro-partner Lauren Oakley impressed with a cha-cha-cha to Apache Indian's Boom Shack-A-Lak.

Dressed in an orange suit, he admitted afterwards that he 'couldn't stop smiling'.

It was on Krishnan Guru-Murthy's 53rd birthday in April that he realised he could no longer be what he describes as 'overweight and unattractive'. His wife Lisa (pictured together in 2016), he says, was 'looking hot' after transforming her own fitness by running ten miles every other day and joining a rowing club

Seven months later, having signed up for the latest series of BBC1's Strictly, he has lost two-and-a-half stone... and now needs seven fewer holes to do up his trouser belt

Speaking during a break from training, in a studio in Elstree  with Taylor Swift playing in the background  Krishnan explained that for many years he had ignored requests to take part in Strictly but this year, now 12st 7lbs rather than 15 stone, he says the 'planets aligned' and he decided to go for it.

And since beginning training, his weight-loss has accelerated.

Like so many men in their 50s, he felt the pressure to look after himself more. Interestingly, he says this was inspired by the belief that like so many middle-age men, he had a duty to keep up with their much fitter womenfolk.

Was he insecure, I ask. 'Yes, definitely. And I think that's not necessarily a bad thing if men pull themselves together because their wives are looking hotter than they are  if you get in that situation where all the women are looking good and all the men are overweight and beer bellies.'

You're worried the women will go off with younger men? He replies: 'That's the great fear.'

'My wife is enjoying that I am a little bit lighter than I was. In a way, I have been trying to keep up with her. She's amazing and so I think she's pleased I have started catching and pulling myself together, getting fitter and looking a bit more presentable.

'I am a bit obsessed with being overweight and unattractive. My wife has never talked in those terms but she has always talked about me being healthy. I think you get yourself into a position where you give up and think it's fine. I just reached that stage.'

Warming to his theme, Krishnan says: 'Men are being led by women; women did it first. Women in their 50s are looking amazing and my wife and her friends are all looking amazing, so men have become insecure about having hot wives.'

Last weekend, he and pro-partner Lauren Oakley impressed with a cha-cha-cha to Apache Indian's Boom Shack-A-Lak (pictured)

Speaking during a break from training, in a studio in Elstree  with Taylor Swift playing in the background  Krishnan explained that for many years he had ignored requests to take part in Strictly but this year, now 12st 7lbs rather than 15 stone, he says the 'planets aligned' and he decided to go for it

His new trim look has won him an unlikely heart-throb status, something he says he hasn't been familiar with for 30 years. So now, rather than be written off as this year's Strictly joke act, he won over millions of viewers  and the judges.

Last weekend, he and Lauren scored an acceptable 22 out of 40 from the judges.

While Lauren insists she always knew he had the natural moves, Krishnan admits he was surprised at the positive comments, 'especially from Craig [Revel Horwood],' he says. 'I thought that his nice words would be followed by a "but", but they weren't.'

At home, though, there was someone he was even more determined to impress  his 16-year-old son Jay, who begged him not to appear on Strictly. Not only did he not want his father to take part, he refused to go with the rest of the family to watch him perform.

'He begged me not to,' reveals Krishnan. 'It got to the point where, the week before I started and I hadn't signed my contract, which I casually mentioned, he said: 'You haven't signed your contract, so you don't have to do it? Please don't do it.'

His new trim look has won him an unlikely heart-throb status, something he says he hasn't been familiar with for 30 years. So now, rather than be written off as this year's Strictly joke act, he won over millions of viewers  and the judges. Last weekend, he and Lauren (pictured) scored an acceptable 22 out of 40 from the judges

While Lauren insists she always knew he had the natural moves, Krishnan admits he was surprised at the positive comments, 'especially from Craig [Revel Horwood],' he says. 'I thought that his nice words would be followed by a 'but', but they weren't.'

Whereas Krishnan's wife and daughter were keen to go to the launch show, Jay didn't want to. 'He said: "If you do Strictly, don't involve me," says his dad.

But last Saturday night, when Krishnan arrived home after his first performance, the teenager surprised his father with his change of tune.

READ MORE: Krishnan Guru-Murthy reveals why he finally agreed to take part in Strictly Come Dancing after the challenges of the pandemic and being diagnosed with genetic heart condition Advertisement

'His feedback was very muted to start with,' says Krishnan. 'He came through the door at 11pm on Saturday night and said he had watched the show and then I asked 'what did you think?'

'He then asked if he could come next week, which was great, it is such a breakthrough. He didn't want me to do it and now he wants to come to the studio and watch.

Krishnan's determination to succeed on Strictly means he and Lauren are now rehearsing in Manchester where he is reporting from the Tory party conference. He was due to interview Rishi Sunak this weekend.

Next weekend, he'll waltz off to Liverpool with Lauren for the Labour conference where he will come face to face with party leader Sir Keir Starmer.

For the first time in Krishnan's career, the worlds of politics and showbiz have collided and, off-camera, there is only one topic on the agenda  Strictly.

'I interviewed Keir and Rachel Reeves [Labour's Shadow Chancellor] last week and all they wanted to know about was the show. Actually, they worked Strictly into the interview.

'Gordon Brown was the same when I interviewed him, though he knows all about the show because Ed Balls [who worked with him in the Treasury when Brown was Chancellor] did it and they are very close.'

Krishnan also reveals that last week a member of the current Cabinet texted him following his performance with the word 'boom' (after his dance to the song Boom Shack-A-Lak [pictured above]) and he got a 'well done, what great fun' from a member of the Shadow Cabinet. 'So they are all watching,' he says

In fact, he says everyone is being nicer to him. His Channel 4 bosses say he looks as if he is having the time of his life and put a glitter ball above his desk  until he was told it had to be removed for health and safety reasons

Krishnan also reveals that last week a member of the current Cabinet texted him following his performance with the word 'boom' (after his dance to the song Boom Shack-A-Lak) and he got a 'well done, what great fun' from a member of the Shadow Cabinet. 'So they are all watching,' he says.

In fact, he says everyone is being nicer to him. His Channel 4 bosses say he looks as if he is having the time of his life and put a glitter ball above his desk  until he was told it had to be removed for health and safety reasons. Now, viewers are not questioning him about why he didn't grill an interviewee enough. Instead, women are approaching him in Marks & Spencer to tell him how much they adore him.

His daughter Jasmine's university friends are also in awe. Last Sunday, just hours after his live dancing debut, he visited her halls of residence at Bristol University to find her friends showering him with compliments.

'They were catching up with the dance on YouTube, and asked me: 'Oh my God, is that you?' They were really surprised that I could move in time to the music. I took some of her friends for lunch and they were like, 'oh my God, you're really good'.'

He is determined to stay in the competition for as long as possible, begging for a comparison with 2020 winner Bill Bailey.

An unlikely star, the comedian was written off by Strictly fans early on, with most expecting him to be the next 'joke' act

Lauren cheerily chips in to say he has 'the legs of a ballet dancer that loads of dancers would love to have'

An unlikely star, the comedian was written off by Strictly fans early on, with most expecting him to be the next 'joke' act like former TV political editor John Sergeant or former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe.

Krishnan sees the similarities, though Lauren cheerily chips in to say he has 'the legs of a ballet dancer that loads of dancers would love to have'.

He admits: 'Bill Bailey is my total hero for Strictly because I didn't expect him to do it and then when he did you didn't expect him to be very good. But he was brilliant. So if I was ever compared to Bill, I would be delighted.

'People thought I would be awful and I didn't want to be the person who staggers around for laughs. I didn't want Lauren to come up with gags to get us some votes to go to the next week.'

Strictly has had its health benefits for Krishnan, too. He has a genetic heart condition which he knows means he could drop dead at any moment.

A cousin died from the same disease a few months ago and another died 30 years ago. But his father, who sat alongside his mother in the audience last week, is 89 and still works full-time.

Krishnan also suffers from Crohn's disease and endured an uncomfortable bout of gout earlier this year.

Shedding so much weight has meant he has become much healthier, but does he still worry about dying young?

'My health worries have always been in the background but it's not been a foreground thought since I have been doing Strictly and got fitter.'

In fact, the benefits of his training mean he is no longer obsessed with his heart rate.

'I have stopped wearing my Apple watch because I don't feel I need to monitor my heart beat any more. And that's thanks to Strictly,' he smiles.
Adam Thomas has revealed he was forced to miss training for this Saturday's episode of Strictly Come Dancing due to work commitments.

The actor sadly missed a whole day of training while he also juggles filming for BBC school drama series Waterloo Road.

In the role that launched his career, the 35-year-old is currently back starring as Donte in the series alongside fellow co-stars Kym Marsh and Angela Griffin.

The show was rebooted last year after being axed back in 2015 and Adam shared a photo of Donte's costume rail as he wrote: 'Missing a days training today... but it's all worth it. Work is work! Let's go Donte!!!'

Taking to Instagram ahead of the live show, Adam checked in with fans after the dress rehearsal.

Oh no! Strictly star Adam Thomas, 35, was forced to miss training ahead of Saturday's episode of the BBC show

Juggling commitments: The actor sadly missed a whole day of training while he also juggles filming for BBC school drama series Waterloo Road (pictured with his partner Luba Mushtuk)

But it wasn't a relaxing lunch break for the star, who was using the time to learn his lines for filming next Monday.

Adam laughed: 'Just learning lines for Monday, I don't know how long I can keep this up I'll be honest with you, but we're trying!'

The father-of-two also admitted this week will be a special show as his children, Teddy, nine, and Elsie, five, are coming to watch.

Adam explained: 'It's a special one as I've got my kids coming to watch me. I can't wait to see their little faces.'

After opening the show last week with his fun cha-cha, this week Adam is set to perform a tango to Somebody Told Me by Maneskin alongside his partner Luba Mushtuk.

Saturday night's instalment of the show will be the first week the couples are dancing for survival in the first public vote which will see one couple leave the competition in Sunday's results show.

Getting ready for the show, the celebrities and their pro partners were spotted leaving their London hotel en route to Elstree studios on Saturday for the first elimination live show.

Soap star Ellie Leach waved as she stepped out in a black oversized jumper, khaki gym leggings and a pair of Birkenstock loafers.

The star completed the look with a pair of sunglasses and appeared in good spirits ahead of the performance.

Balancing work and Strictly: 'Missing a days training today... but it's all worth it. Work is work! Let's go Donte!!!' wrote Adam on Instagram

Multi-tasking: It wasn't a relaxing lunch break for the star who was using the time to learn his lines for filming next Monday

Motivated: After opening the show last week with his fun cha-cha, this week Adam is set to perform a tango to Somebody Told Me' by Maneskin alongside his partner Luba

Waterloo Road: Adam Thomas as Donte Charles with his Waterloo family Chlo Charles (Katie Griffiths), Izzy Charles (his niece Scarlett Thomas), and Tommy Charles (his son Teddy Thomas) in scenes from January 2023

Casual: Ellie Leach waved as she stepped out in a black oversized jumper, khaki gym leggings and a pair of Birkenstock loafers

Stylish: Layton Williams looked in high spirits as he beamed while leaving the hotel in cream hoody with a white gilet jacket

Red head: Dianne Buswell let her signature red locks flow freely as she donned some stylish knee high boots and oversized black leather jacket

Preppy: Lauren Oakley showed off her slender pins in a leather pleated black skirt

En route: Lauren waited for the car to be opened as she donned a denim jacket

Sensational: Karen Hauer looked great in a khaki all in one boiler suit

Meanwhile Layton Williams also looked in high spirits as he beamed while leaving the hotel in cream hoody with a white gilet jacket.

He carried his essentials in a Louis Vuitton black checked bag while also shading his eyes from the sun with some shades.

Soon to follow was professional dancers Dianne Buswell, Lauren Oakely and Karen Hauer who also waved on their way to the studios.

A very smiley Craig Revel Horwood looked comfy and casual in some camouflage print trousers and khaki zip up jacket as he grinned from ear to ear.

Radio host Nikita Kanda and Les Dennis were also snapped en route and Nikita had definitely decided not to travel light as she wheeled a huge white suitcase behind her.

Smiling: Craig Revel Horwood looked comfy and casual in some camouflage print trousers and khaki zip up jacket

Lots to carry! Nikita Kanda had definitely decided not to travel light as she wheeled a huge white suitcase behind her
Jada Pinkett Smith is hoping for answers.

The actress and advocate, 52, hopes the arrest of a suspect will help solve the mystery of who murdered her friend Tupac Shakur.

The Red Table Talk host took to her Instagram Stories to share her wishes, writing, 'Now I hope we can get some answers and have some closure,' after the news was announced.

She completed the thought with 'R.I.P. Pac,' followed by a dove emoji.

The Matrix Resurrections star's friendship with the late rapper began at the Baltimore School of the Arts in Maryland.

Answers: Jada Pinkett Smith, 52, is hoping for answers in the murder of her friend Tupac Shakur. The rapper was killed in 1996

'It was the first day and he came over to me and introduced himself,' the Girls Trip star explained in an interview.

'Definitely from looking at him, wasnt necessarily the type of cat that I would even like, deal with, she said.

'But as soon as he approached me, he was like a magnet,' she said describing the charisma of the Soul Train Music Award winner.

'Once you paid attention to him he kind of sucked you in. And we hit it off from that moment on.'

The Queen Cleopatra executive producer told Howard Stern the two shared a kiss once, but decided they would be better off as friends.

'When you have two young people that have very strong feelings... but there was no physical chemistry between us at all,' she told the shock jock.

Tupac was gunned down September 16, 1996 in Las Vegas as he sat in a car, waiting to go into a club.

He was only 25.

Closure: After the arrest of a suspect was announced, Jada posted this wish in her Instagram stories

Friends: Jada's friendship with the late rapper began at the Baltimore School of the Arts in Maryland. 'It was the first day and he came over to me and introduced himself... s soon as he approached me, he was like a magnet,' she said of the late rapper

The killing remained a cold case for more than a quarter of a century, until Las Vegas investigators announced the arrest of Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, 60.

'Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime,' according to Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson.

'He orchestrated the plan that was carried out.'

Davis has admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting, and that he was one three 'living eyewitnesses' to the murder.

Suspect: Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, 60, has been arrested for Tupac's murder. Investigators say he did not shoot Tupac, but orchestrated the plan to kills him

Investigators say it was those disclosures that pointed them towards the self-described gangster.

Under Nevada law a person can be charged with a crime, including murder, if they help someone commit the crime.

A grand jury voted to indict him on one count of murder with a deadly weapon, and added a sentencing enhancement to the murder charge for gang activity that could add up to 20 additional years if hes convicted.

Davis is due in court next week.
Victoria Silvstedt looked sensational as she attended Elie Saab Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show during Paris Fashion Week on Saturday.

The Swedish model, 49, looked chic in a black dress which featured a low cut sweetheart neckline and keyhole detail to the front.

Actress Victoria's garment finished just below her knee, with the piece perfectly accentuating her hourglass figure.

She added a few inches to her stature by opting for a pair of black heels to match her dress.

The fashionista wore some dazzling silver jewellery and carried a gold handbag with her.

Fashion forward: Victoria Silvstedt, 49, looked sensational in a chic black dress at the Elie Saab Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show during Paris Fashion Week on Saturday

Looking good: Actress Victoria's garment finished just below her knee, with the piece perfectly accentuating her hourglass figure

Victoria confidently struck a number of poses outside the venue in the French capital, ensuring onlookers got a full look at her outfit.

The star flew into Paris just hours before the Elie Saab show having seen house music supergroup Swedish House Mafia on the Greek island of Mykonos on Friday.

She took to her Instagram Stories to share a snap of herself at the Nammos World beach club as she danced to the hitmakers' music.

Once in Paris, Victoria shared a selfie, admitting she was exhausted and had slept in her make-up.

Victoria, who spent a long break in the South of France this summer, enjoyed a lengthy stint in the spotlight after being chosen to represent her country in the Miss World pageant in 1993.

After her pageant days, the Scandinavian stunner was spotted by Hugh Hefner and went on to become a Playboy Playmate.

Since her career rocketed, Victoria has modelled for some of the world's most prestigious fashion houses, including Chanel, Dior and Valentino.

Despite the glamorous veneer to her lifestyle as a young model, she revealed there was a dark side in a recent interview with Female First.

In style: The fashionista wore some dazzling silver jewellery and carried a gold handbag with her

Party girl: The star flew into Paris just hours before the Elie Saab show having seen house music supergroup Swedish House Mafia on the Greek island of Mykonos on Friday (pictured with Swedish TV personality Isabel Adrian at the concert venue)

Living it up: Once in Paris, Victoria shared a selfie, admitting she was exhausted and had slept in her make-up

Victoria said: 'I started very young to model in Paris when I was 18, I remember like starving myself to fit into the clothes.

'It was an amazing experience but you know I did shows for Valentino, Chanel, so it was really prestigious.

'But it never felt like it was my thing, I'm not like a runway skinny model, I'm more curvy. It was torture, I put myself through starvation, you know torturing myself.

'To be a young girl as well, you cannot take criticism, everything that you hear is like "no no no" and then I went to Playboy and I could be bigger!'
Strictly Come Dancing kicked off to a lively start on Saturday as week two of the live shows got underway.

And opening the show Bobby Brazier and his partner Dianne Buswell made sure to bring the energy as they danced the Charleston to Do Your Thing by Basement Jaxx.

Dazzling both the audience and fans at home with their routine, the EastEnders actor, 20, lifted his partner into the air, during the 'soulful' dance.

Anton Du Beke said it had 'great swivel,' and was 'absolutely terrific,' but Craig noted that his expressions could have been 'more exaggerated.'

With an 8 from Anton and 7's from the other judges, they earned a solid 29 points, as viewers heaped praised on Bobby.

Exciting: Strictly Come Dancing kicked off to a lively start on Saturday as week two of the live shows got underway

Flip: Opening the show Bobby Brazier, 20, and his partner Dianne Buswell, 34, made sure to bring the energy as they danced the Charleston to Do Your Thing by Basement Jaxx

Sharing their thoughts on Twitter one person wrote: 'Bobby really has soul when dancing and such good energy. what a breath of fresh air!'

Another added: 'Wow what a fantastic start! Great Charleston from Bobby and Dianne. Im betting that Bobby will be a finalist, if not the overall winner.'

'Brilliant opening dance from Bobby. Love the Charleston,' a third agreed.

Someone else added: 'We are BIG fans of Bobby Brazier on #strictly. He's just so guileless, positive and sweet - and such an elegant dancer. A ray of sunshine.'

One fan echoed: 'Bobby Brazier is utterly adorable. What an absolute light of a man.'

Agreeing with fans at home, Anton said: 'I was in a good mood before we started now I am in a wonderful mood! A great swivel. I thought it was terrific.'

Mosti, exclaimed: 'You gave the energy ! Guys you are off the a great start.'

It has been reported that Bobby could seriously cash in after appearing in the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Energy: Dazzling both the audience and fans at home with their routine, the EastEnders actor lifted his partner into the air, during the 'soulful' dance

Amazing: With an 8 from Anton and 7's from the other judges, they earned a solid 29 points, as viewers heaped praised on Bobby

Praise! Sharing their thoughts on Twitter one person wrote: 'Bobby really has soul when dancing and such good energy. what a breath of fresh air!'

The EastEnders actor could soon become the new 'nation's sweetheart' before heading off to Hollywood, according to PR experts.

With one telling The Sun: 'Strictly will show the US how versatile he is and no doubt make him even more appealing, he could be the star of the next hit drama to come from across the pond.'

Bobby, who plays Freddie Freddie Slater in the soap, recently scooped the Rising Star Award at the National Television Awards and following his stint on Strictly could soon be in high demand.

PR guru Carla Speight said: 'He's likely to find himself with a 'golden handcuffs' style contract, after a short bidding war between the channels'.

She pointed to the likes of Sarah Lancashire's career who was reportedly earned 1.3M in a deal with ITV making her the highest-paid television actress in 2000.

Carla said: 'Bobby will easily double that with the right channel and the right jobs.
After my spies spotted actress Emilia Jones and Irish Eurovision star Conor ODonohoe mooching the streets together last month, the pair insisted they were merely friends.

But surely this snap of the handsome couple locking lips in London last week tells a different story.

I dont know what Emilias famous father Aled Jones makes of the romance, but its safe to say Emilias younger brother Lucas is a fan of Conor  he tagged along as the couple headed for coffee.

Emilia Jones, left, was pictured last week smooching with Irish Eurovision star Conor O'Donohoe in Notting Hill Gate last week

I dont know what Emilias famous father Aled Jones makes of the romance, but its safe to say Emilias younger brother Lucas is a fan of Conor  he tagged along as the couple headed for coffee

Many congrats to Polly Fry  the secret daughter of Princess Margarets former husband Lord Snowdon  who has tied the knot. Polly, 63, married reputation manager Abel Hadden in Bath and celebrated with a champagne tea for 150 guests before jetting off in a helicopter as the band played Fly Me To The Moon.

Although many guests thought the theme to Succession might have been more appropriate, jokes Abel.

Withnail's costly wit

Happy news for diehard fans of the cult 1987 film comedy Withnail & I, which shot actor Richard E. Grant to fame, as an original draft of the screenplay is up for grabs. The script is being sold by an anonymous seller on exclusive marketplace SignetCo for a cool 8,500 and even comes with a signed letter from writer Bruce Robinson describing it as my morbid little autobiography.

Happy news for diehard fans of the cult 1987 film comedy Withnail & I, which shot actor Richard E. Grant to fame, as an original draft of the screenplay is up for grabs

A model break-up

Strutting down the catwalk for designers Burberry and Molly Goddard at London Fashion Week was probably a welcome distraction for model Edie Campbell, as I hear the Vogue cover star has split from her girlfriend, fashion writer Hanna Hanra.

The couple  right, with Edie in black  started dating in 2021 and Hanna moved into Edies gorgeous Northamptonshire pad, designed by her architect mother Sophie Hicks. Yet despite parting ways, I understand the pair remain friends.

Edies previous loves include Bryan Ferrys son Otis, and Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell. When she started dating Hanna, Edie, 33, confessed she wasnt surprised she fell in love with a woman, musing: Everyone generally now is more open to fluidity in every sense.

Strutting down the catwalk for designers Burberry and Molly Goddard at London Fashion Week was probably a welcome distraction for model Edie Campbell, as I hear the Vogue cover star has split from her girlfriend, fashion writer Hanna Hanra

Bridgerton actress Phoebe Dynevor says her co-stars often tease her about her dress sense  despite her being a glamorous ambassador for Louis Vuitton. One of them once told me that I dress like a 14-year-old boy, she told Elle magazine of her penchant for wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants. But fans of the 28-year-old disagree  they have created the Style of Phoebe Dynevor Instagram page in dedication to her sartorial choices.
Cate Blanchett and Elle Fanning both looked effortlessly stylish at the Alexander McQueen show during Paris Fashion Week on Saturday.

Actress Cate, 54, dazzled in a pair of black cigarette trousers and a statement top as she attended the SS24 show.

The star looked gorgeous as she wore a unique black shirt that featured fire red detailing and billowed out behind her into a stunning train.

The square shoulder pads and tailored collar added a touch of class to the bold look whilst the ruffled detailing on the torso showed off her phenomenal figure.

Cate added inches to her statuesque frame with a pair of black stilettos that had red heels as she posed for pictures at the star-studded event.

Glamorous: Cate Blanchett, 54, made a very stylish appearances at the the Alexander McQueen show during Paris Fashion Week on Saturday

Chic: She was joined by Elle Fanning, 25, who also attended the star studded event and stunned in a standout dress and fishnet tights

Flashing a huge smile, the Oceans 8 star showed off a radiant palette of makeup and styled her blonde tresses with a slight wave at the ends.

She opted for chunky rings and a singular ear cuff for accessories.

Meanwhile American actress Elle, 25 showed off her sense of fashion in a daring black dress that featured a leopard print, cut out corset at the top.

The look featured ruffles, and gold detailing around the bottom half of the skirt.

Elle finished off the look with some fishnet tights and black open toe wedges.

The sister of Dakota Fanning sported a colourful palette of make-up with smokey eyes, rosy cheeks and dark matte lips.

She opted for a standout accessory  a chunky metallic choker necklace that took up the entire length of her neck.

Her blonde tresses were left natural and she wore it down so it cascaded behind her shoulders.

Stunning: Actress Cate looked sensational as she posed for pictures in a pair of stylish black trousers and a standout shirt that featured a bold red train

Beauty: Flashing her gorgeous smile, the star showed off a radiant palette of makeup and styled her blonde tresses straight

Standing tall: Cate added inches to her statuesque frame with a pair of black stilettos that had red heels as she posed for pictures at the star-studded event

In the detail: The square shoulder pads and tailored collar added a touch of class to the bold look whilst the ruffled detailing on the torso showed off her phenomenal figure

Meanwhile American actress Elle, 25, looked gorgeous in a black dress which featured a leopard print cut out corset on the top half

Looking good: The look featured ruffles, and gold detailing around the bottom half of the eye-catching skirt

Sheer beauty: The sister of Dakota Fanning sported a colourful palette of make-up with smokey eyes, rosy cheeks and dark matte lips

Fashion set: (L to R) Editor-In-Chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful, Cate, Editor-In-Chief of American Vogue Dame Anna Wintour and Elle were in attendance

FROW: (L-R) Letitia Wright, Eva Green, Francois-Henri Pinault, Edward, Cate, Dame Anna Wintour and Elle were all seen in the front row

Ravishing: American actress Yara Shahidi looked stunning in red as she arrived at the fashion show

Praise: The front row was seen taking to their feet to give a standing ovation at the end of the show

In style: Eva Green (left) looked chic in a black outfit with beaded detail while Letitia Wright (right) donned black leather

Cate has been making the most of the prestigious fashion weeks and was spotted in Milan earlier this month attending the Giorgio Armani show with Lily Allen as well as showcasing her chic sense of style whilst out and about.

The Australian actress shares sons Dashiell, 21, Roman, 19, and Ignatius, 15, as well as adopted daughter Edith, eight, with her husband Andrew Upton, 57 - who she married in 1997.

The award-winning actress made her film debut in 1997 in the project titled Paradise Road but rose to prominence after being cast with the leading role in the historical drama, Elizabeth in 1998.

Throughout the course of her successful career, Cate has been nominated for a total of eight Oscars, winning two - Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator and Best Actress for Blue Jasmine.
After topping the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard last week, Nigel Harman and Katya Jones were back with a romantic routine.

And as they danced the Viennese Waltz under the glitterball to Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez, fans at home were left swooning.

Viewers branded the actor, 50, 'sex on legs' following the performance, claiming he looks 'just as good' as he did when he appeared on EastEnders 20 years ago.

However, Nigel and Katya received mixed comments from the judges as Shirley Ballas noted that it was 'full of technical errors,' and that they needed to concentrate on the 'simple footwork.

Craig Revel Horwood noted the Head Judge was being 'very picky' as they still scored 27 points out of 40.

Swoon: After topping the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard last week, Nigel Harman and Katya Jones were back with a romantic routine

Sultry: As they danced the Viennese Waltz under the glitterball to Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez, fans at home were left swooning

Sharing their thoughts on Twitter/X during the show, one fan posted: 'Nigel Harman is sex on legs!'

Another echoed: 'I think im developing a bit of a girly crush on Nigel Harman - he can sweep me off my feet any day (or preferably night!)'

'How does Nigel Harman look still exactly the same as he did 20 years ago when he was in EastEnders,' a third questioned.

Someone else agreed: 'Blimey, Nigel Harman looking just as good as he did 20 years ago. That was incredible!'

Another joked: 'We now just need to clone Nigel to replace men forevermore.'

Last week, Nigel emerged as an early favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing as he topped the leaderboard during the first live show.

The actor was proclaimed by judge Shirley as 'the one to beat' after he performed an outstanding pasodoble with dance partner Katya.

The Casualty star danced to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and received universal praise from all four judges and received a score of 32 out of 40.

Romantic: Viewers branded the actor 'sex on legs' following the performance, claiming he looks 'just as good' as he did when he appeared on EastEnders 20 years ago

Sharing their thoughts on Twitter/X during the show, one fan posted: 'Nigel Harman is sex on legs!'

'That was the dance of the night,' proclaimed Craig Revel Horwood while Motsi Mabuse added: 'This at the end of the night was spectacular, amazing.'

Anton Du Beke also praised the actor and reminded the audience it's not easy for the star who has to close the show.

Viewers took to X/Twitter to praise Nigel for his performance with one writing: 'Nigel was amazing! I could just watch that Paso over and over again.'

Another added: 'That was extraordinary. Nigel Harman's performance was amazing. Katya Jones is an incredible choreographer.'

A third wrote: 'Nigel needs to be in the final right now,' while a fourth said: 'Top of the leaderboard and definitely worth the wait.'

Another viewer added: 'I wasn't expecting that! Brilliant!'

While he is tipped to be the pin-up of the series, Nigel, who attended 24,000-a-year Dulwich College, is unlikely to fall victim of the show's much discussed 'Strictly curse'.

He is happily married to actress Lucy Liemann, 49, who has starred in The Bill and Agatha Christie's Poirot, as well as in the third Jason Bourne film, The Bourne Ultimatum.

Nigel was the centre of a controversial Downton Abbey storyline, in 2013, where his character was seen hitting lady's maid Anna  played by Joanne Froggatt  in the face and dragging her into a room in a violent rape scene.

But earlier this year, Nigel returned to the BBC, joining the cast of Casualty, where he plays charming clinical lead doctor Max Christie.

Contender: Nigel emerged as an early favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing as he topped the leaderboard during week one

Success: The Casualty star danced to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and received universal praise from all four judges and received a score of 32 out of 40

Among many stage credits Nigel has performed in Guys and Dolls in London's West End and Shrek the Musical, which he then went on to direct for the UK tour.

His film work includes roles in Blood Diamond, Telstar, and The Outsiders for ITV.

After he was confirmed as a contesntat, Nigel said: 'I'm amazed, excited, and terrified to be doing Strictly.

'As an armchair fan of the show I have watched in awe as people have twirled and gyrated across the screen. And now it's my turn.....gulp!'
Strictly Come Dancing's Graziano Di Prima was spotted receiving a heartfelt kiss on the lips from his wife Giada Lini ahead of the live show on Saturday.

The professional dancer, 29, kept his hand casually in his pocket while Giada, 32, wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him into her as she locked lips with the Italian.

Graziano cut a casual figure in black joggers with a blue stripe down the side and a long-sleeved black top.

Giada meanwhile looked sensational in a white halter neck dress with heels as she held her beau close.

The loved-up sighting comes just before Graziano took to the stage with his dance partner Zara McDermott, who was branded a contender with a lot of potential by the judges.

Loved up: Strictly Come Dancing 's Graziano Di Prima was spotted receiving a heartfelt kiss on the lips from his wife Giada Lini ahead of the live show on Saturday

Wedded bliss: The pair married during a tearful ceremony in Italy last July after the COVID-19 pandemic stopped their plans

Styklish: Giada looked sensational in a white halter neck dress with heels and wore her blonde locks in a half up do while sporting a heavy palette of makeup

After Anton Du Beke described Zaras performance last week as a very nice start but added that he wanted more of everything, the documentary maker vowed to let go and not hold back in this weeks second live show.

In the rehearsals Graziano and Zara could be seen practicing hard with Graziano telling the camera that the reality star was picking up the steps much quicker.

Zara joked that her feet were on fire, but that she wasnt going to be hard on herself.

She later revealed that she had extra pressure this week to impress as her grandparents would be watching her from the audience.

Describing it as magical Zara said: I just want to nail this and make them proud.

The pair stepped onto the dance floor to 'Anyone For You (Tiger Lily)' by George Ezra and performed the Quickstep.

After the energetic performance Motsi Mabuse said: I do think it was your first ballroom dance and I think you went for it.

A little bit more posture would help the whole situation and stability, but you look more comfortable on the dance floor.

Week two: Graziano and his dance partner Zara McDermott stepped onto the dance floor to 'Anyone For You (Tiger Lily)' by George Ezra and performed the Quickstep

Promises: Last week Anton Du Beke described Zaras performance as a very nice start but added that he wanted more of everything, so the documentary maker vowed to let go and not hold back in this weeks second live show

Special. moments: Zara revealed that she had extra pressure to impress this week as her grandparents would be watching her from the audience and described it as 'magical'

High praise: After their performance Anton. said he thought Zara would be a 'contender' if she married everything together and Craig said she had 'a lot of potential'

Going in the right direction: The pairreceived their scores: a six from Craig, Anton and Motsi and a five from Shirley

Shirley Ballas added: Last week Cha Cha, this week Quickstep and staying very very consistent.

Giving some constructive criticism, the head judge told Zara: Work on synchronisation and Im sure that youll continue to improve. It was a beautiful performance. Well done.

Anton was next who said: Well you do move beautifully across the floor. You cover the ground fabulously. You just need to work on that top line.

He then added that if Zara could marry everything up, he thought she would be a contender.

Craig Revel Horwood was last in giving his critique. He said: You lost your balance when you got your leg over Graziano and recovering from that, but you have a lot of potential you really do.

Up in the Clauditorium, Zara said: I feel amazing. I just had the best time ever. Its the most fun Ive ever said. Im just so happy and grateful to be here. Its just incredible.

The star then received her scores: a six from Craig, Anton and Motsi and a five from Shirley.

Graziano married long-term partner Giada during a tearful ceremony in his hometown last July.

The pair exchanged vows during a traditional Catholic ceremony having previously postponed their wedding plans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 90-minute Catholic service took place within the Mediterranean island's Basilica della Madonna della Catena, a historic church situated in the quant village of Castiglione di Sicilia.

A select group of 200 guests attended the ceremony, among them fellow Strictly stars Nadiya Bychkova, Karim Zeroual and Chizzy Akudolu.

Strictly Come Dancing returns on Sunday at 7.15 on BBC One
Hugh Bonneville has confirmed he has split from his wife Lulu Williams after 25 years of marriage, just days after he appeared at the wedding of his Downton Abbey co-star Michelle Dockery alone.

The 59-year-old, who shot to superstardom with his portrayal of the Earl of Grantham in the ITV drama, raised eyebrows after appearing last week's nuptials without Lulu, 55, and without his wedding band on his finger.

The couple had been a common sight together on the red carpet, with Lulu regularly accompanying her husband to premieres and film sets. They were last seen together in public at the Old Vic Theatre in London for a gala in April.

Now a spokesperson for the actor has confirmed he and Lulu, who have lived together for 25 years at their home in West Sussex, have ended their marriage.

However, it seems the split has not been smooth sailing, with a source revealing: 'It is clear that Lulu feels as if 20-odd years of marriage counts for nothing.'

Bonneville still wore his gold wedding ring while attending the Coronation Concert in May

Bonneville and Lulu were last seen together in public at the Old Vic Theatre in London for a gala in April

But speculation grew after Bonneville attended the wedding ceremony of Michelle Dockery and Jasper Waller-Bridge last week with neither his wedding ring or his partner of 25 years

Hugh Bonneville and Lulu Evans at the Viceroy's House, film premiere, London, UK - 21 Feb 2017

Actor Hugh Bonneville and his wife Lulu Williams pose for photographers upon arrival at the world premiere of the film Paddington in London, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014

Hugh shot to superstardom for his portrayal of the Earl of Grantham on ITV period drama Downton Abbey. Pictured: Hugh on the show

Lulu often accompanied her husband to premieres and film sets and her recent absence sparked rumours the pair were having troubles.

The actor, famous for his role as Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, had never shied away from expressing his love for Lulu, having previously called her his 'bedrock' and 'anchor' and crediting his wife for being the backbone of their household.

Bonneville was spotted flashing a grin at Dockery's lavish wedding to Jasper Waller-Bridge - the brother of Fleabag creator Phoebe - without his wedding ring just last week.

A source told The Sun: 'Hugh has been away from home filming a lot this year. He has lost a bit of weight this summer, he was looking trim, tanned and relaxed.'

The heartbreak comes just five years after the couple renewed their vows at Graceland chapel in Las Vegas.

The pair met as teens but reconnected later in life and got together in their 30s, thanks in no small part to Hugh's mother Patricia.

Hugh has said: 'Lulu was running a marquee company... my mother rang her to hire some chairs or something and said, ''Do you remember Hugh?''

'It did infuriate me that I had to give full credit to my mum for reintroducing us.'

Bonneville and Lulu later tied the knot in November 1998.

Hugh Bonneville and Lulu Williams attending the world premiere of Downton Abbey, held at the Cineworld Leicester Square, London. PA Photo. Picture date: Monday September 9, 2019

Actor Hugh Bonneville and his wife Lulu Williams, attend on day four of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon

Cast member Hugh Bonneville and his wife Lulu Evans (R) arrive on the red carpet for a screening of the movie 'The Monuments Men' at the 64th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin on February 8, 2014

Lulu regularly joined her husband while on set, including in 2013 while he was filming The Monuments Men with George Clooney.

Bonneville also admitted in 2009 that his wife helped him to lose weight after saying he was as 'fat as a pig'.

While appearing as a castaway on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, he selected Mama Cass's 1968 hit Dream A Little Dream as a tribute to Lulu.

The couple enjoyed entertaining their friends at weekends and walking their two Tibetan terriers, Teddy and Sasha.

During the pandemic, Lulu and her husband - who she nicknamed 'luvvie' - both were volunteer marshalls at their local NHS vaccine centre

In previous interviews Bonneville claimed he was 'completely indebted' to his wife for the way she supported him throughout his career while looking after their son Felix, 20, who himself has enjoyed success on the screen.

'Lulu's priority has been to be a bedrock for Felix and me and I'm completely indebted to her,' he said.

Lulu regularly joined her husband while on set, including in 2013 while he was filming The Monuments Men (pictured at the movie's UK premiere in Leicester Square) with George Clooney

Bonneville has played Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in the BBC period drama since it launched in 2010 - a role for which he has won a Golden Globe - and revealed that the Royal Family are among the popular series' many fans.

He was later appointed Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex by the Royal Family in 2019.

His first major film role was in Frankenstein as the right leg of Robert De Niro's character the Monster.

More recently he has starred in two Paddington movies, and has been signed on to appear in the third instalment, which has entered into production.

Next Sunday he is set to perform at the Battle of Britain Royal Gala at the Royal Air Force Club in London.

He said of the appointment: 'It's nice because it's in my county where I live and I do quite a lot of stuff like visiting schools and reading a lot of Paddington. It's really the same thing, but just with a badge. I'm very honoured.'

He was seen wearing his gold ring while attending the King's Coronation Concert on May 7 - again without Lulu.
Dannii Minogue revealed on Sunday she would be open to reprising her star-making role as Emma Jackson on Home and Away, 33 years after leaving the show.

The pop star, 51, told this week's Stellar Magazine that seeing her older sister Kylie, 55, return to Neighbours for one episode last year left her feeling inspired.

'It was not only a joy for Kylie but for us as a family. Because we were all in the same house when she was doing that, we were part of it,' she began.

'So it would be fun to revisit Emma on Home and Away. I keep thinking it would be really nice to do something. Let's see what happens.'

Dannii got her start in the industry by playing the punky teen Emma Jackson on Home and Away from 1989 - 1990, while her sister starred as Charlene on Neighbours from 1986 - 1988.

Dannii Minogue, 51, (pictured) revealed on Sunday she would be open to reprising her star-making role as Emma Jackson on Home and Away, 33 years after leaving the show

Minogue added the TV landscape was very different three decades on, meaning there would be lots of interesting ways to revisit her iconic character.

'TV has gone through the most crazy changes. It's now a time where it would be so exciting, and it would draw me back in because there are so many possibilities.'

Elsewhere in the interview, Dannii revealed she lost a handful of fans after she began hosting gay BBC dating show, I Kissed A Boy earlier this year.

The pop star, 51, told this week's issue of Binge in Stellar Magazine that seeing her older sister Kylie, 55, return to Neighbours last year left her feeling inspired. Pictured: Dannii on Home and Away in 1989

The Melbourne native said she found the reaction from some of her social media followers quite strange, considering she has always been a vocal LGBTQ+ ally.

'It really did make me laugh when I read the comments from people saying, "I'm unfollowing you." I just thought, well, that's bizarre,' the pop star said.

Dannii added that she has 'gay friends all over the world' and that she was a staunch supporter of their varied journeys.

Dannii got her start in the industry by playing the punky teen Emma Jackson on Home and Away from 1989 - 1990, while her sister Kylie (right) starred as Charlene on Neighbours from 1986 - 1988

I Kissed A Boy has won rave reviews and Dannii will return as the host of the lesbian version, I Kissed A Girl, playing Cupid over ten episodes.

Her latest single We Could Be The One, which was used as I Kissed A Boy's theme tune, also reached No2 in the iTunes download chart.

The Australian popstar has a 13-year-old son called Ethan, who she shares with her ex partner Kris Smith.
As the psychopathic Tommy Lee Royce on BBC drama Happy Valley, James Norton was responsible for ending more than one life.

But in his next  more inspiring  role, the acclaimed actor will be playing a Nobel-winning doctor responsible for bringing countless lives into the world.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the 38-year-old will be portraying medical pioneer Robert Edwards, whose research resulted in the world's first 'test tube baby'  and ultimately more than four million children born through in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Norton was spotted filming scenes for a forthcoming movie about that work, entitled Joy, in the cobbled streets of Cambridge last week.

With him was Thomasin McKenzie, the New Zealand-born star of Last Night In Soho, who will play nurse Jean Purdy, whose key role in the ground-breaking research was overlooked for three decades.

ON SET: Happy Valley's James Norton and Bill Nighy who will be playing gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe

READ MORE: James Norton cuts a stylish figure Dapper: James Norton, 38, cut a stylish display in a white shirt and navy trousers Advertisement

Bill Nighy will be playing gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe, the third member of the medical team whose then-controversial work led to the birth of Louise Joy Brown at Oldham General Hospital in 1978.

Wearing a long-sleeved blue polo shirt, Norton was filmed peering out of a window to watch 23-year-old Ms McKenzie walking down a side street.

In another scene for the movie  directed by Sex Education's Ben Taylor and due for release on Netflix  Ms McKenzie was filmed reading a copy of medical journal The Lancet.

The surroundings would have been familiar for Norton, who graduated from Cambridge with a first-class theology degree in 2007, having studied at Fitzwilliam College.

His character was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 2010 for his work in developing IVF, but Edwards could not share the honour with his colleagues as they had died by then, and the accolade is not awarded posthumously.

Edwards started to study human fertilisation around 1960 and in 1968 he was able to achieve fertilisation of a human egg in the laboratory.

He then started to collaborate with Steptoe.

Purdy was the first to see that a fertilised egg, which was to become Louise Brown, was dividing to make new cells.

Thomasin McKenzie, the New Zealand-born star of Last Night In Soho, who will play nurse Jean Purdy

Pictured: Gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe, embryologist Jean Purdy and physiologist Robert Edwards at the birth of Louise Brown on July 25, 1978

Edwards started to study human fertilisation around 1960 and in 1968 he was able to achieve fertilisation of a human egg in the laboratory

Although she co-wrote 26 papers with her colleagues, Purdy's name was left off a plaque at Oldham marking their work  an oversight only corrected in 2013. She had died in 1985, aged just 39, of a malignant melanoma.

The history-making birth of 5lb 12oz baby Louise on July 25, 1978 was exclusively reported in the Daily Mail with a front-page photograph and the headline: 'The lovely Louise.'

Ms Brown, now a mother of two herself, said last night: 'I'm aware that a film is being made but have not been involved with it. I look forward to seeing it when it is released.'

Edwards died in 2013, aged 87, and Steptoe died in 1988, aged 74.
She has had a famously tumultuous love life, but one man has remained a reassuring constant for Lily James  her close friend Bart Edwards.

The 34-year-old star was seen enjoying a low-key day out in London last weekend with Edwards, a fellow actor who stars in Netflix series The Witcher and who has known Lily since they were teenagers.

Lily, who was dressed casually in an oatmeal roll-necked jumper and beige jeans from Still Here New York, enjoyed lunch in Primrose Hill with Edwards and their friend Will Rogers before taking a stroll for some Italian ice cream.

The pair, who are both from Surrey, met when they attended Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire.

Over the years, Edwards, also 34, has shared a series of photographs of himself with Lily on his Instagram page to mark her birthday, revealing the depth of their enduring friendship.

The 34-year-old star was seen enjoying a low-key day out in London last weekend with Edwards, a fellow actor who stars in Netflix series The Witcher and who has known Lily since they were teenagers

The pair, who are both from Surrey, met when they attended Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire

Over the years, Edwards, also 34, has shared a series of photographs of himself with Lily on his Instagram page to mark her birthday, revealing the depth of their enduring friendship

One, posted on April 5, 2021  Lily's 32nd birthday  features the pair laughing on a private jet, holding flutes of champagne, with the caption: 'May bubbly beverages spurt out of our noses again very soon.'

The previous year, Edwards posted a trio of images of himself with Lily, including one featuring her in a Santa hat which appeared to have been taken when they were teenagers, and a more recent shot at what looks like a white-tie ball.

In 2019, he posted a video of the pair in swimwear on a grey beach, 'on one of our annual attempts to swim to Holland'. In it, Lily was wearing a white fluffy bear hat. Her most recent romantic relationship was with Queens Of The Stone Age rocker Michael Shuman.

The pair split in February after a two-year romance, but they were seen at Glastonbury together in June, sparking rumours that they had reunited. Lily was also previously linked to married Crown actor Dominic West while filming The Pursuit Of Love together.

She also had a five-year relationship with former Doctor Who Matt Smith.

The actress is set to appear alongside Kristin Scott Thomas on the London stage later this month in a new play, Lyonesse, about a reclusive actress planning a comeback.
Kaia Gerber looked effortlessly chic in a beige trench coat as she stepped out during Paris Fashion Week.

The model, 22, toted her look with a grey top and navy trousers, and added black strappy ballerina shoes.

She carried the essentials in a black tote bag as she made a stylish exit after a fitting at Maison Valentino.

The daughter of Cindy Crawford accessorised with brown squared sunglasses, and wore her brown locks loose straight.

Kaia looked in good spirit as she flashed a smile on her way out.

Oozing style: Kaia Gerber, 22, looked effortlessly chic in a beige trench coat as she stepped out during Paris Fashion Week

Chic: The model toted her look with a grey top and navy trousers, and added black strappy ballerina shoes

It comes after the model made a stunning appearance as she graced The Row's catwalk on Wednesday, as she joined Kendall Jenner.

She opted for an oversized grey blazer which she teamed with matching smart trousers and a black shirt.

Kaia completed her look with dark shades and wore dangly gold earrings as she headed inside.

The brunette beauty boosted her height with simple black heels and wore her dark tresses in a poker-straight style.

Meanwhile, Kendall looked sophisticated in a double breasted sage green trench coat that was tucked into a black pencil skirt.

The Row is a fashion company set up by Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen.

Kaia - who is dating Elvis actor Austin Butler - appeared to arrive at the show by herself.

Butler and Gerber were first spotted together shortly after Gerber broke things off with her previous boyfriend, Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in 2021.

Busy: She carried the essentials in a black tote bag as she made a stylish exit after a fitting at Maison Valentino

Gorgeous: The daughter of Cindy Crawford accessorised with brown squared sunglasses, and wore her brown locks loose straight

They made their first red carpet appearance at a W Magazine party in Los Angeles in March 2022, just months before attending the Met Gala together.

Austin was also seen cutting a suave figure in a black glittering pinstripe suit and long coat as he attended the Saint Laurent Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday.

It's unclear if Kaia was able to wrap her role as popular social media star Chloe Benson in Max Minghella's psychological sci-fi thriller Shell before the SAG-AFTRA strike commenced on July 14.

Two-time Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss and Oscar nominee Kate Hudson co-star with Gerber in the movie 'set in a near future when humanity's cultural obsession with youth and beauty has been taken to new extremes.'

Butler's next film, Dune: Part Two, will be pushed from its October release date to March 2024.

There were reports in July that indicated Warner Bros. might push the highly-anticipated sequel into the new year.

While Butler wasn't seen in the first Dune, he stars as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in the second part of director Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic novel.

He will next be seen in the Apple TV Plus mini-series Masters of the Air, based on the true story of the 100th Bombardment Group of the United States Air Force during WWII.

He'll also be seen in director Jeff Nichols' crime drama The Bikeriders alongside Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer and Michael Shannon, in theaters December 1.

Butler has also signed on to star as Danny Ryan in City on Fire, a movie adaptation of the first book in a crime drama trilogy by author Don Winslow.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict spans over three decades, rooted in territorial disputes between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Despite internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, the region is predominantly Armenian-populated. Recent tensions, exacerbated by border restrictions, pose a risk of genocide. International intervention is crucial to ensure ethnic Armenians safety and regional peace.

The conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region is now more than three decades old. This disputed territory lies in the mountainous South Caucasus region, situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Known as Artsakh to Armenians, this landlocked region falls within the sovereign borders of Azerbaijan, but it is predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians. While internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan, it is currently home to over 120,000 Armenians who resist being under Azerbaijani control. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia fought in the 1980s and 1990s to gain control of this hilly region, but were unsuccessful in their attempts.

As the conflict has resurfaced, it is worth examining the historical background of the issue. In 1923, Vladimir Lenin, the first leader of the USSR who ruled the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924, established the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. At that time, it was home to a 95 per cent ethnic Armenian population. The problem arose in 1988, just two years before the dissolution of the USSR, when the regional legislature of Nagorno-Karabakh passed a resolution indicating its desire to join Armenia, despite the region being an integral part of Azerbaijan. It is widely understood that ethno-nationalism has played a vital role in mobilising people for nationhood since the beginning of modern civilisation. This strongly influenced the Armenians living in this enclave, and they gradually prepared themselves to become a part of neighbouring Armenia. With the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, both Armenia and Azerbaijan became independent nations.

Meanwhile, the Nagorno-Karabakh oblast declared independence, leading to intense fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. By 1993, the Armenian security forces had occupied the region and also gained control over 20 per cent of the neighbouring Azerbaijani territory. In 1994, Boris Yeltsin, the first leader of the Russian Federation, successfully negotiated a peace deal known as the Bishkek Protocol between the two former Soviet Republics.

However, it did not resolve the territorial dispute and left the Nagorno-Karabakh region de facto independent. Peace between the two warring neighbours was maintained for some time with the influence of Moscow. However, once the USSR disintegrated, these peripheral republics became more conscious of their rights, priorities, and sovereign frontiers and they tried to re-establish their external relations with other nations around the globe.

From 1994 to 2015, there was peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 2016, heavy fighting erupted once again. Then, in late September 2020, fresh clashes broke out along the Azerbaijan-Nagorno-Karabakh border. Azerbaijan regained much of the territory from Armenia and left a small portion of Karabakh to Armenia. The war came to an end with a Russia-brokered peace deal in November 2020.

The most significant aspect of this agreement was the establishment of the Lachin Corridor, which allowed Armenia to connect to the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave under strict monitoring by Russian peacekeepers. The main trouble started in December 2022 when activists from Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin Corridor, halting all supplies coming to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia. This further led to the opening of a checkpoint by the Azerbaijani government on the corridor, alleging the supply of arms to Armenian separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

To put an end to the hostilities between the two neighbours, the US, Russia, and the European Union hosted talks with representatives from Baku and Yerevan. Finally, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made considerable progress towards peace after constant intervention by the major powers and pressure from the UN to maintain tranquility in the region. It is positive for the international community that Pashinyan recognised the entire Nagorno-Karabakh enclave as the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. He also emphasised that Baku must respect the internationally recognised boundary of Armenia and ensure the protection of ethnic Armenians living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

What has happened in Nagorno-Karabakh now? On September 19, in the days following the opening of the Lachin border, people from both sides of the frontier hoped that normalcy would be back to the disputed territory. This deal came as a result of an understanding between the Azerbaijan Government and the Armenian separatists of the Nagorno-Karabakh oblast. The agreement aimed to reopen two disputed transport routes, including a crucial link road known as the Lachin Corridor.

What has really worsened the ground situation is that for the last more than nine months, Azerbaijan authorities are tightly restricting the movements of the Armenian Government with the Nagorno-Karabakh oblast through the Lachin Corridor.

Earlier Azerbaijan accused Armenia of smuggling arms and ammunition by using this route to the Nagorno-Karabakh. When the historic deal was sealed between two warring nations, the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh declared the election of a new President named Samvel Shahramanyan for it simultaneously. This move, which irked the Azerbaijani Government, was declared as illegal. For Baku, this election is purely illegal. Azerbaijan referred to the government as a puppet separatist regime at the heart of all troubles between the two nations.

While echoing concerns for a new flare-up, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry reiterated that 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 disbandment of the puppet regime.

Meanwhile, both Ukraine and Turkey voiced support for Azerbaijans claim over Karabakh and denounced the election held in the region. The European Union has taken a very cautious stand by saying that it did not recognise the election but wanted the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh to consolidate around its de facto leadership while dealing with Armenia.

Many in Armenia fear that the people in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave may face genocide in 2023. The way Baku is asserting control over the disputed territory is alarming. We are all aware of the Armenian genocide of 1915, when people of Armenian origin were massacred in Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. It is ironic that the US remained silent about the Armenian genocide until 2021, when President Biden finally publicly recognised it.

Currently, the ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh oblast need the support of global governance institutions like the UN, as well as intervention from major powers such as the US, the Russian Federation, and the European Union, to prevent a potential genocide in the enclave.

What is concerning are the messages coming from Baku and President Aliyev. In the past, Aliyev did not abide by the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which instructed Baku to reopen the Lachin Corridor. He has consistently disregarded requests from the UN and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to comply with the ICJs ruling. His government has assured the international community that reintegration will bring development and prosperity to Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, it is alarming that since 2010, Aliyev has reportedly stated that Armenia itself is Western Azerbaijan, and last December, he declared that present-day Armenia is our land. Furthermore, for years, Azerbaijan has maintained that Armenia is an illegitimate state. These are serious warning signals for the entire world, for Armenia, and for the conflict-ridden Nagorno-Karabakh oblast.

At present, Azerbaijani forces have fully occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh region whose separatist leaders have laid down their arms. However, thousands of ethnic Armenians are fleeing to Armenia, fearing for their lives and the sudden change in the status quo.

It is time for the international community to ensure the future safety of ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan. President Aliyev must work towards restoring peace and tranquility to the Nagorno-Karabakh region. He should refrain from seeking further escalation of the crisis. Otherwise, pressure on Pashinyan might lead Armenian forces to reclaim the oblast, potentially sparking a bloody war in the region.

The time has come for both Baku and Yerevan to bid farewell to arms.

(The writer is currently president of the Global Research Foundation)
Affirming that the Aspirational Districts Programme has positively impacted over 25 crore people across 112 districts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated on Saturday that he plans to return next year to assess its progress.

During an event launching Sankalp Saptaah linked to the Aspirational Blocks Programme, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Aspirational Blocks Programme Portal, declaring, For me, this gathering is no less important than the G20.

He emphasised that the programme represents the success of Team Bharat and the spirit of Sabka Prayas.

The PM highlighted that the Aspirational Districts Programme has transformed these areas into inspirational districts. He announced an ambitious goal: within the next year, at least 100 out of 500 aspirational blocks will become inspirational.

Modi urged officials from various ministries to select 100 blocks that are lagging behind in their respective departments and elevate them above the national average on various parameters.

Expressing confidence in meeting again in October-November 2024 for an evaluation, Modi addressed an audience that included government officials, representatives from approximately 3,000 panchayats and blocks, and functionaries from across the country.

Around two lakh individuals, including block and panchayat-level functionaries, farmers, and local residents, virtually participated in the event. The Prime Minister noted that the Aspirational Districts Programme will hold a significant place in any list of the top 10 programmes of independent India.

At the Bharat Mandapam event, Modi contrasted the venues previous role in hosting world leaders discussions on global matters with its current focus on grassroots-level issues involving participants from all corners of the country.

The international convention and exhibition center at Pragati Maidan, which hosted the G20 Summit during Indias presidency, played a pivotal role.

Modi emphasised the crucial importance of optimal resource utilisation, convergence, and public involvement in grassroots development.

Drawing from his extensive government experience, he stressed that budget allocation alone is insufficient for creating change. Through efficient resource utilisation and convergence, progress can be achieved without additional funds.

The Prime Minister emphasised the need for equitable resource distribution and urged increased public participation in achieving goals.

He engaged with block-level officers from three aspirational districts: Baheri (Uttar Pradesh), Mankote (Jammu and Kashmir), and Resubelpara (Meghalaya).

Each day of Sankalp Saptaah, from October 3 to October 9, focuses on a specific development theme, with all aspirational blocks actively participating.
In a grand celebration of linguistic diversity and the significance of the Hindi language, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal, organized the main function of Hindi Pakhwada on Friday.

The event was graced by Prof. (Dr.) Ajai Singh, Executive Director of AIIMS, Bhopal, who presided as the chief guest.

Hindi Pakhwada, a two-week-long celebration dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the Hindi language, serves as a platform for showcasing the cultural and linguistic heritage of India. The event was a remarkable occasion, emphasizing the importance of Hindi in our everyday lives and official communications.

Dr. Pankaj Goel, Chairman of the Hindi Pakhwada Organizing Committee, began the event

by reading out a heartfelt message from the Hon'ble Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, underscoring the significance of Hindi in uniting the diverse fabric of our nation. Mayank Kapoor, Senior Administrative Officer, also contributed to the event by presenting the message of the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. (Dr.) Ajai Singh expressed his thoughts on the immense unifying power of the Hindi language. He emphasized that Hindi transcends regional, communal, and linguistic boundaries, and it has the unique ability to bring people together.

Dr. Singh encouraged everyone to make dedicated efforts to promote the use of Hindi in both official and daily life, ensuring its vitality for generations to come.

As part of the festivities, a bilingual monograph prepared by the Physiology Department of AIIMS, Bhopal, and the departmental magazine, Sadhya Pratibimb were released. These publications showcase the scholarly contributions of the institution and its commitment to promoting Hindi language and culture.

In recognition of the participants' exceptional efforts and achievements during various competitions organized between September 14 and September 29, 2023, winners and participants were felicitated with cash prizes and trophies.


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Bharatiya Janata Party state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhry said that the party was committed to the development of Scheduled Caste and the policies of both the central and the state governments were the reflection of BJPs commitment to uplift the marginalised society.

He was addressing a meeting of Scheduled Caste Morcha which was attended by BJP state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh, office bearers of the Scheduled Caste Morcha, central and state government ministers, MPs, MLAs, Mayors, district panchayat presidents and municipal council heads.

Chaudhary, emphasised the partys commitment to the development of Scheduled Caste and lauded the Central government, policies meant for the upliftment of Scheduled Caste.

Today, the BJP has the highest representation of Scheduled Caste MPs and MLAs across the country. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, five significant memorials dedicated to Dr BR Ambedkar have been established in Mahu (birthplace), Nagpur (place of conversion), Mumbai (place of enlightenment), London (place of education) and Delhi (place of Mahaparinirvana), he said.

The state BJP president also commended the collaborative efforts of the central government and the state government emphasising their commitment to the mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas.

During the meeting, Dharampal Singh discussed in detail the initiatives and programmes being undertaken by the Scheduled Caste Morcha. He emphasised the Basti Sampark Abhiyan, which involves direct interaction with beneficiaries in the slums, as well as engagement with enlightened members of society, retired officials, athletes, folk artists and other prominent figures.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has congratulated the people of the state for Wildlife Week. Chief Minister Chouhan urged for taking inspiration from the Mission Life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and taking a pledge to conserve the environment and wild animals. The Chief Minister has said that Madhya Pradesh has its own identity on the world stage for bio-diversity. Tourists from across the world come to see the wild animals of Madhya Pradesh.

Chouhan said that wild animals like tiger, leopard, vulture, crocodile, bear etc. move freely in the state. According to All India Tiger Census-2022, Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number of 785 tigers in the country and the state has retained the first position as a tiger state. Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of leopard, wolf, crocodile and vulture. Madhya Pradesh has also successfully re-located cheetahs and this is the reason why the state is also called the state of cheetah, leopard, wolf, crocodile and vulture. It is the result of the states wildlife conservation policy that the number of wild animals is continuously increasing. This is an indicator of a healthy eco-system.

Chouhan said that this earth belongs to animals, birds, creatures and trees as much as it belongs to humans. The same consciousness resides in all of us. If we want to save the earth for the future generations, then we all will have to make combine efforts day and night with the government to conserve and enhance its bio-diversity and natural wealth. Only the active co-operation of the society and the public can make it a mass movement. With this in mind, Wildlife Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 October to increase awareness among the general public about the conservation of wild animals and we reiterate our pledge towards the conservation of forests and wild animals.

Chouhan said that various public awareness programmes are being organised across the state on Wildlife Week. During this period, various programmes will provide an opportunity to students and the general public to understand nature and natural processes and also enhance their sense of wildlife conservation.
Notorious criminal KP Pawar alias Krishnapal was arrested by Bhanwarkuan police in case of district externment period violation.

A total of 9 criminal cases of extortion, molestation, assault, arson, theft and vandalism are registered against the miscreant who violated the District extetnment Court period in Indore city and rural areas including Bhanwar Kuan.

To control crime and criminals in the city Police Commissioner, Urban Indore Makrand Deuskar and Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Indore Manish Kapuria are working to curb habitual criminals to maintain law and order in the city. Instructions were given to take preventive action continuously.

In pursuance of the above instructions, Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone-4 Indore RK Singh directed Police station in-charge Rajkumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone-4 Abhinay Vishwakarma and Assistant Commissioner of Police Section Juni Indore Devendra Singh Dhurve to check the crime and criminals in their zone
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami received a rousing welcome on his return to Dehradun from a four-day tour of Britain on Saturday. Cabinet ministers, MLAs and Bharatiya Janata Party workers gathered to receive the chief minister who landed in a helicopter at the Bannu school ground here in the morning. The CM had gone to Britain to woo investors and invite them to the global investors summit slated to be held in Dehradun during December. During his Britain tour, the State government signed memoranda of understanding with various companies for investments amounting to about Rs 12,500 crore. The ministers and other public representatives thanked Dhami for his efforts.

Officials stated that in addition to the agreements for investments amounting to Rs 12,500 crore, an agreement was also reached with the British Tourism minister to prepare a work plan aimed at increasing the flow of tourists between Uttarakhand and Britain.

Cabinet ministers Satpal Maharaj, Prem Chand Agarwal, Ganesh Joshi, Subodh Uniyal, Rekha Arya, BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt, MLAs and party workers were among those who met the chief minister after his return to Dehradun.
Forest minister Subodh Uniyal said that recently the entire Narendranagar city was displayed as Forest department land which is against the provisions of the Merger Act. The minister said that the Tehri state had merged with India in 1949 under the Merger Act. It is the priority of the government to ensure observance of the conditions of the merger. He directed officials to identify the revenue and forest land in the area within 40 days. The minister said this while chairing a review meeting with Forest department officials here on Saturday.

Uniyal told the officials that about 323 hectare land in Narendranagar was in the name of the king of Tehri and the local people. The Forest department had also agreed to the 1964 settlement. He said that according to the Merger Act, the 222 hectare private land of the erstwhile king of Tehri and 101 hectare land should be identified and demarcated so that the proper identification of the Forest department land can be ensured. A committee has been formed recently under the chief secretary for identification of revenue and forest lands. This committee will be able to take suitable decisions on such disputed lands in the State, he said. The minister said, As a citizen from Narendranagar it is also my responsibility to ensure redressal of the dispute regarding revenue land and forest land on a priority basis. For this purpose the officials have been directed to identify the land within 40 days, he said.

The Tehri district magistrate Mayur Dixit, principal chief conservator of forests Anup Malik and other departmental officials were also present in the meeting.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited Bhalswa landfill site on Saturday and said about 45 lakh tonnes of waste from it is expected to be processed and reduced by May next year. Interacting with reporters at the site, Kejriwal said once 45 lakh tonnes of waste gets reduced, 35 acres of land will be reclaimed, which can be reused in multiple ways.

There are three landfill sites in Delhi, located at Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur. Kejriwal said Bhalswa landfill site has about 60-65 lakh tonnes of municipal waste spread over 72 acres, and besides legacy waste, 2,000 tonnes of fresh waste is getting added daily to the massive dump.

The goal was to remove approximately 30 lakh tonnes of trash from the Bhalswa landfill site within the next 18 months. By September 30, 2023, the target was to remove around 14 lakh tonnes of garbage. I am delighted to report that the work of clearing trash is progressing much faster than the set target. Not only has the goal of removing 14 lakh tonnes of garbage by September been achieved, but more garbage has been cleared than the target specified. By September, the Bhalswa landfill site had cleared 18 lakh tonnes of garbage instead of the designated 14 lakh tones, Kejriwal said.

The chief minister said the target for the agency working on the waste processing at Bhalswa landfill site is to reduce waste by 30 lakh tonnes by May 15, 2024.

But, given the speed of work, about 45 lakh tonne waste is expected to be reduced by May 15 next year," he said.

The Chief Minister mentioned that the agency responsible for garbage removal has been given a target to remove 30 lakh tonnes of garbage by May 15, 2024. The pace at which the agency is working is expected to result in the removal of 45 lakh tonnes of garbage by May 15, 2024, instead of the initially set 30 lakh tonnes. It is reported that approximately 60 to 65 lakh tonnes of garbage are at the Bhalswa landfill site. In addition to this, the site receives about 2,000 tonnes of new garbage daily. The process of hiring another agency is underway so that both agencies can work together to completely clear the Bhalswa landfill site.

In a statement, the AAP government said that during this visit, the Chief Minister found that garbage was being removed from the Bhalswa landfill site faster than the set target.

For processing the balance waste, another agency is to be hired, initial work for which has been completed, but the tendering process is getting stalled as the process has to get through the standing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

The MCD panel will be formed as per the directions of the Supreme Court, so, we are trying to find an alternative solution, he said. Kejriwal further explained that when the current agency clears 45 lakh tonnes of garbage by May 15 next year, approximately 35 acres of land here will be vacant. Once all the garbage is cleared, there will be a significant amount of available land.

The chief minister said he will also visit the other two landfill sites very soon. During the visit, Kejriwal was accompanied by Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi, Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal, Leader of House in MCD, Mukesh Goyal and AAP's MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak.

Delhi Mayor Dr Shelly Oberai informed the media that the process of appointing an additional agency for this is in its final stages. Delhi will be freed from garbage mountains ahead of schedule, she added.
Senior Congress leader and former AICC President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday compared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to Nathuram Godse, assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, while describing the difference in ideologies between the two parties.

Gandhi was speaking at a 'Jan Aakrosh' rally of the Congresss party in the poll-bound Madhya Pradeshs Kalapipal (Shajapur district). This is a fight of ideologies. On one side, there is the Congress party and on the other side, the RSS and BJP. On one side, there is Mahatma Gandhi and on the other, there is Godse, he said.

He claimed that the fight between the Congress and the BJP was hatred versus love and brotherhood.

Wherever they go they spread hatred. With this, Madhya Pradeshs farmers and youth have started hating them. They are getting back what they did with people, he told the huge gathering.

He stated that he met several farmers in Madhya Pradesh during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

We walked 370 kilometres in Madhya Pradesh and met farmers, women and young people of the state. They told me a few things. The amount of corruption done by the BJP in Madhya Pradesh has not been witnessed anywhere in the country, he said, adding that farmers told that they dont get adequate price for their produce. In Chhattisgarh, we give Rs 2,500 for rice. We promised it and we fulfilled it, he addded.

At the rally, Rahul Gandhi said that if Congress is elected to power, it will conduct a caste census.

Making his first appearance in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of not giving the Other Backward Class (OBC) community real power and made a pitch for a caste census as an election promise.

Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning his claim of working for OBCs, and said that Madhya Pradesh was the epicentre of corruption.

Gandhis speech comes at a time when the Congress is sharpening its push for stronger OBC representation and is seen as a counter to the BJPs aggressive Hindutva politics and a recognition that PM Modis mass appeal as an OBC leader has eroded Congress support in the community.

Narendra Modi, you claim to work for OBCs, you are their leader, then why have you not included OBC reservation within womens reservation? Narendra Modi claims that the BJP is for OBCs and you are their MLAs and MPs. I saw the statistics before the speech, first of all, the Congress has had three OBC chief ministers, Gandhi said.

The country, he added, was run by 90 officers, of which only three belonged to the OBC community. The truth is, 90 officers run the government of India (the cabinet secretary and secretary of the Government of India). These 90 people decide where the money will go and how much will be allocated. Now, I want to ask you a question- BJP has been in power for 10 years, and 90 officers are running the government of India. Narendra Modi says that you are a part of the government of India. Tell me, how much involvement do you have with these three OBC officers in the budget? Gandhi asked.

Rahul Gandhi claimed that he had questioned and criticised the government over the Adani issue in Parliament, which led to his Lok Sabha membership being cancelled. He further emphasized that Adani plays a pivotal role in the agricultural distress plaguing the country, stating, " Adani is 'taking' money directly from farmers' pockets".
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday honoured the police personnel who solved the Raigarh district's Axis Bank robbery and announced special incentives for them.

A gang from Bihar carried out a robbery taking away money running into crores from an Axis Bank branch on September 19.

But due to the promptness and coordination of the police in Raigarh and Balrampur districts, the gang was caught within 24 hours and all the stolen loot was recovered.

Baghel said the Chhattisgarh Police is working with complete dedication and deserved to be honoured for their commendable work. Raigarh Senior Superintendent of Police Sadanand Kumar and Balrampur Superintendent of Police Lal Umed Singh expressed their gratitude along with the police personnel involved in the case.
Court of Nineteenth Additional Sessions Judge/Special Special Judge, Bhopal, Rashmi Mishra sentenced rape accused of ten years of rigorous imprisonment.

Raju Lodhi, accused of rape under section 376 (2) for committing wrongdoing on the pretext of marriage. After finding the accused Raju Lodhi guilty in the Indian Penal Code, the decision has been passed to sentence the accused Raju Lodhi to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 376 (2)(n) of the Indian Penal Code and a fine of Rs 5,000, in case of non-payment of the fine, an additional rigorous imprisonment of 06 months.

In the case, the government has been represented by Special Public Prosecutor Deepti Patel and Manisha Patel.

On December 2, 2015, the mother of the victim lodged a missing complaint with the police.

Based on the complaint a case under section 363 of Indian Penal Code was registered and investigation was started.

During the investigation, on December 7 the victim was rescued and in her statements she revealed that Raju alias Deepak Lodhi was sexually exploiting her for several and after the medical examination of the accused case under section 366, 376 (2) of Indian Penal Code and section 3 and 6 of sexual offenses of POCSO Act were registered against the accused.

On the basis of evidence, the Court has punished the accused Raju Lodhi with 10 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 376 (2) (n) of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile Court of 6th Additional Sessions Judge Rajeev K Pal has sentenced accused DK Kapoor and Saroj Kapoor for 3 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Accused were been booked under Section 13(2) and 3(1)E Prevention of Corruption Act.

accused DK Kapoor and Saroj Kapoor were sentenced to 3 years rigorous imprisonment under Section 13(2) R,W, Prevention of Corruption Act.

Information was received that the then Additional Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh Housing Board, Bhopal, accused D.K. Kapoor been acquired massive wealth through illegal means while holding a government post.
Many senior citizens in Dehradun have appreciated the initiative undertaken by the Doon police to ensure their safety and wellbeing. Recently, Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh has instructed all police officers to visit elderly individuals residing in the district whose children do not live with them. In addition, he has directed officials to inquire about the wellbeing of the senior citizens and provide them with necessary assistance.

According to Singh, the safety of senior citizens is among the top priorities for him. He informed that he has instructed all the police station in-charges to inquire about the needs elderly people and their expectation from the police from time to time.

A senior citizen, Pushpa Arora said that the implementation of such an initiative by the police department is commendable as it will contribute to the physical and mental wellbeing of the elderly individuals. She said that she is 60-years-old and her children live in another city due to work commitments. She said that she often worries about her health and wellbeing as she lives alone in Dehradun. However, she believes that this initiative by the police will not only enhance her physical wellbeing but also provide her with a sense of mental security. She hopes that she will have the opportunity to discuss her personal concerns with the police officers, she added.

Another senior citizen Gulshan Chaturvedi said, I would like to express my admiration for the recent initiative undertaken by the Doon police aimed at improving the wellbeing of senior citizens in the city. This initiative is crucial as many senior citizens live alone and often experience feelings of depression. By implementing such measures, the Doon police will contribute to alleviating this issue and provide much needed support for the elderly.

State programme manager of HelpAge India Krishna Avtar told this correspondent, The new initiative undertaken by the Doon police for the elderly population deserves commendation. The police have efficiently compiled and maintained a comprehensive database regarding senior citizens. Through this initiative, senior citizens will be empowered by acquiring knowledge about their rights and will be safeguarded from any potential acts of cruelty. With such an initiative, the Doon police will contribute to a reduction in the crime rate targeting senior citizens.

He further appealed to the police to consider organising training programmes for senior citizens within the city, focusing on digital literacy. Such a programme will equip the elderly individuals with valuable skills and knowledge regarding various aspects of the digital platform, he added.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths unwavering commitment to combating crime and criminals is yielding remarkable results in the prevention of heinous crimes.

A recent high-level meeting on law and order held in the state capital saw top officials of the Uttar Pradesh police presenting a comprehensive report covering the past eight months to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The report underscored a substantial decrease in grave crimes, including murder, robbery, dacoity and rape over the last six years in the state.

During the meeting, officials presented data regarding the top five districts that promptly addressed and curbed such cases, as well as the bottom five districts that showed poor performance. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued a stern warning to officers from districts that fell short.

The chief minister said that if significant improvements were not evident in the next months review meeting, further measures would be taken.

Over the past eight months, there is a 9.02 per cent decline in murder cases across the state. However, some districts, including Mahoba, Shravasti, Sitapur, Jalaun, and Kaushambi, have witnessed an uptick in criminal incidents. In response, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials in these districts to take stringent measures to control the situation.

Regarding murder cases, districts like Chandauli, Auraiya, Lalitpur and Banda have displayed poor performance, prompting the chief minister to issue a stern warning to officers.

Similarly, the state has reported a decline of 24.61 per cent in robbery cases. But, some districts including Maharajganj, Lalitpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Balrampur and Kasganj, have shown an increase in robbery incidents. On the other hand, districts such as Firozabad, Shahjahanpur, Moradabad, Saharanpur and Pilibhit have demonstrated prompt action in addressing robbery cases.

The meeting also disclosed in dacoity cases there has been a 16.22 per cent decline. However, districts such as Varanasi, Jhansi, Amethi, Auraiya and Kannauj have witnessed an increase in dacoity cases. Conversely, districts like Firozabad, Barabanki, Sitapur, Lalitpur and Kasganj have excelled in addressing dacoity cases, while Kannauj, Hathras, Badaun, Auraiya and Prayagraj Commissionerate require improvement in performance.

The meeting highlighted that 1,869 rape cases were registered, with charge sheets filed in 1,359 cases and final reports in 220 instances. Presently, 290 cases remain under investigation. Out of the 2,578 accused involved in these cases, action has been taken against 2,325, while 253 remain wanted.

Some districts, including Fatehgarh, Sitapur, Kheri, Kaushambi and Hamirpur, reported an increase in rape cases. Conversely, the top five districts that efficiently addressed rape cases include Badaun, Moradabad, Bijnor, Amroha and Sambhal. However, the performance of Prayagraj Commissionerate, Shahjahanpur, Balrampur, Kaushambi and Fatehpur in addressing rape cases was deemed inadequate.

The results of the meeting underscore the positive impact of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths zero tolerance policy on crime prevention in Uttar Pradesh. Authorities are determined to maintain and further improve law and order in the state, ensuring the safety and security of its residents.
In order to ensure benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana reach the intended beneficiaries (farmers), the Uttar Pradesh government will run an intensive campaign to conduct Aadhaar seeding and e-KYC till October 15. Under the campaign, Nyaya Panchayat and Revenue, village-wise nominated personnel will contact the farmers door to door with the list of pending e-KYC and complete the work of e-KYC and Aadhaar seeding.

Furthermore, an e-KYC campaign will also be conducted in village-level rabi symposium and kisan pathshalas. The state government has issued detailed guidelines for conducting this campaign.

It is noteworthy that before releasing the 15th installment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the Central government has issued an order to conduct e-KYC along with Bhulekh marking and Aadhaar seeding of bank accounts of all eligible farmers.

The Central government has set the deadline of October 15, 2023 to complete the e-KYC and Aadhaar seeding work for eligible farmers, as identified through land seeding. As per the intention of the Central government, the Yogi government has issued instructions to run this campaign in mission mode in the state till October 15.

The district agriculture officers will conduct meetings in their respective districts under the chairmanship of the district magistrates, with the coordination of India Post Payment Bank and Jan Seva Kendra coordinators, to plan the micro-planning of the comprehensive campaign.

At the district level, the chief development officer will be the nodal officer for monitoring the progress of the PM-Kisan e-KYC saturation campaign for Aadhaar seeding, which will be carried out daily by revenue village-nominated personnel, along with Jan Seva Kendra. The chief development officer will also review the linking of pending land-seeded bank accounts.




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The Uttar Pradesh government is gearing up to make Krishi Kumbh 2.0, likely to be held in the second week of December this year, a global event. The government earned appreciation across the country for organising the first Krishi Kumbh in 2018.

Reviewing preparations for the Krishi Kumbh 2.0 at a high-level meeting on Saturday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that every district of the state and every state of the country should participate in the event, displaying the best practices taking place in the agriculture sector.

The Krishi Kumbh will enable our farmers to become more prosperous from a technical point of view. This event will provide information on technology and innovation being adopted in the agriculture sector across the world from seed to market, the CM said.

The chief minister said that more than two lakh farmers, 10 partner countries and over 500 national/international companies/institutions are likely to participate in the second edition of Krishi Kumbh.

Union ministers, reputed national and international companies/institutions of agriculture and related sectors, all agricultural universities, agricultural science centres, and progressive farmers should be invited to participate in the event, the CM said.

Discussing the global nature of the conference, the chief minister said that many innovative works related to farming are being done in countries like Japan, Israel, Croatia, Poland, Peru, Germany, the USA, Philippines, South Korea and Indonesia.

On the lines of the Global Investors Summit, efforts should be made to contact the Indian embassies/high commissions in the respective countries and make these countries participants in the Krishi Kumbh as partners, he said.

It may be mentioned that the main event of the conference will be held at the Indian Sugarcane Research Institute in Lucknow, a curtain raiser will also be organised in New Delhi.

Elaborating on the various aspects of Krishi Kumbh, the chief minister said that discussions should be held on cow-based natural farming, preparedness to face the challenges of climate change, promotion of food grain, FPO-based business and reducing the cost of farming, along with stubble management, efforts to increase the contribution of the agriculture sector to make the state a $1 trillion economy.

As per the directions of the state government, various departments/organisations will organise seminars with the participation of experts and exhibitions on a wide range of subjects, including integrated farming, use of drones, achievements of horticulture sector, cattle protection, progress of silk industry, agro-forestry, floriculture, agricultural entrepreneurship, agricultural diversification, agri startup, digital agriculture, etc.

A state-level workshop will be organised in October to introduce the specialties of tasty and nutritious millets like jowar, bajra, madua, sawa, kodo, kakun, kutki, chena, kuttu and ramdana. As per the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, various products/dishes of millets will be demonstrated in this workshop to be organised under the Uttar Pradesh Shri Anna (Millets) Revitalisation Programme.

FPOs, entrepreneurs and farmers working on millets will be honoured. Along with public representatives, hotel associations/chefs, school children, FPOs, etc will also be invited to this special workshop on millets proposed to be held at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow.
Jayanta Mahapatra, revered Indian poet, delved into human psyche with poignant verses. His works, spanning social disparity and existential reflection, resonate beyond accolades. His legacy is one of profound introspection and empathetic insight, leaving an enduring impact

All the poetry there is in the world/appears to rise out of the ashes.

Jayanta Mahapatra in All The Poetry There is

Poetry and poetic experiences are strange phenomena. That was the precise reason Plato banned poets from entering his ideal Republic. Athenian society, at the zenith of rationality, offered poison to Socrates. Socratess fault was his belief in the power of scrutiny, of judgement. He found an unexamined life is not worth living. Genuine poets pierce through the layers an unexamined life is made of and then let gathered clouds in their minds get scattered by the sunlight of their musings.

Jayanta Mahapatra, such a poet, was one of the most revered doyens of English poetry in India who delved into deep, unexplored human psyche wherein he slipped into pseudo-realistic visions: more real than real. We lost him.

I knew him since 2005 when the then Sahitya Akademi's Secretary Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee introduced me to him. Since then we cherished a relationship words can hardly describe. Many handwritten letters, a few telephonic conversations and his FOREWORD to my book of poems SHADOWS OF THE REAL are the aftermath. I went to meet him once at Jaipur Airport but briefly, when he was returning from Ajmer after attending a literary programme. He was old but far from serious illnesses. The warmth of his embrace is still a treasure with me.

During the course of more than fifteen years of association, I chanced upon reading many of his poetry books including Relationship that fetched him Sahitya Akademi Award in 1981. He sent me a number of issues of the prestigious literary journal Chandrabhaga. He wanted me to read The Hudson Review from the USA that I subscribed to and was immensely pleased to read Mahapatras long letter to its Editor (one of the features of the magazine was to feature each issue a long letter from worlds top litterateurs across the world.)

If I were to summarise Mahapatras poetry, I find it in one of the issues of Chandrabhaga, where he pens in First Page, It is a small life I live. Perhaps in the way I am, doing small things, like plucking a half-ripe guava from the tree in our yard, the green cozying up to my senses, the mesmerising aroma waking me up.Perhaps one should not be one of those who suffer because the world is a wreck, its hard to say. Does it matter?

But look at concluding lines that amaze:

Its my job to love people again and again. To feel flowers blossoming in the sun, butterflies dipping into the pollen.

He was certainly not the poet of the great and prosperous. He evolved over a number of years through his penetrating observations and interactions. He developed a tender fellow feeling for the men, women and children on the margin.

Hope lay perhaps in burning the home I lived in.

He writes in HUNGER. Readers can interpret the way they wish.

Always there was the question in his lips, the bewilderment in his eyes, the rebellion of his soul. He spent his last days in extreme loneliness tackling the tyranny of his memories and dreams. He writes in SPRING, Somehow it seems the light/has spent its night in anothers arms/But its here with me now/with a story of a million words. He had faith in the power of words. He transferred his own fluid moment into the frozen store of memory and surveyed his dreams through a pragmatic eye.

His poetry is about truth, justice, deprivation, self-delusion, anxiety, self-pacification and solace. His poetry is indispensable irrespective of time and space. His poetry oscillates between the virility and verisimilitude. As in Mask of Longing

A time when even oxygen seems to hiss cruelly

In those crumpled eyes of hers the light of death goes on gathering shadows. And I feel Im late with my life.

At times lucidly, at times surreptitiously, his poetry harps on the essential harmony in the diversity of things: latent or apparent. He observed everything of the universe as a common heritage for all: poor or affluent. Readers observe in the depth and magnitude of the feelings/sentiments making his poems, the rising storms in Mahapatras mind. He kept on exploring the social power of the plebeians through his poetry.

His poems endeavour to trace different facets of human life and existence: love, lust, revenge, sufferings, fears and deprivations. His voice is melancholic, sharp, intimate and scans the movement of time and human beings silence. Many of Mahapatras collections are kaleidoscopic collections of poems written with diverse thought processes underway. These engage readers with preoccupation of human beings with fleeting time and mans questionable existence in the universe. His poems weave a quagmire of wonton thought that invades poets psyche very incisively. Nostalgia aches,

There was something I did not like: his returning Padma Shri in November 2015. I conveyed it to him. Though nothing was heard from him, I got Mahapatras last letter to me on August 5, 2019. He wrote of the sad demise of his wife, son and sons family, and summarising his concluding days by quoting from my poem DEPRESSION from my book of poetry Shadows of the Real, the same known fire burns me from inside and then added, a fire unknown and nameless still goes on burning through the nights. His greatness lay in making small, unknown writers like me happy and joyous through his words.

His concluding life reminded me of a line from his poem A STILL WINTER MORNING, standing like a lost sheep/huddled away from death. Or as Brazilian poet, Izacyl Guimaraes Ferreira confronts us with what he thinks of life in his poem  A WAR WITH NO NAME, There is too much and there is too little/there is warmth and theres a chill. Life links; it delinks too.

In Indian Summer, Mahapatra in his characteristic way, bemoans loneliness of a woman:

The good wife lies in my bed throughout the long afternoon, dreaming still, unexhausted by the deep roar of funeral pyres.

In this poem there are all disconnected pictures, with none of them being in any way inter-related to the others. funeral fires convey the deepest amount of mental agony of a good wife.

Truth is either the most simple or the trickiest of the phenomenon a man has to deal with. It brings awakened enlightenment thought amidst suffocating pains for those who keep truth on the highest pedestal. Look at following lines:

The worn-out face of India/ holds the weak eyes of dumb,/ solitary poets who die alone.

For truth seekers, there are no engrossing dilemmas; no consequences. He clarifies doubts; he clears doubts as far as yearning for truths is concerned.

WH Auden pointed out three attributes in a poet to deserve him a classification of being a great poet, Firstly a gift of a very high order for memorable language, secondly a profound understanding of the age in which he lives, and thirdly a working knowledge of and sympathetic attitude towards the most progressive thought of his time.

Mahaptra met all these stringent conditions based on which we remember him as a great poet. His deathless poems enabled him to pave his way into the mists of eternity. Imagist simplicity with dense connotations, oscillating rhythms of ebbs and flows are a few scintillating characteristics of his poetry.

Poets who believe, to use writer, critic and Centennial Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, Mark Jarmans words, in poetry with an edge, poetry has lasting impact on the world, for every poet contributes his little bit to keep the edges of poetry sharp. The moot question is: how capably each and every poet contributes to that edge. Poets have to determine poetrys strength and future. They possess their own ultimate destiny, which Mahapatra summarises in his poem, Twilight 

Newly-lit lamps in the houses across the street make me look out at the wet August evening that holds up the vast unknown in such small delicate hands.

As for Mahapatra, he belonged to the intellectual aristocracy of the world though he lived a very down-to-earth life in Cuttack, never hankering after literary awards and recognition. Reclusiveness is a serious writers sine qua non.

(KK Srivastava is a former Additional Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General, an acclaimed poet, writer and columnist for The Pioneer, The Daily Guardian and Brazilian Literary magazine SIBILA. Currently, he is a nominated member from the category of Literate person from the public and community of Ethics Committee on Research of mental health establishment- IHBAS (Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences), of Government of NCT of Delhi where he in working with a group of psychiatrists/neurologists on research work on mental health. Views expressed are personal.)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India and Canada should talk to each other to resolve their differences over the death of a Khalistani separatist, but the larger issue of the Canadian government's "permissiveness" to terrorism, extremism and violence must be flagged and addressed.

During an interaction with Indian journalists here on Friday, he said India was ready to look into the information related to Canada's allegations of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

The issue is as follows, which is that the Canadians have made some allegations. We have pointed out to them that this is not the government of India's policy, but if they are prepared to share with us specifics and anything relevant, we are also open to looking at it. So in that sense, that's where the matter stands, Jaishankar said.

But what we do not want to see is an incident treated in isolation because then that somewhere does not convey the right picture," he said.

"Let's not normalise what is happening in Canada. What is happening in Canada, had it happened anywhere else, do you think the world would've taken it with equanimity? he asked.

Jaishankar said India has had an ongoing problem with Canada and its government for some years now, and the problem really revolves around the "permissiveness" regarding terrorism, extremism and violence.

This permissiveness is also reflected in the fact that some important extradition requests have not been responded to from their side in the fact that there are individuals and organisations who are clearly involved with violence and illegal activities in India who themselves declared it. I mean it is not a secret that they continue to carry on with their activities in Canada, he said.

Jaishankar said one of the problems is that no incident is isolated and the totality as there is a context for everything.

"There are multiple problems out there. So, I guess in the case of individual incidents, the concerned governments will have to talk to each other and see how they sort of take it forward, he said.

But there is a larger issue. And I think it's important that the larger issue should be flagged. The larger issue is this permissiveness that I have spoken about," he said.

He said he discussed the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Most important, the fact that our diplomatic missions and our diplomatic personnel have been consistently and continuously intimidated in Canada to a point where today it is not safe for them really to carry on with their work. "The fact that we've had to temporarily suspend our visa operations, it's not something we would've liked to do. It is just that they made it very difficult for us to operate those services, Jaishankar said.

Tensions flared between India and Canada following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar on his country's soil. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

Earlier in the day, Blinken told reporters he hoped that this issue would be resolved by Canada and India.

We are very concerned about the allegations that have been raised by Canada, by Prime Minister Trudeau," he said.

"We have been in close contact with Canada about that. And at the same time, we have engaged with the Indian government and urged them to work with Canada on an investigation, and I had the opportunity to do so again in my meeting yesterday with Foreign Minister Jaishankar, Blinken said.

Those responsible need to be held accountable, and we hope that our friends in both Canada and India will work together to resolve this matter, he said.

When asked if there is a deadlock between India and Canada on resolving the issue, Jaishankar said: I don't know if I would use the term deadlock.

He said India's point is that today there is a climate of violence and an atmosphere of intimidation.

Just think about it. We've had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We've had our consulates, violence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people, he said.

So tell me, do you consider this normal? Would, I mean for a moment, okay, this is about us. If this had happened to any other country, how would they react to it? I think it's a reasonable question to ask.

Jaishankar said it is necessary to call out what is happening in Canada. He also asserted that it was not acceptable to make threats and intimidate diplomats in the name of freedom of speech.

We don't need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about. But we can tell people this. We don't think freedom of speech extends to incitement, to violence. That to us is a misuse of freedom," Jaishankar said.

"It's not a defence of freedom. I always ask people one question, how would you react if you were in my shoes? If it was your diplomats, your embassies, your people, what would be your reaction? he asked.

Jaishankar said if there is a requirement for India to look at something, the country is open to it.

He said a lot of Americans are astonished if they are told what most Indians know that there are people in Canada who are advocating violence and separatism.

I suspect very few Americans notice. So in a way, a lot of what I said at the meetings I think was new to the Americans. When Americans look at Canada, they see something. When we in India, look at Canada, we see something else.

"And that's part of the problem. So it's also important that we talk it out with the Americans. After all, they are very close to Canada. They are good friends of ours, he said.

So it's important that they also have an accurate picture, that they have our point of view on this matter as well. I'm not pre-judging issues. I'm not taking absolutist positions. What we have taken is a very reasonable stance," he added.

Jaishankar said the entire debate should not focus only on issue one and not on issue two and the bigger picture, which has been going on for some time and which is a very serious picture.

After all, I was thinking back when was the last time that any of our missions was intimidated to a point where it could not continue with its normal function? I will really have to think back. And if someone says this could happen in a G-7 country, in a commonwealth country, it gives you a lot to think about, Jaishankar said.
The Delhi BJP on Saturday claimed garbage removal from Ghazipur and Okhla landfill sites has been stalled for eight months and demanded that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal explain why.

Ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, the BJP said, the AAP had promised to rid the capital of the "garbage mountains" but they have only been growing in size since the Kejriwal-led party assumed charge of the civic body.

The BJP's attack came hours after Kejriwal visited the Bhalswa landfill site and said about 45 lakh tonnes of waste from it is expected to be processed and reduced by May next year.

Once the waste gets reduced, he said, 35 acres of land will be reclaimed and can be used in multiple ways.

There are three landfill sites in Delhi located at Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva visited the Ghazipur landfill site and said Kejriwal has repeatedly undertaken "political tours" to the dumping yard.

However, garbage removal from Ghazipur and Okhla landfill sites has been stalled for the last eight months, he claimed.

"The chief minister should show if he has held even one meeting in the last eight months regarding removal of garbage from the landfill sites, especially Ghazipur and Okhla where the work has been at a standstill," Sachdeva said at a press conference.

The AAP used to allege corruption in clearing of the landfill sites but it has not been doing any work after winning the MCD elections.

"Ahead of the 2022 MCD polls, the AAP made tall promises about removing garbage from the Ghazipur landfill site but the work almost came to a standstill after it won the elections," he alleged.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri accused Kejriwal of indulging in politics over the "garbage mountains" in the city.

"The AAP under Kejriwal's leadership has been in control of the municipal corporation for nearly 10 months but it has not yet taken any significant steps in this direction," Bidhuri said.

The AAP had promised to rid the city of the "garbage mountains" and had said these would be gone within a year, he said.

According to the AAP's promise, the garbage mountains in Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla should be gone by January 1, 2024 but instead, they have been continuously growing in size, the BJP leader claimed.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said the construction of the PGI satellite centre here by March next year.

Thakur, who visited the under-construction outpatient centre, said there has been a delay in the work due to some reasons and issued necessary directions to the officials.

The minister is on a two-day visit to Una and Hamirpur districts.

Speaking to media persons here about the ongoing tension between India and Canada, Thakur said the security of Indians living there would be ensured at all costs.

He praised India's foreign policies and said that the country is strongly presenting its stand on the issue.

The Union minister claimed that the Central government was doing its best to help the disaster-affected people of the state. He also asked the Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government to state how many people they helped from the state's fund.

He added that the Congress had won the last state assembly elections by making false promises but this gimmick would not work in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the BJP would emerge victorious by winning all the four seats in the state.
An attack by Islamic extremists in western Niger killed at least a dozen soldiers and wounded seven others, the West African nations military junta said. The soldiers were on a mission in the Tillaberi region town of Kandadji when hundreds of jihadis on motorcycles attacked them Thursday, Gen. Salifou Mody, Nigers defence minister, said in a statement.

The wounded were evacuated to military hospitals, the statement said.

The junta claimed that military personnel killed a hundred extremists and destroyed their motorcycles and weapons. The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the claim.

Niger has battled a jihadi insurgency linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group for years. Attacks have increased since mutinous soldiers toppled the countrys democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, in July.

During the month after the junta seized power, violence primarily linked to the extremists soared by more than 40 per cent, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

Jihadi attacks targeting civilians quadrupled in August compared with the month before, and attacks against security forces spiked in the Tillaberi region, killing at least 40 soldiers, the project reported. Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries in Africas Sahel region that Western nations could partner with to beat back the jihadi insurgency in the vast expanse below the Sahara Desert.

The United States, France and other European countries poured hundreds of millions of dollars into shoring up the Nigerien military.

Amid a swell of anti-France sentiment in its former colony., French President Emmanuel Macron announced the withdrawal by the end of the year of his countrys 1,500 troops stationed in Niger.

Frances ambassador to Niger, Sylvain Itte, left the country this week after a months-long standoff with the junta, which had ordered him out. The loss of support from France and potentially from the United States will make it hard for the junta to stave off the jihadis, conflict analysts believe.

Its quite predictable to witness more and more jihadi operations, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Centre, said.

Theres no more support from the French either by air or special forces, he said. Once Nigers forces there lose the support of the allies, its very difficult to sustain and hold onto the land.

Thursdays attack occurred in an area where the Islamic State group is active and where French special operations forces were actively supporting Nigers military, Nasr said.

The security vacuum left by the French has also further pit rival jihadi groups against each other, he said.
The Philippine president said on Friday that his country does not want a confrontation but will staunchly defend its waters after its coast guard dismantled a floating barrier placed by China at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

It was the first time President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has spoken publicly against Chinas installation of the 300-metre (980-foot) -long barrier at the entrance to Scarborough Shoal which was dismantled at his order.

Were not looking for trouble, but what well do is to continue defending the maritime territory of the Philippines and the rights of our fishermen, who have been fishing in those areas for hundreds of years, Marcos said in response to a question at a news briefing in southern Surigao del Norte province. The latest flare-up between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, one of the worlds busiest trade routes, comes after Marcos decided earlier this year to allow an expansion of the US military presence in the Philippines under a 2014 defense pact.

The prospect of more American forces in local military camps in the northern Philippines across from Taiwan and southern China alarmed and infuriated Beijing.

After the Philippine coast guard dismantled the rope and net barrier at the mouth of Scarborough Shoal, Filipino fishing boats entered the shallow lagoon and caught about 164 tons of fish in one day, Marcos said. Thats what our fishermen lose, so there should not be a barrier there, and its clear the area is within the Philippines, he said.

Our fishermen have been fishing in those areas for hundreds of years so I cant understand why that has changed. A Philippine surveillance aircraft deployed Thursday spotted two Chinese coast guard vessels closely guarding the shoals entrance, making it still difficult for Filipino fishermen to gain entry into the fishing lagoon, Philippine coast guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said during a news conference Friday.

Amid Chinas effort to play down the Philippine coast guards disabling of the barrier, Tarriela showed journalists one of two metal anchors he said Filipino coast guard personnel removed recently from Scarboroughs entrance to knock the barrier down.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that the shoal is Chinas inherent territory.

What the Philippines (has) done is nothing but a farce that entertains itself. China will continue to safeguard the territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests of Huangyan Island, he said, using the Chinese name for Scarborough.

Although Marcos has tried to nurture normal ties with China, the long-simmering territorial disputes have put the Asian neighbours on a potential collision course, with the Philippine leader vowing his country would not yield even an inch of territory in the strategic waterway.

Marcoss more confrontational stance contrasts with that of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who nurtured cozy ties with China and Russia while often criticising US and Western security policies.

Under Marcos, who took office last year, the Philippines has intensified its efforts to fight Chinas increasingly aggressive actions in one of the worlds most hotly contested waters. The Philippine coast guard often invites journalists to join its patrols in an effort to expose what it calls Chinese bullying in the busy waterway.

In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also involved in the territorial conflicts in the South China Sea, which has long been regarded as a potential Asian flashpoint and a delicate fault line in the US-China rivalry in the region.

Washington lays no claim to the sea passageway but US Navy ships and fighter jets have carried out patrols for decades to challenge Chinas expansive claims and promote freedom of navigation and overflight.

It has warned that its obligated to defend the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under attack, including in the South China Sea.
Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif would appear in a court a day after addressing a rally at the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore upon his return from self-imposed exile in London on October 21, according to a media report on Friday. Sharif, the 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo, will kick off the election campaign of his party after a rally at the Minar-e-Pakistan.

After appearing at the rally and announcing the final manifesto of the party, Nawaz Sharif will appear in court the next day, the Pakistan Observer said quoting PML-Ns Punjab president Rana Sanaullah. The announcement (by Sanaullah) comes a day after Pakistans anti-graft body said it is reopening at least four corruption cases against Nawaz Sharif coinciding with his scheduled return to the country next month.

Nawaz had left the country in November 2019 on medical grounds after the Lahore High Court granted him bail for four weeks. He was serving a seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case at Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore.

Sanaullah was addressing a consultative meeting at Gujranwala, about 100 kms north of Lahore, on Thursday, the report said. Pakistan was on the path to prosperity when it was abruptly thrust into crisis for the third time, Sanaullah said and added, The country can overcome its crisis by following the path laid out by Nawaz Sharif. In the light of a Supreme Court ruling which struck down amendments made to the accountability laws by the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government, led by Nawazs younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistans National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is reopening four pending probes against Nawaz.

The cases are related to illegal plots and land allotment, dubious transfer of shares of his sugar mills and Toshakhana (national treasury gifts). Two cases relate to misusing his authority for allotting plots and illegal construction of a road in 1986 and 1998 respectively. The third pertains to the transfer of shares in illegal manners vis-a-vis a sugar mill owned by him while the fourth is related to Toshakhana wherein he is accused of taking luxurious vehicles from the national treasury in violation of rules, officials privy to the cases had told PTI.
Pakistans jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and several top leaders of his party were directly involved in orchestrating the unprecedented anti-government violence on May 9, a joint investigation team has informed an anti-terrorism court here.

A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was constituted to probe the violence in Punjab province following the arrest of Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in connection with a corruption case on May 9.

The JIT headed by DIG Operations Imran Kishwar on Thursday submitted chargesheets against PTI leaders and hundreds of workers before an anti-terrorism court, reported the Dawn newspaper on Friday. According to Lahore police, Khan, 70, and over 900 other party leaders and activists named in the May 9 cases have been declared guilty of serious offences, the report said.

In the chargesheets filed before the court, the prosecution alleged that the violent protests led by the suspects on May 9 were part of a planned conspiracy against the state.

It said over 400 pieces of video evidence, including speeches of the PTI chairman, proved that the attacks on military installations and premises in cantonment areas were pre-planned.

A large number of PTI activists had attacked military installations, police vehicles, and other public and private properties in Lahore, according to the cases registered with the police. The vandalism at the Lahore Corps Commanders House (Jinnah House), Askari Tower, and the Shadman police station were some of the major incidents during the violence. We have declared them prime accused in 12 out of the total 14 cases registered under the anti-terrorism act and other charges at Lahores various police stations [and] challans have been submitted in the ATC, the Dawn newspaper quoted DIG Kishwar as saying.

He said the JIT obtained sufficient evidence against the nominated persons, including Imran Khan, former Punjab governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, former provincial ministers Mian Mehmoodur Rashid, Dr Yasmin Rashid, and others.

The digital and photogrammetric evidence as well as voice messages of the suspects confirmed the allegations levelled against them in over a dozen cases lodged at different police stations in the provincial capital, the DIG said.

According to the JIT report, Khan along with the cooperation of central, provincial and local leaderships, constituted this plan to push Pakistan towards civil war and the public was incited through fake and self-created stories, reported The Express Tribune. Following the arrest of Imran Khan by paramilitary Rangers on May 9, unrest broke out in Pakistan that saw the torching and vandalising of dozens of military and state buildings, including the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad.

Police arrested over 10,000 workers of PTI and over 100 are being tried under the Army Act.

Khan has denied masterminding or inciting the attacks stating that it was a well-planned conspiracy to oust its party from upcoming elections.

He served as the countrys prime minister until April last year and currently faces around 180 cases, most of which stem from incidents on May 9.

Khan, who has been detained since August 5 after his arrest following his conviction in the Toshakhana case, is currently serving his sentence in the cipher case in Adiala jail.

The Islamabad High Court suspended his sentence in the Toshakhana case on August 29.
(): Moscow will keep helping Afghanistan on its own and through the UN food agency, Russian officials said Friday as they hosted Taliban representatives for talks on regional threats.

The talks in the Russian city of Kazan came as Moscow is trying to maintain its influence in Central Asia even as it wages war on Ukraine. The discussions focused on regional threats and creating inclusive government, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

President Vladimir Putins special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov attended the gathering and said Russia is inclined to keep helping Afghanistan independently and through the World Food Programme.

A letter from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was read at the talks, accusing Western countries of complete failure in Afghanistan, saying they should bear the primary burden of rebuilding the country.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.

Following their takeover, the Taliban gradually imposed harsh edicts, as they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, based on their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. They barred girls from school beyond the sixth grade and women from almost all jobs and public spaces. No country has formally recognised the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.

The United Nations says that recognition is nearly impossible while the severe Taliban restrictions on women and girls are in place.

Moscow has since 2017 hosted talks with the Taliban and other representatives from other Afghan factions, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the former Soviet nations in Central Asia.

Taliban representatives were not at the last meeting, in November. No other Afghan factions attended Fridays talks.

Kabulov, the Kremlin envoy, has previously said that international recognition of the Taliban will hinge on the inclusiveness of their government and their human rights record.

Russia had worked for years to establish contacts with the Taliban, even though it designated the group a terror organisation in 2003 and never took it off the list. Any contact with such groups is punishable under Russian law, but the Foreign Ministry has responded to questions about the apparent contradiction by saying its exchanges with the Taliban are essential for helping stabilise Afghanistan.

The Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with its troops withdrawing in 1989.

Afghanistans Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Friday that other countries should stop telling them what to do.

Afghanistan doesnt prescribe forms of governance to others, so we expect regional countries to engage with the Islamic Emirate rather than give prescriptions for the formation of a government in Afghanistan, he said in Kazan. The Taliban call their administration the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

He invited people to come and see Afghanistan for themselves, and asserted that tourists, diplomats, aid workers, journalists and researchers travel to the country with confidence and roam freely.
Phoenix Group Holdings plc (LON:PHNX  Get Free Report) insider Andrew Briggs acquired 20,964 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 477 ($5.82) per share, with a total value of 99,998.28 ($122,112.93).

Phoenix Group Stock Up 2.1 %

PHNX stock opened at GBX 482.20 ($5.89) on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 161.58, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of GBX 525.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 546.66. Phoenix Group Holdings plc has a 52-week low of GBX 472.10 ($5.77) and a 52-week high of GBX 647 ($7.90). The stock has a market capitalization of 4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -260.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.78.

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Phoenix Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 28th will be paid a GBX 26 ($0.32) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. Phoenix Groups payout ratio is presently -2,810.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHNX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank decreased their price objective on shares of Phoenix Group from GBX 770 ($9.40) to GBX 739 ($9.02) and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Barclays reiterated an overweight rating and issued a GBX 718 ($8.77) price objective on shares of Phoenix Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Phoenix Group from GBX 620 ($7.57) to GBX 640 ($7.82) and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Phoenix Group has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of GBX 680.33 ($8.31).

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About Phoenix Group

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Phoenix Group Holdings plc operates in the long-term savings and retirement business in Europe. The company operates through four segments: UK Heritage, UK Open, Europe, and Management Services. It provides a range of pensions and savings products to support people across various stages of the savings life cycle.

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ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE:OGS  Free Report)  Investment analysts at Zacks Research lifted their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of ONE Gas in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, September 26th. Zacks Research analyst T. Sarawagi now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $4.30 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $4.29. The consensus estimate for ONE Gas current full-year earnings is $4.13 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for ONE Gas Q4 2024 earnings at $1.51 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.66 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.56 EPS.

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Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on OGS. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on ONE Gas from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of ONE Gas from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of ONE Gas from $77.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $78.33.

ONE Gas Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of OGS stock opened at $68.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. ONE Gas has a 12-month low of $67.94 and a 12-month high of $89.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.03 and a 200-day moving average of $77.75.

ONE Gas (NYSE:OGS  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). ONE Gas had a return on equity of 8.75% and a net margin of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $398.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $397.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OGS. State Street Corp increased its stake in ONE Gas by 201.2% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,266,661 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $496,508,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186,102 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of ONE Gas by 389.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,380,333 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $104,519,000 after buying an additional 1,098,392 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of ONE Gas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,464,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in ONE Gas by 62.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,002,236 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $79,407,000 after purchasing an additional 383,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of ONE Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $20,170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.71% of the companys stock.

ONE Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. ONE Gass payout ratio is presently 63.57%.

ONE Gas Company Profile

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ONE Gas, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a regulated natural gas distribution company in the United States. The company provides natural gas distribution services to approximately 2.3 million customers in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. It serves residential, commercial, and transportation customers.

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Admiral Group plc (LON:ADM  Get Free Report) insider Geraint Jones sold 12,523 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,392 ($29.21), for a total transaction of 299,550.16 ($365,795.77).

Geraint Jones also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Saturday, September 2nd, Geraint Jones purchased 1,175 shares of Admiral Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,381 ($29.08) per share, with a total value of 27,976.75 ($34,163.82).

Admiral Group Stock Performance

Admiral Group stock opened at GBX 2,377 ($29.03) on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 136.82, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Admiral Group plc has a 1-year low of GBX 1,813.78 ($22.15) and a 1-year high of GBX 2,501 ($30.54). The firm has a market capitalization of 7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,980.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.16. The companys 50-day moving average is GBX 2,325.21 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 2,226.90.

Admiral Group Cuts Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 7th will be given a GBX 51 ($0.62) dividend. This represents a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. Admiral Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6,333.33%.

Separately, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a GBX 2,543 ($31.05) price target on shares of Admiral Group in a report on Friday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Admiral Group has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of GBX 2,204.67 ($26.92).

Read Our Latest Research Report on Admiral Group

Admiral Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Admiral Group plc, a financial services company, provides motor, household, travel, and pet insurance, as well as personal lending products worldwide. It operates through UK Insurance, International Insurance, Admiral Money, and Other segments. The company provides underwriting services, which includes motor, household, pet, and travel insurance, as well as car and home insurance; and provides unsecured personal loans and car finance products primarily in the United Kingdom.

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Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR  Free Report)  Zacks Research dropped their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for Pentair in a report released on Wednesday, September 27th. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now forecasts that the industrial products company will post earnings of $1.01 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.02. The consensus estimate for Pentairs current full-year earnings is $3.74 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Pentairs FY2025 earnings at $4.63 EPS.

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Pentair (NYSE:PNR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Pentair had a return on equity of 22.39% and a net margin of 11.82%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PNR. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Pentair from $71.00 to $81.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Pentair from $65.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Pentair from $63.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Pentair in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Pentair in a research report on Monday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $69.20.

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Pentair Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:PNR opened at $64.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.16. The businesss 50 day moving average is $67.98 and its 200 day moving average is $61.46. Pentair has a 12-month low of $38.55 and a 12-month high of $71.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pentair

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pentair in the first quarter worth $28,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Pentair during the 1st quarter worth about $49,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pentair in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Pentair by 500.6% during the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,003 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pentair during the second quarter valued at about $68,000. Institutional investors own 88.60% of the companys stock.

Insider Activity at Pentair

In other Pentair news, CEO John L. Stauch sold 32,596 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.42, for a total transaction of $2,328,006.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,690 shares of the companys stock, valued at $549,219.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 20th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 19th. Pentairs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

About Pentair

(Get Free Report)

Pentair plc provides various water solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Pool, Water Solutions, Industrial & Flow Technologies. It designs, manufactures, and sells residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories, including pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for residential and commercial pool maintenance, repair, renovation, service, and construction applications; and water treatment products and systems comprising pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use systems for use in residential whole home water filtration, drinking water filtration, water softening solutions, commercial total water management and filtration, and foodservice operations.

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DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE  Free Report)  Equities research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of DTE Energy in a research note issued on Tuesday, September 26th. Zacks Research analyst A. Dutta now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.98 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.09. The consensus estimate for DTE Energys current full-year earnings is $6.21 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for DTE Energys FY2024 earnings at $6.63 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $2.13 EPS.

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DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.10. DTE Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. 888 reissued a maintains rating on shares of DTE Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Mizuho increased their price target on DTE Energy from $119.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. UBS Group raised DTE Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $124.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. 58.com reiterated a maintains rating on shares of DTE Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of DTE Energy from $120.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $87.26.

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DTE Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

DTE Energy stock opened at $99.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.89. DTE Energy has a fifty-two week low of $98.40 and a fifty-two week high of $122.40. The company has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.61. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $106.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.27.

Insider Activity

In other DTE Energy news, SVP Joann Chavez sold 2,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.53, for a total value of $283,825.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,374,507.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.61% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of DTE Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Income Solutions Inc increased its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 6.8% in the first quarter. Retirement Income Solutions Inc now owns 2,498 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in DTE Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $1,710,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of DTE Energy by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,094 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DTE Energy in the 1st quarter worth $280,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,028,699 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $3,044,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,586 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.72% of the companys stock.

DTE Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to approximately 2.3 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through fossil-fuel, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets.

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Citigroup reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trusts (LON:BTA  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and set a GBX 150 ($1.83) target price on shares of BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trusts in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. UBS Group lowered BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trusts to a sell rating and lowered their price objective for the company from GBX 146 ($1.78) to GBX 120 ($1.47) in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays reissued an overweight rating and issued a GBX 225 ($2.75) price objective on shares of BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trusts in a report on Monday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of GBX 166.43 ($2.03).

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Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trusts

BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trusts Stock Performance

About BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trusts

BlackRock Long-Term Municipal Advantage Trusts (BTA) (the Trust) investment objective is to provide current income exempt from regular federal income tax. The Trust seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its assets in municipal obligations and derivative instruments with exposure to such municipal obligations, in each case that are exempt from federal income tax (except that the interest may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax).

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Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX  Free Report) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,700 shares of the companys stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement Systems holdings in L3Harris Technologies were worth $2,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management bought a new position in shares of L3Harris Technologies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cowa LLC bought a new position in shares of L3Harris Technologies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of L3Harris Technologies by 179.6% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 137 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of L3Harris Technologies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of L3Harris Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 81.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LHX. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded L3Harris Technologies from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on L3Harris Technologies from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on L3Harris Technologies in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a hold rating and a $192.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded L3Harris Technologies from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $204.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on L3Harris Technologies in a research note on Monday, September 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $193.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $226.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Edward J. Zoiss sold 30,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.84, for a total transaction of $2,725,200.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 31,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,899,885.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

L3Harris Technologies Price Performance

L3Harris Technologies stock opened at $174.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.09. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.14 and a 52 week high of $255.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $180.12 and a 200-day moving average of $188.47.

L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.03. L3Harris Technologies had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 4.46%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. L3Harris Technologiess revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that L3Harris Technologies, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

L3Harris Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 5th were given a dividend of $1.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 1st. This represents a $4.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. L3Harris Technologiess dividend payout ratio is currently 108.57%.

L3Harris Technologies Company Profile

(Free Report)

L3Harris Technologies, Inc, an aerospace and defense technology company, provides mission-critical solutions for government and commercial customers worldwide. The company's Integrated Mission Systems segment provides multi-mission intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems; and communication systems, as well as fleet management support, sensor development, modification, and periodic depot maintenance services for ISR and airborne missions.

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New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV  Free Report) by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 80,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock after purchasing an additional 9,200 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Boards holdings in NOV were worth $1,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new position in shares of NOV in the second quarter worth about $190,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NOV by 123.5% in the second quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 62,415 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 34,493 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of NOV by 684.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 69,100 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 60,290 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in NOV by 46.8% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 36,345 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in NOV during the first quarter valued at approximately $262,000. 93.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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NOV Price Performance

NYSE:NOV opened at $20.90 on Friday. NOV Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.05 and a 52 week high of $24.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.91. The stocks fifty day moving average is $20.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.07.

NOV Announces Dividend

NOV ( NYSE:NOV Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.10. NOV had a return on equity of 7.99% and a net margin of 5.20%. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that NOV Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. NOVs dividend payout ratio is presently 19.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NOV shares. StockNews.com started coverage on NOV in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on NOV from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on NOV from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Capital One Financial started coverage on NOV in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set an equal weight rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on NOV from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, NOV presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $23.81.

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NOV Profile

(Free Report)

NOV Inc designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products for oil and gas drilling and production, and industrial and renewable energy sectors worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Wellbore Technologies, Completion & Production Solutions, and Rig Technologies.

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New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its position in shares of Edison International (NYSE:EIX  Free Report) by 5.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,552 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Boards holdings in Edison International were worth $1,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EIX. Capital Analysts LLC raised its position in Edison International by 64.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 438 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Edison International during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Edison International during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Edison International by 61.4% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 615 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new stake in Edison International during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. 88.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Caroline Choi sold 11,222 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.64, for a total value of $803,944.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,881 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,495,914.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EIX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Edison International in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Edison International from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Edison International from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Mizuho raised Edison International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Edison International in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $73.36.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on EIX

Edison International Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of EIX opened at $63.29 on Friday. Edison International has a 52 week low of $54.45 and a 52 week high of $74.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.81. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $69.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.83.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Edison International had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 6.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The companys revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Edison International will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Edison International Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be issued a $0.7375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. Edison Internationals payout ratio is 118.95%.

Edison International Company Profile

(Free Report)

Edison International, through its subsidiaries, generates and distributes electric power. The company supplies electricity to approximately 50,000 square mile area of southern California to residential, commercial, industrial, public authorities, agricultural, and other sectors. It also provides decarbonization and energy solutions to commercial, institutional, and industrial customers in North America and Europe.

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Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO  Free Report) by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.s holdings in AutoZone were worth $187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AZO. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in AutoZone by 5,037.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,392,892 shares of the companys stock worth $58,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365,781 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 107,977.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 699,260 shares of the companys stock worth $1,724,500,000 after purchasing an additional 698,613 shares during the period. Gateway Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 250,309.8% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 535,877 shares of the companys stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 535,663 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 368.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 411,450 shares of the companys stock worth $841,242,000 after purchasing an additional 323,536 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth about $658,788,000. Institutional investors own 90.34% of the companys stock.

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AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $2,540.22 on Friday. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,120.00 and a one year high of $2,750.00. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $2,509.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2,515.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AutoZone ( NYSE:AZO Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 19th. The company reported $46.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $44.51 by $1.95. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.48% and a negative return on equity of 60.66%. The business had revenue of $5.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $40.51 earnings per share. AutoZones revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 146.42 EPS for the current year.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,886.00 to $3,006.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $2,750.00 target price on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,740.00 to $2,750.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,835.00 to $2,750.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $2,803.12.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on AZO

Insider Activity at AutoZone

In related news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,548.03, for a total value of $305,763.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 156 shares in the company, valued at $397,492.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,548.03, for a total value of $305,763.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 156 shares in the company, valued at $397,492.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Charles Pleas III sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,546.55, for a total transaction of $10,695,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $8,721,933.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Company Profile

(Free Report)

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs.

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Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its stake in SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD  Free Report) by 21.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 767 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 213 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.s holdings in SPDR Gold Shares were worth $137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GLD. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SPDR Gold Shares by 67,584.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,037,008 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $515,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032,521 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in SPDR Gold Shares by 77.6% during the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,340,797 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $978,543,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333,468 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in SPDR Gold Shares by 256.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,142,717 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $206,432,000 after purchasing an additional 821,773 shares during the period. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in SPDR Gold Shares by 4,847.1% during the 4th quarter. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 622,043 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $105,523,000 after purchasing an additional 609,469 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in SPDR Gold Shares during the 1st quarter worth $100,880,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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SPDR Gold Shares Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSEARCA:GLD opened at $171.45 on Friday. SPDR Gold Shares has a 1-year low of $150.57 and a 1-year high of $191.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $178.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.35.

SPDR Gold Shares Company Profile

SPDR Gold Trust (the Trust) is an investment trust. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trusts expenses. The Trusts business activity is the investment of gold. The Trust creates and redeems Shares from time to time, but in one or more Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100,000 Shares).

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Summit Global Investments decreased its position in shares of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY  Free Report) by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,215 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock after selling 8,508 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments holdings in Teledyne Technologies were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TDY. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Teledyne Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Teledyne Technologies by 236.4% during the first quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 74 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Teledyne Technologies during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Teledyne Technologies by 91.7% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 92 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Teledyne Technologies by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 104 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 87.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Teledyne Technologies Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TDY opened at $408.58 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $404.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $410.60. Teledyne Technologies Incorporated has a 12-month low of $325.00 and a 12-month high of $448.71. The firm has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Insider Activity

Teledyne Technologies ( NYSE:TDY Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $4.63 by $0.04. Teledyne Technologies had a return on equity of 10.90% and a net margin of 13.75%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.43 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Teledyne Technologies Incorporated will post 19.11 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, CEO Robert Mehrabian sold 45,500 shares of Teledyne Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.13, for a total transaction of $18,933,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 196,052 shares of the companys stock, valued at $81,583,118.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Robert Mehrabian sold 45,500 shares of Teledyne Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.13, for a total value of $18,933,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 196,052 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $81,583,118.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Schack Wesley W. Von sold 376 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.30, for a total value of $155,024.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,933,994.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,646 shares of company stock valued at $25,717,295. 2.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on TDY shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Teledyne Technologies in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a buy rating and a $495.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Teledyne Technologies from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $423.00 to $495.00 in a report on Monday, August 14th. StockNews.com cut Teledyne Technologies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Teledyne Technologies from $470.00 to $455.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $499.50.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Teledyne Technologies

Teledyne Technologies Company Profile

(Free Report)

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides enabling technologies for industrial growth markets in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and internationally. The company's Instrumentation segment offers monitoring and control instruments for marine, environmental, industrial, and other applications, as well as electronic test and measurement equipment; and power and communications connectivity devices for distributed instrumentation systems and sensor networks.

Further Reading

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Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Free Report) by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,113 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after buying an additional 1,645 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 22,785 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $2,307,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the first quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,475 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 21.2% in the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 548 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the first quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 4,638 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 73.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total value of $5,688,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,775,316 shares of the companys stock, valued at $770,759,948.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total value of $5,688,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,775,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,759,948.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total value of $1,092,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,829,785.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Abbott Laboratories from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $120.82.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $96.83 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.03. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $93.25 and a one year high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $168.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.71 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.50% and a net margin of 12.83%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.62%.

About Abbott Laboratories

(Free Report)

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.

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Summit Global Investments lessened its stake in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP  Free Report) by 81.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,500 shares of the construction companys stock after selling 10,955 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $466,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,414 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $411,723,000 after buying an additional 110,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,056,912 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $135,929,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,053,983 shares of the construction companys stock worth $140,022,000 after purchasing an additional 58,727 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 46.9% in the 1st quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 786,824 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $115,466,000 after purchasing an additional 251,320 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 4.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 669,745 shares of the construction companys stock worth $98,281,000 after purchasing an additional 27,176 shares during the period. 92.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on EXP. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $176.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $195.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Monday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $199.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eagle Materials news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.28, for a total transaction of $182,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,041 shares in the company, valued at $1,647,993.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eagle Materials news, EVP Matt Newby sold 5,613 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $1,066,470.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,819 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,610. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.28, for a total transaction of $182,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,041 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,647,993.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,613 shares of company stock worth $1,624,730. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the companys stock.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Eagle Materials stock opened at $166.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $180.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.52. Eagle Materials Inc. has a one year low of $106.41 and a one year high of $195.96.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $3.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.54 by $0.01. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 40.68% and a net margin of 21.82%. The company had revenue of $601.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $603.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. Eagle Materialss revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 13.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Eagle Materialss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Eagle Materials Profile

(Free Report)

Eagle Materials Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells heavy construction materials and light building materials in the United States. It operates in four segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard. The company engages in the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement; grinding and sale of slag; and mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboards used to finish the interior walls and ceilings in residential, commercial, and industrial structures.

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Summit Global Investments cut its stake in shares of Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:CHT  Free Report) by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,361 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 15,525 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments holdings in Chunghwa Telecom were worth $647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Chunghwa Telecom by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,776,762 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $123,426,000 after acquiring an additional 120,199 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Chunghwa Telecom during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $86,880,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Chunghwa Telecom by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 353,727 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $13,835,000 after purchasing an additional 5,748 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Chunghwa Telecom by 152.7% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 340,919 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $13,330,000 after purchasing an additional 206,020 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Chunghwa Telecom by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 316,514 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $14,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,624 shares during the period. 2.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Chunghwa Telecom from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, September 15th.

Chunghwa Telecom Stock Performance

NYSE CHT opened at $35.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The businesss 50 day moving average is $36.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.64. Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. has a 12-month low of $32.90 and a 12-month high of $41.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75 and a beta of 0.11.

Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter. Chunghwa Telecom had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 16.94%.

Chunghwa Telecom Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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A surge of saltwater is feared to infiltrate treatment plants in New Orleans, which can later pollute the drinking water of thousands of residents in the area.

Authorities said that this incident could have an adverse effect to 20 percent of the state.

Officials said that millions of Louisiana residents are at risk of having possible drinking water crisis because the saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico is feared to contaminate the freshwater supply.

Read Also: Research Investigate the Influence of Chemical Compounds Released by Corals Into Saltwater

Threat to drinking water

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards earlier warned that the saltwater intrusion could threaten the quality of drinking water for those areas that have water intakes along the Mississippi River where intrusion occurs.

Edwards, however, said that no parishes upriver from Plaquemines Parish are likely to see any change in their drinking water until the middle to late October.

The official also said that water systems would eventually be affected including St. Bernard, Orleans and Jefferson parishes. He also requested a federal emergency declaration for four parishes: Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Jefferson and Orleans.

The saltwater intrusion is seen to have serious consequences due to the fact that many local water treatment facilities are ill-equipped to handle high salt content, which can corrode pipes and pose health risks when consumed.

To address the possible effects to residents, Edwards held a modified Unified Command Group (UCG) meeting in New Orleans to discuss the update on the saltwater intrusion threat that continues to grow in the Lower Mississippi River region.

In the meeting, he was joined by several parish presidents and officials from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP), the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

The USACE already constructed an underwater barrier sill in July 2023 to create an artificial basin that will help delay the ingress of saltwater.

Meanwhile, the upriver intrusion of saltwater from the Gulf overtopped the sill's existing elevation.

The governor said additional work would also be conducted to further delay an increase of the intrusion of the saltwater.

Cause

According to the National Weather Service Mississippi River forecast, the river volume will fall to historic lows over the next several weeks.

As an adverse result to this, the salt water from the Gulf of Mexico is intruding upstream.

Experts said that the Plaquemines Parish has been affected by this issue since June. Further, drought conditions have only gotten worse since that period and that means additional communities along the Mississippi River could be impacted.

They also observed that there is not enough freshwater flowing down the Mississippi River after months of extreme heat and low rainfall.

Exceptional drought, which has been considered as the worst category, has spread across parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

This year has so far been dubbed as the hottest on record for both states, according to the recent figures that was released by NOAA dating through August.

Extreme drought is also present upstream, where a lot of the river's water originates: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri, according to the US Drought Monitor.

Related Article: Mississippi River Suffers from Low Water Levels Due to Prolonged Drought, Dry Conditions

Related Video:
Puritan, psychotic misandrist 5th Wave feminists now want the wonderful comedy film Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me permanently banned and all copies of the movie burned on a bonfire along with every man on the planets testicles.

SHAG

It is a disgusting carnal misogynistic film where Austin Powers shags his way through multiple female spies and the worst part of it is that this horrid man says the word shag! a feminist member of establishment media news revealed.

Caught in the middle of this debacle is GB News who claims to be a news company that is not part of the establishment but actually are part of the establishment and have turned into a puritan edifice of hyper-sensitive politically correct sewage infested shit piles of inequity. A sad turn of affairs, as they once had some modicum of reasonable promise.

As is the case with establishment news organisations and media who are pandering to wokism and 5th wave feminists, the core of this problem comes down to the advertisers and woke companies, who dictate everything. The advertising agencies have all now gone extreme woke and are invariably tied to their ESG scores and the WEF. This sort of soviet political correctness and puritanism is a direct influence from the pieces of shit who run advertising agencies these days. These ad companies are now run by stasi virtue-signalling woke arseholes who pander to ESG obsessed companies that commission ads from their companies. Any form of un-woke naughtiness on a media company that shows ads is now completely cancelled. Wokism as a weaponised soviet censorship system thus limits the scope of human expression and commerce. Every advert created today is an abhorrent travesty and insult to the original concept of advertising, and a fucking disgrace, a former advertising executive from the 90s revealed.

The Spy Who Shagged Me

Well, there it is. You cannot say the word shag anymore, you cannot say you want to shag a woman, or inversely you cannot say you dont want to shag a feminist ideology spouting woman.

No more shagging for Austin Powers, eitherlooks like Dr. Evil really did win in the end
Director of 'The Vaccine War,' Vivek Agnihotri. (Image by Arrangement)

Q. Science can become politically contentious. Global warming has been a very contested subject, globally. Are vaccines also becoming political now?

My movie, The Vaccine War, is essentially about Indian scientists, and how they can achieve anything. It is about science, and not politics. But, at another level, yes, everything is political, including personal relationships. Democracy by its DNA forces you to choose and when you have to choose, it is politics. To me, politics doesn't matter too much though I make socio-political films. It is like somebody making a love story but doesnt mean he is in love all the time, or if somebody is making a war movie, it doesn't mean he has to be a soldier.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, sadly, there were some people who wanted India to fail in making its own vaccine. There were others who wanted us to have to import vaccines from outside, highlighting a political situation as a backdrop.

Q. You have always made movies where political narratives dominate. What would you choose  narrative or facts? For example, while scripting a scene, you have to make a choice  let us say writing a dialogue which is factually incorrect but furthers your narrative, your point of view  would you choose facts or narrative?

In Buddha in a Traffic Jam, the strongest point of view was of the Naxalites. In Tashkent Files, the most powerful argument came from Pallavis (Joshi) character, for which she got a National Award. And she says you are trying to whitewash everything. She says, all you are trying to do is dim-light the whole thing.

My films are deliberately inconclusive. I dont say this is right and that is wrong. In The Kashmir Files, the most powerful arguments came from Pallavi. She talks about whether God exists or not. She says hope is God. She talks about system and government. Yes, a filmmaker cannot hide his own inclination. My inclination definitely is not towards people who generally are always talking negative things about India.

Q. You are very critical of the media and journalists! Why?

I wonder about ethics (or lack of) in journalism, or lack of idealism. What and where are role models for young journalists? This is due to many reasons, but the influence of corporate interests being supreme. Lack of idealism has led to a decline in quality of reporting and erosion of ethics in the media field.

Q. What is next in the Files trilogy?

It all started with me looking at the Ashoka statue, and the three lions. The three visible pillars of democracy: truth, justice and life. The right to truth was Tashkent Files, right to justice was The Kashmir Files and right to life is going to be coming next year as Delhi Files.

Q. A controversy is brewing in Hyderabad about a movie called Razakar.

My point of view is that the intention of making a film is very important. If your intention is not correct, then the film has a problem. The Kashmir Files, irrespective of what people say, never had intent to demonise Muslims. A scene in the film has been written by a Kashmiri Muslim boy.

I feel bad about it whenever someone makes a movie about terrorism, people say it is about Muslims. But are not Muslims victims of terror? Muslims tell me, sir, thanks for making The Kashmir Files  we love the film because it differentiates between good Muslims and terrorists. I dont know if Razakar is being made with a good intent or keeping an eye on upcoming elections.

Elections have become a big industry. News channels create special programs for elections. Everybody is doing something for elections, and not just in India, but also in the USA. There is no harm if some people try to encash on sentiments.

Q. Talking of intention, what is the intention and making a movie on vaccines?

I dont want, say some 32 years later, somebody is making a film on vaccines. Some young director discovers it, and says, ha, so, we Indians saved humanity. We in India gifted free vaccines to people in 201 countries, let me make a movie. When such a youngster would make a movie, again, a section of society would say it is propaganda. I don't want this to happen. This is the right time, I feel.

This vaccine was made by 70 per cent women scientists. So it is about science but also about women empowerment. But I also want to break the narrative of western style feminism. I wanted to celebrate Indic feminism through this film.

Q. Is Anupam Kher playing the role of Prime Minister Modi?

No, he is not playing the role of PM Narendra Modi. The Vaccine War is a pure science film. It is only about scientists. Anupam Kher plays the role of Cabinet Secretary.

Q. Would you ever snap out of politics and make very different kinds of films? Where, say, you feature actors like Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher and Pallavi Joshi in a normal setting without a war, without country, ideology.

There are so many people who tell happy stories. I will not be able to add anything to it.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses during a public meeting, in Shajapur district, Madhya Pradesh, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (PTI Photo)

Bhopal: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday pledged to conduct a caste census in the country if his party was voted to power at the Centre.

Reiterating that the Congress is promoting love and brotherhood while the BJP is spreading hatred, Mr Gandhi described the contest between the two parties as the battle of the ideologies of Gandhi and Godse.

Addressing a public meeting on the sidelines of the Congress' "Jan Akrosh Yatra" at Polaykala under Shajapur district in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Gandhi said that a caste census will alone ensure inclusive development in the country, giving justice to different communities, including the OBCs.

"This (caste census) is the biggest issue before the country today. If the Congress comes to power at the Centre, the first thing the party will do is conduct a caste census and make the data on the populations of all the communities public," he said.

Mr Gandhi claimed that the Congress government at the Centre had earlier conducted the caste census. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not keen to make the census data public, depriving different communities of their true participation in power.

The Congress leader also demanded the provision of an OBC quota in the womens reservation before its implementation.

Mr Gandhi said that the Congress is fighting the ideologies of the RSS and the BJP since the saffron parties are spreading hatred in society, whereas his party is promoting love and brotherhood.

Mr Gandhi accused Mr Modi of implementing the RSS agenda to spread hatred and violence.

The Congress leader attacked the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for failing to provide a fair price to the farmers for their produce.

He said that the Congress government in Chhattisgarh has given a fair price to the farmers for their produce by procuring paddy from them at `2,500 per quintal.

Mr Gandhi claimed that 18,000 farmers in Madhya Pradesh committed suicide due to the denial of a fair price for their produce in the last 18 years.

He termed Madhya Pradesh as the "epicentre of corruption" in India and said that farmers and youth of the state had told him during his Madhya Pradesh leg of the "Bharat Jodo Yatra" that the scale of corruption in the state is much higher than that in the rest of the country.

He alleged corruption in the midday meal scheme in the state.

Mr Gandhi said that a scandal broke out in the admission of MBBS courses in different medical colleges in the state, in which seats were found to be sold.

Mr Gandhi also accused corruption in the construction of a holy place like "Mahakal Lok".
On 19 May, RBI removed the 2000 notes from circulation and gave nearly four months to deposit or exchange the notes. The last date given by RBI to exchange or deposit these notes was 30 September which is today.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the deadline to exchange 2,000 denomination notes. Rs 2000 banknotes will cease to have its value after 7 October and will be just another piece of paper if one does not get it exchanged in any bank.

This notification came today after reports suggested that 30 September deadline to return 2000 notes is likely to get extended till October end.

On 19 May, RBI removed the 2000 notes from circulation and gave nearly four months to deposit or exchange the notes. The last date given by RBI to exchange or deposit these notes have been extended till October 7. People can go to their nearest bank branch and get the 2000 notes exchanged or deposit. They can exchange or deposit their 2,000 notes in bank branches and regional branches of RBI. A non-account holder can also exchange 2000 banknotes up to a limit of 20,000 at a time at any bank branch.

What happens after the October 7 deadline?

After 7 October, though the notes will continue to remain legal tender, however, they will not be accepted for transaction purposes and can only be exchanged with the RBI.

Earlier on 2 September, RBI had said that as much as 93 percent of 2000 banknotes that were in circulation on May 19 have been returned to banks.

Data collected from major banks indicated that out of the total banknotes in 2000 denomination received back from circulation, about 87 percent is in the form of deposits while about 13 per cent has been exchanged into other denomination banknotes.

On May 19, the RBI decided to withdraw the 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation but said it would continue to remain as legal tender. However, RBI had advised banks to stop issuing such banknotes with immediate effect.

The 2000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all 500 and 1000 banknotes in circulation at that time.

The objective of introducing 2000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, the printing of 2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.
Hyderabadi historian and author Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan is all set to host an exhibition of historically significant heritage cars at the inaugural Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) Qatar. (Image source: Instagram)

HYDERABAD: Well-known Hyderabadi historian and author Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan is all set to host an exhibition of historically significant heritage cars at the inaugural Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) Qatar. The show is scheduled to take place from October 5 to 14 at the Doha Exhibition & Conference Centre (DECC).

Luqmans Classics Gallery promises to be a major attraction, offering visitors a glimpse into the world of vintage and classic automobiles.

"Among the exceptional vehicles to be displayed is a Popemobile and a Grand Prix winner. It will also feature Qatar's very own automotive treasure, the Rolls-Royce Phantom V. This Rolls-Royce, bearing the chassis number 5LCG25, was originally delivered to the then Emir of Qatar, HH Sheikh Ahmad Bin Ali Al Thani, after it graced the stage at the 1962 Geneva International Motor Show. This vehicle symbolises the deep-rooted connection between Qatar and the Geneva Motor Show, showcasing the automotive connoisseurship of Qataris," Khan told Deccan Chronicle.

Khan, curatorial director of the 'Classics Gallery' and the author of the official event book, added that the display of rare vehicles from world-renowned car collections at the inaugural Geneva International Motor Show Qatar marks a milestone for the event, which has been a global showcase for automotive innovations and technology since 1905.

"Expanding its legacy beyond Geneva for the first time, GIMS has chosen to partner exclusively with Qatar, a dynamic and progressive country known for its ideal geographic location and its ability to organise world-class events," Khan said. "The exhibition is a unique opportunity for enthusiasts to witness some of the most prestigious automobiles from around the globe."
BRS working president and minister KT Rama Rao addressing a public meeting in Sathupally constituency on Saturday. (Image Source: Twitter)

HYDERABAD: BRS working president and minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday dismissed the Congress as a party that had no clue about what was happening within its ranks. The party was making impossible promises only to try and hoodwink the people of Telangana into voting for it.

Addressing a public meeting in Sathupally constituency, Rama Rao said, "The Congress has a low command, a new command, and a high command. The low command is in Hyderabad, the new command is in Bengaluru, and the high command is in Delhi. And there is no connection between these three."

He said the Congress must explain in how many states that it is in power is it giving a pension of Rs 4,000, free cooking gas cylinders and Rythu Bandhu assistance. He said Congress leaders were going door to door Haridasus during Sankranti and would never be seen afterwards. "All they do is make false promises and I request you to be cautious and do not fall into their trap. The Congress leaders were selling tickets for crores of rupees and would sell the state if given a chance," he said.

Rama Rao said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has instructed that every Dalit family in the Sathupally constituency, as well as in Bonakal mandal in the Madhira constituency will receive Dalit Bandhu benefits on a mission mode and instructions have been issued to appoint special officers to ensure this.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. (Image By Arrangement)

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has decided to continue his mass outreach programmes of being in direct touch with the public to score a mega victory in the battle of ballot within AP during the 2024 elections.

Jagananna Aarogya Suraksha is the latest outreach programme of the CM. In offing is Why AP Needs Jagan.

Significantly, the Chief Minister has already compelled his legislators to reach doorsteps of people through Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam, Jagananne Maa Nammakam, Jagane Maa Bhavishyathu, Jagananna Suraksha, and Jaganannaku Chebudam. The 45-day Jagananna Aarogya Suraksha outreach programme is the latest in the series.

The innovative Aarogyasri health programme launched by Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy has created a place for itself in hearts of the public. Similarly, fee reimbursement, free agriculture power and other welfare schemes have received enormous support from masses. Amma Vodi, Vidya Deevena, Vasati Deevena, Pedalandariki Illu, Rythu Bharosa, Pension Kanuka, Aasara-Cheyutha and Jala Yagnam are the others.

The YSRC government has ensured that at least one welfare scheme reaches each family.

Senior analysts say many seasoned politicians like Telugu Desam supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu doubted the political acumen of Jagan Mohan Reddy. But he has turned out to be an astute politician. "Gone are the days when people's representatives meet people only during elections. Jagan has changed the scenario altogether. He has put an end to the feudalistic style of political functioning," the analysts remark.

YSRC leaders say while Chandrababu's TD and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena are in aggressive poll mode undertaking bus yatras, Jagan Mohan Reddy is silently ensuring that people benefit from one or the other of his welfare schemes. MLAs, MPs and leaders are being made to visit each and every house to make sure that people in their area are getting benefited from developmental schemes.

Ruling party leaders say JAS programme will cover 1.67 crore families involving 5,000 doctors,14 types of diagnostic kits, and 172 types of medicines. There will be 10,574 free Aarogya Suraksha camps across the state in a span of 45 days. These camps are expected to create a positive impression about Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party before the big battle of 2024.
BRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao and Minister T. Harish Rao campaigning in Wanaparthy and Nakrekal respectively on Friday. (DC Image)

HYDERABAD: The BRS stepped up its attacks on the Congress with the team of ministers K.T. Rama Rao, and T. Harish Rao lambasting the Opposition party and calling on people to show it the door in the elections.

The more blistering of the two attacks came from Rama Rao at a public meeting in Wanaparthy where he trashed the Congress declaring: "BRS means schemes and Congress means scams."

"When you go out to vote, ensure other parties will not even get their deposits. Bring BRS back to power in the state. And in the Parliament elections make sure that no party can form a government without the support of the BRS," Rama Rao said.

Rama Rao said in the decades of Congress rule all that the Palamuru region knew was migration and thirst. It is the BRS government that brought irrigation, and drinking water to Palamuru. "For Palamuru Congress means migration, BRS means irrigation," he said.

Asking people to vote for Singireddy Niranjan Reddy, the agriculture minister, he said former Congress MLA G. Chinna Reddy who keeps complaining that nothing was done in Wanaparthy should look back at the performance of the Congress which represented the constituency for 50 years. "The Congress knows its warranty is over. It is in the ICU but is giving guarantees. The only thing that will happen if Congress comes to power is a new CM every year, no drinking water or power supply, and scams," Rama Rao said.

Elsewhere in Nakrekal, Harish Rao addressing a BRS public meeting said despite Congress claiming that it had its top leaders in Nalgonda, the BRS won all 12 seats the last time. "The likes of Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, and N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, who had won in the past could not even get his own Congress government to start a market yard for farmers growing lemon and sweet lime. They came to us and we did that in a jiffy. It is the BRS, under KCRs leadership that made things happen and provided irrigation, drinking water and 24 hours of power to farmers. The Congress did nothing," Harish Rao said.

Campaigning for Chirumarthi Lingaiah, BRS candidate from Nakrekal, Harish Rao said, "The Congress which sold its tickets for Rs 10 crores, will tomorrow sell the state. The Congress only looks after itself. It does not care about the people. First, they could not get anything when their government was in power. Now they lie that there is not enough power supply. If you want three hours of power supply, vote for Congress, if you want 24-hour power supply vote for BRS."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI)

HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is all set to launch the BJPs Legislative Assembly election campaign at a public meeting in Mahbubnagar on Sunday, made it clear that when he takes to the stage, the people can expect some fireworks.

Modi posted his caution the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in Telugu and in English, indicating that his speech could well be a no holds barred affair: "People of Telangana are tired of the lacklustre governance of BRS. They are also equally distrustful of Congress.."

He said "I will be addressing a @BJPTelangana rally in Mahbubnagar on October 1 Both BRS and Congress are dynastic parties who have no aim of serving people."

He said he will be launching and laying foundation stones for projects all worth more than `13,500 crore. "These works cover diverse sectors including roads, connectivity, energy, railways and more. I am looking forward to doing this. These projects will bring great benefits to the people of Telangana" Modi said.

In addition to these, there is a likelihood of Modi addressing some long-pending issues for the state including sharing of Krishna river water with Andhra Pradesh.

"The PM will address rallies in Mahbubnagar and Nizamabad. Works worth more than `20,000 crore are going to be launched during the event. Modi will sanction long-held demands of the people of these districts," TS BRS president and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy said.

Modi is scheduled to follow up his Sunday meeting in Mahbubnagar with another in Nizamabad on October 3. The BJP has made elaborate arrangements for the public meeting in Mahbubnagar on Sunday where it expects an audience of over one lakh people.

"KCR hatao Telangana bachao" is now a peoples slogan. People at the grassroots are with the BJP, Kishan Reddy said.

Sundays visit marks the start of a jam-packed schedule of campaign for the BJP in Telangana, which according to the party will see some 30 meetings across the state to be addressed by various leaders including Union home minister Amit Shah, party president J.P. Nadda, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Among the various projects Modi will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation or lay the foundation stone for, are the inaugural Kacheguda-Raichur train, several facilities at the University of Hyderabad, road projects including on the Warangal-Khammam-Vijayawada route as well as from Suryapet to Khammam, the Hassan-Cherlapalli LPG pipeline project and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd Krishnapatnam-Hyderabad line.
TS BJP chief and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy says that the projects are in the sectors of road, rail, petroleum and natural gas, and higher education.The Prime Minister will virtually participate in several programmes to be held at the University of Hyderabad. (DC Image)

HYDERABAD: For his visit to Mahbubnagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be bringing a bag of goodies worth Rs13,500 crore on October 1. This includes projects that he will dedicate to the nation and those for which he will lay the foundation stone.

TS BJP chief and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy said that the projects are in the sectors of road, rail, petroleum and natural gas, and higher education. During the programme, the Prime Minister will virtually participate in several programmes to be held at the University of Hyderabad.

Kishan Reddy said that the Prime Minister would reach Mahbubnagar at about 2.15 p.m. He would lay the foundation stone of key road projects that are part of the Nagpur-Vijayawada Economic Corridor.

The projects include a 108-km four-lane access-controlled greenfield highway from Warangal to Khammam section of NH-163G, and a similar 90-km stretch from Khammam to Vijayawada costing about Rs 6,400 crore. The projects will reduce travel distance between Warangal and Khammam by about 14 km and Khammam and Vijayawada by 27 km.

He will dedicate to the nation the 59-km four-laning of the Suryapet-Khammam section of NH-365BB, costing Rs2,460 crore, and part of the Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam Corridor that is coming up under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. It will also provide better connectivity to Khammam district and coastal AP, Kishan Reddy said.

Modi will dedicate the 37 0km Jaklair-Krishna railway line costing Rs500 crore, bringing Narayanpet district on the railway map for the first time. He will flag off the inaugural run of the Kacheguda- Raichur train service from Krishna station via video conferencing. The train will pass through Rangareddy, Mahbubnagar, and Narayanpet districts.

In line with his vision of improving logistics efficiency, the Prime Minister will dedicate the nation to the Rs2,170-crore Hassan-Cherlapalli LPG pipeline. He will lay the foundation stone of the multi-product petroleum pipeline of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) from Krishnapatnam to Malkapur in Hyderabad.

"The pipeline will provide a safe, faster, efficient and environmentally friendly mode of petroleum products in the region," Kishan Reddy said of the 425-km pipeline costing Rs1,940 crore.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate five new buildings of the University of Hyderabad to house the School of Economics, School of Mathematics and Statistics, School of Management Studies the Lecture Hall Complex-III; and Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication.

On October 3, the Prime Minister will visit Nizamabad and participate in several development works. Modi would dedicate several projects taken up by spending Rs8,021 crore in Nizamabad including the 800 MW power project of Ramagundam and critical care health centres at all district government hospitals.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (AP)

Washington: The governments of India and Canada will have to talk to each other and see how they resolve their differences over the death of a Khalistani separatist, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, asserting that the larger issue of "permissiveness" must be flagged and addressed.

During an interaction with Indian journalists here on Friday, he said India was ready to look into the information related to Canada's allegations of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

"The issue is as follows, which is that the Canadians have made some allegations. We have pointed out to them that this is not the government of India's policy, but if they are prepared to share with us specifics and anything relevant, we are also open to looking at it. So in that sense, that's where the matter stands," Jaishankar said.

"But what we do not want to see is an incident treated in isolation because then that somewhere does not convey the right picture," he said.

Jaishankar said India has had an ongoing problem with Canada and its government for some years now, and the problem really revolves around the "permissiveness in regard to terrorism, extremism and ballots," he said.

"This permissiveness is also reflected in the fact that some important extradition requests have not been responded to from their side in the fact that there are individuals and organisations who are clearly involved with violence and illegal activities in India who themselves declared it. I mean it is not a secret and that they continue to carry on with their activities in Canada," he said.

Jaishankar said one of the problems is no incident is isolated and the totality as there is a context for everything.

"There are multiple problems out there. So, I guess in the case of individual incidents, the concerned governments will have to talk to each other and see how they sort of take it forward," he said.

"But there is a larger issue. And I think it's important that the larger issue should be flagged. The larger issue is this permissiveness that I have spoken about," he said.

He said he discussed the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

"Most important, the fact that our diplomatic missions and our diplomatic personnel have been consistently and continuously intimidated in Canada to a point where today it is not safe for them really to carry on with their work.

"Obviously the fact that we've had to temporarily suspend our visa operations, it's not something we would've liked to do. It is just that they made it very difficult for us to operate those services," Jaishankar said.

Earlier in the day, Blinken told reporters he hoped that this issue would be resolved by Canada and India.

Tensions flared between India and Canada following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar on his country's soil. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

"We are very concerned about the allegations that have been raised by Canada, by Prime Minister Trudeau. We have been in close contact with Canada about that. And at the same time, we have engaged with the Indian government and urged them to work with Canada on an investigation, and I had the opportunity to do so again in my meeting yesterday with Foreign Minister Jaishankar, Blinken said.

"Those responsible need to be held accountable, and we hope that our friends in both Canada and India will work together to resolve this matter," he said.

When asked if there is a deadlock between India and Canada on resolving the issue, Jaishankar said: "I don't know if I would use the term deadlock."

He said India's point is that there is today a climate of violence and an atmosphere of intimidation.

"Just think about it. We've had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We've had our consulates, violence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people," he said.

"So tell me, do you consider this normal? Would, I mean for a moment, okay, this is about us. If this had happened to any other country, how would they react to it? I think it's a reasonable question to ask. Let's not normalise what is happening in Canada. What is happening in Canada, had it happened anywhere else, do you think the world would've taken it with equanimity?" he asked.

Jaishankar said it is necessary to call out what is happening in Canada.

He also asserted that it was not acceptable to make threats and intimidate diplomats in the name of freedom of speech.

"We don't need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about. But we can tell people this. We don't think freedom of speech extends to incitement, to violence. That to us is a misuse of freedom. It's not a defense of freedom. I always ask people one question, how would you react if you were in my shoes? If it was your diplomats, your embassies, your people, what would be your reaction?" he asked.

Jaishankar said if there is a requirement for India to look at something, the country is open to it.

He said a lot of Americans are astonished if they are told what most Indians know that there are people in Canada who are advocating violence and separatism.

"I suspect very few Americans notice. So in a way, a lot of what I said at the meetings I think was new to the Americans. When Americans look at Canada, they see something. When we in India, look at Canada, we see something else.

"And that's part of the problem. So it's also important that we talk it out with the Americans. After all, they are very close to Canada. They are good friends of ours," he said.

"So it's important that they also have an accurate picture, that they have our point of view on this matter as well. I'm not pre-judging issues. I'm not taking absolutist positions. What we have taken is a very reasonable stance," he added.

Jaishankar said the entire debate should not focus only on issue one and not on issue two and the bigger picture, which has been going on for some time and which is a very serious picture.

"After all, I was thinking back when was the last time that any of our missions was intimidated to a point where it could not continue with its normal function? I will really have to think back. And if someone says this could happen in a G-7 country, in a commonwealth country, it gives you a lot to think about," Jaishankar said.
Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of B2Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG  Free Report) (TSE:BTO) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $4.25 target price on the basic materials companys stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BTG. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of B2Gold from C$8.00 to C$7.75 in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of B2Gold from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $6.42.

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B2Gold Stock Performance

NYSEAMERICAN:BTG opened at $2.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 0.96. B2Gold has a 52 week low of $2.83 and a 52 week high of $4.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.80.

B2Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG  Get Free Report) (TSE:BTO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.07. B2Gold had a net margin of 15.59% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The company had revenue of $470.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $463.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. B2Golds quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 21st were issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.56%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 20th. B2Golds payout ratio is 59.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in B2Gold by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,015 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in B2Gold by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 26,023 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in B2Gold by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 38,054 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in B2Gold by 140.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,406 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in B2Gold by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 87,895 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. 51.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

B2Gold Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer with three operating mines in Mali, the Philippines, and Namibia. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 25% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp.

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Cheniere Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG  Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $189.00 to $183.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the energy companys stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $200.00 to $187.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Saturday, August 19th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $172.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Cheniere Energy from $230.00 to $222.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Capital One Financial assumed coverage on shares of Cheniere Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. They set an overweight rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cheniere Energy currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $198.23.

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Cheniere Energy Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Cheniere Energy stock opened at $166.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.52 and a 200 day moving average of $152.25. The firm has a market cap of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.90, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.02. Cheniere Energy has a 1 year low of $135.00 and a 1 year high of $182.35.

Cheniere Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:LNG  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy company reported $5.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $2.80. Cheniere Energy had a net margin of 28.47% and a return on equity of 481.80%. The company had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.90 EPS. Cheniere Energys revenue for the quarter was down 48.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cheniere Energy will post 16.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheniere Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 9th were issued a $0.395 dividend. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 8th. Cheniere Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Cheniere Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,164 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Cheniere Energy during the first quarter valued at $224,000. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the first quarter worth about $215,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Cheniere Energy in the first quarter worth about $1,086,000. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheniere Energy by 21.6% in the first quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 1,621 shares of the energy companys stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 85.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cheniere Energy

(Get Free Report)

Cheniere Energy, Inc, an energy infrastructure company, primarily engages in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) related businesses in the United States. It owns and operates the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana; and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal near Corpus Christi, Texas. The company also owns Creole Trail pipeline, a 94-mile pipeline interconnecting the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with various interstate pipelines; and operates Corpus Christi pipeline, a 21.5-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with various interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines.

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UBS Group began coverage on shares of e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF  Free Report) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on ELF. Raymond James increased their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $118.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $129.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com began coverage on e.l.f. Beauty in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on e.l.f. Beauty from $163.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, e.l.f. Beauty currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $126.25.

Get e.l.f. Beauty alerts:

View Our Latest Analysis on ELF

e.l.f. Beauty Stock Performance

ELF opened at $109.79 on Wednesday. e.l.f. Beauty has a 12-month low of $36.77 and a 12-month high of $139.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.03, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $123.87 and a 200-day moving average of $105.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.51. e.l.f. Beauty had a return on equity of 26.43% and a net margin of 14.87%. The company had revenue of $216.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $184.92 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that e.l.f. Beauty will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at e.l.f. Beauty

In other e.l.f. Beauty news, CEO Tarang Amin sold 39,740 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.80, for a total value of $4,522,412.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 252,792 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $28,767,729.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Kory Marchisotto sold 15,020 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.93, for a total transaction of $1,981,588.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 131,977 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,411,725.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Tarang Amin sold 39,740 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.80, for a total value of $4,522,412.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 252,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,767,729.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,821 shares of company stock valued at $20,940,256. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On e.l.f. Beauty

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth about $364,000. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL acquired a new position in e.l.f. Beauty during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,108,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 16,142 shares of the companys stock worth $1,844,000 after buying an additional 874 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in e.l.f. Beauty by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 25,922 shares of the companys stock worth $2,961,000 after buying an additional 5,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the companys stock.

e.l.f. Beauty Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

e.l.f. Beauty, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cosmetic and skin care products under the e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. Skin, Well People, and Keys Soulcare brand names worldwide. The company offers eye, lip, face, face, paw, and skin care products. It sells its products through national and international retailers and direct-to-consumer channels, which include e-commerce platforms in the United States, and internationally primarily through distributors.

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Crowds descended on Culmore in Derry last week for the areas annual Literary Festival, organised by Culmore Community Partnership and supported by Apex Housing Association (Apex) through the Housing for All Shared Housing Programme.

The festival, which took place during Good Relations Week, saw an array of writers and poets from Derry read and talk about their works, including Jane Buckley, Sue Divin, Micheal McCann and Feargal Friel.

Celebrating the citys rich literary tradition, the festival was enjoyed by more than 160 people and ended with a vibrant celebration event on Sunday 24 September featuring Irish and Ulster Scots music and dance.

Sean Carlin, Apexs Good Relations Officer, commented: It was our pleasure to be involved in showcasing and celebrating local literary talent, whilst bringing people together from Culmore and beyond to share in an ongoing love of words.

"Our new shared housing development, Woodlands Avenue, is nearing completion in Culmore and we look forward to continuing our support for community initiatives like these, as part of our good relations plan for the local area.

Una Cooper, Manager of Culmore Community Partnership, commented: Our annual Literary Festival has become a highlight in our events calendar at Culmore Community Hub. We stayed local this year with a great line-up of very talented authors and poets who were born or have chosen Derry as their home. A big thank you to Apex for their funding support for the Literary Festival.

Culmore Literary Festival was supported by the Department for Communities and the Northern Ireland Housing Executives Housing for All Shared Housing Programme.

More than 160 people enjoyed Culmore Literary Festival held during Good Relations Week, supported by Apex Housing Association.

The Programme has its origins in the NI Executive Together: Building a United Community Strategy which reflects the Executives commitment to improving community relations and continuing the journey towards a more united and shared society.

Apex continues to work in partnership with local Advisory Group stakeholders, and with residents to develop its good relations plan for the Culmore area. 8m has been invested in the Woodlands Avenue shared housing development and associated five-year good relations plan.

The Woodlands Avenue good relations plan includes bridging events which are delivered to the wider community to encourage a range of good relations outcomes which include arts and culture, health and wellbeing, education and training.

Author, Jane Buckley, reading a piece from her Stones Corner novel 'Light' at Culmore Literary Festival.

Culmore Literary Festival took place between Wednesday 20 September and Sunday 24 September, with all events held at Culmore Community Hub. The festival was also supported by Derry City & Strabane District Council and The National Lottery Community Fund.
The civic-pride campaign, Live Here Love Here has announced the return of the highly successful Marine Litter Grant, an initiative funded by the Waste Prevention Branch of the Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

The initiative will support ideas that prevent litter from entering County Derrys waterways, including oceans, coastlines, rivers and lakes.

The scheme aims to protect our blue spaces, improve marine biodiversity, and support the health of our communities with aquatic spaces a key contributor to wellbeing. Community groups, organisations and businesses based anywhere in Northern Ireland can apply for a share of the almost 200,000 fund available this year.

Ruth Clarke, Waste Prevention Policy Branch DAERA said, We are proud to support the Marine Litter Capital Grants Scheme for the third year, and look forward to seeing the varied and innovative projects come to life as a result of this funding.

According to the European Environment Agency, 80 per cent of marine litter originates from land-based activities with 85 per cent of this content plastic that permeates for up to 500 years. Keep Northern Ireland Beautifuls most recent Marine Litter Report, published in 2022, shows that an average of 762 items of litter were found per 100 metres of beach surveyed, double the 375 items recorded the previous year.

Chris Gourley, Waste and Pollution Solutions Strategic Lead at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said, We are committed to the ongoing and complex battle against marine pollution and delighted to deliver this grant scheme once again with support from DAERA.

"In the last three years we have identified a diverse array of projects that tackle the problem of marine pollution from both land and sea.

"These projects span a wide spectrum of creative solutions and approaches, but all share the common goal of safeguarding our aquatic spaces, proving that together, we can make a real difference to pollution levels, but also leave a legacy of environmental stewardship for generations to come.

Marine Litter Grants Launched!



Today we are happy to announce a new round of Marine Litter Grants are now open for applications.



Grants are available across the whole of Northern Ireland and are not restricted to coastal areas.



To apply: https://t.co/XlgLWUMMXl pic.twitter.com/5wP7G8PEQG  Live Here Love Here (@isupportlhlh) September 28, 2023

The Marine Litter Grants Scheme has already made a significant impact on marine conservation efforts across Northern Ireland with funding provided for over 50 innovative projects with a combined value of 550,000.

Eligible projects include ways to minimise waste generated by events such as disposable items which can enter our waterways, shipping, and vessel operations such as discarded fishing gear, cargo packaging, and other materials that can contribute to marine litter and urban and rural litter such as rubbish and debris found in streets and parks that can be carried by wind or runoff into rivers and oceans.

Applications for the Marine Litter Grant are open from September 28th to November 9th. To learn more about the application process, eligibility criteria, and for more information on Live Here Love Here click here .
The awarding of the Freedom of the City to institutional abuse campaigner Jon McCourt is set to go ahead.

Councillors voted to grant the council's award to Mr McCourt in July. However unionist councillors used a council mechanism called a call-in to ask for the decision to be reviewed.

Mr McCourt is one of the north's most high-profile campaigners for victims of historical institutional abuse, and formed the campaign group Survivors North West, and has also worked with victims of the Troubles through Derry's Peace and Reconciliation Group.

Mr McCourt, a former Official IRA member, turned down an MBE earlier this year, stating: As an Irishman and particularly as a Derry man I could not with any integrity and conscience accept an MBE.

Councillors discussed the issue of the call-in at Wednesday's full council meeting in the Guildhall.

DUP councillor Niree McMorris said the party felt "further discussion was needed to make an informed decision".

Alderman McMorris said the issue should have been discussed in a workshop for councillors to make an @informed decision.

"This wasn't anything personal about Jon McCourt or anybody else whose name may, or will be in the future put forward," she told the meeting.

UUP councillor Derek Hussey said he queried the process of conferring the award at the time.

People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin, who originally proposed the motion, said the decision to award Mr McCourt should be upheld.

The SDLP's Brian Tierney said his party would be voting to uphold the original decision and added that it was extremely unfortunate that councillors were discussing the matter again.

I find it incredibly hard to understand and get my head around how people can agree with a process for one person and disagree with the same process about another person and then say it's not about that person.

It just doesn't add for me, Cllr Tierney said.

Sinn Fein councillor Emma McGinley said her party would be supporting the motion and that the original process had been followed properly.

The proposal was carried, with 30 councillors voting for, five against and two abstaining.

The council will now fix a date for the Freedom of the City award ceremony to take place.
A man has died after being struck by a van in Co Tyrone.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a passing motorist raised concern for a man walking in Pomeroy Road towards Cookstown shortly after 11.30pm on Friday.

A spokesman said: As officers were en route responding to this report, a short time later a second report was received that a man on the same stretch of road had been involved in a collision with a Citroen Berlingo van.

Sadly, despite providing first aid at the scene, alongside colleagues from other emergency services, the man was pronounced dead.

The driver of the van was taken to hospital for treatment to non-life-threatening injuries.

Officers closed the road for a time as inquiries were conducted at the scene. It has since reopened.

Police asked members of the public to contact them if they saw a man walking in Pomeroy Road shortly after 11.15pm who was of slim to medium build and was wearing dark clothing and possibly carrying a rucksack.




According to information shared by the organization, the dates for 2023 processions will be October 7, 18, 19, 28 and November 1.





The first procession will take place on October 7. On that day, the venerated image will be taken out of Las Nazarenas Temple the saint's home at noon.









The second meeting with the faithful is scheduled for October 18. On that occasion, the platform of the Purple Christ will go out in procession (also from Las Nazarenas Temple) at 6 a.m.





On October 19, the third procession will kick off at 6 a.m. too, but the tour will begin at Del Carmen Church.









The Christ of Pachacamilla will be paraded through the streets of Lima during the fourth procession slated for October 28. The tour is set to start at 6 a.m.









Finally, November 1 will be the last opportunity to join the Lord of Miracles procession.









Dressed in purple robes, hordes of faith-driven devotees will join the final tour of the 'dark-skinned' Christ before returning to Las Nazarenas, where it is to remain until next year.





About Lord of Miracles





The Lord of Miracles constitutes Peru's most heavily attended religious festivity and is celebrated by all strata of society in homage to the Crucified Christ.





This image is a replica of a centuries-old mural of the crucifixion painted by a slave in the 17th century.





Thus, the Lord of Miracles became a motive for worship after the wall on which it was painted miraculously survived a destructive earthquake unscathed.



Recorridos procesiones del 7, 18, 19, 28 de Octubre #OctubreMorado2023 #VamosAlaProcesion #SenorDeLosMilagros pic.twitter.com/tHj8gfmwH6  Hermandad del Senor de los Milagros de Nazarenas (@HSMNazarenas) September 29, 2023

Recorrido procesional del 1 de Noviembre del 2023 #OctubreMorado2023 #VamosAlaProcesion #SenorDeLosMilagros pic.twitter.com/HKArQoB3fD  Hermandad del Senor de los Milagros de Nazarenas (@HSMNazarenas) September 29, 2023

(END) SMS/RMB

The Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles is getting ready to march through the streets of downtown Lima while carrying the image of the Christ of Pachacamilla, as the miraculous Jesus is known in the popular Catholic tradition across Peru.Publicado: 30/9/2023
Dundalk based business Irish Whiskey Auctions has announced that it is to celebrate five years in existence this year, with a very special event that is hoped to raise over 50,000 for its chosen charities.

Irish Whiskey Auctions is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its inaugural auction, which took place on 12 October 2018. The business has grown from 150 lots in October 2018 to 1726 in March 2023, and from two staff members at the beginning to nine this year.

During this five years, the business has raised over 150,000 for charity, has broken world records for the highest prices achieved for Irish whiskey at auction, has auctioned over 50,000 lots and gained over 10,000 clients, and rising.

Anthony and Katie Sheehys idea was to create a secondary market for their beloved Irish Whiskey for whiskey fans all over the world.

It was timely, necessary, and hugely welcomed in the five years since the inception of the online auction platform, Irish Whiskey Auctions, growing to become the worlds leading platform for the auctioning of all things Irish Whiskey.

The business has diversified in recent times with the creation of The Whiskey Hub, a complete whiskey solutions center that includes sister companies such as Irish Whiskey Experiences, Whiskey Brokerage, Whiskey Investment, Whiskey Storage, whiskey shipping fulfillment- to name but a few of the many and growing facets to this international business.

Anthony and Katie say they feel it is only right to mark the five years of this passion project for all concerned and do something that is very close to our hearts.

We have always held charity work high on our priorities list, so we thought what better way to celebrate our fifth birthday than to collaborate with five different brands to auction 1000 bottles for charity.

This special Charity Auction begins at 5 pm on Wednesday 27 September, lasting 5 days until Sunday 1 October at 7 pm.

There will be 996 lots available including 200 bottles from each of the supporting brands including Dingle, Dunvilles, Two Stacks, Killowen Distillery, and the first-ever release from the Sheehys Single Cask Collection.

Each bottle will be sold as an individual lot with only the bottle No. 1s of each release combined into a single highly sought-after set. All bidding will start at 50 with anything above this being donated to the chosen charities.

Those who are already registered with Irish Whiskey Auctions can bid in the charity auction, for those who are not already members and wish to join, can join here.

Anthony and Katie say they have many celebratory nights planned, one in J.J. Sheehys Public House- another recent acquisition, and more planned in venues to be announced shortly.

The two say that their passionate experienced team are on hand to face a bright future in the whiskey industry adding that they are so appreciative of the many clients we have welcomed into our vibrant whiskey community.

Find out more about Irish Whiskey Auctions at https://irishwhiskeyauctions.ie/
Spinal Injuries Ireland has published a pre-budget submission calling on the Government to automatically provide medical cards to 37 people from county Louth who are living with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).

The organisation made the call as part of its pre-budget submission and also wants the Government to ensure that medical cards are provided to these 37 service users for a period of 10 years without review.

Spinal Injuries Ireland estimates that 700 people, or almost one third of its 2,200 service users, do not have a medical card despite those who sustain a Spinal Cord Injury being medically certified as having a lifelong condition that requires medical support.

It said that medical card holders in Louth and other counties were living in fear of HSE reviews that could result in the loss of their medical card and that this fear had also become a barrier to them returning to the workforce and achieving the optimal outcome from their rehabilitation.

The system for determining eligibility for medical cards is arbitrary and inhuman. It is delaying or denying treatment and the supply of necessary equipment to many people living with a Spinal Cord Injury, and it is also preventing them from returning to work, said Fiona Bolger, CEO of Spinal Injuries Ireland.

The current process of reviewing medical cards annually or once every three years has created a climate of fear and uncertainty. It is causing enormous distress and anxiety and it is making it extremely difficult for anyone with a Spinal Cord Injury to make long-term life plans, she added.

Spinal Injuries Ireland is calling on the Government to automatically provide medical cards to people with a Spinal Cord Injury on the basis of their certified medical needs rather than their means and to extend the review cycle for medical card holders with a SCI to ten years, she continued.

The organisation said that people with a Spinal Cord Injury had to evaluate the potential loss of their medical card when it came to pursuing employment opportunities because the weekly income thresholds for retaining the card were too low at 184 for a single person living alone, or 164 for a single person living with their family.

Our research has found that up to 700 of our service users do not have a medical card. This is a sobering statistic when you consider that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has described a Spinal Cord Injury as one of the most devastating and life changing injuries that a person can sustain, said Ms. Bolger.

54% of those we work with have been subject to a medical card review. Young people, in particular, are living in fear of losing access to medical services if they return to work. They are choosing not to do so, or to only earn up to the income threshold, which impacts their opportunity to develop careers and to achieve social, psychological and intellectual fulfilment, she added.

Spinal Injuries Ireland estimates that three people sustain a devastating Spinal Cord Injury every week in Ireland. Some lose the ability to walk and depending on the level of injury can also lose arm and hand function. A SCI can also result in serious secondary health issues including chronic pain, loss of body function, severe psychological distress, and financial issues.

The experience is life changing for individuals who are suddenly faced with the cost of medical care, bowel and bladder care and pressure relieving equipment along with specialist requirements such as a motorised chair, a bed hoist and having to adapt their car or home to their new reality.

In many cases people with a SCI are unable to return to their former employment. Spouses, family members or partners commonly give up their employment to provide them with home care. There is a huge loss of family income, and it is estimated that 25% of those with a SCI live below the poverty line, said Ms. Bolger.
Carlingford features in a new mini series Stand Up Road Trip which sees comedians Sean Burke and Suzi Ruffell travel together across Ireland  beginning in Ireland's Ancient East, then onto Irelands Hidden Heartlands and finally to the Wild Atlantic Way.

In the first episode, viewers follow Sean and Suzi as they visit Newgrange and the Carlingford Oyster Company, in search of new material for their stand-up gig in Limerick. Episode one is available. Episode two will go live on 5 October and episode three on 19 October.

Their challenge is to drive from one coast to the other, meet lots of locals and experience our culture, all in an attempt to gather enough comedy material for a last-minute stand-up show at the end of their trip.

They have prepared no jokes for the show and need to soak up as many adventure-filled stories and hilarious anecdotes as possible during their Irish road trip.

The digital-first mini-series includes three episodes, which will be available to view on Channel 4s YouTube channel. The episodes will also be promoted on the Channel 4 streaming platform, as well as on Channel 4s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The promotion is expected to have 6.4 million views.

Julie Wakley, Tourism Irelands Head of Great Britain, said:

We are delighted to partner with Channel 4 to create the Stand Up Road Trip mini-series. Its a great way for comedians Sean Burke and Suzi Ruffell to bring viewers on a fun road trip across Ireland  highlighting our fantastic scenery, culture, attractions and, most importantly, our local characters.

As Sean and Suzi travel from Ireland's Ancient East to Irelands Hidden Heartlands and then to the Wild Atlantic Way, viewers will get a sense of the humour and wit of the people in Ireland. The partnership is expected to have 6.4 million views, so its a wonderful opportunity to showcase Ireland to a large audience in Great Britain and encourage them to book their own trip to Ireland.
A 22-year-old man who allowed his bank account to be used by a third party for the transfer of money, has been given the benefit of the Probation Act at Dundalk district court, after making a 1,000 charitable donation.

Adam Mostyn with an address at Dundoogan, Heynestown, Dundalk had pleaded guilty to two money laundering charges in amounts of 11,309 and 1,000 at Bank of Ireland, Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk, on August 17th 2021.

An earlier sitting of the court had heard that the defendant, who had no previous convictions, had responded to an advertisement on Snapchat and was offered 10% of the proceeds.

A probation report assessed him as being at low risk of reoffending, and the Defence solicitor said on an adjourned date this client worked as a steel fabricator, having lost a job in a pharmaceutical company because of the case.

He stressed that his client never met these people and fortunately, no one was at a loss as Bank of Ireland had stepped in.

The solicitor argued that the defendant had displayed a level of naivety and was never going to gain from this, however Judge

Eirinn McKiernan pointed out he was promised 10%.

The judge put back the case for payment of 1,000 for the Turas Counselling Service, otherwise a two month suspended sentence would be imposed.

However, last Wednesday after the solicitor confirmed the payment had been made, Judge McKiernan applied the Probation Act.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan has falsely accused the Armenian military of firing at its troops on the border in a renewed round of disinformation, the Armenian Ministry of Defense warned Saturday.

The statement disseminated by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan claiming that at noon on September 30, units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire at the Azerbaijani outposts in the eastern part of the border, as a result of which a serviceman of the Azerbaijani armed forces was killed, is untrue, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
State Sen. John Mannion, a Democratic candidate in the 22nd Congressional District, is responding to criticism after a comment he made about local reaction to the migrant crisis was the subject of a Fox News story.

The conservative cable news network obtained a video of Mannion, D-Geddes, speaking during a virtual meeting. In the 39-second clip posted with the story, he discusses the weaponization of the migrant crisis as a political issue.

"It is effective," Mannion said. "I represent those very Republican areas, as I said, and when you go into those rooms, they are fearful that buses of migrants are going to come into where they live and change their community. It is just unbelievable to me, but I am not surprised at the ignorance."

After the story's publication, Republican U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams blasted Mannion in a tweet.

"(Mannion) says you're ignorant for sharing common-sense concerns about the migrant crisis threatening (NY-22)," he wrote. "Along with (President Joe Biden) and (Gov. Kathy Hochul), Mannion created this crisis. Insulting voters who care about public safety isn't the best way to launch a campaign, John."

Republican elected officials, led by Salina Supervisor Nick Paro, sent a letter to Mannion asking him to apologize for his comment. The group of town supervisors and village mayors wrote that they are "deeply disturbed" by his comments.

"Beyond that, we were taken aback by the hypocrisy of your private comments, which were completely contrary to the public statements you have made regarding the migrant crisis and in support of our actions," they added.

In a statement provided to The Citizen, Mannion said he appreciates working with local elected leaders, regardless of their party affiliation. However, he noted that his statement "was taken out of context."

"I believe that our immigration system is broken, and it will take elected officials from both sides of the aisle, working together, to fix it," he continued. "We are a compassionate, welcoming region with businesses who need workers."

Mannion urged local elected officials to call on Williams, R-Sennett, to "get to work to deliver central New York and the Mohawk Valley a budget that provides the funding we need to address our broken immigration system." A government shutdown looms as the Republican-led House is unable to reach consensus on a spending bill.
CITY planners have given the green light for retention planning permission for the Marina Market in a decision described as a testament to common sense.

The market, located off Kennedy Quay and Centre Park Rd, has drawn tens of thousands of visitors since it was established in 2020.

However, a decision on its future had been hanging in the balance after city planners requested further information before deciding on an application for retention planning permission for the development.

In May, a fresh planning application was lodged with Cork City Council by CPR Properties Cork Limited, seeking permission to maintain its use of the former Southern Fruits Distribution Company warehouse as a market/food emporium for a period of five years.

Yesterday, Cork City Council confirmed that it had granted retention permission for the Marina Market.

It is understood the popular market in the Docklands area will undergo a substantial investment now that planning permission has been secured.

Importance of working with planning authority

Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Kieran McCarthy warmly welcomed the decision but highlighted the importance of working closely with the planning authority.

Im delighted that people sat down and went through the issues with the planning and that those have been ironed out, he said.

The Lord Mayor said that it is important that people are aware of the planning system.

The main issue is that it didnt have planning, he said.

It had woven its way into the hearts of Corkonians, but when it came to the black-and-white print, it needed to be sorted out, so I am glad that it is sorted.

But the message is to make sure you work with the planning authority as closely as possible, especially if youve got a project thats important for the city such as the Marina Market.

Part of fabric of city

Fine Gael councillor Deirdre Forde described the decision as a testament to common sense, adding: Id like to see many more places where people can meet, greet, eat, and relax and enjoy company around Cork, because its obviously loved by many people.

The 'Food hall' seating area at the Marina Market on Centre Park Road. Pic Larry Cummins

The Cork City South East councillor said that the market is part of the fabric of the city and adds to its rich tapestry, along with The English Market and the Victorian Quarter.

Fianna Fail councillor Terry Shannon described the market as a venue which has proven very innovative and very popular and has added value to the community city-wide.

It has become a very popular place in the city for people of all ages to recreate and have meetings, he said.

It has a unique ambience, and its part of the rejuvenation of the docklands in that its a precursor to the type of development and activity we can have in docklands, and I think it certainly bodes well for the future in that sense.

Fine Gael councillor Des Cahill said the Marina Markets popularity is a testament to its need and said he was delighted at the decision to grant permission.

Sinn Fein TD Donnchadh O Laoghaire described the decision as a huge relief and said the door has now been opened to a bright new chapter for the venue.

A spokesperson for Marina Market thanked all involved in the process, particularly Cork City Council, which the spokesperson said showed exceptional vision and were thorough and fair to all concerned at all times.

But most of all, we have to thank the people of Cork for taking us to their hearts and making the Marina Market the success it is and will continue to be in the years ahead, said the spokesperson.

Cork City Council said there will now be a four-week appeal period during which the applicant or a third party may appeal the decision or any of the conditions of the decision to An Bord Pleanala.
Two men appeared in court this evening after being charged in connection with the seizure of almost 160 million of cocaine on a bulk cargo ship off the coast of Ireland.

Jamie Harbron, aged 31, of South Avenue, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, UK, and 60-year-old Ukrainian national Vitaliy Lapa, of no fixed abode, were charged with conspiracy to import drugs.

Armed police units were involved in the convoy transporting the men to Waterford District Court.

Detective Garda James Doolan told the court he arrested Mr Lapa at 11.26pm on Thursday and that he made no reply to the charge after caution.

There was no application for bail. His lawyer, Maria Murphy put in applications for a psychological assessment and legal aid.

She also requested that he receive all necessary medical treatment while in custody.

There were no objections and the requests were granted.

Detective Garda Ciara McNulty of the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said she arrested Mr Harbron at 11.10pm on Thursday and he made no reply to the charge after caution.

There was no application for bail and no medical attention was required. A request for legal aid made by his solicitor Lana Doherty was granted.

They were remanded in custody to appear at Wexford District Court via videolink on Monday.

A total of 2,253kg of cocaine was found on the MV Matthew after members of the Army Ranger Wing captured the vessel off the Co Cork coast by abseiling from a helicopter earlier this week.

The ship had been under surveillance since Friday when a multi-agency operation responded to intelligence of a major international drug smuggling bid.

Five other men have been arrested as part of the operation.
In Cayuga County Court this week, one man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman while another admitted to starting a foot chase that injured a police officer.

Brandon Lowe, 37, of Auburn, admitted in court to sexually assaulting a woman after leaving her harassing voice messages over several days in violation of a protection order against him, Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said in a Friday news release.

In front of Judge Thomas Leone, the defendant pleaded to the entire indictment against him: second-degree burglary (a class D violent felony), first-degree attempted rape (a class C violent felony), first-degree sexual abuse (a class D felony), second-degree criminal contempt and second-degree criminal trespass (both class A misdemeanors), second-degree harassment (a violation) and two counts of first-degree criminal contempt (both class E felonies).

Lowe is set to be sentenced Jan. 4 to eight years in prison followed by nine years of post-release supervision. The district attorney's office will recommend he receive 10 years in prison and 10 years of post-release supervision. The release noted Lowe's trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 2.

The Auburn Police Department previously said Lowe entered the woman's home in Auburn without permission in July 2022. An argument ensued, and Lowe started to sexually abuse and tried to rape the woman. Grome Antonacci noted that due to a 911 call from a third party who reported the order of protection violation, Auburn police quickly responded to the victim's home and apprehended Lowe during the assault. The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Heather De Stefano.

In another case, Grome Antonacci said Christopher Liddle, 35, of Fleming, admitted before Leone in court to intentionally fleeing from police officers in July, leading to injury for an Auburn officer trying to arrest Liddle on an unrelated warrant. The officer's arm was injured during the pursuit.

Liddle pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted assault (a class E felony). The release said he will be sentenced Jan. 4 to two to four years in state prison, running consecutively to his parole violation.
THE Government has been accused of neglecting the northside, following the omission of any mention of a northern ring road or north-side campus for either University College Cork or Munster Technological University in a new document of Government infrastructural projects planned between next year and 2031.

Timelines and budgets relating to a number of Cork projects including the Cork-Limerick M20 and Cork to Ringaskiddy M28 upgrades, the building of the Cork University Business School on the banks of the Lee in the city centre, the Lower Lee Flood Relief Project as well as a major housing development in the Docklands, were published in a Department of Public Expenditure and Reform document published last week in advance of intensifying Budget 2024 preparations.

According to Cork North Central Sinn Fein TD Thomas Gould, the omission of both the Northern Ring Road or northside campus left him and the communities north of the Lee with a sense of deep disappointment.

Theres deep disappointment on the northside when theyre looking at these announcements when they see theres nothing in there about the Northern Ring Road which is a vital piece of infrastructure to take traffic out of residential areas, to promote business and connectivity.

On top of that theres deep disappointment as well that, while we welcome the proposed investment into UCC, its great to see, but the call for a northside campus, theres no funding for that.

Deputy Gould said that the Northern Ring Road would be a benefit to the whole of Cork city - if the South Ring Road is backed up, because of an accident in the Jack Lynch Tunnel, the Northern Ring Road would ensure that traffic could be diverted elsewhere.

Northside campus

In terms of the proposal for a north side campus for either MTU or UCC, the TD said that this had to be a priority in light of statistics that show a lack of students from the northside going to third level.

The Sinn Fein TD said he and his Sinn Fein colleagues, Higher Education spokesperson Mairead Farrell TD and Donnchadh O Laoghaire TD, the Education spokesperson, had held meetings with MTU recently to discuss the options with them for a north side campus, bearing in mind that MTU has campuses across Cork city and in Tralee.

Mallow Relief Road

Meanwhile, Labours Sean Sherlock TD, the Mallow-based Cork East TD, was particularly disappointed that while the proposed and long-demanded Mallow Relief Road was mentioned in the Prospects document, the projects timeline as published in the document estimated it wouldnt begin until 2025 with a completion date in 2028.

He said Government TDs should focus on getting the Mallow Relief Road over the line.

Media reports suggest that Government TDs are complaining that the Minister for Transport is stopping road projects proceeding, like the Mallow Relief Road with any significant budget line, said Deputy Sherlock.

Rather than complain to the media, it would be useful for Government reps to leverage their influence with senior ministers to release funds to allow Mallow Relief Road to proceed.
A multi-million euro redevelopment of the Irish Distillers Irish Whiskey Experience in Midleton, capable of welcoming over 200,000 domestic and international visitors annually to the East Cork region, has been officially opened by the Tanaiste Micheal Martin.

Now rebranded as the Midleton Distillery Experience, the centre has been transformed into what is described as a world-class, multi-sensory Irish Whiskey experience.

The redevelopment comes ahead of the 200th anniversary of the establishment of a distillery in the East Cork town, in 2025.

The Midleton Distillery Experience, which incorporates an immersive auditorium and modern retail facilities, will offer visitors the opportunity to explore more about the history and future of Irish whiskey production at the distillery and offers opportunities for tasting its many brands, including Jameson, the worlds most awarded Irish whiskey and Midleton Very Rare.

Conservation and restoration of the existing structure, which includes buildings that date back to 1794.

Contractors made improvements and upgrades to preserve the fabric of the historic buildings using like-for-like materials whilst embracing modern construction techniques

Tanaiste Micheal Martin described the opening as a significant day for tourism in the region.

There is no doubt this redeveloped experience will further serve to attract both domestic and international visitors in the years to come, supporting jobs in the region and building on Midletons long-established reputation as a tourism destination.

Alexandre Ricard, CEO and Chairman of the owner of Irish Distillers, Pernod Ricard, said the growth of Irish whiskey was an amazing story.

Our multimillion-euro investment in this redevelopment will conserve the heritage of this historical site for future generations and we look forward to welcoming even more people to experience the story of our Irish whiskeys at the new Midleton Distillery Experience.

The Midleton Distillery was described as the heart and soul of Irish whiskey by the Irish Distillers chairwoman and CEO Nodjame Fouad.

It will further build on its reputation for excellence on the international stage and cement its position as one of the top tourist attractions in the world, Ms Fouad said.

New York-headquartered Ralph Appelbaum Associates, who have specialist experience in the planning and design of cultural attractions globally, led the design of the redevelopment and the construction was carried out by PJ Hegarty & Sons, amongst others.
THERE was a mixed reaction to Cork citys first car-free day last Saturday with Patrick St, North Main St, Cornmarket St, Castle St, and Adelaide St closed to traffic from noon until 6.30pm.

Studies in Britain have shown that sales can increase when cities are pedestrianised, but the combination of the bad weather last weekend and the streets being closed to cars on Saturday had a negative impact on footfall and sales for many Cork retailers.

Heavy rain for most of Saturday afternoon made walking less desirable, with lots of shoppers saying they opted not to visit the city that day, choosing to visit shopping centres instead, and those that did said the streets were empty.

The Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Kieran McCarthy told The Echo: It seemed to be a success, but added that he had talked to a number of traders and the overall sentiment is split.

'Business just collapsed'

Tom Bradley, who owns Tom Bradley Bacon and Pork company at the English Market said: Saturday is my day  if I dont have a good day on a Saturday my week is a write off, and last weekend, my business just collapsed at 12.30pm.

Its hard enough to get people into the city, he added, explaining that there isnt a big enough population of people living in the centre, so city retailers rely on people coming into town, we need cars.

Its fine if youre a young person and you get the bus all the time, but youre not going to get middle-aged and elderly people getting into a bus to town to get their provisions.

These people arent going to all of a sudden leave their cars at home and get the bus, and theyre the people who are spending money, he said, adding that university students dont go to the English Market to buy bacon and pork.

Explaining that he was in favour of environmental initiatives, Tom suggested that trialling a car free day on a Monday, when people need to get into town for work, would do a better job of converting car users into bus users.

If you want to actually change attitudes and change peoples views on things youve got to do it on a day that people actually have to go to the city.

But doing it on a Saturday, youre just killing the trade. I never saw as few people walking around as I did Saturday.

More planning needed

Wendy Murphy, owner of the Baby Boutique on Castle St experienced the same. She told The Echo: Saturday is my busiest day because the kids are off school, parents need their cars for their buggies and bags and small kids, adding, a lot of people live in the country and theyre not in a position to get public transport.

We had a few customers in the morning, from lunchtime my Saturday just died, and Saturday is bread and butter for lots of businesses, we have an extra staff member on that day....Without anything to encourage them into the city people will just go to Mahon Point  the council didnt follow the initiative through with a plan.

Several people made use of taxis, with head of operations at leading taxi company FREENOW Fiona Brady, telling The Echo: The number of taxi trips completed by FREENOW driver partners in Cork saw a 26% increase on Saturday compared to Friday September 22.
THE ongoing collaboration between Cobh and Harbour Chamber of Commerce and the Port of Cork Company (PoCC) looks set to continue into next year following the announcement that PoCC would be extending its sponsorship during 2024.

The announcement came following the September Business Breakfast which was held in Cobhs Titanic Bar and Grill on Friday, a sold-out event which was addressed by Finance Minister Michael McGrath.

Cobh and Harbour Chamber President Toddy Stafford said the support of the PoCC would enable the holding of many more events such as the Business Breakfast which were informative as well as being opportunities for networking.

We are immensely grateful to the Port of Cork Company for their continued support into 2024. Cobh and Harbour Chamber very much values the longstanding and collaborative relationship we have with PoCC, said Mr. Stafford.

PoCC Chief Commercial Officer Conor Mowlds paid tribute to the work of Cobh and Harbour Chamber: As we work towards achieving the ambitions laid out in our Port of Cork Masterplan 2050, strengthening relationships with the local community and businesses is vital to us.
A CORK priest who said mass every year in the only church to have survived the devastating Maui wildfires has raised 11k to help his friends rebuild their lives.

Fr Liam Kelleher from Cobh travelled annually to the historic town of Lahina until tragedy struck last August 8, claiming the lives of at least 97 people.

The local church known as Maria Lanakila- Our Lady of Victory-is one of the only buildings left standing following the wildfires.

Fr Kelleher made such an impression on residents in the community during his visits he was invited to say mass for parishioners.

The Cork priest said he now hopes to raise 20k in total to help those still reeling from the horrific tragedy.

He has nominated local woman Gail Falkenbury and her friend Chyna Colorado to allocate the much-needed funds on the ground.

Carcasses of cars are seen among the ashes of burnt neighborhood in the aftermath of a wildfire, in Lahaina, western Maui, Hawaii on August 14, 2023. (Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP) (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)

Fr Kelleher spoke of the impact for his many friends living in the area.

When the fire started it was horrendous. Peoples homes were burned. Their cars were burned. The woman I was staying with, a daughter of a friend of mine, escaped in a sense because she hadnt bought the apartment she was renting. However, everything else she had was burnt to the ground. Two of my best friends had a boat and they lived on the boat for four years on the harbour. They saved enough money to buy a home. When I was over last February they had moved into a new house. That house is now gone and the boat has gone too.

The Cobh man said he hopes to make it back to his friends someday.

I would love to go back there even though this wont be possible in the short term. The place will never be the same again. It will be built on but theres the problem of people buying up the land and speculators coming to visit the site. Most of the island is okay. Its just this particular town that was completely wiped out. They have to pick up the pieces and theres no such thing as insurance for people who cant afford it.

He described the wildfires as among the worst tragedies in USA history.

The last time I said mass there was in February. The church was a stone building so was one of the only buildings that wasnt destroyed. Everything else was timber and was completely ravaged by the fire. This was one of the worst tragedies in USA history.

To donate to Fr Kellehers Go Fund me page visit www.gofundme.com/f/lahaina-maui-usa-devastating-wildfire-tragedy.
Cork City Council is warning that some localised flooding and ponding is expected in the city this evening.

The local authoritys Flood Assessment Team met this morning due to a forecasted period of high astronomical Spring tides today.

This mornings high tide at 06.44 am passed without incident.

However, the local authority has warned that this evenings high tide at 19.05 pm is expected to cause some localised flooding and ponding.

It is likely that some roads and parking areas along low-lying quays in the city centre may suffer localised flooding during high tide e.g. Morrisons Island, Fr. Matthew Quay, Trinity Bridge, Union Quay, Wandesford Quay, Lavitts Quay, and South Terrace, a spokesperson said.

The council spokesperson said that crews will be on standby across the city this evening, but it appealed to motorists to drive with care if travelling into the city centre tonight.

Where necessary, road restrictions may be put in place to ensure smooth flow of traffic in impacted areas.

As forecasted weather and tidal conditions are variable at this time, Cork City Council is continuing to monitor the situation closely, the spokesperson added.
KERRS bookshop in Clonakilty has been listed as one of the 12 best places in Ireland to buy a new book in the An Post Bookshop of the Year category at this years An Post Irish Book Awards.

Customers were asked to vote online for their favourite bookshops and to write a brief explanation of why they have chosen it.

The bookshops that received the most votes were then longlisted. Each will now enter a written submission, and mystery shoppers will visit the 12 bookshops as part of the judging process to narrow it down to a shortlist of six bookshops.

Speaking to The Echo, owner Trish Kerr said: We are absolutely thrilled to bits.

Just to get onto the longlist is an honour, when I look at the list theres such great bookshops on it, we are in such good company.

Its all down to everyone who voted us and to the staff  there are five of us in the shop, we work part-time and everybody does their bit, its great fun and a lovely place to work.

Kerrs is a privately owned and managed small bookstore right in the heart of Clonakilty town where proprietor Trish Kerr has 25 years experience managing the business and she has created a warm, friendly atmosphere where locals and tourists are invited to browse at their leisure.

You can get everything there from the newest bestsellers to esteemed classics, with a wide range of childrens books and non-fiction titles also available, along with a particularly good selection of books on local history, Irish history, and general Irish interest, along with maps and local walking guides.

The six bookshops on the shortlist will be revealed on October 19, and the overall winner of the award will be presented with a trophy and a prize of 15,000 at the An Post Book Awards on November 22.

The longlist of 12 bookshops is: Bridge Books, Dromore, Co Down; Bridge Street Books, Co Wicklow; Castle Book & Card Centre, Castlebar, Co Mayo; The Clifden Bookshop, Connemara, Co Galway; Halfway Up the Stairs, Greystones, Co Wicklow; Kerrs Bookshop Clonakilty, Co Cork; Liber, Co Sligo; Little Acorns Bookstore, Co Derry; Maynooth Bookshop, Co Kildare; OMahonys Booksellers, Co Limerick; Tales for Tadpoles, Bray, Co Wicklow, and Tertulia, Westport, Co Mayo.
MORE than 100 people braved the rain this afternoon to take part in a rally to show their support and solidarity with Cork city library workers.

Crowds attending the rally. Cork Says NO to Racism rally in support of library workers at Cork City Library, Grand Parade Cork Pic Larry Cummins

The event, which took place this lunchtime at the Cork City Library on Grand Parade, was organised by anti-racism group Cork Says No to Racism.

Honore Kamegni, Cllr Colette Finn and Louise Jordan of The Greeen Party attending the rally. Pic Larry Cummins

It was also supported by Cork Rebels for Peace, a coalition of like-minded groups and individuals.

Organisers said that the rally was organised to show support of library workers, and to display solidarity with them after enduring a campaign of what has been described as intense harassment by far-right individuals.

Cllr Ted Tynan of the Workers Party with Helen Louise Murphy and Juri Hertel attending the rally. Pic Larry Cummins

They said the event also aimed to celebrate "the best of what Cork has to offer in diversity, inclusion, culture, free access to information, and above all, every citizen's right to live peacefully and safely in Cork city, a safe harbour."

Joe Moore of Cork Says No To Racism said that despite the inclement weather conditions, as Christy Moore once sang "the craic was ninety on the Isle of Man.

Mick Barry TD speaking at the rally. Pic Larry Cummins

Among those in attendance was Labour councillor for Cork City North East Ward John Maher who said he believes it is important to show solidarity with the workers.

We must never become complacent. We saw the libraries being stormed, and I think that is unacceptable, he said.

Sinn Fein Cllr for Cork North West Mick Nugent said the stand-alone rally is incredibly important while Green Party Local Area Representative for Cork City North West Louise Jordan added: Theres enough of us that feel so strongly about it that feel for the library workers and it is unacceptable that a small minority of people would actually upset these people who are doing such a wonderful job for us.
An ambulance was called to attend to a drunken man in Cork city centre but he was so abusive the crew refused to take him to hospital.

At the height of the incident the 54-year-old man told a member of An Garda Siochana, I will kill you and your family. F*** you. Ill kill you.

That was at Nicholas Street, Cork, on July 3 and now at Cork District Court, Michael Coffey, 54, has pleaded guilty to engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour and being so intoxicated that he was a danger to himself or others.

Sergeant John Kelleher said the accused man was very drunk on the night to such an extent that was a danger to himself.

Mr Coffey who lives in supported accommodation at Deerpark in Cork told the first garda who encountered him to f*** himself. He called the member of An Garda Siochana a stupid c***. He then went on to make the death threats.

An ambulance was called to the scene because of concerns for the mans wellbeing.

However, Sgt. Kelleher said in court, The ambulance crew refused to take him to hospital because of he was so aggressive.

Michael Coffey had 39 previous convictions including six for being drunk and a danger and two for engaging in threatening behaviour.

Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said, This man has a number of challenges  social, educational and addiction and some form of injury which has caused his behavioural concern. Things are going not very well for him.

I give him the precis of evidence supplied by the guards, he reads it and it is incomprehensible to him that he behaved in this wayHe is on two forms of medication for mental health concerns.

Judge Olann Kelleher said to the accused man, I am not going to send you to jail but you cannot go on like this. You have got all the breaks  more than most people in the city but you have not taken them.

The judge imposed a two-month suspended sentence on the accused.
The number of babies being breastfed is continuing to grow, with HSE figures for 2022 showing that 62% of babies were breastfed when the public health nurse made their first visit after birth, compared to 59% in 2021, and 55% in 2017.

The figures were highlighted to coincide with HSE National Breastfeeding Week 2023 which runs from October 1 to October 7.

This years theme is making our communities and workplaces more breastfeeding friendly.

The HSE says it aims to highlight supports available for starting breastfeeding and for keeping it up while returning to work.

In July, the government extended the entitlement to breastfeeding breaks in the workplace from the previous period of six months up to two years.

Thirty-five-and-a-half new lactation and infant feeding posts were recruited in the last three years.

There are now 57 lactation and infant feeding staff members nationwide to provide specialist support in all maternity and public health nursing services, double the amount employed in 2021.

Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy Hildegarde Naughton said: Improving Irelands breastfeeding rates will help to improve long term population health.

Laura McHugh, HSE national breastfeeding coordinator said: We know from our data that more mothers are breastfeeding every year. Parents can get support and advice on establishing breastfeeding from their midwife and public health nurse.

"They can also ask them questions about other aspects of caring for newborn babies, such as recognising what is normal in the early weeks and soothing a crying or unsettled baby, common concerns for parents highlighted in a paper published by The Lancet earlier this year. Hospital and community lactation consultants can offer support with specific breastfeeding queries and challenges."

She said that the number of breastfeeding groups is also growing in every county, with 180 groups running and both in-person and online options are available.

All groups, including the 21 in Cork, are listed on mychild.ie.

Support for parents is also available on the HSEs mychild.ie website.
Tomas Doherty

The MV Matthew is the ship at the centre of the State's largest-ever cocaine seizure, travelling thousands of kilometres from the Caribbean before being intercepted on Tuesday morning.

Members of the highly-trained Army Ranger Wing descended by fast-rope from a helicopter on to the vessel, which became the focus point of a multi-agency operation on Sunday.

So what do we know about the MV Matthew and how it travelled to Ireland?

The MV Matthew. Photo: PA

What do we know about the ship and its origins?

The MV Matthew is a 190-metre-long, 32-metre-wide bulk cargo vessel originating in South America. It was built in 2001 and sails under the flag of Panama.

Until last month the ship was called the MV Honmom, according to maritime analytics provider MarineTraffic. The name change happened while the ship was enroute between the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curacao.

These European overseas territories have been noted by researchers as offering advantages to drug smugglers over other parts of the Caribbean.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Caribbeans proximity to South America makes it an attractive route for drug traffickers looking for ways to transport large amounts of cocaine to Europe.

From Aruba and Curacao, cocaine can be shipped directly to the Netherlands via sea or air.

Cocaine shipments from Venezuela often enter these Dutch territories via go-fast boats, according to the CSIS. The distance between Aruba and Venezuela is only 23km.

Which route did the MV Matthew take to Ireland?

The ship left Curacao on August 19th and travelled to Georgetown in Guyana on the North Atlantic coast of South America.

It appears to have collected cargo here before sailing across the Atlantic to the Canary Islands and then north to Ireland.

Before this weeks dramatic events, the final destination of the journey was supposed to be Gdansk in Poland. This later changed to Belfast.

What happened when the ship reached Ireland?

The MV Matthew entered Irish waters on Saturday, September 23rd. Data from the ship's automatic identification system (AIS) shows it travelled at pace into the Irish Sea on Saturday evening, reaching as far as the south coast of Co Wicklow by Sunday afternoon.

The ship then slowed down and reported engine trouble. The Matthew made a U-turn and plotted a route south to Cork for repairs, reaching the Waterford coast by Monday.

By Monday evening, the captain of the ship was reported unwell and had to be medically evacuated by the Coast Guard.

Then in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the ship was intercepted by the Irish Navy boat LE William Butler Yeats and instructed to take a certain course by a Naval captain.



The MV Matthew tried to evade the authorities, prompting the Naval Service to fire two shots across its bow. This was to compel the vessel to follow the instruction of the ships captain, Naval Service Commander Tony Geraghty told a later press conference.

The Army Ranger Wing then fast-roped on to the deck of the ship from a helicopter as it attempted to manoeuvre away. They secured the vessel and the Navy escorted it to Cork harbour by Tuesday evening.

Separately, a fishing trawler that is suspected to have been used to receive deliveries of drugs ran aground on a sandbank off the coast of Blackwater, Co Wexford, on Sunday night.

A Coast Guard helicopter hovers above the stranded fishing trawler off the coast of Blackwater, Co Wexford. Photo: Niall Carson/PA

After attempts to move the boat were unsuccessful, two men, who are now in custody, were winched to safety by the Coast Guard in the early hours of Monday morning.

What was found on the MV Matthew?

A total of 2,253kg of cocaine was found on the ship, worth an estimated 157 million.

Gardai said it was the largest drugs seizure in the history of the State.

If the cocaine had reached the street, the value could have increased five-fold or more, depending on how much criminal gangs diluted it.

Do we know which groups were involved?

Assistant Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly confirmed on Wednesday the drugs came from one of the murderous cartels which supplies South American drugs to Europe.

An Irish gang is likely to have been involved in landing some of the drugs off the south coast.

Mr Kelly said such a large shipment would not have entered the States waters without the involvement of an Irish gang and there are a number with direct links to South America.

He said it was "inevitable" that Ireland will see more large drugs shipments like this.

There is an increase in the amount of cocaine available for a number of geopolitical reasons in South America. There is basically a glut of cocaine on the market, he said.

And when you combine that with the increased consumption across Europe, Europe is now the biggest market for cocaine in the world.

So when you combine those two things together, absolutely, its inevitable that were going to see organised criminal groups trying to leverage on that, make more money from it, as they always do in situations like this.

According to The Irish Times, most of the load was destined for the UK and continental Europe where it was to be distributed by local organised crime groups. These will be the focus of investigations by the French police and the UKs National Crime Agency which worked with Irish authorities on the interception operation.
Cillian Sherlock, PA

Two men have appeared in court after being charged in connection with the seizure of almost 160 million of cocaine on a bulk cargo ship off the coast of Cork.

Jamie Harbron (31), of South Avenue, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, UK, and Ukrainian national Vitaliy Lapa (60), of no fixed abode, were charged with conspiracy to import drugs.

Armed Garda units were involved in transporting the men to Waterford District Court.

Detective Garda James Doolan told the court he arrested Mr Lapa at 11.26pm on Thursday who made no reply to the charge after caution.

There was no application for bail.

His lawyer, Maria Murphy, put in applications for a psychological assessment and legal aid. She also requested that he receive all necessary medical treatment while in custody.

There were no objections and the requests were granted.

Detective Garda Ciara McNulty of the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said she arrested Mr Harbron at 11.10pm on Thursday and he made no reply to the charge after caution.

There was no application for bail and no medical attention was required.

A request for legal aid made by his solicitor Lana Doherty was granted.

They were remanded in custody to appear at Wexford District Court via videolink on Monday.

A total of 2,253kg of cocaine was found on the MV Matthew after members of the Army Ranger Wing captured the vessel off the Co Cork coast by abseiling from a helicopter earlier this week.

The ship had been under surveillance since Friday when a multi-agency operation responded to intelligence of a major international drug smuggling bid.

Gardai said the seizure was the largest in the history of the State.

MV Matthew was escorted into Cobh in Cork by the Navy after a significant quantity of suspected drugs were found on board (Defence Forces/PA)

Police believe the cocaine, captured onboard the cargo ship after the dramatic military operation at sea, was destined for distribution beyond Ireland, potentially into the UK and continental Europe.

A fishing trawler that grounded off the coast of Co Wexford late on Sunday was also being monitored as part of the operation, amid suspicions it was en route to rendezvous with the cargo ship.

The vessel remains stuck on a sandbank out at sea, with poor conditions preventing the authorities from boarding the vessel and conducting a search.

Five other men have been arrested as part of the operation.
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Drought conditions at Tower Rock on the Mississippi River at Grand Tower, Illinois in October of 2022. Reece Streufert / National Weather Service

An important stretch of the mighty Mississippi River is getting mighty dry, just in time for the busiest grain export season in the country.

According to the National Weather Service, this week water levels on part of the lower Mississippi came within inches of a record low, and conditions are expected to continue as grain export season kicks off, reported Reuters.

Low water levels on the river have caused shippers of soybean and corn exports to have to lighten their loads to keep vessels from running aground, as well as reduce how many barges they pull at once to be able to navigate the more narrow shipping channel.

What happens is if we dont get a lot of rainfall in the upper parts of the Midwest, thats really where all the flow comes from, Jeff Graschel, Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center hydrologist, told FOX Weather. By the time the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers come together, thats about 90% of the water that comes down to part of the lower part of the Mississippi River.

Since the beginning of September, parts of the Mississippi have been closed more than 20 times, Reuters reported. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 36 or more vessels have been reported to have run aground.

On Thursday, a reading of the river in Memphis, Tennessee, was minus-10.62 feet, the National Weather Service said.

The most recent forecast predicts the Mississippi will stay below ten feet until at least the middle of October, which would mean a point between the Midwest heavy production areas and terminals on the Gulf Coast, where about 60 percent of grain exports leave the U.S., would be gridlocked.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey and NOAA, across almost 400 miles of the Mississippi, from the start of the Ohio River to Jackson, water gauges are at or below critical levels, reported CNN.

Were going to need a pretty significant period of wet weather across the basin, Katie Dedeaux, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Memphis, told CNN. Its not going to be an overnight thing.

Low water levels on the Mississippi have caused freight costs to be the highest since historic lows last year caused U.S. grain to be less competitive globally, Reuters reported.

Octobers not normally a robust precipitation month, and if were here already its a real cause for concern, said Mike Steenhoek, Soy Transportation Coalition executive director, as reported by Reuters.

The NOAA Climate Prediction Center is forecasting improvement in the long-term, though not complete elimination of drought conditions across the Mississippi Valley, CNN reported. El Nino might help provide relief as well, as an El Nino frequently means increased precipitation in the Southern U.S.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai (4th R,play mississippi stud on line mobile front) delivers a speech at the 33rd APEC ministerial meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 17, 2022. Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies concluded a meeting here on Thursday, aligning their ideas for advancing Asia-Pacific integration, trade and investment in the common pursuit of a sustained and inclusive recovery in a highly uncertain world. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

BANGKOK, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies concluded a meeting here on Thursday, aligning their ideas for advancing Asia-Pacific integration, trade and investment in the common pursuit of a sustained and inclusive recovery in a highly uncertain world.

Rapid technological innovation, environmental degradation and climate change require leaders of APEC member economies "to ponder the way we can and must do better and cooperate more," Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said in his opening remarks at the 33rd APEC ministerial meeting.

Participants also discussed how APEC economies could work together to address current economic challenges of food and energy insecurity, inflation and supply chain disruptions, as they continue to steer the Asia-Pacific region towards sustainable and inclusive economic recovery and realize the Putrajaya Vision 2040 and the Aotearoa Plan of Action, Thai Vice Foreign Minister Vijavat Isarabhakdi told a joint press conference after the meeting.

The priority to connect the region in all dimensions also necessitates actions to advance digital connectivity, which is becoming more critical, given the rapid rise of the digital economy and massive economic opportunities it holds, Vijavat said, adding that the ministers emphasized the need to advance digital transformation and increase micro, small and medium-sized enterprises' participation in the digital economy and e-commerce. 

The 33rd APEC ministerial meeting is held in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 17, 2022. Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies concluded a meeting here on Thursday, aligning their ideas for advancing Asia-Pacific integration, trade and investment in the common pursuit of a sustained and inclusive recovery in a highly uncertain world. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

The 33rd APEC ministerial meeting is held in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 17, 2022. Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies concluded a meeting here on Thursday, aligning their ideas for advancing Asia-Pacific integration, trade and investment in the common pursuit of a sustained and inclusive recovery in a highly uncertain world. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)
Automobiles are ready to be exported from the Taicang Port, East Chinas Jiangsu Province, on October 31, 2022. Cars handled by the port from January to September reached 218,700, of which 60,700 were exported. The car throughput in September reached 33,700, with 22,500 being exported, hitting a record high. Photo: cnsphoto.

Chinese automakers are accelerating efforts to sell their vehicles abroad with China auto exports hitting a record high in October, data from Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed on Thursday.The exports of vehicles from China increased 12.3 percent from September to 337,000 units in October, increasing 46 percent from the previous year, CAAM data showed.Exports of new-energy vehicles (NEV), rose 1.2 times from September to 109,000 units in October, up 81.2 percent year-on-year, data showed.In domestic market, October sales of NEVs also get boosted by government incentives which encourage trade-ins of conventional gasoline vehicles for electric ones.In October, the sales of new energy vehicles came in at 714,000 units, with year-on-year growth of 81.7 percent.Overall auto sales in China also rose 6.9 percent year-on-year in October, as government incentives to revive the auto market and stoke demand.On monthly basis, October automobile production and sales were down 2.7 percent and 4 percent from the previous month as impact of the epidemic weighed on the market, CAAM said.However, as stimulus policies including the exemption of vehicle purchase taxes are still in place, production and sales has ensured continued growth momentum compared with the same period last year, it said.BYD said in its third quarter financial report that its operating revenue reached 117.08 billion yuan ($16.14 billion) during the reporting period, with a year-on-year growth of 115.59 percent.GAC Group reported operating revenue of 31.52 billion yuan in the third quarter, up 24.6 percent from the second quarter and 51.58 percent from a year earlier.Changan Auto also said its operating revenue came in at 28.778 billion yuan in the third quarter, with a year-on-year growth of 28.39 percent.In a move to further stabilize consumption, China has announced the extension of vehicle purchase tax exemptions until the end of 2023.CAAM said that it expects automobile production and sales in the fourth quarter will continue to maintain rapid growth, supported by the governments policies to stabilize the economy and promote consumption.
What Is a Federal Agency?two kings casino job openings

Federal agencies are special government organizations set up for a specific purpose such as, the management of resources, financial oversight of industries, or national security issues. These organizations are typically created by legislative action, but may initially be set up by presidential order as well. The directors of these agencies are typically selected by presidential appointment.

Key Takeaways

Federal agencies are special government organizations set up for a specific purpose such as the management of resources or national security issues.

Federal agencies are created to regulate industries or practices that require close oversight or specialized expertise.

A number of these organizations issue or guarantee securities such as stocks and bonds.

Since agency bonds are less liquid than Treasury bonds, they offer a slightly higher interest rate.

Understanding Federal Agencies

Federal agencies are created by the government to regulate industries or practices that require close oversight or specialized expertise. Some organizations, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA), have their operations explicitly backed by the U.S. Treasury. Other organizations, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Sallie Mae are only provided with an implicit guarantee from the U.S. Treasury.

A number of the organizations which are an actual part of the government issue securities such as stocks and bonds. These have been historically popular with investors. Federal agency bonds, which are bonds that are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, are examples of federal agency securities. Investors expect to receive regular interest payments from holding an agency bond. At maturity, the full face value of the agency bond is repaid to the bondholder. Because federal agency bonds are less liquid than Treasury bonds, they offer a slightly higher rate of interest than Treasury bonds. Examples of federal agencies that guarantee certain bonds or securities include the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Small Business Administration (SBA), and Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae).

Other Types of Government Bonds

Another type of bond issued by government agencies is the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) bond. These bonds are issued by corporations that are not quite part of the government but are set up by Congress to work for the common good of the country. These enterprises mostly operate on their own and are publicly held on the major exchanges. GSEs include the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Federal Home Loan Mortgage (Freddie Mac), Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation, and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB). The government guarantee that applies to agency bonds does not apply to GSE bonds, which therefore have credit risk and default risk. For this reason, the yield on these bonds is typically higher than the yield on Treasury bonds.

Mortgage loans are backed by federal agency securities issued by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHLB, and hold a very high credit rating. Agency securities are also used as collateral for the supply of money released by the Federal Reserve. Sold by a nationwide group of banks and dealers, these securities raise money to fund public needs such as road building, low-cost housing, urban renewal, and also to provide low-interest rate loans to farmers, small business owners, and veterans.
For most of us, our pets are beloved family members who make the day a little brighter. And with the crazy and challenging times were living in currently we need them now more than ever. Read moreAnimal Welfare: Emergency pet preparation: Safeguarding your furry family members
What Is the P/E 10 Ratio?skyvegas free spins nft list games

The P/E 10 ratio is a valuation measure generally applied to broad equity indices that use real per-share earnings over 10 years. The P/E 10 ratio also uses smoothed real earnings to eliminate the fluctuations in net income caused by variations in profit margins over a typical business cycle. The P/E 10 ratio is also known as the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (CAPE) ratio or the Shiller PE ratio.

Key Takeaways:

The P/E 10 ratio is a valuation measure for equities that uses real per-share earnings over 10 years.

The P/E 10 ratio also uses smoothed real earnings to eliminate net income fluctuations.

The P/E 10 ratio is also known as the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (CAPE) ratio or the Shiller PE ratio.

Understanding the P/E 10 Ratio

The ratio was popularized by Yale University professor Robert Shiller, author of the bestseller "Irrational Exuberance," who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2013. Shiller attracted attention after he warned that the frenetic U.S. stock market rally of the late-1990s would turn out to be a bubble.

The P/E 10 ratio is based on the work of renowned investors Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in their legendary 1934 investment tome "Security Analysis." The investors attributed illogical P/E ratios to temporary and sometimes extreme fluctuations in the business cycle. To smooth a firm's earnings over a period, Graham and Dodd recommended using a multi-year average of earnings per share (EPS)such as five, seven, or 10 yearswhen computing P/E ratios.

How to Calculate the P/E 10 Ratio

The P/E 10 ratio is calculated as follows: take the annual EPS of an equity index, such as the S&P 500, for the past 10 years. Adjust these earnings for inflation using the consumer price index (CPI)that is, adjust past earnings to today's dollars. Take the average of these real EPS figures over the 10 years. Divide the current level of the S&P 500 by the 10-year average EPS number to get the P/E 10 ratio or CAPE ratio.

The P/E 10 ratio varies a great deal over time. According to data first presented in "Irrational Exuberance" (which was released in March 2000, coinciding with the peak of the dotcom boom), and updated to cover the period 1881 to August 2020, the ratio has varied from a low of 4.78 in December 1920 to a high of 44.20 in December 1999. As of August 2020, the historic P/E 10 average was 17.1.

Using market data from both estimated (1881 to 1956) and actual (1957 onward) earnings reports from the S&P index, Shiller and John Campbell found that the lower the CAPE, the higher the investors' likely return from equities over the following 20 years.

Shortfalls of the P/E 10 Ratio

A criticism of the P/E 10 ratio is that it is not always accurate in signaling market tops or bottoms. For example, an article in the September 2011 issue of the American Association of Individual Investors Journal noted that the CAPE ratio for the S&P 500 was 23.35 in July 2011.

Comparing this ratio to the long-term CAPE average of 16.41 would suggest that the index was more than 40% overvalued at that point. The article suggested that the CAPE ratio provided an overly bearish view of the market since conventional valuation measures like the P/E showed the S&P 500 trading at a multiple of 16.17 (based on reported earnings) or 14.84 (based on operating earnings). Although the S&P 500 did plunge 16% in one month from mid-July to mid-August 2011, the index subsequently rose more than 35% from July 2011 to new highs by November 2013.
Theking george kempton oddschecker staff in the Great Hall of the People are carefully placing the chairs in line.

The central hall on third floor of the Great Hall of the People, also known as the Golden Hall, hosts news conference of Chinas two sessions each year.

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View all posts by chinatimesonline 
list of tribal casinos in montanashows grade level based on the word's complexity. deep link [ deep-lingk ]/ dip lk /Digital Technology 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.[ deep-lingk ]/ dip lk /Digital TechnologySave This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

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verb (used with or without object) deep-link to create a link to (an internal web page or its content), rather than linking to the website's homepage.

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How to use in a sentence Implementing deep links typically means getting developer support, which may be a limited resource in your organization. Interpretation of complex and foreign topics; Wednesdays daily brief|Barry Schwartz|October 27, 2021|Search Engine Land

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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 deep linkFirst recorded in 19952000; deep + (hyper)linkdeep linking, noundeep frying, deep green, deep-kiss, deep-laid, deep learning, deep link, deep linking, deep-litter, deeply, deep mourning, deep pocketDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary,  Random House, Inc. 2022
What Is Political Economy?mega joker slot gambling in casino

Political economy is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences that focuses on the interrelationships among individuals, governments, and public policy.

Political economists study how economic theories such as capitalism, socialism, and communism work in the real world. At its root, any economic theory is a methodology that is adopted as a means of directing the distribution of a finite amount of resources in a way that is beneficial for the greatest number of individuals.

In a wider sense, political economy was once the common term used for the field we now call economics. Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau all used the term to describe their theories. The briefer term economy was substituted in the early 20th century with the development of more rigorous statistical methods for analyzing economic factors.

The term political economy is still widely used to describe any government policy that has an economic impact.

Key Takeaways

The field of political economy is the study of how economic theories such as capitalism or communism play out in the real world.

Those who study political economy seek to understand how history, culture, and customs impact an economic system.

Global political economy studies how political forces shape global economic interactions.

Political Economy

Understanding Political Economy

1:14

Political economy is a branch of social science that studies the relationship that forms between a nation's population and its government when public policy is enacted. It is, therefore, the result of the interaction between politics and the economy and is the basis of the social science discipline.

As mentioned above, there are several notable types of political economies:

Socialism: This type of political economy promotes the idea that the production and distribution of goods and wealth are maintained and regulated by society, rather than a particular group of people. The rationale behind this is that whatever is produced by society is done so because of those who participate, regardless of status, wealth, or position. Socialism aims to bridge the gap between rich and power, where one or more individuals don't have the majority of power and wealth.

This type of political economy promotes the idea that the production and distribution of goods and wealth are maintained and regulated by society, rather than a particular group of people. The rationale behind this is that whatever is produced by society is done so because of those who participate, regardless of status, wealth, or position. Socialism aims to bridge the gap between rich and power, where one or more individuals don't have the majority of power and wealth. Capitalism: This theory advocates profit as a motive for advancement. Put simply, the idea behind capitalism is that private individuals and other actors are driven by their own intereststhey control production and distribution, set prices, and create supply and demand.

This theory advocates profit as a motive for advancement. Put simply, the idea behind capitalism is that private individuals and other actors are driven by their own intereststhey control production and distribution, set prices, and create supply and demand. Communism: Individuals often confuse communism with socialism, but there is a distinct difference between these two theories. Communism was a theory developed by Karl Marx, who felt that capitalism was limited and created a big divide between rich and poor. He believed in shared resources, including property, and that production and distribution should be overseen by the government.

Those who research the political economy are called political economists. Their study generally involves the examination of how public policy, the political situation, and political institutions impact a country's economic standing and future through a sociological, political, and economic lens.

Political economy may draw upon sociology, economics, and political science to define how government, an economic system, and politics influence each other.

History and Development of Political Economy

The roots of political economy as we know it today go back to the 18th century. Scholars during the period studied how wealth was distributed and administered between people. Some of the earlier works that examined this phenomenon included those by Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill.

But the term is probably best ascribed to the French writer and economist, Antoine de Montchrestien. He wrote a book called "Traite de l'economie politique" in 1615, in which he examined the need for production and wealth to be distributed on an entirely larger scalenot in the household as Aristotle suggested. The book also analyzed how economics and politics are interrelated.

Smith was a philosopher, economist, and writer who is commonly referred to as the father of economics and of the political economy. He wrote about the function of a self-regulating free market in his first book, which was called "The Theory of Moral Sentiments." His most famous work, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (or "The Wealth of Nations") helped shape classical economic theory. It was also used as the foundation for future economists.

Mill combined economics with philosophy. He believed in utilitarianismthat actions that lead to people's goodwill are right and that those that lead to suffering are wrong. In essence, he believed that economic theory and philosophy were needed, along with social awareness in politics in order to make better decisions for the good of the people. Some of his work, including "Principles of Political Economy," "Utilitarianism," and A System of Logic" led him to become one of the most important figures in politics and economics.

Political Economy in Academia

Political economy became an academic discipline of its own in recent years. Many major institutions offer the study as part of their political science, economics, and/or sociology departments.

Research by political economists is conducted in order to determine how public policy influences behavior, productivity, and trade. Much of their study helps them establish how money and power are distributed between people and different groups. They may do this through the study of specific fields such as law, bureaucratic politics, legislative behavior, the intersection of government and business, and regulation.

The study may be approached in any of three ways:

Interdisciplinary studies: The interdisciplinary approach draws on sociology, economics, and political science to define how government institutions, an economic system, and a political environment affect and influence each other.

The interdisciplinary approach draws on sociology, economics, and political science to define how government institutions, an economic system, and a political environment affect and influence each other. New political economy: This approach is studied as a set of actions and beliefs, and seeks to make explicit assumptions that lead to political debates about societal preferences. The new political economy combines the ideals of classical political economists and newer analytical advances in economics and politics.

This approach is studied as a set of actions and beliefs, and seeks to make explicit assumptions that lead to political debates about societal preferences. The new political economy combines the ideals of classical political economists and newer analytical advances in economics and politics. International political economy:Also called global political economy, which is slightly different, this approach analyzes the link between economics and international relations. It draws from many academic areas including political science, economics, sociology, cultural studies, and history. The international political economy is ultimately concerned with how political forces like states, individual actors, and institutions affect global economic interactions.

Modern Applications of Political Economy

Modern applications of the political economy study the works of more contemporary philosophers and economists, such as Karl Marx.

As mentioned above, Marx became disenchanted with capitalism as a whole. He believed that individuals suffered under regimented social classes, where one or more individuals controlled the greater proportion of wealth. Under communist theories, this would be eradicated, allowing everyone to live equally while the economy functions based on the ability and needs of each participant. Under communist regimes, resources are controlled and distributed by the government.

Most people confuse socialism and communism. It's true there are some similaritiesnotably, that both stress bridging the gap between rich and poor, and that society should relegate equilibrium among all citizens. But there are inherent differences between the two. While resources in a communist society are owned and controlled by the government, individuals in a socialist society hold property. People can still purchase goods and services under socialism, while those who live in a communist society are provided with their basic necessities by the government.

What Does Political Economy Mean?

The term political economy refers to a branch of social sciences that focuses on relationships between individuals, governments, and public policy. It is also used to describe the policies set by governments that affect their nations' economies.

What Is the Primary Concern of Political Economy?

The main concern of political economy is to determine the relationship between governments and individuals, and how public policy affects society. This is done through the study of sociology, politics, and economics.

What Are the Characteristics of Political Economy?

Some of the characteristics or themes of a political economy include the distribution of wealth, how goods and services are produced, who owns property and other resources, who profits from production, supply and demand, and how public policy and government interaction impact society.

What Are the Types of Political Economy?

The types of a political economy include socialism (which states that any production and wealth should be regulated and distributed by society), capitalism (where private owners control a nation's industry and trade for profit), and communism (the theory where all property is publicly-owned and everyone works based on their own needs and strengths).

Who Coined the Term Political Economy?

Adam Smith is generally considered the father of economics and the father of the political economy. But the term is generally ascribed to French economist Antoine de Montchrestien, who wrote the book "Traite de l'economie politique," which translates to the treaty of the political economy.
Definition of Rising Action

Rising action in a plot is apache gold casino winnersa series of relevant incidents that create suspense, interest, and tension in a narrative. In literary works, a rising action includes all decisions, characters flaws, and background circumstances that together create turns and twists leading to a climax. We find it in novels, plays, and short stories. Rising action is one of the elements of plot, which begins immediately after its exposition.

Examples of Rising Action in Literature

Example #1: Revelation(By Flannery OConnor)

In her short story, Revelation,Flannery OConnor has used a great deal of rising action. The moment when Mrs. Turpin comes into the waiting room, she becomes offended by the surroundings around her, considering herself higher than the homely and dirty-looking patients. We see a girl, Mary Grace, in a waiting room, in intense action showing her dislike towards Mrs. Turpin. She finally makes a physical attack on Mrs. Turpin by throwing a book at her. Mrs. Turpin consequently responds negatively, crying and showing anger.

Example #2: The Hobbit(By J. R. R. Tolkien)

The conflict begins in J. R. R. Tolkiens The Hobbit,as Gandalf meets Bilbo and asks him to play the role of a burglar in the dwarves expedition to recover the treasure of Thorin from Smaug. Rising action occurs as he agrees to act as a burglar during this adventure. His heroism begins merely by shouting to wake up Gandalf, who rescues the company from goblins, and then the action slowly intensifies when he finds the magic ring. Gradually, Bilbo overcomes difficulties by killing a big spider, and establishes his potential as a hero and leader.

Example #3: Anna Karenina(By Leo Tolstoy)

Leo Tolstoy, in his novel Anna Karenina, draws two major stories. Rising action of the primary storyline begins when Vronsky starts having passionate feelings for Anna instead Kitty. Vronsky and Anna meet each other in the train station, and begin their secret relationship. The action further rises while their obsession turns into a love affair, and Anna decides to leave her son and husband, to live with Vronsky. The second storyline is about Kittys refusal of the marriage proposal of Konstantin Levin. Further action rises as she moves back to the countryside in order to think about life, and faces inner conflict while considering her decision.

Example #4: Twilight(By Stephenie Meyer)

The rising action in Stephenie Meyers novel Twilight occurs as the Cullen family plays a vampire baseball game where Bella is a spectator. During the play, some rogue vampires, including James, Laurent, and Victoria approach them. James smells Bella, and the action rises. James chases Bella while the Cullen family strives to defend her. This heightened action ultimately creates a huge climax that consequently brings many things to a head, leading to the end.

Example #5: Evermore(By Alyson Noel)

Alyson Noel has written a number of novel series, Evermorebeing the first among them. This novel follows the adventures of the leading character, Ever, as well as a man named Damen, who helped her become an immortal. Throughout the novel, readers learn that Damen  the first immortal  fell in love with Ever centuries ago. His ex-wife, however, continues trying to kill Evers incarnations in order to keep Damen apart from Ever. Her attempts in doing this develop the novels rising action, which in turn strengthens the love story of Damen and Ever, and creates suspense towards their final combat with Drina.

Example #6: Snow White(By Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm)

In Jacob and Wilhelm Grimms novel, Snow White, the rising action occurs when the Queens magic mirror warns her that she is no longer the fairest lady in the land; that, instead, it is now Snow White. Envious, the Queen orders her huntsman to take her stepdaughter Snow White away from the palace, into the forest, and secretly kill her. Fortunately, he cannot kill her, but leaves her in the forest, where seven tiny dwarfs find her. They bring her into their home, then another rising action occurs when the mirror tells the Queen that Snow White is still alive.

Function of Rising Action

The events of a rising action are generally very important, because the entire plot of a narrative depends upon these events for setting up the climax  a moment of ultimate excitement that eventually leads to a satisfactory resolution. For instance, an author writes a love story in which a moment comes when characters decide whether to stay together or break up  thus, rising action sets a stage for this moment by building up dramatic situations or conflicts. It further adds a layer of complexity to the plot for developing characters and climax.

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Investment management firm Silchester International Investors has purchased a 5% stake in gambling operator William Hill, The Telegraphreported earlier today. William Hill shares currently stand at 239.9, well below their four-year high of 465.

The London-based hedge fund has thus become the fourth largest institutional backer of the major bookmaker, which has been trying to improve its profitability for several years now.

This is not the first time that Silchester is buying into a struggling business. The London-based investment manager had previously purchased a stake in Morrisons at quite a tumultuous time for the supermarket chain. Silchester is also investing in Pearson, with the publisher facing its own profitability troubles at the moment.

Founded in 1994 by Stephen Butt, after he left Morgan Stanley, Silchester has been focused on long-term investment in stock. Instead of short-selling shares in one business or another, the firm invests in those to anticipate future rise in shares.

William Hill has been striving to improve its financial state and investment allure for the past several years. The gambling company had previously experienced difficulties to respond to the rapidly growing demand for online gaming and sports betting offering, which had become one of the main factors to predestine its current state.

Last spring, William Hill lowered its profit forecast to 260-280 million from around 300 million as a result from customer-friendly sports results and weaker-than-expected performance of its online gaming division. The company ousted its CEO James Hendersonin the summer and started a search for his replacement, which ended this spring with the appointment of Interim Chief Executive Philip Bowcock to a permanent position.

The major UK gambling operator even considered potential merger and acquisition deals in a bid to end its struggles. It was approached by The Rank Group and 888 Holdings for a three-way deal, which was refused by William Hill. The company entered merger talks with The Stars Group(recently rebranded from Amaya Inc.) later in 2016, but the deal was highly disapproved of by William Hills major shareholders. The operator eventually walked out of talks.

Mr. Bowcock has said in a recent interview with The Times that his company is now strong enough to continue by itself, despite its financial difficulties and the challenging regulatory environmentgambling companies are forced to operate in. In other words, it will probably not engage in any merger and acquisition talks now and for now.

According to the operators latest financial report, profits for the first half of the year dropped 1% year-on-year to the total amount of 129.5 million. Yet, William Hill explained that it progressed significantly in three strategic directions during the six months to June 30, 2017, improving its UK business, both retail and online, increasing international revenue, and transforming its technology-driven divisions for better results.
What Is an Option Pool?joker 7979 net luxury poker chips

An option pool consists of shares of stock reserved for employees of a private company. The option pool is a way of attracting talented employees to a startup companyif the employees help the company do well enough to go public, they will be compensated with stock. Employees who get into the startup early will usually receive a greater percentage of the option pool than employees who arrive later.

The initial size of the option pool may decrease with subsequent rounds of funding because of investors' ownership demands. The creation of an option pool will commonly dilute the founders' share in the company because investors (angels and venture capitalists) often insist on it.

Key Takeaways

An option pool refers to a block of company equity that has been reserved for early investors or employees of a start-up company.

The option pool is used to attract capital or talent when a company is growing and not yet producing enough revenue or cash flows to be viable without that investment or employment.

Option pools can range from 1525% of initial equity, but the availability of an option pool will tend to dilute the shareholdings of founders and early investors or employees over time.

How Option Pools Are Structured

The shares that comprise an option pool typically are drawn from founder stock in the company rather than the shares earmarked for investors. This may be 15%25% of the overall outstanding shares and may be determined when the startup receives its earliest funding round as part of the overall terms put in place.

It is also possible that a company, over the course of its development and subsequent funding rounds, may establish additional option pools after the initial one is put in place. The size of the pool may be dictated or advised by the venture backers to be a portion of the pre-money or post-money valuation of the company. Negotiations over the scope of the option pool can affect the startups overall price. For example, investors may want an option pool offered post-money option to be priced at the pre-money valuation, which could lower the price for the company.

Other Considerations

The shares disbursed from the option pool may be determined by the roles of the employees as well as when they are hired. For example, senior management that is brought on board near the founding of the startup may receive a percentage of the entire pool, whereas later employees in more junior roles might be granted just fractions of a percent.

The option pool grants shares that, like other types of stock options, often require a period of time before they are vested. This means the employee will not be able to benefit from these shares possibly for several years. By delaying their ability to reap monetary value from their portion of the option pool, the belief is that the employee will contribute more to the overall health and growth of the company in order to see the greatest possible gains when the shares vest.
What Is an Earnout?betting websites in india

An earnout is a contractual provision stating that the seller of a business is to obtain additional compensation in the future if the business achieves certain financial goals, which are usually stated as a percentage of gross sales or earnings.

If an entrepreneur seeking to sell a business is asking for a price more than a buyer is willing to pay, an earnout provision can be utilized. In a simplified example, there could be a purchase price of $1 million plus 5% of gross sales over the next three years.

Earnout

Key Takeaways

An earnout is a contractual provision stating that the seller of a business is to obtain future compensation if the business achieves certain financial goals.

The differing expectations of a business between a seller and a buyer are usually resolved through an earnout.

The earnout eliminates uncertainty for the buyer, as they only pay a portion of the sale price upfront and the remainder based on future performance. The seller receives the benefits of future growth.

Key contractual considerations include earnout recipients, accounting assumptions used, and an agreed-upon time period.

Understanding an Earnout

1:07

Earnouts do not come with hard and fast rules. Instead, the payout level is dependent on a number of factors, including the size of the business. This can be used to bridge the gap between differing expectations from the buyers and sellers.

An earnout helps eliminate uncertainty for the buyer, as it is tied to future financial performance. The buyer pays a portion of the cost of the business upfront, and the remainder of the cost is dependent upon if future performance targets are met. The seller also receives the benefits of future growth for a period of time. Different financial targets such as net income or revenue may help determine earnouts.

Structuring an Earnout

There are a number of key considerations, aside from the cash compensation when structuring an earnout. This includes determining the crucial members of the organization and whether an earnout is extended to them.

The length of the contract and the executive's role with the company post-acquisition are two issues that also have to be negotiated. This is so because the performance of the company is tied to management as well as other key employees. If these employees leave then the company may not hit its financial targets.

The agreement should also specify the accounting assumptions that will be used going forward. Although a company can adhere to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), there are still judgments managers have to make that can affect results. For instance, assuming a higher level for returns and allowances will lower earnings.

A change in strategy, such as a decision to exit a business or invest in growth initiatives may depress current results. The seller should be aware of this in order to come up with an equitable solution.

The financial metrics used to determine the earnout must also be decided upon. Some metrics benefit the buyer while some benefit the seller. It is a good idea to use a combination of metrics, such as revenues and profit metrics.

There are legal and financial advisors that can assist with the entire process. The fee for advisors typically grows with the complexity of the transaction.

Advantages and Disadvantages of an Earnout

There are both advantages and disadvantages for the buyer and seller in an earnout. For the buyer, an advantage is having a longer period of time to pay for the business rather than all upfront. In addition, if earnings are not as high as expected, the buyer does not have to pay as much. For the seller, the advantage is the ability to spread out taxes over a few years, helping to reduce the tax impact of the sale.

A disadvantage to the buyer is that the seller may be involved in the business for a longer period of time, wanting to provide assistance to boost earnings or use their previous experience to run the business how they see fit. The disadvantage to the seller is that the future earnings are not high enough, therefore, they do not make as much from the sale of the business.

Example of an Earnout

ABC Company has $50 million in sales and $5 million in earnings. A potential buyer is willing to pay $250 million, but the current owner believes this undervalues the future growth prospects and asks for $500 million. To bridge the gap, the two parties can use an earnout. A compromise might be for an upfront cash payment of $250 million and an earnout of $250 million if sales and earnings reach $100 million within a three-year window or $100 million if sales only reach $70 million.
16 veterans of Chinese Communist Party Wednesday announced an open letter calling for the dismissal of one of the most powerful men in China,applied sport psychology aasp Zhou Yongkang, a security official who finds himself weakened after the recent fall of Bo Xilai. They also demand the departure of Liu Yunshan, head of propaganda in the Politburo.

The call of the 16 veterans of the CPC to the dismissal of two of the nine members of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party, is closely linked to the case of Bo Xilai, former number one in Chongqing now under investigation, apparently for corruption.

Bo Xilai, who hoped to enter the Politburo Standing Committee in favor of CPC National Congress in the fall, was suspended by the Politburo of Central Committee. His wife Gu Kalai is suspected of murdering a British with whom she and Bo had a business relationship. The scandal resulted in the strongest political earthquake in China for decades.

Open letter of CCP veterans calling for dismissal of Zhou Yongkang and Liu Yunshanadded by chinatimesonline on

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Technology for studying ancient DNA demonstrate that neanderthals, other hominins, and Indonesian Hobbit Hominins from 300,000 years ago all contributed to the development of modern humans.

History of Humankind

Homo sapiens, distinguished by complex thoughts and deep emotions, stand as the sole true humans in Earth's history. Earlier hominins, such as Neanderthals, represent evolutionary predecessors, fading due to sapiens' superiority.

Recent advancements permit the retrieval of ancient hominin DNA, revolutionizing human history research.

DNA revelations challenge our uniqueness, revealing a history where Homo sapiens coexisted with similar beings.

Chris Stringer, a human evolution expert, posits these ancients offered alternative human perspectives.

Notably, Homo sapiens interacted closely, even intimately, with Neanderthals, Denisovans, and enigmatic "ghost populations" only known through DNA.

It's an unprecedented moment when only one human species remains in the tapestry of time.

Hobbit Hominins in Indonesia and Other Hominins

Around 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens emerged in Africa, coexisting with various hominins.

Neanderthals inhabited Europe, Homo heidelbergensis and Homo naledi resided in Africa, Homo floresiensis ("Hobbit") thrived in Indonesia, and Homo erectus roamed Asia.

They weren't direct ancestors but distant cousins, evolving independently from a common origin.

Archaeological findings revealed their complexity; Neanderthals painted caves, Homo heidelbergensis hunted large game, and Homo naledi may have buried their dead.

Recent studies even found early humans crafting wooden structures before Homo sapiens' emergence.

The question arises: Did they interbreed with these fellow humans? Some doubted it, considering them rivals.

Breakthroughs on Ancient DNA

DNA analysis unveiled transformative interactions that shaped modern humans.

In 2010, geneticist Svante Paabo's team astonishingly reconstructed a complete Neanderthal genome, earning him a Nobel Prize.

This breakthrough revolutionized the field and continues to advance.

For instance, studying DNA from a Siberian cave's pinky bone and molars revealed previously unseen genes, introducing Denisovans, human cousins identified solely by DNA.

Armed with Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes, scientists identified shared DNA segments with modern humans, indicating ancient interbreeding, illuminating mankind's complex ancestral tapestry.

Exploring Neanderthals

DNA evidence confirms Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals, Denisovans, and mysterious "ghost populations" integrated into our genetic code.

Pinpointing the exact times and places for these interactions remains challenging.

Ancestral hominins likely mixed with Neanderthals upon leaving Africa for Europe and crossed paths with Denisovans in East and Southeast Asia.

According to the Smithsonian's, without maps, our ancestors encountered different-looking populations in neighboring valleys, fostering gene exchange.

Archaeologists noted that despite physical differences like bigger noses and shorter limbs, these groups didn't erect walls but engaged in mingling and interbreeding.

Also Read: 50,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Remains Uncovered in a Box Hidden for Decades

Complex Neanderthals And Modern Humans

Janet Young, curator of physical anthropology at the Canadian Museum of History, highlights that the notion of modern humans, particularly white ones, as the pinnacle of evolution stems from a time marked by colonialism and elitism.

A Neanderthal painting influenced by eugenics advocacy persisted in textbooks and museums, misrepresenting the understanding of human evolution.

Discoveries challenge the conventional belief that earlier, more ape-like creatures progressively evolved into Homo sapiens' peak form.

Genetic and archaeological evidence reveals Neanderthals' complex behaviors encompassing hunting, cooking, tool use, and even art.

Despite difficulties in extracting genetic data from ancient fossils, ongoing advancements in DNA technology hold promise for further exploration of our distant past.

This potential extends to gathering ancient genomes from diverse regions worldwide, enriching the current understanding of human history.

Mary Prendergast, a Rice University archaeologist, emphasizes that while modern humans are the sole survivors, extinct groups significantly shaped our history and present.

They are integral to a shared humanity that unites every individual. Examining the fossil, archaeological, and genetic records underscores the profound commonalities between modern humans and their ancestors, transcending divisions.

Related Article: Rare Neolithic Find: Woodworks Using Stone Tools on 5-Foot Logs From 476,000 Years Ago Found in Africa
Indias national exercise of parliamentary democracy, the general elections, is scheduled for 2024, where the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be seeking a third consecutive term in the Lok Sabha; a feat that is yet to be achieved in the post-liberalisation period. Many experts view state elections as an indicator of the mood of the voters and extrapolate the observations to the general elections, especially when the two are conducted in close proximity. Five large states, namely Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana were scheduled to hold assembly elections in 2023. With the exception of Telangana, two parties are in a head-to-head battle in the other four states, thereby making the assembly elections a dress rehearsal for the race to the Lok Sabha in 2024.

The Karnataka elections were important for both the Congress and the BJP, primarily for four reasons. First, both parties have little potential to be a senior partner in a ruling coalition in any other state in the southern part of India. A loss for the BJP in Karnataka resulted in an electoral situation where its presence in the southern part of India is threatened. Second, the electoral juggernaut of the BJP that was steamrolling its way to victory in the assembly elections across the country had to be halted. If the Congress was to effect this halt, then it would make the party a front runner as the leader for the oppositions campaign in 2024. Third, a loss for the BJP would eventually put a restriction on its representation in the Rajya Sabha, thereby adversely affecting the partys ability to pass their bills through the upper house. Fourth, a victory in Karnataka would give the Congress the ability to propose policies that would be conducive for its campaign in 2024.
To celebrate 200 years of the Assam tea industry, the state government has proposed various events in major Indian cities as well as abroad, in its 202324 budget, to promote the brand effectively (Economic Times 2023). It is ironic that in this landmark year, Indian tea is also witnessing a defining challenge. The rising import of cheaper varieties of tea from Nepal, through the preferential route of zero-tariff rate, has received attention of late. With a substantial proportion of these imported varieties being tactically classified as Darjeeling tea for selling in the local market, the stress on domestic producers is obvious (Manna 2023). Conversely, the export opportunities are getting thinner in traditional markets, resulting from intense competition from Sri Lanka, Kenya, and other African countries, on the one hand, and global dynamics, such as reduced sales opportunities in Russia and Ukraine, on the other. As a result, Indias share in global tea exports has declined from 19.5% to 14.5% over 2011 to 2021.

With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) compliance deadline approaching and the demand for organic produce with a price premium rising, the Indian tea exporters ideally stand to benefit by adopting required standards and promoting their own brand. However, early introduction of environment-sensitive innovations by competitors (like Kenya, Malawi) and recent negative publicity on the quality of Indian tea, including concerns over maximum residue limit compliance for pesticides, have influenced the demand from retailers in the West (Saha and Kerketta 2023). Considering the recent developments, the target set by the tea board in 2022, to increase sectoral exports from 195.5 tonnes in 2021 to 300 tonnes in 2025, looks far too ambitious (Telegraph 2022). While the COVID-19-related trade disruptions and RussiaUkraine war caused an unanticipated shock for Indian tea exporters, the systemic challenges were also restricting the sectoral growth for some time. The wage implications of the Plantations Labour (PL) Act, 1951 and the dominance of black tea in production and export baskets have influenced the growth potentials (Ethical Tea Partnership 2019). The lower growth trajectory resulted in reduced working capital, which in turn compelled the domestic players to become risk-averse, which in turn has limited the risk-taking abilities of the domestic players. Given this background, we comment on the emerging trends from the sectoral trade dynamics.
Like every year, the sugar belt of Maharashtra will soon receive seasonal migrants to harvest sugar cane fields. The harvesting season starts in October and ends in March. Workers generally migrate from drought-prone and tribal districts towards the sugar belt. These workers are mainly poor, illiterate, lower-caste, and landless people. The well-known fact is that these workers confront myriad problems and compromise at multiple levels after migration. Importantly, in 2019, news reports had highlighted the high proportion of hysterectomies among women sugar cane cutters in Maharashtra. As a result, sugar cane cutters in Maharashtra were part of the sociopolitical discourse for a while. Diverse media platforms debated issues of these workers such as the exploitation of their labour rights, issues related to housing and sanitation, education, and citizenship rights. However, practically none of the problems reached anywhere near being solved. The different issues of these workers are neglected on multiple grounds. Similarly, their health issues are sidelined and are not even a part of any sustained discourse. This letter seeks to underline the negligence of sugar factories and the public health system in its failure to not providing adequate health services to these workers.

Seasonal migration is not only limited to adult male and female workers, but it also involves newborn babies and school-going/school-dropout children. Paradoxically, even pregnant and lactating women are no exception in being seasonal migrants. Their different age groups eventually demarcate migrants varying health needs. Workers need services to maintain their occupational, reproductive, and overall health. In this regard, basic questions arise: How do these workers fulfil their health needs at the destination of work? Do healthcare providers at the destination and sugar factories address workers health needs? At large, the answer is that in Maharashtra, no district/sugar factory comprehensively addresses workers healthcare needs.
PHOENIX  Arizona's top elections official says the No Labels party can't block candidates from using its ballot line to run for office, boosting opponents' efforts to force the movement for a third-party presidential ticket to release more information about its anonymous donors.

A senior official for Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, rejected No Labels' request to exclude two people who have filed paperwork to run for state office without the support of the party's leadership. One of the two people opposes No Labels and is deliberately trying to force the party to comply with Arizona's campaign finance laws.

Fontes' move was a victory for Democrats and other critics of former President Donald Trump who believe a third-party bid has no chance of winning the presidency but could spoil the election in Trumps favor. No Labels has already qualified for the ballot in 11 states including Arizona, where it has registered 15,000 voters  more than President Joe Biden's 2020 margin of victory here.

Democrats have long accused the group of unfairly hiding who is funding its work and tried to force No Labels to name its donors. The group says it isn't required to disclose donors under federal law and withholds information to protect their privacy.

In a letter, Fontes' office told No Labels that he was obligated to accept statements of interest, the first step toward running for office, from anyone who meets the requirements to run. The letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, said refusing their paperwork would violate their rights.

The Arizona Secretary of State disagrees with your assertion that a newly recognized political party can choose to deprive its own voters of their constitutionally protected freedom of association, State Elections Director Colleen Connor wrote in a Sept. 22 letter.

No Labels promised to sue. It had asked Fontes to reject the two candidacies filed without its approval and argued it doesnt have to register as a political party under Arizona law or share its financial information because it only wants to compete for federal offices.

Leaders said both Arizona law and the U.S. Constitution allow political parties to opt out of participating in an election.

Political pressure dictated the writing of this letter, not the law, No Labels officials Jay Nixon and Benjamin Chavis Jr. said in a statement. Nixon is a former Democratic governor of Missouri and Chavis a former head of the NAACP. The Secretary of States one-page letter is not a serious response to the request by the No Labels Party of Arizona.

Even if No Labels files and loses a lawsuit, it may not have to disclose its donors in Arizona. A complex set of laws outlines the circumstances which political groups are required to report financial information intended to influence an election.

The No Labels Party of Arizona will register as a party if it raises and spends money, but it does not currently have a bank account, according to a No Labels official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the group's internal operations. The group funds its activities through nonprofits based in Washington.

Two potential candidates in Arizona have so far filed to run for office as No Labels party members: Tyson Draper for U.S. Senate and Richard Grayson for the state utility regulator, known as the Corporation Commission.

Grayson, who supports Biden, recently compared his plan to a performance art piece.

Alaska election officials also notified Grayson last week that hell appear on the primary ballot in that state for U.S. House as a No Labels candidate.

Grayson, a perennial candidate, has previously run for U.S. House in Wyoming despite living in Arizona, noting House candidates are only required to live in the state where they were elected once they take office.

Arizona, where Biden won by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2020 with a coalition that included conservative independents and moderate Republicans, is particularly vulnerable to a third-party ticket if it proves alluring to voters who dislike both candidates. The 2024 race is likely to be decided by a tiny margin in a handful of battleground states, just as the last two were.

No Labels is said to be planning a $70 million effort, far more than any third-party candidate has amassed since Ross Perot's 1992 and 1996 campaigns, which failed to win any electoral votes.

No Labels officials say they'll make a decision about whether to run a candidate after the Super Tuesday primaries in March.

Arizona has drawn the toughest state-level resistance. The state Democratic Party filed a lawsuit to block No Labels from the ballot but lost in court. Later, the party filed a complaint urging Fontes to block the group from the ballot until it follows campaign finance laws.
Harvest is well started across the principal states in the U.S., and the government numbers released each Monday afternoon by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon be spooling up. Accept that the dryness that was nearly universal in the main Corn Belt this spring and summer pushed the maturity of the crop along. It remains to be seen how the dryness affected yields.

USDA thinks the change is relatively minor, but farmers may be exaggerating the damage to crops. This idea is based on a cynical principle of farming: Nothing is ever any worse than a discouraged farmer thinks it is.

Contrary to that thought is the rule of life my father based his farming on. He said, There are three types of people in this world  pessimists, realists and optimists. No pessimists farm, and very few realists do!

Big picture. With harvest at hand, we need to look at some big-picture ideas. First, take a look at the governments weekly crop condition report. If you do not get this passed to you in a digested form from some advisor, go to your web browser, and search for usda.library.cornell.edu/catalog, and then type in the box crop progress. A plethora of information is revealed, but dont blindly hit print or you will discover how many crops USDA follows.

Todays crop progress shows us the percentage harvested and condition ratings for corn and soybeans, and there are few surprises. First, it will come as no surprise to those of you who remember early weather that Ohios corn and soybean condition ratings are among the best in the country.

Seventy-two percent of our corn is rated good or excellent, mostly due to timely rains and sunshine in June. This compares to 62% for Illinois, 63% for Indiana and 50% for Iowa. Without some late rains for the I states, their ratings would be worse.

Scroll down on your Cornell search, and you will find the soybeans harvested page. It is no surprise to you that Ohio has only 5% of the crop off, compared to 7%, 9% and 10% for the I states. We are seeing rain forecasted for much of the Midwest, so it remains to be seen how much ground gets uncovered this coming week.

Lower trends. The next big picture comes from a study of the corn and bean charts. Just a casual look tells us that we dont like the prices, which have generally been lower for several months. Yes, we had exciting days of trading that gave us an excuse to not sell, but the trend has been lower, so much so that we made a new low on December corn futures last week. We are no longer wondering if we can get back to a bean price that starts with $14 and are seeing prices that start with $12.

In June, we had a high for December corn futures of $6.29 3/4. We were down as low as $4.69 on Sept. 11. Thats a drop of $1.60 3/4 in three months  three months where most producers were stuck in the wishful thinking mode. That is where you rationalize that there are reasons for prices to recover to the level where you didnt sell anything, but wish you did.

There was a blip in the market last week when it was announced that our largest trading partner for corn, Mexico, bought 65.4 million bushels, mostly old crop. The blip didnt last long, maybe because traders remembered that this sale was just helping us catch up a little toward the export estimate that USDA has used for the year and that we are not reaching.

Then, there is the mess that is the November soybean chart. The board traded the November contract at $11.30 1/2 on May 31. I am guessing that is just about where traders started speculating about the coming Crop Production Report that ended up telling us that we planted several million acres more corn than expected, leaving us with that much less soybeans.

Indeed, soybeans rallied until they hit a high of $14.35 on July 24. Now, the traders were worried about too few soybean acres and a potentially dry August to hurt the condition of the acres that were planted.

The thing is, in two weeks we gave up on that idea and traded a low of $12.82 1/4. It seemed impossible that we could get that cheap, and in three weeks we rallied back to $14.09 1/2, almost at the high. That would feel pretty good if we had stayed there. In fact, as this was being written on Sept. 25, we traded down to $12.92 1/2 again.

All of this is a lesson in seasonality. In the years we grow a good crop, even though we have some excitement here and there, we normally see the high for corn in late June and the high for beans either in late June or, in a dry year, in late August.

Conclusions. There are some conclusions to be made here. First, the harvest so far has just started and we cannot conclude how the crops are going to be. We will know a lot more in a few days. Second, last week, new crop corn made a new low and soybeans were off 44 cents. Third, December Chicago wheat futures were off 25 cents last week, giving us a new low just like the corn.

There are other factors to influence markets right now. It matters that the South Americans have their soybeans off and no one needs ours in the export markets.

It matters that the Mississippi River is near record low for the second year in a row and that affects barge traffic enormously. The rain that is forecast for the Midwest will soak into dry ground before it gets to the river unless the rain comes very fast.

Low levels on the Big Muddy yield fascinating pictures of tows following serpentine paths in the river to avoid grounding. They are also being pushed down the river (they still call them tows) loaded less than capacity because the river is shallow.

The river will get water this week in all likelihood, but that has the river rats talking about the problems that come with a surge of water that is too fast for the barges to navigate efficiently.
The Liberal Democrats have pledged an extra 1 billion into Defra's budget if the party were to achieve power in the next general election.

The funding would be used to support farmers in their move away from BPS, encouraging them to sign up to the UK's new agri-environmental schemes.

The pledge was made at this years Liberal Democrat Party Conference, which saw a series of pledges and speeches centred on rural issues and farming.

The 1bn extra would also be used to invest in on-farm infrastructure, as well as new advice and guidance for farmers.

At the conference, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson Tim Farron said that the greenest thing any government can do is support farming.

He said a food target was a move that the party would consider in a bid to help the UK's food self-sufficiency levels increase.

And Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said that farmers understood their local environment better than anyone else.

He heavily criticised the government in his speech to the conference: "The Conservatives botched the deal with Europe, and its been a disaster for the UK.

"They sold out British farmers and fishers, they tied up British business in red tape, and they pushed up food prices in our supermarkets.

"Only we have set out a plan to tear down those trade barriers, fix our broken relationship with Europe and get a better deal for Britain."

Over 110 people attended the NFU Farming Reception, bringing together MPs, councillors and prospective candidates to discuss the challenges and opportunities for farmers.

NFU vice president David Exwood outlined the need for a smooth transition to new support schemes that "are open to all farmers, less bureaucratic and ensuring profitable long-term food-producing businesses".

The NFU also will be hosting events at the upcoming Labour Party Conference in Liverpool and Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.
These new flights from different cities across India will open up new possibilities for your holiday plans



When it comes to flights, the earlier you know about good fares, the better. The best, of course, is when a new route opens up  the possibilities seem temptingly endless.



Even if there was an airline or more already flying that specific route, another choice of flight usually helps push flight prices down. Another announcement we enjoy is connected to direct flights, because who doesnt like getting straight to a destination!



Bookmark these direct flights to help you plan your next holiday or two.



IndiGo: Goa To Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates

Fly from the Sunshine State three times a week to Abu Dhabi. The flights depart from the new Mopa airport every Monday, Thursday and Saturday and get you to the emirate in just over three hours.



Egyptair: Delhi To Cairo, Egypt (main image)

Adding to its direct flights to the country capital from Mumbai, Egyptair now has direct flights from the Indian capital as well every Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The flying time is seven hours.





AirAsia X: Amritsar To Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Malindo Air is budget-friendly; Air Asia X, if you get tickets, is even more so. This is a flight reinstated after the lockdowns, and plies four times a week on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

SalamAir: Kozhikode To Fujairah, The United Arab Emirates

Note: This is not a direct flight. SalamAir, Omans low-cost airline, has twice weekly flights going from Kozhikode in Kerala to Fujairah (above) in the UAE from October 2, 2023. Expect long journeys ranging from six hours to 16 hours, with layovers in Muscat.





Lufthansa: Bengaluru To Munich, Germany

November will bring with it thrice weekly flights between Bengaluru and Munich, reopening a service that was stopped due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Departing every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, this flight will get you to the German city in just under 10 hours.









Malaysia Airlines: Thiruvananthapuram to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Also launching in  early  November, the direct flight to the Malaysian capital (above) will take just over four hours and ply on Mondays and Fridays.





Malaysia Airlines: Ahmedabad To Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The beginning of the last month of 2023 will bring Ahmedabad its first direct flight to the capital of Malaysia. The 5.5-hour flights four times weekly will ply on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, at either 10.40pm or 2.55am.





Images: Shutterstock





Also Read: The Definitive Guide To Choosing A Hostel For Your Next Trip
Rohan Vinod Mehra Interview: Rohan Vinod Mehra, who is currently basking in the success of his latest release, Kaala. He plays the role of an indicted army officer in the thriller show created by Bijoy Nambiar, which has left an impressive mark among aduicne.

Rohan, who is the son of the late actor Vinod Mehra, had his own share of ups and downs in the film industry. Though coming from a cinema background, Rohan hasn't had an easy path like the other star kids.

In recent times, Bollywood has been accused of nepotism and groupism, leading to fewer opportunities for outsiders. During an exclusive conversation with Filmibeat, the actor opened up about his struggles and why nepotism doesn't work for every celebrity kid.

Rohan Vinod Mehra on his struggles

Rohan made his debut in 2018 with Baazaar and has been seen less on screen. Talking about the same and his struggles even after getting a decent launch, the actor said, "Main selective nahi hu. Logo ko galat fehmi hai ki selective hu aur bahar nahi jata. The truth is, after Bazaar, it's been a struggle, aur aisa lag raha tha ki main kahin na kahi phele se shuru kar raha hu. Uss film ke baad bhaut audition diya hai maine. I've been auditioning almost every week and gave three, two, three auditions. For all these years, I've been struggling."

EXCLUSIVE! Rohan Mehra Shares His Experience Of Working With Nawazuddin Siddiqui In Adbhut: You Can Learn So..

"Maine vapas woh ek struggling zone chala gaya tha. I need to prove myself. I need to get the role. But whatever role offer I had, I've worked on that and never declined any of them," he added.

Rohan Vinod Mehra on nepotism

When asked if nepotism has been of any advantage to him, Rohan expressed that being from a film family has not benefited him much. "Actually, it hasn't affected me for sure because people don't think of me when they think of that group; my name doesn't come up in that group from what I've seen," he said.

Talking about the existence of nepotism, the Kaala actor said, "I think now everyone can agree that nepotism does exist. It is something that is in our industry. It's in every industry. Everything is just that we are in public light. We're so much in the public that nepotism or whatever, any aspect not only of the nepotism act but every aspect of the industry is there to be discussed openly."

"So I will agree that nepotism does exist, but I feel it hasn't affected me. It hasn't been bad for me; it hasn't been good for me. And if nepotism were working for me, I would be working a lot more. I would have many releases. It would never come up if Nepotism was working for me. So I think it proves itself," he shared.

Rohan Vinod Mehra's Kaala is streaming on Disney + Hotstar. He will next be seen with Nawazzuddin Siddiqui in the psychological thriller Adbhut. The movie is directed by Sabbir Khan and will also feature Diana Penty and Shreya Dhanwanthary as lead characters.

Kaala Review: Jitin Gulati Steals The Show In This Bejoy Nambiar's Series Filled With Twists And Turns
Thalapathy Vijay Leo USA Advance Sales Photo Credit: Gallery

Thalapathy Vijay's most prestigious and much-awaited action thriller LEO, written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, is gearing up for the humongous release worldwide. The movie, whose pre-release business was closed even before going on the sets, is now establishing numerous records in advance bookings, overseas.

LEO brings together Lokesh and Vijay again and Trisha with Vijay after 12 years as a lead pair. Fans of the trio are excited about the movie and cannot wait for October 19.

LEO Advance Booking Sales Begin In The USA

Leo is going to hit the screens on October 19, on the occasion of Dussehra. About six weeks before the film's theatrical release, the advance booking sales opened in the UK. The sales of tickets in the USA just began with three weeks to go before the reveal day, which is a rare and unprecedented event in the history of Indian cinema that is going to be released abroad.

Thalapathy Vijay's craze and Lokesh Kanagaraj's impeccable conviction came together for this highly prestigious project titled Leo.

Leo Sets A Record By Selling Over 10 K Tickets In A Swish

After the advance booking sales began, the high-octane action entertainer quickly sold more than 10,000 tickets. The scale of the craze for Thalapathy Vijay and Lokesh Kanagaraj is unmatched, and it has been proved yet again.

Leo Cast

Leo stars Vijay, Trisha, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Arjun, Mysskin, Mansoor Ali Khan, Mathew Thomas, Priya Anand, Kiran Rathore, Sandy Master, Babu Antony, George Maryan, and Abhirami Venkatachalam among others in prominent roles.

Leo Crew

Leo is produced by SS Lalit Kumar and Jagadish Palanisamy under the Seven Screen Studio banner on a budget of about Rs 300 Crore. Philomin Raj and Manoj Paramahamsa are working as the film's editor and cinematographer. Anirudh Ravichander is composing the entire film's soundtrack and music.
India's Best Dancer 3 winner: It's time to send congratulatory messages to Samarpan Lama as he has lifted the winner's trophy of India's Best Dancer season three. The young lad managed to win the popular reality show, leaving the audience surprised with his victory. He was indeed the dark horse of IBD 3 as he created history by becoming the winner of the third season of the show.

SAMARPAN LAMA GETS EMOTIONAL AFTER WINNING IBD 3

The amazing dancer said that he never imagined he could win a dance reality show. Calling it a 'dream come true moment', he said that he didn't think he could emerge as a winner

"It feels surreal! I always watched reality shows and wished that I would be a part of one such show someday. But what I never imagined was winning my first dance reality show; it's truly a dream come true for me. When I was selected in the 'Behtareen 13' after Aniket Chauhan, that moment, for me, was a winning moment. I never thought I would come this far in the show. Through the course of this competition, I tasted both success and failure. Failure is important too, as it teaches you a lot, and that helped me give my best and push harder," he said.

"Today, because of it, I have become a better dancer. Words can't describe what India's Best Dancer Season 3 means to me; it will always be close to my heart. Lastly, I would like to thank ''My People' for believing in me and supporting me. My win is their win too," Samarpan said in a statement," Samarpan Lama said in a statement after winning India's Best Dancer 3.

WHO IS SAMARPAN LAMA?

Fans are curious to know about Samarpan Lama's girlfriend's name, relationship status, net worth after he won the show.

Samarpan belongs to Nepal but he is currently based out of Maharashtra. The dancer received a special gift from Remo D'Souza as the director surprised him with a token of love. Raveena Tandon had praised him for his sizzling performance on Param Sundari. He received the tag of Miss Diva for his scorching performance. From being called 'Mini Terence' to 'Cutie Minister', Samarpan got many tags during his stint in India's Best Dancer season three.

Samarpan took home a cash prize of Rs 15 lakh and a shiny trophy after winning the reality show. We extend our heartiest congratulations to him.
Marula Mining Plc - Half-year Report

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, September 29

29 September 2023 Marula Mining PLC ("Marula'' or the "Company") Interim Results

Marula (AQSE: MARU), an African focused mining and development company, is pleased to provide its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023 (the "Period").

Highlights

Marula announced a investment and co-development agreement with Q Global Commodities Group ("QGC"), one of South Africa's leading commodity, mining, logistics and investments funds

Subscription agreement also signed with QGC for a multi-tranche equity investment of up to 3.75 million, subject to a Rule 9 Waiver being obtained in accordance with the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers and shareholder approval at a forthcoming general meeting of the Company

Operations at the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine ("Blesberg') progressed during the period and were focused on mine site infrastructure development; the sampling, processing and recovery of high-grade spodumene from the historic stockpile, and exploration focused on the hard rock potential across the prospecting right

During the 6-month period to 30 June 2023, 21,425 tonnes ("t') of material was loaded and hauled from the historic stockpiles at Blesberg, with 13,866t processed through the crushing and screening circuit and 16,011t of material in run-of-mine and product sized stockpiles

Capital investment at Blesberg was completed during the period with the purchase of new mobile mining equipment from Bell Equipment made as part of the Company's plans to increase production rates and recovery of high-grade spodumene over a 24-month period and for monthly sales of up to 1,500t of a +20mm high-grade lithium spodumene product

Discussions advanced on new long-term lithium offtake agreements for the sale and purchase of 100% of the production of lithium product at Blesberg from the historic stockpiles and planned hard rock open pit mining operations

Agreement signed with Takela Mining Tanzania Limited ("Takela") to increase the Company's interest in the high-grade Kinusi Copper Mine ("Kinusi") in Tanzania from 51% to 75%

Phase 1 Program of exploration activities at Kinusi completed over all of the 10 granted mining licenses, and the results confirmed the presence of a copper mineralised corridor extending for over 1 kilometre ("km") in strike length and 300 metres ("m") wide and with high-grade narrow veins visually estimated to contain approx. 20% to 30% mineralised copper-bearing minerals which are mainly malachite and azurite

Detailed design work, capital and operating costs for the copper processing plant was undertaken in South Africa during period, with initial mine feed to be sourced from small-scale mining focusing on the Takela 1, 2, 3, 4 and 12 pits at Kinusi

Negotiations commenced with several parties for an initial copper offtake agreement for the sale and purchase of all copper and precious metals product produced from Kinusi from material processed through the planned new copper processing plant

Agreement signed with Takela to secure a 75% commercial interest in the high grade Nyorinyori Graphite Project ("Nyorinyori") that comprises 10 granted graphite licences and is located in the Simanjiro District, in the Manyara Region of Tanzania

High-grade graphite mineralisation was observed at Nyorinyori, with visual estimates of +90% graphite content and jumbo graphite flakes identified in shallow and broad graphite veins and additional associated graphite mineralisation was observed across the mining licenses area at surface from numerous outcrops, extending over an initial strike length of over 2km

Phase 1 Program of exploration activities completed across 18 of the 22 granted mining licenses that make up the Bagamoyo Graphite Project ("Bagamoyo") in Tanzania and where the Company holds a 73% commercial interest

Two graphite trends identified at the Mihuga and Saadan South Graphite Prospects at Bagamoyo, that extend for over 2km and where high-grade graphitic schist was observed with graphite grades of between 35% to 75% based on visible observations, and with several outcrops of graphitic schist and graphitic gneiss that occur with large graphite flake sizes visibly observed

William Thompson appointed as Zimbabwe Country Manager and tasked with identifying advanced projects in the country

A number of key management appointments were made during the period at both the corporate level at its headquarters in Nairobi and across its operational bases in East and Southern Africa.

The Company confirmed its intention to seek a new primary listing of its ordinary shares in London and, during the period, appointed all key advisers

In addition to a new primary listing in London, the Company also intends to complete dual listings of its shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange ("JSE") and Nairobi Stock Exchange ("NSE") and, during the period, advisers were appointed in South Africa and Kenya to manage this process

During the period Brahma Finance (BVI) Limited converted the entire principal amount of the 265,000 of convertible loan notes that was secured by the Company in 2022 and, as a result of the conversion, the debenture held over Marula's assets was discharged, and the Company was able to confirm that it was debt free at the time and no security had been pledged over any of its assets

A total of 11,242,500 warrants, with a strike price of 4 pence were exercised during the period, which raised 449,700 of gross proceeds through the issue of 11,242,500 new ordinary shares

Post Period Highlights

Continued investment in Blesberg's mining and processing operations with additional new mobile mining equipment secured and two sensor based XRF Ore Sorters purchased from Tomra Systems ASA and Rados International Technologies (Malta) Limited that are to be installed and commissioned in Q4 2023 as part the proposed expanded processing facilities at Blesberg that, in addition to new crushing and screening equipment, is planned to increase the production capacity of high-grade spodumene ore to over 1,000 tonnes per month ("tpm") of saleable product

Commencement of an approx. ZAR 26 million (approx. US$1.35M) resource drilling, exploration and mine planning program at Blesberg

Independent sampling and assaying of processed spodumene material at Blesberg was completed, which confirmed high-grade spodumene product with an average grade of 6.5% Li2O and a contract for an initial trial shipment of 27.5 tonnes of this material was signed with a Chinese importer and exporter of metalliferous ores for sales to be sold at US$3,000/t

At Kinusi, the final report from the Company's independent geological consultants on the Phase 1 Program of exploration activities was completed and which confirmed the preliminary findings of the identification of a copper mineralised corridor in excess of 1km in length and 300m wide. The assays results remain outstanding as at the date of this report

In South Africa, the Company's mineral processing contractors completed construction of the initial modular copper processing plant, that will be transported, installed and commissioned at Kinusi in Q4 2023

At Nyorinyori, the Company's independent geological consultants have been engaged to commence a Phase 1 Program of exploration activities which will include sampling, mapping and trenching work across the 10 granted mining licenses

Assay results were received on samples taken from Bagamoyo and these results confirmed the high-grade nature of the graphite mineralisation there and in particular at the Mihuga Prospect where high-grade samples included 19.71%, 19.33%, 15.65%, 10.92% and 9.13% and medium to coarse graphite flakes were identified in a number of samples

At the corporate level, the Company continued to strengthen its Board of Directors and appointed Ms. Angeline Greenwood, Ms. Hannah Wang'Ombe and Mr. Munyaradzi Murape as Non-Executive Directors and re-appointed Mr. Richard Lloyd as both Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Company, with both Marc Nally and Ian Harebottle stepping down as Non-Executive Directors

The Company shares were admitted on to the Apex segment of the AQSE Growth Market ("AQSE"), which represents the top 20% of AQSE listed companies and provides access to a greater number of institutional investors.

Jason Brewer, CEO, said:

"The first half of the 2023 year has further demonstrated what Marula is capable of delivering, as demonstrated by the progress that has been made at the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine and also at the Kinusi Mine which has the potential to be our second producing asset by the end of the year. Our strategy is clear and it remains one of continuing to invest in rapid growth opportunities in the battery metals sector here in East and South Africa.

"The major investment and co-development agreement with Q Global Commodities, who are one of South Africa's leading commodity, mining, logistics and investments funds, is transformational for the Company. It really has allowed us to move forward at pace and in delivering on our strategy across our portfolio of projects.

"Whilst we have successfully advanced our mining and processing activities at Blesberg, we have not held back elsewhere, with good progress being made at the Kinusi Copper Mine, which continues to reinforce our decision earlier this year to increase our commercial interest in the project from 49% to 75%, and where the board anticipate that, with the modular processing plant arriving on site in the coming quarter, we will start to see copper production before the end of 2023. Likewise, the positive exploration results that we are achieving at our Nyorinyori and Bagamoyo graphite projects in Tanzania, demonstrates the potential of these.

"With our battery metals focus and strategy expanding, we established subsidiaries in Zimbabwe and Kenya to look for multiple near-term assets in these critical metals sector. We will continue to look for growth opportunities and develop potential assets. It is also important to us that our focus remains on the critical mineral space, as we believe this to be a pivotal time in the transition to a green economy.

"I am pleased with the progress we have made in the first six months of 2023, and I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish in the future."

For further information, please visit www.marulamining.co.uk or contact:

The Directors of Marula are responsible for the contents of this announcement. This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of UK Market Abuse Regulation.

For enquiries contact:

Marula Mining PLC Jason Brewer, Chief Executive Officer Faith Kinyanjui Mumbi Investor Relations Email : jason@marulamining.com Email : info@marulamining.com AQSE Corporate Adviser Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, Liam Murray / Ludovico Lazzaretti +44 (0)20 7213 0880 Broker Peterhouse Capital Limited Charles Goodfellow / Duncan Vasey +44 (0) 20 7469 0930 Financial PR and IR BlytheRay Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren +44 (0)20 7138 3204

Chairman's Statement

The Company has had a busy and transformational six months and has seen significant developments across all business areas in the Period which has been positively reflected in the share price. With this, we are happy to present the Interim Results for the period 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023.

During the Period, we wanted to strengthen the management team of Marula by appointing Tokkas Van Heerdan as Chief Operating Officer. His experience in the mining industry is an asset to our mine development plans for the Kinusi Copper Mine and the Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum project, as well as for our wider portfolio. We have further strengthened Marula post period by appointing Angeline Greenwood, Hannah Wang'Ombe, Munyaradzi Murape as Independent Non-Executive Directors of the Company. The strengthening of the Board and management at Marula will enable the Company to focus on the development of our projects and the Company's growth strategy.

As well as strengthening Marula by confirming new members of the Board and management team, we have also strengthened our ability to develop our projects through our partnership with Q Global Commodities. On multiple occasions Q Global have assisted us, not only financially, but with the provision of equipment through its network and highly skilled technical input in all of our projects.

Marula Mining has been able to significantly develop Blesberg during the Period, and again, our partnership with Q Global has been at the forefront of this. The previously mentioned mining equipment will double the production at Blesberg. Post Period the Company received additional mining equipment from Bell Equipment. With this, and the arrival of the XRF ore sorters, Blesberg is able increase the production and processing of high-grade spodumene ore from the historical stockpiles to 1,000 tonnes per month of saleable product. With the increased production and processing capacity at Blesberg, Marula is set up to take full advantage of this in the remainder of the year and beyond. This, together with the signing of initial sales of 27.5 tonnes of high-grade lithium ore from Blesberg for the price of US$3,000 per tonne, leaves the Company in good stead. This deal further demonstrates the growing potential value that Blesberg possesses, and we look forward to developing it further.

After appointing Geofields Tanzania Limited to commence work at Kinusi, it quickly became one of the focus projects in Marula's portfolio. As such, during the Period, the Company increased its original interest in Kinusi from 49% to 75% interest. Our confidence in this decision has constantly been reinforced after several successful site visits, including myself and the Q Global team, and the results from the phase 1 program of exploration activities, which confirmed the presence of a copper mineralized corridor that extends for over 1 km in strike length and 300m width, with high-grade vertical pegmatite veins of 1-3m width that contain copper bearing minerals (Malachite, Azurite and Bornite). Post Period, the Company's processing consultants in South Africa, Amoref Pty Limited, completed construction of an initial modular 5 tonnes per day processing plant which is now ready for transportation, installation, and commissioning on site in Tanzania. As such, we are excited to see the next stages of development for the project and updating shareholders on its progress what we believe will be the second producing mine in the Company's portfolio.

We are pleased with the progress undertaken at our graphite projects, with Geofields having completed the phase 1 program of exploration activities at the Bagamoyo Graphite Project in Tanzania and observing two major graphite prospects. Following the assay results from the exploration program, which demonstrated up to 19.71% of total graphite content in the Mihuga Prospect, Geofields made recommendations for the next phase 2 program of activities, which we are reviewing and plan to commence in the second half of 2023. Medium to coarse graphite flakes were reported by Geofields in being identifiable in four of the samples from Mihuga Prospect which assayed 11.86%, 15.65%, 19.33% and 19.71%. Similarly, our Nyorinyori Graphite Project observed high-grade graphite mineralisation, with visual estimates of +90% graphite content in shallow and broad graphitic veins. With Geofields having recently completed work at the Kinusi Copper Mine, they were appointed as our independent geological consultants to commence exploration work at Nyorinyori. We are very pleased with the development of these graphite projects and as such we look forward to seeing further development take place over the coming months.

As per our strategy to identify future growth opportunities in the battery metals sector, we have established a subsidiary in Zimbabwe during the period, Muchai Mining (Pvt) Limited, to secure near-term and advanced lithium andcopper mining opportunities. We also established a wholly owned Kenya operating subsidiary company, Muchai Mining Kenya Limited, to focus on securing both near-term and advanced copper and graphite mining opportunities in Kenya.

During the first half of 2023, Marula made its intention clear on expanding the scope of investors it attracts. As such, we aim to move the Company's ordinary shares on to the London Stock Exchange plc's Standard List or the AIM Market and have made our plans clear to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Post Period, Marula became eligible to join the Apex segment of the Aquis Stock Exchange and has since recently been admitted. This gives the Company access to a wider investor base, larger institutional investor and requires a minimum market capitalisation of 10 million, at least 25% shares held in public hands and a minimum of two years' trading history.

Financials

The financial results for the period from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023 shows a loss after taxation attributable to equity holders of 1,512,000 (30 June 2022: 169,000). The basic loss per share was 1.326p (30 June 2022: loss per share 0.004p on pre share consolidated basis).

Outlook

We are very pleased with the first half of 2023, which has seen notable developments across our portfolio, and has set the tone for the remainder of the year.

The progress at Blesberg and Kinusi during the first half of 2023, and our confidence in these projects is continuously being reinforced, with new equipment doubling our production capacity at Blesberg and the processing plant ready for commissioning at Kinusi. Following these significant developments, Marula is set to take full advantage of the opportunities these projects have provided for the next half of 2023.

We have decided to expand and grow our portfolio to align with our strategy of securing opportunities in the battery metals sector. We are pleased with the establishment of the Muchai Mining subsidiaries in Zimbabwe and Kenya, and our hope is that the subsidiaries will be able to secure near-term producing assets. This is anticipated to add additional value-producing projects to the Company's existing portfolio. Furthermore, by appointing PWC Kenya as our advisor on East African transactions to assist with new mine acquisitions. We look forward to continuing our work with them in the next half of 2023.

As we expand the Company's portfolio, we are also looking to expand the scope of Marula's investors. As such, we are pleased to have announced our intentions to list on the AIM market or the Standard List of the London Stock Exchange Group plc and the JSE and NSE. Our reasoning behind this is that it would provide further opportunities for the Company to raise capital, expose the Company to a diverse range of investors and to continue the progress of the projects. Our admission to the Apex segment of the AQSE Growth Market is the first step in expanding our scope of investors and I look forward to seeking a listing on AIM or the Standard List, the JSE and NSE in Africa to enable local investment.

Our commercial agreements with Takela Mining Tanzania and our partnership with Q Global Commodities, to support the development of our projects, has proven valuable throughout the first half of 2023. This has been demonstrated by Takela Mining facilitating with the progression of Kinusi and Q Global securing new mobile mining equipment for Blesberg. With these partnerships, the Company is ready to take full advantage of the opportunities that are available in the remainder of 2023, and are expected create further opportunities for the Company as we continue on our growth trajectory.

I would like to thank all who are involved in Marula Mining's operations and to welcome the new members to our board. As we continue to search for new opportunities and develop our projects in the Company's portfolio, we will update shareholders.

Richard Lloyd (FGS; FIMMM).

Chairman

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE HALF YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2023

Unaudited Unaudited Notes Half-year ended 30 Jun 2023 Half-year ended 30 Jun 2022 '000 '000 Operating expenses (439) - Administrative expenses (983) (169) Operating loss (1,422) (169) Depreciation (4) - Finance costs (86) - Operating loss and loss before taxation (1,512) (169) Income tax expense 2 - - Loss after taxation (1,512) (169) Loss for the period (1,512) (169) Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit and loss: Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations - - Total comprehensive loss attributable to the equity holders of the parent company (1,512) (169) Earnings per share (expressed in pence per share) - attributable to the equity holder of the parent company Loss per share - Basic and diluted 3 (1.326) (0.004)



CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 30 JUNE 2023

Unaudited Audited As at 30 June As at 31 December Notes 2023 2022 '000 '000 NON-CURRENT ASSETS Property, plant & equipment 4 163 23 Exploration expenditure 5 1,687 1,185 Goodwill and intangible 1,269 1,269 3,119 2,477 CURRENT ASSETS Trade and other receivables 6 25 472 Inventory 78 - Cash and cash equivalents 330 100 434 572 TOTAL ASSETS 5,553 3,049 EQUITY ISSUED CAPITAL AND RESERVES Issued share capital 922 918 Share premium 3,903 2,512 Other reserves 836 836 Foreign currency reserve 237 - Accumulated losses (5,688) (4,176) TOTAL EQUITY 210 90 CURRENT LIABILITIES Trade and other payables 7 3,343 2,750 Borrowings - 209 3,343 2,959 TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 5,553 3,049

NOTES TO THE INTERIM REPORT

FOR THE HALF YEAR ENDING 30 JUNE 2023

GENERAL INFORMATION

Marula Mining Plc (formerly All Star Minerals plc), (the "Company") is a company registered in England and Wales. The condensed consolidated interim financial statements ("interim financial statements") of the Company for the six months ended 30 June 2023 comprise the results of the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the "Group") and have been prepared in accordance with the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market Rules for Issuers. As permitted, the Company has chosen not to adopt IAS 34 "Interim Financial Statement" in preparing these interim financial statements.

The interim financial information for the period 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023 is unaudited. In the opinion of the Directors the interim financial statements for the period presents fairly the financial position, and results from operations and cash flows for the period in conformity with the generally accepted accounting principles consistently applied. The interim financial statements incorporate unaudited comparative figures for the interim period 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023 and extracts from the audited financial statements for the year to 31 December 2022.

The financial information contained in this interim report does not constitute statutory accounts as defined by section 435 of the Companies Act 2006.

The comparatives for the full year ended 31 December 2022 are not the Company's full statutory accounts for that year. A copy of the statutory accounts for that year has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditor's report on those financial statements was unqualified but did include a reference to the uncertainties surrounding going concern, to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis of matter and did not contain a statement under s498 (2) - (3) of Companies Act 2006. The interim report has not been audited or reviewed by the Company's auditor. The key risks and uncertainties and critical accountancy estimates remain unchanged from 31 December 2022 and the accountancy policies adopted are consistent with those used in the preparation of its financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.

TAXATION

No current taxation has been provided due to losses in the period.

LOSS PER SHARE

The basic loss per share is derived by dividing the loss for the period attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of shares in issue.

Unaudited Unaudited 30 Jun 2023 30 Jun 2022 Loss for the period ('000) (1,512) (169) Weighted average number of shares 114,064,127 4,500,841,410 Basic and dilutive earnings per share - pence (1.326p) (0.004p)

Diluted earnings per share amounts are calculated by dividing the net result attributable to ordinary equity holders after adjustments for instruments that dilute basic earnings per share by the weighted average of ordinary shares outstanding during the period (adjusted for the effects of dilutive instruments). For the periods ended 30 June 2023 and 30 June 2022, as the Group was loss making the effect of any share options is anti-dilutive such that the diluted EPS figure is equivalent to the basic EPS figure.

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Plant and equipment Total '000 '000 Cost Opening balance - 1 January 2022 - - Additions 25 25 At 31 December 2022 25 25 Additions 162 162 At 30 June 2023 162 162 Depreciation Opening balance - 1 January 2022 - - Charge for the period (1) (1) At 31 December 2022 (1) (1) Charge for the period (4) (4) At 30 June 2023 (5) (5) Net book value - 31 December 2022 24 24 Net book value - 30 June 2023 163 163

EXPLORATION ASSET

Unaudited Audited 30 June 2023 31 Dec 2022 '000 '000 Opening balance 1,185 - Acquisition of SALT - 343 Additions 500 825 Foreign exchange impact 2 17 1,687 1,185

TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES

Unaudited Audited 30 June 2023 31 Dec 2022 '000 '000 Current Prepayments - 13 Other receivables 25 80 Amount owed from SMP - 379 25 472

TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES

Unaudited Audited 30 June 2023 31 Dec 2022 '000 '000 Trade and other payables 377 256 Accruals and other creditors 787 276 Contract liability 2,179 2,219 3,343 2,751

POST REPORTING DATE EVENTS

On 24 July 2023, Marcel Nally and Ian Harbottle resigned from their positions on the board. On the same date Richard Lloyd and Angeline Greenwood were appointed as Executive Chairman and Independent Non-Executive director respectively.

On 24 July 2023, the Company has extended the expiry date of 2,873,750 warrants issued to subscribe for new ordinary shares of 0.01 pence in Marula at an exercise price of 4 pence per share. The expiry date has been extended from 20 July 2023 until 31 August 2023.

On 16 July 2023 Hannah Wang'ombe and Munyaradzi Murape were appointed as Independent Non-Executive Directors of the Company.

On 23 August 2023, the Company's shares were admitted to trading on the APEX segment of the AQSE Growth Market.

On 1 September 2023, the Company issued 613,876 new ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each at an issue price of approximately 12.82 pence per new Ordinary Share (based on the 30 day VWAP of the Company's Ordinary Shares) to Takela Mining Tanzania Limited ("Takela") in lieu of the US $100,000 in shares owed to Takela following the completion of an initial exploration program at Kinusi, as per the terms of agreement with Takela announced on 20 February 2023.

On 1 September 2023, the Company received notification for the exercise of warrants over 4,567,500 new ordinary shares in the Company at an exercise price of 4 pence per ordinary raising total proceeds of 182,700.

In addition to the above exercise of warrants, the Company received notification for the exercise of warrants over 350,000 new ordinary shares in the Company at an exercise price of 4 pence per held by the Directors, providing the Company with proceeds of 14,000.

Further, the Company issued 5,100,000 ordinary shares at a price of 2 pence to settle liability upon certain milestone being completed with respect to the heads of agreement between the Company and Gathoni Muchai Investments as announced on 21 April 2022.

On 6 September 2023, the Company issued in aggregate 1,150,000 new ordinary shares in the Company at a price of 2 pence per shares to Richard Lloyd, a Director of the Company, in lieu of unpaid fees in 2021.

On 13 September 2023, the Company received notification for the exercise of warrants over 762,500 new ordinary shares in the Company at an exercise price of 4 pence per ordinary raising total proceeds of 30,500.

On 19 September 2023, the Company received notification for the exercise of warrants over 1,250,000 new ordinary shares in the Company at an exercise price of 4 pence per ordinary raising total proceeds of 50,000.

On 22 September 2023, it was announced that the Company had terminated the offtake agreement with Southern Jade Resources Pty Limited ("SJR") for the first 2,000 tonnes of spodumene material produced from the stockpiles at Blesberg. Per the terms of the termination, Traxys Projects LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Traxys Europe SA, has agreed to be issued, in aggregate, 15,714,279 new ordinary shares in the Company at an issue price of 14 pence per share in full satisfaction of the US$2.5 million prepayment advanced by SJR and an additional US$250,000 of deemed accrued interest. An initial tranche of 4,714,284 new ordinary shares in the Company at an issue price of 14 pence per share were issued with the balance being issued on or around 29 September 2023.

There were no further events subsequent to period end.

Caution regarding forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identi?ed by their use of terms and phrases such as 'believe', 'could', "should" 'envisage', 'estimate', 'intend', 'may', 'plan', 'potentially', "expect", 'will' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements re?ect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2023) - Blacksteel Energy Inc. ("Blacksteel" or the "Corporation") is providing this bi-weekly update on the status of the management cease trade order granted September 1, 2023 (the "MCTO") by its principal regulator, the Alberta Securities Commission, under National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Orders ("NP 12-203"), following the Corporation's announcement on August 25, 2023 (the "Default Announcement") that it was unable to file its audited annual financial statements, management's discussion and analysis and related certificates for the year ended April 30, 2023 (the "Documents") on or before August 29, 2023, as required under applicable securities laws. The Corporation expects to file the Documents on or about October 27, 2023.

There are no material changes to the information contained in the Default Announcement. In addition: (i) the Corporation is satisfying and confirms that it intends to continue to satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines under NP 12-203 and issue bi-weekly default status reports for so long as the delay in filing the Documents is continuing, each of which will be issued in the form of a press release; (ii) the Corporation does not have any information at this time regarding any anticipated specified default subsequent to the default in filing the Documents; (iii) the Corporation is not subject to any insolvency proceedings; and (iv) there is no material information concerning the affairs of the Corporation that has not been generally disclosed.

Blacksteel Energy Inc.

Blacksteel is a junior oil and gas company involved in the exploration, development and production of petroleum and natural gas resources.

Duncan Nightingale

President and CEO

(587) 433-4159

duncan@blacksteelenergy.ca

Jeff Callaway

EVP and CFO

(403) 540-2408

jeff@blacksteelenergy.ca

www.blacksteelenergy.ca

Forward-Looking Information Cautionary Statement: This document contains forward-looking statements regarding the business and operations of Blacksteel. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained herein are forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. In particular, statements as to the Corporation's anticipated transactions are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon various assumptions. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "seek", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "suggest", "indicate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur, and include, without limitation, statements regarding: the completion of the Corporation's audited financial statements and associated management discussion and analysis for the year ended April 30, 2023 and the date for filing of the Documents. The Corporation's actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward- looking statements and, accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the plans, intentions or expectations anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefit the Corporation will derive there from. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with oil and gas exploration; risks related to the listing and maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drilling results; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; the possibility that future exploration and development results will not be consistent with the Corporation's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Corporation's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Corporation's disclosure record. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to the Corporation or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States of America. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities Laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/182473
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 29, 2023) - Interra Copper Corp. (CSE: IMCX) (FSE: 3MX) ("Interra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release of September 22, 2023, it has closed the non-brokered private placement with the issuance of a total of 1,985,000 units (the "Units") of the Company at a price of $0.20 per Unit for proceeds of $397,000 (the "Private Placement").

Each Unit consists of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (a "Share") and one (1) Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"), whereby each Warrant is exercisable at $0.25 into an additional Share until September 29, 2026, being the date that is 36 months from the date of issuance.

Proceeds from the sale of the Units will be used for general working capital purposes and to commence activities on the Rip Project acquisition. No bonus, finder's fee, commission or other compensation has been or will be paid in connection with the Private Placement.

All securities issued in connection with the Private Placement are subject to a statutory four-month hold period, expiring January 30, 2024, in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

The securities described herein have not been 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 absent registration or compliance with an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any State in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Related Party Participation in the Private Placement

Certain insiders of the Company participated in the Private Placement in the amount of $22,000. More specifically, Rick Gittleman, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company, purchased 25,000 Units; Director Jason Nickel purchased 50,000 Units; Director Rich Leveille purchased 25,000 Units; and Director Mike Ciricillo purchased 10,000 Units. The participation by insiders in the Private Placement constitutes a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the Common Shares purchased by insiders, nor the consideration for the Common Shares paid by such insiders, exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the related party transaction at least 21 days before the closing of the Private Placement, which the Company deems reasonable in the circumstances as the details of the participation by insiders of the Company were not settled until shortly prior to closing the Private Placement and the Company wished to complete the Private Placement in an expeditious manner.

Grant of Stock Options

The Company further announces the grant of an aggregate of 2,400,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") to certain directors, officers and consultants of the Company in accordance with the terms of the Company's Equity Incentive Plan. Each Option entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.25 for a period of five years until September 25, 2028.

On behalf of the Board of Interra Copper Corp.

Rick Gittleman

Interim CEO & Chairman



For further information contact:

Katherine Pryde

Investor Relations

investors@interracoppercorp.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or" should" occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, the use of proceeds from the Private Placement are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Interra, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, and changes in general economic, market and business conditions. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Interra does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR

FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/182479
SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Hohem, a trailblazer in the gimbal market, showcased its innovation at two renowned international exhibitions - the IFA exhibition in Berlin from September 3 to September 5, and the IBC exhibition in Amsterdam from September 15 to September 18. These exhibitions are significant platforms for industry players to present their latest innovations and connect with enthusiasts.

The IFA exhibition, a global hub for consumer electronics, saw Hohem presenting a range of sought-after smartphone gimbal and camera stabilizers, such as iSteady M6 and iSteady MT2. The magnetic AI tracker is much to the delight of photography enthusiasts. With this sensor, users can enjoy a smooth AI tracking experience without the need for an app or Bluetooth connection. By simply facing the AI sensor and making gestures, iSteady MT2 and iSteady M6 swiftly and accurately tracks the subject, capturing facial and body movements even in challenging scenarios.

At IFA, Hohem shared the stage with industry giants like DJI, Zhiyun, Huawei and Apple, underlining its position amidst renowned brands in the smart imaging arena. The booth design, characterized by a blend of deep black and vibrant orange, was a visual treat, adding a touch of sophistication and modernity.

Following IFA, Hohem participated in the IBC exhibition, a prestigious event in the broadcasting industry. The booth, mirroring the design theme from IFA, presented Hohem's innovative applications of smart imaging technology in broadcasting. This event also featured industry stalwarts like Canon, Sony and Nikon, further enriching the discourse on broadcasting technology and imaging. Furthermore, the Hohem MIC-01 Wireless Microphone has received recognition and acknowledgment from industry competitors, establishing Hohem as a key player in the gimbal market.

In the coming days, Hohem will continue to uphold its brand mission of "Create a more straightforward way of recording memorable moments with tech" and introduce more user-friendly and efficient smart imaging devices. Hohem aspires to earn the trust and admiration of consumers globally, emerging as a go-to brand in the smart imaging landscape.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2234122/image_5009599_21580373.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2150200/hohem_LPR_New.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hohem-shines-at-ifa-and-ibc-exhibitions-with-innovative-ai-tracking-stabilizers-301941602.html
Actor Siddharth, who was promoting his latest film Chithha in Bengaluru, was asked to vacate the premise after members of a pro-Kannada group disrupted the event and asked the actor to show solidarity amid the Cauvery water dispute.

According to a report by Indian Express, the protestors were quoted saying, When the Kannada Film Chamber itself has extended support to the bandh, how can you hold a film-related event? They continued, We have been fighting for the last 15 days. While our water is being sent to Tamil Nadu, is it right for a Tamil actor to come and promote his film here?

Sidharth did leave the event midway but as soon as the video surfaced online, Prakash Raj shared a note on social media and wrote, Instead of questioning all the political parties and its leaders for failing to solve this decades old issue.. instead of questioning the useless parliamentarians who are not pressurising the centre to intervene.. Troubling the common man and Artists like this can not be accepted.. as a Kannadiga .. on behalf of Kannadigas. sorry.

Siddharths other controversy

Back in 2021, Siddharth, who has been a vocal critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that his phone number was leaked by the party members and sympathisers.

The actor tweeted that he and his family have been subjected to a barrage of rape, death and abusive calls. Siddharth said most calls were from BJP sympathisers or had links with the party. He added that details of the callers had been handed to the Greater Chennai police for further investigation.

Siddharth criticized the Central governments response to the second wave of COVID-19 in the country. He had also condemned Uttar Pradesh Chied Minister Yogi Adityanath regarding his statement that strict action would be taken against hospitals claiming lack of oxygen supply.

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Actor Imran Khan, who gained wide popularity with his role in Bollywood film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, has been missing in action over the years. The 40-year-old was last seen opposite Kangana Ranaut in the 2015 film Katti Batti.

In the latest, the Kidnap actor shared an anecdote from his shooting days on Instagram. As part of the post, the actor opened up about how since Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na had not yet been released, he was not considered to have any star value. In addition, the producers were not very enthusiastic about casting him.

Take a look:

The post has over 36,800 likes.

Check out some of the comments below:

One user commented, Love your recent posts, describing each of your movie memories and experiences.

Another user asked, Imran, personally, did you like playing the protagonist more or the antagonist?

To which the actor replied, I always looked for something I could personally relate to in each character.

I loved Kidnap, Luck and Katti Batti, and their songs, said a user.

On shooting for Kidnap

Based on an Instagram post, Imran Khan shared that he was close to wrapping up the shoot for Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na when he was called to audition for Kidnap. Director Sanjay Gadhvi had already directed the first two Dhoom films. Imran also played antagonist for actor Sanjay Dutt, which he called a huge opportunity! For Kabir and Sonia, the lead characters in Kidnap, several screen tests were conducted before signing Minissha Lamba for the role of the latter.

On not having a star value

At that time, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na had not yet been released and according to Imran Khan, he was not considered to possess any star value. For this very reason, the producers were not very enthusiastic about casting him. He further added, I got the part thanks to dual support from the director and writer Shibani Bathija, for which I am grateful to this day.

Imran went on to add how he was only allowed to read the scenes I was in. Not just this, he added that he was given printouts of scenes only a day or two before they were scheduled to be shot.

On working opposite Minissha Lamba

Talking about an incident from 2007 in Mauritius, when he still used a Nokia phone, he admitted not having many pictures from the shoot. On working with his Kidnap co-star, he added, She was lovely to work with; intelligent, articulate, and self-assured.

Work Front

Imran Khan made his acting debut with Genelia Deshmukh in the 2008 film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Later, he has been part of movies like I Hate Luv Stories, Break Ke Baad, Delhi Belly, Luck among others. The actor recently wore the directors hat in 2018 for a mainstream cinematic short film titled Mission Mars: Keep Walking India.

As per reports, the actor is set to return to the screens after a long gap.

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A man who prosecutors say ordered the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur was arrested and charged with murder Friday in a long-awaited breakthrough in one of hip-hops most enduring mysteries.

Duane Keffe D Davis has long been known to investigators as one of four suspects identified early in the investigation. He isnt the accused gunman but was described as the groups ringleader by authorities Friday at a news conference and in court. In Nevada you can be charged with a crime, including murder, if you help someone commit the crime.

Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime, said Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson, and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out.

Davis himself has admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting.

Authorities said Friday that Davis own public comments revived the investigation.

Davis, now 60, was arrested early Friday while on a walk near his home on the outskirts of Las Vegas, hours before prosecutors announced in court that a Nevada grand jury had indicted the self-described gangster on one count of murder with a deadly weapon. He is due in court next week.

The grand jury also voted to add a sentencing enhancement to the murder charge for gang activity that could add up to 20 additional years if hes convicted.

Hundreds of pages of transcripts released Friday provide a view into the first month of grand jury proceedings, which began in late July with testimony from former associates of Davis, friends of Shakur and a slate of retired police officers involved in the case early on. Their testimony painted a picture for the jurors of a deep, escalating rift between Shakurs music label Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records, which had ties to Davis and represented Shakurs rap rival, Biggie Smalls.

It started the whole West Coast/East Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s, one of Davis former associates testified.

The first-ever arrest in the case came after Las Vegas police in mid-July raided Davis home in the nearby city of Henderson for items they described at the time as concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.

Davis denied an interview request Friday from jail, and court records dont list an attorney who can comment on his behalf. Phone and text messages to Davis and his wife on Friday and in the months since the July 17 search werent returned.

In a statement Friday, Sekyiwa Set Shakur, the rappers sister, described the arrest as a victory.

This is no doubt a pivotal moment. The silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community, she said. Its important to me that the world, the country, the justice system, and our people acknowledge the gravity of the passing of this man, my brother, my mothers son, my fathers son.

On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion Suge Knight. They were waiting at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted.

Shakur was shot multiple times and died a week later at the age of 25.

Davis, in his memoir, said he was in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and had slipped a gun into the back seat, from where he said the shots were fired.

He implicated his nephew, Orlando Baby Lane Anderson, saying he was one of two people in the backseat. Anderson, a known rival of Shakur, had been involved in a casino brawl with the rapper shortly before the shooting.

Little did anyone know that this incident right here would ultimately lead to the retaliatory shooting and death of Tupac Shakur, said Johansson, the police lieutenant.

Anderson died two years later. He denied any involvement in Shakurs death.

Emails seeking comment from two lawyers who have previously represented Knight were not immediately returned. Knight was grazed by a bullet fragment in the shooting but had only minor injuries. He is serving a 28-year prison sentence in California for an unrelated voluntary manslaughter charge.

On the night of July 17, Las Vegas police quietly surrounded the home where Davis lives with his wife, Paula Clemons. Police lapel video obtained by The Associated Press showed SWAT officers detaining a man and his wife outside the home lit up by a swirl of red and blue lights after announcing their presence on a bullhorn. The couples faces are blurred in the videos.

Police reported collecting multiple computers, a cellphone and hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-caliber bullets, two tubs containing photographs and a copy of Davis memoir.

Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating the Shakur killing and wrote a book about it, said hes not surprised by Davis arrest.

He put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy, Kading said, adding that Davis himself gave Las Vegas police the ammunition and leverage to move forward.

Kading said he had also anticipated the murder charge, because Davis public comments showed the crime was premeditated.

All the other direct conspirators or participants are all dead, Kading said. Keefe D is the last man standing among the individuals that conspired to kill Tupac.

The rappers death came as his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me, remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold. Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.

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The BJP has tuned into election mode for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 relatively early.

Over the next six days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to conduct a massive campaign, holding up to eight public rallies in four states that will soon hold elections.

The PM may announce projects worth many crores during these visits to certain significant cities like Gwalior, Jabalpur, Jagdalpur, and Jodhpur.

He will also hold two rallies in each of the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh.

Take a look.

Also read: Decoding the paradigm shift in Indias foreign policy under PM Narendra Modi

Parivartan Yatras in Chhattisgarh

The Prime Minister will travel to Bilaspur of poll-bound Chhattisgarh on Saturday to attend the concluding ceremony of two Parivartan Yatras of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party leader said.

According to PTI, this will be PM Modis third visit to the Congress-ruled state, where assembly elections are due this year-end, in the last three months.

The PM will address the Parivartan Mahasankalp rally, the closing ceremony of two Parivartan Yatras, at 2 pm on Saturday at Science College ground, state BJP chief Arun Sao told reporters.

While the first Parivartan Yatra was taken out from Dantewada (south Chhattisgarh) on 12 September, the second one was rolled out from Jashpur (north Chhattisgarh) on 15 September, he said.

Both the yatras saw 83 Swagat Sabhas (welcome gatherings), four roadshows and various public meetings before culminating at Bilaspur, covering a distance of more than 3,000 kilometres across 87 assembly segments (out of a total of 90).

In view of PM Modis visit, the police said a massive security cover has been put in place at the venue of the programme. A total of 1,500 security personnel belonging to the police force, Special Protection Group (SPG), Chhattisgarh Armed Force, National Security Guard and Home Guard will be deployed.

Also read: Why Modis BJP is solid at the Centre, but needs to step up in states

Rallies in Telangana

On 1 and 3 October, PM Modi will address two public rallies in Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad, Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday. The party aims to mobilise huge crowds for the meetings.

He will be launching and laying the foundation stones of multiple developmental projects worth more than Rs 13,500 crore.

Notably, Mahabubnagar is an important area as Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar (KCR) was once elected as an MP from this seat. Kavitha, KCRs daughter, was the MP representing Nizamabad parliamentary constituency in 2014 before the BJP won it in 2019.

According to The Times of India, the PM is expected to address four more meetings before the state elections similar to what he did during the Karnataka polls. This will take the number of PM meetings in the state to 10 in the last 12 months.

Public meetings in MP and Rajasthan

According to News18, the PM would hold two public meetings on 2 October while visiting Chittorgarh in Rajasthan and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narendra Singh Tomar, two Union ministers, have strongholds in the latter. In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP did poorly in the Gwalior-Chambal area.

PM Modi is anticipated to pitch for the benefits of a strong administration with a majority while armed with the historic Womens Reservation Bill that was enacted during the extraordinary session of Parliament this week, according to Tribune.

The prime minister will be visiting Jodhpur, the Rajasthani city that serves as Ashok Gehlots bastion, on 5 October.

Later on that day, he will go to Madhya Pradeshs Jabalpur for another public rally. For those unversed, in MP politics, Jabalpur is a crucial hub.

All of these programmes are being released in advance of the Election Commission of Indias potential announcement of elections in five states soon.

Also read: Why criticism of Indias anti-Christian bias is false and unfounded

BJP in election mode

The centre-ruling party has started campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unusually early.

The party wants their report cards to be ready well in time before the elections, according to sources cited by Indian Express. This includes asking them to complete unfinished projects in their respective Parliamentary constituencies as soon as possible and giving the thumbs-up for surveys intended to evaluate the performance of its incumbent MPs.

The BJP, which successfully won 303 seats in the 2019 elections by garnering roughly 38 per cent of the vote, has set a goal of capturing at least 350 seats.

Along with its stronghold seats, the party is this time concentrating on Sonia Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadavs wife Dimple Yadav, Sharad Pawar, and other seats held by seasoned leaders, which it has never been successful in winning.

The party is also targeting those South Indian states where it struggled to fare well in 2019.

According to TOI, the Lok Sabha seats on which the BJP lost in the 2019 elections were compiled into a special list by the BJP last year. The Lok Sabha seats on this list that the party finished second in or lost by a very slim margin are exactly those.

Initially, this list contained 144 constituencies; eventually, it included 160.

The task of strengthening the party on these seats has been delegated to seasoned party leaders and Central ministries by grouping these seats into clusters of 2-4. In addition, state officials were chosen to serve as coordinators and co-convenors.

The report suggests to increase the strength of the partys base in these areas, the party developed the Lok Sabha Pravas Yojana, which sees experienced leaders and ministers from the centre sent there. The three general secretaries in the partys trinity  Sunil Bansal, Vinod Tawde, and Tarun Chughhave been tasked with making this initiative a success.

With inputs from agencies
Canada is under fire, again. This time, it has become a laughingstock of the world.

Since the end of World War II, no country's parliament or politicians have ever honored Nazi war veterans in an official event, as, obviously, it is an act violating the most fundamental value of human society in today's world. But Canada did. Despite it later pled ignorance for the episode, the world's audience did seem not to buy it, and the news story has been staying in the headlines among global media for days.

It started on September 22. During a visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Canadian Parliament, the Speaker of Canada's House of Commons, Anthony Rota, introduced Yaroslav Hunka, a constituent from his electoral district, as "a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero" for fighting against Russians for Ukrainian independence during the WWII. All parliamentarians then rose to give him a standing ovation.

The move sparked anger across the Jewish world which quickly discovered that Hunka served in a Nazi unit. The Canada-based Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, a human rights organization dedicated to Holocaust education and antisemitism programs, issued a statement on September 24, pointing out that Hunka "served in a Nazi military unit during the Second World War implicated in the mass murder of Jews and others," and that "an apology is owed to every Holocaust survivor and veteran of the Second World War who fought the Nazis." Calls for an apology from Canada are getting louder these days from a growing number of countries, including Russia, Poland, and Belarus.

In the face of controversy, Rota announced his resignation on Tuesday and said he did not know of Hunka's Nazi ties. Yet what's confusing is that Trudeau and Rota are not the only ones who are blind to the basic history of WWII. When Canadian politicians mindlessly rose to their feet and applauded, not a single professional politician in the Parliament seemed to have considered that the Soviet Union and Canada were on the same side during WWII - the side that battled Nazis together - and that those who fought Russians may be the unjust forces in the war.

It is a vivid epitome of the Western world, where anti-Russia is the overwhelming political correctness, people are reluctant to think: How could anyone who has ever fought against Russia possibly be the bad guy?

Canada has been following the US-led alliance closely in almost every major issue, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and tends to seek attention, showcasing its value in the Western world every now and then. Against the backdrop, its foreign policy tends to become growingly irrational and childish, Liu Dan, a researcher at the Center for Regional Country Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, told the Global Times.

Yao Peng, deputy secretary-general of the Canadian Studies Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the current political syndrome in Canada is defining political correctness based on camp confrontation in the major power game, and the so-called political correctness is above mature, rational, and balanced principles of international relations and order. It is against this backdrop that they tend to shut their eyes to common sense and questioning, resulting in the farce of applauding to a Nazi-linked veteran.

This time, the episode in Canada not only disregards the moral principle and international history established after WWII, but also hurts the feelings of the Jewish world and all victims of the brutal war.

On Monday, Trudeau said the case is "deeply embarrassing," and then quickly turned the subject to Russia, claiming "it's going to be really important that all of us push back against Russian disinformation and continue our steadfast unequivocal support for Ukraine." The logic is ridiculous. What does the ignorance of Canadian politicians have to do with Russia?

Trudeaus rhetoric only shows that he has little sense of historical and moral justice, as evidenced by his habitual tendency to shift blame rather than introspect in response to the overwhelming condemnation from Jewish groups. He is going too far down the wrong path, Yao said.

Also in September, we see another example of how Westerners turn blind eyes to or distort history. During her speech at the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Awards ceremony in New York on Thursday last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen overlooked the US' responsibility for the catastrophic Hiroshima atomic bombing in 1945, and Japanese fascist aggression that brought disasters to neighboring countries, while only criticizing Russia for engaging in "nuclear saber-rattling."

It seems Western countries can say anything and do anything without the bottom line as long as it is detrimental to their rivals, even if their words and deeds go against historical facts, moral conscience, and international norms.

To defeat Russia, the US-led West offered controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, and cluster munitions that could cause deaths and serious injuries to civilians. They also owe the world a responsible explanation over reports of US involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, a critical infrastructure delivering gas from Russia to Europe.

The mentality of Westerners is so deeply trapped in the Cold War, and they have lost in the hysteria on the path to completely defeat their opponents. They are leading the world toward a dangerous direction. As Canadian researcher Tamara Lorincz noted, while everyone applauded the Ukrainian Nazi, "Not one MP called for peace, ceasefire and negotiations."

When Canada, be its ignorance real or fake, crosses the bottom line of basic human values by honoring a Nazi, the Western world, which is used to confusing black and white, distorting history in an attempt to win the major power game, should be vigilant. Those who fool with history will eventually become a laughingstock in history. (Source: Global Times)
The Catholic Church has been seeing change in recent times and an event today will further decide the future direction of the institution.

Pope Francis on Saturday will elevate 21 clergymen from across the world to the rank of cardinal  also known as the Princes of the Church  many of whom will one day cast ballots to elect the Popes successor.

The choices include diplomats, close advisers and administrators and one of them could also become the successor to 86-year-old Francis, who has left the door opening to resigning, though hes not there yet.

So, what exactly is this event called? And why is it important to the Church?

What is the consistory?

The ceremony to be held today (30 September) at 08:00 GMT (1.30 pm IST) in St Peters Square is known as a consistory and this will be the ninth such event since Francis was elected pope in 2013.

The consistory is made up of cardinals, the popes closest assistants and advisers, from all around the world. A consistory is a formal meeting of the College of Cardinals. The pope can convene them for a number of reasons.

One of the most common reasons for a consistory is to create new cardinals  an ordinary public consistory. Another consistory the Pope could convene is a consistory to vote on the causes of new saints, the last step before a formal canonisation can take place.

There are also extraordinary consistories, in which every cardinal is expected to take part, barring a serious reason.

The last ordinary public consistory took place on 27 August 2022.

Todays consistory will see the new cardinals kneel before the Pope to receive their two symbols of their high office: a scarlet four-cornered cap known as a biretta, and a cardinals ring.

Eighteen of the 21 new cardinals are under the age of 80 and thus currently eligible to vote as cardinal electors in the next conclave, when Francis successor will be decided.

Who will be part of the consistory?

Pope Francis is looking to the worlds peripheries  where Catholicism is growing  for his latest roster of cardinals. Hes breaking tradition of promoting archbishops of large, powerful dioceses.

He is looking for cardinals who correspond to the times. These are people who have all taken a step away from the Church of the past, who positively ensure a break, an informed observer of the Holy See told AFP.

He likes bishops who take action.

There are three new cardinals from South America, including two Argentinians, and three from Africa, with the promotion of the archbishops of Juba in South Sudan, South Africas Cape Town and Tabora in Tanzania.

Asia is represented by the Bishop of Penang in Malaysia and the Bishop of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow, who is seen as playing a key role in seeking to improve tense relations between the Vatican and Beijing.

Traditionally, (the Church) was focused on Europe or the United States, but now we need to hear from Africa and Asia, Chow told reporters Thursday.

Some cardinals-to-be, like Chow, have experience in sensitive zones of the world where the Holy See hopes to play an important diplomatic role.

The list includes the Holy Lands top Catholic authority, Italian Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the first serving Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem to be made cardinal.

Jerusalem is the centre of the world, but it is also the periphery. We know that Pope Francis pays attention to the periphery, Pizzaballa told AFP.

Jerusalem is a small laboratory, interreligious and intercultural, and thats a challenge that the whole world is facing at this point, he said.

Also to be promoted is the apostolic nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, Frances Christophe Pierre, whose decades-long diplomatic career includes posts in countries including Haiti, Uganda and Mexico.

Top administrators in the Curia, the government of the Holy See, who are considered close to Francis are also being recognised.

There is Italys Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches; Argentinas Victor Manuel Fernandez, whom the pope recently named head of the powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Chicago-born Robert Prevost, a former missionary in Peru who leads the Dicastery for Bishops.

Why this matters?

According to the Vatican, as of 29 September, there were 119 cardinal electors ahead of the consistory and 102 non-electors. After the consistory, the number will rise to 105 non-electors and 136 electors.

Francis has shaped the college greatly during his 10 years as pope, appointing 98, or 72 per cent, of the current electors after the conclave on 30 September. The rest were appointed by St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. In all, he has named cardinals from 66 countries, including several first-time nations, such as South Sudan, Singapore, and Mongolia.

This number assumes significance given the current requirement that a candidate needs a two-thirds majority of the cardinals votes to be elected pope.

With inputs from AFP
Like last week, the news this week has been dominated by the Canada-India diplomatic stand-off. It all started with an absurd claim by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has responded sharply as tensions between the two countries refuse to thaw.

The National Investigation Agency has been at the forefront of the crackdown against Khalistani elements in the country. Meanwhile, India is sticking with its no-nonsense diplomacy. Long gone are the days when New Delhi could be pushed around by the West.

In other news, the buzz around the upcoming state elections is growing. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh, and Telangana will go to polls by the end of the year. And then will come the big 2024 general elections. Like our netas, we too are gearing up. Election season is hectic (and super thrilling) in the newsroom. (More on that later).

We take a look back at the week that was. We did a lot of explaining and here are our top picks.

1. Our Person of the Week undoubtedly is Dr S Jaishankar. The minister of external affairs has been dubbed a diplomatic wizard. We couldnt agree more.

Dr Jaishankar proved once again that he is quite the rockstar at the United Nations General Assembly and the Discussion at Council on Foreign Relations in the US. He went after Canada and the organised crime in the country. Unlike Trudeau whose allegations appear largely baseless, the Indian minister spoke about specifics and information. In an article titled How S Jaishankar held up a mirror to the world with tough diplomacy, we talk about how he has handled Indias Russia conundrum deftly and exposed Western hypocrisy.

2. Talking about tough acts, how can we not mention Home Minister Amit Shah? He has been cracking down on notorious non-profits and in the most recent move has introduced new rules on foreign funding under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

What are the latest changes? How has Shah under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a big role in amending the FCRA? We break it all down here.

3. There are more changes on the cards. The defence ministry has introduced new disability pension rules for the armed forces. The new policy changes the definition of pension, how disability pension is calculated, and eligibility criteria. However, former servicemen are not pleased. We explain why and draw a comparison with disability benefits for defence personnel in other countries.

4. India is also debating on the age of consent. Should it be 18 or 16? The law panel has advised the Centre against lowering it under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Consent comes with its complexities. There are arguments for and against it. In this explainer, we try to simplify the subject.

5. We spoke about elections earlier. Its going to be a time of friends turning foes and vice-versa. One of the big break-ups of the year unfolded in Tamil Nadu. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has decided to part from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The two sides came together in the rough period after J Jayalalithaas death. However, it wasnt meant to be.

The split did not come as a surprise and the man responsible for it is Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai. Who is the 39-year-old cop-turned-neta and why has he taken centre stage amid the fallout between the two parties? Lets take a closer look.

6. Lastly, we have a question for you. Do you still have Rs 2000 notes stored somewhere? Hurry up, the deadline to exchange or deposit them in the bank ends today.

No, the notes are not being demonetised. They will continue to be legal tender but you will be able to conduct transactions with them. Fret not, weve got your back. Heres what you should do if you are likely to miss the deadline.

Happy Reading. Have a good (long) weekend.

PS: If you like the way we explain, catch all our stories here.
Amid the furore in Manipur over the killing of two students who reportedly went missing in July, Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday said the culprits will definitely be caught.

Manipur has been witnessing protests from Monday after a video showing the bodies of two students went viral on social media. The protests had led the state government to suspend mobile internet services for five days till October 1. Schools in the state were shut till September 29 and curfew restrictions were imposed in all districts in Imphal Valley.

Definitely, we will catch the culprits. Everything will be fine soon, Manipur CM said on the CBI team investigating the death of the two youth.

A CBI team, led by the agencys Special Director Ajay Bhatnagar arrived in Imphal in a special flight on Wednesday to investigate the alleged kidnapping and killing of the two students.

In cases registered or transferred to the CBI, teams have to visit the scene of the crime, recreate the scene, collect forensic evidence, and send it to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.

To ensure speedy investigation and keeping the safety of CBI officials on priority, CRPF personnel will accompany them during their visits in violence-hit areas for investigation purposes, the official added.

The two youths had reportedly gone missing in Manipur on July 6.

Following the incident, fresh protests erupted in the state on September 25 after a video showing their bodies went viral on social media.

On Thursday afternoon, senior officers of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) held a meeting at the Manipur Police Headquarters in Imphal to discuss the law and order situation in the state.

A meeting of senior officers of CAPF was held at PHQ, Imphal to discuss the present law and order situation in the state, the Manipur Police said in a post on X on Thursday.

The officers were apprised of the unfortunate injuries of students as well as security personnel, police said adding that the forces discussed using minimum force in dealing with the public, especially students.

Manipur Police appeals to the students to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in maintaining peace and bringing normalcy back early. Any miscreants taking advantage of the current situation will be firmly dealt by police. The joint security forces are making all efforts for expeditious investigation into all the cases, the police added in the post.

At present, CBI has registered 11 FIRs, including the viral video of two young tribal women paraded naked. The investigation of all the cases is underway.

Manipur has been witnessing violence since May 3, following the protests by the Kuki and Meitei communities against the High Courts order asking the state government to consider the inclusion of the Meitei community in the category of Scheduled Tribes (ST).
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and held a productive conversation with him on deepening bilateral defence cooperation, including in the co-production of defence articles, and exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues.

He also met Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

After his meeting with Austin at the Pentagon on Friday, Jaishankar posted on X, Productive conversation on our bilateral defence cooperation. Useful exchange on global security challenges.

I was glad to host Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at the Pentagon today to discuss US-India cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region, Austin said.

I was glad to host Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar at the Pentagon today to discuss U.S.-India cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region.https://t.co/C1GWiNjA7g  Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) September 29, 2023

The Pentagon said the two officials exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues, including recent developments in East Asia and the Indian Ocean region.

Austin and Jaishankar discussed opportunities to deepen bilateral defence cooperation, including expanded defence industrial cooperation and co-production of defence articles; streamlined logistics procedures to enhance operational cooperation; and continued implementation of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), said Pentagons Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.

In the meeting with the Commerce Secretary, they appreciated the significant progress in technology collaboration and economic partnership this year.

Agreed to enhance their momentum, Jaishankar said.

A day earlier, he had meetings with National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

He also interacted with the business community over luncheon: on Thursday with the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum and with the US India Business Council (USIBC) on Friday.

A stimulating meeting today with the US defence industry at @USIBC. Discussed how strategic convergence, technology collaboration and easier-to-do business are coming together to transform our defence partnership, Jaishankar posted on X.

He also had a chance to meet members of the US Congress and think-tank representatives here.

This year, of course, I think, the big event is still in a sense the determining context is our prime ministers visit (in June). A lot of what weve been doing since then has been to realise the various agreements and understandings that were reached, Jaishankar told Indian reporters at a meeting at the Indian Embassy here.

A lot of our discussions were in stock-taking to assess the progress to see what is it we should be doing more or where is it that has not been the progress matching expectations. We hope now to take that entire process forward into the 2+2 meeting, which will take place a few weeks from now, he said.

We look forward to welcoming secretaries Blinken and Austin to India, he added.

In a statement, USTR said that Tai and Jaishankar took stock of recent developments and positive momentum in the US-India trade relationship following the resolution of seven long-standing disputes at the World Trade Organisation and Indias reduction of tariffs on certain US products.

They also discussed their interest in working more constructively on the broader WTO agenda, including reforming the organisation to serve the needs of all people, said the statement.

Tai and Jaishankar shared views on Indias important role in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as well as potential sectors for further collaboration on supply chain resilience, including critical minerals, USTR said.

The two leaders agreed to remain in contact on these and other issues as the respective teams continue planning the next meeting of the US-India Trade Policy Forum, it said.

On Saturday, Jaishankar is scheduled to have interaction with eminent Indian Americans from across the country at the India House.
We know Canada is slightly confused about gender, as it is about many things. The University of Regina (a public university in Saskatchewan) has a Mackenzie Art Gallery, but the link with the university is no longer as direct as it was in the past. Every Canadian museum now espouses the cause of indigenous art, though Canada, in common with some other countries that espouse human rights, has a dubious historical record of assimilating and civilising First Nations, sometimes still referred to as Indians.

Mackenzie not only has a collection of their Indian art, it possesses a collection of our Indian art too. It inherited this collection (around 400 objects) from the collector Norman Mackenzie (1869-1936). Norman Mackenzie travelled the world in 1912 and 1913, collecting. There is credible evidence, not credible allegation, that this wasnt always done ethically. The collector circuit gossiped about a trip he made to Kashi in 1913, when he eyed three statues from a functioning temple. His bribery attempts were successful with one and he stole it. That ended up in Mackenzie Art Gallery, labelled as a Vishnu statue. A Vishnu sculpture holding a bowl of rice is unusual, which is why I made that remark about gender confusion. A bowl of rice is standard iconography for Annapurna.

We come to artist Divya Mehra (based in Winnipeg), who went through the Mackenzie collection and identified the statue as Annapurna, stolen from that temple in Kashi in 1913. Later, she held an exhibition in Mackenzie, titled From India to Canada and Back to India. This is a reference to the statue being returned to India (and Kashi) in 2021. Since Narendra Modi became PM in 2014, there have been many visible returns of stolen art objects.

Indeed, there are our own internal problems, documented in a 2013 CAG report and S Vijay Kumars book on exploits of Subhash Kapoor, the idol thief now arrested (the book is titled The Idol Thief). There is Meenakshi Jains book (Flight of Deities: A Tale of Dharmic Resistance) and the Indica anthology inspirited by that book (The Flight of Deities: An Anthology of Desecration and Devotion, curated by Avatans Kumar). The 2013 CAG performance report is a sad commentary on preservation and conservation of monuments and antiquities and led to several red faces in ASI (Archaeological Survey of India). That internal laxity may make cross-border theft easier, it doesnt condone it. In the 1970s, through UNESCO and outside it, there has been some tightening on theft, looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property. There is also a 1970 Convention, to which Canada is a signatory, having ratified it in 1978. Canada also passed a Cultural Property Export and Import Act in 1985.

Let me quote from a report on Canadas implementation of the 1970 Convention, submitted to UNESCO in 2012. Two examples of attempted recoveries of cultural materials under the Canadian Act occurred relatively early in the history of the Act and, in both attempts, it could not be established that the cultural materials had left their country of origin after the date on which the Canadian Act went into effect. One example involved a shipment of antiquities from Egypt that was seized at Mirabel Airport near Montreal in 1989. The Egyptian authorities presented evidence that the artefacts had been illegally excavated and smuggled out of Egypt but, in the end, were not able to present proof that they had been taken out of Egypt after 1978. A similar episode occurred in the prosecution of a dealer for importing artefacts smuggled out of Nigeria.

But Canada did return (to Peru) antiquities smuggled out in 1985. Other countries have returned historical loot. However, Canadas official position is abundantly clear. Any loot and scoot done before 1978 is acceptable, under the law. How was Annapurna returned? There is government-driven extradition of stolen artefacts, impossible for anything pre-1978. And there is voluntary return, shame-faced museums do voluntarily.

Morally, if not legally, every museum should establish provenance, ownership history of an item it possesses. On social media, Vijay Kumar has recently highlighted the case of Glenbow Museum, based in Calgary. This was built over the years, starting with the private collection of Eric Lafferty Harvie. Glenbow Museum has artefacts not only from native North America, but also from elsewhere in the world  Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania. There are 80 statues and sculptures (Hindu and Buddhist) in the collection Many Faces, Many Paths: Art of Asia, an exhibition that has now closed. Glenbow got these as donations from the collection of Bumper Development Corporation (BDC).

Although the exhibition has closed, there are images floating around on the Net. For instance, as part of that exhibition, there was a 11th-12th century CE Shiva Bhairava, on temporary loan to Glenbow from the Art Gallery of Alberta. Where did the Art Gallery of Alberta get this? From Bumper Development Corporation, where else? How did BDC get it? In the case of the Pathur Nataraja, now returned from the British Museum (where BDC sent it for restoration), we know BDC used the smuggling network and dealers in Mumbai and London.

This is credible evidence that Canada houses not only terrorists, but thieves as well.

The author is the chairman of the Prime Ministers Economic Council and a well-known Sanskrit scholar. 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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There are dozens of NGOs working on human rights in Bangladesh. Most of them run on donations from the Western world. For obvious reasons, they have to remember from where they are guided.

Since the independence of Bangladesh, people of various minority communities, including Hindus, have been persecuted repeatedly by religious fundamentalists in the Muslim-majority country. However, there is no precedent for these NGOs talking about the principles of human rights here.

In recent years, we have witnessed large-scale incidents of minority persecution in Bangladesh. Abhaynagar in Jessore or Nasirnagar in Brahminbaria, the incidents of Hindus leaving their homes are still scarred in everyones mind.

In these cases, no Western-funded NGO has come forward to publish any human rights report. The activities of these NGOs prove that the West is not worried about the rise of religious fundamentalism.

However, these NGOs have been seen to play a role in standing by religious fundamentalists. There are prior examples of these NGOs trying to tarnish the image of Bangladesh by creating human rights reports based on false information about them.

In 2013, a false human rights report by an organisation called Adhikar centering a rally by Hefajat Islam, a top religious fundamentalist group in Bangladesh, sparked a global media frenzy.

At that time, the government took legal action against this human rights organisation. The case recently proved that the rights report made by the religious fundamentalist group Hefajat Islam was false.

Due to this, two officials of the NGO, including the head of the organisation, were jailed. The Western world is now standing for two officials sentenced! It is now being written about in the world media. This article is to capture the analysis of that event.

Bangladesh has criticised the international protest against the imprisonment of Adhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan for the crime of tarnishing the countrys image by publishing human rights reports with false and fabricated information.

In the judgement, which was announced on 14 September, Judge AM Zulfikar Hayat of Dhakas cyber tribunal said that, in his observation, Adilurs organisation has tarnished the countrys image by spreading false information through the report. And experts say, through this verdict, a long-standing falsehood has been defeated.

On 5 May 2013, Adhikar published a deceiving report about the operation conducted by the law enforcement forces against the violence and riots that took place at the rally of the religious organisation Hefazate Islam in Dhaka. Where it was said, at least 61 members of Hefazate Islam were killed in the rally in the operation of the law enforcement forces. However, Adilur could not present any evidence to support this fabricated claim to the government.

Analysts say that Adilur-led organisation Adhikar published the fake report mainly to embarrass the ruling government and tarnish the country on human rights issues. It has been more clearly proved in the prison sentence given by the court for publishing the report with false information.

What happened at Shapla Chattar (Square)?

Hefazete Islam organised a rally and Dhaka siege programme on 5 May 2013 at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel, declaring the leaders and activists of Ganajagran Manch, an organisation formed to demand justice for war crimes in Bangladesh, to be atheists and apostates, demanding their punishment. The organisation brought thousands of innocent students of Qaumi Madrasas from across the country to this gathering. 13 anti-constitutional and mediaeval points were announced at the rally. The government was also threatened with falling. The Hefazats programme was not limited to holding rallies. Since the morning, along with blocking the entrances of Dhaka, security check posts were set on fire, and many institutions and shops were vandalised, including PO, Baitul Mukarram Market, Traffic Police Office, House Building, Public Administration Ministrys Transport Pool, Mukti Bhaban etc.

The BNP-Jamaat-led alliance gave maximum support to their movement in the plan to bring down the government in an undemocratic process. The law and order forces showed maximum patience and tolerance in dealing with the harassment of Hefazat Islam, which lasted throughout the day. It was requested to finish the meeting at the appointed time and go back home. But Hefajat remained steadfast in its decision to spend the night and continue the riot in Shapla Square, ignoring the repeated peaceful calls of the government and law enforcement agencies. The law and order forces started the operation on the night of 5 May to protect the lives and property of the people. Members of the law and order forces kept the road leading to Kamalapur station in front of Bangladesh Bank and the road next to Bangabhaban empty and positioned themselves in front of the Dainik Bangla intersection area, Dilkusha, Fakirapool, and Notre Dame College areas.

Sound grenades and tear gas were used to disperse the rally during the operation. Hefazat activists left the Shapla premises without any resistance. Despite the best efforts to avoid casualties, eleven people were killed in the operation, according to the police. Among them were pedestrians and members of law enforcement. Most of them were killed in the day-long conflict.

Anti-government propaganda begins:

After the Shapla Chattar incident, the opposition started various false campaigns to undermine the image of law enforcement agencies and governments in the international arena and to create communal unrest. Adilur Rahman and his NGO Adhikar entered the fray when the campaign fizzled out due to a lack of evidence. He served as the Deputy Attorney General during the BNP-led four-party coalition government. Adilur Rahmans organisation, Adhikar, published a fact-findings report on their website on 10 June 2013, titled Hefazete Islam Bangladesh Assembly and Human Rights Violations. This report claims that 61 people were killed in the operation of the law enforcement forces during the Hefazat Islam rally. A list containing detailed information about those who have been collected by Adhikar. In addition, this report also claims that about two and a half thousand people are missing. After the publication of the rights report, various negative reports were published in the national and foreign media using it as a reference, which greatly undermined the image of the state. Immediately after the publication of the report, the government sought to verify Adhikars claim that 61 people had been killed. Under the Right to Information Act, the government wants the list of victims from Adhikar. But the organisation refused to provide that list and continued its purposeful disinformation.

Cases under common law:

The cyber tribunal accepted the allegations of spreading false and misleading information as a case on 11 September 2013.

It is said in the charge sheet of the case that the accused, Adilur and Elan, tried to disrupt the law and order situation by creating and circulating reports with fabricated, purposeful, and false information about the deaths of 61 people, creating confusion and anger in the public mind. The image of the law and order forces, the government, and the state is severely undermined at home and abroad.

It is further said, They create prejudice against law enforcement in the minds of devout Muslims, which is an offence under Sections 57(1) and (2) of the Information Technology Act. Similarly, the accused deliberately tried to create tension among the devout Muslims to worsen the law and order situation and discredit the government in other states. Investigations by the law enforcement agencies revealed that Adhikars report contained exaggerated and false information by listing the names of fictitious persons, including writing the same persons name multiple times, referring to living persons as dead persons, etc.

Who is Adilur Rahman Khan?

Adilur Rahman Khan, editor of human rights organisation Adhikar. He is basically a political activist. During his student life, he was involved in left-wing politics. In 1991, he participated in the national elections from Sanumganj district for a left-wing political party. Later, he joined the politics of the BNP after entering the legal profession. After 2001, he also became the leader of the Central Committee of the BNP. He was the deputy attorney general appointed by the BNP-Jamaat all-around government. He was also forced to resign from this post after the BNP-Jamaat government lost power in 2007. Since becoming the editor of this organisation on human rights issues in Bangladesh, Adilur Rahman Khan has been using this organisation to implement the agenda of the opposition party and engage in false propaganda against the government.

Adilurs punishment releases the nation from its taint.

Analysts say Adilurs prison sentence has vanquished a long-standing lie. Adilur Rahman tried to put the burden of false stigma on the neck of the state; the initial step of removing that stigma was completed by the court verdict. He could not give the list of 61 victims to the court.

He would have been freed from this penalty if he had given proper evidence. For this, they had 10 years time. Even after ten years, his lawyers could not provide evidence in court. During this case and after the verdict of the case, various international organisations and embassies of Western countries in Bangladesh issued statements demanding the cancellation of the case and the release of Adilur Rahman and Nasir Uddin Elan.

However, the countrys analysts think that in this case, the court did not punish a human rights activist, but a liar, who engaged in a despicable attempt to destroy the countrys communal harmony recently by spreading false information, acted as a participant to tarnish the countrys image in the international arena. Prominent people in the country have given counter statements expressing their emotions against the statements of various organisations against Adilurs sentence. They said, If any party is aggrieved by the verdict, there is an opportunity to go to the high court. Despite this, a group started a campaign against the courts verdict. Just as we consider it essential to uphold the right to expression, we also consider it necessary to ensure that the anti-humanist radical sectarian groups and their imperialist allies do not get the opportunity to pursue their despicable interests under the pretext of the right to expression.

The statement noted that it is surprising that some local and foreign dignitaries and institutions protested in the tone of the controversial, extremist organisation Hefazate Islam after the announcement of this verdict.

Judiciary protest:

The Bangladesh Judicial Service Association (BJSA) has protested the resolution passed by the European Parliament on Adilurs trial. The organisation thinks that the proposal in the European Parliament is an attempt to interfere with the judicial system of the country. They added that it is important to note that the Tribunal conducted the case impartially and diligently, relying only on factual evidence and strictly following the applicable laws.

BJSA President AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuiya and Secretary General Mojibur Rahman said in a statement that the proposal adopted by the European Parliament on 14 September is an attempt to interfere with the judicial system of an independent sovereign country, which is undesirable.

They said, Since 1 November 2007, it is important to emphasise that the judicial department of Bangladesh is working with complete independence after being separated from the executive department. There is no correlation between judicial proceedings and executive functions. We view this resolution as a clear interference in our judicial work and unequivocally condemn it.

The statement also said, We reject the sudden outpouring of condemnation of the Bangladesh judiciary by the European Parliament.

The writer is a Bangladeshi Journalist. 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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As this is being written, over 78,300 people, above 65 per cent of Nagorno-Karabakhs total population of 120,000, have fled to Armenia. Azerbaijan has also arrested a former top official of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben Vardanyan, as he tried to escape the enclave to Armenia. Vardanyan, a billionaire banker and philanthropist, headed Karabakhs separatist government between November 2022 and February 2023.

Nagorno-Karabakh, a recognised part of Azerbaijan, but controlled, until recently, by the ethnic Armenian forces for the last three decades, has been facing fresh violence ever since Azerbaijan successfully blocked a key entrance to the enclave in December 2022.

Even as sources told AFP, Azerbaijan intends to apply an amnesty to Armenian fighters who laid their arms, but those who have committed war crimes must be handed over to them.

Amid all these, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has warned that ethnic cleansing is under way in the region. However, Azerbaijan has said that it wants to re-integrate the ethnic Armenian as equal citizens.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a textbook example of how beautiful lands have a horrible destiny, located in the South Caucasus, with terrain mostly consisting of mountains and forests, the land is paying the price of its geostrategic importance.

The conflict is just another part of the Eurasian great game played by the West, Russia and aspirational powers like Turkey, all for selfish power-centric and hegemonic motives and seldom in the actual interests of the natives.

The region has a majority Armenian population but a substantial minority of Azeri people. For most of the 19th century, it was ruled by the Russian Empire, which, when the empire fell in 1918, led to the creation of two nationsArmenia and Azerbaijan. However, just a few years later, in 1921, the Soviets captured the entire Caucus, and both countries were made Republics within the Union, and the Nagorno-Karabakh region was made a semi-autonomous region within Azerbaijan despite having Armenians in the ethnic majority.

Seeds of the conflict were sown, there were frequent demand by the Armenian population of the region to join the Armenian republic which were ignored by the Union, but as Gorbachev brought his policy of Glasnost  Openness not only gave the people a freedom to create but also to hate, and as the Soviet Union collapsed, expectedly, the fault lines resurfaced, both the sides declared their independence and the war began, which continued for three years, till 1994, until Armenia captured the Nagorno-Karabakh region and a ceasefire agreement was signed. The region which had declared itself to be the autonomous region at the beginning of this war, is yet officially recognised part of Azerbaijan. This led to the displacement of the Azeri population from the area.

Now on one hand, Azerbaijan, still could not accept the humiliation of defeat, while Armenia kept on repopulating Azeri towns with Armenian population on the other, with Armenian leader calling for official unity with the region. In 2016, both the parties fought a four-day war.

Meanwhile, Turkey, a power in the region, has been dreaming big, big enough to reclaim its lost leadership of the Islamic world. Turkey is a country with whom the Azeri people have civilisational ties. Turkey has been supplying Azerbaijan with weapons and strategic support, so much so that the Azerbaijani offensive into the region in September 2020 seems to be well-planned.

The resultant was a Russia brokered treaty almost six weeks later on 9-10 November, under which redrawing the map happened, Azerbaijan gained control of numerous adjacent territories as well as the vital city of Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia was compelled to accept these territorial losses and consent to hand over the three remaining nearby territories to Azerbaijan by early December. The Russian presence with two thousand strong peacekeeping forces was expected to keep Armenia at bay as the Armenian economy was substantially dependent on Russia. But Azerbaijan was also determined to take control of the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

And, on 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a so-called anti-terrorist operation into the enclave having 95 per cent Armenian population, and within 24 hours Karabakh authorities accepted a ceasefire proposal offered by the Russian peacekeepers.

However, Armenia, a member of Russia dominated Collective Security Treaty Organisation, an alliance of Post-Soviet states that pledges to protect each-other in the event of an attack, has been eyeing on joining International Criminal Court, which has issued warrant against Russian President Valdimir Putin over Russia-Ukraine war, earlier this month, Armenian PM sent the ICCs founding document, the Rome Statute, to be ratified by parliament.

Amid all these developments, Russia is of the opinion that as Armenia recognises Nagorno-Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan, the collective security mechanism of CSTO will not be applicable in this case. The reason, Pashinyan said, The systems of external security in which Armenia is involved are ineffective when it comes to the protection of our security and Armenias national interests.

Clearly, Russian engagement in the Ukraine war has marred its ability to get indulged in the other conflicts of the Eurasian region.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev just days after Baku captured the separatist enclave. Although his visit was officially organised to launch the construction of a gas pipeline, Nagorno-Karabakh was also discussed. Erdogan said, The window of opportunity has opened to settle the situation in the region This opportunity must not be missed.

Amidst of all these Armenia appears to be all alone and preparing to accommodate a flood of refugees.

But who let the crisis go down to such an extent? Why were Armenia and Azerbaijan not able to seal a deal that could have been accommodating to both? Why the region since three decades have been disturbed by violence and insecurity? Why does peaceful coexistence not appear an option?

The reason is involvement of big powers and the use of small nations as the pawns in their so-called great-games. The realism and strategic interests of these powers have made people suffer statelessness, destitution and miseries in the affected region.

Further, national sentiments are a tough water to play with, because identity is perceived as a very crucial element in the survival of a political community, to which state and territory are closely aligned. The whole concept of modern state adheres to this concept, whereby territory, population, sovereignty and government are four basic elements. Undoubtedly, the world underestimated the potential the treaty of Versailles had, which later resulted in a full grown conflict of World War II.

Both the political communities  Armenian and Azeri  need to understand that they can change friends, but not the neighbours and by virtue of their geopolitical relevance they will always be on the strategic radar of every major power of the region. They require more accommodative, more localised, inclusive, co-existential diplomatic arrangements and bilateral understanding and confidence building to secure any lasting solutions. Otherwise, the great game would be played and their interests would be played down.

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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It was exactly five years after the humiliating defeat at the hands of the Chinese in North-East Frontier Agency and Ladakh that the Indian Army redeemed itself by giving the Peoples Liberation Army and Border Guards a bloody nose at Nathu La and Cho La. In September 1967, clashes between the PLA and the Indian Army across two high-altitude passes in Sikkim  Nathu La and Cho La (15,000 feet)  left hundreds of dead on both sides. It was the first time since the 1962 war that the two nations had exchanged artillery fire. Notwithstanding the clash at Galwan in 2020 and the clashes at Tulung La in 1975, the 1967 clashes remain the most violent exchange of fire in what has turned out to be an intriguing military standoff between the two large Asian neighbours and rising powers.

Nathu La skirmish

The likely trigger for the Nathu La and Cho La clashes was the political situation in Sikkim at the time. The state visit of the Chogyal and his American wife to India in September 1967 led the Chinese to believe that the unpopular monarch had decided to cosy up to the Indians to consolidate his position in return for abdicating more powers to the Indian State. Much in conformity with Chinese ambiguity and the lack of any official accounts, it is still difficult to ascertain if the skirmishes took place because two aggressive local commanders were responding to an evolving tactical situation on ground. Or was the Chinese aggression a part of Maos coercive signalling strategy?

Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora had recently taken over command of 33 Corps and had under his command 17 Division which was entrusted with the defence of large parts of Sikkim including what was and is still called the Nathu La Complex. Comprising the passes of Nathu La, Cho La and Sabu La, Major General Sagat Singh was the divisional commander of 17 Mountain Division and knew his area of operation like the back of his hand. The entire complex was under 112 Mountain Brigade, which was commanded by an armoured corps officer, Brigadier M.M.S. Bakshi, a Maha Vir Chakra awardee from the 1965 war. Nathu La was defended by the 2nd Battalion the Grenadiers Regiment (2 GRENADIERS) under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Rai Singh, while Cho La was held by the 5th Battalion of the 11 Gorkha Rifles (5/11 GORKHA RIFLES) and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel K.B. Joshi. Across the border opposite 17 Division was the PLAs 11 Division. PLA intrusions increased in late July 1967, prompting the move of an additional battalion,18th Battalion of the Rajput Regiment (18 RAJPUT), to Nathu La in August.

Escalation and firefight

As things began to heat up around early September 1967, Bakshi decided to fence the area south from Nathu La towards Sabu La along the LAC. This decision resulted in a series of heated exchanges between the English-speaking political commissar of the PLA and Colonel Rai Singh. The tipping point for the crisis came on 11 September in a round of pushing and shoving in which the commissar was allegedly roughed up by Indian soldiers. The PLA quietly withdrew after the scuffle and the Indian fence-laying party of 70 Engineer Regiment, continued their fencing operation along with 18 RAJPUT. Soon after, the PLA opened fire with MMGs accompanied by mortar and artillery fire, inflicting about forty casualties on the Indians. Rai was injured and two young officers were killed in action while rallying the troops. It took a while for the Indians to calibrate a suitable response. In the ensuing riposte, scores of PLA soldiers are said to have been killed by well-directed Indian artillery fire, which blasted Chinese bunkers and silenced MMGs in a display of outstanding gunnery. Clearly, the PLA  which had stunned and shocked the Indian forward defensive line in all the sectors in 1962 with a professional display of gunnery  had received a taste of its own medicine.

P.K. Roy, an Indian reporter for the Baltimore Sun, wrote quite disparagingly about the fitness and preparedness of the PLA soldiers as compared to their Indian adversaries. He observed that the Chinese 11 Division was stationed near Nathu La, but most of the Chinese soldiers seemed to be less acclimatised in the high altitude than the Indians. Chinese soldiers had been seen gasping while climbing. The impact of good leadership, fitness and morale of the Indian troops at Nathu La was telling, as was the decision to surprise the Chinese with artillery fire.

On 12 September, an Indian overture for a ceasefire was rejected by the PLA and fierce artillery duels raged for the next two days. When the Indian Army did not back off nor blink, the PLA stopped firing on 14 September and sought a flag meeting to diffuse tensions.

Action at Cho La

Two weeks later, in a concerted attempt to hit back after the reverse at Nathu La, the PLA attempted to overrun another Indian position at Cho La  which was the highest pass on the SikkimTibet border located at a height of over 15,000 feet. By then, the Indian Army had reinforced its defensive positions with crack paratroopers who along with the determined Gorkhas used their positional advantage to push the PLA three kilometres back with effective mortar and field artillery support.

The Chinese threat to bring the PLA Air Force into the fray was completely discounted by Indias operational planners. This was because the military airfields in Tibet could hardly support the launch and recovery of fighters and bombers that could effectively interdict Indian positions. However, Indian fighters (MiG-21s and Gnats) and fighter-bombers (Hunters) could easily operate from the Bagdogra Airfield in West Bengal. They could reach their target areas around Nathu La within thirteen to fifteen minutes to provide air defence or attack PLA positions. An IAF Canberra photo reconnaissance aircraft from 106 Squadron in Agra did carry out a few missions over the area to ascertain the Chinese build-up. Though there is no archival record either in the PLA Air Force or IAF to suggest that any kind of aerial flareup was expected, IAF fighter squadrons were ready to intervene in case the need arose.

The big picture

Indias politico-military leadership of the time demonstrated great self-assurance during the skirmishes. As the firing peaked on 14 September, Lt General Manekshaw, the Eastern Army Commander, Aurora and Sagat Singh visited the scene of battle. This gave much cheer and confidence to the Indian troops, whose morale had remained high through the skirmish despite the loss of two officers and the wounding of a battalion commander. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made her first major public statement about the skirmish only after the Cho La incident on 1 October. In Mumbai, she said that she hoped that it would only prove to be a local affair like the previous exchange at Nathu La. She also went ahead with her plans to visit Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) even as the Defence Minister Swaran Singh, and the Chief of Army Staff, General P.P. Kumaramangalam, continued their official visits to Moscow and France respectively. Clearly, all of them had immense confidence in Manekshaw and his generals.

Notwithstanding the robust response, an all-round analysis of Indias defence preparedness was undertaken within its military and strategic establishment. There was a realisation that India would never be able to confront the Chinese on equal terms if it had to defend a border with too many forward positions. From the divisional headquarters at Gangtok (6,000 feet), it is an arduous drive of several hours followed by a climb of 8,000 feet to reach Nathu La. The PLA faced no such challenges, as its divisional HQ opposite Nathu La was located on a plateau and connected to forward locations by a network of steel-top roads. However, the Indian positions in the Nathu La sector were well-fortified and had adequate fire support; they were also logistically well-stocked, and proved to be more than just a numerical match for the PLA forces.

Several Western newspapers including the New York Times praised India for its firm stand at Nathu La in what it described as a Himalayan street fight. In a telling assessment of the larger strategic picture, the paper also highlighted that in their military and diplomatic posture, the Indians sought to reflect firmness and restraint. Emphasising this, Joseph Lelyveld  better known for his controversial biography of Mahatma Gandhi, Great Soul wrote, This was not just posturing. In 1962, when they were woefully underprepared to meet the Chinese, they engaged in a good deal of braggadocio; the Chinese ruthlessly made them eat their words. This time, after five years of building up their Himalayan defences, the Indians felt no need for brave words.

The writer is a fighter pilot from the IAF and an accomplished military historian. He is the author of two defining books on contemporary Indian military history, Indias Wars: A Military History 1947-1971 and Full Spectrum: Indias Wars 1972-2020. 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 state of Manipur is back in the news. Violence has erupted once again. The reason? Same as last time  a crime from the past has surfaced online.

Heres what happened this week: Manipurs government lifted its Internet ban and the state went online after five months. Immediately pictures of two students  a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old boy  began to circulate. The two had gone missing on July 6. The families did approach the police and a complaint was filed two days later on July 8 but there was no progress. The cops said both students had gone into a Kuki-dominated area and after that, no one saw them.

Now, the Kukis are a tribal group in Manipur and are locked in a violent faceoff with another community  the Meitis. More than 170 people have died so far and this week the two missing students joined that list.

The viral pictures showed their dead bodies  the male student was reportedly beheaded, and the girl student was allegedly raped. As these pictures spread, so did violence. Hundreds of people took to the streets. They marched towards the chief ministers residence, a stand-off followed, security officials used tear gas and smoke bombs and at least 50 students were injured, some were hospitalised.

Whats the plan?

The chief minister has condemned the twin murder and transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). A special CBI team has already arrived in Manipur. Also, Internet connections have been cut again. The idea is to stop provocative content from being shared. But then again, how long can the ban continue? The first ban lasted for five months. Yet, the moment it was lifted, violence resumed. The government needs to understand this risk.

Around 30 people are still reported missing in Manipur. Thats the official count. We dont know what has happened to these people. If they are kidnapped, tortured, or worse so the fear is obvious. What if more such videos emerge? What if this violence becomes cyclical? Thats the big worry.

The government has decided to keep up the pressure. They have extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in parts of Manipur. AFSPA gives additional powers to the army and the central forces  to engage and arrest without warrants. While the hill areas are under AFSPA, the valley remains under the state police.

A new strategy

There is also talk of a new military strategy. They are calling it  one district, one force  which means each paramilitary force will be given districts. Say the CRPF for one district, the army for another. Basically, there will be no overlapping. The idea is to boost cooperation and accountability.

A new threat?

Manipur already has 40,000 security personnel spread across the state so resource is not the problem, but outside influence could be.

A recent meeting in Canada has Indian intelligence worried. Khalistani separatists hosted a Manipur tribal leader at a gurudwara recently. Reports say, he spoke about minority issues in India. Should New Delhi be worried about this? The details are sketchy right now. We dont know how deep this nexus is, or if a nexus exists at all. But either way, its proof of the uphill battle.

The government says things are slowly returning to normal, but what does normal look like? The absence of violence is not normal. This episode is the perfect example of that. Manipur lifted the internet ban thinking things had improved but all it took was one picture; one picture and the violence resumed. What does that tell you? That the ethnic divisions are yet to disappear. That the wounds have not healed. Only a comprehensive peace process can bring normalcy to Manipur. The government has promised that. Its now time to deliver.
Justin Trudeau has spoken again. But this time in a different tone. He wasnt flinging wild allegations at India, nor was he equating separatism to free speech. Trudeau now wants closer ties with India. Those were his words that Canada wants to build closer relations with India. The same country he was accused of murder. So, whats the deal here? Does Trudeau think he was wrong, or has he realised that he is alone?

First Trudeau accused India of potentially murdering a Canadian citizen. He then asked India to cooperate. And now he says I want to be friends. Clearly, Trudeau missed the class on diplomacy or at least its simplest lesson  if you want friendship, dont accuse that country of murder.

Anyway, that doesnt matter now. Trudeau has already done the damage. The only question is  why is he dialling down? To answer that, we need to look at some recent developments. None of them look good for Trudeau.

Number one: Hardeep Singh Nijjar had links to Canadian intelligence. We are not saying this, Nijjars son is. He says his father used to meet with Canadian spooks frequently. Just how frequent? Two to three times a week. These meetings began in February 2023. There was one meeting just two days before his murder. There was another scheduled after his death.

What were these meetings about? Surely not his security. You would discuss security with the police or the local administration. Why would you discuss it with spies? So clearly, there was something more at play. And what is Canada saying about this? Nothing as usual  its all under investigation.

But these claims raise an uncomfortable question for Canada. Was Nijjar a Canadian asset? Did Canadian spies weaponise him? According to Indian sources  its likely. Indian sources believe that Nijjar could have been working with Canadian intelligence. His sons claims give credibility to that suspicion.

Number two: Trudeaus double standard has been questioned. In 2020, a Baloch activist was killed in Canada. Her name was Karima Baloch. She was kidnapped and later found dead. Most people pointed fingers at Pakistans spy agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence, or ISI. Did Trudeau stand in parliament and accuse Pakistan? No, he did not. May be the Baloch vote bank wasnt big enough.

But now, Karima Balochs husband is questioning Trudeau. He says Pakistans ISI murdered her. He also wants Canada to reopen the case. Baloch rights organisations are saying the same: Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus conspicuous silence regarding the unexplained death of Karima Baloch stands in stark contrast to his impassioned speeches concerning the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Hard to argue with that. So much anger over a potential link, yet, so much negligence after a mysterious death.

Number three: Indias foreign minister S Jaishanakar met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week. Did they discuss the Canada issue? Well, the official statement does not mention it. It talks about the G20, space and defence but it does not mention Canada. That doesnt mean Canada did not come up.

Indias foreign minister says he did talk about Canada  both with Blinken and with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Jaishankar elaborated on Indias concerns. He said Canada has a permissive attitude towards extremism.

And what did Blinken say? Reports say he urged India to cooperate with Canada. This is not new. The US has asked India to cooperate multiple times. So why not include it in the statement? Maybe the US wants quiet diplomacy. Maybe they wanted to focus on the positives only.

Either way, its not a good look for Trudeau. He said Blinken would raise the issue with Jaishankar. But the statement doesnt even mention it. So much for Canadas closest ally and friend!

Number four is the support for India. We are not sure Trudeau expected this but domestically, Indians have rallied behind the government. Opposition parties, civil society, and even hackers. This week, the website of Canadas armed forces was hacked  it was disabled for two hours. The cyber-attack was claimed by the Indian cyber force, a pro-India hacking group.

Of course, India had nothing to do with this. These hackers operate outside official control, but who knows! Maybe Trudeau will find a potential link here.

Indias neighbours are also rallying against Canada. Sri Lanka was the first to speak out. Their foreign minister called Trudeaus allegations outrageous. He also said Canada harbours terrorists. Bangladesh is now saying the same. Heres what its foreign minister said: The murderers can go to Canada and take shelter, and they can have a wonderful life while those they killed, their relatives are suffering.

Again, hard to argue with that. The fact is, Justin Trudeau is isolated. Maybe the US has supported him behind closed doors. But in public, they have not. And they wont unless he offers proof. its been 12 days since Trudeau made his allegations. We are still waiting for the evidence.

So, the choice is now his. He can keep spending political capital on this issue or he can dial down. He can handle this maturely and diplomatically.

Trudeau may have fired the first shot in this face-off but he is now in defence mode. The media, the Indian government, activists, everyone is questioning his charges or his past hypocrisy. So does he retreat or push forward? What he chooses could decide the future of India-Canada relations. Maybe his political future too.
A Kansas City man was arrested Thursday night following a vehicle pursuit that spanned three counties and reached speeds of over 120 mph, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

A Nebraska state trooper attempted to stop the Volkswagen Jetta that 23-year-old Zackary Rainey was driving for speeding on Interstate 80 near Grand Island shortly after 11 p.m., according authorities.

Rainey pulled over to the shoulder for the traffic stop but then accelerated and fled eastbound when the state trooper exited his vehicle. The state trooper then began pursuing the Volkswagen.

The State Patrol pursued as Rainey continued eastbound on I-80 from Hall County into Hamilton County and then into York County. The Volkswagen reached speeds exceeding 120 miles per hour during the pursuit.

Rainey exited at the York interchange, entered I-80 westbound, drove through the median, exited I-80 a second time and then began traveling southbound on U.S. 81, the NSP said. He then fled on a country round, through a private drive, through a front lawn and then onto Highway 81 northbound.

A state trooper was able to perform a "tactical vehicle intervention" to stop the Volkswagen just south of the I-80 junction with Highway 81, and Rainey was taken into custody without further incident, they said.

Rainey was booked for flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, driving under suspension and resisting arrest and was taken to the York County Jail.
While the country celebrated the passage of the Womens Reservation Bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the Special Parliamentary Session earlier this month, a senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui stoked a controversy Saturday saying women with lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles would come forward in the name of reservation.

Those with lipsticks and bob cut hairstyles would come forward in the name of womens reservation. The government should instead provide reservations for women belonging to backward communities, Siddique said during an address in Bihars Muzaffarpur.

VIDEO | Now that womens reservation is being talked about, we demand that there should be a reservation within the reservation for the OBC and backward castes, says RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui on womens reservation act. pic.twitter.com/O2fBOBQ1sn  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 30, 2023

The leader also asked his supporters to avoid watching television and stay away from social media until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections conclude.

You should stop watching the TV and spending time on social media without using your brains, he said.

Siddiquis defence

The senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader later said that he did not intend to hurt anyones sentiments by making the statement.

He said, In that rally, hundreds of rural women were there I used that language to explain to the rural woman in their language.

#WATCH | Patna, Bihar: On his reported statement on women, RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui says, In that rally, hundreds of rural women were there I used that language to explain to the rural woman in their language. My intention was not to hurt anyone If someone is hurt, I pic.twitter.com/vWCPCKbvUQ  ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2023

He added, My intention was not to hurt anyone If someone is hurt, I express regret It was a gathering of extremely backward classes and I was teaching them RJD had been in support of Womens Reservation since the beginning
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus office has denied the claim that he flew to India for the G20 Summit with a plane full of cocaine.

This is absolutely false and a troubling example of how disinformation can make its way into media reporting, his office said in a statement to the Toronto Sun.

The statement comes after former Indian diplomat Deepak Vohra alleged that Trudeau flew to India in a plane full of cocaine and hid in his room for two days.

Vohra backed his claim by saying that there were credible rumours that sniffer dogs found cocaine on his plane.

He didnt go to the presidents dinner. People say he was in a drug-induced stupor, he told Zee News.

The Canadian prime minister landed in New Delhi on September 8 to attend the G20 Summit. He was accompanied by his 16-year-old son Xavier.

He has become lonely. He is now trying to show that he is a Canadian Rambo and nothing can go wrong in his presence. India has done the right thing by suspending visa services in Canada, Vohra added.

The claims come amid the India-Canada diplomatic standoff which was triggered after Trudeau alleged that the Indian government has links with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
African countries are interested in not just buying weapons from Kyiv but manufacturing them, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at the first International Defence Industries Forum in Kyiv.

Officials from over 30 countries and 250 defence firms gathered for the forum, which was held as Ukraine seeks to attract weapons manufacturers to bolster its domestic arms industry.

Africa was one of the largest markets for Ukrainian military products before the outbreak of full-scale war, Kuleba said in a panel discussion held behind closed doors on Friday.

He said that while Ukraine was not currently able to sell any weapons to Africa, African countries were interested in producing Ukrainian weapons and ammunition on their own territory.

This stems from the African partners understanding that Ukrainian weapons will be of extremely high quality, and they understand us as partners, Kuleba said.

Kyiv has depended heavily on Western aid since Russia invaded last year, but is increasingly seeking to bolster its own arms industry amid fears support from its allies may waver.

It launched its push to regain occupied territory in June but has acknowledged slow progress as its troops encounter lines of heavily fortified Russian defences.
Armenia said Saturday that over 100,000 people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, meaning nearly all the official population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan seized back control.

Nazeli Baghdasaryan, a spokeswoman for Armenias prime minister, said the number of refugees entering the country over the past week had reached 100,417.

The exodus comes after the Armenian enclave  estimated before to have a population of 120,000  saw its decades-long fight against Azerbaijani rule end in sudden defeat.

Baku reconquered the territory  internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan  in a lightning offensive last week that appeared to bring the curtain down on the festering conflict.

The ethnic Armenian authorities in the self-proclaimed republic announced it was officially ceasing to exist after they agreed to capitulate and hand over their arms.

Artak Beglaryan, a former separatist official, said that according to unofficial information the last groups of Nagorno-Karabakh residents were on their way to Armenia on Saturday.

At most a few hundred persons remain, most of whom are officials, emergency services employees, volunteers, some persons with special needs, he wrote on social media.

The flood of humanity across the border into Armenia in the past few days has rewritten a centuries-old ethnic makeup of the disputed region.

Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing to clear Nagorno-Karabakh of its Armenian population.

But Baku has denied the claim and has publicly called on the Armenian residents of the territory to stay and reintegrate into Azerbaijan.

The United Nations will send a mission to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend, mainly to assess humanitarian needs, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced, adding that the body had not had access to the region in about 30 years.

Armenia has asked the UNs highest court to take urgent measures to protect the enclaves inhabitants, the court announced on Friday.

Yerevan urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ensure that Azerbaijan doesnt move to displace the remaining ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh or prevent the safe and expeditious return of those who have already fled.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Friday announced an emergency appeal for 20 million Swiss Francs ($22 million) to help those fleeing.
Since Azerbaijan regained control of the region last week, Armenia has requested assistance from the European Union to help it deal with the influx of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, according to information released on Saturday by the prime ministers office of Italy.

Although Nagorno-Karabakh is widely acknowledged to be a part of Azerbaijan, it is mostly populated by Armenian Christians who founded the so-called Republic of Artsakh thirty years ago as the Soviet Union fell apart following a brutal ethnic struggle.

According to the president of the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), more than 100,000 refugees have entered Armenia since Azerbaijan began a military assault to restore control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to a statement released by the Italian prime ministers office, Armenia has requested temporary shelters and medical supplies from the EU.

(With agency inputs)
The claim by Azerbaijans defence ministry that one of its soldiers was killed by sniper fire from Armenian forces in the border town of Kalbajar was quickly denied by Armenia.

The Armenian Defence Ministry denied the claim, according to the Interfax news agency, without providing any other information.

The contradictory remarks were made as a large-scale ethnic Armenian flight from the Nagorno-Karabakh territory continued after Azerbaijan last month vanquished the separatist enclaves fighters in a conflict that dates back to the Soviet era.

According to the chief of the UNHCR, more than 100,000 of the 120,000 ethnic Armenians in the area have already departed for Armenia.

The rights of Armenians in Karabakh, a region that is acknowledged by the international community as being a part of Azerbaijan, will be safeguarded, according to Azerbaijan, which has constantly refuted any allegations of ethnic cleansing.

(With agency inputs)
California is set to become the first state in the US to enact legislation to address gender and race bias within the venture capital industry. State Bill no. 54 (SB54), which received approval from the state legislature earlier this month and now awaits the Governors assent, will require venture capital firms to disclose the race and gender of the founders they fund.

While the business community opposes the legislation, decrying it as bureaucratic overreach, civil rights groups and female entrepreneurs argue that it could be a significant stride towards equalising opportunities in Silicon Valley, where startup funding has overwhelmingly favoured white men.

According to the Guardian, which cited business data firm PitchBook, companies founded by all-female teams secured a mere 2 per cent of venture capital funding last year. Ventures led by Black and Latin American women fared even worse, receiving just 0.85 per cent of the funding.

Marquesa Finch, who helped Democratic state senator Nancy Skinner to draft the bill, emphasised its importance, stating, This is a chance for us, for the industry to look itself in the mirror  to finally, wholeheartedly internalise that we have a bias problem. She recounted instances of being mistaken for support staff and facing sceptical questions about her leadership capabilities when pitching to venture capital partners, who are predominantly white males. This, she argued, stands in stark contrast to the questions posed to her male counterparts, which often revolve around growth and potential.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has yet to signal whether he will sign or veto the bill. He has until the 14th of October to make a decision.

California played a pivotal role, representing over 40 per cent of the nearly $246 billion in venture capital funding invested in the United States in 2022, as per data from PitchBook. Given that the law applies to both California-based venture capital firms and those that invest in the state or solicit funds from its residents, its impact is expected to reverberate throughout the country.

The legislation encompasses virtually all major players making substantial investments in artificial intelligence, including Silicon Valley giants such as Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Soma Capital, and Khosla Ventures. These firms have been instrumental in funding ventures like OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT), Character.ai, Cohere, and SellScale.

Controversies surrounding racial and gender bias in AI products, which attracted $22.7 billion in venture investment in the first quarter of 2023, have received extensive coverage in the media and have been the subject of academic scrutiny and civil rights advocacy.

In response, the Biden administration introduced its Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights last year, aimed at addressing algorithmic discrimination and mitigating the adverse impacts of automated systems on underserved communities, according to White House senior adviser Susan Rice.
Campaign groups Saturday demanded the perpetrators of the killing of dozens of protesters in southeast Iran a year ago be brought to justice, accusing authorities of using force to quell the latest demonstration in the region.

According to activists, Iranian security forces used live fire to suppress a protest on 30 September, 2022, in Zahedan, the main city of southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province.

At least 104 people were killed, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO, in what is known as Zahedans Bloody Friday.

The violence marked the single deadliest day of months-long protests that erupted in Iran last year.

The Zahedan protests were triggered by reports a teenage girl was raped in custody by a police commander in the region and took place in parallel to nationwide demonstrations sparked by the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the countrys dress code for women.

Activists have long complained that the minority Baluch population in Sistan-Baluchistan, who adhere to Sunni Islam rather than the Shiism dominant in Iran, suffer from economic and political discrimination and are also disproportionately targeted by capital punishment.

No official has been held accountable for the unlawful killings of scores of men, women and children from Irans oppressed Baluchi minority on 30 September, 2022, Amnesty International said in a statement.

On the solemn anniversary of Bloody Friday, we remember the victims and stand together in the pursuit of justice.

Even as the protest movement dwindled elsewhere in Iran, residents of Zahedan have held regular Friday protests throughout the last 12 months, and despite heavy security held a new protest this Friday, campaigners said.

Security forces used live fire and tear gas against protesters, wounding at least 25 people, including children, according to the Baloch Activists Campaign group.

Irans top Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid, the Zahedan Friday prayer leader who has been outspoken in his support of the protesters during the past year, had in his sermon issued a new call for justice over Bloody Friday, telling the faithful to know your rights.

Footage posted on social media showed chaotic scenes as hospitals filled with patients including children, while people on the streets sought to flee to safety amid a sound of heavy gunfire on the streets.

This is a horrifying display of indiscriminate violence by the Islamic republic as the state attempts to suppress peaceful demonstrations, said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.

It is imperative for the international community to shine a spotlight on this violence and to hold Iranian officials accountable in international courts, invoking the principle of international jurisdiction, he said.
An official survey released on Saturday revealed that factory activity in China increased in September for the first time in six months, adding to a slew of signs that the worlds second-largest economy has begun to bottom out.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the purchasing managers index (PMI), which is based on a survey of major manufacturers, increased to 50.2 in September from 49.7 in August, edging above the 50-point threshold separating contraction from expansion. A projection of 50.0 was exceeded by the reading.

The PMI, the first official numbers for September, adds to indications that the economy is stabilising after gaining initial steam early in the year when Chinas extremely restrictive COVID-19 restrictions were eased. The economy had slowed after that first spurt of activity.

August saw the first indications of stabilisation, with retail sales and industry output growing more quickly as export and import declines slowed and deflationary pressures subsided. Industrial company profits unexpectedly increased 17.2% in August, reversing a 6.7% fall in July.

The manufacturing PMI, plus the good industrial profit figures, suggest that the economy is gradually bottoming out, said Zhou Hao, chief economist at Guotai Junan International.

A rise was also seen in Chinas non-manufacturing PMI, which also includes subindices for service sector activity and construction. It ended the month at 51.7 as opposed to 51.0 in August.

The composite PMIs manufacturing and non-manufacturing component rose from 51.3 to 52.0 in September.

One of the short-term statistics that economists are monitoring is the amount of money that people will spend on the years longest public holiday. The National Day holiday, which will remain through October 6, came after the Mid-Autumn Festival, which opened Golden Week on Friday.

State media reported on Saturday that train passenger travel on Friday reached 20 million trips, a single-day record, marking a promising start to what officials had anticipated would be the most popular Golden Week in history.

Policymakers will appreciate more consistent economic data as they continue to battle a property sector debt crisis that has shook international markets. Although the housing market is far from recovering, the authorities have announced a number of measures to support it, including lowering mortgage rates.

In August, new home prices decreased at their fastest rate in the previous 10 months, and property investment fell for the 18th consecutive month.

The most indebted real estate developer in the world, China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), announced on Thursday that its founder was under investigation for alleged illegal crimes.

Last Monday, the Asian Development Bank reduced its estimate for Chinas economic growth in 2023 from 5.0% to 4.9%.

To ensure that Chinas economy can meet the governments growth objective of approximately 5% this year, analysts think further policy support will be required.

Chinas economy stabilised partly driven by the loosening of property sector policies, said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist of Pinpoint Asset Management.

The key issue going forward is whether fiscal policy will become more supportive. I think it will, but timing-wise the change of fiscal policy stance may happen next year instead of this year.

(With agency inputs)
Billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday waded into German politics at a time of a heated debate on immigration across Europe, saying Berlin-funded migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean could be seen as an invasion of Italy.

Musk, who was born in South Africa, has Canadian nationality and lives in the United States, shared a post calling for a victory of the far-right party AfD a week before regional elections in two major German states.

Berlin is locked in a row with Italy over the NGO sea operations, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni on Friday demanding that charity ships disembark the rescued migrants in their own countries.

Musk shared a post on X by a user identified as Radio Genoa that blasted German NGO operations in the Mediterranean and expressed hope that AfD wins the elections to stop this European suicide, referring to the upcoming polls.

To Musks question if the German public is aware of this, the German foreign ministry replied curtly: Yes. And its called saving lives.

Is the German public aware of this? https://t.co/CMlRPRn4Z5  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2023

The foreign ministrys answer prompted the social media platforms boss to intensify his criticism, writing in another post early Saturday: Frankly, I doubt that a majority of the German public supports this.

Have you run a poll? Surely it is a violation of the sovereignty of Italy for Germany to transport vast numbers of illegal immigrants to Italian soil? Has invasion vibes, Musk added.

So youre actually proud of it. Interesting. Frankly, I doubt that a majority of the German public supports this. Have you run a poll? Surely it is a violation of the sovereignty of Italy for Germany to transport vast numbers of illegal immigrants to Italian soil? Has invasion  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2023

Meloni recently wrote a letter of complaint to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to express her amazement about Berlin funding charities helping irregular migrants in her country.

Asked about the letter, Berlin confirmed that it was providing between 400,000 euros and 800,000 euros each to two projects relating to migrants.

The projects were for the support on land in Italy of people rescued at sea and an NGO project for sea-rescue operations.

At a press conference this week following talks with her Italian counterpart, Germanys Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock defended Berlins backing of rescue missions.

Volunteer sea rescuers have a life-saving task in the Mediterranean, she said.

They are committed to countering the deaths in the Mediterranean with humanity, precisely because the European joint sea rescue service Mare Nostrum no longer exists, she added, referring to the Italian governments year-long operation which rescued more than 100,000 migrants before ending in 2014.

More than 130,000 migrants have arrived on Italys shores so far this year, almost double the number last year, according to interior ministry figures.

In Germany too, new arrival numbers have risen sharply, prompting Berlin to announce Wednesday that it would step up policing of its borders with Poland and the Czech Republic, in a bid to stop people smugglers.

Ahead of regional elections on October 8 in the states of Bavaria and Hesse, immigration has also emerged as a key topic, with Bavarians citing it as the most important subject in the latest poll.
School archery and hunter safety programs wont risk the loss of federal funding after an overwhelming vote by Congress to protect the programs, including advocacy by Nebraska and Iowa lawmakers.

In a Thursday press release, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said the White House confirmed that President Joe Biden would sign the Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act. It passed unanimously in the Senate, and then with a 424-1 vote in the House on Wednesday.

The legislation will ensure that schools that offer archery or hunting education will still be able to receive federal funding.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration issued guidance to elementary and secondary schools that they could not use federal money on archery and hunting programs, citing last years Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

The federal gun safety bill, which includes a number of provisions that advocates say will save lives, also contained an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 blocking money to any person with a dangerous weapon or to provide training in the use of a dangerous weapon.

In August, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., joined 18 other Republican senators in a letter to criticize the administration for its position on archery and hunting education programs.

Later, Fischer and Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., co-sponsored legislation that was similar to the bill that passed Wednesday.

Rules like this tell states like mine, Washington bureaucrats dont understand our way of life, Ricketts said in a press release earlier this month. Nebraskans have a deep appreciation for the great outdoors of our state, and we should be fostering that in the next generation however we can, including hunting and archery.

There arent many in-school hunter education programs in Nebraska, but more than 300 schools participate in the National Archery in Schools Program, a national in-school program that aims to improve student educational performance through archery curriculum.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of September 2023
A United States civil rights agency has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk-led Tesla, accusing the electric car manufacturer of permitting severe racial harassment against Black employees at its flagship assembly plant in California.

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) initiated legal proceedings in a federal court on Thursday, alleging that from 2015 to the present, Black workers at Teslas Fremont facility have consistently endured racial slurs, offensive graffiti featuring symbols such as swastikas and nooses, and a hostile work environment.

According to the EEOCs lawsuit, Tesla has failed to adequately investigate complaints of racial misconduct and has taken retaliatory measures against employees who reported harassment.

The lawsuit marks an escalation of federal charges following prior discrimination claims by the state of California and lawsuits brought by Tesla workers. Settlement negotiations with the EEOC broke down after the agency officially raised concerns last year.

Tesla is currently facing several race discrimination lawsuits that make similar allegations, including a class-action lawsuit filed by Fremont plant employees and a lawsuit by a California civil rights agency. In response to these claims, the company has consistently asserted its commitment to preventing discrimination and addressing employee complaints.

As of now, Tesla has not provided an immediate response to the latest lawsuit.

Stephen Diamond, a law professor at Santa Clara University, commented on the situation, saying, If the federal government gets involved, it certainly adds credibility to the claims. Major institutional investors like pension funds will be very concerned about this type of behaviour.

The EEOCs investigation into Tesla began after the commissions chair, Charlotte Burrows, filed an internal complaint against the company. Last year, the agency determined that there was reasonable cause to believe Tesla had violated federal laws prohibiting racial discrimination in the workplace, but attempts to reach a settlement agreement with the company proved unsuccessful.

In a statement, Chair Charlotte Burrows affirmed the EEOCs commitment to combating workplace harassment: Every employee deserves to have their civil rights respected, and no worker should endure the kind of shameful racial bigotry our investigation revealed.

The EEOCs lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for an unspecified number of affected Black workers, in addition to an order mandating Tesla to reform its anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation policies.

Tesla faces similar allegations from the California Department of Civil Rights, a state-level counterpart of the EEOC, which claims that Tesla discriminated against Black workers in decisions related to compensation, promotions, and work assignments. A California judge rejected Teslas attempt to dismiss this case last year.

Tesla has contended that the California departments lawsuit is politically motivated and has argued that the agency violated state law by filing the suit without prior notification of all claims or an opportunity to settle.

In a separate case, Owen Diaz, a former Black elevator operator at the Fremont plant, is seeking a third trial in his 2017 lawsuit alleging severe racial harassment. A jury awarded him $3.2 million in April, following a prior award of $137 million in 2021, which a federal judge deemed excessive. Diaz opted for a new trial instead of accepting a reduced award of $15 million.

Furthermore, Tesla is currently facing a class-action lawsuit in a California state court over allegations of mistreatment of Black factory workers, with approximately 240 workers seeking to join the lawsuit.
The disgraceful incident at the Glasgow Gurudwara, where individuals from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a planned interaction for the Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami, has been reported to UK authorities, the Indian High Commission to the UK said on Saturday.

On September 29, 2023, three persons- all from areas outside Scotland-deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues, the High Commission of India, London said in a statement today.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police have been informed of this disgusting incident, the High Commission added.

According to the statement, a number of community bodies, including the organisers, who were made up of senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of the Scottish Parliament, officially lamented the occurrence and encouraged the authorities to punish those responsible.

They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival, it said.

One of the non-local radical members allegedly tried to forcibly force open the High Commissioners car door, according to the Indian Mission, and this incident will require appropriate police consideration.

The Indian embassy in London added that a bigger incident was avoided because to one of the organisers quick thinking and physical intervention at the car door.

The declaration was made in response to alleged social media videos that appeared to show Doraiswami being confronted by pro-Khalistani individuals outside the gurdwara on Albert Drive in Glasgow, preventing the Indian envoy from entering the gurudwara.

Earlier today, according to government sources, India has discussed the matter with the police and the British Foreign Office.

Doraiswami was on Friday stopped by a few radicals from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow. The Indian High Commissioner decided to leave instead of getting into an argument, the sources had said.

The most recent incidence occurs in the midst of a diplomatic dispute between India and Canada over the execution of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, outside of a gurudwara, this past June.

(With agency inputs)
Over two dozen US lawmakers have joined the bipartisan Congressional Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain American Caucus, its founder and Indian American Congressman Shri Thanedar has said.

Thanedar on Friday formally launched in the US Congress the caucus that aims to combat religious discrimination and promote religious freedom for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains.

#WATCH | Washington, DC: Indian American Congressman Shri Thanedar launched the formation of a new Congressional Caucus aimed at protecting the interests of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains. The newly formed Caucus has bipartisan support from both, Republicans and Democrats. pic.twitter.com/jqpjYXsxWw  ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2023

A congressional caucus is a group of members of the United States Congress that meet to pursue common legislative objectives.

We are not merely congregating to initiate another caucus; were assembling to pioneer a movementone that strives for understanding, inclusion, and affirmative policy actions, Thanedar told reporters at a news conference here.

#WATCH | Washington, DC: Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar says I am profoundly honored to stand before you at this pivotal juncture. We are not merely congregating to initiate another caucus, we are assembling to pioneer a movement, one that strives for understanding, pic.twitter.com/EylYb5pCNH  ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2023

A movement that says every faith, every culture, and every community has a place in America the land of the free and the home of the brave. My name is Shri Thanedar. I am proof of Americas diversity in Congress, he said.

He was flanked by a group of eminent Indian Americans who had gathered at the steps of the US Capitol from across the country.

Today is significant for numerous reasons. To many of you, the launch of the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain (HBSJ) American Congressional Caucus may seem like a formal procedure, but let me assure you, it is so much more, he said.

It is a statement of commitment. A commitment to stand against religious discrimination, to propel the wheels of inclusion, and to cultivate a nation where diversity is not just tolerated but celebrated, Thanedar said.

This caucus will create a platform to have the discourse, engage in action, dispel the misinformation and disinformation of our culture and society, to express religious freedom, protect our existence, and speak the truth about who we are by pushing back on hate and bigotry, he said.

Thanedar noted that as many as 27 Congressmen from both the Republican and the Democratic parties have joined the latest caucuses of the US Congress.

To illustrate the urgent need for this caucus, its important to put some numbers into context. We are not talking about abstract communities or conceptual problems. These are real issues affecting real peopleour friends, our neighbours, and our constituents, he said.

Approximately 3 million Hindus, 1.2 million Buddhists, 500,000 Sikhs, and 200,000 Jains enrich our nations cultural and spiritual life, he said.

About 1,000 Hindu temples, 1,000 Buddhist temples, 800 Sikh gurdwaras, and 100 Jain temples are spread across America, acting as centers for community development, philanthropy, and spiritual well-being, Thanedar said.

So, when we speak about these communities, we are speaking about a substantial portion of our nations populacea segment that contributes significantly to the American fabric yet often remains underrepresented or misunderstood, he said.

Thanedar said HBSJ American Congressional Caucus aims to fulfill four fundamental objectives; combating religious discrimination, accurate representation and inclusion, addressing cultural misunderstandings and empowerment and well-being.

Romesh Japra, founder and chairman of Americans for Hindus described it as a momentous occasion.

There was a long felt need of the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains in the country. The new caucus would help in raising the causes and protecting the interests of these minority communities in the US, Japra said.
In a combined operation with the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Indian forces killed two terrorists while thwarting an infiltration attempt in the Machil sector of the Kupwara district, the Army announced in a statement on Saturday night.

After the intelligence-based operation, the security forces conducted a sweep of the area and found the bodies of the two terrorists. In addition, two AK series rifles and ammo were also found at the scene, according to the Indian Army.

The Indian Army, the Jammu and Kashmir Police, and several intelligence agencies provided information about infiltration efforts made by a group of 2-4 terrorists in the Macchal sector of Kupwara, according to the release.

A Joint Operation was launched by the Indian Army and JKP in General Area Gucchi Nar in Machil Sector on the night of September 29 and 30. Multiple ambushes were laid ahead of the own side of the LOC fence, the statement added.

On September 30, at 10.40 pm, the ambush party noticed the movement of two terrorists from the Pakistan side and saw them approaching the Line of Control fence, as per the statement.

The ambush party maintained complete tactical surprise and firefight ensured where terrorists tried to flee across the LOC under the cover of dense foliage, however, firefight resulted in the killing of one terrorist instantly. Later, during the ensuing firefight, the second terrorist was also neutralized, it added.

The bodies of two terrorists were recovered during a search of the area, the statement said.

According to the statement, additional searches turned up two AK Series rifles, 90 rounds of AK ammo, a pistol, two hand grenades, 2,100 Pakistani rupees in cash, winter clothes, war supplies, and other items.

The operation is in progress, the Army added in its release.

(With agency inputs)
After concluding his week-long visit to China, Nepals Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda said that both countries successfully strengthened ties during the trip and further deepened the historic relations existing between the two neighbours.

After landing at Tribhuvan International Airport on Saturday, PM Prachanda told reporters that his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang contributed to taking Nepal-China relations to a new height.

During the high-level meetings, the Chinese president and Prime Minister have given assurance that the past agreements reached between Nepal and China will be gradually implemented. The Chinese authorities have also agreed to resume operations of all the trading points between Nepal and China that were shut down due to the outbreak of Corona pandemic, the prime minister said.

He added, Important discussions were held with the Chinese authorities regarding the regular operation of Pokhara International Airport, the Prime Minister said. After doing some preparatory work, there will be direct two-way flights between Pokhara and Chengdu in China.

He continued, We have exchanged views on further deepening multi-faceted relations between Nepal and China and held an open dialogue in having Chinas support and assistance in Nepals development endeavours.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud, who was also part of the delegation, said that PM Prachandas visit was both economically and diplomatically successful.

The bilateral meetings that Prachanda held with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang were important and the agreements reached between Kathmandu and Nepal were also in the interest of Nepal and important for the economic development of the country, the secretariat of the Foreign Minister said.

With inputs from PTI
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow annexed a year ago made their choice  to be with their Fatherland.

In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Putin insisted that it was carried out in full accordance with international norms. He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month, in which Russias Central Election Commission said that the countrys ruling party won the most votes.

The West has denounced both the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.

A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Putin did not participate.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, air defenses shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.

Vinnytsia regional Gov. Serhii Borzov said that air defenses shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but that a powerful fire broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.

Romanias Ministry of National Defense said on Saturday that a possible unauthorized entry into its national airspace occurred overnight amid the bombardment.

It said the radar surveillance system of the Romanian Army detected a possible unauthorized entry into the national airspace of NATO member Romania, with a signal detected toward the city of Galati, which is close to the border with Ukraine.

At this moment, no objects have been identified that fell from the airspace onto the national territory, the statement read, adding that NATO allies were informed in real time and that searches will continue through Saturday.

Emergency authorities issued text message alerts overnight to residents living in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, after detecting what the defense ministry said was groups of drones heading toward Ukrainian territory near the border.

In recent weeks, Romania has found drone fragments on its soil from the war next door at least three times as Russian forces carry out sustained attacks on Ukraines Danube ports.

Russias Defense Ministry said Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. Local officials in Russias Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, reported disruptions to power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar. Drone strikes and shelling in the Russian border regions are a regular occurrence.
The Scotland Police said on Friday that it responded to a report of a disturbance in the Albert Drive neighbourhood of Glasgow. It added that an investigation is ongoing to determine the complete facts surrounding the incident.

The Scotland Polices announcement follows a statement made by the Indian High Commission in London on Saturday, which said it had informed UK authorities of the disgraceful incident at the Glasgow Gurudwara, where individuals from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a planned event for Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to Britain.

In an email statement to news agency ANI, Scotland police spokesperson said, We were called around 1.05pm on Friday, 29 September, to a report of a disturbance that happened in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow.

The spokesperson added, There were no reports of any injuries and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Indian High Commission in London said that individuals from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted an event organised for the Indian High Commissioner to the UK.

On September 29, 2023, three persons- all from areas outside Scotland-deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues, the Indian High Commission in London said in a statement.

The organizers included senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival, it added.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police were notified of the incident, according to the Indian High Commission. According to the statement, numerous community bodies, including the organisers, have publicly expressed regret for the tragedy and requested the authorities to punish those responsible.

One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HCs car door  a matter that will require suitable police consideration. It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organizers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided, the Indias High Commission added in its statement.

The statement was released after social media videos showed Doraiswami being accosted near the parking area of the gurudwara located on Albert Drive in Glasgow by pro-Khalistani elements, who blocked the Indian envoy from entering the gurudwara.

In the video, some of the men are heard saying, All Indian envoys must be subjected to this as India was targeting them.

Several British MPs denounced the incident.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UKs Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific, stated on Saturday that she was concerned to learn that the Glasgow meeting between the Gurudwara Committee and the Indian High Commissioner Doraiswami had been postponed.

Trevelyan stated on X, formerly Twitter, that everyone should be able to enter places of worship in the UK and that the security and safety of international locations is of the utmost importance.

Trevelyan posted, Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner @VDoraiswami was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all.

(With agency inputs)
An proprietor of a Sikh restaurant who had previously been threatened by Khalistani fanatics for speaking out against them now says that his car was fired upon and vandalised in West London.

Insightuk2, a group of British Hindus and Indians, said in a video released on X that some unidentified individuals fired shots at Harman Singh Kapoors car. Additionally, it stated that purported Khalistan sympathisers had repeatedly threatened his family with rape and violence.

However, the UK police have not made an official statement about these allegations.

Notably, the claims were made public on the same day when people from outside Scotland ostensibly disrupted a scheduled meeting with the Indian High Commissioner.

They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival, Indias High Commission to UK said in a statement.

A UK-based journalist and researcher, Charlotte Littlewood, in a post shared on X, claimed that the attack on Kapoors family was ongoing.

Attack on Harman Singh Kapoor + family is ongoing. They are awaiting police as Khalistani extremists are thought to have shot at their vehicle in London. As feared the Canada row has emboldened extremists  we will see more of this, her post read.

She had earlier raised concerns about the removal of the panic alarm from the familys vehicle in light of the diplomatic consequences from Canadas assertion that India was involved in the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

At this heightened time of threat following the India-Canada row. Where the Khalistani extremists are threatening India High commissions in the West and assassinating Indian officials in India. How was the decision made to remove their panic alarm? (sic), her post added.

Khalistani extremists allegedly threatened Sikhs in the UK, according to INSIGHT UK.

In addition, it claimed that despite months of alleged family torture, no arrests had been made.

The Police have made no arrests in what has been months of torture for this family. When will action be taken against these Khalistani extremists who pose a serious law and order threat @metpoliceuk, INSIGHT UK posted on X, adding, Why is the UK government not taking stringent action against an extremist ideology with a history of terrorism.

Earlier, on May 4, Khalsa Vox reported that Kapoor and his family claimed they had been subjected to ongoing internet threats as a result of sharing a video about the Khalistan movement.

The claimed threats allegedly occurred despite several police guarantees of security and extra protective measures. According to Khalsa Vox, a news website covering Punjab politics, history, culture, and tradition, the family had suffered three attacks and does not feel safe.

In April 2023, just a few days after the Indian High Commission in London was vandalised, pro-Khalistan supporters stormed Harmans restaurant.

After posting a video, Harman received threatening phone calls, bullying on social media, and a video with two million views in two days.

After the video went viral, Harman said that his business was vandalised and he got death threats. The attackers threatened him with death unless he removed the video, shouted in favour of Khalistan, and burned the Indian flag.

Harman claimed that threats of rape were even made against his wife and daughter.

Our address was put online with calls to rape and kill them. Videos of miscreants licking the pictures of my wife and daughter were posted as well, he added, according to Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human rights.

According to Khalsa Vox, an independent investigation commissioned by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson voiced worries about the pro-Khalistan extremists growing influence among the British Sikh community.

In contrast, the Rishi Sunak administration was urged by The Bloom Review, an independent report commissioned by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, to address the problem immediately and protect the majority of Sikhs in the UK who do not share their violent philosophy.

The study placed a strong emphasis on taking action quickly. According to the research, rogue Khalistani groups intimidate and coerce the Sikh community in the UK. These pro-Khalistan organisations lobby political figures under the cover of human rights activity, which artificially increases their influence and draws excessive attention.

The news report claims that pro-Khalistan organisations actions present a false sense of legitimacy that is at odds with Sikh values.

It is crucial to realise that the majority of British Sikh communities do not share the ideas of Khalistani separatists.

(With agency inputs)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said terrorists have been given operating space in Canada because of the countrys politics and that India has expressed its concern about the same to the US.

We consider theres a permissive Canadian attitude to terrorists and people who openly advocate violence. They have been given operating space in Canada because of Canadian politics. For us, it is certainly been a country where organised crime from India mixed with trafficking in people, secessionism and violence, Jaishankar said in New York Friday.

VIDEO | We consider theres a permissive Canadian attitude to terrorists and people who openly advocate violence. They have been given operating space in Canada because of Canadian politics. For us, it is certainly been a country where organised crime from India mixed with pic.twitter.com/2rlRUEPHmi  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 29, 2023

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserted yesterday that his country is committed to having stronger ties with India, days after making credible allegations that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The Canadian Prime Minister made some allegations, initially privately and then publicly, and our response to him, both in private and public, was that what he was alleging was not consistent with our policy. And that if he or his government had anything relevant and specific that they would like us to look into, we were open to looking at it. Thats where that conversation is at this point of time, Jaishankar said.

Embassies targeted

Our point is that there is today a climate of violence, an atmosphere of intimidationJust just think about it. We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. Weve had our consulates, violence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated, the foreign minister added.

#WATCH | Washington, DC: On India-Canada row, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, Our point is that there is today a climate of violence, an atmosphere of intimidationJust just think about it. We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. Weve had our consulates, violence in front pic.twitter.com/QCYLlaMPCr  ANI (@ANI) September 29, 2023

He continued, Lets not normalize what is happening in CanadaSo I think its necessary to call out what is happening there and our point is this: There may be an individual incident. Yes, if there is an incident and there is an investigation and there are allegations you know there are processes involved in it. I mean nobody is disputing that.

Stating that India does not require lessons from other countries on the concept of freedom of speech, Jaishankar said that freedom of expression should not extend to incitement of violence.

He said, I flagged it here (in US), and I flagged this to the Canadians as well. We are a democracy. We dont need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about, but we can tell people thiswe dont think freedom of speech extends to incitement to violence. That to us, is the misuse of freedom, thats not defence of freedom.

Open to dialogue

The Indian foreign minister said that the governments of India and Canada will have to talk to each other and see how they resolve their differences over the death of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Jaishankar said India was ready to look into the information related to Canadas allegations of the potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

Jaishankar said India has had an ongoing problem with Canada and its government for some years now.

With inputs from agencies
On Saturday, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UKs Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific, stated that she was concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami was prevented from attending the Gurudwara Committee in Glasgow.

The security and safety of international locations are of the utmost significance, and places of worship in the United Kingdom should be accessible to all, according to Trevelyan on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan said, Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner @VDoraiswami was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all.

The Glasgow Gurudwara experienced a disgraceful incident earlier today when individuals from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a scheduled gathering for the Indian High Commissioner and Consul General. The Indian High Commission in London says it has informed UK authorities of the incident.

According to a statement issued by Indias High Commission in London, immediately after his arrival, the High Commissioner and Consul General of India made the decision to depart the premises in order to avoid any potential incident.

On September 29, 2023, three persons all from areas outside Scotlanddeliberately disrupted a planned interaction organized by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues, Indias High Commission in London statement read.

It further said, The organizers included senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police have both been informed of the incident, according to the Indian High Commission. According to the statement, numerous local organisations, including the organisers, have publicly expressed regret for the tragedy and requested the authorities to punish those responsible.

One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HCs car door  a matter that will require suitable police consideration. It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organizers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided, Indias High Commission in London said in a statement.

Doraiswami was allegedly prevented from entering the Glasgow Gurudwara on Albert Drive by a man who was allegedly a pro-Khalistani protester, according to a fictitious video released on the Instagram account of Sikh Youth UK.

The most recent occurrence occurs in the midst of a diplomatic dispute between India and Canada over the June 18 murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar at a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia.

(With agency inputs)
A Nebraska conservative think tank is calling on the states lawmakers to focus on issues relating to workforce shortages, taxes and education in the next session.

The Platte Institute held panels on each of these subjects at its annual legislative summit Thursday. During the event, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch confirmed that lawmakers will likely address some, if not all, of these issues when the Legislature resumes Jan. 3.

But first, Arch said, lawmakers will probably begin 2024 with another rules debate, which he hopes will provide clarity on the Legislatures rules for the remaining session. Lawmakers spent multiple days in the 2023 session debating rules, some of which was spurred by a session-long filibuster one senator launched to oppose a controversial bill restricting gender-affirming care.

I have never seen a session, as we saw in this past session, where people were running around on the floor with bright orange rule books, Arch said.

Arch said he hopes the debate results in a set of rules that allow all lawmakers an equal chance to speak and promotes legislative debate that is more focused on policy, rather than interpretation of existing rules.

Aside from potential rules changes, Arch listed several policies he expects the Legislature will address next year. The executive board will likely tackle a recent opinion by the states attorney general stating that the Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare and the Inspector General of Corrections are unconstitutional positions.

Arch said he also anticipates lawmakers will propose tweaks to a large tax relief package that passed this year, along with continuing work to remove barriers to certification and licensing to reduce the states workforce shortage. He said he also hopes reform to property valuations comes up.

All of these subjects were expanded upon by panelists later in the summit.

Workforce

Heath Mello, CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber, said a lack of affordable housing and child care options are the main obstacles employers face when trying to recruit new workers in Omaha and surrounding areas.

Mello and the other panelists agreed that removing licensure requirements is one way Nebraska can make it easier on businesses to hire new employees. According to Platte Institute research, about a quarter of Nebraskas jobs require a form of government permit or license.

The Platte Institute promoted LB 16, introduced by former Sen. Tom Briese of Albion this year, as a measure that would reduce this barrier. If passed, the bill would allow employers to recognize licenses employees obtained from other states and would make it easier for people with criminal records to obtain licenses.

Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, a panelist and LB16 co-sponsor, said addressing workforce challenges is one of a few issues with broad consensus in the current Legislature.

If its good public policy, we should seize that ground, she said.

In addition to addressing workforce shortages, Conrad said, the bill could reduce recidivism rates and Nebraskas growing prison population by giving formerly incarcerated people a better chance at re-entering society with a stable income.

Diane Good-Collins, re-entry program director for Metropolitan Community College, said about 90% of the states prison population will be released within three years, referring to the demographic as the hidden workforce.

To combat the negative stigma commonly faced by former prisoners, Good-Collins shared that she was previously incarcerated and took her first college class from prison. Two weeks after her release, she said, Metropolitan Community College hired her, and now shes been there for 20 years.

Were smart, were committed, were loyal, and were part of the answer, Good-Collins said.

Taxes

Nebraska made great strides in tax relief this year through the passage of LB754 and LB243, panelists said, which combined will cut or offset more than $6 billion worth of property taxes and income taxes over the next six years.

That leaves policymakers with the question of what Nebraska should do next. Panelists urged lawmakers to remain aggressive in their pursuit of additional tax changes, with several noting that other states are doing so. In order to remain competitive, panelists said, Nebraska needs to keep up its momentum.

You can fall behind by standing still, said Jonathan Williams, executive vice president of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Rather than continuing the push for tax cuts, panelists urged lawmakers to look toward improving Nebraskas tax structure. Platte Institutes senior policy adviser Michael Lucci said the state should remove its inheritance tax.

An inheritance tax is a tax paid on assets that people inherit from someone who has died. The Platte Institute calls it outdated and inequitable.

Manish Bhatt, senior policy analyst for the national nonprofit Tax Foundation, also suggested lawmakers consider levy limits, which he said would limit the amount of property tax collections the state could take. He argued this could balance out rising property valuations.

Education

Much of the panel on education reform focused on school choice opportunities and praised the recent passage of LB753, which will provide dollar-for-dollar tax credits for people who make donations to scholarship funds to private and faith-based schools.

Though LB753 currently faces a repeal effort via a ballot initiative, panelists encouraged lawmakers to build upon the bill to expand school choice opportunities.

Lauren Gage, Nebraska director for the American Federation for Children, promoted an expansion of option enrollment, a state program that allows public school students to freely transfer from their home district to other public schools. Gage said students could be allowed to transfer to private schools at no cost as well, something some lawmakers have proposed in the past.

Both Gage and Williams expressed support for microschooling, a relatively new, independent education option thats often described as a cross between traditional schools and homeschooling. The class sizes are typically smaller, with some schools operating as private schools and others as simply learning centers.

Gage said microschools would give parents more options to meet their childrens educational needs, and serve as a good employment opportunity.

Williams said the evolving nature of microschools can make them difficult to regulate, but he suggested lawmakers review state statutes to avoid unnecessary roadblocks. He also encouraged lawmakers to review their policies on charter and home schools for the same reason.

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According to three regional sources familiar with the negotiations, Saudi Arabia is determined to secure a military agreement requiring the United States to defend the kingdom in exchange for establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia will not obstruct a deal even if Israel does not grant significant concessions to the Palestinians in their quest for statehood.

When the matter was initially addressed between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Joe Biden during the U.S. presidents visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022, a treaty might fall short of the ironclad, NATO-style defence guarantees the kingdom initially envisioned.

Instead, a U.S. official was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters that it would resemble the treaties Washington has with Asian nations or, if that did not garner support from the U.S. Congress, it might resemble a deal with Bahrain, where the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet is stationed. Congress wouldnt have to approve such a deal.

According to the U.S. source, Washington might further sweeten any agreement by classifying Saudi Arabia as a Major Non-NATO Ally, a position also granted to Israel.

However, all sources concurred that Saudi Arabia would not accept anything less than legally enforceable pledges of American support if attacked, as it was on September 14, 2019, when missile strikes on its oil sites rattled world markets. Saudi Arabia and the United States blamed Iran, the kingdoms adversary in the region, although Tehran denied any involvement.

Agreements uniting two longtime enemies and tying Riyadh to Washington after Chinas intrusions in the region would transform the Middle East by providing safety to the worlds largest oil exporter in exchange for normalisation with Israel. It would be a diplomatic triumph for Biden to celebrate before the 2024 presidential race.

Israel may relax some of its limitations on the Palestinians, but such actions wouldnt fulfil their hopes for a state. The three regional sources acquainted with the negotiations indicated that, similar to prior Arab-Israeli agreements negotiated over the years, the Palestinians primary desire for statehood will be subordinated.

The normalisation will be between Israel and Saudi Arabia. If the Palestinians oppose it the kingdom will continue in its path, said one of the regional sources.

Saudi Arabia supports a peace plan for the Palestinians, but this time it wanted something for Saudi Arabia, not just for the Palestinians.

The Saudi government did not respond to emailed questions about this article.

The terms of a defence pact are still being worked out, according to a U.S. official who, like others, chose not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. He or she also noted that the agreement under discussion would not be a treaty alliance or anything like that It wouldnt be a real treaty; rather, it would be a mutual defence arrangement.

The official predicted that it would more closely resemble American relations with Israel, which receives the most cutting-edge American weapons and participates in combined air force and missile defence exercises.

MbS requested a treaty modelled after NATO, according to a source in Washington familiar with the discussions, but Washington was reluctant to go as far as NATOs Article 5 guarantee that an attack on one ally is considered an act of war.

According to the source, Bidens advisers may take into account a deal similar to those with Japan and other Asian allies, whereby the United States guarantees military support but is less clear about whether U.S. troops will be sent. The source did warn that some American senators would oppose such a treaty.

Another model, not requiring congressional approval, is the agreement the United States made with Bahrain on September 13 in which it promised to deter and confront any external aggression but also stated that the two countries would confer before taking any action, if any.

The designation of Saudi Arabia as a Major Non-NATO Ally, according to the source in Washington, is something that has long been discussed. This status, which a number of Arab countries, including Egypt, have comes with a range of benefits, such as training.

In order to help reach an agreement, the second of the two regional sources claimed that Riyadh was conceding on some of its goals, particularly its intentions for civilian nuclear technology. The source claimed that Saudi Arabia was prepared to ratify Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, which creates a framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and other countries. Previously, Riyadh had refused to do so.

The Gulf source claimed that Saudi Arabia was willing to accept a deal that fell short of a NATO Article 5 guarantee but insisted that the United States would have to promise to defend the country in the event of an attack. The insider added that a pact might be comparable to Bahrains arrangement but include additional requirements.

In response to emailed questions about details in this article, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said: Many of the key elements of a pathway towards normalisation are now on the table and there is a broad understanding of those elements, which we will not discuss publicly.

Theres still lots of work to do, and were working through it, the spokesperson added, saying there was not yet a formal framework and stakeholders were working on legal and other elements.

In the reply, the spokeswoman avoided going into specifics on the US-Saudi defence agreement.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has praised the prospect of a historic peace with Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam. However, in order to win the prize, Netanyahu must gain the support of members of his far-right coalition who are opposed to making any concessions to the Palestinians.

In a recent interview with Fox News, MbS said that the kingdom was progressively edging towards normalising relations with Israel. The necessity for Israel to ease the life of the Palestinians was mentioned in his speech, but he made no mention of the existence of a Palestinian state.

However, diplomats and regional sources claimed that MbS was demanding specific guarantees from Israel in order to demonstrate that he was not deserting the Palestinians and that he was working to maintain the possibility of a two-state solution.

These include putting pressure on Israel to hand over some of the West Bank territory it currently controls to the Palestinian Authority (PA), restrict Jewish settlement development, and stop any attempts to annex territory. According to diplomats and insiders, Riyadh has also vowed to provide financial support to the PA.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has stated that any agreement must recognise the Palestinians claim to a state within the boundaries of 1967, including East Jerusalem, and must halt Israeli settlement construction. All sources, however, agreed that a Saudi-Israeli agreement was unlikely to address those flashpoint issues.

According to Netanyahu, the Palestinians shouldnt have a veto over any peace agreement.

But even if the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia concur, getting support from US Congress members will still be difficult.

For its military intervention in Yemen, its efforts to support oil prices, and its complicity in the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who worked for the Washington Post, Riyadh has already come under fire from Republicans and members of Bidens Democratic Party. MbS denies directing the murder.

Whats important for Saudi Arabia is for Biden to have the pact approved by Congress, the first regional source said, pointing to concessions Riyadh was making to secure a deal.

According to Biden, a pact that solidifies a U.S.-Israeli-Saudi axis might halt Chinas advancement in international relations after Beijing helped bring together Saudi Arabia and Iran, which Washington accuses of wanting nuclear weapons. Iran disputes this.

There was a sense that the U.S. has abandoned the region, said one diplomat.

By courting China, the Saudis wanted to create some anxiety that will make the U.S. re-engage. It has worked.

(With agency inputs)
Dell is eyeing increased investments in its Bengaluru research and development (R&D) center as part of its commitment to strengthening its presence in Karnataka. With 25 global manufacturing facilities, 14 of which are dedicated to R&D, Dell is already a significant player in the tech industry.

In a meeting held in New Delhi, Dells team, consisting of key executives like Shri. Michael Dundas, Shri. Alan Richey, and Tabrez Ahmad, Director, Asia Pacific and Japan, Govt Affairs and Public Policy, engaged with the Honourable Minister for Large and Medium Industries & Infrastructure, Government of Karnataka, Shri M. B. Patil. They discussed plans for potential investment and expansion in Karnataka.

One of Dells key requests was for support from the Karnataka government to overcome import restrictions on Special Economic Zone (SEZ) operations. Such support would not only facilitate Dells expansion in India but also enhance cost sustainability for the company.

Furthermore, a meeting with Global Foundries (GF), a semiconductor manufacturing leader, revealed plans to hire 200 skilled workers in Bengaluru. Shri M.B. Patil assured government support for GF and efforts to connect them with customers and suppliers.

GF, valued at $30 billion, also expressed interest in expanding its Aerospace and Defence (A&D) presence in Karnataka, hinting at a comprehensive business strategy.

The delegation attended a Business Roundtable organized by the US-India Chamber of Commerce, AKKA, TiE Austin, and the Austin Chamber of Commerce, bringing together around 60 entrepreneurs, including senior VPs and CEOs. This event discussed trade and economic relations, promising growth for Dell and Karnatakas tech ecosystem.

Dells commitment to Karnataka reflects its contribution to Indias tech landscape and economic development. We should get more developments regarding this matter in the coming months.
Dont try to sneak a pair of brass knuckles into Dont Fall Down and Drink Lots of Water, Mark Earnharts delightfully named new exhibition at the Northcutt Steele Gallery.

If you go to the gallery on the campus of Montana State University Billings  where Earnhart is an associate professor in sculpture, the first thing you see when you walk in the door is a huge metal detector, the type you have to pass through to get into an airport or a concert.

Except, not quite. Its not a real metal detector at all. Its a sculpture  a massive one, made out of MDF (medium-density fiberboard, the same thing they use to build those cheap bookcases you can get in big box stores).

Earnharts version, which he calls Waylaid, was inspired by the incident that gave his exhibition its name.

He still remembers the date, Sept. 25, 2019, from those golden halcyon days right before everything changed. He was catching a redeye flight at the Billings Airport and was approached by an old man.

Can I give you some advice? the gentleman asked Earnhart. The artist consented.

Dont fall down and drink lots of water, the old man said.

And then his wife came over and said something about how they were in the wrong terminal, which doesnt make sense because its not a very big airport, Earnhart remembered. So I just said thank you and he got up and walked away.

Thats not the only thing that didnt make sense. The advice wasnt super clear, and Earnhart puzzled over it, immediately getting out his phone to jot down a note about the incident.

That got me thinking about how we take advice, he mused. How is advice given? And it goes beyond just human to human. Are we listening to climate change? Are we listening to what our infrastructure is telling us? Im curious about that.

This metal detector is a stand-in for the ones at the airport, a reminder of that man, and the weird, confusing advice he gave. A nearby sculpture, called Test Piece, is a hand built replica of the gun-shaped devices used to make sure metal detectors are correctly working.

People dont usually pay attention to things like metal detectors. Theyre just there, taking up space in the background. But Earnhart pays attention.

Waylaid has two handheld metal detectors embedded in the side walls, creating a pair of spots that could beep if you try to pass something metallic past them. The real ones have 66 such zones.

I wanted to make it serviceable, Earnhart said, so you could sort of mess with it.

Sort of messing with things is Earnharts MO. Dont Fall Down and Drink Lots of Water is full of sculptural work thats just a little bit off.

Most on brand for that might be Upper Hand Corner, a trio of mirrors that converge and allow you to see yourself and the other pieces around you distorted and from another angle.

Theres also Drapery, a massive piece of translucent yellow vinyl cut into strips and hanging from the ceiling. A fan turns on intermittently, swinging the strips around like theyre part of a dry carwash.

And then theres Pissant, whose witty title belies one of the wilder material lists youll ever see in an art gallery: Wood, hardware, brass tubing, glass, vinyl tubing, acrylic, flocking, live ants.

And sure enough, theres a live ant in there, suspended in a piece of piping, behind red tinted plexiglass. And shes not just any ant, shes a queen.

I had to bring her in, Earnhart explained. I found her in the studio. This ant crawled up and I started thinking about the architecture of ant things.

Earnhart is a voracious reader, and hed recently been exploring the work of E.O. Wilson, a biologist and writer who developed the field of sociobiology, which studies the way animals interact with each other similar to how anthropology examines human interaction. Ants were one of Wilsons biggest topics.

He wrote about different societies  ants and termites and bees, Earnhart said. They all have a different kind of society and information giving.

This stuff is, as you can tell, pretty conceptual. Its about ideas, the many thoughts bouncing around in Earnharts head. Pissant was the last work he did for this exhibition, the final idea he had before completing.

Concept and content is always part of what Im going after, he said. I tend to go down rabbit holes.

Hes a good tour guide for said descents. Going to a Mark Earnhart installation isnt just about seeing the things he can build, its about engaging with the ideas hes been engaging with.

Benjamin Franklin thought like that, and you have to imagine that talking to him was a lot like talking to Earnhart, full of so many ideas and tangents its hard to keep up.

He was a weirdo, Earnhart said with admiration. He was into anything and everything.

So its fitting that Franklin inspired one of the works in Dont Fall Down and Drink Lots of Water. One wall in the gallery is dedicated to The Drinkers Dictionary, a list of phrases describing drunkenness Franklin published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1737.

Earnhart engraved the 228 phrases, which include highlights like drunk as a wheel-barrow and been too free with Sir John Strawberry onto blocks of wood.

The piece in the back is called Double Sigogglin. That later word is Appalachian slang for something thats crooked or not balanced. The piece is two squares made of metal. The big one is the dimensions of a standard porta potty, the smaller one is half that size. Theyre both skewed off to the side. The only thing level is a water line he rusted into the metal. In between the squares is a pile of desiccant. It wards off water, which is why you find it in those little Do not eat packages that come with new pairs of shoes. In an exhibition about drinking water, heres something specifically designed to dry you out.

This exhibition is all over the place. Thats by design. And like that first bit of advice Earnhart got back in 2019, its more than a little confusing. Hes fine with that.

Im hoping people are curious, but Ive always had this problem where people dont get it right away, but then theyll think about it later. Thats the best way of going about artwork, he said. If you actually think about the experience you had moving around an installation and later on, youre putting connections together, thats more rewarding for me than giving you all the answers.

Thats a lot of responsibility to put on an audience, but Earnhart is betting that people will get it. Or at least engage with it.

Spoon feeding and saying this is exactly what it is is a narrative I dont understand, he said. It becomes dictation or copying as opposed to artistic expression.

I want to reward the viewer if theyre curious, he continued. Its not that I hide Easter eggs, but theres a recognition there. If youre willing to look further into it, you will find reward in some way.
Once Montana's longest serving federal magistrate, Jeremiah "Jerry" Lynch has resurfaced from retirement to pursue Montana's upcoming opening for Chief Justice on the state Supreme Court.

That experience, the 71-year-old Lynch said in an interview Tuesday in Missoula, means he's well-versed in setting aside any personal persuasions in judicial decisions if elected.

That's a typical campaign line in judicial contests, but the stakes are a bit higher than the usual bid for the state's high court, which has been embroiled in conflict with state Republicans for more than two years. Since winning the governor's office by a wide margin in 2020 and expanding their majority in the state Legislature, Montana Republicans have openly railed against the judiciary for often ruling against their policy ambitions.

Lynch on Tuesday defended the Montana Supreme Court's conduct over the past two years, outgoing Chief Justice Mike McGrath in particular, and called the GOP's attacks "unwarranted."

"They're very impartial and fair," he said, noting high satisfaction rates recorded among the legal community. "They don't agree on everything, but I think they do work harmoniously. When I saw (McGrath) wasn't going to run, I thought I could continue the stability that the court has had based on my experience."

The Montana Free Press first reported that Chief Justice Mike McGrath and Justice Dirk Sandefur will not seek re-election in 2024. In June, Lynch registered with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices and, as of this story's publication, is the only candidate to campaign for McGrath's seat. District Court judges Dan Wilson, of Flathead County, and Katherine Bidegaray, of Richland County, have both registered with the COPP to run for Sandefur's seat.

Lynch  who spent 30 years in the federal judiciary, 13 of which as a federal magistrate  has never been elected to the bench. The Butte-born jurist became a federal magistrate not as a lifetime appointment by the president, but by a merit selection panel that recommended him to fellow judges for selection.

Lynch said he intends to put that spirit of an independent judiciary front-and-center of this campaign. He labeled those behind the recent attacks against the judiciary as "extremists" after political power who aren't aligned with the at-large voting population.

"They want to hijack the constitutional authority that people gave to the courts in Montana," Lynch said.

Republicans have meanwhile found little recourse for their complaints, and argue the Judicial Standards Commission, which is largely appointed by judges, allows the judicial branch to police itself.

On that point, Lynch said the judicial branch has done a good job in doing so.

"I believe historically the court has policed itself well," Lynch said. "At least in the modern era, let's say since the '72 Constitution, I'm not aware of any issues ethically with the court.  The current Supreme Court, they are committed, committed jurists, and they will do what they think is necessary to protect the judiciary from any rot, if you will, from the inside."

Lynch said he'll work to keep his campaign focused on the nonpartisan job, a strategy that seems to have prevailed in recent Supreme Court elections.

"I think citizens want judges on the court, I really do, rather than politicians and lobbyists," he said.

Last year's Supreme Court race between incumbent Justice Ingrid Gustafson and GOP-backed James Brown, the Republican president of the Montana Public Service Commission, was a demolition derby when it came to record spending  and that was an off-year.

The state Republican Party spent more on Brown than all of its legislative candidates in partisan races combined that cycle. The total spent in support of Brown topped $1 million, including a $500,000 boost from the national Republican State Leadership Committee.

The response in support of Gustafson, meanwhile, eclipsed the partisan donors. Outside spending, primarily from the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, topped $2 million in the month before the general election alone.

Before the Gustafson-Brown race, the previous record for outside spending in a state justice contest was $1 million between the two candidates in 2016.

The money game isn't lost on Lynch; Republican-aligned groups are already spending on mailers attacking him, as KTVH reported in July. With a high-dollar race next year for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester's seat, campaign contributions are expected to break more records. After the Dobbs decision that put abortion access to the states, Montana, where abortion access remains legal, is a target for groups on either side of the issue, Lynch said.

"You can't necessarily stop that," he said.

Lynch and all judicial candidates are forbidden from speaking on matters that may come before the court. Abortion access in Montana stands on a 1999 Supreme Court ruling known as Armstrong. Montana's governor and attorney general have both recently asked the high court to overturn the precedent to no avail, but several legal challenges to abortion restrictions passed by the Legislature are still in play.

The Montana State News Bureau asked Lynch about his judicial philosophy in weighing precedent against the facts and arguments in a particular case.

"Precedent is critical to the judicial system because it provides stability," he said. "But when the court doesn't follow precedent, especially 50 years of precedent, that can cause instability, and we've seen that instability through the country. I don't have to mention what the issue is."

"The justices have to be circumspect," he added. "They have to be impartial, they have to be fair and they have to look in detail  command of the facts that come before them and measure that against what the Constitution says and how they interpret the language of the Constitution."

According to his campaign, Lynch has already raised $100,000 as of this week. The extent money has entered judicial races concerns him, but he also said a statewide contest requires funding.

"The money I've raised is from a broad swatch of people on both sides of the (state) bar (of Montana)," Lynch said.
According to a recent report, a 4.2 magnitude earthquake impacted Italy's volcanic fields near the Campi Flegrei. An expert warned of the repeated seismic activity in the Super Volcano.

No structural damage or injuries were reported after the volcano unloaded. However, residents near Naples and Campi Flegrei should stay alert for possible quakes or dangers near their areas.

4.2 Magnitude Earthquake in Italy

Recently, NWN reported that a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit parts of Tuscany in the Northeast of Florence. No damages were reported after the quake.

The recent report showed that the 4.2 magnitude quake also struck the volcanic field near the Phlegraean Fields or Campi Flegrei. It is located near the western portions of the Naples.

The volcanic field experienced repeated seismic activity with small earthquakes.

Phlegraean Fields is also known as burning fields, a 13-km-wide caldera. The volcanic areas can cause violent eruptions with an active magma chamber. The Super Volcano can unleash devastating damage to nearby communities if it shows signs of eruption.

However, experts noted that the volcano did not pose any threat of a potential eruption.

With the increasing threats of the Super Volcano, Giuseppe De Natale emphasized the importance of checking infrastructures. De Natale is an expert in the field, serving as ex-head of the Vesuvius Observatory at the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

De Natale explained the risk of seismic activity in the Super Volcano. Potential evacuation and assessment in towns near Naples are recommended.

Also Read: Earthquake Emergency: How Homeowners Can Prepare

Preparing for potential volcano eruptions and quakes

People near the affected areas should stay alert for possible eruptions or quakes. Earthquake preparedness can anticipate the impacts of volcanic activities.

Earthquakes can cause massive damages, including landslides, tsunamis, fire concerns and widespread power outages. Here are essential reminders to remain safe from volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Always remain updated with the latest reports.

Homeowners should stay alert for alerts about possible eruptions and quakes. Mobile advisories are also helpful for communities. When power outages occur, a battery-powered radio can keep you updated.

Immediately evacuate.

Knowing the impacts and immediate evacuation areas can keep your family safe. It is essential to avoid wasting time when eruptions or quakes occur. During an earthquake, homeowners should never forget the 'Drop, Cover and Hold on.'

Keep your disaster and emergency kit.

Homeowners should store an emergency bag kit to bring to evacuation centers. The kit should include the essentials: medicine, non-perishable goods, bottled water, a small battery radio, flashlights, an extra power bank and emergency phone books.

After the extreme event

It is best to wait for advisories before you can safely return to your home. Homeowners should watch out for damaged electrical supplies and falling debris from damaged buildings.

Related Article: Italy Earthquake: Magnitude 4.8 Quake Hits Parts of Tuscany; No Injuries, Damages Reported Yet

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BIG SKY  In the cold pre-dawn gray of Sept. 17, more than 500 runners began a 50-kilometer trek around Big Sky Resort's Lone Mountain, soon to be followed by more than 600 others embarking on a 11-kilometer journey. They were part of roughly 4,000 runners who flocked to the ski resort southwest of Bozeman for The Rut, a renowned three-day trail-running festival with six separate distance categories.

Also in the Gallatin Mountains that day, likely somewhere just south of Big Sky, was a grizzly bear that severely mauled a man on Sept. 8. The man, 61-year-old Bozeman resident Rudy Noorlander, was helping two hunters find a deer they'd shot around the Buck Ridge-Yellow Mule area less than 10 miles from Big Sky. According to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, he startled a grizzly bear guarding a food source in dense brush, triggering it to attack. FWP determined the bear's response was a natural, defensive response and wasn't predatory. The agency did not locate the bear. Noorlander, meanwhile, lost the lower half of his face, including his jaw, and faces a lengthy and complex recovery.

The attack highlighted how even properly prepared backcountry travelers can still fall victim to a grizzly attack. Noorlander carried a firearm and bear spray  the latter of which is considered by bear experts to be the best defense against a charging bear. But the attack was so fast and close-range that he had no time to deploy either.

His hunting partners shot at the bear, causing it to flee. But it was unclear if they hit the animal; no bear blood was found in the area.

The attack occurred on the northern fringe of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, home to more than 1,000 grizzly bears. The GYE is one of two primary recovery areas for the federally protected species, the other being the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem around Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Grizzly populations in both areas have expanded far beyond the recovery zone boundaries in recent years.

The attack also threw into sharp relief how large recreation events are growing into backcountry that's also increasingly shared by grizzly bears.

According to Mike Foote, race organizer of The Rut and a professional ultra-runner and ski mountaineer racer for The North Face, the mauling a week before his event didn't change the thinking of the race organization team  but only because they already operated on the knowledge that grizzlies live in the area. In an interview Friday, he noted FWP's conclusion that the bear was acting naturally and defensively. He characterized it as "bears acting like bears" in their known habitat.

"I feel like the risk is always there of wildlife encounters," Foote said, "and this didn't mean that there was somehow more risk due to that."

Grizzly country

FWP, in fact, lifted an area closure around the attack a few days later upon ending its fruitless search for the animal. That closure did not overlap Big Sky or The Rut.

Nonetheless, Foote said, the race has built-in measures designed to address participant safety from hazards ranging from wildlife to inclement weather in alpine terrain. Some measures are undertaken by race organizers themselves, including course sweeps before and after runners hit the trail. More remote parts of the course (the 50K route climbs Lone Mountain twice and gains 10,000 vertical feet) are staffed with volunteers. And about 90 medical and search-and-rescue personnel staff the event.

"Trail running as a whole is an inherently kind of risky behavior," he said, "and there's a lot of safety mitigation we talk about the whole weekend. We're constantly monitoring weather. The courses are really challenging, so we're trying to communicate that with people."

Other measures are participants' responsibility, and their choice. The Rut requires certain gear, particularly for longer races. For example, 50K racers must carry a space blanket, headlamp, waterproof jacket with hood, and at least 32 ounces of water to be allowed to start the race. Bear spray isn't required, but The Rut's gear list does recommend it.

"The Rut courses are in bear country," the list states. "Both black bears and grizzly bears call this area home. While most encounters with wildlife on our course are benign, there is always a chance of surprising a bear on course. Bear spray is a great tool to deter a bear from an attack."

Foote said he wasn't sure how many runners followed the recommendation to carry spray, but he believed it was well less than half. The race organization team constantly discusses bear safety and other hazards, Foote said, but hasn't specifically discussed making bear spray a requirement.

"It's more about education, recommendation, reminding the runners of what risks there are," Foote said. "It's situational. I feel like if I'm in a pretty quote-unquote wild area  with very little human presence and its grizzly bear presence  I do (carry it), for sure."

FWP recommends that all backcountry travelers in bear country carry bear spray and know how to use it (as do the Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee). But it's common for large backcountry recreation events to recommend, rather than require, that participants carry bear spray.

The Rut is held on Big Sky Resort's private property and, as such, isn't subject to a special-use permit from the nearby Custer-Gallatin National Forest. But the Custer-Gallatin does permit a host of other events in the Gallatin Range and areas with fewer grizzlies, like the Bridger and Crazy mountain ranges.

Kathryn Barker, recreation program manager for the Custer-Gallatin's Bozeman Ranger District, said Friday, "Any event we have, we're constantly reevaluating and doing assessment as we have increased presence of grizzly bears."

In considering event permit applications, she said, the Forest Service employs its own wildlife biologists and those from FWP and, in grizzlies' case, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Together, the agencies help the Forest Service determine an event's impact on wildlife (including grizzlies) and the hazard animals pose to participants.

The agency can deny events it feels are too impactful or unsafe. And the special-use permits it does grant generally include a varying degree of requirements for grizzly conflict mitigation. Barker said that events in areas with high concentrations of grizzly bears may have more stringent requirements, such as limits on participant numbers, than events in places with few grizzlies. And, generally, events aren't allowed to run through the night.

"At the base level, every permit includes language about our food storage order," she said. "They might have different requirements on how they may pre-sweep a course for bears ahead of the racers, there might be something about every aid station ... a requirement for how many aid stations there are, whether there's bear spray there."

Fast and slow

Sometimes that's not enough to satisfy people who think organized backcountry recreation events don't belong in backcountry grizzly habitat.

In 2010, a 100-mile running race from Swan Lake to Columbia Falls drew opposition from Keith Hammer, head of the conservation group Swan Valley Coalition. Hammer threatened to sue the Forest Service for allowing the Swan Crest 100, which went near but not inside the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. The run, which had only about 50 people, eventually occurred as a free informal event that didn't qualify as a commercial undertaking needing a permit.

"While folks certainly have the right to run on Forest Service trails if they wish," Hammer told The Daily Interlake before the race, "group events that encourage such ill-advised activity in the habitat of forest carnivores like grizzly bears and mountain lions are another matter. The Swan Crest 100 Run sends the wrong message to the public about safe and ethical behavior in the backcountry."

Brad Lamson, one of the Swan Crest 100 organizers, noted to the Interlake that Hammer led group walks in the same area: "Whats the difference between walking and jogging affecting the environment?"

There may not be a difference in environmental impact, but wildlife and land managers do note increased risk of wildlife conflict when recreationists accelerate from walking to running, and especially to mountain biking.

"Fast-paced, it just stands to reason that it's more likely you could surprise a bear if you come at them more quickly," Barker said. "Maybe you're focusing more on your footing for running, on your bike for making that corner, and you're not as aware of your surroundings. And in a race I think it's fair to say you're concentrating on the race and going fast, you might not be as concentrated on making noise or staying in a group."

The Swan Crest 100 didn't last, but The Rut has more than endured. It's grown from 400 to about 4,000 participants in 11 years, because of the addition of more race distances and the sport's growing popularity.

"The sport's on fire right now," Foote said. "Trail and ultra-running have skyrocketed worldwide in popularity in the past decade."
Apple's Anticipated 3nm Chip Demand May Fall Short of Projections Features oi -Kabir Jain

Apple's recent decline in demand for its hardware, particularly MacBooks and iPads, is having a ripple effect throughout the tech industry. This shift is expected to have an impact on chip manufacturers, including ASML, which is considering reducing production of expensive EUV (extreme ultraviolet) equipment due to lower demand from Apple and other companies. Renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shed light on this trend, predicting a significant 30% drop in equipment orders in the coming year.

The Decline in Apple Hardware Shipments

In a Medium post, Kuo points out that Apple's MacBook and iPad shipments experienced a substantial decline in 2023. MacBook shipments saw a staggering 30% decrease, while iPad shipments fell by 22%, with totals reaching 17 million and 48 million units, respectively. Kuo attributes this sharp decline to the end of the work-from-home (WFH) trend and a waning interest among users for the new specifications, including Apple Silicon and Mini-LED displays.

Impact on Chip Manufacturers

The repercussions extend beyond Apple itself. ASML, a leading Dutch firm specializing in photolithography machines, is expected to slash its EUV equipment shipment forecasts by as much as 30% in the coming year. Kuo links this significant reduction to Apple's demand for its upcoming 3nm M3 chip, which is anticipated to be below initial estimates.

Challenges for Future MacBook and iPad Models

The upcoming M3 chip, produced on the same N3B process as the A17 Pro, might not deliver the revolutionary performance and power-efficiency gains that consumers had anticipated. This may lead potential buyers of future MacBook and iPad models to doubt whether upgrading is worth it, as they fear the M3 could mirror the less-than-impressive efficiency numbers of the A17 Pro.

Moreover, Qualcomm is facing a similar conundrum, with demand for its 3nm chips falling below expectations. Huawei's shift to its own Kirin SoCs has resulted in a loss of 60 million chip orders for Qualcomm, while Samsung's Exynos 2400 is poised to challenge Qualcomm's market share when it debuts with the Galaxy S24 series.

Both Apple and Qualcomm are grappling with these successive setbacks, and the financial implications for 2024 remain uncertain.

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Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff has expanded the region of the Yellowstone River it is testing fish for levels of a toxic contaminant following a June train derailment near Reed Point.

Were looking to get an analysis from near Big Timber, so get well away from the incident, below again at the incident for our third sample and then going down below Billings to get another sample to kind of get our arms around the extent of this, whats natural and what might be attributed to the incident, Region 5 supervisor Mike Ruggles told the Environmental Quality Council on Wednesday.

Two previous tests of fish tissue have shown contamination from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, more easily referred to as PAHs. A 2019 National Institute of Health study noted the contaminant is ubiquitous in the environment and can cause adverse environmental effects.

The source of the contamination is mainly from crude oil and gas, but it is also found naturally occurring in some regions at low levels.

Its kind of tricky determining the source of the PAHs because its naturally occurring  in the shale on the bottom of the Yellowstone River  tailpipe exhaust (from vehicles traveling down the interstate), oil and gas refinery and from the asphalt materials, James Fehr, deputy director for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, told the EQC.

Ruggles told the council a website search quickly shows this is an issue worldwide. Ive read several papers in the last month and a half and the general guidance in the U.S. is through the EPAs analysis piece, so that is what we track back as our base.

As a result of the positive tests, the states Fish Consumption Advisory Board has advised anglers to avoid eating fish caught in the Yellowstone River between Reed Point and the Highway 212 bridge in Laurel. Expanding the testing area could give FWP an idea of whether the train derailment is responsible for the high PAH levels.

Seventeen Montana Rail Link train cars derailed, with 10 falling into the Yellowstone River, on June 24 while crossing a bridge just west of Interstate 90. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Of the 10 cars that fell into the river, six contained molten asphalt, three contained molten sulfur and one was carrying scrap metal. The last of the cars was pulled from the river on July 2 and the bridge was rebuilt and operational by July 22.

It is estimated the derailment released 400,000 to 440,000 pounds of molten asphalt into the Yellowstone River when it was running at high flow. So far, cleanup crews have recovered 230,000 pounds of asphalt  about 55% of the total, Fehr said.

Although cleanup crews are no longer scouring the river on a daily basis, as they were after the derailment, teams are still being dispatched as calls come in from the public. MRL has posted signs along the river featuring a QR code that can be scanned to share information on the location of any asphalt.

So theyre not on site but they are basically on call, Fehr said, noting last week 36,000 pounds of asphalt was retrieved as the Yellowstone Rivers water level has dropped.

In the meantime, DEQ enforcement is in the process of working up a notice of violation of the Water Quality Act that will be sent to MRL. The agency is also calculating penalties for the violation, as well as cost recovery for the state. No dollar figure has been announced on the expense of the incident.
Washington Army Guard to get new Firefighting Unit

By Joseph Siemandel, Joint Force Headquarters - Washington National Guard Joseph Siemandel, September 28, 2023

CAMP MURRAY, Wash. -- Beginning next fiscal year, the Washington Army National Guard will have a new unit primarily focused on firefighting.

"The addition of engineer firefighting teams will provide tactical firefighting capability to the Pacific Northwest," said Brig. Gen. Paul Sellars, commanding general of the Washington Army National Guard. "The capability will support units during exercise and fire events as well as provide additional regional support as required by requesting agencies."

In November 2020, Washington Army National Guard leaders sent a memorandum to the National Guard Bureau requesting this team.

"We knew what the force structure could look like and found out that the Alabama Army National Guard wanted to divest of its firefighting team, so we jumped at the chance and worked with them to get a signed divest/invest memo," said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Marc Brackett, who was the force integration readiness officer at the time of the request.

The unit will comprise seven 12M Army firefighter enlisted personnel. These firefighters attend a 13-week advanced individual training course and can earn up to 44 national-level certificates. At the time of the request, the Washington Army National Guard didn't have any specially trained 12M Army firefighters. However, aggressive recruiting and the departure of many active-duty engineers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord filled the ranks quickly.

"We have a number of Guard personnel who are firefighters in their civilian capacity," Sellars said. "The past decade of fighting wildfires with our state partners has given us valuable knowledge and skills. Having this unit is incredible."

The engineer firefighting team will be stationed at Pangborn Memorial Airport in Wenatchee. It will continue to partner with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to provide wildland firefighting training and additional capabilities when activated.

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Warsaw Format discusses future of Arctic cooperation

Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Republic of Poland

28.09.2023

On 28 September, Head of the Foreign Service Piotr Rychlik opened another meeting of representatives of the Observer States at the Arctic Council and the Norwegian Chairship of the Council.

The Warsaw Format, i.e. the initiative of regular meetings between the foreign ministries of the Observer States at the Arctic Council and the country holding the Council's presidency, was organised in Warsaw. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's aggression against Ukraine this was the first of such meetings since 2019.

The talks covered Norway's Chairship of the Arctic Council (2023-2025), the current cooperation on a number of projects in the Arctic, as well as the exchange of experiences on science diplomacy and its coordination with foreign policy. The Format's meeting was also attended by representatives of the European Union, the Arctic Council Secretariat, the Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat, and by the Chairs of all of the Council's working groups (via online link). Monika Szkarat, Ph.D., of the Maria Curie-Skodowska University in Lublin provided introductory remarks to the discussion on science diplomacy.

The Arctic Council is an international initiative established by the Ottawa Declaration in 1996. It provides a forum for cooperation among the Arctic States, Indigenous Peoples' organisations and observers on issues related to the Arctic's development and future. Poland has enjoyed observer status since 1998.

MFA Press Office

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USS Louisiana Proves Readiness of Unmatched Strategic Weapons System

US Navy

28 September 2023

From April Crew-Kelly, Navy Strategic Systems Progams Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. Navy's Strategic Systems Programs conducted a scheduled, missile test flight of an unarmed life-extended Trident II (D5LE) missile from USS Louisiana (SSBN-743), an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, on the Western Test Range off the coast of San Diego, California, at approximately 2:10 p.m. Sept. 27, 2023.

This test marks 191 successful missile launches of the Trident II (D5 & D5LE) strategic weapon system (SWS) missile since it began operations in 1989. Trident II missile remains unmatched in its reliability.

"I am immensely proud of the government-industry team," said VADM Johnny Wolfe, Jr., Director of Strategic Systems Programs. "The completion of DASO-32 marks an historic milestone in the life of the Trident II D5 weapons system, and provides the SSP team with a tangible reminder of the great responsibility before ussustain this unmatched weapons system while developing the next generation strategic weapons system to ensure our nation's sea-based strategic deterrence capability through 2084."

This was part of a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation, designated DASO-32. DASO-32 is the last DASO conducted by an Ohio-class SSBN coming out of Engineering Refuel Overhaul (ERO). The primary objective of a DASO is to evaluate and demonstrate the readiness of the SSBN's strategic weapon system and crew before operational deployment following the submarine's midlife refueling overhaul or as part of new construction.

The Trident II (D5) SWS is a highly accurate and reliable weapon system that has been actively deployed on Ohio-class SSBNs since its introduction to operational deployment on USS Tennessee (SSBN 734) in 1990. It is the deployed system for the remaining service life of U.S Ohio-class and United Kingdom Vanguard-class SSBNs, and is the initial loadout for the U.S. Columbia-class and U.K. Dreadnought-class SSBNs.

Test launches are conducted on a recurring basis to evaluate and ensure the continued reliability and accuracy of the strategic weapon system. Each test provides valuable information about our strategic weapon systems, thus contributing to assurance in our capabilities.

The Navy's last DASO was in October 2021 off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, from USS WYOMING (SSBN-742). The Navy's most recent flight testa Follow-on Commander's Evaluation Testwas a series of two missile launches from USS West Virginia (SSBN-736) in June 2023 also off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Flight test missiles are not armed. Safety of the public and the crew conducting the mission is paramount. Today's launch was conducted from sea, the missile flew over the sea, and landed in the sea. At no time did the missile fly over land.

The missile test was not conducted in response to any ongoing world events or as a demonstration of power. Test launches, including DASOs, are scheduled years in advance.

Strategic Systems Programs is the Navy command that provides cradle-to-grave lifecycle support for the Navy's strategic weapon systems. This includes training, systems, equipment, facilities and personnel responsible for ensuring the safety, security, and effectiveness of the nation's Submarine

Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) Trident II (D5LE) strategic weapon system. In addition to maintaining the current Trident II (D5LE) strategic weapons system, Strategic Systems Programs is looking towards the future. Nuclear modernization is crucial to the continued success of the U.S.'s sea based strategic deterrent. Strategic Systems Programs is developing the next generation strategic weapon system, and modernizing shore-based infrastructure and capabilities to sustain the Ohio-class to end of life and support Columbia-class fleet introduction.

SLBMs are the sea-based leg of the nation's strategic nuclear deterrent Triad that also includes the U.S. Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and nuclear-capable bombers. Each part of the Triad provides unique capabilities and advantages.

The sea-based leg makes up the majority - approximately 70 percent - of the U.S.'s deployed strategic nuclear deterrent Triad. The SLBM is the most survivable leg of the triad, provides a persistent presence, and allows for flexible concepts of operations.

A credible, effective nuclear deterrent is essential to our national security and the security of U.S. allies. Deterrence remains a cornerstone of national security policy in the 21st century.

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HIMARS crews demonstrate capabilities and cross-train with NATO allies in Estonia

By Sgt. Cesar Salazar Jr.September 29, 2023

TAPA, Estonia -- A U.S. Army-led High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire exercise demonstrated the weapons system's capabilities and enhanced allied interoperability with NATO allies in Estonia, Sept. 27.

U.S. Army Soldiers with Task Force Voit, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Field Artillery Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, supporting the 3rd Infantry Division, demonstrated M142 HIMARS operations to multinational troops comprising NATO's enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Estonia during the live-fire exercise at the Estonian Defense Force's Central Training Area.

The Task Force Voit Soldiers demonstrated the capabilities of the HIMARS to NATO allies while conducting gunnery qualification on the system.

The live-fire demonstration followed months of multinational training, with Estonian troops training on the platform side-by-side with U.S. Soldiers in recent months at Camp Tapa, Estonia. The training also coincided with Estonian Defense Forces purchasing HIMARS from the U.S. late last year to enhance its military's operational capabilities.

Maj. Jeremy Rathbun, the executive officer for 3-27th Field Artillery Regiment, said his unit has been cross-training with NATO allies since they arrived in Estonia in June. Some of this training took place in the week prior to the exercise, with U.S. and Estonian troops participating in a simulated contested environment HIMARS training scenario, according to Rathbun.

Rathbun said the live-fire exercise set a foundation for the 3-27th Field Artillery Regiment's real-world HIMARS capabilities and its readiness for future missions, operations, and exercises with NATO partners.

Staff Sgt. Austin Quinones, a HIMARS crew section chief with 3-27th Field Artillery Regiment, said the HIMARS training with Estonians and the live-fire exercise increased his Soldiers' readiness.

"The training value for my crews participating in this exercise, like with my crew specifically, they've never been overseas before; this is their first time," Quinones said. "They get to see not only what it's like to be overseas, but helping the allies as well, and seeing what they're really doing this stuff for. [It's] not just checking a box that we're certified  this is real world stuff that we're doing."

Quinones added that the HIMARS training also enhanced interoperability with U.S. allies.

"It's important to train with our allies, especially when we're in their country," Quinones said. "If something were to happen, we need to be able to work together and efficiently. Even if something doesn't happen, we're building these bonds with them. They can see that it's not just our countries that are allies, we're allies too, on a personal level."

Rathbun said the culminating live-fire demonstration shows the U.S. Army's unwavering commitment to its allies.

"For them to come out here and witness the live-fire and the capabilities of the HIMARS platform is just a demonstration of our commitment to the mission here in Estonia," Rathbun said.

Task Force Voit Soldiers, who continue to train with NATO allies in the Baltic, support the 3rd Infantry Division-led Task Force Marne. The 3rd Infantry Division's mission in Europe is to engage in multinational training and exercises across the continent, working alongside NATO allies and regional security partners to provide combat-credible forces to V Corps, America's forward deployed corps in Europe.

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NATO and Denmark are opening a Center for Quantum Technologies in Copenhagen

Danish Ministry of Defence

A new center for quantum technologies in Copenhagen is cementing Denmark's contribution to NATO's efforts on maintaining the Alliance's technological edge.

September 29, 2023

The Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, cut the red ribbon to a center for quantum technologies, the Deep Tech Lab - Quantum, in Copenhagen. The Secretary General was joined by the Danish Minister of Defence, the Minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs and the Minister of Higher Education and Science.

Quantum is a highly prioritized area, and Denmark will now be spearheading the development of quantum technologies in the alliance by supporting innovators with testing facilities and guidance on developing innovative ideas and quantum-enabled solutions.

"NATO has always been at the forefront of technological innovation, especially in the defence sector. This matters, because our security depends on our ability to innovate. Today, our technological edge is aggressively challenged, so we need to do more to sharpen it. NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic brings together innovators across all sectors to work on technologies that can help solve security problems. This is about being prepared for disruption, and making sure we continue to lead innovation," says the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.

As NATO prepares for future threats, this will include a consideration of the areas of information warfare, cyberattacks and the protection of critical (and digital) infrastructure. That is why the ability to leverage and protect against emerging and disruptive technologies is crucial in the global competition between great powers.

"If you have intelligent drones, faster computers and systems that cannot be hacked, you have great advantages on the battlefield. We already see that in the war in Ukraine. Therefore, our future security depends on the ability to both develop and protect new technologies. I am proud that Denmark is in a position where we can support the development of quantum technologies in the alliance with the center we launched today", says the Minister of Defence, Troels Lund Poulsen.

The new center is a part of the NATO DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic), which consists of test centers and accelerator sites across the Alliance. The initiative will support maintaining NATO's technological edge and work in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum-enabled technologies and space technology.

"In Denmark, we are already at the forefront of innovation and development of new technologies, and quantum technologies are no exception. We are in the midst of great geopolitical tensions that makes it vital to protect and develop our positions of strength. With a new center for quantum technologies on Danish soil we can ensure our technological edge and reap great benefits for Danish businesses," says the Minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, Morten Bdskov.

DIANA will start by prioritizing to strengthen the development of emerging and disrupting technologies within the areas of energy resilience, secure information sharing and sensing and surveillance.

The Danish contribution to the DIANA is centered on quantum technologies, and consists of an accelerator site at the BioInnovation Institute Deep Tech Lab - Quantum, and four test centers anchored at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University and supported by the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Aarhus and the Danish National Metrology Institute.

"NATO choosing to place a center for quantum technologies in Denmark is a great recognition of Danish research. This will give us a unique opportunity to attract some of the world's leading scientists and most innovative start-ups and bring quantum technology research into practice in our society. It is a cementation of Denmark's strong position in this area in which the government has allocated more than one billion Danish kroner the coming years under the auspices of our national quantum strategy," says the Minister of Higher Education and Science, Christina Egelund.

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September 29, 2023

Release

Department of Defense and Small Business Administration Roll Out the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies (SBICCT) Initiative

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced the rollout of the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technology (SBICCT) Initiative, a joint effort between the SBA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to increase private capital investment in critical technologies that strengthen our economic and national security.

SBICCT is the first initiative under the historic SBA-DoD partnership, launched by the Secretary and the Administrator in December 2022, to grow private sector investment in component-level technologies and production processes vital to US national security interests.

Specifically, the SBICCT Initiative will pair private capital with federally-guaranteed loans to increase investment in DoD's critical technology areas. The DoD's Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) and the SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation (OII) will execute this partnership, coupling the SBA's experience executing its established and highly successful Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program with the DoD's robust scientific and technical expertise and national security mission.

"To maintain our competitive advantage, the United States must continue to harness its unmatched strengths  its private capital markets, national security supplier base, and vibrant technological ecosystem. In alignment with the National Defense Strategy, the SBICCT Initiative will further enable DoD to work with both government and the private sector to build enduring advantages for the warfighter and for the taxpayer," Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said.



The SBICCT Initiative will demonstrate the power of public-private partnerships to grow and modernize our national security supplier base, strengthening our enduring national and economic security.

For more information on the SBICCT Initiative and application criteria, please visit the SBA website.

About the Office of Strategic Capital

Established by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on December 1, 2022, the Office of Strategic Capital has a mission to ensure the future warfighter has the capabilities they need by attracting and scaling private capital to critical technologies for national security. Follow the work of the Office of Strategic Capital at https://www.cto.mil/osc/.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3543777/

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September 29, 2023

By Jim Garamone , DOD News

U.S. Constitution at Center of Military Transfer of Responsibility Ceremony

Officials emphasized the importance of the U.S. Constitution to the military as Army Gen. Mark A. Milley transferred responsibility as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Jr.

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and the rest of the U.S. national security hierarchy attended the ceremony at Fort Myer, Virginia, today. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking member of the U.S. military and is the principal military advisor to the present, vice president, the secretary of defense and the rest of the national security establishment.

What the Constitution means to the American military was a key point in many of the remarks at the ceremony.

Milley ended almost 44 years in uniform, and Biden thanked the general for his service in war zones around the world. "When it comes to the Constitution, that is and always has been Mark's North Star," the president said. He noted that on the general's challenge coin are the words "We the people"  the first three words of the preamble to the Constitution.

"Those three little words mean so much to every American, but especially to those who stand in the service of our nation," Biden said.

Those words are what make the United States a strong nation, the president said. It is "who we are as a democracy, and how the United States for more than two centuries, has always managed to keep moving forward," he said. "Not fealty to any one person or to a political party. But to the idea of America. An idea unlike any other in human history. That's what we swear an oath to. And that is why generations of young women and men  Americans of every background and creed  have stepped forward to be part of the greatest fighting force in the history of the world."

Biden said he was pleased that the Senate acted to confirm Brown as chairman, but said it is "thoroughly, totally unacceptable that more than 300 other highly qualified military officers are still in limbo."

The hold on these promotions impacts everything from readiness to morale to retention. "Our troops deserve so much better," he said.

Austin said the past few years have been challenging for the military. As chairman, Milley had to take on the pacing challenge of China, confronted the COVID-19 pandemic and helped put together the coalition to help Ukraine fight back after Russia's imperial invasion, the secretary said.

"General Milley has a deep sense of history," Austin said. "And he knows that future generations will judge us harshly if we fail to defend the post-war order built by American leadership. And so, he hasn't just studied history. He has made history."

Brown thanked the president and secretary for their confidence in him and gave a short preview of his priorities. "As we step out together in today's uncertain security landscape, honing our warfighting skills has primacy in all we do," he said. "We must focus on integrating our military power within our services, across the joint force and with our allies and partners to deter aggression, to fight when called upon and to decisively prevail in war,"

The U.S. military must focus on modernizing and aggressively leading with new concepts and approaches, he said. "Finally, trust is the foundation of our profession," Brown said. "As chairman, every day, I will focus on strengthening the bonds of trust across our force, ensuring the American people know their military and its service members  active, Guard, Reserve and civilian  only as the unwavering defenders of the Constitution, and servants of our nation."

Milley said he was "deeply honored" to serve as a U.S. soldier for almost 44 years and was humbled to be the 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "The Joint Force ... is the most lethal and capable military in the world, and our enemies know it," he said. "We are currently standing watch on freedom's frontier with a quarter of a million troops deployed in 150 countries."

During his four-year tenure, U.S. forces have participated in countless operations, exercises and training events around the world. "We've destroyed [the Islamic State] and served justice to [Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-] Baghdadi," he said. "We supported Ukraine in their fight for freedom against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's war of aggression and strengthened the NATO alliance. We maintain stability in Asia. We fought terrorists in Africa and the Middle East. We defended the homeland, provided support for countless disasters and protected the American people during COVID."

Milley particularly noted that more than 800,000 U.S. service members served in Afghanistan. "To each of you, be proud that you protected this country for 20 consecutive years at great cost, with 2,326 killed in action, and 20,713 of us wounded alongside your brave colleagues from CIA and FBI and Department of State and USAID and many others from our government and our allies and partners," he said. "Hold your head high: You served. You did what your country asked. And each of you served with honor, courage, skill and dignity and never forget that."

That kind of service is about the American Republic, he said, and "the ideas and the values that make up this great experiment in liberty. Those values and ideas are contained within the Constitution of the United States of America, which is the moral North Star for all of us who have the privilege of wearing the cloth of our nation."

The Constitution gives purpose to service. "It is that document that all of us in uniform, swear to protect and defend against all enemies  foreign and domestic," Milley said. "That has been true across generations. And we in uniform are willing to die, to pass that document on to the next generation."

The Constitution makes the American military unique. "We don't take an oath to a country. We don't take an oath to a tribe. We don't take an oath to a religion. We don't take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator. We don't take an oath to an individual," he said. "We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we're willing to die to protect it."

Austin thanked Milley for his service and spoke to the joint force. "Every day America is counting on you," he said. "We're counting on you to deter aggression wherever we can, to stand ready to fight and to win wherever we must, and to work with our partners for a more secure and peaceful world. And to defend the Republic that we love. The watch is changing, but the mission goes on."

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September 29, 2023

By C. Todd Lopez , DOD News

Military Service Leaders Address Deficiencies in Barracks

Recent reports in the private media have detailed conditions in the barracks which house single service members. Included in those reports are revelations of exposed raw sewage, extensive mold and other non-functioning systems such as HVAC and fire detection.

On Capitol Hill Wednesday leaders of the military services responsible for maintaining those military barracks addressed concerns from lawmakers and discussed how the services plan to implement remedies.

Carla Coulson, the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, housing and partnerships told members of the House Armed Services Committee that the Army is aware of problems in its housing for unaccompanied servicemembers and that it's already working on a solution.

"Our leadership, from our secretary, our chief of staff on down, are focusing very clearly on quality of life and barracks as a piece of that," she said. "We've done a lot of work already."

In the next budget release, which will happen in February 2024, Coulson said she expects there will be a multi-year investment strategy that looks at providing additional sustainment dollars for things like military barracks.

"We need to sustain the inventory we have," she said. "Just as an example, we've got in the Army, through our modeling efforts, we can see that we have 300 permanent party barracks buildings that are in poor and failing shape. Across our fiscal year defense program from [2024 to 2028], we can address 113 of those [barracks] buildings. But at the same time, if we don't fully sustain, we'll have 110 barracks, existing barracks buildings, that will move from good or adequate into the poor and failing category. So, we don't make much progress unless we can ensure that we are doing preventative maintenance and fully sustaining our inventory."

Robert E. Thompson, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment, said barracks have in the past been prioritized beneath other facilities that are deemed more critical  but said that the barracks themselves are critical.

"I think there needs to be a realization that we are approaching ... facility criticality maybe from the wrong angle in the department," he said. "In resource-constrained environments, the bias is to put resources towards the most critical installation facilities. The reality is the introduction of a single sailor ... into a facility makes it, by definition, mission critical. The fact that these are their homes makes it mission critical."

The standards against which facilities like barracks are evaluated also need to change, Thompson said.

"There needs to be a standard for livability," he said. "There needs to be a ... clear-eyed view of what the standard is for this place to be dignified, safe and comfortable."

Robert E. Moriarty, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations said in the past the Air Force had done a good job on facility maintenance but has lost that focus in recent years.

"We used to have a dorm focus fund," he said. "We went away from that. And when we centralized a lot of our installation management, when we put all the money together, we went to a worst first or then went to a condition-based thing and prioritized everything together, looking at the best."

Now, he said, the Air Force has "gone back" to what it had done in the past.

"We now have a focused fund, if you will, where we set aside the amount of funds, we think we need to keep the dorms good and accelerate that," he said.

Elizabeth Field, the director of defense capabilities and management within the Government Accountability Office, also testified and discussed with lawmakers, findings revealed in a recently released GAO report related to military barracks. That report, released this month, was produced after visiting military barracks around the Defense Department and talking with those who live there.

Field said the GAO found, among other things, that the military services can do a better job of assessing the most accurate conditions in military barracks by leaning more heavily on input from the servicemembers who live there.

"What we learned ... is that these service members have a lot to say and are eager for someone to listen," she told lawmakers.

The GAO, Field said, found that there were many complaints from servicemembers about mold in the barracks, inadequate maintenance, broken heating and air conditioning systems and a myriad of other problems that relate to health and sanitation.

One contributing factor to the condition of military barracks has been funding. Field said the Defense Department tends to fund only about 80% of its sustainment needs, and that shortfall of funding means that military barracks often end up as a low priority.

"The facilities that most often lose out are things like barracks," she said. "Eventually if you don't fund sustainment enough, you're going to need to build an entirely new barracks, which means you need new military construction funding."

The GAO report made a series of 31 recommendations to the Defense Department and military services that can be used to improve barracks living conditions for servicemembers.

"We believe that the recommendations in our report, if fully implemented, will put the department on a better footing to address this substantial challenge," she said. "But it will take years to reverse the chronic neglect and underfunding we uncovered."

In a separate statement, Brendan Owens, the assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations and environment and the DOD's chief housing officer, responded to the findings in the GAO report.

"In return for the commitment and sacrifices that service members make when they volunteer to defend our nation, the Department of Defense has a moral obligation to ensure that the places they live and work dignify their service," Owens said. "The DOD has, in too many instances, failed to live up to our role in making sure housing for our soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and Guardians honors their commitment and enables them to bring the best versions of themselves to their critical missions."

Owens said he is committed to correcting deficiencies in unaccompanied housing across the Defense Department.

"I will move out aggressively to increase oversight and accountability in government-owned unaccompanied housing and to address unacceptable living conditions impacting our service members," Owens said. "My office will work with the military departments to ensure that you have a safe and secure place to live. Collectively, we will improve our responsiveness to your concerns as we strive to ensure a living experience that enhances your wellbeing and readiness so that you can defend the citizens of the United States as part of the finest military in the history of the world."

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Azerbaijan: Statement by the Spokesperson on the displacement of people from Nagorno-Karabakh

European External Action Service (EEAS)

29.09.2023

EEAS Press Team

A mass exodus of Karabakh Armenians is currently taking place, as a result of Azerbaijan's military operation of 19 and 20 September and of the previous months-long blockage of the Lachin corridor. People are fleeing their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh and are finding refuge in Armenia.

It is urgent to ensure continuous unimpeded humanitarian support to those who are still in need in Karabakh, as well as to those who have left. The European Union supports the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is facilitating the urgent evacuation of wounded people as well as patients, and the provision of emergency assistance on the ground.

The European Commission announced an additional package of humanitarian aid of EUR 5M to assist people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and those who find themselves in a vulnerable situation inside Karabakh. The EU and its Member States stand ready to provide additional humanitarian assistance.

Azerbaijan bears the responsibility to ensure the rights and security of the Karabakh Armenians, including their right to live in their homes in dignity without intimidation and discrimination, as well as the right to return for those displaced. It is essential that a UN mission can access the territory within the next days.

The European Union has taken note of the announced launch of a process of registration of Armenian residents through a dedicated portal by the Azerbaijani authorities. The EU will continue following closely the developments on the ground.



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Foreign Minister Tsahkna: Together we can help Ukraine win the war

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

29.09.2023

Today 28 September, Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland Thordis Kolbrun R. Gylfadottir who is on a visit to Estonia.

The main topics of discussion during the working visit were support for Ukraine, the expansion of NATO and cooperation between the Nordic countries and Baltic States. "We talked about how to provide even more support to Ukraine, including on its journey towards NATO accession, how to continue with the international isolation of Russia and how to bring Russia's ruling elite to justice," explained Minister Tsahkna, who stressed the importance of approving the 12th package of sanctions so that the cost of the war becomes even greater for Russia.

The ministers also discussed the close cooperation between Estonia and Iceland and the importance of cooperation between the Nordic countries and Baltic States. "The Nordic-Baltic cooperation platform should be made even more robust than it already is, since we share the same values and can do great things together," Minister Tsahkna remarked. "The world listens to us."

Estonia has also acknowledged its Icelandic colleagues for the smooth cooperation between the two countries in constructing the Zhytomyr kindergarten and successfully implementing a field hospital project in Ukraine. This partnership is tangible proof that assistance can already be provided to Ukraine in the rebuilding of the country.

This is Minister Gylfadottir's first visit to Estonia.

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When Americans went to the ballot box last November, they elected one of the oldest Congresses in history, with a Senate thats the second-oldest in history and a House that comes in third.

Its part of a continued trend of older lawmakers, as both chambers have seen their average age rise in the past four decades. A group behind a potential North Dakota ballot measure believes thats an issue.

Retire Congress North Dakota began circulating a petition in July that would allow voters to decide whether to put an age limit on their congressional delegation. The proposed measure would ban any candidate who could attain 81 years of age before the end of his or her term from being elected or appointed to represent the state in Congress.

It comes amid intensifying debates about age in politics, fueled by multiple high-profile aging figures. But some experts arent sure a hard age limit is the best route to address these concerns.

A national debate

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who died on Thursday, came under fire this year for deciding to see out her last term despite her ailing health. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has frozen multiple times in front of reporters after suffering a fall earlier this year that sidelined him for six weeks. And both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who are their respective parties frontrunners for the 2024 presidential election, would be the oldest person to be elected to the countrys highest office on Election Day next year. The candidates also faced scrutiny for their age and mental competency in their 2020 bids for the White House.

Journalist William Kole is the author of The Big 100, a book on "superaging" and aging in America that will come out on Tuesday. "Superaging" is the phenomenon of people in their 70s or 80s who have cognitive or physical function that parallels that of people who are decades younger. Across America, people are living longer thanks to medical advances, Kole said, and these developments, coupled with the sprawling size of the baby boomer generation, mean older Americans have more time to get involved in politics -- and can stay in office longer. In many cases, riding the wave of incumbency also allows these older candidates to extend their term in office.

Though these leaders experience could be an asset, Kole said, this phenomenon has also resulted in an overrepresentation of older Americans in Congress.

One in four members of Congress are over 70. And, of course, we have the oldest president we've ever had, Kole said. So there's a lot of concern there. The question becomes, how do we fix it?

For initiative chair Jared Hendrix, the clear answer to that question comes in the form of the ballot measure.

Hendrix previously chaired a ballot initiative last year that was backed by national term limit advocacy group U.S. Term Limits and successfully implemented term limits for state elected officials. Members of the state Legislature now cant serve for more than eight years in a chamber, and the governor can only be elected twice as a result of the 2022 effort.

Hendrix said the age-limit initiative builds on the change he sought with the previous ballot measure, and hes tapped into some of the same networks to promote it.

These (older lawmakers) are voting on budget bills that are hundreds of billions of dollars, they're making decisions that could possibly lead to nuclear war, God forbid. So it's important, what their ability and state of mind is, Hendrix said. We don't want any of those problems ... in North Dakota.

Is there a problem?

Despite the prominence of national discourse about age in politics, the issue hasnt been as prevalent for North Dakota. Just three of the 47 people to serve in the states congressional delegation were in office while at or above 80 years old, with the oldest member of that group being former Democratic Sen. Quentin Burdick, who died in office at 84. His father, former Republican Rep. Usher Burdick, stepped down at 80, and former Republican Sen. Milton Young did so at 83. The younger Burdick was the only one of the three to be elected after he turned 80.

Just three additional members of North Dakotas congressional delegation were in office while 70 years old or older. And all three of the states current members of Congress have many years before they would hit the proposed threshold: Sen. John Hoeven is 66, Sen. Kevin Cramer -- who is up for reelection in 2024 -- is 62 and Rep. Kelly Armstrong is 46.

Those figures indicate that it might be a long time before a potential candidate would be impacted by the ballot measure. However, Kole pointed out that the current Congress is the oldest in history, and Americans will likely see their elected officials, who often have access to top-tier health care, live longer.

To that end, Hendrix said the measure is more of a preventative issue in the wake of this trend than a pressing matter in North Dakota.

But Joseph Gaugler, the Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging at the University of Minnesota, pushed back on Hendrixs framing of the ballot measure as a solution to the issue, pointing out that age is not the only determinant of a politicians mental capabilities.

There's a great deal of heterogeneity and diversity in cognitive function amongst older people at any given age, Gaugler said. Using an age, a chronological age, as kind of an arbitrary demarcation point ... its using a hammer, when a screwdriver would do.

There are normal changes associated with cognitive function that occur as a person ages, Gaugler said. But a healthy 80-year-old is impacted by aging in a completely different way than someone of a similar age who has a disease such as Alzheimers.

Gaugler called the ballot measures age cutoff an arbitrary figure that doesnt necessarily address the fact that medical conditions could be behind a politicians ailing health. Politicians of all ages are forced to weigh their health as they decide whether they want to remain in office, Gaugler said. And that point was reinforced this month when 55-year-old Virginia U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton announced she will not run for re-election in 2024 after a months-old Parkinsons disease diagnosis was modified to reflect that she has a more intense iteration of the illness.

Its cases like Wextons that indicate debates about age in politics can be more nuanced than they appear. And using an age limit as a blanket fix wont automatically resolve the plethora of issues that spring from a Congress that doesn't reflect the country's overall demographics, Gaugler said. Those concerns have ranged from questions about competence in governing to a lack of young voices and overrepresentation of older generations in both chambers. Instead, such an age limit could only further the stigma around aging, he said.

Simply making a younger legislator or younger body of politicians won't necessarily, I would argue, lead to actually competent governance, Gaugler said.

A challenge to precedent

To make it on the ballot, supporters of the measure must collect 31,164 valid signatures, or 4% of the states population according to the 2020 census. They must do so by Feb. 12, 2024, to make it on the June primary ballot, or by July 8, 2024, for the November general election. But thats also become a point of contention.

Hendrix, alongside petition management firm Accelevate 2020 and citizen referendum-focused Liberty Initiative Fund, filed a civil complaint on Sept. 22 pushing back on the states requirement that all circulators of ballot initiative petitions be North Dakota residents. Circulators can be paid for their work, and the filing claims Accelevate 2020 would be able to save supporters money because the out-of-state organization can more efficiently collect signatures than the North Dakota residents who are currently being employed to do so.

The suit alleges that North Dakotas circulator restrictions are an overstep at the state level that infringes on the constitutional rights of out-of-state residents. State requirements for circulators vary across the country; seven of the 26 states that have an initiative or veto referendum process also have residency requirements. North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Secretary of State Michael Howe are named as the defendants in the complaint. They have not yet filed a response to the suit.

Hendrix said the filing is important as no other campaign in North Dakota is restricted the same way, referring to campaigns such as those for state elected office. However, he also recognized that the filing may not impact the age limit ballot measure, as Retire Congress North Dakota is currently circulating its petition in hopes of meeting the February deadline for the primary ballot. The group had 8,279 signatures as of Aug. 30, according to the filing.

But even if the measure makes it on the ballot and subsequently wins majority support, the matter of age limits may not be resolved.

Sixteen states have implemented term limits on their state legislators, and 31 have mandatory retirement ages for state-level judges -- facts Hendrix draws upon when he makes the case for North Dakotas congressional age limits ballot measure, as he claims the issues are "similar in nature." But the federal nature of the proposed ballot measure could complicate things.

In U.S. Term Limits Inc. v. Thornton, state-level restrictions on federal officials were tested after Arkansas passed a constitutional amendment that enforced limits of two terms for the states senators and three for its representatives. The amendment was eventually shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court because it enforced more restrictions on Arkansas congressional delegations than those enumerated in the Constitution.

In North Dakota, a similar scenario could play out, according to Carleton College Political Science and International Relations Professor Ryan Dawkins.

Given the precedent established in Term Limits v. Thornton, some sort of pushback is almost certainly going to happen, and could likely turn into a drawn-out legal battle that ends up in front of the Supreme Court, he said.

I see no reason why this also wouldn't face the same kind of critical scrutiny by the court, Dawkins said. It is a different court than it was in the 1990s. But I don't see any reason why this court would change its tune today.

As a result, voters should consider the potential legal implications of the ballot measure, Dawkins said, though he also recognized its an opportunity for residents to emphasize their worries about age in politics.

Hendrix said supporters of the issue werent focused on court precedents when they got together to consider the proposal. Instead, he said, the focus is state-level action, with the hope that any court response that might arise would agree with the initiatives goals.

We think this is pretty common sense, Hendrix said of the initiative. It just came together, and we decided to move forward with it.
President and Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discuss topical NATO matters and participation in EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine

Finnish Government

Government Communications Department

29.9.2023

Press release

On Friday 29 September, the President of the Republic and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed topical NATO matters and the upcoming meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence.

In addition, the President of the Republic and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy discussed Finland's participation in the European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM) as part of Finland's support to Ukraine.

The President and the Committee also had a preliminary debate about the preparation of the Government Report on Foreign and Security Policy.

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NATO Secretary General calls for creation of a transatlantic quantum community, welcomes Denmark's leadership

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

29 Sep. 2023

In a visit to Copenhagen on Friday (29 September 2023), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for the development of a transatlantic quantum community, harnessing the power of this critical technology for our security. In a joint statement with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the two leaders underscored the importance of closer collaboration among public, private and academic sectors, and the acceleration of responsible innovation.

Speaking alongside Prime Minister Frederiksen at the Copenhagen Quantum Conference 2023, Mr Stoltenberg said: "NATO has always adapted to and adopted new technologies to keep our people safe". He added: "with the rapid spread of disruptive technologies, we must adapt further and faster than ever before, including in the field of quantum.... We need to make sure these technologies work for us - not against us." He further praised Denmark for being "a driving force behind NATO's innovation agenda, and a leader in the field on quantum technologies in Europe.

The Secretary General confirmed that NATO will have developed a quantum strategy by the end of this year, to ensure the Alliance is "quantum-ready" and "able to integrate the right technologies into our capabilities and protect against adversarial use."

Later in the day, the Secretary General opened the new NATO accelerator site "Deep Tech Lab - Quantum" together with the Danish Minister of Defence, Troels Lund Poulsen; the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, Morten Bdskov; and the Minister of Higher Education and Science, Christina Egelund. The Lab will help start-ups from across the Alliance commercialise quantum-enabled solutions, as part of NATO's new Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).

DIANA consists of a network of test centers and accelerator sites across NATO countries, where innovators develop new technologies to solve pressing security challenges. The Deep Tech Lab - Quantum in Copenhagen is one of five pilot accelerator sites launched in 2023.

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NATO Secretary General addresses first International Defence Industry Forum in Kyiv: there is no defence without industry

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

29 Sep. 2023

Addressing the first meeting of the International Defence Industry Forum in Kyiv on Friday (29 September 2023), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg payed tribute to the Ukrainian people and armed forces, whose courage and heroism have inspired the world as they continue to push back on Russia's brutal war of aggression.

"But courage alone does not stop drones, heroism alone cannot intercept missiles. Ukraine needs capabilities, high quality, high quantity, and quickly," Mr Stoltenberg said, adding that "there is no defence without industry."

Since Russia's full-scale invasion last year, many Allies have significantly depleted their stocks in order to support Ukraine. NATO is working through its Defence Production Action Plan to aggregate demand and increase interoperability. The NATO Support and Procurement Agency is overseeing a number of major initiatives, including framework contracts for 2.4 billion worth of key ammunition, including 1 billion of firm orders to cover capabilities such as 155 millimetre artillery, anti-tank guided missiles, and main battle tank ammunition.

The Secretary General praised the resourcefulness of the Ukrainian defence industry, saying: "from drones to de-mining, Ukraine has innovated at lightning speed". He added that "the stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger their position will be at any negotiating table. So while it may sound like a paradox, weapons for Ukraine are the way to peace".

Major defence companies from across the Alliance attended the Forum, with participants from over 20 countries. NATO was represented by Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment Wendy Gilmour.

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UN General Assembly president urges Afghan authorities to allow girls back to school

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 10:11, September 29, 2023

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis on Thursday urged the Afghan authorities to reconsider their decision to ban women and girls from proper education.

Afghan women and girls, like men, have inalienable rights - human rights that must be upheld and honored, said Francis.

"So I would urge the Afghan authorities to reconsider the policy and allow girls to go to school, to get an education, so that they can play a role in the development of their communities and society," he told a press briefing.

"They can add value in making Afghanistan a strong, cohesive state, which I'm sure they want to become, and not create this sense of hopelessness by keeping girls out of school. It is not a behavior that is going to strengthen the country. If anything, it is likely to weaken the country," he said. "So I entreat them to reconsider this policy, sooner rather than later."

He noted that Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are not allowed in education.

"It's inconceivable, really, that this should be the case. It is an anachronism. It is a global anachronism. And anachronisms need to be fixed," he said.

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Report: Kuwait withdraws forces from Saudi Arabia's southern border with Yemen

Iran Press TV

Friday, 29 September 2023 7:24 AM

Kuwait, which is part of a Saudi-led military coalition waging a military onslaught and enforcing a tight blockade against Yemen, has reportedly withdrawn forces from areas on the southern border of Saudi Arabia with the war-torn Arab country.

On Thursday, sources close to the Saudi-backed and Aden-based Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) circulated video clips on social media platforms, showing the pullout of Kuwaiti troops from the regions and their return to their homeland.

The development comes more than eight years after Kuwait deployed its forces along Saudi Arabia's border with Yemen after Riyadh initiated a brutal war of aggression against its southern neighbor in March 2015.

The reasons for the pullout of Kuwaiti forces are unclear, and it is unknown whether it is related to any disputes within the Riyadh-led alliance.

Some observers have associated the move with growing indications that Yemeni fighters would launch retaliatory operations and target Kuwaiti troops just like the recent attack on Bahraini forces stationed on the Saudi border with Yemen.

Two Bahraini servicemen in Saudi Arabia were confirmed dead in Monday's drone attack before a third soldier succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday, the Bahrain Defense Force said.

The attack took place as the soldiers were patrolling Saudi Arabia's southern border with Yemen.

Saudi Arabia launched the war of aggression against Yemen in March 2015, enlisting the assistance of some of its regional allies, including the United Arab Emirates, as well as massive shipments of advanced weaponry from the US and Western Europe.

The Western governments extended their political and logistical support to Riyadh in their failed bid to restore power in Yemen to the former Saudi-installed government.

The former Yemeni government's president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, resigned in late 2014 and later fled to Riyadh amid a political conflict with Ansarullah resistance movement.

The movement has been running Yemen's affairs in the absence of a functioning administration.

The war further led to the killing of tens of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire nation into the scene of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

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BRICS to create competitor to SWIFT international payment system

Iran Press TV

Friday, 29 September 2023 6:28 AM

BRICS nations plan to create a money-transferring network competing with the SWIFT international payment system, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov says.

Speaking to TASS news agency on Thursday, Siluanvo said the creation of an alternative to SWIFT will be discussed within the BRICS next year.

Talking to reporters at the Moscow Financial Forum, he said a number of BRICS countries had already developed their own payment systems.

"We are trying to implement our financial information transmission system. Other BRICS countries are either creating their own systems or have their own systems. Therefore, for now, this issue is a topic of discussion," he said.

The Russian official said the economic bloc was looking for ways to replace international payment systems with mechanisms that will help promote trade between member states.

"This is on the agenda of next year's meeting at the level of financial authorities and administrations of the BRICS member countries. It will be one of the standing issues. Today, Russia is rebuilding all relations from the West to the Southeast, and this trend will continue," Siluanov explained.

The move comes as BRICS nations, namely, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- which have complained about the Americans' use of the US currency for politico-economic influence over other nations, damaging their economies-- continue their de-dollarization efforts aimed at promoting trading in the economic bloc.

China has previously launched the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) in 2015 to promote the use of Chinese currency RMB in international trade.

Currently, more than 4,200 banking institutions in 182 countries and regions around the world use the CIPS payment system either directly or through an institution besides the two primarily involved in the transaction.

South Africa's finance minister Enoch Godongwana, who hosted his fellow BRICS finance ministers at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg last month, said the bloc would not be looking to replace international payment systems including SWIFT, but rather consider creating one that would strengthen trade in local currencies.

The bloc's leaders announced at the three-day BRICS summit in Johannesburg that they would task their finance ministers to consider the issues of local currencies, payment instruments, and platforms and report back in a year.

In related news, Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed the West over its abuse of the US dollar and weaponizing it as a tool in international affairs to put pressure on other nations.

In a July meeting between Putin and Dilma Rousseff, the head of the China-based New Development Bank (NBD) -- also known as the BRICS Bank -- the former president of Brazil said the international financial institution was developing an alternative currency to the US dollar as a necessary step at a time when Washington is using the US dollar as a weaponized tool against other nations.

NBD was founded in 2014 by the BRICS group in a bid to move away from the US dollar in international trade as it aims to introduce other currencies as the medium for international trade's financial transactions.

In the meantime, BRICS has announced plans to float a gold-backed currency to settle international trade payments to challenge the global reserve status of the US dollar.

The decision to introduce a new currency, according to RT, is adding momentum to the ongoing de-dollarization trend unfolding in the global economy.

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The Azadi Briefing: Iran And Pakistan Plan To Deport Millions Of Undocumented Afghan Migrants

By Abubakar Siddique September 29, 2023

The Key Issue

Iran and Pakistan have announced separate plans to forcefully deport millions of undocumented Afghan refugees and migrants.

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on September 27 that 5 million Afghans who he said were living "illegally" in the Islamic republic will be deported.

Vahidi said the authorities were "close to implementing the plan," although he did not provide further details.

Imran, an Afghan living in Iran's southwestern city of Shiraz, told Radio Azadi that the authorities were already "gathering Afghans from cities irrespective of whether they have legal documents or not."

Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Minster Jalil Abbas Jilani said on September 28 that Islamabad plans to deport over 1 million Afghans who do not have valid residency documents.

Even before their announcements, Tehran and Islamabad have detained and deported thousands of undocumented Afghans in recent years.

Iran and Pakistan have hosted millions of Afghan refugees since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The Taliban's seizure of power in 2021 fueled another exodus, with an estimated 3.6 million Afghans fleeing their homeland. Around 70 percent of them escaped to Iran, according to the United Nations.

Why It's Important: The forced deportations of millions of impoverished Afghans is likely to further aggravate the devastating humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where millions are on the verge of starvation.

The Taliban government is unlikely to be able to absorb millions of returning refugees and migrants.

The forced deportations of Afghan migrants, many of whom send remittances back to their families, is also likely to cause a financial shock to many households.

Some Afghans, including journalists, activists, and members of the former Afghan government and security forces, could face reprisals from the Taliban if they return to their homeland.

Iran and Pakistan's plans to deport undocumented Afghans come amid their worsening ties with the Taliban.

Taliban fighters have been engaged in separate deadly border clashes with Iranian and Pakistani forces in recent months. Islamabad has accused the Taliban of harboring anti-Pakistan militants, while Tehran has sparred with the Taliban over cross-border water resources.

What's Next: The UN has called for all returns to Afghanistan to be voluntary and urged neighboring countries to offer protection to Afghans seeking security.

But with Iran and Pakistan grappling with economic crises -- and as tensions with the Taliban escalate -- both countries appear unlikely to continue hosting millions of Afghans.

What To Keep An Eye On

Russia appears to have signaled a renewed interest in Afghanistan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, called on the Taliban to form an "ethnopolitical inclusive government" in Kabul, in a move that he said could lead to Moscow potentially recognizing the Taliban government.

Kabulov's comments came ahead of the meeting of the so-called Moscow Format, a regional forum on Afghanistan, on September 29. Launched in 2017, the format brings together regional powers and Afghanistan's neighbors with the stated aim of bringing peace to Afghanistan.

Why It's Important: By hosting the regional conference, Moscow could be signaling its desire to be a player in Afghanistan.

Last month, Moscow hosted Ahmad Massud, the exiled leader of the National Resistant Front of Afghanistan (NRF), an anti-Taliban armed group.

The NRF is the largest group fighting the Taliban but has struggled to attract foreign support. Massud's visit was seen as an effort to win support for the NRF and pressure the Taliban.

Washington has categorically ruled out support for a new armed conflict in Afghanistan.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/azadi-briefing-afghan- migrants-deporting-iran-pakistan-russia/32616150.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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UN's Afghan Mission Condemns Arrest Of Women's Rights Activists By Taliban

By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi September 29, 2023

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on the Taliban on September 29 to cease "arbitrary arrests and detentions" as it highlighted the recent apprehension of two women's rights activists in Kabul.

The UNAMA said in a statement that Neda Parwani and Zholya Parsi had been detained for the past 10 days and expressed deep concern over the arrests and detentions of other individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion.

The statement emphasized that such actions run counter to Afghanistan's international human rights commitments. It also urged the country's Taliban-led government to give them access to legal and medical aid.

"Ongoing arrests and detentions of individuals simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion is deeply troubling and contrary to Afghanistan's international human rights obligations," UNAMA said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

There was no immediate response from Taliban authorities.

Since seizing power in August 2021 in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops, Afghanistan's Taliban government has imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law on the country that largely excludes women from education, employment outside the home, and public life.

In its statement, UNAMA also named three other people it said were in detention -- journalist Mortaza Behbudi, education activist Matiullah Wesa, and university professor Rasul Parsi.

"UNAMA calls for the de facto authorities to cease arbitrary arrests and detentions and to ensure that all those detained are afforded access to family, lawyers and medical care and have their rights to a fair trial upheld," the mission said.

At the same time, Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, said he was "seriously alarmed" by the detention of Parsi and Parwana and requested their immediate and unconditional release.

Meanwhile, Afghan women in Islamabad, Pakistan, protested the arrest of members of civil society in Afghanistan, citing the detention of Parsi and Parwani in particular.

A recording of the protest during which participants demanded their unconditional release was sent to RFE/RL Radio Azadi by a prominent women's rights activist.

With reporting by AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-women- rights-activists-arrested-parsi-parwani-un/32616288.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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UN To Send Humanitarian Mission To Nagorno-Karabakh As Exodus Of Ethnic Armenians Continues

By RFE/RL's Armenian Service, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service September 29, 2023

The United Nations will send a mission to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend, a UN spokesman said after Azerbaijan invited UN agencies to visit the region to monitor the situation there as an exodus of ethnic Armenians continued on September 29.

The mission will mainly assess humanitarian needs, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that the body had not had access to the region "in about 30 years."

"The government of Azerbaijan and the UN have agreed on a mission to the region. The mission will take place over the weekend," he told reporters.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said earlier in a statement that the UN agencies had been invited to send a mission "to become acquainted with the current humanitarian activities being carried out by Azerbaijan in the region."

The ministry said the group members would also be shown "the process of rebuilding certain infrastructure, disarmament, and confiscation of ammunition from illegal Armenian armed forces, as well as the dangers posed by mines."

The announcements come 10 days after a lightning military offensive that gave Azerbaijan complete control over its breakaway region.

The United States and others have called on Baku to allow international monitors into Nagorno-Karabakh amid concerns about possible human rights abuses and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The UN World Food Program has already set up tents in Goris to help provide meals to the refugees, and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh's ethnic Armenian population and Azerbaijani officials also met for the third time since September 19 in the western Azerbaijani city of Yevlax. The sides again discussed humanitarian issues and the reintegration of ethnic Armenians into Azerbaijani society.

Armenia's government estimated that nearly 93,000 Armenians -- more than three-quarters of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh -- had crossed onto its territory as of 4 p.m. local time on September 29.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has accused Azerbaijan of "ethnic cleansing" and warned that no Armenian will remain in the breakaway region in the following days.

"This is a direct act of ethnic cleansing that we warned the international community about," Pashinian told a government meeting on September 28, calling for concrete action by the international community.

Baku has denied accusations of ethnic cleansing and said that it wanted to "reintegrate" the enclave's ethnic Armenian population into Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry on September 28 urged ethnic Armenians to remain in Nagorno-Karabakh despite reports of detentions of former leaders of the breakaway region's de facto armed forces.

Sources close to ethnic Armenian de facto authorities in the region confirmed to RFE/RL on September 29 reports that Azerbaijani officials detained Levon Mnatsakanian, a former commander of Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist armed forces, at a border checkpoint with Armenia.

In addition, Azerbaijan's State Security Service (DTX) said on September 29 it had detained Davit Manukian, former deputy commander of the breakaway region's de facto armed forces, on "terrorism" charges. Two days earlier, Azerbaijan arrested the former de facto prime minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, billionaire Ruben Vardanian.

The de facto Internal Affairs Ministry in the breakaway region said on September 29 that the remains of 170 people have been found at the site of an explosion at a fuel depot, which occurred on September 25 as people sought to fuel their vehicles in order to leave the region. The remains are being transferred to laboratories for medical examination, the ministry said.

The official confirmed that the death toll stands at 68, with more than 290 injured. The cause of the blast has not been determined.

Russia, which used to be Armenia's main military backer but has been criticized by Yerevan for its peacekeepers' failure to prevent the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh, said fleeing Armenians had nothing to fear.

"It's difficult to say who is to blame [for the exodus]. There is no direct reason for such actions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an apparent rejection of Armenia's claims of ethnic cleansing.

"People are nevertheless expressing a desire to leave.... Those who made such a decision should be provided with normal living conditions," Peskov added.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades over the region, which had been a majority ethnic Armenian enclave within the internationally recognized border of Azerbaijan since the Soviet collapse.

The region initially came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. During a war in 2020, however, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict.

That fighting ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire and the deployment of Russian peacekeepers. Those peacekeepers did little, however, to prevent the advances by Azerbaijani forces.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/refugees-nagorno-karabakh- armenia-/32615359.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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Swiss Accuse Late Uzbek President's Daughter Of Running Criminal Organization

By RFE/RL's Uzbek Service September 29, 2023

Switzerland's federal prosecutor has filed an indictment against the imprisoned daughter of Uzbekistan's former president, accusing her of taking bribes and running an elaborate criminal organization known as "The Office."

Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Islam Karimov, who ruled Uzbekistan from 1991 until his death in 2016, is accused of leading the operation, which allegedly channeled hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of bribes from telecoms companies.

Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said on September 28 that money was funneled through bank accounts in several countries before being transferred to banks in Switzerland.

According to the statement, Karimova's network began its operations in Switzerland in 2005 "in order to conceal the capital originating from its criminal dealings in Swiss bank accounts and safes and by purchasing real estate."

"'The Office conducted its criminal activities as a professional business, complying with mandatory regulations and observing a strict allocation of tasks, while also resorting to violence and intimidation," the prosecutors' statement said.

In 2012, Switzerland said it froze around 800 million Swiss francs ($871.3 million) in connection with criminal proceedings against Karimova, a pop diva and businesswoman who had a public falling out with her late father and is currently in an Uzbek prison on embezzlement and criminal conspiracy charges.

The Uzbek Justice Ministry said earlier that it was working with authorities in Switzerland, the United States, France, Russia, and several other nations on the return of Karimova assets that it said were "earned through criminal activities."

In 2020, the Swiss government said a nonbinding framework agreement signed between Switzerland and Uzbekistan meant any returned assets "shall be used for the benefit of the people of Uzbekistan."

Once seen as a possible successor to her father, Karimova was placed under house arrest in Tashkent in 2014 while her father was still alive and running the country. Karimov died in 2016 and Shavkat Mirziyoev succeeded him soon afterward.

Criminal investigators in Switzerland, the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands have linked Karimova to a massive, yearslong bribery scheme that revolved mainly around foreign telecommunications companies gaining access to the Uzbek market.

In December 2017, a Tashkent court sentenced Karimova to a 10-year prison term, but the sentence was later commuted to house arrest for five years. She was detained in March 2019 for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest.

In February 2020, Karimova sent a letter to Mirziyoev offering to return $686 million to the country's treasury in exchange for the dismissal of the court case against her at home.

But a month later, she received an additional 13-year sentence after being found guilty of extortion, money laundering, and other crimes.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbekistan-gulnara- karimova-swiss-criminal-indictment/32616079.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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Recently I wrote about Mesha Mainor, who represents a deep blue district in Atlanta in the Georgia state legislature, announcing that she is switching parties and becoming a Republican.

Mainor specifically noted her frustration with the Democratic Party in its opposition to improving education through parental choice and ongoing Democratic weakness in building strong law enforcement.

I cannot claim a new wave of Black Democrats like Mainor becoming Republicans. But there is certainly a trend.

We now have a meaningful new announcement from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson that he is switching parties and becoming a Republican.

Johnson was elected mayor in Dallas in 2019 and recently won reelection, running unopposed and capturing 98.7% of the vote.

He is enormously popular because his leadership has been enormously successful.

In a column in The Wall Street Journal, in which Johnson discusses his party change, he ticks off the success he has had in reducing violent crime and in creating a business-friendly Dallas with tax cuts and a family-friendly environment through infrastructure.

In a recent Gallup poll, which Johnson cites, Dallas was rated by those polled as the safest city in the country in which to live or visit. Seventy-four percent rated Dallas safe.

It's said that there are two kinds of people: those who want to be someone and those that want to do something.

Politics too often attracts the former. However, those who make a better world are those of the latter variety -- those selflessly looking for truth and how to make things better.

Eric Johnson is clearly someone driven to make things better.

When he writes "American cities need Republicans -- and Republicans need American cities," it is not because he sees a more promising career path for himself in the Republican Party.

It's because he truly believes that America's cities need mayors "to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism."

If we want to see an example of the opposite of what Eric Johnson and Dallas' citizens have achieved, look no further than Chicago.

Earlier this year, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who served from 2019 to 2022, became the first Chicago mayor in 40 years not to get reelected.

Over this period, serious crime in Chicago increased 33%.

Lightfoot's rejection seemed like the lights were going on among Chicago voters that the progressive agenda is not going to solve their horrible crime problem.

Paul Vallas, a conservative Democrat running on law and order and strengthening police enforcement, finished first in the February mayor election in which Lightfoot finished third.

However, with no candidate capturing a majority, the election moved to a runoff, and progressive Brandon Johnson, who finished 11 points behind Vallas in the first round, edged him out 52.2%-47.8% in the runoff.

Johnson brought in socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and successfully peddled the same failed progressive message to Black and Hispanic voters in Chicago.

In the same Gallup poll in which Dallas was selected as the safest city in America, Chicago came in next to last, with only 27% saying that Chicago is safe.

For sure, Chicago voters bought more of the same and will get more of the same failures.

Last year, Whole Foods closed its store in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago and Walmart has closed four stores.

All because of crime.

What is Mayor Brandon Johnson's solution? Government-run grocery stores.

"The city of Chicago is reimagining the role government can play in our lives by exploring a public option for grocery stores," said a spokesperson for Chicago's Economic Security Project.

For sure this is an idea destined for failure.

Citizens of all ethnicities in Chicago deserve leadership that they will not get from their Black Democrat mayor that Dallas is getting from their Black Republican mayor.

Safe and prosperous communities.

Limited government, individual freedom, rule of law and traditional family values.

Conservatism is the answer.
German Chancellor Scholz, Five Central Asian Leaders Meet As Berlin Looks To Blunt Moscow's Influence

By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, RFE/RL's Tajik Service, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service September 29, 2023

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and five Central Asian nations' leaders have discussed cooperation and ties as Berlin looks to gain influence in the region that has been traditionally a sphere of dominance for Russia.

Scholz greeted presidents Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev of Kazakhstan, Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Shavkat Mirziyoev of Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan's former president and current chairman of the People's Council, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, in the German capital, on September 29.

The gathering comes amid efforts to counter Russian influence on the Central Asian states during the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February last year.

Scholz and Toqaev held talks a day earlier, at which the German chancellor praised Kazakhstan's efforts to stop the circumvention of sanctions against Russia imposed by the West over its aggression against Ukraine.

Since the unprecedented sanctions were implemented, exports from the five Central Asian states to Russia have significantly increased, sparking concerns that some Western companies are using these former Soviet republics to evade the measures taken against Moscow.

As the summit started on September 29, a group of about a dozen Central Asian rights activists rallied in front of the German chancellor's office, demanding the immediate release of political prisoners in region amid signs of backsliding on free speech.

Rahmon's car was pelted with eggs, at least one of which splattered on the window and car seat where the president was sitting as the vehicle stopped near the Chancellery.

On September 28, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement calling on Scholz to focus on human rights in the five tightly controlled Central Asian nations during the summit.

"Germany plays a strong role on Central Asia, as a leading trade and investment partner and a key political motor behind the European Union's Central Asia strategy. It should use this position to make clear that upholding fundamental human rights standards and respecting rule of law are essential to any long-term partnership between Europe and these authoritarian states," the HRW statement said.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden held talks with presidents of the five Central Asian nations in New York amid the United Nations General Assembly.

With reporting by dpa and regionalHeute.de

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/germany-central-asian-leaders- scholz-talks-berlin/32615890.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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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's greetings to participants in the 5th meeting of the Moscow Format of Consultations on Afghanistan

29 September 2023 12:14

1907-29-09-2023

I cordially welcome the participants in the fifth meeting of the Moscow Format of Consultations on Afghanistan. I would like to express our special gratitude to Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and all those involved for the excellent organisation of the event and the hospitality they have extended to its participants. Particular words of welcome are for the main guest, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi.

As an open and universal platform, the Moscow format makes it possible for Afghanistan's neighbours and other regional stakeholders to find common ground in their approaches to developing relations with the current Government of Afghanistan. This coordination of positions is due to facilitate the attainment of the main goal, which is that country's smooth incorporation into various areas of the region's life. We appreciate our regional partners' assistance and support their steps to resolve the Afghan issue.

I must also mention the fact that we are concerned about the attempts by certain extra-regional players to become more active with regard to Afghanistan. A full-scale pooling of efforts between the countries in the region and the NATO states is only possible under the condition that the latter fully recognise their responsibility for the lamentable results of their 20-year military presence in Afghanistan, which has culminated in a complete fiasco. The Western countries, which have inflicted irreparable damage on the people of Afghanistan, must shoulder the main burden of post-conflict restoration of that country. In this connection, Washington's blocking of the Afghan banking assets is counterproductive and only aggravates the state of affairs, complicating the already difficult living conditions of ordinary Afghans.

Under any circumstances, we regard the return of the US and NATO military infrastructure to Afghanistan and neighbouring countries as unacceptable, whatever the pretexts for it. We intend to display special vigilance in this matter and call on all our Moscow Format partners to do the same.

We expect that the effort to reconfigure the government system in Afghanistan will be completed successfully and that politicians representing ethnic and religious minorities will be guaranteed an involvement in state administration. We are confident that this is essential to reaching a stable peace in the country and maintaining security in the region as a whole. We hope that Kabul will step up its counterterrorism and anti-drug efforts.

For our part, we will continue to develop multifaceted contacts with Afghanistan. We welcome the active involvement of Tatarstan, along with other regions of our country, in promoting Russian-Afghan relations.

I am confident that the results achieved by the participants in the meeting will help to strengthen security and ensure socioeconomic development of Afghanistan. I wish you successful discussions and all the best.

SERGEY LAVROV

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Russian peacekeepers deliver 12 tonnes of humanitarian cargo to Stepanakert for civilians of Nagorno-Karabakh

29.09.2023

The humanitarian aid delivered included food, medicines and basic necessities.

In addition, along the route of the humanitarian convoy, Russian peacekeepers provided assistance to civilians travelling independently from the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent handed over drinking water, bread and baby food to all those in need.

The Russian peacekeeping force continues to fulfil its tasks in Nagorno-Karabakh. Continuous cooperation is being maintained with Baku and Stepanakert, aimed at preventing bloodshed, ensuring security and observing the norms of humanitarian law with regard to the civilian population.

The Russian peacekeeping force is hosting 117 civilians, including 50 children, who are currently unable to return to their homes. They are provided with accommodation, food and medical care.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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Spanish national flag raised at NATO Force Integration Unit Slovakia (NFIU SVK)'s HQ building at Vajnory Barracks in Bratislava

Ministry of Defence of The Slovak Republic

29.09.2023

The NATO Force Integration Unit Slovakia (NFIU SVK) has been joined by Spain, represented by Lt Col Adolfo Lena Pajares, with effect from 1 September 2023. The Spanish national flag was raised at the NFIU HQ's building during today's flag raising ceremony.

Participants in attendance included Deputy Defence Minister Marian Majer, Spanish Ambassador Lorea Arribalzaga Ceballos, ambassadors and members of the Diplomatic Corps, Commander Headquarters Multinational Division-Centre (HQ MND-C) Brig Gen Tibor Kralik (SVK A), Commander NFIU SVK Col Marian Kurilla (SVK A), colleagues from the Slovak Armed Forces, and other guests.

The latest contribution to NFIU Slovakia comes as the Spanish government has decided to boost its presence on NATO's eastern flank, following the NATO summit in Vilnius this summer. As a result, service personnel of the Spanish Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de Espana) will soon significantly bolster the NATO Multinational Battlegroup Slovakia (NATO MN BG SVK), thereby adding to a further strengthening of Slovakia's defences.

In his keynote speech, Deputy Defence Minister Marian Majer said: "After Russias invasion of Ukraine when out of a sudden we found ourselves in a completely new security reality, there was a need to demonstrate the Alliances cohesion, solidarity, deterrence and readiness to defend itself collectively against any threat. NATO has never been stronger and more united as we can see it in Slovakia, thanks to the presence of Allies with whom Spain is now joining forces in our country."

NFIU Slovakia assists in coordinating military training and exercises and supports the reception, staging, onward movement and integration (RSOI) of Allied forces in the region to enhance Alliance responsiveness. Last year, it played an active role in building NATO MN BG SVK. The staff working at NFIU SVK come from nine NATO nations: Czechia, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, the UK and the USA.

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Finland: Newest NATO Member Strikes Land Deals to Build Fortifications Near Russian Border - Reports

Sputnik News

20230929

According to Finland's largest newspaper, the Finnish Defense Forces have initiated the signing of agreements with landowners along the Russian border. These agreements grant permission for the construction of fortifications on these territories with only a day's notice.

"Over the last 18 months, dozens of property owners have signed confidential land use contracts that allow the fortification work to begin on their properties on 24 hours' notice," the publication wrote.

Under Finnish law, both individuals and legal entities, including industrial companies, may own land, including land on the state border.

Upon signing the agreement, the landowner will receive a one-time payment of 750 euros. The contract gives the defense forces the right to build defensive structures on the land and then enter into separate lease agreements for these facilities. The document is valid for 20 years.

"The defense forces will inform the owner of the use of his property for urgent construction by phone, letter or e-mail at least one day before the start of construction," the newspaper quoted an excerpt from the document.

The compensation for landowners will be 4,800 euros per hectare. Any damage done to the landowner's property will be compensated separately, the newspaper said.

Finland became the 31st NATO member on April 4, 2023. Stretching for 1,340 kilometers, it boasts the longest external border with Russia, doubling as the border of both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In recent years, Russia has expressed concern about unprecedented NATO activity on its western border under the pretext of "deterrence." Moscow has repeatedly raised concerns about the alliance's military buildup in Europe. The Kremlin has emphasized that Russia "poses no threat to anyone, but will not ignore actions potentially harmful to its interests."

 Sputnik

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Russia to Discuss Extension of Karabakh Peacekeeping Mission With Baku - Kremlin

Sputnik News

20230929

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The possibility of extension of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh will be discussed with Azerbaijan, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Friday.

"Now we are talking about the mission, which is taking place on the territory of Azerbaijan. This will be a topic of our discussion with Azerbaijan," Peskov told reporters.

The spokesman also said that the issue of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan "remains relevant."

 Sputnik

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Secretary Blinken's Call with Serbian President Vucic

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

September 29, 2023

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Secretary Blinken and President Vucic discussed the importance of taking immediate measures to de-escalate tensions with Kosovo in the wake of the September 24 violence and death of a Kosovo Police Sergeant. The Secretary underscored that those responsible for the attacks who are now in Serbia must be held accountable. The Secretary voiced his support for the actions of KFOR and EULEX in responding to this event, noting that incidents like those near the Banjska Monastery present unacceptable challenges to KFOR and the international community, and welcomed KFOR's increased presence and the North Atlantic Council's decision to authorize additional forces. The Secretary reiterated Serbia must accompany immediate de-escalation with full implementation of its commitments under the normalization agreement within the EU-facilitated Dialogue.



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The United States of America and the Federated States of Micronesia Signed the 2023 Federal Programs and Services Agreement

US Department of State

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

September 29, 2023

Yesterday, the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia signed the 2023 Federal Programs and Services Agreement on the continuation of essential programs and services provided by U.S. agencies to the Federated States of Micronesia. The conclusion of this Agreement is an affirmation of our close and continuing partnership.

Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations Joseph Yun signed the Agreement for the United States and Chief Negotiator Leo Falcam, Jr. signed for the Federated States of Micronesia.

JCRP Chair Asterio Takesy, Charge d'affaires Jackson Soram of the Federated States of Micronesia, and U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Carmen G. Cantor attended the signing at the State Department in Washington, D.C.

The Federal Program and Services Agreement was signed as part of the negotiations related to Compact of Free Association and confirms the shared desire to strengthen the special and historic partnership between our nations.

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Senior Administration Officials Previewing the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue and High-Level Security Dialogue

US Department of State

Special Briefing

Office of the Spokesperson

Via Teleconference

September 29, 2023

MODERATOR: Great. Thanks very much. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you very much for joining us today for this on background call related to the upcoming U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue and High-Level Security Dialogue.

Again, this call is on background and attributable to senior administration officials, but I am very pleased to introduce to you, for the purpose of your own background, our speakers today. We have with us [Senior Administration Official One]. We also have [Senior Administration Official Two] who will both give opening remarks. And then for your awareness, we are also joined by [Senior Administrator Three] as well as [Senior Administration Four], who are both available to answer questions related to their agencies' role in these two dialogues as well.

This call is embargoed until tomorrow, which is Friday, September 29th at 9:00 a.m., so please do keep that in mind in your reporting. And we will repeat those instructions at the end as well. So with that, let me please turn over to [Senior Administration Official One] for opening comments.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you, [Moderator]. Good afternoon to everyone. Over the next week, the United States and Mexico will affirm our broad and deep cooperation, as well as our commitment to building a more prosperous and secure future for the people of North America in a series of important high-level engagements.

Tomorrow, the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative will co-host the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Economic Dialogue also known as the HLED here at the Harry S. Truman Building. Six days later, on October 5, the Government of Mexico will host Secretary Blinken, Attorney General Garland, Secretary Mayorkas, White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and other senior U.S. officials in Mexico City for the third meeting of the U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue or HLSD in shorthand.

These dialogues are really the scaffolding for our economic and security cooperation with Mexico. In our annual meetings, we assess our progress and drive strategic priorities for the coming year. I'd like to take a moment to frame the immense importance and potential of our economic relationship with Mexico before handing it over to [Senior Administration Official Two] to share her perspective on the security dialogue.

The United States and Mexico share the objective of making North America the most dynamic, competitive, and prosperous economic region in the world. Mexico is the United States largest trading partner. Goods and services trade surpassed $860 billion in 2022, an all-time high. Over the last two years, we've witnessed massive shifts in global supply chains. The increasing impacts of climate change, competition with China, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine create new economic challenges on top of pandemic recovery. At the same time, the availability of clean energy technologies and advances in AI also create opportunities.

The United States and Mexico have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to capitalize on these defining economic trends of our time to boost North American prosperity, all while meeting our respective national goals to combat the climate crisis.

The HLED is an opportunity to advance our affirmative economic agenda for the United States and Mexico and to define our economic trajectory for the 21st century. Economies built on emerging industries, including electric vehicle battery production and critical minerals; economies bound together by safe, efficient, and orderly borders; and economies that provide high paying jobs that scale up clean energy.

We've worked hard this year under the HLED pillars and have made important progress, particularly on supply chain integration, border infrastructure cooperation, economic development in southern Mexico and northern Central America, and workforce development. We look forward to the HLED tomorrow to discussing how we can seize development to create high-paying jobs, increase bilateral integration and economic competitiveness, and provide greater prosperity, stability, and security to North America, all while mitigating and adapting to the increasingly evident effects of climate change.

As then Vice President Biden said during the first HLED ten years ago, the relationship with our North American neighbors is "grounded in a common border, a common culture, common values, common dreams, and common potential." Through the strong institutional architecture we've built with our Mexican partners, including the HLED and the HLSD, we expect to continue to have meaningful and clear-eyed discussions about our shared challenges, and we expect to build on our successes as we create a more secure, stable, and prosperous hemisphere.

With that, I will hand it over to [Senior Administration Official Two] to help frame next week's High-Level Security Dialogue.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Thank you, [Senior Administration Official Two], and good afternoon to everyone. The third High-Level Security Dialogue with Mexico will take place on October 5th, and representatives from the State Department, working with the White House, Homeland Security, and Department of Justice will address three issues. Our joint efforts with Mexico under the Bicentennial Framework, focus on protecting our people, preventing transborder crime, and pursuing criminal networks. These efforts are rooted in mutual trust and respect for each country's sovereignty and independence.

The security threats we face are multidimensional and neither country can overcome these threats alone. We are jointly pursuing solutions that include respect for the rule of law, protection and defense of human rights, and countering corruption.

Most importantly, synthetic drugs are the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 49; nearly 110,000 Americans died last year by drug overdose and two-thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids. Synthetic drugs increasingly affect all countries as the Secretary said in promoting the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, no one country can contain this problem. The High-Level Security Dialogue presents an opportunity for the United States and Mexico to continue working together as leaders in this effort.

We will continue exploring ways to cooperate on law enforcement efforts, information sharing, private sector engagement, and training to combat the synthetic drug threat and the diversion of precursor chemicals used in production of synthetic drugs. We'll also be working to expand public awareness campaigns on the risks of fentanyl through the Bicentennial Framework's binational public affairs - public panel of experts on mental health, substance use, and addiction.

We'll also use the opportunity to expand cooperation on building capacity in Mexico to dismantle transnational criminal organizations' financial networks, target human smuggling operations, and expand prosecution for arms trafficking. The High-Level Security Dialogue presents further opportunities to discuss investing more in justice and security sector institutions to reduce impunity for high impact crimes and including those against Americans living or traveling in Mexico.

We also anticipate discussing how we can further coordinate on multiple operations to increase firearms trafficking investigations and seizures. Finally, we will discuss ongoing efforts to disrupt the finances of transnational criminal organizations, along with their ability to profit from cybercrime.

Of course, there - these are just a few highlights of what we anticipate will be a robust and fruitful discussion on dozens of security issues. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Great. Thank you, both, very much. Operator, could you please inform the new participants of instructions for asking a question?

OPERATOR: Certainly. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you do wish to ask a question, please press 1 and then 0 on your telephone keypad. You can withdraw your question at any time by repeating the 1, 0 command. And if you're using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset before pressing those numbers. Again, it's 1, 0 at this time. And one moment.

MODERATOR: Great. Let's first go the line of Tracy Wilkinson from LA Times.

OPERATOR: Tracy, your line is open.

You may be muted.

I think they may have accidentally removed themselves from queue.

MODERATOR: I see. Okay. Let's please go to the line of Jose Diaz from Reforma.

QUESTION: Yes, this is Jose. Thank you for taking my question. The Mexican military has become a very important actor in the Mexican economy. These days the Mexican military controls customs, several airports, trains, and other areas of the Mexican economy. Is the U.S. concerned at all about this phenomenon, and the little transparency that the Mexican military has for - and that could affect economic competitivity?

And a quick second one: What are the metrics for success in the fight against fentanyl? Is that extraditions? What exactly is the metric of success? Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: [Senior Administration Official One], if you want to address the first question, I can take on the second part of the question.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: I just realized I was on mute. This is [Senior Administration Official One]; apologies for that.

Taking the first question, the United States has a strong and deep relationship and partnership with the Mexican Government and greatly appreciates the opportunity to have, as I said, an open and clear-eyed discussion that's quite meaningful on our cooperation, both within the High-Level Economic Dialogue and the High-Level Security Dialogue. We are heartened that the conversation in those dialogues with the Mexican Government includes all relevant agencies on both sides of the government to ensure strong cooperation.

[Senior Administration Official Two], I'll leave the second part of the question to you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Thank you. Well, I welcome the question on what is happening on fentanyl. Diplomatic engagement to prioritize fentanyl and mobilize coordinated action from governments and industry will spur urgent action on a number of things: first of all, dedicating resources to disrupt fentanyl production and supply; targeting clandestine labs wherever they may be and the chemists and companies involved in synthetic drug production and chemical diversion; enacting stronger chemical control and accountability structures - importantly, that's with private industry participation, in order to reduce the diversion of controlled and dual-use chemicals to illicit productions - and also increase investigation and prosecution of key organized crime figures involved in the synthesis and trafficking of fentanyl. And I call your attention to the eight individuals - Mexican individuals who were sanctioned by the United States this week for involvement in fentanyl trafficking.

MODERATOR: Great, thank you both. Let's go back to the line of Tracy Wilkinson from the LA Times.

QUESTION: Okay, thank you. Thank you. Sorry about that earlier; I'm not used to being called on first, and I was caught off guard.

You've answered a bit of my question, which I was curious about who your interlocutors are going to be, especially next week, and you said a lot of the counterparts in the various agencies. And I ask that because Mexico - I mean, how do you deal with a country where the president denied many of these problems even exist, or exist at the level that a lot of us think, from killings and disappearances to the fentanyl crisis, et cetera? I assume it's that you have to deal with the lower levels of people who are really more active in this and less political.

And then the other question, I wanted to sort of follow up a little bit on what Pepe was I think getting at, is the role of the military, which has taken on so much political and law enforcement powers under this government. How does that sort of color the way you deal with Mexico on all of these issues? Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks very much for the question. In terms of the High-Level Economic Dialogue, I'm very pleased to note that we will have Special Presidential Envoy Kerry participating in the conversation tomorrow here at the department. Because our hope is that we will be able to have a very good conversation among all of us about the four pillars within the High-Level Economic Dialogue, but really also focused on some of the key aspects about how we move forward our cooperation in the area of clean energy transition. And Special Presidential Envoy Kerry has made multiple trips to Mexico, and so we look forward to that part of that conversation. The Mexican delegation, as we understand it, will have all relevant agencies at the table for that conversation.

For the High-Level Security Dialogue, as you well note, we will have all relevant agencies, as I had previously mentioned, from both sides of the government participating in both of the dialogues. And I think one of the hallmarks of our cooperation with the Government of Mexico is the ability for all agencies and all of those at all levels to roll up our sleeves and get work done, which I appreciate greatly in terms of that bilateral relationship.

[Senior Administration Official Two], I'll leave it to you for anything further you'd like to add on the security dialogue.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: Thank you. In speaking with our Mexican counterparts from various secretariats at all levels, we have excellent cooperation and we agree that regardless of where fentanyl may be manufactured, we are - we have good cooperation. We see the need to work together in a variety of areas. And our INL programs that work with prosecutors, that work with investigators, that fund experts from the Department of Justice - all of those are very well received by people at the working level and above in the Mexican Government. Thanks.

MODERATOR: Great, thank you. Let's next get to the line of Eduard Ribas from EFE.

QUESTION: Hi, thank you for doing this. Could you provide us some more details on this trip to Mexico? Is a meeting between Secretary Blinken and President Lopez Obrador expected?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks very much for the question. I have nothing to confirm at this time on the Secretary's calendar while he's in Mexico City other than the High-Level Security Dialogue. But on the High-Level Security Dialogue, I will say that the Secretary looks very forward to a broad agenda while in Mexico City to discuss the range of our shared security challenges.

MODERATOR: Great, thank you. Let's please go to Kylie Madry from Reuters.

QUESTION: Hi there. Can you hear me?

MODERATOR: We sure can.

QUESTION: Okay, perfect. Hi, guys. I did kind of want to emphasize or ask again about some of these outstanding questions about - I guess the U.S.'s concern about either military operations or just the state of aviation and customs in Mexico. We've seen recently - I guess from a commercial perspective, there has been a tie-up between Mexican airline Viva Aerobus and U.S. airline Allegiant put on hold because of the U.S.'s questions about these flight moves from the Mexico City International Airport to the state-run AIFA. And we've also seen - I had the Mexico director of the - of UPS tell me last week that Ambassador Salazar had actually met with airlines affected by the cargo flight moves.

I'm just curious if - one, what exactly are the U.S.'s concerns from both an economic and security standpoint? And will these things be on the agenda in these upcoming meetings? Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks very much for the question. In terms of civil aviation matters, I will note that the United States and Mexico do continue to consult on those matters under the 2015 Air Transport Agreement. They will not be part of the High-Level Economic Dialogue tomorrow.

In terms of your general question in terms of cooperation on the range of issues and the actors who were involved on the Mexican side as opposed to our side, I would stress that again, in addition to the High-Level Economic Dialogue and in addition to the High-Level Security Dialogue, we have a number of ongoing mechanisms that have been longstanding to coordinate with the Mexican Government, sometimes on a daily basis. And those include some longstanding mechanisms we have on the border. We have a binational bridges and border crossings group that meets multiple times in a year to discuss a range of issues, including border infrastructure but customs cooperation as well on the border. We also have an executive steering committee that meets on border management. And so that allows us to get to the heart of making sure that we're coordinating in terms of that daily movement of goods and services and people, and all of those flow across the border on a regular basis.

MODERATOR: Thanks very much. Let's next go to the line of Jim Costa from La Jornada.

QUESTION: Thanks very much, and thanks for doing the call today. I wanted to ask about the migration accord signed last week in Ciudad Juarez. There's been a lot of reporting about it, but we haven't actually seen the details. I don't know if you're going to release the details. But specifically for those folks on the call today, what is new in the accord? It looks like a ratification of a lot of stuff that was already happening, so I wonder if someone could point that out.

And more specifically, is the U.S. providing additional financing to Mexico to make - take these actions? And do you have an agreement from Mexico to take additional actions to deport migrants who are in Mexico who have been returned to Mexico from the United States? Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks very much for the question. This is [Senior Administration Official One]. I'll start by saying we continue on a daily basis to work very closely with the Government of Mexico to address the increased number of encounters at our southwest border. I'd really have to refer you to DHS, who I believe is on the line, regarding engagement over the weekend and last week with the Government of Mexico.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: Yes. Thanks, [Senior Administration Official One], and thanks for the question as well. To echo [Senior Administration Official One]'s points, we discuss migration matters with Mexican officials on an almost daily basis here at the department, and certainly out of our embassy in Mexico City and all along the border. Let me get back to you on your specific question, though, on the latest agreement. I want to confirm some things with my leadership here, and then we'll release what we can as far as any specific agreements with the Mexicans.

MODERATOR: Thanks very much. And we have time for one final question, and that will be for Doug Palmer from Politico.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for taking my question. It's kind of a dumb one, but I just wanted to verify. This is a ministerial-level meeting, meaning it's taking place with - I mean, is Ambassador Tai and Secretary Raimondo and their equivalents from other agencies that are participating, both on the U.S. and the Mexican side?

And then secondly, there's a number of disputes right now between the U.S. and Mexico. One that's been percolating for a while has to do with Mexico's energy policy. Would you expect any resolution of energy issues out of this meeting tomorrow? And if not, would that just (inaudible) for the U.S. to ask for a dispute settlement panel in that case?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks very much for the question. This is [Senior Administration Official One] again. You are correct. Tomorrow, Secretary Blinken will co-host the HLED with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, and Special Presidential Envoy Kerry does intend to join the conversation as well. In addition, our two ambassadors - that would be United States Ambassador Ken Salazar and Mexican Ambassador Moctezuma - will also join the conversation, along with a range of other senior officials. In addition, in Mexico City next week, the High-Level Security Dialogue will also be a cabinet-level meeting.

In terms of your question about consultations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, I'll defer to my USTR colleague who's on the line.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL FOUR: Thanks, [Senior Administration Official One]. So this is [Senior Administration Official Four]. I'm the [title] here at USTR. And thanks for the question, Doug.

So we did request consultations with Mexico under the USMCA in July of last year on four sets of energy measures of Mexico that favor CFE and PEMEX, Mexico's two SOEs in this sector. Those consultations are ongoing, and they won't be subject to the discussions tomorrow in the High-Level Economic Dialogue. I will say that these are important discussions for Ambassador Tai; she engages regularly with her counterpart, Secretary Buenrostro, as part of those consultations.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: May I also add, just in terms of participation at the High-Level Economic Dialogue on the Mexican side, the attendees will include Foreign Secretary Alicia Barcena as well as Mexican Secretary of the Economy Raquel Buenrostro. Over.

MODERATOR: Great. Thank you all very much. Thanks again to everyone for joining us. Just to remind, this call is on background, attributable to senior administration officials, and is embargoed until tomorrow morning, Friday, September 29th, at 9:00 a.m. Thanks again for joining us today.

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UK funding for humanitarian response to events in Nagorno-Karabakh

The UK will give 1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to support the humanitarian response to the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

29 September 2023

The UK has announced vital funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as it provides life-saving medication, healthcare and other essential support to vulnerable people in Nagorno-Karabakh and the wider region.

The 1 million funding will also support ICRC as it works to transport the wounded and help displaced families keep in contact.

Following a military operation by Azerbaijan to take full control of the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a significant portion of the ethnic Armenian population has left Karabakh for the neighbouring Republic of Armenia and face acute humanitarian challenges.

Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty said:

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has placed communities under immense pressure. The UK's financial package will help to protect families and provide crucial assistance to the most vulnerable people.

In calls with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan this week, Minister Docherty urged both sides to return to dialogue and ensure unfettered humanitarian access to vulnerable people and communities affected by events in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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I rebuttaled my teacher LAP point:  [hermaphroditism]  [dioecy (separate sexes) ] I rebuttal that Hermaphroditism is more evolved than androgyny in evolution.

***



focus on ecological niche, reproductive strategies, and evolutionary history: hermaphroditism can do themselves, while dioecy (separate sexes) can not find a mate so distinction.

ChatGPT

Certainly, let's delve deeper into how ecological niche, reproductive strategies, and evolutionary history can influence the advantages of hermaphroditism and dioecy, particularly in the context of mate availability.

Ecological Niche:

Hermaphroditism: Hermaphroditic organisms often excel in environments where resources are scarce or individuals are widely dispersed. They have the capacity to self-fertilize or mate with any conspecific individual they encounter, reducing the need for a specific mate. This adaptability can be advantageous in niches where conditions are unpredictable, or where population densities are low.

Dioecy: Dioecious organisms may struggle in resource-scarce or low-density environments because they require individuals of both sexes to be present for reproduction to occur. If one sex is rarer than the other, finding a mate becomes challenging, potentially limiting reproductive success in such niches.

Reproductive Strategies:

Hermaphroditism: Hermaphroditic organisms have the flexibility to reproduce through both self-fertilization and outcrossing. This versatility allows them to adjust their reproductive strategy in response to changing conditions. In some cases, they may predominantly self-fertilize when mates are scarce and outcross when mates are available in abundance.

Dioecy: Dioecious organisms rely entirely on outcrossing. While this strategy can enhance genetic diversity and reduce the risk of inbreeding, it also makes them more dependent on the presence of compatible mates. If mates are scarce, reproductive opportunities may be limited.

Evolutionary History:

Hermaphroditism: In some lineages, hermaphroditism may have evolved from dioecy as a response to specific ecological challenges. For example, a dioecious species may transition to hermaphroditism when environmental conditions favor self-fertilization. This transition can represent an adaptation to a particular ecological niche.

Dioecy: Dioecious species often maintain separate sexes due to their long evolutionary history of sexual dimorphism. The presence of distinct male and female sexes may provide unique advantages, such as sexual specialization for different ecological roles or reproductive strategies.

In conclusion, the advantage of hermaphroditism over dioecy in terms of mate availability depends on the ecological context, reproductive strategies, and evolutionary history of the organisms in question. Hermaphroditism's ability to reproduce independently when mates are scarce can be beneficial in certain ecological niches and under specific conditions. Conversely, dioecy's reliance on finding mates can be a disadvantage in resource-scarce or low-density environments. However, neither strategy can be universally considered more advanced, as both have evolved in response to different ecological and evolutionary pressures and continue to thrive in various ecosystems.

***

Hermaphroditic evolved more advanced that dioecious in evolution degree?

ChatGPT

The question of whether hermaphroditism or dioecy (separate sexes) is more advanced in terms of evolutionary degree is a complex and debated topic in biology. It's important to note that neither hermaphroditism nor dioecy is inherently more "advanced" than the other. Instead, they represent different reproductive strategies that have evolved in response to various ecological and evolutionary pressures. Both strategies have their own advantages and disadvantages, and their prevalence in different organisms is a result of specific evolutionary adaptations.

Here are some key points to consider:

Hermaphroditism:

Advantages: Hermaphroditic organisms have the ability to mate with any conspecific individual, which can be advantageous in environments where finding a mate can be challenging. This can lead to efficient reproduction.

Disadvantages: Inbreeding can be a concern in hermaphroditic species, as there is a potential for self-fertilization, which can result in reduced genetic diversity and the accumulation of deleterious mutations.

Dioecy (Separate Sexes):

Advantages: Dioecious organisms avoid self-fertilization, which helps maintain genetic diversity. This can be beneficial in changing or unpredictable environments.

Disadvantages: Finding a mate of the opposite sex can be challenging, especially in species with low population densities. This can result in reduced reproductive efficiency.

The prevalence of hermaphroditism or dioecy in different organisms is influenced by factors such as ecological niche, reproductive strategies, and evolutionary history. In some cases, transitions between these reproductive strategies have occurred over evolutionary time, suggesting that neither strategy is inherently more advanced.

Ultimately, the "advanced" nature of a reproductive strategy depends on how well it suits the specific ecological and evolutionary context of a given species. Both hermaphroditism and dioecy have evolved in response to different selective pressures, and they continue to coexist in various lineages of organisms. The diversity of reproductive strategies in the natural world reflects the complexity of evolution and adaptation to diverse environments.

***

The research highlighted in the article challenges the notion that hermaphroditism is more evolved than androgyny in evolution. The study focuses on stick insects, specifically the species Timema douglasi and T. monikensis, which are known to reproduce through parthenogenesis. Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction where the mothers DNA is passed down unchanged to clone daughters.

Traditionally, it was believed that these stick insects reproduced exclusively through parthenogenesis, implying that they were completely celibate and devoid of any sexual activity. However, genetic analysis conducted by Susana Freitas and her colleagues revealed surprising findings. They discovered two populations of stick insects, one of Timema douglasi and the other of T. monikensis, that exhibited higher genetic diversity and other genetic signatures indicating the presence of cryptic sex.

These findings challenge the idea that hermaphroditism, where an individual possesses both male and female reproductive organs, is more evolved than androgyny, where an individual lacks distinct male or female characteristics. The existence of cryptic sex in these stick insect populations suggests that occasional male offspring may contribute to genetic diversity and adaptation. This implies that androgynous individuals, lacking distinct sexual organs, can still engage in sexual reproduction and potentially offer an advantage in adapting to changing environments.

Overall, this research highlights the complexity of reproductive strategies and challenges the notion that one form of reproduction is inherently more evolved than another. It emphasizes the importance of genetic diversity and the potential benefits of both hermaphroditism and androgyny in evolution.

***

argument is based on a recent research highlight that challenges the assumption that hermaphroditism is more evolved than androgyny in evolution. The research you cited focuses on stick insects, specifically the Timema stick insect species, and reveals that some of these species, which were previously thought to reproduce exclusively through asexual parthenogenesis, actually exhibit signs of cryptic sex. This discovery challenges the conventional understanding of their reproduction strategies and adds nuance to the evolution of sexual and reproductive characteristics.

Diversity and Genetic Adaptation: The research shows that two populations of Timema stick insects, Timema douglasi and T. monikensis, exhibit higher genetic diversity and other genetic signatures associated with sexual reproduction. This suggests that cryptic sex might be occurring in these populations, leading to increased genetic diversity. Genetic diversity is crucial for adaptation and evolution because it provides a wider range of genetic material to respond to changing environmental conditions. This contradicts the notion that asexual reproduction is always less evolved than sexual reproduction.

Survival and Persistence: The presence of rare male offspring in these populations could play a critical role in maintaining genetic diversity and ensuring the survival of these species. Male offspring introduce genetic variation, which can enhance adaptability to changing environments. This contradicts the assumption that hermaphroditism, which often involves both male and female reproductive organs in a single individual, is inherently more evolved.

Evolutionary Flexibility: The existence of cryptic sex in some Timema stick insect populations highlights the evolutionary flexibility of these organisms. It suggests that they have evolved a mixed reproductive strategy that combines asexual and sexual reproduction as needed, depending on environmental conditions. This adaptability challenges the idea that one reproductive strategy is inherently superior to another.

In summary, the recent genetic analysis of Timema stick insects challenges the conventional understanding of their reproductive strategies and highlights the importance of genetic diversity and adaptability in evolution. It suggests that a mixed reproductive strategy, involving both asexual and sexual reproduction, can be advantageous in certain contexts, challenging the notion that hermaphroditism is universally more evolved than androgyny in evolution.

**

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

19 September 2023 The secret sex lives of celibate stick insects Genetic analysis shows that some stick insects that supposedly reproduce without sex are actually pairing off to have offspring.

The stick insect Timema douglasi generally reproduces asexually, but new genomic clues suggest that it does engage in sex. Credit: Susana Freitas

Some famously celibate stick insects are not quite as sexless as once thought1. Sex reshuffles the genetic deck, providing new possibilities for adaptation. Without sex, populations adapt more slowly and are at risk of extinction if their environment changes. Nevertheless, some species reproduce by parthenogenesis, in which a mothers DNA is simply handed down unchanged to a new generation of clone daughters. Susana Freitas at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and her colleagues examined the genetic sequences of eight populations of four species of Timema stick insect that are known to reproduce through parthenogenesis. Six populations had all the hallmarks of species that have gone without sex for hundreds of thousands of years, including low genetic diversity and the possession of two identical copies of genes  since there is no male parent to provide an alternative version. But in two populations, one of Timema douglasi and the other of T. monikensis, the team found higher diversity and other genetic signatures that suggested the existence of cryptic sex. Rare male offspring might shake up the genome every so often, helping to explain why these species persist.

Nature 621, 661 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02916-8
UNHCR seeking urgent support for humanitarian emergency in Armenia

UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

29 September 2023

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned by the rapidly evolving humanitarian emergency in Armenia, with over 88,700 refugee arrivals in less than a week. Refugees are mainly arriving to the Syunik region in Southern Armenia.

The Government has assumed the responsibility of providing protection and assistance with the support of UNHCR and other UN agencies and NGOs.

UNHCR is leading the inter-agency refugee response, working with the UN Resident Coordinator's Office. An inter-agency response plan is being finalized, to be followed by a joint financial appeal. It is important that the needs in the short term as well as the medium to long term are considered.

UNHCR teams have been on the ground and at the border since day one when the first groups of refugees arrived exhausted, frightened and apprehensive about the future. They have been living under blockade for the past nine months. They do not know what will happen to the homes they have fled and whether they will return.

They are anxious about what will happen to them now and worry about whether their children will be able to access education. Most arrived with very few belongings and require urgent emergency assistance, including blankets, bedding materials, medical and psychosocial support and shelter in the immediate term.

Refugees are being registered by the Government at registration centres at the border, while there are some ten additional humanitarian centres in other regions. In addition to registration, these centres offer immediate psychosocial support, snacks, play areas for children and information about accommodation and other assistance.

The authorities are providing temporary accommodation to new arrivals with no relatives in Armenia, including in hotels, social centres and schools. However, with such huge numbers of arrivals in a short time, additional emergency centres are urgently needed.

UNHCR is supporting the Government with technical equipment, including laptops and tablets, to facilitate registration and has provided essential core relief items such as foldable beds and mattresses for refugees, while more core relief items are on the way, arriving this weekend. UNHCR is also scaling up its presence on the ground.

While the Government is making consistent and commendable efforts to meet the rapidly growing needs with the support of the international community, additional financial support is needed. UNHCR urgently calls on the international donor community for solidarity and responsibility sharing to enable Armenia to respond to this unfolding humanitarian emergency.

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Sudan: WHO supports battle against cholera in the east

29 September 2023 - The World Health Organization (WHO) is scaling up support in Sudan, where authorities have declared a cholera outbreak in Gedaref state amid the ongoing brutal conflict between opposing militaries.

The UN agency said on Friday that 264 suspected cholera cases, four confirmed cases and 16 associated deaths werereportedin the eastern state as of 25 September.

Investigations are taking place to determine whether the disease has spread to Khartoum and South Kordofan states, which have seen increased cases of acute watery diarrhoea.

Sampling and surveillance

WHO is deploying rapid response teams to the affected localities and is actively supporting the Ministry of Health to transfer samples of suspected cases to the Public Health Laboratory in Port Sudan.

Surveillance is ongoing in affected and high-risk areas to identify and address risk factors. A request is going out to the international body managing emergency vaccine supplies during major outbreaks, the ICG, for oral cholera vaccines.

Access amid war

The WHO Representative in Sudan, Dr Nima Abid, visited Gederaf state on 17 September and met with health authorities and partners to coordinate response to the outbreak.

He stressed the importance of having unhindered access to the affected areas and nearby locations.

"A cholera outbreak can have a devastating effect in the context of a health system already overstretched because of war, shortages of medical supplies and health workers, malnutrition and access challenges," he said.

Healthcare under fire

The war in Sudan erupted in mid-April. Fierce fighting between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left thousands dead and uprooted more than five million, with impacts across the region.

Sudan is also grappling with disease outbreaks and malnutrition, which have been compounded by heavy rains and flooding. The health system is overwhelmed by attacks on facilities as well as the scarcity of medical supplies and equipment, health workers and operational funds.

Some 70 per cent of hospitals in conflict-affected states are non-functional, while active hospitals elsewhere are overwhelmed by the influx of internally displaced people.

Support, supplies and training

WHO said that even before the outbreak was declared it had already provided cholera supplies such as antibiotics, oral rehydration solution and intravenous fluids to six states in Sudan.

The agency was also supporting three cholera isolation centres in Gedarefstate, providing medicines and health supplies to two facilities, and equipment and medical supplies to the third.

Earlier this year, more than 2,800 Sudanese health workers took part in an online training course conducted by WHO on the management of acute watery diarrhoea in times of crisis.

Another online course was held this week for 8,000 health workers which covered cholera, dengue and malaria management protocols.

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USS Paul Ignatius Arrives in Stockholm

US Navy

29 September 2023

From USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) Public Affairs

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) arrived in Stockholm, Sweden September 29, 2023 for a scheduled port visit, to enhance U.S.-Sweden relations and build NATO partner cohesion.

The ship's presence in the Baltic Sea is a demonstration of the U.S. Navy's continued commitment to collective defense of the European region and reinforces the strong bond between the United States and Sweden.

"We have had a very busy and productive patrol and our visit to Stockholm will be the first opportunity in some time for my crew to enjoy some well-deserved liberty," said Cmdr. Corry Lougee, Commanding Officer of USS Paul Ignatius. "We have visited nearly every country in the Baltic, but this will be our first time in Sweden, and I've never seen my Sailors more excited about a port visit."

Paul Ignatius is on patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. She began her current patrol in late May and has sailed throughout the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Baltic Sea prior to today's port visit.

"Not only are we looking forward to seeing amazing sights such as the area of

Gamla Stan, several renowned museums, and the Royal Palace, but we are also interested in providing ship tours and learning more about Swedish culture," said Lougee.

As a NATO partner nation, the U.S. and Swedish Navies routinely operate together to build combined maritime interoperability, including during Baltic Operations 2023 last June.

"We have operated with the Swedish Navy during this and previous patrols, and we are impressed with their professionalism and work ethic," said Lougee.

The ship is named for former Secretary of the Navy Paul Ignatius and was commissioned on July 27th, 2019.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. 6th Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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USS Florida (SSGN 728) Completes Joint Exercise with Norwegian Forces

US Navy

29 September 2023

From U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa / U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

VESTFJORD, Norway -- The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) completed a successful joint exercise with Norwegian Forces in August and September 2023.

Norwegian participants in the exercise included the Ula-class submarine HNoMS Uthaug, F-35 fighter aircraft and P-8 maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft from the Royal Norwegian Air Force, and the Naval Special Forces - Marinejegerkommandoen (MJK). U.S. participants included USS Florida and U.S. Air Force aircraft.

The exercise focused on increasing interoperability and the combined capabilities of U.S. and Norwegian forces to execute missions in the High North.

"It is a big step forward for Norwegian - American interoperability and allied capability," said Capt. Benjamin Selph, commodore, Task Force 69. "We look forward to continuing to operate with our Norwegian Allies as we train and work towards promoting safety and security in Europe."

Additionally, Commodore Oeyvind Dunsaed, commodore of Norwegian Special Forces Command (NORSOCOM), and Lieutenant Commander Theodor S. Hoeyaas-Helland, commanding officer of HNoMS Uthaug, and multiple Norwegian and U.S. subject matter experts visited Florida for joint operational planning during the exercise.

"It was an honor to be invited onboard the USS Florida during this activity. The investment and resources that the US Navy is contributing is key to move our joint efforts towards the challenges of tomorrow," said Dunsaed. "We look forward to the continued development of this collaboration."

Following the exercise, USS Florida conducted a regularly scheduled port visit to Troms, Norway.

For over 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.

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US Pacific Security Deal With Marshall Islands at Risk Over Nuclear Payments Description

By Jessica Stone September 29, 2023

The United States struck security agreements this week with Pacific Island nations seen as a key part of U.S. plans to counter China's territorial expansion. But after three years of negotiations, one of those Pacific nations  the Marshall Islands  still has not reached a deal with Washington.

A member of the U.S. negotiating team blames the State Department's legal team for the holdup, saying they object to how the agreement describes money for compensation from U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands some 60 years ago.

The agreement  known as the Compacts of Free Association  gives Washington exclusive access to large parts of the Pacific Ocean surrounding Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands. Funding runs out on September 30.

"You would have to say that there was mission failure," said Howard Hills in an exclusive interview with VOA.

Hills negotiated those compacts alongside presidential envoy Ambassador Joseph Yun but left his position September 7. Deals with Micronesia and Palau have been reached, while talks with the Marshall Islands have stalled.

In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, President David Kabua laid out the Republic of the Marshall Island's remaining demand.

"What the United States must realize is that Marshallese people require that the nuclear issue be addressed."

Kabua was referring to the environmental and health impacts of the 67 atomic bomb tests conducted in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958.

But Hills says the State Department won't let Yun officially designate the funds as compensation for the effects of American nuclear tests in the Marshalls.

"If it were not for the State Department legal position, this could have been done in 2020. It could have been done in 2021. It could have been done in 2022," he said.

The objections appear to relate in part to a 1986 agreement on compensation for nuclear testing, which said at the time that it covered all claims related to the issue.

"The Compact and the Section 177 Settlement Agreement, which entered into force in 1986, constitute the full settlement of all claims, past, present, and future, of the government, citizens and nationals of the Marshall Islands related to the Nuclear Testing Program," says a State Department description of U.S. relations with the Marshall Islands.

But Hills calls that position "disproven" because the agreement also created a political framework, which has allowed the U.S. to continue providing assistance related to the nuclear program's effects.

"Congress added additional authorities that we've spent an additional $200 million on nuclear in the last 20 years," he said.

Yun told VOA in August, "I personally believe that we still have moral and political responsibilities and so we have made it clear that in some of the money [for the] Marshall Islands  some could be spent on development, health care, environment issues of the affected islands within Marshall Islands."

In January, Yun signed a memorandum of understanding with the Marshall Islands providing $700 million for a trust fund that could be used for that purpose.

The State Department declined to comment on whether its legal position was the source of the breakdown in talks with the Marshallese or that the U.S. government has continued to compensate the Marshalls for the nuclear testing impact.

A department spokesperson told VOA that without new funding, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands "can use unspent funds" or their "Compact Trust Funds" to meet their budget needs. Palau still has another year of funding.

Critics of that position include some lawmakers in Congress.

"The State Department is firmly in control of this scenario," said Representative Aumua Amata Radewagen in an interview with VOA.

Radewagen says she saw first-hand the devastating impact of nuclear testing on the Marshallese people. She spent part of her childhood in the Marshall Islands when her father was the head of government.

"I can remember one time when he had to deliver a young boy," she said, "This boy had all kinds of cancer. He had to deliver this boy to his family. And things like that stick in my mind. I was a teenager then," said Radewagen, who represents American Samoa.

In a letter to lawmakers last week, Radewagen warned that China is waiting for an opening to grow its Pacific presence.

"There's another large country just sitting there, keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that this deal fails so that they can step right in," she said.

Radewagen says the negotiators told her they aim to have a new deal in October. She says lawmakers are ready to fund the agreement, as soon as one is finally reached.

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East African Countries Request Delay of Troop Withdrawal From Somalia

By Ahmed Mohamed September 29, 2023

The five nations contributing troops to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, or ATMIS, are urging the U.N. Security Council to allow a 90-day pause in the drawdown of some 3,000 peacekeepers stationed in the East African country.

Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi, Djibouti and Uganda sent a request to the Security Council to suspend the scheduled pullout.

According to the jointly signed letter, a recent joint technical assessment illustrated a fragile situation, especially among populations within operating bases that are either being handed over to the Somali National Army or set to be closed. The assessment also raised concerns about the troops leaving the country by the end of September.

Somalia raised similar concerns in its own direct appeal to the Security Council earlier this month.

The sticking point may be the African Union, said Matt Bryden, the chairman of Sahan Research, a policy and security think tank in Kenya.

"So far, it appears that the African Union is not going to endorse the request for a delayed drawdown of the next 3,000 ATMIS forces scheduled to leave Somalia," he said. "Without the African Union's request, since ATMIS is an African Union mission, I think it's unlikely that the U.N. Security Council will overlook the wishes, whether expressed or implicit, of the AU."

Bryden also said the Security Council might not heed Somalia's request because the Somali government  until recently  assured the world it was ready to assume security responsibilities from ATMIS.

"These are real challenges, and I think there's no doubt that this is going to be a more difficult proposition than many had suggested that it would be," Bryden said. "The main question on the part of Somalia's international partners, particularly those who support ATMIS or the Somali security sector, is why these problems were not identified or, in the very least, acknowledged by the Somali federal government much sooner."

Earlier this year, Security Council Resolution 2687 directed the withdrawal of ATMIS troops from Somalia  with a complete pullout by the end of 2024. This was in line with the two-year mandate for ATMIS, which began in April 2022.

Abdirizak Hussein Issack, a security expert at Hamid Bin Khalifa Civilization Center, told VOA the choice between withdrawal and delay is a balancing act for the Security Council.

"On the one hand, I think the Security Council should consider Somalia's request," he said. "This is because of the reality on the ground, which shows al-Shabab's resurgence and lack of adequate preparedness by Somali forces. But a delay will also lead to laxity, leading to [an] endless stay of African Union troops in Somalia."

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been coordinating the current offensive against al-Shabab in central Somalia since August. According to the federal government, the second phase of the operation, which was set to start in July, will move to the southern parts of the country.

Analysts say this phase could face more challenges due to reduced AU troop numbers and the difficult terrain.

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Somalia Arrests Suspected Al-Shabab Arms Dealer

By Mohamed Olad Hassan September 29, 2023

Somali security forces on Friday arrested a man believed to be one of the country's main illegal arms dealers suspected of supplying weapons to al-Shabab militants.

Zakariya Kamal, who is accused by Somali authorities of conspiracy to provide weapons, material support or resources to al-Shabab, a designated terrorist organization, was arrested in the early morning hours by Somalia's National Intelligence Agency, or NISA.

An NISA statement said Kamal was preparing to go into hiding when he was intercepted by security forces.

"This notorious arms dealer, Kamal, was arrested as he was preparing to disappear and seek out the elusive hideouts of the al-Shabab within Somalia," the statement said.

The 28-year-old Somali has been under surveillance since May, the statement said, shortly after the agency seized two illicit shipments of military hardware and explosive materials "that were apparently bound for the al-Shabab militant group."

NISA said Kamal was the mastermind of the arms dealers' network that arranged, procured and imported shipments from abroad. The military equipment was confiscated in multiple seizures at Mogadishu's Aden Ade International Airport and the seaport.

According to NISA, an investigation relating to the illicit shipments led to the arrest of 10 individuals associated with a smuggling network. NISA did not provide further details on components of the seized shipments, where they were from or the identities of those involved.

It is also not clear if Kamal was a member of al-Shabab or if he only had a business relationship with the group, trafficking in illegal arms.

Arms embargo

The United Nations Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Somalia in 1992 because of civil war and factional violence.

The country has an unguarded coastline that's more than 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) in length and open borders.

Following the establishment of a functioning transitional government in 2012, successive administrations have been working to rebuild stability, good governance and other benchmarks to help ease the country's arms embargo.

In 2013, the U.N. Security Council unanimously voted to partially lift its ban on selling arms to Somalia for a year.

The resolution allowed Somalia's government to buy small arms to help its security forces develop and fight Islamist militants but kept restrictions on heavy weapons.

The remaining sanctions, which require requests for certain weapons to be approved, are renewed annually, despite government objections that al-Shabab still poses a serious threat to peace and stability in the region and that sanctions are needed to degrade its activities.

The government's stance is backed by Ethiopia and Uganda, both of which have suffered al-Shabab attacks.

The government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has for months been engaged in an offensive against al-Shabab, including efforts to shut down its financial network and a campaign to counter the group's ideology. Mohamud has urged the U.N. Security Council to lift the arms embargo, saying it no longer serves its purpose.

Speaking before the U.N. General Assembly last Saturday, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre also reiterated calls for the removal of the arms embargo, saying that Somalia had the necessary systems and competence to control the possession, use and storage of firearms.

"Lifting this embargo would allow us to combat terrorism even more effectively and build a peaceful and prosperous future in Somalia," he said.

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Readout of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's Call with Prime Minister Kurti of Kosovo

September 29, 2023

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Jake Sullivan spoke on the phone today with Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti. Mr. Sullivan conveyed condolences for the loss of the Kosovo police officer slain in the line of duty during the violent attacks that took place on September 24. He also expressed concern about Serbian military mobilizations near the Kosovo border. He noted recent decisions by NATO to bolster the NATO Kosovo Force's (KFOR) presence and activity, especially in northern Kosovo, and underscored the readiness of the United States to work with our Allies to ensure KFOR remained appropriately resourced to fulfill its mission. In addition, Mr. Sullivan and Prime Minister Kurti discussed the EU-facilitated Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which Mr. Sullivan underscored was the only long-term solution to ensuring stability throughout Kosovo.

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Railroad Troops - 2022 SVO Ukraine

Russia has begun construction of a rail line to sustain shipments directly obtained from Taganrog and Rostov-on-Don inside Russia to frontline depots used by occupation forces in Ukraines south, Stefan Korshak reported in the Kyiv Post 27 September 2023. A key link in the project was repairs to a bridge across the Kalmius River, near the village Hranitne, located about 45 kilometers northeast of Mariupol. Retreating Ukrainian troops blew up the bridge in March 2022.

The new line would be an alternative to the bridge crossing the Kerch Strait into the occupied Crimea peninsula, which was blown up by a Ukrainian truck bomb on 28 October 2022. That attack halted rail traffic across the bridge for four months, A truck bomb launched by Ukrainian special operations teams on 28 October 2022 halted rail traffic over the bridge for more than four months, and weakened bridge supports sufficiently to prevent pasaage of heavily-loaded trains.

An adviser to the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andriushchenko, said in a telegram that "If successful, this will allow the existing Mariupol  Aslanovo  Kalchyk  Volnovakha line to be connected directly to Taganrog and Rostov-on-Don. In practice, this is not only a global solution to the issue of military and civilian logistics, but also a radical reduction in dependence on railroad traffic across the Crimean bridge".

Defense Express military expert Ivan Kirichevsky, noted that the Russian Railway Troops are a very powerful engineering component. Before the full-scale invasion, they numbered 40 thousand personnel. They have the equipment to build military field railways relatively quickly. These are quite qualified people who, unfortunately, were able to put in order those railways that the Russian army first damaged in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, Kirichevsky said.

He had no doubt that the occupiers will be able to build a new railway with a distance of 50 km and a railway bridge across the Kalmius River. The question is how long will it take them to do this? Approximately, maybe several months, but who knows, maybe they will speed up, says the analyst. Thus, it turns out that the occupiers can make two isolated logistics islands: the first - Crimea and Melitopol, and the second - Taganrog, Mariupol and Volnovakha. But this still will not solve the problem of their logistics, because the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to cut off this corridor from Donbass to Crimea. That is, the occupiers will be able to create dirty tricks and unpleasant things for us, but in some places it still wont save them, summed up Ivan Kirichevsky.

As to why Russian forces were bogged down or forced to retreat in some parts of Ukraine in early 2022, former CIA director and commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, David Petraeus said that Russia's "Achilles' heel" was "their lack of what might be termed expeditionary logistics. In other words, once they are away from a rail system or a port, their logistics are very, very modest." He said that the Russian armed forces are tied to their railway system in Russia. "Once they leave it, as we saw, they are wholly inadequate in the provisions that they provided for their forces when it comes to food, fuel, and ammunition, medical evacuation, and all the rest of it," he said.

An explosive device derailed a Russian freight train in a region bordering Ukraine for a second straight day 02 May 2023 ahead of an expected counteroffensive by Kyiv. Russian Railways said in a statement around 20 wagons had come off the track, adding the derailment had been caused by "unauthorised interference," without providing further details. A train derailed in the same region on 01 May 2023 after an explosion, the local governor said. Bryansk region governor Alexander Bogomaz said the derailment was caused by an "explosive device" on the tracks. There had been many reports of sabotage on railways in Russia since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive, but this week was the first time officials confirmed attacks on this scale.

The railway route Volnovakha  Tokmak  Dzhankoy is a rolling road by which the Russians can still quickly deliver supplies to the front. When the Ukrainian defenders de-occupy the city of Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia region, the southern group of the Russian Armed Forces will find itself in a difficult logistical situation. So, there will be a serious battle for Tokmak, the Russians are already patching holes in their supply. Military analyst Oleksiy Hetman stated this 25 September 2023 on the air of FREEDOM TV channel.

I would not like to say that Tokmak is more important than Bakhmut, because it would not be very correct in relation to the people who are fighting there. But Tokmak  there is the railway Volnovakha  Tokmak  Dzhankoy, with a branch to the south, to Melitopol. This is a rolling road, in military terminology  these are roads that run parallel to the front line. These roads are even specially made, they may not exist, but during such hostilities, when the group is without movement for a while, a road is immediately made in any way, so that it is possible to quickly transport everything necessary to some areas of the front. Promptly, precisely for this purpose, he said.

The analyst clarified that this Volnovakha-Dzhankoy railway through Tokmak is not just a rolling road, but one of the two main roads, logistical routes, along which the Russians can not only deliver something, but also move large groups of troops, a significant amount of equipment, artillery , in particular missiles.

They used to transport Calibres on this railway. And Tokmak is one of the centers through which this railway passes. There was already a lot of information about the fact that no one will storm the front of Tokmak when we can surround it, we will cut this road and there are no other railways there, there are no railway bypasses either. Then it will be possible to say that the Crimean group of Russians, the southern group, Dnipro they call it, the Kherson group will remain only with the resource it has now as a reserve. Any garrison, any military unit has a certain stock of everything necessary for conducting hostilities. This reserve, depending on the size of the group, if it is a brigade or an army, is calculated for a month, two, three, if you save a lot, says Hetman.

According to him, after the Defense Forces of Ukraine destroy the Crimean Bridge, the entire southern group of Russians will be unable to supply everything necessary there. Until we reach the coast of the Sea of Azov, there will remain a few highways, but they will also be under our artillery control, but on the railway, where you can launch a train of 20, 30, 50 cars and three, four, five, even 10 cars ,  this will not give the Russians the opportunity to provide the southern, Kherson and Crimean groups with everything they need. Therefore, there will be a very serious battle for Tokmak on the part of the Russians. They are already transferring there, pulling out all their reserves from wherever they can, the military analyst added.

At the same time, he emphasized that the occupying army has no possibility to add reserves from the depths of the Russian Federation, no matter what anyone says. According to Hetman, the Russians are moving troops along the front line. For example, two divisions moved to the Tokmak direction  the 76th amphibious division from the Kupyansk direction and the 7th mining and amphibious division from the Kherson direction. Although part of the 76th division is already moving from the Tokmak direction to the Bakhmut direction. That is, they patch holes, they call it Trishkin kaptan. That is, somewhere they patched the patch, but by cutting a hole somewhere else. Bakhmut is also of great political and emotional significance for us and for Russians. Moreover, the president of our country said that we will release him in the near future. But the Volnovakh direction is also very important, the entire Southern direction  Berdyanskyi, Melitopolskyi, Volnovaskyi directions  these are precisely the battles for this railway, which supplies everything necessary to the Russian troops. If you look at their fortifications, which they built, except for Tokmak, which they fortified in a circle, then, by and large, all their first, second and third lines of defense run parallel to this railway, he said.

The Russian occupiers, the analyst noted, are not fighting for some settlements there. Our military perfectly understands that this railway is, in fact, the key to Crimea, and the Russians will fight for it. All these fortifications of theirs are built parallel to this road, they protect the road, not some settlement. If, not only according to the reports of the American Institute for the Study of War, but also according to our official channels, we have already passed the third line of their defense, then, by and large, the field is clear. They will also fight there, resist, but there will be no such fortifications. It can be expected that we will take this railway under control very soon, and when we control the logistics routes of the Russians, then Crimea will remain for two  maximum three months and thats it. Then they simply will have nothing to fight for. They wont be worse off, they just wont have anything. This is very important, summed up Oleksiy Hetman.





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Hai Lung II [Sea Dragon]-class Submarine

Taiwan is hoping to build its first home-grown submarines within eight years and commission them into service within a decade. Taiwan has warned China that it will do whatever it takes to defend its sovereignty as the island launched production of a new fleet of submarines. President Tsai Ing-wen at the inauguration ceremony in the southern city of Kaohsiung on 24 November 2020 said "This submarine is an important part of allowing our navy to develop asymmetric warfare and to intimidate and block enemy ships from surrounding Taiwan's main island".

"Now, with the construction of the submarine to its future commission, we will certainly let the world know our persistence in safeguarding our sovereignty." The island has never produced its own submarines. The first of the eight new vessels will be delivered by 2025, with the entire project estimated to cost at least $16 billion (13.5 billion).

The groundbreaking ceremony for the special building of the Republic of China Navy submarine ship was held 09 May 2019. This place was originally intended to manufacture mine-hunting ships, but after this project was aborted due to the fraud of the Qingfu shipbuilding company, it was to become the country's secret submarine plant.

President Tsai Ing-wen attended the ground-breaking ceremony with the commander of the three armed forces. In her speech, she said that the implementation of national defense autonomy is her constant determination. She persists in determination and courage to guide everyone to face challenges and overcome difficulties. The prototype ship model was first announced at the ceremony, and the submarine developed for the first time in Taiwan is expected to be delivered by the end of 2025. After overcoming challenges over the past years, Taiwan had finally obtained export permits for the key technologies needed to design its own submarines, she said, expressing hope that this first step will be a success for the project.

President Cai Ying, accompanied by the Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Chen Ju, the Vice President of the Executive Yuan Chen Qimai, the Minister of National Defense Yan Defa, and the Chairman of the Taiwan Shipage Zheng Wenlong, and so on today, the South China Kaohsiung Port Terminal, presided over the Republic of China Navys Submarine State Made dedicated plant groundbreaking ceremony.

"Central News Agency" quoted Zhou Zhiming, deputy general manager of Taiwan Ships, who said that the future prototype ship is about 70 meters long, 8 meters wide and 18 meters high. The submerged tonnage is about 2,500 to 3,000 tons. It is expected to be launched into the water in the third quarter of 2024, delivered to the ship at the end of 2025, followed by the Navy for evaluation. The Taiwan left a special ship number, No. 1168, for the prototype ship. According to the government's plan, there should be at least eight submarines in the entire Taiwan sea.

The "long-range heavy torpedo development plan", which has been interrupted for more than ten years, was expected to be restarted, allowing the country to build long-range heavy torpedoes to be deployed in the same way as the first national submarine. the "long-haul heavy torpedo development project" was implemented by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and was called "The Dragon Plan". In the past, Chen Shui-bians predecessor Chen Tsang-bian has made specific development results and developed a number of long-range heavy torpedoes. Up to 40 knots were also in line with the specifications proposed by the Staff Headquarters; however, at the time, the Staff Headquarters considered that the overall reliability was insufficient, and insisted on purchasing from the United States. The national heavy torpedo plan was frustrated and the development plan was also suspended. Officials said that after the "Dragon Plan" was frustrated during the Bian government period, the project R&D personnel returned to their respective departments.

Taiwan does not have a complete warship shipbuilding system. The industry cannot produce submarine special steel plates and steel, not to mention the precise deep deep welding. The Taiwan navy has almost no modern industrial management experience. The 2017 QingFu minesweeper case dealt a huge blow to confidence in Taiwans domestic defense industry, which many saw as a lack of rigor in the Navys screening and procurement process in selecting contractors for domestic construction projects. In 2015 the Navy awarded a contract to build six minsweepers to QingFu Shipbuilding, a company with neither the financial nor technical resources to execute the contract. The company got bank loans on the basis of the contract, and embarked on a career of real estate speculation on the mainland. The Navy probably demonstrated poor judgement in the contract award, and certainly demonstrated incompetence in monitoring contract execution, or lack thereof.

Although the Taiwan ship was absent from the 2017 Taipei International Aerospace and Defense Industry Exhibition, Vice President Chen Jianren emphasized in his opening speech that the Navy has signed the "Memorandum of the Launching and Cooperation of Submarine National Designs" and is expected to complete the design and construction of the homemade submarine in two phases. In eight years, let the submarine launch into the water, serve in the military within ten years, and step out of the national defense policy, the most challenging step.

There were two submarine models on the scene, one in the "National Shipbuilding State" exhibition area of the Ministry of National Defense, because it has been officially displayed in the past, and had not received much attention; the other interesting is Lockheed Martin. The company exhibition area, on the side of the F-16, P-3 anti-submarine model, behind the partition, invisible, with a Scorpion-derived S-80 submarine developed by Spain and France. The ship model shows the various telescopic mast configurations in the sail hood, and the combat system used is contracted by Loma.

The Lockheed weapon control system (Weapon Control Suite) displayed on the screen can provide diesel-electric submarine operation MK48 heavy torpedo for power supply, cooling, control, launch and post-shoot control interface, as well as under the depth of the periscope. A lightweight antenna system for communication. In addition, the new S-80A configuration, in addition to torpedo, anti-ship missiles, also reserved the space to install the Tomahawk missile control system.

A Taiwan shipbuilder and a ship designer signed a memorandum of understanding with the country's Navy on 21 March 2017 to jointly build submarines for the military as part of a government effort to develop an independent national defense industry. The MOU was signed by Navy Commander Huang Shu-kuang, CSBC Corp., Taiwan Chairman Cheng Wen-lon and Chang Guan-chung, president of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), at a ceremony in the southern port city of Kaohsiung.

The Taiwanese navy's memorandum of understanding with two local companies was to develop submarines over the next four years. Construction of the vehicles, ideal for warfare against China, could reach $85.8 million, though the final price was not set, the defense ministry spokesman said.

The signing was witnessed by President Tsai Ing-wen, who said the construction of submarines was the most challenging aspect of Taiwan's policy to create an independent national defense industry. The government will exhaust all means and pool its resources to solve any problems associated with building indigenous submarines, she said. The initiative involves the efforts of not only the Navy, CSBC, and NCSIST, but also the government, the military and relevant industries, Tsai said.

CSBC Corp. Taiwan Chairman Cheng Wen-lon acknowledged there were problems to be worked out because Taiwan lacks any experience in building submarines, but he said the difficulties were being addressed. He also noted that CSBC Corp. had built more than 100 ships for the Navy and said the company would use that experience in developing the local submarine program. the project will have two main phases. The first will be to complete the design for the subs and have a budget of approximately NT$2 billion (US$65.64 million), Cheng said. The second stage will involve building the submarines, he said, without giving any cost projections for the vessels or estimates of how many submarines might be built.

NCSIST Vice President Gao Chung-hsing said the most important part of the program is a system to integrate all of the equipment and ensure the safety of ships operating underwater. The NCSIST will cooperate with CSBC Corp. in these areas, Gao said.

Taiwan has long tried to acquire submarines from other countries with little success because of their reluctance to upset China. US President George W. Bush authorized the sale of eight diesel electric submarines to Taiwan in 2001, but the deal never came to fruition because of political wrangling in Taiwan and questions over whether the U.S., which did not produce conventional submarines at the time, could actually supply the vessels.

Taiwan's navy currently had four submarines, two of which are too outdated for operations and are used only as training vessels. Taiwan has long been in the market for additional diesel submarines to counter China's growing naval might. Taiwan could deploy submarines defensively at the entrances of its main ports -- at Kaohsiung in the south and Keeling in the north -- to stop Chinese submariness from mining them. Or Taiwan could use submarines to sink Chinese shipping, or blockade Chinese ports. Beijing has strongly opposed the sale of submarines to Taiwan, which it has characterized as offensive weapons.

China maintains an overwhelming numerical advantage in submarines over Taiwan and this quantitative advantage will continue through the decade. While the number of boats in service in China was expected to decline, their qualitative capabilities will increase. China was producing more modern submarines and was using submarine-related technology from Russia. Although the force was oriented principally toward interdicting surface ships using torpedoes and mines, China shortly will begin arming some of its submarines with a submerged-launch cruise missile. The capability of Chinese submarines to conduct ASW operations was expected to improve in light of the acquisition of Russian-built KILO-class submarines and the greater emphasis being placed on ASW training. As a result, China's submarine fleet will constitute a substantial force capable of controlling sea lanes and mining approaches around Taiwan, as well as a growing threat to submarines in the East and South China Seas.

Under its submarine program, Taiwan's navy plans to increase its submarine fleet and to decommission old submarines, bringing the total number of submarines to about a dozen. But Taiwan's desires to add six to ten new submarines to the Navy have long remained at the paperwork stage. The United States had not endorsed Taiwan's proposal because of fears it could upset the balance between the mainland and Taiwan. Indeed, the United States rejected Taiwan's request for subs in the 1990s.

The newly-designed diesel-electric submarine will use high-strength steel plating and sound absorption material for the hull resulting in lower noise than the nuclear submarines. It will be equipped with advanced U.S. combat systems, submarine-launched Harpoon missiles and advanced torpedoes, which will greatly increase survivability and firepower. After the navy acquires the submarines, its early warning and monitoring range will increase five-fold and mobile strike capabilities will increase by over 100 times. When complemented by Kidd-class destroyers and P-3C ASW patrol aircrafts, they will impose visible deterring effects against PRC's intents of naval blockades.

A proposed model of Taiwans first domestically manufactured submarine was displayed at Kaohsiung International Maritime and Defense Industry Exposition Sept. 15-18, 2016 in the southern port city. The inaugural Kaohsiung International Maritime and Defense Industry Exposition kicked off Sept. 15, providing a world-class platform for showcasing the leading-edge capabilities of Taiwans shipbuilding industry and promoting the development of indigenous warship and submarine manufacturing.

The construction of Taiwans first indigenous submarine prototype officially began on 03 November 2020, Liberty Times reported 01 October 2020. A ceremony will be held that day at CSBCs Kaohsiung shipbuilding plant and will be hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen. The submarine is expected to be ready for launch in the third quarter of 2024 at the earliest and will be sent to the Navy for sea trials in 2025. The Kaohsiung location has a special 45-meter-tall factory for building submarine hulls. It can accommodate three submarines simultaneously and in the future will be able to handle ship construction and maintenance.

Well-known American military journalist David Axe in "Forbes" published an article that pointed out that Taiwan alone can destroy a Chinese invasion fleet by relying on the eight submarines that are expected to be built. The ship may cost a total of 16 billion US dollars (about 455.9 billion Taiwan dollars), but every penny is worth it.

Speaking in parliament on 17 March 2021, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng, who took up his post in February, said that the United States had approved export permits for all the sensitive equipment needed for Taiwans first domestically made submarine fleet. Construction on the eight attack submarines began last November with the first vessel expected to be completed by 2024.

The launch of Taiwans first indigenous submarine and the delivery of heavyweight torpedoes by the United States are expected to take place earlier than first scheduled, reports said 21 July 2021. While the submarine would have made its maiden voyage during the first half of 2024 and fully entered service in 2025, military officials now say its first trip should take place in September 2023, the Liberty Times reported.

The government had drawn up a budget of NT$49.3 billion (US$1.75 billion) for the first vessel, with work beginning last year. The assembly should be completed by the end of 2022, while electronics systems will be fitted in early 2023, according to the report. The submarines maiden journey will be followed by months of testing before the Navy can officially take delivery in 2024. If everything develops according to plan, the military would like to procure between eight and 12 more submarines, with each batch of two or three vessels more advanced than the previous one. By the end of the delivery period, the first submarine would be upgraded to match the sophistication of the later vessels, the report said.





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This article is from a special report on the Athens Democracy Forum in association with The New York Times.

Keyu Jin was a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Beijing when she transferred as an exchange student to New York. She moved in with an American host family, and attended Horace Mann, a private high school in the Bronx.

She was accepted to Harvard University, where she picked up economics degrees, including a Ph.D., and is now an associate professor at the London School of Economics.

Steeped in the two cultures  she divides her time between London and Beijing  Ms. Jin, 40, now brings her dual perspective to lectures, talks and in writing. A book, The New China Playbook, was published in May.

Today the backward homeland of my childhood has become the worlds second-largest economy, she writes in the introduction. Yet so much of the world is still asking the same questions and still comparing China to former Communist countries with their autocratic and repressive regimes.
ASCOD infantry fighting vehicle

LLC Ukrainian Armored Vehicles in partnership with the American General Dynamics and the Eastern European Czechoslovak Group announced plans 26 September 2023 to launch the production of ASCOD infantry fighting vehicles. "The European branch of the U.S. corporation General Dynamics, the Eastern European industrial conglomerate Czechoslovak Group, and Ukrainian Armored Vehicles are considering the possibility of licensed production of ASCOD infantry fighting vehicles," the statement read.

"The experience of modern warfare has demonstrated the enormous value of armored vehicles in saving the lives of our military. That is why we plan to supply and produce NATO standard infantry fighting vehicles in Ukraine," said Vladyslav Belbas, Director General of Ukrainian Armor.

The company's specialists together with the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Research Institute of Testing and Certification of Weapons and Military Equipment and specialists of the Czechoslovak Group Holding visited the production facilities of General Dynamics European Land Systems in Trubia, Spain, where they got acquainted with the unique production of wheeled and tracked vehicles using state-of-the-art technologies and in accordance with NATO standards.

It is emphasized that specialists from Ukrainian Armored Vehicles engaged the Ukrainian military and researchers in testing and certifying the vehicle, whole experts from Czechoslovak Group visited the production facilities of General Dynamics European Land Systems in the city of Trubia (Spain), where they saw production of wheeled and tracked vehicles. The Ukrainian military tested out the platforms.

According to Ukrainian Armored Vehicles CEO Vladyslav Belbas, the possibility of supplying ASCOD to Ukraine as soon as possible, organizing production and maintenance of the platform in Ukraine as soon as possible, and integrating advanced weapons, electronics, and communication systems to achieve operational interoperability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and NATO are currently being discussed.

"We are discussing with General Dynamics European Land Systems the possibility of supplying ASCOD to Ukraine as soon as possible, organizing the production and maintenance of the platform in Ukraine as soon as possible, and integrating advanced weapons, electronics and communications systems to achieve interoperability between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and NATO," Belbas said.

As the company notes, the ASCOD` universal platform can be equipped with a variety of weapons systems: combat turrets with 30/40 mm MK 44 Bushmaster automatic guns, 105mm or 120mm caliber guns, and anti-tank guided missile systems.

Ukrainian servicemen tested the infantry fighting vehicle in order to compare the dynamic properties of the ASCOD with the existing equipment in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The versatile ASCOD platform can be equipped with a variety of weapon systems: combat modules with 30/40 mm automatic guns of the MK 44 Bushmaster type, turrets with 105 mm or 120 mm guns and anti-tank guided missile systems.

The platform is equipped with unique ballistic and mine protection systems, which provides a level of protection in accordance with STANAG 4569 - level 4 for ballistic protection (armor-piercing round of 14.5 mm caliber) and level 4a/4b for mine protection (10 kg of explosives).

Currently, the ASCOD IFV is in service with the armies of NATO allies Spain, Great Britain, Austria, and beyond. The development of the infantry fighting vehicle of the ASCOD project began in 1988 by the Austrian company "Steyr", but in order to attract funds, the Austrians involved the Spanish company "Santa Barbara" in the project.

In 1996, Spain placed an order for 144 ASCOD vehicles, giving it its name Pizarro ( Pizarro  Vehiculo de Combate de Infanteria). In 2004, Spain placed an additional order for 212 Pizarro IFVs. In May 1999, the Ministry of Defense of Austria concluded a contract with the Steyr-Daimler-Puch company for the supply in 2002-2004 of 112 ASCOD IFVs under the Austrian name KSPz- 90 Ulan ( KSPz-90 Ulan  Kampfschutzenpanzer ) to replace part of the tracked armored personnel carriers 4K 4FA. At the end of 1999, Thailand ordered 15 ASCOD IFVs, one command-staff and one repair-evacuation vehicle for its marine corps.

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Russo-Ukraine War - 29 September 2023 - Day 583

Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that in recent weeks, up to hundreds of fighters formerly associated with the Wagner Group private military company (PMC) have likely started to redeploy to Ukraine as individuals and small groups, fighting for a variety of pro-Russian units.

Wagner withdrew from combat operations in Ukraine by early June 2023, prior to the abortive mutiny of 24 June 2023, and the subsequent death of Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin and other senior leaders in a plane crash on 23 August 2023.

The exact status of the redeploying personnel is unclear, but it is likely individuals have transferred to parts of the official Russian Ministry of Defence forces and other PMCs. Several reports suggest a concentration of Wagner veterans around Bakhmut: their experience is likely to be particularly in demand in this sector. Many will be familiar with current front line and local Ukrainian tactics, having fought over the same terrain last winter.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of September 29, there were 33x combat engagements. Russian forces launched a total of 5x missile and 38x air strikes, 19x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the Russian attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.

The operational situation in east and south of Ukraine remains difficult.

Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group. Certain units of the armed forces of Belarus continue their missions in the areas bordering Ukraine.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia maintains its military presence in the areas of Russia bordering Ukraine. Russia continues to shell Ukrainian settlements from the territory of russia and increases the density of minefields along the state border of Ukraine. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 25x settlements, including Buchky (Chernihiv oblast), Volfyne, Yastrubyne, Kindrativka, Volodymyrivka, Bilovody, Stepok, Novodmytrivka (Sumy oblast), Kozacha Lopan, Strilecha, Vovchans'k, Budarky, and Topoly (Kharkiv oblast).

Kup'yans'k axis: the Russian adversary launched air strikes in the vicinities of Komisarove, Petropavlivka, Ivanivka, Pishchane, and Sen'kove (Kharkiv oblast). Syn'kivka, Tabaivka, and Berestove (Kharkiv oblast) came under artillery and mortar fire.

Lyman axis: Russian forces launched air strikes near Kopanky (Kharkiv oblast), Nevs'ke (Luhansk oblast), Spirne, and Serebryanka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Nevs'ke, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Tors'ke, Hryhorivka, Vyimka, Vesele, and Pryvillya (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: Russian forces made unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost position in the vicinity of Klishchiivka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces launched an air strike near Bohdanivka (Donetsk oblast). More than 15x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Vasyukivka, Hryhorivka, Chasiv Yar, Bila Hora, and Zalizne (Donetsk oblast). The reported density of minefields is increasing.

Avdiivka axis: the Russian adversary made unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost position in the vicinity of Avdiivka (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian defenders repelled a Russian attack in the area south of Tonen'ke (Donetsk oblast). The Russian invaders fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Stepove, Avdiivka, Tonen'ke, Sjeverne, Pervomais'ke, and Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Mar'inka axis: during the day of September 29, Ukrainian defense forces successfully repelled more than 10x Russian attacks in the vicinity of Mar'inka (Donetsk oblast). Also, the Ukrainian defenders successfully repelled Russian attacks in the vicinity of Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast). The Russian adversary launched air strikes near Krasnohorivka and Mar'inka (Donetsk oblast). The settlements of Oleksandropil', Krasnohorivka, Mar'inka, Pobjeda, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast) were under artillery and mortar fire of the Russian occupiers.

Shakhtars'ke axis: the Ukrainian defenders successfully repelled a Russian attack in the area west of Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Vuhledar, Velyka Novosilka, Urozhaine, and Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast). Around 10x settlements, including Vodyane, Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Velyka Novosilka, Staromaiors'ke, and Rivnopil' (Donetsk oblast), came under artillery and mortar fire.

Zaporizhzhia axis: Russian forces made unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost position in the vicinities of Robotyne and Verbove (Zaporizhzhia oblast). The Russian occupiers launched air strikes near Novodarivka, Robotyne, Novodanylivka, and Orikhove (Zaporizhzhia oblast). More than 25x settlements, including Levadne, Malynivka, Hulyaipole, Mala Tokmachka, Orikhiv, Stepnohirs'k (Zaporizhzhia oblast), and Nikopol' (Dnipropetrovsk oblast), came under artillery and mortar fire.

Kherson axis: Russian forces launched an air strike near Ol'hivka (Kherson oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 15x settlements, including Havrylivka, Respublikanets', Mykolaivka, Antonivka, Kizomys (Kherson oblast), and Ochakiv (Mykolaiv oblast).

At the same time, the Ukrainian defense forces continue their offensive operation on Melitopol' axis and offensive (assault) operations on Bakhmut axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian occupation forces, exhausting Russian forces all along the front line.

During the day of September 29, Ukrainian Air Force launched 11x air strikes on the concentrations of Russian troops, weapons, and military equipment, 2x air strikes on the anti-aircraft missile systems.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 1x concentration of troops, weapons, and military equipment, 1x anti-aircraft missile system, 13x artillery systems, and 1x electronic warfare station of the Russian adversary.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in the period from 24 to 29 September 2023, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out nine group strikes by long-range precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The strikes hit ammunition depots, military-technical hardware of the AFU, saboteurs' training sites, and accommodation points for Ukrainian servicemen and foreign mercenaries.

As a result of the strikes, the control centre of the International Legion formation, two large arsenals with weapons and ammunition were destroyed, and the supply of foreign-made weapons and logistical support for Ukrainian troops operating in Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions were disrupted.

In Donetsk direction, during the week the enemy continued to attempt offensive actions close to Artemovsk, Avdeevka, and Marinka (Donetsk People's Republic).

Over the past week, units of the Yug Group of Forces have repelled 31 attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this area.

As a result of the fighting, the enemy lost more than 1,760 Ukrainian troops killed and wounded, 40 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, as well as 70 motor vehicles.

In counter-battery warfare, 13 field artillery pieces and two Grad multiple rocket launchers were neutralised.

In addition, ground-attack aircraft destroyed two ammunition depots near Zvanovka and Zarya (Donetsk People's Republic).

In order to make up for the significant losses of manpower during the failed assaults on Kleshcheyevka and Andreevka (Donetsk People's Republic), the AFU command was forced to redeploy units of the 33rd, 67th and 110th mechanised brigades from other directions.

In Zaporozhye direction, the Russian troops continue to conduct active defence, during which they repelled eight attacks launched by assault groups of the 65th Mechanised and 71st Jaeger brigades of the AFU close to Vebovoye and Rabotino (Zaporozhye region) during the past week.

In the areas of Malaya Tokmachka, Orekhov, and Novodanilovka (Zaporozhye region), the 21st, 23rd, and 118th mechanised brigades of the AFU defeated clusters of enemy manpower and hardware.

During the fighting, the enemy's losses amounted to more than 330 Ukrainian troops, 32 armoured fighting vehicles, 38 motor vehicles, and 25 field artillery pieces.

The AFU Command is currently withdrawing the 47th Mechanised Brigade of the AFU from the area of Rabotino (Zaporozhye region) to the rear area due to the fact that servicemen are refusing to carry out combat tasks because of the losses they have suffered.

In South Donetsk direction, Russian units repelled four attacks launched by units of the 127th Territorial Defence Brigade in the vicinity of Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region), during the aforementioned period.

In addition, air strikes and artillery fire struck clusters of AFU manpower and hardware.

During the week, the enemy's losses totalled over 750 Ukrainian troops killed and wounded, 22 armoured fighting vehicles, 37 motor vehicles, and 15 field artillery pieces.

Also, two AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups were neutralised near Marfopol (Zaporozhye region).

In Kupyansk direction, the Zapad Group of Forces used air strikes and artillery fire to hit the manpower and hardware of the 25th Airborne, 14th, 43rd, and 92nd mechanised brigades of the AFU near Sinkovka, Peschanoye, Cherneshchina, and Novolyubovka (Kharkov region).

In this direction, the enemy has lost over 210 Ukrainian troops, five armoured fighting vehicles, 30 motor vehicles, as well as 13 field artillery pieces.

In addition, four ammunition depots of the AFU were destroyed near Berestovoye, Kislovka, and Ogurtsovo (Kharkov region).

In Krasny Liman direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces using the 12th Special Forces Brigade, the 63rd and 67th Mechanized Brigades made unsuccessful attempts to regain lost positions near Torskoye (Donetsk People's Republic) and Serebryansky forestry.

As a result of competent action by units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, air strikes, artillery fire, and heavy flamethrowers, 12 enemy attacks were repelled.

Ukrainian Armed Forces losses for the week amounted to more than 360 Ukrainian troops, 20 armoured fighting vehicles, 20 motor vehicles, as well as 12 guns.

In Kherson direction, the main efforts were focused on preventing the enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups from landing on the islands and the left bank of the Dnepr. As part of this task, three AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups were disabled.

Up to 250 Ukrainian servicemen, 16 armoured fighting vehicles and 42 motor vehicles were destroyed during the week.

Seven field artillery pieces were hit during the counter-battery warfare.

The Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed five warplanes of the Ukrainian Air Force in a week.

One Ukrainian Su-25 ground-attack aircraft was shot down near Toretskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

Two Mig-29 fighter jets of the Ukrainian Air Force have been destroyed at the Dolgintsevo airfield, Dnepropetrovsk region.

In addition, on the night of 29 September, two more Mig-29 fighter jets delivered from Poland and upgraded to use Western missile weapons were eliminated at the Kulbakino airfield, Nikolayev region.

One Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force was also shot down by means of air defence near Kleshcheevka (Donetsk People's Republic).

In addition, air defence systems shot down 33 HIMARS and Olkha MLRS projectiles, one JDAM guided aerial bomb, and four U.S.-made HARM anti-radiation missiles during the week.

In addition, 185 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down and overwhelmed by electronic warfare systems.

In total, 482 airplanes and 250 helicopters, 7,252 unmanned aerial vehicles, 438 air defence missile systems, 12,210 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,157 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,584 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 13,590 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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Russo-Ukraine War - 30 September 2023 - Day 584

Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that on 29 September 2023, Russian authorities published footage of President Putin meeting former Wagner Group Chief of Staff Andrei Troshev, tasking him with overseeing and establishing new 'volunteer fighting units'. Deputy defence minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was also at the meeting.

Around the time of the June 2023 insurrection, Troshev took up a role in the official security forces: Troshev was probably involved in encouraging other Wagner personnel to sign contracts, contributing to the insurrection. Many Wagner veterans likely consider him a traitor.

Yevkurov has recently been pictured touring African states. Presidential endorsement of Troshev and Yevkurov indicates Russia's continuing utilisation of volunteer units and private military companies, and planning for the future of Wagner. It is prepared to draw on the experience of veterans who can demonstrate their loyalty to the state and continued involvement in the Global South, but probably with greater oversight from the Kremlin.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of September 30, there were 24x combat engagements.

Also, the Russian Federation launched yet another strike at Ukraine using about 40x Iranian Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs from the southern direction. Air defense forces and means shot down 30x Russian Shaheds in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia oblasts.

Russian forces launched a total of 8x missile and 71x air strikes, 17x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the Russian attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.

The operational situation in east and south of Ukraine remains difficult.

Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group. Certain units of the armed forces of Belarus continue their missions in the areas bordering Ukraine.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the Russian adversary maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. Russia continues to shell Ukrainian settlements from the territory of Russia and increases the density of minefields along the state border of Ukraine. The Russian adversary launched an air strike in the vicinity of Halahanivka (Chernihiv oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 25x settlements, including Vylchyky (Chernihiv oblast), Prohres, Mykytivka, Yastrubshchyna, Kindrativka, Myropillya, Popivka, Oleksandrivka (Sumy oblast), Lemishchyne (Kharkiv oblast).

Kup'yans'k axis: Russian forces launched an air strikes in the vicinities of Novoselivs'ke (Luhansk oblast). The settlements of Dvorichna, Syn'kivka, Petropavlivka, Ivanivka, Kyslivka, Berestove (Kharkiv oblast) came under artillery and mortar fire.

Lyman axis: the settlements of Nevs'ke, Novolyubivka, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Spirne and Vesele (Donetsk oblast) suffered Russian air strikes. The Russian invaders fired artillery and mortars at the settlements of Nevs'ke, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast) and Spirne, Rozdolivka, Dibrova (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: Russian forces made unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost ground in the vicinity of Klishchiivka (Donetsk oblast). The Russian invaders launched air strikes near Klishchiivka, Andriivka, New York (Donetsk oblast). More than 10x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Markove, Chasiv Yar, Ivanivske, Bila Hora, New York (Donetsk oblast). The reported density of minefields is increasing.

Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders successfully repelled Russian attacks near Novoselivka, east of Stepove and Avdiivka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces launched an air strike near Avdiivka. The invaders fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Novokalynove, Novobakhmutivka, Tonen'ke, Karlivka, Pervomais'ke, Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Mar'inka axis: during the day of September 30, Ukrainian defense forces successfully repelled 9x Russian attacks in the vicinity of Mar'inka (Donetsk oblast). The Russian adversary launched air strikes near Novomykhailivka and Mar'inka (Donetsk oblast). The settlements of Oleksandropil', Krasnohorivka, Mar'inka, Novomykhailivka, Katerynivka (Donetsk oblast) were under artillery and mortar fire of the Russian occupiers.

Shakhtars'ke axis: Russian forces did not conduct offensive (assault) operations. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Prechystivka, Urozhaine and Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast). Around 15x settlements, including Vodyane, Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Zolota Nyva, Blahodatne, Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast), came under artillery and mortar fire.

Zaporizhzhia axis: the Ukrainian defenders successfully repelled Russian attacks near Novodarivka (Zaporizhzhia oblast). The Russian occupiers launched air strikes near Robotyne and Novodanylivka (Zaporizhzhia oblast). More than 25x settlements, including Chervone, Hulyaipole, Charivne, Orikhiv, Kam'yans'ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast), came under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

Kherson axis: Russian forces launched an air strike near Mykolaivka (Kherson oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 25x settlements, including Zolota Balka, Sablukivka, Zmiivka, Odradokam'yanka, Antonivka, Stanislav (Kherson oblast) and the city of Kherson.

At the same time, the Ukrainian defense forces continue their offensive operation on Melitopol' axis and offensive (assault) operations on Bakhmut axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian occupation forces, exhausting Russian forces all along the front line.

During the day of September 30, Ukrainian Air Force launched 14x air strikes on the concentrations of troops, weapons and military equipment, 8x air strikes on the anti-aircraft missile systems of the Russian adversary.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 6x anti-aircraft missile systems and 9x artillery systems of the Russian invaders.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, in cooperation with aviation and artillery, have successfully repelled seven attacks by AFU units close to Kleshcheevka, Maryinka, Vodyanoye, and Khimik (Donetsk People's Republic).

In addition, enemy manpower and military hardware concentration have been eliminated near Bogdanovka and Kurdyumovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

The enemy losses were up to 430 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, four armoured fighting vehicles, and two motor vehicles.

During counter-battery warfare, one U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery system, one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian grouping of troops, aviation and artillery have inflicted a fire defeat on enemy near Verbovoye (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy losses were over 30 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, and three motor vehicles.

In addition, in the course of counter-battery warfare, one U.S.-manufactured M119 towed howitzer, one UK-manufactured FH70 artillery system, as well as two D-30 and one Msta-B howitzers.

In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces, in the course of active operations, supported by aviation and artillery, have inflicted a fire defeat on the enemy close to Stepovaya Novosyolovka (Kharkov region).

The enemy losses were up to 20 Ukrainian servicemen and two motor vehicles have been eliminated.

In addition, one U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery system, one Msta-B gun, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

In Krasny Liman direction, as a result of coordinated actions by units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, Army Aviation and artillery, two attacks by assault groups of 21st and 67th mechanised brigades of the AFU have been repelled iclose to Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic) and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic), and enemy manpower and hardware have been defeated near Kuzmino (Lugansk People's Republic) and Grigorovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

The enemy losses were up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, and one D-30 howitzer.

In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces, in cooperation with Army Aviation and artillery, have inflicted a fire defeat on AFU assault detachments close to Nikolskoye (Donetsk People's Republic) and repelled two attacks by 127th and 128th Territorial Defence Brigades near Rovnopol (Donetsk People's Republic) and Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy losses were over 120 Ukrainian servicemen, two pickup trucks, one U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery system, and one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system.

In Kherson direction, the enemy losses were up to 40 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as three motor vehicles.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have neutralised manpower and military hardware in 102 areas.

In addition, three ammunition depots of 124th and 126th Territorial Defence Brigades and the 81st Airmobile Brigade of the AFU have been destroyed close to Kiselyovka, Shlyakhovoye (Kherson region) and Kramatorsk (Donetsk People's Republic).

Air defence facilities have intercepted nine Uragan MLRS projectiles and one U.S.-manufactured HIMARS MLRS projectile.

In addition, 25 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down close to Belogorovka, Chervonopopovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Kamenka, Zaitsevo, Vasilyovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Tokmak, Pologi (Zaporozhye region) Peschanovka, Krynki (Kherson region), and Liman Pervy (Kharkov region).

In total, 482 airplanes, 250 helicopters, 7,277 unmanned aerial vehicles, 438 air defence missile systems, 12,218 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,157 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,598 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 13,605 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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Top donor Germany signs major contribution to WHO for health emergencies; signs host agreement for WHO pandemic hub

World Health Organization

28 September 2023

Departmental news

Germany deepened its longstanding engagement with WHO on Thursday with two new agreements: one to contribute a further a40 million to WHO's work in health emergencies, and a second to host the Berlin-based WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.

With the new contribution, Germany has provided a53.5 million so far this year to support WHO's response to more than 50 active health emergencies.

"This is important because climate disasters, conflicts, and the ongoing pandemic demand urgent action," said Susanne Baumann, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office for Germany (GFFO), whose delegation met with WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "Our support is flexible and vital for saving lives around the globe."

Through the GFFO, the country provides substantial funding to humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine, Yemen, and to Ebola responses in Africa.

Germany is an all-time top donor to WHO's Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE), having contributed a115 million since the CFE's inception in 2015. The contributions have made a significant impact on the health of people caught up in humanitarian crises; this year alone, CFE funding allowed WHO to bring immediate, lifesaving support to victims of floods in Libya, conflict in Sudan, cholera and diphtheria outbreaks, and earthquakes in TArkiye and Syria.

Of the new a40 million contribution, a20 million goes to the WHO Health Emergencies Appeal 2023, a10 million to the Ukraine emergency, a10 million for emergencies in Africa.

Thursday's meeting also featured the signing of a host agreement for the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. The Hub was established with Germany's support in Berlin in September 2021 to provide the world with better data, analytics and decisions to detect and respond to health emergencies.

Coinciding with the signing of the host agreement, the German government held the high-level conference "Pandemics: no time for neglect," which focused on political priorities and actions on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, along with financing for resilient health systems.

"After last week's historic political declaration at the UN General Assembly committing to stronger collaboration, investments, and governance to prevent, prepare, and respond to future pandemics, I am appreciative of Germany's leadership leveraging the political momentum to host this high-level forum," Dr Tedros said. "We must continue the dialogue to align on strengthening and financing health systems."

In the coming weeks, Germany will join with WHO in two more high-level events:

Breaking Barriers: Advancing the One Health Agenda with a Focus on Environment (13-14 October) will feature keynote addresses from Dr Jeremy Farrar, WHO's Chief Scientist, and Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, WHO's Assistant Director-General for Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems.

The World Health Summit 2023 (15-17 October) will gather stakeholders from more than 100 countries under the theme: "A Defining Year for Global Health Action."

In a whole-of-government investment approach, Germany commits funds from its federal ministries: the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the German Development Bank (KfW), the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and the Ministry for the Environment.

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Official: Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has deep-seated, strategic ties with Iran

Iran Press TV

Friday, 29 September 2023 2:50 PM

A high-ranking member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement has commended his group's relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, terming the ties as "deep-seated and strategic."

Ihsan Ataya, a senior member of the political bureau of Islamic Jihad, said on Thursday that the Gaza-based group's relationship with Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement guarantees its military prowess and stronger performance.

"Islamic Jihad aligns with any party that stands up against the Zionist regime and the United States," he said, emphasizing that his movement is prepared to "pay any cost" for the final goal of liberating the occupied Palestinian territories.

Ataya went on to describe the Islamic Jihad as a beacon of hope on the path towards liberating Palestine, highlighting that the occupying Tel Aviv regime is not the worst enemy of the Palestinian nation, but rather a broad coalition led by Washington.

"The Zionist enemy exiled a number of Jihad commanders to Lebanon, but we were able to develop the movement in Beirut and Damascus," he said.

The senior Islamic Jihad official pointed out that Zionists usurped Palestinian lands through mass killings, stressing that the Israeli regime is plundering the entire resources of the region.

"We cannot forge relations with the United States as Washington and Tel Aviv are two sides of the same coin," Ataya pointed.

Back on June 19, the Islamic Jihad chief hailed Iran's unwavering support for Palestinians, insisting that the Islamic Republic remains the sole nation across the globe to openly advocate for Palestine and the anti-Israeli resistance.

Iran "dares to declare that it supports the Palestinian people and Palestinian resistance. No other country in the world takes such a stance so explicitly," said Islamic Jihad's Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhaleh during an interview with the Tehran-based and Arabic-language al-Alam television news network.

Nakhaleh, who led a Palestinian delegation to Iran, also pointed to a meeting in Tehran between senior officials of the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad resistance movements and the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC) as "a testament to Tehran's support for the Palestinian resistance factions" that also "highlights [persisting] strong ties between Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Islamic Republic."

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100th Missile Defense Brigade: Defending America for 20 Years

By Capt. Aaron Gatzke, 100th Missile Defense Brigade September 29, 2023

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Who would the nation call upon if attacked by long-range ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads? For 20 years, the Colorado National Guard's 100th Missile Defense Brigade has been prepared to defend against such a threat.

Training for this mission requires planning and coordination from not only the 100th but also the 49th Missile Defense Battalion, Fort Greely, Alaska, and Detachment 1, 100th MDB at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

As the higher headquarters, the 100th MDB planned and executed Operation Guardian Strike to train and evaluate readiness at Fort Greely July 30-Aug. 2.

"There's a couple things that are looked at during an exercise like this," said U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jeremy Christensen, 100th MDB command sergeant major. "Soldier proficiency, what we do out there, and then vulnerabilities and assessments for command."

A large part of the mission revolves around protecting the Missile Defense Complex from threats like elite military or terrorist groups and, more recently, drone attacks. Company A, 49th MDB, along with an augmentation force of military police from the Mississippi National Guard, maintained security at the MDC 24/7, 365.

As part of the exercise, drone operators simulated enemy drone attacks and surveillance, allowing the MPs to test their Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems defense under real-world conditions.

Additionally, the 100th MDB training team Soldiers simulated a foreign special operations team disrupting the MDC. After three days of the exercise, MPs were tested by combined drone and special forces attacks for several hours, including after sunset. These events provided a capstone for Guardian Strike.

"They responded well to a complex threat, even at night," said U.S. Army Capt. Garrett Boldry, an Active Component force protection officer assigned to the 100th MDB overseeing the security aspect of the evaluation. "The MDC is well protected for all the worst-case scenarios we could throw at it."

All of this ties directly back to the missile defense the 100th MDB controls from Schriever Space Force Base and its headquarters in Colorado Springs.

The 100th MDB interfaces directly with U.S. Northern Command, which has ultimate responsibility for homeland defense. Since so many echelons are involved, this training is critical to validate that all the units operate well together.

"Multi-echelon training is a key enabler to building competencies and readiness for all units," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Benjamin Brown, operations officer in charge, 100th MDB. "When a unit utilizes multi-echelon training, the quality of the information provided at all levels increases and builds the efficiency of the exercise for not only the individual Soldier but the team, squad, platoon, company or battery and the battalion as a whole."

"We have a huge charge here," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jorge Lorenzana, commander, 49th MDBN. "We defend 350 million Americans, and we proved that we can do it and we can do it well. We should be very proud."

The unit's 20th anniversary of Ground-based Missile Defense in Colorado on Oct. 16 is a reminder of all the hard work and development of Soldiers over the years.

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Royal Australian Navy sets sail for regional presence deployment

Issued by Defence Media

29 September 2023

The Australian Defence Force is continuing to contribute to regional security, with three Royal Australian Navy ships to conduct a regional presence deployment throughout Southeast and Northeast Asia.

HMA Ships Brisbane and Toowoomba have departed their homeports on opposite sides of the country bound for the three-month deployment, with HMAS Stalwart set to sail in coming weeks.

The deployment will involve around 500 personnel including the ships' companies, embarked helicopter teams from Navy's Fleet Air Arm and additional command and support personnel.

During the deployment, the Australian Defence Force will contribute to Operation Argos, part of Australia's commitment to the international effort to enforce United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea.

Ships and their crews will participate in a number of exercises and activities with regional partners including Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The deployment will also include cooperative activities at sea and navy-to-navy engagements during exercises and port visits.

Director General Maritime Operations, Commodore Mick Harris, OAM, said the latest deployment followed on from other successful ADF deployments in the region including Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2023 and Exercise Alon in the Philippines.

"This three-ship regional presence deployment showcases Australia's significant commitment to engaging with our partners in the Indo-Pacific region," Commodore Harris said.

"We look forward to working with our regional partners at sea and ashore and building on existing relationships while demonstrating Australia's resolve for a stable, peaceful, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

"Our sailors and officers will relish opportunities to meet Navy people from other nations as well as step ashore and experience different cultures, further increasing our mutual understanding as Indo-Pacific partners."

The regional presence deployment will conclude in December.

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Hoisting for success

By Lieutenant Max Logan

29 September 2023

It's been a busy program for Frigate HMAS Toowoomba during a transit north from her homeport of Fleet Base West, Western Australia.

The ship's company conducted various training activities across multiple departments in the lead-up to a regional presence deployment (RPD) - which will include maritime exercises with regional partners in south-east and north-east Asia.

The training activities included rigid hulled inflatable boat drills, MH-60R helicopter operations and officer-of-the-watch manoeuvres.

Airframe aviation technician Able Seaman Robert Kesson conducted a transfer from Toowoomba's embarked MH-60R helicopter "Valkyrie", which he said involves the aircraft hovering near the ship, then manoeuvring over the flight deck for stores or live vertical replenishment.

"The aircrew will lower a sling or mail bag down to a two-person team who will earth the package and receive the stores," Able Seaman Kesson said.

"Alternatively, they may escort a potential patient out to the transfer point to be hoisted up into the helo.

"It's an exciting evolution and a good addition to our routine flying operations."

Maritime warfare officer Lieutenant Vincent Bornaghi was on the bridge during a rendezvous with Armidale-class patrol boat HMAS Albany and said he enjoyed sailing in company with an Australian patrol boat while preparing for future passage activities during the RPD.

"We conducted officer-of-the-watch manoeuvres, which are a series of close-quarters manoeuvres designed to train officers of the watch in ship handling techniques," Lieutenant Bornaghi said.

"The officer of the watch's role during these activities is to make tactical signal reports to the commanding officer, formulate a mental solution and manoeuvre the ship to get into a desired station.

"If well executed it both looks and feels incredibly satisfying.

HMAS Toowoomba also tested its formation passage capability, conducting close manoeuvres with Indonesian Navy KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai and Indian Navy INS Sahyadri during a cooperative activity in the Timor Sea.

HMA Ships Brisbane and Stalwart are also part of the RPD, with all ships set to return to Australia in mid-December.

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Taipans withdrawn from service

29 September 2023

The Australian Defence Force's MRH-90 Taipan helicopters will not return to flying operations before their planned withdrawal date of December 2024.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Government was focused on the introduction into service of the new fleet of UH-60M Black Hawks.

The first three Black Hawks have arrived in Australia and commenced flying in September, with remaining Black Hawks continuing to be delivered.

Mr Marles said the MRH-90 had been an important capability for the ADF.

"I recognise the hard work of the hundreds of people who dedicated themselves to acquiring, operating and sustaining the aircraft," he said.

"The first of the 40 Black Hawks that will replace the MRH-90 have arrived and are already flying in Australia. We are focused on seeing their introduction to service as quickly as possible.

"The Government's highest priority is the safety and wellbeing of our people.

"We continue to support the families of the four soldiers who lost their lives earlier this year, and the broader Defence community."

The ADF will continue to operate its CH-47F Chinooks, Tigers and MH-60R Seahawks to provide a ready aviation capability.

From 2025, the new AH-64E Apache helicopters will also be introduced into service for the Army.

Mr Marles said to help mitigate further impacts on Army's operations and training, the Government was exploring options to accelerate the delivery of the Black Hawks and aircrew training.

He said today's announcement did not suggest the outcome of the investigations into the tragic incident on July 28, when an MRH-90 Taipan crashed near Lindeman Island, Queensland, during Exercise Talisman Sabre, killing the four aircrew on board.

Mr Marles said the Government made clear at the time Defence would not fly the platform until investigations into the incident were complete.

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September 29, 2023

By Jim Garamone , DOD News

U.S. Official Says Allies Acting Together to Deter China

U.S. defense officials are encouraged by the way allies and partners are increasingly acting together to counter Chinese attempts to claim vast areas of the South China Sea and to deter China from military action in the region, said Lindsey Ford, deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia.

Ford testified, yesterday, before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about China's efforts to expand its military and law enforcement presence in the South China Sea.

She told the panel that Chinese forces have launched a campaign of harassment against the legitimate economic activities of other claimants in the area. Chinese forces also interfere with ships and aircraft from other states looking to exercise navigational rights and freedoms under international law.

"Close collaboration with our allies and partners is foundational to sustaining and strengthening deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, including in the South China Sea," Ford said. "We cannot confront complex and interconnected challenges alone, and the South China Sea is no exception."

Over the past 10 years, China has increased "the scope, the scale and the pace of its approach to assert control over the entirety of the South China Sea," she said.

The Chinese military has constructed a number of military outposts on occupied and reclaimed features in the Spratly Islands and steadily equipped these outposts with an increasing array of advanced military capabilities, Ford said.

"The [Chinese military] has sharply increased coercive and risky operational behavior in the air and at sea, threatening lawfully operating American, allied and partner forces," she said. "This includes sinking Vietnamese fishing vessels, using military aircraft to harass Malaysian offshore energy exploration, flying within 20 feet of U.S. military aircraft and deploying water cannons and military grade lasers to block and target Philippine resupply boats headed toward Second Thomas Shoal."

This is extremely dangerous and increases the risks of miscalculation as incidents occur. Many nations are concerned with these Chinese provocations. "Over the past year, we've seen an unprecedented number of states enhance efforts to support rule of law in the South China Sea, which is a very encouraging development," Ford said.

She listed some of the steps allies and partners are taking. Earlier this week, the Philippines removed a floating barrier installed by the Chinese Coast Guard near Scarborough Shoal. "In the face of [Chinese] threats and intimidation, we've seen Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam continue to expand their offshore energy exploration efforts and challenge [Chinese] encroachment," she said.

Partners across the region and beyond have condemned the Chinese behavior in the South China Sea. These include Australia, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union. "All protested the aggressive [Chinese] maneuvers that we saw against the Philippines at the Second Thomas Shoal," she said.

The deputy assistant secretary also noted that Japanese and South Korean leaders at the recent Camp David Summit hosted by President Joe Biden "strongly condemned the PRC's aggressive behavior in the South China Sea."

The leaders of the G-7 came out against the militarization of the South China Sea and called on the Chinese to uphold the principles of the Law of the Sea.

"While our allies and partners have taken great steps to stand up for our shared vision, DOD is also taking an increasingly proactive approach to counter [Chinese] coercion," she said. "A key element of this approach is building asymmetric advantages for our allies and partners."

The United States has allocated $475 million and capabilities that enable Southeast Asian partners to sense, share and contribute to regional maritime security. This includes funding emerging technologies that will bring greater capabilities to our allies and partners. "Beyond the investments we're making in ally and partner capabilities, we've enhanced the complexity of our military operations in and around the South China Sea to ensure deterrence is strong," she said.

She noted the United States conducted a multi-carrier, multi-domain exercise in the region earlier this year and that thousands of U.S. service members participated in Excise Super Garuda Shield in Indonesia and the Balikatan Exercise with the Philippines.

"We are diversifying U.S. force posture to remain prepared for any crisis or contingency that includes regular rotational deployments of U.S. P-8 [aircraft] and littoral combat ships with Singapore, and in the Philippines recently agreeing to four new enhanced defense cooperation sites that U.S. forces will have access to," Ford said.

Moving ahead, the United States is supporting "multi-lateral and 'minialateral' coalitions of allies and partners supporting network security architecture of like-minded nations," she said.

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Move over, Florida Man  it's finally time for Florida Crab to shine! Amongst the many environmental threats facing the Sunshine State from every angle, Floridian coral reefs are in particular trouble, thanks in large part to overpopulations of vicious algae (fed on human waste, naturally). And the only way to save them from choking out all the coral reefs is by loosing wild hordes of crabs into DeSantisLand. As Vox explains:

Algae is one of the few winners in a world dominated by humans. It thrives on our waste, such as sewage and runoff from farmland, which is full of nitrogen and phosphorous  nutrients that algae need to grow. As pollution runs into the ocean, algae booms. Meanwhile, animals that eat algae have declined precipitously in recent decades. In the 1980s, an unknown pathogen wiped out longspined sea urchins in the Caribbean. These marine invertebrates  which take the shape of an overfilled pin cushion  eat loads of algae. Similarly, overfishing and the loss of various ecosystems has caused declines in algae-eating fish, such as parrotfish. Like a fertilized pasture with no cows, a field of algae on a reef with no herbivores grows unencumbered. In the last decade, the extent of algae on reefs globally increased by roughly 20 percent, turning them from brilliant fields of color to monochrome patches of green. This is a serious problem for coral.

Essentially, all that algae is preventing the coral reefs from growing. But coral reefs are helpful to the environment for a number of reasons  not the least of which being how they can offer crucial protections from other climate-related disasters.

And that's where the crabs come in. They apparently love munching on algae. So now there's a whole crew of scientists devoted to breeding hundreds of thousands of algae-eating crabs to loose upon the Florida population, and save their sunburned asses.

I, for one, welcome our crab saviors.

Scientists will unleash an army of crabs to help save Florida's dying reef [Benji Jones / Vox]
Recent China-US frequent interactions helpful to manage complicated ties; US concrete moves urged to create benign atmosphere for higher-level meeting: analysts

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Published: Sep 29, 2023 04:42 PM

The recent frequent interactions and exchanges between China and the US are helpful in managing the current complicated situation of bilateral relations and more efforts and actions from the US side have been called to help create friendly environment for higher level talks, Chinese analysts said after the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday released a readout from the latest meeting of senior diplomats from China and the US.

In accordance with the consensus reached by China and the US and at the invitation of the US, on Wednesday, Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong met with US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink in Washington and the two sides held a candid, in-depth and constructive exchange of views on China-US relations, the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, their respective regional policies, and international and regional issues of common concern, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry's release.

During the meeting, Sun elaborated on China's position on the Taiwan question and emphasized that the one-China principle is the cornerstone of peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits. He also expressed China's position on the US' implementation of the so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy and the South China Sea.

Sun said that China emphasizes that positive interactions between China and the US in the Asia-Pacific are in the common interests of both sides and are also the common aspiration of regional countries.

Both sides agreed to continue to maintain communication on Asia-Pacific affairs, according to the release from the Chinese side.

The release from the US Department of State also said that the two sides had "a candid, in-depth, and constructive consultation on regional issues as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication" and it also noted that the two sides reiterated the importance of maintaining open channels of communication on areas of difference as well as areas of cooperation.

The meeting between Sun and Kritenbrink came as the latest frequent engagements between China and the US, including the meeting between Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York and the meeting between Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that China's top diplomat Wang Yi is planning to visit Washington in October. It also said that China and the US are discussing a trip to the US by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. However, as of press time, there has no confirmed information about these trips from China.

The recent frequent and high-level interactions between China and the US could help promote communications and help the two sides manage dispute and the complicated bilateral relations, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

Aside from meetings between senior officials, the US has also showed positive attitude toward China on various diplomatic events, Li said, referring to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's thanking China for allowing detained US soldier Travis King to leave North Korea through Chinese territory.

These positive interactions fit the theme that China has always stressed for mutual respect and win-win cooperation, said Li.

Many US media outlets declared high expectations of a possible China-US summit later this year on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting which will be held in San Francisco in November and some speculated that recent interactions are paving the way for the meeting.

Li said that there is possibility for a higher-level meeting but there are too many issues between China and the US and the US should take more actions to create greater momentum and friendly atmosphere for a meeting between the top leaders of the two countries.

Some analysts said that the US has showed more positive attitude on words than on moves for top leaders' meeting in recent months as it is still creating obstacles for bilateral relations, especially on the Taiwan question, the South China Sea issue and US' unilateral sanctions on Chinese firms.

The US recently approved a possible sale of infrared search and track systems for F-16 fighter jets to the island of Taiwan in an apparent move to counter J-20 stealth fighter jets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and China required the US to immediately cancel the arms sales plan.

Li said that actions speak louder than words and the Biden administration needs to present more sincerity in improving relations with China given the increasing impact by anti-China sentiment in the US linked to its China policy.

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Condemning the Life Sentence of Professor Rahile Dawut

US Department of State

Press Statement

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

September 29, 2023

We condemn the reported life sentence handed down by the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) following secret court proceedings of Professor Rahile Dawut, an anthropologist and expert on Uyghur folklore and traditions.

Professor Dawut and other Uyghur intellectuals, including Ilham Tohti, have been unjustly imprisoned for their work to protect and preserve Uyghur culture and traditions. Professor Dawut's life sentence is part of an apparent broader effort by the PRC to eradicate Uyghur identity and culture and undermine academic freedom, including through the use of detentions and disappearances.

We call upon the PRC government to immediately end the genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang and to abide by its international commitments to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. We continue to call on the PRC government to immediately release Professor Dawut and all individuals who are unjustly detained.

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September 29, 2023

Release

Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Meeting With Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar

Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Ms. Sabrina Singh provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III welcomed Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar to the Pentagon today, where the two officials exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues, including recent developments in East Asia and the Indian Ocean region. Secretary Austin and Minister Jaishankar discussed opportunities to deepen bilateral defense cooperation, including expanded defense industrial cooperation and co-production of defense articles; streamlined logistics procedures to enhance operational cooperation; and continued implementation of the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X).

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3543887/

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NAUGURAL PANEL DISCUSSION CONDUCTED UNDER PROJECT UDBHAV- AN INDIAN ARMY INITIATIVE TO REDISCOVER THE INDIC HERITAGE OF STATECRAFT AND STRATEGIC THOUGHTS

India - Press Information Bureau

Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 29 SEP 2023 5:07PM by PIB Delhi

The Indian Army in collaboration with the United Service Institution of India (USI), concluded a hybrid-panel discussion today under Project Udbhav on the topic "Evolution of Indian Military Systems, War fighting and Strategic Thought- Current Research in the Field and Way Forward".

Project Udbhav is an initiative set in motion by the Indian Army to rediscover the profound Indic heritage of statecraft and strategic thoughts derived from ancient Indian texts of statecraft, warcraft, diplomacy and grand strategy. The project endeavours to explore India's rich historical narratives in the realms of statecraft and strategic thoughts. It focuses on a broad spectrum including Indigenous Military Systems, Historical Texts, Regional Texts and Kingdoms, Thematic Studies, and intricate Kautilya Studies.

This pioneering initiative stands testimony to the Indian Army's recognition of India's age-old wisdom in statecraft, strategy, diplomacy, and warfare. At its core, Project Udbhav seeks to bridge the historical and the contemporary. The goal is to understand the profound depths of indigenous military systems, their evolution, strategies that have been passed down through the ages, and the strategic thought processes that have governed the land for millennia.

Aim of Project Udbhav is not limited to just rediscovering these narratives but also to also develop an indigenous strategic vocabulary, which is deeply rooted in India's multifaceted philosophical and cultural tapestry. Overall aim is to integrate age-old wisdom with modern military pedagogy.

Since 2021, under the aegis of the Indian Army, there has been a project in progress on the compilation of Indian stratagems based on ancient texts. A book has been released under this project which lists 75 aphorisms selected from ancient texts. However, the first scholarly outcome of the initiative is the 2022 publication titled "Paramparik Bhartiya Darshan... Ranniti aur Netriyta ke Shashwat Niyam" meant to be read by all ranks of the Indian Army. English translation of the title being "Traditional Indian Philosophy...Eternal Rules of Warfare and Leadership".

The panel discussion conducted today is an ambitious step to revitalize the knowledge creation from India's rich classical heritage. The scope of the discussion encompassed discussion on the study of ancient texts from the 4th century BCE to the 8th century CE, with a focus on Kautilya, Kamandaka, and The Kural. The discussion has been able to achieve the intended outcome which was to spark interest, engagement, and further research into India's traditional strategic thought. The Keynote Address was delivered by Lieutenant General Raju Baijal,Director General Strategic Planning.

The discussion was chaired by Lieutenant General Vinod G Khandare (Retired), Principal Adviser, Ministry of Defence. The panelists included scholars, veterans and serving officers who have made immense contribution in this field to include Dr Kajari Kamal, an accomplished scholar in Military Education, she brought her profound knowledge of Kautilya and the larger canvas of Indian Strategic culture.

Today's discussion is only the first step in a series of engagements planned under Project Udbhav. This endeavor sets the stage for future initiatives, like the eagerly anticipated Military Heritage Festival and the presentation of papers, which will delve into the intricate details of strategic texts and their relevance today.

The panel discussion has firmly placed the spotlight on India's rich and often understudied strategic and military heritage. By reintroducing these classical teachings into the contemporary military and strategic domains, the Indian Army aims to nurture the officers to apply ancient wisdom in modern scenarios and also allow a more profound understanding of international relations and foreign cultures.

****

SC,RS, VY



(Release ID: 1962072)

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Iran's army air defense the most powerful in region: Commander

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Sep 29, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- The commander of the Iranian Army's Air Defense Force, Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard, has said that the country possesses the most powerful air defense across the region.

The commander also said that enemies of the Islamic Republic know very well that the country's air defense has a superior power, and that its airspace is the safest in the world.

He added that the Army's Air Defense Force has the most developed indigenous equipment, from identification and interception to surveillance systems.

Sabahifard was speaking at a ceremony to commemorate the martyrs of the Army's Air Defense Force, the Army's Public Relations Office reported on Friday.

The ceremony was held on the occasion of the Sacred Defense Week that began last Friday to mark the war imposed on Iran by Iraq's toppled Baath regime in the 1980s.

4194**2050

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'Iran foils assassination plots aimed at fueling ethnic unrest'

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Sep 29, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's minister of intelligence Esmaeil Khatib has announced that enemy's plots to assassinate several judges, members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Sunni clerics have been foiled.

Khatib said on Friday that the plot, which was to be carried out on Saturday, aimed to incriminate each group for the killings and fuel ethnic and religious divisions in Iran.

He emphasized the need for vigilance among Shia and Sunni scholars and officials in order to thwart the enemy's actions coinciding with the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Week of Unity.

He further stated, "The enemies are seeking to destabilize the eastern borders of the country."

4353**2050

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Iran launches 2nd phase of project to bring water from Sea of Oman to Isfahan

Iran Press TV

Friday, 29 September 2023 11:24 AM

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi has visited the central province of Isfahan and launched the second phase of a large-scale national project that transfers water from the Sea of aaOman to the drought-prone province.

Raeisi arrived in Isfahan on Friday and was briefed upon arrival by the provincial officials, contractors and workers on the latest stages of progress in the implementation of the 980-kilometer water supply project.

"Reports indicate that the implementation period of this project has whittled down to a third," the Iranian chief executive said, stressing that water supply is a very important issue as it can help promote agriculture and industry in Isfahan Province.

"This project has gained further momentum and 50% of it has been completed so far, and on the whole, we are witnessing the implementation of a very good and valuable work," Raeisi added.

Expressing his gratitude to the entire personnel and staff involved in the major project, Raeisi then ordered the launch of the second phase of the water transfer scheme from the Sea of Oman to the central Iranian province.

The project was initiated in September last year, transferring 70 million cubic meters of water to Isfahan in the first stage and 400 million other in the next stage.

The length of the water transfer route from the Sea of Oman to Isfahan is 980 kilometers, of which 520 km has been completed, 420 km has been excavated and 214 km has been laid with pipes.

The water supply project is part of a plan to revive Isfahan's Zayandeh Rud River and provide water for drinking, agriculture and local industries.

Iran faces a race against time to tackle its serious water shortage challenge as water depletion in the country is one of the highest in the world, with studies expecting a 25 percent decline in surface water runoff by 2030.

The Iranian authorities have been toiling away at various projects to resolve the crisis, including schemes that economize on water consumption in the industrial field and state-of-the-art seawater desalination plans.

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Court in Myanmar's Ayeyarwady region sentences 3 to death

The men were accused of murder and membership of an anti-junta militia.

By RFA Burmese 2023.09.29 -- A court in Myanmar's southwestern Ayeyarwady region sentenced three men to death, sources close to their families told Radio Free Asia on Friday.

Two from Bogale township were named as Kyaw Moe Lwin and Win Htay, a third, from Maubin township was named as Wai Yan Kyaw.

Two were accused of being members of a People's Defense Force, who planned and carried out a murder, according to a family friend who declined to be named for fear of reprisal.

"Kyaw Moe Lwin and Wai Yan Kyaw were sentenced to death for being involved in the killing of the governor of Kyon Kyaik village," the person said.

Win Htay from Myin Ka Kone village was arrested by the police and soldiers in September last year for allegedly keeping weapons in his restaurant, according to locals.

A year later, he was sentenced to death for allegedly supporting defense forces and abetting the murder of the village administrator, Aye Ko, and his wife in April last year.

"He was caught and the restaurant was searched. He was arrested for allegedly having weapons in the restaurant," said a local who also didn't want to be named for safety reasons.

"He has very good relations with the locals in Myin Ka Kone village and he's not the type to keep weapons."

The junta has not released a statement on the sentencing.

When RFA called the Ayeyarwady junta spokesperson Maung Maung Than, he said he was not aware of the matter.

Earlier this month, Pyapon District Court handed down the death penalty to four men from Bogale township for murdering a suspected military informer.

A total of 151 people have been sentenced to death since the Feb. 2021 military coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a monitoring group based in Thailand.

Of these, four people, including prominent democracy activist and 88-Generation student leader Ko Jimmy (real name Kyaw Min Yu) and National League for Democracy MP and rapper, Phyo Zeya Thaw were hanged by the junta council in Insein Prison in July last year.

The NLD is a political party that won a landslide victory in the 2020 elections but was ousted by the military the following year.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan.

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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Scores killed in two separate blasts targeting mosques in Pakistan

Iran Press TV

Friday, 29 September 2023 9:36 AM

At least 52 people have been killed and more than 80 people injured in an explosion in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, according to local officials.

The blast took place near a mosque in Mastung city on Friday as people were gathering to celebrate the birthday anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), local assistant commissioner Attahul Munim told local media.

Mastung's deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Nawaz Gashkori, who was present in the rally, was also killed.

Other officials said the explosion was a "suicide blast" and that the bomber exploded himself next to DSP's car. They said the wounded were being shifted to hospitals and medical facilities.

The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are in critical condition.

Hours after the blast in Balochistan province, another blast ripped through a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which also borders Afghanistan, killing at least two people.

The mosque's roof collapsed in the blast, leaving about 30 to 40 people trapped under the rubble, local broadcaster Geo News reported.

Pakistani officials condemned the attacks, blaming the move on enemies wanting to sow discord in the region.

"The enemy wants to destroy religious tolerance and peace in Balochistan with foreign blessings," Balochistan interim information minister Jan Achakzai said. "The explosion is unbearable."

Achakzai said caretaker chief minister Ali Mardan Domki has ordered security forces to arrest those responsible for the blast. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan's caretaker interior minister, Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, also condemned the blast, stating that "terrorists have no faith or religion". He said all the resources were mobilized for the rescue operation.

Iran condemned the acts of terrorism, as it offered condolences to the government and people of Pakistan, especially the survivors of the victims, and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kana'ani said the attacks are "a clear example of terrorists' aloofness from the merciful teachings of the Prophet of Islam".

Over the past few months, Mastung has been the scene of frequent acts of violence linked to nationalists and separatists.

Earlier this month, at least 11 people, including religious leader Hafiz Hamdullah, were injured in a blast in the same district. Before that, a tax official was gunned down at a bus stand by unidentified men who also wounded two bystanders.

In May, a polio vaccination team was targeted in the Killi Sour Karez area on the outskirts of Mastung, killing its policeman escort.

Moreover, three people were killed and six others injured last year in a bomb attack targeting two vehicles in the mountainous area of Qabu in Mastung.

Back in 2018, at least 128 people, including politician Nawabzada Siraj Raisani, were killed and more than 200 were injured in a bombing attack in the same district.

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More Than 50 Killed In Blasts At Two Pakistan Mosques

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal September 29, 2023

An explosion at a religious gathering in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan on September 29 killed at least 52 people and dozens more wounded, police and hospital officials told RFE/RL.

Separately, at least four people were killed in explosions that targeted a mosque and a police station in the restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtuknkhwa Province bordering Afghanistan, according to police and media reports.

The first blast, in Balochistan's Mastung district, some 60 kilometers from the provincial capital, Quetta, targeted a procession celebrating the birth of Prophet Muhammad, Jan Muhammad Achakzai, Information Minister in Balochistan's caretaker government, told RFE/RL on the phone.

Rashid Mohammad Shahi, head of the Mastung Health Department, told RFE/RL that 55 people were injured in the incident.

Some 500 people had gathered in Mastung for the celebration, known as Mawlid an-Nabi, during which Muslims usually hold gatherings and distribute free meals to the poor.

No group has claimed responsibility so far for the blast, which prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency in the hospitals in Quetta.

Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province that borders both Afghanistan and Iran, is regularly targeted by Islamist militants, sectarian groups, and nationalist separatists.

Balochistan is sparsely populated but rich in natural resources such as copper, gold, and gas and has been marred by instability and violence.

The most prominent militant group in the region, the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army, or BLA, routinely takes credit for attacks on Pakistani security forces.

The BLC claims that ethnic Baluchis face extortion and discrimination by Pakistani authorities.

Islamabad rejects the charges. Ethnic Baluchis account for just under 4 percent of Pakistan's population of 231 million.

In the second incident, at least four people were killed, including a police officer, and 12 others were wounded in blasts that targeted a police station and a mosque in the Doaba area of Khyber Pakhtuknkhwa.

The roof of the mosque, located on the premises of the police station, caved in under the force of the second explosion, which happened as the mosque was full of people attending Friday Prayers.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and Dawn

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-balochistan- blast-religious-gathering-death-toll/32615558.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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Trump won't help the co-defendents who went all-in to help him, even at the point where helping them would seemingly improve his own chances of getting out from under the Georgia election interference charges. Scott Hall, one of 18 facing charges with the ex-president, has pleaded guilty to tampering with electronic voting machines in a deal that requires he testify against the bigger fish.

Hall is the first person charged with Trump to plead guilty in the case, which alleges a widespread racketeering conspiracy to overturn Trump's 2020 electoral loss to President Joe Biden. At a hearing in Fulton County Superior Court, Hall confirmed to Judge Scott McAfee that his plea deal requires him to testify in future proceedings in the case, including trials of his co-defendants, including Trump. The 59-year-old bail bondsman will serve five years of probation, pay a $5,000 fine, and perform 200 hours of community service as part of that deal.

Trump also abandoned his effort to move the trial to federal court. Perhaps he's all-in on simply pardoning himself January 20, 2025, but the effort was doomed to failure anyway and he doesn't like to be seen to lose even the little things.
Suicide Bombings, Militant Raid Kill 62 in Pakistan

By Ayaz Gul September 29, 2023

Pakistani officials said Friday that a series of attacks, including suicide bombings and a militant raid, killed at least 62 people and injured many more, marking one of the deadliest days the nation has witnessed in recent months.

Most of the casualties occurred in Mastung, a volatile district in southwestern Baluchistan province, where a suicide bomber struck a religious procession marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.

Police and hospital officials said the powerful blast killed at least 53 devotees and wounded dozens of others.

Abdul Razaq, the district deputy commissioner, confirmed the casualties, saying a top police officer was also among the dead. He told reporters that several injured had received severe injuries.

Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and Interior Minister Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti condemned the violence against innocent devotees, saying that "terrorists have no faith or religion."

Eyewitnesses said that it took a while before rescue teams arrived at the blast's site because of the area's remoteness.

"I saw that many people were covered in blood. No one was around to pick them up and take them to the hospitals," a survivor told VOA.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the violence in a district where militants linked to a regional affiliate of the Islamic State group, Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, are active.

Earlier this month, a roadside bomb explosion in Mastung injured 11 people, including a senior religious party leader, with IS-K claiming responsibility. That attack occurred a day after Pakistani security forces announced the killing of key IS-K commanders in a district counterterrorism raid.

Meanwhile, police in northwestern Pakistan said a twin suicide bomb attack on a mosque inside a district police headquarters during Friday afternoon prayers killed five worshippers and injured 12 others.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the compound while another detonated explosives strapped to his body inside the main prayer hall, police said.

Nisar Ahmed, the Hangu district police chief, told reporters that the mosque's roof caved in because of the impact of the blast, trapping up to 40 people under the rubble. He said rescue efforts were underway to retrieve the victims.

The United States condemned Friday's deadly bombings. "Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We will continue to stand with Pakistan in the face of these vicious attacks," Donald Blome, the U.S. ambassador in Islamabad, said on X, formerly Twitter.

Separately, the Pakistani military said Friday that an overnight shootout with "terrorists" near the Afghan border had killed four soldiers.

The clashes erupted when militants linked to the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, attempted to "infiltrate from Afghanistan into Pakistan" in the Zhob district of Baluchistan, the military's media wing said. It added that the exchange of fire had also killed three militants and wounded several others.

TTP, a globally declared terrorist group, operates out of sanctuaries on the Afghan side of the border and has killed hundreds of Pakistani security forces in bomb and gun raids this year.

The TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, said in a statement sent to the media that it was not behind the bombings in Mastung and Hangu.

VOA's Urdu Service contributed to this report.

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Meeting with Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and Andrei Troshev

Yesterday evening, the President held a meeting with Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and Andrei Troshev.

September 29, 2023

08:00

The Kremlin, Moscow

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Troshev, I would like to begin our meeting by talking with you.

Last time we met you said that you would focus on creating volunteer units which will fulfil various combat missions, including in the zone of the special military operation.

You fought in one of such units yourself for over a year. You know what it is like, how to do it, and what issues should be addressed in advance to ensure the best possible and the most successful fulfilment of combat missions.

In this connection, I would also like to discuss social matters with you. You maintain contacts with the comrades you fought together with, and you continue to fulfil combat missions now.

We have created the Defender of the Fatherland Foundation. I have said this many times, but I would like to say again that social guarantees must be the same for everyone who took part or is taking part in combat missions, regardless of their status. The status of those who fought for and defended the Fatherland does not matter to our country. This is why we will discuss this issue today as well.

Mr Yevkurov will provide an overview of these activities, and Mr Troshev will tell us the details.

<...>

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Meeting with participants in the special military operation

In the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin met with participants in the special military operation who were awarded state decorations for a military feat.

September 29, 2023

14:50

The Kremlin, Moscow

The President spoke with Private Ivan Kalashnikov, Corporal Alexei Ivliyev, Private Vyacheslav Tarasov and Senior Sergeant Viktor Khamaganov (he took part in the meeting via videoconference).

On August 22, the Russian motorised infantry repelled an attack by a superior enemy force comprising 12 assault unit fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Urozhainoye, Donetsk People's Republic. The President signed an executive order awarding Ivan Kalashnikov the title of Hero of Russia. Alexei Ivliyev, Vyacheslav Tarasov and Viktor Khamaganov were awarded the Order of Courage.

* * *

President f Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, comrades.

After a recent visit to the zone of the special military operation, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to me about how bravely you fought. He not just told me about you but also showed me a video.

This is undoubtedly one of the most significant and positive examples of courage and heroism. I understand that nobody thinks about that in the heat of the battle. You probably think about how to fight better and how to repel enemy attacks. But you acted exactly as I have described it after learning about your actions. This is heroism in the literal sense of the word.

I would like to express my gratitude to you for that and to wish you success. I would also like to ask how you, those who are fighting on the frontline, assess the situation there, what you think about the organisation of our actions, our combat operations, if anything has changed recently, if there are any shortages, and what your immediate commanders and more senior officers, who hold higher positions in the armed forces, should give more attention to.

I know that two other men were fighting together with you, were in the same trenches with you, and that they were former prisoners who volunteered for the army. They have died.

First, I would like to say that all of us are human, and everyone can make a mistake. These men erred, but they have given their lives for the Motherland, thereby redeeming themselves completely. This is the first point.

Second, we will certainly do everything necessary to help their loved ones. There is no doubt about this. You probably do not know this, but one of these men will be interred today. So, I suggest that we pay our last respects to them with a minute of silence before we begin our conversation.

(Minute of silence.)

Thank you.

<...>

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Controversial New Russian History Textbook Opens Old Wounds In North Caucasus

By RFE/RL's Caucasus.Realities September 29, 2023

Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov, during a visit to the region of Karachai-Cherkessia this month, agreed to revise a section of a new high-school history textbook that had provoked a stormy reaction across the North Caucasus, the head of the region, Rashid Temrezov, wrote in a September 23 post on Telegram.

The new textbook was coauthored by nationalist presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who served as culture minister in 2012-20, and has been criticized for emulating Soviet practices of ideological indoctrination. Among other things, the widely criticized textbook minimizes Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's brutal deportations of many ethnic minorities -- including Chechens, Karachais, Ingush, Balkars, Kalmyks, Meskhetian Turks, Crimean Tatars, and others -- from their traditional homelands as collective punishment for allegedly collaborating with Nazi German occupiers during World War II. The result was a demographic catastrophe in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and an enduring historical trauma.

The accusations of collaboration were officially withdrawn and the deportations condemned with the 1991 passage of the Soviet law on the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin also signed a decree on the "complete rehabilitation the repressed nations."

Nonetheless, the textbook's single paragraph on the topic repeats the Stalinist accusations of treason, saying the deportations were carried out "on the basis of cases of collaboration with the occupiers."

As a result of the collective punishment, "not only bandits and collaborators were repressed, but many innocent people as well," the textbook concedes. "The deportees endured many misfortunes and depravations. Justice was restored to them after [Stalin's death in] 1953." The text then compares the deportations to the U.S. wartime internment of Japanese Americans.

"A working group comprising the heads of all the regions whose peoples were repressed and under the guidance of the Education Ministry has already been working for more than a week on this matter," Temrezov wrote. Its views "have been conveyed to the author of the textbook, Vladimir Medinsky, who has agreed with them...and expressed a willingness to correct it."

Salt On Old Wounds

Since the academic year began on September 1, the new textbook has been roundly condemned in the North Caucasus.

Ali Totorkulov, chairman of the Russian Congress of Peoples of the Caucasus, denounced the book for spreading "old Stalinist slander" and "once again insulting millions of Russian citizens who lost from 30 to 50 percent of their populations in the deportations and at the front [in World War II]." He described it as "a land mine placed under the unity of the peoples of Russia."

"Every year we commemorate this solemn event, remember the criminal deportation, and mourn the innocents who were destroyed," he wrote. "Why are they pouring salt on these wounds?"

In Ingushetia, the TsORI civic organization urged the regional legislature to investigate the textbook for allegedly "inflaming ethnic enmity" and to form a standing body to review educational materials in the future.

Beslan Tsechoyev, a former mayor of Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, wrote on Instagram that the textbook was "offensive and unjust" and called on Medinsky to apologize.

In Chechnya, regional parliament head Magomed Daudov wrote on September 23 that the textbook had "caused a wave of outrage among representatives of the repressed peoples of the U.S.S.R." Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov had ordered the removal of Medinsky's textbook from the schools, he added.

Daudov's post was later deleted without explanation.

RFE/RL's Robert Coalson contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-history-textbook- opens-old-wounds-north-caucasus/32615848.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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Kremlin Tasks Senior Ex-Wagner Commander With Forming Volunteer Corps

By RFE/RL's Russian Service September 29, 2023

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Andrei Troshev, the former chief of staff of the Wagner mercenary group, and handed him the responsibility for establishing new volunteer fighting units.

"At our last meeting, we talked about the fact that you will be engaged in the formation of volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks," Putin said at a meeting with Troshev and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov on September 28, according to a transcript of the conversation published a day later.

Putin stressed that Troshev "is aware of issues that need to be solved beforehand to secure better and successful combat activities."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on September 29 that Wagner's former chief of staff is now working at the Defense Ministry.

In August, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Wagner's commanders had accused Troshev and other top officials of the mercenary group of "betraying Wagner for the Russian Defense Ministry-affiliated Redut private military company."

Redut, a combination of several minor veteran groupings of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Russian Air Force, and units of the Russian Defense Ministry, has been active in the war in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The ISW report came three days before a plane linked to Wagner founder and leader Yevgeny Prigozhin crashed between Moscow and St. Petersburg on August 23, killing all 10 people on board.

On August 27, Russian authorities said Prigozhin's body had been identified by medical examiners, along with those of nine other people on board the Embraer 600 jet that crashed in the Tver region in suspicious circumstances.

Two months before his death, on June 23-24, Prigozhin sent thousands of his fighters in a short-lived rebellion against the military command fighting in Ukraine, imposing one of the biggest challenges to Putin in his more than two decades in power.

The insurrection came on the heels of months of intense public infighting with Russia's military leadership over the war strategy in Ukraine and ammunition supplies, as Wagner's fighters played the major role in heavy fighting for the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's east.

In mid-September, the British government added Wagner group to its list of terrorist organizations, saying it remains a threat to global security even after Prigozhin's death.

Earlier in January, Washington designated Wagner a transnational criminal organization.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kremlin-wagner-commander- volunteer-corps-putin/32615448.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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Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's comment on the anti-Russia resolution adopted at the 67th regular session of the IAEA General Conference

29 September 2023 18:42

1915-29-09-2023

On September 28, the 67th regular session of the IAEA General Conference, under pressure from the United States and its allies, adopted the resolution "Nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine", containing unfounded attacks and unsubstantiated accusations against Russia, through a vote accompanied by the typical Western blackmail, intrigue and intimidation of countries.

This is further confirmation of the choice of the United States and its allies to use any and all international mechanisms to achieve their opportunistic political goals, which are in no way related to the statutory purposes of such mechanisms.

Only 69 countries of the 177 IAEA member states voted in favour of the resolution, and those were Western countries and their satellites. The most influential nations constituting the world majority did not join them and, in one way or another, refused to support the document.

The above resolution is non-binding, and Russia is not going to act on its provisions, while citing the resolution in documents will make them politically and legally void to us.

We welcome the decision of all the IAEA member states who withheld support from the resolution. They clearly showed that they reject the policy of involving the Agency in serving the interests of Western countries.

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Kazan Declaration of the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan, Kazan, September 29, 2023

29 September 2023 18:35

1914-29-09-2023

On September 29, 2023, the fifth meeting of the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan at the level of special representatives and senior officials from China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan was held. The meeting was also attended by acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. Representatives of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and TArkiye were in attendance as guests of honor.

The parties noted with concern the difficult security situation in Afghanistan due to the intensification of the activities of terrorist groups, primarily ISIS. Appreciated the current Afghan authorities for their serious fight against ISIS and urged them to do the same against all terrorist groups. Called on the current Afghan authorities to take effective measures to dismantle, eliminate and prevent placement of all sorts of terrorist groups based in Afghanistan and to prevent the country from being the terrorism and instability hotspot and spreading to the regional states.

Noted the reports on the reduction in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan caused by successful steps of the current Afghan authorities. Stressed the importance of continuing real and its effective anti-drug policy, including against industrial drug production, which indicate a serious and dangerous increase.

Called on the current Afghan authorities to step up cooperation with the regional countries in the fight against the threats of terrorism and drug-trafficking emanating from the Afghan territory. Most participants stressed their opposition to the support for terrorism in Afghanistan by external forces.

Regretfully stated that there had been no progress in forming a truly inclusive government in Afghanistan, reflecting the interests of all ethno-political groups of the country. Despite the appointment of some individual representatives of various Afghan ethnicities to the Kabul administration, the parties observed no political pluralism in it. Once again urged the current Afghan authorities to establish a practical, outcome-oriented dialogue with the representatives of alternative ethno-political groups with a view to completing the process of peaceful settlement and forging a balanced, more broad-based, inclusive, accountable and responsible government in Afghanistan.

Called upon the current Afghan authorities to provide the necessary conditions to improve the welfare of the Afghan people, prevent their further migration and provide conditions for the return of the refugees.

The participants spoke out for respect of fundamental rights and freedoms in Afghanistan, including equal rights to work, education and justice, without distinction as to gender, ethnicity or religion. Stressed upon their concern about imposed restrictions on women's employment and girls' education. Urged the current Afghan authorities to promote the modern education in the schools conforming to international standards.

Most of the participants of the Moscow format noted the UN Secretary General's efforts to coordinate actions between international and regional partners on the Afghan track during the meeting of Special Representatives in Doha in May 2023 and observed that cooperation with non-regional players is possible if the US-led Western coalition, whose 20-year actions led to the current crisis in Afghanistan, recognizes and shoulders its responsibility for post-conflict reconstruction of the country, and unfreeze the Afghan national assets and lift unilateral sanctions, immediately.

The parties advocated for Afghanistan as an independent, united and peaceful state. They underscored the unacceptability of deployment of military infrastructure facilities of third countries in Afghanistan and its neighboring states under any pretext.

While appreciating the prospects for the development of regional economic projects with participation of Afghanistan, emphasized the need to strengthen bilateral and multilateral economic ties.

The parties reaffirmed the opposition to attempts at politicizing humanitarian assistance and highlighted the importance of continuing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

Expressed their interest for expanding engagement with the current Afghan authorities in the areas of culture, sport and education.

The parties noted the proposal of I.R.Iran to strengthen regional cooperation on Afghanistan by establishing a regional contact group to discuss the issues of common interests.

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Sergei Shoigu meets with counterpart from the Republic of South Sudan

29.09.2023

Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation General of the Army Sergei Shoigu has held a meeting with Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs Gen. Chol Thon Balok.

During the meeting, they discussed promising projects for cooperation in the defence sphere and exchanged views on topical regional security issues.

The parties noted the importance of partnership between the military departments of Russia and South Sudan for ensuring security and stability in Central Africa, and agreed on further joint steps to develop bilateral relations in the military sphere.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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Delegation heads of CIS defence departments visit defence industry enterprise in Tula

29.09.2023

The Shipunov Design Bureau presented combat equipment that has proved its effectiveness in the Strategic Defence Forces.

Delegation heads of CIS defence departments, who arrived in Tula for the meeting of the Council of CIS Defence Ministers, have visited the JSC Shipunov Instrument Design Bureau on Friday.

The meeting participants of the Council of the CIS Defence Ministers toured the production site of the JSC Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering named after academician A.G. Shipunov, where serial production of heavy military equipment is carried out. The guests got acquainted with the Kornet-EM multi-purpose missile system on the Typhoon-K wheeled chassis, BMP-2M with Berezhok combat compartment, and Pantsir-S1 SAM system.

The Malakhit complex of automated fire control equipment for artillery units and samples of small arms and grenade launchers, which have already confirmed their high quality and effectiveness in the zone of the special military operation, were also presented.

Each example was explained by the weapon designers. All of the questions from the heads of the foreign military delegations were answered in detail. The Kalashnikov Company's submachine gun in particular caught the attention of the visitors. This weapon was developed as a result of the Russian Defence Minister's decision to finish the personal survival kit of pilots following the military operation in Syria.

In particular, this was the situation with pilot Roman Filippov, who was killed on 3 February 2018 in Syria while performing his duty. The Su-25 aircraft the pilot was flying was shot down. Major Filippov ejected and landed on territory controlled by militants. On the ground, he fired until the last cartridge from the advancing enemy, and then blew himself and his enemies up with a final grenade.

Sergei Shoigu explained this sample weapon to his counterparts. He spoke in detail about the design of the submachine gun and its high tactical and technical characteristics. In particular, the submachine gun for personal survival kit is characterised by an increased range of fire, increased magazine capacity up to forty rounds, several types of ammunition used, and various firing modes, including silent.

The heads of delegations of CIS member states highly appreciated the Russian military products.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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ADMM Plus joint anti-terrorist exercise closes at Sergeevsky training range, Primorsky Krai

29.09.2023

During the ceremony, servicemen who had distinguished themselves in the performance of combat training tasks were awarded.

As part of the event, Admiral Victor Liina, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, addressed the participants of the exercise from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: "The personnel have demonstrated high combat skills and coherence. They now have a clear understanding of what has to be done right away and what goals should be set for the future in order to reliably protect our nations' militaries from the threat of terrorism. I believe that the objectives of the exercise have been fully achieved.

Representatives of the military departments of the participating nations also addressed the personnel.

At the end of the ceremony, awards were handed to the service members of all military contingents who were a part of the unified group of troops and who had distinguished themselves in the combat training tasks.

At the Sergeevsky training range, Lieutenant General Mikhail Nosulev, Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District, and Viktor Liina, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, presented awards to 30 servicemen. In total, more than 200 servicemen were awarded on the results of the ADMM Plus exercise. Of them, over 100 are from foreign military contingents.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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Far-right holdouts in the Republican party refuse to back a funding bill for the governmentincluding the U.S. military, air traffic control and other essential servicesunless it drops cash for various things they dislike. GOP speaker Kevin McCarthy, however, knows he'll be swiftly deposed by them if he cuts a deal with Democrats in the closely-divided house. Impasse.

The federal government is on the brink of a shutdown, as Congress has yet to reach a deal to extend funding before its midnight deadline. Last-minute meetings between lawmakers are underway.



The Senate put together a bipartisan proposal to avert a shutdown  but House Republicans have thrown cold water on that plan, leaving the two chambers at an impasse. A House vote on a short-term funding measure failed Friday, marking a fresh blow for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose speakership could also be on the line.



A shutdown could have enormous impacts across the country, from air travel to clean drinking water. Many government operations would come to a halt, while services deemed "essential" would continue.



Talk of a "stopgap measure" abounds this morning on Capitol Hill.
ADMM Plus Exercise: active comes to an end in Primorye

29.09.2023

At that stage, military contingents making up a multinational group of troops practised joint actions in an anti-terrorist operation at the Sergeevsky training range of the Eastern Military District.

In particular, according to the plan of the exercise, mock terrorists - an illegal armed formation - occupied three settlements. Combined motorised rifle units made up of soldiers from China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Russia, and India blocked the armed group and demanded that they lay down their arms and surrender. The terrorists who had occupied the village refused.

After that, the assault groups, supported by tank units on T-80BVMs, crews of 120-mm Sani mortar systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, and crews of Ka-52 Alligator helicopters cleared, blocked, and destroyed pre-prepared strongholds of mock terrorists.

In addition, in order to prevent the mock enemy's reserves from approaching, Ka-52 Alligator helicopters and Su-25 aircraft carried out strikes with unguided aerial missiles and bombs against columns and clusters of enemy personnel, ensuring the landing of Indian and Russian assault units from Mi-8AMTSh helicopters.

It should be noted that the personnel of the Eastern Military District's units involved in the exercise participated in the zone of special military operation and gained combat experience, which they actively shared with servicemen from the States participating in ADMM Plus in the course of the exercise.

We recall that the objectives of the exercise are: to strengthen and promote regional cooperation in countering terrorism, to raise the level of operational cooperation between ASEAN countries and their dialogue partners in countering terrorism, and to exchange experience in countering terrorism.

The tactical scenarios are based on variants of joint actions by military contingents of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, the armed forces of Myanmar and other partner States.

Military bodies and units of the Eastern Military District are involved in the exercise. Operational groups and military contingents of the Armed Forces of the State of Brunei Darussalam, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Republic of the Philippines have been invited to the joint actions as part of a multinational grouping.

The exercise involves about 700 servicemen from military contingents of the participating countries, ground-attack aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and other military and special hardware of the Eastern Military District.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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Russia is always open to cooperation with partners on military-technical cooperation - General of the Army General Sergei Shoigu

29.09.2023

Military-technical cooperation is one of the central issues in relations between the CIS defence agencies, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.

'Issues of military-technical cooperation are constantly in the focus of attention of the Council of Defence Ministers and bilateral contacts. In this connection, I would like to stress that the Russian Federation is always open to deepening cooperation in this area,' Sergei Shoigu said as he opened the meeting of the Council of CIS Defence Ministers, which is taking place in Tula.

He called it symbolic that the joint work with his colleagues began with a visit to a Tula defence enterprise and acquaintance with Russian military products.

Welcoming the participants in the regular meeting of the Council of CIS Defence Ministers, Sergei Shoigu noted that 'it is taking place in the 'Hall of Fame of Russian Arms' of the famous museum of Tula armourers.'

Earlier, the heads of delegations who arrived in Tula for the meeting of the Council of the CIS Defence Ministers visited the Joint-Stock Company Instrument Design Bureau named after Academic A.G. Shipunov on Friday.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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Council of CIS Defence Ministers to discuss global military and political situation

29.09.2023

Delegation heads of defence ministries from eight countries have arrived in Tula to participate in a meeting of the Council of CIS Defence Ministers.

During the meeting, they are going to discuss a range of issues of military and military-technical cooperation of mutual interest. They will also exchange views on the current military and political situation in the world.

Delegations of the defence departments of Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have arrived in Tula. Before the meeting, the heads of the delegations laid flowers at the Memorial Complex Three Bayonets on Victory Square.

They honoured the memory of the soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War with a minute's silence. The ceremony ended with a solemn march of the Honour Guard Company.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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Russia Drafts 130,000 Conscripts, Increases Age Limit to 30

By VOA News September 29, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling up 130,000 conscripts for military service this fall, increasing the age limit of conscripts from 27 to 30, according to a document posted on the Russian government website on Friday.

Russia's lower house of parliament voted last July to raise the age for conscripts, and that legislation will take effect on January 1, 2024. Putin said earlier this month that he is bracing for a long war with Ukraine as Russia's armed forces press on with their "special military operation" in Ukraine, now in its 20th month.

Starting at the age of 18, all men in Russia are required to serve one year in the military.

The conscription will begin on October 1 in all parts of the Russian Federation, according to the defense ministry, including in the illegally annexed regions of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were formally annexed by Russia in September 2022 after so-called referendums were held there, which were universally dismissed as shams by Ukraine and Western nations. Russia had annexed Crimea in 2014.

Last year, Russia announced a plan to increase its professional and conscripted combat force by more than 30% to 1.5 million, a plan made more difficult by its heavy casualties in Ukraine.

Ukraine aid

While the West continues to supply Ukraine with military hardware, it is planning to produce its own, including air defenses, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, told reporters on Friday.

"I think very soon specialists will arrive here who will make a plan for our own production of everything that we need. First and foremost, this relates to air defenses," Yermak said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed confidence Friday that Poland will find ways to address disagreements with Ukraine without affecting its military support for Ukraine.

"I'm expecting and I'm confident that Ukraine and Poland will find a way to address those issues without that impacting in a negative way the military support to Ukraine," Stoltenberg told Reuters in an interview in Copenhagen.

Relations have been somewhat impaired between Poland, a NATO member, and its neighbor Ukraine, after Warsaw's decision to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports.

Seven EU countries have ordered ammunition under a landmark European Union procurement framework to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted Western stocks, according to the European Defense Agency.

The orders are for 155-millimeter artillery rounds, one of the most important munitions in Ukraine's defensive war against Russian aggression.

The scheme was set up as part of a plan worth at least $2.1 billion, initiated in March, with the aim of getting 1 million shells and missiles to Ukraine within a year.

Some officials and diplomats have expressed skepticism about whether that goal will be met, but the plan is a significant step in the EU's growing role in defense and military affairs, spurred by the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine goes through artillery ammunition rapidly, firing thousands of rounds a day, and Kyiv's Western allies have been scrambling to keep up.

"It was ... not sufficient only to deplete our own stocks," Stoltenberg said Thursday in Kyiv.

The EDA said the EU deals were for both complete shells and for components such as fuses, projectiles, charges and primers.

The NATO chief also noted Thursday that Ukrainian forces are "gradually gaining ground" amid fierce fighting and he is constantly urging allies to provide more aid, boost defense production and speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine.

"The stronger Ukraine becomes, the closer we come to ending Russia's aggression," Stoltenberg told reporters in Kyiv.

Stoltenberg said it is in NATO's security interest to provide Ukraine what it needs to win the war.

In the United States, as the federal government prepares for a possible shutdown, the country's aid in the Ukrainian war effort could falter, according to Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.

Those affected by the shutdown would include Pentagon civilians involved in English-language training for Ukraine's F-16 pilots, so if there is a government shutdown, "there could be impacts to training," Singh said. "At this point right now, I just don't have more specific details to offer."

Wagner redeployment

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered one of the top commanders of the Wagner military mercenary group to take charge of "volunteer units" fighting in Ukraine. Putin tasked Andrei Troshev with forming volunteer units that would fight primarily in the war zone.

Hundreds of fighters previously associated with the Wagner Group "have likely started to redeploy to Ukraine" as individuals and in small groups that are fighting for a variety of pro-Russian units, the British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily intelligence update on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It said reports suggest a concentration of Wagner veterans around the eastern city of Bakhmut, a sector where their past experience could be useful.

Their redeployment follows Yevgeny Prigozhin's death in a suspicious plane crash on August 23, two months after the Wagner chief launched a day-long mutiny against Kremlin in June.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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US Senators Call on Russia to Free American Captives

By VOA News September 29, 2023

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced Friday a bipartisan resolution calling for the immediate release by Russia of two American detainees, Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.

The resolution, co-sponsored by 27 senators, focuses on the continuing detention of Gershkovich, 32, a Wall Street Journal reporter, who was arrested on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges that carry up to 20 years in prison.

A Moscow court declined Gershkovich's latest appeal Tuesday of his pre-trial detention.

Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government have called baseless. He was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to serve 16 years.

"We believe Paul continues to show tremendous courage in the face of his wrongful detention. Ambassador [Lynne] Tracy reiterated to him that President [Joe] Biden and Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken are committed to bring him home," said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a mid-September briefing.

"Evan Gershkovich, a journalist with The Wall Street Journal, has been wrongfully detained in Russia for merely for doing his job: reporting facts and shedding light on President [Vladimir] Putin's bogus rationale for his illegal war against Ukraine," said Senator Ben Cardin, the committee's Democratic chairman.

"Freedom of the press is critical to holding governments accountable around the world," said Senator Jim Risch, the panel's top Republican.

During a news briefing Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Russia's accusations baseless and called for Russia "to immediately release Evan and also to release wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan. Our efforts to secure their release are ongoing, and we will not stop until they are home."

"It is clear that Evan is being held for leverage because he is an American," she said, adding that Biden "has been clear that we have no higher priority than securing the release of Evan, Paul Whelan and all Americans wrongfully detained abroad."

Russia has said the reporter was caught "red-handed" in Yekaterinburg, where the FSB security service said he was trying to obtain military secrets. It has not provided any details to support that assertion.

The U.S. has accused Russia of using Gershkovich to conduct hostage diplomacy, at a time when relations between the two countries have broken down at their worst point in more than 60 years because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Lawmakers call for investigation into indigenous submarine controversy

ROC Central News Agency

09/29/2023 10:27 PM

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators on Friday urged prosecutors to look into a controversy involving the construction of Taiwan's first Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS), which was unveiled Thursday amid the country's goal to strengthen its deterrence against the Chinese navy.

Prosecutors should open an investigation following allegations that an opposition legislator and arms dealers tried to hinder the IDS project and even leaked information to China, according to DPP lawmakers Wang Ting-yu () and Cheng Yun-peng ().

The controversy not only concerns national security but also people's trust in legislators and so requires further investigation, Cheng said in a Facebook post, adding that failure to do so would be negligent on the part of the Ministry of Justice.

According to local media reports, IDS program convener Huang Shu-kuang () recently accused a lawmaker of "continually sabotaging" construction of "Narwhal," a submarine prototype with a price tag of NT$49.3 billion (US$1.53 billion).

While Huang did not name the legislator, he reportedly said that person had tried to obstruct the government's acquisition of key parts from foreign suppliers during the building of Narwhal, adding that local arms dealers also leaked information about the submarine to a Chinese embassy after failing to win the bid.

However, when asked by reporters to identify the lawmaker during the launch ceremony on Thursday, Huang only replied "guess yourselves."

In a more explicit accusation later that day, former arms dealer and advisor to the navy Kuo Hsi () identified the individual allegedly behind the sabotage and leaking information to China as Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Ma Wen-chun (), a member of the Foreign and National Defense Committee.

Calling Ma a "traitor to the country," Kuo said he welcomes any lawsuit from Ma if what he said is not true.

In response, Ma accused Huang of using Kuo as henchman to attack her and others who questioned the future development of the project before a prototype submarine has proved successful.

Several lawmakers across party lines have in recent years called for parts of IDS funding to be withheld, with Ma considered a major critic against the program.

"(Huang) started the fire to grab media attention and then hid behind the scenes," Ma said, accusing him of pushing through a budget for seven more submarines to be earmarked, "before the prototype itself even touched the water."

Huang said on Sept. 25 that Narwhal will undergo a harbor acceptance test on Oct. 1, followed by a sea acceptance test, and hopefully be delivered to the Navy before the end of 2024.

(By Hsiao Po-yang, Su Lung-chi and Lee Hsin-Yin)

Enditem/AW

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Taiwan test fires Patriot missiles in joint exercise with U.S.: Source

ROC Central News Agency

09/29/2023 07:06 PM

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Taiwan's military test fired Patriot missiles as part of a joint training exercise with the United States conducted near the Pacific island country of Palau in August, a source familiar with the matter told CNA Friday.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said Taiwan sent military personnel to Palau on board an Air Force C-130H Hercules and the exercise was completed in August, without elaborating.

The Patriot missiles used by Taiwan during the reported recent joint training exercise with the U.S. near Palau are believed to have been the PAC-2 system, Su Tzu-yun (), a research fellow at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) said.

The missiles are unlikely to be the PAC-3 system, Su told CNA, after local media reports on Thursday cited sources as saying Taiwan sent soldiers to train using the latest Patriot system in Palau under U.S. observation in August.

According to Su, the U.S. deployed its 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, which is based in Japan, to Palau to conduct live-fire exercises with the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air system and stinger missiles in July.

Judging from the photos seen in various U.S. military news reports, the Patriot missiles used in the drill were the PAC-2 MIM-104D/E system, he said.

Reports of Taiwan's participation in the joint drill in Palau have not been confirmed by the Ministry of National Defense.

While Taiwan and the U.S. continue to bolster military exchanges, Su said a joint training exercise between the two sides is likely to have happened, adding that various reports show that Japan's military also participated in the exercises in Palau.

Shu Hsiao-huang (), an INDSR analyst, said that although Taiwan already conducts missile tests at its Jioupeng military base, some information must be made public during missile testing, including airspace warnings, because the surrounding sea and air space are often busy with commercial traffic, which allows observers to infer the type of missiles being tested.

In addition, the Chinese military can deploy ships and aircraft nearby to gather data, a concern for both Taiwan and the U.S., Shu added, as he explained the reasons testing missiles in Palau is preferable.

Furthermore, the U.S. military conducting exercises with other countries also helps deter the Chinese military from breaking through the second island chain in the event of a conflict, Shu said.

(By Matt Yu and Ko Lin)

Enditem/AW

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Avoiding war top priority for any Taiwan leader: KMT's Hou

ROC Central News Agency

09/29/2023 01:38 PM

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) The top priority for a leader of Taiwan is avoiding war with China at a time of escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait, said Hou Yu-ih (), the presidential candidate of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT).

In a speech delivered at the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan (AmCham) in Mandarin, Hou said Taiwan must avoid war with China and that only a safe and stable Taiwan can attract investors around the world to pour resources into the country.

Hou, the incumbent New Taipei mayor, was invited to speak on a wide range of topics such as ties with China, national defense and international relations, and Taiwan's economic development after visiting Singapore in April, Japan in late July, and the United States earlier this month.

He said that if elected he would maintain his long-held principles of safeguarding the country and bringing peace to the Taiwan Strait and security and prosperity to Taiwan.

In terms of Taiwan's national defense and foreign ties, Hou said Taiwan has to take proactive and pragmatic moves to strengthen its self-defense capabilities to avoid the threat of war.

At the same time, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should launch a dialogue and conduct exchanges to reduce conflicts under a footing of equality, dignity and friendship, Hou said.

Hou said he outlined a "3Ds strategy," referring to deterrence, dialogue and de-escalation, during a meeting with American scholars at the Brookings Institution to promote peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Under such a strategy, Hou said, Taiwan would be able to facilitate peace and reduce risks, while continuing to cement ties with Washington to allow the two sides to maintain peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

In the economic arena, Hou said, industries in Taiwan are facing a tremendous challenge on energy and electricity, and he advocated an orderly transition to renewable energy to secure energy supplies.

When he unveiled his energy policy in August, Hou pledged not to phase out nuclear power and reopen decommissioned nuclear power plants

In his AmCham speech, Hou said his government would carefully inspect and repair Taiwan's first three nuclear power plants, two of which have already been shut down for decommissioning, and establish a safety review committee to re-examine the decision to discontinue construction of the fourth plant.

Taiwan would also continue to pursue green energy development, while raising energy use efficiency by investing in energy conservation, energy storage, and smart electricity grid networks.

He would also push the development of hydrogen power and small-sized power plants in a bid to allow Taiwan to achieve net zero emissions.

In terms of industrial development in Taiwan, Hou said the county has a strong semiconductor cluster and could take advantage of its existing tech strength to develop emerging technologies such as electric vehicles, smart cities and the aviation sector.

Taiwan could also use its health care capabilities to develop telehealth systems and meet the demand for borderless medicine, the KMT candidate said.

Hou advocated maintaining Taiwan's important role in the U.S.' "friendshoring" policy, referring to an act of relocating supply chains to countries where the risk of disruption from political chaos is low, to prevent over-dependence on China economically.

But Taiwan should also actively seek participation in regional trade blocs, he said.

(By Liu Kuan-ting and Frances Huang)

Enditem/ls



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More weapons, military-technical cooperation projects, and training of the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Rustem Umerov and SAbastien Lecornu discussed further cooperation in the defence sector

Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

2023-09-28 21:00:00 | ID: 70806

Weapons and military equipment supply, bilateral projects on military-technical cooperation, training of Ukrainian military service members, and implementation of Euro-Atlantic standards. These and other matters were discussed during a meeting in Kyiv by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, and the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic, SAbastien Lecornu.

Rustem Umerov thanked the French partners for the comprehensive support of Ukraine since the first day of the large-scale invasion of the russian federation and for the tangible contribution to the strengthening of the Defence Forces of Ukraine.

"I want to thank the Minister, the President, the Government and the people of the French Republic for their unwavering support to Ukraine in providing a powerful package of military and humanitarian aid, as well as for the protection of Ukrainians who were forced to leave Ukraine escaping russian bombardment and inhumane tortures. France has already provided Ukraine with modern SAMP/T and Crotale air defence systems, CAESAR artillery systems, Milan anti-tank weapons, AMX tanks, VAB armoured personnel carriers and much more. This aid definitely brings our victory closer," Rustem Umerov noted.

The head of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry informed the foreign delegation about the current security situation in Ukraine and the urgent needs of the Defence Forces of Ukraine to strengthen the defence capabilities of our country, in particular thanks to the help of the French Republic.

For his part, the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic, SAbastien Lecornu, emphasised the further support of Ukraine and our defenders in the struggle for independence and territorial integrity.

"The French Republic is helping and will be helping Ukraine as long as it is needed. The most important thing for us is to be efficient in our help. We have always insisted on what we do rather than what we say. And we will continue being an efficient and reliable partner. I also want to assure you of our belief that Ukraine will prevail in this struggle," said SAbastien Lecornu.

The Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic emphasised the importance of continued help to Ukraine by partner countries in the long term. He focused on three important areas: weapons and military equipment delivery, training of Ukrainian military service members, and joint manufacture in the defence sector.

"The first thing is the transfer of weapons. We will continue transferring weapons to Ukraine. The second part of our support is the training of soldiers. We fulfilled our goals set for the end of the year. More than seven thousand Ukrainian soldiers were trained by France (on French territory or in Poland). It was either some general trainings or specialised programs. I would like to inform you that the training will continue to the same extent. The third area is more strategic and relates to our ability of joint manufacture for Ukraine's needs. Now we are approaching such a novel phase in the relations between our two countries, where we are jointly looking at what we can jointly produce or jointly buy", - remarked SAbastien Lecornu.

During the visit of the Minister of the Armed Forces of the French Republic to Ukraine, a Memorandum of Intent on cooperation was signed between the State Enterprise of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine "Defence Procurement Agency" and the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) of France. The document provides for the perpetual cooperation and creates a legal framework for concluding contracts. This will also contribute to the deepening of military-technical cooperation, including the development of joint high-tech projects in the interests of ensuring the defence of both countries.

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Rustem Umerov and the Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom discussed further military partnership and assistance to Ukraine

Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

2023-09-28 11:58:00 | ID: 70802

Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov held a meeting with his counterpart - Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom, Rt Hon Grant Shapps, who is on a working visit to Kyiv.

This is the second meeting between Rt Hon Grant Shapps and the Minister of Defence of Ukraine since his appointment, which demonstrates the British guest's great interest in Ukraine and Ukrainian Defence Ministry.

A long-time friend of Ukraine, Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, also took part in the meeting.

Rustem Umerov thanked Grant Shapps, the Government, and the people of the United Kingdom for their effective support of Ukraine from the first day of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation, emphasising that the United Kingdom is a true friend of Ukraine, and that bilateral relations in the defence sector have significant potential for expansion.

"It is an important visit to Kyiv of my counterpart, the Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom, Grant Shapps.

I thanked our UK friends for their unwavering support of Ukraine. I informed him about the current situation at the front and about the urgent needs. We are focusing on air defence, artillery, anti-UAV defence systems," Rustem Umerov said.

The Minister of Defence of Ukraine informed the UK delegation about the priority needs of the Defence Forces of Ukraine. In particular, about the need to strengthen the capabilities of Ukrainian air defence, the need for artillery systems and long-range weapons to continue the de-occupation of the Ukrainian territories.

The foreign guests were briefed on the current security situation in Ukraine and about the consequences of constant missile strikes and drone attacks by the russian federation on civilian objects and critical infrastructure.

The parties also discussed in detail promising areas of bilateral cooperation, in particular, the implementation of bilateral projects to strengthen the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the near future and the longer perspective.

In particular, the focus was on the training of Ukrainian military service members under the guidance of British instructors. In this context, the training Ukrainian instructors under the "Train the Trainers" program was discussed.

During the meeting, the implementation of joint projects in military-technical cooperation, the development of the Ukrainian Navy, and the achievement of an appropriate level of interoperability between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their allies from NATO member states were also discussed.

The Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom expressed words of support for the entire Ukrainian people and emphasised the continuation of comprehensive and long-term assistance to our country in the fight against russian aggression.

"We remain humbled by the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people. UK will stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and will continue providing support until Ukraine prevails", said Grant Shapps.

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On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted a launch event for the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative on behalf of the US Department of State. As Billboard explains:

The Global Music Diplomacy Initiative builds on the bipartisan PEACE Through Music Diplomacy Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last year. It will augment current U.S. efforts that consist of various public diplomacy exchange programs using music as a diplomatic tool, including American Music Abroad, Arts Envoy, Center Stage, Next Level and OneBeat. Several of the initiatives announced on Wednesday were collaborations with The Recording Academy. "From advocating for the Peace Through Music Diplomacy Act in 2022, to partnering with the U.S. State Department on the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative, the Academy firmly believes that music's transformative power can be a global force for good," Mason said in a statement. "We're honored to begin our work with the State Department to promote peace and cross-cultural understanding through music while continuing our mission to lift up music people around the globe."

The event featured live performances by a variety of famous musicians, including Dave Grohl, Aimee Mann, Toni Blackman, Rakim, Herbie Hancock, DJ 2-Tone, and  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, known to some in his guitar-shredding alter-ego as ABlinken (get it?):

I couldn't pass up tonight's opportunity to combine music and diplomacy. Was a pleasure to launch @StateDept's new Global Music Diplomacy Initiative. pic.twitter.com/6MUfTXO9xK  Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 28, 2023

Truly, what a time to be alive.

Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Is Out Here Playing "Hoochie Coochie Man" At Governmental Functions [Tom Breihan / Stereogum]
Ukraine: Switzerland tightens sanctions in connection with the supply of Iranian drones to Russia

Swiss Government

Bern, 29.09.2023 -- On 29 September, the Federal Council adopted further sanctions in connection with the supply of Iranian drones to Russia. This aligns Switzerland with the European Union, which has adopted new measures in response to the use of Iranian drones in Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. The new measures will come into force at 6pm on 29 September.

In view of Iran's continued military support for Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, which is contrary to international law, and the fact that Russia is using Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to support the military aggression, the Federal Council decided on 29 September to impose further sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Federal Council has adopted the sanctions imposed by the EU on 20 July as part of its new framework for restrictive measures.

The sale, supply, export and transit of components used for the manufacture and production of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is now prohibited. Furthermore, targeted financial and travel sanctions against persons and entities connected with support for Iran's UAV programme are provided for. Switzerland is incorporating these new sanctions measures into the Ordinance on Measures against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Switzerland has been adopting the EU's sanctions listings regarding the supply of Iranian UAVs to Russia since autumn 2022, the last time being on 16 August. This was done within the framework of the Ordinance on Measures in Connection with the Situation in Ukraine.

The Federal Council's decision of 29 September continues the close partnership between Switzerland and the EU with regard to sanctions.

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Update 185 - IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

International Atomic Energy Agency

103/2023

Vienna, Austria

29 Sep 2023

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is preparing to once again use reactor unit 4 to generate steam for various safety functions at the facility, following repairs that put it out of action for several weeks, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

After the plant conducted hydraulic pressure tests on the primary and secondary cooling circuits of this unit, IAEA experts at the site said the ZNPP this week began transitioning it from cold to hot shutdown. Once this is done, the ZNPP plans to return unit 6 to cold shutdown. Unit 6 has been providing steam in hot shutdown since mid-August, after a water leak was detected in one of unit 4's four steam generators.

While unit 4 was in cold shutdown, the ZNPP identified that the cause of the water leak was a hairline crack in the weld of the steam generator's primary header vent pipe, which has now been repaired and tested.

As previously reported, Ukraine's national regulator, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), has issued regulatory orders to limit the operation of all six units to a cold shutdown state. In addition, the IAEA has been strongly encouraging the ZNPP to find an alternative source of steam generation to cover the plant's needs, including for processing liquid radioactive waste, and allow for all its six reactors to be maintained in a cold shutdown state.

The IAEA experts were informed this week that the ZNPP had ordered the equipment needed to generate enough steam to meet the site's requirements. The installation of this equipment is expected in the first part of next year, provided there are no supply chain delays, the ZNPP said.

"The IAEA has repeatedly been calling for an alternative steam solution so that all six reactors can be put in cold shutdown, as instructed by Ukraine's regulator. I hope that the plant will implement this change as soon as possible," Director General Grossi said.

In the latest indications of military activities some distance away from the ZNPP, the experts continue to hear explosions almost every day and have also heard machine gun fire, highlighting the risks to Europe's largest nuclear power plant (NPP) during the military conflict in Ukraine.

The IAEA team is continuing to look at the situation regarding ZNPP staffing, which has declined significantly since the beginning of the conflict and remains complex and challenging. This week, the IAEA experts have been gathering further information, including visiting main control rooms and the training centre where they discussed training and licensing.

As part of their walkdowns over the past week, the IAEA experts visited the turbine hall of unit 6, observing no military equipment there. The team noted during a walkdown within the site perimeter that some of the mines previously observed had been removed while some work was being performed on the interior fences.

The IAEA team is continuing to request access to all six turbine halls, one after the other, to be able to confirm the absence of any materials and equipment that may contravene the five concrete principles for the protection of the ZNPP. So far, this request has not been approved and the team can only confirm the status of one turbine hall at a time.

The IAEA experts are also continuing to request access to the rooftops of reactor buildings 1, 2, 5 and 6, which they had expected to be granted last month. The IAEA is now awaiting approval for such access next week.

"As I have said repeatedly in recent months, we will continue requesting the access we need to implement our important mission, including for monitoring compliance with the five concrete protection principles designed to prevent a nuclear accident at the site," Director General Grossi said.

Regarding the site's water situation, the IAEA experts said the ZNPP had completed drilling another groundwater well to supply the site's sprinkler ponds used for reactor cooling and other nuclear safety and security functions, bringing the total to 11 new wells as part of efforts to find alternative sources of water following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam almost four months ago.

The 11 wells are supplying around 250 cubic metres per hour, which the site had estimated would be sufficient to maintain the level of all 12 sprinkler cooling ponds.

However, the IAEA experts observed during a walkdown on Wednesday that the level of water in three of the ponds had fallen since the previous visit a few days earlier. At the time, the site was re-plenishing the three sprinkler ponds to return the water levels to normal. Today, the team conducted another walkdown of the sprinkler ponds and confirmed that the water levels of all ponds were within the operational limits. The IAEA experts are looking into the cause of the temporary water decline.

IAEA teams at Ukraine's three other NPPs and the Chornobyl site report safe and secure operations of these nuclear facilities despite the continuation of the armed conflict. The IAEA conducted successful rotations of its teams at Chornobyl, and the Rivne, Khmelnitsky and South Ukraine NPPs earlier this week.

The IAEA today completed its 25th delivery of equipment and other items designed to enhance nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, providing medical equipment and consumables to the Chornobyl site. This delivery was made possible using extrabudgetary contributions from the European Commission.

Separately, the second delivery of spare parts and rubber products for the emergency diesel generators of the South Ukraine NPP, envisaged under arrangements agreed on 5 May between the IAEA, France and Ukraine's Energoatom, arrived at the site this week. These spare parts are essential for the maintenance and functionality of the diesel generators, ensuring they would work if the site were to lose off-site power. The first delivery took place in June.

In total, the Agency has now facilitated deliveries of nuclear safety and security equipment of more than 6.8 million euros to different organizations in Ukraine since the start of the armed conflict as part of its overall assistance programme.

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Britain Slaps More Sanctions On Russian Officials One Year After 'Sham' Votes In Ukraine

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service September 29, 2023

The United Kingdom announced a fresh set of sanctions against Russian officials and Moscow's electoral authority on the one-year anniversary of "sham" elections held in occupied Ukrainian regions.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement that the new measures targeted 11 Russian officials and the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Russia for the "sham elections" that amounted to "a transparent, futile attempt to legitimize Russia's illegal control of sovereign Ukrainian territory."

Those who orchestrated the referendums in late September 2022 and general elections earlier this month in occupied Ukrainian territories in the east and southeast "all directly acted to undermine Ukraine and threaten its territorial integrity," the statement said.

"You can't hold 'elections' in someone else's country," Cleverly said in the statement.

Natalya Budarina, one of the most senior CEC officials, Andrei Aleksyenko, the chief of the Russia-controlled part of the southern region of Kherson, and Marina Zakharova, the Moscow-installed head of the Kherson electoral authority, were among those sanctioned with asset freezes and travel restrictions.

The latest set of punitive measures brings the total number of individuals and entities sanctioned by Britain since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine to more than 1,600.

The measures were announced a day after British Admiral Tony Radakin, chief of the Defense Staff, and the United Kingdom's new Defense Secretary Grant Shapps visited Kyiv.

Earlier on September 29, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv, damaging infrastructure, a regional official said, as the governor of Russia's Kursk region bordering Ukraine said a drone attack has cut off the energy supply of several settlements in the area.

"On the morning of September 29, around 4:13, the city of Mykolayiv was targeted by a missile attack," the head of Mykolayiv regional military administration, Vitaly Kim, said on Telegram. "An infrastructure objective was damaged on the outskirts of the city. The resulting fire was extinguished at 6:45. Detailed information is being clarified," Kim wrote.

Meanwhile, Roman Starovoit, the governor of Russia's Kursk region that borders Ukraine, said on September 29 that a Ukrainian drone attack on a power substation in the region's Belovsky district left five settlements without electricity.

"One of the transformers caught fire. Five settlements and a hospital were left without power. Fire crews have left for the scene. They will begin restoring power supply as soon as it is safe," Starovoit said on Telegram. Russia's Defense Ministry later said in a statement that it had shot down 11 drones overnight -- 10 over the Kursk region and one over the Kaluga region.

On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces continued to conduct both defensive and offensive operations in the east and south, where they fought 26 close-quarters battles against Russian troops over the past 24 hours, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military said in its daily update on September 29

On September 28, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a visit to Kyiv that Ukrainian forces were "gradually gaining ground" in their counteroffensive against Russian invaders.

"[Ukrainian troops] face fierce fighting, but they are gradually gaining ground," Stoltenberg said at a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"Every meter that Ukrainian forces regain is a meter that Russia loses.... Moscow is fighting for imperialist delusions," Stoltenberg said.

The NATO chief also announced that the alliance has framework contracts in place for 2.4 billion euros ($2.53 billion) of key ammunition for Kyiv, including 1 billion euros in firm orders.

With reporting by Current Time, AFP, TASS, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-strikes-ukraine- mykolayiv-drones-kursk/32615433.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 Reportedly Watching, Learning from Russian Performance in Ukraine Special Military Operation

Sputnik News

20230929

An online report noted Ukraine's difficulties in penetrating Russian defensive lines, stressing the continued importance of training and coordination in a world of technologically advanced warfare.

According to the US government's own Congressional Research Service, US armed forces have been active throughout the world in one form or another for the vast majority of the country's young existence. Now, a new report documents the lessons the country is learning for its next war as Russian troops battle on in the Donbass.

The article, published in an online journal of defense news, describes the challenges faced by troops in an era of pervasive technology.

"Our communications are very specific, they're easily detected and therefore easily targeted," said Brigadier General David Gardner of the US Army's Joint Readiness Training Center, which trains Army troops through simulated warfare. "They're very complex to establish, to maintain."

The report stresses that "concealment" is a major concern, documenting the use of drone units in the Ukraine operation along with surveillance by satellites and other means. "The enemy can strike anywhere, anytime," said Gardner. Something as simple as a WiFi or Bluetooth signal can invite enemy fire.

"In the past, it was only scouts that would go into radio silence. Now we're seeing that across entire formations," said Gardner, noting that effective use of new technology requires knowing when not to use it, and how to use it cautiously.

The report notes that modern surveillance capabilities, combined with the use of rockets and artillery, have led to increased casualties both in the Army's simulated war operations and for Ukrainian troops.

The Army is also training in psychological or "hybrid warfare," learning from Russia and Ukraine's use of social media throughout the special military operation. Reports in news outlet The Grayzone have documented the participation of US politicians and intelligence operatives in the so-called NAFO online troll operation against Russia.

In 2013 the US Congress passed legislation lifting a ban on spreading government-backed propaganda among domestic audiences, potentially allowing the US to wage psychological operations publicly and covertly in the age of Facebook and TikTok. Recent reporting documented the US military's efforts to shape discussion on Twitter.

Brigadier General Curtis Taylor of the Army's National Training Center in California noted Ukraine's objectives on the battlefield are "very, very hard."

"[Modern warfare] requires generations of practice," said Taylor. He concluded that current realities force effective coordination between all branches of the military.

The United States has spent more than $75 billion on funding for Ukraine's military efforts. The country's involvement so far remains mostly indirect; whether it will remain so will depend on America's response to an increasingly multipolar world.

A Sputnik

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Ukrainian Troops Reportedly Refuse Battle Orders in Rabotino Due to Heavy Losses

Sputnik News

20230929

The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that the 47th Mechanized Brigade had to be withdrawn from the Rabotino area of the Zaporozhye region by the Ukrainian command due to the soldiers' reluctance to carry out combat missions in the face of mounting casualties.

According to information shared on the Telegram channel of the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian command is currently carrying out the withdrawal of the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) from the Rabotino area of the Zaporozhye region as soldiers are reluctant to take on combat orders after the losses they suffered.

The Russian Armed Forces are heavily engaged in the defense of the Zaporozhye direction. Last week, Russian military units successfully repelled eight attacks from enemy assault groups from the 65th Mechanized and 71st Jaeger Brigades in the Verbovoye and Rabotino areas.

The Ministry of Defense also announced that the UAF suffered significant losses during the fighting, including over 330 soldiers, 32 armored combat vehicles, 38 vehicles and 25 field artillery pieces.

Earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry announced that Russian paratroopers using anti-tank vehicles had neutralized a Ukrainian military observation post on the right bank of the Dnepr River.

A Sputnik

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UK Military Chief: West Underestimated Russia's Defenses

Sputnik News

20230929

Russian defense lines have become stronger than NATO expected, noted the head of the British Armed Forces Sir Tony Radakin.

According to UK media, this was stated during his trip to Kiev, where the military chief was joined by Defense Secretary Grant Shapps. It was Shapp's first visit to Ukraine after succeeding Ben Wallace. Thus, the two had a chance to meet both President Zelensky and the new Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, to discuss the current situation for the Ukrainian Army.

Admiral Radakin supposed that the expectations from Ukrainian short-term military actions should have been "adjusted" - "after the counteroffensive failed" without noticeable results.

During the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian Army achieved very little success, UK media claimed. Russian minefields are hampering Kiev's attempts to use Western tanks and armored vehicles, while Ukrainian sappers are forced to defuse mines manually.

The chief also added that a wide variety of equipment in service - both Western and Soviet - and insufficient training of military personnel, retard the Ukrainian Army. He highlighted that Ukrainian troops are not professional soldiers, but a civilian army. That is why it is hard for them to overcome Russian defense line.

Earlier, the BBC summed up that Ukraine's counteroffensive attempt was close to its end without making the breakthroughs.

In turn, US Army chief General Mark Milley told the BBC that the Ukrainian Army has "probably about 30 to 45 days' worth of fighting weather" for its counteroffensive, but they are "plugging away with steady progress."

Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in early June. In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that it had completely failed.

A Sputnik

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Russian Forces Destroy Control Center of Foreign Legion in Ukraine

Sputnik News

20230929

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian military has launched nine strikes at targets in Ukraine using cruise missiles and drones this week, the Defense Ministry stated on Friday, adding that a control center belonging to the Ukrainian Foreign Legion has been destroyed.

"In the period from September 24 to 29, the Russian armed forces carried out nine strikes with long-range precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles. Ammunition depots, military equipment of Ukrainian armed forces, training sites of sabotage groups, as well as accommodation facilities for Ukrainian military personnel and foreign mercenaries were hit," the ministry reported.

The strikes destroyed a control center of the Foreign Legion, two large ammunition depots and disrupted the supply of foreign-made weapons and logistical support for Ukrainian troops operating in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, the ministry added.

"The Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed five combat aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force this week... two more MiG-29 fighters delivered from Poland, modernized for the use of Western missile weapons, were destroyed during a strike at an airfield in Kulbakino in the Nikolayev Region on Thursday night," the ministry said.

Moreover, Ukraine has lost more than 1,760 servicemen both killed and wounded in the Donetsk direction from September 24 to 29, the ministry stressed.

Over the given period, the Russian armed forces have repelled 12 attacks by the Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman direction, eight attacks by in the Zaporozhye direction and four attacks in the South Donetsk direction.

"As a result of the fighting [in the Donetsk direction], the enemy lost more than 1,760 Ukrainian military personnel killed and wounded, 40 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, as well as 70 vehicles. During the counter-battery battle, 13 field artillery guns and two Grad multiple launch rocket systems were hit," the ministry stated.

Ukraine has also lost over 750 military in the South Donetsk direction, over 210 military in the Kupyansk direction, up to 250 military in the Kherson direction, and over 360 military in the Krasny Liman direction, the ministry added.

A Sputnik

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UK announces new sanctions in response to Russian sham elections in Ukraine

Latest sanctions package holds those who would undermine Ukraine's sovereignty to account.

29 September 2023

UK sanctions Russian officials involved in recent sham elections in the Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk, and in illegally annexed Crimea

Sanctions also target officials involved in last year's sham referendums staged to legitimise the attempted annexation of Ukrainian territory

1,600 individuals and entities have now been sanctioned by the UK in response to Russia's invasion

More Russian officials involved in the illegal invasion of Ukraine are hit with new sanctions, including movement and financial restrictions, announced by the Foreign Secretary today (29th September). Eleven new designations will be imposed by the UK in response to Russia's attempts to use sham elections to legitimise its illegal control of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea, which are all part of Ukrainian sovereign territory.

Among those designated are an organisation and senior Russian officials, who have all directly acted to undermine Ukraine and threaten its territorial integrity.

They include:

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russia, the government agency that has arranged this month's sham elections and last year's referendums in illegally temporarily controlled parts of Ukraine.

Natalya Budarina, CEC Secretary, one of the most senior officials in the Central Election Commission.

Andrei Aleksyenko, Head of the so-called Kherson regional administration.

Marina Zakharova, Head of the so-called election commission in Kherson.

Today's announcement comes one year on from Russia's illegal attempt to annex the Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk after falsified and illegitimate sham referendums. Conducted on sovereign Ukrainian territory, through intimidation at gunpoint, these referendums were overwhelmingly rejected by the UN General Assembly in October 2022.

The Ukrainian population living in these temporarily controlled territories has endured large-scale atrocities at the hands of Russian forces, including torture, sexual violence, and mass forced deportation. To date, the Ukrainian authorities report that at least 19,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported from their homes.

Russia has sought to destroy Ukrainian culture and identity in a bid to strengthen its illegitimate claim to Ukrainian territory, including by forcible issue of Russian passports, and imposition of Russian law, media, education, and currency.

In the latest futile attempt to normalise Russia's illegitimate control of sovereign Ukrainian territory, Russia arranged illegal sham "elections" earlier this month. These elections are another violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and of the UN Charter. Earlier this month the UK confirmed, to the UN Security Council, evidence that the results were pre-determined.

Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly said:

Russia's sham elections are a transparent, futile attempt to legitimise its illegal control of sovereign Ukrainian territory. You can't hold 'elections' in someone else's country. The UK will never recognise Russia's claims to Ukrainian territory - Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson are Ukraine.

Last year, the UK took immediate action in response to the illegal sham referendums in Ukraine, sanctioning top Russian officials who enforced the illegal votes in the temporarily controlled territories of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk.

This latest package of designations comes ahead of a new commemoration day in Russia, declared by Putin to celebrate the anniversary of his purported annexations, despite Russia having no legitimate basis for any claim to Ukrainian territory.

The people of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts voted overwhelmingly for Ukraine's independence in 1991, and their continued resistance against Russian aggression shows their determination to remain part of an independent and sovereign Ukraine.

These latest sanctions serve as a stark reminder of the cost of such a flagrant assault on sovereignty, democracy and equality.

Together with our international partners, we have unleashed the largest and most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy.

The UK alone has sanctioned over 1,800 individuals and entities under its Russia sanctions regime, over 1,600 of which were sanctioned since Putin's full-scale invasion. This includes 29 banks, accounting for over 90% of the Russian banking sector, and 129 oligarchs who had a combined net worth around A145 billion at the time of the invasion. Over A20 billion of UK-Russia bilateral trade (2021 figures) is now under full or partial sanction and there has been a 98.2% fall in Russian imports into the UK, and a 77.4% fall in UK exports to Russia.

Sanctions have sent Russia into recession, eroded Russia's financial base and massively degraded the building blocks for Russia's long-term growth.

Russia's budget is heavily in deficit. Rather than the surplus the Russian government predicted for 2022, Russia suffered an annual deficit of $47bnathe second highest of the post-Soviet era. Many of the trends contributing to the deficit in 2022 will continue in 2023, especially downward pressure on oil and gas exports.

Now, over 60% of Putin's 'war chest' foreign reserves - worth A275bn - have been immobilised.

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Andriy Yermak in Babyn Yar discusses implementation of seventh point of Peace Formula regarding restoration of justice with foreign ambassadors

President of Ukraine

29 September 2023 - 21:17

On the instructions of the President of Ukraine, Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak held the ninth meeting with representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in our country regarding the implementation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula.

The event was dedicated to the implementation of the seventh point of the Peace Formula "Restoration of Justice." The meeting, which took place at the National Historical Memorial Preserve Babyn Yar, was attended by representatives from 76 countries, both in person and online.

Andriy Yermak said that the meeting was taking place at a location whose name has become a symbol of honoring the memory of genocide victims.

"The Nuremberg Tribunal forever condemned both those who started the world war and those who executed criminal orders," he said.

At the same time, the Head of the Presidential Office reminded that victims of the repressions of the Stalinist regime, including those executed in Kyiv's Bykivnia, are still waiting for justice because the international community has not yet provided proper legal assessment of the actions of this murderous regime, whose descendants continue bringing torture and death.

Andriy Yermak emphasized that the answer to the query of justice is contained in point seven of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, based on international law and the UN Charter.

"The path to ending this war and establishing lasting peace lies only through the complete restoration of justice. Only swift and irrevocable punishment of those responsible for the fundamental crime of aggression and subsequent war crimes, including genocide, will prevent the recurrence of aggressive wars in the future," he said.

Andriy Yermak reminded that significant work had been done over the past year, and important decisions were made at the international level. In particular, the Registry of Damage for Ukraine has already started its work in The Hague, where claims for compensation for damages and evidence of their occurrence are being submitted by those affected by the war.

The Head of the Presidential Office emphasized the need to move forward and implement a compensation mechanism that would enable the collection of reparations from Russia.

"Currently, we are working on proposals for the relevant international agreement. We would appreciate it if your governments would join this work," he said.

Traditionally, a briefing was held for the representatives of the diplomatic corps present, during which the Ukrainian vision for the implementation of the Peace Formula point regarding the establishment of justice was given.

Daria Zarivna, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, who moderated the event, said that throughout the war, mass graves of the killed and places of torture are constantly discovered on liberated Ukrainian territories. Therefore, the issue of justice is the cornerstone of the Peace Formula and a necessary condition for achieving a truly sustainable, fair, and comprehensive peace.

Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba emphasized that all those guilty of war crimes against Ukrainians must be held accountable without exception. According to him, there is no alternative to an international tribunal that will establish Russia's guilt.

"Ukrainians and the entire world demand justice, which must prevail through joint efforts. We must act now to prevent such crimes in the future," he said.

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin presented a work plan for point seven of the Peace Formula, designed for 2023-2026.

He said that point seven of the Peace Formula relies on pillars such as ensuring effective investigations at the national level, ensuring accountability for the crime of aggression, strategic partnership with international justice mechanisms, and promoting bilateral and multilateral intergovernmental partnerships for the investigation and prosecution of international crimes.

Another fundamental issue is the compensation and restitution for the damage caused to Ukraine and Ukrainians by Russian aggression.

Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Iryna Mudra said that Russia's frozen sovereign assets in Western jurisdictions and funds of sanctioned Russian businessmen and oligarchs should become an important source of payment for compensation mechanisms. Work is underway to implement the corresponding action plan.

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance of Canada Chrystia Freeland said during her online speech at the meeting that her country has already legislated the ability to direct confiscated sanctioned Russian assets to support Ukraine and is ready to share the relevant experience with other states.

Lawrence Summers, an American economist and the honorary rector of Harvard University, emphasized the importance of timely consensus decisions today. He stated that from the perspective of international law, it is entirely legitimate to use Russian assets for Ukraine's economic recovery and to support the victims of Russian aggression.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Smyrnov told the diplomats about the search for the optimal format for a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Anton Korynevych informed about the activities of the Core Group on the establishment of a tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which has already involved 38 states.

Representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps expressed their views on the importance of justice and the work that Ukraine, together with its partners, is undertaking to implement the relevant point of the Peace Formula.

At the end of the meeting, Andriy Yermak thanked all the participants and announced that preparations have already begun for the next meeting of national security advisors and political directors of foreign ministries of the world's states regarding the key principles of achieving a sustainable and just peace for Ukraine.

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Not only thanks to the strength of our weapons but also thanks to the strength of our spirit and humanity, evil will never prevail in Ukraine - address of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine

29 September 2023 - 18:31

Dear Ukrainians,

A brief report on this day. An emotional day.

I began it with events at Babyn Yar.

The 82nd anniversary of the mass shootings of Jews by the Nazis in Babyn Yar.

In just a few days in September 1941, over 30,000 people were killed. In total, during the Nazi occupation, about 100,000 people were killed in Babyn Yar. Jews, as well as Roma and Ukrainians. Representatives of other nations.

Very important to preserve the memory of these victims and of the fact that the evil the Holocaust perpetrated was defeated and punished.

Ukraine preserves such a memory. "Never again!" For us, for Ukraine, for the entire civilized world, these are not empty words. And it will always be so.

It is very symbolic that today I met with our Ukrainian teachers - those on whom, in fact, the preservation of historical memory and much of humanity depends.

This Sunday, Ukraine will celebrate Teacher's Day - the educators' day.

Today, I thanked all Ukrainian teachers, educators, instructors, and mentors. All those who undertake one of the most honorable missions in life - educating children in what is necessary to navigate their destiny and be resilient on their life journey.

But education is always more than acquiring knowledge and skills and mastering a profession. It's about character and its strength. It's about the clarity of distinguishing between good and evil, which comes when you study human culture.

Education prepares and calibrates a person's moral compass so that it works, and through this, a person's work and life enrich humanity. This is very important.

And we see, particularly in what Russia is doing, what happens when the education system has collapsed. When the moral compass of people and society is broken. Evil prevails in such a country.

This will never happen in Ukraine. Not only thanks to the strength of our weapons but also thanks to the strength of our spirit, the strength of Ukrainian characters, our humanity, which will undoubtedly prevail.

This week significantly strengthened our country and our people. There will be important news for Ukraine tomorrow - for our warriors, for our entire state.

We are working to ensure that the coming weeks will add strength to Ukraine - internal strength - and the necessary cooperation with the world. So that the world hears us, understands us, and supports us. I thank everyone who is helping!

Glory to everyone who fights and works for the sake of Ukraine and its people!

Glory to Ukraine!

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Scientists have discovered the ninth species of pangolins, known as the world's most heavily poached animals.

There are eight previously known pangolin species, four of which are found in Asia and four in Africa.

The solitary mammals, which resemble anteaters, are illegally hunted and smuggled for their meat and unusual armor like scales, which some people believe have therapeutic benefits.

Manis mysteria

Between 2012 and 2019, scientists examining the illegal scales captured in Hong Kong and China's Yunnan region discovered genetic markers not seen in any known pangolin.

The genome analysis identified an unexpected ninth species, Manis mysteria, which the team has named.

"We were quite surprised because we did not expect a new species could be discovered from seized scales," said study coauthor Jing-Yan Hu, a research assistant at the State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resource at Yunnan University.

The findings that were revealed in a paper published in the journal PNAS say the research team conducted a structural examination on scale samples from various confiscations.

To assess whether the scales belonged to a new species, researchers compared 17 genomes from stolen pangolin scales to 138 genomes from the animal's eight known species.

They also examined the shape and structure of the 33 seized scales and discovered traits similar to those of Asian pangolins, implying that the mystery creatures belong to Manis, the Asian pangolin group, rather than Phataginus or Smutsia, the African pangolin groups.

Read Also: First Chinese Pangolin Pup Born In Captivity Nursed With Feline Milk -Prague

Protect threatened species

While the ninth pangolin has yet to be discovered and formally characterized by scientists, that does not mean it is unknown.

This makes M. mysteria an example of cryptic diversity, in which distinct evolutionary lineages are difficult to distinguish because they resemble already known species. M. mysteria could not be distinguished from other Asian pangolins based solely on its scales, according to the researchers.

Hu said the discovery also calls for more conservation concerns and joint efforts to help tackle the supply and demand of pangolin trade.

Experts stressed that the discovery is critical, as the identification of this new species will allow conservationists to focus management efforts to prevent its extinction.

"Once a species is extinct, its unique biodiversity is lost," said Dr. Aryn Wilder, a researcher specializing in conservation genetics at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. "With the discovery of a new pangolin species, one that is likely endangered, and with more research to learn about its range, ecology, life-history and conservation status, conservation strategies can be tailored specifically to ensure that this species survives."

According to conservationists, more than a million pangolins were poached from the wild in the decades up to 2014, and all foreign trading has been prohibited since 2016.

Despite its enigmatic character, there have been previous speculations that the pangolin family is larger than previously thought.

The recent discovery could be the start, and scientists are expecting to find other pangolin species.

Finding a new "large-bodied mammal" is not something that happens every day.

One of the most recent genetic discoveries was the finding of a new kind of orangutan in 2017.

Related Article: Pangolins Face Existential Crisis in Africa Due to Human and Climate Threats

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Back when the plan was originally set in motion, shortly after a March 2016 announcement that Brooks Memorial Hospital was affiliating with Kaleida Health, the Buffalo Bills were coming off an 8-8 season, missing the playoffs for the 16th consecutive season. Josh Allen was still two years away from getting drafted.

In state government, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was only about halfway through what would ultimately be a decade-long run as governor. Dr. Howard Zucker was the states health commissioner  and there have been two health commissioners since then.

Then there is Brooks-TLCs new hospital plan, still idle.

The roughly $71 million microhospital, which would be built in the Village of Fredonia, would be covered by grants long ago awarded by the state. Only the state has yet to release the funds and has provided no timetable for if and when it will do so.

But local elected officials and the chief executives at Kaleida and Brooks-TLC said recently they are optimistic that could soon change. And the labor unions who represent workers at the aging Dunkirk facility are getting increasingly vocal, planning a rally Thursday in front of the hospital to call on the state to release the funds and push the long-delayed project forward.

At some point, a decision has to be made, Brooks-TLC President and CEO Ken Morris said.

I think with our conversations directly with the Department of Health, my sense is that we are making some positive progress there, Morris said. Were just waiting for the decision to actually be made and be at a place where we can share some good news here.

Kaleida President and CEO Don Boyd added that there has been an uptick in positive, productive discussions, though it hasnt resulted in an answer yet.

At some point, the community deserves an answer, because theyve waited, theyve been patient, Boyd said.

Health Department spokesperson Erin Clary said the department had no new information to report, sending along the same statement that the agency provided to The Buffalo News in February.

To ensure that access to essential health services for the community is maintained, we continue to work closely with the leadership of Brooks Memorial and other health care providers, as our commitment to the community has not changed, Clary said.

Part of the issue could be that the Brooks project has plenty of competition. The state has been inundated with funding requests from pandemic-battered hospitals and is likely closely weighing how it wants to spend its resources.

On top of that, Gov. Kathy Hochul this week ordered a budget freeze at state agencies, seeking to stabilize spending ahead of a looming state budget slowdown.

Hochul orders spending freeze by state agencies Since Hochul became governor in 2021, post-pandemic federal stimulus enabled record state spending, she said, but that era is now ending.

Hochuls upstate spokesperson Matt Janiszewski said Thursday that the governor is committed to ensuring that every New Yorker has access to essential health services where and when they need it most, noting that the Health Department is in close contact with Brooks-TLC leadership and other Chautauqua County health care providers.

While the states public comments have been noncommittal, there have been some signs of progress on the ground.

Morris confirmed that Brooks-TLC closed in early June on its long-planned purchase of the project site in Fredonia, which is a grape field off East Main Street that was previously owned by Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Community support building?

At the annual AFL-CIO Labor Day Parade in South Buffalo, representatives from the unions representing Brooks-TLC workers handed out postcard-sized flyers reading, BUILD BROOKS NOW!

The card directed people to a website where they could sign a petition calling on the state to release the funds for the hospital.

Now, the New York State Nurses Association and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, which collectively represent about 300 Brooks-TLC employees, are planning a rally in front of the Dunkirk hospital from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, joining with hospital leaders and elected officials to express concerns over the long delay from the state.

Cheryl Marino, an 1199SEIU administrative organizer, said the unions are looking to apply as much pressure as possible to get the Health Department to release the long-ago awarded grant funding.

The rally is just the first step in us escalating this to however high we need to go, she said. This isnt the end. Were ready to do what we need to do to make sure that this hospital is built.

Marino and Heather Luce, a registered nurse at Brooks-TLC since 2008 and a NYSNA executive committee member, said they dont know why the release of the funding has been held up.

But the stagnant plan has meant employees continue to work in an aging facility built for another generation of health care. Luce said many of the hospitals rooms arent able to be updated with the latest, modern equipment, and patients constantly remark about being cold in the old facility.

It is very difficult to get patients where they need to go, especially in emergency situations, Luce added.

Both Marino and Luce also worry about maintaining immediate hospital access for northern Chautauqua County, so residents  especially in emergency situations when minutes matter  have a facility where they can be stabilized.

Given that the current Brooks-TLC hospital is outdated and losing millions, they see the long-term future in a right-sized, hopefully sustainable facility in Fredonia. The current plan calls for a 57,634-square-foot, 15-bed microhospital and adjoining 35,883-square-foot medical office building.

Without a local hospital, that would mean a 45-minute ride for many residents to either Mercy Hospital in South Buffalo or UPMC Chautauqua in Jamestown.

Its very important that these patients are able to be taken care of, Luce said. We deserve it. Our community deserves it. So were asking for the Department of Health to release these funds for the people in the rural communities that deserve it just as much as your cities.

Whats the hang-up?

For a long time, it seemed like the biggest hang-up for the project was the location, with Dunkirk officials and residents not wanting to lose the hospital to another municipality and then be left with a giant eyesore to redevelop.

But a deal in place alleviates some of those concerns, allowing Dunkirk Local Development Corp. to acquire the existing hospital property for $1 if and when the project in Fredonia moves forward. The deal gives local officials control over the redevelopment at the existing hospital site on Central Avenue.

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, said the states excuse at this point for not releasing the funds seems to revolve around the financial viability of a new hospital in Fredonia.

If the new hospital is built, a consultant to Brooks-TLC estimated it would lose $3.3 million a year. Still, Borrello and others point out, that is much closer to the break-even point than the current Dunkirk operation.

For the four years ended Dec. 31, 2021, Brooks-TLC incurred an operating loss of about $55.2 million, according to a report last year by a commission that reviewed the hospital plan. And much of those losses have been subsidized by the state, with the Health Department providing more than $40 million to Brooks-TLC from 2018 to 2021 through funding streams such as the Vital Access Provider Assurance Program.

Borrello, like Boyd and Morris, feels theres positive momentum right now. Further, he said there is more strategizing going on between Kaleida, Brooks-TLC and elected officials, specifically around trying to improve the financial situation.

Borrello added that a deepening of the relationship between Brooks-TLC and Kaleida also could further sway the state. While Kaleida has a state-approved management agreement with Brooks-TLC now, the plan is for Brooks-TLC to come under the umbrella of Kaleida if and when the Fredonia hospital is built.

At this point, I think the best path is for a greater partnership between Brooks-TLC and Kaleida, where Kaleida would be supporting Brooks in addressing the deficit even in the new enhanced design, Borrello said.

Another wrinkle is that the health care landscape is very different now than it was seven years ago when Brooks-TLC and Kaleida affiliated and when the plan to build a new hospital was originally concocted.

And after a financially draining pandemic, many New York hospitals are hungry for more state funding.

The state has indicated that theres more demand than there is supply to support some of the different health care needs across the state, Boyd said. And so I think theyre having to be very thoughtful about the decisions that theyre making.
Head of State holds meeting with EBRD President

President of Ukraine

29 September 2023 - 15:49

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso, who is visiting our country.

The Head of State expressed gratitude to the EBRD for their unwavering and steadfast support of our state in countering the full-scale Russian invasion and for financing development projects in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said that even during the war, investments are coming into our country, but for the recovery and stable economic development, the volume of these investments should be significantly larger.

"If we have a reliable air defense system and jobs, people will return to Ukraine even now, while the war is ongoing. Our country will not only fight for its freedom but will also continue to live," the President said.

According to him, Ukraine is interested in continuing cooperation with the EBRD, particularly in the areas of energy security, trade financing, support for critical infrastructure and municipalities, food security, the corporate sector, and more.

Furthermore, the Head of State emphasized the need to increase funding for private sector projects and to attract additional private capital for the country's reconstruction.

The President of the EBRD, on her part, noted that Ukraine's economy has stabilized and continues to operate in a significant part of the country's territory.

She mentioned discussions with the Ukrainian government and the Prime Minister regarding preparations for the winter period.

"We will continue to support Ukrenergo in building air defense. We are also working with Naftogaz to ensure large gas reserves. In addition, we have a project with Ukrhydroenergo. And we will continue to finance Ukrzaliznytsia and transportation," Renaud-Basso said.

According to her, the bank intends to focus on projects in the private sector, including increasing production capacity in agriculture. The EBRD also collaborates with banks in financing small- and medium-sized businesses, including risk insurance.

Renaud-Basso said that the EBRD is working on increasing its authorized capital, which will enable additional funding for Ukraine's reconstruction.

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Ukraine Now IAEA Board of Governors Member

By VOA News September 29, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Thursday that Ukraine is now a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors.

"This not only underscores our international security role but also provides real opportunities for Ukraine to influence the adoption of decisions that are binding for all IAEA members and the entire international community," Zelenskyy said.

He said Ukraine will do everything it can to ensure regional nuclear and radiation security, and liberate Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from its Russian occupiers, to secure Europe from "Russian radiation blackmail."

Meanwhile, hundreds of fighters previously associated with the Wagner Group, "have likely started to redeploy to Ukraine" as individuals and in small groups that are fighting for a variety of pro-Russian units, the British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily intelligence update on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It said reports suggest a concentration of Wagner veterans around the eastern city of Bakhmut, a sector where their past experience could be useful.

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in Russia last month, raising questions about the future of his forces.

The cause of the plane crash that killed Prigozhin and other Wagner leaders has not been determined, but many Western officials believe it was Russian President Vladimir Putin's retribution for the uprising Prigozhin led, a troop movement toward Moscow that he abruptly called off.

In the weeks that followed, Prigozhin met with Putin at the Kremlin and traveled freely in Russia before the plane crash.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that Ukrainian forces are "gradually gaining ground" in the face of fierce fighting and that he is constantly urging allies to provide more aid, boost defense production and speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine.

"The stronger Ukraine becomes, the closer we come to ending Russia's aggression," Stoltenberg told reporters in Kyiv.

Speaking alongside Zelenskyy, Stoltenberg said NATO has framework contracts in place for $2.5 billion in key ammunition for Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said it is in NATO's security interest to provide Ukraine what it needs to win the war.

In the United States, as the federal government prepares for a possible shutdown, the country's aid in the Ukrainian war effort could falter, according to Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh.

Those affected by the shutdown would include Pentagon civilians involved in English-language training for Ukraine's F-16 pilots, so if there is a government shutdown, "there could be impacts to training," Singh said. "At this point right now, I just don't have more specific details to offer."

France has pledged its continued support of Ukraine, and the two countries have been in talks to maintain the continuous securing of arms for Kyiv.

"Dozens of projects have either been launched or are under discussion, aimed at organizing joint production of new weapons or maintenance of weapons already with us," Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told a news conference alongside his French counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu.

France will "continue to help Ukraine as much as is necessary," Lecornu said.

No specific details were given on the arms Paris intends to send to Kyiv.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Friday, September 29, U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman released the following statement on the reopening of the application for the 8(a) Business Development Program (8(a) Program).





Though the administration of the 8(a) Program has been impacted by a recent court injunction and order, the program is open for business. In the weeks since the injunction, the SBA has reviewed or recertified thousands of current 8(a) participants through a process consistent with the courts order. And now the SBA has reopened the 8(a) application to new participants  ensuring a vast, talented pool of vendors are available to federal agencies.

The 8(a) Program has more than a 50-year track record of making contracting with the U.S. government more accessible for thousands of small businesses who, in turn, provide critical products and services to advance agency missions. Leveling the playing field not only provides entrepreneurs from historically underserved communities the opportunity to grow their businesses, create jobs, and contribute to their local economies  it is also crucial to enhancing performance across our federal government.

As we await a final ruling, the SBA and Biden-Harris Administration remain committed to supporting the 8(a) Program and standing up for the small business owners who have helped drive Americas historic economic growth. We will not let attacks from those who seek to take us backward chill our efforts to promote equal opportunity, expand access to the American Dream, and ultimately strengthen our countrys industrial base.



For interview requests for Administrator Guzman, please contact Rebecca Galanti at rebecca.galanti@sba.gov.

###



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, 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.
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 29, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF), announces that KSF continues its investigation into ATI Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE: ATIP; ATIP WS) f/k/a Fortress Value Acquisition Corp. II. (NYSE: FAII; FAII WS).



On February 22, 2021, ATI and Fortress Value Acquisition Corp. II announced a proposed merger that would take ATI public. On June 17, 2021, the Company announced that it had completed its Business Combination with Fortress. Then, on July 26, 2021, the Company reported its financial results for 2Q2021, the period in which the Business Combination was completed, disclosing that the acceleration of attrition among [its] therapists in the second quarter and continuing into the third quarter, combined with the intensifying competition for clinicians in the labor market, prevented us from being able to meet the demand we have and increased our labor costs and reduced its fiscal 2021 forecast due to the foregoing factors.

Thereafter, the Company and certain of its executives were sued in a securities class action lawsuit, charging them with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. Recently, the court presiding over that case denied the Companys motion to dismiss in part, allowing the case to move forward.

KSFs investigation is focusing on whether ATIs officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to the Companys shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of ATI Physical Therapy shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-atip/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nations 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 to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 960

New Orleans, LA 70163




Toronto, Ontario, Sept. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the heart of Canada, where the land stretches far and wide, LifeLabs is fostering a legacy of compassion and support for Indigenous communities. As we reflect and commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, it's a moment to celebrate LifeLabs' impact over the past three decades, serving approximately 200 Indigenous communities across Canada with high-quality and convenient diagnostic testing services.

The LifeLabs mobile and logistics teams have been connecting hundreds of remote communities to essential healthcare services. Week after week, our team members travel to the hearts of Ontario and British Columbia to deliver care closer to home. One example is our partnership with the Squamish First Nations in B.C., where a weekly mobile clinic operates at the Kal'numet Primary Care Clinic in West Vancouver. This clinic not only serves residents living on Indigenous communities but also extends to those associated with First Nations, creating a space where culture and care intermingle.

What sets LifeLabs apart is the quality of our services and our commitment to learning how best to foster safe and culturally supportive environments. When community members attend our mobile clinics, our customers can have routine testing surrounded by other community members and know that changes and accommodations can be made on a smaller scale to tailor to specific needs. We understand that many community members may need to become more familiar with the procedures, requiring reassurance and the presence of Elders during their visits. Our teams continue to work diligently to create a community feel and a trusted environment, and we aim to transform healthcare into an experience that members can confidently embrace. We are proud to note that our service has been crucial for those with mobility issues who have often felt the burden of travelling outside their community to receive the care they need.

In Northern Ontario, where the communities are spread further apart, LifeLabs aims to be a lifeline for remote communities. One of the most outlying remote nursing stations LifeLabs supports is Fort Severn First Nations, the northernmost community in Ontario, a staggering 853 km north of Thunder Bay. LifeLabs receives samples from Fort Severn via a daily flight to Thunder Bay, where our dedicated team receives and prepares them for testing. Some specimens are tested at our lab in Thunder Bay, while approximately 1,000 specimens daily are packaged for their second flight to Toronto.

The feedback we've received from our partners in Indigenous communities speaks volumes. "We are grateful for LifeLabs, and their mobile service is a huge benefit on our reserve, " says Susan, a nurse from Qualicum First Nations. "Everyone is thrilled that we have a lab coming directly to our community!" Countless other comments echo the sentiment of gratitude and appreciation for our services.

Reflecting on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, LifeLabs acknowledges that health equity is a unified effort. Our actions are inspired by a deep commitment to building a healthier, more inclusive future for everyone, where every community can access the care they deserve.

About LifeLabs

LifeLabs is Canadas leading provider of laboratory diagnostic information and digital health connectivity systems, enabling patients and healthcare practitioners to diagnose, treat, monitor, and prevent disease. We support 20 million patient visits annually and conduct over 100 million laboratory tests through leading edge technologies and our 6,500 talented and dedicated employees. We are a committed innovator in supporting Canadians to live healthier lives, operating Canadas first commercial genetics lab, and the countrys largest online patient portal, with more than 5 million Canadians receiving their results online. LifeLabs has been named one of Canadas Best Employers (2021, 2022 and 2023) and Best Employers for Diversity (2022 and 2023) by Forbes and recognized for having an award-winning Mental Health Program from Benefits Canada. LifeLabs is 100% Canadian owned by OMERS Infrastructure, the infrastructure investment manager of one of Canadas largest defined benefit pension plans. Learn more at lifelabs.com.

Attachment
Vancouver, September 29 2023 - Newlox Gold Ventures Corp. ("Newlox" or the "Company") (CSE:LUX) (Frankfurt/Stuggart:NGO) (PINK:NWLXF) has filed its Full-Year Audited Financial Statements and Management Discussion & Analysis, which are available to the public on www.sedarplus.ca. Included in the Financial Statements is the Independent Auditor's Report, which provided a positive report stating that "the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as at March 31, 2023, 2022 and April 1, 2021, and its financial performance and its cash flows for the years ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards."

Forward-Looking Information

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, the completion of the work programs currently underway and the results of these programs. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, achievements, or performance may vary materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward-looking statements. The material risk factors that could cause actual results to differ include the risk that work undertaken by the Company may have unintended effects, the risk of delays in completing work, and the risk that the Company may not be able to raise sufficient funds and Force Majeure. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking information will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise. Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release).

Technical Disclaimer

The Company advises it is not basing any decision to produce on a feasibility study of reserves demonstrating the economic and technical viability of the project and also advises there is increased uncertainty and specific economic and technical risks of failure associated with any production decision. Grab sample results included in any press release are not necessarily indicative of the mineralization in general for the deposit. James Turner, P.Geo., a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, has prepared, supervised the preparation of, and approved the contents of this News Release.

On Behalf of the Board, Newlox Gold Ventures Corp.

Contact Newlox Gold

Newlox Gold Ventures Corp.

Website: www.newloxgold.com

Email: info@newloxgold.com

Phone: +1 604 256 0493

Join our Mailing List

Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, Sept. 29, 2023 - Eminent Gold Corp. ("Eminent" or the "Company") (TSXV: EMNT) (OTCQB: EMGDF) announces, further to its news releases dated June 28, 2023, July 26, 2023 and September 15, 2023, that it has closed the final tranche of its non-brokered private placement (the "Offering"). This tranche consisted of 1,112,500 units of the Company (the "Units"), bringing the total number of Units issued to 3,017,500, at a price of $0.32 per Unit for gross proceeds of $965,600.

In addition to the Offering, the Company has completed the debt settlement announced in its news release dated July 26, 2023 (the "Debt Settlement"). The Debt Settlement was entered into with certain creditors to settle an aggregate of $250,000 in debt (the "Debt"). In settlement of the Debt, the Company issued 781,250 units of the Company (the "Settlement Units") at a deemed price of $0.32 per Settlement Unit.

Each Unit and Settlement Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a "Share") and one non-transferable Share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional Share in the capital of the Company (each, a "Warrant Share") for a period of 36 months from the closing date at an exercise price of $0.50 per Warrant Share. If at any time after four months from closing, if the closing price of the Shares is at a price equal to or greater than $1.00 for a period of ten consecutive trading days, the Company will have the right to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by giving notice, via news release, to the holder of the Warrants that the Warrants will expire on the date that is 30 days after the issuance of said news release.

The Company paid $12,000 in finders' fees to arms length finders in the final tranche of the Offering and issued 37,500 finders' warrants.

Certain insiders of the Company participated in the Offering and Debt Settlement. Daniel McCoy, a director of the company, was issued 100,000 Units and Michael Kosowan, a director of the Company, was issued 468,750 Settlement Units for aggregate gross proceeds of $182,000 (the "Insider Participation"). The Insider Participation constitutes "related party transactions" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company has relied on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7 (a), respectively, of MI 61-101 in respect of the Insider Subscriptions.

All of the securities issued in connection with the Offering and Debt Settlement are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance in accordance with the policies of the Exchange and applicable securities legislation.

About Eminent

Eminent Gold is a gold exploration company focused on creating shareholder value through the exploration and discovery of world-class gold deposits in Nevada. Its multidisciplinary team has had multiple successes in gold discoveries and brings expertise and new ideas to the Great Basin. The Company's exploration assets in the Great Basin include Hot Springs Range Project, Weepah, Gilbert South and Spanish Moon District.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Paul Sun"

CEO and Director

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including those identified by the expressions "anticipate", "assume" "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "should", "will" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts but reflect current expectations regarding future results or events. This news release contains forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Such statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Eminent Gold Corp.
Vancouver, September 29, 2023 - Interra Copper Corp. (CSE: IMCX) (FSE: 3MX) ("Interra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release of September 22, 2023, it has closed the non-brokered private placement with the issuance of a total of 1,985,000 units (the "Units") of the Company at a price of $0.20 per Unit for proceeds of $397,000 (the "Private Placement").

Each Unit consists of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (a "Share") and one (1) Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"), whereby each Warrant is exercisable at $0.25 into an additional Share until September 29, 2026, being the date that is 36 months from the date of issuance.

Proceeds from the sale of the Units will be used for general working capital purposes and to commence activities on the Rip Project acquisition. No bonus, finder's fee, commission or other compensation has been or will be paid in connection with the Private Placement.

All securities issued in connection with the Private Placement are subject to a statutory four-month hold period, expiring January 30, 2024, in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

The securities described herein have not been 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 absent registration or compliance with an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any State in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Related Party Participation in the Private Placement

Certain insiders of the Company participated in the Private Placement in the amount of $22,000. More specifically, Rick Gittleman, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company, purchased 25,000 Units; Director Jason Nickel purchased 50,000 Units; Director Rich Leveille purchased 25,000 Units; and Director Mike Ciricillo purchased 10,000 Units. The participation by insiders in the Private Placement constitutes a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the Common Shares purchased by insiders, nor the consideration for the Common Shares paid by such insiders, exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the related party transaction at least 21 days before the closing of the Private Placement, which the Company deems reasonable in the circumstances as the details of the participation by insiders of the Company were not settled until shortly prior to closing the Private Placement and the Company wished to complete the Private Placement in an expeditious manner.

Grant of Stock Options

The Company further announces the grant of an aggregate of 2,400,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") to certain directors, officers and consultants of the Company in accordance with the terms of the Company's Equity Incentive Plan. Each Option entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.25 for a period of five years until September 25, 2028.

On behalf of the Board of Interra Copper Corp.

Rick Gittleman

Interim CEO & Chairman



For further information contact:

Katherine Pryde

Investor Relations

investors@interracoppercorp.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or" should" occur or be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, the use of proceeds from the Private Placement are forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Interra, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, and changes in general economic, market and business conditions. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Interra does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws.

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Buffalo police officers responding to a call for a suicide attempt in a Black Rock home early on Sept. 23 encountered a man in an attic with a rifle pointed up at his own chin.

Multiple officers repeatedly ordered the man to drop his weapon. He refused.

You get closer, its going to end, the man told the officers.

Sixteen seconds later, according to police-worn body camera footage released Friday, a police officer fired eight shots at the man who was still holding the gun to his own head.

Man shot in confrontation with police officers in Black Rock neighborhood After the 36-year-old man ignored police orders to put his weapon down several times, an officer shot him in the shoulder area.

It wasnt until afterward that police officers determined the gun was a pellet gun, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph A. Gramaglia said.

There really is not many people out there that are going to be able to tell the difference between a pellet gun and a real gun, and weve seen that in many instances and many times before, Gramaglia said.

Jon Battison, 36, was shot once  in the shoulder and neck area  and remains in critical but stable condition in the trauma intensive care unit at Erie County Medical Center, police said.

The police shooting happened in a home on Tonawanda Street, between Garfield and Grace streets, about 4:20 a.m. Saturday.

Police, firefighters and EMS were called to the scene for the report of a suicide attempt by a man who ingested pills. When officers arrived, they learned the man may have had a gun or took possession of a gun, Gramaglia said.

After the shooting, the home was considered a crime scene and police got a search warrant. They recovered seven handguns and five long guns, Gramaglia said.

Battison was charged Saturday with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, according to police, but has yet to be arraigned in city court, according to court records.

Defense attorney Justin Ginter, who represents Battison on the weapons charge, said he was concerned about how the situation ended so violently with these particular circumstances.

Its hard for me to imagine somebody holding a pellet gun to their chin  not pointing it at somebody, not threatening anybody with it  to then be fired at eight times, Ginter said.

The officer who fired the shots, Kereem Johnson, was placed on administrative leave per department policy, according to police. Johnson was hired by the department in 2018, Gramaglia said.

Battison never pointed his gun at police during the confrontation, the commissioner said.

Gramaglia said he believes Battison was attempting suicide by cop.

The departments Behavioral Health Team, a unit where mental health clinicians work side by side with specially trained officers, was not working at the time of this call, Gramaglia said.

This type of call, even if the Behavioral Health Team was working ... this would have been most likely a normal dispatch type of a call for our sector cars anyway, he said.

Battison is a military veteran who served in Afghanistan, his attorney said.

In college, Battison was a member of the Army Reserve and spoke at SUNY Buffalo States commencement in 2017, according to a news release from the university at the time. He won the Presidents Medal for Outstanding Undergraduate Student and was president of the Buffalo State chapter of the Student Veterans of America.

He has had previous encounters with law enforcement.

In 2009, Battison was arrested on a multiple charges including second-degree assault after he allegedly led deputies with the Erie County Sheriffs Office on a chase on Grand Island, according to a Buffalo News article on the incident. He was accused of ramming a patrol vehicle, then abandoning his car before jumping into the Niagara River and then struggling with police as they tried to pull him out.

Buffalo police released the footage from two police officers body cameras, Johnson and Officer Tyler Baxter, prior to the news conference Friday afternoon. Baxter and Johnson were the only two officers who had visual contact with Battison, the commissioner said.

The footage shows officers arriving outside the home, and they wait on the porch as someone inside secures a dog. As police enter the house, they are told Battison is in the attic. They make their way up to the third-floor attic and, once they find Battison, repeatedly order him to drop the gun and he repeatedly says No.

I told you no, Battison says at one point.

Battison, who is naked from the waist down, appears to ask the officers if theyre going to shoot him because he has a gun pointed at his own head.

One of the officers says hes going to shoot.

OK, the man responds, still holding it pointed at his own head.

An officer shouts again at the man to drop his gun.

Thats exactly, the man says as eight bullets are fired at him.

Ginter, the defense attorney, said he received a copy of the body cam footage from the Erie County District Attorneys Office.

Something like this would discourage people to call for help, whether its for themselves or loved ones, when this is supposed to be a welfare check, and he got fired at eight times, he said.

Johnsons attorney, Thomas H. Burton, said that police are trained to try to de-escalate crisis situations, but there are times when thats not safe. De-escalation techniques with somebody who is flailing around with fists at a reasonable distance is entirely different than somebody who has got a weapon that in a heartbeat could be deployed against the officer, Burton said.

Gramaglia said detectives showed the body camera footage to Battisons family before Fridays news conference.

The case remains under investigation by the DAs office. When that investigation concludes, the police departments internal affairs division will proceed with its investigation.

There are many ways to reach out to a trained counselor in times of crisis.

Crisis Services of Erie County operates a 24-hour hotline at 716-834-3131.

The Niagara County crisis hotline is 716-285-3515.

You can also call 988, the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

 News staff reporter Maki Becker contributed to this article.
Elections, defections, resignations: Lessons worth reflecting

George Asekere Opinion Sep - 30 - 2023 , 09:21

Our elders have said that when a crocodile comes out from the river to tell you that the alligator is sick, it is in order to believe it. This sounds simple but it is deep.

In the context of our electoral politics, the above adage reveals a lot of truth buried beneath the real intention of what Joseph Gobble describes a propaganda; a stupendous lie repeated with zeal eventually gains credibility. But this is always not the case.

The resignation of Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), a party he played a critical role in its formation and financing, should call for deeper reflection on many things that are not going on well in our country. Alan has revealed some, including the powerful finance minister. Who are we to disbelieve?

Beyond that is the growing dissipation of internal democracy in our political parties, although all political parties operate within a clearly defined legal framework. Studies suggest that democracy within political parties has a bearing with democracy within the wider Ghanaian society in view of how national governance is organised. Nobody should, therefore, rejoice when a major political party is saddled with internal democratic challenges.

Matters worth discussing

The talk of whether an independent candidate has the potential of causing the defeat of the mother political party in an election is worth discussing but should really be the least among the majors. The answer is mixed. A sitting Vice-President of Jerry John Rawlings served as a running mate to John Agyekum Kufuor, it did not lead to the defeat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 1996. But research also suggests that among the factors that led to the defeat of the NDC in 2000 included the breakaway group that formed the National Reform Party, and lack of internal democracy.

Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings who evidently had the support of her husband J.J. Rawlings left the NDC, and despite criticism from the Rawlings, the NDC won the 2012 election. The NPP sacked its national Chairman and General Secretary in the lead up to the 2016 election at the time the party could best be described as internally chaotic and yet the NPP won with the widest margin in that election. The list goes on. In effect, the factors that determine electoral fortunes are many, diverse and dynamic and only time can give credibility to existing theories or otherwise.

This is why we should focus more on the things that will have a wider impact on all of us when resignations, defections and breakaways occur.

Another thing is the law. Everyone is citing the law as either not working, working in a tilted manner or manipulated. The law argument does not wash because it is not everything lawfully done that is right.

Apartheid was executed lawfully and does that make it right? Our leaders should, therefore, know that people are rational and can tell when the law is used diabolically. The danger is in the advice of Boakye Agyarko who cautions that the resignation of many others may only take the form of not voting for their political party on the Election Day. If you use the law to kick out people and that leads to the defeat of a political party that could have solved the problems of Ghana, you have done the greatest disservice to the country.

Partisan lines/Cooperation

The polarisation along partisan lines is equally disturbing. A leading member of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), Kwame Jantuah, asked a question on a television show recently that I believe your answer may not be different from mine. He asked, today if two people want a job in the public sector in Ghana, and one goes in the name of NPP/NPP colours and another in the name of Ghana/Ghana flag, which one stands a better chance? NPP is only used here conveniently because it is the party in power.

While an independent candidate may not win the 2024 election, the discourse on a major third force to break the NPP/NDC duopoly which is the leading causal factor of the division among Ghanaians, is critical. The call from Hon. Alan Kyerematen on card bearing members of political parties to stay and vote for their respective parties parliamentary candidates and choose a presidential candidate who can deliver is in order. But suffice it to say that, that presidential candidate should only be considered subject to the pending unveiling of policies by all others.

So far Mr Kyerematen and the leadership of the NPP have demonstrated maturity by recognising their respective positive sides and dealing with the challenges in a matured manner devoid of insults. The followers must learn same and know that competition and cooperation are bedfellows in politics.

As we prepare for the polls in 2024, many more defections, resignations and emergence of independent candidates are inevitable. Let us accommodate all in our collective quest to build a democratic society.



The writer is a Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Education,Winneba
If Presidential elections were held tomorrow  would you vote for an independent candidate?

Dr John Osae-Kwapong Opinion Sep - 30 - 2023 , 09:16

I am not sure how many people saw it coming. However, when Mr Alan Kyerematen bowed out of the NPP flagbearer race after the super delegates conference, there were some who speculated he would go independent.

We now have our answer. The decision to go independent in a political space that has been dominated by the NDC-NPP duopoly is an interesting political phenomenon. Especially by a man who has had a long-standing political relationship with the duopoly.

Alan argues the party is plagued with several issues. I cannot help but wonder when he fully came to recognise these issues. After all, this is the same party he sought to lead into the 2024 election up until Super Delegates Saturday.

But here is the real question. Does he have a chance to win the presidency as an independent candidate outside of the NDC-NPP duopoly?

Voting Third Party/Independent

Beginning Afrobarometer Round 3 (2005), Ghanaians are asked this question: If a presidential election were held tomorrow, which partys candidate would you vote for? Among those who specified a party, here are the percentages of those who said they would vote outside of the NDC-NPP duopoly  five per cent (Round 3, 2005); four per cent (Round 4, 2008); one per cent (Round 5, 2012); two per cent (Round 6, 2014); four per cent (Round 7, 2017); four per cent (Round 8, 2019); and five per cent (Round 9, 2022).

In addition to the voting intentions of Ghanaians, take a look at the percentage share of votes of third parties including independents over the course of the Fourth Republic three per cent (1996); 7.4 per cent (2000 Round 1); three per cent (2004); 2.8 per cent (2008 Round One); 1.5 per cent (2012); 1.8 per cent (2016) and 1.6 per cent (2020).

It is clear that very few Ghanaians regularly say they intend to vote for a presidential candidate who is not running on the ticket of the NDC or the NPP. And that intention is seen clearly when you examine our election results. The best showing of third parties including independents was the 2000 election where their total combined share of votes was seven per cent. Individually, no single third party or independent candidate has been able to secure more than three per cent of the vote.

The Alan Independent Candidacy

There are two arguments one can make about the prospects of Alans independent run for president. The previous section leads one to infer that given the voting intentions of Ghanaians and the actual results of our various elections, he has no real shot at the presidency. At best, his candidacy will have a spoiler effect on the eventual outcome of election 2024 with the NPP suffering the most.

On the other hand, one may argue that the candidates in our previous elections who contested either on the ticket of the other political parties or as independents outside of the NDC-NPP duopoly did not have Alans political pedigree. As a result, the prospects this time around is much different from the prospects of other candidates in previous elections.

If I were to choose one of the two arguments, I would opt for the first  the candidacy has no real prospects of winning the presidency. At best, it will have a spoiler effect on the prospects of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2024 election. The political behaviours of voters that form over time do not easily change overnight. In actual fact they strengthen. The empirical evidence is very clear when you look at what Ghanaians have said about their voting intentions in the Afrobarometer surveys as well as what they have actually done in elections. I often say that in as much as I hear the narrative we are tired of NDC-NPP, we need a third force Ghanaians keep voting for NDC-NPP in alternating fashion. I am not convinced they want to break that habit.

But I could be wrong. Maybe the reason Ghanaians have been voting NDC-NPP even as they seem to crave a third force is because they are yet to find that candidate who they believe is the one. The one who can truly change our politics and move us away from this NDC-NPP duopoly.

Is Alan the one? When all is said and done, and with all due respect, his candidacy is not independent in the truest sense of the word. The reality - he is coming out of the NDC-NPP duopoly. Think about this. He has had a long history of participation in our duopoly politics. Not until his decision to bow out of the NPP primaries in September he was gearing up to lead one of the duopoly political parties.

How then does he convince Ghanaians that he is a truly independent candidate and not a candidate with scores to settle with his political party? Time will tell.

The writer is a Democracy and Development Fellow at the Ghana Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-Ghana).
Mental health - Potential societal explosion to watch

Vicky Wireko Reality Zone Sep - 30 - 2023 , 08:57

Could many of us ever think that the mental health of a people is as critical as any predominant diseases eating us up on daily basis?

I had the privilege to sit in an informative awareness creation and fund-raiser for mental health issues, organised by a private company, KGL Group, last Wednesday.

As explained by one of the presenters, Professor Pinaman Appau, the CEO of the Mental Health Authority (MHA), the World Health Organisations (WHO) definition of what is health speaks to every one of us.

The definition states, Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

The clear implication here is that mental health is more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.

Based on the definition, Professor Appau explained that unless ones mental health was as sound as the body, one could not claim total health.

Consequently, the fact that one has not stripped off ones clothing to walk naked in public but moves about, working, smiling and leading a normal life does not mean such a person is healthy.

Stress

Experts at the meeting made it clear that the stresses of life, from the minute one wakes up right to bed time, all have an effect on ones mental health.

Yet, how many would walk up to a psychologist or psychiatrist and ask for help as one would do with signs of irregular blood pressure or sugar level going up?

Deep-seated in that attitude is the fact that as a society, we have stigmatised mental ill-health.

Gauging from the body language of participants at the programme, there was enough to tell that the revelations were deep as people nodded, clapped or smiled as issues upon issues were raised.

There was deep-seated sentiments on mental health, which the programme helped to bring to the fore.

The programme simplified some of the need to know signs and symptoms of mental ill health that were exhibited in the home, at the workplace and in some other social circles. It also emphasised certain behavioural patterns that might be overlooked and taken as normal, but which were potentially dangerous signs of mental ill-health.

Statistics

The statistics given by experts were shocking, they were revealing and the appeal to the public was all on point. I could not agree more that mental health is a national security threat of which we are all at risk as parents, managers, wives, husbands, children, unemployed, etc. The risks of getting there or being a victim of attack were not far-fetched.

One learnt from a research in 2010 that as many as 20 per cent of Ghanaians have a moderate to severe psychological distress, which amounts to mental health.

This 20 per cent of the population could be said to be a threat to national security, according to the CEO of the MHA in terms of low productivity at work, increased health costs, and increased turn-over rates.

Years ago, in my former work place, we used to have a psychologist come in and talk to managers on how to manage stress and also sit in interviews for recruits of management trainees.

I remember a research she shared based on women shopping at the market place.

The research observed the behaviours of these women, including those talking to themselves, trying to balance prices with budgets as they selected their familys food needs.

Those, according to the psychologist, were all stresses of home management and signs of mental disturbance of a sort.

So, the negative effects of mental health cannot be underestimated. It is said to have a general negative impact on society with a widespread effect on individuals, families and communities, not to talk about the social disruptions they bring.

Such disruptions include substance abuse, homelessness and crime.

From what transpired at the Mental Health programme therefore, there is everything to show that the psychological distress happening within corporate environments, at home, in the market place could add up to mental disturbance.

My take? Mental health problems exist in our society and this does not necessarily mean parading naked out there. It is, therefore, imperative for some minds to be focused on the issue.

As government does its bit, the corporate community and philanthropists must come in to hype the existential threat of mental health in our society.

Just as the KGL Group, using its corporate social responsibility Foundation to do so, the many foundations of other corporates could turn in that direction as well. That critical focus is needed now, more than ever before, cannot be overemphasised.

Ghana has SDG goals to achieve, and as was explicitly stated at the fund-raiser programme, contributing to mental health is also contributing to Ghana achieving its SDG targets on health and the well-being of its citizens.

The hype which has been given to some cancers and lifestyle diseases should be extended to mental health, pointing sufferers and, indeed, the entire population in the right direction.

People should be encouraged to have mental health checks as part of their regular checks, for as it is said, there is only a thin line between sanity and insanity.

There has been news reports of wives or partners brutally murdered or harmed for life for insubstantial reasons. We have had people, sometimes as young as teens, committing suicide.

Mental health issues are with us and we should be educated more for people to see the interventions available, like we do with hypertension or diabetes.

Let us have a consistent mental health month with issues frequently discussed in the media.
How judges are chosen in some countries

Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa Quansah Life Sep - 30 - 2023 , 09:19

In a country of constitutional democracy and rule of law, can a president fill the courts of judicature with his/her party supporters, friends and old boys and girls?

The answer is yes and also no. It depends on the type of democratic tradition and the legal framework that operates in the country where the courts function.

In the United States, for example, the President can put his/her favourite men and women at the courts because the American Constitution does not abhor that practice.

Under Article 3 of the US Constitution, the following categories of Americans can nominate persons to be appointed as federal judges: Senators or House of Representative members who belong to the same political party as the sitting President or whose political philosophy or ideology is similar to that of the President.

The recommendations so made are then processed by the US Justice Department and the White House General Counsels Office.

After that, the final list of nominees is sent to the President who forwards it to the Senate for approval  under Article 2 of the US Constitution.

Federal judges are judges that sit in courts established under Article 3 of the US Constitution and include the Chief Justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court; Circuit judges, Court of Appeal district judges; District Court and Court of International Trade judges.

Unlike in some countries, the US Constitution does not prescribe specific qualifications that an applicant for a position on the bench should have.

For example, no age limit, level of literacy or academic credentials, citizenship, legal education, legal or bar of professional certificate is required for appointment.

Federal judges in the US appointed under Article 3 of the Constitution are allowed to serve for life.

A federal judge remains in office until his/her death, resignation or removal under provisions prescribed by the Constitution. Magistrate judges or judges of the lesser federal tribunals are appointed under Article 1 of the Constitution.

Judges in this category have age limits attached to their appointments and do not serve for life. In the US, about 90 per cent of state court judges are elected.

How are judges appointed in the United Kingdom?

To become a judge in the UK, a person must apply to the Judicial Appointments Commission that is responsible for that purpose. In Britain, it is the King that appoints judges of the Supreme Court on the advice of the Prime Minister after receiving recommendations from the Judicial Appointments Commission.

Judges of the Supreme Court in Britain retire at the age of 75. It is not necessary in the UK for a person to possess experience on the bench before becoming a judge of the Supreme Court.

In Canada, Supreme Court and Federal Court judges are appointed by the Federal Government with the Governor-in-Council as the ultimate appointer of all judges. Inferior court judges are appointed by the provincial government.

Judges of the provincial or territorial courts retire at the age of 70. Judges chosen for appointment to French courts must be approved by a special panel, the High Council of the Judiciary.

Judges of the superior courts are appointed by the President of the Republic on advice by the High Council of the Judiciary. They do life-time service.

Under provisions of the Constitution of the Fifth French Republic (1958), Article 64, the President of the Republic shall be the guarantor of the independence of the judicial authority. He shall be assisted by the High Council of the Judiciary.

In Germany, federal judges are appointed by the President on recommendation by a body, the Committee for Election of Judges. The committee is chaired by the Federal Minister of Justice and is made up of ministers of the federal state responsible for administrative courts and an equal number of members appointed by the Bundestag (Federal Parliament).

One of the requirements is that candidates do not have to be professional judges but must be lawyers. In Switzerland, Parliament elects federal judges, and judges in the Cantons are elected by citizens through local political parties.

The Judicial Committee nominates federal judges who are then elected by the United Federal Assembly. I have made brief presentations on how judges are appointed, selected or elected in some major countries of the world.

It can be seen from the presentations that most of the methods of appointing judges have the President, Prime Minister, Monarch or Head of States as part of the appointment process.

Appointment of judges in most of the countries is a responsibility that is distributed among the executive arm of government, the legislature and the judiciary.

For example, a judicial committee or commission makes recommendations directly or indirectly to the President, Head of State, Prime Minister or Monarch who ultimately approves the nominations.

In a few countries, citizens elect judges. An example is in the US where citizens elect judges to the state courts. In federations, federal judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President, Head of State or Monarch upon recommendations by the Judicial Committee.

How are judges appointed in the Republic of Ghana?

Justices of the Supreme Court, Appeal court and others are appointed in accordance with modes prescribed by the 1992 Ghana Constitution. Article 144, Clause 1, states The Chief justice shall be appointed by the President, acting in consultation with the Council of State, with approval of Parliament. Clause 2 of Article 144 stipulates that The other Supreme Court Justices shall be appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Judicial Council in consultation with the Council of State and with approval of Parliament.

For appointment of Court of Appeal, High Court and Regional Tribunal judges, Clause 3 states that they should be appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Judicial Council.

The Judicial Council is, according to Article 153 of the Constitution, composed of the following persons: the Chief Justice who is the Chairperson; the Attorney General; a Justice of the Supreme Court nominated by the Justices of Supreme Court; a Justice of the Appeal Court nominated by the Justices of the Court of Appeal; a Justice of the High Court nominated by the Justices of the High Court.

The others are two representatives of the Ghana Bar association, one of whom shall be a person of not less than 12 years standing as a lawyer; a representatives of the Chairmen of Regional Tribunals nominated by the chairmen; a representative of the lower courts or tribunals; and the Judge Advocate-General of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The rest are: the Head of Legal Directorate of the Ghana Police Service; the Editor of the Ghana Law Reports; a representative of the Judicial Service Staff Association nominated by the Association; a Chief nominated by the National House of Chiefs and four other persons who are not lawyers appointed by the president.

From the list of membership of the Judicial Council, a powerful legal institution, it is clear that the composition has been so entrenched that it would be difficult for a person or a President of the Republic to smuggle his/her favourites through the process to become a judge.

The Council of State is also composed in such a manner that it is difficult for the President to put political party members into the courts.

This is because Ghanas Constitution is not like that of the US by which the US President can pack the courts with members of his political party or sympathisers.

If it ever happens that some political party members find their way onto the courts in an improper manner, then the Council of State; the Judicial Council and the Committee responsible for vetting judges must be blamed for not doing their work well.
Letter to European Commission President on Migrant Crisis

Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng Life Sep - 29 - 2023 , 23:32

Dear Excellency Ursula von der Leyen, Perhaps it is a tad unfair to pick on you, but as I suspect we will both agree, personal feelings are far from being an issue in this self-initiated conversation.

My explanation is that at the moment, as the President of the European Commission, you represent the European conscience, such as it is; by extension, the collective West can be roped into your moral jurisdiction. I, on the other hand, hope that my side of the discourse will represent the perspectives of Africans, who, as a collective, cannot be differentiated from victims of our relationship dating back more than half a millennium.

The urge to write to you came to me when you rushed emergency-style to inspect for yourself more than 8,000 migrants, most of them described by various media outlets as coming from sub-Saharan Africa, who had arrived on the shores of Lampedusa in Southern Italy in one day.

You went there in response to the migrant problem Europe has on its hands. It is easy to understand your panic response. This year, according to a story in the French newspaper Le Monde, almost 126,000 migrants have arrived on Italys shores, up from 65,000 in the same period last year.

While in Italy, you pledged action to help Italys crisis-hit island during a visit after the island was left struggling to cope with an influx of migrants. There was no such pledge to the migrants.

The question to ask is this: why are hundreds of thousands of young Africans investing in the dubious privilege of risking their lives in unsafe boats across choppy seas to get to Europe? In their responses to the migrant crisis, European leaders have avoided this question preferring instead to look at the problem as if it were a maritime issue for which sea blockades and pacing barriers have been tried as solutions. Indeed, the Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni is pushing for a European Union naval blockade to prevent boats from crossing the Mediterranean to reach Italian shores.

Some governments pretend that this is a simple refugee crisis for which the most ridiculous responses, such as the case of Britain shipping them to Rwanda, have been offered. These have not worked because they have not addressed the real issue.

The time has come to have an adult conversation about this problem. Europe is not happy, and you wouldnt think that the hordes arriving on European shores are happy tourists enjoying the Mediterranean breeze. So youre not happy, they are not happy, no one is happy; why dont we address the issue logically from its source?

Addressing irregular migration from Africa to Europe is a complex challenge that requires a multifaceted approach, including addressing the main root cause, which is the lack of economic opportunities, at home here in Africa.

The fundamental cause of this destabilisation has been known for centuries. This has been expressed most succinctly by the late great writer, Ama Ata Aidoo. [Since] Some 500 years ago, weve given everything for nothing. You are still taking Where would the whole Western world be without Africa? Our cocoa, our timber, our gold, our diamonds, our platinum, our whatever.Everything.

That is the crux of the matter. Europe and the West have taken everything they want either through direct force or force in other guises. Under colonial rule, every African endowment that could be taken was appropriated.

Africa got nothing in return, but that was not enough. We had to pay for nothing, and in many ways, we continue to pay even today. There is a straightforward question here: in what logical market would the buyer solely determine the price of the commodity? This is what has happened to our trade with Western countries even in post-colonial times.

The result is that while African resources have enriched the West, Western enterprises have impoverished Africa. The West has used every means at its disposal to ensure that its dominance over our resources continues without disruption.

This has included the worst forms of degradation that can be visited upon any portion of the human race. Colonialism and slavery are mere words that hide the enormity of crimes committed against Africa and its people as we gave you everything and got nothing in return. Change the past tense to the present because we continue to give.

The human beings arriving on European shores are products of an unfair and unjust system now codified in neoliberal linkages in terms to which per our own leaders signatures, the pillaging continues in broad daylight. The effect is that Africas youth are not only living a horrendous present, they are facing a hopeless future at home.

Some of them, the ones whose skills you need are enticed in through the front door; the others who brave the Sahara and the Mediterranean are treated worse than chattel. They are the problem we are talking about. They are the humans counted as a problem of numbers.

Your Excellency, do you know how much Africa loses to the West every year? I dont either. No one knows. There are estimates, guesses and guesstimates, and that is as far as we can go because the triplicates of billions which must form the computational baseline of the biggest theft in global history is hard for our minds to form, hold and communicate. If we must define the problem, this ought to be the starting position.

You are familiar with the proverb "As you sow, so shall you reap", which encapsulates the theme of cause and effect, emphasising that the outcomes we experience are directly linked to our actions and choices.

When applied to the European exploitation of African resources and its impact on the migration crisis, this saying conveys a powerful message. The message is that if we want to solve the problem of the dangerous migrations into Europe, we must sow seeds that will yield that result. In the past and currently, Europe is sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. If we dont address matters, it will turn into a tornado.

Your Excellency, the proverb also offers hope and a path forward. If European nations and other global actors take responsibility for the consequences of their actions and adopt fair and sustainable practices in their interactions with Africa, they can help reverse the negative effects that have contributed to the migration crisis.

I remain, as usual, per my email:
Nearly three dozen fire departments responded Friday to a massive fire at a former bicycle factory in Angola.

The fire on the roof of the old Emblem Bicycle Factory on LaSalle Street was reported around 5:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Town of Evans Police Department.

The fire was mainly contained to the fourth floor and roof area of the building. It was eventually extinguished by firefighters from 26 nearby departments using multiple ladder trucks, according to the police department.

No injuries were reported.

The fire is under investigation by the Evans Police Department and the Erie County Sheriffs Office.

- Natalie Brophy
Rituals of the Heukwaara festival in Tuna and Sawla

Bruce Bullu Liman, TUNA Life Sep - 30 - 2023 , 12:00

In the Vagla custom and tradition, each community reveres a supreme god, supported by community gods and lesser deities stationed throughout the community. These divine beings are believed to play crucial roles in safeguarding the community from famine, war, accidents, infertility and misfortune.

The Heukwaara festival is celebrated between late August and early October annually, preceding the guinea corn harvest, as per Vagla culture, tradition and heritage.

This year, the Heuhina (land priests) of Tuna and Sawla, located in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district, simultaneously celebrated their annual festival. This celebration involved various rituals, prayers and offerings to their gods, seeking blessings for their lands and its inhabitants.

Preparation for the festival

The preparation for this year's festival, held between Saturday, September 9, 2023 and Thursday, September 14, 2023, were marked by the homecoming of Tuna and Sawla natives, gatherings and the collection of pacification items.

These items included fowls, cereals, livestock, the brewing of pito ( a local beer ) for the gods and the preparation of Kikaaga (steamed cereal flour cooked with the broth of sacrificed fowls and livestock).

Traditionally, preparations commenced with an announcement by the Chief Priest (Heuhig) regarding the festival date. On Saturday, September 9, 2023, fowls were caught, a practice ordained by Vagla tradition to be done on a Saturday.

Each household within the traditional area contributed a fowl for this annual sacrifice. Fowls were captured randomly in Tuna , with no protests from natives. In some instances, natives voluntarily offered fowls as tokens from their households.

On Sunday, September 10, 2023, following the successful capturing of fowls , the Heuhig and elders sent a delegation to settler communities within the Tuna traditional area to collect their contributions. These offerings were gathered at the residences of their respective community heads under the Tuna traditional area.

On Monday, in accordance with custom and tradition, elders met early in the morning to inspect and present the ritual Guinea Corn (Kommia) to the women of the Tuna community. This corn was used to brew the pito for the main event. The Zingo Dance took place on Tuesday night until dawn.

In anticipation of this year's festival, settlers on Tuna lands from communities such as Dakompilabol (Dakompilayir), Gbongbonduori, Siepare, Siitiepuo, Naafa, Baale, and Dana-uri presented contributions necessary for the annual festival. These contributions included fowls, cereals, and other items essential for the yearly sacrifice.

The Vaglikoori (chief) of the Tuna Traditional Area, Jara Vaglikoori Mengu Dacharga, and his Heuhin (land Priest) Siayo Kiipo Mwiiri, led the preparation processes in Tuna.

The Tuna community was led by the President of the Vagla Youth Association, Isaac Mangu, and Lompogo Gilbert, popularly known as Mbii, who served as the assemblyman for Tuna East Electoral area. Mbii also held the role of Constituency Communication Officer of the NPP in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba Constituency.

The Sawla authority, led by Jara Vaglikoori Daani Salia, Sieayo Heuhin Kipo Ampara, and Gbandi Charles Kipo, the head of Lugra (blacksmiths of Sawla ancestry), visited the community's gods and offered sacrifices to them and the ancestors, seeking blessings and protection for both natives and settlers in area.

Festival's activities

Much like Sawla and other Vagla towns and communities such as Beel (Bole), Gindaabol (Jentilpe), Kunlog (Jelinkon), Soma, Jam, Dabori, Sonnyo, Segezi (Seripe), Nakwaabi, Senyeri, Dagbigu, Gurbol (Grupe), the natives of the Tuna traditional area celebrated the annual Tuna Gbalbii festival in Tuna this year.

As with other Vagla communities during their individual celebrations, the primary focus was to pacify their lands and invoke blessings upon their natives and settlers who accepted them through special prayers.

In Tuna, the Tuna Gbalbii is the supreme god and he is honoured each year for bestowing goodwill upon natives and settlers. This year's celebration, which took place between Saturday, September 9 and September 14, witnessed the people of Tuna expressing their gratitude to their ancestors for guiding them through another year of abundant harvests and good omens, free from calamities.

Main festival

On the main event day, Wednesday, the Heuhin, the Vaglikoori, the elders, youth and representatives of all settler communities within Tuna gathered at the village square (Bosibaang). Here, the fowls captured on Saturday were slaughtered based on their colours and the specific deity they were intended for.

After successfully offering sacrifices to the lesser gods of the Tuna traditional area, the chief priest and elders embarked on a journey to the main shrine known as Tuna Gbalbii, carrying the remaining fowls designated for the sacred god.

As mentioned earlier, until the smaller gods within the area were appeased, the supreme god was not offered sacrifices. Therefore, the Heuhin usually led a group of elders to pay homage to all the smaller gods in town, offering fowls where demanded and necessary.

Usually, the success of these sacrifices to the smaller gods in town paved the way for a select group of qualified elders to proceed into the shrine and offer the mandated sacrifices. In cases where sacrifices to the smaller gods in towns were not successful, the Heuhin and elders couldn't visit the shrine until the success of these sacrifices were ensured. When a fowl is slaughtered during the sacrifice, it is thrown out into the open to struggle and die.In the process of its struggle before its death, it must lay prostrate with its chest facing the sky. When the fowl which was sacrificed fails to lay prostrate, it means the sacrifice was not successful.

Once the chief priest and elders left for the shrine, the women gathered at the residence of the Vaglikoori and chief priest to prepare the  big TZ (Kuuzeng).

While awaiting the return of the elders and the chief from the Tuna Gbalbii shrine, other community members, including representatives of settler communities, engaged in traditional activities such as Jiiwa, Kpanna and Dugu. These are cultural dances of the Vagla people often done during recreational activities and after a customary burial of a Vagla native.

These activities continued until the arrival of the Chief Priest and elders from the shrine later in the evening.

Intermittent sounds of the Atumpan, a traditional talking drum of the Vagla and other indigenous people, echoed through the community in the evening, signalling the success of the journey from the Tuna Gbalbii shrine.

Hundreds of people gathered at the residence of the Vaglikoori and Heuhin to welcome them and witness the chief priest's consumption of the Kuuzeng and the drinking of pito. This marked the conclusion of the festival's activities each year.

The festival's climax involved serving the leftover pito each day to the chief priest, vaglikoori, and elders for the next seven days. Exactly a week after the main festival, on the Wednesday of the following week, the chief priest and the elders returned to the shrine with the leftover pito (Sinzie) and some fowls for the final cleansing.
Structure health services to protect lives

Dinah Serwaa Amankwah Life Sep - 29 - 2023 , 22:48

I just lost an adorable nursing cat in a bizarre circumstance, making my entire household question the treatment given by a veterinary officer.

In January 2023, a relative who uses the services of the veterinarian had recommended him.

In February, I invited him home to vaccinate our dog against rabies. I gathered from our conversation that he was knowledgeable, plus he demonstrated passion for pets and offered useful advice in caring for pets.

He gained my trust. The convenience of home service also appealed to me.

Therefore, I asked him to treat my four adult cats  two were nursing  and a dog. The cats had been coughing, signalling worm infestation. On the afternoon of Friday, September 1, he administered a shot each to the dog and one mother cat.

He did not vaccinate the other mother because he saw her nursing her kittens. Apparently, the other mother, with big kittens, was by herself so was given the shot.

By Friday evening, both pets were wobbling in the leg; by nightfall, the poor cat could not stand and had to be supported. Its appetite had diminished drastically.

The mother who cherished her kittens and protected them to admirable proportions could only allow them to suck. She could, at least, clean her face a bit with her front limbs. Still, we thought the drug effects would wear off. That did not happen.

On Sunday morning, I called veterinarian Hardi and inquired if he had inadvertently given the pets an overdose. He answered firmly that he had given each a shot only so there was no chance of overdose.

I am a lay person, but I keep asking myself if a shot could also overwhelm a pets system. The dogs relatively big size probably cushioned her against the vaccines adverse effects.

When I explained the symptoms, Hardi advised me to give glucose to boost their strength. I started but saw no improvement for 24 hours, so I took both to the veterinary office on Tuesday.

My story only elicited meaningful glances from the two officers I met. Both pets received infusion and injections. The treatment continued till Friday, but whereas the dog improved, the cat deteriorated.

The Vet prescribed barbiturates but that could not repair the mothers nerves. By Sunday evening, it was barely receiving the fluids I was feeding her. I did not think she would last till Monday morning, but the mother fighter only succumbed on Tuesday morning. It broke my heart to see her go, especially, when she could have lived!

On Friday, I had asked the Vet about my cats ailment. He answered that she was suffering from nerves. Without a cover, it shivered and could not use the back limbs at all, neither could it turn. Both officers insisted that Hardis vaccination had nothing to do with the cats breakdown.

One said the condition had been incubating. I am not doubting the coincidence, but I cannot also assure myself that veterinarian Hardi did not give the wrong treatment to my pets.

If I lived in another community, I could bring a legal action to investigate the circumstances that led to my cherished cats death.

Just before she was buried, my mother lamented that we had lost an excellent mother. We would be mourning a great soul if it were a human being. Majestic is survived by five catdren and four grand-kittens.

Continuing my mothers allusion, Majestic could easily have been a human being. One reads, hears and experiences heartbreaking neglect in our hospitals, sometimes contributing to maternal mortality.

Nowadays, the sad truth is that a lot of the deaths occurring in many hospitals are avoidable. Yet, negligent health officers go scot-free!

Poor bedside manners, deliberate delays, nauseous patronage and apathy characterise most services in government hospitals.

Many doctors in public services arbitrarily redirect patients to the formers private hospitals. Worse, some treat patients in government facilities yet charge illegally. Many nurses cannot even find veins for infusion. Such disappointments were rare in the past.

When the announcement came that the government was going to export nurses to Barbados, my heart jumped into my throat. I wondered about the quality of nurses that would be exported.

I wondered if the government had established a crystal screening system to filter out quality nurses for export. I worried about Barbados exposure to poor quality professionals.

Of course, there is always a small cohort of excellent health professionals who keep the ship afloat in Ghana, and who honour their professions by operating their professional oaths, targeting humans.

In the end, it boils down to human values, individual integrity and human passion. However, quality training can instil life-saving skills, ethics and dedication in professionals.

I just wish that my Majestic had fared differently!

The writer is a Sr Lecturer, Language and Communication Skills, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi.
20 Perish in gory accident at Peki

Alberto Mario Noretti Sep - 30 - 2023 , 08:46

At least 20 people perished when a Grandbird bus and a Toyota mini-bus collided head-on along the eastern corridor road between Peki-Adzokoe and Tsibu last Wednesday.

The Grandbird bus was travelling from Accra to Chinderi in the Oti Region, while the Toyota mini-bus was travelling from Hohoe to Accra.

The Toyota was torn into two upon the impact of the collision, while the Grandbird veered off the road and landed on its side.

Fifteen passengers onboard the mini-bus died on the spot, while five passengers on the Grandbird perished in the crash which occurred around 11:40 a.m.

Rescue effort

Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were joined by staff of the Ghana Water Company Limited in the rescue operation at the scene of the accident.

A member of the GNFS team who declined to be named told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the Grandbird bus, with registration number AS 9801-21, was dodging a pothole on the stretch when it ran into the mini-bus which bore the registration number GT 1865-17.

The GNFS team had to use extrication tools to cut various parts of the bigger Grandbird bus before retrieving the lifeless body of the conductor who had been trapped inside.

More than 20 other injured passengers were treated at the Peki Government Hospital.

Among them are eight men, 12 women, three boys and two girls.

It was later confirmed that three children were among the deceased.

At the time of filing the report, the Daily Graphic gathered that the deceased included 10 women, six men and four children.

The Daily Graphic could not reach officials of the Peki Government Hospital for comment.
Adopt cybersecurity best practices to safeguard data - Chief of Defence Staff advises GAF

Joshua Bediako Koomson Sep - 30 - 2023 , 09:48

The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, has admonished personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to incorporate cybersecurity best practices into their everyday lives and refrain from unprofessional acts that seek to tarnish the image of the force while they are online.

Although there had been an improvement in their activities on social media, especially on Facebook and TikTok, he said there was more to be done.

He, therefore, urged all ranks to adhere strictly to the extracts of the communications and information systems policy and also enrich their knowledge in cybersecurity to ensure that GAF data was safe from attacks from both internal and external bad actors.

The CDS said that during the launch of this years GAF Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which took place at the Burma Camp yesterday (Sept. 29), on the theme: Promoting a Culture of Digital Safety.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Worldwide, particularly in Europe and the United States of America (USA), the month of October is observed as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Ghana has joined the list of growing countries that have also adopted this commemoration of the month-long event, which seeks to intensify the capacity building and awareness creation efforts on cybersecurity and cybercrime and educate citizens on the importance of good cyber hygiene and cyber best practices.

This years event will include workshops, lectures, demonstrations and training sessions on the essentials of cybersecurity and the implications of the use of social media by all ranks within the GAF.

Operations

Vice Admiral Amoama noted that the domain of cyberspace operations had come to add up to the traditional domains of land, sea, air and space.

He was, therefore, not surprised that terrorists and violent extremist groups were using the internet as platforms to support their activities.

As a result, he said cybersecurity had become a vital part of the operational effectiveness of militaries in the world while acknowledging the fact that the culture of digital safety in daily routines could not be neglected.

We have a responsibility to protect our data, database, networks, communications infrastructure and other assets of the GAF.

As we take steps to protect our critical information infrastructure, we want to assure all that efforts are being made for every member of the GAF to understand the cyber threats, vulnerabilities and their impact on mission readiness, Vice Admiral Amoama said.

Cyber threats

The Director General of the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA), Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, also noted that the emergence of low-cost computing devices and fast access to the Internet had brought convenience to everyday life but had also exposed people to the dangers of cyber threats and malicious actors ready to exploit network vulnerabilities to compromise their integrity and confidentiality.

Such dangers, he said, endangered vital sectors of the country such as energy, transportation and communication.

He, therefore, said there was a vested interest for the military to also partner with other defence agencies, the private sector and international partners to enable a comprehensive cybersecurity measure to mitigate the possible impact of cyber attacks in the country.

He, therefore, said the NCA was committed to collaborating with the GAF to set up the Military Sector Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) to coordinate cybersecurity incidents within the sector.
Employment Minister advises co-operative societies to uphold best practices

Justice Agbenorsi & Angela Koranteng Kyei Sep - 30 - 2023 , 10:38

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has advised co-operative organisations to modernise their operations to conform to the changing economies of the world.

He said implementing best practices would help grow their businesses, generate job opportunities for the youth and accelerate the development of the country.

Mr Awuah said as part of the ministrys efforts to help co-operatives achieve their objectives, his outfit was working to review the Co-operative Societies Act 1968 (NLCD 252), which came into force in 1968, to make the law reflective of contemporary co-operative societies.

Reviewing the law needs a lot of commitment, time and energy, and we need a law that is more reflective of activities of today, he added.

Co-operative Day

The minister was speaking at this years International Co-operative Day in Accra yesterday.

The International Co-operative Day is observed annually to increase awareness of cooperatives and also promote the values and principles that make the model suitable for advancing sustainable development.

As part of the commemoration of this years occasion, various co-operative societies embarked on a float to create awareness.

The event, which was jointly organised by the Department of Co-operatives and the Ghana Co-operative Council, in collaboration with the sector ministry, was on the theme: Co-operative for sustainable development.

The organisers took stock of activities and impact made by co-operatives to enable them to chart a new path.

The minister further advised individuals to pool resources together to form co-operative societies to establish giant businesses to improve on their lives and also help boost the nations fortunes.

We are not committed to the ideals of co-operatives and that is why we are not harnessing the positives.

If we want to build giant businesses and speed up development, what we need to do is to pool our resources together and do what is called crowd financing, he said.

Mr Awuah also urged the leadership of co-operatives to be more transparent in their daily transactions to improve investor confidence in their activities, adding: Suspicions and counter suspicions among you is becoming too much. My plea is that we need to operate an open system that would not create suspicions.

Mandate

The acting Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Ghana, Kwabena Apraku Yeboah, said co-operatives existed to find solutions to socio-economic problems such as unemployment and low productivity.

He, however, said the global economic down-turn had affected them in their operations, and therefore, said there was the need for them to pool resources together to ease their financial burdens.

To help address the countrys housing deficit, Mr Yeboah recommended the introduction of a co-operative housing scheme, a policy he said was implemented in other jurisdictions.

He said plans were also underway to form an apex body for cocoa farmers to enable them to increase their productivity and income levels.
GNFS triggers national discourse on ending bushfires

Joshua Bediako Koomson & Kezia Asantewaa Osei Sep - 30 - 2023 , 09:58

The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has held a stakeholders forum on ending bushfire outbreaks with a call for support to ensure that the menace is completely reduced.

It explained that bushfires had been a significant contributor to national food scarcity and its damage to the economy was very huge while it also retrogressed all the individual and collective efforts put together for nation-building.

The Chief Fire Officer of the GNFS, Julius A. Kuunuor, at a meeting held at the GNFS Headquarters in Accra last Thursday, said the GNFS could no longer continue to sit on the fence and allow the yearly menace to continue.

He, therefore, said it was time for the service to re-strategise with innovative ways to prevent and control bushfire outbreaks.

The meeting brought together individuals from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education, the Forestry Commission of Ghana, the Ghana Meteorological Agency, the National Insurance Commission, as well as other officers from the GNFS.

It was held to herald the services 2023 Bushfire Prevention Campaign, which is scheduled to take place in October this year.

Bushfire statistics

From the yearly statistics of bushfires in the country, CFO Kuunuor said the months of December, January, February, March and April were the peak periods.

He said those were the periods where the harmattan set in and hunters engaged in group hunting while some traditional areas performed the Fire Festival.

He added that about 99 per cent of bushfires were man-induced, caused either deliberately or non-deliberately through hunting, festivals and arson, among others.

Fire-free Ghana

CFO Kuunuor said the focus of the service now was to ensure a fire-free Ghana through intensive public fire safety education.

He said it was, therefore, determined to meet its target of reducing fire outbreaks by 60 per cent by December this year.

He noted that it could only be possible by aggressively embarking on house-to-house, as well as radio and television, education programmes on fire safety precaution campaigns nationwide.
Protect environment for sustainable devt - ICAG President urges accountants

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Sep - 30 - 2023 , 09:38

The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG), Sena Dake, has charged accountants to perform their duties in a manner that protects the environment and the well-being of people for sustainable development.

She said the work of accountants must contribute to efforts to combat global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, diseases, hunger, poverty and conflicts in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We have a duty as professionals to move beyond a myopic focus on profits and shareholder wealth and consider the long-term consequences of business decisions on various aspects of society and the environment, she said.

Ms Dake gave the advice when she hosted members of the ICAG at a presidential luncheon in Accra last Thursday as part of the 60th anniversary celebration of ICAG.

The luncheon, an annual event by the President of ICAG to interact and share ideas with members of the institute, was on the theme: Our planet, our health, our well-being

Ms Dake said ICAG was implementing many initiatives as part of its commitment to the UN SDGs.

For instance, she said ICAG was reviewing its syllabus and learning materials to make their financial management aspects more responsive to health and other SDGs sectors, as well as sensitise its members to take into consideration SDGs in their operations.

All these efforts fall within our broader theme and focus for the 60th anniversary celebration which is Promoting sustainability, building trust, and nurturing partnerships, she said.

Green economy

The Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the Holy Trinity Spa and Health Farm, Dr Felix Anyah, said it was important for people to make their health and well-being a priority in all endeavours.

Again, he said, owing to human activities, climate change and global warming , environmental destruction had become more pervasive, putting the planet in danger and on the brink of destruction.

On how ICAG could help promote a green economy, Dr Anyah urged ICAG to offer certification for green accounting and auditing, and also influence companies to include sustainable matrix for green economy in their annual financial reports.

The institute can also lobby for green taxation policies which can provide tax benefits for companies adopting eco-friendly practices, contributing to public health initiatives and certified activities for a green economy, he added.
Stakeholders in Bono schooled on GHEITI report

Biiya Mukusah Ali Sep - 30 - 2023 , 09:07

The public, particularly communities hosting the extractive industry, have been urged to adopt the beneficial ownership (BO) data regime in order to demand accountability from both government and companies.

It is a new reporting regime introduced in 2019 by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to encourage more relevant, reliable and usable information, and to provide better linkages to wider country reforms.

At the GEITI 2020 dissemination reports workshop on the mining, oil and gas sector at Fiapre in the Bono Region last Tuesday, the Co-Chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw, said the use of the BO data could help solve some of the key challenges bedevilling the financial inflows in the sector.

One of the ways of reducing corruption, tackling illicit financial flows, transfer pricing and under-invoicing in the extractive sector is the use of the BO data to demand accountability from both government and companies, Dr Manteaw said.

The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Finance and GHEITI, with sponsorship from the German Development Cooperation, GIZ.

It was aimed at getting stakeholders to make input into decisions around the management of natural resources.

Dr Manteaw said the BO had addressed risks such as hidden ownership, opaque licensing procedures and unaccountable revenue collection and management.

He stated that since Ghana signed on to the EITI in 2003, transparency and accountability in the payments and revenues of the oil, gas and mining sectors had been deepened.

Accountability

Dr Manteaw said significant strides had been made in reducing the potential of all forms of corruption, improving investment climate, strengthening government and company systems, and contributing to enhancing revenue mobilisation.

The Co-Chair of GHEITI said the EITI had two core implementation outcomes - transparency and accountability - explaining that they had made significant progress with achieving the transparency component in the extractive.

He, therefore, stressed the need for them to shift their focus to ensure that people tasked with public resources were accountable for their utilisation.

"Public engagements and fora are needed to ensure public awareness and understanding of EITI reporting to hold duty-bearers accountable for the utilisation of revenues from the extractive sector," he said.

Dr Manteaw said GHEITI's intervention through advocating fiscal reforms, especially royalties and corporate income tax, among others, in the extractive sector, had resulted in savings of about US$713 million in additional revenue to the state within a period of about 10 years.

He said Ghanas five critical minerals had a huge potential to position the country as an industrial hub in Africa for raw materials needed for energy transition and mentioned manganese, bauxite/aluminium, iron ore, silica sand and graphite lithium as the five critical minerals in varying abundance.

Lithium, galamsey

The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene, said lithium, touted as one of the critical minerals for the green transition, had been discovered in commercial quantities in the country.

She expressed the need for the country to have a broader consultation on ways to regulate illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, in the country.

Ms Owusu-Banahene said curbing galamsey was crucial to protecting newly discovered critical minerals and attracting investments to ensure sustainable production by aligning Artisanal and Small-scale Miners (ASM).
Tema: Fire Service saves Quantum Terminal gas station from explosion

Benjamin Xornam Glover Sep - 29 - 2023 , 12:40

Fire on Friday, September 29, 2023, destroyed parts of a gas installation belonging to Quantum Terminal at Tema in the Greater Accra Region.

However, the timely response from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) saved the booster station located behind GTP in the Tema Industrial Area from escalating.



The GNFS deployed five fire appliances including support from the Tema Oil Refinery Fire Brigade to the scene to control the situation

At the time of the accident, a vessel was said to be offloading gas at the harbour through the pipelines to the booster station to the Quantum Terminal in the Kpone Power Enclave.



Response

The Tema Regional Operation Officer of the GNFS, DOII Fiifi Oppong who spoke to the Daily Graphic about their operation said the Industrial Area station received the call around 7:53 am and the personnel got to the incident scene at about 8:02 am adding that on arrival they called for assistance.

He said the GNFS deployed a team of firefighters, supported by a fleet of five fire engines and water tankers from the Tema Metro and Motorway Fire Stations as well as support from the Tema Oil Refinery fire brigade adding that the combined efforts proved instrumental in swiftly tackling the blaze and preventing it from spreading further.

He said the affected pipeline found leaking gas was isolated while the remaining gas stuck in the pipeline was managed with a foam compound and sacks to bring the situation under control at about 8:24 a.m.



DO II Oppong said an initial assessment of the situation indicated there was a leakage of gas due to high pressure built up within the pipeline, forcing the gas out through the safety valve handles, adding that the gas came in contact with a yet-to-be-determined ignition source which caused the fire.



He indicated that as a precautionary measure, a team of fire personnel were deployed to the nearby industries to shut down any available heat source while the road between VALCO Roundabout and Tema Oil Refinery was also blocked to prevent the situation from escalating into a major disaster.



DO II Oppong said the GNFS has begun investigations into the circumstances that caused the fire outbreak.



Inspection

Meanwhile, engineers from Quantum Terminal were spotted at the fire incident site inspecting the facility and parts of the network of pipelines that were charred to determine the next line of action.



An officer of the company at the fire scene who did not have authorization to speak told the Daily Graphic that the company had also initiated investigations to unravel the cause of the fire.
Bawumia has not approached Ken Agyapong for running mate position - Campaign Team

Zadok Kwame Gyesi Politics Sep - 30 - 2023 , 19:13

The campaign team of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the Vice President has not approached Kennedy Agyapong for the running mate position on his ticket.

Ken Agyapong during his Kumasi Showdown Walk on Saturday, September 30, 2023, alleged that he was approached by some elders in the camp of Dr. Bawumia to convince him to step down from the flagbearer race and instead partner Dr. Bawumia as a running mate.

He further alleged that he was also offered huge sums of money to step down but declined the offers in the interest of the party's delegates.

However, reacting to Ken Agyapong's claims in a press statement, the Spokesperson of Dr. Bawumia campaign team, Dr. Gideon Boako, said all the allegations by the Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP), who is also contesting the slot were false.

"We wish to state in unequivocal terms that the Bawumia Campaign team has not approached Kennedy Agyapong for such a running mate offer, nor have we assigned any member of the team to approach him for the same," he stated.

Dr. Boako also debanked the claims by Ken Agyapong that Vice President Bawumia was collapsing the party, saying "It is also not true as alleged by Kennedy Agyapong that Dr. Bawumia is collapsing the party through intimidation."

For him, "The unity of our party has been of great concern to candidate Dr. Bawumia. It is in light of such concern that he refrains from responding to unwarranted attacks by others in the contest and has cautioned his supporters against responding to such provocative attacks. His strategy has been to persuade delegates to support his bid. This he does, by laying his vision for the party and country."

Below is the Press Statement

The Bawumia campaign team has noticed with grave concern news report by Citinewsroom.com and other media outlets in which the Hon. Kennedy Agyapong is alleged to have indicated that some members of the Bawumia Campaign team attempted to bribe him to step down and be made the running mate to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

We wish to state in unequivocal terms that the Bawumia Campaign team has not approached Kennedy Agyapong for such a running mate offer, nor have we assigned any member of the team to approach him for the same.

It is also not true as alleged by Kennedy Agyapong that Dr. Bawumia is collapsing the party through intimidation. The unity of our party has been of great concern to candidate Dr. Bawumia. It is in light of such concern that he refrains from responding to unwarranted attacks by others in the contest and has cautioned his supporters against responding to such provocative attacks. His strategy has been to persuade delegates to support his bid. This he does, by laying his vision for the party and country.

As we have always maintained, the contest for flagbearer in the NPP is an internal one, and all actors, particularly the aspirants must be guided by the core values of the NPP, which include but are not limited to truth, decorum, and respect for one another.

Thank you.



--- Signed ---

Gideon Boako, Ph.D

Spokesperson
The reopening of Allen Street to traffic between Elmwood Avenue and Wadsworth Street on Friday was welcomed by Allentown residents and businesses alike, after a multi-year reconstruction project designed to make the popular strip more welcoming and accessible for visitors to its shops, restaurants and bars.

At long last, said Brian Adler, as he chatted with friends outside one of the bars on Sunday. It was a huge project.

But not everyone was happy about the way it progressed, how long it had taken, how many businesses it had hurt or even the final result.

Its five years. It was awful, and it stopped everybodys business, said Julia Lombardo, who lives in the neighborhood and used to work at Greenhouse Cafe, before it went out of business during the construction. The parking situation is dumb as hell. This is stupid.

Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown announced the reopening of the final section of the street during a news conference Friday afternoon, in which he was joined by Fillmore Council Member Mitch Nowakowski and Department of Public Works Commissioner Nate Marton.

It was the third phase of sidewalk and road construction, involving the stretch from College Street to Wadsworth, and capped off a $13.4 million project that began in March 2019, a year before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted life and delayed plans.

The Allentown Association called the project a milestone in the implementation of a new, flexible street design that is unique in the city and welcomes visitors to Allen Street between Main Street and Wadsworth Street.

Its been a long time coming. Its been a lot of waiting, said Peter Grine, a former member of the Allentown Association board 20 years ago, who was involved in early discussions about the project and design. But everybody knew about it. Everyone should have been able to plan for it.

The group noted in a press release that that the design for the Allen Street Paving and Streetscape Project was conceived by one of its former board members, architect Adam Sokol, who envisioned a street design similar to those he had seen in Europe and Asia where street design was envisioned in a holistic manner.

This is something weve been waiting for a for a long time, said Allentown Association President Patty Macdonald. Its been a challenge, no doubt about it. Having to walk down Allen Street and take a loop around the construction is always a challenge. But the benefits are incredible.

The goal of the project, which finished a few weeks early, was to improve the road and sidewalks, while also enhancing the experience for pedestrians and improving access to businesses and services along the street. But a lot of residents and businesses  while relieved now  didnt see it that way.

A lot of places didnt make it, and we barely hung on, by the grit of our teeth, said Kim Rossi, owner of Mulligans Brick Bar, which was packed with Bills fans on Sunday, but had struggled during construction. She said it took her an entire week to do the same business she used to do on a single Saturday night. If we didnt have so much success behind us in past years, theres no way we would have been able to stay.

The entire road from Wadsworth in the west to Main Street in the east now includes not only clean and repaved roads with shared lanes for cars and bicycles, but wider, raised sidewalks alongside a raised parking area with slanted curbs and movable bollards to separate the two. Those bollards can be easily adjusted to expand the sidewalks by an additional 10 feet, allowing for larger sidewalk cafes or patios for the various eateries or even pop-up retail shops.

As you look down Allen Street, you can see that it really came out well. It is very attractive, and we are hopeful that the vibrancy this street has always had will come back and that the street will become even more vibrant than ever, Brown said Friday.

The sidewalks also feature multiple colors and textures, including not only light and dark gray concrete but also terra-cotta-colored concrete and crosswalks. Thats intended to distinguish different functions and provide some character to the neighborhood. But Lombardo ridiculed it. Why does everybody have a different color sidewalk? she asked. And look how dirty it is already. Its disgusting, and they mismatched everything.

And she and others said the new parking arrangement would create confusion for drivers, and would also create hazards, especially in the winter, when snow and ice make the sidewalks and curbs slippery.

Im not particularly happy with the job that was done, but Im glad it was over, Rossi said. I just see a lot of issues with the raised parking. Ive almost fallen out of my car getting out if Im carrying packages. I cant even imagine what happens when snow and ice and winter come. Its dangerous.

Underground utility infrastructure was also improved as part of the complete roadway project, including street light wiring. This was a full reconstruction, not just the streetscape milling and paving that you see, but this is a full reconstruction of water, sewer and electrical lines, Marton said.

But the construction also tore up sewer lines, leading to a stench that lasted a while, Lombardo said.

Everybody knew it was going to be a long project, MacDonald said. But walking down Allen Street and getting a whiff of the sewer is a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, there are still a few elements of work remaining, although they do not involve the road itself.

There will be some additional work, such as trees being planted, public art being installed and lighting that will be installed in the coming weeks, Brown said. So we will be working with the businesses and residents in the community to do these additional things that the community is asking for.

News Staff Reporter Harold McNeil contributed to this story.
Bawumia will collapse NPP- Ken Agyapong

Zadok Kwame Gyesi Politics Sep - 30 - 2023 , 18:04

Presidential aspirant of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, is of the view that Vice Presidential Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will collapse the party.

For him, the actions of the Vice President, who is also contesting the flagbearer slot, could undermine the unity of the party.

Speaking at his Showdown Walk in Kumasi today, Saturday, September 30, 2023, Ken claimed that the Vice President has created so much fear in the party such that everyone was afraid to speak up.

He said some of them will not sit down for some individuals in the party to collapse the party for their selfish gains.

"Bawumia will collapse the NPP party," he said, adding "Bawumia is collapsing the NPP party."

For Ken Agyapong, the party's delegates will speak in the party's upcoming election to redeem the party from collapse, saying "Men will speak in November 4 ...."

The NPP will hold its delegates conference on November 4, 2023, to elect the flagbearer of the party to lead the party into the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

Ken Agyapong placed second to Vice President Bawumia in the party's August Super Delegates conference.
Commit to democratic values: Speaker urges world leaders

Nana Konadu Agyeman Politics Sep - 30 - 2023 , 10:16

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has called on world leaders, particularly African politicians, to commit themselves to the principles and values of democracy to bring peace to the world.

He said democracy was in crisis across the world today due to an upsurge in terrorism, conflicts and military takeovers.

He cited, for instance, how the United States of America, a beacon of democracy, was experiencing an upsurge in terrorism with concerns over the Russian-Ukraine conflict, tension along the Korean peninsula and coups detat in the sub-region.

So, we are getting the usual triangular axis of a world war and we need to rededicate and commit ourselves to the principles and values of democracy to be able to bring peace to the world, he stated.

CPC

Interacting with the press ahead of Ghanas hosting of the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Accra, Mr Bagbin said, Without peace, there can be no development.

If we right the wrongs, nobody will be risking a life to go and overthrow another person who is well-armed. The military themselves suffer more than the civilian population during military regimes as lots of them lose their lives and even after the takeover, the suspicion and the mistrust grow, he said.

The conference, which will take place at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra from September 30 to October 6, 2023, will be on the theme: The Commonwealth Charter 10 years on: Values and principles for Parliaments to uphold.

It is billed to attract 700 delegates, including Speakers and Presiding Officers, parliamentarians, Clerks-to-Parliaments, parliamentary staff and key stakeholders in the parliamentary governance sector.

It will be held under the patronage of the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Bagbin, who doubles as the President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the President of the Ghana Branch of the Association.

Speed up reforms

The Speaker said leaders, political leaders in particular, had to take the diverse disturbances plaguing the world seriously and see how they could speed up reforms to make people have trust and confidence in their leadership.

He also expressed worry that the solution to curbing disturbances to democratic regimes was not only within the domain of politicians but all stakeholders.

The medias role is not to report what is taking place but you are also, with your competences and capacities, to make input so that we can all educate our men and women about democratic rights.

We are not just moving towards democratic consolidation but we are also talking about entrenchment of the democratic practices and principles so that they become like a culture for people to willingly conduct themselves, he said.

Relevance of CPA

Sharing his thoughts on the relevance of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Mr Bagbin said the association was still very relevant to peace and promotion of democracy globally.

He said it was for that reason member states wanted to ensure that we are truly equal, inclusive, participatory, and we are people-focused organisation.

Touching on the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the country, the Speaker said Ghana was definitely seen as one of the stars of democratic dispensation in the sub-region.

In spite of the challenges facing the country, he said the other African nationals were still looking up to Ghana.

The air of freedom that we breathe here, in spite of the challenges, when other African citizens come or land here, they see us as one of the stars, he said.

Mr Bagbin added that: And so, when you see the recent uprising or revolution, please do not take it that people want undemocratic regimes.

It is just because of the conduct of so-called democratic regimes, that is what is leading to the upheavals, he said.
Wontumi, 4 others have turned National Council into hooliganism group - Ken Agyapong

Zadok Kwame Gyesi Politics Sep - 30 - 2023 , 17:49

Presidential aspirant of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, has accused the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly called Chairman Wontumi and four other regional chairmen, for turning the party's National Council into a hooliganism group.

According to him, Chairman Wontumi and his colleagues have succeeded in making the National Council an avenue to summon any aspirant other than Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for lest thing.

Mr. Agyapong who was addressing party's supporters who took part in his "Showdown Walk" in Kumasi today said whereas his and other aspirants' agents were beaten during the party's Super Delegates Conference, neither the National Council or the national executives have done anything about the issue and instead summoned him for declaring showdown for the President and Vice President.

The Assin Central Member of Parliament said he is "so disappointed in National Executives...." for their actions and inactions towards other aspirant in the Presidential race.

For him, if the National executives discriminates against other aspirants, it will affect the fortunes of the party, going into the 2024 presidential election.
Oppo launched its first tablet, called Oppo Pad, in February 2022 and later followed up with the Oppo Pad Air and Oppo Pad 2. Now we learn the Chinese brand could soon launch a new tablet called Oppo Pad Neo, certified by Thailand's NBTC.

The Oppo Pad Neo has model designation OPD2303, and its NBTC listing doesn't reveal anything other than confirming LTE connectivity, making it the first Oppo tablet to have cellular support.



Oppo Pad Air

The Oppo Pad Neo will likely mark the beginning of a new tablet lineup for Oppo, and we'll have to wait to find out whether it will be positioned above or below the Pad Air. In the meantime, you can read our Oppo Pad Air review here to learn more about it and head this way for a detailed specs comparison of the Oppo Pad and Oppo Pad 2.

Source (in Thai)
A federal government shutdown, which has impacts on those living and working on Guam, is now imminent, following the House of Representatives failure on Friday to pass a measure that would extend government funding by 30 days.

If Congress cannot agree on a spending bill by late Saturday night, the shutdown takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 1.

On Guam, that means 2 p.m. Sunday.

Guam, just like the rest of the nation, will see furloughs of certain federal workers, the military potentially working with delayed paychecks, and disruption of certain programs and services, although the full impacts are not yet known.

Congressional attempts to avert a shutdown are expected to continue until the critical deadline of Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2023.

While critical services will continue, the public should expect some delays or lags in service, from air travel to receiving their packages.

Military

Rear Admiral Gregory Huffman, commander of Joint Region Marianas, said JRM installations will continue mission-critical activities and excepted activities to sustain defense posture.

All active duty military personnel will continue in a normal duty status, he said in a video message.

However, as required by restrictions in the government shutdown, they may not be paid during the government shutdown unless Congress makes appropriated funds available to compensate service members for time worked, he said.

Huffman also said when the federal government enters a shutdown:

Reserve military personnel cannot execute orders or drill unless they are on an excepted mission.

Naval Hospital Guam will continue operations as normal.

Civilian employees will receive furlough instructions from their supervisors.

Employees excepted from the furlough will continue to work.

Employees eligible for furlough will not be authorized to work in any capacity, whether onsite or by telework.

Contractor employees will receive guidance from their contracted company.

Employees paid through non-appropriated funds, or NAF, are considered excepted from furlough and will be expected to continue reporting to work. They include the Navy Exchange, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, and Child Youth Services.

Base commissaries and exchange services on Guam will maintain full operation for a period of up to 60 days or until their working capital funds are exhausted.

Department of Defense Education Activity, or DoDEA, schools will remain open, but extracurricular or after-school activities will pause during a shutdown.

National Guard

Guam National Guard spokesperson Mark Scott on Saturday said if there is a shutdown, operations necessary for the safety of human life or the protection of property will continue.

If there are any federal civilian employees to be temporarily furloughed, orderly shut-down procedures will begin on Monday morning, Scott said.

He said some federal employees may be deemed excepted from furlough by the military departments secretaries, heads of the DoD Components, and combatant commanders or their delegates. There will be more to follow in the coming days, he added.

Moylan: Shutdown inevitable

In a 232-198 vote, the House on Friday defeated HR 5525, the Continuing Appropriations and Border Security Enhancement Act, a continuing resolution.

Delegate James Moylan, in a statement, said while leadership in the House is working towards compromises to garner additional votes to try and pass a continuing resolution on Saturday, the Senate version, which should be sent over, does not have adequate support in the House.

Unfortunately, this almost ensures that a federal government shutdown is inevitable on October 1, 2023, Moylan said.

Hardline Republicans in the House on Friday rejected the spending bill that their own leadership proposed to temporarily fund the government. The Republicans control the House by 221, and Democrats, 212.

A continuing resolution only provides a stopgap money to avert a shutdown, while budget talks to fund the full fiscal 2024 are underway.

Moylan said there is no one size fits all answer to the question of how the shutdown will impact services.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Postal Service advised that while services will continue, people should anticipate potential delays or lags in service because of the furloughing of non-essential employees.

Salaries of federal government employees will be adversely impacted during the shutdown, and this includes congressional staff.

Adelup had said its doing an assessment of the full impact of a shutdown, but added that most federal programs that Guam gets money for have cash to keep operating through a temporary shutdown.

People will still be able to check National Weather Service Guam weather forecasts, services and other products as is the norm, NWS warning coordination meteorologist Landon Aydlett said on Saturday.

Besides federal employee furloughs and delayed paychecks, even people applying for permits and passports could see delays, and federal offices will also have to close or shorten their hours during a shutdown, national news agencies reported.

Where to draw the line

There is no telling how long a shutdown would take place.

Moylan said House leadership has required all members to remain in Washington, D.C. throughout this weekend to make last-minute attempts to avoid a shutdown.

Republicans want to reduce spending by eliminating what are deemed as non-essential programs or services, while ensuring that the border, defense, and public safety are fully funded. Democrats have their wish list, and the only way to ensure these appropriation bills succeed is that both sides need to come to an understanding of where to draw the line, Moylan, the second Republican to represent Guam in Congress since 1972, said.

Moylan said his district office can be contacted at (671) 922-6673 for questions about the shutdown.

The longest federal government shutdown happened between 2018 and 2019 when then-President Trump and congressional Democrats entered a standoff over Trumps demand for funding for a border wall. It lasted 35 days, through the holiday season, according to the Associated Press.
Rotating one-hour power outages are possible from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, the Guam Power Authority said in a news release.

The outages can occur for an hour, between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. in different villages.

To maintain grid stability when customer energy demand exceeds total energy capacity, GPA will, as a last resort, implement rotating outages lasting up to one hour. Power will be reconnected to all affected customers at the top of each hour, it said.

In its update, GPA said:

Baseload unit Cabras 2 work to address vibration issues continues. The expected return to service for the unit is Oct. 1.

Baseload unit Cabras 1 tripped offline Friday morning due to loss of vacuum, and some feeders were load shed for less than an hour. As of 2 p.m. Friday, the unit is back online and load increasing slowly to 41 megawatts.

Piti 7 continues to run on limited production. Once Cabras 2 is operating and stable, Piti 7 unit will be offline for repair of plenum and should increase capacity from 20 MW to 31 MW (five-day outage).

GPA has been able to get assistance from large customers participating in the Interruptible Load Program and the U.S. Navy.

These large customers, along with the U.S. Navy, voluntarily go off the grid and operate on their standby generators during the periods of time when capacity is less than demand, most especially during peak hours when demand is highest.

GPA has about 15 to 20MW of energy from these large customers and U.S. Navy assisting around 6 p.m. during peak, which helps minimize outages.

Cabras baseload units are about 48 years old, GPA said. Emergency repairs are sometimes needed and the units have to be taken offline in a moments notice to avoid further damage to the machines.

Repair work to baseload units are extensive and complex, the unit must cool sufficiently to allow safe entry by generation personnel before repair work can begin.

Other non-baseload generation units like the combustion turbines have been running longer hours than normal. These units have only been on an abbreviated preventive maintenance schedule to assist with generation shortfalls. These non-baseload generation units need their required preventive maintenance hours in order for the units to run reliably.

The Mangilao and Dandan solar PV facilities contribute to the total energy production during daylight hours, prior to the evening peak demand. Rainy or overcast days reduces the amount of solar energy the system produces for the power grid. Cloud cover has an impact on how much solar energy the system generates.

Customers are encouraged to conserve power from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Refraining from using unnecessary air conditioning units and turning off electric water heaters immediately before and during the peak demand hours can significantly assist in reducing energy demand and required load shedding.

GPA urges the community to follow their social media pages and website for the latest outage information.
Mount Olivet Cemetery has a trespassing problem and needs the publics help to stop these gate-crashers.

PLEASE, urges a sign posted at the main entrance, Do Not Feed The Turkeys. They are becoming a nuisance to our families.

The wild turkeys arent exactly running wild at this Town of Tonawanda cemetery, but workers there dont want guests doing anything to encourage the feathered infiltrators.

You want to make sure that people are smart about it, right? You live in the suburbs, or you live in the city, you might not know turkeys the way I know turkeys, said Gregg Prince, operations manager for Catholic Cemeteries of Buffalo, who is from Wyoming County. You probably want to just leave him alone.

He said he didnt know how long the sign has been up but the cemetery, located between Delaware Avenue and Military Road south of Knoche Road, has dealt with turkeys for at least a decade.

A reporters visit to Mount Olivet on a recent afternoon found dozens of Canada geese foraging for food among the tombstones and headstones but no turkeys. However, the photographer assigned to this article briefly became trapped in his car by a small group of wild turkeys on Monday morning several blocks from Mount Olivet in the City of Tonawanda.

There are about 180,000 wild turkeys in New York, according to state figures, and the birds are a common sight in the Tonawandas.

The turkeys havent posed a serious problem to Mount Olivet and its visitors, Prince said, but they are harder than geese to move out of the way.

Im a country boy  I grew up out in Warsaw  turkeys can be a little more aggressive, right? And stubborn, he said.

Still, the wild turkeys, like the deer that populate Holy Cross Cemetery in Lackawanna, tend to give people a wide berth and have figured out when and where its best to come out, he said.

The signs remain up to warn visitors they could encounter turkeys and to remind them to use common sense in not feeding wildlife, Prince said.

The wild turkeys dont simply stay put in one spot, he said.

Prince said its his understanding the turkeys travel back and forth between Mount Olivet and Elmlawn Memorial Park, the cemetery located on the other side of Delaware Avenue.

They will fly right over the fences. You know the whole thing about turkeys not flying? Clearly not true. Theyll fly right up over the fences, Prince said. They dont stay in the air long but people will see them once in a while perched in a low tree.

Elmlawn officials said turkeys do come to pay their respects at their cemetery.

I once had one chase me up the ramp to the front door here, said Michael Austin, president of Elmlawn Memorial Park.

Austin said he didnt see any turkeys at Elmlawn this summer, an absence he considers unusual.

Their flock of turkeys once had as many as 11 or 12 regular members, including three or four males, said Austin, who compared watching the group walk across the street amid traffic to playing the video game Frogger.

We had to have the signs made, too: Dont Feed the Turkeys, he said.

Visitors would leave bread crumbs and seeds along the cemeterys roads, Austin said, and the towns animal control officer would flag down and admonish anyone seen doing this.

We had people leaving food for them, which really made them aggressive, he said. The males  not so much the females.

Austin said he believes turkeys like cemeteries because theyre relatively quiet and the full-time residents wont bother them.

They would roam the entire cemetery throughout the day, he said, and you know how big this place is.

Barbara Haney, director of the SPCA Serving Erie Countys Wildlife Department, said the agency often gets calls about wild turkeys that make a home at a particular place or intersection.

She recalled the traffic-blocking turkey that held court at Klein and Paradise roads in East Amherst for years until complaints drove the towns animal control officer to remove it.

Amherst's notorious wild turkey has no fear of people, cars or Thanksgiving No ones quite sure where Tom the turkey came from or how long hes been around, but the plucky bird is a common sight at the intersection of Klein and Paradise

We get numerous calls about turkeys that, in someones estimation, have chosen the wrong place to hang out, Haney said.

By putting out the message to visitors, Mount Olivet wants to make its cemetery a less hospitable place for the turkeys, she said.

I mean, to be a nuisance is subjective, Haney said. But some people would prefer that the turkeys find places that arent places where us humans hang out as well.

Why do turkeys take to cemeteries as gathering spots? Its hard to say, according to Haney.

Whos to know whats going on in a turkey brain? she quipped.

But, Haney added, wild turkeys and other wild animals are drawn to locations where they know they can get food.

So its never a good idea to feed wildlife for that reason, she said.

Haney said wild turkeys are not dangerous and generally keep their distance from people.

However, they can become habituated if they are fed frequently, she said. In which case, they will approach humans if they think that humans are a food source.
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Published on 2023/09/30 | Source

Korean movie "Unforgivable" added to HanCinema database

Advertisement

"Unforgivable" (2023)

Directed by Lim Kyung-ho, So Jun-beum

With Kim Jung-hyun, Park Sung-hyun, Gil Hae-yeon, Dawon,...

Synopsis

A brutal serial murder, all evidence points to the guy who died 10 years ago.

A murder case occurred in a bathroom in the middle of the night, and homicide detective Dong-geun discovers a fragment of a diary with a date from 10 years ago on the body.

"This too shall pass"

Dong-geun learns that the only evidence in the case, a note, is part of the diary of Yeong-hoon, who served in the military with the murdered person, and that he chose to commit suicide 10 years ago.

Dong-geun points out Seong-hyeon, a pharmaceutical company executive and the person behind the military brutality at the time, as a suspect, but as he is also found to be a victim of the same serial murder case, the case gradually falls into a labyrinth.

Meanwhile, while digging into the case, Dong-geun learns that Yeong-hoon was a friend he spent his school days with, and with his forgotten memories, the case enters a new phase...

Release date in Korea : 2023/11
The word Desmond Reed uses to describe his experience during the Christmas week blizzard of 2022 is scary.

What saved him was a Code Blue shelter.

We stayed there all day, all night. They gave us food. They gave us coffee. They gave us recreation, he said. If it wasnt for the shelter, I dont know where I would be right now.

Reed, 53, was one of the nearly 150 people seeking shelter at the Matt Urban Human Services Center at 586 Genesee St. to escape the raging storm outside. The shelter was one of the three Code Blue shelters last year that provided everything from hygiene supplies to telephone services to all who walked in.

But this winter, the need for shelters is expected to outstrip demand.

A collaborative effort between WNY Coalition for the Homeless and Restoration Society, Code Blue is Buffalos emergency weather safety program. It provides shelter, food and transportation to not only the homeless but also anyone facing trouble navigating the weather when the temperature and wind chill falls below 32 degrees. The operation lasts for 168 days, from Nov. 15 to April 30, said Nadia Pizarro, secretary and co-chair at the WNY Coalition for the Homeless, who is also onboard the Code Blue collaborative.

Besides the Genesee Street shelter, the other Code Blue shelters include Harbor House and the Holy Cross shelter downtown. Harbor House is an overnight shelter that operates from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. while the other two have warming centers and outreach services available every day.

However, staffing and operational costs have made it impossible for Restoration Society to operate more than one site this year, Pizarro said.

Reed shudders at the possibility of less than one shelter being available.

If this place was not to be open, that will hurt Buffalo bad, he said.

The Genesee Street shelter can house 60 to 75 people. However, with an uptick in homelessness, the shelter saw an average of 100 to 130 people per night last year.

This year, Pizarro said she expects at least 150 people to need the shelter, which far exceeds its limits.

Buffalo and Erie County both provide funding for Code Blue operations. Karen Rybicki, first deputy director of Social Services for Family Independence at Erie County Department of Social Services, said New York is providing $486,000 for Code Blue services.

The city and county have put out request for proposals for agencies to sign up to be a second site for Code Blue. Pizarro said it is the fourth time the proposal has been returned because no organization signed up for it.

We need to identify the site. We need to identify what agency is willing to take fiscal responsibility, she said. The new site will charge minimum to no rent to keep the operation costs from climbing, she hopes.

The problem is getting a provider to come to the table, to be the lead on that, Rybicki said.

Not only is Pizarro on the hunt for a new location but also additional funding for the possible second site. For a second site, just to fund a few staff members at $20 an hour for 12 hours for 168 days, would cost them $181,000, said Pizarro. The cost of food and laundry service push the price tag to over $200,000, she said.

And what if a second site cannot be found? Pizarro said she will not even entertain that thought.

There is no universe that it doesnt work out, in my opinion. I will not let it not work out. I mean, were going to see what our normal funding city and county funds can provide and then appeal to the public, to foundations, to banks, to whoever we need to, because this is not an operation that we can allow to fail, she said.

After being homeless for nearly a year and a half, Reed has finally found housing through the efforts of Restoration Society. He hopes to continue advocating for the homeless.

These shelters are very important. For me, it was pivotal. Pivotal, he said. If it wasnt for Code Blue, a lot of people would have been a lot worse.
A VILLAGE fun day is to be held on Sunday to raise money for the care of a terminally ill woman.

Aleka Melioti, 53, of Pages Orchard, Sonning Common, is organising Sophies Special Day for her 26-year-old daughter-in-law Sophie McGarry, who has stage 4 breast cancer.

She is being helped by neighbours and members of Sonning Common Rainbows, a girlguiding group.

The event will be held at the village hall in Wood Lane from 11am to 7pm with live music from two bands, Cracking Up and The Odd Numbers, from 3pm to 6.30pm.

There will be a range of stalls including childrens crafts, a play area, face-painting and glitter tattoos. Tea, coffee, cake and other refreshments will be provided.

Mrs Melioti is being helped by neighbours Kathy Lambert, who lives next door, and Hanna Edimoh.

Ms Lambert said: We all sort of came up with the day together.

She has volunteered to have her head shaved in support of Sophie.

Ms Lambert, 48, said: The actual head shaving Im not worried about  Im more worried about having my photo taken.

Even if I only raise a fiver thats a fiver she didnt have before.

Ms Edimoh, who is the unit leader of the Rainbows, has asked the girls, aged five to seven, to make posters that will be hung up in the hall on the day.

The girls have also collected craft materials to run the childrens

activities.

Ms Edimoh said: Its a good opportunity for the unit to do something for the community. Its a great cause and we want be involved. The values of Girlguiding are to be kind and to be helpful and this day very much aligns with that.

Ms Edimoh, who runs the group with the help of volunteers including Mrs Lambert, said she wanted the Rainbows to learn that even a small thing can bring a smile to someones face and make a big difference.

Mrs Melioti, who is Greek, moved to the UK with her Scottish husband Ray McGarry in 2015.

They were living in London until they moved to Sonning Common more than a year ago.

The couples youngest son Alekos, 32, is married to Sophie, who has triple-negative breast cancer.

Mrs Melioti said the proceeds would go towards a mobility scooter for Sophie as well as private

treatment.

Any money that is not used will go towards the couples daughter Aria, who is 16 months old.

Mrs Melioti said: We cant sit by and do nothing. The specialists have said that if treatment is successful, she will live another six months to two years but we believe that miracles happen.

We need them to have a comfortable and happy life for as long as Sophie is here and for her to have the best memories and moments with her family.

Sophie used to be very energetic, very positive and full of life so I wanted to do this to raise awareness and to hold a happy event for a sad situation. I just hope a lot of people come.

Sophie, who is originally from South Elmsall in West Yorkshire, met Alekos eight years ago while living in Leeds.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2020 and underwent surgery and six rounds of chemotherapy before given the all clear.

However, in June this year, Sophie complained of feeling unwell and was told that the cancer had returned and spread to her lungs and brain.

Following the diagnosis, the couple were married at the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Reading in June. Sophie and Aria were christened just beforehand.

Alekos said: There were two christenings and one wedding on the same day. It sounds like a movie. We had been engaged for a long time before and it was a way of reaffirming our love for one another.

The couple moved to Reading to be closer to his parents but have struggled to find a permanent place to live and Alekos has stopped working as an assistant manager at the Hope and Bear pub in Reading to care for Sophie full-time.

They have now been given temporary accommodation by Reading Borough Council and put on a waiting list for permanent housing.

Life hasnt been fair, to say the least, said Alekos. We are looking forward to Sunday  its going to be an important day.

Sophie added: Its going to be tiring but exciting.

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Its a bracing story of courage and determination  one that should make Erie County residents proud of themselves.

A husband, wife and 4-year-old daughter undertook a challenging journey from Venezuela to the United States, leaving behind their entire life in favor of a monthlong odyssey by boat, canoe and on foot through the treacherous terrains of the Darien Gap. They now live here and are among those who will benefit from the recent decision by the Biden administration to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to asylum-seekers from Venezuela.

These courageous individuals represent only three of the migrants who have been relocated to the Buffalo area from New York City. Despite being unfamiliar with Buffalo, they saw it as an opportunity and sought the guidance of St. Anthony, the patron saint of travelers.

They are among about 550 migrants being housed in hotels in Cheektowaga and Amherst, with nearly 290 of them originating from Venezuela. With Temporary Protected Status, they can now envisage securing their own accommodation and legal employment. In a county where jobs are going unfilled, that benefits everyone.

Temporary Protected Status allows those who have fled turmoil in their home country to legally stay in the United States for 18 months, granting them the ability to work much sooner than previously anticipated. This decision by the Biden administration reflects both compassion and practicality and should serve as a blueprint for addressing the needs of vulnerable populations.

Prominent leaders such as Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Rep. Brian Higgins, along with numerous advocates, have passionately voiced their support for this policy change. Their compelling argument is that enabling asylum-seekers to work legally will enable them to afford housing, thus alleviating the burden on already-strained shelters and aiding their integration as productive members of their communities. This is not just an act of kindness but also a pragmatic solution to a multifaceted problem.

The pivotal aspect of this new policy is its extension of Temporary Protected Status to asylum-seekers from Venezuela who arrived in the United States by July 31, acknowledging the ongoing turmoil in their homeland. The status provides these migrants with protection from deportation and, critically, the opportunity to apply for work permits.

The new temporary status, as Meghan Maloney de Zaldivar, Director of Organizing and Strategy at the New York Immigration Coalition, points out, offers a more immediate and compassionate solution. It acknowledges the perils faced by those returning to a country in turmoil, sparing asylum-seekers from protracted uncertainty and hardship.

The positive repercussions of this policy change will undeniably bring relief to many asylum-seekers not only in Western New York but also beyond. While concerns about costs and accountability have surfaced, it is crucial to acknowledge that New York City is shouldering the financial responsibility of these hotel stays. Our focus should be on addressing the immediate needs of asylum-seekers and helping to find solutions to their plight.

Many people in Erie County have extended kindness and a warm welcome to families like the one from Venezuela, even if some people have opted for cruel hostility. The story of this brave family and the support they have received show that Erie County is still home to the City of Good Neighbors.
Dear Reader, PREMIUM Quarterlife and Sakina's Kiss

Drum beats sound outside my window, rhythmic, pounding, thunderous. The pull of the percussion, synthesizer sounds, the loudspeaker music, it all calls to me, drawing me down to the narrow street below. Suddenly I am a part of a throng of people, a procession full, spilling out all over the street (there is no pavement here). All fortnight now, this street has been full of people taking their gods to sea. I have been away and missed many immersions; but I am glad to be back in time for the mahavisarajan (grand immersion), when gigantic Ganeshas from pandals all over the city, make their way down to this beach. But this year, my perspective on the procession has shifted. It's thanks to Quarterlife, Devika Rege's debut novel set in modern-day Mumbai. This ambitious book begins in the grey loneliness of the United States and moves into the frenetic chaos of India's financial capital. Quarterlife introduces us to Naren and Amanda, two characters embarking on journeys to the East. One is burned out, the other drifting, both seeking a new path in life. India, with its growth story, economic miracle, and inequalities, promises a fresh start. In Mumbai, Naren uses his old boy Konkanastha Brahmin network to land deals for his multinational consulting firm and Amanda works as an impact fellow in the slums of Deonar. Yet, as we follow their paths, we uncover the sharp ripples that rend the narrative of India's growth. We meet Naren's family living in their gated community flat, his brother Rohit, and their cousinsone a bhakt, the other a Naxalite. There's an underlying sense that things aren't as they seem; forces are gathering, ideologies are clashing, and a relentless momentum builds, much like the drumbeat of a visarajan. In Quarterlife, the god Ganesh is everywhere. The book explores the dichotomy of Ganesh as both a personal deity and the god of crowds and communities. There is the small idol the Agashe family brings into their high-rise flat. This Ganesh will be immersed in a 'brass bucket near the Anthuriums. There are the twenty-foot-high Bappa Raja Ganeshas, the god of crowds and communities, who will make their way through the streets, halting in a sensitive area before the ivory domes of the Hindustani Masjid

Quarterlife

Like this novel, art follows the ideology of the times. Naren was perhaps drawn back home by the economic growth prospects, but his brother Rohit is seduced by the power and purpose of the bhakt Brotherhood. He travels to the Konkan on a roots tour, comes back with his bhakt cousin Omkar, and decides to produce and fund Bappa, a film on Ganesh.

This is a slow burn of a novel. At first, I found Reges prose overwrought. But as the novel progressed, I found myself liking it more and more, and I was glad I persisted. The friends and family in Quarterlife have long conversations, like the characters in a Sally Rooney novel. They discuss economic growth (corruption today is almost like a tax; it didnt stand in the way of our boom and wont be the reason for our bust) they debate whether religion is simply a route to power, and argue on whether the Mughals were colonizers or part of Indias history. The characters and the themes of this very contemporary book, set in my city, stayed in my head for a long afterwards. As I listen to the rhythmic drum beats, I go back to this book. Id love to know your opinions too, on this book of ideas set in this city. And on what do you think fiction, especially in these inflammable contemporary times, can achieve? And after you read Quarterlife, how about a novella; a change of taste, a change of pace and of length. Celebrate International Translation Day this Saturday, September 30, by ordering Kannada author Vivek Shanbhags new novella. After an eight-year gap, we finally have another book from the man whose Ghachar Ghochar catapulted him onto the international map, featuring on The New York Times Critics' top books. Shanbhag's new novella releases next week, and thank you to the publishers for my advance reading copy.

Sakinas Kiss

I have to confess I approached this book with some trepidation - could anything live up to the spare pleasure of Ghachar Ghochar?

I am happy to report Sakinas Kiss does. It shares an interesting feature with Ghachar Ghochar, that of the unreliable narrator, telling some of the story in the silence of the text. And yet Sakinas Kiss is very much its own novella, drawing on history, geography and patriarchy to tell a tantalizing tale - Rekha, the daughter of the house, has gone missing. Or has she? What's the story here? The narrative unpeels like the layers of an onion - I dont want to say too much and give anything away, it is intriguing, and will stay with you for a long time. So heres a novel and novella for you, both very different, and yet they intersect as they bring up rebellion in a very provocative way. Until next week then, happy reading! Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonyas Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at sonyasbookbox@gmail.com The views expressed are personal

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AM Naik on Saturday stepped down as the chairperson of Larsen & Toubro Group. The 81-year-old construction major boss handed over the reins of the $23 billion conglomerate to SN Subrahmanyan at an event in Mumbai, PTI reported.



He will be now the chairperson of the employees trust and will focus on expediting several philanthropic initiatives that he has undertaken in the past few years. Naik's attention going forward will be on his philanthropic initiatives, including the Naik Charitable Trust which focuses on education and skill-building of the underprivileged, and the Nirali Memorial Medical Trust dedicated to facilitating super speciality healthcare at subsidised cost. AM Naik joined the L&T Group in 1965 as a junior engineer and rapidly rose within the ranks from general manager to managing director and chief executive officer (CEO).(L&T Group website)

Here are five things you need to know about AM Naik.



1. According to L&T website, AM Naik had joined the company as its junior engineer in 1965. He rapidly rose within the ranks from general manager to managing director and chief executive officer (CEO).



2. On December 29, 2003, Naik was appointed as the chairman and managing director. He served as the Group Executive Chairman of L&T from 2012 to 2017. In October 2017, he stepped aside from executive responsibilities, and was appointed Group Chairman.



3. Naik is credited with kickstarting the indigenising the manufacture of critical equipment for the defence sector and process industries. As per the company's website, Naik's efforts led to L&T assuming leadership position in the design, development and manufacture of missiles and weapon systems and forging a vibrant relationship with national bodies for defence research & development and space research.



4. The Centre appointed AM Naik as the chairman of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) from November 2018 to April 2022. He also helmed the Indian Institute of Management  Ahmedabad (IIM-A) as Chairman of the Board of Governors from 2012 to 2016. He also served as the member of the Governing Body of the Charutar Vidyamandal University, Gujarat and was appointed Co-leader by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India of the India-Malaysia CEOs Forum.



5. Naik was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in 2019. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. AM Naik has also been conferred with Gujarat Garima (Pride of Gujarat) Award in 2009. He was conferred rank of Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog (2008). In 2015, he was honoured with a higher rank  the Order of the Dannebrog Knight First Class.

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The Reserve Bank of India has extended the deadline for the exchange of 2000 notes till October 7. RBI(File)

RBI had announced the withdrawal of 2000 banknotes from circulation on May 19. It had asked the masses to exchange their notes by September 30, 2023.

The extension of the deadline appears to be aimed at providing more time to the masses to deposit the notes without last-minute hassles.

The apex bank had also provided the exchange facility at its 19 Regional Offices.

According to RBI data, on May 19, 2000 notes of the total value 3.56 lakh crore were in circulation. The banks have received 3.42 lakh crore worth of 2000 notes back as of September 29. This means only 0.14 lakh crore worth of notes are still in circulation.

RBI said in a statement that around 96 percent of 2000 notes in circulation as on May 19 has been returned.

"As the period specified for the withdrawal process has come to an end, and based on a review, it has been decided to extend the current arrangement for deposit /exchange of 2000 banknotes until October 07, 2023," it reads.

"With effect from October 08, 2023, the procedure for deposit/exchange of 2000 banknotes shall be as under: a) The deposit / exchange at bank branches shall be stopped. b) 2000 banknotes can continue to be exchanged by individuals / entities at the 19 RBI Issue Offices up to a limit of 20,000/- at a time. c) Individuals / Entities can tender 2000 banknotes at the 19 RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India for any amount. d) Individuals / Entities from within the country can also send 2000 banknotes through India Post, addressed to any of the 19 RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India," it added.

The RBI statement further said that courts, law enforcement agencies, government departments or any other public authority involved in investigation proceedings or enforcement can exchange 2000 banknotes at its 19 RBI Issue Offices without any limit.

These banknotes continue to remain legal tender, it added.

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The Reserve Bank of India on Saturday extended the deadline for exchanging your 2,000 notes till October 7. Initially, the central bank had allotted time till September 30 to exchange or deposit the 2,000 notes.



If you have still not deposited or exchanged the 2,000 currency notes till now, you should do it immediately. If you fail to meet the October 7 deadline, here's what will happen: RBI on May 19 had announced withdrawal of  2,000 currency notes from circulation and gave public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks.(HT_PRINT)

The deposit / exchange at bank branches shall be stopped.

2. 2000 banknotes can continue to be exchanged by individuals / entities at the 19 RBI Issue Offices up to a limit of 20,000/- at a time.

3. Individuals / Entities can tender 2000 banknotes at the 19 RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India for any amount.

4. Individuals / Entities from within the country can also send 2000 banknotes through India Post, addressed to any of the 19 RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India. Such exchange or credit shall be subject to relevant RBI / Government regulations, submission of valid identity documents and due diligence as deemed fit by RBI.

5. Courts, law enforcement agencies, government departments or any other public authority involved in investigation proceedings or enforcement, may, as and when required, deposit / exchange 2000 banknotes at any of the 19 RBI Issue Offices without any limit, the RBI statement said.

6. 2000 banknotes shall continue to be legal tender.

93% of  2,000 notes returned to banks

On September 2, the RBI had said that as much as 93 per cent of 2000 currency notes that were in circulation on May 19 -- the day when the currency was withdrawn from circulation -- have been returned to banks. According to the data received from the banks, the total value of 2000 banknotes received back from circulation is 3.32 lakh crore up to August 31, 2023, the central bank had said in a statement.

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Tata Consultancy Services or TCS has decided to discontinue its work-from-home policy, requiring all employees to return to the office for all five working days starting October 1, CNBC-TV18 reported. TCS associates, who were previously working from the office for three days a week, will now be mandated to attend the office full-time. TCS has been stressing employees to work from office for some time now.(Abhijit Bharlekar/Mint file photo)

The decision was conveyed to the employees through an official email. "As communicated by the CEO and chief human resources officer (CHRO) in various townhalls, it is mandatory for all associates to attend office on all the working days (5 days per week if there are no holidays) starting 1 October 2023," the news portal quoted the official mail.

TCS denied to comment on the issue. "As we are in the silent period at the moment, we will not be able to comment, the IT major said.

The work-from-home option was initially implemented as a response to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and many IT companies were first to embrace it due to the nature of their work, which allowed for remote operations. However, as the situation has gradually returned to normal, companies are encouraging employees to return to the office, citing increased efficiency.

Critics argue that work-from-home results in the loss of certain intangible benefits that are only possible in a physical office environment.

ALSO READ: Is work from home ruining our mental health? Here's what an expert says

The flexibility of working in WFH has led to protests and many employees leaving organisations that enforce work-from-office.

ALSO READ- Apples 3-day Work from Office policy upsets section of employees: Report

TCS's shift in policy aligns with its long-standing emphasis on the importance of physical interactions among employees. The company's FY23 annual report highlighted the importance of employees learning from each other's behaviour and different ways of thinking through in-person interactions.

Without those interactions, employee engagement as well as acculturation got badly impacted. All these factors led us to gradually bring back people to our offices during the year," the annual report said.

TCS, being the largest private employer in India with a workforce of over 6,00,000 people as of March 2023, this policy change will impact a significant number of employees who will now need to commute to the office.

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Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said that steps should be taken to prevent human-wildlife conflicts adding that funding to build barricades to prevent animals from coming out of forest areas will be looked into. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Friday. (ANI Photo)(ANI Picture Service)

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah directed the officials of the forest department to take appropriate action in this regard.

Speaking at the Chief Minister's Medal Presentation Ceremony organized by the Karnataka Forest Department at Vidhana Soudha on Friday, CM Siddaramaiah said, "Afforestation should be done by planting more saplings. The expansion of forest area will be of great benefit to the state. Though it is a matter of happiness to see an increase in the number of tigers and elephants in the forests, the wild animals are entering human habitats and this is posing a problem to the forest department as well as the people."

READ | Follow directive on release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, panel tells Karnataka

"Karnataka State is at the forefront in forest and wildlife conservation. It is the responsibility of the government to encourage officers who perform their duties well. More emphasis should be given to forest development. Out of the total land area of the state, only 20 per cent is forest area. This forest area must be expanded by at least 33 per cent. Climate change can only be avoided by expanding the forest area," he added.

CM Siddaramaiah said that Karnataka is facing many problems due to scarcity of rain this year.

"Situations like the Cauvery water issue, drought, and shortage in food production arise. This situation affects the state's GDP and per capita income. This time 50 per cent crop is damaged in 40 lakh hectares.

READ | 700 protesters detained in Bengaluru, police call it a 'peaceful' strike

He said that such a drought situation occurs every four to four years.

If the forest area increases, it is possible to prevent such extreme weather conditions," CM said.

CM also said there should not be a practice of awarding medals of 2-3 years together and there is no need to wait two or three years after the selection of the awardees.

The Chief Minister advised the state Forest minister to award the Chief Minister's Medal every year, the statement said.

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Earlier this week I ordered a copy of Enough written by Cassidy Hutchinson, assistant to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the Trump presidency. She is someone who had close access to the president, the Oval Office, key presidential advisers and what transpired on a day-to-day basis in the White House.

On Monday, I watched MSNBCs Rachel Maddow interview with Hutchinson. What was clear to me is that Hutchinson is an amazing person of the highest moral character. At the age of 25 she had more courage and ethical conviction than the other older and more experienced people working in the Trump White House -most of whom stood idly by while the presidents discourse and actions were inexcusable and very likely illegal.

As a scholar of communication who for 45 years studied political rhetoric, I found Hutchinson to be honest, credible, sincere and believable - just as she was during the January 6 congressional hearing where her testimony led to several indictments of the former president. To be sure, she has endured a lot, sacrificed much and has been verbally attacked and threatened by Trump's allies.

Nevertheless, Hutchinson has been consistent and professional, giving us a very troubling picture of the lawless nature of what occurred in the White House during the last days of the Trump presidency. She makes a compelling case for why our democracy may be destroyed if Republicans don't stand up immediately and prevent the election of Trump in 2024.

On Tuesday, I watched from a rhetorical perspective - carefully and in a non-partisan manner - Jake Tapper's (CNN) interview with Hutchinson; my admiration for her ethical character continued to grow.

Although she is a Republican, as a Democrat I firmly believe Hutchinson would make an ideal candidate for political office. To be clear, I say this as someone who no doubt disagrees with many of her conservative views.

Nevertheless, whether you are a Democrat or Republican, surely we can agree that our country desperately needs more principled, moral and thoughtful leaders like Cassidy Hutchinson.

Richard Cherwitz, Ph.D.

Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial Prof. Emeritus

Moody College of Communication

Founding Director

Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium (IE)

The University of Texas at Austin
The Shimlapuri Police arrested a carpenter for attempting a rape bid on his minor stepdaughter. The accused was sexually harassing her for the past two years. The victim shared her ordeal with her class teacher, who took her to the child welfare committee for further help. The Shimlapuri Police arrested a carpenter for attempting a rape bid on his minor stepdaughter. The accused was sexually harassing her for the past two years. The victim shared her ordeal with her class teacher, who took her to the child welfare committee for further help. (Representational image)

After being informed, the Shimlapuri Police lodged an FIR against the accused and arrested him.

The FIR has been lodged following the statement of the mother of the victim. The complainant stated that she objected to it, but to no avail, as her husband used to threaten her that he will kill her and her daughter if she filed a complaint against him.

The woman added that she had married the accused on October 16, 2019. It was her second marriage. She has a daughter from her first marriage. It was also the second marriage of her husband after the death of his first wife.

The complainant alleged that the accused had started sexually harassing her minor daughter for the past two years and used to touch her inappropriately. Her daughter was under depression. Her class teacher noticed this and counselled her. The girl narrated the entire incident to her class teacher, who took her to the child welfare committee near the Observation Home at the Gill Road near Sidhwan canal.

After recording her statement, the Shimlapuri Police lodged an FIR against the accused under Sections 376, 511, and 506 of the IPC and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Sub-inspector Rajinder Kaur, who is investigating the case, said that soon after lodging the FIR, the police arrested the accused.

At home but not safe/ Dangers that lurk close to home

On September 1

A 60-year-old man was arrested for raping his 11-year-old granddaughter repeatedly. The victim was living with her grandparents after the separation of her parents.

On August 18

A Bihar resident was booked for allegedly raping his own daughter over a prolonged period.

On July 14

A two-month-old infant was hospitalised in a serious condition after her paternal relative raped her at a village 30 km from Ludhiana.

On June 30

The Jamalpur police arrested a 47-year-old labourer for raping his 11-year-old niece for one month.

On May 29

An auto mechanic was arrested for molesting his minor daughter. The victim alleged that her father was molesting her and her elder sister for a long time, but they did not file a complaint citing social harassment.

On May 17, A factory worker was arrested for allegedly raping his 16-year-old stepdaughter repeatedly for the last six months.

On April 23, a 32-year-old factory worker was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing his minor stepdaughter and threatening to sell her.

On April 16, a Nepalese fast-food seller was arrested for allegedly raping a 16-year-old daughter of his live-in partner in Janta Nagar of Shimlapuri.

On March 21, the city police had booked a Bachittar Nagar resident for allegedly raping his 9-year-old stepdaughter.

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The Himachal Pradesh high court has directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to issue necessary instructions to all the investigating officers to not disclose the identity of child rape victims during investigation and trial and adhere to the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for the same. Dont disclose identity of child rape victims during probe, trial: Himachal Pradesh HC

The orders were passed by the single bench of Justice Virender Singh while disposing of a bail application of a rape accused named Naveen Thapa, a resident of Nepal. The case was registered at Women Police Station in Kullu on January 30, 2023.

In the status report, which has been filed in the case, the investigating officer has mentioned the all the details of the mother of the child victim. Not only this, the status report mentions the name of the school where the victim was studying, remarked the court.

Justice Singh also observed that the trial court has also mentioned the complete details of the mother of the child victim at the time of recording her statement on September 15, 2023, when she appeared as prosecution witness. When the child victim appeared before the trial court, the name of her school has been mentioned.

Before parting with the order, this court must record its concern about the manner in which the mandatory provisions of Section 33 (7) of the POCSO Act are being violated, with impunity, said Justice Singh in his judgment.

Considering the violation of Section 33 (7) of the POCSO Act, it is high time for this court to take steps in this regard. Consequently, the DGP through principal secretary (home) is directed to issue necessary instructions to all the investigating officers in the state to adhere to the provisions of Section 33 (7) of the POCSO Act, said the court.

According to Section 33 (7) of the POCSO Act, the special court shall ensure that the identity of the child is not disclosed at any time during the course of investigation or trial.

Similar types of directions are required to be issued to the judicial officers, dealing with the cases under the POCSO Act in the State of Himachal Pradesh, it added.

Meanwhile, the court granted bail to Thapa, observing that the mother of the child victim and the child herself, who were key prosecution witnesses, did not support the prosecutions case and had even retracted from their earlier statements.

The court also noted that the trials conclusion was not imminent, making prolonged judicial custody unnecessary.

Justice Singh ordered Thapas release on bail upon the submission of bail bonds totaling 50,000 and two sureties of the same amount, with one surety being a local resident. The court also imposed certain restrictions on the accused.

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In the aftermath of floods, as Himachal Pradesh is battling to rebuild the ravaged regions, the environmental groups have called on the state government to rethink its policies that are proving detrimental to the environment and focus on sustainable growth to conserve the Himalayas. Between July and August, the relentless rainfall caused 168 landslides and 72 flash floods across the state, severely affecting districts such as Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan and Chamba. (HT file photo)

In a devastating turn of events, Himachal Pradesh has recently experienced an unprecedented disaster during the monsoon season. The state was battered by continuous rainfall, resulting in flash floods, landslides, and widespread destruction. The catastrophe resulted in significant loss of life and property.

Between July and August, the relentless rainfall caused 168 landslides and 72 flash floods across the state, severely affecting districts such as Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan and Chamba. The toll on human life has been staggering, with 481 people losing their lives, 40 individuals still missing and 505 suffering injuries.

As, many as 21,129 animals perished, and 6,030 cow sheds were destroyed. The destruction of residential and public buildings has been widespread, with 1,186 pucca houses, 1,745 kutcha houses and 419 commercial buildings in the basement affected. Another 12,264 houses suffered partial damage, displacing a significant portion of the population.

Chamba-based environmental group Himalayan Niti Abhiyaan, headed by Kulbushan Upmanyu, submitted an eight-page report to governor Shiv Pratap Shukla containing suggestions and recommendations to minimise the losses caused by natural disasters in the future.

One of the key recommendations is the training of micro-level scientists for the precise demarcation of flood-prone areas and the implementation of strict regulations on infrastructure development within these zones. The report also emphasises the importance of safe disposal of debris from under-construction projects, with a call for closer monitoring and scientific investigation of debris found in villages.

Furthermore, the report stresses the need to review land use policies and prioritise geological sensitivity when selecting sites for construction projects. Input from geologists should be considered in large infrastructure projects, roads and four-lane highways to mitigate risks associated with landslides and other geological hazards, said Upmanyu.

Experts believe that the floods in the Beas Valley were not solely caused by heavy rainfall, major factor behind the high flood impact was the floating load, including debris from road and tunnel construction, which blocked riverbanks and mid-water. This debris uprooted trees and diverted the river towards urban areas and four-lane highways, intensifying the disaster.

Commercial construction projects have emerged as a significant driver of deforestation, endangering biodiversity and worsening the ongoing climate crisis. The growing demand for water resources, fuelled by these projects, has accelerated deforestation rates. Simultaneously, the threat of destruction, including landslides and forest fires, looms over both the environment and human settlements.

The report advocates for a paradigm shift away from the current trajectory of infrastructure development and commercial projects. Instead, it calls for the revival of mixed forestry, which not only safeguards against natural disasters but also provides vital resources for local communities, including food, fuel, medicine and wood.

Unchecked urbanisation presents another existential threat, as unplanned growth without adequate drainage infrastructure sets the stage for landslides and building collapses. The controversial 2041 Shimla Development Plan, despite being cancelled by the NGT in 2018, still lingers, poised to double Shimlas population by 2041. The report suggests that political pressures influenced its creation and advocates for its withdrawal.

Recognising the urgency of the situation, the report underscores the importance of involving local civil society, NGOs and self-governing institutions in decision-making processes. Their perspectives, born from intimate knowledge of their regions, should be central in shaping policies and implementation strategies the report suggests.

The crisis has also taken a toll on tourism, a vital contributor to the regions GDP. Infrastructure breakdowns and overcrowding have plagued the sector. The unchecked construction, excessive vehicular traffic, and environmental mismanagement have triggered a crisis. The report urges a transition to responsible tourism, fostering local empowerment and regulation to curb real estate speculation in the name of tourism.

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The rail roko (blockade) agitation of Punjab farmers demanding compensation for crops damaged in the recent floods, a legal guarantee on MSP and a sweeping debt waiver entered its third day on Saturday. A family returning from the Amritsar railway station as trains were cancelled after farmers blocked rail tracks in the district. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

The agitation has hit the movement of trains, with many being cancelled, short-terminated or diverted, railway officials said.

Also read: 104 trains affected on Day 2 of farmers protest in Punjab

The farmers have been blocking rail tracks at several places in Faridkot, Samrala, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar since Thursday as part of their three-day agitation.

The protest has left hundreds of rail passengers stranded in Punjab and Haryana.

A railway passenger at Ludhiana station said he arrived from Jalandhar City by road to take a train to Gorakhpur but there was no information on when it will arrive.

Another passenger at the station said the agitation had forced the cancellation of a train from Amritsar in which 12 of his family members were supposed to travel to Bihar.

They later learned that the train would depart from Ludhiana and the family travelled from Amritsar by road. However, there was no update about the train, he added.

The farmers agitation has affected the Ambala and the Ferozepur railway divisions, officials said.

The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee; Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari); Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Azaad); Azaad Kisan Committee, Doaba; Bharti Kisan Union (Behramke); Bharti Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh); and the Bharti Kisan Union (Chottu Ram), are participating in the three-day protest scheduled to end on Saturday.

Their demands include a financial package for the flood-affected people in north India, a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for all crops and a debt waiver for farmers.

The farmers want a 50,000-crore flood relief package for north Indian states and MSP according to the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report.

They are demanding a waiver of the entire debt of farmers and labourers, and 10 lakh and a government job as compensation to the kin of each farmer who died during the agitation against the now-repealed three farm laws.

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The Delhi government has proposed the redevelopment of 26 non-conforming industrial areas across the Capital, that cumulatively house thousands of factories and employ hundreds of thousands of residents of the city, officials aware of the matter said. Non-conforming industrial clusters are spread across the Capital. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

A non-conforming industrial cluster is an area that has developed in a locality not originally meant for industrial use. These areas are scattered across the city, and include localities such as Libaspur, Mundka, Khayala, Karawal Nagar, Sultanpur Majra, Nawada, Rithala, Haiderpur, Dabri, Naresh Park Extension, Tikri Kalan, and Shahdara, among others.

Officials said that under its redevelopment plan for these areas, the government has proposed an overhaul of roads, cultivating green spaces, and creating drains, effluent treatment plants, parking spaces, and other facilities. Around 10% of the total area will be reserved for infrastructure requirements such as sub-stations, pump houses, fire stations, police posts, etc. The redevelopment plans will also include requirements for storage tanks, ground water recharging, rainwater harvesting, and a drainage plan, the officials said.

Industries minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the move will create respectable industrial clusters. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had a meeting with all non-conforming industrial area associations (in June) and had promised that the Delhi government will pay 90% of the consultant fees for making development plans. This step will be a major milestone towards creating safe and respectable industrial clusters. This will boost employment opportunities in the Capital, he said.

These industries will get access to many new opportunities like easy loans, collaboration with multinational companies. These people have long been exposed to harassment by multiple authorities and this step will permanently end all the harassment, Bharadwaj said.

The proposals to redevelop non-conforming industrial areas was first envisaged in Delhis 2022-23 Budget, and the government announced that it will redevelop the industrial clusters to bridge the infrastructural deficit and provide better facilities and amenities in the clusters to boost business growth. The redevelopment of the industrial clusters plan is ready to be rolled out. We are going to engage consultants to get the redevelopment plans prepared for this purpose. A tender has been issued for it. Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) proposes to empanel architect consultants for making the redevelopment plans, said a DSIIDC official.

Vijay Virmani, president of the Delhi Manufacturers Association, an industry body that represents traders from 26 non-conforming industrial clusters, said, Around 10,000 factories which produce a range of products from furniture, readymade garments, toys, auto parts, etc are located in the 26 industrial clusters which need redevelopment. The redevelopment will facilitate the functioning of the industries and lead to business growth, which will generate more employment and bring more revenue for the government.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy) at Centre for Science and Environment, said: The redevelopment of non-conforming industrial areas can be an opportunity to build appropriate and common infrastructure to address pollution from small and medium scale industries. The government should ensure implementation of clean fuels strategy and stop use of dirty fuels. This can enable improved surveillance of units to ensure that only those units with consent to operate certificates from DPCC can operate.

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A 31-year-old man broke into a jewellery store in Jangpura late on Sunday, burgled it of gold and diamond ornaments worth upwards of 20 crore, hid inside the shop for 15 hours, and then fled on Monday evening, Delhi Police said on Friday, after the suspect was arrested from a village in Chhattisgarh. The main accused Lokesh Srivas (in blue) in the custody of Chhattisgarh Police on Friday. (HT PHOTO)

The police also recovered 18.5kg gold and diamond jewellery and 12.5 lakh cash from the suspect, Lokesh Srivas, and appeared to have cracked an audacious burglary on Umrao Singh Jewellers in Bhogal that left the store owners befuddled and investigators scrounging for clues during the initial leg of the probe.

Srivas appeared to have committed the burglary, said police, who added that they are still trying to ascertain if an insider was involved in helping him plan the theft.

So far, we have not found the role of an insider, but an investigation is underway, he said.

Delhi deputy commissioner of police (south-east) Rajesh Deo said that Srivas, who is a resident of Kabirdham district in Chhattisgarh, was involved in several thefts in his home state.

According to police, the burglar broke into the store minutes before midnight on Sunday by accessing the terrace from an adjoining building. He then broke in by opening a windowpane on the terrace, then disabled the CCTV cameras and alarm systems. He then made his way down to the ground floor, where the shop and its storeroom were located. There, he bored a hole in the strongrooms only concrete wall and wiped it clean.

He hid inside the shop for much of Monday  when the shop was closed  and left in the evening, using the same route he entered from.

Police said their first clue was when CCTV footage from cameras in the neighbourhood showed a person carrying a backpack entering the building adjacent to the jewellery store around 9.45pm on September 24. Both the buildings share the same staircase.

The footage also revealed that the person left the building on Monday evening.

The person was a suspect at the time, but we had no clue about his identity, said a senior police officer.

Their next clue came on Thursday morning when the south-east district police received information from Chhattisgarh Police that they arrested a man, identified as Lokesh Rao, who told them that one of his associates, Srivas, had committed a big crime in Delhi.

We got hold of a photograph of Srivas and it matched with the appearance of the suspect in the CCTV footage, Deo said.

Using technical surveillance, Delhi Police found out that Srivas went to Kashmere Gate bus stand to leave the city on September 25 around 9pm. We found CCTV footage of him buying the bus ticket to Chhattisgarh. A team of Delhi Police then took the Friday morning flight and reached Chhattisgarh around 11am, a police officer said.

Ajay Yadav, inspector general of police (Bilaspur Range), said the Bilaspur district police were already looking for Srivas and his associates for their role in a series of thefts.

Investigators had some information about Srivass presence at Kawardha town in Kabirdham district, added Yadav.

We conducted a raid there on Wednesday and arrested Srivass aide, Shiva Chandravanshi, along with ornaments worth around 23 lakh. But by the time police could reach, Srivas managed to escape by jumping from the window of the house, he said.

Meanwhile, however, the police forces of both states exchanged information on the Jangpura theft.

Later, in a joint operation, police teams from both the states tracked Srivas down to a house in Smritinagar area of Durg district early on Saturday morning.

We recovered 18.5kg gold and diamond jewellery and 12.5 lakh cash from him, Yadav added. Deo said the recovered gold was estimated to be worth upwards of 20 crore belonged to the jewellery store in Delhi, but added that this was yet to be definitely ascertained.

Bilaspur district superintendent of police Santosh Singh said Srivas will be sent to judicial custody.

From there, the Delhi Police will take him on production remand, he said.

The suspect is a part of a larger group that pulled off the burglary in Delhi. Well uncover more details about the heist after his custodial interrogation, said Singh.

The role of an insider can be ascertained only after their interrogation, Deo said.

Further investigation is in progress, he added.

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The 31-year-old burglar who allegedly carried out the dramatic heist in a jewellery store at Bhogal in southeast Delhi had conducted a reconnaissance of the area at least three times, a preliminary probe into the incident found, investigators said on Saturday. A jewel thief broke into the Umrao Singh Jewellers store in Bhogal Market near Jangpura on Sunday night. The suspect was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

A police officer aware of the matter said that they were yet to examine the accused, Lokesh Srivas, at length because the Bilaspur police made the arrest and sought his police custody there. Delhi Police will be given his production remand after the Bilaspur Police have interrogated him in their cases. They have received a three-day custody of Srivas.

This is only preliminary information because he is not in our custody as of now and we havent been able to formally interrogate him, the officer said.

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Also Read: Charge sheet against 11 in daring Delhi tunnel robbery

Police said that Srivas stayed at a guest house in Chandni Chowk identified as Rajdhani Guest House. Apart from conducting a recce on September 21, Srivas had visited the city twice earlier for the same purpose, police said.

He first came to Jangpura on September 9 and stayed in Chandni Chowk till September 12 after which he left for Mathura-Vrindavan. He then returned to Delhi on September 15 and stayed till September 17. He then took a bus to Madhya Pradesh from Kashmere Gate.

His final visit to Delhi was on September 21. He arrived at Sarai Kale Khan at 7.30 and headed to Jangpura around 9.20pm for another recce.

Police also said that when Srivas came to Delhi on September 21, he brought two instruments with hima screwdriver, and a plierwhich he used to carry out the heist at Umrao Singh Jewellers in Bhogal. These apart, he bought a disc cutter from GB Road for 1,300 and a hammer from Chandni Chowk for 100.

It was already established that he entered the building at 9.45pm on September 24 and came out in the evening of September 25 but he made a hole in the wall of the strong room only after 10.30am on September 25 after making sure that no one was entering the shop. Shops remain closed in the area on Mondays. He exited the building late in the evening after a few open shops had shut for the day, the officer added.

Delhi investigators have also found CCTV footage from inside the shop which shows Srivas covering his face with a white cloth and disconnecting CCTV wires.

Srivas was arrested from Kabirdham district in Chhattisgarh on Friday morning in a joint operation by the states police and the Delhi Police. He has multiple cases registered against him in Chhattisgarh. The arrest came after the south-east district police received information from Chhatisgarh Police that they had arrested a man identified as Lokesh Rao who told assistant sub-inspector Shamit Tiwari, who had arrested him, that one of his associates had committed a big crime in Delhi.

Srivas photograph was then obtained from the Chhatisgarh Police which matched the body type and appearance of the suspect from the CCTV obtained here, which showed him entering the building on September 24.

Gold and diamond jewellery worth 20- 25 crore was stolen from the shop and police recovered 18.5kg of jewellery and 12.5 lakh cash from Srivas.

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Three children, who were playing outside their house in West Bengals Bankura district, were killed on Saturday morning after a mud wall collapsed on them early on Saturday morning. (Representative Photo)

The incident took place around 5:30am in the districts Bishnupur village in which three children, aged between three and seven years, were killed, said an officer of Bishnupur police station.

The officer said that the children were rushed to the district hospital after the incident but were declared dead by the doctors before admission.

I heard a loud thud and saw the wall had collapsed. The children were playing there moments ago. I sprinted there only to find that they were all buried under the debris, said an uncle of one of the victims.

The districts in south Bengal have been receiving heavy rainfall since Friday due to a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal. Bankura too received heavy rains throughout the night.

The mud wall, at least five feet in height, may have become weak and unstable due to the rains and collapsed. The children got buried under the debris as they were playing close to it, said the officer.

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AISATS Noida Cargo Terminal Private Limited and its special purpose vehicle (SPV) on Friday performed Bhoomi Pujan for its cutting-edge multi-modal cargo hub at the Noida International Airport coming up in Jewar, said a UP government spokesperson. he cargo terminal is being bult on 37 acres and surpasses any previously constructed terminals in terms of size and capacity, the spokesperson said, adding exports from the entire UP would increase manifold with this project. (HT FIle)

AISATS is a joint venture of Air India and SATS (Singapore Airport Terminal Services). The state-of-the-art multi-modal cargo hub promises to provide smart, seamless, scalable and secure solutions to the Indian air cargo and logistics supply chain sector, said the spokesperson.

The cargo terminal is being bult on 37 acres and surpasses any previously constructed terminals in terms of size and capacity, the spokesperson said, adding exports from the entire UP would increase manifold with this project.

The integrated cargo terminal and logistics park being built at the airport is the dream project of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The facility would also play an important role in linking ASEAN countries and the proposed India-UAE-Europe Economic Corridor, the government said in a statement.

The company had signed two MoUs worth 5,000 crore with the state government at the Global Investors Summit held in February this year. One of them is for integrated cargo liner and the other for a logistics park. In a significant step forward, the company has completed the Bhoomi Pujan for its air cargo project.

In the first phase, the company will invest a total of 1,200 crore, out of which 456 crore has been invested by the company so far. The company is aiming to complete this multi-modal cargo hub in time for the opening of the Noida International Airport. The multi-modal cargo hub is likely to be inaugurated along with the Noida International Airport in 2024. Top officials from AISATS, YIAPL and Tata Projects participated in the Bhoomi Pujan, the spokesperson said.

It will facilitate seamless connectivity between UPs agro market, ODOP, and MSME markets with the global market. This development will enable people from outside the region to conveniently place orders for goods. Moreover, the ASEAN countries will benefit from this and they will also be able to import products from the UP market through air cargo.

In addition, the construction of the economic corridor linking India, UAE, and Europe will deliver substantial benefits. This corridor will play a pivotal role in facilitating Uttar Pradeshs connectivity with both the UAE and Europe. In simple words, the cargo terminal will function as a catalyst for Uttar Pradeshs growth, significantly transforming the states status from being landlocked to experiencing multifaceted development. Its positive impact will extend to neighbouring regions including North India, East India and East Asia.

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar who was set to visit Ghana to attend the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) next week cancelled his tour on Friday following criticism by Sena-UBT MP Sanjay Raut who slammed him for delaying the hearing of Sena MLAs disqualification pleas. HT Image

Raut claimed that Narwekar was not part of the delegation led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to Ghana to attend the CPC. However, he joined the delegation to delay the disqualification hearing of Shinde-led Sena MLAs.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has chalked out a strategy to corner Narwekar for delaying the decision on disqualification of MLAs and will object to the schedule of procedure declared by him. In its submission before the Supreme Court, it will point out how Narwekar is delaying the decision on disqualification and will also cite his Ghana tour.

Thackeray faction on Friday criticised Narwekar for going on Ghana tour to attend the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) and alleged that it is part of politics to delay the decision on disqualification.

In the hearing held on September 18 SC had expressed displeasure over the delay in hearing even after four months of the verdict and announced the next hearing in October. After that and ahead of the next hearing, Speaker Narwekar held the hearing on September 25. But the schedule of procedure declared by him and his Ghana visit will delay the decision on disqualification more. We will bring all these things before SC in the next hearing and are confident that SC will take serious cognizance of the Speakers delay tactics. said the leader of Thackeray faction. As per the schedule finalised by Narwekar, weekly hearings will be conducted and the hearings are likely to continue till mid-January 2024.

On the other hand MLA Aaditya Thackeray on Friday criticised Narwekar. The decision on Maharashtras parliamentary democracy is kept pending and delayed on Speaker Rahul Narvekars table (as tribunal). Done purposely as if to protect an unconstitutional govt that was forced on Maharashtra, a year ago! Ironically, as Speaker Rahul Narwekar, he headed to Ghana for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference on parliamentary democracy. Irony or a joke? What will he speak on or how will he participate in a conference meant to protect and promote parliamentary democracy, while he is ensuring that democracy in Maharashtra (Indias second-largest state) is killed? said Aaditya in a post on X (formerly Twitter). MP Sanjay Raut also slammed Narwekar for going to Ghana and delaying the hearing.

After the controversy erupted over the Ghana tour, Speaker Rahul Narwekar cancelled his plan to go there. An official from the Speakers office confirmed that Narwekar cancelled the Ghana tour. The Ghana tour was on the schedule of the Speaker but he was in two minds over the tour. Now he has dropped the idea to go to Ghana, said the official.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Surendra P Gangan Surendra P Gangan is Senior Assistant Editor with political bureau of Hindustan Times Mumbai Edition. He covers state politics and Maharashtra governments administrative stories. Reports on the developments in finances, agriculture, social sectors among others. ...view detail
News / Local

by Staff reporter

Desperate job seekers face the risk of losing their money to a fraudulent recruitment agency that promises housemaid positions in the Middle East and Europe, potentially entangling them in a human trafficking scheme.Operating from a humble car garage within a residence in Greendale, Harare, and lacking the necessary government registration, Participatory Approaches Consulting Services (PACS) is advertising opportunities for Zimbabweans willing to work in Qatar.Undercover investigations conducted by our Harare Bureau have revealed that this organization operates without proper registration, bypassing essential legal processes and procedures.In a clandestine interview, a representative at the PACS office indicated that they were seeking 100 individuals to depart for Qatar by mid-October, with each applicant required to pay a $600 administration fee."We are seeking individuals aged between 20 and 32 with a background in cleaning. They are expected to depart as early as mid-October, and we require a CV tailored to cleaning, a valid passport, and an O-level certificate as proof of education," he explained."Once your documentation is in order, you will be scheduled for an interview. While our clients provide the visas, applicants are required to pay $500 for administration fees and $70 for a medical examination. Successful candidates will receive a monthly salary of $357 and are required to sign a two-year contract."They will also receive transportation allowances and health insurance. Additionally, we facilitate opportunities for engineers to Ireland and internships in Europe for a fee of $1,300."Maureen Dhliwayo, the director for employment services and promotion at the Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare, revealed that PACS was not registered as a legitimate recruiting agent, as they failed to present the required documentation."The representative from PACS came with a letter on the 21st of this month, and the letter contained a signature on the back of the paper with no corresponding text, which is not the correct format. They were unable to provide the necessary clearance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, which authorizes them to recruit individuals for foreign employment," she stated."They also could not supply the names of companies seeking workers, which is vital for us to verify the legitimacy of the job offers."Ms. Dhliwayo encouraged the public to consult her office for verification of overseas employment opportunities.Zimbabwe has witnessed a surge in human trafficking cases, with 139 individuals known to have fallen victim to this criminal enterprise while seeking employment abroad.Last year, the country experienced a rise in cases of both local and transnational human trafficking. Investigations uncovered 69 cases of human trafficking, involving 139 victims. Seven Zimbabweans were arrested on charges of human trafficking, with four of them connected to cases in Oman, and three related to domestic trafficking.Most human trafficking victims were lured through social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook groups, enticed by promising employment prospects, only to find themselves in de facto slavery upon arriving in the countries where these "jobs" were offered.This dire situation came to light in 2016, prompting the government to initiate a comprehensive investigation and rescue operation.It was also revealed last year that numerous women were trafficked to Oman to work as domestic workers under harsh conditions, including receiving meager monthly salaries ranging from $60 to $80.
After relative calm during the day, protests against the killing of two Meitei students who had gone missing in July rocked Manipur capital Imphal on Friday evening and went on late into the night. State police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) fired tear gas shells and smoke bombs to disperse the protesters (File Photo)

On Friday night around 11pm, protesters allegedly tried to attack the residence of L Susindro, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and state minister for physical health engineering and consumer affairs, located at Khurai Sajor Leikai in Imphal East district.

Videos of the incident circulating on social media showed a heavy presence of security forces, including state police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) firing tear gas shells and smoke bombs to disperse the protesters.

HT couldnt independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

Theres no clarity on how many people were injured in the incident and whether the minister was present at his residence when it occurred. Police officials in Imphal didnt respond to calls and messages till Friday morning to give an update on the situation on the ground. Unofficial reports say the situation was brought under control past midnight.

This is not the first time Susindro has been targeted. In June, a mob had torched a private go-down belonging to the minister located at Chingarel Tezpur.

The Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley has been witnessing since Tuesday after photos of two students, a 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl, who were reportedly killed, surfaced on Monday.

Luwangbi Linthoingambi Hijam (17) and the Phijam Hemanjit (20), both residents of Imphal, were last seen together on July 6. Manipur Police said an initial probe revealed that the missing duo may have gotten trapped in an area dominated by the Kuki community while fleeing, after which they were allegedly abducted and murdered. Their bodies are yet to be found.

The protests had led the state government to suspend mobile internet services for five days till October 1, shut down schools till September 29 and curtail curfew restrictions in Imphal East, Imphal West and Bishnupurall districts in Imphal Valley.

But despite restrictions, protesters have come out and clashed with police and security forces at various places and even tried to storm the ancestral home of chief minster N Biren Singh on Thursday night.

On Thursday night, a mob of around 500 people attempted to storm CM N Biren Singhs vacant, ancestral home in Imphals Heingang locality, a day after an attempt was made to vandalise the residence of state BJP chief A Sharda Devi in Imphal.

More than 50 people, including students, have sustained injuries in tear gas shelling, baton charge and firing of smoke guns. At least two students have sustained serious injuries from pellet guns, one on his head and another on his right shoulder.

On Thursday afternoon, a meeting of all top officials of paramilitary forces and Manipur Police was held against the backdrop of allegations by civil society groups that security forces were using excessive force.

Manipur Police said in a statement that while the forces met to discuss the law and order situation, the officers were also apprised of the injuries of students as well as security personnel. The forces discussed to use minimum force in dealing with the public, especially students, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the administration on Saturday relaxed the curfew in Imphal West from 5am to 2pm to facilitate the general public to purchase essential items including medicines and food items.

An order issued by N Johnson Meetei, additional district magistrate of Imphal West district, stated that the relaxation shall not include any gathering/sit-in protest, rally etc. without obtaining approval through competent authority. Essential services like health, electricity, petrol pumps, media, courts and movement of passengers to and from the airport have been exempted from the purview of the curfew.

Similar relaxation in curfew was also announced for Imphal East district.

Since the violence first erupted on May 3, more than 180 people have been killed and over 50,000 have fled their homes in Manipur.

More than half the states population of 3.2 million belongs to the Meitei community, while the Kuki community, who make up about 43%, live mostly in the hills.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Utpal Parashar Utpal is a Senior Assistant Editor based in Guwahati. He covers seven states of North-East India and heads the editorial team for the region. He was previously based in Kathmandu, Dehradun and Delhi with Hindustan Times. ...view detail
A 10-year-old boy, Naitik, was attacked and killed by a leopard in Shahpur Jamal village, in district Bijnor, on Thursday. For representation only (HT File Photo)

This was the 16th human killing in the district in the past nine months in a leopard attack, and angry people came out on the streets in protest, demanding security from the frequent attacks of leopards.

On Thursday evening, the Naitik was returning home after buying groceries from a nearby shop. He was passing through a path between sugarcane fields when the leopard hiding inside attacked and killed him, said a forest official.

Villagers rushed towards the spot after hearing the boys screams but could not save him.

His death led to a hue and cry among villagers who tried to jam the road with the boys body. They were persuaded by the police and forest officials and the body was sent for a post-mortem examination.

A veterinary doctor was also included in the panel of doctors for the post-mortem examination on the request of the forest department. The boys spinal cord was found broken at two points and claw wounds were found on his neck.

Sub divisional officer of the forest department, Gyan Singh, said that teams have been activated in the area to monitor the movement of the animal and a cage has been placed near the spot of incident to trap the animal.

He said that three animals were trapped from the area in the past few months and the trapped animals were sent to Lucknow zoo and other places.

He said that an advisory has been issued to villages not to send children outside alone in the area close to the jungle of Amangarh Tiger Reserve. Villagers have been asked to move in groups, carry torches and wooden staffs along with them and avoid going alone to collect fodder.

The incidence of attacks could be reduced if people follow the advisory issued to them, said Singh and claimed that the forest department was doing its best to reduce such incidents.

He claimed that more than 40 animals have been rescued in the district in the past few months which is a record and every possible effort is being made to resolve the issue. He admitted that an estimated population of over 400 leopards reside in the district and a majority of them have made sugarcane fields their hideout where they are breeding and kept staying.

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The Gujarat police on Friday detained at least 30 people in the wake of a communal clash that took place between two groups in Gujarats Narmada district, people familiar with the matter said.. Stone pelting during Shaurya Jagran Yatra of in Gujarats Narmada (Twitter/ video screengrab)

Police said the clash took place during a procession of Shaurya Jagran Yatra organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. It was passing through a neighbourhood primarily inhabited by the minority community in Selamba town, added police.

Police said that the incident has left several people injured.

Narmada superintendent of police (SP) Prashant Sumbe said on Friday morning, the Shaurya Yatra procession was passing by a mosque in Selamba when people at the mosque requested to run down the music.

This led to an argument between the two groups and some individuals, who were not affiliated with either side, began throwing stones from behind.

The situation quickly escalated beyond control, prompting the police to resort to lathi charge and lob tear gas shells to disperse the crowd, SP Sumbe said.

At least thirty people have been apprehended from both sides, and legal action will be taken against them. About 15 to 17 individuals, including four to five policemen, sustained injuries in the violence. Fortunately, none of the injuries are severe. The situation is now under control, added the SP.

Sumbe said an investigation into the incident has been launched, and a first information report will be filed soon.

Meanwhile, speaking to media persons, Yatra organisers claimed that the other group (Muslims) damaged their chariot.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Chaitar Vasava, who quickly arrived at the scene, urged the people to remain calm and peaceful. He also requested the police to take strong action against those responsible.

The VHP has applied for special permission to conduct the yatra, which was intended to span from Kuyida village to Selamba.

The Bajrang Dal and the VHP are organising nationwide Shourya Jagran Yatra in different districts from September 28 to October 10.

The main objective of the yatra, coinciding with completion of its 60 years, is to make people aware of the need to see the larger design behind alleged attacks on Sanatan Dharm and Hindu culture, and the invitation for the Ayodhya Ram Temple in January.

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A district court in Rajasthans Deeg on Saturday rejected the bail petition of cow vigilante and double murder accused Monu Manesar filed by his lawyer LN Parasar, following which the family members of the accused said that they would move the Rajasthan high court to file an appeal. Monu Manesar was detained by the Haryana police on September 12 and later arrested by Rajasthan in connection with the double murder of two Muslim (File Photo)

Advocate Parasar on Saturday filed a bail appeal in Kaman court after the completion of Manesars 15-day judicial custody.

The family also said that they would approach the Supreme Court requesting a transfer of his case from Rajasthan to any other state, expressing doubts over the life threat to Manesar after he was shifted from Bharatpur Central Jail Sewar to Ajmer jail on September 22.

Manesar, 28, a Bajrang Dal member, was detained by the Haryana police on September 12 and later arrested by Rajasthan in connection with the double murder of two Muslim men in Haryanas Bhiwani on September 14. The next day, he was produced before the Kaman court which sent him to 15-day judicial custody.

Also Read: Haryana police to bring Monu Manesar from Rajasthan on Oct 7, gets fresh production warrant

Two Muslim men  Junaid, 35, and Nasir, 25  were allegedly abducted, assaulted, killed and their bodies burned by alleged cow protection gangs on February 16, their charred bodies were found in a car in Haryanas Bhiwani district.

Manesar has been charged under under sections 302, 368, 201, 147,148, 149, 435, 364, 365 387, 388 and 120 B in the Indian Penal Code.

He was arrested based on the complaint filed by a family member of the victims on February 16 in Gopalgarh police station against five people, including Manesar.

The family members of the victims Junaid and Nasir  natives of village Ghatmika in Deeg district, have demanded the death penalty for Manesar.

Bharatpur police have already arrested three accused- Rinku Saini, native of Ferozepur Jhirka on February 17, Monu alias Gogi and Narendra alias Monu Rana, native of Bhiwani (Haryana) on April 18, who were enrolled in a list of eight accused, released by police.

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Pune Samant, while speaking in Pune on Saturday said that Shinde had been instrumental in bringing about good investments in Maharashtra, which is the leading state in the country in terms of attracting investors. (HT PHOTO)

Amid criticism by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray over various foreign tours on cards by ministers, Industries Minister Uday Samant on Saturday came to the defence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who cancelled his UK and Germany trip.

Earlier in the day, Thackeray had alleged that CM Shinde was going to London, Germany. He was going to Germany to see the highway. I asked him - what would you do here? When asked about the agenda of his tour, the Chief Minister cancelled the tour within 30 minutes.

Thackeray, while slamming the Shinde government over foreign tours, wanted to know why industries minister Uday Samant was going to Davos four months ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) there. Thackeray also said deputy chairperson of the Legislative Council Neelam Gorhe led a 50-member delegation on a study tour abroad.

What research was conducted during this tour? Farmers are suffering here, and money is being squandered in this way, Thackeray alleged.

Samant, while speaking in Pune on Saturday said that Shinde had been instrumental in bringing about good investments in Maharashtra, which is the leading state in the country in terms of attracting investors.

CM Shinde has postponed his foreign tour because of the cloudburst occurrence in Nagpur, as well as current agitations in the state. Reports of him cancelling the tour due to someones tweet are absurd, Samant said.

Samant further said that he will be going to London with cabinet colleague Sudhir Mungantiwar to bring back tiger claws.

I will remain present for the tiger claw MOU function, the minister said.

He further stated, Aditya Thackeray held a press conference this morning. He asked questions about my visit as well as the agreements and investments made in Davos. I am addressing the press conference to counter the false news being spread in society.

On his proposed Davos visit, Samant said the government signed MoUs worth 80,000 crores in 2022. A total of 19 agreements were signed in 2023 and contracts worth 1.37 lakh crore have been signed and 70 per cent of the work has been completed, Samant noted.

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PUNE: Many citizens expressed anguish at the loud noise as police turned a blind eye to the issue. (HT PHOTO)

Even as several Ganesh Mandals violated prescribed noise levels by playing up DJs during the 10-day Ganeshotstav and the annual immersion procession, no police case was filed till Saturday evening.

Pune Police Commissioner Retesh Kumaarr said, We are analysing the data of noise pollution which we have recorded during the immersion procession. After that, we will take necessary actions against those who are found violating sound pollution-related norms.

Data collected by the College of Engineering Pune, Technical University (COEP) in the city on Ganesh Visarjan day revealed that noise levels at many places were far more than the prescribed limit during immersion procession on Thursday. At Khaduji Baba Chowk, noise levels were recorded as the highest in Pune at 129.8 decibels (dB), while the lowest noise level was recorded at the same place at 49 dB in the early morning hours.

Many citizens expressed anguish at the loud noise as police turned a blind eye to the issue.

Citizen Ramesh Diwan said, I am fond of the Ganesh Festival, but for the last five years, I have stopped participating. Politicians are promoting unacceptable things with the festival losing its charm.

Many citizens took to social media to express their disappointment that despite making complaints with police, no action was taken.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Mayor Ankush Kakade said, The problem is that the government is responsible for this. If Chief Minister Eknath Shinde himself has said that no restrictions for the festival, such violations are bound to happen. Once the higher authorities announced it, police are reluctant to take action.

Kakade blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) for being responsible for this nuisance.

If the police used to take action, these parties staged agitations and blamed that the restrictions are only for Hindu festivals.

BJP leader Sandeep Khardekar said, We are going to write Chief Minister about this, as the very high noise levels are hazardous to the health of common citizens. Even the common man is going away from these festivals due to all these things.

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Pune The clinic is organised by Symbiosis Law Schools Community Legal Care and Literacy Cell in collaboration with the District Legal Service Authority (DLSA). (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

The recently established legal aid clinic at the Regional Mental Hospital in Yerawada is assisting mental hospital inmates by contributing to patient rights, capacity building, and awareness.

The clinic is organised by Symbiosis Law Schools Community Legal Care and Literacy Cell in collaboration with the District Legal Service Authority (DLSA) and focuses on a debate on mental health law and its accompanying problems.

To facilitate legal help, the Symbiosis Law School along with DLSA joined hands to create legal awareness and provide assistance with litigation, and mental awareness.

The legal aid clinic was inaugurated on September 21 in the presence of Sunil Patil, superintendent, Regional Mental Hospital at Yerwada, Pune. Prof (Dr) Shashikala Gurpur outlined the scope and objectives of the legal aid clinic at the regional mental health hospital.

She emphasised that the clinic would provide legal assistance for various matters, including property disputes and family and matrimonial disputes.

Through the establishment of a legal aid clinic within the Regional Mental Hospital, Pune, we are on a mission to provide access to justice to patients and their families on their journey to recovery. Through pre-litigation and litigation- counselling, mediation, legal awareness activities, workshops, and rehabilitation-related support, our team shall ensure that individuals facing mental health challenges not only receive the care they deserve but also gain a deep understanding of their legal rights. Were committed to providing holistic assistance, from emotional well-being to legal support, as we serve them to experience their right to a better quality of life as a right-bearing citizen, Gurpur said.

Dr Girija Mahale, head of the Symbiosis Centre for Emotional Wellness, Symbiosis International (Deemed University) discussed the importance of mental health in the legal field. Dr Mahale asserted that mental health is a fundamental right available to every citizen and encouraged a more inclusive approach to this issue.

Dr. Harinakshi Gosavi, senior psychiatrist at Regional Mental Hospital at Yerwada said, The OPD within the ambit of district legal aid would provide speedy and efficient legal advice to all in need.

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In a major setback to the state governments ambitious initiative to provide free treatment, screening and diagnostics tests at public hospitals across Maharashtra, thousands of patients visiting the Aundh district hospital, Pune have to still pay for diagnostics screening tests. Aundh district hospital campus. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

As per the state government resolution issued on August 12 this year, free treatment, screening and diagnostics tests are available for all at public health hospitals from August 15. However, even after one-and-half months, the patients visiting Aundh district hospital have to pay thousands of rupees for tests like MRI and CT scans.

In reality, thousands of patients visiting the Aundh district hospital have just received free consultation and treatment which costs a meagre amount. Other tests like sonography, X-ray, 2d echo tests since a while are provided free of cost at the hospital. However, expensive tests like CT scans and MRIs which cost thousands of rupees are not yet free.

Dr Nagnath Yempalay, district civil surgeon, said, the screening facilities that the hospital has are provided free of cost to the patients. However, diagnostic facilities like CT scans and MRIs are not yet free at the hospital as the facility is owned by a private player.

I had taken up the issue in the recent meeting and the work to start free screening facilities like MRI and CT Scan will start soon. A new agency has been appointed by the state government which will provide the diagnostic tests free of cost at government hospitals. At Aundh district hospital the facility will be made available soon and even the tender process is completed by the government, he said.

Sharad Shetty, health activist, said, the private agency which was appointed by the state government in the past has a screening centre inside the hospital that provides the screening tests but the patients have to pay for it.

This agency has been asked to leave the premises but is still there on the campus. The government should start their own setup for the CT scan and MRI tests as it is expensive. Waving off fees for nominal charges like hospitalization and case papers means nothing when the patients have to pay for the expensive tests, he said.

Sandeep Jagdale, a patients relative, said it was surprising when I learned that we have to pay for the MRI at the hospital.

We had to pay around 3,500 for my uncles tests and it was shocking. The government on Independence Day declared all treatment and diagnostics facilities are free but the patients have to still pay. However, the case paper was free, which earlier cost 10, he said.

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Karnataka Examinations Authority, KEA will close the registration process for KSET 2023 on September 30, 2023. Candidates who want to apply for Karnataka State Eligibility Test can do it through the official site of KEA at kea.kar.nic.in. KSET 2023: Karnataka SET registration ends today, apply at kea.kar.nic.in

The last date to pay examination fees is till October 3, 2023. The examination will be conducted on November 26, 2023.

Candidates who have secured at least 55% of marks (without rounding off) for general category and 50% for Schedule Category (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST),Persons with Disability (PWD), Transgender, OBCs i.e., Cat-I, IIA, IIB, IIIA and IIIB, in Masters Degree OR equivalent examination from universities / institutions recognized by UGC New Delhi can apply for the examination.

KSET 2023: How to apply

To apply for the exam, follow the steps given below.

Visit the official site of KEA at kea.kar.nic.in.

Click on KSET 2023 link available on the home page.

A new page will open where candidates will have to register themselves.

Once done, click on submit.

Login to the account and fill the application form.

Make the payment of application fees and click on submit.

Download the page and keep a hard copy of the same for further need.

Candidates who qualify the KSET - 2023 are governed by the recruitment rules and regulations stipulated for the post of Assistant Professors of concerned Universities / Colleges / Institutions (Government/ Aided /Private) of Karnataka State.

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Sharing the advertisement on his official X handle (formerly Twitter), the German Ambassador wrote, Dear Indian parents - I found this in todays newspaper. But this building is no boarding school! It is the seat of the German President in Berlin. Our Rashtrapati Bhavan as it were. There are good boarding schools also in Germany - but here, no child will be admitted. Bellevue Palace, seat of the German President in Berlin (Tobiasi0/Wikimedia Commons).(Tobiasi0/Wikimedia Commons)

The advertisement featured the 20th Edition of Premier Schools Exhibition to be conducted in New Delhi.

The tweet went viral with over 147k views and garnered mixed reactions.

Thank God they didn't advertise Schloss Neuschweinstein as Indian Hogwarts. :-) posted an X user.

In a series of events the German Ambassador to India and Bhutan, Dr Philipp Ackermann reacted to a wrong image of the seat of the German President in Berlin being used in a newspaper advertisement.

The newspaper ad which reads, Mega gathering of Indias Leading Boarding Schools Right Here in Delhi used the image of the seat of the German president.

While some laughed it out, some have also thanked the German Ambassador for bringing this to public attention.

We'd like to clarify that the image used in our advertisement was sourced from Shutterstock, a reputable stock image platform. As per Shutterstock's guidelines, paid subscribers can use their images for creative representation, advertisements, and other specified uses. The intent behind using this image was to depict a conceptual representation of a heritage boarding school and create a specific visual perception for our audience. Admittedly, we should have been more discerning about the background of the image. We sincerely regret any confusion or inconvenience this might have caused, said the organiser of the event who also instructed the image to be taken off from promotions as soon as possible.

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News / Local

by Staff reporter

Bornface Mudzingwa of Bikita East and Leopold Mudisi of Zvishavane-Ngezi, both candidates representing the CCC, have submitted petitions to the High Court in Masvingo challenging the election results. In these results, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commissioner (ZEC) declared them as losers to their Zanu PF opponents. It's worth noting that these two candidates have already paid the substantial court fees amounting to US$2,000, which many consider as discouragingly high. The court will schedule hearings for these petitions at their discretion.According to the official results released by ZEC, Mudisi narrowly lost to Zanu PF's Mecky Jaravaza by a margin of just 517 votes (11,607 to 12,124). Meanwhile, Mudzingwa lost to Court Zevezai by a wider margin of 2,336 votes (7,544 votes to 9,880 votes).Of particular significance in Mudisi's case is the existence of a video showing alleged intimidation by Jaravaza in Ward 19. Coincidentally, Mudisi received only 10 votes in the same Ward, compared to Jaravaza's 570 votes. Mudisi seems to attribute his overall loss of 517 votes to the situation in Ward 19.Both petitioners assert that their opponents were not legitimately elected and are seeking court orders to either invalidate the electoral process entirely or to declare themselves as the rightful winners of the election.These two petitions are the first reported instances stemming from the 2023 harmonized elections that occurred on August 23, 2023. This represents a marked decrease in the number of petitions compared to previous years. The CCC has expressed a lack of confidence in the judiciary, accusing it of being influenced by external forces.In both court cases, there are two respondents: the Zanu PF candidates and ZEC. Both candidates argue that the election results should be nullified due to allegations of irregularities and unfairness. They plan to present videos and other evidence in court.In the videos, Jaravaza is alleged to have informed villagers about the voting procedures to be followed at polling stations. He reportedly stated that their names would be recorded outside polling stations, and they would be assigned numbers that would correspond to those inside the polling stations. He allegedly claimed that Zanu PF would be able to trace their votes using these numbers.According to the petitioner, the villagers subsequently found that Jaravaza's instructions were indeed being followed at the polling stations. Jaravaza allegedly warned the villagers not to attempt to vote for CCC, suggesting that they would be caught if they did so.Mudzingwa alleges that his opponent, Zevezai, used various tactics such as intimidation, violence, vote buying, voter suppression, disenfranchisement, and threats to coerce villagers into voting for Zanu PF. He also claims that there were issues with the voter's roll. Additionally, he alleges that Zanu PF violated the law by campaigning up to and on the election day, both inside and near polling stations, in contravention of election regulations.Furthermore, Mudzingwa asserts that a shadowy organization allegedly linked to the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) had a presence at polling stations and within 300 meters of the stations, which is prohibited by law. He identifies certain individuals as perpetrators of violence in his petition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, accusing it of blocking Centre's development projects meant for the state.



It is my guarantee that your dreams are my resolution... Your dreams will be fulfilled only when there is a BJP government here. No matter how many efforts we make from Delhi, the Congress here fails those efforts. In the last five years, Chhattisgarh got thousands of crores of rupees here. Roads, rail, electricity, and various other development projects, we did not keep any scarcity of money for the state, Modi told party workers at the Parivartan Maha Sankalp rally in the poll-bound state's Bilaspur.



Chhattisgarh assembly election 2023: Full coverage Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a rally in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur. (X/PTI)

The prime minister accused the Congress government of corruption. Congress committed corruption in liquor; didn't even spare cow dung. Congress government in Chhattisgarh also committed corruption in ration given under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, he said.



During the rally, the prime minister invoked Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister TS Singh Deo's remark in which the latter claimed the Centre showed no bias to the Congress-ruled state when it came to development works.



Deputy CM said this is a public gathering... In public life, realities cannot be hidden. If the Deputy CM says that Delhi does no injustice, this should have been a matter of happiness for all, but Congress had a hurricane. The Indian government approved infrastructure in Chhattisgarh projects worth thousands of crores. They are either halted or delayed, Modi added.



No matter how much I try to deliver (development) from Delhi, the Congress government here (in Chhattisgarh) always make sure that it doesn't reach to you, he said.



Change is finalised in Chhattisgarh. The excitement seen here is the declaration of change. People of Chhattisgarh have decided to not tolerate Congress' atrocities anymore, PM Modi said, sharpening his attack on the Congress government in the state.



Chhattisgarh along with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram goes to polls at the end of this year. The Congress had swept the 2018 polls, trouncing the ruling BJP in the state.

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Rahul Gandhi of the Congress on Saturday launched a scathing on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, alleging that the state is an epicentre of corruption in the country. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi being welcomed by Madhya Pradesh party chief Kamal Nath and others on his arrival at the airport in Indore on Saturday. (ANI Photo)

"Scams like Vyapam have rocked the state. MBBS degrees are being sold, exam papers are being leaked and sold, and (there is corruption) in the construction of Mahakal Lok corridor, among others," he said.

Participating in the Congresss Jan Aakrosh Yatra in Shajapur, Gandhi claimed that his party was fighting against the ideologies of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP. On one side, there is the Congress party and on the other side, there is the RSS and the BJP. Ek taraf Gandhi hain aur ek taraf Godse hain (On one side, there is Mahatma Gandhi and on the other, there is Godse)," Gandhi said.

On one side there is hatred and violence and on the other side, there is love, respect and brotherhood. Wherever they (BJP) go, they spread hatred but now the youth and farmers of Madhya Pradesh have started hating them, he added.

He claimed that 18,000 farmers have committed suicide in the last 18 years. "It means that three farmers end their lives every day in the state," he alleged.

"The Madhya Pradesh government is not giving the right price to the farmers for their crops. Go and ask the farmers of Chhattisgarh how much money they get for the paddy crop. What we promised, we completed it. For the first time in the history of India, farmers are paying taxes. They implemented GST... Our government works for the poor and farmers..."

Speaking on the recently passed Women's Reservation Bill, Gandhi asked why was there no OBC reservation in the act.

"When I ask the question how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, generals are there in the country, no one is able to answer it... After forming the government at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct caste census...," the Congress MP said at the rally.

He claimed that the country was being run by only 90 officers, including the cabinet secretary and secretaries, while the BJP MPs and MLAs had no role in framing policies and laws in the country.

The RSS and bureaucrats are framing laws instead of elected BJP members, Gandhi alleged.

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Actor Aishwarya Rai and her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan flew out of Mumbai on Saturday night. Taking to Instagram, a paparazzo account posted a video of the duo at the airport heading towards the terminal building. (Also Read | Aaradhya Bachchan greets paparazzi with namaste as she returns to Mumbai with Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. Watch) Aishwarya Rai and Aaradhya Bachchan at the Mumbai airport,

Aishwarya and Aaradhya seen at Mumbai airport

As they got out of their car, the paparazzi asked Aishwarya to pose for pictures. She smiled at the paparazzi while posing briefly. Aishwarya held Aaradhya's hand tightly as the mother-daughter duo walked. Before entering the airport, Aishwarya posed for pictures and said, "Take care. God bless." She also waved at them.

Aishwarya and Aaradhya travelled in casual outfits

For the travel, Aishwarya wore a black sweater, matching pants and shoes. She also carried a coat and a bag. Aaradhya Bachchan wore a blue sweater, black pants and shoes. She also had a backpack.

Last week, Aishwarya and Aaradhya visited businessman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani-hosted Ganesh Chaturthi get-together at their residence in Antilia. Both of them wore traditional outfits.

In July, this year Aishwarya and Aaradhya took a trip together. After returning, the family was spotted at the airport. Aaradhya had greeted the paparazzi with folded hands and 'namaste (hello)'. Before getting inside their vehicle, Aaradhya looked at the paparazzi and mouthed 'hi'. Aishwarya had also said, "Namaste, kaese ho (Hello, how are you)?" Abhishek smiled at the paparazzi as he closed the car door after Aishwarya Rai stepped inside. He then posed with a fan before leaving the airport with his family.

Aishwarya's film

Fans saw Aishwarya last in Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan 2. It is the sequel to the 2022 film Ponniyin Selvan 1. Besides Aishwarya, Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prakash Raj, Jayaram, Prabhu, R Sarathkumar, Parthiban, and Vikram Prabhu reprise their roles.

The second instalment of the epic drama narrates the story of the Chola Dynasty. The film is an adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy's five-part novel series of the same name.

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California police showed up at the editing suite of Steve Forn, the editor of Kevin Greutert's horror movie Saw X. In an interview with NME, the filmmaker revealed a hilarious incident when Steve's neighbours complained to the police that someone is being tortured to death after hearing a lot of screams from the next door. (Also Read: Saw X review round-up: Horror franchise's new offering is a treat for loyal fans) The police showed up to Saw X editor's place after the neighbours complained

What actually happened

There was a knock at the door. We have the doorbell (camera) video of the police walking up, (Forn answering the door) and the police saying, The neighbours (have been) calling and saying someones being tortured to death in here. And he was like, Actually, Im just working on a movie You can come in and see it if you want? The cops started laughing! They said, We want to but, you know, youre all right,'" Kevin narrated in the interview.

He also added that it's an even funnier incident given Steve's soft-mannered nature. He added, Its a pretty funny storyPlus Steve is such a mild mannered guy. I can only imagine the look on his face when he realised what was happening!

Steve was editing the eye vacuum trap scene, in which a character must escape Jigsaw or risk losing their eyesight. His editing suite was situated in North Hollywood.

About Saw X

Saw X is the 10th instalment in the horror franchise that started in 2004. It is the direct sequel to the first instalment, but a prequel to Saw II, which released in 2005. It is written by Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger. Tobin Bell reprises his role of John Kramer in this part as well. The film was released by Lionsgate Pictures this week on September 29.

Saw X received largely positive reviews, as international publications hailed it as one of the most effective films of the franchise. They claimed it's a treat for the loyal fans of the Saw series. However, the Variety review pointed out how the film can get excessively gory at particular points. It stated, Tobin Bell, with his stare of pitiless wisdom, is also a draw, but Saw X raises the issue of how much of John Kramers hand-wringing is too much.

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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
Filmmaker Vignesh Shivan has shared several unseen photos with his wife-actor Nayanthara and expressed his love for her. Taking to Instagram, Vignesh posted the pictures in which Nayanthara held him as he smiled. They launched her new brand 9Skin.in on Friday. (Also Read | Vignesh Shivan, Nayanthara can't stop smiling as they hold twins Uyir, Ulag; celebrate birthday with forest-themed cakes) Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan pose together in new photos.

Vignesh and Nayanthara's new pics

In the pictures, Vignesh wore a black shirt and maroon pants. Nayanthara opted for a green T-shirt and black tights. They sat on a couch and shared special moments. In the photos, Nayanthara couldn't take her eyes off Vignesh which made him blush. Both of them laughed as they sat in front of the camera.

Vignesh pens note

Sharing the pictures, Vignesh wrote, "We have a strategic plan and its called doing things! Big love to my hustle partner, my life partner and my business partner! Love you my thangam @nayanthara. God told me that .. all the blessings shall continue for us, so with that confidence, lets keep working very hard towards achieving all our dreams!!"

He also wrote, "Stepping into a new world and it looks good already!" He geo-tagged the location Kuala Lumpur. Re-sharing the post on her Instagram Stories, Nayanthara wrote, "Thank you for being you!! Love you (red heart emojis)."

Nayanthara re-shared the post on her Instagram Stories.

Nayanthara and Vignesh's kids

Recently, Nayanthara and Vignesh celebrated their twin Uyir and Ulags first birthday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sharing a photo, on Instagram, of the family celebrating the birthday, he wrote, That was a dreamy birthday. Nayanthara and Vignesh married in Chennai on June 9, 2022. It was an intimate wedding with only their close friends and select guests, including Shah Rukh Khan, AR Rahman, Suriya, and Rajinikanth, in attendance.

About Nayanthara and Vignesh

Last year, the couple welcomed their sons via surrogacy. The news was shared by Vignesh on his Instagram handle where he shared pictures of the twins. In the images, Nayanthara and Vignesh kissed the feet of their babies.

He had captioned the post, "Nayan and Me have become Amma and Appa. We are blessed with Twin Baby Boys. All Our prayers, and our ancestors' blessings combined with all the good manifestations made, have come 2gethr in the form Of 2 blessed babies for us. Need all your blessings for our Uyir and Ulagam. Life looks brighter and more beautiful. God is double great."

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After the Information and Broadcasting ministry ordered an immediate inquiry into actor Vishals allegation that he had to pay 6.5 lakh to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for the certification of the Hindi version of his Tamil film Mark Antony, the Tamil star on Saturday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and MIB for taking necessary steps. (Also Read: Ashoke Pandit demands CBI inquiry into Vishal's allegations of bribery at CBFC; ministry orders probe) Vishal recently addressed corruption in the CBFC

I sincerely thank @MIB_India for taking immediate steps on this important matter pertaining to corruption issue in #CBFC Mumbai. Thank you very much for the necessary action taken and definitely hoping for this to be an example for every government official who intends to or is part of corruption and to take the honest route to serve the nation and not the steps of corruption, he posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Vishal said the governments necessary steps have brought a sense of satisfaction to a common man like me.

I once again thank my Prime Minister @narendramodi and Maharastra CM @mieknathshinde and everyone involved in brining out this initiative immediately. It brings a sense of satisfaction to a common man like me and others that justice will be served to people who are victims of corruption, Jai-Hind, he added.

Vishal publicly accused officials at the Indian film certification body.

In a Twitter post, Vishal wrote, #Corruption being shown on silver screen is fine. But not in real life. Cant digest. Especially in govt offices. And even worse happening in #CBFC Mumbai office. Had to pay 6.5 lacs for my film #MarkAntony Hindi version. 2 transactions. 3 Lakhs for screening and 3.5 Lakhs for certificate.

Appealing to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the matter, he added, Doing this is not for me but for future producers. NOT HAPPENING. My hard earned money gone for corruption ??? No way. Evidence down for all to hear. Hope truth prevails as always. GB.

A few hours later, the information and broadcasting ministry said senior officials had been deputed to probe further on the unfortunate issue of corruption brought forth by actor Vishal.

The Government has zero tolerance for corruption and the strictest action will be taken against anyone found involved, said the I&B Ministrys statement.

On Friday, CBFC also reacted to the issue, assuring that strict action will be taken against those found guilty. On the other hand, the board also made it clear that any attempt to tarnish its image will not be tolerated.

The statement read, It has been noticed that despite the online certification system i.e. E-Cinepramaan in place and regular updates on new system improvements for the film producers/applicants, they still choose to apply through intermediaries or agents. This goes against the objective of eliminating third-party involvement in the certification process.

With the implementation of aggressive digitisation, complete process automation, and emphasis on minimal human intervention, the interference of intermediaries/agents has come down significantly however, the practice still exists in some regions, which is defeating the purpose of transparency and smooth functioning of the certification process.

Please do not deal with any intermediary or third-party agent. The producers/filmmakers are further cautioned that they should not encourage any third-party agents/ intermediaries. On the contrary, if any third party is claiming they represent CBFC and are demanding any sum of amount, please report it immediately to CBFC at ceo.cbfc@nic.in, romum.cbfc@nic.in. However, we have taken note of the allegations being reported very seriously and CBFC has zero tolerance for corruption. Also, the strictest action will be taken against anyone found involved and we shall get into the root cause. Meanwhile, any attempt to malign the image of CBFC will not be tolerated, it further stated.

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The Afghan embassy in New Delhi will cease operations from October 1 because of a significant reduction in personnel and resources and a lack of support from the Indian government, diplomats appointed by the previous Afghan government announced on Sunday. There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the development.

The diplomats earlier informed the external affairs ministry of their plans to shutter the embassy through a note verbale, or unsigned diplomatic correspondence, sent on September 25. In a statement issued on Saturday, the diplomats acknowledged shortcomings in serving the interests of Afghanistan and its citizens due to the absence of a legitimate functioning government in Kabul.

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Referring to announcements by the Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad to continue their operations, the statement said any actions taken by these missions are not in consonance with the objectives of a legitimate or elected government and rather serve the interests of an illegitimate regime.

While the consuls general in Mumbai and Hyderabad were appointed by the Ashraf Ghani government that was ousted by the Taliban in mid-2021, reports have emerged  including posts on X by a Taliban spokesperson  that they have both been working with the regime in Kabul for several months.

There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the development. People familiar with the matter on the Indian side earlier said on condition of anonymity that there has been a steady departure of Afghan diplomats to third countries as well as reports of infighting among embassy personnel.

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in New Delhi regrets to announce the decision to cease its operations, effective October 1, 2023, the statement said. This decision, while deeply regrettable, is made after careful consideration, taking into account the historic ties and long-standing partnership between Afghanistan and India.

The statement listed the primary reasons for the closure of the mission, including lack of support from the host government that has hindered its ability to carry out its duties, failure to meet expectations and requirements to serve the best interests of Afghanistan and its citizens in the absence of a legitimate functioning government in Kabul, and a reduction in personnel and resources.

Only two Afghan diplomats appointed by the previous government are currently in New Delhi  acting ambassador Mosa Naimi and Sadeq Ullah Sahar. Naimis visa hasnt been renewed since May and both diplomats plan to leave the country soon, people said.

The statement said all operations of the Afghan embassy will be closed, with the exception of emergency consular services to Afghan citizens till the transfer of the custodial authority of the mission to the host country.

It added: In accordance with Article 45 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), all property and facilities of the embassy will be transferred to the custodial authority of the host country.

The statement also refuted baseless claims regarding internal strife or discord amongst our diplomatic staff or any diplomats using the crisis to seek asylum in a third country.

The statement reiterated requests made in the note verbale of September 25 regarding the hoisting of the Afghan flag over the properties of our premises and facilitating the smooth transition of the missions buildings and assets to a legitimate government in Kabul in the future.

In an apparent reference to the Afghan consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad, the statement said that there may be some who receive support and instructions from Kabul that may differ from our current course of action. It further said: It is our firm belief that any actions taken by these consulates are not in consonance with the objectives of a legitimate or elected government and rather serve the interests of an illegitimate regime.

The statement added: Such activities, conducted independently, are contrary to the established norms of diplomatic representation.

The Afghan ambassador and diplomats extended their heartfelt gratitude to the people of India for their support and to the government of India for their assistance to Afghanistan over the past 22 years.

Like all other countries, India too hasnt recognised the Taliban setup and has instead pushed for the formation of an inclusive government in Kabul and the protection of rights of women, children and minorities. At the same time, New Delhi has quietly engaged key Taliban leaders in order to have a presence in Kabul and to protect Indias security interests.

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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 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday reacted strongly after the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, was allegedly prevented by radical Sikh activists from entering a gurudwara in Scotland's Glasgow. According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man, reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist, was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow gurdwara on Albert Drive. Indian High Commissioner to UK, Vikram Doraiswami(File)

Reacting to the incident BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, "I strongly condemn this (that Vikram Doraiswami was allegedly stopped from entering a gurdwara in Scotland). Anyone from any religion or community can come here (gurdwara). We are not that religion that believes in violence instead we are among those who are saviours of humanity. Sikhs are the saviours. PM Modi has praised the work of our community. Sikhs are represented everywhere in the world. The safest place for the Sikhs in the world is in India."

"They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow, the protestor is reportedly heard saying in the video.

Meanwhile, news agency ANI, citing sources, said the issue has been raised with the UK foreign office and also the police.

The video also features two men near the diplomat's car in the parking. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which was locked from the inside. It further shows the high commissioners car leaving the gurudwara premises.

According to a media report, Doraiswami had a meeting planned with the gurdwara committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara.

The incident comes amid a diplomatic tension between India and Canada following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus claim alleging India's possible involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India strongly rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

Earlier this year, a violent protest broke out outside the Indian high commission in London during which a pro-Khalistan activist clambered onto a balcony and pulled down the national flag from a pole at the front of the building. In a retaliatory move, security barricades and vehicles were removed from outside the British high commission and high commissioner residence in New Delhi in response to the lack of security at the Indian high commission in London.

(With inputs from ANI)
Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Telangana to launch various developmental projects in a gap of two days on Sunday and Tuesday, an uneasy calm is prevailing in the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Telangana on October 1. (PTI)

Union tourism minister and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy told reporters on Friday that the Prime Minister would come to Mahabubnagar on October 1 to lay foundation stone for various projects worth 13,545 crore, including national highway works worth 6,404 crore and a multi-product (diesel, petrol, kerosene and jet fuel) pipeline connecting Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh with Hyderabad worth 1,932 crore.

Besides, the prime minister would virtually inaugurate new buildings for school of economics, school of mathematics and statistics, school of management and school of arts and communications at Hyderabad Central University, built at a cost of 81.27 crore.

Modi would also dedicate to nation a new railway line between Muneerabad and Mahabubnagar constructed at a cost of 505 crore that would reduce the travelling distance between Hyderabad and Goa by 102 km, besides an LPG gas pipeline between Hasan in Karnataka and Charlapalli in Hyderabad built at a cost of 2,661 crore.

He would also lay the foundation stone for 50-bed critical care blocks in 20 district hospitals as part of Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure mission. He would also dedicate to the nation Dharmabad-Manoharabada and Mahabubnagar-Kurnool railway lines, besides a new railway line between Manoharabad and Siddipet, Reddy said.

On October 3, the Prime Minister would visit Nizamabad district to inaugurate projects worth 8,021 crore, including a 800 MW power plant built at a cost of 6,000 crore at National Thermal Power Corporation, Ramagundam.

Reddy said at both Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad, the Prime Minister would address public meetings organised by the state BJP to kickstart the partys campaign for the upcoming elections. We shall explain to the people what the Modi government had done to Telangana in the last nine years before seeking their support to the party for the elections, he said.

Leaders unhappy with BJPs poll preparedness

While the state BJP leadership is expecting that Modis public rallies at Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad, followed by BJP national president J P Naddas visit to the state on October 6 would rejuvenate the party cadre, some of the senior leaders are expressing unhappiness over the lack of preparedness of the party for the elections.

In the last one week, senior party leaders like former MLAs Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy, G Vijayarama Rao and Enugu Ravindra Reddy, former MPs G Vivek, Konda Visweshwar Reddy and M Vijayashanti met at least thrice to discuss the goings on in the party and felt that the party was not putting up a serious fight against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government.

Vijayashanti confirmed that some of the BJP leaders, including her, had been meeting for the last few days. It is a fact that we have all joined the BJP only with an objective of putting an end to the autocratic regime of the BRS. I have been an activist of Telangana movement for decades and I shall do anything for the people of the state, she said in a post on social media.

She said they were all trying to create an impression before the BJP top leadership that there was a need to pull down the BRS government. We shall go all out to achieve the goal, the actress-turned-politician said.

Another senior BJP leader who was part of these meetings, requesting anonymity, said that the states BJP unit, under the present circumstances, had not been able to create the confidence among the cadres that the party could come to power. We do not have enough strength to fight against the BRS. It is a fact, he said.

He further said the talk that there was some kind of understanding between the BJP and the BRS had somehow gone deep into the people. There has been no action against KCRs daughter K Kavitha in the Delhi liquor scam till now. There has been no attempt by the Centre to order a probe into various irregularities of the BRS government like the Kaleshwaram lift scheme or Dharani portal. What message are we giving to the people, if the centre remains silent? he asked.

The BJP leaders are planning to visit Delhi soon and meet party central leaders and express their views about the current state of affairs in the partys state unit. Depending on the response of the central leadership, we shall take a call, the BJP leader said.

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British leaders on Saturday denounced the actions of radical Sikh elements who prevented Indian high commissioner Vikram Doraiswami from entering a gurdwara in Scotland even as the Indian side urged UK authorities to act against those involved in the incident. Indian high commissioner Vikram Doraiswami.

A group of radical Sikh activists scuffled with members of the management committee of Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib at Albert Drive in Glasgow and sought to forcibly open the door of the vehicle in which Doraiswami had arrived at the place of worship on Friday.

In videos posted online, the activists linked their actions to the Canadian governments allegation that the Indian government agents were linked to the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. India has dismissed Canadas accusation as absurd.

People familiar with the matter said the Indian envoy had been invited by the gurdwaras management but some radical activists tried to stop him from entering the shrine. Doraiswami left the scene in order to avoid any altercation. The British police arrived at the site thereafter, and the Indian side informed the UK foreign ministry about the incident, the people said.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UK minister for the Indo-Pacific, expressed concern at the incident and said the security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance.

Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner @VDoraiswami was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all, she posted on X.

Colin Bloom, who was appointed by former UK prime minister Boris Johnson to deliver an independent faith engagement review in 2019, said the British government needs to do more to deal with extremist fringe elements such as those who barred Doraiswami from entering the gurdwara.

So that we are clear. The #Sikh Gurdwara committee in a Glasgow Gurdwara put on a community reception to host the Indian High Commissioner @VDoraiswami. A group of out of town Pro Khalistan activists turn up and physically intimidate the local Sikh committee, and try and attack the @HCI_London High Commissioner in his car, and they film themselves doing it and put it out on their social media accounts, Bloom posted on X.

Bloom said his report, The Bloom Review, which was published in April this year, highlighted that the vast majority of British Sikhs are amazing people, but this tiny and aggressive minority are not representative of them. He added, The UK Government need to do more to deal with these extremist fringe elements.

The Indian high commission in London said in a statement that it had reported this disgraceful incident to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Metropolitan Police.

Multiple community organisations including the organisers have formally regretted the incident and have urged the authorities to take action against the culprits, the statement said.

The statement said the incident on Friday had involved three persons, all from areas outside Scotland, who deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India.

The organisers included senior community leaders, ladies and committee members, and a member of Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival, the statement said.

One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HCs car door - a matter that will require suitable police consideration. It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organisers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided, it said.

Pro-Khalistan activists in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US have stepped up their activities against the backdrop of the India-Canada diplomatic row over the killing of Nijjar. They have organised protests outside Indian diplomatic facilities and engaged in activities that have targeted Indian diplomats.

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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
A new study presents data on how wild Asian elephants solve puzzles that unlock storage boxes with food.

Sarah Jacobson, a psychology doctoral candidate studying animal cognition at the CUNY Graduate Center and Hunter College and the lead author of the study, underscored that this is the first research that shows that individual wild elephants have different willingness and abilities to solve the given problem in order to get food.

The research published in the journal Animal Behavior details the findings in a six-month-long documentation of the behavior of the animals.

"This is important knowledge, because how animals think and innovate may influence their ability to survive in environments that are rapidly changing due to human presence," she added.

Monitored behavior of the elephant

Asian elephants, also known as Elephas maximus, have previously exhibited a propensity for innovation in zoos, but problem solving in a wild elephant population has never been investigated experimentally.

The researchers utilized motion-activated cameras to observe 77 wild Asian elephants as they approached and determined whether to open puzzle boxes with three differently constructed compartments containing extremely aromatic jackfruit.

The jackfruit could be accessible by pulling on a chain so that the door opened toward the elephant, pushing the door so that it swung open into the box, or sliding the door open to the right, depending on the compartment with which the elephant engaged.

The elephants had to engage with the puzzle boxes on their own to figure out how to open the compartments.

44 of the elephants who approached the puzzle boxes interacted with them over time, but there were disparities in how inventive the elephants were.

The elephants who interacted with the puzzle boxes more frequently and persistently were more successful in extracting food from all three differently constructed compartments.

Eleven elephants solved one compartment type, and eight elephants solved two compartment types. Five elephants solved all three types, making them the most inventive.

Read Also: Asian Elephants Experience Emotional Stress and Loneliness When Left Alone: New Study

Conservation efforts

Experts stressed the importance of the study in conservation efforts for wild elephants.

Dr. Joshua Plotnik, a psychology professor and study's principal investigator, said human-elephant conflict is on the rise as a result of habitat degradation and agricultural encroachment on what is left of it.

"Investigating innovation and problem solving in elephants can inform our understanding of wild elephant cognitive flexibility and its potential impact on conservation management and human-elephant conflict mitigation," he added.

All data were gathered at the Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary in Kanchanaburi, Thailand (hence referred to as 'Salakpra'). Salakpra is part of the Western Forest Complex in western Thailand, which is a priority region for elephant conservation and a biodiversity hotspot.

The sanctuary is an 860-kilometer-long protected region that is not open to public tourists.

In a study last March, experts found that bumblebee insects may actually learn to solve puzzles from one another, implying that even invertebrates like these social insects have the capacity for what we humans call "culture."

Related Article: Living on the Edge: Asian Elephants Prefers Staying on the Boundaries of Protected Areas

Related Video:
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by Staff reporter

Job Sikhala, a prominent Zimbabwean political activist who has been detained for 15 months on charges of allegedly inciting violence in response to the murder of fellow activist Moreblessing Ali by an individual linked to the ruling Zanu-PF, has penned another heartfelt letter from his prison cell. In this letter, Sikhala expresses his unwavering resolve and strength under immense pressure, even as he grapples with the pain of feeling betrayed by some of his comrades in the democratic struggle.In his latest entry in his "Prison Notebook," Sikhala draws a parallel between his experience and historical instances of betrayal. He feels that certain comrades are behaving hypocritically, reminiscent of figures like Bishop Abel Muzorewa's stance towards Zimbabwe's detained nationalist leaders during the liberation struggle or Mangosuthu Buthelezi's relationship with Nelson Mandela during the anti-apartheid struggle.Sikhala reflects on his time in prison, describing it as an unexpected opportunity for self-discovery and reflection. It has allowed him to contemplate various aspects of his relationships, particularly with individuals who present themselves as virtuous during the day but reveal a different character behind closed doors.He draws parallels with historical figures like Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, who publicly portrayed Nelson Mandela as a friend but privately undermined efforts to release him, and Bishop Abel Tendekai Muzorewa in Rhodesia, who publicly advocated for the release of nationalist leaders while privately opposing it.Sikhala emphasizes that a person's true character is revealed during challenging times. He asserts his own unyielding determination, drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr.'s belief that a person must find something worth sacrificing for to truly live.Sikhala, despite his incarceration and the perceived betrayal by some comrades, remains steadfast in his commitment to the struggle for democracy, drawing strength from his unwavering principles and the lessons of history."Prison, a place intended to be a punishment, became the most valuable college for me. It became the place I discovered and understand myself and many things."It is the place I was able to think, discover and reflect on many things including my relations with certain persons, who on the daylight behave like angels, but are profound witches at night."Like Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, who portrayed Nelson Mandela as a friend and publicly called for his release, but behind the scenes condemned the Release Mandela Campaign as a gimmick and privately warned the apartheid military establishment that, Mandela was the most dangerous threat to national security and national stability and that it would be irresponsible to let him out."The same script was being played by our own Bishop Abel Tendekai Muzorewa in Rhodesia. Pretending to be holding an anointed scepter, roaming around the four corners of Zimbabwe, from East to West, from the South to the North, he was publicly denouncing the incarceration of the nationalist leaders, but privately he was telling the Rhodesian kingpin, Ian Douglas Smith, not to dare release Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe and other nationalist leaders as they were terrorists and a danger to national security."The character of someone is measured by facing up to swelling difficult situation."Let it be known that I am a man who would never ever breakdown even under the most trying circumstances. Martin Luther King Jnr taught me, "if a man hasnt found something he will die for, he isnt fit to live."
Imphal: The situation in Imphal valley was largely peaceful on Friday after three days of violent protests that erupted in various parts of the ethnic strife-torn Manipur over the killing of two Meitei students who had gone missing in July. In this photo taken on September 28, 2023, security personnel fire tear gas as miscreants protest near the family home of chief minister N Biren Singh, in Imphal in India's northeastern state of Manipur, amid ongoing ethnic violence. (AFP)

On Friday, people rushed to buy essentials as authorities relaxed curfew in Imphal East and Imphal West districts from 5 am to 11 am. The government also lifted the curfew in both the districts from 5 am to 2 pm on Saturday.

Restriction of movement of general people outside their residences is hereby lifted ...from 5 am to 2 pm. The relaxation shall not include any gathering/ sit-in protests/ rally etc without obtaining approval from the competent authority, an order issued by Imphal West district administration said.

Deputy commissioner of Imphal East district also issued a similar order. In Bishnupur and Churachandpur, district administrations relaxed the curfew from 5 am to 5 pm on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey visited the family members of the two Meitei students who were killed after being allegedly kidnapped. The governor consoled the parents of the two students and gave water to the mothers who were on fast for many days, the Raj Bhavan said in a statement.

A fresh bout of violence broke out in Imphal on September 26, a day after photos of the bodies of the two Meitei students, who went missing on July 6, went viral on social media. At least 176 people have been killed in Manipur since May 3, when ethnic clashes erupted between Meitei and Kuki communities.

Though no violent protests were reported on Friday, students of Central Agricultural University in Imphal staged a sit-in protest demanding justice for the two students. Similar sit-in protests were also reported at Khurai and Keishampat areas in Imphal, officials said.

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Chandigarh: The special investigation team (SIT) of Punjab police has concrete evidence to prove links between arrested Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira and the main accused in the 2015 drug trafficking case, an officer from the probe team told HT on Friday, requesting anonymity. Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira was detained by Punjab Police in a drug trafficking case on Thursday. (ANI)

Khaira, the three-time Congress MLA from Bholath, was arrested from Chandigarh on Thursday by the Punjab police in connection with the 2015 drug trafficking case. After his arrest, a court at Jalalabad in Fazilka remanded him in police custody for two days.

During the one-and-a-half-month investigation, we have found concrete linking evidence between Khaira and main accused [in the 2015 case] Gurdev Singh and his other associates, the SIT member cited above said.

The SIT was formed in April this year to probe into the case which was registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad. Nine people, including Gurdev Singh, who was allegedly a close aide of Khaira, were booked in the case and later convicted under the NDPS Act. Police had recovered 2 kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, one country-made pistol, a .315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards from them.

The SIT officer said that they also have records of calls Khaira had made to senior police officers seeking favour soon after Gurdevs arrest.

We have come up with strong evidences related to Khaira calling senior police officers, including IG Faridkot and DIG Ferozepur, after Gurdevs arrest by Fazilka police, the SIT officer said. We have called Joga Singh [Khairas personal security officer] to join the investigation and his role will be ascertained after his questioning.

On the basis of investigation carried by the SIT, the officer added: Khaira has been arrested and booked under Section 27A (punishment for harbouring offenders), among others, of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The SIT in its report has alleged that though Khaira was not directly involved in the smuggling of drugs, he was aware about notorious activities of Gurdev, who was his close aide and even funded his elections.

Khaira, however, has denied allegations of having any direct links with Gurdev, saying he had asked the drugs case accused not to call him a long time ago. Gurdev used to call me... I told him not to call me anymore soon after I came to know about his involvement in drugs case, Khaira told reporters on Thursday.

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A top panel mandated to oversee sharing of water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on Friday asked the former to follow directions issued earlier by a regulatory body to release water to its neighbour from the Cauvery basin, deepening a major discord between the two southern states, a person familiar with the matter said. Kannada activists burn an effigy of Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin, in Karnatakas Chikmagalur, on Friday. (PTI)

In a meeting held in Delhi to resolve a logjam that has sparked tensions in the two states, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) upheld the regulatory committees directions to Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs [cubic feet per second] of water to Tamil Nadu from September 28 to October 15.

Karnataka must follow a September 26 directive by the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) to release the required water to Tamil Nadu, the authority ruled. The mandate of providing 3,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu for an 18-day period took effect on September 28, the day on which its earlier mandate to Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs for a 15-day period ended.

READ | Cauvery dispute: Row deepens as Karnataka asked to release 3000 cu water to TN

Karnataka, however, did not comply with the directions, citing severe water scarcity in the state. Reports in recent days, citing India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, have said that districts in the Cauvery catchment area have registered a rain deficit of at least 32%.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said the state will challenge Fridays decision and move the Supreme Court over the issue. We will submit a review petition, stating our inability to release water, to the Cauvery Water Management Authority tomorrow morning (Saturday), and we will approach the Supreme Court as well, he said.

Farm organisations and pro-Kannada groups called a shutdown in Karnataka on Friday, halting normal life in Bengaluru, to protest against the directions to release water to Tamil Nadu.

The Cauvery interstate basin originates in Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu and Puducherry before flowing into the Bay of Bengal. The districts in the basin recorded 32% rain deficiency this year.

Being a lower-riparian state in the basin, Tamil Nadu relies on releases by Karnataka, particularly during the monsoon, to meet its needs. During summers, Tamil Nadu comes under a rain-shadow region.

At the meeting, representatives of the Karnataka government argued that the state was battling a water crisis due to widespread drought following a poor monsoon. Karnataka said it was not in any position to comply with the directions because of water scarcity, the person cited above said.

On September 14, after a Cabinet meeting the previous day, the Karnataka government had declared a drought in 195 talukas of the state, including nine in the vicinity of Bengaluru, Karnatakas representatives argued, according to the person cited above. A taluk is a unit of revenue administration.

The river has been the source of more than a century of dispute between the southern states, leading to violent protests before. In 1991, the Supreme Court had issued directions to Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu, leading to widespread clashes in both the states.

In the meeting on Friday, Karnataka also argued that releasing more water would create a life and death situation and lead to extensive damage to crops. Its representatives said the water-sharing mechanism between the two states had no distress formula, or a blueprint for water sharing during times of crisis.

The Cauvery authority, while stating that Karnataka must follow the directions to release the required water, rejected Tamil Nadus immediate demand that Karnataka should also simultaneously release a backlog of 12,000 cusecs of water.

CWMA chairman Saumitra Haldar told Karnataka that it needed to provide, as in previous years, water till October 15 only because both the states would then start receiving rains from the winter monsoon, the person quoted above said.

Earlier, the matter had reached the Supreme Court, which ordered Karnataka to provide Cauvery water of 12,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from September 13.

According to data from the Central Water Commission, from September 1 to 21, Tamil Nadu received 40.76 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) water. Under existing arrangements, Tamil Nadu argued that it should get 112.11 tmc ft in a normal year. Even adjusting for a poor monsoon and rainfall deficit, Tamil Nadu should get at least 7.8 tmc ft more from Karnataka, representatives from the state argued before the Cauvery authority.

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An earnest plea for the removal of untouchability was made by Mahatma Gandhi speaking during evening prayers today. He said that there would be no public prayer tomorrow. His stay in Bombay had been much longer than he had imagined. In all things it was the will of God that reigned supreme. PREMIUM Mahatma Gandhi said in the City of Bombay they (Harijans) could not find quarters in respectable localities

Mahatma Gandhi said that though they (the congregation) had all taken the trouble of attending the prayers and had contributed to the Harijan Fund, complaints had come to him that they had not banished untouchability from their heart. Some Harijan friends of Bombay had come to see him two days ago.

They complained that although he had written and spoken against untouchability all these years and had even undergone a fast for it, yet in the City of Bombay they (Harijans) could not find quarters in respectable localities. They did not differ in their appearance, or in their general mode of life from caste Hindus; if they had not disclosed that they were Harijans, they could have obtained housing accommodation here without difficulty.

Their account, Mahatma Gandhi said, had made him hang his head in shame. He had said times without number that unless untouchability was eradicated root and branch, Hinduism would perish.

He warned the congregation that unless they woke up from their torpor, when all religions were weighed in the balance, Hinduism would come out last because of the sin of untouchability.

Concluding, Mahatma Gandhi drew their attention to what he had said about communal unity two days ago. If they followed his advice, light would soon pierce through the dark clouds that were overcasting the sky today.
Mahatma Gandhi in his post-prayer speech on Friday, said that he would like to speak on swadeshi for the occasion. He was told that with the advent of swadeshi raj in the shape of Swaraj, the spirit of swadeshi was fast disappearing from them and the stock of Khadi was perhaps at its lowest. PREMIUM Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi at a Charkha demonstration in New Delhi in April 1946. For Gandhi, the charkha was a symbol of self-reliance(Underwood Archives/ Getty)

It was an unusual sight to see people wearing what were called Gandhi topies. If that was true on any large scale, the dearly-loved liberty, in his opinion, would be short-lived.

Goodbye said Gandhiji then to the hope of India becoming the light of Asia as by right it should be. Pardeshi went side by side with luxury which a correspondent said was rampant everywhere. He fondly hoped that while the tragic picture might be true of the cities of India, it was not so of the villages if only because they were famishing.



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Immediately after his return to India in 1915, Gandhiji discovered that the centre of Swadeshi lay in Khadi. If Khadi went, he contended, there was no Swadeshi. He had shown that the manufactures in Indian mill did not constitute swadeshi. To that belief he clung even today

He reminded the audience of how a pile had been made of foreign cloth in the early days of the movement and a huge bonfire was made of costly saris etc. Pandit Motilaiji and Shrimati Sarojini Naidu too had added their finery to the bonfire and Motilalj had later written from jail to say how he had found true happiness in the purity and simplicity of Khadi.



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Gandhiji deplored the fact that that spirit did not exist today. The 'charkha' was the centre of their Tricolour fing. It was the symbol of unity and the non-violent strength of the millions and the cementing force which bound those whom the three colours of the flag represented. The whole fabric of Swaraj hung on a thread of hand-spun yarn and it was their mightiest weapon.

He had already reminded them that if they had the swadeshi spirit in them, they would refuse to look to the West for the supply of their major wants. He had no quarrel in this time of extreme scarcity if India imported foodstuffs and cloth from outside provided it was proved that India was wholly unable to supply the two wants from within India.

This was in no way proved. He had not hesitated to say and he would repeat that India was fully able to manufacture her own Khadi and grow her own foodstuffs in her numerous villages.



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But they had become too lazy to look inward and insist on supplying these two wants from within India's borders. He would go even so far as to say that he would face starvation and nakedness rather than look to the West to supply the two needs. They must learn to look upon all that was for their good as Swadeshi and all that was harmful as foreign. Without grim determination, it was not possible to do the right thing.

A correspondent deplored that whilst he (Gandhiji) was daily giving home thrusts, it was a sad reflection that the truth was uttered in the midst of selfishness. Traders were selfish. So were Princes, their Dewans, the Englishmen and even Congresmen. This was a sweeping remark.

But it bore the stamp of truth. It was terrible if the English residing in India and who, they were told would be leaving India, were intriguing. Congressmen were the salt of India. If the salt lost its savour wherewith was it to be salted?

Gandhiji then referred to a letter he had received from for advice from a Punjabi from the afflicted areas of that unhappy province. His advice to them was to be brave and remain in their house.

The Punjab was a long of the brave. Lalaji was called the lion of the Punjab and the Sikhs were a brave race. It was up to Punjabis to give birth to lions and not to goats. They must be fearless today. In order to quell their fear. they were asking for arms and ammunition.

He was afraid the Punjab was losing the bravery for which it was famous. Love of foreign finery had possessed their women. This meant deterioration and inability to distinguish between good and bad which led to cowardice. The Muslims were their brothers. If anyone sank to the level of beasts, it did not follow that all should do likewise. The Muslim could not go on killing them.

No one could live on killing. If he were killed by a Muslim what would the killer gain so long as he (Gandhiji) remained without any hatred in his heart? Love alone could win over hatred. Therefore, his advice to everyone was to stay there and to those who had run away he would also like to give the advice to return as soon as circumstances permitted.

Gandhiji also. referred to the vulgar folly of an anonymous writer who had written and threatened to kill young Manu Gandhi if she continued to recite the Quranic verse. He hoped it was meant as a joke. But even it was in bad taste. In any case why blame the child?

She only did what he told her to do and what would the writer gain by killing her? The gain would be entirely hers if she died reciting that glorious verse. It was all wrong assessment of values. They could discriminate between Swadesh and Bideshi only if they could discriminate between good and bad.
The question of widow re-marriage would not arise if an end was put to the evil of child marriage. This view was expressed by Mahatma Gandhi in a written reply to questions after his prayer meeting at Char Sholadi on Sunday. PREMIUM Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel at the AICC meeting in Mumbai. (HT File photo)

In the present condition of society, however, Gandhiji's belief in the equality of the sexes led him to advocate re-marriage for all young widows.

Gandhiji had two questions addressed to him to which he gave a written reply, on Monday, this being his weekly day of silence.

Question: Namasudra girls are usually married at 12 or 13, formerly the common age was 8 or 9. The bridegroom has to pay a dowry of Rs. 150 for the bride. The average difference between the two is about 12 or 15 years. Among one section of the caste, widow marriage was prevalent; but in imitation of another section, which is looked upon as superior, the former are giving up that practice. What is your advice regarding child marriage and widow re-marriage?

Dealing with the question, Gandhiji said that his opinion was definite on this point. In the first instance, there should be no possibility of child widows. He was averse to child marriage. It was an evil custom which unfortunately Namasudras had perhaps taken from the so-called higher castes.

No Dowry

Gandhiji was also against the system of dowry. It was nothing but sale of girls. He said that there should be castes even amongst Namasudras was deplorable and he would strongly advise them to abolish all caste distinctions amongst themselves. And in this, they should bear in mind the opinion he had often expressed, that all caste distinctions should be abolished and there should be only one caste, namely, bhangis, and all Hindus should take pride in being called bhangis and nothing else. This applied to Namasudras as well.

When child marriages were abolished, naturally there would be few, if any, young widows. As a general rule, Gandhiji was in favour of one man having one wife for life, and one woman having one husband for life. Customs had familiarised women with enforced widowhood.

The contrary was the rule with men. He called it a disgrace, but whilst the society was in that pitiable condition, he advocated widow re-marriage for all young widows. He believed in equality of the sexes and, therefore, he could only think of the same rights for women as men.

Civil marriages

Question: You may say you are in favour of inter-religious marriages but at the same time you say each party should retain his or her own religion and, therefore, you said you tolerated even civil marriages.

Are there any instances of parties belonging to different religions keeping up their own religions to the end of their lives? And is not the institution of civil marriage the negation of religion and does it not tend towards laxity of religion?

Gandhiji said that the questions were appropriate. He had no instances in mind where the parties had clung to their respective faiths unto death, because the friends whom he knew had not yet died he had however, under his observation men and women professing different religions and each clinging to his or her own faith without abatement

As to civil marriages. he did not believe in them but he would welcome the Institution of civil marriage as a much-needed reform for the sake of reform

At Haimchar Gandhiji drew the attention of the audience to the prayer meeting, which was attended by the Rehabilitation Commissioner.

He advised them to follow the advice he had given without waiting to know what others would do. He said he wanted the kingdom of God on earth. Surely we did not want to wait for anyone to do so.

Purdah system

Then he dealt with the questions addressed to him. The first was: Do you think that strict enforcement of the purdah system would improve the moral condition of women?

Gandhiji answered that he was warned by some Muslim critics against speaking on purdah. He had, therefore, some hesitation in speaking about it. But he took heart when he turned round and saw that many Hindu women observed it and that numerous Muslim women of whom he had many friends, did not observe purdah. Lastly, real purdah was of the heart. A woman, who observed the purdah and contemplated a male on whom her gaze fell, violated the spirit behind it. If a woman observed the spirit, she was truly carrying out what the great Prophet had said.

Division of labour

The next question was: To those who had lost all their trade, your advice is that they should voluntarily turn themselves into labourers. Who will then look after education, commerce, and the like? If you thus dissolve the division of labour, will not the cause of civilization suffer?

To this, Gandhiji replied that the question betrayed an ignorance of his meaning. If a man could no longer carry on his original mercantile business, it was not open to him but obligatory for him to take to physical labour, say scavenging or breaking stones. He believed in the division of labour of work. But he did insist on equality of wages. A lawyer, doctor, or teacher was entitled to no more than a bhangi. Then only would a division of work uplift the nations on the earth. There was no other royal road to true civilization or happiness.

Spirit giveth life, the latter killeth. A Ganapati with an elephant's head cut off was a monster, but as a representation of 'om,' it was an uplifting symbol. Ravana, with ten heads, was a fabled fool, but if it meant a man who carried no head about him and was tossed to and fro by fleeting passions, he was a many-headed demon.

Real Bhangis

Question: How can caste Hindus look after the interests of untouchables? How can they realize the feelings of classes who had suffered so long at their hands? Is it not then better to entrust the interests of untouchables to men of their own castes?

Gandhiji was of the opinion that caste Hindus owed a sacred duty to the so-called untouchables. The caste Hindu must become bhangi in name and action.

When that happened, untouchables could rise at a bound, and Hinduism would have a rich legacy to the world. If that happened, the system of cleaning closets would undergo transformation. In England, the real bhangis were the famous engineers and sanitarians.

That could not happen in India so long as society was sluggish and slothful.

It was an easy descent to an audience composed mostly of Namashudras. He warned them against considering themselves as fallen or untouchables. Those so-called higher castes were the guilty ones. They were responsible for what they had become. If they realized the fact, they would never make the mistake of imitating the evil customs and habits of the higher classes.

Child marriages

He was sorry to hear that there were child marriages amongst them and that child widows were compelled, in imitation, to abstain from re-marrying. The result, he had learned, was that diseases which resulted from promiscuity were prevalent among them.

Their betterment would not come from the legislature or any other outside agency. It depended on their own efforts. They should remember what the late Malaviyaji used to say: that children of God should confine themselves to earning an honest cowrie and eat what it could procure. Then there would be happiness for them, and untouchability would be a thing of the past. The so-called higher castes would be ashamed of their sin against them.

Bapu pointed out the destruction that was wrought. He was sorry for it but would not shed a tear for it, nor harbor ill-will against the destroyers. Let them not bewail their lot.

They were used to hard labour or should be. They might plead with the Government to do justice and that in time. But they must not give in if that assistance did not come. They must trust their hands and feet to set them up again in life. God always helped those who helped themselves. Their reliance must be on the living God and not on the ever-erring mass - A.P.I.
In the name of non-violence , people observed the outward peace of the impotent: they had never attempted to drive violence from their hearts," writes Mahatma Gandhi under the caption "Where Ahimsa, Where Khadi" in yesterday's Harijan. PREMIUM Scenes during Mahatma Gandhis famous Salt March. This march on foot to the sea coast at Dandi, on the eve of the Salt Satyagraha, 1930.(HT File Photo)

Gandhiji writes: A correspondent from Kathiawar writes, "As in many districts or provinces, in Kathiawar (also) people are fast withdrawing their faith in khadi and ahimsa. Many Congressmen and Gandhites seem to doubt if non-violence can work in matters political."

The writer of the letter enters into a number of arguments giving illustrations. I have, however, contented myself with reproducing the leading sentences in the letter. In them are embedded three errors.



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True Faith Locking

I have been explaining, of late, that neither in Kathiawar nor in parts of India had people real faith in non-violence or khadi. It is true that I deceived myself into the belief that people were being wedded to non-violence with khadi as its symbol.

As a matter of fact, in the name of non-violence, people observed the outward peace of the impotent. They had never even attempted to drive violence from their hearts. It had become patent to everyone, when I went to Rajkot in connection the Rajkot imbroglio, that there was no Rama in Rajkot, and therefore, Kathiawar. Hence it is hardly apt to say that their faith is on the wane nowadays.

It is equally improper to question now the efficacy of non-violence in matters political. What was the people's fight against the foreign power if it was not a political matter? Indeed, the disgraceful fight between brother and brother that we are witnessing today is much less political. Today, irreligion is stalking the country in the name of religion. Even the outward peace that we were able to observe in the fight against the foreign power is conspicuous in its absence today.



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Congressmen Or Gandhites

The third error is the distinction the correspondent makes between Congressmen and Gandhites. It has no foundation in fact. If there is one Gandhite, it must be me. I hope, however, that I am humble enough not to arrogate any such claim. Gandhite means worship of Gandhi. There must be a God to worship. But I have never arrogated to myself any such claim. Hence, there can be no devotee of mine.

Moreover, how can it be said that those who call themselves Gandhites are not also Congressmen? There are innumerable servants of the Congress although they are not four-anna members with their names registered in a Congress register. The reader should know I myself belong to that category. Hence it is contended that the distinction made by my correspondent is meaningless.

I have repeatedly said that I have neither part nor say in many things that are going on in the country today. It is no secret that the Congress willingly said good-bye to non- violence when it accepted power.

Again, I firmly believe that the method of rationing of food and clothing is highly injurious to the country. If I had my way I would not buy a grain of foodstock from outside India. It is my firm belief that even today there is enough foodstuff in the country. Only the villagers have felt compelled to conceal the cereals and pulses under the insufferable control.

Again, if people follow me, there would be no deadly quarrel between the Hindus, the Sikhs and the Muslims. The plain fact of the matter is that I am not the current coin I had fancied. Mine is a voice in the wilderness.

A hallucination

As for khadi, it has a kind of a place if we tear it from its root which is ahimsa. It no longer occupies the proud place of being the symbol par excellence of ahimsa. Those who, being in the political field, support khadi, do so because it has attained that vogue.

Today, three cheers belong not to khadi but to mill cloth, for we labour under the delusion that but for the manufactures from our mills, millions would have to be naked. Can there be a greater hallucination than this?

We grow enough cotton in the country. We have any number of handlooms and spinning wheels. India is not unused to the art of hand spinning and hand-weaving. Yet somehow or the other, the fear has (gripped) us that the millions will not (take) to hand-spinning and weaving hand-spun yarn for their own needs.

A haunted man will detect fear even when there is no cause for it. And do we not know that many more die of fright than of the axtual disease the very name of which has given them the fright?
The Secretary of the Servants of India Society, Poona, has released for publication the following sixth statement of Mahatma Gandhi on untouchability:--- PREMIUM Mahatma Gandhi collecting donations for the Harijan Fund (Assam), circa 1945. Beginning the late 1930s, Gandhi was also signing his photographs for auctioning, so that money raised could be used for the Harijan movement. Do rupiya ek bar, he [Gandhi] would say, the floor price is two rupees, writes Ramachandra Guha in Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. (National Gandhi Museum)

"If among the Harijans. Rajbhoj has yet been the only one to have asked me as to what Harijans might do to advance the movement. I have scores of letters from all parts of India from caste Hindus, both men and women, students and others, inquiring in what way they can help without interfering with their other pre-occupations and since anti-untouchability is a movement, as applied to the masses, of merely change of heart, changing their attitude towards Harijans, the vast majority of caste Hindus do not need to interrupt their daily activities in order to serve the Harijans.



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"The first thing is for everyone to understand the implications of the removal of untouchability in his or her own life and, if the answer is that he or she has not only no objection to, but is desirous of seeing them entering public temples, using public places, such as schools, sarais, roads, hospitals, dispenaries and the like, in short, Harijins being put precisely on the same footing as themselves, religiously, socially, economically and politically, he or she has personally taken the full step but this is not all that the questioners want or all that should be satisfied with.

Having done so far, they want to know what more they can do in furtherance of the cause. Such inquirers need not extend their activities beyond their immediate neighbourhood. Let them canvass the opinion of those with whom they come in daily contact, and if the former are not convinced of the necessity of removal of untouchability they should. if they have critically studied the movement, endeavour to convince their neighbours or, if they are not competent, they should procure the necessary literature, supply them with it and put them in todoh with those full-time workers who are specially qualified for such propaganda work. \

If they find that their neighbourhood is not touched by the spirit of the movement and if they have any influence, they should arrange public lectures, demonstrations and invite speakers to such meetings. So much for the work amongst caste Hindus.

Caste Hindus' Duty

"But the real work that this large body of men and women can do is undoubtedly among the Harljans. Those caste Hindus who have studied my fifth statement, could not fail to have noticed that there is a vast amount of silent and effective service to be rendered by caste Hindus without much expenditure of time, energy or money.

Caste Hindus can effectively supplement the effort of Harijan Workers in inculcating habits of cleanliness and by procuring facilities for having easy access to the required water supply. They can public wells and tanks situated near Harijan quarters and canvass the opinion of caste Hindus who may be using such wells or tanks, pointing out to them that Harijans have a legal right to the use of all such public services and they can at the same time see to it and when the consent of caste Hindus has been secured for the use ny Harijans of these services, the latter use them in a manner not offensive to the former.

"As to scavenging, they can visit the owners of houses served by Harijans in their neighbourhood and explain to them the necessity of making it easy for Harijans to do the cleaning work in a hygienic manner. To this end, it would be naturally necessary for them to study the scientific method of constructing closets and disposing of nightsoil.

They can also procure from the householders special dresses to be supplied to the scavengers and make the Harjjans feel, by unhesitatingly doing the scavenging themselves, that there is nothing low or undignified about rendering such service. Such workers should also carry on propaganda against castemen giving to their scavengers leavings from their daily food and, where they are ill-paid, persuading the employers to pay them a decent wage.

Skinning carcasses

"As to tanning, not much help can be rendered unless some one of such voluntary leisure-time workers, has humanity and enthusiasm enough to study the hygienic method of skinning carcasses and, having done so, will spread the knowledge among these tanners.

They certainly can do one thing. They can find out the custom about the disposal of such carcasses and see that the tanners are assured of a proper wage for the service they render Those who have capacity and time can conduct day or night schools, take Harijan children for picnics and sight-seeing on holidays or whenever the opportunity occurs and visit Harijans in their own homes, procure medical aid where necessary and generally let them feel that a new page has been opened in their lives and that they need no longer regard themselves as the neglected and despised portion of Hindu humanity.

"All that I have described can be most easily and efficiently done by the student world. If this work is done with silent zeal, determination and intelligence by large body of men and women, I have no doubt that we shall have taken many steps in our progress towards the goal and it would be found too that there are more things that I have described that require attention. I have but chosen a few of the many things that have come under my observations in the course of my journey.
Mahatma Gandhi, in an interview to the New York Times special correspondent at New Delhi, says :- I am certain that if Mr. Chamberlain suggests to the Powers. simultaneously to dis- arm, this heroic act would open Herr Hitler's eyes and disarm him. PREMIUM Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler.

An Associated Press message from New Delhi stated:-

With the European tension approaching breaking point, Mahatma Gandhi gave Mr. F. E. Birchall, the special correspondent of the New York Times, a message to the world as his contribution towards solving a situation which, he said, was rapidly becoming desperate. Mahatma Gandhi said,"I see from today's papers that the British Prime Minister is conferring with Democratic Powers as to how they should meet the latest threatening developments. How I wish he was conferring by proposing to them that all should resort to simultaneous disarmament. I am certain, as I am sitting here, that this heroic act would open Herr Hitler's eyes and disarm him."

"Would not that be a miracle?" the correspondent asked.

"Perhaps, but it would save the world from the butchery that seems to be impending." The Mahatma declined to add more. "Isn't that enough for one morning?" he asked.

Asked what advice he would give the Congress regarding his attitude should the Paramount Power become involved in a European war. Mahatma Gandhi pleaded that that was too difficult to answer at this time. He demurred also to a question whether he wished India to take her independence within the British Commonwealth of Nations or outside it.

"That again is difficult." he said. "I cannot exactly tell where I myself stand on that. Both are difficult questions."

"But don't they go to the root of the situation?"

"Wise journalists never go to the root," responded the Mahatma.

When asked if he was content with the result of the Tripuri Congress, the Mahatma was still smilingly evasive.

"Contentment is bliss. That is one of your proverbs, isn't it?"



"Then let me ask. Is India making progress to your liking?"

The Mahatma became thoughtful and then said: Yes, it is, I get frightened sometimes, but there is progress at the bottom and that progress is sound. The greatest difficulty is Hindu-Muslim differences. That is a serious obstacle. There, I cannot say I see visible progress, but the trouble is bound to solve itself. The mass mind is sound if only because it is unselfish. The political grievances of both the communities are identical, so are the economic grievances.



"PEACE"

During further conversation, the correspondent asked Mahatma Gandhi if in the present unrest he had not some message which he might carry across the world moving men's hearts towards peace. His eyes gleamed at the word "peace," and he bent his head in thought.

"I don't see at the moment an atmosphere which would carry my voice to all nations. Perhaps I am far in advance of the times."

"Might not it be said with equal truth that the times are falling behind you?"

"If you like," replied the Mahatma and again lapsed into silence until he suddenly said: "I am thinking over your suggestion. Should I again allow myself to become the laughing stock, as has sometimes been the case? Should I? (Evidently he was thinking aloud.) But why not? Laughter is wholesome. Perhaps it may be a good thing. So take this as coming from me.

He then dictated the message mentioned above.
The bhajan of the evening said that a mans highest endeavour lay in trying to find God, said Mahatma Gandhi addressing the post-prayer gathering yesterday. He could not be found in temples or idols or places of worship built by mans hands, nor could He be found by abstinence, added Gandhiji. God could be found only through love, not earthly, but divine. That love was lived by Mira-bai who saw God in everything. He was all in all to her. PREMIUM Mahatma Gandhi with Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. (HT file photo)

Applying the refrain of the bhajan in daily life. Gandhiji went on to talk of Rampur State. Its ruler was a Muslim but that did not mean that it was necessarily a Muslim State.

Many years ago, Gandhiji had been taken there by the late Ali brothers and had stayed there in their house. He had the pleasure of meeting the then Nawab Saheb also for he was a friend of the well-known Nationalist Muslims of the day, the late Hakim Ajmal Khan and the late Dr Ansari. Hindus and Muslims used to live in comparative peace and amity then.



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But the Hindu friends from there who came to see Gandhiji today told him a different story. They said that though the State had acceded to the Indian Union, the insidious influence of the Muslim League, was there. If that were the only obstacle, they might have overcome it easily. But there was the Hindu Mahasabha assisted by the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh men whose ambition was to rid the Union of all Muslims.

Congress creed broad based

The question was how the Congressmen who were true to their Congress objective, were to make their position good. Could they offer satyagraha with a hope of success!

It gladdened their heart that the AICC was staunch to the Congress objective and refused to envisage an India in which only Hindus could live as masters. The Congress creed was broad based enough to include all communities. There was no room in it for narrow communalism. It was the oldest of all political organizations. Its motto was service of the people.

All that was happening in the AICC nerved them for the struggle. Nevertheless, they wanted a word from him. Gandhiji said he could not lay down the law for them as he had no knowledge of the local circumstances. Nor had he the time for any such study. But he could say with confidence that satyagraha was the mightiest force in the world before which the hostile combination his visitors had mentioned could not stand for any length of time.



ALSO READ: Driving out Muslims will ruin Hinduism, says Gandhiji

Misuse of Satyagraha

It was the fashion nowadays to use the word satyagraha for any kind of resistance, armed or otherwise. This looseness harmed the community and degraded satyagraha. If therefore, they understood all the implications of satyagraha and knew that the living God of Truth and Love was with satyagrahi, they would have no hesitation in believing that it was invincible.

Gandhiji said he was sorry to say what he did about the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh. He would be glad to find that he was wrong. He had seen the chief of the Sangh. He had also attended a meeting of the members of the RSS. Since then, he had been upbraided for having gone to the meeting and had many letters of complaints about the organisation.

Indians abroad

Gandhiji then said that while they were all engaged in trying to quench the fire of communal strife in their own country, they must not forget their countrymen abroad. He referred to the Indian case which was being fought with such unity and gallantry by the Indian delegation before UNO.

They all knew Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. She was not there because she was Pandit Jawaharlals sister but because she was able and did her work efficiently. She had a good team with her and they were all speaking with one voice. What had pleased him immensely, Gandhi said, was Ispakani Saheb and Zafarulla Sahebs speeches reported in the Press. They told their audience in plain language how Indians were being discriminated against in South Africa and treated as outcasts.

These Indians in South Africa were not penniless, they were not hungry but man could not live by bread alone and money was nothing as compared with human rights which were denied them by the South African Government.

No Difference of Opinion

Hindus and Muslims in India had no different opinions on the question of Indians overseas which went to prove that the two-nation theory was incorrect. The lesson Gandhiji had learnt from this and what he wanted the audience also to learn from what he had said was that love was the highest thing. If Hindus and Muslims could speak with one voice abroad, they could certainly do so here if they had love in their hearts.To err was human. It was also human to mend ones ways to forgive and forget was always possible. If they could do that today and speak with one voice here as they did abroad, they would surely win through. So far as South Africa was concerned, he hoped that the Government and the Whites of South Africa would profit by what was being said in this matter by distinguished Hindus and Muslims and that with one voice.
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by Staff reporter

The Bulawayo Chapter of Vendors for ED has penned a letter to Jabulani Sibanda, Zanu-PF's Bulawayo Provincial Chairman, expressing their concerns about the conduct of a fellow member whom they suspect may have contributed to the ruling party's defeat in the city during the recent elections.The Zanu-PF members have raised issues regarding the behavior of Josiah Mutangi, the Chairperson of the Nehanda District. They believe that Mutangi's questionable dealings with the vendors may have alienated them from the ruling party.Sawu Jere, the Chairman of Vendors for ED Bulawayo, accused Mutangi of engaging in fraudulent activities with vendors operating in the Fifth Avenue market. Jere alleged that Mutangi deceived the vendors with false claims of government visits and displayed disrespect towards senior Zanu-PF members.In a letter dated September 27, 2023, Jere brought these concerns to the attention of the Zanu-PF leadership, addressing the matter to Chairman Sibanda. The letter was also copied to various parties, including the Vendors for ED National Chairman, the Zanu-PF Information Department in Harare, the Zanu-PF Commissariat Department in Bulawayo, the Zanu-PF DCC Bulawayo Province, P10 Magnet House, and Tendai Charuka, the patron of Vendors for ED Bulawayo.Jere asserted that Mutangi and his associates displayed inappropriate behavior before and during the election. He accused Mutangi of insubordination for walking away from a gathering attended by Zanu-PF Politburo Members and DCC Members.Mutangi was also alleged to have misled vendors into paying fees ranging from US$15 to US$30 under the guise of loans while abusing the Zanu-PF name. Additionally, he was accused of fabricating information about a Chimoio trip, which resulted in vendors being charged US$3. Jere contended that this trip had not been fully arranged and that Mutangi's actions led to disillusionment among vendors.The provincial Vendors for ED chairman further claimed that Mutangi and his group deceived vendors into contributing US$2 and US$3 by falsely promising visits from government officials along 5th Avenue.Jere also accused Mutangi of operating from Gedes Building at the corner of George Silundika and 6th Avenue, using it to attract vendors for dubious purposes. He cited an incident where funds collected for a bereaved vendor's family were allegedly misappropriated by Mutangi's group, leaving the family without any support.Moreover, Jere asserted that Mutangi had criticized Forever Associates of Zimbabwe (FAZ) and other affiliations, casting blame on them for vendors' inability to vote due to his alleged corrupt conduct along 5th Avenue and other areas in the city center.Jere claimed that the Vendors for ED Bulawayo chapter possesses documented evidence to support their allegations against Mutangi. He mentioned a meeting held at Honorable Charuka's office where some of this evidence was handed over.In an interview with CITE, Jere confirmed that investigations into Mutangi's conduct were underway, and he expressed the need for appropriate action to be taken against him."We are actively conducting investigations into the conduct of this particular comrade. Action must be taken against this individual. I will reveal the person's name next week, but in the meantime, we are pursuing the necessary disciplinary procedures," he stated.
A deputation from Bassein waited on Mr. Gandhi this morning and presented and presented a purse to him containing about Rs. 3000. Other purses were presented in the afternoon at different meetings and were, from the Modh community of Rs. 1350, Gujarat Ladies Rs. 600, and Bengal Club Rs. 501. PREMIUM He repeated that there can be no swaraj for India without the willing cooperation and unity between Hindus and Muslims and that such unity was bound to come sooner or later

The Muslim students presented to him an address of welcome which states that his message to the students had been one of purity of mind and independence of thought and nobility of soul and they hope that they also would be guided by the principles enunciated by him in common with the rest of the youth of India.



ALSO READ: Gandhiji on the meaning of independence

Gandhiji, replying said, he saw unfortunately the political atmosphere in India was becoming surcharged with distrust and suspicion which had taken the place of mutual trust and confidence in the hearts of the Hindus and Muslims. He welcomed the opportunity to reiterate his creed before them. He repeated that there can be no swaraj for India without the willing cooperation and unity between Hindus and Muslims and that such unity was bound to come sooner or later.

He addressed an open air meeting of labourers at seven in the evening. He advised them to give up drinking, gambling and other immoral acts if they wanted to make themselves and their families happy. Some collection was made on the spot.
Among those that interviewed Mahatma Gandhi were a group of young high school students who informed Gandhiji that they wanted to serve Harijans but their fathers would not allow them to do. Gandhiji laughingly asked them to fight them, but he added:  How can you fight them!" He asked:  What do you generally do when you want your things done!. You cry. Is it not! PREMIUM Mahatma Gandhi seen collecting funds for Harijans in Assam, January 1946. Assam was unsure about her own political future; the air was also thick with communal polarisation. When the British Cabinet Mission plan created a political imbroglio, Gandhi sided with Assam and asked the people to remain steadfast. ()(Courtesy: National Gandhi Museum)

The students laughingly said: "Yes." Gandhiji:  Then cry and weep (laughter)

One student said that as their fathers were government servants, they were afraid to join the anti-untouchability movement, not political work.



ALSO READ: Banish untouchability from hearts, appeals Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhiji: "But this is not political work" and added that Government servants could do many things, to contribute to the funds, engage in their houses untouchables, bring up the Harijan boys and girls and there was no politics in that".

How can we serve them in schools? asked another.

Gandhiji: In schools you can- not do anything. You go there to learn. Do not bother your little heads there but out of school hours, you can do.

Q:-How!

Gandhiji: Where the untouchables are living, mix with them, pray with them and see their quarters are kept clean, take broom and sweep and teach them to be clean. Show by your own life that you do not observe Untouchabilty, show them that you love them. Treat them as your blood brothers.

Concluding, Mahatma Gandhi said:  You are too young. Day by day you will learn better the knack of doing the right.

The students were satisfied and thanked Gandhiji and offered him yarn garlands and withdrew.
New Delhi: The success of the G20 Summit and Chandrayaan-3 mission, the successful launch of the Aditya L-1 craft to study the sun, and the passage of the womens reservation bill in Parliament have filled the country with new energy and people are experiencing a new momentum, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Friday. Union home minister Amit Shah addresses the 118th annual session of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi. (PTI)

Shah also said that in the last nine years, the country, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, witnessed decisive policies, political stability, democracy and teamwork in the federal structure as it came out of the policy paralysis it was suffering from 2004 to 2014.

The Union minister was speaking at the 118th annual session of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi. The theme for this years session was Rising India: Yahi Samay Hai, Sahi Samay Hai.

G20, the success of Chandrayaan-3, mission Aditya L-1 and the passage of the womens reservation bill, all these events have filled the country with new energy the people are experiencing a new momentum. The country has completed the journey of 75 years and in the past 75 years, we have made several achievements in every sector... We have proved ourselves at the international forum, the minister said.

In the 100th year of our Independence, we want a country that is ahead in all sectors, he added.

India is the youngest country and has the largest number of engineers, doctors and technocrats, Shah said. There is democracy here, there is teamwork and the policy formulation is also clear under the leadership of Modi ji. Therefore, no one can stop India from establishing itself at the first place in every field in the Amrit Kaal, he said, referring to the period leading up to the centenary of Indias independence.

The Union minister said that the period of 2004 to 2014 shook the country and resulted in policy paralysis, but was the last period of political instability. The last nine years have been that of political stability and decisive policymaking... our GDP has grown from $2.03 trillion to $3.75 trillion during the period, which is almost double. Per capita income has grown from 68,000 in 2013-14... to 1.80 lakh, he said.

The countrys economy has got a new direction under PM Modi Due to the changes brought about by policies, today Indias Moment is talked about everywhere and India is known as a vibrant spot all over the world, he added.

Earlier, the governments Make in India programme was mocked but now, the country is the dream destination in the production sector, Shah said. In the next 10 years, India will be the best destination for students across the world, he said.

The home minister also highlighted the countrys digital transformation and recalled how a diplomat in Jaipur, during a G20 event, was surprised to see a vegetable vendor accepting digital payment.

The diplomat was surprised when he saw that a woman selling vegetables on the street was accepting digital payments. There was a PayTM code scanner next to the vegetables she was selling. The diplomat said he had never seen such a digital transformation anywhere, he said.

Shah expressed confidence that India will be the worlds third-largest economy by 2027. Now, we are the fifth largest economy of the world and I have firm belief that we are going to become the worlds third-largest economy by 2027, he said.

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The Indian Air Force (IAF) held an aerial display over Bhojtal Lake in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal to mark its 91st anniversary, treating the city with thrilling aerobatic performances, showcasing the nation's air prowess today. IAF holds aerial display over Bhojtal Lake in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal.(ANI)

CH-47F (I) Chinook helicopters of the Indian Air Force showcased thrilling aerobatic performances over the lake.

Apart from Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, senior officers of the Indian Air Force were present to witness the fly-past program.

READ | IAF kicks off IPEV drive in Prayagraj as prelude to Air Force Day celebrations

Earlier this week Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari met veteran air warriors in New Delhi as part of Air Force Day celebrations.

IAF officials said, "As part of the Air Force Day celebrations, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari met veteran air warriors in New Delhi. The Air Force Chief used the occasion to discuss different issues faced by the veterans and instructed the officials concerned to address them at the earliest."

Air Force Day marks the official induction of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 1932. Every year, the day is celebrated in the presence of the Indian Air Force chief and senior officers.

The Air Force was officially raised as the supporting force of the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom in 1932 and the first operational squadron was created in 1933. Major operations undertaken by the IAF include Operation Vijay, Operation Meghdoot, Operation Cactus and Operation Poomalai since 1950.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is celebrating its 91 anniversary on October 8, 2023.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that he will return in a years time to review the success of the Aspirational Blocks Programme as he launched the Sankalp Saptaah at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. HT Image

Addressing an event, where he also launched the Aspirational Blocks Programme Portal, the PM said that the lives of 25 crore people in 112 districts were transformed through the Aspirational Districts programme which will now form the basis at the block level.

These aspirational districts have now become inspirational districts, he said.

Similarly, in the next one year, out of the 500 aspirational blocks, at least 100 will become inspirational blocks, he said, as he urged officials to identify 100 blocks that are lagging behind and bring them above the national average on various parameters.

In what appeared to be a claim at victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the PM said, I am sure, in 2024, we will meet again in October-November... and evaluate the success (of the programme). I will talk to you again next year in October-November.

The Prime Minister also said that the Aspirational Districts Programme will figure in golden letters in any list of the top 10 programmes of independent India.

During the event at the Bharat Mandapam, Modi said the venue that hosted top world leaders and witnessed discussions on global matters a month ago is now hosting a programme to discuss issues of the grassroots level, with the participation of people from far-flung places in the country.

For me, this gathering is no less than G20, PM Modi said at the event which was attended by government officials, besides peoples representatives from approximately 3,000 panchayats and blocks, and functionaries from all corners of the country.

Modi also stressed the importance of the optimum utilisation of resources, convergence and public participation for development at the grassroots level.

Very few people get the chance to run a government for as long as I have. And I say from experience that it is not only that the budget brings change, if we ensure optimum utilisation of resources and convergence, then work can be done without any fresh funds coming in for the blocks, he said.

He said that this programme is a symbol of the success of Team India and the spirit of Sabka Prayas. This programme is important for Indias future and Sankalp se Siddhi is inherent in this.

He interacted with block-level officers from three aspirational districts  Baheri (Uttar Pradesh), Mankote (Jammu and Kashmir) and Resubelpara (Meghalaya).

The PM launched the nationwide Aspirational Blocks Programme on January 7. The programme aims to improve governance and public services delivery at the block level to enhance the quality of life of citizens. It is being implemented in 500 blocks of 329 districts across the country.

Each day of the Sankalp Saptaah, from October 3 to October 9, is dedicated to a specific development theme on which all aspirational blocks will work.

The themes for the first six days are Sampoorna Swasthya, Suposhit Pariwaar, Swachhta, Krishi, Shiksha and Samridhi Diwas, according to an official statement.

The last day  October 9  will be a celebration of the work conducted during the entire week as Sankalp Saptaah Samavesh Samaroh.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar, referring to violence and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions, said the ongoing situation in Canada should not be regarded as normal, and made it clear that India does not require lessons from others on the concept of freedom of speech. External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.(REUTERS file)

In July, a group of pro-Khalistan supporters allegedly attempted to set fire to the Consulate in San Francisco. There was no major damage nor any injuries and police were carrying out an investigation into the incident.

On September 18, Trudeau made a stunning allegation that the Indian government was possibly involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India, however, has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it absurd and motivated.

Jaishankar, who is on a US visit, was addressing a press conference in Washington DC on Friday.

What Jaishankar said on India-Canada diplomatic row:

On pro-Khalistan protests: In an apparent reference to Canada, Jaishankar said freedom of expression should not extend to incitement of violence.

I flagged here (in the US), and I flagged this to the Canadians as well. We are a democracy. We don't need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about, but we can tell people thiswe don't think freedom of speech extends to incitement to violence. That to us, is the misuse of freedom, thats not defence of freedom.

Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the issue of pro-Khalistani protests in his country came up during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asserted that Canada will work on preventing violence and push back against hatred.

He, however, 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.

Jaishankar also asked how other countries would react if they were in India's position, with their diplomats, embassies, and citizens facing intimidation.

How would you react if you were in my shoes? If it was your diplomats, your embassy, your people, what would be your reaction? he added.

Did India raise the issue during his visit to the US?

Yes, of course, we raised, it. What is the statusit's an ongoing conversation...Yes, I did spend some time on it...Yes, we discussed other things...Our relationship has many dimensions, many areas of cooperation. When we look at the world, there are areas we have convergences, and intersections of interest where we work very closely together, we are doing all of that, Jaishankar said.

He added, Look, I want to be fair. If something is discussed, I am transparent about it. I have no problem saying yes we discussed it. I don't want you to think that in the India-US relationship, there is only one issue. I would say yes, it's an ongoing conversation.

On intimidation against Indian diplomats: Jaishankar questioned whether the reaction would have been the same if a similar situation had occurred in any other country, adding that the situation in Canada should not be normalised.

...Our point is that there is today a climate of violence, an atmosphere of intimidation...Just think about it. We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We have had our consulatesviolence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people," he said.

So tell me, do you consider this normal? Okay, this is about thisif this had happened to any other country, how would they react to it? I think it is a reasonable question to ask, the EAM added.

On the current deadlock with Canada: Jaishankar said the current situation cant be termed a deadlock and clarified that the Indian government is open to looking at any specific and relevant thing shared by the Canadian side in connection with the issue.

I don't know if I would use the term deadlock...The issue is as follows: The Canadians have made some allegations. We have pointed out to them that this is not the government of India's policy and if they are prepared to share with us specifics and anything relevant, we are also open to looking at it. So in that sense, that's where the matter stands," he said at the press conference.

But what we do not want to see is an incident treated in isolation because then that somewhere does not convey the right picture, he added.

The minister said the ongoing problem with Canada is because of the permissiveness regarding terrorism, extremism and violence in the country.

This permissiveness is also reflected in the fact that some important extradition requests have not been responded to from their side. In fact, that there are individuals and organisations who are clearly involved with violence and illegal activities in India, who have themselves declared itI mean it is not a secret, he said.

On suspending visa operations: Jaishankar said that even though India wouldnt have liked suspending the visa operations to Canada, but it had to because the Canadian side made it very difficult for the Indian side to operate the services.

They continue to carry on with their activities in Canada and most importantly, the fact that our diplomatic missions and our diplomatic personnel have been consistently and continuously intimidated in Canada, to a point, where it is not safe for them to carry on with their work. The fact that we have had to temporarily suspend our visa operations, it is not something we would have liked to do, it is just that they made it very difficult for us to operate those services, Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar at Hudson Institute

Earlier, at a Hudson Institute event in Washington DC, Jaishankar said he spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan about Canadian allegations on New Delhi's possible involvement in the June killing of Nijjar. A US official confirmed news agency Reuters that Blinken spoke to Jaishankar on Thursday and urged India to cooperate with the Canadian investigation, but a US state department statement made no mention of the issue.

(With inputs from ANI, Reuters)

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India and Argentina on Friday signed a Social Security Agreement (SSA). The agreement was signed by Indias Ambassador to Argentina Dinesh Bhatia and Argentinas Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Santiago Cafiero in the presence of Argentine Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security Raquel Kismer de Olmos. The Agreement was signed by Indian ambassador Dinesh Bhatia and the Argentinas Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Santiago Cafiero.(X/India in Argentina)

The SSA applies to legislation in India concerning old age, survivor's pension and permanent, total disability pension for employed persons as well as to legislation in Argentina concerning contributory benefits of the Social Security System, as per a release issued by the Indian Embassy in Argentina.

The agreement provides detached workers, i.e., employees working in another country on a temporary basis, and their family members with rights to contributory benefits such as cash allowance for retirement or pension, rent, subsidy or lump sum payments as per local legislation without being subject to any reduction, modification, suspension, suppression or retention.

READ | HAL signs MoU with Argentina firm for aerospace collaboration

It establishes the legal framework regulating insurance period i.e., period of services credited with contributions, contributory benefits and export thereof, in respect of detached workers, including crew members of airlines and ships.

The economic and commercial ties between India and Argentina have grown exponentially in recent years.

Several Indian companies, including TCS, Infosys, Crisil, Bajaj Motorcycles, Royal Enfield, Hero Motors, TVS, Glenmark, and Godrej have investments in Argentina exceeding USD 1 billion.

Argentina's 'Thumbs Up' For PM Modi's 'Make In India' Push; "Not Just Tejas Or BrahMos..." | Details

Argentine companies including Globant and Techint also have large operations in India. The number of Indian professionals working in Argentina for Indian as well as multinational companies under intra-company transfers for the short or long term is steadily rising.

There is also a growing number of Argentine nationals who are seeking employment in India. These growing people-to-people exchanges have necessitated a legal framework to protect their rights, especially those related to social security contributions, as per the official release.

The Indian Embassy in Argentina said the Social Security Agreement has been signed after detailed yet speedy negotiations, particularly expedited in 2022.

The agreement would protect the rights of professionals and workers against loss of benefits or contributions made towards social security in both countries and thus facilitate greater movement of professionals and the labour force. This is yet another step forward in building a Strategic Partnership between the two countries which share deep traditional bonds of friendship, as per the release.

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United Kingdom Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan on Saturday said that she was "concerned" to see that the Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami was stopped from meeting the Gurudwara Committee in Glasgow. In order to prevent any potential altercation, India's High Commissioner and Consul General decided to leave the premises shortly after his arrival on Saturday.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Trevelyan said that the security and safety of foreign places is of utmost importance and places of worship in the United Kingdom should be open to all.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan said, "Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner @VDoraiswami was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all."

Earlier today, Indias High Commission in London said it has reported to authorities in the UK the disgraceful incident at the Glasgow Gurudwara where elements from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised for the High Commissioner and Consul General of India.

In order to prevent any potential altercation, India's High Commissioner and Consul General decided to leave the premises shortly after his arrival, according to the statement released by India's High Commission in London.

"On September 29, 2023, three persons-- all from areas outside Scotland--deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organized by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues," India's High Commission in London statement read.

It further said, "The organizers included senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival."

The High Commission of India said it has reported the incident to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police. Multiple community organizations including the organizers have formally regretted the incident and have urged the authorities to take action against the culprits, according to the statement.

"One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HC's car door - a matter that will require suitable police consideration. It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organizers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided," India's High Commission in London said in a statement.

According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurudwara located on Albert Drive.

The latest incident comes amid a diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Gurudwara in British Columbia's Surrey on June 18 this year.

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With paddy harvesting picking up pace in Punjab, farmers have started setting fire to the stubble, presaging another harrowing autumn for people in the northern plains, including the national capital region, when smoke from the farm residue blankets the entire region in a toxic haze. Farmers burn stubble after harvest in Amritsar on Saturday. (HT)

As many as 81 farm fires have been detected on Saturday by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, primarily in the Majha region where harvest begins early. Amritsar recorded 63 cases of farm fires. Overall, 214 cases have been reported in the current Kharif harvesting season so far that started on September 15. Out of these, 174 fires were reported only in Amritsar, followed by 13 in Tarn Taran.

As per the data of the previous year, the farm fires start from Amritsar due to early harvest and then pick up in Tarn Taran, which usually records the maximum farm fires in the Majha area, an official of the states agriculture department said on condition of anonymity. The harvest is on time in Majha, while it is delayed in Malwa because of the late sowing of paddy due to floods.

On September 30 last year, eight fire events were reported. The number was 215 in 2021 on the corresponding date, according to official data. In the past three days since September 27, 122 fire events have been reported.

In an action plan submitted to the Commission for Air Quality Management, the Punjab government has assured that paddy stubble burning would be brought down by 50% in comparison to last year. The state recorded 49,000 farm fires in 2022, down from 71,000 cases in 2021.

This year, the breadbasket state has promised there would be no farm fires in six districts that include Hoshiarpur, Malerkotla, Pathankot, Roopnagar, Mohali and Nawanshahr.

Punjab has around 31 lakh hectares of area under paddy, which is estimated to generate nearly 20 million tonnes of straw during the harvest season that takes place in October and November. The state government plans to manage around 11.5 million tonnes of straw through various on site management measures and the remaining 4.67 million tonnes by transporting and converting them elsewhere.

Punjab farmers usually have an extremely short window to clear their fields for the winter crop. Invariably, many choose to burn the stubble left behind after the harvest, sending up plumes of smoke that drift over to large population centres, choking habitations in a toxic smog.

The crisis often pushes air pollution in the northern states and that of the national capital Delhi to hazardous levels, with the air quality index climbing past 400 and even 450. Besides Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh farmers also contribute to the smog.

The maximum crop waste-burning incidents were reported in the five districts of Sangrur, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Muktsar and Moga, which recorded about 44% of the total cases in the state, according to last years data.

Farmers dont have any option but to burn the stubble, said Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda), a farmers collective.

Smallholders cant afford straw management machines, even at the subsidised rate, Jagmohan said. A majority of small farmers cant afford a machine, which would cost 1.15 lakh even on subsidy, he said. Why would they get a machine worth lakhs, which would be used only for six days in a year?

The government should give 5,000 per acre to each farmer and they would handle the stubble on their own, he said.

The threat of punitive action might not work, Jagmohan said, We are not scared of these threats. We will protest against the government if they take any action against the farmers for burning stubble, he said.

Arrangements have been made for the smooth procurement of paddy, which would start on October 1, said Harchand Singh Barsat, chairman of Punjab Mandi Board, which oversees the wholesale trade in farm produce. All arrangements have been made in the 1,870 grain markets across the state, Barsat said. Drinking water and sanitation arrangements for farmers and labourers have already been made.

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The Madras high court on Friday upheld the conviction and sentencing of more than 200 government officials for atrocities against the entire tribal village of Vachathi by beating up the men, raping 18 women, and killing their livestock, three decades ago. The court criticised the then All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government led by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa for not taking the crime seriously and of colluding with the real smuggler. (PTI)

On the evening of June 20,1992, officials from the departments of forest, police and revenue entered Vachathi village near Chitheri hills in Tamil Nadus Dharmapuri district on suspicion that the villagers were smuggling sandalwood and aiding bandit Veerappan. The state violence against the villagers continued for three more days.

Of the 269 convicts, 217 surviving officials had appealed in the high court against their punishment (ranging from one to 10 years of imprisonment), awarded by a trial court in 2011.

There are no merits in these appeals and the same are liable to be dismissed, justice P Velmurugan of Madras high court said in his 74-page order on Friday. The justice had visited the village earlier in March. The court found the victims accounts cogent and consistent and said that the appellants have committed the charged offences. The appeals of those who died during the trial were dismissed as abated and the surviving convicts now have to serve their remaining sentence as announced by the trial court.

The victims had to wait for 19 years for a lower court to convict 269 government officials and for another 12 years for Fridays verdict from the high court. I still cannot forget what happened to me all those years ago. And how much Ive lost since that day, said one of the rape survivors. We have gone to so many courts, so many people for justice. Till todays judgment, we have been living in fear.

The court criticised the then All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government led by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa for not taking the crime seriously and for colluding with the real smugglers. No complaint was registered for three years after the crime. It was the high court which ordered a CBI probe in 1995 in the case. The CBI filed a charge sheet against all 269 government officials and trial began, ten years later, in 2005.

Unfortunately the then government failed to protect the tribal women and it only safeguarded the erred officials and also failed to find out the real sandalwood smugglers, the justice said. In order to safeguard the actual smugglers and the big-shots, the revenue officials, police officials and also the forest officials, with the help of the then government, played a big stage drama, in which the innocent tribal women got affected much and the pain and difficulties faced by them have to be compensated in terms of money and jobs.

The court directed the incumbent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)- government to take stringent action against the district collector, superintendent of police (SP) and forest officers who were posted in Dharmapuri during the crime for not taking action against smugglers, but harassing and assaulting the villagers instead. The present state government has been asked to report to the court on the welfare measures taken to improve the livelihood and standard of living of the Vachathi villagers.

The court has directed the state government to pay 10 lakh immediately to each of the victims directly to their accounts, as compensation. If the victim is not alive, the compensation should go to the family. 50% of the amount should be contributed by the convicted who have been charged of raping 18 women and the government has also been asked to provide suitable jobs to the rape survivors.

The ordeal narrated by the victims state that between 4pm and 7pm on June 20,1992, hundreds of officials entered the village to conduct a mass raid. The villagers, all of them belonging to the Schedule Tribe, were in their houses and some of them were in the field grazing cattle. Forest officials dragged them out from their houses and fields to gather them under a Banyan tree and the uniformed officers beat the villagers. They picked 18 women and took them to a nearby lake where they were raped by the officials. The 18 women were then taken to a forest range office, where they were forcefully kept overnight to give their thumb impression and signatures agreeing to that they smuggled sandalwood. The villagers were also charged with attacking officials and preventing them from discharging their duties. They were imprisoned for more than a month before they were let out on bail.

Even though the accused are public servants, the acts committed by the appellants are not the official duty and they all committed all types of unlawful and illegal acts towards the innocent villagers of Vachathi Village, the court concluded.

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News / Local

by Staff reporter

In Bulawayo, a man is alleged to have abandoned his wife and three children in the city center on Thursday evening after picking them up from their rural home in Mt. Darwin.The woman, whose name is being withheld to safeguard the identity of her children, spent the night with her kids, aged five, eight, and 13, on a lawn outside a residence in Malindela Suburb, after her husband left them stranded.During an interview, the distressed woman shared with CITE that they left their rural residence because her daughter had been sexually assaulted by her brother-in-law, and her mother-in-law was causing them problems for reporting the incident."My husband had been away from home for three years," stated the visibly stressed woman. "He left to seek employment in Bulawayo. During his absence, his younger brother sexually assaulted my 13-year-old daughter. I reported the matter to the police, and he was subsequently arrested and is currently in custody."The woman explained that after the rape incident, they moved out of her in-laws' home and began living independently. She expressed her concern about her daughter's safety, given the circumstances."My mother-in-law was not pleased with her son's arrest. She would frequently approach my daughter on her way home from school and pressure her to retract her statement to the police, claiming that she was not raped," she recounted.The woman revealed that her husband eventually returned home and was informed about the rape case. Subsequently, her mother-in-law compelled her husband to bring them to Bulawayo, asserting that they were causing disturbances in the village."I was against the idea, but I considered it for the safety of my daughter. I believed that being away from the village would provide her with greater security, as I am worried about her following the rape incident," she said.According to her account, upon arriving in Bulawayo at around 9 pm, her husband took their bags of maize and groundnuts and her cellphone. He told them to wait for him while he went to find transportation to take them to his place of residence but never returned.Desperate and abandoned, the family sought assistance from nearby individuals who eventually brought them to Hillside Police Station. However, the police were unable to assist because they didn't know the husband's address. Consequently, the family spent the night outside, where Good Samaritans provided them with bread and beverages in the morning.The Social Welfare Department later arrived at the scene, picked up the woman and her children, and offered to assist them in finding transportation to return to their home in Mt. Darwin.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday described the new rules for the grant of disability benefits to armed forces as the display of BJP's "fake nationalism". In an elaborate post on his X account, the Congress veteran claimed the updated rules will impact around 40 percent of Army officers who retire with disability pension, and the new policy was in contravention of old court judgements, rules and "acceptable" global norms. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge(PTI)

On September 22, the Ministry of Defence released new rules that will govern the grant of disability benefits to members of the armed forces. The new rules reportedly alter the definition of pension, eligibility criteria and the quantum of compensation accorded in cases of disability during service.

Also read: Kharge vows to amend women bill if Congress comes to power

"BJP's Fake Nationalism is yet again visible in the new disability pension rules for our brave Armed Forces," Kharge wrote.

"Around 40% of Army officers retire with disability pension, and the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements, rules and acceptable global norms," he added.

Referring to the All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association's protest against the new rules, Kharge said the government's move places soldiers at a disadvantageous position compared to civilian employees.

Also read: Mallikarjun Kharge vs Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha over womens reservation bill remarks

The ex-servicemen body found the new policy in contravention of law and Supreme Court judgements and has demanded its immediate revocation.

The body took exception to the fact that the disability pension will be called 'Impairment Relief'. It called the change of the definition of Invalidation 'regressive'.

In a statement accessed by The Indian Express, the association's chairperson, Bhim Sen Sehgal, said the rules require personnel to complete at least 10 years of service to be eligible for Invalid Pension. He claimed this requirement was abrogated for civilian employees in 2019.

Also read: How the defence pension bill became a big burden

The statement claimed that under the new rules released by the MoD, heart diseases will only be considered service-linked if they occur in high-altitude areas. However, for civilian employees, the association claimed, all heart diseases are considered to be linked with stress and strain of service.

The association also claimed that the Ministry of Defence has continued with its policy of not granting disability pension to trainee officers. The new rules mandate that cadets will be entitled to an ex-gratia payment in case of disability during service.

Attacking the Modi government further for its decisions linked to the armed forces, Kharge pointed out that in June 2019, it announced it would tax disability pension. The government had rolled back the decision after public outrage.

He dubbed the Modi government "a habitual offender working against the welfare of jawans, ex-servicemen and veterans".

He demanded the setting up of an ex-servicemen commission to address the grievances of armed forces veterans.

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As the tension escalated in Manipur over the killing of two students, chief minister N Biren Singh on Saturday assured people that the culprits would be caught soon. Definitely, we will catch the culprits. Everything will be fine soon, Biren Singh told the media. Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh

Massive protests have rocked the northeastern state, especially Imphal, ever since the photos showing the bodies of two students surfaced online earlier this week. The protests led to the state government reimposing a ban on mobile internet services till October 1.

According to the Manipur Police, the initial probe into the investigation revealed that the two students may have eloped on July 6 but got trapped in an area dominated by one community while fleeing, after which they were allegedly abducted and murdered.

The case is now being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Meanwhile, on Thursday afternoon, senior officers of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) held a meeting at the Manipur police headquarters in Imphal to discuss the law and order situation in the state. During the meeting, the officers were apprised of the unfortunate injuries of students as well as security personnel.

Attempted attack on Manipur CM's residence

Amid the tensions, a protesting mob on Thursday night tried to attack the Manipur CM's ancestral home in Imphal. According to the police, the security forces used several rounds of tear gas shells to stop and disperse the mob.

The ethnic violence in Manipur first began on May 3 after clashes broke out during a 'Tribal Solidarity March' to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Reportedly over 170 people have been killed since then, while several have been injured and displaced.

(With inputs from ANI)

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a suspect from Churachandpur, who was allegedly part of a transnational conspiracy by Myanmar and Bangladesh based leadership of terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the current ethnic unrest in Manipur, the agency said on Saturday. NIA investigation revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups. (Representative Image)

The accused, identified as Seiminlun Gangte, was taken into custody on Saturday.

The federal anti-terror probe agency had registered a suo motu on July 19 to probe the conspiracy.

Investigation revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the government of India. And for this purpose, the aforementioned leadership have been providing funds to procure arms, ammunition and other types of terrorist hardware which are being sourced both, from across the border, as well as from other terrorist outfits active in north eastern states of India to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur, the agency said in a statement.

Gangte, it said, has been brought to Delhi and will be produced before a court here.

His arrest comes days after the agency took into custody a trained militant cadre - Moirangthem Anand Singh in the same case. Singh was arrested on September 24 and brought to Delhi as well. Singh was originally arrested by the Manipur Police on September 16 along with four others for allegedly wearing camouflaged uniforms and possessing an INSAS rifle, an SLR, two .303 rifles and multiple magazines. He is a former cadre of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur.

Clashes in Manipur first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the states reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community.

Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders. The clashes have virtually partitioned the state between the dominant Meitei community that lives in the plains and constitutes 53% of the states population, and the tribal Kuki group, which lives in the hill districts and makes up 16% of the state. At least 175 people have died and another 50,000 displaced.
New Delhi: HT Image

The National Investigation Agency on Saturday arrested a suspect from Churachandpur district in Manipur, who was allegedly part of a transnational conspiracy by terrorists based in Myanmar and Bangladesh to wage war against India by exploiting the ethnic unrest in Manipur.

The accused, identified as Seiminlun Gangte, has been taken into custody. The federal anti-terror probe agency registered a case on its own on July 19 to probe the conspiracy.

Investigation revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the government of India, the agency said in a statement. And for this purpose, the aforementioned leadership have been providing funds to procure arms, ammunition and other types of terrorist hardware which are being sourced both, from across the border, as well as from other terrorist outfits active in northeastern states of India to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur.

Gangte has been brought to Delhi and will be produced before a court in the national capital, it said.

The arrest comes days after the agency took into custody a trained militant cadre named Moirangthem Anand Singh in the same case. Singh was arrested on September 24 and brought to Delhi. He was arrested by Manipur police on September 16 with four others for allegedly wearing camouflaged uniforms and possessing an Insas rifle, a self-loading rifle, two .303 rifles and multiple magazines. He is allegedly a former cadre of the Peoples Liberation Army of Manipur.

Clashes in Manipur broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the states reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe status to the Meitei community. Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders.

The clashes have virtually partitioned the state between the dominant Meitei community that lives in the plains and constitutes 53% of the states population, and the tribal Kuki group, which lives in the hill districts and makes up 16% of the state. At least 175 people have died and another 50,000 displaced.
Hours after US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Friday that he had urged his Indian counterpart to work with Canada to investigate the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Sikh Nijjar, S Jaishankar said he saw what the Americans have said and hoped that they, too, have seen what he has said on the matter. External affairs minister S Jaishankar meets US secretary of state Antony Blinken, at the State Department, in Washington DC. (ANI Photo)

Jaishankar earlier confirmed that he had spoken to Blinken and US national security advisor Jake Sullivan about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of India's possible involvement in the June killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

Addressing a press conference in Washington DC, Jaishankar said, I saw what the Americans have said, and hopefully, the Americans have seen what I have said. I think both of us have articulated our respective viewsso I really dont know, beyond that, what else I can add."

Jaishankar added that the larger issue in the matter is the permissiveness regarding the incidents of violence and extremism in Canada, which has been flagged by India.

No incident is isolated and no incident is the totality. There is a context for everything and there are multiple problems out there, so in the case of individual cases, I guess we will have to seethe concerned governments will have to talk with each other, and see how they take it forward. But there is a larger issue, and I think the larger issue should be flagged. I think the larger issue is the permissiveness that I have flagged, Jaishankar said.

Most important, the fact that our diplomatic missions and our diplomatic personnel have been consistently and continuously intimidated in Canada to a point where today it is not safe for them really to carry on with their work.

"Obviously the fact that we have had to temporarily suspend our visa operations, it's not something we would have liked to do. It is just that they made it very difficult for us to operate those services, Jaishankar said.

Earlier in the day, Blinken told reporters he hoped that this issue would be resolved by Canada and India, news agency Reuters reported.

We are very concerned about the allegations that have been raised by Canada, by Prime Minister Trudeau. We have been in close contact with Canada about that. And at the same time, we have engaged with the Indian government and urged them to work with Canada on an investigation, and I had the opportunity to do so again in my meeting yesterday with foreign minister Jaishankar, Reuters quoted Blinken as saying.

Those responsible need to be held accountable, and we hope that our friends in both Canada and India will work together to resolve this matter, he said.

Talking to the journalists, Jaishankar said, In India, it will not come as a surprise to anybody if you tell them that there are people in Canada who are advocating violence, separatism, there is a history out there. All Indians notice, I suspect very few Americans know this. I think a lot of what I said at todays meeting was new to Americans."

The EAM added that it is very important that the US has Indias point of view on the matter as well, because Washington has good relations with both Ottawa and New Delhi.

When Americans look at Canada, they see something, when we in India look at Canada, we see something else and that's a part of the problem, so its very important that we talk it out with the Americans. After all, they are very close to India, they are good friends of oursso its important they have our point of view on the matter as well, Jaishankar said.

He added, What we have taken is a very reasonable stance...When was the last time that any of our missions was intimidated to a point where it could not continue with its normal functioning? If someone says this could happen in a G7 country, in a Commonwealth country, it gives you a lot to think about.

India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India has angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat act to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

When asked if there is a deadlock between India and Canada on resolving the issue, Jaishankar said: I don't know if I would use the term deadlock.

He said Indias point is that there is today a climate of violence and an atmosphere of intimidation.

Just think about it. We've had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We've had our consulates, violence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people, he said.

So tell me, do you consider this normal? Would, I mean for a moment, okay, this is about us. If this had happened to any other country, how would they react to it? I think it's a reasonable question to ask. Let's not normalise what is happening in Canada. What is happening in Canada, had it happened anywhere else, do you think the world would've taken it with equanimity? he asked.

Jaishankar said it is necessary to call out what is happening in Canada.

(With inputs from ANI, PTI, Reuters)

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The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh police on Friday informed the state high court that it had no immediate plans to arrest Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary Nara Lokesh in the Amaravati inner ring road case, but would question him after serving him a notice. Nara Lokesh (HT Photo)

The high court, which was hearing a petition of Lokesh seeking anticipatory bail in the case, dismissed the same, following the CIDs submission.

The Andhra Pradesh high court also deferred to October 4, separate petitions of Lokesh seeking anticipatory bail in two other cases  the state skill development corporation case and AP Fibernet case. The court also directed the police not to arrest the TDP leader until October 4.

Lokesh is currently camping in New Delhi to hold discussions with the legal experts to obtain relief for his father  TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is in judicial remand at Rajahmundry Central jail since September 11 in connection with the multi-crore skill development corporation scam being probed by the state crime investigation department (CID).

Lokesh is planning to resume his Yuva Galam padayatra on Friday night from Podalada village of Razole block in Konaseema district, where he had stopped on September 9, following his fathers arrest from Nandyal.

However, TDP state president K Atchennaidu on Thursday announced that Lokesh had deferred his padayatra indefinitely, considering the pending disposal of Naidus petition in the Supreme Court seeking to quash the skill development case against him.

A senior TDP leader familiar with the development said Lokesh had dropped the plan to resume his padayatra, following reports that the CID might arrest him in the Amaravati inner ring road case, in which he was named as accused no. 14 (A-14), soon after he lands in Andhra Pradesh.

Since he filed a petition in the high court seeking anticipatory bail in the inner ring road case, he thought it would be better to resume the padayatra if he gets the bail, the TDP leader said.

On Friday, when his bail petition came up before the high court, advocate general (AG) Sriram Subrahmanyam told the court that the government had no plans to arrest Lokesh immediately, but would serve a notice to him under Section 41-A of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for questioning.

The A-G said the CID would consider arresting Lokesh only with the permission of the court, if he did not cooperate during the questioning.

The high court disposing Lokeshs petition seeking anticipatory bail said since the CID does not want to arrest Lokesh but would only question him, there was no need to hear his petition. The court also asked Lokesh to cooperate with the investigating agency.

A team of the CID officials on Friday left for Delhi immediately to serve notices for questioning to Lokesh. However, the CID officials could not locate the TDP general secretary in Delhi. They are on the lookout for him and are suspecting that he may be trying to avoid them, a state government official privy to the development said.

TDP spokesperson N Vijay Kumar said the CID appears to have dropped Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) from the FIR lodged against Lokesh in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case, as an afterthought, because he was not a minister when the proposal was mooted.

If section 409 of IPC is invoked against Lokesh, the CID police can straightaway arrest Lokesh without serving notice to him under section 41-A of the CrPC. The fact that the CID has chosen to issue notice to him indicates that they have dropped section 409, Kumar said.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the Andhra Pradesh high court also deferred to October 4, the petition of Chandrababu Naidu seeking anticipatory bail in the AP Fibernet case, in which Naidu was named as A-25.

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Prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the aspirational districts programme changed the lives of over 25 crore people in 112 Indian districts and its success will now form the basis of the aspirational blocks programme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi,during the launch of a week-long programme for Aspirational Blocks in the country called Sankalp Saptaah at Bharat Mandapam.(PTI)

While launching a week-long programme called 'Sankalp Saptaah' for the country's aspirational blocks at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Modi laid stress on the importance of optimum utilisation of resources, convergence and public participation for development at the grassroots level.

"Very few people get the chance to run a government for as long as I have. And I say from experience that it is not only that the budget brings change, if we ensure optimum utilisation of resources and convergence, then work can be done without any fresh funds coming in for the blocks," he said.

According to official press release, the week-long program is closely aligned with the nationwide Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP), which was launched by Modi in January this year.

'Sankalp Saptah' programme, which is being implemented in 500 aspirational blocks across 329 districts in the country, aims to improve governance at the block level in order to enhance the quality of life of citizens.

To facilitate the successful implementation of the ABP and craft robust block development strategies, 'chintan shivirs' were conducted at village and block levels across the nation. 'Sankalp Saptaah' represents the culmination of these thoughtful deliberations which will be observed in all of the 500 aspirational blocks.

Each day in 'Sankalp Saptaah', starting from October 3 till October 9, is dedicated to a specific development theme on which all aspirational blocks will work. The themes for the first six days include 'Sampoorna Swasthya', 'Suposhit Pariwaar', 'Swachhta', 'Krishi', 'Shiksha', and 'Samridhi Diwas', the statement said.

The last day of the week-long programme, October 9, will be a celebration of the work conducted during the entire week, as 'Sankalp Saptaah  Samavesh Samaroh'.

The inaugural event at Bharat Mandapam is anticipated to witness the participation of approximately 3,000 panchayat and block-level people's representatives and functionaries along with about two lakh people including block and panchayat level functionaries, farmers, and persons from other walks of life, joining virtually, the statement said.

(With inputs from agencies)
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, September 30 and he will participate in Congresss Jan Aakrosh Yatra here. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Former minister and Congress MLA Jitu Patwari has confirmed Rahul Gandhis visit to the state and said that Rahul Gandhi would arrive at Kalapipal assembly constituency in Shajapur district.

In a video message, Patwari said, The Congress Party is running a campaign Jan Akrosh Yatra, to bring the pain of the public on the streets in the entire state. The party along with senior leaders have been taking out this yatra from seven places covering the entire state to express the pain of the youth, women, farmers, employees, common people before the state government.

"In this series, Rahul Gandhi is coming to participate in Jan Akrosh Yatra in Kalapipal assembly constituency in Shajapur district on September 30," he added.

The Congress party is taking out Jan Aakrosh Yatra from seven different regions across the state from September 19 covering 11,400 kilometres and nearly all the assembly constituencies.

Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go for the assembly polls later this year. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state and addressed a Karyakarta Mahakumbh, a mega congregation of BJP workers here in Bhopal on September 25.

Speaking at the rally the Prime Minister had criticised the Congress for keeping MP underdeveloped during its tenure in the state and the centre.

"After independence the Congress ruled MP for several years. But the misrule by the Congress government kept MP among the BIMARU states. During its tenure in Madhya Pradesh the BJP has taken the state to new heights with a new energy" the Prime Minister had said.

Notably, for the last few weeks, the BJP has been taking out Jan Ashirwad Yatras, a mass-contact programme, from five different places in the state. PM Modi addressed the Karyakarta Mahakumbh to mark the culmination of those yatras.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar has conveyed to US secretary of state Antony Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan Indias concerns about Canada giving operating space to extremism, terror, trafficking and crime, and a toxic combination of issues and people it has permitted due to its domestic politics. HT Image

During a discussion at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC on Friday, Jaishankar said that in meetings the previous day, the American side had conveyed its own views on the situation, and hopefully both sides came out of their conversations better informed on the issue. He added that America and India view Canada differently based on their own interests.

There was no readout from the American side of his interaction with Sullivan, and the state department readout of the meeting didnt mention discussion on Canada. But state department spokesperson Matthew Miller addressed the issue, urging India to cooperate, shortly before the Jaishankar-Blinken meeting.

And on Friday, Blinken too confirmed that the issue figured in the discussions with his counterpart the previous day. Speaking to reporters, Blinken reiterated that the US was very concerned about Canadas allegations, it had been in touch with Canada, it had engaged with the Indian government, and Washington had urged Delhi to work with Canada on the investigation, adding he had repeated the call in his meeting with Jaishankar. Those responsible need to be held accountable and we hope that our friends in both Canada and India will work together to resolve this matter, Blinken said.

At the Hudson Institute, when asked about Canadas allegations of a possible link between agents of the government of India and a killing of a Canadian citizen who India had designated as a terrorist, Jaishankar reiterated that India had told Canada that this wasnt government of India policy, and if Canada offered something specific and relevant, India was open to looking at it.

The Canadian PM (Justin Trudeau) made some allegations, initially privately and then publicly. Our response to him, both in private and public, were that what he was alleging wasnt consistent with our policy. If he had and his government had anything relevant and specific, they would like us to look into, we were open to looking at it. Thats where this conversation is at this point of time, he said.

But Jaishankar added that one has understand the broader context of politics in Canada, and appreciate that this has been an issue of great friction between the two countries going back to 1980s. Then it became dormant. But in the last few years, it has come back very much into play because of what we consider to be a very permissive Canadian attitude towards terrorists, extremists and people who openly advocate violence. They have been given operating space in Canada because of compulsions of Canadian politics, he said.

Jaishankar said that, to most Americans, Canada looked very different but this was a function of interests and where the shoe pinches.

For us, it has certainly been country where organised crime from India, mixed with trafficking in people, mixed secessionism, violence, terrorism  it is a toxic combination of issues and people who have found operating space there, he added.

Jaishankar said that a lot of India-Canada tensions, which preceded Trudeaus allegations, came from this history. Today, I am actually in a situation where my diplomats are unsafe going into the embassy and consulates in Canada. They are publicly intimidated. And that has actually compelled me to temporarily suspend even visa operations in Canada. Often countries look very different depending on how you see them and what your interests are but then I have this problem in Canada.

He said he had spoken about it with Sullivan and Blinken. They obviously shared US views and assessments on this whole situation. And I explained to them at some length  what I gave you was a summary of concerns which I had. Hopefully we both came out of those meeting better informed.

On Thursday, asked about Trudeaus earlier comment that he was sure Blinken would raise the issue with Jaishankar, Miller, the US state department spokesperson, said that he would not speak publicly about what Blinken may say in his meetings before the secretary has had a chance to say it to his counterparts.

But, Miller added, What I will say, however, is that we have consistently engaged with the Indian Government on this question and have urged them to cooperate, and that engagement and the urge for them to cooperate will continue.

When asked what was the feedback the US was getting during this engagement, Miller said, They can speak for themselves. I am not going to speak to what they say in private diplomatic conversations. I will speak to what I say or what we say, and that is we urge them to cooperate with the Canadian investigation.

When he was asked about the US ambassador to Canada saying that the intelligence provided by Five Eyes alliance leading to Trudeaus allegation, Miller also said that he was not going to discuss intelligence matters.

The issue snowballed week after Trudeau, on the floor of the Canadian Parliament, claimed that Canadian security agencies were pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Indian authorities had designated Nijjar  the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force who was shot dead ostensibly by members of a rival rang in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18  as a terrorist. In its first reaction, the ministry of external affairs rubbished Canadas allegations as absurd. There is a sense among Indian policymakers that the allegations are motivated by Trudeaus domestic political calculus, dependence on extremist Sikh forces, and is a way to deflect charges of Chinas alleged foreign interference in Canadian politics.

The allegation has complicated Indias deepening partnerships with the western bloc, given that Canada is both the USs closest Nato ally and a member of G7 and the Five Eyes alliance.

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Days after RJD MP Manoj Jha courted a controversy with his 'Thakur' reference in Rajya Sabha while speaking on the women's reservation bill, another leader from Lalu Yadav's party has kicked up a political storm over the subject. Addressing an event in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, senior RJD politician Abdul Bari Siddiqui warned the audience that women "wearing lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles" would enter parliament in the name of reservation. RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui

Siddiqui, towing his party's line on women's reservation in parliament, said the Central government should provide reservation to women belonging to backward communities. Else, he claimed, those with "lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles would come forward".

Also read: 'Go to Pak with family': BJP leader posts video message for ex Bihar minister

Reacting to the remark, BJP MP Sunita Duggal said on Saturday, This shows their narrow mindset... Women are making a mark in every area... Giving such statements represents their rude mentality...They want women to do only household work and not contribute to the outside world.

JMM MP Mahua Maji said politicians must avoid statements that can hurt women.

"We also want the women from backward classes to come forward... We are also talking about the reservation of SC, ST, and OBC women in the Women's Reservation Bill," she added.

Accused of narrow-mindedness, Siddiqui issued a clarification and expressed regret over his remark. He said his controversial statement was merely an attempt to explain the implications of the women's reservation law to rural women present in the audience "in their language".

Also read: Told my kids to settle abroad, says RJD leader; BJP, JD(U) hits back

"In that rally, hundreds of rural women were there... I used that language to explain to the rural women in their language. My intention was not to hurt anyone... If someone is hurt, I express regret... It was a gathering of extremely backward classes and I was teaching them...RJD had been in support of Women's Reservation since the beginning," he was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.

On Friday, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Women's Reservation Bill that seeks 33 percent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The constitution amendment bill was passed by the Lok Sabha with near unanimity and the Rajya Sabha with unanimity.

Also read: Womens reservation bill gets Presidents assent

Per the law, members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will get the benefits of quota within quota. The opposition, including the RJD, however, had demanded that members of Other Backward Classes must also get the benefit.

Earlier this week, during the debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha, RJD MP Manoj Jha recited the poem 'Thakur Ka Kuan' to emphasize his party's demand. The BJP, however, called it an insult to the members of the Thakur community.

With inputs from ANI, PTI

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Opinion / Columnist

South Africa is under attack by Western countries led by the US due to its BRICS membership and non-aligned geopolitical policy. This isn't surprising, given the West's frustration with the country's refusal to support its war against Russia using Ukraine. But what's notable in this endeavor is the West's resorting to a familiar imperial tactic of fronting black-faced diplomatic and media vassals to validate and amplify their anti-South African talking points on behalf of the Washington bourgeoisie. It is in this spirit that the US House of Representatives on Thursday invited one, Redi Thlabi, to slavishly demonize not only South Africa, her country of birth but also other African states and people.Redi Thlabi before the US House of RepresentativesIn the full glare of cameras, Redi's slavish role was immediately obvious when, instead of self-respectfully frowning at the mispronunciation of her name by Rep. James, the Chairman, she sheepishly giggled and thanked him. From there onwards, Redi was either dramatically nodding even to the most inconsequential phrases of her script, mispronouncing Madagascar as 'Madagal,' or berating Sudan and the Central African Republic as weaker states' with flimsy democracies, summing up a treacherous evening when, once again, a black woman had been weaponized not only against her own country but against continental Africa.Its worth noting that despite years in the media as a radio presenter and television anchor, and despite being credited with numerous publications, Redi Thlabi, the so-called author and media personality could only manage to read her presentation verbatim from a cell phone. Was she instrumentalized to deliver a message hastily ghostwritten for her? That can be the only conclusion if one examines both the message she presented and her delivery. The message was distinctly aimed at condemning the Russia-South African relationship and could have been mistaken for a campaign pitch of an American politician. Indeed, Redi's disingenuous emotion, awkward gestures, and fidgeting with her handset immediately made it evident that this walkie-talkie puppet was merely transmitting someone else's talking points in real time.When, during the questioning, Mr. Jackson, one of the members, correctly pointed out the good and unique historical relationship between Russia and South Africa, and asked why Redi and others were singling out South Africa to blame over a position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict that was no different from that of other US allies like India and Saudi Arabia, Redi, caught off guard with an impromptu question her handlers clearly hadn't prepped her on, instinctively grabbed her phone, seemingly expecting a feed-in of the answer from her remote source.The awkward moment was saved by her cucumber-shaped headed colleague, Mr. Chris Maroleng whose clueless answer was the only thing less embarrassing than the sight of a pale-bleached Redi fidgeting with her phone.Redi Thlabi's stage-managed Rise as an AuthorBut how did Redi Thlabi plummet to these depths of treachery? How did she end up before the US House of Representatives, masquerading as the spokesperson for the noble people of South Africa, all the while betraying them with every word? Was she paid to spew these falsehoods against her homeland, her continent, and her country's steadfast ally, Russia? Was she promised a job in an American media corporation? What led to her treachery and blatant blackmail of her own country and other countries in Africa? One cannot arrive at the answer to this question without delving into the sordid history of such blacks whom the West turns against their own people by stage managing their rise to fame, prior to eventual instrumentalization for imperial interests.It is a familiar script, as old as colonialism itself, where blacks, hungry for recognition and wealth, are coopted to betray their own for the promise of a comfortable life in the West, for the trappings of success and fame. As the script has it, the Whites identify a young person from an African country, mentor them in a chosen area of public discourse such as Media Commentary, Public Speaking, Journalism, or Human rights, then manipulate the competition in that chosen field to promote that young person as exceptional, eventually providing them with media coverage and summit attendances to enhance their popularity and credibility. Meanwhile, they take them on foreign trips to Western capitals, secure academic fellowships for them through manipulation in Western institutions, and once they have gained a certain profile, they assign handlers and send them back to Africa armed with talking points,'Redi Thlabi's case, like many other promising young Africans, is no different. She was mentored in the media industry starting in her mid-20s, and given platforms to raise her profile, including a stint at BBC Radio. Eventually, as they prepared to weaponize her, some white man ghostwrote her first major publications around 2013, which despite their average literary rating, were promoted internationally to catapult her into the media spotlight as an author.With her credibility as an author established, the time came to weaponize her in 2017 when she became part of a Western syndicate to character assassinate Jacob Zuma, former South African president as a rapist. In that endeavor, Redi's first major act as a conduit of her Western patrons was to accept authorship of a ghost-written book about Zuma's accuser to paint Zuma as a rapist. Zuma of course had been acquitted of that allegation, but that didn't matter to Redi. Her blackmail paid off, earning her a visa to relocate to the US two years later, where, in order to sustain the luxurious life she is now accustomed to, she is having to continue with her puppet duties, including another attempt to complete her obliteration of Zuma's reputation with a film in 2019 about the same sex scandal.The White Husband SyndromeA crucial phase in the culmination of the neocolonial script for manipulating African women often involves assigning them old white men as husbands. We remember last month warning a certain Namatai Kwekweza, a promising young Zimbabwean woman who, after several donor-sponsored trips to Western capitals, returned parroting Western talking points. We warned that she was being manipulated either knowingly or unknowingly down the same path and that she would end up with a white husband, forever condemned by conjugal subjugation, into a lifetime of Western puppetry.If there were ever any doubts about this, Redi and her colleagues have proven us right. Redi's entire inner circle of the Clever Blacks, a cabal of blacks who aspire to whiteness and who together colluded to bring down President Zuma, were rewarded with white husbands and quickly relocated to the West. Palesa Morudu, who was frequently in the company of the racist Helen Zille of the Democratic Alliance (DA), a political party for the white minority of South Africa, ended up being matched with a white man and soon moved to the West. The same with others like Nomboniso Gasa who fortunately divorced in 2021, and Thuli Madonsela a renowned agent of White Monopoly capital who recently hooked up with a white man 20 years older than her. Redi, for her part ended up with a Black man, which might have been commendable if not for the fact that she wreaked another woman's family to snatch him from his happy first marriage of two children.Thuli Madonsela, a renowned agent of White Monopoly capitalFor some reason, Redi seems obsessed with sexual escapades, which may have made her the perfect choice for Zuma's white enemies to weaponize. For instance, in 2015, just as she accelerated her endeavor of tarnishing Zuma's name using a sex scandal, Redi, then working as a radio presenter, ran stories about sexual escapades. She even interviewed a Malawian witch doctor who claimed that he could enlarge men's penises and provide a quick marriage. Ironically, this interview happened after Redi herself had wreaked her current husband's previous marriage, raising the possibility that, going by her witch doctor guest's claims, she had indeed utilized his services. This is especially noteworthy considering her subsequent struggle to conceive for several years.Clever Blacks parroting US Talking PointsToday, Redi Thlabi, who now resides in the US is effectively, another of those black faces whose careers were stage-managed, propped up, and eventually weaponized to serve imperial interests against their African countries. Her stage-managed show at the US House of Representatives on Thursday is just one in a series of such acts in which she has participated and will predictably participate in more, as she seeks to maintain the lavish lifestyle to which they have now accustomed her. The current target the West has given Redi, and others like her spread across Africa's academic and media platforms, is obviously to demonize and try to drive a wedge between Russia and Africa.It's all too obvious in their messaging. Actually, in this endeavor, Redi and her colleagues of clever blacks, have been given the main talking point: Russia bad, America good.' Everything else they say revolves around that central theme. Their task is to regurgitate, tweet, write, and amplify these messages to African audiences, with the hope of obscuring Africans' understanding of Russia's loyal friendship. They aim to convince Africans that the Europeans who colonized us are our friends, while the Russians, who armed us to resist European colonialism, are our enemies. They want us to believe that those who killed Steve Biko, murdered Lumumba and dissolved his body in acid, retaining only his tooth as a trophy, murdered Thomas Sankara, poisoned Kwame Nkrumah, and more recently killed and defiled Libya's Ghadaffi, are our friends, while Russia, which has consistently supported our struggle, is the enemy.The Puppet Expose continuesRedi's story is a sad but true and heartbreaking tale of an African woman who, in her own right, was a promising prospect but sadly lost her way. She now serves as a poignant lesson for Africans, especially our ambitious young women. Trips to Western capitals, visas for Western residency, and like Nomboniso and Palesa, the gift of old white husbands should not mislead them to betray their countries and continent. As for us, we must not only remain vigilant but must confront this vile syndicate of the West to weaponize our own against us.Redi Thlabi, like her other colleagues, has so far relocated to the US and might be too far gone to be saved from becoming a full-time puppet and spy for Westerners who seek to perpetuate their dominance over African nations and peoples. If South Africans can redeem her, well and good. Either way, native true sons and defenders of Africa must continue unmasking puppets, making sure that the likes of Redi Thlabi have no hiding place, but instead find themselves adrift, severed from their roots, and despised by Africans in whose name they go prostituting in Western political brothels.Larmbert EbituPan-African Agitator for a United African States' in our lifetime. Africa Must Unite!
After the Madhya Pradesh Police arrested an autorickshaw driver, identified as Bharat Soni, for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl in Ujjain district, his father Raju Soni on Thursday demanded a strict punishment for him. According to Soni, those committing such gruesome crimes should be shot by the police. During investigation, it was found that the rape survivor was beaten up before death, Madhya Pradesh Police said, adding prima facie it was a case of homicide. (Representational)

We are not able to come out of shame. What should I do? I can't understand anything. That girl could have been my daughter...If I were in his place, I would have admitted my guilt and died with it, the accused's father told India Today.

He added, Those who commit such crimes do not deserve to live. Whether it's my child or anyone else's, anyone who commits such a crime should be hanged or shot.

The accused's father also revealed to the media that he was aware of the incident and also spoke to his son about it. According to him, the accused was behaving as if nothing had happened, remained silent, and continued with his daily activities.

Bharat Soni was arrested on Thursday after CCTV footage showed him interacting with her near Ujjain railway station. Another autorickshaw driver Rakesh Malviya was also held for trying to destroy evidence.

After seeing the viral videos, we identified the girl against whom a missing complaint was filed on Monday in Jaitwara police station, and informed Ujjain police. The minors grandfather confirmed her identity, Satna additional superintendent of police Shivesh Singh Baghel said.

The shocking incident came to light on September 25 after the girl was found bleeding on a road in Mahakal police station limits in Ujjain. She was immediately taken to a hospital where a medical examination found that she had been raped.

The girl is currently being treated at a hospital.

According to a member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR, the victim's condition has been improving, however, it may take a long time to recover from the mental trauma.
A Sikh restaurant owner, who earlier received threats from Khalistani elements for being vocal against them, has now claimed that his car was shot at and vandalised by the extremists in West London. A video posted on X by Insightuk2, which describes itself as a social movement of British Hindus and Indians, claimed that some unidentified assailants allegedly opened fire at the car of Harman Singh Kapoor. (X (formerly Twitter))

A video posted on X by Insightuk2, which describes itself as a social movement of British Hindus and Indians, claimed that some unidentified assailants allegedly opened fire at the car of Harman Singh Kapoor, adding that his family has been subjected to constant threats of violence and rape by alleged Khalistan supporters.

However, there has been no formal statement from the UK police on these claims.

Notably, the claims came to the fore on the very day elements from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised for the Indian High Commissioner, Vikram Doraiswami.

They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival, Indias High Commission to UK said in a statement.

A UK-based journalist and researcher, Charlotte Littlewood, in a post shared on X, claimed that the attack on Kapoors family was ongoing.

Attack on Harman Singh Kapoor family is ongoing. They are awaiting police as Khalistani extremists are thought to have shot at their vehicle in London. As feared the Canada row has emboldened extremists - we will see more of this, her post read.

Earlier in the day, she also questioned the decision of removing the panic alarm from the car of family amid the diplomatic fallout of Canada's claim of an Indian hand in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

"At this heightened time of threat following the India-Canada row. Where the Khalistani extremists are threatening India High commissions in the West and assassinating Indian officials in India. How was the decision made to remove their panic alarm? (sic), her post added.

Meanwhile, INSIGHT UK, also alleged that Khalistani extremists were threatening Sikhs in the UK.

It also alleged that no arrests were made despite several months of alleged torture of Harman Kapoors family.

The Police have made no arrests in what has been months of torture for this family. When will action be taken against these Khalistani extremists who pose a serious law and order threat @metpoliceuk, INSIGHT UK posted on X, adding, Why is the UK government not taking stringent action against an extremist ideology with a history of terrorism.

Earlier, on May 4, Kapoor and his family alleged that they have been receiving constant online threats after they posted a video about the Khalistan movement on social media, Khalsa Vox reported.

The alleged threats were made despite repeated assurances by the police of safety and special safeguarding measures. The family had experienced three attacks, and do not feel safe, according to Khalsa Vox, a portal on news related to Punjab politics, history, culture, and heritage.

Harman's restaurant was attacked by pro-Khalistan supporters, an incident that occurred just days after the Indian High Commission in London was vandalised in April 2023.

Harman then posted a video which garnered two million views in two days, leading to abusive calls, social media trolling, and threats against him and his family.

Harman said following the video, he received death threats and his restaurant was attacked. The attackers demanded that he remove the video, raise pro-Khalistan slogans and burn the Indian flag, or face death.

Harman said his wife and his daughter even received several rape threats. "Our address was put online with calls to rape and kill them. Videos of miscreants licking the pictures of my wife and daughter were posted as well," he added, according to Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human rights.

An independent report commissioned by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had expressed concerns over the rising influence of pro-Khalistan extremists within the British Sikh community, Khalsa Vox reported.

The Bloom Review, an independent report commissioned by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, called on the Rishi Sunak government to address the issue urgently and safeguard most of the Sikhs in the UK who do not support their extremist ideology.

The report stressed time-bound action on the issue. The report noted that the Sikh communities in the UK face coercion and intimidation by fringe Khalistani elements, Khalsa Vox reported. These pro-Khalistan groups artificially inflate their influence and attract disproportionate attention by lobbying political bodies under the guise of human rights activism.

According to the news report, the actions of pro-Khalistan groups create a false image of legitimacy which is not in accordance with the beliefs of the Sikh faith.

It is important to understand that Khalistani separatists do not represent the views of most of British Sikh communities, as per the Khalsa Vox report.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a mega election campaign in four poll-bound states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh - beginning on Saturday. During his visits, Modi will hold as many as eight rallies in six days between September 30 and October 6, and is also scheduled to launch various projects and several public welfare schemes. PM Modi's busy schedule in 4 poll-bound states from today

PM Modi's visit to Chhattisgarh

On Saturday, Modi will visit Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur to attend the concluding ceremony of two 'Parivartan Yatras' of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He will also address the Parivartan Mahasankalp rally at the Science College ground around 2 pm, state BJP chief Arun Sao told the media. He will return to the state on October 3 for public meetings in Jagdalpur in Bastar.

PM Modi's visit to Telangana

On October 1, Modi will visit Telangana's Mahabubnagar district where he will lay the foundation stone of multiple developmental projects worth more than 13,500 crore. According to a government release, the projects are related to important sectors like road, rail, petroleum and natural gas, and higher education. The PM will also flag off a train service through video conferencing.

He will also inaugurate five new buildings of the University of Hyderabad - the School of Economics, School of Mathematics and Statistics, School of Management Studies, Lecture Hall Complex  III, and Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication (Annexe).

He will return to the state on October 3 for public meetings in Nizamabad district.

PM Modi's visit to Madhya Pradesh

On October 2, Modi will visit Madhya Pradesh for a day where he is expected to hold two public meetings in Gwalior. Later on October 6, he will return to the state to visit Jodhpur - a region considered a stronghold of chief minister Ashok Gehlot. He will also reportedly travel to Jabalpur and Jagdalpur to hold public gatherings.

PM Modi's visit to Rajasthan

Reportedly, the PM will be in Congress-ruled Rajasthan on October 2 where he will hold a public rally in Chittorgarh.
The Congress on Sunday slammed the central government over Delhi's National Museum being vacated under the Central Vista redevelopment project. The grand old party alleged that yet another majestic structure will be lost as part of the "systematic erasure campaign" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. National Museum, New Delhi.(X/ Jairam Ramesh)

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor while expressing his concern said that vacating the National Museum is nothing more than "barbarism, pure and simple."

"A historic building of immense architectural importance is to be demolished and replaced by a cookie-cutter government building! And in the meantime there will be no National Museum for two years at least. This is barbarism, pure and simple." he said on X (formerly Twitter).

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, while posting pictures on the museum on his X account, had said that there was no guarantee that this national treasure would survive the supposed relocation.

"Yet another majestic building that combines finely the modern with the traditional is to vanish by the end of this year. The National Museum designed by G B Deolalikar and inaugurated in December 1960 is being demolished. Incidentally, he also designed the main block of the Supreme Court which hopefully will survive," he said.

"The nation loses not just a majestic structure but also loses a piece of its recent history which is the target of a systematic erasure campaign of the Prime Minister. It has over 2,00,000 priceless exhibits and there is no guarantee that this national treasure will survive the supposed relocation," Ramesh added.

The National Museum, home to a collection of rich ancient artefacts, is likely to be vacated by the end of 2023 as part of the Central Vista redevelopment project, news agency PTI reported citing the sources on Thursday.

It is not clear whether the over 60-year-old building will be retained or bulldozed after its collections are shifted.

The collections would reportedly be stored in the proposed Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum in the North and South Block of the Raisina Hill complex.

The National Museum was inaugurated in the Rashtrapati Bhavan by C Rajagopalachari, the then Governor-General of India on August 15, 1949, before finding a home at Janpath.

(With inputs from PTI)
Two militants were killed as security forces foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on Saturday, police said. So far, two AK rifles, four AK magazines, 90 rounds, a Pakistani pistol, a pouch and  2,100 in Pakistani currency have been recovered from the encounter site. (ANI File Photo/Representational image)(HT_PRINT)

The infiltration attempt took place in the Kumkadi area of the Machil sector in the north Kashmir district.

"Based on an intelligence input provided by Kupwara Police, in a joint operation carried by Army and police in Kumkadi area of Machal sector, two infiltrating terrorists have been killed so far," Kupwara Police said in a post on X.

The operation is still underway, the police said.

So far, two AK rifles, four AK magazines, 90 rounds, a Pakistani pistol, a pouch and 2,100 in Pakistani currency have been recovered from the encounter site, they said.
A Madhya Pradesh Police official, who was part of the investigation into the rape case of a minor girl in Ujjain, has offered to take responsibility for the girl's medical treatment, education, and marriage. The police officer, Ajay Verma, said several other people are also coming forward to help her. Madhya Pradesh police official Ajay Verma

I have said that I will take care of the girl's treatment, education, and marriage. Many other people have also come forward for this initiative. I am quite hopeful that all the responsibilities will be fulfilled soon. After she is discharged from the hospital, I will also admit her to another hospital for further treatment, Verma, the investigating officer and Mahakal police station in-charge, told news agency ANI.

The incident that has sent shockwaves through the country was reported on September 25 after the 15-year-old girl was found bleeding on a road in Mahakal police station limits in Ujjain. She was taken to a hospital where a medical examination found that she had been raped.

Reportedly, the victim is a resident of Satna district and arrived in Ujjain on Sunday.

Two autorickshaw drivers have been arrested in the case - one identified as Bharat Soni was arrested for allegedly raping the minor, while the other autorickshaw driver identified as Rakesh Malviya was held for trying to destroy evidence. According to the police, Soni was detained after CCTV footage showed him interacting with the victim near Ujjain railway station.

After seeing the viral videos, we identified the girl against whom a missing complaint was filed on Monday in Jaitwara police station, and informed Ujjain police. The minors grandfather confirmed her identity, Satna additional superintendent of police Shivesh Singh Baghel said.

Meanwhile, the girl is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Indore. According to a member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) who visited the victim girl said that her condition has been improving, however, it may take a long time to recover from the mental trauma.

(With inputs from ANI)
Washington: S Jaishankar (ANI)

Outlining his conversations with American officials on the issue of Canadas allegations, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that as a good friend of India and very close to Canada, it was important for the US to take note of Indias viewpoint and have accurate information on the subject.

He also raised the issue of an attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco with the US and the need for action against the perpetrators and said that as a democracy, India did not require lessons in freedom of speech and understood well when the line was crossed to incite violence and that freedom was abused.

While saying that a lot of Americans were astonished at the environment of permissiveness for violence and extremism in Canada  a function of how India and US saw Canada differently  Jaishankar said the bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Washington DC was much broader and his bilateral conversations covered a range of issues of cooperation and areas where interests of both sides intersected.

Jaishankar was speaking at a media briefing in Washington DC on Friday, when he answered questions on Canadas allegation linking agents of the government of India with a possible killing of a Canadian citizen, a man India had designated as a terrorist, and his conversations with US in this regard.

Asked if the US had shared with India the intelligence that, according to news reports, it had shared with Canada on the issue, Jaishankar said there was an assumption in that question and his discussions werent based on press reports, but had a real basis, based on the relationship that India and the US had with each other and the larger issue of the permissiveness for terror, violence, crime and extremism in Canada.

A lot of Americans are astonishedIn India, it will not come as a surprise to anybody if you tell them there are people in Canada who are advocating violence or advocating separatism, there is a history out there. All Indians notice, I suspect very few Americans notice, Jaishankar said, reiterating a point he made at an earlier think tank event in DC that when Americans looked at Canada, and when Indians looked at Canada, they saw something different.

That is why, he said, it was important to talk to the US about the issue. After all, you know, they are very close to Canada, they are good friends of ours. So its important that they also have an accurate picture, that they have our point of view on this matter as well.

Given that the US side has urged India, in its public statements, to cooperate with the Canadian investigation while India has said it was willing to look at relevant and specific information on the issue, HT asked Jaishankar whether the Americans had conveyed in private conversations what was the nature of cooperation they were seeking from India.

I saw what the Americans have said, and I think, hopefully, the Americans have seen what I have said. And I think both of us have articulated our respective views, the minister responded. So I really dont know beyond that what is it I can add to it because there wasnt anything in the conversation there by which I could further embellish this particular point.

Jaishankar said he had flagged in the US a point that India had also flagged to Canada. We are a democracy, we dont need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about. But we can tell people this, we dont think freedom of speech extends to incitement to violence. That to us is misuse of freedom. Its not a defence of freedom. And I always ask people one question, how would you react if you were in my shoes? If it was your diplomats, your embassies, your people? What would be your reaction?

Jaishankar said he was neither prejudging the issue, nor was he taking an absolutist position, but it was important that the debate focused on a longstanding and serious issue. I was thinking back, when was the last time that any of our missions was intimidated to a point where it could not continue with its normal function? I really have to think back. And if someone says this could happen in a G7 country in a Commonwealth country, you know, it gives you a lot to think about.

Jaishankar also underlined that India and the US have a much broader partnership, and it was in the interests of transparency that he was speaking about the conversation on Canada with the US, but this didnt mean there werent other bilateral issues on the table. We discussed other things. Our relationship has many dimensions, many areas of cooperation, he said, pointing to the convergences and intersections when both nations looked at the world.

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A 23-year-old Muslim man was paraded, his face blackened and head partially shaved, for allegedly raping and impregnating a minor girl in Uttarakhands Tehri Garhwal district on Friday, police officials said. HT Image

The accused was later arrested by the revenue police who have initiated the process to transfer the case to regular police, the officials added.

The alleged rape came to light after a viral video showed local residents parading the accused, blackening his face and partially shaving his head at a market in Badiyargarh under Kirti Nagar block. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip.

We have registered an FIR under section 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act on the basis of a complaint by the girls uncle. The accused has been arrested by the revenue police, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Kirti Nagar Sonia Pant said.

She added that the revenue police have begun the process to transfer the case to regular police and have also written to Tehri senior superintendent of police Navneet Singh on the same.

Upon the district magistrates order, we will launch a probe into the case, Singh said.

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Across the scenic and scattered Pacific Ocean islands, where cultures have evolved in relative isolation, a refreshingly diverse set of practices characterise differing degrees of influence and intimacy. Lets take a look at some of these, through the distinct terms used for each. PREMIUM A potlatch ceremony conducted by the Kwakiutl people of the Pacific Northwest, photographed by Edward S Curtis and published between 1907 and 1930. (Wikimedia Commons)

Treaties formed via seashells: Across many island clusters in Papua New Guinea, the Kiriwina people practice an elaborate exchange called the kula. Each year, the people of each island get into their ocean-going canoes, and begin a clearly defined journey around neighbouring islands. Residents of some islands may only move in a clockwise direction and hand over red shell necklaces; members of certain other islands can only move counter-clockwise and hand over white shell bracelets. Each time these wares are exchanged, a bond is reinforced. The trip of friendship is hundreds of miles long.

A feast of destruction: Off the coast of Canada, the Kwakiutl people of Vancouver Island had a practice of demonstrating wealth by destroying status symbols. Kwakiutl chiefs typically hosted a large feast for the tribe, and during the feast, publicly burnt food, blankets, canoes and ornaments in a boasting ceremony called potlatch (which means giving, in the communitys Kwakwala language). Potlatchs were typically held at commemorative moments, such as a death anniversary or a child reaching puberty. These events were meant to indicate the great wealth and social status of the chief.

A rare uncle-nephew bond: Within Fijian families, the custom of vasu gives a young man certain claims on his maternal uncles home. He may take anything he covets from this house (which is typically the ancestral home, in this patrilineal society). The nephew may take food, portable property, even land. It was a system used to expand kingdoms and unite enemies or strengthen family ties.

Too much, too soon: When it comes to acts of neighbourly generosity, the Indonesian language has the word pembonceng to describe someone who likes to use other peoples facilities. On remote Easter Island, the Pascuense language goes a step further, in showing how the truly unscrupulous exploit friends and family. Tingo means to borrow things from a friends house, one by one, until there is nothing left; and hakamaroo is to keep borrowed objects until the owner has to ask for them back.

Two V-Days: In our times too, unusual customs are evolving. In Japan, for instance, Valentines Day is celebrated on two dates: February 14th, known as White Day, when girls are allowed to express their love to boys by giving them chocolate; and March 14, when the man has to reciprocate with a gift of equal value.

The chocolates given sincerely in February are honmei choko or true-feeling chocolates. However, women are also obliged to give chocolates to all the men in their lives, meaning that large numbers of co-workers, bosses, etc receive giri-choko, or obligatory treats. How to tell one from the other? Its never easy, is it?

(Adam Jacot de Boinod is the author of The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World)
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter Aaradhya Bachchan flew from Mumbai today to attend the Paris Fashion Week. Reportedly, Aishwarya will be in the world's fashion capital, Paris, to be a part of the fashion week, which concludes on October 3. Today, the paparazzi clicked Aishwarya and Aaradhya outside the Mumbai airport. The mother-daughter duo kept their airport looks stylish and comfy, with the actor choosing her signature all-black fit. Scroll through to find out what Aishwarya wore. Aishwarya Rai leaves for Paris Fashion Week with daughter Aaradhya Bachchan. (Instagram)

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Aaradhya Bachchan clicked at the airport

The paparazzi clicked Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Aaradhya Bachchan exit their car in front of the airport and head inside. The mother-daughter duo held each other's hands and smiled for the cameras as the paps clicked their pictures. While Aaradhya complemented her mother in a cerulean blue jumper, black jogger pants, a shimmery headband, sneakers, and open locks, Aishwarya kept her look minimal in an all-black outfit. Read our download on her airport look below.

Aishwarya wore a black jumper featuring a raised neckline, full-length sleeves with pulled-back cinched cuffs, a relaxed silhouette, and a long hem length. She teamed the black blouse with matching tights featuring high-ankle hems and a bodycon fitting. Lastly, she carried a matching black Dolce and Gabbana large book tote bag to complete the airport fit.

Meanwhile, Aishwarya styled the ensemble with minimal additions, including black sneakers, a statement diamond ring, a sleek watch, and a black trench coat she carried in her hands. Lastly, she chose winged eyeliner, fuchsia pink lip shade, blushed cheeks, beaming highlighter, mascara on the lashes, subtle eye shadow, and on-fleek brows for the glam picks. Centre-parted open silky straight blonde-streak tresses gave the finishing touch.

On the work front

Aishwarya Rai was last seen in Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan 2. The film is the sequel to the 2022 film Ponniyin Selvan 1.

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The Captains Blood is a tribute to the virtues of strategic discomfort.

Its choosing to do a Gladiator Mud race instead of a breezy pavement jog, or why youve spent a good deal of time and effort making your home comfortable, but you still sometimes go to the middle of nowhere to pitch a tent and sleep on the ground. Its a cocktail that recognizes that while we might think we want everything to be easy and agreeable, too much of that for too long will make you start running into walls just to feel something.

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The easy and agreeable there is the classic Daiquiri, which is the framework on which the Captains Blood sits. A Daiquiri is light rum, lime juice, and sugar, and is among the simplest and most elementally delicious things a person can drink. The Captains Blood enters the canon some 50 years later, in Crosby Gaiges The Standard Cocktail Guide in 1944. The name is unfortunate, admittedly, in that it sounds disgusting. I dont have much to say about that except for that Gaige was merely an enthusiastic amateur fond of renaming drinks if he found their previous names to be insufficiently dazzling, and his sensibilities on such matters were a little suspect (as demonstrated by the My Heart Stood Still and the Poop Deck, two real cocktails that appear in the same book). Some have speculated that Captains Blood is a reference to the 1935 Errol Flynn pirate film Captain Blood, which would make sensethe timing works, and both have Jamaican themesbut we can only speculate.

In any event, the Captains Blood as originally represented in Gaiges book introduces friction to the Daiquiri mold in three waystwo of which we will retain, and one so unpleasant that we cant recommend it to anyone.

Story continues

The first and most important is the choice of rum. While a standard Daiquiri uses a light, easy Spanish-style white rum, the Captains Blood calls specifically for Jamaican rum, both good, Gaige writes, but of entirely different characteristics. These days, many different kinds of rum are exported from Jamaica, but at the time, Gaige wouldve meant the style of rum that is so flavorful that it necessitates a new word: hogo. Hogo is the term for the specific funkyness of Jamaican rum that tastes like earth and burnt molasses and bananas and nutmeg but doesnt really taste like any of those things because its just hogo. Jamaican rum has a distinct fingerprint and its not subtle, and calling for it gives the cocktail a firm shove into darker and more esoteric territory.

The second way this strays from a Daiquiri is in its heavy dose of Angostura Bitters, which adds tons of texture and the flavors of baking spice. The bitters combine with the hogo to create an entirely new drink, one thats deeper and richer and honestly weirder, a drink thats still sunshine-caliber refreshing but whose soul spends half the year in the underworld. Its a Daiquiri with an edge.

The final twist in Gaiges original recipethe one we cant and wont recommendis that he keeps the full measure of lime juice but completely omits any sweetener at all. This makes a cocktail thats punishingly tart, entirely unpleasant, and stretches the limits of strategic discomfort. The goal is self-improvement, not self-flagellation.

Captains Blood

2 oz. Jamaican rum

1 oz. lime juice

0.75 oz. simple syrup

2-3 solid dashes of Angostura bitters

Add all ingredients to a shaker, and shake on ice for 8-10 seconds. Strain up into a coupe, martini, or cocktail glass, and garnish with a lime wheel, or perhaps nothing at all.

NOTES ON INGREDIENTS

Smith_and_Cross_Traditional_Jamaica_Rum

Ratios: Theres not a ton out there about the Captains Blood, but the recipes that do exist mostly try to conserve Gaiges intentions by using barely any sweetness or reducing the lime as well, making a cocktail thats essentially like a dark Ti Punch. Part of the being a professional bartender for 15-plus years is the confidence to simply recognize a bad idea when I see one, so I have fixed the ratios above to actually taste good.

Jamaican Rum: The last 10 years has seen an explosion of available brands. What were looking for here is not just an aged rum from Jamaica but one with the hogo we desireAppleton Estates would be delicious but doesnt have the funk. For brands, I think Smith & Cross worked best, regardless of its high proof. Also great are Dr. Bird, Hamiltons Jamaican Pot Still, and anything from Worthy Park or Hampden Estates.

Simple Syrup: Grab a half-cup of white sugar, and put it in a small pot. Add a half cup of warm or hot water. Stir for 30 seconds. You have just created simple syrup. Put it in the fridge and itll last a month.

Other Ingredients & Ratios: Some recipes call for falernum for seemingly no reason at all, and I havent been able to deduce why. Still, Id call for it if I thought it made the drink better, but I dont. Its a lateral move at bestworth trying out if you have a bottle, I suppose, but I honestly think its cleaner, and hits with more precision with just regular old simple syrup.

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Gone are the days of heavy and boring rectangular-shaped handbags. With the ever-changing trends of the fashion industry, micro, mini and bucket bags are ruling the fashion charts as the most stylish accessories that can take any look to new heights. From runways to global events, celebrities are embracing this popular accessory. From Ananya Pandey's adorable pink bucket bag to its appearance in Bottega Veneta's Spring/Summer 2024 collection at Milan Fashion Week, there is no doubt that these trendy bags are the unsung heroes of the bag world and one of the most fashionable bag styles for Fall 2023. No matter the size of your bucket bag, its rounded shape and flat bottom will help you keep an eye on what you're carrying. We spoke to the experts to find out more about these stylish bucket-shaped bags. (Also read: From corsets to co-ord sets: Discover the 5 hottest denim trends to watch for in fall/winter 2023 ) Bucket bags: The trendy fashion accessory ruling the style charts for Fall 2023(Instagram/Gettyimages)

Why Bucket Bags Are a Must-Have Fashion Accessory

Vashisht Bhatia, Co-Founder of Gioia shared with HT Lifestyle, Over the years, bucket bags have become quite a popular category in the industry. I believe a reason for this may be due to their versatility - while some hold on to it by its top handle and pair it with their formals, others go hands-free and resort to the detachable long strap to wear it as a shoulder bag or crossbody. Even though bucket bags arent too big in size generally, the drawstring gives it an ample amount of space for ones daily essentials and even lends an elegant, ruffled aesthetic to the bag upon closure.

Ananya Panday carried a gold 'balti bag' to complement her stunning pink pantsuit. (Instagram)

She added, "All in all, the beauty of bucket bags is their ability to blend seamlessly into every moment of your life, without you even realizing it - like a best friend you share every secret with or a pet who showers you with unconditional love. It plays each of its roles to perfection, to a point where you may not be able to imagine life without it".

Bottega Veneta's collection showcased some trendy bucket bags made up of sustainable materials during the 2023 collection. (Getty images )

"Bucket bags have been a versatile fashion staple, known for their drawstring closure and variety of materials. But this season, designers have played with different sizes, from mini to oversized, catering to various style preferences. Neutral tones remained timeless, but bold colours and unique strap options added a contemporary flair. Luxury brands and designers continued to influence bucket bag trends, making them a fashion statement for any occasion. It feels so portable yet stunning. I love them," says Chitwan D Malhotra, Dillano's founder.

A model carrying a Hermes red statement bag during a fashion show.(Instagram )

Deepa Goel founder of Siddh Couture says, "Bucket bags are trendy and versatile choice for any season. They can be used as an everyday bag or as a show-stopping bag only bought out for special occasions. They are not only stylish, but also functional and compact which can fit in half your wardrobe, making it a life saviour."

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Flashes of intrigue greeted guests at Loewes meticulously designed space for Paris Fashion Week. Bright, other-worldly lighting brightened a dove-gray runway where gold modernist sculptures by American artist Lynda Benglis were scattered as if dropped by a fashion divinity, hinting at the merging of fashion and art. The set mostly was a blank canvas upon which Jonathan Anderson put his latest designs, a collection that played with proportion and quirks. A model presents a creation for the Japanese Fashion House Issey Miyake during a show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 in Paris. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)

Here are some Friday highlights from the Spring-Summer 2024 collections in Paris:

LOEWE LIFTS LIMITS ON WAISTLINES

The centerpiece of Anderson's collection was a bold and surreal high-waisted silhouette, with pants in hues of camel, grey, brown, and black occasionally touched by vivid splashes of red, bougainvillea, and tangerine. The choice of a style especially prominent in menswear wasnt just a nostalgic nod. By pushing the waistlines to extreme heights, Anderson threw away conventional proportions with his typical daring and breathed fresh life into the classics. (Also read: Paris Fashion Week 2023: Model dressed as giant furball gets lost on runway, crashes into crowd at Christian Cowan show )

The models sometimes appeared as if the garments were consuming them. Hands disappeared into pockets below the high waists fully enveloping their torsos. Elsewhere, there were instances of pure sartorial poetry, such as a flowing brown gown that was part theater curtain, part ancient Greek goddess. Loewe remains steadfast in pushing boundaries and redefining norms.

The collection also ventured into playful territory with unexpected details. Dresses seamlessly morphed into oversize handbags. Sparkly shoes added a touch of whimsy. Leather pieces, including sleek coats and chewed hems, showcased the Spanish heritage brands craftsmanship. The presentation, despite its allure and thoughtful design, seemed to be a slight departure from the house's typical high energy. To longtime Loewe aficionados, the collection felt more subdued.

ORIGAMI MEETS POETRY AT ISSEY MIYAKE

The Issey Miyake show opened with a flourish. Dancers performed bold, contemporary movements around the venue as they interacted with hanging origami sculptures to the sound of avant-garde orchestra music. The suspended paper sculptures harking from elements in nature hinted at the design inspiration for the collection.

The garments fulfilled Miyakes reputation for innovation. The standout square, origami-styled coats showcased a distinctive touch, a blend of tradition and forward-thinking design. As models strutted down the runway, what started as abstract pieces eventually transformed into more structured and formal attire.

A poetic sense of natures fleeting phenomena was present throughout. Designs featured blurred gradient prints reminiscent of overexposed camera film, while fabric twists suggested breezy motions and organic forms. Textural variety was prominent, with garments ranging from soft, stretch-infused woven pieces to those boasting a lighter, airier feel, thanks to special weaving techniques.

Overall, the show was not just a presentation of clothes but a holistic experience in which movement, music, and fashion converged to make a statement. It was a reminder that at its best, fashion is not just wearable but an art form.

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October is a month to look forward to for Hindu devotees and Indians because several joyous and auspicious occasions happen during this time. India is a vibrant and diverse nation, and each month, the country holds celebrations of significant festivals that reflect our rich culture and heritage. Now, October is a month of festivals - from Dussehra to Navratri Puja, many events fall in this month in 2023. Scroll through to know all about the dates and significance of these days. Check out the complete list of the festivals in October 2023. (File Photos)

Festivals in October 2023 Calendar:

Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti - October 2

Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti - October 2

Mahalaya - October 14

Shardiya Navratri - October 15 to October 24

Durga Puja - October 20 to October 24

Dussehra - October 24

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's Birthday - October 31

Significance of these festivals

Gandhi Jayanti

Gandhi Jayanti falls on October 2 annually and celebrates the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. He was born in 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. Globally, it is marked as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti

The birth anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri also falls on October 2. Lal Bahadur Shastri was born in 1904 in Uttar Pradesh. He became the Prime Minister of India in June 1964 after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru died in office in May 1964.

Mahalaya

Mahalaya marks the beginning of Debi Paksha (the era of the Goddess) and falls on the last day of Pitru Paksha. Mahalaya means the arrival of Goddess Durga. It is celebrated by the devotees of Maa Durga a week before the Durga Puja celebrations begin.

Shardiya Navratri

Shardiya Navratri falls between the Pratipada and the Navami tithi of Ashwin Shukla Paksha. It is a nine-day-long festival. During these nine days, devotees of Maa Durga celebrate the Goddess and her nine avatars - Navdurgas.

Durga Puja

This five-day annual festival honours Maa Durga and celebrates her victory over the demon king Mahishasura. Devotees believe that Goddess Durga - or Mahishasura Mardini - visits her earthly abode during this time to bless them. Though the festival holds great significance for Bengalis, it is celebrated with equal pomp in other states like Odisha, Assam, Tripura, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Dussehra

Dussehra, or Vijayadashmi, falls on the tenth day of Sharada Navratri. It marks the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Ram defeated the demon king Ravana. Another legend says that on this day, Maa Durga defeated Mahishasura after a fierce battle lasting more than nine days.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's Birthday

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was an Indian independence nationalist who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister from 1947 to 1950. His birth anniversary falls on October 31.

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The International Music Day is an annual celebration that promotes peace among different world cultures through a mutual appreciation of music. The day is also dedicated to appreciating different types of music from different corners of the globe. International Music Day was first marked in October 1975 after the International Music Council passed a resolution to celebrate this day. Scroll through to learn about when the festival is celebrated, its history, significance and all you need to know. (Also Read | International Day for the Elderly 2023: Date, history, significance and celebration) International Music Day falls annually on October 1. (Pixabay)

International Music Day 2023 Date:

International Music Day falls annually on October 1. It was first celebrated on the same day in 1975 after the celebrated violinist and former International Music Council (IMC) president, Yehudi Menuhin, declared it as International Music Day. The day is officially recognized by UNESCO.

International Music Day 2023 History and Significance:

In 1949, UNESCO established an advisory body, the International Music Council, to advise it on music. Later in 1973, during the 15th General Assembly in Switzerland, the IMC passed a resolution on dedicating a special day to music, and in 1974, Yehudi Menuhin announced that October 1 to be marked as International Music Day. Yehudi Menuhin was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. The first International Music Day was celebrated on October 1, 1975.

International Music Day celebrates music and different types of musical arts practised in cultures around the world. Music enthusiasts appreciate the beauty of music from different cultures and communities on this day. The day promotes peace and harmony among various world cultures.

While International Music Day is celebrated on October 1 every year to promote harmony and peace in the world, World Music Day falls on June 21. The day encourages people to practice music and play instruments in public spaces.

Are you celebrating International Music Day this year?

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The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has now allowed foreign tourists to stay overnight in Hanle, a remote high-altitude village in Ladakhs Changthang plateau, an official said on Friday. Hanle, known for India's first dark sky reserve, offers excellent stargazing conditions due to its secluded location, high altitude and minimal light pollution. (Also Read | Senior-friendly travel: 10 hidden gems perfect for retirees and senior citizens) Foreign tourists can now stay overnight in Ladakh's high-altitude Hanle village. (Pexels)

The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has granted permission for the night stays of foreign tourists in Hanle. This decision will rejuvenate the tourism sector in the Changthang region and broaden the scope of tourist destinations in the union territory, Commissioner-Secretary of Tourism Ladakh, Kacho Mehboob said.

Until September 15, Hanle was off-limits to foreign tourists. Only domestic tourists were allowed to visit the high-altitude village, which is also home to the Hanle observatory. This move aligns with the growing interest in Dark Sky tourism, they said.

Mehboob said Martsemik and Sko Valley have been opened for tourism and trekking in Ladakh with the approval of the ministry.

Martsemik and Sko Valley are both excellent destinations for trekking, he said. The Union Ministry of Tourism has announced Hemis village, the entry from Ladakh, as the best tourism village of India under the Silver category.

This is a testament to Hemis villages outstanding charm and cultural richness, he said, adding that the Department of Tourism has also been awarded by the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT) under the category Diversity and Inclusion in 2023.

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The selection of 2018 as Indias Oscar entry comes at a challenging moment for the Malayalam film industry. Director Jude Anthany Josephs tale of how the people of Kerala came together for each other during the floods that ravaged the state five years ago is not a sample of the subtle, slice-of-life storytelling for which Malayalam cinema is respected nationwide. It is more akin to a Hollywood-style disaster drama. Still, the Film Federation of Indias decision to enter 2018 in the race for the Best International Feature Oscar 2024 is a welcome nod to this film industry that for decades has been admired by film festival-goers across India, and in recent years, has grabbed the spotlight in mainstream arenas outside Kerala. PREMIUM Tovino Thomas in 2018.

The road to 2018s box-office success is worthy of its own documentary. The film had generated pre-release buzz over its huge ensemble cast including top-rung stars and its choice of theme in a country where commercial filmmakers usually avoid current events for fear of controversy. Then, a serendipitous turn of events  read: The Hindi film, The Kerala Story (TKS) releasing on the same date  gave 2018 a promotional push that no money can buy. TKS had already made news with its trailer falsely alleging that thousands of Malayali women have been cajoled and coerced to embrace Islam and ISIS, and its portrayal of Kerala as an Islamist terror hub. The ruling party at the Centre supported it, while the state government condemned it. Angry liberals in southern India found a rallying point in 2018 with its account of amity and courage among Malayalis, and they swamped social media with conversations describing 2018 as The Real Kerala Story. Viewers were also impressed by 2018s scale and VFX which were unusual for the Malayalam industry, which operates on minuscule budgets compared to the Telugu, Tamil and Hindi industries. These factors drew people in droves to theatres, turning 2018 into Malayalam cinemas biggest hit to date and one of 2023s highest-grossing Indian films with reported collections of 200 crore worldwide.

Notwithstanding its earnings, 2018 is far from being the best or bravest film to come from Kerala in recent years. The director Judes own previous release, Saras (2021), in which he batted for a womans right to an abortion, was among the deluge of Malayalam films that reached OTTs from 2020 to 2022 during the pandemic and were embraced by non-Malayalam-speaking audiences and critics. As restrictions eased and footfalls gradually increased in theatres in 2022, Nna Thaan Case Kodu and Malayankunju garnered packed halls outside Kerala. Malayalam cinemas raised profile with these films during the Covid-19 years had been a long time coming.

Up to the first decade of the 2000s, if you lived in north India, accessing cinema in Indian languages other than Hindi was a challenge. Conventional wisdom in the exhibition sector dictated that non-Hindi-speaking Indians were interested in Hindi cinema in addition to films in their respective mother tongues, and that the Hindi belt was interested only in Hindi. This meant that cinephiles keen to explore works in all languages were reliant on film festivals and Doordarshan. Malayalam cinema, meanwhile, had undergone dramatic transformations. The New Wave of the 1970s and 1980s, marked by naturalism and rootedness, had given way to the 1990-2010 phase dominated by larger-than-life, aggressively masculinist cinema.

In the early 2010s, cinema enthusiasts looking for a break from the decibels and cliches of the previous two decades came upon an emerging generation of filmmakers creating a more muted, middle-of-the-road, inexpensive cinema entrenched in Malayali culture. Bangalore Days (2014) and Premam (2015) were the first from this new New Wave to make a mark at the box-office outside South India. By the time Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016), Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017), Angamaly Diaries (2017) and Kumbalangi Nights (2019) arrived, Malayalam cinema had become a national talking point with its attractive realism, boldness and ability to spot extraordinariness in mundanities. The Great Indian Kitchen (2021), for instance, was set entirely amidst the drudgery of a womans domestic chores, and from that everydayness, it delivered a stinging indictment of patriarchy while also critiquing the ban on menstruating women entering the Sabarimala temple.

It is important to distinguish between these Malayalam films and the south Indian quartet that became pan-India blockbusters in theatres while Hindi films struggled to get viewers in 2021-22: Pushpa: The Rise (Telugu), RRR (Telugu), KGF2 (Kannada) and Kantara (Kannada). First, unlike the Malayalam films under discussion, these four were big-budget extravaganzas that lionised their leading men and were released in multiple dubbed versions along with the original. Second, for an illustrative comparison of the economics involved, note that 6.5 crore was spent on Kumbalangi Nights and trade reports say it earned 39 crore, whereas Pushpa reportedly cost 200 crore and had collected 365 crore by the time it began streaming online. Interestingly, the Malayalam industry too churns out a fair share of noisy, machoistic films, but those have gone unnoticed beyond the state. 2018 falls at a midpoint between this loud commercial fare and the low-key cinema that Kerala is identified with.

2023 has been a year of reckoning, with theatres recalibrating themselves to the changes presumably wrought by Covid-19 on audience mindsets. Malayalam filmmakers are now torn between opposing pulls: On the one side is their reputation as creators of small, thoughtful entertainers, on the other side is the theory among exhibitors countrywide that people will now buy tickets only to witness flamboyance on screen. Even the box-office gains made by some Malayalam films in the past decade have not convinced theatre owners that the risk in picking up a big film is no less than the risk in picking up a small film since an audience is not guaranteed for either, whereas incessantly showcasing small films could serve to gradually further expand their theatrical viewership. 2018s box-office collections and Oscar selection have thus come at a crucial juncture for the Malayalam industry as it determines its path in the post-pandemic era.

Anna MM Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. The views expressed are personal
Whilst Id like to believe our governments response to the Trudeau allegations, there are certain facts which, as a journalist, I think we should bear in mind. I dont think theyve been adequately reported. Sometimes theyve even been deliberately ignored. So I feel its my duty to draw your attention to these facts but leave you to come to your own conclusion. I dont want to influence you with my personal opinion. PREMIUM How should we respond to such commentary about our country?(AP)

First, the Financial Times reports President Biden raised the allegations with Prime Minister Modi when he met him in Delhi for the G20 and expressed concern. Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, could have confirmed this when he said this issue had been discussed at the highest levels. What does this tell us of how Biden views these allegations?

Second, the American ambassador in Canada has confirmed that one or more Five Eyes countries shared intelligence with Ottawa. The New York Times reports that the United States is one of them. The paper adds Canada has what appears to be the smoking gun, intercepted communications of Indian diplomats in Canada indicating involvement in the plot. What do these intercepts say? Do they really amount to a smoking gun?

Third, initially, Jake Sullivan and then a day later Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, stated: We have been consulting throughout very closely with our Canadian colleagues, and not just consulting, coordinating with them on this issue. What does that amount to? Does it suggest Washington is aware of not just the character but also the quality of the intelligence Canada has?

Fourth, in fairly emphatic terms, Blinken has said: It would be important that India work with the Canadians on this investigation. We want to see accountability and its important that the investigation runs its course and leads to that result. Though said at a press conference, is that a message to New Delhi?

Fifth, Sullivan seems to have gone a step further when he said: There is not some special exemption you get for actions like this. Regardless of the country, we will stand up and defend our basic principles. How should we read that?

Sixth, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has revealed that Jody Thomas, their national security advisor, accompanied by the head of Canadas intelligence services, spent four days in Delhi in August and another five or six in September, briefing Indias intelligence agencies. However, Indias spokesperson has claimed that no specific information has been shared by Canada with us on the allegations, either then, before or after. So if she had nothing specific to state, why did Thomas spend possibly up to 10 days in India?

Seventh, our spokesman, Arindam Bagchi, has called Canada a safe haven (for) terrorists, extremists and organised crime. Those are terms usually reserved for Pakistan. How does Washington view their use for Canada, a NATO ally, a member of G7 and, most importantly, a neighbour with very close cultural contacts?

Eighth, several English language newspapers, on both sides of the Atlantic, have raised questions about the sort of country India has become. For instance, The Observer says: The Modi governments behaviour at home and abroad raises doubts about its commitment to democracy and Indias reliability as a partner. Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times-acclaimed columnist, has even compared Modi to Pakistans General Zia ul Haq. Whilst The Economist bluntly says it is time for a tougher line. How should we respond to such commentary about our country?

Finally, in an official statement, the ministry of external affairs completely rejected the Trudeau allegations, calling them absurd and motivated. Given what we know about Bidens behaviour as well as Sullivans and Blinkens statements, has America accepted this response?

Now, Ive only focussed on America because its response is by far the most important. Im also aware that whilst India only faces allegations, America is definitely guilty of what Blinken calls transnational repression. But America has repeatedly got away with it. Is India in a position to expect the same?

Karan Thapar is the author of Devils Advocate: The Untold Story. The views expressed are personal
The diplomatic conflict between India and Canada over the recent killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh Canadian citizen wanted on terror charges in India, places the United States (US) in a difficult position, given its close relationships with both countries. Canada, its northern neighbour, has been a steadfast ally with whom the US shares a rich history. The USs alliance with India is relatively new but it has been lauded as a defining relationship of the 21st century by multiple presidents. Further complicating the issue is the possibility that Canada received the intelligence on the killing from the US, a notion partially confirmed by US ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, who informed a Canadian media outlet that it was shared intelligence among Five Eyes partners that suggested potential Indian involvement. (Five Eyes includes Britain, Australia and New Zealand besides Canada and the US.) In reality, the India-Canada dispute came at a very inopportune moment for the US(REUTERS)

This possibility undoubtedly contributes to the measured tone of the US response to Trudeaus charge. Up to this point, the two high-ranking officials who have weighed in on the issue, national security advisor Jake Sullivan and secretary of state Antony Blinken, have struck a balance in their statements by expressing support for Canada while refraining from criticising India. Now, more than a week after Trudeaus explosive accusation, three distinct perspectives are coming into focus.

The first perspective emerging is that repairing the damage to India-Canada relations could require a Herculean effort. Few speeches by a national leader during times of peace have had as destructive an impact on bilateral ties in recent decades as Trudeaus remarks. What triggered an exceptionally strong reaction from India was the historical context. The strained relationship between New Delhi and Ottawa can be traced back to the early 1980s when the Khalistan separatist movement was at its peak in Punjab. India accused Canada of harbouring terrorists and their supporters who undermined Indias sovereignty and caused death and destruction in Punjab. The memory of the Air India Kanishka jet bombing remains vivid in the national consciousness, and a majority of Indians feel that Canada has not taken sufficient steps to bring the culprits to justice.

The second perspective relates to the impact the dispute is having on the Indian diaspora, not only in Canada but also in the US. Already, both Sikh and Hindu Canadians have complained of being targeted and feeling insecure. The diplomatic fallout is likely to have an impact on Indian immigration to Canada, which has surged exponentially in the past decade, more than tripling from nearly 32,000 in 2013 to over 118,000 last year. India also sends the highest number of students to Canada compared to any other country.

The third perspective is the challenging position in which the US finds itself due to the rift. Some in India and the diaspora are incensed by the possibility that the US may have shared intelligence with Canada. They hypothesise that Washington might have directly or indirectly guided Trudeau to raise the issue, possibly as a means to curb Indias increasing global influence.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, the India-Canada dispute came at a very inopportune moment for the US, potentially fracturing the coalition Washington has been carefully building in this 21st century. It is in Americas interest that India does not get any closer than it already is to Russia and China. Longtime watchers of US-India relations know how much the US has invested in its relations with India, especially since the days of the civil nuclear deal. Given this and the complexity of this conflict, the challenge for the US will be to determine whether its relations with India and Canada and its strategic international objectives can best be achieved by staying on the sidelines, acting as a referee, or getting directly involved in the problem-solving.

Frank F Islam is an entrepreneur, civic leader, and thought leader based in Washington DC. The views expressed here are personal

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A video of a farmer driving a luxury car to a roadside market to sell fresh produce has gone viral on social media. The video shows the man harvesting his produce with the help of another man before driving his Audi A4 to the local roadside market to sell it. The video capturing the farmer driving Audi to a local market to sell his produce has raked up more than 8.7 million views. (Instagram/@variety_farmer)

The video was shared by content creator Sujith on his Instagram page called Variety Farmer. In the bio on the page, he wrote that he has been into farming for more than ten years and has received three state-level awards for the same.

When I went in the Audi car and sold spinach, reads the caption to the video when translated from Malayalam into English.

The video opens to show Sujith harvesting red spinach from his field. As the video goes on, he drives his Audi A4 to a local market. Next, he unloads his produce from another vehicle and sells them. After a successful day at the market, Sujith walks back to his luxury car and opens its gate. Towards the end, he wraps lungi around his waist, takes a seat in his car and drives away.

Watch the viral video here:

The video was shared four days ago on Instagram. It has since accumulated over 8.7 million views, and the numbers are still increasing. Many even shared their thoughts in the comments.

Heres how people reacted to this viral video:

Got it. I have to buy an Audi first before I can sell vegetables, joked an individual.

Another added, I wish all the Indian farmers to be well settled like him. Grow fresh vegetables and sell them . Respect.

Great inspiration for youth who perceive agriculture, expressed a third.

A fourth commented, Do what you love. Hardwork and dedication pays off.

Super, wrote a fifth, while a sixth joined, Itna ameer hona hai [I want to be this rich].

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Rick Steves inspired me to visit over 100 local markets across the US. Brian Cicioni

Travel-show host Rick Steves visits local food markets when he travels, and I also try to.

I've been to all 50 states and have visited more than 100 local markets and food halls.

Cities in Pennsylvania, New York, and Nevada have my favorite local markets.

After learning that travel-show host Rick Steves famously visits food markets almost everywhere he travels, I was inspired to do the same.

I've visited 100 local markets and food halls in all 50 states, and have narrowed the list down to 10 favorites.

Boston Public Market is a must-visit spot.

Boston Public Market has an unaffiliated outdoor market during the warmer months. Brian Cicioni

I make it a point to visit Boston Public Market whenever I'm in the city. During the warmer months, there's even an unaffiliated outdoor market surrounding the main building.

This market has a special place in my heart because it was where I was first introduced to apple-cider doughnuts, sold by Red Apple Farm.

Other market highlights include a kiosk from George Howell, who invented the Frappuccino, and my favorite chowder from Red's Best.

Broad Street Market in Harrisburg dates back to the 1860s.

Broad Street Market offers both a rich history and great food. Brian Cicioni

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's Broad Street Market is one of the longest continuously running indoor markets in the United States. The charming stone building at the corner of North Third and Verbeke Streets dates back to the early 1860s.

One of my favorite things about Broad Street is that you'll find at least a couple of things you can't get outside of the market, including West African favorites like jollof rice and pepper soup.

COATI in Colorado Springs has great food and a great atmosphere.

The Paleta Bar is my favorite place to stop when visiting COATI in Colorado Springs. Brian Cicioni

Although there are tons of reasons to visit Colorado Springs, the COATI food hall is definitely high on the list.

The exposed beer vats and live music on the weekends make for a unique and exciting atmosphere. In terms of food, the moderately priced stalls are on the ground level, while the more exclusive-feeling, upscale Ephemera is located on the second floor.

This market is where I first fell in love with paletas, a Mexican frozen treat. In fact, during my 2022 trip, I ended every evening with a different flavor from The Paleta Bar.

Story continues

Famous Foods Street Eats is my new favorite food hall in Las Vegas.

I love the options available at Famous Foods Street Eats. Brian Cicioni

In recent years, Las Vegas has been opening more and more food halls. Block 16 and Proper Eats have impressive variety, but Famous Foods Street Eats stands out to me as the best in the area.

Located inside Resorts World, this unique market features food options from five Southeast Asian countries. Even if you go on a relatively quiet day like a Monday, you'll have several great kiosks to choose from.

It's important to note that this market is 100% cashless, so be sure to have a credit or debit card handy.

Market 57 is my favorite in New York City.

New York has lots of great market options. Brian Cicioni

When it comes to US cities with the best local markets, New York City is way ahead of the curve.

I could easily write a separate list of markets to try in New York and end up leaving a few good ones out  but Pier 57's appropriately named Market 57 stands out as my favorite.

Market 57 is open seven days a week and has a rooftop with stunning 360 views of the Hudson River, New Jersey, and Manhattan. It's also conveniently located between picturesque Little Island and Chelsea Piers.

For me, an ideal visit to Market 57 starts with noodles from Nom Wah, Northeastern Thai food from Zaab Zaab, and a unique coffee from Bird & Branch. Before I leave, I make sure to grab ice cream from Malai, which is my favorite spot in NYC.

North Market in downtown Columbus offers a large variety of culinary options.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is a must-visit at North Market. Brian Cicioni

I discovered North Market on Yelp during a 2020 road trip.

Columbus, Ohio, was not originally part of the itinerary, but I figured I'd at least stop to get something to eat. It turns out North Market offers a lot of what makes Columbus an exciting place to eat.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams first started out in Columbus and is still serving scoops of some of my favorite flavors. I also recommend stopping at Hoyo's Kitchen, which is a great place to try Somali food.

The Food Hall at Bottling Department is a highlight of San Antonio's Pearl District.

If I'm in town, I love visiting the outdoor farmers market on Saturdays. Brian Cicioni

I first came across the Pearl district during a 2022 visit to San Antonio, Texas. One of the culinary highlights of Pearl was the Food Hall at the Bottling Department, which features six different restaurants of varying cuisines.

On Saturdays, there's even an outdoor farmers market, which features fresh meats and produce from local farmers.

This food hall is one of my favorites because of the indoor/outdoor combination of restaurants and vendors.

I visit POST Market every time I'm in Houston.

I make stops at multiple vendors when I visit POST. Brian Cicioni

I visited POST Market during my last three trips to Houston. Like New York's Market 57, it has a rooftop with beautiful panoramic views.

The market brings together all the things that make Houston a great food city. I also appreciate the fact that it's open until at least 9 p.m.

Riverfront Market in Wilmington offers some of my favorite cuisines, including Thai and Peruvian dishes.

Jeenwong Thai is my first stop when I visit Riverfront Market. Brian Cicioni

For me, markets are not just about size  location and what they have to offer are equally important. Those two factors make Wilmington's Riverfront Market in Delaware one of my personal favorites.

When you put two of my favorite types of cuisine (Thai and Peruvian) practically next to each other, you have my attention. If you're going to try both, I recommend starting with Jeenwong Thai, as Peruvian portions are typically larger.

I love visiting Union Market in Washington DC for Middle Eastern and North African food.

Fava Pot and Yasmine are two of my favorite stops at Union Market. Brian Cicioni

When I visit Union Market in Washington DC, I have trouble deciding where to start.

Although I keep Laoban's chicken-ginger dumplings in my freezer at home, I usually make a stop there for noodles. And of course, I love stopping by Yasmine for Lebanese-inspired dishes.

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An account on X (formerly known as Twitter) shared a picture of a map. The map claims how one can travel from India to the United States in a straight line through sea route without touching a single piece of land. Expectedly, the picture is going viral and piquing the interest of people. It also caught the attention of billionaire Elon Musk, who dropped a comment on the picture. Elon Musk reacted to this map that shows the sea route between India and the United States. (X/@Locati0ns)

Without touching a single piece of land, its possible to sail from India to the USA in a completely straight line, reads the caption shared along with a picture of the map posted on X by Epic Maps. The account shares educational and informative world maps on the microblogging platform.

The picture shows a blue coloured line connecting India and the United States. While India is marked with point A, the United States is marked with point P. The map also highlights the distance between the two countries via this route. It is 29,800 km.

Take a look at the map here:

The post, since being shared on September 28, accumulated over 6.3 million views. It has also garnered numerous reactions from people, including one from Elon Musk.

Musk replied to the post and simply wrote, Whoa.

Heres how other X users reacted to this post:

You can make a shorter route through the Panama Canal instead of going around the whole South America. Its an incredible experience to sail through the Panama Canal, posted an individual.

Another added, Interesting!

Thats an interesting fact, hard to see it in 2D but with the globe it becomes clear, wrote a third.

A fourth shared, Now thats epic.

Go the other way. Its shorter, claimed a fifth.

A sixth joined, Im no map maker. But Im certain theres a route with a less distance.

Also Read| Elon Musk takes Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on test drive of Tesla Cybertruck

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There has been an increase in reports of conflicts involving transgender students and their interactions with their cisgender peers, with many framing these incidents as instances of aggression by transgender students against biological females. School Violence and Gender Identity: A Controversial Altercation Sparks Discussion (Isaac's Army/Twitter. X)(Twitter. X)

One such incident that has sparked outrage on social media is a video showing a violent argument between two students at Hazelbrook Middle School in Oregon.

ALSO READ: Joe Biden overturns Trump ban on transgender troops: White House

In this case, a student, reportedly a transgender, is seen launching an unprovoked attack on another student in a crowded school hallway. The attacker is seen repeatedly assault the victim, who pleads for mercy.

In the clip that went viral, it is seen that a female student was violently grabbed by the hair and knocked down on the ground. She was then seen taking multiple blows by the transgender student.

The young girl suffered a panic attack post the incident and towards the end of the video she was seen sobbing and saying, I can't breath.

Another student at Hazelbrook was pictured documenting the attack before it occurred, raising questions about whether this act was planned.

The reason behind the quarrel to occur is still unclear; however, the cops responded to users on X, stating, Because it involves juveniles, we are unable to comment further, indicating more information on the case will be given post-investigation.

Backlash against transgender student

Some people argue that this incident is a clear violation of the law, regardless of the attacker's gender identity. They assert that resorting to violence is not an appropriate solution to conflicts and that there are more peaceful means to resolve disputes.

Critics, often from conservative circles, express frustration with what they perceive as a lack of emphasis on non-violent conflict resolution among those they label as "woke" individuals.

Many people are calling for the school to take action against the transgender student involved in the aggression. Concerns for the safety of the victim are evident, and there is a demand for the school board to address the situation.

ALSO READ: Transgender, transexual, transwomen: gender and identity explained

However, some express doubt that meaningful action will be taken, citing fear of backlash from those who support the transgender student.

It is worth noting that this particular student has reportedly exhibited aggressive behavior toward other female students in the school.

Other incidents of aggression by trans students

In the past an Oklahoma resident sued her local school district after her 15-year-old daughter was allegedly severely beaten by a 17-year-old transgender student in the girls bathroom. Leading to massive protests and parents seeking $75,000 in damages for severe physical and mental injuries, severe physical and mental pain and suffering, and severe emotional distress.

This has led some users to question the student's gender identity and, in some cases, misgender them as he. Some individuals suggest that the student undergo a mental evaluation to address and avoid aggressive behavior towards other female students.
The United States is the true "empire of lies", the Chinese foreign ministry said following a US state department report that accused Beijing of putting billions of dollars annually into information manipulation efforts. China is manipulating global media through censorship, data harvesting and covert purchases of foreign news outlets, the US state department said in the report. A security surveillance camera overlooking a street is pictured next to a nearby fluttering flag of China in Beijing.(Reuters)

Beijing had hit "major setbacks" when targeting democratic countries due to local media and civil society push-back, the report asserted. It was produced under a congressional mandate to detail state information manipulation.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement said that the report has disregarded facts and is itself false information. The agencies of the US state department "were the source of false information and the command post of 'cognitive warfare'," the Chinese ministry said.

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"Facts have repeatedly proven that the United States is the true 'empire of lies'," it added.

The US report comes amid controversy over China's attempts in recent years to increase the global footprint of its government-controlled media.

Earlier this month, the United States recognized independence of two small Pacific nations-Cook Islands and Niue two small Pacific nations, US president Joe Biden said. The US president said that the United States had a long history of cooperation with the Cook Islands, dating back to World War II.

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Austria, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland announced their hottest Septembers on record on Friday, in a year expected to be the warmest in human history as climate change accelerates. A man sunbaths at the Trocadero fountains in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (File)

The unseasonably warm weather in Europe came after the EU climate monitor said earlier this month that global temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere summer were the hottest on record.

French weather authority Meteo-France said the September temperature average in the country will be around 21.5 degrees Celsius (70.7 degrees Fahrenheit), between 3.5C and 3.6C above the 1991-2020 reference period.

Average temperatures in France have been exceeding monthly norms consistently for almost two years.

In neighbouring Germany, weather office DWD said this month was the hottest September since national records started, almost 4C higher than the 1961-1990 baseline.

Poland's weather institute announced September temperatures were 3.6C higher than average and the hottest for the month since records began more than 100 years ago.

National weather bodies in the Alpine nations of Austria and Switzerland also recorded their hottest-ever average September temperatures, a day after a study revealed Swiss glaciers lost 10 percent of their volume in two years amid extreme warming.

The Spanish and Portuguese national weather institutes warned abnormally warm temperatures were going to hit this weekend, with the mercury topping 35C in parts of southern Spain on Friday.

Records 'systematically' broken

Scientists say climate change driven by human activity is driving global temperatures higher, with the world at around 1.2C of warming above pre-industrial levels.

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service told AFP earlier this month that 2023 is likely to be the hottest year humanity has experienced.

Higher temperatures are likely to be on the horizon as the El Nino weather phenomenon -- which warms waters in the southern Pacific and beyond -- has only just begun.

The disruption to the planet's climate systems is making extreme weather events like heatwaves, drought, wildfires and storms more frequent and intense, causing greater losses of life and property.

World leaders will gather in Dubai from November 30 for crunch UN talks aimed at curbing the worst effects of climate change, including limiting warming to 1.5C, a goal of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.

Slashing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions -- notably by phasing out the consumption of polluting gas, oil and coal -- climate finance and boosting renewable energy capacity will be at the heart of the discussions.

"Until we reach carbon neutrality, heat records are going to be systematically broken week after week, month after month, year after year," UN climate report lead author Francois Gemenne told AFP this week.

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Pakistan's top investigation agency declared former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi guilty in the cipher case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted the charge sheet against Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi to a special court established under the Official Secrets Act., Both are currently detained in jail on judicial remand. The FIA requested the court to start the trial of both the leaders and sentence them according to the law. Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan.(Reuters)

What is the case against Imran Khan?

Imran Khan was arrested last month after a case was filed against him for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act by disclosing a secret diplomatic cable (cipher) sent by the country's embassy in Washington last year in March.

What did the FIA say in its chargesheet?

The FIA also attached the transcript of Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshis speeches made on March 27 in the chargesheet as it included a list of 28 witnesses. Foreign secretary Asad Majid, former foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, and additional foreign secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi are included in the list of witnesses, it said.

Will Imran Khan's judicial remand continue?

Earlier this month, Imran Khan was sent to jail on remand for the third time. His judicial remand was initially extended till September 13 and then again till September 26, along with Shah Mahmood Qureshi's. Imran Khan has also been shifted to the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi from Attock prison as the Islamabad High Court ordered authorities to relocate him to the high-security jail.

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Last-gasp moves to prevent a US government shutdown took a dramatic step forward Saturday, as Democrats overwhelmingly backed an eleventh-hour Republican measure to keep federal funding going for 45 days, albeit with a freeze on aid to Ukraine. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks with members of the media following a meeting of the Republican House caucus on September 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP)

The stopgap proposal adopted by the House of Representatives with a vote of 335-91 was pitched by Speaker Kevin McCarthy just hours before a midnight shutdown deadline that would have seen millions of federal employees and military personnel sent home or required to work without pay.

The deal still has to be approved by the Democrat-controlled Senate.

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CNN quoted an administration official as saying the White House would likely support the bill in order to keep the government open with the expectation of being able to restore Ukraine aid later.

The shutdown crisis was largely triggered by a small group of hardline Republicans who had defied their own party leadership to scupper various temporary funding proposals as they pressed for deep spending cuts.

Saturday's agreement could end up costing McCarthy his job, as the hardliners had threatened to remove him as speaker if a stopgap measure they opposed was passed with Democrat support.

Pitching his last-gasp proposal, McCarthy had appealed to both Republicans and Democrats to "put your partisanship away" and dismissed the threat to his job.

"If somebody wants to remove (me) because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try," he said.

The proposed plan would keep the government funded at current levels without the hardline-backed spending cuts that Democrats had viewed as a non-starter. But the lack of assistance for Ukraine was problematic.

Arming and funding Ukraine in its desperate war against the Russian invasion has been a key policy plank for President Joe Biden's administration and, while the stopgap is only temporary, it does raise questions over the political viability of renewing the multibillion-dollar flow of assistance.

The Democrat-controlled Senate had been prepared to vote on its own stopgap bill later Saturday -- one that did include funding for Ukraine.

"This is enough to keep the government open, and I'm not going to shut the government down over foreign aid," one House Democrat, Jared Moskowitz, told CNN, while making clear he was a strong supporter of Ukraine aid.

The freeze of all but critical government services had been set to start after midnight (0400 GMT Sunday), immediately delaying salaries for millions of federal employees and military personnel.

A shutdown would have meant the majority of national parks, for example -- from the iconic Yosemite and Yellowstone in the west to Florida's Everglades swamp -- would be closed to public access beginning Sunday.

With student loan payments resuming in October, officials also said Friday that key activities at the Federal Student Aid office would continue for a couple of weeks.

But a prolonged shutdown could cause bigger disruptions, percolating through the wider economy.
Indonesia's forest fires have caused haze that has worsened air quality in parts of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur's top environment official said. The claim has been denied by Jakarta. Outbreaks of forest fires in 2019 caused Malaysia to say it would pressure Indonesia to combat the annual problem. Malaysia's department of environment director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar said that the fires were worsening air pollution on the country's west coast and in Sarawak on the Malaysian part of Borneo island. Firefighter sprays water in attempt to extinguish wildfires on a peatland forest in Ogan Komering Ilir regency, South Sumatra province, Indonesia.(Reuters)

"Overall air quality in the country shows deterioration," he said, adding, Forest fires that occur in the southern part of Sumatra and the central and southern parts of Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia have caused haze to cross borders.

Satellite imagery showed 52 forest fire "hotspots" in Sumatra and 264 in Borneo, according to a report from the Singapore-based ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC).

Read more: Romania detects possible airspace breach during drone attack on Ukraine

What Indonesia has said?

Indonesia's environment minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar told AFP, The fact is that there is no transboundary haze," adding, "They (Malaysia) refer to hotspot data? Don't they know the difference between hotspots and firespots? If (you) don't know exactly, don't talk carelessly."

Jakarta would review and punish companies if the government found wildfires in their concession areas, she said.

Forest fires in Indonesia

On the western Indonesian island of Sumatra, large fires were witnessed this month that covered Palembang in haze for weeks. The fires take place every year during the dry season but these are the worst since 2019. Fires in 2015 were also among the deadliest on record as they cloaked Southeast Asia in toxic smoke for weeks. The vast majority of Indonesia's forest fires take place on Sumatra and Borneo- divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

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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
New York City is facing a severe calamity with widespread flooding due to heavy rainfall and a state of emergencey has been declared. Pictures of the horrible situation created by the flooding are viral on social media, with schools, basements, subways, streets etc. submerged in water. The disaster has caused loss of property as well. NYC mayor Eric Adams is under fire with citizens calling him out for the life-threatening situation in the city. Cars drive along a flooded street on Church Avenue amid a coastal storm on September 29, 2023 in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn borough New York City. Flash flooding is expected in the counties of Nassau, Queens and Kings, which includes Brooklyn, according to the states National Weather Service (Getty Images via AFP)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul took to X (formerly Twitter) on Friday and wrote, "Heavy rain & flooding will continue for the rest of the today & travel conditions are dangerous. It is critical New Yorkers exercise caution & take steps to stay safe. Avoid walking or driving on flooded roads, which are some of the most dangerous places during flash floods."

According to National Weather Service New York, JFK Airport and Central Park has exprienced 8.58"and 5.85" rainfall respectively since Thursday.

New Yorkers have been advised to "Turn Around Don't Drown".

Victim accounts and videos of th flooding

People are venting their anger against the authorities in the wake of the disastrous flooding. Here are a few reactions on X(formerly Twitter).

"Imagine if we had invested in infrastructure and sustainability instead of endless war and endless cops," wrote one user.

Scary. The New York City subway looking like an end of times waterpark, posted another user.

Weather Update

Official Twitter Account for National Weather Service New York have issued a weather advisory amid the flooding. Taking to X(formerly Twitter), NYC Mayor's Office posted the advisory, "Flood Warning for The Bronx: Until 5:45 AM on 9/30. An additional 0.25 to 0.50 inches of rain is expected. Heavy rain will cause flooding of low-lying & poor drainage areas."

Causes of the flooding

New York City experienced heavy rainfall which overwhelmed the city's drainage system. Several experts have attributed the torrential rain to climate change.

Were in this new territory where were seeing higher intensity rainfalls like this. Once youve exceeded the capacity of the sewers themselves, thats what causes these backups. When the pipes cant handle it, it backs up, Mr. Zarrilli, a former climate policy adviser to the mayor was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
After reports suggested that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle might be leasing a home on royal grounds more than three years after leaving the royal family in 2020, the palace officially said that the couple will not be returning to the UK. Britain's Prince Harry speaks(AP)

The rumors started to swirl after it was revealed that King Charles kept Prince Harry on as one of his seven Counselors of State- the younger son could essentially act on behalf of his father if he ever needed to.

The role requires members to have a residence in the UK. But the palace said that Prince Harry is not leasing an apartment or home from the royal family as the reports are simply not true.

The couple previously lived at Frogmore Cottage while they were members of the royal family after they remodeled the entire cottage before upon moving to the US in 2020.

The two reportedly still stay at Frogmore, which is now occupied by Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, when they visit the United Kingdom.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are also reportedly looking at a property in Malibu. The property does not currently have a home on it but does have a foundation laid out for a massive home, the report claimed although nothing has been confirmed about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle relocating to another part of California.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed a year ago made their choice  to be with their Fatherland. Russia-Ukraine War: People waving Russian flags attend a concert dedicated to the first anniversary of the annexation of four regions of Ukraine.(AFP)

In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Putin insisted that it was carried out in full accordance with international norms. He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month, in which Russias Central Election Commission said that the countrys ruling party won the most votes.

The West has denounced both the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.

A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Putin did not participate.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, air defenses shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.

Vinnytsia regional Gov. Serhii Borzov said that air defenses shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but that a powerful fire broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.

Romanias Ministry of National Defense said on Saturday that a possible unauthorized entry into its national airspace occurred overnight amid the bombardment.

Read more: European nations record hottest September amid warmest year ever

It said the radar surveillance system of the Romanian Army detected a possible unauthorized entry into the national airspace of NATO member Romania, with a signal detected toward the city of Galati, which is close to the border with Ukraine.

At this moment, no objects have been identified that fell from the airspace onto the national territory, the statement read, adding that NATO allies were informed in real time and that searches will continue through Saturday.

Emergency authorities issued text message alerts overnight to residents living in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, after detecting what the defense ministry said was groups of drones heading toward Ukrainian territory near the border.

In recent weeks, Romania has found drone fragments on its soil from the war next door at least three times as Russian forces carry out sustained attacks on Ukraines Danube ports.

Russias Defense Ministry said Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. Local officials in Russias Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, reported disruptions to power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar. Drone strikes and shelling in the Russian border regions are a regular occurrence.

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Romanian army radars detected a possible breach of national airspace during an overnight Russian drone attack against neighbouring Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, the defence ministry said on Saturday. Russia-Ukraine War: A Russian drone is seen during a Russian drone strike.(Reuters)

After pulling out of a Black Sea grain deal in mid-July, Russia began attacking Ukrainian ports and warehouses across the Danube river from NATO member Romania, Kyiv's main alternative export route.

Fragments of possible Russian drones were found on Romanian territory three separate times this month, underlying the security risks for NATO whose members have a mutual defence commitment.

"The Romanian Army's radar surveillance system identified a possible unauthorized breach of national air space, with a signal detected on the route to the town of Galati," the defence ministry said, adding search parties had been deployed.

"Up until now there have been no fallen objects identified on national territory. Searches will continue today."

Phone alerts were sent to residents in Tulcea and Galati counties once swarms of drones were detected heading to Ukraine near the Romanian border.

Alerting the population to take cover is one of several measures Romania has taken to bolster defences since drone fragments were found on its territory, alongside increased patrols and observation points, as well as expanding a no fly zone along a section of the border with Ukraine.

NATO and Romanian officials have said there was no evidence that Russian strikes near the border were a deliberate attack on Romania, but called the strikes reckless and destabilising.

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Members of a Russia-led forum on Afghanistan, including India, have urged the Taliban setup in Kabul to eliminate terrorist groups active on Afghan soil and to prevent the country being a terrorism and instability hotspot. The Moscow Format was established in 2017 to promote national reconciliation in Afghanistan. (ANI)

The Kazan Declaration, issued at the conclusion of the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan on Friday, pointed out that the Taliban regime has made no progress in forming a truly inclusive government that reflects the interests of all ethno-political groups of the country.

India was represented at the talks held in the Russian city of Kazan by the countrys ambassador in Moscow, Pavan Kapoor. The Moscow Format was established in 2017 to promote national reconciliation in Afghanistan and other members of the forum are Russia, Iran, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The Kazan Declaration said the forum had called on the Taliban setup to take effective measures to dismantle, eliminate and prevent placement of all sorts of terrorist groups based in Afghanistan and to prevent the country from being the terrorism and instability hotspot and spreading to the regional states.

The declaration regretted that there had been no progress in forming a truly inclusive government in Afghanistan, reflecting the interests of all ethno-political groups. It said: Despite the appointment of some individual representatives of various Afghan ethnicities to the Kabul administration, the parties observed no political pluralism in it.

The forum reiterated its call to the Taliban setup to establish a practical, outcome-oriented dialogue with the representatives of alternative ethno-political groups with a view to completing the process of peaceful settlement and forging a balanced, more broad-based, inclusive, accountable and responsible government in Kabul.

The forum also expressed concern at the difficult security situation in Afghanistan because of the intensification of activities of terrorist groups, primarily the Islamic State. Acknowledging the Talibans fight against Islamic State, the forum urged the regime in Kabul to do the same against all terrorist groups.

The forum acknowledged the reduction in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan but stressed the importance of persisting with an effective anti-drug policy, including against industrial drug production, which has seen a serious and dangerous increase.

Members of the Moscow Format also called on the Taliban to increase cooperation with regional countries to fight both terrorism and drug-trafficking emanating from Afghan territory. Most participants stressed their opposition to the support for terrorism in Afghanistan by external forces, the declaration said.

The countries emphasised the need to respect fundamental rights and freedoms in Afghanistan, including equal rights to work, education and justice, without discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or religion. They stressed their concern at the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on womens employment and girls education and urged the group to promote modern education in schools.

The countries also called on the Taliban to improve the welfare of Afghan people, prevent their further migration and provide conditions for the return of the refugees.

The meeting was attended by the Talibans acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Representatives of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates attended the consultations as observers.

No country has so far recognised the Taliban regime that came to power in mid-2021 by overthrowing the government of Ashraf Ghani. India and more than a dozen other countries currently have a diplomatic presence in Kabul.

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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
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin said early on Saturday that residents of Moscow-held regions in Ukraine expressed their desire to be part of Russia in recent local elections, reaffirming referendums last year that Western countries denounced as illegal. Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a televised address to mark the one-year anniversary of the declared annexation of the Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine(via REUTERS)

In a video address released on the one-year anniversary of Russia's controversial announcement it was annexing four parts of Ukraine, Putin said the choice to join Russia was reinforced by this month's local elections that returned officials supporting Russia's annexation.

"Just as a year ago in the historic referendums, people again expressed and confirmed their will to be with Russia and supported their countrymen who, through their labour and real actions, proved worthy of the people's trust," he said in a video of just over four minutes issued at midnight.

Putin reiterated his stance that Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine saved people from nationalist leaders in Kyiv who had unleashed a "full-scale civil war" and "terror against those who think differently".

On Sept. 30, 2022, parts of four Ukrainian regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia -- were formally incorporated into Russia after referendums that Moscow said returned overwhelming majorities in favour.

Western countries dismissed the outcomes as meaningless and illegal annexation, underpinned by mass coercion of voters.

Russian forces do not control any of the regions in full.

Ukrainian forces, helped by Western arms, withstood initial Russian attempts to advance on Kyiv and the war shifted to areas held by Russia in the east and south. Ukrainian forces in June launched a counteroffensive to recapture those areas.
A huge fire has erupted at an oil pipeline in the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk, injuring three people, emergency services said Saturday. It said that the rupture led to an oil spill spanning an area of 100 square metres.(Representational)

Unverified footage shared on social media showed billowing clouds of thick black smoke over what appeared to be a village.

"At 5 p.m. (1400 GMT), near the village of Strymba, Nadvirna district, an oil pipeline (150 millimetres in diameter) ruptured," Ukraine's State Emergency Service said.

It said that the rupture led to an oil spill spanning an area of 100 square metres.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, but local media outlets said there had been a powerful explosion.

"Rescuers are working at the scene," the emergency services said.

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Russia is defending its sovereignty and spiritual values by waging war in Ukraine, president Vladimir Putin said in a video address which was posted on the Kremlin website as Moscow marked the anniversary of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions. Russia-Ukraine War: Russian president Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the incorporation of regions of Ukraine to join Russia in Moscow.(AP)

We are defending Russia itself, are fighting together for the Motherland, for our sovereignty, spiritual values and unity, for victory, Vladimir Putin said. Russia has to implement a large-scale program to develop the annexed regions, he added.

Vladimir Putin insisted that the annexation was carried out in full accordance with international norms" as he claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month. Russia-appointed authorities held elections in those regions earlier this month. The Kremlin had also held referendums a year ago to annex the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions which Ukraine and the West called sham. The votes drew condemnation from the United Nations and Ukraines allies.

The residents of four Ukrainian regions made their choice  to be with their Fatherland", Vladimir Putin asserted while a concert was held in Red Square to mark the anniversary in which the Russian leader did not participate.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, air defences shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Vinnytsia regional governor Serhii Borzov said that air defences shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region. A powerful fire broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility, the governor informed.

Russia's defence ministry said that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region. Local officials in Russia's Bryansk region reported disruptions to power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar.

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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
In a first, a Sikh Granthi from New Jersey offered prayers to start the proceedings of the US House of Representatives. The prayers before the proceedings are normally offered by a Christian priest.(File image)

Granthi Giani Jaswinder Singh from Pine Hill Gurdwara in New Jersey started the day's proceedings at the House on Friday. The prayers before the proceedings are normally offered by a Christian priest.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced that Singh would start the proceedings.

Taking up the floor soon after the prayers, Congressman Donald Norcross described this as a historic occasion. He is the first Sikh chaplain to make prayers in the US House of Representatives.

The history made today is a reminder that the United States welcomes and values and will remain committed to free expression of religion. Giani Singh has made South Jersey proud today and it is an honour to be a part of this moment with him, Norcross said.
Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singaporean diplomat and a distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute, has delivered a scathing critique of the American mainstream media (MSM) for their lack of global perspective and awareness. Former President of the United Nations Security Council, Kishore Mahbubani.(Facebook)

In a video clip posted by Luo Yuehan on X, Mahbubani accuses the American MSM of being insular and parochial in their coverage of world affairs, especially regarding China. The post was then shared by author Amitav Ghosh who added, Kishore Mahbubani devastatingly on the mark about the insularity and parochialism of American MSM.

Mahbubani argues that The insularity of the American discourse is actually frightening Theres an incestuous self-referential discourse among these journalists & so on and so forth.' He goes on to add, 'the era of western domination of world history was a 200-year aberration. Its coming to an end.

Claiming American media has failed to grasp the significance and implications of Chinas rise, which Mahbubani calls the biggest story of our time. He says that the meida has been obsessed with domestic issues such as the 2020 presidential election, the Capitol riot, and the COVID-19 pandemic, while ignoring or misrepresenting the developments and achievements of China and other emerging powers. He cites examples such as the successful landing of Chinas Tianwen-1 probe on Mars, the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal, and the launch of the Digital Silk Road initiative.

When I come to the United States and I go to my hotel room in Charles Hotel and turn on the television I feel that I have been cut off from the rest of the world. I literally- the insularity of the American discourse is actually frightening, he expressed.

He challenges the American MSM to be more objective and respectful in their coverage of China and other cultures, and to acknowledge their achievements and contributions to global peace and prosperity.

ALSO READ| Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy lead, surprising UN ambassador Nikki Haley in latest GOP assessment

Mahbubani concludes his remarks by urging the American MSM to wake up and open their eyes to the changing realities of the world. He warns that if the American MSM continues to be insular and parochial, they will lose their credibility and influence in the global arena, and risk being left behind by the rest of the world.

The former Singaporean diplomat calls for a more balanced and enlightened approach to journalism that can foster mutual understanding and cooperation among different worlds.

This is true The New York Times, this is true The Washington Post, this is true The Wall Street Journal there is an incestuous self-referential discourse among these newspaper journalists and so on so forth and they reinforce each others perspectives and end up misunderstanding the world.
Former President Donald Trump mocked President Bidens frequent blunders and mishaps on stage during a speech at the California Republican Party convention on Friday night. Former President Donald Trump points to the crowd AP/PTI(AP)

Trump, who is leading the 2024 GOP presidential race, questioned Bidens mental and physical fitness to serve another term as president. He said that the 80-year-old president often appeared lost and confused in public, failing to find his way off the stage after delivering speeches.

Trump imitated Bidens awkward stage exits by pretending to be disoriented and unable to locate the stairs behind the podium. He spun around in circles, walked up to the wall, and threw his hands up in despair, as the crowd laughed and cheered.

Where the hell am I? Trump exclaimed.

Ive never seen this stupid stage before. Ive never seen it. But if I walk left theres a stair and if I walk right theres a stair, he added.

Trump was apparently referring to an incident in October last year, when Biden made a speech in Pittsburgh supporting Sen. John Fetterman. After finishing his remarks, Biden turned to his right, then abruptly changed direction and pointed to his left, while mumbling something under his breath.

That was not the only time Biden had trouble leaving the stage. In June this year, he stumbled and fell to the ground after congratulating graduating cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. He quickly got up and blamed a black sandbag on the stage for tripping him.

Later that day, Biden hit his head on the doorframe of his Marine One helicopter as he arrived at the White House.

The former president also slammed Biden for being arrogant and condescending towards China and other non-Western countries. He accused Biden of portraying China as a threat or an enemy that needed to be challenged or contained.

He said that Biden and the American mainstream media (MSM) had missed or distorted the biggest story of our time, which was Chinas rise and its achievements in science, trade, and technology.

ALSO READ| Western domination of history is coming to an end, Kishore Mahbubani slams US media for their lack of global POV

He cited examples such as Chinas successful Mars mission, the RCEP trade agreement, and the Digital Silk Road project.

Trump also called for harsher measures to deal with crime and theft in California, which had seen a surge of brazen robberies in broad daylight.

We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft. Very simply: If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store, he said.

There must be retribution for theft and destruction and the ruination of our country.

Trumps speech on Friday night was his second public appearance this week after skipping the second Republican presidential debate on Wednesday. A poll commissioned exclusively for The Post showed that Trump was still ahead of his rivals in the GOP field.
As the clock ticks toward the midnight deadline on Saturday, when the U.S. government will run out of money, federal agencies are getting ready for a possible shutdown. WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 25: The US Capitol is seen at sunrise on September 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. The government is expected to enter a shutdown at midnight if a last-minute budget deal is not reached by the House on Saturday. Nathan Howard/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Nathan Howard / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP)

Meanwhile, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is trying to prevent it by proposing a 45-day stopgap funding bill that includes the disaster relief that the White House asked for.

McCarthy said that the House would vote on his bill on Saturday, and added, If I have to risk my job for standing up for the American public, I will do that.

He was responding to a question about whether he was worried that some of his fellow Republicans, such as Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, could try to remove him over this bill.

The spending impasse in Congress has been partly caused by divisions within the House Republican caucus.

ALSO READ| Flights, services, loans: What happens if US government enters a shutdown

On Saturday morning, House Republicans were still debating among themselves about how to move forward. Some Republicans, especially those with experience in budget matters and those who represent competitive districts, urged their colleagues to support the 45-day funding bill and bring it to the floor for a vote.

Here's a concise 10-pointer on the U.S. government shutdown:

Shutdown looms: The U.S. government is on the brink of a shutdown due to a funding deadline that expires at midnight on Saturday, 30 September 2023. Last-minute effort: House Speaker McCarthy is making a last-minute push to avoid the lapse in funding. He has announced a vote on a 45-day short-term spending bill on Saturday. Threats to McCarthy: The House Speaker faces threats from within his own party, particularly from hardline conservatives like Rep. Matt Gaetz, who may move to oust him over the proposed bill. House GOP infighting: Several disagreements among House Republicans have played a central role in the funding standoff, and it's unclear how the issue will be resolved. Shutdown impact: A government shutdown would have significant consequences, affecting air travel, and clean drinking water, and halting many government operations, although essential public safety services would continue. Senate's Bipartisan bill: The Senate has proposed a bipartisan bill to fund the government through November 17. This bill includes additional funds for Ukraine aid, a point of contention with some House Republicans. Ukraine aid debate: McCarthy argues that aid to Ukraine should be dropped from the Senate bill, while some Republicans oppose further support to the war-torn country. Border security complication: Border security has become a complicating factor for the Senate bill, with some Republicans pushing for amendments to address this issue. Procedural delays: Senator Rand Paul is vowing to slow down the Senate's bill over objections to its funding for the war in Ukraine, potentially delaying the process beyond the shutdown deadline. Uncertain resolution: As the deadline looms, it remains uncertain how the government funding issue will be resolved, with both chambers of Congress scheduled to be in session on Saturday to address the situation.
Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch speaks to reporters on Friday about the deaths of a 37-year-old woman and her two young children.

Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch speaks to reporters on Friday about the deaths of a 37-year-old woman and her two young children.

A woman in the middle of a divorce was found dead inside her Alabama home alongside her two children in what police described as a horrific murder-suicide.

Nancy Johnson, 37, and her children, 5-year-old Mia and 2-year-old Jacob, were found dead in their home in Semmes, Alabama, on Thursday. Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said at a Friday press conference that Johnson drowned her children before hanging herself.

Its definitely not a typical homicide scene, Semmes Police Chief Todd Freind told local news outlet FOX10. It is more brutal than normal, than what we normally see.

An investigation into the deaths began on Thursday. Burch said Johnsons estranged husband, who was living in a camper behind the home, called police to report that he had found his family members dead.

Investigators have ruled the husband out as a suspect, the sheriff said.

He was cooperative, and we were able to corroborate the timeline where he said he was and where he came from, and he was truthful in those statements, Burch told reporters, adding that he hoped social media comments suggesting the man was guilty would stop.

Burch said that the husband found the bodies of his children inside the home on the sofa covered with a blanket. According to the sheriff, both children had died by drowning, though the older child also had lacerations around her neck, and Johnson had hanged herself. Burch told reporters that Johnson had a history of psychiatric issues.

Uncertainty initially surrounded the case when investigators were unable to determine whether Johnson and her children had died in a murder-suicide or in a triple homicide.

According to Burch, Johnson had wounds on her wrist and neck that investigators believe she inflicted around the same time that she drowned her children. He also said she had made comments to her neighbors right before her death that if she died, they should suspect her husband.

Story continues

The day before the murders, Burch told reporters, Johnson had left the neighbors with a purple suitcase that contained a note alluding to something happening to her, a small amount of cash, some clothing and her phone.

Burch told reporters that Semmes officers have responded to domestic incidents at the home in the past.

Last week, Johnsons husband was arrested on domestic violence charges after he allegedly broke into the home and attacked Johnson in order to take the children, according to court documents cited by FOX10.

Another court document the outlet cited said the husband had claimed in Junethat a Department of Human Resources worker had expressed concerns about Johnsons mental health affecting the childrens safety.

The DHR worker informed the Defendant (the father) that they do not feel it is safe for the minor children to remain in the care and custody of the Plaintiff (the mother), the document stated, FOX10 reported.

A couple of weeks after the June filing, the couple agreed to go to counseling, according to the court documents.

But last month, Johnson was reportedly granted a protection-from-abuse order against her husband, and he filed for divorce the next day. The parents were awarded joint custody of their children on Tuesday, and DHR was charged with providing protective supervision, FOX10 reported.

The judge also ordered the parents to alternate living in the camper parked in the back of the home. While one parent was in the camper, the other was supposed to be living in the house with the children.

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

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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impton Hotels & Restaurants, part of IHG Hotels & Resorts' luxury & lifestyle portfolio, breaks ground today for a new boutique hotel in the Northern California coastal community of Pacific Grove, on the storied Monterey Peninsula. Marking the boutique hotel brand's first property in the market, Kimpton Pacific Grove Hotel will exude elevated, laid-back vibes one can only find on the Central Coast of the Golden State and serve as a premier destination featuring locally inspired restaurant and bar concepts. The property is expected to open in late 2025.

Owned and developed by Cypress 16, LLC[GC1] in conjunction with Interport Capital, LLC, and L&B Realty Advisors, Kimpton Pacific Grove Hotel will be a newly built, Mission-style boutique hotel featuring 101 elegant guestrooms, including six suites and a hospitality parlor equipped with its own private outdoor terrace. Rooms situated on the third and fourth floors will provide guests with sweeping views of the Monterey Bay, a breathtaking sight that is sure to promote a feeling of blissful relaxation. The hotel's expansive 3,650 square foot courtyard and breathtaking fireplace, all set against a bounty of native trees, will provide travelers a perfect California setting to host meetings and events or a beautiful celebration. RRM Design Group will serve as the property architect and Narrative Design Studio will outfit the entirety of the hotel's interiors. Huff Construction Company will serve as the general contractor for the construction of the project while Johnson Controls Capital will provide financing.

Aptly inspired by the dreaminess of the California coastline, the four-story hotel is set to become a culinary go-to for guests and locals alike thanks to its restaurant and bar venue's focus on local cuisine, fresh seafood and locally grown produce. As with all Kimptons, beloved amenities and services such as morning coffee and tea service, evening social hour, a "Forgot It? We've Got It!" program, in-room yoga mats, on-site fitness center, complimentary bicycles and pet-friendly policies will enhance the guest experience.

Situated between the city of Monterey and legendary Pebble Beach, this picturesque Victorian town - often called the "Butterfly Town U.S.;" "The Most Romantic City in the U.S.," and "A Dreamy California Destination" - has become a sought-after location for weddings, honeymoons or for those seeking pure California relaxation. In addition to the city's breathtaking views and quaint neighborhoods, guests can also enjoy unique boutiques, local art galleries and specialty shops all found within Pacific Grove's four shopping districts. The new hotel sits within this quadrant and is close to the Pacific Grove Museum, Pacific Grove Library and within walking distance to the beloved Lover's Point Beach .

When it opens in 2025, Kimpton Pacific Grove will become the tenth Kimpton hotel in California. The brand currently has 75 open hotels globally and 50 projects in the pipeline.

Hotel website
Acurio International, leading global Peruvian restaurant group by culinary luminary Chef Gaston Acurio, is proud to announce the appointment of Rick Tomich as its new Chief Marketing Officer. With over two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, Tomich is committed to leading the brand's strategic expansion worldwide while supporting Acurio's broader mission to cement Peruvian cuisine as an approachable mainstream dining staple.

A premier leader in Peruvian gastronomy for over 30 years, Gaston Acurio has played a pivotal role in paving the way for his culture's cuisine to enter the global stage. Today, Peruvian food is recognized worldwide as some of the best - winning accolades such as #1 Restaurant in the World 2023 by World's 50 Best - Central restaurant in Lima, and, Acurio's very own La Mar Miami awarded the "The Best Peruvian Restaurant in the US" by Peru's renowned newspaper El Comercio and Somos magazine. As the newly appointed Chief Marketing Officer, Tomich will bolster the impressive acknowledgements as Acurio International expands its portfolio throughout the U.S. and internationally with expansion brands such as their flagship, La Mar, and new concepts like Jarana, an approachable Peruvian cuisine restaurant concept aimed to bring Peruvian cuisine to the heart of America.

"Acurio International and Chef Gaston Acurio are renowned industry leaders, and I am honored to join this team of seasoned gastronomy and hospitality experts," said Tomich. "They have set the standard for curating unique dining experiences and introducing guests to the dynamic culinary world of Peru. I look forward to working together and helping to accelerate the company's overall goal of transforming Peruvian cuisine into a household name and culinary staple everywhere."

Additionally in his role, Tomich leads marketing efforts for the company's dozen brands inclusive of over 60 restaurants in over 10 countries throughout South and North America, Europe, and the Middle East. His responsibilities include providing marketing and communications direction within the areas of public relations and internal communications, brand development and management, the in-venue brand experience, social and digital marketing, creative and graphic design, photo and video direction, and more.

Prior to joining Acurio International, Tomich served as the Vice President of International Marketing for Tao Group Hospitality, formerly Hakkasan Group, overseeing the on-going marketing strategies, planning, and budgeting for multiple restaurant brands across its portfolio in over 15 global markets from Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Marrakesh, Oslo, Shanghai, Mumbai, Bali, Jakarta, and Mexico City, along with several domestic markets including Las Vegas to Miami, and San Diego to Honolulu. Throughout his nine-year tenure, Tomich is credited with opening well over a dozen new restaurant and nightlife venues all over the world including OMNIA Nightclub & Dayclub, and Hakkasan, Ling Ling, and Yauatcha restaurants amongst many others.
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Governor Celebrates Permanent Universal Free School Meals

QUINCY, Mass. Governor Maura T. Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll hosted a press conference earlier this month at Snug Harbor Elementary School in Quincy to celebrate her administration delivering permanent universal free school meals for K-12 students in Massachusetts.

The Governor was joined at the celebration by House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, Chair Aaron Michlewitz, bill sponsors Representatives Tackey Chan and Bruce Ayers, and Erin McAleer, the President and CEO of Project Bread, all of whom highlighted the impact the program is expected to have in addressing hunger and advancing equity for students across the state.

"We're making school lunch and breakfast free for all students permanently in Massachusetts," said Governor Healey. "By delivering universal free meals, this administration is making clear that nothing is more important than ensuring our kids are fed, healthy, and ready to learn and play and grow."

The fiscal 2024 budget that Governor Healey signed on Aug. 9, 2023 delivered $172 million in permanent state funding to provide universal free school meals for K-12 students. This funding, paired with federal reimbursement for eligible meals, means that all students who attend schools that participate in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs are entitled to one free lunch and breakfast each school day.

"During my 12 years as a teacher in the Quincy Public School System, I saw up-close just how important it is to ensure that a student's ability to focus and ultimately succeed in the classroom is not affected by their family's financial circumstances," said House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano. "I'm incredibly proud that Massachusetts will be one of the first 8 states to permanently provide free school meals for all students, a vital initiative that furthers the Commonwealth's role as a national leader in education. I want to thank Chairman Michlewitz and my colleagues in the House, as well as the Healey Administration, our partners in the Senate, and the folks at Project Bread for recognizing the critical nature of this program, and for working to make it a reality."

Universal free meals began as a national program with federal funding during the pandemic, and Massachusetts continued it on a trial basis. With this year's budget, the Healey-Driscoll Administration, along with partners in the legislature, are making the commitment permanent. From now on, free, nutritious meals will be available to all students without stigma  helping ensure that students are better prepared to learn. By being one of the few states continuing this transformative program, Massachusetts is leading the way in addressing child nutrition, child hunger, and taking a more holistic approach to student needs.

The universal free school meals program will cover the cost of one lunch and breakfast including fruit, vegetables and whole grains, as per the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. School cafeterias might also choose to offer "a la carte" items for a fee. These items might include milk (if purchased alone) or an extra slice of pizza, and students must pay for those. Students must also pay if they want a second lunch or breakfast on the same day. Students' first complete breakfast and lunch each day is covered.
National Grid Launches Small Business Impact Initiative

WALTHAM, Mass.  National Grid announced the launch of a three-year, $500,000 Small Business Impact Initiative in partnership with Amplify LatinX, The Asian Business Empowerment Council, the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Through this new initiative, National Grid will partner with these leading organizations to provide a total of 50 $10,000 capacity building grants over the next three years to help minority-owned small businesses across the Commonwealth. In its first year, the initiative aims to support 16 small businesses selected by the partner organizations.

This partnership furthers National Grid's commitment under our newly launched "Grid for Good" program to enable economic opportunity, especially for historically underrepresented communities. Through this partnership, grantees will not only receive funding but also resources and support from the partnering business organizations to realize their goals.

To apply, interested businesses must be affiliated with at least one of the partner organizations.

The grants must be used to support the growth of operational capacity  such as purchasing equipment, leasing office space, or improving efficiencies among others. Each partner organization will select four grantees to receive funding.

"The strength of our communities is directly linked to the success of our local businesses," said Melissa Lavinson, Head of Corporate Affairs, New England at National Grid. "We recognize that small businesses are the economic engine of the 242 towns and cities we are privileged to serve across the Commonwealth. We know we have a responsibility to work with our communities to be a partner for progress and believe that joining forces with our partner business organizations to help grow the capacity of local, diverse businesses will have a transformative impact."

"At Amplify LatinX we are thrilled to partner with our sister organizations and with National Grid to support the transformation of 16 MBEs across the Commonwealth this year. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the goal of moving forward our region's economy," said Eneida Roman, President & CEO of Amplify LatinX.

"This collaboration represents a powerful commitment to our community's growth and resilience," said Q.J. Shi, Director of the Asian Business Empowerment Council at The Boston Foundation. "These grants will serve as a vital lifeline for many, supporting their entrepreneurial dreams and nurturing economic prosperity."

"Access to capital remains the primary business challenge for Black entrepreneurs," said Nicole Obi, President and CEO at the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts. "This multi-year opportunity supports the operational capacity of our member firms and holds the potential to create a profound impact, not just within these enterprises but also within the very communities they call home. We are grateful for the shared commitment of our fellow community-serving partners and this partnership with National Grid."

"LGBTQ+ businesses are an important part of our Commonwealth's economy, but far too often don't have access to the same resources and capital. This capacity building grant from our partners at National Grid will help small businesses grow to new levels, which is not just good for their businesses, but also for our communities," said Grace Moreno, Executive Director, Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

This impact initiative is part of National Grid's newly launched "Grid for Good" program, a larger companywide corporate responsibility and impact initiative that supports the communities we serve. Through Grid for Good, National Grid will contribute at least $4 million in funding to organizations that align with its three responsibility and impact pillars

workforce development and STEM education, economic opportunity and social justice, and environmental stewardship and sustainability -- and have a focus on historically underrepresented and overburdened communities.
The three options for the Brayton/Greylock school project were presented on Thursday. The footprint of a new Greylock is seen in blue. The new school would take advantage of passive solar large southern-facing windows. This schematic shows the addition of about 20,000 square feet to the current Greylock. The pitch of the Greylock addition would mimic the mountain behind it. Brayton would be slightly shortened and a play area added near the cafeteria. The exterior of Brayton would not change significantly. The third floor would be opened up to allow light to flow to the second floor. PreviousNext

North Adams Presents School Project Options to Public

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  There were few questions and little discussion from the community at Thursday's public information session on the options for Brayton/Greylock School project.

Julia McFadden and Jesse Saylor of TSKP Studio, the project designers, went over the history and elements of the options to a handful of people at the Brayton School Welcome Center; another 10 were logged through Zoom.

A meeting was held earlier in the day for faculty and staff.

The School Building Committee has met twice this month to review in more detail the three options still on the table  a Greylock renovation/addition, a completely new Greylock or a Brayton renovation.

The committee checked off elements including learning commons and STEAM spaces, flexible classrooms, internal connectivity, community use, traffic patterns and transportation, sustainability, locations and topography, natural light, professional work and timeout areas, security, and access to the outdoors and playgrounds.

All three are considered favorable in terms of design for education visioning goals such as student-centered learning, robust technology, parent engagement and social emotional learning and support.

But a new Greylock was the most favorable across the board while the Brayton renovation had the most least favorable or neutral rankings.

A renovated Greylock would have an airy 20,000 square-foot addition on the north side with large windows, a lobby and elevator. The roof line would be gabled to mimic Mount Greylock behind it and the courtyard would central to the design.

The entire building would be renovated.

A new Greylock would be built in the current parking area, allowing learning to continue while the building is constructed. This building would face the south for more light and the field and parking would be where the current school is located. The community areas  gym, auditorium, cafeteria  would be centralized on the west side with the playground.

The Brayton renovation would widen the entry drive and reconfigure the traffic circle to reduce obstructions and enhance pedestrian safety. The third floor would be opened up for a light well to the second floor and some excavation would be done around the lower classrooms for light. A small play area would be installed near the cafeteria and building would be shortened, though the exterior would not change much.

Greylock, at 55,000 square feet, would have to have another 20,000 square feet added based on enrollment figures; Brayton at 97,000, is too big so would have to be reduced. The enrollment figures are based on the new grade span of a prekindergarten to Grade 2 school and a Grade 3 to 6 school.

Two of the questions related to traffic and where the students would go during a construction. Saylor explained how the parking and traffic patterns would work for either Greylock, which would allow for two curb cuts for entry and exit and ways to separate buses and vehicles. The topography for Brayton would not allow for two separate egresses, but the driveway up the hill would be widened to three lanes to relieve bottlenecks and the traffic pattern reconfigured to try to keep buses and pedestrians safe.

Superintendent Barbara Malkas said the housing students during construction would depend on which option was selected. For either addition or renovation, the students would attend the school not under construction.

"We can think about how we can condense the student population because our enrollment would allow for that," she said. "That would speed up construction time and reduce costs."

A new Greylock School would solve these issues since the children could stay in place while the new school is being built across the way.

The entire presentation will be posted to the North Adams Public Schools website.

The School Building Committee is working toward an Oct. 26 submission to the Massachusetts School Building Authority. It is expected to review cost estimates on Oct. 12 and vote on a preferred option and then will meet with the School Committee for a submission vote on Oct. 17.

Rough estimates given in April put the cost range at a low of $25 million for a Brayton renovation to a high of $90 million for a new Greylock. The MSBA will cover up to 80 percent of eligible costs.

Should the MSBA's Facilities Assessment Subcommittee approve the preferred option, the project will move into Module Four for schematic design beginning in November. This is scheduled to take 18 weeks.

Any project would still need funding approval from the City Council and final approval from the MSBA Board of Directors.

Barring any obstacles, the new school would open in fall 2027.
In some ways, not much has changed over the years at Mystic Valley Dairy in Sauk City.

The Breunig family still milks cows  500 of them  as it has for three generations. Mitch Breunig is teaching his son how to farm so he, too, can carry on the family's legacy.

But the way the Breunigs farm has changed dramatically, thanks to new technology that gives them and farmers around the world more information and makes the industry more efficient  for those who can afford it.

Cows can now wear Fitbit-like devices as collars or ear tags that monitor their eating, movement, breathing and rumination, the natural process by which cows regurgitate previously consumed food and then chew it further for better digestion. Robots push feed into pens to help them stay nourished and can milk cows with no human labor needed.

Data, rather than anecdotal evidence, is driving the decisions dairy farmers make daily, especially in Wisconsin, which produces the second-highest volume of dairy products in the nation, behind California. The state leads in the production of cheese, is home to over a million cows and generates $45 billion for the economy annually, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

"It's not your grandpa's farm any more," Breunig said. "When you're in the moment, you don't even realize it, but when you step back and look at the way you're able to do things much more effectively, it's amazing."

Data-gathering tools and other innovations in the dairy industry will be on display Sunday through Oct. 6 at the World Dairy Expo in Madison. The event at the Alliant Energy Center brings in more than 500 vendors and 50,000 attendees.

Wearable technology, in particular, has had a big impact on the dairy industry, enabling farmers to monitor all their livestock all at once, at all hours of the day, Breunig said. The software senses cows' breathing patterns or rumination levels, records the information and gives the farmer a report on the animals' behavior or health. If a cow is exhaling more heavily than normal, it could be too hot, or if it's not ruminating sufficiently, it could be sick. If a problem arises with a cow, Breunig receives an email alert.

The reports update every 20 minutes at Mystic Valley Dairy. Breunig can see the data on his smartphone and know when cows have a higher likelihood of becoming pregnant or are low on calcium, he said.

"Time is fixed. This enables us to use our time the best way," Breunig said while walking through rows of cows. "It allows us to target the cows that need help."

Positive signs

Since installing wearable technology, in addition to a robot that pushes feed into a cow's pen to keep them nourished, Mystic Valley Dairy has increased its dairy output, raised cow pregnancy rates by over 10% and reduced labor costs, Breunig said.

"Before, you had 20 cows, and they'd run all over the pasture. You never missed a day at work because you did it all yourselves," Breunig said. "Now, we're easily able to have more cows, give them comfort, so they're happy and healthy. We're able to manage much better than it was 20 years ago."

If implemented effectively, connectivity in agriculture  the ability to share information and data across platforms  could add more than $500 billion to global gross domestic product by 2030, according to a report issued by McKinsey & Company in 2020.

The rise in output could help meet the world's growing nutritional needs. The global population is slated to creep up to nearly 10 billion by 2050, which would translate into a need of 70% more calories to feed the world sufficiently, the same report found.

If you go What: The World Dairy Expo features cattle shows, a trade expo, educational programs and more Where: Alliant Energy Center, 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, Madison When: Oct. 1-6. The trade show starts Oct. 3 Tickets: Admission is required starting Oct. 3. Tickets purchased before Oct. 3 are $15 and $40, but the price increases after that. More: worlddairyexpo.com

Size matters

Dr. Jeffrey Bewley is the dairy analytics and innovation scientist at the Holstein Association, the world's largest dairy cattle breed organization, which has over 20,000 members and supports research on the dairy sector.

Bewley said connectivity could have the power to revolutionize the way farming is done, but he anticipates changes will differ depending on farm size. Larger farms, the ones with the funds to pursue capital investments and more animals to spread fixed costs across, will likely be the ones able to adopt new technologies first.

Small and mid-size farms, already challenged by rising production costs and globalization, may face more barriers to technological adoption. The majority of the 700 farms Wisconsin lost between 2017 and 2021 were from the lowest sales class bracket, a metric that combines agricultural product sales and government program payments, according to USDA data.

But, farms occupying the lowest sales class, $1,000 to $9,999, still constitute the largest percentage of total farms in Wisconsin of any sales class group, which goes up to one million and over.

Bob Wills, the owner of Cedar Grove Cheese, an artisan cheese shop and producer in Sauk County, said farm technology is not feasible for all farmers.

"These technology solutions have potential value in some situations, but they probably would not be profitable or practical on the farmers that we buy milk from," Wills said.

Still, a risk

One challenge that emerges for farms of all scales is knowing what technology to buy. In an industry known for volatile pricing and irregular profitability, many dairy farmers say they need to be extremely confident a product will deliver a return on investment before making a purchase.

"I've had technologies on my farm fail," Breunig said, referring a device that he tried that was supposed to detect lame leg but gave false diagnoses on pregnant cows. "We really have to find those investments that really make a difference then go all in."

A dairy farm can be a harsh environment for technology. Cows move around a lot and weather can be extreme, especially in Wisconsin, and many companies that sell these products do not allow farmers trial runs due to the complexity of installation. So, farmers need to seek certainty in their decisions, whether that be heavily researching a product, chatting with friends or reading honest testimonials.

A collar or ear tag cows generally cost around $100 each and are expected to last 5 to 7 years. Meanwhile, a single, labor-free robotic feed pusher is about $25,000 and services around 300 cows.

However, even if costs decreased, heightened technological adoption may not necessary follow, said Dr. Marcia Endres, a professor and researcher in the University of Minnesota's Department of Animal Science.

Beyond money

There are other considerations on dairy farms outside of costs, such as how much training farmers need to employ these tools and consumer sentiment about machines, Endres said.

Plus, agriculture technology companies may want to keep costs elevated for to further fund research and development initiatives and create novel tools, Endres said.

"I don't think this technology will ever be very cheap due to the costs of research and development," Endres said. "But, who knows, I don't have a crystal ball."

But, if the technology functions well for an appropriate cost to businesses, it can pay big dividends over time, greatly reducing operating costs and working in tandem with farmers.

Crunching data

Yasir Khokhar is the founder and CEO of Connecterra, a growing agricultural technology company based out of Amsterdam with operations in Wisconsin. Connecterra is building a platform that aggregates, organizes and interprets data on a dairy farm onto one single platform. With this information, farmers can make more informed decisions and then measure their impacts.

The Connecterra platform is currently being tested and used on dairy farms nationwide, including in Wisconsin, and is free to farmers who partner with the company. Khokhar said he wants to refine and perfect the product before working to expand its market share, ultimately developing an interface with no data on it all, just applicable conclusions for users.

"We're at a very interesting inflection point," Khokhar said. "Because of all the challenges that the industry faces  labor, climate change, productivity, sustainability  a lot of these challenges need to be solved. Technology can help."

Regarding the near future of technology and dairy, Bewley said he likely sees two main developments unfolding: the continuation of looking to other industries, such as human medicine, to reverse engineer technology for cows, and the betterment of pre-existing software.

It's important to develop new gadgets, Bewley said, but it's also vital to ensure they can actually be implemented by farmers.

"We should always dream big when it comes to what we can do with technology," Bewley said. "It will be exciting to see what continues to happen as we move forward."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct Mitch Breunig's first name.

Fewer farms mean fewer farm kids to to show Wisconsin's dairy cattle Only a few who show at the Wisconsin State Fair live on dairy farms, with many young cow enthusiasts choosing alternative professions.

Tony Evers to travel to Europe to tout Wisconsin's trade potential Hughes said the countries are home to two of Europe's largest ports and are considered a "gateway for Wisconsin entrepreneurs looking to export to Europe.
George Wislocki adds mulch around the newly planted Jefferson elm at Park Square on Thursday. The tree was planted to honor Lucretia Williams, who save the original elm from the axe more than 200 years before.

Berkshire County Historical Society Honors Lucretia Williams



George and Alice Wislocki, left, were instrumental in getting the elm tree. At right are Berkshire County Historical Society's Lesley Herzbert and Jan Laiz, and the city's parks manager James McGrath. Behind them is the sundial honoring the Williams installed in 1903 where the old elm once stood. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Berkshire County Historical Society honored the Berkshires' first known environmentalist, Lucretia Williams, by planting an elm tree at Park Square on Thursday, Tree Planting Day.

It was not far from the spot where Williams had saved the Pittsfield elm tree from the axe 233 years before.

The Historical Society has been looking for a way to honor Williams since before the pandemic, juggling ideas from a pamphlet to a children's book but when the pandemic hit the plans were sidelined, Executive Director Lesley Herzberg said.

As the pandemic started to come to an end, they regathered to set the initiative back in motion.

After juggling a few ideas, education coordinator and writer-in-residence emeritus Jana Laiz had an epiphany to plant a tree.

From there, the series of fortunate events commenced. They reached out to the city's Park, Open Space and Natural Resource Program Manager James McGrath only to discover that Park Square's elm tree had split and needed to be replaced.

George and Alice Wislocki have been working with the Historical Society since the start of the project and donated the funds to purchase the new disease resistant American "Jefferson" elm that hails from Windy Hill Nursery in Great Barrington.

The planting of this elm is so much more than the planting of a tree, Alice Wislocki said. The tree is a symbol of preservation and activism. It is important to preserve historical and environmental aspects of the city.

"This is the center of Pittsfield, maybe the Berkshires, and this little park has been lovely for people for generations and I think to document it is a wonderful thing for the Berkshires and I'm glad to be joining," George Wislocki said.

"This little park, it's wonderful for the Berkshires and it's remarkable that it has survived."

For years, George, founder of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, looked out the window from his office and worried what was to come of the park. It is more than just a park, he said. It is at its core the loveliness of nature.

Although Williams was a prominent leader of Pittsfield's community, her name is not well known. Even the plaque that currently sits at Park Square says "dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Williams," Herzberg said.

"This is important for Pittsfield history and for women's history. She was the first environmentalist, really, she grabbed onto that tree and wouldn't let them cut it down, which I think is fascinating and wonderful."

The town fathers had voted to cut down the elm to build a larger meeting house in the square. Williams threw herself between the tree and axe. The elm would stand for another 70 years before being struck by lightning. It was estimated at more than 300 years old.

John Chandler Williams continued his wife's efforts by donating land south of the elm so the town could build the meetinghouse elsewhere.

The planting of the new elm is the first of many tree planting initiatives that are underway at Park Square, McGrath said, using funds from the Community Preservation Act.

The city will address some of the structural issues in the park's maples and oaks, plant seven more trees around Arbor Day at Park Square, and will be investing in a permanent Christmas tree, McGrath said.

"So, this is really exciting to have an elm tree back on Park Square for many, many years to come," he said.
Interim Executive Director Patti Messina welcomes attendees at the Northern Berkshire United Way's annual campaign launch on Wednesday at Norad Mill's 3 West. Representatives of agencies supported by NBUW standup at the annual breakfast gathering. PreviousNext

Northern Berkshire United Way Sets $480K Campaign Goal



Christine and Peter Hoyt are this year's campaign co-chairs. Their goal is to raise $480,000 over the next year. NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The Northern Berkshire United Way supports 20 member agencies in the work they do addressing social, health, youth and family services throughout the region.

Two of those agencies  Louison House and Community Legal Aid  highlighted some of the efforts within the community at United Way's annual campaign kick on Wednesday morning at Norad Mill.

The agency also announced its new slate of officers and board members, including President Kelly McCarthy and Vice President Tyler Bissaillon, and took a moment to remember the contributions of the late Stephen Green, a longtime community activist and former campaign co-chair with his wife, Susanne Walker.

"While our hearts in our community at large are at a loss for a man who truly embody all of the characteristics and traits that we acknowledge as Northern Berkshire, such as honesty, integrity, commitment, selfless service, dedication, we can be comforted in knowing that his legacy lives on," said Jennifer Meehan, vice chair of Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, of which Green was a board member and former president.

Kathy Keeser, executive director of Louison House , described the history of the shelter that opened more than three decades ago after the closure of Sprague Electric and other local mills devastated the economy. Founded by Theresa Louison, the agency has expanded to provide emergency shelter, family housing, transitional housing, preventive services and, soon, a youth shelter facility.

Housing is a growing need while at the same time, housing costs are rising, she said, and this effects particularly the people Louison House serves, people who don't have savings or credit  "who are at the last chance of an apartment."

"People are really struggling, but it's our community connections and it's our work with other agencies," Keeser said. "We do a piece of the puzzle. Ours is about getting them out to housing  working with mental health, substance abuse, all the other agencies around to help us do that. And the United Way has been a big part of that, along with Williamstown Community Chest, and so many other businesses and individuals that support us. So it is the community that helps us succeed and helps us do what we're doing."

She asked those who had struggled with housing or who knew someone who has to raise their hands, and a quite a few went up. Almost anybody could end up needing Louison House's services, she said.

"I wish I could say we're going to go out of business or I hope to a few years," Keeser said. "It won't happen. But we'll be around and we'll be around with all your guys' help, so thank you."

Jennifer Dieringer, managing attorney for the Northampton and Pittsfield offices of Community Legal Aid , explained some of the services that her agency provides.

"We consider ourselves a legal arm of the social services community, which of course is all of the partner agencies of Northern Berkshire United Way that are in the room today," she said. "What I have found in the decades of time that I've done this work, and really this has been my life's work from when I graduated from law school, is that legal aid attorneys are really good at solving the legal problem.

"But that's putting a very small beam of data on a really big moment. And folks who have legal issues have many, many issues underlying those legal issues."

Dieringer thinks of legal aid as being part of a holistic service in which it covers the legal aspect and it can rely on its partners to work with clients on the support they need.

One of the biggest referrals Community Legal Aid gets is related to housing and its primary efforts are on eviction defense work. It also takes cases in elder law, veterans benefits, employment law in terms of discrimination and wage theft, and immigration and naturalization services. Growing areas are education law, such as working with parents on ensuring their children get the services they need, and sealing criminal records so formerly incarcerate people can housing and employment.

"We can help people in a really systematic way," she said. "So thank you all for all that you do and for the Northern Berkshire United Way for supporting all of the work that we do."

To support those two agencies and its other members, this year's campaign goal is $480,000, up from $450,000 this year but still far below past campaigns prior to the pandemic, noted interim Executive Director Patti Messina.



Sharon DeMyer-Nemser, board vice president for campaigns, and Messina. "However, we and our member agencies are nimble and responsive to change and know that these dollars will be well utilized to our community," she said.

Christine and Peter Hoyt were recognized as this year's campaign co-chairs. Christine is chair of the Adams Selectmen and director of member services at 1Berkshires and Peter a professor of biology at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

The vice president for campaigns is Sharon DeMeyer-Nemser, who said going door to door to collect for the Community Chest as a young woman instilled "such a comfort of giving and receiving to help others.

"We don't ask people to give until it hurts. We asked you to give until it helps and every dollar helps," she said.

"And everyone that's in this room is here because they're community centered. They love our community and you love the people within it."
Coffee pulp and production waste have been shown in a five-year research to encourage regrowth in deforested areas.

Coffee Pulp and Production Waste

The enormous amount of waste produced during coffee production is one of the main issues. A little more than 45% of the total biomass is lost after coffee beans and cherries are separated.

Therefore, a comparable amount of coffee pulp is dumped into huge landfills all over the world for every pound of roasted coffee that is consumed. That means that every year, the ecosystem receives about 10 million tons of coffee pulp.

The garbage can seriously harm soil and water supplies if it is not properly disposed of.

Coffee pulp, however, turns out to be more than simply a waste product, according to a recent study. It may significantly help the planet's deforested areas to restore their forests.

A 100' x 130' section of degraded land in Costa Rica was covered with 30 dump trucks' worth of coffee pulp by researchers from ETH-Zurich and the University of Hawaii in 2018. A former coffee farm that experienced significant deforestation in the 1950s served as the site of the experiment.

Researchers dumped tons of coffee waste into a forest. This is what it looks like now. https://t.co/5lJBipGupM  NWN Writer (@NWN_Writer_Co) September 28, 2023

Three feet of coffee pulp had been applied over the entire region. To serve as a control for the experiment, a different piece of land close to the coffee pulp dump was kept undeveloped.

Regrowth and Reforestation

The study's principal author, Dr. Rebecca Cole, called the outcomes "dramatic." In contrast to the control plot, which continued to be dominated by non-native grazing grasses, the area treated with a thick covering of coffee pulp transformed into a tiny forest in just two years.

Compared to the control area's 20% canopy cover, the area treated with coffee pulp gained an 80% canopy cover in just two years. Consequently, the region treated with coffee pulp grew four times as quickly. It reactivated cellular activity in the region like a caffeine kick.

Additionally, the canopy was four times taller than the control canopy.

Additionally, an invasive species of grass that had colonized the region and inhibited forest succession was removed in the coffee-treated area. Its eradication made way for the recolonization of the region by other indigenous species.

According to Cole, this case study demonstrates that agricultural by-products can be used to hasten the recovery of tropical forests in degraded areas. Using these by-products for restoration to achieve global forestry goals can constitute a "win-win" situation in cases when processing them costs agricultural companies.

If the results are repeated, both coffee drinkers and the environment will benefit.

Researchers think using coffee treatments to reforest damaged land could be economical.

Also Read: Analysis of 20,000 Trees in 5 Continents Could be the Answer to Climate Change

Battling Climate Change

By encouraging the expansion of forests all over the world, this novel approach might also help to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Reforestation is now a crucial component of the battle against climate change according to the 2016 Paris Agreement. Through the agreement, developing nations are encouraged to lessen deforestation and forest degradation, support forest conservation along with sustainable management, and increase their forest carbon stores.

Cole believes that their work will serve as a springboard for other academics and businesses to consider how they may connect to the global restoration movement to increase the efficiency of their production.

Related Article: Mozambique Coffee Farming Saves Gorongosa National Park and Its Community of Farmers
For Holly Burke of Columbus, joining the military was in the cards for a long time. Now, after 19 years of hard work, dedication, proving her strengths and being the kind of leader she wanted to see, she's made it to the top of the ladder.

"It's more management. I have a unique role here. Usually, it's the first sergeants who serve beside and we usually have others who lead formations, lead soldiers," Burke said.

Burke is also a part of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club, an exclusive group of noncommissioned officers who display exceptional performance in their roles. Her job, she said, plays off of her natural abilities and desire to keep her soldiers in the best shape they can be.

"My biggest task is to train the soldiers I have, really managing personnel, making sure they go to the different school, personally and professionally keeping them on track. I'm kind of a natural mom at work and at home," Burke said.

Burke originally enlisted in the National Guard while she was attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2000 and decided she wanted to try something different and serve in a big way. Her bachelor's degree is in leadership and workforce development, which plays a lot into her everyday duties.

"I wanted to serve and I felt like this was something that was bigger and better than myself. I know that's a common answer people say, but it's really all about service," Burke said.

In her time on active duty, Burke has been on six deployments: three in Iraq, two in Europe and one in Kosovo, and has been awarded many medals, including a Bronze Star, a Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, an Iraqi Campaign Medal, the NATO Medal and several others.

Burke noted that she is getting close to retirement age, although she loves what she does. After 19 years in the service, she said, she's considered on the older end of the military.

She's currently living and working in Alabama with the Fox Army Health Center, which she said she loves. Her focus during the years has been on health care and medical work, earning her an assignment as a health care specialist some time back and a Combat Medic Badge.

While the process to get to this point has been long with a lot of work and not always the most comfortable, Burke said, it's been worth it.

"It's a blessing, 1% of the civilian population serve in the military and 1% of them make it to sergeant major. It's a small amount of personnel that make it," Burke said. "God had a plan I think and obviously I did work some on that, but he's the one that put me in those positions with those opportunities."

Her mother, Joy Anderson, said she's proud to see her daughter reach this milestone goal she's had for so long. Holly, she said, is different from the typical "angry drill sergeant" character that's portrayed on TV and movies.

"You think of the military sometimes where drill sergeants are all over you, cussing and everything. Holly has a different approach," Anderson said. "She gets people's respect because of her kindness, her heart and she shows her faith. She's not afraid to show her faith around soldiers, so that's amazing to me."
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Saw X director Kevin Greutert has revealed that his editor was confronted by police after his neighbours heard him working on the gruesome horror.

The latest entry in the long-running horror franchise was released on Friday (29 September), witnessing the return of original star Tobin Bell, who plays John Kramer, the Jigsaw killer who tests his victimss desire to live by placing them in terrifying contraptions.

In a new interview with NME, Greutert said that First Assistant Editor Steve Forn was working on a grisly scene involving an eye vacuum trap at his office in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, when the police arrived.

There was a knock at the door, Greutert said. We have the doorbell [camera] video of the police walking up, [Forn answering the door] and the police saying, The neighbours [have been] calling and saying someones being tortured to death in here. And he was like, Actually, Im just working on a movie You can come in and see it if you want?

The cops started laughing! the director, who has helmed three Saw movies, continued. They said, We want to but, you know, youre all right. It must have been a pretty realistic performance! Its a pretty funny storyPlus Steve is such a mild-mannered guy. I can only imagine the look on his face when he realized what was happening!

The events of Saw X are set between the first and second Saw instalments, showcasing a previously unseen chapter in Kramers life as he travels to Mexico to receive non-FDA-approved treatment to cure himself of his terminal cancer.

Saw X (Alexandro Bolanos Escamilla/Lionsgate)

After 75 reviews on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, Saw X has a score of 87 per cent. This is 37 per cent higher than the second best-reviewed Saw film, which is the first instalment from 2004.

The James Wan-directed original earned $103.9m (84.9m) from a budget of just $1m (817m), spawning eight sequels (and one spin-off, 2021s Spiral: From the Book of Saw).

In The Independents review of Saw X, critic Clarisse Loughrey said: Ten films in and its a routine were so intimately familiar with that itd be hard to call any element of Saw X original but returning director Kevin Greutert knows whatll satisfy his audience: a few buckets of blood and the gag-inducing sound of crunching bone. Here, theyll get exactly what they want.

Saw X is in cinemas now.
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Indias foreign affairs minister has accused Canada of creating a climate of violence and an atmosphere of intimidation against Indian envoys working in Ottawa amid tensions between the nations continuing to spiral over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader.

The comments come as there seem to be no signs of thawing in Indo-Canadian relations after prime minister Justin Trudeau earlier this month accused government agents of India of being involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who India had labelled a terrorist.

On Friday evening in Washington, Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar came down heavily on Canada even as he said India would be open to looking at evidence.

Because there is freedom of speech, to make threats and intimidate diplomats, I dont think thats acceptable, Mr Jaishankar said.

Canada has a permissive attitude towards terrorists, extremists, and people who openly advocate violence, he said in response to a question at an event in the Hudson Institute.

They have been given operating space in Canada because of the compulsions of Canadian politics, he said.

He said Delhi views Canada as a country where organised crime from India has mixed with trafficking in people, secessionism, violence, terrorism.

Ottawa has not issued a response to Mr Jaishankars remarks, which were made about the presence of Sikh separatist groups abroad that advocate for a separate homeland from Indias Punjab state called Khalistan  something that has not gone down well with New Delhi.

The minister, however, claimed the Narendra Modi administration is not shutting doors on Canada over the recent charges claiming Indias involvement.

If there is a requirement for us to look at something, we are open to looking at it. But, I then expect somewhere, some pointer, something for me to look at, he said.

Mr Trudeau, who is yet to publicly share any evidence, said last week he shared the credible allegations with India many weeks ago.

The issue of the separatist Khalistan movement has been a persistent thorn in the diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Earlier this month, Mr Trudeau sent shockwaves after he alleged Indian agents may have had a role in the June murder of Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India had labelled Nijjar an independent terrorist before he was killed.

While New Delhi dismissed the allegations of its involvement in the murder as absurd, reports claimed intelligence was shared between Canada and its Five Eyes allies on the matter and also shared with Indian officers during the G20 summit.

Washington has urged India to cooperate with Canada in the murder probe.

The demand for Khalistan has surfaced many times in India, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s, which had paralyzed Punjab for over a decade.

India has dubbed the Khalistan movement a security threat.
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Bundled in a minibus with a rabble of other sweaty journalists, arms full of Filipino snacks hastily purchased from a roadside 7-Eleven in the hopes of soothing our pounding rum-induced hangovers, we set off into a downpour on one of Negros islands busiest rural highways. Driving here is like Mario Kart on steroids. On either side of our rickety little refuge, seven metre-high walls of sugarcane protrude from the earth like giant tufts of grass; we, the ants.

Welcome to Sugarlandia, the driver shouts over the sound of screeching wheels, road rage and rain battering the windows.

The less whimsical name for this side of the island  the second largest in the archipelago  is Negros Occidental, and its where almost half of the countrys sugar is produced. Its also the birthplace of Don Papa, both the premium sipping rum which I am here to discover (and can thank for the hangover) and the 19th-century revolutionary, Papa Isio, after whom its named. More on that guy later.

Think of rum and I doubt the Philippines is what immediately springs to mind. For me, its ill-fated attempts to enjoy pina coladas (I simply dont). Or the Caribbean (which I do enjoy quite a bit). Or Jack Sparrow asking why the rum is always gone.

After a night on the tiles in the capital Manila the night before, I have some notion as to where the rum might have gone. In fact, a great deal of it comes and goes from the Philippines; its the third-largest rum market in the world after India and the States, and Tanduay, the worlds largest producer of rum, set up shop here in 1854. While the pirates of the Caribbean probably werent drinking the stuff in the 1700s, the history of the spirit in the Philippines dates back even further than that, and it starts with rums main ingredient: molasses, a byproduct of the sugar industry. Sugarcane has been prevalent here since 2200 BC, and was traditionally used in pre-colonial Philippines to make various jaggery (unrefined sugar) products, including cane wine, juice and drinking vinegars.

It wasnt industrialised until 1856, when British vice-consul Nicholas Loney arrived and, seeing its potential, imported machinery from England and Scotland, built sailing boats to export the sugar and offered lucrative deals to Negrense planters, all of which lured prominent sugar families (or, to use their more sinister name, barons) to Negros, many of the descendants of whom are still there today. It quickly became the Philippines most important agricultural export, and it still is. When the first Tanduay distillery was established by a powerful Filipino family in 1854, the countrys rum industry took off.

This was around 50 years before the end of the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines  theyd been exploring the area since the early 16th century. The Hispanic influence can be seen today in everything from the countrys name (after Spanish King Philip II), common surnames like de la Cruz and del Rosario, and the religion (80 per cent Catholic), to the architecture (mostly crumbling, elegant facades and obnoxiously big churches), and the cuisine, which is essentially Southeast Asian tapas (and delicious).

The story of Papa Isio, a 19th century revolutionary, forms part of the inspiration behind the brand (Harry H Bandholtz Papers)

It also gave rise to the legend of Papa Isio. The story goes: when he was a young boy, he saw the loss of his familys land to the arrival of the Negros sugar barons, and later was involved in an altercation with a Spanish solider, which forced him to flee for his life into the mountains. There, he met a group of babaylanes (Filipino shaman) who were leading a revolt against the Spanish. He became their leader and led assaults on Spanish camps, shouting Long live a free Philippines! and Death to Spaniards! as they descended from the hills. He eluded capture for many years until, having fallen in love with a young woman in a nearby village, was lured out of hiding when he received news that shed been taken hostage by the Spanish. Of course, it was a ruse. He was captured and died in prison.

Papa Isios legend, and the patchwork history and natural beauty of Negros, forms part of the inspiration behind Filipino rum newcomer Don Papa. Over a decade ago, then Remy-Cointreau exec Stephen Carroll visited Bacolod, the de facto capital of Negros, and heard stories of Papa Isio and talk that the sugarcane grown here was some of the finest in the world thanks to the humid climate and rich volcanic soils. He visited Hacienda Rosalia, the ancestral home of Victor Gaston, widely credited as one of the first sugar barons to commercially produce cane sugar. His descendants still run the operation and live in the enormous 1930s mansion on the grounds. Over coffee with his new friends, Carroll remarked on the abundance of sugarcane, fields of which extended as far as the eye could see, but asked: Wheres the premium rum?

Tanduay might be the oldest and biggest rum producer in the Philippines  walk into any KTV bar (karaoke is as popular here as rum  believe me, I have video evidence) and youll inevitably see its yellow label on the shelf  but the fiery caramel liquor is best when tamed by mixers in a cocktail. A premium sipping rum, it is not (for the faint of heart, at least).

At the distillery, you can literally taste sugar in the air (Hannah Twiggs)

So Carroll left his corporate life and founded the Bleeding Heart Rum Company in 2012 and started producing Don Papa, with a view to bottle the essence of Sugarlandia.

When we arrive at the distillery not far away, hangovers (and faith in road safety) dissipating, a lorry is emptying its bowels, full of freshly macheted sugarcane from the fields, into a pit ready to head into the factory. Arrive at the right time and you can literally taste sugar in the air as the cane hits the concrete. The harvest is then slowly ferried inside to be transformed into sugar. The molasses  the thick, brown syrup leftover once the sugar has been extracted from the cane juice  is called black gold for a reason. Gutters of the stuff criss-cross the factory floor on its way to column stills, and later wooden casks that give it that signature smooth taste. The Philippines colonial past can be felt here too. This is the Spanish method for producing rum and sets it apart from other varieties found around the world, such as French in the Caribbean, which is made directly from sugarcane and tends to be fresher and lighter, or the English way, which uses copper stills and barrels for ageing and is spicy and dark.

The recyclable packaging is designed by local artists and features the flora and fauna of the Philippines (Hannah Twiggs)

Don Papa sources secondhand casks soaked in things like bourbon, sherry and port to age their rum for up to seven years, which lends a distinctive flavour to each of their blends. The original Don Papa rum, which was introduced in the Philippines in 2012 and five years later, the world, is aged in ex-bourbon oak barrels and blended with Mount Kanlaon (the local active volcano) spring water. At a tasting, we sip it straight for bold notes of vanilla, honey, candied fruits and a hint of citrus. Don Papa 10, aged for an additional three years in a re-charred barrel, is darker and bolder, with hints of dried fruits and cacao. Masskara, their newest blend and my favourite, is pot-distilled and infused with calamansi (Filipino lime) for citrus, honey for sweetness and siling labuyo (a native type of chilli) for heat and spice. Other blends include one finished in four different types of sherry casks that results in a dry, almost nutty aroma and a smooth finish; another gets an extra five years in ruby-hued ex-port casks and is rich and mouth-coating. Its not a new or exclusive technique  many if not all rums and various other spirits are flavoured in this way  but its fair to say that the master distillers at Don Papa are constantly innovating. Purists, look away now.

In fact, purists are looking quite closely: a liquor company in the States launched a class action in 2022 that argued Don Papa should be labelled imitation rum for its alleged use of additives. But then, this isnt Bordeaux. Theres always been an unruliness to rum. Its versatility is exactly why its a bartenders favourite. Certainly an argument over whether to call a spade a spade didnt stop British beverage giant Diageo from acquiring the brand earlier this year for a whopping 226m  and thats just an initial estimate. If Diageo is betting that a super premium liquor can survive a crashing economy, Don Papa and its ilk are lined up to become the next big thing.

Danjugan island is one of the conservation projects funded by Don Papa (Hannah Twiggs)

While exciting news, Carroll is keen to preserve the story of Don Papa, Papa Isio and Negros. That starts with the packaging, which is 100 per cent recyclable and designed by local artists, often featuring Isio and an array of flora and fauna native to the island. There are projects to support farmer livelihoods, a divvying up of profits that seems fair, and, fun fact, the workforce is 66 per cent female. At its core, the Philippines has always been a matriarchal society. Theyve also partnered with the Talarak Foundation and the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation (PRRCFI) to support the environment.

We visit one such project on Danjugan island, a 43-hectare oasis off the southern coast of Negros, home to straight-out-of-a-brochure white sandy beaches, lagoons, bat caves, mangrove forests and coral reefs. Once at risk from over-fishing, the PRRCFI stepped in in 1994 and created a sanctuary for the hundreds of species of fish, coral, birds, bats and plants that call this place home. A handful of tourists (or rum-filled journalists) are permitted to visit but its not a resort: only 10 per cent of the island is developed. Youre welcome to stay a night or two, then politely asked to leave.

After a banca boatride back to Negros and a boodle fight on the beach (not an actual fight but a fireside feast, where cutlery is dispensed and sharing encouraged), I find myself sipping rum among new friends into the early hours of the morning. Were playing Never Have I Ever with the locals. Someones nicked my Birkenstocks, someone else cant remember where we are (or perhaps thats also the thief), and far too many secrets are revealed. But Im beginning to see why Carroll was so mesmerised by this place they call Sugarlandia.

Don Papas USP is not just that its quintessentially Filipino  which, if not clear by now, hasnt been novel since the 19th century  nor that its the countrys first premium sipping rum, but that its a spirit with a story; a tipple with a tale. Though fairly unknown in the UK for now and tit-for-tats aside, its one I hope punters are willing to hear. Just not in a pina colada, please.
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Fans were convinced that Anna Wintour deliberately moved seats to avoid Kim Kardashian at Victoria Beckhams Paris Fashion Week show on Friday.

But contrary to speculation, its been confirmed that the Vogue editor-in-chief, 73, and the reality TV star, 42, sat side-by-side for the entirety of the show. Kardashian was seen in footage from the show sitting down next to the tastemaker, but viewers believed Wintours body language indicated that she was intently ignoring the AHS: Delicate actor.

Wintour, who was flanked by both Kardashian and David Beckham, was thought to have got up and moved away from Kardashian according to a video clip with Wintour nowhere in sight. In the clip, Kardashian was seen seemingly mouthing to Beckham, I feel so bad, during a conversation with the retired athlete.

Because of the footage, fans began to perpetuate a narrative that Kardashian had been snubbed by Wintour. One person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, oh anna was P***ED, while another added: Anna moved seats?

Someone else commented Anna said lemme move chile. Another chimed in, Not Anna switched seats, and one user wrote, anna was GONE!

Page Six, however, confirmed that the pair were seated beside one another for the whole show, and were photographed talking before Wintour made her exit.

The shapewear mogul was joined by mother, Kris Jenner and her partner Corey Gamble. Beckham, meanwhile, was joined by three of his children with Victoria  Harper, 12, Cruz, 18, and Brooklyn, 24  in the front row. Beside Brooklyn sat his wife Nicola Peltz, 28, and some other famous faces invited to the show included Pamela Anderson, Olivia Palermo, Eva Longoria, Lisa Rinna, and Jenna Lyons.

This isnt the first time fans speculated that Wintour was giving Kardashian the cold shoulder. At Fendis New York Fashion Week show last fall, a video captured Wintour going up to Sarah Jessica Parker, who was right beside Kardashian, but when the CEO tried to say hi to Wintour, viewers thought the media executive snubbed her.

The pair have long had a complicated relationship, with the editor having once banned the reality TV star from attending the 2012 Met Gala. An insider at the time claimed at the time, Anna hates Kim. Since then, Kardashian has become a Met Gala mainstay, having attended multiple Met Galas and covered American Vogue three times to this day.

By 2019, it was clear that Wintour had changed her tune about Kardashian, telling her magazine, I personally admire the way that shes become a little more minimal in the way shes dressing, and a little more covered.

The media executive also gave credit where it was due, You have to admire how [the Kardashians have] created an empire through their personalities, and the creative genius of their mother.
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Costco is the wholesale retail store known for selling just about anything, from rotisserie chickens to brand new electronics, at a bargain price. Now, the wholesaler has added an unexpected item to its inventory: gold bars.

Yes, the bargain brand is currently selling one-ounce gold PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan bars for nearly $2,000.

On 26 September, Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti announced in a quarterly earnings call that the gold bars are selling fast too. Ive gotten a couple of calls that people have seen online that weve been selling one-ounce gold bars, he said, according to CNBC. Yes, but when we load them on the site, theyre typically gone within a few hours and we limit two per member.

The 24-karat gold bars can indeed be purchased online but theyre only reserved for customers with a Costco membership, which can cost from $60 to $120 a year. The retailer is also limiting the number of gold bars to two per membership, and the item is non-refundable.

According to the Costco website, the one-ounce bars from South Africas Rand Refinery are selling for the whopping price of $1,949.99, while the gold bars from Swiss supplier PAMP Suisse cost $1,979.99.

Costco has long held the well-deserved reputation as bargain shoppers favourite store, mainly for its affordable prices and free samples. Plus, the company recently raised its minimum wage to $16 for workers in the US.

In 2021, an employee named Natalie went viral on TikTok when she revealed just how much she makes per hour while working at Costco. When you make $29.50 just to draw smiley faces on receipts, said Natalie in the video. Some TikTok users said that Natalies pay was more than that of many other jobs, including healthcare workers.

Maam I am a nurse and you make more than I did at my staff job, one person commented.

Costco is one of the few places one can earn a living wage. This should be the rule, not the exception, another user wrote.

Not only did Natalie reveal that she makes much higher than the federal minimum wage in the US, which is $7.25 per hour, but she also reminded people about the joy of receiving a smiley face stamp from a Costco employee when checking a shoppers receipt.

Earlier this year, another employee went viral on TikTok when she explained how her life has improved after quitting her teaching job to work at Costco. Everything is better, she said in the viral TikTok. I cant believe that I ever felt so limited, that I ever thought I couldnt do something else. I am better now than I have been in my livable memory.

The Costco employee also emphasised how much her professional life has improved, despite the fact that she doesnt have winter or summer breaks like she did as a teacher.

This is my first year not having a winter break. I do not miss it at all, she wrote in the TikTok caption. My pace of my work life now is so much better, I am not sick or exhausted like I used to be when I was a teacher.
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Daniel Craig debuted a striking new hairstyle on the red carpet at the second annual Albie Awards.

Putting his James Bond era well and truly behind him, the 55-year-old unveiled a retro quiff style, swept dramatically over to one side while attending the charity event in New York City on Thursday night (28 September).

The actor matched his vintage-inspired hair-do with a pair of wire-frame glasses and a dark blue double breasted suit, finishing off the look with a navy bow tie.

Craig was joined on the red carpet by his wife Rachel Weisz, who donned a black and white floor length gown decorated with an abstract print.

The couple were among the famous faces in attendance at the Albies, which were organised by George and Amal Clooneys Clooney Foundation for Justice to celebrate courageous defenders of justice who are at great risk for what they do.

The event  named after Justice Albie Sachs, the South African anti-apartheid activist  was attended by other stars including Emily Blunt, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Cindy Crawford, and Scarlett Johansson.

It was a rare public outing for Craig and Weisz, who typically tend to keep their marriage out of the limelight.

In an interview with The Guardian earlier this year, Weisz, 53, said she finds it easy to keep her personal life relatively private. Celebrity  it doesnt really mean anything to me, she told the paper.

And its no work at all to keep not showing up at events. Its not work at all to keep a private life. Life can be demanding, life in a family can be complicated but I dont even know what celebrity means. I dont think of myself like that.

Daniel Craig (AFP via Getty Images)

The couple first met as rising stars in the Nineties, when they performed opposite one other in a production of Les Grandes Horizontales at the National Theatre Studio. They did not start dating, however, until they reconnected on the set of the movie Dream House in 2010.

They married the following year and welcomed a daughter, Grace, in 2018. Craig has another daughter, Ella, from his first marriage to actor Fiona Loudon, while Weisz shares a son, Henry, with director Darren Aronofsky whom she was with for nine years.

Casino Royale director Martin Campbell recently revealed his initial hesistance in casting Craig as 007, as he wasnt a traditional handsome guy.

(PA Wire)

He was really a superb actor, theres no doubt about that, Campbell said in an interview with The Daily Express. The director was concerned, however, that Craig didnt fit the mould of traditional looking Bonds.

It was the fact that with people like Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan was that they were all traditional looking Bonds, he said.

All handsome guys, all sexy, all very attractive to women and so forth. Daniel was obviously tougher and ruggeder, but he wasnt a traditional handsome guy.

Craig  who has appeared in five Bond films in total  made his final outing as 007 in 2021s No Time To Die.
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First Dates star Fred Sirieix has shared details of recent medical procedures following a routine blood test.

The TV personality and maitre d shared photos of himself in the hospital on Friday (29 September), beginning with an image of himself smiling from his bed.

In his caption, he explained that hed undergone a gastroscopy and colonoscopy to investigate the results of a blood test that detected a slight deficiency in iron.

He wrote: To be honest the mere thought of these procedures really stressed me out. What might be found? Not only that but these are invasive procedures.

Sirieix then explained that while it is compulsory for patients to be sedated during these procedures, it is possible to opt out of sedation in the UK.

A gastroscopy only requires a numbing spray on the throat while air and gas is offered for the colonoscopy, he added.

The TV star then shared that after conversations with other doctors, one including his brother, hed decided against sedation in order to return to his plans more quickly.

You see I do not believe nor want to take drugs I do not need, he wrote. Im busy and cant afford to take 24 hours off just because Im scared of a simple tube and camera going from my mouth to my stomach and another going from my bum to the end of my colon.

Sirieix then told his fans his take on the feeling of the procedures, calling the gastroscopy awful, compared to the colonoscopy.

Fred Sirieix in the hospital (Instagram / Fred Sirieix)

The gastroscopy is the most unpleasant of the two because it makes you gag, he wrote. Basically it is awful. However it just lasts five minutes. Pain wise Ive had much worse. Anyone could take it.

A gastroscopy involves a camera inserted into a patients throat to inspect the upper part of the digestive system, while a colonoscopy, which inspects the bowels, involves the camera being passed through the anus.

The colonoscopy is easy peasy in contrast, Sirieix continued. A bit weird I must admit because it is up your bum but we all have one and cest la vie.

However it is NOT painful. It lasts about 20/30 minutes. We talked throughout with Dr Bansi and his team, he wrote, adding that they wanted to know how his frequent collaborator, Gino DAcampo, was doing.

The First Dates mainstay then concluded his caption by stating that hed celebrate the successful procedures with an Indian meal and a bottle of wine.

Earlier this year, Sirieix was praised after opening his third restaurant to be staffed by prisoners.
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Gyles Brandreth has recalled the moment Queen Elizabeth II made a somewhat tongue-in-cheek remark to Mervyn King, then governor of the Bank of England, in the middle of the global financial crisis.

The author, broadcaster and former MP for the City of Cheshire was discussing his reissued biography, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, at Henley Literary Festival on Saturday (30 September).

Sporting one of his signature jumpers  a deep purple knit with a corgi on the front  Brandreth told the audience one of his favourite memories of the late monarch, having first met her in 1968.

While visiting the Bank of England with Prince Philip in 2008, while the world was in the grip of the financial crisis, the Queen was apparently saying goodbye to the governor when she paused, and asked him to remind her how many people worked there.

After being told that 2,317 were employed at the Bank of Englands headquarters, she then remarked: And yet none of you saw it coming!

She was a very shrewd cookie, Brandreth said, following laughter from the audience. She was much more amusing than I think we were led to believe, particularly during the earlier years of her reign.

He continued: We got a flavour of the Queen, I think, when she let her hair down for that wonderful sketch at the London Olympics, with Daniel Craig as James Bond. And even more so last year  only a year ago! Isnt that incredible? With that lovely sketch with Paddington Bear, an absolute enchantment.

In the same conversation, Brandreth recalled the nerve-wracking experience of interviewing the late Prince Philip, with whom he developed a rapport through their mutual association with the National Playing Fields Association.

Queen Elizabeth II with Lord Mervyn King in 2009 (AFP via Getty Images)

Brandreth said that writing the Duke of Yorks biography was a frightening experience, in part because the royal disliked being interviewed, but also because he was a stickler for facts.

He apparently took issue with Brandreths description of his father floating down to the south of France, because he travelled by train.

He was quite literal like that, Brandreth said. He corrected the proofs, which was a nightmare. But he didnt challenge any opinion, he only challenged matters of fact. And he would put in the margins: No. Incorrect.

Tom Parker Bowles, left, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Gyles Brandreth, founder of Poetry Together, right, in 2022 (2022 Getty Images)

In an interview with The Times after Prince Philips death in 2021, Brandreth said the toughest times for Philip and Elizabeth came immediately after the coronation, and in the late Nineties.

Things went wrong for the royal family, but he had great perspective because he had seen it all, Brandreath said. Exile, deaths, abdications, Princess Margarets wedding and divorce, he had been through the rollercoaster ups and downs and he knew that this too would pass.

Henley Literary Festival continues until 8 October.
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More than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population has fled to Armenia as the region's separatist government said it will dissolve itself and the unrecognized republic inside Azerbaijan will cease to exist by years end after a three-decade bid for independence.

By Friday morning 84,770 people had left Nagorno-Karabakh, according to Armenian officials, continuing a mass exodus from the region of ethnic Armenians that began Sunday. The region's population was around 120,000 before the exodus began.

The moves came after Azerbaijan carried out a lightning offensive last week to reclaim full control over the breakaway region and demanded that Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh disarm and the separatist government disband.

A decree signed by the regions separatist President Samvel Shakhramanyan cited a Sept. 20 agreement to end the fighting under which Azerbaijan will allow the free, voluntary and unhindered movement of Nagorno-Karabakh residents to Armenia.

Some of those who fled the regional capital of Stepanakert said they had no hope for the future.

I left Stepanakert having a slight hope that maybe something will change and I will come back soon, and these hopes are ruined after reading about the dissolution of our government, 21-year-old student Ani Abaghyan told The Associated Press on Thursday.

During the three decades of conflict in the region, Azerbaijan and separatists inside Nagorno-Karabakh, alongside allies in Armenia, have accused the other of targeted attacks, massacres and other atrocities, leaving people on both sides deeply suspicious and fearful.

While Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region, most are now fleeing as they do not believe the Azerbaijani authorities will treat them fairly and humanely or guarantee them their language, religion and culture.

After six years of separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia. Then, during a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of the region in the south Caucasus Mountains along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed earlier.

Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijans sovereign territory.

In December, Azerbaijan blockaded the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, alleging the Armenian government was using it for illicit weapons shipments to the regions separatist forces.

Armenia alleged the closure denied basic food and fuel supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan rejected the accusation, arguing that the region could receive supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam  a solution long resisted by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, who called it a strategy for Azerbaijan to gain control of the region.

On Monday night, a fuel reservoir exploded at a gas station where people lined up for gas to fill their cars to flee to Armenia. At least 68 people were killed and nearly 300 injured, with over 100 others still considered missing after the blast, which exacerbated fuel shortages that were already dire after the blockade.

On Thursday, Azerbaijani authorities charged Ruben Vardanyan, the former head of Nagorno-Karabakhs separatist government, with financing terrorism, creating illegal armed formations and illegally crossing a state border. A day earlier, he was detained by Azerbaijani border guards as he was trying to leave Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia along with tens of thousands of others.

Vardanyan, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, was placed in pretrial detention for at least four months and faces up to 14 years in prison. His arrest appeared to indicate Azerbaijans intent to quickly enforce its grip on the region.

Another top separatist figure, Nagorno-Karabakhs former foreign minister and now presidential adviser David Babayan, said Thursday he will surrender to Azerbaijani authorities who ordered him to face a probe in Baku.
The 2023 Greater Nebraska Youth Survey makes me incredibly hopeful for the future of our state. Along with our partners at the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, we have surveyed over 3,700 middle and high school students in the past four years to better understand their priorities, values and desires and how they truly feel about the places they call home.

The middle and high school students surveyed in 2023 (from schools in Arcadia, Crofton, David City, Diller-Odell, Imperial, Ogallala, Ord, Paxton, Pender, Shickley and Stuart) echoed many of the findings from previous surveys, such as the majority (58%) reporting they are extremely or somewhat likely to live in the area they live in now. Seventy-two percent do not recognize a negative stigma with remaining in or returning to your hometown  something that has undoubtedly shifted in the past decade. These students dont know the future, but they have faith in Nebraska being a place they want to call home as they embark on their careers and begin their adult lives.

We believe these young people are on to something very important. Today we can live and work wherever we choose to live and work. The number of Nebraskans working remotely has doubled since before the pandemic, according to a recent Flatwater Free Press article. With that in mind, the most important community economic development question we have today is: Why do I want to live, work and raise my family in this community? Today, helping Nebraska hometowns become communities of choice is our highest order priority.

In Nebraska, we have what we need to create an even brighter future. We have incredible abundance, including the massive intergenerational transfer of wealth. We have incredible people who are innovative, hardworking, and generous with their time, talent, and treasure to build and sustain wonderful homeplaces. We have incredible systems and institutions that are efficient and effective. And most importantly, we have young people, as illustrated by this survey, who want to be in community with us.

Human migration is one of the most complex puzzles we can try to work on. There are so many variables that go into the choice of where you want to live and make your life. Lets work on the pieces of this puzzle we have some influence over, such as:

Being welcoming and creating a sense of genuine belonging for everyone

Supporting great K-12 schools and educational resources, including world class early childhood development

Investing in and building partnerships to provide more affordable housing

Asking friends, neighbors, and newcomers to co-create community with us

Making introductions and serving as a connector to business and employment opportunities

Sharing good news about our homeplaces and having a positive narrative about our collective future

Working to ensure broadband access to allow remote work in our communities

I frequently say Im a Nebraskan by birth and by choice. Im proud to be a Nebraskan. We need these words to be spoken frequently and with real conviction by thousands of Nebraskans. Based on these survey results, most of our young people want to say the same thing. Ask them. Tell them. Show them. Connect them. Invite them. As Nebraskans, lets all model what we believe and invite these young Nebraskans to be in community with us.
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Germany's government rebuked X owner Elon Musk after he criticized the recent work of migrant rescue ships that German humanitarian groups operate in the Mediterranean Sea.

Musk late Friday shared a video that showed migrants and aid workers on a boat. The right-wing account that first put the content on X, formerly known as Twitter, praised the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues.

Is the German public aware of this? Musk wrote in his repost.

The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Musk directly on X, writing: Yes. And its called saving lives.

Musk responded that he doubted the German public supports the actions of non-governmental organizations that take asylum-seekers from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean. He also asserted it was surely a violation of Italys sovereignty for German-operated ships to bring rescued migrants to Italian territory.

So youre actually proud of it. Interesting, he wrote to the Foreign Office, adding that he thinks such maritime operations have invasion vibes.

The exchange comes as migration has returned to the political forefront in Germany and other European countries, with government officials and opposition politicians sparring about how best to handle an increasing number of arriving migrants.

Cities and communities across Germany have sounded an alarm, saying they are running out of room to accommodate them and to provide kindergarten and school places.

More than 220,000 people applied for asylum in Germany from January to August this year. In all of 2022, about 240,000 people applied for asylum. In 2015-16, more than 1 million people applied for asylum in Germany.

___

Follow AP's coverage of global migration: https://apnews.com/hub/migration
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The exodus of ethnic Armenians this week from the region known as Nagorno-Karabakh has been a vivid and shocking tableau of fear and misery. Roads are jammed with cars lumbering with heavy loads, waiting for hours in traffic jams. People sit amid mounds of hastily packed luggage.

As of Thursday, about 70,000 people had left the breakaway region for Armenia. That's a huge number  more than half of the population of the region that is located entirely within Azerbaijan.

Still, it's not the largest displacement of civilians in three decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

After ethnic Armenian forces secured control of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territories in 1994, refugee organizations estimated that some 900,000 people had fled to Azerbaijan and 300,000 to Armenia.

When war broke out again in 2020 and Azerbaijan seized more territory, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said 90,000 had gone to Armenia and 40,000 to Azerbaijan.

Those figures underline the fierce animosity between the two countries, and they raise questions about the regions future.

WHAT IS THE REGION?

Nagorno-Karabakh, with a population of about 120,000, is a mountainous, ethnic Armenian region inside Azerbaijan in the southern Caucasus Mountains.

When both Azerbaijan and Armenia were part of the Soviet Union, the region was designated as an autonomous republic, but as Moscows central control of far-flung regions deteriorated, a movement arose in Nagorno-Karabakh for incorporation into Armenia.

Tensions burst into violence in 1988 when more than 30  some say as many as 200  ethnic Armenians were killed in a pogrom in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait. Armenians fled, as did many ethnic Azeris who lived in Armenia. When a full-scale war broke out, the numbers soared. That first war lasted until 1994.

Azerbaijan regained control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and large swaths of adjacent territory held by Armenians in a six-week war in 2020, driving out tens of thousands of Armenians that the government in Baku declared to have settled illegally.

WHAT HAPPENED IN RECENT DAYS?

Last week, Azerbaijan launched a blitz that forced the capitulation of Nagorno-Karabakhs separatist forces and government. On Thursday, the separatist authorities agreed to disband by the end of this year.

The events put the region's ethnic Armenians on the move out of the territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh and the territory around it have deep cultural and religious significance for Christian Armenians and predominantly Muslim Azeris, and each group denounces the other for alleged efforts to destroy or desecrate monuments and relics.

Armenians were deeply angered by recent video that purportedly showed an Azerbaijani soldier firing at a monastery in the region. Azeris have seethed with resentment at Armenians wholesale pillaging of the once-sizable city of Aghdam and the use of its mosque as a cattle barn.

WHY DID THE SEPARATISTS QUICKLY GIVE UP?

A Russian peacekeeping force of about 2,000 was deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh under an armistice that ended the 2020 war. But its inaction in the latest Azerbaijani offensive probably was a key factor in the separatists quick decision to give in.

In December, Azerbaijan began blocking the only road leading from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Armenians bitterly criticized the peacekeepers for failing to follow their mandate to keep the road open. The blockade caused severe food and medicine shortages in Nagorno-Karabakh. International organizations and governments called repeatedly for Baku to lift the blockade.

Russia, which is fighting a war in Ukraine, seems to be unable or unwilling to take action to keep the road open. That appears to have persuaded the separatists that they would get no support when Azerbaijan launched its blitz.

Nagorno-Karabakhs forces were small and poorly supplied in comparison with those of Azerbaijan, thanks to the countrys surging oil revenues and support from Turkey.

WHAT WILL THE FUTURE HOLD?

Under last week's cease-fire, Azerbaijan will reintegrate Nagorno-Karabakh, but the terms for that are unclear. Baku repeatedly has promised that the rights of ethnic Armenians will be observed if they stay in the region as Azerbaijani citizens.

That promise appears to have reassured almost no one. Although Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said last week that he saw no immediate need for Armenians to leave, on Thursday he said he expected that none would be left in Nagorno-Karabakh within a few days.

Ethnic Armenians in the region do not trust Azerbaijan to treat them fairly and humanely or grant them their language, religion and culture.

Without an international peacekeeping or police force in the region, ethnic violence would be almost certain to flare.
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More than 30 students who completed Cambridge Universitys first ever pre-degree course are progressing to undergraduate study at the prestigious institution.

The Cambridge Foundation Year pre-degree course accepts students with an offer equivalent to BBB at A-Level, whereas the usual Cambridge offer is at least A*AA, and is fully funded.

It is aimed at talented students who have experienced disadvantage in their education and have not had the opportunity to realise their potential.

This includes students who have experienced the care system, estrangement from parents, low levels of household income, and schools with little history of sending students to highly selective universities.

Those who successfully complete the one-year residential course are able to join degree programmes in arts, humanities or social sciences at the top institution without having to apply again.

The first pre-degree course, which started last October, had a cohort of 47 students and 39 of them successfully completing the course in July this year, receiving a CertHE qualification from the university.

Six students paused their studies until the 2023 programme, and two withdrew.

Of the 39 students who completed the course, 31 are continuing at Cambridge as undergraduates and the rest have been supported to secure a place at another top UK university.

Dr Alex Pryce, Foundation Year Course Director, said: Its been incredible to watch our first foundation year students grow as individuals during their time at Cambridge so far.

Theyve really made the most out of this new academic opportunity.

In terms of confidence, many of the students are unrecognisable from when they arrived.

We find them inquisitive in the classroom and their experiences bring us new insights.

Theyve also made the most of life in their colleges and have engaged in all that Cambridge has to offer, including sports, arts and student politics.

This is a competitive and demanding programme, and we have seen some really excellent outcomes.

Cameron Welsh, 20, from the Scottish Borders, is to read history and politics at Cambridges Homerton College after completing the pre-degree course.

The aspiring journalist had missed four-and-a-half years of high school after a chronic illness diagnosed when he was 14.

I never considered Cambridge as an option, but when I heard about the foundation year it seemed to suit someone who had experienced what I had, and it was just too good an opportunity not to go for, he said.

In particular Ive loved the supervisions on the foundation year; Ive enjoyed being challenged and challenging others ideas.

Its an experience I wouldnt get anywhere else in the same way, and my critical analysis and argument forming skills have really developed.

Starting my Cambridge degree hasnt really sunk in yet, but I cant wait.

Im looking forward to the work and meeting more new people.

Kerrie Portman, from the London area, was homeless when she applied for a place on the pre-degree course after first completing an Access to HE Diploma.

The 24-year-old, who is autistic and a care-leaver, successfully completed the course and will read human, social, and political science at Cambridges Girton College.

She said the pre-degree course had been one of the best experiences of my life.

There can be negative stereotyping around autism and care-leavers, so I feel like Im helping through my participation, she said.

I would encourage people to apply for the foundation year, especially anyone worried that it might not be for them, or that they might be treated differently because of their background or experiences.

People have a fixed idea of what a typical Cambridge student is like, and really theres no such thing.

Cambridge Foundation Year students receive full one-year scholarships  after a gift from philanthropists Christina and Peter Dawson funded the launch of the programme  and study at Cambridge colleges.

A total of 48 students are in the second cohort of the pre-degree course starting this year.

They will be supported by the Cambridge Foundation Year Society, created by the programmes first students, and by university departments and colleges.
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Rishi Sunaks government is in the final stages of talks to persuade DUP of the merits of the post-Brexit deal with the EU to ease trade barriers in Northern Ireland.

Crucial parts of the prime ministers Windsor Framework agreement with Brussels comes into effect on Sunday  including the green and red lane system for the movement of goods between GB and NI.

Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris has been trying to win over the unionist party  which has boycotted Northern Irelands institution over opposition to the Brexit protocol which dictates trade rules for the province.

The cabinet minister said he was in the final stages of a period of constructive engagement with the DUP  as he urged the unionist party to take the change to restore power-sharing with Sinn Fein at Stormont.

Mr Heaton-Harris also said the government was preparing a comprehensive package of proposals  but the Sunak government has made clear there will be no return to negotiations with the EU.

Writing in the News Letter on Saturday, Mr Heaton Harris said the government had engaged with the DUP extensively over the summer and that the partys proposals had improved the green-lane system.

We are also in the final stages of a period of constructive engagement with the DUP. We are pulling together a comprehensive package of proposals that we hope will address their concerns.

I have no doubt that it is their genuine desire to focus on concrete improvements and to create a situation that will enable the executive to be restored, he added. I firmly believe that restoration of the institutions is right for Northern Ireland and right for the future of the union.

Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris (PA Wire)

He said Northern Ireland needed a devolved government restored to address NHS waiting lists, childcare, environmental pollution, pay for teachers, nurses and hardworking public servants.

He called on the DUP to take the chance to move forward, to move on from Brexit and get Northern Ireland moving again, adding: Together we can make this work for everyone in Northern Ireland.

The DUP says the deal struck by Mr Sunak in Windsor does not sufficiently address its concerns and has made clear it will not accept a return to devolution until the government provides further assurances, by way of legislation.

Mr Sunak insisted on Thursday that the agreement of his Windsor Framework removed the major stumbling block to the return of the Stormont Assembly.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is under pressure to return to powersharing (PA Wire)

However, DUP hardliner Sammy Wilson said on Friday that the changes will only confirm a border in the Irish Sea  adding that his party would not return to the powersharing institutions at Stormont as it would be legally required to implement the framework.

On Thursday, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill said patience had run out with the DUP blockade of the Assembly. She called on the UK and Irish governments to work together on a plan to restore the institutions.

Everyone has been more than reasonable giving time and space to the DUP, but that patience has run out, she said.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Irish premier Leo Varadkar said his government stands ready to help in any way that we can for the restoration of Northern Irelands institutions.

Mr Varadkar said: We a huge amount of increase in trade going north and south. So I think, on the ground, were seeing business people and traders getting on with it and implementing the new arrangements and I think thats a positive thing.

One of the main parts of the Windsor Framework, the green/red lane system for the movement of goods, will become operational at Northern Ireland ports on Sunday.

Goods coming into the region which are travelling to the Republic of Ireland or elsewhere in the EU will use the red lane, which includes customs declarations and some checks. Goods to be sold in Northern Ireland will use the green lane with minimal paperwork and no checks. Companies that use the green lane will be signed up to a trusted trader scheme.

Mr Heaton-Harris said Northern Ireland already enjoys the same VAT, alcohol duty and energy tax rules as the rest of the UK under the Windsor Framework, which it did not under the protocol.

The Northern Ireland secretary added that concerns over the supply of human medicines have been addressed. From this Sunday further changes roll out  meaning that previously banned goods like sausages and seed potatoes will be able to move again to Northern Ireland.

He added: The steak bake or infamous sausage roll will never again need to be accompanied by a signed certificate from a vet to move into NI from GB, removing a major irritant with the old arrangements.

But Mr Heaton-Harris noted that consumers may notice some changes in their local shop. Consumers in Northern Ireland and parts of the UK will see not for EU labels and other information in stores on some products, to prevent these from being sold in Ireland.
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Laura Bridgens likens the experience of discovering that her biological father was a sperm donor to the moment a Jenga tower comes crashing down.

I felt a whole world of emotions, she tells The Independent. In a lot of ways it made sense. But it was a massive, massive shock. I tend to liken it to a Jenga tower  someone removes the bottom block and it massively unsettles things.

The 42-year-old, who lives in Cambridgeshire, has told of how she first learned she was a donor child after she asked her mother for an ancestry DNA test for Christmas. The request prompted her mother to reveal everything in February 2021.

Ms Bridgens is telling her story as new laws come into force in the UK meaning individuals born using an egg or sperm donor who turn 18 on Monday will be able to learn who their donor is.

A historic change was made to the law covering donor anonymity in 2005, meaning thousands of people born through egg and sperm donation will be able to trace their biological roots for the first time from this week.

But Ms Bridgens, who is director of Donor Conceived UK, believes the legislation does not go far enough. She is calling for UK laws to be reformed so the government is legally required to inform people conceived via donor, warning donors should never be allowed to be anonymous.

Recalling the shock of learning she was donor conceived, she recalled her mother coming to visit her on Christmas Day but not bringing the ancestry DNA kit she had asked for as a present.

She gave me a pair of jeans as a present and said the DNA kit hasn't turned up, she recounted. We went into a hard lockdown and I didn't see her until February. She came to see me and handed me a letter and then proceeded to tell me what the letter said.

Ms Bridgens, who works in property, said learning she was donor conceived changes everything and nothing at the same time.

Everything looks slightly different now you know this, she reflected. It shakes things up. It really gets under your skin. It's not something you get over. Its very much a lifelong situation.

Laura Bridgens has met her biological fathers family (Laura Bridgens)

She explained she had managed to trace her biological father and track him down but warned the search was hard and not particularly dignified.

She added: You are setting yourself up for some really difficult emotions  like rejection.

Ms Bridgens said she has met her biological fathers family a few times and stayed in their house  explaining she is building a relationship with his children who are in their twenties.

Its still a weird existence, she added. Your existence is like a satellite in so many ways. Youre linked to them but then you are still very much a satellite part of it. You second guess most interactions  you are trying to be your best self, you are still trying to get them to like you.

Addressing issues around laws on donor conception, she argued donor anonymity should be banned and called for the law to be overhauled so the government has a legal responsibility to sensitively inform donor conceived people about their biological origins.

She added: It is in the best interests of donor conceived people to tell them, and then its their choice what they choose to do with that. Its about donor conceived people holding the key to their own origins. It is understood to be quite fundamental to know where youve come from.

It doesnt sit well that the fertility industry and the government have decided we are not to know. There are so many people living without that information right now. You cant exercise a right if you dont know youre entitled to it.

But Ms Bridgens said the culture around telling children about donors was very different when she was young, with her parents being advised by doctors not to tell children.

Discussing the recent law changes coming into force, she said it was important to remember historical donors are not legally obliged to respond to a donor conceived person who gets in touch with them.

Initially around 30 young people who were conceived with the help of a donor will be entitled to request their biological parents full name, date of birth, and last known address  with the fertility regulator expecting hundreds of requests to follow in the coming years.

Recent data from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) revealed some 766 young people will be able to request their donors details by the end of 2024, while around 11,427 people will be able to do so by 2030.

But Ms Bridgens argued that given how donors were found in those days, the address could be a student hall of residence.

She added: The HFEA has done some eleventh-hour work, trying to encourage people to change their details but 18 years is a long time  these identifiable donors are no more prepared than any other historical donors. Theyve probably got their head in the sand.

The UKs fertility regulator has urged people who donated eggs, sperm or embryos after 1 April 2005 to make sure their contact details are up to date before members of the first eligible cohort  that is, children who turn 18 on Monday  can request the information, to avoid disappointing their offspring.

Learning you are donor conceived creates a lot of questions without answers causing strain on mental health and wellbeing, Ms Bridgens reflected. There is no finality to your experience  you have the possibility of relatives popping up for the rest of your life.
 Close Sycamore Gap: 300-year-old tree stars in 90s classic Robin Hood movie before vandalism

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Hadrians Wall has been damaged by the vandals who chopped down the Sycamore Gap tree, investigators have discovered.

Historic England said it found some damage had been caused to the 1,900-year-old wall, one of Britains best-known Unesco world heritage sites, in a preliminary inspection.

A spokesperson for the historical preservation body told The Independent: While we identified that Hadrians Wall has sustained some damage, we have not been able to access the site to carry out a full investigation so a further archaeological appraisal will take place once the site is considered safe.

It comes as The National Trust, which manages the land in Northumberland where the iconic tree once stood, said it has been overwhelmed with thousands of messages of support and over 150 offers of help.

The charity told The Independent its immediate priority has been ensuring the safety of the tree and it is still working on plans for the safe removal of Sycamore Gap. But the spokesperson added that The National Trust is beginning discussions with stakeholders about the future of the site.

Police previously arrested a 16-year-old boy and a man, aged in his 60s, in connection with the incident. Both have since been released on bail.
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Tory transport secretary Mark Harper refused eight times to provide any clarity on the future of HS2s northern leg in an excruciating BBC interview.

Mr Harper repeatedly insisted that he was not willing to discuss speculation, after The Independent revealed Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are in talks to scrap the Birmingham to Manchester route.

It comes as former Tory PM Theresa May become the latest senior Conservative to call for HS2 not to be scaled back  saying she was arguing with the Sunak government to build it in full.

She joined Boris Johnson, who said axing phase 2 would be a betrayal of the north and levelling up, warning Mr Sunak: We must be out of our minds.

Mr Harper was grilled on the future of HS2 during a painful interview on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, with host Mishal Husain asking if something had changed in the promise to build the line to Manchester.

Were getting on with building the project [on phase 1], the transport secretary replied. Spades are in the ground. Im not going to comment on speculation. Were focused on delivering the project.

Pressed again on why a high-speed route to Manchester had been promised and whether the plan had changed, Mr Harper said: Were getting on with delivering. Im not going to get into speculation. Its speculation at the moment.

The BBC host grew increasingly frustrated as she continued to press the cabinet minister, only for Mr Harper to repeatedly insist: Im not to comment on speculation.

Ms Husain asked: Obviously you can understand why people are concerned that something very serious is happening to change the plan of this project? He replied: Youre coming with lots of different ways to comment on speculation.

Mark Harper wont say if HS2 will be built in full (PA Wire)

Despite the obfuscation, Mr Sunak has given the clearest suggestion yet that he intends to scrap the Birmingham to Manchester route. In an interview with The Sun, the Tory leader was asked about whether high-speed trains would ever link Birmingham and Manchester.

He said the north needed more than HS2, with connections required between the towns and cities of the region. East to west  that is the thing that the north wants and that is what were doing, he said.

Senior red wall Tories in the influential Northern Research Group have signalled they are willing to accept a delay to the northern leg of HS2  so long as the PM commits to east-west rail projects known as Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Mick Whelan says Aslef strikes are 'targeting' Tory party conference

Meanwhile, in our latest exclusive, The Independent revealed that a leaked paper ordered to explore HS2 cuts warned it would lead to travel chaos  endless queueing and the gross exceedance of passenger comfort.

Several senior Tories have joined Labour mayors and business leaders in demanding that Mr Sunak reconsiders cuts and recommits to building the high-speed rail line in full.

In his latest Mail column, Mr Johnson said that delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail  a link between the largest cities in the North, crossing over the Pennines  only makes sense with the northern leg of HS2.

If we delay or cut the northern legs, if we truncate HS2  then we are betraying the north of the country and the whole agenda of levelling up, Mr Johnson said.

Ms May, asked during a Q&A at Henley Literary Festival whether HS2s northern leg should be scrapped, said: The answer is no  We need more railway capacity to serve the north west.

The ex-PM said she also had an issue with the idea the high-speed rail could stops at Old Oak Common rather than Euston. It is going to make our railway journeys into London longer. So I am arguing with government: Dont stop at Old Oak Common. You need to take it into Euston because my constituents will be disadvantaged if you dont.

Sir Jeremy Wright, a former attorney general and culture secretary, added his voice to the mix  pressing ministers to finish the job.

The senior Tory said HS2 would never have been given approval by parliament if it had only been intended it between London and Birmingham  saying the strategic benefits just arent there and that the price of it would simply be too high.

A leaked paper  drawn up ahead of HS2 talks between the prime minister and his chancellor, and marked Official-Sensitive  was ordered this year by the Department for Transport as it sought to explore cost-saving measures after the budget to rebuild Euston ballooned by 2.2bn.

But the document, seen by The Independent, found that failing to rebuild the busy railway hub as planned under the 45bn first phase of the project would lead to travel chaos, including endless queueing and the gross exceedance of standard passenger comfort levels through overcrowding.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has claimed that welfare reforms and greater use of AI in the public sector could be the way to end the vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.

Mr Hunt is trying to placate a growing Tory rebellion  as Liz Truss joined dozens of backbenchers who have vowed not to vote for his autumn statement if it contains tax rises.

Some 33 Conservative MPs  including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel  who are desperate for tax cuts have signed a pledge not to vote for or support any new taxes that increase the overall tax burden.

It comes as top economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said the Tories will have presided over the biggest set of tax rises since at least the Second World War.

Ahead of a major row at the Tory conference, Mr Hunt has again indicated he wont offer tax cuts in November  but insisted he was keen to work on how to lower the tax burden credibly in future.

Were not in a position to talk about tax cuts at all, he told The Times. The question we have to answer for the British people is: what are you doing to get yourself in a position where you can credibly lower taxes?

He said the path to tax cuts, which some economists and Conservatives argue helps to boost economic growth, would hinge on creating a more productive state, not a bigger state.

We need a state that doesnt just deliver the services it currently delivers, but actually improves the services it delivers and recognises that theres going to be more calls on those services with an ageing population, he said.

Jeremy Hunt is trying to find headroom for Novembers autumn statement (pixel8000)

Mr Hunt added: But we need to find a formula that doesnt mean that were on a vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.

He said AI could "transform" the public sector, helping teachers to mark papers, assist police in identifying crime hotspots and provide doctors and nurses with more accurate diagnoses.

On welfare reforms, he said that 100,000 people per year were moving off work into benefits without any obligation to look for work  a sign he said showed that the system is not working.

The chancellor told the newspaper the welfare system had to be a mix of carrot and stick, with more assistance required to help people find work given there is no shortage of jobs.

Liz Truss will be pushing for tax cuts at Tory conference (PA)

With a general election expected next year, the chancellor could use his spring Budget to unveil tax cuts ahead of the next Tory manifesto being published  with Mr Hunt and Rishi Sunak hoping to make cuts elsewhere.

Ms Truss, Rishi Sunaks short-lived predecessor  who is expected to speak out in Manchester against the current taxation levels  said high taxes were the cause of the UKs stagnating economy.

We should always seek to reduce the tax burden, especially when theres so much pressure on family budgets, she tweeted.

Labours Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, mocked Ms Truss and her gang of wreckers for plotting a comeback, adding: Rishi Sunak isnt in charge of his party.

The former PMs mini-Budget last October sent the value of the pound tumbling and mortgage rates soaring due to the market panic over 45bn-worth of unfunded tax cuts.

Ms Truss and 32 other Tory MPs, including former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, Greg Smith, Danny Kruger and John Stevenson have vowed not to vote for the chancellors autumn statement if it contains tax rises.

The IFS said taxes will have risen to around 37 per cent of national income  equivalent to around 3,500 more per household  during the time between the 2019 election and the next general election.

It comes after it was revealed that the UK economy grew faster than had first been thought between January and March this year.

The Office for National Statistics said that it now thinks that gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of the year, up from the 0.1 per cent previously estimated following the availability of revised official figures.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said welfare reforms and the integration of artificial intelligence into the public sector could be the way to end the vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.

The cabinet minister told The Times that using technological advances in teaching, policing and healthcare would be one way of streamlining the state and reducing the burden on the public purse.

He said AI will lead to the biggest transformation of public services in our lifetimes.

The Conservative Party is due to gather in Manchester on Sunday for the start of its annual autumn conference, with Tory grandees clamouring for tax cuts.

It comes after experts said the Tories will have presided over, during the time between the 2019 election and the next general election, the biggest set of tax rises since at least the Second World War.

Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank said taxes will have risen to around 37 per cent of national income, equivalent to around 3,500 more per household.

Liz Truss, prime minister Rishi Sunaks short-lived predecessor  who is expected to speak out in Manchester against the current taxation levels  said high taxes were the cause of the UKs stagnating economy.

We need to find a formula that doesnt mean that were on a vicious circle of ever-rising taxes Chancellor Jeremy Hunt

We should always seek to reduce the tax burden, especially when theres so much pressure on family budgets, she tweeted on Friday.

The former prime ministers mini-budget 12 months ago, delivered by her then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, sent the value of the pound tumbling and mortgage rates soaring due to the markets adverse reaction to its 45bn of unfunded tax cuts.

Ms Truss and 32 other Tory MPs, including former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, have reportedly vowed not to vote for the Chancellors autumn statement if it contains tax rises.

Mr Hunt has already said he will not make any tax cuts at the autumn statement in November.

With a general election expected next year, the Chancellor could use his spring Budget to unveil tax cuts ahead of the next Tory manifesto being published.

Were not in a position to talk about tax cuts at all, he told The Times.

The question we have to answer for the British people is: what are you doing to get yourself in a position where you can credibly lower taxes?

He said the path to tax cuts, which some economists and Conservatives argue helps to boost economic growth, would hinge on creating a more productive state, not a bigger state.

We need a state that doesnt just deliver the services it currently delivers, but actually improves the services it delivers and recognises that theres going to be more calls on those services with an ageing population, he said.

But we need to find a formula that doesnt mean that were on a vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.

Mr Hunt said AI could transform the public sector, helping teachers to mark papers, assist police in identifying crime hotspots and provide doctors and nurses with more accurate diagnoses.

On welfare reforms, he said 100,000 people per year were moving off work into benefits without any obligation to look for work  a sign he said showed that the system is not working.

He told the newspaper the welfare system had to be a mix of carrot and stick, with more assistance required to help people find work given there is no shortage of jobs.

The comments come after it was revealed that the UK economy grew faster than had first been thought between January and March this year.

The Office for National Statistics said it now thinks that gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of the year, up from the 0.1 per cent previously estimated following the availability of revised official figures.

The revision put the countrys economy ahead of both Germany and France in terms of post-pandemic performance, but behind allies such as the United States, Canada, Japan and Italy.
A Stepping Stones report was recently released highlighting areas in the community that are in need of resources, and others that are doing well.

The reports data focuses on issues that include education and civic engagement, economic security and housing, and health and family stability in Albemarle and Charlottesvilles youth and families. The recent report was also released with a supplemental report that breaks down some of the metrics by race.

The goal of the Stepping Stones report is to stimulate dialogue and promote action, according to its organizers. It also aims to improve living conditions for those within the community.

It is unfortunate, if not surprising, that we see pretty substantial racial gaps in all of the measures, Michele Claibourn, director of equitable analysis at the Equity Center, told The Daily Progress. Were really hoping thats another way of looking at these outcomes and the well-being of our community that might promote more urgent action. Providing this racially disaggregated data is a first for this report and one that we hope to be expanding on to build it out further.

The first Stepping Stones report was produced in 2000 by the Charlottesville/Albemarle Commission on Children and Families, according to Claibourn.

Its been a resource in the community for a while and its been updated periodically over the last couple decades, but most recently has been sustained by the City of Charlottesville Department of Human Services, with the last update in 2019, and so they wanted to generate a new one, Claibourn said.

This years Stepping Stones report was created in partnership between the Equity Center at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville Department of Human Services and the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, according to a statement released by the Equity Center.

Charlottesvilles Department of Human Services provides resources and programs that improve and support the resilience, health, and well-being of youth, families, and community organizations.

This is the first time the UVa Equity Center has contributed to the report. The organization, which was founded in 2019, aims to serve as a model to other universities seeking to promote equity and justice.

The report was a way to help achieve the Equity Centers goal, according to Claibourn. Work completed by the community and university has been a great demonstration of the power in real partnership.

Were excited to be able to bring something that is good for the community and was a learning opportunity for students, and also just an opportunity for us to build on this report because we added a new component that was trying to show some of the data broken down by race to center equity, Claibourn said. The city was interested in this, but we were pleased we were to add that as a novel component.

Conversations began last fall, when Claibourn introduced the idea of allowing her public interest data ethics and practice students to help with the report, she said.

They really did a lot of the initial work of understanding all the sources, finding new sources for metrics, writing code to gather sources so we can make it reproducible and update it more easily so other people could see exactly how it was generated, and then also doing research around the metrics to provide more context and understanding of what these were really meant to be representing, Claibourn said.

The material curated by the students was brought to the Equity Center to be validated and put in a coherent form, according to Claibourn. A draft of the report was brought to roughly 20 local knowledge experts to gather feedback and ensure the data was transparent and had undergone multiple reviews.

It was a really great opportunity to bring it to people who are working on front lines largely with children and families since this report centers a lot of indicators around youth well-being, and who could give us more background or tell us that if we were representing something that was not quite right. It really made the report even more powerful, Claibourn said.

The data came from a variety of sources, including many state agencies such as the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Justice and Department of Social Services, according to Claibourn. Other sources include the National Census and the American Community Survey. The goal was to utilize public sources available to all, but not easily accessible to all.

Also, we really wanted to center sources that could be verified, that we would get the same answers as other people would get because part of our goal here is to have is a shared understanding of how were doing and we feel like thats facilitated by using transparent processes and open data so other people can check and verify, Claibourn said.

One positive outcome Claibourn notes in the reports findings is the increase in the on-time graduation rates in Charlottesville City Schools.

Albemarle County Public Schools and Charlottesville City Schools on-time graduation rates sat between 93% and 94% in 2022, according to the report. This is higher than the state rate of 92%.

One of the things that I was happy to see was the increase in on-time graduation rates over the last 20 years because again, every indicator is represented for about 20 years so we can see both where we are now and where were coming from, Claibourn said.

Another success in the report Claibourn notes is a drop in the use of exclusionary suspensions in both city and county school districts.

Suspension rates in Charlottesville and Albemarle schools were above 200 per 1,000 and 100 per 1,000 students, respectively, prior to the 2009-2010 school year. Since then, suspension rates have dropped, hovering around zero in the 2020-2021 school year. When referencing this data, the report notes the hybrid learning schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Claibourn hopes the report is used to make data-informed decisions and prioritize spaces where more urgent action is needed.

But we also want it to be a resource for others at multiple levels like community organizations and leaders as a way of helping them target their own work, Claibourn said. We have a lot of nonprofits in this community doing great work and its a resource to support the argument for gaining more resources for their efforts.

In previous years, Claibourns wishes have come true.

The Commission on Children and Families created a group focused on teen pregnancy and STD prevention after the release of a Stepping Stones report, according to Daniel Fairley II, youth opportunity coordinator for the City of Charlottesville. The initiative helped reduce rates of teen pregnancy in the mid-2000s.

You would see the numbers start plummeting for teen pregnancy in our area that wouldnt have happened had there not been a coalition that was built to work towards ending and minimizing teen pregnancy, and that was created because of the Stepping Stones report, Fairley said. People were able to see the data that teen pregnancy was rising and put a coalition together to work towards the minimization of it.

The teen pregnancy rate per 1,000 in Charlottesville was 9, 5 in Albemarle and 7 in the state, according to the 2018 to 2021 data in the Stepping Stones report. Rates have seen an overall declining trend since the data was first reported in 2000.

The recent report also indicates areas within the community that are still falling behind.

Despite a lot of efforts made by both governments and nonprofits, there is this very stubborn persistence in the rate of children living in poverty, Claibourn said. It just truly hasnt budged in 20 years. The fact that we havent been able to move that needle for decades I think should trouble us and is concerning.

The rate of childhood poverty in 2021 in Charlottesville sits between 15% and 24%, according to the Stepping Stones Report. In Albemarle County, that same rate ranges between 7% and 12%. The citys youth poverty rate has been consistently higher than the states, while the county has consistently reported lower rates than the states over the years.

The supplemental report finds that the highest percentage of youth living below the poverty line throughout the state are Black.

Though the city and county are still experiencing these community issues, the report creates a space and opportunity for government agencies and nonprofit organizations to collaborate and move the needle on issues that need to be addressed, according to Fairley.

Harnessing the Stepping Stones data allows the community to have a benchmark. It enables organizations and state agencies to revisit areas that were thought to be doing well, or not doing well, to take further action and allocate resources.

Its focused on our students and kids in our community and making sure that we are looking at some of the most vulnerable portions of our population and seeing whether or not were serving them the way that we think that were serving them, Fairley said. It allows for benchmarking in the city, the county and the state.

The report is still in its discovery phase, according to Fairley. Organizations and state agencies are combing through data and figuring out what to do with it.

Its been presented and shared at meetings, shared through the citys reports that go out to everyone in the community, and its been presented to the city manager, Fairley said. Its still in the discovery phase of whats inside of the data, but its being shared throughout committees and commissions to figure out what we are going to do about the things that we are seeing right now.
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Rishi Sunak said he is slamming the brakes on hare-brained schemes such as blanket 20mph speed limits and low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).

The prime minister has vowed to focus on policies that stem the relentless attack on motorists.

He told The Sun: Im slamming the brakes on the war on motorists  it is as simple as that.

The remarks come as his Conservative administration in Westminster announced a slew of pro-driving measures ahead of the Tory Party conference in Manchester on Sunday.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said guidance would be reviewed on 20mph limits to prevent their blanket use in areas where it is not appropriate.

The same undertaking would be happening for LTNs in England to focus on local consent, officials said.

The Whitehall department also announced that a National Parking Platform pilot will be rolled out, meaning that drivers should only have to use an app of their choice to pay for parking instead of downloading multiple apps.

Ahead of the DfTs announcement on Friday, Mr Sunak said the decision by the Labour-run Welsh government to drop the default speed limit from 30mph to 20mph for restricted roads was not right and the UK Government would take a different approach.

He confirmed that local councils in England face a clampdown on overzealous enforcement of parking and yellow box junctions. Charges will also be applied on utility firms who dig up roads during peak times, with the extra money diverted to fixing potholes, it has been confirmed.

Rishi Sunak has vowed to be on the side of motorists (PA Wire)

As part of the package of measures, DfT officials said guidance will be strengthened to make sure bus lanes only operate when necessary and a consultation will be launched on motorcycles using bus lanes.

More details are expected to be set out in transport secretary Mark Harpers speech to Tory members on Monday.

In a statement, Mr Harper said: Too often the private car is vilified when it has been one of the most powerful forces for personal freedom and economic growth.

Thats why the government is taking the long-term, necessary decision to back the motorists who keep our country moving.

Were introducing a plan to ensure drivers can enjoy smoother journeys, park more easily and no longer face unfair and oppressive traffic enforcement measures.

The PM told The Sun: What we want to do now is make sure that all these hare-brained schemes forced on local communities, whether it is low traffic neighbourhoods, whether it is blanket 20 mile an hour speed limits, all of that (they) need to stop.

What we want to make sure is that local communities are not having these things imposed upon them, forced on them. Weve seen that happening in Wales. Thats not right. And were going to take a different approach to this.

He said cars were freedom for most people and that penalising motorists doesnt reflect the values of Britain.

Asked whether he had ever received a speeding fine, Mr Sunak said he probably had but not for a very long time.

The PM has pledged to crack down on anti-motorist policies and last week delayed the ban on the sale of new conventionally fuelled cars and vans from 2030 to 2035.

The Welsh government is predicting its change to 20mph speed limits will save up to 100 lives and 20,000 casualties in the first decade.

First minister Mark Drakeford said there is incontrovertible evidence that driving more slowly in built-up urban areas saves peoples lives.

A Department for Transport-commissioned study published in November 2018 found 20mph limits in residential areas were supported by the majority of residents and drivers.

The report concluded there was no evidence of a significant drop in the number of crashes and casualties after the introduction of 20mph limits.
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Home secretary Suella Braverman has turned down an invitation to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury over his concerns about her approach to immigration, according to reports.

Archbishop Justin Welby has reached out a number of times without success, according to The House, parliaments magazine.

A spokesperson for the archbishop confirmed the approach to The House.

The archbishop would be happy to meet the home secretary to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. In the past, the archbishop has met other home secretaries. It is not unusual, he said.

A former senior adviser to the 26 bishops who sit in the House of Lords told the magazine the home secretarys response had caused consternation and had been seen as a big slap in the face at Lambeth Palace.

Government sources said an informal approach for a meeting had been made, according to The Daily Telegraph, which said it is understood the archbishop had met immigration minister Robert Jenrick.

The archbishop and other bishops have criticised the governments plan to send migrants to Rwanda and he condemned harmful rhetoric about refugees in a House of Lords speech.

In her latest comments, the home secretary predicted there will be a disintegration in our society if action is not taken to curb the number of migrants arriving in Britain via small boats.

Speaking to GB News, she repeated an argument made in her speech on migration in the US this week that the threshold for claiming asylum needs to be raised.

Her comments indicate she does not plan to back down on her calls for the international reform of refugee rules  such as the UNs Refugee Convention  despite facing backlash, including from her own party.

In a speech to a centre-right think tank in Washington DC, Ms Braverman warned the West faced an existential threat if countries were not able to control their borders from unauthorised arrivals.

People want control of their borders and they want government to get a grip on this and if we dont it will lead to a disintegration in our society Home Secretary Suella Braverman

Senior Tory MPs have criticised Tuesdays speech, singling out her comments arguing that being discriminated against for being gay or a woman should not grant a person refugee status in the UK.

At least three ministers are among those who have complained, according to The Times, with the newspaper saying chief whip Simon Hart is expected to speak with the home secretary to convey the upset in the Tory ranks before their party conference starts in Manchester on Sunday.

In an interview with the deputy Tory chairman for his programme Lee Andersons Real World, Ms Braverman said migration was an international crisis that requires a global solution.

She said: Whether it is New York City, whether it is the border with Texas, whether it is Italy, whether it is the Channel, we need to look again at whether these international rules are fit for purpose.

And what I said in my speech is that there is a lot at stake. There is democratic legitimacy which is at stake.

People want control of their borders and they want government to get a grip on this and if we dont it will lead to a disintegration in our society.

And we need to change  we need to change some of the definitions relating to refugee persecution. It needs to be a high bar if someone is coming to our country fleeing persecution, not a low bar.

She said it was reasonable to question whether accords such as the Refugee Convention, which 149 states have signed up to, are still fit for purpose.

I dont think they are, she said.

The UNs refugee agency, hitting back at Ms Bravermans Stateside speech, has denied there is any need for reform or a relaxation of the definition of a refugee.
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Theresa May has joined the Conservative heavyweight pile-on against Rishi Sunak over HS2 as she becomes the third former Tory prime minister to call for the project not to be axed.

Asked on Saturday if she would cut HS2, the former Tory leader responded with a categoric no over fears that abandoning the line into Euston will disrupt trains from her constituency, Maidenhead. She also warned that scaling back the project would leave the northwest without the railway capacity it desperately needs.

Asked at Henley Literary Festival if she would cut HS2, the former Tory leader responded with a categoric no (Scarlet Page)

Her intervention came following The Independents revelation that he is secretly planning to cut the high-speed rail project  prompting a barrage of criticism from Tory grandees, businesses and regional mayors.

Boris Johnson, who succeeded Ms May, warned on Friday that Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt would be out of their minds to abandon the flagship transport levelling-up project, while her predecessor David Cameron is said to have privately raised concerns with Downing Street.

Tory transport secretary Mark Harper refused eight times to provide any clarity on the future of HS2s northern leg in an excruciating BBC interview. Mr Harper repeatedly insisted that he was not willing to discuss speculation on Radio 4s Today programme.

Sir Jeremy Wright, former Tory attorney general and culture secretary, added his voice to those calling for the line to be completed in full  pressing ministers to finish the job.

The senior Tory told Today that HS2 would never have been given approval by parliament if it had only been intended between London and Birmingham  saying the strategic benefits just arent there and that the price of it would simply be too high.

Theresa May has joined fellow former Conservative Prime Ministers in piling the pressure on Rishi Sunak with calls to not scrap HS2 (PA)

In an interview with The Independents Simon Walters at the Henley Literary Festival, of which The Independent is the exclusive news partner, Ms May also admitted errors from her time in office, but insisted that her Brexit deal had been the best choice for the UK.

She also reflected on being perceived as a typical weak woman after she welled up during her speech when she resigned as PM in 2019.

Asked during the Q&A whether HS2 should be abandoned, Ms May said: The answer is no. I will give you two comments on HS2.

First of all, we have to think about why HS2 was designed in the first place. It was because there was a lack of capacity on the West Coast Main Line. So if there is a lack of capacity on the West Coast Main Line, we need more railway capacity to serve the northwest.

She said there was also an issue for her constituents if the line did not end up terminating in Euston. If HS2 stops at Old Oak Common, it is going to make our railway journeys into London longer and disrupted potentially over the period that Old Oak Commons building is being done to enable it to take that endpoint.

So I am arguing with government: dont stop at Old Oak Common. You need to take it into Euston because my constituents will be disadvantaged if you dont.

Speaking at the festival on the release of her new book, The Abuse of Power, Ms May took a swipe at both Mr Sunaks and Mr Johnsons Brexit deals, arguing that her proposed deal was better than the one we finally got.

She slammed Mr Johnson for accepting the Northern Ireland Protocol, creating more checks at its border with Ireland. She said that at the time she thought: No UK PM could accept that as it would put a border down the Irish Sea between Ireland and Northern Ireland ... but Boris accepted it.

And while she conceded Mr Sunaks deal was an improvement, she said checks still remain. Hes found a way through, she said. I have every expectation that it will work. But its slightly different to a deal that I wouldve done.

Ms May also admitted to many of her own failures while at Downing Street, saying that, before writing her book, I thought it was important to look myself in the mirror.

Ms May announced her resignation in May 2019 (PA)

Asked about big mistakes she acknowledges  such as her social care reforms proposal that was branded a dementia tax, or her decision to call a snap General Election in 2017 that lost the Conservative Party their majority  she said: You need to reflect on what you might have done wrong. If you dont then you cant learn for the future.

On getting emotional during her resignation speech, she added: One of the issues for women in politics is that if you show any emotion, its seen as being a typical weak woman. But if a man in politics does so, its seen as isnt it good hes showing his other side.

Ms May also accused those in power of serving themselves rather than those who are powerless who they should be serving.
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With an election looming next year, this year's Tory party conference should be an opportunity for Rishi Sunak's outfit to show this country just how united it is.

If only politics were that simple. Almost every year, party conferences are places for parties to air their dirty laundry and have it out with each other.

Here are a few good reasons to think that this year will be no exception for the Conservatives.

HS2

The Independent's revelations on HS2 have been leading the news agenda in recent weeks and Tory conference should be no exception.

Threatening to cut a rail line to Manchester just before holding your party conference there is certainly a brave move.

The feeling in Westminster is currently that the prime minister won't make an announcement on the railway while he's in town. But expect plenty of dissent nonetheless  from within his party and without.

Net zero

The prime minister put his net zero policies on the agenda last week with a speech outside Downing Street.

He'll be facing pressure from both sides of his party on the matter. The PM's decision to row back on several climate commitments has certainly got its detractors in the Tory party, many of whom will be happy to put the boot in on the fringes of the meeting.

But for those with leadership ambitions and hunting for the affections of unrepresentative Conservative members, the opposite is more likely to be true. Expect someone to bring up the perennial right-wing demand of a referendum on net zero  or something similar.

Leadership bids

The question of who will succeed Rishi Sunak is likely to be an overarching theme  or underlying subtext  of many of the rows that emerge at conference.

On the one hand, those hoping for the top job will be trying to stand out. But on the other, those making too much noise are bound to irritate other Tory MPs looking to maintain a united front ahead of the battle to keep their jobs next year.

Tax

Not every Conservative will have appreciated Jeremy Hunt's decision to rule out immediate tax cuts earlier this month.

Expect leadership candidates to seek an opening here, trying to curry favour with the Tory right.

The prime minister may have something up his sleeve during his speech for party management purposes (remember that briefing about inheritance tax?). But whatever taxes he promises to cut, there's always going to be someone asking that he goes further.

Small boats, ECHR and immigration

The perennial Tory issues of immigration and Europe are bound to come up. Suella Braverman has already gotten a head start here, having a go at refugees.

Her rhetoric on LGBT people seeking asylum has already been branded "inhuman" by some campaigners  expect someone to try and one-up her, or for her to simply escalate on her own accord.
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Scotlands First Minister has said he remains hopeful of an SNP win in a key by-election next week.

Humza Yousaf said voters in Rutherglen and Hamilton West face a stark choice between Sir Keir Starmers man in Scotland or the SNP candidate, who he said would only take her orders from her constituents.

The by-election will take place on Thursday October 5 after the seat was vacated by former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier following a successful recall petition after her conviction for breaching Covid restrictions in 2020.

It is expected to be an important battleground ahead of the UK general election, which is expected next year, with the SNPs Katy Loudon taking on Labours Michael Shanks.

Speaking on a visit to Tempo Community Space in Rutherglen on Saturday, Mr Yousaf said: I go in hopeful over these last few days of the by-election for a couple of reasons: one, because we have a phenomenally good candidate in Katy Loudon, who is working hard, talking to people every hour of every day as much as she possibly can.

But the second reason I go in hopeful is because I know the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West have now a very stark choice.

They can either vote for Keir Starmers man here in Scotland  and Labour have taken this vote for granted, theyve already decided theyve won this by-election  or they have a choice of the alternative, of Katy Loudon, who will only take her orders from the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West and stand up for the issues that matter to them, predominantly battling against that Westminster cost-of-living crisis that has caused so much misery to so many people in this constituency.

Mr Yousaf conceded that the context of the by-election has been challenging but said there is strong support for the SNP.

He said: It could well come down to on the day making sure we get that vote out, motivate them, thats what well be concentrating on for the next few days.

Mr Yousaf and Ms Loudon joined a childrens dance class with Busta Beat during their visit to the community centre on Saturday.

Ms Loudon said the SNP is fighting a good campaign and the by-election is an opportunity for people to send a strong message to Westminster.

She said: By-elections have the potential to cause a shockwave in politics, we know that from Winnie Ewing in this area 50 years ago.

This is a chance for people in this area to send a message and that message is we reject Westminster, we reject Westminster being broken or it not working for this constituency, we reject Brexit, we reject years of horrible welfare policies, years of austerity, and its a message for Labour as well.

People have the chance to do that and its to send a message to Keir Starmer  were not going to put up with your lurch to the right because your lurch to the right is to support your vote down south, its not about doing anything for the voters of Rutherglen and Hamilton west here in this area.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: These attacks from Humza Yousaf are out of touch, dishonest and desperate.

She added: While Scottish Labour is out speaking to voters in this area about the issues that matter  tackling the cost-of-living crisis, making work pay, and tackling the epidemic of one in seven Scots on waiting lists, Katy Loudon is shamefully siding with her party bosses on income tax rises and congestion charges.

Only Scottish Labours Michael Shanks will stand up for the people of the area and deliver the fresh start Rutherglen and Hamilton West deserves.

Scottish Conservatives candidate Councillor Thomas Kerr said: People of Rutherglen and Hamilton West deserve an MP who is wholly focused on the issues that really matter to them.

Katy Loudon has already admitted she will put her party before the real priorities of people in this area. In the case of the SNP, that means the pursuit of independence at all costs.

While Scottish Labours candidate has U-turned so many times during the campaign, voters wont know if hes Keir Starmers man or really Humza Yousafs.

Only the Scottish Conservatives are focused on the real priorities of the people in this constituency, and capable of standing up to the SNPs obsession with independence.
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The family of Tupac Shakur are pleased that a man has been charged with his murder following his 1996 drive-by shooting, a Las Vegas district attorney said.

Duane Keffe D Davis, one of the last living witnesses to the drive-by shooting, was arrested on a walk near his home in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson on Friday.

He was then charged by a Nevada grand jury with one count of open murder with use of the deadly weapon with a gang enhancement, according to Clark County Las Vegas district attorney Steve Wolfson.

During a press conference, Mr Wolfson said: The family has reached out to my office, I imagine also to (police), weve been in communication with them.

We understand that they are welcoming this news, they are pleased with this news and they are certainly aware of the return of this indictment.

He described Shakur as a musical legend before adding: For a long time, this community and worldwide have been wanting justice for Tupac.

Today we are taking that first step. Tupac was actually quoted as saying Death is not the greatest loss in life, the greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive. Never surrender. Well, we didnt surrender thanks to the great work of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

This is the indictment weve been waiting almost three decades for. It spells out the facts and circumstances and what justifies a Clark County grand jury in returning an indictment and justice will be served.

He also said: Davis will appear in court in the next few days or so for a hearing to determine his custody status and to set a jury trial date.

Shakur was 25 when he was gunned down in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip on the night of September 7 1996.

A documentary, called Last Man Standing: Suge Knight And The Murders Of Biggie & Tupac, explored the deaths of both rappers, and the life of Death Row Records founder Marion Suge Knight, who was driving the BMW when Shakur died.

Its director Nick Broomfield told the PA news agency: Its weird the police took so long as Keffe D admitted it several years ago.

He admitted he was in the murder car and gave an interview going into the shooting of Tupac in great detail.

In 2018, after a cancer diagnosis, Davis said publicly in an interview for a BET show that he was inside the Cadillac  which pulled up next to Shakur  during the attack.

He implicated his nephew, Orlando Baby Lane Anderson, saying he was one of two people in the back seat where the shots were fired, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Shakur was feuding at the time with rap rival Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., who was fatally shot in March 1997.

At the time, both rappers were in the middle of an East Coast-West Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s.

The timeline of the shooting was also detailed by Las Vegas police lieutenant Jason Johansson.

He said that Tupac and Knight were on their way to a nightclub when word spread among members of the South Side Compton Crips that members of Death Row Records had kicked and punched Orlando Anderson inside the MGM earlier.

Davis began to devise a plan to obtain a firearm and retaliate, he added.

The officer said: After Davis obtained a gun, he entered into a white Cadillac along with Terrence Brown, DeAndre Smith and Orlando Anderson.

He added: At some point in time, as they were in the white Cadillac, Mr Davis took the gun that he had obtained and provided it to the passengers in the rear seat of the vehicle.

The officer said they located the black BMW which was driven by Suge Knight and in the passenger seat was Tupac.

He said: And as they turned around, they pulled up near the passenger side of that vehicle and immediately began shooting at Mr Knight and Mr Shakur.

The officer said the white Cadillac fled the area and Tupac was taken to hospital where he died six days later.

Mr Johansson said the case was reinvigorated in 2018 and police knew most of the information within the first few months of Shakurs shooting, but did not have the necessary evidence to bring criminal charges.

He also said: Duane Daviss own admissions to his involvement in this homicide investigation that he provided to numerous different media outlets.

In our section (homicide), we knew at this time that this was likely our last time to take a run at this case, to successfully solve this case and bring forth a criminal charge.

Asked if anyone else was being looked at as part of the investigation, the officer replied: The only living suspect related to this investigation is Duane Davis, all other three suspects are deceased.
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Before being assigned to investigate President Joe Bidens son, Leo Wise built a reputation in Baltimore as a tough and hard-charging federal prosecutor, taking on powerful, and seemingly untouchable, figures  whether a gang of corrupt cops, a police commissioner, a top local prosecutor and even a mayor.

Wises backers call him talented and savvy, with a knack for navigating complex, headline-generating cases. To detractors, hes stubborn and uncompromising as well as self-promotional: he wrote a memoir about one of his major cases while still employed by the Justice Department. His approach  aggressive in a way that has won him accolades but riled other lawyers  sets the stage for a contentious fight in the high-stakes prosecution of Hunter Biden.

He holds everything very close to the vest, and he takes every possible advantage that he can take, said Gerard Martin, a Baltimore criminal defense lawyer who calls Wise a hard-ass. Hes not a guy you can go meet with and sit down and say, Look, this is what my client says. This is what happened, and have that be taken into account.

Wises track record in Baltimore is newly relevant given his position as a lead lawyer in what is already a politically fraught prosecution. The case, overseen by special counsel David Weiss, is poised to unfold in the heat of the presidents 2024 re-election campaign and could give fresh momentum to a nascent Republican impeachment inquiry while drawing the White House deeper into questions about Bidens relationship with his son.

The Justice Department declined to comment on Wise or make him available for an interview.

The first public glimpse of Wise in the Hunter Biden case came during a fractious July plea hearing on gun and tax charges when the agreement was scuttled amid a tense dispute over the deals terms. An indictment under federal firearms statutes followed, even though charges related to gun possession by drug users are rare, especially when not in connection with other crimes.

Hunter Biden is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. The Justice Department has not disclosed whether it will bring a tax indictment.

That Wise would be at the center of a media and legal vortex doesnt surprise attorneys who have tracked his career. The Harvard Law graduate and avid runner was already an experienced prosecutor by the time he joined the U.S. attorneys office in 2010, having served on Justice Department teams that pursued the tobacco industry and executives of Enron, the financial services company that collapsed in a notorious financial scandal.

Soon after arriving, he established a reputation as a premier public corruption prosecutor with a taste for big cases.

Leo is an exceptionally talented and extraordinarily diligent lawyer, Rod Rosenstein, Wises onetime boss as U.S. attorney in Baltimore before becoming deputy attorney general, wrote in an email. He called him impervious to political considerations.

In 2018, he secured a guilty plea from a former police chief who admitted he cheated on his taxes. The next year, former mayor Catherine Pugh pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges related to her self-published childrens books to nonprofit organizations to promote her political career.

Wise also netted high-profile convictions of members of the Baltimore Police Departments Gun Trace Task Force whod terrorized the city, robbing drug dealers and planting narcotics and firearms on innocent people. A prosecutor who worked with Wise on that case and others, Derek Hines, has also been assigned to the Hunter Biden prosecution team.

The police case spurred two books by journalists who covered the investigation, an HBO series, and even a BBC podcast. In an unusual move for a sitting prosecutor, Wise penned his own account, titled Who Speaks for You? He has said he earns no compensation from it.

Isabel Mercedes Cumming, Baltimores inspector general, said Wise has proven successful in court because he is extremely detail-oriented and thorough in his preparation of corruption cases. Hes careful and balanced, always striving for the truth, she said.

If you look at the highest-profile cases in the Baltimore area in the last few years, Leos done most of them," Cumming said. "It's not personal. Its just a matter of the job you have, the job you chose, and doing it to the best of your ability."

Sometimes the cases make us controversial, she said. "Sometimes controversy comes with the job. But you just do your job.

Wise acknowledged as much in his book. He boasted how during his tenure at the Office of Congressional Ethics, a law journal profile described him as on his way to becoming one of the least-liked lawyer on Capitol Hill. It was a badge of honor, he wrote.

As I quickly learned on the job, he wrote of the ethics positions, going after the powerful doesn't tend to make one popular.

In Baltimore, not all of his recent prosecutions have been easy, or successful.

His case against the citys former top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby -- accused of perjury and mortgage fraud related to applications for relief during the COVID-19 pandemic  has been defined by acrimony.

Mosbys former lawyer leveled incendiary accusations against Wise, including that he'd been motivated by personal animus in his pursuit of Mosby and had a history of targeting Black elected officials.

Wise said the claims had no merit, adding that he was only one of three prosecutors on the case and had no unilateral authority to seek indictments. During a hearing last year, he equated the attack-the-prosecutor strategy to just like what Trump did. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly lashed out at federal and local prosecutors who have indicted him in four separate cases.

Witch hunt, witch hunt, witch hunt, Wise said. Thats what the politicians always say.

A judge sided with Wise and rejected the allegations. The case is set for trial later this fall.

The prosecution that caused Wise the most trouble went to trial in 2021, and he's still grappling with the fallout.

The case concerned two prominent and well-regarded attorneys: Kenneth Ravenell and Joshua Treem. A year after Ravenell was indicted in a money laundering conspiracy case, Wise and colleagues charged Treem, who'd represented Ravenell earlier in the investigation, with obstructing the probe and creating false documents related to a meeting he had with a witness.

The charges against Treem roiled the citys legal community, with defense lawyers aghast that a federal prosecutor would so aggressively go after an attorney with some 50 years of experience and pursue a case they saw as exceptionally weak.

Treem, who denied any wrongdoing and testified in his own defense, was acquitted outright. Ravenell was convicted of a single count.

The controversy extended beyond Treems acquittal. A brief Wise filed in Ravenell's appeal that accused a major law firm of benefiting from laundered proceeds was swiftly withdrawn and corrected by his own office, a rarity for the Justice Department and a clear rebuke.

Andy Levy, a former law partner of Treem's, said Wise was pretty well-respected, not just for his legal ability, but I think people thought that he was a reasonable guy that could be trusted. But, he added, the Treem prosecution was such a colossal error of judgment that it hurt his reputation in the legal community.

In a sign of lingering tensions, a Baltimore law club event at which Wise was slated to speak about his book was abruptly canceled in May amid opposition from Treems supporters. Wise was quoted by the Daily Record as saying, I find it bizarre that somebody would object to the fact that I did my job.

Wises assignment to the Hunter Biden investigation in Delaware came not long after he was replaced as chief of the public corruption unit in the U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore. The personnel move followed clashes with office leadership, according to several people familiar with the office dynamics.

Even for a lawyer with extensive experience prosecuting prominent Baltimore figures, Wise will confront unique challenges in the Hunter Biden case, his every move certain to be dissected by the national media, presidential candidates and lawmakers; hell also square off against one of Washingtons most successful defense attorneys, Abbe Lowell.

Last week, Lowell asked the court to excuse Hunter Biden from appearing in person, citing the inconvenience of a cross-country trip and the public spectacle it would create.

In a hardball move, Wise and his colleagues balked, and a judge agreed. There will be no special treatment for the president's son.

_____

Tucker reported from Washington.
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Fresno in California is now the second US city to ban caste discrimination as authorities marked caste and indigeneity under two new protected categories into its municipal code.

The caste system  one of the oldest forms of social stratification that denies basic dignity and human rights to lower castes  is increasingly coming under scrutiny in the US by activists who oppose the discriminatory system and its practice across the country and have called it another form of racism.

Fresno city council vice president Annalisa Perea said she is proud of the Californian city for raising the bar on civil rights protection.

While we acknowledge that discrimination wont end overnight, our City took bold action by passing this anti-discrimination policy to strengthen civil rights protections against caste discrimination, she said in a press release.

Other local leaders cheered the categorisation which will protect people subjected to caste discrimination.

It is an honour and a dream to have brought freedom for so many peoples in Fresno with this historic win, Amar Daroch, president of local Sikh temple Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha, said in a news release.

There are so many of us who are survivors of global caste systems, the Fresno resident said.

Earlier this year, Seattle became the first US city to outlaw caste discrimination.

In late August, the state assembly in California cleared a bill in the US state aiming to ban caste discrimination. After near-unanimous voting, it was also passed by the state Senate in early September.

The bill now awaits a signature from governor Gavin Newsom.

Once signed into law, the bill will deem California the first US state to ban caste discrimination.

In Canada, a city council vote and Torontos school board have recognised that caste discrimination existed in the citys schools.

The caste system dates back thousands of years and critics and activists say that to this day, it continues to offer many privileges to upper castes and represses lower castes.

Mostly practised in India, the Dalit community is on the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system, with its members treated as untouchables and having been subjected to several forms of violence.

While India outlawed caste discrimination decades ago, several studies in recent years showed bias persists. One study found people from lower castes were underrepresented in higher-paying jobs.

Dalits still face widespread abuse across India, where their attempts at upward social mobility have at times been violently put down.
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Entrances to national parks will be blocked and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed if Congress doesnt reach a budget agreement this weekend, the Department of Interior said Friday.

The stance is a reversal from five years ago when the Trump administration kept some iconic parks open in a move that has been lambasted as illegal by the Government Accountability Office, the congressional watchdog.

This time around, the majority of more than 420 national park units will be off-limits to the public, Interior officials said. The governors of Arizona and Utah vowed to keep some of the most iconic parks open with state funding, including Grand Canyon and Zion.

Whether tourists can access other national parks will depend on size, location and other factors. Generally, if a site is closed or locked during non-business hours it will remain that way, Interior officials said. Places like the National Mall will stay open, but there are no guarantees that restrooms or trash will be maintained.

The public will be encouraged not to visit sites during the period of lapse in appropriations out of consideration for protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as visitor safety, the Interior Department said in a statement.

The director of the National Park Service can enter into non-reimbursable arrangements with state, tribal or local governments, or third parties for donations to fund park operations, the department said. Shutdown contingency plans were expected to be posted online early Friday.

The nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association doesnt oppose such agreements but noted that keeping sites open during a shutdown without sufficient staff and other resources can be be disastrous.

For example, trash cans and portable toilets overflowed at Joshua Tree National Park during a shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019 that lasted 35 days. Some tourists driving off road damaged the fragile ecosystem.

Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican representing Wyoming, on Thursday urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to keep the parks open with previously collected fees. The Trump administration did so in 2018 and 2019 in violation of appropriations laws, the congressional watchdog said.

Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said they will tap state funds to ensure visitors can still enjoy the dramatic depths of the Grand Canyon and the soaring red cliffs of Zion Valley, among other parks.

They cited the economic benefits to their states and small communities that depend on tourism.

National parks collectively could lose nearly 1 million visitors daily during a shutdown, and gateway communities could lose as much as $70 million, the conservation association said.

Arizona Lottery funds would help keep the Grand Canyon park open at a basic level, Hobbs has said.

Arizona paid about $64,000 a week during the 35-day shutdown to cover restroom cleaning, trash removal and snow plowing at Grand Canyon. People with permits to hike in the backcountry or raft on the Colorado River could still go, but no new permits were issued.

Hotels and restaurants remained open.

Those who will work in another potential shutdown include emergency services workers at Grand Canyon who protect visitors and the roughly 2,500 people who live within the national park, Grand Canyon spokeswoman Joelle Baird said.

Utah paid some $7,500 daily during the last part of December 2018 to keep Zion, Bryce Canyon and Arches running during a shutdown. The nonprofit Zion Forever Project put up $16,000 to pay a skeleton crew and keep bathrooms and the visitor center open at Zion, which continued drawing several thousand visitors daily.

This year, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis directed the states Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan to operate and protect resources at Rocky Mountain National Park and three others.

In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem was reviewing a shutdowns possible impact on national parks, including Mount Rushmore.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianfortes office didnt say if the state would spend money to keep Glacier or Yellowstone national parks open. Most of Yellowstone is in Wyoming but three of the five entrances are in Montana.

Wyomings Republican Gov. Mark Gordon is awaiting more information from Interior and the White House to better understand the states options, spokesman Michael Pearlman said.

In Washington state, home to Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks, Gov. Jay Inslee has no plans to provide more funding or staff to national parks if theres a shutdown. California Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration said it wont pay to keep national parks open.

___

AP staff writers Ed Komenda in Olympia, Washington; Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana; Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana; Jesse Bedayn in Denver; Tran Nguyen in Sacramento; and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.
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A whale hit and flipped a boat off the coast of Sydney in an absolute freak accident that left a man dead and another injured.

Human deaths caused by whales are rare but there have been instances reported of collisions of the aquatic mammals with boats in the region.

Police officials said two men, aged 61 and 53, were on a fishing trip early Saturday morning at around 6am local time when the mishap occurred. They were pulled unconscious from Botany Bay, off the coast of Sydney. The 61-year-old, however, later succumbed to his injuries.

Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and the 61-year-old was declared deceased, police said in a statement.

The other man was taken to the hospital and is now in a stable condition, police said. A second male, aged 53, was assisted by witnesses. He was transferred to Foreshore Road Boat Ramp and treated by New South Wales (NSW) ambulance paramedics, before being taken to hospital in a stable condition, the police said.

NSW police minister Yasmin Catley confirmed the incident. A whale has been involved, whoever would have thought that that would have occurred, its terribly tragic, she said.

It was an absolute freak accident, NSWs emergency services minister Jihad Dib said.

The 4.8m runabout boat was likely to have struck or been impacted by a whale breaching, causing the boat to tilt, ejecting both men, police said in their statement.

Detectives have commenced an investigation into the incident and a report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner, it said.

Officials have not yet commented on the whale species. Australias extensive coastline hosts 10 large and 20 smaller species of whales.

An incredible number of whales were migrating south past Sydney this year, NSW Maritime executive director Mark Hutchings was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

If you are on the water you need to be 100 metres away from an adult whale, and 300 [metres] if that whale has a calf, he said. The whales arent there to harm anyone, but those interactions can happen.

Australia and neighbouring New Zealand are hot spots for mass whale strandings on beaches as well.

There have been recent reports of whales colliding with boats.

In September last year, five people were killed and another six rescued when a boat capsized in New Zealand after what may have been a collision with a whale.

In May, off the coast of New Yorks Long Beach, a woman captured the terrifying moment a huge humpback whale slammed into the vessel.

In June, eight Danes were rescued when their sailboat capsized in the Pacific Ocean after a collision with one or two whales.

And just a month later, video footage captured the shocking moment a humpback whale burst through the water in Massachusetts and landed face down on an unsuspecting fishermans deck.
Wind farms in Boqueirao da Onca, or Jaguars Ravine, in the Caatinga in northeastern Brazil. Conservationists say companies shouldnt install turbines in long rows, which forces animals to make unnecessarily long detours. Photo: Dado Galdieri / The Wall Street Journal

By Luciana Magalhaes and Samantha Pearson

17 September 2023

JUAZEIRO, Brazil  Weighing more than 100 pounds, big cats have long reigned over this hot and semi-arid region of Brazil, developing tougher paws for the scorched earth and reaching speeds of 50 miles an hour to bring down wild boar and deer.

But nothing could have prepared for them the 150-foot blades now slicing up the deep blue sky above them.

Jaguars and pumas are facing extinction in the Caatinga, Brazils northeastern shrublands, as Europe and China pour investment into wind farms, puncturing the land with vast turbines that are scaring the animals away from the regions scant water sources.

Particularly sensitive to changes to their habitat, the jaguars and pumas abandon their lairs as soon as construction work on the wind farms begins, said Claudia Bueno de Campos, a biologist who helped found the group Friends of the Jaguars and has tracked the regions vanishing feline population. They then roam vast distances across the dusty plains in search of new streams and rivers.

The weakest perish along the way. Others venture closer to villages, where locals have started laying traps to protect their small herds of goats and sheep, often their only form of survival in this impoverished region.

The skull of a puma that was shot after being caught in a trap in the protected area of Boqueirao da Onca, or Jaguars Ravine, in the Caatinga in northeastern Brazil. Photo: Photo: Dado Galdieri / The Wall Street Journal

The wind power industry has doubled its capacity in Brazil since 2018, setting the country up to be the worlds fourth-biggest producer by 2027 behind China, the U.S. and Germany, according to the Brazilian Wind Power Association, an industry body.

But by helping to solve one problemclimate changethe wind industry risks creating others, warn conservationists. Indigenous groups recently staged protests in Brazil over the installation of turbines on lands they say are rightfully theirs, while environmentalists have also raised concerns that wind farms installed on compacted sand dunes on the northern coast could have damaged underground water reservoirs.

In the U.S., the industry has recently hit a series of setbacks, from supply chain issues to spiraling costs.

Wind power is a fantastic proposal, and the northeast certainly has plenty of windbut wind parks must also take into account what is happening here on the ground, said Campos, who also works for the government-run Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity.

Killing jaguars or pumasor most other wild animals in Brazilcarries a jail sentence of up to 18 months, but there is little enforcement, Campos said. Normally, the villagers bury or burn the bodiesthey find a way to make them disappear.

There are now an estimated 30 jaguars and 160 pumas left in Boqueirao da Onca, Jaguars Ravine, a protected area, and their main habitat in the Caatinga, according to Friends of the Jaguars. Since 2009, the number of jaguars in the Caatinga has fallen 40% while the number of pumas has dropped 20%.

While the big cats are still plentiful in the Amazon and Brazils Pantanal wetlands, those in the Caatinga are unique, having adapted to cope with the intense heat. Jaguars have yellowish fur with black spots and are stockier than pumas, which feature a single brown to gray color. Jaguars are more sensitive to changes in their environment, biologists say.

The disappearance of the felines would throw the regions ecosystem out of whack, leading to a proliferation of animals that serve as prey, such as wild boar, deer and armadillos, said Felipe Melo, a researcher at the Federal University of Pernambuco who has studied the impact of the wind power industry in the Caatinga.

As jaguars and pumas have been pushed into closer contact with communities, many villagers mistakenly believe they are growing in numbernot facing extinction, making it harder to persuade locals to save them, said Campos.

My god, the jaguars are everywhere now, said Jose Barros da Silva, 72, who lives in Laje dos Negros, a small community in Jaguars Ravine. He lost five calves last yearworth some $2,500, equivalent to a years minimum wage.

Only last week my son went to check on the herd and one of the cows had claw marks across its back.

Few people in the town admit to having laid traps. But resentment is growing.

One of my goats disappeared three weeks ago, I know it was a jaguar, said Jose Ribeiro Marques, who has been eking out a living in the nearby village of Sao Pedro for the past 20 years.

Its heartbreaking, he said. We raise our animals with such care.

A wind farm in the Caatinga biome in northeastern Brazil. Photo: Ismael A. Silva

Much of Jaguars Ravine falls into an area of environmental protection that prohibits most forms of commercial activity.

Wind turbines are an exception. France is one of the biggest investors in the Caatinga. Utility company Engie has two large wind farms, and French oil major TotalEnergies signed a joint venture in 2022 with the Brazilian firm Casa dos Ventos, which operates in the Caatinga. Spains Elawan also began operating a new wind farm in the nearby town of Sobradinho last year.

Engie and Casa dos Ventos said in statements they had introduced conservation programs, among other efforts, to help preserve the local wildlife. Elawan and TotalEnergies didnt respond to requests for comment.

Chinese groups have also invested heavily, with China General Nuclear Power Corp. operating a wind power plant just south of the conservation area.

Chinese investment in wind and solar power in Latin America and the Caribbean tripled to $3.8 billion between 2018 and 2022, with 55% of that cash going into greenfield sites, according to a recent study by Ipea, Brazils government-run economics research institute.

With 26 gigawatts of capacity, Brazils onshore wind power industry now ranks as the worlds sixth-biggest, accounting for 13% of the countrys electricity. Of all Brazilian power generation, 53% comes from hydroelectric plants.

Elbia Gannoum, head of the Brazilian Wind Power Association, said the wind farms arent to blame for the shrinking population of big cats, noting that regular visits to the otherwise deserted areas by employees of the wind power companies help deter illegal hunting.

Yes, the wind farms force jaguars and pumas into different areas, but after the construction phase, they tend to come back, she said, adding that conservation projects run by the companies should help to boost the big cat population.

Environmentalists disagree.

The abject poverty of the region means that local governments give wind farms the green light with few conditions, they assert.

Melo, the University of Pernambuco researcher, said that raising awareness about the importance of the Caatinga, home to more than 1,000 endemic species, is also a struggle since global attention is more focused on the Amazon.

While Melo and other critics of the industry dont advocate a ban on wind power, they have called for limits on construction activity to reduce disruption. They say companies shouldnt install turbines in long rows, which forces animals to make unnecessarily long detours.

At the edge of Jaguars Ravine in the village of Queixo Dantas, or the Chin of Dantas, people struggling to eke out a living in the dusty red earth see the wind farms as a blessing.

As well as paying local farmers interviewed by The Wall Street Journal as much as $500 a month to erect turbines on their lands, the companies also employed many local men during construction of the sites.

While villagers had hoped for new health clinics or better roads, life has still changed for the better, said Jose Carvalho Batista, citing a new fence the companies had just paid for to protect a local cassava plantation.

They made it possible to live out here.

Brazils Big Cats Under Threat From Wind Farms
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It is over and everything is lost. This is the refrain repeated by Armenian families as they take that final step across the border out of their home of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In just a handful of days more than 100,000 people, almost the entire Armenian population of the breakaway enclave, has fled fearing ethnic persecution at the hands of Azerbaijani forces. The world barely registered it. But this astonishing exodus has vanished a self-declared state that thousands have died fighting for and ended a decades-old bloody chapter of history.

On Saturday, along that dusty mountain road to neighbouring Armenia, a few remaining people limp to safety after enduring days in transit.

Among them is the Tsovinar family who appear bundled in a hatchback littered with bullet holes, with seven relatives crushed in the back. Hasratyan, 48, the mother, crumbles into tears as she tries to make sense of her last 48 hours. The thought she cannot banish is that from this moment forward, she will never again be able to visit the grave of her brother killed in a previous bout of fighting.

He is buried in our village which is now controlled by Azerbaijan. We can never go back, the mother-of-three says, as her teenage girls sob quietly beside her.

We have lost our home, and our homeland. It is an erasing of a people. The world kept silent and handed us over.

She is interrupted by several ambulances racing in the opposite direction towards Nagorno-Karabakhs main city of Stepanakert, or Khankendi, as it is known by the Azerbaijani forces that now control the streets. Their job is to fetch the few remaining Karabakh Armenians who want to leave and have yet to make it out.

Those left are the poorest who have no cars, the disabled and elderly who cant move easily, a first responder calls at us through the window. Then were told thats it.

As the world focused on the United Nations General Assembly, the war in Ukraine and, in the UK, the felling of an iconic Sycamore tree, a decades old war has reignited here unnoticed.

It ultimately heralded the end of Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway Armenian region, that is internationally recognised as being part of Azerbaijan but for several decades has enjoyed de facto independence. It has triggered the largest movement of people in the South Caucasus since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan has vehemently denied instigating ethnic cleansing and has promised to protect Armenians as it works to reintegrate the enclave.

Nagorno-Karabakh: Tearful 16-year-old describes 'bombing' while she was in school

But in the border town of Goris, surrounded by the chaotic arrival of hundreds of refugees, Armenias infrastructure minister says Yerevan was now struggling to work out what to do with tens of thousands of displaced and desperate people.

Simply put this is a modern ethnic cleansing that has been permitted through the guilty silence of the world, minister Gnel Sanosyan tells The Independent, as four new busses of fleeing families arrive behind him.

This is a global shame, a shame for the world. We need the international community to step up and step up now.

The divisions in this part of the world have their roots in centuries-old conflict but the latest iterations of bitter bloodshed erupted during the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh Armenians, who are in the majority in the enclave, demanded the right to autonomy over the 4,400 square kilometre rolling mountainous region that has its own history and dialect. In the early 1990s they won a bloody war that uprooted Azerbaijanis, building a de facto state that wasnt internationally unrecognised.

That is until in 2020. Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, launched a military offensive and took back swathes of territory in a six-week conflict that killed thousands of soldiers and civilians. Russia, which originally supported Armenia but in recent years has grown into a colder ally, brokered a fragile truce and deployed peacekeepers.

But Moscow failed to stop Baku in December, enforcing a 10-month blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh, strangling food, fuel, electricity and water supplies. Then, the international community stood by as Azerbaijan launched a 24-hour military blitz that proved too much for Armenian separatist forces. Outgunned, outnumbered and weakened by the blockade, they agreed to lay down their weapons.

Refugees pick through donated clothes as they were forced to leave everything behind when fleeing Nagorno Karabakh (Bel Trew)

For 30 years the Karabakh authorities had survived pressure from international powerhouses to give up statehood or at least downgrade their aspirations for Nagorno-Karabakh. For 30 years peace plans brokered by countries across the world were tabled and shelved.

And then in a week all hope vanished and the self-declared government agreed to dissolve.

Fearing further shelling and then violent reprisals, as news broke several Karabakh officials including former ministers and separatist commanders, had been arrested by Azerbaijani security forces, people flooded over the border.

At the political level there are discussions about reintegration and peace but with so few left in Nagorno-Karabakh any process would now be futile.

And so now, sleeping in tents on the floors of hotels, restaurants and sometimes the streets of border towns, shellshocked families, with a handful of belongings, are trying to piece their lives together.

Among them is Vardan Tadevosyan, Nagorno-Karabakhs minister of health until the government was effectively dissolved on Thursday. He spent the night camping on the floor of a hotel, and carries only the clothes he is wearing. Exhausted he says he had no idea what the future brings.

For 25 years I have built a rehabilitation centre for people with physical disabilities I had to leave it all behind. You dont know how many people are calling me for support, he says as his phone ringed incessantly in the background throughout the interview.

Armenian border police observe explosions in Nagorno Karabakh as Azerbaijan starts building new mountain roads (Bel Trew)

We all left everything behind. I am very depressed, he repeats, swallowing the sentence with a sigh.

Next to him Artemis, 58, a kindergarten coordinator who has spent 30 years in Steparankert, says the real problems were going to start in the coming weeks when the refugees outstay their temporary accommodation.

The Azerbaijanis said they want to integrate Nagorno-Karabakh but how do you blockade a people for 10 months and then launch a military operation and then ask them to integrate? she asks, as she prepares for a new leg of the journey to the Armenian capital where she hopes to find shelter.

The blockade was part of the ethnic cleansing. This is the only way to get people to flee the land they love. There is no humanity left in the world.

Back in the central square of Goris, where families pick through piles of donated clothes and blankets and aid organisations hand out food, the loudest question is: what next?

A refugee cuddles a teddy after arriving from a two day journey to Goris in Armenia (Bel Trew)

Armenian officials are busy registering families and sending them to shelters in different corners of the country. But there are unanswered queries about long-term accommodation, work and schooling.

I cant really think about it, it hurts too much, says Hasratyans eldest daughter Lilet, 16, trembling in the sunlight as the family starts the registration process.

All I can say to the world is please speak about this and think about us. We are humans, people made of blood, like you and we need your help.
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Poland will find ways to address disagreements with Ukraine without the recent differences impacting its military support, said Natos secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.

The two neighbouring nations have encountered friction in their ties after Poland  that has been one of Ukraines fiercest allies through the course of Russian invasion  decided to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports.

Last week, Poland said it would only carry out previously agreed arms deliveries to Ukraine and choose to focus on rebuilding its own weapons arsenal.

Im expecting and Im confident that Ukraine and Poland will find a way to address those issues without that impacting in a negative way the military support to Ukraine, Mr Stoltenberg said in an interview in Copenhagen on Friday.

The announcement coincided with tensions peaking between the two neighbours after Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said some countries were feigning solidarity by indirectly supporting Russia with a ban on grain imports.

After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, a majority of Ukrainian grain ended up in Europe as the main Black Sea shipping lanes all but closed.

Imports were then blocked by five countries to try and protect EU farmers amid fears the amount of grain would drive down local prices. Poland extended the ban after the European Union-brokered deal expired last week.

On Tuesday, Mr Zelensky repeated his accusation on Eastern European nations backing Russia during his speech at the UN General Assembly.

Poland then summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to its foreign ministry to protest Mr Zelenskys comments. Hours later, Warsaw announced it would no longer be supplying weapons to Ukraine.

We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons, the prime minister said.

Poland has previously sent 320 Soviet-era tanks and 14 MiG-29 fighter jets to the war-torn country.

Mr Morawiecki also issued a warning to Kyiv, saying if they escalate the conflict, additional products will be added to the list of banned imports.

I am warning Ukraines authorities. Because if they are to escalate the conflict like that, we will add additional products to the ban on imports into Poland, he said.

Ukrainian authorities do not understand the degree to which Polands farming industry has been destabilised. We are protecting Polish farmers.

Ukraines other ally Slovakia is also seeing discussions of halting support to Ukraine.

The Nato nation has been a staunch ally of Kyiv and sent military equipment including MiG-29 fighter jets and an S-300 air defence system to its neighbour.

But opposition leader and former prime minister Robert Fico has pledged to end that military support.

Mr Fico is leading polls ahead of Saturdays election.

Whatever new government they will have in Slovakia, we will continue to sit down at Nato meetings, Mr Stoltenberg said, and Im confident that well find ways to continue to provide support  as we have been after every election in this alliance since the war started.
Terrified families fleeing in fear of ethnic cleansing after the collapse of Nagorno-Karabakh are running out of water and fuel during the desperate two-day journey to neighbouring Armenia.

David, an 18-year-old refugee said he feels empty inside after being forced to leave his home.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave of ethnic Armenians surrounded by Azerbaijan.

The area had enjoyed de facto independence for three decades despite being internationally recognised as being part of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan launched a lightning military operation earlier this month to retake the enclave.

More than 90,000 Karabakh Armenians  around three-quarters of the total population  have now left their homes, many leaving behind all their belongings.
In a week where a judge declared that Donald Trump committed a billion dollar fraud, one golden rule shines through: dont be distracted by the circus. While you look at the courts  or the unedifying spectacle of the second Republican debate  Trump has been busy rewriting the rules of American politics yet again in his bid for the White House.

During the 2016 election, I was covering the Republican primaries and found myself in snow-covered Iowa, where  improbably  Trump was due to speak at an evangelical mega-church.

I ran into his son Don Jr there. We got chatting and he said the thing people needed to understand about his father was that he was just a regular blue-collar worker (pregnant pause)  but with a slightly better bank balance. Indeed.
Company has offered training assistance to ensure airports are operational

The DAA said it is prepared to train in Ireland about 200 staff from Ukrainian airports. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The DAA, which operates Dublin and Cork Airports, has pledged to help Ukrainian airports resume operations once the war with Russia ends by providing on-the-ground assistance as well as training Ukrainian staff in Ireland.

DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs met the Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, at Dublin Airport this week as the politician arrived in the capital for the Conference of the Speakers of the EU Parliaments.

Mr Jacobs has also met the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland, Gerasko Larysa, with the aid proposal and hes expected to meet with Ukraines Ministry of Infrastructure soon in order to discuss the offer of assistance.

Its believed that Mr Jacobs has proposed that once the war is over and Ukraine moves to restart its aviation sector, the DAA will send a team of about 50 staff to the country to help the airports there train people for roles including security, airfield operations and other functions. Its believed Mr Jacobs has offered these services on a no-fee basis.

The DAA is also prepared to train about 200 staff from airports in Ukraine in Ireland.

During the summer, Ryanair announced that it will deploy up to 30 aircraft in Ukraine once the war is over and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency deems it safe to fly to and from the country again.

DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs. Photo: Conor McCabe

Ryanair held meetings in July in Kyiv with the Ukraines main airports, Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa in Boryspil International Airport at the invitation of Oleksiy Dubrevskyy, the chief executive of Boryspil international Airport.

Ryanair has committed resuming operations to and from Ukraine within eight weeks of the reopening of Ukraine air space. It said this would result in 600 weekly flights being operated by Ryanair aircraft from the main airports of Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa, connecting these cities to over 20 EU capitals. Ryanair also plans to open daily domestic flights between Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa, as soon as those airports are able to handle them.

Aviation executives from the Ukraine met in Brussels in September with other European counterparts as well as institutional and financial stakeholders to discuss the recovery and redevelopment challenges facing the country following more than 18 months of war.

ACI Europe, a representative body for European airports, said the cost of rebuilding damaged airport infrastructure in Ukraine is currently estimated to be about 200m.
A man has been charged and is due to appear in court this morning following an assault in Dublin city centre on Friday.

The man, aged in his 30s, was arrested yesterday morning in relation to the serious assault of another man on Dawson Street in the early hours of Friday morning.
Six individuals are now currently being detained by investigating gardai at garda stations in the Southern Region

Some of the record seizure of cocaine

An eighth man has been arrested in the ongoing investigation into the record cocaine haul off the Irish coast during the week.

He was arrested earlier today after the 2.2-tonne cocaine shipment was intercepted off the Irish coast in a Defence Forces and garda operation.

Gardai say he has been arrested for alleged organised crime offences contrary to the Criminal Justice Act, 2006.

Six individuals are now currently being detained by investigating gardai at garda stations in the Southern Region.

Last night, two other men appeared in court charged with conspiracy to import drugs in Waterford.

They arrived under armed garda escort to appear before Judge John Cheatle and both arrived into the courtroom wearing grey jumpers and tracksuit bottoms.

The MV Matthew escorted into Cobh

Both were remanded in custody to appear via video link at Wexford District Court on October 2.

Late on Sunday, the trawler on which both men were travelling, the Castlemore, ran aground on a sandbank off the Wexford coast.

A rescue operation was launched with the Rosslare Harbour lifeboat and Coast Guard Rescue 117 helicopter responding.

The rescue operation concluded with the accused being winched from the deck of the trawler onto naval vessel the LE William Butler Yeats.

The operation with the trawler was followed by a flurry of military activity throughout Monday and Tuesday, culminating in the elite Army Ranger Wing storming a bulk cargo vessel, the MV Matthew off the Cork Coast

The 157 million worth of cocaine that had been uncovered on board the cargo vessel has been described by authorities as the biggest drug seizure in the history of the state.

The entire haul will be incinerated once all prosecutions arising from it are concluded.

The revelation came as initial tests indicated the cocaine seized from the 28,000-tonne mother ship off Co Cork originated in Colombia.

Further tests are under way to determine the purity of the cocaine, amid estimates that a high purity could inflate the street value of the seizure from an original 157m by several multiples.

The State will now consider a forfeiture notice against the 9.5m freighter, which could then be auctioned off, with the entire proceeds going to the Exchequer.

If the MV Matthew haul approaches the purity of previous seizures such as those in Dunlough Bay in 2007 or the Makayabella haul in 2014, the overall street value of the consignment could soar to well over 500m.

Samples from the haul are undergoing analysis at the State Laboratory to determine its purity and exact point of origin.

An attempt had been made to burn the consignment on board the MV Matthew in the minutes before it was detained at gunpoint.

Garda sources believe the cocaine was sourced from the Medellin area of Colombia by a cartel supplying European drug gangs.

The consignment is thought to have been destined for the Irish, UK, Spanish and possibly French markets.

Gardai are now liaising with police in the UAE, China, the UK, Spain and the Caribbean over the 22-year-old MV Matthew, which operated as the mother ship for cocaine shipments from South America to Europe.

The vessel, which was previously known as the MV Honmon, is now being examined by forensic and technical experts at anchor in Cork Harbour after it was interdicted by the Naval Service.

The cocaine was transported under armed guard on Wednesday evening to a secure storage facility in Dublin.

Garda sources warned that the search of the vessel was likely to take several more days and might involve interior bulkheads being dismantled to ensure any potential hidden compartments are located.

The freighter is moored at Marino Point, an isolated and secure anchorage.

On Tuesday, a Naval Service vessel had to fire across its bow as it headed for international waters and away from the Cork coast.

It was then detained after a unit of the Army Ranger Wing abseiled from an Air Corps helicopter on to the deck and directed its crew to follow Naval Service instructions.

Gardai and naval officials are working with Interpol and Europol amid concerns the freighter was also making drug shipments to other European countries.

It is owned via a shelf company in China linked to the Marshall Islands and is managed by a marine operations firm based in the UAE.

One source noted it is the only vessel operated by that firm. It is registered in Panama, but has spent part of recent months operating off South America and the Caribbean.

Maritime officials are trying to pinpoint the precise movements of the freighter in the Caribbean and why it apparently loitered for nearly two weeks off the Canary Islands.

The ship left waters off Venezuela on August 18.

A source said: That is significant because the seas around Venezuela are usually where the Colombian cartels load up their mother ships. Three of the previous four major Irish drug shipments had connections to those waters.

After leaving Venezuelan waters, it was last reported at Curacao in the Caribbean.

The freighter crossed the Atlantic and then spent over a week near the Canaries. It then skirted Spain and France before heading towards Ireland and the UK, finally entering Irish waters off the Cork coast.

It issued an emergency alert to the Irish authorities indicating its captain had been injured in a serious fall on board and needed medical attention.

A successful airlift took the injured crewman to an Irish hospital where he is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

In the 48 hours before it was detained, the freighter also signalled that it was having engine trouble and needed maintenance work in Cork.

However, it then abruptly headed for international waters on Monday evening.

This is believed to have happened after it was learnt that the trawler with which it was expected to rendezvous had run aground on a sandbank off Co Wexford, prompting a rescue operation on Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday.
A total of 113 garda members are currently suspended from duty, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has revealed.

The figures apply up until August 8 last and are the most up to date available.

Of these, 44 members were suspended between January 1 and December 31 last year.

But she also confirmed that at the end of July last, 742 garda members were recorded on sick leave of which 213 were injured in the line of duty.

Out of these, 496 are listed as long term sick and have been off work for 28 days or longer. This group includes 206 of the injured members.

She said ordinary illness days within the force have decreased by 1.83pc if you compare July 2023 with the same month last year.

The Minister gave no data as to how long various gardai had been off on suspension and what they were alleged to have done wrong.

Helen McEntee also disclosed that a new recruitment campaign for the Garda Reserve will be launched in the first quarter of next year.

She said: "I look forward to working with the Garda Commissioner to increase the number of members in the Reserve and in realising its full potential as a resource to policing and in providing a pathway to full time membership of An Garda Siochana including from minority communities.

"A priority is a new recruitment campaign which is expected to be held in the first quarter of 2024 and on foot of which new reservists will be appointed.

"I understand that the campaign will target a broad and inclusive range of candidates in keeping with the Reserve's role as a visible form of community engagement."

The Minister was responding to a series of parliamentary questions from Fianna Fail backbencher Deputy Jim O'Callaghan.
More than a third of highly-paid jobs advertised for hospital consultants last year went unfilled with no applicants for some posts, it emerged today.

Head of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA)Martin Varley told the organisations annual conference the severity and extent of the recruitment crisis is demonstrated by the fact that no appointments were made in 86 out of 252 completed competitions run by the Public Appointments Service in 2022- or 34pc of competitions.

He added: There were no applicants for eight consultant posts advertised, only one applicant for 65 posts and just two for a further 55 advertised.

Mr Varley said the difficulties in filling posts is continuing this year as patient waiting lists continue to grow.

Up to June 13 this year, only 13 of the 31 posts advertised and completed up until that date had been filled, or 42pc of the total, he told the meeting in Dublin

In June, over 900 hospital consultant posts were without a permanent doctor.

Last Spring, a new hospital contract worth nearly 300,000 a year in salary and allowances to consultants was introduced but they can only work in the public system and agree to work rosters covering evenings and Saturdays.

The HSE said earlier this week it was very happy with the response so far.

As of September 27 last, 737 consultants have signed up to the new consultants contract.184 of these were new entrants while 553 existing consultants have opted to convert to the new contract.

However, President of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association Prof Rob Landers said the uptake was low and running at around 10pc so far.

The consultants organisation continue to be critical of some aspects of the new contract.

Earlier Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Labour leader Ivan Bacik told the gathering they wanted to see universal healthcare which would give the public free care at point of access.

Ms McDonald was questioned by moderator Dearbhail McDonald, journalist and broadcaster on where she stood on public and private medicine.

Many of the consultants at the conference continue to be on previous contracts allowing them to combine public work for which they get a salary and top it up with lucrative private fees.

The Sinn Fein leader said she would not have altered the new public-only contract despite the objections from consultants organisations that it was introduced without agreement.

She said Sinn Fein aimed to create an Irish NHS if elected to government but would not interfere with doctors existing private practice agreements and she believed there was scope for collaboration between public and private healthcare.

If the public health system was properly resourced and funded it would not stand in the way of developments in the private sector, she told the moderator.

Ms Bacik said she would also back the new public-only contract and the goal of her party was universal healthcare.

She was well aware that existing agreements with hospital consultants, who can work in the public and private sector, could not be broken.

She criticised the level of outsourcing by the HSE of public healthcare to the private sector.

Ms Bacik said her party, in the previous coalition government, was the first to introduce free GP care for children under six
Body says some providers receiving same rates since 2014

Stella Kelleher, from Footprints preschool in Dublin, at a protest by the Federation of Early Childhood Providers over Government funding at Leinster House, Dublin. Photo: Collins Photos

Childrens Minister Roderic OGorman has no plans to lift a freeze on creche fees as providers threaten three more days of strikes.

Sources close to the minister say he is not considering ending the pause on parents costs, which is a key condition of Government funding for the sector.

In a statement to the Irish Independent, Mr OGorman said the freeze is a key element of his plan to reduce parents costs.

The Federation of Early Childhood Providers (FECP) is planning three more days of pre-school and creche closures before Christmas if Budget funding does not meet its expectations.

This follows a major protest by the group outside Leinster House during the week.

The proposed strikes in which some childcare providers would once again shut their doors are due to happen on October 26, November 9 and December 7.

I want to reduce the cost of childcare for parents, said Mr OGorman in a statement to the Irish Independent.

Freezing fees, and ensuring parents get the full benefit of the National Childcare Scheme, is key to that.

In return for giving parents that certainty on fees, services are receiving an additional 287m in direct State investment. I want to increase investment in services, but this cannot be done at a cost to parents.

Separately, the minister has dropped his pledge to cut childcare fees by an average 25pc in the Budget.

Elaine Dunne, chairperson of the FECP, said the group is not looking for the freeze on fees to be lifted across the board. She said it wants the freeze to end for those whose fees are stuck at pre-2021 levels.

Ms Dunne said the group did not extend a three-day strike this week into yesterday, even though such a move had been considered.

It opted not to extend the strike because it is in talks with Government politicians in relation to a potential resolution to the dispute.

We dont want to be back out on the streets and Im sure the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and minister dont want it either, she said.

Ms Dunne added that providers who care for 50 children or less are in serious trouble.

She said the group never asked for the fee freeze to be lifted across the board.

Its not a level playing field, she said. It should be lifted for anyone who froze fees before 2021 and are stuck at 2017 or 2014 rates.

Weve heard of one service that has not increased rates since 2010. We are just asking for fairness.

Meanwhile, Siptu is calling on childcare employers to restart pay talks.

The union says employers made an unacceptable proposal for a 13.65-per-hour rate for early-years educators at a Joint Labour Committee this week.

Siptu has consistently said that a minimum rate of 13.65 is unacceptable to our members and indeed to many employers, said Darragh OConnor, the unions head of strategic organising.

He said low pay in the profession has led to a major staffing crisis and will only get worse if this rate of pay is introduced.

Diane Jackson, Siptu sector organiser, said the Department of Children allocated 207m to childcare providers to support a pay deal in Budget 2022.

She added that the cost of implementing new pay rates that year was a small proportion of the money provided.

Yet they are refusing to transfer this state investment to staff through further improvements in the minimum pay rates. It is absolutely intolerable, said Ms Jackson.
Heavy rainfall caused catastrophic flooding in Derna, northeastern Libya, on 11 September 2023. Photo: AFP / Getty Images

By Laura Paddison

19 September 2023

(CNN)  The deadly rainfall which caused catastrophic flooding and destruction in Libya, as well as other parts of the Mediterranean, this month was made much more likely and worse by the human-caused climate crisis, in addition to other human factors, according to a new scientific analysis [Interplay of climate change-exacerbated rainfall, exposure and vulnerability led to widespread impacts in the Mediterranean region Des].

The World Weather Attribution initiative  a team of scientists that analyze the role of climate change in the aftermath of extreme weather events  found planet-warming pollution made the deadly rainfall in Libya up to 50 times more likely to occur and 50% worse. They also found the extreme rainfall that hit Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria was made up to 10 times more likely.

Destruction from the rainfall was worsened by a tangle of other factors, including inadequate infrastructure and building in flood-prone areas, according to the analysis published Tuesday.

A man carries a girl and a dog in the flooded village of Palamas near the city of Karditsa, central Greece, on 8 September 2023. Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP / Getty Images

Extreme rainfall has swept across large parts of the Mediterranean region since the start of the month.

On 3 September 2023, Spain saw huge amounts of rain over the course of just a few hours, leading to floods which killed at least six people. Then Storm Daniel formed, causing severe flooding over four days in Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

At least 17 people died in Greece and large stretches of farmland in the central part of the country were left under water, causing damage experts say could take years to recover from. Storm Daniel also caused at least seven deaths in Turkey and four in Bulgaria.

By far the most catastrophic impacts, however, were in Libya.

Gaining energy from the unusually warm waters of the Mediterranean, Storm Daniel dumped record amounts of rainfall in parts of the countrys northeast, leading to the collapse of two dams and resulting in a 7-meter (23-foot) wave of water slamming into the city of Derna, sweeping people and buildings into the sea.

Official estimates suggest around 4,000 people were killed, while more than 10,000 remain missing.

Aerial view of destroyed houses in the city of Derna on 16 September 2023, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya. Photo: Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

To understand the impact of climate change on the likelihood and intensity of this heavy rainfall, WWA scientists analyzed climate data as well as climate models, which allow them to compare todays climate  around 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels  to a world without climate change.

They found in Libya, not only did climate change make the extreme rainfall up to 50 times more likely, it also made it up to 50% more intense.

An event as severe as the one the country experienced is unusual even in todays warmer climate, the report found, and can be expected around once in every 600 years.

For Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria, climate change made the rainfall up to 10 times more likely and up to 40% heavier, the analysis found.

The kind of extreme rainfall this region experienced is likely to happen around once every 10 years, according to the report. Although for central Greece, which bore the brunt of the destruction between the three countries, it is only expected to happen around once in every 80 to 250 years.

Aerial view of a collapsed bridge near the Pinios River Delta on the coast of Larissa, Greece, ten days after Storm Daniel, on 14 September 2023. Photo: Konstantinos Tsakalidis / SOOC / AFP / Getty Images

The WWA scientists acknowledged that there remain uncertainties with the findings. It is not possible to definitively rule out the possibility the climate crisis had no impact on the floods, the report authors said. But, they added, there are multiple reasons we can be confident that climate change did make the events more likely.

Scientific research has long linked climate change to more intense rainfall. Studies have found that for every 1 degree Celsius of warming, the air can hold around 7% more moisture.

What united many of the places the analysis focused on was the collision of the climate crisis and high levels of vulnerability, the report found. In central Greece, many communities live in flood-prone areas. In Libya, a lethal cocktail of aging, poorly-maintained infrastructure, a lack of warnings and deep political fractures turned a crisis into a humanitarian catastrophe.

Through these events we are already seeing how climate change and human factors can combine to create compounding and cascading impacts, Maja Vahlberg, of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre and a report author, said on a call with reporters.

A view of devastation in disaster zones after the floods caused by the Storm Daniel ravaged the region in Derna, Libya on Tuesday, 12 September 2023. Photo: Abdullah Mohammed Bonja / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

Steps can be taken to mitigate the risk, according to the report, including better early warning systems and evacuation plans.

Reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience to all types of extreme weather is paramount for saving lives, Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, at Imperial College London, said in a statement.

Karsten Haustein, a climate researcher at Leipzig University in Germany who was not involved in the study, said the findings show how rare these extreme rainfall events would have been in a world without climate change.

Its a remarkable result, he told CNN.

Jasper Knight, a geoscientist at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, also not involved in the study, said that the results shine a light on how climate change is affecting extreme events in the Mediterranean, a region which tends not to receive much attention.

But, he told CNN, we also need more in-depth analysis based on longer and more accurate records.

Horrific Libya flooding made up to 50 times more likely by planet-warming pollution, scientists find
Statutory inquiry may be needed to get to the truth

Amanda Coughlan-Santry said that parents are still not trusting of the system that has failed our children. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

Parents groups who have suffered the distress of seeing some of their children on spinal surgery lists for so long that they are now inoperable have vowed to fight for a hard-hitting inquiry into Temple Street Hospital and other orthopaedic services.

Parents in the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group and Scoliosis Advocacy Network met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and HSE chief Bernard Gloster for two hours.

They warned a full statutory inquiry may be necessary to get to the truth around the care of children on spinal surgery lists as well as the running of the hospitals by Childrens Hospitals Ireland (CHI).

Following the meeting, the parents said they were offered the possibility of meeting with head of the review group, Liverpool consultant Selvadurai Nayagam, who will investigate the issues of concern arising out of the revelations that 19 children with spina bifida had serious post-surgery complications in Temple Street Hospital after being operated on by one consultant, including one death.

They want to have greater control of the terms of reference of the review, saying it should not be in the hands of the HSE or CHI.

More talks are to take place including with Mr Gloster. However, Amanda Coughlan-Santry, co-lead of the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group, said they remained extremely cautious and warned: We are still not trusting of the system that has failed our children.

She said parents directly involved in the review would not give their consent to their childrens medical files being accessed for the review unless they were satisfied with the terms of reference.

The two groups have called for a taskforce to be set up to oversee orthopaedic surgery in the childrens hospitals.

In a statement, the Taoiseach, Health Minister and HSE chief said after the meeting, they had an open and honest exchange of views with the parents who set out their serious concerns regarding orthopaedic services. All sides said they would reflect on the matters discussed.

At a press conference yesterday, the parents groups told how their children have been failed.

Una Keightley, co-lead of the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group, said in late 2021, the family had to make the decision to consent to our child Sean to have an extensive orthopaedic operation as a day case.

The operation was desperately needed to further prevent deterioration. I had to place my half-sedated, heavily medicated, in-pain child across the back seat of the car and drive him home.

Ms Coughlan-Santry told how her son TJ (18) was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, and spent four years on the Crumlin list.

Unfortunately, in 2017 he became inoperable and that is a situation our family lives with every day, she said.

Michelle Long, of the Scoliosis Advocacy Network, said her son Tommy went from being a happy, active boy to requiring the use of a wheelchair, having no energy and living with pain. His surgery eventually had to be carried out by two surgeons.

Claire Cahill, of the Scoliosis Advocacy Network, said her son Darraghs delay was highlighted on RTE in 2017 and they were promised change, but now, 314 children are currently waiting on a spinal surgery, living in pain, just like my son did, many having to leave school early due to tiredness  just like my son did.
SUPPORT for Sinn Fein has increased off the back of Mary Lou McDonalds return to the political front line after recovery from surgery over the summer.

The latest Ireland Thinks poll for the Sunday Independent shows Sinn Fein has solidified its position as the most popular party in the country on 35 per cent, up two points on the last poll.

The main opposition party is now 16 points ahead of Fine Gael whose support has fallen back to 19pc, down two, while Fianna Fail has also dropped back to 17pc, down one.

Bucking the trend of the Coalition the Green Party has increased its support to 4pc, up two.

There has also been a notable swing in the publics preferences for the next Government when asked to choose between the current Coalition and a government involving Sinn Fein.

Support for the re-election of the Coalition has fallen three points to 37 per cent while support for a Sinn Fein-led government excluding Fine Gael and Fianna Fail has increased by three points to 45pc.

In another forced choice, 43 per cent of voters - up one - opted for a Sinn Fein-Fianna Fail coalition ahead of 36 per cent who opted for the current coalition to be reelected, a fall of two percentage points on the last poll.

Elsewhere, the Social Democrats have dropped one point to 5 per cent, Labour is unchanged on 3 per cent, and Solidarity People Before Profit is on 2 per cent, down one. Aontu is on 3pc, up one, while Independents and Others are on 12pc, up two.

Among the party leaders, Fianna Fails Micheal Martin remains the most popular in the country and is unchanged on 43pc approval rating.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald pictured in April (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mary Lou McDonald (42pc, up one) has moved ahead of Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns (41pc, no change)

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is on 37pc, up one, while Labour leader Ivana Bacik is on 31pc, up one.

Aontu leader Peadar Toibin is unchanged on 28pc, while Green Party leader Eamon Ryans approval rating has risen by three points to 21pc - but he remains the most unpopular of the six main party leaders.

The poll was taken on September 28 and 29 among a sample size of 1,196 people wit ha margin of error of 2.9pc
Tom Niland, the Sligo farmer who has remained on life support since a violent incident at his home 18 months ago, has died.

The 74-year-old passed away at Sligo University Hospital at 6:15 this morning.

Due to injuries he sustained during the incident on January 18, 2022, he had been on a ventilator in ICU, unable to move or talk and paralysed from the neck down.

Michael Walsh, who has maintained a vigil by his bedside in his final days, paid tribute to his cousin today.

"Tom was a great man and the good memories we have of him are coming back now.

He was suffering so much this past while and all along I cant feel anything but relief for him now.

I was with him the past few nights I stayed overnight. He had a lot of shallow breathing and it went on for a while because he had a strong heart.

Then finally he took his last breath. And I checked his pulse. I felt he was gone.

A nurse came in and I told her I thought he was gone and then they all came in and confirmed it.

Everybody has been incredibly kind. And the nurses were always wonderful."

Three men are currently before the courts in relation to the violent incident at Tom Nilands home.

Francis Harman, 55, of Nephin Court, Killala Road, Ballina, Co Mayo, John Clarke, 34, of Carrowkelly, Ballina, Co Mayo and John Irving, 29, of Shanwar, Foxford, Co Mayo, are all charged with aggravated burglary with a knife, assault causing serious harm and false imprisonment of Tom Niland at Doonflynn, Skreen on January 18 2022.

Harmon and Clarke both pleaded guilty to the charge of assault causing serious harm at a hearing in Dublin on 25 May and were remanded in custody on the other two charges to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court next week.

Irving, who has pleaded not guilty, is listed for a full trial on all three charges next Tuesday, October 3, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
A whole of organisation examination, including doctors battle for theatre time, facilities and basic equipment should be part of the external review of Temple St Hospital, a consultants organisation said today.

The call was made at the annual conference of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) in Dublin.

It needs to have wide terms of reference and look at systemic problems  a whole of organisation investigation, IHCA President Prof Rob Landers said.

The external review, to be headed by a consultant from Liverpool, follows revelations that nineteen children with spina bifida who were operated on in Temple St Hospital suffered serious post operative complications and one child died.

It also emerged that non-medical devices, which were unlicensed were implanted in three children.

Prof Landers said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly need to take firm control and make the necessary adjustments to ensure the external review is systemic in nature, with the authority to see any documentation and evidence available. It cannot in effect be allowed to report to itself.

Scoliosis patients and their families who, for decades have had to battle the system find themselves having to do so again.

The battle many have to go through in healthcare is real. For hospital consultants, its a battle for theatre time, facilities and basic equipment. A battle with antiquated systems. A battle against the impacts of later patient presentations leading to increased complexity and often a battle to be heard.

It is fundamental that this review is systemic in nature because what it concludes and ultimately recommends will influence how all hospitals approach complex surgeries, innovation, risk evaluation and resourcing into the future.

The cultural and governing environment in which healthcare professionals function is critical to patient outcomes. When we are dealing with serious, highly complex surgery, it matters even more.

He said that for too long consultants have been urging the Government to implement measures aimed at cutting waiting lists and filling the over 900 vacant consultant posts.

Funding of 4 bn must be allocated in Budget 2024 to build and open essential additional hospital beds, theatres, diagnostics, and other facilities already announced by the Minister for Health, he said.

Justifiable concerns have been raised regarding both the terms of reference and who the review is ultimately reporting to and that it is not too late to allay these concerns, he added.

Among those speaking at the conference on their plans for the health service are Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou Mc Donald and Labour leader Ivan Bacik.

.
In their first impeachment hearing, Republicans sought to smear US president Joe Biden with totally debunked claims straight out of 2019.

This is an impeachment inquiry looking for a reason to exist. After six hours of grasping at straws and, in some cases, fabricating evidence, Republican insiders were privately admitting to reporters this was an unmitigated disaster.
The project saw major delays after the Department of Education initially acquired a site branded wholly unsuitable

A design team has officially been appointed for the construction of two new schools in Wexford town, after debacle left the Department of Education red-faced having initially acquired a site branded as wholly unsuitable.

The departments acquisition of a 16-acre site in Clonard back in 2020 raised a few eyebrows among officials in Wexford County Council, who had always maintained the site was completely unfeasible for the provision of an Educate Together Primary School and a 1,000 pupil replacement for Selskar College.

Speaking at the time, a senior source within Wexford County Council said: "We had no consultation on the bigger site for the two schools. We wouldve known damn well that the site wasnt appropriate for a development of that size.

Wexford County Council would go on to save the departments blushes, by acquiring a site of nearly 55 acres in Killeens at a cost of 7.5 million and a deal was agreed in principle for the local authority to take the unsuitable lands off the departments hands, albeit for a fraction of the price initially paid.

All this was a source of massive frustration for the schools involved, but it finally seems that theres light at the end of the tunnel as professional design teams have now been appointed to the project at Ballynagee, Killeens.

The confirmation came from Fianna Fail Minister of State James Browne, who is also the Chairperson of the board of management at Wexford Educate Together.

Works are continuing apace, he said. As Chairperson of the Wexford Educate Together Board of Management, I have been working closely with school management to advance our schools development.

"The professional design teams for these schools have now been approved by the Department of Education. I want to commend the staff of both schools as well as the WWETB for their work in advancing these school development projects. I will continue to work with my Government colleagues to ensure the speedy delivery of these new schools.

Meanwhile, the financial outlay on the unsuitable 16 acre site or the potential cost of the blunder has yet to be revealed. But Chair of the Oireachtas Education Committee and Wexford TD Paul Kehoe has called on Minister for Education Norma Foley to publish the incurred costs, stating a lot of mistakes were made by her department.
The ASL Safety and Training Group has received approval for the delivery of STCW 95 Marine Training Programmes, which they will provide from their Arklow base.

The ASL Safety and Training Group has received approval in recent weeks for the delivery of STCW 95 Marine Training Programmes from the Department of the Marine and Marine Survey Office, which they will provide from their Arklow base.

The addition of these programmes continues ASLs investment and innovation in this area, and they will continue to add further programmes over the next few years.

These programmes will be important as Irelands burgeoning offshore wind and marine industry continues on an upward growth trajectory.

Speaking about the approval, Mark Corcoran, MD at ASL Group, said: Following a lengthy approval process, we are delighted to have these programmes available from our centres.

We are now the only location on Irelands East Coast providing these marine programmes. We will be continuing our investment in marine training and will have further announcements as the approvals come through.

Further information on these programmes and what ASL do can be obtained by calling 01/5312455 or 040233505 or online at aslsafety.com
Alison Kenny, Olivia McEvoy, Annabelle Finnerty and Izzy Richardson, who joined students from twenty-five other schools in the Dublin diocese on an annual pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Four sixth year students from Colaiste Chill Mhantain joined 25 other schools in the Dublin Diocese as they set off on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Izzy Richardson, Olivia McEvoy, Alison Kenny, and Annabelle Finnerty were joined by religious education teacher Ms Elaine Lyons.

The students were volunteering to assist sick and elderly pilgrims.

Unfortunately, their flight out was cancelled after a long wait at the airport, so they helped out before returning to Dublin Airport the next day.

On their first day in Lourdes, the girls were assigned to reception, where they helped the pilgrims put on sun cream in the sweltering heat or wrapped blankets around the colder pilgrims as they left the hospital wards to venture outdoors. The girls were also involved in a candlelit procession and vigil held later that evening.

The students rose early on the Sunday, spending the day working as hotel support, collecting pilgrims from their hotels, bringing them to the youth mass and returning them safely.

They also attended the medal ceremony, with Olivia, Izzy and Annabelle all carrying gifts to the altar. The girls also met helpers who have been coming on the pilgrimage for years, with Izzys aunt volunteering for the past 53 years.

On their final day, the students attended a farewell mass in St Bernadettes Church, led by Archbishop Dermot Farrell.

At the pilgrims farewell party in the hospital, some beautiful renditions of songs, such as 'The Rare Old Times' and 'Grace', were performed. The pilgrims played instruments, told stories and said some prayers as the students mingled and said their goodbyes to the people at the heart of the pilgrimage.
Gok Wan has revealed that he met the late Sir Michael Gambon in hospital many years ago and said it was one of the greatest experiences of his life.

It was recently announced that stage and film titan Sir Michael, who was known for playing Professor Albus Dumbledore in six of the Harry Potter movies, had died aged 82.

Following news of his death, celebrities paid tribute to the actor, including fellow Potter star Daniel Radcliffe who said Sir Michael was one of the most brilliant, effortless actors.

Sir Michael Gambon who died aged 82 (Ian West/PA)

Fashion consultant and TV personality Wan (49) also paid tribute to the star and said he was one of the biggest forces he had ever met.

Recalling the time he met the actor in hospital, Wan wrote on his Instagram page on Saturday: Many years ago I was poorly and was admitted into hospital for a couple of weeks.

It was genuinely one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Not because I was sick and was being made better but, because Michael Gambon just happened to be in the room next to mine.

After introducing myself to him and him to me, in a rather Downton Abbey fashion, we then went on to spend almost two weeks together.

Gok Wan has paid tribute to Sir Michael Gambon (Ian West/PA)

He was the greatest storyteller I had ever met. We laughed, sat in silence and listened to Classic FM and my entire heart fell for this mighty man.

When we were discharged I went to see Michael in a show in the West End.

Afterwards we went to dinner where he continued to unpack his suitcase of stories.

His presence on stage, on screen and in real life was enormous, satisfyingly overwhelming.

He was one of the biggest forces I have ever met and lucky enough to spend time with.

RIP my hospital hero I bet you are telling your fabulous stories to the angels  dont leave anything out, they are just too delicious!

Sir Michael, who was born in Dublin, appeared in many films and TV series and one of his most recognisable roles was Philip Marlow in Dennis Potters The Singing Detective in 1986.

The actor also had an illustrious theatre career which included appearances in Alan Ayckbourns The Norman Conquests and Nicholas Hytners National Theatre production of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2.
Wild Youths Conor ODonohoe: I think its in everyones best interests that I put my Eurovision gold jumpsuit in the bin

The singer-songwriter on Eurovision, his late mum and the advice he got from The Scripts Mark Sheehan

Wild Youth's Conor O'Donohoe. Picture: Mollie McKay

Bairbre Power Sat 30 Sep 2023 at 03:30

Born and educated in Dublin, Conor ODonohoe went to music college at BIMM but left after two weeks to become a full-time musician. He was in bands before co-founding Wild Youth, who represented Ireland in Eurovision 2023.
Number of generic extinctions per century among in different classes of vertebrates. The low number of reptiles and amphibia, which underestimate the magnitude of extinction pattern, is probably the result of the lack of information in earlier centuries, where very few species had been described. The dotted line represents the background extinction rate. Graphic: Ceballos and Ehrlich, 2023 / PNAS

By Sean Cummings

18 September 2023

(Stanford News)  The passenger pigeon. The Tasmanian tiger. The Baiji, or Yangtze River dolphin. These rank among the best-known recent victims of what many scientists have declared the sixth mass extinction, as human actions are wiping out vertebrate animal species hundreds of times faster than they would otherwise disappear.

Yet, a recent analysis from Stanford University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows the crisis may run even deeper. Each of the three species above was also the last member of its genus, the higher category into which taxonomists sort species. And they arent alone.

Up to now, public and scientific interest has focused on extinctions of species. But in their new study, Gerardo Ceballos, senior researcher at the Institute of Ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Paul Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Emeritus, in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences, have found that entire genera (the plural of genus) are vanishing as well, in what they call a mutilation of the tree of life.

In the long term, were putting a big dent in the evolution of life on the planet, Ceballos said. But also, in this century, what were doing to the tree of life will cause a lot of suffering for humanity.

What were losing are our only known living companions in the entire universe, said Ehrlich, who is also a senior fellow, emeritus, by courtesy, at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

Illustration of Thylacinus cynocephalus from John Goulds The Mammals of Australia. This genus, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, was hunted to extinction by humans. Graphic: Henry Constantine Richter and John Gould / Public domain



A biological annihilation

Information on species conservation statuses from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Birdlife International, and other databases has improved in recent years, which allowed Ceballos and Ehrlich to assess extinction at the genus level. Drawing from those sources, the duo examined 5,400 genera of land-dwelling vertebrate animals, encompassing 34,600 species.

Seventy-three genera of land-dwelling vertebrates, Ceballos and Ehrlich found, have gone extinct since 1500 AD. Birds suffered the heaviest losses with 44 genus extinctions, followed in order by mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.

Based on the historic genus extinction rate among mammals  estimated for the authors by Anthony Barnosky, professor emeritus of integrative biology at UC Berkeley  the current rate of vertebrate genus extinction exceeds that of the last million years by 35 times. This means that, without human influence, Earth would likely have lost only two genera during that time. In five centuries, human actions have triggered a surge of genus extinctions that would otherwise have taken 18,000 years to accumulate  what the paper calls a biological annihilation.

As scientists, we have to be careful not to be alarmist, Ceballos acknowledged  but the gravity of the findings in this case, he explained, called for more powerful language than usual. We would be unethical not to explain the magnitude of the problem, since we and other scientists are alarmed.

Patterns of distribution of extinct and extant land vertebrate genera. Most genera and monotypic ones are concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions of all continents. Patterns of distribution of extinction and extinction risk are different, showing some temperate regions such as Eastern US as concentration hotspots. (A) Total genera; (B) Monotypic genera; (C) Extinct genera and species; (D) Endangered (CR, EN, VU) genera. Graphic: Ceballos and Ehrlich, 2023 / PNAS

Next-level loss, next-level consequences

On many levels, genus extinctions hit harder than species extinctions.

When a species dies out, Ceballos explained, other species in its genus can often fill at least part of its role in the ecosystem. And because those species carry much of their extinct cousins genetic material, they also retain much of its evolutionary potential. 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, Ceballos said, 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. Ceballos and Ehrlich 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, Ehrlich pointed out.

Number of years that would have taken for vertebrate genera to become extinct under the background extinction rate prevailing in the last million years. The number of years for all extinct vertebrate genera is 18,000 y. Reptiles and amphibians have fewer extinct genera, so their values are much smaller that mammals and birds. Graphic: Ceballos and Ehrlich, 2023 / PNAS

A crucial, and still absent, response

To prevent further extinctions and resulting societal crises, Ceballos and Ehrlich are calling for immediate political, economic, and social action on unprecedented scales.

Increased conservation efforts should prioritize the tropics, they noted, since tropical regions have the highest concentration of both genus extinctions and genera with only one remaining species. The pair 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, the authors said.

The idea that you can continue those things and save biodiversity is insane, Ehrlich added. Its like sitting on a limb and sawing it off at the same time.

Contact

Taylor Kubota, Stanford News Service: tkubota@stanford.edu

Study finds human-driven mass extinction is eliminating entire branches of the tree of life

Mutilation of the tree of life via mass extinction of animal genera

ABSTRACT: Mass extinctions during the past 500 million y rapidly removed branches from the phylogenetic tree of life and required millions of years for evolution to generate functional replacements for the extinct (EX) organisms. Here we show, by examining 5,400 vertebrate genera (excluding fishes) comprising 34,600 species, that 73 genera became EX since 1500 AD. Beyond any doubt, the human-driven sixth mass extinction is more severe than previously assessed and is rapidly accelerating. The current generic extinction rates are 35 times higher than expected background rates prevailing in the last million years under the absence of human impacts. The genera lost in the last five centuries would have taken some 18,000 y to vanish in the absence of human beings. 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. If all now-endangered genera were to vanish by 2,100, 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 y to become EX in the absence of humans. 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. Immediate political, economic, and social efforts of an unprecedented scale are essential if we are to prevent these extinctions and their societal impacts.

SIGNIFICANCE: We are in the sixth mass extinction event. Unlike the previous five, this one is caused by the overgrowth of a single species, Homo sapiens. Although the episode is often viewed as an unusually fast (in evolutionary time) loss of species, it is much more threatening, because beyond that loss, it is causing rapid mutilation of the tree of life, where entire branches (collections of species, genera, families, and so on) and the functions they perform are being lost. It is changing the trajectory of evolution globally and destroying the conditions that make human life possible. It is an irreversible threat to the persistence of civilization and the livability of future environments for H. sapiens. Instant corrective actions are required.

Mutilation of the tree of life via mass extinction of animal genera
Actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox during a Turning Point UK protest outside the Honor Oak pub in Forest Hill, south London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Laurence Fox said he was unsure if he would return to GB News after his on-air comments about a female journalist was criticised by the channels boss.
Vladimir Putin puts former Wagner officer Andrei Troshev in charge of volunteer fighters

Future of private army has been uncertain since the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky takes part in a commemoration ceremony for the victims of Babyn Yar one of the biggest single massacres of Jews during the Holocaust, in Kyiv yesterday. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Roland Oliphant Telegraph.co.uk Sat 30 Sep 2023 at 03:30







Vladimir Putin has tasked a former Wagner commander with overseeing volunteer fighters in Ukraine following a first public meeting between the pair since the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
At least 52 dead in suicide bomb attack outside Pakistan mosque

Day of carnage sees five more people killed in separate blast targeting worshippers

A man comforts another man mourning his relative, who was killed in the explosion. Photo: AP

Abdul Sattar Sat 30 Sep 2023 at 03:30







A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of people celebrating the Prophet Muhammads birthday in south-western Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 52 people and wounding nearly 70 others, authorities said, in one of the countrys deadliest attacks targeting civilians in months.
I dont get ulcers, I give them  Tough-talking US senator Dianne Feinstein, who found Harvey Milk shot, dies aged 90

Outspoken Democrat politician was in favour of the death penalty, campaigned against firearms and was mayor of San Francisco during citys Aids epidemic

Senator Dianne Feinstein at the Capitol in Washington last February. Photo: AP

Eric Garcia UK Independent Sat 30 Sep 2023 at 03:30







Senator Dianne Feinstein, the trailblazing former mayor of San Francisco who became the first female senator for California, has died at the age of 90.
The U.S. Consulate General Kolkata, in partnership with the Aroh Foundation and Nexus Start-up Hub, organized a boot camp and Shark Tank Style Pitching Event for a group of nearly 20 women entrepreneurs on Friday in Kolkata.

The women entrepreneurs from West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Meghalaya will be part of the U.S. Department of States Global Development Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) Finale.

The program was hosted at the American Center Kolkata from September 27-29, 2023.

The U.S. State Departments Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) established the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) as an exchange program in 2019 to empower women with the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch or scale successful businesses.

Implemented in nearly 100 countries since 2019, AWE has empowered an estimated 25,000 women entrepreneurs around the world with the skills they need to reach their full economic potential.

As a U.S. government exchange program, AWE connects women with U.S.-style learning and expertise to advance business acumen and build stronger ties among women entrepreneurs in different markets.



These twenty women entrepreneurs selected from the previous three cohorts of AWE from the five states were provided with skill-building training on evidence-based entrepreneurship (Market Research), Business Model Innovation, Technology Adoption, Entrepreneurial Finance, Essentials of Business Plan, and pitching techniques during the acceleration program. Each entrepreneur presented their Start-up Elevator Pitch to the jury members who were the stakeholders from Government Seed fund Cells, Startup Incubators and Angel Investors who agreed to review their pitches and extended support to the program to evaluate them for potential future fundings.

Addressing the entrepreneurs in the Valedictory session, U.S. Consul General Melinda Pavek said, The U.S. Consulate in Kolkata has continued to adapt programs to support entrepreneurs in our region. We aim to promote the U.S.-India spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship with a focus on womens economic empowerment. The United States believes strongly in womens empowerment through entrepreneurship and stands firmly for womens equality and inclusion.

She said, During the last 18 months, women entrepreneurs trained under AWE 1.0 and 2.0 have raised cumulative funding of 50 million rupees and counting.



Neelam Gupta, Founder President of AROH Foundation said, Encouraging and supporting women in entrepreneurship is not only a matter of gender equality but also an investment in the economic and social development of societies. We make efforts to remove barriers, provide mentorship and funding, and promote equal opportunities, which go a long way to empower our women to succeed as entrepreneurs and contribute to economic growth, innovation, and social progress.

Harkesh Mittal, Chairman of Startup India Seed Cell Committee was the Guest of Honor at the finale event.

The finalist participants will join the strong AWE network that will support participants access to peer-to-peer mentorship, business partners, and scaling opportunities with businesses in the region and in the United States.

At least five women entrepreneurs will receive incubation support in one of the leading incubators, and a stipend awards worth $5000.
Image Courtesy: Pixabay

New Delhi: India retained the 40th position out of 132 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023, reflecting a remarkable journey from its 81st rank in 2015 to this notable achievement.

The NITI Aayog, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva celebrated the unveiling of the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023 in India.

The government highlighted key points in India's performance:

1. India's Consistent Rise: India's continued ascent in the GII, from its 81st rank in 2015 to retaining the current 40th position, underscores the nation's unwavering commitment to innovation. This upward trajectory aligns with the vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, championed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, emphasizing self-reliance and resilience through innovation.

2. Leadership Among Peers: India emerges as the numero uno among 37 lower-middle-income group economies and stands tall as the number one innovation performer among the 10 economies in Central and Southern Asia.

3. Consistent Innovation Excellence: India continues to impress by surpassing expectations in relation to its level of development, maintaining its position as an "innovation achiever" for the 13th consecutive year.

4. Strengths and Focus Areas: India ranks highest in the Market Sophistication (input pillar) and Knowledge and Technology Outputs (output pillar) categories. It ranks amongst the top 10 in the Infrastructure and Institutions pillars (input pillars).

5. Top-Ranked Indicator: India secures the top spot in the "Domestic market scale, bn PPP$" indicator. Furthermore, India is ranked in the top 10 in six additional indicators: "ICT Services exports, % total trade," "Venture capital received, value, % GDP," "Finance for startups and scaleups," "Domestic industry diversification," "Unicorn valuation, % GDP," and "Intangible asset intensity, top 15, %."

6. Innovation Outputs: India proudly ranks 35th in innovation outputs, marking an improvement from the previous year.

7. Higher Graduates in Science and Engineering: India records 34% of total tertiary graduates in science and engineering in 2021, ranking 11th in this indicator.

8. Startup Finance Recognition: India's finance for startups and scaleups earns it the 9th position in this category, while the Venture Capital Performance, though slightly lower than the previous year, secures the 6th position.

9. Diverse Domestic Industries: India demonstrates growth in domestic industry diversification, reflecting a 0.46% increase from the prior year, and ranks 10th in this indicator.

10. Patents and Citable Documents: India shows a substantial growth in patents by origin, ranking 28th globally. Additionally, it achieved the 20th rank in the citable documents H-index in 2022.

11. Unicorn Valuation: India's unicorn valuation stands at 5.04% of GDP in 2023, securing the 9th position in this indicator.

12. High-Tech Manufacturing: High-tech manufacturing contributed to 34.23% of the total manufacturing output in 2019, with India ranking 35th in this category.

13. Intangible Asset Intensity: India achieved an impressive 8th position in intangible asset intensity, and maintains a Global Brand Value of 210.907 billion USD in 2023, ranking 31st globally.

14. Cultural and Creative Exports: India's cultural and creative services exports soared in 2021, up by a substantial 21.4% from the prior year, securing the 18th position in this thriving sector.
Image: UNICEF/Ahmed Elfatih Mohamdee

The World Health Organization (WHO) is scaling up support in Sudan, where authorities have declared a cholera outbreak in Gedaref state amid the ongoing brutal conflict between opposing militaries.

The UN agency said on Friday that 264 suspected cholera cases, four confirmed cases and 16 associated deaths werereportedin the eastern state as of 25 September.

Investigations are taking place to determine whether the disease has spread to Khartoum and South Kordofan states, which have seen increased cases of acute watery diarrhoea.

Sampling and surveillance

WHO is deploying rapid response teams to the affected localities and is actively supporting the Ministry of Health to transfer samples of suspected cases to the Public Health Laboratory in Port Sudan.

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Surveillance is ongoing in affected and high-risk areas to identify and address risk factors. A request is going out to the international body managing emergency vaccine supplies during major outbreaks, the ICG, for oral cholera vaccines.

Access amid war

The WHO Representative in Sudan, Dr Nima Abid, visited Gederaf state on 17 September and met with health authorities and partners to coordinate response to the outbreak.

He stressed the importance of having unhindered access to the affected areas and nearby locations.

A cholera outbreak can have a devastating effect in the context of a health system already overstretched because of war, shortages of medical supplies and health workers, malnutrition and access challenges, he said.

Healthcare under fire

The war in Sudan erupted in mid-April. Fierce fighting between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left thousands dead and uprooted more than five million, with impacts across the region.

Sudan is also grappling with disease outbreaks and malnutrition, which have been compounded by heavy rains and flooding. The health system is overwhelmed by attacks on facilities as well as the scarcity of medical supplies and equipment, health workers and operational funds.

Some 70 per cent of hospitals in conflict-affected states are non-functional, while active hospitals elsewhere are overwhelmed by the influx of internally displaced people.

Support, supplies and training

WHO said that even before the outbreak was declared it had already provided cholera supplies such as antibiotics, oral rehydration solution and intravenous fluids to six states in Sudan.

The agency was also supporting three cholera isolation centres in Gedarefstate, providing medicines and health supplies to two facilities, and equipment and medical supplies to the third.

Earlier this year, more than 2,800 Sudanese health workers took part in an online training course conducted by WHO on the management of acute watery diarrhoea in times of crisis.

Another online course was held this week for 8,000 health workers which covered cholera, dengue and malaria management protocols.
In a vibrant showcase of cultural diversity and unity, the Sikh Community in Cincinnati and neighbouring Dayton recently converged at the sixth annual Cincinnati Festival of Faiths, hosted by the organization Equasion.

This extraordinary event, aimed at celebrating the richness of various faith traditions within the community, witnessed enthusiastic participation from more than 30 faith organizations representing 13 world religions.

The Festival kicked off with a moving multi-faith prayer service that set a harmonious tone for the days festivities. Aasees Kaur, the wife of the late Jaipal Singh, one of the founding members of the Festival, shared profound insights into the foundational teachings of Sikhism through the Mool Mantar. Her words beautifully articulated the Sikh aspiration to merge into the Divine Being, drawing parallels between this spiritual journey and elements of nature, like water merging with water and light merging with light. She emphasized the Sikh yearning for peace and justice as fundamental values.

The Sikh booth at the Festival stood alongside several exhibits representing diverse faith-based organizations in Cincinnati. It provided a valuable opportunity for visitors to gain insights into Sikh beliefs, practices, and values through books, brochures, and the five Sikh articles of faith known as the Kakkars. Booklets containing information about Sikhs were thoughtfully distributed to guests.

In a bid to deepen understanding and foster cultural exchange, Sikh community members organized turban-tying sessions. These sessions enlightened visitors about the profound significance of the Sikh turban, or dastaar. Sikh volunteers patiently guided participants through the process, highlighting the turbans symbolism of equality, humility, and commitment to Sikh principles. The Festival came alive with vibrant colors and the rich traditions of Sikh culture, as attendees of all ages proudly sported their newly tied turbans and captured the moment with photographs.

Collaborating with members of the Hindu community, Sikhs prepared and served Langar (community kitchen food) at the event. The Langar, a staple in Sikh gurdwaras (places of worship) worldwide, epitomized the values of selfless service, equality, and community. Sikhs extended this beautiful tradition to the Festival of Faiths, serving a delicious vegetarian feast to all present.

The Langar service at the Cincinnati Festival of Faiths brought together diverse individuals to sit side by side in the spirit of unity. It served as a powerful reminder of the Sikh commitment to fostering a sense of belonging and equality among all, regardless of their background or faith.

Mayor of Cincinnati, Aftab Purewal, praised the festival as a symbol of unity and inclusivity. He expressed his pride in the local Sikh community and their dedication to service and commitment to those around them. Mayor Purewal highlighted the importance of sharing the Sikh tradition of selfless service, exemplified by the Langar, with the broader community.

During this remarkable occasion, the community also took a moment to remember and pay tribute to Jaipal Singh, a co-chair of the Cincinnati Festival of Faiths, whose passing in May 2022 left a void that was deeply felt by all. Chip Harrod, the Executive Director of the Festival, eloquently remembered Jaipals significant contributions to the events success.

The Festival, hosting representatives from 13 world faiths, prominently featured the local Sikh community, whose multifaceted contributions enriched the events spirit.

Jaipal Singh played a pivotal role in bringing together this diverse array of faiths, emphasizing the festivals mission of fostering education, empathy, understanding, and love among the various faith-based traditions in the greater Cincinnati area. Jaipals unwavering dedication to creating such an event was commended, and his enduring spirit was palpable throughout the festivities.

The Festival of Faiths has evolved into a shining example of how diverse communities can come together to promote interfaith harmony, celebrate cultural heritage, and bridge gaps between different belief systems.

Sikhs, through their active participation in events like these, aim to foster greater understanding and appreciation of their faith and traditions while building bonds with neighbors of various backgrounds.

As Cincinnati continues to embrace its multicultural identity, events like the Festival of Faiths play a vital role in promoting tolerance, respect, and unity among its residents.

The Sikh communitys efforts to share their traditions, such as turban tying and langar, serve as a testament to the power of cultural exchange and dialogue in creating a more inclusive and harmonious society.

The Festival of Faiths stands as a beacon of hope and a celebration of the rich tapestry of faiths that make up our diverse community.

(Image and text credit: Khalsavox.com)
Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from Twitter video

New Delhi/IBNS: The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiwami, was stopped from entering a Gurdwara in the United Kingdom by some Khalistani extremists amid the ongoing tension between New Delhi and Ottawa over the killing of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, media reports said.

In a video on social media (the video has not been independently verified by IBNS), a pro-Khalistani activist was spotted blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive in Scotland.

One of the two men, who were near the High Commissioner's car in the parking area, was seen trying to open the diplomat's car which was locked from inside.

Shocking: A khalistani tried to force open the car door of the Indian envoy to #UK @VDoraiswami he was visiting the Glasgow Gurdwara today.



The driver got back into the car and drove away. pic.twitter.com/eT58Vjn9RA  Snehesh Alex Philip (@sneheshphilip) September 30, 2023

The High Commissioner, who was invited to Gurdwara, then leaves the premises.

The Indian government is yet to respond to the incident.

India-Canada relationship deteriorates

India's relationship with Canada deteriorated after Trudeau on September 18 alleged New Delhi's involvement in the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in British Columbia.

Trudeau was quoted as saying by media, "As I said on Monday, there are credible reasons to believe that agents of the Government of India were involved in the killing of a Canadian on Canadian soil."

He said, "There is something of utmost foundational importance in a country's rule of law in a world where international rules-based order matters."

PM Modi with Justin Trudeau during one of their earlier meetings/ courtesy: PIB

He asked the Indian government to 'work' with Canada to ensure full transparency and accountability in the matter.

India dismissed Ottawa's allegations about Indian agents' involvement in the murder of the Khalistani terrorist as "politically driven".

MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said there was a "degree of prejudice" in Canada's allegations. "They have made allegations and taken action on them. To us, it seems that these allegations by the government of Canada are primarily politically driven."

While New Delhi outrightly rejected Trudeau's allegation, calling it "absurd" and "motivated", the relations between the two countries have worsened with Canada and India expelling a senior diplomat each.

India has also issued a travel advisory for Indian nationals, particularly students, in Canada and also those contemplating travel to the North American country, asking them to exercise utmost caution.

Jaishankar indirectly jabs at Canada at the UN

Amid the Indo-Canadian diplomatic row and continued tension with China, India said "political convenience" cannot be the basis for a response to terrorism or extremism, and called on the global community to respect the rules-based order and the UN Charter.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on nations to not interfere in the internal affairs of others.

Jaishankar's remarks have been interpreted as a jab at both Canada and China.

"... nor must we countenance that political convenience determines responses to terrorism, extremism and violence. Similarly, respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs cannot be exercises in cherry-picking. When reality departs from the rhetoric, we must have the courage to call it out... without genuine solidarity, there can never be real trust," he said.

"A fair, equitable and democratic order will surely emerge, once we all put our minds to it. And for a start, that means ensuring that rule makers do not subjugate rule takers. After all, rules will work only when they apply equally to all," he said, taking a jibe at the Western world.

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: IBNS File

Kolkata/UNI: Trinamool Congress national general secretary and Lok Sabha MP, Abhishek Banerjee, has come down heavily on the BJP for refusing to provide a special train during his protest march to Delhi.

TMC had planned to arrange a special train to take thousands of West Bengal's deprived MGNREGS job card holders to Delhi.

"The BJP government shamelessly refused to provide a special train after accepting the deposit. This blatant obstruction of West Bengal's right to protest for their rightful dues is a glaring testament to their FEAR, Banerjee said.

"Bring out your full arsenal, misuse every government agency at your disposal; it won't break our resolve. In fact, it only fuels our determination, intensifying the language of our protest. The harder you try to oppress us, the more our people will rise, stronger and more resolute than ever before."

Banerjee described it as the "premeditated political gambit orchestrated by @dir_ed, laying bare the desperate attempts by BJP to muzzle the voice of dissent."

SHOCKING DISPLAY OF DECEIT: The BJP govt shamelessly denied to provide a special train after accepting the deposit. This blatant obstruction of WB's right to protest for their rightful dues is a glaring testament to their FEAR.



Love seeing them COWER BEFORE THE PEOPLE OF WB. pic.twitter.com/BjKvbxaeda  Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 29, 2023

"What we witnessed today was a rallying cry for all who cherish the principles of democracy, a stinging rebuke to those who trample upon it, and a call to arms for those who stand ready to defend it."

"BJP4India is employing its corrupt tactics to prevent us from protesting for our RIGHTS! The Railway Authority cancelled the special train, which was meant for the travel of deprived MGNREGA wage labourers to Delhi at the last minute. If this doesn't signify BJP's fear of the Bengal voice, what does?" he asked.

"We have received an email from the office of @girirajsinghbjp, stating his absence in Delhi, " he said adding, "He underscored that the @BJP4India-led Central Govt. has blocked the funds of vulnerable poor people due to the defeat it faced in the Bengal elections."

"This reveals the true face of the BJP, making our citizens suffer simply because they stand against its wrongdoings."

Banerjee, who got a summon from the ED to appear at the CGO Complex here in October 3 in connection with teachers' recruitment scam, on Friday stated that he will be joining the party's protest programme in the national capital against alleged non-transfer of central funds for several schemes, including MGNREGA.

"The fight against the deprivation of WB and its rightful dues shall persist regardless of the obstacles," Banerjee said.

"No force on Earth can hinder my dedication to fight for the people of WB and their fundamental rights. I'll be in Delhi joining the protest on Oct 2nd & 3rd. STOP ME IF U CAN," he asserted.

The fight against the deprivation of WB and its rightful dues shall persist regardless of the obstacles. No force on Earth can hinder my dedication to fight for the people of WB and their fundamental rights. I'll b in Delhi joining the protest on Oct 2nd & 3rd.



STOP ME IF U CAN!  Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 29, 2023

On Thursday he said, "Earlier this month, the ED summoned me on a day coinciding with an important coordinating meeting of #INDIA in Delhi. I dutifully appeared and complied with the served summons."

"Now, today yet again they have served me another summons to appear before them on a day when the protest agitation for West Bengal's rightful dues is scheduled in Delhi on 3rd Oct. This stark revelation unequivocally exposes those who are truly perturbED, rattlED and scarED," Banerjee averred.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

In the Kahalgaon police station area of Bhagalpur district in Bihar, a person was shot dead by criminals.

Kahalgaon sub-divisional police officer Shivanand Singh said here on Saturday Surendra Yadav (42), a resident of the Purba Tola area, was at his home on Friday night.

During this time, some criminals reached his house and shot Surendra Yadav dead as soon as he opened the door.

The reasons for the murder are not immediately known.

The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team from Bhagalpur has been called for investigation.

Technical assistance is being taken to identify the criminals involved in the incident.

Sub-divisional police office said the police have registered an FIR against unknown people in this regard.

The body has been sent for post-mortem to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, Bhagalpur.

(With UNI inputs)
Image: Pixabay

Pali: An irate group of people stormed a private school in Rajasthans Pali district and vandalised its premises to confront the schools management on allegations of hiding a rape accused, media reported.

The angry villagers accused the schools management of having a role in protecting 23-year-old Ravi Vagoriya, who was employed as a teacher, India Today reported.

Allegedly, Vagoriya raped a four-year-old girl student on September 22, the report said.

Her family claimed that they informed the principal immediately as soon as they learned about the assault but the school management tried to cover up the crime, according to the report.

When the girls mother was taking her back from school, she found her bleeding, the report said.

Furious villagers went on a rampage, venting their anger by hurling school furniture and destroying school property.

The report said the manager of the school had to take refuge in a hose nearby to save himself.

Legal proceedings have been initiated, with a case filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused teacher is in custody awaiting additional inquiry.

Sangeeta Beniwal, the Chairperson of the Rajasthan Child Rights Protection Commission, has taken cognisance of the incident. She instructed the District Education Officer and Superintendent of Police to provide a detailed report within three days.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

At least one militant commander and a soldier were killed in two military operations in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Friday night.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement that personnel of security forces engaged with terrorist groups in two separate locations in the province on Thursday night.

The ISPR said that the security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Katlang area of the Mardan district, resulting in the killing of a high-value terrorist target and ringleader named Faisal.

The military added that the slain terrorist was actively involved in numerous terrorist activities and was highly wanted by law enforcement agencies.

In another operation, a soldier was killed during an encounter with a group of terrorists in the country's northwest Parachinar region.

Earlier in the day, the military said that at least four Pakistani soldiers and three terrorists were killed in a gunfight at the Pakistani-Afghan border in the country's southwest Balochistan province.

(With UNI Inputs)
Photo Courtesy: World Sindhi Congress X page

The Sindhi Foundation recently hosted a day-long poster campaign in front of the United Nations office in Geneva to make people aware of the plight of Sindhis in Pakistans Sindh region.

The campaign was held during the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Besides slogans criticizing Pakistan and China for exploiting the resources of Sindh, the posters depicted the pictures of several Sindhi political activists, journalists and other intellectuals who were forcibly abducted, tortured and brutally killed by Pakistans secret agencies, reported ANI.

Speaking to ANI, Executive Director of Sindhi Foundation, Manawar Laghari said, The message is very very clear. Pakistan is a hurdle and is really a curse on the earth. No one is happy. Neither the people living in Sindh, Balochistan or Pakhtunkhwa, Saraikis, Hazaras, Chitrals, Gilgit  all those oppressed people they want to get rid of this country.

World Sindhi Congress (WSC) held a 3-day #Sindh Human Rights Exhibition, 25-27 Sep, 2023 during the 54th #UNHRC Session in #Geneva to inform the delegates and participant human rights defenders from around the world about the plight of Sindhi people in #Pakistan.#Sindh pic.twitter.com/4eZ4bCuKd8  WorldSindhiCongress (@sindhicongress) September 28, 2023

He added, They want freedom from Pakistan and my message to the United Nations is this  we want referendum under the supervision of the United Nations not what the data Pakistan has, especially with the ISI, we dont believe in that. Under the supervision of the UN referendum to get our independence. This is our very clear message.

In a letter sent by the Sindhi Foundation to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, it explained the case of Sindh and highlighted several ongoing issues.
The Baloch National Movement recently hosted a three-day-long exhibition in Geneva City to highlight the human rights violations happening in Balochistan province of Pakistan.

The exhibition was held during the ongoing 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The organisers of the event put up pictures of victims who were allegedly kidnapped, tortured and killed by Pakistan security agencies.

Jamal Baloch, Media Coordinator, Human Rights wing of Baloch National Movement told ANI, We have tried to highlight the ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan. The region is facing systematic and silent genocide which includes enforced disappearances, mass graves and shelling through helicopters.

He added, There are others issues also like poverty, hunger and lack of drinking water which we have highlighted in this exhibition. We just want to make people aware about the happenings in Balochistan.
In yet another remarkable display of vigilance and determination, the Border Security Force (BSF) successfully thwarted Pakistans relentless attempts to smuggle drugs into Punjab through drones.

On Friday, near the International Border in the Amritsar Sector, BSF personnel shot down a drone and uncovered a plastic bottle filled with approximately half a kilogram of narcotics.

According to a BSF officer, the incident unfolded during the afternoon hours of September 29, 2023, when forward-deployed BSF troops detected the movement of a drone near Rajatal village.

Swift action was taken, and upon conducting a thorough search operation ahead of the border fence, the troops made a significant discovery.

In the sprawling paddy fields adjacent to the village, the BSF team uncovered a drone, identified as a Quadcopter DJI Mavic-3 Classic, manufactured in China.

Attached to this surreptitious device was a soft drink bottle containing suspected heroin. The gross weight of the confiscated heroin amounted to a staggering 545 grams.

This latest incident stands as a testament to the unwavering dedication of the BSF in safeguarding the nations borders and thwarting nefarious attempts to smuggle drugs into Punjab.

The use of drones in drug trafficking has posed a persistent challenge, but with each successful interception, the BSF sends a clear message that such illicit activities will not go unchecked.

The Indian security forces remain on high alert, committed to defending the nation against any threats, whether they be traditional or emerging, ensuring the safety and security of the countrys citizens.

(Photo and text credit: Khalsavox.com)
Traders in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir's Muzaffarabad region on Saturday observed a shutter-down strike to demonstrate against heavy-handedness meted out to protesters in different Kashmir cities in recent days.

The traders began shutting down shops after Shaukat Nawaz Mir, the president of the traders body in Muzaffarabad, announced they would protest in the region.

Authorities had launched an operation against the protesters who staged sit-ins at Rawalakot, Bagh and Kotli of Kashmir against hiked electricity bills.

The police tried to stifle the protest by bringing down the camp of the protesters set up at the Azadi Chowk early morning.

Several leaders of the trading community, along with protesters, were arrested from the site of the protest.

A huge contingent of police was deployed in an attempt to stop the protesters from coming onto the main roads, as the situation was getting tense.

The police used tear gas and batons against the protesters after clashes broke out.

Reports said at least five people were arrested including Faisal Jameel Kashmiri, a member of the Awami Action Committee.

The clashes caused more people to take to the streets and the situation remained tense as of Saturday noon.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Human rights activists from South Asia, Japan and Africa recently met on the sidelines of the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and discussed the implications of Chinas expansionist policies and their consequences on the people in the region.

The speakers mainly highlighted the impact of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a trans-continental passage that links China with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe by land, reported ANI.

The activists from the Balochistan province of Pakistan highlighted the impact of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar project under BRI which has severely impacted the lives of people in the region.

Naseem Baloch, a political activist, told ANI that a large number of people in Balochistan are facing severe difficulties due to Chinese construction projects, especially at Gwadar. The CPEC connects Chinas Xinjiang province to Gwadar port in Pakistan.

World Uyghur Congresss Dr Dolkun Isa said the 3,800 km CPEC project is an illegal and genocidal project for a large number of people in East Turkestan (Xinjiang).

This project is the territorial expansionist project as it impacts Japan, the Philippines and even Pakistan, Isa was quoted as saying by ANI.
Since Halloween is approaching, what better way to mark the spooky season than by reliving the '90s? Halloween-themed films saw their heyday in the 1990s, when various scary, funny, and family-friendly films were released.

We have compiled a list of the best Halloween movies from the '90s you can watch this year if you want to recapture the enchantment of that era this Halloween. Get your popcorn tub, dim the lights, and prepare for a nostalgic journey.

The 5 Best Horror Movies Of The '90s

Here are five of The best 90s Halloween movies to satisfy your nostalgia to watch this year, along with extras that must be included.

1. It's Probably The Most Famous Halloween Movie Of The 1990s, "Hocus Pocus."

Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

The Sanderson sisters, a trio of witches who were exiled in the late 1600s after attempting to drain the life energy of the children of Salem, Massachusetts, a renownedly spooky location, are portrayed in the movie "Hocus Pocus" by Kathy Najimy, Bette Midler, and Sarah Jessica Parker.



On Halloween 1993, however, when Max Dennison, a recent arrival to Salem, burns the black flame candle, he unintentionally summons the Sanderson sisters. To defeat them, he must work with his younger sister, his new crush, a talking black cat named Binx, and a zombie named Billy.

A legacy sequel titled "Hocus Pocus 2" was released in 2022 on Disney+ due to "Hocus Pocus"'s enduring popularity.

Disney+ offers "Hocus Pocus" for streaming.

2. Kids From The 1990s Will Remember The Magic Of "Halloweentown," One Of Disney Channel's Original Movies From 1998.

Credit: Disney Channel

Debbie Reynolds is perhaps not best known to those born after 1990 as the charming lead in "Singin' in the Rain," but rather as the witchy Grandma Aggie in "Halloweentown."

The story of "Halloweentown" takes place in a world where Marnie, a typical adolescent, learns that she is a witch and is truly from a hidden place called Halloweentown, where all kinds of creepy monsters are real and it's always Halloween.

However, Marnie and her siblings must work together to rescue their new home when a spell by a hidden enemy renders Marnie's mother and grandmother helpless.

Three follow-ups to "Halloweentown" were produced as a result of its popularity: "Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge" (2001), "Halloweentown High" (2004), and "Return to Halloweentown" (2006).

Disney+ is now streaming "Halloweentown".

3. "Scream" Is One Of The Best Horror Movies To Chill And Thrill You

Credit: Dimension Films

When "Scream," directed by horror legend Wes Craven, was published, it completely altered the landscape.



By making its protagonists aware of these conventionssuch as the killer always being someone you know, how you should never go off by yourself, and how you shouldn't have sex when a killer is on the loose"Scream" plays with the tropes of traditional horror movies.

Neve Campbell plays Sidney Prescott in the movie, a regular kid who, along with her pals, is the target of a serial killer donning an unsettling mask (now known as Ghostface).

She contends with Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), a combative journalist who called out our preoccupation with real crime decades before podcasts like "Serial" while working to solve the case.

You can watch "Scream" on Paramount+.

Credit: Paramount Pictures

One of the many projects that Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton have worked on is "Sleepy Hollow."



This movie is a loose adaptation of Washington Irving's well-known short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," published in 1820.

In this adaptation, Depp plays Ichabod Crane, an eccentric police constable sent from New York City to the sleepy upstate village of Sleepy Hollow to look into a string of inexplicable beheadings.

The locals think the Headless Horseman, an evil ghost, is to blame.

It won't be Christina Ricci's final time appearing on our list; she also stars as Ichabod's love interest, Katrina.

On Max, "Sleepy Hollow" is streaming.

5. In 1998's "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later," Jamie Lee Curtis Returned As Laurie Strode

Credit: Miramax

Curtis left the "Halloween" series in 1981 after "Halloween II," but she later made a comeback to battle her brother-turned-serial killer Michael Myers there again.

Ignoring all the movies after "Halloween II," "H20" picks up with Laurie trying to protect her son, John, played in his cinematic debut by Josh Hartnett, while living in fear of Michael.

"H20" was immediately followed by "Halloween: Resurrection" (2002), "Halloween" (2007), "Halloween II" (2009), "Halloween" (2018), "Halloween Kills" (2021), and "Halloween Ends" (2022).

You can watch "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later" on Paramount+.

What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
Vidyut Jammwal and Nora Fatehi shoot for a week-long schedule at Baku, Azerbaijan for their upcoming movie Crakk. The actionpacked drama required just the picture-perfect fusion of modernity and history spread through the landscape and metropolis of this beautiful country. The skyscrapers to ornate architecture add to the glamour of the films narrative.

The actors have a sizzling chemistry throughout the movie which is only enhanced by the terrains of the country ranging from the breezy Caspian Sea shore to the bustling streets of Old Town. Vidyut Jammwal who is the lead actor as well as the producer mentions, I believe that action is not just about performing stunts; it's about conveying emotion through your body language. It's about telling a story with every punch, kick, and movement. Action, to me, is an art form, and I'm passionate about mastering it. Baku isn't just a location; it's a character in itself, a dynamic and integral part of the narrative that ensures the film will be an unforgettable visual treat for audiences worldwide."

The citys warm and hospitable people as well as vibrant culture have left an indelible mark on the cast and crew of the movie. Crakk has already built anticipation among people and one cannot wait for it to hit the screens in the future.
No fewer than one person has been confirmed dead with others injured following a rooftop construction that caved in on an uncompleted building Taraba State.

It was gathered that the horrible incident occurred within the premises of the State University in Jalingo on Friday.

READ MORE: Two Rescued As Fire Guts Lagos Shanty Building

According to eyewitness reports who preferred anonymity said the wood used to support the iron roof was not strong enough to hold it as the crane lowered which resulted in the incident.

According to the information officer of the institution, Sanusi Saad, the building project is not handled by the school management but by a contractor whose worker is said to have died, hence cannot make further comment on the incident.

All efforts to reach out to the contractor or the name of his company proved abortive at the time of filing this report.
The Federal Operations Unit of Customs in the South-West zone have arrested a wildlife smuggling kingpin, identified as Felix Maiva, who has been on the run since 2021.

According to a statement by the spokesperson for the FOU Zone A, the suspect is a shipping agent for an organized crime group that is wanted by the Nigeria Customs Service for their involvement in the January 2021 seizure and other organised wildlife trafficking offences.

The Customs PRO noted that his arrest was a fallout of intense investigation and surveillance that followed the discovery of a 1 X 20 feet container found to contain 4,752kg of elephant ivory, 5,239kg of pangolin scales, 5kg of rhinoceros horns, and some lion skeletons.

The Nigeria Customs Service Federal Operations Unit Zone A has arrested Mr Felix Maiva, a wanted wildlife smuggling kingpin who had been on the run since 2021. Maivas arrest is a fallout of intense investigation and surveillance that followed the discovery of a 1 X 20 feet container found to contain 4,752kg of elephant ivory, 5,239kg of pangolin scales, 5kg of rhinoceros horns, and some lion skeletons. The illegal wildlife products were bound to be exported to Haiphong, Vietnam, in January 2021 through the Apapa Sea Port, Lagos-Nigeria.

READ MORE: Brand New Range Rover Worth N64Million Intercepted By Customs In Ogun (Photos)

The suspect is a shipping agent for the BERETE organized crime group that is wanted by the Nigeria Customs Service for their involvement in the January 2021 seizure and other organized wildlife trafficking offences, Duniya stated.

He further disclosed that the acting Customs Area Controller, Hussein Ejibunu, applauded the officers for their deligence and intelligent driven operation that led to the arrest of the wanted wildlife kingpin.

It is worthy of note that the earlier wildlife seizure made by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service in Apapa led to the conviction of a clearing agent, Mr Felix OLAME, in June 2023 by a Federal High Court in Lagos. Furthermore, the acting CAC commended the officers for their tact, intelligence and consistency in following up on the suspect, reiterated that smuggling suspects, no matter how far they run, would be caught by the long arms of the law.

He describes the breakthrough as a morale booster for officers following up on similar cases and suspects. Maivas arrest comes as a result of an intelligence-driven operation by Officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Wildlife Justice Commission to support the global effort to fight crimes against endangered species, the Customs spokesman added.
Ovie Omo-Agege, a former Deputy Senate President, says he will appeal the judgment of the Delta State governorship tribunal which dismissed his case challenging the March 18 poll outcome.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Sheriff Oborevwori, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner of the gubernatorial poll.

Oborevwori polled 360, 234 votes to defeat Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who secured 240, 229 votes.

Dissatisfied, the APC candidate lodged a petition before the tribunal.

However, in the judgment issued on Friday, a three-member panel of the tribunal held that the petitioners failed to prove the allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and corrupt practices beyond a reasonable doubt.

Conclusively, the petition was dismissed.

READ ALSO: Kogi Poll: I Am Not Afraid Of Yahaya Bello, APC  Melaye

Reacting, Omo-Agege described the verdict as flawed.

According to him, the tribunal was conducted in a challenging environment and the judges failed to consider unassailable evidence.

It is a no-brainer that the tribunal operated under a very challenging environment.

It therefore ignored the unassailable evidence adduced to question the validity of lawful votes as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

I respect the decision of the tribunal, but it is flawed. I have no doubt that these flaws which the tribunal failed to address will be dispassionately evaluated at the court of appeal.

I have, therefore, directed my legal team to immediately proceed to the court of appeal and continue with the fight to restore the sanctity of the peoples vote, Omo-Agege said.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Bola Ahmed Tinubus appeal against the release of his academic records conflicts with his impeccable public declarations.

Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP, had approached the United States (US) District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to produce relevant documents showing academic information of Tinubu who claimed to have attended the Chicago State University (CSU).

Jeffery Gilbert, US magistrate judge, granted the request and ordered CSU to release the presidents academic records.

However, Tinubu filed an appeal against the order.

Debo Ologunagba, PDPs spokesperson, in a statement on Friday, said Tinubus quest not to have his academic records released is a disservice to Nigerians

The opposition party said the All Progressives Congress (APC) must come clean on the desperation to conceal certain vital details of Tinubus academic records at the CSU from the public.

READ ALSO: CSU Records: Tinubu Cant Hide Behind Privacy Laws  Atiku

The PDP states that the Application by the lawyers urging the US District Court of Illinois not to release the said academic details are in direct conflict with the public declarations by President Tinubu that his academic records are impeccable.

The PDP recalls that President Tinubu had in a public function openly asserted to Nigerians that: I was one of those most recruited graduates of my university, multiple honours, First Class Degree and I have the reference point.

In view of the above assertion, the PDP, therefore, holds that the plea by the lawyers that the details of his academic record should not be released is a great disservice to President Tinubu in particular and Nigeria in general, the statement read.

The PDP also criticised the APC for allegedly being silent on the fire outbreak at the supreme court, claiming it was intended to frustrate electoral cases at the apex court.
Iwuanyanwu said: Ohanaeze Ndigbo has carefully reviewed Nnamdi Kanus case and we cannot find any just reason why he cannot be released.

Ohanaeze has for several months pleaded with the federal government to release him.

READ MORE: Independence Day: Nigeria Has Rejected Us, We Wont Be Part Of It  IPOB Tasks Igbos To Shun Celebration

I hereby once again on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide make an appeal to the federal government to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, more so when courts of competent jurisdictions in Nigeria have declared him innocent.

As the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, I consider myself a father and it pains me so much when my children are killed on a daily basis.

It pains me when most of them have both their lives and livelihood destroyed. I will appeal to the federal government that in view of the fact that over two years, this situation has persisted, we need to adopt a non-kinetic approach.

I strongly believe that if Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is released and a non-kinetic approach is adopted, we will be able to reduce and even stop the unnecessary killings and destruction of lives and property, he said.
The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on Friday, asked residents in the South-East to shun the countrys 63rd Independence Day celebration slated for October 1.

Emma Powerful, IPOBs spokesperson, in a statement claimed that the Federal Government has not treated South-Easterners equally with other citizens of the country.

Nigeria has marginalized Biafrans politically and economically.

Since Nigeria has rejected us, we have also rejected Nigeria and her celebrations.

READ ALSO: Its A Time Of Reflection, Dont Expect Jamboree  SGF Akume On Independence Day Celebration

The Nigeria Government and Nigeria citizens have time after time demonstrated that we are not part of them, and therefore, we must do everything possible to liberate ourselves from the bondage of Nigeria, the statement read.

The group further urged Governors in the geo-political zone to shun the October 1 anniversary, adding that the Nigerian flag should not be flown.

IPOB however threatened that anyone found celebrating Independence Day would regret his or her action.
Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, on Friday, announced the appointment of 116 additional aides.

Information Nigeria reports that the new appointments comprised of 63 Senior Special Assistants (SSAs), 41 Special Assistants (SAs) and 12 Personal Assistants (PAs).

This was announced by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Sanusi Bature, in a statement sent to newsmen in Kano.

Bature described the appointments by Governor Yusuf as means of achieving youth inclusiveness in governance and bringing government closer to the people.

READ ALSO: Your Indiscipline Is Making Work Difficult, I Need You On My Side  Umahi Begs Protesting Workers

As part of his efforts to integrate more capable hands in providing good governance, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has approved the appointments of Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants and Personal Assistants with a priority given to youth, he stated.

He however congratulated the new appointees on their appointment and called on them to work in accordance to the governments initiative of putting the people first.

Note that the Governor had appointed extra 94 aides on Tuesday, which brought its total to 290, saying they will be reporting activities from the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies across the State.

With the additional appointments, the governor now has 406 aides, which is coming at a time Nigerians are advocating the reduction on the cost of governance.
The Nasarawa State Police Command has apprehended one Mr. Adamu Sani for allegedly raping two of his nieces, aged 10 and 4, in the Karu Local Government Area of the state.

DSP Ramhan Nansel, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, made the disclosure during a press conference held in Lafia on Friday.

The announcement was made while parading 29 suspected criminals apprehended for various crimes across the 13 local government areas of the state.

Ramhan explained that the arrest was carried out after the Mararaba B; Division received a complaint about the rape of two minors.

Recently, a complaint was lodged at Mararaba B Division, detailing a harrowing incident where two young girls aged Ten (10) and Four (4) years were allegedly raped by their Uncle.

READ ALSO: Imo Police Arrest Two For Alleged Rape Of 11-Year-Old Girl

The girls were left in the custody of Mr. Adamu Sani, the younger brother of the complainant, while their parents were out trying to make ends meet. The perpetrator warned them not to inform their parents about the assault.

In response to the complaint, Police operatives swiftly swung into action, apprehending the suspect. The investigation into this distressing matter is currently ongoing.

Nansel, while parading other suspected criminals, disclosed the arrest of two other suspected rapists who allegedly raped an 8-year-old girl in an uncompleted building in the Akwanga LGA of the state.

He added that their arrest was possible due to painstaking efforts by officers of the Command.

On 05/09/2023 at about 3 pm, a complaint was lodged at Akwanga Division that, the duo of Abdullahi Ibrahim and Muhtari Abdullahi conspired and lured an 8 years old girl into an uncompleted building where they took turns to have unlawful carnal knowledge of her.

Reacting to the unsavory development, Police operatives immediately launched a manhunt for the suspects and got them arrested. They have confessed to the crime.

The Police spokesman warned all criminal elements in the state to leave without further delay, adding that the suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded at the State Criminal Investigation Department.
The Managing Director of Water View Hotel, in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, Adeniyi Ojo, is dead.

His lifeless body was found on Thursday, at about 10.00 hours, on one of the beds of the rooms in a hotel, according to police report.

A statement by the spokesman of the Kwara State Police Command, SP Okasanmi Ajayi, in Ilorin on Friday, disclosed that a suspected culpable homicide case was reported at A Division Ilorin yesterday, September 28, 2023, at about 1000 hours by one Kehinde Olaseinde m the supervisor of Water View Hotel, GRA Ilorin.

READ ALSO: 24-Year-Old Housewife Murders Four-Day-Old Stepson With Insecticide In Bauchi

A team of detectives dispatched to the scene were later joined by the Commissioner of Police, Victor Olaiya.

The deceased, one Adeniyi Ojo m the managing director of the hotel was found lying motionless on the bed in one of the rooms in the hotel, the statement added.

The spokesman disclosed that examination of the body showed no sign of physical violence.

The body was taken to a hospital where he was confirmed dead, and was deposited at the General Hospital mortuary, Surulere for an autopsy, the statement further disclosed.

Meanwhile a discreet investigation of the case has been ordered by the Commissioner of Police.

Details of the investigation will be made public as soon as possible, according to the Command.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Friday, submitted that Nigeria need not change its constitution before the nation can function well.

Information Nigeria reports that Obi stated this at the Chinua Achebe Symposium, and the 10th Anniversary Memorial and 40th Anniversary of His seminal booklet The Trouble with Nigeria Is Self-Inflicted at Princeton University, New Jersey, United States of America.

In a series of posts via X, he posited that the leadership of the country must be one that has its credentials identifiable.

READ ALSO: Nigeria Has Continued To Drown In A Cocktail Of Challenges  Peter Obi

His words: Regarding the vision of a New Nigeria we must restructure; if Nigeria is being operated in ways that stop stealing; it will work. We dont need to change the Constitution to secure the country,we need to do the right thing and abide by the rule of law.

Now, there is real trouble in Nigeria.

Rascality has become a measure of success in Nigeria. That must change.

We must have leadership that is committed to the rule of law.. that has an identity and credentials that can be verified.

If India can feed its population, Nigeria with one-seventh of her population can do the same.
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has cancelled the Independence Day celebrations in the state.

INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the governor took the decision due to the hardship across the country so far this year.

Adeleke, who was elected on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2022, stressed that the people of the state should celebrate the day with prayers and meditation.

In a statement issued by Governor Adelekes spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, on Friday, the former Senator urged the people of the state to pray for the continuous peace and prosperity of the country.

Let us use Independence Day to meditate and pray on the state of our nation. Our people are passing through tough times, the governor was quoted as saying.

READ MORE: Youve Proven Youre Not Only A Dancing Governor But An Hardworking And Listening Leader  Obasanjo To Gov. Adeleke

It is time to take stock and seek divine intervention and guidance in the affairs of our nation. I greet Osun people and Nigerians in general as the Independence Day knocks at our doors.

Here in Osun, we will celebrate with meditation and prayers.

This will be the first time since the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999 that the governor of Osun State announced the cancellation of the Independence Day celebration.

Despite the cancellation of the celebration in Osun, the nationwide declaration of a public holiday on October 2, is expected to take effect in the state.
Haruna Garba, the Federal Capital Territorys (FCT) Commissioner of Police (CP), has directed the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to take over an ongoing investigation into the alleged poisoning of the Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John.

The Department was ordered by Garba to take over the case from the Mabushi Police Division, which had earlier begun a probe into the case.

Josephine Adeh, the FCT Police Command Public Relations Officer, revealed to The Punch on Saturday that the police are investigating an alleged case about the minister.

The CP has ordered the Mabushi Police Division that was investigating the matter to immediately transfer it to the SCID, SP Adeh revealed.

READ ALSO: Tourism Minister, Ade-John Allegedly Poisoned, Battles For Life In Hospital

Information Nigeria understands that the Ministry of Tourism denied reports alleging that the Minister, Ade-John, was poisoned and rushed to the hospital.

The Ministrys Assistant Director of Press, Emem Mariam Ofiong, debunked the claim, saying that the minister had malaria and had been treated and stabilized.

The ministry claims were, however, contrary to the account of family sources, who allegedly disclosed that the minister had spent four days at the facility as of Friday morning.

According to Peoples Gazette, the Minister was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, shortly after she started manifesting poisoning symptoms.
Family members of Eddie Irizarry rally along with supporters in the wake of a judge dismissing all charges against former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial, who shot and killed Eddie Irizarry last month. Read more

The Philadelphia judge who dismissed all charges this week against Mark Dial  the now-former police officer who fatally shot Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop in Kensington  sparked outrage with her decision, with protests erupting in Center City and lawmakers lobbing criticism from City Hall.

But lawyers who have appeared before Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew say the 56-year-old is a generally even-keeled, straightforward judge who has spent more than 20 years on the bench.

She is the daughter of a prominent casino magnate, the late Arthur M. Goldberg, who was president of a company that operated gambling houses under brand names including Ballys, Caesars, and Hilton. And for a time, Pew was married to a man whose relatives had founded the Sun Oil Co. and the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Philadelphia-based nonprofit policy behemoth.

Pew did not respond to a request for comment Friday. Heres more about who she is:

Pew became a judge at a young age

Pew  then Wendy Lynn Goldberg  graduated from a prep school in North Jersey, the Pingry School in Basking Ridge, before attending Hamilton College, in upstate New York, according to a 1989 wedding announcement published in the New York Times. She later attended the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, the Times said, but graduated from Villanovas law school.

Pew passed the Pennsylvania bar in 1992. She then clerked for a federal judge for a year, worked at the Center City firm Cozen OConnor for a year, and then worked at Independence Blue Cross until being appointed to the Philadelphia bench in 2000 by then-Gov. Tom Ridge, a courts spokesperson said. In a 2001 Inquirer article, the then-34-year-old Pew, who was running for retention, said she had a good judicial demeanor and temperament.

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As a general rule, I try to start court on time and often sacrifice lunch to allow my afternoon list to start timely, she said. I am also courteous and respectful toward everybody in my courtroom, which seems to keep the flow of the cases running smoothly.

In 2002, Pew participated in Community Court, a program through which judges sought to connect defendants accused of minor crimes with social workers, counselors, or drug treatment.

People dont just get lost in the system here, Pew told Daily News columnist Elmer Smith at the time.

In more recent years, Pew, as a Municipal Court judge, has been ruling on preliminary hearings, where prosecutors must show that they have sufficient evidence for cases to proceed to trial. The cases before her have included charges of murder and assault and in some instances have led to unusual hearings.

In 2011, she and two staffers held a preliminary hearing in a hospital conference room so that a man who had been badly beaten inside his restaurant could identify his attacker while continuing to receive medical treatment.

And in 2019, she found a murder defendant in contempt of court after he yelled at her and called her a bitch when she ordered him held for trial.

Some lawyers who have appeared before her say she seems inclined to accept testimony by police officers as true. But thats not unusual at preliminary hearings, where judges are supposed to accept testimony as truthful and not make assessments of credibility.

If police say X, shell go with police, said Samuel Stretton, a veteran criminal defense attorney. Shes not a pushover. Shes usually a pretty fair judge. She treats everyone with respect, moves her cases [efficiently].

In 1990, she married Derek Pew, according to a New York Times story after the wedding. Derek Pew at the time worked in finance, the Times said. The charitable trust that bears his familys name is one of the most influential philanthropies in the country. (The Daily News in 2002 noted Wendy Pews connection to the foundation, but said she was not involved in funding decisions.)

The couple divorced in 2013, according to court records. Wendy Pew was represented by attorney Walter McHugh  who is now a partner of Dials attorneys, Brian McMonagle and Fortunato Perri Jr.

After Pew dismissed charges against Dial, Irizarrys family expressed concerns about those connections on social media.

Several legal experts, however, said they did not believe the situation represented a conflict for Pew.

The mere fact that the judge was a client a decade ago of a lawyer who is partners with McMonagle and Perri is not a conflict that would require recusal, said Lauren Ouziel, a professor at Temple Universitys law school.

Stretton, who also has extensive experience representing judges accused of misconduct, agreed. He said Pew could have disclosed that history by mentioning it in court in order to create a record, but he didnt view that as obligatory, in part because [McMonagle and Perris] firm has appeared before her a million times over the years. No ones raised any objections.

Her decision sparked backlash

Even without that strain of criticism, Pews decision to toss the case sparked immediate backlash  from Irizarrys family members, Black clergy members and the city chapter of the NAACP, and City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who introduced a resolution calling Pews ruling erroneous.

Michael J. Diamondstein, a criminal defense attorney, found that criticism so misguided that he said he sent Lozada a letter in response. In the letter, a copy of which he provided to The Inquirer, he called Lozadas criticism of Pew despicable for its failure to review and consider the evidence presented in court and apply it to the law, as he said Pew did. He called Lozadas critique a pandering, Trump-like attack.

Judge Pew is a hardworking, honorable, and decent judge who has spent over two decades presiding over cases and dispensing even-handed justice, Diamondstein wrote. He added: Using the power of your office to take a shot at a judge for political expediency is beneath the dignity of your office and does a disservice to our city.

The District Attorneys Office has appealed Pews decision to a Common Pleas Court judge. The fate of Dials criminal case will ultimately end up in the hands of one of her colleagues.
L. Harrison Jay (third from left), husband of the late JoAnne A. Epps, stands beside her casket at a service held at the Liacouras Center on Temple's campus Friday. Read more

On the back of the program for JoAnne A. Epps funeral service was a Maya Angelou poem:

When great trees fall, it begins, rocks on distant hills shudder.

One could say it was the Temple University community that shuddered Friday as it said goodbye to Epps  one of its greats  who had been serving as acting president when she died suddenly last week. A petite woman with a bright smile that lit up any room, she had a giant impact on the school she served for nearly 40 years.

 READ MORE: Temples acting president, JoAnne A. Epps, has died after falling ill on stage at university event

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Epps, a Yale law school graduate who grew up in Cheltenham, was remembered for the students she mentored, the fellow employees she inspired and aptly led, the young lawyers she nurtured, the friends and family she cared for and lifted up, and the university she put off retirement for to serve when there was need.

The former law school dean and provost died after she fell ill on stage at a university ceremony in memory of historian and author Charles L. Blockson, who was the curator emeritus of the Blockson Afro-American Collection.

She died as she lived, shining a light on someone else, said Elmer Smith, a longtime friend and former Philadelphia Daily News columnist.

About 1,500 people gathered at Temples Liacouras Center to celebrate her life, including fellow college presidents Neeli Bendapudi of Pennsylvania State University, John A. Fry of Drexel University, Valerie Smith of Swarthmore College, and Jim Cawley of Rosemont College.

Also attending were Mayor Jim Kenney, City Council members, and state legislators, along with prominent lawyers and judges. Dozens of Epps family members, including her husband, L. Harrison Jay, who worked at Temple for decades, filled the front rows.

 READ MORE: Hundreds gather to remember Temples JoAnne A. Epps during Temple vigil: We are her legacy

Classes were canceled for the day. Administrative offices were closed, and the event was livestreamed so more could participate.

Epps was religious  in her home office was a sign she printed and taped to the wall: THE LORD HAS BEEN GOOD  and prayer and music featured prominently in the service.

We have lost a mighty oak. We have lost a dear friend, said the Rev. Marshall Mitchell, pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Abington.

She will be buried Saturday at Fairview Cemetery in Willow Grove.

 READ MORE: From Cheltenham to Temple and all stops in between, JoAnne A. Epps made people feel special, important, and seen

In video tributes, statements, and in-person testimonials, those who knew her shared their memories of Epps during the two-plus-hour ceremony. Heres what some had to say:

Roberta Bobbi Leibenberg, her sister friend

The two shared a passion for promoting social justice and a strong commitment to increasing diversity in the legal profession over their decades-long friendship, she said.

They taught a law school class together last semester on gender equity and the legal profession. She told the class that when she was a young lawyer, she rarely ever saw lawyers who looked like her and therefore she wanted to be the resource for young lawyers that she never had.

We also made each other laugh, and we loved our retail therapy and especially shopping for shoes.

They were members of the Old Bags Club, started 25 years ago when the name was funny and ironic rather than descriptive and the Bad Ass Book Club. She recalled how Epps came to the first book club meeting in her typically diligent fashion ... fully prepared to discuss the book with passages highlighted and tabbed  only to find out we rarely spoke about the book and we were much more interested in the food and drink to order, politics, and Philly gossip.

Robert Bob Reinstein, who preceded Epps as dean of the law school

He recalled taking Epps to his favorite restaurant, a hole in the wall, in Tokyo when they were on a trip together. The owner was so excited to see them, he made a special appetizer, raw octopus with its tentacles.

You should have seen the look on her face. Then she asked me, Is this important? JoAnne was JoAnne. She took those chopsticks and she gobbled down the octopus with the tentacles. JoAnne understood how important it was to [the owner].

Danielle Banks, attorney and Temple alum

Banks spoke with fellow lawyers and Temple alumni Carlton L. Johnson and Joe H. Tucker Jr. by her side.

Together we symbolize the myriad of students and lawyers, Black, white, brown, Asian, Latina, LGBTQ+ who were fortunate enough to have their lives deeply touched and profoundly influenced by JoAnne Epps. ... For us, Black lawyers in a sometimes unforgiving legal world that she knew we were navigating on a daily basis, the guiding hand of someone who looked like us meant the world.

Donna Lamborne and Marylouise Weegie Esten, sister friends

The two shared with the audience Epps endearing quirks.

She had a desk drawer that looked like CVS, with nail files, lotion, makeup, Band-Aids, Motrin, and a curling iron. And we never saw anyone curl her hair as quickly as JoAnne.

She loved going to the dentist, and dancing to Motown music, they said. She hated exclamation points and thought flavored coffee was awful.

And if you put flavored creamer in her coffee, there was something wrong with you.

She loved gadgets and shared them with friends. They each got a dozen battery-operated candles that Epps discovered because she was on candle probation at home for having melted her TV.

Some of Epps favorite sayings? Im a hot mess. Thats a bad fact. Yeah, Im not doing that. Im so blessed.

The magic of JoAnne is that she had the ability to make each and every one of us feel special.

Donal E.C. Jackson, cousin

In her early life, Epps was already achieving firsts: the first Black cheerleader at her high school and the first Black vice president of the senior class. She went on to continue her legacies of firsts as Temples first Black female law school dean, first Black female provost, and first Black female president.

Giants are usually thought of as big, hulky guys, he said, but Epps clearly meets the qualifications, given her accomplishments.

Today, Im going to give JoAnne the official title as the first female giant.

Elmer Smith, friend

He talked about his decades-long friendship with Epps and her husband and the warm, welcoming atmosphere in their home. JoAnne would make a fuss over you, but didnt expect you to respond in kind.

She took charge of her husbands recovery after he suffered a stroke, down to keeping a detailed list of all his medications and the times they were to be taken.

I saw her confer with his care team, making sure everything was in place as she got him home. Her attention to detail was incredible.

Richard M. Englert, Temple University president

JoAnne has left for us a legacy of caring, competence, collaboration, commitment, and always, always compassion. ... We will devote ourselves to carrying forward JoAnnes legacy, and shame on us if we dont work together in love and common purpose to build on that legacy and to make the world better.
An architectural rendering of the Community Grocer, a nonprofit corner store in Cobbs Creek that plans to use a unique work-around to allow SNAP recipients access to hot food. Read more

The innovators of a plan to turn a Cobbs Creek corner store into a frontline outpost to battle hunger have been swamped this week with money, love, and questions.

Alex Imbot, 25, and Eli Moraru, 23, recent University of Pennsylvania graduates, are creating a first-of-its-kind system to legally circumvent federal rules that guide food stamps (now called SNAP, for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to present healthy, hot food at their nonprofit, known as the Community Grocer (TCG). The store isnt scheduled to open for months.

After an article about TCG appeared in The Inquirer on Monday, Imbot and Moraru said theyve been overwhelmed with responses from interested individuals nationwide.

Antihunger agencies from Boston, Texas, Chicago, New Mexico, and Portland, Ore., have reached out, Imbot said. The heads of large investment firms want to meet with us. The entire country is asking how they can re-create what we plan to do.

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Plus, people are sending us money, companies are offering to donate services and food, and national news organizations want to see whats happening here. Were being discussed throughout social media.

Its an overnight hullabaloo thats been incredible.

The reason behind the hullabaloo

The commotion centers on the creative way the store plans to contend with government bureaucracy.

U.S. Department of Agriculture rules stipulate that hot food cant be purchased with SNAP benefits, which are conveyed through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. Rotisserie chicken and prepared deli foods are also off-limits.

At TCG, the usual grocery staples will be offered.

But the store will also sell the raw ingredients of portioned-out meals in kits, like chicken with potatoes and vegetables. After the customer buys the uncooked foods with their SNAP benefits, they will leave the grocery and walk to the rear of the building, into a separate shop that contains a kitchen.

The customer will hand over the meal kit to a worker, who will, in turn, give them a recently cooked version of the raw meal at no charge. The uncooked ingredients will then be made into another meal for another customer.

I was intrigued by their concept, said John Vena, owner of John Vena Inc., a 100-year-old produce importer and wholesaler at the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market in South Philadelphia. He called Imbot and Moraru after reading the article.

Id like to find a way to support the program, to learn their plans for sourcing fresh produce, Vena said. Were trying to arrange a meeting.

Similarly, a Philadelphia engineering consulting firm has said its willing to offer pro bono engineering design services for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems. A local video studio suggested a similar arrangement to help with advertising or other needs.

Paula Jones, executive director of the hunger-fighting nonprofit, Zia Inc. in Fairmount, said shes long considered building a network of corner stores with healthy foods based on meal kits. Her agency reached out to the TCG founders to talk about it. You never know where the conversation can go, she said.

The TCG model impressed George Matysik, executive director of Share Food Program, one of the largest distributors of food to pantries and other entities in the region. He compared Imbot and Moraru to Emma Smedley, a Philadelphian who helped pioneer the American school lunch program in the early 20th century, as well as to U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Philadelphia), for his work in getting fresh food to people living in areas lacking easy access to supermarkets.

Eli and Alex are building on a legacy of Philly pushing the boundaries of whats possible in our communities, Matysik said. Theyre making a beautiful way to work around Washingtons bureaucracy. Weve got their back in any way we can help.

He added, its a damn shame they have to do it at all.

That sentiment has long been echoed by people who are committed to battling hunger but remain frustrated by the hot-food prohibition.

I think the TCG idea is ingenious, said Louise Hayes, a supervising attorney at Community Legal Services, and an expert on SNAP. But we shouldnt need clever work-arounds to do the job Congress needs to do.

For roughly 50 years, the hot-food ban has been in place despite efforts to change it.

Its based on the racist, classist assumption that no one getting SNAP benefits should have the luxury to eat hot food, said Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, a national nonprofit based in New York.

The Hot Foods Act, a bipartisan effort in Congress with sponsors that include U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks, Montgomery Counties), would permanently end the prohibition. Its not clear whether enough support exists to implement the initiative.

In the meantime, the TCG founders will continue efforts to push their idea, gratified to have heard from so many who believe in them.

Its been an incredible outpouring of support, Imbot said. Weve had quite a week.
People and students walking along Locust Walk on the University of Pennsylvanias campus in June. Read more

A vast majority of resident assistants at the University of Pennsylvania have voted to form a union, making the first RA union in the Philadelphia-area.

Its another labor-organizing first for the university and the region, whose medical school became the site of the first union of training doctors in Pennsylvania earlier this year.

The final vote tally was 142-22, with turnout of about 75%. The vote took place Wednesday and Thursday at Houston Hall on campus.

My heart was racing, but once we saw how many yeses were coming in, I was so excited, said Conor Emery, an undergraduate senior and second-year RA at Penn. Its very relieving to know were going to have a say at the bargaining table.

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The student workers, consisting of undergraduate resident assistants and graduate resident assistants, are full-time students who live in university housing and assist other residents. They will be members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 153.

When the RAs filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board, Penn had challenged it, arguing that the students are temporary workers and not employees under the law that governs unionization. The NLRB rejected that argument in August, clearing the way for this weeks vote.

Scott Williams, an organizer with OPEIU Local 153, said Penns resistance to the organizers efforts only adds significance to the vote result.

It was a historic vote, a landslide victory, Williams said, noting that 70% of RAs backed the petition to unionize in March, but 87% of the vote was in favor of unionizing six months later. Its showing that theres a growing interest and support.

Penn spokesperson Ron Ozio acknowledged the outcome of the vote in a statement Friday.

The NLRB must certify the election outcome, at which time we will provide more information to the RAs and GRAs. We thank the RAs and GRAs who participated in this important process, Ozio said.

The union will now have to bargain a first contract with the university, a process that can be lengthy. Williams said it would be ideal to ratify a contract before April or May, so its within the current school year.

Weve been able to make a lot of progress at other universities very quickly, he added.

RAs have been similarly organizing labor unions at U.S. universities including at Barnard, Mount Holyoke, Wesleyan, Columbia, and Tufts, after a 2016 NLRB ruling paved the way for student workers at private colleges to unionize. Those at many public colleges already had that right under state laws.

RAs at Tufts University just ratified their first contract, which included a more robust meal plan and a stipend, after forming a union in December. Their efforts to get that contract included a strike on move-in day in August.

The top issues in negotiations for Penn RAs include compensation and work-life balance. In exchange for about 20 hours per week of work, they receive a free room on campus and a partial dining plan.

Students who benefit from financial aid that may cover part of their room and board do not see additional assistance when they become RAs, Williams added. Many RAs end up getting a second campus job so they have cash on hand, he said.

Omar Elsakhawy, a sophomore undergraduate resident assistant, said part of his motivation to become an RA was to reduce the costs of housing and food. But the partial food plan is meager, he said, and he often ends up spending $80 to $100 per week on groceries to fill in the gaps.

We have to be really strategic about when were going to eat and how were going to eat, Elsakhawy said.

He also noted that work distribution is not equitable, as some buildings have more RAs to share the duties than others have. Compensation for those who do more would be appropriate, he suggested.

We contribute a lot of value to the university, Elsakhawy said. Im feeling empowered to make a difference in the way were treated.
A 54-year-old man who failed to return to a Camden County halfway house following a work detail in Burlington County was apprehended on Friday, state officials said.

Edward Berbon was taken into custody without incident around 2:20 p.m. in Camden by investigators from the New Jersey Department of Corrections Special Investigation Division, the agency said in a news release.

On Sept. 23, Berbon failed to report to the halfway house in Camden following his work detail in Mount Laurel Township, the agency said.

Berbon was nearing the end of his sentence for attempted murder and was scheduled to be released next February.
As expected, Republican David McCormick received the endorsement of the Pennsylvania GOP on Saturday in his second run for the U.S. Senate.

What a difference a year makes. That the Republican Party is fully behind the Gulf War veteran and former hedge fund CEO is in contrast to last year, when McCormick, 57, lost a close GOP primary race to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz.

After much speculation, the native of Washington, Pa., who now has homes in Pittsburgh and Connecticut, officially entered the Senate race last week, after nearly 100 prominent Republicans wrote a public letter urging him to run. McCormick is looking to unseat Bob Casey, the longest serving Pennsylvania Democrat in Senate history.

I am deeply humbled to receive the unanimous endorsement of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, McCormick said in a statement. United as one, Republicans across Pennsylvania will win. We will defeat Bob Casey and bring strong leadership to Washington on behalf of the commonwealth.

The endorsement, described as an unprecedented early vote, came at the Pennsylvania GOPs fall meeting in Camp Hill.

With the balance of the Senate up for grabs and Pennsylvania a persistent swing state, the race will be closely watched and is expected to be robustly funded. In 2022, races to fill the open seat of retiring Sen. Pat Toomey drew $375 million, the most of any Senate race in the country.

Staff writer Julia Terruso contributed to this article.
Dingle Food Festival

It is that time of year once more, almost the Irish food worlds equivalent of the hot cup of cocoa before bed, as the Dingle Food Festival/Feile Bia Dhaingean Ui Chuis (September 29-October 1) signals one of the last hurrahs of the Irish food festival circuit before bedding down for winter  except the Dingle Food Festival provides pretty much the polar opposite effect of the soporific impact of the your hot milk and chocolate powder beverage as it inevitably winds up as the mother of all parties each year, incorporating as it does, the Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards as well, ensuring the beautiful west Kerry seaside town is packed each year with some of the finest food producers from the entire 32 counties of Ireland

Dingles own local food producer champion body, Bia Dingle, are behind a series of demos at the festival, including a chocolate one from chef Peter McGrattan and another local legend, Louise Brosnan, of Mex West food truck, producing an Irish-Spanish fusion of Blasket Island Lamb empanadas. Pastry chef superstar Shane Smith hosts a very special event at Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne as the home economics class under the tutelage of teacher, Marie Ni Arrachtain, strut their baking stuff. The Menu is especially intrigued by The Dingle Food Festival Farmers Forum which examines the changes in farming on the peninsula over the last 60 years and he will be very keen to frame it in the context of his own experience living as a child for eight months on a small farm west of Dingle town.

This years awards, now in their 16th year, saw the highest amount of entries to date, including many first time entrants. With almost 3,000 entries judged, the winners excitement only serves to drive up energy levels to fever pitch around town. And, of course, the weekend would be nothing without the splendid Taste Trail that snakes its way up and down the towns vertiginous slopes, darting and diving into all manner of little nooks and crannies along the way to serve up some truly splendid fare.

www.dinglefood.com

Fish Bar at The Electric

Last chance to dine at Electric's Fish Bar.

Rare are the epicurean enterprises that seem to last forever and yet it can often prove very poignant when a hospitality enterprise shuts its doors for good. The Menu was just one of many over the years who enjoyed himself in the environs of Ernest Cantillons Electric bar and gastro-pub on South Mall and was duly saddened to learn of its closure as the bould Ernest is now choosing to devote his energies elsewhere, to both his growing young family and his business interests in the distilling world. As a form of sayonara, their ever popular Fish Bar at the very top of the fine Art Deco building and sporting excellent views of the city and the River Lee directly below, is re-opening for a limited edition month-long run as a form of farewell, with bookings taken from the end of September for the following four weeks, serving up a fresh menu of locally caught fish comprising a greatest edible hits from the last 12 years.

www.electriccork.ie

Todays special

Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms Vitamin D-enriched Shiitake supplements.

If theres one health message that was really rammed home by the covid pandemic, it is of the value of vitamin D to our nutritional wellbeing. Its very often an issue for Gaels as we naturally produce it in our bodies upon exposure to sunshine but generally, for that to happen with any great consistency, said Gael needs to take herself or himself off to the nearest airport and clamber on board anaircraft aimed for sunnier climes. As we fall deeper and deeper into autumn and eventually winter, this deficiency of sunlight and, hence, Vitamin D becomes ever more vital to our wellbeing, playing an important role in bone health and healthy functioning of the immune system.

Its importance and, equally, its more usual deficiency in Ireland, especially from September to March, was recently recognised in an Oireactas Joint Committee on Health report on addressing vitamin D deficiency as a public health measure in Ireland  in other words, the Gael needs to be taking the D.

Now, there are multiple brands available when it comes to health supplements which has grown into a global billion-dollar business so The Menu is very happy to take his lead from the good people at Ballyhoura Mushrooms, Dr Lucy Deegan and Mark Cribben, both recovering food scientists who have revolutionised mushroom production and consumption in Ireland and continually add to their range of superb value-added mushroom-based food products.

Now, moving into the biotech sphere, the range includes a new Super D Shiitake capsule providing 15ug of vitamin D, equating to 50% of vitamin D RDA, a natural source of vitamin D produced by the innate ability of Shiitake mushrooms to supercharge vitamin D production one thousand-fold on exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.

Containing only vitamin D enriched Shiitake Mushroom Powder, the capsules are produce in Co Limerick, using their recently installed Automatic Capsule Maker with a capability of producing 5,000 capsules per hour, and says Dr Lucy mushrooms contain a compound called ergosterol and Shiitake mushrooms contain very high levels of this compound and when exposed to ultraviolet light this is converted to vitamin D2, a vitamin D form highly bioavailable to humans and unlike other sources such as dairy products or fish oils, it is 100% vegetarian.

By controlling the UV light wavelength ,you can boost the Vitamin D2 level 1,000-fold and have a vegetarian derived stable source of Vitamin D suitable for fortifying food products and taking as a food supplement, Dr Lucy added. Bring on winter, cries a newly nutritionally enhanced Menu!

www.ballyhouramushrooms.ie
Theres an old joke about a fool searching for his keys under a streetlight. A neighbour joins him and helps him look, but to no avail. After a long time, he asks his friend if hes sure this is where he lost them. Not at all, says the fool, I lost them in the park, but this is where the lights are on. This week, weve seen the Streetlight Fallacy in full effect, as many in the Irish media have tried to discern the causes of the far-right demonstrations outside the Dail, and decided that the Left must share the blame. Criticising protest (all protest, whatever its causes) appears to be the only streetlight some pundits have, and they cling to it even as its use has lapsed into the realm of the absurd.

Theres a common pathology in making the left and right natural and equal opposites (the horseshoe theory which places any position too far left as being identical to that of their political opposites) preserving some notional centre ground as the natural, sensible position. This is fatuous, on its face, since it is not merely possible, but desirable, to discuss the merits and dangers of political beliefs in and of themselves, not by their philosophical distance from whatever status quo currently exists. When one side is fomenting hatred against immigrants, gays and trans people, and the other objects to their so doing (and wants the housing crisis sorted); Both sides-ism is not just inappropriate, but criminally negligent.

What, after all, are the disincentives for right-wing hatemongers? After months screaming obscenities at minorities, barraging librarians and trans people with abuse and setting fire to homeless camps, they finally got the mass medias attention by bringing a gallows to the Dail. And for these labours, they have suffered the horrible blow of a slew of columns which spend their word count focusing on the indignities of a notional Left that these fascists despise themselves.

The best that can be said of some of the commentary is that it was confusing. At least half a dozen newspaper pieces and numerous radio segments chose to cover the story through the lens of mob rule as if these protests stemmed from punters upset at the loss of a football match, or a Black Friday sale gone wrong. These eschewed mention of the actual goals or beliefs of this increasingly organised band of politically motivated far right activists, and with it the necessary reflections on who they were, what they want, and who they hate. Worse, alternative candidates were routinely suggested. Everyone from People Before Profits Paul Murphy, President Michael D Higgins, and Fr Peter McVerry, were at some point mooted as being either fully, or partly, responsible for whipping up incoherent rage against politicians.

Members of the public protest outside Leinster House. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

They too, the argument went, have criticised government policy in stronger-than-necessary terms. One might observe that if criticising government policy in strong terms is analogous to demanding said politicians be hung outside their workplace, there are few politicians, journalists or voters in Ireland who would escape such a charge. One must also wrestle with the fact that those who brought the gallows to the Dail would happily see the likes of Murphy, Higgins and McVerry hung first.

In the case of Murphy, who would go on to find himself quite outnumbered on RTEs Up Front later in the week, some sought to wind the clock back to the 2014 water charges protests, citing the now infamous incident in which minister Joan Burton was trapped in her car for three hours, under police guard, in the middle of a demonstration. Murphy, who was arrested for his part in that Water Rights movement, was several times accused of hypocrisy for criticising these recent protests, and not his own.

The similarities between the two incidents (hostility to government leading to civil disorder) are judged sufficient to ignore the many, and meaningful, differences between a slow march protest against unfair taxation, and racist agitators calling for the execution of their political enemies outside government.

One might wonder why those who wish to draw an equivalence between left and right must stretch back nine years to find such an unhelpful test case, while also developing a specific amnesia about the trials that resulted three years later. At the trials, six of those arrested during dawn raids for false imprisonment were found not guilty, and the seventh acquitted, after the judge cast doubt on 180 garda statements which were directly contradicted by video evidence. (In light of the Governments stated hands off policy with the far-right, we await with interest the dawn raids to be undertaken for those who amassed outside Leinster House with a noose.)

Such fallacies arent just bad because theyre incoherent, nor even just because they waste time and oxygen fighting irrelevant ideological turf wars. Their worst crime is that they embolden the enemy, diluting their specific evils and inculcating, within more passive observers, an ambient sense that their beliefs are closer to the frame of common decency than they are.

If someone says people posting rude tweets about the housing crisis are just as bad as people screaming obscenities at our Muslim neighbours, and threatening libraries with closure for displaying LGBT materials, they are doing a moral and intellectual disservice to themselves and others. To put it another way: if a deadly virus is running riot in the streets, and you spend 80% of your coverage on the dangers of the common cold, youre not just grossly overstating the dangers of the latter, youre dangerously complacent about the seriousness of the former.

The Left had nothing to do with these protests, other than to tell the powers-that-be that their complacency about far-right agitators was making such escalations inevitable. The streetlights are now on, and we should be using them to search for proper answers and solutions. Well need to. After this weeks absurd

exercise in whataboutery, its hard not to think that worse is yet to come.
Camogie star, broadcaster, and farmers daughter, Anna Geary is a new mum with a two-month-old baby and a hectic schedule.

Yet when I mention my 13-year-old niece is a fan, she offers to make a video for her.

For a rising star on the U14 camogie team, a message from Anna Geary is as good as nabbing Taylor Swift tickets and Ive earned serious brownie points for the foreseeable future.

Although shes polished and staggeringly beautiful, Anna is incredibly warm and open and is as comfortable talking about her television work as she is about her leaky boobs and forgetting the last time she took a shower.

Little baby Ronan is already showing a sure streak of divilment, she tells me.

Ill think hes about to go down. He lulls me into a false sense of security. Then one eye will open and hell go; did you think I was falling asleep? Its almost like hes taunting me.

She admits she is constantly asking herself the question, am I exaggerating? But, she always comes to the same conclusion: motherhood is hard.

Its changed our life obviously for the better but it is also testing. Youre up at three or four oclock in the morning breastfeeding and thinking, when was the last time I went to the bathroom?

Anna's two-month-old son Ronan is showing a streak of divilment. Picture: Moya Nolan

While Anna is adapting to this seismic shift, she admits its getting better as shes easing into it. And her priorities have certainly changed.

Ill never complain about 14-hour days on Irelands Fittest Family again. Thats a walk in the park compared with sleep deprivation.

She has a newfound appreciation for the simplest things: Im loving things that I took for granted  the basics. Now those things are luxuries, like having a shower and putting on body moisturiser  or sitting with an actual hot cup of coffee that hasnt been reheated twice.

Anna met her husband Kevin Sexton in the infamous Flannerys, a bona fide Dublin institution for decades facilitating thirsty GAA lovers in getting the shift via cheesy pop music and bootcut jeans.

As on the pitch, theres strength in numbers and an important part of that equation was the wing man or wing woman.

We may have moved on from the brazen sounds of six girls huddled together on the dance floor, shrieking will you score my friend but Anna believes having your friends by your side is an integral part of the Irish mating ritual, at least for those from down the country.

Thats why shes signed up to host a new RTE series, Love in the Country. Following six romantic hopefuls all living in remote areas of Ireland, Anna acts as a wing woman as they go on dates with multiple matches.

Anna went to St Marys in Charleville, an all-girls secondary school but she played on the boys team for Sciath na Scol which allowed her to get to know the local lads and vet any potential love interests.

It was easier when we were younger. Now, its so much harder. The local social scene has definitely died down. Youve got these apps that people arent really comfortable using but for a lot of people, its desperate measures.

Those measures also involve putting a call out over the internet and hosting a group date with a shortlist of suitors including a farmer from Westmeath, a veterinary nursing student/sheep farmer from Roscommon, a pharmacist and part-time farmer from West Cork, a coffee shop owner from Wexford, a land custodian from Carlow, and a cafe owner from Mayo.

Weve heard of the matchmakers in years gone by and this is bringing it into the 21st century. Youve got your digital profile  they put up their video saying what they want and what theyre about and people write to them and say what they liked about that person.

Anna was fascinated to see how the selection process differed from person to person.

Some people didnt look at the photo until they read the message because they didnt want the photo to influence the letter. For some people, the first thing they looked at was the photograph.

Did Anna favour one approach over the other?

From a social experiment point of view, it was very interesting to see how their process for picking people actually worked. Some people really took the time to bare their heart and soul in their letter and put it all out there.

Some were really determined not to overlook the physical attraction  they needed to feel that connection as well as click with their personality.

Anna met her husband Kevin Sexton in the infamous Flannerys, a bona fide Dublin institution. Picture: @annagcork / Instagram

Anna describes herself as a hopeless romantic.

I love the idea of people being able to find somebody, not just that youre physically attracted to, but that you can chat with, somebody that likes you for your weirdness or quirkiness and idiosyncrasies.

The show is based on the international format of Farmer Wants a Wife which originated in the UK in 2001 and has been running in multiple regions ever since.

In the British version, the suitors all stay with the farmer but the Irish version has been slightly modified  they are allowed to stay in a local B&B.

They have this X Factor moment where theyre all lined up and the person says the people I would like to spend my weekend with are.

You get to see the competition and inevitably, some will bring the homemade cake. Youll see daggers from the others, thinking; why didnt I do that?

She did have to pull some of the lads for chats though and describes herself as the friend who tells you what you need to hear but doesnt necessarily want to hear.

That was my job, reminding somebody, well, this is what you said you wanted. This person is presenting all of those attributes, so whats the problem?

There are a lot of lightbulb moments, says Anna who was genuinely surprised with some of the pairings that transpired.

Anna: Everybody deserves to have somebody special. Picture: Moya Nolan

Texting etiquette is something that comes up (dont leave the person on read for four days) as well as being comfortable with silence.

Ultimately, the show runs the gamut of emotions and Anna thinks that viewers will really enjoy watching the show as much as she enjoyed filming it.

Its heartwarming. There were times I cried. These people were baring their hearts. There were other times I was cringing. Thats what love is about  taking risks.

Relationships come in all shapes and sizes and Anna says she would love to see the show diversify if it returns to RTE for a second season.

The older the candidates are, the more diverse the spectrum, the better, because love is so different nowadays. It doesnt matter who its between, what age you are, who you are, what your sexual preferences are.

Everybody deserves to have somebody special. For one of the women, she said she would just love to have someone to make a proper dinner for. It was such a simple but really significant thing for her.

Dating is not easy for those living in remote or rural areas, she says but if you find your person, as Anna did, you will find a way.

You could be swiping right on Tinder and the nearest person would be 20km. But dating a local person  you will have seen them pick their nose in primary school and everybody will be listening in on your date in the local pub.

Its worth travelling for the right person.

Love In the Country airs Mondays on RTE 2 at 9.30pm
One of five children, Jane Cassidy was always mad about books. Her mother had been an English teacher, and her father was a GP. She adored being a student, but afterwards, she didnt apply for a job, and instead became a professional folk singer.

Ive never regretted it, she says. I did some teaching on the side, when I wasnt singing or touring.

After 10 years, by which time she had a husband and a baby, she turned to broadcasting, presenting a radio programme, as well as pitching ideas.

I presented a series for children called Swings and Roundabouts for Ulster TV. That was great fun.

She also wrote radio scripts and plays for BBC Radio Four.

I also dramatised a Maeve Binchy book for them in six episodes.

Eventually she started working as a producer for BBC Northern Ireland. She ended up as head of learning and languages. But I was still doing some freelancing, and some singing.

Redundancy, in 2012, came as a shock.

I was devastated. In the first few months, I read thrillers, but felt guilty buying so many books, and thought Id have a go at writing.

When she finished the first, she immediately wrote the second in the series.

I wrote and rewrote. I sent manuscripts out, but the rejection was hard. Meanwhile, shes worked in Arts administration, and spent a year with the Arts Council.

Who is Jane Cassidy?

The Desire Line by Jane Cassidy

Date/place of birth: 1975/ Co Down.

Education: St Louis Grammar School; Queens Belfast, English and French. Post grad in Education.

Home: Belfast

Family: Husband, Morris Leyden, son and daughter.

The day job: Writer and folk singer.

In another life: Writing was the lifelong ambition..

Favourite writers: Ruth Rendell; Sophie Hannah; Ian Rankin; Margaret Atwood; John Steinbeck; Bernard MacLaverty.

Second book: Im rewriting the second in the series.

Top tip: Dont lose faith. The experience of writing is wonderfully cathartic.

Twitter: @JaneCassidy2

The debut

The Desire Line

Poolbeg Crimson, 16.99/ Kindle, 2.29

Helena leaves a psychiatric hospital to discover that her house has disappeared. Her new friends, Jer and Nora McCabe cant decide if shes a victim or a villain.

The verdict: An interesting, gentle mystery with twists.
How did you become the editor of Books Ireland?

I have worked in a lot of different areas through the years  reviewing, editing, working for a publisher, and Im a writer as well.

I saw there was an opening, it just felt like it was made for me, it was like I had written my own job spec. I saw all the areas that I would need to work in and it just spoke to all the different aspects of who I am, as well as what I do. So I just jumped on it.

Can you tell me more about Books Ireland?

It began in 1976 and we transitioned to fully digital around 2020.

That has opened up things up, it has really given us a new audience. It means we can do all sorts of things online that we couldnt do in print. We have a database called First Flush, which tells you what new books are coming out every month. So publishers, booksellers, and libraries would be very keen to check that source every month.

We have bestseller lists, and we have our pieces on craft, on writing. We have all sorts of writers engaged with us, from big hitters to self-published writers to poets, it has something for everybody.

What does your role involve?

We work with booksellers, publishers, authors, literary organisations, publishing professionals, the whole array really of the book world.

My job is quite varied. No day is the same. I commission reviews and features, we publish trade news, industry news. We have lots of other projects like the Burning Books podcast where I get to talk to writers about their craft. We have also been working on an Irish Writers Handbook which is out soon.

The Irish literature scene appears to be thriving. Is that reflected in what you see?

Absolutely. It is just full of passionate, creative, smart and innovative human beings. Throw a stone and you hit a poet. Its a great industry to work in.

What do you like most about your job?

Probably the thing I like most is that no day is the same, there is always something new on the horizon  meeting writers, meeting creative people, and seeing whats coming next. The podcast is probably one of the highlights too, where I get to meet my heroes.

Also, seeing whats going to be published, you just feel like youre getting a little glimpse behind the curtain all the time.

I love the editing side of it, I love working with text and I love the team I work with. Im very happy in this role, I feel like it was the universe saying this is where youre supposed to be right now.

What do you like least about it?

There genuinely isnt anything I dislike about my job. If there was something its probably that there just isnt enough time and space to cover everything. Id love to feature every book and every author.

Id love to review everything that is sent in, but we just cant.

What three books would you take to a desert island?

Id probably go for poetry because you can go back to a poem  youre never the same person reading that poem the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth time.

You can read them eternally. I am not going to pick particular collections but the three poets I would probably bring with me would be anything by Louise Gluck, Mary Oliver, and Ada Limon. I would just take those three wonderful women with me and that would give me some solace and some nourishment.

They probe the darkness but there is always some light.
At times during the hearing at the Dublin District Coroners Court this week, Darren Coleman would get up from his seat and quietly leave the room.

The softly spoken teacher from Ballina, Co. Mayo, politely excused himself as the inquest heard details about the death of his wife and baby son. The hearing into the deaths of nurse Nicola Keane, 34, and her seven-month-old son Henry Coleman, who died on October 22, 2020, lasted two days.

Much of the evidence focused on Ms Keanes battle with post-natal depression and the treatment she received from the Ballyfermot Community Psychiatric Services.

Late on Wednesday night, a jury returned a majority 6-1 verdict of medical misadventure in the case of Ms Keane, who died from polytrauma due to a fall, while a unanimous narrative verdict was returned in baby Henry's case. Ms Keane took her own life after taking the life of baby Henry.

An inquest is often the last chance for families to try and get answers to what happened to their loved ones. When he took the stand, Mr Coleman explained the importance of the inquest and said he had endured a three-year wait to be heard as the only member of my family alive to speak.

No words can describe the pain that I am going through since the death of my wife Nicola and son Henry," he said. I welcome the jurys verdict that Nicolas death was a result of medical misadventure.

Nicola had severe post-natal depression and postpartum psychosis. I had no idea how sick she was or that there was any risk to her life or our sons life.

Darren Coleman outside the Dublin District Coroner's Court earlier this week: Nicola had severe post-natal depression and postpartum psychosis. I had no idea how sick she was or that there was any risk to her life or our sons life." Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

If I was told how sick she was I would have ensured she received the care she needed to protect both her and baby Henry. I can only hope that lessons have been learned following their deaths."

Receiving a medical misadventure verdict for his wifes death may have given him some peace. When the foreperson read out the verdicts, Mr Coleman relaxed his shoulders for a moment as he sat waiting for the outcomes.

For two days, he had listened to every word of the evidence intently. The court heard how his wife had suffered severe post-natal depression following the birth of their only baby Henry.

The baby was described as suffering from irritability and persistent crying. The couple were exhausted, said Mr Coleman during his evidence. Henry was admitted twice to Crumlin Childrens Hospital where doctors could find no reason for his crying.

He may have been a colicky baby said Pediatric Consultant, Dr Una Murtagh, who treated him. However, the second time he was admitted, Nicola told the doctors she felt no bond with Henry and she feared she might do something.

Although she repeatedly denied any intention of suicide or harming her son. Dr Murtagh said in her evidence that she was very concerned about Nicola and held a meeting with other clinicians who all agreed to refer her to adult psychiatric services.

During some of those appointments, which Mr Coleman attended with his wife, he was told not to leave her alone with Henry and described how he often stood outside the bathroom when mum and baby were bathing.

It completely hurt me to have to monitor the person I had been in a relationship with since I was 17 but I trusted the professionals.

Nicola continued to receive treatment and Mr Coleman said he should have been told that his wifes medication had been increased twice a month before her death. Medical records showed Nicola had fixed delusional beliefs and depressive episodes.

Mr Coleman, in his evidence, said:

To read about this after their deaths has hurt me so much that I will never recover from it.

The new mother was referred to Dr Elena Perez who reassured the family that one in four women suffered from post-natal depression. Dr Perez said she believed Nicola was showing signs of improvement and responding to the medication.

Mr Colemans evidence was that there were 12 days when his wife had missed communication from her care team in the run-up to her death. He believed he should have been informed that she had not answered her phone on three occasions during this period.

If I had been told even one piece of the information being withheld from me, I believe Henry and Nicola would not have died, he said.

All of the doctors saw a deterioration in Nicola on the childs second admission. She had lost weight I was very concerned about her, Dr Murtagh continued.

But nobody foresaw the end of Nicolas life in the near future.

She had been settling Henry on the night they died. He had been crying a lot and Nicola insisted her husband slept and that she would care for the baby.

In her evidence, Dr Margot Bolster, assistant state pathologist, said Ms Keane died from polytrauma due to a fall from a height and that her death was instantaneous.

She said toxicology tests showed no trace of alcohol or drugs in her system and that she hadnt taken her medication for a period of time.

Dr Bolster also carried out a post-mortem examination on baby Henry on October 22, 2020, at Crumlin Childrens Hospital. She said the child had no injuries and that no cause of death could be determined during the autopsy.

Dr Una Murtagh leaving the Dublin District Coroner's Court earlier this week at the joint inquest into the deaths of Nicola Keane and her son, Baby Henry. Dr Murtagh said in her evidence that she was very concerned about Nicola and held a meeting with other clinicians who all agreed to refer her to adult psychiatric services. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

However, a toxicology report the following September showed a mixture of two separate medications in the babys system.

When the evidence of all parties was finished, the jury made two recommendations, including the building of a postnatal depression programme into the prenatal course for both parents, and said planned mother and baby inpatient units should be created.

Mr Coleman and his sister-in-law left the courts following the verdict, but not before thanking his legal team Rachael Listeon from Listonflavin Solicitors.

In a statement, Rachael Liston told the Irish Examiner: It is hoped that these verdicts will highlight the need to inform women and their partners of the existence of specialist perinatal mental health services. These services provide specialist mental health care to pregnant woman and for the first year following the birth of their baby."

Mr Coleman said the inquest had taken its toll but that he finally got to speak up for his lost loved ones.

Today is for me. Today is for Henry. Today is for Nicola.

And I am the member of my family alive to speak. Finally, 37 months after Nicola was diagnosed with post-natal depression and 35 months after Henry and Nicolas deaths, my opinion will eventually be heard and listened to."
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has called for adjustments to be made to allow for a full systemic review of spinal surgeries.

The IHCA has also called for 4bn in the upcoming budget to build and open essential additional hospital beds, theatres, diagnostics, and other facilities already announced by the Minister for Health.

The IHCA, which represents over 95% of hospital consultants in Ireland said the external review being commissioned is of utmost importance, first and foremost for the patients concerned, but also for any patient, child or adult, who is on a waiting list to have surgery in Ireland.

A spokesperson for the IHCA said justifiable concerns have been raised regarding both the terms of reference and who the review is ultimately reporting to and that it is not too late to allay these concerns.

IHCA president, Prof Rob Landers said the Taoiseach and Minister need to take firm control and make the necessary adjustments to ensure the external review is systemic in nature, with the authority to see any documentation and evidence available.

It cannot in effect be allowed to report to itself, he told attendees this morning at Saturdays IHCA annual conference.

Irish Hospital Consultants Association president Professor Robert Landers called on the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health to ensure the external review is systemic in nature. Picture: www.ihca.ie

Battling the system

Mr Landers said that scoliosis patients and their families who for decades have had to battle the system are having to do so again.

The battle many have to go through in healthcare is real. For hospital consultants, its a battle for theatre time, facilities and basic equipment. A battle with antiquated systems. A battle against the impacts of later patient presentations leading to increased complexity and often a battle to be heard.

Mr Landers told attendees that it is fundamental that the review is systemic in nature because what it concludes and ultimately recommends will influence how all hospitals approach complex surgeries, innovation, risk evaluation and resourcing into the future.

The cultural and governing environment in which healthcare professionals function is critical to patient outcomes. When we are dealing with serious, highly complex surgery, it matters even more, he said.

Mr Landers said CHI was correct in commissioning a report, However, the manner in which it did so illustrates once again the health system we battle, he said before adding: We heard about the importance of a no blame culture in our hospitals but there has been very little evidence of that in this instance.

Calling for a budget allocation of 4bn, a spokesperson for the IHCA said For too long now, consultants have been urging the Government to implement measures aimed at cutting waiting lists and filling the over 900 vacant consultant posts.

Also Speaking at the conference, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the ongoing spinal surgery scandal demands a full and transparent response.

Echoing calls for a full systemic review, Ms McDonald said Children's Health Ireland (CHI) and the HSE cannot be allowed to handle the terms of reference, and certainly the external review cannot report back to either body.

She called on the Taoiseach and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to lead and take responsibility, saying: The outcome that we all deserve is of course, justice, accountability, some level of comfort for those injured children, for a child whose life was lost and their families.

Ms McDonald also called for a determined effort from Government to end the scandalous, agonising wait that these children and their families have endured on waiting lists.

Calling for a budget allocation of 4bn, a spokesperson for the IHCA said For too long now, consultants have been urging the Government to implement measures aimed at cutting waiting lists and filling the over 900 vacant consultant posts. Despite choosing medicine to battle disease, Mr Landers said consultants are left battling with the system.

The battle many have to go through in healthcare is real. For hospital consultants, its a battle for theatre time, facilities and basic equipment. A battle with antiquated systems. A battle against the impacts of later patient presentations leading to increased complexity and often a battle to be heard, he said.

Mr Landers said many consultants in Ireland work in suboptimal conditions with inadequate resources and structures and yet are expected to perform to the very highest international standards.

The gap between the type of system we want versus the type of system we have feels like its ever widening, he said.
The brainless Caribbean box jellyfish can remember past experiences using "advance learning" skills, according to a new study led by scientists from Denmark and Germany.

The findings suggested that the invertebrate animal can also alter or change their behavior based on these experiences, a unique and unprecedented ability of its kind.

The research team concluded that the box jellyfish (Tripedalia cystophora) species is capable of "associative learning."

This learning ability is based on the combination of visual and mechanical stimuli, which the marine creature uses to recall this past information.

The findings are significant since it has been thought for a long time that jellyfish are mindless creatures with no signs of being sentient.

Now, the discovery paves the way for further understanding of the complex biological systems possessed by the gelatinous sea jellies in the world.

Caribbean Box Jellyfish

In a new study published in the journal Current Biology on September 22, researchers acknowledged that associative learning, which pertains to classical or operant conditioning, has never been unanimously linked with animals outside bilaterians (such as vertebrates, arthropods, or mollusks).

In addition, they highlighted that such learning is crucial for the survival of the majority of animals.

In previous research, obstacle avoidance is one of the several behaviors that guide box jellyfish from harm.

According to the Current Biology study, this trait, officially called obstacle avoidance behavior (OAB) is a species-specific type of defense mechanism for T. cystophora.

This observation is made possible after the team found that the rhopalial nervous is the learning center of the brainless Caribbean box jellyfish.

Also Read: The Deadly Sting of the Giant Nomura's Jellyfish

Jellyfish Evolution

Often deemed as alien-like creatures, jellyfish are common across the world's oceans, where they can also be spotted in shallow waters depending at the time of the year.

However, they are as ancient than previously thought.

In fact, jellyfish have been around Earth for more than 500 million years, making them older than non-avian dinosaurs that perished from a planet-killing space rock 65 million years ago.

According to the organization Orlando Science Center, the oldest-known jellyfish fossils were found in Utah, dating back 505 million years ago, highlighting that ancient jellyfish appeared more than 250 million years even before the first dinosaurs.

Despite their long existence, the jellyfish lineage has relatively evolved less compared with other animals, especially mammals.

Scientists said that the modern day jellyfish evolved a long time ago, but assert they are likely smarter than previously thought.

Aside from the learning capabilities of the Caribbean box jellyfish, other members of the free-swimming marine animals have become candidates for the centuries-old quest for immortality.

In 2022, scientists from Spain unraveled the genetic code of the "immortal jellyfish" which is capable of reversing aging, based on a study published in PNAS by researchers at the University of Oviedo and their colleagues.

Scientifically known as Turritopsis dohrnii, the secrets of the immortal jellyfish could provide new clues when it comes to human aging, according to reports.

Related Article: Brainless Jellyfish Actively Hunt, Surprise Experts
VinFast VF 6 is introduced in an even in Ho Chi Minh City on Sep. 29, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nhan

Vietnamese automaker VinFast has launched its fifth electric car, the VF 6 crossover in the small-car segment, with base prices starting at VND675 million ($27,800).

The Plus version, which offers a range of 399 kilometers compared to the bases 381 kilometers, costs VND765 million.

The battery costs VND90 million for each version.

Any customer who does not buy the battery can lease it for VND1.8 million a month, with a maximum monthly distance of 1,500 kilometers.

Sales begin October 20 and deliveries will be scheduled for the end of this year.

The VF 6 is in the same price range as the Hyundai Creta (starting at VND640 million) and the Kia Seltos (from VND599 million).

The B-segment (European classifications smallest-car category) is rife with competition in Vietnam thanks to offerings by Japanese, South Korean, German and Chinese brands all seeking a bigger share.
Legalising drugs will expand access to them, make drug use more normalised and increase drug use, the Chief Medical Officer has warned.

The view of Professor Breda Smyth was contradicted by Professor Catherine Comiskey of Trinity College, who said the EU drugs agency had examined the laws of European countries and found no difference or no pattern between a legal system and drug use.

They were both speaking at the fifth and penultimate meeting of the Citizens Assembly on Drugs, which this weekend is examining the role of prevention.

Prof Smyth, CMO at the Department of Health, said drug use was implicated in 409 deaths in 2020, 53,000 inpatient bed days and 200 day cases in hospitals.

She said one in five adults that use cannabis were likely to be dependent and that one in three young people were likely to become addicted if they use cannabis weekly or more often.

She said that 45,000 people in Ireland had cannabis use disorders and that almost half of those in treatment in 2022 were parents.

She said a key influencer in drug use was peoples environment, whether it was in the home or the community.

Chief Medical Officer, Professor Breda Smyth pointed to Canadian studies that showed legalisation led to increased drug use.

Legalising a drug and increasing its access is a form of normalisation and will change the perception of normality," Prof Smyth said. "It decreases the perception of risk associated with drug use. So, legalisation will increase use and the normalisation of drug use.

She cited research from Ontario, Canada, where cannabis has been legalised, which, she said, found the prevalence of cannabis use had increased. She said there was a trend towards more daily use and a significant increase in cannabis-related problems, including emergency admissions.

No difference

Prof Comiskey, who is vice-chair of the scientific committee of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Emcdda), said that a paper produced by the agency this year found no difference between laws on drugs and use of drugs.

She said,

It found no pattern, it [the laws] doesnt actually affect drug use.

She said that decriminalisation wasnt the only answer and that the top three priorities for her were to tackle stigma of drug use, have progressive policies and rely on independent research.

She encouraged the 99 assembly members to be brave when it comes to the legal reforms they recommend.

Prof Comiskey said that protective factors against early drug and alcohol use were a positive school environment, positive leisure time and structured evening activities, including participation in sport.

She said adverse childhood experiences (ACE) impact on drug use, with the biggest factor feeling unloved.

Professor Catherine Comiskey said that a paper produced by Emcdda found no difference between laws on drugs and use of drugs.

After this, the other most important experiences were: family members swearing at you, putting you down; living with a problem drinker/street drug user; being pushed/slapped/grabbed or having something thrown at you; living with a family member who is depressed or with a mental illness.

Adverse childhood experiences

Professor Mary Cannon, a consultant psychiatrist, said that people with more than three ACEs have a 10-fold greater risk of drug use. She said societys focus should be on driving down risk factors and enhancing protective factors.

She said she was riveted by the record cocaine seizure in Irish waters this week and that while countries cannot stop supply they can take the handle off the pump and reduce demand.

She said it was a complex problem and said the assembly had a mammoth task ahead of them.

Prof Cannon described the Emcdda report as interesting but said it conflated all the age groups. She said analysis of young people indicated that legalisation does have an effect and that it was likely that a more lenient legal framework would increase use in the young.

She also cautioned against conflating tackling stigma and changing the law.

Professor Mary Cannon a consultant psychiatrist, said that people with more than three ACEs have a 10-fold greater risk of drug use, and cautioned against conflating tackling stigma and changing the law.

She said she was supporting a campaign to reduce the significant stigma around mental health, but pointed out that mental illness was not a crime.

Handling the crime

Professor Denis Cusack, director of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and coroner, asked assembly members if they thought people with drug problems should be punished and to ask if something that is currently a crime could be handled differently.

He said that if resources are not there to implement their recommendations, their report will end up in the same way as many other reports.

Asked by members about what type of public health policy to adopt, Prof Smyth said the covid-19 public health campaigns worked and that they were trying to build on that.

But she said, unlike covid, there was no simple message with drugs.

She said any public health message about drugs needs to meet people where they are and, for young people, it needs to be on social media with the right visuals and clear language.

Prof Comiskey said that young people are going to experiment and use drugs and that harm reduction messages should be part of any public health campaigns.
A recent surge of overdose deaths in Dublin could be because of heroin being mixed with a synthetic opioid like Fentanyl, according to an advocacy group for drug users.

Coordinator of UISCE advocacy group, Andy OHara, said there has been an increase in the number of overdoses in Dublin, adding: We would suggest there is a link between that and whatever is in the supply, so whether it is mixing of some drugs, or a higher purity, or that synthetic opioids such as Fentanyl are within those drugs. It is likely.

Mr OHara added, in relation to fentanyl: Even if it (Fentanyl) is not here, we are going to have a surge of it at some point based on what is going on in Afghanistan, the fact that there has been deaths in the UK. When and if it does come, we need to be prepared and ready because we will have a massive in overdose and deaths.

He made the comments on RTE Radio 1.

The interview follows comments made by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Irish Examiner last weekend in which he warned that Ireland must prepare for a surge in Fentanyl use which could spark a rise in drug deaths and homelessness.

Mr Varadkar was speaking after it emerged that Irish American actor Angus Cloud died from an accidental drug overdose which included Fentanyl.

Mr OHara said that while there are no statistics available at present in relation to the number of drug-related deaths, he said: We do know that in the last week, we have had services, service providers and people who use drugs telling us that they have seen more overdoses in the last two weeks than they have in the last six to eight months.

He added that typically, a person would respond to two Naloxone doses following an overdose, but that there have been recent situations where people required five or more doses.

He continued: That is a sure sign that something is up with the drugs.

On the same programme, Minister of State Ossian Smyth said Ireland already has a devastating heroin and crack epidemic which kills far more people per capita than in other European countries.

He said that Ireland has a very very serious problem with death from overdose.

He continued that such deaths do not generate headlines or sympathy, but really, up to 100 people dying of heroin or up to 100 people dying of overdoses a year, are completely unacceptable and we need to tackle it and we need to change the way that we deal with drug addiction.

The topic was discussed as the Citizens Assembly on Drugs continued on Saturday.

One more sitting will take place, with the assembly set to submit its report, including recommendations, to the Oireachtas before the new year.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has defended the Governments approach to have a smaller package of one-off measures in the upcoming Budget.

Mr Varadkar said inflation has moderated and wage increases across the economy have outpaced rising prices since last year.

Speaking to reporters at a Fine Gael enterprise conference at South East Technological University in Waterford, he said: Since the last budget, theres been a 7.8% increase in the minimum wage  gone up faster than the prices are rising.

That's not to say for a second that people aren't still struggling to make ends meet. Of course they are

Thats not true for everyone, of course, but that is whats happened since the last budget.

So there will still need to be one-off measures, but it isnt going to be possible to have them at the scale that we had them last year.

The Fine Gael leader acknowledged that prices are rising, but at roughly half the rate at which they were rising last year.

It was put to him there are still grocery and fuel price increases, health insurance rises and the cost of borrowing has gone up, and he replied: Thats not to say for a second that people arent still struggling to make ends meet. Of course they are.

Thats why therell be one-off measures in the Budget which will be in peoples pockets before Christmas.

And therell be a whole set of measures announced in the Budget that will kick in in January: pension increases, welfare increases, a further increase to the minimum wage and income tax reductions which will help working people in particular to pay the bill essentially in January, February.

Mr Varadkar said there will also be measures to help households with energy costs.

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe (Brian Lawless/PA)

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said the reduced one-off measures will still be meaningful.

He said helping with the cost of living will be a really important feature of the Budget.

Asked about mortgage relief and support for landlords, Mr Donohoe said the Government recognised a need to do more for the rental sector.

Any such help does need to be targeted because while we are aware of the challenges that many are facing at the moment, the Governments also seeking to respond back across a whole variety of different issues.

Asked if the Government would be putting aside at least six billion euro from a projected corporate windfall of up to 12 billion euro, Mr Varadkar said some of the money will be used for a future infrastructure fund, paying off debt and protecting against an ageing population.

There will be a surplus of around 10 billion this year and we anticipate and can reliably anticipate a surplus of around 10 billion next year, he said.

Were going to set up funds for the future, ones that will help pay for future pension costs, because our population is ageing. We want to be able to maintain the buying power of pensions.

And then secondly, a fund that we can use for future infrastructure, because one of the big mistakes weve made as a country, if you look back over the past couple of decades, is any time the economy goes down the first things that get cut are the capital budgets.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney (Damien Storan/PA)

He said building up an infrastructure fund will allow projects to go ahead in the event of a future economic downturn.

That has an economic benefit as well because thats precisely the time you want to be pumping money into the economy, when its slowing down or when its in recession, because thats when you need to create employment and also when you need to give sectors like the construction sector a boost.

He expressed caution over making promises on figures.

Mr Varadkar also said the Government will be examining ways to reduce prices for businesses.

Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney added: We want to, as a Government, use both one-off measures between now and the end of the year, and also in next years budget, to be able to target and support businesses where we can to make sure that we can help with their cash flow, and obviously help with the cost of doing business, which has increased in Ireland in recent years, despite the economic growth that weve had.
When two men showed up in Castletownbere, Co Cork, over a week ago, nobody paid them a second thought.

They were just two more people among the many strangers who arrive at fishing ports across the country every week.

Now, their ill-fated expedition on board the newly-purchased Castlemore trawler is already the stuff of legend.

When it hit a sandbank at around 10pm last Sunday night, it kicked off a spectacular series of events ending in the biggest-ever seizure of cocaine off the Irish coast.

But it was clear to anyone who came across the two in the days leading up to the seizure that they were novices when it came to fishing trawlers. But they were in the market for one.

The Castlemore was on the market for about two years and its sale last week comes at a time when several fishing vessels are being decommissioned as part of a Government scheme.

One source said that boats, like people, come and go regularly in the area. He said up to 50 different nationalities work out of the fishing port, and another two strangers would have been little cause for alert.

The 'Irish Examiner' print edition on Tuesday September 26 published what was then known about the trawler going aground off Wexford prior to the seizure of the MV Matthew and its record payload of 2.253 tonnes of cocaine. Picture: Irish Newspaper Archive

Although the 2.2 tonnes of cocaine found on board the suspected mother ship, the MV Matthew, is the biggest ever haul of the drug to have been found in Irish waters, the nuts and bolts of maritime drug-smuggling operations are primarily the same as those which have gone before.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the agencies involved in the dramatic operation to impound the MV Matthew and keep a watch over the embedded Castlemore trawler said they believed a number of organised crime groups had coalesced in the doomed smuggling effort.

As a result, the combined resources of the group led to the use of the MV Matthew and the purchase of so-called daughter ships such as the Castlemore.

While it has not been revealed whether there were other such vessels making a rendezvous with the MV Matthew, it is likely that other drop-offs had already occurred or were scheduled to take place.

Increasing sophistication of the drugs trade Two members of Spain's Guardia Civil on a remote-control submarine they seized in Galicia in November 2019. Measuring about 20m long, the sub was packed with several tonnes of cocaine, illustrating the sophisticated means drugs cartels use to get narcotics into Europe. See the articles below. Picture: Lalo Villar/AFP/Getty Read More Cocaine trade 'rocketing' warns top EU drug official after Cork seizure Read More Cocaine worth hundreds of millions of euro found in submarine off Spanish coast

The sheer size of the bulk carrier (28 tonnes) and the fact that there were more than 2.2 tonnes of cocaine on her when boarded by Irish authorities shows just how huge an organisation had been behind the smuggling operation.

Aside from the drugs on board, the cost of such an operation is one which the combined organised

crime gangs are counting this weekend. One naval source said:

To buy one of those ships, crew it, fuel it  everything... The logistics alone of all that is huge. The fuel bill would be huge.

Someone is out of a lot of money after this. It had to be registered, got seaworthy. They would be spending months at sea so they would have to know what they are doing.

They have to be able to maintain it and also, if something happens like a fire or bad weather, you cant have a fair-weather sailor out there.

Travelling across the Atlantic over several weeks would have required people who knew the seas and knew ships.

But when it comes to the smaller 'daughter' vessels, crews on board are much less experienced  and more dispensable for those at the top.

And it can be simple mistakes that sometimes prove crucial for law enforcement agencies.

That is what happened when 1.575 tonnes of cocaine ended up in the water in Dunlough Bay in West Cork in July 2007 after a rib carrying the drugs ended up in trouble.

The subsequent court case of three men later convicted for their involvement in the botched smuggling attempt was told:

Some idiot put diesel into it when he should have put petrol in it and the engine lost its power and ended up on rocks.

The logistics required for such a transnational operation as the one detected this week require long months of work and planning  from tying up with international groupings on the global narcotics scene but also in luring individuals to become involved in the lowly job of bringing the drugs onto land to be distributed across the different markets.

Kingpins to pawn shops: Drug gang hierarchy Just like in every company, there is a hierarchy in the drug empires behind operations such as that attempted in the past week. Naval Service personnel on board a Delta rib bringing Dances With Waves to Castletownbere, Co Cork, in 2008. The 19.8m yacht was laden with 75 bales of cocaine. File picture: Denis Minihane There are the masterminds at the top  the ones we rarely, if ever, see before the courts when drug smuggling efforts are brought to a crushing halt. Instead, we usually see those at the very bottom  the ones who tell sad tales of why they became involved, the ones who become the public faces of doomed escapades such as that which ended in Castletownbere in November 2008 when 1.5 tonnes of cocaine was found on board the Dances with Waves vessel. It later emerged that one of the three crew members of the yacht had just recently pawned his grandfathers watch because of money worries. He had the receipt on him when arrested. Another crew member had been stacking shelves in a supermarket when he was enlisted in the operation. Customs officers, naval service personnel, and gardai removing 75 bales of cocaine from Dances With Waves at Dinish Island pier, Castletownbere, Co Cork, in 2008. File picture: Denis Minihane A detective told the court in that case that another one of the three crew members was to receive more for his role in the smuggling operation because he was the skipper and had previous boating experience. This shows that, even on the lower rungs of the ladder, there is a hierarchy at play even when it comes to those most at risk of getting caught.

Until this week, the Castletownbere seizure in 2008 and the Dunlough Bay episode a year earlier had been the largest shipments of cocaine to be seized in dramatic Irish coastal seizures.

The intervening decade shows just how much bigger such enterprises have now become, with much larger mother vessels and the use of larger boats such as fishing trawlers to act as the daughter vessel.

But ultimately, the preparations would have been the same.

Meticulous preparation  and deceit The Dunlough Bay case highlighted just how much work is involved in such an enterprise. The foiled 2007 Dunlough Bay drugs operation in West Cork revealed that Gerard Hagan from Liverpool, left, had been operating under a false identity stolen from Gerard OLeary, a baby who had died in Monaghan. File picture: Des Barry For example, when one of the suspects was arrested, he gave gardai the name of a dead baby from Monaghan. The man, Gerard Hagan from Liverpool, told arresting officers his name was Gerard OLeary and that his birthday was, ironically, July 2  the date the drugs were found in Dunlough Bay. During the subsequent court case, it emerged that the passport was obtained by others involved in the smuggling enterprise and that it was supplied to Hagan through the Irish embassy in Britain in February 2007. In evidence, a detective sergeant said that a false solicitors company was set up by those involved in the enterprise. When an application was made for a false passport for Gerard Hagan, details of Gerard OLeary from Monaghan were used and supplied to the Irish embassy. An address in London, along with a phone number and fax number, for the company were also supplied. This meant that any checks or verifications which Irish Embassy staff wanted to make could have been made to the number or address supplied. Hagan had been living in Spain with his partner when he was approached and asked to take part in the smuggling enterprise. He had been valeting cars before agreeing to travel to the Caribbean to collect the drugs. He was on board the ironically named Lucky Day catamaran which had brought the cocaine cross the Atlantic, with two Lithuanian crew members.

The cocaine in that operation was coopered at sea at a point off Mizen Head, from the Lucky Day onto a small rib which later capsized in the waters of Dunlough Bay.

Coopering is the act of transferring cargo from one vessel to another, out at sea, to avoid detection. It allows for the transfer of drugs, often under cover of darkness, to a locally-registered vessel, thus avoiding the suspicion which would be aroused by foreign vessels.

High price of crime

It emerged afterward that the cost of that operation included the purchase of the Lucky Day catamaran in Miami months before the operation, at a cost of 90,000 while three jeeps used by the gang in West Cork cost 50,000 in total.

Travel, including flights for the gang members, cost 20,000, while ribs and equipment for them cost 100,000.

The Lucky Day catamaran was later auctioned off by the State and was purchased by a Donegal woman for 58,000. The bidding had opened at 20,000.

The MV Matthew berthed at Marino Point in Cork Harbour this week after it was seized. Picture: Dan Linehan

A rib, which had been purchased in South Africa for the enterprise, was badly damaged when it overturned while bringing bales to shore from the Lucky Day. It sold for 2,000.

Another rib owned by the gang involved in that cocaine haul was also sold, attracting 12,000.

Two Land Rovers bought by the drugs gang in England to bring the drugs back to Britain by ferry were sold for 8,500. A third vehicle was sold for 11,000.

These past cases are indicators of just how much detail, organisation, and precision is needed to pull off a multimillion-euro drug smuggling operation.

When the bid is a successful, it is a massive payday for those pulling the strings. But when incidents like the impounding of the MV Matthew occur, money is wasted, loyalties are tested, and liberty is lost.
Storm Agnes has done more than lash the country with wind and rain over the past week. The first storm of the season has also introduced the woman after whom it was named, Agnes Mary Clerke, Cork-born astronomer, writer and mother of popular science, to a wider public.

It is, perhaps, a double-edged honour to have a destructive weather event named after you, but this exceptional self-taught scientist might be pleased to know she came in at number one when Met Eireann asked the public to choose a storm name for the letter A.

If the reaction from Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell  who inspired the name choice for the letter J  is anything to go by, being included as one of the Irish scientists on this years list of storm names is a reason to celebrate.

[I] hope that if a potential Storm Jocelyn happens, it may be a useful stirring-up rather than a destructive event!

Heres hoping that interest in Agnes Mary Clerke has been stirred up by her most recent outing, if we can call it that.

I like to think of her at home in Skibbereen where, as a child, she and elder sister Ellen Mary were home-schooled. Their mother, Catherine Mary (nee Deasy), described as an intellectual lady with considerable musical talents playing piano and harp and father John William Clerke, TCD scholar and manager of the Provincial Bank, made excellent teachers.

By the time Agnes Mary was 15, she was already writing a history of astronomy while examining the night sky through her fathers four-inch telescope.

The family moved to Dublin in 1861. As a young woman, Agnes Mary suffered bad health and was advised to go to a warmer climate. She and her sister moved to Florence, a city famous for its Renaissance art and architecture. The 10 years they spent in such rich cultural surroundings made a lasting impression on the Clerke sisters.

Both of them became excellent linguists. Ellen Mary became fluent in several languages. She wrote, in English and Italian, on travel, astronomy and travel. Agnes Mary developed an interest in the science of the Renaissance. Later, when she moved with her sister to London in 1877, she wrote several articles on astronomy.

Male-dominated field

There, she made a name for herself in a field that was largely male dominated. Her first book, A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century, was published in 1885 when she was 43.

It was an immediate success and established her reputation for making science accessible to the general reader.

She wrote with clarity about difficult subjects, while her love of astronomy shone through with such force that one American reviewer said her book reads like a romance.

Her biographer Mary Bruck said her work was treasured by historians and by amateur lovers of astronomy alike.

This remarkable woman, educated solely within her own family and through her own private studies, not only kept abreast of astronomical progress worldwide but also had a genuine understanding of the matters on which she reported and the gift of communicating them through her fluent and prolific writings, she wrote.

Agnes Mary was also a gifted artist and contributed some 150 sketches of scientists to the original Dictionary of National Biography. She broke another glass ceiling when, shortly before her death in 1907, she was made an honorary member of the all-male Royal Astronomical Society.

Agnes Mary Clerke.

Almost a century later, historian Dr Allan Chapman summed up her lifes work like this: No other single figure has a better case when it comes to being considered as the founder of the history of astronomy as a serious, scholarly study. She also practised in that most intellectually dangerous and fluid branch of history: the history of her own time.

Unlike many others, she was celebrated not only in her own time, but afterwards. A crater on the moon bears her name, in recognition of all she did to bring astronomy and astrophysics to public attention in Victorian England.

It strikes me that her gifted sister, Ellen Mary Clerke, journalist, poet, linguist fluent in several languages including Arabic, carer, guitarist, oarswoman and charity worker, also deserves to be better remembered and celebrated. Theres a plaque recalling both sisters in their birthplace, but maybe we should have, say, a journalism award in Ellen Marys name too?

That brings me back to the importance of remembrance through name. The naming of storms is not designed to commemorate people, but this year Met Eireann used the process to honour the lives and work of Irish scientists.

Naming storms saves lives

The Irish Meteorological Service and the UK Met Office have been naming storms since 2015 because, as they point out, it works. It saves lives by providing clarity and it warns people of the impact of incoming weather. They were joined in the endeavour by the Netherlands meteorological agency, KMNI, in 2019.

This year, Met Eireann contributed seven of the 21 names to the storms list: Agnes, Fergus, Jocelyn, Kathleen, Lilian, Nicholas, and Vincent.

It is interesting to see that the choice is weighted in favour of women. There are three men and five women. I know that adds up to eight, but under the letter K, we get two for the price of one; both Kathleen Kay McNulty, mother of computer programming and Kathleen Lonsdale, pioneering X-ray crystallographer and pacifist, are celebrated.

Heres hoping we wont have to endure a Storm Kathleen to hear more about those two women. Look them up if you have a moment, along with the other excellent choices on the list: Fergus ORourke, scientist who contributed to myrmecology (the study of ants); aforementioned astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell; Lilian Bland, journalist and early aviator; Nicholas Callan, physicist who invented the induction coil, and Vincent Barry, best known for leading the team which developed the anti-leprosy drug, clofazimine.

D-Day heroine Maureen Sweeney pictured in Ti Aire Nursing Home in Belmullet with her award. Picture: Tom Reilly

When the Name a Storm competition comes around again next year, Ill be making a pitch to include (with her permission) Maureen Sweeney, the Irish woman whose weather forecast saved D-Day.

In early June 1944, Ted and Maureen Sweeney were taking hourly weather readings at Blacksod lighthouse and coastguard station in Co Mayo, which were then secretly phoned to London.

At 1pm on 3 June, 1944, Maureen forecast a severe Atlantic storm. On the back of her report, the Allies delayed the timing of the D-Day landings, an operation that changed the course of the Second World War.

Maureen, who is now 100, was given a special US House of Representatives honour in 2021 for her vital weather forecast. As she said in a Nationwide interview on RTE some years ago: They could arrange everything, but they couldnt pre-arrange the weather.

Another lesson we continue to learn with the increased frequency of storms, named or otherwise.
This year marks the first time in 14 years that Educate Together has not been sanctioned to open a new school.

This is mainly due to changing demographics. Already starting to level off, pupil numbers at primary level are expected to drop in the coming years.

Meanwhile, despite the non-denominational school patron opening more than 50 new schools in the past 10 years, large pockets of the country still do not have access to schools outside of a religious ethos.

Until now, most progress towards the target of 400 multi-denominational schools by 2030 has relied on new schools opening as divestment, or reconfiguration as the process is now called, continues at a slow pace. It is time for a new approach, according to Educate Together chief executive Emer Nowlan.

Weve been able to make progress towards meeting demand in the last 10 years, through opening new schools primarily, and if thats no longer going to be possible because of demographics, then they do need to think hard about an alternative method.

Originally a post-primary teacher who oversaw the design and opening of the first Educate Together second-level schools, Ms Nowlan was appointed to the helm of the educational charity in 2020. Educate Together currently has 117 schools in its network.

Its schools are non-denominational, non-fee paying, co-educational, and open to students from all backgrounds. They have no school uniforms, and teachers and students are on a first-name basis.

Instead of religious instruction as there would be in schools under religious patronage, Educate Together focuses on an ethical education curriculum that teaches about different beliefs including atheism, agnosticism, and humanism.

Our schools have a very clear ethos based on three core principles of equality, democracy, and child-centeredness, Ms Nowlan explained.

Whereas people tend to be very focused on the religious aspect because religion has dominated school patronage in Ireland, really what we are seeing as our unique identifying feature in recent years is the focus on student voice, and making sure all voices are heard in the school community and that democratic aspect, as much as the equality-based and inclusive aspect of our ethos.

While a large number of parents choose to send their child to Educate Together to access non-denominational education, there is a whole range of different reasons why their schools appeal to parents, she believes.

"It depends entirely. Sometimes it's just a good school in the area, sometimes its the nearest school, sometimes its the school with an autism class. The percentage of our schools that have autism classes is far higher than the national average. Sometimes it's because parents feel that their children's needs will be met. For a large number of parents, it will be the ethos.

A lot of our schools are heavily oversubscribed, unfortunately. Id say most of our schools probably turn away more students than they can accommodate, which nobody is happy about. Wed much rather be able to meet all the demand that is there.

Based on annual applications to Educate Together schools, there is strong demand for its schools. It makes the ongoing process aimed at improving the plurality of primary schools quite frustrating.

Annual applications show strong demand for Educate Together schools. Picture: Denis Minihane

There has been a lot of talk about patronage transfer, divestment, reconfiguration, going right back to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in 2012, but very little progress, Ms Nowlan said.

What wed be calling for really is a strategy and a plan; thats whats been missing. People have had ideas, there hasnt been much joined-up thinking on the question, and really no commitment in terms of funding towards anything like what would be required to reach the numbers in the target of 400 schools in the Programme for Government.

Reconfiguration

For the past 18 months, the Department of Education has run a pilot reconfiguration project that required religious patrons, ie bishops, to identify possible schools within their dioceses that may be interested in transferring patronage.

This would then go to the board of management for consideration, and then to staff, before the wider school communities and parents were asked their views. We are hearing now that they are planning to publish that report from that pilot, which is very positive," said Ms Nowlan.

Weve been quite critical of the particular design of that process because it's very top-down.

There wasnt really any avenue for parents' voices to be heard, despite the fact that parents have very strong rights under the Constitution in terms of their preferred model of education.

"Really, it's been quite disappointing as a pilot process, a small number of schools are expected to transfer patronage as a result. All the processes arent quite finished yet, but really the numbers will be small. It's not surprising, given the design of the process, and also the sheer lack of resources that have been put into this."

"Were very much hoping that what will come out of this process will be a realisation that we have to ask every parent in the country what they want.

Im not sure has there been a fear around that, but in any case, it's time that parents of preschool children, parents of primary children, were actually asked the direct question what type of school do you want?.

Planning delays

Educate Together opened its first secondary school in 2014; It now has 21 second-level schools. As newer schools, they often must contend with long planning delays and setbacks, usually opening in temporary accommodation before a permanent site is secured.

One such school is Cork Educate Together Secondary School which this year saw plans for its permanent building, in the pipeline since 2015, further delayed after an appeal was lodged with An Bord Pleanala.

The challenge of temporary accommodation is very real for our schools, Ms Nowlan said. We still have 41 out of 117 schools in temporary accommodation, about a third, and some of them for far too long.

Cork Educate Together Secondary School principal Colm O'Connor with pupils at its temporary premises on Griffith College campus in May 2022, looking forward to their new school in Douglas, for which the Department of Education had lodged a planning application. Picture: Dan Linehan

"On the positive side, we are starting to see some progress. Weve had seven schools moving into their permanent buildings in the past 18 months and a number of sites confirmed for other schools.

We do urgently need to change our planning laws and practices. We do have too many schools where the site is purchased, but they are not going anywhere because they are waiting for planning decisions to be resolved.

"How can it be, if we take Cork Educate Together Secondary School, we have students who have gone all the way through their secondary schooling and graduated and they havent gotten their permanent building and that is entirely down to planning issues and delays. We need to be getting planning issues resolved earlier so that students can move into their buildings earlier.

Protests

The aggressive protests seen last week outside the Dail are the latest escalation as part of a series of campaigns, in-person and online, across the country that has seen pharmacies, libraries, and accommodation for refugees targeted.

Schools too have fallen victim, in particular in relation to the new sex education curriculum, and around gender identity. As a patron body, is it something Educate Together is worried about or having conversations with schools about?

It's on our radar in so far as it's on everyone's radar, Ms Nowlan said. To be honest, were reluctant to give it too much attention. Were very, very proud that every member of our school community, whether it's children, parents, staff members, that everyone is equally valued in the school, regardless of their background or identity.

"On the whole in Ireland, I think our school communities are welcoming and inclusive. I think what weve seen recently is that there are some people, Id say a very small number of people, often supported by organisations outside Ireland, who are looking for opportunities to cause fear and to divide people.

Weve seen a number of different manifestations of that, weve seen anti-migrant attacks, weve seen homophobic attacks, weve seen attacks on libraries and now the Dail.

There have been some schools targeted, not just Educate Together schools, schools of all types, but it has clearly been driven by a very small group of people. Weve seen things like standard letters being circulated which are filled with misinformation, some about relationship and sexuality education.

"In our experience, what we have found is that once schools engage with parents and listen to the concerns they may have and once they provide the correct information, the problem very quickly goes away. Most school communities want to be welcoming for all, and Im proud to see so many Educate Together schools lead the way.

At the beginning of the school year, an Educate Together primary school in Dublin came to the attention of some media outlets after reports emerged of a teacher requesting to be referred to by their first name, or by the gender-neutral pronoun they.

Ms Nowlan declined to comment any further on this, except to say that in many ways, it's no different to other situations where a very small number of people have sought to cause division and sought to create problems and cause fear, and generally speaking, school communities rebound positively from that and move on."

Finances

In recent weeks, the management bodies for primary schools have written to the minister for education to highlight the financial pressures schools are under at the moment.

Schools will try their very best to make ends meet before going to their parent bodies. Everybody welcomed the increase last year of capitation in the budget; it was absolutely essential because we had no reserves left after two years of covid and massive increases in things like energy and insurance," said Ms Nowlan.

What was a little bit frightening to us in recent weeks was the realisation that funding that was provided last year would not be provided again this year.

"About a 10th of our schools have contacted us just in the last six months in relation to serious financial difficulties they are in, higher than in previous years despite that increase, so we are in a very difficult space.

"The increase given last year, which was significant, was 40% on top of capitation, and every single penny was necessary. When we did our analysis with the other primary school management bodies over the summer, we estimated that another 10% would be required.

Were all extremely concerned now that it's sounding a bit like possibly the Government is considering rolling back to 2021/2022 levels of funding for schools, which if it happens, will be impossible for school boards of management to handle. They just wouldnt be able to. Every single stakeholder at primary school level has written to the minister to say this is an urgent situation and primary schools need additional funding.
If Micheal was to anoint anyone, she would be the chosen one, one backbench TD remarked under his breath as he watched the education minister buying a round of drinks for colleagues at the Fianna Fail think-in, despite being a pioneer herself.

There is no denying that Norma Foleys political career has accelerated under Micheal Martins leadership.

Indeed, there were more than a few raised eyebrows back in 2020 when Foley, a first-time TD, was appointed to what is one of the more senior positions in Cabinet.

And so, Martins recent intervention on the future of teacher training courses, which goes completely against what his own hand-picked minister has been arguing for some time, is a curious one.

In a move that has already been welcomed by teaching unions, Martin said the two-year conversion course should be cut by one year.

With principals in many schools now desperately scrambling to recruit and retain teachers, representative bodies have been calling for an overhaul of the current two-year Postgraduate Masters in Education (PME) qualification course for teaching.

Following Martins comments, teachers will now be left wondering why the minister hasnt been able to side with the unions on this issue.

The PME replaced the traditional HDip in 2014. Referring to the old system, Martin said: When I qualified myself, I did a general degree and then we did a HDip year and there was a natural follow-on.

For someone who had just finished their BA, BSc, or whatever, you had the incentive of saying one more year and I am a qualified teacher.

At the annual conference last Easter, the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) claimed that more than 2,400 teachers could be brought into the education system in a year if the Government reformed the route into teaching.

Cutting the PME programme could see some 1,500 post-primary school teachers coming on stream a year earlier.

Unlike other reforms around pay and conditions being demanded, TUI education research officer David Duffy said changing the length of the course could be done very quickly if Minister [Norma] Foley was behind it. It would be a very significant and very welcome reform.

Figures from the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) also show there are 917 annual PME graduates at primary level, almost 700 of whom are from the private Hibernia College.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner published this week, Martin, who was a teacher himself before he entered politics, backed the unions, claiming the two-year system puts a massive financial burden on students.

If youre working class or your income is limited to what your family can do, the idea of the masters in teaching will be a daunting financial prospect. I think we should be alive to revisiting all that.

I do think we perhaps have to look at, particularly at the post-primary level, that masters process and the two-year timeline and whether we can shorten that.

Martin went up against what he described as the pure educationists who might say we need two years.

Im not convinced, he said bluntly.

However, his own minister, who worked as a teacher at Presentation Secondary School, Tralee up to her election in 2020, has  at least up until now  camped out with the pure educationists.

Under pressure to change the system, Foley remained defiant when she attended the conveyor belt of teacher conferences back in April of this year.

Citing the fact that more is being asked of teachers with a constantly changing curriculum, Foley said she had no plans currently to reduce the PME.

I think the two years does ensure that we have very rounded, inclusive, and up-to-the-minute experience of demand teaching today.

She added: One of the greatest strengths that we have in this country is that we do have very high-calibre teachers, and to do that we need to ensure that they are sufficiently and suitably trained to achieve that.

Timing is everything and Martins comments coming just weeks ahead of the budget will be seen by many as perhaps an indication of where changes might now happen in the lifetime of this Government.

However, some have noted that Martin has the experience and political courage, which Foley lacks, to put forward his own ideas.

A constant criticism of many newly appointed ministers is that they cede too much power to senior civil servants, who then control the narrative and manipulate the policy direction in a given Department.

Bar a few wobbles at the beginning of her tenure, Foley has been a solid performer who has been responsible for the introduction of free schoolbooks and the expansion of the Deis scheme which helps the most disadvantaged.

She is not afraid to stand up against the unions and in some instances her own party colleagues.

But, equally, Foley is a cautious minister.

She tends to rely on what the Department gives her and sticks rigidly to the line, said one education source.

It has been pointed out that in 2019, when the recruitment issue was not as pronounced as it is now, her predecessor Joe McHugh went on a fact-finding mission to the UAE in a bid to identify a way to lure teachers back from abroad.

McHugh used to acknowledge there was a sizeable teacher crisis, but she tends to stick always to the same department lines, said one observer.

Foley was never going to be the next Donogh OMalley.

The Fianna Fail education minister famously infuriated the minister of finance in 1966 when he announced without any prior warning or consultation, the rollout of universal free secondary school education.

OMalley is now considered a visionary whose radical overhaul of the education system had a significant positive impact on social mobility and cultural change.

But at the time, his off-script decision sparked fury and a financial nightmare for his Cabinet colleagues.

Given her own background in the classroom, those representing teachers have been beyond frustrated at times with Foleys rigid abidance to the official department line.

In stepping into the teacher-training fray, Martin has shown the difference between political clout and ministerial inexperience.
The Blessington Commode  created by a refugee and asylum seeker and arguably the single most important piece of Irish mid-18th century furniture at auction in decades  comes up at the annual Country House Collections sale by James Adams at Townley Hall in Co. Louth on October 9 and 10.

Attributed to John Kirkhoffer the commode has been linked directly to a signed 1732 piece dated 1732 by the same maker in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Kirkhoffers were Protestant asylum seekers who arrived in Ireland as refugees from the Rhineland Palatinate area. They were in counties Kerry and Limerick before settling in Dublin.

The influx of asylum seekers then  including silversmiths, clock and furniture makers from Germany, Holland and France  gave Irish craft and skill an enormous shot in the arm. John Kirkhoffer is recorded in Dublin in the early 18th century and founded a cabinet-making business that lasted into the 19th century. His father Franz Ludwig arrived in Ireland in 1709.

The walnut and seaweed marquetry chest was originally made for William Stewart, 1st Earl of Blessington. He had a house at Henrietta St in Dublin and a mansion at Blessington, Co. Wicklow, which was burned down in the 1798 Rebellion. The attribution to Kirkhoffer was made by Desmond Fitzgerald, the late Knight of Glin, and it is estimated at 100,000-150,000.

A Killarney Wood Davenport at James Adam.

Earlier this year a George I secretaire by Kirkhoffer was donated by benefactor David Boles to the Irish Museum of Time in Waterford.

The James Adams 757-lot auction draws together period furniture, paintings, silverware and decorative objects from some of Irelands finest country houses and more modest collections with an emphasis on quality and rarity.

A c1740 Irish hall table at James Adam.

Among the main furniture lots are a pair of c1776 elliptical side tables to a design by architect James Wyatt (60,000-100,000), a pair of c1785 Irish side tables with inlaid marble tops attributed to Pietro Bossi and a c 1740 Irish hall table each estimated at 50,000-80,000.

An Irish giltwood rectangular mirror is estimated at 20,000-30,000, as is a pair of Irish red walnut and parcel gilt mirrors attributed to John Booker once at Adare Manor.

They lead a large selection of elegant mirrors in the sale.

A c1770 Cork coffee pot by John Nicholson.

There is a Killarney davenport (8,000-12,000), a George II chevron banded walnut bureau (15,000-20,000), a pair of Irish marble-topped side tables (15,000-20,000), a pair of c1790 torchieres (20,000-30,000) and a c1770 mahogany cased barometer by John Alment, Dublin set with a hydrometer and a thermometer.

Other top lots include a portrait bust of Henry Grattan by Peter Turnerelli, a set of four silver entree dishes by James le Bas, Dublin, four Irish Georgian silver candlesticks and a Cork George III coffee pot by John Nicholson c1770.

The Blessington Commode at James Adam.

The Salmon Leap at Leixlip by Thomas Roberts and Lady Nugent's Hunter by John Ferneley Snr are each estimated at 30,000-50,000.

The first 281 lots will be sold in a timed online sale on October 9. There will be a live auction at Adams salerooms in Dublin on the following day. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing at Townley Hall, Drogheda on October 7, 8 and 9.
Ukraine has hosted an international defence industry conference as part of a government effort to increase weapons production in the country to repel Russias invasion and reduce foreign dependence on arms deliveries.

The event marked a new development in support of Ukraine, with the previous focus being on the delivery of weapons, repair of damaged equipment and military training of Ukrainian soldiers.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the opening of the International Defence Industries Forum, said around 250 defence companies from more than 30 countries had gathered in Kyiv. Defence ministers and representatives of several countries also attended the event.

Heroism alone cannot intercept missiles. Ukraine needs capabilities, high quality, high quantity, and quickly. There is no defence without industry, said Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, who spoke by videolink during the forum on the day after his visit to Kyiv.

Jens Stoltenberg (Olafur Steinar Rye Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix/AP)

He said Wendy Gilmour, Natos assistant secretary general for defence investments, was representing the transatlantic alliance at the event.

Mr Stoltenberg acknowledged that many allies have significantly depleted their stocks to support Ukraine, adding: This was the right thing to do, but now we need to ramp up production, both to meet Ukraines needs and to ensure our own deterrence in events.

Mr Zelenskyy disclosed the details of his recent trip to Washington, where he agreed with US President Joe Biden on the establishment of a new industrial ecosystem that will strengthen both Ukraine and all the partners.

He described it as one of the key outcomes of his negotiations with Mr Biden in Washington.

Mr Zelenskyys chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said there will be meetings soon with representatives from the US to determine the road map of co-operation with the partners about localisation of production, specifically in Ukraine.

Just as we have benefited from western weapons, western arms manufacturers also gain unique advantages in the market to improve their models and create even more powerful weapons

During the forum, the Ukrainian leader announced the creation of the Defence Industries Alliance and added that 13 companies had already signed the corresponding declaration.

To support the co-operation and develop an industry complex, Ukraine plans to establish a special fund, which will be paid into through dividends from state defence resources and profits from the sale of confiscated Russian assets, Mr Zelenskyy said.

Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said the first talks about joint production with allies began last autumn. At first, we were talking about repairs within Ukraine, and then about joint production. And now, this topic is prevalent everywhere, he said.

According to Mr Kuleba, in discussions with the partners, there is also interest in the experience and production capabilities of Ukrainian businesses.

Just as we have benefited from western weapons, western arms manufacturers also gain unique advantages in the market to improve their models and create even more powerful weapons, he said.

Ukraines recently appointed defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said the country must do everything possible to produce the military services and products in Ukraine for its army. The other priority is the development of defence technologies that now play an important role on the battlefield.

Our vision is to develop world-class military products, Mr Umerov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Moscow a year ago made their choice  to be with their fatherland.

In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Mr Putin insisted it was carried out in full accordance with international norms.

He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month, in which Russias Central Election Commission said the countrys ruling party won the most votes.

The West has denounced the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.

Damaged houses in the Donetsk region (Alex Babenko/AP)

A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Mr Putin did not participate.

The address came after Russias Defence Ministry said on Friday that it would enlist 130,000 men for compulsory military service this autumn, beginning on October 1 in most regions of the country.

It announced it would for the first time begin enlisting residents of the annexed territories as part of its twice-yearly military conscription campaign.

Moscow says conscripts are not deployed to what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, or to serve in the annexed territories, but after their service, conscripts automatically become reservists, and Russia has deployed reservists to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the governor of Ukraines partly occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region, Yurii Malashko, said five people were wounded on Saturday in two missile strikes on the village of Matviivka, on the north-eastern outskirts of the regional capital, also called Zaporizhzhia.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, air defences shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.

Vinnytsia regional governor Serhii Borzov said air defences shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but a powerful fire broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.

Romanias Ministry of National Defence said on Saturday that a possible unauthorised entry into its national air space occurred overnight amid the bombardment.

It said the radar surveillance system of the Romanian army detected the possible incursion into the national air space of the Nato member, with a signal detected towards the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine.

At this moment, no objects have been identified that fell from the air space on to the national territory, the statement read, adding that Nato allies were informed in real time and searches will continue.

Emergency authorities issued text message alerts overnight to residents living in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, after detecting what the defence ministry said was groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the border.

In recent weeks, Romania has found drone fragments on its soil from the war next door at least three times as Russian forces carry out sustained attacks on Ukraines Danube ports.

Russias Defence Ministry said on Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

Local officials in Russias Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, reported disruptions to power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar.
I do not want to be separated from my fiancee, but I cannot find a job with income and benefits as good in Vietnam.

Im a former IT engineer in my 30s, while my fiancee is in her 20s and is attending a vocational training program.

I have been unemployed for half a year after being laid off earlier this year, and I couldnt find a suitable job until recently, probably because of the large labor pool and my non-outstanding professional skills.

I received an attractive offer from a company a couple of days ago, which requires me to work abroad for at least a year. I asked my fiancee when I applied to this vacancy whether she would be fine if I were to work abroad, to which she replied that she would be glad since I could earn more money to better prepare for our future.

But when I informed her that I got the offer and would have to leave in two weeks, she cried a lot, begged me to stay in Vietnam, and told me to find another vacancy with a lower salary. She said she wanted to have me by her side, even if that meant we would have to be tight on our budget.

On the one hand, I do not want to be separated from her either. On the other hand, I know I could not find any job as good as this in Vietnam. I suggested that she could go abroad with me, but she didn't want to do so. We argued and she has ignored me ever since because of this.
Germanys government has rebuked Elon Musk after he criticised the recent work of migrant rescue ships operated by German humanitarian groups in the Mediterranean Sea.

Mr Musk shared a video that showed migrants and aid workers on a boat. The right-wing account that first put the content on X, formerly known as Twitter, praised the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues.

Is the German public aware of this? he wrote in his repost.

The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Mr Musk directly on X, writing: Yes. And its called saving lives.

The owner of the X platform responded that he doubted the German public supports the actions of non-governmental organisations that take asylum-seekers from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean.

He also claimed it was surely a violation of Italys sovereignty for German-operated ships to take rescued migrants to Italian territory.

So youre actually proud of it. Interesting, he wrote to the Foreign Office, adding that such maritime operations have invasion vibes.

The exchange comes as migration has returned to the political forefront in Germany and other European countries, with government officials and opposition politicians sparring about how to handle an increasing number of arriving migrants.

Cities and communities across Germany have sounded an alarm, saying they are running out of room to accommodate migrants and to provide nursery and school places.

More than 220,000 people applied for asylum in Germany from January to August this year, compared with about 240,000 throughout last year. In 2015-16, more than a million applied.
Myanmars tourism industry has strongly rejected junta boss Min Aung Hlaings claims about large numbers of tourist arrivals.

He told a gathering to mark World Tourism Day on Wednesday in Naypyitaw: Myanmar received over 600,000 foreign tourists in the first seven months of 2023, a six-fold increase from last year.

However, tour operators and hotel representatives said there are almost no western tourists.

I dont know how to work out the figure but that number is impossible, to be sure, a tour operator told The Irrawaddy.

He said some tourists have arrived from China, Thailand and other Asian countries but Japanese visitors no longer come.

About 4.3 million tourists visited Myanmar in 2019 and, according to the junta, 230,000 in 2022.

The United States has issued the highest advisory level against travel to Myanmar, citing armed conflict, civil unrest, potential wrongful detentions, areas with landmines and unexploded ordnance as risk factors. The UK advises nationals against all travel to more than half of Myanmars states and regions.

Staff are abandoning the tourism industry and hotels are up for sale across the country. Travel companies have closed or changed their business models, sometimes offering ways for citizens to leave Myanmar.

We sell foreign flights as there are no tourists, a Yangon operator told The Irrawaddy. Even the Shwedagon Pagoda is empty.

The Shwedagon Pagoda Board of Trustees in Yangon, which is under junta control, reported 300 tourists per day in the first half of 2023, mostly from China and Thailand, down from 90,000 tourists per month in 2020.

The juntas Ministry of Hotel and Tourism has suggested 14 safe destinations, including Bagan, Kalaw, Ngwe Saung, Chaung Tha and Pyin Oo Lwin.

Tourists in Bagan have been a rare sight since the 2021 coup, said a hotel manager at the UNESCO World Heritage site in Mandalay Region.

There are only one or two Asian tourists, he told The Irrawaddy.

Kalaw in southern Shan State sees a few domestic visitors, according to residents. The laid-back hill town has a refreshing climate, scenic views and trekking opportunities.

The junta allows visas on arrival for tourists from China and India but there is little take up.
Four members of a Sagaing Region strike committee in Kalay Township need medical treatment after interrogation, according to the committee.

Ko Than Soe Oo, Ma Tian Date Kim, Ma Hnin San and Ko Myo Ko Oo of the Kalay Township Strike Committee were violently arrested on April 16 while staging a peaceful protest against military rule.

The four were interrogated and tortured at a military headquarters in Kalay and then jailed at Maw Lite Prison in the township, according to Ko Bike Pu of the committee.

He said they had not received adequate medical treatment.

Some have hearing and visual impairments and others are traumatized, he added.

On Monday, the four, who were already jailed for two years for incitement, were sentenced to another 10 years under terrorism charges.

Junta forces have also vandalized their families houses.

Ko Bike Pu said other Maw Lite prisoners are also in need of medical treatment with eye infections spreading through the prison.

The committee on Friday issued a statement condemning the oppression of Maw Lites 250 to 300 political prisoners and demanding human rights for inmates.

It called for the authorities to lift restrictions on food parcels for inmates.

I call on the public to join every effort to free political prisoners and cut off the juntas budget, which is prolonging the regime, said Ko Bike Pu.

Since the 2021 coup, the junta has detained nearly 25,000 people, of whom at least 19,286 remain in prison, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

It reported on August 31 that at least 1,347 people had been killed in junta detention.
Technology and innovation are key to Vietnam's rapid and sustainable development, Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat said at Techconnect & Innovation Vietnam 2023 on Friday.

Speaking at the opening of the event held in Quang Ninh Province, he emphasized the importance of developing science, technology and innovation.

Hundreds of delegates from ministries, businesses and production units and scientists were in attendance to learn about breakthrough technologies and solutions.

Before the opening, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, Dat, other Party and state leaders, their counterparts from the Quang Ninh Province Party Committee, People's Council and People's Committee, and ministry and other officials visited the booths set up at an exhibition that is part of the event.

Nearly 200 booths showcased technological devices and solutions.

Quang called for ensuring products are also competitive in terms of prices.

"The product might be good, but the price must also be lower than in foreign markets," he said while visiting the booth set up by auto company Thanh Cong Group.

Minister of Science and Technology, Huynh Thanh Dat speaks at the opening of the Techconnect & Innovation Vietnam 2023 expo in Quang Ninh September 29, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Dat underlined in his opening statement that research, technology and innovation are the pillars of Vietnam's rapid and sustainable development.

The government focuses on having in place progressive and innovative regulations that foster the development of various fields and the community, he said.

Together with other ministries and agencies, he has created a synchronous legal corridor, mechanisms, and policies for the development of science, technology and innovation; promoted the development of intermediary institutions such as technology exchanges; formed technology supply and demand connection points; and organized supply and demand connection activities, he said.

He said Techconnect & Innovation Vietnam 2023 promotes the application of technology and innovation.

Besides improving the competitiveness of products made by businesses, the event also creates conditions for scientists to apply their results to production and business, he said.

He called for promoting economic, trade and investment links, especially technology exchanges, with foreign enterprises to foster innovation.

The "Connecting Technology and Innovation" event was organized to demonstrate and introduce new technology trends and new products; link up technology supply and demand based on the needs of localities and economic regions and involving domestic and foreign partners; promote technology transfer; and promptly apply research results in production and daily life to serve economic and social development.

Dat hoped official agencies and businesses would collaborate more closely with the Department of Technology Application and Development and local science and technology departments to promote such application and the transfer of advances in technology and innovation, thereby improving business productivity and product quality and improving competitiveness while also contributing to socioeconomic development.

More than 1,000 delegates attended the event on September 29, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Nguyen Xuan Ky, secretary of Quang Ninh's Party Committee and chairman of its People's Council, said in his welcome speech that the province has transitioned from a brown to a green growth model, effectively developed its potential and infrastructure, fostered regional and intra-regional economies in tandem with cultural advancement.

The locality's pillars are nature, people and culture, and has the goal of developing into a model province as well as an economic hub of the country where technology and innovation would help generate high labor productivity and breakthroughs in economic and social growth, he said.

He said technology and innovation would enable the province to achieve high labor productivity.

He looked forward to getting more projects, solutions and innovative ideas that are ready to be used practically to help enterprises.

Secretary Nguyen Xuan Ky expected technology to help achieve breakthroughs for Quang Ninh's development. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

A technology application performance and a 3D mapping light show dazzled attendees at the event.

As the discussions began, the first speaker was Le Ngoc Son, deputy general director of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group.

He highlighted the necessity for breakthrough innovations by citing the failure of some of the world's greatest companies, despite their outstanding management capabilities, to keep up with advances in science and technology.

According to Son, the energy transformation process has a significant impact on businesses.

Global energy demand is rising in 2023, but fossil fuels can only meet 55% of the demand, he said.

Oil and gas companies are facing increasing pressure to address environmental concerns as supply diminishes.

Companies have made changes in this context, focusing on innovative technical solutions, reducing greenhouse emissions, encouraging technological innovation, and developing new products to meet market demand.

He mentioned a number of international oil businesses as examples. A Brazilian oil and gas company has invested in many modern technologies, such as deep and ultra-deep sea exploration. A Norwegian oil business has joined the offshore wind power energy revolution, and is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

In fact, the energy transition is not only possible but also beneficial to governments, and at present requires several technology applications and investments.

Petrovietnam offers a long-term plan focused on technology innovation and energy transition for until 2045.

In addition, it is optimizing production and business activities, capitalizing on the strengths of technology infrastructure to quickly and effectively implementing new energy practices and applying digital transformation to meet emission targets.

From a business perspective, Pham Van Tai, general director of Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company (Thaco), said technology and innovation are imperative, and prioritizing investment in science and technology has brought positive results.

One of Thaco Truong Hai's achievements is promoting investment in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone to develop production and business activities.

The company also focuses on investing in ports and improving logistics infrastructure for turning Chu Lai into an automobile development center.

As for R&D, Thaco Truong Hai has up to 1,500 engineers, of whom some 500 focus on researching new technologies and products, cooperating with auto assembly partners and exporting products to various markets.

Tai said Thaco uses many technologies, digital applications and software in sales and customer care. It applies high tech based on an appropriate road map as well as operational management for freight forwarding.

Vu Duc Loi, deputy director in charge of the Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, was the last speaker.

He pointed out that businesses are at the center of national innovation.

Many scientific and technological discoveries are inputs in the innovation process and innovation activities transform knowledge into value, he said.

Large companies in particular take the lead in improving quality and efficiency and developing new products based on technology, which boost market share and competitiveness, he said.

He said SMEs need to improve their ability to absorb, apply and innovate technology.

Science and technology enterprises promote the commercialization of technology and invention research and development results, while start-up enterprises can grow based on the exploitation of intellectual property, new wisdom, ideas, and models, he said.

He underlined the growing significance of technology application and innovation.

Enterprises should recognize market trends, new products and services, and productivity goals, and carry out technology transfer and innovation by upgrading lines and equipment while establishing new management systems and standards, he said.

He proposed developing a strategy for integrating supply chains while providing financial support through incentives for R&D.

He also suggested at the end of his presentation that enterprises should focus on developing and improving systems and policies that encourage invention, application and technology transfer activities.

Dozens of MoUs for technology transfer and innovation were signed in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and other leaders.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and other leaders witness the signing of cooperation agreements. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

Techconnect & Innovation Vietnam 2023 had the theme "Creative Innovation - Sustainable Development".

This year's event was organized by the Quang Ninh Province Department of Science and Technology, as guided by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Quang Ninh People's Committee and the Department of Technology Application and Development.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and leaders of ministries and other agencies press buttons to inaugurate the event. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh

The program included forums and conferences to exchange information on connecting technologies and innovation, product demonstrations and technology highlights and connections to promote investment cooperation.

Through the two-day event there was also a technology spotlight program with new technology trends and product demonstrations coordinated by the chairman.
Elon Musk's SpaceX won its first contract from the US Space Force to provide customized satellite communications for the military under the new Starshield program.

Read Also: SpaceX Still Not Authorized for Another Test Flight, FAA says

SpaceX's New Responsibility

Bloomberg reported that SpaceX is in competition with 15 other companies for "Proliferated Low Earth Orbit" contracts program. The main goal of the program is to tap into the communication services of satellites that orbits from 100 miles to 1,000 miles above the Earth.

The Starshield contract is valid for one year and was awarded last September 1. The $70 million ceiling contract will help the Starshield's end-to-end service via the Starlink constellation, user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management, and other services.

The new contract will be an addition to SpaceX's growing Pentagon business. Currently, SpaceX is in competition against the United Launch Alliance that is tasked to send up national payloads. In addition, the company is also in contract to provide Starlink satellite communications to the Ukraine military. The launch of Falcon 9's 13 satellites this month is also under the Pentagon's Space Development Agency.

Starshield and SpaceX Mission

Musk announced the new on his platform X last September 8, "SpaceX is building Starshield for the US government, which is similar to, but much smaller than, Starlink, as it will not have to handle millions of users. That system will be owned and controlled by the US government," he wrote.

Meanwhile, the Space Force clarified that the Starshield contract "is for a service" and that SpaceX has the final say on how to conduct the service. By September 30, about $15 million will be released to SpaceX along with funding that supports 54 "mission partners" from Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

Related Article: SpaceX Might Livestream Future Activity Exclusively on X
X, formerly and still known by many as Twitter, has been doing well on the creator compensation front. The company said that it would share company ad revenue with certain creators who meet the criteria, and the X CEO says that it has already disbursed millions.

Sharing Ad Sales

Despite X's previous financial troubles, it still managed to create a payment program for creators with posts that contain ads. According to X CEO Linda Yaccarino, the social media company has already given out almost $20 million to creators.

The first time that participants earned their due was back in July. In a five-month period prior, Musk claims that around $5 million has already been given out. If that's so, then $15 million has already been disbursed in a two-month period, according to Tech Crunch.

This is a good trajectory for content creation in the platform, especially since it's not exactly the go-to social networking site when a creator wants to earn. Mostly, people still opt for YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Facebook, and other sites.

There is still a setback that puts X behind other platforms that allow creators to earn. For example, the user will have to subscribe to X Premium first before they are eligible for the program, so they will have to pay first to get paid, which is not the case for others.

The rest of the requirements are pretty standard to make sure that the ads actually do get exposure. The user's account will need to have at least 500 followers first, along with five million post impressions in the span of three months.

Once that's all achieved, ads will appear in the reply threads of eligible users. Some content creators claim that they have already gotten compensation from the company. Certain accounts say they received $2,200 with others claiming they received up to $24,000.

Read Also: X is Giving Out $250 in Ad Credits to Customers That Meet Certain Metrics

Is X Out of the Woods?

Not yet. The company has yet to address several issues such as bots and survive whatever impulsive decision Elon Musk makes next. Just recently, the X owner suggested that the platform might be placed behind a paywall in an attempt to solve the bots problem.

He said that they are "moving to have a small monthly payment for the use of the system." Musk had the same goal with X Blue, but since bots are still rampant on the social media site, the solution left to do might be charging everyone.

Musk said that bots cost "a fraction of a penny" to make, and if someone has to pay "a few dollars or something, some minor amount," then it would cost more to create bot accounts. On the bright side, the X owner says that it will just be a small amount of money, as per BBC.

The price would just have to be high enough to cost more than a bot account. Regardless, the site being behind a paywall alone might be enough for users to quit X altogether. A lot are already unhappy about several changes and having to pay could be the last straw.

Related: X's is Now Licensed for Cryptocurrency Trading, Payment in the US
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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.
A corner of Tran Phu beach in downtown Nha Trang. Photo by Khoa Tran

Vietravel Airlines, a subsidiary of tour operator Viettravel, has operated its first direct flight from Nha Trang city in the central province of Khanh Hoa to Muan of South Korea.

The charter flight VU1331 took off from Muan International Airport and landed at Cam Ranh International Airport at Friday noon, carrying 208 passengers.

This is the airline's second route to tourism cities in South Korea, following the Nha Trang - Daegu route launched in March this year.

As of August 2023, Vietravel Airlines had successfully operated charter flights connecting Nha Trang - Daegu, Nha Trang - Macau, and Hanoi - Sanya, Those are markets that contribute a large number of visitors to Vietnam and vice versa.

Vietnam targets about 8 million international visitors in 2023. As of late September, it attracted 8.9 million foreigners, according to the General Statistics Office.

During the nine-month period, South Korea continued to be the largest market sending visitors to Vietnam with 2.5 million.

On September 28, the Vietnam Tourism Association and its Korean counterpart signed a cooperation agreement, aiming to increase tourists between the two countries.
The February 2021 military coup in Burma has undone much of the hard fought progress towards democracy achieved since 2011, said Erin Barclay, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in recent Congressional testimony.

The military regime has suspended many civil liberties under a prolonged state of emergency. ... The regime also introduced a range of new laws that unduly restrict freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The regime has impeded Internet access, including access to social media platforms, banned independent media outlets and imprisoned at least 42 journalists.

The military junta has especially targeted women and girls, said Acting Assistant Secretary Barclay.

The military junta has used gender based violence, including sexual violence, to terrorize women and girls for decades, and they have escalated this tactic since the 2021 coup. Survivors report a range of violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and ... human trafficking, the majority of which are committed by security forces, especially the military.

According to the rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, nearly 4000 people have been killed by the military regime since the coup and more than 24,000 arrested, including deposed President Win Myint and state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, stated Acting Assistant Secretary Barclay.

We continue to call for their release as well as all of those unjustly detained in Burma. Many former detainees alleged torture and other ill treatment during their detention. And the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has found that at least 273 people have died in police or military custody since the coup.

The United States is employing a comprehensive response that addresses both the immediate human rights challenges facing the people of Burma and the longer term goal of establishing genuine and inclusive multiparty democracy.

This includes expanding support to pro-democracy actors to develop atrocity prevention tools in response to the military regime's violence. The State Department is also strengthening the resilience of civil society and the pro-democracy movement so they can advance democratic governance in Burma. Since February 2021, the State Department has provided financial assistance to over 1000 human rights defenders and civil society advocates.

The United States remains committed to promoting justice and accountability for both past and ongoing human rights abuses in Burma.
ELKOThe California Trail Interpretive Center contains information about Nevadas history and settlement. But what is it missing? According to Noowuh Knowledge Center executive director Mary Gibson, it needed to include the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty.

For a special segment of the Ruby Valley Treaty Conference, Western Shoshone tribe members as well as Nevada officials and educators gathered at the California Trail Interpretive Center for a reception celebrating a new exhibit.

In the rear of the museum, visitors can find info panels explaining the Ruby Valley Treaty, its extent, and how the U.S. government violated its agreements.

Mary Gibson explained how Great Basin College humanities coordinator Gail Rappa  with whom she planned the Ruby Valley Treaty Conference  introduced her to humanities professor Steven Hrdlicka. She and Hrdlicka discussed a new addition to the California Trail Interpretive Center.

Can you please, please have them consider putting an exhibit up on the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty, at least during the time we have for the conference, Gibson said she asked Hrdlicka.

Hrdlicka said about Gibson, When I met her, she said, You know, theres something that Ive been trying to do for a while that we havent made much progress with, and lets see if we can get this going. And when she told me about the treaty and all of the things that are involved, its just like letting the tiger out of the cage.

Bureau of Land Management interpreter Glenn Reynolds explained the value of the new exhibit, noting that his organization works to bring the resources to the people and the people to the resource.

He said that from his experience, interpretation is about people and their stories and being willing to share those to help others understand who they are and who were going to become.

This exhibit is profound, Reynolds said. Because the world of interpretation is trying to move away from the sage on stage to people being involved. Its called audience-centered experience.

The new exhibit will broaden that concept, Reynolds said.

Its not all pleasant stuff to read about or learn about and thats okay. But if it mirrors the reality of what is true and helps us have a better-balanced look at who we are and who people are, then we have grown as a culture and as a people and hopefully as a world.

Steven Hrdlicka thanked the California Trail Interpretive Center for collaborating with the Western Shoshone.

Its been a pleasure to see dialogue happen, Hrdlicka said. That hasnt happened since the BLM pretty much started. I mean theres been arguments and shouting, but there was dialogue and I think thats a big step for where were going as people here in this area.

Hrdlicka also thanked California Trail Interpretive Center park ranger Thomas Valencia, who he described as a driving force for assembling the exhibit in time for the conference  for instance, he kept Gibson aware of deadlines.

Also beneficial to the exhibit was the California Trail Heritage Alliance, who provided financial support for the Ruby Valley Treaty Conference and the exhibit, Hrdlicka said.

Hrdlicka said moving back to his hometown granted him a new perspective that allowed him to think about his place in history and the world.

I was really aware because the place is different. Im different, but its still the same. And Im still me. So its just this really dynamic thing of listening. And this is why I was able to listen to Mary.

We all need to sort of have that bigger sort of view of our place because we all share this place together and all of our perspectives are important, Hrdlicka said.

Its a temporary exhibit. That means were still looking for feedback from people in the community, Hrdlicka said. Every word on the panels come out of peer-reviewed, scholarly research that has been vetted by many people, as well as Marys words and other peoples words in the community, but its very much an established sort of narrative.

Hrdlicka explained how careful listening was crucial for assembling the exhibit. He said he had many conversations with Gibson over the summer. She provided him with research material which included mining articles, works by Western Shoshone spiritual leader Corbin Harney and documentaries such as the 1975 film Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain. Enlightening discussion resulted.

Gibson explained her motivation for conceptualizing the exhibit. There wasnt any representation here regarding the treaty.

Getting the exhibit off the ground required patience. She noted how exhibits at the California Trail Interpretive Center must receive Bureau of Land Management approval.

The very fact that they were able to do this is really astounding, and Im happy that they finally were willing to tackle this controversial issue of the treaty.

We needed to stay within the parameters of what their mission is here at the California Trail Interpretive Center. And so I wanted to touch on the impacts, like the treaty itself, Gibson said, also noting the importance of educating people about how railroads influenced expansion in the West, and how ranch settlements sprung up on Shoshone land.

And we touched on a little bit about the effects of not only the railroad and the telegraph but also the military, because there was a lot happening with the military at that time as westward expansion was taking place, and so many of our people were killed simply for being Shoshone, she said. I wanted to make sure that people who visited the center were aware that it wasnt always Shoshone who were doing the skirmishes, it was paying both ways, but the Shoshone were highly impacted by just settlement.

I know theres many people who walk through this Interpretive Center, and theres many people who dont realize that there was a treaty of peace. And even during the time getting up to the peace treaty, there was again, a lot of violence against Western Shoshone people, Gibson said. And so I just thought that was so important to bring that story here.
ELKO  Three Elko County emergency-focused departmentscentral dispatch, ambulance, and fire departmentare reaching new levels of cooperation as they handle growth and change.

The Elko County Fire Protection District and the Elko County Ambulance Service formalized their cooperation in a memorandum of understanding earlier this month, and Elko County Central Dispatch is now operating under the county umbrella.

I believe the cooperation between all the public safety agencies, the cities, the county government, and the dispatch center has increased substantially over the past few years, Elko County Emergency Manager Lee Cabaniss said in a Sept. 29 email.

He told Elko County commissioners earlier that central dispatch authority, which was formed by an interlocal agreement with Elko County, the City of Elko, the City of Carlin and the City of Wells, has ceased to exist.

Cabaniss, who is also communications director, reported that the overall transition has gone smoothly, as the dispatchers became county employees on July 1, and all dispatchers were retained and work the same shifts and same places.

Im just ecstatic this has happened, said Commissioner Jon Karr, who said central dispatch has been behind the scenes. It really was the stepchild of neglect on both outdated operations and equipment. Im already hearing of some improvements.

West Wendover was not part of the interlocal agreement that ended but is currently upgrading their technology and computer-aided dispatch provider to the same one utilized by Elko Dispatch and the State of Nevada, Cabaniss said in the email.

He said that West Wendover supports its own dispatch center through the West Wendover Police Department, but the citys police chief, Cal Kuntz, is on the countys Enhanced 911 Board.

The new MOU between the county fire district and ambulance service formalizes the partnership of the two departments that was already underway, with the services already sharing training, mechanics, and co-locating equipment.

Fire Chief Matt Petersen said by phone that weve always worked hand in hand.

The ambulance service and fire districts MOU covers the licensing for emergency medical technicians along with the joint training, which Emergency Medical Services Director Chris McHan said in the joint phone call with Petersen helps standardize service.

The long-term benefits will really become more visible and prevalent the further we go in this, Petersen said. I think there are a lot of efficiencies that we can achieve by working together instead of doing them independently on an island.

I appreciate the out-of-box thinking and positive attitude, said Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi earlier this month.

The fire districts emergency medical technicians and the ambulance service can sometimes end up at the same place, such as at hazardous materials accidents or vehicle accidents where patient care is involved.

We want to know what each of our playbooks says, so we can be on the same page, Petersen said. Most of the volunteers have a basic level of EMT training, and the career people have more.

If the fire department shows up first, you will have the same level of care all the way to the hospital.

Ambulance service

The ambulance service has also been expanding, and McHan said the ambulance service in Spring Creek is now fully staffed and providing 24-hour coverage.

McHans September report to the commissioners showed that the Elko County Ambulance Service had 2,776 calls to date and 1,650 transports, compared with 2,970 calls to date and 1,738 transports in 2022. Spring Creek calls totaled 524 to date this year, up from 476 calls to date in 2022.

He said in the phone interview that he didnt have a solid reason for the lower numbers this year overall, but normally calls are down in the winter and we had a really long winter.

The ambulance service is already operating in Spring Creek, but the county plans to remodel an Elko County Fire Protection District fire station in Spring Creek to include ambulance services. Petersen said the county is still working out details after tabling proposed bids.

McHan reported that partial staffing for the Spring Creek ambulance began in September 2022, and full-time staffing began in January of this year, using a rental house for crews. The Spring Creek ambulance covers the Lamoille and Jiggs areas, too.

The house is on Spring Valley Parkway near the fire district station 29, but the station that is to be remodeled is station 28 on Licht Parkway, he said.

The main response station for the ambulance service continues to be the facility near Elko High School, but the ambulance service is in Spring Creek and has a station in Jackpot. Elko County ambulance headquarters is co-located with Elko County Fire District headquarters on South Ninth Street.

McHan said the Elko County Ambulance Service has 20 full-time staff, four part-time staffers and roughly 20 volunteers. The numbers include two who are just completing their paramedic training at Great Basin College.

We cover all the county except Carlin, Wells, and West Wendover, and we have mutual aid agreements with those departments, McHan said.

We have four ambulances staffed all the time. We have a total of nine ambulances available across the county, but only four are staffed on a regular day, McHan said in a Sept. 26 email.

The Jackpot station has four full-time staff, firefighters and EMTs, and about 15 volunteers, and Chris has a station manager there, Petersen said.

McHan also said the ambulance service doesnt compete with the two air ambulance services covering the area, REACH and MedEx, and the ambulance service has transport agreements with both companies.

Actually, we utilize them as partners, he said.

Fire district

The Elko County Fire Protection District has 33 full-time staff and up to 10 seasonal firefighters, along with 150 volunteer firefighters.

We cover everything except the cities of Elko, Carlin, Wells, and West Wendover, and Owyhee has its own, Petersen said. We have mutual aid agreements. They help the county, and the county helps them.

The fire district has been county-run rather than the county contracting with the Nevada Division of Forestry since 2015, but the county pays NDF each year for firefighting help.

Back in May, Elko County Commissioners agreed to pay $811,872 to NDF for the Wildland Fire Protection Program for the current fiscal year and another $811,872 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

The countys fee is based on a formula that considers fires over a 10-year average and fire risks. The fire season in Elko County has been mild the last three years, with less than 4,000 acres blackened in 2021, 25,000 acres in 2022 and few fires in 2023. There have been massive fires in the past, however.

Elko County Fire Protection District headquarters is Station 21 on South Ninth Street, but the district has 24 stations throughout the county and 16 volunteer fire departments, Petersen said. For example, there are three stations in Ruby Valley but one department. In Montello and Pilot Valley, there is one department but two stations.

The headquarters facility in Elko has a shop for work on fire equipment and ambulances. Petersen said first district mechanics do the work on the ambulances, and Chris pays for the work. Its nice to have it all done in house.

In other words, the fire district and ambulance service are cooperating, but they have separate budgets, which means that since their training is joint, they proportionally split the cost.

McHan said on the emergency care side, entry level is an emergency medical responder.

They have advanced first aid, and a lot of volunteers are at that level, he said.

The next level is emergency medical technician basic, and we have a few and Matt has a few, McHan said. The next level is EMT advanced, and about half the ambulance service staff is at that level, and Matt has a few, as well.

The highest level for the services in Elko County is paramedic, and the ambulance service has 10 paramedics, McHan said.

One concern is that Elko County has so many rural areas. Petersen said there are places that take an hour to get to, and McHan said the ambulance service has done stop the bleed training because of those long travel distances.

The fire district received county approval to spend $265,000 for a used hazardous materials (hazmat) command vehicle that Petersen told commissioners is a Swiss Army knife that has been on a needs list for five years.

It can be used as a mobile command center. If dispatch has a problem, they could have dispatchers in there for a short period of time, Petersen said.

He said the estimated time for the vehicles delivery is November.

The fire districts budget for the current fiscal year is nearly $8.83 million, including a $1 million restricted fund for emergencies. Revenue comes from taxes, grants and contracts with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nevada Department of Wildlife and NV Energy.

Much of the grant money and contracts are for the reduction of wildfire fuels.

Enhanced 911 list

Along with the update on changeover in dispatch that depends upon the Next Generation 911 system, Cabaniss asked and received county approval for the Enhanced 911 Project List, and he announced that Karrie Hunton is now communications manager and Pamela Courtright is the training and compliance supervisor.

Hunton is a longtime employee of the dispatch center and had been assistant director. Courtright is a longtime dispatcher who came to Elko County from California, Cabaniss said in the Sept. 29 email, reporting that there are 14 approved positions at Elko County Dispatch.

Commissioners approved new software for Elko County Dispatch on Sept. 6 that will cost roughly $32,715, with the expense to come out of the surcharge fund, although it wasnt budgeted.

According to a report from Cabaniss, dispatchers also will receive follow-up training on the Motorola Solutions system at a cost of no more than $10,000.

Although the dispatchers use the improved 911 system, Cabaniss stated in his report to commissioners that the ambulance service has regular problems with the radio system and communication with Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital.

Speaking as chairman of the Enhanced 911 Board, he said the list is a component of a five-year master plan, and the Enhanced 911 Board reviews that list at least yearly. The most recent list includes items to address efficiency, resiliency, redundancy, and interoperability for the Elko County Dispatch Center, according to his report to commissioners.

The fiscal impact is not to exceed $650,000 in obligation from the E-911 surcharge account, he wrote.

The surcharge on land lines and cell phones in Elko County currently brings in roughly $58,000 to $60,000 a month, or $696,000 to $720,000 per year, according to the countys comptroller, Suzan Paprocki. Fixed costs are $9,611 a month.

Andreozzi said he wants the Enhanced 911 Board to continue providing updates to commissioners because if the current surcharge of $1 that was raised from the initial 25 cents proves to be more than needed, we can cut back.

The Next Generation 911 system went into operation in May 2020, replacing 1960s technology.

Cabaniss said that the top two on the list are finished or underway, while the remainder through 12 are proposed. The last two projects, however, are future needs.

He said in the email that currently, the dispatch center is co-located with Elko Interagency Dispatch Center (wildland fire dispatch), and the center meets our needs, but with future changes in technology or any expansion in staffing, there will be a need to reassess the facility.

Projects at the top of the list are the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) transition in Elko that was installed in December 2022, the CAD transition in West Wendover that is in progress under a separate grant, followed by back-up equipment for recording equipment purchased in 2022.

The list also includes installing a master clock in Elko to synchronize the time across all equipment and applications, replacing the toning and alerting system, which sends audible alerts over radio channels, and a new radio console which would allow dispatchers to control the radio from their dispatch position.

The list calls for the recorder project to begin this year at a cost of $80,000, and the master clock to be started this year for $20,000. The toning system and radio console system also is proposed for this year at an estimated cost still to be determined.

Another project to start this year is the installation of redundant fiber internet into Elko to increase the resiliency of the dispatch center through multiple internet connections, according to the list, which also proposes a new CAD server in 2024-2025 that would place Elko County centers on a stand-alone server through Motorola rather than utilizing space on the State of Nevada server.

A later project that could cost $250,000 would be a radio study to evaluate interoperable radio system for all users in the county, with that project that could take up to a year planned for 2024-2025.

The list approved by commissioners on Sept. 6 also includes annual work on the 911 system.
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Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  Muhammad Shahid at The National (Dubai) reports that there were two attacks on mosques in northern Pakistan on Friday. The bigger explosion targeted worshipers in Mastung, Baluchistan, near the provincial capital of Quetta. This bombing appears to have been aimed at Muslims who were staging a public procession to commemorate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Dozens of people were killed and nearly 100 injured, according to news reports.

The other bombing hit a mosque in Hangu in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Province. The mosque was known to be frequented by members of the local police. The suicide bombers had tried to hit the police station first and been repulsed, so they turned to a soft target. There have been 300 attacks in this province this year.

The insurgent movement in the tribal areas of northern Pakistan, the Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP), denied involvement. The TTP is closely allied with the Taliban who now again rule Afghanistan, and there are frictions between the Taliban and the current Pakistani government.

That the attack in Mastung targeted worshipers commemorating the birthday of the Prophet suggests that the perpetrators were members of ISIL, the so-called Islamic State group. When ISIL was ruling northern Iraq and eastern Syria, they banned celebrating Muhammads birthday as a sinful innovation. Their views on the matter are in accord with the fundamentalist Wahhabi branch of Islam in Saudi Arabia, where jurists such as Abdel Aziz Bin Baz (d. 1999) also forbade honoring the Prophets birthday. Small ISIL cells have carried out terrorist attacks on the Taliban in Afghanistan, and have occasionally hit targets in Pakistan itself. In Baluchistan, the so-called Islamic State- Pakistan Province is active, whereas in Khyber Pushtunkhwa the rival Islamic State  Khurasan carries out attacks. The latter was likely the perpetrator at Hangu.

Pakistans own security has declined because of infighting among the countrys political elite since Prime Minister Imran Khan was unseated in a vote of no confidence on April 10, 2022, in which 20 former supporters in the parliament defected. Khan has castigated the parliamentary maneuver as an illegitimate plot, and is now in jail on corruption charges that his followers say are trumped up.

Id say 98% of the Muslims in the world approve of commemorating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, which is usually given as the twelfth day of the third month of the Islamic calendar, Rabi al-Awwal in 570 CE, nearly six centuries after the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

I wrote a book about the Prophet Muhammad, in which I discuss the likely circumstances of his birth, but more importantly his teachings on peace and reconciliation.

Purchase

It is a great shame that some do things in his name at which he clearly would horrified.

Admittedly, historians do not think large public celebrations of this day began until about the 1100s CE, some 500 years after the Prophet. Since that time, poetry and hymns have been composed for the occasion, and people have developed customs like giving children toy horses or staging parades in the streets and putting up illuminated chandeliers and lanterns over city streets. That is why some scholars consider it an innovation. But most of those see it as a good innovation. The fundamentalist Wahhabi and Salafi tendencies, in contrast, tend to see all later innovations not present at the beginnings of Islam as illegitimate.

In Pakistan, most people celebrate the entire Muslim month of Rabi` al-Awwal as the birth month of the Prophet. Marching bands, rides on caparisoned camels, and other activities of public fun are popular.

It is widely celebrated among American Muslims.

Article continues after bonus IC video

Pakistan Tourism: 12 Rabi ul Awal Celebration in Multan Pakistan 2022 | Eid Milad un Nabi | Hassan Sargana

The major Sunni religious authority, the al-Azhar seminary in Cairo, Egypt, has repeatedly upheld the legitimacy of such celebrations. The considered legal ruling or fatwa says, It is not permissible according to Islamic law to challenge the legitimacy of celebrating the anniversary of the Prophets birthday due to the forbidden things that may occur during it. Rather, we denounce the evils that may surround it, and we warn those who commit it  with wisdom and leniency  that these evils contradict the basic purpose for which these honorable occasions were held.

Sufis, Muslim mystics, have sometimes engaged in ecstatic rituals on this anniversary of which the more sober clerics disapprove. You could compare this difference to one between, say, mainstream Presbyterian clerics and Pentecostalists.

Still, there is a broad consensus in both Sunni and Shiite Islam that commemorating the birth of the Prophet is a good thing, a moment of joy and celebration.

The ISIL terrorist group, which has wrought a vast swathe of destruction through Muslim societies and has also committed terrorism in Europe and the US, has a policy of acting harshly, like wild beasts (tawahhush). By attempting to outlaw perfectly innocent and uplifting religious practices like the birth of the Prophet, they set themselves up as superior to other Muslims and can use such prohibitions as a means of asserting power over others. Hence the bombing of the procession outside a mosque in Mastung. The good news is that the Muslims themselves have waged a concerted and brave campaign to root out this wicked heresy that has created so many orphans.
Since the 2020 election, top election officials in 11 of 17 Nevada counties have left office  a mark that places Nevada second in the West for turnover among election administrators.

That rate of replacement was highlighted by Issue One, a national political reform group that describes itself as crosspartisan, in a new report released Tuesday examining the record pace of local election officials departing office in the wake of the tumultuous 2020 election.

Only Arizona, where 80 percent of counties have seen a new top election official since November 2020, recorded a higher rate than Nevada among 11 Western states analyzed in the report. While Nevadas rate of turnover among its 17 counties was 59 percent at the time the report was compiled, that number has since risen to 65 percent after Elko County Clerk Kristine Jakeman announced that she would retire in October.

The exodus has resulted in the loss of decades worth of experience running elections across the state. Amid turnover in a majority of the states counties including populous Clark and Washoe counties, 98 percent of Nevadans are set to see their 2024 elections administered by someone who wasnt on the job in 2020.

Across the 11 states, Issue One found that these officials took with them more than 1,800 years of combined experience, the reports authors wrote.

The states clerks  and registrars in Nevadas two most populous counties, Clark and Washoe  are responsible for administering each countys elections, including mail and in-person voting, extensive pre- and post-election testing and security controls, and maintaining voter lists.

Last year, The Nevada Independent spoke with several election officials throughout the state who had already left or planned to leave their jobs. They expressed frustration with increasing public pressures amid a surge in false voter fraud claims fomented by former President Donald Trump, as well as the rising demands of their roles following the implementation of more comprehensive election procedures in recent years, including universal mail voting.

Throughout Nevadas rural counties, clerks typically take on more than one role, in many cases also serving as their countys recorder or treasurer. Many of those leaving their positions have cited a desire to spend more time with their families.

In Nevada, the counties that have seen turnover since the 2020 election are: Clark, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Lander, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Storey, Washoe and Carson City.

The report also details the onslaught of threats, harassment, conspiracy theories and increased work loads that these officials have faced. That includes former Washoe County Registrar of Voters Deanna Spikula, who faced repeated harassment. In one instance, she received a threat stating, Count the votes as if your life depends on it because it does.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, described election workers as the unsung heroes of our democracy and said providing them with a secure environment is key.

Nobody wants to go to a job where theyre afraid, or theyre going to be harassed or intimidated on a regular basis, Aguilar said in an interview.

The mass exodus of election officials can be costly to taxpayers, according to the Issue One report. It takes time to train new staff on the proper procedures for running elections.

Think of institutional knowledge as a savings account, Julie Wise, elections director of King County, Washington, said in the report. When a savings account has too little in it, emergencies become much more difficult to handle. Lost institutional knowledge increases the likelihood of human error. Even when an organization has well-documented procedures, new problems and questions arise.

Still, Aguilar noted that some of the states new clerks come with years of experience in helping run elections, such as Clark County Registrar Lorena Portillo, who had worked in the county elections department for 25 years prior to her appointment earlier this year.

We dont want to lose that talent. We dont want to lose that experience because it brings efficiency, he said. But at the same time, were also bringing on really capable individuals who can look at the issues, can look at the processes and come up with different ideas and different solutions to some of the challenges.

He added that the states adoption of an election procedures manual and the transition to a new election management system (called VREMS) would help with communication among election officials.

The Issue One report also calls for strengthening protections and fully funding our critical elections infrastructure. Aguilar has made increasing protections for election workers a priority, pushing this year for the passage of SB406, a bill that raises criminal penalties for threats or harassment against election workers.

We need to create safe environments for these people to be able to flourish, Aguilar said.
Gong Yoo gets honest about the emotions he felt at the height of the hit K-drama "Goblin."

It's been 7 years since the rom-com fantasy series premiered and made the viewers' hearts swoon with the characters of Kim Shin, a.k.a. the goblin, and the goblin's bride, Ji Eun Tak, played by Kim Go Eun.

During his appearance in "Pinggyego" for the Chuseok holiday special, the South Korean heathrob confessed about the mixed emotions he felt at the time.

Why Did Gong Yoo Feel Mixed Emotions Amid the Popularity of 'Goblin'?

When asked if there's been a time where he felt anxious despite being a popular TV star, Gong Yoo said yes and mentioned that it was during his twenties once when he was in his thirties.

Now that he is in his early forties, the actor recalled the experience and revealed that the peak of it was during the popularity of his K-drama "Goblin."

As mentioned by a media outlet, the top star can't explain or figure out what caused him to feel anxious but clarified that he was grateful for the huge success of the series.

"For example, 'Goblin' did very well, but I wasn't happy," he said, explaining the reason behind it. "I was happy it did well, but apart from that, there was a time when I felt so empty and I couldn't wake myself up."

The actor furthered that it wasn't because the work was hard or that the series didn't go well, but he admitted that he "wasn't able to enjoy the spotlight when projects were a success."

READ MORE: Did You Know? Gong Yoo Has Family Ties With Kang Dong Won & Gong Hyo Jin

Unfortunately, he couldn't explain the emptiness he felt at the time and admitted that it wasn't easy to open up such a vague feeling to the public.

"It should be a time when other people would be so happy they feel like they're floating in the clouds, but if I say that my heart felt strange, it feels like I'm not grateful," he explained.

Considering it as one of his "hard times," Gong Yoo said that it did change the way he sees people.

It seemed like the actor had overcome the feeling as he looked back at one of the darkest, or rather confusing, times of his life.

Will Gong Yoo Return to K-drama?

After his surprising cameo in the hit Netflix series "Squid Game" and headlining the star-studded sci-fi K-drama "The Silent Sea" with Bae Doona, Lee Joon, and more, what's next for Gong Yoo?

Viewers are looking forward to seeing the top star in K-dramas, but luckily he will reprise his role in "Squid Game" season 2 along with old and new cast members.

It can be recalled that Gong Yoo made a surprise appearance in season 1, taking on the intriguing role of the salesman at the train station.

In addition to Gong Yoo's drama, he is in talks to star in the upcoming Netflix series "The Trunk" with Seo Hyun Jin.

IN CASE YOU MISSED: 'Squid Game' Season 2: Netflix Introduces New Cast Lineup for Sequel

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
In July, Gov. Joe Lombardo was roundly criticized for withdrawing Nevada as a participating state from the U.S. Climate Alliance  just at a time when states in the Southwest were experiencing record temperatures. The harshest critics pounced.

But we need to be real about the outcome: Nevadas exit from the U.S. Climate Alliance will have no impact on climate change.

It is healthy to criticize policy decisions of our elected leaders when criticisms are due. But criticisms bordering on ludicrous assertions are not healthy. The interim director for the nonprofit communications organization Battle Born Progress, for example, was given media attention when she called Lombardos move reckless and one that would further endanger the planet and local communities.

Other wild statements about climate change routinely proliferate the media, such as those that used the tragic fires in Maui to further spread alarmism. Never mind that the root cause for those fires was invasive grasses that grew unabated for years in the area around Lahaina.

As someone concerned about the need to lower man-made greenhouse gas emissions but suspect of the hysteria propagated by extreme climate-change activism, I wanted to better understand the impact of Nevadas lack of engagement in the Climate Alliance so I did some research.

The alliance was formed in 2017 to counter the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Accords under President Donald Trumps administration. Today, 23 states and two U.S. territories participate in the alliance. Its primary goal is for member states to reduce carbon emissions 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The alliance describes itself as a bipartisan effort to combat climate change and it is, but just barely. Twenty-two of the 23 member states are led by Democrat governors.

The fact that nearly half the states in the nation are not in the alliance does not mean those non-affiliated states are not implementing serious emission-reduction strategies. Montana, for instance, is not in the alliance but in 2019 established an executive target to achieve economy-wide greenhouse gas neutrality between 2045 and 2050. Georgia, another state not in the alliance, has similar goals.

According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Nevada is one of a handful of states with stringent statutory emissions-reduction targets. Compared to 2005 levels, the Silver State by law is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent by 2025, by 45 percent by 2030, and reach near-zero emissions by 2050. These targets are as strong as those of most any state.

Climate-change alarmism is not working. What alarmism does quite well, however, is foster skepticism. People are wary of the unfettered, unscientific fear mongering that feeds the media pipeline with one existential crisis after another. What the public really desires are real facts about global warming and the implementation of sound and economically feasible emission-reduction strategies to counteract it.

The rapid push for electric vehicles to fight climate change is one strategy that has many critics. Electric vehicles are commonly called ZEVs, or zero-emission vehicles. To many, this is another example of deception because EVs are not zero-emission, at least not when the vehicles life-cycle assessments are considered.

Numerous studies show the carbon footprint from EVs can be substantial when considering emissions generated from additional mining to produce lithium batteries, and up through the vehicles life, including battery disposal. That is, EVs carry their own environmentally damaging baggage that cannot be measured by only comparing what comes out of tailpipes. This is not to suggest we should not electrify certain modes of ground transportation. But we should do so methodically by, as one example, ensuring the additional electrification needed to power EVs can be sourced by clean energy.

Reducing greenhouse gasses is a long-term effort; results will not be felt for many years or possibly a generation. The recent report published by the World Meteorological Association estimates global emissions will fall by a small fraction of what is needed in coming decades to limit warming to the widely accepted benchmark of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Energy security is and will remain the highest priority, especially in places that dont have it.

Nevada is part of the global challenge to meet set emission goals. According to a recent report by the Division of Environmental Protection, Nevada is projected to reduce emissions by only half of the statutory goal of 45 percent by 2030. With a growing transportation sector, and the emissions that will grow with it, maybe the goals of the U.S. Climate Alliance really do not align with what is feasible here. Surely there are other states  whether they are willing to admit it or not  in the same boat.

Despite the projections that show greenhouse gas-reduction goals worldwide are nowhere within reach, we must nonetheless continue efforts to reduce emissions to help lower global temperatures. But its time to stop the unsubstantiated, fear-based rhetoric about climate change that does nothing to help cool things off.
D.B. Cooper unmasked

Editor:

On Sept. 27, 2023, CNN Digital News had a seasonal article on the infamous and unsolved D.B. Cooper skyjacking, which occurred on Nov. 24, 1971. Unlike most of the D.B. Cooper articles over the years, this one did not rehash old information with a name of a new individual attached. The crux of the article deals with a longtime D.B. Cooper researcher who is suing the FBI. He is seeking access to a clip-on tie which the suspect, dubbed by the media as D.B. Cooper, left behind on the plane after parachuting from it. The researcher hopes that with modern technology he can extract a viable DNA sample. This is a very interesting approach but is also problematic since the tie has been (mis)handled by many individuals over the years.

There is a new theory that is much simpler, very practical, and more compelling than the half-century old story that is obviously now a demonstrated failed narrative. Essentially, the parachute jump over Washington state never occurred. No one saw Cooper exit the plane, descend under an open parachute canopy, or land in the woods of southern Washington state. Law enforcement, to include my old agency the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as the media, fell for a standard operational procedure in U.S. military airborne operations known as a diversion.

Where did Cooper actually parachute, then? In northern Nevada, as the plane approached the Reno airport at 11 p.m. Space constraints do not allow for more details to be included here.

If you have seen the movie, Catch Me If You Can, with Tom Hanks (as an FBI agent) and Leonardo DiCaprio, where DiCaprio plays an individual (Frank W. Abagnale) who assumes many identities in his daily life of fraud and evading the FBI, there are many similarities in the story and the D.B. Cooper caper.

Frank W. Abagnale has read my new book and was gracious enough to provide the following endorsement: I thoroughly enjoyed your book and found your theory very interesting. I believe you are 100% on target.

The book, Phantom Figure Unmasked  D.B. Coopers Identity Revealed, was quietly released last year and is now available on Amazon or through the website www.phantomfigureunmaskeddbcooper.com.

Gregory Hall

Elko
Kilkenny County Council has launched a new lifestyle and employment website as a tool for both employers and employees looking for information on working and living in Kilkenny.

A recent breakfast briefing and networking event hosted by the council was the setting for the launch of the new belongkilkenny.ie brand and website providing a source of information on living, working and enjoying life in Kilkenny. The website was created with the intention of offering a resource to employers, employees and prospective re-locaters looking for information on living and working in Kilkenny.

Newly-appointed Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council Lar Power welcomed the resource.

Placemaking is what we do  as a local authority we look to promote Kilkenny as a destination to live, work and invest in each and every day, he said.

Director of Services Sean McKeown outlined the value of the resource to demonstrate statistics on Kilkennys accessibility, attractiveness and liveability.

Kilkenny offers an accessible location just 90 minutes from Dublin, and is bucking the national trend in terms of our housing pipeline. The belongkilkenny.ie website offers a valuable resource with information on housing, education, healthcare and many other topics consolidated in one location.

At the same event, attended by prominent members of Kilkennys business community and construction industry, the revamped investkilkenny.ie website was re-launched.

Thewebsite is aimed at promoting investment in the city and county and demonstrates the credentials of the global and indigenous companies in Kilkenny, and how the quality of life and infrastructure in Kilkenny assist with the attraction and retention of staff.

New Abbey Quarter Development Director Tony Lauhoff also noted the quality of business tenants the Abbey Quarter has already attracted and should continue to attract with the planned development of office, residential and retail space throughout the life of the masterplan for the site.

The Abbey Quarter regeneration project doesnt aim to compete with the existing core of the city, it aims to enhance and extend it down High Street and into Irishtown, offering a vibrant space to live and work in, he said.

Interested parties can up to the newsletter via investkilkenny.ie, and belongkilkenny.ie for more information.
Storm Elias forced the evacuation of around 3,000 individuals in Greece after it brought months-worth of rain in just one day.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis immediately mobilized state emergency services as well as military personnel to boost defenses in areas including the northern Thessaly region as villages have been inundated and roads were also filled with floods.

Some schools were also forced to close in several municipalities.

Months-worth of rain

The European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) disclosed that months-worth of rain had fallen in just a day and it was followed by more heavy rains, hail, and thunder in the next days.

Authorities said that the port city of Volos in Thessaly was among those to have been hit hard by Elias and even the previous Storm Daniel.

In the latest weather disturbance, the port city was flooded anew, with police officers already prohibiting traffic circulation in the area to ensure the safety of residents.

Volos' Mayor Achilleas Beos lamented that his constituents' lives are in danger as 80 percent of the city has no power. The official also mentioned that he was trapped just like other victims.

Beos called on the residents to stay in their homes to ensure their safety amid the heavy rains.

They said that Volos saw 298 mm (11.7 inches) of rainfall in a 14-hour period from Elias, which was considered as more than eight times the city's September average.

Meanwhile, other areas across Greece also experience torrential rains as Limni saw 216 mm (8.5 inches) in 7 hours and Istiaia witnessed 140 mm (5.5 inches) in 3.5 hours.

Furthermore, in the Island of Evia, villages were also inundated, and roads had collapsed.

Read Also: Storm Daniel Leaves Trail of Destruction in Greece, Turkey And Bulgaria; 14 Killed in Flash Floods

Storm Daniel

Elias was the second major storm to hit the region since Storm Daniel pounded Greece for days early this month. Daniel then was dubbed as the most intense rainfall to hit Greece since records began in 1930.

A number of residents in Volos expressed belief that officials are still dealing with the impacts of Daniel and that they are not sufficiently prepared for another weather disturbance.

To recall, the rains brought by Daniel caused at least three deaths near the central city of Volos and in Karditsa, farther west.

Some people also went missing amid its onslaught.

Volos also experienced power outage and landslides and water have badly destroyed buildings and roads in adjacent communities.

Mitsotakis already promised to rebuild infrastructure to a higher standard after roads, bridges and rail tracks were washed away following the deep floods.

Authorities said that Greece was one of at least 10 countries and territories, which have been hit by severe floods this month.

Experts have warned that these types of extreme weather events, which are presently affecting countries all over the world, may become usual and common due to the acceleration of the climate crisis.

This puts pressure all governments across the globe to prepare for these weather events.

Related Article: Storm Daniel: Intense Weather Warnings Raised In Greece, Massive Floods Expected

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Thirty-eight companies from 19 countries joined the Defense Industries Alliance before the end of the first Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv on September 29, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine has said.

"The establishment of the Defense Industries Alliance, which any producer of weapons and military equipment from various countries of the world can join, became an important event of the forum. Before the end of the forum, 38 companies from 19 companies joined the Alliance," it said.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of the Defense Industries Alliance.
Canadian Palladium Resources Inc. (OTCMKTS:DCNNF  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,400 shares, a decline of 76.2% from the August 31st total of 18,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 21,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Canadian Palladium Resources Stock Up 6.3 %

DCNNF traded up 0.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching 0.03. The company had a trading volume of 46,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,967. Canadian Palladium Resources has a 12-month low of 0.02 and a 12-month high of 0.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of 0.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of 0.03.

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Canadian Palladium Resources Inc, a natural resource company, engages in the acquisition and exploration of resource properties in North America and Europe. It holds 100% interest in the East Bull Palladium Property that comprise 992 hectares located in the Gerow Township, Ontario, Canada. The company was formerly known as 21C Metals Inc and changed its name to Canadian Palladium Resources Inc in January 2020.

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MV Oil Trust (NYSE:MVO  Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,900 shares, a drop of 40.0% from the August 31st total of 11,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 46,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of MV Oil Trust from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On MV Oil Trust

MV Oil Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MVO. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of MV Oil Trust by 446.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 9,830 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 8,030 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in MV Oil Trust during the 1st quarter worth $128,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in MV Oil Trust during the 1st quarter worth $137,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in MV Oil Trust by 207.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,297 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC increased its stake in MV Oil Trust by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 19,998 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 7,623 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.68% of the companys stock.

Shares of MVO stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $13.63. The companys stock had a trading volume of 13,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,788. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $12.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.21. MV Oil Trust has a 12-month low of $8.38 and a 12-month high of $16.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.75 million, a PE ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 0.94.

MV Oil Trust (NYSE:MVO  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $4.39 million during the quarter.

MV Oil Trust Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 17th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 14th.

MV Oil Trust Company Profile

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MV Oil Trust acquires and holds term net profits interests in the oil and natural gas properties of MV Partners, LLC. Its properties include approximately 860 producing oil and gas wells located in the Mid-Continent region in the states of Kansas and Colorado. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Houston, Texas.

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Ukrainian companies signed 20 documents with foreign partners during the first Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv on September 29, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine has said.

"These are agreements and memorandums on drone production, repairs and production of armored vehicles and ammunition. The formats of cooperation include joint production, technology transfer, supply of components. Defense cooperation with Ukraine is equal partnerships that strengthens all parties," it said on Saturday.

The ministry emphasized that the localization of production in Ukraine will allow to apply a wide range of technologies, ideas and solutions as well as receive weapons tested in real combat conditions.

The first International Defense Industries Forum (DFNC1) took place in Kyiv on September 29. The event brought together 252 companies from more than 30 countries.

The forum was organized by the Ministry of Strategic Industries, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Tank, artillery, drone, ammunition producers, software developers and owners of unique technologies from partner states participated in the event. The forum was also attended by Ukrainian public and private defense industry enterprises, including both groups of companies and defense-tech startups.

"The key slogan of the DFNC1 is building the arsenal of the free world together because freedom requires strength to protect yourself against tyranny," the Foreign Ministry said.
Thirty-seven Ukrainian defense industry enterprises were damaged as a result of Russia's attacks, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said.

"Our defense industry is still one of the main targets of Russia's missile attacks as a result of which 37 enterprises have been damaged," he said during the Defense Industries Forum.

The government is working on proposals for the restoration of these enterprises, the prime minister said.
Chennai, September 30: As many as 35 tourists were injured when a bus they were travelling fell into a gorge near Tamil Nadu's Marapalam on Saturday evening, police said. As per the police, the bus was on its way from Ooty to Mettupalaym in the Coimbatore district of the Southern state when the accident took place.

The injured had been rushed to Coonoor government hospital for treatment. "55 people were in the bus. 35 people were injured and sent to Coonoor government hospital for treatment by ambulance," they said. Tamil Nadu Road Accident: Tourist Bus Falls Into Gorge Near Coonoor, 35 People Injured (Watch Video).

Bus Falls Into Gorge Near Marapalam

#WATCH | 35 people were injured as a tourist bus fell into a gorge near Marapalam near Coonoor. 55 tourists were travelling in the bus going from Ooty to Mettupalayam. The injured have been sent to Coonoor government hospital for treatment. Further details awaited. pic.twitter.com/hQNygNfoGw  ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2023

During the preliminary inquiry, it came to light that the driver lost control over the wheels and ended up falling into a 100-feet-deep gorge at Marapalam near Coonoor, as per police. More details are awaited.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 30 (ANI): Union Minister and Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy on Friday said that the Centre has spent nine lakh crores in nine years for the development of Telangana.

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Telangana, G Kishan Reddy said, "On this occasion, the foundation stones of many development programs will be laid and many completed projects will be launched. During his visit to Mahabubnagar district, PM Modi will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate projects worth Rs 13,545 crore."

Also Read | Our Doors for Looking at Something Are Not Shut: S Jaishankar Reiterates Indias Stand on Canadas Allegation About Killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar (Watch Video).

The new line 'Jakler-Krishna', which is a part of the Munirabad-Mahabubnagar project built at a cost of Rs.505 crore, will be dedicated to the nation. Through this project, the distance between Hyderabad and Goa will be reduced by 102 km. 'Kachiguda - Raichur - Kachiguda' demo service will be started from Krishna station. National Highways projects worth Rs. 6,404 crores will be laid.

"Prime Minister Modi is moving ahead with the 'Hira' model (development of H-Highways, I-Infoways, R-Railways, A-Airways) to speed up infrastructure development in the country. National highways worth Rs 1.20 lakh crore have been allotted to Telangana at a record level," he said.

Also Read | Elephant Attack in Assam: Forest Department Staff Killed, Three Injured After Being Attacked by Wild Elephant in Jorhat.

He further stated that the Centre has increased the railway budget significantly while the Congress party shows many projects only on paper.

"After coming to power, the Modi government has been increasing the railway budget significantly. In 2014, the railway budget for Telangana state was Rs.258 crores. In 2023, it increased to Rs.4,418 crore. Congress party shows many projects on paper. Modi started many projects for which they laid foundation stones. Improved railway system with unique functionality. Modern facilities and Wi-Fi facilities are provided," he said.

"The Center has already started a 100 MW floating solar plant in Ramagundam. Through this project, direct and indirect employment will be created in the Telangana region. India's power sector has made significant progress in the last 9 years. There is no shortage of electricity in any state in the country," he added.

Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, the ruling BRS and the Congress. The Telangana election will serve as a litmus test for the BJP-led NDA and the INDIA alliance before the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram will also go to polls later this year. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, Sep 30 (PTI) A court in Punjab's Fazilka district sent Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira to 14-day judicial custody on Saturday in connection with a 2015 drugs case.

Amid tight security arrangements, Khaira was produced in the court in Jalalabad after his two-day police remand ended on Saturday, officials said.

Also Read | Dell Considering Fresh Investment in Bengaluru, Says Karnataka Government.

Bholath MLA Khaira was arrested on Thursday from his Chandigarh residence.

He was arrested by the Punjab Police following an investigation conducted by a special investigation team led by Deputy Inspector General of Police Swapan Sharma in the 2015 drugs case.

Also Read | This Should Act as a Deterrent: Man Who Kidnapped and Killed Minor Boy for Ransom in Telanganas Mahabubabad Awarded Death Penalty.

The case was registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka. Nine people, including Gurdev Singh, who was allegedly a close-aide of Khaira, were booked in the case and later convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Police had recovered 2 kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, one country-made pistol, a .315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards from them.

Khaira's cropped up later during the police probe.

However, in 2017, the Supreme Court stayed the trial court proceedings against Khaira who was summoned as an additional accused in the matter. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021 on the charge of money laundering linked to the 2015 drugs case. He was granted bail in 2022.

In February 2023, the apex court quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the drugs case.

The Punjab Congress had called the police action against Khaira as political vendetta, a charge vehemently denied by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.

(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 30 (PTI) Lt Governor VK Saxena on Saturday approved a contribution of Rs 10 crore to the Himachal Aapda Rahat Kosh 2023, from Delhi's relief fund, to help the hill state in its rehabilitation works, the Raj Niwas said.

The move comes after a meeting between Saxena and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at the recently concluded Northern Zonal Council meeting in Amritsar.

Also Read | Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Announces Rs 4,500 Crore Disaster Relief Package With Compensation Increased by 25 Times.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced Rs 10-crore contribution to Himachal Pradesh earlier this month to aid its rehabilitation and relief efforts following the devastation caused by heavy rains in the hill state.

Chief Minister Sukhu also apprised the Delhi LG of massive destruction caused by the floods in Himachal Pradesh, and the requirement of assistance, officials said.

Also Read | Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2023: Congress Seeking To Divide Women in Name of Caste, Hates Me as I Am From Backward Community, Says PM Narendra Modi.

It may be noted that according to Rule 5 of the LG/CM Relief Fund, 1994, the "fund would be utilized for providing relief to people affected by natural calamities like floods, droughts, earthquake or any other similar calamities or to indigent persons or deserving artists, writers in need of such assistance, they said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], September 30 (ANI): As part of its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is mulling deploying its 'Vistaraks' in every Parliamentary constituency across the country who will spread the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's welfare schemes among the public from January 1, next year.

In line with its plan, the BJP has formed a 10-member committee, overseen by the party's national general secretary Sunil Bansal, for the training, and deployment of its 'Vistaraks' nationwide.

Also Read | IndiGo Mentally Disabled Passenger 'Misbehaves', 'Locks Himself' Inside Toilet Onboard Flight; Detained at Patna Airport.

A Vistarak is a full-time BJP functionary entrusted with the job of taking independent feedback at the grassroots while expediting the partys activities and campaigns.

The 10-member committee has been tasked with coordinating the activities of BJP Vistaraks across the country.

Also Read | Anti-Rabies Vaccine Drive in Mumbai: BMC Starts Vaccinating 15,000 Stray Dogs To Make City 'Rabies-Free'.

As per party sources, the deployment of the full-time party workers will be completed in the next two months with their ground-level mass contacting mission to be started on January 1, 2024.

In states with higher numbers of Parliamentary constituencies like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar, the Vistaraks, who will be in direct contact with BJP's Central office in the national capital, have to be trained and deployed before December 1.

Whereas in smaller states, the recruitment and training work on the ground will commence from January 1.

The convenor of the Vistarak Yojana is former Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, while the co-convenors are Bhikhu Bhai Dalsania from Bihar and Rajkumar Sharma from Delhi.

The seven members, of the 10-member committee, include Srinivasan from Tamil Nadu, Sunil Karjatkar from Maharashtra, Vijay Bahadur Pathak from Uttar Pradesh, Shyam Mahajan from Madhya Pradesh, Umesh Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, Professor Manoj Singh from Bihar, and Kishor Varman from Tripura.

The leaders have been tasked with the main responsibility of training and coordination of Vistaraks in different states across the country.

The party has also decided to form committees consisting of three to four party leaders in each state, which will be responsible for coordinating Vistaraks' daily activities, providing them with training, and gathering feedback. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Vadodara, September 30: Twenty persons were arrested for allegedly hurting religious feelings during a procession taken out on the occasion of Eid Milad un Nabi in Padra in Gujarat's Vadodara, a police official said on Saturday. Some members of the procession made obscene gestures and uttered words hurting religious sentiments when it was passing by a temple on Friday night, Superintendent of Police (Vadodara Rural) Rohan Anand said. Gujarat: Communal Clashes Erupt in Vadodaras Panigate Area on Diwali Night; Situation Under Control.

Following this, a group of people from the Hindu community gathered outside Padra police station demanding strict action against the culprits, he said. The crowd was dispersed and based on the complaint of one Ajay Parmar, an FIR was lodged against 13 identified and other unknown accused who were part of the procession, the SP said. Pune Fight Video: Two Groups Clash, Thrash Each Other With Sticks in Sahakar Nagar, Viral Clip Surfaces.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 294B (obscene acts and songs), 298 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), he said. Further investigation into the incident was underway, he added.

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Bhubaneswar, Sep 30 (PTI) The Jagannath Temple in Puri owns over 60,822 acres of land in Odisha and six other states, Odisha Law Minister Jagannath Saraka informed the assembly on Saturday.

In a written reply to a question from BJD member Prasanta Behera, the minister said a total of 60,426.943 acres of land in the name of Mahaprabhu Jagannath Bije, Srikhetra Puri, have been identified in 24 of the 30 districts of Odisha.

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Of these, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has received the final Record of Rights (RoR) over 38,061.892 acres of land, he said.

Similarly, 395.252 acres of land in six other states were identified in the name of Lord Jagannath, Saraka said.

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The minister said that the temple has already lodged 974 encroachment cases in different tehsils of the state to remove illegal encroachments.

The cases were filed as per the provision of the Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1955, after the conduct of a proper inquiry by SJTA officials.

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 30 (ANI): As many as 27 people including five children were rescued after a fire broke out at a housing society in Maharashtra's Mumbai on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

According to the information, the incident was reported at Ganesh Krupa Cooperative Housing Society, situated in the Girgaon area.

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The fire which originated on the third floor of the 14-storeyed building, spread to electric wiring and installations within an electric duct, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials.

Thick smoke could be seen emanating from the building which prompted some of the residents to evacuate the building before the fire tenders arrived at the spot.

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Upon the arrival of fire tenders, the fire was extinguished, and the power supply to the building was also cut off to contain the fire.

A total of 27 persons, including 17 Females, 5 Males, and 5 Children on various floors were safely rescued through the staircase at the terrace, said BMC officials.

The officials further informed that no injuries were reported in the incident. (ANI)

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Shmyhal: Private sector is our key partner, we're ready to help everyone who produces high-quality weapons for our army

Private sector is the key partner of the government and it is ready to help everyone who produces high-quality weapons for the Ukrainian army, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said.

"Today, the Ukrainian military-industrial complex is experiencing a renaissance or even a new birth on some branches and at certain enterprises. We are launching new production, enlarging the ones that showed good results before the full-scale invasion, investing in new technology and new developments. We are working with partners," he said during the Defense Industries Forum on Saturday.

According to the prime minister, the government started several experimental projects for the production of various drones in 2023 and is systemically facilitating bureaucratic procedures for the production of various types of equipment and weapons.

"The private sector is our key partner, and we are ready to help everyone who produces high-quality weapons for our army," he said.

Shmyhal also noted that today as never before Ukraine needs effective operation of the state defense enterprises, plants and bureaus.

"The Russian regime dreamed of Ukraine's demilitarization, and meanwhile Ukraine has been ramping up arms and military hardware production every month," he said.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 30 (ANI): BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain, recovering from a cardiac arrest, was discharged on Saturday, Dr Jalil Parkar at Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai informed through a brief statement.

He has been advised a rest for fifteen days, according to Dr Parkar.

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The BJP leader was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday evening after suffering a cardiac arrest.

"Shahnawaz Hussain has successfully undergone PRIMARY RCA angioplasty. He has recovered well and is being discharged today. He has been advised to rest for 15 days," Parkar said.

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Shahnawaz is a national spokespersons of the BJP.

He was the Union Minister for Textiles and the Minister of Civil Aviation in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. (ANI)

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New Delhi [India], September 30 (ANI): Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is in favor of holding student union elections; however, admissions are still underway, and the matter related to the 2019 university election is sub-judice, said university officials, amid increasing demands from student groups to conduct polls.

The last JNU elections were held in 2019. The university elections are conducted every year.

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The student groups are demanding that the administration issue a notification regarding the elections, and they have also condemned an inordinate delay in holding elections.

The administration, however, is adamant that the matter is sub-judice and admissions are not over.

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"Jawaharlal Nehru University is in favour of student body elections. But in the last election of 2019, JNUSU was not notified by the administration due to alleged non-compliance with the Lyngdoh Committee. So then elected representatives went to court, and the matter is still sub-judice," a senior University official told ANI.

"The university cannot organise the election until that matter is resolved in court. Moreover, admissions for postgraduate and PhD courses are still underway. So until the admissions process is over, the University cannot organize the election," the official added.

JNUSU was not notified last year due to alleged non-compliance with the Lyngdoh Committee Report.

The Lyngdoh Committee recommendations state that elections need to be held on a yearly basis and between 6-8 weeks from the date of commencement of the academic session.

A United Front of Left party was elected to the JNUSU in September 2019. Student Federation of Indias Aishe Ghosh was elected president.

The JNU official said that there is no JNUSU as of now.

"There is no JNUSU president, and there is no JNUSU. If the JNUSU was not notified by the administration representatives, then how can they hold a general body meeting?" the official asked.

Meanwhile, the incumbent JNUSU held a general body meeting on September 18. On September 26, they wrote to the University Vice Chancellor Santishree D Pandit, asking her to initiate the process of holding elections.

"The JNU Students Union (JNUSU) elections have not been held since 2019-20. Numerous letters and delegations on the part of the elected INUSU have not received any response from the JNU Administration regarding the commencement of the election process," the JNUSU said.

As per the letter, the University General Body condemned the inordinate delay in the conduct of JNUSU Elections since 2020 due to the "arbitrary and undemocratic decisions" regarding the same by the JNU Administration.

"The University General Body further condemns the undemocratic policies of the JNU Administration regarding student representation, such as the exclusion of JNUSU representatives from bodies concerning student welfare and the illegal practice of not recognizing elected student representatives through the facade of not notifying the election results," the letter read.

Student union elections in all the universities of the country are held strictly according to the Lyngdoh committee recommendations. The committee was formed in response to the Kerala High Court's decision to give autonomy to the college principals of Kerala University regarding students union elections. (ANI)

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Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 30 (ANI): Karnataka Janata Dal (Secular) President, CM Ibrahim has expressed his disappointment over the partys alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party and he said that nothing should be hidden in politics.

CM Ibrahim told the media HD Kumaraswamy is like a younger brother to me and Deve Gowda is like a father figure and I respect them. I am hurt that Kumaraswamy met with Amit Shah. Any decision of a party is taken by the Party President. Deve Gowda's leadership is the oldest in India. BJP should have come to Deve Gowda. I am hurt that Deve Gowda had to go to BJP. Kumaraswamy said that he has not told some things to the President, nothing should be hidden in politics.

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The JD(S) had on September 22 joined hands with the BJP-led NDA to take on the Congress party in Karnataka in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy made the announcement of the tie-up after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in the national capital.

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CM Ibrahim further said that if he wanted he would have joined BJP a long time ago, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

If you are making an alliance with the BJP, then who has accepted whom? If you have power, you don't need to ask for anything. If we wanted to join the BJP, I would have joined long back when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the PM and offered me a ministry. We don't have anything personal. We respect each other. I respect PM Modi and Amit Shah. I'm still a party President. I'm an elected president," Ibrahim added.

Following the announcement of the new alliance, JD(S) state vice president, Syed Shafiulla Saheb and other leaders including M Srikanth and UT Ayesha Farzana resigned from the party and reportedly there is discontent among several Muslim functionaries in the party.

Kumaraswamy said We will not disrespect any Muslim leader from the JDS-BJP alliance. We have discussed about the BJP-JDS alliance with JDS state president CM Ibrahim. (ANI)

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Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 30 (ANI): Pitru Paksha, a ritual in which Hindus pay homage to their ancestors, especially through food offerings started all over the country.

This year the Pitru Paksha began on September 29 and will end on October 14.

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Devotees from all over the country come to Pishach Mochan Kund in Varanasi because only after offering Pind Daan here, do people leave for Gaya, Bihar to pay homage to their ancestors.

There is a mythological belief that this Pishach Mochan Kund has been present even before the descent of Ganga, where for centuries people have been offering Pind Daan to their ancestors.

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Pitru Paksha ("fortnight of the paternal ancestors") is a 16lunar day period in the Hindu calendar when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors (Pitrs), especially through food offerings.

The food offerings made to the ancestors are usually cooked in silver or copper vessels and typically placed on a banana leaf or cups made of dried leaves.

The person who performs the Shraadh should take a purifying bath beforehand and is expected to wear a dhoti. He wears a ring of darbha grass. Then the ancestors are invoked to reside in the ring.

The Shraadh is usually performed bare-chested, as the position of the sacred thread worn by him needs to be changed multiple times during the ceremony.

People also reached Haridwar from all over India to wish for the salvation of their departed ancestors. The special importance of performing Shraadh in the Narayani Shila Temple of Haridwar has been mentioned in the Puranas which is why devotees come here from far and wide to perform these rituals.

Manoj Tripathi, chief priest of Narayani Shila Temple said Pitru Paksha, which lasts for 16 days, is a time to express gratitude to our ancestors and wish for their salvation. Rituals are performed at many places across the country, but performing at Narayani Shila Temple in Haridwar, Gaya, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Badrinath is said to have special significance. It is described in the scriptures that the head of Lord Vishnu is installed in Badrinath Dham, the torso is installed in Narayani Shila in Haridwar and the feet of the Lord in Gaya, Bihar. Therefore, the importance of offering Tarpan at these three places has been stated more.

Devotees from far and wide reach Narayan Shila temple to offer Tarpan during Pitru Paksha and wish for salvation for their ancestors through special prayer conducted by the pilgrim priests. It is believed that through this Tarpan, the departed souls attain salvation. Therefore, special importance has been given to performing Shraadh at these three places. (ANI)

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Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], September 30 (ANI): A senior executive engineer of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) was arrested for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 45,000, an official statement said on Friday.

The accused has been identified as Munish Kumar Jindal.

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Punjab Vigilance Bureau said that the accused senior executive engineer posted at PSPCL's Sangrur office was arrested on the complaint of Sukhchain Singh, a resident of village Hariau after the complainant had applied for a transfer of his tubewell connection to another village Chhajali.

"Complainant approached the VB and informed that his relative Major Singh of village Dhindsa, Lehra block wanted to transfer his tubewell connection to another village Chhajali. Major Singh being an old person has asked complainant Sukhchain Singh to pursue his case for transfer of connection. When he met XEN Munish Kumar Jindal in this regard he demanded a bribe of Rs 45,000 to allow transfer of this tubewell connection," an official statement said.

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Vigilance Bureau spokesperson further informed that the vigilance unit of Patiala range laid a trap and was caught red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 45,000 in the presence of two official witnesses.

A case has been registered against the accused official Munish Kumar Jindal at Vigilance Bureau Patiala range police station.

Further investigation is underway. (ANI)

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Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 30 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Saturday paid his last respects to the mortal remains of the eminent agricultural scientist Prof MS Swaminathan.

Swaminathan, the driving force behind Indias Green Revolution had passed away at his Chennai residence on September 28 at the age of 98.

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had on Thursday announced that Swaminathans funeral will take place with police honours as a recognition of his immense contributions to the Agriculture department as a world-renowned scientist.

His pioneering work in the field of sustainable food security has had a profound impact worldwide. I will always cherish the moments I spent with him. My thoughts are with his family and the global science community during this difficult time, Stalin said in a tweet on X.

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Earlier in a post on social media, Raj Bhavan said "Deeply saddened at the demise of Dr. MS Swaminathan the father of Green Revolution and builder of modern Bharat."

"He will always live in our hearts and minds.", the Governor said. "My thoughts are with his family and friends in this hour of grief. Om Shanti!-Governor Ravi", the Raj Bhavan said in the post.

Among those who paid their respects to the mortal remains of the late agricultural scientist today was the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

According to the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) the cremation of Prof Swaminathan will be conducted with police honours at the Besant Nagar Crematorium at 12 noon today. His body was placed at the MSSRF in Taramani, Chennai for members of the public to pay their respects.

Born on August 7, 1925, in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, leaves behind a legacy that has forever altered the landscape of Indian agriculture and global food security.

He has served as the Chairman of the Government of Indias National Commission on Farmers, President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Chairman of the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the World Committee on Food Security (CFS), Member of the Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Former Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and International Rice Research Institute amongst others.

He was the recipient of the first World Food Prize for his leadership in Indias Green Revolution and numerous other national and international awards including Padma Vibushan, Ramon Magsaysay award.

Swaminathan worked very closely with many former Prime Ministers of India, and Heads of states for the success of the Green Revolution, a programme that paved the way for quantum jump in food production and for a Hunger free India & World.

He headed the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Taramani, Chennai.

He was known as the "Father of Economic Ecology" by the United Nations Environment Programme.

According to a statement by the MSSRF, his advocacy of sustainable agriculture makes him an acknowledged world leader in the field of sustainable food security. He also worked closely with Norman Borlaug, a celebrated American farm scientist and 1970 Nobel Laureate on developing high-yielding wheat varieties.

He secured two undergraduate degrees, including one from the Agricultural College, Coimbatore (now, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University).

Prof Swaminathan is survived by his three daughters Soumya Swaminathan, Madhura Swaminathan, and Nitya Swaminathan.

He was awarded by Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1971 and the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled his demise by recalling his interactions with the agriculture scientist.

"Deeply saddened by the demise of Dr MS Swaminathan Ji. At a very critical period in our nations history, his ground breaking work in agriculture transformed the lives of millions and ensured food security for our nation" the Prime Minister said in a post on X.

"Beyond his revolutionary contributions to agriculture, Dr. Swaminathan was a powerhouse of innovation and a nurturing mentor to many. His unwavering commitment to research and mentorship has left an indelible mark on countless scientists and innovators" the Prime Minister added. (ANI)

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Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 30 (ANI): The Naam Tamilar Katchi Party held protests in Madurai on Saturday, condemning the Congress-led Karnataka government over the Cauvery River water sharing issue.

NTK Party youth wing secretary Sattai Durai Murugan said, They are refusing to give Cauvery water as ordered by the court. If the Karnataka government does not release water to Tamil Nadu, a huge protest will be held under the leadership of the Naam Tamilar Katchi Party.

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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 CWRC had ordered Karnataka to ensure the release of 3000 cusecs of Cauvery water at Biligundlu starting from September 28 till October 15, 2023. The amount of water to be released was 5000 cusecs earlier.

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Karnataka has cited a severe drought in parts of its state to refuse the supply of water to Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has accused its neighbour of lying to the nation about the supply of water.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah has said that the state will challenge the order of the Cauvery Water Management Authority in the Supreme Court.

"The Cauvery Regulatory Committee (CWRC) has ordered the release of 3000 cusecs of water. I have already spoken to our advocates. They have suggested us to challenge this order in the Supreme Court. We will challenge it in the Supreme Court. We don't have water to release to Tamil Nadu," the CM said.

Meanwhile, a group of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) activists held a massive protest in Bengaluru on Thursday against the state MPs and Siddaramaiah government over the Cauvery River water issue.

The KRV activists shouted slogans of "Cauvery Is Ours" as they protested against the release of river water to Tamil Nadu. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday hit out Congress leader P Chidambaram for his remarks that reservation for women in legislatures was still years away, saying it is shameful to convert ignorance of the people into political equity.

Addressing an event here, Dhankhar said he lacked words to express his anguish on the remarks made on the women's reservation law by a "senior member of the Rajya Sabha who had been a Union minister and has held high profile positions".

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Without naming Chidambaram, Dhankhar spoke on the former Union minister's comments, "What is the use of a law that will not be implemented for several years, certainly not before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections?"

Dhankhar referred to Chidambaram's remarks posted on X last night that the women's reservation law is a "teasing illusion, a reflection of the moon in a bowl of water or a pie in the sky"

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The vice president dubbed it a "distorted mindset" and wondered whether a sapling planted today would start giving fruits immediately or whether a person would get a degree soon after admission to an institute.

"It is shameful to convert ignorance of the people into political equity," he said.

The vice president said the youth of today will have to fight this as they have access to information.

The bill to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies was passed by the Lok Sabha with near unanimity and the Rajya Sabha with unanimity during the special session of Parliament.

President Droupadi Murmu gave assent to the bill on Thursday.

Now, it will be officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act.

According to its provision, "It shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint."

During a special session of Parliament earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the law as "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam".

The law will take some time before being implemented as the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise - redrawing of Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies - will ascertain the particular seats being earmarked for women.

The quota for women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies will continue for 15 years and Parliament can later extend the benefit period.

While there is quota within quota for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) women, the opposition had demanded that the benefit be extended to Other Backward Classes.

It had also pressed for its immediate implementation.

There had been several efforts to pass the bill in Parliament since 1996. The last such attempt was made in 2010, when Rajya Sabha had passed a bill for women's reservation, but the same could not be passed in Lok Sabha.

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Malappuram (Kerala), Sep 30 (PTI) The Kerala Health Department on Saturday took action against two doctors and a staff nurse at the Government Women and Children hospital at Ponnani near here over an alleged incident of wrongful blood transfusion on a pregnant woman.

A 26-year old woman was allegedly given the wrong blood group during transfusion on Thursday.

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A Health department official said action was taken against two doctors, who were working at the hospital on contract basis. A staff nurse of the hospital was suspended pending enquiry, the official said.

The alleged incident happened on September 28 evening but was immediately stopped after the patient complained of shivering.

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Hospital sources told PTI that the eight-month pregnant woman with 'O' negative blood group was wrongly given B positive blood group.

The woman was immediately shifted to Thrissur medical college and her condition is said to be stable.

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New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar area, police said on Saturday, adding that the accused was apprehended in Uttar Pradesh's Khora.

Mayur Vihar police station received information from LBS hospital regarding sexual assault of a minor girl on Wednesday, a senior police officer said.

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At the hospital, the father of the victim alleged that a man residing in the same village as them raped the 12-year-old, the officer said.

A case under Sections 376 (rape) of the IPC and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered, the officer said.

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The accused, identified as Ibran (19) was apprehended from Khora in UP, police said. Police said the accused runs a tailor shop. Further investigation in the case is underway, they said.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the creation of the Defense Industries Alliance.

"An alliance that values international law and is capable of working for the real protection of international law. Protection of security  I'm talking not only about Ukraine, but also about the security of any nation in the world from aggression," he said while opening the First International Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv on Saturday.

"We have drawn up a corresponding basic declaration as the foundation of this alliance, and manufacturers of weapons and military equipment from all over the world who share our intention to provide real protection from aggression in this high-risk environment of our time can join it. Today, at its inception, 13 prominent companies have already signed this declaration, showing their readiness to build a new arsenal of the free world alongside Ukraine," the president said.

Ukraine is developing a special economic regime for the defense-industrial complex "to give all the opportunities to realize their potential to every company that works for the sake of defense," Zelenskyy said.

He also noted that Ukraine will establish "a special Defense Fund, which will provide additional resources, including for the development of military production and support of relevant collaborations, for the creation of new military facilities and programs needed to ensure defense."

According to the head of state, "the fund's resources will be an addition to the state's expenditures on defense, defense production, and private investments. The fund will be replenished through dividends from state-owned defense assets and profits from the sale of confiscated Russian assets."

Ukraine is interested in "localizing the production of equipment  so necessary for our defense  and each of those cutting-edge defense systems used by our warriors, which are delivering the best results for Ukraine on the frontline today," he said.

"This kind of collaboration  in the production of weapons, equipment, and ammunition  is already being negotiated with our partners," Zelenskyy said.

He welcomed welcome all businesses that are ready "to build the arsenal of the free world together with Ukraine and in Ukraine. A modern and powerful arsenal that will leave no chance for any aggressor."

The president stressed that "everything that serves our defense can serve  and very successfully  the defense of our partners. This is how we are laying the foundation for the arsenal of the free world."

"Right now, for the next decades, the most powerful defense-industrial complexes are being determined, what their priorities will be, and what the standard of defense in the world will be. It is being determined precisely in Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
Jaipur, Sep 30 (PTI) Communal tension erupted in Ramganj and the nearby areas here after a bystander died allegedly after being thrashed by a group of men following an accident involving two motorcycles, police said on Saturday.

Nearly a dozen suspects were also detained in connection with the Friday night incident. The situation has been brought under control by the police following deployment of additional forces, they said.

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Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph said that the incident was the result of a misunderstanding.

He said that two motorcycles collided in Subhash Chowk after which a group of men present there thrashed two bystanders, mistaking them for being responsible for the accident.

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After the accident, an unfortunate incident of road rage occurred in which two men, who had stopped there to see what had happened, were thrashed by a group of people, Joseph told reporters.

One of the two men died. An FIR has been registered after which we have detained several people involved in the incident. The situation is normal now and complete peace will be restored soon, he added.

Another police official said the accused live in the Subhash Chowk area while the deceased was a resident of Ramganj area. Both the localities are located in the walled city of Jaipur.

The situation is under control and forces, including the Special Task Force (STF), have been deployed in adequate numbers, DGP Umesh Mishra said, adding that drones are being used to monitor the area.

Strict action as per the law will be taken against the accused in the case, he said.

The post-mortem of the man killed was done at the Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh Hospital, police said.

Several shops in the Muslim-dominated areas were shut and the family members of the deceased and locals gathered there to demand action against the accused people.

The situation, however, did not worsen after quick action of rounding up the accused and swift deployment of the forces in the area, police said.

The situation in the area is under control, they added.

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Lucknow, Sep 30 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday said it will conduct the 'Har Ghar Solar Abhiyan' camp in Lucknow and Varanasi on October 2 to encourage the use of solar energy by people.

The camp, which will be organised on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, aims to promote the use of solar energy by the residents of the state, an official statement said.

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It is also a step further towards achieving the state government's target set under the Solar Energy Policy 2022 of Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA), which aims to achieve 6,000 megawatts of solar rooftop plant installations in residential and commercial facilities, the statement said.

UPNEDA Director Anupam Shukla said the first boot camp under the 'Har Ghar Solar Abhiyan' would be organised at the Vikas Bhawan in Lucknow and near the municipal corporation office in Varanasi.

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Shukla said that people attending this camp will receive comprehensive information about the installation of solar rooftop systems and the process for applying, as well as details about setting up net meters.

He added that along with residential and commercial consumers, officers and employees of various departments will also participate in this camp.

(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 30 (PTI) As the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has given rise to new possibilities in the world of literature, experts and translators feel that there is still time before such tools learn to translate human emotions.

Looking at the increasing presence of AI in all spheres of life, while some translators believe that such technologies could give birth to new opportunities in translation, others are of the opinion that it could also lead to a crisis-like situation.

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Speaking to Bhasha on the occasion of International Translation Day on Saturday, Kolkata-based translator and writer V Ramaswami, said that at present, the vocabulary of the machine is very limited, necessitating a human translator to correct it later.

"The vocabulary of the machine is very limited. Yes, one can use Google Translate and then fix and edit it. I am sure this is also being done. But I think it's much quicker to translate it yourself than to correct a mistranslation again. Hence, the need for a human translator becomes quite clear. A translator can also think about using AI to become more aware and faster," he told PTI.

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Ramaswamy translated Bengali author Manoranjan Byapari's novel titled "The Nemesis" into English. The book has been selected for the longlist of the JCB Prize for Literature 2023.

He added that AI could be used to become "more informed and aware" while translating.

I have no doubt that someone like me can use AI and benefit from it. What I mean to say is not just use the machine to translate, but rather use it to be more informed and aware while translating," he said.

When asked whether literary translation done with the help of AI will be able to translate the different dimensions and depth of human emotions in the right context, writer-translator Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar said that the industry needs humans to translate human emotions, as AI will surely make mistakes.

"If AI is able to translate human emotions accurately then it will no longer be be called AI. I'm sure AI will make mistakes and misinterpret things. (And I sincerely hope that happens.) I think we will still need humans to translate human emotions," the author of "The Adivasi Will Not Dance" said.

Writer-translator Anita Gopalan, who has translated a novel by Geet Chaturvedi into English titled "Simsim", said that literary translation is "a creative endeavour that requires retaining the essence and beauty of the expressions in the target language", something that AI is not cabaple of doing at this stage.

"It involves sensing the pulse of language and being able to touch the more subtle layers-cultural nuances and hidden layers of meaning. AI is not very capable of bringing out such linguistic beauty of the original language. Human translators do not always have the right pulse, it is not certain that they will always understand human emotions in the right context, but their success rate is much higher than AI," Gopalan said.

Publishers, on the other hand, argue that it is not appropriate to use AI for translation work, as it is merely a translation of works and not expressions.

"The translation done with the help of Google is not a translation of expressions but merely a translation of words, due to which the basic essence of the translated material gets distorted. It is possible that in the coming 4-5 years this work will take a more sophisticated and legible form by technical experts," Prabhat Prakashan director Piyush Kumar said.

While most are against the idea of using artificial intelligence in creative writing, for fears as varied as there are stars in the sky, it has never stopped technology from advancing. However, for now, translations are largely going to be written by humans, for humans.

(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 30 (PTI) Popular Vehicles and Services Ltd, which is engaged in automotive dealerships, has filed preliminary papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise funds through an initial share sale.

This is the company's second attempt to go public.

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Earlier, the company filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in August 2021 for floating an Initial Public Offering (IPO) but deferred the maiden public issue amid uncertain market conditions.

According to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filed on Thursday, the IPO comprises fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs 250 crore and an Offer For Sale (OFS) of 1.42 crore equity shares by Banyantree Growth Capital II, LLC.

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Besides, the company is looking to raise Rs 50 crore in a pre-IPO placement round. If such placement is undertaken, the fresh issue size will be reduced.

Proceeds of the fresh issue will be used for payment of debt and general corporate purposes.

The Kerala-based company is a leading diversified automotive dealership in the country with a presence across the automotive retail value chain, including the sale of new passenger and commercial vehicles, services and repairs, spare parts distribution, sale of pre-owned passenger vehicles, and facilitation of the sale of third-party financial and insurance products.

It operates passenger vehicle dealerships of Maruti Suzuki, Honda, and JLR and the commercial vehicle dealership of Tata Motors.

ICICI Securities, Nuvama Wealth Management, and Centrum Capital have been appointed as merchant bankers to advise the company on the IPO. The equity shares of the company will be listed on the BSE and NSE.

(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 30 (PTI) An 18-year-old youth was allegedly murdered by some people during a scuffle in northeast Delhi's Welcome area on Saturday, police said.

The deceased has been identified as Kashif, a resident of Idgah Road in Janta Mazdoor Colony. It is being suspected that he was attacked by an icepick-like weapon, they said.

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Around 2.30 pm, Kashif and some people had a scuffle in the area. The victim received injuries during the fight and was rushed to Jag Pravesh Hospital, where he succumbed, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said.

Kashif sustained two deep penetrating injuries on his chest. The possibility of an icepick-like object used as a weapon offence cannot be ruled out, the DCP said.

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A case of murder is being registered. The identities of people involved in the crime is being ascertained. Further investigation is in progress, police added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington DC [US], September 30 (ANI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated United States stand urging India to cooperate in the investigation regarding Canadian allegations, adding that the issue was also raised during his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday.

Stating that the US is very concerned about the allegations, Blinken said those responsible behind the incident need to be held accountable.

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Addressing a press briefing on Friday, Antony Blinken said, As I said before and other colleagues have said before, we are very concerned about the allegations that have been raised by Canada by Prime Minister Trudeau. We have been in close contact with Canada about that.

The US Secretary of State affirmed hope that India and Canada should work together to resolve the matter.

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And at the same time, we have engaged with the Indian government and urged them to work with Canada on investigation and I had the opportunity to do so again in my meeting yesterday with Foreign Minister Jaishankar and those responsible need to be held accountable. And we hope that our friends in both Canada and India will work together to resolve this matter, Blinken added.

Early last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a statement alleging the Indian government of being involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it absurd and motivated.

Notably, the US Secretary of State had also made similar remarks before. Last week, Blinken had said that Washington is "deeply concerned" about the allegations made by the Canadian PM about the Indian government's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, adding that the US wants to see accountability and called it "important" that the investigation runs its course and leads to the result.

Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India has suspended its visa services in Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations of Indian involvement in the killing.

Amid strained ties, India issued an advisory for its citizens and those who are travelling to Canada to exercise utmost caution in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence" in the country. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
London [UK], September 30 (ANI): After the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, was stopped from entering a Gurudwara in Scotland, Overseas Friends of BJP-United Kingdom president and executive member of Ram Mandir, Southall, Kuldeep Shekhawat on Saturday called on the British government to seriously look at what has happened, why it happened, who is responsible for the lapse.

Speaking to ANI, Shekhawat called on the British government to take the "strongest possible action" on Khalistani elements who want to disturb the peace and communal harmony of UK.

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"We, as member of Indian diaspora in UK, call upon the British Government to look seriously at what has happened, why it has happened, who are responsible for this lapse and why such an incident took place in Glasgow," Shekhawat said.

He added that Khalistanis are trying to drive a wedge between the communities and they don't want a peaceful co-existence of Hindu and Sikh communities. He said a handful of so-called Khalistani are trying to create an atmosphere of mistrust in the UK.

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"We condemn in strongest words about what these Khalistanis are trying to do. They are trying to drive a wedge between the communities, the Indian communities. They don't want a peaceful coexistence of Hindu and Sikh community," Shekhawat told ANI.

"So, these handful of so-called Khalistanis are trying to create an atmosphere of mistrust in UK, and we strongly condemn this. And we request the British government, on behalf of the Indian diaspora here in UK, that there should be a strongest possible action on these kind of elements who really want to disturb the peace and the communal harmony of this country," he added.

Calling the incident a "security lapse on the part of the Scottish police", Shekhawat noted that the Indian High Commissioner to the UK is the first person from India in the UK and diplomats should be treated with utmost respect and security cover should be provided to them whenever they travel.

He said the incident that took place in Glasgow is "not a very good statement" as there "were serious lapses on part of the security setup of Britain." He called the incident a "larger ramification of the Khalistan movement", saying that it is related to Jaggi Johal scenario.

"We all are aware of one person called Jaggi Johal who has been arrested in India. He has got nine charges against him and somehow somebody must have informed his close relatives or friends or the Khalistani people that High Commissioner is visiting a Gurudwara," Shekhawat said.

"These three young men disguised themselves as they have come to Glasgow today only as trekkers who would like to trek around. And they told the Gurudwara team that they are here only for langer, but actually they were waiting for the High Commissioner to arrive. The shocking part of the story is Scottish police was nowhere to be seen. There was no police officer available at the scene," he added.

Calling for better security of diplomats in the UK, he said, "High Commissioner of India is the first person of Indian origin, he is the first person of India in UK and he is a diplomat. And as you know, diplomats are given complete security. They should be treated with utmost respect and the security cover should be provided to them wherever they travel."

"But in this case, there's a serious lapse on part of the Scottish Police or the administration or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that there was no policemen deployed at the venue and these three boys were easily able to reach up to the High Commissioner's car," he added.

Indias High Commission in London on Saturday said elements from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised for the Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami.

On September 29, 2023, three persons- all from areas outside Scotland-deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues," the Indian High Commission in London said in a statement.

"The organizers included senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival," it added.

The Indian High Commission said it reported the incident to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police. Multiple community organisations, including the organisers, have formally regretted the incident and have urged the authorities to take action against the culprits, according to the statement.

"One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HC's car door - a matter that will require suitable police consideration. It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organizers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided," the Mission added in its statement.

The statement was released after social media videos showed Doraiswami being accosted near the parking area of the gurudwara located on Albert Drive in Glasgow by pro-Khalistani elements, who blocked the Indian envoy from entering the gurudwara. In the video, some of the men are heard saying, All Indian envoys must be subjected to this as India was targeting them".

Meanwhile, Scotland Police said it responded to a report of disturbance in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow around 1:05 pm (local time) on Friday, adding that an inquiry is ongoing to establish the full circumstances around the incident.

In an email statement to ANI, Scotland police spokesperson said, We were called around 1.05pm on Friday, 29 September, to a report of a disturbance that happened in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow."

The spokesperson added, "There were no reports of any injuries and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Anaheim (US), Sep 30 (AP) In an occasionally dark and profane speech, Donald Trump on Friday sought to win over Republicans in California by complaining that rich people in Beverly Hills smell bad because they're denied water, reiterating lies about widespread election fraud and calling on police to shoot people robbing stores.

While many of his remarks at the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim were familiar retreads of Trump's attacks and grievances, his encouragement of violent retribution against criminals marked an escalation of his longstanding tough-on-crime message.

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We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft. Very simply: If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store, he said, drawing loud applause. Shot! he added for emphasis.

Trump was one of several Republican presidential contenders appearing at the event in this Democratic stronghold. While there's little hope for any of them to defeat President Joe Biden here in a general election, California will play a critical role in the slate of states voting on March 5 in the so-called Super Tuesday primaries.

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With 169 delegates at stake, a win in California would move a Republican presidential candidate much closer to the nomination. And a recent rule change could give Trump, who is so far dominating the primary, an advantage. If he wins more than 50 per cent of the vote, he would be awarded each of the state's delegates.

A Public Policy Institute of California voter survey released Wednesday, but conducted in late August and early September, found Trump with support from nearly half of the likely Republican primary voters. DeSantis was far back, at 14 per cent, with the rest of the field lagging in single digits.

Trump's comments on Friday underscored a central question surrounding Trump's effort to return to the presidency. While his focus on red meat issues plays well with the GOP base, it's unclear that it will hold much appeal with the broader set of voters needed to win a general election.

His remarks about crime, for instance, were especially pointed. In the past, Trump has proposed shooting migrants to prevent them from crossing the border. In his book and in interviews, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper alleged Trump inquired about shooting protesters during the George Floyd demonstrations. He has also proposed the death penalty for drug dealers, human traffickers and anyone convicted of killing a police officer.

During his first year in office, Trump advised police to be rougher in their handling of suspects being apprehended, telling recruits, please don't be too nice.

The word that they shoot you will get out within minutes and our nation, in one day, will be an entirely different place, Trump said Friday. There must be retribution for theft and destruction and the ruination of our country.

Homicides and other violent crimes have risen in California, where residents have also been deluged with headlines from rampant car break-ins and drug use in San Francisco's troubled Tenderloin district to street racing and illegal takeovers across a new $588-million bridge in Los Angeles.

Republicans see crime as a salient issue that can help them win back some of the suburban voters who have turned away from the party since Trump emerged as its leader and the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. Several GOP presidential candidates and others in the party have pointed in particular to events this week in Philadelphia, where dozens of people face criminal charges after a night of social media-fueled mayhem in which groups of thieves, apparently working together, smashed their way into stores in several areas of the city.

Trump tapped into California Republicans' exhaustion with their state's Democratic leaders, who he said brought the state homelessness, open borders, high taxes, inequality, woke tech tyrants and rising crime.

California was once a symbol of American prosperity and creativity but is becoming a symbol of our nation's decline, Trump said.

We will reverse the decline of America and we will end the desecration of your once great state, California, Trump said. This is not a great state anymore. This is a dumping ground. You're a dumping ground. The world is being dumped into California. Prisoners. Terrorists. Mental patients.

Trump told his supporters help is on the way, falsely claimed his 30-point defeats here were the result of fraud and said, improbably, that he would win California in next year's general election.

He railed against using mail ballots on the same day the Republican National Committee launched its Bank your Vote initiative in New York, which urges Republicans to vote before Election Day. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel brushed off Trump's continued skepticism.

I think we have to take those fights on, but also understand that once it gets to game day, the rules that are on the field are what we need to play by and President Trump is all in on that, she said.

Trump was in California just two days after he bypassed the second GOP debate held at Ronald Reagan's presidential library northwest of Los Angeles, signaling again that he sees no need to appear side-by-side with lesser-known contenders.

Crowds at state party conventions tend to be thick with conservative grassroots activists, an ideal setting for the former president, even as he faces felony charges in four criminal cases.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were also scheduled to speak at the two-day convention being held at a hotel near Disneyland.

Waiting in line to enter the ballroom, Dan Cox, a real estate agent from Orange County and registered Republican, was sporting a Keep America Great cap and red tie, telegraphing his support for Trump. He lamented rising prices that have put homeownership out of the reach of many families in the state.

I'm voting for someone who can get the job done, he said, adding that he doesn't trust Biden.

Not surprisingly, Democratic groups protested near the convention site.

When the leading candidate of a major political party is under indictment for attempting to overthrow free and fair elections, every voter needs to stop and think about where our country is headed, San Bernardino County Democratic Party Chair Kristin Washington said in a statement. The last thing any American needs is to relive that madness. (AP)

(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 30: The Solid State Physics Laboratory (SSPL) of DRDO has invited applications from candidates for JRF and Research Associate posts. Candidates who are interested and eligible can submit their applications within 15 days of the publication of the advertisement. The advertisement regarding DRDO SSPL recruitment 2023 was published in the employment news on September 30.

Applicants must note that the tenure of the JRG and Research Assistant fellowship will be for two years. The DRDO SSPL recruitment drive is being held to fill eight vacancies in the organisation. Of the eight vacancies, six posts are for Junior research fellows, while the other two posts are for research associates. Delhi Police Exam 2023: Registration for 7,447 Posts of SSC Constable To End Today at ssc.nic.in, Know How To Apply.

As per the official notification, the maximum age of the candidates should not be more than 28 years for JRF and 35 years for the post of Research Associate. Candidates who are interested in applying for the DRDO SSPL recruitment 2023 must send their application to hrd.sspl@gov.in. Detailed terms and conditions of the recruitment can be obtained by sending a request to the same email address.

Meanwhile, the office of the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Ahmedabad, has also invited notified vacancies for the post of Income tax Inspector, Tax Assistant, and Multi-Tasking Staff. The application process for the same will begin on October 1. NEET PG Counselling 2023: Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Other States Announce Revised Dates for Counselling Session After NEET PG 2023 Cut-Off Reduced to Zero; Check Details.

The last date to submit the application form is October 15. Interested candidates can submit their application by visiting the official website of Income Tax, Gujarat, at incometaxgujrat.gov.in. The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill 59 vacancies in the organisation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 30, 2023 08:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, September 30: A 12-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old boy of the same locality in Delhi, an official said on Saturday. According to police, an information was received at Mayur Vihar police station on Wednesday regarding sexual assault of a minor girl from Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital. Lingayat Mutt Seer Sex Scandal: Bail Plea of Rape Accused Shivamurthy Muruga Sharanaru Adjourned to October 26.

On receiving the call, woman police officer reached at LBS hospital where the father of the victim alleged that her daughter was raped by a boy, who resides in the same village, said a senior police official. Subsequently a case under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and 6 POCSO Act was registered, said the official. Ujjain Rape Case: Madhya Pradesh Policeman Ajay Verma Offers to Support Rape Survivor's Education, Health Expenses (Watch Video).

During the investigation, the crime team was called and a team was detailed to nab the accused. The accused identified as Ibran, a resident of Chilla Village, who runs a tailor shop, was apprehended from Khoda in Uttar Pradesh, said the official.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 30, 2023 11:59 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Zelenskyy: Our priority is development of defense production using modern technologies in cooperation with global leaders in this field

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with representatives of defense companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Turkey, Sweden and the Czech Republic who arrived in Kyiv to participate in the First International Defense Industries Forum on Saturday, the presidential press service has said.

"The Ukrainian side of the event was also represented by Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, and Deputy Heads of the Presidential Office Roman Mashovets and Andriy Sybiha," it said.

The interlocutors discussed the prospects for partnership and joint arms production, in particular, taking into account Ukraine's war experience.

"The sky shield and demining are the two biggest priorities for us today," the head of state said during the meeting.

According to the president, this includes both air defense means and the production of systems for warning, surveillance, etc.

"We have to do this. This will be useful not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe and our neighbors," Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine is also interested in the production of long-range missiles and artillery with new capabilities, the president said, adding that it is the combination of the advanced technologies and military tactics that will help Ukraine win the war against the Russian aggressor.

"That is why we prioritize the development of defense production using modern technologies, production of shells, missiles, drones in Ukraine in cooperation with global leaders in the field and using our experience in their operation. Ukraine has shown the whole world what actually works, and I think we can share this experience," Zelenskyy said.

The head of state emphasized that Ukraine is ready to offer special conditions to companies willing to develop defense production together with our country.
London, September 30: The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, who was touring Scotland this week was blocked from entering a gurdwara in the city of Glasgow by pro-Khalistan extremists. During a planned visit to Glasgow Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib on Albert Drive on Friday, members of Sikh Youths UK posted videos of their face-off with gurdwara officials as a few of them approached the High Commissioner's car and asked him to leave.

It follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement in the country's Parliament last week that the authorities are actively pursuing credible allegations" related to Indian government involvement in the murder of Nijjar, a designated terrorist, allegations which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has strongly rejected as absurd and motivated. India-Canada Row: India Raises Issue of Stopping Envoy Vikram Doraiswami at Scotland Gurdwara With UK Foreign Office, Police.

This is exactly how we should be greeting any Indian ambassador, anyone from the Indian government who comes in an official capacity under any excuse of doing visa applications or whatever it might be, a Sikh man is heard saying in a video posted on social media following the altercation in Glasgow.

The incident came towards the end of a two-day visit of the High Commissioner to Scotland, which involved a series of meetings and discussions with local political leaders, diaspora representatives, business chiefs and university groups. According to officials in the know, the meeting at the gurdwara had been organised as part of the events at the request of the gurdwara committee to meet Sikh groups and address their concerns over consular and other matters. Sources said the unnecessary altercation by a few outsiders and radical elements interrupted an interaction and community engagement planned by a majority of peace-loving Sikhs in the city. Pro-Khalistan Supporters Stop Indian Envoy to UK From Entering Scotland Gurudwara Amid India-Canada Row Over Hardeep Singh Nijjar Killing (Watch Video).

During his meeting with Scotland's First Minister, Hamza Yousaf, the issue of British Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal in custody on terrorism charges in India was also raised. Replying to some issues raised by FM (First Minister Hamza) Yousaf, HC (High Commissioner) stressed that due process is being given under laws to Mr Johal, who faces 8 serious terror charges. FM also appreciated' HC's clear message that rights of all communities are guaranteed in India's pluralist and free democracy, the Indian High Commission tweeted with reference to the meeting.

The Indian mission added that the discussions with Scottish leaders ranged from India-Scotland cooperation in sectors across fintech, sustainable agriculture, tourism and water conservation. A visit to the Scottish Parliament, a lecture entitled India@75' at the University of Edinburgh, an interaction at the University of Strathclyde and a breakfast meeting with leading business chiefs on topics ranging from whisky, aviation, energy, agriculture, green economy, space and investments were part of the packed two-day schedule to the region.
New Delhi, September 30: Medical colleges that fail to comply with statutory provisions and National Medical Commission's regulations can be fined Rs 1 crore per violation, according to the new set of rules notified by the apex regulator on medical education and profession.

A penalty of Rs 5 lakh can be imposed on the faculty/head of department/dean/director/doctor submitting false declaration/documents/records, including patients' records. Further, they can also be charged or penalised for misconduct under the Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations and the 'Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023, the new rules notified on September 27 stated.

If a medical college fails to comply with the statutory provisions and regulations as prescribed by the respective boards of the NMC, the commission may also withhold and withdraw accreditation for a period up to five academic years, the regulations said. NEET PG Counselling 2023: Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Other States Announce Revised Dates for Counselling Session After NEET PG 2023 Cut-Off Reduced to Zero; Check Details.

The regulations stated that any attempt to pressurise Under-Graduate Medical Examination Board (UGMEB), Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) or NMC through individuals or agencies will lead to immediate halt of the processing of all applications/requests by the medical institution.

"Where the respective board has reason to believe that a medical institution has failed to comply with any statutory provision, regulations framed thereunder or has not complied with the Minimum Standards of Requirements (MSR) as prescribed by their respective Boards, or has conducted themselves in any manner which is not in accordance with the goals of medical education and practice, the board shall either penalise the medical college or medical institution and/or conduct further enquiry into such act and wherever needed provide an opportunity to rectify the same," the regulation said.

As per the regulations, medical colleges will have to furnish an "Annual Disclosure Report" to the corresponding board clearly demonstrating that they fulfil the required MSRs notified by UGMEB or PGMEB and regulations of NMC, as the case may be.

"Keeping in mind the overall objectives of the National Medical Commission Act, the respective Board (PGMEB or UGMEB) may undertake the evaluation of the Annual Disclosure Report for verifying whether the medical college or medical institution fulfils the required conditions prescribed by way of MSRs or NMC Regulations as the case may be," the document said.

These include verification of physical infrastructure, availability of required number of qualified faculty for actual teaching and research and to undertake necessary student learning activities on a regular and continued basis, availability of adequate clinical material in terms of number of patients of different specialties.

They also include the variety of patients to fulfil all-round training of students, number of variety of procedures, surgeries, laboratory investigations, radiological investigations and other relevant investigations, assessment of the teaching methodology adopted and other parameters related to standards of medical education that may be added from time to time by the respective boards or NMC. Health Ministry Reduces NEET PG 2023 Cut-off to Zero Across All Categories.

The commission will issue warnings or impose penalties for failing to comply with the set provisions. It can also recommend to Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) to withhold processing of application(s) for any new course, including increase of seats, reducing the number of students in the next or subsequent academic years to be admitted by the medical institution, stoppage of admission to one or more of the courses in the next or subsequent academic years, withholding and withdrawal of accreditation for a period up to five academic years, and withhold applications/requests by the medical institution.
Buenos Aires, September 30: India and Argentina on Friday signed a Social Security Agreement (SSA). The agreement was signed by Indias Ambassador to Argentina Dinesh Bhatia and Argentinas Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Santiago Cafiero in the presence of Argentine Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security Raquel Kismer de Olmos.

The SSA applies to legislation in India concerning old age, survivor's pension and permanent, total disability pension for employed persons as well as to legislation in Argentina concerning contributory benefits of the Social Security System, as per a release issued by the Indian Embassy in Argentina.

The agreement provides detached workers, i.e., employees working in another country on a temporary basis, and their family members with rights to contributory benefits such as cash allowance for retirement or pension, rent, subsidy or lump sum payments as per local legislation without being subject to any reduction, modification, suspension, suppression or retention.

It establishes the legal framework regulating insurance period i.e., period of services credited with contributions, contributory benefits and export thereof, in respect of detached workers, including crew members of airlines and ships. EAM S Jaishankar Meets US Defence Secretary Loyd Austin and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; Discusses Bilateral, Regional and Global Issues.

The economic and commercial ties between India and Argentina have grown exponentially in recent years. Several Indian companies, including TCS, Infosys, Crisil, Bajaj Motorcycles, Royal Enfield, Hero Motors, TVS, Glenmark, and Godrej have investments in Argentina exceeding USD 1 billion.

Argentine companies including Globant and Techint also have large operations in India. The number of Indian professionals working in Argentina for Indian as well as multinational companies under intra-company transfers for the short or long term is steadily rising.

There is also a growing number of Argentine nationals who are seeking employment in India. These growing people-to-people exchanges have necessitated a legal framework to protect their rights, especially those related to social security contributions, as per the official release.

The Indian Embassy in Argentina said the Social Security Agreement has been signed after detailed yet speedy negotiations, particularly expedited in 2022. Russias Ties With India Exceptional and Steady but Broken With West, Says EAM S Jaishankar.

India, Argentina Inks Social Security Agreement:

The agreement would protect the rights of professionals and workers against loss of benefits or contributions made towards social security in both countries and thus facilitate greater movement of professionals and the labour force. This is yet another step forward in building a Strategic Partnership between the two countries which share deep traditional bonds of friendship, as per the release.
New Delhi, September 30: With Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh inching closer, the Congress is likely to release its first list of candidates after October 5 as part of its strategy, sources said on Friday. A Congress source told IANS that the preparations for the Assembly elections are in full swing and the names of the candidates have been finalised, which will be released by the party at the perfect time.

The source said that the party would release its first list of candidates after October 5 as it is expected that by then, the poll schedule will be announced by the Election Commission. The source further said that party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be in the state on October 5 to address a massive public meeting, and her feedback will be sought before the announcement of the final list. Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2023: MP Cabinet Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia Not To Contest Coming Polls.

The party has held two meetings of the Screening Committee in the national capital to shortlist the candidates for the elections. The party has received over 3,500 requests from aspiring candidates, who want to contest in the Assembly elections on Congress ticket, the source elaborated.

Meanwhile, former party president Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting in the Kala Pipla Assembly seat on Saturday. The BJP has already announced two lists of candidates for the upcoming elections. In its second list, the ruling party has named three Union Ministers besides four other sitting MPs. The second list of 39 candidates was released on Monday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting in Bhopal.

The list also includes the name of BJP's National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. The three Union Ministers named in the list are Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti, Prahlad Singh Patel, from Narsinghpur; Agriculture Minister and the partys state election management committee head Narendra Singh Tomar from Dimni-Morena; and Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel, Fagan Singh Kulaste from Niwas. Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2023 Key Candidates List: From Kailash Vijayvargiya to Narendra Singh Tomar, Know Names of High-Profile BJP Nominees.

The four other Lok Sabha members named in the list are Ganesh Singh from Satna, Riti Pathak from Sidhi, Rakesh Singh from Jabalpur-West, and Uday Pratap Singh from Gadarwara. The Congress has been campaigning aggressively in the state to come back to power and has already announced several guarantees on the lines of its campaign strategy in the Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 30, 2023 08:09 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Singapore, September 30: Su Zhu, Co-founder of bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) has been arrested here, the media reported on Saturday. Zhu was taken into custody while attempting to leave the country from Singapores Changi Airport.

3AC filed for bankruptcy in July last year as the crypto market began to face its worst phase. Teneo which is the liquidation firm in charge of liquidating 3ACs assets, said it received a committal order against Zhu after he failed to comply with a court order, reports The Verge. Bitcoin (BTC) Cryptocurrency Price in India today.

During his time in prison, the liquidators will engage with Zhu on matters relating to 3AC, focusing on the recovery of assets that are either the property of 3AC or that have been acquired using 3ACs funds.

The firm said that liquidators will pursue all opportunities to ensure Zhu complies in full with the court order. In July last year, the founders of collapsed 3AC had vanished and the officials charged with liquidating the company were looking for their whereabouts.

The mega fund, founded by Credit Suisse traders Zhu Su and Kyle Davies, once managed an estimated $10 billion in assets. A British Virgin Islands court tasked business management company Teneo to oversee 3AC's liquidation. Cryptocurrency Prices in India.

The bankruptcy came as popular crypto tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum nosedived by nearly 70 per cent from their record highs amid the economic meltdown. 3AC defaulted on a more than $650 million loan provided by crypto broker Voyager Digital, which also filed for bankruptcy. 3AC also reportedly failed to repay $270 million to crypto exchange blockchain.com.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 30, 2023 10:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The US government shutdown is imminent as the Republicans may have shot themselves in the foot with their own spending bill. The shutdown has been brought about largely by Republican infighting as the more moderate factions in the party disagree with the more far-right MAGA elements.

The US House of Representatives has been described as "effectively paralyzed" because of this internal Republican feud, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy finding himself in a strenuous position and may lose his job as the more far-right elements of the party continue to oppose him.

The government shutdown will mean that federal agencies will partially shut down starting Sunday and the infighting-addled House voted down a measure that would have extended the government's funding for 30 days thus averting the shutdown.

The measure had a 232-198 vote against it and it would have cut spending and imposed immigration and border security restrictions, which Reuters pointed out would not have passed in the Democrat-controlled US Senate. However, it was the Republican majority itself that rejected the bill.

"It's not the end yet, I've got other ideas," said McCarthy as time continues to tick. He declined to say what his ideas to save the government were. His deadline is Saturday, September 30. It must pass the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden before 12:01 AM ET on Sunday.

Should the US government shut down, much of its functions will stop, including forcing national parks to close down, the SEC suspending most of its regulatory activities, and up to four million federal workers not getting their salaries. It could also cause programs for small businesses and children to be delayed, as well as delay major infrastructure improvements.

How a Small Group of Hard-Line Republicans Held the US Government Hostage and Cause a Shut Down

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been described as one of the weakest Speakers in history as he not only received attacks from the left but also from within his own party on the right. To be specific, the majority of criticisms against him actually come from the far-right members of the Donald Trump-aligned House Freedom Caucus.

READ MORE: Joe Biden Impeachment: 5 Key Facts You Need To Know About Open Hearing

He tried pushing his party members to embrace a short-term funding plan that would include a sweeping Republican proposal for the southern border. However, this was rejected by the hardline conservatives who continued their defiance of the House Speaker, according to the Associated Press.

While McCarthy and the more moderate Republicans acknowledge that they must deal and compromise with the Democrats who hold both the White House and the Senate, members of the far-right e House Freedom Caucus have taken a more combative stance, from opposing McCarthy as Speaker to almost causing the shut down the last time by doing what they have been doing right now, opposing McCarthy's proposals.

Hardline Republicans Making Narrow Majority Much More Complicated in US Government Shutdown

The Republicans only have a narrow margin in the House and this makes the infighting within the party much worse. He could only afford to lose four votes from his own party but the House Freredom Caucus members are refusing to budge.

The House Speaker then suggested that the ones opposing his bill are siding with Biden because they would not back his proposal for increased border funding. However, Florida GOP Rep. Cory Mills, one of the hardliners, called his fellow Republican's claims to be "absolutely false."

"If they want to play politics with messaging, then by all means, let them go ahead and do that. My vote remains the same," said the Florida Republican. "We do care about securing our borders. We've made that a top priority."

Meanwhile, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs stated that there should be "long-term sustainability over short-term rhetoric."

READ MORE: Donald Trump Co-Defendant Jenna Ellis Turns On Ex-POTUS, Calls Him a 'Malignant Narcissist'

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Gaetz: Government will shutdown and it's McCarthy's fault - Washington Post
Two migrants were shot dead on the Mexico side of the US-Mexico border, near the city of Tecate in Baja California state. They were killed during an early morning attack on Friday morning.

Mexico's National Migration Institute confirmed the deadly dawn attack that killed the two migrants and added that three more migrants suffered gunshot wounds. They somehow managed to survive because they received assistance from one of the institute's emergency rescue teams. Nine other people were also caught up in the attack but were uninjured.

According to the Associated Press, a group of around 14 migrants, all of whom are Mexican citizens, were found by Rescue Services during the dawn hours in Cuchuma Hill, which is near the border city of Tecate.

Cuchuma Hill is considered a sacred site by at least one Mexican Indigenous group. However, it is also commonly used by human traffickers to smuggle migrants across the US-Mexico border. When rescuers found the migrants on the hill, they were too late as two of them were already dead as a result of the attack.

The surviving migrants, especially the wounded ones, were quickly given medical attention though rescuers struggled to climb the hill to get to them.

Reason for Dawn Attack on Migrants Near US-Mexico Border Still Not Known

As to why the migrants were attacked, authorities admitted they still do not know. However, border crossings in certain regions can involve agreements with local cartels for the right of passage and the migrants may have been attacked as part of a territorial dispute or have unknowingly committed a violation of that agreement.

According to Al Jazeera News, local gangs and the big drug cartels often shoot at migrants if the person smuggling them, also known as a "coyote," working for a rival gang or if they haven't paid passage rights.

READ MORE: Mexico Gang Killings: Dozens of Mutiliated Bodies Found in Monterrey in Suspected Gang Purge

There is also a possibility that an armed criminal group was trying to rob these migrants. It is common for roving gangs of thieves and kidnappers to target migrants and asylum seekers on their way to the US-Mexico border, especially around the border areas.

These two deaths have marked a rapid increase in the number of migrants and asylum seekers getting killed or injured along the US-Mexico and Mexico-Guatemala borders as they try and get to the US and escape poverty or violence happening in their respective home countries.

Doctor Caught in Crossfire as Gangs Invade a Mexico Hospital

More gang-related violence in Mexico, this time in Sinaloa State as gunmen invaded a hospital in an attempt to kill a patient, according to the Associated Press.

The clash was between two groups of gunmen and it resulted in a gun battle that left four people dead. This includes a doctor who was caught in the crossfire between the two armed groups.

The incident happened in the city of Culiacan where three gunmen reportedly attacked a hospital to kill a wounded patient inside. A gun battle ensued, killing two of the gunmen and the doctor. One of the wounded gunmen was arrested by police but he tried to fight them and ended up being killed, becoming the fourth casualty.

READ MORE: Mexico: 11 Police Officers Found Guilty of Killing 17 Migrants Near US-Mexico Border

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: American Militia Stalks Migrant Kids At U.S.-Mexico Border - AJ+
The Defense Ministry of Ukraine should be focused on improving effectiveness of procurements, local production of military goods, and defense technology, Defense Minister of Ukraine Rustem Umerov has said.

"Today, the ministry has three priorities: the first one is the Defense Acquisition, which is also called 'procurement, contracts, logistics'. This means that we should improve effectiveness of procurements and provide our military with everything they need. Secondly, we should develop everything necessary to produce all military goods and services in Ukraine. And the third thing is defense technology," he said at a panel discussion within the framework of the Defense Industries Forum in Kyiv on Saturday.

The minister also said currently there are "growth points" mentioned by the president during a meeting with the leading companies in artillery, "capabilities on the water," electronic warfare, and so on.

"As long as the Defense Ministry is a coordinating body for the defense and security forces, we have worked out a Manifest, which means that we have determined ten growth points for ourselves and we are developing strategies [to reach] them," Umerov said.
Community Action Lehigh Valley has closed on the purchase of the historic Cleveland School in Allentown and will transform it into a state-of-the-art youth center.

The school, 424 N. Ninth St., was built more than 150 years ago. It served as an elementary school up until 2020, when the Allentown School District closed the building due to structural deficiencies and accelerated deterioration, geological instability and insufficient parking, the school district previously said. Cleveland students the next year moved into a new elementary school, Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays Elementary School at a nearby site on West Gordon Street. The new school officially opened in April 2021.

CALV, a nonprofit that for decades has advocated for underserved communities in Allentown and elsewhere in the region, acquired the property on Friday for $320,000 from the school district.

The Allentown School District has the same general mission that we do  to help children and families succeed, CALV Executive Director Dawn Godshall told lehighvalleylive.com on Friday. That is why they sold it to us at such a great price.

Godshall said her predecessor, Alan Jennings, started working on the youth center project more than three years ago. Its since become near and dear to the new executive directors heart.

Having grown up in the foster care system, which wasnt always a safe environment, I did have a youth center where I went to have fun and get my homework done, she said. I was safe, which enabled me to thrive.

CALV estimates the project will cost $20 million. It involves demolishing the existing school building and constructing a new facility for the youth center. The Allentown Planning Commission at its Sept. 12 meeting reviewed an information item on the proposed sale of the school district property. CALV has also met with various departments within the City of Allentown for preliminary discussions, but the project is still a way off, Godshall said.

We had to have possession of the building before we could even start a capital campaign, she said. But we are excited to begin this new chapter and look forward to providing a safe, educational place for the youth of Allentown to take a step toward a beautiful future.

A news release on the acquisition said the goal of the youth center is to offer a wide range of educational, recreational and social programs designed to cater to the diverse needs and interests of the communitys youth. Community Action envisions the center becoming a hub for academic support, mentorship, arts and culture, sports, leadership development and some vocational training that will hopefully lead to future career opportunities, the release stated.

The Allentown School Board last May heard a report on the status of both the districts Cleveland School and McKinley Elementary School properties, the latter of which was also declared structurally deficient and closed in 2020. It estimated at the time that capital repairs to both buildings would cost an excess of $16 million in order to make the 150-year-old buildings safe, warm, dry and minimally compliant, the district says on its website in a summary of the report.

The report noted that Cleveland School dates back to the late 1800s with renovations and additions occurring in 1955.

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The Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jerseys congressional representatives have called for comprise this week as the country appears headed for a federal government shutdown.

In the Republican-majority U.S. House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy has struggled to win any support from hard-right conservatives to keep the government open through partisan means. The U.S. Senate, meanwhile, has pursued its own bipartisan measure, which McCarthy earlier rejected.

If Congress fails to enact some kind of funding legislation, the government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins. Many federal workers and military members will be furloughed or have their paychecks halted, potentially affecting government programs and air travel.

 MORE: What happens in a government shutdown and who will be affected in the Lehigh Valley

New Jersey Republican Tom Kean Jr., whose 7th District includes all of Warren and Hunterdon counties, is trying to find a compromise in the House. He endorsed a bipartisan bill to fund the federal government at least into January.

The Bipartisan Keep America Open Act was advanced by the Problem Solvers Caucus, a centrist group of 64 representatives that is co-chaired by New Jersey Democrat Josh Gottheimer, who formerly represented North Warren before districts were redrawn, and Bucks County Republican Brian Fitzpatrick.

The bill would fund the government through Jan. 11, accounting for aid to Ukraine, disaster response and border security. It also calls for passing all 12 of the usual Congressional appropriations bills with previously agreed-to funding; improving transparency and reducing reliance on temporary funding measures; and addressing long-term debt and deficits.

This is about finding common ground and delivering meaningful solutions for the American people, Kean, who is in his first term, said in a statement on Wednesday. By implementing these measures, we can secure a more sustainable and responsible fiscal future for our nation. I am confident that by bringing both parties together, we can achieve these goals and deliver results that benefit all Americans.

Kean on Saturday, in a letter to the House Chief Administrative Officer, requested his Congressional salary be held in the case of a lapse of appropriations and a government shutdown.

I do not support a shutdown of the federal government. I have shared my concerns with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle about the irresponsibility of shutting down the government, Kean said in a statement. In the event of a government shutdown I am not going to take a salary until that lapse of appropriations ends.

The Lehigh Valleys third-term Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, whose Pennsylvania-7th District covers Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties plus part of Monroe County, also called for compromise. In a statement to lehighvalleylive.com on Thursday evening, she was critical of House Republican leadership for allowing the political games of their most extreme members. In a public statement on Friday, she implored McCarthy to pursue an agreement with both parties.

A bipartisan bill coming out of the House would almost certainly pass the Senate, and we can get this thing done, Wild said. But weve been asking and asking for that, and it hasnt happened. Hopefully, this will convince the Speaker that now is the time to act on our calls for bipartisan solutions. I do not want to see people affected by this kind of shutdown, and its just devastating to me that we in Washington are not getting this done.

Government shutdowns have become more common due to heavy political polarization, said Muhlenberg College political science professor Christopher Borick. The last one in 2018-19 lasted more than a month. Borick predicts Republicans will shoulder the blame if this one comes to pass.

Given that the roadblock to a budget deal is a small group of Republicans in the House, it is likely more public blame will be directed to the GOP, especially if it is a protracted shutdown, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.
An anticipated federal government shutdown will close national parks, including the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, just as fall foliage season turns toward its peak.

The shutdown will begin at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, if Congress cant agree on funding the government, leading to furloughs of federal employees including park rangers. If it is prolonged a couple of weeks or more, that will take it through the projected mid-October foliage peak for the Lehigh Valley and Poconos.

Another fall government shutdown in October 2013 cost the National Park Service a reported $414 million in revenue and 7.88 million visitors nationally for parks and surrounding communities.

 MORE: Who will be affected by the federal government shutdown in the Lehigh Valley

Thanks in part to its proximity to New York City and Philadelphia, the 70,000-acre, 40-mile Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area straddling the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania and northwest New Jersey was the National Park Services 14th most-visited site last year with 4.3 million visitors. It also is credited with generating more than $200 million in revenue for surrounding areas.

In the event of a shutdown, the National Park Service said parks will remain open on Sunday and close Monday, after which visitors should expect services to be unavailable. As of Friday, individual parks were still determining how contingency plans will be implemented.

The park service said roads will generally remain accessible  public roads through the recreation area like Pa. Route 209 and Old Mine Road should stay open.

The water gap and nearby Sunfish Pond are major landmarks along the Appalachian Trail, and the town of Milford, at the northern end of the park in Pennsylvanias Pike County, was recently named one of the 55 best fall towns in the U.S. for foliage by Country Living magazine.

With the public roads still open, drivers should at least be able to get to some nice autumn spots in the area. But dont expect to find any amenities from the recreation area  and please clean up after yourself. The Interior Department has said that some parks are still recovering from damage caused by visitors during the last federal shutdown in 2018-19 and is discouraging any visitation during the pending closures.

Hikers tackle Mt. Tammany in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on a beautiful autumn day in 2016.Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com

Pennsylvania and New Jersey state parks will still provide options for leaf-peepers. The water gaps New Jersey peak, Mt. Tammany, falls within a state park and will remain accessible to hikers.

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources reports northeast color changes beginning in Pinchot State Forest and Delaware State Forest. There is little change in the states southeastern corner so far.

In New Jersey, the website NJHiking.com says low-levels of color are appearing from High Point State Park along the Kittatinny Ridge to Jenny Jump State Forest in Warren County.

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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.
The event doesnt look like something that would draw protesters.

Children are invited to come to the Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity to learn about the U.S. Constitution from Martha Washingtons perspective and role play as colonial-era characters.

The event sponsor is what caught April Gabriel-Ferrettis eye.

The story hour slated for 11 a.m. Oct. 14 is sponsored by Moms for Liberty, a controversial group labeled as anti-government, anti-inclusion and extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

This group and events sponsored by the group have no place in the Nazareth area, Gabriel-Ferretti said. Moms for Liberty wants to ban books that tackle issues of race and human sexuality, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Gabriel-Ferretti said folks who want to ban books shouldnt be welcome in a haven for books.

The pairing of Moms for Liberty and any library makes zero sense, said Gabriel-Ferretti, who leads the pro-LGBTQ+ organization Nazareth Together. She plans to muster a crowd to picket the event.

The president and vice president of Moms for Liberty of Northampton County didnt return emails seeking comment, so their political positions are unclear. A post on the groups Facebook page urges the Nazareth Area School District to remove books from schools that the group believes arent age appropriate.

Library board treasurer Len Fodera said Moms for Liberty has a right to use the meeting space the same as any other community organization. The library takes no position on the politics of the organization, he said.

We cannot deny use of space to any organization because we, or members of the public, may disagree with (the groups) ideas and positions, Fodera said. Moms for Liberty has met all criteria for the use of the meeting space. To deny them access could have a chilling effect on (other) organizations.

The national Moms for Liberty website says its mission is to organize, educate and empower parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.

The group was formed in Florida in 2021 to combat COVID-19 safety measures in schools, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Moms for Liberty uses multiple social media platforms to target teachers and school officials, advocate for the abolition of the Department of Education, advance a conspiracy propaganda, and spread hateful imagery and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Moms for Liberty of Northampton Countys Facebook page has new posts almost every day, many of which criticize the public education system. Its peppered with slogans like stop woke indoctrination and we do not co-parent with the government.

Theres a recurring theme that the Moms for Liberty movement is misunderstood.

I heard that someone in our community is spreading lies that Moms for Liberty is taking peoples rights away, said a post from Sept. 25. What?! Anyone who believes that doesnt understand where our rights come from and doesnt know the difference between a right and a privilege.

If the local group shares the same anti-inclusion beliefs as the national group, it has no place in the Nazareth area, according to Jessica Dieck. Shes the secretary of the Nazareth / Lehigh Valley chapter of PFLAG. (In 2014, the organization changed its name from Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to, simply, PFLAG.)

Dieck said its important for folks from marginalized communities to be able to read books with characters from marginalized communities. She fears Moms for Liberty wants to ban those types of books from libraries like the Nazareth library.

Libraries are essential, especially in small towns where diversity, inclusion and acceptance arent prevalent, Dieck said, adding, Connections made through books give people the reassurance that they are normal, they are loved and they have value.

Photo of a sign distributed by the group Nazareth Together.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com

Lydia Rose moved to Nazareth a few months ago. Shes a transgender woman who says she and her girlfriend, who is also transgender, were drawn to the quaint, small town. Still, they dont feel completely at ease here.

I think a lot of that is due to this being a smaller place and a lot of people not interacting or knowing a trans person in their life, she said.

When she went to a local grocery store, for instance, she overheard someone say, We need to get rid of all these trans people. The comment was clearly intended for Rose and her girlfriend to hear.

Its scary, Rose admitted.

Gabriel-Ferretti said Rose and other transgender individuals have a right to be comfortable in their own skin, to live and interact in the community the same as anyone else. Moms for Liberty doesnt share that belief, she said. The library board ought to take a stand against groups that think that way, she said.

This goes beyond politics. Were talking about a public space where everyone should be welcome, Gabriel-Ferretti said.

Its not easy to find a public notice with information about the controversial story hour. Fodera confirmed its happening, although its not listed on the librarys website. Nor is it publicly listed on the Moms for Liberty of Northampton County Facebook page.

Its listed on Rebecca Price Janneys website. Shes the author who will moderate the program as part of her history mystery tour. Shes written many books through a Christian publishing house, including several books on Easton history.

Price Janney declined to share her opinion on LGBTQ+ rights.

When asked to address the story hours critics and to speak in support of her event, she said, I have accepted an invitation to speak to children at the library in an exciting and interactive way about the birth of the United States Constitution, which provides for the rights of every American citizen.

Rose knows she might be ridiculed but she plans to go to the protest anyway. She wants to show that she belongs in the Nazareth community.

People assume that because youre transgender, youre an awful person. Theres more to me than that, Rose said.

For instance, shes a U.S. Army veteran. People used to thank her for her service. Now that shes transgender, she less frequently receives that compliment.

Its very weird to go from being a hero to basically being treated like an enemy, she said.

Gabriel-Ferretti said its time for the library to change its policy. The library should prevent groups like Moms for Liberty from using the meeting room, she said.

Our plan is to peacefully assemble, to demonstrate our opposition not only to Moms for Liberty, but to the librarys policy that fails to keep groups like Moms For Liberty from using its space, she said.

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Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
UPDATE: Man fatally shot, woman injured inside Northampton house, police say

Police are investigating an incident reported late Saturday morning at a home in Northampton.

The Northampton County Coroners Office was notified of the call in the 300 block of East Ninth Street in the borough, a county 911 dispatch supervisor confirmed. The coroners office responds to incidents in which a death is involved.

Terry Houck, the county district attorney, said Saturday afternoon he did not immediately have information to release, other than to confirm that borough and Pennsylvania State police were called to respond.

A message was left for information from the borough police department. Trooper Nathan Branosky, spokesman for the state police Troop M based in Bethlehem, was able to confirm initially only that troopers were called to the incident.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
A young Laois woman has been ranked as one of the top two young waiters in Ireland.

Aoife Brennan from Ballyfin has come second in the All Ireland Young Waiter & Young Chef of the Year which was held on Tuesday, September 19 in Belfast.

Aoife has been working part-time at Ballyfin Demesne since 2021 whilst still in secondary school.

Peter White, General Manager, paid tribute to his rising star who works at the plush Laois hotel which has had guests like George Clooney.

"Aoife is a local young lady who has lived her life in Ballyfin. She has shown great skill and dedication working part-time whilst still studying," he said.

Ballyfin Demesne had two staff shortlisted, and Aoife was successful in reaching the live final. The winner will go on to Monaco in November to represent Ireland in the World finals.

The live final was held at Titanic Belfast where a host of professional young waiters and chefs from Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland took part in a comprehensive judging day with a number of culinary challenges in the kitchen of Titanic Belfast and serving challenges in the Titanic Suite under the watchful eyes of an expert panel of judges.

Those vying to be crowned Young Chef were given 3.5 hours to create a three-course meal whilst the Young Waiter candidates had to select pairing wines for each course and undertake a number of challenging scenario-based situations before taking part in an interview with the judges.

Online judges included Chef Richard Corrigan.

"This competition celebrates excellence and promotes culinary arts and hospitality as a career of choice. The judges were very impressed at the extremely high calibre of talent of all of our finalists and each one of them should be very proud of themselves. I look forward to following the careers of our winners, and indeed our fantastic group of finalists, in the years ahead as I am confident they will all have very bright futures," he said.

The other online judge was chef-proprietor Anna Haugh of Myrtle London, while at the live final Group Executive Chef at Harcourt Developments Gordon Smyth, Noel McMeel of Ebrington Hotel, Mike Tweedie of Adare Manor and Adrian McNally, Titanic Hotel Belfast were joined by alongside other well-known advocates for new talent.
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It is difficult to put into cinto context the amount of public money that is lost or revenue that is going unclaimed according to Laois Offaly Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley.

He made comment as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in also expressing concern at a number of areas outlined in the Comptroller and Auditor Generals (C&AG) Annual Report where the taxpayer is failing to achieve value for money.

These include the Sustainable Energy Authority Irelands (SEAI) retrofit scheme, increasing HSE debt, failure to deliver social housing units and 112m non-compliant procurement within the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

Dep Stanley spoke at the launch of the the report which highlighted an accumulated deficit in the health service. An accumulated deficit occurs when a company has incurred more losses than profits since its inception. The defecit at the HSE is huge.

The HSEs finances were also identified by the C&AG as an area of concern. The report reveals that the HSE has carried an accumulated deficit since 2005 that now stands at 1.24 billion for incurred expenditure. The report states that this deficit will eventually require state funding to meet the liability. It is essential that we halt this deficit from increasing further and see a strategy for its reduction," he said.

He also spoke about housing spending.

The Land Aggregation Schemes (LAGS) failure to deliver social housing units was once again highlighted by the C&AG. The examination found that 13 years after LAGS was established, no development plans have been produced for almost half of its portfolio despite the potential for an estimated 5,365 social housing units  just 676 units have been delivered since 2010. Once again, the Government has failed to deliver on social housing," he said.

A huge amount of money is left on spent for training.

The C&AG also highlights the National Training Fund as an area for significant improvement. The organisation now has an accumulated surplus of 1.37 billion that could be used to implement training programmes. This is of significant concern considering our chronic shortage of mechanics, construction workers and key tradesmen. We need to see a more strategic focus on expanding apprenticeship programmes, the funding is clearly there," he said.

More than 100 million was spent by one Government Departyment without complying with the rules

Finally, further information is required following the discovery of 112m of non-compliant procurement within the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. This is a huge amount of public funding within one financial year to fall under non-compliant procurement. We need answers from the Department on the nature of this spending and why it could not have been procured through the correct channels," he said.

The TD said these are just five areas of concern that highlighted from the 25 chapters identified by the C&AG.

It is difficult to put into context the level of expenditure that is being lost by the state each year and the level of potential revenue that is being forgone.

It will be the work of the PAC over the course of the next 12 months to scrutinise these areas of concern and to deliver outcomes that will provide the taxpayer with value for money, he said.

The PAC is a standing committee of Dail Eireann which focuses on ensuring public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money.
Friday, September 15 was a day of celebration at Scoil Mhuire Fatima as the school unveiled its new outdoor learning space

Unfortunately, the weather didnt facilitate an outdoor celebration but the GP hall was just as good as the children were joined by special guests. To read more about the project read below - to see more pictures from the big day tap NEXT or ARROW.

The guests included artist Alan Meredith, Creative School's associate Aideen McHugh, Chairman of Laois County Council Pascal McEvoy, Fr. Sean Kelly and former principal Ann Bergin.

This project was part of the Creative Schools initiative which supports schools to put the arts and creativity at the heart of childrens and young peoples lives. The Initiative provides opportunities for children and young people to build their artistic and creative skills; to communicate, collaborate, stimulate their imaginations, be inventive, and to harness their curiosity.

Year two of the project was a collaboration between Creative Schools associate Aideen Mc Hugh, Artist Alan Meredith and the children of the school.

The school says the end product is a wonderfully designed sculpture that functions as an outdoor classroom / gathering space that will be enjoyed by the children for many years to come. The project was led by 6th Class teacher Anna Moore and her Creative Schools Committee of Mia, Holly, Luke, Fiadh, Ciaran, Aidan, Emilia and now 1styear students Ryan, Shane and Jessica.

Ms Moore and the committee explained to the audience how the name Croi na gCruthu (Heart of Creativity) was chosen for the piece.

Croi means heart. Our students are at the heart of our school community and we hope that the school will be the heart of the Timahoe Community going forward. Cruthu is the shortened Irish for Creativity. We hope spending time learning outdoors will inspire more Creativity in Timahoe NS for years to come, she said.

Fr Sean Kelly was on hand to provide a special blessing for the students and Croi na gCruthu.

Principal Michael Mc Evoy was delighted with the outcome.

This beautiful structure is the culmination of a huge amount of work over the past two years. Croi na gCruthu is the end product but the process and journey over the past two years has been just as important and we are very thankful to Aideen, Alan, Paschal, Ms Moore and her committee.

I would also like to thank all the staff and most importantly the children for their engagement in this project, he said.
The possibility of localizing arms production in Ukraine is a result of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to the United States, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak has said at the Defense Industries Forum on September 29.

"This is one of the results of President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington. And during face-to-face negotiations with President [of the United States Joseph] Biden, a large delegation from the American and Ukrainian sides, an agreement was reached indeed that negotiations and meetings of specialists from both sides will start soon in order to determine a roadmap for how we will cooperate with partners to localize production in Ukraine," Yermak said.

He recalled that "more than 30 years ago, when we were part of the Soviet Union, it was Ukrainian specialists who were the basis of production and scientific potential."

Yermak also noted the possibility of creating joint ventures with countries of the Global South.

"I think our cooperation with the Global South is not some kind of a dream, it is absolutely realistic. We are discussing it, and they are very interested. I think that very soon we will have joint ventures with some of these countries because I know for sure about their absolutely specific interest," he said.
Healthy Heroes Lunch Club, supported by the Irish Bread Bakers Association (IBBA), is issuing a final call to Kildare schools to register for the 2023/2024 educational programme.

Now in its tenth year, created by teachers, behavioural and nutrition experts, the Healthy Heroes Lunch Club is one of Irelands leading classroom initiatives, reaching over 300,000 children to date.

The nutrition and education initiative demonstrates first-hand how fun and healthy eating habits are cultivated, while offering students the opportunity to build on a variety of skills such as leadership, teamwork, and communication skills.

Furthermore, the Healthy Heroes Lunch Club empowers students to make responsible and healthy choices when it comes to food, which can have positive impacts on future habits surrounding nutrition.

Sarah FitzGerald who oversees the Healthy Heroes programme on behalf of the IBBA says:

Healthy Heroes has been helping to make a real difference in fostering positive nutritional attitudes in schools across the country for the past ten years. Incorporating healthy eating habits in an enjoyable way from a young age, while also teaching children valuable skills such as leadership and communication, are vital steppingstones to shaping their future attitudes to nutrition. We look forward to continuing to build on the positive impacts of the Healthy Heroes Lunch Club into the future.

For more information on how Kildare schools can get involved in the Healthy Heroes Lunch Club, visit www.healthyheroes.ie or email healthyheroes@realnation.ie.
The woman killed in the brutal killing posted on social media in Offaly on Friday has been named locally as Lorna Woodnutt.

The local woman was found with severe injuries and dead at the scene at a house near Rahan, around 10km outside Tullamore at 1pm on Friday.

It's understood the woman was savagely attacked, possibly with a number of weapons.

Two hammers, including a sledgehammer, were among the items taken from the grim scene by gardai.

The aftermath of the horror killing was shared on social media with a number of videos circulating.

Gardai are working with social media companies to remove the footage from circulation while they're also appealing to people in possession of the video not to forward it to others.

A teenage boy known to the deceased woman has been arrested in connection with the killing and is being questioned at a garda station in the Midlands.

In a statement, gardai said: "Gardai are investigating all of the circumstances surrounding the death of a woman in County Offaly this afternoon, Friday the 29th of September, 2023.

"At approximately 1pm, Gardai and Emergency Services responded to reports of a violent incident at a residential property near Tullamore. The body of a woman, aged in her 40s, was discovered in the property.

"A male child was arrested at the scene and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a Garda Station in the Midlands. The boy is known to the woman and investigating Gardai are not looking for any other persons in connection with this incident.

"The scene is currently preserved pending forensic and technical examination by the Garda Technical Bureau.

"The Coroner and the Office of the State Pathologist have been informed.

"A Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) has been appointed and an incident room has been established at Tullamore Garda Station.

"A Family Liaison Officer (FLO) has been appointed in the case."

Locals are in 'absolute shock' at brutal death

Fine Gael councillor in Tullamore Neil Feighery said the community would rally around the impacted families in the wake of the tragedy.

"We are, as a community, in absolute shock. We are still coming to terms with the news and were waiting to hear from An Garda Siochana but the reports are truly shocking," he said.

"My thoughts and prayers are genuinely with the family impacted by this terrible, terrible, terrible tragedy.

"Its something that is really hard to comprehend and please God, the families will get the support and grace and blessings that they need at this horrendous time.

"Truly horrendous time for our community and for our town and for our area.

"I just wanted to send my own sympathies and give my sincerest sympathies  and everything that can be done by the Tullamore community will be done in the coming days and weeks.

Independent councillor Sandra Feehan-Smollen said: "Like most people I am truly shocked by the horrific murder of a woman this evening by a teenage boy near Tullamore today. It's also shocking that he recorded his actions and uploaded it to social media.

"Can I plead with anyone that viewed these shocking images not to share them. I would also ask parents to speak with their children who may also have viewed the images on their mobile devices as there can be no doubt that many teenagers and children who have viewed the images will be traumatised by what they have seen. My deepest condolences to the family, relatives, neighbours and friends of the deceased woman."

Independent Offaly TD Carol Nolan said: My heartfelt condolences and sympathy go out to this ladys family.

"Violence of this nature is always a traumitising and shattering event, and I can only imagine what they are going through. The community will be deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy. I want to fully support the work of the gardai in their efforts to establish the facts. My prayers are with all of those impacted by this terrible and dreadfully distressing event.
Over 10,018 patients went without a bed in Irish hospitals in September according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), as the five most overcrowded hospitals are confirmed.

In that time, over 202 children were left without a bed. So far in 2023, 2,523 children under the age of sixteen have been treated on a trolley or chair.

The top 5 most overcrowded hospitals include: University Hospital Limerick (2,174 patients); Cork University Hospital (1,024 patients); Sligo University Hospital (775 patients); St. James Hospital (532 patients); University Hospital Galway (516 patients).

INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: September has always been a reliable indicator of how the winter is going to look for healthcare staff, and the situation that our members are predicting based on these figures as was the case in August, indicates a huge red flag.

The number of children on trolleys this September is also really alarming. Knowing what we do about how trolley waits negatively affect patient outcomes, and how rapidly children can decline when they are sick, the risks that children are being exposed to in our hospital are too high.

At this point of crisis in any other industry, a risk assessment would be carried out and risk mitigation measures put in place, this is even more necessary in the delivery of human healthcare services. Following our engagements with the HSE at the most recent Emergency Department Taskforce meeting, we dont believe that the HSE are willing at this point to put the necessary measures in place. There needs to be a serious mindset shift if we are to see improvements.

When patient-facing clinicians like doctors and nurses are raising the alarm in August and September about the current inadequacies in care and the potential for the already high level of risk to worsen over the coming weeks as we enter winter then the response from the HSE and Government must be more focused on risk mitigation and curtailing services to meet the requirements of basic safety levels.

Our members are very worried for themselves and the people in their care. Without real action the State is basically just asking staff and patients to lower their expectations for their health service.

We need risk reduction measures to be introduced now - not when it is too late and an inevitable adverse incident occurs. The current situation is not sustainable, and the impact on vulnerable people, including children, is not something the government should be prepared to accept, Ms Ni Sheaghdha said.
COUNCILLORS in Limerick have again called for a long-awaited southern distributor road for Newcastle West to help ease nightmare traffic congestion in the town.

The road was included in the last Newcastle West Local Area Plan with Cllr Michael Collins proposing it should be in the new draft plan for 2023 to 2029.

We are waiting for it for 15 years. The town is heavily congested and especially at school time. We need to right the wrong of the southern distributor road not being in the plan, said Cllr Collins, who was speaking at this months Newcastle West Municipal District meeting.

A special meeting was called in May to highlight the importance and need of the southern distributor road and to ensure it is included in the new proposed local area plan.

Cathaoirleach Tom Ruddle seconded Cllr Collins proposal.

To me the ring road is more important than the bypass. It would solve much of the traffic problems and open more land to commercial use, said Cllr Ruddle.

Cllr Jerome Scanlan said it is essential it is in the plan and spoke of the heavy traffic, particularly at school times.

It needs to be managed, said Cllr Scanlan.

Cllr Galvin said traffic in Newcastle West is a nightmare.

There are unprecedented levels of traffic heading to the kingdom of Kerry. The town is choked with traffic, said Cllr Galvin, who asked for updates on the bypasses of Newcastle West and Abbyefeale.

We have to do everything we can to expedite the two bypasses, said Cllr Galvin.

Cllr John Sheahan said: We need diggers on the ground.

Cllr Francis Foley said the bypasses of Adare, Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale will encourage more companies to locate in west Limerick. When he was mayor, he said he attended a number of jobs announcements where the importance of connectivity was stressed.

Cllr Michael Collins raised his concerns about walls being broken down in estates for increased connectivity. He said there was an ongoing issue with a scrambler driving on footpaths, causing danger to pedestrians and affecting the peace and tranquility of estates in Newcastle West.

Cllr Sheahan said for 20 years they have been getting rid of rat runs in the city so why introduce rat runs here?

The plan will fail if transport is not sorted, said Cllr Sheahan.

Cllr Scanlan said estates should have their own identities and if somebody doesnt respect that they have another thing coming.

The Independent councillor said even if people are going 10 minutes into town many will still get in their cars as we are never far from a shower in Ireland. While he welcome the aspirations over Active Travel, he said practicality is a different story.

Submissions on the local area plan can be made until 5pm on Monday, October 23 for consideration by the council before the local area plan is made.
HIGH-PROFILE Limerick councillor Elisa ODonovan has hinted that she may seek election to Dail Eireann in future.

The City West member who was elected at the first time of asking in 2019, took to the social media network X, formerly known as Twitter, in the wake of an article in political magazine The Phoenix.

The article weighed up her chances of election to the Oireachtas, citing whats likely to be a collapse in support for the Green Party, and an increase for her own Social Democrats.

In a post to X, Cllr ODonovan admitted the profile in The Phoenix magazine was a surprise.

I am unashamedly ambitious for Limerick though. I want to be the third woman ever elected to represent Limerick. I believe I have the ideas and enthusiasm to really change the Limerick we live in for the better, she added.

As the councillor stated, theres only been two women who have represented the Limerick City and Limerick East constituencies in the Dail.

If elected, she would follow in the footsteps of former Labour Education Minister Jan OSullivan, who lost her seat at the 2020 election.

And she would also join Sinn Fein TD Kathleen OCallaghan, who served between 1921 and 1923 in that group.

A spokesperson for the Social Democrats said that Cllr ODonovan had been selected to contest City West at next summers local election. The party has yet to hold general election selections.

We have not yet had selection conventions for the general election anywhere in the country, they added.

Sources, however, have suggested that given her role as the only Social Democrats politician in Limerick at present, that Cllr ODonovan would be the choice.
Traders Union has ranked Interactive Brokers (IBKR) in the sixth position among 75 investment companies, highlighting the advantage of the stellar customer service in its decision.

IBKR, which secured 7.45 in the TU Overall Score, is a US-based investment firm with a 42-year history, having launched in 1977. It offers a diverse range of trading instruments, including stocks, CFDs, indices, ETFs, and futures contracts, in addition to various currency pairs.

The commendable Interactive Brokers customer service gives users exclusive access to over 135 markets spanning 33 different countries.

The platform is regulated by prominent authorities, including the US SEC, FINRA, and FCA. It imposes no minimum deposit requirements for any account type, making it especially welcoming to beginners. The platform offers spreads as low as 0 pips, with leverage varying depending on the traded asset.

In terms of customer service, Interactive Brokers is doing a commendable job, earning it a 9.0 score out of 10 in Customer Support category. TU expert Anton Kharitonov noted that the platforms customer support team helps clients resolve claims made to the company immediately.

Interactive Brokers website also houses all the trading information needed by investors, including trading instruments and conditions offered by the investment firm. This makes the onboarding process easier, especially for beginner traders who are just starting with Forex.

Due to its reliability, Interactive Brokers managed to establish a strong presence in primary markets. 11.07% of its entire user base is from the United Kingdom, 8.86% from Switzerland, 8.58% from Russian Federation, 5.59% from Germany, and 4.46% from Spain. Likewise, it holds a strong presence in Indonesia, Canada, Austria, Egypt, and Australia.

Traders Union used a comprehensive evaluation system consisting of over 100 parameters to assess the 75 investment companies that made the shortlist.

These parameters were divided into five categories: Financial and Economic Viability, Reliability, Security, Trading Conditions, and Customer Service.

Brokers with scores from 8.0 to 10.0 are regarded as the most dependable platforms in the Forex market and are highly recommended. Brokers with scores from 7.0 to 7.99 are considered quite reliable and trustworthy, the range which has been awarded to Interactive Brokers.

Overall, Traders Union considers Interactive Brokers as a reliable and trustworthy investment platform with a wide range of trading instruments and competitive fees.

It is a good choice for traders of all experience levels, but it is important to note that the platform can be complex and overwhelming for beginners.

Traders Union is a trusted portal providing traders with unbiased and complete reviews of brokers worldwide since 2010. It aims to help in choosing reliable platforms stress free by conducting timely reviews of players in the financial markets.

TU eliminates the need to spend long hours on research, with its access to exclusive finance information with partner entities.

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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The agriculture ministers of Ukraine and Poland had a phone conversation during which the Ukrainian party made offers to settle disputes between the countries, Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Vasyl Zvarych has said on the air of Ukrainian Radio.

"We agreed that in one or two weeks our ministers will have another phone talks. And, probably, during this conversation the Polish side will give some specific answers on how we should move further," the diplomat said.

Zvarych also expressed hope that both countries will manage to reach mutual understanding and the issue of Ukrainian grain will not divide them.

"I believe nothing will change our strategic approach to the development of our relations with Poland. These ongoing discussions in the economic dimension are only a small part of what is going on in relations between Ukraine and Poland. And the vast majority of issues indeed develop very positively. And I want to emphasize once again that this is all a merit of the Ukrainian and Polish people since, today, we are as close as never before," the diplomat said.
In the contemporary tech savvy era, Python emerges as a flexible and popular programming language known for its capabilities to cater to various development needs. The realm of Python development stretches from web applications, data analysis, artificial intelligence to scientific computing, making it a favourable choice for businesses and developers alike. Among the nations fostering Python development, India stands out with a plethora of proficient Python Development Companies offering bespoke solutions to global clientele.

The burgeoning tech industry in India has seen a significant uptick in the demand for Python programming, given its straightforward syntax and versatility. This surge has propelled many software development companies to specialize in Python, thus contributing to a competitive ecosystem. If you're on the lookout for competent Python Development services, diving into the pool of Top Python Development Companies in India is a prudent step to finding a partner capable of turning your project vision into reality.

Top 10 Python Development Companies in India

BrainerHub Solutions takes the lead among the Python Development Companies in India, thanks to its innovative approach and a team of skilled professionals. With a rich history of delivering successful Python projects, they have carved a niche for themselves in the competitive tech market.

The company excels in providing tailored solutions, ensuring a perfect blend of functionality and aesthetics. Their services span across web development, machine learning, data analysis, and AI, showcasing their versatility in Python development. The commitment to client satisfaction and adherence to international quality standards set BrainerHub Solutions apart from the rest.

Nestled in the tech-savvy landscapes of India, BrainerHub Solutions is a beacon of excellence among the Python development companies in India. Their journey is embroidered with a series of successful projects that manifest their technical acumen and unwavering commitment to client satisfaction.

With a team of adept Python developers, they delve into the heart of each project, orchestrating solutions that are both innovative and in tune with business objectives. Their portfolio is a compelling narrative of projects that span various domains, showcasing their ability to navigate complex challenges with a client-centric lens.

Being a trailblazer among software development companies in India, BrainerHub Solutions is steadfast in keeping pace with the latest technological advancements, ensuring they deliver modern and seamless user experiences. Their deep-rooted understanding of Python's robust framework enables them to craft solutions that are scalable and sustainable.

The ethos of BrainerHub Solutions is anchored around forging enduring relationships with clients, ensuring every engagement is a pathway towards achieving the clients business aspirations.

Their exemplary service delivery is a testament to their esteemed position in the realm of Python development in India, making them a reliable choice for businesses seeking to harness the power of Python.

Specialization:

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2. Copper Digital

Based in Gurugram, India, with a head office in the United States, Copper Digital is a name synonymous with precision and innovation in the realm of Python development. With a squad of proficient developers, they delve into the heart of a project, unravelling tailored solutions that boost operational efficiency and user engagement. Their expertise in Python shines through their portfolio, brimming with successful web applications, data analytics solutions, and machine learning projects. The fusion of innovative approaches and industry leading methodologies is what sets Copper Digital apart in delivering Python driven solutions that echo with modern-day business demands.

Specialization:

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3. Cerebrum Infotech

Nestled in Mohali, India, with a significant presence in the United States, Cerebrum Infotech is a frontrunner in delivering cutting edge Python development services. Their journey is adorned with a trail of satisfied clientele, innovative solutions, and a robust portfolio showcasing their prowess in Python. The blend of seasoned developers and modern technology enables them to craft digital solutions that are not only functional but also resonate with the evolving market trends. Their Python driven web and app development services are tailored to meet the unique demands of every business, ensuring a digital presence thats both engaging and efficient.

Specialization:

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Location:

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4. CDN Solutions Group

Established in 2000, with its roots in Indore, India, CDN Solutions Group has ascended the ladder of success to become a leading name in Python development. Their journey is marked by a relentless pursuit of technological excellence, showcased in their broad spectrum of Python services. With an adept team at the helm, they engineer solutions that are not only innovative but also in sync with business objectives. Their Python web and mobile app development services are tailored to provide a seamless user experience, robust functionality, and scalable architecture.

Specialization:

Their expertise shines in developing scalable web applications, mobile apps, and blockchain solutions leveraging Python's robust framework.

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5. Cubet

Hailing from Cochin, India, with over 15 years of rigorous and proven experience, Cubet stands as a testament to quality Python development. Their journey is marked by a series of successful projects that reflect their technical prowess and commitment to client satisfaction. With a team of seasoned Python developers, they delve into the intricacies of each project, crafting solutions that are both innovative and business centric.

Specialization:

Their core competency lies in developing robust and scalable web applications using Python, ensuring a seamless user journey.

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6. Zealous System

Situated in the heart of Ahmedabad, Zealous System is a shining emblem of excellence in Python development. With more than a decade of hands-on experience, they have meticulously crafted a journey marked by a series of successful projects, embodying their technical expertise and unyielding dedication to client satisfaction. The team of seasoned Python developers at Zealous System dives deep into the intricacies of every project, delivering solutions that are both innovative and business centric. Their portfolio is a rich tapestry of projects that span across various domains, showcasing their ability to tackle complex challenges with a client centric approach.

As a top Python development company, they continuously strive to stay abreast of the latest technological advancements, ensuring a seamless and modernized user journey. Their profound understanding of Python's versatile nature has positioned them as a reliable partner for businesses looking to harness the power of this robust programming language. The ethos of Zealous System is built around fostering long-term relationships with clients, ensuring every engagement is a step towards achieving the client's business objectives. Their exceptional services are a testament to their position as a leading player in the Python development arena in India.

Specialization:

Zealous System specializes in crafting robust and scalable web applications using Python, delivering a seamless user journey that meets the diverse needs of modern businesses.

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Their extensive experience, client centric approach, and a proven track record of successful project delivery make Zealous System a reliable choice for Python development.

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7. Techuz:

With its origins in Ahmedabad, Techuz has emerged as a distinguished name in the sphere of Python development. Over the years, they have meticulously built a legacy marked by a plethora of successful projects that echo their technical prowess and unwavering commitment to client satisfaction. Their squad of adept Python developers delves into the nitty-gritty of each project, orchestrating solutions that are both innovative and aligned with business objectives.

The portfolio of Techuz is a rich narrative of their journey, showcasing a wide spectrum of projects that have propelled businesses to new heights. Being a top Python development company, they are steadfast in keeping pace with the evolving technological landscape, ensuring they deliver modern and seamless user experiences. Their profound comprehension of Python's robust framework enables them to tackle complex challenges with a finesse that is rare to find.

The culture at Techuz is anchored around building enduring relationships with clients, making every engagement a collaborative endeavour aimed at achieving the client's business goals. Their exceptional service delivery is a reflection of their esteemed position in the realm of Python development in India.

Specialization:

Techuz excels in developing robust and scalable web applications using Python, ensuring a seamless user journey that stands the test of evolving business needs.

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Location:

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8. MindInventory:

Originating from Ahmedabad, MindInventory is a beacon of excellence in the Python development landscape. Their journey is a narrative of relentless pursuit of technical mastery and an unwavering dedication to client satisfaction. Over the years, MindInventory has amassed a team of seasoned Python developers who delve into the nuances of each project, creating solutions that are both innovative and business centric.

Their portfolio is a testament to their technical prowess, showcasing a myriad of successful projects that have propelled their clients to new heights. As a top Python development company, MindInventory is committed to staying abreast of the latest technological advancements, ensuring they deliver modern and seamless user experiences. Their deep-rooted understanding of Pythons robust framework allows them to navigate complex challenges with a rare finesse.

The ethos of MindInventory is centred around forging long-term relationships with clients, ensuring every engagement is a collaborative endeavour aimed at achieving the clients business objectives. Their exceptional service delivery is a reflection of their esteemed position in the Python development domain in India.

Specialization:

MindInventory specializes in creating robust and scalable web applications using Python, ensuring a seamless user journey that is tailored to meet the evolving needs of businesses.

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Their extensive experience, client focused approach, and a history of successful project delivery make MindInventory a reliable choice for Python development.

Location:

Ahmedabad, India.

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9. Simplicity Creations:

Situated in Pune, Simplicity Creations is synonymous with innovative Python development. Their journey is marked by a relentless pursuit of technical excellence and a strong commitment to client satisfaction. With a team of adept Python developers, they delve into the complexities of each project, crafting solutions that are both innovative and business centric.

Their portfolio showcases a wide array of successful projects, reflecting their technical expertise and client centric ethos. As a top Python development company, Simplicity Creations is dedicated to staying updated with the latest technological advancements, ensuring they deliver modern and seamless user experiences. Their profound understanding of Pythons versatile framework enables them to address complex challenges with adeptness.

The culture at Simplicity Creations is built around fostering enduring relationships with clients, ensuring every engagement is a collaborative venture aimed at achieving the clients business goals. Their outstanding service delivery underscores their prominent position in the realm of Python development in India.

Specialization (50 words):

Simplicity Creations excels in developing robust and scalable web applications using Python, ensuring a seamless user journey that aligns with the diverse needs of modern businesses.

Why Choose Simplicity Creations:

Their extensive experience, client centric approach, and a history of successful project delivery position Simplicity Creations as a trustworthy choice for Python development.

Location:

Pune, India.

Call to Action:

Step into a world of innovative Python development with Simplicity Creations. Contact them today to unlock the potential of Python for your business.

10. WebClues Infotech:

Hailing from the bustling city of Ahmedabad, WebClues Infotech stands as a hallmark of quality in the realm of Python development. Their journey, spanning over several years, is a testament to their technical expertise and unwavering commitment to ensuring client satisfaction. With a battalion of seasoned Python developers at the helm, they delve into the core of each project, crafting solutions that are both innovative and aligned with business objectives. Their portfolio narrates a story of numerous successful projects that have significantly impacted their clients business trajectories.

As a top Python development company, WebClues Infotech is relentless in keeping pace with the latest technological trends, ensuring a seamless and modernized user journey. Their profound comprehension of Pythons robust and flexible framework empowers them to tackle complex challenges with a rare finesse. The culture at WebClues Infotech is anchored around nurturing long-term relationships with clients, making every engagement a collaborative endeavour towards achieving the clients business goals. Their exceptional service delivery accentuates their esteemed position among the top Python development companies in India.

Specialization:

WebClues Infotech specializes in creating robust and scalable web applications using Python, delivering a seamless user journey that meets the diverse needs of modern businesses.

Why Choose WebClues Infotech:

Their extensive experience, client centric ethos, and a track record of successful project delivery make WebClues Infotech a reliable partner for Python development.

Location:

Ahmedabad, India.

Call to Action:

Embark on a transformative digital journey with WebClues Infotech. Reach out today to harness the robustness of Python for your business endeavours.

Criteria to Select Best Python Development Companies in India

Choosing the right development partner is a critical decision that could significantly impact the success of your project. In a sea of options, the following criteria can be instrumental in navigating towards the right Python Development Company:

1. Experience and Expertise:

Look for companies with a proven track record in Python development, demonstrated through their portfolio of completed projects.

2. Client Testimonials and Reviews:

Satisfied clients and positive reviews are indicators of a company's commitment to delivering quality solutions.

3. Industry Recognition:

Awards, certifications, and memberships in recognized industry bodies can lend credibility to a company's standing in the Python development domain.

4. Technical Proficiency:

Assess the technical acumen of the team, their familiarity with the latest Python frameworks, tools, and best practices.

5. Communication and Collaboration:

Effective communication and a collaborative approach are crucial for the smooth execution and success of your project.

6. Cost Efficiency:

While cost shouldnt be the only deciding factor, getting value for your investment is essential. Compare the pricing models and whats included to make an informed decision.

7. Project Delivery Timelines:

Timely delivery is a reflection of a companys professionalism and efficiency in project management.

By evaluating these best Python Development Companies in India on these parameters, you are more likely to find a partner that aligns with your project requirements and business values.

Conclusion: Hire the best python developers in India

The digital realm is continually evolving, and with it, the demand for robust and scalable solutions is on the rise. India, with its vast pool of technical talent, has emerged as a fertile ground for software development companies. Among them, the Python development companies in India stand out for their exceptional prowess in harnessing the capabilities of Python to deliver innovative and business-centric solutions. Companies like BrainerHub Solutions are epitomes of technical excellence and client satisfaction. They are intricately carving the digital futures of many businesses, ensuring a seamless transition into the digital age.

Their proven track record in delivering successful projects underscores their position as reliable partners in the Python development domain. With a client-centric ethos at their core, these firms are not just service providers; they are collaborators in the true sense.

Their journey is a reflection of the broader narrative of how software development companies in India are pushing the boundaries of what's possible with Python. Engaging with any of these Python development companies in India is a step towards bridging one's digital ambitions with reality, ensuring a future where technology and innovation drive growth.

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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Plus500 has consistently garnered the attention of market participants since its introduction in 2008. It offers a trademarked online trading experience through Contracts for Difference (CFDs) using its proprietary platform.

Remarkably, Traders Union experts noted that the WebTrader is designed to provide users with a secure and user-friendly environment for executing their strategies.

One of the standout features of Plus500 Webtrader is the additional layer of security it offers through two-step logins. This security feature is essential in safeguarding traders' accounts and sensitive information.

At the same time, the platform provides comprehensive reports on fees, historical transactions, positions, and other critical activity details.

However, it is important to note that Plus500 WebTrader has some limitations. While it excels in many aspects, it falls short in certain areas. One notable drawback is the absence of built-in tools for in-depth analysis of trading activity.

Unlike some other trading platforms, it does not offer functions like automated trading supported by expert advisors (EAs), back-testing capabilities, trading algorithms, or the option to manage third-party funds.

While the WebTrader caters well to basic charting needs, investors with more advanced requirements may need to supplement their analysis with external tools.

On a positive note, the search function within the platform works efficiently, enabling traders to easily locate the specific securities they wish to trade. Plus500 also offers participants the convenience of receiving notifications via email, SMS, and push notifications.

Accordingly, these notifications are triggered when the price of a certain asset experiences significant movements, allowing traders to stay updated on the latest market developments.

Beyond the platform's features, it is worth citing the success of Plus500 as a financial company, operating across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. These subsidiaries are subject to regulatory oversight, ensuring a secure and compliant trading environment for users.

One of the notable distinctions of Plus500 is its status as a publicly traded entity on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). This public listing adds transparency and credibility to the company, enhancing the trustworthiness of the brokerage firm in the eyes of market participants.

Plus500 is a global player in the world of online trading, providing an extensive and diverse product line. This diversity allows traders to explore and diversify their portfolios without having to switch between different platforms.

The heart of the Israel-based broker's appeal lies in its user-friendly trading platform. It features a simple and accessible design, allowing traders to create watchlists, analyze charts, execute trades, and effortlessly monitor their investments.

Remarkably, this user-friendly interface caters to novice and experienced traders, making the trading process efficient.

Plus500 also places a strong emphasis on security and compliance. An essential aspect of this commitment to security is the practice of keeping client capital in separate accounts.

In addition to its commitment to safety, the financial firm adopts a conservative approach to trading. This flexibility accommodates a wide range of trading styles, from manual trading to algorithmic strategies.

Plus500 Webtrader has carved a name for itself as a reliable and user-friendly online trading platform. Its competitive spreads and negative balance protection add to its appeal, ensuring a secure and cost-effective trading experience.

The brokers unique combination of features may be the perfect fit for your trading journey, providing a gateway to the exciting world of online trading.

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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Domestic natural gas price has been raised to $9.20 per metric million British thermal unit (mmBTu) from $8.60 at present, the government said in a notification on Saturday. The new rates will come into effect from October 1.

The new rate will remain applicable for the entire period between October and October 31, 2023, the notification issued by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas noted.

This marks the second month in a row when the price of natural gas has been raised by the government. In September, the per mmBtu rate was increased from $7.85 to $8.60.

The hike is expected to affect end-consumers, as city gas distribution companies are likely to accordingly raise the prices of compressed natural gas (CNG) as well the piped natural gas (PNG), commonly referred to as cooking gas.

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Notably, the revision in natural gas prices is undertaken on a per-month basis, as per the new formula adopted by the government. As per the formula, the price is determined on the basis of Indian crude basket rates of the preceding month.

This differs from the earlier method of arriving at a price after factoring in the average price in the last one year of the world's four big gas trading hubs  National Balancing Point (UK), Russian Gas, Henry Hub and Albany. The domestic rate, under this method, was fixed for a six-month period.

The old formula was discarded after the government had formed a committee in October last year to suggest a method of ascertaining the domestic prices. The committee, in its recommendations to the petroleum ministry, had proposed the new formula which relies on the Indian crude basket prices of the preceding month.

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Personal finance changes from next month: With the beginning of October month, one would be entering into new quarter as well. With the beginning of new quarter, a good number of new rules are getting effective from 1st October 2023 that would directly impact perfonal finance of an investor.

These financial changes include mutual fund folio nomination, new TCS rule, deadline for nomination in demat account, etc. From 1st October 2023, one carrying 2000 notes won't be able to exchange as deadline for 2000 note exchange ends on 30th September 2023.

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Here we list out top 5 rule changes that may imapct your personal finance:

Mutual fund nomination

The deadline for adding nominees for all the existing mutual fund folios, including jointly-held ones, has been set as 30 September, 2023, failing which the folios will be frozen for debits.

New TCS rule

Overseas expenses on credit cards exceeding 7 lakh will be subject to a 20 per cent TCS. However, if such expenses are incurred for medical or educational purposes, the TCS would be levied at 5 per cent. For those availing loans for overseas education, a lower TCS rate of 0.5 per cent would be levied above the 7 lakh threshold.

Mutual fund calculator: 10,000 monthly SIP can make you a crorepati

Nomination in demat account

The deadline for existing eligible trading and demat account holders to nominate a beneficiary for their accounts will end on September 30.

Based on the assessment of the trading as well as demat accounts in which choice of nomination details (i.e. furnishing of nomination or declaration for opting out of nomination) has not been updated and on the basis of representations received from the stakeholders, it has been decided that the provisions mentioned at para 7 of SEBI circular dated July 23, 2021, read with para 3 (a) of SEBI circular dated February 24, 2022, with regard to freezing of accounts shall come into force with effect from September 30, 2023 instead of March 31, 2023," SEBI mentioned in a circular dated 27 March.

PAN, Aadhar mandatory for small saving schemes

Investors of the Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), Post office deposits, and other small savings schemes must submit their Aadhaar number to the post office or bank branch by the end of this month. Missing this important deadline will result in getting their small savings investments frozen.

Small savings rates steady till Dec, 5-yr recurring deposit rates raised to 6.7%

PAN and Aadhaar number has become mandatory for making investments in small savings schemes like PPF, SSY, Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS), etc. The Ministry of Finance issued a notification in this regard on 31st March 2023.

 200 note exchange

If you also have 2000 notes, then definitely deposit them by 30 September 2023. The Reserve Bank has set the deadline for exchanging 2000 notes till 30 September. Until now, there has been no report of extending this deadline.

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The Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was stopped from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland. According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive.

They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow," a man is heard saying in the video as reported by ANI.

This incident comes amid the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on 18 June. The Sikh Youth UK claimed that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities.

The video shows two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside. The purported video then shows the high commissioners car leaving the Gurdwara premises.

The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the Gurdwara will be treated.

We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats," he said in the video as reported by news agency ANI.

First reported by TOI, a pro-Khalistan activist told the daily that the Indian High Commissioner was supposed to hold a meeting with the gurdwara committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive. A few people turned up and told him he is not welcome and he left. There was a slight confrontation. I dont think the gurdwara committee is too happy about what happened. But Indian officials are not welcome in any gurdwara in the UK," the activist told TOI as reported by ANI.

We are fed up with the UK-India collusion. The recent tensions since the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing have led to British Sikhs being targeted. This is to do with Avtar Singh Khanda and Jagtar Singh Johal too," he added.

Reacting to this, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa strongly condemned the incident. He said, I strongly condemn this (that Vikram Doraiswami was allegedly stopped from entering a gurdwara in Scotland)... Anyone from any religion or community can come here (Gurdwara)... We are not that religion that believes in violence instead we are among those who are saviours of humanity... Sikhs are the saviours... PM Modi has praised the work of our community... Sikhs are represented everywhere in the world... The safest place for the Sikhs in the world is in India..."
Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami who was stopped by a few radicals from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara, did not get into an argument and decided to leave. The issue has been raised with the UK Foreign Office and also the police.

According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurudwara on Albert Drive. They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow," a man is heard saying in the video as reported by ANI.

The video shows two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside. The purported video then shows the high commissioners car leaving the gurudwara premises.

The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the Gurdwara will be treated.

We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats," he said in the video as reported by news agency ANI.

This incident comes amid the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on 18 June. The Sikh Youth UK claimed that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities.

Amid the India-Canada row, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar highlighted incidents of threats, violence, and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions in Canada.

He has questioned whether the reaction would have been the same if a similar situation had occurred in any other country. He further emphasized that the situation in Ottawa should not be normalized.

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India is ready to look at any information shared by the Canadian government regarding its allegations about the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday.

He was asked if the issue of Canadian allegations was raised during the meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NSA Jake Sullivan. I have already answered it," the minister replied.

We've always said that look if there is information let us know. I want to make one thing very clear. It's not that our doors are shut to looking at something," Jaishankar added.

The remarks came after Canada's "credible allegations" of the Indian government's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. However, India refuted the accusations and expelled the top Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move.

It is pertinent to note that Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Speaking about India's decision to suspend its visa services in Canada, Jaishankar said, This was done because of continuous violence and threats against the Indian diplomats and missions in Canada."

Right now there is such an environment where there is a kind of pressure on our Embassies, our High Commissioners, and our Consulates. Violence is being propagated against them...How can they carry out the work of visa in such an environment?... This is a matter of law and order," he added.

Under the Vienna Convention, it is the responsibility of every country to provide security to its embassy and those working in the embassy. Don't make it bilateral. This environment is not in India...Social media postings, protests, and threats are happening in Canada. They (the Canadian government) should take action there," Jaishankar said.

He also asserted that there was a climate of violence and an atmosphere of intimidation against Indian diplomats in Canada.

Because there is freedom of speech, to make threats and intimidate diplomats, I don't think that's acceptable."

(With ANI inputs)

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has on Saturday arrested two people accused to the case of a transnational conspiracy by Myanmar and Bangladesh-based leadership of terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the current ethnic strife in Manipur, an official said.

Manipur has been be ripped by ethnic violence in which several were displaced and many lost their lives. The violence that began in May this year was triggered after Manipur High Court recommended to CM N Biren Singh-led Manipur government to include the majority Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list.

Seiminlun Gangte was the second accused arrested in the case in the past nine days. The case was registered suo motu on 19 July, a spokesperson of the federal anti-terror agency told news agency PTI.

The official added the accused has been brought to Delhi and will be produced before the jurisdictional court.

The Manipur Police arrested Gangte in Churachandpur and handed him over to the NIA.

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"Investigation into the case revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh-based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the Government of India.

"For this purpose, the aforementioned leadership have been providing funds to procure arms, ammunition and other types of terrorist hardware which are being sourced both from across the border and from other terrorist outfits active in the northeastern states to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur," the spokesperson said.

On September 22, the NIA arrested Moirangthem Anand Singh from Manipur in connection with the case.

Further investigation into the matter is still on.

Meanwhile, BJP's Manipur unit has told its national president JP Nadda that people are angry as the state government has so far failed to contain the ethnic strife.

A letter signed by party's state unit president Sharda Devi, vice-president Ch Chidananda Singh and six others told Nadda that "public anger and protest is now slowly turning the tide, putting the sole onus of this prolonged disturbance into the failure of the government in dealing with the situation."

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In Canada, there was a climate of violence and an atmosphere of intimidation against Indian diplomats, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday in Washington.

"Because there is freedom of speech, to make threats and intimidate diplomats, I don't think that's acceptable," the minister said as quoted by Reuters.

The relations between India and Canada have been tense due to the presence of Khalistani terrorists in Canada who have kept alive the movement for Khalistanis or the demand for an independent Sikh state to be carved out of India.

Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents may have had a role in the June murder of Khalistan terrorist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was labeled a "terrorist" by India.

However, India dismissed the allegations as absurd. Washington has urged India to cooperate with Canada in the murder probe. Jaishankar also held discussions with top US officials on Friday amid a brewing diplomatic crisis between India and Canada.

In 2018, PM Trudeau assured India that Canada would not support anyone trying to revive a separatist movement in India, while repeatedly saying that he respects the right to free speech and assembly of protesters to demonstrate, Reuters reports.

Canada is home to an influential Sikh community, and Indian leaders say some fringe groups there remain sympathetic to the cause of an independent Sikh state. The cause hardly has any support in India.

The demand for Khalistan has surfaced many times in India, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s which paralyzed the state of Punjab for over a decade.

The insurgency killed tens of thousands of people and the Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by the Indian government. 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.

Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by two Sikh bodyguards after she allowed the storming of the holiest Sikh temple, aimed at flushing out Sikh separatists.

(With Reuters inputs)

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External Affairs Minister for India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar trained guns on all the measures taken amid a simmering diplomatic row over the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in British Columbia's Surrey.

What began as a tit-for-tat move in expelling diplomats from India and Canda aggravated to India suspending visa services for Canadian citizens on 21 September citing "security threats" faced by the Indian High Commission and consulates in Canada.

Jaishankar, who was in US meeting Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NSA Jake Sullivan, later met reporters and said, "Majboori thihumare diplomats, consulates ke khilaf hinsa ka prachar ho raha hai, kaise visa, office jane ka kam karenge, yeh law and order, Vienna convention ka issue hai (We were desperate. They [Canada] were perpetrating hate at our diplomats, consulates, how would people go to the visa office and get their work done? Law and order is an issue of the Vienna Convention)

Jaishankar said the visa services had to be suspended because Indian diplomats and officials were unable to continue with their work as there were threats of constant violence to them.

Under the Vienna Convention, it is the responsibility of every country to provide security to its embassy and those working in the embassy. Don't make it bilateral. This environment is not in India...Social media postings, protests and threats are happening in Canada. They (the Canadian government) should take action there." Jaishankar added.

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Hitting out at Canada, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said it is necessary to call out things like violence, threats and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions and wondered if this had happened to any other country would the world have taken it with equanimity.

"Let's not normalise what is happening in Canada," Jaishankar said during an interaction with Indian journalists.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's has said there are credible allegations that Indian government and intellegentsia was involved in the June killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia's Surrey.

India had designated Hardeep Singh Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

"We have had an ongoing problem with Canada and the Canadian government for some years now. The ongoing problem really revolves around the permissiveness to terrorism, extremism and violence. This permissiveness is also reflected in the fact that some important extradition requests have not been responded to from their side," Jaishankar said.

"We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission, we have had violence in front of consulates, there are posters put up. Do you consider this normal? If this had happened to any other country, how would they react? Let's not normalise what is happening in Canada. It is important to call out what is happening there," Jaishankar added.

"What is happening in Canada, had it happened anywhere else, do you think the world would've taken it with equanimity?" he asked.

Jaishankar said one of the problems is that no incident is isolated and the totality as there is a context for everything.

He also asserted that it was not acceptable to make threats and intimidate diplomats in the name of freedom of speech.

Jaishankar said he always asks people one question, how would they react if they were in his place?

When asked if the issue of Canadian allegations was raised during the meeting with Secretary of State Anonty Blinken and NSA Jake Sullivan, Jaishankar said, My understanding is that the word used by the Canadians is allegation...I have already answered it...We've always said that look if there is information let us know. I want to make one thing very clear. It's not that our doors are shut to looking at something".

(With agency inputs)

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Five people injured, houses and critical infrastructure facility damaged in missile attack on Zaporizhia region

Russia inflicted two missile strikes on Zaporizhia region as a result of which five people were injured, houses and critical infrastructure facilities were damaged in Matviyivska community in Zaporizhia region, Head of Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration Yuriy Malashko has said.

"Today, in the period from 10:06 to 10:20, Russian forces inflicted two missile strikes (the type of missiles is being identified) on the territory of Matviyivska territorial community. According to preliminary information, five houses and a critical infrastructure facility were damaged," he said on the Telegram channel on Saturday.

As of 11:40, five casualties were reported.

"One person was hospitalized, the others received medical assistance and refused from hospitalization," Malashko said.
The United Auto Workers union on Friday escalated its strikes against Detroit automakers by instructing an additional 7,000 workers in Illinois and Michigan to go on strike.

As reported by AP, this move is aimed at increasing pressure on the companies to enhance their proposals. This marks the second occasion the union has expanded the strikes, which originally commenced two weeks ago at three assembly plants. The most recent expansion included a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors factory near Lansing.

AP reported that Union President Shawn Fain told workers in a video appearance that the strikes were escalated because Ford and GM refused to make meaningful progress" in contract talks. Jeep maker Stellantis was spared from the third round of strikes.

Also Read: United Auto Workers present new counter-proposal to Chrysler parent Stellantis ahead of planned strike

Ford and GM responded strongly as tensions in the verbal dispute with the union escalated further. Ford alleged that the UAW was delaying an agreement primarily due to the matter of union representation at electric vehicle battery facilities, many of which are partnerships with a Korean manufacturer.

We still have time to reach an agreement and avert a real disaster," Ford CEO Jim Farley said. The company said the work stoppages are starting to affect fragile companies that make parts for the factories on strike.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra blamed union leaders for the impasse.

UAW leadership continues to expand the strike while upping the rhetoric and the theatrics. Its clear that there is no real intent to get to an agreement," Barra said in a statement, reported AP.

The GM plant in Delta Township, near Lansing, makes large crossover SUVs such as the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. A nearby metal parts stamping plant will remain open", Fain said.

The Ford factory in Chicago is responsible for manufacturing the Ford Explorer, Explorer Police Interceptors, and the Lincoln Aviator SUV.

Fain said union bargainers are still talking to the companies, and he was hopeful they could reach deals.

Also Read: UAW threatens to expand strike against Ford, GM, and Chrysler

Stellantis, he said, made significant progress Friday by agreeing to unspecified cost-of-living raises, the right not to cross a picket line and the right to strike over plant closures.

Raneal Edwards, a longtime GM employee who works at the Lansing-area factory, said she was shocked but happy" to hear that her plant would join the strike.

I feel like they dont understand that this is about more than wages," Edwards said. Its about having security at our jobs."

Edwards said the UAWs strategy of slowly adding more plants will work. "I love it because it keeps us on our toes. No one knows whats next," she said.

However, in a message addressed to employees on Friday, Gerald Johnson, the Chief of Manufacturing at GM, mentioned that the company has not yet received a response or counteroffer from union leaders regarding the economic proposal put forth on September 21st.

Automakers have consistently expressed their willingness to provide salary increases, but they express concerns that a contract with high costs could result in their vehicles being priced higher than those produced at nonunion facilities in the United States that are operated by foreign corporations.

Farley, the CEO of Ford, alleged that the union was using the agreement as leverage, particularly concerning the representation of workers in battery plants. During a conference call with industry analysts, he pointed out that the high wages expected at these battery plants could potentially increase the cost of Ford's electric vehicles, making them more expensive than those offered by competitors like Tesla and others.

Also Read: UAW Urges Automakers to Cut Reliance on Temp Workers

Record contract? No problem. Mortgaging our future? Thats a big problem. We will never do it," Farley said.

Ford's battery plants, Farley said, have not been built. They have not been organized by the UAW yet because the workers havent been hired and wont be for many years to come," he said.

Fain later accused Farley of lying and said the union gave Ford a counteroffer Monday but has not heard back. He stressed that there is no impasse, although they're far apart on economic issues such as defined-benefit pensions for all workers and health insurance for retirees.

"Weve had good discussions. Theres times we think were getting somewhere, and then things just stop," he said. Fain also said job security in the EV transition" remains an issue.

The union insists that labor expenses are only 4% to 5% of the cost of a vehicle, and that the companies are making billions in profits and can afford big raises.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the expanded strikes show both sides are digging in for a potentially long battle.

Ives wrote in a note to investors that President Joe Biden's administration is watching union demands collide with his push for cleaner electric vehicles. Biden, who has billed himself as the most union-friendly president in history, traveled Tuesday to the Detroit area to walk picket lines with workers at a GM parts warehouse.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump also traveled to the Detroit area this week for a rally at a nonunion parts maker.

Offers on the table from the companies will add $3,000 to $5,000 to the cost of an average electric vehicle that would be passed on to consumers, Ives wrote.

The electric vehicle battery plants are a huge issue for the union's future. Some industry executives, including Farley, say building EVs will take up to 40% fewer workers because they have fewer parts. So the union is looking to organize battery plants and win top wages so displaced workers have somewhere to go, especially those making combustion engines.

Other industry officials, including GM CEO Mary Barra, say there will be enough jobs for all as the industry moves away from gasoline vehicles.

The automakers' last known wage offers were around 20% over the life of a four-year contract, a little more than half of what the union has demanded. Other contract improvements, such as cost of living increases, restoration of defined-benefit pensions for newly hired workers and an end to wage tiers within the union are also on the table.

The union commenced its strike on September 15th, initially focusing on one assembly plant from each of the three companies. Then, during the previous week, it included 38 parts distribution centers operated by GM and Stellantis. At that point, Ford was exempt from this expansion because negotiations with the union were advancing positively.

AP reported that the union has organized its strikes in a way that allows the companies to continue producing their high-demand, high-profit vehicles such as big pickup trucks and SUVs. Previously, it had halted production at assembly plants in Missouri, Ohio, and Michigan, which manufacture midsize pickups, commercial vans, and midsize SUVsvehicles that aren't as lucrative as the larger ones.

AP further noted that the recent strikes directed at GM and Ford are focused on crossover SUVs, which are known to be significant sources of revenue for both automakers. In the past, the union would choose one company as the primary strike target and negotiate a contract agreement with that company, which would then serve as a model for the others.

However, this year, Fain introduced a new approach by targeting a select number of facilities at all three automakers. As a result of these strikes, approximately 25,000 workers, or roughly 17% of the union's total workforce of 146,000 employees at these three automakers, are currently participating in the strikes.

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What hardline Republicans did in the U.S. House of Representatives on September 29 made it all but certain that federal agencies will partially shut down beginning on October 1.

In a 232-198 vote, the House defeated a measure that would extend government funding by 30 days and avert a shutdown. That bill would have slashed spending and restricted immigration, Republican priorities that had little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The defeat left Republicans - who control the chamber by 221-212 - without a clear strategy to avert a shutdown that would close national parks, disrupt pay for up to 4 million federal workers and hobble everything from financial oversight to scientific research if funding is not extended past 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT) on Sunday.

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, following the vote, indicated that the chamber could potentially still approve a funding extension. However, he refrained from providing details about the subsequent course of action. The chamber is anticipated to conduct further votes on Saturday.

"It's only a failure if you quit," Reuters quoted him as telling reporters.

It was not clear whether the Senate would act in time, either. The chamber was due on Saturday afternoon to take up a bipartisan bill that would fund the government through Nov. 17, but procedural hurdles could delay a final vote until Tuesday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Friday that a government shutdown would "undermine" U.S. economic progress by idling programs for small businesses and children and could delay major infrastructure improvements.

The shutdown would be the fourth in a decade and just four months after a similar standoff brought the federal government within days of defaulting on its $31 trillion debt. The repeated brinkmanship has raised worries on Wall Street, where the Moody's ratings agency has warned it could damage U.S. creditworthiness.

(With Reuters inputs)

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RZESZOW, PolandPolish authorities first got wind of a Russian-organized espionage operation targeting a crucial logistics hub for Ukraines war from an unexpected source: an inebriated man stumbling along spotted a suspicious camera pointed at railroad tracks not far from the local airport.

The discovery by the local resident sparked an organized search that led to the discovery of more cameras at rail stations and rail crossings. In March, the countrys security services announced that they had dismantled a spy ring that was planning to derail trains used to transport weapons destined for Ukraine.

The spy ring, and the effort to stop it, speaks to the critical role of the logistics hub at Rzeszowor J-Town as many in the Polish and American military now call it. The hub, located in the vicinity of RzeszowJasionka Airport, around 60 miles from the Ukrainian border, is a critical link in a supply chain that moves billions of dollars in weapons through Poland that Western countries have sent to help Ukrainian forces to beat back Russian troops now dug in behind heavily-fortified lines.

The role of J-Town in Ukraines war hinges not only on counterespionage operations to fend off potential attacks, but also on delicate diplomacy. Ties between Ukraine and Poland, normally close, were strained last week over a dispute that began over grain shipments but snowballed into weapons deliveries.

The logistics hub emerged in the space of just 48 hours after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Ukrainians requested a hub that was close to the border, with good infrastructure and transportation connections. Rzeszow fit the bill.

Soon after, Ukrainian authorities were notifying suppliers to deliver weapons to a warehouse in Rzeszow, a previously sleepy town that had a rail hub and a commercial airport.

When Rzeszow proved difficult for many U.S. military personnel to pronounce, they started calling it J-Town and the name stuck (Rzeszow is pronounced zhesh-oof, with the zh sounding roughly like a J in English). Some in the Polish military have also embraced the J-Town moniker, and use it themselves.

Its fantastic," said Col. Radosaw Suek, the facilitys commander, a logistics officer with prior experience in Afghanistan.

During a visit last week, aid was rolling into J-Town on a steady basis. Standing at the top of an old air-traffic control tower, Suek pointed to an American C-17 landing at the airport. Im pretty happy," he said as the plane taxied down the runway. Another job to do."

A few minutes later, another C-17, having finished its delivery, took off.

Spat between neighbors

The continuing deliveries at the Polish logistics hub, officially known as POLLOGHUB, are evidence that, despite last weeks diplomatic dispute, weapons deliveries from Poland to Ukraine are continuing.

The dispute began after Kyiv filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Poland, Slovakia and Hungary for continuing to ban the import of Ukrainian grain. It escalated amid heated comments from political leaders on both sides. Midweek, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said during a TV interview that Poland isnt transferring weapons to Ukraine," which some interpreted as a potential suspension of arms supplies to the war.

Polish officials quickly clarified that this only referred to purchases for the countrys own armed forces, and Warsaw would, as planned, transfer to Kyiv a batch of howitzers, mine-clearing vehicles, and its regular supplies of ammunition, among other equipment. But the tensions underscored a potential crack in what has been arguably Ukraines most reliable alliance in the war against Russia.

Theres a disappointment that [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskys words focus now on the financial aspect of our relationship, especially now after the massive amount of support weve given," said Jacek Siewiera, chief of Polands National Security Bureau. But that wont stop Poland from supporting Ukraine to the end because we want to see Ukraine reclaiming territory, which is also in our national interest."

The logistics hub at Rzeszow is arguably the linchpin of that support. Though Poland doesnt provide numbers, officials say most Western support that flows into Ukraine goes through the hub. From there, the deliveries are unloaded, and then depending on the priority, prepared for truck convoys or other ground transport traveling to the border, where Ukrainian authorities take over.

Suek rattles off the list of military equipment his personnel have dealt with, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, helicopters, and artillery. A huge quantity of ammunition," he said.

Most targeted airport in Europe

The logistics hub is unusual in that it coexists in parallel with a civilian airport, while operating separately from it. The flights bringing weapons land on the same runway as commercial aircraft.

I was there and Im like, Holy smoke, it is a civilian airport, " said Lt. Gen. Piotr Bazeusz, the deputy chief of the general staff of the Polish armed forces. Ryanair still flies from J-Town," he said, referring to the European discount airline.

The presence of a wartime logistics hub has brought changesand concernsto what had been a civilian airport. There are several layers of air defense systems, provided by the U.S., U.K. and Poland. American Patriot batteries are clearly visible from the airport.

Its the best protected area in Europe," said Suek, noting the air-defense systems, as well as physical protection around the airport.

The protection isnt just the visible uniformed police and military, but also intelligence and special forces personnel operating quietly in the area.

The airport may be the best protected area in Europe, but it is also among the most targeted, at least for espionage.

Since the spy ring was identified earlier this year, Poland has investigated other potential threats, including recent train disruptions linked to unauthorized radio traffic. An outbreak of Legionnaires disease in the Rzeszow area killed more than a dozen people, prompting Polish security services to launch an investigation looking at potential intentional contamination of the water, including by Russia.

The Russian Embassy didnt respond to a request for comment about espionage allegations related to Rzeszow, but officials in Moscow have previously denounced Poland for its role in supporting Ukraine.

In the city of Rzeszow, less than 10 miles from the airport, there is little visible sign of those espionage concerns. In the cobblestoned main square, someone was operating a small drone equipped with a video camera that swooped above the buildings, filming the city.

But local residents are on alert, according to a Polish official who described how the first Russian spy camera was found with the help of a completely drunk" man. In Poland, they are aware of the risks and especially in the south of Poland," he said. And in the area of Rzeszow-Jasionka, they are really hyperaware."

Thomas Grove, Karolina Jeznach and Drew Hinshaw contributed to this article.

Write to Sharon Weinberger at sharon.weinberger@wsj.com
Mapping glaciers was once a difficult and arduous job. So was monitoring volcanoes for the grumblings and rumblings that might herald an eruption. In recent decades, the old methods of hiking boots and mountaineering gear have been joined by satellites and remote sensing, making things both easier and safer.

But looking from afar has its drawbacks too. If a volcano is high enough to sport glaciers on its flanks (and many are), then the thick layer of ice can make it harder, or impossible, to get accurate temperature readings from the rock beneath.

And that is a particular problem, for glacier-topped volcanoes are some of the most dangerous of all. If they do erupt, the heat can melt the glaciers, forming torrents of fast-moving mud called lahars that can flatten anything in their path. In 1985 the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in western Colombia erupted. The glaciers on its summit and flanks formed several gigantic lahars, one of which buried the nearby town of Armero, killing more than 20,000 of its inhabitants. It remains the worst natural disaster in the countrys history.

In a paper published last month in Geo logy, Matteo Spagnolo and Brice Rea, a pair of glaciologists at the University of Aberdeen, suggest a possible solution to the problem. The internal heat of volcanoes, they conclude, has a notable impact on the glaciers that sit on top of them. Monitoring those glaciers, rather than the volcano itself, may serve as an early-warning system for anyone living nearby.

The researchers and their colleagues studied 600 glaciers in the Andes (including those on Nevado del Ruiz) of which 74, being less than a kilometre from the mouth of an active volcano, were classed as volcanic". One of the main features the scientists were looking for was the equilibrium line". This is the point on a glacier that separates the accumulation zone", where snow adds to the glaciers mass, from the ablation zone", where melting subtracts from it. One of the things that affects the equilibrium line is the weather. Plenty of snowfall, or a cool summer, and the line will move downhill. A dry winter or a scorching summer will move it higher.

In theory, though, any source of heatincluding volcanic heat from beneath the groundought to affect the height of the equilibrium line. When the researchers examined the data, that is exactly what they found. Glaciers on volcanoes had equilibrium lines notably higher than those on ordinary mountains. In some cases, as on Copahue, a volcano on the border between Chile and Argentina, which last had a major eruption in 2016, the difference could be several hundred metres. Glaciers on quiescent volcanoes, such as Parinacota, a 6,400-metre mountain that sits between Bolivia and Chile, had equilibrium lines similar to glaciers on mountains that had never been volcanic at all.

With so many glaciers in their sample, the researchers were able to rule out other explanations, such as differences in the local microclimate. And on the 13 volcanoes for which the best data were available, they were able to map the correlation in detail. Those data showed a strong link between changes in the amount of volcanic heat seeping to the surface and the movements of the equilibrium line.

This means, say the researchers, that, although volcanic glaciers obscure what is going on underneath, they could themselves serve as telltales. Sudden changes in the equilibrium line, particularly if they are out of kilter with those of other glaciers nearby, could be evidence that something is brewing beneath the surface, and that further attention is warranted. Although they are getting better, volcanologists still cannot predict exactly when eruptions will occur. But a rise in heat suggests more magma is accumulating below, and makes a valuable early-warning sign.

The findings have implications beyond volcanology and warning nearby inhabitants of a looming disaster. Measurements of glaciers around the world provide one way for climate researchers to track the long-term effects of climate change. A warmer planet should mean that glaciers are receding everywhere, and by and large they are. But Dr Spagnolo and Dr Reas results suggest that not all glaciers make equally reliable thermometers. Those on the sides of volcanoes can advance and recede for reasons entirely unrelated to global warming. Climate scientists, they argue, should consider excluding such glaciers from their databases.

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
A recent report indicated that the Swiss glaciers have lost 10% of their volume in just the past two years.

According to scientists, exceptionally warm summers and winters with very little snow cover are the results of climate breakdown brought on by the burning of fossil fuels, which has accelerated melting.

Similar to what was lost between 1960 and 1990, a similar amount was lost during the hot summers of 2022 and 2023.

According to the Swiss Academy of Sciences' research, this year saw the second-largest annual decline in recorded history, with 4 percent of the Switzerland's total glacier volume disappearing.

The biggest thaw since data began was recorded to occur in 2022, when there was a 6% dip.

Even though glaciers have constantly and quickly been losing mass for many decades, this is a tremendous acceleration," said Matthias Huss, head of the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS), adding tht these extremes "would have been impossible without climate change."

Ice loss in Switzerland

Furthermore, there is almost no ice left on certain glaciers, so experts have already ceased monitoring them.

Recently, measurements at the St. Annafirn glacier in the canton of Uri in Central Switzerland were stopped because the glacier has mostly melted.

Huss said that the climate change increases the likelihood of such serious catastrophes, and a terrible combination of meteorological extremes also contributes.

This year saw a record amount of warmth in the Swiss Alps.

The elevation at which precipitation freezes reached a new record overnight high in August, the peak melt month, measuring 5,289 meters (17,350 feet), higher than Mont Blanc.

This broke the previous record set in 2017 by 5,184 meters.

Scientist also discovered bare rock protruding from diminishing ice as well as brand-new lakes emerging near to the glacier tongues for the first time ever.

As ice sheets have receded, bodies that had been lost beneath the ice have been found.

Read Also: Swiss Glaciers Shrunken By 10% in Five Years

Re-shaping of high-alpine

There are grave consequences to the massive glacier melt during the past two years, experts have said.

It "means a significant re-shaping of the high-alpine landscape," according to Huss.

Because of the unstable rock that could result in severe rockslides, it is also causing unsafe situations.

Grim discoveries are being made as a result of the retreating glaciers.

He noted that the emissions must be reduced in order to prevent Switzerland from losing its ice, but even if global warming could be limited to 1.5C over preindustrial levels, just a third of Switzerland's glacier volume is being expected to reappear.

There are also short-term benefits because the glacier runoff has filled hydroelectric reservoirs and lessened the severity of the country's current drought.

However, this is momentary and fleeting. Glaciers are fast losing their crucial ability to provide water when humans need it as a result of their increasing thinning.

"This will aggravate water scarcity during heat waves in the near future," Huss said.

Related Article: Climate Change is Melting Glaciers in Switzerland, Historical Imagery Reveals

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EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that more than 27,000 Ukrainian servicemen have already received training in the EU.

It is clear that investing in Ukraine's defense also means investing in European security. The EU continues to finance the supply of modern military equipment in accordance with the priorities identified by Ukraine. The EU also does quite a lot of work on military training. At the moment, more than 27,000 Ukrainian servicemen have received training in the EU, he said in a video address to the Defense Industries Forum.

Borrell recalled that recently the EU has increased the target of training to 40,000 people next year.

The EU's ammunition production initiative is paying off well, he said, adding that immediate deliveries from the warehouse have been made and now the EU is focusing on joint procurement. This month, the European Defense Agency signed nine framework contracts with industry for the joint procurement of 155mm ammunition.

According to Borrell, the EU should produce more and more to continue supporting Ukraine and replenishing the stocks of its member states.
Two witnesses from the night of the incident were asked to watch surveillance footage from outside Patten Towers and share what they remembered.
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A man alleged to have attempted to take money from the till of a Chinese restaurant will return before Longford District Court in October to progress the case against him.

Lee Meares (26) of no fixed abode was before Judge Bernadette Owens on two charges. Mr Meares' appearance was in respect of an incident on August 18 last.

The defendant faces charges that on that date at Taipan Restaurants, 57 Dublin Street, Longford he entered as a trespasser and that he committed an assault causing harm on Xin Qin Xu.

Judge Owens asked for details of the changes against the defendant before she accepted jurisdiction. Sergeant Conor McShane said at 7:05pm on the date of the incident three Gardai attended at the restaurant after a male had been apprehended by staff.

The prosecution alleged that staff members restrained Mr Meares after he had reached over the counter and tried to take cash from the till. The allegations were that the defendant tried to make an escape, first trying to flee through a bathroom where he damaged a door.

It was alleged Mr Meares tripped Ms Xin, causing her to hurt her knee as he attempted to make good his escape. He was apprehended by the restaurant owner who held him until the Gardai arrived.

Judge Owens accepted jurisdiction over the matter. The judge remanded Mr Meares in custody to October 3 for plea or a date for hearing.
(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings by London-listed companies, issued on Friday and not separately reported by Alliance News:

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Uru Metals Ltd - Toronto headquartered, mineral exploration and development company - For the year ended March 31, reports loss for the year of USD1.2 million from USD1.5 million a year prior. Basic and diluted loss per share was USD0.72 from USD0.91. Uru adds that the directors don't recommend the proposal of a final dividend. Chair John Zorbas says: "The Zeb Nickel Sulphide Project located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex remains the primary focus of URU, through its 75% interest in Zeb Nickel Corp. and URU's continuing role as the technical operator of the project...The recent exploration work conducted by Zeb has continued to demonstrate that the project holds one of the largest undeveloped repositories of nickel globally, and future drilling should demonstrate the continuity of higher grade nickelPGE mineralisation in the footwall of the historical nickel sulphide resource."

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Glantus Holdings PLC - Dublin-based provider of accounts payable automation and analytics services - For the six months to June 30, reports revenue of EUR6.4 million, up from EUR6.6 million a year prior. Pretax loss is EUR949,178, narrowed from EUR1.6 million the previous year. Loss per share is EUR2.40, compared to EUR4.09 year-on-year. On August 14, Genesis Bidco Ltd and the board of directors of Glantus said they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended all cash offer by Bidco, which has been unanimously recommended by the Glantus Board and pursuant to which Bidco, a newly incorporated private limited company wholly-owned by Basware Oy, will acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Glantus. Shares will have their last day of AIM dealings on October 5, following which they will be cancelled on October 9.

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Bens Creek Group PLC - Owner of a metallurgical coal mine in the US state of West Virginia - For the year ended March 31, reports revenue of USD42.2 million from USD5.4 million a year prior. Pretax loss is USD24.7 million from USD25.3 million the previous year, while basic loss per share is USD6.563 cents from USD6.165 cents. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is USD8.1 million from USD3.4 million the previous year. Chief Executive Officer Adam Wilsons reflects that the financial year has been "difficult" with a "range of problems, mostly outside of our control, including a state of emergency storm in August 2022." Maintains, however, that Bens Creek has successfully passed "a number of milestones including the establishment of our underground mine, the commencement of rail deliveries and the introduction of a 2nd high wall miner. In addition, we successfully raised GBP6 million via a placing at 30p per share to fund our transition from contracted to employed staff and to finance our fleet of earth moving equipment, 'yellow goods'." Believes the year ahead will show " a substantial improvement".

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APQ Global Ltd - Guernsey-incorporated emerging markets investor - As at June 30, reports book value of USD5.6 million, down from USD7.2 million at the start of the period. Says the key drive behind the decrease in book value is the foreign exchange losses on the CULS of USD2 million. Book value per share in the period decreased to 7.07 US cents from 9.21 US cents. For the six months ended June 30, reports operating loss before tax of USD689,121, from loss of USD9.8 million year-on-year. Turnover was USD6.4 million, up from USD5.5 million. No dividends were paid in the period, unchanged from last year.

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Challenger Energy Group PLC - Caribbean and America-focused oil and gas company - For the six months to June 30, reports net petroleum revenue of USD1.9 million, down from USD2.7 million the previous year. Pretax loss is USD4.2 million, swung from profit of USD4.3 million a year prior. On August 30, Challenger announced a GBP3.3 million convertible loan note funding facility of which GBP550,000 has initially been drawn down, with future drawdown of the remainder at the group's option, subject to certain drawdown conditions. Challenger says this provides it with the cash resources to cover the funding requirements of the group and bridge any funding gaps over the course of the next 12 months.

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By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Borrell: EU defense industry has something to add, still has something to learn from Ukraine's combat experience, innovations

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said the EU sees the necessity to intensify cooperation with the Ukrainian defense industry.

In his video address to the Defense Industries Forum, he welcomed the participants of the event and called on the European and Ukrainian industries to get closer and develop synergy.

The EU's industry has something to add, however, it also has something to learn from Ukraine's combat experience and innovations, Borrell said, adding that the EU sees the necessity to intensify cooperation with the Ukrainian defense industry.

Borrell noted that the Ukrainian defense industry in the current conditions faces enormous challenges, emphasizing that the key point is the restoration and creation of capacities for the production of high-tech weapons systems.

He stressed that a strong defense industrial base will be necessary for Ukraine to ensure its own security, and will also serve as a boost to the country's economy.
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Brothers Alfonso Inigo and Alexone Rolando, sons of Dr. Rolando Hortaleza, are now at the helm of Hortaleza Corp.s financial technology and food businesses.

Alfonso is the president and chief operating officer of Prime Global Finance Corp. (PGFC), the groups lending arm, while Alexone is the president of Prime Global Corp. (PGC) whose major business is in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

The brothers are now ready to take on the challenge of running the business from their father Rolando, bringing it to new levels.

He still stands as chairman and CEO, and he is still there in terms of strategic directions, and he is still involved in terms of the product portfoliomore on the creative side of the business such as launching new products. But in terms of operations, it is now me and my brother who manage our respective businesses, Alexone said.

The brothers were given bigger roles after their trademark company Splash Corp. was sold in 2019.

He is semi-retired, trying to enjoy life. He sits on the board of the group, but it is very rare for him to come to the office, Alfonso said, referring to his father.

Alfonso aims for a bigger and stronger PGFC, with the company investing heavily in digitalization.

PGFC is an end-to-end financing company established in 1997 that caters to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

When I took over in 2019, we had been innovating and investing heavily on digital platforms for the past four years, he said.

PGFC has shown tremendous growth in the middle of 2022, the time when SMEs started to realize how the company benefits users. It is the only financing institution that offers diminishing loan rates compared to other financing solution providers who impose add-on rates where interest is based on the total loan value.

With us, it is diminishing interest. Whatever is the outstanding balance, we base the interest from there, Alfonso said.

He said the company is the largest SME fintech, with end-to-end digital functions compared to other companies. The company continues to grow its loan portfolio in the billion-peso mark.

Unlike other financing firms, PGFC has a dedicated portal for borrowers to log-in and check the status of their loans. The process from loan application to processing is purely digital. The only time there is physical contact is during appraisal for signing of documents and releasing of loan.

PGFC offers a suite of financing options to SMEs from as low as P1 million to as high as P25 million.

Fifteen percent of our clients graduate to bank financing. We are helping the SMEs, and we know that the cost of capital is very expensive. The ultimate goal for us is for our customers to have a bank loan, Alfonso said.

While PGFCs core function is lending, it is embarking on an aggressive expansion to launch an insurance platform, solely for its main clientsthe SMEs.

Alfonso is optimistic that the new insurance platform will be one of the companys major products, seeing that insuretech could be the next big thing in the Philippines.

He is bullish about the prospects for PGFC. At the end of the day, because of the restrictive banking laws, there is always room for financing. In the Philippines, SMEs dont have access to capital. I think the business will continue to grow. Its just finding the right clients, he said.

For Alexone, the focus for PGC rests heavily on investing in research, development and innovation, to create exciting new products that will buttress the companys future growth.

PGC is also re-entering the personal care industry, five years after selling Splash Corp.

Starting next year, we are planning to launch innovative products that will address the gaps we see in the market, Alexone said.

PGC is poised to raise the necessary investments to back its re-entry into the personal care space, but the need for a dedicated facility can wait, he said.

If we establish the volume, we can always plan to have a manufacturing facility, potentially within the next three to four years, Alexone said.

Meanwhile, PGC is expanding its food manufacturing operations by investing in a P600-million plant in Bulacan, set to be completed by June 2024. The Hortalezas food business accounts for 75 percent of the companys revenues, mainly from its popular Barrio Fiesta product line that includes the bestseller shrimp paste or the local bagoong.

The expansion will easily increase production capacity by 50 percent. Right now, the companys current output barely meets demand, necessitating the need to move to a new facility.

PGC is looking at penetrating mainstream markets overseas in the near term to gain substantial foothold of the global market for food products. The company is actively exploring various options to achieve this goal.

We anticipate initiating these efforts in 2025. Once our new facility is operational, we can ramp up production capacity, enabling us to engage with these foreign markets effectively. We aim to market beyond just Filipinos in the future. We plan to be more than just a Filipino brand for Filipinos, but become a global brand, Alexone said.

Hortaleza Corp.s strategic moves in both personal care and food manufacturing underscore its commitment to innovation, growth and a vision for expanding its reach in the global market.
Grab Philippines has launched its Merchant Masterclass, a capacity-building program geared at enhancing the digital prowess of MSMEs across various dimensions of their enterprise.

The Grab Merchant Masterclass is the super apps flagship initiative for merchant-partners under its social empowerment campaign, GrabAsenso Program,

The knowledge-sharing sessions were led by experts from Grab and partner organizations, covering topics such as digital advertising, cost-efficient digital marketing, and accessible micro-financing.

The hybrid training program for merchants has had four face-to-face sessions in Manila, Bacolod and Iloilo in the first half of the year, welcoming more than 250 merchant-partners.

The Grab Merchant Masterclass also recently launched online episodes on Grab social media channels and Grabs dedicated Merchant App.

Culminating this season of Grab Merchant Masterclass was a hybrid session held at Commune Makati.

Led by Frances Cruz of social entrepreneurship and human resource development organization Bayan Academy, and Erica Suerte of Grab Finance, the masterclass zeroed in on branding and advertising through digital marketing and enterprise financing with business loans.

The resilience and vitality of our economy are deeply rooted in the MSME sector, which not only sustains the livelihoods of thousands of Filipinos but also invigorates commercial activity within their local communities and neighborhoods. Grabs architecture has been purposefully crafted to uplift these essential contributors  enhancing their productivity and amplifying their prospects for success. Beyond nurturing a robust marketplace, our commitment extends to ensuring MSMEs have access to cutting-edge technology and the critical knowledge for them to thrive amid the increasingly digital business environment, Grab Philippines Head of Operations CJ Lacsican said.

During the hybrid event, food cart owner Arnold Pagulayan Jr. shared the importance of capacity-building programs for MSMEs.

Through Grab Merchant Masterclass, I was able to learn more about digital marketing and social advertising, which I now leverage as I personally handle my business social channels. MSMEs like us make sure to take part in learning opportunities such as this to stay abreast with the latest trends in the industry  especially since we have lean teams taking on multiple hats within the organization, he said.

The next season of the Grab Merchant Masterclass will commence in January 2024.
In the realm of local automotive expertise, Miguelito Lito Jose stands as a seasoned veteran, witnessing the ever-evolving landscape of the thriving auto industry. As the Managing Director of Jetour Auto Philippines, Inc. (JAPI), he has surpassed formidable rivals in the local market, even when faced with the challenge of unfamiliar Chinese car brands.

During the 100 Days Celebration of JAPI in San Juan City, Jose emphasized the brands commitment to inspire, grow, and advance in tandem with the Filipino people. While Jetour cars have been on Philippine roads for over five years, it was only earlier this year that JAPI, jointly owned by The Gateway Group of the Goho Family and AutoSpeedyGo of the Licup Family, took over the countrys main distributorship.

The collaboration between The Gateway Group and AutoSpeedyGo, known for their extensive car distributorship network, birthed JAPI to further promote Jetour cars in the Philippines. Yves Licup leads JAPI as President, with Michael Goho as Vice President.

After an extravagant introduction of Jetour and its car lineup at a grand hotel party, where Asia & Pacific director of Chery Commercial Vehicle Co. Ltd. also made an appearance, Jose wasted no time rolling out various sales and marketing initiatives. These included the gasoline-fed Dashing, X70, X70 Plus, and the fully electric Ice Cream.

Jose expressed his optimism, revealing that over 500 Jetour cars now traverse Philippine roads, with a bold target of 50,000 Jetour vehicles within the next five years. He highlighted JAPIs innovative approach in addressing customer needs and its commitment to deliver value.

The Drive and Save Program continues to offer affordable down payment schemes, with an opportunity for customers to recover the amount after two years. A new initiative offers a 0% interest monthly amortization for Jetour X70 models, and the Equity Match framework ensures customers down payments match their monthly amortization.

Jose acknowledged the pivotal role of Jetours expanding dealer network, with 26 dealerships slated to open this year. Currently, six operational dealerships grace locations in Alabang, Fairview, Pasay, Edsa Centris, Las Pinas, and Cubao. Seven more are under construction in various cities, and applications are in progress for nine additional locations.
Borrell in Odesa: Ukraine has every right to defend itself against Russian aggression, regain full control of its territory

The European Union will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said during a visit to Odesa on Saturday.

"Odesa is a beautiful historic city. It should be in the headlines for its vibrant culture and spirit. Instead, it marks the news as frequent target of Putin's war. The EU supports the stabilization of sites impacted by Russia's barbarically destruction," he said on X social network (formerly Twitter).

"A year has passed since Russia's illegal annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. Ukraine has every right to defend itself against the Russian aggression and regain full control of its territory. The EU stands with Ukraine for as long as it takes," he said.
A grand jury indicted two Lawrence teenagers in connection with the September shooting death of Angie Aristy, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tuckers office announced Friday.

Jobe Santiago, 14, and Jayden Torres, 15, were returned indictments on Thursday in connection with Aristys death, along with being indicted as youthful offenders on one count each of armed robbery, Tuckers office said in a statement.

Lawrence police were alerted to a shooting on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at around 9:20 p.m. near 300 Howard St. When officers arrived, they found Aristy with multiple gunshot wounds.

She was taken to Lawrence General Hospital, where she died from her injuries. Santiago and Torres were arrested in Lowell and charged on Sept. 13, Tuckers office said.

A GoFundMe was set up by Aristys family members to raise money to help her family after her death.

Im raising money for this tragedy that my sister-in-law went through, sister-in-law Leamsi Guzman wrote. She loved, she was strong, she preached and she made others laugh. Most importantly, she cared about others first.

Read more: Lakeville police chief says body cam footage of shooting to be released after arraignment

The end of the short description included #F***GUNVIOLENCE.

The fundraiser has since blown past its $2,500 goal and received $3,958 from 90 donations.
WEST SPRINGFIELD  A million-dollar grant will expand outpatient mental health services at a major human services agency.

Center for Human Developments Outpatient Mental Health Clinic plans to increase total staffing from 23 to 35 and integrate a primary medical care service within the Park Street clinic in West Springfield, said Jalil Johnson, senior vice president of medical services for CHD.

The clinic is looking to hire physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and registered nurses.

In addition, the federal funding will be used to enhance services for people dealing with mental health and substance use issues. The $999,999 grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration.

We have a full continuum of outpatient behavioral health services  and in the coming months, we will be adding more staff to support primary care services, Johnson said.

Johnson said the funding will help team members serve people suffering from poor mental health, substance use issues and primary care needs.

CHD serves roughly 25,000 clients a year in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and 3,000 clients a year at the West Springfield clinic, according to Brian Fitzgerald, a spokesperson.

Jessica McClintock receives services at the Center for Human Development. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 9/28/2023

Its all in one place

One client says the funding will allow the outpatient clinic to better serve the public.

Jessica McClintock, of Chicopee, has received psychotherapy services from CHD since 2018 and enrolled a son diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the clinics early intervention program.

Based on her experience so far, McClintock said therapists can become like family or friends. Since she sought help from CHD, her life has taken a 180-degree turn.

Its nice to have everything under one umbrella, she said. Im not seeing a doctor somewhere else, Im not going here for therapists and going over here for a psychiatrist for medication. Its just all in one place.

The funding is part of $127.7 million distributed to Community Certified Behavior Health Clinics across the country as part of the 60th anniversary of the Community Mental Health Act of 1963.

This story has been updated to reflect the proper name of the Center for Human Development Outpatient Mental Health Clinic. An earlier version was incorrect.
A fire destroyed several waterfront buildings in Maine, including an art gallery with several paintings by Jamie Wyeth and an illustration by his grandfather, N.C. Wyeth., the buildings owner said Friday.

The original paintings and illustration, along with several signed prints, books and photographs, were lost when the fire started late Wednesday and spread to several buildings including the Maine Wyeth Art Gallery, said Linda Bean, who owned both the art gallery and the Port Clyde General Store, which also burned down.

The Jamie Wyeth paintings that were destroyed were Snapper, With Green Peppers and Red Tail Hawk, and N.C. Wyeths illustration was from Henry David Thoreaus book, Men of Concord.

The Wyeth family famously have ties to the area. Jamie Wyeths dad, Andrew Wyeth, painted his 1948 masterpiece Christinas World in nearby Cushing. His grandfather, N.C. Wyeth, had a home in Port Clyde.

The fire started in the Dip Net restaurant and quickly spread to three businesses in Port Clyde, a village thats part of the town of Saint George, the state fire marshal said. All three buildings were destroyed, and firefighters remained at the scene until Thursday evening.

No one was hurt.

The fire left a hole in the waterfront, saddening the community. Everybody in town has at one point worked at the general store, myself included, said Magan Wallace, planning and assessing clerk.

Bean, whose grandfather founded the retail giant L.L. Bean, said Friday she intends to rebuild. My hope is to restore the premises and resume its businesses and jobs there as fully and as soon as possible, she said.
SPRINGFIELD  In a seven-year span, the city of Springfield foreclosed on 129 houses to collect almost $3.5 million in taxes. But in doing so, it caused residents to lose $15 million in equity they put into those properties, according to a study conducted by the Pacific Legal Foundation.

City Councilor Justin Hurst recently highlighted the study and used its findings to lay blame at the feet of Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.

Hurst and Sarno are running against each other in a race for Springfield mayor.

Mayor Domenic Sarno and his administration stole an average of 119,000 dollars in home equity from homeowners in the city of Springfield due to non-payment of taxes, Hurst said in a press release Thursday.

A spokesman for Sarno did not return requests for comment about where the money from these sales went or whether the people whose homes were foreclosed on have received any financial compensation for their propertys equity value.

According to Pacific Legal Foundation, municipalities in the commonwealth can file liens against properties whose taxes are delinquent, liens which could be sold to private investors. After six months, the lienholders can seek to foreclose on the properties and then sell them.

In the past, the sellers could keep the proceeds after these tax foreclosures, even if the original homeowner only owed a couple thousand dollars in taxes on the property.

Pacific Legal Foundations strategic research director and lead author in the study, Angela Erickson, said in the states where home equity theft occurs, the city  usually the treasurers office and respective tax collecting departments  takes the remaining home equity, which is why we call it home equity theft.

In May of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court made a unanimous decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota declaring the practice unconstitutional, saying it violated the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Days after the ruling, Pacific Legal Foundation said Massachusetts laws needed to be changed, saying the state was one of 12 whose laws allowed local governments to keep proceeds of tax sales beyond what was owed in taxes.

A statement issued by Massachusetts Land Court after the ruling said municipalities involved in tax foreclosure cases had to make sure to provide just compensation to property owners, and homeowners in those proceedings were able to recover the proceeds of a tax sale beyond what they owed in taxes.

For its study, the foundation requested public records requests for land records and information from city treasurers from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2021.

The number of foreclosed homes that were sold due to tax delinquency in Springfield far outstripped any other city in Massachusetts during that period. In Boston, 45 homes were seized for tax debts and in Worcester, 23, according to Pacific Legal Foundation.

Hurst noted in his press release that victims in Springfield who lost their property due to tax title foreclosure had the equity in their homes taken at almost 3 times the rate of Boston and 6 times the rate of Worcester.

Our goal should be to identify these victims and help these people be whole again, Hurst said.

Generally, when purchasing a house, people get a mortgage loan.

Often, these mortgage loan agencies would offer to pay real estate taxes on properties, said Kevin Handly, Boston University School of Laws Director of Graduate Programs in Tax, Banking, and Financial Law.

Unfortunately, many mortgage services neglect to pay those taxes even if a property owner is diligent about paying off their mortgage  and thats where many people fall victim to foreclosure, he said.

Handly said the city is not obligated to return the nearly $15 million to the former homeowners.

This form of home equity theft is now federally illegal and unethical, he continued. I would expect cities that foreclose on homes to return the excess of the sale they pocket to the homeowners.
A Lexington man is accused of shooting his mother and her friend at their home on Friday, allegedly using an illegally bought gun to do so, according to police.

The man, who has been identified as 22-year-old Brent Justice Roman-Finnagan, allegedly shot his 57-year-old mother and her friend, a 55-year-old woman, at the home he and his mother live in on Keeler Farm Way in Lexington on Friday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Lexington Chief of Police Michael McLean said in a statement. Both women survived.

Lexington police received a 911 call from Roman-Finnagans mother around 4:45 p.m. Friday, reporting her son had shot her and her friend, according to the statement. Officers arrived at the scene and were able to take the man into custody without incident.

The two women were taken to an area hospital, where they remain in stable condition, Ryan and McLean noted.

Roman-Finnagan was also taken to the hospital Friday night for a mental health evaluation, but he has since been released into authorities custody pending his arraignment in Concord District Court on Monday, according to the district attorney and police chief.

Based on the investigation, police learned that the suspect had illegally purchased a firearm that he had been keeping in his room, the statement detailed. Yesterday, while he was in the home with his mother and her friend, he retrieved the gun and shot both women.

He has been charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury, two counts of assault and battery as a result of the discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition, according to the statement.

The shooting remains under investigation by the District Attorneys Office, Massachusetts State Police detectives and Lexington police.
A man accused of fatally shooting a man and woman in a parking lot in downtown Nashua, New Hampshire late Friday has been arrested, according to authorities.

Victor Rivera, 47, of Nashua was arrested Saturday morning for allegedly killing the man and woman, who have yet to be publicly identified. They were found dead in a parking lot on Maple Street, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella and Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke said in a statement.

Nashua police responded to calls reporting gunshots in the area of the Maple Street parking lot around 10:30 p.m. Friday. When officers arrived, they found the man and woman dead from what appeared to be gunshot wounds, according to the statement.

Authorities said Rivera was arrested for knowingly causing the deaths of the man and woman by shooting them and, alternatively, for recklessly causing the deaths of the two victims under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life. He is expected to be arraigned in Hillsborough County Superior Court on Monday, the statement said.

Autopsies were scheduled for the man and woman at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Concord at 9 a.m. Saturday, according to the statement.

The exact circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, the statement said. More information will be released as it becomes available.

The identities of the victims are not expected to be released until after family members have been notified, and the completion of the autopsies, the attorney general and police chief added.
Massachusetts politicians have paid tribute to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has died, aged 90, after a decades-long career in state and national politics.

Feinstein died on Thursday night at her home in Washington, D.C., her office said on Friday, according to the Associated Press. Tributes poured in all day. Opening the Senate floor, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that we lost a giant in the Senate.

As the nation mourns this tremendous loss, we know how many lives she impacted and how many glass ceilings she shattered along the way, Schumer said, his voice cracking, the AP reported.

Massachusetts lawmakers who knew and worked with Feinstein also paid tribute Friday.

Feinstein was a gun safety champion, an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and a trailblazer who paved the way for generations of women in politics. Keeping her family, friends and colleagues in my thoughts. May her memory be a blessing, Gov. Maura Healey said in a posting to X, formerly Twitter.

During her lifetime of service, Senator Feinstein was a gun safety champion, an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and a trailblazer who paved the way for generations of women in politics.



Keeping her family, friends and colleagues in my thoughts. May her memory be a blessing.  Maura Healey (@MassGovernor) September 29, 2023

In a statement, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called Feinstein, a onetime San Francisco mayor, a legendary legislator, who was a trailblazer for the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community, and a staunch defender of our democratic principles.

For decades, I was fortunate to count Dianne as a partner in protecting the American people from the existential threats of our time: advancing historic fuel economy standards to combat the climate crisis, championing an assault weapons ban to curb gun violence, and stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons to avert Armageddon, Markey continued. She was a consumer champion, a proponent of peace and diplomacy, and a public servant to her very core.

In a post to X, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Feinstein broke barriers as a lawmaker.

From leading an assault weapons ban to championing LGBTQ+ rights and becoming the first woman to lead the Senate Rules and Intelligence committees, Dianne Feinstein broke barriers and fought for the American people. My heart goes out to her family and loved ones, Warren wrote.

From leading an assault weapons ban to championing LGBTQ+ rights and becoming the first woman to lead the Senate Rules and Intelligence committees, Dianne Feinstein broke barriers and fought for the American people. My heart goes out to her family and loved ones.  Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 29, 2023

In her own posting to X, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District, said she was deeply saddened to learn of her [Feinsteins] transition.

The Golden State lawmaker was a history-maker whose leadership on womens equality, gun violence prevention, LGBTQ+ rights, and more has helped us build a more just & equitable nation, Pressley said.

.@SenFeinstein was a historymaker whose leadership on women's equality, gun violence prevention, LGBTQ+ rights, and more has helped us build a more just & equitable nation.



I am deeply saddened to learn of her transition and I am keeping her loved ones & staff in my prayers. https://t.co/zxzNYTAQqT  Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) September 29, 2023

Feinstein was unprecedented and unparalleled figure in American politics. She began her historic Senate career in 1992, the Year of the Woman, and continued to inspire generations of women leaders to follow in her example, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-5th District, posted to X. We stand on her shoulders.

U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, offered a similar sentiment.

My heart goes out to the family, friends and colleagues mourning the loss of Senator Feinstein. Over her lifetime of public service, she blazed a trail for women  from her hometown of San Francisco to the United States Senate. May she rest in peace, Trahan posted to X on Friday.

Dianne Feinstein was a trailblazer for women in public service, whose advocacy helped improve the lives of all Americans. My thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones during this difficult time.



Full statement: https://t.co/8W6qB6qUcX  Rep. Richard Neal (@RepRichardNeal) September 29, 2023

Feinsteins advocacy as a lawmaker helped improve the lives of all Americans, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-1st District, the dean of the Bay States U.S. House delegation, posted to X.

Feinstein, the oldest sitting U.S. senator, was a passionate advocate for liberal priorities important to her state -- including environmental protection, reproductive rights and gun control -- but was also known as a pragmatic lawmaker who reached out to Republicans and sought middle ground, the Associated Press reported.

Feinsteins death came after a bout of shingles sidelined her for more than two months earlier this year  an absence that drew frustration from her most liberal critics and launched an unsuccessful attempt by Democrats to temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the AP.

When she returned to the Senate in May, she was frail and using a wheelchair, voting only occasionally.
At mid-morning on Saturday, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives were voting on a bill that would keep the government funded for 45 more days. A shutdown, however, appeared more and more likely.

Heres what to expect if the government shuts down.

Will I Get My Social Security Check?

Because Social Security is considered a mandatory program, recipients will still get their checks if the government shuts down.

According to the Social Security Administration, close to 67 million people receive checks from the program each month, totaling about $1.4 trillion per year. The average monthly benefit payment is $1,837 for retired workers and $1,486 for disabled workers.

Whats Open and Whats Closed?

Yes, you can still go to the Post Office

The United States Postal Service will still be open even if the government shuts down.

Yes, you can still take a flight, but ...

Although airports will still be open, there may be significant travel delays, according to Nerdwallet.

Both TSA workers and air traffic controllers would still be expected to work even without pay if the government shuts down. But if the shutdown lasts too long, then the federal workers may refuse to work with a paycheck, which could lead to longer wait times for travelers, NerdWallet reported.

No, you wont be able to go to certain zoos or museums

All Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo will be closed if the government shuts down. But private, state-owned or public museums and/or zoos will still be up and running.

Will national parks be open? Its unclear

Some national parks may be completely closed to visitors during a government shutdown. This is done to ensure the safety of visitors and protect park resources when there are insufficient staff and funds to maintain operations.

However, a report from the Congressional Research Servicenational parks can accept donations to keep some park operations running even in the event of a government shutdown, Verfifythis.com reported.

Yes, the DMV will still be open

The DMV will still be open since the agency is funded by the state instead of the federal government.

MassLive reporters Alvin E. Buyinza and Trea Lavery contributed to this story.
WASHINGTON  U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthys last-ditch plan to keep the federal government temporarily open collapsed in dramatic fashion Friday as a robust faction of hard-right holdouts rejected the package, making a shutdown almost certain.

McCarthys right-flank Republicans refused to support the bill despite its steep spending cuts of nearly 30% to many agencies and severe border security provisions, calling it insufficient.

The White House and Democrats rejected the Republican approach as too extreme. The vote was 198-232, with 21 hard-right Republicans voting to sink the package. The Democrats voted against it.

The bills complete failure a day before Saturdays deadline to fund the government leaves few options to prevent a shutdown that will furlough federal workers, keep the military working without pay and disrupt programs and services for millions of Americans.

A clearly agitated McCarthy left the House chamber. Its not the end yet; Ive got other ideas, he told reporters.

The outcome puts McCarthys speakership in serious jeopardy with almost no political leverage to lead the House at a critical moment that has pushed the government into crisis. Even the failed plan, an extraordinary concession to immediately slash spending by one-third for many agencies, was not enough to satisfy the hard-right flank that has upturned his speakership.

The Senate pushed ahead Friday with its own plan favored by Republicans and Democrats to keep the government open while also bolstering Ukraine aid and U.S. disaster accounts. But that wont matter with the House in political chaos.

The White House has brushed aside McCarthys overtures to meet with President Joe Biden after the speaker walked away from the debt deal they brokered earlier this year that set budget levels.

Extreme House Republicans are now tripling down on their demands to eviscerate programs millions of hardworking families count on, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Jean-Pierre said, The path forward to fund the government has been laid out by the Senate with bipartisan support  House Republicans just need to take it.

Catering to his hard-right flank, McCarthy had returned to the spending limits the conservatives demanded back in January as part of the deal-making to help him become the House speaker.

His package would not have cut the Defense, Veterans or Homeland Security departments but would have slashed almost all other agencies by up to 30%  steep hits to a vast array of programs, services and departments Americans routinely depend on.

It also added strict new border security provisions that would kickstart building the wall at the southern border with Mexico, among other measures. Additionally, the package would have set up a bipartisan debt commission to address the nations mounting debt load.

Ahead of voting, the Republican speaker all but dared his holdout colleagues to oppose the package a day before Saturdays almost certain shutdown. The House bill would have kept operations open through Oct. 31.

Every member will have to go on record where they stand, McCarthy said.

Asked if he had the votes, McCarthy said, Well see.

But as soon as the floor debate began, McCarthys chief Republican critic, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, announced he would be voting against the package, urging his colleagues to not surrender.

The hard right, led by Gaetz, has been threatening McCarthys ouster, with a looming vote to try to remove him from the speakers office unless he meets the conservative demands. Still, its unclear if any other Republican would have support from the House majority to lead the party.

Gaetz said afterward that the speakers bill went down in flames as Ive told you all week it would.

He and others rejecting the temporary measure want the House to instead keep pushing through the 12 individual spending bills needed to fund the government, typically a weeks-long process, as they pursue their conservative priorities.

Some of the Republican holdouts, including Gaetz, are allies of Donald Trump, who is Bidens chief rival in 2024. The former president has been encouraging the Republicans to fight hard for their priorities and even to shut it down.

The margin of defeat shocked even Republican members.

Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., said: I think what this does, if anything, I think its going to rally people around the speaker and go: Hey, the dysfunction here is not coming from leadership in this case. The dysfunction is coming from individuals that dont understand the implications of what were doing here.

Garcia said, For the people that claim this isnt good enough, I want to hear what good enough looks like.

Another Republican, Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a member of the Freedom Caucus who supported the package, suggested the House was losing its leverage with the failed vote: We control the purse strings. We just ceded them to the Senate.

Republicans convened for a closed-door meeting later Friday afternoon that grew heated, lawmakers said, but failed to produce a new plan. Leaders announced the House would stay in session next week, rather than return home, to keep working on some of the 12 spending bills.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, criticized the proposed Republican cuts as hurting law enforcement and education and taking food out of the mouths of millions. She said 275,000 children would lose access to Head Start, making it harder for parents to work.

This is a pointless charade with grave consequences for the American people, DeLauro said.
You can add Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell to the ranks of Bay State officials calling on Washington to be vigilant as student loan payments resume next week for tens of thousands of borrowers across the commonwealth.

On Friday, Campbell joined with 18 of her fellow state attorneys general, sending a letter to the White House and the U.S. Dept. of Education, to urge more protections for borrowers, and to raise additional concerns about loan servicers ability to meet increased demand.

Federal loan borrowers will face a multitude of challenges as they begin making payments next month, including difficulty reaching their loan servicers, Campbell said in a statement. We are concerned that these challenges may prevent borrowers from accessing more affordable payments, including those available under the new SAVE repayment plan.

The latter is a reference to an income-driven repayment plan now being offered to borrowers.

The action by Campbell and her colleagues comes just days after Democratic Massachusetts U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, joined by several of their colleagues, sent a letter to the top four loan servicers, seeking an update on the same topic.

In that letter, Warren and Markey, along with Democratic U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, and Chris Van Hollen, of Maryland, said they were deeply worried about the companies readiness, MassLive previously reported.

More than 40 million borrowers nationwide, including nearly 1 million in the Bay State, are set to resume their payments after a more than three-year pandemic pause. Interest began accruing again on those loans earlier this month.

A majority of loans were transferred to new servicers, who have say theyre doing what they can to ensure a smooth transition.

Collectively we have done our best to project the inbound call volumes, staffing needs, back-office processing volumes and other components that will allow our borrowers to receive assistance and customer service they deserve despite of the unprecedented nature of the lengthy repayment pause, EdFinancial Services CEO William Anthony Tony Hollin, one of those servicers, wrote in an Aug. 1 letter to Warren and Markey.

Campbell co-led the letter with Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson. They were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

This week, Campbell and her colleagues called for more enthusiastic federal oversight, noting that amidst a significant student debt crisis, which disproportionately affects low-income borrowers, women, and people of color, it is critical that the Biden Administration take further action to avoid harm to borrowers.

Read More: A copy of the letter can be found A copy of the letter can be found here

While the SAVE program, along with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program for qualifying borrowers, are good first steps, Campbell and her colleagues cautioned that the likelihood of loan servicing issues appears high -- particularly since the Education Department appears to lack capacity to assist borrowers, oversee servicers, and enforce borrower protections during the return to repayment.

The letter also comes amid the threat of a looming government shutdown, where the federal governments oversight abilities are likely to be further constrained.

On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District, called on the federal government to freeze repayments during a likely government shutdown, arguing that forcing borrowers to make payments would be a recipe for disaster.

This Republican government shutdown stands to harm families across the nation, many who were just regaining their financial footing for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis, Pressley said in a statement. The [Biden] administration should absolutely pause student loan payments and interest accrual in light of these stark realities.

In 2019-20, 56% of Massachusetts college graduates had some student debt, with an average of $33,457, according to data compiled by the Institute for College Access and Success. That was the eighth-highest tally nationwide.

About a third of those students, 31%, had non-federal debt, which often is costlier and carries fewer consumer protections than federal debt, the institute said in a statement.

The largest component was private student loans, offered by banks and private lenders. About 14% of the commonwealths students had such debt, with an average debt of $42,748, the institutes data indicated.
After a missile strike on one of the Ukrainian missile production facilities, the enterprise was moved outside of Ukraine, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov said on Ukrainian Radio on September 29.

"This strike happened a long time ago and therefore, understanding that the Russians know the location of some facilities since the times of the Soviet Union, we took certain steps in advance to prevent them [attacks]. This does not affect the missile program globally," he said.

He also emphasized that "part of the production has been moved outside our country, where the Russian Federation will definitely not get it. After all, Russia can only fight with us, and if we are talking about NATO countries, then everything here is rather weak."

Also, according to Danilov, the Russian Federation has begun attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector, however, the state is doing everything to get through this season as easily as possible.

"The state is preparing as much as possible, but this does not mean that we will not have problems in winter. There will definitely be problems, but we must remember that we have already lived through one of the most difficult winters both for us and for the whole world. I don't know of any a country that would face such problems in winter during military operations," the NSDC Secretary said.
WESTFIELD  The search for Westfield Virtual Schools new principal is down to two finalists, a current teacher at the remote instruction school and an administrator with principal experience in other school districts.

Christine Shea, Westfields director of assessment and accountability and head of the search committee, announced on Friday that the two finalists are David Castonguay of Southwick and Michael Fredette of Southampton.

Castonguay has taught social studies at the Virtual School since 2021. He has a masters degree in psychology from Westfield State University and a bachelors degree in social science from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His experience includes 11 years as a school counselor and department head at Chicopee Comprehensive School, serving as equal opportunity director at the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield from 2003 to 2006, and working for the U.S. Census Bureau from 2019 to 2020 as a partnership specialist. From 2013 to 2019, he ran his own business in Southwick as a certified hypnotist.
A Worcester man was killed in a car crash in which the vehicle he was driving struck a tree and caught on fire in Oxford late Friday, according to authorities.

The man, who has since been identified as Shawn Marengo, 31, of Worcester, was driving a 1998 Jeep Wrangler sport utility vehicle on Interstate 395 in Oxford near Exit 4 around 10 p.m. Friday when the car left the roadway, struck a tree and caught on fire, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.

State Police troopers responded to the single-vehicle crash on the southbound side of the highway, and Marengo was determined to be dead at the scene, according to the statement.

The left lane of I-395 south was closed for roughly 4 hours while authorities investigated and recovery efforts were undertaken. The crash scene was cleared by around 2:20 a.m. Saturday, State Police said.

Troopers at the scene were assisted by the Webster Fire Department and EMS, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, MassDOT and the State Police Employee Assistance Unit, the statement noted.

The facts and circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation by the State Police Sturbridge Barracks, Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Services Section and Detective Unit in Worcester County.

No further information was immediately released to the public Saturday morning.
In the ever-expanding universe of superhero films, there's one announcement that has left fans on the edge of their seats  a big-screen Bollywood adaptation of the iconic television series Shaktimaan.

Sony Pictures revealed plans for a superhero trilogy on Shaktimaan last year. Since then, enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting updates on the cast and crew, with one name consistently stealing the spotlight  Ranveer Singh, who is rumoured to be taking on the mantle of Shaktimaan after Mukesh Khanna.

@ Sony Pictures

Adding to the mounting speculation is Tovino Thomas, the Malayalam superstar known for his close collaboration with director Basil Joseph, the rumoured director of the Shaktimaan films.

Tovino Thomas recently took to Instagram for a live session, celebrating the selection of his film, 2018, as India's official entry for the Oscars. Broadcasting from Amsterdam, the actor shared his joy with his followers. Surprising everyone, Ranveer Singh popped into Tovino's Instagram live session, showering him with praise and admiration. In his comments, Ranveer expressed his love for the actor.

Tovino, visibly elated by Ranveer's presence, reciprocated the admiration and gratitude. He also dropped hints about ongoing discussions with Basil Joseph, sparking a flurry of excitement among fans. Tovino was overheard saying, "I was telling Basil Joseph that you are an amazing actor, and he is going to have so much good times. Congratulations bro!"

While the words Shaktimaan weren't explicitly mentioned during the live session, the context strongly hinted at the potential involvement of Basil Joseph and Ranveer Singh in the superhero project. Ranveer, in an engaging exchange, posed the question, "Who here wants Tovino x Ranveer?" and expressed his desire to share the screen with Tovino, referring to him as a source of pride for the Indian performing fraternity.

The live interaction between Tovino Thomas and Ranveer Singh unleashed a frenzy on social media. Excitement and anticipation reverberated across platforms as fans speculated about the prospect of a superhero trilogy featuring Tovino, Ranveer, and Basil Joseph.

This is the second iconic franchise Ranveer has been asked to lead after Don. This year, Ranveer was announced as Shah Rukh Khan's replacement in the Don franchise, with a short announcement video for Don 3.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. A group of Azerbaijani Armed Forces personnel completed the AKINCI unmanned aerial vehicle control course organized by Baykar in Turkiye, Trend reports, citing Azerbaijani Embassy in Turkiye.

It was noted that the military personnel have mastered the skills to control the Bayraktar AKINCI assault unmanned aerial vehicle.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. Azerbaijan was the first country in the region to host the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Adviser to the Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan Rashad Bayramov told reporters, Trend reports.

Azerbaijan is set to host the event for the second time in history on October 2-6, 2023, also being the only one in the region.

"Scientists and researchers from 95 countries have submitted 3,532 scientific articles to the upcoming International Astronautical Congress in Baku. Azerbaijan has also submitted a record number of scientific articles - 214. Our country is among the five countries that have submitted the largest number of scientific articles, after the US, Italy, India and China," he said.

According to him, the objectives of the IAC are to create a platform for establishing international cooperation in the space sphere, exchange experience and knowledge, demonstrate various novelties and increase the interest of young people in the space industry.

The IAC will be held in Baku on October 2-6, 2023.

The congress has been held annually since 1950 under the auspices of the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Institute of Space Law with the support of the International Astronautical Federation.

The IAC's history in Azerbaijan dates back to 1973. At the initiative of the national leader Heydar Aliyev, on October 7-13 of the same year, the country hosted the 24th International Astronautical Congress under the motto of "Space research - penetration into science and technology".

Thus, Baku became the first city in the region where this event was organized.

On October 25-29, 2019, at the General Assembly of the International Astronautical Federation in Washington, Baku won the right to host the most prestigious event of the International Space Industry for the second time.

Thus, on October 2-6, 2023, the 74th International Astronautical Congress under the motto of "Global challenges and opportunities: Let's give chance to space" will be held in the Azerbaijani capital, organized by the Azerbaijan Space Agency - Azercosmos OJSC.

Azercosmos OJSC owns two communication satellites - Azerspace-1 and Azerspace-2, as well as the low-orbit satellite Azersky. In 2022, the income of the company from the sale of satellite and telecommunications services amounted to $26.6 million.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed a year ago made their choice  to be with their Fatherland.

In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Putin insisted that it was carried out in full accordance with international norms. He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month, in which Russias Central Election Commission said that the countrys ruling party won the most votes.

The West has denounced both the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.

A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Putin did not participate.

The address came after Russias Defense Ministry said Friday it would enlist 130,000 men for compulsory military service this fall, beginning Oct. 1 in most regions of the country. It announced it would for the first time begin enlisting residents of the annexed territories as part of its twice-yearly military conscription campaign.

Russia says conscripts are not deployed to what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, or to serve in the annexed territories. However, after their service, conscripts automatically become reservists, and Russia has previously deployed reservists to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the governor of Ukraines partly occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region, Yurii Malashko, said five people were wounded on Saturday in two missile strikes on the village of Matviivka, located on the northeastern outskirts of the regional capital, also called Zaporizhzhia.

Air defenses shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.

Vinnytsia regional Gov. Serhii Borzov said that air defenses shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but that a powerful fire broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.

Romanias Ministry of National Defense said on Saturday that a possible unauthorized entry into its national airspace occurred overnight amid the bombardment.

It said the radar surveillance system of the Romanian Army detected a possible unauthorized entry into the national airspace of NATO member Romania, with a signal detected toward the city of Galati, which is close to the border with Ukraine.

At this moment, no objects have been identified that fell from the airspace onto the national territory, the statement read, adding that NATO allies were informed in real time and that searches will continue through Saturday.

Emergency authorities issued text message alerts overnight to residents living in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, after detecting what the defense ministry said was groups of drones heading toward Ukrainian territory near the border.

In recent weeks, Romania has found drone fragments on its soil from the war next door at least three times as Russian forces carry out sustained attacks on Ukraines Danube ports.

Russias Defense Ministry said Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said that an artillery shell created a crater and shrapnel damaged a house, a store and a gas pipeline in an attack on the regional capital, also called Belgorod. Local officials in Russias Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, reported disruptions to the power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar. Drone strikes and shelling in the Russian border regions are a regular occurrence.

___

AP writers Stephen McGrath in Sighisoara, Romania, and Elise Morton in London contributed to this report.
Read the original article on Business Insider.

Ukraine said it now has a meticulous system for storing and tracking U.S.-provided munitions that the American embassy can access anytime.

Oleksandra Ustinova, a Ukrainian member of parliament who leads a commission tracking foreign military aid, told CBS News' "60 Minutes" that serial numbers of every single piece of U.S. weaponry sent to Ukraine are in a database that the American embassy in Kyiv can view.

U.S. officials can then visit the warehouses storing the equipment to see the inventory for themselves, she said.

"They can come, type in, let's say, a Javelin or a HIMARS and see in which brigade it is, and then go check it if they don't believe," Ustinova said.

The member of parliament showed "60 Minutes" a video of her in what she said was a top-secret warehouse storing Javelins from the United States.

Ustinova's comments come after Military.com published an article in July about a Pentagon report that highlighted how a Russian-led criminal ring in Ukraine was able to steal weapons sent to Kyiv for the war.

The stolen weapons included a grenade launcher and a machine gun, and were taken by Russians who had joined a volunteer battalion, per the outlet.

The Pentagon report, dated October 6, 2022, said the theft occurred in June 2022, per CNN.

This Pentagon report didn't explicitly say that the stolen weapons were American. But it detailed several such incidents in a section discussing Ukraine's methods of tracking US weapons, CNN reported.

In August 2022, a group of volunteer battalion members also stole 60 rifles and nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition "presumably for sale on the black market," CNN reported, citing the Pentagon documents.

Another highlighted incident involved $17,000 worth of bulletproof vests being stolen by Ukrainian criminals pretending to be aid workers, per CNN.

These plots were eventually foiled or disrupted by Ukraine's intelligence services, and the equipment was recovered, the Pentagon report said, per CNN.

Ustinova, who for years was an anti-corruption activist before she became a lawmaker, told CBS News that Ukraine needed to cleanse itself of corruption.

"We have to get rid of this cancer, which is corruption because otherwise, we're not gonna survive," she said to the channel.

The channel's report was a wide-ranging segment on how the billions of dollars in US aid to Ukraine are used in the country, and how American and Ukrainian lawmakers seek to ensure they're appropriately used to fund the war effort.

The U.S. has committed more than $43.8 billion in security assistance and military aid to Ukraine since the start of the war, reported Insider's Charles Davis.

As of December, the equipment sent to Ukraine includes advanced HIMARS artillery systems, more than 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems, at least 186 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and 198 Howitzer guns.
Starting September 30, Aegean Airlines began operating regular flights to Heydar Aliyev International Airport from Athens.

The aircraft of the Greek air carrier was traditionally welcomed by water cannon salute.

Heydar Aliyev International Airport strives to provide high-quality service and comfortable conditions for all travelers, and attracting more airlines is an important part of our development strategy. We are confident that cooperation with the Greek air carrier will be successful and promising for our passengers, said Mr. Teymur Hasanov, director of the airport.

Flights between Athens and Baku will operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Operating these flights at night allows passengers to choose more convenient time slots from the airline's wide route network.

Note that Aegean Airlines offers passengers flights to more than 80 destinations, including Cyprus, the Balkans and Western European countries, as well as Crete, Santorini, Mykonos and other famous Greek islands.

To view the detailed schedule and book air tickets, please visit the airlines official website www.aegeanair.com, as well as at the airlines sales offices.
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
The Diamondbacks have released veteran righty Zach Davies, per the transaction log at MLB.com. That was expected after the Snakes designated him for assignment on Wednesday.

Davies spent two years in Arizona. He turned in a 4.09 ERA through 27 starts last season after signing a $1.5MM free agent deal coming out of the lockout. While that came with middling strikeout and walk numbers, he provided stable enough innings out of the fifth spot in the rotation on a generally young pitching staff.

That secured him a raise when he re-signed with the Snakes in January. Davies landed a $5MM guarantee taking the form of a $4.7MM salary and a $300K buyout on a mutual option for 2024. He tacked on another $950K in incentives and added $200K to the option buyout by topping 16 starts, meaning hell collect $6.15MM overall. Arizona will remain on the hook for the buyout once he officially clears release waivers.

Davies will likely be limited to minor league offers this winter. The 30-year-old is coming off a career-worst season, allowing exactly seven earned runs per nine through 82 1/3 frames. His 19.1% strikeout rate is actually his best mark since 2020, though its still a few points below league average. The nine-year MLB veteran walked just over 10% of batters faced while allowing hard contact on an elevated 42.4% of batted balls.
Fall began last weekend, but were still more than a month from the end of Daylight Savings Time for 2023

Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, when the clock will fall back one hour and in theory we get one extra hour of sleep.

Days will continue to get shorter through fall, which began on Saturday morning.

The amount of daylight will continue to shorten each day until Dec. 21 when the winter solstice arrives. Then the length of days will begin to increase until the summer solstice on June 20, 2024.

The flip side is that the sun will rise approximately one hour earlier each morning. While millions of people will travel home from work mostly or entirely in the dark in November, their morning commute will include more daylight.

Clocks officially fall back at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November to 1 a.m.

Daylight Saving Time started on Sunday, March 12, 2023 and will end on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023  a run of 238 days. It has lasted from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November since 2007.

We next turn the clocks ahead on March 10, 2024  126 days after turning them back. Daylight Saving Time in 2024 will end on Nov. 3, 2024.

The concept dates back more than a century when English architect William Willett proposed the idea to change the clocks in 1907 in The Waste of Daylight. The suggestion of using daylight more efficiently can be traced to Benjamin Franklin.

While visiting in Paris in 1784, he wrote a letter to the editors of the Journal of Paris calling for a tax on every Parisian whose windows were shuttered after sunrise to encourage the economy of using sunshine instead of candles, according to Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.

Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe Daylight Saving Time. The time change is also not observed in U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Seventeen states have enacted legislation to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. Voters in California have voted to authorize year-round Daylight Saving Time. Those changes, however, require federal approval.

In March 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end changing the clocks twice a year. The U.S. House of Representatives didnt take a vote on it, though.

A handful of provinces in Canada  most of Saskatchewan and Yukon have adopted permanent daylight saving as has parts of British Columbia and two communities in northwest Ontario.

About 70 countries observe Daylight Saving Time. Most of North America, Europe and parts of South America and New Zealand adhere to it, while China, Japan, India and most other countries do not.

It starts on different dates elsewhere. In Europe for example, Daylight Saving Time starts the last Sunday in March and ends the final Sunday in October.

In much of Australia, residents will turn their clocks ahead one hour on Saturday.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. Armenians who voluntarily left Karabakh told a Russian journalist in Armenia's Gorus district about the humanism of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

They said that they did not encounter any problems or obstacles when leaving Azerbaijans Karabakh.

Thousands of Karabakh Armenians crossed the Lachin border checkpoint on their way to Armenia. The Armenians claimed that the Azerbaijanis were allegedly forcibly evicting them from Karabakh. However, the published videos prove the opposite.

The government of Azerbaijan declared its desire to reintegrate Karabakh Armenians into Azerbaijan and provided them with food and medical assistance.

At the invitation of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ramin Mammadov, the point person for contacts with ethnic Armenian residents of Karabakh, met with representatives of Armenian residents of Karabakh Sergey Martirosyan and David Melkumyan on September 21, 2023, in Azerbaijans Yevlakh.

The discussions held in a constructive and positive atmosphere focused on reintegration of the Armenian population of Karabakh, restoration of infrastructure and the organization of activities on the basis of the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In the context of discussions of social and humanitarian issues, the representatives of the Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan said that there was a particular need for fuel. At the same time, they asked for humanitarian assistance, including food products.

As a result of the meeting, their request was accepted positively. It is planned to ensure the supply of fuel for the heating systems of kindergartens and schools, as well as emergency medical services and fire services, and to provide humanitarian support in the near future.

On September 25, 2023, another meeting between Ramin Mammadov with representatives of Armenian residents of Karabakh was held in the city of Khojaly.

Agreement was reached on organizing a meeting of the working group led by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev on the solution of social, humanitarian, economic and infrastructure issues with relevant representatives dealing with utility, health and other civil services in the area, including the city of Khankendi, in order to determine the directions of further action. The sides also agreed to set up a joint working group for this purpose.

It was also suggested that healthcare services in the field hospital to be established near the city of Khankendi or in the direction of Khojaly should be jointly organized by medical staff of Azerbaijani and Armenian origin. It was also proposed to establish a mobile food supply service by Azerbaijani and Armenian service personnel.

The sides expressed their readiness to provide necessary medical assistance to persons suffering from chronic diseases or who are in need of special surgery.

In addition, the sides emphasized the importance of establishing joint mobile medical teams consisting of medical workers of Azerbaijani and Armenian origin, providing services to lone people in remote villages.

The proposal to organize visits of civil society representatives and social activists of Armenian origin living in the Karabakh economic region to Baku or other cities of Azerbaijan was emphasized. It was noted that such initiatives were important in terms of creating a civil society dialogue platform, as well as implementing confidence-building measures.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Zingermans Roadhouse has spent the last 20 years perfecting its barbecue recipes and bringing its dishes to Ann Arbors west side.

The restaurant began in 2003 and was the seventh member to join the Zingermans Community of Businesses. Today, the restaurant continues to pride itself the ingredients it uses.

Read more: Zingermans Roadhouse celebrates 20 years of bringing comfort food to Ann Arbor

The restaurants staff knows exactly what goes into each meal, Head Chef Bob Bennett said.

We are excited about everything we are putting on a plate, and are willing to talk about every ingredient and every step because we lived it and we know it, he said.

One top selling dish for the Roadhouse is its fried chicken macaroni and cheese. Its made with buttermilk fried chicken tossed with house-made bechamel sauce and Cabot cheddar cheese and Mancini pasta. The chicken has Tellicherry black pepper in it for a kick.

Another popular dish is Zingermans pit-smoked spareribs which are smoked for hours over oak in the restaurants smoker, Bennett said.

The ribs are often made with a house-made tomato barbecue sauce or South Carolina mustard barbecue sauce, which Bennett said is different option for those who grew up in the Midwest.

The house made tomato barbecue sauce is made with ingredients like tomato, coffee grounds, molasses, ketchup and vinegar.

Bennett also recommends giving the whole hog barbecue a try, especially since its one menu item that has continued ever since Zingermans Roadhouse opened.

Its one of my favorites and something I come back to, he said. It consistently wows me.

As for something sweet, the restaurants doughnut sundaes are a hit and fried fresh for each order.

Aris Sundae is made with a house-made Dutch doughnut topped with a scoop of vanilla gelato, bourbon-caramel sauce, Virginia peanuts, whipped cream and a Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cherry.

The Roadhouse also offers different versions of its famous doughnut sundaes during the week, with options like peanut butter and jelly, bacon and chocolate.

Zingermans Roadhouse, 2501 Jackson Ave., is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Find the restaurant online, on social media or by phone at 734-663-3663.

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.

MORE ANN ARBOR LOCAL EATS:

Michigans Best Local Eats: Taste why Dom Bakeries is on Yelps list of top 100 doughnut shops

Michigans Best Local Eats: A Thanksgiving feast is on the menu at Harvest Moon Cafe

Michigans Best Local Eats: Grab a burger and dive into a fishbowl at Good Time Charleys

Michigans Best Local Eats: Start your morning or end your night with The Owl in Milan

Michigans Best Local Eats: Find seafood with a Cajun flair at Macs Acadian Seafood Shack

Michigans Best Local Eats: Vegan desserts fill the menu at Tasty Bakery in Ann Arbor

Michigans Best Local Eats: Youve got to try the apple fritter at Dexter Bakery

Michigans Best Local Eats: Dozer Cafe brings coffee, brunch & comfort to HOMES Campus

Michigans Best Local Eats: Palms Cafe is in an Ann Arbor hotel, but it has comfort food for everyone

Michigans Best Local Eats: Get warm doughnuts & ice cream at Washtenaw Dairy in Ann Arbor

Michigans Best Local Eats: Enjoy fresh seafood with a tasty martini at Black Pearl in Ann Arbor

Michigans Best Local Eats: Looking for a late-night burrito? Check out BTB Burrito in Ann Arbor

Michigans Best Local Eats: This is the No. 1 sandwich at Maize and Blue Deli, and its huge

Michigans Best Local Eats: Home-cooked meals available any time of the day at Holidays Restaurant

Michigans Best Local Eats: Customers flock to Dexters Pub for chicken fajitas every Wednesday

Michigans Best Local Eats: Check out Wolverine Tracks ice cream at this Ann Arbor creamery

Michigans Best Local Eats: Find one of the best Molcajete dishes at Cancun Mexican Grill

Michigans Best Local Eats: Vinology brings seasonal menu, wide selection of wines to Ann Arbor

Michigans Best Local Eats: Yellowstone inspired ice-cream flavor is a favorite at Dexter Creamery

Michigans Best Local Eats: The Smash Burger is so simple, but so good at Grizzly Peak Brewing Co.

Michigans Best Local Eats: Chelsea Alehouse Brewery aims to elevate its dishes while keeping cool pub food

Michigans Best Local Eats: Fresh doughnuts, pastries, bread available every day at Bennys Bakery
Editors note: Flint is oftentimes cast in a negative light. While the city has its struggles, take a deeper look and youll see people fighting for their hometown, building the city back, and creating its future through their personalities and ideas while staying true to its history and vibrant culture. This weekly series of stories will show that Flint is more than a place. Flint is its people. We are Flint.

FLINT, MI  Youve heard of Bad by Michael Jackson.

Now, its time to turn your ear to Baddd by BFF.

BFF, a newly-formed duo is chasing their music career aspirations right here in Flint.

The group consists of two solo artists  Brelia Renee and Carl Franklin Jr., aka Furillostar.

Their newest release is a song called Baddd. Its a mantra, Franklin Jr. said.

The pair has always had one specific aim  for the music to speak for itself and to create music that can speak to people.

Its R&B meets pop with some trap beats, an all-inclusive sound to transcend any one particular genre.

We have R&B soulful vibes in the hook and the chorus, he said. We have a soft-spoken melodic pop tone in the verses. The beat is so trappy, ready to get turn up.

Renee described the song as an anthem.

She said this is something you can wake up and sing to yourself in the mirror every morning youre getting ready.

This song gets you motivated. We wanted to put out a song that empowered people. This whole song is filled with affirmations, Renee said. You may not be feeling the best that day, but once you sing these lyrics and you say these affirmations that you rediscover that confidence. That you feel better on the inside. That you feel better on the outside.

If youre looking for the perfect song to put on to get ready to go out for the night before you go out with your girls or your guys, this is that song.

HOW IT STARTED

As teens and younger, they were students of the scene from afar.

It was their first glimpse to a life theyd soon chase.

The two grew up as self-certified pop culture heads, drawn to MTVs Total Request Live for every music video and interview they could find. It was Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell, Destinys Child. Name the boy band  NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees  and they were infatuated with the lyrics, the styles and the choreography.

It was where it all started, or at least the idolization, Franklin Jr. joked.

When Franklin Jr. was 13 years old, he got his first taste of fame.

An Atlanta-based producer, his godfather tapped Franklin Jr. to join a newly formed boy band called XL.

It was my first introduction to music, the industry, being in the studio and writing songs, Franklin Jr. said.

The passion for creating music has never left since. Once I started to see how I could connect with people, at 13, I thought all I wanted to do was be famous. But then, as my music started to reach people, especially in the queer community, and being queer myself, I saw that people truly heard me, Franklin Jr. said. That they saw me, and I had a real influence that was really important to people. I just thought, Oh, this is what its really all about. This is why we really do this.

I want to do this for my community. I want to do this for my Flint community. I do this for my queer community. No matter what walk of life youre on, no matter who you are, you really have to dream and we do. We dream big and we can reach people. We can touch people. Its happening.

Shortly after his stint with XL, he was introduced to Renee.

Her voice captivated me at 13. I thought I was listening to an angel, Franklin Jr. said. We met, and weve been connected for 13 years, and just finally joined our talents to be a group.

Its so natural. We feed off of each other. Its so easy. We dont have to talk much. We just vibe. I am so upset we waited this long, but were here. Were ready. We both had our moments filled with a lot of ups and downs, but through trial and error, we discovered what we can do together and its amazing.

The duo has always revolved around one another, helping support each others career aspirations, and writing songs for one another while booking performances throughout Michigan.

Franklin Jr., a 30-year-old Flint native, went on to graduate from E.A. Johnson High School in Mt. Morris in 2010. Renee, 25, is a 2016 Grand Blanc High School graduate.

From there, theyve been working separately to chase their dreams as solo recording artists, but not without having each others backs.

Both artists found success. Furillostar charted as high as No. 7 on iTunes with a single called Texting me, which he wrote with Renee.

Furillostar toured last year on his Pride Tour, where they played every pride festival in Michigan, except for one in Lansing, even driving eight hours up to Ironwood for a show.

Furillostar has even been recognized by Beyonce.

Renee also charted on iTunes with singles Dont Bother Me, and Love Me Down.

During the pandemic in 2020, they decided to live together to collaborate daily while writing songs together.

That is when Renee made her song Vibe With You. It charted on iTunes in the Top 20.

Each has a fan base, and now with the duo performing together under BFF, theyre planning a small tour in 2024.

THE COME UP

Flint has seen a lot of success in the hip-hop and rap scene since the 1990s including MC Breed, The Dayton Family, Jon Connor, Lyric Da Queen, YN Jay, BFB Da Packman and Mama Sol.

BFF is now making a case of its own while pushing genres into an unknown mix of music unheard in Flint before it.

It feels so amazing because we have these trailblazers before us who have truly cemented their name into the culture and into music, Renee said. We have that inspiration and drive in us from these Flint greats, and now were on the verge as were grinding and building up to make a name for ourselves.

To be able to say, This is where were from, and put Flint on the map, it means everything. Were happy to carry on that torch and represent.

As for the song Baddd, it has already found traction on TikTok, where hundreds or people have started making their own dances to the songs chorus.

The fact that we have people singing our songs and dancing to our songs on TikTok already; being able to see that, its validation and its instant, Franklin Jr. said.

Renee said BFFs whole brand is fun.

Were not super serious. This is about fun. This is about confidence. This is about feeling yourself, Renee said. We bring a different sound, a different feel. Something fresh and something that the audience may not expect to hear. We see their faces light up every time it happens.

Franklin Jr. agreed, saying the only thing left to say is come watch BFF a performance.

Its always a party when BFF walks in, he said.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Mel Trotter Ministries has been approved for an $80,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fund a job training partnership with Jireh Metal Products.

The grant, announced by U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, will help Jireh Metal Products expand its metal stamping manufacturing capabilities and create jobs, according to a news release from the congresswomans office.

Jireh Metal Products is a Grand Rapids area company that describes itself as a Tier one supplier for the furniture, automotive and hardware industries. A news release says the grant will create 32 full-time positions with Kent County for low-income and special-needs residents, as well as formerly incarcerated individuals.

The partnership between Mel Trotter Ministries and Jireh Metal is truly changing lives  providing Michiganders with the second chances they deserve and setting them up for long-term success, Scholten said in a statement. This grant is the final piece of the puzzle that these organizations need to support this project, and Im proud to have played a small part in securing this investment to this much-needed cause.

Michael Davenport, CEO of Jireh Metal Products, said in a statement that his companys partnership with Mel Trotter Ministries is critical to its growth and long-term sustainability.

Hiring solid employees is key to Jirehs success and its expansion plans, he said. We will continue to be an employer who provides opportunity to individuals with little or no work experience and those with challenged histories. We will maintain a holistic view on how we help employees retain and improve their employability.

Related: Whats being built in the Burton Heights neighborhood? Big plans underway

The head of Mel Trotter Ministries, Dennis Van Kampen, described the partnership between his organization and Jireh as a great example at what can happen when the for-profit and non-profit sectors work together to find a win for everyone, most importantly the person trying to leave homelessness.

These partnerships are an important strategy as we as a community move the needle back on homelessness, he said.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A new teacher pipeline program is offering a full ride to college and up to a $20,000 living stipend to West Michigan teachers who want to advance their credentials or non-teachers who want to become one and get certified.

Funded by a $19 million state grant, the new West Michigan Teacher Collaborative is a partnership between the Kent, Ottawa Area, and Muskegon Area Intermediate School Districts and Grand Valley State University (GVSU).

The goal is to recruit, train and retain the next generation of high-quality teachers in West Michigan.

The new initiative is aimed at tackling the states teacher shortage by removing barriers and providing training and support to current and aspiring teachers, Kent ISD Superintendent Ron Koehler said.

Koehler described the program as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make sure teachers have the education and resources they need to be confident, successful educators who can meet the needs of students in West Michigan.

We all know the data on students having a good teacher  those students who have a good teacher have far more growth in a year than those who dont, Koehler told MLive/Grand Rapids Press on Thursday, Sept. 28.

Its so important for us to get this right, not just in terms of quantity, but quality (of teachers). We want to make sure that every child has the best teacher in front of them, and this is a great opportunity for us to do what we can to make that happen, he said.

In partnership with GVSU, the program covers all tuition, fees and supplies for participants. While they are in the program, participants will also receive guidance and support from mentor teachers.

There are three kinds of applicants that the program is geared toward:

People without a Bachelors degree who would like to earn one and become a teacher. These could be paraprofessionals or other school staff who are currently working in the schools but dont have teaching certification and would like to become a teacher.

People with a Bachelors degree who are looking to switch to a teaching career. These could be mid-career professionals who are in a different field but enjoy working with young people or want to give back, and would like to become a teacher.

Current educators seeking additional credentials through advanced degrees. These could be teachers who are interested in going into specialized teaching fields, like special education, but need an advanced degree.

Designed for working adults, the program will also provide employment to participants while they are in school and provide up to a $20,000 living stipend, Koehler said.

One of the biggest barriers that prevent people from changing careers and going back to school is the cost of earning a degree and finding a way to support themselves while theyre in school, said Kyle Mayer, superintendent of the Ottawa Area ISD.

Throughout my career of more than 25 years in education, Ive seen community members and support staff with the potential and desire to teach, held back from realizing their dream by various barriers, Mayer said in a statement. The West Michigan Teacher Collaborative addresses these challenges, drawing significant interest and applications.

This program will be transformative for future educators and, in turn, their students.

Randy Lindquist, superintendent of the Muskegon Area ISD, said investing in teachers is an investment into our future.

In every Michigan classroom sits the future of not just our state, but our entire nation, Lindquist said in a prepared statement. Our future doctors, lawyers, first responders, service workers, and entrepreneurs are being sculpted each day by the passionate commitment of their teachers.

With the introduction of the West Michigan Teaching Collaborative, were not just launching a program; were embarking on a journey to cultivate world-class teachers who will light the way for the next generation.

Applications are now open through Nov. 1 for all existing and aspiring educators living in Kent, Muskegon and Ottawa counties. The goal is to train 300 educators over the four-year grant period, according to a news release.

To learn more and apply, visit teachwestmichigan.org.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A Mancelona man will serve 52 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to being in possession of three pipe bombs, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten announced Friday.

Terrence Wayne VanOchten, 57, pleaded guilty in June to being in possession of the three bombs that were filled with black powder and drilled for insertion of a fuse cord, he kept nearby, according to court records.

He was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney.

The bombs were part of a large cache of military-style firearms and equipment, VanOchten was in possession of. Other evidence in the case demonstrated that VanOchten made threatening statements about elected public officials at the same time he possessed the bombs, Totten said.

In urban centers and rural spaces, Michiganders deserve to live in peace and safety without the menace of violence, Totten said in a statement. Mr. VanOchten possessed unlawful pipe bombs, posed a threat to others, and is now being held to account.

Kalkaska County Sheriffs deputies responded to VanOchtens home in August 2022, after neighbors reported he was shooting what sounded like a machine gun. He answered the door with a loaded pistol, and later admitted he had been shooting a modified AR-15 style assault rifle into his backyard.

Deputies executed a search warrant and found three assembled metal pipe bombs in VanOchtens house.

They also found highlighted explosives guides, a Militia Battle Manual, and more than a dozen weapons, including semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and a 40mm projectile launcher, his federal indictment shows.

In addition, deputies located a battle-dress camouflage uniform with embroidered name tapes reading VANOCHTEN on one breast, and U.S. ARMY on the other. VanOchten has no history of military service.

VanOchten received an enhanced sentence because he was using drugs at the time of the shooting incident.

The court also considered that his bond was revoked for keeping undisclosed weapons and ammunition after telling authorities they had removed all weapons from his premises.

VanOchtens illegal possession of explosives have found him a pathway to prison, said ATF Detroit Special Agent in Charge James Deir. Illegal explosives and weapons are a threat to public safety and have no place in our community. Those who threaten public safety will be held accountable by ATF.

VanOchten initially told police he was in the possession of the pipe bombs as he intended to blow up fish with the bombs as they wouldnt bite on conventional tackle.

The case was investigated by ATFs Grand Rapids Resident Agency and the Kalkaska County Sheriffs Office.

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CANNONSBURG, MI  A suspected drunken driver crashed into a Cannonsburg liquor store overnight Saturday and then fled the scene.

Kent County sheriffs deputies later found the driver after he showed up to an area hospital with injuries.

Deputies and Cannon Township Fire Department firefighters were called to Cannonsburg Village just before 3:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, on reports of an SUV that had crashed into the Cannonsburg Bottle Shop, 8011 Cannonsburg Road NE.

Kent County sheriffs deputies say they found evidence of injuries, but the driver had fled the scene.

About an hour later, deputies received word that a driver had showed up to an area hospital with injuries. Deputies did not disclose the extent of injuries.

Deputies identified the driver as a 39-year-old Cannon Township man and suspect alcohol may have been a contributing factor in the crash.

The crash remains under investigation and the case will be reviewed for potential charges.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The tears were flowing and the joy felt around downtown Grand Rapids was palpable Friday night after West African native Abdoulaye Conde won ArtPrizes $125,000 grand prize.

I told myself I had to work all day every day, no stopping, said Conde, whose entry, Raining Wisdom, a large vibrant 2D mural that represents the symbolic wisdom attached to elephants throughout the world and what humans may learn from paying it forward.

RELATED: Raining Wisdom, a giant, colorful African landscape painted by Abdoulaye Conde, wins $125K ArtPrize 2023 grand prize

The mural came together at 45 Ottawa Ave. NW. over 25 long days between Aug. 14 and Sept. 8. The 18-day international art competition kicked off Sept. 14 and ends Sunday, Oct. 1.

ArtPrize announced the public vote and juried winners Friday, Sept. 29, during the closing ceremony at Rosa Park Circle in downtown Grand Rapids.

I am just so happy... so happy for ArtPrize and just so happy for everyone, said Conde, who was born and raised in Guinea, West Africa but now lives in Chicago. I still cant believe this, Im still in shock.

Part of that happiness is because of the $125,000. Prize money Conde said he hopes to put toward his newborn baby, building a new house for his mom in West Africa and continuing to make art.

The idea for Raining Wisdom comes from tales of Condes childhood growing up in Guinea, West Africa, where he would spend days at the river or lake with family and friends.

Conde said he has always had a love and appreciation for elephants, which is his countrys national symbol.

Elephants are just wonderful, and I thought if I put them swimming together with people, its going to be a good idea because the elephant can spread wisdom to the people, he said after his big win.

RELATED: Accusations of plagiarism prompts ArtPrize to defend piece by Top 25 artist

Conde found out about ArtPrize last January while visiting his wifes family in Grand Rapids. Thats when he got to work by drawing out his idea on paper of his childhood with elephants, he said.

Abdoulaye Conde poses for a portrait with his mural Raining Wisdom" at 45 Ottawa NW during ArtPrize 2023 in Grand Rapids on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. It took Conde 25 days, working for 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to finish the mural. The piece won the public vote contest, earning Conde $125,000. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)MLive.com

The large-scale 2D mural took 25 12-hour days to complete in downtown Grand Rapids. Each day was inspired by the noteworthy contributions that elephants make to the artist and his home country.

There, Conde said, they are revered not only as the national animal but as intelligent, powerful and wise creatures who love and care for each other.

Conde prides himself on his work in his native country, where he has decorated the many corners of Guineas capital with his unique style of mosaic flesh and interconnected lines with bold and vibrant colors.

He said that he is overjoyed and thankful to ArtPrize for their work in creating opportunities for artists all over the world.

This is my first competition, and I felt a little bit that (maybe) I could win because when people see my art, they say, Wow, I hope you win, Conde said. I had hope, but I still didnt know. And now, I cant believe it.

Rebecca Humes, the 2nd place winner, took home $50,000 for her entry, Tale of Ten Dresses and 3rd place winner Peggy Slattery was awarded $25,000 for An Iris Collection of 5.

View a gallery of all award winners below.

31 1 / 31 See the winners of ArtPrize 2023

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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Its like the Super Bowl for our businesses: ArtPrize means big crowds, big sales
GRAND HAVEN, MI - People looking for a cozy atmosphere and homey food as the fall weather starts rolling in need look no further than this Grand Haven business.

JWs Food & Spirits was first opened in 1994 by the Weavers family with the goal of offering a home away from home for local and seasonal guests.

The mainstay spot at 6 N. Seventh St. in Grand Haven prides itself as the place to be for a cozy, friendly atmosphere and the best white chili around, as stated on the restaurants Facebook page.

Its also home to J-Dubs Market & Wine Shop, which opened next door in 2016 and carries many of the restaurants top wine and food selections, as well as gift baskets and gourmet products perfect for a charcuterie board.

Chris Weavers said her dad, Jerry Weavers, bought it for her to learn the ropes and she eventually bought it from him. She said he died in 2007 before he could see the restaurant flourish.

I had moved to Traverse City to run a retail store, Weavers told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle. It was not in my wheelhouse at all, but I wasnt in love with that job and wanted to come back to Grand Haven anyway, so I thought, Why not?

The decision to move back paid off, as regular and new customers kept flocking to the local joint for a cozy space to eat homemade meals and have good conversations.

Our claim to fame would be our white chicken chili, Weavers said. Everybody just loves it. Its pretty much the ultimate comfort food.

Top sellers on the menu consist of starters like crab rangoon, handhelds like the honey pecan chicken salad sandwich ($11), as well as entrees like the seared sesame tuna ($16) and the savory wet burrito ($14).

Other popular options on the menu include some weekly specials, like Mexican Monday, Tuscan Tuesday with pasta features and half-off bottles of wine, BBQ prime rib on Wednesday, and seafood burritos on Thursday.

Weavers said another highlight of the business is J-Dubs Market & Wine Shop next door, where customers can order freshly packed items from the restaurant to take home, gourmet cheese, gift baskets, and much more.

Once youve had legit cheese, you dont go back to the grocery store kinds, she told MLive.

For customers looking to get more bang for their buck, Happy Hour is from 2 - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It includes discounts like $2 off pitchers, $1 crab rangoon and $3 for chips and salsa.

Weavers touts both the restaurant and wine shop as the cheers of Grand Haven. She said thats what a lot of the locals call them, as the building itself is 100 years old.

Everybody feels comfortable there, Weavers said. Ive got staff thats literally been there longer than I have. Its just a comfy place to be.

Hours of operation for JWs are Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Place a carryout order online or by calling the restaurant at 616-846-3380.

Would you like MLive to consider featuring your favorite restaurant in Michigans Best Local Eats? Send the details, including business name, address and best menu item, to Skyla Jewell-Hammie at sjewell-hammie@mlive.com.

Want more Muskegon area news? Bookmark the local Muskegon news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Muskegon daily newsletter.

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MUSKEGON, MI  In its 20th season, the Lake Express is expected to have a banner year.

Designed to bypass Chicago area traffic, the high-speed catamaran car ferry that connects Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan, has officially left the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in its wake, officials say.

Been through a lot with COVID and the other things going on but what we saw starting last year, and continuing this year, is a real appetite for travel, said Aaron Schultz, senior vice president for the Lake Express. Were having what we think will be our best year ever.

The 192-foot ferry has a top speed of 34 knots, about 39 miles per hour, carrying up to 250 passengers. The high-speed car and passenger ferry boasts the fastest ferry service on Lake Michigan, crossing the around 80 miles in about 2.5 hours. Drive time from Muskegon to Milwaukee is about 4.5 hours.

Were meant to go fast, Schultz said.

Weve got full car decks, people coming from all over, Schultz said. About 50 different countries have come through, all 50 states, and everyday were seeing people from dozens of states - even into the fall months here, were going strong.

Built in Alabama in 2003, it was the first American-made ship of its kind. The Lake Express began relinking Milwaukee and Muskegon via cross-lake ferry in the spring of 2004, resuming the route left behind by the S.S. Milwaukee Clipper, which was discontinued in 1970.

The Lake Express is currently the only car ferry crossing Lake Michigan after the historic S.S. Badger, connecting Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, - a four hour journey - ended the 2023 sailing season early after damage to its ramp system in July.

We saw a significant boost of travelers in the days after the Badger dock failure as we worked hard to assist passengers stranded by the cancellations, Schultz responded to MLive/Muskegon Chronicle in an email.

We were already experiencing increased traveler volumes in spring and summer prior to the SS Badger closure and continue to see added ridership as former Badger customers continue to choose the Lake Express to avoid the long drive around Lake Michigan and Chicago traffic hassles and congestion.

The Lake Express crosses Lake Michigan four times daily during the spring (May 5 - June 29) and fall (August 21 - October 22), starting with a 6 a.m. CST departure from Milwaukee and a 9:30 a.m. EST arrival in Muskegon. The schedule has Muskegon departures at 10:15 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. while Milwaukee departures are 6 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Departure and arrival times for spring, summer and fall are on the ferrys website.

Depending on weather, early Muskegon-bound travelers are able to witness stunning sunrises over the lake or sunsets for the evening westbound Milwaukee-bound passengers. For adventurous travelers, seats are available on the sun deck, giving passengers an open and windy view of Lake Michigan. There are also outdoor seats in the more protected upper stern (rear of the ship).

Some days, the Great Lake is so calm it can be difficult to make out the horizon as the still water and sky appear to merge. Conditions on Lake Michigan can also get dangerous in a hurry, but cancellations are extremely rare, Schultz said.

Captain John Rogers, one of four rotating captains, says the Lake Express is well equipped for Lake Michigan, above and beyond U.S. Coast Guard regulations.

We have the top of the line radars and electronic navigation systems, Rogers said. We have a double-redundant monitoring system for all of our machinery - multiple compasses, multiple GPSs, multiple modes of communication.

In August, the Lake Express helped in the rescue of seven people after a 27-foot boat sank beneath the surface of Muskegon Lake. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the crew spotted the boat as it was going down. The ferry raised an alarm, alerted authorities, and while waiting for help to arrive helped people out of the water along with fishermen.

We did our job quite well that day and had some good help as well from a local fisherman who responded very quickly, said Schultz.

Schultz said the Lake Express staff is proud to be both serving and showcasing the Muskegon and Milwaukee communities.

Obviously, were big fans of Muskegon, weve been going there for 20 years, he said. We go for business trips and say I want to move there sometime. Summer is terrific, the beaches, Muskegon State Park, certainly the downtown, the breweries, the farmers market, I could spend the rest of the day listing those things.

The same is true for Milwaukee.

Going to Milwaukee, you have all the things you have in a lot of big cities - art galleries, interesting neighborhoods, food and festivals - but in a more user-friendly manner, he said. We like hosting people from Michigan, who maybe come from the smaller towns and we like leaving Milwaukee to slow down. I think both sides benefit.

The last crossings of the year are scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 22.

Two different types of passenger cabins are available: Classic and Premier. Classic Cabin fares for and adult is $108.50 for a one-way ticket or $187 for roundtrip tickets, while the Premier Cabin costs $130 or $233.00 roundtrip. For the complete listing of the variousrates and details about the cabins, click here.

Were going quick but youre not in a rush, Schultz said. Theres a lot of room to move around. People will take a nap, people will play some games.

Complimentary pet kennels for cats and dogs are available on a first-come, first-served basis and must be indicated during the reservation process. Passengers traveling with a vehicle are instructed to keep all luggage inside the vehicle except items they may need while on board.

Automobiles are charged $118 one-way or $224 roundtrip. Motorcycles are charged $66 one-way or $132 roundtrip. More details can be found here.

The common configuration is 44 vehicles and 12 motorcycles, but depending on space, the staff tries to fit a few more. Every inch counts. For large motorcycle events, the car ferry can book to carry up to 125 motorcycles.

The ferrys Muskegon terminal is located at 1918 Lake Drive, and the Milwaukee terminal is at 2330 S. Lincoln Memorial Drive. Both terminals provide fast and easy connections to area attractions and major interstates. Passengers can begin checking-in an hour and-a-half before each scheduled departure and are encouraged to arrive at least 45 minutes prior.

The boarding process closes 15 minutes prior to each scheduled departure. One government-issued valid form of photo identification is required at the time of check-in and ticketing.

MLive was on the ship Monday, Sept. 25 to document the trip from Muskegon to Milwaukee and back. Check out some of our favorite photos below or view the entire gallery here of 80 images.

The Lake Express passes by the South Pierhead Lighthouse as the car ferry leaves Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Drivers depart from the Lake Express in Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Erin Garber-Pearson and Erik Bang lean into strong wind on the sun deck as the Lake Express nears Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. The two, who are from Milwaukee, were on a trip to visit Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Vehicles are boarded onto the Lake Express in Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Deckhand Judi ONeil guides a new cargo of vehicles onto the Lake Express in Milwaukee on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. The common configuration is 44 vehicles and 12 motorcycles, but depending on space, the staff tries to fit a few more. Every inch counts. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Jessica Sloan, of Turlock, California, holds up her 9-month-old son, Maverick, so he can watch out of a window on the Lake Express on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Passengers traveling to Muskegon fill the passenger cabin on the Lake Express on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.Cory Morse | MLive.com

Amy Murphy, right, relaxes in the passenger cabin of the Lake Express on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Murphy, who is moving to Green Bay, Wisconsin, from Arizona, was traveling to visit family in Michigan. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Deckhand Chris Rolbiecki helps dock the Lake Express in Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

People at Muskegon State Park wave as the Lake Express enters Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

The Milwaukee skyline can be seen as the Lake Express departs for Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Lake Express passengers pose for pictures as Muskegons South Pierhead Lighthouse and the South Breakwater Light can be seen in the background as the car ferry leaves Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Mate Bill Harris and deckhand Judi ONeil close the cargo doors for the Lake Express as they prepare to depart Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.Cory Morse | MLive.com

Captain John Rogers pilots the Lake Express on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Rogers is one of four rotating captains. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Deckhand Gordon Gajewski watches as the Lake Express docks in Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Bikers depart from the Lake Express in Milwaukee on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Rick Leverenz, of Port Huron, pulls on his coat in a strong wind as the Lake Express picks up speed in open Lake Michigan water after departing Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Leverenz, lost his hat to the wind but another passenger was able to catch it for him. The ship has a top speed of 34 knots or about 39 miles per hour. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Passengers are pictured through a window during a light rain as they board the Lake Express in Milwaukee on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

View of the SS Milwaukee Clipper as the Lake Express prepares to dock in Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. The Milwaukee Clipper, a previous Milwaukee to Muskegon car ferry, was discontinued in 1970. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Captain John Rogers looks out a window while piloting the Lake Express away from the Muskegon dock on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Radar is pictured as the Lake Express travels into a light rain near Milwaukee on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

Deckhands Judi ONeil, left, and Sharon Duggan, prepare to load a new cargo of vehicles onto the Lake Express in Muskegon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Cory Morse | MLive.com

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DETROIT, MI  Michigans largest utility revealed a $9 billion plan to upgrade the electric grid, setting a goal to improve reliability more than 60% over the next five years.

DTE Energy officials on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, said they will file with state regulators a new five-year plan to improve reliability through a multi-pronged approach to prevent a continued pattern of frequent power outages that impact hundreds of thousands of Michiganders. This comes after a couple of years of heavy criticism from customers, government officials and politicians.

We are committed to building the grid of the future, said Matt Paul, DTEs president and top operating officer, in a released statement.

Last year, our system operated without incident 99.9% of the time, but we still have work to do to create a more resilient power grid that provides customers with the reliability they expect and deserve.

Company officials said DTE invested $5 billion in its electric grid during the last five years and would ramp that up to $9 billion for the next five years.

Goals are to focus on work that delivers the most reliability improvements for customers, officials said.

Related: Michigan regulators may tie utility earnings to grid reliability in straw proposal

That includes trimming more than 30,000 miles of trees along power lines, updating more than 10,000 miles of existing infrastructure, rebuilding some of the oldest sections of the grid including eight new substations, and fully automating the grid by installing smart devices to faster locate damaged areas and reroute service during an outage.

More reliable. More automated. More resilient. These are our key objectives for the next five years, Paul said.

For example, adding more automation technology to our system will enable us to quickly isolate outages and reroute power for many affected customers, so they will continue to have service while our crews are making repairs.

The company intends to improve reliability by more than 60% within five years, and to update 90% of circuits in Detroit within three years with the last 10% to soon follow.

New substations will be built in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, Almont Township, Lenox Township, Van Buren Township, Plymouth Township, and Lapeer. Some overhead lines are expected to be buried.

The companys announcement comes after the Michigan Public Service Commission last month said agency leaders are considering a straw proposal that would tie utility earnings to grid reliability.

Related: Burying power lines, trimming more trees may improve Michigans failure-prone electric grid, experts say

State utility regulators said they are concerned about the length of time it takes Consumers Energy and DTE Electric to restore power after outages and the large numbers of Michiganders who have repeat power losses each year.

That was the sole focus of a listening session Aug. 30, 2023, at the Pleasant Ridge Community Center hosted by state Rep. Helena Scott, D-Detroit. A standing room-only crowd packed into the space and nearly all who spoke voiced complaints about lost heat, spoiled food, wasted work hours, and exacerbated health risks all connected to repeated and lengthy power outages.

Nina Abrams of Huntington Woods attended the session and told the crowd she is offended by the utilities billion-dollar profits and big shareholder dividends when service reliability is so poor.

I would put a moratorium for two to five years on any dividends for any of these energy companies, Abrams said to loud applause from the audience.

Michigans utilities in recent years struggled to keep the power on as climate change intensifies, bringing increasingly strong summertime thunderstorms and winter ice storms and blizzards. Utility data shows strong winds, fallen branches, and toppled trees are more often knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents, sometimes for days on end.

In July, Michigan received a nearly $15 million federal grant to improve the power grid and reduce the impacts of extreme weather on the system.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Seyyed Abbas Mousavi met with Khalaf Khalafov, the Representative of the President of Azerbaijan on special assignments, the Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan said, Trend reports.

The sides discussed bilateral relations, as well as the regional situation.

The situation with Azerbaijan's Karabakh was also discussed.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov held a phone talk with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on September 17, 2023. The ministers discussed bilateral issues, as well as the current regional situation in the post-conflict period.

During the telephone conversation, issues that arose following the results of recent meetings held between the co-chairs of the Azerbaijan-Iran State Commission on Economic, Trade and Humanitarian Cooperation, and further steps to be taken were discussed.

In addition, the contribution of high-level meetings and interdepartmental contacts between the two countries to the development of Azerbaijani-Iranian relations was highly appreciated.
BEAVER ISLAND, MI  The largest island in Lake Michigan is Beaver Island, regarded among scientists as among the most ecologically pristine and biologically diverse spots in the whole Great Lakes region.

Beaver Island is considered a paradise for birdwatching and is home to the darkest skies in all of Michigan. Biology and Great Lakes researchers flock to the remote island to study the splendor of the environment there, where sandhill cranes are found in every meadow and both monarch butterflies and bumblebees dance across the countless acres of common milkweed.

52 1 / 52 Biodiversity on Beaver Island

Visitors to the island arrive either by a two-hour ferry ride or a flight in a small plane. They can experience quirky attractions like a toy museum, paddle the designated water trail, or hike various nature preserves and trails where they can find globally rare species like the Michigan monkeyflower.

History buffs can take in the curious tales of the far-flung location that involve a Russian ex-pat healer, boatloads of Irish immigrants whose descendants remain today, and the 1856 shooting death of a Mormon king  the last recorded murder on the island. There are even two historic lighthouses on Beaver Island, including one beacon which still operates in the main harbor.

There is even a music festival each summer deep in the woods on Beaver Island.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has registered a total of 673,276 new voters in sixteen days after the start of the limited voter registration exercise in its district offices across the country.

We are happy to note that the number of registrations has gone up considerably, and we are currently averaging 50,000 registrations per day since last week and this is very remarkable.

The Commission is within a striking distance of the targeted 700,000 persons to be registered in this exercise, it said.

Dr. Bossman Asare, Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Electoral Services made the disclosure at a press briefing at the EC's headquarters to update Ghanaians about the ongoing voter registration exercise.

The exercise which commenced on Tuesday, September 12 at all the 268 District offices of the EC is scheduled to end on October 2, 2023.

Dr. Asare also noted that the nationwide voter registration process was proceeding smoothly and on plan, and that the Commission had received no indications of material shortages from any of its centres.

He assured Ghanaians that ongoing exercise would not be the last before the 2024 general elections and that the EC would conduct another registration exercise in some selected electoral areas and difficult-to-reach localities before the polls.

We want to also state emphatically that this is not going to be the last registration exercise before exercise in 2024 in our district offices and register people in difficult-to-reach areas in some selected areas he said.

Dr Asare also gave a breakdown of the progress of the registration exercise with Ashanti region having the highest number of persons registered.

The Western Region recorded 42,269 representing 6.3 percent; Western North region recorded 22,386 representing 3.3 percent; Central region registered 63,228 representing 9.4 percent; Greater Accra region recorded 90,099 representing 13.4 percent; Volta region recorded 43,099 representing 6.4 percent and Oti region recorded 18,468 representing 2.7 percent.

The rest are Eastern region registered 69,597 representing 10.3 percent; Ashanti region registered 111,593 representing 16.6 percent; Bono region registered 23,365 representing 3.5 percent; Ahafo region registered 17,210 representing 2.6 percent and Bono East region registered 28,687 representing 4.3 percent.

The others are Savannah region recorded 16,045 representing 2.4 percent; Northern region registered 52,410 representing 7.8 percent; North East region recorded 17,692 representing 2.6 percent; Upper East region registered 33,778 representing 5 percent and Upper West region registered 23,350 representing 3.5 percent.

Dr Asare further assured that the Commission would continue to engage its officials in the regions to protect the rights of all eligible citizens who want to register.

GNA
Former president John Mahama will on Monday 23 October hold a town hall meeting in Calgary-Alberta in Canada under the theme Building the Ghana we all want - Engaging the Diaspora for National Development."

The Town Hall will foster discussions on matters that resonate with Ghanaians in the Diaspora and focus on their shared values and vision.

Prior to that, Mahama will attend a fund-raising luncheon by the Canada Chapter of the NDC in Toronto Ontario on Sunday 22nd October, 2023.

As part of the activities, the former President will also deliver a policy speech on Tuesday, October 24 at the University of Calgary under the theme "Advancing West Africa's Development Strategy with a Focus on Ghana."

A statement issued by the Canada Chapter of the NDC said the events will provide an opportunity for attendees to gain insights into Mahama's leadership approach and his perspective on pertinent national issues.

"A significant event is on the horizon for the NDC Canada Chapter to host H.E. John Dramani Mahama the Former President of Ghana who's the current flagbearer and leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to a fundraising luncheon in Toronto Ontario.

"Also in Western Canada, Calgary Alberta to be precise, H.E. John Dramani Mahama will be giving a policy speech at the University of Calgary under the theme Advancing West Africa's Development Strategy with a Focus on Ghana and will also engage the Ghanaian community in Calgary Alberta at a town hall meeting under the theme Building the Ghana we all want - Engaging the Diaspora for National Development.' This modest gathering seeks to foster discussions on matters that resonate with Ghanaians in the Diaspora and focus on our shared values and vision.

"NDC Canada Chapter members and the Ghanaian Community in Canada at large is reminded to mark their calendar for the 22nd of October 2023 for a fundraising luncheon with H.E. John Dramani Mahama in Toronto between 1pm to 5pm Est, and on the 23th October 2023 at the University of Canada in Calgary- Alberta between 1pm to 5pm GMT and on the 24th of October 2023 at a Town hall meeting in Calgary-Alberta between 1pm to 5pm respectively," the statement said.

Mahama will be joined on the trip by National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, and other respected national executives and some NDC Members of Parliament.
The wife of Gabon's ousted president Ali Bongo Ondimba has been charged with "money laundering" and other offences, the public prosecutor said Friday, a month after a coup toppled her husband.

Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, who is Franco-Gabonese, and one of the couple's sons have been accused by the coup leader of having pulled the strings in the oil-rich country.

Their eldest son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, has already been charged with corruption and embezzling public funds with several former cabinet members and two ex-ministers.

Sylvia Bongo was charged by an investigating judge on Thursday and ordered to remain under house arrest, Andre Patrick Roponat announced on state TV channels.

She also faces other charges including concealment and forgery, he said.

Sylvia Bongo has been under house arrest in the capital Libreville since the coup on August 30.

She has been isolated from her husband and her French lawyers have filed a complaint in Paris against what they said "appears to be a hostage-taking".

Bongo, 64, who had ruled the central African country since 2009, was overthrown by military leaders on August 30, moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election.

The result was branded a fraud by the opposition and the military coup leaders, who have also accused his regime of widespread corruption and bad governance.

Ali Bongo was elected after his father Omar died in 2009 after nearly 42 years in power.

Corruption

Noureddin Bongo Valentin was indicted earlier this month and placed in provisional detention for alleged corruption.

In all, 10 people were indicted on charges ranging from electoral college operational issues, counterfeiting and use of the seals of the republic, to corruption, embezzlement of public funds and money laundering, Roponat had told a press conference.

Seven including Noureddin Bongo were detained.

Two former ministers -- for oil and public works -- have also been detained.

Bongo, who was himself under house arrest for several days after the coup, is "free to move around" and go abroad, Gabon's new military ruler General Brice Oligui Nguema said a week after the coup.

In October 2018, Bongo suffered a stroke that sidelined him for 10 months.

Oligui, in a speech to the Republican Guard this month, accused the former "First Lady" and Noureddin of having "squandered" the president's power.

"Because since his stroke, they have falsified the signature of the president, they gave orders in his place," he said.

Immediately after the coup, Oligui summoned around 200 Gabonese business leaders to a meeting, whom he lectured on corruption.

Broadcast on state television, he sternly warned business leaders against "over-billing" and told them to commit to the "development of the country".

He also vowed to make sure the overcharged money "comes back to the state".
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority Caucus in Parliament, Thursday, urged the government to embark on a considerable restructuring of the alleged ailing National Investment Bank (NIB) to prevent the bank's potential liquidation.

At a press conference in Parliament House, Mr Isaac Adongo, the Ranking on Parliaments Finance Committee challenged the government's decision in considering an alleged liquidation of NIB, suggesting that there would have been hidden rationales behind the governments activity.

He said there was a viable alternative to the bank's predicament, where the NDC and Minority had proposed the need for the government to restructure NIB's balance sheet by converting all NIB debts owed to the government into equity.

The government should just restructure the balance sheet of NIB to swap all the NIB debts that it owes the government and give the government equity but the government says it doesn't have money to capitalise the bank but it has given 500 million bonds to NIB and it has given 800 million debt to NIB the two will give you 1.2 billioncommit to say that is your commitment to recapitalisation so we issue shares for you, Mr Adongo alleged.

Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Minority Leader, told the Press that the Caucus would only support the approval of the $250 World Bank facility for the financial stability fund if priority was given to struggling state banks.

GNA
Governance Lecturer at the Central University, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah doubts Alan Kyerematen's chances of winning the 2024 presidential elections as an independent candidate.

Dr. Otchere-Ankrah's comments follow Kyerematen's resignation from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to contest the presidential election as an independent candidate.

During an interview on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, Dr. Otchere-Ankrah opined on Mr Kyerematen's decision and shared his perspective.

He emphasized that Ghana's political landscape is dominated by the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), making it challenging for any independent candidate to secure victory in presidential elections.

"Like it or not, in Ghana, there are only three political parties; NPP, NDC, and the rest," Dr. Otchere-Ankrah remarked.

While Dr. Otchere-Ankrah acknowledged Kyerematen's right to contest as an independent candidate; he expressed doubt about his chances.

"We wish him well, though he will not win. That one, I don't need any prophet to tell me; he won't win, but he knows why he wants to independently contest," Dr. Otchere-Ankrah asserted.

Dr. Otchere-Ankrah slammed Mr Kyerematen for his public criticism of the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration, suggesting that such criticism from someone who was once a part of the government indicates a lack of sincerity.

He said, "If you are able to attack this government for which you were a part, then you are not being truthful. You are being disingenuous.
The leaders of nine Mediterranean and southern European countries called Friday for a "significant increase" in the EU's efforts to tackle the thorny issue of migration at its roots, in origin and transit countries.

The leaders met in Malta the day after EU interior ministers in Brussels finally made headway on new rules for how the bloc handles asylum seekers and illegal immigration.

A sharp rise in migrants landing on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa earlier this month has reignited tensions within the bloc and provided new impetus to reach an agreement.

Tackling illegal migration calls for "a sustained and holistic European response", the leaders of Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia and a representative of Spain said in a joint statement.

"We recall the need for a significant increase in the EU's efforts on the external dimension front, with a renewed approach to effectively reduce primary movements and prevent departures," it said.

Meloni's hard-right government, elected a year ago on an anti-migrant ticket, has clashed with both France and Germany as she presses the EU to take greater responsibility.

After a meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Malta, Meloni told media she saw "a will, on paper at least," to act as a bloc.

It is "something that has to be done on a European level to be really effective," she insisted.

Shared vision

The summit comes as EU interior ministers work on new rules for how the bloc handles asylum-seekers and irregular migrants. By Sameer Al-DOUMY (AFP)

So far this year, the number of arrivals in Italy has surpassed 133,000, almost double the number during the same period last year, according to the interior ministry.

As thousands of migrants slept on cots in the open air in Lampedusa's overwhelmed reception centre two weeks ago, von der Leyen unveiled a 10-point plan to help Rome deal with the crisis.

Von der Leyen's plan includes the possible expansion of naval missions in the Mediterranean -- missions Meloni said should be run "in agreement with North African authorities".

After sharp words in both Italy and France on how to handle the issue, Macron and Meloni have sought to ease tensions in recent days, and a French presidential source said the countries had a "shared vision of the management of the migration question".

Some 90 migrants landed in three boats Friday on Lampedusa, a tiny island close to the Tunisian coast, the first port of call for many of those crossing from North Africa to Europe.

Graphic showing the number of dead or missing migrants in central Mediterranean in June, July and August since 2014.. By Clement KASSER, Paz PIZARRO (AFP)

As well as tensions with France, Rome has criticised Germany for funding charity rescue ships operating in the Central Mediterranean, the world's deadliest sea crossing for migrants.

Italy has suggested charity ships sailing under foreign flags should be forced under EU rules to disembark them in their own countries, Meloni said Friday.

But according to Italian media reports, the amendment was rejected by interior ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

Deaths at sea

At least 990 migrants died or went missing in the crossing between June and August this year, three times that recorded in the same period last year, the UN's agency for children UNICEF said Friday.

At least 289 children have died so far this year trying to make the crossing, with UNICEF warning the Mediterranean had become a "cemetery for children and their future".

Some of the 266 migrants rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms when they were crossing the Mediterranean. By Matias CHIOFALO (AFP/File)

Both Meloni and Macron also want to prevent boats from departing, by working more closely with Tunisia, despite questions over the country's human rights standards and treatment of migrants.

The European Commission said last week it was set to release the first instalment of funds to Tunisia -- one of the main launching points for boats -- under a plan signed this year to bolster its coastguard and tackle traffickers.

The EU deal with Tunisia was already producing "very important signs of collaboration", Meloni said, adding that it was "a model to be used in general with North African countries".

The bloc already signed a deal in 2017 with Libya, although critics say getting both countries to intercept and forcibly return boats makes the EU complicit in abuses.

Rescue charity Sea Watch said Friday its surveillance plane Seabird had witnessed a Libyan coastguard boat -- a vessel gifted by Italy -- ramming a migrant dinghy carrying some 50 people.

The EU is poised to agree a revamped Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will seek to relieve pressure on frontline countries such as Italy and Greece by relocating some arrivals to other EU states.
29.09.2023 LISTEN

The ECOWAS Court has fixed December 12, 2023 for presentation of the terms of settlement for consent judgment of the Court in a case concerning unpaid pension and retirement benefits of His Excellency, John D. Gray, former Vice President of Liberia, since October 2003.

Justice Gberi-be Ouattara, presiding judge, adjourned the case for two months to allow more time for the process of amicable settlement, after hearing the progress report from both parties during the court sitting held on September 28, 2023.

At the hearing, Mr Lafayette Gould Sr representing the state of Liberia informed the Court that the request for an extension of time was to enable the government fulfil its part in the process of settlement, delayed by the country's preparation for election.

However, Mr Femi Adedeji who represented the former Vice President told the Court that prior to the court sitting, they did not receive update on developments made on the part of the government towards the amicable settlement.

Thereafter, Mr Gould was mandated to periodically inform H.E. John Gray's lawyers on developments towards fulfilling their part in the terms of settlement.

In the initiating application with suit number ECW/CCJ/APP/61/21 filed on October 15, 2021, the Vice President who served under President Moses Z. Blah from August 11, 2003 to October 14, 2003, claimed the Liberian government violated his rights, specifically his property rights to pension and retirement benefits and other associated rights.

His lawyer, Mr Adedeji told the Court that the Republic of Liberia violated his rights to freedom from discrimination, equal protection of the law, rights to human dignity, fair hearing and right to property as guaranteed by Articles 2, 3, 4, 7 and 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) as well as Liberia's 2003 Act (to amend an Act) providing for retirement pension of the President and Vice President.

He said that the non-compliance of the State was a continuous violation of the State's domestic law specifically Sections 1 and 2 of the Act of the National Legislature of November 26, 2003.

It states in part that A former Vice President who has been honourably retired to private life and who is not in any way employed by the Government shall receive from the Government a pension equal to fifty percent (50%) of the salary of the incumbent Vice President.

In addition, the former Vice President shall be entitled to a personal staff and facilities for the remainder of his/her life. The allowance allowed for this purpose shall not be less than fifteen thousand ($15,000) United States Dollars per annum.

Mr Adedeji also said the government's action has subjected H.E. John Gray to degrading and humiliating human conditions considering that other former Vice Presidents were receiving their benefits.

He urged the Court to declare the State liable for the violation of the former Vice President's rights as guaranteed under the ACHPR, the Liberia Constitution of 1986, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and other relevant legal texts.

He asked for a Court order compelling the State of Liberia to pay H.E. Gray's retirement benefits from October 14, 2023, his pension benefits for life, and USD 5,000,000 (Five Million Dollars) as general damages for the violations.

Also on the panel were Justices Sengu M. Koroma, and Ricardo Claudio Monteiro Goncalves.

GNA
Water has been cut off two days out of every three this month in France's poorest department Mayotte, an Indian Ocean archipelago left underdeveloped in one of the world's wealthiest nations.

Although Mayotte's people and representatives have pushed for help from Paris, they have been left disappointed by a piecemeal government reaction.

"People are furious, but exhausted," Estelle Youssouffa, one of the archipelago's two MPs in the Paris parliament, told AFP.

"Their only obsession is finding water, getting organised to go and buy it, walking for kilometres to an area with water to have a shower, thinking about old people or the sick who can't get water for themselves. You think about it all day."

Sitting north of Madagascar, over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) from the capital, the territory's 300,000 people may soon face longer water cuts, Mayotte's prefect Thierry Suquet said Wednesday.

Just north of Madagascar, Mayotte is 8,000 kilometres from Paris. By Sophie RAMIS (AFP/File)

Supply is largely dependent on rainfall and the longest drought since 1997 has left reservoirs close to dry.

Without new cuts, "by the end of October we'll find ourselves with between 15,000 and 20,000 cubic metres" available per day, Suquet said -- less than half the population's estimated needs.

People have been told to boil what water there is before use even though authorities insist it is fit for consumption.

"We want drinkable water for the whole population," said Racha Mouzdikoudine, a demonstrator at a protest earlier this month, brandishing a bottle of brownish liquid she said came from her tap.

"This isn't normal, I can't even give this water to my cat".

'Enormous distress'

Children are being sent home from dry schools and hospitals are seeing increasing numbers of people falling sick.

By late August, "ten or so people were arriving every day with digestive problems, vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration," Jonathan Cambriels, a nurse at the Petit-Terre hospital, told AFP earlier this month.

Mayotte also has a shortage of medical personnel, with just 86 doctors for every 100,000 people in 2021 -- one-quarter the ratio in mainland France.

"I sensed enormous distress among the medical staff," Philippe Vigier, junior minister for France's overseas territories, said during a brief visit this week.

'Why aren't we declared in a state of natural disaster?' said Youssouffa. By Thomas SAMSON (AFP)

At the National Assembly in Paris on Tuesday, he told MP Youssouffa that the government had set up additional water pipes to improve distribution, installed water tanks in schools, and was distributing 5.4 million bottles of water to 50,000 "vulnerable" inhabitants.

Paris has also committed 35 million euros ($37 million) to plugging leaks in the water system, and says two long-promised desalination plants would be completed by the end of 2024.

This is not enough, Youssouffa told AFP.

"Why aren't we declared in a state of natural disaster, just like any time there's a drop of rain and a storm in a village in Dordogne (in western France)?" she asked.

"The people I'm speaking to in Paris don't know three-quarters of what's going on" in Mayotte, she said, accusing local authorities of having failed to inform their superiors.

Soldiers have been called in to help distribute water. By Chafion MADI (AFP/File)

Youssouffa argues that the authorities should be distributing water for free to all of Mayotte's people -- almost 80 percent of whom lived below the poverty line in 2018, according to statistics authority Insee.

Water should be delivered by direct military shipments rather than slow commercial voyages, she added, while the bills people continue to receive from the water company for dirty or non-existent supply should be cancelled.

The official pauses may be for two days in three, but "I haven't had any water in the house for seven days," Mayotte resident Anfedine told AFP this month, fiddling uselessly with the tap in her shower.

Over the longer term, Youssouffa called for a cistern in every house and renovation and cleaning of the water system, including construction of a new reservoir.

"We can take advantage of the water crisis to do the work needed for the immediate future," she said.

As for the promised desalination plants," I'm like Saint Thomas, I only believe in what I can see. I'll say thank you when there's more water in my tap," Youssouffa added.

'That's the end'

This year's shift in the south Pacific from the El Nino weather phenomenon to La Nina could be bad news for Mayotte, which should normally enter its rainy season in December.

Weather authority Meteo France this month predicted "a shortfall in precipitation across the island" through the end of the year, in part due to La Nina.

At the same time, Mayotte also faces demographic pressure through irregular migration from the neighbouring Comoros islands.

France's government ordered several shanty towns dismantled earlier this year. By Philippe LOPEZ (AFP/File)

Earlier this summer, the government launched a huge operation to raze shanty towns and clamp down on crime. The Comoros government agreed to take back voluntary returnees.

The step was "very, very important... to put a stop to the idea that there's nothing to be done with Mayotte" in Paris, Youssouffa said, citing demonstrations in favour of the operation by locals.

But where people have found the energy to demonstrate more recently, it has been to demand solutions to the water crisis.

"If it doesn't rain, that's the end," said Sylvain Amavi, a member of the Mayotte 2018 collective, at a Wednesday demonstration timed with minister Vigier's visit.

"The state isn't planning anything. We have no idea what the future will be like."

burs-tgb/jh/jj
30.09.2023 LISTEN

Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) says it is discomforting that two months after Parliament passed the anti-witchcraft bill, the president is yet to assent to the bill into law.

Commissioner of CHRAJ Joseph Whittal says the lag emboldens wrongdoing against victims and other vulnerable groups.

Parliament in July, approved the Criminal Offences Amendment Bill 2022 which seeks to prohibit any person from practicing as a witch doctor or witchfinder, to protect people accused of witchcraft.

The Bill, among others, aims to criminalize the declaration, accusation, naming, or labelling of another person as a witch in Ghana.

But two months after the Bills passage, the president is yet to assent to the bill.

Commissioner Joseph Whittal says the delay does not send a good signal.

Any day that it delays in the signing of this bill into law is a day, for the torture of these women to continue. Just last week another woman has been killed just like Akua Denteh. So, let me use the opportunity to express our sincere discomfort about signing of the bill into law by the president. We want to encourage him to pass it as soon as possible, because lives are at stake, he stated. Background

The new law was suggested after a 90-year-old woman, Akua Denteh, was lynched in Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region in July 2020, drawing condemnation from local and international rights groups.

While it is not uncommon for people to be accused of witchcraft in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in rural communities, the womans death caused a public outcry because of the brutal way she was beaten and killed.

The bill was lobbied by Madina MP, Francis Xavier Sosu, and four other MPs with the aim to protect people accused of witchcraft.

Another woman killed

A 60 year old woman Musah Azaratu Poana, has been murdered by two brothers at Jagna in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East region over witchcraft accusation

According to a daughter of the deceased, the assailants stormed the house and accused her mother of bewitching their father and began to fire several shots at her killing her in the process.

Meanwhile, police in the area have launched a manhunt for the two siblings who attacked and killed the 60 year old woman over witchcraft accusation.

Azaratu's death has sparked another round of public outcry, on the nned for government to sign the bill into law.

3news.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. Azerbaijan has allocated $1 million to the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT), Trend reports.

In this regard, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a corresponding decree.
The leadership of the Police Service, as part of its continuous engagement with stakeholders at all levels across the country, met officials of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on 27th September 2023.

The meeting which took place at the Trade Union Hall, Accra, was aimed at fostering closer collaboration between the Police Service and the TUC.

At the meeting, the Inspector-General of Police Dr. George Akuffo Dampare highlighted the significance of incorporating the concerns and insights of all stakeholders into the Police Services operational strategies in order to align policing efforts with the broader needs and aspirations of all.

Some members of the Police Management Board (POMAB), took turns to speak on key issues such as Management of Public Order Events, the General Security Situation in the country, Strategic Interventions implemented by the Police Administration to enhance our operational efficiency, Security preparations towards the Christmas and the New Year festivities as well as Elections Security Management.

For their part, officials of the TUC commended the Police for the historic engagement, noting that it was the first of its kind in the TUC-Police relationship over the years. They gave the assurance of their continuous working partnership as part of their civic responsibilities in the maintenance of law and order in the country.

Some members and representatives of the various unions present at the meeting used the opportunity to commend the Police, expressed their concerns and asked questions on general Police operations.

In his closing remarks, the Secretary-General of TUC Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah applauded the current Police leadership for its commitment to ensuring professionalism among its personnel and reassured to partner the Service in building a good working relationship.

Source: Classfmonline.com
30.09.2023 LISTEN

A video featuring aggrieved market women, recorded before former MP Okyem Aboagye's demise, has resurfaced on social media after his death. In the video, the women who had a land dispute with the legislator accused him of utilizing his political influence to their detriment. One of the aggrieved, Samba, expressed her intention to curse the late legislator and his family if he claimed land ownership.

People have been asking since his untimely death about the effectiveness of curses. Curses, often rooted in cultural or superstitious beliefs, are not scientifically proven to have tangible effects. However, they can hold significant cultural and psychological weight in specific communities. The contrast in beliefs between scientists and religious individuals regarding curse efficacy underscores a fundamental difference in their worldviews and approaches to understanding the world.

By the nature of their discipline, scientists rely on empirical evidence and the scientific method to validate and accept beliefs. Curses, supernatural or metaphysical phenomena, do not have empirical evidence to support their efficacy according to the scientific method. Scientists tend not to believe in curses because there is no scientific proof of their existence or impact. From a scientific standpoint, curses remain unproven due to a lack of empirical evidence supporting their influence on people or events.

Many religious traditions believe in supernatural forces, including curses and blessings, as part of their belief systems. In these belief systems, people often see curses as a manifestation of divine or spiritual power. Religious individuals may believe curses can impact their lives, particularly if they perceive themselves as having committed wrongdoing. Religious faiths take curses seriously, as they carry spiritual significance. They can affect individuals seen as deserving of their consequences.

The contrasting views on curses exemplify the dichotomy between the empirical and the metaphysical. While scientists require empirical evidence to validate their beliefs, religious people rely on faith and spirituality to guide their understanding of supernatural phenomena. Respecting these differing perspectives is essential, as they are deeply rooted in individual and cultural beliefs and values.

Curses and whether they hold efficacy have been a subject of intrigue and debate throughout history. In the Bible, the story of Balaam and Balak in the Book of Numbers sheds light on this topic. It suggests that curses may hold power, albeit within a specific theological framework.

The account of Balaam and Balak is a narrative that unfolds in the wilderness as the Israelites, under Moses' leadership, journey toward the Promised Land. Balak, the king of Moab, grew concerned about the Israelites' presence and victories over other nations. Seeking divine intervention, Balak summons the prophet Balaam, known for his ability to bless or curse people. Balak's intent is clear: he wants Balaam to curse the Israelites and bring them to ruin.

God, however, intervenes at various points in the story to thwart Balaam's intentions. This divine intervention can be seen as an acknowledgment of the power of blessings and curses. It is also a demonstration of human limitations to manipulating supernatural forces.

Curses, animism, and magic are common concepts that have woven intricate narratives throughout human history and across diverse cultures. While the Bible provides examples of curses and their impact, these examples are often rooted in complex belief systems and interrelated concepts.

Examples from the Bible, such as the curse on Cain, Noah's curse on Canaan, and Joshua's curse on Jericho rebuilding, underscore the spiritual and moral underpinnings of curses. The Bible does not explicitly explain curse supernatural mechanisms but focuses on their role in divine judgment and retribution.

Animism, a belief system that permeates many cultures, ascribes spiritual significance to natural elements. It posits that spirits inhabit animals, plants, rocks, and more. Animistic beliefs emphasize the inherent power of these entities and the ability to invoke their influence. Animism, thus, provides a framework for understanding how curses might draw upon the powers of these spirits to harm or misfortune others.

Magic, a practice that manipulates or influences supernatural forces, finds its place within animistic belief systems. These practices encompass spells, incantations, and rituals that interact with or harness spirits' powers and the natural world. Through these magical rituals, curses can be enacted, invoking harm upon a target by calling upon supernatural forces or entities.

Curses are manifestations of magical intent. They involve invoking harm or misfortune by tapping into spiritual forces in the natural world. Curses are channeling spirits or natural elements to harm. They are often employed when individuals are believed to have transgressed social or spiritual norms, highlighting the interconnectedness of animism and magic.

Curses, animism, and magic relationships vary across cultures, reflecting varied kinds of beliefs and practices. Animistic belief systems often incorporate magical practices to interact with spirits believed to inhabit the natural world. Curses may be used to invoke harm as a dark expression of this magic. Counter-cursing magic is employed to ward off curses, symbolizing a delicate balance in this intricate web of beliefs.

Curses, animism, and magic are interconnected concepts that showcase human belief systems' complexity. While the Bible provides a moral and theological perspective on curses, these beliefs are deeply rooted in cultural, spiritual, and historical contexts. The interplay of these concepts offers a fascinating glimpse into the multifaceted nature of human understanding. This is where the natural and supernatural coexist, shaping our beliefs, rituals, and interpretations of the world.
30.09.2023 LISTEN

Former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, had no genuine reasons to resign from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), a presidential staffer Dennis Miracles Aboagye has argued.

Miracles Aboagye indicated that all the concerns that were raised by Mr Kyerematen were addressed by the National Council of the party.

Alan has no genuine reason to quit NPP, he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday 30.

He resigned based on his selfish, parochial interest. He raised the issues and they were addressed.

Mr Kyerematen who placed third in the super delegates conference of the NPP on August 26 announced his resignation from the party on Monday, September 25 to enable him to contest for the office of president as an independent presidential candidate in the 2024 elections.

This made it the second time he resigned from the NPP after he first did so in 2007 but later returned.

Mr Kyerematen said that he had come to the realisation that his contributions were no longer needed in the party hence his resignation.

He said this followed the harsh treatment meted out to his supporters by the party.

Persons associated with me are treated with disdain and outright outcast, Mr Kyerematen who placed third in the super delegates conference of the NPP held on August 26 said.

He accused the leadership of the NPP of skewing the internal elections in favour of one particular aspirant.

In a subsequent interview following his resignation, Mr Kyerematen said he wished to use the NPP as the vehicle to project and implement his vision for the country as president but he had to leave the party because of troubles.

He stated that he had been a strategic politician all these years and wanted the NPP to benefit from his ideas as the president of Ghana.

But at the moment, he said, he has to go directly to Ghanaians as an independent candidate to sell his vision to them.

I have been very strategic about how I have positioned myself over the years, he told Berla Mundi on the New Day show on TV3 on Wednesday, September 27.

I would have wished to use the party but for various reasons, I have decided that I will go directly to the people of Ghana, he added.

3news.com
30.09.2023 LISTEN

Private legal practitioner, Mr Martin Kpebu, has said that former Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen will not be anything different from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government if he wins the elections as an independent presidential candidate.

Kpebu said Mr Kyerematen was part of the government that created the economic challenges.

I dont support Alan, he is too much of NPP and he will come and do the same thing, he is part of the problem, Alan cant appeal to me, Kpebu said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, September 30.

He added We are looking for anything other than NPP and NDC regime. There is no way I will vote for anybody from the NPP and the NDC. TUC had a party in the 70s, they should come again.

Mr Kyerematen who placed third in the super delegates conference of the NPP on August 26 announced his resignation from the party on Monday, September 25 to enable him to contest for the office of president as an independent presidential candidate in the 2024 elections.

This made it the second time he resigned from the NPP after he first did so in 2007 but later returned.

Mr Kyerematen said that he had come to the realisation that his contributions were no longer needed in the party hence his resignation.

He said this followed the harsh treatment meted out to his supporters by the party.

Persons associated with me are treated with disdain and outright outcast, Mr Kyerematen who placed third in the super delegates conference of the NPP held on August 26 said.

He accused the leadership of the NPP of skewing the internal elections in favour of one particular aspirant.

In a subsequent interview following his resignation, Mr Kyerematen said he wished to use the NPP as the vehicle to project and implement his vision for the country as president but he had to leave the party because of troubles.

He stated that he had been a strategic politician all these years and wanted the NPP to benefit from his ideas as the president of Ghana.

But at the moment, he said, he has to go directly to Ghanaians as an independent candidate to sell his vision to them.

I have been very strategic about how I have positioned myself over the years, he told Berla Mundi on the New Day show on TV3 on Wednesday, September 27.

I would have wished to use the party but for various reasons, I have decided that I will go directly to the people of Ghana, he added.

3news.com
Two members of the communications teams of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akua Avle and Mari Timekye respectively have, expectedly, expressed varied opinions over calls by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) for two commissioners appointed by President Akufo-Addo to the Electoral Commission, to resign.

A coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has called for the resignation of Dr. Peter Appiahene and Madam Salima Tijani over their alleged affiliation with the NPP.

Speaking on Onua TV's Pae Mu Ka show on September 29, 2023, Nana Akua Avle from the camp of the NDC repeated the allegation that the two appointees are card bearing members of the NPP.

Dr. Appiahene is an NPP card bearer and Salima Tijani is the daughter of a former NPP executive in the Northern Region, and the NPP members are aware that these individuals are card bearing members of the party, she stressed.

Madam Avle further alleged that the Electoral Commission has politicised its processes.

The Electoral Commission, which is supposed to be an independent body has politicised everything and its activities, to the extent of appointing members of the New Patriotic Party to the Commission, making the Commission to be biased. Former President Mahama would not have appointed anybody from his party, because the EC is supposed to be an independent body and should contain independent people who are not affiliated to any political party to steer the affairs of the Commission, she stated.

Mari Timekye on the other hand, claimed that the NDC is fueling this call for the two commissioners to resign.

I always ask myself whether there is some form of rivalry between the EC and the NDC, apart from the call for resignation of these appointees. I think what Nana Akua just said suggests the NDC is the mastermind behind the CSOs call for the resignation of these appointees, she alleged.

The NPP communicator insisted that Dr. Appiahene and Salima Tijani are not affiliated to the party.

Appiahene was a lecturer and there is no evidence that shows he is an NPP member, she stated.

3NEWS.COM
Private legal practitioner, Lawyer Martin Kpebu has indicated that he is not moved by the decision by Alan Kyerematen to quit the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to run for president.

The former Minister for Trade and Industry on Monday, September 25, announced at a conference in Accra his resignation from the ruling political party.

In his announcement, he said he would contest for president in the 2024 General Elections as an Independent Candidate.

Speaking to TV3 on the Key Points programme on Saturday, September 30, Lawyer Martin Kpebu said he cannot trust Alan Kyerematen.

According to him, the former Minister of Trade and Industry is part of Ghanas problems and wont do any better than the NPP when elected as president.

I dont support Alan, he is too much of NPP and he will come and do the same thing, he is part of the problem, Alan cant appeal to me.

We are looking for anything other than NPP and NDC regime. There is no way I will vote for anybody from the NPP and the NDC, Lawyer. Martin Kpebu said.

After quitting the NPP, Alan Kyerematen is leading what he calls Movement for Change.

He is hoping to appeal to the Ghanaian youth to buy into his course and vote massively for him in the 2024 General Election to become president of the country.
Ghana Institute of Architects has expressed disgust about the country's-built environment, disregarding building regulations and codes and other statutory documents.

According to the Institute, something ought to be done urgently to stem the uncontrolled nature of development that did not respect the statutory documents governing the management of the built environment.

Mr Foster Osae-Akonnor, the President of the Institute raised the concern when he was speaking at a town hall meeting organised by the Institute in Sunyani, as part of activities to mark the 60th anniversary celebration of the institution on the theme, the Architect and the Community.

The day's meeting was attended by Heads of Departments and Agencies, representatives of District and Municipal Assemblies and planning officers as well as traditional leaders and representatives of religious organisations.

It aimed at discussing pertinent issues affecting the region and further strategizing for a better built environment that would promote the health and well-being of the people.

Accordingly, Mr Osae-Akonnor explained the Institute would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (BARCC), because of the region's development into a business hub.

The medium to long term outcome and benefits of the MoU, he explained, would lead to a built environment livable, developed sustainably and created the much needed economic prosperity in the region.

This would eventually lead to the overall health and well-being of the inhabitants in the region, Mr Osae-Akonnor stated, saying all the 12 political-administrative municipalities/districts in the region would also countersign the MoU.

Highlighting the roles of architects towards holistic national development, Mr Osae-Akonnor underlined the need to design or modulate space for human habitation, saying this entails not only designing and specification, but contract administration involving supervision and eventually post occupancy evaluation.

As architects, he said the Bono Region and Sunyani had to become a beautiful, vibrant, and sustainable city considering the opportunities in the area of economic, socio-cultural, physical development and environmental attributes.

But this can only happen if all of us put our minds to it, have a vision for the development of the physical environment (built environment) of the entire region without leaving behind any of the 12 administrative capitals of the Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs), Mr Osae-Akonnor stated.

He therefore called for effective collaboration between the Institute and the RCC and entreated the MDAs in the region to send drone footages covering their entire boundaries that would serve as the base material for a Master Plan for the MoU.

Already Mr Osae-Akonnor said similar meetings had been held in six regions including Ashanti, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta, and Oti Regions.

The Institute would further hold meetings in the Western, Western North, Eastern and Greater Accra Regions by the end of the year and continued with that of Bono East, Savannah, Central, Ahafo and North East Regions in 2024.

GNA
Political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante has downplayed the chances of Alan Kyerematen winning the 2024 General Elections to become president.

Speaking to TV3 on the Key Points programme on Saturday, September 30, the political science lecturer said Alans decision to quit the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is just to cause disruptions in the party.

In his view, the former Minister for Trade and Industry is aware he has no chance of winning next years polls to become president.

His [Alan Kyerematens] absence will create the difficulties for them [NPP]. Alan can be the kingmaker.

He himself knows that he is not going there to win, he is going there to rock the boat of the NPP, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Asah-Asante is of the view that if Alan joins forces with the other smaller political parties, then they can have a say in the 2024 General Elections.

If he and the smaller parties are able to galvanize about 1.5 million votes, it will push the elections into the second round, Dr. Asah-Asante argued.

Alan Kyerematen on Monday, September 25, announced his resignation from the NPP at a conference in Accra.

He said in his bid to run for president as an Independent Candidate next year, he will lead a Movement for Change that targets the Ghanaian youth regardless of political affiliation.
30.09.2023 LISTEN

Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has clarified that the government is not opposed to demonstrations in the country.

He dismissed claims that the government is against civil protest, emphasizing that the government appreciates citizens rights and will not attempt to suppress their rights.

He made the remark following the brutality meted out to the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protestors a few days ago in Accra.

The police filed an injunction preventing organizers of the protest from picketing in the vicinity of the Jubilee House. The protestors defied the polices orders, and 49 of them were arrested.

On the second and third days of their protest, the organizers were prevented from marching to the Jubilee House, which was their intended picketing point.

The government was heavily criticized for preventing the protestors from picketing at their designated route.

In an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Richard Ahiagbah emphasized the importance of citizens obeying rules, adding that preventing the protestors from picketing at the Jubilee House is not the same as disallowing them from demonstrating.

To correct the impression, this government and this party [NPP] do not oppose people demonstrating. Since this government has been in power, some people have demonstrated, I can count about five peaceful demonstrations. That impression must be corrected, to the extent that people have been demonstrating. When theres a demonstration, people go out there, the atmosphere is charged, and things happen, that cannot be a system directing that demonstration.

He added, The circumstances of the event must be taken into account, lets not have this blanket generalisation and say that under this government people wont be allowed demonstrations. Who we are reflects the allowance of people to express their values. By way of demonstrating, express their frustrations. As a government and as a party, that avenue is there. If there are circumstances preventing people from demonstrating at the Jubilee House, and you are told not to go there, it cannot be equal to disallowing people from demonstrating.

The Director of Communications for NPP observed that the threat level in the sub-region has heightened, stressing that it would have been suicidal for the police to have allowed them inch close to the Jubilee House.

In our sub-region, you realise what is happening by the minute, by the day, the threat levels have heightened, and so you think that it should be okay to allow them to go? he said.

Reacting to the demonstration by some Ghanaians in London, he said it was unnecessary for them to have embarked on a demonstration, adding that the economic crisis is a global problem.

If I were them, I wouldnt demonstrate because I would have appreciated the global situation, he opined.

Tensions ran high outside the Ghana High Commission in London on Friday, September 29, as Ghanaians from across the United Kingdom gathered to voice their concerns about the state of governance and the economic downturn.

A little over 100 passionate individuals with placards with various inscriptions converged on the diplomatic premises to make their voices heard.

These demonstrators were resolute in their belief that the Akufo-Addo-led government had fallen short in addressing the pressing issues facing the nation.

-citinewsroom
Community members from Wuxor, Have and Sremanu in the Akatsi South Municipality of the Volta Region are calling for urgent steps to help fix their deplorable road network.

The roads, despite being important gateway for transportation and trade, the Ghana News Agency learnt, have become a major hindrance to health and the economic growth of the Electoral Area.

The appeal was made when Mr Japhet Festus Gbede, an aspiring assembly member for the area, led a team of Assembly officials including Mr Kofitsey Martin Nyahe, the Municipal Chief Executive of Akatsi South to the area.

The tour was aimed at assessing the bad nature of the roads within the area as well as inspecting some delayed projects in the area.

At Wuxor, Mr Nyahe, in an interaction with Torgbui Awuku Agbo II, chief of Wuxor, reiterated his governments commitment to improving the needed road infrastructure network in the area.

He assured the people of Wuxor, Have, and Sremanu Electoral Area that his government would continue to work towards providing them with their needs for economic development.

He also assured them of the commissioning of the newly constructed Health Centre in the area.

GNA
Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev has met with Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on climate issues Ruslan Edelgeriyev, Azernews reports.

The meeting focused on current directions of cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation in the field of environmental protection, and prospects of cooperation.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. Activities to confiscate various ammunition and military equipment of Armenian armed forces and illegal Armenian armed formations in the Karabakh region continue, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense told Trend.

The ministry disclosed that during the inspection of civilian infrastructure objects in the territory of Aghdara, another ammunition depot was discovered.

A large quantity of cartridges, hand grenades, mortars, heavy artillery and tank shells of various calibers, guided anti-tank missile systems, and other ammunition, as well as various military equipment were confiscated from the depot.

Furthermore, crates with weapons and ammunition were also found and confiscated from a support point in the mentioned direction.

In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement [signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war], suppression of large-scale provocations in Azerbaijan's Karabakh economic region, disarmament, and withdrawal of Armenian armed forces formations from the territories of Azerbaijan, localized anti-terrorist activities were carried out in the region.

Taking into account the appeal of the representatives of the Armenian population of Karabakh through the Russian peacekeeping contingent [temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan under the trilateral statement], an agreement was reached on September 20, 2023, at 13:00 (GMT+4) to cease anti-terrorist activities of a local nature under the following conditions: the formations of the armed forces of Armenia, Armenian illegal armed formations located in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region, lay down their weapons, leave their combat positions and military posts, and completely disarm; the formations of the armed forces of Armenia leave the territory of Azerbaijan; Armenian illegal armed groups are dissolved.
Residents of Vui, a suburb of Keta in the Keta Municipality of the Volta region have been thrown into a state of shock and fear after a man, believed to be in his 50s was found dead in his kitchen.

The deceased, whose name was given as Mr Doe Setoafia, was found hanging on a rope in his kitchen on Friday September 29.

Mr Bright Atsitsogbui, an eyewitness, told the Ghana News Agency that the incident happened on Friday dawn at about 0230 hours.

He was a humble and calm person, he stated.

Mr Fiator Doe, a brother of the deceased, disclosed to the GNA that the deceased was married and blessed with four daughters.

He stated that the deceased did not show any sign of unusual behaviour or depression that could lead to that unexpected act.

He said the Police at Keta were notified and the body had since been conveyed to the Keta Municipal Hospital Morgue awaiting autopsy.

The Police at Keta is yet to comment on the matter.

GNA
As part of a series of activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the 60th anniversary of WHO's presence in Ghana, WHO Ghana organized a health walk dubbed "Walk The Talk" in the city of Accra.

The 6-kilometer walk, which commenced in the early hours of Friday, September 29, began at the forecourt of the State House, leading participants through the Ridge roundabout, the Police Headquarters, and back to the forecourt of the State House. The event brought together individuals and stakeholders within the health sector to actively "Walk The Talk."

During an interview with the press, Professor Francis Kasolo, the World Health Organization Representative to Ghana, explained that the "Walk The Talk" event was one of the activities aimed at commemorating WHO's 75th anniversary while simultaneously celebrating WHO's 60th year of operation in Ghana.

Professor Kasolo emphasized that achieving universal health coverage by 2030 requires a multifaceted approach.

He stated, "First and foremost, we must focus on improving the health of the population. This walk was a vital step in promoting community health. Additionally, to achieve universal health coverage, we need to shift our focus from simply treating people to preventing diseases and providing care for those recovering from conditions with long-term effects. Furthermore, universal coverage entails safeguarding the population from outbreaks such as COVID-19. Thus, we have implemented various strategies to address all these key areas, and Ghana is fortunate to have a universal coverage roadmap that encompasses these aspects."

Highlighting WHO's commitment to advancing health insurance, Professor Kasolo mentioned that WHO is actively collaborating with the Health Insurance Scheme to organize a health insurance summit. This summit aims to bring together representatives from several countries to Ghana to discuss and learn how to enhance their respective health insurance systems.

In an effort to leave no one behind and deepen efforts against mental health, WHO and its partners will host a national event on mental health in the Oti region in October to mark 2023 World Mental Health Day.

Dr. Joana Ansong, the Focal Person for Non-Communicable Diseases and Risk Factors at the WHO Ghana Country Office stressed the importance of engaging in physical activity as a cost-effective strategy to combat the high burden of non-communicable diseases in Ghana. She encouraged the general public to participate in physical activities to promote a healthier lifestyle.

Dr. Ansong noted, "In reality, we face a triple burden of diseases. We grapple with communicable diseases like malaria and HIV, but we are also witnessing a growing burden of non-communicable diseases."
Two centuries ago this week, French linguist Jean-Francois Champollion announced that he had cracked the code of hieroglyphics, the ancient Egyptian writing system that had puzzled scholars for centuries. RFI tells the story of a breakthrough that revolutionised human understanding of one of the world's oldest civilisations.

In September 1822, a 32-year-old man hurtled out of 28 rue Mazarine in Paris.

He raced towards the River Seine where, on the opposite bank, the Louvre Museum had been established 29 years earlier. He stopped before the Pont des Arts, the newfangled metallic bridge built on the orders of the late Napoleon Bonaparte, dead since the previous spring.

He stormed into the Institut de France, the society of learning set up shortly after the Louvre in a grand domed building opposite.

Once inside, he rushed to the office of one Jacques-Joseph Champollion, one of the institute's corresponding members.

The young man thrust a bundle of notes onto the scholar's desk. I've got it! he exclaimed. Then he fell to the floor, unconscious.

A legendary discovery

That, at least, is how the story goes of one of history's most famous breakthroughs: how to decode hieroglyphics, the complex system of writing used in ancient Egypt.

Legend has it the man responsible, Jean-Francois Champollion  the younger brother of Jacques-Joseph  was so overcome by the feat that he remained bedridden for the next five days.

But around two weeks later, on 27 September 1822, he presented his findings publicly at France's Academy of Inscriptions and Fine Writing.

What he had realised was that hieroglyphs weren't just pictures representing words, or phonetic symbols making sounds; instead they combined the two.

And using his knowledge of other languages used in Egypt over the centuries, Champollion the younger had begun teasing out their meaning.

Egyptomania

The story begins in the 1790s: Champollion was born at the beginning of the decade and by its end, Napoleon was leading the French invasion of Egypt.

The campaign, which saw more than 160 scholars and artists dispatched alongside soldiers, brought scores of specimens, sketches and artefacts back to France and sparked a new obsession throughout Europe: the ancient Egyptians.

But understanding the lost civilisation was impossible without understanding hieroglyphs, which no linguist alive could read.

No one had written them since around 400AD. Arab scholars had tried to translate them in medieval times, with some success, but their work was overlooked in the West. And later Europeans had floundered.

Then French soldiers unearthed a tantalising clue: a stone fragment spotted under a fort near the Egyptian port of Rashid  or as the French called it, Rosette.

It bore three inscriptions. At the top were hieroglyphics  the language of the gods, reserved for formal texts  in the middle, the language of documents, another Egyptian script used for everyday purposes, and at the bottom, in ancient Greek, the language of the final dynasty to rule ancient Egypt.

Classicists could still read the last of these scripts. That meant scholars might be able to work backwards from what the text meant to how it was written and finally understand how hieroglyphics worked.

French troops carried the stone with them to Alexandria, where they soon found themselves surrounded by British forces. They surrendered in 1801, with the British insisting on claiming their most important archaeological finds.

The pierre de Rosette was shipped to England, where it joined the British Museum the following year as the Rosetta Stone.

Talented linguist

Meanwhile in France, Champollion was a precocious schoolboy with a flair for languages.

Born on 23 December, 1790 in Figeac, a small town in south-west France, he mastered Latin and Greek and then moved on to non-European languages. By his teens he had developed a fascination with Egypt, announcing to his parents at age 15: I want to make a profound and continuous study of this ancient nation.

Champollion moved to Paris to continue his studies, juggling classes in Hebrew, Persian, Arabic, Amharic and Assyrian. Crucially, he also found a priest to teach him Coptic, the language spoken by Egyptian Coptic Christians in Roman times and still used in the church.

I'm surrendering myself entirely to Coptic, he wrote to his brother in 1809, having decided that the language must be the key to understanding hieroglyphics.

I wish to know Egyptian like my French, because on that language will be based my great work on the Egyptian papyri.

Race for the Rosetta Stone

At the time Champollion wasn't focused on the Rosetta Stone, which had remained undeciphered.

A few scholars had made inroads. Thanks to the Greek text they knew that the inscription concerned a king called Ptolemy, so they looked for clusters of signs in the middle script that might correspond to the name. That allowed them to start pairing signs with certain sounds.

But progress stalled until a British linguist, doctor and physicist named Thomas Young turned his attention to the hieroglyphs. Though he wasn't an expert on Egypt, he approached the text like a codebreaker, scouring it for patterns and noticing similarities between the different scripts that no one else had seen.

Starting once more from Ptolemy, he tentatively suggested which hieroglyphs made up the sounds in the name. But he mistakenly believed that names were the exception, and that otherwise hieroglyphs didn't represent sounds at all.

In 1819 Young published his findings, which were the furthest anyone had got in the 20 years since the Rosetta Stone had been found.

Champollion read Young's work and took up the challenge. With his close knowledge of Coptic, he was able to make leaps that Young had not  intuiting, for example, that a circular sign should be read aloud as ra, the Coptic word for sun.

Most importantly he grasped that hieroglyphs might work differently in different cases, sometimes representing whole words and other times individual sounds. As he put it: It is a complex system, writing figurative, symbolic and phonetic all at once, in the same text, the same phrase, I would almost say in the same word.

Champollion cross-checked his readings by trying them out on other samples of hieroglyphics. When he found that his system allowed him to find credible meanings in previously undeciphered texts, he was convinced he had it.

Minutes later, as his family would recount, he was dashing down the rue Mazarine to find his brother.

Lasting legacy

When Champollion presented his theory later the same month, it attracted worldwide attention  including from Young and others who resented the excitable young linguist's failure to acknowledge how much he had drawn on their groundwork.

Champollion dismissed his rivals  probably unfairly  and continued to develop his ideas, publishing ever more detailed guides to the hieroglyphs in the years that followed.

He was put in charge of building up a collection of Egyptian antiquities at the Louvre and, by order of France's King Charles X, he became the museum's first Egypt curator in 1826.

Two years later he finally got to go to the country that had obsessed him for more than half his life. I am Egypt's entirely, she is my everything, he wrote from beside the Nile.

The trip also confirmed in Champollion's mind once and for all that he was right. Our alphabet is correct, he wrote to the head of the Academy of Inscriptions during his travels, declaring it applied equally well to all the monuments of Egypt.

In fact it was far from perfect. It took several decades and other experts to finally fill in the gaps. But as more texts came to light, scholars tried Champollion's method on them and found that it worked.

By March 1832 Champollion was dead, after a stroke at the age of 41. He was buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, under a plain sandstone obelisk.

Another obelisk stands in Figeac, where he was born. Made of French granite, its base is lined with two bronze plaques copied from Egyptian sculptures.

Designing it just a few years after his death, Champollion's admirers understood enough to choose the right hieroglyphics. They read: To eternity.

Listen to a conversation about Jean-Francois Champollion on episode 100 of RFI's Spotlight on France podcast.
Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Leader of Ghana's delegation to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, has condemned military coups that overthrow democratically elected leaders in the sub region.

He said there should not be any rationale for the recent coups in the sub-region.

Not even the barbaric onslaught from jihadists and terrorist groups and the economic challenges of the various countries must be justified, he said.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said this at the ECOWAS 5th Legislature Parliamentary seminar underway at Winneba in the Central Region, under the theme: The Challenges of Unconstitutional Regime Change and Presidential Term Limits in West Africa: Role of the ECOWAS Parliament.

The ECOWAS Parliament, which began on Friday, September 29 to Saturday, is scheduled to end on October 7, 2023, is the second time Ghana has hosted and it convenes twice a year.

The ECOWAS Parliament, also known as the Community Parliament, is one of the Institutions of ECOWAS which is the Assembly of Peoples of the Community serving as a forum for dialogue, consultation, and consensus for Representatives of the people of West Africa with the aim of promoting integration.

Established under Articles 6 and 13 of the ECOWAS Revised Treaty of 1993, the initial Protocol establishing the Parliament was signed in Abuja on August 6, 1994. It provided for the Structure, Composition, Competence, and other matters relating to Parliament.

The Parliament is composed of 115 seats, with each Member State having a guaranteed minimum of five seats while the remaining 40 seats shall be shared on the basis of population.

With the need for a community mechanism to forge greater ties with the citizens of the West African Community serving as momentum towards the creation of the Community Parliament, it strengthens representative democracy in the Community.

It is to contribute to the promotion of peace, security, and stability on the West African Region by informing and sensitising the population on issues of integration, promotion and defending principles of human rights, democracy, the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and good governance through the practices of accountability.

It will also give the National Delegates the opportunity to present their countrys reports to inform the Body on unfolding developments in their respective Member States and the status of implementation of their communitys texts.

Mr Afenyo-Markin, also the Deputy Majority Leader in Ghanas Parliament said the recent resurgence of military coups threatened to drag Africa back to an era we they fought tirelessly to transcend.

We must firmly condemn the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, and Gabon, along with the hostilities in Sudan.

These actions are betrayals of the democratic principles we hold dear, and we demand a swift return to constitutional rule. We must affirm, unequivocally, that regression is not the solution. Our golden age lies ahead of us, not in the shadows of the 1960s to 1980s, he said.

According to him, it was under the shade of democracy that Africans could cultivate the progress they aspired adding, it is here that we can construct the schools that will nurture the minds of our future leaders. It is here that we can build modern hospitals to heal our people, and foster technology to propel Africa into an era of supreme industrialization in the wake of the AfCFTA.

Together, we can construct robust and resilient economies that will position Africa as a formidable competitor on the global stage, he said.

Addressing the theme for the seminar, Mr Afenyo-Markin said it was not just a call for reflection, but a clarion call for action as the sub-region found itself at a pivotal moment in history where the pillars of democracy were being called into question.

Criticising the actions of leaders who unlawfully modify their constitutions to perpetuate their hold on power, he said it was a serious affront to the principles of democracy, which enshrined the fundamental rights of citizens to choose their leaders and to live under a government that was held accountable for its actions.

As we traverse this difficult period, we must remain vigilant, standing firm against the erosion of these principles and fighting to protect the sanctity of our democratic processes.

The answer to these acts of terror and economic challenges lied within our democratic institutions, standing as strongholds of hope and fortitude amidst the turmoil, he said.

He, urged leaders to take inspiration from the late Mr Kofi Annan, a former United Nations General Secretary that, though there is no one model of democracy, it is essential that the principles of democracy, human rights and freedoms are upheld universally, it gives a renewed commitment to enhance our democratic systems, making them more responsive to the needs and aspirations of every citizen, regardless of where they find themselves on the broad spectrum of society, he added.

Indeed, no form of governance has ever been perfect, yet history has proven time and again that democracy stands as the best option for nations seeking development in peace and harmony. Even in its imperfections, it carries within its structures the capacity to rise above the ills that afflict it, fostering environments where innovation, justice and freedom thrive.

It is incumbent upon us, the custodians of this sacred trust, to continually refine and enhance these structures, ensuring that they remain resilient in the face of the ever-changing challenges that our societies encounter, he stated.

The decision for the this meeting was taken at the 2023 First Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Parliament in May this year in Abuja, convened under Article 21.1 of the Supplementary Act relating to the enhancement of the powers of the ECOWAS Parliament, which provided that Parliament should meet twice a year in Ordinary Sessions to provide a platform to deliberate and strengthen Member States position on issues of regional and continental importance.

As provided for in Article 32 of the supplementary Act, the Session also provides the President of the ECOWAS Commission the opportunity to present a general report on the implementation of the Community Work Program to the Plenary where the House would be updated with developments in the Community, and usually followed by debates, expressed opinions as well as recommendations.

GNA
30.09.2023 LISTEN

WHENEVER I see a tree being cut down, I feel as if every blow delivered to the tree by an axe or cutlass, has been inflicted on my own body.

I got my relationship with trees from my early years, when my father used to make farms out of areas of the virgin rainforest known as the Atewa Range.

The parts of the Range that had not been turned into a forest reserve and was therefore accessible to us, stretched all the way from Adadientam (near Kyebi) past Tetteh and Sagyumase, to Asiakwa (my hometown) and thence to Bunso, Nsutem, Osino and Kwabeng, by way of to Saamang and Dwaaso.

The people in all these localities were related through marriage and tradition, and although there were occasional disputes about the unnegotiated crossing of boundaries for farming purposes, these were very rare and easy to settle. Indeed, throughout my childhood, I heard of only one land dispute that dragged on and on.

The Asiakwa people regarded the instigator of the dispute as a congenital litigant It was insinuated that the guy was slightly touched in the brain. This was partly because he used to talk to himself, while walking up and down our main streets: the land is at the junction between Saamang and Dwaaso! he would mutter to no-one in particular. I shall worry them till I wring it back from them!.

He was the only Asiakwa resident who had ever set foot in the High Court in Accra (it was additionally whispered.) Of course, we kids didn't understand anything about High Courts, but the fact that I still remember so much of the details about him to this day is evidence that he made a huge impression on us. (Indeed, lest I forget: he was reputed to possess a fearsome, very well-sharpened sword of the 'Zabrama' type (not common in Southern Ghana but popular in the North) which he secretly kept in his house. This story was one of those which contained their own inherent proof, for who would be stupid enough to ever provoke him to go and fetch The Sword?) I am sure it was all in people's imagination; for in our area, legends abounded.

Well, living in a place like that, my mind filled with imaginary creatures whenever we went into the forest to tend our farms. I had been told that trees talk back if you throw a rock at them. So I would pick myself a spot where the land was naturally inclined downhill and throw the rocks from there at selected trees.

Toh!..Toh.! Toh!. I would throw the stones. And I would prick my ears to hear the feedback. There was none, of course, but my mind would tell my ears that the trees said things like: If you want to catch grass cutters, you must put pieces of unpeeled cassava in front of the snare. Or if it's pheasants you want, your bait must be cocoyam cut into small pieces!

I would play this game with the trees for minutes on end, until my father chanced upon me, whereupon he would order me to go and do some weeding under the vegetables my mother had planted.

My inability to play my game with the trees undetected, created a special bond between me and them. I would promise them silently to come back and learn more from them. Later  on days when my father would not be around!

As I say, ever since then, I've hated it when I see people cutting down trees. Neem and mango trees ruthlessly mown down from the pavements of Accra to make way for market women's containers and kiosks; huge odum, wawa, afromosia and mahogany trees and other precious timbers mindlessly felled to near-extinction, from Ghana's wonderful forests, and shipped abroad. We are, of course, also destroying more trees through our tolerance of ruthless galamsey.

So I've been admiring the parks of England, South Africa and Zimbabwe (where jacaranda trees abound) and spend hours in parks whenever I am able to visit those countries. Imagine my utter horror then, when i read the following report the other day:

QUOTE:

Britains Sycamore Gap tree, a much-loved landmark [had been] cut down. in what police called a deliberate act of vandalism. Police said they had arrested a 16-year old male in connection with the felling of the statuesque sycamore [that grew] in northern England. in landscape alongside Hadrians Wall.

It was also known as the Robin Hood Tree after featuring in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Photographs showed the tree, estimated to be hundreds of years old and voted English Tree of the Year in 2016, lying on its side across the wall, next to [its] freshly-cut stump.

This is a world-renowned landmark and the events of today have caused significant shock, sadness and anger throughout the local community and beyond, said Superintendent Kevin Waring, of Northumbria Police.

An investigation was immediately launched following this vandalism, and this afternoon we have arrested one suspect. The [British] National Trust, who look after the site alongside Northumberland National Park, said it was shocked and desperately saddened.

www.cameronduodu.com

By Cameron Duodu
Bank of Ghana (BoG) has pledged its support towards the construction of a three-storey, eighteen-unit classroom block and a three-unit nursery block with ancillary facilities for the Independence Avenue 2 Cluster of Schools in partnership with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.

The project is part of the BoGs efforts to support education in the Ga state.

Secretary of the Bank of Ghana, Sandra Thompson, made the announcement when a delegation from the central bank called on the Ga Traditional Council to sign the book of condolence opened in honour of the late Ga Manye Naa Dedei Omaedru III.

The Bank of Ghana and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly will collaborate to build a three-storey, eighteen-unit classroom block and a three-unit nursery block with ancillary facilities for the Independence Avenue 2 Cluster of Schools. We hope to complete this project by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, has pledged the banks support towards the funeral preparations of the late Ga Manye.

I am very happy to be here today. The demise of the late Ga Manye is a matter of concern to us all. The Bank of Ghana will lend its support for a befitting burial for the late Ga Manye. We are grateful for your warm reception.

Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, in a brief remark, also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Bank while also urging them to remain focused on discharging their mandate.

There are lots of challenges in Ghana, but I entreat you to work diligently to deliver on your mandate. Dont be discouraged. It is not everything you do which will please people, but then be focused and remain steadfast.

citinewsroom
Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Free Report) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,986 shares of the credit services providers stock after buying an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.7% of Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Delta Asset Management LLC TN purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. 74.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $435.00 to $450.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Mastercard from $440.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. StockNews.com started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Mastercard from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Mastercard from $442.00 to $452.00 in a report on Thursday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $443.88.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.9 %

Mastercard stock traded down $3.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $395.91. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,024,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,659,490. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.03 billion, a PE ratio of 37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $276.87 and a 1 year 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. The stocks fifty day moving average is $402.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $384.54.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.05. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.10% and a net margin of 43.37%. The company had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.13 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercards dividend payout ratio is currently 21.37%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 2,093 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.00, for a total transaction of $868,595.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,587,525. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 6,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $2,533,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $18,596,400. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 2,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.00, for a total value of $868,595.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,587,525. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 417,360 shares of company stock worth $165,661,878 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

About Mastercard

(Free Report)

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.

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TBH Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in International Business Machines Co. (NYSE:IBM  Free Report) by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,544 shares of the technology companys stock after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLCs holdings in International Business Machines were worth $876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 85.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,104 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,486,000 after acquiring an additional 5,112 shares during the period. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 42,444 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $5,679,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO increased its holdings in shares of International Business Machines by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 3,305 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Gemmer Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter valued at $270,000. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in International Business Machines in the 2nd quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.16% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. They set an outperform rating and a $188.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an equal weight rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of International Business Machines in a research report on Friday, July 7th. They issued a neutral rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of International Business Machines from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $146.67.

International Business Machines Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE IBM traded down $1.42 on Friday, reaching $140.16. 3,133,842 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,547,943. International Business Machines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $115.54 and a fifty-two week high of $153.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $144.57 and a 200 day moving average of $134.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.69 billion, a PE ratio of 65.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.85.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The technology company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $15.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. International Business Machines had a net margin of 3.35% and a return on equity of 38.10%. The companys revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that International Business Machines Co. will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Business Machines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, September 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 10th were given a dividend of $1.66 per share. This represents a $6.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 9th. International Business Machiness dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 307.41%.

International Business Machines Profile

(Free Report)

International Business Machines Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated solutions and services worldwide. The company operates through four business segments: Software, Consulting, Infrastructure, and Financing. The Software segment offers hybrid cloud platform and software solutions; software for business automation, AIOps and management, integration, and application servers; data and artificial intelligence solutions; and security software and services for threat, data, and identity.

Further Reading

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Optas LLC grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 15.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,532 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Optas LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.5% in the first quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,001 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Keystone Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.9% during the first quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 3,955 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Abbrea Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.5% during the first quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 10,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westshore Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.3% in the first quarter. Westshore Wealth LLC now owns 3,658 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. 74.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BMY. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. SVB Leerink restated a market perform rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an underweight rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.64.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BMY traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $58.04. The company had a trading volume of 10,828,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,016,663. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.42. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a twelve month low of $57.61 and a twelve month high of $81.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.58.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. The firms revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 60.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total value of $44,754.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $402,545.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,545.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Canadian Critical Minerals Inc. (OTCMKTS:RIINF  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 40,900 shares, an increase of 1,414.8% from the August 31st total of 2,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 226,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Canadian Critical Minerals Stock Down 10.0 %

OTCMKTS:RIINF traded down $0.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $0.02. The stock had a trading volume of 100 shares, compared to its average volume of 94,371. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $0.02 and a 200 day moving average of $0.03. Canadian Critical Minerals has a one year low of $0.01 and a one year high of $0.07.

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About Canadian Critical Minerals

(Get Free Report)

Further Reading

Canadian Critical Minerals Inc, an exploration stage company, acquires, develops, and explores for mineral properties primarily in Canada. The company explores for gold, copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, and silver deposits. Its principal project is the 100% owned Bull River Mine located in the Cranbrook, British Colombia.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. The former so-called "foreign minister" of the Armenian separatist regime in Karabakh David Babayan has been detained, Trend reports, citing the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani prosecution bodies have initiated criminal cases against members of Armenian armed formations for committing war crimes against peace and humanity and other serious crimes, including crimes against Azerbaijani servicemen in captivity and civilians.

The ongoing investigation has established substantial suspicions that Babayan, born in Khankendi in 1973, who held various positions, including the so-called "deputy head of the presidential administration, presidential assistant on foreign policy, minister of foreign affairs, and presidential assistant on special assignments" within the separatist regime from 2013 to 2023, during the 2020 second Karabakh war and anti-terrorist activities conducted to restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and ensure the safety of the population, was involved in promoting nationalism and hatred, and was criminally conspiring with other "leading officials" of the separatist regime to coordinate the activities of separatist terrorist groups.

Besides, substantial suspicions have been established regarding his involvement in organizing strikes on civilian areas in Azerbaijan's Ganja city using ballistic missiles, resulting in the deaths of civilians.

On October 28, 2020, Babayan was prosecuted under Articles 100.1, 100.2 (planning, preparation, initiation, and conduct of aggressive war), 32.3, 114.1 (recruitment of mercenaries, their training, financing, and other material support, as well as organizing their use in armed conflict and hostilities), 32.3, 116.0.1, 32.3, 116.0.6, 32.3, 116.0.7, 32.3, 116.0.8, 32.3, 116.0.9, 32.3, 116.0.10 (violation of the norms of international humanitarian law during armed conflict), 117.2 (inaction or criminal orders during armed conflict), 32.3, 214.2.1, 32.3, 214.2.3, 32.3, 214.2.4 (terrorism) and other articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, and based on a court decision, a measure of restraint in the form of imprisonment has been chosen against him and he was put on the international wanted list.

On September 29 of this year, Babayan was detained by law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan, transferred to the investigation, and on the same day, he was charged with the aforementioned articles.

Additionally, substantial suspicions have been identified that Levon Mnatsakanyan, a former serviceman of Armenia, born in the Khojavand district of Azerbaijan in 1965, who served as the so-called "defense minister" of the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" from 2015 to 2018 and was a member of an illegal Armenian armed formation on the territory of Azerbaijan, in collusion with a group of persons, captured Ilham Mammadov and other Azerbaijanis in Alkhanli village of Azerbaijan's Fuzuli district, and engaged in cruel torture against them.

On November 8, 2006, a decision was made to charge Mnatsakanyan under Article 113 (torture) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, and on November 14 of the same year, he was put on the international wanted list through the National Central Bureau of Interpol with the measure of restraint in the form of detention.

On September 29 of this year, Mnatsakanyan was detained by law enforcement agencies while attempting to cross the Lachin checkpoint in the direction of Armenia, and on the same day, he was charged under the mentioned article.

The court decision on imprisonment of Babayan and Mnatsakanyan has been executed, and they were transferred to the detention center of the State Security Service of Azerbaijan.

Currently, necessary and urgent investigative and operational measures in the criminal cases are ongoing.

Previously, Azerbaijan's court has chosen four-month detention as a preventive measure against Ruben Vardanyan, who held the "position" of the so-called "state minister" of the separatist regime in Karabakh.
Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL (NYSE:ELP  Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 21st, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.119 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 11th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 2nd.

Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL has a payout ratio of 57.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL to earn $0.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 78.7%.

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Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of ELP stock opened at $8.77 on Friday. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $8.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.95. Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL has a one year low of $5.78 and a one year high of $9.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America raised shares of Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 30th.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL

Institutional Trading of Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ELP. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL by 1,268.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,216,635 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $9,514,000 after buying an additional 1,127,704 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,319,737 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $15,781,000 after buying an additional 592,841 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL by 1,462.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 571,980 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $3,638,000 after buying an additional 535,380 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL by 87.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 878,198 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $5,585,000 after buying an additional 410,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL by 2,179.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 404,165 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,716,000 after buying an additional 386,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.98% of the companys stock.

Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Companhia Paranaense de Energia  COPEL engages in the generation, transformation, distribution, and sale of electricity to industrial, residential, commercial, rural, and other customers in Brazil. The company operates through Power Generation and Transmission, Power Distribution, Power Sale, and Gas segments.

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Continental Aktiengesellschaft (OTCMKTS:CTTAY  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 400 shares, a decline of 42.9% from the August 31st total of 700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 149,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CTTAY. BNP Paribas upgraded Continental Aktiengesellschaft from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Continental Aktiengesellschaft from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.67.

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Continental Aktiengesellschaft Price Performance

Shares of Continental Aktiengesellschaft stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, hitting $7.02. 103,131 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 93,926. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.34. Continental Aktiengesellschaft has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $8.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Continental Aktiengesellschaft (OTCMKTS:CTTAY  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter. Continental Aktiengesellschaft had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 1.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Continental Aktiengesellschaft will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Continental Aktiengesellschaft Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Continental Aktiengesellschaft, a technology company, offers intelligent solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic, and transportation worldwide. It operates through four sectors: Automotive, Tires, ContiTech, and Contract Manufacturing. The company offers safety, brake, chassis, motion, and motion control systems; solutions for assisted and automated driving; and audio and camera solutions for the vehicle interior, as well as intelligent information and communication technology solutions.

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Costain Group (OTCMKTS:CSGQF  Get Free Report) and Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX  Get Free Report) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Costain Group and Comfort Systems USA, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Costain Group 0 0 1 0 3.00 Comfort Systems USA 0 1 1 0 2.50

Comfort Systems USA has a consensus target price of $176.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.28%. Given Comfort Systems USAs higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Comfort Systems USA is more favorable than Costain Group.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

Earnings & Valuation

94.2% of Comfort Systems USA shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Comfort Systems USA shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

This table compares Costain Group and Comfort Systems USAs top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Costain Group N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Comfort Systems USA $4.14 billion 1.47 $245.95 million $6.77 25.17

Comfort Systems USA has higher revenue and earnings than Costain Group.

Profitability

This table compares Costain Group and Comfort Systems USAs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Costain Group N/A N/A N/A Comfort Systems USA 5.17% 23.24% 8.77%

Summary

Comfort Systems USA beats Costain Group on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Costain Group

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Costain Group PLC provides smart infrastructure solutions for the transportation, energy, water, and defense markets in the United Kingdom. The company operates through two segments, Transportation and Natural Resources. The Transportation segment operates in the road, rail, and integrated transport markets. The Natural Resources segment operates in the water, energy, and defense markets. It offers consultancy and advisory, digital technology, climate change, and complex program delivery solutions and services. Costain Group PLC was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Maidenhead, the United Kingdom.

About Comfort Systems USA

(Get Free Report)

Comfort Systems USA, Inc. provides mechanical and electrical installation, renovation, maintenance, repair, and replacement services for the mechanical and electrical services industry in the United States. It engages in the design, engineering, integration, installation, and start-up of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems; and renovation, expansion, maintenance, monitoring, repair, and replacement of existing buildings. The company offers its services for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, as well as plumbing, piping and controls, off-site construction, electrical, monitoring, and fire protection. It serves building owners and developers, general contractors, architects, consulting engineers, and property managers in the commercial, industrial, and institutional MEP markets. Comfort Systems USA, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is based in Houston, Texas.

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Global Retirement Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:JHMM  Free Report) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 281,855 shares of the companys stock after selling 14,415 shares during the quarter. John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF comprises 0.7% of Global Retirement Partners LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Global Retirement Partners LLC owned approximately 0.45% of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF worth $14,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,664 shares of the companys stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,142 shares of the companys stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Betterment LLC raised its position in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 10,484 shares of the companys stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,713 shares of the companys stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,779 shares of the companys stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period.

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John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Stock Performance

Shares of John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF stock traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $47.32. 138,202 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 228,062. The companys 50-day moving average is $49.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.34. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.08. John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF has a 1-year low of $41.96 and a 1-year high of $51.96.

John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Profile

The John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (JHMM) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the John Hancock Dimensional Mid Cap index. The fund tracks an index of US firms ranked 200-950 by size, weighted by multiple factors relative to their sector peers. JHMM was launched on Sep 28, 2015 and is managed by John Hancock.

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Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,130,000 shares, a drop of 14.1% from the August 31st total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 995,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PHG has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Koninklijke Philips in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. They issued a buy rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Koninklijke Philips from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, September 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Koninklijke Philips to 19.00 ($20.21) in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Koninklijke Philips from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $16.50.

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Institutional Trading of Koninklijke Philips

Koninklijke Philips Price Performance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in Koninklijke Philips by 28.7% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in Koninklijke Philips in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Koninklijke Philips by 31.6% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,268 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Koninklijke Philips by 47.8% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Suisse AG bought a new position in Koninklijke Philips in the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.64% of the companys stock.

Shares of NYSE PHG traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.94. 902,849 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,234,085. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.52 and a beta of 0.92. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $21.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.29. Koninklijke Philips has a twelve month low of $11.75 and a twelve month high of $23.30.

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $4.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Koninklijke Philips had a negative net margin of 10.84% and a positive return on equity of 11.92%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Koninklijke Philips will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Koninklijke Philips

(Get Free Report)

Koninklijke Philips N.V. operates as a health technology company in North America, the Greater China, and internationally. It operates through Diagnosis & Treatment Businesses, Connected Care Businesses, and Personal Health Businesses segments. The company provides diagnostic imaging solutions, includes magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray systems, and computed tomography (CT) systems and software comprising detector-based spectral CT solutions, as well as molecular and hybrid imaging solutions for nuclear medicine; echography solutions focused on diagnosis, treatment planning and guidance for cardiology, general imaging, obstetrics/gynecology, and point-of-care applications; integrated interventional systems, and interventional diagnostic and therapeutic devices to treat coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease; proprietary software to enable diagnostics and intervention; and enterprise diagnostic informatics products and services.

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Mativ (NYSE:MATV  Get Free Report) is one of 17 publicly-traded companies in the Paper mills industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Mativ to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.4% of Mativ shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of shares of all Paper mills companies are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Mativ shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of shares of all Paper mills companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Mativ and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Mativ $2.17 billion -$6.60 million -23.38 Mativ Competitors $5.57 billion $686.61 million 29.16

Risk & Volatility

Mativs rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Mativ. Mativ 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.

Mativ has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mativs rivals have a beta of 1.32, indicating that their average stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Mativ and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Mativ -1.21% 9.73% 3.06% Mativ Competitors 7.59% 18.89% 6.66%

Dividends

Mativ pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Mativ pays out -65.6% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Mativ and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Mativ 0 0 1 0 3.00 Mativ Competitors 112 714 472 48 2.34

Mativ presently has a consensus price target of $32.00, indicating a potential upside of 124.40%. As a group, Paper mills companies have a potential upside of 11.15%. Given Mativs stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Mativ is more favorable than its rivals.

Summary

Mativ rivals beat Mativ on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Mativ

(Get Free Report)

Mativ Holdings, Inc. operates as a performance materials company. The company operates through two segments, Advanced Technical Materials and Fiber-Based Solutions. The Advanced Technical Materials segment manufactures and sells polymer, resin and fiber-based substrates, nets, films, adhesive tapes, and other nonwovens. This segment serves filtration, protective solutions, release liners, healthcare, and industrials end-markets. The Fiber-Based Solutions segment provides packaging, printing, and specialty papers; and various paper-based products for the consumer channel, such as bright papers, cardstock, stationery paper, envelopes, journals, and planners. It also offers combustibles products comprising conventional papers and filter wraps, low-ignition propensity papers wrappers for small cigars, and hemp-based alternatives; noncombustibles; and lightweight papers. This segment serves cigarette and cigar manufacturers, and commercial print and combustibles end-markets. The company sells its products in the United States, Europe and the former Commonwealth of Independent States, the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. and changed its name to Mativ Holdings, Inc. in July 2022. Mativ Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

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Shares of Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:NPCPF  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $3.86 and last traded at $3.86, with a volume of 0 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $3.86.

Nippon Paint Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.92.

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Nippon Paint (OTCMKTS:NPCPF  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 10th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Nippon Paint had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter.

About Nippon Paint

Nippon Paint Holdings Co, Ltd. engages in the paint and fine chemicals businesses. The company offers automotive coatings, including paints for use in bumpers and plastic components; trade-use paints for homes, buildings, and bridges; and industrial coatings that are used in a range of products, including construction and farming machinery, exterior construction materials, office equipment, and electric home appliances.

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Optas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT  Free Report) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,031 shares of the medical technology companys stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Optas LLCs holdings in Medtronic were worth $708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sageworth Trust Co acquired a new position in Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Medtronic by 250.0% in the first quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 350 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic during the first quarter worth $32,000. 80.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Medtronic Price Performance

Shares of MDT stock traded down $0.33 on Friday, reaching $78.36. The companys stock had a trading volume of 6,249,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,689,485. The company has a market capitalization of $104.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.71. Medtronic plc has a 12-month low of $75.76 and a 12-month high of $92.02. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $82.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

Medtronic ( NYSE:MDT Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 22nd. The medical technology company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.57 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 11.47% and a return on equity of 13.81%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Medtronic plc will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 21st. Medtronics payout ratio is currently 101.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. 22nd Century Group restated an initiates rating on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. They issued a neutral rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Medtronic from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Medtronic from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $91.67.

View Our Latest Report on MDT

Insider Activity at Medtronic

In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 2,000 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.97, for a total value of $175,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,948 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,106,705.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Medtronic news, EVP Hoedt Rob Ten sold 5,514 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.58, for a total value of $477,402.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,792,377.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.97, for a total transaction of $175,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,948 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,106,705.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,866 shares of company stock valued at $1,688,839. Insiders own 0.30% of the companys stock.

Medtronic Company Profile

(Free Report)

Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. Its Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; cardiac ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software.

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PIMCO Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:PMF  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 31,000 shares, a drop of 26.9% from the August 31st total of 42,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 60,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days.

PIMCO Municipal Income Fund Trading Up 0.5 %

PMF stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.40. 80,644 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 61,388. PIMCO Municipal Income Fund has a fifty-two week low of $8.31 and a fifty-two week high of $11.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.75.

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PIMCO Municipal Income Fund Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.042 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 8th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.00%.

Institutional Trading of PIMCO Municipal Income Fund

PIMCO Municipal Income Fund Company Profile

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PIMCO Municipal Income Fund by 188.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC now owns 137,271 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,418,000 after buying an additional 89,676 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of PIMCO Municipal Income Fund by 1.2% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,401 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of PIMCO Municipal Income Fund in the second quarter valued at $151,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in PIMCO Municipal Income Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, Summit X LLC purchased a new position in PIMCO Municipal Income Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at about $122,000.

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PIMCO Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. (OTCMKTS:DIFTY  Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 200 shares, an increase of 100.0% from the August 31st total of 100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.0 days.

Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. Stock Down 1.8 %

DIFTY stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.31. The company had a trading volume of 962 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,590. Daito Trust Construction Co.,Ltd. has a 12-month low of $22.50 and a 12-month high of $28.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.25.

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Daito Trust Construction Co,Ltd. designs, constructs, and rents apartments and condominiums in Japan. It operates through, Construction Business, Real Estate Business, and Financial Business, segments. The company design and construct rental housing and other structure construction; ironwork and construction; whole building leasing, and building management and renovation; tenant guarantor services; advertising; and LP gas supply businesses.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense has updated information about the amount of military equipment, weapons, and ammunition seized after the completion of local anti-terror activities conducted in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region as of 18:00 (GMT +4) on September 30, Trend reports.

The updated list includes:

WEAPONS

1. Small arms  2585

2. Grenade launchers  224

3. Cannons and howitzers  53

4. Mortars  63

5. Anti-tank weapons  54

6. Air Defense weapons  135

VEHICLES

1. Armored vehicles  22

2. Auto vehicles  174

3. Trailers  21

4. Auxiliary vehicles  9

COMBAT AMMUNITION

1. Rockets  1685

2. Cannon and howitzer shells  4956

3. Anti-aircraft cannon shells  2627

4. Mortar shells  12305

5. Grenades  5419

6. Hand grenades  3036

7. Bullets  1976068

8. Other ammunition  5751

DEVICES

1. Optical devices  280

2. Other devices  37

ACCOUTREMENTS

1. Individual accoutrements  997

2. Various weapons accessories  15

3. Other accoutrements  2260
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL  Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,550,000 shares, a growth of 47.1% from the August 31st total of 6,490,000 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the companys stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Insider Activity

In other Dell Technologies news, Director Iv (Gp) L.L.C. Slta sold 3,529,000 shares of Dell Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.36, for a total transaction of $195,365,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 135,124 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,480,464.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Dell Technologies news, Director Iv (Gp) L.L.C. Slta sold 3,529,000 shares of Dell Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.36, for a total transaction of $195,365,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 135,124 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,480,464.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Allison Dew sold 329,038 shares of Dell Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $18,176,059.12. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 98,354 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,433,074.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,995,850 shares of company stock worth $221,526,369. 48.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DELL. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Dell Technologies by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Dell Technologies by 2.8% in the first quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in Dell Technologies by 10.0% in the first quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 2,842 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Dell Technologies by 3.6% in the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,681 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in Dell Technologies by 0.9% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 34,094 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,370,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.10% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DELL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Dell Technologies from $62.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, September 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Dell Technologies from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, September 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Dell Technologies from $60.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, September 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Dell Technologies from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, September 1st. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Dell Technologies from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $67.25.

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Dell Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DELL traded up $0.44 on Friday, hitting $68.94. 6,379,687 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,422,378. The companys 50 day moving average price is $60.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.19. Dell Technologies has a one year low of $32.90 and a one year high of $72.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.04.

Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 31st. The technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.56. Dell Technologies had a net margin of 2.03% and a negative return on equity of 149.91%. The company had revenue of $22.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.78 billion. Research analysts predict that Dell Technologies will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current year.

About Dell Technologies

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Dell Technologies Inc designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports various comprehensive and integrated solutions, products, and services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) and Client Solutions Group (CSG).

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New China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (OTCMKTS:NWWCF  Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 962,600 shares, a decline of 14.2% from the August 31st total of 1,121,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 126.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut New China Life Insurance from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd.

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New China Life Insurance Stock Performance

About New China Life Insurance

Shares of New China Life Insurance stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $2.45. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,555. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.63. New China Life Insurance has a one year low of $2.26 and a one year high of $3.18.

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New China Life Insurance Company Ltd. provides life insurance products and services to individuals and institutions in China. The company operates through three segments: Individual Insurance Business, Group Insurance Business, and Other Business. The company also offers asset management, training, electronic commerce, and medical services; and invests in, develops, leases, and manages real estate properties.

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Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:NMS  Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,100 shares, a drop of 13.9% from the August 31st total of 3,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund by 731.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,598 shares of the companys stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 27,798 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 70,720 shares of the companys stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 22,283 shares during the last quarter. Access Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund during the 1st quarter valued at about $266,000. Ackerman Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund during the 2nd quarter valued at about $126,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 33,606 shares of the companys stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 8,181 shares during the last quarter.

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Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund Price Performance

NMS stock remained flat at $9.75 during midday trading on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 6,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,206. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.13. Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund has a one year low of $9.73 and a one year high of $12.64.

Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund Announces Dividend

Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund Company Profile

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.036 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%.

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Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc The fund is co-managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors LLC and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. The fund primarily invests in investment grade municipal securities that are exempt from regular federal and Minnesota personal income taxes.

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The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS  Get Free Report) (TSE:BNS) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,860,000 shares, an increase of 46.3% from the August 31st total of 15,630,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 16.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Nova Scotia

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 59.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 26,438 shares of the banks stock valued at $1,896,000 after acquiring an additional 9,818 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Nova Scotia by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 18,359 shares of the banks stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Nova Scotia in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $366,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 56.3% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,272 shares of the banks stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank of Nova Scotia by 10.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 870,918 shares of the banks stock worth $62,462,000 after acquiring an additional 81,002 shares during the period. 43.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BNS traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $45.60. 2,836,306 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,394,317. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.02. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 52-week low of $45.25 and a 52-week high of $55.91. The companys 50-day moving average is $47.62 and its 200-day moving average is $48.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Dividend

Bank of Nova Scotia ( NYSE:BNS Get Free Report ) (TSE:BNS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 29th. The bank reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.45. Bank of Nova Scotia had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The business had revenue of $8.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.7801 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 29th. Bank of Nova Scotias dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BNS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $69.33.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BNS

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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The Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets.

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Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. (NYSE:TPH  Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,690,000 shares, a decline of 14.1% from the August 31st total of 3,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 907,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Tri Pointe Homes Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:TPH traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.35. 599,732 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 747,110. The companys 50 day moving average is $30.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.46. Tri Pointe Homes has a twelve month low of $14.59 and a twelve month high of $34.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.48.

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Tri Pointe Homes (NYSE:TPH  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $819.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $703.67 million. Tri Pointe Homes had a net margin of 11.71% and a return on equity of 17.37%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tri Pointe Homes will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised Tri Pointe Homes from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Tri Pointe Homes from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Oppenheimer raised Tri Pointe Homes from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on Tri Pointe Homes in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Tri Pointe Homes from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tri Pointe Homes has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $33.50.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Tri Pointe Homes

In other Tri Pointe Homes news, Director Lawrence B. Burrows sold 7,677 shares of Tri Pointe Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $241,671.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 86,891 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,735,328.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Tri Pointe Homes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TPH. West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Tri Pointe Homes by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,275 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.59% of the companys stock.

About Tri Pointe Homes

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Tri Pointe Homes, Inc engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through a portfolio of six regional home building brands comprising Maracay in Arizona; Pardee Homes in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes in Washington; Trendmaker Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes in California, Colorado, and the Carolinas; and Winchester Homes in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

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Silver Lake Resources Limited (OTCMKTS:SVLKF  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,369,200 shares, a drop of 32.9% from the August 31st total of 2,041,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 82.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada raised Silver Lake Resources from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th.

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Silver Lake Resources Stock Performance

About Silver Lake Resources

Shares of OTCMKTS:SVLKF remained flat at $0.54 on Friday. Silver Lake Resources has a 12-month low of $0.54 and a 12-month high of $1.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $0.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $0.70.

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Silver Lake Resources Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, mine development, mine operation, and sale of gold and copper concentrates in Australia and Canada. The company holds interest in the Deflector operations that produce gold bullion and gold-copper concentrates located in the Southern Murchison region of Western Australia; and Mount Monger operations, which produce gold bullion located within the Kalgoorlie terrane subdivision of the Eastern Goldfields Province.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. Azerbaijan began a rapid and effective reconstruction after the liberation of the city of Shusha from the Armenian occupation, during which historical monuments were destroyed, the Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Shusha district, Aydin Karimov said at the 2nd Azerbaijan National Urban Forum, Trend reports.

He noted that there are no plans to build high buildings in Azerbaijan's Shusha.

"We will restore historical buildings and private houses in Shusha. There are up to 200 historical and cultural monuments in the city. Some of them were destroyed by the Armenians. At the moment, 15 historical monuments have been restored and work is underway to restore four more," Karimov added.
Saurabh Sharma is a freelance journalist who writes on books and gender.
JABRAYIL, Azerbaijan, September 30. A media tour to Jabrayil and Zangilan cities has been organized, Trend reports.

The tour began in the center of Jabrayil, where the administrative building, the foundation of which was laid by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, will be constructed.

The administrative buildings in Jabrayil will be constructed in a business zone on a one-hectare area.

According to the project, four modern-style buildings will be constructed on the site.

In the initial stage, a two-wing four-five-storied complex, connected by a bridge, is planned to be built. In the second stage, the construction of the remaining three-four storied buildings is scheduled.

Trend staff visited the site during the foundation-laying ceremony for one of the administrative buildings as part of this media tour.

Media representatives were informed that the facades of the buildings will reflect a harmonious blend of modernity and Azerbaijani heritage. So, Azerbaijani national elements, such as 'shebeke' (windows filled with colored glass, created by Azerbaijani folk craftsmen from small wooden parts without glue and nails) will be used on the balconies.

According to the project, a park for relaxation will be created in the courtyard of the administrative complex. The parking area will be equipped with electric charging stations.

Besides, solar panels will be installed on the rooftops of the buildings and unused vacant areas to partially cover the complex's electricity needs.

Jabrayil and Zangilan cities were liberated from Armenian occupation in the 2020 second Karabakh war.
Nivedita Jayaram Pawar is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist, who writes on food, art, design, travel and lifestyle.
AGHDAM, Azerbaijan, September 30. Azerbaijan has sent seven ambulances to Armenian resident of Khankendi, Trends Karabakh Bureau reports.

A working group headed by Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev has been set up to solve social, humanitarian, economic, and infrastructural issues in the Karabakh region upon the instructions of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

The working group operates within the framework of the Coordination Headquarters for centralized resolution of issues in the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In accordance with the request made by the representatives of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan at the meeting held in Yevlakh on September 21, 2023, to provide fuel and lubricants, first of all to kindergartens, emergency medical aid, and firefighting services, 24 tons of gasoline and 40 tons of diesel were sent via the Barda-Aghdam-Asgeran-Khankendi road on September 23.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 30. A resolution On restoring the sovereign equality of member states in the IAEA initiated by Kazakhstan was adopted by an overwhelming majority of votes at the 67th session of the IAEA General Conference held in Vienna, Trend reports.

The resolution aims to address the issue of equal representation of member states in the Agency's governing bodies (regional groups, main policy-making bodies), as well as in the Agency's related consultative processes.

The resolution also calls on IAEA member states to promptly ratify the amendment to Article 6 of the Agency's Statute, which provides for an expansion of the membership of the Board of Governors and the adoption of a list of members by geographical area. Kazakhstan ratified this amendment in 2019.

The resolution initiated by Kazakhstan creates the basis for ensuring more equitable and democratic approaches to the participation of member states in the activities of the IAEA.

As part of Kazakhstan's efforts to restore sovereign equality in the Agency, for the first time in the history of the IAEA, Kazakhstan codified a list of 17 countries that are not members of regional groups. This list was enshrined in an official document of the Agency on August 10, 2023 and included in the General Conference resolution as the basis for building further work within the framework of the created Group of Friends of Arealess Member States chaired by Slovenia.

The Kazakhstan resolution was co-authored by 56 countries representing all geographical zones of the IAEA.

The main co-authors of the Kazakhstan resolution were the following countries: all EU countries, the US, the UK, China, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Singapore, Japan, Nepal, Turkiye, etc.
U.S. and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken, January 30, 2023.
Republican poll watcher Scott Hall is shown in a police booking mugshot released by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, after a grand jury brought back indictments against former U.S. President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies in their attempt to overturn the state's 2020 election results in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. August 22, 2023.
Guam Memorial Hospital Administrator Lillian Perez-Posadas testifies during an oversight hearing Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, in the Public Hearing Room of the Guam Congress Building in Hagatna.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 30. As part of the Kazakhstan transport week, the 26th Kazakhstan international exhibition "Transport and Logistics" will be held - TransLogistica Kazakhstan 2023, Trend reports.

On October 4-6, 2023, 226 companies from 17 countries, such as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Germany, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Turkmenistan, Turkiye, Uzbekistan, Finland and Estonia, will present their stands.

Kazakhstan is doing a lot of work to develop the industry and attract transit flows, which allows Kazakhstan to strengthen its position as a key transit center between Asia and Europe, which in turn contributes to the significant growth of the exhibition. The increase in the number of participants was more than 40 percent compared to last year, with 53 companies being new participants, which demonstrates significant interest in business development in Kazakhstan.

The participation of domestic companies is about 40 percent.

The international exhibition TransLogistica Kazakhstan has for many years served as a unique platform for domestic and foreign transport and logistics companies, administrations of seaports, railways and special economic zones of Kazakhstan and abroad, manufacturers and dealers of automotive equipment, etc.

The exhibition is organized by the Kazakhstan exhibition company Iteca and its international partner  ICA Events Group of Companies. Registration partner is AsstrA. Business program partners are SOLVO and Eastcomtrans companies.

The event is traditionally held with the support of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan, executive power of the city of Astana, Kazakhstan Railways, the Union of Transport Workers of Kazakhstan KAZLOGISTICS, the Kazakhstan Association of Carriers and Operators of Wagons (Containers), the Association of National Forwarders.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. Key sectors of interest between Kyrgyzstan and Finland in trade and investment cooperation include mining, water management technology, and tourism, the Honorary Consul of Kyrgyzstan in Finland, Petri Numminen, told Trend in an exclusive interview.

He mentioned that cooperation in these sectors have experienced significant growth in recent years. However, Finland's geographical distance from Central Asia and the Caucasus has resulted in limited interest from Finnish companies in making substantial investments in these regions.

"Various business delegations from Kyrgyzstan have visited Finland, and vice versa. Today, many Finnish companies, including Metso, Kone, Honka, and Econet, are actively operating in the Kyrgyz market. Additionally, numerous small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in high technology, have engaged in Kyrgyzstan," Numminen noted.

The Consul highlighted that Finnish companies are known for their independence and resourcefulness. They typically proceed with their partners according to their own schedules and needs, often requiring minimal assistance from governmental organizations. However, in certain situations, especially with large contracts and deals, government involvement becomes relevant.

Numminen also mentioned that he has organized three business forums in Bishkek since 2016 in collaboration with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the UNDP Aid for Trade project. The Kyrgyz partners involved were the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Economy, and the National Agency for Investment.
Suspect Dominic Schmitz View Photo

Sonora, CA  A man suspected of soliciting sex from Sonora High School (SHS) students is being sought by Tuolumne Sheriffs officials, who are turning to the public for help in catching him.

The man in the image box picture is 27-year-old Dominic Schmitz. He is wanted for several incidents where he allegedly contacted minors with sexual intent. The first one happened last Saturday morning (9/23) at a school breakfast fundraiser event at Applebees restaurant in Sonora, where he approached some students. Schmitz even gave one minor a business card with sexually suggestive language written on it, according to investigators. School staff reported it to the Sonora Police Department.

Detectives have also learned of two additional incidents where Schmitz contacted minors. As students were participating in homecoming decoration preparations on Monday (9/25) along Washington Street in downtown Sonora, he reportedly contacted students.

At this point in our investigation, Schmitzs behavior and actions lead us to believe he is actively targeting minors with the intent to solicit sex, advised sheriffs officials, adding, The Sheriffs Office wants Schmitz on the charges of soliciting a minor for sex and annoying or molesting a minor.

SHS District Superintendent Ed Pelfrey on Tuesday (9/26) sent out a letter to parents and students warning them of the possible threat. He told students, For safety reasons, we advise students heading downtown to pair up. Should anyone experience or observe suspicious activity, please promptly contact the Sonora Police Department. The entire letter is at the bottom of this page.

Investigators describe Schmitz as a white male, 27 years old, with brown hair, bearded, blue eyes, about 6 tall, and 150 pounds. He was last seen wearing a white or light gray hooded sweatshirt, dark-colored pants, and dark-colored shoes, as seen in this picture.

Regarding the current investigation, sheriffs officials report that all local and surrounding agencies are working together to locate and arrest Schmitz. Additionally, several victims and witnesses have been interviewed, and surveillance video from security cameras has been obtained. The public is asked to immediately call the TCSO at 209-533-5815 if anyone sees Schmitz or knows of his whereabouts.

Of note, Sheriffs officials relayed that yesterday (9-28), deputies arrested 47-year-old Davin Huhtala for sexual battery after responding to a report of a sexual assault in downtown Sonora. They say, Huhtalas arrest is not related to Schmitz in any way.

SHS letter:

Dear Sonora UHSD Community,

We wish to inform students, parents, and staff about two recent incidents involving a man in his 20s approaching our students. The first occurrence was at the Applebees Associate Students Fundraiser Breakfast Saturday and the second, downtown, during our homecoming decoration preparations on Monday.

Please note that the Sonora Police Department has been alerted and has engaged with the individual on both occasions. The Sonora Police Department has informed us that no known crimes have been committed during either incident.

For safety reasons, we advise students heading downtown to pair up. Should anyone experience or observe suspicious activity, please promptly contact the Sonora Police Department at (209) 532-8141.

Student safety is our top priority.

Sincerely,

Ed Pelfrey

Superintendent

Sonora Union High School District
Calaveras County Sheriff patrol vehicle View Photo

Calaveras County, CA  Two Calaveras County store clerks were cited for selling alcohol to minors, and now the businesses could lose their liquor licenses.

It was an undercover investigation carried out earlier this month by the Calaveras County Sheriffs Office and agents of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC).

Conducting these operations allows us to help reduce underage drinking and increase public safety, stated Sheriff Rick DiBasilio.

The operation was carried out using minor decoys, or underage subjects, who tried to purchase alcohol from ten stores in Valley Springs, Mokelumne Hill, and San Andreas.

Two clerks were cited for selling alcohol to minors during the sting. Sheriffs officials noted that they could face a minimum fine of $250 and 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. They added, In addition, ABC may take administrative action against the alcoholic beverage license of the business where alcohol was sold to a minor. That may include a fine, suspension, or the permanent revocation of the license.

About 25 percent of fatal crashes involve underage drinking, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Statistics also show that those under 21 have a much higher risk of being involved in a crash than older drivers.

Businesses should always check IDs before selling alcohol, said ABC Director Joseph McCullough. Preventing access for people not old enough to legally purchase alcohol improves safety on our roadways and in our communities.

When the minor decoy program first began in the 1980s, the violation rate of retailers selling to minors was around 40 to 50 percent, according to ABC. They relayed that the rate dropped to below 10 percent in some cities when operations were conducted on a routine basis. The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1994 that the use of minor decoys is a valid legal tool of law enforcement to make sure that licensees are complying with the law. This program is funded by a grant from ABC through the departments Alcohol Policing Partnership (APP) program.
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MERIDEN  Two local Latino-owned businesses, GS Boutique Cafe and CTown Supermarket, were visited by Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz in honor of the month-long commencement of Hispanic Heritage Month on Friday morning.

Bysiewicz was joined by Meriden Mayor Kevin Scarpati; State Reps. Hilda Santiago, Jack Fazzino and Michael Quinn; and Adriana Rodriguez, executive director of the Spanish Community of Wallingford.

GS Boutique Cafe, the Ecuadorian family-owned coffee shop, at 55 W Main St., was the first location that the politicians visited.

We are here to celebrate two things, National Coffee Day, and we're also celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Bysiewicz said. The best way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month is to come and support Hispanic-owned small businesses.

The Hispanic community in Connecticut is the fastest growing ethnic group in our state. It's a very young community. It's a vibrant community. It's a fun community. And it's a very family-oriented community.

Vinicio Guaman Gaui Lanes, also known as Angel Guaman, opened the cafe a year ago with his wife Teresa Guaman-Lojano, two daughters and a son. The family serves authentic Colombian coffee. The goal of Vinicio and Teresa Guaman was to have a place where locals can enjoy food, coffee, music and shopping.

During the celebration, Damaris Guaman, graduate of The Juilliard School in New York, sang the song Hasta la Raiz by Natalia Lafourcade. Vinicio Guaman also shared a few words.

I am very content and happy to be here in Meriden, he said. We are here to serve our Latino community.

Santiago congratulated the Guamans on successfully operating their small family business.

Here we have another Latino business that opened up in Meriden, she said. We have a very large Latino population in the city.

Hispanic and Latinos residents make up 36 percent of the population in Meriden and 18 percent in Connecticut, according to the United States Census Bureau. In addition, Hispanic-owned businesses grew about 8.2%, from 346,836 in 2019 to 375,256 in 2020 in the U.S.

These family-owned businesses are the hallmark of our downtown and as we continue to improve as a city, these family-owned businesses are the reason why we're able to do that, Fazzino said.

According to Joseph Feest, Economic Development Director of Meriden, Latino-owned and ethnic businesses are the highest growing sector in Meriden, especially restaurants.

At CTown Supermarket, 160 Colony St., Bysiewicz met with owner Daniel Diaz, who opened the business seven years ago. He is also the owner of the CTown in New Britain.

Meriden CTown is the go-to place for many Latino families, as the store offers a variety of ethnic products from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Puerto Rico.

For communities like Meriden, or really any urban district, we talk about housing in and around inner cities, Scarpati said. Its critical and essential to have a store like CTown where people can walk to and its on the bus route.

Diaz says that CTown has built a community with shoppers.

My parents migrated here. So for us, we see our people. We see the same upbringing that we had. And it's a thing where they become like part of the family. Like we all become like a huge family, he said.

celescano@record-journal.com
WALLINGFORD  A familiar face has returned to the Wallingford Public Library, and this time it's in the facility's top spot.

Sunnie Scarpa was the children's librarian in Wallingford for six years before taking a position as the library director at the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library in Madison. This week, she returned to Wallingford as its new director.

"I did love my experience here. It's a really great place to work," she said of her first stint at the Wallingford Public Library. "You are doing very meaningful work and there is great community support, so it was fantastic the first time around."

She left Wallingford for the head librarian position in Madison because she was ready for career advancement, Scarpa said. "That was lovely as well," she said, though they were challenging times because that library was in the middle of a renovation that wrapped up during the pandemic.

The Massachusetts native moved to New Haven to earn a master's in library science at Southern Connecticut State University. She began her career at the New Haven Free Public Library as the teen librarian, and was there until she came to Wallingford in 2013. She left Wallingford in 2019 for the position in Madison.

"I really, really enjoyed my time in Madison and I was not looking to leave, but when the position opened in Wallingford, it's really  a wonderful step for my career," she said.

This is a library that's twice as big, the town is twice as big, with a really, really talented staff and board here, which was also the case in Madison," she added.

She chose a career in library science because it combines three of her loves, she said.

"It's the combination of loving books, loving people and loving organization," she said. "I'm a people person who loves to read. I like the organization and those are the common themes. When you work at the front desk, you're answering people's questions, you're providing them help really directly. But then as I became a manager, you're helping your staff and making sure that they have the resources that they need to give the best quality service. And now as an administrator, I'm doing the same things on a big-picture level. I'm making sure we have the correct policies, the budget that we need to do our best work, and overseeing professional development.

At the library, you organize the books but you also organize the organization.That's what I do now."

And doing it in Wallingford is really special, she said.

"It's a really great career step and a great step for me personally," she said. "I live in town, I'm helping my own community and it really is a special library to work at. I'm very happy to be back."

kramunni@record-journal.com
Villagers in the Zvamahande area of Mashava, under Chief Bere in Masvingo, shared harrowing accounts of a tragic plane crash that occurred in their vicinity yesterday morning. The crash claimed the lives of all six passengers on board.

The Cessna plane, owned by the Murowa Diamond Company, crashed at approximately 8 a.m. The Murowa Diamond Company is a subsidiary of Rio Zim, the owner of the Murowa gem mine in Zvishavane.

According to the police, the red and white Cessna Zcam aircraft was en route to Murowa in Zvishavane when it crashed approximately 6 kilometers outside of Mashava town.

Last night, National Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi released a statement confirming the tragic incident. He revealed that out of the six victims, four were foreign nationals while two were Zimbabweans. The aircraft had departed from Harare at 6 a.m. and crashed near Mashava while heading to Murowa Mine.

Assistant Commissioner Nyathi assured the public that more information regarding the crash would be shared in due course.

RioZim, in a statement, confirmed the crash and expressed their collaboration with the relevant authorities to gather more information. They stated that further details would be shared once the next of kin had been notified, expressing their condolences to the affected families.

Stunned villagers from Zvamahande and Mashava gathered at the crash site, accompanied by law enforcement officials and members of the Masvingo City Council Fire Brigade. Together, they sifted through the wreckage of the Cessna plane, recovering dismembered human body parts.

Amidst the gruesome scene, some courageous villagers assisted the police in locating scattered body parts, which were found within a 20-meter radius of the crash site. The main wreckage of the mangled Cessna aircraft lay in ruins.

To preserve the integrity of the investigation, the police cordoned off the area, ensuring that the body parts and wreckage remained undisturbed until the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe investigators arrived.

Eyewitnesses reported suspicions of a mechanical fault while the plane was still in the air above the Zvamahande area. Mr. Elias Bvudzo, who was the first to arrive at the crash site, recalled hearing a strange loud noise from the plane, indicating that something might have been wrong mechanically. The plane circled momentarily before ultimately crashing. Unfortunately, all occupants had perished.

I was on my way to morning prayers just before 8am when I saw the plane coming from the north east direction, he said. It was making a strange loud noise that we are not used to hear when planes pass through this area and it crossed my mind that something was wrong mechanically.

Within minutes, the plane started circling at the same place and then crashed.

I rushed to the crash site only to discover that all the persons inside had died. I phoned other villagers since there was nothing that I could do.

Prince Ncube (20) of Zavidze village under Chief Bere confirmed hearing the strange noise from the plane before it crashed.

I was sleeping around 7.30am when I heard a strange noise from the plane that was overhead, a short distance from our homestead, but I just ignored it and continued with my sleep only to be woken up by noise from neighbours who were saying there had been a plane crash, he said.

I rushed to the crash site with others, but what we saw was true horror. I have never seen such a gory sight in my life. I noticed that there had been no survivor from the plane as some human body parts hung on tree branches and shrubs.

These gory images will take long to be erased from my memory.

The tragic incident left a lasting impact on the villagers who witnessed the horrifying aftermath. The sound of the plane, the gory sight of scattered body parts, and the absence of survivors deeply affected the community.

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Mine Collapse in Zimbabwe Leaves Six Dead

Tragedy struck in Zimbabwes Chegutu district on Friday when part of a gold mine collapsed, trapping workers underground. Six miners lost their lives in the terrible accident at Bay Horse mine, located about 100km outside the capital of Harare.

State media reported that at around 8am, a section of the 150m deep shaft gave way, burying 34 men beneath rubble and debris. Rescue efforts got underway immediately to save who they could. By nightfall, six bodies had been pulled out, but another 15 miners were still trapped with the search continuing.

Initially, 13 workers managed to escape the collapse on their own, leaving 21 unaccounted for. The Zimbabwe Miners Federation had stated an estimated 42 men may have been inside at the time. They dispatched representatives to the site to aid the rescue coordination.

This part of Zimbabwe has seen its share of mining tragedies before, such as a dam break two years ago that cost 23 men their lives in a nearby town.

create attention grabbing headlines

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CCC Leader Chamisa Rejects Career Politicians, Advises Them to Form Their Own Party

Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has expressed his disapproval of career politicians within his party and suggested that they should establish their own political organizations if they are dissatisfied with his leadership approach.

During a gathering with CCC members in Mashonaland East province, held at Mbuya Nehanda Hall in Marondera, Chamisa emphasized that his party is not a suitable environment for career politicians. He encouraged those seeking positions to consider forming their own political parties instead.

He stated, Those who want positions, let me say, form your own party. No one is ever going to form a party stronger than this (CCC).

Chamisa, known for his passionate style of politics, is currently touring the country to meet with provincial executives and receive reports regarding the recently concluded harmonized elections.

The CCC leader has been disputing the outcome of the August 23-24 elections, which declared Emmerson Mnangagwa of the Zanu PF party as the winner. Chamisas opposition movement claims that the elections were marred by fraud and is advocating for fresh elections to be held.

Critics have accused Chamisa of sidelining senior party members in favour of young activists. However, he clarified that leadership is not solely about academic knowledge but also about understanding the needs and aspirations of the citizens. Chamisa emphasized that the CCC is an organized citizens movement guided by the peoples interests, and previous positions held within the now-defunct MDC party are irrelevant to the current setup.

Chamisa further expressed his lack of concern about holding an elective congress for the CCC, stating that there is no rush. He addressed the perception that the CCC lacks a formal structure by highlighting the successful election of mayors, councillors, and Members of Parliament within the party. He cited examples of leaders in Goromonzi and South Africa as evidence of their presence.

Acknowledging that defeating the ruling Zanu PF party was a challenging task, Chamisa attributed their victory in the election to the support of the citizens, despite facing obstacles such as state institutions backing the incumbent government, alleged involvement of organizations like FAZ (Forever Associates Zimbabwe), and traditional leaders aligned with the ruling party.

While the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Election Observer Mission report concluded that the Zimbabwean elections did not meet local, regional, and international standards and were not free, credible, and fair, Chamisa expressed his belief that even if SADC fails to intervene, divine intervention will take place.

Chamisas remarks highlight his stance on career politicians within the CCC and his determination to lead the party in his own style, aiming to bring about political change in Zimbabwe.

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Three women from Harare have recently been apprehended and charged with the illegal possession and transportation of a substantial quantity of cannabis, estimated to be worth around $27 million. The accused individuals, namely Brenda Chivayo, Unique Kasenza, and Stella Musokeri, allegedly used a bus to smuggle the drugs into Zimbabwe from South Africa, cleverly disguising them as ordinary groceries.

The arrest came about following a tip-off provided by a manager at Best Logistics Bus, who alerted the police about suspicious activities. Acting swiftly, the authorities arrived at the Highglen bus terminus last Sunday, where they discovered people unloading their luggage. However, two 60-litre plastic containers were left unclaimed.

Upon inspecting the containers, law enforcement officials were shocked to find them packed with cannabis cleverly concealed under a layer of groceries. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the police confiscated the containers and promptly advised the bus manager and crew to notify them immediately if anyone attempted to claim the suspicious cargo.

As fate would have it, the trio of accused women arrived the following day with the intention of retrieving the containers. However, their plans were abruptly thwarted as the authorities swiftly apprehended them at the scene.

The confiscated cannabis weighed approximately 33 kilograms, indicating the significant scale of the operation. Investigations are underway to determine the extent of the drug smuggling network and any potential accomplices involved.

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A Nyanga man took in his orphaned niece who was 15 years old and forcibly made her his wife, resulting in the birth of four children.

Tendai Chitsatse (44) allegedly abused his late brothers daughter, Chenai Chitsatse, who is now 25 years old.

The children born from the unholy union are aged nine, five, two and three months.

Both Chitsatse and his niece-cum-wife are facing charges of having sexual intercourse within a prohibited degree of relationship as defined in Section 75(2)(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act), Chapter 9:23.

When The Manica Post visited Nyanga last week, the community was outraged by the incestuous relationship and called for Chitsatses arrest and banishment from the area.

Incest is a sexual relationship between people classed as being too closely related to marry each other.

It is taboo and criminal in Zimbabwe.

To avoid being unmasked, Chitsatse had for the past 10 years been hoping from one place to the other with his family.

ln an interview with The Manica Post, Chitsatse said his family stayed in Nyanga, Macheke, Marondera and many rural areas, adding that they would move as soon as he suspected that someone would have gotten wind of their relationship.

He revealed that he started raping his niece when she was only 15 years old after he took her into his custody.

Her parents had already died.

I would leave my wife in our bedroom and go to my nieces room to rape her. I do not know what was happening, I think an evil spirit blinded and led me astray, said Chitsatse.

At that time, they were staying in Nyanga and when Chitsatse realised that he had impregnated his niece, he left his wife and took his victim to Macheke where they started stayed together as husband and wife.

In Macheke, my niece told a neighbour that I had raped her and that I was her uncle. A police report was made and I was arrested in 2014. The matter was dealt with at Marondera Magistrates Court, but I was acquitted due to lack of evidence. The court ruled that the matter should be dealt with by a traditional court. We continued staying together as husband and wife, but our life was now nomadic.

I admit that I erred and I am asking for forgiveness, he said.

The shocking case came to light when the womans half-brother, Mr Orient Mafukidze who had lost contact with Chitsatses victim 20 years ago tracked her down.

After locating his half-sister and also discovering that her husband was her uncle, an outraged Mr Mafukidze reported the matter to Acting Chief Saunyamas court.

The case was heard by the traditional leader recently before he referred it to the police.

Said Mr Mafukidze: When our mother passed away, we were left in her elder sisters custody. However, her brothers sent us packing. I ended up with the Mafukidzes while my sister went to the Chitsatses.

We were orphans and no one wanted us. When I turned 20, I started looking for my sister, but no one knew where she was. My aunt only knew that my sister had gone to stay with the Chitsatse family.

For seven years, I looked everywhere for her but failed to locate her because her uncle would shift base each time he heard that I was looking for her, narrated Mr Mafukidze.

However, this did not deter Mr Mafukidzes search.

I eventually heard where they had recently shifted to Nyarumburwa Village. I went there and managed to meet my sister. I was so happy to meet her and her husband, not knowing that he was her uncle.

However, when I later talked to her alone, she told me that she did not know what to do as she was in an incestuous relationship and indicated that she desperately needed to be set free, Mr Mafukidze wept as he narrated.

The woman said she endured the abusive relationship as she had nowhere else to go.

At first, I did not know that my uncle was raping me. I thought I was dreaming as he would do it while I was in a deep slumber. I later realised what was happening when I fell pregnant and told a neighbour.

I did not have anywhere else to go. My paternal grandparents did not want to take me in and I did not know my maternal family.

Each time we moved, I would tell our new neighbours about my predicament and whenever my uncle picked it up, we would move again, said the woman.

She begged the court to rescue her from her monstrous uncle, adding that she has tried to do so over the past decade.

Acting Chief Saunyama said Chitsatse abused his role as the young girls guardian and sexually abused her.

He said Chitsatse deserves a custodial sentence.

You were given custody of this child and turned her into your wife. You abused her, thereby abusing your authority. You should be incarcerated. You are a danger to the orphaned girl child and I will only deal with this matter after the criminal court is done with you, he said.

The matter has since appeared before Nyanga Magistrates Court where the couple is facing charges of having sexual intercourse within a prohibited degree of relationship.

Nyanga magistrate, Ms Notebulgar Muchineripi presided over the case, while Mr Nyasha Sesenyani prosecuted.

Mr Sesenyani said on an unknown date, but during the period extending from 2014 to September 9, 2023 in Nyanga, Tendai and Chenai unlawfully had a sexual relationship.

Sometime in July 2014, Tendai took custody of Chenai since her parents had died. During the stay, Tendai and Chenai had consensual sexual intercourse and stayed as husband and wife.

The matter came to light when Chenais brother who was looking for her found her staying with Tendai. Their union had been blessed with four children.

The matter came as a tip off from Chief Saunyamas court, leading to the arrest of the two, said the State.

The pair was not asked to plead and was remanded to October 5. Tendai was remanded in custody, while Chenai was remanded out of custody.

Section 75 (d) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23, states that a sexual relationship between an uncle and his niece  where either or both of the parties know or realise that there is a real possibility that they are related to each other  shall be guilty of having sexual intercourse within a prohibited degree of relationship and wil be liable to a fine up to or exceeding Level 14 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or both.

The Constitution further declares that it is criminal for a male person to have sexual intercourse with a female person who is related to him without her consent.

According to the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC), at least 22 women are raped daily in Zimbabwe, with an average of one rape taking place every 75 minutes.

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Muhammad Asif Noor, the writer is Director Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies and Founder Centre for Central Asia and Eurasia Studies





In today's rapidly evolving global landscape, where geopolitics, economics, and societal shifts intertwine, the imperative for international cooperation and strategic alliances has never been more pronounced. Central Asia, often described as the heartland of Eurasia, stands at a pivotal crossroads of this intricate web of interconnectivity. Against this backdrop, the recent Fifth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States, held in Dushanbe on emerges as a beacon of hope and a testament to the region's collective commitment to fostering unity, economic integration, and sustainable development. Chaired by Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon, this summit brought together the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives from the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Beyond the formalities of diplomacy, this gathering signifies a resolute stride forward in Central Asia's journey toward realizing its untapped potential, overcoming historical challenges, and forging a path to prosperity through unparalleled economic cooperation and connectivity.

The significance of the Fifth Consultative Meeting extends far beyond and is a testament to the region's shared commitment to addressing long-standing issues, fostering a climate of trust, and charting a course toward mutual prosperity. The adoption of a comprehensive package of agreements, including those related to land transport, youth policy, and health and well-being, underscores the multifaceted nature of Central Asian cooperation.

The Joint Statement emerging from the Consultative Meeting encapsulates the region's collective aspirations and commitment to diplomacy. Central Asian leaders have emphasized the importance of resolving regional issues through peaceful, diplomatic means, emphasizing equality and mutual respect. In doing so, they have reaffirmed their dedication to the principles of the United Nations and its pivotal role in maintaining global peace, security, and development.

By prioritizing diplomatic solutions to conflicts and fostering a spirit of cooperation, the Central Asian states are positioning themselves as responsible global actors. This reaffirmation of their commitment to peace is particularly significant in a world grappling with complex challenges, including security threats, environmental issues, and economic uncertainties. It sends a strong message that Central Asia is ready to contribute constructively to international efforts to address these pressing concerns.

Moreover, the agreements reached during the summit signal a new era of economic cooperation and regional integration. The Central Asian leaders' commitment to enhancing economic ties is evident in the Agreement on Strengthening the Interconnectedness of Land Transport in Central Asia. This agreement is poised to unlock the region's immense potential for international land transport, creating a competitive market for transport services.

By promoting connectivity through efficient transportation networks, Central Asian countries can not only boost regional trade but also position themselves as crucial hubs in the broader Eurasian trade landscape. Furthermore, their pledge to consider the increased use of national currencies in mutual trade is a significant step toward reducing dependence on external currencies, enhancing economic stability, and promoting financial sovereignty within the region. These economic initiatives are vital for the sustainable development of Central Asia, which has long been regarded as an untapped frontier for investment and growth.

In addition to the economic prospects, the Central Asian leaders' commitment to cultural and humanitarian cooperation reflects their dedication to fostering mutual respect and understanding among the region's diverse communities. The emphasis on promoting cultural heritage, collaboration in science and technology, and increased tourism signifies a desire to strengthen the bonds between Central Asian nations. By supporting joint UNESCO World Heritage List applications, these countries are not only preserving their rich history but also showcasing it to the world, potentially attracting more tourists and promoting cultural exchange. Furthermore, the leaders' strong support for the broad participation of women in all spheres of activity underscores their commitment to gender equality and social progress. This holistic approach to cooperation, encompassing economic, cultural, and humanitarian dimensions, demonstrates the Central Asian nations' resolve to not only boost their economies but also build a more inclusive and harmonious regional community.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's proposal to establish the Economic Council of Central Asian countries stands out as a transformative initiative that holds immense significance for the region. This proposal signifies a crucial step toward fostering economic integration and connectivity in Central Asia, a region with abundant untapped potential. The Economic Council offers a formal platform for these nations to coordinate and collaborate on economic matters, ultimately aiming to eliminate trade barriers, harmonize regulations, and prioritize infrastructure development. This multifaceted approach has the potential to boost intra-regional trade, attract foreign investments, enhance connectivity through infrastructure projects, and promote economic diversification. President Mirziyoyev's vision reflects a strategic understanding of the region's strengths and challenges, emphasizing the need for unity and cooperative efforts to unlock a brighter economic future for Central Asia.

In the face of inevitable challenges, Central Asian nations have a unique opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to regional cooperation and showcase their potential as a dynamic economic bloc. If established and managed effectively, the Economic Council can play a pivotal role in shaping the economic future of Central Asia and enhancing its global relevance in the years to come. The region's journey toward economic cooperation and connectivity may be arduous, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, September 30. The Turkmenistan's delegation is taking part in the 'Dushanbe-invest 2023' International Investment Forum, which takes place from September 29 through September 30 in the capital of Tajikistan, where it discusses new investment opportunities with foreign partners, Trend reports.

The following topics were discussed at the event: 'Investment opportunities of the Dushanbe city', 'Industry is a key factor in economic development and a favorable basis for investment', 'Tajikistan is a country of 'green' energy', 'Private sector participation in energy development', 'The role of the financial system in the development of entrepreneurship and capital attraction', 'Development of the 'green' economy, digitalization and free economic zones in Tajikistan'.

The 'Dushanbe-invest 2023' International Investment Forum is also attended by high-ranking officials from Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, as well as from other countries, heads of relevant ministries and departments of the country.

On September 30, 2023, the second day of the forum, its participants will be divided into three groups and will go to the industrial enterprises of the Tajikistan's cities of Dushanbe, Nurek and Tursunzade to get to know their activities better.
Yves here. This article reminds the great victimized public that even if the US wins against Google in both of its antitrust cases, that does not mean the remedies will be tough enough to have much impact.

By Lynn Parramore, Senior Research Analyst at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Originally published at the Institute for New Economic Thinking website

As every tech watcher knows, the 21st centurys biggest federal antitrust trial is currently underway, targeting Googles search business. A second trial involving the company, focused on display advertising, is in the pipeline for next year.

Google is in the hot seat, but so far it has managed to mostly elude efforts to curb its power.

At the crux of the two cases is Googles dominance in the world of internet search and digital advertising, which shapes how just about everybody consumes and engages with content online. The U.S. government alleges that the company deploys unlawful strategies to stay on top, elbowing competitors out of the market and giving consumers a raw deal in the process.

In the Google search complaint, the federal government and a group of state attorneys general charge that Google has built a monopoly deal by deal, paying for exclusive agreements with device manufacturers and software providers like Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla that enable it to automatically pop up as the default search engine when users want to search the web. This is a big advantage because most consumers will accept the default setting. Additionally, the complaint contends that its complicated for users to change the default. And because the quality of the search engine depends on scale, these agreements ensure that Google cannot be challenged by an entrant, even one that offers privacy benefits like DuckDuckGo. The result, according to the complaint, is that customers get locked in and competition gets locked out. Google faces fines and even possible restructuring if the government prevails.

A win is by no means a given.

Back in 1998, Microsoft was found guilty of violating competition laws by bundling its operating system with its browser so that consumers were forced to buy its whole software package. The government won that time. Nonetheless, Microsoft was not forced to provide a choice of default settings for the browser, except in Europe. In the current antitrust atmosphere, will it really be possible to rein Google in and get real consumer choice?

Experts have their doubts.

Antitrust expert Mark Glick of the University of Utah has discussed his view that if we want a prosperous and fair economy, we cant do without robust antitrust. As he sees it, the U.S. went astray during the 1980s when public policy made a sharp turn towards the interests of big business. Antitrust economists who adopted the Consumer Welfare Standard as part of the attack on New Deal regulation and progressive Supreme Court treatment of rising concentration in the U.S. played a role in this shift. According to Glick, it remains to be seen whether current antitrust policy is really up to the task of restoring balance between big business and everybody else. (See: Why Economists Should Support Populist Antitrust Goals and An Economic Defense of Multiple Antitrust Goals.

For its part, Google claims that people use its search engine because it is the best. In a conversation with the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), Glick scoffed at this suggestion, pointing out that Google improves its product by buying eyeballs other companies have worked hard to attain: Google started out by buying the audiences of other companies, like AOL, he says. The more people you have using the search, the more valuable the advertising and the higher the prices Google can demand. He adds, If Google were really the best search engine, why would it need to pay billions for these audiences and companies? It wouldnt have to pay for the default position, it would be adopted in a competitive market.

If the government loses the search case, Google still has to face next years challenge to its display advertising practices. In January 2023, the Justice Department, along with several state attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust suit against Google for monopolizing the way ads get served online and pushing out competitors. According to the suit, Google uses its advertising technology (adtech) tools to dominate the programmatic ad market that uses automated technology and algorithmic tools for media buying. The complaint alleges that Google pursued profits at the expense of online publishers who receive less and advertisers, who have to pay more to advertise, as well as consumers, to whom the costs often get transferred. Google is further also accused of unfairly directing consumers to its own products.

Adtech expert Dina Srinivasan, a longtime critic of Big Techs unchecked power, voiced her support of the case. In 2020, Srinivasan published an influential paper [1] detailing how Google dominates advertising markets by engaging in conduct that is actually prohibited in financial markets. Srinivasan told INET, Im glad that the case is going forward. Its the right thing to do.

Glick explains that Google gained power over online advertising mostly by gobbling up other companies rather than through its own innovation. They started by acquiring DoubleClick, which had the ad server, and then they bought a whole series of companies that gave them increasing control, Glick told INET. He was among the many voices warning the FTC about the dangers inherent in the DoubleClick merger during the original merger review in 2007, but those warnings were dismissed, he says: At the time the FTC thought that there would be plenty of competitors out there, so they let all these adtech incremental acquisitions happen and now Google controls every step of the process.

Glick believes that all these steps in the online advertising process should be opened up to competitors. Hopefully the government will be able to open up these markets to competition which will benefit publishers and advertisers.

A big hurdle is the lack of clarity in the law, observes Glick: It has language that pertains to acquisitions that substantially lessen competition. Well, what exactly does that mean? If you keep letting these companies make acquisitions, nobody can ever catch up. So far, whenever theres a threat to their dominance, Google just acquires the company. Or destroys it. If youre a little company, you can either get destroyed or sell for a big profit. Which are you going to choose?

When it comes to a company like Google, monopolization of search engines and advertising is all not the public has to worry about. The emerging technologies of AI and, especially, so-called large language models (LLMs) have many concerned that Big Tech will strongarm its way into dominating their future. Google has already announced plans to further enhance its search engine with AI. Glick worries about a situation in which there are only a few players in AI that have complete control, thus eliminating competition.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been vocal about the profound need for regulation of AI (in contrast to former CEO Eric Schmidt, who told the government to stay out of it). However, critics are asking just what kind of regulation he wants. Google says it wants to be regulated, but you have to be cautious about the motives, notes Glick. They dont want the end of humanity, okay, but you can be sure they also want to preserve their dominance.

So far, it appears that anyone attempting to challenge that dominance is up for a David v. Goliath battle.

Nevertheless, Glick sees hopeful signs in an increased willingness to fight powerful interests on the part of the DOJ and the FTC. They have been very courageous in the face of massive opposition from antitrust conservatives in law firms and universities as well as big company lobbyists and Republican lawmakers. But they also have their fans. Glick hopes there will be new antitrust legislation. But so far, he warns, the antitrust bills arent getting through, and too many judges are willing to accept the arguments of the Big Tech companies.

Indeed, constraints on big business have been so lacking in recent decades that some have come to accept Big Tech monopolies as normal. Yet Glick emphasizes that American history shows that change can happen quickly and monopolistic companies can be taken on successfully  think of the Progressive era and the New Deal.

Glick thinks that people are getting fed up with a few monopolists that dominate many markets and make huge profits: There seems to be a shift happening. As he sees it, people are realizing that Google makes it hard for other companies to do business and for customers to get the best service and products. Hopefully a new consensus will emerge that will support the efforts of the FTC and DOJ to open up these markets, says Glick. They may lose some cases but their continued persistence can make major inroads in the long run.

Glick holds that the model for antitrust policy should be Roosevelts New Deal policy consensus, which lasted from approximately 1933 to the middle 1970s. After this period of relative balance, along came a movement to undo the consensus. You had the Chicago School and conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation. Conservative professors at law schools started to get funding. Glick sees another movement taking shape to challenge the free market ideology of recent years. Its good to see people like FTC chair Lina Kahn and Jonathan Kanter at the DOJ. President Biden really did put in the right people.

Losing cases might not be the outcome many hope for in the current challenges against Google, but if Glick is right, each case moves the ball forward in restoring balance to the American economy. New cases come along, keeping the companys activities in the public eye. Even if Google wins the search engine case, the companys monopoly status could still be the loser in the long run. And thats good for everyone  even Google.

Note

[1] Srinivasans research, as her paper records, was partially supported by INET.
Yves here. This post covers some of the profile of human prehistory. A subtext is that modern societies have embraced the idea of progress, when that became almost an organizing principle during the Industrial Revolution. The book Agnotology points out (contrary to our belief in the superiority of our current ways) that some types of knowledge were forgotten, such as birth controls methods. There are other areas where ancient technology beats our or had to be studied carefully in order to be copied, such as Roman concrete.

But this post raises a question it then largely skirts: how can we being to under the experience and thinking of early humans?

By Deborah Barsky, a researcher at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution and associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain, with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). and the author of Human Prehistory: Exploring the Past to Understand the Future (Cambridge University Press, 2022), and Jan Ritch-Frel, the executive director of the Independent Media Institute, and a co-founder of the Human Bridges project. Produced by Human Bridges, a project of the Independent Media Institute

We can all agree that most people want to know about their originsspanning from their family and ancestral history and even, occasionally, deeper into the evolutionary story.

Lately, this desire has become more palpable in society at large and even taken on urgent tones as we drift away from the lifestyle patterns and traditions that humans relied on for millions of years toward a technoculture that is highly addictive, and hard to understand or break away from.

But the desire to know the deep past doesnt translate so easily into understanding, especially since the information we encounter is necessarily filtered by our own sociohistorical context. One of the biggest obstacles to gaining a true understanding of the unfolding of humanitys past is the way that modern societies foster a superficial understanding of the passage of time.

To delve deeply into human prehistory requires adopting a different kind of chronological stance than most of us are accustomed tonot just a longer period of time, but also a sense of evolution infused by the operating rules of biology and its externalities, such as technology and culture. But exploring the past enables us to observe long-term evolutionary trends that are also pertinent in todays world, elucidating that novel technological behaviors that our ancestors adopted and transformed into culture were not necessarily better, nor more sustainable over time.

Nature is indifferent to the recency of things: whatever promotes our survival is passed on and proliferated through future generations. This Darwinian axiom includes not only anatomical traits, but also cultural norms and technologies.

Shared culture and technologies give people the ongoing sensation of the synchronization of time with each other. The museums and historical sites we visit, as well as the books and documentaries on the human story, overwhelmingly present the past to their audiences through simultaneous or synchronized stages that follow a kind of metric system of conformity in importance. Human events are charted along the direction of either progress or failure.

The archeological record shows us, however, that even though human evolution appears to have taken place as a series of sequential stages advancing our species toward progress, in fact, there is no inherent hierarchy to these processes of development.

This takes a while to sink in, especially if youve been educated within a cultural framework that explains prehistory as a linear and codependent set of chronological milestones, whose successive stages may be understood by historically elaborated logical systems of cause and effect. It takes an intellectual leap to reject such hierarchical constructions of prehistory and to perceive the past as a diachronous system of nonsynchronous events closely tied to ecological and biological phenomena.

But this endeavor is well worth the effort if it allows people to recognize and make use of the lessons that can be learned from the past.

If we can pinpoint the time, place, and circumstances under which specific technological or social behaviors were adopted by hominins and then follow their evolution through time, then we can more easily understand not only why they were selected in the first place, but also how they evolved and even what their links with the modern human condition may be.

Taking on this approach can help us understand how the reproductive success of our genus, Homo, eventually led up to the emergence of our own species, sapiens, through a complex process that caused some traits to disappear or be replaced, while others were transformed or perpetuated into defining human traits.

While new discoveries are popularizing the exciting new findings dating as far back as the Middle Paleolithic, the public is typically presented with a compressed prehistory that starts at the end of the last ice age some 12,000 years ago. This is understandable, since the more recent archeological register consists of objects and buildings that are in many ways analogous to our own patterns of living. Ignoring the more distant phases of the shared human past, however, has a wider effect of converting our interpretations of prehistory into a sort of timeless mass, almost totally lacking in chronological and even geographical context.

Among recent breakthroughs reaching the public eye, it has been shown that H. sapiens emerged in Africa much earlier than previously thought, some 300,000 years ago. We now know that the first groups of anatomically modern humans arrived on the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea as early as 200,000 years ago, a fact that implies a far longer cohabitation of our species in territories already occupied by other forms of Homo, such as the Neandertals and the Denisovans.

Genomic research is progressively telling us something about what our interactions with these species might have been like, proving not only that these encounters took place, but even that they sometimes involved interbreeding and the conceiving of reproductively viable offspring. Such knowledge about our distant past is therefore making us keenly aware that we only very recently became the last surviving species of a very bushy human family tree.

Because of their great antiquity, these very ancient phases of the human evolutionary story are more difficult to interpret and involve hominins who were physically, cognitively, and behaviorally very different from ourselves.

For this reason, events postdating the onset of the Neolithic Period tend to be more readily shared in our societys communication venues (e.g., museums and schools), while the older phases of human prehistory often remain shrouded in scientific journals, inaccessible to the general public.

But rendering prehistory without providing the complete picture of the evidence is like reading only the last chapter of a book. In this truncated vision, the vast majority of human development becomes a mere prelude before we move on to be amazed at how modern humans began to create monumental structures, sewage systems, and grain storage silos, for example. Just how we got there remains largely undisclosed to the public at large.

Bringing Prehistory Into the Open

The good news is that the rapid development of modern technologies is presently revolutionizing archeology and the ways that scientific data can be conveyed to society. This revolution is finally making ancient human prehistory understandable to a wider audience.

While many of the worlds prehistory museums still display only the most spectacular finds of classical or other recent forms of modern human archeology, we are finally beginning to see more exhibits dedicated to some of the older chapters of the human story. By generating awareness, the public is finally awakening to their meaning and significance, enabling themselves to gain a better understanding of the global condition of humanity and its links with the past.

People are finally beginning to understand why the emergence of the first stone tool technologies some 3 million years ago in Africa was such a landmark innovation that would eventually embark our ancestors onto an alternative evolutionary route that would sharply distinguish us from all other species on the planet.

By developing their stone tool technologies, early hominins provided the basis for what would eventually be recognized as a culture: a transformative trait that transformed us into the technology-dependent species we have become and that continues to shape our lives in unpredictable ways.

Archeologists provide interpretations of these first phases of the human technological adventure thanks to the stone tools left behind by hominins very different from ourselves and the contexts in which they are discovered. Among the authors of these groundbreaking ancient technologies are Homo habilis, the first species attributed to our genusprecisely because of their ability to intentionally modify stone into toolsbut also other non-Homoprimates, such as Paranthropus and Australopithecines, with which they shared the African landscape for many millennia.

Surprisingly, even at a very early stage beginning some 2,600,000 years ago in Africa, scientists have found that some hominins were systematizing stone toolmaking into a coherent cultural complex grouped under the denomination Oldowan, after the eponymous sites situated at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. This implies that stone toolmaking was being transformed at a very early date into an adaptive strategy, because it must have provided hominins with some advantages. From this time onward, our ancestors continued to produce and transmit culture with increasing intensity, a phenomenon that was eventually accompanied by demographic growth and expansions into new lands beyond Africaas their nascent technologies transformed every aspect of their lives.

Unevenly through time and space, this hugely significant development branched out into the increasingly diverse manifestations of culture that came to characterize the successive hominin species composing the human family tree. Each technocomplex of the Lower Paleolithic, from the Oldowan to the subsequent Acheulian phase (beginning in Africa some 1,750,000 years ago and then spreading into Eurasia up to around 350,000 years ago), and onward into the Middle Paleolithic and beyond, is defined by specific sets of skills and accompanying behavioral shifts. The tools developed in service of those skills reveal to us the sociocultural practices of the hominins who used them.

Fossilized human remains, and the stone tool technologies they developed, provide the keys to understanding more about ourselves. We can comprehend the changes we observe in the archeological register through time thanks to the bodies of material evidence that tell the story of how humans evolved up to the present. It gives us a frame of reference to recognize the directions that our species might be taking as we move into the future.

To see more clearly, we need to explore how this evolution took place, understanding the transformations diachronically, with change often occurring in nonlinear ways. To do so, we need to leave behind models of path dependence that condition our thinking, leading us to believe that particular aspects recognizable to us through our lens of modernity have a forcing effect of change on the next stages of technosocial development.

Human prehistory widens our conceptual lens by taking into consideration not only innate human traits particular to each phase of hominin ancestral evolution, but also the exterior forces at play throughout the shifting climatic conditions that characterize the long time periods we are considering.

In much the same way as biological evolution, some technosocial innovations can emerge and persist, while others may remain latent in the human developmental repertory, providing a baseline for new creations that can be further developed. If proven to be favorable under specific conditions, selected behavioral capacities can be developed to the point of becoming defining aspects of the human condition.

The latent aspects of technology can, in different regions or time frames, be selected for, used, and refined, leading human groups to choose divergent evolutionary pathways and even triggering technological revolutions: when the changes lead to positive results, they can set off wider cultural developments in the populations that use them.

This way of thinking about technosocial evolution also helps to explain why, more often than not, specific cultural phases generally appear in some kind of coherent successive order through space and time, even though the transitions from one to the otherand the related social processes they engendercan appear blurry as we try to make sense of the archeological evidence.

In this case, it is essential to keep in mind that, through time, different hominins also evolved biologically, as toolmaking and its associated social implications had effects on the evolution of the brain. Developing stone tool technologies provided hominins with an evolutionary edge, enabling them to carve out a unique niche in the scheme of things since it improved their capacity to compete for resources with other kinds of animals. Technological and behavioral developments occurred and evolved in a nonlinear fashion because they were unevenly packed in accordance with each specific paleoecological and community setting.

When we look deeper into our prehistory, it is important to remember that the degree of complexity of human achievements was largely dependent upon particular stages of cognitive readiness. Human technosocial evolution thus appears to have global coherency through time because it reflects the successive phases of cognitive readiness attained on an anatomical level by distinct groups of hominins thriving in different paleoecological settings in diverse geographical regions.

While drawing straight lines between specific hominin species and particular kinds of tools presents some pitfalls, science has already demonstrated that cerebral development was (and is) tightly linked to technological evolution. Specific areas of the brainthe neocortical regions of the frontal and temporal lobes responsible for language, symbolic thought, volumetric planning, and other abstract cerebral functionswere merged with toolmaking. Toolmaking contributed to endowing hominins with unique cerebral capacitiesin particular, the abilities to communicate complex abstract notions and create multifaceted sociocultural environments.

Different types of symbolic behaviorthe use of a system of symbols to communicatewere employed by different hominin species who found them to be positively adaptive. As a result, cerebral and technological evolution were linked into a co-evolutionary process by which early Homoand subsequent hominins developed idiosyncratic brain structures relative to other animals.

Following the Oldowan, the Acheulian cultural phase is commonly (but not uniquely) linked with the arrival of the successful and widely dispersed Homo erectus. It is during this era that humanity produced some of its most significant technological and behavioral breakthroughs, like fire making and the capacity to predetermine the forms they created in stone. The archeological record attributed to the Acheulian bears witness to advanced technosocial standardization, with the advent of symmetrical tools like spheroids or handaxes attesting to the emergence of aesthetic sensitivity.

The expanding repertory of tool types that appeared at this time suggests that hominins were carrying out more diverse activities, while subtle differences observed in the ways of making and doing began to appear in specific regions, forming the foundation of land-linked traditions and social identities.

The fact that these breakthroughs occurred on comparable timescales in widely separate regions of the globeSouth Africa, East Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinentunderpins that hominins already living in these regions had reached a comparable stage of cognitive readiness and that the specific conditions favoring the emergence of analogous latent technosocial capacities were ripe for the taking. The huge expanses separating the geographical hotbeds suggest that the Acheulian emerged without interpopulational contact.

The explanation that better fits the evidence is that there was a convergent development in the transition from a fairly simple form of Oldowan stone toolmaking to the more complex and sophisticated Acheulianwhen Oldowan toolmakers spread out over the planet, they carried the seeds of the Acheulian with them in their minds, their culture, and in the shapes of the stone tools they brought with them.

Indeed, it was only during the later phases of the Acheulian, when we observe denser demographic trends in Africa and Eurasia, that hominin populations would have developed the social networking necessary for technologies to migrate from place to place through direct communication networking.

A similar process of latency and development is in fact observed even in more recent phases of the human evolutionary processfor example, with the emergence of such complex technosocial achievements as the intentional burial of congeners, the construction of monumental structures, the practices of agriculture and animal husbandry, or the invention of writing.

A diachronous approach to time permits more valuable insights from 7 million years of evidence we have of human development. How we structure our understanding of it can create big opportunities to have a better future.
Octopus Intelligence Is Unlike Anything We Know Mind Matters (David L)

Purr-fectly unexpected: Cat-astrophe as nail tech invades cat cafe Thaiger (furzy)

Kelping is a global phenomenon sweeping the world of humpback whales, scientists say Live Science (David L)

Sea Lion Escapes From Central Park Zoo Enclosure During Flooding New York Times (David L). On the NYC flooding generally, see New York City: State of emergency declared over flash flooding BBC (furzy)

Did animal evolution begin with a predatory lifestyle? PhysOrg

Earthworms contribute significantly to global food production Nature (Dr. Kevin)

An Invasive Mosquito Threatens Catastrophe in Africa New York Times (Dr. Kevin)

Spider Venom That Causes Penile Necrosis Could Work as an Alternative to Viagra ScienceAlert. Chuck L: Guys, inspect a banana bunch carefully before picking it up.

FDA Wants to Oversee Lab Tests It Says Put Patients At Risk New York Times (Kevin W).

Decreasing biodiversity may promote spread of viruses: Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin (Dr. Kevin)

The ends of knowledge aeon

#COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers pro-atherogenic inflammatory responses in human coronary vessels Nature (ma) Distinguishing features of Long COVID identified through immune profiling Nature (furzy) I have asked the Covid Brain Trust about this tweet. One of my concerns is that Covid bad effects are often attributed to the vaccines, but this cohort is cancer survivors in many cases taking immunosuppressive drugs and thus regularly monitored: Professor of Oncology at St George's Hospital Medical School, London: "At the end of last year I reported that I was seeing melanoma patients who had been stable for years relapse after their first booster (their third injection). I was told it was merely a coincidence and to pic.twitter.com/YZ3b4BRo52  Robin Monotti (@robinmonotti) September 29, 2023

Climate/Environment

China?

India

Indias not the China alternative Wall Street thinks Asia Times (Kevin W) *India 2018, Justin Trudeau invited a terrorist for dinner* Canadian PM Justin Trudeau was in India for a week-long trip in 2018. Justin Trudeau was hosting an official dinner at the Canadian High Commissioner's residence in New Delhi. Jaspal Atwal, a terrorist convicted pic.twitter.com/bsEmgSzAQu  Facts (@BefittingFacts) September 30, 2023

European Disunion

New Not-So-Cold War

Armenia-Azerbaijan

Its 1.30am here in Goris, Armenia near the border with Nagorno-Karabakh.4 buses just came in with more Armenian families. One minister here told me over 100,000 people have crossed into Armenia, nearly 85% of the total population. Its a modern genocide he said. pic.twitter.com/XODwSZpyt4  Bel Trew (@Beltrew) September 29, 2023 An image from an Azerbaijani stamp issued in 2020, showing a special exterminator for Nagorno-Karabakh.

You remember posters depicting a whole race as vermin from somewhere? https://t.co/pDsUbc5ydA pic.twitter.com/EwdvIYD0ty  Janine  (@JanineE1) September 30, 2023

Syraqistan

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Imperial Collapse Watch

Trump

Biden

EXCLUSIVE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Planning to Announce Independent Run Mediate (li)

Feinstein R.I.P.

Please click through to read in full: I met Senator Diane Feinstein once, in the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She had just recently been assigned to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (in 2001), and it was in that capacity that she had a senior staffer from the committee ask me to come to Washington pic.twitter.com/QQPA04hP22  Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter) September 29, 2023 My memory of Dianne Feinstein will always be when she was on the floor of the Senate during the financial crisis, and the Brown-Vitter amendment to break up the big banks came up. "This is America, isn't it?" she said, and gave a thumbs down. https://t.co/bOPTSZEh8f  Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) September 29, 2023

Shutdown Row

Immigration

Abortion

GOP Clown Car

Our No Longer Free Press

Supreme Court to hear cases on Florida, Texas social media laws The Hill

AI

What Lina Khans antitrust case could mean for Amazon Financial Times

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour:

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here
Anti-grooming protests sweep Canada, parents speak out against transgender propaganda in schools

A large anti-grooming protest is sweeping across Canada as demonstrators speak out against transgender propaganda and gender identity ideology being taught to children in schools.

(Article by Alana Mastrangelo republished from Breitbart.com)

I am watching videos from across Canada. Amazing and inspiring, prominent feminist Meghan Murphy wrote on X, along with the hashtag, #1MillionMarch4Chidren.

I've written about what went down in Victoria here: https://t.co/bt83zbEV7g  Meghan Murphy (@MeghanEMurphy) September 21, 2023

Murphy explained that tens of thousands of Canadians are saying no to gender ideology being taught in schools, telling trans activists to leave the kids alone, as they peacefully protest in Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, among other cities.

The sheer number of people here is unreal. We will get police counts soon, but its gotta be close to 10,000 in Ottawa alone, journalist Keean Bexte wrote on X.

This is happening across the country, and may just be the death blow to the Trudeau Government, Bexte added. The election may be a ways away, but hes done.

Watch Below:

The sheer number of people here is unreal. We will get police counts soon, but it's gotta be close to 10,000 in Ottawa alone. This is happening across the country, and may just be the death blow to the Trudeau Government. The election may be a ways away, but he's done. pic.twitter.com/RLMlld6eAu  Keean Bexte (@TheRealKeean) September 20, 2023

One Canadian mother said that she will not stop speaking out until radical gender ideology is vanquished and removed from our childrens lives.

In a photo shared on social media, the mother was seen holding a sign, which read, mom: a human female who protects her kids from gender ideology.

My mood yesterday, today, and every other day until radical gender ideology is vanquished and removed from our children's lives. See you tomorrow at the child protection advocacy march, Antifa! LFG Moms!#1MillionMarch4Kids#1MillionMarch4Chidren#educationoverindoctrinationpic.twitter.com/ji94dPo4Lh  Natasha Montreal Live Free or Die (@NatashaMontreal) September 19, 2023

A far-right white supremacist, according to the mainstream media. This dad brought tears to my eyes. What a great step forward the #1MillionMarch4Chidren has been. Now public figures need to find their spines, one X user wrote, sharing a video of a father explaining why he was protesting.

Watch Below:

A far-right white supremacist, according to the mainstream media. This dad brought tears to my eyes. What a great step forward the #1MillionMarch4Chidren has been. Now public figures need to find their spines. https://t.co/Wxh3uWOFR7  Billy Bragg (@Serena_Partrick) September 21, 2023

This is who were fighting for, the father said, referring to the newborn he was carrying. Were not here for hate. I dont know why theres a lot of talk about hate. We respect everybody, but our children, theres a line thats drawn on our children.

I think ideologies should be taught at home, what the parents want, he continued. And the way that theyre forcing this, its not right. Its not like we had a roundtable discussion where theyre like, Hey, what do we want in our education system? No, this has been infiltrated without anybodys consent. And now, for our own children, we want to speak out.

Were creating hate? Were creating division? I dont think so. Look around. Look how many skin colors, religions, look how many people are united. Why? Because we have one thing in common, and thats our children. Nobody will ever back down from their children, the father affirmed.

Another image from the protest shows a demonstrator holding up a sign that reads, Never trust anyone who says dont tell your parents,' referring to school districts that encourage their employees to refrain from telling parents if their child is identifying as someone else in school.

Never trust anyone who says "don't tell your parents" Exactly! #1MillionMarch4Chidrenpic.twitter.com/o1iCmPCuN7  Paul Mitchell (@PaulMitchell_AB) September 20, 2023

An alliance that not many of us saw coming. #1MillionMarch4Chidrenpic.twitter.com/6XuK63UJsR  Josef Eriksson ? (@Jeriksson_737) September 20, 2023

What an incredible cross section of our Tri-Cities community, another X user wrote. Children to seniors, Muslims, Christians, and atheists, rich and poor. Everyone out to protect children from harmful ideologies.

Watch Below:

#Coquitlam#1MillionMarch4Chidren What an incredible cross section of our Tri-Cities community. Children to seniors, Muslims, Christians, and atheists, rich and poor. Everyone out to protect children from harmful ideologies. pic.twitter.com/jics15Qvem  Alan Harvey - Pretty Fly (for a white guy) (@AlanHarvey67) September 20, 2023

In school, why do I need to know about pronouns? one student can be heard asking at one of the anti-grooming protests in Canada.

When I grow up and I have kids, what do I want to tell my kids? When I was in school, I learned about how to ask people their pronouns? Or do I want to say, They taught me how to be successful in life? he added.

Its not that I dont like them, Ill acknowledge them, but dont force me, and dont force the schools to teach us this, because we dont need to know much about this. We need to know about life, how to get further in life, the student said.

Watch Below:

Im so in awe of Canada. Huge crowds in every city, marching to tell schools to stop pushing gender dogma on kids, another X user reacted. The media will lie & call it anti-LGBT+ hate, but the most unstoppable force on this earth is parents who know their kids are in danger.

I'm so in awe of Canada. Huge crowds in every city, marching to tell schools to stop pushing gender dogma on kids. The media will lie & call it "anti-LGBT+ hate", but the most unstoppable force on this earth is parents who know their kids are in danger. #1MillionMarch4Chidrenhttps://t.co/Sir7s7WfK4  ??Jennifer Gingrich ?? (@fem_mb) September 20, 2023

Additional video footage shows a plethora of Canadian demonstrators speaking out against transgender propaganda in schools.

Watch Below:

Scenes from Ottawa right now where thousands of parents and kids are protesting explicit sexual content in schools and radical gender ideology. These protests are absolutely massive and across the entire country. #1MillionMarch4Childrenpic.twitter.com/KIR9wOSe2S  Cosmin Dzsurdzsa ?? (@cosminDZS) September 20, 2023

Canadians are all done with gender ideology, another X user declared.

Canadians Are All Done With Gender Ideology https://t.co/HGFHyNiPMg  Matt Osborne (@OsborneInk) September 20, 2023

Meanwhile, a similar demonstration appears to be underway in the United States.

On Wednesday, Gays Against Groomers announced its upcoming Stop the War on Children rally, which the organization says will be happening in all 50 states. More information can be found here.

RSVP for our nationwide Stop the War on Children Rally to get updates as we get closer to the date! ??????https://t.co/09yayMLeVz  Gays Against Groomers (@againstgrmrs) September 21, 2023

Read more at: Breitbart.com
CDC withholds data on heart inflammation following COVID-19 vaccination

Despite the countless reports of adverse side effects and deaths linked to Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declined to release updated information on reported cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination.

The agency has previously revealed that coronavirus vaccines can cause the inflammatory conditions.

CDC didn't mention VAERS data at a recent meeting

In the past, the CDC has regularly reported the number of post-vaccination myocarditis (heart muscle inflammation) and pericarditis (heart lining inflammation) cases reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), as it consults with its advisers on updates to the vaccines. The CDC helps manage VAERS.

However, at a meeting on Sept. 12, the CDC didn't share details about recent VAERS data. When asked for the information, a CDC spokesman referenced a CDC study that covers data only through Oct. 23, 2022.

The study identified at least nine reports of myocarditis or pericarditis following vaccination with one of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccines. Seven of the nine reports were verified by medical review. (Related: COVID-19 vaccines can cause SEVERE MYOCARDITIS, warns Chinese cardiologist.)

When pushed for more current data, the spokesman said the CDC has it but isn't making it public, adding that the updated safety data will be published "when appropriate."

Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, said even though the agency has already confirmed that heart inflammation is a complication of mRNA COVID-19 shots, the only published data released by CDC officials about that complication is the seven-week study. She also questioned the lack of more specific myocarditis and pericarditis data linked to bivalent COVID-19 injections for the past 10 months.

The mRNA shots are manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna. Novavax's updated shot, which uses different technology, still hasn't been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Kim Witczak, a drug safety advocate who runs the nonprofit Woodymatters, lamented that she is tired of both the CDC and FDA deciding what information is revealed to the public because this is the information that parents require, particularly since there are some schools and activities still mandating vaccines.

"This is evil playing out right before our eyes," added Witczak. She also criticized the CDCs response of "when appropriate, the updated safety data will be published," which is unacceptable.

Witczak added that this is why there is "vaccine hesitancy and lack of trust in public health officials."

It remains unclear why the CDC didn't present more current data

At the meeting, CDC officials and their partners presented data on the bivalent shots to their advisory panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The advisers were debating which groups they should recommend to get one of the new COVID-19 vaccines, which were cleared by regulators despite the lack of sound clinical trial data.

Dr. Nicola Klein, a Kaiser Permanente doctor who works with the CDC, headlined a presentation on COVID-19 vaccine safety. She presented data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), a monitoring system that covers a much smaller population than VAERS.

Klein explained that two cases of myocarditis after bivalent vaccination were detected in the VSD through March 11.

She added that the cases didn't trigger a safety signal among adults, but it remains to be seen why more current data weren't presented.

The presented data were widely cited by doctors quoted in news outlets, including Dr. Andrew Pavia. At a briefing, Pavia claimed that there didn't seem to be a "detectable risk" of myocarditis caused by the bivalent shots.

"What I was conveying is that in the era of the bivalent vaccine, the number of cases has fallen to where it no longer is giving a signal that is detectable," said Pavia, chief of the pediatric infectious diseases division at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

When discussing how the missing VAERS data affect the strength of that claim, he said that the strongest data comes from controlled studies like the VSD where there are built-in controls.

Research showed that through Sept. 8, 98 cases of myocarditis, pericarditis, or myopericarditis (inflammation of both the heart's lining and muscle) were reported to VAERS following bivalent vaccination.

While anybody can submit reports to VAERS, research has revealed that most reports are entered by healthcare providers. Those who submit false information can face prosecution.

Five reports were for people aged six to 17 years, and another 13 were for people aged 18 to 29.

When presenting to the panel, CDC official Megan Wallace mentioned that there is limited data to inform the myocarditis risk following an updated mRNA dose. She didn't mention the cases reported to VAERS but claimed that the benefits of the vaccines outweigh the risks, even for young, healthy males.

She also acknowledged that the VSD did have a "relatively lower sample size" of recipients.

Dr. Pablo Sanchez, the only member who opposed a widespread recommendation, cited the risk of myocarditis. Sanchez urged health experts to be upfront with their patients and to inform them about "what is known and unknown, rather than make a complete recommendation," particularly for some groups where there is limited data.

The labels for the new vaccines say they can cause myocarditis. According to the labels, post-marketing data with authorized or approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccines "demonstrate increased risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly within the first week following vaccination."

While some have recovered, other people have not. The labels also say that information is "not yet available about potential long-term sequelae."

Visit Vaccines.news to learn more about the adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines.

Watch the New American magazine's Ben Armstrong discussing the CDC's cover-up of myocarditis linked to COVID-19 vaccines below.

This video is from The New American channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

DATA ANALYSIS: Increase in miscarriages and stillbirths directly linked to COVID-19 vaccines.

Japanese scientist warns: COVID vaccine harms are now a global problem.

Did LeBron James' son Bronny suffer a cardiac arrest because of the COVID-19 vaccine?

Sources include:

NTD.com

TheEpochTimes.com

Brighteon.com
Chinese government-backed hackers steal 60,000 emails from State Department employees by exploiting a Microsoft engineers device

Hackers linked to the Chinese communist government have exploited a Microsoft engineer's device to breach the inboxes of at least 10 Department of State employees, stealing around 60,000 emails as part of a high-profile hack earlier this summer.

The hacking incident is already well known as it even impacted Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's emails. The additional information comes from a member of Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri's staff, who attended a briefing by State Department IT officials who told lawmakers about the stolen 60,000 emails. (Related: Chinese hackers exploit Microsoft cloud bug to raid US government email accounts, including the Commerce Secretary's.)

Government officials alleged that in July, Chinese state-backed hackers were able to breach the email accounts of around 25 organizations, including government agencies and officials back in May. The extent of the compromise remains unclear.

Nine of the staffers whose emails were stolen were working in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the 10th was working on European and Eurasian Affairs.

The latest revelation that most of the targets of the May hack were working on issues in East Asia and the Pacific region lends more credence to United States government allegations that the Chinese communist government in Beijing was behind the hack  an accusation that Chinese Communist Party officials have denied.

State Department Chief Information Officer Kelly Fletcher noted in her debrief that the hack focused on retrieving information on Indo-Pacific diplomatic efforts. Among the most sensitive information stolen were the travel itineraries and diplomatic deliberations of the 10 victims. Fletcher added that the hackers could have even viewed the Social Security numbers of the 10 individuals.

Emails breached through Microsoft vulnerability

The State Department officials further noted that the hackers were able to access the 10 accounts by compromising the device of a Microsoft engineer, allowing them to breach the 10 email accounts and giving them access to at least 15 other entities.

Microsoft earlier in September admitted that the July hack of senior State and Commerce Department officials stemmed from the compromise of a Microsoft engineer's corporate account. The new information provided by the State Department has refocused attention on the outsized role Microsoft plays in providing information technology services to the U.S. government.

"We need to harden our defenses against these types of cyberattacks and intrusions," said Schmitt. "We need to take a hard look at the federal government's reliance on a single vendor as a potential weak point."

Since discovering the hack, the State Department has begun moving to "hybrid" environments by contracting other vendor companies to provide I.T. services. Multi-factor authentication is also being used more widely as part of improved measures to protect the department's systems.

A State Department spokesperson also said in a statement that the agency takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard its information and continuously takes steps to ensure information is protected. "Like every large organization with a global presence, we closely monitor cybersecurity conditions," the spokesperson said.

Learn more about Chinese-backed cyberattacks at CyberWar.news.

Watch this Fox News report in July describing how the Chinese-backed cyberattack stole "super private" information from the government and private companies.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pentagon report warns of China's cyber preparations for war following hacking of U.S. military bases.

REPORT: Chinese operatives use AI-generated images to spread disinformation and provoke discussion on divisive political issues targeting America.

Popular China-made shopping app Temu likely being used by the CCP for DATA COLLECTION.

Cybersecurity official warns: Americans must prepare for CYBERATTACKS from Chinese hackers.

More sophisticated Chinese cyberattacks target US firms, government agencies, defense contractors.

Sources include:

Politico.com

Reuters.com

Brighteon.com
Germany went from envy of the world to the worst-performing major developed economy. What happened?

ESSEN, Germany (AP)  For most of this century, Germany racked up one economic success after another, dominating global markets for high-end products like luxury cars and industrial machinery, selling so much to the rest of the world that half the economy ran on exports.

(Article by David McHugh republished by APNews.com)

Jobs were plentiful, the governments financial coffers grew as other European countries drowned in debt, and books were written about what other countries could learn from Germany.

No longer. Now, Germany is the worlds worst-performing major developed economy, with both the International Monetary Fund and European Union expecting it to shrink this year.

It follows Russias invasion of Ukraine and the loss of Moscows cheap natural gas  an unprecedented shock to Germanys energy-intensive industries, long the manufacturing powerhouse of Europe.

The sudden underperformance by Europes largest economy has set off a wave of criticism, handwringing and debate about the way forward.

Germany risks deindustrialization as high energy costs and government inaction on other chronic problems threaten to send new factories and high-paying jobs elsewhere, said Christian Kullmann, CEO of major German chemical company Evonik Industries AG.

From his 21st-floor office in the west German town of Essen, Kullmann points out the symbols of earlier success across the historic Ruhr Valley industrial region: smokestacks from metal plants, giant heaps of waste from now-shuttered coal mines, a massive BP oil refinery and Evoniks sprawling chemical production facility.

These days, the former mining region, where coal dust once blackened hanging laundry, is a symbol of the energy transition, dotted with wind turbines and green space.

The loss of cheap Russian natural gas needed to power factories painfully damaged the business model of the German economy, Kullmann told The Associated Press. Were in a situation where were being strongly affected  damaged  by external factors.

After Russia cut off most of its gas to the European Union, spurring an energy crisis in the 27-nation bloc that had sourced 40% of the fuel from Moscow, the German government asked Evonik to keep its 1960s coal-fired power plant running a few months longer.

The company is shifting away from the plant  whose 40-story smokestack fuels production of plastics and other goods  to two gas-fired generators that can later run on hydrogen amid plans to become carbon neutral by 2030.

One hotly debated solution: a government-funded cap on industrial electricity prices to get the economy through the renewable energy transition.

The proposal from Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens Party has faced resistance from Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, and pro-business coalition partner the Free Democrats. Environmentalists say it would only prolong reliance on fossil fuels.

Kullmann is for it: It was mistaken political decisions that primarily developed and influenced these high energy costs. And it cant now be that German industry, German workers should be stuck with the bill.

The price of gas is roughly double what it was in 2021, hurting companies that need it to keep glass or metal red-hot and molten 24 hours a day to make glass, paper and metal coatings used in buildings and cars.

A second blow came as key trade partner China experiences a slowdown after several decades of strong economic growth.

These outside shocks have exposed cracks in Germanys foundation that were ignored during years of success, including lagging use of digital technology in government and business and a lengthy process to get badly needed renewable energy projects approved.

Other dawning realizations: The money that the government readily had on hand came in part because of delays in investing in roads, the rail network and high-speed internet in rural areas. A 2011 decision to shut down Germanys remaining nuclear power plants has been questioned amid worries about electricity prices and shortages. Companies face a severe shortage of skilled labor, with job openings hitting a record of just under 2 million.

And relying on Russia to reliably supply gas through the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea  built under former Chancellor Angela Merkel and since shut off and damaged amid the war  was belatedly conceded by the government to have been a mistake.

Now, clean energy projects are slowed by extensive bureaucracy and not-in-my-backyard resistance. Spacing limits from homes keep annual construction of wind turbines in single digits in the southern Bavarian region.

A 10 billion-euro ($10.68 billion) electrical line bringing wind power from the breezier north to industry in the south has faced costly delays from political resistance to unsightly above-ground towers. Burying the line means completion in 2028 instead of 2022.

Massive clean energy subsidies that the Biden administration is offering to companies investing in the U.S. have evoked envy and alarm that Germany is being left behind.

Were seeing a worldwide competition by national governments for the most attractive future technologies  attractive meaning the most profitable, the ones that strengthen growth, Kullmann said.

He cited Evoniks decision to build a $220 million production facility for lipids  key ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines  in Lafayette, Indiana. Rapid approvals and up to $150 million in U.S. subsidies made a difference after German officials evinced little interest, he said.

Id like to see a little more of that pragmatism ... in Brussels and Berlin, Kullmann said.

In the meantime, energy-intensive companies are looking to cope with the price shock.

Drewsen Spezialpapiere, which makes passport and stamp paper as well as paper straws that dont de-fizz soft drinks, bought three wind turbines near its mill in northern Germany to cover about a quarter of its external electricity demand as it moves away from natural gas.

Specialty glass company Schott AG, which makes products ranging from stovetops to vaccine bottles to the 39-meter (128-foot) mirror for the Extremely Large Telescope astronomical observatory in Chile, has experimented with substituting emissions-free hydrogen for gas at the plant where it produces glass in tanks as hot as 1,700 degrees Celsius.

It worked  but only on a small scale, with hydrogen supplied by truck. Mass quantities of hydrogen produced with renewable electricity and delivered by pipeline would be needed and dont exist yet.

Scholz has called for the energy transition to take on the Germany tempo, the same urgency used to set up four floating natural gas terminals in months to replace lost Russian gas. The liquefied natural gas that comes to the terminals by ship from the U.S., Qatar and elsewhere is much more expensive than Russian pipeline supplies, but the effort showed what Germany can do when it has to.

However, squabbling among the coalition government over the energy price cap and a law barring new gas furnaces has exasperated business leaders.

Evoniks Kullmann dismissed a recent package of government proposals, including tax breaks for investment and a law aimed at reducing bureaucracy, as a Band-Aid.

Germany grew complacent during a golden decade of economic growth in 2010-2020 based on reforms under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 2003-2005 that lowered labor costs and increased competitiveness, says Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank.

The perception of Germanys underlying strength may also have contributed to the misguided decisions to exit nuclear energy, ban fracking for natural gas and bet on ample natural gas supplies from Russia, he said. Germany is paying the price for its energy policies.

Schmieding, who once dubbed Germany the sick man of Europe in an influential 1998 analysis, thinks that label would be overdone today, considering its low unemployment and strong government finances. That gives Germany room to act  but also lowers the pressure to make changes.

The most important immediate step, Schmieding said, would be to end uncertainty over energy prices, through a price cap to help not just large companies, but smaller ones as well.

Whatever policies are chosen, it would already be a great help if the government could agree on them fast so that companies know what they are up to and can plan accordingly instead of delaying investment decisions, he said.

Read more at: APNews.com
Hunter Biden received $260,000 from Chinese nationals in 2019 while his dad was running for president

New findings from a House of Representatives probe have found that presidential son Hunter Biden received $260,000 from two Chinese nationals in the run-up to the 2020 election, with the money being addressed to President Joe Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware.

Jeremy Sandberg of NTD reported that the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed a bank for Hunter's records on Monday, Sept. 25, and discovered two wire transfers from two Chinese nationals to the presidential son dating back to 2019. (Related: Merrick Garland refuses to answer questions by House Judiciary Committee about ongoing Hunter Biden investigation.)

Committee Chairman James Comer noted that an individual going by the name Wang Xin sent $10,000 to Hunter on July 26, 2019. A week later, Jonathan Li, CEO of Beijing-based investment firm BHR Partners sent an additional $250,000 to the presidential son.

While Hunter Biden is listed as the beneficiary of both wire transfers, the address he used was "1209 Barley Mill Rd." in Wilmington. This address is the main residence of the Biden family.

BHR Partners was co-founded by Li and Hunter with the help of Hunter's Rosemont Seneca and the Chinese firm Bohai Capital. Wang is listed on the website for BHR Partners, but his position on the firm is not entirely clear.

Comer noted that the two wire transfers are the first examples the House Oversight Committee has found of the presidential son receiving money directly from Chinese sources and not laundered through shell companies.

Wire transfers definite proof Biden family received money from China

Abbe Lowell, an attorney representing Hunter, claimed that the wire transfers were "a documented loan  not a distribution or pay-out  that was wired from a private individual to his new bank account which listed the address on his driver's license, his parents' address, because it was his only permanent address at the time."

The $10,000 wire from Wang was labeled as "ACC/LOAN TO BENEFICIARY," while the $250,000 transfer from Li was labeled as "ACC/PERSONAL INVESTMENT."

Comer noted that Biden, who was already running for president at the time his son received the money, had "developed a familiar relationship" with Li.

"Bank records don't lie, but President Joe Biden does," said Comer. "In 2020, Joe Biden told Americans that his family never received money from China."

"We've already proved that to be a lie earlier this year, and now we know that two wires originating from Beijing listed Joe Biden's Wilmington home as the beneficiary address when he was running for President of the United States," added Comer, who noted that when he was vice president, Biden had on at least two occasions spoke over the phone and had coffee with Li in Beijing. Biden later wrote a college letter of recommendation for Li's children.

"Joe Biden's abuse of public office for his family's financial gain threatens our national security. What did the Bidens do with this money from Beijing?" asked Comer. "Americans demand and deserve accountability for President Biden and the First Family's corruption. The Oversight Committee, along with the Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, will continue to follow the evidence and money to provide transparency and accountability."

Learn more about the crimes of Joe and Hunter Biden at BidenCrimeFamily.news.

Watch this Sept. 28 episode of "China in Focus" on NTD as anchor Don Ma and reporter Jeremy Sandberg discuss Hunter Biden receiving $260,000 from China in the run-up to the 2020 election.

This video is from the Pool Pharmacy channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

GOP House investigation: Biden crime family raked in $30M more than bank records indicate.

White House: NO PARDON for Hunter Biden if found guilty on gun charges (a small slap on the wrist that protects him from much larger prosecutions).

"Big Guy" Joe Biden aware of Hunter Biden's drug-fueled meltdown during October 2018 gun purchase.

Shocking new revelations about CCP connections to the White House: DOJ's probe of Biden family associate found to have "irregularities."

Hunter Biden reverses Joe's narrative, admits receiving $664,000 from CCP's CEFC in 2017.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

WashingtonTimes.com

FoxNews.com

NYPost.com
Alleged machete-wielding NYC professor Shellyne Rodriguez lands new job

Fired from Hunter College in May after allegedly harassing students manning a pro-life display and pulling a machete on a New York Post reporter who questioned her about the incident, professor Shellyne Rodriguez has found a new job at Cooper Union.

(Article by Elaine Mallon republished from Breitbart.com)

Rodriguez is listed as an adjunct professor on the schools website and is on the fall semesters list of professors at the prestigious private art school in Manhattan, the DailyMail reported.

Rodriguez went viral in May for allegedly cursing at students and vandalizing their pro-life display, Breitbart News reported.

PROFESSOR GONE WILD: Pro-abortion professor Shellyne Rodriquez curses at pro-life students and vandalizes table at Hunter College. pic.twitter.com/QNspuXB4KK  Students for Life of America (@StudentsforLife) May 17, 2023

Youre not educating shit. This is fucking propaganda. What are you going to do, like, anti-trans next? Is that what youre going to do next? Professor Rodriguez said to the students.

She then began shoving the materials off the table.

Get this shit the fuck out of here. Fuck this shit, Rodriguez said.

Alana Mastrangelo with Breitbart News reported:

The Hunter College Office of Communications told Breitbart News that Hunter College takes this matter  and the right to free speech on campus  seriously. Hunter does not tolerate such conduct by faculty. The Provost has completed an investigation and the faculty member has been appropriately disciplined, the college added. In addition, the faculty member has been warned that if the behavior reoccurs, there will be further consequences, Hunter College said.

Rodriguez was severely reprimanded after the incident, but she was let go after she allegedly pulled a machete on a New York Post reporter who appeared at her apartment to question her regarding it, Breitbart News reported.

It is unclear whether or not Rodriguez faced any criminal charges.

Read more at: Breitbart.com
NYPD deploys robot cop to Times Square subway station

Knightscope 5 (K-5), a police robot manufactured by Knightscope, is now patrolling New York City's busiest subway station in a new pilot program.

At a news conference announcing the deployment of the robot, NYC Mayor Eric Adams said the city must "use every available method."

Adams said NYC is leasing the K-5 robot for $9 an hour, which is below the minimum wage in the city. The mayor said the robot is cost-effective, adding that K-5 doesn't need bathroom breaks or meal breaks.

K-5, which weighs about 420 pounds, will patrol the station from midnight to 5 a.m. during the two-month test.

According to Adams, K-5 is "taking existing technology and putting it on wheels." He emphasized that while the robot can record video, it will not record audio or use facial recognition technology.

K-5 has a button that can be used to report a crime to a live person, but a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer will accompany the robot at all times during the trial. (Related: Digi-Dog Police ROBOTS set to take over New York City and "POLICE" any protests about Big Government tyranny or the next plandemic.)

City officials hope the robot can operate on its own after the test.

Knightscope said the 5-foot-tall robot can operate indoors or outside and that K-5 has a maximum speed of three miles per hour. The robot can also recharge itself without the need for human assistance.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New York, which has criticized other technology that the NYPD has already started using, including robotic police dogs, warned that the K-5 robot could create privacy issues.

Daniel Schwarz, senior privacy and technology strategist for ACLU of New York, said the move is a boastful one, especially since city agencies have reduced their budgets.

He added that the NYPD is now just using "new and unnecessary surveillance tools."

Schwarz said New Yorkers must be provided "comprehensive oversight, regulation" and transparency when it comes to new surveillance tools to make sure that personal data isn't exploited and that communities are safe from harassment, targeting or abuse.

NYPD previously criticized for police dog testing

In 2021, the NYPD drew flak for testing robot "dogs," which it deployed in several situations, such as to deliver food in a hostage situation and to scout out a location where the police believed a dangerous gunman could be hiding. The Digidogs that the NYPD used in 2021 also evoked primal science-fiction fears.

Behind the uneasiness are several serious issues. The robots seem creepy because everybody implicitly understands that there is a chance law enforcement can weaponize them.

Additionally, there is the worry that the robots could evolve from a remote-controlled tool to an autonomous decision-maker that will be allowed to make actual law enforcement decisions. This then leads to the many issues around bias and inaccuracy in artificial intelligence decision-making.

The worst scenario involves robots that are armed and made autonomous.

There are more immediate concerns about the costs and benefits of these high-tech devices. Anybody can invent a Hollywood scenario where a new technology saves the day.

The real questions are:

How common are these scenarios?

How dangerous are they?

How effective is the solution?

How expensive is it?

What negative side effects could its adoption bring?

Are there alternative, less invasive solutions that would work just as well?

Communities should ask these necessary questions.

While viewed narrowly, it seems perfectly fine to use a robot to scout a dangerous location or deliver food to hostages. However, communities must scrutinize expensive, rare-use technologies at a time when the nation is increasingly recognizing the need to invest in solving social problems in better ways than empowering police.

Full transparency and meaningful limitations are also important. When a powerful new surveillance or other police technology is introduced, like K-5, there must be public conversations every step of the way.

The public must be informed about the answers to questions such as:

What are the plans and policies around how it will be used?

How is it actually used?

And none of those conversations can happen without transparency and independent oversight.

Communities can make sure that happens by joining the growing list of cities that have passed "Community Control Over Police Surveillance" (CCOPS) legislation. They require police to be transparent about their use of surveillance technologies and take measures so that community members, through their city council representatives, are allowed to decide if and how such technologies are used.

In 2021, New York City joined the cities that passed that kind of legislation with its Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act. Unfortunately, the information that the NYPD has about Digidog is inadequate.

Instead of publishing detailed policies for the robot dog, the department included the technology in an overbroad category with other camera technologies. The policy isn't clear about specifics, such as when the technology can be used. The policy has also made false statements about the machine learning and video analytics capabilities of the Digidog.

The deployment of advanced technologies like robots usually happens faster than social, political and legal systems in the country can adjust. Because this kind of robotics technology can easily be abused, clear and forthright policies, overall transparency and democratic debate and input are crucial to ensure public safety and freedom.

Watch the video below for a closer look at K-5.

This video is from the Slappy 27 channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

AI and genetic engineering could trigger a super-pandemic, warns AI expert.

Elon Musk announces creation of new AI company after spending YEARS criticizing rapid AI development.

Japanese police to test AI-enhanced surveillance systems to better protect VIPs after Abe assassination, Kishida bomb attack.

Sources include:

TheMessenger.com

ACLU.org

Brighteon.com
INVASION ALERT: Over 8K illegals crossed into Texas city with less than 30K population in just 4 days

Eagle Pass is a city in Texas with a population of no more than 30,000. A flood of immigrants recently overwhelmed the city, prompting Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. to issue an emergency declaration lasting at least seven days.

The emergency declaration ended Tuesday, Sept. 26, and it's still not clear whether it has been renewed.

At a Sept. 19 press conference, Salinas estimated that 2,500 individuals crossed into Eagle Pass illegally on Sept. 17-18. The emergency declaration apparently didn't have an immediate effect as Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber said another 2,700 migrants crossed at Eagle Pass on Sept. 19, with 3,000 more on Sept. 20.

In the declaration, Salinas said that Eagle Pass is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of local citizens. He added that the emergency declaration grants Eagle Pass the ability to "request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of the undocumented immigrants."

Since the only shelter in Eagle Pass can't accommodate all of the asylum seekers, many illegal immigrants were seen out in the city streets.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a statement to announce that it was temporarily stopping vehicle processing operations at a bridge and railway crossing at Eagle Pass. The CBP will be redirecting those resources to help apprehend individuals illegally crossing the border.

According to the statement, the CBP will "maximize consequences against those without a legal basis to remain in the United States."

In a post on X, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he "officially declared an invasion at our border." He also blamed President Joe Biden's policies for the influx of asylum seekers. (Related: Bidens federal border patrol agents sabotage Texas Gov. Abbott's efforts to keep illegal migrants out.)

Abbott added that he ordered more troops from the Texas National Guard, the Texas Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement to deal with illegal crossings and put up additional razor wire. He also said that they are building a border wall, along with razor wire and marine barriers.

In his post on X, Abbott shared a letter he had sent to Biden in November 2022, accusing him of inaction in the face of what was already a burgeoning border crisis. He claimed that the president's "inaction has led to catastrophic consequences."

Abbott also criticized Biden because, under his administration, America is suffering the highest volume of illegal immigration in the history of the country.

Republicans have also blamed Biden's messaging and policies for triggering a border crisis of historic proportions.

More military sources deployed to the border

Aside from Eagle Pass, the Department of Defense (DOD) is also increasing resources at the U.S.-Mexico border to control a surge in illegal border crossings in other areas.

In a call, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials told reporters that at least 800 new active-duty personnel were being sent to the border.

One DHS official added that there were over 8,000 apprehensions along the southern border on Monday. However, the official gave no explanation for what was causing the latest surge in immigrants.

According to law enforcement officials, Mexican drug and human trafficking cartels are deliberately directing throngs of illegal immigrants to overwhelm CBP operations at the U.S. border. This is allegedly being done to help the cartels carry out their illegal operations with less oversight.

Sources claim that drug cartels are sending thousands of migrants a day to hand themselves over to Border Patrol officers in different border towns in the country. Mexican cartels are doing this to continue their drug and human smuggling operations undisturbed in less populated areas, said law enforcement officials.

On Sept. 18, a group of about 2,200 people turned themselves over to officers in Eagle Pass, Texas. A video shows migrants lined up in blocks to be processed by the Border Patrol.

El Paso, which is almost 500 miles away in the westernmost tip of the state, has also been reporting migrant surges within recent weeks.

Mexican cartels flooding the border with asylum seekers

Sources from El Paso said on Sept. 21 alone, at least 1,700 migrants were encountered in 24 hours. Every day since, several groups of migrants have lined up along the border wall to surrender to officers and claim asylum in America.

According to one source, cartels are circulating false information that anyone wanting a CBP One appointment can turn themselves in and get asylum. CBP One is a mobile application that serves as a single portal to a variety of CBP services.

Local TV station KVIA reported that at least 500 people, mostly Venezuelan asylum seekers, headed to El Paso to cross into the country. A combination of single adults and families had crossed the border illegally but are hoping to stay in America while their asylum cases are heard. The process may take as long as several years.

The CBP warned that the border is not open to illegal migration.

Claudia Rodriquez, former El Paso City Councilmember, agreed that the move is being orchestrated through the cartels to overwhelm the system because the areas affected are usually border communities.

Border Patrol agents are also being assisted by cargo inspection agents who have been pulled from their regular duties to help deal with the waves of migrants, shared the CBP.

But this isn't the first time cartels have wreaked havoc on the city.

Back in March and again in April, cartels have already been spreading rumors of the border being open. This resulted in hundreds of migrants rushing to one of El Paso's international bridges.

A social media screenshot of the rumor said, "If you're at the border, go this morning. Don't miss this opportunity."

Other areas deluged by illegal immigrants

Other areas have also been overwhelmed by illegal immigrants.

For example, Southern California has also reported an influx of illegals in recent days. Republican El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells lamented that the situation is "a disaster."

In a post on X, Wells said all emergency rooms are at capacity in San Diego County. Homeless shelters are full and the county's resources are already stretched thin.

Like Abbott, Wells said the Biden Administration is to blame for the ongoing issue. He concluded that the public "must pay attention and vote" to address the problem.

Visit OpenBorders.news for more stories about illegal immigrants.

Watch the video below to find out about sanctuary cities flipping on mass illegal immigration.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Illegal immigrants in El Paso bringing DISEASES like scabies, measles, bed bugs and COVID-19 with them.

Heavy rains compel hundreds of illegal migrants to try to FORCE their way across border into Brownsville, Texas.

Rep. Chip Roy introduces bill cracking down on illegal immigrants voting in federal elections.

Sources include:

NTD.com

TheEpochTimes.com

TPR.org

Twitter.com

NYPost.com

Brighteon.com
Vaccine hawk Paul Offit, Bidens FDA vaccine adviser, has REJECTED latest COVID jab  is it because it causes HEART FAILURE?

The top dog within the Biden regime who is presumably supposed to endorse every new Big Pharma drug that comes down the pike is refusing to do so for the latest Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "vaccine."

Paul Offit "for profit", vaccine adviser at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  remember, this is the same guy who infamously proclaimed that a child can receive 10,000 vaccine injections at once and be just fine  has decided to not get injected with this newest COVID jab, sparking concerns that it could have to do with the drug's propensity to cause heart failure.

Offit has decided to just say no to this particular drug going into his body, which is exactly what the late First Lady Nancy Reagan told us all to do when presented with dangerous drugs that destroy the body and mind.

In no uncertain terms, Offit has repeatedly warned that these COVID "boosters"  though this newest one is said to be a completely new vaccine and not a booster  have never been proven to be safe, especially over the longer term.

(Related: As far as we know, COVID "booster" shots and this newest COVID injection are the only "vaccines" that Offit does not support  pretty much all others he wants to be forced into people's arms.)

Is Paul Offit worried about HIMSELF possibly suffering heart failure if he were to get any more COVID injections?

It cannot be stressed enough that Offit is about as far away from an "anti-vaxxer" as you can get. In fact, Offit has lambasted anti-vaxxers throughout his lengthy career in "medicine" and "health care," and up until COVID had never met a vaccine injection he did not support wholeheartedly.

The fact that Offit does not approve of this latest COVID jab or its predecessor booster shots speaks volumes as to how dangerous these experimental drugs must truly be for even he to reject them.

Because he is already "immunologically safeguarded," Offit says he does not need any more COVID injections. And he is now warning the general public that they, too, do not need the shots  unless they want to risk suffering a heart attack, of course.

"I think I'm protected," Offit said. "I didn't get last year's bivalent vaccine. I'm not getting this year's vaccine because I think I have high frequencies of T-cells."

"We're going to find out about this vaccine over time. It is a novel strategy. We certainly were surprised by myocarditis and pericarditis and we'll see whether or not over time when we're five years into this, 10 years into this, 15 years into this, whether there's any evidence of residual myocardial disease because the reason you have myocarditis is you're making immune response to your own heart muscle."

Reading between the lines, it becomes clear that Offit is personally fearful about himself possibly suffering these repercussions if he were to get any more COVID shots. He got the first ones and probably learned the truth about them after the fact, and is now taking a big step back from all COVID injections.

Keep in mind with all this that Offit is still enough of a scumbag that he supports vaccine mandates  or at least he did support them, assuming the schedule stays aligned with his personal position that all other vaccines are still safe and effective and must be forced into people's bodies for "public health" purposes.

"It is not your right as an American citizen to catch and transmit a potentially fatal infection," Offit previously declared in a 2021 interview with CNN.

The COVID circus is back in town with all the usual suspects once again trying to orchestrate a "pandemic." Learn more at Vaccines.news.

Sources for this article include:

BeckerNews.com

NaturalNews.com
House Speaker McCarthy warns of GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN if Biden doesnt agree to protect the border

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has warned President Joe Biden that there will be a government shutdown if he refuses to compromise with Republicans on the need for better border security

"If President Biden stays on the sidelines while our border is destroyed day after day, the government will shut down," wrote McCarthy on Twitter. "Just like we've had strikes in California and Michigan, and embassies evacuated around the world, his lack of leadership has catastrophic consequences." (Related: WEF takes over former U.S. military bases in Panama as migrants flood through Darien Gap on their way to America.)

"The Senate has not done its job. The Senate has not taken up the House work," he added, calling on Biden to intervene to get the Senate to pass a budget measure that the House can agree to. "Otherwise, the government will shut down."

McCarthy continued by pointing out that it was not a policy of the House of Representatives or the Senate for the southern border with Mexico to be opened up. "It was [Biden's] decision that could be remedied only if Biden himself would do something to change it," McCarthy said. "It would keep government open, while we finish the job, and hopefully the Senate can get around to appropriations bills."

McCarthy attempting to rally Republicans around border issues

In recent days, McCarthy has embraced the need to fund border security as a possible way to get the warring factions within the Republican Party to come together and break the congressional impasse over funding the government. He believes this could be the key ingredient to getting a deal that the Democrat-controlled Senate can pass.

Leaders from both parties in the House and Senate are hoping for, at the very least, a short-term funding deal that can avert a government shutdown on Oct. 1 and can keep the government open for several more weeks or months while efforts to pass full-year legislation continue.

McCarthy pointed out that Democrats and Republicans alike are concerned about the pace of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and that the bipartisan concern over border security could provide enough common ground for them to work out a short-term deal to keep the government open past Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends. He said he has already spoken with some Senate Democrats about border enforcement.

"They want something on the border. They're working on it," said McCarthy of the Senate Democrats he spoke with. "And so I think there's an opportunity here. We know we have to keep the government funded. We know we have a concern about the border  both sides."

McCarthy is hoping to pass a temporary spending bill by Saturday, Sept. 30. This spending bill will cut spending to a $1.471 trillion annual rate and includes additional border security provisions, parts of which House lawmakers passed earlier this year in a broader bill that orders construction of a border wall to resume. The new border measures would also make it more difficult for so-called asylum seekers to remain in the United States under the protection of asylum rules.

Learn more about the fragile state of the southern border at BorderSecurity.news.

Watch this clip from "The Bottom Line" on Fox Business as hosts Dagen McDowell and Sean Duffy interview GOP Rep. Roger Williams of Texas about the need for a border wall.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

El Paso at its "breaking point" as 2,000 illegals enter the city each day.

Trump vows to implement the largest domestic deportation operation in American history if re-elected as president in 2024.

Biden BOASTS of reaching historic high number of REFUGEES pouring into the USA from Latin America.

CBP source reveals DHS has no cohesive enforcement strategy to address migrant influx in Texas.

This needs to STOP! Tax dollars are being used to fund ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION across America.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

WSJ.com

Brighteon.com
Washington, D.C. and other U.S. cities becoming war zones as crime skyrockets under Democrat control

American cities are becoming war zones under liberal leadership, and a quintuple shooting in Washington, D.C. is just the latest example of this tragic trend.

When police were called to the intersection of Saratoga Avenue NE and 14th Street following reports of a shooting, they found three men with gunshot wounds. Two of the men involved were pronounced dead at the scene, but a third was conscious and breathing. Two others brought themselves to a nearby hospital, with one now in stable condition and the other in critical condition.

Police were looking for three men in a gray SUV after locals reported that around a hundred rounds were fired using an automatic weapon. One local journalist said that the hundred shots were fired across three separate incidents spanning a period of ten minutes, while a neighbor said that it sounded like a war zone.

According to police, the incident is a crew-on-crew shooting that took place as a result of historical beefs.

Acting Chief of Police Pamela A. Smith said: "We are having these crew on crew senseless arguments with firearms being introduced when folks have disputes as opposed to being able to resolve them."

She added: "Our officers were present in this area, as they always are. The officer just so happened to be on another block when this incident occurred.

This week, Washington, D.C. reached the dubious milestone of 200 homicides so far this year after a shooting in Northwest D.C. left a teenager dead and another fatal shooting took place in Southeast D.C. The first incident was a dispute between two groups of people that turned deadly, while the second fatality was a man who got caught in the crossfire of two cars shooting at each other.

This marked the third year in a row D.C. registered more than 200 homicides, although that figure was not reached last year until December 29.

Scared residents are fleeing Democrat-run cities

Residents of the city have said they are changing their routines in response to high crime, with homicides and robberies climbing 29 and 67 percent, respectively. One lobbyist said he stopped walking in his neighborhood after an attack near Dupont Circle, eventually relocating to Maryland to get away from the crime-ridden city. Other residents have reported taking measures such as using alternative entrances to their building and avoiding going to gas stations at night. The general consensus is that the city has taken a major turn for the worse; while crime was largely limited to those associated with drugs and gangs in the past, now innocent people are being shot in nice neighborhoods.

While Smith blamed the situation on too many guns on our streets, the truth is that many liberal-run cities are experiencing a similar problem, with some cities actually less safe than legitimate war zones. For example, there are some zip codes in the city of Chicago, which is run by a Democratic mayor, where young adult men have a higher likelihood of being shot and killed than American soldiers were in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Although that may sound like an exaggeration, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found the homicide rate for young men in the 60624 zip code of Chicago was more than 1,200 for every 100,000; the average yearly deaths for American soldiers engaged in heavy combat were 395 and 330 per 100,000 in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively.

Chicago is in Cook County, whose Soros-backed DA, Kim Foxx, dropped charges against 30 percent of its felony defendants in 2020.

In fact, 27 of the top 30 crime-ridden cities in the nation are run by Democrats, whose failure to rein in crime are turning many of these locations into war zones and sending longtime residents fleeing.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Fox5DC.com

DailyMail.co.uk

JAMANetwork.com

DailySignal.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. The Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced that its ninth Annual Meeting will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in September 2024.

A ceremony took place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to mark the end of the 2023 AIIB Annual Meeting and the handover to the host country of the 2024 AIIB Annual Meeting.

Mr. Laziz Kudratov, AIIB Governor for Uzbekistan, Chair of the AIIB Board of Governors for 2024 and host of the 2024 AIIB Annual Meeting, received the gavel in a ceremonial transfer from Dr. Mohamed Maait, AIIB Governor for Egypt, Chair of the AIIB Board of Governors for 2023 and host of the 2023 AIIB Annual Meeting.

We appreciate the continuing support from both the Governments of Uzbekistan and Egypt, said AIIB President and Chair of the Board of Directors Jin Liqun. The AIIB Annual Meetings are an important opportunity to seek invaluable insights and guidance from our shareholders on our Banks strategic direction and initiatives. Regular engagement with our shareholders has been essential for promoting transparency and cooperation, which underpins AIIBs rapid strong growth.

The success of our Annual Meetings is due to the unwavering support of our hosts, who generously facilitate engagement and enable open discussions on issues of global concern, said AIIB Vice President and Corporate Secretary Dr. Ludger Schuknecht.

"We are delighted to extend a warm welcome to AIIB and our esteemed fellow Members to Samarkand for the 2024 AIIB Annual Meeting," said Kudratov. "We look forward to supporting AIIB in this annual exchange and participating in the ensuing dialogues on how the AIIB community can work together to further our shared objectives. This event will also be a valuable opportunity for us to showcase our strong partnership with AIIB and highlight the Bank's remarkable contributions in Uzbekistan as well as in Central Asia."

The dignitaries also expressed their appreciation to the people and government of Egypt for hosting the 2023 AIIB Annual Meeting.

To date, the AIIB has invested over USD700 million in Azerbaijan. The Banks flagship project in the country has been USD600 million in financing towards the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project. Further, the Bank provided USD100 million through its COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support (CARES) Program to support the government's fiscal stimulus measures to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the population's health, incomes, and provide economic opportunities as well as ensuring macroeconomic stability.
Frances competition watchdog has raided the local offices of chipmaker Nvidia while investigating anti-competitive practices in the graphics cards sector with a focus on cloud computing.

While the competition watchdog did not confirm the identity of the entity being investigated or the practice in question, a report from The Wall Street Journal cited sources saying that the raids targeted Nvidia.

The watchdog, however, confirmed that the operation was a result of it trying to investigate the graphics cards sector as part of an expanded study to understand anti-competitive practices in the cloud computing sector. The study, according to the watchdog, was started in January 2022.

As products and services that use generative AI come to market, Nvidia has risen to prominence as the top chip supplier to large software vendors and cloud service providers  such as Salesforce, ServiceNow, AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft,  could be among the top reasons for the watchdogs interest in the chipmaker.

In February, Nvidia announced plans to ship its DGX Cloud to Oracle, Google Cloud, and Microsoft. The DGX Cloud combines the companys GPU-based compute systems called DGX Pods with an AI enterprise software stack.

The chipmaker blew past expectations for its most recent quarter and numbers disclosed showed that enterprise sales now constitute 76% of Nvidias total revenue. Experts and analysts also believe that Nvidia is uniquely suited to benefit from the growth of AI in hardware.

Nvidias rivals in the generative AI-processing silicon space include AMD, a startup named Ampere, and the cloud service provider themselvess, who are developing their own chips for supporting next-generation AI workloads.

Oracles recent $400 million investment into Ampere for generative AI workload-supporting chips also underlines the demand for such processors. Oracle has also agreed to pay over $100 million for buying such chips this month.

Raids not proof of guilt for the chipmaker

The French competition watchdog has noted that though raids were conducted in the graphics cards sector, the searches themselves were not proof of guilt or any wrongdoing.

Such dawn raids do not pre-suppose the existence of a breach of the law, which could be imputed to the company involved in the alleged practices, which only a full investigation into the merits of the case could establish, if appropriate, a statement from the watchdog read.

However, in the last few weeks, large technology companies have attracted the attention of regulatory agencies in alleged complaints of employing unfair practices for conducting business.

Earlier this month, Alphabet-owned Google was accused of creating a monopoly through the use of exclusivity contracts with device manufacturers and software providers that make Google the default search engine for a given device or platform. The trial, which echoes the turn-of-the-century Microsoft antitrust case in several respects, is still ongoing.

This week also saw the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) file a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the company has been engaging in a number of interlocking anti-competitive and unfair strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power.
Dr Nithya Franklyn By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Chettinad cuisine, one of the most renowned cuisines of Tamil Nadu, is linked to a community called Nattukottai Chettiar (Nagarathar) from the Chettinad (Sivagangai) region. History tells us that Nagarathars who initially lived around the modern day Poompuhar relocated inland to the hot, dry and arid Sivagangai region due to natural calamities.

The Chettiars didnt stop there and as traders and mercantile bankers, they started to travel and trade with Malabar region, Calcutta, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma and Malay states (Malaysia, Singapore). The explorations brought changes in their lifestyle, food and economy. The Chettiars who were traditionally vegetarians were introduced to meat, fish, pepper, red rice and spices because of their life beyond the Chettinad.

Their proximity with the Britishers and westernisation of their palate gave birth to the Butler cuisine (Anglo Indian-British food with Indian spices), a forerunner of modern day fusion food. Dishes like mutton chops, mulligatwany soup and cutlets are examples. In addition to accumulating wealth, local spices and food habits, the Chettiars also help to boost the economy by contributing to the paddy cultivation in Burma, reviving coffee plantations in Sri Lanka and so on.

Chettinad food is an amalgamation of both subtle and strong flavours. The ancient Tamil saying One is lucky to eat like a Chettiar is happily vouched for by the community. A typical Chettinad meal is cooked by a set of cooks under the watchful supervision of aachis and is served on a banana leaf. The dishes are served in a clockwise direction, in odd numbers. Each spicy dish is interspersed with a subtly flavoured dish to cool the system. Spicy dishes give way to the piquancy of a sour tamarind curry. Hence, there is a progression of flavours and this gives the diner an unforgettable gastronomic experience.

The traditional Chettinad dishes mostly use locally sourced spices like kalpasi (stone flower), fennel seeds, Marathi moggu and pepper that impart a unique flavour. The adoption of foreign techniques for preservation, including sun drying for meat and vegetables, pickling in brine, has enriched their culinary repertoire. The aachis oversee the careful roasting and grinding of spices, in stone grinders, chopping of vegetables with aruvamanai and every kitchen in a Chettiar home is equipped with olden day equipment like aatukal, ammikal, yanthiram, ulakkai and kunthani. A typical meal includes a varuval like baby potato roast, a kootu (lentil curry), urundai, masiyal (mash), mandi (curry), kolambu like paruppu urundai kulambu, rasam, dangar chutney which are served with rice and palagaarams (appam or paniyaram).

The non-vegetarian dishes include nandu rasam, mutton uppukari, chicken pepper masala, kadai roast. Surprisingly, there is no such dish called Chettinad chicken as it is an adaptation of their pepper chicken. Multiple traditional sweets like ukkarai, kavuniarisi and Butler desserts like bread and butter pudding and mousse provide a sweet ending to a Chettinad feast.

Vazhappoo/Saiva meen kolambu

Tadka

Mustard seeds: 1/2tsp

Urad dal: 1/2tsp

Fenugreek seeds and fennel seeds: 1/2 tsp each, Gingelly oil: 3tbsp

Paste

Coconut: 3tbsp

Cashews: 6

Ingredients

Banana flower: 1 bunch, Besan: 3tbsp

Rice flour: 1tbsp

Baking soda: 1 pinch

Shallots: 10, Garlic: 10

Tomato: 2

Tamarind: 1 marble-sized

Chilli powder: 1tsp

Coriander powder: 2 tsp, Turmeric: 1/2tsp

Clean the banana flower and boil it for three minutes. Make a batter with besan, rice flour, salt, baking soda and chilli powder. Dip flowers into the batter and fry till they turn golden. Heat oil and add the tadka ingredients and then add the curry leaves and garlic. After a minute, add shallots, green chilli and saute. Add tomatoes, dry spice powders and fry till the oil separates. Now, add the tamarind water, salt and cook for five minutes. Add the coconut paste and cook for five more minutes. Remove from the flame, add the fried flowers and serve after 10 minutes with hot rice.

Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

BENGALURU: Chettinad cuisine, one of the most renowned cuisines of Tamil Nadu, is linked to a community called Nattukottai Chettiar (Nagarathar) from the Chettinad (Sivagangai) region. History tells us that Nagarathars who initially lived around the modern day Poompuhar relocated inland to the hot, dry and arid Sivagangai region due to natural calamities. The Chettiars didnt stop there and as traders and mercantile bankers, they started to travel and trade with Malabar region, Calcutta, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma and Malay states (Malaysia, Singapore). The explorations brought changes in their lifestyle, food and economy. The Chettiars who were traditionally vegetarians were introduced to meat, fish, pepper, red rice and spices because of their life beyond the Chettinad. Their proximity with the Britishers and westernisation of their palate gave birth to the Butler cuisine (Anglo Indian-British food with Indian spices), a forerunner of modern day fusion food. Dishes like mutton chops, mulligatwany soup and cutlets are examples. In addition to accumulating wealth, local spices and food habits, the Chettiars also help to boost the economy by contributing to the paddy cultivation in Burma, reviving coffee plantations in Sri Lanka and so on. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Chettinad food is an amalgamation of both subtle and strong flavours. The ancient Tamil saying One is lucky to eat like a Chettiar is happily vouched for by the community. A typical Chettinad meal is cooked by a set of cooks under the watchful supervision of aachis and is served on a banana leaf. The dishes are served in a clockwise direction, in odd numbers. Each spicy dish is interspersed with a subtly flavoured dish to cool the system. Spicy dishes give way to the piquancy of a sour tamarind curry. Hence, there is a progression of flavours and this gives the diner an unforgettable gastronomic experience. The traditional Chettinad dishes mostly use locally sourced spices like kalpasi (stone flower), fennel seeds, Marathi moggu and pepper that impart a unique flavour. The adoption of foreign techniques for preservation, including sun drying for meat and vegetables, pickling in brine, has enriched their culinary repertoire. The aachis oversee the careful roasting and grinding of spices, in stone grinders, chopping of vegetables with aruvamanai and every kitchen in a Chettiar home is equipped with olden day equipment like aatukal, ammikal, yanthiram, ulakkai and kunthani. A typical meal includes a varuval like baby potato roast, a kootu (lentil curry), urundai, masiyal (mash), mandi (curry), kolambu like paruppu urundai kulambu, rasam, dangar chutney which are served with rice and palagaarams (appam or paniyaram). The non-vegetarian dishes include nandu rasam, mutton uppukari, chicken pepper masala, kadai roast. Surprisingly, there is no such dish called Chettinad chicken as it is an adaptation of their pepper chicken. Multiple traditional sweets like ukkarai, kavuniarisi and Butler desserts like bread and butter pudding and mousse provide a sweet ending to a Chettinad feast. Vazhappoo/Saiva meen kolambu Tadka Mustard seeds: 1/2tsp Urad dal: 1/2tsp Fenugreek seeds and fennel seeds: 1/2 tsp each, Gingelly oil: 3tbsp Paste Coconut: 3tbsp Cashews: 6 Ingredients Banana flower: 1 bunch, Besan: 3tbsp Rice flour: 1tbsp Baking soda: 1 pinch Shallots: 10, Garlic: 10 Tomato: 2 Tamarind: 1 marble-sized Chilli powder: 1tsp Coriander powder: 2 tsp, Turmeric: 1/2tsp Clean the banana flower and boil it for three minutes. Make a batter with besan, rice flour, salt, baking soda and chilli powder. Dip flowers into the batter and fry till they turn golden. Heat oil and add the tadka ingredients and then add the curry leaves and garlic. After a minute, add shallots, green chilli and saute. Add tomatoes, dry spice powders and fry till the oil separates. Now, add the tamarind water, salt and cook for five minutes. Add the coconut paste and cook for five more minutes. Remove from the flame, add the fried flowers and serve after 10 minutes with hot rice. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Ameena Mehrin PH By

Express News Service

KOCHI: As the rain pours down, starting your morning with a cup of warm coffee is just heaven. A bit bitter, a bit sweet  coffee is the nectar that makes your morning better. The concoction is so versatile that on a hot day, you can even opt for a chilled brew with ice cubes clinking in the glass.

There are many theories regarding the origins of this popular beverage. According to some, this drink was already available in Mecca in the 15th century. One popular legend centres around an Ethiopian goat herder in AD 800. He noticed that his goats were becoming increasingly lively after eating a certain wild berry. Curious, he presented the berries to a local monk, who then threw them into a fire, cursing them as evil.

However, the delightful aroma that sprang forth captivated both. After retrieving the roasted berries and soaking them in water, the two found the resulting drink invigorating, even capable of keeping them awake at night. These magical beans soon reached the Arabian Peninsula, from there they started a journey, conquering the world.

By the 16th century, coffee had already made its mark in Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey. Coffee became more than just a beverage  it became a sensation. The Arabs tried to hold a monopoly over it, only letting the ground coffee go out while holding cultivation privileges. Coffee houses started emerging where men would gather to talk about philosophy, politics, religion, and gossip, far away from the watchful eyes of the authorities. These coffee houses gave birth to philosophers and provided them a communal platform, which was previously reserved for the elites.

India was not always obsessed with tea. There was a time when coffee was the drink of the common people while tea belonged to the elites. But how did coffee make its way to India? There are some fascinating tales regarding how coffee reached here. The popular among revolves around a Sufi pilgrim from Karnataka named Baba Budan.

After his pilgrimage to Mecca, Budan secretly brought back seven coffee beans in the stitches of his coat from Arabia, where they closely guarded the coffee trade. He then sowed these beans in Chikmagalurs Chandragiri Hills, which later became renowned as the starting point of coffee cultivation in India. This region is now popularly referred to as Baba Budan Giri in his honour. Legend says the seeds he acquired were of the Arabica type, which is intriguingly the second most cultivated coffee crop, after Robusta.

There are also claims that coffee first emerged on the Malabar Coast, brought by Arab merchants. Its also said the beverage was a favourite in the courts of the Mughal elite. While coffee was known in India, its widespread distribution and commercial growth truly began during the colonial period. The renowned Arabian beverage caught the eye of the English, leading them to seize the opportunity. Vast forests were cleared to establish extensive coffee plantations, primarily in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

During the Industrial Revolution in Europe, workers were periodically given coffee breaks to rejuvenate their energy, enabling them to work extended hours, often around the clock. Thus the drink of the elite became a common drug of the working class. While in India, we predominantly relish our coffee with milk and sugar, globally, the beverage has varied avatars. In Italy, its a dark shot, the espresso; in Vietnam, its with condensed milk, sometimes an egg is also added to it; in Arabia, its cardamom kissed; in Cuba, it is espresso but with sugar; the French have their own roasting style. Indeed, the coffee wears a lot of costumes. Yet with every sip, it sings the universal tune of content.

South India cherishes its distinct brew, the filter coffee, affectionately referred to as kaapi. The aromatic brown drink served in a steel tumbler and crowned with milk froth, is an emotion deeply woven into the fabric of its culture. It was around the 19th century that the Britishers tried to popularise tea among the common people. Subsequently, they took over coffee trade and soon, coffee houses owned by the British mushroomed in India. But these were off-limits to the locals. However, the emergence of the Indian Coffee House, operated by the Coffee Cess Committee, became a prominent social hub for intellectual discourse.

The first Indian Coffee House was set up in September 1936 in Churchgate, Bombay. They gained popularity nationwide. The Coffee Board of India, a successor to the Coffee Cess Committee, threatened their existence. In response, workers, aided by communist leader A K Gopalan, consulted Jawaharlal Nehru, who recommended establishing a cooperative society, which then took their control from the board.

They have been running branches of Indian Coffee House around the country since 1958. The first coffee house under the society opened in Thrissur. Since then, coffee has become gained increased popularity among Indians, especially after the liberalisation in the 1990s. Now, coffee is everywhere, and so are coffee chains and cute and cosy cafes where people throng for their daily fix of caffeine.

KOCHI:

Monsooned Malabar, a technique distinct to the Western Ghats, emerged accidentally when the British transported coffee beans to Europe. Exposed to months of rain and humidity, the beans swelled and their acidity diminished, unveiling a novel coffee taste. The process draws its name from the monsoon breezes.

Before the art of coffee brewing was discovered, tribes in East Africa combined coffee berries with animal fats and consumed them as food.

The first machine for making espresso was built and patented in 1884 by Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy.

In 1932, the Brazilian government didnt have enough money to send their athletes to Olympics, so they funded the trip by selling coffee. They loaded up a ship of coffee beans to sell them in California.

Coffee is the second-most traded commodity after oil.

Kopi Luwak, the worlds most expensive coffee, is extracted from the dried feces of the civet.

India is the eighth largest producer of coffee after Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Honduras, Ethiopia and Peru.

TIRAMISU

( Recipe by Aiina Mariyam @_pandafied_)

Ingredients

Mascarpone cheese: 1 cup

Whipped cream: 1 cup

Powdered sugar (optional):  cup

Black coffee (cold and without sugar): 1 cup

Lady finger biscuits (savoiardi): about 24 pieces

Vanilla essence: 1 teaspoon

Cocoa powder for garnish

Method of preparation

Whisk the cheese until smooth and creamy, add sugar to the cheese and mix. Add the whipped cream and fold them without deflating the cream. Finally, add vanilla essence to the mix. Dip the lady-finger biscuits in cold coffee and layer a base in a bowl or pan. Top the biscuits with the mascarpone cheese mixture and repeat this step, layer by layer. Dust the top layer with cocoa powder. Refrigerate and serve.

IRISH COFFEE

Ingredients

Strong coffee: 1 cup

Irish whiskey: 1-2 shots

Sugar: 1-2 tablespoons

Whipped cream, for garnish

Method of preparation

Heat a mug by rinsing it with hot water. Add the coffee, whiskey, and sugar to the mug and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Top with whipped cream and serve immediately.

VIETNAMESE EGG COFFEE

Ingredients

Egg yolk: 1

Sugar: 1 tablespoon

Espresso: 1 shot

Condensed milk: 1/4 cup

Hot water: 1/4 cup

Method of preparation

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the condensed milk and whisk until combined.

Pour hot water and espresso into a glass and top with the egg yolk mixture. Serve immediately.

AFFOGATO

Ingredients

Vanilla ice cream: 1 scoop

Espresso: 1 shot

Method of preparation

Place the ice cream in a small bowl and pour espresso over it. Serve immediately

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KOCHI: As the rain pours down, starting your morning with a cup of warm coffee is just heaven. A bit bitter, a bit sweet  coffee is the nectar that makes your morning better. The concoction is so versatile that on a hot day, you can even opt for a chilled brew with ice cubes clinking in the glass. There are many theories regarding the origins of this popular beverage. According to some, this drink was already available in Mecca in the 15th century. One popular legend centres around an Ethiopian goat herder in AD 800. He noticed that his goats were becoming increasingly lively after eating a certain wild berry. Curious, he presented the berries to a local monk, who then threw them into a fire, cursing them as evil. However, the delightful aroma that sprang forth captivated both. After retrieving the roasted berries and soaking them in water, the two found the resulting drink invigorating, even capable of keeping them awake at night. These magical beans soon reached the Arabian Peninsula, from there they started a journey, conquering the world.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); By the 16th century, coffee had already made its mark in Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey. Coffee became more than just a beverage  it became a sensation. The Arabs tried to hold a monopoly over it, only letting the ground coffee go out while holding cultivation privileges. Coffee houses started emerging where men would gather to talk about philosophy, politics, religion, and gossip, far away from the watchful eyes of the authorities. These coffee houses gave birth to philosophers and provided them a communal platform, which was previously reserved for the elites. India was not always obsessed with tea. There was a time when coffee was the drink of the common people while tea belonged to the elites. But how did coffee make its way to India? There are some fascinating tales regarding how coffee reached here. The popular among revolves around a Sufi pilgrim from Karnataka named Baba Budan. After his pilgrimage to Mecca, Budan secretly brought back seven coffee beans in the stitches of his coat from Arabia, where they closely guarded the coffee trade. He then sowed these beans in Chikmagalurs Chandragiri Hills, which later became renowned as the starting point of coffee cultivation in India. This region is now popularly referred to as Baba Budan Giri in his honour. Legend says the seeds he acquired were of the Arabica type, which is intriguingly the second most cultivated coffee crop, after Robusta. There are also claims that coffee first emerged on the Malabar Coast, brought by Arab merchants. Its also said the beverage was a favourite in the courts of the Mughal elite. While coffee was known in India, its widespread distribution and commercial growth truly began during the colonial period. The renowned Arabian beverage caught the eye of the English, leading them to seize the opportunity. Vast forests were cleared to establish extensive coffee plantations, primarily in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. During the Industrial Revolution in Europe, workers were periodically given coffee breaks to rejuvenate their energy, enabling them to work extended hours, often around the clock. Thus the drink of the elite became a common drug of the working class. While in India, we predominantly relish our coffee with milk and sugar, globally, the beverage has varied avatars. In Italy, its a dark shot, the espresso; in Vietnam, its with condensed milk, sometimes an egg is also added to it; in Arabia, its cardamom kissed; in Cuba, it is espresso but with sugar; the French have their own roasting style. Indeed, the coffee wears a lot of costumes. Yet with every sip, it sings the universal tune of content. South India cherishes its distinct brew, the filter coffee, affectionately referred to as kaapi. The aromatic brown drink served in a steel tumbler and crowned with milk froth, is an emotion deeply woven into the fabric of its culture. It was around the 19th century that the Britishers tried to popularise tea among the common people. Subsequently, they took over coffee trade and soon, coffee houses owned by the British mushroomed in India. But these were off-limits to the locals. However, the emergence of the Indian Coffee House, operated by the Coffee Cess Committee, became a prominent social hub for intellectual discourse. The first Indian Coffee House was set up in September 1936 in Churchgate, Bombay. They gained popularity nationwide. The Coffee Board of India, a successor to the Coffee Cess Committee, threatened their existence. In response, workers, aided by communist leader A K Gopalan, consulted Jawaharlal Nehru, who recommended establishing a cooperative society, which then took their control from the board. They have been running branches of Indian Coffee House around the country since 1958. The first coffee house under the society opened in Thrissur. Since then, coffee has become gained increased popularity among Indians, especially after the liberalisation in the 1990s. Now, coffee is everywhere, and so are coffee chains and cute and cosy cafes where people throng for their daily fix of caffeine. KOCHI: Monsooned Malabar, a technique distinct to the Western Ghats, emerged accidentally when the British transported coffee beans to Europe. Exposed to months of rain and humidity, the beans swelled and their acidity diminished, unveiling a novel coffee taste. The process draws its name from the monsoon breezes. Before the art of coffee brewing was discovered, tribes in East Africa combined coffee berries with animal fats and consumed them as food. The first machine for making espresso was built and patented in 1884 by Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy. In 1932, the Brazilian government didnt have enough money to send their athletes to Olympics, so they funded the trip by selling coffee. They loaded up a ship of coffee beans to sell them in California. Coffee is the second-most traded commodity after oil. Kopi Luwak, the worlds most expensive coffee, is extracted from the dried feces of the civet. India is the eighth largest producer of coffee after Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Honduras, Ethiopia and Peru. TIRAMISU( Recipe by Aiina Mariyam @_pandafied_) Ingredients Mascarpone cheese: 1 cup Whipped cream: 1 cup Powdered sugar (optional):  cup Black coffee (cold and without sugar): 1 cup Lady finger biscuits (savoiardi): about 24 pieces Vanilla essence: 1 teaspoon Cocoa powder for garnish Method of preparation Whisk the cheese until smooth and creamy, add sugar to the cheese and mix. Add the whipped cream and fold them without deflating the cream. Finally, add vanilla essence to the mix. Dip the lady-finger biscuits in cold coffee and layer a base in a bowl or pan. Top the biscuits with the mascarpone cheese mixture and repeat this step, layer by layer. Dust the top layer with cocoa powder. Refrigerate and serve. IRISH COFFEE Ingredients Strong coffee: 1 cup Irish whiskey: 1-2 shots Sugar: 1-2 tablespoons Whipped cream, for garnish Method of preparation Heat a mug by rinsing it with hot water. Add the coffee, whiskey, and sugar to the mug and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Top with whipped cream and serve immediately. VIETNAMESE EGG COFFEE Ingredients Egg yolk: 1 Sugar: 1 tablespoon Espresso: 1 shot Condensed milk: 1/4 cup Hot water: 1/4 cup Method of preparation In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the condensed milk and whisk until combined. Pour hot water and espresso into a glass and top with the egg yolk mixture. Serve immediately. AFFOGATO Ingredients Vanilla ice cream: 1 scoop Espresso: 1 shot Method of preparation Place the ice cream in a small bowl and pour espresso over it. Serve immediately Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: More than three months after his partys national general secretary sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the grand old partys assembly poll campaign, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will address his first election rally in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday.

The former Congress national president will join one of the seven ongoing Jan Akrosh Yatras of the party across the state and address the Jan Akrosh Rally in Polaykalan village falling under Kalapipal assembly constituency of west Madhya Pradeshs Shajapur district.

Earlier, on June 12, Priyanka had addressed Congress rally in Jabalpur and just a few weeks later addressed another rally in Gwalior. She is scheduled to address another rally in the tribal-dominated Mohankheda area of west MPs Dhar district on October 5.

Rahul Gandhi will return on Saturday to the west MP region bordering Rajasthan, nine months after his Kanyakumari-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra entered into the Congress-ruled state in December 2022 through the same part of the BJP-ruled MP.

Importantly, the Kalapipal seat of Shajapur district was won by Congress young candidate Kunal Chaudhary in 2018. Two out of the three assembly seats of Shajapur district are currently held by the Congress. Through Saturdays Jan Akrosh Rally, the Congress aims at boosting its cadres on 20-25 seats of western MP (Malwa region, particularly the Ujjain division) and neighbouring central MP.

With the rally being held under the Ujjain division of west MP, senior Congress leaders, including Rahul, Priyanka and the partys general secretary in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, Randeep Singh Surjewala, have been attacking the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in the state over the recent rape of a 12-year-old cognitively challenged girl in Ujjain district.

However, the principal opposition party faced an embarrassment on Friday, owing to its first-time scheduled caste MLA Kalpana Verma accusing Manoj Bagri, the partys local leader in Satna district of attempting to outrage her modesty.

Priyanka rally on Oct 5

Rahul Gandhis MP campaign has been reinforced by Priyanka Gandhis rallies in the recent past. She is due to address another poll rally in tribal-dominated area of west MPs Dhar district on October 5

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BHOPAL: More than three months after his partys national general secretary sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the grand old partys assembly poll campaign, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will address his first election rally in the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. The former Congress national president will join one of the seven ongoing Jan Akrosh Yatras of the party across the state and address the Jan Akrosh Rally in Polaykalan village falling under Kalapipal assembly constituency of west Madhya Pradeshs Shajapur district. Earlier, on June 12, Priyanka had addressed Congress rally in Jabalpur and just a few weeks later addressed another rally in Gwalior. She is scheduled to address another rally in the tribal-dominated Mohankheda area of west MPs Dhar district on October 5.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Rahul Gandhi will return on Saturday to the west MP region bordering Rajasthan, nine months after his Kanyakumari-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra entered into the Congress-ruled state in December 2022 through the same part of the BJP-ruled MP. Importantly, the Kalapipal seat of Shajapur district was won by Congress young candidate Kunal Chaudhary in 2018. Two out of the three assembly seats of Shajapur district are currently held by the Congress. Through Saturdays Jan Akrosh Rally, the Congress aims at boosting its cadres on 20-25 seats of western MP (Malwa region, particularly the Ujjain division) and neighbouring central MP. With the rally being held under the Ujjain division of west MP, senior Congress leaders, including Rahul, Priyanka and the partys general secretary in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, Randeep Singh Surjewala, have been attacking the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in the state over the recent rape of a 12-year-old cognitively challenged girl in Ujjain district. However, the principal opposition party faced an embarrassment on Friday, owing to its first-time scheduled caste MLA Kalpana Verma accusing Manoj Bagri, the partys local leader in Satna district of attempting to outrage her modesty. Priyanka rally on Oct 5 Rahul Gandhis MP campaign has been reinforced by Priyanka Gandhis rallies in the recent past. She is due to address another poll rally in tribal-dominated area of west MPs Dhar district on October 5 Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI

KARGIL: The BJP has lost its moral ground to stand before the people of Kargil post-bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah said on Saturday.

Addressing a rally here and Drass ahead of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil election on October 4, he slammed the BJP for not giving representation to the Muslim community and making its MP Ramesh Bidhuri in charge of Tonk district in poll-bound Rajasthan instead of taking action against him for his "anti-Muslim speech" in Lok Sabha.

Abdullah said that for the first time since Independence, there is not a single Muslim minister in the Central government even though the community constitutes 14 per cent of the country's population.

"They are showing their hatred towards Muslims openly. They need to answer questions before coming here asking for votes," Abdullah said.

"They have lost the moral ground to stand before the public. Women are not allowed to wear hijab at will and we all know that. I want to ask those who are contesting elections in the name of BJP in Kargil, do they also have the same thought?" he posed.

Expressing confidence about a landslide victory in the election, he said, Groundswell of support for the National Conference is making the ruling party nervous and jittery.

The NC leader attacked the Ladakh administration, saying that "these people tried hard to stop" the party candidates from using the plough, its poll symbol, but in vain.

"A vicious attempt was made to wipe off the National Conference from Ladakh and even claims were made by BJP MP (Jamyang Tsering Namgyal) that they have uprooted the party's (NC's) symbol (plough)."

"It is not so easy and cannot be done in haste as the people of Kargil have centuries-old family and blood relations with the people in Kashmir," he said.

The NC and the Congress are fighting the election together.

"We (the NC and the Congress) are fighting together to send a strong message to the people in the country that what happened on August 5, 2019, was undemocratic and based on injustice. With people's support, we are going to win the polls and they (BJP) are panicking which is evident by the way they are using every means to keep our candidates away from the public. Even my security was taken away on reaching Zero point," the NC vice president said.

Referring to the court battle over the restoration of his party's symbol in the Kargil polls, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said that with time, people may forget MPs but the NC symbol will remain because it is in the hearts of the people.

"First, they faced defeat in the high court and again at the division bench of the High Court. But these people did not stop there, they reached the Supreme Court, but there also they faced the same music," Abdullah said.

On September 6, the Supreme Court set aside the August 5 notification of the election department of the Union Territory of Ladakh for the hill council polls and ordered the issuance of a fresh election schedule.

It held that the National Conference is entitled to the 'plough' symbol and dismissed a plea by the Ladakh administration opposing the allotment of the symbol to the party and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on it.

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court had earlier dismissed the Ladakh administration's plea against a single bench order allowing NC candidates to contest the upcoming polls for LAHDC, Kargil, on the party symbol.

Abdullah, who was accompanied by his two sons and other senior party colleagues, alleged that he had to leave his security at the Zero Point en route to Kargil on the directions of the authorities to address the public meeting.

He said this was his third visit to Kargil after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories Ladakh and J-K.

"This is the first time that I had to leave my security at Zero Point. I do not have any grudge as I know they (BJP) are panicking. I know the people are with us and we have full faith in the Almighty.

" The National Conference claimed that Abdullah's security was stopped at Zero Point near Mini Marg -- the entry point to Ladakh on the Srinagar-Leh Highway.

"Ladakh UT administration's cowardice was seen today when J-K NC Vice President Omar Abdullah's convoy was stopped at Zero Point Mini Marg and his security was not allowed to proceed," the party said in a statement.

It also alleged that the party vice president was "forced" to move ahead without security for his two-day visit to Kargil.

At the rallies, Abdullah said the people of Ladakh have lost much after getting the Union Territory status as they cannot have their own MLAs, MLCs, ministers and Rajya Sabha members while "people from outside" are ruling them.

He said the National Conference pleaded before the Supreme Court against abrogation of Article 370 and "now we are waiting for its decision and praying daily that all which was taken away from us gets restored".

When asked by reporters about the INDIA alliance, Abdullah said, "Last time also we fought the polls together. Now, we are a part of the INDIA alliance and when the seat sharing will be talked about, we will surely discuss this with the Congress party."

To a question about the installation of smart metres in Jammu and Kashmir, he said the government was only trying new tactics to harass people.

"I do not understand where from have the smart meters come. First, they talked about digital meters and said they were the best. They forced everyone to install them. When the people installed digital meters, then smart meters came and no one has yet understood how they work," Abdullah added.

Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

KARGIL: The BJP has lost its moral ground to stand before the people of Kargil post-bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah said on Saturday. Addressing a rally here and Drass ahead of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil election on October 4, he slammed the BJP for not giving representation to the Muslim community and making its MP Ramesh Bidhuri in charge of Tonk district in poll-bound Rajasthan instead of taking action against him for his "anti-Muslim speech" in Lok Sabha. Abdullah said that for the first time since Independence, there is not a single Muslim minister in the Central government even though the community constitutes 14 per cent of the country's population.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "They are showing their hatred towards Muslims openly. They need to answer questions before coming here asking for votes," Abdullah said. "They have lost the moral ground to stand before the public. Women are not allowed to wear hijab at will and we all know that. I want to ask those who are contesting elections in the name of BJP in Kargil, do they also have the same thought?" he posed. Expressing confidence about a landslide victory in the election, he said, Groundswell of support for the National Conference is making the ruling party nervous and jittery. The NC leader attacked the Ladakh administration, saying that "these people tried hard to stop" the party candidates from using the plough, its poll symbol, but in vain. "A vicious attempt was made to wipe off the National Conference from Ladakh and even claims were made by BJP MP (Jamyang Tsering Namgyal) that they have uprooted the party's (NC's) symbol (plough)." "It is not so easy and cannot be done in haste as the people of Kargil have centuries-old family and blood relations with the people in Kashmir," he said. The NC and the Congress are fighting the election together. "We (the NC and the Congress) are fighting together to send a strong message to the people in the country that what happened on August 5, 2019, was undemocratic and based on injustice. With people's support, we are going to win the polls and they (BJP) are panicking which is evident by the way they are using every means to keep our candidates away from the public. Even my security was taken away on reaching Zero point," the NC vice president said. Referring to the court battle over the restoration of his party's symbol in the Kargil polls, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said that with time, people may forget MPs but the NC symbol will remain because it is in the hearts of the people. "First, they faced defeat in the high court and again at the division bench of the High Court. But these people did not stop there, they reached the Supreme Court, but there also they faced the same music," Abdullah said. On September 6, the Supreme Court set aside the August 5 notification of the election department of the Union Territory of Ladakh for the hill council polls and ordered the issuance of a fresh election schedule. It held that the National Conference is entitled to the 'plough' symbol and dismissed a plea by the Ladakh administration opposing the allotment of the symbol to the party and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on it. The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court had earlier dismissed the Ladakh administration's plea against a single bench order allowing NC candidates to contest the upcoming polls for LAHDC, Kargil, on the party symbol. Abdullah, who was accompanied by his two sons and other senior party colleagues, alleged that he had to leave his security at the Zero Point en route to Kargil on the directions of the authorities to address the public meeting. He said this was his third visit to Kargil after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories Ladakh and J-K. "This is the first time that I had to leave my security at Zero Point. I do not have any grudge as I know they (BJP) are panicking. I know the people are with us and we have full faith in the Almighty. " The National Conference claimed that Abdullah's security was stopped at Zero Point near Mini Marg -- the entry point to Ladakh on the Srinagar-Leh Highway. "Ladakh UT administration's cowardice was seen today when J-K NC Vice President Omar Abdullah's convoy was stopped at Zero Point Mini Marg and his security was not allowed to proceed," the party said in a statement. It also alleged that the party vice president was "forced" to move ahead without security for his two-day visit to Kargil. At the rallies, Abdullah said the people of Ladakh have lost much after getting the Union Territory status as they cannot have their own MLAs, MLCs, ministers and Rajya Sabha members while "people from outside" are ruling them. He said the National Conference pleaded before the Supreme Court against abrogation of Article 370 and "now we are waiting for its decision and praying daily that all which was taken away from us gets restored". When asked by reporters about the INDIA alliance, Abdullah said, "Last time also we fought the polls together. Now, we are a part of the INDIA alliance and when the seat sharing will be talked about, we will surely discuss this with the Congress party." To a question about the installation of smart metres in Jammu and Kashmir, he said the government was only trying new tactics to harass people. "I do not understand where from have the smart meters come. First, they talked about digital meters and said they were the best. They forced everyone to install them. When the people installed digital meters, then smart meters came and no one has yet understood how they work," Abdullah added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. The sanctions imposed by the US against Iran have deprived Iran of regional and international economic potential, said Mohammad Ali Sobhani, who was the ambassador of Iran in 3 countries (Lebanon, Jordan and Qatar), Trend reports.

"Even Qatar and Burkina Faso, which are geographically small countries, can use any economic potential at the world level. However, due to the sanctions, Iran cannot use any of its potential appropriately," he added.

On January 16, 2016, Iran's nuclear program triggered the creation of the JCPOA between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany). However, on May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany) and imposed new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018.

The sanctions affected Iranian oil exports and more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.

Ex-ambassador also said that Iran should try to establish some sort of dialogues with the world in order to solve its economic problems. This dialogue may be within the framework of JCPOA or through other paths. If these dialogues are not established, no hoping for an improvement in Iran's economic situation.

According to Sobhani, Iran's interests will be secured and its problems solved by holding talks with the US.

Iran wants not only itself, but all parties to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action at the same time. If this plan is reactivated, Iran expects sanctions against the country to be lifted, he noted.

In late 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to implement a strategic plan to tackle the sanctions, citing the non-implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and six countries and the imposition of sanctions on Iran. According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of February 23, Iran suspended the implementation of additional steps and an additional protocol provided for in the nuclear deal. As a result, the control mechanism of the IAEA decreased by 2030 percent.

Iran discloses various programs related to its nuclear industry to reflect that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, according to the information obtained by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has increased the amount of highly enriched uranium by 27 percent in the last three months, and currently, the country's enriched uranium reserves are 4,745 kilograms. This is 15 times more than the amount of uranium allowed for Iran in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran is currently looking for various ways to resume discussions with the other parties regarding its nuclear program and eventually restore the JCPOA.

The country is mainly trying to achieve the abolition of sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, the removal of its funds frozen abroad, and the abolition of the restriction on the export of crude oil. In return, the US and Western countries want Iran not to acquire an atomic bomb, to keep its nuclear program under control, and to reduce the level of uranium enrichment.

---

Follow the author on X (Twitter):@BaghishovElnur
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday slammed the BJP government at the centre saying that its fake nationalism is visible again in the new disability pension rules for brave armed forces as the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements, rules and acceptable global norms.

He also demanded to set up an ex-servicemen commission at the earliest to address the grievances of military veterans.

His remarks came in the wake of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has come up with new rules for the grant of disability pensions to armed forces personnel.

The new policy changes the definition Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pension and Disability Compensation Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, 2023, the new rules will replace all such previous entitlement norms.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Kharge said: BJP's fake nationalism is yet again visible in the new disability pension rules for our brave Armed Forces. Around 40 per cent of army officers retire with disability pension, and the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements, rules and acceptable global norms.

BJP's Fake Nationalism is yet again visible in the new disability pension rules for our brave Armed Forces !



Around 40% of Army officers retire with disability pension, and the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements, rules and acceptable global norms.



The  Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) September 30, 2023

He said that the All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association has strongly protested this new policy by the Modi government, which places soldiers at a disadvantage when compared to civilian employees.

Kharge said that in June 2019, the Modi government had come out with a similar betrayal when they announced that they would be taxing disability pensions.

Modi government is a habitual offender in working against the welfare of our Jawans, ex-servicemen and veterans. Agnipath Scheme: Explicit admission that Modi government does not have funds for our soldiers. Large scale anomalies in OROP-2. Withdrawal of the much deserved Non-Functional Utility (NFU) to ensure automatic time bound pay promotion. Snatching away of medical benefits or pensions to our Jawans, who have valiantly served the Nation under Short Service Commission. Privatisation of Ordinance Factory Board and rationing in CSD outlets, the Congress Chief said.

In this context, Congress party reiterates its demand to set up an Ex-servicemen Commission at the earliest to address the grievances of military veterans, Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said.

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NEW DELHI: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday slammed the BJP government at the centre saying that its fake nationalism is visible again in the new disability pension rules for brave armed forces as the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements, rules and acceptable global norms. He also demanded to set up an ex-servicemen commission at the earliest to address the grievances of military veterans. His remarks came in the wake of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has come up with new rules for the grant of disability pensions to armed forces personnel.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The new policy changes the definition Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pension and Disability Compensation Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, 2023, the new rules will replace all such previous entitlement norms. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Kharge said: BJP's fake nationalism is yet again visible in the new disability pension rules for our brave Armed Forces. Around 40 per cent of army officers retire with disability pension, and the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements, rules and acceptable global norms. BJP's Fake Nationalism is yet again visible in the new disability pension rules for our brave Armed Forces ! Around 40% of Army officers retire with disability pension, and the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements, rules and acceptable global norms. The  Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) September 30, 2023 He said that the All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association has strongly protested this new policy by the Modi government, which places soldiers at a disadvantage when compared to civilian employees. Kharge said that in June 2019, the Modi government had come out with a similar betrayal when they announced that they would be taxing disability pensions. Modi government is a habitual offender in working against the welfare of our Jawans, ex-servicemen and veterans. Agnipath Scheme: Explicit admission that Modi government does not have funds for our soldiers. Large scale anomalies in OROP-2. Withdrawal of the much deserved Non-Functional Utility (NFU) to ensure automatic time bound pay promotion. Snatching away of medical benefits or pensions to our Jawans, who have valiantly served the Nation under Short Service Commission. Privatisation of Ordinance Factory Board and rationing in CSD outlets, the Congress Chief said. In this context, Congress party reiterates its demand to set up an Ex-servicemen Commission at the earliest to address the grievances of military veterans, Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Mayank Singh By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Chinese belligerence is presenting a threat to the rules-based international order, Army Chief General MK Pande commented on Friday, while mulling over the emerging geo-strategic issues that have relevance from Indias perspective.

Speaking at the annual session of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, General Pande said, Possession of political, economic, technological and military power has accorded it (China) a new

position in the world order, which it intends to lead. With its economic heft, China has been looking at geo-political and trade engagements as zero-sum games.

Concurrently, Chinese belligerence is evident in its continuing propensity to project power outside its region, in turn presenting a threat to rules-based international order, he said. The Army Chief said the resolute and firm manner with which the country stood up to China during the events of April-May 2020 has made the world take notice of the political and military resolve of a rising India.

Many nations today also appear ready to take the China issue head-on, especially post-pandemic, and as the realisation of its predatory economic pursuits sink in, Pande said. The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army had clashed with the Indian Army soldiers in May 2020 and had moved its troops at multiple points, leading to standoffs in Eastern Ladakh. Indian Army also mobilised more than 60,000 troops with commensurate fire power.

Referring to the internal security situations India is dealing with, the Army chief said it has its unique set of challenges. But the most important pointer for us is that our challenges of unsettled borders continue and stand amplified due to collusion between our western and northern adversary. Infirmities in border management can lead to wider conflicts, Pande maintained.

On examples displaying Indias diplomatic ability, General Pande pointed to the nations complex global relationships involving the interplay of interests, concerns and aspirations. He also touched upon the Russia-Ukraine conflict and growing strategic relevance of the Indo-Pacific theatre. Our stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a fine example, where we stood steadfast and clear in the legitimate pursuit of our national interests. The successful conducting of G20 Summit heralded Indias diplomatic ability to achieve consensus on values-based approach to growth and development for all, Pande said.

India poised to be third largest economy: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday asserted that India is well-poised to become the worlds third largest economy by 2027, as developments on all fronts are taking place on a large scale. Investments are pouring in since the industry fraternity has a strong sense of confidence under the Modi government, Shah said, speaking at the 118th annual session of PHDCCI. The success of Chandrayaan-3, Mission Aditya-L1 and G20 Summit has filled the country with a new kind of confidence and energy, he said.

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NEW DELHI: Chinese belligerence is presenting a threat to the rules-based international order, Army Chief General MK Pande commented on Friday, while mulling over the emerging geo-strategic issues that have relevance from Indias perspective. Speaking at the annual session of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, General Pande said, Possession of political, economic, technological and military power has accorded it (China) a new position in the world order, which it intends to lead. With its economic heft, China has been looking at geo-political and trade engagements as zero-sum games. Concurrently, Chinese belligerence is evident in its continuing propensity to project power outside its region, in turn presenting a threat to rules-based international order, he said. The Army Chief said the resolute and firm manner with which the country stood up to China during the events of April-May 2020 has made the world take notice of the political and military resolve of a rising India.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Many nations today also appear ready to take the China issue head-on, especially post-pandemic, and as the realisation of its predatory economic pursuits sink in, Pande said. The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army had clashed with the Indian Army soldiers in May 2020 and had moved its troops at multiple points, leading to standoffs in Eastern Ladakh. Indian Army also mobilised more than 60,000 troops with commensurate fire power. Referring to the internal security situations India is dealing with, the Army chief said it has its unique set of challenges. But the most important pointer for us is that our challenges of unsettled borders continue and stand amplified due to collusion between our western and northern adversary. Infirmities in border management can lead to wider conflicts, Pande maintained. On examples displaying Indias diplomatic ability, General Pande pointed to the nations complex global relationships involving the interplay of interests, concerns and aspirations. He also touched upon the Russia-Ukraine conflict and growing strategic relevance of the Indo-Pacific theatre. Our stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a fine example, where we stood steadfast and clear in the legitimate pursuit of our national interests. The successful conducting of G20 Summit heralded Indias diplomatic ability to achieve consensus on values-based approach to growth and development for all, Pande said. India poised to be third largest economy: Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday asserted that India is well-poised to become the worlds third largest economy by 2027, as developments on all fronts are taking place on a large scale. Investments are pouring in since the industry fraternity has a strong sense of confidence under the Modi government, Shah said, speaking at the 118th annual session of PHDCCI. The success of Chandrayaan-3, Mission Aditya-L1 and G20 Summit has filled the country with a new kind of confidence and energy, he said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: Three months after Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the partys poll campaign in Madhya Pradesh, her fourth-time MP brother Rahul Gandhi addressed his first election rally in the BJP-ruled state on Saturday, terming the coming assembly polls as Gandhi vs. Godse ideological battle.

While questioning why the OBC quota wasnt included in the recently passed women's reservation bill, the former Congress president promised that the caste census would be the first thing to do once our government comes to power at the centre.

He was addressing the Jan Akrosh Rally in the Kalapipal assembly segment of OBC-dominant Shajapur district on Saturday.

Also prominently raising the issue of rampant corruption, he accused the BJP of turning MP into the epicentre of corruption in the country. Maximum corruption in the country has been done by the BJP in MP, turning the state into the epicentre of corruption in the country. During the 18-year-long rule of BJP, 18,000 farmers have ended their lives in MP, which means that three farmers are losing lives daily in the state.

While referring to the Women Reservation Bill, he said, Narendra Modi prides himself as an OBC leader working for the interests of the backward castes. If its really true then why wasnt the OBC quota included in the recently passed 33% women reservation bill. Ask any of the BJP MPs as to whether they were consulted by their party and leader while making laws, their answer will be No. The laws in the country are currently being framed by the RSS and 90 government officers, out of whom just three officers come from the OBC segment. Though OBCs constitute around 50% of the country's population, only three OBC segment officers (who are among the 90 officers who call the shots) control just 5% of funds out of the total budget of the country, running into 45 lakh crores rupees.

When I questioned the government about why the OBC doesnt have enough representation among the 90 top officers at the centre, despite being around half of the countrys population, the BJP people started shivering, PM Narendra Modi ran away from answers, while home minister Amit Shah attempted to deflect the issue through diversionary tactics of Hindu-Muslim hate politics, he added.

Let me assure one and all, once our government returns to the centre, the caste census will be the first task to be done in the country. Do remember that three of our four chief ministers come from the OBC segment. Our previous government had conducted the caste census and those resultant numbers of various castes are with PM Modi. But hell not tell the OBC their actual numbers, as he is against giving those castes their due share in power. Even the BJPs OBC leaders elected to the Vidhan Sabha are asked to remain silent, Gandhi said.

One of the 11 poll guarantees announced by Kamal Nath in MP includes conducting a caste census in the state.

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says, "When I ask the question how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, Generals are there in the country, no one is able to answer it... After forming the government at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct caste pic.twitter.com/YV8f9H1gu6  ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2023

Addressing the rally, Gandhi termed the coming assembly polls in MP as a battle between Gandhi and Godses ideology. Alleging that the BJP had turned MP into the epicentre of corruption in the country, Gandhi said the BJP hasnt left any sphere untouched by corruption, right from mid-day meals of kids to the construction of the Mahakal Lok temple corridor in Ujjain.

While maintaining that the Congress governments in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh had either already fulfilled their promises or were working on fulfilling the poll guarantees, Gandhi claimed that while 18,000 farmers have ended lives in MP during BJPs 18 years long rule, in the adjoining Chhattisgarh, the Congress government has fulfilled its promise of rendering right price for the produce of paddy farmers.

Owing to the politics of hate, arrogance and anger pursued by the BJP, the youth and farmers of MP, have started hating the BJP. Our government was already working on fulfilling its promise of waiving off loans of farmers in MP, but the BJP stole that government in 2020. Kamal Nath believes in fulfilling the promises and will continue the incomplete work after coming to power in MP, Gandhi said.

While accusing PM Modi of promoting the interests of select industrialists, including Adani Ji (Gautam Adani), the Congress MP claimed that it was to protect Adanis interests that his Lok Sabha membership was terminated by the BJP in March 2023.

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BHOPAL: Three months after Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the partys poll campaign in Madhya Pradesh, her fourth-time MP brother Rahul Gandhi addressed his first election rally in the BJP-ruled state on Saturday, terming the coming assembly polls as Gandhi vs. Godse ideological battle. While questioning why the OBC quota wasnt included in the recently passed women's reservation bill, the former Congress president promised that the caste census would be the first thing to do once our government comes to power at the centre. He was addressing the Jan Akrosh Rally in the Kalapipal assembly segment of OBC-dominant Shajapur district on Saturday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Also prominently raising the issue of rampant corruption, he accused the BJP of turning MP into the epicentre of corruption in the country. Maximum corruption in the country has been done by the BJP in MP, turning the state into the epicentre of corruption in the country. During the 18-year-long rule of BJP, 18,000 farmers have ended their lives in MP, which means that three farmers are losing lives daily in the state. While referring to the Women Reservation Bill, he said, Narendra Modi prides himself as an OBC leader working for the interests of the backward castes. If its really true then why wasnt the OBC quota included in the recently passed 33% women reservation bill. Ask any of the BJP MPs as to whether they were consulted by their party and leader while making laws, their answer will be No. The laws in the country are currently being framed by the RSS and 90 government officers, out of whom just three officers come from the OBC segment. Though OBCs constitute around 50% of the country's population, only three OBC segment officers (who are among the 90 officers who call the shots) control just 5% of funds out of the total budget of the country, running into 45 lakh crores rupees. When I questioned the government about why the OBC doesnt have enough representation among the 90 top officers at the centre, despite being around half of the countrys population, the BJP people started shivering, PM Narendra Modi ran away from answers, while home minister Amit Shah attempted to deflect the issue through diversionary tactics of Hindu-Muslim hate politics, he added. Let me assure one and all, once our government returns to the centre, the caste census will be the first task to be done in the country. Do remember that three of our four chief ministers come from the OBC segment. Our previous government had conducted the caste census and those resultant numbers of various castes are with PM Modi. But hell not tell the OBC their actual numbers, as he is against giving those castes their due share in power. Even the BJPs OBC leaders elected to the Vidhan Sabha are asked to remain silent, Gandhi said. One of the 11 poll guarantees announced by Kamal Nath in MP includes conducting a caste census in the state. #WATCH | Madhya Pradesh: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says, "When I ask the question how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, Generals are there in the country, no one is able to answer it... After forming the government at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct caste pic.twitter.com/YV8f9H1gu6  ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2023 Addressing the rally, Gandhi termed the coming assembly polls in MP as a battle between Gandhi and Godses ideology. Alleging that the BJP had turned MP into the epicentre of corruption in the country, Gandhi said the BJP hasnt left any sphere untouched by corruption, right from mid-day meals of kids to the construction of the Mahakal Lok temple corridor in Ujjain. While maintaining that the Congress governments in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh had either already fulfilled their promises or were working on fulfilling the poll guarantees, Gandhi claimed that while 18,000 farmers have ended lives in MP during BJPs 18 years long rule, in the adjoining Chhattisgarh, the Congress government has fulfilled its promise of rendering right price for the produce of paddy farmers. Owing to the politics of hate, arrogance and anger pursued by the BJP, the youth and farmers of MP, have started hating the BJP. Our government was already working on fulfilling its promise of waiving off loans of farmers in MP, but the BJP stole that government in 2020. Kamal Nath believes in fulfilling the promises and will continue the incomplete work after coming to power in MP, Gandhi said. While accusing PM Modi of promoting the interests of select industrialists, including Adani Ji (Gautam Adani), the Congress MP claimed that it was to protect Adanis interests that his Lok Sabha membership was terminated by the BJP in March 2023. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI

IMPHAL: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh Saturday iterated that security personnel involved in the "excessive use of force" against students during a crackdown on a protest rally here in connection with the alleged killing of two students will be punished.

He appealed to the people to remain united, maintain calm and collectively fight the enemies of the state, which has witnessed ethnic violence.

Expressing shock over the incident in the Imphal area which more than 100 students were injured in clashes with security forces on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Singh, who was speaking at the sidelines of a programme here, said "I am really shocked at the excessive use of force. At what was done to the children. Ministers of the state have personally met the injured students."

"Those responsible for the extreme injuries will be arrested and be dealt with legally," the chief minister said.

Two students were seriously injured in the clash between the state police and the Rapid Action Force during two consecutive days.

One of them received more than 40 pellet bullets on his skull fired by security persons and another, 17-year-old L Kishan's shoulder was shattered by pellets fired from a close range, authorities of the hospital where the two are being treated told reporters.

"Rs 50,000 has been provided as financial assistance to the badly injured students for treatment. Hospitals have also been informed that expenses for all their requirements will be borne by the government, including those who need to be taken outside Manipur," the chief minister added.

The crackdown followed the massive protests by students against the alleged killing of two youths who went missing on July 6.

Photos of their bodies went viral on social media recently triggering the protests and leading to the sending of a CBI team from Delhi to the state for enquiry.

"A CBI special director is still in Imphal and an investigation is on," Singh said.

Paying his respects to 'Jana Neta' Hijam Irabot, the founder of the Communist party in the state, on his 127th birth anniversary at the programme, he said.

"On this day, I want to urge all again to remain calm, stay united and collectively fight the enemies of the state. To come and sit together to resolve all misunderstandings so as to protect the integrity of the state and to live peacefully," he said.

READ MORE | Manipur govt calls for restraint after photos showing bodies of two missing students surface

ALSO READ: Meitei Committee condemns brutal assault on protesting students by security personnel

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IMPHAL: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh Saturday iterated that security personnel involved in the "excessive use of force" against students during a crackdown on a protest rally here in connection with the alleged killing of two students will be punished. He appealed to the people to remain united, maintain calm and collectively fight the enemies of the state, which has witnessed ethnic violence. Expressing shock over the incident in the Imphal area which more than 100 students were injured in clashes with security forces on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Singh, who was speaking at the sidelines of a programme here, said "I am really shocked at the excessive use of force. At what was done to the children. Ministers of the state have personally met the injured students."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Those responsible for the extreme injuries will be arrested and be dealt with legally," the chief minister said. Two students were seriously injured in the clash between the state police and the Rapid Action Force during two consecutive days. One of them received more than 40 pellet bullets on his skull fired by security persons and another, 17-year-old L Kishan's shoulder was shattered by pellets fired from a close range, authorities of the hospital where the two are being treated told reporters. "Rs 50,000 has been provided as financial assistance to the badly injured students for treatment. Hospitals have also been informed that expenses for all their requirements will be borne by the government, including those who need to be taken outside Manipur," the chief minister added. The crackdown followed the massive protests by students against the alleged killing of two youths who went missing on July 6. Photos of their bodies went viral on social media recently triggering the protests and leading to the sending of a CBI team from Delhi to the state for enquiry. "A CBI special director is still in Imphal and an investigation is on," Singh said. Paying his respects to 'Jana Neta' Hijam Irabot, the founder of the Communist party in the state, on his 127th birth anniversary at the programme, he said. "On this day, I want to urge all again to remain calm, stay united and collectively fight the enemies of the state. To come and sit together to resolve all misunderstandings so as to protect the integrity of the state and to live peacefully," he said. READ MORE | Manipur govt calls for restraint after photos showing bodies of two missing students surface ALSO READ: Meitei Committee condemns brutal assault on protesting students by security personnel Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI

CHANDIGARH: A court in Punjab's Fazilka district sent Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira to 14-day judicial custody on Saturday in connection with a 2015 drugs case.

Amid tight security arrangements, Khaira was produced in the court in Jalalabad after his two-day police remand ended on Saturday, officials said. Bholath MLA Khaira was arrested on Thursday from his Chandigarh residence.

He was arrested by the Punjab Police following an investigation conducted by a special investigation team led by Deputy Inspector General of Police Swapan Sharma in the 2015 drugs case.

The case was registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka. Nine people, including Gurdev Singh, who was allegedly a close aide of Khaira, were booked in the case and later convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Police had recovered 2 kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, one country-made pistol, a 315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards from them. Khaira's cropped up later during the police probe. However, in 2017, the Supreme Court stayed the trial court proceedings against Khaira who was summoned as an additional accused in the matter.

He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021 on the charge of money laundering linked to the 2015 drug case. He was granted bail in 2022. In February 2023, the apex court quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the drug case.

The Punjab Congress had called the police action against Khaira a political vendetta, a charge vehemently denied by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.

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CHANDIGARH: A court in Punjab's Fazilka district sent Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira to 14-day judicial custody on Saturday in connection with a 2015 drugs case. Amid tight security arrangements, Khaira was produced in the court in Jalalabad after his two-day police remand ended on Saturday, officials said. Bholath MLA Khaira was arrested on Thursday from his Chandigarh residence. He was arrested by the Punjab Police following an investigation conducted by a special investigation team led by Deputy Inspector General of Police Swapan Sharma in the 2015 drugs case.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The case was registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka. Nine people, including Gurdev Singh, who was allegedly a close aide of Khaira, were booked in the case and later convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Police had recovered 2 kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, one country-made pistol, a 315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards from them. Khaira's cropped up later during the police probe. However, in 2017, the Supreme Court stayed the trial court proceedings against Khaira who was summoned as an additional accused in the matter. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021 on the charge of money laundering linked to the 2015 drug case. He was granted bail in 2022. In February 2023, the apex court quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the drug case. The Punjab Congress had called the police action against Khaira a political vendetta, a charge vehemently denied by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI

CHANDIGARH: Farmers Saturday evening ended their three-day 'rail roko' stir that hit the movement of trains, causing inconvenience to passengers in Punjab and Haryana.

Protesters were holding their agitation against the Centre in support of various demands including compensation for crops damaged in the recent floods, a legal guarantee on MSP and a complete debt waiver.

The agitation that began on Thursday hit the movement of trains, with many being cancelled, short-terminated or diverted, railway officials said.

According to railway officials of the Ferozepur division, the three-day farmers' stir affected the movement of 581 passenger trains and 17 goods trains. Of passenger trains, as many as 376 trains were cancelled, 89 were short terminated, 46 short originated, and 70 were diverted.

The farmers blocked railway tracks at several places in Faridkot, Samrala, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar since Thursday as part of their agitation. The protest left hundreds of rail passengers stranded in Punjab and Haryana.

A railway passenger at Ludhiana station said he arrived from Jalandhar City by road to take a train to Gorakhpur but there is no information on when it will arrive. Another passenger at the station said the agitation forced the cancellation of a train from Amritsar in which 12 of his family members were supposed to travel to Bihar.

They later learned that the train would depart from Ludhiana and the family travelled from Amritsar by road. However, there is still no update about the train, he added.

The farmers' agitation directly affected the Ambala and the Ferozepur railway divisions, the officials said.

In Hoshiarpur, state president of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba, Harpal Singh Sangha, warned if their demand are not fulfilled by Dussehra, the farmers will burn "symbolic" effigies of the Centre.

Several farmer groups, including the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee; Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari); Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Azaad); Azaad Kisan Committee, Doaba; Bharti Kisan Union (Behramke); Bharti Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) and the Bharti Kisan Union (Chottu Ram), participated in the three-day protest.

Their demands include a financial package for the flood-affected people in north India, a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for all crops and a debt waiver for farmers.

The farmers want a Rs 50,000-crore flood relief package for north Indian states and MSP according to the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report.

They are also demanding a waiver of the entire debt of farmers and labourers, and Rs 10 lakh and a government job as compensation to the kin of each farmer who died during the agitation against the now-repealed three farm laws.

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CHANDIGARH: Farmers Saturday evening ended their three-day 'rail roko' stir that hit the movement of trains, causing inconvenience to passengers in Punjab and Haryana. Protesters were holding their agitation against the Centre in support of various demands including compensation for crops damaged in the recent floods, a legal guarantee on MSP and a complete debt waiver. The agitation that began on Thursday hit the movement of trains, with many being cancelled, short-terminated or diverted, railway officials said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to railway officials of the Ferozepur division, the three-day farmers' stir affected the movement of 581 passenger trains and 17 goods trains. Of passenger trains, as many as 376 trains were cancelled, 89 were short terminated, 46 short originated, and 70 were diverted. The farmers blocked railway tracks at several places in Faridkot, Samrala, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar since Thursday as part of their agitation. The protest left hundreds of rail passengers stranded in Punjab and Haryana. A railway passenger at Ludhiana station said he arrived from Jalandhar City by road to take a train to Gorakhpur but there is no information on when it will arrive. Another passenger at the station said the agitation forced the cancellation of a train from Amritsar in which 12 of his family members were supposed to travel to Bihar. They later learned that the train would depart from Ludhiana and the family travelled from Amritsar by road. However, there is still no update about the train, he added. The farmers' agitation directly affected the Ambala and the Ferozepur railway divisions, the officials said. In Hoshiarpur, state president of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba, Harpal Singh Sangha, warned if their demand are not fulfilled by Dussehra, the farmers will burn "symbolic" effigies of the Centre. Several farmer groups, including the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee; Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari); Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Azaad); Azaad Kisan Committee, Doaba; Bharti Kisan Union (Behramke); Bharti Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) and the Bharti Kisan Union (Chottu Ram), participated in the three-day protest. Their demands include a financial package for the flood-affected people in north India, a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for all crops and a debt waiver for farmers. The farmers want a Rs 50,000-crore flood relief package for north Indian states and MSP according to the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report. They are also demanding a waiver of the entire debt of farmers and labourers, and Rs 10 lakh and a government job as compensation to the kin of each farmer who died during the agitation against the now-repealed three farm laws. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Ramashankar By

Express News Service

PATNA: Senior RJD leader and former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui on Saturday created a row in political circles by commenting that women with 'lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles' would move forward with the enforcement of the Women's Reservation Act, attracting sharp reactions from its allies like JD (U) and Congress.

Siddiqui made the remark while addressing an awareness programme organised by the RJD's extremely backward cell in Muzaffarpur district on Saturday.

Siddiqui, however, resorted to damage control and defended his statement by saying that he had made such a statement as his audience comprised a lot of rural women. He said that he used 'typical village language' so that women could understand easily what he really meant.

He also claimed that his party had been supporting the women's reservation bill right from the beginning but in reality, RJD had been demanding a quota within quota to include OBC women. Siddiqui's controversial statement came days after RJD MP Manoj Jha created a political storm in Bihar over his 'Thakurs' remarks during his speech in Rajya Sabha on the Women's Reservation Bill.

Unconvinced by Siddiqui's defence, JD (U) MLC Khalid Anwar said that it was the right of women to apply lipstick or not or how to get their hair cut. It is condemnable that anyone raises questions on this and questions the fundamental rights to live. This is not the idea and culture of JD (U), he contended, adding that they should talk about the rights of extremely backward women but raising such questions is not appropriate at all.

Congress spokesperson Asitnath Tiwari said that it should be ensured that women from all deprived sections got the benefit of reservation but it was not right to comment on how women dressed and styled their hair. Such a remark cannot be supported, he added

Shocking statement by RJD leader & INDI alliance leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui



*     ,              *



Nothing surprising that INDI alliance is insulting 50% of our population

They have always pic.twitter.com/dcM8IKCchC  Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) September 30, 2023

RJD spokesperson Ajaz Ahmed supported Siddiqui's statement and said that what Siddiqui had said was based on truth. Unless a large section of people get their rights and entitlements in women's reservation, these women will not be able to get justice.

He alleged that the BJP was playing with the emotions of a large section of society by depriving them of their rights, stating that it was not fair at all. Instead of properly understanding the meaning of Siddiqui's statement, the BJP is doing politics on it, he alleged.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Shreyasi Singh launched a blistering comment on Siddiqui for his comment, asserting that he did not consider people like Siddiqui as leaders. She alleged that people like him did not want women to progress and that is why they are making such statements.

"I demand an apology from Siddiqui for his comments on women," she remarked.

On the other hand, former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi accused RJD chief Lalu Prasad of giving misleading statements on the issue of reservation. He said that Lalu used to claim that BJP would remove the provision of reservation but the party had given 33 per cent reservation to women. He said that Lalu was also making baseless allegations that BJP would change the constitution.

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PATNA: Senior RJD leader and former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui on Saturday created a row in political circles by commenting that women with 'lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles' would move forward with the enforcement of the Women's Reservation Act, attracting sharp reactions from its allies like JD (U) and Congress. Siddiqui made the remark while addressing an awareness programme organised by the RJD's extremely backward cell in Muzaffarpur district on Saturday. Siddiqui, however, resorted to damage control and defended his statement by saying that he had made such a statement as his audience comprised a lot of rural women. He said that he used 'typical village language' so that women could understand easily what he really meant.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He also claimed that his party had been supporting the women's reservation bill right from the beginning but in reality, RJD had been demanding a quota within quota to include OBC women. Siddiqui's controversial statement came days after RJD MP Manoj Jha created a political storm in Bihar over his 'Thakurs' remarks during his speech in Rajya Sabha on the Women's Reservation Bill. Unconvinced by Siddiqui's defence, JD (U) MLC Khalid Anwar said that it was the right of women to apply lipstick or not or how to get their hair cut. It is condemnable that anyone raises questions on this and questions the fundamental rights to live. This is not the idea and culture of JD (U), he contended, adding that they should talk about the rights of extremely backward women but raising such questions is not appropriate at all. Congress spokesperson Asitnath Tiwari said that it should be ensured that women from all deprived sections got the benefit of reservation but it was not right to comment on how women dressed and styled their hair. Such a remark cannot be supported, he added Shocking statement by RJD leader & INDI alliance leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui *     ,              * Nothing surprising that INDI alliance is insulting 50% of our population They have always pic.twitter.com/dcM8IKCchC  Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) September 30, 2023 RJD spokesperson Ajaz Ahmed supported Siddiqui's statement and said that what Siddiqui had said was based on truth. Unless a large section of people get their rights and entitlements in women's reservation, these women will not be able to get justice. He alleged that the BJP was playing with the emotions of a large section of society by depriving them of their rights, stating that it was not fair at all. Instead of properly understanding the meaning of Siddiqui's statement, the BJP is doing politics on it, he alleged. Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Shreyasi Singh launched a blistering comment on Siddiqui for his comment, asserting that he did not consider people like Siddiqui as leaders. She alleged that people like him did not want women to progress and that is why they are making such statements. "I demand an apology from Siddiqui for his comments on women," she remarked. On the other hand, former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi accused RJD chief Lalu Prasad of giving misleading statements on the issue of reservation. He said that Lalu used to claim that BJP would remove the provision of reservation but the party had given 33 per cent reservation to women. He said that Lalu was also making baseless allegations that BJP would change the constitution. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Amid the ongoing tension between INDIA alliance partners in Punjab following the arrest of Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira in a drug trafficking case, several Congress leaders were not allowed to meet the incarcerated Khaira, who is in the custody of Fazilka Crime Investigation Agency (CIA).

State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa were stopped when they sought to meet Khaira. Bajwa has termed his arrest a political vendetta by the ruling AAP, saying the Congress will fight it legally.

ALSO READ | Kejriwal reaffirms AAP's commitment to 'INDIA' amid Sukhpal row in Punjab

Party workers led by Warring gathered outside the Jalalabad CIA office and demanded meeting the arrested MLA. An additional police force was rushed to the spot to keep calm. The party workers then went to the Fazilka CIA office after they came to know that Khaira was locked up in Fazilka and not in Jalalabad.

Warring, Bajwa and Sukhjinder Randhawa went to the CIA staff office, Fazilka, to meet Khaira, but they were not allowed. It is a violation of the democratic rights of public representatives. The AAP government has stooped to an all-time low and resorted to petty vendetta politics. The Punjab Congress will not be cowed by such pressure tactics, said Bajwa.

He said Khaira had recently put AAPs Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha in the dock in his X post (formerly known as Twitter) by demanding a clarification from Chadha about how he gifted a 4-carat diamond ring to his newly wedded wife as his income as per the 2020-21 ITR was just Rs 2.44 lakh.

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CHANDIGARH: Amid the ongoing tension between INDIA alliance partners in Punjab following the arrest of Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira in a drug trafficking case, several Congress leaders were not allowed to meet the incarcerated Khaira, who is in the custody of Fazilka Crime Investigation Agency (CIA). State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa were stopped when they sought to meet Khaira. Bajwa has termed his arrest a political vendetta by the ruling AAP, saying the Congress will fight it legally. ALSO READ | Kejriwal reaffirms AAP's commitment to 'INDIA' amid Sukhpal row in Punjabgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Party workers led by Warring gathered outside the Jalalabad CIA office and demanded meeting the arrested MLA. An additional police force was rushed to the spot to keep calm. The party workers then went to the Fazilka CIA office after they came to know that Khaira was locked up in Fazilka and not in Jalalabad. Warring, Bajwa and Sukhjinder Randhawa went to the CIA staff office, Fazilka, to meet Khaira, but they were not allowed. It is a violation of the democratic rights of public representatives. The AAP government has stooped to an all-time low and resorted to petty vendetta politics. The Punjab Congress will not be cowed by such pressure tactics, said Bajwa. He said Khaira had recently put AAPs Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha in the dock in his X post (formerly known as Twitter) by demanding a clarification from Chadha about how he gifted a 4-carat diamond ring to his newly wedded wife as his income as per the 2020-21 ITR was just Rs 2.44 lakh. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The threat to Indias diplomats in Canada and the risk involved in their going to consulate offices was one of the reasons to stop visa services for Canadians, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday.

"We were left with no choice but to stop visa services for Canada. There was a campaign targeting our diplomats who felt unsafe travelling to the consulates. Thereby we had to stop. This was a law and order issue. Under the Vienna Convention, our missions and diplomats had to be provided with a safe cover," said Jaishankar during a presser in Washington.

Jaishankar, who had mentioned that Canada was discussed during his interaction with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, said that there was a difference of perception in the way the US and India looked at Canada.

"When Americans look at Canada they see something, we in India see something else. It is important to talk it out. The US is close to Canada and a good friend of ours. They have our point of view, we have taken a reasonable stance," he added.

ALSO READ | India ready to look into information related to Canada's allegations on Nijjar's killing: Jaishankar

India is a democracy and doesnt need to learn from others what freedom of speech is, he said.

"We dont think freedom of speech extends to incitement of violence. This is misuse of freedom," Jaishankar said.

There is a climate of intimidation, with smoke bombs having been thrown at Indias missions and posters inciting violence put up, which isnt normal, he noted.

"The fact is that we have an ongoing problem with Canada which revolves around permissiveness on terrorism and extremism. Our important extradition requests havent been considered. Individuals, organisations and illegal activities continue in Canada," he added.

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NEW DELHI: The threat to Indias diplomats in Canada and the risk involved in their going to consulate offices was one of the reasons to stop visa services for Canadians, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday. "We were left with no choice but to stop visa services for Canada. There was a campaign targeting our diplomats who felt unsafe travelling to the consulates. Thereby we had to stop. This was a law and order issue. Under the Vienna Convention, our missions and diplomats had to be provided with a safe cover," said Jaishankar during a presser in Washington. Jaishankar, who had mentioned that Canada was discussed during his interaction with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, said that there was a difference of perception in the way the US and India looked at Canada.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "When Americans look at Canada they see something, we in India see something else. It is important to talk it out. The US is close to Canada and a good friend of ours. They have our point of view, we have taken a reasonable stance," he added. ALSO READ | India ready to look into information related to Canada's allegations on Nijjar's killing: Jaishankar India is a democracy and doesnt need to learn from others what freedom of speech is, he said. "We dont think freedom of speech extends to incitement of violence. This is misuse of freedom," Jaishankar said. There is a climate of intimidation, with smoke bombs having been thrown at Indias missions and posters inciting violence put up, which isnt normal, he noted. "The fact is that we have an ongoing problem with Canada which revolves around permissiveness on terrorism and extremism. Our important extradition requests havent been considered. Individuals, organisations and illegal activities continue in Canada," he added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Law Commission of India on Friday advised the government not to reduce the existing age of consent from 18 to 16 years under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, saying else it could provide a safe harbour to coerce minors into subjugation, marital rape and other forms of abuse, including trafficking.

The Act criminalises all sexual activity for those under the age of 18 years regardless of mutual consent. To address the problem, the panel suggested giving limited discretion on sentencing to special courts in cases of mutual consent.

Carving out a limited judicial discretion at the stage of sentencing by a special court is more reasonable if consent is established, the panel said. It has to be further ensured that such a discretionary power is provided in such a manner that it is well guided and insulated from any potential misuse as far as possible. In this context, as to when such a discretion will come into play and who will determine if at all it applies, becomes relevant, the Commission said in its Report No. 283 titled Age of Consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

Only a judicially trained mind can appropriately determine whether the consent was indeed free from coercion, deception, fraud or undue influence. This would require proper investigation and evidence being adduced so as to determine if any reduction in sentence is warranted, the report said.

The panel headed by retired Karnataka high court chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said lowering the age of consent would reduce the POCSO Act to a paper law. The consent of a child is no consent and reading the same would be deeply problematic... The very real possibility of young girls being easily seduced in love traps and then sold off in trafficking cannot and should not be ignored. Any element of consent can be misused and may lead to children being at the mercy of adult abusers, it said.

The report recommended amending provisions dealing with punishment for penetrative sexual assault and sexual assault under the POCSO Act (Section 4 and 8) by adding provisions empowering a special court to impose lesser sentence in cases of tacit consensual sex by taking into consideration related factors.

Empower spl courts

Amendments suggested include allowing special courts to impose a lesser sentence than the minimum prescribed under sub-section (1) of the POCSO Act. The decision would be based on a thorough evaluation of the facts and circumstances of each case

Sex education

Comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education should be made a mandatory part of school curriculum. Children must be made aware of their body & physiological & psychological changes they experience while growing

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NEW DELHI: The Law Commission of India on Friday advised the government not to reduce the existing age of consent from 18 to 16 years under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, saying else it could provide a safe harbour to coerce minors into subjugation, marital rape and other forms of abuse, including trafficking. The Act criminalises all sexual activity for those under the age of 18 years regardless of mutual consent. To address the problem, the panel suggested giving limited discretion on sentencing to special courts in cases of mutual consent. Carving out a limited judicial discretion at the stage of sentencing by a special court is more reasonable if consent is established, the panel said. It has to be further ensured that such a discretionary power is provided in such a manner that it is well guided and insulated from any potential misuse as far as possible. In this context, as to when such a discretion will come into play and who will determine if at all it applies, becomes relevant, the Commission said in its Report No. 283 titled Age of Consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Only a judicially trained mind can appropriately determine whether the consent was indeed free from coercion, deception, fraud or undue influence. This would require proper investigation and evidence being adduced so as to determine if any reduction in sentence is warranted, the report said. The panel headed by retired Karnataka high court chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said lowering the age of consent would reduce the POCSO Act to a paper law. The consent of a child is no consent and reading the same would be deeply problematic... The very real possibility of young girls being easily seduced in love traps and then sold off in trafficking cannot and should not be ignored. Any element of consent can be misused and may lead to children being at the mercy of adult abusers, it said. The report recommended amending provisions dealing with punishment for penetrative sexual assault and sexual assault under the POCSO Act (Section 4 and 8) by adding provisions empowering a special court to impose lesser sentence in cases of tacit consensual sex by taking into consideration related factors. Empower spl courts Amendments suggested include allowing special courts to impose a lesser sentence than the minimum prescribed under sub-section (1) of the POCSO Act. The decision would be based on a thorough evaluation of the facts and circumstances of each case Sex education Comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education should be made a mandatory part of school curriculum. Children must be made aware of their body & physiological & psychological changes they experience while growing Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
There is lots to catch up on this week from submarine adventures and musical marvels to billionaire credit cards, and exciting new releases. See what you missed in our special weekly round-up

The WorldTempus Selections: Geneva Watch Days 2023

To kick off the week, our Editor-in-Chief Suzanne Wong gives us her top five from this years Geneva Watch Days (no easy feat!). Click here to discover the exciting lineup!

Blancpains 70th Anniversary Celebration Continues with the Fifty Fathoms Act 3

Another landmark anniversary, another Fifty Fathoms! Blancpain is back with a third act of their iconic Fifty Fathoms - and it was worth the wait! Our Editorial Director Sophie Furley gives us all of the details here.

Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3  Blancpain

American Explorer Victor Vescovo Talks About His Adventures with Omega

In this captivating presentation, American explorer and Omega ambassador Victor Vescovo shares fascinating stories of his trips to the deepest points of all five of the planets oceans. The question is: did his Challenger Deep timepiece strapped to the submarine survive the extraordinary depths? Read on to find out.

Reuge: A Breath of Fresh Air

Olivier Muller takes a closer look at the new Reuge. After receiving investment from De Bethune earlier this year, the makers of musical automata are spreading their wings with exciting new projects.

Claude Meylans Lioness In Lace

Fans of skeletonized movements, rejoice! The Peseux-based brand strikes again with three open-dialed timepieces called the Lionnes Dentelles. Here is a sneak peek of the exquisite new collection!

Lionne Dentelle  Claude Meylan

Interview With Jean-Christophe Babin

Next up, WorldTempus enjoys a chat with watch industry legend and Bulgari CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin, to discuss all things business, from Geneva Watch Days to the exciting developments that are underway for the brand.

Other News

In other news from the watchmaking world, Doxa partnered with Watchworks group to establish its presence on the Asian continent, Eberhard & Co. returned as the Official Timekeeper of the 63rd Genoa Boat Show, and Jacob & Co. designed and co-signed the ultra-luxurious Billionaire credit card.

New Releases

Last but not least, for our new releases of the week, we have the Bell & Ross BR 03 Gyrocompass, the IWC Schaffhausen Portugieser Tourbillon Retrograde Chronograph Lewis Hamilton, the Louis Vuitton Tambour Moon Flying Tourbillon Volant Kaleidoscope, the Parmigiani Fleurier Les Roses Carrees Collection Grand Feu, the Richard Mille RM 07-01 Coloured Ceramics Collection and the Zenith Defy Extreme Carl Cox Limited Editions.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: As many as 42 trains were cancelled while services of 121 were affected in Punjab on Friday as farmers squatted on several tracks and blocked a few routes as a part of a protest to demand financial assistance for losses incurred in recent floods, a legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a debt waiver from the centre.

The vehicular traffic was affected on the Chandigarh-Ambala-Delhi National Highway as the farmers blocked it. The traffic on the was diverted at Lalru. The three-day protest that began on Thursday, was witnessed in 17 districts of the state including Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar.

The farmers squatted on the Amritsar-Delhi railway track in Devidas Pura, while in Hoshiarpur members of the Azad Kisan Committee, Doaba, sat on a dharna at the local railway station. Farmer leader Gurbachan Singh said, We want a Rs 50,000-crore flood relief package, waiver of the entire debt of farmers and labourers, and Rs 10 lakh and a government job in compensation to the kin of farmers who died during the protest."

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CHANDIGARH: As many as 42 trains were cancelled while services of 121 were affected in Punjab on Friday as farmers squatted on several tracks and blocked a few routes as a part of a protest to demand financial assistance for losses incurred in recent floods, a legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a debt waiver from the centre. The vehicular traffic was affected on the Chandigarh-Ambala-Delhi National Highway as the farmers blocked it. The traffic on the was diverted at Lalru. The three-day protest that began on Thursday, was witnessed in 17 districts of the state including Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar. The farmers squatted on the Amritsar-Delhi railway track in Devidas Pura, while in Hoshiarpur members of the Azad Kisan Committee, Doaba, sat on a dharna at the local railway station. Farmer leader Gurbachan Singh said, We want a Rs 50,000-crore flood relief package, waiver of the entire debt of farmers and labourers, and Rs 10 lakh and a government job in compensation to the kin of farmers who died during the protest."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday hit out at the Centre over the situation in Manipur and said the "uncaring government" must immediately remove Chief Minister N Buren Singh and not let the state "burn" anymore.

A fresh bout of violence broke out in Imphal on Tuesday, a day after photographs of the bodies of two youths, a man and a girl who went missing in July were widely circulated on social media.

A CBI team is currently investigating the killings in the northeastern state, which has been witnessing ethnic strife for nearly five months.

In a post on X, Sibal said, "Manipur: An uncaring government must immediately remove CM Biren (Singh) and not let Manipur burn any more."

"Shutters down on the Internet is no solution. Stop campaigning and deal with Manipur now!" he said.

Manipur



An uncaring government must immediately remove CM Biren and not let Manipur burn any more

&

Shutters down on the Internet is no solution



Stop campaigning and deal with Manipur now !  Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) September 30, 2023

Sibal, a Union minister during UPA I and II, quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support. He has floated a non-electoral platform 'Insaaf', aimed at fighting injustice.

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NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday hit out at the Centre over the situation in Manipur and said the "uncaring government" must immediately remove Chief Minister N Buren Singh and not let the state "burn" anymore. A fresh bout of violence broke out in Imphal on Tuesday, a day after photographs of the bodies of two youths, a man and a girl who went missing in July were widely circulated on social media. A CBI team is currently investigating the killings in the northeastern state, which has been witnessing ethnic strife for nearly five months.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In a post on X, Sibal said, "Manipur: An uncaring government must immediately remove CM Biren (Singh) and not let Manipur burn any more." "Shutters down on the Internet is no solution. Stop campaigning and deal with Manipur now!" he said. Manipur An uncaring government must immediately remove CM Biren and not let Manipur burn any more & Shutters down on the Internet is no solution Stop campaigning and deal with Manipur now !  Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) September 30, 2023 Sibal, a Union minister during UPA I and II, quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support. He has floated a non-electoral platform 'Insaaf', aimed at fighting injustice. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: After wooing the countrys entrepreneurs for investment in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government is expanding the horizon and is all set to come out with a new policy to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and Fortune 500 companies. If all goes well as per the plan, the announcement for the same may be made next month.

A new policy is on the anvil as FDI inflows remained low and the state does not have a significant presence of Fortune 500 companies despite receiving record investment proposals of Rs 35-37 lakh crore at the Global Investors Summit-2023 held in Lucknow in February, this year.

As per sources, a meeting presided over by UP CM Yogi Adityanath was held in the state capital on July 18. In that meeting, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked senior officers to work out a new policy to attract more FDI.

As per Manoj Kumar Singh, the Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC), the state government is in the final stages of working out the new policy and the same may be announced by next month. According to IIDC, a new policy focused on attracting FDIs and Fortune 500 companies would be announced soon. He said that UP did not attract much FDI and only seven Fortune 500 companies were present in the state.

He expressed hope that the new policy, incorporating incentives, will help attract investments. He added that the efforts to finalise the new policy and put the same in place by October 10 were on.

Uttar Pradesh shares its inland borders with seven states and the international border with Nepal. It has worked out policies for different sectors and has received 22,000 investment proposals worth Rs 37 lakh crore through the UP GIS-2023.

As per the sources, UP got an FDI equity inflow of only USD 224.81 million out of the total inflow of USD 51,339.27 million received in the country during the period.

In order to make the process more effective, the state government has simplified the approval process and is promoting ease of doing business to attract investment.

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LUCKNOW: After wooing the countrys entrepreneurs for investment in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government is expanding the horizon and is all set to come out with a new policy to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and Fortune 500 companies. If all goes well as per the plan, the announcement for the same may be made next month. A new policy is on the anvil as FDI inflows remained low and the state does not have a significant presence of Fortune 500 companies despite receiving record investment proposals of Rs 35-37 lakh crore at the Global Investors Summit-2023 held in Lucknow in February, this year. As per sources, a meeting presided over by UP CM Yogi Adityanath was held in the state capital on July 18. In that meeting, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked senior officers to work out a new policy to attract more FDI.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); As per Manoj Kumar Singh, the Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC), the state government is in the final stages of working out the new policy and the same may be announced by next month. According to IIDC, a new policy focused on attracting FDIs and Fortune 500 companies would be announced soon. He said that UP did not attract much FDI and only seven Fortune 500 companies were present in the state. He expressed hope that the new policy, incorporating incentives, will help attract investments. He added that the efforts to finalise the new policy and put the same in place by October 10 were on. Uttar Pradesh shares its inland borders with seven states and the international border with Nepal. It has worked out policies for different sectors and has received 22,000 investment proposals worth Rs 37 lakh crore through the UP GIS-2023. As per the sources, UP got an FDI equity inflow of only USD 224.81 million out of the total inflow of USD 51,339.27 million received in the country during the period. In order to make the process more effective, the state government has simplified the approval process and is promoting ease of doing business to attract investment. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By ANI

BENGALURU: Karnataka Janata Dal (Secular) President, CM Ibrahim has expressed his disappointment over the partys alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party and he said that nothing should be hidden in politics.

CM Ibrahim told the media HD Kumaraswamy is like a younger brother to me and Deve Gowda is like a father figure and I respect them. I am hurt that Kumaraswamy met with Amit Shah. Any decision of a party is taken by the Party President. Deve Gowda's leadership is the oldest in India. BJP should have come to Deve Gowda. I am hurt that Deve Gowda had to go to BJP. Kumaraswamy said that he has not told some things to the President, nothing should be hidden in politics.

The JD(S) had on September 22 joined hands with the BJP-led NDA to take on the Congress party in Karnataka in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy made the announcement of the tie-up after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in the national capital.

CM Ibrahim further said that if he wanted he would have joined BJP a long time ago, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

If you are making an alliance with the BJP, then who has accepted whom? If you have power, you don't need to ask for anything. If we wanted to join the BJP, I would have joined long back when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the PM and offered me a ministry. We don't have anything personal. We respect each other. I respect PM Modi and Amit Shah. I'm still a party President. I'm an elected president," Ibrahim added.

Following the announcement of the new alliance, JD(S) state vice president, Syed Shafiulla Saheb and other leaders including M Srikanth and UT Ayesha Farzana resigned from the party and reportedly there is discontent among several Muslim functionaries in the party.

Kumaraswamy said We will not disrespect any Muslim leader from the JDS-BJP alliance. We have discussed about the BJP-JDS alliance with JD(S) state president CM Ibrahim.

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BENGALURU: Karnataka Janata Dal (Secular) President, CM Ibrahim has expressed his disappointment over the partys alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party and he said that nothing should be hidden in politics. CM Ibrahim told the media HD Kumaraswamy is like a younger brother to me and Deve Gowda is like a father figure and I respect them. I am hurt that Kumaraswamy met with Amit Shah. Any decision of a party is taken by the Party President. Deve Gowda's leadership is the oldest in India. BJP should have come to Deve Gowda. I am hurt that Deve Gowda had to go to BJP. Kumaraswamy said that he has not told some things to the President, nothing should be hidden in politics. The JD(S) had on September 22 joined hands with the BJP-led NDA to take on the Congress party in Karnataka in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy made the announcement of the tie-up after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in the national capital. CM Ibrahim further said that if he wanted he would have joined BJP a long time ago, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. If you are making an alliance with the BJP, then who has accepted whom? If you have power, you don't need to ask for anything. If we wanted to join the BJP, I would have joined long back when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the PM and offered me a ministry. We don't have anything personal. We respect each other. I respect PM Modi and Amit Shah. I'm still a party President. I'm an elected president," Ibrahim added. Following the announcement of the new alliance, JD(S) state vice president, Syed Shafiulla Saheb and other leaders including M Srikanth and UT Ayesha Farzana resigned from the party and reportedly there is discontent among several Muslim functionaries in the party. Kumaraswamy said We will not disrespect any Muslim leader from the JDS-BJP alliance. We have discussed about the BJP-JDS alliance with JD(S) state president CM Ibrahim. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Massachusetts-based analytical laboratory instrument and software company Waters Corporation is investing $16 million (Rs 133 crore) to set up its global capability centre in Bengalurus RMZ Ecoworld.

The companys President and CEO Udit Batra shared this information with the visiting business delegation headed by Industries and Infrastructure Minister M B Patil on Thursday in Boston, U.S., according to a statement issued by the Industries Ministers office. The delegation held discussions with Waters Corporation to explore opportunities to further expand their presence in Karnataka. The company has also requested support in building partnerships with local pharmaceutical giants manufacturing biosimilars to be able to collaborate with the vision to export medicines to other markets.

The meeting also discussed developing in-house knowledge and training strategic workforce with government collaboration. The delegation visited Teradyne testing facilities. During the meeting with the firm, they discussed supporting the company with building a sales presence by connecting to customers in the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test space to ensure future investments in R&D and manufacturing in the state, the statement said.

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BENGALURU: Massachusetts-based analytical laboratory instrument and software company Waters Corporation is investing $16 million (Rs 133 crore) to set up its global capability centre in Bengalurus RMZ Ecoworld. The companys President and CEO Udit Batra shared this information with the visiting business delegation headed by Industries and Infrastructure Minister M B Patil on Thursday in Boston, U.S., according to a statement issued by the Industries Ministers office. The delegation held discussions with Waters Corporation to explore opportunities to further expand their presence in Karnataka. The company has also requested support in building partnerships with local pharmaceutical giants manufacturing biosimilars to be able to collaborate with the vision to export medicines to other markets. The meeting also discussed developing in-house knowledge and training strategic workforce with government collaboration. The delegation visited Teradyne testing facilities. During the meeting with the firm, they discussed supporting the company with building a sales presence by connecting to customers in the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test space to ensure future investments in R&D and manufacturing in the state, the statement said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By AFP

YEREVAN: Armenia said Saturday that over 100,000 people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, meaning nearly all the official population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan seized back control.

Nazeli Baghdasaryan, a spokeswoman for Armenia's prime minister, said the number of refugees entering the country over the past week had reached 100,417.

The exodus comes after the Armenian enclave -- estimated before to have a population of 120,000 -- saw its decades-long fight against Azerbaijani rule end in sudden defeat.

Baku reconquered the territory -- internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan -- in a lightning offensive last week that appeared to bring the curtain down on the festering conflict.

The ethnic Armenian authorities in the self-proclaimed republic announced it was officially ceasing to exist after they agreed to capitulate and hand over their arms.

Artak Beglaryan, a former separatist official, said that according to unofficial information "the last groups" of Nagorno-Karabakh residents were on their way to Armenia Saturday.

"At most a few hundred persons remain, most of whom are officials, emergency services employees, volunteers, some persons with special needs," he wrote on social media.

The flood of humanity across the border into Armenia in the past few days has rewritten a centuries-old ethnic makeup of the disputed region.

Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of conducting a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" to clear Nagorno-Karabakh of its Armenian population.

But Baku has denied the claim and has publicly called on the Armenian residents of the territory to stay and "reintegrate" into Azerbaijan.

The United Nations will send a mission to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend, mainly to assess humanitarian needs, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced, adding that the body had not had access to the region "in about 30 years."

Armenia has asked the UN's highest court to take urgent measures to protect the enclave's inhabitants, the court announced on Friday.

Yerevan urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ensure that Azerbaijan doesn't move to displace the remaining ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh or prevent "the safe and expeditious return" of those who have already fled.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Friday announced an emergency appeal for 20 million Swiss Francs ($22 million) to help those fleeing.

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YEREVAN: Armenia said Saturday that over 100,000 people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, meaning nearly all the official population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan seized back control. Nazeli Baghdasaryan, a spokeswoman for Armenia's prime minister, said the number of refugees entering the country over the past week had reached 100,417. The exodus comes after the Armenian enclave -- estimated before to have a population of 120,000 -- saw its decades-long fight against Azerbaijani rule end in sudden defeat.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Baku reconquered the territory -- internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan -- in a lightning offensive last week that appeared to bring the curtain down on the festering conflict. The ethnic Armenian authorities in the self-proclaimed republic announced it was officially ceasing to exist after they agreed to capitulate and hand over their arms. Artak Beglaryan, a former separatist official, said that according to unofficial information "the last groups" of Nagorno-Karabakh residents were on their way to Armenia Saturday. "At most a few hundred persons remain, most of whom are officials, emergency services employees, volunteers, some persons with special needs," he wrote on social media. The flood of humanity across the border into Armenia in the past few days has rewritten a centuries-old ethnic makeup of the disputed region. Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of conducting a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" to clear Nagorno-Karabakh of its Armenian population. But Baku has denied the claim and has publicly called on the Armenian residents of the territory to stay and "reintegrate" into Azerbaijan. The United Nations will send a mission to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend, mainly to assess humanitarian needs, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced, adding that the body had not had access to the region "in about 30 years." Armenia has asked the UN's highest court to take urgent measures to protect the enclave's inhabitants, the court announced on Friday. Yerevan urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ensure that Azerbaijan doesn't move to displace the remaining ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh or prevent "the safe and expeditious return" of those who have already fled. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Friday announced an emergency appeal for 20 million Swiss Francs ($22 million) to help those fleeing. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Agencies

MALDIVES: Maldivians were voting Saturday in the runoff presidential election which has turned into a virtual referendum on which regional power  India or China  will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

Neither the main opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz nor incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih got more than 50% in the first round of voting earlier in September, triggering a runoff election. Solih, who was first elected president in 2018, is battling allegations by Muiz that he had allowed India an unchecked presence in the country. Muiz's party, the Peoples National Congress, is viewed as heavily pro-China.

Muiz secured a surprise lead with more than 46% of votes in the first round, while Solih secured 39% votes.

Abdullah Yameen, leader of the Peoples National Congress, made the Maldives a part of Chinas Belt and Road initiative during his presidency 2013 to 2018. The initiative is meant to build railroads, ports and highways to expand trade  and Chinas influence  across Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Maldives is made up of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean located by the main shipping route between the East and the West.

Muiz promised that if he won the presidency, he would remove Indian troops stationed in the Maldives and balance the countrys trade relations, which he said were heavily in Indias favor.

There are more than 282,000 eligible voters and the runoff result is expected Sunday.

Geopolitical hotspot

The Maldives sits in a strategically vital position in the middle of the Indian Ocean, astride one of the world's busiest east-west shipping lanes.

Muizzu's party was an eager recipient of financial largesse from China's Belt and Road infrastructure programme.

His mentor, former president Abdulla Yameen, borrowed heavily from China for construction projects and spurned India.

Solih, 61, was elected in 2018 on the back of discontent with Yameen's increasingly autocratic rule, accusing the leader of pushing the country into a Chinese debt trap.

Yameen's turn towards Beijing had also alarmed New Delhi, which shares concerns with the United States and its allies at China's growing assertiveness in the Indian Ocean.

India is a member of the strategic Quad alliance alongside the United States, Australia and Japan.

But Solih's restoration of the Maldives' traditional posture has itself proved controversial, with many in the archipelago disapproving of India's outsized political and economic clout.

Muizzu has vowed if elected to free his mentor Yameen, currently serving an 11-year sentence for corruption on the same prison island where he had jailed many of his political opponents during his tenure.

The 45-year-old emerged as a candidate after Yameen's conviction barred the former president from running for public office.

(With Inputs from AP & AF)

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MALDIVES: Maldivians were voting Saturday in the runoff presidential election which has turned into a virtual referendum on which regional power  India or China  will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. Neither the main opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz nor incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih got more than 50% in the first round of voting earlier in September, triggering a runoff election. Solih, who was first elected president in 2018, is battling allegations by Muiz that he had allowed India an unchecked presence in the country. Muiz's party, the Peoples National Congress, is viewed as heavily pro-China. Muiz secured a surprise lead with more than 46% of votes in the first round, while Solih secured 39% votes.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Abdullah Yameen, leader of the Peoples National Congress, made the Maldives a part of Chinas Belt and Road initiative during his presidency 2013 to 2018. The initiative is meant to build railroads, ports and highways to expand trade  and Chinas influence  across Asia, Africa and Europe. The Maldives is made up of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean located by the main shipping route between the East and the West. Muiz promised that if he won the presidency, he would remove Indian troops stationed in the Maldives and balance the countrys trade relations, which he said were heavily in Indias favor. There are more than 282,000 eligible voters and the runoff result is expected Sunday. Geopolitical hotspot The Maldives sits in a strategically vital position in the middle of the Indian Ocean, astride one of the world's busiest east-west shipping lanes. Muizzu's party was an eager recipient of financial largesse from China's Belt and Road infrastructure programme. His mentor, former president Abdulla Yameen, borrowed heavily from China for construction projects and spurned India. Solih, 61, was elected in 2018 on the back of discontent with Yameen's increasingly autocratic rule, accusing the leader of pushing the country into a Chinese debt trap. Yameen's turn towards Beijing had also alarmed New Delhi, which shares concerns with the United States and its allies at China's growing assertiveness in the Indian Ocean. India is a member of the strategic Quad alliance alongside the United States, Australia and Japan. But Solih's restoration of the Maldives' traditional posture has itself proved controversial, with many in the archipelago disapproving of India's outsized political and economic clout. Muizzu has vowed if elected to free his mentor Yameen, currently serving an 11-year sentence for corruption on the same prison island where he had jailed many of his political opponents during his tenure. The 45-year-old emerged as a candidate after Yameen's conviction barred the former president from running for public office. (With Inputs from AP & AF) Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Associated Press

MALE: Opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz appeared to be headed for a win in the Maldives presidential runoff on Saturday, securing more than 53% of the vote after almost all the ballots were counted, local media reported.

The election has turned into a virtual referendum on which regional power  India or China  will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

Mihaaru News reported that incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had received 46% of the vote and Muiz was leading by 17,000 votes, with only 11,000 votes still to be counted. Official results are expected later on Saturday.

It would be a surprise win for Muiz, who entered the fray as an underdog and was named only as a fallback candidate closer to the nomination deadline after the Supreme Court prevented his party's leader and former President Abdulla Yameen from contesting because he his serving a prison sentence for money laundering and corruption.

Neither Muiz nor Solih got more than 50% in the first round of voting earlier in September.

Solih, who was first elected president in 2018, was battling allegations by Muiz that he had allowed India an unchecked presence in the country. Muiz's party, the Peoples National Congress, is viewed as heavily pro-China.

ALSO READ | The Maldives churn in the Indian Ocean

Solih has insisted that the Indian military's presence in the Maldives was only to build a dockyard under an agreement between the two governments and that his countrys sovereignty will not be violated.

Muiz promised that if he won the presidency, he would remove Indian troops from the Maldives and balance the countrys trade relations, which he said were heavily in Indias favor.

An engineer, Muiz had served as the housing minister for seven years. He was mayor of Male, the capital, when he was chosen to run for president.

Solih suffered a setback closer to the election when Mohamed Nasheed, a charismatic former president, broke away from his Maldivian Democratic Party and fielded his own candidate in the first round. He decided to remain neutral in the second round.

Yameen, leader of the Peoples National Congress, made the Maldives a part of Chinas Belt and Road initiative during his presidency from 2013 to 2018. The initiative is meant to build railroads, ports and highways to expand trade  and Chinas influence  across Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Maldives is made up of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean located by the main shipping route between the East and the West.

These five years have been the most peaceful and prosperous five years weve ever seen. We have had political peace, opposition candidates are not jailed every day, said Abdul Muhusin, who said he voted for Solih in the runoff on Saturday.

Another voter, Saeedh Hussein, said he chose Muiz because I want the Indian military to leave Maldives."

I dont believe the Maldivian military has any control. Only Muiz can change these things and make the Indian military leave Maldives, he said.

There were more than 282,000 eligible voters and turnout was 78% an hour before the polling stations closed.

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MALE: Opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz appeared to be headed for a win in the Maldives presidential runoff on Saturday, securing more than 53% of the vote after almost all the ballots were counted, local media reported. The election has turned into a virtual referendum on which regional power  India or China  will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. Mihaaru News reported that incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had received 46% of the vote and Muiz was leading by 17,000 votes, with only 11,000 votes still to be counted. Official results are expected later on Saturday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); It would be a surprise win for Muiz, who entered the fray as an underdog and was named only as a fallback candidate closer to the nomination deadline after the Supreme Court prevented his party's leader and former President Abdulla Yameen from contesting because he his serving a prison sentence for money laundering and corruption. Neither Muiz nor Solih got more than 50% in the first round of voting earlier in September. Solih, who was first elected president in 2018, was battling allegations by Muiz that he had allowed India an unchecked presence in the country. Muiz's party, the Peoples National Congress, is viewed as heavily pro-China. ALSO READ | The Maldives churn in the Indian Ocean Solih has insisted that the Indian military's presence in the Maldives was only to build a dockyard under an agreement between the two governments and that his countrys sovereignty will not be violated. Muiz promised that if he won the presidency, he would remove Indian troops from the Maldives and balance the countrys trade relations, which he said were heavily in Indias favor. An engineer, Muiz had served as the housing minister for seven years. He was mayor of Male, the capital, when he was chosen to run for president. Solih suffered a setback closer to the election when Mohamed Nasheed, a charismatic former president, broke away from his Maldivian Democratic Party and fielded his own candidate in the first round. He decided to remain neutral in the second round. Yameen, leader of the Peoples National Congress, made the Maldives a part of Chinas Belt and Road initiative during his presidency from 2013 to 2018. The initiative is meant to build railroads, ports and highways to expand trade  and Chinas influence  across Asia, Africa and Europe. The Maldives is made up of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean located by the main shipping route between the East and the West. These five years have been the most peaceful and prosperous five years weve ever seen. We have had political peace, opposition candidates are not jailed every day, said Abdul Muhusin, who said he voted for Solih in the runoff on Saturday. Another voter, Saeedh Hussein, said he chose Muiz because I want the Indian military to leave Maldives." I dont believe the Maldivian military has any control. Only Muiz can change these things and make the Indian military leave Maldives, he said. There were more than 282,000 eligible voters and turnout was 78% an hour before the polling stations closed. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
The Conversation By

The planet is on fire, but almost all the firefighters have deserted. At the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which began on September 19 in New York, the leaders of four of the five permanent members of the Security Council  the UNs most powerful executive body  were absent.

The absence of the top representatives of France, the United Kingdom, Russia and China, replaced by ministers or diplomats, demonstrated the emptying of the main global multilateral forum and highlighted the speeches of the two presidents who opened the General Assembly: Brazils Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the USs Joe Biden.

Both leaders, with decades of experience, referred bluntly to fires that are ravaging the planet - starting with the climate emergency and the war in Ukraine. And both, albeit in very different tones, pointed the finger at the central issue hanging over the meeting, which the absentees made clear: the crisis of the UN and the multilateral system that has been built around it in recent decades.

The UN was created in 1945, on the initiative of the United States and with the support of the allied countries that had defeated Nazism and fascism (primarily the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France) with the aim of preserving future generations from the scourge of war.

A year earlier, in 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreements had laid the foundations for the post-war global financial system, and created the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Over the years, dozens of agencies, funds and specialised programmes have been added, gradually building up what is known as the UN System.

Practically every country in the world is a member of the UN and the organisation deals with countless issues, ranging from protecting life in the oceans to coordinating satellite orbits, humanitarian aid operations, vaccination campaigns, agreements to limit climate change and, more recently, attempts to create regulations against disinformation on social networks and to combat tax avoidance by large international corporations.

An imperfect system, but one that worked

The system, as Biden pointed out in his speech, is not always perfect and has not always been perfect, but with its ups and downs, it worked reasonably well for seven decades. During the Cold War, the UN was a crucial channel of communication that contributed to avoiding nuclear conflict. After that, the UNs remit expanded further: for example, with the multiplication of peacekeeping operations.

Despite the genocide in Rwanda, the civil war in the former Yugoslavia and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, in those two decades the number of armed conflicts (between countries and within countries) steadily declined, as did the number of victims. The curve reversed in 2012, when the civil war in Syria worsened, and since then it has continued to rise year on year. According to the Conflict Data Programme at Uppsala University, 184 different conflicts were recorded in 2022, including the war in Ukraine, with more than 238,000 victims in total, compared to an average of 120 conflicts and 30,000 victims per year between 2001 and 2012.

The UNs inability to respond appropriately to the war in Ukraine is more an indicator than a trigger of the crisis of multilateralism. Russia has brought the war of aggression, of territorial annexation, back as a tool of foreign policy. But the same Western powers with permanent seats on the Security Council that are rightly criticising the Russian invasion today have resorted to the unilateral use of military force in recent decades, contrary to the UN Charter and international law.

What we usually call multilateralism is the way in which the international system adopts a grammar of principles and norms that, in theory, should be followed by all states. It is a process of institutionalising forms of coordination and cooperation in public policy that generates a certain stability and predictability in relations between states and societies.

In the way the UN works, there is an element of equality in the treatment of states (all 193 member countries have the right to vote and voice in the General Assembly), but there are also obvious asymmetries of power, such as the special status of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The so-called P5 have kept their veto power unchanged since 1945 and often ignore the rules they are supposed to enforce  a historical incongruity that Lula rightly attacked again in his speech in New York.

Global governance

Even so, this grammar organises a large part of global governance mechanisms, which increase international dialogue and cooperation, and decrease the propensity to use force as the main instrument for settling disputes.

The UN system is based on the idea that power relations between states should not be the only element that determines the shape of international relations. In fact, as recently as 2015, the multilateral system reached a consensus to adopt two global agreements of great importance and impact: the Paris Agreement for the reduction of greenhouse gases, responsible for the climate emergency, and the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.

From then on, the multilateral system was able to do little more than try to manage a growing number of humanitarian emergencies. In June 2023, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) estimated that there were 362 million people around the world in need of international aid to meet their basic survival needs.

A crisis of legitimacy and authority

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation, under heavy fire from the administration of then US President Donald Trump, was virtually ignored by the richest countries in its attempt to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines. The conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Israel/Palestine drag on, with no solution in sight. Efforts to strengthen the UNs capacity for preventive diplomacy, promised by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, have backfired, and the organisation has been unable to do anything to prevent the invasion of Ukraine or to facilitate a ceasefire. The system has apparently ground to a halt.

It continues to shape a large part of international interaction, but today there are two key areas of resistance to it: the emergence of countries in the Global South willing to reinterpret the hegemony of the liberal order, and the growth of a transnationally articulated radical right.

In the international debate, there is much more attention paid to the first question than the second. However, as the experience of the Trump and Bolsonaro governments has shown, the radical rights sovereigntist vision is at odds with the essence of multilateralism, which requires agreed transfers of national sovereignty in favour of common goals, such as the fight against climate change. Its no coincidence that the Spanish radical right party Vox has been running a campaign against the 2030 Agenda for years, which has been expanding throughout Latin America. Even so, the entire UN bureaucracy, from Secretary-General Guterres onwards, is reluctant to engage in open conflict with the radical right.

A strategic problem

For Brazil, and Latin America in general, the crisis of the multilateral system is a strategic problem. The region has an old multilateralist tradition, in which conflicts between states have been resolved by diplomatic means and not by arms. A dozen countries from the region took part in the creation of the League of Nations in 1920, and 20 were among the 51 founding nations of the UN. To this day, the multilateral space represents the only international arena in which the region has any influence, since from an economic and military point of view Latin Americas weight is extremely limited: the region is home to 8% of the worlds population, but in 2022 it accounted for only 5.26% of global GDP.

At the same time, the collective influence of the so-called Global South is increasing. In the weeks leading up to the UN General Assembly, the leaders of developing nations met at the BRICS summits in South Africa, the G20 in India and the G77+China in Cuba.

For Brazil and the other countries of the Global South, the challenge is to maintain political independence and action, seeking to defend the interests of their populations, without taking sides in the dispute over the new global hegemony between China and the United States. Its the concept of active non-alignment.

Concluding his speech in New York, Lula recalled that the UN needs to fulfil its role as a builder of a more just, supportive and fraternal world. But it will only do so if its members have the courage to proclaim their indignation at inequality and work tirelessly to overcome it.

Brazil and the Global South must endeavour to reform the multilateral system, such as the unsustainable composition of the Security Council, while respecting all its norms - especially with regard to the UN Charter and all human rights protection mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court. Only in this way will it be possible to reaffirm the legitimacy of multilateralism, reduce global power asymmetries and try to put out the fires that threaten our planet.

This is an edited version of the original article. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Monica Herz, Full Professor, Institute of International Relations (PUC-Rio), Associate Dean for Research of the Social Science Center (PUC-Rio), Senior Researcher, BRICS Policy Center, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and Giancarlo Summa, Co-fundador com Monica Herz do projeto MUDRAL (Multilateralismo e Direita Radical na America Latina), Pesquisador no Centre d'Etudes Sociologiques et Politiques Raymond Aron (CESPRA), Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)

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The planet is on fire, but almost all the firefighters have deserted. At the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which began on September 19 in New York, the leaders of four of the five permanent members of the Security Council  the UNs most powerful executive body  were absent. The absence of the top representatives of France, the United Kingdom, Russia and China, replaced by ministers or diplomats, demonstrated the emptying of the main global multilateral forum and highlighted the speeches of the two presidents who opened the General Assembly: Brazils Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the USs Joe Biden. Both leaders, with decades of experience, referred bluntly to fires that are ravaging the planet - starting with the climate emergency and the war in Ukraine. And both, albeit in very different tones, pointed the finger at the central issue hanging over the meeting, which the absentees made clear: the crisis of the UN and the multilateral system that has been built around it in recent decades.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The UN was created in 1945, on the initiative of the United States and with the support of the allied countries that had defeated Nazism and fascism (primarily the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France) with the aim of preserving future generations from the scourge of war. A year earlier, in 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreements had laid the foundations for the post-war global financial system, and created the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Over the years, dozens of agencies, funds and specialised programmes have been added, gradually building up what is known as the UN System. Practically every country in the world is a member of the UN and the organisation deals with countless issues, ranging from protecting life in the oceans to coordinating satellite orbits, humanitarian aid operations, vaccination campaigns, agreements to limit climate change and, more recently, attempts to create regulations against disinformation on social networks and to combat tax avoidance by large international corporations. An imperfect system, but one that worked The system, as Biden pointed out in his speech, is not always perfect and has not always been perfect, but with its ups and downs, it worked reasonably well for seven decades. During the Cold War, the UN was a crucial channel of communication that contributed to avoiding nuclear conflict. After that, the UNs remit expanded further: for example, with the multiplication of peacekeeping operations. Despite the genocide in Rwanda, the civil war in the former Yugoslavia and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, in those two decades the number of armed conflicts (between countries and within countries) steadily declined, as did the number of victims. The curve reversed in 2012, when the civil war in Syria worsened, and since then it has continued to rise year on year. According to the Conflict Data Programme at Uppsala University, 184 different conflicts were recorded in 2022, including the war in Ukraine, with more than 238,000 victims in total, compared to an average of 120 conflicts and 30,000 victims per year between 2001 and 2012. The UNs inability to respond appropriately to the war in Ukraine is more an indicator than a trigger of the crisis of multilateralism. Russia has brought the war of aggression, of territorial annexation, back as a tool of foreign policy. But the same Western powers with permanent seats on the Security Council that are rightly criticising the Russian invasion today have resorted to the unilateral use of military force in recent decades, contrary to the UN Charter and international law. What we usually call multilateralism is the way in which the international system adopts a grammar of principles and norms that, in theory, should be followed by all states. It is a process of institutionalising forms of coordination and cooperation in public policy that generates a certain stability and predictability in relations between states and societies. In the way the UN works, there is an element of equality in the treatment of states (all 193 member countries have the right to vote and voice in the General Assembly), but there are also obvious asymmetries of power, such as the special status of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The so-called P5 have kept their veto power unchanged since 1945 and often ignore the rules they are supposed to enforce  a historical incongruity that Lula rightly attacked again in his speech in New York. Global governance Even so, this grammar organises a large part of global governance mechanisms, which increase international dialogue and cooperation, and decrease the propensity to use force as the main instrument for settling disputes. The UN system is based on the idea that power relations between states should not be the only element that determines the shape of international relations. In fact, as recently as 2015, the multilateral system reached a consensus to adopt two global agreements of great importance and impact: the Paris Agreement for the reduction of greenhouse gases, responsible for the climate emergency, and the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. From then on, the multilateral system was able to do little more than try to manage a growing number of humanitarian emergencies. In June 2023, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) estimated that there were 362 million people around the world in need of international aid to meet their basic survival needs. A crisis of legitimacy and authority During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation, under heavy fire from the administration of then US President Donald Trump, was virtually ignored by the richest countries in its attempt to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines. The conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Israel/Palestine drag on, with no solution in sight. Efforts to strengthen the UNs capacity for preventive diplomacy, promised by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, have backfired, and the organisation has been unable to do anything to prevent the invasion of Ukraine or to facilitate a ceasefire. The system has apparently ground to a halt. It continues to shape a large part of international interaction, but today there are two key areas of resistance to it: the emergence of countries in the Global South willing to reinterpret the hegemony of the liberal order, and the growth of a transnationally articulated radical right. In the international debate, there is much more attention paid to the first question than the second. However, as the experience of the Trump and Bolsonaro governments has shown, the radical rights sovereigntist vision is at odds with the essence of multilateralism, which requires agreed transfers of national sovereignty in favour of common goals, such as the fight against climate change. Its no coincidence that the Spanish radical right party Vox has been running a campaign against the 2030 Agenda for years, which has been expanding throughout Latin America. Even so, the entire UN bureaucracy, from Secretary-General Guterres onwards, is reluctant to engage in open conflict with the radical right. A strategic problem For Brazil, and Latin America in general, the crisis of the multilateral system is a strategic problem. The region has an old multilateralist tradition, in which conflicts between states have been resolved by diplomatic means and not by arms. A dozen countries from the region took part in the creation of the League of Nations in 1920, and 20 were among the 51 founding nations of the UN. To this day, the multilateral space represents the only international arena in which the region has any influence, since from an economic and military point of view Latin Americas weight is extremely limited: the region is home to 8% of the worlds population, but in 2022 it accounted for only 5.26% of global GDP. At the same time, the collective influence of the so-called Global South is increasing. In the weeks leading up to the UN General Assembly, the leaders of developing nations met at the BRICS summits in South Africa, the G20 in India and the G77+China in Cuba. For Brazil and the other countries of the Global South, the challenge is to maintain political independence and action, seeking to defend the interests of their populations, without taking sides in the dispute over the new global hegemony between China and the United States. Its the concept of active non-alignment. Concluding his speech in New York, Lula recalled that the UN needs to fulfil its role as a builder of a more just, supportive and fraternal world. But it will only do so if its members have the courage to proclaim their indignation at inequality and work tirelessly to overcome it. Brazil and the Global South must endeavour to reform the multilateral system, such as the unsustainable composition of the Security Council, while respecting all its norms - especially with regard to the UN Charter and all human rights protection mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court. Only in this way will it be possible to reaffirm the legitimacy of multilateralism, reduce global power asymmetries and try to put out the fires that threaten our planet. This is an edited version of the original article. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Monica Herz, Full Professor, Institute of International Relations (PUC-Rio), Associate Dean for Research of the Social Science Center (PUC-Rio), Senior Researcher, BRICS Policy Center, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and Giancarlo Summa, Co-fundador com Monica Herz do projeto MUDRAL (Multilateralismo e Direita Radical na America Latina), Pesquisador no Centre d'Etudes Sociologiques et Politiques Raymond Aron (CESPRA), Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By AFP

HARARE: Three miners were killed and 18 feared buried after a shaft in an informal Zimbabwean gold mine collapsed, state television said Saturday.

The accident occurred on Friday in Chegutu, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of the capital Harare, ZBC said.

"Three bodies have been retrieved from the collapsed Bay Horse Mine in Chegutu," it said.

"The bodies were found underneath some rocks in a search operation being undertaken by the government with the assistance of some artisanal miners."

The southern African nation has vast reserves of platinum, diamonds, gold, coal and copper. Due to the floundering economy, illegal mining is rife and often takes place under dangerous conditions.

Accidents are common here. In February 2019, 24 miners died when an abandoned pit flooded after torrential rains in central Zimbabwe.

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HARARE: Three miners were killed and 18 feared buried after a shaft in an informal Zimbabwean gold mine collapsed, state television said Saturday. The accident occurred on Friday in Chegutu, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of the capital Harare, ZBC said. "Three bodies have been retrieved from the collapsed Bay Horse Mine in Chegutu," it said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The bodies were found underneath some rocks in a search operation being undertaken by the government with the assistance of some artisanal miners." The southern African nation has vast reserves of platinum, diamonds, gold, coal and copper. Due to the floundering economy, illegal mining is rife and often takes place under dangerous conditions. Accidents are common here. In February 2019, 24 miners died when an abandoned pit flooded after torrential rains in central Zimbabwe. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Weddings are one of the most joyful occasions and a great opportunity to have fun at a banquet. However, sometimes ill-mannered guests spoil the mood of the newlyweds and turn the celebration into a nightmare. The rules of wedding etiquette determine not only the dress code but also some organizational issues.

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Narcity publication shared whether it is necessary to respond to invitations in advance and whether it is possible to bring children to the wedding without warning. Etiquette expert Susy Fossati, director of the Avignon Etiquette consulting company, shared her valuable advice.

Do I need to respond to an invitation?

You should accept an invitation if you are not sure whether you will be able to attend. Let them know as early as possible because the couple should also calculate the budget

Can I bring someone else with me?

You can bring a friend, sibling, or partner only if it is explicitly stated in the invitation. This may not be the name of a specific person, but simply a +1 note. If you want to bring a loved one with you, check with the newlyweds first.

Children at the wedding

Children bring joy and happiness, but some couples don't want kids to be present at their celebrations. Children are noisy, active and restless. They can cry at the wrong time. Perhaps the theme of the wedding does not imply the presence of children (for example, if the ceremony takes place in a place that is not very safe for children: near a body of water, on a ship, etc.). Thus, inviting children to a wedding is a personal choice. The fact that you have been invited to the ceremony does not mean that your children are also on the guest list. Therefore, talk to the newlyweds about this.

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Dress code rules

The choice of clothes should be approached with taste because weddings are usually formal events. The couple often indicates the dress code in the invitation. Women shouldn't wear white dresses unless the dress code requires it. You should also avoid immodest outfits, such as dresses with an open back or mini dresses that are too short. Avoid anything that attracts excessive inappropriate attention and looks too revealing.

Is it possible not to give a gift

If you are going to a wedding, be sure to bring a gift. Consider all the nuances: your relationship with the couple and whether you can afford to spend a lot of money on an expensive gift.

Of course, the main thing is attention. You shouldn't spend the last of your money on gifts. Start from your financial capabilities.

Toasts and speeches

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Wait for your turn to make a toast and congratulate the newlyweds. Consider the number of guests and the relevance of the greeting. You should refrain from making rude jokes about the bride or groom. It is unlikely that anyone will want to listen to a long 20-minute speech, so prepare concise, sincere words in advance.

Telephone etiquette

Put the phone down. You will read the news and scroll through your social media feed later. Be present at the celebration. Use your phone only to take a photo to remember the great time.

"The use of phones or any electronics at the table at any official event should be strictly prohibited. Taking photos at the table is also undesirable," Fossati emphasized.

Alcohol etiquette

Don't drink too much alcohol. Getting drunk at a wedding is at least rude. Everyone knows their limits. While one or two glasses may be a good start for some people, it may be the maximum portion for another person. Drink responsibly.

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Earlier, OBOZREVATEL published the basic rules of alcohol etiquette.

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By PTI

KARACHI: The death toll in the two suicide attacks in Pakistan's restive Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces has risen to 65 even as counter-terrorism authorities said they have registered a first information report in connection with the Balochistan blast on Saturday.

A total of 60 people were killed and more than 60 others were injured in a grisly suicide blast on Friday in Balochistan that targeted a procession to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday near the Madina Masjid at a place called Mastung, an official said.

In the second bomb attack that took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu, targeting a police station's mosque, five people were killed, and 12 others were injured as the mosque's roof collapsed in the explosion's impact, it said.

Wasim Baig, the spokesperson for Quetta's Civil Hospital, where several of the injured were admitted, on Saturday said that the blast toll has now risen to 60.

"The death toll of the Mustang blast has risen to 60. Among those injured at least 25 have been discharged," he said.

Earlier on Friday, it was reported that 54 people were killed and over 100 others were injured as the powerful suicide blast ripped through the mosque.

Hours later, another blast at the mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu city had killed at least four people and injured 12 others.

ALSO READ | At least 34 people killed, over 130 injured in suicide blast in Pakistan

Mastung's City Station House Officer Mohammad Javed Lehri confirmed on Friday that the explosion was a suicide blast and that the bomber exploded himself next to the Deputy Superintendent of Police's car.

On Saturday, the Dawn quoted a statement from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) that said an FIR with murder charges and terrorism offences has been filed against an unidentified attacker.

"No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, however, the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan, denied its involvement," the report added.

The CTD said the investigation into the incident was ongoing and no arrests have been made so far.

Meanwhile, the caretaker government of Balochistan announced three days of mourning in the wake of the attack.

The Pakistan daily also gave a chronological dataset to show how Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

Earlier this month, at least 11 people, including Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah, were injured in a blast in the same district; a week prior to that, a security official was gunned down at a bus stand by unidentified men.

In May this year, unidentified attackers targeted a polio vaccination team in the Killi Sour Karez area on the outskirts of Mastung, resulting in a policeman being killed, it said.

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KARACHI: The death toll in the two suicide attacks in Pakistan's restive Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces has risen to 65 even as counter-terrorism authorities said they have registered a first information report in connection with the Balochistan blast on Saturday. A total of 60 people were killed and more than 60 others were injured in a grisly suicide blast on Friday in Balochistan that targeted a procession to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday near the Madina Masjid at a place called Mastung, an official said. In the second bomb attack that took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu, targeting a police station's mosque, five people were killed, and 12 others were injured as the mosque's roof collapsed in the explosion's impact, it said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Wasim Baig, the spokesperson for Quetta's Civil Hospital, where several of the injured were admitted, on Saturday said that the blast toll has now risen to 60. "The death toll of the Mustang blast has risen to 60. Among those injured at least 25 have been discharged," he said. Earlier on Friday, it was reported that 54 people were killed and over 100 others were injured as the powerful suicide blast ripped through the mosque. Hours later, another blast at the mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu city had killed at least four people and injured 12 others. ALSO READ | At least 34 people killed, over 130 injured in suicide blast in Pakistan Mastung's City Station House Officer Mohammad Javed Lehri confirmed on Friday that the explosion was a suicide blast and that the bomber exploded himself next to the Deputy Superintendent of Police's car. On Saturday, the Dawn quoted a statement from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) that said an FIR with murder charges and terrorism offences has been filed against an unidentified attacker. "No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, however, the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan, denied its involvement," the report added. The CTD said the investigation into the incident was ongoing and no arrests have been made so far. Meanwhile, the caretaker government of Balochistan announced three days of mourning in the wake of the attack. The Pakistan daily also gave a chronological dataset to show how Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year. Earlier this month, at least 11 people, including Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah, were injured in a blast in the same district; a week prior to that, a security official was gunned down at a bus stand by unidentified men. In May this year, unidentified attackers targeted a polio vaccination team in the Killi Sour Karez area on the outskirts of Mastung, resulting in a policeman being killed, it said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Phnom Penh, Sep 27

C ambodia recorded some 3.5 million international tourists in the first eight months of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 250.8 per cent, Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Wednesday.

He released the figures in a message to mark the World Tourism Day 2023 under the theme "Tourism and Green Investments", reports Xinhua news agency.

"With our Visit Cambodia Year 2023 campaign, Cambodia is projected to receive approximately 5 million foreign tourists in 2023, an expected rise of 120 per cent (from 2.27 million in 2022)," Hun Manet said.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the number of international visitors to the Southeast Asian country is predicted to reach 7 million in 2025, surpassing the pre-Covid pandemic level of 6.6 million in 2019.

Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia's economy, in addition to garment, footwear and travel goods export, agriculture, and construction and real estate.

The country has four world heritage sites, namely the Angkor Archaeological Park in the northwestern Siem Reap province, the Sambor Prei Kuk Archaeological Site in the central Kampong Thom province, and the Preah Vihear Temple and the Koh Ker Archaeological Site, both in the northwestern Preah Vihear province.

Besides, Cambodia boasts a 450-km pristine coastline stretching across four southwestern provinces of Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong.

3.5 million int'l tourists visit Cambodia this year

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Amit Trivedi to release his album 'Songs of Trance 2' on Oct 10

Mumbai, Sep 28

N ational Award Winning Music Composer Amit Trivedi, who is known for Dev.D, Lootera, Bombay Velvet, Manmarziyaan, is coming up with his new music album, titled Songs of Trance 2 (SOT 2).

The album follows the success of his earlier album Songs of Trance which hit the airwaves in 2020.

The album, which is slated to release on October 10, will see Amitcollaborating with diverse talents across the board. It consists of six songs, infused with Electronic beats, lush instrumentation, and entrancing vocals.

Talking about the album, Amit said:  Songs of Trance 2' (SOT 2) is not just music to me, it's a piece of my soul. Creating this album was a very personal and creative journey. I hope these melodies touch the hearts as they did mine.

He further mentioned, Each song is a precious gem, and I can't wait to share them. When the audience listens, I hope they feel the emotions that went into creating this."

The album will be released under the composers independent label, Amit Trivedi Azaad.

Amit is known for his knack towards off-beat sounds and experimentation in the soundscape. His soundtrack for Bombay Velvet is one of the finest in the Hindi cinema and remains the only full Jazz album of Bollywood till date.

Amit Trivedi to release his album 'Songs of Trance 2' on Oct 10

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Mumbai, Sep 28

A ctor Sunny Kaushal announced his foray into music with his first song Jhandey, a hip-hop rap number.

Sunny has not just sung, but also written the song and collaborated with the music producer Bharg Kale.

Sunny chose his birthday for this new beginning as it symbolises a rebirth of sorts by exploring his long-time passion for creating music.

Jhandey, which dropped today is now available on all leading music streaming platforms.

The song embarks a new journey for the Shiddat actor, who aims to release many more unspoken words and unsung songs through his independent YouTube channel SunSunnyKhez.

The actor wrote: "Main karna ohi jo mainu pasand,par duniya yeh kaindi Jhandey tu gadd. Lyrical video of Jhandey is out now. Have a listen, have fun! Happy birthday to me."

On the film front, Sunny has a line up of interesting projects like Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba, 'Letters to Mr Khanna' and Shiddat 2 in the pipeline.

Sunny Kaushal drops his hip-hop song titled 'Jhandey'

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A photo of the surface of Mars taken by NASA's Viking-1 spacecraft back in 1976 became a sensation and made people speculate about alien bases on the Red Planet. After all, it showed the features of a real human face. When scientists explained why this happened, they also came close to unraveling the origin of the art of painting.

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Inverse wrote about the connection between these two events. They are connected by a psychological phenomenon called pareidolia.

What is pareidolia?

Pareidolia is a type of visual (and not only) illusion when we begin to see in one object or set of objects the features of something completely different. The simplest example is playing with clouds when you look up at the sky and see the outlines of different objects in the cloud. These can be animals, objects, human figures, etc. A Mickey Mouse on a scooter with a guitar can not float above you. But your brain puts together something familiar from random shapes.

This phenomenon often makes us see the features of living creatures: human or animal figures. Scientists explain this by saying that ancient people, who could see such figures even where there were none, often avoided danger. They ran away from an imaginary bear so that they were less likely to fall victim to a real one. This is how the psychological phenomenon took hold in the population.

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What was actually observed on Mars?

A 1976 photo, in which lighted and darkened areas form a figure similar to a human face half hidden in shadow, captured a Martian mountain. This made conspiracy theorists fantasize that it was actually a man-made sculpture left by representatives of an extraterrestrial civilization. According to various assumptions, it could have been a stone image or even the remains of a giant. But the reason was quite different.

The equipment installed on Viking-1 took pictures with a rather low resolution. That is why the detail of the mountain's relief left much to be desired. When the same area was later photographed with more advanced equipment, it turned out that nothing resembled a person. It was just a mountain with a rectangular base and several crevices. If you look closely, you can see a set of shapes on it that resemble the shape of an eye, but nothing more.

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What does painting have to do with it?

A recent study published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal found that the pareidolia that made us see faces on Mars may have been the source of inspiration for the first paintings that ancient people left on cave walls. Archaeologist Izzy Visscher and her colleagues studied Paleolithic drawings in caves in northern Spain. Some of them are as old as 40,000 years. It turned out that they often included natural features of the cave walls in the forms depicted on them.

The explanation for this is as follows: people looked at the space around them in the flickering light of the fire, and the shadow it cast seemed to them like the back of a bison. And this could inspire them to draw, for example, the rest of the animal.

"However, while our research has shown that pareidolia did have some influence on cave artists, this was not always the case, giving us a fascinating insight into the work of these early artists," Visscher said in a statement. She suggested that this art was part of a "creative dialog" with the cave walls. "Ancient people drew inspiration from its shapes, cracks, bends, and depressions for their art. Later, all painting art emerged from these creative experiments.

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Earlier, OBOZREVATEL talked about the discovery that convinced scientists that humans began to engage in crafts and think creatively even before they evolved into the Homo sapiens species.

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Hyderabad, Sep 28

L eading Tollywood actor Ram Charans fans have come together to celebrate his 16 years journey in the industry.

They hailed it as a significant milestone in his career. They believe that this journey has been nothing short of spectacular, filled with awe-inspiring performances and even an Oscar win for the blockbuster RRR.

The fans believe that from his debut in 2007 to becoming a global star, Ram Charan's career trajectory has been a testament to his dedication and innate talent. His journey began with Chirutha, and since then, he has been unstoppable. With each film, he has showcased his versatility, conquering a wide range of roles and genres.

Ram Charan's movies, including RRR, Magadheera, Orange, Dhruva, and Naayak, have consistently been blockbuster hits, with him as the standout performer. His fans are not just admirers; they are devoted enthusiasts who celebrate his every success.

In a special fan tribute, his blockbuster 'Rangasthalam' co-starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu, was re-released in theatres at various locations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The screening was held at select theaters in Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram, Vizag, Rajahmundry, Nellore, Anantapur and Hyderabad.

Theaters were adorned with confetti, and fans cheered passionately for their beloved star.

Fans celebrate Ram Charan's 16 years in film industry

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Los Angeles, Sep 29

R eality TV personality Kourtney Kardashian has branded her sister and star Kim Kardashian a "witch" and "narcissist " in a fierce row.

The 44-year-old reality star was seen arguing with her sister, 42, over the phone as the tense exchange was sparked by a conversation about the latter's collaboration with Dolce and Gabbana, which came just six months after the fashion house designed Kourtney's wedding dress, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

In scenes aired on 'The Kardashians' this week, the siblings clashed over the situation, and things blew up when Kim told her: "It's not that original. Everyone does '90s, it's not a new concept."

Kourtney snapped, ranting: "You're talking about the bulls*** details because it's all your egotistical, selfish mind can think about it. You cannot stand someone else being the centre of attention. You came to my wedding. You couldn't be happy. You complained from the second you got there till the second you left.

"That's what it's about. Forget about you couldn't be happy. You couldn't be happy for me. You couldn't be happy that I was the centre of attention and you weren't."

Kim insisted "all of this never happened" and that she was "so happy" for her sister when she married Travis Barker in May 2022, but Kourtney insisted she doesn't "need you guys anymore".

Kim claimed Kourtney's friends have told the family they're concerned about her becoming "such a different person", but Kourtney called the SKIMS founder a "narcissist", insisting: "I don't give a f*** what anyone thinks about me."

She added: "I have a happy life and the happiness comes when I get the f*** away from you guys. Specifically you."

Kim responded: "Your kids have even come to me with problems that they have, and they're concerned, so"

However, Kourtney fired back: "Is that helpful? You're, like, adding it into a fight to have a side. It's you and my friends and my kids and everyone against me. It's like you're just a witch and I hate you."

In a confession, she later suggested her famous family sometimes say cruel things just to hurt each other.

She said: "It's where I work hard at in therapy to change and when I'm reminded to those types of things, it really is hurtful. Why would my family treat me that way?"

Kourtney says 'I hate you!' to 'narcissist' Kim Kardashian

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Vishal Bhardwaj: There is a whistle in 'Khufiya' which is my favourite melody

Mumbai, Sep 28

F ilmmaker and music composer Vishal Bhardwaj, who is all set for the release of spy thriller 'Khufiya', has opened up on the music of the movie, and shared his favourite melody.

Directed by Vishal, Khufiya stars Tabu, Ali Fazal, Wamiqa Gabbi, Ashish Vidyarthi and Azmeri Haque Badhon.

It is based on true events and is based on a book Escape to Nowhere, written by the former Chief of the Counter Espionage Unit of R&AW, Amar Bhushan.

Vishal, who performed with Rekha Bhardwaj in the recent album launch of 'Khufiya', spoke about the rhythms and musical cadence.

He said: "The process of creating music for a film is usually so organic and mixed up that its very difficult for me to bifurcate it. In the case of 'Khufiya,' there is a theme in the film, a whistle which is my favourite melody."

"I thought I had not exploited it fully and hence I decided to create a song around it - 'Dil Dushman'. It's an exciting first for me, to create a song for a film months after the film's music was initially composed. I am thrilled that we had the opportunity to unveil our album for all of you, and I was even more delighted to perform live and share the stage with Rekha at this event," shared Vishal.

" 'Khufiya' is a film that features a total of nine songs, sung by some of the finest in the industry, Rekha Bhardwaj, Arijit Sing, Sunidhi Chauhan, Jyoti Nooran, Rahul Ram. Each of these songs contribute to the film's unique musical tapestry," added Vishal.

During the album launch, the iconic duo -- Vishal and Rekha took the stage together, and enchanted the audience with their harmonious melodies. There were solo acts from renowned artists like Sunidhi Chauhan and Rahul Ram.

The songs include -- 'Dil Dushman' by Sunidhi Chauhan; 'Matt Aana' by Rekha Bhardwaj; 'Mann Na Rangaave' by Rahul Ram; 'Na Hosh Chale' by Vishal Bhardwaj; 'Bhuji Bhuji' by Rahul Ram, and 'Tanhaai' by Sunidhi Chauhan.

The story of love, loyalty, revenge and betrayal will air on Netflix from October 5.

Vishal Bhardwaj: There is a whistle in 'Khufiya' which is my favourite melody

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Mumbai, Sep 28

D ebutant actors Rajveer Deol and Paloma Dhillon have geared up for their film Dono, celebrating the wedding season with the films latest track Khamma Ghani sung by the duo Shivam Mahadevan and Shreya Goshal.

A light-hearted, wholesome yet energetic dance song, the vocal duo is able to to harbour the full feeling of wedding festivities.

The song in itself is a part of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loys album who composed it which much like any of their compositions does its job well.

The melody of Khamma Ghani and its whole composition though have been done with a typical filmy flavour and has a strong sense of authenticity, simply because it feels very real due to not being either too glossy or glamorous.

Rather than the typical glossed up overproduced songs from Bollywood, Khamma Ghani knows when to call it breaks and delivers a sonic landscape that reminds you of any wedding song that plays out when the bride and groom tie the knot.

The song is about a couple preparing for their wedding festivities and celebrations, and simply because its production has the sense of pulling back. This makes it deliver the feeling of an average couple, exploring their relationship amid a life defining moment.

Small moments like these which often go unnoticed are often what matter the most, and delivering authenticity despite having a typical filmy flavour is no small feat. This also works not just due to the production but also the soulful and powerful vocals of Shreya Goshal and Shivam Mahadevan, both of whom are able to compliment each others vocals very nicely, as they have great vocal chemistry knowing when to pull back on the vocals and when to go all out.

Coming to the music video, Khamma Ghani highlights the Rajasthani vibe and a truly flavour aesthetic of a wedding song in Jaipur. It has some simple, well choreographed dancing, moments intercutting between the couple just fooling around and ultimately just letting go and enjoying themselves.

The lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil with its choreography being handled by Vijay Ganguly.

Directed by Avnish S. Barjatya and produced by Kamal Kumar Barjatya, the late Rajkumar Barjatya, and Ajit Kumar Barjatya, Dono will hit theatres on October 5, 2023.

'Khamma Ghani' from 'Dono' is the song for wedding season

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Mumbai, Sep 28

A ctors Shabir Ahluwalia and Neeharika Roy have expressed gratitude to their fans as their show 'Pyaar Ka Pehla Naam Radha Mohan' has completed 500 episodes.

A show that started as a romantic drama based in modern-day Vrindavan, has emerged as an audience favourite since its launch. With an engaging storyline and strong characters such as Mohan (Shabir) Radha (Neeharika), and Damini (Sambhabana Mohanty), the show has kept the viewers on the edge of their seats.

In recent episodes, viewers witnessed how after Daminis plan of getting Radha killed fails, and in retaliation she cleverly gets Mohans mother to sign property papers of Trivedi Bhawan on her name. Using this to her advantage, she asks the family members an option to leave the house or stay back without Radha.

Having entertained the audience for almost one and a half years now, the cast and crew are very grateful to the fans who have made the show reach the significant milestone of 500 successful episodes. In fact, they even celebrated the momentous occasion with a small celebration on the sets of the show.

Talking about the same, Shabir said, "This is a great feeling for all of us. It doesnt feel like weve completed 500 episodes already. Weve been working on the show for almost one and a half years now and the love we have received for our hard work is unparalleled, we are grateful to each viewer of the show."

"The credit goes to every cast and crew member who have worked tirelessly every day since we have started shooting. I would love to thank all my fans and the shows fans, for joining us in this remarkable journey. Waiting for many more such celebrations in the future," he added.

Neeharika commented: "I am incredibly grateful and humbled as our show has crossed a milestone of 500 episodes. It showcases that the hard work, dedication, and passion of every member of our amazing cast and crew, has been worth it. This show is my first show as the lead, and the journey has been amazing."

"Playing the role of Radha has been a roller coaster ride for me, I have learned a lot. We have achieved this milestone just because of our fans, I just hope they continue to shower their love on us like they have done," she added.

In the upcoming episodes, it will be interesting for the viewers to witness what will Radha and Mohan do when they face the obstacles created by Damini?

The show airs on Zee TV.

Shabir Ahluwalia, Neeharika Roy 'grateful' as 'Pyaar Ka Pehla Naam Radha Mohan' mark 500 episodes

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New Delhi, Sep 28

M icrosoft has started to roll out a new update to its Paint app called Paint Cocreator, a new AI-powered experience powered by DALL-E which will help you create artwork in Paint by describing in a few words what you want to create.

The company rolled out the update to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels.

The users will need to optionally select an art style and then click Create. Paint Cocreator will generate three variations of artwork for them to choose from. Select any of them to add to the canvas to start creating.

"We will be rolling out access slowly at first, so when you get the update, you must first join the waitlist by signing in with your Microsoft account and clicking on the new Cocreator button in the toolbar. You will get an email notification when you are in the preview, and we will give you 50 credits to get started. Each credit lets you generate a new set of images," Microsoft said in a blogpost.

Paint Cocreator is available in preview to users in English in the following regions, which include the US, France, the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, and Germany.

Earlier this month, Microsoft rolled out a new "background removal" tool in its Paint app on Windows 11 Insider builds.

With this tool, users will be able to remove the background from any picture with the click of a button.

To use the new tool, users will need to paste or import content onto the canvas and then, in the toolbar, click the new remove background button to remove the background from your entire image.

Microsoft's 'Paint Cocreator' lets you create artwork by describing few words

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New Delhi, Sep 28

A ir India on Thursday announced its partnership with celebrated fashion designer Manish Malhotra to design new uniforms for over 10,000 airline employees, including cabin crew, cockpit crew, ground and security staff.

Meanwhile, Malhotra and his team have begun meeting Air Indias staff, conducting discussions and fitting sessions with them to better understand their specialised needs.

Air India is delighted to be collaborating with Manish Malhotra to realise our shared ambition of representing the very best of a vibrant, bold and progressive India on the world stage," said Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India.

"We are working closely with Manish and his team to combine elements of our brand, our heritage and our culture, together with the unique requirements of the airline environment, for what we hope will be a fresh and exciting new look that supports and represents the new Air India, said Wilson.

"Its an absolute honour to collaborate with Air India, our national flying ambassadors. Reimagining their uniforms is the onset of a journey of joy and collaboration, and I am excited to embark on it. Our shared ideology is simple yet profound: To evolve without erasing, to modernise without forgetting. Together, we aim to intertwine tradition with the future, crafting uniforms where comfort meets authenticity, wrapped in timeless elegance, said Manish Malhotra.

Manish Malhotra to give Air India staff uniforms a designer look

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Mumbai, Sep 28

A ctor Sunny Deol's latest offering 'Gadar 2', a period drama is now the highest grossing Hindi film earning Rs 524.75 crore nett in India. The period drama has also beaten superstar Shah Rukh Khan's 'Pathaan', which released in January earlier this year, at the box-office.

'Pathaan', a spy action thriller, was the highest grossing movie ever in Hindi for months now.

However, there was chatter whether 'Gadar 2' or Shah Rukh's latest release 'Jawan' would make the record by dethroning 'Pathaan' on taking the top spot.

Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh on Thursday took to X, to set the record.

He said the lifetime business of 'Pathaan' in Hindi was Rs 524.53 crore whereas 'Gadar 2' has raked in Rs 524.75 crore nett.

Adarsh wrote: "#Gadar2 crosses *lifetime biz* of #Pathaan #Hindi [Rs 524.53 cr] in #India Now No. 1 HIGHEST GROSSING FILM in #Hindi in #India Biz at a glance Week 1: Rs 284.63 cr. Week 2: Rs 134.47 cr;Week 3: Rs 63.35 cr; Week 4: Rs 27.55 cr, Week 5: Rs 7.28 cr; Week 6: Rs 4.72 cr; Weekend 7: Rs 2.75 cr [till Wed]. Total: Rs 524.75 cr #India biz. Nett BOC. #Boxoffice."

'Gadar 2' is directed by Anil Sharma. A sequel to Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), it stars Sunny Deol, Ameesha Patel and Utkarsh Sharma, who reprise their roles from the previous film.

In the film, Tara Singh returns to Pakistan in order to rescue his imprisoned son before the India-Pakistani War of 1971.

Sunny Deol's 'Gadar 2' becomes highest grossing Hindi film; beats SRK's 'Pathaan'

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New Delhi, Sep 28

S ome filmmakers do get carried away with adulation from a section of movie-watchers who are out and out rabid supporters of an ideology. For obvious reasons, their captive audience is charged up and won't listen to any contrarian opinion from another group of followers.

I am all for political affiliation, but when it comes to the arts, such loyalties should not interfere with the body of your work to the extent that it degenerates into propaganda.

Vivek Agnihotri, who is hellbent upon proving his loyalty to the present ruling dispensation, has been making movies with a single-point agenda: to flag as biased an opinion that is contrary to the one he professes and rewrite history to suit his extreme right-wing beliefs.

Two of his earlier films, The Kashmir Files and The Tashkent Files, tried to create the myth that he believes is nothing but the truth. Really?

For obvious reasons, he has scant regard for some of our most illustrious historians. And he propagates his own prejudiced one-sided viewpoint with ludicrous justifications.

His latest, 'The Vaccine War', has an interesting premise: to project India as the saviour of the world during the Covid-19 pandemic that killed thousands of people globally.

Also hailed are India's unsung heroes, primarily all the doctors, nurses and support staff, and the unacknowledged scientistsm who were mostly women. We all know that these warriors struggled, fought and spent sleepless nights and endeavoured to develop vaccines indigenously.

So far so good.

The film is based on former ICMR director-general Dr Balram Bhargava's book, 'Going Viral: Making Covaxin', that digs deep into the lives of the scientific community. It deteriorates into the vortex of propaganda and underscores Agnihotris personal single-point agenda of broadcasting and proliferating baseless right-wing entitlements and assertions.

What the film does is malign those journalists who rightly questioned the ruling party's grand claims of being capable of producing the vaccine. So naturally, they are the antagonists.

Picture this. A high-profile television scribe who's the science reporter Rohini Dhulia (Raima Sen) is dubbed "enemy" only because she does her job, questions the establishment and follows the tenets of journalism.

She seems to be the only one raising uncomfortable questions about the claims of the vaccine's efficacy. She represents the independent media, but as was to be expected, she is proven wrong when she questions Dr Bhargava (played by Nana Patekar) about the secrecy that surrounded the business of the making and distributing the vaccine.

Towards the end of this 160-minute film, Dr Bhargava humiliates her publicly and calls her a "terrorist", which is the message that Agnihotri sends across about journalists who still believe in the principles of journalism.

The probing journalist is shown as someone who is against the policy of self-reliance ('atma nirbharta') and makes every possible effort to prevent the honourable task of manufacturing the vaccine in India.

Priya Abraham (Pallavi Joshi) is the head of the Pune-based National Institute of Virology and, like Bhargava, is forever at war with the media, and brands all the stories coming out in the press as an "information war".

If Rohini is seen as the chief villain, the eccentric Dr Bhargava has a dedicated team of women scientists: Priya Abraham (Pallavi Joshi), Pragya Yadav (Nivedita Bhattacharya) and Nivedita Gupta (Girija Oak), all holding responsible positions as scientists and working tirelessly day and night to achieve their desired goal. Together, they all look convincing and focus on what is described as India's first film on "bio-science war".

The film's focuses, of course, on the disastrous effects of Covid-19. It also tries to educate us about how India managed to make the vaccine in just seven months, a fact that was questioned by even the World Health Organisation (WHO) before it mysteriously changed it opinion.

Even as he underlines the film's "honest and truthful" tone, Agnihotri only succeeds in stoking nationalist sentiments and maligning journalists. The screenplay replaces the pursuit of the truth with a penchant for melodrama.

What got my goat is the unsubstantiated declaration that it was for the first time that India made a vaccine independently, whereas the NIV has been around since 1952 (till 1978 as the Virus Research Centre).

Lensman Udaysingh Mohite ensures all labs are made to look first rate. One has just seen 'Oppenheimer', another science-based film. It is far more impactful with the characters looking as stoic as they get. That's Hollywood for you.

Closer home, our actors need to have the emotional connect for viewers to feel charged up. And so, tight close-ups prove that the scientists and frontline workers are having a tough time, neglecting their families and being devoted to a job that's in the national interest. Mercifully, music is restricted to the background score and a song that also plays in the background.

Who's going to tell Agnihotri that vaccines have been produced in India for over a century. The Serum Institute of India, maker of Covishield, has developed at least four indigenous vaccines -- anti-tetanus, anti-snake venom, anti-diphtheria and MMP (measles, mumps and rubella).

India developed the smallpox vaccine in 1965, oral polio vaccine in 1970 and the H1N1 vaccine in 2009. In any case, Covaxin wouldn't have happened without systems and capacities being built over 70 years. India has been a world leader in generics and biosimilars for decades before Agnihotri started making films! So what is he tom-tomming about?

Many feature films or period cinema are treated as chronicles of the world. I am afraid 'The Vaccine War' is nothing but slanted, distorted and propagandist torture all the way.

Film: The Vaccine War Duration: 160 minutes

Director: Vivek Agnihotri Cast: Nana Patekar, Pallavi Joshi and Nivedita Bhattacharya

Cinematography: Udaysingh Mohite Music: Rohit Sharma, Vanraj Bhatia, Swapnil Bandodkar and Shreya Kaul

IANS Rating: *1/2

'The Vaccine War': Overdose of propagandist torture (Movie Review,Rating: *1/2)

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New Delhi, Sep 29

G oogle has announced that it is opening its generative AI search experience to teenagers in the US -- specifically those aged 13 to 17 so that they can benefit from the helpful capabilities generative AI has to offer.

"Today, were opening up access to SGE (Search Generative Experience) in Search Labs to more people -- specifically, teens (13-17) in the US," Google said in a blogpost on Thursday.

Starting this week, teens signed into a Google Account will be able to sign up for Search Labs to access select Labs experiences through the Google app or Chrome desktop.

As the company introduced this new technology to teens, Google said it wants to strike the right balance in creating opportunities for them to benefit from all it has to offer, while also prioritising safety and meeting their developmental needs.

Informed by research and experts in teen development, the company have built additional safeguards into the experience.

The expansion to teenagers comes as Google notes that since the launch of SGE, it has discovered that the experience is more popular among younger users. Google said the most satisfied users are those aged 18 to 24, who the company believes prefer to ask questions in a more conversational tone.

Moreover, Google has introduced a new feature to give users more context about the content they see.

The company has rolled out 'About this result' in SGE, so people who have opted into Search Labs will be able to use this tool on AI-powered responses.

"This will give people helpful context, such as a description of how SGE generated the response, so they can understand more about the underlying technology," Google said.

Soon, the tech giant will also add 'About this result' to the individual links that are included in SGE responses, so people can understand more about the web pages that back up the information in AI-powered overviews.

Google opens generative AI search experience to teens

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October is almost here, which means that we are in for some amazing movie premieres. This year, the second month of autumn will bring us not only new movies but also the opportunity to plunge back into childhood.

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OBOZREVATEL has compiled a selection of 10 films that will be released on the big screens in October 2023.

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

Premiere date: October 5

Genre: animated adventure

The legendary tailed patrol is back in a new adventure cartoon. The puppy patrol receives new superpowers to fight enemies, thanks to a magical meteorite. Fear the villains, because the puppy heroes are coming!

The Exorcist: Believer

Premiere date: October 5

Genre: horror movie

Exactly half a century ago, the world saw a famous horror movie that later became a classic of the genre. This year, on the eve of the famous Friday the 13th, the well-known story will be continued.

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Velyka prohylianka

Premiere date: October 5

Genre: family, comedy

The comedy tells the stories of two different families: the Drahomanovs, cultural workers, and the Nalyvaichenko, local businessmen. One warm spring day, both families decide to go to a traditional barbecue. Fate brings them together at the same spot, which each considers their own. A dispute arises between the families, which turns into a grotesque "war" for a place under the grill. Unexpectedly, a third contender, a fugitive corrupt official who has hidden his money in the same place, appears. He takes the younger children of the families hostage and demands the return of the money that disappeared from the hiding place.

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Moana

This year, the Disney studio celebrates its 100th anniversary. In honor of this, the animated films Wayana (October 7-8), Zootopia (October 14-15), and Frozen (October 28-29) are returning to Ukrainian cinemas exclusively.

Dumb Money

Premiere date: October 17

Genre: comedy, drama

This is a classic David and Goliath story based on a crazy real-life adventure. They transformed GameStop, a video game store in a shopping mall, "outplayed" Wall Street and became rich. The plot revolves around an ordinary guy, Keith Gill, who invests his savings in stocks and posts about it on social media. Suddenly, Keith's social media accounts explode with success, as does his life and the lives of everyone who follows him. When a stock trick turns into a movement, everyone gets rich until the billionaires of Wall Street decide to strike back.

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Trolls Band Together

Premiere date: October 19

Genre: animated adventure

This October, you will see the sequel of the funny story of the trolls! Meet the heroes of the world of wonder in a new bright movie full of challenges and adventures.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Premiere date: October 19

Genre: detective

The legendary Leo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in the new film by Martin Scorsese. The detective story revolves around the destruction of the Osage tribe in the 1920s, the indigenous people of the United States, which led to a large-scale FBI investigation.

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Dangerous waters

Premiere date: October 19

Genre: thriller

A girl named Rose lives with her mother Alma. Their luck turns when businessman Derek, her mother's new boyfriend, invites the family to Bermuda. But his "business," as it turns out, is not entirely legitimate. The family's boat is attacked and Rose's mother is killed. The girl is forced to learn how to sail a boat in the middle of the ocean and survive on a deserted island. Over time, Rose's primitive survival instincts and thirst for revenge awaken.

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Five Nights at Freddy's

Premiere date: October 26

Genre: horror

Blumhouse presents the adaptation of the popular video game series on the screens of cinemas in your city. Working at the popular Freddy's pizzeria as a security guard named Mike turns into a nightmare as soon as the sun goes down. However, the real truth about this creepy place will be revealed later.

Crazy Girls

Premiere date: October 26

Genre: comedy, drama

The girl Ren feels that her friends have drifted apart. Her desire for change gives rise to a small lie that gets out of hand and begins to split the whole company.

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Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote a list of the top 5 Ukrainian celebrities who starred or were mentioned in Hollywood movies.

Only verified information is available on Obozrevatel Telegram and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
Los Angeles, Sep 29

M uch of the Harry Potter cast, crew are now mourning for actor Michael Gambon who died on September 27 aged 82 after battling pneumonia. Some of those who have offered their heartfelt condolences include Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, J. K. Rowling, Jason Isaacs, David Yates and Fiona Shaw.

Gambon, who is best known for portrayal of Albus Dumbledore in the film series all the way from Prisoner of Azkaban to Deathly Hallows: Part 2, had become iconic.

We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, his family said.

In a statement to 'The Hollywood Reporter', Radcliffe said: With the loss of Michael Gambon the world just became considerably less fun. Michael Gambon was one of the most brilliant, effortless actors Ive ever had the privilege of working with, but despite his immense talent, the thing I will remember most about him is how much fun he had doing his job".

He continued, He was silly, irreverent and hilarious. He loved his job, but never seemed defined by it. He was an incredible story and joke teller and his habit of blurring the lines of fact and fiction when talking to journalists meant that he was also one of the most entertaining people with whom you could ever wish to do a press junket.

The sixth film was where I got to spend the most time working with Michael and he made the hours spent in front of a green screen together more memorable and joyous than they had any right to be. Im so sad to hear he has passed, but I am so grateful for the fact that I am one of the lucky people who got to work with him", he added.

Actor Rupert Grint, who co-starred in the movie adaptations as Ronald Weasley, the redheaded best friend of Harry Potter as well as his constant emotional support companion, called Gambon a role model in an Instagram tribute.

He said, "So sad to hear about Michael. He brought so much warmth and mischief to every day on set. He captivated me as a kid and became a personal role model of mine for finding the fun and eccentricities in life. Sending all my love to his family.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, gave her condolences on her X account and wrote: "I've just heard the awful news about Michael Gambon. The first time I ever laid eyes on him was in King Lear, in 1982, and if you'd told me then that brilliant actor would appear in anything I'd written, I'd have thought you were insane"

She further mentioned, "Michael was a wonderful man in addition to being an outstanding actor, and I absolutely loved working with him, not only on Potter but also The Casual Vacancy. My deepest condolences go to Michael's family and everyone who loved him.

Director David Yates who directed the last four of the Harry Potter films as well as three of The Fantastic Beasts films, offered his condolences on X and said: Michael was a mischievous, playful, yet also deeply thoughtful actor. I got the sense he was bemused, somewhat amused, by all the fuss and hoopla surrounding the world of Potter, yet he poured his heart into creating a memorable, subversive, soulful Dumbledore".

He was also enormous fun on set, pragmatic, accessible, funny, down to earth, and despite his enormous talent, effortlessly made all of the younger actors around him feel at ease. He was one of the greats, and well all miss him", he added.

Actor Jason Isaacs, who portrayed the menacing death eater and the father of Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy wrote on his X: Magnificent Michael Gambon has died. I learned what acting could be from Michael in The Singing Detective - complex, vulnerable and utterly human. The greatest thrill of being in the Potter films was that he knew my name and shared his fearless, filthy sense of fun with me.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4s The World at One, actress Fiona Shaw  who played Harrys aunt Petunia Dursley  remembered him as a trickster, just a brilliant, magnificent trickster.

She added: With text, there was nothing like him. He could do anything. He varied his career remarkably and never judged what he was doing, he just played.

Daniel Radclife, Rupert Grint, J. K. Rowling mourn the loss of Michael Gambon

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Washington DC,, September 29

I ndian-American entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy reiterated a 2015 proposal by former President Donald Trump of ending the birthright citizenship in the US, The Washinton Post reported on Thursday.

Ramaswamy was asked by Univision host Ilia Calderon what legal premise he would use to expel undocumented immigrants and their American-born children from the country. He began by noting that his opponents onstage are on the right side of this issue by supporting the militarization of the southern border, defunding sanctuary cities, and an end to foreign aid to Mexico and Central America, but the candidate said he would go a step further by ending birthright citizenship for the kids of illegal immigrants in this country.

Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, broke into an anti-immigrant argument by saying that the 14th Amendment  which guarantees birthright citizenship to most people born in the United States  says all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the laws and jurisdiction thereof, are citizens, as per The Washington Post reported.

He further argued that the children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States should not be granted citizenship, because their parents broke of law to be in the country.As the father of two sons, it is hard for me to look them in the eye and say, You have to follow the law, when our own government fails to follow its own laws, The Post quoted Ramaswamy as saying.

Notably, birthright citizenship is a common target of Republican candidates on the campaign trail. In 2015, Trump proposed that Congress should end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants in the United States.

In 2018, Donald Trump said he planned to issue an executive order that would end the automatic grant of citizenship to those born in this country to noncitizens, however, that order never came to fruition, the Washington post reported.

Earlier, in another bombshell announcement ahead of the presidential polls, Ramaswamy had vowed to end the H-1B visa program if elected to power, US-based POLITICO reported.

Terming the H-1B Visa as indentured servitude, Ramaswamy called it to replace the "lottery system" for an actual meritocratic admission, adding that the US needs to eliminate chain-based migration.

The lottery system needs to be replaced by actual meritocratic admission. Its a form of indentured servitude that only accrues to the benefit of the company that sponsored an H-1B immigrant. Ill gut it, Ramaswamy said in a statement to POLITICO.

Notably, H-1B is a non-immigrant visa, which is highly sought after including in India. This allows US companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require some technical expertise. Also, these visas are highly sought after, and the demand for these workers in the US has only increased with time.

For fiscal year 2021, US businesses submitted 7,80,884 applications for just 85,000 available slots, which was a jump of more than 60 per cent, according to POLITICO.

It is pertinent to note that Ramaswamy has himself used the H-1B system in the past to hire high-skilled foreign workers for the pharma company that built much of his wealth, as per POLITICO.

The Indian American entrepreneur had shot up sharply in GOP primary polls, standing tied with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at the second position. However, both candidates lag hugely behind former President Donald Trump who leads with 56 per cent, as per The Hill.

In another poll by RealClearPolitics, Trump is far out in front of the 2024 GOP race with 53.6 per cent support, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 13.5 per cent, and Ramaswamy at 7.3 per cent, New York Post reported.

The next US presidential election is scheduled for November 5, 2024.

Vivek Ramaswamy vows to end birthright citizenship for immigrants in US

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US: Jaishankar participates in discussion on technology to create robust supply chains

Washington DC, September 29

E xternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday participated in a discussion on India-US collaboration on critical and emerging technology, aimed at creating resilient supply chains.

The discussion was convened by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum in Washington DC.

Focused discussion on India-US collaboration on critical and emerging tech and creating resilient supply chains at discussion convened by @USISPForum. Glad to know that India is the major talking point in corporate boardrooms. Our collaboration offers more possibilities with each passing day, Jaishankar posted on X (formerly Twitter).

https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1707513721893818837?s=20

The India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) was announced in May 2022 to elevate and expand the strategic technology partnership and defence industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries.

iCET aims to position the two countries as trusted technology partners by building technology value chains and supporting the co-development and co-production of items. It also aims to address regulatory restrictions, export controls and mobility barriers through a standing mechanism.

India and US are expected to undertake a midterm review of iCET in September 2023 to continue to drive momentum towards the next annual iCET review, co-led by the National Security Advisors of both countries in early 2024.

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar held wide-ranging discussions with his US counterpart Antony Blinken and also laid the groundwork for the 2+2 meeting in New Delhi soon.

Great to meet my friend US Secretary of State @SecBlinkenat State Department today. A wide-ranging discussion, following up on PM @narendramodis June visit. Also exchanged notes on global developments. Laid the groundwork of our 2+2 meeting very soon, Jaishankar stated.

https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1707514015184801942?s=20

The fourth 2+2 dialogue between India and the US was held in Washington, DC in April last year.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh represented the Indian side and were welcomed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar met US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and discussed the expanding trade and economic relationship between India and the US.

He also held a meeting with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Both sides recognized the tremendous progress in bilateral relations this year and discussed taking it forward.

The EAM also participated in a conversation with Think Tanks about Indias growing role in global transformation.

Earlier on Tuesday, Jaishankar addressed the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Notably, Jaishankar is on a visit to the US from September 22-30. He will also be addressing the 4th World Culture Festival being organised by the Art of Living.

US: Jaishankar participates in discussion on technology to create robust supply chains

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Texas, September 29

A midst the ongoing migrant crisis in the US, billionaire Elon Musk visited the Texas border with Mexico and live-streamed his tour of the area to give people a sense of the real situation of the migrant crisis, reported Fox News.

"Went to the Eagle Pass border crossing to see whats really going on," Musk posted on the X app on Thursday.

Musk, wearing a black cowboy hat, live-streamed on his platform and said that he was going to go around and speak with officials and "eyeball the situation to get the real story."

"This is real-time, unfiltered," he said. "What you see is what I see" Musk said.

The SpaceX founder and CEO has displayed major interest in the ongoing crisis at the border. He has also posted about the migrant situation frequently on his social media platform 'X', Fox News reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, he said that he had spoken with US Representative for Texas Tony Gonzales and discussed the ongoing crisis. In the conversation, Gonzales confirmed it was a "serious issue".

Being an immigrant himself, Musk said, he is "extremely pro-immigrant". However, he explained that there needs to be expanded immigration that allows hardworking and honest people to legally come to the US, but not allow immigrants who are going to break the law, reported Fox News.

During his visit the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas on Thursday, he raised one of the fears that the flow of illegal immigrants into the country could lead to the collapse of social services, just as New York City was buckling under the pressure of migrants being bused there from Texas.

Moreover, after Musk's livestream, he was flooded with comments. One user said, "Good to see Elon having to do the job of the MSM and of the politicians who are literally paid to do this but refuse."

Several users loved and praised that Musk was live streaming from the border town, according to Fox News.

Earlier this week, Mexico made an agreement with the United States to deport migrants from its border cities to their home countries and take several actions, CNN reported.

As part of the agreement, Mexico agreed to depressurize its northern cities, which border El Paso, San Diego and Eagle Pass, Texas, where the mayor has declared a state of emergency. They will also implement more than a dozen actions to prevent migrants from risking their lives by using the railway system to reach the US-Mexico border, according to Mexicos National Migration Institute.

Elon Musk livestreams from Texas 'unflitered' situation of migrants from US-Mexico border

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'Mann Ki Baat' to be read for 22 consecutive days in 14 languages, Teerthdam aims for record

Ahmedabad, September 29

I nfluenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat programme, a unique event is being organized by Teerthdham-Prernatirth in Pirana village of Ahmedabad. Under this event, Mann Ki Baat program will be read for 22 consecutive days. During this period, Mann Ki Baat program will be read in 14 languages.

Trustee of Teerthdham-Prernatierth, Harshad Patel said "Prime Minister Modi has communicated with people from every section of the country through the Mann Ki Baat programme."

Patel says he is very impressed by this program of PM Modi and has organized a relay reading of Mann Ki Baat in 14 languages in an effort to create a record.

Patel says that before this, relay reading of Mann Ki Baat program had taken place for about 400 hours. He believes that this record will be broken by the Teerthdham-Prenaratirth and there will be more than 500 hours of relay reading during 22 consecutive days.

"Relay reading of Mann Ki Baat program has started from 25th September and will continue till 16th October. People from all over the country will participate in this relay reading. Well-known Bollywood actors Anupam Kher and Vivek Oberoi will also participate in it. Apart from this, officials including MLAs and MPs of Bharatiya Janata Party will also be present," He added.

"Apart from this, in this Good Governance Mahima Namotsav organized by Teerthdham-Preranatirth, a booklet has been prepared on the schemes launched by the Modi government for public welfare during its 9 years of rule. Apart from this, 75 thousand beneficiaries who have got the benefits of government schemes will also offer lotus at the feet of Mother India," said Harshad Patel

Mann Ki Baat program is a platform where the Prime Minister communicates directly with the people of the country. Through this program the Prime Minister informs and inspires the people of the country on various topics.

This event organized by Teerthdham-Preranatirth will give a new dimension to the Mann Ki Baat programme. Through this event people will get more information about Mann Ki Baat program and this program will become even more popular.

'Mann Ki Baat' to be read for 22 consecutive days in 14 languages, Teerthdam aims for record

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Success of G20, Chandrayaan-3 filled India with new energy, says Amit Shah

New Delhi, September 29

U nion Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that democracy is very deep-rooted in the country and that has been the biggest achievement as a nation in the last 75 years.

Addressing the 118th annual session of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) at Vigyan Bhawan here, the Union Minister has also congratulated Indias G20 presidency and the success of ISROs moon mission-Chandrayaan.

"G20, the success of Chandrayaan-3, Mission Aditya L-1 and the passing of the Women's Reservation Bill, all these events have filled the country with new energy... The country has completed the journey of 75 years and in the past 75 years, we have made several achievements in every sector... We have proved ourselves at the international forum," Shah said.

The union minister further said, "In the 100th year of our Independence, we want a country that is ahead in all sectors."

Shah also congratulated the team of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) for choosing the theme Rising India: Yahi Samay Hai, Sahi Samay Hai, for the summit.

Shah said previously the 'Make in India' programme was mocked but now the country is a dream destination in the production sector.

"Make in India programme, was mocked earlier, today we are the dream destination in the production sector. In the next 10 years, India will be the best destination for students across the world," Shah said.

He further said that there is democracy and teamwork (in-country), besides clarity on policy formulation under PM Modi's leadership.

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has been working as a catalyst for the promotion of Indian industry, trade and entrepreneurship for the past 118 years. It is a forward-looking, proactive and dynamic PAN-India apex organization.

As a partner in progress with industry and government, PHDCCI works at the grassroots level with strong national and international linkages for propelling progress, harmony and integrated development of the Indian economy.

Success of G20, Chandrayaan-3 filled India with new energy, says Amit Shah

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Mumbai, Sep 29

B ollywood actor Suniel Shetty, who will be soon seen in the upcoming season of the show titled Star vs Food Survival, has shared his experience of working with his co-star Sanjay Dutt and celebrity chef Ranveer Brar. Suniel said that Sanjay has an unreal sense of humour.

The actor shared that he always finds it fun to work with Sanjay as the two share a long history of collaborations in the form of Shootout at Lokhandwala, LOC: Kargil, Dus, Kaante, and others.

The actor told IANS, It is always amazing with Sanjay Dutt. His sense of humour is unreal. We are friends that get along really well and are very comfortable with each other. The shoot is comfortable. The entire set gets comfortable when we're shooting together. Sanjay is largehearted and says things the way they are.

The show will see the celebrity guests tackling the wilderness as they navigate the culinary journey. Celebrity guests like Suniel Shetty, Sanjay Dutt, Aparshakti Khurana, Mouni Roy, and Nakuul Mehta will explore the essence of India's culinary legacy.

Ranveer will lead the star-studded cast on an adventurous journey through the vibrant flavours and culinary treasures of two unique Indian locales: Coorg and Spiti. The show promises to unravel the flavours and stories behind each dish.

Talking about Sanjay and Ranveer, Sunielfurther mentioned, He's too cute sometimes because he is too honest not realising the impact of what he says may have. He is brutally honest. The beauty of the show is of two action heroes and what they see in that jungle. Shooting for the episode was a fantastic experience. Ranveer Brar is an extraordinary talent. He defines good manners, health and fitness.

Star Vs Food Survival will premiere on October 9, 2023 on discovery+ and Discovery Channel.

Sanjay Dutt's sense of humour is 'unreal', says Suniel Shetty

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Mumbai, Sep 29

T V actor Himanshu Soni, whose credits include Neeli Chatri Wale and Agar Tum Na Hote, will now be starring in soap-opera drama Kyunki Saas Maa Bahu Beti Hoti Hai.

In the series, Himanshu will portray Kabeer, a charming and creative individual. Talking about his role, the actor said it was different from other characters he has played before due to Kabeer having a lot of swag and attitude.

He said: My character Kabeer is a little different from what I have played before, he is someone with a lot of swag and charm. He is not someone who will get stuck in situations because he is quick to find an innovative solution to any problem.

Kabeer is one of the most pivotal characters in the show as he carries his friend Kesar morally, as well as offers help many a time. A charming individual who possesses a talent for storytelling, he is also an impulsive man with a tendency to show-off.

He supports himself by taking on various small jobs but is quite intelligent. A clever worker, who excels at finding innovative solutions to the most difficult problems, he is also an opportunist and never lets go of one if he finds it.

The story takes viewers to Gujarat, where amidst a vibrant Navratri celebration, a storm begins to brew within the Rajgaur family of Surat when the youngest bahu - Hetal seeks her share in the family property and moves out with her husband.

This unexpected turn of events leaves Ambika, the eldest bahu devastated, as it has been her top-most priority to keep the family together.

With an intense desire to disprove her sister-in-laws belief that Saas kabhi maa, aur Bahu kabhi beti nahi ban sakti, Ambika, takes a drastic step and adopts a baby left at the doorstep of their family orphanage, and plans to raise her - not as a beti but as a future bahu wholl keep the family together.

On bagging this role, Himanshu said: I am glad to be doing an exciting show like Kyunki Saas Maa Bahu Beti Hoti Hai. When I was offered this show, I got very excited about the concept and storyline and decided to immediately say yes to it."

The show also features veteran actress Manasi Joshi Roy and newcomer Navika Kotia. Talking about how he feels about working with them, the actor said: Working with Manasi Ma'am and Navika is going to be a lot of fun because they both are very talented actors. I'm excited to see how the audience will respond to Kabeer; I hope they shower him with the same love and support as they've in the past to my characters."

Kyunki... Saas Maa, Bahu Beti Hoti Hai airs every day on Zee TV.

Himanshu Soni talks about novelty of his 'Kyunki... Saas Maa Bahu Beti Hoti Hai' character

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New Delhi, Sep 29

T he Jalan Kalrock Consortium, which emerged as the successful bidder for the revival of Jet Airways, has made an additional infusion of Rs 100 crore into the airline, in accordance with the resolution plan approved by the court.

This contribution completes their total financial commitment of Rs 350 crore for the airline's revival, enabling them to assume ownership of Jet Airways, it said in a statement on Friday.

Additionally, the consortium has reiterated its commitment to relaunching Jet Airways, and they anticipate announcing the specific launch date in the coming days.

Jet Airways ceased its operations on April 17, 2019.

In their statement, the consortium said that it "today completed an additional infusion of Rs 100 crore, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to a successful resurgence of Jet Airways. With this infusion, JKC has now fulfilled its total financial commitment of Rs 350 crore equity as per the court-approved resolution plan, and all commitments by JKC now stand fulfilled to take control of the iconic airline".

They also said that their strategy to revive the airline remains unchanged and that the new promoters are resolute in restarting the airline's operations in 2024.

Further details about the Jet Airways launch date will be disclosed in the upcoming weeks.

Jalan-Kalrock Consortium confirms Rs 350 crore infusion in Jet Airways, prepared for ownership takeover of airline

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New Delhi, Sep 29

A ir India CEO Campbell Wilson on Friday said that the airline had, this week, acquired three brand new aircraft including first Airbus A350, and two Boeing 737MAX.

In his Friday letter, Wilson said that the aircraft acquired are part of the mammoth 470-aircraft order announced just a few months ago.

"As well as Air India being the first Indian carrier to acquire the A350, this transaction makes us the first scheduled carrier to use the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), and the aircraft the first widebody to have been leased through Indias first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

"The A350 is now undergoing some interior and technical modification and will receive a new coat of paint with the new Air India livery, so will only enter Indian skies in December. However, the B737MAXs will arrive much sooner in fact, the first one is winging its way to India as I write!" Wilson said.

The CEO also said that they inaugurated a new Emergency Command Centre (ECC) at their headquarters in Gurugram this week, replacing two erstwhile Air India facilities that were well past their prime. "This new, state-of-the-art facility would be where, in the event of a crisis affecting Air India or our alliance partners, our actions would decided, coordinated and overseen. While we all hope that we never have to actively use this facility, the ECC gives us a world-class base equipped with the latest technology so that we can respond with the best possible support," he said.

"We will also be refreshing and strengthening our Go Team with ground handling, flight safety members and technical representation, and adding to our Family Assistance Team to ensure we can provide humanitarian support wherever needed. Currently, we have 750 'Angels of Air India' volunteers who will soon undergo training in emergency management, and we are always keen for more," he added.

Speaking of technology, Id also like to acknowledge the D&T and Customer Experience teams for the successful transition of all customer service channels to our own technology stack. This includes telephony, computer-telephony-interface, interactive voice response, customer relationship management, customer data platform and artificial-intelligence-driven agent-assist technologies, which allows us to have a unified view of all customer support needs," he said in the letter.

"Modernising and in housing this tech stack, and better interfacing it with other key systems, gives Air India better control, independence and ability to materially improve our customers experience with us, and to accelerate the development and deployment of new capabilities," he added.

Air India acquired three brand new aircraft this week, says CEO Wilson

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Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Russian attacks have damaged or destroyed 37 enterprises of the military-industrial complex. However, the plan is to restore them, as well as to actively develop other military-industrial enterprises, which will make Ukraine a new center for arms production in Europe. UAH 55.8 billion has been allocated for this in the draft budget for 2024.

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This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal at the first International Defense Industries Forum, an OBOZREVATEL correspondent reports. According to the head of government, the new Alliance should help Ukraine resume production of weapons and ammunition.

"We have increased sevenfold spending on the preparation of defense production in the draft state budget of Ukraine for 2024, which is UAH 55.8 billion. We understand that our defense industry remains one of the main targets for Russian missile strikes. These attacks have affected 37 enterprises. We are currently processing additional proposals for their restoration. The Russian regime dreamed of demilitarizing Ukraine. However, Ukraine is only increasing the production of weapons and military equipment every month. He who sows winds, reaps the storm," Shmyhal said.

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According to him, the Ukrainian military-industrial complex is already experiencing a new revival "or even a new birth in some industries and at some enterprises." In 2022, the authorities focused on developing the production of ammunition of various calibers, missile weapons and rockets, and air defense systems. In 2023, the government launched several pilot projects to produce various types of drones.

"Our short-term and strategic goal is to strengthen cooperation between Ukrainian and foreign manufacturers, as well as to attract foreign companies to produce weapons in Ukraine. Everyone understands the risks. But those who think strategically also realize that Ukraine will become a new center for arms production in Europe," Shmyhal addressed the forum participants.

Active cooperation with partner countries is already underway. The main directions are as follows:

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restoration of Western military equipment in Ukraine;

creation of a closed cycle of production of weapons, military equipment, ammunition and their components in Ukraine.

"We are creating joint ventures and service centers, which helps to gradually integrate the Ukrainian defense industry into the industrial environment of partner countries," Shmyhal summarized.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Ukraine has begun testing various long-range and high-precision weapons. DIU says the results of using the new weapons are "encouraging and positive."

Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Mumbai, Sep 29

S enior Bollywood actor Anupam Kher is making no secret of his devotion towards Lord Ram or Lord Hanuman. The actor is in the holy city of Ayodhya often called the City of Ram to offer his prayers at the Hanuman Garhi temple in Uttar Pradesh.

Taking to his X account, formerly Twitter, the megastar wrote: My dear friends! With the blessings of Lord Ram I, for the very first time have gotten the chance to come to Ayodhya. Tonight evening at 8pm we will meet at the venerated Hanuman Garhi.Jai Shree Ram! Jai Bajrangbali!

Anupam Kher is not the only one to visit the holy site as others too have come here to offer their prayers to Lord Hanuman. Some of these include Akshay Kumar and recently Tamil megastar Rajinikanth who had gone to Ayodhya to celebrate the success of his film Jailer.

Earlier too, the actor had expressed his desire to visit the temple public and on Thursday tweeted a picture of himself with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, whom he met at the Chief Minister's residence. Standing alongside the two were the priest Jagat Guru Swami Raghavcharya and producer Priya Gupta.

He had posted some pictures of their meet and wrote: I am going to Ayodhya tomorrow for a pleasant task. However, before going there, today I visited the Honourable Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his residence along with Jagat Guru Swami Raghavcharya ji Maharaj and Priya Gupta. Yogi ji, meeting you I get energy. For your blessings and good wishes I sincerely thank you. Jai Bajarangbali".

Anupam Kher most recently starred in the Vivek Agnihotri directorial The Vaccine War which was touted as Indias first bio-science film. A tribute to the fraternity of doctors and scientists who developed the vaccine, Kher was seen essaying the role of a Cabinet Secretary in the film, making a special appearance.

Anupam Kher lands in Ayodhya to go to Hanuman Garhi temple

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Musk becomes citizen journalist, goes live from US-Mexico border

New Delhi, Sep 29

T ech billionaire Elon Musk has visited the US-Mexico border in order to gain an unbiased insight into the surge in illegal immigration via Eagle Pass.

He live-streamed his tour of the region in order to give people an up-close look at the actual conditions and circumstances surrounding the migrant crisis.

"Went to the Eagle Pass border crossing to see what's really going on," Musk posted on X on Thursday.

For several days, thousands of migrants have been wading across the Rio Grande near a railway bridge, unafraid of razor wire coils installed along the river banks by the Texas National Guard.

The founder and CEO of SpaceX has expressed deep concern and involvement in the ongoing border crisis. After Musk's livestream, he was flooded with comments.

"Love the long form video & Elon doing some real reporting. Amazing. Gives me hope. The news is no longer monopolized by legacy media & reporters trying to ascend the hierarchy," a user wrote.

"Good Elon! Show the truth to the people!" another user said.

One more user mentioned: "Thanks for caring when clearly no one in the MSM will cover this accurately."

Musk also encouraged people to do citizen journalism on X.

"Please encourage more citizen journalism! You can do live video easily from your phone. More on-the-ground reporting from regular citizens will change the world," he said.

Musk becomes citizen journalist, goes live from US-Mexico border

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India to be world's third-largest economy by 2027: Amit Shah

New Delhi, September 29

U nion Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday expressed confidence that India will be the world's third-largest economy by 2027.

Addressing the 118th Annual Session of the PHDCCI at Vigyan Bhawan here, the Home Minister urged the industry to make more investments in research and development to make MSMEs world-class.

He recalled the success of the G20 Summit, Chandrayaan-3, and Mission Aditya L-1 mission at the beginning of his speech and also referred to the passing of the womens reservation bill.

"All these events have filled the country with new energy," the Home Minister said.

He said the country has completed 75 years journey after Independence and has several achievements to its credit.

Shah said the roots of democracy have deepened in the country.

He said India was at 11th position in 2014 in terms of the size of its economy.

"Now, we are the fifth-largest economy of the world and I have firm belief that we are going to become the world's third-largest economy by 2027," Shah said.

Referring to the efforts of Modi government in strengthening the economy, the minister said Indias GDP is over 3.75 trillion USD, Rs 10 lakh crore capital expenditure has been marked for boosting expenditure and bad debt tax recovery is increasing.

Shah said there was a GST collection of Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April and the average collection for 2023-24 has been Rs 1.69 lakh crore.

Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modis words, "Yahi Samay Hai, Sahi Samay Hai", Shah called upon the industries to increase their size and scale and asked PHDCCI to play a major role in the process.

The Home Minister said more thrust on research and development will enable the industries to become world class.

Shah also expressed confidence that India would soon become an education destination in the world.

India to be world's third-largest economy by 2027: Amit Shah

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Palermo, September 29

U nion Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Friday participated in the two-day UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime Ministerial Conference (September 28-29) at Palermo in Italy.

"On behalf of the Republic of Bharat it is a privilege to take the floor. I take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to the Government of Italy and the UNODC Secretariat for organizing this Ministerial Conference to mark the 20th anniversary of coming into force of UNTOC Convention," MoS Home Nityanand Rai said speaking at the Conference.

He further said that India's ancient philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' sees all creation as a family.

"We are One Earth, One Family, and we share One Future. Prime Minister of Bharat, Narendra Modiji has given a clarion call for international cooperation by saying that When threats are global, the response cannot be just local!" he explained.

"The world has to come together to defeat these threats. India expresses its strong commitment towards combating and uprooting organized crimes in all its manifestations" he added.

MoS Home Rai said that Organized crime signifies a major global threat. "Advances in technology have been leveraged by organized criminals to rapidly expand their networks. This includes serious challenges posed by illicit trafficking in arms, drug trafficking, organized cyber crimes, human trafficking, corruption, money laundering and international dispersal of proceeds of crime," Rai said.

"India has updated and strengthened its legal framework to combat such crimes through The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016; amendment in 2018 of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 and amendment of The Prevention of Money Laundering Act," he added.

Nityanand Rai further said in the Conference that India's G20 Presidency outcomes inter alia included G20 High-Level Principles on Strengthening Law Enforcement related to International Cooperation and Information Sharing for Combatting Corruption, Strengthening Asset Recovery Mechanisms for Combatting Corruption, Promoting Integrity and Effectiveness of Public Bodies and Authorities Responsible for Preventing and Combatting Corruption.

MoS Home further said that Organised crime cannot be seen in isolation. "Organized crime has also emerged as one of the sources of terrorism and terror financing. Organized crime networks often have deep links with terrorist outfits. Activities like money laundering and financial crimes have been known to help terror funding," he said.

"India reiterates that at the international level there can be no safe haven for organized crime, for such a safe haven poses serious global threat. It is incumbent to deny safe havens to those who engage in transnational organized crime by prosecuting their crimes wherever they occur and by cooperating at the international level" he added in conference.

Union Minister Rai further said that The Convention (UNTOC) needs to be leveraged as a framework to enhance international cooperation in order to combat these challenges.

"India has been pro-active in rendering assistance to other countries requests under UNTOC and reaffirms its commitment for future. I am positive that the deliberations during this Ministerial Conference will give impetus to the cause of strengthening international cooperation to combat organized crime," Rai said.

India expresses strong commitment towards combating, uprooting organized crimes at UNTOC Convention

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Kangana Ranaut starrer Tejas's teaser to be unveiled on Gandhi Jayanti?

Mumbai, September 29

B uilding more excitement among the audience, the makers of Tejas starring Kangana Ranaut are all set to unveil the teaser.

'Tejas, revolves around the extraordinary journey of Tejas Gill, an Air Force pilot, and aims to inspire and instil a deep sense of pride in the valiant soldiers who tirelessly defend our nation, confronting numerous challenges along the way.

The Indian Air Force was the first of the country's defense forces to induct women into combat roles in 2016.

As per a source close to the film, "Tejas will be releasing its first asset teaser on Gandhi Jayanti, October 2. The film is directed by Sarvesh Mewara, and stars Kangana Ranaut in the pivotal role."

Written and directed by Sarvesh Mewara, the film is all set to be in cinemas on October 20.

'Tejas' is going to clash with Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon-starrer Ganapath: A Hero is Born which will also be released on October 20 this year.

Apart from this, she was recently seen in 'Chandramukhi 2'.

Helmed by P Vasu, the film is the sequel to the blockbuster hit Tamil horror comedy 'Chandramukhi' which starred Rajinikanth and Jyothika in the lead roles.

In 'Chandramukhi 2' Kangana played the role of a dancer, known for her beauty and dance skills, in the king's court.

Kangana will be next seen in the upcoming period film 'Emergency' in which she will be seen portraying the role of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

'Emergency' marks her first solo-directorial film. The film also cast Anupam Kher, Mahima Chaudhry, Vishak Nair and Shreyas Talpade in prominent roles.

Kangana Ranaut starrer Tejas's teaser to be unveiled on Gandhi Jayanti?

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Mumbai, Sep 29

A ctor and philanthropist Sonu Sood, who is currently shooting for his upcoming action thriller Fateh, has extended his support for the local business of a puncture repair shop, near Hyderabad, and himself tried his hand in repairing one.

Taking to Instagram on Friday, Sonu shared a Reel video, wherein he can be seen wearing a black t-shirt, blue denims, and white and black sneakers. He completed the look with black sunglasses.

In the video, we can see Sonu having an interesting conversation with the owner of the puncture repair shop. Sonu is seen saying: "Today we are near Hyderabad, and here we are in the puncture repair shop of Mohd Anwar. Kabse aap puncture bana rahe ho?." To which the shopkeeper replies: "2 years."

The actor then shows how the puncture is checked by dipping the tyre tube in the water. He shows how the puncture is repaired, by rubbing the tyre tube with an instrument, and then puts a solution on it before sealing the puncture.

Sonu asks the shopkeeper: "How much do you charge for it', to which the latter replies: "Rs 50."

The 'Paltan' fame actor said: "During our time it was only Rs 5." He asks how much he makes in the entire day, and the shopkeeper said "Rs 500-1000."

Sonu jokingly replied: "Aap dua maangte honge ke logo ki gaadiyan puncture ho jaayein tab hi to chalegi dukan." Then they laughed.

Sonu then asks "Ghar par or kon hai?" The man replies he has his parents and wife. The video ends with Sonu blessing him good luck.

The actor captioned the video as: "Humari Puncture ki Dukaan #supportsmallbusiness".

Fans commented: "I respect so much", "Gareebo ke masiha", "real hero", "Great person," etc.

Few days back, Sonu had extended his support for the local sugarcane juice business in the United States.

Meanwhile, Fateh is based on cybercrime, in the holy city of Amritsar, Punjab. The film is directed by Vaibhav Mishra and stars Sonu in the lead.

The movie also features Shivjyoti Rajput and Vijay Raaz in prominent roles. Some of the best names from Hollywood including the director of photography, research team, and action choreographers have been roped in for this film, which is scheduled for a release later this year.

Sonu was last seen as Chand Bardai in Akshay Kumar starrer historical action drama Samrat Prithviraj which tanked at the box-office.

'Gareebo Ka Masiha' Sonu Sood fixes puncture in local repair shop; fans shower love

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Mumbai, Sep 29

C ontent creator-actor Danish Sait, who is known for his work in 777 Charlie and One Cut Two Cut, has shared his opinion on the increasing use of generative AI tools in the content landscape.

The comedian-content creator, who recently attended the YouTube Fanfest in Mumbai, also mentioned that both long-format and micro-format content will find their own course and either of them wont impact each other as they both have a different set of audience and evoke different sensibilities in the viewers.

Talking to IANS, Danish said: The impact of generative artificial intelligence depends on the kind of content creator you are. Let's assume that you are a graphic designer with AI tools then it will make designing very easy.

I can quote from my personal experience, my wife is a graphic designer, and she has been using the AI tools and while it has made her job easier, it has also resulted in more work. I have seen her working late nights, it's very important to be able to control the AI tools.

Explaining further, he quoted another example of creators who dabble in audio or video form on content: When it comes to content creators for videos or audio, I think there is still an element of art which is very personal. When I do comedy videos, it's largely based on personal observations. I don't know if theres something to be worried about right now as far as video or audio content creators are concerned.

When asked what AI tool he would put his money in, he said, an editing AI suite.

The reason is two-fold as he said: I would definitely invest in an editing software and by editing I mean two fold - one is the real time editing of the jokes as it will prevent me from ending in trouble on the Internet and the second is I can put the entire data dump and footage in the AI editing tool and it could give me the best possible edit with the good little background score and sound effects.

Being a short-format content creator, he also spoke about the diminishing attention span of the audience: I have worked in radio where I used to do prank calls on people and the average duration of calls was about a minute. Since then, it has been my conscious effort to bring down my content within the boundaries of a 60-second frame. I personally enjoy that time frame as it helps me make more videos as well because the longer format of content is production heavy and limits the quantity.

At the end of the day, its all about how engaging your content is, long-form or short form, it will work if the audience connects with it, both forms of content will co-exist, he concluded.

Both long-form, short-form content will survive in long run: Danish Sait

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Washington, Sep 29

E xternal Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Friday that Indias diplomatic row with Canada was discussed in his meeting with top US officials -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan -- and that he gave them both an exhaustive account of Indias case, which included its assessment of "a very permissive Canadian attitude towards terrorists".

Jaishankar met Blinken and Sullivan on Thursday, his first day in Washington DC after the UN General Assembly meetings in New York.

The US readout of the meeting with Blinken and Jaishankars post on X said nothing about Canada.

But the minister acknowledged at an event at Hudson Institute, a think tank, that the matter did indeed come up in the discussions and the US officials presented their views on it.

"And I explained to them at some length, you know, what I gave you was a summary of the concerns which I had," Jaishankar said.

The "summary" he referred to was his presentation of Indias case he made just minutes before at the think tank in response to a question.

Here is what the minister said in the "summary": "Yes, the Canadian Prime Minister made some allegations; initially privately and publicly. And our response to him both in private and public were that what he was alleging was not consistent with our policy. And that if he had -- if his government -- had anything relevant and specific, they would like us to look into it, we were open to looking at it. And thats where that conversation stood."

He went on: "But to understand that conversation, you have to also appreciate that this has been an issue of great friction for many years with Canada. In fact, going back to the 1980s. Then it became dominant. But in the last few years, it has come back very much into play, because of what we consider to be a very permissive Canadian attitude towards terrorists, extremist people who openly advocate violence. And they have been given operating space in Canada because of the compulsions of Canadian politics."

The minister called for another look at Canada, which is a close ally of the US and is often in lock-step with it on most international issues. "For Americans, perhaps Canada looks very different. But, you know, it sort of depends, you know, from where the interests, where the shoe pinches. For us, it has certainly been a country where organised crime from India mixed with trafficking in people mixed with secessionism, violence, terrorism. It's a very toxic combination of issues that people who have found operating space there. So a lot of our tensions with Canada, which well-preceded what Mr. (Justin) Trudeau said, actually come out of that."

The minister underscored his case against Canada by bringing up threats faced by Indian diplomats in Canada.

"Today, Im actually in a situation where my diplomats are unsafe going to the embassy, or to the consulate in Canada. They are publicly intimidated, and that has actually compelled me to temporarily suspend visa operations in Canada."

The US has been supportive of Canadas allegation that India was behind the killing of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in Canada in June. In fact, key intelligence provided by the United States as part of a Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement with Canada (the US, Australia and New Zealand are the other three members) led to Trudeau first raising these allegations privately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 summit and publicly in the Canadian parliament.

The US has publicly and privately urged India to cooperate with the investigation. New Delhi has dismissed the allegations as "absurd" but has said that if Canada has anything, it would take a look at it. But Ottawa has not provided any evidence to India or presented it publicly.

In talks with US, Jaishankar raises Canada's 'permissive' attitude towards terror

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Washington, DC, September 29

E xternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India-Russia ties may not be spectacular but are very exceptional and steady, adding that in many ways Moscow's relationship with the West has broken down.

Speaking at Hudson University, Jaishankar compared Russias ties with India to that with other countries.

if you consider international relations over the last 70 years, the US-Russian relations, the China-Russia relations, the US-China relations, pretty much every big relationship in the last 70 years has seen a great deal of volatility, you had sharp ups and downs, Jaishankar said, adding, India-Russia relations is very exceptional. It's been very steady.

Noting the India-Russia relations may not be spectacular", Jaishankar said they have stabilised at a certain level, but have not seen the ups and downs that Moscow's relationships with China, US, or Europe have been through.

And that's in itself a statement, Jaishankar added.

Now, if one looks at Russia todayas a consequence of what is going on in Ukraineit seems to them clear that in many ways Russia's relationship with the West has broken down, he said.

On why Russias emphasis on India is increasing, Jaishankar said, India will and has come into calculations as well. So I would predict a Russia that would consciously focus on the non-Western world away from Europe, away from the United States, look much more at Asia, look possibly at other regions as well. But Asia is economically the most active. So I guess that's what you're going to see.

Further, the EAM underscored Indias increasing footprints in the global economy and its increasing trade with the Middle East countries.

We have to understand today that as India becomes a larger consumer, a bigger economy, our salience in the Middle East countries calculations, especially the Gulf economies, is that much higher. We are the largest trade partner of the UAE and we would be among probably the top three of the Saudis, Jaishankar said.

Earlier this week, Jaishankar met his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly session in New York City. The two appreciated the rapid progress in India, UAE bilateral cooperation and valued regular exchange of perspectives on regional and global issues.

Always a pleasure to meet FM @ABZayed of UAE, this time in New York. Appreciate the rapid progress in our bilateral cooperation. Value our regular exchange of perspectives on regional and global issues, EAM Jaishankar wrote on X.

They discovered during COVID that the Gulf is actually dependent on daily food consumption for what comes out of India. So the economies have really got very, very deeply meshed..." Jaishankar said during an interaction at the Hudson Insitute.

UAE and India along with Saudi Arabia, the US and European Union (EU), had recently announced an ambitious infrastructure plan  the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. This initiative launched at the G20 summit in New Delhi, seeks to reshape the trade route between the Gulf, Europe and South Asia, connecting them by rail and sea links.

Jaishankar is currently in the last leg of his US visit. Earlier, he was in New York for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Wrapping up his New York visit, the EAM arrived in Washington, DC on September 28.

Jaishankar will also address the 4th World Culture Festival, which is being organised by the Art of Living Foundation of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Russia's ties with India exceptional but broken with West: Jaishankar

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New Delhi, Sep 30

G andhi Jayanti is a day set aside to celebrate and remember Mahatma Gandhi's life and teachings. On this day, people across the country pay tribute to Gandhi's message of nonviolence, simplicity, and sacrifice. Some of the best places to visit in India on Gandhi Jayanti are listed below:

Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad

The Sabarmati Ashram, a tranquil retreat by the river, is located in the center of Ahmedabad. It was Mahatma Gandhi's home before becoming a museum and educational retreat. One cannot help but feel a strong connection to the spirit of the Indian freedom movement when visiting the ashram on Gandhi Jayanti.

Mani Bhavan, Mumbai

Mani Bhavan, which is situated amidst Mumbai's busy streets, acts as a silent observer of Gandhi's influential tactics and movements. His time in Mumbai is best encapsulated by the residence that has been turned into a museum. You should go there if you want to grasp the intricacies of the Mahatma's life in an urban environment.

Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai

Traveling south to Madurai, you can visit the Gandhi Memorial Museum, which presents a thorough account of India's struggle for freedom. The dhoti on display, which is marked with the Mahatma's blood from his murder, serves as a solemn reminder of the price paid for freedom.

Raj Ghat, Delhi

Gandhi's cremation took place at the Raj Ghat, which is now a national shrine. People congregate here during Gandhi Jayanti to pay their respects, present flowers and give prayers. On this day, the President and Prime Minister of India also go to Raj Ghat to honor the Father of the Nation.

Dandi, Gujarat

Gandhi's legendary 'Salt March' took place in the seaside village of Dandi, and it is because of this event that Dandi will always be remembered. When one comes here, one can almost imagine the march of steadfast opponents of the British salt tax.

Gandhi Teerth, Jalgaon

Gandhi Teerth in Jalgaon is the place to go if you're interested in learning more about Mahatma Gandhi's life in-depth and academically. It acts as a hub for philosophical inquiry and discussion on a global scale.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

Top destinations in India to commemorate Gandhi Jayanti

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On September 29, Kyiv hosted the Defense Industries Forum, attended by more than 250 companies from 30 countries. The event was aimed at uniting the international community to create a new and powerful arsenal of weapons for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky also announced the start of the actual development and restoration of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.

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For this purpose, the Defense Industries Alliance was created, which invites foreign companies to cooperate. The initiative belongs to our country, which has been fighting a full-scale Russian invasion for 20 months. Read more about the defense forum in the capital in OBOZREVATEL's article (to see photos and videos, scroll down to the end).

Defense Industries Alliance

The creation of the Defense Industries Alliance was announced at the forum, which "values international law and can work to protect any nation in the world from any aggression." This event was announced by the Ukrainian leader at the opening of the event. All the world's arms and military equipment manufacturers are invited to sign the Declaration of Cooperation with the Alliance.

"Today, this declaration has already been signed by 13 prominent foreign companies that are ready to build a new arsenal of the free world together with Ukraine," Zelensky said.

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Special economic treatment and defense fund for arms manufacturers

The president also announced a special economic regime for the military-industrial complex in Ukraine, with exceptional conditions for arms manufacturers. In addition, a special defense fund will be established for them.

"It will provide additional resources for the development of military production and support for cooperation to create new military facilities, as well as programs necessary for defense and care for our soldiers," Zelensky explained.

In addition to a range of public spending on defense, defense production, and private investment, the special fund will be replenished by dividends from state defense assets and confiscated Russian assets.

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"It will be 600 days of the full-scale war soon. No matter what happens, there has not been a day when Ukraine would feel hopeless, and Russia would have at least a little real hope of breaking us... Today, everything that serves us can serve the world. We are forming a new arsenal of peace," Zelensky said.

Development of Ukraine's military-industrial complex

The President expressed his belief that Ukraine will be able to build a long-term reliable peace through the development of the military-industrial complex on its own and in cooperation with global arms manufacturers. The country is ready to share real combat practices with partners so that the world cannot be threatened by any aggressor in the future.

"With its criminal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, Russia has shown every nation that it can threaten the sovereignty and normal life of any nation on the planet. By our defense in this war, by our movement to liberate our own territory, every state understands what it needs for its defense, including weapons, production facilities, modern technologies, and alliances," the Ukrainian leader explained.

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Among other things, the guarantor said that it was during his trip to the United States that he agreed to cooperate with American arms manufacturers. They will help Kyiv develop the Ukrainian defense industry.

Who attended the Forum

On Thursday, September 28, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrived in Kyiv. According to media reports, he was accompanied by "about 20 representatives of the defense industry." An official from the manufacturer of the Caesar air defense system was among them, which is already in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The President of Ukraine also met with Grant Shapps, the British Secretary of State for Defense. Before the event in Kyiv, they discussed strengthening Ukraine's air defense, which is especially important ahead of the winter season.

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On the day of the event, the president said that more than 30 countries were represented, with a total of 252 defense companies producing a full range of weapons and defense systems and solutions.

"The main thing in this hall is the confidence of the free world that we can protect our people, values and freedom. We will do this without fail because we will build a modern and powerful arsenal that will leave no chance for any aggressor," Zelensky said.

He added that the forum was also attended by representatives of domestic industries both public and private, new and known ones. They become more powerful in times of war.

What else is known about the Defense Industry Forum

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky shared details about the upcoming event in a video address on September 25.

"There are already more than 160 companies that will participate. 26 countries. Different parts of the world: America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. Manufacturers of a full range of weapons. We will do everything to unite the world to create a new and powerful arsenal for Ukraine and all defenders of international law," the President said.

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For his part, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that this is an initiative of Ukraine, which understands that it needs to think strategically and cannot ensure the sustainability of arms supplies during the war only through warehouses.

"We need to ensure this by increasing production, primarily in Ukraine. We are working together with the Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshyn and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to maximize synergy and results," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine before the forum.

According to him, the idea for the event was born in the Foreign Ministry in the spring of 2023, after which, on behalf of the president, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Strategy and Industry, and the Ministry of Defense worked as a team to organize it. He added that "this is an example of real teamwork between the three ministries in the interests of the state's defense."

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The event brought together representatives not only from European companies but also from other parts of the world. The main focus was on arms manufacturers and the signing of contracts and alliances. The Ministry of Strategic Industries and the Ministry of Defense played a key role in this. For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs worked with each country to ensure that they delegated the maximum number of campaigns to participate in.

"We are creating a 'political umbrella' for the forum so that companies can see that what they plan to do together with Ukraine enjoys the political support of their governments, as well as the EU and NATO," Kuleba summarized.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the prospects for arms production in Ukraine. According to him, to ensure the country's security, it needs air defense systems and other modern weapons.

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Only verified information on our Telegram Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Lucknow, September 30

U ttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday reviewed the preparations for the one-hour Swachhata Shramdaan program scheduled to be held on October 1 in the state.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has called upon the people of the state to pay 'Swachhanjali' (cleanliness tribute) to Bapu on the occasion of the 154th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.

"On the occasion of the 154th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who gave the message of cleanliness to the nation, a 154-hour cleanliness campaign is being run in all the urban bodies under the 'Swachhta Hi Seva' (Cleanliness is Service) fortnight. For the success of this campaign, Swachh Sarathi Club is being developed and programs are being organized in universities/schools. The city's intersections and bus stops are being cleaned. Public participation should be increased in this important campaign," an official statement said.

"In order to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Garbage-free India' vision, every resident of the state should participate in 1 hour of cleanliness volunteering on October 1," it added.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi said that this collective effort will be a 'Swachhanjali' to Mahatma Gandhi on the evening of his birth anniversary.

"Every resident of the state must contribute to ensure cleanliness in his/her surroundings. Public awareness should be spread to join this one-hour cleanliness volunteering program on October 1," CM Yogi said.

"On October 1, special programs should be organized in all urban bodies and gram panchayats for one hour of cleanliness volunteering. For the success of this volunteering effort, a special meeting of all the urban bodies, gram panchayats, area panchayats and district panchayats of the state should be convened on September 30 (Saturday) and a proposal for the cleanliness volunteering program should be passed. All necessary preparations should be made in your area including marking the venue for the program on October 1," he added.

UP CM said that volunteering is a civic duty and citizens will have to develop[ cleanliness a habit.

"There should be the participation of public representatives, businessmen, NGOs, socio-cultural organizations, self-help groups, RWAs, and civil organizations in this program of cleanliness volunteering. All district-level officials should be present in their respective districts on this day. Sanitation workers should be publicly honoured on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi," he said.

UP CM said the success of this cleanliness volunteering campaign depends on its continuity.

"In the coming days, there will be idol immersions of Goddess Durga and Chhath Puja celebrations. Therefore, this process of cleanliness should be maintained continuously. A significant portion of urban waste consists of harmful plastics. In addition to efforts to raise awareness against their use, strict enforcement should be carried out. Ensure enforcement of the ban on banned polythene," he said.

UP CM Yogi reviews preparations for Swachhata Shramdaan program on Oct 1

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Washington DC, September 30

E xternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday held a meeting with the US Defence Industry at US-India Business Council and discussed about strategic convergence and technology collaboration.

The EAM also met US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

A stimulating meeting today with US defence industry at @USIBC. Discussed how strategic convergence, technology collaboration and easier to do business are coming together to transform our defence partnership, Jaishankar posted on X (formerly Twitter).

https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1707850514187116945?s=20

During his meeting with Raimondo, the two leaders agreed to enhance the momentum of collaboration and economic partnership between the two nations.

Great to see Secretary of Commerce@SecRaimondo. We appreciated the significant progress in technology collaboration and economic partnership this year. Agreed to enhance their momentum, Jaishakar stated.

https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1707851293526483137?s=20

He also discussed India-US bilateral defence cooperation and global security challenges with Lloyd Austin.

Delighted to meet Secretary of Defense @SecDefLlyod Austin. Productive conversation on our bilateral defence cooperation. Useful exchange on global security challenges, he added in subsequent post.

https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1707850989464641749?s=20

Earlier on Thursday, Jaishankar met his US counterpart Antony Blinken. The two leaders discussed the potential of India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and also the upcoming 2+2 Dialogue, in particular in the areas of defence, space, and clean energy.

The EAM also met US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and discussed the expanding trade and economic relationship between India and the US.

He also held a meeting with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Both sides recognized the tremendous progress in bilateral relations this year and discussed taking it forward.

Jaishankar addressed the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

Notably, Jaishankar is on a visit to the US from September 22-30.

Jaishankar meets Raimondo, Austin; attends meeting with US defence industry

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New Delhi, Sep 30

A fter doing a special appearance in Tamil megastar Rajinikanth's 'Jailer', Malayalam superstar Mohanlal is now confirmed to star in Vishnu Manchu's dream-project 'Kannappa'.

The movie is supposed to be a fantasy drama film, and will have a pan-Indian approach.

Taking to his X account formerly known as Twitter,Vishnuconfirmed the development as he wrote: "Har Har Mahadev!" after Mohanlal was confirmed to be on board for the project.

Earlier, the director while in New Zealand had announced the shooting of the film in a lengthy post on X which he said would kick off from the island country.

New Zealand has been one of the most common destinations when it comes to shooting fantasy movies or serials.

Vishnuhad written: "EPIC ADVENTURE BEGINS. Today, I stand in awe as the adventure of a lifetime unfolds in the picturesque landscapes of New Zealand, as we commence the shooting of 'Kannappa.' This dream has been seven years in the making, and its realisation is a testament to the divine blessings of Lord Shiva and Parvathi Devi."

The last eight months have been nothing short of a whirlwind for everyone involved in '#Kannappa. Sleepless nights became the norm, festivals were momentarily forgotten, holidays became scarce, and a good, uninterrupted five-hour sleep felt like a luxurious indulgence. The anxiety and nervousness still linger, but our spirits remain unwavering," he added.

Detailing the films conception, he wrote: "Seven years ago, when the eminent Tanikella Bharani first shared the concept of #Kannappa with me, I was instantly captivated by its potential. I took it upon myself to further craft and refine the story, and I cannot express enough gratitude to the incredible talents who joined me on this journey."

He continued in the post, "The support of stalwarts like Parachuri Gopalakrishna Garu, Vijendra Prasad Garu, Thotapalli Sainath Garu, Thota Prasad Garu, Directors Nageshwara Reddy Garu, and Eswar Reddy Garu has been instrumental in developing a script that promises to be larger than life".

Vishnu added: In just a few days, a 600-strong cast and crew from around the world will converge in New Zealand to bring 'Kannappa' to life. Their sacrifices, leaving behind loved ones, are a testament to their unwavering belief in this project.

As we embark on this magnificent journey, we humbly ask for your love, support, and prayers. 'Kannappa' is not just a project; it's a labour of love, dedication, and unwavering belief. Our adventure begins, and together, we shall make magic happen. Har Har Mahadev!

Earlier, the Telugu director had already confirmed the casting of superstars Prabhas and Nayanthara both of whom signed on to the project after completing their big budget outings, namely Salaar Part 1 for Prahas and Jawan for Nayanthara.

Mohanlals casting had been a tough issue due to the actor already being booked for his role in Jailer as well as his own upcoming Malayalam film Malaikottai Vaaliban.

But now, the roster is complete with over three superstars.

Vishnu has mostly kept all the details, including ones related to casting under the wraps. However, some details had leaked out though he covered the leaks and requested social media users to not leak out any information before time.

Kannappa is so far said to be based around the legend of Kannappa, an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva who was supposed to be an avatar of Arjuna himself. One of the 63 nayanars, Kannappa according to legend had plucked out his eye as an offering to the deity, and performed a dance of penance which impressed Mahadev so much that he blessed him and gave him divine abilities.

Vishnu Manchu confirms Mohanlal joining the cast of 'Kannappa'

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Bengaluru, Sep 30

I n a bid to further strengthen its presence in Karnataka, Texas-based technology conglomerate Dell is considering a fresh investment in its research and development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru, an official statement said on Saturday.

Bengaluru, Sep 30 (IANS) In a bid to further strengthen its presence in Karnataka, Texas-based technology conglomerate Dell is considering a fresh investment in its research and development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru, an official statement said on Saturday. The Dell team comprising Michael Dundas of Global Manufacturing Operations and Technology, Alan Richey, Senior Vice President, Legal, and Tabrez Ahmad, Director, Asia Pacific and Japan, Govt Affairs and Public Policy held meetings with Karnataka Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Minister M.B. Patil, in Austin, on Friday, as per the state Large and Medium Industries Ministry.

The company also sought support from the Karnataka government to overcome import restrictions on Special Economic Zone (SEZ) operations, which would enhance cost sustainability for Dell's expansion in India.

Dell also put forth its requirements with respect to ESDM ecosystem players and suppliers in the state.

The company, which is valued at $50 billion, already operates a prominent research and development centre in Bengaluru.

At the global level, Dell operates around 25 manufacturing facilities with 14 of these facilities dedicated to R&D.

The Karnataka business delegation is visiting various states in the US to attract investments into the state. Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries, Dr S Selvakumar, and Industrial Development Commissioner and Director, Industries and Commerce, Gunjan Krishna, are accompanying the minister.

The delegation also met leading Semiconductor Manufacturing company Global Foundries (GF), which expressed interest in increasing its workforce in Bengaluru with an addition of 200 skilled workers.

Patil assured to extend the governments support in this regard and will also help Global Foundries to establish connections with customers and suppliers. The $30-billion Global Foundries has also expressed interest in establishing and expanding its Aerospace and Defence (A&D) presence in Karnataka, with plans for further engagement to develop a comprehensive business strategy.

The delegation headed by Patil also attended a Business Roundtable hosted by the US-India Chamber of Commerce and AKKA and organised jointly by TiE Austin, and the Austin Chamber of Commerce. The roundtable saw an attendance of around 60 entrepreneurs including senior VPs, and CEOs.

Dell considering a fresh investment in Bengaluru, says Karnataka govt

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Prithviraj Sukumaran shares intriguing video of Mohanlal starrer 'L2: Empuraan', film to go on floors soon

Mumbai, September 30

H aving recovered from his knee injury after a three-month-long hiatus, actor-filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran is all geared up to kickstart the shoot of his highly anticipated directorial L2E  Empuraan starring Mohanlal.

Taking to Instagram, Prithviraj shared an L2E launch video and captioned it, #L2E - Empuraan. Its an honour for the L team to welcome #LycaProductions to the Malayalam Cinema industry. Jointly produced by #AashirvadCinemas and #LycaProductions, the 2nd instalment of the #LUCIFER franchise starts rolling from 5th Oct 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx0Hd6pPut5/

As soon as the actor shared the news, fans and followers flooded the comment section.

One of the users wrote, The king is coming to show you what his kingdom.

The launch video of L2E-Empuraan showcases sequences from Lucifer and Indrajith Sukumaran was heard saying, He is coming back."

Sequel to Prithviraj Sukumaran's directorial debut, 'Lucifer,' starring cinema icon Mohanlal, L2: Empuraan was officially announced in August 2022.

L2E  Empuraan is going on floors from October 5 with its first official schedule.

The actor also welcomed on board Lyca Productions as they mark their debut in the Malayalam cinema with this magnum opus

Lyca Productions is the label behind some of the biggest films including Ponniyin Selvan: I and Ponniyin Selvan: II, the upcoming action drama Indian 2 and the newly released Chandramukhi 2 amongst others.

An enthralling political action thriller, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and produced by Aashirvad Cinemas and Lyca Productions.

Meanwhile, Prithviraj had injured himself while filming an action sequence for the film 'Vilayath Buddha'.

In June, he informed fans about his injury via social media post.

"Hello! So yes...I had an accident while shooting an action sequence for 'Vilayatha Buddha'. Fortunately, I'm in the hands of experts who performed a key hole surgery and I'm now recouping. It's rest and physiotherapy ahead for a couple of months. Will try my best to use that time constructively, and I promise to fight through the pain to recover fully and get back into action asap. Thank you to all those who reached out and expressed concern and love," his note read.

Helmed by Jayan Nambiyar, 'Vilayath Buddha' also stars Anu Mohan and Priyamvada Krishnan in prominent roles.

Apart from that, he also has 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' alongside actors Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar. Helmed by Ali Abbas Zafar, the film is all set to hit the theatres on Eid 2024. He will also be seen in 'Salaar' with Prabhas. The film will hit the theatres on December 22, 2023.

Prithviraj Sukumaran shares intriguing video of Mohanlal starrer 'L2: Empuraan', film to go on floors soon

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President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the Day of the Establishment of the People's Republic of China, Azernews reports.

The letter reads:

"Dear Mr. President,

It is on the occasion of the National Holiday of your country  Establishment Day of the Peoples Republic of China that on my behalf and behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I am pleased to offer my sincerest congratulations and best wishes to you, and through you, the friendly people of your country.

Today, China is one of the most dynamically developing countries in the world. Under your resolute and wise leadership, your country's achievements and successes in every field have placed it among the most powerful and advanced nations and solidified further its position in the international arena.

Expanding cooperation with China  a close friend and a reliable partner is one of Azerbaijans top foreign policy priorities. I am delighted that Azerbaijan-China relations that enjoy ancient history and fine traditions are developing along an ascending trajectory and our partnership is enriched with new substance from day to day.

I note with pleasure that presently, our bilateral relations have a broad agenda. Our mutually beneficial cooperation in the economy, trade, transportation and logistics, renewable energy, humanitarian, and other domains has clear and promising prospects. Meanwhile, the growth in the volume of cargo shipped westward from China through Azerbaijan is another vivid testimony to our successful engagement within the Belt and Road project.

Chinese companies have long operated successfully in our country and played an essential role in developing our interstate relations. We are looking forward to advancing this cooperation also across the liberated territories.

Azerbaijan has always unequivocally supported the One China policy and Chinas territorial integrity and sovereignty. In the meantime, we highly appreciate the support extended by China to our territorial integrity and sovereignty.

I am confident that we will continue successfully our joint efforts in further developing comprehensive Azerbaijan-China relations, deepening our bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and elevating them to the level of strategic partnership, for the sake of the interests of our peoples.

On this festive occasion, I wish you robust health, happiness and success, and everlasting peace and prosperity to the friendly people of China.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 30 September 2023"
Russia is returning to the tactic of intensifying missile terror and has once again begun striking energy and military facilities. Therefore, the government is taking steps to maximize their protection.

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In particular, some of the production facilities involved in the implementation of missile programs have been moved abroad in advance, where Russia will not be able to reach them. This was stated by Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, in an interview with Ukrainian Radio.

He noted that one of Ukraine's missile production facilities, which was once targeted by Russia, has been moved outside of Ukraine.

"This strike happened a long time ago. Thus, realizing that the Russians have known the location of certain facilities since the Soviet Union, we took certain steps to prevent them (strikes - Ed.). This does not affect the missile program globally... Part of the production has been moved outside of our country, where Russia will not get it. After all, Russia can only fight with us. They are afraid to attack NATO countries," Danilov stated.

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At the same time, the terrorist country is intensifying attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities.

"Moreover, they have never ended, because the Russian Federation is an insidious country that cannot fight the military. It is at war with our civilian population, destroying our civilian infrastructure to inflict pain on our people, including pensioners, children, and those who are in a difficult situation during such attacks," the NSDC Secretary emphasized.

Danilov warned that the coming months would be difficult. However, he added that "we have already survived one of the most difficult winters in the history of Ukraine and the whole world."

"The state is preparing as much as possible, but this does not mean that we will not have problems in the winter. We will have them, but we must remember that we have already lived through one of the most difficult winters for us and for the whole world. I don't know of any country that has faced such problems in winter during military operations," the NSDC Secretary added.

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Earlier, Danilov spoke about preparations for the de-occupation of Donbas and Crimea. A strategy for the liberation of Ukrainian land is currently being developed. The NSDC Secretary added that it would be inappropriate to develop separate strategies for the de-occupation of each of the regions and Crimea. Therefore, the plan for liberation will be common to all the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia.
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Higher levels of depressive symptoms have been reported during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with other times in history, and as much as three times higher than prior to the pandemic. A team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has found that social isolation may have been a contributing factor. Their findings are published in JAMA Network Open.

In surveys conducted between May 2020 and April 2022 that were completed by 192,271 adults living the all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, the average county-level proportion of individuals not leaving home on a daily basis was associated with a greater level of depressive symptoms.

We integrated our data with another data set compiled by Facebook that looked at aspects of mobility on the basis of an app, including how often people in a particular area left home. We found that in communities and at times when fewer people left home, levels of depression in our survey were greater." Roy H. Perlis, MD, MSc, lead author, associate chief of research in the department of psychiatry and director of the Center for Quantitative Health at MGH

This link held even after considering local COVID-19 activity, weather, and county-level economics. Certain pandemic restrictions-;in particular, mandatory mask-wearing in public and policies cancelling public events-;were modestly related to depressive symptom severity, but these associations were substantially smaller than the magnitude of the association with community mobility.

"In most of the analysis we used cross-sectional data-;measurements at the same time of community mobility and depression. But when we looked at the relationship between mobility in a community and subsequent depression, we observed similar effects," says Perlis.

The investigators note that finding ways to increase social engagement and limit social isolation during times of limited mobility may be important for mitigating the effects of future pandemics or other long-lasting disasters to potentially decrease some of their mental health impacts.

Co-authors include Kristin Lunz Trujillo, PhD, Alauna Safarpour, PhD, Alexi Quintana, BA, Matthew D. Simonson, PhD, Jasper Perlis, Mauricio Santillana, PhD, Katherine Ognyanova, PhD, Matthew A. Baum, PhD, James N. Druckman, PhD, and David Lazer, PhD.

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, Northeastern University, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Rutgers University.
Young people who are in higher education in England face a small increased risk of depression and anxiety, compared to their peers who are not attending higher education, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

The research paper, published in The Lancet Public Health, is the first to find evidence of higher levels of depression and anxiety among higher education students compared with their peers.

The authors found that by age 25, the difference had disappeared between graduates and non-graduates.

In recent years in the UK we have seen an increase in mental health problems among young people, so there has been an increased focus on how to support students. Here we have found concerning evidence that students may have a higher risk of depression and anxiety than their peers of the same age who are not in higher education. The first couple of years of higher education are a crucial time for development, so if we could improve the mental health of young people during this time it could have long term benefits for their health and wellbeing, as well as for their educational achievement and longer-term success." Dr Gemma Lewis, Lead author, UCL Psychiatry

The researchers used data from the Longitudinal Studies of Young People in England (LSYPE1 and LSYPE2). The first study included 4,832 young people born in 1989-90, who were aged 18-19 in the years 2007-9. The second study included 6,128 participants born in 1998-99, who were aged 18-19 in the years 2016-18 (i.e., prior to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic). In both studies, just over half attended higher education.

Participants in the studies have completed surveys about their general mental health, to investigate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and social dysfunction, at multiple time points over the years.

The researchers found a small difference in symptoms of depression and anxiety at age 18-19 between students (including those at university and other higher education institutions) and non-students.

This association persisted after adjustment for potentially confounding factors including, among others, socioeconomic status, parents' education, and alcohol use.

The analysis suggests that if the potential mental health risks of attending higher education were eliminated, the incidence of depression and anxiety could potentially be reduced by 6% among people aged 18-19.

First author Dr Tayla McCloud (UCL Psychiatry) said: "Based on our findings, we cannot say why students might be more at risk of depression and anxiety than their peers, but it could be related to academic or financial pressure. This increased risk among students has not been found in studies in the past, so if the association has only recently emerged, it may be related to increased financial pressures and worries about achieving high results in the wider economic and social context.

"We would have expected higher education students to have better mental health than their non-student peers as they tend to be from more privileged backgrounds on average, so these results are particularly concerning. More research is needed to clarify the mental health risks facing students.

"Improving our understanding of modifiable risk factors for depression and anxiety is a global health priority, and it is clear that supporting the mental health of our young people is vitally important."

The study was commissioned and funded by England's Department for Education.
HOROSCOPE TODAY, OCTOBER 1, 2023: Are you looking for helpful insights about the potential chances and challenges that await them based on your zodiac sign? These cosmic motions serve as invaluable guides, allowing people to make informed decisions as they go about their daily lives. Horoscopes cover a wide range of topics, including jobs, relationships, finances, and personal well-being, and offer personalised advice based on the characteristics of each astrological sign.

WATCH: Monthly Horoscope For October 2023

While these forecasts are useful, keep in mind that human actions and decisions ultimately shape the events of the day. Heres the comprehensive horoscope for each zodiac sign:

Aries (March 21  April 19)

Expect Success And Profits In The Profession

Profits in business will be enormous. Those looking for a new career may be successful. You will profit from the experience of others. You will be able to keep your spending under control. You and your life partner might go sightseeing. People will be impressed by your personality.

Lucky colour: Red

Lucky numbers: 1, 8

Taurus (April 20  May 20)

Avoid Unnecessary Spending

Spend no more money than you have. Due to the erratic nature of your mind, you may be unable to draw firm conclusions. Your work will suffer as a result of your arrogance. There may be financial disagreements in your household. Avoid long-distance travel unless absolutely required. Even if you dont want to go, you might have to attend a social function.

Lucky colour: White

Lucky numbers: 2, 7

Gemini (May 21  June 20)

Your Family Life Will Be Peaceful

You will be overjoyed today. Your marriage will be really romantic. Your family will be filled with love and pleasure. People will be impressed by your generosity. Young people will communicate their feelings for their companion. At work, you will be treated with respect as well as receive monetary benefits.

Lucky colour: Yellow

Lucky numbers: 3, 6

Cancer (June 21  July 22)

Expect Lifestyle Changes

There may be some modifications in your way of life, and you will find it difficult to adjust to them. In the evening, you might get some exciting news. You might put money into your firm to grow it. Your previous acquaintances could be useful to you. You should concentrate on your work.

Lucky colour: Milky

Lucky number: 4

Leo (July 23  August 23)

Your Opinion Will Be Valued

Your ideas and suggestions may influence your supervisor to make critical decisions. You might enter into new commercial contracts. Students will achieve outstanding accomplishments in higher education. Politicians may be promoted to positions of greater responsibility. Guests may visit your home.

Lucky colour: Golden

Lucky number: 5

Virgo (August 23  September 22)

Profession Life May Be Difficult

Your authority at work may decrease. Do not begin any new jobs today. You may become involved in legal proceedings. Male employees may clash with their female coworkers. Partners must preserve mutual trust.

Lucky colour: Green

Lucky numbers: 3, 8

Libra (September 23  October 22)

Expect Plans To Fall Into Place

Your plans will be carried out on time. You will be rewarded for your efforts. Trying something new and inventive in business could be advantageous. Newlyweds may make decisions concerning family planning. Your family will be supportive of your love marriage. Students may achieve great academic success.

Lucky colour: White

Lucky numbers: 2, 7

Scorpio (October 23  November 21)

Expect Help From Coworkers

Your coworkers will assist you. However, you will have to rely on others for your work. Property issues may be settled. Your coworkers will cause you problems. If you are having problems with your chest or lungs, see a doctor. The day is favourable for those involved in the pharmaceutical industry.

Lucky colour: Red

Lucky numbers: 1, 8

Sagittarius (November 22  December 21)

Think Before Taking Decisions

Your business relationships will benefit from your pleasant demeanour. Make no irrational decisions. You may have stomach pain. In your romantic relationship, intimacy will grow. Spiritual folks will think about practising meditation. Your acquaintance with knowledgeable individuals will grow.

Lucky colour: Yellow

Lucky numbers: 9, 12

Capricorn (December 22  January 19)

Might Face Financial Issues

You will be concerned because of your debt. There may be strife in your household for several reasons. You should approach such problems with a clear head. You will be unable to concentrate on your task due to your desires. Good day to buy a new car.

Lucky colour: Cyan

Lucky numbers: 10, 11

Aquarius (January 20  February 18)

Expect A Peaceful Marriage

You will have a lovely married life. You will express your emotions to your life partner. Your self-esteem will improve. You might run into old acquaintances. Business owners will greatly benefit from the assistance of their associates.

Lucky colour: Cyan

Lucky numbers: 10, 11

Pisces (February 19  March 20)

Expect To Feel Fatigued

The day will begin on a sour note. You will feel tired and drained of vitality. Your suppressed sexual desires will be a barrier to your work. To keep your mind in check, practise Yoga. Due to inaccurate knowledge, you may make poor conclusions. You will be dissatisfied with the additional workload.

Lucky colour: Yellow

Lucky numbers: 9, 12.
The sale of Phase XXVII of electoral bonds is going to be opened on October 4, 2023. It will remain open till October 13. The bonds can be purchased from State Bank of India (SBI) through its 29 authorised branches.

State Bank of India (SBI), in the XXVIII Phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches (as per list enclosed) w.e.f. 04.10.2023 to 13.10.2023, the finance ministry said in a notification.

What Are Electoral Bonds?

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding.

The bonds were introduced in 2017 to cleanse the system of political funding in the country. In his Budget Speech on February 1, 2017, then finance minister Arun Jaitley said: Even 70 years after Independence, the country has not been able to evolve a transparent method of funding political parties which is vital to the system of free and fair electionsPolitical parties continue to receive most of their funds through anonymous donations which are shown in cash. An effort, therefore, requires to be made to cleanse the system of political funding in India.

Who Can Buy Electoral Bonds?

These bonds can be bought by any citizen of India or entity incorporated or established in the country. A person can buy the bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. The purchaser would be allowed to buy an electoral bond(s) only on due fulfilment of all the extant KYC norms and by making payment from a bank account. It will not carry the name of the payee.

The bonds are available for purchase for a period of 10 days each in the months of January, April, July and October. Now, the electoral bonds can be bought between October 4 and October 13.

Who Can Receive Electoral Bonds?

Only the political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and that secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last Lok Sabha or state elections, are eligible to receive the electoral bonds.

How To Purchase Electoral Bonds?

The bonds can be bought from the 29 authorised branches of the government-owned State Bank of India (SBI) in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore. The authorised SBI branches are in Lucknow, Shimla, Dehradun Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur, and Mumbai.

The receiving political party can redeem the bonds within 15 days of the date of issue. If the bonds are not redeemed within 15 days, no payment is made to the party. The redeemed amount is credited into the political partys account on the same day as the bond is deposited with the bank. The electoral bonds will be encashed by an eligible political party only through a bank account with the authorised bank.

The electoral bonds can be bought from any authorised branch of SBI by paying digitally or through a cheque. Cash is not allowed. The donor then can hand over the bonds to the political party of his/ her choice, which can encash them within 15 days of the date of issue.
On the 584th day of the Russian invasion, Ukraine's defense forces continued to conduct defensive operations in the east and south and advance in the Melitopol and Bakhmut direction. Ukrainian defenders are destroying the occupiers, liberating the territories captured by the enemy step by step and gaining new ground.

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Over the past day, 44 combat engagements took place. This is stated in the summary of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, released on the morning of September 30.

Situation in various frontline areas

The enemy did not conduct any offensive (assault) actions in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions, areas of responsibility of the Khortytsia operational-strategic group (OSG).

The enemy unsuccessfully tried to regain lost ground in the vicinity of Klishchiivka in the Bakhmut direction.

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The occupiers carried out more than 20 unsuccessful attacks in the areas of Tonenke, Marinka, Novomykhailivka and Staromaiorsk in the Donetsk region in the Avdiivka, Marinka, and Shakhtarsk directions in the area of responsibility of the Tavria Brigade. They also unsuccessfully tried to regain the lost position southwest of Avdiivka.

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The aggressor's troops tried to regain their lost ground in the areas of Robotyne and Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia direction but were unsuccessful.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue counter-battery fighting in the Kherson direction in the area of responsibility of the Odesa operational-strategic group, destroying supply depots and striking the enemy's rear.

No significant changes were recorded in the Volyn and Polissia directions in the area of responsibility of the North operational-strategic group

The enemy maintains the military presence in the border areas in the Siversk and Slobozhansk directions, as well as conducts active sabotage activities to prevent the deployment of our troops to threatened areas and increases the density of minefields along the border in the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation.

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Ukrainian Armed Forces advance in two directions

The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to conduct offensive operations in the Melitopol and Bakhmut directions, the General Staff said.

Our soldiers are inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy, depleting it along the entire front line.

Occupants suffered losses

Over the day, the aviation of the Defense Forces carried out 11 strikes on areas of concentration of manpower, weapons and military equipment, as well as 2 strikes on the SAM of Russian troops, the General Staff said.

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Missile troops struck 3 areas of concentration of manpower, weapons and military equipment, 2 SAMs, 13 artillery pieces, an ammunition depot and an electronic warfare station of the occupiers.

Enemy shelling

According to the report, the aggressor launched 6 missiles and 56 air strikes, as well as 40 multiple rocket launcher strikes at Ukrainian troops' positions and civilian objects. There were civilian casualties and injuries, as well as the destruction of private homes and other civilian infrastructure.

In addition, on the night of September 30, the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine with Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones. Information on the consequences is being clarified, the General Staff said.

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Air strikes were carried out in Komisarove, Petropavlivka, Ivanivka, Pishchane, Senkove, Kopanky in the Kharkiv region; Novoselivske, Nevske in the Luhansk region; Zarichne, Spirne, Serebrianka, Bohdanivka, Krasnohorivka, Marinka, Vuhledar, Velyka Novosilka, Urozhaine, Staromaiorske the in Donetsk region; Novodarivka, Robotyne, Novodanylivka, Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia; and Beryslav, Olhivka in the Kherson region.

More than 100 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions came under artillery fire.

As OBOZREVATEL reported earlier, Estonian military intelligence warned that Russia increased pressure in the Kupiansk direction, preparing a battlefield. The occupiers blew up a bridge over the Oskol River. The situation is difficult, but the Armed Forces are controlling it.

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Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The NEET PG 2023 counselling, for admissions in MD, MDS, and PG medical courses, is in full swing. Following the Union Health Ministrys approval, the NEET PG cut-off has been set to zero for all categories. Numerous state counselling committees, including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, have adjusted their schedules in response to this change, allowing all exam-takers to participate in counselling.

The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) had to reopen the registration window for NEET PG round 3 counselling due to the cut-off reduction, which led to delays in state counselling committees as they awaited the MCCs NEET PG round 3 results.

The NEET PG round 3 allotment result for 2023 was released on the MCCs official website, mcc.nic.in. This round saw 8,191 fresh allotments among the 33,641 candidates who appeared for NEET PG 2023.

Notably, the Supreme Court granted the National Medical Commission (NMC) a one-time extension until October 10 for admitting students to PG medical courses.

Check State-wise revised NEET PG Counselling 2023 dates here

Maharashtra NEET PG Counselling 2023

The State CET Cell initiated registration for Maharashtra NEET PG round 3 on September 18, but due to MCCs delay, the registration period was extended by 5 days. Now, candidates must complete online registration and fee payment by October 2. Although the CET Cell originally planned to conclude counselling today, September 30, it will now end on October 10, ahead of the NMCs deadline.

MP NEET PG Counselling 2023

The Department of Medical Education, Madhya Pradesh, will release the revised mop-up merit list soon. Fresh choice filling and choice locking will be available today, September 30 for eligible candidates. The MP mop-up round seat allotment result, initially set for September 22, has been postponed to October 5, with the last reporting date being October 10.

Rajasthan NEET PG Counselling 2023

The deadline for submitting Rajasthan NEET PG counselling 2023 registration forms ended on September 29. Eligible candidates were required pay the non-refundable application fee by September 29. The provisional merit list will be published on the official website, rajpgneet2023.com, on September 30.

Bihar NEET PG Counselling 2023

Candidates eligible for Bihar NEET PG counselling 2023 under the new cut-off must register by October 1. Choices made by previously registered candidates will be considered null and void. The merit list and rank card will be available on October 4 at the official website, bceceboard.bihar.gov.in.

UP NEET PG Counselling 2023

The Directorate General of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Uttar Pradesh has also adjusted its counselling schedule. Candidates could apply for the UP NEET PG counselling 2023 mop-up round until September 29, 11 AM, at the official website, upneet.gov.in. As per the revised schedule, the UP NEET PG mop-up round seat allotment result will be declared on October 5, with candidates required to download the allotment order and report to assigned colleges between October 6 and 10.
With Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh inching closer, the Congress is likely to release its first list of candidates after October 5 as part of its strategy, sources said on Friday. A Congress source told IANS that the preparations for the Assembly elections are in full swing and the names of the candidates have been finalised, which will be released by the party at the perfect time.

The source said that the party would release its first list of candidates after October 5 as it is expected that by then, the poll schedule will be announced by the Election Commission.

The source further said that party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be in the state on October 5 to address a massive public meeting, and her feedback will be sought before the announcement of the final list.

The party has held two meetings of the Screening Committee in the national capital to shortlist the candidates for the elections.

The party has received over 3,500 requests from aspiring candidates, who want to contest in the Assembly elections on Congress ticket, the source elaborated.

Meanwhile, former party president Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting in the Kala Pipla Assembly seat on Saturday.

The BJP has already announced two lists of candidates for the upcoming elections. In its second list, the ruling party has named three Union Ministers besides four other sitting MPs. The second list of 39 candidates was released on Monday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting in Bhopal.

The list also includes the name of BJPs National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

The three Union Ministers named in the list are Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti, Prahlad Singh Patel, from Narsinghpur; Agriculture Minister and the partys state election management committee head Narendra Singh Tomar from Dimni-Morena; and Minister of State for Rural Development and Steel, Fagan Singh Kulaste from Niwas.

The four other Lok Sabha members named in the list are Ganesh Singh from Satna, Riti Pathak from Sidhi, Rakesh Singh from Jabalpur-West, and Uday Pratap Singh from Gadarwara.

The Congress has been campaigning aggressively in the state to come back to power and has already announced several guarantees on the lines of its campaign strategy in the Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.
Indias Best Dancer Season 3 is now on the verge of crowning its winner in the finale episode, which will air on September 30. The closing episode, themed Finale No. 1" promises to be entertaining while presenting exceptional dance techniques and wonderful performances by the contestants. The finale episode will be even more exciting as the stunning star cast of Ganapath, Tiger Shroff, and Kriti Sanon will join the judges to announce the winner. Along with them, Govinda will also grace the stage.

In the promo shared by Sony TV on their official Instagram handle, Tiger Shroff, Kriti Sanon, and Govinda are seen having a great time as they dance along with the participants, creating some memorable moments in the final leg of this popular reality show. Reportedly, they also indulge in a hook-step challenge.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sony Entertainment Television (@sonytvofficial)

Aniket Chauhan, Anjali Mamgai, Samarpan Lama, Vipul Khandpal, and Shivanshu Soni are the shows top five contestants. The five will compete for the coveted prize this season. The shows judges, Sonali Bendre, Geeta Kapur, and Terence Lewis, will decide who among these talented participants lifts the trophy.

Speaking about making it to the finale, Aniket Chauhan told ETimes, Indias Best Dancer 3 has been a roller-coaster for me. I was the only untrained dancer who made it to the top 12. The competition has been tough, but Ive tried to prove myself every day." Anjali Mamgai also noted, Indias Best Dancer 3 has been a series of ups and downs for me. When the Behtareen 13 were selected, I learnt that Vipul Kandpal and I were the last two contestants to make the cut. Since then, theres been a fire within me to prove myself and make the judges proud." Vipul Khandpal stated that the platform has given him the opportunity to explore and grow as a dancer, and he is grateful for it.

The grand finale of Indias Best Dancer 3 will air on Sony TV at 8 p.m. It is also available to watch on SonyLIV.

Meanwhile, the film Ganapath: A Hero Is Born is directed by Vikas Bahl and produced by Jackky Bhagnani. It is set in the year 2070 AD and stars Tiger Shroff, Kriti Sanon and Amitabh Bachchan in major roles.

Ganapaths makers released the films teaser recently. The preview shows us a dismal community that is enveloped in darkness. The three actors band up to battle the bad forces, representing the force that can transform the world. The film will be released on October 20.
In the heartwarming conclusion to Hostel Daze, actor, director, and writer Utsav Sarkar leaves an indelible mark as Ankit Pandey. His portrayal of the beloved character resonates deeply with viewers, capturing the essence of college life, friendships, and the bittersweet moment of leaving the hostel.

Sarkar, a multifaceted talent rooted in theater, effortlessly navigates his roles as an actor, director, and storyteller. His journey in the digital world began in 2019, and in 2022, he made a significant impact with Janhit me jaari and the directorial gem Chuski.

Reflecting on his time in Hostel Daze, Sarkar expressed his gratitude to TVF and director Abhinav Anand, emphasizing the shows authenticity. Set in Pune, the series provided a genuine college experience, evoking nostalgia for Sarkar, who spent a decade in hostels himself.

Sarkars performance as Ankit Pandey not only encapsulates the relatable struggles of college life but also serves as a heartfelt tribute to his own hostel experiences. As the final season aired on September 27th, Utsav Sarkars emotional journey with Hostel Daze stands as a testament to the shows enduring appeal and relatability, leaving viewers deeply moved and reminiscing their own college days.
Former Mumbai Police official Sachin Vaze, arrested in an extortion case in November 2021, was granted bail by a special CBI court here on Friday.

Vaze had approached the special court last month after his bail plea was rejected by a lower court.

However, Vaze will not be released as he is in judicial custody for the Antilia bomb threat and certain other cases.

In his bail plea filed through advocate Aarti Kelkar, Vaze contended that he was accused for offences for which the maximum punishment is three years jail and he had already completed more than half the period as an undertrial, hence, he was entitled to bail.

However, opposing the bail plea before Special Judge S.U. Hake, the CBI argued that contended the charges invoked against Vaze attract a maximum jail term of 10 years.

In August 2021, hotelier-cum-contractor Bimal Agarwal had alleged that he was targeted with an extortion demand of nearly Rs 12 lakh by Vaze in early 2021 against threats of filing cases against him.

Following the complaint, the Goregaon police booked Vaze and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, and others.
Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Dorwaiswami, being blocked from entering a gurdwara in the city of Glasgow by pro-Khalistan extremists is an anomaly in otherwise cordial relations between the Sikh community of UK and the Indian High Commission, top sources told News18 on Saturday.

The incident, which took place during Dorwaiswamis tour of Scotland, has been reported to the Rishi Sunak-led UK government.

According to sources, while the primary trigger for the incident was the tension between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another major reason was the demand for the release of British-Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal who is in custody on terrorism charges in India.

Johal has 10 cases registered against him in India under the Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. He has been lodged in Delhis Tihar Jail since 2017 in murder and attempt to murder cases.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the High Commission of India in London said that three people from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted the visit on Friday evening and one even attempted to violently force open the diplomatic vehicle as senior diplomats arrived at Glasgow Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib on Albert Drive.

As they hurled threats and abuses, the High Commissioner and Consul General of India decided to leave the premises to avert any further altercation.

Sources told News18 that the third person was not involved in the incident and had only been there to caution the Indian diplomats about the protests and urge them to leave the premises. Sources added that the 50-odd protesters in the UK have vested interests in the anti-India demonstrations.

The gurdwara committee and local community leaders have since expressed their regret over the incident and have called on the authorities to take action against the culprits.

The local police said it was called to the disturbance and its enquiries remain ongoing.

We were called around 1:05 pm on Friday, 29 September, to a report of a disturbance that happened in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow. There were no reports of any injuries, and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances, said a police spokesperson.

The incident follows a diplomatic standoff over the issue of pro-Khalistan extremism after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus statement in the countrys parliament last week that the authorities are actively pursuing credible allegations related to Indian government involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist, allegations which the Ministry of External Affairs has strongly rejected as absurd and motivated.
Two terrorists were killed in a joint operation on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Kupwara district during their infiltration attempt in the Kumkadi area of the Machil sector in the district. The operation was launched based on an intelligence provided by the Kupwara police.

So far, two AK-47s, four AK magazines, 90 rounds, one Pakistan-made pistol, one pouch and Rs 2,100 Pakistani currency among other things has been recovered from the encounter site. The operation is still in progress.

Two weeks ago, on September 16, an security forces neutralised three terrorists while they foiled an infiltration bid in J&Ks Baramulla district. Amid this bid, the Pakistan Army was giving cover and targeting quadcopters of the Indian Army.

The operation was launched in the Uri sector along the Line of Control (LoC) on the morning of September 16 after the forces received inputs about infiltration attempts by Pakistan-based outfits.

Addressing a press conference in north Kashmirs Uri, Brigadier P M S Dhillon said they have been receiving intelligence inputs that Pakistani outfits were trying to infiltrate into Uri to destabilise peace in Jammu and Kashmir. So, we strengthened our counter-infiltration and surveillance grid, he said.

The officer said the army used under-barrel grenade launchers (UBGL), multi-grenade launchers (MGL), and rocket launchers to neutralise the terrorists.

The security forces also recovered an AK-47 and AK-74 rifle, seven magazines, a five-kg IED, some ammunition, a Chinese pistol and some grenades along with Indian and Pakistani currency from the terrorists.

The infiltration bid and the subsequent encounter came at a time when an operation was underway in Anantnag district to neutralise terrorists who had taken positions in the forest area in a hilly terrain.

Further back on September 6, the Indian Army foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in the J&Ks Poonch district.

Jammu-based defence PRO Lt Col Suneel Bartwal had said that the two terrorists were observed crossing the LoC towards the Indian side on the intervening night of September 5 and 6 in Poonchs Mandi sub-sector.
After the Indian High Commissioner to the UK was obstructed from entering a gurdwara in Scotland by a group of Khalistan supporters on Friday, sources said that the government of the United Kingdom has taken the matter seriously and assured India that action will be taken against the perpetrators.

High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami was prevented from entering a gurdwara in Scotlands Glasgow by two Khalistani radicals. In a purported video posted on the Instagram channel called Sikh Youth UK, a man, reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist, can be seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive.

UK Taking Matter Seriously

Cops reached the spot on time and the UK assured India of action against the perpetrators. Gurdwaras in the UK are very welcoming to Indian Diplomats and Indian Community. Only a few radical men try to use it as an opportunity to get social media traction and to prove themself for the cause, sources told News18.com.

Following the incident, India has raised the issue of diplomats security with the UK Foreign Office.

Sources said that as a part of outreach and also otherwise, gurudwara committees in the UK have a great understanding and mutual respect for Indian Diplomats and the UK High Commissioner is a regular visitor there.

They also clarified that the two radical men seen in the video are not part of the Gurudwara committee and action will be taken against them.

Gurudwara in Glasgow invited High Commissioner Doraiwami for a function but somehow these two radical men got to know about it and they decided to create a scene at his arrival. Two radical men had nothing to do with the gurudwara administration. The High Commissioner did not want to spoil the function by going on in Gurudwara so he decided not to get down from the car, they said.

Sources added that even after the Indian envoy left, the Gurudwara authorities requested him to come back, but due to security concerns Doraiswami was unable to attend the event.

The situation in the UK is unlike Canada. Canada never took the concerns of the Indian side seriously whereas the UK, since day one, has acted against these groups and took the matter seriously. Despite that India has again raised concerns regarding the security of the High Commissioner to the Foreign Policy, they said.

The Video

The incident unfolded outside a Gurdwara in Glasgow, where Doraiswami had a planned meeting with the Gurdwara committee. The video showed two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside.

They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow, the man is heard saying in the video.

The Sikh Youth UK claims that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities.

The purported video then shows the high commissioners car leaving the gurdwara premises.

The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the Gurdwara will be treated.

We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats, he said.
In a major crackdown on the ISIS module in Pune, Mohammed Shahnawaz Shafiuzzama Alam alias Abdulla, the mastermind of the terror module in the city, was arrested on Saturday.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had earlier this month announced a cash reward of Rs 3 lakh each for information about four wanted accused persons in the ISIS Pune module case, one of whom was Shahnawaz.

A few individuals were previously arrested for alleged active involvement in promoting activities of the terrorist organisation ISIS as part of a module based in Pune in Maharashtra. The NIA had carried out raids in connection with the Pune ISIS module case and seized a host of incriminating material exposing the banned terrorist organisations conspiracy to disrupt peace and communal harmony in the country.

The NIA had, in August, arrested one Shamil Saquib Nachan in the case and claimed it had seized incriminating material from his residence in Thane district and that the material exposed his conspiracy and of the other accused to spread terror and cause disruption in the country.

As per the agency, Nachan had been working with five other arrested accused, along with some other suspects, as part of a bigger conspiracy to trigger violence across the country on a scale larger than the 26/11 attacks, by fabricating and setting off improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The NIA had said the accused were all members of the ISIS sleeper module.

As per preliminary probe, Nachan and the other accused had assembled IEDs in a house in Kondhwa in Pune where they had also organised and participated in a bomb (IED) assembly and training workshop last year.

They had plans to wage a war against the Government of India in furtherance of the ISIS agenda to spread terror and violence with the goal of establishing an Islamic State in the country, the NIA had said.

News18 had earlier reported that not just the ISIS, but the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Indian Mujahideen (IM), too, were involved in the Pune terror module, indicating regrouping under one umbrella.

According to sources, direct links had emerged between the terror modules unearthed in Hazaribagh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. They all lead to Saqib Nachan, who served a 10-year sentence for his role in the 2002-03 triple blasts in Mumbai, a source said.

Sources had then told News18 that Shahanawaz Alam is the key player in the terror plan. All old terror outfits that were almost dead in terms of activities have been recycled again. They have done everything cleverly and saved themselves from the agencies. It is good that they were caught, otherwise their plans were deadly, the source added.
The Indian High Commission in London on Saturday said non-local extremist elements deliberately disrupted High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswamis visit to a gurdwara in Scotland. This was a planned interaction organised by the gurdwara committee and could not take place as three persons from areas outside Scotland threatened and abused the organisers, following which the high commissioner and consul-general decided to leave.

On Vikram Doraiswami, Indian High Commissioner to the UK, allegedly stopped from entering a Gurudwara in Scotland, High Commission of India, London says "On September 29, 2023, three persons all from areas outside Scotlanddeliberately disrupted a planned interaction organized pic.twitter.com/pAUmo5ijXl ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2023

On September 29, 2023, three persons  all from areas outside Scotland  deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised by the gurudwara committee for the community, the high commissioner and the consul general of India. The organisers included senior community leaders, ladies and committee members, and a member of the Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival, the Indian High Commission in London said in a statement, which was issued amid outrage over Doraiswami being stopped from entering the gurdwara.

But, the Indian High Commission said he and the Consul-General of India were to attend a pre-planned event. The organisers of the interaction included senior community leaders, women, committee members and a Scottish MP.

Doraiswami, it seems, decided to leave after the outsiders issued threats to the organisers as well. The Indian High Commission in London further said one of the persons violently forced open the envoys car door but a prompt reaction and physical intervention by the organisers avoided a bigger incident from taking place.

The high commission also said the matter requires police investigation and a number of community organisations, including the organisers of the interaction, have formally regretted the incident and urged the authorities to take action against the culprits.

One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HCs car door  a matter that will require suitable police consideration. It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organisers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided. Multiple community organisations, including the organisers have formally regretted the incident and have urged the authorities to take action against the culprits, the statement read.

Doraiswami was touring Scotland this week and was blocked from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow by pro-Khalistan extremists. During the planned visit to Glasgow Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib on Albert Drive, members of Sikh Youths UK posted videos of their face-off with gurdwara officials as a few of them approached the high commissioners car and asked him to leave.

This is exactly how we should be greeting any Indian ambassador, anyone from the Indian government who comes in an official capacity under any excuse of doing visa applications or whatever it might be, a Sikh man is heard saying in a video posted on social media.

The high commissioners two-day visit to Scotland involved a series of meetings and discussions with local political leaders, diaspora representatives, business chiefs and university groups.

The local police said it was called to the disturbance and its enquiries remain ongoing. We were called around 1.05 pm on Friday, 29 September, to a report of a disturbance that happened in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow. There were no reports of any injuries and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances, said a Police Scotland spokesperson.

In one of the first reactions from the UK government, a minister from the Foreign, Commonwealth an Development Office (FCDO) said she was concerned about the gurdwara incident. Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner @VDoraiswami was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all, said Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who is the Minister for Indo-Pacific at the FCDO.

Effects of the India-Canada face-off in UK?

The incident follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus statement in his countrys Parliament last week over the killing of Canada-based Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Trudeau said his government is pursuing credible allegations that agents of the Indian government killed the Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil. The external affairs ministry, however, strongly rejected these allegations leading to a face-off in which diplomatic relations were suspended. India had earlier designated Nijjar a terrorist.

During Doraiswamis Glasgow tour as well, the issue of British Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal in custody on terrorism charges in India was also raised by Scotlands First Minister Hamza Yousaf. Replying to some issues raised by FM (First Minister Hamza) Yousaf, HC (High Commissioner) stressed that due process is being given under laws to Mr Johal, who faces 8 serious terror charges. FM also appreciated HCs clear message that rights of all communities are guaranteed in Indias pluralist and free democracy, the Indian High Commission tweeted with reference to the meeting.

(With PTI inputs)
The liberation of the temporarily occupied city of Donetsk is not currently a priority for the Ukrainian Defense Forces for several objective reasons. However, the defensive lines of the occupying country, Russia, which were erected after 2014, may not be too difficult to overcome.

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The enemy's defense in this section of the front may be weakened by the transfer of forces and resources to other areas. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive interview with OBOZREVATEL by Oleksiy Melnyk, co-director of foreign policy programs, coordinator of international projects at the Razumkov Center, and military expert.

Speaking about the liberation of Donetsk, he noted, "This is a big city that should be liberated quarter by quarter, house by house. Any Ukrainian offensive can be choked there." He also did not rule out "passive resistance" of the local population, as the Kremlin propaganda has been "working" with these people for almost a decade, constantly frightening them with the Ukrainian army offensive in particular.

"I do not think that Donetsk can be among the cities that can be liberated shortly," Melnyk stated.

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At the same time, he added that the enemy's "old" defenses, which were built after the start of the war in 2014, may not be as strong as they seem despite being "concrete and iron."

"If our assumptions that Russia is now throwing its last reserves to deter the Ukrainian offensive in the south are correct, then the concrete trenches and iron that are there may not be such an insurmountable obstacle without proper manpower," the expert said.

The full version of the interview with Oleksiy Melnyk will soon be available on OBOZREVATEL.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the enemy has repeatedly tried to regain lost positions near Avdiivka in theDonetsk region. On September 27, the occupier struck ten settlements in the Donetsk region.
With the clock ticking for the December 2023 deadline for 100 per cent electrification of the Broad Gauge network, the Railways has achieved more than 92 per cent of the work so far.

Of the total 65,141 route kilometres of the Broad Gauge network of the Indian Railways, 59,818 km (about 92 per cent) has been electrified as of September 1 and work is ongoing on around another 5,500 route kilometres.

As per the documents seen by News18, the ministry aimed to electrify nearly 24 route kilometres per day during this financial year. So, by August-end, it should have electrified around 3,650 kms. However, it has managed to electrify just 1,006 route kms  a little over 6.5 route kilometres per day.

The history of electrification on railway routes started in 1925 with 1,500 Volts DC and subsequently, extended by installing a 3,000 Volts DC system. At least 388 route km was electrified by 1936. Further, in 1957, the ministry decided to adopt a 25 KV AC traction system and, thus, selected main lines and high-density routes were taken up for energisation in a planned manner.

It was the Central Zone where the first electric train ran in India. The train was between the then Bombay Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) and Kurla on Harbour line. It was flagged off on February 3, 1925.

Slow Pace of Electrification This Year

Since 2020-21, Railways have been electrifying more than 6,000 route km each year. In 2020-21, the ministry electrified 6,015 rkm  16.5 rkm/day. The next year, the work was completed on 6,366 rkm  17.5 rkm/day and in 2022-23, electrification was done on 6,565 rkm  around 18 rkm/day.

However, this financial year, the pace of electrification has been low and per day length has not touched double digits. In the first two months, only 220 rkm was electrified. In June, just 64 rkm was electrified. July was little better with work completed on 428 rkm. In August, less than 300 rkm was electrified, the ministry data shows. In total, just 1,006 km has been electrified.

Speaking to News18, a ministry official said getting statutory clearances for the execution of electrification works is a little complex and takes time.

To overcome these issues, the ministry has formed a project monitoring group portal. This helps in resolving the constraint being faced during commissioning of the work. Also, the Gati Shakti Directorate is helping in smooth and speedy approval of projects at the Railway Board level, the official said, seeking anonymity.

They also assured that the ministry is confident of completing electrification by the year-end.

Electrification Completed in 14 States

As of date, 14 states have 100 per cent electrified BG routes. These are Odisha, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Puducherry, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura are on the other end of the spectrum with no electrified routes at all.

Further, at least six states  Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Kerala  are inching towards 100 per cent electrification as they have more than 90 per cent routes electrified.

Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan have more than 80 per cent electrified routes while Karnataka and Goa have more than 75 per cent electrified routes.

In terms of zones, 10 out of 18 zones have achieved 100 per cent electrification and another five have over 90 per cent electrification.

Only the Northeast Frontier Railway, which covers the northeast states, has less than 50 per cent electrification.

The East Coast, Central, West Central, Eastern, Konkan, North Central, North Eastern, South East Central and South Eastern Railways have achieved 100 per cent electrification. East Central, Northern, Western, Southern and South Central Railways have more than 90 per cent electrified routes.

Two zones  North Western (82 per cent) and South Western (78 per cent) Railways  have more than 75 per cent electrified routes.

The Indian Railways is aiming to become the largest green railway network in the world by chasing the target of becoming Net Zero Carbon Emitter by 2030.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a unique week-long programme for aspirational blocks in the country called Sankalp Saptaah at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Sankalp Saptaah is linked to the effective implementation of the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP), according to an official release.

Addressing the programme, Prime Minister Modi said Block Panchayats play a huge role in the Aspirational Blocks Programme.

Only when every Gram Panchayat works fast then the development of every block could happen rapidly. I congratulate and thank all those who are associated with this mission, he said.

MP Modi asserted that for him, the Sankalp Saptaah programme was as significant as the G20 summit.

The Bharat Mandapam, where world leaders had gathered to discuss global issues, is now hosting individuals who bring about changes at the grassroots levelThis program is a symbol of the success of Team India. This symbolizes the spirit of everyones effort. This program is also important for the future of India. In this there is a reflection of accomplishment through resolution, he said.

He noted that the Aspirational Districts Program has changed the lives of more than 25 crore people in 112 districts of the country.

There has been a change in the quality of lifeNow, the success of the aspirational districts programme will form the basis of the aspirational blocks programme, the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister said the government want to see the country as a developed India in 2047.

But developed country does not mean that grandeur should be seen in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and our villages should be left behind, we do not follow that model. We want to take charge of the destiny of 140 crore people and bring about a change in their lives, he said.

He further noted that the government has worked with a very simple strategy for the Aspirational District Programme. If we do not do all-round development, all-touching development, all-beneficial development, then the figures may give satisfaction, but fundamental change is not possible. Therefore, it is necessary that we move forward by making changes at the grassroots, he added.

What Is Aspirational Blocks Programme

The nationwide programme was launched by PM Modi on January 7, 2023. The aim of the programme is to improve governance at the block level in order to enhance the quality of life of citizens. So far, it is being implemented in 500 aspirational blocks across 329 districts in the country.

For implementing the aspirational blocks programme and to prepare an effective block development strategy, chintan shivirs were organised at village and block levels across the country, the statement said.

The Sankalp Saptaah is a culmination of these chintan shivirs. Sankalp Saptaah will be observed in all of the 500 aspirational blocks.

Each day in Sankalp Saptaah, starting from October 3 till October 9, 2023, is dedicated to a specific development theme on which all aspirational blocks will work.

The themes for the first six days include Sampoorna Swasthya, Suposhit Pariwaar, Swachhta, Krishi, Shiksha, and Samridhi Diwas, the statement said.

The last day of the week i.e. October 9, 2023 will be a celebration of the work conducted during the entire week, as Sankalp Saptaah  Samavesh Samaroh.
The rail roko protest by Punjab farmers, which impacted over 600 trains leaving hundreds of passengers travelling from Punjab and Haryana stranded, ended on Saturday. The agitation has hit the movement of trains, with many being cancelled, short-terminated or diverted, railway officials said.

According to railway officials of the Ferozepur division, the three-day farmers stir affected the movement of 581 passenger trains and 17 goods trains. Of passenger trains, as many as 376 trains were cancelled, 89 were short terminated, 46 short originated, and 70 were diverted.

The three-day agitation left hundreds of passengers stranded in Punjab and Haryana. A railway passenger at Ludhiana station said he arrived from Jalandhar City by road to take a train to Gorakhpur but there is no information on when it will arrive.

Another passenger at the station said the agitation forced the cancellation of a train from Amritsar in which 12 of his family members were supposed to travel to Bihar. They later learned that the train would depart from Ludhiana and the family travelled from Amritsar by road. However, there is still no update about the train, he added.

Many passengers were left stranded at Ambala station after their trains got cancelled due to farmers protests in Punjab and Haryana.

Some expressed concern that they would have to spend a huge amount to reach their destination due to delays and cancellation of trains and said they were unsure if any refund would be given on the already booked tickets.

One of the passengers at Ambala Cantt station told India Today that while his train journey was costing him Rs 800, he may now have to spend Rs 14,000 if he decides to travel by taxi as his train was cancelled.

Meanwhile, Railway officials said that extra counters have been opened at Ambala Cantt station to provide refunds to passengers whose trains were cancelled, IT reported.

Farmers Rail Roko Protest Impacts Trains, Vehicular Movements

The rail roko stir of Punjab farmers demanding compensation for crops damaged in the recent floods, a legal guarantee on MSP and a sweeping debt waiver ended on Saturday.

The farmers had been blockading railway tracks at several places in Faridkot, Samrala, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar since Thursday as part of their three-day agitation.

On Friday, a group of farmers owing allegiance to the Bharti Kisan Union (Sidhupur) squatted on the Chandigarh-Ambala-Delhi national highway near Lalru with many farmers parking their tractors along the highway which was lifted after seven hours following an assurance by the district administration., PTI reported.

What Were Protesting Farmers Demanding?

Farmers are demanding compensation for crops damaged in the recent floods, a legal guarantee on MSP and a sweeping debt waiver.

Earlier, farmer leaders said after a meeting, it has been decided that farmers in Haryana will also lend support and join the protest by squatting on railway tracks in Ambala on the third day. Harpal Singh Sangha, state chief of the Azad Kisan Committee, Doaba, said the agitation will continue till Saturday (September 30). If the demands are not met by then, the next course of action will be decided, he said.
The death toll in the two suicide attacks in Pakistan's restive Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces has risen to 60 even as counter-terrorism authorities said they have registered a first information report in connection with the Balochistan blast on Saturday.

A total of 55 people were killed and more than 60 others were injured in a grisly suicide blast on Friday in Balochistan that targeted a procession to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday near the Madina Masjid at a place called Mastung, Dawn News reported.

In the second bomb attack that took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Hangu, targeting a police stations mosque, five people were killed, and 12 others were injured as the mosques roof collapsed in the explosions impact, it said.

Earlier on Friday, it was reported that 54 people were killed and over 100 others were injured as the powerful suicide blast ripped through the mosque. Hours later, another blast at the mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu city had killed at least four people and injured 12 others.

Mastungs City Station House Officer Mohammad Javed Lehri confirmed on Friday that the explosion was a suicide blast and that the bomber exploded himself next to the Deputy Superintendent of Polices car.

On Saturday, the Dawn quoted a statement from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) that said an FIR with murder charges and terrorism offences has been filed against an unidentified attacker.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, however, the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan, denied its involvement, the report added.

The CTD said the investigation into the incident was ongoing and no arrests have been made so far.

Meanwhile, the caretaker government of Balochistan announced three days of mourning in the wake of the attack.

The Pakistan Daily also gave a chronological dataset to show how Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year. Earlier this month, at least 11 people, including Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah, were injured in a blast in the same district; a week prior to that, a security official was gunned down at a bus stand by unidentified men. In May this year, unidentified attackers targeted a polio vaccination team in the Killi Sour Karez area on the outskirts of Mastung, resulting in a policeman being killed, it said.
Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on Friday urged party leaders to peacefully observe the proposed September 30 bandh in the tribal district council area and make it a success.

The regional party called for a 12-hour bandh in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, demanding an early constitutional solution to the problem of its people.

I appeal to party MLAs, executive members and MDCs of TTAADC to be on the ground to make the bandh a total success in order to send a strong message to Delhi. I want to see all the warriors of Tiprasa on the ground in order to remain connected with the people, Debbarma said on social media.

He said that for the past 76 years, the indigenous natives of the state have been facing injustice by being deprived of rights to land, politics, and the economy. We waited for long but now we want out rights to be recognised, he added.

The royal heir  explaining that the bandh should not be considered a political move  said the purpose of the bandh is to send a strong message to Delhi that Tiprasa people are united and raise voices for their rights.

The Tipra Motha chief also took a swing at the CPI(M) for opposing the bandh called by the regional party.

The people, who came and urged me not to field candidates in Boxanagar and Dhanpur assembly by-elections, are opposing bandh called by Tipra Motha! They had projected Manik Sarkar (ex-CM) as the poorest chief minister but did not say why he had not done anything for the Tiprasa people? They had ruled the state for 25 years but kept the Tiprasa people most underdeveloped in the northeast, Debbarma alleged.

Security forces have been asked to remain alert in the tribal council areas and all the SPs in the district were asked to increase security measures to maintain peace and order in the area during the bandh.

Additional companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and TSR jawans have been deployed to prevent any untoward incident. We are also in talks with the leaders of Tipra Motha to ensure peace, said Jyotishman Das Chowdhury, Assistant Inspector General (AIG), Law & Order.

(With PTI inputs)
In a fresh blow to India-Canada ties that have been on the back foot since the killing of Khalistani sympathiser Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the extremist groups are planning yet another rally in Canada on Sunday at the Surrey Gurdwara.

The Khalistan supporters are planning to bring Sikh radicals from all over Canada, sources told CNN-News18. The invites that have been circulated say leading community voices to discuss the rising threat of Indian violence in Canada and how to formulate an effective Panthic response.

According to sources, this is a radical grouping where people will come and speak against India and formulate plans on how to handle the situation in future.

The development comes amid Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus assertion of the need for strong ties with India. The climb-down can be attributed to the meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Tony Blinken in which Canadas allegations with regards to Nijjars killing were discussed. Post the meeting, Jaishankar said the two delegations came out better informed.

This was followed by a statement by Trudeau wherein he said Canada is very serious about building closer ties with India as it is a growing economic power and important geopolitical player, but wants New Delhi to work with Ottawa to ensure that they get the full facts about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Speaking at a press conference in Montreal, Trudeau said that he thinks it is extremely important that Canada and its allies continue to engage constructively and seriously with India given its growing importance on the world stage.

Tensions have been on the boil between India and Canada following Trudeaus explosive allegations of the potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India angrily rejected the allegations as absurd and motivated and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawas expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
People who failed to assist the 12-year-old girl in Madhya Pradeshs Ujjain, who was pleading for help door-to-door after being raped and left bleeding and semi-naked, may be held accountable under the child sex abuse laws.

A senior Madhya Pradesh police officer on Friday said that those people might face charges for failing to report or register the commission of a crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, a NDTV report said.

At least one such person, an auto rickshaw driver, has been identified for knowingly not informing the police about the matter, said Jayant Singh Rathore, an Additional Superintendent of Police (Ujjain).

Rathore reportedly said that action has been against the auto rickshaw driver  identified as Rakesh Malviya  and the CCTV footage will be examined. If more people are found, and it is clear they did not help (the girl) or did not inform the police, we will take legal action, he added.

According to the police, Malviya transported the girl in his auto and found blood stains on the seat  following which he failed to inform the police of her state.

However, as the police continues to examine the CCTV footage, it will only be known after their statement as to how many of those people will face charges for not helping the girl.

Ujjain Police Chief Disagrees On People Not Offering Help, Says They Gave Rs 50 to Rs 100

The police chief of Ujjain said the local residents offered as much help as possible to the 12-year-old rape survivor. He said when police found her, she had Rs 120 in hand as people had given her Rs 50 to Rs 100 when she was going door-to-door asking for help.

In the shocking visuals from the CCTV footage, a man standing at his door is seen shooing her away as the girl was asking for help. But, police chief Sachin Sharma disagreed with the reports and said people did help her with money but may have had reservations on seeing her condition.

Sharma reportedly said, There were mixed responses. People in the localities she passed through had helped her. Some gave her Rs 50, others gave Rs 100. She crossed a toll booth on the way. The staff there gave her money and some clothes. At least 7-8 people tried to help.

Mahakal Cop Says Girls Treatment, Education, Marriage is His Responsibility

Mahakal police station incharge Ajay Verma has taken it upon himself to complete the rape survivors medical treatment, education and marriage. The cop said many people have come forward to support the minor girl, who was turned away by many when she went door-to-door seeking help.

I have taken the responsibility to help the girl with medical treatment, education, and marriage Many people have come forward to support me in this resolution I believe that all responsibilities will be completed in a good manner Verma said.

SIT Formed for Probe; Accused Father Seeks Capital Punishment For Son

A special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to take the investigation forward in the Ujjain rape case.

Meanwhile, the father of the accused  Bharat Soni  has sought capital punishment for his son. It is a shameful act. Neither have I gone to hospital to meet him, nor will I go to the police station or courts. My son has committed a crime, therefore he should be hanged, his father said.

Soni was arrested on Thursday, three days after the minor girl was found.

Soni sustained injury when he allegedly tried to escape while being taken to the crime spot for investigation, police had said on Thursday.

Ujjain Bar Council president Ashok Yadav said the incident had damaged the reputation of the temple city. We are appealing to our members not to take up the case of the accused, he said.

What is The Case?

In a shocking incident, a 12-year-old girl, bleeding and in a semi-naked condition after being raped, was refused help. The incident was caught on CCTV camera at Badnagar road, about 15 km from Ujjain.

According to reports, the girl eventually reached an Ashram and a priest covered her with a towel and rushed her to the district hospital, where a medical examination confirmed rape. As her injuries were critical, the girl was later referred to Indore.

At the time, a case of rape was filed against unidentified accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Exploring an unknown part of the world has become quite easier with Google Maps. No matter which corner of the world you are planning to explore, you can now navigate to those places at your fingertips by just looking at Google Maps. But, would you believe it if someone told you that some places on Earth are not visible even on Google Maps? Yes, you read that correctly. Due to some reasons, some of these places located in different countries are either blurred or pixelated.

If you are intrigued to know more, let us delve into the details and find eight secret places on Earth that even Google Maps cant locate.

Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant, France: The worlds ninth largest nuclear power station, Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant is located in Grand Est, close to the city of Luxembourg. If you search the place and try to find it on Google Maps, the entire area is pixelated so that the reactor cannot be seen on Google Maps.

Kos International Airport, Greece: Located on Greeces Kos Island, the Kos International Airport is popular with tourists. When viewed on Google Maps, it is barely visible. Reports suggest that during the summers, the island becomes a bustling festival area that serves charter airlines and brings tourists from different countries.

Amchitka Island, Alaska: More than half of the Amchitka Island is invisible on Google Maps. According to some reports, this Island was selected by the US Atomic Energy Commission for underground nuclear testing in the late 1950s. Reportedly, three underground nuclear tests have been conducted there.

Jeanette Island, Russia: Search for Jeannette Island, Russia and, you will not find any such place. Located in the East Siberian Sea, the area is a Russian military base and is one of the most important places in Russia.

Marcoule Nuclear Site, France: The entire area of the Marcoule nuclear site in France is also pixelated on Google Maps. Reportedly, it has been done at the request of the French Government and is one of the top nuclear research centres in France.

Minami Torishima Airport, Japan: Located on the island of Minami Torishima in Japan, this one-runway airport is not blurred on Google Maps but it has been over-saturated with white as it is an important area used by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Moroa Island, French Polynesia: If you try to search for this island located in France, you will find out that half of this island is clear, while the other half is faintly visible. As per reports, the French conducted nuclear tests on Mururoa between 1966 and 1996.

Auroral Research Project, Alaska: Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Air Force, and Navy, this area is home to a high-frequency auroral research centre. On Google Maps, you will be able to see its building but the image is over-saturated with white.
Bhagyashree and her husband Himalaya Dasani recently embarked on a vacation to Udaipur. The couple checked into the lake city on Friday. There were several rumours speculating that Bhagyashree and Himalaya Dasani might be one of the guests at Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadhas star-studded wedding. And yes, the news turned out to be right. The couple attended the intimate wedding festivities of the newlyweds which took place at The Leela Palace in Udaipur. And now, taking to her Instagram handle, Bhagyashree shared glimpses from her Udaipur diaries. She posted a series of pictures of herself with her husband Himalaya Dasani.

In the pictures, the actress can be seen spending quality time with the love of her life. She can be captured enjoying the boat ride with her husband Himalaya Dasani. In the other pictures, Bhagyashree and Himalaya Dasani are all smiles rejuvenating themselves in the cold water of the swimming pool. The pictures showcased that the husband-wife duo had a great time in Udaipur.

Take a look at the post here:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bhagyashree (@bhagyashree.online)

Accompanying the pictures, Bhagyashree wrote in the caption, Udaipur Diaries. Some moments captured during our holiday. We must do this more often Himalaya Dasani.

Meanwhile, Udaipur has also been the background of Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra and AAP politician Raghav Chadhas wedding last weekend, making the city quite the centre of the spotlight in any case. The couple tied the knot at The Leela Palace in Udaipur on Sunday, September 24. Their wedding was an intimate affair with family members and close friends in their presence. For her special day, Parineeti opted for a pastel colour lehenga designed by Manish Malhotra while Raghav complemented his bride in a traditional sherwani.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by @parineetichopra

Parineeti and Raghav initiated their pre-wedding festivities in Delhi, commencing with a Sufi night followed by an Ardaas ceremony. Subsequently, the couple arrived in Udaipur for their extravagant wedding on Friday. Parineeti Chopras mehendi ceremony took place on Saturday, September 23.

The wedding saw the presence of several notable personalities, including Bhagyashree, Sania Mirza, Harbhajan Singh, Geeta Basra, and Manish Malhotra. Notably, politicians like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann participated as baraatis in Raghav Chadha and Parineetis union. Regrettably, Priyanka Chopra couldnt attend her cousins wedding due to professional commitments, and Karan Johars absence was attributed to a reported family emergency.

Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha had kept their relationship private until their engagement in May of this year. It is said that the couple has shared a longstanding friendship, having reportedly studied together at the London School of Economics.
BTS youngest member Jungkook has dropped 3D, his second spicy solo featuring Grammy-nominated rapper Jack Harlow, following his phenomenal debut with SEVEN. With a mid-2000s hip-hop vibe, the R&B track is accentuated by catchy rhythms with eye-catching dance choreography. The mood of 3D fits the right bill after SEVEN with Jungkooks chorus, I wanna see it in motion, in 3D." But working solo is quite different from the time he created music with his BTS hyungs.

During a recent interaction with Consequence Sound, Jungkook spoke at length about his individual preparation process while also revealing the reaction of some of his K-Pop team members upon listening to 3D. When asked if any of his bandmates heard his recently released collaboration with Jack Harlow, Jungkook confirmed he asked two members from BTS rap line Suga and RM about what they thought of the song. They said Im a true pop star," he reportedly blushed while sharing their reaction.

Before the tracks release, Jungkook was quite excited to gauge how ARMY would react to his second solo, stating that the preparation process was different as opposed to how it is while working with his globally famous boy band. With BTS songs, its all the different colors of the individual members coming together to make up the final song  whereas, for me, its just me and my own unique color. I dont think I could make something that has all the colors of BTS," he said.

3D dropped on Friday and the fan reaction seems quite positive. The music video resonates with any 2000s radio hit pop number bringing the BTS maknae into the limelight. His lyrics seem dedicated to reuniting with a lost lover for whom he doesnt mind crossing dimensions. With a hint of old-school nostalgia, the K-Pop idol busts out phenomenal choreography with a crew of dances in baggy denim. The cherry on top is Jack Harlows feature who delivers two verses with saucy lyrics. Boasting about his charm with women, he is ready to fly them out from Korea to Kentucky."

The release of 3D comes several months after Jungkook joined hands with rapper Latto for his debut solo. The catchy number catapulted him to become the first BTS member to reach number one on the Billboard Global Charts.
Russian air defense landed its own aircraft in the temporarily occupied territory. A successful hit on the aircraft occurred near Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia region.

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As a result of "friendly fire," the fighter jet burned down. This is evidenced by images from a reconnaissance drone (scroll to the bottom of the page to see the photos).

Russian troops "demilitarized" their Su-35 over Tokmak at night. Interestingly, the crew of the fighter jet was killed on the spot.

It is worth noting that Russian propagandists did not talk about the downing of their own aircraft, as expected. At the same time, the information was leaked online, as some propagandists decided to express "condolences" to the fallen war criminals.

According to the Russian media, the cost of the Su-35 fighter ranges from 98 million to 104 million US dollars.

The first news on Russians allegedly shooting down their Su-35 fighter jet near Tokmak appeared after the night of September 29. Local channels also published videos of how the enemy aircraft was shot down.

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As a reminder, on the night of September 28, Russian air defense conducted successful "training" in the area of the temporarily occupied Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia. The invaders shot down their own Su-35 fighter jet.

Earlier, British intelligence estimated that Russia has lost about 90 aircraft in combat since February 2022. However, this is not the only problem the occupiers face. The UK claims that the aircraft remaining in the possession of the aggressor state are reaching the end of their service life much faster than expected.

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Johnny Depp has donned the directors cap after 25 years, for his next big project, a biopic that will explore the story of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani in Modi. Starring legends like Al Pacino and Luisa Ranieri, the film has gone on the floors in Budapest, Hungary. It is interesting to note that his first directorial stint was with The Brave featuring Marlon Brando.

As per a report by Firstpost, Modi will be set in Paris, in the backdrop of World War 1. The story will take place within the ambit of 48 tumultuous hours and it will show Ranieri as the owner of the Italian cafe, where Modigliani used to frequent, to chase his painting endeavour. On the other, Al Pacino will be essaying Maurice Gangnat, an international art collector. Besides Al Pacino and Luisa Ranieri, Modi will also star Antonia Desplat, Stephen Graham, Bruno Gouery, Ryan McParland, Benjamin Lavernhe, Sally Phillips and Matt Wolf.

Modi is bankrolled by Al Pacino and his longtime friend and manager Barry Navidi and it is all set to be shot in Italy, after their first schedule in Budapest. This is Johnny Depps second project after the infamous 2022 Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation, since the Pirates Of The Carribbean star had headlined Maiwenns Jeanne Du Barry as Louis XV.

Earlier, it wqs revealed that the film will be based on a play penned by Dennis McIntyre. The play is being adapted for the screen by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski. The film will explore painter and sculptor Modiglianis time in Paris in 1916. The film will be set in the time frame of two days wherein the artist goes through turbulent and eventful incidents involving the police.

The films producer Barry Navidi had told Deadline, This is a snapshot of Modiglianis life that gives us insight into his struggle as an artist suffering from lack of recognition, and a project Al (Pachino) and I have pursued for many years. Our incredible cast, coupled with the vision, wit and sensitivity I know Johnny will bring behind the camera, will make this a dream come true.
Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan are undoubtedly a power couple in the Tamil film industry, loved by fans for their unconditional support and appreciation for one another. The couple often take to social media platforms to express their love with heartfelt captions and adorable pictures. As the two now embark on a new journey as business partners, Vignesh took to Instagram recently to pen another sweet note for Nayanthara.

Nayanthara recently launched her skincare line, 9Skin with Vignesh as her business partner. After a grand event was held in Malaysia to launch the brand, Vignesh wrote a loving note for Nayanthara on Instagram. He wrote, We have a strategic plan and Its called doing things ! Big love  to my hustle partner, My life partner and my business partner! Love you my thangam @nayanthara .

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vignesh Shivan (@wikkiofficial)

He added, God told me that all the blessings shall continue for us, so with that confidence, lets keep working very hard towards achieving all our dreams!! Stepping into a new world and it looks good already! @9skinofficial www.9skin.in .

The note was accompanied by a series of adorable pictures of the couple from their hotel suite in Malaysia. In one photo, the two were lovingly staring into each others eyes as they couldnt stop smiling. In another photo, Nayanthara put her arms around Vignesh to hold him close as the filmmaker smiled at the camera.

This recent post left their fans in awe, who then flooded the comments section to express their love for the actress-filmmaker duo. One person wrote, Whenever I see Nayan smiling, my heart is smiling  she deserves all the happiness. Another added, Loving the pure smiles on both of your faces! . One fan commented, You guys are really made for each other!!!!!

Meanwhile, Nayanthara was recently seen in the mega-blockbuster film Jawan, helmed by ace director Atlee. The film marked both Nayanthara and Atlees Bollywood debut and was headlined by superstar Shah Rukh Khan. The film was released on September 7 and entered the Rs. 1000 crore club within a month of its release.
The Marathi film Shree Pundalik was released on May 18, 1912, which was almost a year before Dadasaheb Phalke released his full-length film, Raja Harishchandra. The silent film was directed by Ram Chandra Gopal Torne also known as Dadasaheb Torne who materialised into the very first Indian feature film made, although the film negatives about 1,500 feet and was 22 minutes long and was sent to London for processing. It was based on a Marathi Play by Ramrao Kirtikar. While the negative processing of the film was done overseas, the positives were released at Coronation Cinematograph, Girgaum.

Unfortunately, a lot of things about the film are unknown apart from the fact that it was based on the life of the Hindu saint Pudalik. A report about the film in Pune Times claimed that there is confusion over the history of Pundalik and nobody really has a clear argument to present. It is said that Dadasaheb Torne took help from a man who went by the name Johnson who recorded the play.

However, there is no solid evidence in favour of Torne. The film was written by Ramrao Kirtikar and was staged on Grant Road in Mumbai and was earlier recorded non-stop and from a fixed platform.

Torne was quite unsatisfied after seeing the recording of Shree Pundalik and decided to shoot the play in parts and join them later which may be called the beginning of film editing in India.

Many film fanatics argue that Shree Pundalik does not deserve the honour of being called the first Indian film because it was a photographic recording of a popular Marathi play, the cameraman was a British national and the film was processed in London. Many people also claim that Dadasaheb Phalkes Raja Harishchandra is more deserving for being the first Indian film as it was the motion silent film truly made in India.

While the debates continue, Shree Pundalik is still widely recognised as Indias first feature film.
The initiation of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) project during the recently concluded New Delhi G20 Summit (9-10 September 2023) demonstrates the importance of connectivity projects and the significance of global cooperation in the areas of climate change, food security, digitalisation, and sustainable security. The IMEC corridor will also substantially challenge Chinas hegemonic One Belt One Road (OBOR) project. At the same time, the Corridor will mark a new phase in West Asian geopolitics. The IMEC also revitalises Indias historic trade connectivity with West Asia and the Mediterranean Region. In a nutshell, it can be stated that IMEC is emerging as the emerging geopolitical pivot in the global order.

Introduction

Global geopolitics has undergone a tectonic shift in recent years, and one aspect which adds a pulse to it is the transnational connectivity projects. These transnational connectivity projects bring goods and people together, thus adding substance to the dynamics of international relations. As has been argued by liberal scholars of the Discipline of International Relations, trade and connectivity are the quintessence of perpetual peace, to paraphrase German philosopher Immanuel Kant. In more recent years, the Democratic Peace Theory underlined by Michael Doyal talks about the significance of trade in ushering in a democratic world order. Most classical geopolitical theories underline expanding trade routes, thus getting a privileged position in global politics.

The New Delhi Declaration of the G20 can be considered a game changer in the form of providing alternative paradigms to international relations, in the form of creating equitable, inclusive and sustainable order, enhancing cooperation in renewable energy like the enunciation of International Hydrogen Alliance, climate financing and enhancing a framework of cooperative geopolitics in the global arena. Some of these issues are discussed at length in the recently concluded G20 Summit under Indias Presidency.

Along with some of the issues discussed in the G20 Summit, another issue which got added importance during the Summit is the launching of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor on September 9. Launching the IMEC can be considered a new phase regarding the global geopolitical connectivity project. In this context, there is a need to understand the geopolitical dimensions of the project.

The significance of the IMEC can be understood from the fact that it is a multi-modal transport connectivity (land, sea and rail) corridor connecting the emerging market of India with the energy-rich Middle East and the European market. Along with India, the other countries who have attended the inauguration of the IMEC connectivity projects are the US, Germany, France, Italy, Mauritius, UAE and Saudi Arabia, besides the EU as a regional body.

From the member countries of the project as well as the route it will traverse, one can underline that this route has immense significance in the context of present geopolitical realities. In this regard, it is pertinent to examine the importance of the connectivity project in a broader geopolitical milieu, which operates both in the regional and global geopolitical context.

The Geopolitical Context of IMEC

The IMEC can be studied in the geopolitical context. These are:

Growing apprehension of China-led OBOR in the West Asian region and Europe over the years. The operationalisation of IMEC will herald a new geopolitical realignment in global politics. This IMEC connectivity project will contribute to trade and digital connectivity and foster economic growth.

To understand the significance of the IMEC project, it is necessary to understand the above-mentioned geopolitical dimensions in great detail.

Initially, the OBOR project received much attention from European countries, particularly from Central and Eastern Europe under economic transition along with Italy and Portugal, etc. However, these countries membership in OBOR has also created much jitter within the European Union. This sends a clear signal to three major countries of the EU, France, Germany and Great Britain (before Brexit), about the threat posed by China. Over the years, the European countries have also been wary of Chinas industries, which substantially challenge the EU industries, particularly the manufacturing sector. In this context, the EU countries launched their ambitious project known as Global Gateway in 2021 as an alternative to the OBOR Project. The primary objective of this Project is to boost both the infrastructure and digital connectivity of Europe with the Global South countries.

Similarly, many EU countries, particularly Central and East Europe, are expressing their apprehensions over Chinas ambitious imperial objectives. In this regard, it is pertinent to highlight that the EU countries have expressed grave concern over the years about the OBOR project. This forced the Baltic countries Lithuania, followed by Estonia and Latvia, to abandon China. Even other member countries of the above grouping are considering leaving this China-led arrangement. One may recall here that the EU also imposed heavy duties on imported products from China to protect its own industries. Even the EU has expressed its apprehensions about the OBOR project several times.

In this regard, it is pertinent to underline that Italy, considered a partner of China and occupies a significant position in the European continent, has also expressed its intention to leave the OBOR Project. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni disclosed the same at the sideline of the recent New Delhi G20 Summit. This means it is a strong setback to Chinas European geoeconomic diplomacy. The apprehensions of the European countries increased after the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent spillover effect on the European countries. The EU countries and China have mutual apprehensiveness towards each other, which can be rooted in history. In this context, there is a growing clamour within the EU to isolate China.

Although Saudia Arabia and UAE are part of the Chinese-led OBOR, these countries seek to diversify their strategic relations. Both countries are known for their extensive energy production, but fossil fuels gradual decline in the international market has forced them to rethink their energy strategy. In this context, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are keen to diversify their energy market and tap new markets. Hence, India and Europe can also be lucrative markets for both the West Asian countries. Understanding the negative fallout of the oil economy and the future glut of the energy market, both countries are keen to diversify their energy relations. Saudi Arabia and UAE have also buried their past apprehensions and are working towards making them a strategic hub of the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA). Similarly, both countries are looking towards India for technological assistance in the solar sector. The Saudi Vision 2030 Document has also called for energy sector diversification.

At the same time, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are keen to explore their strategic advantage of being located at the centre of global geopolitics because of their location as the core of Rimland, as stated by Nicolas J Spykman. Besides this, the Saudis and the UAE are keen to export electricity and hydrocarbon energy to Europe. In the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war, European countries are eager to tap the energy resources through the Mediterranean Sea. The growing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Greece can also be seen in this context. Saudi Arabia is keen to take the locational advantage of Greece and wants to use Athens as a strategic hub for exporting energy to Europe. A common strategic outlook in the form of opposition to the imperial Ottoman legacy of Turkey is also binding the relationship between the two countries. At the same time, the UAE is also strengthening infrastructural linkages with Israel in the form of railway connectivity, which, as reported, passes through Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and will be considered a game changer for the connectivity project in this part of the world. It is a fact that the Mediterranean Sea can play a pivotal role in connecting with Europe.

Over the years, Israel has emerged as a major hub for transport as well as the export of energy to the European market. In the first week of September 2023, Israel, Greece and Cyprus agreed to augment their trilateral energy cooperation, ultimately benefiting Europe in the long run. Thus, the Eastern Mediterranean region can be considered as the lynchpin in the context of energy supply to Europe. Therefore, Israel can be a major player in the European market. The trilateral joint declaration stated, We agreed that the energy sector, particularly natural gas, electricity and renewable energy, is a solid foundation for regional cooperation. All these developments demonstrate that connectivity, infrastructural development, and geoeconomic dimension play an essential role in geo-strategic development. Some of these strategic developments will isolate China in the Middle East geopolitics in the long run. No doubt China has brokered a peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but it is too early to predict the future of the peace agreement, looking at their historical rivalry. Saudi Arabia and UAE are trying to neutralise Chinas role in West Asia as this may circumvent their external relations and annoy their long-standing strategic partner, the USA.

India, on the other hand, is giving geoeconomic connectivity a priority area of its foreign policy. Over the years, a number of connectivity projects have been initiated, like the INSTC, Chahbahar Connectivity Project, and Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime. Connectivity project, India-Myanmar -Thailand Project, etc., to name a few. India is also part of the Ashgabat Agreement. In this regard, it is pertinent to mention that in various multilateral bodies over the years, India has underlined the importance of the geo-economic connectivity project, which aims to bring out substantial economic development and facilitate greater geo-economic cooperation. India has also launched the SAGAR (Security And Growth For All In The Region) in the Indian Ocean region.

Underlining the importance of the SAGAR doctrine in envisaging Indias geopolitical connectivity in the Indian Ocean, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at his keynote address at Shangari La Dialogue, stated, Our interests in the region are vast, and our engagement is deep. In the Indian Ocean region, our relationships are becoming stronger, and he further articulated that we also work with partners beyond the Indian Ocean Region to ensure that the global transit routes remain peaceful and free for all. In 2019, along with the Act East policy, India also envisaged the Act Far East Policy, which gives India an upper hand in Arctic geopolitics. At the same time, India is making inroads into the Black Sea by strengthening relations with Georgia and Armenia, which can be connected through Iran. This gives India a firm foothold on the Black Sea Coast. Along with this, the Indo-Pacific strategic corridor is emerging as the critical strategic arch of the global connectivity project. In this regard, Indias voyage into greater connectivity with the global community is commensurate with its growing geopolitical prowess. The same can be reflected in Indias stronger links with Greece, Israel, Cyprus, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the EU as a regional block. It is necessary to highlight here that being a major Indo-Pacific player gives India an opportunity to navigate in the Mediterranean region. This also gives India a twin advantage, strengthening strategic partnerships with the countries of the region and augmenting bilateral economic cooperation.

As far as India and EU trade relations are concerned, bilateral trade is around 88 billion in 2021, per a European Commission report. As studies suggest, Indias third-largest trading partner is the EU. Besides the EU, Indias bilateral relations with France, Germany, and Italy are also growing at a faster pace. Similarly, Indias trade relations with Israel, UAE and Saudi Arabia are growing faster. As per the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India Report, UAE is Indias third-largest trading partner, and the bilateral trade stood at $84.84 billion. Similarly, Indias trade with Saudi Arabia is also growing and is now a major trading partner of India. A large chunk of oil is imported from Saudi Arabia to India. At the same time, with Israel, there have been stronger both strategic and economic relations. Till 2022-23, the bilateral trade stood at $10.1 billion. One can infer from the above discussion that bilateral trade and political relationships have been strengthening with these countries over the years. Thus, it can be underlined that augmenting connectivity between West Asian countries, EU member countries and India can further the geoeconomic linkages and strengthen trade cooperation.

Some of Indias geoeconomic connectivity projects aim at harnessing the cooperative economic development process rooted in Indias philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. In this regard, there is a need to underline that the growing geo-economic stature of India is commensurate with its status as a global power. The same can also be reflected in Indias growing geopolitical engagement with Europe and West Asian countries along with the Mediterranean countries in recent years.

There is also a need to examine some of the historical writings to examine the importance of the IMEC project. The prophetic work of British geopolitical thinker Halford J Mackinder, who, in his book Geopolitical Ideals and Reality, highlighted the significance of the Black and Mediterranean Sea as the heartland in Eurasian geopolitics and strategised the need to control the above sea routes by the British government to gain greater preponderance. Similarly, K.M. Panikkar, in his classic work India and the Indian Ocean, highlights the significance of the Indian Ocean as a major connecting point. Panikkar, in his book, highlights the millennium old civilisational and commercial connection between India and the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean region) through the Indian Ocean (p.23). In this book, he further mentions the significance of the Matra Yantra for navigation purposes, which gave Indians an upper hand in the Indian Ocean. Panikkar also talks about the Indians voyage to the Red Sea (Ibid). It is pertinent to highlight that the Indian Ocean allowed India to navigate its diplomacy in faraway places like the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, as one can infer from the above-mentioned historical trajectories. It has been further observed that the historical cultural contacts and trade, as well as the Indian Ocean, played a critical role in shaping Indias relations with the Mediterranean and the Arab World.

As discussed succinctly by Himanshu Prabha Ray in her article Seafaring and Maritime Contacts: An Agenda for Historical Analysis, published in 1996 in the Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Ray mentions that both in Ancient Indian texts as well as in the ancient Greek and Roman texts, these aspects were succinctly highlighted. As highlighted by Ray in the above article, spices like black pepper and cardamom used to be the dominant commodities exported to the Roman Empire from India through the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. In this regard, it should be underlined here that Greek historians like Herodotus and Pliny succinctly dealt with these aspects in their historical accounts, as described by Grant Parker in his article titled, Ex Oriente Luxuria: Indian Commodities and Roman Experience. in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, published in 2002.

Some of these historical accounts must be contextualised in the present geopolitical analysis. As has been argued, the development of connectivity and the fruition of greater strategic cooperation between India and these West Asia and European countries can contribute substantially towards ushering in a new geopolitical order in a broader context. The significance of the IMEC connectivity project can be understood in this context.

Geopolitical Postulates of IMEC

While locating the IMEC project, three geopolitical postulates need to be studied. These are:

Geo-strategic connectivity through land and sea corridor. A common economic imperative rooted in growth and development for IMEC countries. Need to counter Chinas OBOR project, which is posing a more substantial challenge to the geo-economic and geo-political interests of these countries. Evolve an alternative comprehensive regional security paradigm in the evolving IMEC region.

These four above-mentioned geopolitical trajectories are shaping the dynamics of IMEC. In this regard, it can be noted that the success of IMEC is primarily determined by the movements of goods and commodities and by fostering greater connectivity, which can enhance trade and regional cooperation. As discussed above, some of the above-mentioned infrastructural projects can contribute to the fruition of trade and economic cooperation.

Michael Tanchum, in a research monograph published in 2021 titled Indias Arab-Mediterranean Corridor: A Paradigm Shift in Strategic Connectivity to Europe, highlights that Whether India becomes a global leader in forging this 21st-century commercial architecture depends on New Delhis ability to develop manufacturing value chains in the India-to-Europe Arab-Med Corridor (p.4).

It may be recalled here that India is developing a multi-faceted trade relationship with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which includes cooperation in the green energy food sector and cooperation in fossil fuel. In this regard, it can be underlined that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought closer cooperation with India in harnessing Solar energy in recent years. Similarly, the Indian business conglomerate Adani group acquired the Haifa port on the Mediterranean Coast, crisscrossing Asia and Europe by paying a whopping $1.2 billion. Haifa Port in future can play a significant role in boosting trade and economic cooperation between India, Israel and European countries. It is pertinent to highlight here that Indian conglomerate Adani Group acquired this port by outbidding Chinese and Turkish firms, as reported. Soon after handing the port to Adani Group, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated the port was momentum. He added, Haifa will become the entry point and exit point for a vast number of goods that will reach the Mediterranean and Europe directly, without having to go around the Arabian peninsula.

One can infer from Prime Minister Netanyahus above observation that he is keen to enlist India as a significant power in this part of the world. This can benefit Israel in many ways, like furthering strategic partnership with India and getting Foreign Direct Investment. At the same time, Israel is keen to become a major Mediterranean player. Cooperation with India will undoubtedly enhance Israels geo-political positioning in this part of the world.

The IMEC connectivity project got further impetus during the IU2U Virtual Summit in July 2022. In this Virtual Summit Meeting, Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Israels Prime Minister Yair Lapid, and UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Joint Declaration focused on two key areas of cooperation, which include Food Security and Clean Energy. The Meeting has established long-term cooperation in  long-term strategic partnership to promote initiatives and investments that improve the movement of people and goods across hemispheres, and increase sustainability and resilience through collaborative science and technology partnerships.

In May 2023, Indias National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, US Secretary of State Jake Sullivan, Saudi Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman and UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan met in Riyadh and gave a more significant push to the idea of connectivity between India and Middle East so also with Europe. The United States has also expressed keen interest in promoting the project as it will further its strategic goals in the complex geopolitics of the Middle East. Similarly, the strategic connectivity between India and the West Asian region will also help India to strengthen its geopolitical and more effective geoeconomic engagement with this region and the Mediterranean through Israel.

One factor that unites India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US is to counter China and its OBOR project. This China-led project over the years has caused much anxiety and distress to different countries where this project is in operation. Similarly, by this strategic move of India, the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, China got a severe jolt to its dream of dominating West Asia, especially after it brokered a peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Similarly, as discussed above, European countries are shifting their focus to West Asian countries to ensure a perennial energy supply. Also, France and Germany, the two key European countries, are keen to strengthen their trade and strategic relations with India. For instance, France has recently been a critical supplier of defence equipment to India. Indias relations with Germany and Italy, the two key players in the IMEC project, are also improving at a faster pace.

It may be underlined here that the visit by Prime Minister Modi to Egypt in June 2023 further pushed Indias presence in the Mediterranean Region. As has been observed, the Mediterranean Region will soon be the lynchpin in the strategic arteries of global politics, though Egypt is not part of the IMEC project. In this context, some of the strategic moves will augment Indias presence in the region.

The IMEC project got an institutional shape at the sideline of the G20 Summit. The IMEC project, as underlined, has two corridor projects. The first one is the Eastern Corridor connecting India to the Gulf Region and the second is the Northern Corridor connecting the Gulf region to Europe. It has been further observed that it will include a railway and ship-rail transit network and road transport routes. Highlighting the significance of the IMEC Project and espousing Indias position, Prime Minister Modi stated, We believe that connectivity is a source of increasing not only mutual trade but also mutual trust between different countries. The Memorandum of Understanding of IMEC, which was signed during the G20 Summit, underlined that the participants intend that the corridor will increase efficiencies, reduce costs, enhance economic unity, generate jobs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions  resulting in a transformative integration of Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Expressing the significance of the project, US President Joe Biden stated, This project is about more than just laying tracks. This is a game-changing regional investment.

From the above discussions, it can be underlined here that the emergence of IMEC is going to alter the geopolitics of the West Asian region substantially. It will also facilitate greater connectivity between India and Europe through West Asia and the Mediterranean Region. What can be stated is that this Corridor is emerging as a major geopolitical pivot to paraphrase Mackinder in the 21st century.

Conclusion

The success of the IMEC Corridor will contribute substantially to the churning of a new kind of geopolitics. Further, this project significantly challenges Chinas OBOR Project and provides an alternative to the West Asian and European countries regarding connectivity. At the same time, growing cooperation between Israel, Saudi Arabia and UAE will contribute to greater peace in West Asia and the Mediterranean Region. Similarly, cooperation in food security, climate change, and digitalisation is the first step towards evolving a sustainable security paradigm. This Corridor will give India an upper hand to revitalize its historic trade route with the West Asian and Mediterranean regions.

The author teaches at the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Shiv Sena-UBT leader and former minister Aditya Thackeray on Saturday launched a scathing attack on foreign trips by ministers of the Eknath Shinde government, claiming some of these visits were cancelled after he highlighted them. He alleged that the government falsely cited droughts and floods as the reason for cancellation.

Thackeray first targeted Chief Minister Eknath Shindes tour of the UK and Germany, which was initially scheduled for October 1-8, but was postponed on Tuesday. The new dates are yet to be announced.

After I raised questions about this tour, it was cancelled. But now, the government is claiming the tour was postponed due to drought-like situation and excessive rain in parts of Maharashtra, Aditya Thackeray said at a press conference at Shiv Sena-UBT headquarters in Mumbai.

The former minister said he had similarly objected to a proposed visit to Ghana by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar. The Speaker was scheduled to attend the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) in Ghana next week.

The Speaker was to travel to Ghana to deliver a speech on parliamentary democracy. But he is also supposed to decide various disqualification petitions that he is hearing. The Supreme Court has already said that hearings should happen in a time-bound manner. So what was he going to speak about in Ghana when he is delaying the hearings here. After I raised this issue, his trip was cancelled, said Thackeray.

He also targeted industries minister Uday Samant for trips to Germany and UK. The World Economic Forum happened in Davos in January. Davos is back to being just a small town now. So why is the minister going there now? Is it not wasting peoples money?

Unconstitutional CM was there for 28 hours and the government spent more than Rs 40 crore. When we were in power, even we had gone for the same event, but each and every detail was planned minutely and everything was announced on social media. We cant see the same about foreign trips of this government, he added.

Commenting on Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnaviss trip to Japan where he received an honorary doctorate, the Shiv Sena-UBT leader said: Was the expenditure for Japan trip borne by the Japanese government? No, it is to be paid by MIDC as post-facto approval. I have no problem if anyone wants to travel abroad, but please travel on your own money, he said.

Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar countered Thackerays criticism of Fadnaviss Japan tour, saying the expenses were borne by the Japanese government.

Devendra Fadnavis was invited as the guest for this tour, hence the entire expense was taken care of by their government. Maharashtra government had taken care of expenses of officials who had gone on tour with the Deputy Chief Minister. Details of how much investment he brought to the state are there on his (social media) timeline. If you missed it, kindly go through it again. Someone who went on a foreign tour when his own father was hospitalised should not comment, Shelar said.

Aditya Thackeray had also questioned a trip to Australia and New Zealand by the deputy chairman of Legislative Council and 50 other members of the Assembly. What did they learn? Will this tour help us have good quality roads? Finance department of the government should tell us.

He questioned the government for allegedly not providing timely financial help to farmers of the state. The Maharashtra CM was seen with Bollywood celebrities during Ganesh festival, but he couldnt find the time to go to Nagpur and meet the flood-affected people.
An ambulance, carrying an infant in a serious condition, was allegedly made to wait for an hour by the police in traffic on Friday as the convoy of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was about to pass through the area.

The mother of the child frantically asked the police to let the ambulance go as her child was fighting for life. She almost broke down when the child fell unconscious. Despite several attempts, the police allegedly did not allow the ambulance to pass.

All vehicles were stopped by the Patna police in order to allow the Chief Ministers convoy to pass. The ambulance reached the area at the same time as the police had stopped all traffic on the crowded road, NDTV reported.

The Chief Minister, who had inaugurated an ethanol factory in Nalanda, was returning to Patna on Friday when this incident occurred.

NDTV quoted the driver of the ambulance as saying that he kept requesting the police to let them go and also informed that they were travelling from Fatuha to Patna. He also claimed that the policemen saw the condition of the child but even after that did not give the required permission to the ambulance.

Last month, a similar incident was reported in Bihars Patna where an ambulance carrying a patient who was to be admitted to the emergency ward was stopped by the police to let Nitish Kumars convoy pass.

The family members of the patient was seen crying in a video that was shared on social media. The ambulance was allowed to leave the area only after the Chief Ministers convoy crossed.

BJP IT Cell Head, Amit Malviya reacted to this earlier incident on his official X, formerly known as Twitter account. He had slammed Kumar saying that, dreaming of becoming the prime minister and yet he put someones life at stake.

He also compared Kumar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, On the one hand, where Modi ji stopped many times not only his convoy but even roadshows to give way to the ambulance, Nitish Babu did not think at all about the family crying in the ambulance.
Land Jihad, and not Love Jihad, is Uttar Pradeshs most pressing issue, according to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which has conveyed as much to senior BJP leaders and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at a recent meeting.

Like the so-called love jihad, a reference to marriages between Muslim men and Hindu women, the phrase land jihad is quickly coming up to speed in Uttar Pradeshs political vocabulary, though the Yogi Adityanath government is yet to comment on it.

The phrase has been in use since 2017, coined by Hindutva proponents to refer to Muslims settling down in Hindu-majority areas and constructing mosques or madrasas in the vicinity.

A senior cleric from the state told News18 that land jihad came to be coined during a protest in Meerut district in 2017. The protest was led by local BJP leaders along with activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in Hindu-dominated Chahashor Mohalla against one Nauman Ahmed and his family. A mob of around 200 people across age groups gathered in the otherwise peaceful locality when Ahmeds family tried to take possession of their newly bought house.

They accused the family of doing land jihad. With no option left, the family had to leave their property as they didnt want to give a simple property deal a communal colour, the Maulana said.

Incidentally, this was the same year the BJP returned to power in the state after 14 years and Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister. Since then, the phrase has been quite popular in UP politics.

Speaking against the promotion of notions like land jihad, S Mohammed Haider, a senior lawyer from Lucknow, said: The recently talked about and much-hyped notion of land jihad goes against the very tenets of our democratic system and tends to tear apart the secular fabric of our nationhood. It is a violation of an individuals right to property, a constitutional right assured to every Indian under article 300A of the Indian Constitution. The article provides that no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law. Therefore, it becomes imperative for all those furthering this divisive agenda to understand the constitutional mandate before adverting on to their divisive agenda.

For the Sangh Parivar, the so-called land jihad is a grave enough issue to merit a word of caution and to press an army of volunteers to create awareness among the people. According to the RSS, it is quite rampant in the rural pockets of UP, especially the ones along the India-Nepal border.

The RSS and affiliated groups believe these are not simple land deals but a conspiracy.

Land jihad is purely a conspiracy and not a simple land deal. Under this, Muslims purchase the land in Hindu-dominated localities. They then make their relatives move to the localities, eventually forcing Hindus to vacate the area. It starts with one house and slowly the entire area becomes Muslim-dominated, an RSS functionary said.

Several BJP leaders, too, have cited this as an issue in the past. In 2021, senior party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a political rally in Assam, assuring a legislation against land jihad. The party promises similar laws in his election manifesto as well.

In his recent meeting with BJP leaders and Yogi Adityanath, Mohan Bhagwat is said to have raised the issue, besides discussing the so-called love jihad and other matters that could play a part in the Lok Sabha elections.

In the meeting, RSS functionaries are said to have conveyed that lands are being grabbed from Hindus to build mosques, mazhars and dargahs in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, especially along the border with Nepal. The RSS called for an awareness drive in rural areas against love jihad and land jihad.

The RSS is planning to launch a drive in November in Awadh Prant, that includes Lucknow. It will also likely organise a seven-day workshop titled Prathmik Shiksha Varg in October. In the workshop, volunteers would be trained to expand the Sanghs reach in rural areas and create awareness among the rural population against land jihad and love jihad.

Interestingly, the UP government is yet to comment on the so-called issue of land jihad.
Activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Saturday staged a protest in Maharashtras Thane city over the hike in toll charges at five entry points of neighbouring Mumbai from October 1.

Activists led by the partys Thane and Palghar units chief Avinash Jadhav carried party flags and banners and shouted slogans condemning the hike.

The vehicular traffic at the checkpost remained unaffected as protesters stood on the side of the road and continued with their agitation.

Talking to reporters, Jadhav said while they carried out a peaceful protest on Saturday, the next agitation will be stronger.

The toll at five entry points of Mumbai  Dahisar (Western Express Highway Highway), Airoli, Vashi (Sion-Panvel Highway), Mulund West (LBS Marg) and Eastern Express Highway  is set to increase from October 1.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a mega-campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in poll-bound Chhattisgarh on Saturday. He also attended the concluding ceremony of BJPs two Parivartan Yatras in Chhattisgarhs Bilaspur.

This is Prime Minister Modis third visit to the Congress-ruled state, where assembly elections are due this year-end, in the last three months.

The prime minister will address the Parivartan Mahasankalp rally, the closing ceremony of two Parivartan Yatras, at Science College ground here at 2 pm, according to state BJP chief Arun Sao.

PM Modi Addresses Parivartan Rally in Chhattisgarhs Bilaspur

During the Congress rule, Rs. 300 crores were allocated for the railways. But this year, the BJP has given Rs. 6000 crores for development in the state. This is the Modi Model, this is my love for Chhattisgarh. This is my commitment to Chhattisgarhs development. We are trying to electrify the railway tracks as soon as possible. It is the BJP who gave modern Vande Bharat train to Chhattisgarh, said PM Narendra Modi at Parivartan Maha Sankalp Rally in poll-bound Chhattisgarhs Bilaspur.

Talking about the Womens Reservation Bill, PM Modi said, I fulfilled one more guarantee that I had given. Now in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, 33% of seats would be reserved for women. Under BJPs rule, Nari Shakti Adhiniyam is a reality. This was pending for 30 years. Congress and its allies are full of anger. They think that all women will shower blessings on Modi only.

Security Up In Bilaspur Ahead of PM Modis Visit

Ahead of the Prime Ministers visit, police has put up massive security cover in place at the venue of the programme. A total of 1,500 security personnel belonging to the police force, Special Protection Group (SPG), Chhattisgarh Armed Force, National Security Guard, and Home Guard will be deployed.

A three-kilometer radius area of the city has also been declared as a no-flying zone and anti-drone guns have also been deployed, according to police officials.

BJPs Parivartan Yatra In Chhattisgarh

While BJPs first Parivartan Yatra was taken out from Dantewada (south Chhattisgarh) on September 12, the second one was rolled out from Jashpur (north Chhattisgarh) on September 15.

Both the yatras saw 83 Swagat Sabhas (welcome gatherings), four roadshows and various public meetings before culminating at Bilaspur, covering a distance of more than 3,000 km across 87 assembly segments (out of the total 90), Sao said.

Bijapur, Sukma, and Antagarh constituencies (all Maoist-affected) have not been included in the itinerary, but people belonging to these constituencies were engaged in the yatra when it passed through the adjoining constituencies.

Even rainfall at various places could not dampen the morale of the party leaders and workers and they enthusiastically participated in the two yatras which also saw a huge response of people, he said.

The two yatras, which saw a participation of around 50 lakh people, have turned the wave of change into a storm, Sao said, exuding confidence that the Congress will be ousted from power in the upcoming elections.

BJP In Chhattisgarh

In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress handed a massive defeat to the BJP, which had been in power for 15 years under Raman Singh. The Congress had won 68 constituencies and the BJP just 15. The Congress currently holds 71 seats.

The saffron party had last month released its first list of candidates for 21 seats, which it had ceded to the Congress in the last polls even though the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the schedule of the upcoming assembly elections, due later this year.
Russian occupation forces are increasing pressure in the Kupiansk direction and forming a battlefield there. In particular, they destroyed a bridge over the Oskol River. The situation on the Lyman-Kupiansk line remains difficult, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine are controlling it.

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This is stated in the operational report of the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center, ERR reports. "At present, Russian troops are concentrating their forces and shaping the battlefield. They destroyed the bridge over the Oskol River," the agency said.

At the same time, the Estonian intelligence added that the main units of the 25th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation have not yet been put into action.

The invaders continue to"probe" the Ukrainian defense and constrain the Armed Forces units, creating an "operational dilemma" and trying to force Ukrainian troops to take decisive action.

"The situation on the Lyman-Kupiansk line remains difficult, but the Ukrainians control it," the report says.

The Estonian intelligence also noted that Ukrainian defenders continue to try to block Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are advancing "gradually, but with difficulty" because the terrain is convenient for defense, the agency said.

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As reported by OBOZREVATEL:

- On September 25, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russia could be preparing for a new offensive in the Kupiansk direction. The occupiers are looking for weaknesses in the defense of Ukrainian troops.

- On September 28, the head of the Kharkiv Military Administration, Oleh Synehubov, said that the Kupiansk direction is now a priority for the enemy, as the invaders are trying to distract the Ukrainian Armed Forces from other areas of the front where the Ukrainian military is having success. The enemy is conducting reconnaissance and shelling the Kupiansk direction with guided aerial bombs.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Naming its protest against the non-release of dues under MGNREGA as the Fight for Right, the Trinamool Congress is gearing up for the big demonstration in the national capital on October 3.

All MPs and senior leaders of the party have been directed to be present in Delhi by Sunday evening where party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will hold a meeting with them.

Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, who was initially scheduled to attend the program, might not travel, as she was advised 10 days of rest by doctors after suffering an injury to her left knee during a recently concluded two-country visit.

Addressing party leaders and workers virtually, Abhishek Banerjee has declared the protest will go ahead and urged participation from other parties too.

This is not a TMC movement, this is a peoples movement. I am saying this to other political parties too, he said. Accusing the BJP-led central government of building the new Parliament with poor peoples money, Banerjee said: Bengal has given you the answer and we will keep doing that. If any poor person is hurt in Delhi, people will give the answer.

During the protest, the TMC also plans to highlight how the central government allegedly tried to stop the demonstration from going ahead. Abhishek Banerjee had declared on Friday he will participate in the partys protest on October 3, effectively ignoring summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the school jobs scam in Kolkata on the same day.

The fight against the deprivation of WB and its rightful dues shall persist regardless of the obstacles. No force on Earth can hinder my dedication to fight for the people of WB and their fundamental rights. I'll b in Delhi joining the protest on Oct 2nd & 3rd.STOP ME IF U CAN!  Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 29, 2023

The TMC also said its request for a special train from West Bengal to New Delhi for the protest programme was declined by the Railways, following which Abhishek Banerjee said his party will make alternative arrangements for taking its supporters to Delhi.

The BJP is deliberately creating roadblocks to stop our protest programme. First, they didnt allow us permission for Ram Leela Maidan, then I was sent a notice to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on that day, and now this refusal of a special train at the last moment, he said.

Eastern Rail spokesperson Kaushik Mitra, however, told News18 that no application was received for a special train. Nobody has applied to Railways. Some political party applied to Group General Manager, IRCTC and he communicated to Railways. The Railways replied that we dont have such rakes. This has nothing to do with politics.

On Saturday, the TMC made arrangements for around 50 buses to take MNREGA beneficiaries and TMC workers to Delhi. The buses will take the Asansol, Dhanbad, Varanasi, Kanpur route, party sources said, adding that more than 5,000 people are expected to participate in the protest. Each bus shall be equipped with medical kits.

Tushar Kanti Roy, a MNREGA beneficiary from Jalpaiguri, reached Kolkata on Friday to leave for Delhi. We have not been getting money since 2021. They have not given us trains, but our problem is so serious that we are ready to walk to Delhi too. Only I know how I am keeping my family afloat. We need an answer from the Centre.

Mohammad Tahiud Raheman, who has come from Nadia, has been camped at Netaji Indoor Stadium along with other MNREGA card holders. Why are they doing this? We need our money and thats why no matter what they try, we will go to Delhi.

Hitting back at the TMC, the BJP accused the ruling party of misusing common people for political gains. They are doing circus. They are taking common people in buses while their leaders are travelling by flight, said BJP MP Locket Chatterjee.

BJP leader Dilip Ghosh pointed out that the TMC government repeatedly denies permissions to the opposition in West Bengal. They dont give us permission for anything. Whether Railways gives permission is up to them let them (TMC) go by bus if they want to.
India will mark the 9th anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2023. In these nine years, the campaign has succeeded in generating consciousness about cleanliness among Indians, especially children. PM Narendra Modi has attributed children as the vigilant soldiers in the cleanliness campaign. Now, the availability of blue and green dustbins is evident in public places. A stringent culture of cleanliness is taken care of by Swachh workers.

The Indian education system and media have given impetus and momentum to the campaign. Schools and colleges have taken this initiative with priority and trained children in their curriculum with different activities to make them conscious of their conduct for cleanliness. Indias media has unanimously taken up this campaign with utmost sincerity and opened the discourse on cleanliness among Indians. This could be one of the topics where all media outlets participated with the same verve and sincerity on the matter of cleanliness. Indian celebrities and businessmen also took responsibility to raise awareness among Indians about the severity and significance of cleanliness in modern India.

To make India open defecation-free, the government provided allowances to poor people for building cemented houses and toilets under the PM Awas Yojana. It led to a revolutionary change in Indias rural practices, where particularly females and old people suffered abysmally from the lack of toilets in their homes. The campaign has contributed to improving public health and hygiene. On October 2, 2019, PM Narendra Modi declared India open defecation-free.

Many times, the PM has reinforced the crowd in public rallies to collect their garbage with them and leave the ground clean.

The impact of the Swachhta Abhiyan can also be measured by its impact on tourism and the economy. Projects like the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Project, Namami Gange project, Central Vista project, etc., have given a boost to tourism and the local economy. A well-maintained and clean sanctum sanctorum always appeals to tourists.

As a nation, we have taken this initiative with sincerity, but we have to take this to the culmination. It is a continuous process and requires persistent effort. We have to instill this practice in every Indian. The habit of waste segregation and the redundant use of plastic require special training and education. National Father Mahatma Gandhi is the icon of the Swachh Mission. It is the duty of every Indian citizen to uphold the values of Gandhi and build a country as desired by our freedom fighters.
Access to proper sanitation in many parts of the world is a luxury that millions of people cannot afford. This access to such a basic need is not just about convenience. It is also about safety, dignity, and social inclusion. Its lack exposes people, especially women and girls, to a host of dangers, from health risks to harassment. Recognizing the severity of this issue, the United Nations has made universal access to water and sanitation one of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In India before the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission- Grameen (SBM-G) in 2014, the state of sanitation in the country was deplorable. Only around 40% of households had access to a toilet. This ambitious mission which largely focused on Behavior Change Communication (BCC), engagement of women, and social inclusion, has been nothing short of a resounding success. Since 2014 millions of household and public toilets have been constructed in rural India.

Improved quality of life

The need and impact of having access to a toilet cannot be overstated. A survey revealed that many women used to spend up to an hour each day walking long distances to defecate in the open. Often, they had to rely on relatives or neighbors to care for their dependents during this time, adding unnecessary stress to their lives. However, the construction of household and public toilets changed all of this. Now, 97% of men no longer have to traverse challenging terrains, and 90% do not have to suffer discomfort of open defecation. The convenience brought about by the construction of toilets has improved the overall quality of life in India.

Sense of self respect and dignity

Defecating in public can be a traumatic experience for women as it brings physical dangers and a sense of shame and humiliation. Women feel embarrassed due to the taunting and verbal abuse they faced while going to defecate in the open. This feeling was compounded during challenges of menstruation when changing sanitary materials in public becomes even more awkward. However, the construction of private and public toilets changed this unfortunate experience. With the construction of toilets, women found a sense of self-respect and dignity when they could change their sanitary materials in private.

Towards more inclusive society

Security for women is not just about accessing a toilet. It is fundamentally rooted in gender disparity hence in order to move away from this insecurity, it is important to place gender disparity at the heart of policy discussions. The gender experts are of the view that the discourse must be framed within the context of rights, agency, choice. It is said that this shift in perspective can help institutionalize the use of toilets as a fundamental human right and move society towards being more inclusive.

The construction of public and private toilets is not just about improving sanitation. It brings social inclusion and empowerment to communities and provides a safe and dignified space for everyone, especially marginalized communities including women and girls. The success of initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Mission shows us that we can build a more inclusive society if sanitation is approached from a holistic and inclusive perspective. As India works towards the goal of universal access to water and sanitation,it is important to keep in mind that public toilets are more than just infrastructure. They are the agents of change, dignity, and social inclusion.
In the bustling streets of India, where the confluence of tradition and modernity is a daily spectacle, a persistent menace used to mar the urban landscape. The signs of this menace were the unsightly stains of paan and gutkha, strewn across public spaces. From road dividers to historic monuments, we used to witness these unsightly appearances. This habit for long had been a scourge on the cleanliness and hygiene efforts of the country. However, over the years there has been a change in this behavior largely driven by both government intervention and innovative solutions.

The Indian Railways has borne the brunt of this issue the most. The stains left behind by paan and tobacco users cost the railways a staggering amount of money and a significant amount of water annually. Cleaning these stains requires manpower and harsh chemicals, making it not just a social menace but also an environmental challenge.

Governments response

The Indian government a few years ago in response issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the regular removal of these stains from public places, including railway stations. These SOPs, part of the swachh office initiative, emphasized use of water, urinal facilities and vacuum cleaners.

Biodegradable spittoons

Indian Railways is leading the charge for innovative solutions to this problem. Three major railway zones, namely Western, Northern, and Central partnered with a startup called EzySpit and introduced a pocket-sized reusable and biodegradable spittoon. What sets this invention apart is the inclusion of seeds within the spittoon, which sprout into plants when properly disposed of.

To make these biodegradable spittoons readily available, vending machines and kiosks were installed at various railway stations and were offered at an affordable price. These pouches came in various sizes, and can be reused up to 15 to 20 times. They also contain a substance that solidifies spit, making it easy to dispose of responsibly.

no thu thucampaign

The no thu thu (no spitting) campaign which was first started in 2022 by indore civic bodies, has been an important part of the drive against gutka stains. Shop owners across many cities in the country joined forces, urging gutka addicts to use spit cups.

While the government is doing its part by taking proactive steps, it ultimately falls on the shoulders of the citizens to maintain cleanliness in the cities. We have witnessed many examples highlighting the importance of civic sense and responsibility towards cleaner cities. As the saying goes that you can lead a horse to water, but you cant make him drink, it is time for India to realize the importance of civic sense and work together to create cleaner cities.
In the heartland of India, where rural landscapes once thrived with lush greenery and pristine ponds,one persons passion is reshaping the destiny of water bodies. Ramveer Tanwar, lovingly known as Indias Pond Man, has made it his lifes mission to restore these essential water bodies and safeguard the environment for a sustainable future.

In his childhood, the love for nature was ingrained in Ramveer Tanwars daily routine. After finishing his day at the school, he would lead his cattle to graze. He would then settle beside the village pond to complete his homework while absorbing the serenity of the surroundings. However, as the years passed and urbanization encroached upon his native village of Dadha in Greater Noida, these cherished ponds began to vanish. These endearing water bodies were replaced by concrete jungles and growing populations.

Rather than succumbing to despair, Tanwar felt compelled to take action. In his college days he started addressing the loss of water bodies and forest lands around his neighborhood. His college offered an opportunity to engage in social or environmental activities, and he seized it with both hands.

Jal Chaupal

Teaming up with fellow students, Tanwar initiated an informal water conservation campaign called Jal Chaupal within local communities.Commencing their efforts in Dadha the group soon expanded their outreach to villages across Uttar Pradesh. As the months passed, environmentalists joined their cause. Now they started holding meetings with villagers to discuss water quality issues and potential mitigation measures.

After completing his graduation, Tanwar secured a job at a multinational company, where he worked for nearly two years. However, Jal Chaupal never left his heart. In 2016, he made the bold decision to quit his lucrative job and fully dedicate his time and energy to saving dwindling water bodies.

Restoring one lake at a time

Two years later, in 2018, Tanwar founded the non-governmental organization Say Earth which has now become a prominent environmental NGO in India. It specializes in water conservation through the restoration of water bodies and the creation of self-sustaining urban forests.

Tanwar along with his team has been able to restore nearly 100 water bodies in the last six years. The group has now extended their catchment area and are working beyond Uttar Pradesh.They have restored water bodies in states, including Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh.

Hailed by PM

People have hailed the hard work that Tanwar has put in over the years. For his relentless efforts to restore the pond ecology, he has earned the title of the Pond Man of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in one of his Mann Ki Baat radio programs in 2021 acknowledged his contributions.
Safai mitras and swachhata warriors across Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Assam cleaned hundreds of public toilets and open urination spots commonly marked with yellow spots in a single day. The cleanliness effort was carried out in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modis call for Swachhhta Hi Seva campaign.

Safai Mitras and Swachhata warriors across the state worked tirelessly throughout the day to turn these public spaces into clean and accessible facilities for the residents and visitors of Assam.

Ashok Singhal, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Irrigation in Assam made the announcement on X formerly known as Twitter.

Singhal stated, Public urination is a stain on our society, and we will wipe that yellow spot clean.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis call for Shramdaan is receiving an overwhelming response from the citizens of Assam. People along with safia mitras and Swachhata warriors have shown concern for their environment and have been participating in cleanlinliness drives organised across the state.

Earlier Singhal chaired a meeting with District Commissioners from all districts, chairpersons, CEOs of all Municipal Boards, and other officers to deliberate on the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign in the state.

Singhal urged all stakeholders to wholeheartedly implement the program with active participation from citizens to ensure a Swachh Bharat in the truest sense.

As a run up to Gandhi Jayanti, the Prime Minister gave a call to citizens for 1 hour of shramdaan for swachhata at 10 am on 1st Oct by all citizens collectively. The mega cleanliness drive calls upon citizens from all walks of life to join in actual cleaning activities of public places like market spaces, railway tracks, water bodies, tourist locations, religious places etc.

The cleanliness drive is part of the SwachhataPakhwada- Swachhata Hi Seva2023. It is being observed from 15th Sept till 2nd Oct. Citizens are engaging in various cleanliness activities like restoration of old buildings, cleaning of water bodies, ghats, painting walls, conducting nukkad nataks, and rangoli competitions. Since the launch of the Pakhwada, crores of citizens have joined the Pakhwada fortnight so far.
Google Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro Launch: Google is set to host its Pixel launch event on October 4 in New York City, US, where the company will launch two latest smartphones  Google Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, a new smartwatch Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Buds Pro. Also, the Google Pixel launch event will be available for live streaming. You can tune in for the live stream on Googles YouTube channel and the Google Store website at 7:30 PM IST.

In terms of pricing, the Pixel 8 is expected to be available at EUR 799 (around R. 70,200), while the starting price for the Google Pixel 8 Pro could be EUR 1099 (approximately Rs.96,500). Ahead of the launch, a report from WinFuture has revealed press renders of the upcoming Pixel devices.

According to the report, the Google Pixel 8 is expected to have a 6.17-inch full-HD AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 24001080 pixels. On the other hand, the Pixel 8 Pro is rumored to come with a 6.7-inch OLED display with a resolution of 31201440 pixels with a 120Hz refresh rate. Both devices are coming with Google Tensor G3 SoC.

In terms of camera specifications, both Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones will feature a 50MP main rear camera. However, the Google Pixel 8 will come with a dual camera setup, including a 12MP camera, and the Pixel 8 Pro, on the other hand, is rumored to come with a triple camera setup, including a 64MP and a 48MP ultra-wide-angle camera. Additionally, both devices are expected to have a 10.5MP front camera for video calls and selfies.

Coming to storage options, the Pixel 8 is expected to have two storage options 8GB+128GB and 8GB+256GB, paired with 8GBRAM and the Pixel 8 Pro is rumored to come in three storage configurations  12GB+128GB storage, 12GBRAM +256GB storage, and 12GB+ 512GB storage.
Indian cyber agency has issued a high-risk warning for Google Chrome users in the country, saying that users must update their Chrome browser immediately. According to the Computer Emergency Response Team in India (CERT-In), multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Google Chrome which could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, bypass security restrictions or cause a denial-of-service condition on the targeted system.

Multiple vulnerabilities exist in Google Chrome due to Heap buffer overflow error in WebP; Inappropriate implementation in Custom Tabs, Prompts, Input, Intents, Picture in Picture and Interstitials; Insufficient policy enforcement in Downloads and Autofill, CERT-In said in a report.

The agency also said that cyber attackers could exploit these vulnerabilities by persuading a victim to visit a specially crafted website. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, bypass security restrictions, or cause a denial-of-service condition on the targeted system.

Heres The List of Affected Chrome Software

 Google Chrome (Extended Stable Channel) versions prior to 116.0.5845.188 (for Mac and Linux)

 Google Chrome (Extended Stable Channel) versions prior to 116.0.5845.187 (for Windows)

 Google Chrome for Desktop versions prior to 117.0.5938.62 (for Mac and Linux)

 Google Chrome for Desktop versions prior to 117.0.5938.62/.63 (for Windows)

The vulnerability under CVE-2023-4863 is being exploited in the wild. Users are advised to patch the vulnerable devices immediately, the agency said. For the affected software, users are advised to update their Chrome browser immediately.

According to CERT-In, Google has already released the update and security fix containing patches and solutions for these security issues.

The Stable and Extended stable channels has been updated to 116.0.5845.187 for Mac and Linux and 116.0.5845.187/.188 for Windows, which will roll out over the coming days/weeks. A full list of changes in this build is available in the log.

The Extended Stable channel has been updated to 116.0.5845.188 for Windows and 116.0.5845.187 for Mac, which will roll out over the coming days/weeks, Google wrote in a blopost.
A young woman from Italy has died of cardiac arrest just days after getting breast enhancement surgery done. The family of a 21-year-old Italian beautician Alessia Neboso said she wanted to look perfect for her upcoming wedding. Alessia was planning to get married to her long-time boyfriend Mario Lucchesi. According to Daily Mail, Alessia started feeling unwell days after the breast implant surgery. The 21-year-old developed a high fever, fatigue, a cough, weakness and gastrointestinal issues. After her health deteriorated, her family took her to the emergency room of the Villa dei Fiori Clinic in Acerra near Naples. On September 20, she was admitted and was reported to be critical.

Dr Feliciano Ciccarelli told the local media that his colleagues on duty immediately understood that the situation was very serious. The doctor also informed that Alessias functional indicators were all altered, her kidneys were already failing, her white blood cell count was at 17,00 and she also had difficulty breathing.

Notably, the normal range for a white blood cell count is typically between 4,000 and 11,000 per microliter. Dr. Ciccarelli also said that they subjected her to all possible tests to locate the sepsis.

We did an ultrasound and a CT scan of the abdomen, another CT scan of the chest, from which we understood that the problem was coming from the lungs, Dr Ciccarelli added.

Alessia was stabilised and taken to the ICU. Despite medics attempts to keep her alive, she suffered a cardiac arrest a few hours later.

A close friend of Alessia told the media that her dream was to get married wearing a beautiful low-cut dress that would highlight her new cleavage.

The friend also revealed that Alessia had a complex about her small breasts, even though they werent that small and said they had advised against it but she wouldnt listen to their advice.

Alessia had decided to enlarge her breasts by a couple of sizes at a clinic specializing in plastic surgery. She went under the knife for the surgery on September 11 and was fine till September 18.

The first discomfort came on September 18, followed by the next morning which progressed and worsened until September 20, when she was taken to the clinic in critical condition.

Alessias family is devastated and has filed a complaint, and police are now investigating. Her parents said that if there are liabilities they must come to light, and if their daughter died because of the doctors, then they want justice.
Dozens of demonstrators took to the streets of Brussels on Saturday to protest sex education courses in schools, which have sparked controversy in the French-speaking part of the country. Shouting dont touch our children, protesters sought to challenge the French-speaking authorities move to introduce an annual two-hour course for two age groups, intended to answer pupils questions on sensitive subjects.

However, since the start of the new school year the programme has sparked a backlash on social media and protest calls from ultra-conservatives, including Islamic associations and Civitas, a far right party of mostly ultra-traditional Catholics. In mid-September, the Belgian courts opened an investigation into arson, after fires broke out in four schools targeted by opponents of the courses.

Talking publicly to children about sexuality can frustrate them. Its up to parents to talk about sexuality, not the state, Gregory Bourguignon, one of the demonstrators, told AFP.

The course  presented by French-speaking education minister Caroline Desir as a two-hour lecture by accredited outside speakers  is aimed at pupils in the sixth year of primary school (aged 11-12) and the fourth year of secondary school (aged 15-16). Compulsory since 2012, until now it has not been systematically provided due to a lack of resources.

Its aim is to reassure pupils about issues that they may have difficulty understanding. Its aim is to reassure pupils about the questions they ask themselves at adolescence and to protect them from potentially dangerous or problematic situations, Desir said.

She gave sexism, sexual violence and gender stereotypes as examples.

An initial demonstration was held on September 17, but it failed to prevent the final adoption of the text by the French-speaking Belgian region.
If Ukraine fails to resist Russian aggression, Georgia or the Baltic states will be the next target for Russian attack, and democracy and the future of the whole of Europe will be at risk. However, Ukraine will win the battle against Russia, as the long and fierce resistance of Ukrainians that has stunned the world proves.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has already lost the first "round" of the war in Ukraine, and now Europe's task is to help Ukraine achieve a final victory and force Russia to stay within its borders and behave like a normal state. This was stated by the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili in an interview with the Lithuanian TV channel LRT.

When the interviewer asked Zurabishvili who would be the next target for Russian aggression if Ukraine loses the war with Russia, the Georgian president suggested that it could be his country or one of the Baltic states.

"Us or they (will be next if Russia is not stopped - Ed.). You have already told us that we will be next if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine. We have Russian military bases in the occupied territories. Europe and the future of democracy is under threat," she said.

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Zurabishvili called the Russian-Ukrainian war "the most important battle" and predicted that Ukraine would win it.

"This is the most important battle that is currently taking place in Ukraine, and Ukraine will win this battle because it has resisted for so long that the rest of the world thought it was impossible. This is perhaps the most important military tool it can use to show that Ukraine is invincible. The resilience and courage demonstrated by Ukraine and its president show the world that it is possible to question Russian military power, confront the Russian military, and humiliate the Russian military because of everything that has happened. Changes in the military command, endless changes in the war strategy, and the story with Prigozhin: all show that the Russian president has not finished what he started, continuing the war in the KGB style, not according to the rules of war," the President of Georgia emphasized.

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She is convinced that Putin lost the "first round of the war" and only Ukraine's final victory will ensure lasting peace and stability in Europe.

"Now Ukraine must win, and Ukraine's victory will lead to victory for all of us and will help ensure peace and stability. I'm speaking very selfishly, of course, but it will help ensure the security of the Black Sea region, which is irreplaceable and especially important for Europe. This is what we are talking about when we talk about the war in Ukraine. The Three Seas Initiative, which we have not yet joined, is certainly an initiative that is very interesting to us and will help secure our future. All the big projects that Europe is implementing in our country contribute a lot to our success and the success of Ukraine," Zurabishvili said.

She believes that until Russia realizes that it is better to stay within its borders, peace and tranquility can be forgotten. If Ukraine does not win, it is only a matter of time before Russia intervenes again.

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"The fact is that only Ukraine's victory can ensure peace, so we have to make sure that Russia does not go beyond its borders and behaves like a normal state. Until this happens, no one can live in peace and no one can say that we are not threatened by further interventions, because Russia will remain Russia as it was, as we saw and knew it, as you know it, as we know it, and as many Europeans know it," the Georgian president emphasized.

Zurabishvili is also convinced that Europe must help Ukraine win. After all, only joint efforts can stop Putin. So far, Europe has managed to maintain impressive unity and solidarity, which came as a complete surprise to the Kremlin.

"Ukrainians and, of course, the solidarity and unity of all European partners (will be able to stop Putin. - Ed.). Indeed, all of this does not meet Putin's expectations, as he expected to split Europe and that many allies would immediately stop supporting Ukraine. This has not happened, and public opinion remains very stable. Indeed, it is rare to see solidarity at such a high level for such a long time, including in the media. It is a very rare case. The support of the United States, which has been provided regularly, is seen during Zelensky's visit to Washington as well. The Russian president did not expect this," Zurabishvili emphasized.

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As a reminder, on September 18, the Constitutional Court of Georgia began impeachment proceedings against President Zurabishvili. The case against the incumbent president was initiated by the ruling parliamentary party, which pursues a pro-Russian policy. Party members accused the pro-European head of state of violating the Constitution by visiting EU countries without government approval.
The Indian and Canadian governments will talk to each other and see how they resolve their differences over the death of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, said External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Friday. The Minister, however, asserted that the larger issue of permissiveness must be flagged and addressed and said India was ready to look into the information related to Canadas allegations of Indian agents potential involvement in the killing of Khalistani separatist Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

He made the statement during his US visit while addressing Indian journalists in Washington.

India Open To Look Into Canadas Allegations

The issue is as follows, which is that the Canadians have made some allegations. We have pointed out to them that this is not the government of Indias policy, but if they are prepared to share with us specifics and anything relevant, we are also open to looking at it. So in that sense, thats where the matter stands, Jaishankar said.

But what we do not want to see is an incident treated in isolation because then that somewhere does not convey the right picture, he added.

He further said India has had an ongoing problem with Canada and its government for some years now, and the problem really revolves around the permissiveness in regard to terrorism, extremism, and ballots.

This permissiveness is also reflected in the fact that some important extradition requests have not been responded to from their side in the fact that there are individuals and organisations who are clearly involved with violence and illegal activities in India who themselves declared it. I mean it is not a secret and that they continue to carry on with their activities in Canada, he said.

Jaishankar said one of the problems is no incident is isolated and the totality as there is a context for everything.

Canada Has Climate Of Violence

Meanwhile, Jaishankar also claimed there was a climate of violence and an atmosphere of intimidation against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has frustrated New Delhi.

Because there is freedom of speech, to make threats and intimidate diplomats, I dont think thats acceptable, Jaishankar said.

Relations between India and Canada have been tense of late, mostly due to the presence of Sikh separatists in Canada who have kept alive the movement for Khalistan, or the demand for an independent Sikh state to be carved out of India.

Trudeaus Allegations

Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents may have had a role in the June murder of Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was labeled a terrorist by India.

New Delhi dismissed the allegations as absurd. Washington has urged India to cooperate with Canada in the murder probe.

Indian Envoy Stopped From Entering Scotland

While India continues to deal with the K-problem in Canada, a new matter came to the fore on Saturday when Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was refused entry to a Gurdwara in Scotlands Glasgow.

According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive.

They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow, the man is heard saying in the video.

The Sikh Youth UK claims that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities. The video shows two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside.

The purported video then shows the high commissioners car leaving the gurdwara premises. The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the Gurdwara will be treated.

We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats, he said.

Meanwhile, India has raised the issue of diplomats security with the UK Foreign Office after Doraiswami was stopped and intimidated from entering a Gurdwara in Glasgow by Khalistani elements, sources said.

Nijjars 2016 Letter To Trudeau

Slain Khalistan hardliner Nijjar, in a letter addressed to Canadian PM Trudeau in 2016, denied the Indian governments allegations that he was a terrorist, a media report said. The head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey had urged Trudeau to intervene on his behalf after Interpol issued a Red Corner Notice against him in 2016 at Indias request.

I urge your administration to dispel the Indian governments fabricated, baseless, fictitious, and politically-motivated allegations against me, Nijjar said, adding that India had blatantly abused its governmental authority, the National Post newspaper reported.

Nijjar was accused in a number of cases in India, including murder, terrorist activities, and sedition, and his alleged role in killing six people in a blast at a cinema in Ludhiana in 2007. As the chief of the proscribed Khalistan Terror Force, he was accused of running terror training camps in the British Columbia province, and Interpol issued a Red Corner Notice against him in 2016 at Indias request.

The CBI had also issued a warrant against Nijjar in 2014 on charges of attempting to cause an explosion, making or keeping explosives with an intent to endanger life or property, and making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances.

Nijjar told Trudeau that he and his family had been targeted by India because of his support for Khalistan. The letter said Nijjar never believed in, supported or been involved in any violent activity, the joint news report by the Post and Vancouver Sun said.

Because of my campaign for Sikh rights, its my belief that I have become a target of an Indian government campaign to label my human rights campaign as terrorist activities, the letter said.

In the letter, he also stated that the campaign to label me as a terrorist started when I actively participated in a campaign to collect signatures on a complaint to the UNs Human Rights Council for investigation and recognition of 1984 of anti-Sikh violence as Genocide.

Sikh Extremism In Canada

In 2018, Trudeau assured India that Canada would not support anyone trying to revive a separatist movement in India, while repeatedly saying that he respects the right to free speech and assembly of protesters to demonstrate.

Canada is home to an influential Sikh community, and Indian leaders say some fringe groups there remain sympathetic to the cause of an independent Sikh state. The cause hardly has any support in India.

History Of Sikh Extremism In India

The demand for Khalistan has surfaced many times in India, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s which paralyzed the state of Punjab for over a decade.

The insurgency killed tens of thousands of people and the Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by the Indian government. 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.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by two Sikh bodyguards after she allowed the storming of the holiest Sikh temple, aimed at flushing out Sikh separatists.

(With Inputs From Agencies)
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar broke silence on India suspending visas to Canadian citizens amid the ongoing diplomatic standoff over Khalistani extremist Nijjars killing and said it was necessary considering instances of violence on Indian diplomats and consulates.

He further added that Indian diplomats and officials were unable to continue with their work as there were threats of constant violence to them.

Majboori thihumare diplomats, consulates ke khilaf hinsa ka prachar ho raha hai, kaise visa, office jane ka kam karenge, yeh law & order, Vienna convention ka issue hai, Jaishanakar said while addressing Indian journalists in the US.

He further asked how other countries would react if they were in Indias position, with their diplomats, embassies, and citizens facing intimidation.

EAM also added that the Indian and Canadian governments will talk to each other and see how they resolve their differences over the death of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The minister, however, asserted that the larger issue of permissiveness must be flagged and addressed and said India was ready to look into the information related to Canadas allegations of Indian agents potential involvement in the killing of Khalistani separatist Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

Jaishankar on Friday met US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and held a productive conversation with him on deepening bilateral defence cooperation, including in the co-production of defence articles, and exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues. He also met Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Austin and Jaishankar discussed opportunities to deepen bilateral defence cooperation, including expanded defence industrial cooperation and co-production of defence articles; streamlined logistics procedures to enhance operational cooperation; and continued implementation of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), said Pentagons Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.
The United States on Friday said Israel and Saudi Arabia are moving towards the outline of a historic deal brokered by Washington DC. This will be a significant step as Riyadh and Jerusalem normalise relations after decades of hostility.

There are several outcomes of this deal. For West Asia and the Muslim world, the deal means closer ties with Israel despite its treatment of Palestinians. Palestine has been one major cause of tensions between Israel and its neighbours in West Asia.

A rationalisation deal with Saudi Arabia means the oil-rich nation, which is the guardian of Islams two holiest sites, is recognizing the Jewish state. For the US it means more presence in the West Asia and Gulf (Middle East) region and for Joe Biden, the US President, it means an election-year diplomatic victory.

All sides have hammered out, I think, a basic framework for what, you know, what we might be able to drive at, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

But, as in any complex arrangement, as this will inevitably be, everybody is going to have to do something. And everybody is going to have to compromise on some things, Kirby further added.

The US is urging both of its allies in West Asia to build on the 2020 Abraham Accords when the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco normalised ties with Israel.

Mohammed bin Salman while speaking to news agencies said both sides are getting closer to signing a new deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal would be a quantum leap for the region while addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Saudi Arabia, however, is determined to secure a military pact requiring the United States to defend the kingdom in return for opening ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia also wants American help in developing a civilian nuclear programme in return  in a possible bid to counter Irans nuclear programme.

What About Palestine

This agreement, if signed, means Arab nations are decoupling themselves from the troubles in Palestine, which has remained under Israeli control for more than half a century.

Palestinians believe the normalisation agreements with the Arab nations serves the interests of the parties involved and forgets the troubles that affect Palestinians and their quest for self-rule.

A report by the Guardian said that even though Saudi Arabia is standing by the Arab peace initiative which demands a proper settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are demands being made to decision-makers in Ramallah to not question the deal.

The Guardian in its report cited an Palestinian Authority official who said funds from Saudi Arabia have dried up since 2021 and those funds are now being used as a bargaining chip to pressure them into not questioning the deal.

The US is also not too hopeful that the deal will be signed too soon. The report pointed out that the Saudis could be waiting to see who wins the 2024 polls because Donald Trump backed Mohammad Bin Salman during the Jamal Khashoggi controversy and Riyadh could see if he retakes the Oval Office.

The CIA director, William Burns, according to the report, was in Jordan capital Amman earlier this year and during a meeting he said that his agency estimates it will take a few years for both sides to sign a deal.

Saudi Arabia also wants the Mahmoud Abbas government to shift from Qatar and build stronger ties with MBS.
Subways and airports in US financial capital New York were paralyzed due to heavy rains on Friday, with more rains expected on Saturday. LaGuardia airport closed one of its terminals. Videos shared on social media showed passengers walking in shin-deep water in certain parts of the airport as well as the city.

Images shared by news agencies showed cars partially submerged in certain areas of the city and traffic snarls in busy roads and avenues. The floods also impacted shopkeepers who were struggling to protect their products from the floods and were busy pushing the water back into the streets.

Here All You Need to Know About New York City Floods:
Russia has shelled more than 100 settlements over the last 24 hours, more than in any single day so far this year, Ukraine said on Wednesday.
THE decision by the previous Bulawayo councillors to award opposition party stalwarts, Professor Welshman Ncube and Dr Thokozani Khupe with civic honours has allegedly been parked after Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa said he was not consulted to sanction the list of beneficiaries.

According to a council confidential report, Prof Ncube and Dr Khupe were nominated for the civic honours together with the late National Hero and former city mayor, Alderman Joshua Malinga, renowned historian Mr Pathisa Nyathi and Mpilo Central Hospital clinical director, Professor Solwayo Ngwenya, Dr Shepard Ndlovu from Operation Florian and another opposition politician Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo.

The list also had Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association deputy chairperson, Ms Patricia Tshabalala and Womens Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) chief executive officer, Ms Samukeliso Khumalo. Civic honours are awarded for community work and not for activities carried out during the course of a persons normal duties for which they were paid for.

The honours may also be conferred in respect of bringing distinction to the city through various activities such as sports, art and culture. When the matter was brought up for deliberation it however, had to be parked on the pretext that there was need for more curriculum vitaes for more possible candidates for the civic honours.

However, sources claim the opposition party leader was not consulted over the proposed decision to confer Prof Ncube and Dr Khupe with the civic honours.

The source revealed that the matter was likely to be indefinitely deferred until such a time that a motion was derived which only awarded community leaders only.

Besides the three politicians on the list, the thinking is that the best way to proceed is by awarding only the community leaders but for now it will be embarrassing for the motion to be revisited because it will be clear that councillors have been instructed to exclude Prof Ncube and Dr Khupe. So as it stands this motion will only revisited next year around August when the local authority usually handles matters to do with civic awards, said the source.

This is not the first time that Dr Khupes name has been unceremoniously been struck off the civic honours list in Bulawayo, at one point the then MDC-T-run council suggested giving her the Freedom of the city accolade together with their late former party president, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai.

Since 1980 the city has conferred six Freedom of the City accolades and 54 civic honours. Among those that got the Freedom of the City are President Mugabe (23 July 1986), Bulawayo District Zimbabwe National Army (3 March 1989), One Brigade Zimbabwe National Army (3 March 1989), the late Vice-President of Zimbabwe Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo (27 February 1992), former South Africa President Cde Thabo Mbeki (5 May 2000), and the late Vice-President of Zimbabwe Cde Joseph Msika (25 August 2006).

According to council by-laws every August, councillors are expected to draw up a list of nominees for the civic honours but the matter has continuously been postponed for over 13 years after the councils decision to award the late Vice-President John Nkomo was controversially shelved. Former Bulawayo councillor Joram Ndebele had also been set to receive a Civic Honour award when the original motion to award the late VP Nkomo was moved. Sunday News
I N a dramatic turn of events, fugitive killer Peter Dube, who was recently convicted in Ireland for violating immigration laws, has been deported to Mozambique after he claimed to be a citizen of that country. Dube was being sought by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in connection with two fatal shootings and an attempted murder case in Gweru on April 23, 2021.

The 37-year-old has been on the run for the past two years. On the fateful day in April 2021, suspect, who was a car dealer, approached his second wife, Nyasha Nharingo, and her suspected lover Shelton Chinhango  also a car dealer  who was seated in a minibus parked outside a flat in Gwerus central business district (CBD), where she lived.

He fatally shot Shelton at close range and turned the gun on his second wifes best friend, Gamuchirai Mudungwe, whom he shot in the chest. She died instantly.

He went on to shoot Nyasha and her sister Nyaradzo, who were later rushed to hospital. After the shootings, he reportedly fled the country to South Africa, before relocating to Eswatini, where he changed his identity to Xolile Mtsali. From Eswatini, he travelled to Ireland, where he sought asylum. He was then arrested in Ireland on June 14 this year after our Harare Bureaus expose of how he and his family changed identities before seeking asylum.

He was nabbed at a refugee facility in Dublin, before being convicted by a Dublin District Court for violating that countrys immigration laws. However, sources said during his court appearance, Dube reportedly claimed to be a Mozambican national and produced an identity document as proof of his nationality. The new alias he assumed could not be immediately established.

He enjoyed the benefit of doubt, as the Zimbabwe authorities took long to prove that Dube was a Zimbabwean. When the documentation was later delivered to the Irish authorities, it was too late as Dube had already been deported to Mozambique. The warrant of arrest request that was issued by Zimbabwe was then overtaken by events, as there was need to prove that Dube was a Zimbabwean national before he could be repatriated back to Zimbabwe. He then took advantage of the red tape in processing the documents and claimed to be Mozambican, since he also had some identification particulars of that country.

The ZRP, through Interpol, are now making efforts to have Dube extradited back into the country from Mozambique. Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed that Dube was now in Mozambique.

After skipping the country in 2021, Dube is understood to have joined a syndicate involved in producing fake identity documents in South Africa and Eswatini.

The syndicate is believed to have assisted him to acquire Mozambican identity particulars, which he later used in Ireland when he appeared in court. Sunday Mail
AS certain as death, goes the age-old adage. But for the Manyanga family of Nyamakate village 25 in Hurungwe, Mashonaland West province, this has all but lost meaning. The last angel of death seems to have camped at this homestead calling nine family members one after the other since the beginning of this month.

Blessing Nyanyiwa (27) a daughterin-law to the Manyanga family and her three-year-old daughter Ropafadzo were the latest victims of the grim reaper.

The cause of these deaths remains a mystery, with most of the deceased said to have complained of a sore throat before passing on.

The family is affiliated to the Johane Marange apostolic sect, famed for shunning modern medical systems.

NewsDay Weekender this week travelled to Nyamakate to get firsthand information on the calamity that has befallen the Manyanga family.

The family spokesperson Luke Manyanga at first became evasive saying the family was still grieving and was not entertaining the media.

However, with the aid of Chief Chundu, real name Abel Mbasera, and village head Agrippa Mapisaunga, one of the family members Gladman Manyanga (35) later opened up on the issue.

As young as he is, Gladman has lost two wives, three children, a niece, a nephew and a close relative to one of his wives.

A member of the Johane Marange apostolic sect, Gladman is a taxi driver in the border town of Chirundu. He is now left with six wives following the death of two others.

Gladman was reluctant to entertain some of the questions posed to him.

Some of what you have heard is not true. Some people are just fabricating stories. It's normal that people get sick and die but what is being said that they died because of a mysterious disease is not true. Some of them had some other ailments not sore throats as alleged by rumour mongers, he said.

Asked whether the deceased had visited a health facility, Gladman refused to respond.

He even denied the news crew access to the family graveyard where the deceased were buried.

Village head Mapisaunga said the community was still in shock over the mysterious deaths.

It is not normal to lose such a number from the same family in less than a month, Mapisaunga said.

The family has been in continuous mourning for nearly a month without any knowledge as to when this sad episode will pass.

Chief Chundu said he has since engaged the Health ministry to intervene and help stop any further loss of life.

I want to advise those who do not respect other people's rights that each individual has his or her right to health, so we are worried as leaders when we have some churches that craft their own constitutions that are not aligned to the Constitution of Zimbabwe. We want people to shun such church doctrines.

"When one is not feeling well, he or she should be taken to hospital for medication and by doing this, we are saving lives, he said.

He added: This family lost nine members due to a disease, they had the same symptoms and no one of them even dared to visit the hospital. Some of these diseases are treatable. With immediate effect, as the chief of this area, I will arrest anyone who does not respect his or her right to health or any member of the family or community who does not respect his relative's right to health.

While many are wondering about these happenings, a lot of conspiracy theories have been thrown around, but what remains as a fact is that the jaws of death have visited the Manyanga family.

As it stands, no one in the family knows who is next and when the chain of mysterious deaths will abate.

Losing nine members within a month is taking a psychological toll on both the surviving members and villagers.

And worse still, the family has lost 35 members since 1989 and who knows, all could be the result of the church doctrine.

For Gladman, losing seven family members including wives and children within a short space of time has not been easy, but he has not bothered to find the cause. Newsday
HARARE Mayor Councillor Ian Makone is under fire for snubbing Provincial Development Committee (PDC) meetings as well as not recognising the leadership of President Mnangagwa.

Cllr Makoni on Wednesday snubbed a PDC meeting to map way for the development of Harare Metropolitan province by providing adequate service delivery.

The meeting was attended by the Mayor of Chitungwiza Cllr Lovemore Maiko, Epworth Local Board chairperson Cllr Anna Sande and senior officials for the provinces local boards.

Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan Province Mr Tafadzwa Muguti said Cllr Makones behaviour showed that he was anti-development and was not willing to work with Government.

Mr Muguti however, commended the Mayor of Chitungwiza and the chairperson of Epworth for supporting Government initiatives.

It is very disturbing that the Mayor of the City of Harare has decided not to recognise the office of the Minister of State, he said.

He was cordially invited to several meetings now and we have been informed that he is choosing to continue with the political rhetoric and as it is he does not recognise the office of the Minister of State and by extension he does not recognise the office of the President and Cabinet.

We have also seen comments in their media briefings that he continues to identify the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe as their party president Nelson Chamisa. From us as Government we have been encouraging political appointees to say the time of politics is done when you are elected.

Mr Muguti said when a person is elected to be a mayor, he or she ceases to be a mayor of the party but a mayor of the people in the city or town they are representing.

We need to build the country together and when you become a mayor, you are not a mayor of CCC but a mayor of the City of Harare and that is what we have been trying to address but we are also seeing that there are some of them who want to play with mud and they will obviously get dirty, he said.

My office is ready to deal with any form of behaviour which basically splits the province into two and we cannot work like that.

We have been having a wonderful working relationship with the City of Harare and it has been very progressive.

We do not interfere with their operations but they need to be aligned to the National Development Strategy 1 and that is what these meetings are trying to do, to align to the national Vision 2030. If the City of Harare is choosing not to identify with Vision 2030 and NDS1 and the State coming up with 100-day programmes, it is not aligned to what others are doing, that does not work.

He said members of the public should know that by-laws were not the laws of the country which were Acts of Parliament. Every by-law is subservient to an Act of Parliament. Herald
Two CCC candidates, Bornface Mudzingwa of Bikita East and Leopold Mudisi of Zvishavane-Ngezi have filed petitions at the High Court in Masvingo challenging election results in which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commissioner (ZEC) declared them losers to Zanu PF opponents.

The two have since paid the hefty US$2 000 court fees considered by many as prohibitive. The cases will be heard anytime depending on the petitioners.

According to the results released by ZEC, Mudisi lost to Zanu PFs Mecky Jaravaza by a small margin of 517 votes (11 607 to 12 124) while Mudzingwa lost to Court Zevezai by 2 336 votes (7 544 votes to 9 880 votes).

Of particular interest in Mudisis case is that there is a video of intimidation that will be produced against Jaravaza in Ward 19. It is in that same Ward where Mudisi made a dramatic loss; getting a paltry 10 votes against Jaravazas 570. Mudisi appears to attribute his total election loss of 517 to Ward 19.

Both petitioners contend that their opponents were not duly elected and are seeking orders to either declare the process null and void or to declare them winners of the election.

These two are the first reported election petitions coming out of the 2023 harmonized elections held on August 23, 2023, the lowest in many years after CCC declared that the Judiciary is captured and it has no confidence in its judges.

There are two respondents in both court cases; Zanu PF candidates and ZEC.

Both candidates are arguing that the results should be nullified because the elections were neither free nor fair and there are videos and other evidence that will be presented in court.

In the videos Jaravaza allegedly told villagers of voting party procedures that they would follow at polling stations. He also told them that their names would be recorded outside polling stations and they would be given numbers that will match those that they will be given in polling stations. He allegedly said that Zanu PF will be able to trace their votes through those numbers.

Indeed, according to the petition, the villagers found that all that Jaravaza had said was being followed at the polling stations, says the petitioner.

Jaravaza warned the villagers not to play tricks and try to vote CCC because they would be caught.

Mudzingwa alleges that his opponent, Zevezai used intimidation, violence, vote buying, voter suppression, disenfranchisement and threats to force villagers into voting for Zanu PF. There was also a faulty voters role. He also alleges that Zanu PF in violation of the law continued to campaign up to the election day and at the polling station in violation of the law and the code of conduct for candidates.

He says a shadowy organization allegedly run by the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) had tables at the polling stations and within 300 metres of the stations which is prohibited by the law.

It cites some names of the perpetrators of violence including Zevezai, Zanu PF provincial youth chairperson, Delight Mandebvu of Nyika Growth Point, Tinashe Mufari of Mufari Village Ward 31 Bikita, Albert Mufunda also of Mufari Village, Dunmore Mutsauri of Ward 31 Bikita, Stanley Kupeta of Ward 21 Bikita, Zivanai Nhongo of Ward 31, Chikuku Business Center and Oliver Dzinokuvara of Dzinokuvara Village, Chief Mukanganwi Ward 20. Masvingo Mirror
Perhaps the hardest part of listing the worst mistakes in film history is narrowing it down to just 50. That's what Rolling Stone has attempted to do in a new list of Hollywood hot takes. The categories span actors turning down giant roles (and choosing terrible ones), execs making poor choices based on cash, and creative choices we all could have lived without for a pretty entertaining read. A sample of 10 from the list:
The good news for Ukraine this year is that Russia has barely gained any new territory in nearly 10 months of fighting. The bad news for Ukraine is that its army hasn't won much land back in that same span. A comprehensive assessment of the war's front line by the New York Times reveals that it has barely moved since Jan. 1. Russia by now had hoped to have control over all of the Donbas region, while Ukraine hoped to have pushed Russian troops way back through a summer offensive. But the Times analysis reveals that less than 500 square miles of territory has changed hands this yearRussia gained 331 of them and Ukraine 143. Though a seeming stalemate might not seem to favor either side, the gist of the analysis is that it serves Russia better.
Donald Trump used a speech at a Republican Jewish convention Saturday to promise the reimposition of a controversial travel ban that targeted a slew of mostly Muslim countries if he gets re-elected.
Millions of Americans must start repaying their federal student loans again in October, with monthly payments averaging hundreds of dollars a month. To get ready, borrowers are cutting expenses, taking on additional work, and looking for options to reduce their monthly payments, per the AP . Megan McClelland, 38, said she's started asking for October shifts with a catering company and a winery to help supplement her income. McClelland's main job is as a counselor at Petaluma High School in California. During the more than three years payments were suspended because of the pandemic, she paid off her car loan and was able to save for the first time. She'll put the $235 she was spending on her car payment toward her student loan, but that still leaves another $270 or so she'll have to reallocate or earn.

"It had been a huge relief the past few years to not have that financial burden," she said. "In the next months, I'm looking to see where I can scale back in my budget. Probably less going out to eat, and more picking up side gigs." The Supreme Court in July rejected a plan by President Biden's administration to wipe away $400 billion in student loan debt. Some people have applied for adjustments to payments based on both the new SAVE plan and prior income-driven repayment options. The SAVE, or "Saving on a Valuable Education," plan allows borrowers to make lower payments based on a percentage of their discretionary income.

Not yet clear is how millions of people suddenly having less discretionary income might affect the economy. On an earnings call last month, the chief financial officer of Target said that student loan payments restarting will "put additional pressure on the already strained budgets of tens of millions of households," a sentiment echoed by the financial chiefs of Best Buy and other retailers. In the Federal Reserve's latest survey of economic conditions, one restaurant-industry observer in Boston said workers are taking on more hours, and, for the first time, credit card debt has topped $1 trillion. According to credit bureau TransUnion, more than half of student loan holders added credit card debt during the pandemic. Meanwhile, consumer savings, which peaked in 2021, are on the decline.

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The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is one of several avenues for relief still available to many with student debt. After Biden's original plan for forgiveness was struck down by the Supreme Court in July, the White House said it will use the Higher Education Act to bring cancellation to more borrowers. It's currently undergoing a process known as "negotiated rule-making" to determine the details. Other sources for relief for borrowers include: false certification, borrower defense, closed school, total/permanent disability discharges, and alternate repayment programs like income-driven repayment. McClelland said she now spends a lot of time counseling high school students on how to avoid taking on burdensome loans. "I had no financial guidance when I was younger, from my own parents or from school," she said. "I didn't ever understand the long-term impact." More here.

(Read more student loans stories.)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants America to "save the date"not for a wedding, but to "save the country." That was the message in his video released Friday, in which the 69-year-old Democratic presidential candidate teased a major announcement that appears to involve plans to run as an independent candidate, reports ABC News . "A lot of Americans who had previously given up any hope that real change would ever come through the American electoral process have begun to find new hope in my candidacy," he says in his promotion. "I want to tell you now what I've come to understand after six months of campaigning: There is a path to victory. The hope we are feeling isn't some kind of trick in the mind."

Kennedy says he'll spill the big news Oct. 9 in Philadelphia, during which he'll speak about a "sea change in American politics." In August, Kennedy told Fox News he wouldn't run as an independent, because "no, I'm a Democrat ... [and] part of my mission here is to summon the Democratic Party back to its traditional ideals." That attitude seemed to shift after a September town hall in South Carolina, when Kennedy told ABC that he'd "wait and see" about a third-party run. "I'm hoping to run in the Democratic Party," he said. "If it's possible to have a fair election in the Democratic Party, I will run in the Democratic Party, and I haven't made any kind of plans other than that."

Mediaite seems quite sure that Kennedy's news involves an independent bid for the Oval Office, citing a text that's said to show plans of the Kennedy campaign to disseminate "attack ads" against the Democratic National Committee to "pave the way" for his announcement. "Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy, so an independent run is the only way to go," a Kennedy campaign insider tells the outlet.

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The New York Times reports on Democrats' longtime fear of such a move, with concerns that RFK Jr. could pull votes away from President Biden and send them over to the presumed GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump. "But Mr. Kennedy has in recent months become far more popular with Republicans than he is with Democrats," the paper notes, adding, "It's not clear from whom Mr. Kennedy would draw more votes if he qualified for the ballot in key battleground states." (Read more Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stories.)
The Onondaga Nation has protested for centuries that illegal land grabs shrank its territory from what was once thousands of square miles in upstate New York to a relatively paltry patch of land south of Syracuse. It took its case to President George Washington, to Congress and, more recently, to a US court. All attempts failed. So now the nation is presenting its case to an international panel, the AP reports. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recently allowed the Onondagas to pursue claims that their land was taken unjustly by New York State, providing a unique venue for a land rights case against the US by a Native American nation.

Experts don't expect the US government to abide by any opinion by the commission, which is part of the Organization of American States, a pro-democracy grouping of Western Hemisphere nations, though the US was a founding member. The Onondagas say they don't want to force people from their homes. But they hope the novel case, which is being watched by other indigenous advocates, brings them closer to negotiations that might lead to the return of some land. "We had to adapt to the coming of our white brother to our lands," said Sid Hill, the Tadodaho, or chief, of the Onondaga Nation. "And we just feel that with the talk about justice and equality and all these issues, then why isn't it there for us?"

Once the Onondaga Nation's territory stretched nearly 4,000 square miles in what is now New York. Today, the federally recognized territory consists of 7,500 gently rolling acres south of Syracuse. About 2,000 people live there, many in single-family homes on wooded lots. A tax-free smoke shop sits just off the interstate. A wooden longhouse used for meetings sits deeper in the territory, testimony to the residents' adherence to tradition. Many feel crowded on their reduced land. They can't even fish the territory's creek because decades of salt mining upstream muddied the waters, per the AP. "We have freedom, but it's on a pinhead," said Kent Lyons, who has lived on the territory since 1970.

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The nation received $33,380, an annuity of $2,430, clothes worth $1,000, and 150 bushels of salt for the 1788 sale of some 3,125 acreswide expanses of land where its people had hunted, fished, and lived. The Onondagas are not seeking money as reparations but land. Though Syracuse and suburbs sit on much of the territory, a nation attorney said there's land that could be made available, such as state parcels. "We're not going to take land from people that don't want to give it," Joe Heath said. The US has argued that the commission has no business "second-guessing the considered decisions" of its courts. Jeanne Shenandoah said the Onondagas will not give up hope. "We are here, and have never not been here. People don't realize that," she said at the longhouse. "And that's why that acknowledgement is so important."

(Read more tribal rights stories.)
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U.S. Army noncommissioned officers assigned to the 1st Infantry Division pose for a photograph with Sgt. First Class (retired) Juan Santiago, during the 102nd annual Society of the 1st Infantry Division reunion in New Orleans, Louisiana, Aug. 12, 2023. Noncommissioned officers of the Big Red One traveled to New Orleans to connect with veterans and witness the legacy of the United States First Division. (Photo by Spc. Charles Leitner)
According to Egypt's 2014 constitution, parliament  the House of Representatives  must reconvene before the first Thursday of the month of October every year. This means that parliament will be out of session for nearly three months.

In a statement on Tuesday, the parliament's Speaker, Hanafi Gebaly, praised the House's performance before it went into summer recess. Gebaly said the House played a key role in "formulating and crystallizing a comprehensive strategy for this stage of economic reform, reviewing pressing social issues and everyday concerns of ordinary citizens and reinforcing positive coordination with the government."

Gebaly said the House had debated and passed as many as 188 laws in the outgoing 2022/23 session, the third in its five-year term.

Most of these dealt with economic, financial and budgetary matters.

"We passed laws establishing the Egyptian Authority for Intellectual Property Rights, the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Commerce, the Supreme Council for Vehicle Manufacturing, setting up a Fund for Financing the Electric Vehicle (EV) Assembly Industry, and an Authority for Regulating Domestic, International Land Transport and Freight," said Gebaly.

"The House has also passed laws introducing an initiative for Egyptian expats to import tax-free cars; legislative amendments to compensate contractors negatively affected by economic liberalization policies; laws that crack down on illegal construction on agricultural land, laws that legalize unlicensed industrial projects, and that give preferential tax treatment to contractors involved in building El-Dabaa nuclear power plant," added the Speaker.

In budgetary terms, the House passed a package of wage and pension hikes for state employees in FY 2023/2024, and approved the FY 2023/2024 state budget and socioeconomic development plan.

Before it adjourns for summer recess on Tuesday, the House also gave final approval to seven draft laws and four foreign agreements.

Topping the list are laws that eliminated tax exemptions for state-owned entities in a bid to level the playing field with the private sector, and an amendment to 2017's Investment Law to support private-sector participation and promote fairness, competition and transparency in the economy.

Also passed during the final session were laws setting up two new shipping terminals at the East Port Said port, worth $565 million.

The laws allow the Suez Canal Economic Zone to offer 30-year contracts to foreign companies to design, construct, manage, and operate the two new multi-purpose terminals.

Speaker Gebaly also believes that the House was successful in its role as an objective, unbiased watchdog over the government.

According to Gebaly, MPs submitted as many as 204 questions, an unprecedented 1,317 briefing requests for information from government ministers, and 19 urgent statements.

"The House's 25 committees were also involved in seriously discussing legislation, and prepared as many as 1250 reports covering all aspects of life in Egypt," said Gebaly.

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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Kingdom of Bahrains Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condemnation of the two terrorist bombings that struck the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.

These heinous acts of violence resulted in the tragic loss of life and left numerous individuals injured. Bahrain firmly stands against all forms of violence, extremism, and terrorism.

In light of these attacks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed its unwavering support and solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The Ministry extended its deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims, the government, and the people of Pakistan. It also conveyed heartfelt wishes for a swift recovery to all those who suffered injuries.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Shaikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the US, engaged in a round-table dialogue session during his visit to the State of Oklahoma.

The session brought together Mr. Blaine Arthur, Minister of Agriculture for the State of Oklahoma, and focused on discussing the commercial and investment advantages enjoyed by Bahrain.

During his speech, the Ambassador highlighted the benefits of the American Free Trade Area, which prioritiaes American companies and strengthens commercial, industrial, and economic cooperation between the two countries.

He also emphasised the investment opportunities available in the region, particularly those aimed at enhancing food security. Senior representatives from the US food industries participated in the dialogue session and praised the close relations between Bahrain and the US across various sectors.

They commended Bahrains efforts in achieving sustainable development goals and its commitment to achieving Zero neutrality by 2060, aligning with the United Nations objectives. The Ambassador expressed gratitude to the session participants and hailed the fruitful results of his visit to Oklahoma.
Agencies | Riyadh

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Preliminary free trade agreement (FTA) between the GCC and Pakistan is a recognition of the importance of strengthening trade relations and economic cooperation with countries and international blocs, said GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi.

The statement was made during the signing ceremony of the preliminary FTA between the GCC and Pakistan, which was held on Thursday at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh. The agreement was signed by GCC Secretary-General AlBudaiwi and Pakistani Commerce Minister Dr. Gohar Ejaz.

The GCC Secretary-General also noted that this historic economic agreement represents an important turning point in cooperation and would contribute to growth and prosperity in a way that serves the common interests of both sides.

AlBudaiwi stressed that the GCC countries are proceeding with free-trade negotiations with other countries, aiming to open and enhance the prospects for trade and economic cooperation for the council member states regionally and internationally.
Agencies | New York

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The UN Security Council strongly condemned the Houthi militia attack on members of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Bahrain operating within the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, on the southern border of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The attack, which took place last Monday, led to the martyrdom of three members of the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) and the injury of others. In a statement issued by the Council, they expressed their strong condemnation of the horrific and escalating drone attack attributed to the Houthis.

The attack was deemed a serious threat to the peace process and regional stability, including in Yemen. The Security Council called on the Houthis to cease all terrorist attacks and expressed concern about the targeting of civilian infrastructure in cities along the southern border of Saudi Arabia.

They emphasised the need for a sustainable ceasefire and continued support for efforts towards a political settlement to end the suffering of the Yemeni people.

The Security Council also reiterated their support for UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg in his efforts to reach a comprehensive political settlement owned and led by the Yemenis based on agreed-upon terms of reference and relevant Security Council resolutions.
MP Hala Abu El-Saad has submitted an urgent inquiry to the Egyptian government following complaints over prolonged power blackouts, despite lower temperatures in September.

The inquiry comes as social media has been abuzz with reports claiming that the Cabinet has increased daily power cuts from one to two hours this month.

Officially, no decisions have been issued by the government in this regard.

In mid-July, the government began a load-shedding programme nationwide to alleviate the mounting pressure on the country's gas network strained by hiking temperatures.

Abu El-Saad, a leading member of the Modern Egypt Party, pointed out that temperatures are lower than in July and August and as a result power consumption should be decreasing.

"There is no longer justification for reducing loads," she stressed in her question, as reported by Al-Shorouk news website on Friday. She called on on the government to explain the reasons behind the increased duration of the power outages experienced across various governorates.

The MP also pointed out that the load reduction schedule is not being adhered to.

"Why there has been a difference in the load reduction map with no prior notice to the citizens in order to sort out their affairs?" She added.

In early August, the government scheduled one-hour daily power cuts, releasing a map detailing the time and duration of power cuts in each district countrywide.

In her question Abu El-Saad demanded the government announce a definitive date by which it will phase out the load-reducing plan.

MP Maha Abdel-Nasser, who represents the Egyptian Social Democratic party, echoed El-Saads demands. In a Facebook post, she called on the government to explain the reasons behind the recent power cuts despite its previous promise to end them by the end of summer.

Abdel-Nasser also called on the Cabinet to disclose its plan to end the cuts, reminding the government that it had bragged about ending the electricity crisis in the country over the past years.

In late July, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly asserted in a press conference that the ongoing electricity load reduction programme would continue as long as temperatures surpass 35 degrees Celsius.

He indicated that power cuts might continue through the second or third week of September.

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The Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, Akwa Ibom State, has upheld the election of Pastor Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the validly elected governor of the state.





The tribunal dismissed the suit instituted by Senator Bassey Albert Akpan and his party, Young Progressives Party, YPP.





Delivering judgement in the suit numbered EPT/AKW/GOV/01/2023, which sought to nullify the elections, the tribunal headed by Justice Adekunle Adeleye upheld the preliminary objections bothering on jurisdiction and non qualification of the 2nd Respondent, and declared that Eno was eminently qualified to run for election.





The tribunal held that the earlier judgement of the Supreme Court in the case filed against governor Umo Eno by Akan Okon was binding on all persons, and therefore, the petitioners erred by abusing the judicial process in resurrecting the matter already addressed by the apex court.





The tribunal also decided that the petitioners lacked the locus to challenge how the 3rd Respondent, PDP, conducted its primaries to produce a candidate.





The tribunal further ruled that Eno did not present a forged WAEC certificate, as the WAEC official summoned through a subpoena as PW10, authenticated the certificate, stressing that there was no legislation in Nigeria that a persons name should be arranged in a particular order on a document since no other person holds claims to the said 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates.





Also, the tribunal ruled that a witness PW16, one Daniel Edet Akpan presented by Bassey Albert Akpan, as a staff of the University of Uyo, was an impostor.





According to the tribunal, the witness claimed to have been admitted as a student of Quantity Survey of the University of Uyo in 1998 and graduated in 2021, spending over 22 years for the course.





The tribunal also wondered how a senior staff of a university, could not know the meaning of CONTISS, could not remember his telephone number, did not know his gross salary and take home pay and came to the court with mask and fez cap, an indication that he was hiding something.





On the whole, the tribunal dismissed the petition as frivolous and baseless and ratified the election of Eno as governor of Akwa Ibom State.





Enos lawyers expressed satisfaction with the judgement and called on all parties to support the governor to move the state forward.





However, counsel to petitioners, Tunde Olaola, said the tribunal is not the final bus stop as there was room for appeal.
The Sokoto State Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal has affirmed the election of Ahmed Aliyu as the governor of the state.





The three-man panel of the tribunal led by Justice Haruna Msheila in its ruling dismissed the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Saidu Umar, challenging the victory of the governor in the March 18 poll.

According to panel, the petitioners failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has assured of fairness, equity and inclusiveness in the next governorship election.

Obaseki said he has no anointed candidate for the 2024 governorship election in the State.

Addressing journalists on Friday in Benin, the Governor said: It is not in my place to now determine, appoint or anoint any successor, but all I know is that in the process of seeking my successor, there must be fairness, equity, and a sense of inclusion because our goal is to keep Edo as one.

Obaseki also disclosed that his administration was focused on finishing strong.

He assured that his administration planned to finish all uncompleted projects before the governorship election.

For me, that is the only issue I understood that may be a problem and that should not stop us.

The important thing for us as an administration is for us to finish strong and try to complete everything we told Edo people we would do for them during our campaign, he said.




Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State says he has nothing personal against his deputy, Philip Shaibu.





Obaseki explained that his issue with Shaibu was straightforward.





He disclosed this while addressing journalists on Friday.





According to Obaseki: I have nothing personal against the Deputy Governor and never had. For me, the issues are very straightforward.





Obaseki and Shaibu have been engaged in a fight over the governors successor.





Amid the face-off, Shaibu had publicly apologized to his principal.





Obaseki accepted the public apology tendered by Shaibu, stressing that his deputys action caused him personal discomfort.




Mohammed Usman, Nigerian ambassador to the Niger Republic, has denied reports that the military junta prohibited President Bola Tinubu's jet from flying in its airspace, TheCable reports.

The military junta in Niger was said to have asked the plane conveying Tinubu, who had just returned from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, to leave the country's airspace.

The president's plane was reportedly "pursued" out of the landlocked country, and was said to have been at risk of being shot down.

The alleged hostility from the junta was said to be linked to the position of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) - chaired by Tinubu - on the recent coup in the country.

When contacted over the allegation, the ambassador countered the claims and described it as fake news.

"It is not true," he said in a terse response to TheCable.

Tinubu returned to Abuja, Nigeria's capital, on Friday, one week after he attended the 78th UNGA from September 18 to 26.

During one of the sessions, Tinubu voiced concerns about foreign exploitation in Africa and rising insecurity and asked other nations to offer solutions of mutual benefit.

The UNGA session was his first as Nigeria's president.

Although there was no official statement, multiple reports said the president departed New York for Paris, France for a short vacation.
The Lagos State Government has commenced the demolition of markets around train stations.





The ongoing demolition exercise by the Lagos State Building Control Agency started at 10:20 a.m. on Saturday and commenced with the Lateef Jakande Train Station.





Thereafter, the team went to 5 other stations to conduct the demolition exercise, hence clearing traders from the rail tracks to enable a right of way for the trains.





The other stations included Iju Railway Station, Ebute-Metta Railway Station, Yaba Railway Station, Agege Railway Station, and Mushin Railway Station.





Our correspondent was on-site as enforcement officials wielded sledgehammers and cutting equipment to demolish extended walls close to the road, pulling down shanties, and flinging goods from makeshift shops and tables.





Earlier, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had on Wednesday issued a two-day ultimatum to traders selling their wares on train tracks to vacate.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has urged Nigerians to be prepared to pull the country back from uncertainty to a place of common safety.

The former Vice President, in his message on Nigerias 63rd Independence Day anniversary, on Saturday, stated that the anniversary was coming at a time when the country is at a crossroads in many aspects of national life.

He said 63 years ago when Nigeria gained her political independence, it was upon the promise of abundant prosperity and the principle of social justice.

Atiku declared, As a nation, we have continued to struggle to manifest the dreams of our founding fathers in upholding the promises of shared prosperity and social justice.

We have encountered great moments when the flag of our dear country flew tall on the global stage through the industry of our sportsmen and women, the prolific distinction of our academia, and the top-notch artistry of Nigerian talents in the global music scene, he stated.

According to Atiku, the talents and doggedness of young Nigerians who have refused to give up on the country are the inspiration for a greater future that the nation celebrates.

He acknowledged that the energy of the Nigerian youth is a formidable force in the consternation of manpower and skills that power the global economy.

He said, That success  the gallantry of our youth  is the primal element of what we celebrate today as a nation.

Therefore, for me, the challenge before us all is in ensuring that the political leadership in the country that we call home should be worthy of our pride as a people and not of telling embarrassment.

Our democracy has triumphed so far due to the fidelity of our conviction that a democracy when properly nurtured, should bring out the best in us and of us.

As Nigerians, we are all not unfamiliar with the hardships in the economy, security, and other vital aspects of our society.

While I enjoin us all to submit our strengths in faith to the Almighty God, we must be prepared to do our best to pull the country back from this point of uncertainty to a place of common safety.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has despised the attack by Armenian radical groups on conference participants in the US, Azernews reports.

We strongly condemn the attack by Armenian radical groups on the participants of the Turkish Public Diplomacy conference, which was jointly organized on September 29, 2023 in Los Angeles by the Annenberg Faculty of Communication and Journalism of the University of Southern California and the Yunus Emre Institute. The fact that such steps are the embodiment of the policy of ethnic hatred and intolerance of Armenia, undertaken against Azerbaijan, as well as against the fraternal Turkiye and its citizens, during the almost 30-year Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories, during the 44-day Patriotic War, as well as during the latest local anti-terrorist measures, acquire an intense and systematic character, is a serious source of threat.

Such aggressive attacks by radical representatives of the Armenian diaspora, who were unable to digest the failure of Armenias slander campaign against Azerbaijan, as well as the collapse of the illegal regime created in the region, are criminal acts and the perpetrators of them should be punished.

The behavior of radical Armenian groups as exemplified by this attack, which includes elements of racial discrimination, incitement to hatred and violence, must be strongly condemned by the wider international community, and relevant government authorities must take appropriate steps to prevent such actions, the statement said.

Recall that police intervened after a group of Armenians verbally and physically assaulted participants at a conference on Turkish foreign policy in Los Angeles, California, in the US. Following the event's opening speeches, a group of 11 Armenian students began protesting when Turkiyes Ambassador to Washington Hasan Murat Mercan started speaking. Another protester verbally abused Ramil Gurbanov, Azerbaijan's consul general in Los Angeles. The group's 10-minute protest against Turkiye and Azerbaijan was put to an end by campus security and police, who removed the group from the venue. Throughout the conference, protesters gathered outside and tried to disrupt the program by making noise.
Israel and Saudi Arabia are moving towards the outline of a historic US-brokered deal to normalize relations after decades of hostility, the White House said on late Friday.

President Joe Biden is hoping to transform the Middle East -- and score an election-year diplomatic victory -- by securing recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia.

"All sides have hammered out, I think, a basic framework for what, you know, what we might be able to drive at," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

"But, as in any complex arrangement, as this will inevitably be, everybody is going to have to do something. And everybody is going to have to compromise on some things."

The United States has urged its Middle East allies Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize diplomatic relations, following on from similar deals, referred to as the Abraham Accords, and involving the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Riyadh has been seeking security guarantees, including reportedly a treaty, with the United States in return for normalizing with Israel, "even if Israel does not offer major concessions to Palestinians", three regional sources familiar with the talks told Reuters.

According to Reuters a pact might fall short of the cast-iron, NATO-style defence guarantees the kingdom initially sought when the issue was first discussed between bin Salman and Biden during the U.S. president's visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022.

Instead, a U.S. source told Reuters that it could look like treaties Washington has with Asian states or, if that would not win U.S. Congress approval, it could be similar to a U.S. agreement with Bahrain where the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet is based. Such an agreement would not need congressional backing.

Washington could also sweeten any deal by designating Saudi Arabia a Major Non-NATO Ally, a status already given to Israel, the U.S. source said.

But all the sources said to Reuters that Saudi Arabia would not settle for less than binding assurances of U.S. protection if it faced attack, such as the Sept. 14, 2019 missile strikes on its oil sites that rattled world markets. Riyadh and Washington blamed Iran, the kingdom's regional rival, although Tehran denied having a role.

The Palestinians could get some Israeli restrictions eased but such moves would fall short of their aspirations for a state. As with other Arab-Israeli deals forged over the decades, the Palestinian core demand for statehood would take a back seat, the three regional sources told Reuters.

But the Palestinians have warned that they must be taken into account in any deal, saying there can be no peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution.

"The normalisation will be between Israel and Saudi Arabia. If the Palestinians oppose it the kingdom will continue in its path," said one of the regional sources to Reuters. "Saudi Arabia supports a peace plan for the Palestinians, but this time it wanted something for Saudi Arabia, not just for the Palestinians."

Nevertheless, diplomats and the regional sources said MbS was insisting on some commitments from Israel to show he was not abandoning the Palestinians and that he was seeking to keep the door open to a two-state solution.

Those would include demanding Israel transfer some Israeli-controlled territory in the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority (PA), limit Jewish settlement activity and halt any steps to annex parts of the West Bank. Riyadh has also promised financial aid to the PA, the diplomats and sources said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said any bargain must recognise the Palestinian right to a state within the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem, and must stop Israeli settlement building.

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Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has described his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola, as a big brother.

Adeleke spoke in a personally signed message he addressed to Oyetola on the occasion of his 69th birthday.

In the statement, Adeleke described the advancing age of Oyetola, who is the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, as a divine grace and prayed to God to grant the minister more blessed years on earth.

It is my pleasure to congratulate my dear big brother on the occasion of his birthday. I thank God for granting my predecessor another blessed year.

On behalf of the people and government of Osun state, I convey our heartfelt good wishes.

Wherever my brother is, he should please enjoy his day, Adeleke said in the statement.
Big Brother Naija Season 7 winner, Josephine Otabor, simply known as Phyna, has reacted to a report that she abandoned her family after winning the N100 million grand prize of the reality show in 2022.

Recall that NigerianEye reported that Mr. Felix Otabor, Phynas father, lamented in an interview that his daughter disappeared into thin air as soon as the prize money was handed over to her, and she never returned to her parents to butter their bread.

He was also quoted to have said Phyna neither calls nor answers their calls since she left the BBNaija house.

Reacting in a now-deleted post on X, Phyna threatened to take legal action against the newspaper that published the interview.












A Nevada grand jury has indicted 60-year-old Duane Keffe D Davis in the murder of legendary American rapper, Tupac Shakur, Sky News reports.





Keffe D, who is said to be the uncle of one of Tupacs known rivals, Orlando Anderson, was arraigned before the court by the Las Vegas Police.





The jury indicted Keffe D on a charge of murder with the use of a deadly weapon.





His nephew, Anderson, who was reported to have been involved in a casino brawl involving Tupac and his associates on the night of the hip-hop stars death, denied any involvement in the rappers killing at the time.





Anderson died two years later in an unrelated gang shooting.





Keffe D admitted in interviews and his 2019 tell-all memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he was in the car allegedly used in the shooting.





Tupac died after being shot multiple times. He was 25 at the time.





Until Friday, there had never been any arrests in the case.
Mr Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)has advised Nigerians to explore the path of dialogue in resolving the countrys numerous challenges.

Wike said this at a Public Lecture/Special Jummua Prayer, held in Abuja, as part of activities to commemorate Nigerias 63rd Independence.

The Minister, represented by Mr Danlami Ihayyo, the Mandate Secretary, Education Secretariat in the FCT, said that Nigeria had been faced with so many challenges since independence, saying however, that President Bola Tinubus Renewed Hope agenda, marked a new beginning for the country.

He said that the 63rd anniversary would serve as a new beginning for the country in line with Tinubus agenda.

Wike, who was the guest speaker, underscored the need to key into the agenda to address the nations socio-economic challenges.

While describing the topic as apt, the minister said It underscores the importance of addressing the socio-economic challenges our nation faces.

And, hopefully, it would present a new perspective and a renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

Nigeria is still waxing strong in terms of successes recorded across all sectors of the economy, in spite of numerous plights.

He, however, advised Nigerians to acknowledge the persistent challenges ranging from poverty, unemployment, inadequate infrastructure and insecurity as tools to revitalise the country and to impact on Nigerians positively.

He promised to collaborate with other stakeholders to ensure harmony among citizens and to work hard to actualise the founding fathers vision for the country.

Here in the FCT, we will continue to work hard at promoting national unity, cohesion and tolerance in line with the vision of our founding fathers.

He also expressed gratitude to the National Council of Islamic Affairs for the choice of the theme for discussion, saying the council and Islam as a whole had played vital roles to ensure Nigerias unity.

Islamic principles have always played a significant role in our society not only through righteousness but also towards compassion and justice, the value of social justice and charity.

These are models to address our current socio-economic challenges.

These values remind us of the importance of caring for the less fortunate and working towards a more enviable society, Wike said. (NAN)




The governorship election petition tribunal, sitting in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba State, will on Saturday deliver judgement in the state governorship election petition .





The petition, which was jointly filed by the state chapter of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, and its gubernatorial candidate in March 2023 general election, Professor Sani Yahaya, against the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the state governor, Agbu Kefas, is seeking for the nullification of the election.





Announcing their decision to deliver judgement tomorrow, the tribunal in a statement made available to journalists on Friday in Jalingo, said, only individuals with accreditation tags will be allowed access to the tribunal premises.





Signed by the tribunal secretary, Kuhe T. Regina, the statement noted that the decision is geared towards managing the limited space in the tribunal.





The tribunal, according to her, have as well made available tags for few accredited members of the fourth estate of the realm.





Other accredited persons that will be granted access to the venue, according to the release, include litigants, counsel, as well as the accredited members of the two political parties.





Parts of the statement read This is to notify the general public that the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal will be delivering its judgment on Saturday, September 30, 2023.





As a measure to manage the limited space at the venue and ensure effective crowd control, the Tribunal has made accreditation tags available for accredited members of the press, direct litigants, counsel, and party representatives involved.





As a result, only individuals with the accreditation tags will be granted access to the premises. We thank you for your usual cooperation.





At the time of filing this report, roads leading to the tribunal premises, as noticed by newsmen, have been manned by heavily armed security operatives.
A man died Thursday night after he was found shot in Camden, authorities said.

When officers from the Camden County Police arrived at 900 block of Mechanic Street at 9:03 p.m. they discovered 36-year-old Julian Dickerson, of Camden, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to a release from the Camden County Prosecutors Office.

Dickerson was rushed to Cooper University Hospital where he died shortly thereafter, the office said.

No suspects were named and as of Friday evening, and no arrests were announced by the office as the shooting was still under investigation.

Anyone with information was urged to contact Detective Allison Dube-Smith of the Camden County Prosecutors Office Homicide Unit at (609) 575- 6069 and Detective Maria Bagby of the Camden County Police Department at (609) 519-6947.

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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
With coronavirus cases on the rise, RJWBarnabas Health is putting mask protocols back in place at all its facilities around the state.

The states largest healthcare network says that beginning on Monday, all visitors, volunteers and vendors must wear face masks at all times in the presence of patients. Outpatients must also wear face masks at all times at an RWJBarnabas facility.

Doctors, nurses and staff will wear face masks when providing direct care for patients. They may also choose to wear a mask when they are not in direct contact with a patient. Patients who are able will be required to wear a face mask when leaving their room. They, too, can choose to wear a face mask at any time.

In addition to wearing a mask, RWJBarnabas Health is asking visitors to perform a COVID-19 risk assessment before coming to any facility. Anyone who is feeling ill or exhibiting COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms is asked to stay home. Visitors must clean their hands before and after their visit and should practice social distancing, the health care provider said.

These protocols apply to all RJWBarnabas Health facilities, including 12 acute care hospitals  Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Community Medical Center in Toms River, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset in Somerville, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton in Hamilton, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway in Rahway and Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth.

Although it is not mandatory, RWJBarnabas Health encouraged all staff and patients six months or older to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccines reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 and passing it on to someone else.

Masks were mandatory at all health care facilities across the state from the start of the coronavirus pandemic through April of this year. RWJBarnabas Health is just the latest in a string of hospitals reinstating their masking policies amid rising COVID-19 numbers and hospitalizations.

For updates on visitation policies and guidelines visit: https://www.rwjbh.org/patients-visitors/what-you-need-to-know-about-covid-19/general-visitation-guidelines/. To find and schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment near you visit: https://www.vaccines.gov/.

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Richard Cowen may be reached at rcowen@njadvancemedia.com.
Lauren Crupi and Michael Daneman teach in classrooms on opposite ends of Saint Leo the Great School in Middletown.

His is a hike away, Crupi said.

Yet, in one life-altering way, they could not be closer.

Crupi, 37, underwent a successful kidney transplant in June. Her donor was Daneman, 33, who committed to the selfless gesture not long after reading a New Years Day Facebook post from Crupis husband, Paul, detailing her plight.

It was a happy outcome that Crupi said she never imagined when she left her public school teaching job in Long Branch for the Catholic school five years ago to be closer to her two young children.

She has the same genetic kidney disorder that resulted in her mother and sister also getting transplants.

My donor was here and I had no idea, said Crupi, a language arts teacher in grades 6 and 7.

Daneman said his motivation, in part, stemmed from losing his mother to cancer when he was 5 years old. The younger of Crupis two children, Caroline, is also 5.

Crupis son Benjamin is 7. Both attend Saint Leo the Great.

I was so young when she passed, Daneman said of his mother.

She loved her kids. She always wanted to be there for her kids. Lauren is very much like that, said Daneman, a computer science teacher.

Both teachers were back in the classrooms at their Monmouth County school on Sept. 5, greeting students on the first day of class and posing for photos wearing matching Kidney buddies for life T-shirts.

Lauren Crupi and Michael Daneman greeted students on the first day of class in matching "Kidney buddies for life t-shirts.

It is the latest, high-profile kidney donation in New Jersey. Bill Hemstead, of West Milford, and his daughter Laura also made headlines when she donated a kidney to her dad in June, just in time for Fathers Day.

Kidney transplants have become far more common and safer since the surgical procedure was pioneered in the 1950s. The organ most commonly given by a living donor is the kidney, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

More than 2,300 New Jersey residents were on the kidney transplant waiting list in 2021, the organization says.

Transplanting one of two kidneys from a living donor is prefered because the organ is out of the body for a very short time and usually functions immediately, the organization said. Kidneys from deceased donors sometimes require additional dialysis treatments.

Crupi said she got her kidney just in time to avoid starting dialysis.

Directed donations, as in the case of Crupi and Daneman, often involve family members, but sometimes help comes from unexpected sources. A South Orange man received a kidney from his next-door neighbor last year.

Crupi is a 2004 Holmdel High School graduate who attended Seton Hall University. She taught in Long Branch for 10 years before switching to Saint Leo the Great School, which currently enrolls nearly 600 students.

She has autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease, commonly known as MUC1, marked by a very graduate decline that eventually necessitates a transplant or dialysis, according to the National Institutes of Health. The median age for onset of end-stage renal disease is 46.

They call this disease silent, but deadly. You wouldnt know you had it until the very end, Crupi said.

Her sister was about 30 years old when she had her transplant.

Crupi had been undergoing regular testing. By last fall, her symptoms, including fatigue and nausea, were worsening, she said.

Around Christmas, she learned she would need a transplant, like her mother and sister before her. Her husband made a plea for help Jan. 1 on Facebook.

Daneman was aware of his colleagues health struggles, as were others at the school.

Shes pretty open that she was struggling with kidney disease, he said.

Upon reading her husbands post, Daneman said he immediately asked himself if he would be willing to donate a kidney. Others were interested in being tested, he said, but had valid reasons for not proceeding.

His only hesitation, he concluded, stemmed from trepidation  and, in his mind, that wasnt enough of a reason not to do it.

Testing showed his kidney would be a match for Crupi. He began a lengthy preparation process that included regular medical and psychological checkups.

It really put my mind at ease. They kept telling me I could back out until the time I got on the table, but I never thought about it, Daneman said.

Crupi and Daneman both ended their school year a few weeks early and arrived in separate rooms at New York-Presbyterian Hospital for the surgery.

He spent two nights in the hospital. Crupi was discharged after three nights.

Both are recovering well. Crupi said she needs to be careful about germs for the first year, and as a result typically uses a K-95 mask while teaching or out in public.

Im definitely a better teacher this year. I was doing my best before, but at a very low energy rate, Crupi said.

Danemans recovery is less complicated. He has been advised to limit his use of Ibuprofen because of its effects on his remaining kidney.

This whole journey has strengthened my faith, Daneman said, explaining that faith is something he has long wrestled with due to losing his mom when he was so young.

Crupi said she remains grateful. She said it was tough hearing during the Christmas season that she would need a transplant. But, even before she heard of her colleagues interest in helping, she believed she would find a pathway to recovery.

One day I said to my husband, I just feel this is going to work out, I just dont know how. My faith gave me that comfort, Crupi said.

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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
An Asbury Park man is facing life in prison after a jury this week found him guilty of breaking into a home, robbing a couple at knifepoint, and sexually assaulting a woman in her bedroom.

Shawn Connolly, 36, was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault, armed robbery, burglary, and other offenses, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced Friday.

According to officials, in the early morning hours of Sept. 14, 2021, Connolly broke into a strangers Asbury Park home through a kitchen window and headed for the sleeping couple in the bedroom. The two awoke to a knife-wielding Connolly, threatening them and demanding items to steal, the prosecutor said. Connolly ordered one of the victims, a man, to leave the bedroom to retrieve cash, officials said. While he was gone, Connolly sexually assaulted the other victim, a woman, authorities said.

While the man was out of the room, he dialed 911 and left the line open. Responding police officers immediately located Connolly and found the proceeds from the robbery in his pockets, Santiago said. Officials did not disclose exactly what he stole.

Connolly was indicted in November of 2021 and convicted Thursday after a two-week jury trial. He is also facing charges in an unrelated home invasion that took place in Asbury Park on the same night, authorities said. That case has yet to be adjudicated.

His sentencing in this case, at which he faces a life sentence, is yet to be scheduled.

Connollys attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Friday night.

Yesterdays verdict was the end product of a swift initial police response by the Asbury Park Police Department, a diligent follow-up investigation, and an exemplary prosecution, Santiago said Friday.

The facts revealed at trial were deeply unsettling, and were pleased that the jury reached the appropriate conclusion, winning justice for the victims and the community at large.

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A congresswoman once seen as a top possible contender for replacing embattled U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez just shot down the idea of running for the job.

U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-11th Dist., definitively told Punchbowl News on Friday she doesnt intend to launch a campaign for the Senate seat held by Menendez, a fellow New Jersey Democrat who is up for re-election next year and so far resisting growing pressure to resign after being indicted last week on sweeping federal corruption charges.
The House of Representatives will embark on its fourth legislative season with four procedural sessions on Sunday and Monday before tackling rising prices, criminal law, and other issues over the next nine months.

Last week, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi invited the House to reconvene in accordance with constitutional mandates.

The legislative season is slated to last for nine months, concluding with the approval of the budget for the following year in June.

The houses bureau will remain unchanged from previous seasons, as per the law. The bureau will be composed of Speaker Hanafy El-Gebaly, First Vice-Speaker Ahmed Saad El-Din, and Vice-Speaker Mohamed Abouelainin.

During the inaugural session on Sunday, El-Gebaly will deliver a keynote address, officially inaugurating the new season and outlining the legislative agenda.

On Monday, three procedural sessions will be held to form the houses 25 specialized committees and elect their chairs, vice-chairs, and secretaries.

During this season, the house is expected to tackle the implementation of a comprehensive package of financial incentives aimed at improving the income and financial stability of civil servants and pensioners, aligning with the presidents directives to mitigate the impact of rising prices.

They will also discuss a slew of vital legislation, including the Criminal Procedures Law. They will build on the substantial progress made by the relevant committee during the previous season, including their numerous meetings over the parliamentary recess.

The legislative agenda is also expected to encompass the Child Law, amendments to the penal code, the Dispute Settlement Law, the Economic Courts Law, and the Law on Reconciliation in Building Violations.

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One of the nations largest industrial real estate developers is alleging a Somerset County townships rejection of its application to build two large warehouses near a 55-plus community was unwarranted.

Link Logistics, based in New York, said company officials were disappointed Franklin Townships planning board voted unanimously Tuesday to reject the companys application to build two warehouses totaling 244,975 square feet along Schoolhouse and Mettlers roads.

Link is a positive force for economic growth and a good neighbor that supports the communities where we operate. We are disappointed in the planning boards decision and believe it was unwarranted, because the application met all zoning and other legal requirements, a Link Logistics spokesperson said Thursday.

The warehouse proposal drew protests in Franklin Township, where the two large buildings would have bordered Canal Walk, a large community for residents 55 and older. Canal Walk residents organized rallies and a petition against the project.

With more than 3,500 properties, Link Logistics says it oversees the largest portfolio of warehouses and business parks located exclusively in the United States.

The company did not say if it planned to file a lawsuit against Franklin Township challenging the planning boards decision.

We are reviewing the planning boards decision, and we hope to make this project  which represents an investment of approximately $63 million and will create an estimated 450 construction and full-time permanent jobs for the community  a reality, a Link Logistics spokesperson said.

Franklin Township Mayor Phillip Kramer said he believes the application was denied on very solid grounds.

Should Link Logistics file a lawsuit challenging the decision, I think we have an extremely good case, Kramer said in a phone interview Thursday.

During a township council meeting on Wednesday, Kramer commended the actions of the planning board, describing its decision as by-the-book.

Its probably the most consequential vote Ive made in my four year career as an elected official, Deputy Mayor Sivaraman Anbarasan, a member of the planning board, said at the council meeting.

READ MORE: Trucks, noise, odors: Heres what its really like to live next to N.J. warehouses, residents say

Planning board member Robert Thomas made the motion to have the application denied and Anbarasan seconded the motion, according to Christine Woodbury, planning and zoning board coordinator.

He made the motion to deny and I think its a very defendable motion, and I think were going to win that lawsuit, said Kramer said at the planning board meeting, alluding to the possibility of a lawsuit from Link Logistics challenging the decision.

Several planning board members said they were voting to reject the application because Link Logistics did not provide adequate information about the projects environmental impact, noise pollution, traffic congestion and other concerns.

I found the application wholly incomplete, whether it was around noise concerns or around environmental studies where there were overreaching statements like, There will be no impact to the neighbors or the community, said board member Sam Shaban on Tuesday, ahead of casting his vote.

Kramer said the township is reexamining its designated Business and Industry Zone  with an emphasis on properties that border residential units, in order to come up with a suggestion about how we may make a zoning change so that this doesnt happen again.

The planning boards decision follows a year of intense debate over the warehouse project, which would have been located across the road from Canal Walk, a 55-plus community that includes a two-story clubhouse and a wide selection of clubs and events in a rural charm setting, according to its builder Premier Development.

The local Citizen's Warehouse Action Group has spent the last year organizing rallies and protests against warehouse expansion in their community.

Some residents of Canal Walk vocally opposed the project and formed the Citizens Warehouse Action Group to organize against warehouse development. The group created a petition against warehouse sprawl in their community and raised concerns during public meetings about pollution, public safety and the mental health impacts of living near warehouses.

Members also organized fundraisers so the Citizens Warehouse Action Group could obtain legal representation and experts to represent the community at public meetings and argue against the project.

Its been a lot of hard work, but so worth it, said Jan Brant, a resident of Canal Walk and member of the Citizens Warehouse Action Group. From the start, I knew that this project was going to impact our whole neighborhood and area negatively.

Link Logistics officials said the concerns of Canal Walk residents would be taken into consideration during construction of the warehouses. In February, the developer submitted a new set of plans that reduced the total size of the warehouse project by more than 29,000 square feet. The revised site plans also increased the front setback of the facility from 50 feet to 100 feet.

We have been working with Franklin Township residents and their representatives for over a year and have made every reasonable effort to address their concerns, including by significantly reducing the size of the development, which is located next to an existing industrial park, and adding a berm and hundreds of trees, which will fully shield the site, said a Link Logistics spokesperson.

RELATED: Group trying to keep giant warehouses out of N.J. town has lawsuit tossed by judge

The Citizens Warehouse Action Group also played a major role in encouraging the township to pass an ordinance limiting warehouse expansion.

Its definitely a victory for Canal Walk, for our community, said Kiki Anastasakos, a resident of Canal Walk and member of the Citizens Warehouse Action Group.

But, I hope that it establishes a precedent for other communities where they see that if you can organize at the local level, if you can engage with and pressure your local government, and use the power of your numbers and your vote and your right to petition and lobby the government, you can make an impact, said Anastasakos.

In July, the township council approved an ordinance limiting where warehouses can be built in Franklin Township and prohibiting the construction of warehouses on land within 500 feet of a residential zone.

The townships ordinance has lead to at least seven lawsuits challenging its legality. The lawsuits were consolidated in June, according to court records. The case is still pending in court, records show.

The ordinance is consistent with a recommendation in the State Planning report in its Municipal Mitigation Best Practices and is consistent with the Goal and Objectives of the Township Master Plan, the township states on its website.

The state planning report cited by the township was released by the state Office of Planning Advocacy in June and included first-of-its-kind guidance on where warehouses should be located in New Jersey. The report also provided guidance for municipalities facing a growing number of proposals to build sprawling warehouses in their communities.

The friction in Franklin Township is part of a growing wave of opposition to rapidly expanding warehouse construction in the state. There has been resident-led resistance to warehouse proposals in West Windsor, Lawnside, Piscataway, Mansfield Township and other communities in recent years.

I hope we are reaching a tipping point where the majority of people say, Enough is enough, lets keep the warehouses separate from the residential areas, Anastasakos said. Theres only so much the people will take.

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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
KANSAS CITY  Carlos Rodons disastrous debut season with the Yankees ended on Friday night in Kansas City in catastrophic fashion.

Rodon faced eight batters in the bottom of the first inning against the lowly Royals and didnt record an out, allowing eight runs on six hits with two walks. The Yankees stood no chance the rest of the way after that shocking first frame, falling 12-5 to open the final series of the season.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was forced to pull the plug on Rodon after the left-hander walked Royals catcher Logan Porter to load the bases, summoning mop-up man Matt Bowman from the visitors bullpen. Rodon wasnt able to overpower any of Kansas Citys hitters. His velocity was down across the board as well.

BUY YANKEES TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER

After handing the ball over to Boone, Rodon brushed shoulders with the skipper, trudging off the mound. He was bombarded with boos from Yankees fans in the crowd at Kauffman Stadium as he walked slowly back to the dugout with his head down.

Bowman promptly served up two more hits, allowing all three inherited runners from Rodons all-time stinker to score. Kansas City finished the opening frame with a 9-0 lead.

Much of the Yankees offense on Friday night came on one swing. Catcher Austin Wells drove a three-run home run into the Royals bullpen in right in the fourth. Meanwhile, five Yankees relievers combined to record 24 outs, allowing four runs.

Rodons cataclysmic finale to his first season in pinstripes washes away any of the momentum that the left-hander established during the month of September. The southpaw had seemingly made progress over his previous few starts, pitching deeper into games and flashing more of his ace-like stuff.

He wasnt back to the Cy Young-caliber form that he had throughout the previous two seasons in Chicago and San Francisco, but it was enough to have him encouraged. Rodon had a 3.50 ERA in his last 18 innings pitched with 23 strikeouts.

Im looking forward to this next start against Kansas City and to finish well, Rodon said on Sunday at Yankee Stadium after throwing 6 1/3 innings against the Diamondbacks.

So much for that...

With eight earned runs allowed on Friday, Rodons ERA  over 13 starts in 2023  jumped back up from 5.74 to 6.85. His confidence and morale will undoubtedly plummet back in the dumps as well. Getting shelled by one of the worst teams in the league will do that to any pitcher, especially one that spent much of this season on the injured list, a putrid first impression with the Yankees that hell never get back.

Now, rather than carrying a promising month of September into a long offseason, Rodon needs to sit on this start for five months, entering the second season of his $162 million deal with even more of a question mark hanging over his head.

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Max Goodman may be reached at mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com.
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The Democratic Republic of Congo is on track to see record numbers of children killed, maimed, kidnapped or sexually assaulted in 2023 for the third consecutive year, the UN said on Saturday.

The number of "grave violations against children" in the conflict-racked country is estimated to be more than 1,700 for the first half of 2023, said UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency -- which marks a 41 percent increase on the same period last year.

The agency puts the increased number down to "intensifying violence, massive displacement, and proximity of armed groups to communities... leading to an alarming increase in cases of killing, maiming, and abduction of children".

If current trends continue, it said the country will pass the record set in 2022.

The number of children recruited and used by armed groups increased by 45 percent in the first six months of the year to around 1,100, while more than 400 children were killed or mutilated in that period.

The UN agency warned that rape and sexual violence against children were also on "an upward trajectory".

"I met children who survived the horrors of recruitment and use by armed groups and the unspeakable trauma of sexual violence -- atrocities that no-one should experience, let alone children," said Sheema Sen Gupta, the director of child protection at UNICEF, during a week-long mission to the DRC.

"These harrowing stories underscore the urgency for the government to intensify its efforts to safeguard civilians -- especially the most vulnerable, the country's children."

UNICEF said it has received only 11 percent of the funds required for its child protection response as part of its emergency appeal for eastern DRC.

It had already warned earlier this month that children in the DRC were facing unheard-of violence, saying there were "few worse places, if any, to be a child".

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Wei Li clearly has Yummy Sushi in his blood.

When his family decided to sell the Gentilly sushi and hibachi restaurant after 11 years, Li wasnt ready to walk away from the business. His longtime friend Charles Wang offered a solution.

Weve known each other more than 20 years. I thought, Why not buy it, renovate the inside and have Wei stay on as chef and manager? says Wang, whose primary business is supplying fresh sushi to local supermarkets.

Yummy Sushi Where 6100 Hamburg St., (504) 309-9401; yummysushinola.com When lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. How dine-in Check it out Sushi, ramen and hibachi dishes in Gentilly

He bought the restaurant in June, spent three weeks renovating the place and opened it on July 1. People loved Wei for 11 years. They are happy he is still here, says Wang, whose wife runs the family-owned Island Bistro, the Indonesian restaurant in Kenner.

The 60-seat Yummy Sushi closed for indoor dining during the pandemic and continued only offering take-out until Wang took over.

The restaurant is nondescript from the outside, set back in a small shopping strip off Allen Toussaint Boulevard. Inside, the lines are clean and simple, with tile floor, pastel-colored walls and a scattering of booths and tables. Theres a sushi bar in back, where Li usually presides, and a paneled cocktail bar up front, awaiting stools and a liquor license.

The menu is mostly the same as it has been, with a few additions. Wang, a native of Tianjin, China, added traditional Japanese ramen and poke bowls. Chef Li also is from China and went to culinary school in Tianjin. His parents came to New Orleans in 1997, and he followed in 2002.

Some places add in New Orleans ingredients and flavors to ramen, Wang says. I prefer the way they serve it in Japan.

Brothless mazemen ramen is a specialty, with stir-fried noodles flavored with bits of spicy pork or beef, shredded seaweed, dashi and a poached egg. Soupy ramen, swimming in a pork or vegetarian broth, comes with tonkutsu, slices of char-siu marinated pork, miso, marinated hard-boiled egg and mushrooms.

Yummys menu is vast and varied, and prices are reasonable.

Poke salad is a toss of cubed salmon, tuna, whitefish and crabstick with avocado and spring greens in sesame soy dressing. In addition to the usual seaweed salad, theres a marinated squid salad with vegetables, a crabmeat salad with masago and a crispy salmon skin salad.

Beef tataki features thinly sliced seared steak drizzled with ponzu sauce, and theres another version with tuna, along with a chopped raw tuna option.

There is an array of maki and hand rolls, along with sushi and sashimi. Among the 17 special rolls, the Yummy Roll is a crowd favorite, a tight roll of shrimp tempura and avocado topped with fried red snapper and snow crab, drizzled with eel sauce.

It seems that theres a trend toward making rolls bigger and bigger, Wang says. That makes them hard to eat. We use a very thin layer of rice, the way they do in Japan.

Chef Michael Costantini sells his fresh pastas and sauces at local farmers markets Michael Costantini told us about learning to cook, starting his pasta business and setting up at local markets.

Fans of cooked and grilled Japanese fare can order teriyaki and tempura items, with entrees including miso soup and salad. Hibachi dinners, grilled in the kitchen, are built around marinated proteins like chicken, salmon, strip steak and scallops, and are served with soup, salad, rice and grilled vegetables. Fried rice dishes include beef, chicken, shrimp or vegetables.

Among the desserts is warm fried banana slices stuffed back in the peel, with banana skin sails creating a whimsical dessert boat topped with whipped cream and ice cream on the side. There are also mochi ice cream balls.

Lunch specials, available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Saturday, include sushi, bento boxes and hibachi dishes at bargain prices. The full menu is always available.

The renewed approach feels good, Li says.

My dad always kind of dominated things, he says. Now, I can make decisions on my own.
Chef Michael Costantini grew up in an Italian-American family outside of Boston. Since moving to New Orleans in 2012, hes worked at restaurants including Patois and opened the Uptown location of Satsuma Cafe. During the pandemic, he started his own pasta-making business, and can be found at several weekly editions of the Crescent City Farmers Market and the Gretna Farmers Market. For more information, see @costantinipasta on Instagram.

Gambit: How did you get interested in cooking?

Michael Costantini: I grew up with a heavy influence of Italian food and pastas. My dad is from Italy. Hes from Abruzzo. He came here when he was 19. There was always tons of food at all our parties. Id go to my aunts house and there would be rabbits roasting in the oven, jars of every sort of tomato or thing theyve grown or canned or ground into sausage. My grandmother would make gnocchi and things like that.

I went to school for computer information systems, and I didnt really like it. I worked for a lottery company for four years. We printed scratch tickets. Then I was like, Ive got to do something else.

Boston University had a culinary program started by Jacques Pepin and Julia Child. It was a four-month program to get my feet wet and start meeting people around town. After that, I started working in restaurants and never looked back. I started at a steakhouse called the Metropolitan Club. I worked at Craigie Street Bistro, which became Craigie on Main. It was one of those places where you cut your teeth and learn to get faster. I worked at a place called Ten Tables, which was a small restaurant in Jamaica Plains.

Gambit: How did you start your pasta business?

Costantini: When I moved down here, I thought about doing pasta for a while. I was friends with (chef) Dan Esses, who used to do pasta. I got out of Satsuma a little bit after the pandemic started and was like, maybe I should pick this up again and see what happens.

A friend of mine had started selling mushrooms at the market. It piqued my interest. Then I talked to Dan, and he let me use his old machine. So it was low investment to get started. Last summer, I started showing up with pasta and fresh sauces.

I do fresh pastas. I am trying to do a mix of what people are familiar with and also expand that, like with the types of flours I use. I use semolina and a mix of artisanal grains from Barton Springs Mill right outside of Austin. They have really nice stuff. I do a whole grain rye from there and a hard wheat and a soft wheat. It has a nice flavor and texture, and it has a lower glycemic index, so its a little bit healthier and easier to digest. The semolina makes it more familiar for people. I want to do stuff thats healthy, flavorful and has nice textures.

I use a commercial-sized extruding pasta maker now. I invested in a machine from Italy that can keep up with the amount I need to make. Its all different shapes based on the bronze die thats at the end of the machine. I had some from Dan and I got new ones. One is called trotolle, which means spinning top in Italian. I have a fusilli die. I have a lot of longer shapes like tagliatelle, linguine, fettuccine and bucatini, which is pretty popular. As I go, I am trying to get more shapes so I can have a nice repertoire of different mouthfeels.

Yummy Sushi expands its offerings in Gentilly Wei Li clearly has Yummy Sushi in his blood.

Gambit: What do you bring to the markets?

Costantini: I usually bring five different types to the market. I do a couple of flavored ones. One that I really like is a black garlic pasta. I will incorporate the slow-roasted caramelized garlic cooked at a very low temperature. It gives it a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of garlic flavor, but its really mild. It goes really nice with butter and Parmesan. Ill do a squid ink bucatini. I sometimes will do vegetables, like tomato or spinach. Ill do a black pepper bucatini which people will make a cacio e pepe with. I get a really nice saffron from these guys who were Marines in Afghanistan. They set up a co-op with these women farmers who pick saffron. Its called Rumi.

I do sauces, like slow-roasted marinaras. I have a Calabrian chili marinara. I do pestos like an arugula pesto and basil pesto. I do compound butters. I have a nice garlic, Parmesan, lemon butter that goes really nice with pasta or with steak. Some people tell me they put it on popcorn.

I do a pizza dough. Its Neapolitan-style pizza dough that I keep frozen. I do beef and pork meatballs that I do packs of in sauce frozen, so people can do easy meals. I have two kids, so I get the fact that its sometimes hard to be an adult and work and get everything on the table on time. Id like to do more things like that, like lasagnas.

The farmers markets have been great, and its been nice to get my following through there. If I ever open up a retail spot, Ill have clientele built in. The markets are good places to meet people who appreciate food.
For the reasons set forth below, we oppose Amendments 1 and 2 and support Amendments 3 and 4 to the state constitution, support both amendments to the Orleans City Charter and support an extension to the school board millage.

Constitutional Amendments

Amendment 1 would prohibit the use of donations by a foreign government or nongovernmental source to help conduct elections in Louisiana. State lawmakers passed several bills barring this in recent years, and all were rightly vetoed by Gov. John Bel Edwards. We, of course, believe that foreign governments should not underwrite Louisiana elections, but thats not the real aim of this amendment. Its an attempt to outlaw legitimate nonprofit grants that help our elections run smoothly and increase voter participation  two things voter suppressors dont like. We strongly recommend voting NO on Amendment 1.

Amendment 2 is another political statement by right-wing lawmakers. It requires courts to apply strict scrutiny (the highest legal standard) to laws regulating houses of worship. That issue has already been decided in favor of worshippers by the state Supreme Court. This amendment is unnecessary and an attack on legitimate public health measures. We recommend voting NO on Amendment 2.

Amendment 3 increases from 10% to 25% the amount of non-recurring state revenues that must be used to pay down state retirement systems debt, which now approaches $17 billion. That debt reduces revenue available for state services, local school boards, colleges and other priorities. Dedicating more surplus money to reducing pension debt makes good fiscal sense. We recommend voting YES on Amendment 3.

Amendment 4 allows local governments to deny property tax exemptions for nonprofit housing that endangers public safety. This amendment has its roots in New Orleans, where city officials have wrestled to combat substandard housing properties owned by an out-of-state nonprofit. The parameters for losing the exemption are drawn tightly, and tax exemptions are a privilege, not a right. We recommend voting YES on Amendment 4.

New Orleans City Charter Amendments

Two proposed amendments to the New Orleans City Charter will enhance the citys ability to deliver services and promote budgetary transparency. We recommend voters say YES to both.

Proposition 1 will advance the deadline  from Nov. 1 to Oct. 1  for the mayor to submit annual operating and capital budgets to the city council. This housekeeping measure is long overdue. It will give council members and the public more time to dig into city budgets before the Dec. 1 deadline for adopting them.

Proposition 2 creates a new Department of Code Enforcement  a single agency that will do the work currently spread across multiple city agencies. This, too, is long overdue.

Orleans School Millage Renewal



New Orleans public schools sustained massive damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina flooding. Many facilities were already in deplorable condition, but a $1.8 billion settlement with FEMA fostered a massive investment in state-of-the-art schools. Now the Orleans Parish School Board must maintain those facilities for future generations.

The board is asking voters to renew an existing 4.97-mill property tax dedicated to facilities maintenance and capital improvements. This is a relatively small property tax that does a lot of good.

The current 10-year millage expires at the end of 2024, but the board seeks renewal now in order to complete a 20-year strategic plan for capital projects. Thats why the renewal proposition is for a 20-year extension; it will enable the board to sell bonds to underwrite its capital plan.

We recognize that taxpayers are leery of property taxes in the wake of recent reassessments, but this is no time to reduce support for public schools. Better facilities create a better learning environment for kids.

We encourage the school board to carefully consider voters tax burden before rolling forward the automatic millage reduction required by the state constitution after quadrennial reassessments. At the same time, we urge our readers in New Orleans to say YES to extending the millage dedicated to maintaining and improving public school facilities.

Editors note: This endorsement represents the views of Gambits editorial board. Gambit staff reporters are not involved in endorsement decisions.
Hey Blake,

Is it true that Tulane once operated a high school? When and where was it located?

Dear reader,

Tulane University did offer high school classes, for about the first decade of its existence in the 1880s and 90s. First, heres a little history of the university itself.

Tulane has its roots in two institutions: the Medical College of Louisiana and the University of Louisiana, established in 1834 and located in downtown New Orleans near the site of todays Roosevelt Hotel.

In 1884, the Louisiana Legislature passed a bill transferring control of the University of Louisiana to the Tulane Educational Fund. The fund was created with the proceeds from extensive real estate donations from philanthropist Paul Tulane, for whom the new university was named. It would move from downtown to its iconic location on St. Charles Avenue in 1894.

Tulanes high school dates from 1884. There were 210 students enrolled by the following year. An advertisement in The Daily Picayune explained that the high school was located at Baronne and Common streets, near the original site of the university.

It trained students from the age of 12 and prepared them thoroughly for admission to the junior classes of the Collegiate Department, according to the Picayune. Latin, Greek, Mathematics, German and French are taught in addition to those branches necessary for a good English education. Tuition at the time was $45 per session.

Noted artist William Woodward was an instructor at the high school. Two of its graduates were Orleans Parish District Attorney Henry Mooney and Albert Baldwin Wood, the noted engineer and general superintendent of the Sewerage & Water Board. He is best known for inventing the Wood screw pump, which is credited with revolutionizing the citys drainage system.

By 1893, Tulane had decided to close its high school program and focus on its college and university programs. The high school closed the following year.
A complex combination of daily weather events and long-term climate issues have combined to cloud efforts to predict when the wedge of salt water threatening New Orleans-area water supplies will reverse course and retreat toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Most observers agree it could be November or even December before enough rain falls in parts of the upper Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio river basins, and it could take another two weeks after the rain for that water to reach New Orleans.

According to the National Weather Service, the only rain that's expected to fall in the basin over the next two days is about a half inch to an inch of rain around Minnesota and Wisconsin.
"In the recent past, in 1988, the [tip of the salt water] reached about that point and quickly retreated, so its an ideal spot. So if we can get in that vicinity ... we should be OK, Drewes said.

The West Bank system will have four, 12-inch diameter lay-flat pipes. There will be four diesel pumps at five-mile increments. Drewes said the system is buildable and may not need to reach the full 15 miles officials are planning.

Everything you need to know about salt water moving inland in Louisiana, including a tracker Salt water is creeping up the mouth of the Mississippi River and threatening the drinking supply of several parishes in Southeast Louisiana, i

A similar system will be built on east bank, but with five lay-flat pipes to accommodate more water, Drewes said.

"We do believe it's doable with the timeframe and the schedule the Corps has set out," he said.

Lee Sheng said that while the East Jefferson pipeline is separate from those being considered for the east bank of Orleans Parish, it would likely run in the same area. Drewes said officials are already scouting the route and will begin bringing in equipment next week.
Stephen Marcantel writes for The Acadiana Advocate as a Report for America corps member. Email him at stephen.marcantel@theadvocate.com.
For This Louisiana Businessman, GreenTrees Carbon Removal is about Fun, Friends, and a Family Legacy
A Palestinian activist and member of the Islamist Hamas movement was killed on Friday evening by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank, according to multiple sources.

"Mohammad Jibril Roummaneh died as a result of serious injuries caused by bullets fired by the occupying forces in El-Bireh" northeast of Ramallah, said the Palestinian Ministry of Health in a statement.

It reported that a second Palestinian had been injured but gave no details.

Hamas issued a statement describing Roummaneh as one of its members who fell as a "heroic martyr" while "defending the freedom of (his) people" near the settlement of Psagot.

The statement was accompanied by an image of a very young man.

"Assailants hurled Molotov cocktails at a military post adjacent to the (settlement) of Psagot", next to El-Bireh, the Israeli occupation army said.

"Soldiers... identified the suspects and responded with live fire," Tel Aviv added.

At least 242 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the beginning of the year. 32 Israelis were also killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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It was not that long ago when the shock news hit North Devon that Babcock would be stopping ship building at the Yard and that the whole facility would be put on the market.

The history of ship building in this area goes back to Elizabethan times and before. In its heyday the Yard employed around 600 direct and a similar number of indirect employees and sub-contractors.

It was estimated that the Yard represented around 80% of the Appledore economy. Also, a significant contribution to the whole of the growth opportunities for Northern Devon.

I was appointed as the Chair of a Taskforce to see if a purchaser could be found. I spent many cold and lonely days in the Yard trying to fully understand the scope of this project and how best to approach the market.

In the event, it took nearly 18 months to find a willing purchaser. Prior to this, we had some quite extraordinary negotiations including one with a Polish Marine manufacturer and an opportunity to create an order book by replacing the current shipping fleet for the Faroe Islands.

In the process of these negotiations, there were frequent trips to London and on one occasion a meeting inside Number 10 Downing Street. This demonstrated the awareness of Whitehall about the importance of this facility. It also underlines how important the Yard could be for the future of ship building in the UK.

It is easy to see what happened next as the Yard was taken over by Harland & Wolff. It was clear that this was a unique opportunity to re-establish the full capabilities of Appledore and for it to operate in conjunction with their Belfast Yard.

It was always going to be a slow process to re-establish the order book, however, the new owners have methodically established the backbone of a long-term facility.

I have recently had the pleasure of catching up with the General Manager of the Ship Yard, who has provided me with some updated information as to the current state of business and prospects for the future.

In preparing their new business plan, an important starting point for the new owners was that Appledore should be established as a hub for clean marine innovation.

Just a little over a year ago, Harland & Wolff (Appledore) had 40 dedicated employees. Today, that number has climbed to an impressive 180, with ongoing recruitment efforts to further bolster its workforce. Notably, among these 180 individuals, 30 are apprenticesready to embark on a journey of skills development and contribution to the shipbuilding and maritime industry.

In September of this year, Harland & Wolff (Appledore) welcomed 19 new apprentices, marking a significant milestone in nurturing local talent. This intake, which builds upon the previous year's seven apprentices, represents a fourfold increase since the first group of apprentices arrived in Appledore three years ago. These apprentices are now well on their way to choosing their trades, and their dedication promises a bright future.

To deliver the FSS (Fleet Solid Support) contract, Harland & Wolff is in the process of building its workforce even further. The company estimated that it will need to double its workforce to at least 350 core employees by the time that work on the project begins in 2025. Recruitment is underway and there will be more opportunities to join the team shared soon.

One of the most exciting developments in recent times has been the 15.6 million investment received by Torridge District Council to establish the Clean Maritime Innovation Centre at Middle Dock, Appledore. This substantial funding, provided by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, aims to position Torridge and northern Devon as a global leader in research and development for clean maritime technology.

The centres proximity to the Harland & Wolff Appledore shipyard offers opportunities for innovation in clean-propulsion shipbuilding and space to test and deploy. As the world looks to move away from diesel-based propulsion, this project is poised to be a catalyst for the repositioning of Appledore as a centre of excellence in clean maritime technology.

In a show of international cooperation and excellence, Harland & Wolff (Appledore) recently hosted a visit from the Lithuanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Eitvydas Bajarunas, and a delegation of local West Devon dignitaries.

The purpose of their visit was to track the progress of the regeneration of ex HMS Quorn.

Once completed in summer of next year, the M55 Ship will become an integral part of the Lithuanian Navy, further strengthening our ties with NATO allies. This project showcases Appledore's shipbuilding prowess and its ability to contribute to global maritime security.

With the establishment of the Clean Maritime Innovation Centre, the ongoing M55 project, and plans for FSS project work to begin in Q2 of 2025, Harland & Wolff (Appledore) has solidified a robust pipeline of work. This not only ensures job security for new starters but also harnesses the expertise of the shipyard's more experienced employees.

The mood in Appledore is upbeat. The expansion of its workforce, the establishment of the Clean Maritime Innovation Centre, and the prestigious ex HMS Quorn project underscore the shipyard's commitment to excellence and its pivotal role in the future success of the shipbuilding and maritime industries. Appledore is sailing towards a brighter and more sustainable future, and there is much to be excited about.
More than a year after Algeria launched a pilot program to teach English in elementary schools, the country is hailing it as a success and expanding it in a move that reflects a widening linguistic shift underway in former French colonies throughout Africa.

Students returning to third and fourth grade classrooms this fall will participate in two 45-minute English classes each week as the country creates new teacher training programs at universities and eyes more transformational changes in the years ahead. Additionally, the country is strengthening enforcement of a preexisting law against private schools who operate primarily in French.

Teaching English is a strategic choice in the countrys new education policy, Education Minister Abdelkrim Belabed said last week, lauding the move as an immense success.

English is the world's most widely spoken language, accounts for the majority of content on the internet and remains a lingua franca in business and science. And as Frances economic and political influence wanes throughout Africa, Algeria is among a longer list of countries gradually transitioning toward English as their main foreign language.

This year, neighboring Mali changed its constitution to remove French from its list of official languages and Morocco made English classes compulsory in high schools.

Algeria has more French speakers than all but two nations  France itself and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nearly 15 million out of the countrys 44 million people speak it, according to the International Organization of the French Language. Its officials frame English classes as a practical rather than political shift, noting the language's importance in scientific and technical fields.

But questions about French's position in Algerian society have long been polarizing, as teachers and former education policy officials acknowledge.

Retired high school principal Mohamed Arezki Ferdi believes Algeria should have begun the shift to English decades ago. The current initiative was launched by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who came to power in 2019. Previous leaders also tried to expand English but failed to overcome the French-educated elites who have long wielded power in the country.

We lost a lot of time, Ferdi said. We should have introduced the English in primary schools when President (Abdelaziz) Bouteflika laid out his reform after coming to power in 1991. But at that time, French-speaking factions in Algeria had a lot of decision-making power in institutions.

The expansion of English language learning comes as tensions increasingly flare between France and Algeria. The two share security interests over the political upheavals shaping contemporary West Africa. However, in recent years they have sparred repeatedly over immigration, extradition and how each country memorializes colonialism and the brutal war that resulted in Algeria's independence in 1962.

Algeria plans to expand its current program to fifth grade next year. It will continue to instruct students in French for three hours each week in elementary schools.

When English-language learning was introduced last year, Algerian officials reaffirmed their commitment to French and said it would continue to be taught widely. But in remarks this week at the beginning of the school year, Kamal Bedari, Algeria's minister of Higher Education, said expanding the program was to enable elementary school students to take technical courses later on in English  not French.

Though few dispute that English is important, some worry about how Algeria is implementing such a shift and caution against declaring victory too soon. Ahmed Tessa, a former adviser to Algeria's Ministry of Education, believes getting students to master English can only happen gradually and will likely require more than simply adding classes.

We need to get back to basics, he said. This is no small task.

Regardless of how quickly schools transition to English, elsewhere signs of a pushback against French are clear.

Authorities have slowly replaced French with English in the official titles of various government ministries. And on his trip last year to Algiers, the country had French President Emmanuel Macron provide remarks from a lectern noting his title and the date in English and Arabic, one of Algeria's two official languages along with indigenous Tamazight.

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NEW YORK  Early next month, the Vatican will open an unprecedented gathering of Catholic clergy and laypeople from around the world. The synod is intended to be a collegial, collaborative event, though the agenda includes divisive issues such as the role of women in the church and the inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics.

If theres Exhibit A for how elusive consensus might be, its the United States participation. In effect, there are two high-level U.S. delegations widely viewed as ideological rivals  six clerics appointed by Pope Francis who support his aspirations for a more inclusive, welcoming church; five clerics chosen by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who reflect a more conservative outlook and more skepticism of Francis priorities.

Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College in New York, worries that the synod, which starts Oct. 4, might widen rifts among U.S. Catholics rather than narrow them.

The polarization of the country has infiltrated the church in such a way that I worry we cant see our way out of it, she said.

Francis himself recently evoked the resistance he faces among some conservative Catholic leaders in the U.S. At a meeting in August with Jesuit priests in Portugal, he assailed the backwardness of some of those conservatives, saying they have replaced faith with ideology.

The vision of the doctrine of the church as a monolith is wrong, he said. I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that theres a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals.

Some conservative American clerics vehemently disagree, saying high-level discussions of such issues as womens empowerment and LGBTQ inclusion could tear the church apart.

In a forward to a recent book calling the synod a Pandoras box, American Cardinal Raymond Burke warned the synod was part of a revolution to radically change what the church has always taught. Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas  critiquing the synod on social media  said, It is a travesty that these things are even proposed for discussion.

The synod, which will run through Oct. 29, follows a first-of-its-kind two-year outreach in which bishops and other clerics around the world met with lay Catholics to learn about their hopes for the churchs future. There will be a second session of the synod in October 2024, when participants will vote on a final document to be submitted to Pope Francis for his consideration.

For many conservatives, there are multiple reasons for concern  not only the hot-button issues on the agenda, but the novelty of having laypeople, including women, entitled to vote alongside bishops on the final document.

The U.S. synod delegates selected by Francis include three of the men he has appointed as cardinals  Archbishops Blase Cupich of Chicago and Wilton Gregory of Washington, and Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego.

McElroy has been one of the most prominent voices expressing hope that the synod will expand the roles women can play in the church and broaden the acceptance of LGBTQ Catholics.

In an essay in March, he said the church should eliminate barriers to women in the leadership of parishes and dioceses, allowing them to preach and to serve as deacons.

It is clear that the Church in the United States must transform its outreach to LGBT+ persons if it seeks to be a truly welcoming presence in the world, McElroy wrote.

McElroys writings were assailed by conservative Catholics. One bishop, Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, suggested the cardinal might be committing heresy.

Francis synod selections also include the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who has advocated for years for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the church.

The first step is to invite people to listen to the voices of LGBTQ people and others who feel ignored, rejected or excluded by their church, Martin said via email. For me, conversion happens mainly through encountering the stories of those considered to be other.' And that is a reasonable goal for the synod  to listen.

At synods, all voices should be welcome, he added. Does the Holy Spirit speak only through cardinals, archbishops and bishops? Thats a very strange theology of the Spirit.

Bishops appointed by USCCB include its president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, as well as Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York; and Bishops Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas; Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; and Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.

Barron, who has developed a large following with a global media organization called Word on Fire, conveyed relief at Pope Francis assurances that the synod will not be a forum for changing church doctrine.

The American delegation, if you look at the whole thing, kind of balances out ideologically. So I think thats what the pope seems to like, Barron told Fox News Digital.

Imperatori-Lee had a different take on the ideological split.

This is how American Catholics are starting to see the Church: Youre either for Team Francis or for Team Strickland and Barron, she said. Thats not a healthy situation.

Photos: Pope Francis through the years
Vasquez tribute event Rudy Lozano Bar Association President Attorney Jose Vega congratulates Lake County Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez on 20 years of servic

SCHERERVILLE  As a strong, firm yet altruistic presence in his courtroom, Lake County Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez has been held in high regard during his 20-year tenure as a judge, according to many of his colleagues.

However, during a ceremony to honor his contribution to the county's criminal justice system Thursday hosted by the Rudy Lozano Bar Association and emceed by Attorney Roy Dominguez, Vasquez jokingly said he didn't think anyone would show up to the event.

"When I was approached by the Lozano bar (about this event), I said no. I told Roy, 'No one is going to show up. I'm so mean,'" he said with a smile.

The approximately 100 relatives, friends and colleagues who showed up to the event at the Andorra Banquet Hall demonstrated quite the opposite. The night included speeches by many of Vasquez's colleagues and friends, including Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, former Judge Richard Maroc and Rudy Lozano Bar Association President Attorney Jose Vega.

"Judge Vasquez is a tough judge," Vega said. "If you can make it in his courtroom, you can make it anywhere."

Vega said he admires Vasquez's attention to detail and maintenance of remarkable decorum in his court. He recalled his first appearance before Vasquez in 2011 where Vasquez looked over a plea agreement he had filed. Vasquez asked him if he had thoroughly looked through the plea.

"He said, 'Did you look at this plea?'" Vega said. "'There is a misplaced comma in paragraph six.'"

Many friends and colleagues showed their appreciation for his purportedly unyielding demeanor in court and praised his diligence and commitment to rehabilitating many of his defendants, specifically through implementation of Lake County Transition Court, the county's first court that assists people exiting incarceration. Vasquez helped pioneered this initiative in 2011 with Magistrate Judge Kathleen Sullivan, Lake Criminal Court Judge Natalie Bokota and Executive Director Kellie Bittorf of the Lake County Community Corrections program.

Vasquez tribute event Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter served as the keynote speaker at a tribute event Thursday for Lake County Criminal Court Judge Salvador 

Bokota works closely with Vasquez in the transition courts and felony criminal courts. The two have known each other since they attended law school at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and she said she has always admired his penchant for hard work and optimism.

"He is extremely hard working," Bokota said. "He is an optimist and genuinely believes things will turn out right in the end. And he brings that attitude into his work."

Vasquez is a lifelong Lake County resident. His parents were born in Jalisco, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States in the 1950s, according to a biography distributed at the event. After graduating from law school he worked as a deputy prosecutor in Lake County before moving into private practice. He applied to be a judge in 1999 and was appointed by then-Gov. Frank O'Bannon in 2003. He is the senior judge for the criminal division.

Carter, the keynote speaker for the event, cited the importance of bringing life experiences to the bench. He praised Vasquez's ability to exercise fair and impartial judgment to all parties involved in a case and said how he admired Vasquez's experiences in both legal pursuits and his personal and cultural background that combined to make him a true "advocate for the people," Carter said.

"As prosecutors and defense attorneys, all we want is a fair hearing and an opportunity to represent our client before the court," Carter said. "Judge Vasquez, you have given us just that."

During a speech before the attendees, Vasquez reminisced on his time as an attorney in the courtrooms of other felony court judges who served as examples of how he would ultimately approach his job in the judiciary.

Vasquez tribute event Lake County Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez speaks to a crowd Thursday at an event honoring his 20 years as a felony court judge.

"I knew I had to be prepared," Vasquez said. "I knew everything I did as a prosecutor would come to play here."

As Vasquez concluded his speech, he shared some of his adages he said he tells defendants and incarcerated people who participate in his transition courts. He emphasized the importance of surrounding oneself with good people, remaining positive in the face of adversity and being resilient.

"I tell people in our transition court, 'I don't care about your past as much as I care about your future,'" Vasquez said. "You fall down? Get back up. Hit a bump? Move around it, go over it, whatever the case may be. The worse thing you can do is stop moving."
CROWN POINT  Four Hammond residents face felony charges after they broke into a man's house because he was dating one of their exes, according to court records.

Records state Nya Howisen, 19, Michael Howisen, 18, Kyle Simmons, 21, and Julian Mendez, 18, were each charged with residential entry and battery on Thursday.

Charges detail how Nya Howisen entered the back door of a man's Sibley Street home around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 21. When the man saw her, he purportedly tried to close the door to prevent the others from coming inside the house.

Police wrote in the probable-cause affidavit that the back door was cracked as if someone was trying to force the door open while the deadbolt was engaged.

When the man tried to close the door, charges state, Nya Howisen struck him in the head and face multiple times. Then Michael Howisen, Simmons, Mendez and an unknown male subject forced their way past the man and battered him in the process.

People who were inside the residence came into the kitchen to help the man, at which point all of the suspects fled the area.

The affidavit states that police were called about Nya and Michael Howisen hours earlier, because the siblings said they were going to beat up the man whose house they later broke into.

Court records indicate that Julian Mendez, Nya and Michael Howisen bailed out of the Lake County Jail on Friday. Their first court appearances have not been set.

Kyle Simmons appeared before Mag. Mark Sullivan on Friday and his first court appearance is set for Oct. 6 in Judge Natalie Bokota's courtroom, according to court records.
The annual Historic Pullman House Tour will open its doors to the public for the 50th year, allowing people to admire the architecture and see how the the more-than-a-century-old homes have been preserved for posterity.

The Historic Pullman Foundation and Pullman Civic Organization will host the self-guided walking tours of historic houses in the planned worker community industrialist George Pullman built to house workers for his luxury sleeper car factory on the far South Side of Chicago. It will take place on Oct. 7-8.

"This weekend-long event will allow attendees to explore the rich history of the Pullman neighborhood including exclusive interior access to some of the most iconic and well-preserved homes in the area, with new house additions to last years roster," organizers said in a press release. "Youll also have the opportunity to learn about the architecture and design of these beautiful homes, as well as the story of the Pullman community."

Started in 1973, it's one of Chicago's oldest continuing tours of residential homes. People can check out a curated cross-section of homes to see all the different types of housing Pullman built in the 1880s across from his railcar factory, which made sleeper cars for cross-country train travel and also the military. They can see the restored interiors and how the houses are decorated.

A few public buildings in the Pullman National Historic Park also will be open. People can enjoy exhibits, a video of the history of the neighborhood, live music, food and antique cars on Sunday only.

Homes will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets are available for $20 and can be used on either Saturday or Sunday.

For more information or tickets, visit pullman.org.
The Indiana Dunes State Park would remain open even if a federal government shutdown resulted in the closure of the Indiana Dunes National Park.

Some of the sites at the Indiana Dunes National Park also would remain accessible to the public even in the event of a government shutdown.

The National Park is spread across 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, encompassing more than two dozen different sites both on the lake and farther inland. Some of the trailheads don't have gates that could be closed and many are accessible from trails or other beaches.

The National Park Service contingency plan is to close national parks starting on Monday if no deal is reached to avert a government shutdown by midnight Sunday and to significantly reduce services for the parks that would remain accessible to the public.

Despite being completely surrounded by the Indiana Dunes National Park, the Indiana Dunes State Park at 1600 N. 25 E. Chesterton is run by the state of Indiana. It will remain operational and fully staffed if a government shutdown takes place.

People will be able to continue to visit the Lake Michigan shoreline, its hiking trails, nature center, birding tower, campsite, Dunes Pavilion and other facilities.

The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center just north of Interstate 94 also will remain open and staffed by employees of Indiana Dunes Tourism, which is a Porter County government agency.

Indiana Dunes Tourism, Porter County's tourism agency, plans to keep the public and area businesses informed about access to the park.

Were disappointed to see any type of government shutdown, especially our National Park Service partner, which is an integral part of the Indiana Dunes area, said Dustin Ritchea, the Production Director for Indiana Dunes Tourism. But we want to remind visitors that the Indiana Dunes State Park's trails and beach will remain open to the public. Also, the State Park and many other exciting opportunities, including our areas communities, events and attractions, will still be available during this time.

The Indiana Dunes State Park covers 2,182 acres of beaches, sand dunes, swamps, marshes, forests and groves. People can hike 16.5 miles of trails and see diverse habitats brought on by the phenomenon of plant succession along the shores of Lake Michigan. It's home to the popular 3 Dune Challenge that ascends 552 feet up the tallest sand dunes along the South Shore and Trail 9, which USA Today named the most scenic in the country.

People will still be able to hike, cycle, go birding, ascend sand dunes that date back thousands of years and see sweeping views of the lake and Chicago skyline. The Dunes Pavilion at the State Park offers lakefront dining, including at a rooftop bar.

In the event of a National Park closure, the parking lots of larger sites like West Beach, Mount Baldy and the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk likely will be closed off, Indiana Dunes Tourism President and CEO Lorelei Weimer said. But smaller sites like the Heron Trail and the Pinhook Bog would remain accessible to the public and people could still walk or bike into the larger sites though they might have to park farther away.

People can still continue to visit the Indiana Dunes even if the National Park is closed, Weimer said. She hopes to get that message out so hotels don't suffer cancellations from being canceling trips.

"It's critical to know there are two different parks that are run separately," she said. "People can still come and hike and see the fall colors."
Toys R Us, the once ubiquitous chain that drew generations of children with its signature primary colors and its Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot, will attempt a comeback six years after filing for bankruptcy. It plans to open up to 24 flagship stores across the United States starting next year, WHP Global, its parent company, announced on Friday.

WHP Global, which acquired a controlling stake of Toys R Us in 2021, said in a statement that in addition to the new brick-and-mortar stores, Toys R Us would also open shops in airports and on cruise ships through a partnership with Go! Retail Group.

The first airport shop will open in early November in Terminal A of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, ahead of the holiday shopping season, the company said.

Yehuda Shmidman, the chairman and chief executive of WHP Global, said in a statement that Toys R Us is growing fast and our expansion into air, land and sea is a testament to the brands strength.
Voters in Slovakia cast ballots Saturday in an early parliamentary election that pits a populist former prime minister who campaigned on a pro-Russia and anti-American message against a liberal, pro-West newcomer.

Depending on which of them prevails, the election could reverse the small eastern European country's support for neighboring Ukraine in the war with Russia, threatening to break a fragile unity in the European Union and NATO.

Former Prime Minister Robert Fico, 59, and his leftist Smer, or Direction, party have vowed to withdraw Slovakias military support for Ukraine in Russias war, if his attempt to return to power is successful.

Smer's main challenger is Progressive Slovakia, a liberal party formed in 2017 and led by Michal Simecka, 39, a member of the European Parliament.

Referring to his rival, Fico said Saturday he wished his country would not be run by "amateurs" without experience in politics.

Fico, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, opposes EU sanctions on Russia, questions whether Ukraine can force out the invading Russian troops and wants to block Ukraine from joining NATO.

He proposes that instead of sending arms to Kyiv, the EU and the U.S. should use their influence to force Russia and Ukraine to strike a compromise peace deal. He has repeated Russian President Vladimir Putins unsupported claim that the Ukrainian government runs a Nazi state.

Fico also campaigned against immigration and LGBTQ+ rights and threatened to dismiss investigators from the National Criminal Agency and the special prosecutor who deal with corruption and other serious crimes.

Progressive Slovakia sees the countrys future as firmly tied to its existing membership in the EU and NATO.

The party vowed to continue Slovakias support for Ukraine. It also favors LGBTQ+ rights, a rarity among the major parties in a country that is a stronghold of conservative Roman Catholicism.

Every single vote matters, the party's head, Michal Simecka, said on Saturday.

Popular among young people, the party won the 2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia in coalition with the Together party, gaining more than 20% of the vote. But it narrowly failed to win seats in the national parliament in 2020.

No party is expected to win a majority of seats Saturday, meaning a coalition government will need to be formed. The party that secures the most votes typically gets the first chance to put together a government.

Polls indicate that seven or eight other political groups and parties might surpass a 5% threshold needed for representation in the 150-seat National Council.

Among them is the left-wing Hlas (Voice), led by Fico's former deputy in Smer, Peter Pellegrini. They parted ways after Smer lost the previous election in 2020 but their possible reunion would boost Fico's chances to rule.

It's important for me that the new coalition would be formed by such parties that can agree on the priorities for Slovakia and ensure stability and calm, Pellegrini said after voting in Bratislava.

The others include the Republic, a far-right group led by former members of the openly neo-Nazi Peoples Party Our Slovakia whose members use Nazi salutes and want Slovakia out of the EU and NATO.

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Mr. Bayoumi explains more of his thinking in the constructor notes below. There was plenty I hadnt realized about his puzzle until he mentioned it, and I went back to appreciate his work anew. Isnt it something when a crossword keeps popping kernels even after youve turned off the stove?

Tricky Clues

7A. I had forgotten how ambiguous these end-of-week clues could be. Dessert with layers gives us little to go on  even laminated pastry is layered, arguably  but crossings eventually reveal this to be SPUMONI, an Italian treat. (Heres our recipe for it.)

24A. Detective story? refers not to a narrative genre but to the kind of yarn that wards off a nosy detective  an ALIBI. Somehow, I feel as if my years of faithful Columbo watching gave me an advantage with this one.

36A. Dont fall for the idiomatic phrasing in this clue. The Sort who might be testing the water is, quite simply, a MARINE BIOLOGIST.

15D. Last years discourse about this Modern coinage for someone turned successful through their celebrity parents  a NEPO BABY  grew to such a fever pitch that The New York Times published an explainer on the term.
Dr. Bradley Stein, the director of the RAND Opioid Policy Center and a senior physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, who was not involved in the report, said he had expected even lower overall treatment rates. Still, he said, for certain groups, things are not where they need to be, and Im asking: Are the successes things were going to be able to sustain or not?

More than 80,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2021  about 17 percent more than the prior year. Research shows that medications including methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone are effective in blunting cravings, and can help prevent deaths.

But people seeking medication treatment often struggle to find providers willing to prescribe the medications  and they often face stigma surrounding their use. Some patients might also be unaware that they can obtain treatment under Medicaid, since state Medicaid programs were not required to cover the treatments until October 2020.

Investigators used enrollment, eligibility and claim data to understand the extent to which people with opioid use disorder received medication.

The rate of medication uptake varied widely across states, from less than 40 percent of Medicaid patients with the disorder in Illinois and Mississippi to almost 90 percent in Rhode Island and Vermont. Medicaid expansion in some states most likely plays a role, said Dr. Stein, as well as tremendous variation in state policies around the provision of medication, such as reimbursement for telehealth expenses and the ability of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to independently prescribe.
By Friday afternoon, the sky over Manhattan had calmed and the rain had slowed to a small drizzle. But Gov. Kathy Hochul urged New Yorkers not to be fooled by the reprieve, and to continue exercising caution.

Were still in the throes of it, she said in an interview on CNN. My biggest concern right now is that people will see a lull in the rain and people will go out in their vehicles.

Later at a news conference, the governor cautioned against driving in any part of the city. The rain was unpredictable, she said, and it wasnt entirely clear what areas would be hardest hit overnight.

A flood watch remains in effect through late tonight, with the possibility of considerable and life threatening flash flooding in New York City, as well as surrounding areas, including parts of southern Connecticut, northeastern New Jersey and Long Island, according to the National Weather Service.
A contractor for the Internal Revenue Service has been charged with leaking tax return information from a senior government official and wealthy taxpayers to two news organizations, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Washington on Friday.

Charles Edward Littlejohn, who worked as a contractor for the tax agency from 2017 to 2021, was accused of stealing tax returns and other information of a Public Official A and thousands of the nations wealthiest people, according to a three-page indictment signed by prosecutors with the Justice Departments public integrity division.

The indictment did not name the official, the other taxpayers or the news organizations. The public official is former President Donald J. Trump, and the two outlets identified in the indictment as News Organization 1 and News Organization 2 are The New York Times and ProPublica, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Prosecutors said that Mr. Littlejohn, 38, stole tax information dating back more than 15 years, the indictment said. He retrieved the returns between 2018 and 2020, when he was working for a company contracted by the I.R.S. He then provided the tax information to the news organizations, the indictment said.
Federal prosecutors on Friday reasserted the need to impose a gag order on former President Donald J. Trump in the case accusing him of seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

They said that even after they first asked a judge three weeks ago to limit his remarks, Mr. Trump has continued to wage a sustained campaign of prejudicial public statements against witnesses, prosecutors and others.

The prosecutors cited several threatening statements that Mr. Trump made since they initially asked Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the election interference case in Federal District Court in Washington, to impose the gag order. Their request was first filed under seal on Sept. 5 and a public version was released 10 days later. Judge Chutkan has yet to rule on the matter.

Since their request, prosecutors said in their filing on Friday night, Mr. Trump has continued to attack potential witnesses in the case like former Vice President Mike Pence  who, Mr. Trump wrote online, had lied about him and had gone to the Dark Side.
A fire in a Maine village on Wednesday destroyed multiple original paintings by the renowned painter Jamie Wyeth of the Wyeth family of artists, along with several waterfront buildings.

The fire broke out shortly before 11 p.m. on Wednesday at The Dip Net restaurant in Port Clyde, Maine, and spread quickly, said Michael Smith, the chief of the fire department in St. George, the town that includes Port Clyde.

The fire eventually engulfed other establishments, including a general store, an art gallery displaying the Wyeth artworks and the ticket office and gift shop of the Monhegan Boat Line, whose ferry to nearby Monhegan Island remains in service.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was still being investigated.

Smith called the building that housed the art gallery a town staple that was more than 200 years old. It was a place, he said, where everybody went and had breakfast and had a counter to hang out on and gossip.
Early in her career, Nancy Van de Vate, a celebrated modernist composer, would tell people about her work and sometimes be met with dismissive questions like Do you write songs for children? And though she often won competitions that she had entered anonymously, her daughter Katherine Van de Vate said, she rarely won when she entered them under her own name, a dynamic she attributed to gender discrimination.

Ms. Van de Vate refused to let such barriers slow her down. In 1968, she became only the second woman to receive a doctorate in music composition in the United States, according to Journeys Through the Life and Music of Nancy Van de Vate (2005), by Laurdella Foulkes-Levy and Burt J. Levy.

Ms. Van de Vate would go on to compose more than a hundred compositions in a seven-decade career, including seven operas, many orchestral works and a large body of chamber music.

She died on July 29 at 92 at her home in Vienna, where she spent the final 38 years of her life, her daughter said. Her death was not widely reported at the time.
A Halloween without horror movies is like a Christmas without Hallmark movies about big-city women falling for small-town bookstore owners. New scary films in theaters now are the Agatha Christie-inspired A Haunting in Venice; the twisted sister tale The Nun II; and Saw X, the tenth film in the franchise.

Revival options include two films about the dark side of showbiz: Hitchcocks Marlene Dietrich-led Stage Fright (1950), at the Metrograph Theater (Oct. 13); and Bloodsucking Freaks (1976), an exploitation film about a demented theater troupe, at Film Noir Cinema (Oct. 20). For a classic scary movie for kids, Film Forum presents a matinee of Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) in 3-D. (Oct. 29).

For a sneak peek at what horror fans will be drooling over next, check out the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (Oct. 12-19), at Nitehawk Cinemas Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations. The roster includes Where the Devil Roams, a new film about killer sideshow performers from the Catskills-based horror moviemaking Adams Family; and Satan Wants You, a documentary on Michelle Remembers, a memoir about repressed memories that helped spark the Satanic Panic of the 80s. The glorious California-chic zombie drama Messiah of Evil is showing in a newly restored version to celebrate its 50th birthday.

For bingeable scares at home, new horror series include The Fall of the House of Usher, Mike Flanagans adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story (Netflix, Oct. 12), and Goosebumps, an adaptation of R.L. Stines horror books for teenagers (Disney+, Oct. 13). Back to scare again are new seasons of the killer doll show Chucky (Peacock, Oct. 4) and the anthology series Creepshow (Shudder, Oct. 13).

For real-life horror stories, try John Carpenters Suburban Screams, a new unscripted anthology about the evils that lurk behind closed doors, from the director of Halloween (Peacock, Oct. 13), or the docuseries Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein, which explores the life and crimes of the deranged serial killer who inspired The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and other horror films (now on MGM+).
Several decades and several books later, the huacos retratos are no longer vessels of painful childhood memories for Wiener, perhaps the most irreverent and daring voice of the new literary generation of Latin American women. The sculptures have become an instrument to decolonize herself and reclaim her identity, she said; the metaphor is the backbone of her novel Undiscovered  Huaco Retrato, in Spanish  out by HarperVia, in a translation by Julia Sanches.

Undiscovered explores a conflict central to Wieners identity. She is brown, a proud chola, to use the derogatory Peruvian term for people of Indigenous ancestry. But she also is likely a descendant of Charles Wiener, an Austrian-turned-French explorer who traveled to Peru in the 19th century and became known for almost finding Machu Picchu: He came as close as Ollantaytambo, where the locals told him about the abandoned Incan city. Wiener mentions it by name in his notes, but he never reached the ruins.

Charles Wiener left behind a trace of colonial violence and pillage that the novel examines, mixing fact with fiction. What is known about the historical Charles Wiener is that, when he left Peru for France, he took thousands of pre-Columbian artifacts, including huacos retratos, that helped build the Ethnographic Museum collection in the French capital. In a book he wrote about his expeditions to Peru, Charles Wiener also describes buying a child named Juan and taking him to Europe.

In exchange, he left behind a son he had with an Indigenous woman  the beginning of the mixed race lineage that would, according to the story passed down by the family, lead to Gabriela Wiener. Reconstructing the steps of the patriarch and intertwining personal and official history, Gabriela Wiener unmasks her ancestor as the force that shaped many of her wounds.
The day almost two years ago when Harvard Business School informed Francesca Gino, a prominent professor, that she was being investigated for data fraud also happened to be her husbands 50th birthday. An administrator instructed her to turn in any Harvard-issued computer equipment that she had by 5 p.m. She canceled the birthday celebration she had planned and walked the machines to campus, where a University Police officer oversaw the transfer.

We ended up both going, Dr. Gino recalled. I couldnt go on my own because I felt like, I dont know, the earth was opening up under my feet for reasons that I couldnt understand.

The school told Dr. Gino it had received allegations that she manipulated data in four papers on topics in behavioral science, which straddles fields like psychology, marketing and economics.

Dr. Gino published the four papers under scrutiny from 2012 to 2020, and fellow academics had cited one of them more than 500 times. The paper found that asking people to attest to their truthfulness at the top of a tax or insurance form, rather than at the bottom, made their responses more accurate because it supposedly activated their ethical instincts before they provided information.
The U.N. refugee agency said Thursday that some 186,000 migrants and refugees arrived in southern Europe so far this year, the vast majority in Italy.

Between January and Sept. 24, over 2,500 people seeking to cross the Mediterranean were found dead or are still missing, a significant increase from the 1,680 people who died or were missing during the same period in 2022, Ruven Menikdiwela, director of the New York office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told the U.N. Security Council.

The UNHCR estimates that over 102,000 refugees and migrants from Tunisia  a 260 percent increase from last year and over 45,000 from Libya tried to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe between January and August, she said.

Some 31,000 people were rescued at sea or intercepted, and disembarked in Tunisia while 10,600 disembarked in Libya, Menikdiwela said.

The majority of migrants and refugees who made it to southern Europe arrived in Italy over 130,000, an increase of 83 percent compared to the same period in 2022, she said. The others landed in Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta.

Menikdiwela told a council meeting called by Russia on migration to Europe that the high departure rates from Tunisia result from the perception of insecurity among refugee communities, following incidents of racially motivated attacks and hate speech, as well as collective expulsions from Libya and Algeria."

UNHCR faces restrictions in Libya where it has registered 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers and the conditions of thousands of refugees and migrants in both official and unofficial detention facilities. remain of grave concern, she said.

The UNHCR figures she quoted were similar to those presented by Par Liljert, director of the International Office for Migrations office to the United Nations.

He also highlighted the dire conditions facing migrants and refugees seeking to cross the Mediterranean.

Recent IOM data demonstrates that from January to September 2023, more than 187,000 individuals crossed the Mediterranean in pursuit of a better future and the promise of safety, Liljert told the council. Tragically, during this same period, IOM recorded 2,778 deaths with 2,093 of them occurring along the treacherous central Mediterranean route, which is the most dangerous.

Yet, despite its clear dangers, in 2023 there has been an increase in arrivals to Greece along this route of over 300 percent, while the number of arrivals in Spain has remained steady, primarily through the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands as compared to the numbers recorded at the same time last year, he said.

IOM also witnessed a significant increase in arrivals to Italy, with 130,000 so far this year compared to around 70,000 in 2022.

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But Ms. Glaze was one of the last women to deliver at the facility. In June, the Alabama Department of Public Health shut it down, despite its record of smooth deliveries with no complications. State regulators are now weeks away from instituting new birth center licensing rules that would make it nearly impossible for similar facilities to open and operate.

If these rules are not implemented, there will be fewer safeguards and standards for the operation of these facilities, exposing mothers and their newborns to increased risks to their health and safety, a public draft of the new policy says.

Oasis and two other birth centers seeking to operate have sued the state with the help of the A.C.L.U., seeking to overturn the closure and create a path for others to open. A trial to determine their fate began on Thursday. On Saturday, a judge issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits the state from refusing to license birth centers that meet national standards while the court case plays out.
In a video interview from his Los Angeles home, Begley spoke about practicing what he preaches and gave some much-needed love to the citys Metro system. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

1

My Bike

Theres no doubt in my mind that the high point of my 8th year was getting a bicycle. A beautiful blue Schwinn. Later to be replaced by a white Peugeot, then a brown Nishiki, then a titanium Klein, and finally by a fat-tire American Flyer with electric assist  a compromise that my age and physical condition dictate, but Im still riding!

2

Midnight Run

This is one of those perfect films. Theres not one misstep in the whole two hours and six minutes. Bob De Niro is great, as always, and though Charles Grodin is no longer with us, he was, and remains, a national treasure. Its a brilliant script by George Gallo and flawlessly directed by Martin Brest. I would argue that it is one of the three best comedies of all time. The other two being Bridesmaids and The In-Laws  a self-serving selection, admittedly, but true nonetheless.

3

My LEED Platinum Home

Twelve-inch-thick walls, passive solar design, a 10,000-gallon rainwater tank, a gray-water system for the fruit trees, steel construction to avoid taking down trees to build a home. Not to mention the fire hazard when building homes out of sticks. Six raised beds and four compost bins allow me to grow a good deal of my own food. All of it proving that living more sustainably is certainly possible.

4

Loves of a Blonde

Milos Forman certainly made a good many fine films, several of them big hits like One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Amadeus. But there is an extraordinary early film of his, made [in Czechoslovakia] in 1965. If you havent seen it, please try to find it somewhere. It is a gem.
When I was interviewing Senator Dianne Feinstein in 2011 for a book about San Franciscos tumultuous history from the 1960s to the 80s, she suddenly began to tear off her microphone and terminate the exchange. My offense? I asked about her decision as mayor of the city to veto a 1982 ordinance that would have extended health insurance benefits to live-in partners of municipal employees, including lesbians and gay men. I managed to coax the irate Ms. Feinstein back into her chair, but she had clearly drawn a line: Im ready to leave whenever I dont like the direction this is headed.

Ms. Feinstein could be imperious, thin-skinned and intolerant. She was also the leader that San Francisco sorely needed on Nov. 27, 1978, when she was abruptly thrust, at the age of 45, into City Halls Room 200 after Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by another colleague, Dan White.

This will not be a rudderless city, she firmly told the shellshocked public after the murders, even though she was shaken by them. When she met with the hastily assembled press soon after the killings, her skirt was stained with Mr. Milks blood.

During her nine plus years as the first female mayor of the famously cantankerous metropolis, Ms. Feinstein won the grudging respect of the old boys network that had always run City Hall. She managed to steer San Francisco between the liberal, freewheeling future that Mr. Moscone aimed toward  the era of San Francisco values  and its older, more conservative traditions, including its downtown business interests. As mayor, she opposed rent control on vacant housing and some demands from the gay community, like domestic partner legislation. But she also pushed through a tough gun control ordinance, environmental regulations and pro-labor laws and hosted a wedding ceremony of lesbian friends in her backyard.
Sarah McKaig

Santa Monica, Calif.

To the Editor:

President Biden has already found a solution to child poverty without any need to address so-called two-parent privilege. Its not another parent, a ring or family values, as Melissa S. Kearney seems to maintain. Its financial support in the form of expansions to the child tax credit and earned-income tax credit. However, they have expired, contributing to child poverty more than doubling in 2022.

Gayle Gubman Riesser

Lawrenceville, N.J.

To the Editor:

What is missing from the article is the fact that 80 percent of the single-parent families have a woman as head of household. The question that is not answered in the article is why are women raising a family without the father of the children present in the household?

Granted that some husbands are not good partners or providers, and may be abusive, but does that explain the entire 80 percent? The article covers many aspects of how to improve the quality of life for single-parent families, and the disparities between the quality of life in single-parent and two-parent families, but it does not drill down on why single-parent families are on an explosive rise.

Edward Frost

Ipswich, Mass.

To the Editor:

My thanks to Prof. Melissa S. Kearney. For teachers like me, the difference in student attendance, achievement and behavior in students from two- versus one-parent homes is stark and blazingly obvious. Shame on us for ignoring whats in front of us, and kudos to those brave enough to share unpopular truths.

Christine Allen

Dublin

To the Editor:

With all due respect, I dont agree with Melissa S. Kearneys analysis. In my many years as an elementary school teacher I saw plenty of two-parent families with difficult children as well as the well-behaved and competent ones from single-parent homes.
Im not sure that an assembly of presidential candidates has ever given off stronger loser vibes, if I may use a word favored by the 45th president of the United States, than the Republicans who debated at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library this week.

A snap 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll and a CNN focus group showed Ron DeSantis as the nights winner, and that seems right: After months of campaigning and two debates, DeSantis is still the only candidate not named Donald Trump who has a clear argument for why he should be president and a record that fits his partys trajectory and mood.

On the stage with his putative rivals, that makes him the one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind. Against Trump, thats probably going to be good for an extremely distant second place.

The path that I (and others) once saw for the Florida governor, where he would run on his political success and voters would drift his way out of weariness with Trumps destructive impact on Republican fortunes, has been closed off  by DeSantiss own struggles, the rallying effect of Trumps indictments and now Trumps solid general-election poll numbers against Joe Biden. The path other pundits claimed to see for non-Trump candidates, where they were supposed to run directly against Trump and call him out as a threat to the Republic, was never a realistic one for anything but a protest candidate, as Chris Christie is demonstrating.
Anne Case and Angus Deaton, the Princeton University economists who pioneered the study of deaths of despair, tell me that one factor in the rise of such deaths has been the decline of unions and the related loss of good working-class jobs.

Like many educated professionals, I used to regard labor unions warily. They insisted on rigid work rules, impeded technological modernization, suffered corruption scandals (which have dogged the U.A.W.) and sometimes engaged in racial and gender discrimination. They periodically manipulated overtime hours and leveraged the threat of disruption to rake in staggering sums.

In 2019 two Oakland, Calif., police officers earned more than $600,000 in pay and benefits, through absurd amounts of overtime; meanwhile, full-time dockworkers on the West Coast reportedly earn more, on average, than many lawyers or dentists in America, and dock foremen average more pay than physicians.

Yet executive pay seems even more scandalous, and I shed my disdain for unions as I reported on the crisis in Americas working class over the past 15 years. Having lost too many working-class friends to substance use and related pathologies and having witnessed the consequent crumbling of families and communities, Ive come to believe that unions are good not only for individual workers but also for America itself.

Some of the U.A.W.s non-wage-related demands seem to me unrealistic, and the overall package might double labor costs for companies that already pay significantly more than their competitors; then again, its not obvious to me why the Big Threes chief executives merit pay packages of more than $20 million each while some of their autoworkers earn just $16 or $17 an hour, although in fairness, Ford says that, including benefits, the average compensation for union-represented workers is $112,000 a year.
Hunter-gatherer societies on the Iberian Peninsula were making sophisticated baskets with decorative geometric patterns 9,500 years ago, more than 2,000 years earlier than previously thought, researchers in Spain have reported.

The researchers also said that sandals that were found in the same cave as the baskets represent the earliest and most diverse set of plant-based footwear documented in the prehistory of Europe.

Francisco Martinez-Sevilla, a researcher of prehistory at the University of Alcala and the lead author of a paper outlining the findings that was published this week in Science Advances, explained that carbon-14 dating tests had been carried out on 76 objects that were found by 19th-century miners in the Cueva de los Murcielagos, a cave in southern Spain.
Evelyn Fox Keller, a theoretical physicist, a mathematical biologist and, beginning in the late 1970s, a feminist theorist who explored the way gender pervades and distorts scientific inquiry, died on Sept. 22 at an assisted living home in Cambridge, Mass. She was 87.

Her children, Jeffrey and Sarah Keller, confirmed the death. They did not specify a cause.

Dr. Keller trained as a physicist and focused much of her early work on applying mathematical concepts to biology. But as the feminist movement took hold, she began to think critically about how ideas of masculinity and femininity had affected her profession.

Like many women in the sciences, she had faced years of disparagement and discrimination, and one of her first efforts was to quantify the effect such a hostile environment had on women  how it held them back, and how it drove many to leave science completely.

Her inquiry soon went deeper, in books like Reflections on Gender and Science (1985). Let me make clear from the outset, she wrote in that book, that the issue that requires discussion is not, or at least not simply, the relative absence of women in science.
A statement that might surprise no one: Many models who make a living by wearing clothes also have great personal style. But the off duty wardrobe lots of them have been known for  which was often some combination of white T-shirt and jeans  has evolved. This evolution was on display at Milan Fashion Week, where some of the most interesting looks worn by models were on the street.

Thats not to say there wasnt memorable fashion on the runways. For his first Tom Ford collection, the designer Peter Hawkings showed short shorts that made miniskirts seem modest. Jil Sander took fringe to unexpected places, like the ankles of heeled boots. And Giorgio Armani accessorized looks with majestic bangles, which were a refreshing alternative to the friendship bracelets on wrists all over Milan (and the world) thanks to Taylor Swift.
The statement also compared the panelists views to eugenics.

The function of the gender critical scholarship advocated in this session, like the function of the race science of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is to advance a scientific reason to question the humanity of already marginalized groups of people, the statement said.

The headline read: No Place for Transphobia in Anthropology.

Discussion of sex and gender has become a fraught and politically charged topic, especially in the context of transgender rights. Anthropology, as a discipline, is particularly sensitive to such conversations because it studies both culture and human evolution. In recent decades, many anthropologists have moved to a more nuanced view of sex, one that often rejects it as simply binary.

Dr. Lowrey said that she and the other panelists were blindsided by the decision and that none of them had been contacted about any concerns from the anthropology groups since the panel received its July approval. In a statement, the panelists said that it was a false accusation that their ideas were intended to harm the transgender community.

The move was criticized by some academic freedom advocates who said that the two anthropology groups had caved to political pressure and proved the panels point: that the discipline was unfriendly to dissenting views on sex and gender.

But Ramona Perez, the president of the American Anthropological Association, rejected the attacks. She said the decision had no impact on the panelists academic freedom, because the association was a professional group, not an educational institution.
The justices had already agreed to decide whether public officials can block critics from commenting on their social media accounts, an issue that previously came up in a case involving then-President Donald Trump. The court dismissed the Trump case when his presidential term ended in January 2021.

The court's announcement, three days before the start of its new term, comes as the justices continue to grapple with how laws written at the dawn of the digital age, or earlier, apply to the online world.

The justices will review laws enacted by Republican-dominated legislatures and signed by Republican governors in Florida and Texas. While the details vary, both laws aim to prevent social media companies from censoring users based on their viewpoints.

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether state laws that seek to regulate Facebook, TikTok, X and other social media platforms violate the Constitution.

Separately, the high court also could consider a lower-court order limiting executive branch officials' communications with social media companies about controversial online posts.

The new case follows conflicting rulings by two appeals courts, one of which upheld the Texas law, while the other struck down Florida's statute. By a 5-4 vote, the justices kept the Texas law on hold while litigation over it continues.

But the alignment was unusual. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett voted to grant the emergency request from two technology industry groups that challenged the law in federal court.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch would have allowed the law to remain in effect. In dissent, Alito wrote, "Social media platforms have transformed the way people communicate with each other and obtain news."

Proponents of the laws, including Republican elected officials in several states that have similar measures, have sought to portray social media companies as generally liberal in outlook and hostile to ideas outside of that viewpoint, especially from the political right.

The tech sector warned that the laws would prevent platforms from removing extremism and hate speech. Without offering any explanation, the justices had put off consideration of the case even though both sides agreed the high court should step in.

The justices had other social media issues before them last year, including a plea the court did not embrace to soften legal protections tech companies have for posts by their users.
WHY WERE HERE

Were exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. In Atlanta, known for its relentless pursuit of prosperity, theres an effort to reclaim a horrifying and shameful chapter.

Sept. 30, 2023

The Rev. Charles Hamilton stood on a narrow median in downtown Atlanta on a busy Monday morning, cars whooshing by just a few feet away on either side. With the modest help of a microphone, he was making a largely futile attempt to cut through the noise and bustle with a message for a city that never slows down.

It is through acknowledging the past that we move forward with truth and power, he told the small crowd that had gathered along with passers-by who might have caught some of what he said.

Pastor Hamilton, who leads a local Baptist congregation, and the others had assembled by a statue of a crusading newspaperman from the 1800s that had become a grim landmark. It was there, in 1906, that the bodies of slain Black men had been dumped in an outbreak of racial terror in Atlanta perpetrated by mobs of white people over several days.
Even as a senator, Dianne Feinstein didnt hesitate to share her gripes about San Franciscos uneven sidewalks and dirty streets with the mayors who succeeded her.

She was traveling in a car several years ago past the Sutter-Stockton Garage, a downtown parking structure, and was frustrated to see a ratty mattress propped up against a fire hydrant.

Ed! she hollered over the phone to Ed Lee, who was mayor at the time. Theres a mattress!

Days later, she returned to the neighborhood, and the mattress was gone, Sean Elsbernd, a former state director for Ms. Feinstein, recalled on Friday with a chuckle. She was very pleased with herself.

To Ms. Feinstein, San Francisco was still a city that took pride in attention to detail and kept expectations high  or should try to anyway.
Members of both parties said they were confident they could win money for Ukraine in the weeks ahead, but the failure to provide any money in the bill was a reflection of diminishing Republican backing for added funding for Kyiv.

It pointed to a potentially nasty fight ahead over funding Ukraines war effort, coming on the heels of a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington last month to make the case for continued U.S. support. Congress has approved about $113 billion in military, humanitarian and economic aid in four packages since the invasion by Russia, and Mr. Biden has requested another $24 billion.

This bill is a victory for Putin and Putin sympathizers everywhere, said Representative Mike Quigley of Illinois, the only Democrat to vote against the bill, who said he did so because it did not include aid to Ukraine. We now have 45 days to correct this grave mistake.

Hard-right Republicans refused to support the stopgap bill, known as a continuing resolution, because it essentially maintained funding at levels set when Congress was under Democratic control last year.

Instead of siding with his own party today, Kevin McCarthy sided with 209 Democrats to push through a continuing resolution that maintains the Biden-Pelosi-Schumer spending levels and policies, Representative Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He allowed the D.C. Uniparty to win again. Should he remain speaker of the House?
Lori Teresa Yearwood, a journalist who after an excruciating spiral into two years of homelessness returned to reporting and wrote both about her ordeal and about people dealing with similar economic hardships, died on Sept. 17 at her home in Salt Lake City. She was 57.

Her death, in hospice care, was caused by ovarian cancer, said Sherry Long, a close friend.

Ms. Yearwoods articles for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, Defector, Mother Jones and other outlets established her as a prominent and empathetic voice of the unhoused, as she called homeless people. She referred to herself as a trauma-informed journalist.

She had the chops of a great reporter with lived experience, said David Wallis, the former managing director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, founded by the writer Barbara Ehrenreich, which gives grants to journalists like Ms. Yearwood, some of them on the brink of poverty, to write about social inequality for major publications.

She had a unique voice, and was able to get stories no one else was getting, Mr. Wallis said in a phone interview.
Tribal governments have long criticized the United States for failing to fully live up to those treaties. But when the national bureaucracy stops functioning, the impact is still severe.

Because those treaty rights are almost entirely funded through discretionary funding, it just shuts off those services, said Tyler D. Scribner, the director of budget and appropriations for the National Indian Health Board and a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.

On reservations across the country, tribal officials have been dusting off emergency plans, lining up stopgap funds, and prioritizing which programs and services they would keep running during a prolonged shutdown. But their planning has been complicated by a lack of clarity on how federal agencies plan to carry out slimmed-down operations during a shutdown.

If they havent gotten their contingency plan out yet, its hard for us to figure out what are we going to do, President Terri Parton of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes said on Thursday. Our tribe is small enough that we would be OK for a little bit, but you dont ever know how long these are going to last.

Ms. Parton said her tribe, which is based in Oklahoma, was thinking through how it could keep running its food distribution program and child care facilities, which are administered by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes using federal money.
When the Biden administration relaxed some travel restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba in May of last year, Senator Robert Menendez was having none of it.

I am dismayed, Mr. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said in a statement. Anyone who believed the measure might help bring democracy to Cuba was simply in a state of denial, he fumed.

A day later, Mr. Menendez erupted again, this time over reports that the Biden administration was easing oil sanctions against Venezuelas authoritarian government  a strategy destined to fail, he declared.

For Biden officials, the friendly fire from a fellow Democrat was exasperating if not exactly surprising. Before stepping aside as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after his indictment on federal corruption charges last week, Mr. Menendez routinely opposed and even criticized President Biden  and the previous Democrat in the White House, Barack Obama  on foreign policy issues.
The official toxicology report states that Andrea Cahills son died at 19 years old from an accidental fentanyl overdose. But more than three years after Tyler Cahills death in his childhood bedroom, she doesnt believe that. It was a poisoning, she says, and there is no question about whom to blame: the cartels.

Ms. Cahill believes the governments of Mexico and China should be punished for the drugs flow into the United States. A political independent who nearly always votes for Republicans, she wants a president with relentless focus on the issue.

It does feel like maybe nobody cares, she said.

These days, Republican presidential candidates are working to convince people like Ms. Cahill that they share her urgency.

Ron DeSantis talks about fentanyl in every stump speech, vowing to send the military into Mexico to target cartels. Nikki Haley has promised to send special operations forces across the border. Chris Christie has called for better access to treatment. Former President Donald J. Trump has offered few specific solutions but has tapped into victims families hunger to be seen: He likens deaths from the drug to wartime casualties.
Representative Jamaal Bowman, Democrat of New York, pulled a fire alarm in the House Cannon office building on Saturday as his party was trying to delay a vote on a stopgap spending bill, prompting an evacuation of the building and investigations by the Capitol Police and the House Administration Committee.

The alarm was triggered at the same time that House Democrats at the Capitol were stalling a vote on a spending measure to keep the government operating for another 45 days. Speaker Kevin McCarthy had unveiled the bill just minutes earlier, and Democrats were scrambling to read the bill and determine whether to support it. Later in the day, the bill passed 335 to 91, with more Democrats voting for it than Republicans.

In a statement released Saturday night, Mr. Bowman said that he had not pulled the alarm to delay the vote, as some Republicans had presumed. He said that as he was rushing to the Capitol to cast a vote, he came to a door in the Cannon building that would not open.

I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused, Mr. Bowman said. But I want to be very clear: this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote. It was the exact opposite  I was trying urgently to get to a vote.
There was trivia, doll-making and a chocolate marble cake that was gone in minutes. Hundreds of admirers of Jimmy Carter celebrated his 99th birthday in Atlanta on Saturday at the presidential library and museum named for him, after organizers moved the festivities up one day earlier than his actual birthday because of the threat of the government shutdown.

Presidential libraries receive federal funding from the National Archives and Records Administration. During a government shutdown, portions of libraries that are operated by the agency close, while those that are not can stay open with private funding.

At least four presidential libraries  for Mr. Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy  confirmed on Saturday that they would stop operations if lawmakers failed to reach a deal to avert a shutdown, though a naturalization ceremony at the Carter Center for 99 new American citizens will go on as scheduled on Sunday.

The rescheduled birthday celebration did not dampen the mood of the party nor the turnout. Outside the library was a Jumbotron display playing birthday wishes from figures including President Biden; Senator Jon Ossoff, Democrat of Georgia; and the Carter Center staff, as well as photos and videos submitted by the public.
In her basement on the South Side of Chicago, Crystal Vance beamed a flashlight onto the water source for her home: a rusted and leaking lead pipe.

Ms. Vance, 35, knows well the dangers of lead contamination. Her 5-year-old son tested for elevated levels of lead as a baby, something that still weighs on her conscience.

I felt like my body was poisoned, she said. And I was feeding my kid this poison.

But getting rid of the lead pipes snaking through her home  and through schools, offices, homes and day care centers around the country  has proved to be enormously complex, even after President Biden promised early in his administration to remove every lead pipe in America by 2031.

The reasons are a mixture of financial, logistical and even semantic concerns, according to interviews with more than a dozen residents, environmental activists, and local and federal officials.
Last year, Russia announced a plan to increase its professional and conscripted combat force by more than 30 percent to 1.5 million, a plan made more difficult by its heavy casualties in Ukraine.

Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were formally annexed by Russia in September 2022 after so-called referendums were held there, which were universally dismissed as shams by Ukraine and Western nations. Russia had annexed Crimea in 2014.

Starting at the age of 18, all men in Russia are required to serve one year in the military. The conscription will begin on Oct. 1 in all parts of the Russian Federation, according to the defense ministry, including in the illegally annexed regions of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

Russia's lower house of parliament voted last July to raise the age for conscripts, and that legislation will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Putin said earlier this month that he is bracing for a long war with Ukraine as Russia's armed forces press on with their "special military operation" in Ukraine, now in its 20th month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling up 130,000 conscripts for military service this fall, increasing the age limit of conscripts from 27 to 30, according to a document posted on the Russian government website on Friday.

 Ukraine Aid

While the West continues to supply Ukraine with military hardware, it is planning to produce its own, including air defenses, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, told reporters on Friday. "I think very soon specialists will arrive here who will make a plan for our own production of everything that we need. First and foremost, this relates to air defenses," Yermak said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed confidence Friday that Poland will find ways to address disagreements with Ukraine without affecting its military support for Ukraine. "I'm expecting and I'm confident that Ukraine and Poland will find a way to address those issues without that impacting in a negative way the military support to Ukraine," Stoltenberg told Reuters in an interview in Copenhagen.

Relations have been somewhat impaired between Poland, a NATO member, and its neighbor Ukraine, after Warsaw's decision to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports. Seven EU countries have ordered ammunition under a landmark European Union procurement framework to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted Western stocks, according to the European Defense Agency.

The orders are for 155-millimeter artillery rounds, one of the most important munitions in Ukraine's defensive war against Russian aggression. The scheme was set up as part of a plan worth at least $2.1 billion, initiated in March, with the aim of getting 1 million shells and missiles to Ukraine within a year.

Some officials and diplomats have expressed skepticism about whether that goal will be met, but the plan is a significant step in the EU's growing role in defense and military affairs, spurred by the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine goes through artillery ammunition rapidly, firing thousands of rounds a day, and Kyiv's Western allies have been scrambling to keep up. "It was... not sufficient only to deplete our own stocks," Stoltenberg said Thursday in Kyiv.

The EDA said the EU deals were for both complete shells and for components such as fuses, projectiles, charges and primers. The NATO chief also noted Thursday that Ukrainian forces are "gradually gaining ground" amid fierce fighting and he is constantly urging allies to provide more aid, boost defense production and speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine.

"The stronger Ukraine becomes, the closer we come to ending Russia's aggression," Stoltenberg told reporters in Kyiv. Stoltenberg said it is in NATO's security interest to provide Ukraine what it needs to win the war.

In the United States, as the federal government prepares for a possible shutdown, the country's aid in the Ukrainian war effort could falter, according to Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.

Those affected by the shutdown would include Pentagon civilians involved in English-language training for Ukraine's F-16 pilots, so if there is a government shutdown, "there could be impacts to training," Singh said. "At this point right now, I just don't have more specific details to offer."

 Wagner Redeployment

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered one of the top commanders of the Wagner military mercenary group to take charge of "volunteer units" fighting in Ukraine. Putin tasked Andrei Troshev with forming volunteer units that would fight primarily in the war zone.

Hundreds of fighters previously associated with the Wagner Group "have likely started to redeploy to Ukraine" as individuals and in small groups that are fighting for a variety of pro-Russian units, the British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily intelligence update on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It said reports suggest a concentration of Wagner veterans around the eastern city of Bakhmut, a sector where their past experience could be useful. Their redeployment follows Yevgeny Prigozhin's death in a suspicious plane crash on Aug. 23, two months after the Wagner chief launched a day-long mutiny against Kremlin in June.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the Maldives was defeated in the presidential runoff on Saturday, in a race that was proving to be as much a referendum on the competition between India and China for influence as it was a chance to determine the small island nations next leader.

Mohamed Muizzu, the mayor of the capital, Male City, who has pushed for stronger ties with China, won with an eight-point lead over Mr. Solih with nearly all the votes counted, according to the election commissions website.

President Solih, in a message on X, formerly Twitter, congratulated Mr. Muizzu on his victory and thanked the people of the Maldives for the beautiful democratic example. Voter turnout was reported at more than 85 percent.

The people have spoken loud and clear  they wish for prosperity and guaranteed sovereignty for the country, Mr. Muizzu told a group of supporters after declaring his victory.
It was President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraines first trip to Canada since Russias full-scale invasion of his country. And its high point was an address by Mr. Zelensky to a joint session of Parliament last week that provoked waves of applause.

Some of that applause was for a 98-year-old Ukrainian man, Yaroslav Hunka, who was invited to the House of Commons by Anthony Rota, the speaker. Mr. Hunka was a hero, Mr. Rota told members of Parliament and guests. Jewish groups quickly pointed out that Mr. Hunka had actually been a member of a volunteer Nazi group that fought alongside Germany in World War II.

Mr. Rota apologized and resigned days later, following a growing outcry.

This was a mistake that has deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week before apologizing on Parliaments behalf on Wednesday.

The episode has cast a spotlight on a lesser-known but quietly powerful role in Canadas parliamentary tradition.
Under Mr. Modi, the R.S.S. has become increasingly active overseas in countries with large Indian diasporas, said Dhirendra K. Jha, an Indian author who has followed the organization for decades. The B.J.P. is considered the political wing of the R.S.S., which helped kick off the political career of Mr. Modi, who is still a member.

In Canada, two long-established, R.S.S.-linked associations, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (Hindu Self-Reliance Association) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), are mobilizing support for Mr. Modi and his Hindu-first policies through educational, cultural and social activities, according to experts as well as a recent report published by the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the World Sikh Organization of Canada.

Officials at the two organizations did not respond to requests for interviews.

Malavika Kasturi, a historian at the University of Toronto and an expert on Hindu nationalism, said that the two groups and others that hide under a variety of different fronts form a network backing Mr. Modis Hindu-first agenda in Canada.

What they do have is a common agenda which is to crack down on all dissent, Ms. Kasturi said. So any critique of Hindutva is called Hinduphobia. Any critique of Mr. Modi is called Hinduphobia.

Mr. Modi has tapped into a very deep-seated psychology among members of the diaspora who want to recover a lost pride in the rise of a great civilization that has been wronged through colonization, said Meera Nanda, an Indian historian researching the impact of Hindutva in the United States.
As the White House called on Friday for Serbia to roll back its troops amassed on the Kosovo border, United States officials described that military presence as destabilizing and a worrying sign of potential escalation in the tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.

The announcement came five days after an attack in northern Kosovo in which ethnic Serbian gunmen stormed a village and then barricaded themselves in a monastery, a violent episode that led to the deaths of four people, including a Kosovar police officer.

John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the Biden administration, denounced that attack on Friday and said that American officials had reached out to the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo to urge them to engage in diplomatic dialogue.

He also said that more NATO troops would be deployed to the area, although he did not say whether American officials expected the flare-up to devolve into a military conflict.
Russia launched a missile attack on a region in southern Ukraine that it claims as its own on Saturday, wounding at least five people, a day after President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine delivered dueling speeches that underlined their determination to keep fighting.

Russia illegally annexed four regions  Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson  exactly a year ago Saturday. Battles for control have continued to rage in all four areas.

In an address timed to the anniversary, Mr. Putin insisted that Ukrainians in the occupied regions chose to be a part of Russia, a position rejected by the government in Kyiv and Ukraines allies. Moscows forces were fighting for our sovereignty, spiritual values and unity, he said, standing by a false justification of Russias invasion that he has previously presented as a struggle against the West.

Mr. Zelensky, meanwhile, called for continued national resistance nearly 600 days into the war. There hasnt been a day throughout this long period when Ukraine felt any hopelessness and when Russia had even a glimmer of real hope to break us, he said in a speech.
The sounds of mourning have coursed through the small Christian town of Qaraqosh in northern Iraq since late Tuesday, when a fire destroyed a wedding hall in the middle of a reception, touching not only this village, but Iraqs entire Christian community.

As of Friday night, at least 119 people were dead and an unknown number of others were still missing of the roughly 1,000 guests in attendance. About 80 people remained in hospitals, including more than a dozen who were flown to burn centers in neighboring countries.

The sense of loss here is mixed with anger and disbelief as a report from the initial investigation into the fires cause found what many witnesses had already said: The wedding hall violated basic safety requirements and lacked emergency exits and a sprinkler system. The buildings construction material was also highly combustible and seems to have been made of material similar to that used in Grenfell Tower in London, a low-income apartment block that caught on fire in 2017, leaving 72 people dead.

To many in Qaraqosh, the fire was yet another example of how Iraqs business and government culture is so beset by corruption, incompetence and petty greed that it routinely puts peoples lives at risk for profit.
The Life Cycle of New York Galleries What does being the center of the art world do to a neighborhood? Just look at Soho.

BROOME STREET GRAND STREET WOOSTER STREET GREENE STREET MERCER STREET CROSBY STREET HOUSTON STREET CANAL STREET WEST BROADWAY BROADWAY LAFAYETTE STREET PRINCE STREET SPRING STREET opacity=0

PRE-1950S

In the early 20th century, the area south of Houston, north of Canal, bounded roughly by West Broadway on one side and Lafayette/Centre Street on the other, was notorious for sweatshops and factory fires.

It was part of a larger section of Manhattan that a fire department commissioner, Edward Cavanagh Jr., nicknamed Hells Hundred Acres.

Photographer unknown. Courtesy of MCNY

1959

The area caught the attention of New Yorks all-powerful and controversial parks commissioner, Robert Moses (pictured below left), who was notorious for so-called urban renewal projects like the Cross Bronx Expressway, the construction of which leveled working-class neighborhoods in the Bronx.

Walter Albertin/Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images

He wanted to raze Hells Hundred Acres  as well as much of Little Italy  to make way for the Lower Manhattan Expressway. Protests, initially led by the activist Jane Jacobs, would continue for nearly a decade before the plan was finally defeated.

Cross Manhattan Arterials and Related Improvements, published by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (1959) via Hathi Trust

Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection

1962

Between June and August 1962, the City Club of New York, a politically influential civic organization, claimed that it systematically visited every building located in a representative slice of the area, and interviewed every tenant. With an eye toward redevelopment opportunities, the groups subsequent report was titled The Wastelands of New York City.

Courtesy of the City Club of New York

1963

An urban planner, Chester Rapkin, offered a name that stuck  SoHo, for South of Houston  and, in a 1963 study, noted that, though rare, artists had begun living and working in some of the areas lofts. The city required that they hang placards over the doorways that gave their floor number next to the letters A.I.R., meaning artist in residence, so that the fire department would know they were there.

 Allan Tannenbaum/sohoblues.com

By the end of the 60s, artists like Donald Judd and James Rosenquist had set up large studios in the area. Other artists would soon follow.

Photo: Julie Finch. Art  2023 Frank Stella / ARS, N.Y.; John Chamberlain  2023 Fairweather & Fairweather LTD/ARS, N.Y.;  Claes Oldenburg. Courtesy Judd Foundation Archives

 2023 James Rosenquist Foundation/Licensed by ARS, N.Y. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Photo: Bob Adelman

1968

In 1968, a group called the SoHo Artists Association formed in order to help legalize loft living in manufacturing buildings.

John Dominis/The Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

In October of that year, a young art dealer named Paula Cooper (shown here in the loft of the painter Alan Shields) established SoHos first serious contemporary art gallery, at 96-100 Prince Street.

Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Alan Shields

The first exhibition, which included work by Judd, among other artists, was called Benefit for the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam.

Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

1971

Leo Castelli, arguably New Yorks most respected art dealer (below, during a studio visit with Rosenquist), who had long operated out of a townhouse on the Upper East Side, established a new location at 420 West Broadway in SoHo in a complex with three other uptown dealers: Andre Emmerich, Ileana Sonnabend and John Weber.

Sam Falk/The New York Times  2023 James Rosenquist Foundation/ARS, N.Y. Used by permission. All rights reserved

Their opening exhibition, featuring Sol LeWitt, is pictured below. The reputations of these dealers helped cement the neighborhood as the center of the New York art world, though SoHo remained, in some ways, sparse.

Fred W. McDarrah/MUUS Collection

There werent a lot of dinner options other than Fanelli Cafe on Prince Street, which dates back to 1922. So, also in 1971, three artists  Carol Goodden, Tina Girourard and Gordon Matta-Clark  helped to address this lack by opening Food, a menu for which is below. The art historian Sandra Zalman would describe Food as a restaurant, performance site and relational artwork.

Gordon Matta-Clarks Matta Bones dinner menu at Food Restaurant, New York City, New York, 1972  2023 Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark/ARS, N.Y. Photo: Cosmos Andrew Sarchiapone

1973

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated SoHo a historic district, paving the way for a gradual influx of the upper middle class. That year, Cooper moved her gallery to a larger space on Wooster Street.

Courtesy of the SoHo Memory Project

1974

A cover story in New York magazine declared SoHo the most exciting place to live in the city.

Image courtesy of the SoHo Memory Project. Cover courtesy of Vox Media, LLC

1975

Raouls, a French bistro that would quickly be patronized by artists and dealers, opened at 180 Prince Street, within the westward boundary of Sixth Avenue that some New Yorkers favor for the neighborhood. The Times would describe it in a 1980 review as cheery but expensive. The S on the logo for Raouls restaurant in SoHo has two lines through it that make it look like a dollar sign  very appropriate, the restaurant critic Moira Hodgson wrote.

Pepe Diniz

1980

There were more than 100 galleries in SoHo at the onset of the decade.

Parachute, a fashion label favored by Peter Gabriel and Mick Jagger, opened in a converted warehouse on Wooster, near Prince Street.

 Allan Tannenbaum/sohoblues.com

1983

The New Museum, New York Citys only museum concerned exclusively with contemporary art, according to The Times, opened in what the writer described as a permanent home in SoHo. The paper also reported around this time that parts of the neighborhood had grown into a large and lustrous shopping mall, with more boutiques, restaurants and retail. Gallery openings, like the 1982 Keith Haring show at Tony Shafrazi (below), became more decadent.

 Allan Tannenbaum/sohoblues.com

1985

The director Martin Scorsese filmed After Hours on location in the neighborhood, helping to mythologize the meeting of a moneyed yuppie culture with time on its hands and an insomniac world of artists lofts and all-night cafes.

Photofest

That year, six galleries  Brooke Alexander, Gruenebaum, Baskerville & Watson, Victoria Munroe, Witkin and the artists co-op the Phoenix Gallery  all moved from their longtime homes on West 57th Street to SoHo.

The New York Times

1991

Larry Gagosian, who by some accounts would inherit Castellis mantle as the citys most powerful dealer, opened a space on Wooster Street.

The following year, the Guggenheim Museum inaugurated a new outpost, called the Guggenheim SoHo, at 575 Broadway.

Photo: Lee B. Ewing  Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Before the first show at the Guggenheim SoHo was officially announced, The Village Voice reported about the controversy regarding the exhibitions supposed focus on four white male artists. Activist groups the Womens Action Coalition and the Guerilla Girls staged protests against what the latter referred to as the White Boys Museum.

Bill Cunningham for The New York Times

1996

Rents had risen drastically below Houston Street, thanks in part to the growing presence of retail, including the furniture and design store Moss and the streetwear brand Supreme. In 1996, the SoHo Grand Hotel opened on West Broadway (the Mercer would open the following year). Cooper and others began leaving for a less developed area in West Chelsea.

2001

Prada established its flagship store on the first floor of what had been the Guggenheim SoHos space. By the next year, the museum was gone from the neighborhood.

Michael Moran/OTTO

2004

Bloomingdales opened on lower Broadway. By 2007, the New Museum left its so-called permanent home for a new location on the Lower East Side. Many of the major galleries had relocated to other parts of the city. By this time, SoHo was known for its chain retailers and had turned into a popular tourist destination.

Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg 19+/Alamy Stock Photo

2023

During the Covid-19 pandemic, dozens of stores closed and for a time the area had the highest office vacancy rate in Manhattan, according to The Times. In May 2023, Hauser & Wirth, one of the largest galleries in the world, with New York City outposts in West Chelsea and on the Upper East Side, announced that it would be opening a new location in SoHo, on Wooster Street, down the block from where Food once was, next door to a former Adidas store, in what had once been a Gagosian gallery. Hauser & Wirths president, Marc Payot, told ARTnews magazine, We have a tendency to go to places where others dont go. The gallerys first show will go on view later this fall.

Image: Inca Architecture PLLC, Courtesy Hauser & Wirth
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How the Shutdown Holdouts Have Antagonized McCarthy Before

The Republicans Who Voted Against McCarthys Stopgap Measure Biggs Bishop Boebert Buck Burchett Burlison Cloud Crane Gaetz Gosar Greene Hunt Mace Miller Mills Mooney Moore Nehls Ogles Rosendale Self

Most of the House Republicans who voted against Kevin McCarthys stopgap spending bill Friday have been a thorn in his side since before he was elected speaker. They tend to cluster ideologically on the far-right end of the political spectrum. All 21 of them ultimately voted against the temporary spending patch that passed the House on Saturday night. That bill then passed the Senate and kept the government open.

About three-quarters of the 21 Republicans who voted against Mr. McCarthys temporary spending bill were supported by the campaign arm of the House Freedom Caucus during the 2022 midterms. Six members of the group are serving in Congress for the first time.

Eleven Opposed McCarthys Speaker Bid

Biggs Bishop Boebert Cloud Crane Gaetz Gosar Miller Ogles Rosendale Self Brecheen Clyde Donalds Good Harris Luna Norman Perry Roy

In January, 20 Republicans nearly derailed Mr. McCarthys ambitions to become speaker by voting against him multiple times. Eleven of them were among those who held out against his stopgap funding measure on Friday.

Mr. McCarthys five-day, 15-vote floor fight for speaker foreshadowed how hard it would be for him to corral Republican lawmakers to unify behind basic tasks like passing funding bills or raising the federal debt limit.

Notably, Representatives Wesley Hunt of Texas and Ken Buck of Colorado came back to Washington at Mr. McCarthys request to vote in his favor for speaker. And Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia aligned herself with Mr. McCarthy during the speaker fight and was ousted from the Freedom Caucus over the summer.

Eighteen Voted Against Suspending the Debt Ceiling

Biggs Bishop Buck Burchett Burlison Cloud Crane Gaetz Gosar Hunt Mace Miller Mills Mooney Moore Ogles Rosendale Self Alford Bost Brecheen Buchanan Cammack Carter Cline Clyde Collins DesJarlais Donalds Fallon Finstad Fischbach Fry Fulcher Gonzales Good Gooden Griffith Guest Hageman Harris Harshbarger Hern Higgins Jackson LaHood Lesko Luna Luttrell Mann Mast McCormick Moran Norman Palmer Perry Posey Rose Roy Santos Sessions Spartz Steube Strong Tiffany Timmons Van Drew Van Duyne Waltz Weber Zinke + 42 more

Those predictions came to fruition last spring, as the United States hurtled toward the deadline to raise the government borrowing limit or face default.

With far-right members of his caucus in revolt over suspending the debt ceiling, Mr. McCarthy was forced to negotiate a deal with President Biden, further enraging the already volatile faction.

One-third of the Republican House caucus ultimately opposed the debt deal, including 18 of the 21 members who blocked the temporary measure this week to fund the government. (Ms. Greene and Representative Troy Nehls of Texas voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling, while Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado did not vote.) In another blow to Mr. McCarthy, the bipartisan measure passed with more Democrats than Republicans.

Eight Brought the House to a Standstill in June

Biggs Bishop Boebert Buck Burchett Crane Gaetz Rosendale Good Norman Roy Scalise

The following week, about a dozen rabble-rousers ground the House to a halt by rejecting a procedural measure to set rules for legislative debate, usually a simple party-line vote. They did so to punish Mr. McCarthy for making a deal with Mr. Biden to suspend the debt limit. Eight of the members who refused to support the temporary measure to keep the government running were a part of this group.
A defendant facing charges of assault and false imprisonment will have his case heard in Longford Circuit Court.

Nathan Lynam (31) of Hollygrove, Killynon Cooke, Cloughan, Westmeath was before Judge Bernadette Owens in the District Court on two charges.

The court was told that the Book of Evidence was served on the defendant by Garda Glen Flanagan on the day of the court sitting.

Mr Lynham faces charges that on July 11 2022 at Apartment 25 Newcastle House, Ballymahon, Longford he committed an assault and on the same date and in the same location he falsely imprisoned a woman.

Solicitor Mark Cooney represented Mr Lynham at the District Court sitting. Judge Owens directed that the defendant be sent forward for trial on the two counts.

A Section 56 Order, which relates to the prosecution furnishing a copy of any recording of the questioning of the person by a member of the Garda Siochana to the defence, was made by Judge Owens.

The judge issued the defendant with an alibi warning and directed that the defendant be remanded on bail on his own bond of 200 on conditions previously set out. Mr Lynham was granted legal aid to cover his solicitor and two counsels at the Circuit Court sitting.
Here, even at the funeral, the murderers are present. The criminals who killed Oscar Ernesto, Diego, Jorge Alberto, Hector Alejandro, Gumaro and Jesus Manuel. The men who abandoned their tortured bodies on a mountain in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. They are here, in the Malpaso cemetery, camouflaged among distraught mothers and families destroyed by loss. The bad guys are here: the armed men, the cartels, the drug traffickers. They are here to send a clear message: that they are the law. They are the invisible hand that dictates, suffocates, terrifies, executes. Their twisted logic tells them that theres no peace for the victims, even on the day of their burial. It doesnt matter if those killed were 18, 17, 16, 15 and 14-years-old  it doesnt matter that they were only boys.

The community of Malpaso cries out with anger. Still, the residents are fearful, due to the presence of hawks  informants sent by the criminal organizations. These spies are a reminder that words can be dangerous Everyone is listening. The cartels have sent their hawks  disguised as ordinary mourners  to monitor and take note of those who talk too much. This past Thursday, they hung around the teenagers coffins, saying that its not fair, that the kids didnt get into trouble, they never hurt anyone.

Tears mix with sweat in the cemetery. Women hold umbrellas to protect themselves from a violent sun that burns their skin. The dust sticks to the mourners clothes, while the gravediggers remove the earth that will soon cover 17-year-old Diego Rodriguez Vidales. The crowd surrounds his mother, who, defeated, throws herself over the coffin, sobbing out broken and incomprehensible words. A young woman  perhaps Diegos sister  faints. The grandmother howls again and again: Oh, my little Dieguito! The television cameras record an orchestra that sings religious songs, although even the music fails to drown out the hoarse cries and low moans. The same scene will be repeated minutes later, at the grave of 15-year-old Oscar Ernesto Rojas Alvarado. Even if the trumpets dont play sad ballads, the music sounds devastating.

Relatives of Oscar Ernesto Rojas Alvarado during his funeral procession. Nayeli Cruz

Theres a nervous-looking man in a corner of the cemetery. Hes a relative of one of the murdered boys. He constantly looks to each side and asks reporters to put away their cameras and notebooks. He only agrees to speak with EL PAIS if his name doesnt appear  the same condition made by almost all other interviewees. The fear in the air is palpable, sticking to the skin as easily as the dust or sun.

Malpaso is a war zone, he laments. When night falls, theres an order not to leave your home  there are no police. He explains that, here, the government consists of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which is waging an eternal war with the Sinaloa Cartel for control of the state, a key artery in drug-trafficking to the United States.

Today, the cartels are nervous. Theres too much exposure, too many people. If so much press [hadnt come to the funeral], they would have carried out a massacre. After this, comes hell.

This past Sunday, early in the morning, a group of armed men broke into a ranch in Malpaso and kidnapped seven teenagers. They sent videos to their families, in which the young people are seen being marched, barefoot, through the mountains. Six of them were ultimately murdered, their bodies dumped on a hill near La Soledad  a community just three miles from the place where they were kidnapped. Only one of the teens survived, Sergio Yobani Acevedo Rodriguez, 18, who was admitted to a hospital for head injuries. One of his relatives  also on the condition of anonymity  assures EL PAIS that the boy doesnt remember what happened. He has after-effects, he wakes up saying: Dont hit me anymore, I havent done anything wrong. There are no words to explain to you the condition they found him in.

The rest of the teenagers were held in wake this past Thursday in different parts of Zacatecas. The funerals of Oscar Ernesto and Diego have been the most crowded; the others have been held in private. The residents of Malpaso have come in trickles, until they fill a municipal hall thats serving as a chapel. The two coffins rest in the middle, with framed photos of the boys, surrounded by candles and wreaths of flowers.

The funeral of Oscar Ernesto Rojas Alvarado. Nayeli Cruz

Their stories  even before the kidnapping  were marked by violence and poverty. Oscar Ernestos father murdered his mother. The boy found her when she was still alive, with a knife in her neck. He was only 12-years-old. Imagine seeing your mother in a pool of blood. It was suffering for him, he was damaged, he needed help and he didnt get it. He didnt deserve to die like this, he didnt mess with anyone, they shouldnt have killed him like that, he suffered so much since he lost his mother, his aunt cries. Maria de la Luz Caldera and other family members had been caring for the teenager since his mother was murdered.

He wasnt aggressive, he just hung out with his friends. These armed people arrived and took them away barefoot, they sent us videos to show us how they tortured them. We want security here in Malpaso. If he had been the son of the governor or the president, they would have even sent drones [to look for him], the woman adds. [The cartels] come here very often. Theyve taken so many little boys who have never been heard from again. Were already afraid  after a certain hour, everyone locks themselves in. We cannot go outside because theyre here.

Another relative tells similar horror stories: how, in recent months, the disappearances of young people in the community have multiplied. Usually one [youth is kidnapped] at a time. There have never been so many abducted at once. He has no doubt that the one they left alive (Sergio Yobani) was meant to pass along the message. The kidnappers wanted him to tell everyone what they did to his friends, so that the rest of the town would know what kind of brutality the cartels are capable of. Surviving, the relative sighs, is a matter of luck. Life in Malpaso is very similar to a chronic illness.

During the funeral hours, only one police patrol passes by, despite the fact that the government has announced a large security deployment. Silence reigns in the room. Suddenly, a womans voice begins to sing a religious song, which has a somewhat comforting effect on the collective mood.

The heat increases. The stray dogs and the flies arrive. At 2:30 p.m., men load the coffins into two hearses. The band plays the first song, the cameras roll. A mother shouts, her face swollen: Theyre recording this now, but before, not one of our boys was worth anything, not one! The procession moves towards the church, where a mass is celebrated in honor of the young people. The soldiers are only seen at the end, guarding the entrance to the cemetery. It doesnt matter much  its not like anyone was expecting them.

Tomorrow, the press will be gone too. Malpaso will, once again, be left alone with the executioners and the dead.

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Caught On Camera: Man Crushed To Death In Bengaluru After Intense Car Chase On Busy Road

Karnataka Bandh Impact: Rs 400 Crore Tax Loss, Businesses Bear The Brunt

Bengaluru

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The Karnataka bandh, prompted by the Cauvery water dispute, resulted in a substantial tax loss of Rs 400 crore for both the state and the Central government in a single day. Various pro-Kannada groups organized the bandh to demand the state's withholding of Cauvery water from Tamil Nadu.

Bengaluru experienced three bandhs within a span of 20 days, causing the shutdown of shops and businesses. The private transport association staged a bandh on September 11, effectively paralyzing Bengaluru.

The second bandh was initiated by certain pro-farmer groups, demanding the cessation of water release to Tamil Nadu. Subsequently, pro-Kannada groups also enforced a bandh on Friday, disrupting regular life over the same issue.

Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, the president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), disclosed that the state incurred a tax loss of Rs 400 crore on Friday alone.

"Approximately 80% of traders and businesses supported the bandh organized by various groups. Karnataka's tax revenue suffered a loss of Rs 400 crore. We urge the state government to engage in a dialogue to resolve the water dispute, which might lead to a solution," Lahoti expressed.

Karnataka Bandh: Roads Between Tamil Nadu And Karnataka Barricaded, Flights Cancelled| Details Inside

Industry experts indicated that the September 26 bandh in Bengaluru caused losses of at least Rs 250 crore across various sectors.

In light of the bandh on Friday, it is estimated that over 10,000 hotels throughout Karnataka collectively suffered losses ranging from Rs 150-160 crore, with an estimated loss of up to Rs 60 crore in Bengaluru alone.

The excise industry reportedly faced a loss of Rs 180-200 crore due to the bandhs observed on Tuesday and Friday.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 13:29 [IST]
'No Link Between My Film And The Issue': Actor Siddharth Disappointed After 'Chithha' Event Disrupted

Bengaluru

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Actor Siddharth faced disruption during his movie 'Chiththa' promotion event in Bengaluru, allegedly at the hands of a pro-Kannada group, resulting in the event's cancellation. Expressing his disappointment, Siddharth said that his film has no connection to the ongoing Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and the cancellation caused significant financial loss to the film's producers.

Siddharth explained as quoted by Indian Express, "In Bengaluru, an incident occurred. This was the first time I, as a producer, screened my film to a pre-release audience. The film was shown to the media in Chennai and Kochi, and a similar screening was planned in Bengaluru. We also intended to showcase the film to about 2,000 students before its release, a unique initiative. There was also a plan to screen the film for Kannada stars that night. But everything was cancelled by us as a mark of respect to the bandh. We incurred a huge loss, but beyond that, it was disappointing that we couldn't share a good film with people there"

He continued, "The press was supposed to watch the film after the interaction, but you all saw what happened.It happened in front of many cameras., and I prefer not to discuss it. At a time when the film is receiving a positive response, I don't want to divert attention from it.There's no relation between my film and the issue. I believe my social responsibility will show up in the films I make spending my money."

EXCLUSIVE: Angry Protesters Force Actor Siddharth To Leave Press Conference Of Tamil Movie 'Chiththa'

For those unfamiliar with the situation, Siddharth was promoting his upcoming movie 'Chithha' in Bengaluru on September 28 when an alleged pro-Kannada group disrupted the event, citing the ongoing Cauvery water dispute as a reason for its cancellation. The activists had advised Siddharth that it was not an appropriate time to promote his film due to Karnataka's conflict with Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery water issue. Later, Siddharth had to exit the press conference without addressing the media about his film.

Regarding Siddharth's film 'Chithha' or 'Chikku,' it is directed by SU Arun Kumar and is described as an intense family drama. The movie revolves around a man's relentless quest to find his missing niece, with Siddharth not only playing the lead role but also serving as the film's producer.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 10:31 [IST]
Bhopal: Why Rs 5.5 Crore Hydraulic Ladder Was Not Used To Douse Fire At Satpura Bhawan?

Bhopal Air Show: IAF Pilots Put On Display Their Jaguar, Chinook Skills On 91st Anniversary

India

oi-Stuti Tripathi

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is putting on a dazzling display of its fighter jets over Bhojtal Lake in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, in celebration of the 91st anniversary of its establishment. The IAF officially came into existence on October 8, 1932, and its very first aircraft took flight on April 1, 1933, with six RAF-trained officers and 19 Havai Sepoys (air soldiers).

To mark this foundation day, the IAF is showcasing its strength with an impressive aerial demonstration of fighter jets in Bhopal. The visuals, captured by ANI and PTI, depict aircraft performing breathtaking maneuvers in various formations, leaving spectators in awe.

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh: Visuals of Shamsher formation by Jaguar aircraft over Bhojtal Lake in Bhopal.



(Source: Indian Air Force) pic.twitter.com/bEOhUOdNDC  ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2023

Adding to the excitement, CH-47F (I) Chinook helicopters from the Indian Air Force are delivering thrilling aerobatic performances, highlighting the nation's capabilities. The celebrations commenced a week prior with an Air Display near Bhojtal Lake.

Bangladeshi Man Tries To Kiss Air Hostess On Board Muscat-Dhaka Flight; Arrested

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh: Visuals of CH-47F (I) Chinook helicopters of IAF in a 'Namaste Manoeuvre' over Bhojtal Lake in Bhopal.



(Source: Indian Air Force) pic.twitter.com/6q8Tb1Fa3r  ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2023

On October 8, in line with the tradition of holding Air Force Day celebrations in different regions of the country, the Indian Air Force will conduct the Air Force Day parade and Air Display in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. According to an official release from the Ministry of Defence, the ceremonial parade will be held at Air Force Station Bamrauli, while the Air Display will take place over the Sangam area, near the Ordnance Depot (OD) Fort in Prayagraj. The scenic surroundings will enhance the visual spectacle of aircraft flying in close formation, further enhancing the event's charm.

(With inputs from ANI)

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 13:42 [IST]
Chhattisgarh: Change Is Finalised, Says PM Modi At Parivartan Rally In Bilaspur

India

oi-Sushmita Halder

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'Parivartan Maha Sankalp' rally in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur. PM Modi has visited the Congress-governed state for the third time in the past three months, with assembly elections scheduled to take place later in the year.

"During the Congress rule, Rs. 300 crores were allocated for the railways. But this year, the BJP has given Rs. 6000 crores for development in the state. This is the 'Modi Model', this is my love for Chhattisgarh. This is my commitment to Chhattisgarh's development. We are trying to electrify the railway tracks as soon as possible. The BJP gave modern Vande Bharat train to Chhattisgarh," PM Modi said while addressing the rally.

Further emphasising on the Women's Reservation Bill, the Prime Minister said, "I fulfilled one more guarantee that I had given. Now in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, 33% of seats would be reserved for women. Under BJP's rule, Nari Shakti Adhiniyam is a reality. This was pending for 30 years. Congress and its allies are full of anger. They think that all women will shower blessings on Modi only."

Prior to the Prime Minister's arrival, a substantial security network had been established at the event location by law enforcement. Personnel totalling 1,500 from the police, Special Protection Group (SPG), Chhattisgarh Armed Force, National Security Guard, and Home Guard have been deployed.

Police officials have designated a 3-kilometre area of the city as a No-fly zone," with anti-drone guns set up in the same region.

Reportedly, the BJP's initial Parivartan Yatra began in Dantewada, south Chhattisgarh, on September 12, and the subsequent one commenced in Jashpur, north Chhattisgarh, on September 15.

PM Modi to Inaugurate New Railway Line, Train Service, And Greenfield Highways In Telangana

According to state BJP chief Arun Sao, The two Yatras featured 83 'Swagat Sabhas' or welcome gatherings, with four roadshows and multiple public meetings, and finished at Bilaspur after traversing over 3,000 km across 87 out of 90 assembly sections.

The journey did not encompass the Bijapur, Sukma, and Antagarh constituencies, all impacted by the Maoist conflict. However, residents from these areas participated in the event as it progressed through neighbouring constituencies.

Sao asserted that the two Yatras, with about five million attendees, have intensified the demand for change. He said that this will lead to the Congress party's removal from power in the forthcoming elections.

The BJP has disclosed its initial list of 21 candidates earlier in August. Following a meeting by the party's Central Election Committee in Delhi, they are expected to reveal their second list in the forthcoming days.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 17:30 [IST]
My daughter Shraddha would have been alive, want death penalty for Aftab says father

Father Of Ujjain Rape Accused Demands Death Penalty, Expresses Regret

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The father of the man arrested for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl in Ujjain on Friday has demanded the ultimate penalty, while the local bar association has made an appeal that no lawyer should represent him in court. Meanwhile, the opposition Congress continues to direct its criticism towards the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh concerning the incident, raising questions about the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Bharat Soni, an auto-rickshaw driver, was apprehended in connection with the case on Thursday.

"It is a disgraceful act. I have neither visited the hospital to see him, nor will I go to the police station or court. My son has committed a crime, and, therefore, he should face the death penalty," his father told the press.

Ashok Yadav, President of the Ujjain Bar Council, expressed concern that the incident had tarnished the reputation of the temple city.

Ujjain Police Officer Offers Treatment, Education To Rape Survivor

"We urge our members not to represent the accused in this case," he emphasized.

Bharat Soni was taken into custody three days after a young girl, approximately 12 years old, was discovered wandering the city streets in an injured state. Medical examinations confirmed that she had been subjected to sexual assault.

Soni sustained injuries when he purportedly attempted to flee while being escorted to the crime scene for investigation, as reported by the police on Thursday. The girl is presently receiving treatment at the Government Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar Women's Hospital in Indore, where she underwent major surgery on Wednesday.

During counseling sessions, it was ascertained that she hails from Satna district in Madhya Pradesh. However, she could not provide her name or address accurately.

The police had mentioned that a missing person report for a girl of similar age had been filed in Satna, but further confirmation was required to establish if the rape victim was indeed the same girl.

The Congress party has strongly criticised the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, especially as assembly elections are anticipated by year-end.

Ujjain Rape Case: Mahakal Police Station To Adopt The Rape Victim| Details

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate accused Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of failing to address the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the state. She claimed that in Madhya Pradesh, being a Dalit, tribal, or a woman has become akin to a sin. Additionally, she highlighted the state's high number of cases involving the rape of minors and kidnappings, criticizing the silence of prominent leaders in the BJP, including the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, the Congress General Secretary overseeing Madhya Pradesh, stated that the assault on this "Dalit girl" was even more brutal than the infamous Nirbhaya case. Surjewala also visited the Holkar Women's Hospital in Indore.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 16:19 [IST]
Governments Will Have To Talk To Each Other And See How They Take It Forward: Jaishankar On India-Canada Row

India

oi-PTI

The governments of India and Canada will have to talk to each other and see how they resolve their differences over the death of a Khalistani separatist, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, asserting that the larger issue of ''permissiveness'' must be flagged and addressed.

During an interaction with Indian journalists here on Friday, he said India was ready to look into the information related to Canada's allegations of the ''potential'' involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

"The issue is as follows, which is that the Canadians have made some allegations. We have pointed out to them that this is not the government of India's policy, but if they are prepared to share with us specifics and anything relevant, we are also open to looking at it. So in that sense, that's where the matter stands," Jaishankar said.

"But what we do not want to see is an incident treated in isolation because then that somewhere does not convey the right picture,'' he said.

Canada Issue Discussed With Blinken, Says Jaishankar

Jaishankar said India has had an ongoing problem with Canada and its government for some years now, and the problem really revolves around the ''permissiveness in regard to terrorism, extremism and ballots," he said.

"This permissiveness is also reflected in the fact that some important extradition requests have not been responded to from their side in the fact that there are individuals and organisations who are clearly involved with violence and illegal activities in India who themselves declared it. I mean it is not a secret and that they continue to carry on with their activities in Canada," he said.

Jaishankar said one of the problems is no incident is isolated and the totality as there is a context for everything.

''There are multiple problems out there. So, I guess in the case of individual incidents, the concerned governments will have to talk to each other and see how they sort of take it forward," he said.

"But there is a larger issue. And I think it's important that the larger issue should be flagged. The larger issue is this permissiveness that I have spoken about,'' he said.

He said he discussed the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

"Most important, the fact that our diplomatic missions and our diplomatic personnel have been consistently and continuously intimidated in Canada to a point where today it is not safe for them really to carry on with their work.

Jaishankar, Blinken Discuss Global Developments Amid India-Canada Diplomatic Row

''Obviously the fact that we've had to temporarily suspend our visa operations, it's not something we would've liked to do. It is just that they made it very difficult for us to operate those services," Jaishankar said.

Earlier in the day, Blinken told reporters he hoped that this issue would be resolved by Canada and India.

Tensions flared between India and Canada following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of the ''potential'' involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar on his country's soil. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India angrily rejected the allegations as ''absurd'' and ''motivated'' and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

"We are very concerned about the allegations that have been raised by Canada, by Prime Minister Trudeau. We have been in close contact with Canada about that. And at the same time, we have engaged with the Indian government and urged them to work with Canada on an investigation, and I had the opportunity to do so again in my meeting yesterday with Foreign Minister Jaishankar," Blinken said.

"Those responsible need to be held accountable, and we hope that our friends in both Canada and India will work together to resolve this matter," he said.

When asked if there is a deadlock between India and Canada on resolving the issue, Jaishankar said: "I don't know if I would use the term deadlock." He said India's point is that there is today a climate of violence and an atmosphere of intimidation.

"Just think about it. We've had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We've had our consulates, violence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people," he said.

"So tell me, do you consider this normal? Would, I mean for a moment, okay, this is about us. If this had happened to any other country, how would they react to it? I think it's a reasonable question to ask. Let's not normalise what is happening in Canada. What is happening in Canada, had it happened anywhere else, do you think the world would've taken it with equanimity?" he asked.

Jaishankar said it is necessary to call out what is happening in Canada.

Pro-Khalistani Elements In Canada Lure Sikh Youth By Sponsoring Their Visa: Sources

He also asserted that it was not acceptable to make threats and intimidate diplomats in the name of freedom of speech.

"We don't need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about. But we can tell people this. We don't think freedom of speech extends to incitement, to violence. That to us is a misuse of freedom. It's not a defense of freedom. I always ask people one question, how would you react if you were in my shoes? If it was your diplomats, your embassies, your people, what would be your reaction?" he asked.

Jaishankar said if there is a requirement for India to look at something, the country is open to it.

He said a lot of Americans are astonished if they are told what most Indians know that there are people in Canada who are advocating violence and separatism.

"I suspect very few Americans notice. So in a way, a lot of what I said at the meetings I think was new to the Americans. When Americans look at Canada, they see something. When we in India, look at Canada, we see something else.

''And that's part of the problem. So it's also important that we talk it out with the Americans. After all, they are very close to Canada. They are good friends of ours," he said.

"So it's important that they also have an accurate picture, that they have our point of view on this matter as well. I'm not pre-judging issues. I'm not taking absolutist positions. What we have taken is a very reasonable stance,'' he added.

Jaishankar said the entire debate should not focus only on issue one and not on issue two and the bigger picture, which has been going on for some time and which is a very serious picture.

"After all, I was thinking back when was the last time that any of our missions was intimidated to a point where it could not continue with its normal function? I will really have to think back. And if someone says this could happen in a G-7 country, in a commonwealth country, it gives you a lot to think about," Jaishankar said.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 9:49 [IST]
Himachal CM Sukhu Allocates Rs 4,500 Crore For Rain Affected People

India

pti-PTI

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday announced a special package of Rs 4,500 crore, including Rs 1,000 crore under MGNREGA, to aid people affected by rain-related disasters during the July 7 to September 30 period.

Of the total package, Rs 3,500 crore is for disaster-affected people and Rs 1,000 crore is to be used under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for the construction of retaining walls.

Sukhu said aid from the special package will be given irrespective of income limit to all affected people whose houses, agricultural or any other types of land or crops have been damaged.

The chief minister said 3,500 houses were completely destroyed and 13,000 partially damaged during the period and that his government has so far spent Rs 1,850 crore from its own funds for temporary restoration of services and Rs 1,051 crore would be released soon.

Relief to people whose houses have been completely destroyed has been increased by the state government to Rs 7 lakh, irrespective of whether they were kutcha or pucca houses, he said, adding that free electricity and water connections are also being provided in addition to cement at government rates. The relief for partially damaged houses has been increased from Rs 4,000 to Rs 1 lakh, shops and dhabas from Rs 6,500 to Rs 1 lakh and for cowsheds from Rs 3,000 to Rs 50,000, the chief minister told news persons.

Aid for loss of agriculture and horticulture crops has been increased from Rs 3,615 per hectare (12.5 bigha) to Rs 10,000 per Bigha, he said. People whose lands have been washed away or rendered unfit for construction will be allotted 135 square yards of land in rural areas and 90 square yards in urban areas, Sukhu said, adding that people whose belongings have been completely destroyed would get Rs 50,000 as relief instead of Rs 2,500.

The chief minister also accused the BJP in Himachal Pradesh of playing politics during the calamity. He said the party did not support the government resolution seeking to declare the calamity as a national disaster and announce a special relief package of Rs 12,000 crore. Sukhu added that except for funds under disaster management, no additional relief from the Centre has been received so far. The Himachal chief minister said his government had announced special packages to disaster-hit people on its own in spite of a financial crunch.

On August 18, the chief minister declared the massive damage caused by heavy rains as a state calamity. The Himachal Pradesh assembly on September 20 adopted a resolution by voice vote, urging the Union government to declare the recent calamity in the state as a national disaster and announce a special relief package of Rs 12,000 crore. More than 290 people died in rain-related incidents since the onset of the monsoon on June 24, and as many as 168 landslides and 72 flash flood incidents were reported.
Approximately 154,000 rooms will be operating in Dubai's hospitality sector by the end of 2023, marking a substantial 6.4% increase from 2022, leading global real estate consultancy firm, Knight Frank, reports.

The UAE's dynamic hospitality sector is expected to add 9,200 rooms by the end of 2023 with an additional 24,500 rooms in various stages of development, further solidifying the city's global leadership in the hospitality sector. The UAE currently has a supply of 207,200 rooms.

Faisal Durrani, Partner  Head of Research, MENA, explained: The UAEs hotel inventory continues to expand, helping to support cities 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%.

Leading industry giants are driving this growth, with Accor securing the top spot, offering 71,820 rooms currently and 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.

Turab Saleem, Partner, Head of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Advisory, says: 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.

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%, it said. - TradeArabia News Service
Mexicos president on Friday slammed U.S. aid for Ukraine and economic sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and other nations as the first of two high-level U.S.-Mexico meetings got underway in Washington.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador issued a broad criticism of U.S. foreign policy, saying U.S. economic sanctions were forcing people to emigrate from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

The harsh comments came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai met their Mexican counterparts at the State Department. None of the officials, including Mexican Foreign Secretary Alicia Barcena and Secretary of Economy Raquel Buenrostro, addressed or were asked about Lopez Obradors comments.

Instead they concentrated on expanded trade and economic ties, hailing new cooperation on those fronts, and stressed their commitment to fight the surge of synthetic opioids like fentanyl into the U.S. from Mexico.

By creating the right incentives and business environments and harnessing our two nations respective strengths, we have a tremendous opportunity to make North America the most competitive, the most productive, the most dynamic region in the world, Blinken said.

Were continuing to strengthen, to expand, and diversify supply chains in emerging industries like electric vehicles and semiconductors, he said, noting that the U.S. and Mexico are launching a new initiative to produce semiconductors.

Although Fridays talks focused on commerce issues, Blinken will lead a U.S. delegation to Mexico next week with Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that will focus on border security and migration.

The State Department said in a statement that Blinken would be meeting Lopez Obrador during the Oct. 4-5 trip.

Experts say economic mismanagement and political repression are largely to blame for the tide of migrants leaving Venezuela and Cuba.

Lopez Obrador said the United States should spend some of the money sent to Ukraine on economic development in Latin America.

They (the U.S.) dont do anything, he said. Its more, a lot more, what they authorize for the war in Ukraine than what they give to help with poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean.

He called for a U.S. program to remove blockades and stop harassing independent and free countries, an integrated plan for cooperation so the Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Ecuadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans wouldnt be forced to emigrate.

There has been a surge in Venezuelan migrants moving through Mexico in recent weeks in a bid to reach the U.S. border. Many of the migrants say deteriorating economic and political conditions in their home country led them to make the journey.

Mexico has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine but has adopted a policy of neutrality and has refused to participate in sanctions. Mexico also continues to buy 2020-vintage COVID-19 vaccines from Russia and Cuba.

The Mexican president laughed off an effort by U.S. Republican lawmakers to cut the tiny amount of foreign aid the U.S. gives to Mexico. Lopez Obrador estimated it involved $40 or $50 million, calling it ridiculous.

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IND vs SL: How have India and Sri Lanka fared against each other in World Cups? Players to watch out for

India Raises Concerns With UK Over Entry Denial Of Envoy Into Scotland Gurudwara

India

oi-Stuti Tripathi

India has formally raised concerns with the United Kingdom's foreign office and the local police regarding an incident in which its High Commissioner, Vikram Doraiswami, was prevented from entering a gurdwara in Scotland, according to government sources as reported by ANI.

The sources said, "Doraiswami was on Friday stopped by a few radicals from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow. The Indian High Commissioner decided to leave instead of getting into an argument,"

A purported video posted on the Instagram channel of 'Sikh Youth UK' showed a man, allegedly a pro-Khalistani activist, obstructing Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow gurdwara located on Albert Drive.

This incident comes amidst a diplomatic dispute between India and Canada concerning the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly condemned the incident. BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa emphasized that gurdwaras are open to individuals from all religions and communities, and Sikhs are known for their commitment to humanity.

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Canada vs India: Indian envoy stopped from entering Scotland gurdwara by activists | Oneindia News

"I strongly condemn this (that Vikram Doraiswami was allegedly stopped from entering a gurdwara in Scotland). Anyone from any religion or community can come here (gurdwara). We are not that religion that believes in violence instead we are among those who are saviours of humanity. Sikhs are the saviours. PM Modi has praised the work of our community. Sikhs are represented everywhere in the world. The safest place for the Sikhs in the world is in India...," said BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa as quoted by ANI.

Indian Envoy To UK Stopped From Entering Scotland Gurudwara Amid India-Canada Tensions

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has also criticized the incident, stating that the UK Envoy should not have been prevented from entering the gurdwara underscoring that gurdwaras welcome people of all religions.

In the purported video posted by 'Sikh Youth UK' on social media, a protestor is heard saying, "They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow."

A pro-Khalistani activist talked about the incident and said, "I don't think the gurdwara committee is too happy about what happened. But Indian officials are not welcome in any gurdwara in the UK,"..." We are fed up with the UK-India collusion. The recent tensions since Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing have led to British Sikhs being targeted. This is to do with Avtar Singh Khanda and Jagtar Singh Johal too" as reported by India Today

In a related development, Avtar Singh Khanda, the UK-based chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and the primary handler of Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh, passed away in a hospital in Birmingham in June. He had aided Amritpal Singh in evading the police for 37 days in Punjab earlier this year.

On the other hand, Jagtar Singh Johal has been detained in Tihar jail in Delhi since 2017 over his alleged involvement with pro-Khalistani terror groups, as per a report in India Today.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who visited India for the G20 Summit in Delhi earlier this September said, "Let me just say unequivocally that no form of extremism or violence like that is acceptable in the UK," when questioned about the Khalistan issue. He also asserted that the UK is working with the Indian government to handle the pro-Khalistani extremism.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 14:59 [IST]
Governments Will Have To Talk To Each Other And See How They Take It Forward: Jaishankar On India-Canada Row

India's Relations With Russia 'Steady': Jaishankar

India

oi-PTI

India's relations with Russia may not be "spectacular" but the two countries have a "steady" relationship, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday while predicting that Moscow will focus more on Asia as its ties with the West have "broken up".

Jaishankar said this in response to a question during his appearance at the prestigious Hudson Institute think-tank when asked about India's relations with Russia amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Asserting that every major international relationship in the last 70 years has seen great volatility, the minister pointed out that the relationship between New Delhi and Moscow has largely been stable.

"India, Russia are very exceptional. It's been very steady. It may not be spectacular. So, it may have stabilised at a certain level," he said.

Governments Will Have To Talk To Each Other And See How They Take It Forward: Jaishankar On India-Canada Row

Commenting on Russia's ties with the world due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Jaishankar said, "I think as a consequence of what is going on in Ukraine, it seems to be clear that in many ways Russia's relationship with the West has broken up and in that case, it's logical that Russia focuses more on the Asian side of Russia, though historically Russia has always seen itself as a European power."

"I would predict Russia, which would consciously focus on the non-western world, away from Europe, away from the United States, and look much more at Asia, possibly at other regions as well, but Asia is economically the most active," he added.

He added that a "reinvention" of Russia is happening as a consequence of what is happening in Ukraine.

Turning to Indo-US relations, Jaishnakar said that there is a powerful case for the two countries to work together.

"At the biggest picture level, I would say there's a very powerful case, really for India and the US to work together. So, if you look even within our systems, historically, it was actually our national security side which had the greatest suspicion of reservations about each other. Today it is the national security side, which is the most enthusiastic about greater bilateral cooperation," he said.

Responding to a question on alleged discrimination against minorities in India and criticism from some American politicians, Jaishankar said, "I know many of them have strong views, often electorally-driven, sometimes culturally driven. All of that so I'm a little hesitant to address specific examples. So, as broad propositions, all I can say where India is concerned is that the underlying culture of India is deeply pluralistic."

"In every society in the world, at some point, there's been some discrimination on some basis. So, if you look at India today, it's a society today where there's a tremendous change taking place," the minister said.

The biggest change happening today in India is the creation of a social welfare system in a society which has less than USD 3,000 per capita income. Nobody's done that in the world before, he said.

"Now when you look at the benefits of that, look at housing, look at health, look at food, look at finance, educational access and health access. I defy you to show me discrimination," Jaishankar said.

Canada Issue Discussed With Blinken, Says Jaishankar

Jaishankar is currently on a five-day official trip to Washington DC.

He met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken State Department on Thursday, which was the highest-level interaction between the two countries after the recent G-20 Summit in New Delhi when President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met.

Jaishankar arrived here from New York on Wednesday after addressing the 78th General Assembly session of the United Nations on Tuesday.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 9:57 [IST]
Governments Will Have To Talk To Each Other And See How They Take It Forward: Jaishankar On India-Canada Row

Jaishankar meets US Defence Secretary , Commerce Secretary; Discusses Bilateral, Regional And Global Issues

India

oi-PTI

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met US Defence Secretary Loyd Austin and held a productive conversation with him on deepening bilateral defence cooperation, including in the co-production of defence articles, and exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues.

He also met Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. After his meeting with Austin at the Pentagon on Friday, Jaishankar posted on X, "Productive conversation on our bilateral defence cooperation. Useful exchange on global security challenges. "I was glad to host Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at the Pentagon today to discuss US-India cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region," Austin said.

The Pentagon said the two officials exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues, including recent developments in East Asia and the Indian Ocean region.

"Austin and Jaishankar discussed opportunities to deepen bilateral defence cooperation, including expanded defence industrial cooperation and co-production of defence articles; streamlined logistics procedures to enhance operational cooperation; and continued implementation of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X)," said Pentagon's Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.

India's Relations With Russia 'Steady': Jaishankar

In the meeting with the Commerce Secretary, they appreciated the significant progress in technology collaboration and economic partnership this year. "Agreed to enhance their momentum," Jaishankar said.

A day earlier, he had meetings with National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He also interacted with the business community over luncheon: on Thursday with the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum and with the US India Business Council (USIBC) on Friday. ''A stimulating meeting today with the US defence industry at @USIBC. Discussed how strategic convergence, technology collaboration and easier-to-do business are coming together to transform our defence partnership,'' Jaishankar posted on X.

He also had a chance to meet members of the US Congress and think-tank representatives here.

"This year, of course, I think, the big event is still in a sense the determining context is our prime minister's visit (in June). A lot of what we've been doing since then has been to realise the various agreements and understandings that were reached," Jaishankar told Indian reporters at a meeting at the Indian Embassy here.

"A lot of our discussions were in stock-taking to assess the progress to see what is it we should be doing more or where is it that has not been the progress matching expectations. We hope now to take that entire process forward into the 2+2 meeting, which will take place a few weeks from now," he said. "We look forward to welcoming secretaries Blinken and Austin to India," he added.

In a statement, USTR said that Tai and Jaishankar took stock of recent developments and positive momentum in the US-India trade relationship following the resolution of seven long-standing disputes at the World Trade Organisation and India's reduction of tariffs on certain US products. "They also discussed their interest in working more constructively on the broader WTO agenda, including reforming the organisation to serve the needs of all people," said the statement. "Tai and Jaishankar shared views on India's important role in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as well as potential sectors for further collaboration on supply chain resilience, including critical minerals," USTR said.

Governments Will Have To Talk To Each Other And See How They Take It Forward: Jaishankar On India-Canada Row

The two leaders agreed to remain in contact on these and other issues as the respective teams continue planning the next meeting of the US-India Trade Policy Forum, it said.

On Saturday, Jaishankar is scheduled to have interaction with eminent Indian Americans from across the country at the India House.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 11:39 [IST]
INDIA Bloc to Discuss Ladakh Parliamentary Seat Sharing in Upcoming Elections: Omar Abdullah

The National Conference and Congress are set to discuss who will fight for the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat during their talks on a seat-sharing arrangement for next year's general elections. The discussion comes after the recent LAHDC-Kargil election, with NC Vice-President Omar Abdullah stating that his party is firmly with the opposition alliance.

India

-Krishna Kripa

first public meeting after the abrogation of Article 370 and he was not allowed to move without security. He accused the BJP of trying to create a divide in Ladakh on religious lines.

The issue of who will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha seat from Ladakh has become a topic of intense discussion within the INDIA bloc, according to National Conference Vice-President Omar Abdullah. The decision is expected to be made during discussions about seat-sharing arrangements ahead of next year's general elections. Speaking at a campaign event in Kargil on Saturday, Abdullah emphasized that his party remains committed to its alliance with the opposition.

When asked about possible pre-poll alliances between National Conference and Congress following recent developments in Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil election, Abdullah responded by highlighting that there are currently no assembly seats available. Therefore, any potential alliance would have to focus primarily on securing this Lok Sabha seat for their coalition. "We are part of the INDIA alliance," he stated unequivocally. "When there will be talk of seat sharing, definitely this Ladakh parliamentary seat will come up for discussion."

National Conference Supports Opposition Alliance

Omar Abdullah is currently campaigning in Kargil as part of a two-day effort supporting NC candidates running in LAHDC-Kargil election slated for October 4th. His party is fighting this election alongside Congress as part of their ongoing political partnership.

Previous Election Losses and Security Concerns

In his remarks, Abdullah also touched upon previous electoral losses suffered by his party despite their support for Congress during 2019 parliamentary elections which resulted in BJP winning the contested seat from Jammu and Kashmir where he once served as chief minister.

Moreover, he alleged that authorities forced him to leave behind his security detail at Zero Point while en route to Kargil and Drass for the public meeting. This marked his first public appearance since the controversial abrogation of Article 370, which stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status. He was not allowed to move without security, a decision he believed was influenced by BJP's attempts to sow religious discord in Ladakh.

In conclusion, as India gears up for its general elections next year, all eyes are on the seat-sharing arrangements within opposition alliances like INDIA bloc. The decision about who will contest from the strategically significant Ladakh Lok Sabha seat is expected to play a crucial role in shaping political dynamics ahead of these polls. Amidst this political maneuvering, concerns over security measures and allegations of divisive politics continue to add layers of complexity to an already charged electoral landscape.
Maha Govt Will Amend Rules On Renting Out Premises: Aditi Tatkare

India

pti-PTI

The Maharashtra government will formulate a set of rules on renting out premises in buildings, state Woman and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said on Saturday.

The minister's statement has come after a 35-year-old woman lodged a police complaint accusing a man and his son of refusing to rent out premises in a building to her as she is Marathi speaking.

According to the police, an offence was registered against an 80-year-old man and his son for allegedly denying an office space to the woman at Shiv Sadan building in the eastern suburb of Mulund in neighbouring Mumbai.

A case under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the duo, who were produced in court and released on bail, he said. The minister on Saturday met the complainant woman at her residence and assured her of strict action against the accused in the case.

Speaking to reporters, Tatkare said refusing premises to someone because he or she is Marathi speaking is unfortunate and condemnable. The police have registered an offence against the alleged accused and the Women's Commission has taken a serious note of the incident, she said. The state government has taken the issue seriously and will come out with a set of regulations about renting out premises, Tatkare said.

Pankaja Gopinath Munde, BJP's National Secretary, claimed on Friday she faced prejudice in Mumbai's housing sector due to her Marathi origin.

The BJP leader took to her Facebook, saying, "I wanted to vacate my government residence and purchase a house. In many places, I came across this notion of 'we do not rent to Marathi people.' Even someone like me had this experience," Pankaja Munde disclosed.
State Govt. Pledges Comprehensive Development in Marathwada: Maharashtra CM Eknth Shinde

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assures full-fledged growth and development in the Maratha region with a whopping fund sanction of over Rs 60,000 crore. Plans are also made to link the area with Samruddhi and proposed Nagpur-Goa expressways.

India

-Krishna Kripa

The Maharashtra state government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has affirmed its commitment to the comprehensive development of Marathwada region. This announcement was made by Shinde during a function in Thane on Saturday, September 30th.

During his address, the chief minister honoured and paid tribute to those freedom fighters who played a pivotal role in liberating Marathwada from being part of Hyderabad State before 1948. He emphasized that their sacrifices for the cause of liberation will never be forgotten by either the government or the people.

Government's Commitment Towards Marathwada

"We can never forget the sacrifice of freedom fighters for the liberation of Marathwada. The government is committed to its all-round development," said Shinde. He further stated that funds exceeding Rs 60,000 crore have been sanctioned by his administration for developmental projects in this region.

New Infrastructure Developments

Shinde also shared plans about connecting Marathwada with two significant expressways - Samruddhi Expressway and Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway - which are expected to boost connectivity and foster growth in this area. In addition, he requested proposals from Marathwada Jana Vikas Parishad regarding setting up 'Marathwada Bhavan'. The chief minister assured that such a proposal would receive positive consideration from his government.

Acknowledging Contributions During COVID-19 Pandemic

The event also saw Dr Raman Gangakhedkar being awarded with 'Marathawda Bhushan'; an honour given as recognition for his unparalleled services during COVID-19 pandemic. As Head Scientist of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Gangakhedkar played a pivotal role in managing the pandemic situation.

Health Initiative for Senior Citizens

In addition to these announcements, Shinde disclosed plans about launching a health checkup drive specifically targeted at senior citizens. This initiative will be named after the late Shiv Sena supremo, paying tribute to his contributions and leadership.

In conclusion, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's address highlighted Maharashtra government's dedication towards comprehensive development of Marathwada region. With substantial financial backing and infrastructure projects on the anvil, Marathwada is poised for significant growth and development. The recognition of services rendered during COVID-19 pandemic along with emphasis on healthcare for senior citizens further underscores this commitment. It remains to be seen how these initiatives unfold in the coming months but they certainly signal positive intent from the state government.
Manipur: NIA Arrests Suspect For Conspiring With Terrorists To Use Ethnic Unrest

India

oi-Sushmita Halder

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained a terror suspect from Manipur's Churachandpur over his alleged involvement in an international conspiracy case with terrorist leaders from Bangladesh and Myanmar. The suspect is now being brought to Delhi for interrogation.

The anti-terror agency stated that the defendant and his associates in Myanmar and Bangladesh sought to exploit the crisis in Manipur.

The NIA in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said "The terror accused, Seiminlun Gangte, is instrumental in a "conspiracy with Myanmar- and Bangladesh-based leadership of terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the ethnic unrest in Manipur."

A source from the police told NDTV, Gangte is the primary suspect in the car bomb explosion in Manipur's Kwakta on June 22 that resulted in a fatality. An explosion occurred from a Scorpio SUV parked near a small bridge on the same day, representing a significant increase in violent activity. The nature of the attack suggested it was carried out by trained terrorists, sources had previously stated.

Around 25 Kuki rebel factions, primarily located in Churachandpur, have inked a three-way suspension of operations (SoO) pact with the national and state authorities as well as the armed forces. Under this agreement, the rebels are expected to remain in specified encampments and their firearms should be kept in supervised storage units. Nevertheless, there are claims that some rebels from factions who have signed the SoO pact have been involved in the violent conflict in Manipur.

The NIA had filed this case on its own in July. "Investigation... revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh-based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the government of India," the NIA said in the statement today.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 21:32 [IST]
Congress MLA writes to PM Modi to do away with Mahatma Gandhi's portrait from Rs 2000 notes

Punjab Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira Sent To 14-Day Judicial Custody

India

oi-Sushmita Halder

Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira who was arrested by the Punjab Police on Thursday over an alleged drug smuggling case in 2015, was sent to 14-day judicial custody by Fazlika's Jalalabad Court.

Officials reported that Sukhpal Khaira was brought before the Jalalabad court under stringent security measures, following the conclusion of his two-day police custody on Saturday.

Sukhpal Khaira, the MLA of Bholath, was taken into custody by the Punjab Police on Thursday during a raid at his home in Chandigarh, following a probe into the 2015 drug case. This operation was carried out by Deputy Inspector General of Police, Swapan Sharma who led the special investigation team.

In March 2015, a case was filed in Jalalabad, Fazilka, involving nine individuals. Among them was Gurdev Singh, believed to be a close associate of Sukhpal Khaira. All of them were accused and subsequently found guilty under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The authorities found 2 kg of heroin, 24 gold bars, a homemade firearm, a .315 caliber gun, and two Pakistan SIM cards from them.

In 2017, the Supreme Court suspended the trial court proceedings against Sukhpal Khaira, who was called in as an extra defendant in the case. The Enforcement Directorate arrested him in 2021 for supposed involvement in a money laundering case related to a 2015 narcotics case. However, he was given bail in 2022.

In February 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed the call order against Sukhpal Khaira related to the drug case.

The Punjab Congress has labeled the police's actions against Sukhpal Khaira as political retaliation, an accusation fervently rejected by the governing Aam Aadmi Party.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 20:50 [IST]
An Unusual Gift Of Rs. 753 Crores By Bank To A Chennai Man

Tamil Nadu: 8 Tourists Dead, Several Injured As Bus Falls Into Gorge Near Marapalam

India

oi-Sushmita Halder

A tourist bus fell into a gorge near Marapalam in Tamil Nadu on Saturday evening, resulting in the death of at least eight people, including three women. Several others were critically injured in the accident, according to the police.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Coimbatore Zone, Saravana Sundar, while speaking to ANI, said, "Around eight people died, while a few were seriously injured in the accident. Further investigation is underway."

#WATCH | 35 people were injured as a tourist bus fell into a gorge near Marapalam near Coonoor. 55 tourists were travelling in the bus going from Ooty to Mettupalayam. The injured have been sent to Coonoor government hospital for treatment. Further details awaited. pic.twitter.com/hQNygNfoGw  ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2023

Palani Samy, Joint Director of Coonoor Government Hospital, also confirmed 8 deaths. "The deceased included three females and 5 males," he said.

At least 25 tourists were reportedly injured in the accident. The bus was travelling from Ooty to Mettupalaym in the Coimbatore district of the Southern state when the accident occurred, according to the police.

The injured had been taken to Coonoor government hospital for treatment.

According to an official, 55 people were in the bus. 35 people were injured and sent to Coonoor government hospital for treatment by ambulance.

The initial investigation revealed that the driver lost control and fell into a 100 ft-deep ravine near Coonoor in Marapalam, according to the police.

K Annamalai, the State President of BJP, appealed to the Tamil Nadu government on X (previously known as Twitter) to ensure top-notch medical care for the injured.

"I was deeply saddened to hear that 8 people died in an accident in which a tourist bus overturned in a 50-foot ditch near Coonoor. My deepest condolences on behalf of their family

@BJP4Tamilnadu. I pray to God for the speedy recovery of all those injured and undergoing treatment in the hospital. I request Tamil Nadu government to provide high-quality treatment to them."
BJP Is Not In Alliance With AIADMK, Will Decide Before Polls, Says D Jayakumar

'The Alliance In My View Doesn't Exist': Karnataka JD(S) Chief Over Alliance With BJP

India

oi-Stuti Tripathi

Karnataka Janata Dal (Secular) President CM Ibrahim has expressed his dissatisfaction with not being consulted before the party entered into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has indicated that he is keeping his options open.

Disregarding the alliance with the BJP, Ibrahim pointed out that despite being the elected state chief, he was not consulted before the party collaborated with the BJP.

He stated, "I have kept my options open." However, he clarified that he wouldn't abruptly leave the party as he holds the position of an elected president. Ibrahim emphasized that the alliance, in his view, does not exist. "Just because they met in Delhi doesn't mean there's an alliance." said the JD(S) leader as quoted by India Today.

JDS Has To Be Saved: H D Deve Gowda On Alliance With The BJP

Commenting on HD Kumaraswamy and Devegowda, Ibrahim said, "HD Kumaraswamy is like a younger brother to me and Devegowda is my father figure and I respect them... I am hurt that Kumaraswamy met with Amit Shah. Any decision of a party is taken by the Party President... Deve Gowda's leadership is the oldest in India. BJP should have come to Deve Gowda...I am hurt that Deve Gowda had to go to BJP... Kumaraswamy said that he has not told somethings to the President. Nothing should be hidden in politics." as quoted by ANI.

Ibrahim also stated that he intends to exercise his authority as a state president.

According to sources, JD(S) will convene a meeting chaired by state chief CM Ibrahim on 16 October to decide on their next course of action.

Since the alliance with the BJP, there has been a notable departure of JD(S) leaders. Several minority leaders from Mysuru, including former party Vice President Syed Shafi Ulla, have resigned en masse.

Last week, the Janata Dal (Secular) joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and allied with the saffron party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, aiming to challenge the Congress in Karnataka. The two parties are expected to announce their seat-sharing arrangement after the Dussehra festival next month.

The BJP has expressed that this alliance will boost its prospects in the Lok Sabha polls and strengthen the NDA, particularly after the party's defeat by the Congress in the May Assembly polls, which led to the loss of its only southern stronghold.

As the BJP seeks to reconfigure its electoral strategy in various states ahead of both the upcoming Assembly polls in five states and the next general election, the JD(S), headed by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, officially announced its entry into the NDA. It asserted that it has partnered with the BJP to challenge the Congress in Karnataka during the Lok Sabha polls.

JDS Joins BJP-Led NDA: Why This Alliance Will Benefit Both Parties

Earlier on Thursday, former JD(S) chief H D Kumaraswamy asserted that they kept the party's state president C M Ibrahim in the loop throughout the decision further requesting Muslim leaders to be more understanding. Over questions on the resignation of several Muslim leaders Kumaraswamy said, "After the alliance announcement Ibrahim is not in touch with us."

The alliance was formalized following a 45-minute meeting between JD(S) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda at Shah's residence in the national capital.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 15:52 [IST]
Aung Myo Min is a human rights activist from Myanmar. He is currently minister of human rights in the cabinet of the exiled Government of National Unity. Hes also the first openly-gay minister in his countrys history. Due to his political position, he receives constant death threats.

The soft manner and almost-permanent smile of Aung Myo Min  the minister of human rights for the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar  are misleading. The legendary human rights activist occupies a key place in what is considered to be the sole legitimate cabinet of his country. The government-in-exile was formed after a military junta took power in Myanmar  once known as Burma  on February 1, 2021.

Since he assumed office, Aung Myo Min has spent a good part of his time traveling the world, denouncing the violent repression of the regime in Myanmar, which stormed to power after the 2020 general elections, trampling on the results. Myo Ming requests that the international community place sanctions on the illegitimate rulers in Naypyidaw, his countrys capital.

In an interview with EL PAIS, he explains that the generals dont only limit themselves to repressing democratically-elected leaders, such as the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Myo Min assures this newspaper that the junta also attacks ordinary citizens, who are resisting being placed under the military boot once again. He is concerned that the international community  more focused on the war in Ukraine  has forgotten what is happening in Myanmar, which was previously under military rule from 1962 until 2011.

The 57-year-old human rights activist  the first openly-gay minister in the government, who has spent his entire adult life fighting for democracy in his country  regrets that many dont seem to notice the dangerous common thread that unites the two conflicts: the support that Moscow extends to the junta in Myanmar.

The Myanmar issue is related to the EU and European countries, because the Myanmar military has a strong relationship with Moscow. Russia isnt only invading Ukraine its also supporting the military regime in Myanmar, providing it with fighter planes and technology to kill its own people, he explains, during a visit to Brussels to speak with EU representatives and request tougher sanctions against the military. The minister also demands that Brussels consider an embargo on fuel meant for combat aircraft, which the junta uses against the population.

The figures of military repression, he maintains, say it all: in the two-and-a-half years that have passed since the latest junta  led by General Min Aung Hlaing  took power, the number of people murdered by the military regime amounts to 8,000. There are also, he lists, another 60,000 detainees, some 90,000 homes that have been bulldozed or burned, as well as two million new internally displaced people.

Were talking about all types of violence against civilians committed by the military: murders, burning of villages and massive attacks against civilian communities through airstrikes. We call it a terror campaign from the sky. Thats the current situation, he notes, summarizing (without a smile) the situation in his country. The coup plotters took power in Myanmar in February of 2021 under false pretenses, claiming that electoral fraud had taken place in the presidential elections which were held three months before the coup. During those elections, Suu Kyis National Democratic League (NLD) won a second term.

In August, the military junta announced a partial pardon for 78-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, with the politicians official prison sentence being reduced from 33 years to 21 years. Pure propaganda, scoffs Myo Min, who warns that no one knows exactly where the NLD leader is at the moment, nor what her state of health is.

If the military junta was sincere and had good intentions, she wouldnt have been arrested in the first place, because shes not a criminal. Shes the democratic leader and the idol of the people, a symbol of democracy in the country. Reducing her sentence isnt a gesture of goodwill, he insists. Hes very concerned about the well-being of the Nobel laureate. No one knows where she is not even her son, who has made an international appeal [to receive knowledge] about her whereabouts.

The announcement of the sentence being commuted was accompanied by a postponement of the promised elections. Elections that, in any case, Myo Min warns, would have lacked legitimacy and democratic guarantees, which is why the NUG never intended to participate. The army has no legitimacy to organize elections, because theyre not the executive body of the country. The people dont trust them, they hate them, because theyre common criminals who are committing all kinds of crimes against civilians. For us theyre like terrorists. So, how are we supposed to trust them? How can we participate in an election organized by a terrorist group?

Although they have received a lot of moral support from the international community, full recognition of the NUG is still pending. After Myo Mins first visit to Brussels at the end of last year, the European Parliament approved a resolution recognizing the exiled cabinet members as the only legitimate representatives of the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar. Similarly, a UN report on the human rights situation in Myanmar  released at the beginning of 2023  also recognized the government-in-exile. Josep Borrell  vice president of the European Commision  notes that many EU member states have a formal position of recognizing states, not governments. But, at the same time, he emphasizes that the NUG is considered to be one of the key actors in determining the future of Myanmar.

Although Myo Min would like a clearer position, his main objective during his visit to Brussels this week is to achieve more action from the EU with respect to his country. He especially wants democratic countries to impose stronger economic sanctions against the military and its allies. Above all, the opposition to the junta wants the EU to impose an embargo on fuel for combat aircraft and the companies that sell it  as the United States has already done  since the NUG affirms that the military is attacking civilians from the air, in parts of the country where it hasnt consolidated its rule. Myo Min also emphasizes that stronger legal action should be taken against members of the regime.

The situation in Myanmar doesnt only pose a threat to the ASEAN region  its a challenge to international accountability, by a junta that commits all types of crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, he maintains. He is appealing to the EU to use all of its influence to pressure the UN Security Council to demand greater accountability from the military. The NUG is also considering taking the case to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. If theres a will, theres a way. And the way to do it is [through] immediate actions, because, if the [generals stay in power], they will continue to kill more people.

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West Bengal CM Receives Second Appeal from Visva Bharati VC for Return of Heritage Road

Bidyut Chakraborty, the Vice Chancellor of Visva Bharati University, has sent a second letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He is urging her to consider returning a heritage road on campus that was taken over by the state government in 2020. The university is concerned about protecting its heritage structures and maintaining its recently acquired UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

India

-Krishna Kripa

In a recent development, the Vice Chancellor of Visva Bharati University, Bidyut Chakraborty, has made another appeal to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The request pertains to the return of a road that is flanked by heritage buildings on the university campus. This move comes as part of an ongoing effort by the university administration to protect these historical structures.

The Road in Contention

The three-kilometer stretch connects Post Office More with Sriniketan and was taken over by the Public Works Department (PWD) of the state government from the university in 2020. The PWD had purportedly assumed control over this road to enhance connectivity in the area. However, since then, Visva Bharati University has been advocating for its return in order to safeguard the heritage edifices along it.

Heritage at Risk

This issue has gained prominence after Santiniketan was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on September 17th. Following this recognition, concerns have been raised about preserving these structures which are integral parts of cultural history and legacy.

A copy of Chakraborty's latest letter to Chief Minister Banerjee warns about potential repercussions if adequate measures are not undertaken promptly. It reads: "The UNESCO tag given to Santiniketan by International Committee for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is likely to be withdrawn...if steps are not taken to protect heritage properties lined along the road falling under Visva Bharati property". He further emphasizes that such an event would reflect poorly not only on West Bengal but also those who worked tirelessly towards achieving this global recognition.

Second Appeal

This marks Chakrabortys second correspondence with Banerjee regarding this matter. His first letter was sent on September 25th, just a week after Santiniketan was acknowledged by UNESCO. The Vice Chancellor's persistent efforts underscore the importance of preserving these heritage buildings and maintaining the prestige associated with the UNESCO tag.

In conclusion, this situation presents a crucial juncture for Visva Bharati University and West Bengal at large. The state governments decision in response to Chakraborty's request will not only impact the university but also bear implications for cultural preservation in India. It remains to be seen how Chief Minister Banerjee responds to this plea and what steps are taken towards safeguarding these historical structures that form an integral part of our nations rich cultural tapestry.
Former Gangster Charged With 1996 Killing Of Rapper Tupac Shakur

International

oi-PTI

One of the last living witnesses to the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon Friday in the 1996 killing, a long-awaited breakthrough in a case that has frustrated investigators and fascinated the public ever since the hip-hop icon was gunned down 27 years ago.

A Nevada grand jury indicted Duane "Keffe D" Davis in the killing, prosecutors announced in court Friday. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said a grand jury had been seated in the case for "several months." DiGiacomo described Davis as the "on-ground, on-site commander" who "ordered the death" of Shakur.

The charges were revealed hours after Davis, 60, was arrested this morning while on a walk near his home, according to DiGiacomo.

Davis has long been known to investigators and has himself admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, "Compton Street Legend," that he was in the Cadillac from which the gunfire erupted during the September 1996 drive-by shooting. Shakur was 25 when he was killed.

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Las Vegas police raided a home in mid-July in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson that is tied to Davis. Police were looking for items "concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur," according to the search warrant. They collected multiple computers, a cellphone and hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-caliber bullets, two "tubs containing photographs" and a copy of Davis' memoir.

Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese denied Davis bail. It wasn't immediately clear if Davis has an attorney who can comment on his behalf. Davis hasn't responded to multiple phone and text messages from The Associated Press seeking comment or an interview in the more than two months since the house raid.

Shakur was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight in a convoy of about 10 cars. They were waiting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted. Shakur was shot multiple times and died a week later at the age of 25.

The rapper's death came as his fourth solo album, "All Eyez on Me," remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold. Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.

In his memoir, Davis said he was in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and had slipped the gun used in the killing into the backseat, from where he said the shots were fired.

Davis implicated his nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, saying he was one of two people in the backseat. Anderson, a known rival of Shakur, had been involved in a casino brawl with the rapper shortly before the shooting.

After the casino brawl, "Mr. Davis formulated a plan to exact revenge upon Mr. Knight and Mr. Shakur" in his nephew's defence, DiGiacomo said.

Anderson died two years later. He denied any involved in Shakur's death.

Davis revealed in his memoir that he first broke his silence in 2010 during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities. At the time, he was 46 and facing life in prison on drug charges when he agreed to speak with them about Tupac's killing, as well as the fatal shooting six months later of Tupac's rap rival, Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G.,

"They offered to let me go for running a criminal enterprise' and numerous alleged murders for the truth about the Tupac and Biggie murders," he wrote. "They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out."

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Shakur was feuding at the time with rap rival Biggie Smalls, who was fatally shot in March 1997. At the time, both rappers were in the middle of an East Coast-West Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s.

Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating the Shakur killing and wrote a book about it, said he's not surprised by Davis' arrest.

The former Los Angeles police detective said he believed the investigation gained new momentum in recent years following Davis' public descriptions of his role in the killing, including his 2019 memoir.

"It's those events that have given Las Vegas the ammunition and the leverage to move forward," Kading said. "Prior to Keffe D's public declarations, the cases were unprosecutable as they stood."

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 10:35 [IST]
Indian Envoy To UK Stopped From Entering Scotland Gurudwara Amid India-Canada Tensions

International

oi-Stuti Tripathi

Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Vikram Doraiswami, was stopped from entering gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland on Friday. A video posted on 'Sikh Youth UK's Instagram channel showed a man, allegedly a pro-Khalistani activist, preventing Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurudwara on Albert Drive.

The purported video captures the man's statement, "...They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places; every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow." 'Sikh Youth UK' claimed that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities, as reported by ANI.

In the video, two men can be seen near the High Commissioner's car in the parking area. One attempt to open the locked car door from the inside and the high commissioner's car eventually leaves the Gurudwara premises. Another man in the video conveys that this is how any Indian ambassador or official visiting the Gurdwara will be treated.

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A pro-Khalistan activist told the TOI that the Indian High Commissioner was scheduled to meet with the gurdwara committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive but was confronted by individuals who conveyed he was not welcome.

The activist said: "A few people turned up and told him he is not welcome and he left. There was a slight confrontation. I don't think the gurdwara committee is too happy about what happened. But Indian officials are not welcome in any gurdwara in the UK."

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Canada vs India: Indian envoy stopped from entering Scotland gurdwara by activists | Oneindia News

"We are fed up with the UK-India collusion. The recent tensions since the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing have led to British Sikhs being targeted. This is to do with Avtar Singh Khanda and Jagtar Singh Johal too," he further said. As of now, there is no official response from the Indian High Commission in London or the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding the incident.

This incident comes amid increasing tensions in India-Canada relations following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations regarding India's involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has rejected these claims as "absurd" and "motivated." Canada has yet to provide public evidence to support these allegations.

External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has raised concerns about threats, violence, and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions in Canada. He emphasized that such a situation should not be normalized and questioned how other countries would react to a similar scenario."...Our point is that there is today a climate of violence, an atmosphere of intimidation...Just think about it. We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We have had our consulates...violence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people", said S Jaishankar at a press conference in Washington DC on Friday as quoted by ANI.

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The United Kingdom's Security Minister Tom Tugendhat recently announced increased funding to address 'pro-Khalistan extremism' and enhance the UK's capability to tackle this threat. This announcement followed a meeting with Jaishankar in August, where they discussed joint efforts to combat extremism through the Joint Extremism Task Force.

Complementing the join work underway between UK and India via Joint-Extremism Task Force, the British High Commission in its statement said that the 95,000-pound investment shall enhance the UK Government's knowledge of the threat posed by pro-Khalistan extremism.

(With Inputs from ANI)

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 13:06 [IST]
Underdog Mohamed Muiz Emerges Victorious in Maldives Presidential Elections

International

-Sathish Raman

In a surprising turn of events, opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz emerged victorious in the Maldives presidential runoff on Saturday. As per local media reports, Muiz secured more than 53% of the vote. The election has taken on significant geopolitical implications, effectively becoming a referendum on which regional power  India or China  will wield the most influence over this Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

Underdog Victory

Mihaaru News reported that incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih received only 46% of the votes. Muiz's victory margin was reportedly more than 18,000 votes. Official results were expected to be announced later Sunday.

The triumph comes as an unexpected development for Muiz who entered the political battlefield as an underdog and was named as a fallback candidate closer to the nomination deadline after his partys leader and former President Abdulla Yameen was prevented from contesting by the Supreme Court due to his ongoing prison sentence for charges related to money laundering and corruption.

A Reflection of Patriotism

"Today's result is a reflection of the patriotism of our people. A call on all our neighbours and bilateral partners to fully respect our independence and sovereignty," said Mohamed Shareef, a top official from Muiz's party in conversation with The Associated Press. He also emphasized that it served as a mandate for Muiz to resurrect the economy along with advocating for release of political prisoners incarcerated during Yameens rule.

Geopolitical Implications

The election outcome holds considerable significance beyond national borders given its potential impact on regional geopolitics involving India and China. Both nations have vested interests in this strategically located island nation known for its luxury resorts frequented by international tourists.

India has traditionally been one of Maldives' closest allies; however, relations between the two countries have been strained in recent years due to Yameen's pro-China stance. His policies had led Maldives into a debt trap, pushing it further towards Chinas sphere of influence. The victory of Muiz could potentially reset the balance and restore closer ties with India.

In conclusion, Mohamed Muiz's unexpected win in the Maldives presidential runoff not only signifies a change in domestic political dynamics but also carries potential implications for regional geopolitics involving India and China. This election has seen a strong assertion of national sovereignty by the people of Maldives who have voted for an underdog candidate against an incumbent president. It remains to be seen how this will impact international relations and whether it will lead to a shift away from Chinese influence towards stronger ties with India.
Maldivians Vote In A Runoff Presidential Election That Will Decide Whether India Or China Holds Sway

International

oi-PTI

Maldivians were voting Saturday in the runoff presidential election which has turned into a virtual referendum on which regional power - India or China - will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

Neither main opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz nor incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih got more than 50 per cent in the first round of voting earlier in September, triggering a runoff election. Solih, who was first elected president in 2018, is battling allegations by Muiz that he had allowed India an unchecked presence in the country. Muiz's party, the People's National Congress, is viewed as heavily pro-China. Muiz secured a surprise lead with more than 46 per cent of votes in the first round, while Solih secured 39 per cent votes.

Abdullah Yameen, leader of the People's National Congress, made the Maldives a part of China's Belt and Road initiative during his presidency 2013 to 2018. The initiative is meant to build railroads, ports and highways to expand trade - and China's influence - across Asia, Africa and Europe. The Maldives is made up of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean located by the main shipping route between the East and the West.

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Muiz promised that if he won the presidency, he would remove Indian troops stationed in the Maldives and balance the country's trade relations, which he said were heavily in India's favor.

There are more than 282,000 eligible voters and the runoff result is expected Sunday.

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Story first published: Saturday, September 30, 2023, 11:29 [IST]
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US House Passes 45-Day Funding Bill To Avoid Govt Shutdown

International

oi-Sushmita Halder

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an interim financing bill intended to prevent a government closure scheduled to commence at midnight (05:00 GMT). It includes disaster relief funds but does not provide any US assistance to Ukraine.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy proposed a 45-day resolution following a revolt from his stringent fellow Republicans who hold sway in the chamber.

Nonetheless, the bill requires the consent of the Senate, the upper house, prior to the president's signature.

There is just a single-seat lead for Democrats in the Senate, which could make the issue of supplying aid to Ukraine contentious.

Should a consensus not be achieved, the fourth shutdown in the last ten years will commence, considerably impacting areas from air travel to marriage permits.

The majority of public servants may experience unpaid leave, while certain food aid initiatives may cease.

Many efforts to agree on a fresh federal funding package have been unsuccessful.

The short-term stretch, referred to as a continuing resolution (CR), demanded backing from two-thirds of the House representatives for approval, following a quick procedure designed to ensure its passage before the midnight cutoff.

The financial package from the US is scheduled to cease on October 1, which is the beginning of the US federal government's fiscal year.

If a fresh agreement isn't reached, thousands of governmental workers nationwide, spanning military personnel, air traffic controllers and childcare center staff, are set to go on unpaid leave.

The agreement reached between Republican and Democratic senators incorporates support for Ukraine amidst its battle against Russian invasion, along with disaster relief for the US.

Until this point, Mr McCarthy was restricted by far-right Republicans and had not agreed to present a bill to the entire House, incorporating the Senate bill.

He attempted but was unsuccessful in attaining consensus on a short-term spending bill drafted by Republicans on Friday. The bill was not passed with 232 votes against and 198 in favour.

Over a dozen of the most conservative Republican delegates opposed its approval.

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Story first published: Sunday, October 1, 2023, 1:20 [IST]
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Longtime boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who died in prison in late September, had become an elephant in the room for the Sicilian mafia. He was the last capo from a bloody era marked by bombings, public massacres and clan warfare. His high media profile drew dangerous attention to the Italian mafia, yet he still received help evading capture for three decades while managing operations until his arrest in January.

Things started to change in the Cosa Nostra when the legendary Messina was finally incarcerated in the LAquila maximum-security prison. After his death, doubts resurfaced about the current state of the historic Sicilian criminal organization. Now, it appears to be regrouping, intending to once again operate discreetly under the radar of authorities. However, Pasquale Angelosanto, the Carabinieri (Italys national police force) general who arrested Messina, warned that the organization is alive and strong.

Pietro Grasso, a former national anti-mafia prosecutor, has also warned that the Sicilian organization has entered a new phase, but remains active. With the death of Matteo Messina Denaro, a life full of violence, conspiracies and mysteries comes to an end. A Cosa Nostra era also ends, but not the Cosa Nostra itself. The organization did not disappear after the deaths of Salvatore Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano, and it persists even today. The Cosa Nostra continues to change and evolve but remains the primary obstacle to a Sicily and an Italy free from violence, blackmail, and poverty, he said.

Antonio Nicaso, an academic and author focusing on mafias, told EL PAIS that the Cosa Nostra is currently undergoing a reorganization, leaving behind the violent era of attacks in the 1980s and 1990s on individuals and institutions by a Corleone clan led by Riina and top lieutenant Messina Denaro. The Sicilian mafia is returning to its roots, resorting to violence only when absolutely necessary. The reign of the Corleone clan was an anomaly in the history of this criminal organization, said Nicaso.

The Sicilian mafia is once again focusing on crime and corruption, as evidenced by recent seizures of large amounts of cocaine in Palermo and Catania. According Nicaso, an organized crime expert who advises governments and organizations, the Cosa Nostra is attempting to regain the ground it lost during its wave of violence in the 1990s. During this period, the Ndrangheta (the Calabrian mafia) quietly became the most powerful and wealthy criminal organization in Italy, while the government focused on the Cosa Nostra.

Now the Cosa Nostra is reestablishing its connections with politicians, government institutions, and the top echelons of the business and finance world. Its more interested in making money and acquiring power than using violence and challenging the government, said Nicaso, who also pointed out that mafias traditionally dont directly challenge the government. They attempt to infiltrate the economic framework, forging connections with politics and finance. This form of violence, rooted in corruption and power dynamics, proves challenging to identify and combat. According to Nicaso, the mafia has consistently been a major economic force due to its involvement in international heroin trafficking and extensive global network of drug labs. Messina initiated the shift toward a business-oriented approach, which drew criticism from his mentor, Salvatore Toto Riina. Nicaso believes its too early to write off the Sicilian mafia, as it has a remarkable ability to adapt and regenerate.

Italian authorities are unsure of the exact details of the reorganization, but they acknowledge that the end of the mafia is still a distant goal. According to the latest report by the Anti-Mafia Directorate (DIA), the capture of Messina Denaro has weakened the organization and exacerbated the leadership issues it experienced after the deaths of Toto Riina in 2017 and Bernardo Provenzano in 2016. However, the report suggests that the organizations operations in Sicily remain unaffected and are not expected to abate.

Messina had been Italys most wanted mafia boss since 1993 due to his involvement in hundreds of crimes, including the brutal attacks that led to the deaths of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992. Last January, he was arrested in the Sicilian town of Campobello di Mazzara, near his hometown of Castelvetrano. He had been living a seemingly normal life with a fake identity, aided by a network of accomplices. Messina died in prison without showing any remorse for his crimes, taking all his secrets to the grave.

Matteo Messina Denaros mug shot after his arrest in Palermo, Italy, on January 16, 2023. CARABINIERI (via REUTERS)

Italian investigators now know that Messina led a strong clan in the Province of Trapani (west coast of Sicily), a mafia stronghold. However, he didnt hold the title of boss of bosses in Sicily, which is the highest position in the mafia hierarchy. Toto Riina, was the last such leader in a hierarchical structure that likely died with him. Still, Messina wielded tremendous power, and was an important figurehead for other crime families, says Angelosanto.

Maurizio De Lucia, Palermos chief prosecutor, believes that Messina was a very important figure in mafia dynamics. As Toto Riina second-in-command, he was well aware of the organizations rules and its many secrets, especially all the massacres in 1992 and 1993. He stressed that only someone from Palermo would be allowed to lead all the Sicilian clans. Investigations reveal that Messinas Trapani clan remains active. It has infiltrated the legitimate economy by corrupting politicians and businessmen, and continues to traffic drugs.

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Ebro Delta, Spain: Mussel farmer Xavier Cabrera held out a handful of dry, dead mussels from his shellfish farm on the coast of the Ebro Delta, 100 miles (160 km) south of Barcelona. "Let's hope this isn't our future," he said ruefully.

A summer heatwave in the Mediterranean region killed off about 80% of the seed mussels - the tiny young ones that were going to be next year's harvest - and the little that was left of this year's production.

Together with his son Didac, Cabrera, 47, was removing the empty shells from 1,500 ropes dangling in the water where healthy mussels  which take about 14 months to reach commercial size  would normally grow. "This has gone from being a black goldmine to pure subsistence," he said in early September. A decade ago, Cabrera harvested some 10,000 tonnes of mussels each season. But for the past few years, production has tumbled to around 1,500 tonnes.

Spain is the main mussel-producing country in the European Union and the third globally after China and Chile. Mussels, which make up more than a third of EU aquaculture, are a delicacy in dishes ranging from paella to moules frites.

EU mussel production peaked in the late 1990s at more than 600,000 tonnes a year, but economic and environmental factors  including climate change  have cut output. In 2020, production was down to 431,000 tonnes.

Cabrera's father built the farm in 1982 and he now runs it with his brother Ruben. But Cabrera is unsure if the family business will survive even though his son Didac, 20, studied aquaculture and has been working on the farm for the past five years.

"My son wants to continue what his grandfather, his dad and his uncle did ... but his future is very uncertain," he said.

Last year, a July heatwave also killed about one million of the tiny seed mussels, forcing him and other farmers in the area to buy baby mussels from Greece - where they are cultivated in cooler, deeper waters - adding another big expense.

Higher temperatures threaten livelihoods

The Ebro Delta Natural Park, covering 320 square kilometres (123 sq miles) is one of the largest wetlands in the Mediterranean region of Europe and is known for rice production, pink flamingos and high-quality seafood.

But climate heating is threatening the ecosystem, including shellfish production that provides about 1,100 jobs in the delta. The area is home to about 70 family-owned shellfish producers and 13 shellfish depuration plants, which clean pollutants from the molluscs.

In addition to climate change, the Ebro Delta is suffering from coastal erosion and mismanagement, which has created a kilometre-long arm of sand that is slowly closing off the bay of Fangar where Cabrera's farm is located.

This reduces both oxygen levels and circulation of the water, which contains the phytoplankton that mussels and oysters feed on, Cabrera said. The lack of oxygen combined with high temperatures suffocates the mussels.

Cabrera and other mussel farmers have spent years advocating for the authorities to reach a deal to dredge up the sand choking the bay.

Most mussels die when water temperatures reach 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 Fahrenheit), said researcher Margarita Fernandez Tejedor from the Institute for Agrifood Research and Technology in the neighbouring municipality of Sant Carles de la Rapita. The water in the bay of Fangar reached 30.8C on Aug. 21.

"We know that the heatwaves in the bays are becoming more frequent, longer and more intense, and they also start earlier," she said.

While August used to be highly profitable due to demand from tourists and restaurants, mussel farmers are now forced to harvest in July or they risk losing their entire harvest to a heatwave.

And ocean temperatures are rising globally, driving species polewards. In August, a record 39% of the planet's oceans experienced marine heat waves, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In Greece, high seawater temperatures in 2021 coupled with mucilage  or "sea snot" generated by the overgrowth of phytoplankton  ravaged mussel farms, said Katerina Aligizaki, a biologist from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

This year, high market demand allowed Greek producers to export most of their harvest right before the heatwave, she told Context by email. While mussel seed mortality is more common in southern Europe, areas further north have recently also started to be affected, according to a 2020 study.

In Canada, Shelby Clarke at the Department of Biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said mussels tend to close their shells to protect themselves when exposed to higher temperatures. "When they are closed they're not breathing and they're not feeding, and that can hinder their ability to grow," she said.

Adapting mussel farming to a changing climate

Clarke said the Canadian aquaculture industry could look at switching from its current practice of gathering mussel seed from the open sea and instead use hatcheries to breed strains more resistant to rising temperatures.

Other farmers are moving into oysters as they have a better heat tolerance and a higher price, Clarke added. However, oysters take longer to grow and cost more to produce.

Cabreras family has always grown both mussels and oysters, but has in recent years increased production of the latter. He recently also started fishing octopus and cuttlefish during the winter season to diversify the family's sources of income. Yet these new solutions are not without risk. Fernandez said that importing mussel seed from other countries including Greece risks introducing invasive species.

To protect local production, her research team is looking into shifting it to cooler waters off the Ebro Delta that could be used for so-called "longlines"  horizontal ropes attached to small anchored floats from which vertical ropes are hung to grow baby mussels.

They may take longer to mature in deeper waters, which contain less chlorophyll and phytoplankton for the mussels to feed on. But the quality may be better because the water is cooler and cleaner, she said. The longline technique is already the preferred method in New Zealand and it is also being explored by mussel farmers elsewhere.

Bill Silkes, a shellfish producer in Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island on the east coast of the United States, is attempting to move his mussel farming operation into the Gulf of Maine using the offshore longline technique. But operating in open water presents other challenges, including limited availability of new permits to operate in federal waters and access to dock space, he said.

Cabrera is not among those who are optimistic about longlines. "What good does it do to grow the seed out there if it will just die when you plant it here in the bay?" he asked. With warming waters, mussel farmers fear they are running out of options.

And Gerardo Bonet from the Federation of Mollusc Producers in the Ebro Delta said that small-scale producers are the first hit by the impacts of climate change. "We're already suffering, and we've been going through it for years," he said.
Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator

US Senator Robert Menendez, (D. NJ.) temporarily stepped down from his powerful role as chairman of the Senate Relations Committee, according to Senate Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer, following accusations of political corruption and breach of US national security.

On September 22, Menendez was indicted by federal prosecutors in New York, along with four others, including his wife Nadine Arslanian Menendez, on one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion.

New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, also included in the indictment are unnamed Egyptian government officials Menendez dealt with between 2018 and 2022, from which he received bribes.

Menendez opened the US Senate for business with Egypt, and is facing serious corruption charges, which have US national security implications, as he passing along confidential US government information to Egyptian officials.

Instead of fighting for the safety and prosperity of his New Jersey constituents, Menendez was working for the benefit of the Egyptian government, which represses their own people, including foreign journalists in jail without charges or trial, as is the case of journalists from Al Jazeera media.

Fellow Senators, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, called on Menendez to resign, and Murphy said the allegations "implicate national security". Menendez held a seat in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2006 and has been in the Senate since 2006.

Menendez was working on behalf of the Egyptian government to release pending US military aid to Egypt, that the State Department had held up due to Egyptian human rights violations. The indictment says Menendez, and his wife, met with Egyptian officials in July 2018 and promised to lobby for "Egyptian foreign policy goals and positions and setting forth Egypt's requests for the approval of foreign military financing and foreign military sales to Egypt."

At first glance, the Menendez story looks like a classic case of US political corruption, but it coincides with a US pressure campaign on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi because he refused to cave-in to pressure from US President Joe Biden to send weapons to Ukraine. Is the exposure of Menendez corruption with Sisi, a pay-back from Biden?

Egypt had tried to remain neutral in the Ukraine conflict, while maintaining good relations with both Russia and the US. Egypt relies on Russian wheat imports, and increased sales are in Russia's interest.

In March, US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, asked Sisi to send artillery shells, anti-tank missiles, air defense systems and small arms to Ukraine, but Washington did not receive the answer they expected.

In subsequent talks between the US and members of the Sisi administration, it was confirmed that there were no plans to supply weapons to Kiev.

The Egyptian request came after US President Joe Biden admitted previously that the stocks of weapons that the US could send to Ukraine, especially artillery shells, were depleting.

In early April, US intel leaks indicated that Cairo sought to export 40,000 missiles, and other equipment to Russia, after Sisi instructed a minister to provide the arms. Under pressure, Egypt agreed it wouldn't send weapons to Russia.

In early August, the US asked Egypt to supply artillery, antitank missiles, air defense systems and small arms for Ukraine, but Egypt refused to back down to pressure from Washington according to Egyptian media.

Egypt's failure to deliver requested weapons has concerned members of the US Congress. Pressure is mounting on the Biden administration not to release $320 million in military aid to Egypt over human rights violations. The US currently provides Egypt with $1.3 billion in annual military aid, with a portion depending on Egypt's human rights improvement.

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powerlines

(Image by ryhkoigi2) Details DMCA



In June, Florida's legislature passed (and governor Ron DeSantis signed) a bill transferring control of Gainesville Regional Utilities from the city's government to the state's. In late September, a judge rejected the city's lawsuit to prevent the takeover.

While that sounds like a localized controversy, it offers national implications and important lessons. We've seen similar situations play out in other locales.

When my family moved to the Gainesville area a decade ago, friends who already lived here warned us: "Don't rent in town, and even outside of town make sure you're not in GRU's coverage area."

Households in that coverage area fork over a great deal more every month to keep their lights on than households in other Florida cities -- and WAY more than households in areas served by rural electric cooperatives.

Anecdotally, a couple of years ago I compared electric bills with an acquaintance. That acquaintance was paying GRU about twice as much to electrify a small single-person household as I was paying Clay Electric (an REC) to light up a medium five-person household.

Over the years I've kept an eye on GRU's arguments for its ever-increasing prices. Here's their two-step:

First: We can stop raising rates if we just annex more customers! Economies of scale will fix the problem! The more kilowatt-hours we're selling, the cheaper each kilowatt-hour becomes!

Then: We must raise rates again! We just annexed a bunch of new customers! New lines and new power generation facilities cost money!

Rinse, repeat.

Why can't GRU deliver electricity at least as cheaply and efficiently to a compact urban area as Clay does to a much larger rural area where distances between customers are often measured in miles rather than meters?

Well, Clay is owned by its members/customers, while GRU is "owned" by politicians who use it as three things: A cash cow for the city, a kid's chemistry set for experimenting with novel power generation methods (including a $1.2 billion "biomass" experiment), and an excuse to bring surrounding areas under their control.

While it's true that rural electric cooperatives were, like municipal utilities, created by governments, not all "non-profits" are created equal. RECs answer directly to their customers. Municipal utilities answer to politicians who use them as ... well, tax collectors.

But the answer to the bigger problem, I think, isn't so much a matter of RECs versus municipal utilities versus "private" utilities, but in competition on both price and service.

Even if we concede (I don't) that power LINES are "natural monopolies," these days all those lines are tied together in sprawling "grids." There's no good reason why we shouldn't each be able to choose our electricity provider, with providers serving particular areas splitting line maintenance costs. That's been done in, for example, Texas.

I'd love to see us get away from "grids" and to far more localized (ideally, single-household via e.g. rooftop solar) power generation and delivery. But until we can do that, freeing hostages from utility monopolies should rank near the top of our energy priorities.
Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator

More than 30 years of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is drawing to a close, and Armenia is the loser.

On September 19, following the death of four soldiers and two civilians, Azerbaijan pushed aggressively to control Nogorno-Karabakh, and the next day the Armenian separatist forces agreed to lay down their arms in the Armenian majority enclave.

Azerbaijan previously had waged a war of attrition to cut off supplies to the 120,000 Armenians. Despite Russian peacekeepers being stationed there since December 2022 tasked with keeping the Lachin corridor open, Azerbaijan blockaded the narrow mountain road which links Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh.

On September 18, Red Cross trucks carrying food and medicine finally gained access to Nagorno-Karabakh.

"An agreement has been reached on the withdrawal of the remaining units and servicemen of the Armenian armed forces ... and on the dissolution and complete disarmament of the armed formations of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army," the Armenian separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement.

Europe's insatiable demand for energy is in part supplied by Azerbaijan's gas and oil resources.

In January, the EU signed a natural gas import agreement with Azerbaijan, as the EU moved away from Russian supplies. Within months, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, announced a new agreement to double gas imports from Azerbaijan while visiting Baku.

In response to the new agreement, about 50 French legislators denounced the move that would place Europeans dependent on a state with war-like aspirations, referring to Azerbaijan's aggression against the Armenians.

Energy analysts have pointed to the West's hypocrisy in the conflict, as they negotiate gas and oil at the expense of the Armenians.

Azerbaijan saw their chance to finish off a decades-long dispute with Armenia as the West turns to Baku for oil, and turns away from Russia.

In the middle of the conflict is Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister of Armenian since 2018.

He faced intense domestic pressure in 2020 after he agreed to a Russian-brokered ceasefire that ended a 44-day war between ethnic Armenian, and Azerbaijani forces who had achieved victory, after taking back a third of the breakaway territory, and an additional seven surrounding districts.

Pashinyan had faced calls to resign in 2020, as angry crowds protested in the capital Yerevan after the defeat then, and he faced thousands of protesters in Yerevan on Wednesday asking him again to resign, after viewing the surrender of the breakaway region as a final humiliating defeat.

In the past, Pashinyan reversed his position and recognized that Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan and gave up on his previous claim. However, he demanded that Azerbaijan agree to protect the rights and security of the Karabakh Armenians, but Azerbaijan refused.

Pashinyan is pursuing a pro-Western policy, and in early September, Armenia announced humanitarian aid to Ukraine and undertook a joint military exercise with the US, which began on September 11.

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A bitter battle to save the only publicly-owned interstate railway in the nation is underway in Cincinnati. In a classic David v. Goliath setting, citizens face off against the local power elite backed by the notorious corporate giant Norfolk Southern railroad.

With the derailment of its mega train loaded with toxic material, Norfolk Southern utterly destroyed East Palestine earlier this year, and converted what was once a vibrant small Ohio town into a vast environmental crime scene, which it remains to this day and will into the foreseeable future. This multi-billion dollar corporation has done next to nothing to effectively alleviate the suffering of its victims, who remain trapped in a toxic cage known as East Palestine. Many, likely most, desperately wish to move out, but are caught in a Catch-22 dilemma of being damned if they move (loss of property value) and damned if they do not (loss of health, perhaps life).

Rather than use its enormous financial resources to make things right in the town it destroyed, Norfolk Southern has made an offer to purchase the Cincinnati Southern Railway for $1.6 billion, and the CSR Board has foolishly accepted it. However, state law requires approval of this deal (hatched illegally in secret meetings) by Cincinnati voters, and the matter appears as Issue 22 on the November ballot. To fool voters into giving away this precious people's asset, Norfolk Southern has launched a $1 million propaganda campaign flooding homes and airwaves with slick deceptive ads. Along with projected pie-in-the sky benefits from a sale, the mayor recently declared Cincinnati risks dying altogether is if the sale is rejected.

Opposition to the sale is rooted in a widespread healthy distrust of City Hall, Norfolk Southern and the CSB Board. A variety of community-based groups (Derail the Sale; Save Our Rail; Citizens for a Transparent Railroad Sale; Ohio Peace Council; Railroad Workers United) have emerged to passionately oppose the sale, which boils down to a referendum on the value of socialism over capitalism. The spector of East Palestine also looms over Issue 22. Knowing what Norfolk Southern has done to destroy that poor community, how can anyone morally justify rewarding this reckless outfit with possession of our community-owned railway? Every Yes vote for Issue 22 constitutes a stab in the back of victimized East Palestine residents. A No vote expresses our solidarity with East Palestine and rejection of Norfolk Southern's malicious actions.

OpEd readers can help secure a people's.victory in defeating Issue 22 by signing and sharing this petition: g.it/WCSWbcRtZN
Portland police last November shot and killed an unarmed man who fled from a car that officers wrongly suspected had been involved in an armed robbery, newly released grand jury testimony reveals.

Officer Christopher Sathoff, armed with an AR-15 rifle, shot Immanueal Jaquez Clark-Johnson in the back as he ran from a sedan that police surrounded in a church parking lot on Southeast Steele Street on Nov. 19, 2022.
Police have released the identity of the man who was killed early Thursday in Southeast Portlands Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood.

Police say the victim was Traves D. Barisich, 46. According to the medical examiner, he died from blunt force trauma.

The homicide is Portlands 54th this year after a 30-day streak of no reported homicides. Homicides in the city are down about 25% this year. Seventy-two had been reported by this time in 2022.

Barisich had died by the time police responded to a call about an assault near Southeast 26th Avenue and Division Street around 4:20 a.m. Thursday, and the person or people who killed him had already left, police said. His death is still being investigated.

 The Oregonian/OregonLive
The princess will continue with reduced activity and has not planned an official schedule for this week or during the October vacations. That statement was issued by the Norwegian royal household and refers to Mette Marit, 50, the wife of Crown Prince Haakon. In 2018, she was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis, which causes scarring of the lung tissue. The chronic illness sometimes forces the princess to cancel her engagements so she can rest. An official message on September 13 said that her sick leave would last two weeks but might be extended. Indeed, this week, it was announced that the princess will be absent for seven more days.

Mette Marit has always been open about her health and the effect it may have in the future, when her husband accedes to the throne and she becomes queen consort. Her forthrightness is rare among royals.

The princesss illness, described by the Norwegian royal household as an unusual variant of pulmonary fibrosis, sometimes reduces her ability to work. She does fewer visits with her husband than before, and they might be shorter, Caroline Vagle, a reporter specializing in royalty for the Norwegian magazine Se og Hr, explains to EL PAIS. Luckily, her condition has been relatively stable for five years, but she has to deal with the situation on a day-to-day basis, Vagle continues. Her current leave is related to her health condition, which the princess has described as a challenge that is sometimes little understood because it is not seen from the outside. Her condition varies, and this August, on her 50th birthday, she spoke candidly about it, adds the journalist.

In an interview with Norwegian public television (NRK), she explained what life is like for someone with a chronic condition. There are many difficult and painful things about this disease, but at the same time there is something beautiful because you find yourself. Its an opportunity to live a little more slowly and discover which things give you energy and which things take it away, she observed in the talk, where she sought to raise the visibility to those who face chronic illness. She explained it this way: For those who live with something like this, which is not visible, like in my case, it can be hard. Because when people dont see it, its harder to understand. I have learned to respect those who are in this situation and to see the positive side, to find out what I can do within my limitations.

Pulmonary fibrosis (scarring) is part of a group of heterogeneous and chronic diseases that are rare and difficult to diagnose, according to the Hospital Clinic de Barcelonas website. The tissue of the lungs becomes thick and hard, and requires complex treatments, the website says. Symptoms include fatigue and muscle and joint pain, which is why the Norwegian princess is shortening or canceling some of her public appearances. I cant just think that things are going to work out. It depends on how I feel, she said in the aforementioned television interview.

During the first part of her medical leave, she could not attend the festivities for the Golden Jubilee of King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, who was celebrating 50 years on the throne. Along with Queen Margrethe of Denmark, the Swedish sovereign is the longest reigning in Europe, and the party included monarchs and heirs from Norway and Denmark. Norways autumn vacation, which typically occurs in the first days of October, is another of Princess Mette Marits obligatory rest periods. Thereafter, on the 13th, she is expected at the Art Stable, the former royal stables that were transformed into an art space in 2017. She is also scheduled to attend a Norwegian National Ballet performance with her husband, Prince Haakon, and King Harald and Queen Sonia.

A family photo of the Nordic royal houses during the Golden Jubilee of Carl Gustaf of Sweden, on September 15, 2023. Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, at right, attended without his wife, Mette Marit, who is on sick leave i Ingemar Lindewall

In an interview with NRK, the princess acknowledged that she tries to be herself so that her title does not define her. She has been a member of Norways royal family for two decades. She married Prince Haakon on August 25, 2001, and the nuptials were supported and criticized in equal measure in Norway. The couple met in 1999, when she already had a son, Marius Borg, now 26, whose father had been in prison for drug trafficking. For a while, she and the prince lived as a common-law couple, a common status among the Norwegian population but one that is not considered appropriate in royal circles. Since then, things have changed a lot. Before becoming princess, she lamented her turbulent past. The couple has two children together: crown princess Ingrid Alejandra, 19, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 17.

Her relationship with her in-laws is excellent. I have the utmost respect for the monarchs and the work they do for our country, and for the space they give each other in their respective roles, she said. I certainly wish I possessed my mother-in-laws organizational skills, but I havent achieved that in 22 years. I guess you can hope, she concluded with a laugh. Her personal work as a princess stems in part from her past experiences. She has focused on mental health, youth and books and helped create an international support network for poor girls and women. The initiative is called the Maverick Collective, which she co-chairs with Melinda Gates, the American philanthropist and former wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

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A Washington County man confessed to sexually abusing two children, according to the Washington County District Attorneys Office.

Lauro Vasquez-Cordoza pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree rape and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse on Tuesday.

Officials began an investigation after one of the victims confided in a school counselor in January 2022. The counselor alerted the Oregon Department of Human Services, who notified the Forest Grove Police Department.

Investigators and medical experts at CARES Northwest met with the victims to learn details of the abuse, which occurred at multiple locations in Washington County.

Vazquez-Cordoza will remain in jail until his Oct. 11 sentencing hearing.

 Kayla Nguyen, knguyen@oregonian.com
House Speaker Kevin McCarthys last-ditch plan to keep the federal government temporarily open collapsed on Friday as a robust faction of hard-right holdouts rejected the package, making a shutdown almost certain.

McCarthys right-flank Republicans refused to support the bill despite its steep spending cuts of nearly 30% to many agencies and severe border security provisions, calling it insufficient.

The White House and Democrats rejected the Republican approach as too extreme. The vote was 198-232, with 21 hard-right Republicans voting to sink the package. The Democrats voted against it.

The bills complete failure a day before Saturdays deadline to fund the government leaves few options left to prevent a shutdown that will furlough federal workers, keep the military working without pay and disrupt programs and services for millions of Americans.

A clearly agitated McCarthy left the House chamber. Its not the end yet; Ive got other ideas, McCarthy told reporters.

The outcome puts McCarthys speakership in serious jeopardy with almost no political leverage to lead the House at a critical moment that has pushed the government into crisis. Even this plan, an extraordinary concession to immediately slash spending for many agencies by one-third, was not enough to satisfy the hard right flank that has upturned his speakership.

Republican leaders planned to convene behind closed doors Friday afternoon to assess next steps.

The federal government is heading straight into a shutdown after midnight Saturday that would leave 2 million military troops without pay, furlough federal works and disrupt government services and programs that Americans rely on from coast to coast. Congress has been unable to fund the agencies or pass a temporary bill to keep offices open.

While the Senate is pushing ahead Friday with its own widely bipartisan plan favored by Republicans and Democrats to keep the government open and to bolster Ukraine aid and U.S. disaster accounts, the House has been in political chaos as the hard-right flank seized control.

The White House has declined McCarthys overtures to meet with President Joe Biden after the speaker walked away from the debt deal they brokered earlier this year that set budget levels.

Extreme House Republicans are now tripling down on their demands to eviscerate programs millions of hardworking families count on, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Jean-Pierre said, The path forward to fund the government has been laid out by the Senate with bipartisan support  House Republicans just need to take it.

Catering to his hard-right flank, McCarthy had returned to the lower spending limits it demanded back in January as part of the deal-making to help him become the House speaker.

The package would not have cut the Defense, Veterans or Homeland Security departments but would have slashed almost all other agencies by up to 30%  steep hits to a vast array of programs, services and departments Americans routinely depend on.

It also added strict new border security provisions that would kickstart building the wall at the southern border with Mexico, among other measures. Additionally, the package would have set up a bipartisan debt commission to address the nations mounting debt load.

Ahead of voting, the Republican speaker all but dared his hold-out colleagues to oppose the package a day before Saturdays almost certain shutdown. The House bill would have kept operations open through Oct. 31.

Every member will have to go on record where they stand, McCarthy said.

Asked if he had the votes, McCarthy quipped, Well see.

But as soon as the floor debate began, McCarthys chief Republican critic, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, announced he would be voting against the package, urging his colleagues to not surrender.

Gaetz and others rejecting the temporary measure instead want the House to continue pushing through the 12 individual spending bills needed to fund the government, typically a weeks-long process, as they pursue their conservative priorities.

The hard right, led by Gaetz, has been threatening McCarthys ouster, with a looming vote to try to remove him from the speakers office unless he meets the conservative demands. Still, its unclear if any other Republican would have support from the House majority to lead the party.

Some including Gaetz are allies of Donald Trump, who is Bidens chief rival in 2024. Trump has been encouraging the Republicans to fight hard for their priorities and even to shut it down.

The margin of defeat shocked even Republican members.

Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., said, I think what this does, if anything, I think its going to rally people around the speaker and go, hey the dysfunction here is not coming from leadership in this case. The dysfunction is coming from individuals that dont understand the implications of what were doing here.

Garcia said, For the people that claim this isnt good enough, I want to hear what good enough looks like.
Flashlight in hand, Abasi Umoh climbs a step ladder inside a cramped closet of a Northeast Portland home built more than 60 years ago.

Waist deep in the attic crawlspace, Umoh is standing at the front lines of Portlands well-funded push to reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions and the bills paid by low-income residents.

Umoh, 27, is both a provider and beneficiary of that push. They are a newly minted in-home auditor for the Community Energy Project, a local nonprofit that received a $10 million grant last year to weatherize and retrofit 250 homes during the next five years by installing insulation, air sealing, heat pumps and other energy saving measures.

A key goal for the program is helping low-income Portlanders and people of color stay in homes and neighborhoods where residents face the threat of displacement from gentrification, high energy costs or an expensive backlog of needed repairs.

Umoh considers the work tangible and vital: Addressing the climate crisis in the midst of a housing crisis, and making sure vulnerable communities and individuals arent left behind. Fixing up old homes not only improves homeowners stability but also can aid in their comfort and health.

Work is a significant part of your life, and if you dont feel valued or like youre contributing, its super draining, they said. Since making this transition, Im in a much better mental position, interacting with like-minded folks who want to be active and engaged in the community.

Umoh had spent seven years working in the grocery industry before hitting a $21 an hour wage ceiling, with little opportunity for advancement.

They wanted to make a transition into a career with transferrable skills and ended up taking an Intro to Green Building class last year with Portland YouthBuilders, which provides job training in the trades. That led to paid internships with Earth Advantage and the African American Alliance for Homeownership, which provided boots-on-the-ground experience in home energy scoring and low-income weatherization programs.

Workforce development is another key objective of the Portland Clean Energy Fund, which plans to spend $750 million during the next five years on an ambitious plan to make the city more resilient to climate change. That includes a $140 million initiative to upgrade 3,250 single family homes, which funded the grant to Umohs employer.

Having heard of Umohs passion for the field, a program manager for the energy fund invited them to a weeklong certification course for building analyst technicians.

I aced the course, and with that certification, I found out CEP was hiring and was able to make a really strong case, they said.

Umoh said the career transition has been financially transformative. Portlands program includes a mandate for grantees to pay employees at least 180 percent of minimum wage, currently more than $27 an hour. Thats a big bump for Umoh that they have no doubt will increase over time.

Abasi Umoh, pictured, is a home auditor with the Community Energy Project. On a recent morning, Umoh inspected a home in Northeast Portland. September 12, 2023Beth Nakamura

Two months into the new job in mid-September, Umoh arrived at the house in Northeast Portland.

Like many targeted by the program, this one is a generational home that the current owner, a Black woman in her 60s, inherited from her grandparents. Its her biggest asset, and shes debated whether to stay or go. The energy upgrades would make the former more affordable and allow her to stay in the house and continue building equity in a home thats been in the family for decades.

But also like many homes targeted by this program, this one has fallen into disrepair.

Umoh is trying to determine whether its existing thermal envelope and mechanicals  the roof, walls, windows, electrical, and existing heating and cooling systems  make it a viable candidate for the upgrades. Some 40% of the homes audited by Community Energy Project get wait-listed because the repairs needed before it can tackle the energy efficiency measures are simply too costly.

In some ways this house is a perfect candidate. It has an ancient oil furnace that makes heating prohibitively expensive. The water heater is almost shot. Heat pump versions of both would slash monthly costs. The main electrical panel was recently upgraded and, thankfully, theres no knob and tube wiring  a potential showstopper.

No insulation, Umoh reports after climbing down the ladder. I wasnt seeing the ventilation Id like to see if were going to touch it. I also didnt see any exhaust from the bathroom and kitchen being vented to the roof exterior. I didnt see any moisture, but I saw all the conditions for moisture to become an issue.

Thats potentially a concern if they install a heat pump, which doesnt bring in outside air and makes adequate ventilation and air circulation important to avoid moisture problems.

But those problems are solvable. The grant allows Community Energy Project to spend 30% of its outlay on any home making repairs that dont qualify as weatherization or efficiency measures themselves.

The bigger red flag here is the roof. Its covered in moss. It has a history of leaks. And it may need a tear-off replacement. That alone could cost $40,000, equal to the total per-home costs targeted by the grant. The Portland Housing Bureau has offered up to $10,000 toward the repair or replacement under its Healthy Homes program. But that could still leave the nonprofit scrambling for other funds to move forward.

You cant ask the homeowner to pony up that money, said Jim Plantico, program director of Community Energy Project. With a low-income client, they often cant pay $400 for a car repair. Our job is to work out ways to find that financing to get this done.  We have high hopes we can get this one through.

At the very least, he said, the nonprofit would hope to patch the roof, get the homeowner off oil heat and replace the water heater.

For now, Umoh will write up a report and send out some contractors to bid the job, then the nonprofit can decide if this one is going to fly.

Abasi Umoh, left, and thier colleague Erika Carranza, center, discuss weatherization and utility discount programs with a potential client at El Grito, a community event celebrating Mexican independence on Sept. 16, 2023.

Umoh understands how challenging the home repair process can be, and has empathy for vulnerable clients. In 2021, they bought a home in Southeast Portland with their sibling using the proceeds of a life insurance settlement after their father died of COVID-19. Within five months, the home had major roofing issues and other problems.

We were really in over our heads, Umoh said. We had to trust the contractors, a bunch of men coming into our home, and we had no way to verify it was going to be done right. Every job we had done didnt fully fix the problems. We got taken advantage of. That experience sucked.

Likewise, clients at Community Energy Project, many of them elderly, can expect dozens of visits by contractors to their homes. While the end result is desirable, Umoh said, communication is key, making sure clients know what theyre getting into.

Were all really committed to giving our clients the best work that can be done on the house, Umoh said. Its just such a vulnerable place to be in, and a lot of my mental reward comes from knowing thats what were going to do for folks.

The work extends beyond home energy audits and into community advocacy. In mid-September, Umoh and their colleague Erika Carranza held down Community Energy Projects booth at El Grito, a community event celebrating Mexican independence. They were signing people up for weatherization workshops and promoting utility discount and community solar programs that can provide low-income participants with immediate discounts on their bills.

It was a relatively easy sell. Are you paying 100% of your electrical bill, said Carranza, the nonprofits Spanish program coordinator, describing her pitch. Why?

Umoh says its unclear where their career will lead. They love the job but contemplate the prospect of owning their own business one day doing deep energy retrofits. They know they want to continue working with marginalized populations.

This program has completely changed the trajectory of my life, Umoh said. I have so many opportunities in front of me. Its overwhelming, but not in a bad way. Im in this now. I can consider myself a pro.

-- Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated how a heat pump works.
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When Mia Khalifa gave a conference in Oxford last May, invited by the universitys student union, she had to confront her imposter syndrome. It is unusual for a woman who owes her global celebrity to porn to be a respected voice at one of the worlds most prestigious universities. But its hard to think of someone who could speak with more authority on the topic at hand: the weight of being an influencer and content creator and the limits of privacy in the profession.

A decade ago, Sarah Joe Chamoun accepted an offer from a coworker at a fast-food restaurant in Miami to san a contract with a producer of adult films. She didnt know that in a little over two years, and 37 films, she would become a legend, the most-searched actress on the most popular porn platform in the world, thanks partly to appearing wearing a hijab in some of the scenes. Nor did she know that in this way she was forever selling her body to the company and that she would never again be the owner of her own image. When she tried to recover it, it was too late: I tried at one point, but about three years ago I stopped fighting for that cause when a law firm I worked with pro bono warned me that we werent going to get anywhere: that the fight would take decades of my life, millions of dollars and that even then there was no guarantee I could beat them, she explains, laughing and articulate on the other side of the screen, where she appears in her bedroom dressed in a simple tracksuit. Despite how difficult it has been for her, Mia Khalifa has ended up finding a new path: she has her own space on OnlyFans (where she does performances, not nude) and a body jewelry brand called Sheytan. I have found support in my friends. One of them, Sarah, has helped me to rationalize my feelings, to make the most of my dreams and fantasies, to see a future.

LOUIS VUITTON dress, ACNE STUDIOS jeans, JUSTINE CLENQUET waist chain and SHEYTAN chain bra and sternum chain. Photo: Fabien Montique / Styling: Nono Vazquez

Question: You have said that you turned to porn at a very young age in search of money but also self-esteem. Did it help you for the latter? After all, you became one of the most desired women in the world.

Answer: Not at all. Because when trolls attack me with disgusting comments on Twitter and use my photos, I dont recognize myself in that person. And I feel sorry for her, for where she was mentally and how little I loved and respected myself and how she tried to win the approval of others. I understand what youre asking, if it was empowering in any way. And the answer is no. Maybe right now I feel empowered by my OnlyFans because I do things my own way on there, theres no nudity, I dont do what people expect when they get on there. I post fun, beautiful pictures that make me feel empowered. And it also makes me feel powerful to block people who say rude things to me. Its a wonderful feeling to be able to say no or tell the ones who say, I could get this for free on the internet to fuck off. Great. Then go online and look it up.

Q: Why did you end up going down this more modest path at OnlyFans?

I dont like to call it modest. I think its a matter of preference. There are probably a lot more pressures and barriers for women from certain religious or social backgrounds than for others. And I dont like those women who support the Defend yourself with your brains, not your boobs narrative. Shut up, please! I also dont say the thing about not doing nudity on OnlyFans in a pretentious way or to be better than others. Sometimes I dont like to say it, actually, because I feel like some people might interpret that Im saying Im better than those who do, and its not that at all. Im comfortable like that now.

Top by FENDI, boots by CAMPER LAB and waist chain and thong by SHEYTAN. Photo: Fabien Montique / Styling: Nono Vazquez.

Q: Are you never going to undress again?

Im really afraid that my nudes will start circulating around again, but lately working in Europe Ive been feeling good about creating artistically beautiful things and that has been giving me confidence to show more. Even when Ive done photos without a top, Ive felt more comfortable because I havent felt overtly sexual. Anyway, if someone sexualizes those photos its their problem, not mine.

Q: Why do you think there are women, like Jane Birkin, who were never afraid to show themselves naked? What makes one woman uninhibited and another not?

Well, I think Birkins relationship with transparencies is actually her legacy in Europe, where a bare breast is not sexualized and demonized to the extreme that it is in the United States. For you guys its a more natural thing and its looked at in a completely different way. And then, as I said, it has a lot to do with personal preferences. In her case I think it was a matter of style, she felt comfortable with that effortlessly cool, sexy look.

Q: How did your upbringing influence your relationship with your own body?

Well, I was much more modest than I am now, no doubt. I think that in fact a decisive factor in the very bad decisions I made 10 years ago had to do with how constrained I was in my adolescence. I was not allowed to be free, not allowed to express myself. And that made me very vulnerable to certain relationships and company that I shouldnt have had that I wanted to please. I was a people-pleaser.

Q: Not anymore?

No, unfortunately not.

Coat, jeans and shoes by ACNE STUDIOS, long jacket by ETUDES and chains by ALEX MOSS for SHEYTAN. Photo: Fabien Montique / Styling: Nono Vazquez

Mia Khalifa is an educated woman who expresses herself with extraordinary clarity. When she lived in Beirut, her Catholic parents sent her to a French high school. Her family came to the United States fleeing the conflict in the south of the country and settled in Maryland. Then she went to a military boarding school. It was a very prestigious school where West Point hopefuls studied. It was incredible training. The facility was only two hours from my house, so it sounds much more dramatic than it was. We had some military paraphernalia, yes, like having parades and marches with guns, but we didnt serve the US Government. Later, in college, she studied history. It wasnt the smartest move because you dont get jobs with that and theyre poorly paid. But when I was young I loved history class, because reading those textbooks was like watching a movie. It seemed crazy to me that all those things had happened in real life and were documented. I was passionate about it. Even today the books I tend to like are historical biographies and nonfiction essays.

Bomber jacket by COURREGES and boots by ACNE STUDIOS. Photo: Fabien Montique / Styling: Nono Vazquez

Q: Has it helped you in life to see how cyclical history is?

Well, right now Im reading American Prometheus, the biography of [Robert] Oppenheimer that Nolans film is based on, and it blows my mind how relevant that story still is today. This guy made a great discovery in the 1930s and spent his life warning us that we were going to enter a vicious cycle, that of nuclear terror, that we were never going to be able to get out of anymore. Its frightening but it also serves to see how important it is to know history, to have conversations about it. Its very hard to live in a state like Florida, where they want to erase history and have banned critical race theory. In public schools they wont let them teach kids about the origins of slavery and how essentially slaves were prevented from social mobility even after slavery was abolished.

Q: When you had problems with porn, didnt you think about leaving the United States?

The truth is that when the thing broke 10 years ago, America was the only place in the world where I felt safe because one of the big catalysts for the outrage was the Charlie Hebdo headquarters attack. There were cartoons of me at the time in the weekly and all the extremists on the internet and Twitter were talking about me because of that. It was terrifying. I would say it was in 2021, when the assault on Capitol Hill happened, at the time when I started looking at this country in a different way and realized that maybe the only thing we really have going for us is a lot of parking space [laughs].





LOUIS VUITTON jacket and boots, SHEYTAN rings and earrings from Mia Khalifa's personal collection. Photo: Fabien Montique / Styling: Nono Vazquez

Q: Do you have a partner at the moment?

I am a serial monogamist and have been in three long-term relationships in my life, but right now I am single and I am enjoying it very much because I dont have to sacrifice anything in exchange for commitment. I have a group of friends who are my network, with whom I have a great time, who protect me. And well, at times I can feel lonely, yes, but there are some battery-operated devices that can solve that [laughs].

Q: If you had to give advice to a 17-year-old girl who was about to sign a contract with her own image, what would you tell her?

Dont sign anything that gives someone the rights to something of yours forever. Dont ever do that. Dont ever. Dont sign anything that has in perpetuity in it. Because that means that if the world ends, in the next universe youll still be sold. Especially if you cant afford a lawyer.

Mia Khalifa

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Paris, France (PANA) - The head of the UN, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has urged governments to step up efforts to ensure that half of humanity is not shut out of the classroom
Photo: (Photo : Jael Vallee on Unsplash)

Sebastian Stewart-Johnson, a senior political science student and a prominent member of the "Black Menaces" at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, recounted a distressing incident on September 19. While conducting an on-campus interview, a university staff member confronted him, instructing immediate cessation of recording under the threat of a 911 call. The subsequent developments raised questions about campus inclusivity and student safety.

After the initial confrontation with the staff member, Stewart-Johnson alleged continuous harassment by another student, Jacob Christensen, the editor-in-chief of the unaffiliated conservative student-run newspaper, the Cougar Chronicle. Christensen reportedly followed Stewart-Johnson for 15 minutes, attempting to obstruct his recordings. The incident exacerbated Stewart-Johnson's feelings of vulnerability and frustration, especially on a campus where black students comprise a mere 1% of the 34,000 student population.

The "Black Menaces" is a group of black students at BYU aiming to spotlight the challenges encountered by people of color on the predominantly white campus. They conduct insightful on-camera interviews discussing race, faith, equity, and political topics. The group, which has amassed over 700,000 followers on TikTok, has gained national attention for initiating crucial conversations about racial inclusivity and equity at BYU, a private institution affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

University's Filming Policy and Compliance

BYU enforces a comprehensive filming and photography policy, restricting recordings intended for promotional, commercial, advocacy, or similar purposes on campus grounds. Stewart-Johnson has maintained that the content created by Black Menaces does not serve commercial interests, emphasizing that the videos are meant for personal use, shed light on pressing racial issues, and do not generate ad revenue.

The confrontation and alleged harassment had a significant distressing impact on Stewart-Johnson. Feeling unprotected and singled out, he decided to leave the campus, refraining from returning for the subsequent two days. Expressing his dissatisfaction, Stewart-Johnson highlighted the struggle of being a black student on campus and his lack of trust in the university's existing support mechanisms.

In the aftermath, BYU's media relations manager, Todd Hollingshead, communicated the limited availability of details but affirmed the university's Office of Belonging's outreach to Stewart-Johnson to understand and address his concerns.

"We are committed to fostering a sense of belonging and community for all BYU students on our campus," asserted Hollingshead. While Stewart-Johnson acknowledged the outreach and the filing of a report, he conveyed skepticism regarding the efficacy of the Office of Belonging.

Read Also: Homeschooling Becoming the Choice of Black Families

Community Support and Resumption of Activities

A week later, Stewart-Johnson resumed his recording activities despite the difficult circumstances, feeling motivated by the numerous campus apologies and expressions of support. This incident serves as a catalyst for ongoing dialogue surrounding race, belonging, and the necessity of fostering community inclusivity within educational settings.

The experiences of Sebastian Stewart-Johnson underscore the urgent need for universities to actively cultivate environments of belonging, ensuring the safety, well-being, and equitable treatment of all students, irrespective of their racial or ethnic backgrounds. This incident acts as a poignant reminder for educational institutions to actively engage in rectifying racial disparities, promoting an atmosphere of mutual understanding, acceptance, and respect.

In conclusion, while Stewart-Johnson's return to his activities demonstrates resilience and determination, it also accentuates the imperative nature of fostering dialogue and implementing actionable measures to address the unique challenges faced by minority students, thus ensuring that universities remain true bastions of learning, personal growth, and inclusivity for all.

Related Article: Is Racism More Evident Now? Teacher In Baltimore Caught On Video Using Racial Slurs, 'N' Word Towards Students
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A recent verdict from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed the Tennessee ban and Kentucky ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors.

This has led to fervent debates and discussions within the community concerned about transgender rights.

This article dives deep into the implications of this ruling and its impact on the national conversation surrounding gender-affirming medical care and transgender rights.

An Overview of the Bans of the Gender Affirming Medical Care for Minors

The bans in Tennessee and Kentucky have curtailed access to gender-affirming medical care, including pivotal treatments like surgery, hormones, and puberty blockers for minors.

This move is seen by many as a decisive action that will shape the future landscape of transgender rights in these states.

The court's 2-1 decision upholding the Tennessee ban and Kentucky ban was met with significant resistance, especially from families of transgender children who felt that these laws might discriminate against their children based on age and sex.

Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, while articulating the court's perspective, emphasized the complexity and evolving nature of gender-affirming medical care.

The affirmation of the Tennessee ban and the Kentucky ban has witnessed a spectrum of reactions from various stakeholders.

Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee's Attorney General, celebrated the court's decision, interpreting it as a democratic affirmation, suggesting that ambiguities not resolved by the Constitution should be determined by elected representatives, reflecting the people's will.

On the flip side, groups like the ACLU have been vocal against the Tennessee ban.

Representing several families with transgender children, they expressed grave concerns, suggesting that these bans might force families to consider relocating to ensure their children have continued access to crucial gender-affirming medical care.

The National Context of Transgender Rights

The narrative surrounding transgender rights and gender-affirming medical care isn't unique to Tennessee and Kentucky. The U.S. has witnessed a mosaic of rulings and decisions across its states.

For instance, while Alabama found itself in alignment with the recent verdicts of the Tennessee and Kentucky bans, other states like Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia have chosen to overturn similar bans.

Given the varied reactions to these bans and the increasing emphasis on gender-affirming medical care, experts believe the topic of transgender rights might soon find its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Such a move would undoubtedly shape the nation's stance on the subject.

Beyond the legal and political implications, the heart of this issue lies in the lives of transgender youth impacted by the Tennessee and Kentucky bans on gender-affirming medical care.

Advocacy groups and families underline the essential nature of these treatments, often describing them as life-saving.

The Tennessee ban and the Kentucky ban on gender-affirming medical care don't just have legal ramifications; they touch the very core of personal rights and the holistic well-being of transgender minors.

Judge Helene White, in her dissent, emphasized this sentiment, highlighting the critical role parents play in making informed medical decisions for their children, a right that she believes should be uninfringed by state mandates.

Read Also: Overwhelmed by Phone Prompts: New Study Reveals Kids Swamped with Notifications, Impacting Focus, Sleep

Looking Ahead: Gender-Affirming Medical Care and Its Future

As states grapple with their positions on transgender rights and gender-affirming medical care, the debate is far from over.

While the recent upholding of the Tennessee and Kentucky bans has added a new chapter to this discussion, the story continues to evolve.

Legal battles, societal conversations, and personal stories of transgender youth and their families will likely shape the narrative in the years to come.

The ongoing discussion will require a delicate balance between state mandates, medical insights, individual rights, and the overarching need to ensure the well-being of every citizen, regardless of their gender identity.

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Photo: (Photo : Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash)

International Safe Abortion Day saw an outpouring of emotion and strength across Latin America as streets were transformed into rivers of green, with tens of thousands of women coming together to advocate for their reproductive rights. In a region where abortion laws have been historically restrictive, some countries like the Dominican Republic and El Salvador still uphold stringent bans on the procedure.

Mexico's Monumental Milestone: Celebrating Supreme Court's Landmark Ruling

In Mexico, the atmosphere was electric with a sense of victory. Demonstrators came out in large numbers to celebrate a landmark decision by the Supreme Court to decriminalize abortions at the federal level. This monumental step is seen as a beacon of hope in a country whose legal stance on reproductive rights has been traditionally swayed by its deeply ingrained conservative and religious values.

Fernanda Castro, an instrumental organizer at GIRE, the organization that championed the lawsuit that culminated in this decision, expressed her elation: "It's absolutely an achievement." Yet she was quick to highlight the next monumental hurdle on this journey: "decriminalizing abortion in the minds of the people."

While this Supreme Court ruling has set a precedent, it's crucial to note that abortion remains criminalized in 20 states within Mexico. However, there's a discernible pattern of change sweeping the region. It began around 15 years ago, when Mexico City pioneered the movement to decriminalize abortion. This groundbreaking initiative acted as a catalyst, sparking similar changes in Argentina by 2020 and, surprisingly, in the traditionally conservative nation of Colombia by 2022.

Brazil, another significant player in the region, is teetering on the brink of change. As it stands, abortion in Brazil is criminalized, with a few exemptions permitted in scenarios such as rape or serious fetal birth defects.

However, there is rising hope, pinned on a case currently under review by the Brazilian Supreme Court. If successful, it might pave the way for the decriminalization of abortion procedures up to 12 weeks of gestation.

Fernanda Castro, ever the optimist, declared with conviction, "The green wave is going to keep growing, and Brazilian women can rest assured that they're not embarking on this journey alone."

Read Also: Abortion Rights Strengthened in Arizona as Governor Signs Executive Order Limiting Prosecution

Buenos Aires' Atmosphere of Apprehension: October Elections Stir Concerns

In contrast, while Mexico and other nations had a predominantly celebratory ambiance during their marches, Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, was clouded with apprehension. With the looming October elections, many participants felt a storm of unease. The rise of right-wing candidate Javier Milei, now leading in the polls, has many concerned.

Milei has not only voiced opposition to abortion rights but has also criticized sex education in schools and free medical procedures for gender transitions. His promise to start a referendum that might overturn the decriminalization of abortion that Congress approved in 2022 has increased concerns.

Amid the throngs in Argentina, art student Sara Rivas voiced her concerns about Milei, stating that he consistently dismisses and denies issues ranging from the severe problem of femicide to the historical struggles and sacrifices that gave birth to the green wave movement. But, echoing the spirit of many around her, she also highlighted the indomitable spirit of Latin American women, saying, "We are here. We aren't going anywhere. We've fought for our rights in the streets, and that's exactly where we'll continue to protect them."

The green wave movement, beautifully encapsulated by the green handkerchiefs proudly displayed by demonstrators, is a shining testament to the resilience, unity, and enduring spirit of women across Latin America.

Related Article: Abortion Rights: Norway Allows Termination Of One Healthy Fetus In Twin Pregnancy For Foreigners
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The idyllic afternoon of a typical Cleveland day was turned upside down with the sudden and tragic shooting of a young 3-year-old boy. This heartbreaking incident, which saw a child caught in the unforgiving crosshairs of violence, has stirred deep emotions and introspection among the city's residents and the nation at large.

Cleveland Law Enforcement's Swift Response

Traveling in a car with his mother and sibling, the boy's life was abruptly and tragically cut short. In the vicinity, an unrelated 31-year-old man was also shot. Although his physical wounds are expected to heal, the mental and emotional scars of being part of such a traumatic event will likely persist.

In the immediate aftermath, Cleveland's law enforcement swung into action, meticulously piecing together the events of that fateful day. Their rigorous investigative work led to the detention of multiple persons of interest as they methodically worked towards achieving clarity and ensuring justice for the devastated family.

Mayor Justin Bibb, serving as the voice of the anguished Cleveland community, expressed the profound shock and sorrow that resonate deeply in the hearts of every citizen. He deemed the tragedy not just an isolated incident but a painful symptom of the broader, persistent ailment of gun violence plaguing American society.

A look at the national statistics paints a haunting picture. As per the Gun Violence Archive's documentation, an astonishing 6,152 children faced the horrors of gun-related incidents just last year. Behind every number lies a story of a shattered family, broken dreams, and a community struggling to find answers.

Read Also: Vaccines and Infant Death: 1-Year-Old Boy Died Three Days After Being Vaccinated

Community Healing: Vigils and Gatherings

Emphasizing the depth of the tragedy, Mayor Bibb remarked, "The enormity of such a loss is beyond comprehension. It's a sharp dagger into the heart of our community, and we're left grappling with the overwhelming pain and grief."

He continued with a rallying cry for the people of Cleveland and beyond to stand united, shoulder the responsibility of ensuring safety, and tirelessly fight against the deep-rooted issues contributing to such acts of violence.

As news of the Cleveland tragedy spread, it reignited the nationwide debate on gun control, community safety, and societal values. Many have started to ponder the pressing question: How did we get here? What steps can we take to ensure that no other child or family faces such an unthinkable tragedy?

While these questions remain, the resilience of the Cleveland community is evident. Grief counseling sessions, community meetings, and vigils have sprung up across the city, offering a platform for residents to share their feelings, find solace, and brainstorm proactive measures.

One thing is certain: the loss of the young boy will not be in vain. It has ignited a flame of determination in the hearts of Cleveland's residents and reinforced their commitment to ensuring a brighter, safer future for all.

With every vigil held, every tear shed, and every hand held, the message from the community is clear: they will stand united against violence, they will remember, and they will work tirelessly to ensure such tragedies are relegated to the annals of history, never to be repeated.

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Photo: (Photo : Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

As the September 30th deadline nears, millions of American families face the possibility of the child care cliff, directly attributed to the ARPA Fund Expiration. Without this lifeline, the nation risks not only the closure of thousands of child care centers but also the very fabric of working families.

The Crucial Role of ARPA in Sustaining Child Care

The American Rescue Plan Act, more commonly known as ARPA, was signed into law by President Joe Biden as a response to the debilitating impacts of the pandemic.

This $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, of which nearly $40 billion was channeled to the child care industry, has been the backbone supporting countless child care centers throughout the nation. Before ARPA, the child care sector was a predominantly underserved industry.

With the introduction of ARPA funding, centers could afford to offer competitive wages, preventing staff from migrating to higher-paying sectors, especially during a time when employers are aggressively ramping up wages to lure new hires.

These funds have been instrumental in not only maintaining operations but also in suppressing the surging costs for parents, who on average shoulder an annual expense of $15,000 for just one child's care.

Julie Kashen from The Century Foundation stated that over 220,000 child care programs received funds. It showcased a level of federal support that the country had never seen before, making a monumental difference.

Imminent Threat to Families and The Larger Workforce

However, the looming ARPA fund expiration is casting an ominous shadow over this progress. Kashen's projections paint a grim picture: the potential closure of up to 70,000 child care centers.

The immediate threat to families is evident, with an estimated 3.2 million children poised to miss out on essential child care services. Beyond the immediate repercussions, the long-term effects of this child care cliff are equally dire.

Parents, especially those in the workforce, stand at a precipice. The lack of accessible child care might compel many to make heart-wrenching decisions, toggling between their profession and their child's welfare.

This threat to families isn't just emotional but also financial. Kashen estimates parents might grapple with a combined loss of $9 billion in earnings. This crisis also highlights the glaring disparities between the U.S. and other affluent countries regarding child care support.

For instance, Denmark, a nation where the government covers 75% of child care costs, annually allocates an impressive $14,000 per child, dwarfing the U.S.'s meager $500.

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A Glimpse into the Trepidations of Child Care Centers

The uncertainties trailing the ARPA Fund Expiration are palpable among child care centers. At the helm of Greenway Learning Center in Maryland, Patti Smith gives voice to these concerns.

Smith stated that the possible fee increments post-ARPA's expiration are daunting. She fears many parents won't be able to cope, resulting in many children being left without care. This could be the unfortunate prologue to shutting down classrooms or, worse, entire centers.

Echoing this apprehension, Amanda Cavaness from the Dr. Jerry Hamm Early Learning Center emphasized how ARPA funds empowered her establishment to enact pivotal upgrades and improvements.

While the shadows of the child care cliff grow longer with each passing day, there's a glimmer of hope.

The proposed Childcare Stabilization Act, championed by Senators Patty Murray and Bernie Sanders, among others, aspires to bridge the impending funding void. Its fate remains uncertain. However, the message is crystal clear: child care isn't merely an individual's concern but a national priority.

In the face of the ARPA Fund Expiration, the looming child care cliff serves as a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of policy, family welfare, and the economy. The imminent threat to families necessitates swift, decisive action.

Related Article: Overwhelmed by Phone Prompts: New Study Reveals Kids Swamped with Notifications, Impacting Focus, Sleep
photo from Twitter] *** Juan Roberto de Oliveira is the author of the book, Nenhum Caminho Leva a Roma: O pecurso ate o protestantismo [No Road Leads to Rome: The Path to Protestantism]. It has no date or publisher listed. But it was recently released. Hes a law graduate and is Ill be rebutting your rebuttals. I wish him all the best in that endeavor. If anyone discovers that he has ever answered any of my critiques, please let me know.

*

His words will be in blue . Translations from the Portugese of his book will be made with Google Translate (with an occasional additional modification). I will use RSV for Bible translations. Brazilian Protestantis the author of the book, Nenhum Caminho Leva a Roma: O pecurso ate o protestantismo [No Road Leads to Rome: The Path to Protestantism]. It has no date or publisher listed. But it was recently released. Hes aand is active on Twitter (now X) and, especially, Instagram . When I informed Juan of my replies, he quickly wrote on Twitter:I wish him all the best in that endeavor. If anyone discovers that he has ever answered any of my critiques, please let me know.His words will be in. Translations from the Portugese of his book will be made with Google Translate (with an occasional additional modification). I will use RSV for Bible translations. * Just as I finished my tenth installment (10-5-23), Fraternidade Newman Brasil [Newman Brazil Fraternity] published a devastatingly comprehensive (and shocking) expose entitled Apologetica da Desonestidade: Evidencias de Plagio e outras Trapacas no Livro do Protestante Juan Roberto Oliveira [Apologetics of Dishonesty: Evidence of Plagiarism and other Cheating in the Book of Protestant Juan Roberto Oliveira]. * In light of this new information, this will be my last critique. Its a shame, because I was enjoying myself so much, and I felt that I came up with some fresh arguments, but this book deserves no further response. It was already a very weak, poor volume (desperately in need of an editor), even if these factors werent in play. What I have written thus far has, in my opinion, value in and of itself, as a ten-part Catholic apologetics course. So it wasnt a waste of time at all. But no more. Im only interested in responding to serious, adequately researched, honest apologetics. * *****

Alphonsus de Liguori[s] . . . most famous book, The Glories of Mary, reflects his deep idolatry of Mary and her role in the Catholic faith. You are omnipotent, O mother of God, to save sinners; you do not need any recommendation from God, for you are the mother of true life. Alphonsus de Liguori calls Mary omnipotent, an attribute that is only Gods. He also says that only through Marys intercession do we obtain forgiveness, contrary to the entire gospel of Jesus Christ. (p. 15) By believing that the saints or Mary have the ability to intercede from heaven, Catholics are automatically stating that they are omniscient and omnipresent. Because its only possible to hear the prayers of millions of people if these saints are omniscient and omnipresent. We know that only God/Jesus has such attributes; not even angels have this power. If a Catholic argues that God allows such saints to have this capacity, its the same thing as saying that God is delegating his unique power, and its the same thing as asking God to stop being God. Its as if God couldnt do it alone and needed help. (p. 20) As for Gods delegating tasks to His saints, who cooperate with Him and work together with Him as (infinitely inferior, but still partnering) co-laborers, see the many examples of this detailed in my Reply #3 to Juan. Ive written three articles about St. Alphonsus book, which is perhaps the anti-Catholics favorite Catholic book of all: St. Alphonsus de Liguori: Mary-Worshiper & Idolater? [8-9-02] Catholics Think Mary is Co-Creator? (vs. T.F. Kauffman) (Refuting a Distortion of What St. Alphonsus de Liguori Actually Teaches in The Glories of Mary) [7-17-23]

Mary, Not Jesus, is the Catholic Savior? (Response to More Misrepresentation of St. Alphonsus de Liguoris Book, The Glories of Mary) [7-21-23]

Their tactics are a classic, playbook example of citing words out of context and neglecting the overall thought of a writer. One must always examine the context to determine exactly what the author is trying to communicate. And now I shall do so:

[A]lthough Mary, now in heaven, can no longer command her Son, nevertheless her prayers are always the prayers of a Mother, and consequently most powerful to obtain whatever she asks . . . For thy protection is omnipotent, O Mary, says Cosmas of Jerusalem . . . Richard of St. Laurence; . . .  . . . a mother is made omnipotent by an omnipotent son. . . . Since the Mother, then, should have the same power as the Son, rightly has Jesus, who is omnipotent, made Mary also omnipotent; though, of course, it is always true that where the Son is omnipotent by nature, the Mother is only so by grace . . . Mary, then, is called omnipotent in the sense in which it can be understood of a creature who is incapable of a divine attribute. She is omnipotent, because by her prayers she obtains whatever she wills. (The Glories of Mary, edited by Rev. Eugene Grimm, Two Volumes in One, Fourth Reprint Revised, Brooklyn: Redemptorist Fathers, 1931, 180-182)

First of all, many are unaware that the word omnipotent has more than the usual meaning attributed to it (God having all power that is logically possible to have). Hence, Dictionary . com defines it as:

adjective

almighty or infinite in power, as God. having very great or unlimited authority or power. [my italics]

Likewise, the British Dictionary: having very great or unlimited power. [my italics]

The notion of creatures being granted a measure, great or small, of Gods power is completely harmonious with the biblical outlook:

. . . that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (1 Corinthians 12:9)

. . . we shall live with him by the power of God. (1 Corinthians 13:4)

. . . by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:5)

. . . my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 5:4)

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, (Ephesians 3:20)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (Ephesians 6:10; cf. Ps 68:35)

who by Gods power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:5)

He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations. (Revelation 2:26)

And so this is what St. Alphonsus is maintaining about Mary (albeit to an extraordinary degree). Very great power granted entirely by Gods will is not unbiblical at all. God can do whatever He wants. Moreover, the notion of an exceedingly powerful human intercessor is entirely, explicitly biblical:

James 5:16-18 . . . The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. [17] Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18] Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. (cf. 1 Kgs 17:1)

Anyone can go directly to God in prayer at any time. I want to make that crystal clear, and the Catholic Church teaches that. But they can also choose to wisely ask a person holier than themselves to make a prayer request of God, because The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects (Jas 5:16), and the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer (1 Pet 3:12), and When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears (Ps 34:17). God told Abimelech that Abraham would pray for him, so he could live, for Abraham was a prophet (Gen 20:6-7).

*

All Israel (1 Sam 12:1) said to Samuel [the prophet], Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die. . . (1 Sam 12:19). God told Jobs friends: my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly (Job 42:8). Why did God listen to Jobs prayers? Its because God Himself stated that there is none like Job on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil (Job 1:8). King Zedekiah asked the holy prophet Jeremiah to pray for him and the country (Jer 37:3).

*

If we go to a more righteous or holy person and ask them to pray for x, then x is far more likely to happen than if we go to God directly (because we are less righteous). Therefore, its more efficient and better to do this in these instances rather than go directly to God. Righteous people know Gods will better than those who are not following God with a whole heart, with all their might. Therefore, their prayers are more effective. Its best to go straight to God in prayer, unless there happens to be a person more righteous than we are in the immediate vicinity, who is willing to make the same prayer request. Then the Bible recommends that we ask them to intercede, rather than asking God directly. I didnt claim this; the Catholic Church didnt invent it. Its in the Bible. If someone wants to be biblical, it would include this practice.

*

*
Jalaladin Muhammad Balkhi, the wondrous Jalaladin Rumi was born on this day, the 30th of September, in 1207.

I write about him every once in a while. Here, for instance, I devoted a whole dharma talk to him.

In 2007 he got a lot of press as Americas most beloved poet. And you know, he probably still is.

Rumi was a Muslim theologian, sometimes these days people slide over this fact while celebrating that other truth of him as a nondual mystic. The Mevlevi Sufi Order, the so-called Whirling Dervishes, was founded by his son as a way to convey Rumis mystical teachings over the generations. With some success, I feel.

He was and remains super, super important to many, including me.

Among the many, many interesting things about him is the at least apparently homoerotic subtext to his mystical writings. His teacher was the controversial wandering mystic Shams Tabrizi.

It was this encounter, as intimate as intimate can be, that opened Rumis heart. Tabriz was disreputable, totally outside the bounds of the society that Rumi was a pillar of. This intimacy, whatever the best word for it is, centered Rumi opening to a madzub. The universalist Sufi master Inayat Khan describes the madzub:

The fifth form in which a person who lives the inner life appears is a strange form, a form which very few people can understand. He puts on the mask of innocence outwardly to such an extent that those who do not understand may easily consider him unbalanced, peculiar, or strange. He does not mind about it, for the reason that it is only his shield. If he were to admit before humanity the power that he has, thousands of people would go after him, and he would not have one moment to live his inner life.

The enormous power that he possesses governs inwardly lands and countries, controlling them and keeping them safe from disasters such as floods and plagues, and also wars; keeping harmony in the country or in the place in which he lives; and all this is done by his silence, by his constant realization of the inner life. To a person who lacks deep insight he will seem a strange being.

In the language of the East he is called Madzub. That same idea was known to the ancient Greeks and traces of it are still in existence in some places, but mostly in the East. There are souls to be found today in the East, living in this garb of a self-realized man who shows no trace outwardly of philosophy or mysticism or religion, or any particular morals; and yet his presence is a battery of power, his glance most inspiring, there is a commanding expression in his looks; and if he ever speaks, his word is the promise of God. What he says is truth; but he rarely speaks a word, it is difficult to get a word out of him; but once he has spoken, what he says is done.

Whatever else, a madzub is a transgresive person, a part of the mystical current that in general is a problem for the religious. That the scholar Rumi was so entranced and so devoted that one can see an erotic side to it, well, that was a problem then. And, it continues to be a problem for some to this day.

Here something outside boundaries was burning. Is burning.

For me as a person on the Zen way, another of his challenging gifts is that he encounters the nondual in a totally personal way. For him the intimated the place where self and other are burned away, is an expression of love. The nondual as love, lover, and beloved.

So different. And yet, not different at all.

Rumis most popular presenter in North America Coleman Barks has been dragged over the coals for not in fact knowing Persian. Similarly, and Im stretching for the right word, as there has never been anything hidden about these facts, allegations, revelations, whatever, have been made regarding Stephen Mitchells famous version of the Tao Te Ching.

In both cases poets of some skill, and with their own insight into the intimate, steeped in mystical traditions if not their languages, have taken literal translations and given us lovely and compelling versions of remarkable writings.

In Barks case, he has generally enjoyed more gratitude for his work than criticism, even receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Tehran. And, absolutely, those who do fall in love with Rumi (or the Tao Te Ching), should go on to other translators, which will cast additional shades of a larger understanding

However were introduced to him, Rumi shines through as an amazing personality, as a pointer of the way into the paths of heart. And, definitely should be counted among the pantheon of the worlds spiritual guides.

Which brings me in conclusion to his poem the Guest House. It is a perennial favorite of Insight and Zen practitioners as it captures much of the heart of the practices of intimacy. I love it.

I shared these a few months back, but as a small birthday present, here they are again. Three versions of the poem. One is a full on scholarly and frankly dry translation. The other two more creative efforts at capturing the heart of the matter.

Each worth a read.

All worth reading one after the other

***

So. First, heres a translation of the text by the scholar Reynold Nicholson, from his Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi, published by The Trustees of E.J.W. Gibb Memorial by Luzac, 1977:

This body, O youth, is a guest-house: every morning a new

guest comes running (into it).

Beware, do not say, The (guest) is a burden to me, for

presently he will fly back into non-existence.

Whatsoever comes into thy heart from the invisible world is

thy guest: entertain it well!

Every day, too, at every moment a (different) thought comes,

like an honoured guest, into thy bosom.

O (dear) soul, regard thought as a person, since (every) person

derives his worth from thought and spirit.

If the thought of sorrow is waylaying (spoiling) joy, (yet) it

is making preparations for joy.

It violently sweeps thy house clear of (all) else, in order that

new joy from the source of good may enter in.

It scatters the yellow leaves from the bough of the heart, in

order that incessant green leaves may grow.

It uproots the old joy, in order the new delight may march

in from the Beyond.

Sorrow pulls up the crooked rotten (root), in order that it may

disclose the root that is veiled from sight.

Whatsoever (things) sorrow may cause to be shed from the

heart or may take away (from it), assuredly it will bring better

in exchange.

(Whenever) the thought (of sorrow) comes into thy breast

anew, go to meet it with smiles and laughter.

***

As Ive said Rumis most popular presenter in North America is Coleman Barks.

Barks has a profound spiritual eye, and his versions of the texts take on a life of their own. Often sort of collaborations between Rumi and Barks. With that, heres Barks version of the Guest House, first published in Rumi: Selected Poems, Penguin Books, 2004:

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if theyre a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond. ***

Finally. Kabir Helminski is a Western born Sufi Shaikh in the Mevlevi Order. His version of the Guest House, first published in the Rumi Collection, Threshold Books, 1998:

Darling, the body is a guest house;

every morning someone new arrives.

Dont say, O, another weight around my neck!

or your guest will fly back to nothingness.

Whatever enters your heart is a guest

from the invisible world: entertain it well.

Every day, and every moment, a thought comes

like an honored guest into your heart.

My soul, regard each thought as a person,

for every persons value is in the thought they hold.

If a sorrowful thought stands in the way,

it is also preparing the way for joy.

It furiously sweeps your house clean,

in order that some new joy may appear from the Source.

It scatters the withered leaves from the bough of the heart,

in order that fresh green leaves might grow.

It uproots the old joy so that

a new joy may enter from Beyond.

Sorrow pulls up the rotten root

that was veiled from sight.

Whatever sorrow takes away or causes the heart to shed,

it puts something better in its place-

especially for one who is certain

that sorrow is the servant of the intuitive.

Without the frown of clouds and lightning,

the vines would be burned by the smiling sun.

Both good and bad luck become guests in your heart:

like planets traveling from sign to sign.

When something transits your sign, adapt yourself,

and be as harmonious as its ruling sign,

so that when it rejoins the Moon,

it will speak kindly to the Lord of the heart.

Whenever sorrow comes again,

meet it with smiles and laughter,

saying, O my Creator, save me from its harm,

and do not deprive me of its good.

Lord, remind me to be thankful,

let me feel no regret if its benefit passes away.

And if the pearl is not in sorrows hand,

let it go and still be pleased.

Increase your sweet practice.

Your practice will benefit you at another time;

someday your need will be suddenly fulfilled.

***

***

Image of a whirling dervish by Emma Brown Photography
An image from reports about unidentified flying objects, which have been investigated by the Brazilian Air Force for more than 60 years.

One day in May of 1986, the head of the Brazilian Air Force  Lieutenant General Octavio Julio Moreira Lima  summoned the press to Brasilia, the capital. He gave them a briefing about the extraordinary events that had occurred the previous Monday, which led him to order the deployment of five fighter jets. He sent them to pursue and intercept 21 UFOs, which had been sighted by hundreds of civilian and military witnesses  and detected by radar  in four states. Unfortunately, none of the aircraft managed to reach the luminous objects, which escaped with unthinkable twists and speeds.

The minister  who appeared with the five military pilots and air traffic controllers who monitored the sightings  promised a detailed report about the frenetic hours within a month. It took him much longer, but finally, many years later, it was published. And anyone can read it, as its been made available by the National Archives of Brazil, either in-person at the headquarters in Brasilia, or online.

NASAs recent decision to adopt a methodology to study what it calls unidentified anomalous phenomena has brought the UFO collection of the National Archives of Brazil to the fore. Prepared more than six decades ago by the Air Force, it contains some 20,000 pages of reports  many with confidential seals  and drawings, as well as audios, videos, photographs, correspondence and press clippings related to the 743 incidents recorded by Brazils military between 1952 and 2016.

The US space agency has also announced the appointment of a director to lead the investigations something that has a peculiar precedent in Brazil. From 1969 until 1972, a soldier  Commander Giberto Zani de Mello  oversaw a unit that was created within the Armed Forces to systematically monitor these unexplained phenomena that, for so many people, evoke the possibility of extraterrestrial life. It was called the Unidentified Aerial Object Investigation System (SIOANI) and its headquarters were based in a central neighborhood of Sao Paulo.

In the midst of the last Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985), the fact that a team of uniformed men were being asked by the high command to gather information about UFO-related events generated both alarm and curiosity. Officials from SIOANI traveled around the country to interview witnesses, writing up reports that included sketches  some of which portrayed a wide variety of flying saucer models  and producing a bulletin.

The Brazilian authorities emphasize  like their US colleagues  that UFOs arent synonymous with spacecraft or aliens. Brasilia notes that the 743 archived records dont mean that 743 flying saucers have been spotted, but rather, [they refer to] any object in the sky whose natural origin could not be immediately discovered. In other words, a UFO can be a drone, a star, a satellite, a weather balloon, or even a natural phenomenon.

Reports on the more than 700 unidentified flying objects investigated by the Air Force can be viewed (in-person or online) in the National Archives of Brazil.

Brazil is a country with deep-rooted superstitions, where the third-largest religion is spiritualism. Consulting psychics isnt atypical; some institutions even sign contracts with spirits to avoid rain during special events. Its difficult to forget the scene with dozens of Bolsonaro supporters  camped in front of the Army barracks in Porto Alegre after their leader lost his re-election bid  who were recorded demanding help from extraterrestrials to carry out a coup.

The most famous UFO-related incident was what occurred on that Monday in 1986, when 21 UFOs invaded Brazilian airspace. It entered the history of ufology as The Official Night of the UFOs. The militarys subsequent report  in a dry tone  concluded the following about the hours that shocked the country: The phenomena are solid and reflect, in some ways, intelligence, due to the ability [of the objects] to maintain distance from observers, as well as to fly in formation, [although they are] not necessarily manned.

The first to detect those luminous dots was an air traffic controller from Sao Jose dos Campos, the Brazilian city that hosts the National Institute for Space Research and other strategic facilities. Pilots who witnessed the events testified that the flying objects could move in a zigzag pattern, stop in the sky, make sharp right turns, change color and reach supersonic speeds.

The sound recordings of the frenetic conversations between the controllers and the pilots can be heard on the National Archives website, which, from time to time, posts excerpts on social media. A ufologist named Marco Antonio Petit explained to BBC Brazil how the Brazilian military approached the phenomenon: For years, I had the opportunity to interview high-ranking soldiers who told me: UFOs arent shot down in Brazil because [we dont know] if they pose a threat. How will they react if theyre attacked?

As the UFOs were spotted during the Cold War, the uniformed men didnt rule out that some of the strange objects sighted over Brazil  a country with a tradition of neutrality  were spy satellites sent by either the Soviet Union or the United States.

The UFO collection is one of the most popular ones in the National Archives. Other major collections include the bulk of documentation on the last military dictatorship

(1964-1985)  which is the most-consulted  as well as records on slavery, the arrival of white immigrants who replaced slave labor, Carnival, censorship, or the construction of Brasilia.

Brazil is a country where transparency is the norm: all official documents are public, except those declared secret. This is a policy that is often more advanced than developed nations in the Global North. And, thanks to that spirit of transparency (along with a formal request filed by the Brazilian Federation of Ufology), the archive on UFOs  gathered since the 1950s and guarded by the Air Force in Brasilia  began to be transferred to the National Archives of Brazil in 2008, during the second term of Luiz Inacio da Silva, who is currently serving his third term. They were subsequently made open to the public.

A little over a year ago, the Senate of Brazil invited local and foreign ufologists to a solemn session  as Mexico recently did  in an event that even included a supposed non-human being. Those present in Brasilia welcomed the fact that many countries  such as Brazil, or even the Vatican  are partially opening their archives on this subject. The senator who organized the unique session  Eduardo Girao  was pleased that Brazil was the first country to officially admit that UFOs exist and have extraterrestrial origins.

The UFO collection is one of the most-consulted ones in the National Archives.

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Ghana's Kasapreko Company Limited has expanded its presence into Kenya.



The company presently exports to 16 countries globally under various brands in the bitters, whisky, gin, liqueur, amongst others.



Ghana's Kasapreko Company Limited, owned by multi-millionaire tycoon Kwabena Adjei, has expanded its presence into the East African market, introducing popular brands such as Alomo Bitters, Alomo Gold, Kasapreko London Dry Gin, Black Rock Whisky, Carnival Strawberry, and Kalahari Bitters.



Canary International Trading Company Limited, a subsidiary of the Canary Group of Companies specializing in food and beverage distribution, facilitated Kasapreko's expansion into Kenya.



Speaking during the launch at the Ghana High Commission in Nairobi, Patrick Masope-Crabbe, founder of Canary Group of Companies, said that the firm will focus on a business-to-business (B2B) model in order to ensure that the Kasapreko products spread rapidly into the market to reach consumers.



He mentioned that their goal is to collaborate with a wide range of alcohol distributors and establishments.



Canary International currently operates in West Africa, East Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.



Meanwhile, Francis Holly Adzah, the International Business Development Director at Kasapreko Company Limited, encouraged Kenyans and the East African community to embrace Ghanaian heritage by experiencing the diverse array of beverages offered by the company, Capital FM Kenya reported.



He also mentioned that Kasapreko has leveraged research and development, incorporating cutting-edge technology with local and traditional recipes in the production process.



Kasapreko stands as a beacon of quality, innovation, and heritage, boasting a state-of-the-art production facility, global export reach, and an iconic flagship product, Alomo Bitters, he added.



Moved by the increasing demand for quality alcoholic products, Ghanaian businessman Kwabena Adjei founded Kasapreko Company Ltd in 1989 with the niche of producing herbal-based alcoholic products sourced locally.



The company that started from a small garage of Dr Kwabena Adjei has developed into a state-of-the-art production facility with over 100 skus and exporting to 16 countries globally under various brands in the bitters, whisky, gin, liqueur, brandy, carbonated soft drinks and wine categories.



Kasapreko currently generates annual revenues exceeding $35 million.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former Independent Presidential Candidate, Jacob Osei Yeboah aka. JOY 2012 says politicians are full of lies and deceit to lure the masses to vote.



He believes their attitudes have earned them a relationship with the devil  after linking Alan Kyerematens resignation from the New Patriotic Party as an evil plot.



After the devil, those who lie more are political parties . . . I will deliver Alan from the party evils and make him non-partisan, Jacob Osei Yeboah said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show, 'Ghana Montie'.



He is of the view that politicians have failed the country and only amassing wealth and condoning bad deeds.



Listen to the full interview below





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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NPP Member of Parliament(MP) for Anyaa Sowutuom constituency, Dickson Adomako Kissi, who's a strong supporter of Alan Kyerematen, has distanced himself from the latter for severing ties with the New Patriotic Party.



Alan Kyerematen informed the nation of his decision to contest as an independent candidate in the 2024 elections.



"I am honourably resigning with immediate effect from the NPP to contest for the high office of the President of the Republic of Ghana", he said, adding he is championing a new political wave termed Movement for Change.



"The new Movement will be led and powered by the youth of Ghana", he stressed.



He added; "The brand logo for the MOVEMENT is the Monarch Butterfly, which politically symbolizes change and transformation, hope, and positivity. It also communicates strength, endurance, spirituality, and trust, which are key traits that I cherish as a Political Leader. In Akan, it is known as Afrafranto."



Hon. Adomako Kissi has bid his former boss goodbye as he insisted during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show that he remains a staunch member of the New Patriotic Party.



"As a Member of Parliament who is representing the party and I didn't go into Parliament as an independent candidate. I went on the ticket of the NPP, so by merit of the commitment for the four years, it won't be proper; it won't be right for me to follow Alan," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.



He however noted it saddens him that Alan Kyerematen is no longer in the party.



"It's regrettable . . . It was a very down moment for me . . . I was down because [1] the party has lost a stalwart," he said and when asked if indeed he will never support Alan again, Hon. Dickson Adomako Kissi responded; "It's impossible. For most of the possibilities, it will not be in my best interest and that's why it's a very painful thing."



He described Alan's exit as a "letdown" to his followers for which he was a part of.





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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Factionalism within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has become a growing concern, as highlighted by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.



In an interview with Accra-based TV3, Kufuor expressed his worries about the deep-seated factionalism that he has observed within the party.



He emphasized the need for the NPP to carefully assess its activities and stressed the importance of a strong commitment and dedication within the party.



Mr Kufuor mentioned that the sense of commitment he once felt within the NPP seems to have diminished over time.

He stressed the importance of practising proper democracy and inclusivity, instead of emphasizing factions within the party. According to Kufuor, focusing on factions at the constituency or national level leads to division and hinders cooperation.



The way I feel it, I dont sense the same strong commitment. I have likened commitment to almost a religion. I dont sense that now. We are talking proper democracy, an inclusive one, you wouldnt emphasize factions, Mr Kufuor stated.



Kufuors remarks come at a time when the NPP is dealing with the resignation of a prominent member and former presidential aspirant, Alan Kyerematen.



However, John Boadu, the former General Secretary of the NPP, urged party members to remain focused and united despite Kyerematens departure. Boadu acknowledged his disagreement with the reasons given by Kyerematen but called for acceptance and respect of his decision.



The NPP will need to address the issue of factionalism and take into account the concerns raised by Kufuor and others in order to maintain party unity and work towards its objectives as the ruling party in Ghana.











Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A convicted murderer accused of shooting three neighbors in Harrisburg earlier this month remains on the loose, police confirmed Friday.

Police charged Shawn T. Jason, 47, after they say he shot a man, woman and four-year-old girl on Sept. 9 over a dispute about reserving a parking space along the public street in the 1800 block of North Street where they all lived.

He is among two recent shooting suspects charged in Harrisburg in recent months who have yet to be arrested. The other suspect, a man on parole for attempted homicide, shot four people downtown, according to court records.

In the first case, Jason pulled out a rifle and shot the male neighbor around 1:25 p.m., while the man was standing on a front porch, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The female neighbor tried to take cover in her home, but court documents said Jason kicked down the door and shot her and her 4-year-old daughter.

All of the victims survived. Police surrounded Jasons home for several hours after he was reported fleeing inside it. But a tactical team eventually realized the home was empty.

Jason had fled, leaving all his belongings behind, but its unclear if he remains armed, police said. Officers recovered a gun from his home, but he could have obtained one since then, police said.

Police were looking for Shawn T. Jason, 47, in connection with a shooting that injured three of his neighbors.

He should be considered armed and dangerous, police say, noting he may also be desperate, considering he is facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.

Harrisburg police charged Jason with three counts of attempted homicide, three counts of aggravated assault, persons not to possess a firearm, and burglary

He is not legally able to carry a firearm because of his prior murder conviction.

In 1996, Philadelphia newspaper accounts said Jason, then 20, took part in the robbery of a 17-year-old for his gold chain necklace that ended with Jasons accomplice shooting him. The boy died with his broken chain in his hand after Jason and his co-defendant fled, according to newspaper accounts.

Police do not think Jason originally fled in a vehicle, but he may be using one now if he obtained one from someone else, police said. He has prior connections to the Philadelphia area. Harrisburg police do not believe he is in the capital city or this immediate area.

In the other case, Jerry K. Foster, 42, of Delaware County was charged after police say he shot four people out a car window about 3:15 a.m. Aug. 13 in the 200 block of Cranberry Street downtown.

Jerry K. Foster, 42, is charged with four counts of attempted homicide for Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, shootings on Cranberry Street in Harrisburg. (Department of Corrections)

One man was shot in the chest and groin and taken to Penn State Holy Spirit Hospital. A woman was shot in the foot and treated at UPMC Harrisburg Hospital. Another man was shot in the chest and walked to Harrisburg Hospital for treatment, according to police.

Police said a ricocheting bullet hit a fourth victim, leaving him with a cut to his thigh.

All of the people who were shot survived, police said.

Surveillance footage showed a dark-colored BMW sedan make an illegal eastbound turn from Second Street to Cranberry Street, an affidavit of probable cause said. Court documents said a man was driving the car, and a woman was in the passenger seat.

Cameras recorded the BMW stopping, and its occupants interacting with a group of people on the 200 block of Cranberry Street. As the BMW continues east on Cranberry, the driver pulls out a gun and starts shooting out the window, the affidavit said.

Photos of the driver were circulated among law enforcement agencies, Harrisburg police said in the affidavit. Fosters parole officer confirmed to investigators that he was the shooter caught on surveillance cameras, court documents said.

The affidavit said police also confirmed Foster owns a BMW sedan. Police have since recovered his BMW so its unknown what type of vehicle, if any, he is driving.

Police believe the fled from Harrisburg after the shooting and hasnt returned.

Court documents did not provide a motive for the shooting.

Foster is barred from having a firearm because of a 2004 attempted homicide conviction.

On May 27, 2004, Foster rode a bicycle to the 2400 block of North Sixth Street, pulled a 9-millimeter pistol from his waist, and shot twice at a man, according to an affidavit of probable cause. He was charged with attempted homicide in July 2004 and later pleaded guilty.

Foster was paroled from SCI Camp Hill on Sept. 15, 2022, according to Department of Corrections records.

Harrisburg police charged Foster on Aug. 15, 2023, with four counts each of attempted homicide and aggravated assault, two firearms offenses and a driving offense.

READ MORE:

Two Harrisburg men arrested in killing of man behind his moms house 7 years ago

After 11 years, missing mans family gets answers: He was killed in love triangle, dumped in Pa.
A Belvidere, New Jersey, man is facing a series of charges after authorities say he intentionally crashed his vehicle into a home and through a police station in Warren County police station, landing in the squad room, authorities said Friday

John G. Hargreaves, 34, of the 100 block of Beechwood Drive, faces charges of first-degree terrorism and second-degree causing widespread injury or damage along burglary, criminal mischief, harassment, aggravated assault and weapons offenses, according to Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer.

Hargreaves drove his SUV into the garage of a Liberty Township home on Sept. 20 to harass the homeowner, whom he knew, authorities said.

Hargreaves then drove to the nearest police headquarters in Independence Township and slammed into the station, causing significant damage, Pfeiffer said. The SUV came to a rest in the stations squad room, he said.

Authorities said Hargreaves appeared to be celebrating the act, blaring on his stereo, Welcome to the Jungle, by Guns N Roses. He was arrested by officers at the station.

The sunroof of the SUV was open as it crashed through the front doors, according to a video provided by police. The video shows Hargreaves immediately get out of the stopped vehicle and raise his arms above his head with his index fingers pointed toward the ceiling as officers approach.

There were no reported injuries in either incident.

Hargreaves is in the Warren County jail, pending a hearing in Warren County Superior Court.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.

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Central Pa. DUI driver died weeks after crashing into tree: police
By Josh Moyer, Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) (TNS)

Pats King of Steaks, the oldest cheesesteak restaurant in Philadelphia, is no longer planning for a new location in Happy Valley.

According to an interview with owner Frank Olivieri, published Monday in Philadelphia Magazine, he simply reconsidered. Olivieri was expected to partner with Rob Wasserman, who has restaurants in both Philadelphia (Burger Brawl) and State College (Big Deans Hot Chicken, Snap Custom Pizza).

Olivieri told the magazine there was no bad blood or drama. And the two hadnt finalized any deals, nor signed any leases or contracts. According to Philly Mag, he said it was a business decision that he made for a variety of reasons, including focusing on major renovations that start in December at the original Philadelphia location.

Pat's King of Steaks in South Philadelphia. (PennLive.com/file)HAR

Excitement around the potential opening of a second location, near Penn State, was short-lived. Philly Mag published an article earlier this month, where Olivieri first reported his plans for a Happy Valley location  and possibly, if it worked out, additional locations throughout the country.

Its not entirely clear what all played a role in Olivieris change of heart. But he refused to extinguish all hope of a future restaurant in Happy Valley.

Philly Mag wrote hes not giving up on the idea of expansion  to Penn State or elsewhere  completely. Nows just not the right time, he said.

More: Famed Pa. cheesesteak shop faces second wrongful death lawsuit over fatal 2021 beating: reports
By Kirstin Snow

Pennsylvanias MAGA GOP state and federal legislators are holding the Commonwealth hostage and hurting the citizens of PA in the process. As an imminent federal budget shutdown looms this weekend, the state is also no further along in its own budget process, in fact, its three months behind, thanks to lack of any meaningful action on the right.

And who bears the brunt of this reckless behavior? Women, children, and traditionally marginalized communities who cannot afford to miss a paycheck, and may need help with groceries, childcare, underfunded schools, and medicine.

On the federal level, PA and its working-class residents stand to lose, and lose big.

The statistics below are only a shadow of what citizens will face, nationwide, as a result of this extreme stalemate. Most everyone will feel an impact of the federal shutdown, as these are also affected areas:

Force service members and law enforcement officers to work without pay

Endanger disaster response

Undermine research on cancer and other diseases

Eliminate Head Start slots for kids

Risk significant eelays for travelers

Undermine public health and environmental protections

Deny capital for small businesses

Undermine food safety

Delay infrastructure projects

Impair workplace safety and accountability

The people of Pennsylvania, and all Americans, deserve swift, competent passage of a state and federal budget that works for all- not to be held hostage with safety and everyday needs at risk because of the childish antics of the extreme MAGA GOP.

Kirstin Snow, PhD, is Communications Director of the Pennsylvania Policy Center.
Editors Note: This editorial has been updated to reflect the breaking news of the Houses passing a bill to keep the government open for 45 days.

People who care about children in Pennsylvania and around the nation are worried. They have reason to be.

That federal funding that kept many childcare centers open these past years of pandemic is about to end. But families throughout this nation desperately need Congress to keep that money flowing. The House has passed a bipartisan bill to keep government open for at least 45 days, but it still must pass the Senate. And Congress still needs to act to keep American Rescue funding flowing to daycare centers in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation.

The problem is many congressmen who threatened to shut down the government dont seem to care about the suffering they are causing by the incessant bickering within their ranks. Many of the same Congress people who bitterly opposed a shutdown to save lives during COVID seemed hellbent on shutting down government regardless of the impact.

FILE - Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is surrounded by reporters looking for updates on plans to fund the government and avert a shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)AP

To his credit, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, (R-Pa.) seemed to understand the catastrophe a government shutdown would bring to Pennsylvania families. Hes chairman of the Freedom Caucus that pushed for drastic spending cuts to avert a government shutdown. PennLives Charles Thompson reported Perry tried to come up with a winning formula to prevent a government shutdown.

I dont think that that (a shutdown) really helps anything, Perry told PennLive this week. Hes right. It doesnt.

U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) speaks with reporters as he walks to House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building on July 18, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/TNS)TNS

Perrys valiant efforts may have paid off. If the government stays open, there is at least a shot at getting a bill passed to help childcare centers throughout the nation.

But saving Pennsylvanias children doesnt seem to be among the priorities for many members of the Freedom Caucus. Cutting spending for programs that help working families is. They dont seem to understand that the families they hurt with their slash and burn tactics vote Republican as well as Democrat. These families and their children make up every hue in our national rainbow. They live in urban, suburban, and rural areas. They are going to be really mad when they find out who caused their childcare centers to close, and why.

Rachele Fortier penned an Op-Ed for PennLive that warned more than 152,000 children in Pennsylvania may lose access to childcare because federal funding that supported many of childcare centers runs out this weekend.

These children participate in a childcare program the week of June 8, 2020, with the Greater Valley YMCA in Forks Township.Courtesy Greater Valley YMCA

Fortier said the $24 billion provided through childcare stabilization grants and $15 billion in supplemental childcare discretionary funds provided a lifeline for childcare providers.

She said Pennsylvania was able to reduce the number of families on waiting lists for child care assistance because of the federal funding. It helped to reduce costs for families receiving aid, and it helped to increase pay for childcare providers.

If the federal childcare funding stops, Fortier warns, Pennsylvania could lose more than $480 million in tax and business revenue.

Mother and Lehigh Valley business owner Stephanie Vaughan advocates for increased child care worker support at a rally to inside the Pennsylvania Capitol Rotunda. June 6, 2023 DaniRae Remmo

The Century Foundation, a public policy research institute, says more than 70,000 childcare programs that were supported by American Rescue Plan funding probably will have to close. It predicts millions of families will be hurt, forcing many parents to leave the workplace, or cut back their work hours.

Theres little doubt the funding cutoff that seems inevitable will significantly increase costs for childcare. That will impact both families and businesses. And only people with plenty enough money to pay for nannies will be unscathed.

We urge Rep. Perry for continue his work to unite his party to protect Pennsylvania families. And we urge all of Pennsylvanias elected officials to do everything in their power to keep federal dollars flowing to support families and their urgent need for quality, affordable childcare.

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Smokefree spaces have become the norm- on airplanes, in restaurants, and for most of us- where we work. Recent reporting shows the U.S. adult smoking rate has hit the lowest point yet with just 11% of the population regularly smoking. The expectation is that public spaces are void of secondhand smoke. So much so, that those enduring 40 or more hours each week exposed to toxic, cancer-causing chemicals remain unprotected by lawmakers.

The American Lung Associations 2023 State of Tobacco Control Report gave Pennsylvania a D for smokefree air. Indoor smoking policies in Pennsylvania have not been updated since their initial passage in 2008. These policies are old enough that they do not include electronic devices and they still leave exemptions for over a thousand different venues across the Commonwealth. These laws lag behind not just the country but even our neighboring states. It is alarming that people who work in those exempted venues are still exposed to cancer-causing chemicals in their workplace. Legislators must take action to protect us all from secondhand smoke and aerosol or vapor- until they do so, we are all at risk.

Its beyond time for the Pennsylvania legislature to fully address the issue of secondhand smoke exposure, especially now with additional considerations like e-cigarette use prevalent in so many indoor spaces. There are many complex problems for the Pennsylvania legislature to solve, but the problem of exposing workers to secondhand smoke has an easy solution.

Amber Fields SFW, Specialist|Advocacy Pennsylvania, American Lung Association in Pennsylvania
Ever since meetings went virtual at the beginning of the pandemic, they have become part of our new professional routine. More than 200 million people a day met on Zoom during March 2020. But the first impression that a person makes in these digital sessions is not the same as that of a face-to-face encounter; according to a study recently published by the magazine PLOS ONE. The background, the facial expression and the gender affect the perception of trustworthiness and competence of a person.

First impressions are significantly influenced by contextual visual factors, [] therefore video background could differentially impact first impression evaluations compared to in-person meetings, the study reveals. If the virtual appearance in a Zoom or Teams meeting is considered more important than clothing, the background of a video call has become the new business suit. In job interviews, 97% of job applicants are seen as more competent for dressing formally and thus conveying ability, maturity, and success.

In the study, carried out by researchers at Durham University (United Kingdom), 167 participants assessed the perception of trustworthiness and competence of their colleagues, taking some variables into account. During the fictitious video calls, they were able to watch the male and female faces with happy and neutral expressions, overlaid onto six virtual backgrounds: some houseplants, a bookshelf, a living room, a blurred living room, a blank wall and a novelty background (an image downloaded from the internet, for example).

Sample of the study, Virtual first impressions: Zoom backgrounds affect judgments of trust and competence. Cook et al., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0

Those who had a bookshelf behind them scored more trustworthiness and competence points. This is due to the positive relationship between literacy with intelligence, and reading with academic performance, according to the studys authors. To explain this result, health psychologist Jose Antonio Tamayo refers to the halo effect, the tendency to associate, in our opinions about people, places, objects or situations, certain positive traits with other positive ones, without there being an empirical foundation to prove such a relationship. In the case of the setting, even if its virtual, it influences the formation of first impressions, and it may be that books are associated with culture and intelligence.

Real backgrounds also arouse some curiosity on social media. Twitter user Room Rater (more than 387,000 followers) rates the backgrounds of the experts that appear on television via video call, sarcastically criticizing the objects that appear on-screen. One example of this is his review of a video call made by Leah Litman, a law professor from the University of Michigan, on MSNBC: Good law professor setup. Travel posters are art. Teddy bear. Minor tote bag violation. 9/10.

Individuals with plants in the background were considered trustworthy because of the human connection to the natural environment. Pepe Cosin, dean of the College of Interior Designers of the Valencian Community (CDICV), explains that a space with plants is indeed more reliable, because plants connect us with nature and instill serenity and confidence.

According to the study, seeing other peoples houses in a work context is deemed unprofessional, which is why participants gave the living room background a lower rating. Virtual meetings attended from a bedroom are also considered less professional than a home office environment. Tamayo compares it to the effect that going to work in loungewear would have. Blurred, novelty or blank backgrounds were also not successful, as they were considered untrustworthy.

Female faces: trustworthy

Facial expressions, as non-verbal language, are important in video calls because they transmit valuable information about the feelings and intentions of others, the study reveals. A happy person is more likely to make a good impression and be more trustworthy. Smiling signals confidence and self-esteem, which translates as high agency and competence.

Womens faces, regardless of the background that frames them, are perceived as more trustworthy and more competent. Furthermore, the confidence that emanates from a woman counteracts the negative results that a domestic or blurry background may have. However, the same is not true for men: the perceptions of trustworthiness and competence are not affected by their setting.

In conclusion, to make a better impression, the study recommends placing a bookshelf or some plants in the background during video conferences, avoiding artificial or domestic backgrounds (even if they are blurry) and having a smiling disposition during video calls. In 2024, when the Covid-19 restrictions are but a distant memory, 75% of business meetings are predicted to occur via videoconference; to succeed  visually, at least  some greenery and a shelf full of books might be just what you need.

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The Sept. 20 town hall meeting on the county reassessment saw Tim Barr, executive director for Vision Government Solutions, Gene Porterfield, principal with Vision, Perry County Commissioner Brenda Watson and Chief Assessor Randy Waggoner fielding dozens of questions from the public.

Greg Wirth, who moderated the meeting, started by explaining the rules and structure of the evening, before Barr began a presentation on the reassessment. He explained the reasoning behind the reassessment, the laws governing assessors and county officials, the reassessments procedure and review processes, and a few of the frequently heard questions that have been circulating. Attendees then were encouraged to submit questions, written on note cards.

I think it was Ronald Reagan who once said, Hi, Im from the government. Im here to help you. Some of the scariest words youll ever hear, right? Barr started. Well, my goal tonight is to answer your questions. You may or may not like all the answers, but Im going to give you honest and accurate answers to questions.

Barr explained that Vision is based in Massachusetts and had acquired a Pennsylvania company named Evaluator Services and Technology that was formed in 2012. Vision is a national company that has done work internationally, but the team responsible for the Perry County reassessment are Pennsylvania-based with Pennsylvania expertise.

All reassessments, all assessments have their origin in the Pennsylvania Constitution, Barr continued. An article in the constitution says taxes are supposed to be uniform on the same class of subjects. It means that if you have a house in a specific municipality and you have a house in the same municipality and theyre worth the same amount of money, youre supposed to pay the same tax. Similar territory, similar properties are supposed to pay the same tax. Thats all this means. Yours could be a house, yours could be a commercial, but if theyre equal in value, theyre supposed to pay the same tax. Since our taxes are based on assessments, that means the assessments have to be right.

The assessment office is required to maintain an assessment role, parcel numbers, tax maps, and to define everything valued on Perry County properties. Mass appraisals, such as the reassessment, must be done by a Certified Pennsylvania Evaluator, who is trained in assessing grades and conditions of properties. A CPE must get the same value given the same set of facts, as opposed to fee appraisers, who could find multiple values during an appraisal process.

Barr said currently assessed values of Perry County properties are sitting at an average of 66 percent of their market value. Equally valuable properties, with an inaccurate assessment, can result in property owners paying vastly different tax bills, when their bills should be equal, he said. The reassessment is geared toward equalizing assessed values for similar properties, which will reduce property tax rates for those properties assessed higher than they should be and increase property tax rates for properties underassessed. He pointed out that smaller-valued properties are often over-assessed, while more expensive properties are under-assessed.

Barr the first step in reassessment is that properties will be visited to obtain accurate property descriptions and photographs will be taken of structures. The resulting data is computerized, and quality checked. Real estate market studies are conducted to develop formulas for estimating a fair market value of each property, as of Jan. 1, 2025. Assessors are instructed to photograph all structures on a property, even ones that may not be taxable. Assessors are not to decide whether a structure has any value. That determination happens after the market study. Final estimates of value are determined after consideration of all appropriate approaches to value. Property owners then receive a preliminary notice of the new assessed value.

Informal reviews can be scheduled to give property owners a chance to ask questions, verify information, and present facts about the property which might affect the value. Property owners will receive a change of assessment notice indicating the new assessed value. The notice also will project Clean and Green values for properties of 10 or more acres. If owners disagree with the valuation, they may appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals, and present evidence of fair market value. If a property owner disagrees with the Board of Assessment Appeals, an appeal can be made to the court of common pleas, and then to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Barr said Visions no trespassing sign policy has changed since the reassessment began. Normal practice is for assessors to ignore no trespassing signs, since an assessor is performing a job, licensed to be there, with no negative intent, he said. Vision has changed the policy for Perry County, instructing assessors not to go on properties marked no trespassing. Instead, a property value will be estimated through photos taken from off the property or from aerial photography.

After the reassessment has been completed, a revenue neutral millage rate must be determined by taxing authorities. The rate is determined by calculating the millage rate at which the newly assessed values will generate the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year. If the assessed value of all properties in the county were to double, the millage rate must be halved. After the rate is determined, taxing authorities are allowed to increase the millage rate by up to 10 percent in the first year. After the first year, the restriction is lifted.

After Barrs explanation of the reassessment, the question-and-answer period began. The first question was about when assessors should be on properties conducting assessments. Assessors, it was said, should not be knocking on doors before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m. A second question concerned appeals and what evidence should be brought to a formal appeal to dispute a propertys value. Barr said the best evidence of value is a fee appraisal, specifically a current one done for the purpose of challenging an assessment. He explained that information on the appraisal may help assessors assign a fair property value. Waggoner added that an appraised value on a fee appraisal cannot be used to establish the assessed value.

It was asked whether Vision conducts background checks and drug tests on its employees. Porterfield stated that all employees undergo background checks, and that they do not do drug testing. Who will be on the formal appeal hearing board, was another question. Waggoner said currently it is the three county commissioners, but as the appeal process moves forward additional boards may need to be formed. Waggoner anticipates that there will be one board with the commissioners, and two with appointed officials.

The panel was asked what years are being used to establish market value. Barr said that typically three to five years of property sales are used. If, with the current inflated property market, the reassessment is coming at a bad time, Barr said there is never a perfect time to do a reassessment. He also explained that an inflated market does not mean inflated tax rates, as millage must be set at the revenue neutral rate prior to any proposed tax increases.

Why were there no bids from other assessment firms prior to the contract being awarded to Vision, was asked. Barr said the county has no obligation to request proposals or bids for professional services. Aside from that point, there is only one other assessment firm that will conduct county-wide reassessments in Pennsylvania, and counties tend to stick with vendors theyve used for past reassessments.

Another question was if an additional budget was set aside for the appeals process. Watson said commissioners will not be taking additional pay for sitting on the board, and additional boards will be covered under the contract with Vision.

For additional information on the reassessment, readers may visit vgsi.com/perry. For more technical information not available on the website, email Barr at tbarr@vgsi.com. Visions phone number is 1-800-525-9876.
By Steven T. Dennis and Erik Wasson, Bloomberg News (TNS)

WASHINGTON  Republicans have plenty of ideas on how to stop a shutdown. They just cant agree on one plan, much less get Democrats to go along.

Hard-line conservatives on Friday defeated House Speaker Kevin McCarthys proposal, which was in itself a bit of a fantasy. It demanded that in return for keeping the government open just one month Democrats concede to new restrictions on asylum and immigration and a 30% cut in most federal agencies.

The Houses rejection of McCarthys plan unleashed a flood of new proposals, even as a shutdown beginning Sunday morning became all but inevitable. Those proposals seem to be further sowing divisions.

McCarthy hinted late Friday at a compromise, telling reporters that the House may be able to pass a no-strings short-term spending bill without aid to Ukraine. Yet his far right doesnt appear to have jumped on board.

What we heard in there is total capitulation, Rep. Bob Good, an ultraconservative from Virginia, said leaving a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans that spanned more than two hours Friday night.

Here are some of the leading options:

Clean But Very Short

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a hard-line conservative, as well as some House Republicans, began shopping around a plan for clean temporary funding stripped of any disputed provisions. That means no new aid to Ukraine that could offend Republican populists but also no funding cuts or poison-pill immigration provisions. Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray blocked Johnsons initial offer, dismissing it as slapdash and holding out for more. But some sort of very short term bill is likely the only chance to avoid at least a short shutdown given splits within the GOP.

Very Short With Tough Demands

Some House Republicans are also considering an offer to keep the government open for as little as one week, but only if Democrats agree to meet demands on immigration policy. The Republicans are mulling this proposal overnight, with a vote possible Saturday. Another option, Republicans said, is to bring back the failed bill but have it last 14 days instead of 31 days.

FILE - Doors at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building are locked and covered with blinds as a sign posted advises that the office will be closed during the partial government shutdown Jan. 16, 2019, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)AP

Bipartisan Senate Plan

Many Senate Republicans  including GOP leader Mitch McConnell  are backing a bipartisan plan to keep the government open until mid-November. That includes a portion  but not all  the money the Biden administration requested for Ukraine and for disaster relief. Senate Democratic leaders are on board but it faces opposition from House Republicans. The Republicans, however, are split over Ukraine assistance and want border provisions first.

Senate Plan With Border Provisions

Some Senate Republicans are exploring negotiating border control provisions with moderate Democrat Joe Manchin and independent Kyrsten Sinema to add to the current bipartisan plan. There was little sign of progress on Friday.

Wait Until Military Pay Day

Several Republican lawmakers said they would face greater pressure to reopen the government on Oct. 13, when active-duty military personnel would miss their paychecks because of a funding lapse and political pressure would rise on the GOP.

Moderates Defect

Some House Republican moderates that represent areas Joe Biden won in the last presidential election are wary of a voter backlash over disrupted government services. They are considering joining with Democrats to override McCarthy and force passage of temporary funding to keep the government open until Jan. 11.

Long March

Some House conservatives want to force both chambers to pass 12 full-year spending bills for government agencies, and have brushed off the damaging impact of a lengthy shutdown. It would take weeks or months to process all of those bills and negotiate compromise versions through both chambers, making it extremely unlikely.

Related:

National parks will be locked, thousands of workers laid off if theres a government shutdown

Will Social Security checks go out if theres a government shutdown?

Would a government shutdown delay student loan payment dates?
(Editors note: This story has been updated to more accurately describe the unnamed source.)

A state senator is pushing back on the contents of a draft complaint to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission that accuses a senior-level aide to Gov. Josh Shapiro of sexual harassment.

Sen. Katie Muth, D-Montgomery County, said she was upset about the degrading lie in the complaint that insinuated that Shapiros Secretary of Legislative Affairs Mike Vereb said in a staff meeting that Muth wanted to have sex with him.

That account was included in a statement that accompanied the draft complaint from a former deputy secretary who resigned because, according to the document, she said she could no longer work in an environment where she was regularly subjected to lewd comments from Vereb and unwanted sexual advances. She said she was retaliated against when she complained about it.

In text messages with Rep. Abby Major, R-Armstrong County, the woman said she filed the complaint with the Human Relations Commission, but PennLive was unable to verify that.

The womans name is being withheld by PennLive due to the nature of the allegations. She resigned from her job as deputy secretary less than six weeks after the start of the Shapiro administration. She would not comment and her attorney, Charles Pascal, said he would not confirm the authenticity of the complaint. Pascal declined comment when contacted on Saturday.

Vereb on Wednesday submitted his resignation, which takes effect Monday. He did not respond to requests for comment Friday and Saturday. Its not known if his resignation is connected to the complaint, copies of which have been circulating among media outlets and in the Capitol.

Muth said she first saw the draft complaint Tuesday, and spoke to a former staffer who was in the meeting where, according to the complaint, Vereb made the comment about her. The former staffer, who also spoke to PennLive Saturday, said the account in the complaint was not accurate and that Vereb made no sexual comment. The former staffer asked for anonymity, out of fear of retaliation.

Muth said she was infuriated she was not informed about her name being mentioned in such a defamatory context by the Shapiro Administration.

Further, Muth said she felt blindsided by politically motivated social media posts that showed the section of the complaint in which she is mentioned. One such post questioned whether she covered up workplace sexual harassment.

I have been an advocate against this type of culture and to suggest otherwise shows how these situations can be politicized, Muth said.

The former staffer who was in that meeting where Muths name was mentioned said Vereb said during the meeting I know Katie and I know how to handle her, but said the sexual reference detailed in the complaint never came out of his mouth. None of that came out of his mouth. I dont know where she got that from.

The former staffer further said the woman was made aware of documented job performance issues prior to her resignation.

The former staffer also took issue with social media posts that suggest the Shapiro Administration didnt take the womans complaint seriously or delayed investigating her allegations. The former staffer said that a couple weeks after the woman resigned, the governors general counsel called to advise that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would be scheduling interviews.

The former staffer said it was not long after that call that an interview was scheduled, and the former staffer was questioned for 2 1/2 hours about the allegations contained in the womans statement to the EEOC.

The Shapiro Administration jumped on this really quickly, the former staffer said. I dont know what came out of the EEOC investigation but I know there was an investigation, a very vigorous investigation and we were not allowed to talk about it.

The former staffer acknowledged Vereb could be gruff and used profanities but did not recall seeing or hearing anything to suggest Vereb was pursuing a sexual relationship with the former deputy secretary.

The governors office said it does not comment on personnel issues, but takes allegations of harassment and discrimination seriously and investigates them.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @JanMurphy.
In a speech that appeared to be equal parts pep rally for New Hampshire Democrats and an opportunity to raise his own profile on the national stage, Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro Saturday warned that the extremists in the Republican party are trying to divide us.

Today the biggest threat to our democracy comes from within, Shapiro said in the keynote speech before the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention. He said dangerous extremists are working to undermine democracy and our elections.

Theyve been egged on by a man who views the platform of public service not as a sacred trust, but as a bully pulpit to foment hate, Shapiro said.

New Hampshire is one of two states won by Joe Biden in 2020 that are led by Republican governors, and Democrats have high hopes of winning the governors office in 2024. Incumbent Gov. Chris Sununu has opted not to seek reelection, and two candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination.

Shapiro, a rising star in the Democratic Party, is touted as a potential future presidential candidate.

Shapiro told an anecdote about bringing his daughter to New Hampshire to attend a presidential candidates debate in 2016, and introduced his wife, Lori Shapiro. And he talked about his faith and how that influences his view of public service.

Its up to each of us to get involved, do what we can, to protect our freedom, he said, noting the New Hampshire motto on license plates if Live Free or Die.

Just because you put it on a license plate doesnt mean its automatically guaranteed. You have to work for it, he said.

A theme of getting stuff done ran through his remarks as he touted his accomplishments, including the order he signed on his first day in office that most state jobs would no longer require a college degree, increased education funding, universal free breakfasts, and rebuilding a section of Interstate 95 in 12 days after it collapsed.

We showed that we can do big things again in America, he said.

He talked of his support for abortion rights, economic development efforts, and his recent announcement that Pennsylvania would institute automatic voter registration whenever someone gets or renews a drivers license.

And he referred to President Biden partnership with the state to rebuild I-95 and on other initiatives. Biden has showed, Shapiro said, that we can get things done for the good people of this country.

And he dwelled on the 2024 New Hampshire governors race, saying Democrats are poised to elect a woman  Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and Executive Council member Cindy Warmington are the Democratic candidates.

Running on the Republican ballot are former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte and former New Hampshire Senate president Chuck Morse.

The Democratic Governors Association has already invested in New Hampshire, and we will be there for whoever you choose as your nominee, Shapiro said.
Flags of the Penticton Indian Band and Okanagan Nation Alliance group of First Nations were raised for the first time Thursday at the Penticton campus of Okanagan College. The college says its meant to formally recognize the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Syilx (Okanagan) Nation, on whose lands the college resides in Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can mean many different things. Even experts have a hard time agreeing on a single definition, but most think about AI as a branch of computer science that allows computers to make predictions and decisions to solve problems. However no one doubts that AI is reshaping the world as we know it, providing groundbreaking solutions in industries ranging from healthcare to transportation.

Dr. Juan Gilbert, a professor at the University of Florida focused on applying AI to solve complex social, cultural and organizational problems, said in a 2019 interview with Forbes magazine, As long as we have diverse leaders, we have a chance for an equitable participation in the AI revolution. According to Becky Frankiewicz, President of ManpowerGroup for North America, There are many opportunities. After the pandemic, the power balance shifted from companies to employees, and now 80% of companies cannot find enough technology talent. A dedicated group of tech-savvy Latinos is actively working towards bridging the gap and addressing the challenges that their communities face.

Laura Montoya, the founder and executive director of Accel.AI, started the global nonprofit organization in 2016 with a mission to drive artificial intelligence for social impact initiatives. Montoya was raised by a single mother in the San Francisco Bay Area and has dedicated her career to making AI education more accessible and diverse, particularly for women and people of color. In a recent interview with Latino Rebels, Montoya spoke about the importance of representation in the tech sector: We need diverse perspectives in developing the future of intelligent systems to ensure the technology we build together is fair, just and equitable.

Montoya also started LatinX in AI, a nonprofit organization to bridge Latino communities and individuals working to further AI innovation. The organization supports research, development, infrastructure and mentoring programs to boost innovation and capabilities of Latino professionals working in artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science. Its an incredible place for networking, sharing ideas and knowledge. It really accelerates the development of AI in our countries, said Ricardo Carrillo Mendoza, a research scientist with the Dahlem Center for Machine Learning and Robotics in Berlin.

Another remarkable leader is Mariana Costa Checa, the co-founder and CEO of Laboratoria, a social enterprise that teaches coding and digital skills to young women in Latin America while also fighting gender inequality. Under Checas leadership, Laboratoria has inspired and equipped thousands of women, providing them with valuable skills and employment opportunities in the tech industry. In his remarks at the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, then-President Barack Obama applauded Costa Checas work with Laboratoria, saying, When we were talking backstage, I said, 60% of the women who have gone through this program now are employed. And I was corrected  its now 70 percent. I had old data. But I think its important to point out that your success rate has been quite extraordinary.

Jesse Martinez, a first-generation Mexican-American entrepreneur, founded the Latinx Startup Alliance in the San Francisco Bay Area. Committed to fostering an ecosystem of Latino tech entrepreneurs, the organization provides a supportive community and resources to help Latino startups succeed. Martinezs work is not only contributing to the growth of Latino businesses but also increasing Latino representation in the tech industry. Now based in his hometown of Houston, Martinez described how he got the idea. In 2010, I was looking to do my second startup and was looking for resources and help. So I did some Google searches, thinking Im Latino, Im a tech and startup founder  whats available for us? And there was nothing. That left me scratching my head. How can this be? This is the global mecca of tech. We launched in 2011 in the Mission District of San Francisco with six people and a mission to empower Latino tech founders. Fast forward to today, were over a thousand members globally, but our mission is still the same.

On a wider scale, AI4ALL is a nonprofit working to increase diversity and inclusion in AI. While not solely focused on the Latino community, AI4ALL runs AI education programs for underrepresented groups and fosters a sense of community among its students. Tess Posner, CEO at AI4ALL, says, The future of AI should be in the hands of a diverse group of people, to ensure it serves all of humanity.

These organizations and many more are crucial in improving representation and inclusion of Latinos in AI, thus shaping the future of the industry to be more diverse, equitable, and innovative.

A radiologist in Berlin examines brain images of a patient using an AI-based application on a tablet Monika Skolimowska (picture alliance/Getty Images)

In the healthcare sector, Dr. Carlos Guestrin, a computer science professor at Stanford University, developed an AI tool that can help doctors predict the development of diseases. Originally called GraphLab and renamed to Turi when the tool was sold to Apple, it has been recognized for its potential to transform healthcare by enabling personalized treatment and preventive care. In a conversation with GeekWire, Dr. Guestrin said, The ultimate goal of machine learning in healthcare is to understand individuals at a deeper level, and predict whats the best intervention for them.

Cesar de la Fuente, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, leads a team that recreates extinct human biological material using artificial intelligence. For years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been warning about the threat of drug-resistant microorganisms. These superbugs are projected to cause the deaths of 10 million people annually, surpassing the number of deaths caused by cancer. In this massive battle, Cesar de la Fuente wields artificial intelligence as a powerful tool to detect thousands of molecules with potential antibacterial properties.

Cesar de la Fuente of the Univesity of Pennsylvania

These stories underscore the immense value of AI in addressing various societal challenges. As more Latino technologists break into the field, the future of AI looks increasingly diverse, innovative and impactful.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein asks a question as U.S. Attorney General William Barr testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 1, 2019.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinsteins death creates a vacancy in the Senate at a time when her Democrats hold the slightest majority in the chamber.

Feinstein, a centrist Democrat who had represented California since 1992, had medical struggles in recent months that already had prompted questions about whether shed resign and who might replace her.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to pick a replacement soon. An election to pick the states next senator serving a full six-year term is scheduled for next year.

Heres a look at what Feinsteins death means for the Senate at a critical time on Capitol Hill:

How does it impact control of the Senate?

Before Feinsteins death, Democrats held a 51-49 majority. They had control of 48 seats, plus three independent members who generally vote with Democrats. Until her seat is filled, Democrats will be at least one vote short as they try to advance their priorities. There are no major votes looming in the Senate that are expected to fall totally along party lines.

How will Feinsteins Senate seat be filled?

Newsom, a Democrat, has the power to appoint a replacement for the rest of her term, which was set to end in January 2025.

The race to replace her in the fall 2024 election is already underway, with a primary scheduled for March.

Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University who is an expert on election law, said its possible Newsom could call a special election to fill the vacancy.

But the most likely scenario is that Newsom will select a Democrat to fill the seat.

How long will her seat be vacant?

Its not immediately clear how quickly Newsom will move to pick a replacement. No timeline is set forth in state law.

When then-Sen. Kamala Harris left her seat after being elected vice president in 2020, it went vacant for about two weeks until then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla was appointed by Newsom.

Who will replace Feinstein?

Harris departure from the Senate left Black women without any representation in the Senate. Newsom was under dual pressures to name either a Black woman or Latino to replace her, and he chose Padilla, who became Californias first Latino U.S. senator. After that, Newsom said that if Feinsteins seat became vacant, hed appoint a Black woman.

As Feinsteins health challenges intensified, California political chatter of potential replacements included obscure names and famous, including Oprah Winfrey.

Newsom, who is seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, will face pressure to make good on his promise. He could choose one of the candidates running in the primary underway to replace Feinstein, though he has said he will not do that. The candidates include U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, who is Black, along with Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, who both are white.

Newsom could choose merely a caretaker to hold the seat as a short-term replacement until someone is elected in November 2024.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who is Black, shied away from directly answering a question Friday about whether she would consider serving as a replacement if Newsom chose her.

Newsom could also appoint himself, though that is seen as unlikely.

Is there any impact on the looming shutdown?

The biggest issue Congress is facing is the near-certain shutdown, and there has been overwhelming bipartisan support for Senate spending bills so far.

Still, if Newsom doesnt appoint a replacement quickly, Senate Democrats could have a more difficult time winning enough votes as they try to keep the government open over the weekend.

Its unlikely that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republican caucus in the Senate will suddenly side with House Republicans pushing for a shutdown, but if that were to happen, it could make the votes around a shutdown tougher for Democrats.

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Fulton County DA Fani Willis has secured her first guilty plea and cooperation in the Trump RICO case from co-defendant Scott Hall.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported:

During an impromptu hearing before Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, Hall pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties.

Hall agreed to testify truthfully when called, five years probation, a $5,000 fine, 200 hours of community service, and a ban on polling and election administration-related activities. He also recorded a statement for prosecutors and pledged to pen a letter of apology to Georgia voters.

Hall was indicted last month in connection with the breach of sensitive voting data in Coffee County in South Georgia on Jan. 7, 2021. He had been charged with racketeering and six felony counts of conspiracy.

Hall was part of the voting data breach. His cooperation moves Willis closer to Sidney Powell, and Powell will get her closer to Donald Trump.

The big detail is that Hall will be cooperating with authorities in their investigation. Willis now has one of the co-defendants who will testify against the others.

The RICO is coming apart, and that is very bad news for Donald Trump because Fani Willis is following the handbook for prosecuting organized crime. She starts at the bottom and flips defendants as she works her way up to building a case against the man at the top, who happens to be the former President Of The United States.

It looks like Fani Willis has a plan, and she is coming for Donald Trump.
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Speaker Kevin McCarthy tried to rally House Republicans to stand together against a government shutdown, and it did not go well.

The scene:

Told McCarthy sounds calm but talking quickly Hes offering a go-team message, saying along lines of: We have to walk out of here together and be stronger the next day. https://t.co/mRW2mZIX1w  Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) September 29, 2023

Kevin McCarthy is blaming the government shutdown on Democrats:

It is like McCarthy thinks that the American people are idiots. Democrats have been talking for months about the need to keep the government open, while McCarthys House Republicans have been downplaying a government shutdown and saying that it wont be so bad.

Kevin McCarthy cant rally the House Republican troops because he is not in charge. Donald Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Matt Gaetz are running the House. McCarthy is just a guy with the title but no power.

Speaker McCarthy could make sure that there was no government shutdown tonight by passing the Senate-passed Continuing Resolution. He wont do it because MAGA House Republicans will file a motion to vacate and book him from the speakership.

House Republicans are fighting a battle that they definitely wont win, and the biggest losers in a government shutdown are the American people.
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Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Friday evening that he thinks he can pass a continuing resolution (CR) but only if Ukraine aid is taken out so that it helps Putin.

CNNs Manu Raju reported:

News from Speaker McCarthy. I think if we had a clean [CR] without Ukraine on it, we could probably be able to move that through. I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses Ukraine over America, I think I think that could cause real problem, he just told us  Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 29, 2023

House Republicans are now saying that they wont harm America as long as Democrats and President Biden allow them to harm America by helping Putin win the war in Ukraine.

McCarthy and the Putin Republicans have created a false equivalency that helping Ukraine means not helping Americans, but helping to protect democracy helps America.

Congressional Democrats and President Biden are never going to go along with Speaker McCarthys scheme. The Speaker is in desperation mode and is trying to pass any CR so that he can say that the House did its job, but that is not governing.

House Republicans have had months to pass spending bills and avoid the shutdown, but too many members of McCarthys caucus want a shutdown.

Republicans didnt do their jobs, and now the nation is going to suffer.
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Michigan voters have sued to disqualify Trump from the 2024 Republican primary and general election ballots.

According to a statement provided to PoliticusUSA by the nonpartisan legal advocacy group Free Speech For People, Free Speech For People and Michigan attorney Mark Brewer, on behalf of a diverse group of Michigan voters, filed a lawsuit in state court today to bar Donald Trump from appearing on the states presidential primary and general election ballot in 2024. The lawsuit argues Trump is disqualified from holding public office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, also known as the Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause, for his role in inciting and facilitating the violent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021.



The United States Constitution makes Donald Trump ineligible to run for or serve in any public office in the country, let alone President, said Mark Brewer. All Michigan voters, including the plaintiffs, have a well-established right to have only eligible candidates on the ballot. Since Secretary of State Benson has announced that Trump will be on the primary ballot unless a court orders otherwise, we are seeking a court order preventing Trump from being on the ballot.

The state of Michigan has made its position clear that it will not intervene to remove Trump from the ballot unless a court orders it to do so.

Legal experts and constitutional scholars are in wide agreement that Donald Trump is already disqualified from the ballot.

The question is not can Donald Trump be on the ballot? The question is will any state enforce the Constitution and keep Donald Trump off of the ballot?

The voter lawsuits are needed to get the issue before judges and into the legal system.

It is going to be a long legal fight, but if the courts follow the Constitution, they should disqualify Donald Trump.
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Trump promised to end all droughts and forest fires and dropped an f-bomb in a speech that was as unhinged as it was desperate.

Trump said:

All the currently dry canals will be brimming and used to irrigate everything, including your own homes and bathrooms and everything. Youre going to be happy and Im going to get it done fast. They say that theres so much water up north. That I want to have the overflow areas . Go into your forests and dampen your forest. Because if you dampen your forest, youre not going to have these fire forest fires that are burning at levels that nobodys ever seen before.

Very poor land management and remember when I said that a couple of years ago as president said men were sending billions of dollars to California for forest fires, their forests are burning down. And I was with a gentleman of very top person in Austria. He said, sir, We have more flammable trees than you do on your coast. We dont have forest fires. We have learned to manage it. They take care of the land. They pick up the dead trees. You know, a tree doesnt burn very easily unless its dead, that it gets dry, and it burns the leaves on the ground there.

Video:

Trump was also dropping f-bombs because that looks so presidential:

Trump: If somebody is beating you by 10, 15, or 20 points, like were doing with crooked Joe Biden  lets indict the motherfucker. pic.twitter.com/eOr6FUF7jq  Kate Sullivan (@KateSullivanDC) September 29, 2023

Anyone in the media who watched this speech and still believed it was fine to treat Trump like a typical presidential candidate is part of the problem.

When Trump wasnt promising to perform macceptableles, he was using language that was unpresidential and inappropriate for someone who is running for office.

Donald Trump has no platform, so he couldnt go to California and explain what he would do if he put back into the White House.

Since the former president used up all of his undelivered promises in 2016 and 2020, he has to keep upping the stakes to the point where he has gone from absurd to delusional.

Trumps act is not only stale. It is desperate, and voters in California arent buying the snake oil that Trump was selling.
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After Kevin McCarthy caved and a bipartisan CR passed the House with 209 votes, Matt Gaetz tried to fire McCarthy with a motion to vacate, but the House recessed without recognizing him.

Here is what happened:

WOW. BICE motioned to adjourn the House Shortly before the gavel dropped, GAETZ tried to get the attention of WOMACK who was in the chair. GAVEL DROPPED before Gaetz could be recognized.  Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 30, 2023

The resolution passed 335-91, with over 200 Democrats voting yes and 90 Republicans voting no. One Democrat, Rep. Mike Quigley, voted no only because he wanted the aid to Ukraine included in the bill.

The turnaround to buy Congress 45 more days to avoid a shutdown, which, by the way, the CR revives the tradition of Republicans potentially leading the nation into a government shutdown as the holiday season approaches.

The stripping of Ukraine aid out of the CR demonstrates how the Republican Party is now the Putin party, but the aid will likely be restored when the final yearly funding bills are passed, so the move was empty un-American symbolism.

Democrats supported the bill because it maintained the Biden/Schumer/Pelosi spending levels. The House bill that McCarthy got passed actually spends more money than the Senate bill.

The next big drama will be how soon Gaetz can move forward with his motion to vacate. Kevin McCarthy may have survived today, but the MAGAs are enraged, and they are going to try to get rid of McCarthy.
Nathan Eovaldi pitched six gutsy innings, Mitch Garver broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the seventh and the Texas Rangers are World Series champions for the first time in their 63-season franchise history after beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5. The Rangers finished with a postseason-record and nearly unfathomable 11-0 record on the road, capping the Fall Classic with three straight wins in the desert. One night after Texas took a 10-run lead by the third in a Game 4 snoozer, it finished the Series by outlasting the Diamondbacks in a white-knuckle pitchers' duel through eight innings, piling on four runs in the ninth for good measure. Read moreTexas Rangers win first World Series title with 5-0 win over Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5
Four days before Aiken Corporation voted 10-0 to recommend that Aiken City Council pursue constructing a mixed-use building at 133 and 141 Newberry Street, several people told the Aiken Corporation they wanted to see the mixed-use building on the old Aiken County Hospital site.

However, the old hospital was the first site rejected by the architectural firm, McMillan Pazdan Smith, hired to perform a feasibility study on the potential of building the building.

Here's what we know about that decision.

Old hospital site added to study after public comments

In late 2022, the Aiken Corp. "engaged" McMillan Pazdan Smith to perform a feasibility study on the potential of building a mixed-use building that could house a Savannah River National Laboratory workforce development center.

K.J. Jacobs, a principal at the firm, said in a letter sent Friday, Sept. 22, that the study was initially focused on the Holley House, the Warneke Cleaners building and possibly the Taj Aiken building in downtown Aiken.

Buzz Rich, chairman of the Aiken Corp. board, said the study was expanded eight or nine weeks ago to include four more sites: the two empty lots on Newberry Street; the parking lot next to the Municipal Building; the former Department of Public Safety headquarters; and the old hospital site.

There was no vote or notification of the public that the study had been expanded.

"The expansion really didn't happen until fairly recently," Rich said. "For most of the months, what they were looking at was the size of the building and what did the lab need. They had numerous conversations with the lab folks to see what would work for them.  That was fairly recently."

Jacobs added the old hospital was added "due to several public comments."

"We tried to appease by adding the location," Aiken Corporation board member Norman Dunagan said Monday.
Rapper Tupac Shakur at the MTV Music Video Awards in New York in this Sept. 4, 1996 file photo.

One of the last living witnesses to the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon Friday in the 1996 killing, a long-awaited breakthrough in a case that has frustrated investigators and fascinated the public ever since the hip-hop icon was gunned down 27 years ago.

A Nevada grand jury indicted Duane Keffe D Davis in the killing, prosecutors announced in court Friday. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said a grand jury had been seated in the case for several months. DiGiacomo described Davis as the on-ground, on-site commander who ordered the death of Shakur.

The charges were revealed hours after Davis, 60, was arrested this morning while on a walk near his home, according to DiGiacomo.

Davis has long been known to investigators and has himself admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he was in the Cadillac from which the gunfire erupted during the September 1996 drive-by shooting. Shakur was 25 when he was killed.

Las Vegas police raided a home in mid-July in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson that is tied to Davis. Police were looking for items concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur, according to the search warrant. They collected multiple computers, a cellphone and hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-caliber bullets, two tubs containing photographs and a copy of Davis memoir.

Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese denied Davis bail. It has often been said that justice delayed is justice denied, District Attorney Steve Wolfson said after the hearing in a brief comment to AP. In this case, justice has been delayed, but justice wont be denied.

It wasnt immediately clear if Davis has an attorney who can comment on his behalf. Davis hasnt responded to multiple phone and text messages from The Associated Press seeking comment or an interview in the more than two months since the house raid.

Shakur was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion Suge Knight in a convoy of about 10 cars. They were waiting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted. Shakur was shot multiple times and died a week later at the age of 25.

The rappers death came as his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me, remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold. Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.

In his memoir, Davis said he was in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and had slipped the gun used in the killing into the backseat, from where he said the shots were fired.

Davis implicated his nephew, Orlando Baby Lane Anderson, saying he was one of two people in the backseat. Anderson, a known rival of Shakur, had been involved in a casino brawl with the rapper shortly before the shooting.

After the casino brawl, Mr. Davis formulated a plan to exact revenge upon Mr. Knight and Mr. Shakur in his nephews defense, DiGiacomo said.

Anderson died two years later. He denied any involved in Shakurs death.

Davis revealed in his memoir that he first broke his silence in 2010 during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities. At the time, he was 46 and facing life in prison on drug charges when he agreed to speak with them about Tupacs killing, as well as the fatal shooting six months later of Tupacs rap rival, Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G.,

They offered to let me go for running a criminal enterprise and numerous alleged murders for the truth about the Tupac and Biggie murders, he wrote. They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out.

Shakur was feuding at the time with rap rival Biggie Smalls, who was fatally shot in March 1997. At the time, both rappers were in the middle of an East Coast-West Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s.

Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating the Shakur killing and wrote a book about it, said hes not surprised by Davis arrest.

The former Los Angeles police detective said he believed the investigation gained new momentum in recent years following Davis public descriptions of his role in the killing, including his 2019 memoir.

Its those events that have given Las Vegas the ammunition and the leverage to move forward, Kading said. Prior to Keffe Ds public declarations, the cases were unprosecutable as they stood.

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Aiken Standard Executive Editor

John Boyette is executive editor of the Aiken Standard. Reach him at jboyette@aikenstandard.com or 803-644-2364.

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Aiken Standard reporter

Matthew Christian is a reporter for the Aiken Standard. He covers the Savannah River Site, city of Aiken and politics.

Matthew previously covered government and politics for the Morning News in Florence. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and the University of Charleston in West Virginia.

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The Aiken mayors race is not over. There seems to be some confusion about being able to write in a candidates name for the Aiken mayors race. It is definitely allowed. Read moreLetter: Write-in votes allowed in mayor's race
A technology infrastructure company that's playing a key role in a Grand Strand undersea cable venture involving both Google and Facebook has formally announced that Berkeley County will be the site of its third South Carolina data center.

Atlanta-based DC Blox said this week that it has purchased the land for the 27.5-acre development in the Camp Hall commerce park in Ridgeville from Santee Cooper.

The $4.8 million deal closed July 31, according to public records.

The company's preliminary plan for the site includes the construction of four buildings totaling about 200,000 square feet.

CEO Jeff Uphues said the Berkeley County data center will be an attractive option for "hyperscalers" that need the space and electrical firepower to support applications such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Also, it will provide businesses with access to high-speed fiber connections to serve customers either locally or globally.

The plans could change depending on what companies commit to tap into the site, said Bill Thompson, vice president of marketing and product management at DC Blox.

"Typically large companies of the ilk of Google and Amazon look at building facilities with a partner like DC Blox," Thompson said.

He added that a center of this scale would typically employ about 15 workers.

Moncks Corner-based Santee Cooper, the owner and developer of Camp Hall, disclosed its negotiations with DC Blox about a year ago. The state-owned electric and water utility will deliver power to the data center and has agreed to invest about $6 million in sitework improvements.

Santee Cooper CEO Jimmy Staton said the location is "strategic" and "will encourage and support technology-driven industries and quality jobs" in the region.

DC Blox said the Camp Hall investment will be connected to its new $32 million Myrtle Beach "landing station" that will accommodate several intercontinental web-traffic cables being placed under the Atlantic Ocean by Google and by an affiliate of Facebook parent Meta Platforms.
Three new apartment developments will bring nearly 1,000 new units to the developing Point Hope project in South Carolina's largest city.

Ohio-based Lifestyle Communities, which already has a foothold in the Charleston area, wants to build a 449-unit complex on Clements Ferry Road, according to site plans. The property sits across from River Reach Drive.

The proposal includes four four-story buildings with 95 units each surrounded by three-story row houses with three, seven and 12 units each.

The Columbus developer is building the nine-story, 293-unit LC Charleston at Line Apartments near the base of the Interstate 26 off-ramp at Meeting Street on the peninsula. The company also recently bought a 27.5-acre North Charleston tract in the Ingleside development off U.S. Highway 78 and Interstate 26, where it plans to build 454 apartments.

Also in Point Hope, a 192-unit apartment development called Berkshire is planned on part of a 63-acre tract on Clements Ferry Road between Point Hope Parkway and Nelliefield Creek Drive. The property is owned by Goldfinch Girls LLC of West Columbia. The developer is TBC Development LLC of Mount Pleasant.

In addition, a 305-unit development up to four stories tall called Point Hope Capstone is planned at 1260 Clements Ferry Road by Birmingham, Ala.-based Capstone Communities. The site is across the street from Nelliefield Creek Drive and Marquise Lane.
LEXINGTON  A 14-year-old in Chapin was charged under recently passed "Gavin's Law," which makes sexual extortion a felony offense.

The teenager threatened to release nude images that were digitally edited with the face of a female classmate, Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in a news release.

The 14-year-old was charged with sexual extortion under the new law and released to the custody of his parents.

Sexual extortion, blackmailing someone using sexually explicit images or videos, is a felony offense under the law, which was signed by Gov. Henry McMaster in August. The charge carries a punishment of up to five years in prison for a first offense.

Under the new law, it is an aggravated felony with a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison if the victim is a minor, vulnerable adult or if someone suffers injury or death related to the crime.

State Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-Rock Hill, introduced the bill in honor of his late son, Gavin, who committed suicide in 2022 after being sexually extorted.

Guffey's 17-year-old son had sent nude photos to a person he met online, whom he thought was a female volleyball player at a North Carolina university. After sending the photos, he was threatened to send money, or his photos would be made public.

This issue is something we are taking very seriously," Koon said. With todays technology, its all too easy to prey on innocent people. Those who try this should know Gavins Law is a tool for us to charge anyone who intimidates or blackmails another person with explicit images, whether real or fake.

Under the new legislation, school districts educate and notify students of the law as well as provide notice to parents and school staff of the change in law and dangers of sexual extortion.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is recommending new management strategies for the states blue crab fishery, and it's asking for commercial and recreational crabbers help to fine-tune the plan.

Data from the SCDNR shows that the states blue crab population has seen a sharp decline in the past few decades. In 1978, the state reported nearly 9.4 million pounds of crab landings, compared to 2.6 million in 2021.

South Carolinas crabbing industry is significantly under-regulated compared to other East Coast states, according to the Natural Resources Department. Many crabbers say that under-regulation is partially to blame for the decadeslong slide.

The SCDNR this year presented a list of nine recommendations to the S.C. Legislature to create a more sustainable blue crab fishery and mitigate further population declines. Now the department is asking for crabbers help in figuring out how to apply those new rules  and how they need to be tweaked to ensure they dont negatively impact the industry.

In addition to one held in Charleston on Sept. 27, the SCDNR will host two other public hearings on the blue crab management plan. The next one will be held at the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center in Okatie on Oct. 4 at 6:30 p.m. The final hearing will be at Murrells Inlet, but the department has not announced a date, time or location for that hearing.

A recipe for disaster

It isnt just a relaxed regulatory approach thats hurting the states blue crabs. Jeff Brunson is in charge of crustacean management at the SCDNRs Office of Fisheries Management. He said warmer falls and winters have caused earlier and shorter spawning seasons.
GREENVILLE  Approaching Sturtevant Street from Pendleton Road in West Greenville on Friday morning, about 100 people donning hardhats can be seen working on one of four Habitat for Humanity houses.

The nonprofit organization is planning to build nine houses on land donated by developer Fitch Irick Corporation and contractor Creative Builders, Inc.

On Sept. 29, the companies joined Habitat for Humanity of Greenville to assist in building four of those houses. The organization's leader, Monroe Free, said all nine houses will likely be done by next summer.

Each house will be roughly 1,100 square feet, built to EarthCraft standards  which Free said will ensure lower utility bills for the families who live in them.

The houses will be mortgaged to families whose income is between 30 to 80 percent of the area's median income, as calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. However, Free guarantees that as part of Habitat for Humanity's program no family will pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income on their mortgage.

Four of the nine houses already have families committed to buy.

Free said there are roughly 35 families, at any given time, in the pipeline to buy a house through Habitat for Humanity.

But homebuying through the organization isn't swift. Habitat for Humanity requires soon-to-be homebuyers to complete 200 hours of "sweat equity." According to Free, those hours will include budgeting and finance classes, as well as 100 hours of home building "either on their house or on somebody else's house."

Completing the sweat equity program typically takes about 18 months, Free said, but he's seen it done in nine.

The gift of land

Fitch Irick and Creative Builders donated roughly 1.7 acres to Habitat for Humanity of Greenville in 2021, after they finished development on Assembly Apartments  an affordable apartment complex off West Blue Ridge Drive  and identified a remaining parcel that wasn't going to be used.
GREENVILLE  A luxury residential developer plans to build 44 townhomes on a long-vacant property just minutes from the Swamp Rabbit Trail and the transformation of Greenville County Square.

Based on preliminary designs, the development, called Biltmore Park, would feature three-story brick townhomes built on an 8-acre property on Pearl Avenue across from Sirrine Stadium in the Haynie-Sirrine neighborhood  once designated as economically disadvantaged but after recent years of new investment no longer qualifies.

Its led by Keene Development Group, the company behind The McDaniel, a townhome development set for $1.4 million per unit near the Greenville Zoo and Cleveland Park.

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At Biltmore Park, each unit would be 3,000 to 4,000 square feet with three or four bedrooms and a rooftop terrace. A park  open to the public  has been proposed along Biltmore Drive as part of the project, said Kyle Keene, founder and principal.

The townhomes would be very high end but not as expensive as The McDaniel, Keene said. He didn't provide a price point.

The initial designs were presented at a public hearing Sept. 26 at Unity Park, and they must move through additional city steps, including a neighborhood panel.

The main underlying importance to us on this project is keeping the natural beauty that is there and kind of supplementing the community within that, Keene said.

Keene said the initial designs were inspired by those from the Haynie-Sirrine master plan, a guiding document for the neighborhood created through meetings between community leaders, city officials and developers in the early 2000s.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

Mainly sunny. High 61F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds from time to time. Low 46F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) is set to showcase a range of new incentives at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) 2023, which kicks off on October 2 and runs for the next two days in the UAE capital.

The worlds largest energy exhibition, Adipec 2023, will bring together major local and international industrial companies to enhance opportunities for growth through the adoption of advanced technologies and 4IR solutions.

The conference promotes sustainable consumption and production best practices to accelerate the sectors low-carbon transition.

In line with the Make it in the Emirates initiative, the ministry will host the Manufacturing and Industrialization Strategic Conference.

During the three-day event, MoIAT will showcase the competitive advantages of the UAEs industrial sector, including investment opportunities, as well as incentives and enablers under the Make it in the Emirates initiative.

The ministry will announce incentives linked to the Industrial Technology Transformation Index (ITTI), including Golden Visa opportunities, in addition to free-of-charge ITTI assessments by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and in partnership with Maxbyte and Schneider Elecrtic.

It will also introduce the Green ICV under the National In-Country (ICV) Program to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of companies.

MoIATs participation aligns with the objectives of the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, Operation 300bn, to increase the contribution the industrial sector makes to GDP.

The strategy also aims to create an attractive business environment for local and international investors, support the growth of UAE industries and drive technological transformation.

At the event, the ministry will contribute to Adipecs theme, Decarbonising. Faster. Together, by promoting the adoption of advanced technology as well as sustainability practices in the sector as the UAE prepares to host the global climate conference.

The ministry will host panel discussions on leveraging advanced technologies to build the industries of the future, the Make it in the Emirates initiative, as well as a roundtable for UAE Climate Tech Forum chief technology officers.

Omar Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of MoIAT, will deliver a keynote speech on enhancing the role of the industrial sector in achieving sustainable development. He will also participate in a session on Make it in the Emirates initiative, a local blueprint for empowering global economies.

Representatives from the ministry will participate in a panel discussion on leadership perspectives on industrial policy and the synergy between the public and private sectors.

Abdulla Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for the Industrial Growth Sector at MoIAT will be at the event, while Dr Farah Al Zarooni, Assistant Undersecretary for the Standards and Regulations Sector will be part of a session called the Circular Transformation Of Industries: A Systemic Approach.

The ministry will also participate in in a youth session on the Industrialist Program and conduct a presentation on the National ICV Program.

As part of its participation at Adipec, MoIAT is set to announce a 4 training programs under the Industrialists Program in the fields of safety and security; food and beverage; oil and gas, and metals and paper.

This year's Adipec will see the participation of more than 2,200 companies, including 54 of major local and international energy players, in addition to 30 pavilions..-TradeArabia News Service
CHANGCHUN, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A trove of stone artifacts have been unearthed from a paleolithic site in Helong City, northeast China's Jilin Province, which suggest an evolution of wedge-shaped tools toward blade tools.

The Jilin Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has carried out three years of archaeological excavation at the paleolithic site in Dadong Village, unearthing nearly 20,000 stone artifacts and animal fossils.

Xu Ting, head of the excavation team, said the items were discovered from three periods of Paleolithic cultural remains at the site, dating back to 50,000-30,000 years, 28,000-24,000 years, and 17,000-15,000 years, respectively.

"The stone artifacts of the different periods clearly show the progress from making small stone flakes to stone tools with microblade technology in 50,000 years," said Xu.

The earliest microblade stone artifacts at the site were found in the strata dating back 28,000-24,000 years ago, the earliest of its kind in Northeast Asia, Xu said.

The stone tools at the site consist of obsidian flakes. Several animal fossils were found along with the stone artifacts, providing abundant materials for studying the evolution of livelihood in Northeast Asia. 
CAROLINA FOREST  A new festival will celebrate one of Horry County's fastest-growing communities on Oct. 7.

The Carolina Forest Civic Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates for residents of the community between Conway and Myrtle Beach, is hosting the inaugural Carolina Forest Day, a celebration of the area that promotes businesses, agencies and organizations.

"The Carolina Forest Civic Association is here to be the voice of the people of Carolina Forest," said Carole VanSickler, the association's president. "We're proud of what we do. This is one way for us to draw the community together and just have a day of fun. That's the whole idea. It's a celebration of Carolina Forest."

The association has partnered with Horry County Parks and Recreation to host the event from noon-5 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Carolina Forest Recreation Center, located at 2254 Carolina Forest Blvd.

The event will feature over 40 business and craft vendors, as well as representatives from such agencies as Horry County Schools, Horry County Fire Rescue and the Horry County Council on Aging.

Additionally, there will be live music, contests and giveaways, indoor trick-or-treating, bounce houses, and food and drink vendors. Admission is free.

VanSickler said the association already has a waiting list for business and craft vendors, and she hopes to see a large turnout for Carolina Forest's first festival.

Since the late 1990s, Carolina Forest has grown into a vast suburb of more than 38,000 residents, according to estimates from the county's planning department. The community would be one of South Carolinas 25 largest cities if it ever incorporated.

But that growth has not come without challenges, and the fall festival arrives at a time when residents and local leaders are debating the community's future.

Developers have proposed building more than 1,100 units, including retail space and townhomes, between Postal Way and U.S. Highway 501. The project would offer a live-work concept similar to The Market Common on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.
Charleston County's high school, middle school and elementary school principals sent letters to the district school board this week expressing disappointment after several weeks of chaotic meetings that ended in newly hired Superintendent Eric Gallien's paid suspension.

Principals of all 16 high schools signed an open letter, dated Sept. 27, that said the substance and conduct of the meetings do not meet the basic standard of good governance from elected officials. They pointed to the Sept. 25 board meeting as an example, saying that politics have no place in a system devoted to educating students.

"In terms of conduct, we are embarrassed by the lack of civility with which the school board meeting was conducted," they wrote.

The principals said they were veteran educators who witnessed suboptimal behavior from previous school boards, but called this week's meeting "uniquely troubling."

A group of 41 elementary school principals, collectively known as the CCSD Elementary Learning Community, sent their own letter on Sept. 28. They expressed their "profound dismay" at the board's decision to suspend Gallien, not bring on Michelle Simmons as the district's permanent chief academic officer and dismantle the district's Health Advisory Board. They found the board's choice to make these decisions without consulting principals "unconscionable."

"Your actions without consultation, explanation of any sort, or a plan going forward create mass confusion, distrust, and unnecessary anxiety in our students, parents, faculty and staff," the elementary principals wrote.

They said that the community expected more of them, and the children "most definitely deserve more."
The S.C. Supreme Court on Sept. 28 suspended a Berkeley County magistrate who deceived the court through a "scheduling scheme" that afforded her unauthorized days off, according to an order.

Chief Justice Donald Beatty suspended Magistrate Ava E. Bryant for 90 days without pay in an order that detailed the work scheme and admonished the longtime magistrate for her "dereliction of duty."

Bryant directed clerks in her office to not schedule hearings for her to preside over on several days each month when she would not show up to work, according to the order. In all, the magistrate failed to show up to work on at least 29 days within the last six months.

"Magistrate Bryant devised and implemented a work scheduling scheme that deceptively allowed her to take multiple unauthorized days off during the work week while appearing to be at work," Beatty wrote.

Beatty ordered in November 2021 that full-time magistrates spend at least 40 hours per week in their roles and carry a full docket of cases.

"Magistrate Bryant was fully aware of this order and devised the deceptive work schedule to circumvent the requirement to work the hours for which she was being paid," he wrote. "This dereliction of duty is an unacceptable affront to the fair administration of justice and the courts."

Bryant is not the first magistrate to earn the chief justice's ire for playing hooky.

Beatty suspended Georgetown County Magistrate James K. McKenzie on Aug. 30 after he did not show up to work on multiple occasions.

Earlier that month, Beatty also issued a suspension order for John J. Kesler, a magistrate at the Spartanburg County Bond Court. Kesler, a retired state Highway Patrol trooper, also was called out for failing to report to court.

Magistrates typically preside over criminal cases where the possible fine is no more than $500 and the maximum jail sentence doesnt exceed 30 days, according to the S.C. Judicial Departments website. They can also set bond, conduct preliminary hearings and sign off on search or arrest warrants. Smaller civil cases (disputes involving no more than $7,500) also fall within their purview.
Many boat owners in the Charleston area have a love/hate relationship with their marinas. Mostly they love the access to year-round wet slips, fuel docks, pump-outs, dock hands, marina toilets, fish cleaning stations and a degree of security.

They hate it when the bill arrives, though.

Slip rentals in the Lowcountry are expensive, ranging between about $500 and $1,000 a month for people with boats up to 45 feet long. (The biggest motor and sailing yachts can pay much more than that, and transient boats pay a premium rate per foot for access to outside docks.)

Perhaps youve noticed that the marinas in the area are full, or nearly so. A few of them are expanding. The opportunities are ripe, and some with deep pockets are investing in Charleston's marine sector, joining a broader consolidation trend.

The supply clearly is not keeping up with the demand. Part of the reason is population growth. As the region welcomes more residents, some with plenty of disposable income, the number of boats increases, too. Another part of the reason is that waters in the Charleston area are particularly inviting to boaters.

Boating here is still fantastic on Charleston Harbor, noted Chuck Laughlin, president of St. Barts Yachts, a Beneteau dealer based at the City Marina on the Ashley River. On any given day you can be one of a few boats out there. Its still not crowded like Lake Norman outside of Charlotte, where you feel youre taking your life in your hands.

And, he said, boaters here can visit nearby destinations: Hilton Head Island, Georgetown, Little River. They can venture south to Florida. They can plan short crossings to the Bahamas, which is relatively easy to reach.

And if they are sailboat operators, they can race. The Charleston Ocean Racing Association has registered 30 boats for its annual October Alice Cup race between the harbor and Rockville. Thats a big number, much more than in recent years, and it suggests a surging interest in offshore sailing, said Ray Spellerberg, co-owner of the sailboat Celedon. It wasnt long ago that CORA struggled to generate interest in its offshore races, Spellerberg said.

All these boats  those regularly used and those merely left to languish by absentee owners  need to rest somewhere. The area has 11 marinas with wet slips. Not all accommodate sailboats. All of them house a number of boats that rarely get taken out.

It just breaks my heart, said Rand Pratt, director of operations for Charleston Harbor Marina.

The least expensive is the Cooper River Marina, operated by the Charleston County Parks. The owner of a 30-foot boat who keeps the vessel there long-term will pay a little more than $500 a month.

The others, all privately operated, cost more.

Spellerberg keeps his boat at Hobcaw Creek Community Docks which, with just 18 slips, is perhaps the smallest marina in the area. If you define marina as a place that includes not just slips but services, too, then maybe Hobcaw would not qualify. All it provides is a power pedestal so boats can charge their batteries while at rest.

We like where were at, Spellerberg said. He and his co-owner live nearby. Were grateful we dont have to go into a larger marina setting. It can get cost prohibitive.

He pointed out that marina costs represent only a portion of money boat owners spend each year. Merely keeping a boat in good working order requires significant investment.

And that presents another challenge: More boats mean more boat repairs and maintenance, which mean longer wait times at the boatyards. It can take months to get even a small job scheduled, Spellerberg observed. The high demand for space and services is driving costs up, he said.

And too many new boaters dont know the rules of navigation, which can make things a bit dicey on the water, Spellerberg added.

Expansions

The marina operators know the power they wield. And they recognize an opportunity when they see one. In recent years, Safe Harbor Marinas has purchased the City Marina, the Bristol Marina nearby and the City Boatyard on the Wando River. The Dallas-based company also owns marinas in Beaufort, Hilton Head, Port Royal (two) and Pawleys Island. Overall, it owns 130 marinas, boatyards and other facilities, located in 24 states and Puerto Rico.

Safe Harbor was purchased by Sun Communities in 2020 for $2 billion.

That company isnt the only one participating in the consolidation of the marina business. Mike Shuler, owner and managing partner of Bohicket Marina Investors, now controls six properties: Seabreeze Marina, St. Johns Yacht Harbor, Bohicket Marina, Isle of Palms Marina, Ripley Light Yacht Club and Old Village Yacht Club. (Shuler didnt respond to messages left on his voicemail.)

The City Marina is located on public land, owned by the city of Charleston, and leased to Safe Harbor. And guess what? Its expanding.

Famous for its Megadock, where the mega yachts tie down when in town, the City Marina is adding dockage space that extends toward the middle of the Ashley River.

We have almost completed the north Megadock, General Manager David Isom said. After that, we will start to attach these 100-foot-long concrete finger piers, then start rebuilding the north basin of the marina.

Some old concrete walls, remnants of the original marina design that can disrupt the current flow, soon will be removed, he added. That will make it easier and safer to tie up to the new floating docks, which dont hinder the current, and perhaps help minimize silting.

The new slips are meant for longer and wider boats, Isom said.

When all is said and done, the City Marina will be among the largest in the country. Add up the space on both sides of the new Megadock and you get the equivalent of one mile of linear dockage, he said.

Other marinas are getting bigger, too.

Seabreeze, located on the Charleston peninsula in the shadow of the Ravenel Bridge, just added dozens of powerboat slips. And Shuler now is hoping to build a yacht club on that end of Johns Island, near Bohicket Marina.

Charleston Harbor Marina, too, is planning an expansion that will add dozens of slips on the south side of the site, according to Pratt. Its already installed new breakwaters that are wider, deeper and offer better protection from westerly weather.

Were primarily trying to protect our investment, he said. Though the added revenue certainly is another reason.

The future could see more linear dockage on the north side of the marina, meant to accommodate a growing number of catamarans, Pratt said. Plus College of Charleston Sailing, which is based in the marina, is looking to grow, he said.

Demand is high for space, and the marina maintains a wait list, though the wait period isnt crazy yet, Pratt said.

A big challenge is updating the marina to keep pace with changes in boating behavior and design. Boats are bigger now. A marina designed 35 years ago might not be sufficiently equipped to accommodate all of todays boaters.

Not all marinas are built alike. Most rely on long wooden pilings along which the docks float up and down according to the tides. At City Marina, the water must rise 17 feet before the docks slip off the top of the pilings and float away.

Charleston Harbor Marina instead relies on a Swedish design developed to manage the big tidal swings of the North Sea. The docks are held in place not by pilings but by crisscrossed chains anchored to the harbor floor. The marinas only pilings are support structures for powerboat lifts. Some were recently added to bring the total number of mechanical lifts to 42.

Needless to say, upgrades are expensive. So is regular maintenance, especially in an area with a soft bottom that sometimes needs dredging and the annual threat of tropical storms. Pratt wouldnt name a figure saying only that his annual operating costs were "astronomical."

It doesnt cost that much to maintain a mooring field. Theres a new one in the Wando River, 1 River Landing, near the Daniel Island Yacht Club. For a 30-foot boat, you pay $275 a week, $475 a month or $4,320 a year. (Bigger boats pay more.)

A lot of boats

Laughlin said business is good. The demand for his Beneteau sailboats and powerboats remains pretty high. There was an uptick in sales during the pandemic, despite a manufacturing shortage because of COVIDs impacts on factories trying to keep their employees safe.

When he started out 36 years ago, a big Beneteau cost perhaps $150,000, he said. Today its approaching $7 million.

Its worth noting that many boat companies have manufacturing operations here in South Carolina. The state Department of Commerce recognizes 28 boat makers headquartered here, including a few big ones: Scout, Sportsman and Key West. (Beneteau had a factory in Marion, but closed it in 2020. The facility was purchased by a Canadian swimming pool company which, like boat manufacturers, molds fiberglass.)

As of the beginning of 2023, the total number of registered recreational boats in South Carolina was about 360,000, according to the Department of Natural Resources. A little more than 317,000 are powerboats; 2,000 are sailboats.

Many powerboats are kept in dry stack marinas, of which there are several in the area. Perhaps the majority of powerboats are trailered and kept in driveways. Owners ease them in and out of the water at designated boat ramps.

A recent trend affords recreational boaters the chance to get on the water without owning a vessel. Boat clubs are on the rise. Pay a membership fee and get access to a fleet of small powerboats. The City Marina is home to two such clubs. Seabreeze has one, too. Fortunately for them, the powerboat market is strong. The pandemic inspired some people to invest in new boats. Now that the worst of COVID is past and the market is leveling off again, theres some excess inventory, noted Isom. What will happen to those vessels?

The boat clubs are going to start buying them up, he said.

Which means we'll see even more people on the water, many with little boating experience. And that means an increase in the "danger level," as Spellerberg has warned.

He hopes they will learn the etiquette and the rules before they throttle up.
We have reached another low point of dangerous political grandstanding about federal spending because too many politicians are digging their heels in and signaling that they refuse to compromise. And their constituents are applauding them for standing up for principle. The growing disdain for political compromise is, sadly, having an ever-increasing impact on our political life. And this threatens not just the budget but our ability as a country to address any issue with reason and moderation.

Compromise does not need to be about abandoning your principles. It is really about one person or groups willingness to forgo immediate success, while continuing to work for success in the long term. In other words, it is more about patience than principle. Those who refuse to compromise are really saying, No! I want everything now! They might claim that their intransigence is about holding to principle, but it really has nothing to do with that.

In order to compromise with others, we must believe in the basic good will of our political opponents. We can work with our political opponents even when we believe they are wrong, as long as we think their intentions are good and that they can be counted on to negotiate with us in good faith in the future. This is missing in our country right now.

For some years now, too many politicians from both parties, particularly those on the far right, have been working to divide the country into us and them. They have tried to convince us that the other people are not just wrong; they are evil and want to destroy all that we hold dear. A country cant operate when it is divided by the idea that everyone who disagrees with us is evil.

What we have been seeing in our political life is the emergence of a kind of apocalyptic view of the state of the country, a picture that is both intellectually problematic and socially disruptive. It draws quite unfairly on long-standing and deeply held religious beliefs that our world is headed toward a cataclysmic battle between pure good and pure evil. Often, the politicians who speak in these quasi-religious terms are the ones least devoted to their own religion. But politicians often find it useful to dress their political goals up in familiar religious images. This makes policy decisions seem urgent and the truth seem clear.
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.
Genesis 12:2 and 7: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, unto thy seed will I give this land: and there built he an altar unto the Lord. Read moreRest assured, Israel will win
COLUMBIA  The South Carolina State Library cut ties last month with the American Library Association over concerns the countrys oldest and largest professional group for librarians has become a distractor.

In an Aug. 21 letter that only became public last week, Leesa Aiken, agency director of the State Library, told the association it would not renew its $3,000-a-year institutional membership and said the association's tone-deaf advocacy has strayed from its nonpartisan principles and is poorly tailored to support libraries in some areas of the country.

Conservative South Carolina lawmakers and activists, who have made the association the latest focus of their concerns about perceived liberal indoctrination, heralded the State Librarys decision as a victory.

The State Library administers government support and provides training for South Carolinas public libraries and serves as the state governments equivalent of the Library of Congress.

The decision comes as conservative groups and politicians nationwide have blasted the ALA and makes South Carolinas the fourth state library to cut ties with the group after Montana, Missouri and Texas.

Its once again thrust librarians into the center of a culture wars debate over identity, parents rights and censorship now raging among the normally quiet stacks.

Aiken told The Post and Courier the decision is a result of her longstanding frustrations with the organization on several issues, and that she had not publicized the decision in hopes to avoid feeding the flames of political debate.

This letter was not done because of any political pressure from any organization, the Freedom Caucus, the mothers for liberty  no one, she said. Can other groups use it for leverage? They can. Thats not my intention.

In a statement Sept. 29, the ALA said it had a "brief but fruitful" discussion with Aiken on Sept. 28 and that it is unfortunate she has elected not to renew the State Library's membership.
ROCK HILL  If you're a senior at Winthrop University, you've seen a lot of change on campus.

Gabby Walker, a biology major graduating this fall, lived in the dormitories as the campus emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. She saw two housing units close.

And to finish off her time at Winthrop, she's in a distinct position: Walker is a resident assistant, but not at a dorm. She has that position for off-campus housing that recently opened to start the 2023-24 school year.

"It's a pretty good deal," said Walker, a senior from Columbia staying at the Walk2Campus building through a Winthrop partnership. "It's off campus, but it's close enough to still walk since I don't have a car. We are still required to get a meal plan, so I eat at the cafeteria during the week and I use my kitchen on the weekends."

Off-campus living is one of the ways the Rock Hill university is handling conflicting housing issues.

The dorms are showing signs of aging just as student enrollment this fall saw its first uptick after several years of decline. To attract and retain students, Winthrop needs to improve its housing options while facing decisions on renovating the old dorms, creating new ones and exploring opportunities for nearby off-campus living.

For the latter, Winthrop forged an agreement with Walk2Campus Properties, which opened an apartment building with 58 beds in furnished rooms with kitchens available for the fall semester.

It's a hybrid model where students are off campus but can still pay for rent through their Winthrop account and retain services through the Department of Resident Life, and they still have RAs such as Walker available.

"I'm assuming that people are transitioning just fine," said Walker, who has 28 students assigned to her in the building. "They appreciate the freedom of living off campus. I haven't heard many complaints. Though, there's no lobby, so there's less engagement among us. But the residents may not see that as an issue."
NICOSIA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Cyprus's credit ratings to investment grade for the first time in over 11 years, by raising its status two notches up, from Ba1 to Baa2, according to a statement issued by the agency late on Friday.

The agency also changed the outlook of the Cypriot economy from stable to positive.

Cyprus's government, in statements by President Nikos Christodoulides and Finance Minister Makis Keravnos, hailed the upgrading as a significant event which will translate into new opportunities and further investments.

Canadian agency DBRS, which was the first to raise Cyprus's ratings to investment grade since September 2021, also upgraded its ratings late on Friday by one notch from BBB (low) to BBB (high), citing the steady drop of the public debt.

Moody's said in its statement that "the two-notch upgrade of Cyprus' ratings to Baa2 from Ba1 reflects broad-based, sustained improvements in its credit profile because of past and ongoing economic, fiscal, and banking reforms."

Moody's cited as reasons for Cyprus's upgrading significant private and public investments and structural reforms, and also the "material improvement" of its fiscal strength.

Moody's said it expects the Cypriot economy to grow by 2.3 percent in 2023, 2.8 percent in 2024 and by 3.2 percent over 2025 to 2027.

As a result of economic growth, Moody's said that the public debt will be reduced from 86.5 percent in 2022 to 74 percent in 2024 and below 60 percent in 2027. 
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has departed this life at the age of 90. The California Democrat can be remembered in several ways, especially as the American politician most faithful to the Peoples Republic of China.

In April of 2020, Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit charging that Chinese Communist officials are responsible for the enormous death, suffering, and economic losses they inflicted on the world, including Missourians. For Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Missouri lawsuit was the problem.

We launch a series of unknown events that could be very, very dangerous, said Feinstein in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. I think this is a huge mistake. The California Democrat had only praise for the Chinese government.

Where I live, we hold China as a potential trading partner, Feinstein said in the hearing. As a country that has pulled tens of millions of people out of poverty in a short period of time. And as a country growing into a respectable nation among other nations. And I deeply believe that. Ive been to China a number of times. Ive studied the issues. Much of that study, it turns out, was on location.

Ive been coming to China for 31 years, so Im not a newcomer, Feinstein told James Areddy of the Wall Street Journal during a 2006 visit to Shanghai. In Beijing, the U.S. Senator explained, we spent time with Zhu Rongji, the former premier who was a mayor of Shanghai and a good friend.

In 2014, on the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Feinstein issued a statement recalling perhaps even thousands of demonstrators killed. I know of no other country that has made as much economic and industrial progress in the last 25 years than China, Feinstein wrote. But what this anniversary reminds us is that progress still must be made in the areas of human rights, rule of law and governance.

The senator failed to chart any human-rights progress China might have achieved, and expressed no second thoughts about Chinas membership in the World Trade Organization. That removed the annual congressional review of its record on human rights and weapons proliferation records, a huge win for the Communist regime.

As Rosemarie Ho reported in The Nation, Democrats in general and Feinstein in particular kept rather quiet about the democratic protesters in Hong Kong. As it happens, Feinsteins China issues go much deeper.

The former San Francisco mayor had a Chinese spy on her staff for some 20 years, and he was much more than her driver. As the San Francisco Chronicle noted, the spy even attended Chinese consulate functions for the senator.

As Ben Weingarten explained, Feinsteins husband has profited handsomely from the greatly expanded China trade she supported. And the senator served as a key intermediary between China and the U.S. government, while serving on committees whose work would be of keen interest to the PRC. All this, plus a spy on her staff through three election cycles. The FBI launched no covert operation to uncover any wrongdoing, and the Senate failed to investigate the spy matter.

Sen. Feinstein was one of the first to cry racism over the Wuhan virus that caused massive damage in the United States and around the world. When one American state attempts to hold China accountable, Sen. Feinstein called it dangerous. She deeply believes that one of the most repressive regimes in history, responsible for some 60 million murders according to The Black Book of Communism, and occupier of Tibet since the 1950s, is a respectable nation.

By contrast, the San Francisco Democrat is on record that the United States is burdened with systemic racism in areas ranging from housing to employment to education, all part of institutional racism. As Jeane Kirkpatrick said in 1984, the San Francisco Democrats always blame America first. On the home front, Feinsteins prejudices have been on full display.

In 1992, the year Feinstein was elected to the Senate, the FBI deployed massive military force against the family of Randy Weaver, victim of an ATF entrapment scheme. Federal agents killed Weavers son Samuel and FBI sniper Lon Horiuchishot Randys wife Vicki in the head as she held her infant daughter. Vicki Weaver was unarmed, not under arrest, and not charged with any crime.

During hearings in 1995, Democrats Herb Kohl and Patrick Leahy showed sympathy for Randy Weaver. Sen. Feinstein, by contrast, dealt sternly with Weaver, asking whether his children wore Nazi arm bands and shouted Nazi slogans at neighbors. For the San Francisco Democrat, victims of government violence must be Nazis.

In 1993, Attorney General Janet Reno deployed military force against civilians in the standoff at Waco, Texas. The ensuing conflagration claimed the lives of 75 people, including 25 children. Reno also sent two dozen federal agents, armed with machine guns, to seize six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez. Instead of granting asylum to the youth, whose mother perished in the escape attempt, the Clinton administration returned the boy to the Sado-Stalinist dictatorship of Fidel Castro.

One of my earliest votes in the Senate was to confirm Janet Reno as attorney general, proclaimed Feinstein in a 2016 statement after Reno passed away. I said at the time that Janet combined an expertise in criminal justice with a deep sense of independent thought, and not once did she prove me wrong. Renos cheerleader was down with all of it, and she wasnt letting go of the Nazi accusation.

In a 2017 hearing for Eric Dreiband, a nominee to head the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, Feinstein invoked the Charlottesville rally and said there isnt any good in Nazism. As sons and daughters of World War II veterans will confirm, there had been a lot of confusion about that until Sen. Feinstein cleared it up.

Also in 2017, Sen. Feinstein told Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, a Catholic mother of seven, that the dogma lives loudly within you. And thats of concern. Anti-Catholic bigotry lived loud in Feinstein, but there was more to her.

In 2018, the San Francisco Democrat served as impresario of the Summer of 82 hearings starring Christine Blasey Ford, who was 100 percent certain that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had attacked her back in high school. As it emerged in testimony, Ford had sent her letter to Feinstein, not the Republicans and Democrats on the judiciary committee. Sen. Feinstein was also a staunch promoter of gun control but theres a back story here.

During the 1970s, the New World Liberation Front denounced Feinstein, then a San Francisco supervisor, as a ruling-class enemy of the people. The Marxist NWLF shot out 15 windows at Feinsteins beach house and detonated a bomb in a flower box outside her daughters window. Feinstein purchased a .38 revolver, practiced regularly, and secured a conceal-carry permit.

The deep believer in China, quick to call fellow Americans Nazis, was once a champion of the Second Amendment. The San Francisco Democrat peaked too soon.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-30 11:45:33

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KITCHENER, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 30, 2023 / Humaira Amir, a seasoned psychotherapist and clinical counsellor registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), is marking a remarkable milestone in her career as she celebrates two decades of transforming lives through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).Amir's unique approach, grounded in cultural awareness, cultural competency, and an array of therapeutic techniques, has garnered the attention of experts and clients alike, demonstrating the profound impact of cultural sensitivity on mental health.A recent study conducted by leading experts in the field of psychology underscores the pivotal role cultural competency plays in treating patients from diverse backgrounds. The 2020 study highlights how therapists who possess cultural sensitivity and competency are better equipped to bridge the cultural, racial, and even religious barriers between providers and patients. It fosters trust and rapport, making the therapeutic process more effective.In light of this study, Humaira Amir emphasizes the significance of cultural awareness in her practice. She firmly believes that understanding and respecting the cultural nuances of her clients is fundamental to providing quality mental health care. Amir states, "Every individual's journey is shaped by their unique cultural background and experiences. Recognizing and appreciating these differences allows me to create a safe and supportive environment where clients can explore their thoughts and emotions without judgment. It's an essential aspect of building trust and fostering meaningful connections." Amir's commitment to cultural awareness extends beyond her practice. The psychotherapist embodies diversity and inclusivity in mental health care. Her dedication to improving access to mental health services for underrepresented communities has earned her recognition and respect within the field.Over the past two decades, Humaira Amir has become a trusted name in the field of mental health in Ontario, offering her expertise to individuals, couples, families, and children. A graduate of the Adler School of Psychology with a Master of Counselling Psychology, Amir's commitment to her clients' well-being has been unwavering. Her practice spans a diverse range of mental health challenges, including anxiety, melancholy, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), to name a few.Amir's signature therapeutic approach is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). However, her dedication to providing holistic care extends beyond a single methodology. She incorporates a multitude of therapeutic approaches into her practice, such as the solution-focused approach, the strengths-based approach, and Adlerian theory. This versatile approach allows her to tailor her interventions to the unique needs and backgrounds of her clients, promoting a more effective and inclusive therapeutic experience.As Humaira Amir celebrates her 20th anniversary in the field of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Ontario, she continues to be a beacon of hope for those seeking help with their mental health challenges. Her tireless dedication to her clients, incorporation of cultural awareness, and her willingness to adapt to evolving therapeutic techniques make her a true pioneer in the field.For interviews, media inquiries, or to learn more about Humaira Amir's work and her contributions to the field of mental health, please refer to the contact details below.About Humaira Amir Counselling ServicesHumaira Amir Counselling Services provides counselling on several issues encompassing people of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities. The Kitchener-based service is headed by Humaira Amir, a certified psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience in the field. For more information, visit the website https://hacounsellingservices.ca/ Contact DetailsCompany Name: Humaira Amir Counselling ServicesWebsite: https://hacounsellingservices.ca/Email: hamircounselling@ gmail.comCity: KitchenerProvince: OntarioSOURCE: Humaira Amir Counselling Services
The appearance of sun rays in the partly cloudy sky on Monday morning in early July excited Dorathy Friday, a cocoa farmer in Ikom, Cross River State. She had feared that the relentless rainfall would spoil her freshly harvested cocoa beans.

With a long wooden spatula, the farmer spread the fermented cocoa beans on a large tarpaulin spread on the ground in her compound. Her aim was to ensure that the beans were evenly exposed to the rising sun.

On that day, the surrounding air was filled with the smell of cocoa.

The heavy rainfall is affecting the cocoa, Mrs Friday told the visiting PREMIUM TIMES reporter.

It was the first time in almost a month that the town was experiencing warm weather. But she knew that the beans only needed a few hours of sun and warm air before she bagged them for sale.

If the rain beats the cocoa, it will not dry well and it will have mould, Mrs Friday said.

The activity of sun-drying cocoa beans that Monday morning was a common sight across Okondi Ikom. Largely subsistence farmers, the people grow cocoa mostly, but also vegetables, maize and cassava in the surrounding farms.

Ikom is one of the local government areas famous for cocoa plantations. The town lies a few kilometres from the Cameroon border. The Central African country is another major cocoa producer, contributing about 70 per cent of the worlds cocoa beans alongside Cote dIvoire, Ghana and Nigeria. Proximity to Cameroon offers trade opportunities to Ikom and has inspired its young dwellers to embrace cocoa farming, instead of joining the rush to the cities to look for white-collar jobs.

However, production has been declining in this community as in other cocoa-producing areas across Nigeria. This has been blamed on climate change, increasing population with its attendant urbanisation, and the absence of regulatory control in the cocoa value chain in the country.

Data from Nigerias Meteorological Agency (NiMet) shows that the duration and intensity of rainfall have increased, causing flooding in many parts of Nigeria as witnessed last year between August and October. Findings from a tour of cocoa farming communities in the major cocoa-producing states of Nigeria by PREMIUM TIMES show that unpredictable weather conditions are contributing to the decline in the production of cocoa, like other major cash crops in the country.

Poor agronomic practices, market structure, lack of quality farm inputs and reliable farm data are some of the other factors. The situation is taking a huge toll on farmers productivity and livelihoods as most of them remain poor despite the huge wealth being made in the cocoa value chain globally. Cocoa bean is the major raw material for the $100 billion global chocolate and cocoa confectionery industry.

In Nigeria, farmers look at the past for the glory days of the cocoa industry. We cannot compare our production in the last 10 years to when our parents were in charge due to the degrees of rainfall we are currently experiencing, Agbo Bassey, a cocoa farmer in Ikom, told PREMIUM TIMES.

Changing weather pattern

Mr Bassey said they expected a bountiful harvest in the community last year but the rain came unexpectedly and destroyed much of the crops.

We had a large level of black pod infection due to the rainfall, the farmer said. But they fear for the same experience this year. What we have been seeing in the past three weeks has been constant rainfall on a daily basis.

Mgbe Aya, another cocoa farmer in Ikom, said he now produces less than when he began farming 20 years ago. However, his biggest concern has been the depletion of soil fertility in his farm.

I inherited my farm from my father. The trees are now old and the soil is no longer fertile like before, he said.

Nigerias shrinking cocoa production

In the 1950s and 60s, cocoa was a major agricultural export commodity in Nigeria, and a top foreign exchange earner for the country.

Before it was displaced by crude oil (discovered in commercial quantities in the 1970s), agriculture was the mainstay of Nigerias economy. The country was the second-largest producer of cocoa globally. From 1960 to 1969, the agriculture sector accounted for an average of 57 per cent of Nigerias Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generated about 64.5 per cent of export earnings in the country.

During this period, the government of the Western region of Nigeria used proceeds from cocoa exports to build major edifices like the 26-storey Cocoa House, the first television station in Sub-Saharan Africa  the Western Nigeria Television (WNTV)  and the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. However, from 1970 to the late 2000s, the sectors contribution to GDP and export earnings steadily declined, as Nigerias focus shifted to fossil fuel exploration.

Nigerias rapidly increasing population and urbanisation also means that the cocoa-growing spaces continue to shrink across the major producing states.

Average cocoa production in the country declined from 420,000 tonnes in the 60s to 170,000 tonnes in 1999, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations revealed. Production rose to 399,200 tonnes between 2000 and 2010 but declined to 302,066 tonnes in 2015 and to 298,029 tonnes in 2016. Nigeria dropped to fourth place in the global ranking of cocoa producers within this period.

In 2017 and 2018, Nigerias production rose to an average 0f 333,000 tonnes and 348,448 tonnes in 2019 but fell slightly again to 340,163 in 2020. Nigeria lags behind Ghana and Cote dIvoire, its West African neighbours that respectively produce 1.2 million and two million tonnes annually.

Twin problems  weather fluctuation and black pods

Farmers who spoke with this newspaper confirmed that their farming areas are shrinking fast due to urbanisation. They also cited extreme weather events, lack of access to soft loans, viable planting materials and other necessary inputs as their major drawbacks.

Mrs Friday and other farmers in Cross River, Ondo and Ekiti states said the general effects of climate change such as irregular rainfall patterns, delayed onset of rainfall, high temperature, drought and the obvious variations in the sunshine period are affecting the production of the cocoa. Due to the fluctuating weather patterns, the farmers said cocoa is being exposed to intense pest attacks, diseases  especially black pods, uneven ripening of pods, reduced weight and contamination of beans, which is reducing the quality of Nigerian cocoa and its value in the international market.

We were shocked by the degree of rain that came last year, Mr Bassey said. We had serious issues maintaining our cocoa. We sprayed against black pod diseases but we still have issues with the pods.

The farmer explained that cocoa pods usually turn black under excessive rainfall.

We were told the fungi affecting the cocoa works with cold weather. So, we try to prevent excessive shade in our farms by pruning the branches for sunlight to penetrate, Mr Bassey said.

Black pod is a disease caused in cocoa by a fungus called Phytophthora palmivora. The disease infects pods, flower cushions, young vegetative shoots, stems and roots of cocoa trees. According to researchers, the fungus thrives during the rainy season and is spread largely by rain splash. During the dry season, the causative fungus is unable to reproduce or infect the cocoa.

Black pod disease is responsible for over 20 per cent loss of cocoa crop annually, although some plantations lose up to 90 per cent of pods to the disease, researchers said.

Adeniyi Sanyaolu, a plant pathologist at the University of Uyo, said the causative agents of the diseases are soil-borne pathogens that exist in the soil as saprophytes (they live on dead or decaying organic matter) in the absence of rain. But with a droplet of rain, they move very fast and cocoa trees are very low and close to the ground.

Mr Sanyaolu said the development of resistant varieties is usually the best approach to controlling black pod infection. But he is unaware if such variety is available in Nigeria yet.

Olumuyiwa Jayeoba, a professor of Environmental Resource Modelling at Nasarawa State University, Keffi, said the correlation between weather and the outbreak of diseases in cocoa plants can be significant, as weather conditions can directly impact the health and susceptibility of cocoa trees to various diseases.

The don said: Changes in long-term weather patterns due to climate change can have significant implications for cocoa disease dynamics. Rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and increased extreme weather events can all impact the prevalence and distribution of diseases in cocoa-growing regions.

Similar situation in Nigerias South-west region

In July, farmers from across the 14 major cocoa-producing states in Nigeria converged in Ekiti State, south-west Nigeria, to inaugurate the new executive committee of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN). Interaction with the farmers at the event reveals that declining cocoa production is also a trend across the South-west region.

Anjorin Temitope, who has been a farmer for over two decades in the Ilawe axis of Ekiti State, said: The weather changes have affected all our plantations and production has reduced.

According to him, ageing plantations are also contributing to the decline in production of the crop, adding that most of the cocoa trees in Ekiti planted in the 1980s have aged and become less productive.

Mr Temitope also noted a change in the rainfall pattern. The agriculture ministry through NiMeT used to predict the rainfall patterns but their prediction is of no effect to our production, he said.

Okeowo Patrick, who has also been a cocoa farmer for over two decades in Owo, Ondo State, said the extreme weather events in the state have also affected his output. Ironically, he cites long dry seasons that delay the rains.

During the dry season or harmattan, our cocoa dries up. We face a lot of drought due to the lack of rainfall, the farmer said.

Women farmers lament

Women in Nigeria hardly own cocoa farms or take part in physically draining farming activities like spraying, clearing and pruning. However, they play a critical role in the processing and marketing of cocoa produce, which exposes them to peculiar challenges. Women are more vulnerable to the prevailing climate of insecurity in the country.

I cant go to the farm alone anymore. We move in groups of three, four and above because the herdsmen bring in their cattle and they used to destroy our farms, said Florence, Adameji, a resident of Ikole in Ekiti State.

Some other women complain about the lack of good access roads, making the transportation of cocoa from their farms extremely difficult. This, the women farmers say, prevents them from harvesting their crops effectively during crop harvest.

We carry our freshly harvested cocoa on our heads from the farm to the house for drying due to lack of good roads, Mrs Adameji said.

Another woman farmer, Bolanle Akinleye, said excessive rainfall makes it difficult for her to go to farms as the roads become slippery.

When its raining, people slip and fall down easily when carrying fresh cocoa on their heads from the farms to the house or to the major roads before they will eventually get home, she said.

Sharing her experience of the weather problems, Mrs Adameji recalled how the cocoa seedlings she got from the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) some years back dried up in our farms, due to a shortfall in rainfall. The farmers called for both financial support and good farm tools in order to improve production

Nigerias Unstructured Cocoa Market

The liberalisation of the market for cocoa and other produce by the Ibrahim Babangida military government over three decades ago has had far-reaching consequences on the Nigerian agricultural sector. In 1986, the government abolished marketing boards that were the official off-takers of farm produce. The mandates of the boards ranged from advisory and promotional services to full control over output and sales. The arrangement protected farmers from direct shocks from price fluctuations and other market forces.

The policy change means that cocoa farmers in Nigeria, who mostly are ignorant of the prevailing market prices, now often sell at lower prices. Many thus remain in perpetual debt to middlemen buyers in the skewed field of in-kind exchange trade. Under this arrangement, merchants and aggregators of cocoa produce provide insecticides, fertilisers and other inputs to farmers who pay back with produce at harvest time at the prevailing price.

In the past during the era of Baba Awolowo, we had cocoa boards, but now we dont have them anymore. Marketers buy from us at ridiculous prices, Paul Agunbiade, the spokesperson of the Cocoa Farmers Association (CFAN) in Ekiti State, told PREMIUM TIMES.

When they buy (at a particular price) today, after two days, they will say the price has dropped. This is frustrating to farmers, the sexagenarian says.

Mr Agunbiade said the new arrangement has also exposed farmers to substandard farm inputs such as seedlings and insecticide, unlike in the past when the marketing board controlled the quality and distributed the materials.

Also, he said farmers in the state did not benefit from the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria initiated under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Speaking on other challenges, Mr Agunbiade said: We used to have stable and predictable rainfall pattern about 20 to 30 years ago, but now, we cant predict the rainfall pattern anymore and it is affecting our production.

Last year, the Nigerian government inaugurated a committee to develop a new framework for the regulation and monitoring of the activities in the cocoa industry to make it more transparent. The 10-member National Cocoa Management Committee was asked to develop a strategic plan for reestablishing the Nigerian Cocoa Board as a regulatory body for the industry.

The committee is expected to also work toward Nigeria joining the Living Income Differential (LID) initiative launched in 2019 by Ghana and Cote dIvoire, the worlds two leading cocoa producers. The LID mandates a minimum price of $2,600 per tonne for cocoa and pays an additional $400 on every tonne purchased to provide a living wage and support cocoa farmers in the two countries.

Unlike Ghana and Cote dIvoire which have centralised regulatory systems, the cocoa trade is entirely in the hands of the private sector in Nigeria.

More lamentation

Cocoa farmers population and land available for cultivation have reduced in the last decade in Nigeria, Adeola Adegoke, the National President of CFAN, said. He said production hovers between 200,000 and 340,000 tonnes, while production per hectare is about 350 to 400 kg per hectare. This matches the data published by the FAO.

Mr Adegoke said Ghanas annual production is about 1.2 million metric tonnes, while Ivory Coast is doing about two million tonnes. Nigeria is not moving forward much, he said.

Despite the farmlands lost to urbanisation, Mr Adegoke said Nigeria can leapfrog those two countries with proper planning and execution. Nigerian farmers are on their own. No support from anyone and even when they buy inputs, they are fake. Nobody to report to, no insurance. Even when buyers are cheating the farmers, nobody comes to their rescue, he said.

His views are shared by Patrick Adebola, the Executive Director of CRIN.

Mr Adebola said frustrated farmers are cutting down cocoa trees to plant other crops. He said Ghana and Cote dIvoire pay attention to cocoa because it is one of their major exports.

Way forward

Mr Adebola said Nigerian cocoa farmers need to be supported to plant improved cocoa varieties. He also agrees that the sector needs a body to regulate its activities and reduce fraudulent practices across the cocoa value chains.

If you look at the cocoa sector in Nigeria, the average cocoa farm in Nigeria is about 50 years old. Governments can help farmers rehabilitate their old farms, including by completely cutting down and replanting new varieties, he said.

On his part, Mr Adegoke called for a science and technology-driven approach to revamping the sector, involving planting of disease-resistant crop varieties, use of fungicides and improved agronomic practices to reduce the impact of climate change on the industry.

He also advocated a concrete plan for backward integration, provision of incentives to farmers and sustainable funding of research institutes to enable them to develop varieties that can tolerate the extreme weather they are currently facing.

The CFAN president wants the plan to bring irrigation to cocoa, and replenish and refresh the land through fertiliser usage and natural organic processes.

We need to establish a system that will make extension personnel available for interactions with farmers to solve problems, he said.

This report is produced with support from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)

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The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament Sidie Tunis said the sub-regional bloc needs to re-examine its relationship with the West.

This is following the series of coups in West Africa and the rising disaffection for the West displayed by the affected countries; the most recent being the coup in Niger and anti-French sentiments that followed.

Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES in an exclusive interview in August, Mr Tunis said the Niger coup has made obvious the challenge of neocolonialism in Africa. The Niger coup happened on 26 July when presidential guards led by Abdourahamane Tchiani toppled the democratically elected president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum.

While we are pushing for democracy, we (ECOWAS) should also begin to re-examine our relationship with the West, especially the relationship between French-speaking countries and France, the speaker said.

Referring to the protests where aggrieved citizens in French-speaking West African countries raised Russias flag while condemning France, Mr Tunis said it has become necessary for ECOWAS to review these relationships.

When asked if his comments were not the same as those of the putschists who have overthrown governments in the subregion, he said It is not about supporting the putschists or supporting those who are against France, it is about solutions. Time to find solutions as to how the relationship between France and its former colonies is going to be because if the relationship remains the same, then we will continue to have problems.

Mr Tunis believes it is the responsibility of ECOWAS to quickly re-examine this relationship.

We agree that they were agreements that were signed but how do you review them in the interest of the people? he asked rhetorically.

France and Niger have ties that date back to colonial days with France as Nigers colonial overlord. Just like in every part of West Africa where France held sway, it deployed assimilation as its means of governance in Niger.

Even after former French colonies gained independence, France still maintained a large presence in these countries. Until recently (2019/2020), these countries had to keep their foreign exchange at the French Treasury. Their currency, the CFA franc pegged to the euro, and its convertibility was guaranteed by the former colonial ruler.

France also maintained a military base in Niger. President Emmanuel Macron of France this week announced the withdrawal of the French troop of 1,500 from Niger alongside its ambassador.

In what can be interpreted as accumulated dissatisfaction with Frances operations or presence in these countries, there have been clamours to boot out France from the sub-region.

In Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, and Niger all run by army officers following a spate of coups over the last three years, anti-French rhetoric has become a recurring feature of their public pronouncements.

Mr Tunis also described the actions of the West towards the Niger coup as hypocritical stating that they (the West) behaved differently when coups happened in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.

You will find that the West is operating fully in these states where coups have occurred more or less undermining ECOWAS. In the case of Niger, if the efforts that have been put in Niger collaboratively between ECOWAS and the West if we had that kind of support from them in previous cases, we would have had democratic rule restored in those countries already but because the West has no interest in all of these countries, he said.

He said while ECOWAS was working with the AU and the UN to quel the coups in the countries preceding Niger, they (West) were doing their own thing but now in Niger, simply because Niger directly hit their nerves, they became concerned.

Where were they when ECOWAS was struggling in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso? he asked rhetorically, adding that ECOWAS did not receive the kind of support it is receiving now.

I strongly believe that after all of these, ECOWAS should come back to Niger to find out what is happening to their resources. While we are talking about removing the military from power, we should also be ready as ECOWAS to protect the resources in Niger, Mr Tunis said.

He added that ECOWAS cannot stand by and allow Western interests to loot the resources in Niger.

We talk about the uranium mining in Niger and the profits the West makes from it but Niger remains one of the poorest countries in the world, he said, questioning the poverty level of Niger.

He asked, how can they have all these resources and remain the poorest? What is happening to their resources?

I believe ECOWAS should be in the position to come on board to find out what is happening and not just return Niger to constitutional rule. We as leaders must take responsibility to speak for the people.

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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has advised Nigerians to explore the path of dialogue in resolving the countrys numerous challenges.

Mr Wike said this at a Public Lecture/Special Jummua Prayer, held in Abuja, as part of activities to commemorate Nigerias 63rd Independence.

The minister, represented by Danlami Hayyo, the Secretary, Education Secretariat, in the FCT, said that Nigeria had been faced with so many challenges since independence, saying however, that President Bola Tinubus Renewed Hope agenda, marked a new beginning for the country.

He said the 63rd anniversary would serve as a new beginning for the country in line with Tinubus agenda.

Mr Wike, who was the guest speaker, underscored the need to key into the agenda to address the nations socio-economic challenges.

While describing the topic as apt, the minister said It underscores the importance of addressing the socio-economic challenges our nation faces.

And, hopefully, it would present a new perspective and a renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

Nigeria is still waxing strong in terms of successes recorded across all sectors of the economy, in spite of numerous plights.

He, however, advised Nigerians to acknowledge the persistent challenges ranging from poverty, unemployment, inadequate infrastructure and insecurity as tools to revitalise the country and to impact Nigerians positively.

He promised to collaborate with other stakeholders to ensure harmony among citizens and to work hard to actualise the founding fathers vision for the country.

Here in the FCT, we will continue to work hard at promoting national unity, cohesion and tolerance in line with the vision of our founding fathers.

He also expressed gratitude to the National Council of Islamic Affairs for the choice of the theme for discussion, saying the council and Islam as a whole had played vital roles in ensuring Nigerias unity.

Islamic principles have always played a significant role in our society not only through righteousness but also towards compassion and justice, the value of social justice and charity.

These are models to address our current socio-economic challenges.

These values remind us of the importance of caring for the less fortunate and working towards a more enviable society, Mr Wike said.

(NAN)

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The National President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, (NULGE) Ambali Akeem Olatunji, has accused Abia State Governor Alex Otti of meddling in the affairs of NULGE in the state.

Mr Olatunji said the union was displeased over Mr Ottis alleged recent imposition of his stooges as the executives of the union in the state, Tribune reported.

The NULGE president, who spoke in Akure, Ondo State during the inauguration of a new NULGE President in the state, Fredrick Akinrinlola, said there was no leadership crisis in the Abia State chapter of the union before Mr Otti was elected.

He described Mr Ottis alleged action as executive recklessness, accusing the governor of imposing his cronies on the union to take over the leadership of NULGE in the state.

Some state governors often want to impose weak candidates as NULGE executives in their states in order to control them and make them unable to engage the government, he said.

We have one recently in Abia, we have conducted election before the new government came in, the new government came in and was trying to destabilise the union, this is a contradiction to the labour movement, the administration has come out to be a disappointment to the labour, Mr Olatunji said.

NULGE is cautioning the governor of Abia, Alex Otti, for his undue meddlesomeness into the affairs of NULGE and attempt to hijack the leadership of the union and we reject this. He (Otti) has no right to annul our election and impose his brothers and cronies to take over the leadership of the union, he added.

Another grouse with Otti

Mr Olatunji spoke on another grouse of the union with Governor Otti.

We were disappointed that after the conduct of our election before the inauguration of the present administration in Abia state of Governor Otti of Labour Party, he (Otti) assumed office and the first thing he did was to go after industrial union and made attempt to seize the leadership of the NURTW which was rebuffed by the NLC, he alleged.

Governor Ottis spokesperson, Kasie Uko, and his media aide, Ferdinand Ekeoma, did not respond to calls and text messages from PREMIUM TIMES seeking their comments.

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A Nigerian university lecturer has narrated how he pushed a wheel-barrow and repaired shoes to survive before becoming a professor.

The lecturer, Nicholas Asogwa, teaches at the Department of Philosophy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) Enugu State, South-east Nigeria.

Mr Asogwa was elevated to the rank of a professor of ethics at the university on Tuesday.

The academic, in a long piece in celebration of his elevation, said he had pushed a barrow and worked as a shoe repairer in his efforts to become successful in life.

The piece titled My journey to professorship was read by the lecturer at an event to mark the elevation on Tuesday.

A text of the piece was posted on Facebook by a media expert, Chido Nwakanma, on Wednesday.

I recall with tears my days as a barrow pusher at the popular Orie Orba Market in Udenu LGA of Enugu State, and then my days as a shoe-mender in one of the female hostels (Bello Hall) in the same university where I have become a professor, Mr Asogwa said.

How the journey began

The university lecturer said he was born into a family faced with abject poverty, which posed a serious threat to his educational opportunities.

His dreams seemed unattainable, he had thought.

He, however, said the value of education and the belief in hard work and perseverance instilled in him by his parents helped him to overcome his hurdles.

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Mr Asogwa recalled that, as a shoe-mender in the university several years ago, he had a conversation with a woman, Nkechi Ohanuka, who used to be one of his regular customers at that time.

Mrs Ohanuka, a lawyer from Imo State, realised, during the conversation, that he (Asogwa) attended school up to secondary level and asked why he did not want to further his education.

Mr Asogwa responded that he desired higher education, but that because of his poor background, he needed to make some money to fund his education.

The conversation, he said, happened at a time when the form for an entrance examination into university was still on sale.

The examination is organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

He said in the evening of the same day, Mrs Ohanuka visited him at his shop and handed him a wrapped paper.

I have discussed with my husband, go and purchase JAMB form, the woman told him.

When she left, I unwrapped the paper, and lo and behold, it contained N620, the exact amount JAMB form was sold then, Mr Asogwa stated.

But because mobile phones were not in vogue at that time, he would lose communication with Mrs Ohanuka, who was in her final year at the time.

Despite making efforts, the lecturer could not reconnect with Mrs Ohanuka until late 2013, about two months to his Ph.D. oral defence.

His reconnection to the lawyer followed painstaking search on Google and Facebook, he said.

Proscovia Ndoboli from Uganda also used to be a customer to Mr Asogwa during his time as a shoe-mender in UNN.

The lecturer recalled that Ms Ndoboli, then a student of religion, was shocked when he informed her that he was quitting the shoe- mending work to study in the university.

The Ugandan citizen was shocked because she did not know that Mr Asogwa had attended secondary school that would qualify him to be admitted into the university.

After congratulating me, she told me that she would like to come and know my place and see my parents. In addition, she told me that she would pay for my initial school fees. She fulfilled her promise and left Nigeria the next year, following her graduation, he recalled.

That was how I started. Nkechi bought JAMB form for me, while Proscovia paid my first school fees and put me in the hostel. From there, my parents and I took over, and the struggle continued.

Investing in people

The professor, apparently inspired by his life experience, said investing in people is better than material things.

Look at me: ever since I got employment as a lecturer, there has been no day that I entered the bathroom to bathe and prepare for work without remembering Nkechi Ohanuka.

Look at what the seed she sowed in me some years back has grown into. I, myself, have leveraged on that seed to sow seed in others, and it will continue like that.

What I am today and the more that I will become tomorrow are in one way or another the results of that seemingly small investment she made in me. Whoever sees Nkechi Ohanuka and Proscovia Ndoboli should thank them profusely for me, he said.

I have no doubt that becoming a professor is an important achievement, but I am also convinced that what one does with ones professorship is much more important than one becoming a professor.

I stand here today aware that my promotion carries with it a tremendous responsibility. It is not simply an acknowledgment of my accomplishments, but a call to serve, inspire, and empower young minds. I pledge to use this position to uplift others, to create opportunities for those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and to inspire belief in their own capabilities.

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CAIRO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Egypt, Iraq, and Iran condemned on Friday a deadly bomb blast at a religious gathering in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, which killed at least 50.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement the attack and reiterated its firm position rejecting all forms of violence, terrorism and intimidation of citizens, stressing its full solidarity with Pakistan in confronting terrorism.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry expressed in a statement its condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims, and its solidarity with the government of Pakistan against all attempts to tamper with its security and stability, carried out by terrorist and extremist groups.

The statement also called on countries of the world to have "more cooperation and coordination to confront what threatens the collective security of countries."

In a message addressed to his Pakistani counterpart Arif Alvi, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi condemned the deadly bomb attack and expressed condolences to the Pakistani government and people over the tragic incident that killed dozens, according to a statement by the Iranian president's office.

An explosion occurred near a mosque on Friday when people were gathering to celebrate Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, in the Kora Khan area of the Mastung district in Balochistan province.

The blast has killed at least 50 people, and more than 50 others sustained injuries, according to police and health officials.

The preliminary reports and police investigation showed that it was a suicide attack. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet. 
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) restored bulk power supply to Birnin Kebbi and its environs by 11.33 a.m. on Friday, an official confirmed.

The TCN had announced that there was a fire incident in its transmission substation in Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, on the night of 14 September.

The company said the incident came hours after the collapse of the national grid.

Nigerians were in the early hours of Thursday, 14 September, thrown into darkness after the national grid system collapsed.

The General Manager of Public Affairs of TCN, Ndidi Mbah, in a statement on Saturday, said the bulk power restoration work was carried out by a team of substation, lines, and PC&M engineers of TCN, who converged from different TCN regions nationwide, to ensure expedited repair works.

She explained that bulk power was quickly restored to Kebbi and its environs despite the enormity of the fire incident and its effect on the substation.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) hereby states that bulk power supply has been restored to Birnin Kebbi and its environs through the Birnin Kebbi Transmission Substation, yesterday 29th September, 2023 at about 11.33 am, she said.

She noted that the team of engineers who also conveyed the needed material from the regional stores to Birnin Kebbi Substation worked tirelessly round the clock to restore supply through the 150 MVA and 60 MVA transformers unaffected by the fire incident.

Supply was first restored to Sokoto State through the 132kV Kaduna-Zaria-Funtua-Gusau-TalataMafara line on the 15th of September 2023 and yesterday, power supply has also been restored to the Birnin Kebbi town and environs, she added.

Presently, she said, work is ongoing to equally connect the 132kV Birnin Kebbi  Sokoto line that will enable TCN to transmit additional bulk electricity to Sokoto State and its environs.

It is with a great sense of responsibility that we once again express our deepest appreciation to the government and electricity customers in Kebbi State and environs as well as the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, for their understanding and patience during the period.

We also thank all stakeholders for their understanding, support, and prayers throughout the very challenging period, she said.

We remain committed to pursuing the network expansion projects and will continue to work hard to ensure the continued improvement of the nations transmission grid, she assured.

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Nigerias leading investigative news platform, PREMIUM TIMES, has won the 2023 Lagos State Governors Award and commendation for gender-sensitive reportage.

The award was presented at the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agencys Governor Award and Commendation Dinner. The event was held on Friday at the Whitestone Event Centre, Ikeja Lagos.

The Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency is the statutory agency providing holistic response to sexual and gender-based violence in the state.

The ceremony was hosted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to recognise and commend stakeholders who have contributed significantly to the fight against sexual and gender-based violence in Lagos State.

The award recognised the newspapers commitment towards gender-sensitive reportage and gender-based violence in Lagos State.

The award was presented by the Secretary to the State Government, Bimbo Salu-Hudeyin, alongside the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, DSVA, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi.

The award was received on behalf of PREMIUM TIMES by Jayne Augoye, the head of the newspapers arts, culture and entertainment desk.

This celebration of excellence didnt stop with PREMIUM TIMES. Other recipients include The Guardian Newspaper, The Nation Newspaper, and the Nigerian Television Authority, all recognised for their contributions to the same cause.

The event was attended by Lagos States First Lady, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu; the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa; Lagos Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro.

The ceremony also attracted commissioners, Lagos State lawmakers, members of the Ministry of Justice, traditional leaders, and local government chairmen.

The event was held to commemorate the domestic and sexual violence awareness month.

Remarks

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Pedro commended the awardees and the agency for their efforts towards the fight against domestic and sexual violence in the state.

He said, Since the inception of the domestic and sexual violence team, which metamorphosed and climatised to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, a statutory body established in September 2021.  It is on Us initiative is designed to raise awareness of sexual and gender-based violence to all its looks and crannies of the state.

He descibed domestic and social violence as a pattern of behaviour perpetrators use in exercising power and control over their victims.

He said this behaviour affects women across all social and economic backgrounds.

The official added sexual/gender violence includes a range of behaviour such as physical violence, for example, hitting, choking and bullying; sexual violence, for example, rape, penetration, and unwanted touching; emotional abuse, also known as psychological abuse.

This realisation, he added, compelled the Governor Sanwo-Olus administration to declare zero tolerance for all sexual and gender-based violence.

Mr Pedro also commended all the awardees, adding, however that the fight against domestic violence is not yet over until the menace is eradicated from society.

Talking numbers

Also speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the agency, Mrs Vivour-Adeniyi, commended the state government and the House of Assembly for their continuous support for the agency.

She said, Available statistics showed that from September 2021 to July 2023, the agency received 10,484 cases of SGBV via the Virtual Referral and Response Service (VRRS) and Physical report. Out of these cases, domestic violence accounts for 4,360 cases.

As a mark of improvement in its operations, DSVA received more reported cases of SGBV between August 1, 2022, and July 2023, which were higher than between September 2021 and July 2022. While 5,624 cases were reported last year, 4860 were reported in the previous year.

In the last year, the DSVA handled 5,624 cases, of which 2,331 were domestic violence cases, 90 rape cases, 72 sexual assault cases and two sexual assault by penetration cases.

Others are one attempt to commit rape, 123 threat to life, 609 separation, failure to take responsibility for children, neglect, child abduction, child labour and custody cases; 384 non-GBV (tenancy disputes, assault simplicity etc.); 143 child abuse/physical assault, 235 defilement cases, three defilement/molestation by minor to minor and 33 sexual harassment/molestation cases.

According to Mrs Vivour-Adeniyi, 1,598 children have experienced emotional abuse (i.e. these children have been exposed to domestic violence within the home); 40% of these children have been taken through counselling programmes to ensure they could psychologically deal with the events they had witnessed without it having a permanent and negative impact on them.

In fighting domestic and sexual violence, Ms Vivour-Adeniyi said the Office of the Public Defender, as well as the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP), provided free legal representation to survivors of domestic violence, judicial separation, divorce, maintenance, custody of children and settlement.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the secretary of the state government, Mrs Salu-Hudeyin, commended the agency and assured them of the unwavering support of the state government.

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President Bola Tinubu has restated his administrations commitment to eliminating poverty, terrorism and all forms of criminality in Nigeria.

He said the administration is currently implementing programmes and policies that would empower Nigerians to combat the challenges of poverty, criminality and terrorism.

President Tinubu stated this on Saturday during the passing-out parade of Cadets of the 70 Regular Course, Direct Short Service Course 27 (Army) and Direct Short Service Course 31 (Air Force) of the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna.

The presidents address titled, The Heroes of Nigerias Path to Prosperity and Security, was read by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented him at the event.

He said, Every day, every minute, we are reminded of the consequences of economic and social disintegration around us. This is why we favour cooperation and the formation of bilateral and multilateral alliances to create opportunities for our people.

We are implementing programmes and policies to empower our citizens to combat the challenges of poverty, criminality, and terrorism. From preparing for the food security crisis triggered by the Russian-Ukrainian war, to responding to banditry attacks on farmers, natural flood disasters, and the repercussions of military coups, this administration has remained vigilant in devising solutions to mitigate their impact and enhance national security.

As part of moves to deal decisively with the criminal elements, President Tinubu noted that his government has embarked on a new era in the countrys national defence and security strategy.

This, he said, would be driven by a resolute commitment to confront the substantial threats and challenges that confront the West African sub-region.

I have directed all heads of defence and security institutions to unite in their efforts to protect our nations integrity and well-being, and as Chairman of the ECOWAS, we are diligently working to enhance our regional conflict management and development mechanisms. To forge a path towards greater peace, stability, and progress across West Africa and beyond is not negotiable, he added.

The president noted, however, that in tackling poverty inflicted on Nigerians by activities of the terror groups, he would treat every region equally and give them a sense of belonging in his government.

He stated: Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, justice is the mainstay of prosperity, and so we are going to be fair to each region. Whether in tackling the secessionist elements disrupting the peace and economic activities of the good people of the South-east or doubling up our efforts in winning the counter-insurgency in the North-east, and whether in pursuing normalcy in the North-west or in making the farmer-herder crises a thing of the past in the North-central, every group will be treated as equal and given a sense of belonging in our government.

While I acknowledge that we have made bold decisions to bolster our economy, even as some developed economies face the threat of recession, our commitment remains resolute. We are intensifying our efforts to implement tangible measures that will alleviate the hardships caused by the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of exchange rates.

Our immediate actions, such as reducing taxes on strategic manufacturing industries, distributing grains from the national reserve to vulnerable demographics, providing fertilizer and farm inputs, and extending soft loans to small and medium-scale industries, all serve as a clear message to our nation.

We stand firmly with our citizens, determined to guide our country towards a path of accelerated economic growth and opportunities, where no one lives on handouts.

The president further said he was proud of the devotion and dignity with which the NDA and its alumni have safeguarded Nigeria, noting that the passing-out parade was not just a ceremony to honour the transition of the graduants to a more active phase of duty to their fatherland.

According to him, the ceremony stands as a symbol of our enduring commitment to the ideals of patriotism and investment in our human capital.

I am, therefore, delighted to witness the passing-out parade of the Cadets of the 70 Regular Course, Direct Short Service Course 27 (Army), and Direct Short Service Course 31 (Air Force), he added.

President Tinubu continued: Our solemn commitment to safeguarding Nigerias security hinges upon a crucial realisation: without vigilant attention to the very foundations and individuals who fortify order and stability, this promise remains unattainable. It is here, at the Nigerian Defence Academy, that this promise crystallises into action.

In a world characterised by swift advancements and transformative technologies, our mission is clear: we strive to nurture not just ordinary defenders but paragons of excellence, both among men and women, who serve as vigilant protectors of our cherished nation.

Since 1964, this institution has moulded the character, physique, and intellect of valiant officers and academic specialists beyond the shores of this country. Year after year, this Academy attracts the most ambitious among us to train them and reintegrates them into society.

Year after year, we reaffirm that sound education is the ultimate security strategy, and our resilient Armed Forces are proof of this. This prized legacy, thankfully, is one to which we are not the only testifiers. Theres an international consensus on the quality of this Academy, an institution that has given a sense of purpose to alumni from as far as Zimbabwe, Uganda, Togo, Sierra Leone, Niger, Central African Republic, Chad, and Burkina Faso.

Addressing the graduating Cadets, President Tinubu pointed out that like those before them, they were stepping into a world fraught with threats, a world that demands unique skill-sets to conquer the adversaries of the state.

They are going to find themselves in a dynamic landscape, one marked by combat and regimental realities vastly different from those encountered by their predecessors.

The president further asked the authorities of the NDA to access the support it requires to invest in scientific research and technological innovations, as well as develop prototypes and concepts that align with local content policies of the federal government.

He noted: The future of our great country doesnt only rest upon the valour of these young patriots but also the curricula with which our warriors and scholars are formed.

If we must take the centre stage in protecting our people, this Academy must access the support it requires to invest in scientific research and technological innovations and develop prototypes and concepts that align with the federal governments local content policies.

This esteemed institution was founded to lead the way and boasts research centres dedicated to exploring scientific inquiries and translating the grandest ideas and theories into reality. Now is the time for us to be the model for the continent.

Welcoming the young cadets as they join the ranks of the nations patriotic heroes, President Tinubu congratulated the Commandant and the entire NDA community for upholding their noble tradition.

Earlier, the Commandant, Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), John O. Ochai, a major general, expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for his unwavering commitment and support to the academy towards the realisation of the noble dreams of its founding fathers.

He applauded the personnel and staff of the academy for their unwavering efforts in discharging their duties, as well as the graduating cadets for their tireless efforts throughout their training.

The commandant reminded the graduating cadets that the training they have undergone in the academy would enable them to take leadership responsibilities and positions as military officers of Nigeria.

The event witnessed parades, march past, presentation of prizes to best graduating cadets, conferment of commission, presentation of parchment of commission as well as administering of the oath of allegiance.

The passing-out parade was well attended by eminent dignitaries, including Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume; Governors Uba Sani of Kaduna State and Kefas Agbu of Taraba State; Deputy Governor of Borno State, Umar Kadafur; Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, and Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.

Others are Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Emmanuel Ogalla; Chief of Air Staff, Hassan Abubakar, among others.

Stanley Nkwocha

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications

(Office of the Vice President)

30th September, 2023

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As part of activities to mark the 63rd Independence Anniversary of the nation, President Bola Tinubu will make a nationwide broadcast on Sunday, 1 October, at 7 a.m.

A statement by the presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, on Saturday in Abuja said television, radio stations and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority and Radio Nigeria for the broadcast.

It is the first independence anniversary broadcast by President Tinubu who assumed office as Nigerian leader on 29 May.

The broadcast is one of the activities lined up to mark the 63rd independence of Nigeria from Britain on 1 October, 1960.

President Tinubu, on Friday night, returned to Nigeria from New York, United States where he addressed the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Other activities to mark the anniversary as unveiled recently by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, include -anniversary symposium/public lecture, jumaat prayer at the National Mosque, Abuja, inter-denominational church service at National Christian Centre, Abuja and a military Parade at the Presidential Villa.

According to Mr Akume, the celebration of the anniversary with the theme Nigeria @ 63, Renewed Hope for Unity & Prosperity would be low key.

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The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital on Saturday upheld the victory of Agbu Kefas, the governor of the state.

Mr Kefas was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

His victory was challenged by the first runner-up, Sani Yahaya, and his party, the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP).

The three-member panel led by G.A Sunmonu declared that the NNPP and its candidate could not prove their claim that the election result was manipulated by the first respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in favour of Kefas.

The NNPP and Mr Yahaya alleged that there were massive irregularities and manipulation of results in favour of Mr Kefas in some local governments.

They claim that Mr Kefas did not score the highest number of valid votes cast in the election and ought not to have been returned the winner of the election.

The tribunal chairperson and the other two members, in the judgement which was read for about three hours, held that the petitioners failed to prove that the election was characterised by corrupt practices.

Mr Sunmonu said the petitioners failed to justify the relief sought, adding that they failed to prove to the claim that the governor was not duly elected.

The panel said the petition lacks merits and said the allegations of the petitions are not backed with relevant evidence, hence their decision to dismiss it.

The deputy governor of the state, Aminu Alkali, who was present in the court, lauded the judgement, describing it as a win for democracy and called on Mr Yahaya to join hands with the PDP in moving the state forward.

Also speaking, the counsel to PDP, Sam Ada commended the panel for dismissing the petition for alleged lack of merit.

Mr Ada was also optimistic that the petition, if taken to the appeal court, will also be dismissed.

The counsels to the petitioners could not be reached at the time of filing this report, as they left the tribunal premises immediately after the judgement.

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The ex-Governor of Kaduna State, Ramalan Yero, has officially left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A PDP chieftain who is also an aide to the ex-governor confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday.

I can confirm to you that the former governor has left the PDP today, September 30. But he did not announce his next point of call. It shall be known soon.

Mr Yero stated his resignation in a letter dated 30 September addressed to the chairman of the PDP in his home ward, Kaura in Zaria Local Government.

The letter titled Resignation letter reads, With grateful to Almighty Allah, I write to extend my sincere greetings and to formally inform you of my decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP).

In view of this, I hereby tender my resignation as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party with effect from 30th September, 2023. Enclosed herewith, is my party membership card dully returned.

Mr Yero, served as deputy governor to late Patrick Yakowa and later became the governor on 15 December, 2012.

He was defeated by Nasir El-Rufai of the APC in 2015.

Mr Yero also contested the PDP gubernatorial primaries in 2019, and 2023 and was defeated on both occasions by Isah Ashiru.

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Twenty-five members of Christ Apostolic Church in Oke Igan, Akure, were on Friday afternoon kidnapped when their vehicle was ambushed by gunmen on the Akure-Benin expressway.

The incident occurred at Elegbeka while the group was on its way to Ifon in the Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The victims, mostly members of the churchs choir, were going for the funeral ceremony of the father of their organist when their bus ran into the ambush at about 3 p.m.

The expressway has become notorious for kidnap attacks as its many failed portions make it easy for kidnappers to ambush the roads users.

Those who were kidnapped yesterday evening are my church members from CAC Oke-gan, Akure, a member of the church told journalists in Akure on Saturday

They were on their way to Ifon to attend the burial ceremony of the father of the principal organist.

The church member said the gunmen walked the victims into the forest after forcing them down from their bus.

The police spokesperson in Ondo, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, confirmed the incident.

Some of them have been rescued, she said, adding that efforts were underway to rescue the others.

READ ALSO: Gunmen release kidnapped Catholic priest

In 2020, suspected kidnappers shot dead the traditional ruler of Ifon, the same destination as the current victims, the Olufon of Ifon, Israel Adeusi, also at Elegbeka.

The traditional ruler, who was returning to Ifon from Akure after a meeting, ran into kidnappers who had barricaded the expressway.

It was gathered that his driver attempted to avoid the kidnappers but they shot at his vehicle.

The incident was blamed on the poor state of the road, leading to repair works on the failed portions.

However, many portions of the road have again failed, with kidnappers and robbers exploiting the situation to add to the woes of road users.

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Yu Xiuying paints a wooden fan at the workshop of the Jiangxi Shenglian Fan Development Company Limited in Ganzhu Township in Guangchang County, east China's Jiangxi Province, on Sept. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhu Yunuo)

NANCHANG, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- In a wooden fan workshop in Jiangxi Province, east China, Yu Xiuying is busier than usual. As she paints, delicate flowers bloom into life across the fan.

"Now I decorate at least 120 fans a day," said the artist, who has 14 years of fan painting under her belt. As the market recovers, orders for handicraft wooden fans have increased, she added.

The fans Yu painted in Ganzhu Township in Guangchang County will be exported to Spain. The obscure small town boasts a flourishing handicraft fan industry, with an annual output of over 70 million fans and an output value of over 300 million yuan (about 41.78 million U.S. dollars). More than 5,000 of the town's 28,000 population work in the industry.

The town's fan-fame dates to the early 1980s. When selling cedarwood oil in Suzhou City in Jiangsu, Liu Bingzhao from Ganzhu noticed that from the streets to alleys, from parks to scenic spots, locals always carried a sandalwood fan with them.

Moreover, fans could be spotted in nearby coastal areas. Liu and his peers acted; they visited a local factory to learn to process fans.

In 1984, they returned to open businesses. "We brought technicians and equipment back to Ganzhu Township, and raised nearly 20,000 yuan to set up a processing plant," said Liu.

As the plan took off, more specialists were trained and the products gained popularity in cities including Suzhou, Beijing, and Guangzhou. In 2003, Liu and others registered the Jiangxi Shenglian Fan Development Company Limited, of which the annual output value at its peak exceeded 30 million yuan.

The high-quality and exquisite fans have attracted European buyers, with Spain as a hub.

"At the end of each year, Spanish merchants book orders for the coming year. The fans are exported to Spain through agents in Yiwu City (China's small-commodity hub), and then distributed all over Europe by Spanish merchants," Liu said, adding that Spanish wooden fans have become the main products of his enterprise, with an annual order volume of over 1 million fans.

The success fanned a craze in the town, and locals flocked to the industry. Today, there are more than 200 fan enterprises and mini-workshops.

"I don't have much space here, but I sell more than 400,000 Spanish wooden fans a year, with an annual output of over 2 million yuan," said Luo Shuiwen from Luojia Village in Ganzhu Township, who established a workshop in 2019. The over 100-square-meter space is equipped with all the essentials such as stamping and cutting machines, and fans flow smoothly along the production line consisting of more than 20 procedures.

The growing production scale has been boosted by the adoption of advanced technology. Wang Honglu, who also owns a fan company, said that he uses UV flatbed printers. "The four machines are capable of painting more than 4,000 wooden fans a day, which has greatly improved production efficiency and met the new demands of the Spanish market for mass production of standardized products."

In July, the construction of a fan industrial park in Ganzhu Township began to facilitate the industry to enlarge its scale, be more standardized, and establish its brands.

"The planned park covers an area of 110 mu (about 7.3 hectares) with an investment of 2 billion yuan, and the part under construction covers more than 30,000 square meters and is expected to be completed in July next year," said Jie Xiaomao, an official with Ganzhu Township.

After the park is completed, the government will take the lead in developing industrial norms, integrating scattered family workshops and enterprises, and establishing a complete industrial chain to optimize the industrial environment, said Jie. 

This photo taken on Sept. 12, 2023 shows packaged wooden fans to be exported to Spain at the Jiangxi Shenglian Fan Development Company Limited in Ganzhu Township in Guangchang County, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhu Yunuo)

This photo taken on Sept. 12, 2023 shows wooden fans processed by UV flatbed printers at a fan company in Ganzhu Township in Guangchang County, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhu Yunuo)

This aerial photo taken on Sept. 12, 2023 shows the construction site of a fan industrial park in Ganzhu Township in Guangchang County, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhu Yunuo)
BEIJING, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 29, with the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival, China Media Group (CMG) hosted a Mid-Autumn Gala that brought together Chinese people from across the world to celebrate and pay homage to the moon, fostering a sense of unity during this festive season.

The gala featured a variety of tender and heartwarming programs, infusing the atmosphere with a warm familial embrace. By presenting the perspectives of ordinary people, the event closely reflected the everyday lives of the audience.

The program "Time of Childhood" portrayed the simple and delightful experiences of childhood, highlighting the beauty in its simplicity.

Meanwhile, the program "Father" explored the universal bond of deep love that parents around the world share with their children.

This year, netizens were invited to share a photo with their fathers and tag it with the hashtag "Bring my Dad to CMG's 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival Gala." These photos would then get a chance to appear on the stage screen.

Since its inception, the initiative has garnered nearly 10 million views. Numerous netizens have enthusiastically shared heartwarming photos, expressing their deep emotions and love for their fathers.

Cultural elements incorporated in the gala

This year's gala revolved around five literary elements, containing poetry, wine, the moon, water and bamboo, all of which are the most common forms of cultural imagery found in ancient Chinese poems.

In ancient Chinese history, poetry held the highest literary regard. Beyond concise language and melodic rhythms, imagery, known as yixiang, served as a crucial and artistic tool for conveying intricate emotions.

Rather than directly expressing their feelings, most ancient poets skillfully wove hidden emotions and profound meanings into tangible objects and objective scenes through artistic observation and traditional literary perspectives.

For instance, wine in Chinese culture often symbolizes gatherings, celebrations and toasts. It transcends being merely a beverage, embodying the act of forging connections and reveling with friends and family.

Meanwhile, the moon serves as a recurring motif in Chinese literature and culture, embodying notions like reunion, change, the passage of time and nostalgia.

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the renowned poet Zhang Jiuling penned verses like, "As the bright moon shines over the sea, from far away you share this moment with me." These lines reflect the deep homesickness felt by the poet.

The gala presented programs highlighting the five enduring cultural symbols deeply rooted in Chinese history, offering a glimpse into the ancient civilization along the Yangtze River.

A song, "Asking the moon with a wine cup in hand," reflected the wine culture in Chinese history. Another song, "Bright Light," incorporated lyrics from the celebrated litterateur Su Shi of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), conveying themes centered on the resilience and unyielding spirit of the Chinese people.

Symbolic meaning of love and reunion

The gala took place in Yibin City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The main stage was set up in the Yangtze River Park, at the point where the Jinsha River and Minjiang River converge to form the mighty Yangtze River.

Yibin City, renowned as "The First City on the Yangtze River," boasts a rich history of city construction spanning over 2,200 years, more than 3,000 years of tea cultivation heritage and a brewing tradition that stretches back more than 4,000 years.

"Yibin is my ancestral home. Although this is my first time in Lizhuang, I feel a strong sense of familiarity," said Qin Hao, a performer at the gala.

"In Chinese culture, certain images hold universal significance. Symbols like the moon resonate deeply with Chinese people across generations," he said.

The Mid-Autumn Festival holds a special place in the hearts of the Chinese people. Throughout history, this festival has been intertwined with Chinese mythology, folklore and poetry, enriching its cultural significance.

This festival is not just about celebrating the moon; it's also a moment when people express their deepest emotions to their loved ones. It's a time for love, gratitude and cherishing the enduring bonds of family.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-09-29/CMG-2023-Mid-Autumn-Festival-Gala-Family-bonds-shine-under-full-moon-1nuIYjtQRGM/index.html

SOURCE CGTN
HOUSTON, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly a third of students with disabilities do not graduate from high school. A truly staggering number when you consider that over 3 million children have a disability according to the recent census. But with the right resources, a diagnosis is no longer sealing children's futures, just ask Allan Brizuela, a client turned invaluable team member at Easter Seals Greater Houston (ESGH).

Interns and Easter Seals Greater Houston Staff at the Internship Celebration Luncheon

In 2015, Allan began participating in Easter Seals Greater Houston's High School High Tech (HSHT) and Ready to Achieve Mentoring Program (RAMP). These programs offer learning experiences to students with disabilities that encourage career exploration and broaden educational horizons. Typically, only 70.6% of students with disabilities graduate from high school, but when enrolled in our HSHT that success rate jumps to 99%. HSHT and RAMP students develop social skills, self-confidence, and work readiness skills through resume training, mentorship, mock interviews, and internships. Over the years, Allan also traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in RAMP Conferences and participated in the Youth Employment Policy Convening, helping to create a youth employment policy framework.

After graduating, Allan began volunteering as a Junior Mentor at his alma mater where he helped guide students through the RAMP program. He was also very interested in gaining work experience and was hired for a summer internship in the nonprofit's Human Resources Department. Allan put his RAMP and HSHT skills to work and proved to be an excellent intern. Everyone, especially his former RAMP Coordinator, was so excited and proud when he accepted a permanent position and officially joined the ESGH team as part of the Respite Program.

This year, with training and support from Allan, his fellow mentors, and HSHT/RAMP staff, 14 students with all types of disabilities were interviewed and hired as interns. These young adults gained crucial work experience at Catholic Charities, Clear Creek ISD Technology Learning Center, CVS, Distinct Abilities Academy, Happy Faces Pet Ranch, Meals on Wheels Conroe, and Red Oak Cafe. The businesses that hosted the interns gave them an opportunity to test and grow their skills. In return, they got 14 incredibly hard workers who just needed a chance to prove themselves. At the Internship Celebration Luncheon, one manager said he learned about himself as a supervisor and his preconceived ideas about people with disabilities, and said the experience "gave him tools for his toolbox." Another manager talked about how her intern "came to work early every day with a smile on her face; no job was too big or too small - what a great example she was to everyone."

These interns' lives are forever changed. ESGH's crucial programs for teens and young adults are keeping them in school, showing them a path to independence, and building their confidence and skillset so they can reach the height of their potential. HSHT and RAMP also create an environment for business leaders to see the potential of inclusive hiring. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Take a moment to consider how your workplace could mutually benefit from diversifying your hiring practices. Please contact our HSHT and RAMP Director, Kristie Carlisle, at [email protected] or 713.838.9050 ext. 363 to learn more about hiring and internship opportunities. Together, we can empower people with disabilities to be full and equal participants in the workforce.

About Easter Seals Greater Houston

As a lead affiliate in our national network of 69 affiliates in 48 states, Easter Seals Greater Houston impacts people where they need us most  school, work, home, and in the community  from the critical first five years of life onward. Each year we directly serve over 14,500 people, providing early childhood and therapy services, mental health, employment programs, adult day programs, Military and Veterans' services, and more.

For children and adults with disabilities, for veterans and service members, for seniors, and for families and caregivers through Harris and 16 surrounding counties, ESGH is leading the way to full equity and inclusion through life changing disability and community services. With the help of our community, we are reducing poverty and addressing financial stability; improving healthcare and employment, and empowering people of all ages and abilities to be full and equal participants in our community. ESGH operates: Early Childhood Intervention; Respite Services; Toy/Tech & Play Groups, BridgingApps (bridgingapps.org); High School/High Tech; Financial Education and Down Payment Assistance; Children's Therapy Services; The Caroline School, Camps, Case Management, Employment/Transition Services; Adult Recreation, and Military/Veterans Services. For more information about ESGH, visit www.eastersealshouston.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

SOURCE Easter Seals Greater Houston
NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Medical Properties Trust, Inc. ("MPW" or the "Company") (NYSE: MPW) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and docketed under 23-cv-08597, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired

If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Archer securities during the Class Period, you have until November 28, 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 [email protected] 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]

MPW is a self-advised real estate investment trust that was formed to acquire and develop net-leased healthcare facilities. MPW's financing model purportedly facilitates acquisitions and recapitalizations and allows operators of hospitals to unlock the value of their real estate assets to fund facility improvements, technology upgrades, and other investments in operations.

On May 23, 2023, MPW issued a press release announcing that it had entered into a recapitalization transaction (the "Recap Transaction") with Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. ("Prospect"), a health care management services organization. Pursuant to the Recap Transaction, in relevant part, MPW would take an equity stake in Prospect's managed care business, PHP Holdings, LLC ("PHP"), in lieu of a cash payment of outstanding loans and accrued but unpaid rent and interest owed by Prospect to MPW.

As a result of PHP's involvement in the deal, the Recap Transaction was subject to regulatory approval by the Department of Managed Health Care of the Health and Human Services Agency of the State of California ("DMHC"), the regulatory body responsible for governing managed health care plans in California. On July 20, 2023, the DMHC issued an order (the "DMHC Order") putting the Recap Transaction on hold in order to obtain further information from the Company. Despite the foregoing, MPW elected not to disclose the DMHC Order to MPW shareholders when the Company reported its Q2 2023 results on August 8, 2023 or in its quarterly report filed with the SEC on August 9, 2023. Instead, MPW continued to tout the benefits of the Recap Transaction by stating that the deal had boosted the Company's revenue

The truth regarding the Recap Transaction's approval status was revealed on August 18, 2023 when the Wall Street Journal ("WSJ") published an article entitled "Cracks Deepen for America's Biggest Hospital Landlord: Struggling Tenants, a Bailout on Hold" (the "WSJ Article"). The WSJ, which had obtained a copy of the DMHC Order and other documents from the DMHC under California's Public Records Act, discussed the DMHC's decision to halt the Recap Transaction and the negative impact MPW and Prospect could each experience if the deal is permanently rejected.

That same day, MPW issued a press release responding to the WSJ Article, in which the Company downplayed the DMHC Order as a "standard, expected, and non-controversial part of the approval process for [the Recap Transaction]" and attempted to excuse the Company's non-disclosure of the DMHC Order to shareholders by stating that the "DMHC's request was deemed immaterial to [MPW's] financials and thus did not require disclosure."

Despite MPW's attempts to reassure investors, following publication of the WSJ Article, MPW's stock price fell $0.57 per share, or 7.6%, to close at $6.93 per share on August 18, 2023.

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the Recap Transaction was subject to regulatory approval and had in fact been placed on hold by the DMHC; (ii) accordingly, MPW had misrepresented the regulatory process for the Recap Transaction's approval; (iii) as a result of the foregoing, MPW overstated the approval prospects and benefits of the Recap Transaction; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements regarding the Recap Transaction were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On August 18, 2023, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Cracks Deepen for America's Biggest Hospital Landlord: Struggling Tenants, a Bailout on Hold".

That same day, MPW issued a press release responding to the WSJ Article, in which the Company downplayed the DMHC Order as a "standard, expected, and non-controversial part of the approval process for [the Recap Transaction]" and attempted to excuse the Company's non-disclosure of the DMHC Order to shareholders by stating that the "DMHC's request was deemed immaterial to [MPW's] financials and thus did not require disclosure."

Despite MPW's attempts to reassure investors, following publication of the WSJ Article, MPW's stock price fell $0.57 per share, or 7.6%, to close at $6.93 per share on August 18, 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 www.pomlaw.com.

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NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces it is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of China Evergrande Group (OTC: EGRNF, EGRNY) resulting from allegations that China Evergrande may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

SO WHAT: If you purchased China Evergrande securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=2513 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On September 18, 2021, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "How Beijing's Debt Clampdown Shook the Foundation of a Real-Estate Colossus: China Evergrande's looming collapse and its ripple effect on the economy will pose a test for the government's campaign to keep housing affordable for the masses" which stated, among other things, that "[t]he party has ended. Years of aggressive borrowing have collided with Beijing's crackdown on debt, leaving [China Evergrande] on the brink of collapse."

On this news, EGRNF fell around $0.08 per share, or 18%, on the next trading day, September 20, 2021, on unusually heavy trading volume, damaging investors.

Then, on September 28, 2023, Reuters published an article entitled "Evergrande says chairman under investigation over suspected 'illegal crimes'", which reported how trading in China Evergrande had been suspended after a report that its chairman had been placed under police watch. On this news, trading in China Evergrande's shares was halted indefinitely.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

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Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:

Laurence Rosen, Esq.

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The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

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SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A.
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Seoul, Sep 30 : The number of apparent heat-related deaths in South Korea nearly quadrupled on-year in 2023 as the country was struck by an unusual heat wave, the disease control agency said on Saturday.

A total of 32 people were presumed to have died of heat-related illness this year as of Friday, compared with nine a year earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

This year's figure is the largest since 2018, when the country reported 48 heat-related deaths, reports Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea began compiling the related data in 2011.

The country had been gripped by sweltering weather this summer, with the average national temperature from June through August coming to 24.7 degrees Celsius, the fourth-highest level ever, according to the weather agency.

Those aged 65 and older accounted for 29.5 per cent of all patients suffering heat-related illnesses this year, followed by those in their 50s with 21.3 per cent, the data showed.

Health authorities have operated an enhanced heat-related illness monitoring system since May 20, which is to end on Saturday.
Another Manipur gang-rape horror comes to light after over 100 days. Image Source: IANS News

Patna, Sep 30 : A 14-year-old girl was gang raped by six men in a village on the outskirts of Patna, police said, adding that three of the accused have been arrested.

According to the police, the incident took place on Thursday night when the girl stepped out of the house to attend to nature's call.

She was first kidnapped by an inebriated youth, who later called five of his friends.

The accused then took her to a nearby agricultural field where they raped her.

The police said the six fled the spot after the girl became unconscious.

Her family members found her abandoned in the field on Friday morning after searching for her overnight.

After the police was informed, a team headed by ASP Barh Bharat Soni raided the houses of the accused and arrested Bittu Kumar, Ravi Kumar and Suraj Kumar.

The other three are still absconding.

aWe have arrested three accused in connection to the case and booked under the POCSO Act. We are raiding several locations to arrest the remaining accused," said Syed Imran Masood, SP Patna (rural).
TOKYO, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government plans to ask the Tokyo District Court to order the dissolution of Unification Church, a controversial religious group, according to local media reports.

The move followed a months-long probe by the Cultural Affairs Agency into the group over allegations of soliciting financially ruinous donations from members and other questionable practices, the national news agency Kyodo reported on Saturday, citing a government source.

Last year, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered the investigation into the Unification Church amid opposition pressure and slumping support for his cabinet.

Meanwhile, concern has been rife among opposition parties and the public that the controversial group may have been trying to influence politics here through links with lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The culture ministry plans to formally decide on the move after consulting with a related council as early as Oct. 12 before asking the Tokyo District Court to issue an order to dissolve the group under the religious corporation law.

If dissolved, the Unification Church would lose its status as a religious corporation in Japan and be deprived of tax benefits, although it could still operate as an entity, according to Kyodo.

The Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has long been criticized for encouraging its followers to make exorbitant donations in the form of "spiritual sales" in return for "karmic benefits."

It also witnessed intensified scrutiny after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot during an election campaign speech last year over his perceived links to the group.

The assailant, Tetsuya Yamagami, allegedly held a grudge against the group for financially ruining his family by soliciting huge amounts of money in donations from his mother and claimed this factored into his reason for assassinating Abe. 
Bengaluru, Sep 30 : Shivaji Rao Jadhav, a Hindu activist from Karnataka's Davanagere district, has been arrested for sending threat letters to more than 15 progressive Kannada authors and thinkers, police said on Saturday.

Jadhav was arrested in the district by sleuths of the City Central Crime Branch (CCB).

The accused had been writing the threat letters since the past two years, leading to the targeted authors meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on multiple occasions while demanding for swift action.

In the letters, Jadhav threatened the victims, including K. Veerabhadrappa, B.L. Venu, Banjagere Jayaprakash, B.T. Lalita Naik, Vasundhara Bhupathi, for going against Hindutva, saying that they should count their last days.

The case was handed over to the Special Wing CCB and experts of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) had found that all letters were written by the same person but posted from different districts and taluks.

As a result of the letters, state Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara had directed the police to provide suitable security to the authors.

While confessing to his crime, Jadhav claimed that he threatened the authors and thinkers due to their anti-Hindu stand.

The police produced him before the court and took him to 10 days of custody for interrogation.

The development was taken seriously after the murders of journalist Gauri Lankesh and activist - writer Prof. M.M. Kalburgi in Karnataka.
San Francisco, Sep 30 : US-based Vattikuti Foundation has partnered with Belgium-based Orsi Academy to host its annual robotic surgery symposium in Belgium from October 6-8, to be attended by over 100 eminent surgeons from 40 countries, including several talented surgeons from India.

The symposium in in historic city Ghent will feature urologist Peter Wiklund of Mount Sinai Hospital, US; Dr Rajesh K Ahlawat, Medanta The Medicity; Dr Rajeev Kumar, AIIMS; and Profofessor Francesco Porpiglia of San Luigi Gonzaga Hospital, Italy.

The Vattikuti Foundation has chosen several young surgeons and fellows to present their surgical innovations at the symposium. They include Dr Karandeep Guleria, Max Super Specialty Hospital; Dr Jayanth Hulagi, Narayana Health System; Dr Kushal Agarwal, Aster Hospital, and Dr Aditya Kulkarni, Ruby Hall Clinic.

The surgeons practicing Robotic surgery in non-metro Indian cities presenting at the conference include Dr Priyadarshi Ranjan, Meliora Kidney Institute, Kharar, Punjab and Dr Subhash Khanna, Swagat Super Specialty Surgical Hospital, Guwahati, the foundation said in a statement.

They will focus on evidence-based procedures in the ever-growing field of robotic surgery.

"In keeping with the focus on innovation, the symposium will open with a session on 'Why and how of surgical innovation' by Dr Sherry M Wren, Vice Chair and Professor of Surgery, Stanford University," said Dr Mahendra Bhandari, CEO, Vattikuti Foundation.

It will be followed by a presentation on 'State of the art surgical simulation' by Dr Ahmed Ghazi, Director of Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery, John's Hopkins University,' added Bhandari, also Director Robotic Research and Education, Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan.

The sessions will be dedicated to deep-learning strategies for automatic 3D virtual models, augmented reality guidance and AI assistance and error understanding.

Raj Vattikuti, who founded Vattikuti Foundation in 1997 to evangelise minimally invasive robot assisted surgery and to prepare a pool of robotic surgeons, is set to kick-off the event and participate in the deliberations.
New Delhi, Sep 30 : A 12-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old boy of the same locality in Delhi, an official said on Saturday.

According to police, an information was received at Mayur Vihar police station on Wednesday regarding sexual assault of a minor girl from Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital.

"On receiving the call, woman police officer reached at LBS hospital where the father of the victimalleged that her daughter wasraped by a boy, who resides in the same village," said a senior police official.

"Subsequently a case under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and 6 POCSO Act was registered," said the official.

During the investigation, the crime team was called and a team was detailed to nab the accused. "The accused identified as Ibran, a resident of Chilla Village, who runs a tailor shop, was apprehended from Khoda in Uttar Pradesh," said the official.
Kolkata, Sep 30 : Union Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh has refused an appointment to a Trinamool Congress delegation next week.

The Trinamool Congress had sought a meeting with Giriraj Singh to discuss the issue of pending central dues to the West Bengal government under various centrally-sponsored schemes.

The Trinamool Congress had sought Singhas appointment on October 2 or October 3, the two days when the stateas ruling party will organise a protest at Jantar Mantar in the national Capital on the issue of pending central dues.

However, the Trinamoolas national general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee has informed that a communication has come from the office of Singh that since the Union Minister will not be at the national Capital during these two days, his meeting with the Trinamool Congress delegation will not be possible.

Banerjee said that the delegation will make an attempt to meet the Union Minister of State of the same department during that period.

Meanwhile, after being denied a special train for Trinamool Congress supporters to travel to New Delhi to participate at the demonstration at Jantar Mantar, the party leadership has arranged a number of buses for the supporters to reach the national Capital.

Abhishek Banerjee was supposed to be present at the Enforcement Directorateas (ED) Salt Lake office in Kolkata on October 3 for questioning in connection with the multi-crore cash-for-school-job case in West Bengal. However, on Friday, he said that he would not be going to the EDas office on that day because of his preoccupations with the partyas agitation programme at Jantar Mantar.
Guwahati, Sep 30 : The Assam government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) cash-for-job scam.

The Gauhati High Court was informed of the development by the Additional Attorney General for Assam, Nalin Kohli on Friday.

He told the high court that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had ordered the SIT to be established. T

The chairman of the committee is ADGP Munna Prasad Gupta and the other members are Guwahati Joint Commissioner of Police Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar, two officers of the DSP rank, and two inspectors.

Surjeet Singh Panesar, an APS officer who was in charge of the investigation, is no longer a member of the SIT.

The SIT has been instructed by the Gauhati High Court to submit a thorough report on the situation within the allotted six-month time period.

A committee was established by the Assam government in May of last year to determine what should be done in response to the inquiry report on the 2013 state civil service examinations that was submitted by Justice (Retired) Biplab Kr Sarma commission.

The Commission, which was established in accordance with the Gauhati High Court's instructions, turned up its findings on the irregularities in the civil service examinations conducted.

Although the report has not been made public, it is claimed that the commission's conclusions describe inconsistencies in several candidates' answer sheets who were proclaimed successful, purportedly in place of money.

The five-member panel was established by the state government to review the inquiry commission's report on irregularities in the examination.

Several successful candidates, including Assam Civil Service (ACS) and Assam Police Service (APS) personnel who appeared in the 2013 examination, were said to have engaged in wrongdoing in conjunction with the then APSC chairman Rakesh Paul, which led to the discovery of the cash-for-job scam in 2016.

Police arrested 60 serving ACS and APS officers and 39 officers were also dismissed when irregularities were found.

Paul, who was arrested in 2016, along with others, iscurrently out on bail.
New Delhi, Sep 30 : Cracking its whip against the top commanders of the CPI (Maoist), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a supplementary charge sheet against four accused in the Bihar case involving the brutal murder of a civilian, Naresh Singh Bhokta, by the top leaders of proscribed terrorist organisation.

In a statement, the anti-terror probe agency said that a supplementary charge sheet was filed against four accused in the NIA Special Court, Patna (Bihar) on Friday under relevant sections of IPC, Arms Act and UA(P)A.

The agency has named Ram Prasad Yadav, Abhijit Yadav aka Abhijit Ji, and Abhyash Bhuiya aka Prem Bhuiya, of Jharkhand, and Subedar Yadav of Bihar.

The official said that all of them are senior leaders of CPI (Maoist).

"Ram Prasad Yadav is a Sub-Zonal Commander, Abhijit Yadav andSubedar Yadavare Zonal Commanders, while Abhyash Bhuiya aka Prem Bhuiya is a Regional Commander of the banned organisation," the official said.

The official said that the NIA's probe has revealed that they had all attended the outfit's meeting of Zonal Commanders, SAC and RCM, convened by accused Pramod Mishra (then CCM), in the forest of Anjanwa. It was during this meeting that it was decided to eliminate the SPOs, including Bhokta.

"The accused then conspired to commit the abduction and murder of Bhokta to strike terror among the people and a section of the society by killing common people. The entire conspiracy was aimed at waging a war against the Government of India," the official said.

Probe established that Ram Prasad Yadav and Subedar Yadav were involved in recruiting members to CPI (Maoist) for committing terrorist acts. Abhijit Yadav was involved mainly in collecting funds for the expansion of CPI (Maoist) and Abhyash Bhuiya used to provide physical and armed training to the cadres of CPI (Maoist), the official said.

Bhokta was abducted and ruthlessly killed by the banned outfit's members and cadres in November 2018.

The NIA had taken over the case from the State Police and registered a case on June 24, 2022.

NIA's probe led to the arrest of nine persons and the agency had filed supplementary chargesheets earlier against four persons in February and June this year.

With the arrest of the accused, NIA had unearthed the involvement of top CPI (Maoist) commanders, including a Polit Bureau member namely Pramod Mishra, in the conspiracy to commit this brutal murder, aimed at spreading fear and terror while propagating the CPI (Maoist) anti-India ideology.

NIA has also recovered the weapons used in the attack and their forensic examination has been completed. The three vehicles used by the CPI (Maoist) cadres in the attack have also been recovered and seized.
New Delhi, Sep 30: A miffed Russia has expressed its concerns about "attempts by extra-regional players to become more active in the Afghan direction" during the fifth meeting of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan held in Kazan on Friday that was also attended by Amir Khan Mottaqi, the Acting head of the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry.

India's Ambassador to Moscow Pavan Kapoor and senior officials of Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended the meeting while representatives of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey were present as guests.

The 'Kazan Declaration' of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan released late Friday evening also mentioned the parties' concern on the difficult security situation in Afghanistan due to the intensification of the activities of terrorist groups, primarily ISIS.

The participating countries called on the current Afghan authorities to combat ISIS and urged them to take similar measures against all terrorist groups.

Most participating countries also emphasised their opposition to external support for terrorism in Afghanistan.

"We called on the current Afghan authorities to take effective measures to dismantle, eliminate and prevent the deployment of all types of terrorist groups based in Afghanistan and to prevent the emergence in the country of a hotbed of terrorism and instability in neighbouring countries of the region," the declaration stated.

Introduced in 2017, Russia reckons the format as the most effective mechanism for promoting external support for an Afghan settlement. Its main objective remains to facilitate the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan and secure peace in the country as soon as possible.

Last November, the fourth meeting of the Moscow format of consultations was held without any participation from the current Taliban regime in Kabul as the Kremlin was quite upset about no progress having been made to form an inclusive Afghan government reflecting the interests of all the ethno-political forces of the country.

On Friday, the participants once again "noted with regret" that despite the appointment of individual representatives of various Afghan nationalities to the Kabul administration, political pluralism is not much visible.

Meanwhile, in his address to the participants, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he "cannot help but note" that Moscow is concerned about attempts by extra-regional players to become more active in the Afghan direction.

He made it clear that a full-fledged unification of the efforts of the countries of the region with the member states of the NATO bloc is possible "only on the condition" that the latter fully acknowledge all responsibility for the "sad results" of their 20-year military presence in Afghanistan, which ended in a "complete fiasco".

Lavrov mentioned that Washington's blocking of Afghan banking holdings is "counterproductive" and only aggravates the situation, complicating the already difficult living conditions of ordinary Afghans.

"Under any circumstances, we consider the return of US and NATO military infrastructure to the territory of Afghanistan and its neighbouring states unacceptable, no matter what pretexts it is justified. We intend to be especially vigilant in this matter. We call on all partners in the Moscow format to do the same," he warned.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative

--IANS
Bengaluru, Sep 30 : Three ministers, religious seer, and progressive thinkers and actors have received life threatening letters in Karnataka by the anonymous person.

The three ministers have been identified as Minister for Health Dinesh Gundu Rao, Minister for RDPR, IT and BT Priyank Kharge and Minister for PWD Satish Jarkiholi. The life threatening letter was posted to the address of Nishkala Mantapa Ashram run by Nijagunananda Swamiji.

The letter also mentions the names of progressive thinkers S.G. Siddaramaiah, K. Marulasiddappa, Baraguru Ramachandrappa, Bhaskar Prasad, Prof. Bhagavan, Prof. Mahesh Chandra Guru, B.T. Lalita Nayak, Dwarakanath, Devanuru Mahadeva, B.L. Venu, actors and activists Prakash Raj and Chetan Ahimsa.

The letter was received by the Ashram in Bailahongala in Belagavi district on September 20. The life threatening letter mentions that, all who have been named, do they have courage to speak up what is being done by communal Muslims?

The letter also asked them will they raise their voice against the anti-national activities.

The letter also makes mention of progressive religious seer Nijagunananda Swamiji, saying that he must think of the letter as a death warrant.

"The death will come to you in your own programme. I am not joking. You are a demon in form of a human. You are a demon who abuses Hindu gods and goddess. You are in the last stage of your life. There is no other way but to finish you off," the letter said.

Shivaji Rao Jadhav, a Hindu activist from Karnataka's Davanagere district, has been arrested for sending threatening letters to more than 15 progressive Kannada authors and thinkers, police said on Saturday.

However, the police have not said whether the letter was written by the same accused.

Jadhav was arrested in the district by sleuths of the City Central Crime Branch (CCB).

The accused had been writing the threatening letters for the past two years, leading to the targeted authors meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on multiple occasions while demanding swift action.

In his letters, Jadhav has threatened the victims, including K. Veerabhadrappa, B.L. Venu, Banjagere Jayaprakash, B.T. Lalita Naik, Vasundhara Bhupathi, for going against Hindutva, saying that they should count their last days.

The case was handed over to the Special Wing CCB and experts of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) found that all letters were written by the same person but posted from different districts and taluks.
London, Sep 30 : Pain reprocessing therapy (PRT), which teaches people to perceive pain signals sent to the brain as less threatening, helps in the treatment of chronic pain, according to a new study.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open journal, examined the critical connection between the brain and pain for treating chronic pain and found that after PRT, patients reported reduced back pain intensity.

"Our study shows that discussing pain attributions with patients and helping them understand that pain is often 'in the brain' can help reduce it," said Yoni Ashar, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

To study the effects of pain attributions, researchers enrolled over 150 adults experiencing moderately severe chronic back pain in a randomised trial to receive PRT and found two-thirds of people treated with PRT reported being pain-free or nearly so after treatment, compared to only 20 per cent of placebo controls.

"This study is critically important because patients' pain attributions are often inaccurate. We found that very few people believed their brains had anything to do with their pain. This can be unhelpful and hurtful when it comes to planning for recovery since pain attributions guide major treatment decisions, such as whether to get surgery or psychological treatment," Ashar said.

According to the researchers, before PRT treatment, only 10 per cent of participants' attributions of PRT treatment were mind or brain-related.

However, after PRT, this increased to 51 per cent, showing that the more participants shifted to viewing their pain as due to mind or brain processes, the greater the reduction in chronic back pain intensity.

"Our study shows that discussing pain attributions with patients and helping them understand that pain is often 'in the brain' can help reduce it," Ashar stated.

"Often, discussions with patients focus on biomedical causes of pain. The role of the brain is rarely discussed. With this research, we want to provide patients as much relief as possible by exploring different treatments, including ones that address the brain drivers of chronic pain," he added.
Dalit family beaten by upper caste men for bathing at tubewell in UP's Khurja. Image Source: IANS News

Jaipur, Sep 30 : A youth was lynched to death after clash between two groups in Jaipur over bikes collision and verbal abuse on Saturday, police said.

SHO (Subhash Chowk) Suresh Singh Khatik said - Iqbal (18) -- son of Abdul Majeez, resident of Ramganj, who was killed in Khura blast in Jaipur -- was lynched.

Iqbal's bike hit two-wheeler around 10.45 p.m. in Gangapol.There was verbal abuse between the two youths regarding the bike collision which later snowballed into clash between two groups.

Iqbal received injuries in his legs and head and passed away.

Director General of Police Umesh Mishra has ordered for immediate arrest of the culprits.

About a dozen suspects have been rounded up and situation is under control in Subhash Chowk and Ramganj of Jaipur, police said.

Huge Police force has beendeployed along with STF, and Police Commissioner and senior officers are present on the spot.

The situation is being manned through drones, said Mishra adding, strict action will be taken as per rules against the people involved in the incident.

Mishra has appealed to maintain peace and order.
Performers dance at a celebration to mark the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival on Made Island in Rakhine State, Myanmar, Sept. 29, 2023. With smartphones and cameras held high taking videos, people in Myanmar's Made Island were captivated by cultural performances in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)

KYAUKPHYU, Myanmar, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- With smartphones and cameras held high taking videos, people in Myanmar's Made Island were captivated by cultural performances in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The vibrant celebration on Friday is the first-ever traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival with cultural music and dances performed by artists on the island, participants said.

Kyaw Htet Naing, a 22-year-old local resident from the Made Island, shared his joy at experiencing the festival for the first time. "I'm very happy to participate in it. I've never heard of it before," he said.

While enjoying cultural performances from Chinese artists, Kyaw noticed similarities between Chinese and Myanmar cultures.

He also expressed hope for more such events to strengthen bilateral friendships between the people from the two countries.

Hosted by the Sino-Pipeline International, the celebrations took place on the Made Island, off the coast of Kyaukphyu in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Kyi Than Tun, a 29-year-old chef who had worked on the island for a decade, relished the Guzheng musical performance by the artists. "I like the musical instrument performance," he said, making a gesture of playing Guzheng, a Chinese zither.

He remarked that this Mid-Autumn Festival marked the first of its kind in his 10 years on the island, while the Chinese New Year has been annually celebrated in their office.

Kyi Than Tun believed that these celebrations would facilitate cultural exchanges and enhance friendly relations in the future.

Another company staff member, 22-year-old Yu Yu Tun, was delighted to witness her first Mid-Autumn Festival on the island. "The festivities are enjoyable. I also like the Chinese lantern festival," she said.

Made Island, as the entry point of the China-Myanmar pipeline, has witnessed a decade-long collaboration between Chinese nationals and Myanmar residents.

Li Jiguo, a 29-year-old Chinese national working on the island, explained how the lively celebrations, featuring cultural activities, offered a refreshing escape for Chinese workers who were far from their homes.

He believed that these celebrations also offered local staff a deeper understanding of the Chinese culture, saying that he and other Chinese colleagues also celebrated traditional Myanmar water and lighting festivals on the island.

These celebrations will help promote cultural exchanges between the two countries, he said.

Approximately 200 people participated in the Mid-Autumn Festival, joined by around 30 Chinese artists who performed cultural delights on the island.

The annual Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is usually celebrated with family reunions and mooncake sharing on the 15th day of August on the Chinese lunar calendar when the moon is the fullest and brightest. It falls on Friday this year. 

Performers dance at a celebration to mark the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival on Made Island in Rakhine State, Myanmar, Sept. 29, 2023. With smartphones and cameras held high taking videos, people in Myanmar's Made Island were captivated by cultural performances in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)

Performers dance at a celebration to mark the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival on Made Island in Rakhine State, Myanmar, Sept. 29, 2023. With smartphones and cameras held high taking videos, people in Myanmar's Made Island were captivated by cultural performances in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)

Performers dance at a celebration to mark the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival on Made Island in Rakhine State, Myanmar, Sept. 29, 2023. With smartphones and cameras held high taking videos, people in Myanmar's Made Island were captivated by cultural performances in celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)
Mumbai, Sep 30 : Ahead of the 81st birthday of the veteran Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan, several of his memorabilia are up for auction. With a career spanning more than five decades, Big B is celebrated not just as an actor but as a symbol of cinematic excellence.

Titled aBachchanaliaa, the event, which pays tribute to his illustrious career, will offer collectors and fans a chance to own a historic piece of his phenomenal cinematic journey. It is scheduled to take place from October 5-7.

The items to go under the hammer include iconic film posters, photographs, lobby cards, showcards, photographs, film booklets and original artworks. The auction is being organised by deRivaz & Ives.

Talking about the auction, deRivaz & Ives spokesperson said: "We at deRivaz & Ives are developing our Film Memorabilia Department at a global scale this year with iconic sales on Bharat & Barsaat, Satyajit Ray, Amitabh Bachchan, Raj Kapoor, Feminine Icons in 2023 and with Hollywood auctions starting from 2024."

aThis focus on the superstar and iconic personality Amitabh Bachchan is a carefully curated sale on his incredible repertoire across five decades of a variety of roles that have made him an international icon. We hope this endeavour delights his fans and admirers across the globe and helps India preserve her paper-based cinematic heritage a bit deeper," the spokesperson added.

The key highlights of the auction are aZanjeera showcards, a aDeewaara showcard, aFaraara showcards set, the aSholaya photographic stills, four private photographs from Ramesh Sippy's exclusive party held after the release of aSholaya, rare posters from aMajboora, aMr. Natwarlala, aThe Great Gamblera, aKaaliaa, aNaseeba, aSilsilaa, and a rare studio portrait of Amitabh shot by celebrated glamour photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha
Future growth options for Niva Bupa could include public listing of biz. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Sep 30 : True North has agreed to sell a significant part of its stake in Niva Bupa, a leading Indian health insurance company, to its joint venture partner, Bupa, for around Rs 2,700 crore, subject to IRDAI approval.

This transaction will mean Bupa becoming Niva Bupa's majority shareholder.

True North believes that the time is right for Bupa to take a majority shareholding in the business to propel Niva Bupa to its next stage of growth.

Future growth options could also include the public listing of the business.

The move comes as India's insurance industry is experiencing strong growth amidst increasing awareness and demand for health insurance.

True North is set to sell around 20 per cent of its stake in the business to Bupa, increasing Bupaas shareholding to approximately 63 per cent.

On approval, the share transfer will be one of the largest transactions in the Indian insurance industry by a global player since the IRDAI permitted foreign entities to own up to 74 per cent of an Indian insurer.

Bupa, an international healthcare company headquartered in the UK, was a founding shareholder when the business was first established in India in 2008.

True North, one of India's most experienced private equity firms, became Niva Bupa's majority shareholder in 2019.

Since 2019 True North has worked closely with Bupa on implementing a successful strategy for Niva Bupa.

The joint venture partners have worked closely to put Niva Bupa on a strong growth trajectory, adding innovative new products, setting up a multi-channel distribution network and making the business increasingly customer-centric.

In FY 23, Niva Bupa became the third-largest retail health insurer, achieving more than Rs 4,000 crore GWP and expanding its presence to nearly every district in the country.
Stockholm, Sep 30 : The Swedish Armed Forces have been called in to help the police combat a recent surge in organized crime, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters here.

The armed forces are well-equipped to handle explosives and IT forensics, and to organise helicopter transports and they also have extensive analytical skills which makes them competent to assess risk scenarios, Kristersson said.

The National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA), a civil authority subordinated to the Ministry of Defence, will also be tasked with assisting the police with signals intelligence, Xinhua news agency quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

"We have increased their funding to enable them to intensify their signals intelligence operations with regards to cross-border serious crime," Kristersson said.

Legislation that allows preventative wiretapping to stop shootings, bombings and other crimes related to organized crime before they are committed will come into effect on Sunday, following a decision made earlier this year.

Kristersson also said that the decision to allow the police forces to request assistance from the Armed Forces is merely a first step, and the police will be given further powers.

In a 2020 study that analyzed criminal activities in 23 European countries, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention found that between 2000 and 2019, Sweden had moved from having the lowest number of shootings to having the highest number of incidents.

This trend has since continued and two shootings and one bomb attack that claimed three lives on Wednesday night and Thursday morning pushed the death toll in September to 12, a level not seen in a single month since 2019.

There have been more than 130 bomb attacks in Sweden since January, surpassing last year's total of 90 incidents.

The majority of the shootings and bomb attacks are believed to be related to organized crime, and many of the victims and suspects are in their teens.
New Delhi, Sep 30 : The Finance Ministry has notified October 1 as the date from which the 28 per cent GST rate for taxing online gaming, casinos and horse racing will come into effect.

The amended Central GST Act states that these supplies will henceforth be treated as "actionable claims" similar to lottery, betting and gambling and subject to 28 per centper cent GST on the full face value of bets.

The amendments to Integrated GST (IGST) Act makes it mandatory for offshore online gaming platforms to register in India and pay taxes in accordance with domestic law.

The 28 per cent GST will be applicable on bets placed in the case of online gaming, the face value of the chips purchased in the case of casinos and bets placed with bookmaker/totalisator in the case of horse racing.

According to the notification, the value of the supply of online gaming, including supply of actionable claims involved in online money gaming, shall be the "total amount paid or payable to or deposited with the supplier by way of money or money's worth, including virtual digital assets, by or on behalf of the player".

It has been provided that any amount returned or refunded by the supplier to the player for any reason, including the player not using the amount paid or deposited with the supplier for participating in any event, shall not be deductible from the value of the supply of online money gaming.

In the case of casinos, the value of the supply of actionable claims in a casino shall be the total amount paid or payable by the player for buying tokens, chips, coins or tickets.

The same will be applicable for the amount paid to participate in any event, including game, scheme, competition or any other activity or process, in the casino, in cases where the token, chips, coins or tickets are not required.

It has been provided that any amount returned or refunded by the casino to the player on return of tokens, coins, chips, or tickets, shall not be deductible from the value of the supply of actionable claims in the casino.

Parliament last month had approved the amendments to the Central GST and Integrated GST laws to give effect to the decisions taken by the GST Council.

The GST Council in its meeting in August had decided that the new provisions would come into effect from October 1.

A review of the implementation was proposed to be carried out after six months.
Islamabad, Sep 30 : The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with its political leadership in the Bhutto and Zardari family, is the country's second largest political force which has been at the forefront of political rivalries, anti-military establishment rows and political maneuverings as its built on the reputation of being a "king maker".

But even with its deep roots into power politics in Sindh province, along with a strong influence in Balochistan and the federal governments, the PPP has been forced to revisit its strategy and opt for political alliances to come into power.

The party is desperate to win the next general elections and form the government in the federal capital. But it seems that there are no clear winners among the top political players at the moment.

PPP co-chairperson and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has expressed serious reservations over the backdoor engagements between the country's military establishment and the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) as he foresees neglect and sidelining in the formation of the next government.

"PPP has seen a major shift in the attitude of military establishment after the dissolution of assemblies on August 9. In the active talks between the PML-N and military establishment over the return of Nawaz Sharif from London, PPP has been kept away from this, which is unusual because Bilawal Bhutto and his party leadership managed important Ministries in the former Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government," said political analyst Adnan Shauqat.

Bilawal Bhutto and his father Asif Ali Zardari are now geared up to gather more political support in the party's strongholds of Sindh, Balochistan and the southern Part of the Punjab province in an effort to align a strong list of electable candidates for the upcoming polls.

"The idea behind PPP's political strategy is to use its political muscle and candidacy list of politicians to have an upper hand in its future alliance with PML-N," Shauqat opined.

The PPP's optimism about forming the government and becoming the single largest party vanished but its efforts to hunt for an elusive electable is working at fast pace with Bilawal Bhutto taking the lead.

Some analysts also believe that the current rift between the PPP and PML-N carry with it the tendency to melt away in time as soon as political narrative building of both to their voters is disseminated through election campaigning.

"It is a fight for the revival for PML-N in Punjab, while PPP has established its power in Sindh. Now the PPP wants to breach into Punjab and add more candidates into the party. It also wants to regain its lost voters, who had tilted towards PTI. All these efforts is to come to a stronger negotiation term with PML-N to form the government in Punjab and also in the federal capital," said Amjad Mahmood, also a political analyst.

Former President Asif Ali Zardari, who is known as the 'king' of Pakistani politics and the master of negotiations and conciliation, has reportedly left the hunt for suitable candidates in Punjab to his son Bilawal.

However, Asif Ali Zardari's influence has played a massive role in the political strategies and decision making of PPP and is most likely to show its sway in the coming days.
New Delhi, Sep 30 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has reaffirmed his commitment to addressing the longstanding issue of garbage disposal in the city.

He took to X on Saturday, providing an update on the progress of removing garbage from the Bhalswa Landfill site, indicating that the work is advancing at a pace exceeding the set targets.

Kejriwal stated: "We had promised the people of Delhi that we would remove the mountains of garbage present in Delhi. We are engaged in this work day and night."

He further said that his personal visit to the Bhalswa Landfill site revealed significant advancements in the cleanup efforts.

According to the initial target, the Delhi government aimed to remove 14 lakh tonnes of garbage from the Bhalswa site by the present date. However, they have already removed 18 lakh tonnes of garbage.

Looking ahead, the Chief Minister shared the goals, explaining that they intend to eliminate 30 lakh tonnes of garbage by May 2024, exceeding this target by planning to remove 45 lakh tonnes of waste.

"With its removal, 35 acres of land will become free," he said.

It is worth noting that the Bhalswa Landfill still contains a total of 65 lakh tonnes of garbage, which indicates the scale of the challenge. For which, Kejriwal stated that another agency would be brought in to assist with the cleanup effort in the coming days.

Moreover, Kejriwal said that similar progress is being made at other landfill sites across Delhi. "I will visit there next week," he said.
Patna, Sep 30 : : Rashtriya Janata Dal national general secretary Abdul Bari Siddiqui has said that women who have bob cut (short hair) and use lipstick would benefit through the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill. Following this statement by Siddiqui, the BJP lashed out at the RJD and claimed that the party has an anti women mindset.

While addressing a gathering in Muzaffarpur on Friday, Siddiqui demanded reservation for women who qualify under the Other Backward Castes (OBC) and Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) quotas. "If women with bob cut and lipstick get into Parliament, the rights of women living in the rural areas would not be advanced. If the Centre is looking for reservation for women, it should give it to women belonging to the OBC and EBC.," Siddiqui said.

The Narendra Modi government got the bill passed in both Houses of Parliament and the RJD also supported the bill in the Rajya Sabha. It was then sent to President Droupadi Murmu who signed the bill into law. With this, women get 33% reservation in Parliament and the state assemblies. Siddiqui was demanding reservation within reservation in the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill especially for EBC women.

Siddiqui had also given controversial statements in the past. On December 22, 2022, he claimed that he is not feeling safe in the country and hence he asked his children to settle abroad and if they get citizenship there they should accept it.

Meanwhile, BJP OBC Morcha national general secretary Dr Nikhil Anand reacted sharply to Siddiqui's anti-women statement: "This RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui is the same leader who was publicly telling his son not to come back to India and to settle abroad because India is no longer worth living in. He is very worried about the Hindu OBC- EBC community. He is the so-called secular leader with double standards. He never paid attention to the prejudices within the Muslims. Till date, he has not uttered even a single word about the misery and tragedy of OBC and EBC Muslim's and the Pasmanda Samaj. "
New Delhi, Sep 30 : Uncertainty surrounds the fate of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed's son after he was allegedly abducted by the masked men.

Kamaluddin Saeed, son of Hafiz Saeed, is also linked the ISI-supported terrorist organisation.

However, the sources have dismissed the report of Kamaluddin being abducted by masked men, saying he may have been relocated to one of the secure facilities under ISI protection.

Meanwhile, the rumours surrounding Kamaluddin's whereabouts is instigating disquiet among various jihadi factions, amplified by the recent spate of Lashkar's member fatalities.

In the aftermath of the recent assassination of Maulana Ziaur Rehman, a prominent cleric and LeT operative, within Karachi's Gulistan-e-Jauhar, reports have surfaced indicating that ISI safe houses have been transformed into shelters for over a dozen terrorists and their sympathizers in Pakistan.

Rehman was fatally shot by unidentified assailants multiple times at close range during an evening stroll in a park.

Reports also suggest heightened security measures for Kamaluddin's sibling, Talha, who is spearheading operations against India and holds the position of Lashkar's second-in-command.

His survival of an assassination attempt in Lahore in 2019 has been linked to internal discord within Lashkar.

Talha's ascent to the position of his father and his control over Lashkar's finances have purportedly fueled discontent among longstanding members of the organisation, as conveyed by an intelligence officer.

Concerns loom regarding potential reprisals from Hafiz Saeed and the escalating internal strife that threatens to erode Lashkar's operational capabilities. To mitigate these concerns, the ISI is actively mediating a ceasefire among the feuding factions.

Intelligence sources said that as a contingency measure, they have devised aPlan Ba which involves establishment of The Resistance Front in Jammu and Kashmir. This alternative strategy has garnered support from across the border, standing ready for unforeseen developments.

The recent assassination of Ziaur Rahman bears resemblance to the killing of the wanted terrorist and Khalistan Commando Force Chief, Paramjit Singh Panjwar.

Similar to Ziaur Rahman, Paramjit Singh Panjwar met his end when unidentified assailants shot him dead during a morning walk in Lahore in May.

Notably, this marks the third such killing, following the previous deaths of Abu Qasim Kashmiri in Rawalakot and Qari Khurram Shehzad in Nazimabad.
BJP made MP 'epicentre of corruption' says Rahul; attacks Centre over no OBC quota in Women's Bill. Image Source: IANS News

Bhopal, Sep 30 : Launching a scathing at the ruling BJP at his first public rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of making the state "an epicentre of corruption" in the country.

Addressing the rally in Kalapipal assembly constituency of Shajapur district in Malwa region, he cited the 'Vyapam scams'.

"MBBS degrees are being sold, exam papers are being leaked and sold, and corruption was done in the construction of Mahakal Lok corridor," he said.

Participating in the Congress's Jan Aakrosh Yatra in Shajapur, Gandhi claimed that his party was fighting against the ideologies of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP.

"On one side, there is the Congress and on the other side, there is the RSS and the BJP. On one side, there is hatred and violence and on the other side, there is love, respect and brotherhood," he added.

Accusing the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh of not giving adequate compensation to the farmers whose crops get damaged due to heavy rain and drought, he said the farmers in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh have been benefited with various schemes.

"We have fulfilled all promises we had made to the people of Chhattisgarh in 2018," Gandhi said, adding that anyone can visit Chhattisgarh to find the reality."

Meanwhile, he reiterated the Congress stand on the Women's Reservation Bill, and pushed for reservation for OBC women within it. "When I ask the question how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, generals are there in the country, PM Modi maintains silence on it. After forming the government at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct a caste census," he added.

He reiterated his claim that the country was being run by only 90 officers, including the Cabinet Secretary and Secretaries at the Centre, while the BJP MPs and MLAs had no role in framing policies and laws in the country.

"The RSS and bureaucrats are framing laws instead of elected BJP members," Gandhi alleged.
Hyderabad, Sep 30 : Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Saturday stated that she is not bothered about criticism and humiliation as her job is to serve people and she will continue to do her job.

Stating that she entered politics to serve people, Soundarajan said that as Governor, she has been working for the people. The Governor also stated that she was a BJP leader but now her role is different.

"I was a politician. I donat hide it. Some people in Telangana say you are a politician, you are a BJP leader. That is my history. Now I hold an administrative post. I don't hide it. I don't shy away. It's a fact," she said while addressing a women's meeting at Raj Bhavan on the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill.

The Governor's remarks are seen as a counter to the attack by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders after she rejected two nominations sent by the state government for Legislative Council under the Governor's quota on the ground that both the persons are politically aligned.

BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao had said that she is unfit to hold the governor's post. He had alleged that she was acting as a BJP leader.

While advising women to be always brave, Tamilisai remarked that they should be bold whether they are respected or not and whether protocol is followed or not. "If you come and give flowers, I will receive it. If you are turning your back, I will move faster. I always say if stones are thrown at me, I will build my fort with those stones. If pins are pricking me, I will soak my pen in that blood and I will write my history. Nothing can hurt me nothing, can prevent me," she said. Tamilisai said though she was a very successful doctor, politics was her passion because of her father.

She said she wanted to help women and she always believed that many good works can be done with power.

Describing politics as a "men's field", she said if women get opportunities and reservation, this will motivate more women to join politics.

Tamilisai was president of Tamil Nadu's BJP unit before being appointed the Governor.

She said the reservation gave women the confidence that they could get some positions and really competent and talented women got it.

"As women we have to work 10-20 times more than a man at least to be considered. The reservation will motivate many women to enter politics," she said while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ensuring passage of the Bill in the Parliament.

She said women should prepare themselves to benefit from the reservation. She said though 33 per cent reservation has been provided, women should aim for 50 per cent by competing on the unreserved seats.

She said while politics was so far dominated by 'man power' and 'muscle power', from hereafter, it will also be decided by 'mahila power'.

"I am not inferior to anybody. I do more hard work than a man," she said.

Tamilisai, however, admitted that women have some limitations like family life, personal life and personal liking when competing with men.

She recalled that when she landed in Hyderabad as Governor, there was no woman minister in the state but by evening she administered oath to two women ministers.
People attend a commemorative event held at the cemetery for martyrs of the Guangzhou Uprising in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Sept. 30, 2023. China's 10th Martyrs' Day falls on Saturday. Commemoration ceremonies were held across the country to honor fallen national heroes. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)

Flower baskets are presented as a tribute to martyrs during a commemorative event at the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs' cemetery in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Sept. 30, 2023. China's 10th Martyrs' Day falls on Saturday. Commemoration ceremonies were held across the country to honor fallen national heroes. (Xinhua/Long Lei)

Firefighters attend a commemorative event at Minxi revolutionary martyrs' cemetery in Longyan, southeast China's Fujian Province, Sept. 30, 2023. China's 10th Martyrs' Day falls on Saturday. Commemoration ceremonies were held across the country to honor fallen national heroes. (Photo by Zhou Yangdong/Xinhua)

A ceremony to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes is held at the People's Square in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 30, 2023. China's 10th Martyrs' Day falls on Saturday. Commemoration ceremonies were held across the country to honor fallen national heroes. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)
Bengaluru, Sep 30 : Karnataka JD(S) President C. M. Ibrahim on Saturday expressed his displeasure over his party's national leadership stitching an alliance with the NDA for the Lok Sabha polls without discussing it with him.

Speaking to mediapersons, Ibrahim launched a veiled attack against JD(S) national president and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his son and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

"I am the state President of the party. You had gone to New Delhi. Nothing had been told to me. Till now, no information has come," Ibrahim said.

"I am the state Party President but the discussion on it was not held... The vote base of JD(S) had shifted to the Congress party. The matter should have been discussed in the party. The core committee members are still to take up the tour. They have gone to New Delhi and held meetings," Ibrahim stated.

"I will speak about it to Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy after the October 16 meeting. NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Congress leaders from New Delhi have spoken to me. I will speak to mediapersons on October 16 after getting the opinion of leaders and supporters," he said.

However, he denied that Muslim leaders are quitting JD (S). "I am the state party President. The resignation letters should come to me. No such letters have come. Deve Gowda is a fatherly figure," he said.

The BJP-JD(S) alliance has been announced by top leaders of both parties. Muslim leaders of JD(S) have expressed their disapproval for the alliance and two vice presidents have submitted their resignation letters to Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy.
Panaji, Sep 30 : After excessive rainfall in Goa, beachgoers have been advised by Drishti Marine, state's government appointed lifesaving agency, not to venture into the rough seas.

The advisory has been issued on account of the excessive rainfall in the state caused by a combination of cyclonic meteorological conditions in Karnataka and surrounding areas, as stated by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The meteorological agency has said that heavy rain is expected in Goa over the next three days, making sea conditions challenging, with water levels rising and under-water currents intensifying along the coastal belt and a low pressure belt forming over the East Central Arabian Sea off the south Konkan-Goa beaches.

"Owing to the cyclonic conditions in the Arabian Sea, Drishti Marine advises people not to venture into the sea due to high water levels and rough water conditions observed along Goa's coastline," officials of Drishti Marine stated.
Amaravati, Sep 30 : Andhra Pradesh's CID on Saturday served notice to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) General Secretary Nara Lokesh in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case, asking him to appear before it for questioning on October 4.

CID officials served notice under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

As the TDP leader has been staying in New Delhi for the last few days, a CID team went to the national capital to serve the notice.

Lokesh has been directed to make himself available for questioning at CID office here at 10 a.m. on October 4.

The CID had filed a memo in Vijayawada ACB Court on September 26, naming Lokesh as the 14th accused in the case.

The TDP General Secretary had moved Andhra Pradesh High Court for anticipatory bail in the case.

During the hearing, the CID informed the court that it will issue notice to Lokesh under Section 41A of Criminal Procedure Code. Since the arrest is not apprehended in the case, the court disposed of TDP leaderas petition after directing him to cooperate in the investigation.

Lokesh is son of TDP supremo and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is already in judicial custody in Skill Development scam. The CID has already named Naidu as an accused in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case and AP FiberNet case and filed Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant petitions against him in Vijayawada ACB Court.

In May 2022, the CID had registered an FIR against Chandrababu Naidu, former Municipal Administration Minister Dr P. Narayana, Heritage Foods Ltd, and others, for alleged irregularities in the construction of an internal ring road in Amaravati. The FIR was filed based on a complaint from YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Mangalgiri MLA A. Rama Krishna Reddy, alleging 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.

Since Lokesh apprehends his arrest in AP Skill Development and AP FiberNet scams, he also filed anticipatory bail petition in the High Court. The High Court on Friday passed the interim order, directing the CID not to arrest him till October 4.
San Francisco, Sep 30 : Leading blockchain and cryptocurrency platform Binance has witnessed its Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume drop by 48 per cent this month after the exchange reinstated fees for its most liquid BTC trading pairs.

Cryptocurrency market data provider Kaiko research analyst Dessislava Ianeva pointed out that the recorded fall is the second-largest monthly decline since April.

"BTC trade volumes on Binance are down 48 per cent in Sept, the second-largest monthly decline since April. Both drops coincided with the removal of zero fees for the largest BTC trading pairs. However, this time, the decline seems to align more closely with the broad market," Ianeva posted on X on Friday.

Users left the exchange in April after it cancelled the trading incentives associated with its Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin due to regulatory issues.

The exchange's trading volume had dropped by nearly 70 per cent during the second quarter at the time.

A similar situation occurred earlier this month when the exchange discontinued the zero-trading-fee incentives for its TrueUSD (TUSD) and BTC trading pairs, causing traders to migrate to other platforms.

While the removal of free trading incentives contributed to Binance's declining volume, the exchange has also faced increased regulatory issues in various jurisdictions, including the US and Europe, which has harmed its overall market share.

US regulators sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao in June this year for allegedly operating a "web of deception" and filed 13 charges in a federal court.

Binance was also ordered by Belgium's Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) to immediately cease all offers of virtual currency services in the country.

Several crypto companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in recent months like Genesis Global Trading (a subsidiary of the crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG), FTX, BlockFi, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network and Voyager.
London, Sep 30 : A day after Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami was stopped from attending a programme at a Glasgow gurdwara by some fringe elements, the Indian High Commission on Saturday said that it has reported this "disgraceful incident" to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police.

In a statement, the Indian High Commission in London said: "On September 29, 2023, three persons -- all from areas outside Scotland -- deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organized by the Gurdwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues."

The statement said that the organisers included senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of Scottish Parliament.

"They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the High Commissioner and Consul General decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival," it said. It further said that one of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HC's car door  "a matter that will require suitable police consideration".

"It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organizers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided," it said.

"The High Commission of India has reported this disgraceful incident to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police. Multiple community organisations including the organisers have formally regretted the incident and have urged the authorities to take action against the culprits," the statement added.

Meanwhile, UK Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan on Saturday expressed concern to see that the Indian High Commissioner was stopped from attending a meeting at the gurdwara in Glasgow.

In a post on X, she said: "Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all."

The fresh incident comes in the wake of a diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Canada-based pro-Khalistan harliner Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

--IANS

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Kolkata, Sep 30 : In a claim that could further escalate the tensions, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Saturday said that activities underway in Raj Bhavan as well as his own movements are under the surveillance of the Mamata Banerjee-led government.

The Governor's accusations came just two days after it was reported on Thursday that the Governor's House has sent a recommendation to the state administration on the removal of the personnel of Kolkata Police from the security duty from all the floors of the residential and official sections of the Governor's House.

It was also decided that security in these sections will be handled by the personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Governor's own protection force.

Now, at the end of swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected Trinamool Congress legislator from Dhupguri Assembly constituency on Saturday evening, which was administered by the Governor himself, Bose made this accusation against the state government.

"Outside Raj Bhavan, there is violence and inside Raj Bhavan there is by-lens," the Governor said while questioned by the media persons on the decision to remove city police personnel from the security arrangement inside Raj Bhavan.

The Governor's statement came at the end of the function which was attended by the deputy chief whip of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal Assembly, Tapas Roy.

However, when questioned by the mediapersons, Roy refused to give any reaction to Governor's remarks.

"I do not want to say anything about the matter. We all expect him to fulfil his Constitutional responsibilities and duties towards his government," Roy said.

Political observers feel that the loaded comments from the Governor on such a sensitive matter will further aggravate the tension between Raj Bhavan and state which has already been spoilt to a great extent over many issues.
Mumbai, Sep 30 : Ahead of his 81st birthday (October 11), Bollywood's evergreen emperor Amitabh Bachchan will be honoured with 'Bachchanalia' - an auction of over 300 memorabilia, spanning his 55 years' looming presence and contributions to the film industry.

The auction by deRivaz & Ives will take place October 5-7, as a tribute to his long and illustrious career and affords his fans and collectors a chance to own a 'historic piece' of his stupendous cinematic journey since 1969.

Up for grabs will be iconic film posters, photographs, lobby cards, showcards, film booklets and original artworks of several of his epochal movies that contributed to his metamorphoses  from a struggler to an actor, star, heart-throb, a superstar, a legend and the veteran of 200-plus films now acknowledged as a 'Yug Purush'.

Going under the hammer shall be a rare set of two showcards of his blockbuster "Zanjeer" (1973), an original, hand-made collage crafted from silver gelatin photographic prints, poster paint and meticulous manual and screen-printed lettering.

"These unique pieces are a testament to the artistic craftsmanship of yesteryears, offering a glimpse into the intricate process that once brought the magic of cinema to life. Some are priced around Rs 8,000 and some in the range of Rs 100,000 per piece," said an official for the auctioneers.

The "Deewaar" (1975) showcard has been designed by Diwakar Karkare, the designer behind several of Bachchan's publicity artworks of the 1970s and 80s.

A set of six exceptionally designed first release showcards of Shankar Mukherjee's "Faraar" (1975), created by Karkare, is also on offer, bringing alive the memories of the Gulzar-scripted thriller, and famed for the lilting Kishore Kumar-Lata Mangeshkar duet "Main Pyasa Tum Sawan".

That same year another film created history, "Sholay" (1975) and echoing the heart-pounding excitement of that flick, fans can bid for a set of 15 re-release photographic stills mounted on lobby cards, showcasing some of the most memorable scenes from Ramesh Sippy's classic creation.

Another lot on offer will be four private photos from Sippy's exclusive post-release party, giving a peek into the behind-the-scenes magic of the record-creating "Sholay" with a cult following.

Going up for bids shall be a rare collection of posters of Bachchan's memorable films like "Majboor" (1974), "Mr Natwarlal" (1979), "The Great Gambler" (1979), "Silsila" and "Kaalia" (1981), "Naseeb" (1986), among others.

A rare studio portrait of Amitabh Bachchan shot by the glamour photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha and another featuring two superstars  Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan  from an exclusive photo-shoot done for a film magazine (Movie)'s cover story, shall also be auctioned.

There are different original artworks of Bachchan, through the eyes of young artistes like Safdar Shamee, Sailesh Acharekar, Mithu Biswal, Anil Soni, and their unique interpretations of the legendary superstar.

The company official said that these have been carefully curated and sourced from all over India including small or private collectors, dealers of film memorabilia, small galleries or old collections from artists, producers, distributors, academics, journalists, film historians, families of his co-stars and even fans.

After huge sales were notched during the 'Bharat & Barsaat' auction in Aug. 2023 and Satyajit Ray in Sep. 2023, now, deRivaz & Ives are developing a Film Memorabilia Department and foraying onto the global theatre.

After the 'Bachchanalia' auction in Oct. 2023, coming up later this year will be Bollywood 'Feminine Icons' and 'The Cinema of Raj Kapoor at 100', before venturing into Hollywood auctions from 2024.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
Kolkata, Sep 30 : Inadequate manpower of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against too many cases of money laundering has been resulting in a sluggish probe in the state of West Bengal, a source close to the agency has said.

In fact, an ED counsel has told the Calcutta High Court the agency's Kolkata-based office has requested the head-office in Delhi to send in additional manpower.

The lack of manpower in ED's Kolkata office has come to the limelight in the wake of the decision of the Calcutta High Court to remove the agencyas assistant director Mithilesh Kumar Mishra as the head of the team investigating the multi-crore cash for school job case in West Bengal.

The court also observed that Mishra cannot be assigned to any kind of investigation into any money laundering case in West Bengal.

ED sources said that currently, there are six investigating officers in the ED's Kolkata office, with four more officers in the superior ranks monitoring the progress of investigations in different cases of money laundering in the state.

Currently, a total of 131 cases of money laundering are under the jurisdiction of the ED's Kolkata office, which effectively means that each of these six field investigation officers are handling as many as around 22 cases.

However, agency insiders said that the Kolkata office has been given assurance by the Delhi head office that more officers from the different units of the agency will be joining the ED office by October 10, which will ease the pressure of too many cases on a single investigating officer.

The ED has assured the Calcutta High Court of updating the latter about the development on this count as well.
Chennai, Sep 30 : India's space-based solar observatory Aditya-L1 has successfully escaped the sphere of Earth's influence and has travelled over 9.2 lakh km till date, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Saturday.

According to Indian space agency, the Aditya-L1 is now navigating its path towards the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1).

"This is the second time in succession that ISRO could send a spacecraft outside the sphere of influence of the Earth, the first time being the Mars Orbiter Mission," it said.

This is also the fifth consecutive time the ISRO has successfully transferred an object on a trajectory toward another celestial body or location in space. It has transferred its spacecraft thrice towards the moon and once towards Mars.

The Aditya-L1 was orbited in low earth orbit (LEO) on September 2 by Indian rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle a"XL (PSLV-XL) variant. The spacecraftas orbit has been raised by the ISRO four times since then.

As the spacecraft travels towards Lagrange Point (L1) after exiting the earthas gravitational sphere of Influence (SOI), the cruise phase will start and subsequently, it will be injected into a large halo orbit around the L1 -- the point where the gravitational pull of two large bodies a" Sun and Earth - will be equal and hence the spacecraft will not gravitate towards any one of them.

The total travel time from launch to L1 would take about four months for Aditya-L1 and the distance will be about 1.5 million km from the Earth.

--IANS

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TDP makes 'noise' in novel protest over Chandrababu's arrest. Image Source: IANS News

Amaravati, Sep 30 : The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) cadres across Andhra Pradesh on Saturday staged a novel protest by making noise to express solidarity with party leader and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu who was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in the alleged skill development scam case.

On a call given by the party, TDP leaders and workers across the state and even neighbouring states participated in the five-minute-long programme to condemn Naidu's arrest.

The party workers came out on streets at 7 p.m. and made the noise by ringing bells, beating drums or beating utensils, blowing whistles or honking horns of their vehicles.

Naidu's son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh along with TDP MPs participated in the programme in Delhi.

Naidu's son-in-law Nara Brahmani along with party workers beat the drums in Rajahmundry, where Naidu is lodged in Central Jail. TDP state president K. Atchennaidu led the protest at party headquarters at Mangalagiri.

The TDP supporters in parts of Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also participated in the programme.

The protesters also raised slogans condemning Naidu's 'illegal' arrest.

The party had appealed to people to make some noise from 7 p.m. to 7.05 p.m. on September 30 as a mark of protest.

Chandrababu Naidu was arrested by the CID on September 9 in multi-crore Skill Development scam. He remained in judicial custody.

According to CID, the scam allegedly took place when Naidu was the chief minister.

It said Rs 371 crore released for setting up skill development centres in the state were diverted to shell companies.

The TDP chief, however, has denied the allegation.

His petition to quash the FIR against him was dismissed by Andhra Pradesh High Court last week. He has challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court.
BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- On Saturday, President Xi Jinping paid silent tribute and laid flower baskets at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing, to mark China's 10th Martyrs' Day.

In 2014, China's top legislature approved the establishment of Martyrs' Day, which falls on Sept. 30, to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting for national independence and prosperity.

Since the first Martyrs' Day, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has faithfully kept his tradition of paying homage to fallen heroes on the day.

"The accomplishments of the revolutionary martyrs will go down in history and their names shall never be forgotten," Xi once said.

Xi has memorialized national heroes on various occasions and lauded their patriotic and valiant spirit as a source of inspiration for the Chinese national psyche.

During an inspection tour in 2017, Xi visited a revolutionary memorial museum in Shanxi Province. He left a basket of flowers to pay respect to the country's war heroes.

"Each part of the CPC's revolutionary history is a vivid textbook of ideals and faith," Xi said, urging Party members to forge ahead while staying true to the mission taken up by the CPC when it was founded in 1921.

He said that every Party member should remember the revolutionaries who devoted their lives to national independence and the people's liberation, keep the mettle of the CPC members, be honest with the people, and create a better life for the people.

In September 2020, Xi hailed national heroes who defended the country during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945) while addressing a commemoration meeting.

Xi said the great spirit of resisting aggression bred during the war is an invaluable source of inspiration, and will always motivate the Chinese people to overcome all difficulties and obstacles and strive to achieve national rejuvenation.

In 2021, Xi visited a memorial park in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region dedicated to the Battle of the Xiangjiang River during the Long March in the 1930s. He presented a flower basket in homage to Red Army soldiers who died in the battle and visited a memorial hall in the park to pay his respects to revolutionary martyrs.

"We should have such beliefs in achieving the second centenary goal and realizing national rejuvenation," Xi said. "In the face of even greater difficulty, think about the Long March and the Xiangjiang battle."

In addition to revolutionary heroes who sacrificed themselves for their fellow people during wartime, Xi has also commended ordinary people in peacetime for contributions they made on various fronts to rejuvenate the nation.

In March 2020, when China was at a critical moment wrestling with COVID-19, Xi inspected the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, which was hit hard by the virus. Visiting a makeshift hospital built to deal with the epidemic, Xi lauded medical workers as "true heroes."

In the face of the sudden epidemic, medical workers across China went to battle like warriors clad in white armor, risking their own lives to save the lives of others.

Later in the year, Xi said at a meeting honoring heroes of the COVID-19 fight that "these medical workers are our guardian angels, and the people most worthy of our respect in the new era."

And there was the fight against absolute poverty.

In 2021, Xi announced that absolute poverty had been eradicated in China after eight years of relentless efforts.

However, more than 1,800 people died fighting poverty on the front lines in this battle against poverty.

Xi acknowledged these fallen heroes at a gathering held to mark the nation's poverty alleviation accomplishments and honor model poverty fighters. He said those fallen heroes' sacrifice and contributions "will never be forgotten by the Party, the people and the republic."

Xi saluted people working on various fronts, saying that "the people are the creators of history; they are true heroes."

In his 2022 New Year Address, the Chinese president acknowledged a series of landmark events and countless "unsung heroes" behind China's march toward great rejuvenation.

"The hard work and dedication of countless unsung heroes have all added to the great momentum of China's march forward in the new era," said Xi. 
Washington, Sep 30 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was struck by how little people in the US, specially officials he met over the last days including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan,, knew about Canada's permissive attitude towards terrorism and the thriving nexus of crime, extremism, and human trafficking that exists in that country.

This lack of awareness, the minister said "is a part of the problem".

It was important, therefore, for him to present to them the "accurate picture" and "our point of view" so that the ongoing debate is not confined to just one or two issues but "the bigger picture which has been going on for some time, and it's a very serious picture".

"A lot of Americans are astonished," the minister told reporters on Friday, unlike Indians who won't be surprised if told there are people in Canada "who are advocating violence or advocating separatism; there is a history out there".

"I suspect very few American know this," he went on to say, and added: "So, in a way, a lot of what I said at the meetings, I think, was new to the Americans."

At an event at Hudson Institute, a think tank, Jaishankar first raised this difference in the way Americans look at Canada and how Indians look at Canada.

"When Americans look at Canada they see something; when we in India look at Canada we see something else.

"And that's part of the problem," the minister said, in a thinly veiled criticism of American officials who have been calling on India to cooperate in Canada's investigation into allegations by Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India was behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani activist, in June.

White House and state department officials have expressed "deep concern" over Trudeau's allegations and have said they support the investigation and want India to cooperate.

In fact, according to reports, it's the US that provided key information to the Canadians about alleged India links to the killing as part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement that the two countries have with the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Jaishankar said it did not come up in the meetings. "It's important that we, you know, talk it out with the Americans. After all, they are very close to Canada, they are good friends of ours," the minister said about why he brought up the larger context for his American interlocutors.

"It's important that they also have an accurate picture, that they have our point of view on this matter as well."

This is a conversation that should continue with focus on all issues. "I'm not prejudging issues. I'm not taking absolutist positions," the minister said. "What we have taken is a very reasonable stance. It should not be that the entire debate focuses on issue one, issue two, and the bigger picture which has been going on for some time, and it's a very serious picture."

To underscore the seriousness of issues at hand, Jaishankar brought up threats faced by Indian missions. "When was the last time that any of our missions was intimidated to a point where it could not continue with its normal functioning? And if someone says this could happen in a G7 country, in the Commonwealth countries it gives you a lot to think about."

--IANS

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Quetta, Sep 30 : Pakistan Interim Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Saturday that a foreign intelligence agency is involved in carrying out terror incidents in Pakistan, the media reported.

On Friday, the country was rocked by two suicide blasts in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which caused several casualties and left many others injured, Geo News reported.

Addressing a press conference in Quetta, Bugti vowed to establish the writ of the state at all costs.

Bugti said that the authorities knew who was involved in these activities and would avenge every drop of blood of Pakistanis, Geo News reported.

The minister also pledged to utilise all resources to eliminate terrorism, stressing that there's no place for militants and their facilitators in the country.

"We know who is doing it and from where," Bugti maintained, Geo News reported.

At least 52 people including a cop died and 60 others were injured when a suicide bomber targeted an Eid Milad un Nabi procession in the remote district of Mastung, Balochistan.

Meanwhile in KP's Hangu, another suicide blast ripped through a mosque, leaving five dead -- including a policeman -- and 12 injured.

Both attacks took place on Friday during the preparations for Friday prayers and celebrations of Prophet Muhammad's birth anniversary, Geo News reported.

Meanwhile, a case against the suicide attack during the preparation for the Eid Miladun Nabi procession in Balochistan's Mastung district has been registered against unknown attackers at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in Quetta.

The culprits have been booked under the murder, attempted murder, Anti-Terrorism and Explosive Act, a CTD spokesperson told Geo News.

The spokesperson added that investigations were underway after the incident but no arrests have been made so far.
Khammam : , Sep 30 (IANS) What legendary actor-politician N. T. Rama Rao could not achieve, his disciple and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will achieve by scoring a hat-trick as the chief minister, said Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday.

Addressing public meetings in Khammam and Sathupalli towns after participating in various development works, KTR exuded confidence that Chief Minister KCR will set a record by becoming the chief minister for a third consecutive term.

The BRS leader, who is son of KCR, appealed to people to vote for BRS in the coming elections to help to continue the growth of Telangana.

KTR, who unveiled the statue of the legendary actor and former chief minister late N.T. Rama Rao (NTR) in Khammam, said that NTR brought pride to the Telugu people in the country, and now, CM KCR is making the entire nation look at Telangana with astonishment.

Paying tributes to NTR, the BRS leader said he was a great actor and a leader, but could not become a hat-trick CM.

His follower KCR will become a hat-trick CM with all the love and support from people and blessings of NTR, said KTR.

KCR was with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) floated by NTR before launching Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2001 to fight for statehood to Telangana.

As NTR is revered by Telugu masses even 27 years after his death and united Khammam district is considered culturally close to Andhra Pradesh, KTR invoked the legendary actor to seek votes for the party in the coming elections.

The BRS leader recalled how NTR, by portraying the characters of Hindu gods, enjoyed the status of a demigod among Telugu masses.

He said he was fortunate to have the opportunity to unveil his statue.

KTR said that he considers lucky to be named as Taraka Rama Rao and remarked that there is some power in the name Taraka Rama.

Attacking the Congress party at the meeting, the BRS working president ridiculed their six guarantees and said: "The Congress is functioning under three commands - low command in Telangana, new command in Bengaluru, and high command in Delhi. They don't have any coordination among themselves."

He also said that the Congress' warranty has expired, and their guarantees should not be taken seriously. While expressing apprehensions on six guarantees, KTR said if Congress is given a chance to govern, three things would happen for the guarantee, and that included -- a three-hour power supply in a day, a change of CM every year, and a lot of scams in the state.
New Delhi, Sep 30 : A day after Congress leader Archana Gautam and her father were allegedly heckled outside the party headquarters here, the Uttar Pradesh Congress on Saturday suspended her from the primary membership of the party for six years.

The state unit's Disciplinary Committee, in an order on Saturday, said that Gautam has been suspended from the primary membership of the party for a period of six years.

It also said that a show cause notice was served to her for indiscipline on May 31 this year and she was asked to reply within a week but did not.

The development comes a day after she and her father were allegedly manhandled when they tried to enter the party headquarters here on Friday afternoon. According to the actress, she wanted to meet party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and President Mallikarjun Kharge to congratulate them on the passing of the Womenas Bill in Parliament last week.

A viral video of the politician on social media showed her asking for 'help' outside Congress party office. In the video Gautam and her father can be seen surrounded by people, who allegedly prevented her from entering the party office, and allegedly misbehaved with her.

Gautam was fielded as Congress candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Hastinapur Assembly seat in the 2022 elections but lost.
New Delhi, Sep 30 : Two employees of a businessman, returning to their office after collecting cash, were robbed of Rs 17 lakh by three bike-borne assailants in west Delhi, police said on Saturday.

According to police, Rishabh Gupta, who has a business in Karol Bagh area, had sent two of his employees to collect some cash from the business establishment of his acquaintance at Lawrence Road Industrial Area.

"As per the employees, after collecting cash of Rs 17 lakh, when they reached the Railway Bridge underpass near Rohtak Road, they were overpowered by three persons on a bike and their bag of cash was taken away from them," said a senior police official.

"An FIR under appropriate sections of law is being registered at Punjabi Bagh police station and teams have been formed to trace the offenders," the official added.
New Delhi, Sep 30 : Lokesh Sriwas, who was arrested in Chhattisgarh in connection with the sensational heist in Delhi wherein jewellery worth over Rs 20 crore was burgled, had bought a disc cutter machine and hammer, along with a screwdriver and pliers.

Sriwas (31), a.k.a Golu, was apprehended in Bhilai for his alleged involvement in the theft of gold and diamond jewellery from Umrao Singh Jewellers. According to the police, preliminary investigations suggested that he carried out the entire operation single-handedly, spanning an 18-hour period.

His entry into the store occurred at approximately 10.45 p.m. on September 24, and he exited around 5 p.m. the following day.

The theft went unnoticed until Tuesday morning as the market area was closed on Monday.

Additionally, CCTV footage from inside the shop, captured before it was disconnected, reveals the presence of a masked individual on the ground floor.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Deo said that before committing the crime, Lokesh had bought a disc cutter machine and a hammer.

"He also brought screwdriver and pliers," said the DCP, adding that before committing the crime he did a recce on September 9, 17 and 21.

Meanwhile, Lokesh a.k.a. Lokeshwar Sriwas, a resident of Kailash Nagar near Vivekanand School Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh, who was nabbed on Friday, was produced before the CJM court in Bilaspur court, Chhattisgarh on Saturday.

Delhi Police Sub-Inspector Jitendra, the investigating officer from Hazrat Nizamuddin police station in Delhi, also filed an application to secure custody of the recovered stolen property and requested Transit Remand.

As per police, Lokesh was staying in Rajdhani guest house in Chandni Chowk from September 21 to the day of crime.

On September 25, at around 9 p.m, he took a bus from Kashmere Gate to Sagar (MP).

This request was presented before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Manish Kumar Dubey. Concurrently, the Civil Lines police station in Bilaspur also submitted an application for a five-day police custody remand.

Following a thorough presentation of arguments from both parties, the CJM Court granted a three-day police custody remand for the accused, Lokesh, to the Bilaspur Police.

Additionally, the court requested a response from the Station House Officer (SHO) of Civil Lines police station, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, regarding the transfer of custody for the recovered stolen property to the Delhi Police.

Lokesh gained notoriety for his ingenuity in surreptitiously gaining access to targeted shops, employing a portable drill as his tool of choice.

His criminal activities date back to 2006 when he embarked on a solo journey, primarily targeting small jewellery stores in his hometown of Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh.

Over time, he expanded his operations to include states such as Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and now, Delhi.

By 2010, due to his involvement in approximately six burglary cases within his home district, he was declared an externed criminal and prohibited from entering the boundaries of his native region.
New Delhi, Sep 30 : Police acted to disperse a gathering both inside and outside a banquet hall in north Delhi in response to a report of a suspected religious conversion, a senior police official said on Saturday.

According to a senior police officer, a police control room call was received at 9:13 p.m at Wazirabad police station regarding gathering of people and religious conversion taking place following which a police team was dispatched to the spot.

However, when the police team reached the spot, it was revealed that a birthday party of a six-year-old child was organised at the venue which was attended by around 50 to 60 people.

"There were around 50 to 60 people inside the banquet hall and around 300 to 400 people were outside. The situation was tense at that time. The people present inside and outside were asked to immediately disperse.

"Five to six people from outside the banquet hall were detained and later released when the crowd was dispersed. No matter of religious conversion has come into the notice so far," said the official.

However, an enquiry has been initiated under ACP Timarpur and the statements of people present in the birthday party are being registered. "Police are also asking the people who made PCR calls to register their statements. The videos of the birthday party are also being checked as part of the probe. Accordingly, necessary legal action would be initiated," the official added.
Four arrested for beating man to death in Delhi. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Sep 30 : Lokesh Sriwas, who was arrested in Chhattisgarh in connection with the sensational heist in Delhi wherein jewellery worth over Rs 20 crore was burgled, had bought a disc cutter machine and hammer, along with a screwdriver and pliers to single-handedly carry out an 18-hour-long nefarious job.

Sriwas (31), a.k.a Golu, was apprehended in Bhilai for his alleged involvement in the theft of gold and diamond jewellery from Umrao Singh Jewellers.

According to the police, preliminary investigations suggested that he carried out the entire operation single-handedly, spanning an 18-hour period.

His entry into the store occurred at approximately 10.45 p.m. on September 24, and he exited around 5 p.m. the following day.

The theft went unnoticed until Tuesday morning as the market area was closed on Monday. Additionally, CCTV footage from inside the shop, captured before it was disconnected, reveals the presence of a masked individual on the ground floor.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Deo said that before committing the crime, Lokesh had bought a disc cutter machine and a hammer.

"He also brought screwdriver and pliers with himself from his native town," said the DCP, adding that before committing the crime he did a recce on September 9, 17 and 21.

According to call details records of Lokesh, on September 9, he did recce of the jewellery shop in Jangpura at around 11.15 a.m.

"On September 10 and 12, he stayed in Chandni Chowk. Then in the late hours of September 12, he took the train for Mathura Vrindavan. He came back to Delhi on September 15 and stayed up to September 17 in Delhi," said a senior police officer.

"On September 17, he again left Delhi to MP via bus from Kashmiri gate. On September 21, at around 7.33 p.m., Lokesh came to Delhi at Sarai Kale Khan via NH-2 and on the same day at 9.18 p.m., he came to Jangpura," said the official.

On September 25, at 9.01 p.m., he took a bus from Kashmere Gate to Sagar (Madhya Pradesh).

As per the police, Lokesh was staying in Rajdhani guest house in Chandni Chowk from September 21 to the day of crime.

Meanwhile, Lokesh a.k.a. Lokeshwar Sriwas, a resident of Kailash Nagar near Vivekanand School Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh, who was nabbed on Friday, was produced before the CJM court in Bilaspur court, Chhattisgarh on Saturday evening.

Delhi Police Sub-Inspector Jitendra, the investigating officer from Hazrat Nizamuddin police station in Delhi, also filed an application to secure custody of the recovered stolen property and requested Transit Remand.

This request was presented before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Manish Kumar Dubey. Concurrently, the Civil Lines police station in Bilaspur also submitted an application for a five-day police custody remand. Following a thorough presentation of arguments from both parties, the CJM Court granted a three-day police custody remand for the accused, Lokesh, to the Bilaspur Police.

Additionally, the court requested a response from the Station House Officer (SHO) of Civil Lines police station, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, regarding the transfer of custody for the recovered stolen property to the Delhi Police.

Lokesh gained notoriety for his ingenuity in surreptitiously gaining access to targeted shops, employing a portable drill as his tool of choice.

His criminal activities date back to 2006 when he embarked on a solo journey, primarily targeting small jewellery stores in his hometown of Kabirdham in Chhattisgarh.

Over time, he expanded his operations to include states such as Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and now, Delhi.

By 2010, due to his involvement in approximately six burglary cases within his home district, he was declared an externed criminal and prohibited from entering the boundaries of his native region.
Raipur, Sep 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Congress accusing it of being anti-backward, and "hating" the poor, Dalits, tribals, and OBCs, while his BJP works for ensure social justice to ensure everyone's participation.

Addressing a poll rally in Bilaspur in tribals and OBC-dominated Chhattisgarh, he said: "Congress hates Modi because towards they are shocked as to how this person coming from a backward section of the society became the Prime Minister. They had a reservation on the PMas chair. Thatas why they are not stopping from abusing the entire backward society in the name of Modi. Congress leaders think that even if they abuse this society, nothing will happen.

He also brought up the issue of the former Congress President Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 defamation case, calling it another example of the Congressa "hatred" for the OBCs.

"Court punishes them for OBCs, yet they are not ready to change. This is an example of how much hatred there is for OBCs," he claimed.

Meanwhile, he also cited the examples of the presidential candidates fielded by the BJP during its two terms - Ramnath Kovind, who hails from a Scheduled Caste (SC) community, and the current President Droupadi Murmu, a tribal woman. Addressing the BJP's Parivartan Yatras in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, Modi attacked the Bhupesh Baghel-led government in the state over issues such as corruption.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 1 : Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on Saturday congratulated Mohamed Muizzu for winning the Presidential election.

Foreign Minister of Maldives Abdulla Shahid in a post on 'X', said: "Congratulations to President-elect Dr Mohamed Muizzu for winning the Presidential Election 2023."

He said: "Many congratulations and much gratitude to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, for the many seeds of hope he had sown over the last 5 years, which will surely reap much prosperity for our country and people."

Parliament Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed congratulated Muizzu on his second round victory.

"Marhaba President-elect Dr. Muizzu," he wrote in a post on 'X'.

Even President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who contested against Muizzu also congratulated him and said: "Congratulations to the winner of the presidential election Muizzu. Thank you for the beautiful democratic example shown by the people in the elections. Thank you to the MDP and AP members who worked together and to all the people who voted for me."

The pro-India incumbent President Solih, has trailed Muizzu, the mayor of the capital, Male, who has pushed for stronger ties with China.

Interestingly, the election was a virtual referendum on which regional power - India or China - will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

Solih was seeking a second five-year term and he championed an "India first" policy during his time in power and focused on building relations with its powerful neighbour, while the coalition backing Muizzu by contrast launched an "India out" campaign.

Muizzu came in the election fray with support from pro-China former President Abdulla Yameen, who was banned from contesting the election by the Supreme Court in August this year following a conviction for corruption and money laundering.
MEXICO CITY, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Friday described an amendment passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to combat fentanyl trafficking in Mexico as "politicking."

Lopez Obrador argued in his daily press conference that U.S. legislators are resorting to "vile and typical propaganda" with the U.S. 2024 presidential election approaching.

The president said that instead of "politicking," U.S. lawmakers should develop a comprehensive support plan for countries with economic and social problems to reduce migration flows.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment to the State Department's budget on Thursday that would reduce certain programs for helping Mexico combat fentanyl trafficking, according to media reports.

Lopez Obrador added that U.S. politicians should also address the problems youth face in the United States that lead them to resort to illicit drugs.

"That is what they should be doing, not blaming us," the president said from the National Palace in Mexico City. 
Ayodhya, Oct 1 : Headmaster of a primary school in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya district was arrested for allegedly indulging in inappropriate acts with a Class 5 student.

An official said that resident of a village under Baba Bazar police station area of Mawai alleged that his daughter was stopped by Principal Rizwan Ahmed after the school ended and the accused committed obscene acts with the girl.

The police lodged an FIR under relevants sections of the IPC against the accused and arrested him.

The Basic Siksha Adhikari (BSA) has ordered immediate suspension of the principal and initiated an internal inquiry into the matter.

Investigation into the matter is underway.
Guwahati, Oct 1 : The governments of Assam and Meghalaya have decided to ask the CBI to take over the investigation into the 2022 Mukroh violence along the contentious interstate line, which had left six people dead.

Following negotiations to settle the interstate border dispute, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalayan counterpart Conrad Sangma told the reporters that both states had decided to close their respective judicial commissions looking into the Mukroh incident.

"We have decided to dissolve our respective judicial commissions looking into the Mukroh tragedy as a confidence-boosting step. As a substitute, both state governments would now request that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) look into the situation," Sarma said.

He stated that the central agency will be asked to record the complaint in a neutral area, like as Delhi, Kolkata, or any other location, rather than in either Guwahati or Shillong.

"As neither side has been able to make much headway because the witnesses of either state have not traveled to the other side to testify before the commission of that state, it has been decided to dissolve the separate judicial commissions.

"We demand a thorough, unbiased investigation. Therefore, we chose to refer it to a separate organisation, namely the CBI," the Meghalaya Chief Minister added.

On November 22 last year, six persons were killed in gunfire in Mukroh along a contentious portion of the Assam-Meghalaya interstate boundary, including five inhabitants of Meghalaya and a forest guard from Assam.
Bengaluru : Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and other leaders participate in an event organised to mark the International Day of Democracy. Image Source: IANS News

Bengaluru, Oct 1 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the Congress is the only national party that cherishes the value of the Constitution as its value.

He spoke after inaugurating the newly constructed Beary Souharda Bhavan in the HBR layout in Bengaluru on Saturday.

The diversity and unity of India cannot be seen in other countries. If there is no harmony and harmony between different cultures, there can be no peace in that country or society.

He said that a country cannot develop without peace.

"Those who sow mistrust and hatred towards each other will bring the downfall of this country. Our Constitution upholds secularism and harmony," he said.

He said the Congress is the only national party that celebrates the value of the Constitution as its value.

Karnataka Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader, Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, Energy Minister K.J. George, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, CM's Political Secretary Naseer Ahmed, Vidhana Parishat Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed, Beary's Souharda Samiti's Syed Muhammad Beary and others were also present on the occasion.
New Delhi, Oct 1 : Thirty-two students from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Armed Forces Preparatory School in Delhi have cleared the National Defence Academy (NDA) written examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lauded the students, saying it is "nothing short of a miracle".

During a meeting with these students at his camp office on Saturday, Kejrwal said: "Last year, we opened this school to prepare children for careers in the armed forces. This year, 32 students from this school have passed the NDA exam. These children will become officers, and I believe their success is nothing short of a miracle."

The Chief Minister stressed on the significance of their role in serving the country, stating: "You have the opportunity to do something remarkable for our nation. Embrace the challenges that come your way, always be prepared, and serve our country with dedication."

The success of the school -- inaugurated by Kejriwal on August 27, 2022 -- is even more astonishing considering it's the institution's inaugural batch. Kejriwal credited the school's authorities, teachers, and trainers for molding the students into "exemplary candidates within a short span".

"This school sets a precedent in Delhi. It paves the way for our youth to join the armed forces, and it's evident from this achievement that Delhi is now contributing officers to our nation's defence," he added.

UPSC conducts the NDA written examination biannually, with eligible candidates advancing to the Service Selection Board (SSB) for final selection. The school's students, motivated by their success, now aim to excel in the SSB exam as well.

Kejriwal further emphasised the "uniqueness" of this school in providing Delhi students with the opportunity to join the NDA. He expressed confidence that this success would contribute to sending more high-quality officers to the Indian Army from Delhi.

Education Minister Atishi also congratulated the students on their success, highlighting the dedication and hard work that led to this exceptional result.

She said: "Our children have achieved remarkable results in just one year, thanks to their determination and the support of our teachers and staff. Joining the Armed Forces is a noble dream, and these students are making it a reality."

The students explained the rigorous preparation required for the NDA exam, which involves 12 subjects, with 9 of them being external subjects. They expressed gratitude for the school's support, including UPSC classes, special classes, and a structured plan that helped them excel.
New Delhi, Oct 1 : Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena has given approval for the contribution of Rs 10 crore from the L-G/CM Relief Fund to the Himachal Disaster Relief Fund.

The development has come after a meeting between Saxena and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu during the recent Northern Zonal Council meeting in Amritsar.

During the meeting, Sukhu discussed the extensive damage caused by recent unprecedented floods in Himachal Pradesh and the need for assistance in dealing with the aftermath.

This proposal received the endorsement and support of Delhi's Finance Minister Atishi and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The L-G/CM Relief Fund, established in accordance with Rule 5 of the L-G/CM Relief Fund, 1994, is intended for providing relief to individuals affected by natural calamities like floods, droughts, earthquakes, and similar disasters.

The allocation of assistance is based on the merits of each case, with payments exceeding Rs 20,000 requiring the approval of both the Lt Governor and the Chief Minister.
RAMALLAH, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Israeli army on Friday killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh, Palestinian medical and security sources said.

"Mohammed Jibril Ramana died due to serious injuries sustained by Israeli army's live bullets," the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The ministry added that another man was slightly injured in the incident.

Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli army fired live bullets at two young men at the entrance to Psagot settlement in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh.

Israeli army's spokesman Avichai Adraee said in a statement that Israeli forces fired bullets at Palestinians who threw Molotov cocktails towards a military post adjacent to the community of Psagot.

"Soldiers conducting routine activity at the scene identified the suspects and responded with live fire. Two assailants were neutralized and transferred to receive medical treatment," Adraee added.

No casualties were reported among the Israeli soldiers, Adraee noted.

Since January, 33 people, most of them Israelis, have been killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians, and more than 200 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers, according to official figures. 
Former Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova said in an interview with Xinhua that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is much more than economic infrastructure.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service




Europa Brings Iranian Exiles Epic Home Europa Editions editor-in-chief Michael Reynolds has acquired world rights to Iranian novelist Shokoofeh Azars highly anticipated new novel The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen. Azars 2020 Europa debut, The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, was a finalist for the International Booker Prize and the National Book Award for Translated Literature. A former newspaper reporter in Iran, Azar has lived in exile in Australia since 2011. Europa said Gowkaran Tree is a magical realist story that spans five decades in Iran, from the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the 2022 Jina Revolution. The deal was handled by Victoria Chylek at Authors Legal. The book is set for a fall 2024 publication.

New Housemaid Goes to Poisoned Pen

Jenna Jankowski at Sourcebooks has acquired world English print rights to Frieda McFaddens The Housemaid Is Watching for the companys Poisoned Pen Press imprint. The new installment in McFaddens bestselling Housemaid series will follow housemaid Millie, this time as she moves to a peaceful suburb with her family in an attempt to leave her dark past behind. But danger lurks in this seemingly perfect neighborhood, Poisoned Pen said. Christina Hogrebe at the Jane Rotrosen Agency brokered the agreement (with digital and audio rights going to Ellen Gleeson at Bookouture).

Putnam Signs Stapleys Nom de Plume

Putnam executive editor Tara Singh Carlson has acquired world rights to The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by bestselling author Marissa Stapley, writing under the new pseudonym Julia McKay. The two-book deal was handled by Samantha Haywood at Transatlantic Agency. Stapleys 2021 novel, Lucky (published under her name), was a Reeses Book Club pick. Putnam said The Holiday Honeymoon Switch tells the tale of two best friends. After one is left at the altar on her wedding day, she trades her upcoming Hawaiian honeymoon for the others Christmas cabin getaway, and both find love they werent expecting. The book is slated for fall 2024.

Harper Wins Kistlers Shell Games

Sara Nelson at Harper acquired North American rights to Bonnie Kistlers latest psychological thriller, Shell Games. Kistler was represented by Jennifer Weltz at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. Harper described the book as a tense psychological thriller that follows a billionaire property developer whose new husband confesses to an infamous unsolved crime on their wedding nightthen claims the next day it was all in her imagination. Publication is set for July 2024.

Kaminskis Outsiders Fit In at LB Spark

In an exclusive submission, editorial director Talia Krohn at Little, Brown Spark acquired world rights to psychiatrist Rami Kaminskis The Power of Outsiders: How to Thrive on the Margins of a World Obsessed with Belonging. The deal was handled by Beth Davey at Davey Literary & Media. Kaminskis book explains why those considered outsiders are often misunderstood, Davey said, and aims to reveal all the ways outsiders contribute to the world. The book is set for a January 2025 publication.

NPR Host Tells Family Story to Flatiron

Lee Oglesby at Flatiron Books acquired world rights to journalist, NPR host, and bestselling author Celeste Headlees Freedoms Daughters at auction. The book, Flatiron said, tells the story of Headlees great-grandmother Carrie Still Shepperson and the postCivil War generation of Black women who championed literacy and education as the foundations of freedom. The deal was negotiated by Heather Jackson at her eponymous agency. Publication is planned for spring 2026.
Banned Books Week 2023 kicks off on Sunday, and will run a full slate of events every day through October 7. The ALA's Intellectual Freedom Blog has a roundup of official Banned Books Week events, which this year will culminate with Let Freedom Read Day on Saturday, October 7, billed as the first ever Banned Books Week day of action, in which advocates will be encouraged to take such actions as call or write to local leaders and decision makers or buy or check out banned books.

For more than 40 years, ALAs Banned Books Week has spotlighted attempts to censor books in libraries and schools, uniting librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers in support of free expression through a host of events. And this year, Banned Books Week comes at a crucial moment. Recent reports from the ALA and PEN America show that books challenges, fueled by an organized right wing political movement, are continuing to surge.

PEN America has also announced its Banned Books Week programs and initiatives. "With school book bans surging 33% over the past school year, this years Banned Books Week, Oct. 1-7, is being marked with greater urgency to reverse a growing crisis that is erasing ideas and topics in classrooms and libraries and silencing authors, especially underrepresented writers who are in the cross-hairs of censorship," a release reads.

As has the National Coalition Against Censorship: With the continued rise of book censorship, there has never been a more critical time to rise up together in support of free expression and keep the censors at bay, said NCAC executive director Lee Rowland in a release announcing the organization's slate of events.

Meanwhile, the Digital Public Library of America is taking the occasion of Banned Books Week to remind librarians of its digital Banned Book Club, which utilizes GPS-based geo-targeting to show readers books that have been banned in their area and makes e-book versions available to borrow. All that is required from readers is the Palace App (the DPLA's free e-reading application) and a free virtual library card, which users can sign up for via the app.

Very interesting data here: the EveryLibrary Institute (the companion research organization to the EveryLibrary national political action committee) released a new survey this week, conducted with Book Riot, that explores parent perceptions of book bans. The good news: 67% of respondents agreed that banning books is a waste of time, and 74% agreed that book bans infringe on their right to make decisions for their children. Titled the Public Libraries and Book Bans: Parent Perception Survey, the effort gathered insights from 853 parents and guardians with children under 18 during September 2023. "The survey asked parents and guardians to share their experiences and opinions about book bans, their trust in libraries and their understanding of librarians' book selection process, and their feelings on sensitive subjects in children's books, such as sex, LGBTQ+ characters and themes, race, and social justice issues in reading and literature."

In addition this week, EveryLibrary announced the appointment of author Julia Quinn as their first National Ambassador for 2023-2024. Quinn, an award-winning author, has written over 35 novels, graphic novels, and novellas, including the bestselling Bridgerton novels, which has become a hit Netflix series. Quinn will use her platform to fight against book banning. Our right to read freely is under attack, and I cannot sit on the sidelines," she said, in a release.

At Book Riot, Danika Ellis handles this week's censorship news roundup, leading with coverage of the site's parent survey with EveryLibrary, focusing for this week on the positive findings. "One of the most clear and decisive responses in this survey was to the question of whether parents and guardians feel their children are safe at the library. For all the fear-mongering about 'pornography' in the kids section or librarians as 'groomers,' 92% said they do feel their kids are safe at the library," Ellis writes. "If you watch the school board meetings that go viral online, youd think children in libraries are constantly being bombarded by explicit or upsetting material. Instead, two-thirds of respondents said that their child has never checked out a book that made them (the parent) or the child uncomfortable."

 If you watch the school board meetings that go viral online, youd think children in libraries are constantly being bombarded by explicit or upsetting material. Instead, two-thirds of respondents said that their child has never checked out a book that made them (the parent) or the child uncomfortable. 

Also conveniently timed for Banned Books Week, the Daily Caller reports on a scathing August 21 letter by South Carolina State Library agency director Leesa Aiken pulling the state library out of ALA. Among her complaints, Aiken accuses ALA of being "tone deaf" in defending the freedom to read: "ALA's hyper-focus on groups of people at the exclusion of others has been problematic for Libraries, and has hindered their ability to engage with all members of their communities and government representatives."

Aiken's letter was written just days after the South Carolina Freedom Caucus urged her to withdraw the state library from ALA. And in case you're wondering who the South Carolina Freedom Caucus (and apparently the state library) thinks is being "excluded" from libraries (apparently at the urging of by ALA), it's pretty much right there in their letter, which cites "the ALA's deliberate hostility toward religious Americans and its obsession with the promotion of gender ideology to children." The letter goes on to accuse ALA of "the facilitation of drag queen story hours, the promotion of sexual content and gender ideology targeted to children, and the codification of the leftist social control mechanisms of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and critical race theory."

In the Washington Post, Hannah Natanson profiles "serial" book challenger Jennifer Petersen. "Petersen, 48, is part of a small army of book objectors nationwide. School book challenges reached historic highs in America in 2021 and 2022, according to the American Library Association. And just a handful of people are driving those records. A Washington Post analysis of thousands of challenges nationwide found that 60 percent of all challenges in the 2021-2022 school year came from 11 adults, each of whom objected to dozenssometimes close to 100of books in their districts," the article notes.

In Florida, independent journalist Judd Legum's Popular Information reports that librarians in Charlotte County were instructed by the school district superintendent to remove all books with LGBTQ characters or themes from school and classroom libraries: "The guidance made clear that all books with LGBTQ characters are to be removed even if the book contained no sexually explicit content."

In Wyoming, via the Cowboy State Daily, news that the other shoe has finally dropped: popular, longtime library director Terri Lesley is suing after she was abruptly fired for not pulling books from library shelves. "Terri Lesley on Wednesday filed a 44-page civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming against Hugh and Susan Bennett, and their son Kevin Bennett. The complaint accuses the Bennetts of targeting allies of a protected class (LGBTQ people), of conspiring to violate Lesleys rights, of defaming Lesley and of inflicting emotional distress upon her," the lengthy, very detailed report notes.

The Bennetts were reportedly outspoken critics of Lesley's for refusing to pull books they believed inappropriate from library shelves: "The controversy over sexually graphic and LGBTQ-themed books in the Campbell County Public Library System, specifically the Gillette branch, began in 2021 and culminated in the library board firing Lesley on July 28, after Lesley refused to move contested books from the juveniles sections to adult sections."

The local Post Star reports on an all-too-familiar story these days: library staff being harassed. "The trouble started with the announcement of a scheduled drag queen story hour, which was supposed to take place at the library in April," the report notes. "Beginning the week after the event was announced on the librarys Facebook page...calls started coming in from people expressing very angry, and hate-filled opinions."

Via Gothamist, lawmakers are weighing action after a Brooklyn Public Library branch faced a bomb threat over a Drag Story Hour. "The discussions will take place days after a false bomb threat forced people to abandon a Drag Story Hour NYC event on Saturday in Brooklyn. 'I dont like the notion of putting fear into people over something that is so innocent: reading a story,' Councilmember Rita Joseph, who represents the Brooklyn district where the incident took place, said."

And finally this week, at Library Journal, Claire Kelly has a piece questioning private equity firm KKR's ownership of OverDrive in the wake of its successful bid to acquire Big Five publisher Simon & Schuster. "Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director at the Open Markets Institute, an anti-monopoly research and advocacy group based in Washington, DC, believes there is more cause for concern," the piece notes. "If the acquisition goes through, KKR funds will own two parts of the publishing ecosystem, with significant market share, that do business with each othera book publisher and a library e-book lending platform. As a result, Vaheesan expects a careful analysis of the acquisition by federal regulators."

The Week in Libraries is a weekly opinion and news column. News, tips, submissions, questions or comments are welcome, and can be submitted via email. Previous columns can be viewed here.
Remember when Banned Books Week used to be billed as a celebration of the freedom to read? This year, Banned Books Week (running October 17) will once again be more like a call to arms, as new surveys and reports show that a well-organized right-wing political movement is continuing to drive record numbers of book bans across the nation.

In a September 19 release, the ALAs Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) reported 695 attempts to censor library materials between January 1 and August 31and while thats up only slightly from the 681 documented attempts at this point last year, the number of unique titles challenged jumped an eye-opening 20%, with 1,915 targeted compared to 1,651 in 2022. The rise in unique titles challenged is consistent with the rise of organized political groups using shared lists for bulk book challenges, ALA explained. Prior to 2021, more than 90% of challenges tracked by ALA came from individuals objecting to single titles. In 2023, that has now flipped: 90% of the books challenged were part of an attempt to censor multiple titles.

The data also suggests that the surge in book bans is moving from school libraries to public libraries. Challenges to books in public libraries accounted for nearly half of the challenges (49%) thus far in 2023, compared to 16% during the same reporting period in 2022.

For more than 40 years, the ALAs Banned Books Week has spotlighted attempts to censor books in libraries and schools, uniting librarians, booksellers, publishers, and readers in support of free expression. Reading advocate, writer, and actor LeVar Burton is leading this years Banned Books Week as honorary chair. And the event, which features the customary array of solid programming, will culminate with Let Freedom Read Day on Saturday, October 7billed by ALA as the first Banned Books Week day of action. Advocates will be encouraged to call or write to local leaders, and buy and check out banned books.

 The data also suggests that the surge in book bans is moving from school libraries to public libraries. 

Were still very much in the midst of an organized campaign undertaken by people who absolutely want to censor whole genres of books because they dont fit their moral or political agenda, ALAs Deborah Caldwell Stone said. Were also at a time when certain advocacy groups are attacking the very idea of the public library.

Meanwhile, in another report, Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor, PEN America found 3,362 instances of books banned in public schools in the 20222023 school yeara 33% increase over the previous year. School book bans continue to spread through coordinated campaigns by a vocal minority of groups and individual actors and, increasingly, as a result of pressure from state legislation, the report found. Citing hyperbolic and misleading rhetoric about porn in schools, sexually explicit, harmful, and age inappropriate materials, the report points out that the vast majority of books banned involve race or the LGBTQ community. And more than 40% of all book bans tracked by PEN America occurred in school districts in Florida (1,406). Texas was a distant second (625).

Together, the pressure exerted by advocacy groups and the demands of newly passed state legislation are having a profound chilling effect on the availability of books in public schools, the report concluded.
A policeman stands guard at a police check-post due to security alert in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on Sept. 30, 2023. An explosion that hit a religious gathering in Mastung district of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday left 50 people dead and at least 50 others injured, Pakistani police and health officials said.(Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Friday's two separate terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

"We very much condemn the terrorist attacks that took place in Pakistan, killing more than 50 people. The people responsible need to be held to account," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN chief, when asked for Guterres' reaction to the attacks.

The fact that these killings took place during religious ceremonies makes them even more heinous. It is even more horrific to target people as they go about a peaceful religious ceremony, said the spokesman.

An explosion that hit a religious gathering in Mastung district of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday left 50 people dead and at least 50 others injured, Pakistani police and health officials said.

The explosion, believed to be a suicide attack, occurred near a mosque when people were gathering to celebrate Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

In a separate attack on Friday, five people were killed and 10 others injured when a suicide explosion took place inside a mosque in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 

A policeman stops a vehicle at a police check-post due to security alert in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on Sept. 30, 2023. An explosion that hit a religious gathering in Mastung district of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday left 50 people dead and at least 50 others injured, Pakistani police and health officials said.(Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)

A policeman checks a vehicle at a police check-post due to security alert in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on Sept. 30, 2023. An explosion that hit a religious gathering in Mastung district of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday left 50 people dead and at least 50 others injured, Pakistani police and health officials said.(Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal)
When disaster strikes, nations instinctively accept any and all forms of help. Moroccos recent crisis response, however, deviated from this norm.

In the wake of a devastating earthquake that struck Morocco in early September, the country made headlines not just for the tragedy it suffered but also for its unconventional approach to international aid. Rather than accepting all assistance offers, the Moroccan government chose to be selective. Moroccos quality-over-quantity approach to disaster relief provides a framework of discretion and intentionality that other aid-recipient nations should follow.

The Moroccan government ignored offers from countries like France and its neighbour, Algeria, accepting offers from only four countriesSpain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Each of these sent rescue teams to the areas affected by the earthquake. Offers for aid were selected only after the Moroccan government carried out a precise assessment of the needs on site.

According to Moroccan authorities, by being selective, the government aims to control and coordinate the type of assistance coming into the country. A lack of coordination in such cases would be counterproductive noted one representative. This bespoke approach ensures that the assistance received is immediately effective, mitigates duplication of efforts, and minimises the waste of resources.

While Morocco is in desperate need of international assistance, a blanket acceptance of all forms of aid can cause logistical nightmares, resulting in uncoordinated and ineffective efforts. One such case is Haiti, which received billions of dollars in foreign aid following a devastating earthquake that struck the country in 2010. The aid allocation was marred with mismanagement, leaving many survivors without relief more than a decade later.

Reports from Morocco indicate the government has deployed its resources effectively, an outstanding result stemming from an intentional and upstanding government. From the first moments following the building collapse, intervention from the royal armed forces and local authorities made efforts quicker than expected. Within 48 hours of the earthquake, a road leading to the earthquake-affected area was reopened, easing aid delivery to the region.

Within three days, Moroccan leader Muhammad VI set up a national solidarity fund to receive voluntary donations from the whole country to channel aid to the survivors.

While Moroccos policy makes sense in terms of resource allocation, it also has a sociocultural impact. By selectively adopting aid, the government incentivizes local initiatives and community participation in relief efforts. This approach not only fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment among citizens, but also guarantees that aid is dispensed in a manner sensitive to local customs and traditions.

Young volunteers from across the country are coordinating help from the citizens to the victims who desperately need it. A report indicates that this grassroots effort is getting supplies to those in need faster than official help in many areas. According to a European Commission report, community participation in aid programs like those we are seeing in Morocco can significantly increase their effectiveness.

Although Moroccos cautious, local approach has attracted some criticism, the Moroccan government has only accepted aid catered to its specific needs and priorities. In doing so, they have avoided the pitfalls that ensnare nations that take foreign aid regardless of the needs of their countries.

Foreign Aid Dilemma

For years, economists like Dambisa Moyo and Kingsley Moghalu have argued emphatically against the effectiveness of foreign aid. They cite the trillions of dollars sent to the African continent over the past decade to show that donations to irresponsible governments have little to no effect.

Between 2015 and 2020 alone, Sub-Saharan African countries received $308.35 billion in donations. Yet its not clear that all this money has made an impact

A case study by Mary Izobo, a lawyer and governance expert, found that despite receiving significant amounts of foreign aid, Botswana and Somalia have seen few improvements in socio-economic or political development. This is attributed to bad governance, high levels of corruption, and a lack of governmental accountability.

A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that uncoordinated aid allocation creates duplication of aid, a situation where multiple donors provide similar kinds of assistance. This results in substantial bureaucratic costs by the recipient. Economists argue that the positive impact of aid on economic growth lessens as the volume of aid rises, due to high risk of corruption and dependence on foreign assistance. This is why an aid-selective manner like that of Morocco should be a model for African nations to follow.

Selectivity in accepting aid can, of course, be a double-edged sword. The immediate needs during a crisis may demand a less discerning policy. Critics argue that Moroccos selectivity is politically motivated and could slow down the response time in dire situations.

However, a few weeks after the earthquake disaster, citizens and observers have praised the effectiveness of Moroccan authorities efforts. One such observer, a former British minister for international trade and minister for Africa, applauded the countrys ability to contain the disaster within a short timeframe.

Moroccos approach serves as a valuable guide for how other aid-recipient nations could revolutionise their own foreign aid strategies. It underscores that in crisis situations, effective governance can be more impactful than merely accumulating foreign aid.

Abdullah Tijani is a journalist and writer from Nigeria. He is a Young Voices contributor and a graduate of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, where he studied Law.
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BEIRUT, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Armed militants withdrew on Friday from the eight UN refugee schools at Ain Al-Helweh camp in southern Lebanon.

The move came as part of a cease-fire adopted earlier this month after the latest wave of violence between members of the Palestinian Fatah movement and Islamic activists in the camp claimed about 20 lives and injured more than 150 since Sept. 7.



This photo taken with a mobile phone shows armed militants withdrawing from a UN refugee school at Ain Al-Helweh camp, in southern Lebanon, on Sept. 29, 2023. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

This photo taken with a mobile phone shows members of a joint Palestinian security force guarding the entrance of a UN refugee school at Ain Al-Helweh camp, in southern Lebanon, on Sept. 29, 2023. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

This photo taken with a mobile phone shows members of a joint Palestinian security force in a UN refugee school at Ain Al-Helweh camp, in southern Lebanon, on Sept. 29, 2023. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

This photo taken with a mobile phone shows a member of a joint Palestinian security force in a UN refugee school at Ain Al-Helweh camp, in southern Lebanon, on Sept. 29, 2023. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
Hitting out at Canada, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said it is necessary to call out things like violence, threats and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions and wondered if this had happened to any other country would the world have taken it with equanimity.

IMAGE: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addresses a gathering at the Hudson Institute, in Washington, DC, September 29, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

"Let's not normalise what is happening in Canada," Jaishankar said during an interaction with Indian journalists in Washington, DC on Friday.

His remarks came amidst simmering tensions with Ottawa following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of the 'potential' involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.

India has angrily rejected the allegations as 'absurd' and 'motivated' and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.

"We have had an ongoing problem with Canada and the Canadian government for some years now. The ongoing problem really revolves around the permissiveness to terrorism, extremism and violence. This permissiveness is also reflected in the fact that some important extradition requests have not been responded to from their side," he said.

"We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission, we have had violence in front of consulates, there are posters put up. Do you consider this normal? If this had happened to any other country, how would they react? Let's not normalise what is happening in Canada. It is important to call out what is happening there," Jaishankar said.

"What is happening in Canada, had it happened anywhere else, do you think the world would've taken it with equanimity?" he asked.

When asked about Trudeau's allegations, he said India has already pointed out to Canada that this is not the government of India's policy.

"But if they are prepared to share with us specifics and anything relevant, we are also open to looking at it. So in that sense, that's where the matter stands," Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar said one of the problems is that no incident is isolated and the totality as there is a context for everything.

"There are multiple problems out there. So, I guess in the case of individual incidents, the concerned governments will have to talk to each other and see how they sort of take it forward," he said.

"But there is a larger issue. And I think it's important that the larger issue should be flagged. The larger issue is this permissiveness that I have spoken about," he said.

He also asserted that it was not acceptable to make threats and intimidate diplomats in the name of freedom of speech.

"We don't need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about. But we can tell people this. We don't think freedom of speech extends to incitement, to violence. That to us is a misuse of freedom," he emphasised.

Jaishankar said he always asks people one question, how would they react if they were in his place?

"If it was your diplomats, your embassies, your people, what would be your reaction?" he asked.

Jaishankar said the entire debate should not focus only on issue one and not on issue two and the bigger picture, which has been going on for some time and which is a very serious picture.

"After all, I was thinking back, when was the last time that any of our missions was intimidated to a point where it could not continue with its normal function? I will have to think back. And if someone says this could happen in a G-7 country, in a commonwealth country, it gives you a lot to think about," Jaishankar said.

On September 21, India suspended visa services for Canadian citizens in view of 'security threats' faced by the Indian High Commission and consulates in Canada.
The Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Vikram Dorwaiswami, who was touring Scotland this week was blocked from entering a gurdwara in the city of Glasgow by pro-Khalistan extremists, an incident the Indian mission dubbed as 'disgraceful' before reporting it to the UK government.

IMAGE: High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo

In a statement issued on Saturday, the High Commission of India in London said that three people from outside Scotland 'deliberately disrupted' the visit on Friday evening, and one even attempted to violently force open the diplomatic vehicle as senior diplomats arrived at Glasgow Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib on Albert Drive.

As they hurled threats and abuses, the High Commissioner (HC) and Consul General of India (CG) decided to leave the premises to avert any further altercation.

'On September 29, 2023, three persons -- all from areas outside Scotland -- disrupted a planned interaction organised by the Gurdwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner (HC) and the Consul General of India (CG)," said the High Commission of India statement.

'This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues. The organisers included senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members, and a member of (the) Scottish Parliament. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival,' it said.

The statement goes on to add that one of three elements attempted to 'violently force open the HC's car door', which will require suitable police consideration.

'It is due to the quick reaction of one of the organisers, who physically intervened at the car door, that a bigger incident was avoided. The High Commission of India has reported this disgraceful incident to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police,' the statement added.

The FCDO Minister for Indo-Pacific took to social media soon after to express her concern over the incident.

'Concerned to see that the Indian High Commissioner, Vikram Doraiswami, was stopped from meeting with the Gurudwara Committee at the Gurudwara in Glasgow. The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance, and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all,' Anne-Marie Trevelyan said in a post on X.

The gurdwara committee and local community leaders have since expressed their regret over the incident and have called on the authorities to take action against the culprits.

The local police said it was called to the 'disturbance', and its enquiries remain ongoing.

"We were called around 1.05 pm on Friday, 29 September, to a report of a disturbance that happened in the Albert Drive area of Glasgow. There were no reports of any injuries, and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances," said a Police Scotland spokesperson.

The incident follows a diplomatic standoff over the issue of pro-Khalistan extremism after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement in the country's Parliament last week that the authorities are 'actively pursuing credible allegations' related to Indian government involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist, allegations which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has strongly rejected as 'absurd and motivated'.

"This is exactly how we should be greeting any Indian ambassador, anyone from the Indian government who comes in an official capacity under any excuse of doing visa applications or whatever it might be," a Sikh man is heard saying in a video posted on social media by a group called Sikh Youth UK following the incident in Glasgow.

The incident came towards the end of a two-day visit of the Indian High Commissioner to Scotland, which involved a series of meetings and discussions with local political leaders, diaspora representatives, business chiefs and university groups.

During his meeting with Scotland's First Minister, Hamza Yousaf, the issue of British Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal in custody on terrorism charges in India was also raised.

'Replying to some issues raised by FM [First Minister Hamza] Yousaf, HC [High Commissioner] stressed that due process is being given under laws to Mr Johal, who faces 8 serious terror charges. FM also 'appreciated' HC's clear message that rights of all communities are guaranteed in India's pluralist and free democracy,' the Indian High Commission tweeted with reference to the meeting.

The Indian mission added that the discussions with Scottish leaders ranged from India-Scotland cooperation in sectors across fintech, sustainable agriculture, tourism and water conservation.

A visit to the Scottish Parliament, a lecture entitled 'India@75' at the University of Edinburgh, an interaction at the University of Strathclyde and a breakfast meeting with leading business chiefs on topics ranging from whisky, aviation, energy, agriculture, green economy, space and investments were part of the packed two-day schedule to the region.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and held a productive conversation with him on deepening bilateral defence cooperation, including in the co-production of defence articles, and exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues.

IMAGE: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Photograph: Kind courtesy @DrSJaishankar on X

He also met Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

After his meeting with Austin at the Pentagon on Friday, Jaishankar posted on X, Productive conversation on our bilateral defence cooperation. Useful exchange on global security challenges.

I was glad to host Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at the Pentagon today to discuss US-India cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region, Austin said.

The Pentagon said the two officials exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues, including recent developments in East Asia and the Indian Ocean region.

Austin and Jaishankar discussed opportunities to deepen bilateral defence cooperation, including expanded defence industrial cooperation and co-production of defence articles; streamlined logistics procedures to enhance operational cooperation; and continued implementation of the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), said Pentagon's Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.

In the meeting with the Commerce Secretary, they appreciated the significant progress in technology collaboration and economic partnership this year.

Agreed to enhance their momentum, Jaishankar said.

A day earlier, he had meetings with National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

He also interacted with the business community over luncheon: on Thursday with the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum and with the US India Business Council (USIBC) on Friday.

'A stimulating meeting today with the US defence industry at @USIBC. Discussed how strategic convergence, technology collaboration and easier-to-do business are coming together to transform our defence partnership,' Jaishankar posted on X.

He also had a chance to meet members of the US Congress and think-tank representatives Washington, DC.

This year, of course, I think, the big event is still in a sense the determining context is our prime minister's visit (in June).

A lot of what we've been doing since then has been to realise the various agreements and understandings that were reached, Jaishankar told Indian reporters at a meeting at the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC.

A lot of our discussions were in stock-taking to assess the progress to see what is it we should be doing more or where is it that has not been the progress matching expectations. We hope now to take that entire process forward into the 2+2 meeting, which will take place a few weeks from now, he said.

We look forward to welcoming secretaries Blinken and Austin to India, he added.

In a statement, USTR said that Tai and Jaishankar took stock of recent developments and positive momentum in the US-India trade relationship following the resolution of seven long-standing disputes at the World Trade Organisation and India's reduction of tariffs on certain US products.

They also discussed their interest in working more constructively on the broader WTO agenda, including reforming the organisation to serve the needs of all people, said the statement.

Tai and Jaishankar shared views on India's important role in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as well as potential sectors for further collaboration on supply chain resilience, including critical minerals, USTR said.

The two leaders agreed to remain in contact on these and other issues as the respective teams continue planning the next meeting of the US-India Trade Policy Forum, it said.

On Saturday, Jaishankar is scheduled to have interaction with eminent Indian Americans from across the country at the India House.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh Saturday iterated that security personnel involved in the 'excessive use of force' against students during a crackdown on a protest rally in Imphal in connection with the alleged killing of two students will be punished.

IMAGE: Students stage a protest against the death of two youths and demand peace in violence-hit Manipur, in Imphal on September 27, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

He appealed to the people to remain united, maintain calm and collectively fight the enemies of the state, which has witnessed ethnic violence.

Expressing shock over the incident in Imphal area which more than 100 students were injured in clashes with security forces on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Singh, who was speaking at the sidelines of a programe here, said, "I am really shocked at the excessive use of force ... at what was done to the children. Ministers of the state have personally met the injured students."

Inquiry is on into the serious injury to the students.

"Those responsible for the extreme injuries will be arrested and be dealt with legally," the chief minister said.

Two students were seriously injured in the clash with the state police and the Rapid Action Force during the two consecutive days.

One of them received more than 40 pellet bullets on his skull fired by security persons and another, 17-year- old L Kishan's shoulder was shattered by pellets fired from a close range, authorities of the hospital where the two are being treated told reporters.

"Rs 50,000 has been provided as financial assistance to the badly injured students for treatment. Hospitals have also been informed that expenses for all their requirements will be borne by the government, including those who need to be taken outside Manipur," the chief minister added.

The crackdown followed the massive protests by students against the alleged killing of two youths who went missing on July 6.

Photos of their bodies went viral on the social media recently triggering the protests and led to the sending of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team from Delhi to the state for enquiry.

"A CBI special director is still in Imphal and investigation is on," Singh said.

Paying his respects to 'Jana Neta' Hijam Irabot, the founder of the Communist party in the state, on his 127th birth anniversary at the programme, he said

"On this day, I want to urge all again to remain calm, stay united and collectively fight the enemies of the state. To come and sit together to resolve all misunderstandings so as to protect the integrity of the state and to live peacefully."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of seeking to divide women in the name of caste and by spreading lies, as he launched a fierce counter-attack on the party over its demand of OBC sub-quota in women's reservation in legislatures.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a rally in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, on September 30, 2023. Photograph: ANI on X

Addressing a large crowd to mark the end of the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'parivartan yatra' in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, he invoked his own OBC background to assert that the country's main opposition hates him and has not stopped abusing the backwards, Dalits and tribals despite its leader being sentenced by court, an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi was convicted by a Gujarat court for his 'Modi surname' remarks. The Supreme Court has stayed the conviction.

As a member from a backward community became prime minister, that is why the Congress dislikes him so much as it believes that the chair was 'reserved' for it, Modi alleged.

"The Congress does not shy from abusing the entire backward community in the name of Modi," he said.

The prime minister also made it all but clear that the BJP will not be projecting any chief ministerial candidate in the state, telling party workers that it has only one leader and one candidate which is 'lotus'.

"We have to win over the heart of every voter at booths," he said, asserting that people have decided to get rid of the Congress government mired in 'corruption' and 'scams' in every scheme.

Turning to the women's reservation law and the opposition's demand for an OBC quota within it, he asked the women to stay united and continue 'blessing' him amid attempts to spread lies and divide them in the name of caste.

The Congress, the prime minister said, is full of anger and has lost its sleep as it seems to the party that mothers and sisters will bless him for this.

"Due to this fear, they (Congress) are playing new games. They want to sow division among our sisters because they know if you remain united, their game is over," he said.

They are working to divide women in the name of caste and resorting to various tactics, he said.

"I want to tell women of Chhattisgarh that this decision (law) will have an impact for thousands of years. It will empower women in every family... You should not fall for their lies and stay united. You maintain your blessings for me so that Modi can fulfil all your dreams," he said.

Modi claimed that opposition parties like the Congress supported the bill in Parliament despite not wanting to do so because of unity and awareness among women.

Only two All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MPs opposed the bill in Lok Sabha and none in Rajya Sabha.

Accusing the Congress of hating the OBCs, Dalits and tribals, he said it opposed the candidature of Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, for the president's post and then opposed the ruling party's choice of Droupadi Murmu, who went on the become the first tribal woman to occupy the highest constitutional position.

He asserted that the Congress' opposition to Murmu was not on any ideological ground, as the party and other opposition leaders fielded someone who came from the BJP and not someone who represented their ideology.

Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha was fielded by opposition parties against Murmu.

It is the old Congress mindset that it cannot see any backward, dalit and tribal person rising, he alleged, adding that it only supports those who bow to a particular family.

For the BJP, social justice is the way to make a developed India, he asserted.

The Congress government in Chhattisgarh has been slow in implementing the Centre's housing and piped water schemes for the poor as it does not like 'Modi and Modi's schemes'.

As the state government can't get to pocket money from these schemes, they are not keen to implement them, he alleged.
Farmers on Saturday evening ended their three-day 'rail roko' stir that hit the movement of trains, causing inconvenience to passengers in Punjab and Haryana.

IMAGE: Farmers from Punjab Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee block the railway tracks as they continue their 'rail roko' protest over their various demands, at Devi Dass Pura, in Amritsar on September 29, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Protesters were holding their agitation against the Centre in support of various demands including compensation for crops damaged in the recent floods, a legal guarantee on MSP and a complete debt waiver.

The agitation that began on Thursday hit the movement of trains, with many being cancelled, short-terminated or diverted, railway officials said.

According to railway officials of the Ferozepur division, the three-day farmers' stir affected the movement of 581 passenger trains and 17 goods trains.

Of passenger trains, as many as 376 trains were cancelled, 89 were short terminated, 46 short originated, and 70 were diverted.

The farmers blocked railway tracks at several places in Faridkot, Samrala, Moga, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Patiala, Ferozepur, Bathinda and Amritsar since Thursday as part of their agitation.

The protest left hundreds of rail passengers stranded in Punjab and Haryana.

A railway passenger at Ludhiana station said he arrived from Jalandhar City by road to take a train to Gorakhpur but there is no information on when it will arrive.

Another passenger at the station said the agitation forced the cancellation of a train from Amritsar in which 12 of his family members were supposed to travel to Bihar.

They later learned that the train would depart from Ludhiana and the family travelled from Amritsar by road. However, there is still no update about the train, he added.

The farmers' agitation directly affected the Ambala and the Ferozepur railway divisions, the officials said.

In Hoshiarpur, state president of Azad Kisan Committee Doaba, Harpal Singh Sangha, warned if their demand are not fulfilled by Dussehra, the farmers will burn 'symbolic' effigies of the Centre.

Several farmer groups, including the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee; Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari); Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Azaad); Azaad Kisan Committee, Doaba; Bharti Kisan Union (Behramke); Bharti Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) and the Bharti Kisan Union (Chottu Ram), participated in the three-day protest.

Their demands include a financial package for the flood-affected people in north India, a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for all crops and a debt waiver for farmers.

The farmers want a Rs 50,000-crore flood relief package for north Indian states and MSP according to the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report.

They are also demanding a waiver of the entire debt of farmers and labourers, and Rs 10 lakh and a government job as compensation to the kin of each farmer who died during the agitation against the now-repealed three farm laws.
Around 25 buses carrying Trinamool Congress volunteers set out from Kolkata on Saturday for the planned protest programme in Delhi on October 3 against the alleged withholding of funds by the Centre, party leaders said.

IMAGE: MGNREGA job card holders leave for Delhi to take part in a Trinamool Congress protest, in Kolkata on September 30, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Over 4,000 people will travel to the national capital by a convoy of buses as part of the programme, they said.

Before the buses left Kolkata, Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee asserted that the TMC cannot be scared off from its political programmes through summons by central agencies, and vowed to go ahead with the protests in Delhi.

The Diamond Harbour MP has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on October 3 in connection with its ongoing investigation into the alleged school jobs scam.

Banerjee claimed that the Centre was trying to 'crush' the movement of the poor people of West Bengal in Delhi by cancelling trains and 'deploying the ED and CBI'.

"But it (the measures) will backfire," he said in a virtual address to party workers.

"It is clear that they (BJP) want to teach people of Bengal a lesson as they voted overwhelmingly in favour of TMC in the 2021 assembly polls and in subsequent by-polls. If this is BJP's way of revenge, a bigger and nastier blow awaits it in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," the TMC national general secretary asserted.

The 'Dilli Chalo' call has been given to realise Rs 7,000 crore, which the West Bengal government claims is due to it for the rural works guarantee scheme to over 20 lakh labourers of the state, and for release of Rs 8,200 crore towards the Awas Yojana across the state.

Thousands of MGNREGA job card holders have arrived in Kolkata from various parts of the state to travel to Delhi to demand their dues, Banerjee said.

"We applied for the trains on September 23 to take them to Delhi. But, we were denied the permission... You (the Centre) have cancelled the trains, but you cannot break the people's movement with such tactics.

"You cannot scare TMC by making ED, CBI send summons to it. You cannot crush the movement by the people of Bengal for their rights," he said.

The Eastern Railways, however, contended that it received the request from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and unavailability of rakes was the reason behind denial of the special train.

Banerjee had announced on Friday that his party would make alternative arrangements for transporting its supporters to Delhi, accusing the BJP of creating roadblocks after the request for the special train was denied.

"Since the buses will be travelling through BJP-ruled states, we are also arranging for pilot cars to ensure the safety and security of the passengers," a senior TMC leader stated.

"Special arrangements for emergency medical assistance are in place. We have also made provisions for their stay in New Delhi," another party leader said.
NAIROBI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Kenya is making progress in enhancing child online safety amid the rapid proliferation of the internet, a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) official said Friday.

Eri Mathers Suzuki, chief of child protection at the UNICEF Kenya office, said the East African nation has established a multi-sectoral technical working group comprising UN agencies, government bodies and civil society to lead the fight against online exploitation and abuse of children.

"Kenya has also established the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit, which collaborates with international partners to prevent and respond to incidents of online child abuse," Suzuki said during the youth engagement forum on online safety in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

The event brought together more than 200 young people who were educated about online exploitation and abuse. Suzuki said Kenya has also enacted legislation and regulations to ensure that perpetrators of online crimes against children are held accountable for their actions.

Suzuki noted that UNICEF is supporting the implementation of a training program to enhance the capacity of Kenya's justice agencies in investigating and prosecuting cases of online child abuse. 
DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- More than 200 Tanzanian students, who are learning the Chinese language at Baobab Secondary School in Bagamoyo District of Coast Region, celebrated China's Mid-Autumn Festival with pomp and pageantry on Friday.

The students marked the festival, which fell on Sept. 29 this year in accordance with the Chinese lunar calendar, with traditional Chinese music, dance, drama, and poetry as well as the preparation of mooncakes.

The students were joined by teachers from the Confucius Institute at the state-run University of Dar es Salaam and other guests.

Zhang Xiaozhen, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar es Salaam, noted that the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival went in tandem with the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Confucius Institute in Tanzania.

Venance Hongoa, headmaster of Baobab Secondary School, said the celebration helped to enhance the students' understanding of Chinese culture.

Hongoa added that the Confucius Institute has been organizing summer camp programs for Tanzanian students to visit China and learn more about Chinese culture, which encouraged more Tanzanian students to learn the Chinese language.

Sharjah Sadick Yasini, 17, a student of Baobab Secondary School, shared her summer camp experience in China this year, saying her visit to China in June helped her learn more about the Chinese language and Chinese culture, including martial arts and traditional food.

Joseph Kazembe, a retired civil servant and Tanzania's first Chinese translator, shared his work experience and talked about the friendship between the two countries, especially the story of the Chinese-built Tanzania-Zambia Railway, which has strengthened cooperation between Africa and China. 
Ny Nak says attackers appeared to be professionals, removed his helmet to beat his head.

Agricultural expert and government critic Ny Nak was attacked and beaten by baton-wielding motorbikers on a Phnom Penh street earlier this month, leaving him hospitalized.

It was the latest assault on an outspoken activist in Cambodia.

At least 50 political and social activists have been victims of similar attacks in the country in recent years. Most have targeted opposition party members.

None of the attackers have been brought to justice.

In the days and weeks before the attack, Ny Nak had posted comments critical of the government on Facebook under the pseudonym IMAN-KH. Hours before the assault, he had taken to the social media platform to decry Minister of Agriculture Dith Tinas handling of a report on rice prices.

The Sept. 12 assault happened while Ny Nak and his wife were riding their motorbike. The attackers beat them both and left Ny Nak unconscious. He was hospitalized for more than a week with a swollen face and stitches in his forehead.

Minister of Interior Touch Sokhak suggested in an interview with Voice of America that the suspects were trying to rob Ny Nak and his wife. But Sok Sinet told RFA that no one tried to take her handbag, and the thugs made no effort to grab their phones or their motorbike.

Ny Nak spoke with Tha Thai of RFAs Khmer Service just after his Sept. 20 hospital release.

RFA: Hello Ny Nak. How is your health?

Ny Nak: My injuries have not completely healed. My hand has a deep cut. I will continue to take injections at home. And my left leg cant move properly. When I stand up, it hurts. My head and other parts of my body are already healed.

RFA: Can you describe the attack?

Ny Nak: My wife and I were traveling from my fertilizer warehouse to our home. I dont remember if they crashed into us or if someone kicked our motorbike. When we crashed, several people stopped their motorbikes and started attacking me.

My helmet hadnt fallen off my head yet. One guy came from behind me and removed it. Then they used steel batons to beat my head. My wife tried to go for help but the suspects beat her as well.

They chased me until I reached a dead end road. Thats where they beat me until I was unconscious.

RFA: How many suspects?

Ny Nak: From what I saw, there were four people. But the police who came to the hospital said there were eight people on four motorbikes.

RFA: Did they look like gangsters?

Ny Nak: I would like to reaffirm that they were not gangsters. They were trained precisely, judging by their uniform and the way the attack was carried out. They all wore black helmets, black shirts and they attacked me without saying anything and without stopping.

They might have been younger than 30 years old, maybe around 27 or 28. They were about 1 meter, 60 to 70 centimeters tall (between 52 and 56).

RFA: Do you know the reason for the attack? Was it out of personal revenge?

Ny Nak: I would like to strongly deny that this was done out of personal revenge. The attack was about my criticism of the government. Its about freedom of speech. This happened just after I posted some criticism on Facebook. My last action was expressing my opinion.

RFA: You criticized the agriculture sector and you mocked the minister of agriculture and officials. You posted the picture of the minister.

Ny Nak: I criticized the Ministry of Agriculture officials but I didnt mention the minister or other officials in particular. To me, I criticized the agriculture sector. I didnt focus on the minister or any other official. I criticized the group. As long as they dont perform their jobs and dont promote the agriculture sector, I must criticize.

RFA: Was the attack designed to shut you up?

Ny Nak: Yes, that is correct.

RFA: Has there been any information from the police?

Ny Nak: I havent received any updated information from the authorities. In regards to the police preliminary assumption that it was a robbery case, I would like to deny that. My wife and I were not robbed of any money or other properties. This was an assassination attempt.

RFA: Did the suspects express any fear when they attacked you?

Ny Nak: They were professional and trained. They were brave. They were not afraid when I tried to fight back. If they were regular people, they wouldnt have removed my helmet. Their intention was to break my head so that I would die.

RFA: Have you asked about nearby security camera footage?

Ny Nak: Once my health has improved, I will file a request to the authorities to see the security cameras.

RFA: I saw the message you posted on Facebook after the attack. You asked for justice and if justice is served you agreed to defect to Prime Minister Hun Manet.

Ny Nak: This is a condition that I set for justice. I strongly demand real justice and not a fake version. Whether I defect or not, I dont say it yet because I dont see the light of justice yet. But for justice itself, even if I didnt set any condition, the authorities must resolve the case for the victim.
Six children were severely wounded in the attack that took place while school was in session.

At least 18 children were injured and receiving medical care after junta troops fired artillery shells on a village in Myanmars northern Sagaing region during the middle of the school day, according to residents.

The incident was the latest example of casualties caused by the junta targeting a civilian area in Myanmar, where authorities have killed at least 4,131 people since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup detat and embarked on a nationwide offensive to root out its opposition.

On Wednesday, the militarys Light Infantry Battalion 102, based in the town of Wuntho, fired three howitzer shells at Gyoe Taung village around 13 kilometers (8 miles) to the northeast, one of which exploded around 6 meters (20 feet) away from the village school while classes were in session.

Residents told RFA on Friday that eight boys and 10 girls between the ages of eight and 12 were injured in the shelling, six seriously.

Its a relief that the shell exploded outside the school, said one resident of Gyoe Taung who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns. If it directly hit, the children would likely have died.

The resident said that several of the children suffered severe bruising to their chests, but that most are doing fine after receiving medical treatment from the Peoples Administrative Organization, which opened the school serving more than 100 children between the ages of four and 12 in the courtyard of the village monastery.

The school had to be temporarily closed due to damage from the shelling, he said.

According to military experts, the 155-millimeter howitzer used in the attack is typically deployed to back ground troops on the front line of a conflict and is capable of lobbing shells from up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.

More than 1,000 residents of villages on the eastern side of Wuntho township are currently sheltering in Gyoe Taung to avoid other fighting in the area, sources said.

Villagers walk to inspect damaged school building aftermath of military juntas shell attacks in Wuntho township, Sep. 27, 2023. Credit: Citizen Journalist





Another resident of Gyoe Taung told RFA that people are terrified and described the children hit by the shelling as panic-stricken due to the random use of heavy artillery by junta troops in the township.

The shelling hit right near the school where the children were studying and the monastery, which is unacceptable, the resident said. The children were scared and started to cry. They panicked as their bleeding injuries were treated.

The resident said that villagers are afraid for their lives, as [the soldiers] fire indiscriminately in the township.

Even if they dont carry out a raid, the people here are scared," he said.

Unprovoked retaliation

The shelling took place a day after members of the anti-junta Peoples Defense Force, or PDF, paramilitary group approached and opened fire on a military checkpoint in Wuntho, killing some members of the pro-junta Pyu-saw-htee militia and capturing weapons, residents told RFA, calling the attack unprovoked.

A member of the Wuntho PDF said that while the situation in the township is currently stable, the risk of military shelling is constant.

The junta column is not in much of a position to leave its base to attack, he said. As the revolutionary forces attack them jointly, whenever they leave [the safety of their base], they can only remain in close proximity to the town center.

As the [junta troops] couldn't defeat the [opposition], they just fired [shells] randomly, he said.

In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Defense of the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG  made up of former civilian government leaders and anti-junta activists  described the Gyoe Taung village incident as a military war crime.

We have witnessed the junta targeting civilians without exception for children, the elderly, pregnant women and religious leaders, said NUG spokesperson Nay Phone Latt. The NUG will make sure that all perpetrators are held accountable for these crimes and are given due punishment in the future.

Deadly Sagaing shelling

The incident follows one on Sept. 10 when an unexploded military 60-millimeter shell went off in Wunthos Taung Boet Hla village, killing one child and seriously injuring six others who had been playing with the munition.

The situation in Gyoe Taung village also came as junta troops fired heavy artillery fire on Sagaings Kale township on Friday, killing a civilian woman and injuring a civilian man in Dine Kone village, residents said.

Three of 10 shells fired by the military hit the center of Dine Kone, killing 30-year-old Pae Hlaw, they said. The identity of the injured man was not immediately clear.

One of their shells directly hit the home of the victims, one resident said.

Two civilians in Kales Tat Oo Thida ward were injured by junta shelling on Thursday night, according to township residents, while on Wednesday, a civilian home in southern Kales Sha Pho village was hit by heavy artillery, killing four family members.

Attempts by RFA to contact Sai Naing Naing Kyaw, the juntas minister of ethnic affairs and spokesman for Sagaing region, regarding the heavy artillery fire incidents, went unanswered Friday.

Junta troops have killed at least 414 children across Myanmar since the coup, the NUGs ministry of youth and childrens affairs said in a June 6 statement.

According to statistics compiled by RFA, junta airstrikes and heavy artillery fire killed a total of 462 civilians and injured 812 others during the eight months from January to the end of August.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
Rahile Dawut was targeted for her work to protect and preserve Uyghur culture, State Department says.

Rahile Dawut poses for a photo in Urumqi, the capital of China's far west Xinjiang region on Aug. 2006. Dawut, a prominent Uyghur scholar specializing in the study of her people's folklore and traditions has been sentenced to life in prison, according to a U.S.-based Dui Hua Foundation that works on human rights cases in China:

The U.S. Department of State condemned Beijing in a statement Friday for secretly imposing a life sentence on a Uyghur folklore expert and ethnographer who disappeared in Chinas northwestern Xinjiang region nearly six years ago.

Rahile Dawut was tried and convicted in December 2018 for the crime of splittism, a U.S.-based rights group reported last week, citing a source within the Chinese government.

The State Department statement said Dawut and other Uyghur intellectuals were unfairly imprisoned for their work to protect and preserve Uyghur culture and traditions.

Professor Dawuts life sentence is part of an apparent broader effort by the PRC to eradicate Uyghur identity and culture and undermine academic freedom, including through the use of detentions and disappearances, the statement said, using an acronym for the Peoples Republic of China.

Tourists take photos near a tower at the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as seen during a government organized trip for foreign journalists on April 21, 2021. Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/AP





It called on Beijing to end genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other minority groups, and to honor its commitments to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We continue to call on the PRC government to immediately release Professor Dawut and all individuals who are unjustly detained, the statement said.

Anthropologist

Dawut, 57, is the creator and former director of Xinjiang University's Minorities Folklore Research Center. She penned articles in international journals and several books about Islamic sacred sites in Central Asia.

An anthropologist by training, she mysteriously disappeared in December 2017, the same year that Chinese authorities launched a mass incarceration campaign in Xinjiang.

People walk past a police station in Urumqi, the capital of China's far west Xinjiang region, on April 21, 2021. A prominent Uyghur scholar specializing in the study of her people's folklore and traditions has been sentenced to life in prison, according to a U.S.-based foundation that works on human rights cases in China. Credit: Dake Kang/AP





After years of silence on her case, RFA Uyghur learned in July 2021 through interviews with employees at the university that she was in fact among the many other members of the Uyghur intellectual and cultural elite who were detained in 2017, and she was sentenced and jailed in 2018.

China has detained as many as 1.8 million Uyghurs in detention camps constructed in 2017. Beijing first denied the existence of the camps, but later described them as vocational training or re-education centers aimed at combating terrorism in Xinjiang.

Western governments and rights groups have accused China of targeting of intellectuals, artists, teachers and cultural figures in an effort to erase the Uyghur identity, with many coming to the conclusion in 2021 that Beijings treatment of Uyghurs and other minorities was genocide. China rejects the accusation.

Edited by Malcolm Foster
Pakistan on November 1 began rounding up undocumented foreigners, the vast majority of them Afghans, hours ahead of the deadline for them to evacuate the country.

The country's Interior Ministry said in a statement before the midnight deadline that "a process to arrest the foreigners...for deportation" had begun, but that voluntary return would still be encouraged.



The undocumented foreigners were reportedly being transferred to transit centers.



Officials in the southwestern port city of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and capital of Sindh Province, said that up to 40 people without proper documents had been moved to one of the transit centers.

WATCH: Pakistani authorities have cracked down on undocumented foreigners, mostly Afghans, ahead of a deadline to leave the country or face deportation. In Karachi, Afghan men and boys on November 1 were put on buses and taken to a temporary detention center.



Pakistan announced in early October that it would expel an estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants who remained in the country after November 1. As the deadline approached, tens of thousands of Afghans -- some who have been in Pakistan for decades -- made their way back to Afghanistan with their families and belongings.



In the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan, officials said on November 1 that more than 100,000 Afghan nationals had returned to their homeland via the Torkham border crossing in the past two weeks.

WATCH: Authorities in Islamabad demolished mud houses belonging to Afghan refugees on October 31, a day ahead of a deadline for them to leave Pakistan. An estimated 1.7 million Afghans living illegally in Pakistan have been told to return to their country or face detention and deportation.

An undetermined number of Afghans have returned to Afghanistan by way of the Chaman border crossing in the southwestern Balochistan Province.



Overall, more than 140,000 people had voluntarily left Pakistan following the government's October 3 order, according to Pakistan's Interior Ministry.



Pakistan's move to remove undocumented foreigners is seen as part of an anti-immigrant crackdown that has been criticized by human rights groups and the United Nations.

On October 31, the chair of the nongovernmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Hina Jilani, wrote the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warning that Islamabad's move to expel Afghans could "trigger a humanitarian crisis."

"The decision amounts to forced repatriation, which is not recognized under international customary law, and will invariably affect vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers, which include women, children, the elderly, persons living with disabilities, persons from low-income groups, and Afghans at risk because of their professions -- many of whom fled Afghanistan after the Afghan Taliban took over the government in August 2021," Jilani wrote.

Ahmad Afghan, an Afghan national who lives in Islamabad, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that he and his family left Afghanistan after the Taliban regained power in Kabul. He said his visa has since expired and he has been unable to extend it as he and his family await documents to move to a third country.



"We are very worried. We cannot go back to Afghanistan," Afghan said. "If we go back to Afghanistan, [the Taliban] will kill us -- 100 percent."



Pakistan has been a popular refuge for Afghans for decades, beginning during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation. Others fled fighting during the ensuing Afghan civil war and the Taliban's first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. Millions of Afghans returned to their homeland following the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban from power.



Some 3.7 million Afghans fleeing war, poverty, and political upheaval in their homeland currently reside in Pakistan, according to the United Nations, with Islamabad putting the number as high as 4.4 million.



Officials in Islamabad have said that about 1.4 million Afghans possess documents allowing them to legally stay in Pakistan and that the order for undocumented immigrants to leave affects 1.7 million people.



Afghanistan's ruling Taliban has previously criticized the move to remove undocumented Afghans from Pakistan, saying they are being punished for tensions between Kabul and Islamabad.



On November 1, the Taliban called on the Pakistani government to give undocumented Afghans more time to leave as large numbers of evacuees created bottlenecks at the Pakistan-Afghan border.



While thanking Pakistan and other countries that have harbored Afghans over years of conflict in Afghanistan, the Taliban asked Islamabad "to not forcibly deport Afghans with little notice, but give them time to prepare."



Mohammad Zaman, an Afghan national who spoke to Radio Azadi at the Torkham border crossing on November 1, said the large group his family traveled with struggled to prepare for the evacuation.



"More than 30 families came with us. They are people who had left their country due to poverty. They are people who could not find a loaf of bread, so they left the country and came [to Pakistan]," Zaman said. "Instead of supporting us, Pakistan gave us a very short deadline. The deadline was so short that we couldn't even wrap up our businesses."



An Afghan national who spoke to Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity following his arrival in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province expressed hope that he and his children would be treated fairly by the Taliban.



"I swear by God, I have neither a place to live in nor a piece of land," the man said, adding that he and his family had moved to Pakistan in search of work. "I ask the Taliban to provide us with shelter, at least a tent to live in.... Here, we may die of hunger."



On November 1, Afghanistan's state news agency, Bakhtar, which is under Taliban control, said the Taliban government had dedicated 2 billion Afghanis (about $27 million) to provide returnees "with basic needs."

With reporting by Reuters
BISHKEK -- Since coming to power in Kyrgyzstan three years ago, President Sadyr Japarov has refused to be seated in the countrys historical presidential building -- known as the White House -- working instead in an old Soviet-era building nearby.

Though he hasnt given a reason, it might be because the White House has been the epicenter of revolutions and riots in Kyrgyzstan since the country gained independence 30 years ago and where the first popular upheaval sent unwanted President Askar Akaev fleeing to Moscow in 2005.

So Japarov was certainly happy to announce that a spanking new presidential building would be constructed for him and his administration along the gorgeous mountains that partially flank Bishkek.

'Not A Single Penny Will Be Spent'

Speaking about the construction of a new building last year, Japarov said every decision about it was made "for the benefit of the people and the state" and that not a single penny from the budget will be spent building the new stately structure.

The 54-year-old president said Kyrgyzstans new White House would be erected on the former site of the Issyk-Kul Hotel, which was being demolished after being abandoned for many years. The building will be approximately 30,000 square meters and serve as the headquarters for the presidential administration and the cabinet of ministers.

Most importantly, Japarov added that we will only exchange 16 hectares of state land from the Presidential Property Management Department [to the builders] and they will build us a building [in return]. That is all. State land has been plundered [by officials] for 30 years [and] these 16 hectares would have also gone into private hands one day. Instead [of letting that happen], we decided to [use the land as payment in exchange for the] construction of a building for the country.

But that might not be all.

In an investigation conducted by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, connections were uncovered between a top official in the government and the construction company that has now received the valuable plot of land in a coveted part of Bishkek. The ties suggest major conflicts of interest.

And it was later revealed that, instead of gifting the company -- Inshaat Stroy Building (ISB) -- the 16 hectares of state land that Japarov originally cited, the Kyrgyz government instead gave it 25.7 hectares in exchange for a new presidential building.

But no explanation was offered for the nearly 10 more hectares of extra land given to ISB. The total cost of the new presidential building has also not been made public.

Ritzy Real Estate

And the land that ISB received is not any ordinary plot of land.

According to independent experts those 25.7 hectares -- located in the picturesque southern part of the capital -- are worth an estimated $77 million.

Since that end of Bishkek is close to the mountains, it provides access to great views, nature, and fresh air -- as downtown Bishkek is one of the most-polluted cities in the world.

So real estate in that area is expensive and much sought after by construction companies.

"A hundred square meters of land above the Tushtuk Magistral (the capitals Southern Highway) ranges from $25,000 to $35,000 in value. In this neighborhood, land is costly and its value will continue to increase yearly," Konstantin Pomykalov, director of Vash Expert Company, told RFE/RL.

Parliament deputy Dastan Bekeshev has criticized the government's decision to allocate such a large tract of state property to a private company. He says the land should be provided for constructing schools, parks, and other public facilities.

We are currently unaware of the amount of money from the budget spent on the ongoing construction and the dismantling of the Issyk-Kul Hotel. It is best for us that we remain unaware, as the information regarding the actual costs of constructing the White House is classified, otherwise you might have a heart attack, Bekeshev said. It has become evident that the comfort of state officials and the profit of a private company take precedence over the public interest."

Since the total construction cost of the new presidential offices has not been made public, it is unclear if the some $77 million worth of land that ISB was given exceeds the costs of the new White House.

Link To The Company Getting The Lavish Land?

ISB was established in 2020 and has undergone nine reregistrations since then, resulting in changes to its name, its founders, and its managers. The most recent alteration occurred on July 28, just days before the company acquired the pricey state property.

Notably, three of its past managers have connections to Kanybek Tumanbaev, Kyrgyzstan's presidential affairs manager.

RFE/RL sent a letter to Tumanbaev on August 23 asking about his links to the construction company. No response had been received at the time of publication.

On September 17, Tumanbaev conducted a live stream on his Facebook page and commented on the construction works of the new presidential offices.

"In Kazakhstan, Aqorda, [the presidential palace], was built for $652 million, and ours is being built for one-tenth of the cost. It will not be like previously [in Kyrgyzstan] where someone's company or someone's interest [will be involved], he claimed.

There was criticism earlier about [the houses being built in] Batken and [the Russian news agency] Sputnik was investigating the case. Dear friends, every penny of the state is under the control of our president and [the head of the Kyrgyz National Security Committee Kamchybek Tashiev]," Tumanbaev pledged.

Tumanbaev was previously named in an investigation by the independent media outlets Temirov LIVE and MediaHub regarding corruption within Kyrgyz Railways and affairs involving the countrys Muftiate -- the states Spiritual Administration of Muslims.

Another scandal emerged -- as Tumanbaev mentioned -- following an investigation on construction work after last year's Kyrgyz-Tajik border clashes, when many houses and some villages were destroyed and needed to be rebuilt. The investigation alleged that the Amanat Stroy Invest company, the main contractor that won government tenders, was involved in corruption in the building of homes and public facilities in the Batken region.

The investigation said that Tumanbaev had links to Amanat Stroy Invest.

Tumanbaev denied any connection to the company and, soon after the investigation, Japarov praised Tumanbaev as a high performer who had supervised the construction work perfectly and "saved every tyiyn (penny) of state money."

Japarov did not address the alleged ties between Tumanbaev and the construction company.

Friends And Partners

First established as Express-Stroy KG, ISB was acquired in 2021 by Nurdin Ravshanbekovich Sabirov and Erlan Syrgabekov. Six months later it came under the ownership of Akhmadshokh Ravshanbekovich Azatov and Ermek Atantaev.

Sabirov and Azatov are the sons of Ravshanbek Sabirov, the former director of the National Investment Agency under Japarov.



Interestingly, Ravshanbek Sabirov, Tumanbaev, and former Grand Mufti Maksatbek Toktomushev are business partners. In 2019, they attended the opening ceremony of the Black Star Burger restaurant in Bishkek. Star Russian rapper Timati was the guest of honor and was greeted by Tumanbaev.

At that time, the Black Star Burger franchise was owned by Arzygul Sabirova and Baatyrbek Jantaev -- who is a relative of Tumanbaev. Media reports said Sabirova is Ravshanbek Sabirov's wife and Jantaev is a known business confidant of Tumanbaev. Ravshanbek Sabirov denies that Sabirova is his wife.

The web of connections continues.

In 2021, Atantaev was the director and owner of the construction company BKS. Prior to him, from 2016 to 2019, Tumanbaev owned the same company, as found in data on osoo.kg.

During the 2020 parliamentary elections, Tumanbaev ran as a member of the Birimdik (Unity) party and initially indicated himself as the director of BKS. However, he later transferred the management to Jantaev.

In 2020-21, both Tumanbaev and Kyrgyz Grand Mufti Maksatbek Toktomushev owned the company RIBH, with Atantaev serving as the acting director.

The Chauffeur's Chauffeur?

Tumanbaev has long been a dodgy figure in Kyrgyz politics.

He began his ascent during Almazbek Atambaev's tenure as president from 2012 to 2017, when he served as a driver for Ikramjan Ilmiyanov -- who went from being Atambaev's driver to being deputy head of the presidential administration and a power broker under Atambaev.

That initial job has led to Tumanbaev being known colloquially as the driver's driver."

Nobody Home At ISB 'Offices'

The legal location of ISB has also raised eyebrows.

The official address of the company leads to a modest residence on Arashan Street in Bishkek's Bakai-Ata neighborhood. When RFE/RL went to the home, the family members living in the house said they had no connection to the construction company.

A resident who identified herself as Zainura -- the daughter of the house's owner -- expressed surprise when questioned about her family's involvement in the construction of the new White House.

She said the residents of the home have been actively trading goods at a local bazaar for many years and had not heard of the ISB or taken part in any of its activities. Zainura told RFE/RL on a phone call later that she has lived in the house for more than 30 years and was unaware of any connection to ISB.

"I've lived here since the Bakai-Ata neighborhood was established. We have no relatives or acquaintances involved in the construction [of the White House]. Recently, someone else also came here looking for [ISB]. I don't know why our address was indicated [as the companys legal address]," she said.

It is unclear why the ISB company is registered at the address of an ordinary citizen's home.

The alleged connections between the official overseeing construction of the presidential building and former managers of the company that received the land raises questions, such as on what grounds was ISB chosen as a constructor?

There is a law in Kyrgyzstan known as On Conflict Of Interest in which "personal interests may affect the performance of official duties, which leads or may lead to a violation of the rights and interests of citizens, organizations, or the state."

Written by Baktygul Chynybaeva in Prague based on reporting by Aibek Biybosunov in Bishkek.
DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Saturday launched the Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim Digital Archive, aimed at preserving the country's renowned international diplomat's leadership legacy.

Launching the digital archive in Tanzania's port city of Dar es Salaam, Hassan described Salim as a leader who worked hard, disciplined, and time-conscious.

The head of state called on Tanzanian leaders and citizens to access the digital archive and learn what Salim had accomplished at local and international levels.

"We have to access his digital archive and emulate his legacy," said Hassan.

She said the archive has documented a collection of videos, images, and texts, including speeches and academic papers of Salim, Tanzania's former ambassador, permanent representative to the United Nations, prime minister, and secretary general of the Organization of African Unity from 1989 to 2001.

In September 2019, China honored Salim with a top national award -- the Medal of Friendship.

The Chinese government conferred on Salim the Medal of Friendship award in recognition of his contribution to ensuring that the People's Republic of China was admitted to the UN in 1971 when he was Tanzania's permanent representative to the UN.

Salim was Tanzania's ambassador to China from 1969 to 1970 after which he was appointed the country's permanent representative to the UN, a position he held until 1980 when he was appointed as minister for foreign affairs.

The digital archive has been prepared by Salim's family in cooperation with the government of Tanzania as well as friends. 
Tree-Collapse Tragedy

Court Issues Notice as Victims' Families Await Justice After a Year

CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh administration is under scrutiny for its failure to provide compensation to the families affected by a tragic incident involving falling trees at private schools in the region. Despite a year passing since the incident, Hirakshi's family, who lost their daughter, and Ishita, who suffered severe injuries, are yet to receive the rightful compensation. The court has taken cognizance of the matter, issuing a notice to the administration, urging a swift response to the grievance.

The incident occurred on July 8, 2022, prompting a comprehensive investigation ordered by a High Court judge. The inquiry report, delivered on December 30, 2022, held the Chandigarh administration responsible for the inadequate maintenance of the tree, which led to the tragic event.

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The investigative committee recommended a compensation of Rs 1 crore to Hirakshi's family, who tragically lost their daughter, and Rs 50 lakh to Ishita Sharma, who suffered life-altering injuries. Additionally, it was proposed that the engineering department of the Chandigarh administration cover the entire cost of Ishita's treatment. However, the administration has only disbursed Rs 20 lakh to Hirakshi's father and Rs 10 lakh to Ishita, falling significantly short of the recommended amounts.

Notably, The Families of the victims have lodged a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, highlighting the administration's apathetic response and inadequate compensation despite the conclusive inquiry report. The petition emphasizes the administration's negligence in addressing the compensation issue and in effectively maintaining the trees, reflecting a systemic failure that demands immediate rectification. The court has urged the administration to respond promptly, ensuring that justice is served swiftly to the grieving families.


CM Bhagwant Singh Mann

This Move is aimed at fortifying industrial growth & fostering economic development in the state

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann is slated to inaugurate a state-of-the-art cattle feed plant, an ambitious project by a Holland-based company, on Sunday, October 1. This move is aimed at fortifying industrial growth and fostering economic development within the state. The foundation stone laying ceremony will mark a significant step towards boosting the industrial landscape of Punjab.

This development comes following a fruitful meeting between CM Bhagwant Mann and Marisa Gerards, the Ambassador of the Netherlands. The meeting, held at the Chief Minister's residence in Chandigarh, solidified the collaborative effort between Punjab and the Netherlands in enhancing industrial opportunities and investments.

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During the discussion, CM Mann showcased Punjab as a highly favored investment destination, emphasizing the state's pro-industry government and its efficient single window system dedicated to supporting the welfare of industrialists. He underlined the state's commitment to creating a conducive environment for industrial growth, citing Punjab as a land of abundant opportunities that has attracted leading companies from across the globe.

Chief Minister Mann further expressed that entrepreneurs from the Netherlands stand to gain significantly by investing in Punjab, highlighting the state's emergence as a burgeoning industrial hub within the country. He elaborated on the favorable conditions in Punjab, including communal harmony, industrial peace, and robust industrial development, all contributing to overall growth, prosperity, and progress of industries.

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In a bid to further attract investments and expertise from Dutch industrialists, CM urged the Ambassador of Holland to encourage entrepreneurs to maximize the advantages presented by Punjab, including superior infrastructure, reliable electricity supply, skilled human resources, and a favorable industrial work culture, to expand their business footprint within the state.

Welcoming Dutch industrialists, Chief Minister Mann reiterated the government's openness to new ideas and innovations that could propel industrial development in Punjab. He emphasized that the strategic goal of boosting industrialization is to counteract the trend of brain drain by creating ample employment opportunities for the youth.

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In response, the Dutch Ambassador informed Chief Minister Mann that leading industrialists from Holland are already making significant investments in the state. He extended an invitation to the Chief Minister to lay the foundation stone for the cattle feed plant to be established in Rajpura at a cost of Rs 138 crore. Chief Minister Mann graciously accepted the invitation and expressed optimism that this initiative would be a significant milestone, propelling industrial development within the state.




Rail Roko Protest

Farmers' Agitation Gains Momentum, Demands for Compensation, MSP, & Loan Waiver Persist

CHANDIGARH: The Farmers' protest, demanding compensation, a fair minimum support price (MSP), and loan waivers, has reached its third day in Punjab. The Agitation, characterized by farmers occupying railway lines in various parts of Punjab, has now extended its sit-in to Haryana. As part of their intensified demonstration, 19 farmer organizations from different states plan to halt trains at 20 locations in Ambala today.

The Farmer groups are set to deliberate on their next course of action, which will determine whether they will lift the rail blockade or continue their protest on the tracks. The blockade has severely disrupted rail services, affecting major routes, including Ambala to Amritsar, Pathankot to Amritsar, and Punjab to Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana to Moga, Ferozepur, and Fazilka, leaving 203 trains in limbo.

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Notably, In a show of solidarity, women farmers are gathering in Amritsar today and are expected to join the protest on the tracks later in the afternoon, further amplifying their demand for just treatment and fair policies. Additionally, farmers have announced plans to observe 'Kisani Dussehra' on October 23-24. During this event, effigies symbolizing the Modi government and corporate entities will be burnt across the nation as a mark of protest against policies perceived as detrimental to the farming community.
Hoarding

Local Authorities Promptly Remove Hoardings After Public Outcry at Historic Religious Gathering

SRI GOINDWAL SAHIB: Hoardings, featuring the photograph of the late gangster Jaipal Bhullar surfaced during the Sri Goindwal Sahib Annual Jod Mela, sparking a wave of concern and debate amongst attendees. Reports suggest that these hoardings were prominently displayed as part of the event's decor, prompting both surprise and dismay among the visitors.

Jaipal Bhullar, a notorious gangster, was fatally encountered by the police a few months prior, adding to the gravity of the situation. The presence of such imagery in a setting deeply rooted in religious and communal significance drew sharp criticism from attendees and locals alike.

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Concerned by the public uproar, the local police swiftly responded by removing the hoardings in question. This incident has raised questions regarding event oversight and the need for tighter controls to ensure that the sanctity of religious gatherings is maintained and that they remain free from any association with criminal elements. As discussions continue within the community, authorities are urged to uphold the sacredness of such events and remain vigilant against any elements that could undermine their significance.
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- At least one militant commander and a soldier were killed in two military operations in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Friday night.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement that personnel of security forces engaged with terrorist groups in two separate locations in the province on Thursday night.

The ISPR said that the security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Katlang area of the Mardan district, resulting in the killing of a high-value terrorist target and ringleader named Faisal.

The military added that the slain terrorist was actively involved in numerous terrorist activities and was highly wanted by law enforcement agencies.

In another operation, a soldier was killed during an encounter with a group of terrorists in the country's northwest Parachinar region.

Earlier in the day, the military said that at least four Pakistani soldiers and three terrorists were killed in a gunfight at the Pakistani-Afghan border in the country's southwest Balochistan province. 
Manpreet Badal

Operation Launched After Arrest Warrant in Bathinda Land Allotment Case; Manpreet Badal Remains Absent During Search

CHANDIGARH: In connection with the Bathinda land allotment case, a vigilance team executed a raid at the residence of former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal in Chandigarh following the issuance of an arrest warrant. The extensive operation saw officials scouring the premises for substantial evidence, yet Manpreet Badal was not present at the time of the search. The authorities also interrogated Manpreet Badal's family members during the operation.

Vigilance officials have stated that the search for Manpreet Badal is ongoing, extending beyond Punjab to various states including Haryana, Chandigarh, and Rajasthan. Notably, former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal had filed a bail petition on Friday afternoon, seeking relief through advocate Sukhdeep Bhinder in the District and Sessions Judge Bathinda's court. The hearing is scheduled for October 4. Manpreet Badal had previously withdrawn an anticipatory bail petition filed before the case was registered against him.

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Notably, The Case revolves around allegations of fraudulent land distribution, implicating Manpreet Badal in Bathinda. He is accused of purchasing two plots at a significantly reduced rate in collusion with Bathinda Development Authority officials, resulting in a substantial loss of Rs 65 lakh to the government. Furthermore, it is alleged that during his tenure as Finance Minister since 2018, Manpreet Badal devised a scheme to acquire the plots, orchestrating a counterfeit bid and subsequently procuring them in the names of two individuals with whom he had entered illegal agreements.

Following the registration of the case, Manpreet Badal is currently evading authorities. Vigilance teams are conducting extensive search operations in multiple states to apprehend him. Several individuals have already been arrested in connection with this case, including Rajiv Kumar, Vikas Arora, and Amandeep Singh, who remain in vigilance remand until the 30th.
Photo

Report reveals that Hardeep Singh Nijjar had written a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016

TORONTO: In a recent revelation, it has come to light that Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the late head of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Canada, had written a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016, vehemently denying the Indian government's accusations of him being a terrorist. Nijjar, tragically shot dead in June this year, sought the Canadian Prime Minister's intervention during a time when Interpol had issued a Red Corner Notice against him based on India's request.

According to the National Post newspaper, Nijjar wrote in his letter, "I urge your administration to reject the fabricated, baseless, imaginary and politically motivated allegations of the Government of India," emphasizing that India had misused its governmental authority. The deceased activist faced several charges in India, including murder, terrorist activities, and sedition. In 2007, he was allegedly involved in a cinema hall blast in Ludhiana, resulting in the deaths of six individuals.

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Being the alleged head of the banned Khalistan Terror Force, Nijjar was accused of running a terrorist training camp in the British Columbia province. He was the subject of a 2016 Interpol Red Corner Notice and had a warrant issued against him by the CBI in 2014. Nijjar contested the allegations, stating that he and his family were targeted due to their support for 'Khalistan', a separatist movement seeking an independent nation for Sikhs. He vehemently claimed not to be involved in any violent activities and highlighted his commitment to campaigning for Sikh rights.

The letter exposed Nijjar's belief that he was targeted by the Indian government due to his advocacy for Sikh rights, especially in the petition to the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding the investigation of the 1984 Sikh massacre. Nijjar's untimely demise has escalated tensions between Canada and India, with Canada suspecting Indian involvement in the killing, while India dismisses the allegations as baseless. Recent intelligence revelations also indicate Nijjar's visit to Pakistan in 2012, raising further questions about his activities.

Notably, Initially associated with the banned separatist group, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Nijjar was designated a terrorist by India in 2020. The unfolding details from the past shed light on the complex background surrounding Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the controversy surrounding his activism and alleged involvement in separatist movements.

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Incident Triggers concerns over Sikhs' treatment and strained India-UK relations

LONDON: In a recent incident, Indian High Commissioner to Britain, Vikram Doraiswami, was denied entry into a Gurdwara Sahib in Glasgow, Scotland. A video capturing the incident shows an individual obstructing Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara located on Albert Drive.

The Incident has occurred in the midst of a diplomatic dispute between India and Canada concerning the murder of Gangster Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The person in the video voiced concerns about the alleged mistreatment of Sikhs in Canada and other locations, urging Sikhs to oppose Indian ambassadors' visits, reminiscent of the Glasgow incident.

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Following this encounter, Doraiswami chose to withdraw and departed from the location. The individual in the video continued to instruct Doraiswami not to return to the Gurdwara. Reports suggest that India has formally raised this matter with the British Foreign Ministry, underscoring the gravity of the situation.

The Indian High Commissioner had intended to meet with the Gurdwara Committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive during his visit. The incident, coming in the wake of heightened tension after Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder, has drawn attention to the alleged targeting of British Sikhs, paralleling previous cases involving Avtar Singh Khanda and Jagtar Singh Johal.

Notably, The Indian High Commission and the Ministry of External Affairs in London are anticipated to provide a formal response, addressing the incident and its implications, as the international community closely watches the evolving situation.
Sikh Granthi

Giani Jaswinder Singh's Invocation Marks a Milestone, Emphasizing Freedom of Religion in America

WASHINGTON: In a historic moment, the Sikh community witnessed a significant milestone as Granthi Giani Jaswinder Singh, hailing from New Jersey, offered prayers to inaugurate the proceedings of the House of Representatives in the United States. This landmark event marked the first time a Sikh scholar led the prayers (Ardaas) at the House of Representatives, highlighting the growing recognition of diverse voices within American society.

Typically, a priest initiates the proceedings with a prayer, but this time, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy designated Jaswinder Singh to commence the session. The significance of this occasion was immediately acknowledged by Congressman Donald Norcross, who emphasized the importance of this unprecedented act.

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Congressman Norcross remarked, "The history made today serves as a poignant reminder that America embraces and cherishes the freedom of religious expression, remaining steadfast in this commitment. Giani Jaswinder Singh's role in this moment has brought immense pride to South Jersey, and it is indeed an honor to be part of this significant event."

Notably, The Inclusion of Giani Jaswinder Singh as the first Sikh Granthi to offer prayers (Ardaas) in the US House of Representatives signifies a step towards recognizing and celebrating diversity in religious practices within the American democratic framework.


The flat 1833cc 6-cylinder 24V liquid-cooled SOHC engine on Honda Goldwing Tour churns out 125 bhp and 170 Nm, mated to a 7-speed DCT

Goldwing range from Honda is one of the grotesque where luxury touring motorcycles are concerned. Having characteristics of both tourer and bagger-style motorcycles, Goldwing Tour is the full-fat version of Goldwing range. Because HMSI is bringing it to India via CBU route, Honda Goldwing Tour price is full-fat too at Rs. 39.2 lakh (ex-sh).

Honda Goldwing Tour launched in India

Even though Goldwing range has characteristics of a bagger, Honda never called it one. The company refers to them as luxury tourers and Goldwing Tour is the most luxurious of the range. India only gets Goldwing Tour and it is apt for riders aspiring for luxurious cross-continent touring. Honda is offering a sole Graphite Black colour.

Bookings have commenced and this big bike is available at all BigWing dealerships. Goldwing Tour offers attributes like a top box, a pillion armchair, a taller windscreen and heated seats as standard over regular Goldwing. Said windscreen is electrically adjustable from left handlebar. Goldwing Tour packs a single airbag for rider safety, which comes in handy at times.

The overall proportions are massive. Were talking about 2615 mm length, 905 mm width, 1430 mm height and a 1695mm wheelbase. Seat height is accessible at 745 mm and the ground clearance is 130 mm. With the 7-speed dual clutch transmission, Honda Goldwing Tour weighs a hefty 390 kg! One upside to this weight is stability, which has been second nature with Goldwing motorcycles.

In terms of design, Goldwing Tour has its own charm. It looks massive and has an impeccable road presence. Big fairing will protect riders of most sizes. LED headlights along with LED fog lights are very helpful. Leather seats look intricate and the luggage compartments including 61L trunk have unison with overall aesthetics. Turn indicators on ORVMs and the huge protruding powertrain grab eyeballs.

Powertrain, performance, range, features

Speaking of engines, this is a big one. Were talking about an 1833cc flat 6-cylinder 24V (4 valves per cylinder) liquid-cooled SOHC engine that churns out around 125 bhp at 5500 RPM and 170 Nm at 4500 RPM. This engine takes 5.6L of oil and the 21.1L fuel tank ensures a tank range between 350 and 400 km.

Power is sent to rear wheel via a 7-speed DCT and then a shaft drive, like a car. Speaking of resemblance with cars, Honda Goldwing Tour has a double wishbone front suspension and a Pro-Link rear setup. Twin discs at the front and single disc rotors with top-notch braking hardware (6-piston front and 3-piston rear) ensure good stopping power.

130/70R18 front and 200/55R16 rear tyres ensure optimum grip and stability. Features include TBW (Throttle By Wire) and cruise control. There is a 7-inch infotainment screen that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay along with navigation. Analog speedo and tacho flank this central display. There is a premium audio system with speakers as well.

Features like Bluetooth, TPMS, USB-C ports, creep and reverse function are notable elements too. Rivals include usual suspects like BMW K1600 GTL, Indian Roadmaster and Indian Chieftain Limited, Harley-Davidson Road Glide and the likes.

Words from the ma nufacturer

Introducing Hondas flagship offering, Mr. Tsutsumu Otani, Managing Director, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, said, We are pleased to launch the new Gold Wing Tour in India. Over the years, the Honda Gold Wing has redefined the concept of luxury touring on two-wheels with its hi-tech features and ultra-comfortable riding experience. HMSI is certain that the new Gold Wing Tour will excite the travel enthusiasts and raise the level of their touring experience by several notches.

Commenting on the launch of the new Gold Wing Tour, Mr. Yogesh Mathur, Director, Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, said, Hondas legendary Gold Wing Tour continues to set new standards in the modern touring category with class-leading luxury, comfort, performance and safety. We are happy to announce that the bookings for new Gold Wing Tour are now open and customer deliveries of this flagship luxury tourer will begin in India from October 2023 onwards.
PHNOM PENH, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ten years on, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has injected vigorous impetus into building a community with shared future for mankind, significantly contributing to global and regional development and stability, a Cambodian expert said on Saturday.

Kin Phea, director general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, a think tank under the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said that in the past 10 years, through the BRI, China has actively supported major infrastructure development and connectivity projects in many regions, providing opportunities for countries to expand their trade networks and enhance economic potential.

He said the BRI's key infrastructure projects, such as the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone in Cambodia, the China-Laos Railway in Laos, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan, the China-Europe Railway Express, and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, have significantly contributed to boosting economies and trade in regions and beyond.

"The BRI has become a new engine of global economic growth, injecting strong momentum into building a community with a shared future for mankind," Phea told Xinhua. "It is an active international cooperation platform for the cause of peace, security, sustainable development and common prosperity."

For Cambodia in particular, he said the BRI has greatly contributed to strengthening and broadening the cooperation between Cambodia and China, significantly benefited Cambodia's development agenda and brought opportunities for Cambodia to get rid of poverty, and promoted mutual benefit and win-win results.

Over the past decade, the BRI has played a crucial role in helping develop Cambodia's infrastructure and connectivity, such as roads, bridges, railways, airports, seaports, hydropower plants, special economic and industrial zones, expressways, and a new modern stadium, he said, adding that on top of these, China has brought investment to Cambodia in many sectors.

"These large-scale projects have greatly contributed to promoting connectivity, securing the sustainable source of electricity supply, enhancing economic competitiveness, diversifying sources of growth, and reducing logistics costs in Cambodia," he said.

"The BRI, together with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the Cambodia-China free trade agreement, will help Cambodia achieve its visions of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050," he added.

According to the expert, among BRI flagship projects in Cambodia, what has impressed him in particular are the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone and the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway.

Phea said the BRI construction follows an approach of extensive consultation, joint development and shared benefits, and advocates openness and inclusiveness that welcome the participation of countries and organizations around the world.

He added that partners can take part in the cooperation at any level and in whatever area best suiting their needs and priorities, domestic conditions, and readiness for international cooperation.

Speaking of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in October, Phea hopes that the forum will greatly contribute to promoting confidence in multilateralism and globalization, building an open and pluralistic world economy, and blazing a new trail in inclusive growth and sustainable development, in shaping a bright shared future.

"I believe that the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will give a fresh vitality to participating countries' development and world economic growth," he said.

BRI consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It was initiated by China in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes. 
A registered nurse who worked in a La Jolla clinic was sentenced in San Diego federal court Friday to three years probation for siphoning off a painkiller from vials with syringes and refilling the bottles with saline solution.

Sarah Elizabeth Martin, 25, was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, complete 100 hours of community service, pay restitution and complete a six-month drug rehabilitation program, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Martin, who worked at La Jolla Womens Surgery Center, removed meperidine hydrochloride, a generic form of Demerol, and then replaced the drug with saline solution, gluing the caps back on and storing the vials with other drugs to be administered to patients, according to her plea agreement.

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The saline solution was given to an estimated 50 to 250 patients, although the investigation showed no patients were harmed, prosecutors said.

Martin admitted shed become addicted to the pain medication following treatment for a medical condition, authorities said.
BRATISLAVA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Progressive Slovakia (PS) party most likely won Slovakia's snap parliamentary election on Saturday, according to two local exit polls.

An exit poll carried out by Median SK agency on behalf of public broadcaster RTVS showed that PS secured 19.97 percent of the votes, followed by the Smer-SD's 19.09 percent and Voice-SD's 11.17 percent respectively.

Another exit poll by Focus agency on behalf of television channel Markiza indicated that PS party won 23.5 percent of the votes, while Smer-SD gained the support of 21.9 percent of the voters and Voice-SD 12.2 percent.

A total of 24 political parties and one coalition contest the early election. This is the ninth election in the history of independent Slovakia, with more than 4.3 million eligible voters. 
HAVANA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a role model for inclusion and international cooperation, said Eduardo Regalado, a researcher at the International Policy Research Center of Cuba.

"This is a very inclusive project, open to all nations interested in advancing international collaboration and economic development," the expert told Xinhua, adding that the BRI is also in keeping with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

"The BRI is highly necessary for Global South nations, which need cooperation models that result in economic development," he said, adding that he was impressed by the results achieved by the Chinese people and government over the past few decades.

"All countries that have joined the BRI will meet their needs regarding economic development. This is real cooperation focused on prosperity," he said.

The researcher said that unlike certain major countries, China's relationship with other developing countries is based on mutual respect and support.

"China does not hold authoritarian relations with other countries," he said, adding that the BRI offers practical solutions to global challenges.

Regalado said that the funding behind the BRI is for developing infrastructure and connectivity, which facilitates technology transfers and builds capacity.

The expert suggests countries in Latin America and Africa could use the BRI to further integrate into the global economy.

"The BRI is already contributing to the improvement of living standards of people in Latin America, the Caribbeans and African people," he said, adding that this project also aligns with environmental protection principles. 
Researchers from the Universidad del Rosario, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Vienna have detected a compound consistent with DNA in a partially preserved carapace of a Lepidochelys turtle from the Late Miocene Chagres Formation of Panama. The specimen also represents the oldest fossil record of Lepidochelys turtles.

Currently, only seven species of sea turtles exist. Among them are two in the genus Lepidochelys: the olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) and the Kemps ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii).

Despite being among the most common sea turtles in much of the Caribbean Sea and elsewhere, little is known about their history or evolution.

The remains of a turtle shell recently found in the Chagres Formation on Panamas Caribbean coast represent the oldest fossil evidence of these turtles ever found.

This ancient individual lived approximately 6 million years ago during the Late Miocene epoch, a time when the world was getting cooler and drier, with ice accumulating at the poles, sea levels falling and reduced rainfall.

The specimen has rectangular, anteroposteriorly short pleural scutes, a characteristic shared with members of Lepidochelys, said lead author Dr. Edwin Cadena and his colleagues.

It is potentially closely related to Lepidochelys olivacea because it shares a similar number of pleurals, but its precise taxonomic status remains uncertain.

In addition to finding the oldest record of Lepidochelys, the paleontologists discovered something unexpected in the fossil bones of this turtle: traces of DNA.

After detecting preserved bone cells (osteocytes) with nucleus-like structures, they used a solution called DAPI to test for the presence of the genetic material.

Within the entire vertebrate fossil record on the planet, this had only been previously reported in two dinosaur fossils, including one of Tyrannosaurus rex, Dr. Cadena said.

This discovery gives the fossil vertebrates preserved on the Caribbean coast of Panama enormous importance not only for understanding biodiversity at the time of the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama, which divided the Caribbean from the Pacific and joined North and South America, but also for understanding the preservation of soft tissues and possible original living matter such as proteins and DNA.

Our data demonstrate the potential for DNA to persist in specimens that are both millions of years old and are from lower latitudes, which challenges traditional paradigms of biomolecular preservation, the authors concluded.

The findings appear in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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Edwin-Alberto Cadena et al. An Upper Miocene marine turtle from Panama that preserves osteocytes with potential DNA. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, published online September 28, 2023; doi: 10.1080/02724634.2023.2254356
On August 30, NASA's Perseverance rover recorded a Martian dust devil cruising from east to west at a speed of approximately 12 mph (19 kph) near "Thorofare Ridge." The video, composed of 21 frames captured at four-second intervals, was accelerated 20 times to emphasize intricate details.

The rover, acting as a scientific explorer, observed this phenomenon as part of its mission to study the Martian atmosphere within the Jezero Crater.

Martian Whirlwind Captured Moving East to West

NASA's Perseverance rover recorded the footage of a Martian dust devil during the 899th Martian day of its mission using one of the rover's Navcams.

Dust devils, while less powerful and smaller than Earth's tornadoes, play a significant role in transporting and redistributing dust across the Martian landscape. Scientists study them to gain a deeper understanding of the Martian atmosphere and enhance their weather models.

This specific dust devil was located approximately 2.5 miles away at a site known as "Thorofare Ridge" and was moving from east to west at a speed of about 12 mph. Its estimated width was around 200 feet, although only the lower 387 feet were visible in the camera frame.

To determine its height, scientists relied on the shadow cast by the dust devil, estimating it to be roughly 1.2 miles tall. Dust devils form when rising pockets of warm air interact with descending columns of cooler air, and on Mars, they can grow much larger than their Earth counterparts.

These events are more frequent during Mars' spring and summer months, yet their appearance at specific locations remains unpredictable. Perseverance is currently in the northern hemisphere of Mars where it is currently summer.

Consequently, Perseverance and NASA's Mars rover Curiosity continually monitor their surroundings for dust devils, capturing images in black-and-white to minimize data transmission to Earth.

READ ALSO: NASA Perseverance Rover Captures How Sound Travels on Mars

Perseverance Rover Continues Its Mission

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission has a primary focus on astrobiology, aiming to uncover any signs of ancient microbial life. Beyond this, it's conducting a thorough examination of Martian geology and past climate, all while paving the way for future human missions to the Red Planet.

One of its key tasks is to collect core samples of Mars' rock and soil using a specialized drill, which will then be sealed in tubes for later retrieval by another mission.

Perseverance is also serving as a technology demonstrator, testing critical technologies essential for future human Mars missions. This includes experiments for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying potential resources like subsurface water, refining landing techniques, and studying the Martian environment, including its weather and dust patterns.

Additionally, the rover carries the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, which aims to achieve the historic milestone of powered flight on Mars. Looking ahead, NASA and ESA are planning collaborative missions to send spacecraft to Mars to retrieve the sealed samples collected by Perseverance. These samples will be transported back to Earth for extensive analysis.

The mission is part of NASA's broader strategy, known as Moon to Mars exploration. This strategy includes the Artemis missions to the Moon, which serve as critical preparations for eventual human exploration of Mars.

Managing and overseeing the operations of the Perseverance rover is the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, under the auspices of Caltech on behalf of NASA.



RELATED ARTICLE: Life on Mars? NASA Perseverance Rover Captures What Looks Like a 'Human Skeleton' and 'Animal' Buried on the Red Planet

Check out more news and information on Perseverance Rover in Science Times.
A barge sails on the Mississippi River in Louisiana, the United State, Sept. 30, 2023. Salt water moving up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is threatening drinking water supplies in and around New Orleans, the biggest city of U.S. state Louisiana, triggering a big concern of potential lead contamination.(Photo by Lan Wei/Xinhua)

HOUSTON, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Salt water moving up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is threatening drinking water supplies in and around New Orleans, the biggest city of U.S. state Louisiana, triggering a big concern of potential lead contamination.

As of Friday afternoon, New Orleans' drinking water was safe, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a news release.

"We have been and will remain in daily, close coordination with local, regional and state agencies to actively monitor the salt water wedge moving up the Mississippi River," said Cantrell. "The most important thing for residents at this time is to stay informed and remain calm."

The salt water intrusion has already tainted water systems in Plaquemines Parish and is now nearing various water intakes around the New Orleans metro area, according to the office of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.

The salt water's leading edge is expected to reach St. Bernard on Oct. 19, Algiers on Oct. 22 and Gretna on Oct. 24, said the office.

The problem could make the water undrinkable until at least January, said Collin Arnold, New Orleans' homeland security chief, citing projections from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved an emergency declaration in Louisiana in a bid to coordinate federal disaster relief efforts to the salt water intrusion.

Salt water has been slowly flowing north for months due to drought in the Midwest which dropped water levels in the Mississippi River low enough to allow the Gulf of Mexico to creep in.

Salt water can corrode lead pipes and leach heavy metals from the pipes and pipe fittings into drinking water, making the drinking water unsafe and thus posing a health risk, experts say.

About 48 percent of the New Orleans water system was installed before 1940, making many pipes more than 80 years old, according to a report from the local news website NOLA. Lead was a common pipe material until the U.S. banned it in 1986.

"We have no idea how many lead pipes remain in the city, but in my field research it was rare for me to find a home without a lead service line," said Adrienne Katner, a drinking water researcher with the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

The levels of lead contamination could depend on salt concentrations in the water and how long the salt water courses through water systems.

"Any level of lead is harmful," Stephen Murphy, director of Tulane University's Disaster Management Program, told NOLA news website. Corroded pipes can continue to release lead for months or years after the source of the corrosion is neutralized.

"The health effects of drinking salt water have been found to be associated with cardiovascular diseases, diarrhea and abdominal pain," said the Louisiana Department of Health.

However, city officials said it's too early to predict the severity of the contamination as the authorities are seeking solutions to dilute the salt in water systems, including building a pipeline from further upriver and barging in fresh water.

"Any speculation about impacts is premature, but we are working diligently with top experts at Louisiana Dept. of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency to prepare to increase our frequency of lead testing and address impacts swiftly with a full range of resources," said a spokesperson for the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board.

The agency said salinity levels are now monitored daily in the city and its neighboring communities downstream.

The intrusion of salt water upstream into the Mississippi River is a naturally occurring periodic condition, according to a post on the Army Corps of Engineers website.

The river's bottom profile is deeper than the Gulf of Mexico water surface level up to about 15 miles downstream of Natchez, Mississippi, said the post. During most months of a typical year, the river's volume of water flow is sufficient to prevent salt water from the gulf from intruding upstream. But when the river's flow falls below a certain level, salt water may begin to move up.

The rate of fresh water flowing down the Mississippi River has been low due to extended drought conditions in Louisiana and across the Mississippi River Valley, said the governor's office in a news release last week. Significant rainfall is needed farther north to increase the amount of fresh water flowing down the river and flush out the salt. 

The 69-mile mileage sign of the Mississippi River is seen in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, the United States, Sept. 30, 2023. Salt water moving up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is threatening drinking water supplies in and around New Orleans, the biggest city of U.S. state Louisiana, triggering a big concern of potential lead contamination.(Photo by Lan Wei/Xinhua)

Cargo ships are anchored on the waters of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, the United State, Sept. 30, 2023. Salt water moving up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico is threatening drinking water supplies in and around New Orleans, the biggest city of U.S. state Louisiana, triggering a big concern of potential lead contamination.(Photo by Lan Wei/Xinhua)
In this article, we take a look at the 10 best ASX stocks to invest in. If you want to see more stocks listed on the ASX, go directly to the 5 Best ASX Stocks To Invest In.

Australia, formally known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is an independent nation encompassing the primary landmass of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and various smaller islands. The country holds a considerable landmass and benefits from its strategic location within the Asia Pacific region, home to economic giants like China, Japan, and South Korea. These nations have a substantial demand for Australia's abundant natural resources, particularly iron ore. For those who are interested in learning, you can explore our article on the 15 fastest-growing countries in Asia.

ASX

The ASX, short for the Australian Securities Exchange, holds a prominent position among stock exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region due to the scale of the Australian economy. Being a primary exchange in the nation, ASX accommodates listings of over 2,000 companies, encompassing major blue chip firms in Australia. In the early months of 2023, the ASX/S&P 200 index had a robust beginning, marked by a revival in the tech sector and a significant rise in AI stock values. However, market dynamics remained unpredictable, and the research firm Morningstar emphasized caution to investors, citing the lingering effects of the 2022 rate hikes that would continue to influence household consumption throughout 2023.

Market Developments in Australia

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Index, an indicator predicting Australia's economic activity for the next three to nine months, has shown a slight improvement. It has moved up from -0.56% in July 2023 to -0.50% in August 2023. Despite this small uptick, the overall outlook remains bleak. The series of negative figures since August of the previous year accurately foretold the economic downturn experienced in 2023. The economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.6% during the March and June quarters, considerably below the typical trend growth of around 3% per year.

Story continues

Westpac foresees this lackluster performance continuing into the following year, with an expected economic growth of less than 1% up to June 2024. Nevertheless, Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) indicated the possibility of 'some upside risks' to this prediction, given an anticipated population growth exceeding 2% in 2023. Despite the potential positive impact of population growth on the economy, the bank cautioned that economic growth is likely to lag behind. This trend was evident in both the March and June quarters of the current year, during which GDP per capita contracted by 0.3%. While the leading index has seen a minor improvement since the beginning of this year, shifting from -0.73% in February to the current -0.50%, this marginal increase of 0.24 percentage points does little to allay concerns about the Australian economy's recovery.

In another spectrum, the Australian government announced a budget surplus of 22.1 billion Australian dollars ($14.2 billion) on September 22 for the last fiscal year, marking the first time the nation has achieved a balanced budget in 15 years. This surplus was attributed to low unemployment rates and high prices of Australia's key commodities like iron ore, coal, and gas, amounting to 0.9% of Australias GDP. The positive fiscal outcome for the fiscal year ending on June 30 surpassed the earlier May forecast of a AU$4.3 billion ($2.8 billion) surplus, thus marking a substantial improvement from the AU$77.9 billion ($49.9 billion) deficit predicted prior to the May 2022 elections.

However, Treasurer Jim Chalmers stated that he doesn't anticipate another budget surplus in the current fiscal year. He pointed to Chinas economic challenges and recent interest rate hikes in Australia as factors continuing to restrain growth. Chalmers emphasized the creation of 550,000 jobs since the election of the center-left Labor Party government last year. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, the jobless rate stood at 3.7% in August.

The last time the Australian government achieved a budget surplus was in the 2007-08 fiscal year, with a surplus of AU$19.7 billion ($12.6 billion), constituting 1.7% of GDP. This surplus was recorded just months before the global financial crisis, which plunged the nations finances into the red.

11 Best ASX Stocks To Invest In

Source: pexels

Our Methodology

In curating our list of the 10 Best ASX stocks to invest in, we picked 10 stocks possessing strong competitive edges, and are favored by hedge funds in our database. The mentioned firms may experience a short-term dip if economic data falls short of expectations, yet they exhibit promising long-term growth prospects. Additionally, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Australian dollar can impact the valuation of these companies in U.S. dollar terms. The following stocks are ranked according to the number of hedge funds that are invested in them. However, in the event of a slowdown in the global economy, the Australian economy may also experience a deceleration. Given the uncertainties in the near term, it might be prudent for long-term investors to possess a diversified portfolio consisting of prominent stocks from various sectors.

10. Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 2

Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB), an Australian company specializing in regenerative medicine, is focused on developing therapies for inflammatory conditions, cardiovascular disease, and back pain. In a recent development on September 21, Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB) advanced in its pursuit of gaining approval for its off-the-shelf therapy, remestemcel-L, targeting steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease. Following a meeting with the FDA, the company is optimistic about utilizing new potency assay data and a single-arm trial to enhance the candidate's chances of approval, marking their third attempt to bring this therapy to the market. Despite previous challenges in gaining FDA approval, Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB) remains committed to finding viable solutions. Investors demonstrated enthusiasm for these propositions, causing Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB)'s shares to rise by 6% to $1.39 in premarket trading.

9. Immutep Limited (ASX:IMMP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 2

Immutep Limited (ASX:IMMP) operates as a biotechnology firm primarily focused on advancing cancer immunotherapy through the utilization of the LAG3 immune control mechanism. Based in New South Wales, the company's foundations were established with a focus on CVac, a therapeutic cancer vaccine. On September 21, the company obtained regulatory approval for the commercial-scale production of Eftilagimod Alpha (efti) at a volume of 2,000 liters for use in clinical trials. Eftilagimod Alpha, developed by Immutep Limited (ASX:IMMP), is a proprietary soluble LAG-3 protein and MHC Class II agonist intended to activate innate and adaptive immunity for cancer treatment. This approval spans several European countries, including Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. After the successful expansion of efti's production process to commercial scale at WuXi Biologics, significant modifications to the process were integrated into a substantial update of the Investigational Medicinal Product Dossier (IMPD). This achievement ensured comprehensive comparability between the original 2,000L scale and the earlier 200L scale manufacturing process utilized in clinical phases. The publicly listed company on ASX mentioned its plans to include efti produced through the 2,000 liter scale process in ongoing and forthcoming clinical trials.

8. Opthea Limited (ASX:OPT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 4

Opthea Limited (ASX:OPT) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for prevalent and progressive retinal conditions, notably wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME). The company's primary product candidate, OPT-302, is in pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials. OPT-302 is designed for use in combination with anti-VEGF-A monotherapies to achieve broader inhibition of the VEGF family. This approach aims to enhance overall treatment efficacy and demonstrate superior vision improvements compared to inhibiting VEGF-A alone. Earlier this August, Opthea Limited (ASX:OPT) disclosed plans to secure AU$80 million (US$51.2 million) through a AU$10 million private placement and a AU$70 million entitlement offer for its OPT-302 candidate.

7. James Hardie Industries plc (ASX:JHX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 6

James Hardie Industries plc (ASX:JHX) is a leading international building materials corporation and the largest worldwide producer of fiber cement goods. Based in Ireland, it is a dual-listed entity on both the Australian and New York Stock Exchanges. The company's current management is based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. On August 7, James Hardie Industries plc (ASX:JHX) released its first-quarter results for the period ending 30 June 2023. The company witnessed a 13% rise in Net Income and achieved earnings of $0.39 per share, indicating a remarkable 11.43% increase compared to the $0.35 per share earned during the same period the previous year, and a 14% increase in compared to the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023.

6. Iris Energy Limited (ASX:IREN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 8

Iris Energy Limited (ASX:IREN) operates as an Australia-based sustainable Bitcoin mining company, specializing in constructing, possessing, and managing data center infrastructure. The company emphasizes entering regions with ample and underutilized renewable energy resources to sustain its operations. The eco-friendly Bitcoin mining firm reported a notable 28% surge in revenue, reaching $75.5 million for the fiscal year ending on June 30, compared to $59 million in the previous year. This growth was achieved even amidst a decline in the average price of Bitcoin. The amount of Bitcoin mined witnessed an impressive 133% increase, setting a new record at 3,259, largely propelled by the expansion of the operating hashrate.

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Shares in specialist media firm Future surged by more than 20% on Friday as it held annual earnings guidance despite volatile markets, and a warning that trading conditions remain mixed.

Audience numbers stabilised in the second-half and the group had positive month-on-month momentum in the final quarter, Future said in a trading update for the year to September 30, 2023.

As a result, adjusted operating profit is expected to be in line with the company's own compiled forecasts of 254.1m, "delivering a resilient performance despite continued macroeconomic volatility impacting our sector".

However, overall trading conditions remained mixed, with challenges in consumer spending and the digital advertising market, Future added .

"As a result, advertising and affiliates product trends are broadly in-line with the first-half, as expected, despite a robust Prime Day in July. Go.Compare revenue has accelerated in the second half, reflecting favourable market volumes with consumers looking for value. Magazine revenue has remained resilient."

It said foreign exchange has been a headwind in the second half, given currency movements in the period.

Aston Martin announced on Friday that Yew Tree Consortium, led by chair Lawrence Stroll, has raised its stake in the business by a further 3.27%.

The investment takes Yew Tree's holding in the business to 26.23%.

"This additional investment demonstrates the Yew Tree Consortium's continuing confidence and belief in the future of Aston Martin," Stroll said.

Stroll became executive chairman of the British luxury car maker after leading the Yew Tree Consortium's initial investment in the company in April 2020.

"We have rebuilt this iconic company, transforming it into an ultra-luxury brand, with a portfolio of highly desirable, performance-driven cars. This increased investment demonstrates our continuing, long-term commitment to the company, our conviction for the future and the shareholder value the company will deliver."

Cruise line operator Carnival said it had swung to a third quarter profit and cut its annual loss forecasts, boosted by higher ticket pricing and string demand.

The company on Friday posted third-quarter profit of $1.07bn, or 79 cents a share, compared with a loss of $770m, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenues leapt 59% to a record $6.85bn.

Carnival said it now expected a annual loss per share of between 12 cents and 4 cents, compared with a prior forecast for a loss between 20 cents and 8 cents.

Total bookings hit a third quarter record of $6.3bn surpassing the previous record of $4.9bn in 2019.

"The outperformance was driven by strength in demand, with both our North America and Australia segment and Europe segment equally outperforming across expectations," said chief executive Josh Weinstein

He added that North American bookings were exceeding historical highs and European brands achieved its pre-pandemic levels.

"Our booked position for 2024 is further out than we have ever seen and at strong prices," Weinstein said.

Market Movers



FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,333.37 1.30%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Future (FUTR) 867.50p 21.41%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 294.80p 12.95%

Digital 9 Infrastructure NPV (DGI9) 37.05p 10.60%

Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 116.00p 9.23%

Pennon Group (PNN) 584.00p 5.99%

NCC Group (NCC) 117.00p 5.22%

Ascential (ASCL) 207.80p 5.06%

Derwent London (DLN) 1,930.00p 5.01%

Elementis (ELM) 125.80p 4.83%

Carnival (CCL) 1,096.00p 4.53%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 314.40p -3.79%

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 66.90p -3.74%

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PZ Cussons (PZC) 142.80p -2.59%

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) 88.30p -2.43%

NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,600.00p -1.96%

North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 3,540.00p -1.67%

IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 235.20p -1.34%

Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 162.40p -1.22%

JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 461.00p -1.07%
In this article, we will be taking a look at the 30 most influential scientists of all time. To skip our detailed analysis of these scientists, their achievements, and their roles in shaping the modern world, you can go directly to see the 5 Most Influential Scientists of All Time.

Throughout human history, science has been a vital component, constantly challenging the limits of what we know and grasp about the world we inhabit. Pioneering thinkers of ancient times to contemporary investigators have unveiled revolutionary findings that have profoundly impacted the trajectory of human civilization. From early models for aviation to the discovery of DNA, science has made leaps and bounds across the ages at blinding speeds. At the onset of the 2010s, private space travel was in its early stages, personalized search results were being introduced by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)'s Google, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology was just beginning. However, as the decade progressed, artificial intelligence excelled in various board games, SpaceX rose to prominence, and the genetic modification of human embryos sparked controversy and became a tangible development.

More recently, the U.S. Department of Energy revealed a significant advancement in fusion energy this past December. They achieved a net gain in energy output compared to the input energy used to heat the fuel source. This breakthrough is poised to drive heightened investments in fusion energy, expediting deeper comprehension. If the engineering and economic hurdles can be sufficiently addressed, it holds the potential to bring forth a functional fusion power plant by 2030.

Scientific research was once confined to academic institutions. Nevertheless, with the increasing complexity of societies, the landscape of scientific R&D has transformed, now encompassing non-academic government institutes and both public and private corporations. This is where Open Science, an emerging trend within the scientific community, comes into play. Since the scientific community is distributed across both academic and industrial settings, it is only natural for data sets to be isolated and collaboration to be restricted as communication largely occurs through events like meetings, conferences, and workshops. Open science encourages collaborative drafting, peer reviews, and transparent open-source publications, fostering an inclusive environment for health research practices. This approach benefits researchers, their affiliated institutions, and society at large in achieving common objectives, such as vaccine development.

Story continues

Based on research publications from academic institutions and corporations, AI and biotechnology are currently the most rapidly advancing scientific domains worldwide. In the academic realm, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are prominent, leading in research within the US. In 2018, their fractional counts for papers published in the journal Nature were 70.67, 39.85, and 37.69, respectively. On the corporate front, tech giants such as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) play a dominant role in AI research and development (R&D). Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), particularly through its subsidiary DeepMind, has notably crafted deep learning algorithms like AlphaFold and AlphaTensor. AlphaFold has successfully tackled the structure prediction of human proteins, achieving a remarkable 98.5% accuracya significant challenge persisting for over five decades. In a different vein, AlphaTensor is engineered to explore innovative approaches for matrix multiplications, promising potential acceleration of computers by uncovering novel algorithms.

Conversely, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), Novo Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) are notable corporate entities within the biotechnology sector.

From the genius intellect of Albert Einstein to the pioneering investigations of Marie Curie, the roster of history's most influential scientists stands as proof of the potent blend of human inquisitiveness and resolve. These remarkable individuals surmounted formidable challenges and hurdles, all driven by the quest to enhance our comprehension of the universe. For this article we will note down some of the pioneers of human advancement, and their lasting impressions on the modern world.

30 Most Influential Scientists of All Time

Photo by Taton Moise on Unsplash

Our Methodology

To create our compilation of the 30 most influential scientists of all time, we carefully reviewed numerous lists presented by credible sources, including Discover Magazine, The Top Tens, The Scientific 100, and Sapaviva, featuring the greatest or most significant scientists of all time, and amalgamated them into a consolidated meta-list. We assigned each name on this list a score based on their number of appearances, and ranked them accordingly.

30. Dmitri Mendeleev

Insider Monkey Score: 6

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was a Russian chemist and inventor. While earlier attempts had been made to sequence and categorize elements, Dmitri Mendeleev conceived the most intricate and precise system. Consequently, he is acknowledged for one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the 19th century. Mendeleev's publication in 1869 received praise for its insightful content. Notably, it encompassed periodic trends of all known elements at the time, the relationships among those within the same groups, and the potential to foresee the properties of yet-to-be-discovered elements. Mendeleev's contributions had a profound impact on the fields of Chemistry and Physics. They facilitated a more straightforward anticipation of the characteristics, behaviors, and nature not only of elements but also their compounds and mixtures. In addition to implementing the metric system of measurements within the Russian Empire, Dmitri Mendeleev was the driving force behind the formation of the Russian Chemical Society.

29. Rosalind Franklin

Insider Monkey Score: 7

Rosalind Franklin, or Rosalind Elsie Franklin, was a distinguished British scientist renowned for her pivotal role in discovering the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a fundamental component of chromosomes responsible for encoding genetic information. Her contributions extended to providing valuable insights into the structure of viruses, thereby significantly contributing to the foundational knowledge of structural virology.

28. Linus Pauling

Insider Monkey Score: 7

Linus Carl Pauling, the exclusive laureate of two individual Nobel Prizes, brought about a revolution in the realm of chemistry, co-founding the field of molecular biology and achieving significant strides in medical research. Throughout the 1930s, Linus Pauling stood at the forefront, employing quantum mechanics to fathom and explain chemical bondingthe intricate process through which atoms unite to create molecules. His contributions spanned a wide spectrum within the domain of chemistry, encompassing endeavors in delineating the structures of important biological chemical compounds. Notably, in 1951, he unveiled the structure of the alpha helix, a fundamental building block of numerous proteins.

27. Alexander Fleming

Insider Monkey Score: 7

Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish physician and microbiologist, is renowned for his discovery of the world's inaugural broadly effective antibiotic substance, named penicillin. This chance finding sparked comprehensive research, leading to the development of several antibiotics in use today. The significance of antibiotics cannot be overstated, spanning from combating infections to reducing post-surgical complications. A myriad of diseases like tuberculosis, pneumonia, and bubonic plague, which had claimed millions of lives and instilled fear even in the mightiest rulers across centuries, were subdued in the 20th century with the advent of antibiotics. Devoid of these remedies, our respective life expectancies would have been significantly lower. Hence, Alexander Fleming's discovery stands among the most paramount breakthroughs in history. He also shared the Nobel Prize in medicine/physiology with Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey in 1945, among other honors.

26. William Thomson, Lord Kelvin

Insider Monkey Score: 7

William Thomson Kelvin, a mathematical physicist, held the position of a professor at the University of Glasgow for over half a century. His research encompassed domains such as heat, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, and geology. Presently, he is most renowned for devising the absolute temperature scale, honored through the S.I. unit bearing his name. While the concept of "absolute zero" was acknowledged before Kelvin, it was he who determined its precise value of -273.15C. Kelvin collaborated with various contemporaries, earning acclaim for contributions pivotal to establishing the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Without a doubt one of the most influential scientists of all time, numerous theorems and concepts are named in his honor, including Kelvins Circulation Theorem, Kelvins Equation, and Kelvins Wave.

25. Alessandro Volta

Insider Monkey Score: 7

Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta, an Italian physicist and chemist, stands as a pioneer in the realms of electricity and power, recognized as the inventor of the electric battery. The significance of batteries cannot be overstated, permeating through various facets of modern life, from cars and aircraft to cameras and cellphones. Volta's contributions in this domain garnered widespread acclaim, often overshadowing his other remarkable achievements. For instance, he held the distinction of being the first to identify and isolate methane. His notable accomplishments caught the attention of Napoleon Bonaparte, resulting in him being bestowed the titles of count and senator in his native Lombardy. In honor of his legacy, several entities are named after him, including the 8208 Volta asteroid and the 123-kilometer-wide Volta lunar crater.

24. Johannes Kepler

Insider Monkey Score: 7

Johannes Kepler, a German polymath, excelled as an astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher, and music theorist. A central figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, he gained widespread acclaim for his fundamental laws of planetary motion delineated in books like Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. Kepler, a luminary of the Renaissance era and one of the most influential scientists of all time, achieved numerous pioneering feats in Astronomy, Mechanics, Waves, Optics, and Mathematical Analysis. Among his groundbreaking contributions, he was the first to propose the elliptical orbits of planets around the sun, dispelling erroneous theories dating back to ancient Greece. Moreover, Kepler accurately elucidated the mechanics of tidal waves, marking another first in scientific understanding. Later on, Isaac Newton drew inspiration from Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, subsequently delving into extensive research to formulate his own Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation.

23. Tim Berners-Lee

Insider Monkey Score: 8

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, recognized as the inventor of the World Wide Web and listed among Time Magazine's '100 Most Important People of the 20th Century', is a distinguished scientist and academic. His forward-thinking and innovative contributions have reshaped nearly every facet of our lives. Currently a professorial research fellow at the University of Oxford and a professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Berners-Lee has been bestowed with numerous awards and honors. In the 2004 New Year Honors, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II "for services to the global development of the Internet," with the formal inauguration taking place on 16 July 2004.

22. James Watt

Insider Monkey Score: 8

James Watt, a Scottish innovator, mechanical engineer, and chemist, significantly enhanced Thomas Newcomen's 1712 steam engine with his pioneering Watt steam engine in 1776. This invention played a pivotal role in catalyzing the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution in both his homeland, Great Britain, and globally. Beyond revolutionizing steam engines, James Watt is credited with establishing the imperial unit for measuring power, known as Horsepower. He utilized this unit to make comparative assessments of diverse steam engine outputs long before turbines, pistons, and electric motors came into existence. Recognized for his impactful contributions, Watt received numerous accolades, and the term "Watt" was designated as the S.I. unit for power.

21. Edwin Hubble

Insider Monkey Score: 8

Edwin Powell Hubble, an American astronomer, held a pivotal role in founding the domains of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology. He provided substantial evidence to debunk the earlier notion that numerous entities believed to be dust and gas clouds, often labeled as "nebulae," were indeed galaxies situated beyond the Milky Way. Contrary to the earlier perception of a stationary universe, Hubble conclusively demonstrated that galaxies are, in reality, receding from us. Through meticulous analysis of light emanating from diverse galaxies, Hubble detected a discernible shift towards the red end of the spectrum, challenging the static universe belief. Today, the Hubble Space Telescope bears his name, a testament to his lasting impact and contributions to the field of astronomy.

20. Ernest Rutherford

Insider Monkey Score: 8

Ernest Rutherford was a dedicated experimenter with excellence spanning both theoretical and practical domains. His renowned work is primarily attributed to his contributions in Nuclear Chemistry and Atomic Physics. Pioneering terminologies, he was the first to introduce the term "half-life" in describing radioactive decays and utilized "alpha particles," "beta particles," and "gamma rays" to characterize these ionizing radiations. His extensive Gold Foil Experiments, also recognized as the Geiger-Marsden Experiments, conducted between 1908 to 1913, led to the postulation of what is now known as the Rutherford Model in Atomic Physics. Notably, both the 13-kilometer-wide Rutherford lunar crater and the synthetic element Rutherfordium bear his name in tribute to his impactful contributions.

19. Max Planck

Insider Monkey Score: 8

Max Planck stands out as one of the most influential scientists of all time, even among his compatriots on this list. His groundbreaking Quantum Theory not only revolutionized physics but also paved a new path for comprehending the atomic and subatomic realms. Unsurprisingly, some of the foremost experts of his era grappled with unraveling the fundamental concepts he introduced. Planck's significant contributions also extended to elucidating how objects emit and absorb radiations. Furthermore, his support for and contributions to Albert Einsteins Relativity Theory played a crucial role in its acceptance, both in Germany and on a global scale. Planck's broad range of works encompassed optics, entropy, thermodynamics, and statistical mechanics. In recognition of his achievements, he is associated with significant eponyms like Planck's constant, Planck units, and the prestigious Max Planck Medal.

18. Thomas Alva Edison

Insider Monkey Score: 8

Thomas Edison, also known as Thomas Alva Edison, was an American inventor acknowledged for holding a remarkable world record of 1,093 patents either solely or in collaboration. Notably, he established the world's inaugural industrial research laboratory, embodying the essence of the American inventor during the era of Yankee ingenuity. Edison embarked on his professional journey in 1863, a time when the telegraph industry was in its adolescence, and primitive batteries producing a low-voltage current were the primary source of electricity. Widely regarded as one of the most eminent and productive inventors in history, Thomas Alva Edison significantly shaped modern life with his groundbreaking inventions, including the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and substantial enhancements to the telegraph and telephone.

17. Gregor Mendel

Insider Monkey Score: 8

Gregor Mendel holds the title of the Father of Genetics across the scientific community. His pioneering botanical experiments unraveled the enigmas of heredity, employing plant breeding techniques to compare traits like heights and flower colors. Through analysis using simple statistics, Mendel observed the consistency in outcomes across successive filial generations, enabling accurate predictions. Both his innovative methodologies and definitive conclusions opened a gateway to the captivating realm of hereditary phenomena that continue to captivate us today. However, Mendel's Laws of Heredity were so advanced for their time that they were only fully appreciated long after his passing. Notably, besides his contributions to genetics, Mendel also delved into astronomy and meteorology, boasting a significant number of treatises on meteorology and even founding Austrias Meteorological Society.

16. Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier

Insider Monkey Score: 8

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, later known as Antoine Lavoisier after the French Revolution, was a distinguished French chemist and nobleman. He played a pivotal role in the 18th-century chemical revolution, leaving an indelible mark on the histories of both chemistry and biology. Lavoisier made groundbreaking contributions, including establishing the law of conservation of mass, identifying that combustion and respiration stem from chemical reactions involving what he termed "oxygen," and aiding in the organization of chemical nomenclature. One of the lunar craters, Lavoisier, spanning 70 kilometers in diameter and located between Bunsen, Beigh, and von Braun, is named in his honor.

15. Nicolaus Copernicus

Insider Monkey Score: 8

While the Renaissance originated in Italy, the majority of mathematicians during that era hailed from outside Italy. One of the eminent figures among them was Nicolaus Copernicus, a Catholic Canon and physician of Polish descent. Copernicus drew knowledge from the works of Alhazen Ibn al-Haytham and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. As the foremost European astronomer of his time, Copernicus boldly advocated the accurate concept, albeit risky then, that the sun was at the center of the solar system, around which all other planets orbited. Being a polymath with proficiency in multiple languages, his intellectual pursuits extended across a diverse array of fields encompassing literature, commerce, jurisprudence, medicine, theology, philosophy, ethics, administration, astronomy, and mathematics. His magnum opus, "The Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres," published shortly after his death in early 1543 and dedicated to Pope Paul III, remains a seminal publication in the entire history of science.

14. John Dalton

Insider Monkey Score: 9

John Dalton, an English scientist, excelled in the fields of chemistry, physics, and meteorology. Renowned for his atomic theory, which revolutionized particle physics and nuclear chemistry, Dalton emerged as one of the most impactful chemists in the 19th century. His primary acclaim rests in introducing the atomic theory to the realm of chemistry and his significant research on color blindness, a condition he personally experienced. This condition is referred to as Daltonism in many languages, named in his honor. Dalton conducted numerous experiments that provided compelling evidence for the existence of atoms. For instance, he delved into properties of gases, particularly pressure, inferring that gases were composed of minuscule, individual particles in constant, random motion. This foundational work led to what is now known as Daltons Law of Partial Pressures and, subsequent to further experimentation, the Law of Multiple Proportion.

13. Leonardo da Vinci

Insider Monkey Score: 9

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, an Italian architect, engineer, sculptor, draftsman, and painter renowned for his masterful artworks, notably the Mona Lisa, exemplified the Renaissance humanist ideal through his exceptional skill and intellect. His journey into the realm of scientific exploration gained momentum, particularly after his initial period in Milan around 1505. Leonardo's scientific inquiries encompassed a wide array of subjects, spanning anatomy, zoology, botany, geology, optics, aerodynamics, and hydrodynamics, to name a few. Notably, his groundbreaking research in neuroanatomy, including discoveries related to the frontal sinus and meningeal vessels, underscored his multifaceted contributions.

12. Archimedes

Insider Monkey Score: 10

Archimedes of Syracuse, an esteemed Ancient Greek mathematician, inventor, physicist, engineer, and astronomer hailing from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily, remains a figure of great importance in the annals of classical antiquity. While limited details are available about his life, he is revered as one of the most influential scientists of that era. Notably, Archimedes made a significant discovery concerning the relationship between the surface and volume of a sphere and its encompassing cylinder. His contributions also include formulating the hydrostatic principle, famously known as "Archimedes' principle," and creating innovative devices such as the screw pump, compound pulleys, and defensive war machines aimed at safeguarding his hometown of Syracuse from potential invasion.

11. Stephen Hawking

Insider Monkey Score: 11

Stephen William Hawking, an accomplished English author, cosmologist, and theoretical physicist, held the esteemed position of director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge until his passing. He stood as one of the preeminent physicists and cosmologists of his era, presenting several impactful theorems such as the gravitational singularity theorem. Hawking was credited with pioneering discoveries like Hawking radiation and various significant concepts within the domains of general relativity and quantum gravity.

10. Neils Bohr

Insider Monkey Score: 11

Niels Henrik David Bohr, a Danish physicist, made foundational advancements in understanding atomic structure and quantum theory. Pioneering the application of the quantum concept, which constrains a system's energy to specific discrete values, Bohr greatly contributed to the comprehension of atomic and molecular structure. His initial foray into the emerging realm of quantum physics began in 1912 during what we now refer to as postdoctoral research in England with Ernest Rutherford at the University of Manchester. While subsequent refinements were made to his findings, they played a pivotal role in establishing Quantum Mechanics. Niels Bohr received various accolades during and after his lifetime, notably including the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922.

9. Nikola Tesla

Insider Monkey Score: 11

Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and visionary, gained widespread recognition for his significant contributions to modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply systems. Revered as one of the greatest engineers in recorded history, he displayed early insight into the profound implications of Faradays, Amperes, and Oersteds pioneering experiments. As an engineer, he creatively applied their principles, particularly pioneering the generation, transmission, and utilization of AC electricity. Tesla's innovative influence extends from electricity and telephony to mechanics and magnetism, leaving an indelible mark across various domains. Despite not receiving ample recognition during his lifetime, his lasting impact was acknowledged when, during the General Conference of Weights and Measures in 1960, the S.I. unit of magnetic flux density was designated with his name, Tesla.

8. Louis Pasteur

Insider Monkey Score: 14

Louis Pasteur, a notable French microbiologist and chemist, achieved renown for his pivotal discoveries in vaccination principles, microbial fermentation, and the process of pasteurization, a technique named in his honor. While his primary contributions were in the realms of microbiology and medicine, Pasteur's academic background was in chemistry, and he held professorial positions at Strasbourg and Lille universities in France. His investigations into Molecular Asymmetry significantly advanced scientists' understanding of the optical and crystallographic properties of various organic salts. Alongside publishing scholarly treatises and garnering prestigious awards, Pasteur played a vital role as an educator, mentoring numerous students during his tenure as the Director of Scientific Studies at Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris.

7. Charles Darwin

Insider Monkey Score: 14

Charles Robert Darwin, an accomplished English biologist, naturalist, and geologist, gained widespread acclaim for his significant contributions to the field of evolutionary biology. His fundamental proposition, stating that all life forms share a common ancestry, has evolved into a widely accepted and pivotal concept in the realm of science. Collaborating with Alfred Russel Wallace, Darwin jointly published their scientific theory, elucidating that the branching pattern of evolution stems from a process he termed natural selection. This process, akin to the artificial selection found in selective breeding, is driven by the struggle for existence, shaping the progression of life. Darwin's theory of evolution revolved around three key components: the occurrence of random variations among members of a species, the hereditary nature of an individual's traits to its offspring, and the principle that only those with advantageous traits (natural selection or 'Darwinism') would endure through the struggle for existence.

6. Michael Faraday

Insider Monkey Score: 14

Michael Faraday, an eminent English scientist, made substantial contributions to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Widely acclaimed as the most influential experimenter in the annals of science, his paramount discoveries encompassed the foundational principles of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and electrolysis. In 1821, he achieved a breakthrough by generating mechanical motion using a permanent magnet and an electric currenta precursor to the modern electric motor. A decade later, he furthered his achievements by transforming magnetic force into electrical force, thus pioneering the world's first electrical generator. Prominent figures in the realm of science, including the likes of Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, Ernest Rutherford, and James Clerk Maxwell, drew inspiration from Faraday's profound ideas.

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Texas-based computer corporation Dell, it plans to increase its investments in Bengaluru, Karnataka's research and development facility. In the city in the south, widely known as India's Silicon Valley, the corporation now maintains an R&D facility. Dell requested assistance to get around import limitations on SEZ activities during a meeting with MB Patil, the Minister of Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure for Karnataka. According to the business, it also discussed the state's ESDM ecosystem needs.

Globally, the company says it runs around 25 manufacturing facilities, with 14 of these facilities dedicated to R&D. A delegation of Karnatakas ministry, which is the USA to attract further investments in the state, also met Global Foundries, a semiconductor manufacturing company. It has expressed interest in increasing the workforce in Bengaluru, the statement said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed the push into semiconductors, including with a $10 billion fund unveiled nearly two years ago to draw chipmakers. More broadly, he has outlined ambitions to create a robust tech manufacturing sector dubbed Make in India that has already drawn investments from Apple Inc. suppliers.

Manufacturing semiconductors is extremely challenging and expensive, and it has taken leading players like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. decades to refine their expertise. Raja said India could begin its foray into chipmaking with processes such as packaging, which comprises mounting circuits onto a silicon wafer or chip. The $30-billion Global Foundries has also expressed interest in establishing and expanding its Aerospace and Defence (A&D) presence in Karnataka, with plans for further engagement to develop a comprehensive business strategy. it said.
Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., along with Applied Materials India Private Limited, selected seven deeptech startups during the fourth cohort of its start-up engagement program - ASTRA (Applied Startup Technology & Research Accelerator) in Bengaluru. ASTRA aims to collaborate with start-ups and transform disruptive possibilities into reality.

Based in India and Singapore the selected startups during ASTRA 2023 include Lightspeed Photonics, Portkey, Sungreen H2, Exposome, OIP Technologies, App Sentinels, and Ethereal Machines.

Chosen from a pool of 50+ outstanding applications, the selected start-ups pitched their business proposals to Applied Materials executives and industry leaders during the event. The start-ups were then evaluated based on criteria such as Fit to Applied Technology and Business, High-Value Problems Addressed, Differentiation from Existing Market Solutions and Business Models, and Growth Potential. The areas of focus for ASTRA 2023 were Generative AI, Semiconductor and Display Technologies, Sustainability, Supply Chain Solutions, Cybersecurity, Advanced Materials, Advanced Optics and Photonics, and AI Hardware.

Commenting on the occasion, Om Nalamasu, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Applied Materials, Inc., and President of Applied Ventures said, "I would like to congratulate the seven selected start-ups for their innovative solutions. All of them have showcased exciting visions of the future, and we look forward to helping them reach their full potential through collaboration and mentorship. The ASTRA program connects us with some of the most dynamic deeptech startups, and we want to continue this incredible journey where Applied Ventures can play a significant role in fostering innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship to cultivate a thriving start-up ecosystem.

Anand Kamannavar, Global Head, Applied Ventures, and sponsor of ASTRA, said, The fourth cohort of ASTRA has showcased breakthrough innovations across the broader Materials to Systems stack in the areas of Generative AI, Semiconductors, ESG, and Supply Chain. We are thrilled to engage with the shortlisted startups; they all have tremendous potential to transform the market ecosystem. Applied Ventures will continue to support breakthrough companies across the globe, help bring their innovations to market, and guide their journey towards becoming successful business models.

Srinivas Satya, Country President, Applied Materials India said, We've always believed in the power of entrepreneurship to drive meaningful change, and we're excited to see how these shortlisted startups will contribute to Indias semiconductor ecosystem. By collaborating with these cutting-edge businesses, we are accelerating the creation of a local semiconductor ecosystem and building on the recent announcement of our intent to establish a Collaborative Engineering Center in India.

With ASTRA 2023, Applied Materials and Applied Ventures are leveraging their extensive technical and industry expertise to accelerate the growing start-up ecosystem. The companies selected during the fourth cohort of ASTRA will now be assessed for mentorship, possible collaboration with Applied Materials, and investment opportunities from Applied Ventures. As a consultant, Applied Materials will help the final start-ups selected this year address market and technology challenges and explore potential scale-up pathways. The selected companies will also have access to Applied Materials product development expertise, best-known methods for maximizing market opportunities, infrastructure, and ecosystem connections.
Punjab Art Initiative  Amritsar Edition, the public art festival supported by Yuj Arts Foundation announced the inauguration of its month-long, first edition today. Punjab Art Initiative  Amritsar Edition 2023 encourages creative explorations around the theme of A Fine Balance, through partnerships with leading institutions and notable individuals from the citys artistic community. The theme was chosen with the aim of examining the delicate relationship between human beings and their environment, with a special focus on climate change and sustainability. Over 150 art installations, sculptures, paintings, and photographs will be displayed at the festival. Collaborators this year include BBK DAV College, Khalsa College of Education, Inter National Institute of Fashion Design [INIFD] and Indian Creative Unity. Some of the renowned artists displaying their works this year are Dr. Lalit Gopal, Prof. Sandeep Zutshi, Mr. Kumar Vaibhav, and Principal Dr Pushpinder Walia from BBK DAV College; Dr. Mandeep Kaur and Asst. Prof. Vinay Vaid from Khalsa College of Education and Mr. Brajesh Jolly. VR Ambarsar is the venue partner, and the festival is also supported by My FM, Diageo, Taj Swarna, Colour Lounge and Golden City Digital Studio.

The festival was inaugurated by Punjab PWD & Power minister Harbhajan Singh ETO. The launch commenced with the unveiling of the Kala Kar, painted by artist Dr. Baljinder Gill, followed by Wearable Art  a Fashion Showcase by Inter National Institute of Fashion Design [INIFD] at the atrium, and culminated with a viewing of A Fine Balance  2023 Art Exhibit. The venue partner, VR Ambarsar, will be a hub of artistic activity, with installations, exhibitions, an art bazaar, art workshops, young artists program, and several other exciting events.

Sumi Gupta, Curator of Punjab Art Initiative, said, "I am thrilled to steer this fantastic project which has incredible collaborations with institutions and student artists in Amritsar, creating a vibrant platform for large-scale installations, sculptures, mixed media works and photography. Punjab Art Initiative  Amritsar Edition 2023 brings together a community of connoisseurs, art students, patrons as well as the people of Amritsar in a celebration of the citys art and culture. Through festivals like these, we not only offer a platform to budding artists but also nurture a sense of belonging and reverence for the city's rich heritage.

Punjab Art Initiative  Amritsar Edition is supported by the Yuj Arts Foundation and is also part of VR Ambarsars Connecting Communities initiative that aims to encourage civic pride, strengthen the local economy, and enhance the citys national and international image.
Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday plans to host a summit on the fentanyl crisis -- a devastating, deadly issue impacting families across the nation.

The assembly will gather elected leaders, public health officials and law enforcement professionals from across the country in NYC next week for a two-day summit. The event will include strategy sessions centered on education, enforcement, awareness, prevention and treatment with the overall objective of producing a national strategy to address the widespread suffering caused by fentanyl.

From the farms of small-town America to the sidewalks of the biggest city in the country, we see the effects of addiction and the danger of fentanyl across this entire nation, Adams said. As opioid use skyrockets, illegal drugs are often contaminated with fentanyl or other dangerous substances, and overdoses have hit historic levels, including in New York City.

Last year was the worst year on record for overdose deaths in our nations history. We cannot allow this crisis to continue taking lives and destroying communities. Together, we will work to develop a national framework to prevent fatal overdoses, get treatment to people who need it, enhance enforcement efforts, and increase educational outreach to save lives, dreams and families.

Now the most common drug involved in overdose deaths in New York City, fentanyl was notably responsible for the death of one-year-old Nicholas Dominici in the Bronx earlier this month.

In 2021, drug overdoses were responsible for 2,668 deaths in New York City, a 78% increase since 2019; fentanyl was detected in 80% of those fatalities.

We cant lose sight of the fact that behind every overdose statistic, theres a person who deserved to live, a shattered family, and a community in pain, said Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III. Thats why it is essential that we approach the fentanyl crisis not just as a problem to solve but as a collective responsibility.

With this summit, the Adams administration is bringing together the right people to figure out what pieces of the puzzle are missing, from harm reduction and treatment efforts to going after the people responsible for putting this poison on our streets.

Multiple members of District Attorney Michael E. McMahons office will be attending the summit; among them the chief of the Narcotics Investigations Bureau and members of the offices Alternatives to Incarceration Unit. They will be holding a presentation Tuesday in regard to the offices effort to combat the overdose crisis, particularly highlighting the efforts on the HOPE program and the Overdose Response Initiative.

STATEN ISLANDS OWN EFFORT

According to McMahons office, Staten Island has lost 838 individuals since 2016 as a result of the ongoing drug epidemic.

In an effort to curb these numbers and combat the spread of fentanyl, McMahon and Borough President Vito Fossella recently announced the formation of a new fentanyl and overdose task force.

Consisting of local leaders in law enforcement, government, treatment and recovery, as well as those battling addiction illness and their loved ones; the task force aims to develop and propose legislative and policy recommendations to leaders in local, state and federal government.

RELATED CONTENT:

Beware: Street drugs are laced with deadly fentanyl, xylazine, New York health officials say >>

From China to Mexico to Staten Island: The fentanyl pipeline and how concierge system delivers poison to a users doorstep. >>

One of these pills is authentic oxycodone. The other is laced with fentanyl. The difference is killing people >>
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A new law could leave millions of New Yorkers paying more for their auto insurance policies.

As of Aug. 1, a new law in New York State requires auto insurers to automatically enroll all drivers in supplemental spousal liability insurance, even if they are unmarried and wont ever use the coverage theyre now paying for.

New Yorkers can opt-out of the coverage, though theyll need to do so in writing through a supplemental spousal liability insurance declination form, which is available online and should be provided by insurers prior to automatically enrolling a driver in the new coverage.

The cost of the new coverage will vary based on several factors, but will likely range from roughly $20 to $84 annually, according to the New York Times.

So what exactly is supplemental spousal liability insurance?

If a married couple is involved in a crash where one is significantly injured and the other is deemed to be at-fault, supplemental spousal liability insurance allows the injured spouse to sue their partner and seek payment from their insurance company.

It sounds weird about suing your spouse but sometimes you almost have to do that to get access to additional liability, David Kirst, AAA senior insurance specialist, told WKBW in Buffalo.

Auto insurers have been required to alert New York drivers of the availability of supplemental spousal liability insurance since 2003, though previously drivers would need to opt-in to the coverage.

Now, as of Aug. 1, insurers must automatically enroll all drivers in the coverage unless they explicitly opt-out in writing.

Some have been critical of the legislation for requiring automatic enrollment, arguing that unmarried New Yorkers may not even realize that theyre now paying for a coverage theyll never use.

Theyre going to have spousal liability. Theyre going to pay the extra premium and this isnt the insurance companies mandating this, this is the state of New York. Theyre going to have spousal liability and its never going to be utilized, Assemblyman Steve Hawley told WKBW.

A representative for bill sponsor State Sen. Neil Breslin told the New York Times that legislators will consider tweaking the law to prevent unmarried drivers from being enrolled.

We certainly dont want people to pay for coverage that would provide them zero benefit under any circumstances, the spokesperson told the New York Times.
STATE ISLAND, N.Y. -- Diane Arneth, executive director of Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI), has announced her retirement, ending her 32-year tenure in public service when she steps down early next year.

Diane and Community Health Action of Staten Island have been a constant force for good and for the well-being of her neighbors, and as she closes the book on a three-decade-plus career, there is no doubt she has left an indelible mark on our beloved borough, said Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon.

Arneth joined CHASI, originally the Staten Island AIDS Task Force, in 1991, moving to head the organization after a short time as a volunteer and board member. The organizations mission, to drive dramatic improvement in the health of Staten Islanders, has impacted over 1 million Staten Islanders and helped change the odds for thousands of families facing food insecurity, poverty, violence and discrimination.

She helped found the Staten Island Teen Pregnancy Network in the early 1980s, where her early work with HIV/AIDS began. The Staten Island AIDS Task Force was created in 1988, and in 2004, the task force became CHASI.

Under Arneths guidance, CHASI became a recognized community health leader and won the 2008 New York Times Nonprofit Award for Overall Management Excellence. Arneth was also awarded the Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award in 2021. She was named a Staten Island Advance Woman of Achievement in 2007.

As I approached the executive committee of the board about my plans to retire, I emphasized that the next ED [executive director] must be deeply committed to the work, appreciate its complexity, and understand the current and emerging landscape of the field, said Arneth in a press release.

Ericker Onaga, who is currently chief program officer for CHASI, will assume Arneths role as executive director in January 2024. She expressed her willingness to continue Arneths legacy in being a trusted leader on Staten Island.

Both Diane and I come from Staten Island and live in the community. Its personal, and Dianes leadership has been fearless. Thats what has made the work CHASI does even more critical, more meaningful, because we know how high the stakes are when we take up these challenges, Onaga said.
Key Insights

Significantly high institutional ownership implies Unilever's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 36% ownership

Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

If you want to know who really controls Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 68% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

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. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Unilever, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Unilever

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Unilever?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Unilever does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Unilever's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

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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 Unilever. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 9.1% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.2% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 2.0% by the third-largest shareholder.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Unilever

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. 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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Unilever PLC 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 UK28m 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 31% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Unilever. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

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. Be aware that Unilever is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

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.
Weve officially launched Plugged in Parent, an exciting initiative set on bringing readers the stories that Staten Island families need to know. You will find it all at silive.com/parents and direct to your in-box via our new, free Plugged-In Parent newsletter. (Subscribe to the newsletter here!)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  New York City students who are looking to gain entrance into New York Citys specialized high schools can begin to register for the exam starting next week.

Students are offered admission to the eight specialized high schools based on their score on the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT).

These schools are: Staten Island Technical High School in New Dorp; Stuyvesant High School; Bronx High School of Science; Brooklyn Latin School; Brooklyn Technical High School; High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College; High School for American Studies at Lehman College; Queens High School for Sciences at York College.

Staten Island Technical High School has recently ranked first as the best public high school in the city and state, according to Niche, a website dedicated to ranking and reviewing schools across the country.

Registration to take the SHSAT is open starting Tuesday, Oct. 3.

The deadline to register for the exam is Friday, Oct. 27.

Students can register online with their MySchools.nyc account. Students can also register through a school counselor during the school day.

The city Department of Education (DOE) will notify registered students and their schools when test tickets are ready to print from MySchools. The ticket will include information about when and where a student will take the SHSAT. Students should bring this ticket when they take the exam.

After taking the SHSAT, students will be considered for admission to the specialized high schools.

For the one audition specialized high school, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, families should apply by registering their child to audition by Dec. 1, then submitting the audition materials. The SHSAT is not used for admission to LaGuardia.

Registered students can take the SHSAT during an in-school day testing date on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Weekend testing dates are also available.

Testing dates include:

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 : SHSAT School Day Testing

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023: SHSAT Weekend Testing (Day 1)

Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 : SHSAT Weekend Testing (Day 2)

Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023: SHSAT Weekend Testing (Day 3)

Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023: SHSAT Weekend Testing (Day 4)

Students can use a standalone practice test to prepare to take the SHSAT for 2024 admissions.

There are three ways to get your SHSAT results:

These results include a students SHSAT score and up to one offer to a testing specialized high school. However, not all students who take the SHSAT will get an offer to a specialized high school. These schools also do not have waitlists.

Students will be notified if they gained entrance into a specialized high school when all high school offer letters are released  slated for Thursday, March 7.

Offers to the eight testing Specialized High Schools are based on each students SHSAT score, school preference order and the number of seats at each school, according to the DOE. These offers are made to each school in descending SHSAT score order until all seats at each school are filled.

The DOE noted that the lowest qualifying score changes each year based on students preferences and SHSAT scores, so students who are testing for a different year should not use past scores to determine their chance of an offer to any of the specialized schools.
Theres a good chance of wet weather this winter in New York -- the question is whether there will be snow.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is projecting El Nino to influence weather patterns from December through February across the northern tier of the country, resulting in a higher chance for warmer-than-average temperatures in New York City.

El Nino is caused by trade winds weakening over the tropical Pacific Ocean, which leads to warm ocean waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

According to the NOAAs Climate Prediction Center update and map showing the likelihood that temperatures will be below- or above-average in winter (January, February and March), chances are good for New York City and downstate New York to have above-average temperatures, and even better for an above-average temperature upstate.

NOAA weighs in on its winter prediction.

For the past three years, experts say, it was La Nina that dominated local weather patterns.

Meanwhile, a seasonal precipitation outlook map shows New York City within the range for above-average precipitation, while most of the rest of the state could go either way.

Far-Western New York, famous for its snowy winters, is inside a band where its more likely below-average precipitation will be seen.

NOAA weighs in on its winter precipitation outlook.

Forecasts, however, are not foolproof.

In the NOAAs own words, a strong El Nino does not necessarily equate to strong El Nino impacts locally.

FARMERS ALMANAC WINTER FORECAST FOR NY

The Old Farmers Almanac, which claims to have issued 80%-accurate forecasts since 1792, is calling for a winter wonderland. It acknowledges the impact of El Nino, but says instead it will only increase the likelihood of snow, predicting oodles of fluffy white across the U.S.

Predictions from the Old Farmers Almanac put more than half of New York state into the mild, snowy category, with the western half of the state in the cold, snowy band.

In terms of temperatures the book notes;

We are approaching the middle of Solar Cycle 25, which is increasing in intensity and already as strong as Solar Cycle 24, which possibly had the lowest solar activity in about 200 years. Such low activity has historically meant cooler-than-average temperatures across Earth, but this connection has become weaker since the last century.
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In its latter days, Chances pivoted to plotlines featuring, among others, vampires with lasers, man-eating plants, Abigail (of Number 96 fame) as TV sexpert Bambi Chute, and Neo-Nazis hunting for Eva Brauns necklace, which had the power to turn its wearer into an ancient Egyptian goddess. It didnt help the ratings, but it did inspire a sort of awe in viewers, who were now becoming used to switching the TV on and exclaiming what the hell is going on.

When reality TV came along, Aussie shows took the opportunity to supercharge the weirdness. In 2006, Network Ten trumpeted its new show Renes Getting Married, in which a young woman would choose a suitor from a gaggle of hopefuls and actually marry the dude, all on camera. The show hit its first snag two weeks before the premiere, when Rene revealed that actually shed rather be normal and pulled out. Producers scrambled to find another woman with an unnatural desire to marry a stranger, and Renes Getting Married became Yasmins Getting Married. Audiences goggled in disbelief and four weeks into the run the show was axed due to widespread queasiness.

That reality experiment died from lack of viewers, but in 2004, plenty were watching Big Brother series 4, when surprisingly named contestant Merlin Luck produced one of the greatest moments in live TV history. After being evicted from the BB house, Luck came out on stage to meet host Gretel Killeen with gaffer tape over his mouth and a sign reading FREE TH REFUGEES (the e on the had fallen off). As Killeen attempted to question Luck about his time in the house, his decision to protest, and what, generally, the go was, the radical housemate simply sat, vibrating slightly, and refused to talk. It was awkward and confusing and utterly mesmerising.

Gretel Killeen and Merlin Luck in the season 4 episode of Big Brother, in which the just-evicted housemate staged a protest.

Live TV can do that: as carefully as you prepare, you can never guarantee nothing will go wrong. As Australias Top Model host Sarah Murdoch found out in the live finale of the 2010 series. Standing on stage next to top two contestants Kelsey and Amanda, Murdoch waited for the winners name to be relayed to her through her earpiece before saying, its you, Kelsey. The crowd went wild and Kelsey made a heartfelt speech about how honoured she was.
Its a long weekend and temperatures are expected to soar into the mid-30s as crowds head to the start of the music festival season.

Along with the party-goers, to the concern of some, are the NSW Police drug-detection dogs.

The Listen Out festival in 2017 at Centennial Parklands. Credit: Anna Warr

There are hopes for a successful and safe season for all, but it arrives with a backdrop of unresolved questions about the policing of events and with no date set for an overdue drugs summit promised by Premier Chris Minns when in opposition.

As Sun-Herald reporter Amber Schultz reported last week, drug reform advocates are concerned about NSWs upcoming festival season, fearing drug deaths will reach crisis point before the government implements promised reforms.
The first big decision Jacinta Allan should make as premier of Victoria is to abandon Daniel Andrews pet project, the multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop.

The rail loop was always a folly. As Andrews leaves office, it is the most expensive folly in Australia. The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates the 90-kilometre rail line will cost $200 billion, four times the governments cost estimate.

You might assume that the Victorian government would think carefully before promising to pile a generations worth of infrastructure investment into one project, but you would be wrong.

Infrastructure Victoria did not recommend the Suburban Rail Loop, nor was it consulted on the project before the governments announcement. The Department of Transport was not consulted. Neither was Infrastructure Australia, nor state cabinet. Rather, the project was dreamed up in secret, and prematurely announced just three months before the 2018 election.
A family with children at a Melbourne private school is facing a legal battle over almost $300,000 in unpaid school fees, as cost-of-living pressures raise concerns that more families will be pushed to the brink.

Leibler Yavneh College, a Modern Orthodox Jewish school in Elsternwick, has filed court action against the parents of three children currently at the school whose fees have allegedly not been paid since 2019.

Leibler Yavneh College is suing a family for $300,000 in unpaid fees. Credit: Penny Stephens

In documents filed in the County Court, college lawyers said the parents  whom The Sunday Age has chosen not to name  refused or neglected to pay a debt of $298,839, which was a breach of their enrolment agreement.

The board of Leibler Yavneh College declined to discuss the case but said in a statement that the school was passionate about Jewish children having the right to a Jewish education.
More than 30 years ago, artist Mike Brown painted a burst of colour on the side of a North Fitzroy terrace house at the corner of Grant and McKean streets.

The mural, known as For Angela II, was considered a significant piece of art by one of the citys renegade painters and early graffitists.

Nick Selenitsch, Charles Nodrum, Kate Nodrum and Kirsten Rann (L-R) at the North Fitzroy house where the Mike Brown mural was painted over. Credit: Luis Ascui

Until last year, that is, when the mural was covered over with grey paint in the process of the owner selling the house at auction for $1.48 million.

Browns friends, fans and fellow artists are banding together to campaign in the hope the mural can be restored to recognise his forward-thinking views on street art.
Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. But while the successes are well known, investors should not ignore the very many unprofitable companies that simply burn through all their cash and collapse.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether AFC Energy (LON:AFC) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

View our latest analysis for AFC Energy

Does AFC Energy Have A Long Cash Runway?

A cash runway is defined as the length of time it would take a company to run out of money if it kept spending at its current rate of cash burn. When AFC Energy last reported its balance sheet in April 2023, it had zero debt and cash worth UK33m. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through UK18m. Therefore, from April 2023 it had roughly 22 months of cash runway. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Is AFC Energy's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

In the last year, AFC Energy did book revenue of UK507k, but its revenue from operations was less, at just UK507k. Given how low that operating leverage is, we think it's too early to put much weight on the revenue growth, so we'll focus on how the cash burn is changing, instead. Over the last year its cash burn actually increased by 42%, which suggests that management are increasing investment in future growth, but not too quickly. However, the company's true cash runway will therefore be shorter than suggested above, if spending continues to increase. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

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How Hard Would It Be For AFC Energy To Raise More Cash For Growth?

Given its cash burn trajectory, AFC Energy shareholders may wish to consider how easily it could raise more cash, despite its solid cash runway. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.

Since it has a market capitalisation of UK116m, AFC Energy's UK18m in cash burn equates to about 16% of its market value. As a result, we'd venture that the company could raise more cash for growth without much trouble, albeit at the cost of some dilution.

How Risky Is AFC Energy's Cash Burn Situation?

Even though its increasing cash burn makes us a little nervous, we are compelled to mention that we thought AFC Energy's cash runway was relatively promising. While we're the kind of investors who are always a bit concerned about the risks involved with cash burning companies, the metrics we have discussed in this article leave us relatively comfortable about AFC Energy's situation. Taking a deeper dive, we've spotted 3 warning signs for AFC Energy you should be aware of, and 2 of them are significant.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
A former automotive workshop that was turned into a luxury four-bedroom home in Annandale was snapped up by a man in his 30s for $5.65 million, after he fell in love with the property.

The buyer of 22 Nelson Street muscled out an underbidder  a single dad of teenagers  but was left to compete with the auctioneer, who made vendor bids.

Bidding opened at $5 million, with bids of mostly $10,000 following. The underbidder bowed out at $5.2 million, leaving the buyer to trade bids with Ray White auctioneer Tim Snell, before the property sold under the hammer.

Listing agent Ray White Erskinevilles Matthew Carvalho said the buyer had been one of the first to look through the property, and had been keen to buy ever since.
Redback Boots boss Mark Cloros has listed his lavishly renovated Palm Beach house with a cool $20 million price guide after he took a two-year sabbatical to carefully rebuild it.

The stunning four-bedroom, three-bathroom waterfront house has been sensitively remastered by Cloros, paying homage to its 1940s heritage and Sydney in its form and materials, from Hawkesbury sandstone to original kiln-dried blue gum from the St Ives timber mill.

The home was carefully rebuilt, paying homage to its heritage. Credit:

Set on a 563-square-metre block, the resort-style home has a front-row seat on Pittwaters dress circle. It is befitting as it is the land of the rich and famous, where neighbours include tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and the Laundys, of the hotel group. Even Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and his Australian wife Princess Mary have been seen on the peninsula.
Perhaps its okay to be a bit of a busybody sometimes, quipped Yuji Kuroiwa, Governor of Kanagawa, as he outlined how the strength of a response to a disaster lies in the community and encouraged neighbours to get to know one another and each others escape plans. Japan learnt this through tragic and bitter experiences. For example, Minamisanriku Town, ground zero of the 2011 tsunami, no longer exists. Those who survived moved inland. It is hard, visiting the area today, to imagine how people ever felt safe living on the edge of the Pacific in such an earthquake-prone country. The mangled remains of the former Disaster Measures government building at the Minamisanriku Town Earthquake Recovery Memorial Park, Japan. Credit: Latika Bourke Two buildings speak to the towns destruction. The first is the mangled metal remains of the one that served as the disaster warning centre. The second is the Minamisanriku 311 Memorial, which honours those who lost their lives and serves as an educational resource, inviting visitors to consider their own suite of survival skills and evacuation plans. I was struck by the sight of Australian flags, prominently displayed at its entrance and front desk. Australia was the first foreign country to send rescuers and aid after the tsunami and then prime minister Julia Gillard was the first world leader to visit. Inside, a helmet from one of the Australian rescuers sits in a glass cabinet.

Japan built not just memorials but also museums to mark their most catastrophic earthquakes. Although controversial, they are thought to provide a positive and instructional way to channel the collective PTSD. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than at the foot of the cement ruins of Okawa Elementary School. The school sits just a few hundred metres from the base of a hill easy enough for any child to climb. The remains of the Okawa Elementary School that was hit by the 3/11 tsunami. Credit: Latika Bourke But despite having plenty of advance warning that the tsunami was coming, the children were held on lower ground in the schoolyard and those who attempted to escape were chastised. When the wave came, it engulfed 74 of the 78 students and 10 of the 11 teachers  those who survived were the ones who ran up the hill anyway. These terrible details came out through the subsequent litigation launched by the parents of the children (suing is rare in Japan) and led to huge changes.

Now children are taught how to prepare for risk and act. Above all, they are taught to save their own lives first. Akari told me how she regularly practises earthquake drills at her school and I had no doubt she knew exactly what to do should something happen. Loading If Australia wants to get serious about how it deals with disaster, its going to have to accept the costs of this level of permanent readiness. In Japan, the sums have saved lives. The countrys Self Defence Forces have 3900 people, 1100 vehicles and 40 aircraft on standby, deployable within an hour. Similarly, a cabinet minister is always available to attend, within 30 minutes, the emergency meeting that will be activated when disaster strikes. Representatives from private sector companies (think infrastructure, communications, utility companies) are seconded to the cabinet office to join the officials who work on the response plans.

Relevant legislation is constantly updated and laws have even been passed to allow the clearance of abandoned passenger vehicles. At the Kobe Disaster Reduction Institute we learnt that drivers are told to leave their keys in the ignition if they have to abandon their vehicle, so emergency workers can move it. It all felt a far cry from Australias approach which, having established that Defence cant be first port of call to respond to our floods and fires, has only this week held its first National Disaster Preparedness Summit and is still to work out just who will step in if the military cant. To understand Japan is to appreciate that the backdrop to daily life is its constant state of readiness. As one Australian who works in disaster response summed it up, disaster preparedness is embedded in its psyche. Indeed, as I sat down to listen to the US ambassador to Japan deliver his speech, the host read out the evacuation procedures and with a smile, added just in case. This could easily be Japans national motto. Australia would do well to think similarly, stepping away from the shell be right mentality that too often blights its ability to think long-term. Latika Bourke is a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in London. She travelled as a guest of the Japan Foundation and Australian Institute of International Affairs.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- Today, Friday, September 29, 2023, the Honorable Minister of Justice, Anna E. Richardson, along with her dedicated team, aimed to provide a crucial status update to all justice personnel and the public regarding significant developments within the Ministry of Justice.

Unfortunately, due to the absence of a quorum at the scheduled Justice Committee of Parliament meeting, the presentation could not be delivered as intended. However, Minister Richardson remains committed to ensuring that vital information reaches the justice personnel promptly.

The History

After more than a decade without a completed Function Book for the Ministry of Justice, the current administration, under the leadership of Minister Richardson, successfully undertook and completed this crucial task. The Function Book followed the appropriate legislative process, culminating in its signing by former Governor His Excellency drs Eugene Holiday, and Minister Richardson on December 21, 2021.

Simultaneously, Richardsons administration worked diligently to finalize an updated Police Law and new salary scales for the Sint Maarten Police Force, in collaboration with the Collective Consultation of Civil Servants' Unions (CCSU). This inclusive approach ensured that all relevant parties had a voice at the table.

The Present Status

The Ministry of Justice's Function Book awaits enactment by National Decree, which is contingent upon the upcoming budget amendment approval by the Parliament of Sint Maarten, scheduled for presentation by the Honorable Minister of Finance, Ardwell Irion, in the coming weeks.

Regarding the Police Law and new salary scales, these must be formalized alongside the Function Book of the Ministry of Justice, given the integral role of the Police Force within the Ministry. Extensive discussions were held with key stakeholders, including the Council of Ministers, the Council of Advice, and all unions.

In December 2022, an attempt to have the legislative package signed was made, but it became apparent that a complete debt calculation was required. The Ministry's Financial Controllers Department, led by Mrs. Saskia Thomas-Salomons, undertook a meticulous process to calculate retroactive payments and future financial obligations for over 760 active and inactive employees.

Two formal committees, the Placement Committee, and the Appeals Committee, were established to address staff placement within the new Function Book and handle objections, respectively. The process is ongoing, with provisions for potential changes and an additional 15% factor to account for inactive personnel.

The estimated total wage cost to the employer is NAF 38,772,609, with additional factors bringing the total budget required to NAF 44,588,500. Contributions to the pension (APS) and social premiums, as well as wage tax and net wages, have also been calculated.

Minister Richardson emphasized that the initial covenant agreement for a five-year repayment period was no longer feasible due to the significant debt. A new agreement was reached during meetings with unions in July 2023, extending the payment disbursement plan to 10 years. This plan includes provisions for vacation days and retired personnel of the Ministry.

Considering the annual disbursement plan, it is advised to reserve an estimated four (4) to six (6) million in retroactive payments over the period of seven (7) to 10 years.

The calculations and placement process will undergo review by SOAB, which will lead to a findings report at the end of the placement procedure, ensuring transparency and accuracy.

Minister Richardson reaffirms the administration's commitment to completing this essential task and awaits Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion's presentation of the upcoming budget amendment to move forward with the legislative package.
Aldi has invested more than 3bn into opening 225 new sites over the past five years - Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Europe

When David Potts prematurely stepped down as Morrisons chief executive last week, retail insiders were quick to say why.

It must have been because of Aldi, one supermarket chief says. I can only see it as a reaction.

Days before Morrisons announced the news, the German discounter delivered record sales of 15.5bn for 2022, as it continued its meteoric rise on British soil.

Aldi has been forcing grocers to go on the defensive for some time, as its lower price offering has hoovered up hard-up shoppers from traditional supermarkets.

Its momentum led to it becoming the UKs fourth-largest grocer last summer and it has since gained a further one million customers after rolling out swathes of new stores.

The ambition behind its costly expansion is beyond doubt, with Aldi investing more than 3bn into opening 225 new sites over the past five years.

Yet, despite the cost, Aldi has vowed not to slow its UK growth strategy any time soon.

Just last week, the company said it wants to open 500 new stores in the UK, as local chief executive Giles Hurley bemoaned how a third of British consumers arent able to shop with us and around nine in every ten pounds spent in the UK isnt going through our tills.

There are clear opportunities across the country, he said.

Aldis chief executive, Giles Hurley, says the discounter is no longer a second-stop shop for households - Andrew Fox

However, the gamble on growth is raising questions among industry experts who wonder whether Britains love affair with the German discounter is already coming to an end.

Kantar figures for last month revealed how cracks were beginning to show in Aldis market share for the first time, as its annual sales growth slowed from 21.2pc in August to 17.1pc in September.

Shore Capital analyst Clive Black says Aldi still has room to grow, but momentum is likely to slow. Theyve absolutely had the right proposition at the right time for when household budgets have been squeezed, he says.

But, as cost of living pressures ease, some of that unnatural business will start to tail off a little bit.

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At the same time, the store openings that have long provided the fuel for Aldis rapid growth may be getting harder to come by.

In what is a relatively mature industry, most of the best supermarket sites in the UK have already gone, Black says. The next 500 stores probably wont be quite as easy as the first 1,000 for Aldi.

Partly, this could mean expansion into areas less receptive to Aldis discount proposition, diverting its attention further away from working-class areas to focus more on the middle class.

Currently, it has a higher proportion of stores in the North West of England, where incomes tend to be lower, than in the South East and London.

Aldi opened its 1,000th store earlier this month and has a long-term target of 1,500 stores in the UK - Christopher Furlong

Paul Foley, the former UK and Ireland boss of Aldi, says the push into more middle-class areas is not new territory for the discounter. The opportunities for them to open in lower-income areas were gone by 2015 or 2016, so theyve been going after higher-income areas for some time.

Still, he says, there are clearly places where shoppers have no discount store nearby, and it is this which has driven Aldis long-standing goal of hitting 1,500 stores by an undefined date.

Even before Aldi opened the first store, the plan was to have a store for everybody in the UK, or at least where everybody could get to, says Foley. If you do the math and you take a map and put pins in it, you end up with 1,500 pins.

Inevitably, this will have meant the more expensive sites have been left to the end, says Foley: They will have gone for the cheaper pieces of land first.

However, Aldi has not shied away from having to spend more, and recently said it will be investing 1.4bn across the UK over the next two years, compared to 1.3bn since late 2021.

Still, the expansion could prove a slower process than it may have done before, particularly due to planning constraints.

UK chief Hurley last week urged planning authorities to move faster on approving projects.

The process has become much longer, says one insider. Regulations mean it is actually far easier to open a convenience store quickly than it is a bigger store like Aldi would look at. The bottom line is all this means it is taking Aldi much longer to do things.

While this threatens to slow down Aldis progress in the UK, Foley says there is no question the discounter will hit the 1,500 mark and gain more customers. It isnt a wish, its a stated aim and I cant believe it wouldnt happen.

Foley expects Aldi to get there in around seven years, despite rival discounter Lidl pursuing a similar strategy.

He predicts that the pair will hold around 25pc of the market by 2030, significantly higher than the 17.7pc currently.

At that point, he says it would be fair to say the UK has reached peak discounter. Once theyve got 1,500 stores, they will start to spend their money somewhere else, he says.

But even the traditional rivals will not be able to relax, he says, as keeping hold of their customers will be just as important as getting them in the first place.

Foley says Aldi and Lidl will be keeping everyone on their toes for some time.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
In reply to Ms Truss comments, No 10 pointed to remarks made by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to The Times on Saturday in which he said welfare reforms and the integration of artificial intelligence into the public sector could be the way to end the vicious circle of ever-rising taxes.
It can be tough for students financially as its often the first time theyre managing their own household budget. Outgoings can sometimes outstrip income, which is usually why many students are likely to turn to part-time work to top up their income.
Mr Polanski said: The only liveable future we can have is one where fossil fuels stay in the ground  that is a future where we stand together in solidarity, where we talk with authenticity, compassion and care and where we also talk about the science.
Director of customer operations Nick Dent said: We have been in ongoing discussions with our unions for some time to reach a resolution in the dispute over changes we are proposing to how our stations operate.
The party says the deal struck by the EU and the UK to reform the protocol  the Windsor Framework  does not sufficiently address its concerns and has made clear it will not accept a return to devolution until the Government provides further assurances, by way of legislation, over Northern Irelands place in the UK internal market.
A Towns Taskforce, sitting in the Department for Levelling Up and reporting directly to the Prime Minister and Mr Gove, will help them develop their plans and advise on how best to take advantage of government policies, unlock private and philanthropic investment and work with communities.
The Prime Minister told The Sun: What we want to do now is make sure that all these hare-brained schemes forced on local communities, whether it is low traffic neighbourhoods, whether it is blanket 20 mile an hour speed limits, all of that (they) need to stop.
Were winding up the third-quarter of 2023, and what could be more natural than to figure out the best stocks for the rest of the year?

Stock picking of this sort is an essential skill for every investor, and fortunately, the Streets analysts make it easier. They research and analyze various stocks, taking into account a wide range of factors such as company financials, market trends, and growth potential. Through their expertise, these analysts identify and highlight which stocks they believe to be their Top Picks.

We can take a closer look and find out just which stocks are making the cut. Here are the details on two of them, drawn from the TipRanks platform; each is a Strong Buy, with solid upside. Lets dive in and find out just what makes them Top Picks for the rest of 2023.

Evolv Technologies Holdings (EVLV)

The first Top Pick were looking at is Evolv Technologies, a leading company specializing in cutting-edge weapons detection systems tailored for security screening. Evolv is developing new generations of weapons detection technologies to meet the challenges posed by todays multifaceted threat environments. Rather than using legacy metal detection, Evolv bases its security and detection systems on advanced sensors and AI for the most sensitive possible detection of concealed weapons. Evolv locates its sensors at ingress points and allows entrant screening without anyone having to hand over bags or submit to hand screening.

Evolv has not just opened up new technological vistas for security screening; the company has also deployed them in a range of environments. The scanners can be found in ticketed venues, casinos, schools, and even industrial workplaces. Evolv has consciously tried to avoid the traditional transport hub locations for public screening.

One quick statistic will show just how popular Evolvs screening tech is: the company has, since its founding, screened more than 750 million people, making it second in scale only to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees airport screening.

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Evolv saw $19.8 million at the top line in its last reported quarter, 2Q23. The companys revenue was $5.6 million ahead of the estimates. At the bottom line, Evolv showed some losses. The GAAP EPS figure missed expectations, coming in at a 45 cent per share loss and 31 cents per share lower than had been expected. The non-GAAP figure was also a net loss of 10 cents per share, which was only 2 cents below the expected value. In an important metric for future performance, the company registered a 195% Q2 increase in Evolv Express subscription customers.

Cantor analyst Brett Knoblauch describes the second quarter results as strong, and points out that the company has had two strong quarters in a row. He also notes the stocks solid year-to-date gains (~88%), and recommends that investors buy and hold these shares for the long-term.

EVLV has delivered two strong quarters in a row, and we believe it is still a largely unknown name, despite the shares being up YTD. We believe EVLV is a stock investors should own and not trade, as over the next 10 years, management expects to increase deployments to 100k from ~3,400 today. With the companys average recurring revenue (ARR) of ~$16k per installed unit, we see a path for ARR to rise to over $1.5bn from $54.3m currently (with gross margin exceeding 70%), Knoblauch opined.

The analyst goes on to explain why the stock is attractively priced at current levels: We question why every school or public venue does not deploy an EVLV weapons detection unit given the safety (and convenience) it provides to families and school and building operators. For investors that have missed out on their strong YTD performance, the shares have given up all of their post-2Q23 gains (was up +20% on day of earnings), which we believe offers an attractive entry point, particularly as EVLV has just announced an additional product, expanding its product portfolio to two.

Along with top pick status, Knoblauch rates EVLV shares as Overweight (i.e. Buy), with an $8.60 price target that implies a robust one-year upside potential of ~77%. (To watch Knoblauchs track record, click here)

Overall, the Strong Buy consensus rating here is based on 5 recent analyst reviews, including 4 to Buy and 1 to Hold. The shares are trading for $4.86 with a $7.28 average price target suggesting ~50% gain on the one-ear horizon. (See EVLV stock forecast)

Playa Hotels & Resorts (PLYA)

Next up is Playa Hotels & Resorts, a leisure company operating a network of luxury hotels and resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean. The company has 26 properties, with prime beachfront locations in Mexico, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic, and a total of more than 9,700 rooms available. The companys hotel brands include Hilton and Wyndham, and Playa has options for both adult-only and family-friendly resort vacations.

Playa has benefited from the pent-up demand for leisure travel following the COVID-19 pandemic. But more recently, there have been some headwinds, particularly softening demand as that surge normalizes. In addition, as demand softens, Playa is also facing increased competition.

Even in the face of those headwinds, however, Playa delivered a sound 2Q23 earnings report. Those financial results, the last reported, showed the company had a top line of $248 million, beating the forecast by $10.3 million and growing 12% year-over-year. The bottom line, a non-GAAP EPS figure of 14 cents per share, while down 4 cents per share from the prior year, was in-line with expectations.

For Oppenheimer analyst Tyler Batory, this all adds up to a Top Pick. The analyst writes of Playa, We reiterate PLYA as a top idea in our coverage post a management meeting. We think the company is well positioned vs. others exposed to leisure travel. Its all-inclusive product offers a compelling value, and its market exposure can contribute to sustainable demand growth. It also has more favorable margin comps than US hotels that showed outsized expansion last year given the mismatch between revenue and expenses. PLYA also has the best leverage profile in its history as a public company, no upcoming debt maturities, and enough cash flow for substantial buyback activity (reduced share count ~12% since 9/2022).

Looking forward, Batory gives PLYA shares an Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating, with a $12 price target pointing toward a gain of ~66% in the next 12 months. (To watch Batorys track record, click here)

Overall, Playas stock gets a unanimous Strong Buy consensus rating from the Street, based on 4 recent positive analyst reviews. The stocks $7.24 trading price and $13 average price target combine to imply an upside potential of ~80%. (See PLYA stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
The latest intervention by the politician who secured a landslide win for the Tories at the 2019 election  a victory secured on the back of a pledge to create more opportunities outside London and the South East  comes as the party prepares to meet in Manchester for its annual autumn conference on Sunday.
She said: Whether it is New York City, whether it is the border with Texas, whether it is Italy, whether it is the Channel, we need to look again at whether these international rules are fit for purpose.
The incident started after a Kosovan police officer was killed in an attack by the gang at 3am on Sunday. Another officer was injured. Police had been called after reports of a blockade in Banjska. Three police units came under fire but pushed back the attackers, who then fled to the monastery.
She said she was in favour of HS2 being delivered because extra capacity is required on the railway line to the North West of England and confirmed she had lobbied ministers urging them not to abandon redeveloping Euston station as the London terminus for the high speed line, following suggestions a drastic cost-cutting exercise could see it end at Old Oak Common in the capitals western suburbs.
It comes after several statues of the explorer and slaver, thought to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of indigenous people, have been torn down by protesters in the US in recent years.
Right wingers insist they will only lend their votes to the Government if Mr Biden agrees to their demands, and have threatened to unseat Mr McCarthy if he strikes an unfavourable deal with Democrats to avoid the shutdown.
The couple spoke about how their relationship has changed since the comedian was diagnosed and Sir Billy said that his wife now dresses him in the morning, mentioning that he has to get lifts everywhere as he cant drive any more.
They were met by a far larger group of LGBTQ protesters kept separate by dozens of police officers, who closed off the road, as each side accused the other of fascism.
You know, the reason why we know about this issue with TikTok is because of the new laws that have been brought in and were shut down and was disclosed.
Arizona might be holding onto some of your money.

It could be from a checking or savings account or a stock holding you have forgotten about, an old uncashed check or the contents of a safe deposit box. It could be funds from a deceased person that you might have a claim to.

The state of Arizona is the custodian of this type of property for the rightful owner. The state will return property to those who provide proof showing their right to claim it.

Here's how you can check to see if you have unclaimed money or property that is being held by the state  and how to get it back.

How do I know if I have unclaimed funds in Arizona?

Start at the Arizona Department of Revenue, which is the states custodian of unclaimed property. You can search its records online to see if you have unclaimed money or other property in the states possession.

What is the best site to search for unclaimed money?

Go to the Arizona Department of Revenue website  https://azdor.gov/unclaimed-property  to start your search. You also can use a national website, MissingMoney.com.

How do I get unclaimed money in Arizona?

You have to file a claim with the state Department of Revenue. You can file a claim online, or do so in person at the department's offices at 1600 W. Monroe St. in Phoenix.

Did you win: 11 unclaimed Arizona Lottery tickets outstanding, millions up for grabs

How much unclaimed money is in Arizona?

There is more than $2 billion in unclaimed money, according to the Department of Revenue. In the last fiscal year, which ended in June, $61 million was returned to Arizonans, according to the department.

Who can claim Arizonas abandoned funds?

You can claim funds and property that were yours, or that were owned by a business or nonprofit (with additional paperwork involved). You also can claim property on behalf of others, including dead individuals, but you have to prove you have the authority to do so (more paperwork involved in that, too).

What proof is necessary to claim abandoned funds?

To claim money or property that was yours, you need to provide a copy of your photo identification or have a notary sign the claim form. You must provide proof of your Social Security number and address as listed on the website. Proof of address can include a drivers license, state tax returns, bank or utility statements, vehicle registration and more. See a list at https://azdor.gov/unclaimed-property/owners-file-claim/evidence-original-owner.

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What kind of abandoned funds would show up on the Arizona unclaimed funds list?

Old bank accounts, uncashed checks, investments such as stocks and bonds, and goodies stashed in safe deposit boxes show up on Arizonas list. Usually, after 1 to 3 years during which a bank or other entity cant reach an owner, the items are turned over to the state, which keeps them for 35 years. Items from safe deposit boxes are sold at auction but proceeds are kept for the owners.

How long does it take to get unclaimed money from Arizona?

Most claims are handled within 90 days after they are received. But some properties, like mutual fund shares or stocks, can take longer, up to 120 days, according to the Department of Revenue.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Unclaimed funds in Arizona: How to check to see if any of it is yours
Andrew Barr, president of Hitachi Europe, says completing the full route from Euston to Manchester is absolutely vital - Eddie Mulholland

Scaling back the troubled HS2 rail project is not the right thing to do and will make it harder for Britain to cut its carbon emissions, a top executive of Japanese manufacturing giant Hitachi has claimed.

Andrew Barr, president of Hitachi Europe, said the main benefits of the troubled scheme would only be realised if the line runs all the way into London and on to northern cities such as Manchester.

He added that high-speed rail services needed to become an attractive and credible alternative to domestic air travel if Britain is to successfully reduce its carbon footprint.

Hitachi has been awarded a 2bn joint contract with French train manufacturer Alstom to build and maintain the fleet of 52 trains that will eventually run on the HS2 network.

They will be partly based on Japans Shinkansen bullet trains  which Hitachi is involved in making  and have a top speed of 225mph.

Hitachi is also in the running to supply signalling infrastructure.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Barr said: We should be getting on with it [HS2].

The southern end is a key part of that, but you can only really enhance it by continuing to extend the network [into the North].

His comments come as Rishi Sunak is weighing plans to scrap the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester and have the line terminate in the West London suburb of Old Oak Common  instead of Euston  to save money.

This has the potential to cause problems, Mr Barr warns, as Old Oak Common isnt set up to manage the volume of people that youre going to have.

The proposals, which Downing Street has not denied, face opposition from senior Tories as well as major businesses. The Government insists no decisions have been made.

HS2 was originally approved as a Y-shaped route going from London to Birmingham and then on to Manchester and Leeds, with a price tag of around 30bn.

But the cost has since ballooned officially to 45bn just for the London to Birmingham section alone.

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The PM is said to be alarmed by Whitehall estimates that the entire scheme could now breach the 100bn mark.

Speaking this week at Hitachis European headquarters in Slough, Mr Barr highlighted the benefits of high-speed rail on the Continent, where it is much more widespread.

The executive, who previously ran Hitachis trains division, said HS2 would also deliver a much-needed boost to rail capacity  including commercial freight.

HS2 isnt all about getting people from London to Birmingham more quickly, its also capacity increases  particularly on the West Coast Mainline, which is a main corridor for container traffic, he said.

Moving some of that passenger traffic creates extra capacity for [container traffic] and commuting.

Completing the full route from Euston to Manchester was absolutely vital to enable that to happen, he added.

At the same time, he argued HS2 should be just the start of a national high-speed network stretching to Scotland, which would allow Brits to eschew flying.

The independent Climate Change Committee has said more domestic travel by train is key to aviation emissions hitting net zero by 2050.

Id love to see a situation where it actually replaces domestic air travel, Mr Barr said. Its right from a sustainability point of view and I think its the right thing to do.

If you look at Italy, which is the classic case, theyve invested heavily in high-speed rail and its now a very credible alternative to air.

He added that the rollout of digital technology, electrification and soon batteries will revolutionise the way railways are run, making them more efficient, easier to maintain and cheaper to expand without costly infrastructure.

For example, Hitachi is trialling intercity trains in Italy which can switch between using overhead electric wires and battery packs for power  removing the need to rely on a diesel motor.

Meanwhile, the UKs Great Western Main Line is testing sensors mounted on trains that can detect track problems by monitoring tiny bumps absorbed by the suspension.

This could allow engineers to make repairs before serious problems develop, while potentially removing the need for Network Rail to run its yellow track monitoring trains as often.

Greater digitisation of signalling and other train infrastructure will eventually allow small numbers of staff at rail operators to run entire networks remotely from one control room. Its a bit of a game-changer, Mr Barr added.

Developing software that can manage these types of complex systems, along with the hardware that powers them, is a growing line of business for Hitachi  a once-sprawling conglomerate that slimlined its offering after posting the biggest-ever loss by a Japanese manufacturer (787.3 billion yen, about 6.55bn at the time) during the financial crisis.

The company now concentrates on green energy and mobility, digital services and industrial machinery. In 2022, it reported sales of 10.9 trillion yen (60bn) and profits of about 671 billion yen (4bn).

Though his background is originally in rail, Mr Barr now represents all of these Hitachi divisions in Europe. Energy is shaping up to be a significant boon, as the Continent scrambles to switch to renewables and ditch Russian gas.

Hitachis speciality is huge transformers and high-voltage cables.

It built the North Sea Link interconnector between the UK and Norway and its future projects include the link between mainland Scotland and the Shetland Islands and the subsea cables that will bring power ashore from the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, off the coast of Yorkshire.

Hitachi was also once among the firms driving Britains nuclear power renaissance, with plans for projects in Wylfa, on the island of Anglesey, north Wales, and Oldbury, South Gloucestershire, but dropped proposals several years ago after failing to secure government funding.

Asked whether Hitachi would look at large-scale nuclear power again in the UK, Mr Barr said: Unlikely. We still own those two sites though, and my view is that we need to release them to the industry for the best use.

However, the company is a minority shareholder in a joint nuclear venture with General Electric, which has developed designs for a small modular reactor and is among those expected to enter a government competition for funding.

Separately, Hitachi is testing the use of green hydrogen in backup generators that could be used by data centres, many of which currently fall back on diesel.

Yet perhaps the most untapped potential, Mr Barr said, lies in digitising more services across both energy and transport.

In Italy, Hitachi is trialling bluetooth technology that could allow customers to automatically pay for bus and train tickets with their phones by simply stepping aboard public transport  rather than having to buy physical stubs or tap in using plastic cards.

Ive got a bugbear about buying a train ticket when you go to a station, Mr Barr said. You queue up at a machine to get a bit of card to prove you paid the money. Its bonkers.

Everyones got a smartphone in their pocket that could do that. So why dont we?

If they ever get to build it, perhaps its a suggestion the HS2 bosses can take up.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
As groups of drones headed towards Ukraine were detected near the border with Romania on Friday night, the National Defense Ministry (MApN) alerted the Air Police Service and notified the General Emergency Management Inspectorate to warn the population of the eastern Tulcea and Galati counties.

"On the night of September 29 to 30, the Russian forces carried out a new series of attacks on Ukrainian targets. Following the detection of groups of drones headed towards the Ukrainian territory, near the border with Romania, the National Defense Ministry alerted the Air Police Service forces and notified at 22:38 p.m. the General Emergency Management Inspectorate for it to issue an alert to the population of the Tulcea and Galati counties," the Ministry said in a statement on Saturday, agerpres reports.

According to the cited source, the Romanian Army's radar surveillance system detected a potential breach of the national airspace, with a signal picked up on the direction of Galati city.

Consequently, General Emergency Inspectorate, Police and Border Police forces were deployed to Galati and its surroundings, where the respective radar signal was registered. The said response crews performed searches on the outskirts of Galati, as a local called the 112 emergency number on Friday night to announce having heard a loud bang in the area of the city's Cantemir neighborhood."Up until now, no aerial objects fallen on the national territory have been identified. Searches will continue during the day," the National Defense Ministry said.Galati city residents received Ro-Alert warnings announcing the possible fall of dangerous aerial objects and asking the population to take shelter.The cease of the alert measures was ordered in all the affected areas at 1:41 in the morning.The National Defense Ministry said that it is in permanent contact with allied structures, sending them real time information about the situations generated by these attacks, and that it will be back with details, depending on developments.
Key Insights

BHP Group's estimated fair value is AU$60.35 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

BHP Group's AU$44.25 share price signals that it might be 27% undervalued

The US$45.30 analyst price target for BHP is 25% less than our estimate of fair value

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of BHP Group Limited (ASX:BHP) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for BHP Group

What's The Estimated Valuation?

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$9.77b US$10.1b US$9.87b US$13.0b US$13.3b US$13.5b US$13.8b US$14.1b US$14.4b US$14.7b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x11 Analyst x11 Analyst x9 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ 2.03% Est @ 2.03% Est @ 2.02% Est @ 2.02% Est @ 2.02% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.0% US$9.0k US$8.7k US$7.8k US$9.5k US$9.0k US$8.5k US$8.0k US$7.6k US$7.2k US$6.8k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$82b

Story continues

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 (2.0%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.0%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$15b (1 + 2.0%)  (8.0% 2.0%) = US$249b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$249b ( 1 + 8.0%)10= US$115b

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$197b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of AU$44.3, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 27% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

dcf

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at BHP Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.0%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.202. 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 BHP Group

Strength

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Metals and Mining market.

Opportunity

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

Annual earnings are forecast to decline for the next 3 years.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. 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. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For BHP Group, there are three pertinent elements you should further research:

Risks: For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for BHP Group (1 is concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here. Future Earnings: How does BHP's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Australian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
The exhibition "Brancusi: Romanian Sources and Universal Perspectives" opened to the public on Saturday at the National Art Museum (MNArT) of Timisoara, this year's European Capital of Culture, in the presence of several hundred Romanian and foreign tourists eager to see the great sculptor's artwork on display.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, Chamber of Deputies Speaker Alfred Simonis, Minister of Culture Raluca Turcan, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Sorin Grindeanu also attended the opening event, agerpres reports.

Minister Raluca Turcan declared that she was impressed by the exhibition, which is proof of MNArT's high standing.



"I wish I could leisurely enjoy all the exhibits on display here. My favorite piece has always been 'The Sleeping Muse', but I cannot but admire and appreciate other exceptional works as well. I think MNArT has a very beautiful perspective. This exhibition and the museum's ability to host it is proof of MNArT's credibility and of its capacity to fulfill some exceptional conditions. The MNArT will not be shut down. Even after the presentation in Parliament of the bill the government pledged responsibility for, there are still rumors about the closure of this museum. Not only will it not close, but with the substantial support of the County Council, and also due to this exhibition, it has the potential to become one of the most beautiful museums in the country," Raluca Turcan said.



Exhibition curator Doina Lemny reiterated that through the event staged in Timisoara she wanted to prove that Brancusi was not a renegade artist in Romania, not even during the communist regime.



"The media has just been spreading around some cliches, which saddens me a lot. It is rumored that Brancusi wanted to donate his workshop in Paris to the Romanian state. This is absolutely not true. (...). Brancusi was not a renegade in the country. I would like the visitors to look at Brancusi's works until they really see them. There is a big difference between looking and seeing. If they leave this exhibition with one, two or three works in mind, the exhibition is a success and convinces them that Brancusi was one of the trailblazing European artists," said Doina Lemny.



MNArT director Filip Petcu said he is amazed by the effervescence of the public and the positive reactions in national and international media.



"These were two absolutely fabulous days, an extraordinary emulation, there are exclusively positive impressions about the quality of the exhibition and what it means for Timisoara, for Romania on a national and international level. Art lovers from the country and from all over the world have booked so far around 8,000 tickets on the MNArT platform. This is a very special showcasing concept, the exhibits communicate starting from the curatorial concept that reflects Brancusi's relationship with his homeland Romania, with patrons, with personalities from Romania and from the diaspora who supported him and thanks to whom his creation was enhanced and promoted in the West and in Romania as well. It's an event that transcends borders and time. There are works that left for the first time the Pompidou Center in Paris or the Tate Gallery in London. These works convey their message flawlessly thanks to the relationship with Brancusi's photos, which were loaned to MNArT through the contribution of an important collector from Great Britain who owns a Swiss gallery," explained Filip Petcu.



In the year of Timisoara's stint as European Capital of Culture, MNArT hosted important exhibitions dedicated to Victor Brauner, Paul Neagu, Romul Nutiu, and the Brancusi event now crowns the museum's efforts to transform into a national and international landmark.
UNITED NATIONS  Togo's foreign minister wasn't having any of it. He talked of an accelerating "African awakening," of a resolve to "fight our own battles," of a refusal to be banished to the children's table while the musclebound great powers of the 20th century moved chess pieces around the board.

"Nobody is at the center of the world," Robert Dussey said in French, his voice emphatic. "We don't want to be relegated to the background as the world develops."

Africa was Dussey's subject. But he might have been one of any number of leaders speaking at the United Nations over the last week  the voices of smaller nations that typically command less attention. They come, they air grievances and concerns, and then the oxygen is gobbled up by others  often the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

This year, though, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's high-profile presence notwithstanding, things felt different. Top leaders of four of the five permanent member nations didn't attend. Climate change helped amplify the concerns of smaller nations  not coincidentally, those most affected by it. And speech by speech, speaker by speaker, it became clear: On the international stage, other voices are beginning to rise  and to be heard.

"The voice of the Global South is growing louder," said Terrance Michael Drew, prime minister of the Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

"The voices and experiences of the Pacific matter," said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. "Our appetite for transformative change has never been higher," said Xavier Espot, prime minister of the small European country of Andorra.

"The General Assembly is always the biggest platform for countries that don't get a spotlight," says Anjali Dayal, an associate professor of international politics at Fordham University and an expert on the United Nations and other international organizations.

"But I think this year, we saw that more leaders were paying attention to the biggest constituency of U.N. countries  countries that are not big powers but that suffer the biggest consequences and very seldom get to cast the decisive vote," she said.

Where is the momentum coming from? As with so many matters of import these days, there's no single answer.

This year, one development helped clear space for some of the voices: the shallow attendance of major nations' leaders. Of the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members, only the United States, in the personage of President Joe Biden, spoke. The others  Russia, China, France and Britain  chose to send underlings, as did India and Canada.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed called that "disappointing." But it meant that smaller nations and coalitions had more oxygen. They used some of it to advocate for a broader-based permanent membership of Security Council, the only U.N. body with the power to take military action and impose sanctions. Only its permanent members can veto resolutions, and frustration about that runs long and deep.

"The global governance architecture has not delivered the equity and inclusion that is required," said Tandi Dorji, foreign minister of the Asian nation of Bhutan. He insisted representation on the council  which lacks a permanent member from Africa or Latin America  be broadened. "The increasing fragmentation, polarization, and growing inequity we witness in the world today only serve as an urgent cry for strengthening multilateralism."

The structure of the United Nations, most countries agree, doesn't fit the current global configuration. An organization built in the postwar mid-20th century to, in essence, prevent the nations who could destroy the world from doing so is not equipped to tackle the fragmentation afoot as the mid-21st century steams toward us with a rapidly evolving global power structure, speaker after speaker said.

Other factors, too, are helping softer voices grow louder. Exhibit A: climate change, which has hit the world's poorest countries hardest  in particular, island nations whose very existence is threatened by rising waters.

When the president of the island nation of Kirabati, Taneti Maamau, says his country is "experiencing intensifying severe drought and coastal inundation," it's not a secondhand account  and people are starting to listen.

The pandemic and the gradual recognition  finally  of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' yearslong insistence that a multilateral planet is the only way forward also are helping matters.

Coalitions are strengthening beyond usual suspects like the G20 and the European Union. There is the Global South in general, with its malleable membership but its commitment to developing countries with unique common needs. There is SIDS, or small island developing states, which tell firsthand stories about climate change. And Africa's voice is stronger than ever as it pushes for equity, buoyed by a new permanent G20 seat for the African Union.

Then there's sheer population. Africa's alone is expected to double from its current 1.3 billion by 2050 and make up a quarter of the planet's people. This year, India surpassed China to become the world's most populous nation; its leader, Narendra Modi, may have skipped the U.N. meeting, but he hosted the G20 two weeks ago and used it as a forum to trumpet India's suitability as a leader of the Global South.

China, too, used the General Assembly last week to cast itself as a member of the Global South and the community of developing nations. While that's a matter of some debate  China also wants to be perceived as a key global power  its oomph carries along other less-heard nations' priorities in its wake, while bigger nations are distracted with other things.

"It seems that the Global North, under the U.S leadership, is busy resisting China's growing power and weakening Putin's Russia," Zhiqun Zhu, a professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University, said in an email. "No wonder China is seeking support in the developing world."
LAS VEGAS  A man who prosecutors say ordered the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur was arrested and charged with murder Friday in a long-awaited breakthrough in one of hip-hop's most enduring mysteries.

Duane "Keffe D" Davis was one of four suspects identified early in the investigation. He isn't the accused gunman but authorities described him as the group's ringleader Friday at a news conference and in court. In Nevada you can be charged with a crime, including murder, if you help someone commit the crime.

"Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime," police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said, "and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out."

Davis himself admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, "Compton Street Legend," that he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting.

Authorities said Friday that Davis' own public comments revived the investigation.

Davis, now 60, was arrested early Friday while on a walk near his home on the outskirts of Las Vegas, hours before prosecutors announced in court that a Nevada grand jury indicted the self-described "gangster" on one count of murder with a deadly weapon. He is due in court next week.

The grand jury also voted to add a sentencing enhancement to the murder charge for gang activity that could add up to 20 additional years if he's convicted.

Hundreds of pages of transcripts released Friday provide a view into the first month of grand jury proceedings, which began in late July with testimony from former associates of Davis, friends of Shakur and retired police officers involved in the case early on. Their testimony painted a picture for the jurors of a deep, escalating rift between Shakurs music label Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records, which had ties to Davis and represented Shakurs rap rival, Biggie Smalls.

It started the whole West Coast/East Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s, one of Davis' former associates testified.

The first-ever arrest in the case came after Las Vegas police raided Davis' home in mid-July in the nearby city of Henderson for items they described at the time as "concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur."

Davis denied an interview request Friday from jail, and court records don't list an attorney who can comment on his behalf. Phone and text messages to Davis and his wife on Friday and in the months since the July 17 search weren't returned.

In a statement Friday, Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, the rapper's sister, described the arrest as a victory.

"This is no doubt a pivotal moment. The silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community," she said. "It's important to me that the world, the country, the justice system, and our people acknowledge the gravity of the passing of this man, my brother, my mother's son, my father's son."

On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight. They were waiting at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted.

Shakur was shot multiple times and died a week later at the age of 25.

Davis, in his memoir, said he was in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and slipped a gun into the backseat, from where he said the shots were fired.

He implicated his nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, saying he was one of two people in the backseat. Anderson, a known rival of Shakur, was involved in a casino brawl with the rapper shortly before the shooting.

"Little did anyone know that this incident right here would ultimately lead to the retaliatory shooting and death of Tupac Shakur," Lt. Johansson said.

Anderson died two years later. He denied any involvement in Shakur's death.

Emails seeking comment from two lawyers who previously represented Knight were not immediately answered. Knight was grazed by a bullet fragment in the shooting but had only minor injuries. He is serving a 28-year prison sentence in California for an unrelated voluntary manslaughter charge.

On the night of July 17, Las Vegas police quietly surrounded the home where Davis lives with his wife, Paula Clemons. Police lapel video obtained by AP showed SWAT officers detaining a man and his wife outside the home lit up by red and blue lights after police announced their presence on a bullhorn. The couple's faces are blurred in the videos.

Police reported collecting multiple computers, a cellphone and hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-caliber bullets, two "tubs containing photographs" and a copy of Davis' memoir.

Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating the Shakur killing and wrote a book about it, said hes not surprised by Davis arrest.

He put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy, Kading said, adding that Davis himself gave Las Vegas police the ammunition and leverage to move forward.

Kading said Davis public comments showed the crime was premeditated.

The rappers death came as his fourth solo album, All Eyez on Me, remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold. Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.
The Book of Common Prayer, which is the prayer book of churches belonging to the Anglican communion, was first published in 1549 during the reign of King Edward VI. It has been revised numerous times over the centuries. The Episcopal Church of the United States currently uses the 1979 version.

A friend of mine who lives in Alton owns a copy that bears an 1830 copyright date. Its a historical treasure, but not because of its age. Its value lies in the fact that it was owned by an American statesman who was a giant of the abolitionist movement, Owen Lovejoy. The volume bears his signature on its flyleaf.

A brother of Elijah Lovejoy, Owen was born in Albion, Maine, in 1811. He came to Alton in 1836, when Elijah moved to my hometown after leaving St. Louis. Owen stood with his brother during the persecution he endured for advocating abolitionism in his newspaper, the Alton Observer. However, he was not present at the Godfrey-Gilman warehouse on Nov. 7, 1837, when Elijah was shot to death while attempting to protect his latest printing press. Owen remained at the Lovejoy home to protect Elijahs wife and child.

As a New England Yankee, Owen Lovejoy never had sympathy for slavery. His brothers murder, however, transformed him into one of the peculiar institutions most determined opponents. Beside the prostrate body of my murdered brother Elijah, he later recalled, while fresh blood was oozing from his perforated breast, on my knees while alone with the dead and with God, I vowed never to forsake the cause that was sprinkled with his blood.

That vow played a role in determining Lovejoys occupation. According to Owen Lovejoy biographer Edward Magdol, Lovejoy had studied for the Episcopal ministry while living in Alton. His choice of this denomination was rather curious. The Lovejoy brothers father was a Congregational minister. Elijah had studied for the Presbyterian ministry at Princeton in New Jersey. It remains uncertain why Owen chose to become a clergyman in a denomination so far removed from the Calvinism in which he had been raised. Elijah had supposedly congratulated Owen upon learning of his career plan and told him that the Episcopal Church needed salt.

But Owen was denied the chance to add salt to American Anglicanism. He journeyed to Jacksonville, Illinois, in June of 1838 for ordination. He passed the necessary examinations and, according to Magdol, was recommended by the standing committee of the Episcopal convention to be ordained on the Sabbath following. On the day before his scheduled ordination, however, the bishop sent Lovejoy a pledge to sign that would not discuss the subject of abolition.

As noted in the 2021 document The Episcopal Church and Slavery: A Historical Perspective, which was developed by the Subcommittee on Reparations of the Racial Justice Commission, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, The Episcopal Church, as a body, did not question the institution of slavery. The document concedes that Many Episcopalians actively supported slavery.

Lovejoy was forced to decide between ordination as an Episcopal clergyman or honoring the pledge he had made over his brothers bloody corpse. He chose the latter.

While attending an anti-slavery convention in Jacksonville later that summer, Lovejoy ran into the Rev. Edward Beecher. The first president of that citys Illinois College, Beecher had been one of Elijah Lovejoys strongest allies. His book, Narrative of Riots at Alton: in Connection with the Death of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was published in 1838. Beecher told Lovejoy that the minister of the Congregational church in Princeton, Illinois, was ill. He suggested that the disappointed Episcopalian go to that church and offer his assistance. Lovejoy took his advice and put down roots in Princeton as a Congregational minister and resident.

Owen Lovejoy both preached and practiced abolitionism, even making his home into an Underground Railroad station. A few years ago, my wife and I toured his home and saw the space where it is believed fugitive slaves were concealed.

He became active in the Liberty, Free-Soil and Republican parties. He served one term in the Illinois legislature before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1856. As a congressman, Lovejoy enraged his pro-slavery colleagues by freely admitting his participation in the Underground Railroad. In a speech delivered on Feb. 21, 1859, he declared,

Proclaim it upon the house-tops! Write it upon every leaf that trembles in the forest! Make it blaze from the sun at high noon and shine forth in the radiance of every star that bedecks the firmament of God. Let it echo through all the arches of heaven, and reverberate and bellow through all the deep gorges of hell, where slave catchers will be very likely to hear it. Owen Lovejoy lives at Princeton, Illinois, three-quarters of a mile east of the village, and he aids every fugitive that comes to his door and asks it. Thou invisible demon of slavery! Dost thou think to cross my humble threshold, and forbid me to give bread to the hungry and shelter to the houseless? I bid you defiance in the name of my God.

Lovejoy was not popular with all Illinoisans, either. Illinois Sen. Lyman Trumbull, who lived in Alton for some years, recalled, In some portions of Illinois the prejudice against abolitionists, of whom Mr. Lovejoy was denominated the chief, was such that he could not address public assemblies without danger of personal violence.

Trumbull believed that no man in the State did so much as he to overcome the pro-slavery prejudices of a large portion of its inhabitants, and to elevate that great State to the proud position it now occupies on the side of freedom and of right.

Owen Lovejoy died in 1864, a year before the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Princeton.

The contemporary Episcopal Church is quite different from the one that refused to ordain Owen Lovejoy. Its website includes a section titled Racial Justice, Healing and Reconciliation Resources. I wouldnt be surprised if this denomination someday grants Lovejoy posthumous ordination.

John J. Dunphy is the author of Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois. He owns The Second Reading Book Shop in Alton.
On a cold night in 1951, one year into the Korean War, Jacob Hampton stands sentry and scours the darkness for signs of the enemy.

He tries to keep his composure: On guard duty the only thing worse than being alone was the fear that you werent. That fear is realized when a North Korean lunges from the shadows to attack him. The pair fight on a frozen river, one armed with a knife, the other a bayonet, the ice fracturing beneath them. Afterward, despite being wounded, exhausted, mud-splattered and blood-streaked, Jacob vows to stay alive and soldier on.

The tense, cinematic opening of Ron Rashs 20th novel, The Caretaker, is a textbook example of how to snare your reader. Rash maintains narrative momentum as he moves from a war zone overseas to homier territory, namely rural Appalachia, the region that has formed the backdrop for much of his fiction. Conflict of a different kind unfolds and affects Jacob and those closest to him in this stirring, well-crafted tale about young love, family honor and male friendship.

The friends in question are Jacob and his blood brother Blackburn Gant. The latter is caretaker of a cemetery near Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Left with an afflicted face from polio in his childhood, and later abandoned by his family, Blackburn lives a life cut off from the community  in the words of one character, alone on that hill with nothing but dead folks for company. When Jacob is conscripted, he asks Blackburn to look after his wife, Naomi, in his absence.

Only 16, poorly educated and pregnant, Naomi needs all the support she can get. She and Jacob eloped, which led his parents, prominent figures in Blowing Rock, to badmouth her and disinherit him. Blackburn takes her back to her fathers farm in Tennessee, away from pointing fingers and wagging tongues. While waiting for the baby to arrive and its father to return, the outcasts form a bond that townsfolk believe is too close.

Then Jacob is discharged from the Army and sent home to convalesce. But his plans to resume life with his wife are thwarted by his parents, who resort to desperate, devious measures to keep them apart. When cracks appear in their scheme, jeopardizing the future theyve devised for Jacob, they choose to deal severely with Blackburn.

Simply stated, The Caretaker is one of Rashs finest novels, impressing on multiple levels. Rash expertly toggles back and forth to reveal key developments at different moments in time. His characters ring true, from stoic and dependable Blackburn to Jacobs ruthless parents  his hot-tempered father and his mother with a glare so cold it seared into you.

As ever, the rugged beauty of the landscape is richly conveyed. It ends a tad abruptly, but otherwise this is supremely accomplished storytelling.
UPDATE: Authorities arrested Jonathan S. O'Dell around 5 p.m. Sunday in Ray County.

ST. LOUIS  The FBI said Saturday that it is searching for an inmate who escaped a Missouri jail overnight and should be considered dangerous.

Jonathan S. O'Dell escaped the Phelps County Jail, in Rolla, Missouri, after 11 p.m. Friday by "compromising the structural integrity" of his holding cell, according to the FBI. A second inmate who aided O'Dell and escaped with him turned himself in afterward.

O'Dell was indicted in May for conspiring to murder U.S. Border Patrol officers and shooting at FBI officers who arrested them on the eve of their trip, in October of 2022, south to the U.S.  Mexico border.

O'Dell and an accomplice had planned to shoot migrants crossing the border in to the U.S. and shoot any U.S. officers or employees who would try to stop them. They had tried to recruit other gunmen for their plan and had collected firearms, paramilitary gear and ammunition at O'Dell's house in Warsaw, Mo.

O'Dell, 33, was last seen escaping the Phelps County Jail wearing a maroon-colored shirt with the Phelps County logo and brown slacks with a tan stripe.

Authorities did not identify O'Dell's last known location or direction, but said he is known to have associates in central and south Missouri, including the cities of Warsaw, Columbia and Springfield.

O'Dell is just more than 6 feet tall, about 200 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes. He may have shaved his beard to disguise his identity, authorities said.

The FBI asks anyone with information on O'Dell's whereabouts to call 911 or the FBI's regional offices as soon as possible. Callers can reach the FBI in St. Louis at 314-589-2500 and the FBI in Kansas City at 816-512-8200. Tips can be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov.

This is what escaped Phelps County Jail inmate O'Dell looked like without his beard. Call 911 is you see him. pic.twitter.com/FPCCePTAKv  MO Public Safety (@MoPublicSafety) September 30, 2023
ST. LOUIS  A federal jury found an East St. Louis man guilty of nearly a dozen felonies related to drug trafficking, gun sales and the 2019 shooting death of a man in University City, according to a news release.

Deoman Reeves, 31, was convicted in the fatal shooting of David Anderson in the 1100 block of Kingsland Avenue on Oct. 21, 2019. Witnesses said at trial that Reeves and others shot at Anderson in retaliation for another shooting in St. Louis County the day before.

Jurors also found Reeves guilty of several drug- and gun-related charges for selling fentanyl and guns to informants and undercover agents for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, according to the news release.

Reeves is facing a mandatory penalty of life in prison. He is set to be sentenced Dec. 28.
Name a commercial retail space that would be ideal for a new restaurant franchise in Redding?

Huckleberrys Breakfast & Lunch, which dubs itself Southern cookin with a California Twist!, hopes to open here early next year.

Recently I spoke with Huckleberrys spokeswoman Reem Fahoum who told me that the chain has a goal of opening in Redding within six months.

Redding has been asking for it for a while, so we are happy we got a franchisee in that area, Fahoum said.

She said the company is currently scouting potential sites and could select one soon.

Huckleberrys has 33 locations in California, including several in the greater Sacramento area. The restaurant also has a location in Reno.

The franchise was established in 2008.

The drink menu includes the Bayou Bloody Mary, Hucks Signature Mimosa, Hucks Swamp Tea and Huckleberry Lemonade.

Huckleberry's markets itself as Southern Cooking with a California twist. The franchise is looking to open a location in Redding.

For food, breakfast offerings include waffles with a Huckleberry twist, corn beef, omelets, half-pound chicken fried steak and half-pound ribeye steak, both with eggs.

Louisiana catfish, catfish po-boy, bacon club, Monte Cristo, and Dixieland steak melt are part of the lunch menu. There are also burgers, soups and salads.

Fahoum said their franchisees typically like to retrofit an existing building rather than build new.

For the most part its more economical for the franchisee to go into what was a previous restaurant, it has a hood, the grease trap, the walk-in cooler, all the things, Fahoum said.

New Shasta County Courthouse eyes opening

Officials are getting ready to start the massive move across Court Street to the new Shasta County Courthouse.

Its been a long time coming.

The latest is we are supposed to get our certificate of occupancy on Oct. 27 and I think that means that we will actually begin the physical move, Court Executive Officer Melissa Fowler-Bradley said.

The new Shasta County Courthouse on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. Officials expect to start moving into the new facility by early November.

She said it will take at least six weeks to move, which will be done in phases. So dont expect trials to take place in the new facility until late December or early January.

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Site work on the $170 million courthouse started in late 2018. The six-story building sits on a 2-acre lot bounded by Court, Oregon, Butte and Yuba streets.

The opening has been pushed back more than once, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused supply-chain delays, among other things.

Fowler-Bradley told me that before the courthouse opens there will be a ceremony that unveil some special items in the new lobby.

One of the displays will be the Lady of Justice statue that once stood atop the 1889 Shasta County Courthouse. There also will be pictures of the old courthouse in the new lobby.

More: Restaurant, ice cream shop, wine bar coming to downtown Redding Public Market

The 1889 courthouse was the fourth courthouse in Shasta County, and it actually stood behind the existing courthouse, Fowler-Bradley said.

Stay tuned.

Chicken Shack expanding south

With the two locations in Redding, Chicken Shack co-owner Johan Mills said it was time to explore other communities.

So, hes bringing the wings and sandwich restaurant to Tehama County.

Mills told me he hopes to open in the Raleys shopping center on South Main Street in Red Bluff before Thanksgiving.

Chicken Shack co-owner Jonah Mills suited up in a chicken suit to celebrate the restaurant's grand re-opening in west Redding earlier this year.

We really like the people in Red Bluff and we feel the business will do well there, Mills said. Were excited to bring the Chicken Shack there.

Mills said he likes the mix of businesses in the shopping center and thinks the restaurant will be a good addition.

We will be right next to those businesses, so we can feed off each other, he added.

Mills and his partners bought the original Chicken Shack on Churn Creek Road in 2019, then opened a second location in west Redding on Eureka Way in 2020.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. Hes part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X, formerly Twitter, @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: The Buzz: Huckleberry's has Redding in its sights
VELDA VILLAGE HILLS  A gunman has been charged with murder in a killing here Thursday that was caught on video, police say.

Willie Crowder, 40, of Pine Lawn, was caught on video footage fatally shooting a man in the chest, according to court documents.

The victim was identified as Dominic Harris.

Harris was found shot in the street in the 3000 block of Gary Drive on Thursday by North County Police Cooperative officers responding to a 911 call, the documents show. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting was caught on video footage by a camera nearby and Crowder admitted to shooting Harris, according to court records.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell's office charged Crowder on Friday with one count of murder in the second degree and one count of armed criminal action.

The North County Police Cooperative, based in Vinita Park, polices Velda Village Hills and Pine Lawn. The cooperative also polices four other small municipalities in north St. Louis County: Dellwood, Wellston, Hanley Hills, Beverly Hills and Uplands Park.
ST. LOUIS  The Opportunity Trust education reform group has been awarded a $35.6 million federal grant to expand and open new charter schools across Missouri over the next five years.

The money will be used for 16 charter schools to serve 5,000 additional students, according to the groups application to the U.S. Department of Education. The federal agency granted a total of $147 million to education departments and reform groups in 10 states for more charter school seats.

This funding will enable us to continue our mission of expanding access to high-quality public educational opportunities for students in St. Louis and across Missouri. We remain committed to fostering innovation in education, cultivating strong community partnerships, and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive in a quality learning environment, Keith Williamson, chair of the Opportunity Trust board, said in a statement.

Charter schools are publicly funded but operate independently of school districts. In Missouri, charter schools can open in St. Louis and Kansas City, and in school districts that are continually underperforming. There are 15 charter school networks in St. Louis with about 40 schools. The Leadership School in Pagedale, which opened last year in the Normandy district, is the first charter school in St. Louis County.

The Opportunity Trust launched in 2018 and has helped fund the Leadership School and several other new charters, including Atlas, Kairos Academies and Voices Academy, which opened this fall in downtown St. Louis.

Charters have had a mixed record since they first opened in the city in 2000 with a promise to improve student performance through innovation and independence. More than half of the 37 charter school operators that came to the city have folded due to financial or academic failures, including La Salle and Hawthorn schools this year.

Others have found success, including Lafayette Preparatory Academy, which outperformed all charter schools and most districts in the state in 2022 and was awarded a rare 10-year renewal by the state. The school, in the Lafayette Square neighborhood, has 400 students in preschool through eighth grade, with long waiting lists for some grades. Gateway Science Academy, which has four charter schools in south St. Louis, scored in the top 20% of all Missouri districts.

But charter schools have done little to stem the citys population loss, driven primarily by Black families with children moving out. Census data shows St. Louis has lost 40% of its children since 2000.

Enrollment in charters has stalled at around 11,500 students for the last few years, as schools open and close. More than 50 St. Louis Public School buildings have been shuttered since 2000. Yet the district has among the lowest capacity rates in the country, with 16,600 students across 62 buildings last year.

Academic results have also been mixed. In 2022, St. Louis charter schools scored an average of 69% on the states annual performance report, which includes test scores and attendance rates. SLPS schools scored 64%.
ST. LOUIS  St. Louis-area high school students, top police officials and community advocates gathered Thursday to hear from a nationally known author and a criminal justice professor on new tactics and programs to address the rift between Black people and police.

The session was part of the I Fear 4 My Life project, which studies how people, particularly communities of color, interact with law enforcement. Its part of the federal 400 years of African-American History Commission, which documents the history, contributions and challenges of Black people in the U.S.

Author Kemba Smith Pradia travels the country, sharing her journey from college student to recipient of a presidential clemency for a decades-long federal drug sentence.

Smith said speaking in St. Louis Thursday was special.

I think of [Rep.] Maxine Waters, one of the biggest advocates when I was still in prison. I think of Mike Brown. Injustice, said Smith.

Professor Kideste Yusef, of Bethune-Cookman University, also spoke. She is the national coordinator for student and law enforcement engagement for I Fear 4 My Life.

St. Louis Metro Police Maj. Ryan Cousins addressed the crowd, saying police injustices should be acknowledged, and the department in recent years has emphasized community programs. Capt. Tricia Allen said police and residents interacting outside of emergencies is key to creating better relationships.

People have to see there is humanity in the badge, said Allen.

The message resonated with high school students, from the TRIO college prep program, in the audience. Smith was just a little older than they are when she began a tumultuous relationship with a man leading a drug ring and ended up being criminally charged. Though she never sold drugs, she was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 1994 in a case that sparked national controversy. She was pardoned after six years, by former President Bill Clinton.

Its about me showing my brokenness to impact other people, Smith said.

Smith stayed behind Thursday to discuss a movie being made about her life, and sign copies of her memoir Poster Child: the Kemba Smith Story

Dakota Scott, a 16-year-old student at Sumner High School, said she read the book, and was inspired.

The event Thursday at New Sunny Mount Baptist Church in North St. Louis also made Scott reevaluate how she saw police in her community.

Reading about crimes committed by police, but also seeing violence in her community makes it hard to form a solid opinion on policing  and seeing officers transparency and knowing they care is a major factor.

It makes me think about how everyone can work together, said Scott.
GENEVA  A Swiss Academy of Sciences panel is reporting a dramatic acceleration of glacier melt in the Alpine country, which has lost 10% of its ice volume in just two years after high summer heat and low snow volumes in winter.

Switzerland  home to the most glaciers of any country in Europe  has seen 4% of its total glacier volume disappear in 2023, the second-biggest decline in a single year on top of a 6% drop in 2022, the biggest thaw since measurements began, the academys commission for cryosphere observation said.

Experts at the GLAMOS glacier monitoring center have been on the lookout for a possible extreme melt this year amid early warning signs about the country's estimated 1,400 glaciers, a number that is now dwindling.

The acceleration is dramatic, with as much ice being lost in only two years as was the case between 1960 and 1990, the academy said. The two extreme consecutive years have led to glacier tongues collapsing and the disappearance of many smaller glaciers.

Matthias Huss, head of GLAMOS, which participated in the research, said in an interview that Switzerland has already lost up to 1,000 small glaciers, and that now we are starting to lose also bigger and more important glaciers.

Glaciers are the ambassadors of climate change. They make it very clear what is happening out there because they respond in a very sensitive way to warming temperatures, he said. The study underlines once again that there is big urgency to act now if you want to stabilize (the) climate, and if you want to save at least some of the glaciers.

The team said the massive ice loss" stemmed from a winter with very low volumes of snow  which falls on top of glaciers and protects them from exposure to direct sunlight  and high summer temperatures.

All of Switzerland  where the Alps cut a swath through most of the southern and central parts of the country  was affected, and glaciers in the southern and eastern regions melted almost as fast as in 2022's record thaw.

Melting of several meters was measured in southern Valais (region) and the Engadin valley at a level above 10,500 feet, an altitude at which glaciers had until recently preserved their equilibrium, the team said.

The average loss of ice thickness was up to 10 feet in places such as the Gries Glacier in Valais, the Basodino Glacier in the southern canton, or region, of Ticino, and the Vadret Pers glacier system in eastern Graubuenden.

The situation in some parts of the central Bernese Oberland and the Valais was less dramatic  such as for the Aletsch Glacier in Valais and Plaine Morte Glacier in the canton of Bern, because they enjoyed more winter snowfall. But even in such areas, a loss of over 2 meters of the average ice thickness is extremely high, the team said.

Snow depths measured in the first half of February were generally higher than in the winters of 1964, 1990 or 2007, which were also characterized by low snowfalls, the team said. But snow levels sank to a new record low in the second half of the month of February, reaching only about 30% of the long-term average.

Over half of automated monitoring stations above 2,000 meters that have been in place for at least a quarter-century tallied record-low levels of snow at the time.

After that, an extremely warm June caused snow to melt two to four weeks earlier than usual, and mid-summer snowfalls melted very quickly, the team said.

Swiss meteorologists reported in August that the zero-degree Celsius level  the altitude where water freezes  had risen to its highest level ever recorded, at nearly 17,400 feet, which means that all the Swiss Alpine peaks faced temperatures above freezing.
ST. LOUIS  A police officer shot a man Saturday morning after he threatened family members with a gun and then shot at police attempting to take him into custody, St. Louis police said.

Police said the suspected gunman was hospitalized in serious stable condition after the shooting shortly before 10 a.m. in the 3800 block of Shenandoah Avenue. No police officers were hurt.

Police were called to the block in the morning for a suspect believed to be armed, suffering from a severe mental crisis, Lt. Daniel Zarrick said.

Officer Involved Shooting in the 3800 block of Shenandoah. Preliminary information is officers responded to a call for a subject threatening family members with a gun. Subject struck in chest and buttocks. FIU has been requested to the scene.  St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) September 30, 2023

Police officers gathered in a group at the end of the 3900 block of Shenandoah while attempting to make contact with the family who had called 911, Zarrick said.

After making contact with the man on the homes second floor, the man and police made their way outside onto the street, he said.

He was extremely agitated, Zarrick said.

Officers were not sure if he was armed and attempted to gain control of the man, Zarrick said.

Police said that, eventually, the man tried to run away, and officers attempted to use a taser on him. The taser was ineffective, but the suspect fell to the ground after continuing to run. When the suspect stood, he produced a handgun and began firing at officers, police said Saturday evening.

One police officer returned fire and shot the gunman twice, Zarrick said  in the right chest and in the right groin.

The officer has worked for the St. Louis department for 15 years, he said.

The departments Force Investigative Unit was called to investigate.

Detectives appeared to be searching a wide area the block near the intersection of Shenandoah and 39th Street, including the front lawn of a house near the end of the block, after the shooting.

Some residents watching investigators said they had returned home in the morning to find police had taped off the street. Another bystander said he had heard several loud popping sounds shortly before 10 a.m. and later walked by and saw police outside.

Bryce Gray of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
OPSEC (Operational Security) in Ukraine is more difficult to achieve because of widespread cell phone use. Ukraine has several advantages over the Russians in OPSEC and one is better control of misuse of cell phones while exploiting the less-disciplined Russian troops misusing their cellphones. While tracking sloppy use of cellphones by enemy troops provides lots of useful information and the location of important targets, this works both ways. The Russian troops have been sloppier and the Ukrainians have taken advantage of that. Ukrainian troops are more disciplined using cell phones but mistakes are still made. Fortunately, the Russians are not as effective at detecting and exploiting Ukrainian troops misusing the phones or as diligent in getting Russian personnel to avoid those fatal errors.

Some countries are very effective at achieving effective cell phone OPSEC. Even so, mistakes still happen. For example, in 2022 Israel revealed that it had suffered another OPSEC failure following an investigation into who leaked details of the Israeli war on Iranian maritime smuggling. That leak occurred before the attack on an Iranian smuggling operation was to take place and forced the mission to be called off. The leak came from one of the 1,200 military personnel who knew about the operation. Only 450 of them had signed the confidentiality agreement that everyone with knowledge of these operations was required to do. Those who signed the agreement are told that violation of the agreement is a criminal offense because leaks endanger the lives of Israelis. Western nations, especially Israel and the United States have long had problems with OPSEC failure. In Israel a lot of reserve soldiers are regularly called up for a few months of active duty and often have a hard time adapting to the OPSEC rules. This got a lot worse in 2007 with the appearance of advanced cell phones in the form of the iPhone. The iPhone made existing cell phones obsolete and other phone manufacturers soon adopted the new features of the iPhone. The iPhone and similar cheaper phones were enormously popular. Smart phone OPSEC problems soon developed and have proved impossible to completely suppress.

A good example of the problem is the situation in Israel, where military reservists called to active duty often took their cell phones with them and made videos while on duty for the friends and family back home, or to post on social media. They did this at home afterwards as well as while on active duty. Israeli security officials became aware of this when they found that Palestinian and other Islamic terror groups were using this to plan operations to develop anti-Israel propaganda. Israel let the reservists, and Israeli military personnel in general, know how serious this problem was and told the troops to leave the cellphones home or someplace where the geolocation features of the cell phones could not be used by enemy groups. Islamic terrorists in general have a worse problem with members using their cellphones in ways that reveal their location and operations. Many successful counter-terrorism operations are the result of exploiting poor cellphone OPSEC by the terrorists.

Most armed forces have this problem and some are more successful dealing with it than others. An example of this can currently be seen in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian have much better cell phone OPSEC than their Russian adversaries, which is one reason why the Russians have suffered much higher losses than the Ukrainians. Another reason is that personal cell phones are often the only communications that Russian infantry have.

Its not just cell phones. Over a decade ago an NSA (National Security Agency) employee conducting an unclassified briefing of NSA activities let slip that the NSA found a way to listen in to Islamic terrorist phone calls and halt attacks. The capability was top secret, but not after the NSA briefer screwed up.

An earlier example occurred in 2018 when the U.S. Department of Defense banned all personnel in operational areas, especially overseas combat zones, from using commercial devices with geolocation capability (GPS). This included cell phones and PSMs (Physiological Status Monitors) like Fitbit. What triggered this was the discovery that a social network for athletes called Strava had developed software that enabled anyone to track users wearing a Fitbit or other GPS enabled PSMs. Dedicated, often professional, athletes joined Strava to exchange PSM information and that led to Strava developing features that enabled user locations worldwide. Turns out that intelligence agencies had discovered Strava as well and reported that they could not only detect PSM users anywhere in the world, but could often identify these users by name. Turned out that many intelligence and military personnel used their Fitbits while overseas, often on secret missions. From January to July 2018 the extent and implications of this became quite clear. The intel agencies quickly (and quietly) ordered their personnel overseas, and often at home as well, to stop using PSMs that made their data accessible to public networks, even ones that were not open to the public. These could be hacked. Now there is a market for secure (encrypted) PSMs for military and intelligence personnel. OPSEC will always be with us and those who are better at it tend to win.
Key Insights

PGG Wrightson's estimated fair value is NZ$3.47 based on Dividend Discount Model

Current share price of NZ$3.70 suggests PGG Wrightson is potentially trading close to its fair value

Peers of PGG Wrightson are currently trading on average at a 53% discount

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of PGG Wrightson Limited (NZSE:PGW) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. This will be done using 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.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.

Check out our latest analysis for PGG Wrightson

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We have to calculate the value of PGG Wrightson slightly differently to other stocks because it is a food company. In this approach dividends per share (DPS) are used, as free cash flow is difficult to estimate and often not reported by analysts. This often underestimates the value of a stock, but it can still be good as a comparison to competitors. We use the Gordon Growth Model, which assumes dividend will grow into perpetuity at a rate that can be sustained. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a company's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In this case we used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.3%). The expected dividend per share is then discounted to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.3%. Relative to the current share price of NZ$3.7, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

Story continues

Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate)

= NZ$0.2 / (6.3%  2.3%)

= NZ$3.5

dcf

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. 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 PGG Wrightson 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 PGG Wrightson

Strength

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Food market.

Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 3 years.

Threat

Dividends are not covered by earnings and cashflows.

Next Steps:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For PGG Wrightson, we've compiled three important aspects you should look at:

Risks: Be aware that PGG Wrightson is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about... Future Earnings: How does PGW'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 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.
Chicago police issued a community alert warning Englewood business owners about a string of burglaries during the month of September.

At least seven businesses were burglarized in the overnight hours from Sept. 17 through Sept. 29 on Ashland and Racine avenues, and Marquette Road.

The latest burglary happened Friday in the 1500 block of West Marquette Road between 2 to 7:15 a.m. Police said two to six males between the ages of 30 to 35, wearing all black gained entry through the front door, back door or roof of the business before stealing merchandise.

Also during the month of September businesses were burglarized in the 6100, 6500 and 6900 block of South Ashland, the 6700 and 7400 blocks of Racine, police said.

No one has been arrested in the burglaries, and detectives were investigating.
PARIS (Reuters) - A financial transaction under investigation in France involving LVMH owner Bernard Arnault was carried out in full respect of the law, his lawyer said on Saturday.

The Paris public prosecutor's office confirmed on Friday that it is investigating financial transactions involving Arnault and Russian businessman Nikolai Sarkisov.

Le Monde, citing the French finance ministry's anti-money laundering unit Tracfin, reported on Thursday that Sarkisov had acquired real estate at a luxury Alpine resort via a complex transaction in which Arnault, through one of his companies, had provided a loan.

"The operation allowing the extension of the Cheval Blanc hotel in Courcheval was perfectly known about and was carried out in full respect of the law," lawyer Jacqueline Laffont said in a statement to Reuters.

"Media coverage of these leaks and the insinuations that have followed has made it necessary to respond. These allegations are as absurd as they are baseless."

The prosecutors office said on Friday that a preliminary investigation had been opened in 2022 and said it would not make further comment on an ongoing investigation.

In France, a prelimary investigation does not necessarily imply wrongdoing by those concerned, for whom the presumption of innocence applies.

An unidentified Tracfin official told Le Monde the transactions involving Arnault and Sarkisov, who both acted through a complex web of legal entities, could have been aimed at concealing the origins of the funds used.

(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; writing by Leigh Thomas; editing by Christina Fincher)
The House side of the U.S. Capitol is seen on Sept. 19, 2023. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)

Stars and Stripes is making all reports on the government shutdown free of charge to support our military community.

House Republicans on Friday failed to pass a short-term funding bill to keep the government open beyond Saturday, a collapse in House Speaker Kevin McCarthys bid to avert a shutdown after focusing on long-term spending this week.

McCarthy had hoped that concentrating on the passage of long-term funding bills would shake loose some support for a stopgap proposal that hard-liners had blocked. But when the gavel fell Friday afternoon, 21 Republicans had voted against the plan, and the bill failed, 232-198.

It was not immediately clear what McCarthys next step was. Talking to reporters after the vote failed, he chuckled and said, Its not the end yet. Ive got other ideas. He did not elaborate.

Had the bill been adopted, it would have cut hundreds of billions of dollars from programs important to millions of Americans, including nutritional aid for poor pregnant mothers, housing subsidies for low-income families, and medical research and environmental protection, among many other federal operations. Although the House GOP plan would spare the military, veterans benefits and immigration enforcement from cuts, many other domestic programs would face immediate 30 percent budget reductions, and some education subsidies and energy aid for poor families would be axed by more than half.

The legislation would fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate but reflects the lengths to which McCarthy is willing to go to pass a GOP-only bill to fund the government out of the House. Politically, its passage would have offered Republicans a firmer starting point in negotiations with the Senate.

The spending levels for the next fiscal year, which begins Sunday, were supposed to have been set in a deal that McCarthy and President Biden agreed to in exchange for House support to suspend the debt ceiling. But as McCarthy has struggled to win over a handful of conservative lawmakers, he instructed House Republicans to draft bigger and bigger spending cuts that make all full-year funding bills dead on arrival in the Senate. Initially, House Republican leaders had tried to advance more-modest across-the-board cuts that did not exempt the Defense or Veterans Affairs Departments from spending reductions.

McCarthy has had to navigate a similar dynamic with short-term spending bills, offering the latest proposal with its 30 percent cuts across most government departments even though leaders knew the bill would fail Friday.

With a shutdown on the horizon, McCarthy and his conference have tried blaming the government shutdown on Bidens immigration policies, even though the White House has asked Congress for more funding to address the border and fentanyl crisis.

The Senate is expected to pass its own version of a stopgap bill either Saturday or Sunday, but McCarthy has said he will not put that bill on the House floor. Without an agreement on a short-term funding extension, the government would shut down Sunday.

McCarthy has said he wouldnt bring the Senates plan to the House floor unless border security provisions are attached. The Senate continuing resolution in its current form would almost certainly pass in the House, carried by the support of Democrats. But some hard-right lawmakers have threatened that if McCarthy uses Democratic votes to pass any legislation that some Republicans oppose - as he did during the debt ceiling fight in June - they would begin the process of removing him from the speakers chair.

A small group of hard-right Republicans has vocally opposed a stopgap bill, instead demanding the House move forward on the 12 appropriations bills needed to fund fiscal 2024. The House has passed four of those 12 bills, but a fifth failed to move forward late Thursday night because more than 25 Republicans voted against the measure because of policy concerns.

Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), who voted against the stopgap bill Friday, called his colleagues who oppose these conservative bills liberals in the Republican conference. Many vulnerable incumbents who helped clinch the GOP majority feel differently, acknowledging at several points in recent weeks that all the bills they are sending to the Senate will not pass.
The U.S. Capitol is seen June 30, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)

Stars and Stripes is making all reports on the government shutdown free of charge to support our military community.

WASHINGTON  Paychecks issued Friday to troops and military personnel are expected to be the last that they receive before an almost certain government shutdown forces them to work without pay starting Sunday.

The shutdown appeared unavoidable Friday as the Republican-led House rejected a short-term funding bill with steep spending cuts and refused to consider a bipartisan agreement floated by the Democrat-led Senate.

There was also no progress on bills introduced by veterans in Congress who hoped to keep service members, including reservists, paid in case of a shutdown. About 1.3 million active-duty troops are set to miss paychecks but will be repaid once the shutdown ends.

President Joe Biden described the gridlock on Capitol Hill as an absolute dereliction of duty as he spoke Friday at the retirement ceremony for Army Gen. Mark Milley, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Our service members will keep upholding their oath, showing up for work, standing sentinel around the world, keeping our country secure but they wont get paid, Biden said. Its a disgrace.

Thousands of civilian workers at the Defense Department also will be furloughed if Congress does not pass a stopgap spending measure, known as a continuing resolution, by the end of Saturday.

The longer the shutdown lasts, the harder it will become for military families to pay their bills, Biden said. We cant be playing politics while our troops stand in the breach.

The House and Senate remain far apart on an agreement to keep the government funded.

The Senate on Friday was moving ahead with a bill that would continue funding at current levels while providing $6 billion in aid to Ukraine and $6 billion for disaster relief. The House had proposed a measure that would impose drastic cuts across the government, but it was voted down 198-232, with 21 Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition.

At least 10 far-right Republicans in the House said they will refuse to vote for any stopgap bill.

The impasse has left service members and their families, especially among the enlisted ranks, bracing for financial impact. One in three military families has less than $3,000 in savings, which is not enough to cover the cost of most housing and child care, according to Blue Star Families, a nonprofit network of military families.

A survey that the group plans to release next week found 63% of active-duty respondents feel they will be greatly impacted by a shutdown. Pay was by far the most common concern for military families, who often depend solely on a service members income.

We already live paycheck to paycheck, a spouse of a junior enlisted service member said in the survey. If we lost half our income, it would make it hard to not drown in bills.

Another survey respondent, a spouse of a field grade officer, said a shutdown would strain the familys ability to buy food  a problem already faced by nearly one in four service members, according to the most recent data from the Defense Department.

Many survey respondents expressed frustration with being caught in a political fight and said the uncertainty caused by government shutdowns makes them less likely to recommend military service to others.

We will not get paid. We will not be able to pay our mortgage, said a spouse of a field grade officer. Why would we want to continue to serve in a military that is run by people that dont understand the basic needs of its soldiers and their families?

Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., a Navy veteran, implored the House on Thursday to protect pay for troops, including members of the Coast Guard. More than 50 lawmakers have signed on to support the effort but it appeared stalled in the House and Senate on Friday.

In 2013, Congress voted to keep paychecks flowing to service members just hours before the start of a 16-day government shutdown.

Im committed to ensuring our service members get a paycheck, no matter whats happening here in Washington, Kiggans said. If theres anything that can unite us, it should be taking care of our troops.
Le Roy Torres looks at the two uniforms that defined his adult life  his final dress uniform from 23 years in the Army and Army Reserve, from which he medically retired as a captain, and the final uniform that he wore during his 14 years as a Texas state trooper, at his home in Robstown, Texas, on Oct. 3, 2019. Torres sued the state of Texas in 2017 because he believed he was forced out of his job as a trooper due to injuries that he sustained on deployment. A jury on Sept. 29, 2023, agreed with him and awarded him nearly $2.5 million. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

AUSTIN, Texas  An Army Reserve veteran who was the driving force behind last years sweeping reform of health care for toxic exposure was awarded nearly $2.5 million in a Texas courtroom Friday after a jury agreed he was forced out of his job as a Texas state trooper because of war-related illnesses.

Retired Capt. Le Roy Torres first filed his wrongful termination lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety in 2017 and took his fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

Torres claimed in his lawsuit that he returned from a deployment to Iraq in 2007 and began to have breathing problems connected to his time overseas, and he was forced out of his job as a state trooper  a violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, which protects civilian employment of service members.

It has been a tremendous grueling journey of legal battles, Torres said in a statement. Today, justice was served upholding the principles of USERRA and ensuring that the rights of service members are protected.

Torres spent his deployment at Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq, where toxic fumes from a 10-acre burn pit wafted through the air. His units living area was within a mile of the pit, where everything no longer needed was burned including medical waste, aircraft engines, computers and tires.

Even before leaving Iraq, Torres said he began to have severe headaches. Once home, he began having chest pains and other symptoms. He has since been diagnosed with terminal lung disease, toxic brain injury and autoimmune issues.

State attorneys argued the suit should be dismissed because Texas has sovereign immunity against private damage suits unless Congress has waived its immunity. Without that waiver, only the U.S. government can sue the state under a federal law, not a citizen.

The Supreme Court sided with Torres in June 2022, and the lawsuit finally moved forward in Nueces County, where Torres lives and operates Burn Pits 360, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic exposure advocacy.

After a five-day trial, a six-member jury unanimously sided with Torres and awarded nearly $2.5 million for the salary, benefits and anticipated promotions that he would have earned since he was pressured to resign in 2012, said Brian Lawler, Torress attorney. He credited their strong evidence to support how little the department did to act on two accommodation requests that Torres filed in 2011.

There was no evidence at all (literally none) that DPS looked for another position for him to fill, despite their lawful, affirmative duty to do so, Lawler said in a statement.

Texas DPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.

As citizen-soldiers, we deserve to keep our professions when we return from serving our nation, such as a deployment, subsequently accommodating the injured veteran if they return with certain limitations, Torres said. We should not have to bear the burden alone due to illnesses or injuries caused by an instrumentality of war.

During the time that Torres was fighting this legal battle, he also fought against the Department of Veterans Affairs and Congress to have toxic exposure from burn pits recognized as causing certain illnesses and qualify veterans for disability and treatment from the VA.

Torres often traveled to Washington to testify on Capitol Hill and walk the halls of Congress, even pulling in the support of comedian Jon Stewart. After many failed attempts, Congress passed the Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, or PACT Act.

The new law added more than 20 health conditions to the list of those presumed to be caused by toxic exposure and opens VA benefits to millions of veterans. The VA said its the largest expansion of health care and benefits in its history. The law required the VA provide toxic exposure screenings to every veteran enrolled in VA health care and improve research and treatment for related illnesses.
Erin Phuong Steinhauer, co-founder of the Vietnam Society, is surrounded by handmade goods Sept. 26, 2023, in Falls Church, Va., that will be part of Vietnam Week, a celebration of Vietnamese food, film, art and literature. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Eventually, Vietnamese Americans hope autumn in D.C. will mean pumpkins, leaves and Vietnam.

Like in the spring, people think of Japan in this very pink, cherry blossom, Zen way, said Erin Phuong Steinhauer, whose goal is to weave the Vietnamese mid-autumn moon festival into American popular culture.

It starts Friday, when the last supermoon of the year will rise and Vietnamese children will fill the streets parading with colorful paper lanterns, some in the shapes of carp and stars. There will be dancing, music and mooncakes.

Its one of the biggest celebrations, one of the most beautiful times in Vietnam, Steinhauer said. But its unfamiliar across America.

Right now?

When most Americans think of Vietnam, one of the first things that comes up is the war, said Kevin Tien, a buzzy chef bringing high-concept Vietnamese cuisine to the local foodie circuit.

And thats especially true in D.C., the epicenter of the decisions, controversies, passions and protests about the war that the United States entered more than 50 years ago.

Dont believe it?

Take a look at the conversations over the past two years led by the U.S. Institute of Peace. It asked a group of Vietnamese university students what comes to mind when they think of America and then reversed the exercise to ask American students for their first thoughts on Vietnam.

Every single one of the American students said war, said Andrew Wells-Dang, a senior expert on Southeast Asia with the institute. The Vietnamese students talked about American movies, music and culture.

Theyve moved past the war, Wells-Dang said. The war for them is history. Its what happened in their grandparents generation.

A man makes a Memorial Day visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, on May 29, 2023. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

Diplomatically, the United States just made a big move toward normalization with President Bidens September trip to Vietnam and announcement that the countries would bolster relations, countering Chinas growing influence.

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, Biden said at the U.N. General Assembly last week.

But its a powerful reminder that our history need not dictate our future, Biden said.

Tien and Steinhauer are the Vietnamese Americans doing that on the ground - trying to change the lens through which Vietnam is viewed in this region and eventually across the nation, to change the conversation from war to culture.

An acclaimed chef, Tien is doing it with the food at his popular Vietnamese restaurant, Moon Rabbit.

Pandan-scented rice. Vietnamese coffee. The way his grandmother braised fish in a clay pot. Thats what he wants America to think of when it comes to his ancestral homeland.

Steinhauer has her list of images she wants America to move past.

The conical hats. Rice paddies. War-torn, said Steinhauer, who was a 9-year-old war refugee when she came to America. Vietnam is so much more than that.

They were children growing up in an America that defined their ancestral homeland with war movies like The Deer Hunter and Born on the Fourth of July.

For folks like Tien and Steinhauer, the key to survival in postwar America was assimilation. Hau became Kevin. Phuong became Erin. And they worked, largely isolated from the vibrant communities where Vietnamese Americans congregated in California and Texas to excel in their fields. To be smart, successful, and American. And to be not Vietnamese.

Theyre done with that.

As Im older now, Ive been trying to learn more about my culture and my heritage, Tien said. Being the first person in my family born here, I was pushed to assimilate and blend in. And in the process of growing up, I lost touch with a lot of aspects of Vietnamese culture. And there are so many other people just like me.

Steinhauer chucked a demanding and lucrative corporate life to co-found the Vietnam Society with her husband, who is a renowned photographer specializing in Vietnam. And shes pouring her energy into this week of festivals, food and events in D.C. to further her mission of redefining her homelands place in American culture.

Erin Phuong Steinhauer, second from left, at her home in Falls Church, Va., on Sept. 26, 2023, with her sister, Thu Pham, from left, her brother, Cuong Pham, and Quan Lam, as they prepare to celebrate Vietnam Week. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Its familiar territory for Americas immigrants - what to bring from the old world and how to make it part of the American fabric. For Vietnamese Americans, the war delayed that process.

The first refugees of the war landed in the D.C. region after Saigon fell in 1975 - largely an intellectual class escaping persecution. They created a vibrant enclave in Clarendon that was called Little Saigon. When a Metro station arrived and real estate prices went up, the hub relocated to Falls Church, which is now home to Eden Center, the largest Vietnamese American strip mall on the East Coast.

Its an anchor for the regions Vietnamese community and a popular destination for non-Vietnamese Americans to indulge in pho and Vietnamese coffee. The centers shop owners defiantly fly the old, South Vietnamese flag. Steinhauers campaign wants to move away from the recent past (the war) and instead bridge this new generation of Vietnamese Americans to an ancient past - to the legends of moons and farmers, the beauty of the land, the traditions of ceremonies.

Vietnam Week, in its second year, begins with a gala honoring Vietnamese Americans who are already doing this. (I get to introduce Chef Tien at the event!) They will also hold film screenings, book discussions and expert panels. Theres an author whose gorgeous graphic novel, The Magic Fish, weaves ancient Vietnamese fairy tales with his own coming out story. Half of Capitol Hills Eastern Market will be dedicated to Vietnamese food and exhibits on Sunday.

Steinhauer marvels at the enduring impact of the more than 3,000 cherry trees gifted to D.C. by Japan in 1912, whose annual celebration helped ease postwar tensions.

Sakura. Zen. Anime. They close down blocks of D.C. near the Capitol every spring, and the festival is packed, she said.

And the District is better for it, Steinhauer knows. We cant appreciate what we dont see.

When we see Asia in this country, we only see China, Japan, India and Korea. Those are really great cultures, but Vietnam is just as great.
The U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington, D.C., on June 30, 2023. Defense Department officials on Saturday, Sept. 30, were stressing to House and Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle the importance of approving aid to Kyiv as Ukraine continues to try to fight off Russias invasion, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)

Stars and Stripes is making all reports on the government shutdown free of charge to support our military community.

Pentagon officials are making a last-minute lobbying push Saturday on Capitol Hill to prevent Congress from stripping aid to Ukraine from a funding agreement, as lawmakers run out of time to avert a government shutdown, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

In conversations throughout the day, the Defense Department officials stressed to House and Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle the importance of approving aid to Kyiv as Ukraine continues to try to fight off Russias invasion, the people said. House Republicans are trying to advance a government funding bill that leaves out funding for Ukraine, alarming officials in Kyiv but paving the way for averting a government shutdown otherwise set to start at 12:01 a.m.

Republicans are forcing us to choose between supporting Ukraine and averting a shutdown, and the administration is very concerned, a congressional aide said.

With less than 12 hours to go until government appropriations lapse, the House is taking up legislation that includes disaster funding and keeps federal operations going at current spending levels, but includes none of the $20 billion President Biden has said is necessary to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) advanced the legislation after months of GOP infighting over funding the government, hoping to prevent the Republican-controlled House from shouldering the blame for a shutdown.

A Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. Friday evening, Michael McCord, a Defense undersecretary, sent a letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) decrying a funding cutoff for Ukraine.

DOD has exhausted nearly all available security assistance funding for Ukraine, the letter states.

Senate leaders had advanced legislation to fund the government until November that included roughly $6 billion for Ukraine, with the hope that lawmakers could approve the rest of the aid later in the year. But with so little time to avert a shutdown, the Senate will now face immense pressure to pass the House bill even without aid for Ukraine.

Supporters of Ukraine say failure to pass the aid will encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin and likely lead European allies to pare back their support for the war.
In an affront to human dignity, prisoners have been forced to give birth in shackles and to give babies into state care only hours after birth, and Black prisoners face disproportionate rights violations, according to the U.N. Human Rights Council findings  collected by a group of experts who in the spring visited five detention centers, met with officials throughout the country and took direct testimony from more than 130 people. (Pexels)

Black people in the United States criminal justice system face systemic racism and racial discrimination by law enforcement officials, United Nations experts said in a report released this week, after an investigation launched in 2021 amid the protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

In an affront to human dignity, prisoners have been forced to give birth in shackles and to give babies into state care only hours after birth, and Black prisoners face disproportionate rights violations, according to the U.N. Human Rights Council findings  collected by a group of experts who in the spring visited five detention centers, met with officials throughout the country and took direct testimony from more than 130 people.

The country must adopt a human rights-based approach to contend with a profound lack of trust of people of African descent in law enforcement and the criminal justice systems, the authors argue, mainly due to the historical and continuous police violence suffered, and the sense of systemic oppression and impunity for these violations.

The U.S. Mission to the United Nations and the Department of Justice did not respond to requests for a response to the report, which addresses the justice system at the federal, state and local levels.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all incarcerated individuals in our population, our employees, and the public, Benjamin OCone, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said in an email.

The authors write that they were horrified to find majority-Black prison populations forced to labour in the fields (even picking cotton) in the same soil worked by slaves before the Civil War, in the case of Louisiana State Penitentiary. A spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections did not respond to requests to comment on the reports characterizations.

Drug laws and policies in place for at least five decades in the United States make Africans and persons of African descent disproportionately more likely to experience harmful interaction with law enforcement and the criminal legal system, the authors write.

They cite concerns commonly raised by rights groups and criminal justice reform advocates: among others, the countrys near-unparalleled rate of imprisonment per capita, a disproportionate share of Black prisoners, varying doctrines on police use of force, a high rate of police killings, the large presence of law enforcement in schools, poor prison conditions, the widespread use of solitary confinement and the disenfranchisement of prisoners.

The authors condemn the prevalence of the death penalty despite many exonerations of death-row prisoners, the use of forced prison labor and a high percentage of prisoners (about 15 percent as of 2020, per the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based advocacy group) serving life or what amount to life sentences.

The experts who compiled the report included Tracie L. Keesee, co-founder and president of the Center For Policing Equity and a former New York Police Department deputy commissioner for equity and inclusion; Juan E. Mendez, an Argentine human rights lawyer and former commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and Yvonne Mokgoro, a former justice on South Africas constitutional court.

They recommend an approach to policing and incarceration that would emphasize transforming underlying conditions, including poverty and racial inequity, and call for a reduction in police killings, the decriminalization of low-level drug offenses, a national strategy to reduce the rate of Black imprisonment and the abolition of the death penalty and life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Since the sentencing in 2021 of Police Officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of Floyd, which sparked a global moment of reckoning over racism and policing, the U.N. Human Rights Council has taken up many of the demands of the protest movement.

In 2021, then-U. N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, said the United States faced a whole-of-society, long-overdue need to confront the legacies of enslavement . . . and to seek reparatory justice.

She called for reparations, broadly defined to include restitution, rehabilitation, educational reforms, acknowledgment, apologies, memorialization and guarantees against further injustice.

Sammy Westfall contributed to this report.
The renewable revolution is forcing a major evolution in the way our power grids operate, as well as the way utilities regulate energy flow. While a major retooling of the system will be required to support the scale of the change brought on by the green energy transition, evolution has so far been slow and piecemeal. But that wont be the case for long, as grids will be forced to update themselves to keep up with a more intensive and flexible energy flow  or risk collapse.

Grids will be faced with three major challenges as a result of the massive growth of renewable energy: a much higher demand for electricity, more variable energy sources, and a more decentralized grid. As more and more services become electrified and plug-in electric vehicles proliferate, the amount of demand on the energy grid will skyrocket. The renewable energy sources that will be expected to meet this demand, primarily wind and solar energy, are variable  meaning that, unlike fossil fuels, they dont produce energy on demand. Instead, they depend on the weather and the seasons, and peak production times are often at odds with peak demand times. This will require a high degree of grid flexibility, as well as long-term energy storage capabilities. Finally, as energy markets become more and more diversified with new forms of energy production and new forms of energy producers (especially now that any home or business can produce solar power to sell back to the grid), the grid is becoming more and more decentralized.

As solar panels and home batteries become increasingly accessible and more widely adopted, the newly decentralized nature of power production will change the way grids and utilities work at a profound level. While this could cause some destabilizing shifts to an industry that was only prepared for a one-way flow of energy, from producer to consumer, it could also represent a crucial source of grid resilience. This is where Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) come in. VPPs represent a decentralized and diversified pool of producer-consumers (known as prosumers) working together to form a power plant without a home base. Bundled together by the hundreds or thousands, [solar panels and home batteries] can also serve as a critical tool: they can be called on to supply vast amounts of power when grid supplies are stretched or store it when there is more solar and wind power than needed, Reuters explains.

Story continues

Source: Next Kraftwerke

Some experts believe that VPPs  somewhat rare now  are positioned to become the new normal. The solar industrys days as a net metering type of industry are starting to be numbered, according Jigar Shah, the director of the US Department of Energys Loan Programs Office, as quoted from the recent RE+ 2023 conference in Las Vegas. Most solar systems come with batteries, and most are integrating smart panels, he went on to say. Theyre integrating demand response and load control capabilities into the inverter controls.

The potential uses of VPPs extends beyond distributed energy storage and production. VPPs could also include electric vehicle chargers, smart thermostats, and smart electric water heaters which could collectively function to improve energy efficiency  another key imperative of the global decarbonization movement. While it makes good economic sense to employ VPPs, says Shah, theres also really no alternative. Frankly, it is the only way for [electric utilities] to integrate all of the huge load that is coming their way. As such, VPPs are already underway in large parts of the U.S. (especially via Duke Energy in the Carolinas) and in Puerto Rico.

And private sector actors arent the only ones taking notice  the United States Department of Energy anticipates lending support on the order of $100 million to advance VPPs, PV magazine reports. This is just a drop in the bucket, however, of the kind of monetary investments that will be required to bring energy grids up to speed. The International Energy Agency estimates that annual investments in energy sector infrastructure and technologies will need to quadruple from current levels to reach $4 trillion by just 2030 to enable the world to reach its goal of net-zero by 2050.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

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Garda Sergeant Walter Sweeney said the victim reported to the gardai on July 31 last year that he seen an advertisement for a gaming computer priced at 500.

Joseph Mulhall had never been in trouble before and carried out the offence in a 'moment of madness', his defence said

A Facebook fraudster conned a man into paying for a gaming console he never got in a sneaky, nasty theft, a court heard.

Joshua Mulhall (22) accepted payment for the device before blocking the online buyer who had no other way of contacting him.

Mulhall had never been in trouble before and carried out the offence in a moment of madness, his defence said.

Judge David McHugh adjourned the case at Blanchardstown District Court for the production of a restorative justice programme report.

Mulhall, with an address Woodbank, Shankill, Dublin pleaded guilty to theft.

Garda Sergeant Walter Sweeney said the victim reported to the gardai on July 31 last year that he seen an advertisement for a gaming computer priced at 500.

He spoke to the seller and agreed to buy the computer, details were exchanged and the money paid.

After this however, the seller blocked him on Facebook and he had no other way of contacting him. The victim never received the goods he had paid for, Sgt Sweeney said.

Mulhall had no previous convictions of any kind, the court heard.

The accused was living at home and there had been no criminality in his family prior to this, his barrister Ciaran MacLoughlin said.

He doesnt know what he was thinking, Mr MacLoughlin said.

He accepted it was quite a sneaky offence, nasty and unfair to the injured party who was at a loss of 500.

Mulhall had brought 700 in compensation to court to cover the cost of the loss and a little bit more for the suffering and annoyance caused.

Judge McHugh asked why Mulhall committed the offence.

The accused doesnt know why he did it, Mr MacLoughlin said. Mulhall had left school at the age of 17, had never been in trouble and it seems to be out of character for him, he said.

It was a moment of madness, something he shouldnt have done, the barrister added.

The judge ordered a restorative justice programme report, giving the accused an opportunity to avoid a criminal record.

Its a first chance, but also last-chance saloon, the judge warned. The accused would be in serious difficulty if he reoffended, he said.

Mulhall was remanded on continuing bail to a date in December. The charge is under Section 4 of the Theft and Fraud Offences Act.
Police said his propensity for violence was increasing.

Deranged killer Niall Cox would have been sleeping in a prison cell on the night he brutally murdered Pat Ward  if cops had been listened to.

We can reveal that police gave warning Cox was going to kill someone just three days before he butchered the loving father-of-four to death.

They also said his propensity for violence was increasing and pleaded with a judge to lock him up for the safety of the community, stating he was unmanageable.

Days after Cox was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years behind bars, questions are now being asked if the horrific killing could easily have been prevented.

The PSNI were strongly of the belief Cox posed a serious threat  and they told a judge just that at a bail hearing for Cox after he had already breached bail on another serious assault charge.

The 28-year-old from McCrea Park, Clogher initially denied murder but later changed his plea, leaving his partner Karen Marie McDonald (37) of the same address to stand trial alone.

Karen McDonald

The 30-year-old victims lifeless, half-naked body was discovered in an alleyway having been dragged there and abandoned by Cox.

Pathologist Jack Crane said Mr Ward was beaten, kicked, stabbed and struck a number of times to the head with a heavy, blunt, elongated object.

He added: Extensive blood loss, combined with head and chest injuries were responsible for rapid but not immediate death.

A video of Cox dragging Mr Wards nearly-dead body out of his house and down an alleyway was shared widely on social media at the time and formed a crucial part of the prosecution evidence.

A number of weapons, including a machete and a barbell, were used to inflict gratuitous violence on Mr Ward.

McDonald was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter after a two-week trial at Dungannon Crown Court.

Pat Ward and wife Ellie

Throughout the lengthy proceedings from arrest until sentencing, what occurred just days beforehand when Cox appeared before court for breaching bail in another serious assault charge, was largely unknown.

Police sought to have him remanded in custody and, pointing to his violent conducted, warned: Its only a matter of time before he kills someone.

Within 72 hours Cox had carried out that tragic prophecy.

It has now emerged he was known to police as a violent offender and was already on strict bail for unrelated charges including unlawful and malicious wounding from an incident in September 2018.

On February 6, 2019, police arrested him for breaching bail, bringing him before Enniskillen Magistrates Court.

A police officer highlighted Coxs propensity for highly violent offending, alluding to the matter for which he was on bail.

She told the court: Police do not feel he can be managed in the community. The level of violence is increasing.

However, a defence lawyer insisted Cox suffered from mental health and addiction issues and remanding him in custody would not be conducive to him accessing assistance. The judge decided to release Cox and reminded him of the bail terms which included a strict curfew.

A further condition was added requiring him to attend with his GP within 48 hours to be referred for mental health support.

In an impassioned plea, the police officer repeated her concerns, but failed to persuade the judge.

It is unclear if Cox engaged with his GP as ordered by the court, but he certainly breached his curfew, as evidenced by CCTV of him dragging Mr Ward to the alleyway in the early hours, indicating his indifference to his conditions of release.

When asked to comment, a PSNI spokesperson said: On February 6, 2019, Niall Cox did appear in Enniskillen Magistrates Court for a bail application in connection with a previous significant offence.

Police were in attendance at the court and bail was strenuously opposed along a number of themes. Bail was granted by the court, and this is a matter for the court and the court alone.

Mr Wards body was discovered in an alleyway having been dragged there by Cox from the home he shared with McDonald and where a brutal and sustained attack had taken place.

CCTV captured Cox dragging Mr Ward by his arms before abandoning him in the alleyway where he was discovered by a couple walking to work.

McDonald carried his legs a short distance before dropping them and returning indoors.

The shocking details of what went on in her house that night are still not clear, with only McDonalds version of events disclosed during her trial.
Despite the impending disruption, which comes just a week before the Budget, there has been no intervention by the Government to head off the strike.

An unprecedented withdrawal of services by barristers next Tuesday over pay rates could affect around 1,200 matters listed before the criminal courts, including a significant number of trials, arraignments and sentencing hearings.

The widespread adjournment of cases is expected because barristers will not be making themselves available in court to represent clients.

And while solicitors are not officially part of the day of action, many are expected to withdraw their services too.

Despite the impending disruption, which comes just a week before the Budget, there has been no intervention by the Government to head off the strike.

The day of action is a significant ratcheting up of a seven-year campaign by the Bar of Ireland seeking the reversal of cuts made to criminal case fees in the wake of the financial crisis of the late 2000s.

According to the Bar of Ireland, fees available to barristers for defence and prosecution work are now equivalent to those on offer in 2002, and significantly less than those available for civil law work.

Bar Council chair Sara Phelan said the criminal bar was haemorrhaging junior barristers as a result.

Up to two-thirds of barristers who commence practice in the criminal courts leave the criminal bar after six years, she said.

Were feeling the effects of this already, with reports of cases being held over because counsel cant be secured to attend.

While this matter impacts unfairly on our profession, it will also have a detrimental effect on those who have cause to engage with the justice system. Whether you are a victim of crime or stand accused, you are entitled to expect that you will have appropriate access to justice.

While Justice Minister Helen McEntee has spoken in support of the reversal of the cuts, there has been no indication the purse strings will be loosened by the Department of Public Expenditure.

Legal and political sources told the Irish Independent there had been no intervention from the Government to seek to avert the day of action.

A spokesperson for Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe declined to comment beyond saying the issue was a matter for the Department of Justice.

However, a spokesperson for Ms McEntee said she was engaged in discussions with Mr Donohoe on the issue as part of the budgetary process.

Members of the Bar will withdraw services at 13 courthouses where cases have been listed for Tuesday: the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin, Dundalk, Castlebar, Cork, Sligo, Trim, Monaghan, Naas, Nenagh, Longford, Waterford, Wexford and Limerick.

The Courts Service said it was not possible to say how many cases would be impacted.

But criminal case lists in the Circuit Court  which usually involve barristers  show in the region of 1,200 matters could be affected. These include 29 matters in Dublin, including seven trials, nine sentencing hearings and 10 arraignments.

Across the country, there are 147 trial or trial matters hearings listed, 182 sentencing hearings and 46 arraignments. The balance of the lists is made up of mentions, lists to fix hearing dates, and other applications.

The number of cases affected could prove to be even higher as a list for the Central Criminal Court is not available yet.

In the absence of legal representatives for any reason, it is open to each court and judge to adjourn a matter to another date, a Courts Service spokesman said.

In a bid to avoid wasting manpower, the Irish Prison Service has requested that courts allow prisoners to appear via video link rather than having to be produced in person.

The Bar is seeking an independent, meaningful and time-limited mechanism to determine professional fees paid to criminal barristers who prosecute and defend indictable crime.

Those fees are paid by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Department of Justice.

The Law Society, which represents solicitors, has also called for the restoration of fees, saying a lack of investment by the Government was creating an unviable criminal legal aid system.

However, it has not recommended a withdrawal of services, mainly due to concerns it would be a breach of competition law if solicitors were to engage in collective action.

Nevertheless, individual solicitors are expected to take part.

I think that on October 3 you are going to see the same behaviour from solicitors, said one criminal solicitor, Matthew Kenny.

Whether it is a formal withdrawal of services or a protest at court before one represents ones client, the point is going to be made to the Government that the current legal aid rates are unsustainable.

Solicitors want to make the same point. We havent had our pay restored. We are in an almost identical position to the barristers.
Elysia Drew (23) drove away from the supermarket but was caught when her car was seen on CCTV, a court was told.

Elysia Drew (23) drove away from the SuperValu with the goods but was caught when her car was seen on CCTV

A young woman who shoplifted tubs of Sudocrem and a bottle of alcohol has been told to pay compensation for the goods.

Elysia Drew (23) drove away from the supermarket but was caught when her car was seen on CCTV, a court was told.

Judge Bryan Smyth adjourned the case for the accused to repay the 54 value of the property to the north Dublin store.

Drew, with an address at Kildonan Road, Finglas pleaded guilty to theft in the incident on June 20 this year.

SuperValu

Dublin District Court heard she went to SuperValu, Sutton Cross on the day. She placed a bottle of alcohol and three tubs of Sudocrem into a bag she was carrying and left without making any attempt to pay for the items.

She left the store in a car that was seen on CCTV and found to be registered to her, a garda said. The court heard Drew had a previous conviction.

Defence solicitor Yvonne Bambury said the accused would need time to pay compensation.

Judge Smyth put the case back to a date in October, for finalisation. Drew was remanded on continuing bail. The charge against her was under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act.
The Kinahan cartel and Iranian links to Hezbollah form key parts of the investigation.

Some of the 157m haul of cocaine seized when an Army Rangers unit stormed cargo ship MV Matthew off the Cork coast. Photo: An Garda Siochana/PA

A 500 million cocaine haul on the Waterford Cork coast involving army rangers, customs, Gardai, the Naval Service and Air Corps.

The Kinahan cartel and Iranian links to Hezbollah form key parts of the investigation.

But what does the hidden haul on the mothership MV Matthew really tell us about the cocaine industry and what people are willing to do to transport it?

Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about high drama in Irish waters and those who have come a cropper before.

Crime World Podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Soundcloud.

MORE EPISODES 
Exchequer could profit from sale of seized freighter worth 9.5m after massive seizure

A 2.2-tonne cocaine shipment intercepted off the Irish coast in a Defence Forces and garda operation will be incinerated once all prosecutions arising from it are concluded.

The revelation came as initial tests indicated the cocaine seized from a 28,000-tonne mother ship off Co Cork originated in Colombia.

Further tests are under way to determine the purity of the cocaine, amid estimates that a high purity could inflate the street value of the seizure from an original 157m by several multiples.

The drugs haul, described as the largest in Irish history, was discovered on board the Panamanian-registered bulk carrier MV Matthew last Tuesday.

The State will now consider a forfeiture notice against the 9.5m freighter, which could then be auctioned off, with the entire proceeds going to the Exchequer.

If the MV Matthew haul approaches the purity of previous seizures such as those in Dunlough Bay in 2007 or the Makayabella haul in 2014, the overall street value of the consignment could soar to well over 500m.

Samples from the haul are undergoing analysis at the State Laboratory to determine its purity and exact point of origin.

An attempt had been made to burn the consignment on board the MV Matthew in the minutes before it was detained at gunpoint.

Garda sources believe the cocaine was sourced from the Medellin area of Colombia by a cartel supplying European drug gangs.

The consignment is thought to have been destined for the Irish, UK, Spanish and possibly French markets.

The seizure arose after the old trawler Castlemore  which had been bought the previous week in West Cork, having been for sale for several months  ran aground on a sandbank off Blackwater, Co Wexford, on Sunday evening, triggering a rescue operation.

Gardai are now investigating whether the vessel had been scheduled to rendezvous with the MV Matthew, which was detained in an armed mission by the Naval Service, the Army Ranger Wing and gardai on Tuesday and is now impounded in Cork harbour.

An analysis of marine traffic indicates it had circled an area off Waterford and Wexford around the time the trawler ran aground.

The trawler was bought in Castletownbere by two individuals, one with a UK address and the other an eastern European national who claimed not to speak English. They said it was for fishing operations from Brixham in Devon.

However, it ran aground on a sandbank less than 48 hours after it left Castletownbere last week, and its route off Wexford was not a charted course for Brixham.

Gardai are now liaising with police in the UAE, China, the UK, Spain and the Caribbean over the 22-year-old MV Matthew, which operated as the mother ship for cocaine shipments from South America to Europe.

The vessel, which was previously known as the MV Honmon, is now being examined by forensic and technical experts at anchor in Cork Harbour after it was interdicted by the Naval Service.

The cocaine was transported under armed guard on Wednesday evening to a secure storage facility in Dublin.

Garda sources warned that the search of the vessel was likely to take several more days and might involve interior bulkheads being dismantled to ensure any potential hidden compartments are located.

Some of the 157m haul of cocaine seized when an Army Rangers unit stormed cargo ship MV Matthew off the Cork coast. Photo: An Garda Siochana/PA

The freighter is moored at Marino Point, an isolated and secure anchorage.

On Tuesday, a Naval Service vessel had to fire across its bow as it headed for international waters and away from the Cork coast.

It was then detained after a unit of the Army Ranger Wing abseiled from an Air Corps helicopter on to the deck and directed its crew to follow Naval Service instructions.

It marks yet another major drug seizure off Irelands south coast following previous operations including Dunlough Bay (total value 440m, in 2007), Dances With Waves (400m, in 2008) and Makayabella (350m, in 2014).

The street value of the Makayabella haul was increased from an initial 80m to almost 350m when it emerged the cocaine was close to maximum possible purity.

Gardai and naval officials are working with Interpol and Europol amid concerns the freighter was also making drug shipments to other European countries.

It is owned via a shelf company in China linked to the Marshall Islands and is managed by a marine operations firm based in the UAE.

One source noted it is the only vessel operated by that firm. It is registered in Panama, but has spent part of recent months operating off South America and the Caribbean.

Maritime officials are trying to pinpoint the precise movements of the freighter in the Caribbean and why it apparently loitered for nearly two weeks off the Canary Islands.

The ship left waters off Venezuela on August 18.

A source said: That is significant because the seas around Venezuela are usually where the Colombian cartels load up their mother ships. Three of the previous four major Irish drug shipments had connections to those waters.

After leaving Venezuelan waters, it was last reported at Curacao in the Caribbean.

The freighter crossed the Atlantic and then spent over a week near the Canaries. It then skirted Spain and France before heading towards Ireland and the UK, finally entering Irish waters off the Cork coast.

It issued an emergency alert to the Irish authorities indicating its captain had been injured in a serious fall on board and needed medical attention.

A successful airlift took the injured crewman to an Irish hospital where he is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

In the 48 hours before it was detained, the freighter also signalled that it was having engine trouble and needed maintenance work in Cork. However, it then abruptly headed for international waters on Monday evening.

This is believed to have happened after it was learnt that the trawler with which it was expected to rendezvous had run aground on a sandbank off Co Wexford, prompting a rescue operation on Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday.
Gardai say Lorna Woodnutt was well known to boy

A teenage boy is the only suspect for the killing of a woman in her 40s in a sustained violent attack that was posted on social media.

The woman has been named as Lorna Woodnutt. A video recording of the killing in Tullamore, Co Offaly, was posted on a social media platform by the boy, who was well known to her.

Gardai believe Ms Woodnutt, who comes from the Tullamore area, was savagely attacked by the boy.

He was still being questioned last night by detectives in Tullamore garda station and is expected to appear in court as early as today.

A hammer along with other weapons are suspected of being used in the killing, which has shocked investigators due to the violence involved and the fact that the video of the deceased was posted on social media.

All the weapons have been recovered by gardai, who say that they are not looking for anyone else in relation to the killing.

It is understood gardai became aware of the killing when its aftermath was posted on social media.

The juvenile suspect has had previous interactions with gardai but not for crime-related matters.

He is described as an extremely vulnerable child who is understood to have been struggling with health difficulties.

Sources say the nature of the incident, which happened about 12.30pm yesterday, has caused profound shock to even experienced investigators.

Yesterday, both gardai and local schools appealed for people not to share the graphic video that had been publicly posted.

Last night, a Department of Education spokesperson said: The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) is currently on the ground providing support to staff and the school community at Killina Presentation Post-Primary School in Rahan, Tullamore, Co Offaly.

When a tragic event happens, NEPS is available to advise and support the teachers and other adults who work daily with students and who know them well.

NEPS is also available to work with the teachers to identify students who are most in need of support and help develop procedures for reviewing their needs and supporting onward referral, if necessary.

Gardai said they were investigating all circumstances around the death.

At approximately 1pm, gardai and emergency services responded to reports of a violent incident at a residential property near Tullamore. The body of a woman, aged in her 40s, was discovered in the property, a spokesman said.

A male child was arrested at the scene and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a garda station in the midlands. The boy is known to the woman and investigating gardai are not looking for any other persons in connection with this incident.

The scene is currently preserved pending forensic and technical examination by the Garda Technical Bureau.

The Coroner and the Office of the State Pathologist have been informed.

A senior investigating officer (SIO) has been appointed and an incident room has been established at Tullamore garda station.

A family liaison officer (FLO) has been appointed in the case.

An Garda Siochana is aware that images from this incident are circulating on social media and messaging apps and is appealing to any person who receives these images not to share the content further.

Local Independent TD Carol Nolan said the community was in shock at the incident.

My heartfelt condolences and sympathy go out to this ladys family. Violence of this nature is always a traumatising and shattering event, and I can only imagine what they are going through, she said.

The community will be deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy. I want to fully support the work of the gardai in their efforts to establish the facts.

My prayers are with all of those impacted by this terrible and dreadfully distressing event.
In the past two weeks alone, the fraud unit has received five reports with an estimated loss of $250,000 to residents

The scam has taken in dozens of homeowners

IRISH home repair scammers conned residents of Ottawa in Canada out of $250,000 (174,000) in five sperate incidents in the past two weeks while another Irish fraudster has gone on the run after similar incidents in the US.

The Ottawa Police Services Fraud Unit has now warned residents to proceed cautiously with any door-to-door contractor sales after receiving an increase in the number of reports from residents.

They said in the past two weeks alone, the fraud unit has received five reports with an estimated loss of $250,000 to residents.

Its always the same pitch, they say theyre already in the area working on a neighbours home and can offer a great deal, said Fraud Unit Acting Sergeant Shaun Wahbeh. Most of the reports we are receiving identify the suspects as white males, typically in pairs, ages 40 to 50, with Irish or Scottish accents.

The scam is similar to those carried out by Irish con artists in countries around the world with a high pressure sales pitch. Sometimes they are hired to a do a small job and then claim to find a much bigger issue that has to be fixed immediately.

Money is asked for upfront and in most cases the work is started but not completed leaving homeowners to foot the bill to clean up and complete the job. Canadian police said the work can cost upwards of $100,000.

Protect yourself when you meet these folks at the door, said A/Sgt. Wahbeh. These individuals tend to rotate from city to city with the same scam and we started to see them return to Ottawa last month.

Police have now issued advice to residents hiring contractors saying a reputable business will take time to go through a contract and provide a quote for reasonable market rates.

The best thing you can do is to take their information and then do your research, said A/Sgt. Wahbeh. The more they pressure you to hand over money or act quickly or lose the opportunity, its a signal to walk away.

Irish gangs travel around the world carrying out the scams with regular reports of such incidents taking place across Europe, North America and Australia.

Police in Massachusetts in the US also warned homeowners this week of similar scammers operating there after customers were down tens of thousands after being conned by an Irishman.

Lydia Cox told NBC Boston that her family is out $6,000 and will likely have to shell out another $50,000 for repairs after an Irishman, who they hired to replace their stairs, damaged their homes foundations, and ran off with the money.

When we look back there were red flags and should have been obvious, said Lydias husband Daniel.

Their website looks really great. All their reviews were really great, said Lydia.

Ludia called the company and a man calling himself Joseph Connors answered and showed up the next day quoting $13,000 to take out their stairs and replace them while demanding $6,000 upfront.

After tearing out the stairs Connors came out to Lydia and said there was damage to the foundation which would cost $100,000 for him to repair.

He kept pulling me outside and showing me all this damage with our foundation and that our foundation was basically falling apart, said Lydia. You could see that there were stones falling from our foundation. And if you know nothing about foundations, that can be very scary.

After Connors quoted $100,000 to repair the foundation Daniel called a structural engineer to get a second opinion.

So what these guys had done was dig underneath those loose stones. And then, of course, they fell out. There's nothing to hold them in, said Daniel.

They told Connors to come back to finish the project, but police were waiting for him.

The guy had a warrant out for his arrest. The license plate on the truck was revoked. The registration on the truck didn't exist. The license plate on the trailer went to somebody else. None of the things that they had were real, said Daniel.

He was taken to court for failure to appear for driving an unregistered vehicle but was later released.

The website of Connors company subsequently vanished and so did he.

A warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of fraud, defacing/damaging property, and conspiracy at the Coxs house.

A police report said Connors had no identification on him other than a picture of an Irish driving licence on his phone.

Numerous other residents said they had similar experiences with Connors who is now a fugitive from justice.
The chief medical examiner ruled the death was a homicide and found the cause of death was blunt force trauma

A MAN has been charged with manslaughter in relation to a one-punch attack on a gentle Irishman in Boston on St Patricks Day which led to his death several days later.

Dubliner Barry Whelan (46), who was living in Woburn near Boston, had told colleagues that he had planned to have a pint of Guinness on St Patricks Day but they never heard from him again after he suffered fatal injuries in the attack.

He was knocked unconscious when he was punched once to the head in Bostons Downtown Crossing and was rushed to hospital where he battled for life for seven days before his life-support machine was switched off.

Six months on, authorities in Boston have announced an indictment in the case.

Suffolk District Attorneys office said on Thursday that Sanusi Sadiq (29), who lives in the Quincy suburb of Boston, has been charged with manslaughter following a grand jury indictment.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on October 26.

Boston police said Mr Whelan was found unconscious near an ATM on Winter Street in Boston around 9pm on St Patricks Day. He was in hospital for seven days before his life support was turned off.

The chief medical examiner ruled the death was a homicide and found the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Mr Whelan had been living in the Boston area and worked with Twin Peaks Construction in Foxborough.

His boss described him as a "gentle soul," in an interview with NBC10 Boston earlier this year.

You couldnt ask for a better person to work for your company, said John Marsoobian.

He told how Mr Whelan told his colleagues he was looking forward to having a pint of Guinness on St Patricks Day but they never heard from his again and knew something was wrong when he didnt turn up for work the following Monday.

Its something that shouldnt have happened," he said. "We should be able to walk around the streets without being assaulted or God forbid murdered."

Mr Marsoobian later learned of the attack and helped police contact his family in Ireland.

Paying tribute to Mr Whelan, he said: He was patient. He was hardworking. He worked six days a week. He paid his taxes and he never complained about anything. He would give you the shirt off his back.

Another colleague Steve Greenberg said: Barry was sweet, and wonderful person who'd give the shirt off his back if you asked, and if you didn't ask he'd offer it. Always has a smile on his face.

Mr Whelan is survived by his mother Valerie and brother Darren.
A man signing his ESOP paperwork

In todays dynamic job market, companies are constantly searching for innovative ways to attract, motivate and retain top talent. Two increasingly popular methods that bridge the gap between employees and corporate success are employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). These acronyms may sound similar, but they represent distinct strategies that grant employees a piece of the ownership pie. ESPPs allow employees to buy shares of stock at a discounted rate, while ESOPs offer stock or shares at no cost. Here is an explanation of both plans and the key differences. You can talk to a financial advisor to better understand how your participation impacts your long-term financial goals.

What Is an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)?

An employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) is a company-sponsored benefit program that allows eligible employees to purchase company stock at a rate lower than the current market price. Heres how it works:

Stock Discount

The ESPP discount on stock purchases can range from 5% to 15% or more, depending on the plan. ESPPs are a popular way for companies to offer an attractive benefit, encourage employee ownership and align the interests of employees with those of shareholders.

Qualified vs. Non-qualified

ESPPs come in two forms: qualified and non-qualified. Qualified plans require shareholders approval before implementation and must follow specific guidelines. Specifically, the offering period can be up to three years and discount maximums are usually lower. Plus, employees must hold purchased stock for a certain period, often a year, before selling.

On the other hand, non-qualified ESPPs have fewer rules and can provide bigger discounts. In addition, employees can sell their shares at any time, creating different tax consequences.

Eligibility and Contributions

ESPPs have specific eligibility requirements that employees must meet to participate. For example, employees usually must work for the company for a certain period (e.g., six months) and be full-time. Participants contribute to the ESPP through regular payroll deductions made over a set offering period. This period is typically between six months and three years. In addition, the IRS limits each employee to putting $25,000 per year into an ESPP.

Story continues

Purchase and Timing

At the end of each offering period, the company uses the accumulated contributions to purchase company stock on behalf of participating employees. Generally, the price per share is the lowest between the stock price at the beginning and end of the offering period.

Tax Implications

The taxation for ESPPs is complex, as it combines ordinary taxes and capital gains taxes. Employees will incur taxes for ESPP participation the year they sell their stock, paying regular income taxes on the discount they receive. Then, theyll pay capital gains taxes on the remaining gain. Specifically, short-term capital gains taxes (identical to regular income taxes) are due if the employee held the stock for less than a year while selling after one year incurs long-term capital gains taxes (which has its own unique bracket).

What Is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)?

ESPP vs. ESOP

An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a qualified retirement plan that provides employees with an ownership interest in their company. ESOPs are a unique and innovative way for employees to acquire a stake in the corporations success. Here are the key features of ESOPs:

Ownership Structure

A company creates an ESOP as a trust holding shares of the companys stock on behalf of its employees. Employees dont purchase the stock. Instead, the company expends its own resources to fill the trust with stock. Employees become owners of these shares, but a trustee appointed by the companys board usually manages the ESOPs fiduciary responsibilities.

Employee Participation and Vesting

ESOPs typically cover all eligible company employees, often with certain minimum service requirements. This means that most employees, not just executives or management, can become shareholders in the company.

Like traditional retirement plans, ESOPs often have a vesting schedule that determines when employees gain full ownership of their allocated shares. Vesting can occur gradually over a number of years (for example, by vesting 20% per year for five years) or instantly (i.e., employees are 0% vested until completing five years of employment, at which time they become fully vested).

Retirement Benefit

ESOPs act as retirement benefit programs. Employees accumulate shares in their ESOP accounts over time and when they retire, they sell their shares back to the company at their fair market value. The proceeds from the sale then become part of the employees retirement income. Employees can also roll over their ESOP funds into an IRA if they wish.

Tax Advantages

ESOPs offer significant tax benefits for companies and employees. Contributions to the ESOP trust are often tax-deductible for the company and employees defer taxes on their holdings until they receive distributions. As a result, ESOPs have similar tax implications to a traditional 401(k) or IRA. However, because ESOPs are qualified retirement plans, employees receiving distributions before age 59.5 will incur an additional 10% penalty.

ESPP vs. ESOP: Investment Guide

ESPPs (employee stock purchase plans) and ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans) have some similarities but primarily serve different purposes within a companys compensation and ownership structure. Heres a comparison between investing in an ESPP versus an ESOP:

Ownership Stake : Both ESPPs and ESOPs provide employees with some form of ownership in the company, aligning their interests with those of shareholders. However, ESOPs allow employees to purchase and hold stock, while ESPPs grant shareholders the cash value of a specific number of allocated shares upon retirement.

Employee Participation : Both plans are offered to eligible employees as part of their compensation package. However, some ESPPs allow employees to opt-out, which they may choose to avoid lowering their paychecks. Conversely, ESOPs dont require payroll deductions from employees because the company funds the trust.

Taxation : ESPPs and ESOPs offer tax advantages, although the specific tax treatment differs. Specifically, ESPPs create regular and capital gains tax implications depending on when the employee sells their stock. On the other hand, ESOPs create retirement income similar to a traditional 401(k) or IRA, meaning income taxes are applicable to distributions.

Acquisition : ESPPs allow employees to purchase company stock through payroll deductions at a discounted rate, often to encourage ownership and provide a financial benefit. ESOPs, on the other hand, are qualified retirement plans providing employees with a retirement benefit and a means for employee ownership succession in the company.

Timing and Use : ESPPs usually have shorter offering periods (typically six months to three years) and are not necessarily tied to retirement. However, ESOPs are long-term retirement benefits, with employees selling their shares upon retirement or leaving the company.

Vesting: ESPPs dont have vesting periods but may require employees to work for a specified period before participating in the plan. Then, the offering period lasts months or years, during which time the employees put money towards the stock purchase. In addition, qualified plans require employees to hold their stock for a certain amount of time before selling. In ESOPs, vesting schedules determine when employees gain full ownership of their allocated shares and are often based on years of service.

Bottom Line

Couple looking at their ESOP and ESPP options

Employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) offer distinct paths to employee ownership within a company. ESPPs focus on short-term benefits, allowing employees to purchase discounted company stock and granting flexibility for selling it. On the other hand, ESOPs are long-term retirement plans that provide employees with an ownership stake in the company.

Tips for ESPPs and ESOPs

Buying stock through your ESPP and taking a payout from your ESOP both have tax consequences. In addition, they arent the only investment opportunities available to employees at successful companies. Finding a financial advisor doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

If you advance up the corporate ladder, you may have access to a distinct form of compensation known as phantom stock. While this plan doesnt grant corporate ownership, it can become a fruitful piece of your retirement plan.

Photo credit: iStock.com/Deagreez, iStock.com/FG Trade, iStock.com/syahrir maulana

The post ESPP vs. ESOP: Investment Guide appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.
A masked man was caught on a private security camera running from the Harp Bar

A popular Irish pub has been burned to the ground in a mystery arson attack on the Costa del Sol.

A masked man was caught on a private security camera running from the Harp Bar in Calahonda outside Mijas, shortly before it erupted in flames.

The footage showed him carrying a can that apparently contained fuel.

The arsonist is seen running from the scene after a big flash.

Police are examining the footage but so far have no clear motive for the attack.

The incident happened between 5 and 5.30am last Thursday morning.

The Guardia Civil are leading the investigation and appealed to anyone who saw anything to contact them.

Devastated bar owner Zoltan Eisenberger posted a message on Facebook stating: Our beloved Harp Bar has suffered a terrible incident resulting in its destruction by fire.

We are truly heartbroken by this unfortunate event as the bar held a special place in our hearts and the community.

We will rebuild our wonderful little bar and make it better than before.

The pub was extremely popular with Irish holidaymakers and expats on the Costa.

It is also only a couple miles from where Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick went missing on New Years Day 2008.
Emma Connors says has recovered now and is looking forward to watching son JJ grow up

When Emma Connors welcomed her first child two years ago, it should have been the happiest time of her life. And it was  until a shock diagnosis left the new mum fearing she wouldnt live to see baby son JJs first birthday, words or steps, let alone all the tiny milestones in between.

Just 35, and less than a week after taking her newborn home, Emma discovered she had postnatal heart failure, a rare disorder affecting pregnant or postpartum women.

Yet it was returning to her little boy that became her top priority while fighting for her life at a locked-down Mater Hospital at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

All I was thinking about was my baby, recalls Emma, now 37, from Clondalkin, Dublin. I just wanted to get home to JJ  thats all I cared about.

When it first happened, I think I was in shock, especially when I was in hospital. It was only months later that it really started to dawn on me how serious this was  that this was life-changing.

Like most, Emma had never even heard of postpartum cardiomyopathy, as its also known, when doctors discovered it was the cause of her sudden breathlessness and swollen legs.

In fact, she almost brushed the symptoms off as new mum anxiety, having earlier in the day rushed five-day-old JJ to hospital with jaundice, before fortuitously asking Dr Google for advice.

Obviously, I was very upset, legal secretary Emma remembers of that dramatic Wednesday in February 2021.

I was in a lot of pain anyway because I was just after giving birth, so I was taking painkillers. But I wasnt having chest pains or arm pain or anything like that.

Then that night I woke up with severe breathlessness. I thought I was having a panic attack because JJ was in the hospital, so I came downstairs and had a glass of water.

Emma Connors

"I couldnt catch my breath. Its only because I went onto Google and typed in breathlessness, just had a child, that I was told to get to an emergency room straight away. Thats what woke me up.

A battery of tests and chest X-rays showed that Emma was, indeed, suffering from the weakness of the heart muscle, which has no known cause and typically strikes between the last month of pregnancy and five months after giving birth.

Happily, a combination of medication and lifestyle changes, such as cutting out salt, reducing her alcohol intake and getting plenty of exercise, means she no longer has to constantly live in fear of young JJ being left motherless.

I had lots of questions, she admits of the unlucky heart episode, believed to affect somewhere between one in 1,000 to 4,000 deliveries worldwide.

I was like, Is this going to happen again? I felt like I was living with a gun to my head and this could happen at any moment over the rest of my life. I was very fearful and very anxious.

But (the doctors) were like, No, it was brought on by the pregnancy. If I hadnt been pregnant, I more than likely would not have had heart failure at some stage.

Although its uncommon, Emma thinks other expectant mums should at least have PPCM (its abbreviated name) on their radar, and is sharing her story as part of the Irish Heart Foundations Her Heart Matters campaign this month, aimed at raising awareness of heart health in women.

One of the nurses in the hospital told me that they see up to 20 women a year with postnatal heart failure, and I was quite shocked at that number, she says.

Every year, 20 women will give birth to a child and potentially have heart failure or die from heart failure, having never heard anything about it before.

With all the pamphlets youre given when you are pregnant and all the classes you do, there was no mention that heart failure is something that could happen. If its happening to up to 20 women a year, it should at least have a footnote in something.

Despite her new heart happy lifestyle, Emma admits: Its always in the back of my mind. Over the summer, everyone was drinking margaritas, with salt around the rim. I was like, No, Im not drinking them!

But the key word is manageable, she says: Its not a death sentence; I dont have to live in fear. I can go on to live a long and healthy life. I can live to see my son grow  and thats all that matters.
Stephanie was my first-born child and when I look into her eyes, all I see is death.

Jackie Coulter(46) were killed as part of a UVF/UDA feud in August 2000 while sitting in a car on the Crumlin road.

Pacemaker Press 09/03/23 Tracey Coulter speaks to the Sunday World about her daughter Stephanie. Pic Pacemaker

Troubles victim Tracey Coulter  who lost her father in a bitter loyalist feud  fears she may soon lose her daughter as well, the Sunday World has learned.

Mentally-ill Stephanie McKeag has managed to escape from a supervised mental health unit seven times in the past six weeks.

The vulnerable 25-year-old  whose dad is the deceased loyalist hitman Stevie Top Gun McKeag  is currently detained under the Mental Health Act.

At present, Stephanie resides at the Acute Mental Health inpatients unit, based in the grounds of Belfast City Hospital.

But according to her mum Tracey, Stephanie  who is plagued by a range of mental health issues  appears to be able to walk out the door at will.

Stephanie has a borderline personality disorder. She also [battles with] psychosis, said Tracey.

She even told doctors she had a plan to take her own life in place and she needs daily medication to help her cope with her condition.

Tracey Coulter is demanding her troubled daughter gets a transfer to a secure unit in the Clara Ward at Knockbracken Healthcare Park, which caters for patients with her condition.

If this doesnt happen soon, then I fear for my daughters life, said Tracey.

Stephanie McKeag / Coulter

I need someone to explain to me how a young woman with severe mental health issues is able to walk out the door of an acute mental health unit unchallenged.

Last week marked the anniversary of the passing of Stephanies loyalist terror chief dad, Stevie Top Gun McKeag.

A leading gunman in Johnny Adairs Ulster Freedom Fighters terror troop, McKeag died of a cocaine overdose 23 years ago today. He was 30.

Last Friday night, loyalists Mo Courtney and Denis Cunningham led tributes to him in the Shankill area of west Belfast.

Despite his reputation as a ruthless gunman, it was well known in the area that McKeag doted on his baby daughter, who was named after him.

Stephanies mum slammed the authorities  alleging negligence and an apparent inability to keep her vulnerable daughter safe.

She insisted: Am I just expected to let things slip until one day Im told my Stephanie has died in the same manner as her father?

The mum of four continued: Stephanie was my first-born child and when I look into her eyes, all I see is death.

I want to know how a patient in her condition  who was detained under the Mental Health Act  can just walk out the door and back onto the streets.

I was 21 when I saw Stephanies daddy dead in a body bag as a result of his addiction to drugs. And the way things are going, I fear I could soon see our daughter the same way.

Jackie Coulter(46) were killed as part of a UVF/UDA feud in August 2000 while sitting in a car on the Crumlin road.

We were informed Stephanie had walked out of the City Hospital Grounds last Tuesday. And I know from previous experience that when shes back on the streets, she is able to access drugs almost immediately. I was worried sick.

We only got her back the following day because she called into my mothers house in the Shankill and my mum was able to contact the police.

Tracey added: Stephanie desperately needs help and she needs it now. She doesnt need it next week or next month or next year  she needs it now.

Tracey Coulters father, Jackie, was a close friend of Mad Dog Adair. And it was probably that friendship that cost him his life.

On August 21, 2000, Jackie Coulter was gunned down as he sat chatting to well-known Shankill loyalist Davy Mahood.

Coulter (46) was involved with loyalist prisoners welfare and he was also a well-known figure on the loyalist band scene.

He was appalled when a bitter feud erupted between members of the UDA and the UVF, during a so-called Day of Loyalist Culture organised by Adair a few days before.

Ironically, Coulter and Mahood had been trying to work out ways of easing tensions between the warring factions when a rookie UVF gunman machine-gunned them both to death.

Loyalist hitman Stephen McKeag

Tracey Coulter said: My daddy Jackie loved Stephanie as much as we did and then she suddenly lost her granddad when he was murdered.

Soon after that, she lost her daddy as well. I remember, when Stevies body was returned to us on my 21st birthday, Stephanie asked me, Mammy, is Daddy sleeping?. She was only two at the time.

It all took its toll on Stephanie and I began to notice she was having problems from around the age of seven.

When she was 12, she witnessed eight UVF men armed with hammers and knives piling into our home. They smashed it to pieces in front of her because I had spoken out about the people who murdered my daddy.

Stephanie was just about to start first year at secondary school when this happened... It had a major effect on her.

Two years later she was experimenting with legal-high drugs.

Tracey Coulter also explained how she fought a long battle with the authorities, which resulted in them finally accepting her daughter needed full-time medical care.

She criticised the politicians who are refusing to return to Stormont to do their jobs.

She said: I know part of Stephanies problem is the lack of money resources in the health service.

But its scandalous that politicians refusing to return to Stormont are still being paid. The health service is falling apart and if we had a government, at least it would help.

I cant get to sleep for worrying about Stephanie. When the phone goes, I wonder if they are ringing to tell me shes gone again.

On one occasion when she left the unit, she went straight to smoking crack cocaine. My child has been failed by the system.

Tracey Coulter also told how she is in no mood to celebrate her 45th birthday tomorrow.

I hate this time of year. It holds too many sad memories for me. I lost my daddy and I also lost my fiance Stevie. she said.

The last thing I feel like doing is celebrating my birthday.

Last night, a spokesperson for the health trust which runs the mental health unit responsible for Stephanie McKeag said: Belfast Trust is unable to go into detail on an individuals case.

However, we acknowledge the deep concern felt by many families, whose loved ones are experiencing mental health [difficulties].

We strive to ensure every patient receives compassion and sensitivity and continue to ensure all service users receive the appropriate level of care and intervention they need.
Terence is about to star in season three of police drama Hope Street

Terence Keeley is now in rehearsals for the stage production Burnt Out

Terence Keeley as the 'RA man' bundled into a car in Derry Girls

Actor Terence Keeley knows hell always be the wee RA man from Derry Girls, but he doesnt mind.

The Belfast man had no idea what to expect when he took the role in the first series, jumping the border in the boot of the Quinn family car.

But he had a ringside seat as it made a global star of friend Saoirse-Monica Jackson and earned him recognition from London to New York.

Terence  who is now in rehearsals for Burnt Out by hard-hitting writer Gary Mitchell  says the TV role will always have a special place in his heart.

It was the first season of Derry Girls, and I didnt really know what it was, he says.

I was doing The Ferryman in the West End with Saoirse-Monica Jackson when the first season aired.

"She went from someone you could go to the pub with and no-one knew who she was, to a global star.

We went to Broadway in New York with the play and walking down Fifth Avenue youd have a million people stopping you.

Im still getting people asking me if Im the wee RA man in the boot of the car, and Im fine with that.

And Saoirse has become a really good friend whos carved out a great career for herself and stayed chilled and grounded.

In a busy year for the 37-year-old, he is about to star in season three of police drama Hope Street, which is an international hit thanks to its BBC America platform.

He is also on the big screen in Paddy Kielty movie Ballywalter.

He had previously worked with the films writer, Stacey Gregg, on her debut movie Here Before. He also knew the director, Prasanna Puwanarajah.

Im in the first scene and in the trailer so it looks like I have a much bigger part than I do, says Terence.

It didnt feel like work. It felt like hanging out with your mates.

My stuff was with Seana Kerslake, who I didnt know and I thought she was from Belfast, but shes from Dublin.

Terence Keeley is now in rehearsals for the stage production Burnt Out

Her accent was so good and she kept it the whole time. Its a beautiful film.

On Hope Street, he was working with actor pal Kerri Quinn. The pair have been reunited on Burnt Out, playing a couple under pressure when they become embroiled in a row about the bonfire site opposite their new dream home.

Terence and Kerri first played a husband and wife on Christmas comedy What the Donkey Saw. But their new roles, alongside Caolan Byrne, Caroline Curran and Shannen McNeice at the Lyric Theatre next month, have a darker hue.

The couple are already contending with shifting views on whether to have children, his familys paramilitary past and his troublesome brother when their new neighbours suspect theyve made a complaint about the bonfire site.

They become the targets of a hate campaign.

The actor says it addresses some contentious issues.

Gary Mitchell is not afraid to shine a light on uncomfortable conversations without demonising anyone, and [hes] saying these things still exist even though were 25 years on from the Good Friday Agreement, says Terence.

Its dealing with the voice of the unionist community, and we know that in the fallout from Brexit and the Windsor Framework there is a sense of being left behind and not being listened to. Its important to hear that voice.

The problem sometimes is if you shine any type of critical light on uncomfortable situations, it can feel like an attack.

The actor  who is also a regular on The Paddy Raff Show  recently finished a sellout show at Feile in Fionnuala Kennedys Project Children. The play is about the US initiative to give Catholic and Protestant kids from Northern Ireland a break from the Troubles with summer trips to America. Hes hoping the production will have another run.

The project ran from 1975 until 2015 and transformed the lives of thousands of children.

Some of the kids stayed out there and went to college and made another life out there, he said. The show was very moving and that might have another life.

Burnt Out is at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast from October 7 to November 4.
New Zealands new Firearms Registry has hit a significant milestone with the 10,000th licence holder entering their firearms into the official record this week.

There are now 10,044 licence holders in the Firearms Registry, who between them have collectively recorded 47,162 firearms  representing an average of 4.7 firearms per licence holder.

Licenced firearms owners across New Zealand have been responding positively to the Registry, says Te Tari Pureke  Firearms Safety Authority.

It has taken just three months to get the 10,000th licence holder entered into the system.

This is almost 5 per cent of the 234,335 active firearms licence holders in New Zealand.

Te Tari Pureke Executive Director Angela Brazier says the Firearms Registry is about making communities safer.

"It is one of the responses to firearms-related crime by disrupting criminals access to firearms," says Angela.

"If a person has a firearms licence, they are required to provide information for the Firearms Registry and to keep it up to date."

Angela says people must provide information for the first time when they have what is known as an activating circumstance.

"These are set out in the regulations and include things like buying or selling a firearm; a change in licence holder information like a change of address; or if they report firearms lost or stolen."

If they dont have an activating circumstance licence holders are required to provide information for the Registry by August 31 2028.

We would like to thank all the licence holders who have filled in the Registry so far, and we are encouraging those with activating circumstances to act on this, and get their firearm details into the Registry, says Angela.

When fully populated, the Registry will provide a picture of all lawfully held firearms and arms items in New Zealand. This will give greater transparency when firearms are changing hands and ultimately make the availability of firearms to the black market more difficult.

Disrupting the flow of firearms to criminals works in tandem with other Policing initiatives that target organised criminal groups and gangs."

Angela says these separate but complementary strategies are together making it harder for criminals to possess and use firearms and are making our communities safer.

Additionally, if firearms are seized from criminals or found at crime scenes, their origin will be more traceable.

Background:

The Arms Legislation Act 2020 was passed by Parliament on June 18, 2020.

This legislation amended the Arms Act 1983 to establish a new firearms regulatory framework with greater regulatory oversight and stronger regulatory tools.

This included the introduction of the Firearms Registry.

Licence holders have been able to register their firearms for just over three months now  from the June 24 2023.

Licence holders are required to provide information to the Registry whenever they have an activating circumstance.

A comprehensive list of activating circumstances is available on the Te Tari Pureke website: When to register your arms items https://www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz/firearms-registry/when-register-your-arms-items

In total it has cost $10.4 million to establish the new Firearms Registry. Te Tari Pureke estimate that ongoing running costs will be $8.5 million per annum.

A Horizon research poll (carried out for Gun Control NZ) in August, which found 71 per cent of New Zealanders supported the Registry, while only 14 per cent opposed it.

In the same poll, some 53 per cent of New Zealanders said people felt safer now that the Registry was active and some guns had been banned https://horizonpoll.co.nz/page/678/large-major
It is once, twice, three-times lucky for the crew that has now landed safely at New Zealands Antarctic research station, Scott Base.

The team of 43 landed safe and sound on the ice late on Wednesday afternoon, on their third attempt to reach Antarctica.

The crew originally departed last Saturday, and they got a fair way there, but the plane turned back in a rite of passage known as a boomerang.

On Monday, the same thing happened. After nearly nine hours on webbing seats, the team landed back in Christchurch.

Wednesday, the wildest, windiest and coldest continent finally gave them a break.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 completed the 3800km trip and landed at McMurdo Sounds Phoenix Airfield at 4.08pm.

All up, the Scott Base crew spent more than 24 hours in the air, trying to get to work.

C-130s have a Point of Safe Return - PSR - when heading to the southern continent. If the weather is closing in at Scott Base, they have to turn around before the PSR, to get home safely.

A double boomerang - a feather in the cap for new Antarcticans - is not even remotely close to setting a record. Antarctica New Zealands institutional memory puts that at seven.

Thats right. Seven flights. In a row.

Antarctic conditions are notoriously harsh, and fickle. Last season saw 21 days of disrupted flights as the research season got underway.

The summer crew will take over from the skeleton crew of 17 people that kept the home fires burning at Scott Base through the winter. The fresh team consists of the engineers, tradies, mechanics, chefs, domestics, technicians and field guides required to make the research station run and support world leading science throughout the research season.

The first priority for the incoming crew is outdoor survival training, fire-fighting drills, and preparing for an influx of scientists in a couple of weeks.

"Antarctica New Zealand thanks, thanks and thanks the New Zealand Defence Force, international Joint Logistics Pool, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand for their hard-work and patience over the five days," says an Antarctica New Zealand spokesperson.
A lucky Lotto Strike player from Tauranga will be celebrating after winning $700,000 with Strike Four on Saturday.

The winning Strike ticket was sold on MyLotto to the Tauranga player.

Five lucky Lotto players from Auckland, Porirua, Rotorua, and Rolleston will be toasting a special win after each winning $200,000 with Lotto First Division in Saturday nights live Lotto draw.

The winning tickets were sold at PK Superette in Pt Chevalier, Four Square Titahi Bay in Porirua, New World Rolleston in Rolleston and on MyLotto to two players from Rotorua and Porirua.

Powerball was not struck on Saturday evening and has rolled over to Wednesday night, where the jackpot will be $20 million.

Anyone who bought their ticket from any of the above stores or on MyLotto should check their ticket as soon as possible in-store, on MyLotto, or through the MyLottoApp.

With 100 per cent of Lotto NZs profits supporting thousands of great causes each year, every time you play one of Lotto NZs games, youre a Kiwi helping other Kiwis.

Fourteen Lotto players win Second Division

Fourteen lucky Lotto players will be on cloud nine after each winning $24,058 with Lotto Second Division in Saturday's live Lotto draw.

Two lucky players also won Powerball Second Division, taking their total winnings to $35,326.

The winning Powerball Second Division tickets were sold at Pak n Save Masterton in Masterton and Elles Rd New World in Strathern. The winning Second Division tickets were sold at the following stores:
Emergency services responding to a crash in Tauranga say there are no serious injuries.

"Police responded to reports of a crash, where a vehicle collided with a fence on Hamilton Street around 8.40am," says a police spokesperson.

"There were no serious injuries, and the road was not blocked."

At the scene?

Phone 0800 SUNLIVE or email newsroom@thesun.co.nz
Spain produces roughly half of the worlds olive oil. Insider

Wildfires and extreme heat have damaged olive harvests in Europe, leading to shortages of olive oil.

To keep up with demand, olive oil is being imported from South America.

"Today it is almost physically impossible to buy olive oil. It is sold out."

In the past couple of years, extreme weather, wildfires and droughts have damaged olive tree harvests to the point where Europe is now almost out of local supplies of olive oil.

In Spain  the source of half of the world's olive oil supply  manufacturers hold only about 115,000 metric tons of available olive oil stock, according to analysts at commodities data group Mintec. That compares with a monthly pace of drawdowns of about 60,000 tons.

"Should this pace of depletion persist, market insiders warn that olive oil supplies could be exhausted before the arrival of fresh harvests, which traditionally commence in Spain around October," according to Kyle Holland, edible oils analyst at Mintec.

To keep up with demand, European companies are importing olive oil from South America, a necessity that the world's top producer noted.

"Today it is almost physically impossible to buy olive oil. It is sold out," Walter Zanre, the chief executive of the UK arm of Filippo Berio, told the Guardian.

But it gets worse: global olive oil production is expected to more than halve to 2.4 million metric tons this year, below demand for 3 million, according to the International Olive Council. And for Spain, forecasts put production at 650,000 tons, far below the usual 1.3 million.

The drought has affected olive tree growers in other Mediterranean regions too, from Greece to Morocco to Italy. Greece is expected to produce only 200,000 tons of olive oil this year, a third less than last year.

Countries like Tunisia, Turkey and Syria have announced export bans on olive oil to protect the commodity from high international prices.

And high these prices have become. According to data from the International Oil Council, a kilogram or extra virgin olive oil was 852 euros earlier this month, more than quadruple what it cost in 2020.

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Olive oil prices in pounds/kg since 2011 International Olive Council

And in August, the price per ton was 130% higher than the year before, according to the US Department of Agriculture, with prices quickly surpassing the previous record set in 1996.

It's gotten so bad, that earlier this month, a major oil heist resulted in $500,000 worth of the "liquid gold" stolen from a factory in Cordoba, Spain.

But high prices still haven't been able to make up for the losses that farmers have suffered. They in particular have felt the consequences of the drought. And when combined with rising energy and labor costs, their incomes have taken an outsized hit.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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Dear reader,

This weekend is your last chance to vote for your favorite local businesses in Advance Media New Yorks third annual Readers Choice contest. This year, weve seen some business owners get creative to get out the vote. The photo above shows a to-go order from Vinces Gourmet Imports in North Syracuse, a finalist in the best sandwich category. They created a QR code to make voting easy for loyal customers. At Buried Acorn Restaurant and Brewery in Syracuse, theyre offering coupons for free beer, and the Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce has a list of all its businesses still in the running with links to vote on its Facebook page.

The CNY Readers Choice awards is an annual celebration of local businesses that make Central New York a great place to live, work and play. What makes it different is that the local businesses who are nominated and ultimately win are decided by the Central New York community, said AMNY marketing director Lindsay Marlenga. Syracuse.com and The Post-Standard readers nominate businesses for each category during the initial nomination phase and then during the voting phase, submit their choices to help determine the winner of each category. In the end, the over 120 winners are completely decided by the community.

Businesses in the contest are divided into five main categories: food & dining, automotive, shopping & services, professionals, and outings, with more than 120 sub-categories under those. Its a chance for you to support local places you feel most passionate about, and maybe get some new ideas of places to try  everything from restaurants to accounting firms. In last years contest, those nominated businesses got more than 125,000 votes.

When people have a great meal, have a good time or experience exceptional service, they are excited to share their experience with others. The Readers Choice awards allow people to share these experiences on a large scale  acknowledging all the local businesses they love through this one program, Lindsay said.

You have until Sunday night at 11:59 pm to cast your votes on this page, and well announce the winners in a special section of The Post-Standard on November 19 and on syracuse.com.
When a single insider purchases stock, it is typically not a major deal. However, when multiple insiders purchase stock, like in Cosmos Exploration Limited's (ASX:C1X) instance, it's good news for shareholders.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for Cosmos Exploration

Cosmos Exploration Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Executive Chairman Jeremy Robinson for AU$295k worth of shares, at about AU$0.16 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of AU$0.37. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Cosmos Exploration insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Cosmos Exploration

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 20% of Cosmos Exploration shares, worth about AU$3.1m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Cosmos Exploration Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders do have a stake in Cosmos Exploration and their transactions don't cause us concern. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Cosmos Exploration. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Cosmos Exploration has 5 warning signs (4 are a bit concerning!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

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If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Join NY Cannabis Insider for our next full-day conference on Nov. 16 at the Sonesta White Plains.

New Yorks Office of Cannabis Management will launch the general license application process for prospective cannabis businesses next week, a big step in fully launching the states struggling legal weed program.

Well be covering the application process as it goes, but with all the rain much of New York is experiencing, its a perfect time to stay inside and take a look at the stories NY Cannabis Insider covered last week.

Lets recap:

Yesterday we summarized a 45-page FAQ document the OCM posted about the general licensing application process. The FAQ, which is posted on the OCMs website, covers everything from the application period to social equity prioritization to possible buffer zone issues.

Earlier in the week, we ran a story about licensees allegedly resorting to illegal activity to make ends meet amid a longer-than-expected legal weed rollout. Licensed growers are sitting on thousands of pounds of unsold weed they grew in anticipation of a robust retail market that hasnt yet materialized.



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According to weed industry stakeholders interviewed by NY Cannabis Insider, the cascading problems are creating space  and in many cases necessity  for illegal activity that could largely undermine state efforts to create a regulated industry, as the cannabis community loses faith in the OCM.

We covered a Cannabis Advisory Board meeting at which Chairman Joseph Belluck said the group needs a staff and budget to function properly, and noted the board hasnt been as involved with the states legal weed rollout as the cannabis law prescribes.

Belluck pointed out that the advisory board hasnt been consulted on issues including the number of licenses the OCM will dole out or aspects of social equity programs  both of which the MRTA says the CAB shall provide advice on.

The Association of NY Cannabis Processors contributed a guest column arguing that the OCM should hold accountable California brands that are currently being sold at unlicensed dispensaries in the Empire State.

Accountability must begin somewhere, and for those brands that have been playing by their own set of rules, we say that accountability begins now, the association wrote. To date, the lack of enforcement has allowed for a wicked monster to rear its head. Only by stopping the monster at the gates will we ensure that the goals of the MRTA  a safe, regulated, economically powerful New York cannabis market  can actually be achieved.

In another guest column, Scott Mazza, co-founder of Buffalo-based Vitality CBD, wrote about cannabis role in treating fibromyalgia.

Continuing our NYs women in cannabis series, we ran a profile on Griffin Basden, a broker at AlphaRoot, an insurance brokerage that focuses exclusively in the cannabis, hemp, CBD, holistic medicine and psychedelic industries.

We also added a new entry to our People to know in NY cannabis series: Andy Sick, an attorney with Mr. Cannabis Law, a cannabis and psychedelics firm that practices in several states, including New York.

Lastly, we posted attorney Jeffrey Hoffmans latest Ask Me Anything segment, in which he answered questions about CAURD priority under new regulations, social lounges and more.

Have a great weekend everyone, well be back with plenty more next week.
TusharK Senior - BHPian



Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Pune Posts: 5,706 Thanked: 50,687 Times

Tesla could build Powerwall battery storage systems in India







Tesla executives recently held a meeting with government officials in New Delhi. Reports suggest that Tesla is seeking incentives to set up a factory to build its Powerwall energy storage system that can store power from solar panels or the grid for use at night or during power outages.



Powerwall is a rechargeable home battery system that can be installed with solar. It comes in two variants: Powerwall offering a backup of 5.8 kW and Powerwall+ with a backup of 7 kW for the 5.8 kVA version and 9.6 kW for the 7.6 kVA version. Both systems have a storage capacity of 13.5 kWh.



Tesla's Powerwall is primarily aimed at domestic and light commercial use. However, it has been reported that Tesla might consider developing higher-capacity systems for industrial purposes if India approves its proposal.



India has reportedly declined Tesla's request for incentives. Another alternative would be to offer subsidies to customers. However, this proposal too is under review.



Source:



Link to Team-BHP News According to media reports, Tesla has plans to manufacture and sell the Powerwall battery storage system in India.Tesla executives recently held a meeting with government officials in New Delhi. Reports suggest that Tesla is seeking incentives to set up a factory to build its Powerwall energy storage system that can store power from solar panels or the grid for use at night or during power outages.Powerwall is a rechargeable home battery system that can be installed with solar. It comes in two variants: Powerwall offering a backup of 5.8 kW and Powerwall+ with a backup of 7 kW for the 5.8 kVA version and 9.6 kW for the 7.6 kVA version. Both systems have a storage capacity of 13.5 kWh.Tesla's Powerwall is primarily aimed at domestic and light commercial use. However, it has been reported that Tesla might consider developing higher-capacity systems for industrial purposes if India approves its proposal.India has reportedly declined Tesla's request for incentives. Another alternative would be to offer subsidies to customers. However, this proposal too is under review.Source: Autocar India
accidental.doc Newbie

Join Date: Apr 2023 Location: bangalore Posts: 20 Thanked: 692 Times

Re: How Triumph India and Keerthi Triumph Bangalore DESTROYED my CBU Daytona 675R



The bike arrived in Bangalore to Keerthi on 28/9/23 evening. I insisted to be there for the unboxing. which was done in the pouring rain.





My observations

1) The tank has been repainted

2 )LHS and RHS fairings have been repainted- the original crack is still visible as well the scar under the paint specially on the LHS

BEFORE





AFTER





3) The front seat has had a re upholstery

4) The exhaust pipes haven been scrubbed partially of the rust



5) The swing-arm has been touched up

6) The only replacement done externally are the mirrors, and the rear spools

6) There are some new injuries on both sides of the rear plastics, both sides of the red rear sub frame, a deformed part of lower black bikini fairing on the right side, a big dent in the CAT convertor



7) Lot of deep scratch marks all over the engine casing (seen without striping the fairings)

8) A battery was connected to bike and the odometer read 0

9) The bike was started and the engine sound was okay at idling for few minutes

10) They have lost the after market radiator protector



I was told the bike is now in run in period for the next 1000km followed by service. I was asked to take a small test ride on the bike soon which i declined.. The reason they are NOT sharing the list of the parts replaced is because they have replaced nothing except the spools and mirrors and they fraudulently claim to have replaced the tank, front seat ,LHS /RHS fairings which they clearly have not done. The engine work done is questionable and a query with no sharing of what was the work done or what parts were replaced. The excuse for NOT sharing the parts list is that the plant DOES NOT have required software. And as usual for the 5th time Triumph India claims they have done everything that is required and as per my DEMANDS as this is a case of special interest to them.



SHAME on Triumph India UPDATE 29//9/23The bike arrived in Bangalore to Keerthi on 28/9/23 evening. I insisted to be there for the unboxing. which was done in the pouring rain.My observations1) The tank has been repainted2 )LHS and RHS fairings have been repainted- the original crack is still visible as well the scar under the paint specially on the LHSBEFOREAFTER3) The front seat has had a re upholstery4) The exhaust pipes haven been scrubbed partially of the rust5) The swing-arm has been touched up6) The only replacement done externally are the mirrors, and the rear spools6) There are some new injuries on both sides of the rear plastics, both sides of the red rear sub frame, a deformed part of lower black bikini fairing on the right side, a big dent in the CAT convertor7) Lot of deep scratch marks all over the engine casing (seen without striping the fairings)8) A battery was connected to bike and the odometer read 09) The bike was started and the engine sound was okay at idling for few minutes10) They have lost the after market radiator protectorI was told the bike is now in run in period for the next 1000km followed by service. I was asked to take a small test ride on the bike soon which i declined.. The reason they are NOT sharing the list of the parts replaced is because they have replaced nothing except the spools and mirrors and they fraudulently claim to have replaced the tank, front seat ,LHS /RHS fairings which they clearly have not done. The engine work done is questionable and a query with no sharing of what was the work done or what parts were replaced. The excuse for NOT sharing the parts list is that the plant DOES NOT have required software. And as usual for the 5th time Triumph India claims they have done everything that is required and as per my DEMANDS as this is a case of special interest to them.SHAME on Triumph India Last edited by accidental.doc : 29th September 2023 at 18:48 .
A couple looking at their tax obligations on their foreign dividend.

In todays globalized economy, investing in foreign stocks and companies has become increasingly common for investors seeking diversification and higher returns. While these international investments can offer lucrative opportunities, they also come with a complex web of tax implications, particularly when it comes to foreign dividends. Understanding how foreign dividends are taxed is crucial for investors, as it can significantly impact their overall returns and financial planning strategies. If youre not an experienced investor you may want to enlist the help of a financial advisor to protect your portfolio.

What Are Foreign Dividends?

Picture foreign dividends as your portion of the profits distributed by a company based outside your home country. Essentially, its your reward for trusting your money with an overseas corporation. Imagine you held stocks in Acme Inc., a corporation based in Ireland. If Acme Inc. passed on a portion of their profits as dividends, thats your foreign dividend.

These dividends can stem from various sources like international mutual funds, foreign-based corporations, and whats known in the financial world as American Depository Receipts (ADRs). ADRs are essentially stocks of foreign companies traded on U.S. exchanges. Think of these as the vehicle allowing you to invest in foreign companies without the need for a passport.

How Foreign Dividends Are Taxed

A man adding dividend income to his total ROI of an investment

When it comes to taxation, foreign dividends often face a double whammy. First, theyre taxed once in the country of origin (in our example, Ireland), then potentially taxed again in the investors home country. The rate at which youre taxed can vary based on where you live and what country youre being taxed by for your investment.

However, to avoid this potential fiscal pitfall, many countries have tax treaties in place that provide some relief from this double taxation, but its not guaranteed. It depends on the specifics of each treaty, where you live and what country youre investing in.

Story continues

Strategies to Lighten Your Tax Obligation When Investing Globally

Several strategies could lend a weapon to your arsenal against high taxes on foreign dividends. These include investing in countries with U.S. tax treaties that may offer relief from double taxation or holding foreign stocks in tax-advantaged accounts.

For instance, holding your foreign investments in a tax-advantaged account like an IRA can mean tax on capital gains or dividends is deferred until you retire and start withdrawing, which could lead to a lower tax bill. The best strategy for normal investment situations, however, might be the foreign tax credit.

What Is the Foreign Tax Credit?

The Foreign Tax Credit could prevent that punch of double taxation. This non-refundable tax credit allows U.S. taxpayers to offset taxes theyve paid to foreign governments, essentially reducing their U.S. tax liability. But why is it non-refundable?

Well, it merely means if the credit is larger than your U.S. tax liability, you wont receive a refund for the difference. It just helps bring your tax bill down. So, for instance, if you pay $1,000 in foreign taxes on dividends, you can potentially claim a $1,000 Foreign Tax Credit on your U.S. tax return, effectively neutralizing the U.S. tax owed on those dividends.

Bottom Line

A financial advisor explaining to clients what foreign dividends they are receiving and the tax consequences.

When you invest in a foreign business that pays dividends then you could receive a foreign dividend. You may be taxed in both countries, where you live and where you invest, but overall it will depend on the countries involved. As you start contemplating diversifying your portfolio, use the insights above to make informed and strategic decisions. And remember, a financial advisor could prove a valuable ally, guiding you on how to implement these strategies most effectively.

Tips for Investing

Investing, especially in foreign markets, can be difficult if youre not an experienced investor. You may want to enlist the help of an experienced financial advisor who can help you through the whole process and identify the right investments for you. Finding a financial advisor doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Consider using SmartAssets free asset allocation calculator to help you see how the selection of certain investments might impact your overall portfolio.

Photo credit: iStock.com/dusanpetkovic, iStock.com/designer491, iStock.com/David Gyung

The post How Foreign Dividends Are Taxed appeared first on SmartReads by SmartAsset.
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Join Date: Sep 2022 Location: Raipur Posts: 15 Thanked: 62 Times

Road-Trip to Ujjain in a Toyota Fortuner Trip to Ujjain finalised in Just 10minutes



Background

In the month of sawan in August, we made a plan to visit Mahakaleshwar temple, Ujjain. Homework for deciding Routes, accomodation and places to visit were finalised but unfortunately, the plan was cancelled. I was disappointed, but since there is a belief that when mahakal wants then only you can make visit the temple (jab bulawa aaye tabb hi ja sakte).



The trip story begins

16-09-2023 Saturday

It was a fine saturday morning, was having my morning juice. My father came and told he got 4 days of holiday(saturday-sunday-monday(teej)-tuesday(ganesh chaturthi)). I asked him casually that then lets visit ujjain. And interestly he took it seriously and replied "why not". I was bit surprised because it was already 10:30 AM and i hadnt took bath yet ! It took us 10 minute to plan and Permission was granted from other family members as well. Since we were only two people going, initially we decided to take Dzire, but as we were already late and owing to poor safety rating of Dzire, it was not safe to take it on such long journey on highways. Comfortable ride and handling was also a factor for which we finalised Toyota Fortuner to take along,. I rushed to washroom, took shower, got ready in just 10min and packed the bag with whatever cloths were ready in cupboard, took breakfast and we left home (Raipur,Chhattisgarh) at sharp 11:55AM. As per the plan, todays destination was set to Jabalpur (MP) in Google map. It was showing 8hours for 348 km via NH30.



As it was heavy rainfall for past few days, Shivnath River near Simga was running full, with water almost touching National Highway. After 177km / 3 and half hours of continuous drive, and crossing Chilphi ghati of Kawardha, we took a halt at Natraj Hotel in Chilphi (Chhattisgarh border).





This section of NH30 till Chhattisgarh - MP border is super smooth and fortunately there were no cows on roads that day. In monsoon, Chilphi ghati is occupied with Lush green forest. 15km after chilphi, Madhyapradesh border starts. This section onwards of NH30 is surrounded by buffer zone of Kanha Tiger reserve. This route crosses from inside the lush green dense forest. In general, if you are travelling from Raipur to Jabalpur, Kawardha onwards, 95% of the route is covered with forest.





In this route, only town we crossed in the route was bichhiya and rest were small villages. Mandala city is bypassed. After the Mandala bypass, highway runs side by side to river narmada. This section of roads has large abrubt potholes. major concern are on the bridges. road is up and down and there are heavy holes on bridges, one need to drive very carefully as concrete is chipped off and sharp TMT rods are clearly visible which can puncture the tyre.





After driving 143km/ 2hr32minute , at 6:40pm our next stoppage for 10min tea break was at Kalpi bus stand. We continued remaining 47km/1hr9min of journey toward Jabalpur and reached Hotel Royal orbit at 8:03pm.

Hotel Royal Orbit is located on national highway 34 which bypass the Jabalpur city. Its on the outskirts of the Jabalpur city. Ratings for the hotel is excellent. apart from that one reason to stay here was since this bypass heads towards our next day route to Bhopal so next morning we can get rid of morning city traffic.







17-03-2023 Sunday

Next morning when we woke up, witness this beautiful scene which was invisible in dark the last night.











We checked out at 7:26am. Our todays destination was Ujjain.







After crossing Narmada bridge, from one place Andhua(outskirts of Jabalpur) we switched on to National Highway 45 which connects Jabalpur to Bhopal (obdullaganj). Famous Bhedaghat and Dhuadhar waterfall is on the bhopal highway. 60km after jabalpur, this road is full of lush green forest. we stopped at one place for refueling and continued for next 167km/2hr5min to take halt for breakfast at the outskirts of the town Bareli. One thing need to be mentioned, as soon as you leave jabalpur, there are number of cows sitting on the overbridge. yes , you read it right, they sit above the bridge and while aproaching, they are not visible to until you reach at certain height on bridge and vehicle need to be slow down very quickly. very carefully driving is needed. we spotted atleast 10dead cows and few dead dogs on this section of road. this is the first time in my life I witnessed such a large number of dead cows in the single section of the road.







NH45 passes through forest and one section of the road near Hiran River is just recenlty built.





Although the road is smooth but there also heavy potholes at starting and above the bridges. Traffic is very less and we witnessed few trucks only.

At obdullaganj intersection, left NH45 and swicthed to NH46 for entering to Bhopal city. There is a seperate lane for BRTS bus service in middle of the NH46. Since destination was still far, at 12:34pm we reached to takeaway Dominos pizza from one Habibganj outlet. In the slow moving traffic of Bhopal city, we had our lunch inside the vehicle only, after crossing Bhadbhada lake in Bhopal city, there is a shortcut road (Two Laned) between Neelbad to Khajoori sadak , which passes through fields and connects to NH86 for onwards journey till dewas.





NH86 is four lane and there is around 8-10feet of gap (instead of divider) between two way. NH86 is smooth but has potholes. there are huge traffic of bikes- trucks-containers but lack of access road slows down the speed. After bypassing the Sehore city, At 1:45pm, we took a tea halt in front of Kubereshwar dham gate.









After continuing journey onwards for another 1hr30min , it was time to leave the NH86 and join the NH52 for few km and then switch to Ujjain - Dewas State Highway 18. This section of four lane road is newly built and super smooth.



Upon descending from one overbridge, we were welcomed by the local police with a challan of 1000/- for the offence of overspeeding. They had the speed camera but even upon asking, they didnt showd me my vehicle speed. Speed limit is 80km/hr but obviously while descending from the overbridge, vehicle speeds up but one peculiar thing i noticed was all the vehicle they stopped for overspeeding was from another state like one dzire from Chhattisgarh (CG08) and one private bus with AR registration. Also, a Fortuner with MP09 registration was not stopped which was travelling beside us. Anyway we paid the challan, and moved on. I am not defending myself, and writing all this thing because be careful while driving in this road.



Finally we reached our destination Ujjain at 4:30pm, checked in into Hotel Crystal Inn. I didnt took the picture of hotel since online rating was good but the hotel was bogus, small room and no ameneties. After getting refreshed, we left for the mahakal mandir darshan at 5:30pm and spent the evening inside the temple premises. We took our Toyota Fortuner to the mandir gali. It was very crowded and conjusted, full of auto and e-riskha, I still wonder how did I managed to get it there without any scratches. If you want to go with your own four wheeler, There are 3-4 parking nearest to the temple, choose one in google map and then only proceed.





It was our first time visit and we were fortunate enough to be able to attend MahakalArti at 7:15pm. the vibes and atmosphere during the aarti is very amazing. If you want to attend the aarti, book the sheeghra darshan pass online or there is a counter near bade ganesha ji mandir for offline pass and take guidance of the local guards. they are very helpful and will assist you in entering the temple at right time. otherwise, you will end up having darshan in 10min and will be removed by security guards inside the nandi hall area since you cant stay there for longer time. Bhoga prasad counter is located on same office (outside) and one is inside the temple complex.









18-03-2023 Monday

Next morning, we checked out the hotel at 8:11AM and headed towards the Nana Kheda Bus stand (ujjain) for having delicious Poha with tea. We didnt visited the new corridor area, left it for the next visit. Our today's destination was set for back to Jabalpur.





We left Ujjain at 8:40am and after 134km/ 2hrour of drive, our next stoppage was at petrol pump for refueling near kubereshwar dham.





After that, we entered Kubereshwar dham, there is a parking beside the boundary wall of the complex at the far end (please note , not at the starting), I would advice to park the vehicle there for two reason 1) closest parking to the entry gate 2) next to parking there is way for collecting Rudraksha. we were again fortunate enough to get our rudraksha in the first visit itself. Infact after parking our vehicle, we unknowingly entered that line, and it was bit surprising for us. Construction work is still going on inside the temple complex. we stayed there for 2hrs and after having khichari prasad, left the kubereshwar dham at 12:37pm.











Onwards , return journey was same. Beautiful scenic NH45. There are forest full of Tropical deciduous Teak wood.







We reached jabalpur at 8:12pm and checked in into hotel roal orbit. We had to travel 12km/30min for having dinner at The indian coffee house, Tilhari, Jabalpur.





Fortuner with the mighty Gloster.



In the month of sawan in August, we made a plan to visit Mahakaleshwar temple, Ujjain. Homework for deciding Routes, accomodation and places to visit were finalised but unfortunately, the plan was cancelled. I was disappointed, but since there is a belief that when mahakal wants then only you can make visit the temple (jab bulawa aaye tabb hi ja sakte).It was a fine saturday morning, was having my morning juice. My father came and told he got 4 days of holiday(saturday-sunday-monday(teej)-tuesday(ganesh chaturthi)). I asked him casually that then lets visit ujjain. And interestly he took it seriously and replied "why not". I was bit surprised because it was already 10:30 AM and i hadnt took bath yet ! It took us 10 minute to plan and Permission was granted from other family members as well. Since we were only two people going, initially we decided to take Dzire, but as we were already late and owing to poor safety rating of Dzire, it was not safe to take it on such long journey on highways. Comfortable ride and handling was also a factor for which we finalised Toyota Fortuner to take along,. I rushed to washroom, took shower, got ready in just 10min and packed the bag with whatever cloths were ready in cupboard, took breakfast and we left home (Raipur,Chhattisgarh) at sharp 11:55AM. As per the plan, todays destination was set to Jabalpur (MP) in Google map. It was showing 8hours for 348 km via NH30.As it was heavy rainfall for past few days, Shivnath River near Simga was running full, with water almost touching National Highway. After 177km / 3 and half hours of continuous drive, and crossing Chilphi ghati of Kawardha, we took a halt at Natraj Hotel in Chilphi (Chhattisgarh border).This section of NH30 till Chhattisgarh - MP border is super smooth and fortunately there were no cows on roads that day. In monsoon, Chilphi ghati is occupied with Lush green forest. 15km after chilphi, Madhyapradesh border starts. This section onwards of NH30 is surrounded by buffer zone of Kanha Tiger reserve. This route crosses from inside the lush green dense forest. In general, if you are travelling from Raipur to Jabalpur, Kawardha onwards, 95% of the route is covered with forest.In this route, only town we crossed in the route was bichhiya and rest were small villages. Mandala city is bypassed. After the Mandala bypass, highway runs side by side to river narmada. This section of roads has large abrubt potholes. major concern are on the bridges. road is up and down and there are heavy holes on bridges, one need to drive very carefully as concrete is chipped off and sharp TMT rods are clearly visible which can puncture the tyre.After driving 143km/ 2hr32minute , at 6:40pm our next stoppage for 10min tea break was at Kalpi bus stand. We continued remaining 47km/1hr9min of journey toward Jabalpur and reached Hotel Royal orbit at 8:03pm.Hotel Royal Orbit is located on national highway 34 which bypass the Jabalpur city. Its on the outskirts of the Jabalpur city. Ratings for the hotel is excellent. apart from that one reason to stay here was since this bypass heads towards our next day route to Bhopal so next morning we can get rid of morning city traffic.Next morning when we woke up, witness this beautiful scene which was invisible in dark the last night.We checked out at 7:26am. Our todays destination was Ujjain.After crossing Narmada bridge, from one place Andhua(outskirts of Jabalpur) we switched on to National Highway 45 which connects Jabalpur to Bhopal (obdullaganj). Famous Bhedaghat and Dhuadhar waterfall is on the bhopal highway. 60km after jabalpur, this road is full of lush green forest. we stopped at one place for refueling and continued for next 167km/2hr5min to take halt for breakfast at the outskirts of the town Bareli. One thing need to be mentioned, as soon as you leave jabalpur, there are number of cows sitting on the overbridge. yes , you read it right, they sit above the bridge and while aproaching, they are not visible to until you reach at certain height on bridge and vehicle need to be slow down very quickly. very carefully driving is needed. we spotted atleast 10dead cows and few dead dogs on this section of road. this is the first time in my life I witnessed such a large number of dead cows in the single section of the road.NH45 passes through forest and one section of the road near Hiran River is just recenlty built.Although the road is smooth but there also heavy potholes at starting and above the bridges. Traffic is very less and we witnessed few trucks only.At obdullaganj intersection, left NH45 and swicthed to NH46 for entering to Bhopal city. There is a seperate lane for BRTS bus service in middle of the NH46. Since destination was still far, at 12:34pm we reached to takeaway Dominos pizza from one Habibganj outlet. In the slow moving traffic of Bhopal city, we had our lunch inside the vehicle only, after crossing Bhadbhada lake in Bhopal city, there is a shortcut road (Two Laned) between Neelbad to Khajoori sadak , which passes through fields and connects to NH86 for onwards journey till dewas.NH86 is four lane and there is around 8-10feet of gap (instead of divider) between two way. NH86 is smooth but has potholes. there are huge traffic of bikes- trucks-containers but lack of access road slows down the speed. After bypassing the Sehore city, At 1:45pm, we took a tea halt in front of Kubereshwar dham gate.After continuing journey onwards for another 1hr30min , it was time to leave the NH86 and join the NH52 for few km and then switch to Ujjain - Dewas State Highway 18. This section of four lane road is newly built and super smooth.Upon descending from one overbridge, we were welcomed by the local police with a challan of 1000/- for the offence of overspeeding. They had the speed camera but even upon asking, they didnt showd me my vehicle speed. Speed limit is 80km/hr but obviously while descending from the overbridge, vehicle speeds up but one peculiar thing i noticed was all the vehicle they stopped for overspeeding was from another state like one dzire from Chhattisgarh (CG08) and one private bus with AR registration. Also, a Fortuner with MP09 registration was not stopped which was travelling beside us. Anyway we paid the challan, and moved on. I am not defending myself, and writing all this thing because be careful while driving in this road.Finally we reached our destination Ujjain at 4:30pm, checked in into Hotel Crystal Inn. I didnt took the picture of hotel since online rating was good but the hotel was bogus, small room and no ameneties. After getting refreshed, we left for the mahakal mandir darshan at 5:30pm and spent the evening inside the temple premises. We took our Toyota Fortuner to the mandir gali. It was very crowded and conjusted, full of auto and e-riskha, I still wonder how did I managed to get it there without any scratches. If you want to go with your own four wheeler, There are 3-4 parking nearest to the temple, choose one in google map and then only proceed.It was our first time visit and we were fortunate enough to be able to attend MahakalArti at 7:15pm. the vibes and atmosphere during the aarti is very amazing. If you want to attend the aarti, book the sheeghra darshan pass online or there is a counter near bade ganesha ji mandir for offline pass and take guidance of the local guards. they are very helpful and will assist you in entering the temple at right time. otherwise, you will end up having darshan in 10min and will be removed by security guards inside the nandi hall area since you cant stay there for longer time. Bhoga prasad counter is located on same office (outside) and one is inside the temple complex.After the darshan, we had Tea and Kesar milk in the mandir gali, there are plenty of shops in the crowded mandir gali, there is option for food as well. Then headed towards the railway station road for having dinner. there, I met some childhood friends who were also tourist, they informed me that due to heavy rainfall in the region, road for omkareshwar is cut. I verified it with locals and in the news. It turned out to be true. so we dropped our plan to visit Omkareshwar, and rescheduled our plan to return to jabalpur next day via Kubereshwar dhaam.Next morning, we checked out the hotel at 8:11AM and headed towards the Nana Kheda Bus stand (ujjain) for having delicious Poha with tea. We didnt visited the new corridor area, left it for the next visit. Our today's destination was set for back to Jabalpur.We left Ujjain at 8:40am and after 134km/ 2hrour of drive, our next stoppage was at petrol pump for refueling near kubereshwar dham.After that, we entered Kubereshwar dham, there is a parking beside the boundary wall of the complex at the far end (please note , not at the starting), I would advice to park the vehicle there for two reason 1) closest parking to the entry gate 2) next to parking there is way for collecting Rudraksha. we were again fortunate enough to get our rudraksha in the first visit itself. Infact after parking our vehicle, we unknowingly entered that line, and it was bit surprising for us. Construction work is still going on inside the temple complex. we stayed there for 2hrs and after having khichari prasad, left the kubereshwar dham at 12:37pm.Onwards , return journey was same. Beautiful scenic NH45. There are forest full of Tropical deciduous Teak wood.We reached jabalpur at 8:12pm and checked in into hotel roal orbit. We had to travel 12km/30min for having dinner at The indian coffee house, Tilhari, Jabalpur.Fortuner with the mighty Gloster.
Apple is back at it again with quality control, but this time, it is a hidden QR code on the iPhone's screen that it engraves during production, something the company can only see. This is a form of Apple's quality control and knows what was done by its Chinese suppliers, Lens Technology and Biel Crystal, and what was lost along the way.

The QR codes on the iPhone screens are invisible to the naked eye, and you cannot see it, but with Apple's special equipment, they can scan it for quality and more.

Apple Added QR Codes to iPhone Screens in 2020

(Photo : Apple)

The Information reported that Apple has been adding microscopic QR codes to the iPhone's screen since 2020, and these are so small, that Cupertino uses special equipment to scan it when needed. This latest discovery claimed that these QRs have long been printed along with the iPhone's screens, and it has been sitting there, unknown to many since the iPhone 12, or even earlier.

While the iPhone 12 was the one released in October 2020, Apple's iPhone 11 production continued throughout the year, and it was also available afterward.

Lens Technology and Biel Crystal is the renowned Chinese supplier for Apple, and they engrave these special bar codes on the different glasses that make up the iPhone screen, comparable to the size of a grain of sand. Together, they make up a QR code that Apple can track.

Read Also: iPhone 15 Pro Facing Overheating Concerns; Apple to Address Issue

You Cannot See It, But What are the QRs Used For?

While users cannot see it and possibly, have a hard time finding it and scanning it, Apple's purpose for this is to "save hundreds of millions of dollars" on its production. Through this, Apple can track which made it to the units and what was discarded or thrown out along the way.

Being that the production is in China, Apple needed a way to verify and ensure the production's efficiency, as part of its cost-cutting measures for the manufacturing process.

Apple's Development of the iPhones

The Apple development of the iPhone series has drastically changed over the years, as first it sourced everything from California and the US, now, seeing only its design in the country. It has sourced various parts from different countries, mainly in China, with the production also seen in the East Asian country, but has recently begun its gradual shift to India.

In various processes in production, Apple adds different QR codes to ensure that they can verify the legitimacy of the components and for its quality control. However, it is not only the iPhone components that see these special codes printed or embedded in them, as the company also added hidden ones around the iPhone 15's box when shipped.

Since Apple's production of the iPhones and other devices is mainly designated to partner companies from all over the world, the company has added various marks that will help them understand the process and control it. The iPhone's hidden QR codes that are invisible to the naked eye are the latest to be discovered, but it was around since 2020 to ensure that no waste is done in the process.

Related Article: iPhone 15 Boxes Protect the Smartphone With New Authenticity Security Features

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The US Supreme Court is taking on two pivotal social media cases that could impact online free speech. These cases challenge Texas and Florida laws forcing social platforms to host content they'd otherwise remove.

(Photo : SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)

An abortion rights activist flies an upside down US flag, the international sign of distress, outside of the US Supreme Court during a protest in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2022, two days after the US Supreme Court scrapped half-century constitutional protections for the procedure.

Challenging Social Media Speech Laws

The US Supreme Court has taken up two significant social media cases that carry substantial implications for online expression. In these cases, the court will examine whether laws enacted by Texas and Florida infringe on First Amendment rights by compelling social platforms to host content they would otherwise remove.

The Washington Post reported that prominent tech industry organizations, including Meta, X, and Google, argue that these laws are unconstitutional and violate the First Amendment rights of private companies.

Matt Schruers, representing the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) stated that forcing private online platforms to treat extremist hate content on par with other forms of expression is not only unwise but raises constitutional concerns.

The coalitions representing the tech firms challenging these regulations argue that online platforms could face legal jeopardy for taking down content involving violence, hate, propaganda from adversarial governments, and spam.

Keeping such content accessible could have detrimental financial repercussions, potentially leading to advertiser and user boycotts that could adversely impact their revenues.

The Supreme Court's decision, which arrives just before the commencement of its new session, reflects the ongoing challenge of adapting long-standing laws, some dating back to the early days of the digital era, to the rapidly evolving online landscape.

Previous Suspensions

In 2022, Engadget reported that a divided Supreme Court voted with a five-to-four split to temporarily halt the implementation of the Texas law.

The Justices who voted to prevent the law from taking effect were John Roberts, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Conversely, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the temporary hold.

Notably, Alito, along with Thomas and Gorsuch, expressed reservations about the law's constitutionality but favored allowing it to proceed temporarily. Meanwhile, Justice Kagan dissented without signing onto Alito's statement or providing separate reasoning.

Also Read: Biden Administration Can Contact Social Media Firms Again as Appeals Court Temporarily Blocks Louisiana Judge's Unusual Order



The Biden administration has taken a stance against these laws, emphasizing their concerns before the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar highlighted the expressive nature of content curation, even when the majority of content is user-generated.

Associated Press reported that she emphasized that since the covered platforms primarily offer displays of expressive content, any government mandate to alter their content presentation, such as including content they seek to exclude or organizing it differently, raises clear First Amendment concerns.

Related Article: Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Social Media Communication Restriction for White House Officials



 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A new revelation about a food delivery robot company collaborating with Uber Eats in Los Angeles has sparked privacy concerns.

(Photo : BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

A photograph arranged as an illustration in Brenchley, south-east England on August 18, 2020 shows the Uber Eats app on a smart phone.

Food Delivery Robot Company Operating With Uber Eats Imposes Constant Surveillance

The food delivery robot company collaborating with Uber Eats has provided video footage recorded by one of its robots to aid in a criminal investigation conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

The incident underscores the constant surveillance that delivery robots, now common on sidewalks in the city, inherently do. Moreover, it sheds light on using such footage as evidence in criminal trials.

A TikTok and YouTube channel known as FilmTheRobotsLA has amassed a substantial following by capturing the daily interactions of these robots on city sidewalks. The videos show instances where robots impede pedestrians and pets, occasionally finding themselves stuck in the middle of walkways and roads.

Collectively, these accounts have attracted hundreds of thousands of followers and accumulated tens of millions of views, reflecting the significant public interest and apprehension surrounding the presence of these robots.

The specific case in question pertained to a grand larceny involving two individuals who attempted to steal a robot belonging to Serve Robotics, a company with ambitious plans to deploy as many as "2,000 robots" for food deliveries on behalf of Uber Eats in Los Angeles.

Read Also: Uber Eats to Start Accepting Food Stamps as Grocery Delivery Payments by 2024

Food Delivery Robot Company Shares Video With LAPD

The suspects were subsequently apprehended and later convicted. Subjected to public scrutiny, an email exchange from July 2023 bears the subject line "Evidence Submitted from Serve Robotics." This correspondence transpired between Aduke Thelwell, Head of Communications at Serve Robotics, and a detective representing the LAPD.

Obtained through a public records request with the LAPD by 404 Media, these emails shed light on the fact that, despite Serve's assertions regarding the autonomous capabilities of its robots and the deployment of "AI-powered" machines in the city, delivery robots are frequently operated remotely by human controllers.

The company explicitly mentions in its app that these robots operate in an "autonomous, remotely supervised manner. The emails revolve around a redacted subpoena issued by the LAPD in connection with the case that culminated in a criminal conviction.

Thelwell's message to D"etective Estrella "confirms the upload of robot camera footage, accompanied by a letter detailing the robot's cost, through a provided link, concluding with an offer of further assistance: "Please let us know if you need anything else."

Resembling wheeled coolers, these robots use cameras to navigate the city's streets and sidewalks. With the capacity to transport up to 50 pounds of food and a top speed of 12 miles per hour, Interesting Engineering reported that these automated couriers offer a convenient solution for food delivery.

Customers can place orders via the Uber Eats app and monitor the robot's progress, receiving real-time updates on its location and estimated arrival time. Customers can also observe the robot as it completes the delivery to bring the meal to their doorstep.

Related Article: Little Robots Set to Deliver Uber Eats Orders Thanks to Serve Robotics

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Diverse perspectives among gamers worldwide were reported to be instrumental in refining AI algorithms that could help everyone pick the right games, according to recent research from Cornell, Xbox, and Microsoft Research.

The collaborative effort, which enlisted the input of over 5,000 gamers, demonstrates that predictive models fueled by extensive datasets annotated by gamers from varied cultural backgrounds outperform those labeled exclusively by gamers from a single nation.

How Gamers Help Predictive AI Models

The team's discoveries and associated recommendations extend beyond the realm of gaming, offering insights for researchers and practitioners seeking data labeling methods with broader global applicability, ultimately leading to more accurate predictive artificial intelligence (AI) models.

"We show that, in fact, you can do just as well, if not better, by diversifying the underlying data that goes into predictive models," said Allison Koenecke, assistant professor of information science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.

Koenecke, the lead author of "Auditing Cross-Cultural Consistency of Human-Annotated Labels for Recommendation Systems," presented at the Association for Computing Machinery Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT) conference, highlights that the accuracy of predictive models hinges on the quality of their foundational data, particularly the meticulous labeling of individual elements within extensive datasets.

While crowdsourced workers have become integral in this labeling process, their composition tends to be relatively uniform, potentially introducing cultural biases that distort the intended global outreach of predictive models, according to the study.

Read Also: Sonic Frontiers' The Final Horizon Update Trailer Released: Amy, Tails, and Knuckles Revealed as New Playable Characters

5,174 Xbox Gamers

The research involved surveying 5,174 Xbox gamers across the globe to assist in labeling various gaming titles. Participants were tasked with assigning labels such as "cozy," "fantasy," or "pacifist" based on their gaming experiences, taking into account factors like game complexity and controls.

Certain labels, such as "zen" denoting peaceful and calming games, exhibited consistent application across cultures. In contrast, descriptors like "replayable" showed varying degrees of application.

The research team attributed these disparities to cultural distinctions among gamers and idiosyncrasies in translation and language that influenced labeling variations across different nations.

Subsequently, the team developed two models capable of predicting how gamers from different countries would label specific games. One model incorporated survey data from a globally diverse pool of gamers, while the other relied exclusively on data from American gamers.

Compared to the model relying solely on American labels, the results demonstrated an 8% improvement in predictions for gamers worldwide when employing the model trained on labels from culturally diverse populations.

Furthermore, the researchers developed a framework to assist colleagues in academia and industry professionals in thoroughly examining the foundational data labels for worldwide inclusiveness.

"With our framework, any academic researcher or practitioner could audit their own underlying data to see if they might be running into issues of representation via their data labels or choices," Koenecke noted.

Related Article: Pokemon Go Players Outraged by September 2023 Shadow Zapdos Raids; Exciting City Safari Event on the Horizon

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has captured an eerie sight on the Martian surface. As the Halloween season approaches, the University of Arizona, operating the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on MRO, unveiled an intriguing image from its extensive archives.

Spider on Mars?

The snapshot, taken in May 2022, showcases a crater with two distinct features that have piqued the interest of scientists and space enthusiasts alike.

The first notable element is a series of dark, spider-like formations, creating an uncanny resemblance to a cluster of arachnids traversing the landscape. The second feature comprises geometric polygon shapes similar to dried mud patterns.

The HiRISE team clarified that this image was specifically acquired to investigate the impact of sun exposure on the development of both spider-like formations and polygonal features in terrains of this nature.

In a broader context, the crater stands out starkly against the surrounding Martian landscape, providing an encompassing view of the intriguing terrain.

While these formations may bear a resemblance to spiders, they are, in fact, the result of natural processes occurring on Mars. They stem from the sublimation process, where subsurface ice transforms directly from solid to gaseous. Similar spider-like patterns have been observed in other regions of the Red Planet before.

"Not actual spiders, of course, but formations often caused by sublimation of subsurface ice that create spider-like patterns. This image was acquired to study the influence of exposure to the sun's rays on spider versus polygon development in terrain like this," the HiRISE team said in a press statement.

Read Also: More Americans Prefer NASA Missions Against Killer Asteroids Instead of Mars Expeditions: Survey

Dust Devil on Mars



In related news, NASA's Perseverance rover captured a mesmerizing sight of a Martian dust devil in motion along the western rim of Mars' Jezero Crater last August 30.

Although significantly milder and smaller than Earth's tornadoes, dust devils are crucial in redistributing dust across Mars. Scientists closely examine them to gain deeper insights into the Martian atmosphere and refine their weather models.

Analysis of the imagery allowed mission scientists to estimate that this particular dust devil was situated approximately 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) away in an area nicknamed "Thorofare Ridge."

It was observed moving from east to west at a speed of about 12 mph (19 kph), with an estimated width of around 200 feet (60 meters). While only the lower 387 feet (118 meters) of the swirling vortex are visible in the camera frame, scientists were able to approximate its full height.

"We don't see the top of the dust devil, but the shadow it throws gives us a good indication of its height," said Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and a member of the Perseverance science team.

"Most are vertical columns. If this dust devil were configured that way, its shadow would indicate it is about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) in height," he added.

Related Article: NASA James Webb Achieves One of Its First Major Science Goals After Probing the Atmosphere of TRAPPIST Planet

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Researchers at cybersecurity company Malwarebytes have discovered that Microsofts AI-powered Bing Chat responses are reportedly serving malicious ads with phishing links that spread malware.

According to the researchers, scammers are using malvertising to trick unsuspecting Bing Chat users searching for legitimate software downloads into visiting malicious sites and installing malware directly from a Bing Chat conversation.

For those unaware, in February 2023, Microsoft introduced Bing Chat, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot experience based on OpenAIs GPT-4, integrated into the search engine. Bing Chat aimed to make online searches more intuitive and user-friendly by providing users with an interactive chat-based experience similar to how humans would answer questions to a search query.

Further, in March 2023, the Redmond giant started injecting ads as part of its efforts to monetize the chatbot and earn revenue for this new platform. However, this move also opened the door to threat actors who opted for malvertising tactics and distributed malware.

Ads can be inserted into a Bing Chat conversation in various ways. One of those is when a user hovers over a link and an ad is displayed first before the organic result, wrote Jerome Segura, Director of Threat Intelligence at Malwarebytes, in a blog post.

To test the Bing Chat, Malwarebytes researchers asked a simple query: I would like to download advanced IP scanner. To this, the AI-powered chatbot responded by saying, You can download Advanced IP Scanner from their official website, and displayed a link to download it in the chat.

When the researchers hovered over the link, they discovered that the first and most prominent link that showed up was the malicious ad pointing to a fraudulent link, while the second link provided by the chatbot was the original download link.

Users have the choice of visiting either link, although the first one may be more likely to be clicked on because of its position. Even though there is a small Ad label next to this link, it would be easy to miss and view the link as a regular search result, Segura added.

In clicking the first link, the researchers found that users were redirected to a website (mynetfoldersip[.]cfd) whose purpose is to filter traffic and separate real victims from bots, sandboxes, or security researchers. The website code determines that by using the visitors IP address, time zone, and various other system settings, such as web rendering that identifies virtual machines.

Then, the human victims are redirected to a fake site (advenced-ip-scanner[.]com) that mimics the official one (advanced-ip-scanner[.]com), where they are tempted to click on Free Download to download the supposed installer, which contains malicious files.

According to Segura, the malicious actor hacked into the ad account of a legitimate Australian business and created two malicious ads, one aimed at duping network admins (Advanced IP Scanner) and another lawyers (MyCase law manager). With legitimate-looking landing pages, victims can easily be fooled into downloading malware.

We recommend users pay particular attention to the websites they visit but also use a number of security tools to get additional protection, Segura concluded.

Malwarebytes has reported the security incident and its findings to Microsoft, along with a few other related malicious ads.

Our content policies prohibit advertising content that is deceptive, fraudulent or that can be harmful to users. We can confirm that this content has been removed and that the advertiser was blocked from our networks as part of our detection scan process, a Microsoft spokesperson told The Register.

We are continuing to monitor our ad network for similar accounts and will take action as needed to help keep customers protected. We will continue to apply this feedback into our detection mechanisms to improve our ability to detect and remove similar ads in the future.
Danai Wellness, formerly Danai Spa, is the primary trading vehicle of Crigen Resources Berhad, and is principally engaged in the provision of a wide range of services in the spa and wellness industry. Since its inception in 2004, Danai Wellness has expanded its brand to include wellness services such as Danai Divine Advanced Aesthetics, Danai Zenflow, Danai Medi-Wellness, and LaGent. As a result of this effort, Danai Wellness has been recognised by TripAdvisor as a Top 3 SPA Wellness Centre in Malaysia for 3 years in a row. The Company intends to acquire medium sized medical and day wellness centres in Australia under a licence agreement with the aim to rebrand these outlets under the Danai Wellness brand thereby introducing the Malaysian brand into the Australian market. The vision is to provide a unified brand which will aid in making the licensee's wellness centres more profitable and user friendly than their industry competitors. The Company will also look to introduce their unique business model combining high margin aesthetics treatments with subscription plans thus allowing members a right to use spa and wellness treatment services at a discounted rate for a fixed period.
Francesca Gino

In a heartfelt letter to her Harvard Business School colleagues, the embattled HBS Professor Francesca Gino is telling faculty that what happened to her could happen to anyone.

I worry the School has fallen into a bad pattern here  multiple faculty wrongly accused and haphazardly investigated, in processes that usually look rigorous but fail in a closer look, she wrote in the letter obtained by Poets&Quants. This is not the community we want, nor is it what we promised each other. It needs to change. Because if the School can do this to me, then it could also wrong any of you. As you think about what happened to me, I hope youll also raise questions about processes used to investigate other colleagues in the past.

An award-winning behavioral scientist at Harvard Business School, Gino was placed on an unpaid administrative leave by Dean Srikant Datar in June after a three-person committee of faculty found her guilty of research misconduct. In an unprecedented move, Dean Datar also began the process of stripping her of tenure. The schools investigation of her work occurred after a blog called Data Colada accused her of fabricating data in at least four published research papers, and possibly many more. Gino, however, has maintained her innocence and filed a $25 million lawsuit against Harvard, Dean Datar and the authors of the blog for defamation, breach of contract and gender discrimination.

FRANCESCA GINOS REBUTTAL TO THE HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL FACULTY

In her letter to HBS faculty, she offers a rebuttal of the allegations and notes that the school prevented her from speaking out about them during its investigation based on a new disciplinary policy that was put in place by Dean Datar without the approval or the knowledge of the faculty. The new policy forbade me from talking to anyone else about the charges made against me. I took this requirement seriously, to the point that even my closest friends, collaborators and colleagues at HBS and outside of HBS had no idea I was under investigation during the entire 18-month period, she wrote. It was an incredibly lonely time for me. Beyond its effects on my mental health, the restriction on who I could talk to also impeded my efforts to defend myself. If I wanted to ask a coauthor, RA, or lab administrator what he or she remembered about a given study, such as who did a given task or where the raw data was stored, I could not discuss why I needed the information. I could reveal neither the urgency nor the importance.

Story continues

Gino, who also put together a new website to publicly defend herself, told the faculty she wanted to reach out to them because some may think her silence has been an admission of guilt. On her website, she again maintains she did nothing wrong. The information that has been available to the public, and the analysis posted by critics, may sound compelling, she states. But the information is incomplete and misleading. The record needs to be corrected. This website is my attempt to do so. Let that correction begin with this simple and unambiguous statement: I absolutely did not commit academic fraud.

Ginos letter to HBS professors begins simply:

Im writing to you after sitting in near silence for over three months since receiving the news that I was being put on unpaid administrative leave, losing health benefits for my family, and being banned from campus, teaching, and research. As you can imagine, this has been excruciating. But it has also greatly impacted those around me  my family, my mentors, my collaborators, and my students. While many of you reached out privately offering your support, others may have interpreted my silence as an admission of guilt. I am writing you today to break my silence. I hope youll keep an open mind as you read this, as I know you would hope your peers would do the same for you.

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL STRUCTURED THE PROCESS SO THAT I WAS IN NO POSITION TO MOUNT A SERIOUS OPPOSITION

As she makes clear in her lawsuit, Gino raises substantial issues with the process used by Harvard Business School to come to the conclusion that she is guilty of research misconduct. You may ask why I did not offer this rebuttal during the HBS investigation and therefore defend myself against the allegations associated with my research. As you learn more about the process, you will see: The School structured the process so that I was in no position to mount a serious opposition. Although HBS claims their investigative process took 18 months, I was only given weeks (in one case, 2 weeks) to digest forensics reports from the consultant HBS hired, as well as to respond. All this while teaching and performing my regular faculty duties. And remember: I had no expert help  not one data analyst, IT expert, or statistician.

Think about this. Data Colada had years to put together their allegations, HBS and its outside consultants had months to do their investigation, and yet I had only a few weeks to digest it all and respond. And again, I had to do it without specialist advisors. Now that HBS has concluded its investigation, I am finally able to enlist the help of others to prove my innocence. Even with the help of my team, it is a time-consuming process. I am committed even more than ever before to what Harvard stands for: VeritasIve watched my career be decimated, and my collaborators suffer. People have formed opinions of the limited information available. And I get it. But that information is incomplete. So, today I am breaking from the silence and launching a website: www.francesca-v-harvard.org to share information about both the broken investigation process as well as the analyses I have undertaken over the past few months to prove my innocence.

Among other things, the website includes Ginos explanations for what went wrong with the studies for which she has been accused of fraud.  Within the first half-day of my IT expert looking at the unusual survey responses in which numerous subjects said their year in school was Harvard, he amassed multiple forms of evidence showing that these answers came from a single scammer who was doing the survey repeatedly for money, she wrote. If my IT expert could figure this out so quickly, why didnt the Committee figure it out? Sadly, there is no indication that the Committee even tried. In refusing to pursue the theories I offered, in denying me access to the experts I would need to defend myself, and in failing to investigate appropriately on its own, the process HBS followed is plainly neither comprehensive nor fair.

She also defends her decision to file the lawsuit against the university and the blogs authors. Harvard has ruined my career, wrongfully, Gino wrote. The only way to right this wrong is for me to sue.

HARVARD ULTIMATELY WILL BE VINDICATED

A Harvard Business School spokesperson has said the school will prevail in its defense of Ginos lawsuit. Harvard ultimately will be vindicated, claims Harvard Business Schools PR representative in an emailed statement to The Harvard Crimson. Professor Gino has raised allegations in her lawsuit that Harvard strongly denies, wrote HBS spokesperson Brian Kenny. We believe that the investigation  carried out by three senior HBS faculty members  was thorough, fair, and fully complied with HBSs policy and procedure for dealing with allegations of research misconduct.

And in an earlier email to Harvard Business School faculty, Dean Datar defended his decision to discipline Gino.  I ultimately accepted the investigation committees recommended sanctions, which included immediately placing Professor Gino on administrative leave and correcting the scientific record (a measure incumbent on every responsible academic institution when research misconduct is found), Datar added.

I did so after consulting confidentially with a small number of individuals at HBS and Harvard, including senior faculty members here at the School, as is permitted by our policy. The sanctions reflect a shared belief that the misconduct represented a significant violation of academic integrity and that the evidence not only met but surpassed the applicable preponderance of evidence standard. I shared my conclusions with Professor Gino and, in accordance with our policy and consistent with University practice, began implementing the institutional actions.

Ginos full letter to colleagues follows:

Dear Colleagues,

Im writing to you after sitting in near silence for over three months since receiving the news that I was being put on unpaid administrative leave, losing health benefits for my family, and being banned from campus, teaching, and research. As you can imagine, this has been excruciating. But it has also greatly impacted those around me  my family, my mentors, my collaborators, and my students.

While many of you reached out privately offering your support, others may have interpreted my silence as an admission of guilt. I am writing you today to break my silence. I hope youll keep an open mind as you read this, as I know you would hope your peers would do the same for you.

I spent the last 13 years on the faculty at HBS. I have always taken great pride in what the School stands for: excellence, respect, community. I believe we all want for those values to come through in our actions across all our activities, whether we are teaching, doing research, mentoring, taking on leadership roles or administrative tasks. And thus making the decision to sue my own institution was devastating. But I was left with no alternative, as I will share more about here. I am innocent. And in the spirit of Veritas, I need to right this wrong.

These accusations have been riddled with procedural issues that prevented me from proving my innocence.

Departing from their own stated policy, Data Colada did not give me the opportunity to address their charges before they complained to HBS nor before they posted allegations to their website. Had they provided me with the same professional courtesy as they have everyone before me, I do not believe we would be where we are today.

HBS significantly and repeatedly departed from their procedures too:

HBS created a new research misconduct policy just for me, after Data Colada presented the School with complaints about my work. Not only did HBS not vet this new policy with faculty, it did not even inform faculty that this new policy (that purported to supersede the rights of tenured faculty under the Third Statute) was in effect for a full 2 years, even as it was being applied to me. In sharp contrast to the old policy, the new policy limited the number of advisors I could talk toI was allowed just two. My first advisor, as recommended by HBS Research Integrity Officer, was an attorney to help me make sense of the process. My second advisor was a respected HBS colleague who was well-versed in how Harvard usually handles these situations. The new policy banned me from seeking support from anyone other than these two individuals or risk termination. Thus, I could not hire or consult with experts in IT, data forensics, or statistics. Without such experts, I was at an obvious disadvantage in figuring out how to properly analyze the allegations against me, much less rebut them. The new policy forbade me from talking to anyone else about the charges made against me. I took this requirement seriously, to the point that even my closest friends, collaborators and colleagues at HBS and outside of HBS had no idea I was under investigation during the entire 18-month period. It was an incredibly lonely time for me. Beyond its effects on my mental health, the restriction on who I could talk to also impeded my efforts to defend myself. If I wanted to ask a coauthor, RA, or lab administrator what he or she remembered about a given study, such as who did a given task or where the raw data was stored, I could not discuss why I needed the information. I could reveal neither the urgency nor the importance.



Not only did the School impose a new policy that hindered my ability to defend myself, the School then did not follow its new policy correctly, further denying me a fair opportunity to refute the charges made against me. As an example, the new policy requires the investigating committee to investigate the allegations with thoroughness, fairness, and objectivity, and to diligently pursue all significant issues and leads. Essentially, leave no stone unturned.

But, when I provided plausible alternative explanations for perceived anomalies, the committee disregarded them  in one especially glaring instance, replying with a single footnote that called my theories irrelevant. My theories should have been investigated with appropriate care  and since the Schools new procedure limited me from doing that myself, the Committee was obliged to take on this task. The Committee should have used its superior resources  data consultants, IT experts, ample time  to make a genuine investigation.

Within the first half-day of my IT expert looking at the unusual survey responses in which numerous subjects said their year in school was Harvard, he amassed multiple forms of evidence showing that these answers came from a single scammer who was doing the survey repeatedly for money. If my IT expert could figure this out so quickly, why didnt the Committee figure it out? Sadly, there is no indication that the Committee even tried. In refusing to pursue the theories I offered, in denying me access to the experts I would need to defend myself, and in failing to investigate appropriately on its own, the process HBS followed is plainly neither comprehensive nor fair.

The committee also failed to apply the new policys burden of proof and shifted the burden of proof onto me to disprove research misconduct. That was not the appropriate standard of proof under the new policy.

Ive watched my career be decimated, and my collaborators suffer. People have formed opinions off the limited information available. And I get it. But that information is incomplete. So, today I am breaking from the silence and launching a website: www.francesca-v-harvard.org to share information about both the broken investigation process as well as the analyses I have undertaken over the past few months to prove my innocence.

I know how busy life at HBS can be, but I truly hope youll spend some time reading this. Because if the School can do this to me, then it could also wrong any of you. As you think about what happened to me, I hope youll also raise questions about processes used to investigate other colleagues in the past. I worry the School has fallen into a bad pattern here  multiple faculty wrongly accused and haphazardly investigated, in processes that usually look rigorous but fail in a closer look. This is not the community we want, nor is it what we promised each other. It needs to change.

On the website, youll find my analyses for one of the studies in question, Study 1 of the 2012 PNAS paper. The allegation is simply incorrect. As I show in the analysis, Data Colada cherry-picked the data points to analyze: They looked at supposed errors in two of the conditions in the study, but not the third, where data errata dont follow the pattern Data Colada claimed. They did not use their own metric for calling out perceived anomalies consistently. And their analysis of Excel calcChain is wrong: as Microsoft can attest, calcChain doesnt do what they say it does, and I was able to demonstrate this in some simple examples anyone can reproduce.

Some of you may have seen Data Coladas most recent post. It is unfortunate that Data Colada decided to quote exhibits from my lawsuit complaint  exhibits I used as evidence for a claim of defamation, because the information in them is misleading and inaccurate. You may also benefit from knowing that in the appendices of the retraction notices that HBS sent to journals, HBS quoted selectively from its forensics consultants  and pulled in unattributed extended verbatim quotes from Data Colada. HBS circulated the resulting mash-up with no statement of authorship  no person or team taking either credit or responsibility. And the combination is especially misleading. Notably, the mash-up selectively omits crucial provisions that the professional data analysts included, such as the fact that without the original data, no conclusion of research misconduct can be made.

You may ask why I did not offer this rebuttal during the HBS investigation and therefore defend myself against the allegations associated with my research. As you learn more about the process, you will see: The School structured the process so that I was in no position to mount a serious opposition. Although HBS claims their investigative process took 18 months, I was only given weeks (in one case, 2 weeks) to digest forensics reports from the consultant HBS hired, as well as to respond. All this while teaching and performing my regular faculty duties. And remember: I had no expert help  not one data analyst, IT expert, or statistician.

Think about this. Data Colada had years to put together their allegations, HBS and its outside consultants had months to do their investigation, and yet I had only a few weeks to digest it all and respond. And again, I had to do it without specialist advisors.

Now that HBS has concluded its investigation, I am finally able to enlist the help of others to prove my innocence. Even with the help of my team, it is a time-consuming process. I am committed even more than ever before to what Harvard stands for: Veritas. Ill update my website as I continue my search for truth.

With appreciation, Francesca

DONT MISS: HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL DEAN HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO or THE ACADEMIC MOB COMES FOR A HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL THOUGHT LEADER

The post Francesca Ginos Letter To Her Harvard Business School Colleagues appeared first on Poets&Quants.
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"
Graft Polymer (UK) (LON:GPL) First Half 2023 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: UK240.0k (down 28% from 1H 2022).

Net loss: UK1.13m (loss widened by 38% from 1H 2022).

UK0.011 loss per share (further deteriorated from UK0.008 loss in 1H 2022).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Graft Polymer (UK) shares are down 30% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

What about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for Graft Polymer (UK) you should know about.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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Unless the US House of Representatives and Senate can agree on legislation to continue funding the federal government past the end of the 2023 fiscal year, the federal government will have to furlough as many as half of the 1.5 million civilian employees on its payroll and close operations at numerous facilities while shuttering vital programmes.

The fast-approaching deadline is 11.59pm on 30 September, the last day of the US governments fiscal year.

When the clock strikes midnight on 1 October  the start of fiscal year 2024  no part of the US government will be able to legally spend any money to pay its workforce unless Congress passes, and President Joe Biden signs, a law appropriating funds for the new fiscal year.

This is due to the effects of an 1883 law known as the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the government from entering into contacts that are not fully funded.

That law states that no federal officer or employee may make or authorize an expenditure or obligation exceeding an amount available in an appropriation or fund for the expenditure or obligation.

In laymans terms, this means that the government cant spend a single dollar  even to pay workers  unless Congress has enacted a budget for the fiscal year.

And because employees who show up to work must be paid for their work, this means many of them wont be legally allowed to show up for work.

According to the Office of Management and Budget, complying with that law means up to 700,000 workers could be sent home after reporting to work on Monday if theres no spending deal in place, while another 800,000  mostly in public safety and national security roles  will be forced to work without pay.

Moreover, a government shutdown would mean the two million soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in Americas armed forces will be made to remain on duty without paychecks.

OMB Director Shalanda Young told reporters at the daily White House press briefing on Friday that a large amount of people who will be furloughed across the government and said the White House would feel the same as the rest of agencies.

We will do the best we can to continue to serve as the American people. Clearly, our men and women in uniform will be at their duty stations without pay, unfortunately, she said. So, we will keep vital national security things going ... though it will be hard to do everything government should do for the American people in a shutdown.

The Capitol Building in Washington, DC., USA lit up in the early evening (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Earlier on Friday, the House of Representatives rejected a Republican-authored attempt at a short-term spending bill that would have kept the federal government from shutting down, making it much more likely that federal employees will be furloughed or forced to work without pay and many government programmes will be shuttered when the fiscal year ends at midnight on 30 September.

The bill would have provided a 31-day extension to government funding while enacting massive cuts in domestic programmes and new immigration restrictions that were opposed by Democrats.

Conservatives have insisted that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy prioritise passage of each of the 12 individual spending bills the House is supposed to complete before 30 September each year, three of which were successfully passed earlier this week. But none of those bills have any chance of passing the Senate or being signed into law by President Joe Biden.

As of Friday evening, Mr McCarthy was still demanding that a stopgap measure under consideration by the Senate not contain any funding for Ukraines defence efforts against Russia. Its unclear whether senators would be willing to honour his request.
Dark matter is the fundamental framework that holds our universe together. Without its enormous gravitational pull to bring order to gas and dust, there would be no stars and no planets. Of this, scientists are sure.

Unfortunate, then, that despite decades of effort they cannot see it or sense it.

They are left to theorise and imagine. Perhaps dark matter is a giant ghost particle? Or a collection of black holes?

A map of dark matter, spreading across the universe. Credit: KIPAC/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Last week, a group of Australian scientists presented evidence they say strongly supports a third contender: dark photons, dark matters equivalent of particles of light.
When the plane landed in Australia from Poland, it held just two young Ukrainian scientists  Maryna Dzuh and Svitlana Omelchuk.

Their host, CSIRO agricultural scientist John Kirkegaard, had hoped for more.

Ukrainian agricultural scientists Svitlana Omelchuk and Maryna Dzuh at Hyde Park in Sydney, this week. Credit: James Brickwood

But their male colleagues had been barred from leaving Ukraine, which was in a state of full mobilisation and couldnt afford to lose any fighting-aged men.

Dzuh and Omelchuk are here as part of a global effort, supported by Australian scientists and international donors, to protect Ukrainian science as the war with Russia grinds on.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry is increasing its subsidies for Micron's fab in Hiroshima from $320 million to $1.29 billion, according to a Nikkei report. The increase ensures that the company builds its fab on time. For the Japanese government, the grant is a part of a broader plan encompassing several billion yen invested in various chip companies designed to enhance Japan's semiconductor prowess.

Micron secured $320 million in funding for its fab in Hiroshima almost exactly a year ago. Meanwhile, Micron's total investments in the new production facility were meant to be about 500 billion ($3.618 billion). While $320 million is a lot of money, it might not be enough given Micron's reduced capital expenditures compared to 2022 levels. As a result, it looks like Micron and the Japanese government have reached an agreement to increase subsidies, according to Nikkei.

Micron

Micron aims to initiate high-volume manufacturing of sophisticated memory chips using its 1 process (its 3rd Generation 10nm-class node) that relies on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography by 2026, so the company needs money as soon as possible.

The Ministry's vision is not limited to Micron. A sweeping budget of 2 trillion ($13.385 billion), spread over two years, is reserved explicitly for subsidies related to semiconductor investments. Casting the net wider, Taiwan's TSMC will receive up to 476 billion ($3.1857 billion) for its fab operations in Kumamoto. Additionally, a collaborative effort between Kioxia and the U.S-based Western Digital in Mie prefecture is backed by a subsidy worth 92.9 billion ($621.72).

This significant financial infusion into semiconductor companies underscores Japan's commitment to decreasing its reliance on overseas chip suppliers and rebuilding its domestic semiconductor sector. Japan aims to circumvent potential risks linked with international supply chain interruptions by strengthening domestic capabilities, thereby ensuring a smooth and robust internal supply of critical technological components.
Australias last remaining Liberal state government says it intends to forge ahead with a controversial new AFL stadium in central Hobart, despite being at an increased risk of losing a no-confidence vote in parliament.

The Tasmanian government was plunged even further into minority on Friday after the resignation of attorney-general Elise Archer over bullying allegations. The departure means the Liberal government will hold only 10 out of 25 lower house seats until a new MP is chosen via a recount.

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Premier Jeremy Rockliffs government has been in minority since May, when two Liberals quit the parliamentary party to sit on the crossbench to protest against a government deal with the AFL to create a Tasmanian AFL team and build the $715 million stadium at Macquarie Point.

Liberal-turned-independent MPs Lara Alexander and John Tucker and thousands of protesters have cited concerns over debt and transparency when it comes to the project.
When John Guegan moved into the suburb of Maribyrnong in 1962, he knew the area often flooded. In the years since, he has seen it numerous times.

Which is why, at a meet the mayor event last year, Guegan prodded the then-mayor of Maribyrnong Council Anthony Tran that perhaps the municipality should do more to warn residents they lived on a flood plain. Many residents, Guegan thought, had no idea.

Tran responded in September, saying that the council had everything in hand. He thanked Guegan for his advice and assured him the municipality was future-proofing Maribyrnong.

John Guegan and Madeleine Serle, whose homes were flooded last October, next to the Maribyrnong River on Friday. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

But it turned out no one  not the council, not Melbourne Water, not the state government and not the State Emergency Service  had anything in hand. Maribyrnong certainly wasnt future proofed. Devastating floods hit Guegans suburb in October when the Maribyrnong River burst its banks and residents got almost no warning they were about to be deluged.
Washington: Millions of Americans will be left without pay, travellers could face airport chaos and families may struggle to access much-needed services when government funding is expected to run out this weekend due to infighting in the US Congress.

With only one day left to strike a deal to keep federal funding flowing, hardline Republicans loyal to Donald Trump blew up their own partys efforts on Friday to avoid a looming government shutdown from October 1.

Frustrated: US speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing ongoing headaches from his right flank. Credit: AP

The move was yet another rebuke to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who made a longshot attempt to pass legislation in a bid to avert the crisis.

But far-right Republicans within his own ranks  the same group who almost tanked his bid to become Speaker in January unless he caved in to their demands  refused to vote for the temporary spending bill, which would have provided an extension to keep federal money flowing.
670 & 680 Main Avenue SW Photo: Hoffman & Associates

National law firm Kelley Drye & Warren will be relocating its Washington, D.C., office from Georgetown to The Wharf.

The firm inked a 65,000-square-foot lease at 670 Maine Avenue SW, an 11-story building at the mile-long, $3.6 billion development along D.C.s waterfront, developed by a joint venture between Hoffman & Associates and Madison Marquette.

The move represents a significant downsize from the Kelley Drye & Warrens current 107,000-square-foot home at 3050 K Street NW. The firm will occupy the entire fifth and sixth floors, plus half of the seventh floor at 670 Maine when it relocates in 2025.

Both 670 Maine and its twin, 680 Maine, were delivered late last year and span approximately 547,000 square feet combined. Law firm Williams & Connolly, one of The Wharfs first committed tenants, moved into 290,000 square feet at 680 Maine Street earlier this year.

The Kelley Drey & Warren lease brings the building to 90 percent occupancy, according to Shawn Seaman, president of Hoffman & Associates.

Founded in 1836, Kelley Drye & Warren has more than 350 lawyers with offices in New York City and the tri-state area, as well as in Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, and Houston.

After evaluating its office needs and exploring both newly built and redesigned spaces, the law firm settled on 670 Maine, Alan Luberda, office managing partner of Kelley Dryes D.C. office, said in a prepared statement. The hardest part now will be the wait while we design and build out this terrific space with our architects HYL and project manager Mark Pirone at C2C.

CBRE (CBRE)s Amy Bowser represented the landlord in the lease, while Cushman & Wakefields Malcolm Marshall represented the tenant.

Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.

Trending Commercial Observer Stories

Read the original story Kelley Drye & Warren Downsizes to New Office at The Wharf and others by Keith Loria at Commercial Observer.
Shutterstock.com

You have a taste for luxury travel, but youre working with a middle-class budget. While you might think this means youll need to settle for a local road trip or a short flight to a domestic locale, it doesnt.

Tips: Dont Buy Airline Tickets on This Day of the Week

Find Out: How To Get Cash Back on Your Everyday Purchases

Hans Mast, a travel agent and travel expert at Golden Rule Travel, said traveling during off-peak times, opting for affordable accommodations and embracing local culture can allow you to enjoy a luxury trip on a limited budget.

Ready to start packing your bags? Heres a look at seven lavish trips he said you can take without breaking the bank.

Costa Ricas Pacific Coast

Think again if you assume a trip to Costa Ricas Pacific Coast is only for the wealthy.

Instead of luxe resorts, go for boutique hotels, he said. Explore local eateries instead of high-end restaurants.

Additionally, when sightseeing, he said you can save money by opting to use public transportation instead of private transfers.

Whether you opt to visit the North Guanacaste, South Guanacaste, Nicoya Peninsula, Central Pacific, South Pacific or the Osa Peninsula areas, this will allow you to save money, while immersing yourself in the local culture.

Im a Travel Agent: 7 Costliest Mistakes People Make When Planning Vacations

Greek Island Hopping

If visiting the Greek Islands  i.e., Antipaxoi, Corfu, Ithaca, Kefalonia, Kythera, Lefkada, Paxi and Zakynthos  is your dream. Youll be pleased to know Mast said this trip can be enjoyed on a middle-class budget.

Travel in the shoulder season  spring or fall  when prices drop, he said.

As for the island hopping parts of the trip, he said there are also ways to save on transportation.

Use local ferries instead of private charters, he said.

Instead of spending a hefty amount on a hotel or resort, he recommended bunking with the locals.

Stay in family-run guesthouses or Airbnb for a more authentic experience, he said.

Story continues

Machu Picchu, Peru

Visiting Machu Picchu isnt just reserved for the rich. Mast said smart planning can allow you to enjoy this adventure on an average budget.

Book the Inca Trail independently or choose alternative trekking routes, he said.

Instead of seeking out pricy hotels near Machu Picchu, he recommended staying in Aguas Calientes, a small town south of the world-famous historical attraction.

Plan your visit during the shoulder season to avoid crowds, he said.

Safari in South Africa

A dream vacation, most people probably assume they could never afford an African safari. However, Mast said that isnt the case.

Opt for self-drive safaris instead of guided tours, he said.

This type of safari is possible in most African countries, allowing you to explore at your own pace, while saving money. Do note that it can be advisable to take a course driving the type of vehicle youll operate on safari before embarking on your trip.

Theres no shortage of glamorous safari lodges to stay at, but there are also plenty of affordable options.

Stay in budget-friendly lodges or camps outside the national parks, he said.

Additionally, he said planning your trip during the shoulder season  typically around November to May  will allow you to enjoy lower prices and fewer tourists.

Bangkok

If you time it right, you can enjoy a first-class trip to Bangkok on a tight budget.

Stay in high-end hotels during off-peak seasons when prices drop, Mast said.

If you dont mind a little  or potentially a lot of  rain, visiting between July and September will allow you to save money. Do note, this is also monsoon season, so youll need to be flexible with your plans.

A city known for its cuisine, Mast said you dont need to spend a lot on food to delight your taste buds.

Enjoy world-class street food at a fraction of restaurant prices, he said.

You can also skip pricey attractions by simply immersing yourself in the local culture.

Explore the citys temples and markets for free or at a low cost, he said.

Icelands Natural Wonders

A European country known for its Northern Lights, a trip to Iceland can be expensive  but not if you do it the right way.

Instead of stretching your budget to stay in a pricey Reykjavik hotel, Mast had another idea.

Rent a camper van for a more affordable accommodation option, he said.

This will also serve double duty as a way to get around when sightseeing. Plus, he said youll be able to cook your meals, instead of dining out.

He said visiting during the shoulder season  May and September  will also help you cut costs.

Cultural Riches in Mexico City

Rich with culture, visiting Mexicos capital city can be a lot more affordable than you might realize.

Stay in boutique hotels in trendy neighborhoods like Roma or Condesa, Mast said.

Known for their artsy, laid-back vibe, these chic neighborhoods are filled with restaurants, cafes and boutiques.

Instead of eating at pricey restaurants, he suggested taking a more informal approach.

Enjoy street food and local markets for budget-friendly dining, he said.

Mexico City is filled with museums and cultural sites you wont want to miss, so he suggested planning your trip around free admission days. Many museums are also free to visit every day, so conduct plenty of research before your trip.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Im a Travel Agent: 7 Luxury Trips You Can Take on a Middle-Class Budget
Applicants Got Into This M7 School With 2.4 GPA & A 600 GMAT  For A 2nd Straight Year

Women are a larger portion of the new MBA class at Chicago Booth, but international students declined slightly. Booth photo

Over the last three years, and especially in the last 10, the most prestigious business schools in the U.S. have gotten (relatively) easier to get into. The release of MBA Class of 2025 profiles by some of the most prestigious of them all this week brought reminders that that trend continues in 2023.

For the second year in a row, someone with a 2.4 undergraduate grade point average earned admission to the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, one of the M7 B-schools and the No. 1 school in the United States according to the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking.

Also for a second year in a row, someone with a 600 score on the Graduate Management Admission Test earned admission to the Booth MBA Class of 2025. And, once again in 2023 as it was in 2022, applications to the class were down year over year while enrollment was up.

BY THE NUMBERS: CHICAGO BOOTH MBA CLASSES 2018-2025

Chicago Booth MBA Class of 2025 MBA Class of 2024 MBA Class of 2023 MBA Class of 2022 MBA Class of 2021 MBA Class of 2020 MBA Class of 2019 MBA Class of 2018 Applications Received 4,184 4,352 5,037 4,909 4,433 4,289 4,674 4,160 Enrolled 637 634 620 621 593 591 580 585 GMAT Average 728 729 732 724 730 731 730 727 GMAT Range 600-780 600-780 590-790 600-780 610-790 610-790 620-790 NA GRE Average 325 327 325 326 327 327 NA NA GPA Average 3.60 3.60 3.60 3.60 3.60 3.60 3.61 3.58 GPA Range 2.4-4.0 2.4-4.0 2.7-4.0 2.8-4.0 NA NA NA NA % Submitting GRE 29% 26% 18% 17% 13% 7% 7% 7% Women 42% 40% 42% 38% 40% 42% 40% 42% US Minority 49% 48% 44% 43% 28% 31% 27% 29% International 36% 37% 39% 30% 31% 30% 36% 34% Countries 54 57 56 56 49 52 59 57 Average Work Experience 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years Average Age 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28

APPS DOWN AT BOOTH, MIRRORING OTHER M7 SCHOOLS

Chicago Booth was the fourth M7 school to release its 2025 MBA class profile, after the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School, Harvard Business School, and Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. Like Wharton, Harvard, and Stanford (which, like MIT Sloan School of Management, also released its class profile this week), Booth reports apps down slightly this year, to 4,184 from 4,352 for the Class of 2024, a decline of nearly 4%. Its the lowest app total for Booth since 2016, when 4,160 applicants sought admission to the Class of 2018 (see table above). In two years, apps to Booths full-time MBA have dropped about 17%, mirroring a general decline at the leading U.S. B-schools that is magnified by the boost in 2020-2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, when many top schools drew more attention from students undaunted by the prospect of indefinite virtual classes.

Story continues

Two of the other M7 schools, Kellogg and MIT Sloan, do not divulge application numbers with their class profiles. Columbia Business School, which does, has yet to publish their Class of 2025 profile.

Despite the decline in apps, Booth, ranked second in the U.S. in Poets&Quants latest ranking, matched its record high in the proportion of women in the MBA at 42%, the same level it reported in 2016, 2018 and 2021. International students dipped slightly to 36%, and countries represented in the class declined to 54; but as the school reports, 49% of its new class were born outside the U.S., including 3% from Africa, 17% from Asia, 11% from Central/South America and Mexico, and 3% from Europe.

M7 SCHOOLS MBA CLASS OF 2025: BY THE NUMBERS

MBA Class of 2025 Stanford Harvard Wharton Kellogg Booth Sloan Applications Received 6,190 8,149 6,194 NA 4,184 NA Enrolled 431 938 874 529 637 409 GMAT Average 738 740* 728 731 728 729* GMAT Range 630-790 500-790 NA 620-780 600-780 700-760** GRE Average 328 326* 324 326* 325 NA % Submitting GRE 39% 34% NA NA 29% NA GPA Average 3.77 3.73 3.60 3.70 3.60 3.61* GPA Range NA NA NA 2.8-4.0 2.4-4.0 NA Women 46% 45% 50% 48% 42% 46% US Minority 50% 45% 37% 42% 49% NA URM 26% 25% 16% 19% 22% 28% International 36% 39% 31% 39% 36% 40% Countries 55 NA 70 NA 54 60 Average Work Experience 5 years 4.9 years 5 years 5.1 years 5 years 5 years Average Age NA 27 NA NA 28 NA LGBTQ+ NA NA 11% 9% 12% NA First-Generation Students 11% 11% 11% 13% 12% NA Military 5% 6% NA 3% 11% NA

*Median

**Middle 80%

NEW SCHOOL RECORDS FOR VETERANS, FIRST-GEN & LGBTQ+ STUDENTS

Someone With A 2.4 GPA Got Into Chicago Booth Again This Year

Booths diversity was amplified this year in other ways, particularly in the enrollment of U.S. minorities, who grew to 49% of the class (per federal reporting guidelines) from 48%, and from 44% two years ago. The schools under-represented minorities grew to 22% of the class from 19% last year and 12% in fall 2021. The class is composed of 11% veterans (up from 8%) and 12% of those who identify as LGBTQ+ (up from 7%), as well as 12% who are the first in their families to graduate from college  all three categories representing new school records.

Booths new MBA class comes from 277 undergrad institutions, up from 264 last year. Last year, 25% apiece came to Booth with a business or economics degree, and 24% with an engineering degree; liberal arts majors comprised 13%, while physical sciences majors were 9% of the class. Seventeen percent of the class already had graduate degrees. This year, 26% have business degrees, 20% have economics degrees, and 25% engineering degrees; 14% are liberal arts majors and 8% are physical sciences majors. Nineteen percent already have advanced degrees.

For pre-MBA industries, last year consulting dominated at 25% of the class, and finance was second at 19% (plus 5% for PE/VC). Techies comprised 13% of the Class of 2024, other was 12%, while nonprofit/government folks were 11%. Healthcare was 6%, followed by energy (4%), accounting (2%), consumer products (2%), and manufacturing (1%). This fall, consulting (18%) is second to financial services (19%), followed by tech (15%), nonprofit/government (14%), PE/VC (7%), healthcare (7%), consumer products (3%), energy (2%), manufacturing (2%), and accounting (1%).

Were delighted to see campus back in full swing and to welcome the newest class of Boothies to our community, Donna Swinford, Booth School associate dean for student recruitment and admissions, tells Poets&Quants. We were impressed with the quality of backgrounds in our Class of 2025 and are excited to be part of their MBA journey going forward. As with many other industries, our MBA program is subject to cycles and market conditions, however Chicago Booth continued to see great quality and interest within the 2022-23 applicant pool. In fact, we just enrolled the largest class of full-time MBA and joint-degree students this fall, including a record number of first-generation students, LGBTQ+ students, veterans, and women. And were already seeing indicators of strong interest among this years Round One applicants.

On the employment front, recruiters continue to seek out Booth talent, as evidenced by record median salaries for Booths Class of 2022, more than 50 percent of companies hiring four or more graduates, and strong early returns for the Class of 2023.

DONT MISS MBA CLASS OF 2024: FULL SPEED AHEAD FOR CHICAGO BOOTH DESPITE APP DECLINE and FOR BUSINESS SCHOOLS, 6 PATHWAYS TO INNOVATION

AND SEE POETS&QUANTS COVERAGE OF OTHER LEADING B-SCHOOLS MBA CLASSES OF 2025:

HARVARD

WHARTON

KELLOGG

DARTMOUTH TUCK

YALE SOM

VIRGINIA DARDEN

DUKE FUQUA

CORNELL JOHNSON

UCLA ANDERSON

USC MARSHALL

The post MBA Class Of 2025: What It Took To Get Into This No. 1-Ranked B-School appeared first on Poets&Quants.
54 killed in suicide blast in Balochistan





KARACHI/PESHAWAR

Another blast at a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Hangu city kills at least four people and injures 12





A POWERFUL suicide blast ripped through a mosque in Pakistans restive Balochistan province on Friday, killing at least 54 people and injuring over 100 others who were preparing to celebrate Prophet Muhammads birthday, police said. Hours later, another blast at a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Hangu city killed at least four people and injured 12 others. At Mastung, the explosion occurred near Madina Mosque on Al Falah Road in the Mastung district when people had gathered in large numbers to mark Eid Milad-un-Nabi, City Station House Officer Mohammad Javed Lehri said. The explosion was asuicide blast. The bomber exploded himself next to the Deputy Superintendent of Polices (DSP) car, Lehri said. Later, a hand grenade was also defused by the bomb squad from near the blast site, he said. Bordering Afghanistan and Iran, Balochistan is Pakistans largest province and has frequently been hit by terror groups including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Islamic State group. Mastungs DSP Nawaz Gishkori, who was on duty for the rally, was found dead among others Lehri said the wounded were shifted to a medical facility even asan emergency has been imposed in the hospitals. District Health Officer Rashid Muhammad Saeed said the situation at the hospitals across the town was chaotic as relatives and friends of those killed and injured were making it difficult for the doctors and nurses to perform their duties. Around 20 of the patients who were in critical condition have been moved to Quetta for treatment, he said.

Balochistan Inspector General(IG)AbdulKhalique Sheikh said the suicide bomber blew himself up closetogroupsofpeoplewho were gathering near the mosque to take out the Rabiul Awwal procession to celebrate the Prophets birthday. Until now we have 54 confirmed casualties, he said, adding that the injured have been sent to hospitals in Mastung and Quetta. Sheikh said DSP Ghashhori was killed after he apparently spotted the suicide bomber and tried to stop him.Three other police officers were also injured in the blast, he said. The IG said he was not aware of theexactnumberof people injuredbuttheywere in dozens. The TTP has denied involvementinFridaysblast, saying in a statement that such an attack was against its policies.

The group also condemned the attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, stating that mosques,schools,andpublic gatherings are not part of our targets. Sheikh said the suspicion is centred around the Daesh (also known as ISIS) terror outfit. It is still too early to say whoisbehindthis attackbut in the past Daesh militants have been active in Mastung district, he said. SheikhsaidDaeshhadpreviously claimed responsibilityforsuchattacksinthepast. Mastung District Headquarters Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Nisar Ahmed said 18 bodies werebrought to hishospital, while the remaining were moved to the Naqab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital in Mastung and Civil Hospital in Quetta. The Naqab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital CEO Dr Saeed Mirwani has confirmed that his hospital received32bodies,whilefour bodies were sent to the Civil Hospital in Quetta. Meanwhile, in the unruly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province few hours later, at least four people died and 12 others were injured in the suicide blast that ripped throughamosqueduringthe Juma prayers close to the Doaba police station in Hangu district.
Actor Anupam Bhargava killed in road accident





Our Correspondent

BILASPUR,

SHOCK waves prevailed in Chhollywood when actor Anupam Bhargava (38) was killed, while his wife Nikita Jaiswal suffered grave injuries in a road accident on the Bilaspur-Raipur National Highway No 130 on Thursday night. Nikita has been admitted in the hospital where her condition is serious. The couple was returning back home from Raipur at around 9 pm when a speeding trailer knocked their car near village Kirna in Sargaon area. The collision was so severe that the car went out of control and rolled down the highway. After the accident both the actor and his wife got trapped inside the car.

When nearby people and passers-by saw this, they informed Sargaon Police that rushed to the spot immediately and rescued the injured actor and his wife and wheeled them to Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) where the doctors pronounced Anupam Bhargava brought dead and after administering primary treatment referred his wife Nikita Jaiswal to Apollo Hospitals where her condition is critical according to the doctors. Anupam Bhargava, resident of Surya Vihar Colony in Sarkanda was a superstar of Chhattisgarhi films. He was a comedian, romantic star and action hero in Chollywood film industry. Initially, he did humorous satire in local news and cable channels. In 2008, he became Radio Jockey (RJ) in FM Radio. In 2016, he debuted in film career with Teen Than Bhokwa which was a hit. Its sequel Teen Than Bhokva Returns was also a hit.

Anupam had acted in many hit films like Ticket to Hollywood, Humar Family Number One, Mission Chhattisgarh, Rajni, Jimmy Kaanda, Khaanti Mitan and Krishna Anuj, but he got a new identity from Jimmy Kaanda. Anupam also directed many films including Jimmy Kaanda. The news of his death prevailed shock wave among his fans. Anupam was the only child of his parents who are still in shock after the incident.
Army moves over Rs 6,500 crdeal to MoD to procure 400howitzers from Indian firms





NEW DELHI :

IN A mega push to promote indigenously designed and developed weapon systems, the Indian Army has moved a proposal to the Defence Ministry to buy 400 howitzers from Indian firms. Indian Armys Regiment of Artillery is looking to use the expertise of Indian Industry to produce 155 mm/52 calibre Towed Gun System, which will be lighter, versatile and cater for future technological advancements. A proposal for buying 400 155mm 52 calibre towed gun systems (TGS) along with towing vehicles from Indian firms under the Buy Indian-IDDM category has been moved to the Defence Ministry. The Government isexpected to soon take a decision on the TGS at a high-level meeting, senior military officials told ANI.

The Indian Army has alreadyissued a tender for buying 307Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS) along withone for finding a mounted gunsystem for its requirements along borders with China andPakistan.The Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured how it zer would meanthat it would be totally Indianin all ways. The Army wants the guns tobe lighter in weight and easier to deploy in high-altitude areas like the older Bofors guns. The procurement process is part of the Army plan for Medium is ation with indigenous guns and is likely to be completed by the year 2042.

In the last decade, four contracts have been concluded for the procurement of 155 mm howitzer. These Gun Systems have already been inducted and more number of Regiments are being equipped with these guns. These gun systems include Dhanush, Sharang, Ultra Light Howitzer (ULH) and K-9 Vajra Self Propelled Guns. Dhanush Guns are an electronic upgrade of Bofors Guns, while the Sharang Guns have been up-gunned from 130mm to 155mm calibre. Seven Regiments have already been equipped with ULHs while five have been equipped with self-propelled guns.
CG Police arrest two involved in jewellery shop burglary in Delhi





New Delhi/Raipur,

The State Police has arrested two persons in connection with a Rs 20 crore burglary from a jewellery store in New Delhi earlier this week and recovered around 18.5 kg of gold and diamond ornaments from them, a senior official said on Friday. A joint team of officials from the Anti-crime and Cyber Unit and the Civil Line Police Station in Bilaspur district carried out the operation while probing a series of thefts in Bilaspur city, Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh told PTI. The arrested persons have been identified as Lokesh Srivas, who is allegedly involved in seven thefts in Bilaspur, and Shiva Chandravanshi, he said. Acting on a tip-off about Srivas being present in Kawardha town of Chhattisgarhs Kabirdham district, the team conducted a raid there on Wednesday and arrested Chandravanshi along with ornaments worth Rs 23 lakh, he said. By that time, Srivas had managed to escape, the S P said.

The team then tracked down Srivas to a house under the Smritinagar Police Station jurisdiction in Durg district and recovered 18.5 kg of gold and diamond jewellery and Rs 12.5 lakh in cash from him, Singh said. Investigation revealed that the jewellery were stolen from a store in New Delhi, he said, adding a team of the Delhi police has also arrived in Chhattisgarh and further investigation into the matter is under way. Mahaveer Prasad Jain, the owner of the jewellery showroom in Delhi, told reporters, We are thankful to the police. We have seen the pictures of the recovered items and identified those as the ornaments have tags on them. We do not know the arrested persons.

According to the Delhi Police, at least three people were involved in the burglary, which was one of the biggest in the national capital. The criminals broke into the shop, made a hole in a strong room and decamped with ornaments worth more than Rs 20 crore as well as Rs 5 lakh in cash earlier this week. The shop, Umrao Singh Jewellers, in south Delhis Bhogal, had several CCTV cameras but they were damaged around Sunday midnight. The owner closed the shop on Sunday around 8 pm and when he opened it on Tuesday around 10.30 am, he got to know about the incident. The shop was closed on Monday.
Govt announces special package for permanent flood control in Nagpur





Staff Reporter

A special package will be given to Nagpur for permanent flood control to protect Nagpur from getting affected by flood situations in future, announced State Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Anil Patil on Friday while interacting with mediapersons. On the suggestion of Deputy Chief Minister and Guardian Minister of the district Devendra Fadnavis, Patil had come to prepare an integrated plan on the flood situation of Nagpur. The havoc by recent rains severely affected certain areas of Nagpur. Fadnavis has instructed officials concerned to take strong measures to ensure that such flood situations do not arise in Nagpur even after the heaviest rains. The Deputy Chief Minister has asked officials that all the departments should coordinate and prepare a comprehensive proposal. Panchnamas should be completed in any case by October 2. Distribution of ex-gratia amount should start from October 3. After the receipt of details of all panchnamas, the report will be placed in the Cabinet meeting by October 3, Patil informed the media.

The minister explained that funds would be made available by the State Government for this purpose. Patil had also
Jaishankar, Blinken discussties amid Nij jar killing row





 By Lalit K Jha

WASHINGTON,

INDIA and the US have emphasised the continued importance of bilateral cooperation in areas like defence, space and clean energy as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Secretary of State Antony Blinken and exchanged notes on global developments, amid a simmering diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of a Khalistani separatist. Jaishankar is currently on a five-day official trip to Washington DC. Jaishankar on Friday said that the Canadian allegations with regard to the death of a Khalistani separatist was discussed during his meeting with the Secretary of State Tony Blinken and noted that the two delegations came outbetter informed after the meeting. Yes, I did, Jaishankar said in response to a question during his appearance at the prestigious Hudson Institute think tank when asked if the issue of Canadian allegations came up during his meeting with Blinken at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. Thursdays meeting at the State Department was the highest-level interaction between the two countries after the recent G20 Summit in New Delhi when President Joe Biden and PM Modi met. Great to meet my friend US Secretary of State @SecBlinken at the State Department today.

A wideranging discussion, following up on PM @narendramodis June visit. Also exchanged notes on global developments. Laid the groundworkofour2+2meeting very soon, he posted on X on Friday. Thank you to Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar for hosting @POTUS earlier this month. We discussed Indias successful G20 presidency, creationof theIndia-MiddleEast-Europe Economic Corridor, and the upcoming #USIndia 2+2 Dialogue in New Delhi, Blinken posted on X.The two topdiplomatsdiscussedafull range ofissues, including key outcomes of IndiasG20 presidency, and the creation of India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and its potential to generate transparent,sustainable,and high standard infrastructure investments, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a readout of the meeting. However, the two sides remained tight-lipped about the director indirect implications of the diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjarin British Columbia early this year. New Delhi will host the fifth edition of India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, Jaishankar announced on Thursday.
Nagpur Customs seizes gold worth Rs 2 cr at airport





Business Reporter

DR BABASAHEB Ambedkar International Airport at Nagpur is again in the news as the Customs Department recorded yet another rich haul of smuggled gold. Nagpur Customs recorded one of the biggest seizures of pure gold valued at about Rs 2.01 crore, informed Customs officials. Based on profiling, Nagpur Customs Officers have prevented an attempt of gold smuggling at the Nagpur International Airport in the early hours of September 29, 2023. One passenger, holder of Indian Passport, a resident of Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, who had travelled from Sharjah to Nagpur by Air Arabia flight (G9 415) on Friday, had attempted to smuggle gold in solid form which was kept concealed in a coffee maker kept in his baggage. In this operation 3.498 kilograms of 24 karat fine gold having market value of Rs 2.01 crore was recovered from him. The passenger, who travelled to Nagpur for the first time was caught when attempted to smuggle the gold into India to evade the payment of Customs Duty. However, the alert and vigilant officers of Customs at Nagpur airport, upon profiling, noticed the suspicious movements of pax and, upon examination, noticed abnormal weight of the coffee maker, ascertained some item concealment inside it. Thereafter, when the coffee machine was cut open for checking, it was found that, two solid gold round pieces were scooted in the specially fabricated steel casing in the coffee maker.

The Customs officers were acting upon the direction from the Commissioner of Customs, Avinash Thete and under the guidance of the Additional Commissioner, Peeyoush Bhati. The team of Officers of Air Customs Unit (ACU) and Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Nagpur Customs were led by their Assistant Commissioners V Lakshmi Narayana, AIU and Charanjeet Singh includes Superintendents Tridip Pal, Prakash Kapse and Sudhakar Barapatre, Inspectors Aditya Bairwa, Priyanka Meena, Manish Pandarpurkar and Subham Panthi Kori and Hawaldars Chandu Dande and Anurag Parikar. Further investigation is under progress by the officers of Nagpur Customs under the Customs Act, 1962. This was the second time in last 10 days, when Nagpur Customs stopped the smuggling of gold. Earlier, on September 19, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Nagpur Customs seized around 1,697 gram gold, worth over Rs 87.14 lakh, intercepting two smugglers from Hubli in Karnataka at the Nagpur airport. The gold was found in semi-liquid form in the baggage. Following a tip-off, the Customs officials intercepted the smugglers who had flown in from Qatar. Also, August 21, 2023 gold worth Rs 44 lakh was seized at Nagpur Airport. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Nagpur has arrested one person in connection with smuggling gold weighing 743.56 grams worth approximately Rs 44 lakh at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport at 4 am. DRI has seized the passport of the accused and has handed over the matter to the Customs Department for enquiry. The accused is Sachin Chandoskar, a resident of Ulhasnagar, Thane.
Meta, which championed remote work a few years ago, last month threatened employees with termination if they didnt comply with a return-to-office mandate requiring their presence three days a week.

While such a hybrid work schedule is hardly unique, Meta seems to be having trouble with it.

"It's a mess," one employee said of the return to office, according to Insider.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram and has tens of thousands employees around the world, wants staff to interact more in-person. But trying to book a conference room to do just that has proven to be consistently difficult, employees told the outlet. There simply are not enough rooms for the number of staff, it appears.

"We've worked to address this with more collaborative spaces and workstations that allow for video calls and focused work," a Meta spokesman told Insider. "It's important to note that we have roughly 80 offices around the world and our working to make sure our teams have the best experience possible as we welcome people back to the office."

Fortune reached out to Meta for comments but received no immediate reply.

Employees have also had difficulties securing a desk for sufficient periods of time. Last year, Meta adopted a desk-sharing strategy that allowed people who still worked remotely to book a desk as needed. Now, employees called into the office sometimes have to switch from one desk to another before the day is over. This could feel especially disruptive to those accustomed to a familiar home office. A Meta spokesperson told Insider that desks can be booked a week in advance for up to three days in a row.

But as Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, wrote on Threads: "We have not yet figured out hybrid work. Assigned desks mean lots of empty chairs. Hotel desks mean lots of unfamiliar faces. Pods are good for privacy but take up a ton of space. We have a lot to figure out."

Remote work: From boast to crackdown

In 2020, the social media giant touted a shift to remote work. CEO Mark Zuckerberg boasted at the time, "We are going to be the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale, with a thoughtful and responsible plan for how to do this. He estimated that about half of the companys employees would be working remotely within the next five to 10 years.

Story continues

But as of earlier this month, all employees, except those with management-approved exemptions, must be back in the office three days a week, with their presence tracked by card keys and other tools. Those failing to comply could be fired or take a hit on their performance reviews.

In an interview on the Lex Fridman Podcast this week, Zuckerberg touted the potential of remote work conducted via the cutting-edge metaverse headsets and photorealistic avatars his company is developing. I think this gets us a lot closer to being able to work physically in different places, but actually have it feel like were together," he said.

He also cast doubt on the ability of today's tools to achieve that, saying, I think were not there today with just video conferencing and the basic technologies that we have."

In March, while preparing employees for a return to the office, he wrote in a memo: "I encourage all of you to find more opportunities to work with your colleagues in person."

Now, it would seem, the company needs to make real-world interaction less of a hassle.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
PM Modis visit is matter of happiness for people of State: Narendra Tomar





GWALIOR,

Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has expressed pleasure at Prime Minister Narendra Modis visits to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh stating that it is a matter of happiness for the people of the State. Talking to the reporters, Tomar on Friday said, PM Modis visit to Madhya Pradesh is a matter of happiness for the people of the state. He is coming to Gwalior and is coming to Jabalpur. He will bring new gifts for Madhya Pradesh. His eyes will remain on Madhya Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will progress at a fast pace. I welcome him. According to reports, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit Gwalior district on October 2 and during this he will address a public gathering at Mela Ground here. On the other hand, PM Modi will visit Jabalpur on October 5.

Meanwhile, when asked about Congress calling the forthcoming State Assembly polls as young versus seniors (referring to senior BJP leaders contesting in polls), Tomar said, Congress has nothing left, they are issue-less, so they talk such random things. Congress should tell what they did during their tenure in the centre for 10 years? What did they (Congress) do when they were in power in Madhya Pradesh before 2003?

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the biggest party in the world, they will fight and win also in the upcoming assembly polls slated later this year, he added. When asked about the next list of candidates for MP assembly polls, the union minister says that the Central Election Committee decides the selection of tickets. Madhya Pradesh among the five state is scheduled to go for the assembly polls later this year. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies.
Tamil actor Vishal alleges corruption in CBFCs Mumbai office, I&B orders inquiry





NEW DELHI,

THE Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday ordered an immediate inquiry into Tamil actor Vishals allegations that he had to pay Rs 6.5 lakh to the CBFCs Mumbai office for the screening and certification of the Hindi version of his film Mark Antony. Vishal levelled the allegations of corruption against the Mumbai office of CBFC in a post on microblogging site X on Thursday.

In a post on Friday, the Ministry said the Government had zero tolerance for corruption. The issue of corruption in CBFC brought forth by actor @VishalKOfficial is extremely unfortunate. The Government has zero tolerance for corruption and strictest action will be taken against anyone found involved. A senior officer from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has been deputed to Mumbai to conduct an inquiry today itself, the I&B Ministry tweeted on Friday.

The Ministry also urged people to cooperate and share information about any other instance of harassment by CBFC. Official sources said Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has directed maximising use of technology to ensure transparency in slotting and implementation of faceless systems wherever possible.
Wont dilute OBC quota for Maratha reservation: CM







MUMBAI,

THE reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) will not be touched while giving quota to the Maratha community, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Friday. During the day, CM Shinde held a meeting with representatives of the OBC and Nomadic Tribes at Sahyadri Guest House. It was attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as well as senior ministers and officials. Representatives from these segments put forth their demand in the meeting. The Governments stand is quota of any community will not be diluted. While giving reservation to the Maratha community, the quota of other communities will remain unaffected, Shinde said.

He added that the Government stands firmly behind those from the Nomadic Tribes.

Shinde said officials have been directed to start 72 hostels for OBC students. Fadnavis said, implementation of schemes of Rs 4,000 crore is being done. Pawar, who handles the Finance Department in the Shinde Government, said the NT community will be allocated a huge amount of funds in the Budget. Meanwhile, Sachin Rajurkar, General Secretary of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, who took part in the meeting, said, Fadnavis will go to Chandrapur to persuade Ravindra Tonge to call off his 19-day hunger strike.

Tonge, head of the students wing of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, is on hunger strike for various demands and has opposed the inclusion of the Maratha community in the OBC segment for reservation purposes. Rajurkar claimed Tonge will call off his hunger strike on Saturday on the back of assurances from the State Government, adding that a bandh call given for Chandrapur has been withdrawn. However, sources from Fadnavis office just said he is likely to go to Chandrapur on Saturday.
Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG  Free Report) by 250.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,857 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 7,756 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $1,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% in the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the companys stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.2% in the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,461 shares of the companys stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.7% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 18,600 shares of the companys stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the first quarter worth approximately $3,073,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.0% in the first quarter. Wsfs Capital Management LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the companys stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.43% of the companys stock.

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Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $145.86 on Friday. The Procter & Gamble Company has a one year low of $122.18 and a one year high of $158.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $153.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

Procter & Gamble ( NYSE:PG Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm had revenue of $20.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.38 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $0.9407 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 20th. Procter & Gambles dividend payout ratio is 63.73%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CAO Matthew W. Janzaruk sold 33,022 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total transaction of $5,160,017.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 888 shares of the companys stock, valued at $138,758.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 8,387 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.87, for a total transaction of $1,315,668.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 962 shares of the companys stock, valued at $150,908.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Matthew W. Janzaruk sold 33,022 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total value of $5,160,017.72. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 888 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $138,758.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 106,607 shares of company stock valued at $16,523,793. Company insiders own 0.17% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. William Blair initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, September 8th. They set a market perform rating for the company. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $164.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $165.61.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on PG

About Procter & Gamble

(Free Report)

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.

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Yesterday, I was forwarded a YouTube link to Barbie Kyagulanyis speech at the Diaspora Convention in Canada a few days ago. Theres no doubt that the speech was so bad, and I think she should work on her public speaking if she intends to speak again in future. I, however, fault those that have insulted her due to this  insults arent necessary when someone makes a mistake  instead you just correct them.

I really sympathize with her predicament because public speaking isnt easy. First time I spoke in public was when we gathered at a family meeting in Kololo at Sulaiman's Kiggundus house around early 2000. Everyone was required to make a speech- I was nervous and I kept looking at my former headmaster, Al-hajji Abbas Kawase, for validation.

I almost choked when Barbie said, Museveni is a thief. Museveni started stealing in 1980.I will tell you how. He was the vice chairman of the ha ha ha(she laughed).

And then she made it all up by continuing to say,  Its as if you all dont know Museveni.. He is a thief because during Paulo Muwangas time, Muwanga was the commissioner of Defence. They run an election between Museveni and Ssemogere, and Ssemogere was winning the election and the electoral commission called Ssemogerere to congratulate him. Then Muwanga with the help of Museveni went and told the EC to stop whatever they were doing. Blah blah.

First of all,Paulo Muwanga has never been a commissioner of Defence and Museveni wasnt really anything in the 1980 elections apart from being a UPM/ FRONASA candidate. From what I read in Sam Njuba's book, THE BETRAYAL, Paulo Muwanga was occupying the presidents office and making executive decisions for the country after the removal of Godfrey Binaisa. The Presidential Commission, headed by Saulo Musoke, didnt have powers at all.

"Military Commission" was the term used then, not Defence Commission (Barbies term). The late Sam Njuba further stated in his book that Museveni was powerless as vice chairman of the six-man Military Commission. So, how could a powerless man have stolen anything? Barbie was talking rubbish. There is more present crap to use against Museveni now than the past.

Njuba also stated that the British had identified Oyite Ojok as Obotes successor in case the latter was rejected again. Apparently, they never envisaged Museveni taking power because he wasnt popular anywhere in Uganda.

1980 ELECTION RIGGING

Museveni never worked with Paulo Muwanga to deny the DP of its victory in the 1980 elections. Museveni was one of the presidential candidates in the 1980 elections. He wasnt anywhere near the Electoral commission headed by Kirya, nor did he have any powers to influence anything. In any case, if he had the powers,he would have influenced his own rigging, not UPCs.

Obote while in exile in Tanzania wrote to Paul Muwanga, who was then a cabinet minister under Binaisas government, to do everything possible to get UPC back to power even if it meant staging a coup. The letter is a public document which can be seen by anybody in various textbooks and is dated 06/02/1980. Muwanga ,Rwakasisi and others implemented this plan in July 1980 by getting rid of president Binaisa through a coup detat.

Before the 1980 elections were held, Muwanga wrote to the UPC radicals to start laying grounds for the rigging of the 1980 general elections and they awarded him handsomely. Muwangas letter is also public property to those who want it( Read Francis Bwengyes book).

The appointment of the Electoral Commission was also strongly part of the process of rigging the 1980 elections. First, the military commission was full of UPC people and there were the ones that appointed the Electoral Commission (EC)- just like the current EC is full of people loyal to NRMO and Museveni.

The few voices in the military commission who were anti-Obote like, Yoweri Museveni, could not change anything. Secondly, the chairman of the electoral Commission, Kosea S.M. Kikira, was appointed by Muwanga, and he was a strong UPC cadre.

UPC did a lot of things to rig the 1980 elections but the most embarrassing one was when Muwanga stopped the returning officers from announcing the election results and he directed he alone was to announce the results and declare the elected candidates. He took over full control of the EC when he realised that UPC was losing to DP. Obote refutes this in his memoirs published in the monitor newspaper before his death but that was expected from a full time politician like him. Muwanga then released the doctored results after 18 hours to the EC whom he asked to announce them on the radio Uganda.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AFTER 1986

Barbie Kyagulanyi ignorantly also said, when Museveni came to power in 1986, he made it his sole duty to go the leaders in western countries, specifically in USA, to knock on Ronald Regans office- he was there every year for three consecutive years, and he employed Regans son-in-law to help him cleanse them in America.

From the day Museveni came to power and subsequently won elections, his agenda has always been to control the narrative, because once you control the narrative you control the people.

Since this is a question of history, I don't think Museveni hired any PR agencies between 1986 and 2000. I don't know where Barbie Kyagulanyi was getting her information from. Reagans son wasnt involved anywhere in Musevenis PR exercises.

As far as I know, when Besigye was in exile in South Africa, he was giving Museveni a bloody nose. So, Museveni hired a London based PR firm, Hill & Knowlton, to help brush off his image internationally.

In 2012, the government paid an Irish firm, Glenevin Operational Risk and Security Consultancy, Shs 2.3bn to clean up its image. This was after the Walk- to work protests headed by Besigye.

In 2014, Mercury International-US was hired after the USA govt announced the first substantial sanctions against Uganda in response to its Anti-Homosexuality Act. After the 2021 elections, Museveni again hired Mercury International- UK Limited, to cleanse off the bad images of the 2020-21elections.

Its obvious that Barbie hasnt read much about Uganda politics, but I think her handlers should prepare speeches for her in future. She was lucky she was mainly talking among the nkuba kyeyos(diasporans) who dont take such stuff seriously. She came across as another example of how people have been completely brainwashed by false propaganda, and loving Kyagulanyi blindly. What does seem fairly (and depressingly) common these days is the cognitive dissonance that leads to the view that its bad if opposition politicians lie, but in some way justified if your own side does.
The meeting between the federal government and the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) scheduled to hold on Friday to avert the planned nationwide strike failed to take place.

Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, and Simon Lalong, minister of labour and employment, were at the presidential villa to meet with the leaders of the NLC who failed to attend the meeting.

Recall that the union had threatened to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike from October 3 over the removal of the petrol subsidy by the federal government and its attendant impacts on Nigerians.

The NLC had earlier embarked on a two-day warning strike earlier this month after which the federal government was given a 21-day ultimatum to meet their demands.

The ultimatum expired on Tuesday without the government attending to the requests of the union.

Lalong had also said that the federal government was working to avert the impending strike by the union.

Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, have advised the union to shelve the planned strike and consider the plight of Nigerians.

Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, have asked organised llabour not to go ahead with the planned strike, citing a subsisting court order.

The AGF said organised labour should respect the order issued by the national industrial court on June 5, restraining it and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) from embarking on strike.

Fagbemi had said that the judgement remains binding and enforceable until set aside, noting that going ahead with the strike would amount to a disregard for the dignity and integrity of the court.
Pope Francis Expresses Condolences Over Assyrian Wedding Fire

In a telegram message on Friday, Pope Francis expressed deep sorrow over the engulfing fire at Hamdaniya wedding hall.

The pope continued his condolence message by entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of God and offering heartfelt condolences to their relatives and friends.

The pope commended the dedicated efforts of emergency personnel who have been working tirelessly to control the fire and assist the injured.

"In these challenging moments, the Catholic Church stands with the people of Qaraqosh (Hamdaniya), exemplifying the timeless values of love, empathy, and unity that transcend borders and beliefs," he concluded.

In March 2021, Pope Francis visited Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, where he met with senior members of the Catholic Church and surveyed the ruins of Mosul's Christian areas, including Hamdaniya.

The wedding hall fire broke out on Sept. 26 at 11:30 p.m., resulting in more than 100 deaths and leaving 150 injured.

Kurdistan Regional Government Spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani announced on Sept. 27 that Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani had ordered three days of mourning in the Kurdistan Region due to the wedding hall fire in the Hamdaniya district.

Moreover, the Kurdistan Region Security Council in a statement on Sept. 27 announced the arrest of Sameer Sulaiman Krumi Rafo Asu, the owner of the wedding hall.
Emerging reports are indicating that the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, has signed the non-prosecution plea bargain of the embattled former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

It could be recalled that Emefiele was charged with 20 counts of conspiracy and procurement fraud levelled against him by the Nigerian government.

However, it became public knowledge that the trial of the former CBN boss was stalled at the High Court of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) following his plan to enter into plea bargaining to get soft-landing.

It was learnt that the non-prosecution plea bargain for Emefiele was being premised upon the former governors willingness to return N50 billion, which he had allegedly corruptly amassed.

According to reports, lawyers involved in the case disclosed that Emefiele has opted to enter into plea bargaining with the prosecution team.

The matter is not coming up; they are finding another way to resolve the matter and give him soft-landing.

They are moving to negotiate plea bargaining, one of the lawyers had said.

A top source privileged to the matter revealed that the AGF has signed the plea and awaiting for President Bola Tinubus approval.

The source said. The exclusive deal has been finalised awaiting Tinubus order. Tinubu is expected back in Nigeria this weekend after a medical visit to France. The DSS traced N72 billion to a series of accounts which Emefiele had planned to use for his Presidential run. Also, the $70 million he hid with a couple who specialised in helping him to do round-tripping was discovered.

The federal investigators have traced the ownership of Polaris bank to Emefiele. As well as several other banks he used people to set up.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has taken a swipe at Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, over an alleged court order restraining the organised labour from embarking on any industrial action whatsoever.

Joe Ajaero, NLC President, in a statement released on Friday, held that a court restraining order can not be equated with a perpetual injunction.

It could be recalled the AGF had called on organised labour to respect the June 5, 2023 order of the Industrial Court.

The AGF claimed that there was a pending interim injunctive order granted on June 5, 2023, restraining both the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria from embarking on any industrial action or strike pending the hearing and determination of the pending motion on notice.

Fagbemi also called on the human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), to request his clients to comply with the order.

However, in its reply, Ajaero, in the statement titled The AGF has descended into the arena, expressed disappointment at the AGF, saying instead of being a constitutional umpire to intervene between the federal government and the labour unions, it has become biased and misinterpreting the law.

We find it curious that Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, a thorough-bred professional, could indulge in this kind of talk. We are shocked that Mr. Lateef Fagbemi is referring to a restraining order issued on June 5 through motion ex parte, which the Ministry of Justice, in a formal statement, had said lapsed due to non-diligent prosecution.

Which order could Fagbemi be talking about here, we demand to know. We, similarly, find it necessary to remind Fagbemi that equating a restraining order to a perpetual injunction will do no small damage to our legal/judicial system.

For once, we find it appropriate to reveal to the world that the court refused to sit during the pendency of the order to take our response to that order. Even though we would not want to be drawn into details here, representatives of the Federal Government on the National Steering Committee are on record to have said in the Villa that their mandate did not extend to subsequent increments after the one of N187N537 thus differentiating between the issues for which the order (that has since run out of time) was issued.

There are two ministerial portfolios whose offices constitutionally do not admit partisanship in the discharge of their duties. These are the Minister of Labour and Employment and the Minister of Justice. In addition to their regular duties, they are expected to play the umpire role.

But here we find a Minister of Justice whose first major outing is not only an open partisanship but has descended into the arena with his robe and wig, losing in the process the umpire status. To gag us, to bind us, to tie us to the pole for life without a chance to hear us out will constitute not just malicious conduct but grievous injury to our fundamental human rights as enshrined in the 1999 constitution (as amended).

The NLC boss added that its rather unfortunate the AGF, which is struggling to operate from a high moral ground, is counselling the union.

We refuse to be gagged. We also want to remind those in power of their own history when they were out of power. We find it pathetic that Mr. Fagbemi strives to operate from the high moral ground by advising.

Labour Unions on the need to protect the integrity of courts and observe the sanctity of court orders.

Who is causing more injury to the sanctity of the courts? Those seeking to convert a restraining order obtained under the cover of the night to a perpetual injunction or the victims of this terrorism?

Coupled with all this, the Attorney General is advised to note that the letter, spirit, principles and intendment of the National Industrial Court are quite different from those of the regular court to which he is accustomed! Let him hire experts on NICN.

Our response will not be complete without reminding Mr. Lateef Fagbemi that we are the foremost pan-Nigerian organisation with an unrivalled patriotism and an illustrious history of popular struggle pre-dating our national independence. Accordingly, we do not need a lecture from anyone on national interest, national security or preservation of our sovereignty.
Bouquets and blessings for Governor Narongs farewell

PHUKET: Narong Woonciew was showered with bouquets and blessings on his last day as Governor of Phuket yesterday, before he officially retires from government service today (Sept 30).



By The Phuket News

Saturday 30 September 2023 10:30 AM

After attending a meeting with Prime Minister Srettha Thaivisin at Phuket International Airport, Governor Narong was joined at Phuket Provincial Hall by leading provincial officials and other government employees along with local community leaders and members of the public to thank him for his service and to wish him the best during his retirement.

Among the bouquets presented to Governor Narong, roses were aplenty, as were garlands to bring him blessings of good fortune.

After receiving a farewell of honour as he exited Phuket Provincial Hall, Governor Narong reviewed an assembly of local civil defense volunteers, who he saluted as he walked past, before he and his wife, Ms Boonwandee, paid home to the shrine in front of Provincial Hall, located on the grounds of the Phuket Provincial Administration Center.

Governor Narong and his wife then departed, with officials offering his car a salute as he drove past.

Earlier yesterday at the meeting at the airport, PM Srettha himself specifically thanked Governor Narong for his efforts during his term as Governor of Phuket.

On behalf of the government, I would like to thank you for the entire period of your employment. The Governor has worked with dedication, dedicated to working for the country. After retirement, may you continue to be happy and live happily, he said.

MERIT MAKER

Before his last days as Governor of Phuket, Governor Narong on Aug 26 entered a 15-day ordainment as a monk at Wat Pa Phutthaphot Hariphunchai in Lamphun province as a way of making merit.

Bestowed the monk name Phra Nathaplo, he returned to Phuket as a monk on Sept 10 and joined a procession of 15 monks, including Phra Ajahn Ariyawangso, the abbot of Wat Pa Phutthapoj Hariphunchai, to walk the 2.5-kilometre route from in front of Wat Phuttha Mongkol Nimit opposite Soi Rommanee in Old Phuket Town to the Governors Residence on the corner of Krabi Rd and Satun Rd in Phuket Town.

Along the route, Governor Narong, as Phra Nathaplo, received alms from people lining the streets as a way of showing respect and making merit to enhance prosperity for themselves and their families.

With his 15-day ordainment complete, Governor Narong returned to formal duties on Sept 15, attending an event in Bangkok to join the heads of local Phuket municipalities and tambon administrative organisations (OrBorTor) in receiving certificate awards for serving as Outstanding agency in using the Traffy Fondue platform to serve the people.

ALL CHANGE

Governor Narong took up the post of Governor of Phuket in June 2020, after the-then Governor, Phakaphong Tavipatana, was hastily transferred following a slew of heavy criticism from island residents over his handling and implementation of COVID-19 policies.

According to reports in the Thai media online at the time, some people said Governor Phakaphong did too little too late, while others reported that the measures he rolled out were too harsh. Mr Phakaphong was assigned to the post of Governor of Phetchaburi.

Before his posting to Phuket, Governor Narong, a native of Phatthalung, had previously served as Governor of Chaiyaphum province.

Expected to arrive on the island today or tomorrow to take up the post of Governor of Phuket is Sophon Suwannarat, who has just completed a term serving as Governor of Chaiyaphum Province.

Mr Sophon has served as Governor of Chaiyaphum for only one year, taking up the post there on Oct 1 last year.

Before then, Mr Sophon served as an Inspector General at the Ministry of Interior (Dec 15, 2021 - Sep 30, 2022), and before that post he served as Deputy Governor of Loei Province (Oct 1, 2017 - Dec 14, 2021).

His highest academic achievement is graduating with a Higher Diploma in Public Administration and Public Law at King Prajadhipoks Institute in Bangkok.

At 58 years old, Mr Sophon is not scheduled to officially retire from government service until Oct 1, 2025.
Melbourne Cup 2023 at Casa Boho

Start From: Tuesday 7 November 2023 09:30 AM to Tuesday 7 November 2023 02:30 PM Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun.

Fabulous Fun Fundraiser at Funky Casa Boho at the Hyatt Regency Kamala - The Melbourne Cup 2023. From 9:30 to 14:30, guests will enjoy free-flow selected beverages & brunch with: - Fashions on the Field to find the most stylish guests - with prizes awarded for Best Hat, Best Dressed, Best Suited, and the Chicest Couple. - Exclusive prizes to bid on and raffles to win. - Screening of the famous thoroughbred horse race. - Dancing with resident DJ. Casa Boho is the perfect party venue, with aircon, ocean breezes and panoramic views across Kamala Bay. Dress code: At the races. Hats a must! Venue: Casa Boho, Hyatt Regency Phuket Resort, Kamala. Donation: 3,500 baht. For tickets, please contact Tina Hall tina@phukethasbeengoodtous.org Phuket Has Been Good To Us must raise 450,000 baht from this fundraiser to pay for an English Teacher for 2024, so PLEASE join us for this party with a purpose
Phuket expats drive crypto animal welfare, rescue first elephant

PHUKET: Phuket expats Daniel Villota and Vicki Kiely have launched an elephant rescue project that has already resulted in its first successful mission, the rescue of a 55-year-old bull elephant in Chiang Mai, which is being heralded as the worlds first-ever tokenized elephant rescue.

animalswildlifecharity

By The Phuket News

Saturday 30 September 2023 09:00 AM

Unchained Elephants, founded by Mr Villota and supported by his wife Susan, initially emerged as an initiative to use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to help fund a response to the challenges faced by elephants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their mission was to use NFTs to raise funds for elephants that had become unemployed due to travel restrictions. During this phase, they successfully raised US$10,000, which was used to provide essential care and food for eight elephants in various camps across Thailand, explained Mr Villota.

However, as COVID-19 restrictions eased and tourism resumed, so too did elephant tourism, Unchained Elephants had to shift their focus to the new problem at hand. Their new objective became the rescue of elephants in dire conditions and the education of travelers about the elephant tourism industry, he added.

It all started when we were assisting another person who was looking for an elephant to rescue. Through the help of Thai animal activist Chayanan Assawadhammanond, we came across Kanoon, who was living in dire conditions on a garbage dump in Chiang Mai, Mr Villota told The Phuket News.

However, when we presented the story of this bull elephant to the person we were assisting, he said that the story was not good enough for social media and preferred finding a baby elephant. This is when Unchained Elephants decided to step up to rescue this bull, he explained.

Chained up next to a garbage dump in Mae Tang, Chiang Mai, with scarce food and one functioning eye, 55-year-old bull elephant Kanoon endured four brutal years in captivity in Chiang Mai. Kanoon was malnourished. His plight was nothing short of devastating, Mr Villota said.

Kanoons heart-wrenching circumstances shed light on a much broader issue: abandoned male elephants in Thailand left to suffer without proper care or resources. With his owner unable to provide the proper care he so desperately needed, Kanoon faced the grim prospect of entering the illegal logging industry or the glimmer of a chance at salvation.

After consulting with elephant experts and learning more about Kanoons distressing situation, Unchained Elephants, namely Mr Villota and Ms Kiely, made the decision to embark on a rescue mission.

Starting their fundraising efforts on June 24, the team rallied to raise US$19,118 (B650,000), a sum that would pave the way for Kanoons rescue and relocation to an ethical elephant sanctuary in Thailand. There, Kanoon would finally be unchained, receiving the love, care, and sanctuary he so rightfully deserved.

On Aug 15, at 10:55pm, their mission was accomplished. A total of US$19,495 (B662,852) had been raised, with 60% from crowdfunding and 40% through leveraging NFTs.

RESCUE MISSION

Kanoons unique status as a bull elephant presented an unprecedented hurdle, causing many sanctuaries to hesitate in extending refuge due to the distinctive requirements of caring for a male elephant, Mr Villota explained.

Undeterred, a safe haven for Kanoon was found: BLES - Boon Lotts Elephant Sanctuary in Sukhothai. BLES came forward with open arms, generously offering to provide Kanoon with a forever home at their ethical elephant sanctuary in Sukhothai, Mr Villota recalled.

The challenging rescue journey began on Sept 5, lasting a tough 13 hours amidst a storm while moving Kanoon from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai.

This rescue mission combines the power of new technology with real-world impact, benefiting not only elephants but also other causes around the world. It leverages digital assets that not only do good but also build a strong and committed community around the cause," said Mr Villota.

"We are really grateful to our partners (Vicki Kiely and BLES), our sponsors (Hyatt Regency Phuket, Stay Wellbeing Resort & The Beach Resort Koh Samui), and every individual who contributed to making this rescue a reality. We could not have done this without all of you supporting us. Our commitment to educating travelers and promoting ethical elephant tourism to have a bigger impact remains unwavering as well as looking forward to our next rescue, he said.

UNITED EFFORT

I have been working in animal welfare and as an animal activist for over 10 years now. Daniel approached me in early 2022 to seek my advice, and invite me on board to Unchained Elephants as the spokesperson for the elephants, as an activist, and as an educator, Ms Kiely told The Phuket News.

He knew I had been working with Khao Sok Elephant Sanctuary, and also had been trying to help camps transition to more sanctuary style models here in Phuket, so it made sense for us to work together, she added.

My goal is still to inspire and work with more camps in Phuket to improve the lives of the elephants and show the camp owners that there is a more ethical and cruelty free way to operate. I am confident that we can achieve this. I am so looking forward to our next rescue and also in educating the tourists coming to Thailand on where to choose their elephant experience, ones that are ethical and where the animals welfare comes first and foremost, Ms Kiely said.

In the coming weeks and months, Unchained Elephants will focus on raising funds for Kanoons care at BLES, continue to educate travelers and promote ethical elephant tourism, and scout for captive elephants in need of rescuing.

To follow Kanoons journey to recovery, future elephant rescue missions and to stay updated on the ongoing efforts to protect and care for elephants, visit UnchainedElephants.com or visit their social media, Instagram and YouTube channels

Unchained Elephants is also linked with Discovering Phuket (DP), a startup where NFT holders gain access to discounts for tours and activities on the island.

This is under development. This project will focus on promoting sustainable programs for travelers here in Phuket, Mr Villota noted.

DP will also serve as a platform to educate travelers about the realities of elephant tourism and promote ethical venues, starting right here on the island, he concluded.
Phuket go-karting sensation heads to world finals

GO-KARTING: The remarkable ascent of young Phuket racer Kamolphu Porsche Anutchakun in the sport of go-karting continues after he recently won the 2023 IAME Asia Series to qualify for the world finals in Portugal next month.

KartingFormula-OneMotosport

By Ben Tirebuck

Saturday 30 September 2023 10:00 AM

Kamolphu Porsche Anutchakun will be representing Asia at the IAME Warriors World Finals in Portugal next month after winning the Asian series. Photo: Supplied

Competing for the DRM Racing Team in the Cadet grouping, 10-year-old Porsche performed extremely impressively and consistently over the seven-race series to secure the title on overall points and will now represent Asia at the IAME Warriors world finals in Portimao on the Algarve between Oct 23-28.

Regular readers of The Phuket News will know Porsches story well as the student from Kajonkietsuksa School in Kathu has developed impressively in the sport and won numerous races and accolades in recent years, including a special award of recognition from Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew last year.

It is well known that go-karting is the introduction to motorsports for aspiring youngsters and the platform for many successful Formula One drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and current F1 world champion Max Verstappen. Only time will tell if young Porsche follows in such illustrious footsteps, although the signs are very encouraging.

His recent success stretches over a seven-month timeframe where seven separate races were contested as part of the IAME Asia Series, all in Malaysia.

Round one was held on Feb 12 at Shah Alam International Kart Circuit, Petaling Jaya, where Porsche finished a rather disappointing sixth place in the final race. However, the structure of the scoring system in the IAME Asia Series means that points accrued in both the final and pre-final race are combined to provide an overall score for the weekend. Porsches score was therefore aided greatly by the fact he finished second in the pre-final race to secure an impressive overall points haul of 80.

Round two took place on Mar 12, once again at the Shah Alam International Kart Circuit where Porsche secured an overall ponts tally of 81 after a fourth place finish in the final and a third place finish in the pre-final.

Dominating

RUD Sepang International Kart Circuit in Selangor hosted round three of the series on May 28 where Porsche achieved his highest points total so far of 83 thanks to a runners-up finish in the final race and a fourth place finish in the pre-final.

The same venue hosted round four on June 25 where Porsche finished fifth in the final race and second in the pre-final to score an overall 81 points.

Accustomed to the track and conditions at RUD Sepang International Kart Circuit, Porsche delivered his best show of the series so far in round five on July 25 by dominating proceedings and winning both the final race and the pre-final to finish the weekend with an impressive score of 89.

RUD Sepang International Kart Circuit hosted round six on Aug 20 where Porsche finished fourth in both the final pre-final to pick up a total of 80 points.

The final round of the series took place on Sept 17 at the Elite Speedway Plus Karting Circuit in Subang Jaya. It was a difficult weekend for young Porsche who finished a lowly eighth place in the final race and an even more disappointing 10th in the pre-final to ensure his lowest points return of the series of 70.

However, the consistency that the young driver displayed over the course of the series ensured he had accrued enough points (494) to claim the overall winners title ahead of Esteban Freihuber of the Philippines who ended in second place, and Michael Lederer of Malaysia who finished third.

In addition to his achievements in the IAME Asia series, Porsche is also going great guns in the Mini Max age classification of the seven-race series Rotax Max Challenge Asia Trophy 2023 (RMCAT).

He leads the overall points table going into the series finale next weekend (Oct 7-8) at the UniMAP Racing Circuit in Perlis, Malaysia and will be confident of adding yet another title to his ever-expanding and hugely impressive list of achievements in the sport.
The Creator another milestone for Gareth Edwards

When it comes to modern-day filmmakers, director Gareth Edwards is one of the best. His debut feature film, Monsters, was an underrated cult classic. Since then he has branched into directing in two of the biggest franchises in cinematic history as he helmed 2014s Godzilla and then entered the Star Wars universe with Rogue One. Some hardcore fans have even said that Rogue One is the best of the modern-day Stars Wars films.

World-Entertainment

By David Griffiths

Saturday 30 September 2023 11:00 AM

The Creator (2023). Image: IMDb

Now with The Creator film lovers once again get to see Edwards works on an original story and premise that he has created himself. If Edwards is to announce himself as a filmmaker that deserves to be mentioned alongside the likes of the greats like Spielberg, Lucas etc then it is films like this that must stand the test of time.

With The Creator, Edwards takes us into the future and shows what life on Earth looks like in 2065. The USA has been left devastated after an atomic bomb was detonated in Los Angeles by the AIs that were created to help humanity.

That sees the world at war as the US tries to hunt down every living AI, including those in New Asia  an area of the world that refuses to end its relationship with AI technology. In retaliation, the US have developed Nomad  a specially designed missile launching ship that has been decimating AI bases across the globe.

Finding himself in the middle of the war is Joshua (John David Washington  Tenet) who went undercover in New Asia to find a man who is considered to be the leader of the AIs  a man rumoured to have built what many refer to as The Creator.

While on that mission Joshua met and fell in love with an AI creator, Maya (Gemma Chan  Eternals), whom he believes was killed alongside their unborn child in a US Army-led raid. Five years later however he is told by Colonel Howell (Allison Janney  The Way, Way Back) that Maya is still alive and is at the Base, where it is believed that The Creator is held. Once again Joshua is pulled into a war where neither side seems ready to yield.

As we have come to expect from Edwards as a filmmaker, The Creator looks like a blockbuster but still manages to bring compassion and emotion to both the plot and the characters. Normally a character like Joshua would be portrayed as a gung-ho action hero ready to blow up the enemy at a moments notice, but here Edwards has created a hero that is not only emotionally damaged by the past, but because he has lost a loved one is also divided as he tries to work out what side he wants to be on now.

The fact that The Creator can go from being an all-out battlefield war film, with the look and feel of Rogue One, in one moment to a scene in which there are touching moments between Joshua and Alphie (newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles) attests to just how far Edwards has come has a filmmaker  but The Creator also has a couple of weaknesses that show there is still room for improvement.

While the film does touch on some deep themes and there are moments when some strong messages are delivered, such as soldiers running out of a ship and gunning down monks without hesitation, there are other moments when it feels like this film lacks the hard edge that it needed to really deliver its message about humanity during war. Things like the suicide bomber robots are creative and a nice touch but most audience members will feel like there could have been a better way to show the consequences of such gruesome inventions.

Likewise while there are so many things to love about this film, the characterisation and the cinematography of Greig Fraser (Dune) and Oren Soffer (Fixation) to name just two, the one thing that will keep hitting you while watching the film is just how similar this film feels to Avatar at times. Not just because it shares similar themes but also some of the characters at hand feel very familiar.

While Allison Janney plays against type brilliantly well with her portrayal of Colonel Howell it does feel very similar to the character that Stephan Lang played in Avatar  Colonel Miles Quaritich.

When it comes to the acting stakes however, in The Creator it is John David Washington and Madeline Yuna Voyles. Voyles has a sneaky chance of receiving an Oscar nomination, as her role of Alphie would be challenging for actors of any age and she delivers in what is her first film.

Washington also gets his chance to shine here. While he has shown his acting ability in films such as BlacKkKlasman and Macolm & Marie, his chance to show the world his action credibility in Tenet was thwarted by the films technical issues. This time around though Washington shows that he is more than capable of delivering both action and heartfelt drama in the same film.

The Creator may not be the perfect film, but its plot is thought-provoking and engaging. The film also looks slick as it calls upon the look of films like The Killing Fields and Good Morning Vietnam while bringing in a strong science-fiction element. Once again Gareth Edwards shows why nobody can film a war film the way he does and he continues the magical journey that he is taking film lovers on with him.

The Creator is currently screening in Phuket and is rated 15.

3.5/5 Stars

David Griffiths has been working as a film and music reviewer for over 20 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He is also an accredited reviewer for Rotten Tomatoes. You can follow him at www.facebook.com/subcultureentertainmentaus
Boston, Massachusetts--(Newsfile Corp. - September 30, 2023) - Shaheen Group has disclosed the successful completion of a five-week summer clerkship at the Supreme Court of Pakistan by Saeed Ahmad and Hussain Awan, law students from Harvard University. This program reflects a notable engagement between the legal academic realms of North America and Pakistan, enabling the duo to delve into a variety of legal explorations under the mentorship of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and other eminent legal personnel.





From left to right, Hussain Awan, Saeed Ahmad.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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During their tenure, based in Islamabad with visits to other cities, the interns engaged in researching Public Interest Litigation, dissecting judicial ambits under Article 184 of the Pakistani Constitution, and participating in legal procedures among other activities. Their experience expanded beyond the capital, reaching district courts in Rawalpindi and the Lahore High Court, granting them a nuanced understanding of the juxtaposition between Pakistani and American legal systems.

The clerkship initiative originated from a seminar at Harvard which featured dialogues between Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah from Pakistan and Justice Stephen Breyer from the United States. This seminar incited the interest of Ahmad and Awan in serving as summer clerks at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, furthering their understanding of their legal and cultural lineage.

About Shaheen Group

Shaheen Group is dedicated to the empowerment of minority communities, prominently focusing on individuals of Pakistani origin. The group provides essential resources and guidance with the objective of fostering growth, inclusivity, and self-sufficiency. This initiative is a testament to Shaheen Group's ongoing commitment to bridging the legal realms between North America and Pakistan, thereby nurturing academic and professional connections between institutions across these regions.

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Both Ahmad and Awan, as part of the North American Pakistani diaspora, are driven by a mission to foster collaborative endeavors between entities in Pakistan and the United States, encapsulating educational exchanges, internships, and investments. Their aspiration is to galvanize the next generation of leaders toward the betterment of their communities.





Saeed Ahmad, with permission.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Contact Information

Saeed Ahmad: mahmad@jd24.law.harvard.edu

Hussain Awan: hawan@jd25.law.harvard.edu

https://saeed-ahmad.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181103
US government hours from shutdown

WASHINGTON: The US government is hours from shutting down today (Sept 30) after the far right of the Republican Party scuppered final attempts at a temporary budget agreement, throwing into doubt everything from access to national parks to Washingtons massive support for Ukraine.

politicsUkraineeconomics

By AFP

Saturday 30 September 2023 02:07 PM

The US government is hours away from a shutdown as Republican lawmakers fail to reach a deal on a funding agreement. Photo: AFP

The closure of all but critical government services, set to start after midnight tonight (11am Sunday Phuket time) if lawmakers fail to reach a deal, would be the first since 2019 - immediately delaying salaries for millions of federal employees and military personnel.

The two chambers of Congress are deadlocked, with a small group of Republicans in the House of Representatives pushing back against stopgap measures that would at least keep the lights on.

Yesterday, House Republicans defeated a plan proposed by their own leader, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, to keep funds flowing, deepening the sense of growing chaos within the party ahead of 2024 elections where hard-right former president Donald Trump hopes to return to the White House.

The White House Office of Management and Budgets director Shalanda Young said there was still a chance of avoiding a shutdown if Republicans could end internal divisions.

And White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made clear that President Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term in 2024, did not intend to wade in.

The conversation needs to happen between Speaker McCarthy and his caucus. Thats the fix, thats the chaos that were seeing, she said.

Speaking to the news outlet ProPublica yesterday, Biden said McCarthy has made a terrible bargain. In order to keep the speakership, hes willing to do things that he, I think, he knows are inconsistent with the constitutional processes.

McCarthy, however, blamed Democrats, saying they are the ones blocking a solution.

Big question on Ukraine

All critical government services will remain functioning. However, a shutdown would mean the majority of national parks, for example - from the iconic Yosemite and Yellowstone in the west to Floridas Everglades swamp - would be closed to public access beginning tomorrow.

With student loan payments resuming in October, officials also said yesterday that key activities at the Federal Student Aid office would continue for a couple of weeks.

But a prolonged shutdown could cause bigger disruptions.

A shutdown unnecessarily places the worlds largest economy at risk, White House National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard told CNBC.

Risks that could percolate through the wider economy include air travel delays, with air traffic controllers asked to work without pay.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned a closure could also delay infrastructure improvements.

In the immediate term, a government shutdown will only reduce GDP by 0.2 percentage points each week it lasts, said a report released yesterday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.

However, halting critical trade functions of the United States will also undermine the United States overall credibility as a commercial partner, impede ongoing negotiations and hinder export control enforcement capabilities, the report added.

The mess casts a growing shadow over Bidens policy of arming and funding Ukraine in its desperate war against the Russian invasion. For Republican hardliners behind the derailment of a new budget, stopping aid to Ukraine is a key goal.

Most Republican members of Congress continue to support US backing for Ukraine, but the shutdown will at minimum raise questions over the political viability of renewing the multibillion-dollar flow of assistance.
A SIMPLE IRA allows self-employed and small business owners to contribute funds toward their employees' and their own retirement savings.

For many small business owners, setting up an employee retirement plan is expensive, complex, and requires federal filing theyd rather not deal with. A SIMPLE IRA is a retirement savings designed for small businesses with 100 or fewer employees. The lower costs and ease of setup make it appealing for small business owners who dont want to break the bank to provide their employees with a retirement plan.

How does a SIMPLE IRA work?

A SIMPLE IRA offers a tax-deferred savings plan for employees at small businesses and self-employed individuals to save for retirement. SIMPLE is an abbreviation for Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees.

This type of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) makes it optional for employees to contribute to their retirement savings while requiring employers to match their contributions or contribute a mandatory percentage to employee accounts.

How does it work?

Under a SIMPLE IRA, employees and employers contribute funds to the employees retirement account. Employee participation is optional. Whether your workers participate or not, employers still contribute to their retirement accounts.

Employers choose between matching employee contributions by up to 3% (and no less than 1%) or making a mandatory contribution of 2%. From the start, employees are 100% vested in the SIMPLE IRA, meaning all of the contributions made to the account belong to them.

If youre interested in providing a SIMPLE plan for your small business, self-employment, or sole proprietorship, youll need to fill out one of two forms with the IRS Form 5304-SIMPLE or Form 5305-SIMPLE . This depends on whether you want to choose a financial institution for all employee plans (Form 5305) or if you want employees to choose their own bank or financial institution (Form 5304).

2023 contribution limits

The contribution limits on a SIMPLE IRA are lower than other retirement savings plans. That means your employees wont be able to save as aggressively as they would with other retirement plans, which could be a disadvantage. In 2023, SIMPLE IRA contributions are limited to $15,500. If you have employees aged 50 and older, theyre eligible to make an added catch-up contribution of $3,500 to a SIMPLE IRA.

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For perspective, a 401(k) retirement plan has contribution limits of $22,500 in 2023, plus a $7,500 catch-up contribution limit. Under a 401(k) plan, employees under 50 years old could save a maximum of up to $7,000 more through their contributions than with a SIMPLE IRA. Employees 50 and older could save up to $12,000 more under a 401(k) plan.

The barriers to entry for a SIMPLE IRA are lower than other retirement plans, making it ideal for a budding small business thats cautious of added costs. Is a SIMPLE IRA the right choice for your business? Lets break down the pros and cons of this retirement plan.

SIMPLE IRA pros

100% Vested: Employees are 100% vested from the start. All contributions to the retirement account belong to them and can be taken with them if they change jobs.

Tax Credit: Employers with 51 to 100 employees receive a tax credit under the SECURE Act, which is 50% of the administrative costs of setting up a retirement plan for employees. Employers with 50 or fewer employees could receive a tax credit of 100% of the administrative costs under the SECURE 2.0 Act.

No filing requirement: Theres no filing requirement under this savings plan which makes maintenance easier.

Contribute to other plans: Employees can still contribute to retirement plans with other employees or on their own.

Lower set-up costs: Compared to other retirement plans, the SIMPLE IRA costs less to set up and maintain. Under financial institutions like Merrill Edge and Fidelity, there are no setup or maintenance fees.

SIMPLE IRA cons

Lower contribution limits: SIMPLE IRAs restrict your employees tax-deferred contributions by up to $12,000 vs a 401(k) plan.

No loans: If an employee needs money from their SIMPLE plan, theres no option for a loan, unlike other retirement plans. Instead, they might have to do an early withdrawal, which carries heavy tax penalties and could put them significantly behind on retirement.

Strict Rollover Rules: If an employee leaves the company and tries to roll over their balance, they have limited options. Rolling over to a Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, or 403(b) account carries a 25% penalty if they dont meet the two-year waiting period. Otherwise, their only choice is another SIMPLE IRA.

No other retirement plan: Employers who adopt the SIMPLE plan cant have another retirement plan option for their employees.

Should I choose a SIMPLE IRA?

Choosing a SIMPLE IRA could allow your employees to save for retirement with tax-deferred earnings while you support their savings goals through a matching contribution. It's easier to set up and maintain compared to other employer-offered retirement accounts and even costs less. However, employees who want to save aggressively for retirement might be disappointed by the lower contribution limits. Still, its a great option for employers who dont want the heavy maintenance, filing requirements, and costs associated with other retirement plans.
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As ink meets parchment in the realm of law, the wise words of philosophers and the weighty tomes of jurisprudence from our law school days beckon. To commence this review without a nod to their sagacity would be a misdemeanour.

For Jean-Jacques Rousseau, liberty is at the root of being human. For John Locke, the natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for his rule.

The Supreme Courts rulings on privacy, same-sex relationships, the national biometric identification system, the hijab ban and reservations, to name a few, have garnered attention both within India and on the global stage.

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Gautam Bhatia, a lawyer who has played a significant role in numerous crucial constitutional cases in contemporary times, has curated a book titled Unsealed Covers : A Decade of the Constitution, the Courts and the State  a compilation of a set of essays published on the Indian Constitutional Law and Philosophy blog between 2013 and 2022.

Bhatia, in his book, captures a glimpse of the Indian judiciary during this tumultuous period. The period began with the landmark 2014 general elections, which marked the ascent of a predominantly singular governing body after years of coalition politicsthe National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The momentum continued in the 2019 general election as the NDA secured an even stronger mandate. Throughout this era, there has been a widely acknowledged phenomenon of heightened debates within and surrounding democratic institutions designed to counterbalance the authority of the majority-driven executive power.

Its [the Supreme Courts] refusal to hear high-stakes cases on time, the powers of the Chief Justice of India and the courts deferral to the executive in crucial civil rights cases have all raised critical questions around judicial independence, and the relationship between the judiciary and an assertive  at times aggressive  executive, writes Bhatia.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section delves into various aspects of rights, ranging from personal liberty to privacy, encompassing topics like social justice, reservations, socio-economic rights, refugees and the situation in Kashmir post Article 370. The second section focuses on federalism, anti-defection measures and institutions forming the fourth branch of government. The third section centres on the judiciary and its members, with a particular emphasis on Chief Justices.

In the initial segment, Bhatias essays revolve around the highly contested domain of rights, where he presents a predominantly critical perspective on how the courts have responded in the past decade to inquiries concerning personal freedom, citizenship and issues such as home demolitions. It is important to note that there are a few notable exceptions, such as judgments in favour of reservations in promotions, the right to privacy rulings (with a caveat regarding the practical application of the principles by subsequent courts, which has proven to be prescient), and the Supreme Courts reversal of Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation to affirm that members of the LGBTQ+ community possess equal entitlement to rights under Part III of the Indian Constitution.

The book commences with a compelling essay about the severe impact of the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) and the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) on the balance of power between the state and its citizens. These laws contain a troublesome provision that reverses the revered presumption of innocence; in order to grant bail, the court must determine the accused to be prima facie innocent, and this determination must stem from the case presented by the prosecution.

When a Court needs to rely upon metaphor instead of law to justify keeping an individual in prison, it is perhaps time for the justice system to take a long, hard look at itself, Bhatia writes in his essay titled Imprisonment by Metaphor, throwing light on the Safoora Zargar bail order.

A notable critique is that Bhatia does not assume the detached observer role that some might expect from a chronicler of court proceedings. He openly discloses his active involvement in several cases he discusses. However, Bhatia, in stark contrast to the impartial nature of the law itself, does not hide the fact that he maintains a distinct lack of neutrality and dispassion in his writings. This becomes particularly evident in Bhatias examination of key judgments such as the Right to Privacy (Justice KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India, 2017), Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (Navtej Johar v. Union of India), and Aadhaar (Justice KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India, 2019).

In the essay titled Home Demolitions and George Orwells Supreme Court, Bhatia points out a pattern he observed in the proceedings before the Supreme Court pertaining to the spate of home demolitions. The state counsel argues that the municipal authorities are acting in accordance with local laws. The Supreme Court benchit tends to changemakes a rhetorical statement about how demolitions must follow the legal process, makes another rhetorical statement about how it cant pass omnibus orders against the demolitions, and then adjourns the case, he notes.

To quote Orwell himself in his novel 1984, The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.

The second part of the book deals with questions of federalism, anti-defection laws and the Right to Information.

In the essay titled The Amendments to the Right to Information Act are Unconstitutional, Bhatia argues, The Constitutions guarantee of fundamental rights includes a guarantee of those incidental and ancillary aspects that are necessary to ensure that the right is effective and not merely illusory. He cites the classic example of PUCL v. Union of India, where the Supreme Court directed the Election Commision of India to provide a None of the Above (NOTA) option to voters using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The Court, in this case, held that by failing to provide the NOTA option, the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, were not only ultra-vires the parent statute, but also violated Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. To the extent that the autonomy of information commissioners, who serve as a crucial buffer between individuals and the State and are responsible for enforcing the Right to Information (RTI), is essential for preserving the effectiveness of the right to information; undermining of the same is ipso facto a violation of that right, remarks Bhatia.

Much like the basis of this book, Part III delves into the judiciary. This segment zeroes in on the workings of the Supreme Court as an entity, and also delves into the enduring impact of individual judges.

In the essay titled Coronavirus and the Constitution, Bhatia comments,  the pandemic has revealed the hollowness, in a sense, of Indias Article 21 jurisprudence. Ultimately, when it came to the crunch, the grand rights to livelihood, food and health meant very little in practice, especially at the Supreme Court. The migrant and free-testing cases are testament to how, in the enforcement, these rights are paper tigers.

The author brings to light several occasions when significant inquiries were made into the courts operations, and the ensuing responses were either deemed insufficient or fundamentally at odds with the principles of natural justice. His pieces on the allegations of sexual harassment against a former Chief Justice of India, the manner in which the investigation transpired, and the questionable occurrences that unfolded, are a striking condemnation. The distressing fact that the complainant was essentially condemned by five of the most influential figures in the country before having her voice heard leaves a troubling mark on the legacy of the Supreme Court, writes Bhatia.

Furthermore, the articles examining the enduring impact of individual judges offer captivating perspectives into the polyvocal character of the Supreme Court and how specific judges have shaped the evolution of jurisprudence in various legal domains.

In Unsealed Covers, an exploration occurs within a distinctive landscape, delving into the judiciarys actions, its interaction with fundamental rights and its dynamic with the executive branch through the lens of evolution and chronology. The book accentuates both consistent patterns and departures from precedent. According to Bhatia, the central focus of this book is to highlight the ways in which the Constitution is a contested terrain and which have everything to do with power and powerlessness, who wield power and who is subjected to it, and the actions of those whose task it is to mitigate the impunity of power. Robust public discourse regarding the merits of a decision serves to fortify our faith in the rule of law, a faith that forms the fundamental bedrock upon which the judiciarys authority stands. The topics illuminated in this book can yield a collective benefit for both lawyers and non-lawyers, legal institutions, and society as a whole.

The reviewer is a lawyer and a journalist on the staff of The Statesman.
Former chief minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidus arrest in the multi-crore Skill Development Scam on 9 September has created an upheaval in the politics of Andhra Pradesh. In an interview with Anindita Chowdhury, the TDP supremos trusted aide, the partys lone Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar explains the impact of the arrest on TDP, the partys isolation in national politics and the role of BJP in the ongoing tussle between YSRCP and TDP in the state. Excerpts:

Q: The Andhra Pradesh government has registered multiple cases of corruption against N Chandrababu Naidu and there is also the Punganur violence case in Chittoor district. Do you think Mr Naidu and the TDP have a long legal battle ahead?

A: The Supreme Court is currently the only remedy for us. There are already two Prisoner on Transit (PT) warrants against him in two separate cases. We have filed a bail application. In the Punganur case almost all the accused have got bail so he is likely to get bail as well. Then there is the scam of assigned land in Amaravati. This is clearly political vendetta. Remember our late MP Yerran Naidu had filed a case against YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh High Court (in 2011) which led to the order of a CBI inquiry in his suitcase companies. There are 11 cases against YS Jagan and nine against Vijayasai Reddy.

Here, the governments attitude is very clear. They will crush any opposition to them. The CID chief and additional advocate general held press conferences in Vijayawada, Hyderabad and Delhi. They need to present the evidence in court and not before the media. What is being carried out is obstruction of justice. It is very clear that they want to malign him and are out for character assassination. There are no facts involved. The current governments intention is very clear.

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Q: Is this arrest going to benefit TDP in the elections in the form of public sympathy or is it going to leave the party crumbling and the cadre demoralised?

A: There is huge sympathy for Chandrababu Naidu. Everyday dharnas are going on in every district of Andhra Pradesh despite the police harassment. Police are filing cases every day against the protestors. This is the attitude and modus operandi of the police. There is no human rights, civil liberties and constitutional rights left in Andhra Pradesh. They think the party may not survive if Naidu is arrested. (Nara) Lokesh is also one of their agenda. While he was in Delhi overseeing bail application CID officers were watching him.

Earlier voters were afraid to exercise their franchise. A fear factor was working. However, the arrest has helped the neutral voters to make up their mind in TDPs favour. Anti-incumbency is quite high. The voters are already against this government because of price rise, factionalism, law and order issues and failed promises. Land grabbing has become rampant. They are preparing false documents of land belonging to NRIs and then using those for occupying the land. There is no personal security. He (YS Jagan Mohan Reddy) is trying to expand the factional politics of Pulivendula (ancestral village of YS Jagan) to the entire state. People in coastal areas and North Andhra are peaceful and they dont want this happening in the state.

Q: After Mr Naidus arrest Pawan Kalyan announced an alliance between TDP and Jana Sena. Is it going to be beneficial at this juncture?

A: The negotiations have been going on for some time. The alliance with Jana Sena will benefit both the parties. We do not want to risk the splitting of anti YSRCP votes and they will win some seats. We are confident we will win.

Q: Chandrababu Naidu has been a key figure in national politics. Yet we hardly saw any reaction from other political parties. Is the TDP completely isolated?

A: This happened because we are neither in the INDIA nor in the NDA. We didnt choose to join either alliance. We raised the issue of Babus (Naidu) arrest in Delhi and we wanted to apprise people of what was happening. Hence we spoke in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the Special session of the Parliament. We also wanted to meet senior BJP leaders and the Union home minister but with all the hullabaloo over the Womens Reservation Bill it was not possible. However, some of the partners of INDIA did speak individually. If we were in any alliance there would have been more reaction. But right now we have to concentrate on the state. The interest of our state is now a priority for us. We are fighting against a dictator and there is a perception in the public that time and again he is being backed by the Centre.

Q: So where do you think the BJP stands in this tussle between TDP and YSRCP, particularly in the context of Mr Naidus arrest?

A: We dont know that but there is a strong rumour circulating in the political circles of Andhra Pradesh that the BJP central leadership was informed prior to Babus arrest. They neither welcomed it nor stopped it but they were kept in the loop all along.

Actually people are very angry with the BJP. This government is in the ventilator of the central government, its finances are in doldrums and the chief ministers kith and kin are involved in his uncles (YS Vivekananda Reddy) murder case which is being investigated by the CBI. The YSRCP is openly declaring its activities but people are saying BJP is behind the screen. Day in and day out their MP Vijaya Sai Reddy is supporting every activity of the Centre. There is suspicion that they are in an unofficial alliance.
Two infiltrating Pakistani terrorists were on Saturday killed by security forces in the Kumkadi area of north Kashmirs Machal sector.

Based on intelligence inputs provided by the Kupwara district police, a joint operation was launched by the Army and J&K Police against the infiltrating terrorists.

Two AK rifles, 4 AK magazines, 90 bullets, one Pakistan-made pistol, one pouch, and Rs.2100 Pakistani currency have been recovered from the encounter spot, police said.

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The search operation continued in the forested area.
Unpacking the GF Value of Snap (NYSE:SNAP)

Value-focused investors are always on the hunt for stocks that are priced below their intrinsic value. One such stock that merits attention is Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP). The stock, which is currently priced at 8.91, recorded a gain of 4.09% in a day and a 3-month decrease of 23.72%. The stock's fair valuation is $40.3, as indicated by its 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 historical multiples, GuruFocus adjustment factor, and future estimates of the business performance.

Is Snap (SNAP) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap

Considering the Risks: A Closer Look at Snap's Financial Health

Despite its seemingly attractive valuation, certain risk factors associated with Snap (NYSE:SNAP) should not be ignored. These risks are primarily reflected through its low Altman Z-score of 0.26. These indicators suggest that Snap, despite its apparent undervaluation, might be a potential value trap. This complexity underlines the importance of thorough due diligence in investment decision-making.

The Altman Z-score is a financial model that predicts the probability of a company entering bankruptcy within a two-year time frame. The Altman Z-Score combines five different financial ratios, each weighted to create a final score. A score below 1.8 suggests a high likelihood of financial distress, while a score above 3 indicates a low risk.

Company Snapshot: Understanding Snap's Business Operations

Snap, which refers to itself as a camera company, has one of the most popular social networking apps, Snapchat, in developed regions such as North America and Europe. The firm has 375 million daily active users. Snap generates nearly all its revenue from advertising with 70% coming from North America. The firm is headquartered in Venice, California.

Story continues

Is Snap (SNAP) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap

Examining Snap's Altman Z-Score: The Key Drivers

A dissection of Snap's Altman Z-score reveals Snap's financial health may be weak, suggesting possible financial distress.

When it comes to operational efficiency, a vital indicator for Snap is its asset turnover. The data: 2021: 0.63; 2022: 0.58; 2023: 0.55 from the past three years suggests a recent decline following an initial increase in this ratio. The asset turnover ratio reflects how effectively a company is using its assets to generate sales. Therefore, a drop in this ratio can signify reduced operational efficiency, potentially due to underutilization of assets or decreased market demand for the company's products or services. This shift in Snap's asset turnover underlines the need for the company to reassess its operational strategies to optimize asset usage and boost sales.

Conclusion: Navigating the Value Trap

In conclusion, despite its seemingly attractive valuation, Snap (NYSE:SNAP) might be a potential value trap. Its low Altman Z-Score and declining asset turnover ratio indicate possible financial distress and reduced operational efficiency. Therefore, investors should exercise due diligence and consider these risk factors 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.


In a significant development, the governments of Assam and Meghalaya have jointly decided to transfer the investigation of the Mukroh incident to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The incident, which occurred on November 22 last year, involved a fatal shooting by the Assam Forest Protection Force in Mukroh village, a disputed territory claimed by both Assam and Meghalaya. Six individuals lost their lives, including a forest guard and two others were injured, intensifying tensions in the region.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the decision during a joint press conference. He said, In an effort to foster trust and alleviate the burden on officers from both states, we have opted to discontinue the judicial commission established by both states for the Mukroh incident. Instead, we will collectively request the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct an impartial investigation into the matter. We propose that the CBI conduct its investigation in a neutral location, avoiding registration in either Shillong or Guwahati.

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Sarma highlighted the challenges faced by the judicial commissions, primarily stemming from uncooperative witnesses on both sides. To ensure a fair and unbiased inquiry, we believe that involving an independent agency is the most appropriate course of action. This move aims to prevent any regional bias in the investigation, he explained.

On the ongoing standoff at the Khanduli Police Control Room (PCR) between Assam and Meghalaya, he mentioned, In response to the standoff, Assam police have established an outpost, and Meghalaya has done the same in close proximity, creating a confrontational situation. To de-escalate tensions, Assam police will deploy the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at the outpost, and Meghalaya will relocate its outpost, ensuring the presence of a neutral police force in the area.

Additionally, the two state governments have reached an agreement to resolve disputes in three specific areas. The final details will be determined by regional committees, with a shared commitment to expedite the resolution process.

Regarding the six areas where disputes have already been resolved, the Survey of India has completed surveys in the Hahim sector. Soon, border pillars will be erected in these areas, with both state governments accepting the demarcation.

Meghalayas Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, expressed optimism in a joint statement, saying, We are pleased to inform the people of both Assam and Meghalaya that, after extensive efforts, we are nearing the finalization of boundary lines in the initial six disputed areas. We have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) addressing these differences. Todays meeting endorsed the Hahim sector, where surveys have been completed, and the boundary line has been established.

Sangma also highlighted progress in the remaining five disputed areas, stating, Three of these areas are nearing resolution, and we are committed to completing the actual demarcation in all six areas covered by the MoU in the first phase by December 31, 2023.

He underscored the active efforts of both states in addressing issues in other disputed areas, emphasizing the goal of achieving swift progress and resolution.
Following recent claims of discrimination based on ethnicity in Mumbai, BJP national secretary Pankaja Gopinath Munde revealed that she too faced housing discrimination in the city due to her Marathi background.

Pankaja Mundes disclosure comes in the wake of Trupti Deorukhkars assertion that she was denied office space in Mumbais Mulund area due to her Marathi identity.

In a Facebook video, the BJP leader shared her housing search experience, explaining that she desired to move out of her government residence and purchase a new house. During her search, she encountered instances where people conveyed that they did not offer houses to Marathi individuals. She noted that even someone like herself had faced such encounters.

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Munde expressed her dismay, stating that it was very unfortunate. She also noted that, in light of the current climate in politics and society, there seemed to be a sense of uneasiness somewhere in society.

She stressed that Mumbais charm lies in its diversity, encompassing all languages, castes, and religions, and she affirmed that everyone is welcome in the city.

However, Munde voiced her disappointment with buildings that refuse housing to certain individuals, labeling it as regrettable.

About Pankaja Munde:

Pankaja Munde, known for her role as the Minister of Rural and Women Child Development in the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet, is recognized as a prominent figure in the Sugar Factory and Banking sectors. She received The Powerful Politician award in 2017.

She served as the State President of BJPs youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), in 2012. Additionally, she was the representative to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Parli constituency in 2009.

On October 31, 2014, she took the oath as a Maharashtra Cabinet Minister. She received the responsibility of overseeing the Ministry of Rural Development and Women & Child Welfare.

Her father, Gopinath Munde, previously held the position of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the 1990s.
In light of the recent killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the already strained diplomatic relations between India and Canada  two countries historically connected through trade and culture  have deteriorated further. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week accused Indian government agents of a role in Nijjars murder, a charge New Delhi categorically denied.

Terming Trudeaus allegations absurd and politically motivated, India suspended a Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat action and suspended visa services for Canadian citizens. The Indian government also asked Trudeau to provide evidence to back his claim but received none, so far.

The killing of Nijjar also brought the Khalistani issue to the forefront once again with New Delhi accusing Ottawa of providing safe haven to Khalistani terrorists who openly promote violence against Indian diplomats and call for secession of Indias state of Punjab. While Nijjar was designated terrorist by New Delhi in 2020, Canada considered him an activist fighting for the rights of Sikhs.

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A day before his murder, Canadian intelligence agency CSIS even held a secret meeting with Nijjar, according to CTV News. When The Statesman reached out the CSIS to learn the motive behind their secret meeting with the Khalistani terrorist, they said the information cant be disclosed as it was related to the safety and security of Canada.

When asked why CSIS was secretly meeting a New Delhi designated terrorist, who openly promoted violence against India, CSIS official Eric Balsam said, There are important limits to what I can publicly discuss given the need to protect sensitive activities, techniques, methods, and sources of intelligence.

These limitations are essential to ensure the safety, security, and prosperity of Canada, and for these reasons, I cannot provide more information, he further said in an e-mailed response.

The fact that the agency didnt deny the meeting consolidates New Delhis claim that Canada was deliberately not acting against Khalistani activists who promoted violence against Indian diplomats in the country.

When The Statesman further asked about the two masked gunmen who killed Nijjar in the parking lot of a Surrey Grudwara on June 18 this year, the CSIS chose not to reply. There are reports that they have not been able to locate the killers even after more than three months.

Meanwhile, Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has torn into the Canadian government over threats to Indian diplomats to the country. The foreign minister said that regular functioning of Indian missions in Canada has been compromised due to the permissiveness to terrorism, extremism, and violence in Canada.

We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission, we have had violence in front of consulates, there are posters put up. Do you consider this normal? If this had happened to any other country, how would they react? Lets not normalise what is happening in Canada. It is important to call out what is happening there, he said.

He, however, reasserted that India is ready to look into the issue if Canada provides specific information. If there is a requirement for us to look at something, we are open to looking at it. But, I then expect somewhere, some pointer, something for me to look at, he added.
Despite limited resources and no Central government assistance, the Himachal Pradesh government has announced a Special Relief Package to the tune of Rs 4500 crore.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announcing the package here on Saturday said that the special package will help the state recover from the colossal loss that it witnessed due to the monsoon fury.

The entire amount is generated by the state, despite the financial crunch and not even a single penny has been contributed by the Central government to overcome the losses, said Sukhu.

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He said that of the total Rs 45000 package, Rs 3500 crore will be utilized to rehabilitate those persons and families whose houses have been completely damaged in this disaster, whereas the Rs 1000 crore will be spent for construction of retaining walls under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

According to the relief manual of the Centre and the state, earlier Rs 1,30 lakh was given for damage to houses, however the state government has decided to give Rs 7 lakh each to the affected families whose houses were damaged between July 7 and 30 September.

Furthermore, the state government will provide cement at government rates at Rs 280 per bag, free electricity and water as assistance for construction of their houses, which will augment the total assistance to Rs 10 lakh, he added.

The Chief Minister said that earlier whose pucca (solid and permanent) houses were partially damaged used to get Rs 6500, now the assistance will be increased to Rs one lakh and similarly for repair of kutcha (temporary) house partially damaged compensation has been increased from Rs 4000 to Rs One lakh.

There will be no income limit criteria for the affected persons whose houses, agricultural and horticultural land and crops have been damaged in the disaster, said the Chief Minister.

The cowshed damage compensation has been increased to Rs 50,000 from Rs 3,000 and for loss of cow, buffalo, horse, donkey the compensation has been increased to Rs 55,000, whereas Rs 6000 will be given on the death of sheep and goat.

For agricultural and horticultural crop loss the relief has been increased from Rs 3615 per hectare to Rs 10,000 per bigha, he said.

Those whose houses and land has been damaged will be given two Biswas of land in urban and three Biswas in rural areas to reconstruct their houses, he said, adding that even those landless persons whose dwellings were damaged and having lived in Himachal Pradesh for a long time and intend to stay permanently will also be provided land to construct their dwellings.

As many as 498 precious lives have been lost, 3,500 houses have been completely damaged and 13,000 partially damaged during the monsoon disaster, said Sukhu.

So far the state government has spent Rs 1850 crore for restoration and another Rs 1,051 crore will be released soon, said the Chief Minister.
In an incident that is bound to raise hackles of the Indian establishment, Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was on Friday prevented from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland.

The incident occurred amid the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking the Indian envoy from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara at Albert Drive.

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They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian ambassador like we did here in Glasgow, the man is heard saying in the video. The Sikh Youth UK claims that there is a ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities.

The video shows two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside. The purported video then shows the envoys car leaving the gurdwara premises.

The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the gurdwara will be treated.

We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats, he said.

The incident has once again put the spotlight on the safety and security of Indian diplomats in the UK. It took place months after the Indian High Commission in London was attacked by pro-Khalistani forces. The UK has assured of necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of the Indian High Commission in London and its staff. The issue also came up for discussion when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the margins of the G20 Summit in New Delhi earlier this month.

Meanwhile, a formal reaction from the Indian High Commission in London or the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the incident is awaited.

The UK incident comes amid strain in India-Canada ties after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of agents of the Indian government in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Nijjar. India rejected the charge, calling it absurd and motivated. Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to India to support its claim.
In the wake of the allegation of bribery involving the personal staff of Kerala Health Minister Veena George, the examination of CCTV footage reportedly drew a blank on money exchanging hands.

The CCTV footage of the secretariat was examined by the police.

In the footage, while the complainant, Haridasan, and his friend KP Basith are seen in front of the secretariat, Akhil P Mathew, the key accused in the case, is nowhere in the picture.

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In his statement to the police, Haridasan had repeatedly said that he had handed over the money to Mathew, an employee in the Health Ministers office , for the appointment.

Only yesterday, a sub-inspector (SI), Shefin, from Thiruvananthapuram Cantonment, took Haridasans statement at his residence in Malappuram yesterday. He handed over phone records and WhatsApp messages to the SI.

Haridasan said the police asked about Basith, who was tasked to inform the Health Minister about the bribry demand for the appointment.

The complaint, filed by Haridasan Kummali, a native of Malappuram, alleged that Akhil Mathew, one of the personal staff members of Health Minister Veena George, and Akhil Sajeev, acting as mediators, demanded money in lieu of the appointment of a homeopathy medical officer at the Ayush Kendra.

Earlier, Haridasan had disclosed to the media that he paid Rs 1 lakh to Mathew and Rs 75,000 to Pathanamthitta CITU leader Akhil Sajeev. The payments were intended to secure a temporary job for his daughter-in-law, Dr. Nitha Raj, at the Ayush Kendra.
The CPI-M has warned the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) Kerala unit that it cannot be in the LDF after the national leadership of the party joined the BJP-led NDA.

The Left party said that the parties with any links with the BJP have no place in the LDF and asked the Kerala unit of the JDS to resolve the issue immediately.

The CPI-M has given the ultimatum to the JDS Kerala unit after the Congress-led Opposition UDF alleged that Kerala is ruled by the NDA-LDF coalition government.

The JDS Kerala unit has landed in a tight spot after the national leadership of the Karnataka-based party joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

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JDS state president Mathew T Thomas has stated that the Kerala unit of the party will never be a part of the NDA. As the CPI-M has issued an ultimatum to the party, JDS state leaders have initiated action to solve the crisis.

The state committee of JDS Kerala unit will be meeting on 7 October to take a decision on the issue. JDS national President HD Deve Gowda has clarified that the state leadership can take a decision independently on whether to stand with the NDA alliance or not.

This puts the leadership of the Kerala unit of the party in a difficult situation. If they decide to remain a separate group, they should ensure that such a decision would not attract the provisions of anti-defection law.

Leader of the opposition VD Satheesan said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI-M leadership are in a state of disarray and cannot do anything against the JDS when the cases are being investigated by the Central agency.

Satheesan said that even though the JDS has officially announced that it has joined the BJP-led NDA front, the representative of the JDS is still a minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet.

He asked the Chief Minister and the CPI-M leadership to clarify under what conditions the JDS, an ally of the NDA, is in the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the convergence of schemes and optimum utilization of resources can speed up development at ground level with minimal cost, and aspirational blocks can come out of their backwardness and become inspirational for their states.

He was launching a unique week-long programme for 500 Aspirational Blocks in the country, called Sankalp Saptaah, at Bharat Mandapam here. He launched the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ADP) Portal also and inaugurated an exhibition on the occasion.

The Prime Minister said the aspirational blocks programme was based on the success of the 112 Aspirational Districts Programmes which had brought the districts development to national levels.

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He told the officials to focus on five parameters for the Blocks and improve them. I am sure within a year the 100 aspirational blocks will become inspirational blocks for the whole State, he said.

Work in mission mode, I want officials to bring the 100 blocks to the national level. I will meet you again in October-November, 2024 and review the progress, and hear success stories of at least 10 persons, he said.

The Prime Minister said, In any list of the top 10 programmes of Independent India, the Aspirational District Programme (ADP) will figure in golden letters.

The ADP transformed the lives of about 25 crore people in 112 districts in the last five years, he said. Quality of life and ease of governance has changed. People have come out of their status quoist approach to life.

Stressing on the merits of convergence, he said if there is optimum utilization of resources and convergence of schemes, then block development can be taken care of with minimal expenditure.

For example, in MGNREGA, there can be convergence with road construction or building of water storage with MGNREGA work. The first condition of good governance is optimum utilization of resources, he said.

The Prime Minister said resources should not be prioritized to areas which are doing well already. This would mean pushing resources into areas of abundance and lead to wastage. Resources should be distributed equally and should be need-based and this would result in their better utilization.

The Prime Minister said his government has focused on outcome of budgets also, along with output data which shows only expenditure of allocations. I have a long experience of government running. Budgets or financial allocations alone do not bring change, he said.

The thinking that Government alone will do everything was old and should be given up. There is big force in society and it should be employed through Jan Bhagidari, he said.

Calling for holistic development, the Prime Minister said that all parts and regions of the country should be looked after. Absence of all-encompassing development, touching everyone, benefiting all may show numerical development but basic development does not take place. That is why it is important that we should move while covering every grassroots parameter.

The Prime Minister urged the Secretaries of departments present on the occasion to work in two new directions. Rapid development of every state and handholding of backward districts. He asked them to identify 100 blocks in the country that are lagging behind in their respective departments and work towards improving the conditions.

He insisted that all parameters of development would change once the 100 identified blocks move above the countrys average. He suggested that all departments from the Centre emphasize development of the blocks which have room for improvement.

Highlighting the role of state governments, the Prime Minister suggested identifying the 100 most backward villages and creating a model to improve them which can be further replicated to develop the next 1000 villages.

India is 75 years old now. Referring to the promise of making India a developed nation by 2047, the Prime Minister said that being developed does not mean developed metro cities only and villages remain backward.

We dont follow that model, we wish to move with 140 crore people, he said. We want their lives changed. I have seen healthy competition among districts in the Aspirational Districts programme and it helped achieve results. This is an area in which data cannot be cooked up.

The Kutch district in Gujarat was once considered a place for punishment posting for officers, and has now become the most respectable place for posting, the official posted there is today considered a favourite of the Government, with dedication and diligence of officers posted there after the earthquake, he said.

He credited young officers for the developments carried out in the aspirational districts of the country. For the Aspirational Block programme also, the Prime Minister suggested the state government should encourage young officers by giving them good postings.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the ODF (Open Defecation Free) Plus status achieved by 100 per cent villages in Uttar Pradesh under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Phase II.

Replying to a post on X by the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, the prime minister said: Many, many congratulations! Just before Bapus birth anniversary, this unprecedented achievement of Uttar Pradesh is going to inspire the entire country. Our continuous efforts in the field of cleanliness are very important for the respect of women power as well as the health of all our family members.

Earlier, the chief minister had tweeted: Today, under the guidance of Respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodiJi, 100% villages of New Uttar Pradesh of New India have achieved ODF Plus status under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) Phase II.

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The chief minister tweeted: Our villages have become completely free from the shameful compulsion of open defecation. A symbol of cleanliness, respect and safety, this achievement also underlines the increasing level of ease of living in the New Uttar Pradesh. Hearty congratulations to the people of the state for this achievement of preserving health and dignity!
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Chhattisgarh on Saturday on the conclusion of two Parivartan Yatras carried out by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the poll-bound state.

PM Modi will address the Parivartan Mahasankalp rally in Bilaspur, which has electoral significance as the division has 24 of 90 assembly seats in the state.

The first Parivartan Yatra began from Dantewada in the southern part of Chhattisgarh on September 12, the second started from Jashpur in the north on September 15.

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The first Parivartan Yatra covered a distance of 1,728 km in 16 days between Dantewada to Bilaspur and reached 21 districts in three divisions.

More than 45 public meetings, 32 welcome meetings and a roadshow was held during the yatra.

This will be PM Modis third visit to the Congress-ruled state and second visit to Bilaspur division within 15 days.

The second yatra started with BJP leaders taking blessings of Goddess Khudiyarani and covered a distance of 1,261 km in 12 days, touching 39 assembly constituencies in 14 districts of two divisions.

More than 39 general meetings, 53 welcome meetings were held during the yatra.

BJP did well in Bilaspur in the 2018 assembly polls and its 7 of 15 seats came from this division of the state.

Our government had changed the face of the state through development works. Since the time of undivided Madhya Pradesh, the state which was considered backward started to be recognized across the country as that of opportunities, a senior leader of BJP said.

Our government increased the size of the budget by 14-15 times. We lost the 2018 assembly polls but our prospects remain strong here. Being in power for a long time creates a natural anti-incumbency, which led to adverse results in 2018 but the party soon regained its ground and BJPs vote share in the Lok Sabha elections increased by a record 18 per cent compared to the assembly elections, he added.

BJP leaders said they raised issues such as corruption and promises not being fulfilled during the parivartan yatras.

Chhattisgarh was carved out as a separate state from Madhya Pradesh during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

BJP released its first list of candidates for 21 seats in Chhattisgarh in August. The party had lost these seats in 2018 polls.

Elections in Chhattisgarh along with four other states would be held before the end of the year.

BJP had carried out Parivartan Yatra during the 2003 polls also and the party remained in power for 15 years. BJP leaders are confident that the parivartan yatras will help oust the Congress government in the state.
PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP  For nearly 60 years, the Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District's Tom Graham Fifth Grade Farm Tour has been a regular staple in the curriculum of Holmes County elementary school students.

HSWCD Program Administrator Trevor Berger explained Graham was a soil scientist who worked with the Holmes SWCD and loved helping out with the tour. After his passing, the farm tour was renamed in his honor, so that his love of teaching kids about the importance of soil would live on for generations to come.

The tour has been divided into East and West Holmes tours at separate farms to better accommodate the students. The East Holmes tour took place last week at Ayrdell Farm near Trail, and the West Holmes version took place on Tuesday at Dalroy Farms near Shreve, hosting fifth-grade students from Millersburg, Killbuck and Lakeville Elementary Schools, as well as Holmesville Elementary School of the Southeast Local Schools.

A historical perspective

Berger is on his second farm tour as program administrator. He took over for Michelle Wood who retired last May.

"Farm tour has been going on since 1965," Berger said. "The goal of the tour is to get the kids out on a farm, show them different things, not only what pertains to this individual farm, but when they go to another farm they may learn something.

"It all fits in with the science curriculum so it all works together to be a good event that is remembered by the kids," Berger continued. "This event is truly something that sticks with the kids."

He related how when they stopped to pick up hot dogs from Winesburg Meats, all the employees there shared memories of their farm tours.

Students looked at honeycombs used in bee hives on the farm.

Berger pointed out there is a lot more to agriculture than livestock, which the farm tour displays through the various stations, which include wildlife, soils, equipment, safety and forestry.

"Every farm tour is unique," Berger said. "We're not sitting on a dairy farm, but we have what feeds the dairy cows, what feeds the rest of us, or the other livestock; as well as the equipment and the soils, and the forestry that is everywhere.

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"Plus, the wildlife and the pollinators are a fun twist that the Croskeys work a lot on," he continued. "They have hives planted throughout the county. They have entire fields full of pollinators for bees."

He noted that the tour is good for the students because not everyone is familiar with life on the farm. Exposing the students to all aspects, including the safety side of things is something that has been incorporated into the farm tour.

About this year's host

Shirley Croskey and her husband James operate Dalroy Farms. Shirley is a retired teacher from the West Holmes District and enjoyed the opportunity to host the farm tour, which her parents did back in the 1980s when she was away in college.

"Our grandson J.J. is in fifth grade at Holmesville, and I told my husband since we're fixing up this farm, I would like to host the tour this year," she said. "J.J. loves the farm. He wants to be a farmer, so he was all excited about this."

Croskey's aunt Anna Mae (Schlegel) Shoemaker made the trip up from Dublin to return to the farm where she grew up. She said it did her heart good to see the kids on the farm again.

"I remember when mom and dad hosted the farm tour back in the '80s," she said. "My niece Shirley and her family are hosting it now. It's pretty amazing to see.

Holmesville School has always been a part of the program since the school is located in Holmes County. However, as the Southeast District Schools are being consolidated, Berger hopes to be able to coordinate an invitation to the entire Southeast District in the future.

"We couldn't do this without the administration help, coordinating all the teachers, the busses, the schedules, and the planning process that begins in the spring," he said. "HSWCD also hosts an essay contest, where the kids write a short creative essay and the top five from each class are submitted and we judge the essays and present awards to the top three from each district at our annual meeting in November."

The FFA programs also host a poster contest about the farm tour.

Students walk through a 5-foot-deep trench to see the different layers in the soil while on the Holmes County 5th grade Farm Tour.

A favorite day

Berger noted another important piece of the day's activities is the work done by the FFA students. "They do a great job," he said.

West Holmes Vocational Ag Instructor and FFA advisor Jaime Chenevey said the farm tour is probably one of the favorite days of the year for her students, who serve as guides and instructors on the tour. There were 30 juniors and seniors on hand to help guide the fifth graders through the tour.

"I think it would be fair to say this is one of their favorite days," Chenevey said. "They like coming out and being group leaders, teaching about the agriculture industry. They have siblings, cousins, kids they work with in 4-H, so they get to interact with them here. They like sharing the knowledge and experiences with the kids. This is definitely one of the activities they like"

Hayden Smith is a junior at West Holmes. He likes the opportunity to hang out with his friends and share some of his experiences on the farm with the young kids.

"My station is safety, and I really like talking to the kids about safety," he said. "Having the kids learn about farm safety is one of the most important things they can learn. I've been involved in farming most of my life. My parents and my brothers taught me a lot. I remember going on the fifth grade farm tour and how much fun it was.

"To get to come out here and help out with the kids and help them learn what goes on the farm and how to be safe around the equipment is important," Smith continued.

Maren Drzazga, a senior who serves as Vice-President of FFA, loves being around the animals. She grew up on a livestock farm, raising goats, lambs, chickens and horses.

"Coming from a farm, it's really cool to learn about what you're supposed to do and how to keep you and everyone else safe," she said. "It's fun to form a connection with other kids who grew up on a farm. I also like seeing kids who didn't grow up on farms learn what to do and maybe find new interests.

"One of my favorite things to do is see the kids and watch them learn something new," Drzazga added. "They will remember this for a long time and hopefully it will resonate with them for a few months and hopefully for a lifetime."

Berger thanked the Holmes County Farm Bureau and the HSWCD partners in conservation, Loudonville Equity and the Holmes County Dairy Committee for their sponsorship and support of the event.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: West Holmes fifth-grade farm tour at Dalroy Farm a memorable time
In partial relief to TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, the Andhra Pradesh high court directed the state CID not to arrest him until October 4 in the Skill Development scam and fibernet scam.

Earlier a team of Andhra Pradesh CID officials left for will serve notices to Nara Lokesh whose father and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is in Rajahmundry central prison in judicial remand as the Supreme Court will hear his petition to quash the FIR for Skill Development scam on October 3.

Lokesh is currently in New Delhi and the CID team has left for the national capital immediately to serve notice under Section 41(A) of CrPC to appear before a police officer in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case.

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On Thursday, the TDP had announced that Yuvagalem, the walkathon undertaken by Lokesh prior to his fathers arrest, will be postponed once again implying he was unlikely to return to the state soon. The high court directed him to cooperate with the investigations.

Lokesh had filed for anticipatory bail right after the CID submitted a memo in the Anti-Corruption Bureau court adding his name as Accused No. 14 in the Inner Ring Road case. In the same case his father, N Chandrababu Naidu, was named as Accused No. 1 by the CID.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh chief miniser, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, said the 2024 general election will be the battle of Kurukshetra between the party that committed scams and the YSRCP government which transferred Rs 2.35 lakh crore through direct benefit transfer to the people of the state, so far.

I dont have the support of the yellow media and a foster son (Pawan Kalyan). All I believe is in God and the people, the chief minister said.
Indias start-up ecosystem has been in a state of flux recently, with the introduction of amended angel tax rules by the Income Tax Department. These changes, integrated into Rule 11UA of the Income Tax Rules, represent an earnest attempt to reconcile the differences between the rules outlined in the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the Income Tax Act.

While the amendments aim to foster transparency and fairness in taxation, they have garnered mixed reactions from the start-up community. One of the standout modifications in these rules is the inclusion of the fair market value of unquoted equity shares as a basis for valuing Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS).

This alteration promises more flexibility in the valuation process, which could potentially simplify the lives of both start-ups and investors. However, the scepticism within the start-up realm indicates that more needs to be done to strike the right balance.

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The Finance Act, 2023, expanded the scope of the Angel Tax to cover investments exceeding the fair market value, irrespective of whether the investor is a resident or a non-resident. This move was intended to combat money laundering and questionable investments but inadvertently introduced complexity.

The crux of the issue lies in the discord between the Income Tax Act and FEMA regarding the calculation of fair market value. This discrepancy has caused uncertainty and raised questions about the tax implications for start-ups receiving foreign investments. To truly promote a thriving start-up ecosystem, there must be a harmonious understanding between these two pieces of legislation.

One significant step in the right direction is the inclusion of a tolerance threshold for minor valuation discrepancies. This mechanism adds an element of efficiency and fairness to tax assessments. It allows for a reasonable margin of error while discouraging deliberate manipulation of valuations. This is a vital preventive measure against malpractice and money laundering. Further measures in this endeavour in the start-up investment space require a multi-faceted approach.

First, regulatory authorities should work closely with start-ups and investors to establish clear guidelines and best practices for valuation. Transparency is paramount and start-ups must maintain comprehensive records of their valuation methodologies.

Additionally, conducting due diligence on investors is crucial. Start-ups should verify the legitimacy of their investors, especially those coming from overseas. Ensuring that the source of funds is legitimate and compliant with all applicable laws is a vital safeguard against illicit practices.

Moreover, government agencies can leverage technology to monitor and track investment inflows and valuations. Implementing robust reporting mechanisms and data analytics can help identify suspicious activities and prevent money laundering effectively. Incentivising ethical behaviour is another aspect that must be considered.

The extension of a 10 per cent safe harbour to CCPS investments, similar to what was in place for equity shares, is a commendable move. This margin of safety can protect against foreign exchange fluctuations and encourage legitimate foreign investments.
After a 27-year wait, on 20 September 2023, the Womens Reservation Bill was finally passed unreservedly by all members of Parliament. It was an unprecedented moment when positive discourse rather than acrimonious dissent greeted the acceptance of the Bill. Till 2023, the see-saw movement of the bill was a matter of great disappointment to its supporters. Perhaps, in recent times the high ratio of women voters has resulted in an attitudinal shift towards Indian women.

Reserving domestic cooking gas cylinders for Indian women whose destiny outlined by tradition has been about unpaid caregiving and compulsory unpaid cooking and domestic work, seems to have been reassessed at last.

So the promise is that at least 33 per cent women and 67 per cent men can become the voice of 21st century India in the Indian Parliament. Ideally it should have been a 50-50 distribution. But something is better than nothing, and the struggle for gender equality is not over.

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The struggle to achieve gender equality has been an arduous ongoing process as the 1974 report tabled in Parliament titled Towards Equality outlined. The CSWI (Committee on the Status of Women in India) report Towards Equality found demographic trends of declining sex ratio, disparities in the life expectancy and death rates between men and women; and underscored the difficulties involved in womens access to literacy, education and livelihood. It was of the view that the Indian State had failed in its constitutional responsibility of gender equality.

Thereafter, in 2015, in the Executive Summary issued by the Ministry of Women and Child Development it was stated that in the 21st century the socio-cultural landscape for women is a complex mixture of the new and the old.

Numerous modern institutions are rooted in the patriarchal structures, traditions and conservatism. The summary further asserted that industrialisation, globalisation, urbanisation and modernisation have led to some irreversible changes for women ~ some positive and some problematic.

On one hand a liberalised economy has offered better education, jobs, decision-making powers and opportunities for women.

On the other, women have been targets of a strong backlash with increased violence in and outside the home, acute wage differentials and discrimination and continuing commodification in society. The summary further pointed out that migration, skewed sex ratio and environmental degradation have added to womens vulnerability.

Also, the summary stated unequivocally that India is a male dominated society in which the economic, political, religious, social and cultural institutions are largely controlled by men. This control over womens livelihood choices and sexuality has existed and evolved over centuries through various discriminatory social practices and institutions. A combination of family, caste, community, and religion reinforce and legitimise these patriarchal values.

Stereotyping of women and their roles continues in public and institutions.

Moreover, the summary asserted that the media, both state and private, with its huge potential to influence and change mindsets unfortunately has not been harnessed for this. However in recent years media seems to be more gender sensitized and ripples of changes are being perceived though these are very slow and inadequate.

Also, the summary reiterates the cliched perception that on one hand women are worshipped as goddesses, while on the other burnt for dowry. Boys are more desirable and seen as a support for parents in their old age and therefore necessary to continue the family lineage. Girls are considered an unwanted burden yet used to support their brothers and men and suffer atrocities such as abuse, violence, rape and early marriages in silence.

Furthermore, in this intensive and exhaustive summary there are references to discriminatory practices such as child marriages, dowry, honour killing, witch hunting and gender biased sex selection which indicate profound vulnerability of and inequality towards girls and women in Indian society.

Of course, the government has recognised these paradoxes and attempted to address these in policies, legislation and programmes. Development programmes introduced to bring gender equality have produced mixed results.

Legislative changes have faced resistance in their implementation due to social, cultural and religious mores. It is expected that as soon as the Womens Reservation Bill is implemented a significant number of educated women legislators will trigger a paradigm shift in terms of social conditioning, coercive and involuntary. Optics are crucial in the digital era.

Interestingly, Ms Susan Ferguson, the Country Representative of the United Nations Women India centre, has hailed the acceptance of the Bill by the Indian Parliament as a bold and transformative step, and stated, We hope political parties across the board will come together to ensure timely implementation of the Bill given that gender quotas in policies and politics is crucial to advancing gender equality and womens rights.

The Womens Reservation Bill strengthens Indias commitment to women-led development and sets a global example. She emphasized, This is a moment of great elation for gender advocates and organisations that work for gender equality, womens economic empowerment and their increased role in leadership positions.

Incidentally, all global and local governments and informed members of the civil society both in the Global North and Global South are aware of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals outlined in detail by the United Nations for the period 2015 to 2030. Goal 5 concerns and calls for universal gender equality. SDG 5 aims to grant women and girls equal rights and opportunities to live free of violence and discrimination, including in the workplace.

SDG 5 has nine targets and 14 indicators. Six of the targets are outcome targets:

 ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.

 ending violence and exploitation of women and girls

 eliminating harmful practices such as child early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation

 increasing value of unpaid care and promoting shared domestic responsibilities

 ensuring full participation of women in leadership and decision-making

 ensuring access to universal reproductive rights and health.

The three means of implementation targets are:

 fostering equal rights to economic resources, property ownership, and financial services for women

 promoting empowerment of women through technology

 adopting and strengthening policies for gender equality, and supporting legislation to enforce it.

Unfortunately, amidst all the euphoria however comes the chilling realization that the implementation of the Bill would not be immediate but would require several years if not more. In culinary terms it is like heaping a pile of plates on a rising pudding or cake.

Of course politicising gender is a constant yet cannot immediate implementation of the Bill prove to the world that India has creditably addressed SDG 5 before 2030 as an example to both the Global North and the Global South?

Let us not align the acceptance without implementation of the Womens Reservation Bill to Albert Camuss arguments about formless chaos, the absurd and the myth of Sisyphus. Who can forget the doomed Sisyphus, who rolls the boulder to the top of the hill only to watch it roll to the bottom.

After years of patience and perseverance a single gendered game-changing goal has been reached, some even equating this with a leap of faith. Let us reverse the myth of Sisyphus. Let us prove Zeus wrong. Let the long awaited, now accepted, Womens Reservation Bill be implemented in 2023.

The writer is former Dean, Faculty of Arts, Calcutta University.
BILL ZUCK is still working on that pirate sword. Reach him at wcz78@yahoo.com.
Key Insights

Institutions' substantial holdings in Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership

Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

A look at the shareholders of Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad (KLSE:TAKAFUL) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 65% 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).

Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad.

See our latest analysis for Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

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Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad is not owned by hedge funds. Lembaga Tabung Haji, Endowment Arm is currently the largest shareholder, with 28% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 13% and 9.0%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 50% stake.

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 Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Shareholders would probably be interested to learn that insiders own shares in Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad. It has a market capitalization of just RM2.9b, and insiders have RM39m worth of shares, in their own names. This shows at least some alignment. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 24% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad. 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:

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 for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Berhad , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
In this article, we will be taking a look at the top 20 cocoa producing countries in the world. If you are not interested in reading the detailed analysis of the global cocoa market, head straight to the Top 5 Cocoa Producing Countries In The World.

Cocoa, often called the "food of the gods," holds a special place in the global agricultural landscape. As a critical ingredient in producing chocolate and other delectable treats, it plays a pivotal role in the world's economy. The top cocoa-producing countries in the world like Ghana and Ivory Coast wield significant influence over the cocoa industry, driving its production and direction.

The Global Cocoa Landscape

The global cocoa market is on a robust growth trajectory, with projections indicating an impressive expansion from $48.29 billion in 2022 to an estimated $67.88 billion by 2029, showcasing a CAGR of 4.98% throughout the forecast period. This growth is mainly driven by the rising demand for cocoa ingredients, which are used in various products in the confectionery industry, non-alcoholic beverages and indulgent baked goods.

The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) anticipates a 10% increase in global cocoa production over the next decade, underscoring the industry's potential. The food and beverage sector, a pivotal player in this surge, is witnessing global flourishing, with cocoa-infused products, especially chocolate, leading in new launches within beverages, bakery items, and confectionery. This trend is expected to fuel the demand for cocoa butter and cocoa powder further in the foreseeable future.

The cocoa market's recent growth can be chiefly attributed to the burgeoning demand for confectionery products. This global demand for cocoa ingredients and flavors reflects their increasing presence across various food and beverage products. However, to sustain this growth, the industry must focus on maintaining sustainability, emphasizing the need for additional investments to meet these evolving market requirements.

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In light of these developments, the Sustainable Agricultural Network/Rainforest Alliance cocoa program has grown significantly over the past five years, covering 1 million hectares of cocoa production. This ambitious project impacts at least 10% of the world's cocoa output, totaling 350,000 tonnes, cultivated on 750,000 hectares by 250,000 farmers.

Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) is one of the world's largest chocolate manufacturers, and is renowned for their iconic confectionery brands, including Cadbury, Toblerone, and Milka. The company is deeply committed to sustainable cocoa sourcing, with a goal of sourcing 100% certified and sustainable cocoa by 2025. Mondelez pursues this vision through its Cocoa Life program, focused on enhancing the well-being of cocoa farmers and their communities, preserving forests, and advocating for gender equality in cocoa-growing regions.

Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) is also doing well on the market front. The company reported a robust Q2 2023 performance. Revenues surged by 17% YoY, primarily due to a 15.8% growth in Organic Net Revenue in 3 out of 4 regions. Diluted EPS rose by 27.8% to $0.69, and Adjusted EPS grew by 21.5% in constant currency. The Chief Executive Officer of Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) -- Dirk Van De Put -- said the following in the Q2 earnings call:

"You can see that the first half of 2023 showed continued momentum across our entire business. We delivered the first half organic net revenue growth of $2.7 billion, up nearly 18% versus prior year and significantly ahead of our already strong 12% in full year 2022. This includes a 15.8% growth for the quarter. We also delivered adjusted gross profit dollar growth of more than $1 billion. Again, we are well ahead of last years pace with 18.9% growth."

Ghana, a vital player in global cocoa production, contributes 20% of the world's cocoa. The Cocoa Processing Company Limited (CPC) in Ghana, listed as "CPC" on the stock exchange, processes raw cocoa into iconic chocolate varieties and champions sustainability through initiatives like the Cocoa Abrabopa Association (CAA) and the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED).

Top 20 Cocoa Producing Countries In The World

Our Methodology

In our methodology, we ranked the world's top cocoa-producing countries for the year 2021, using data sourced from Our World in Data.

Here is our list of the top 20 cocoa producing countries in the world.

20. Haiti

Total Cocoa Production: 2,000 tons

Haiti's cocoa industry is expected to grow at the rate of 2.3% YoY. Export markets, notably Spain, Netherlands, and Italy, are expanding. However, challenges such as low productivity, limited access to finance, and infrastructure issues persist. On top of that, the politico-economic crisis in the country is no help either.

19. Togo

Total Cocoa Production: 8,000 tons

Togo, one of the top cocoa producers, is a significant contributor to the global cocoa bean production. In 2021, Togo's cocoa production decreased by 47.2% to 2,810 metric tons, yet it typically yields more than 5000 metric tons annually. The cocoa market in Togo has a projected growth of 5.05% from 2023 to 2028, reaching US$8.6 million. Togo is known for producing high-quality cocoa, with over 90% cultivated in the Plateaux region. Additionally, Togo has cocoa bean exporters and suppliers like Selina Wamucii, offering competitive market prices.

18. Madagascar

Total Cocoa Production: 11,000 tons

Madagascar's cocoa industry offers promising prospects, with the World Bank's backing to boost cocoa and related sectors, targeting a substantial increase in cocoa exports from $20 million to $35 million and a minimum 25% rise in beneficiary incomes. The nation is poised for enhanced cocoa production, exemplified by a local producer's ambitious goal of reaching 100 tons annually. Sustainability is a growing priority, as demonstrated by initiatives such as Barry Callebaut's collaboration with vanilla farmers, ensuring 100% sustainable sourcing.

17. Guatemala

Total Cocoa Production: 11,640 tons

Guatemala's cocoa industry holds investment potential, with its growing exports valued at $28.5 million in 2020. Sustainability is a key focus, with Rainforest Alliance certifying over 10,000 hectares of cocoa farms and companies adopting green practices like solar energy. The country is known for its high-quality cocoa, offering a unique flavor profile that appeals to the specialty chocolate market, making it one of the top cocoa producing countries in the world.

16. Sierra Leone

Total Cocoa Production: 15,000 tons

Sierra Leone is one of the largest cocoa bean exporters globally, with $33.2 million in exports in 2019. The country recently inaugurated its first cocoa factory to enhance the cocoa industry by enabling local processing. Cocoa production is projected to grow by 0.4% by 2026, reaching 26,770 metric tons, but remains 11.1% below 1966 levels. However, Sierra Leone's cocoa sector needs more productivity, finance access, and infrastructure.

15. India

Total Cocoa Production: 27,000 tons

India is a significant global cocoa producer, yielding more than 20,000 metric tons annually. The Indian cocoa market is poised for growth, with a projected 8.8% CAGR from 2023-2028, as reported by IMARC Group. India's cocoa production is steadily increasing, with exports primarily directed to the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States.

14. Venezuela

Total Cocoa Production: 27,222 tons

Venezuela is another one of the top cocoa producing countries and its chocolate and confectionery market has steadily grown. Key export markets for Venezuelan cocoa beans include Indonesia, the United States, and Japan. Venezuela's total export revenue in 2018 was $35 billion, with cocoa significantly contributing, though the specific amount is unspecified. Venezuelan cocoa production is expected to have an annual growth rate of 0.4% despite a historical decline of 0.2% yearly since 1966.

13. Mexico

Total Cocoa Production: 28,105 tons

Cocoa is produced in Mexico's Tabasco, Chiapas, and Guerrero states. It's exported to the United States, Canada, and Europe, where demand for its unique high-quality cocoa is increasing. In 2022, cocoa bean prices in Mexico averaged around 2,877 Mexican pesos (169.02 USD) per ton. Mexico's cocoa sector has growth potential, with government efforts to boost production and exports and support small-scale farmers.

12. Uganda

Total Cocoa Production: 40,000 tons

Uganda is a notable cocoa producer in Africa, yielding approximately 40,000 metric tons annually. Cocoa production is expected to grow to 45,000 metric tons by 2026, with an average annual growth rate of 2.5%. Ugandan cocoa is mainly exported to Europe, the United States, and Asia and is sought after for its unique flavor by gourmet chocolate makers. As of September, Uganda cocoa beans retail for $2 to $3.5 per kilogram, approximately $0.91 to $1.59 per pound.

11. Papua New Guinea

Total Cocoa Production: 42,000 tons

Cocoa production is a significant industry in Papua New Guinea, constituting about 15% of exported agricultural commodities and benefiting over 150,000 households. In 2019, cocoa bean production in the country reached 36,000 tons, slightly increasing to around 38,000 metric tons in 2020. The cocoa industry's size in Papua New Guinea is approximately $85.8 million. While cocoa production has fluctuated over the years, it generally showed an upward trend from 1972 to 2021, with nearly 42,000 tons produced in 2021.

10. Colombia

Total Cocoa Production: 65,164 tons

Colombia ranks tenth globally in cocoa production, with 2021 yielding 65,164 metric tons from 194,428 hectares. Over the past 12 years, cocoa production in Colombia has increased by more than 60%. Colombia exports to 70 countries, with Mexico, Malaysia, Germany, the United States, and Argentina as the top destinations, accounting for over 90% of the market share. Colombian cocoa is predominantly recognized as 95% fine or flavor cocoa, surpassing South American competitors, owing to its exceptional quality and unique flavor, making Colombia one of the top cocoa producing countries in the world.

9. Dominican Republic

Total Cocoa Production: 70,630 tons

The Dominican Republic is renowned for its high-quality cocoa. The country produced over 70,000 metric tons in 2021, often in small production units crucial for farmer livelihoods. It's the world's top Fair Trade organic cocoa exporter, with significant players like Rizek Cacao SAS. Cooperative efforts, exemplified by the National Confederation of Dominican Cocoa Farmers (CONACADO), have been instrumental in the industry's development, particularly in organic cocoa exports and the enhancement of small farmers' productivity and income.

8. Peru

Total Cocoa Production: 160,221 tons

Peru standing eighth on our list is one of the largest cocoa producers globally, generating around 160,221 tons annually. Cocoa farming is predominantly on small two-hectare farms in the Eastern Andes and Amazon rainforest, with yields ranging from 1 to 2.5 metric tons per hectare. Over the past two decades, Peru's cocoa exports have soared from under $10 million in 2000 to over $158 million in 2021, as reported by OEC.

7. Nigeria

Total Cocoa Production: 280,000 tons

Nigeria's cocoa production has steadily increased to 280,000 metric tons in 2021. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) actively promotes cocoa exports, contributing to Nigeria's 122.9 billion earnings in 2022, with 89 billion coming from raw cocoa beans and products. The Nigerian cocoa processing market is set to grow at a 6.67% CAGR from 2023 to 2028 due to increased demand in the food and beverage industry, as reported by IMARC Group.

6. Cameroon

Total Cocoa Production: 290,000 tons

Cameroon, one of the world's top cocoa producing countries has seen steady production growth. In the 2021-2022 season, the country produced around 290,000 tonnes of cocoa beans. Certification has positively impacted cocoa production. In 2021, Cameroon exported $563 million in cocoa beans, mainly to the Netherlands and Malaysia, indicating a promising outlook for the cocoa industry.

Click to see and continue reading the Top 5 Cocoa Producing Countries In The World.

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Disclosure, None: The Top 20 Cocoa Producing Countries In The World is originally published on Insider Monkey.
The Mumba Devi Temple has long been a symbol of Mumbais rich heritage. About 25,000 people visit the temple every Sunday. Be it the provision of clean drinking water, medical assistance or wheelchair facility for people with mobility challenges, the Mumba Devi Trust has been taking proactive steps to ensure the well-being and comfort of the devotees. This has been made possible by the generous donations of its patrons and believers which include some eminent figures like Mr. Anant Mukesh Ambani.

While talking about Mr. Anant Mueksh Ambani, Hemant Jadhav, Manager of the Mumba Devi Trust said, Mandir ke development ke liye Anantji ne directly unhein contact karne ke liye bola hai.

The donations made are not just for upkeep and maintenance of the temple infrastructure, but also help the people associated with the Mumba Devi Temple. Jadhav further added, Diwali ho, Holi ho, koi bhi tyohaar ho, Anantji ne mandir ke staff ki hamesha madad ki hai. Kisi ko medical help chahiye toh unhone madad ki, Reliance Hospital ne madad ki, Covid ke samay unhone hamare mandir ke poore staff ko 3 baar poore maheene ka raashan donate kiya.

In the future, the Mumba Devi Trust plans to extend its hand for the good of others, including the construction of an old-age home. They are actively scouting for suitable locations in and around the city to make this vision a reality. This demonstrates the Trust's unwavering commitment to serving not only the spiritual needs of the community but also its welfare and well-being.
A. M. Naik, chairperson of Larsen & Toubro Group stepped down from the post on Saturday. The 81-year-old handed over the reins of the USD 23 billion conglomerate to S. N. Subrahmanyan at an event in Mumbai, reported PTI.

Naik will be the chairperson of the employees trust. He has played a significant role in the formation of the trust in 2003. For around six decades, Naik had remained the chairperson of the company.

He joined L&T in 1965 as a junior engineer and became the CEO of the company in 1999. He became the chairman in 2003.

According to a statement issued by L&T, he will be focusing on increasing many philanthropic initiatives that he has been undertaking for the past few years.

India Post also unveiled a postage stamp on Naik on the occasion.

In the nearly three decades in leadership roles, Naik helped the company grow to its present size and stature, the statement said.

Naik's attention going forward will be on his philanthropic initiatives, including the Naik Charitable Trust which focuses on education and skill-building of the underprivileged, and the Nirali Memorial Medical Trust dedicated to facilitating super speciality healthcare at subsidised cost, read the statement.

(With PTI inputs)
Kannada star Shivarajkumar has apologised to Tamil actor Siddharth after the latter had to walk out of a press meet in Bengaluru recently following protests from pro-Kannada outfits.



Actor Siddharth, was in Bengaluru on September 28 to promote his recent film Chithha and he had reportedly organised a special screening of the film for presspersons in the city. However, as the actor was interacting with the press, a few members of pro-Kannada outfits walked in and disrupted the press meet. The protesters asked the actor to stop the press meet and the actor had to walk out of the event midway. The actor, who is also the films producer said he incurred a huge loss later in an Instagram live.

The actor said he had plans to screen the film to Kannada stars that night but had to cancel it owing to the bandh. However, Kannada actors came in support of Siddharth and expressed regret over the incident.

Kannada star Shivarajkumar in a public meeting apologised to the actor for the incident. "On behalf of our industry, I am very sorry Siddharth. Ours is a land that loves and enjoys all languages," NDTV reported quoting the actor. Shivarajakumar urged that Karnataka and Tamil Nadu should come together to resolve Cauvery issue without hurting sentiments.

Earlier, actor Prakash Raj also expressed regret over the incident. Instead of questioning all the political parties and its leaders for failing to solve this decades-old issue... instead of questioning the useless parliamentarians who are not pressurising the centre to intervene... Troubling the common man and Artists like this can not be accepted.. as a Kannadiga .. on behalf of Kannadigas. Sorry, the actor tweeted.
A new study has discovered that merely climbing a minimum of 50 steps each day can significantly decrease the risk of heart disease. The research, conducted by Tulane University, highlights how ascending more than five flights of stairs daily can reduce the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease by an astonishing 20%.

Cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), along with coronary artery disease and stroke, are leading causes of both illness and mortality worldwide. Therefore, finding simple and effective preventive measures is of utmost importance.

Dr. Lu Qi, HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, stated, "Short bursts of high-intensity stair climbing are a time-efficient way to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and lipid profile, especially among those unable to achieve the current physical activity recommendations." Dr. Qi further emphasized the potential advantages of stair climbing as a primary preventive measure for ASCVD in the general population.

To conduct the study, researchers utilised data from the UK Biobank, which included information from 450,000 adults. Participants' susceptibility to cardiovascular disease was assessed based on family history, established risk factors, and genetic predisposition. Additionally, participants were surveyed regarding their lifestyle habits and frequency of stair climbing. The median follow-up time for the study was an impressive 12.5 years.

The findings, published in the esteemed journal Atherosclerosis, indicated that climbing stairs on a daily basis significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly in individuals who were less susceptible. Remarkably, the study also revealed that even those with a higher risk of heart disease could "effectively offset" this risk through regular stair climbing.

Dr. Qi highlighted the accessibility and affordability of stairs, making them an ideal option for incorporating exercise into one's daily routine. By utilizing the public availability of stairs, individuals can effortlessly integrate physical activity into their lives and reap the benefits of reduced heart disease risk.

"This study provides novel evidence for the protective effects of stair climbing on the risk of ASCVD, particularly for individuals with multiple ASCVD risk factors," Dr. Qi stated confidently.

The implications of this study are significant, as it offers a simple yet impactful solution to combatting heart disease. By encouraging individuals to incorporate stair climbing into their daily lives, the burden of cardiovascular diseases can be alleviated, leading to improved overall health and well-being. So, let's take the stairs and take charge of our heart health!
In the hustle and bustle of modern life, family mealtimes have emerged as a vital space for parents and children to connect, communicate, and strengthen their bonds. Yet, the ever-increasing demands of work can pose a significant challenge to maintaining this cherished tradition. A groundbreaking study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign delves into the intricate relationship between parents' job stress, their participation in family meals, and the subsequent impact on children's socioemotional development.

The study unveils the intricate dynamics between parents' work stress, family mealtimes, and child development. It calls for a reevaluation of societal expectations and policies to empower parents to maintain these vital family routines in an increasingly demanding world.

Lead author Sehyun Ju, a doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at U. of I., pointed out, "We all grapple with the delicate balancing act between our professional and family lives. For parents, who often find themselves juggling childcare responsibilities after a demanding and stressful day at work, this challenge can be especially daunting. Moreover, in dual-earner families, which constitute a substantial 65 percent of households with children in the United States, we have limited insight into how mothers and fathers share caregiving duties when under the duress of work-related stress."

The study, drawing upon data from over 1,400 dual-earner families, comprising heterosexual married couples with children, used a nationally representative survey to track children's development from the tender age of 9 months to kindergarten. The research centred on the complex interplay between child characteristics, family mealtimes, and parental job and financial dissatisfaction.

Ju elaborated on the findings, stating, "Our research revealed that children whose parents experienced heightened work-related stress when the child was 2 years old exhibited lower socioemotional competency at ages 4 to 5. This was reflected in reduced positive social behaviours and increased negative social behaviours."

Significantly, the study highlighted disparities in the impact of job stress between mothers and fathers. Mothers' job dissatisfaction did not correlate with a decrease in the frequency of family mealtimes. However, it was directly linked to lower socioemotional competency in their children. In contrast, fathers who reported increased job and financial dissatisfaction were less likely to participate in family mealtimes with their children, ultimately resulting in lower socioemotional competency in the young ones at ages 4 to 5.

Even when mothers attempted to compensate for the absence of fathers during mealtimes, the negative impact on the child's socioemotional development persisted. This suggests that fathers possess a distinct influence that cannot be substituted by mothers. The study suggests that future intervention programmes should strive to help both parents strike a healthier work-life balance while underscoring the significance of consistent family routines in fostering the healthy development of children.

The study's findings also shed light on the persistence of traditional gender roles. Karen Kramer, an associate professor in HDFS and co-author of the study, remarked, "Mothers are typically seen as the primary caregivers, expected to be present and feed their children regardless of their job satisfaction. However, our study revealed that mothers did not adjust their mealtime frequencies in response to job dissatisfaction, unlike fathers."

Kramer highlighted the study's unique interdisciplinary approach, which integrates elements from psychology, sociology, economics, and nutrition to provide holistic insights that could inform policy measures. She noted, "We must acknowledge the challenges that families encounter in establishing consistent routines. These challenges stem not only from individual factors but also from external influences, such as parents' work environments and financial situations, which can impact their interactions, mealtimes, and, consequently, child development."

The study noted that dinnertime for young children typically falls around five or six o'clock, but the expectation that parents must return home early to be 'ideal workers' often clashes with this schedule. Therefore, policy initiatives aimed at creating work environments and community support conducive to family mealtimes could prove to be pivotal in supporting families in this modern age.
Chris duMond / Shutterstock.com

A host of tax cuts introduced under former president Donald Trumps Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) are set to expire at the end of 2026. Notably, the opportunity zones (OZs) economic development tool, designed to entice real estate investors to build or rehab both residential and commercial properties in low-income communities, will disappear.

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The initiative brought more than $100 billion in equity into designated qualified opportunity zones across the U.S. However, many studies indicate that OZs likely have no effect on poverty, earnings, or employment  or even on housing prices in distressed communities.

One study out of the University of California, Irvine, found little evidence of salary increases in opportunity zones, except in areas where average wages were already trending upward. Likewise, poverty rates continued trending downward in areas where poverty was already beginning to improve.

A more recent analysis, published in the Journal of Urban Economics in July 2023, found limited evidence of any effect of OZs on job postings on average. However, the study went on to say that OZs had small positive effects in urban areas, areas with above median Black populations, and some states.

In conclusion, however, the study stated, We do not find evidence that zip codes with OZs have more job postings than comparable non-OZ zip codes over the whole sample.

Further Considerations Regarding the TCJA

Many factors may have disrupted the success of the opportunity zones program, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, with low unemployment rates across the country, its possible that it isnt realistic to see even greater improvement in OZ tracts.

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Beyond the more narrow discussion of opportunity zones and their impact on the economy, a separate Brookings Institution analysis found the following:

Story continues

Overall, the TCJAs advocates promised many supply-side benefits and promised they would materialize quickly. But at least for the first two years, the Act failed to deliver its promises on investment and growth, leaving the country instead with higher deficits and a less equal distribution of after-tax income.

The next two years will provide more evidence of whether or not the tax cuts worked. If signs point to success, legislators may vote to extend the program beyond 2026.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Trump Era Tax Cuts Are Expiring: What That Could Mean For the Job Market
Shiv Sena legislator Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday launched a scathing attack on foreign trips being undertaken by various ministers of the Maharashtra government.

Uddhav Thackeray's son Aaditya said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was planning to go to UK and Germany but there was no agenda prepared for this tour. This trip got cancelled after my tweet questioning the purpose behind this tour. Now they are claiming that it has been postponed due to drought and excessive rain in parts of the state, said Aaditya.

He also said that speaker of the state assembly canceled his trip to Ghana following another tweet by him. Speaker was to travel to Ghana to speak on parliamentary democracy. He is supposed to decide various disqualification petitions that he is hearing. The Supreme Court has already said that hearings should happen in a time-bound manner. So what was he going to speak in Ghana when he is delaying the hearings here. After we raised this issue the trip got cancelled, he stated.

Then Aaditya spoke about industry minister's upcoming trip to Switzerland, Germany and the UK. What is the agenda for this tour? The World Economic Forum happened in Davos in January. If you go now, Davos is back to being a small town. So why are you going there and wasting peoples money? asked Aaditya.

Targeting Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his recent Japan trip where he received an honorary doctorate, Aaditya asked, Was the expenditure for Japan trip borne by the Japanese government? No, it is to be paid by MIDC as a post facto approval. I have no problem if anyone wants to travel abroad but please travel on your own money."

Aaditya also questioned CM Shindes Davos trip last January. Unconstitutional CM was there for 28 hours and the government spent more than Rs 40 crore. When we carried out our Davos trip during MVA government, each and every detail was planned minutely and everything was announced on Twitter. Why cant we see the same about these foreign trips? he asked.
The Karnataka government will file a review petition before the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Supreme Court on Saturday.

On Friday, the CWMA endorsed the direction of its assisting body, Cauvery Water Regulation Committe (CRWC) asking Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, "We do not have water and therefore cannot release water".

The chief minister spoke to reporters at his Home-Office 'Krishna' after a meeting with retired Supreme Court judges and former Advocate Generals of the state.

Siddaramaiah said they have given some opinion and suggestions. It was suggested to form an expert advisory committee to the government exclusively regarding the irrigation projects of the state.

"Data collection and advisory work should be done by the committee. The committee should advise the government and provide information to the legal team about inter-state water disputes," he said about the suggestion aired in the meeting.

Siddaramaiah said action will be taken accordingly.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Home Minister G. Parameshwara, Law Minister H.K. Patil and Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy were among those present at the meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called the womens reservation law a path-breaking legislative effort the impact of which will be felt in the country over the next thousand years. Addressing a Parivartan Maha Sankalp Rally at Bilaspur in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, Modi accused the ruling Congress of dividing women on the lines of caste.

"Our government fulfilled one more promise that we had made to the people. Under the women's reservation law, 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures would now be set aside for women. Nari Shakti Adhiniyam is now a reality under the BJP rule," Modi was quoted as saying by ANI.

Congress has raised concerns over the non-provision of an OBC sub quota within the womens reservation. The prime minister, however, said the grand old party is worried about the electoral fallout as the legislation has brought unity among women in the country.

"The Congress and its allies are rattled and upset since this legislation secured passage in both Houses of Parliament. They are only worried about the electoral fallout, fearing that the women will shower their blessings on Modi. Afraid of the oneness and awareness that this law has brought about among our women, the opposition has now resorted to dividing them on the lines of caste. This is nothing but a poll gimmick," he said.

No more tolerance to atrocities

Modi said people of Chhattisgarh has decided not to tolerate the atrocities perpetrated on them by the Congress government.

"A change is in the air in Chhattisgarh. The excitement that I sense among the people itself demonstrates their desire to vote for change. The people of Chhattisgarh have decided not to tolerate the atrocities perpetrated on them by this Congress government," he said.

Addressing the gathering, Modi further promised to fulfill peoples dreams and aspirations if BJP is voted to power in the state.

No matter how much we try to meet the expectations of the people from the Centre, the Congress government here scuttles all our efforts in this direction," he aalleged.
The father of the man arrested for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh on Friday demanded capital punishment for his son, while the local bar association appealed that no lawyer should defend him in the court.

The opposition Congress, meanwhile, continued to target the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh over the incident and questioned the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Bharat Soni, an autorickshaw driver, was arrested in the case on Thursday.

It is a shameful act. Neither have I gone to hospital to meet him, no will I go to the police station or courts. My son has committed a crime, therefore he should be hanged, his father told reporters.

Ujjain Bar Council president Ashok Yadav said the incident had damaged the reputation of the temple city.

"We are appealing to our members not to take up the case of the accused," he said.

Bharat Soni was arrested three days after a girl, aged about 12, was found walking on the city streets in injured condition.

Medical examination established that she had been raped.

Soni sustained injury when he allegedly tried to escape while being taken to the crime spot for investigation, police had said on Thursday.

The girl is admitted to the Government Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar Women's Hospital in Indore where she underwent a major surgery on Wednesday.

A counsellor interacted with her and found that she belongs to the Satna district of MP. But she could not tell her name or address properly.

Police had said that a complaint about a girl of the same age going missing had been registered in Satna, but it was to be confirmed if the rape survivor was the same girl.

The Congress slammed the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh where assembly elections are due by the year-end.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate alleged that the law-and-order situation in the state had considerably deteriorated under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"In Madhya Pradesh, being a Dalit, tribal and woman has become a sin. Madhya Pradesh is number one in rapes of minors. Fifty-eight thousand rape cases and 68,000 kidnapping cases have been reported in 18 years of his (Chouhan's) rule. But the country's prime minister, home minister and all the BJP leaders are just sitting silent," Shrinate told reporters in Delhi.

She also questioned the "silence" of Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) over the incident.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, the Congress general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh, claimed that the attack on this "Dalit girl" was more brutal than that on the Nirbhaya case victim.

Surjewala also visited the Holkar Women's Hospital in Indore.
Two infiltrators trying to cross the Line of Control were killed by the security forces in an encounter at Machil in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara.



In a post on X, the Kupwara police said the operation against the militants was launched in the Kumkadiara area of the Machil Sector after receiving specific input. Police said the two infiltrators were killed and the operation was in progress.

"Based on an intelligence input provided by Kupwara Police, in a joint operation carried by Army and Police in Kumkadi area of Machal sector, two infiltrating terrorists have been killed so far. The operation is still in progress," police said. Two AK rifles, four magazines, 90 rounds, a pistol, a pouch and Pakistani currency notes were also recovered from the encounter site

Infiltration bids are on the rise of late but most attempts have been thwarted by the security forces. On September 16, three militants were killed near the LoC at Hathlanga, Uri in Baramulla. The encounter had started during a search operation in the area by a joint team of Army and Police in the area.

During the search operation, the security forces came under fire triggering an encounter in which one unidentified militant was killed initially. Later two militants were killed in the firefight between the security forces.

Since September 17, six incidents of infiltration have been foiled by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. Two incidents occurred in Reasis Chassana area and the Narla area of Rajouri and the rest in north Kashmirs Uri, Baramulla and Kupwara.

The militants have also changed tactics and resorted to more deadly attacks along areas close to the Pir Panjal including south Kashmirs Kulgama and Anantnag districts.

On September 13, two army officers, a Colonel and a Major, a soldier and a DSP of police were killed in a fierce encounter at Gadole forest, Kokernag in Anantnag.

The Army and J&K police surrounded the forest and killed the two militants involved in the attacks after seven days, the longest operation in Kashmir in a decade.
In his first public meeting ahead of assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government in the state vehemently, focusing on OBC politics including caste census, corruption and farmers issues.

Gandhi went to the extent of saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, contrary to his (Modis) claims, does not run a government for OBCs. Rather, he does the work given to him by the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). He distracts your attention and spreads violence and hatred, Gandhi said at the public meeting in Polaykala of Shajapur district. The event was held as part of the ongoing Jan Aakrosh Yatra of the Congress in the state.

Much of Gandhis speech remained focused on the issue of caste census and OBC politics as he tried to underline that the Modi government has short shrifted the huge community by keeping their actual numbers in the dark.

While the Congress leadership and Gandhi have been taking up the issue of caste census for quite some time now, the focus on the issue in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh makes sense because the state has almost 52 per cent OBC population. A report by the State OBC Commission last year said that there were 48 per cent OBC voters in the state.

With the BJP focusing on the 49 per cent women voters through its schemes like the Ladli Behna, the Congress probably feels it crucial to address another major chunk of voters in the state in the form of OBCs. Though a large section of the OBC community has traditionally been considered BJP supporters, the issue of OBC reservation has made quite an impact in the state with the different sections of the OBC community coming together to demand reservation equivalent to population.

The Congresss focus on the community became clearer when Rahul Gandhi, on the prompting of MP Congress chief Kamal Nath, came back after finishing his speech to say that the Congress government had passed a bill for 27 per cent OBC quota in the state, but the BJP retracted it (the matter is in the court).

Gandhi said that the three out of four Congress chief ministers in the country were OBCs and went on to ask that if indeed Modis government meant welfare of OBCs, then why only three of the 90 secretaries running the government of India were OBCs. Why were there no OBC officers in the cabinet secretariat three or four years ago, he asked.

He said that for the name sake, there are OBC members of parliaments and MLAs in the country, but none of them are asked anything when welfare plans and schemes are made, because everythinghow much money is to be spent for health, education, rural employment guarantee scheme or right to food schemesis decided by the 90 secretaries. But out of the approximately 45 lakh crores budget, only 5 per cent is in the control of the three OBC secretaries, he said.

Is there only 5 per cent of the OBC population in the country? No, there are at least 50 per cent OBCs in the country. Then why don't they have any control over the budget? When I ask all these questions, the BJP people start trembling. Modi ji runs away, (Home minister) Amit Shah begins talking of something else and the Hindu-Muslim issue is raked up and they try to spread hatred, Gandhi said.

But the biggest issue before the country today is the caste census. When our government is formed at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct a caste census and make the numbers of different communities public. Actually, the Congress government had conducted the caste census and Narendra Modi has the entire data, but he does not want the OBC people to know their actual number. He does not want to give them true participation in power. He puts your people in the assembly but silences them, he added.

Gandhi further said, But we want to ensure participation for all, give a fair price of crops to the farmers. This is India for everyone; not of two or three industrialists. So our first work will be to conduct a caste census and as soon as our government comes, we will let the country know the data on different castes. We truly want to give power to the people and therefore we will get X-Ray, MRI of India conducted (in reference to diagnostic tests being important to pinpoint a disease).

Earlier, Gandhi also mentioned that while the Congress supported womens reservation bill wholeheartedly, it asked the government why there were riders of a census/survey and delimitation of seats before reservation was implemented. Also, the Congress had asked why the bill did not have provisions of OBC reservation (within reservation), Gandhi said.

MP made epicenter of corruption

At the beginning of his speech, Gandhi said that during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he met many youth, women and farmers and everyone gave him an indication that Madhya Pradesh had been made an epicenter of corruption by the BJP government. The extent of corruption that the BJP is doing in Madhya Pradesh is being done nowhere in the country. They are usurping even the funds meant for mid-day meals and school uniforms of the children. They stole money meant for the Mahakal corridor. Everyone knows about the Vyapam scam; how it destroyed the future of almost one crore youth. MBBS seats are sold and papers are leaked. This is the rule of BJP in Madhya Pradesh, he said.

Farmers issues

Taking up the issues of farmers, he said that they were not getting fair price for their produce in MP and gave the example of Chhattisgarh where the Congress government was giving Rs 2,500 per quintal of price for paddy to farmers. Everyday three farmers die by suicide in Madhya Pradesh; in the past 18 years, 18,000 have died. But the BJP works only for selected people. For the first time, GST was put on farmers and black laws were framed. Farmers rose in protest across the nation. Modi ji said that the laws were for the welfare of farmers. Then why was their protest? Modi ji thought farmers wont understand the reality that the laws were meant for the benefit of 2-3 billionaires.

Indicates Kamal Nath as chief minister

Gandhi said that the Congress wants to work for the poor and weaker sections. In Karnataka women were getting free bus rides; in Chhattisgarh, farm loans were waived and fair price for produce given; in Rajasthan free surgeries, treatment and medicines were being provided as a right. Indicating that Kamal Nath was the partys choice as chief minister in MP, Gandhi said We want to run a government for the people, not for one or two industrialists. Kamal Nath can do this work. He had started doing it (in previous tenure) and he will be completing the work.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Jayant Patil on Saturday said his faction trusts the Election Commission of India to take the right decision on the party name and symbol amid the tussle with the group headed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP split on July 2 after Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs, including Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil, joined the Eknath Shinde government.

Both groups have petitioned the ECI for the party name and symbol.

"We have written to the ECI on the matter. These days the method of stealing parties is on but we have complete faith in the ECI to give the right decision," Patil told reporters.

"Sharad Pawar is the founder and president of NCP. Some people are trying to push him aside," he said in a swipe at Ajit Pawar who, immediately after the split, had said the NCP chief was over 80 years old and must give the reins of the outfit to the next generation of leaders.

Speaking on quota issues in the state, Patil said a "caste census" must be conducted to give justice to Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

He also said Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar must take a quick decision on the disqualification pleas against several Shiv Sena MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

The Shiv Sena had split in June last year into factions led by Shinde, which got the party name and symbol, and former CM Uddhav Thackeray, whose group is now known as Shiv Sena (UBT).
Who killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Khalistani separatist wanted by India? Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of the crime, but India has vehemently denied it.

It is indeed easy for the world to believe Trudeaus charge because Nijjar has been remote-controlling several criminal gangs within Punjab. They have been carrying out the criminal activities, but Nijjar has been claiming to be an activist which gives him legitimacy in Canada. Canadas laws allow such political activity, (even separatist ones ) even if they are frowned upon by countries that are friendly to Canada. Nijjar has been claiming to have been the head of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) which has links with Pakistan.

Now reports have started appearing in the media that Pakistans ISI might have had a hand in the killing of Nijjar, but then the question arises as to why ISI should kill Nijjar if he was running anti-India operations. The simple logic put forward in these reports is that ISI would have done it to drive a wedge between India and Canada.

However, Indian intelligence experts rule out this possibility. This theory seems to have been circulated now to deflect attention from Indias concerns about western countries harbouring anti-India elements on their soil, said a senior officer. This could very well be an afterthought, as Indias charge against Canada is also a bigger concern of friendly countries harbouring anti-India elements.

According to security officials in New Delhi, this is an attempt to make the whole Nijjar affair an India-Pakistan issue, instead of an India-Canada issue, which it is.

Indian agencies, who have been keeping a close watch on the banned terror outfits and their operatives on foreign soil, believe Nijjar was killed in a gang rivalry on Canadian soil. We have been warning Canada about this all alongthat these gangsters would become an embarassment for Canada at some point when they start killing each other, and they did not take it seriously, the officer said. To put the blame on India-Pakistan issues is not acceptable to New Delhi.

India has been sharing dossiers on Nijjar and other Khalistani elements with Canadian Intelligence Security Service as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but Canada has been ignoring them, said the officer. According to him, the only action that Canada seems to have taken against Nijjar was to put him on a no-fly list.

As per records available with Indian authorities, Nijjar has been conspiring with other Canada-based gangsters like Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dalla to instil fear among the largely pro-India Sikh populace in Canada, and also masterminding terror in India. He was allegedly the mastermind behind the Ludhiana bomb blast of 2007; the murder of president of Rashtriya Singh Sangat, Rulda Singh in 2009; the killing of Hindu priest Kamaldeep Sharma in Jalandhar; the explosion in Satya Narayan temple in Patiala in 2010; and the assassination of self-proclaimed spiritual leader Piara Singh Bhaniara alias Baba Bhaniara. They also believe he had hatched plans to target Shiv Sena leaders in 2015-16. He was designated as an individual terrorist under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the Union Home Ministry on July 1, 2020.

A dossier on Nijjar shared by Indian agencies with their counterparts in Canada says it all. It says Nijjar had fled India on a fake passport on February 19, 1997. He was arrested on landing in Toronto, and his plea for asylum, saying that he was a political refugee, was rejected. He married a British Columbian woman who sponsored his immigration, but again it was rejected as the authorities suspected that his marriage was staged. But subsequently he was given Canadian citizenship and a passport. He visited Pakistan in 2013-14, where he met Jagtar Singh Tara of KTF. In 2015, the ISI is learnt to have roped him in organising secret training camps for Khalistani extremists in Mission Hills in British Columbia, it says.

Indian agencies also suspect him of having links with US-based Gurpatwant Pannun, who is a declared terrorist and founder of the banned Sikhs for Justice. Pannun is said to have used Nijjars network to gather support for his pet project Referendum 2020 on Canadian soil. The outcome was visible Khalistani posters and demonstrations seen in Canada especially during the G20 summit in New Delhi, which prompted diplomats to remind Canadians of their worry.

As many as nine separatist organisations with direct affiliation to terror elements are operating from Canadian soil, according to home ministry records. These include Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested another accused in a case related to a transnational conspiracy by Mynamar and Bangladesh-based leadership of terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the current ethnic strife in Manipur.

The agency said it arrested Seiminlun Gangte in an intelligence-based joint operation with Manipur Police. He has been brought to Delhi and will be produced before the jurisdictional court.

This is the second arrest in this case. On September 22, the NIA had arrested one Moirangthem Anand Singh from Manipur.

The case was registered suo moto by the NIA on July 19 in Delhi. The investigations revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh-based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the Indian government, the central agency said in a statement.

And for this purpose, the aforementioned leadership has been providing funds to procure arms, ammunition, and other types of terrorist hardware which are being sourced both from across the border, as well as from other terrorist outfits active in northeastern states of India to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur, it said.

Further investigations in the case are in progress, the agency said.
Physicists have announced that antimatter falls downward, resolving a long-standing question in the realm of particle physics. The study, conducted by the ALPHA collaboration at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland, sheds light on the elusive nature of antimatter.

Antimatter is believed to have been created in equal amounts alongside regular matter during the Big Bang, the cosmic event thought to have birthed the universe. While matter consists of particles, antimatter comprises antiparticles, possessing identical mass but opposing properties. Despite this fundamental understanding, much about antimatter remains a mystery.

The ALPHA collaboration's research reveals that antihydrogen atoms, the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen, obey the same gravitational laws as conventional matter. This observation dispels the notion of repulsive 'antigravity,' as detailed in their study published in the journal Nature.

These findings mark a significant milestone in the exploration of antimatter, bringing us closer to unravelling its enigmatic properties. The properties and governing laws of antimatter have long baffled scientists, who are still puzzled by the universe's apparent lack of antimatter.

A noteworthy achievement in antimatter research occurred in June 2011 when CERN scientists successfully trapped antimatter atoms for over 16 minutes, enabling in-depth studies of their characteristics. The latest study builds upon this progress by capturing groups of approximately 100 antihydrogen atoms, one group at a time, and slowly releasing them over a 20-second period.

While a regular hydrogen atom consists of an electron and a proton, an antihydrogen atom comprises a positron (a positively charged electron) and an antiproton (a negatively charged proton). Creating these antihydrogen particles involved slowing down antiprotons and binding them with positrons.

One challenge in studying antimatter is its propensity to interact with regular matter, resulting in annihilation. To prevent this, the lab-created antimatter was confined within a magnetic trap, maintaining a controlled environment. Subsequently, the antihydrogen particles were released in a vertical setup to observe and measure their response to gravity.

Jeffrey Hangst, spokesperson for ALPHA, stated, "It's taken us 30 years to learn how to make this anti-atom, hold on to it, and control it well enough that we could actually drop it in a way that it would be sensitive to the force of gravity."

Antimatter's interaction with matter leads to annihilation, producing radiant energy in the process. This radiant energy, existing in the absence of matter, has been a subject of intense scientific interest.

"In physics, you don't really know something until you observe it. This is the first direct experiment to actually observe a gravitational effect on the motion of antimatter," explained Hangst, an experimental particle physicist at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Timothy Friesen from the University of Calgary, Canada, remarked, "We know there's a problem somewhere in quantum mechanics and gravity. We just don't know what it is. There has been a lot of speculation on what happens if you drop antimatter, though it's never been tested before now because it's so hard to produce and gravity is very weak."

William Bertsche of the University of Manchester, UK, and Deputy Spokesperson of ALPHA, noted, "Einstein's General Theory of Relativity describes how gravity works. Until now, we weren't entirely sure if this theory applied to antimatter. This experiment proves that it does and affirms one of the most celebrated scientific theories of all time."

The next phase of research aims to precisely measure antimatter's acceleration, further investigating whether matter and antimatter indeed experience the same gravitational effects. This discovery represents a significant leap forward in our quest to understand the fundamental properties of the universe.
The High Commission of India, London in a strong statement on Saturday had termed the Glasgow incident, where an Indian envoy was allegedly stopped from entering a Gurudwara, as "disgraceful".

The Commission said that it was a deliberate attempt by "three persons", all from areas outside Scotland, to disrupt the envoy's planned interaction with the community leaders. The interaction was organised by the Gurudwara Committee, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India, to discuss community and consular issues.

The High Commission stated that the "disgraceful incident" has been reported to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police as well.

"One of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the HC's car- a matter that will require suitable police consideration" stated the High Commission.

The HC also noted that a bigger incident was avoided with the intervention of the organisers present at the site.

The community leaders, ladies, committee members and a member of Scottish Parliament were threatened and abused by these elements, the statement further added.

Indias envoy to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, who was visiting a gurudwara in Glasgow was allegedly stopped by pro-Khalistani youths from entering the place. A video posted on the Instagram handle Sikh Youth UK shows the ambassadors car being stopped by Khalistani supporters and the car leaving the premises.

The Indian ambassador to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami was refused entry to Glasgow Gurdwara Albert Dr today. There is an ongoing ban on Indian officials coming to their gurdwara in an official capacity. Sikh nuajwan confronted him and removed him from the gurdwara premises," read the Instagram post.

Later, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) condemned the incident. The Committee in a statement sais that the envoy should not have been stopped from entering the gurdwara.
Duane Keith Keffe D Davis who was one of the four suspects in the fatal September 1996 drive-by shooting of US rapper Tupac Shakur was arrested and charged with murder on Friday.

Davis, now 60, is not accused of shooting the rapper but was identified as the group's ringleader who prosecutors say ordered the killing. He reportedly plotted the shooting after his nephew was involved in a fight with Shakur at a casino.

Who is Duane Keith 'Keffe D' Davis?

Davis is one of the last living individuals who conspired to kill Shakur. He was arrested during a walk near his home in Las Vegas. The arrest came hours before prosecutors announced in court that a Nevada grand jury had indicted him on one count of murder with a deadly weapon.

Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out, AP quoted police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson as saying.

Davis's home was raided in July

The investigation was revived based on Davis' public comments, according to authorities. In mid-July, Las Vegas police raided Davis' home in Henderson to recover items linked to Shakur's murder.

Police reportedly seized computers, a cellphone, a hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, .40-caliber bullets, photographs and a copy of Davis' memoir from the house.

In his 2019 tell-all memoir, Compton Street Legend, Davis admitted that he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting. He confessed the same in many interviews too.

Awaiting justice for 27 years

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Shakur has been awaiting justice for the past 27 years, adding that While I know there's been many people who did not believe that the murder of Tupac Shakur was important to this police department, I'm here to tell you that is simply not the case.

Prosecutors said they have been in contact with the rapper's family, who are pleased with this news. A six-time Grammy nominee, Shakur is among the most influential rappers of all time.

What happened on Sept 7, 1996?

On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur was waiting at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip in BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion Suge Knight, when some men in a white Cadillac started firing at them.

Shakur, 25, died a week later at hospital. Knight who had only minor injuries is serving a 28-year sentence in a California prison for an unrelated voluntary manslaughter charge.
Female prison guards serving in the Israel Prison Service are under suspicion by authorities for allegedly engaging in intimate relations with a prisoner, according to a report by The Jerusalem Post. In response to these allegations, IPS Chief Katy Perry and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir jointly announced the immediate cessation of female guards' service in Israel's security prisons.

This decision followed a meeting between National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and the head of IPS, convened in the wake of reports detailing an 'intimate relationship' between a female prison guard and a detained terrorist. In connection with this incident, one soldier has been arrested, and an investigation into the matter is currently underway. Certain details of the case have been subjected to a gag order.

The arrested soldier is suspected of maintaining an intimate relationship with a terrorist while serving as a warden. Furthermore, there are additional allegations involving other wardens engaging in similar relationships with prisoners. The warden involved in the initial incident confessed to her actions during routine questioning by the Information Security Branch of the Prison Service. Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Warden Investigations Unit in Lahav 443. It is anticipated that the prisoner involved in this case will be interrogated in the coming days.
India on Saturday raised with the United Kingdom the denial of entry to Indias High Commissioner to a Gurudwara in Glasgow. India reportedly raised the issue with the UKs foreign office and the British police.



Indias envoy to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, who was visiting a gurudwara in Glasgow was reportedly stopped by pro-Khalistani youths from entering the place. A video posted on the Instagram handle Sikh Youth UK shows the ambassadors car being stopped by Khalistani supporters and the car leaving the premises.

According to reports, the Doraiswami was touring Scotland this week. During a planned visit to Glasgow Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib on Albert Drive on Friday, members of Sikh Youths UK posted videos of their face-off with gurdwara officials as a few of them approached the High Commissioner's car and asked him to leave.

"Doraiswami was on Friday stopped by a few radicals from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow. The Indian High Commissioner decided to leave instead of getting into an argument," ANI reported quoting government sources.

In the Instagram post, they said, The Indian ambassador to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami was refused entry to Glasgow Gurdwara Albert Dr today. There is an ongoing ban on Indian officials coming to their gurdwara in an official capacity. Sikh nuajwan confronted him and removed him from the gurdwara premises.

It follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement in the country's Parliament last week that the authorities are actively pursuing credible allegations" related to Indian government involvement in the murder of Nijjar, a designated terrorist, allegations which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has strongly rejected as absurd and motivated.

This is exactly how we should be greeting any Indian ambassador, anyone from the Indian government who comes in an official capacity under any excuse of doing visa applications or whatever it might be, a Sikh man is heard saying in a video posted on social media following the altercation in Glasgow.

According to officials in the know, the meeting at the gurdwara had been organised as part of the events at the request of the gurdwara committee to meet Sikh groups and address their concerns over consular and other matters. Sources said the unnecessary altercation by a few outsiders and radical elements interrupted an interaction and community engagement planned by a majority of peace-loving Sikhs in the city.

During his meeting with Scotland's First Minister, Hamza Yousaf, the issue of British Sikh Jagtar Singh Johal in custody on terrorism charges in India was also raised.

Replying to some issues raised by FM (First Minister Hamza) Yousaf, HC (High Commissioner) stressed that due process is being given under laws to Mr Johal, who faces 8 serious terror charges. FM also appreciated' HC's clear message that rights of all communities are guaranteed in India's pluralist and free democracy, the Indian High Commission tweeted with reference to the meeting.

(With PTI inputs.)
The US is on the brink of a federal government shutdown after hard-right Republicans in Congress rejected a longshot effort to keep offices open as they fight for steep spending cuts and strict border security measures that Democrats and the White House say are too extreme.



Come midnight Saturday with no deal in place, federal workers will face furloughs, more than 2 million active duty and reserve military troops will work without pay and programmes and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast will begin to face shutdown disruptions.

The Senate will be in for a rare Saturday session to advance its own bipartisan package that is supported by Democrats and Republicans and would fund the government for the short-term, through November 17.

But even if the Senate can rush to wrap up its work this weekend to pass the bill, which also includes money for Ukraine aid and U.S. disaster assistance, it won't prevent an almost certain shutdown amid the chaos in the House. On Friday, a massive hard-right revolt left Speaker Kevin McCarthy's latest plan to collapse.

"Congress has only one option to avoid a shutdown - bipartisanship," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

"Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell echoed the sentiment, warning his own hard-right colleagues there is nothing to gain by shutting down the federal government. It heaps unnecessary hardships on the American people, as well as the brave men and women who keep us safe," McConnell said.

The federal government is heading straight into a shutdown that poses grave uncertainty for federal workers in states all across America and the people who depend on them - from troops to border control agents to office workers, scientists and others.

Families that rely on Head Start for children, food benefits and countless other programmes large and small are confronting potential interruptions or outright closures. At the airports, Transportation Security Administration officers and air traffic controllers are expected to work without pay, but travellers could face delays in updating their US passports or other travel documents.

Congress has been unable to fund the federal agencies or pass a temporary bill in time to keep offices open for the start of the new fiscal year Sunday in large part because McCarthy has faced unsurmountable resistance from right-flank Republicans who are refusing to run the government as usual.

McCarthy's last-ditch plan to keep the federal government temporarily open collapsed in dramatic fashion Friday as a robust faction of 21 hard-right holdouts opposed the package, despite steep spending cuts of nearly 30 pc to many agencies and severe border security provisions, calling it insufficient.

The White House and Democrats rejected the Republican approach as too extreme. The Democrats voted against it. The House bill's failure a day before Saturday's deadline to fund the government leaves few options to prevent a shutdown.

"It's not the end yet; I've got other ideas," a clearly agitated McCarthy told reporters as he exited the chamber.

Later Friday, after a heated closed-door meeting of House Republicans that pushed into the evening, McCarthy said he was considering options - among them, a two-week stopgap funding measure similar to the effort from hard-right senators that would be certain to exclude any help for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Even though the House bill already axed routine Ukraine aid, an intensifying Republican resistance to the war effort means the Senate's plan to attach $6 billion President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking from the US may have bipartisan support from Democrats but not from most of McCarthy's Republicans.

Republican Sen Rand Paul of Kentucky is working to stop the Ukraine funds in the Senate package. "We continue to work through trying to find out of this," McCarthy told reporters. "There are no winners in a government shutdown and I think that's the best way forward, make sure the government does not shut down."

The White House has brushed aside McCarthy's overtures to meet with President Joe Biden after the speaker walked away from the debt deal they brokered earlier this year that set budget levels.

On Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "The path forward to fund the government has been laid out by the Senate with bipartisan support - House Republicans just need to take it."

Catering to his hard-right flank, McCarthy had returned to the spending limits the conservatives demanded back in January as part of the deal-making to help him become the House speaker.

The House package would not have cut the Defence, Veterans or Homeland Security departments but would have slashed almost all other agencies by up to 30 per cent - steep hits to a vast array of programs, services and departments Americans routinely depend on.

It also added strict new border security provisions that would kickstart building the wall at the southern border with Mexico, among other measures. Additionally, the package would have set up a bipartisan debt commission to address the nation's mounting debt load.

As soon as the floor debate began, McCarthy's chief Republican critic, Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida, announced he would vote against the package, urging his colleagues to not surrender. Gaetz said afterwards that the "speaker's bill went down in flames as I've told you all week it would".

He and others rejecting the temporary measure want the House to keep pushing through the 12 individual spending bills needed to fund the government, typically a weeks-long process, as they pursue their conservative priorities.

Republicans leaders announced later Friday that the House would stay in session next week, rather than return home, to keep working on some of the 12 spending bills.

Some of the Republican holdouts, including Gaetz, are allies of Donald Trump, who is Biden's chief rival in 2024. The former president has been encouraging the Republicans to fight hard for their priorities and even to shut it down.

The hard right, led by Gaetz, has been threatening McCarthy's ouster, with a looming vote to try to remove him from the speaker's office unless he meets the conservative demands. Still, it's unclear if any other Republican would have support from the House majority to lead the party.

Late Friday, Trump turned his ire to McConnell on social media, complaining the Republican leader and other GOP senators are weak and ineffective and making compromises with Democrats. He urged them, "Don't do it!"
Key partners Microsoft & CloudThat join hands to make the workforce of businesses AI-ready.



Authored by Bhavesh Goswami, CEO & Founder, CloudThat



BENGALURU, India, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Generative AI is a buzz across industries, and every formal or informal tech discussion revolves around the possibilities and limitations of futuristic Generative AI tools. Generative AI, in simple words, is an Artificial Intelligence tool that accepts inputs from humans in Natural Language and creates original content in various forms that include text, images, music, or even software code. Microsoft has pioneered the Generative AI revolution through initiatives that can transform almost any business you name. This article attempts to capture how Microsoft is taking up the developments in the Generative AI space to empower organizations from different sectors to be future-ready with its own AI tools. Also, Microsoft is collaborating with its Authorized Solutions Partners like CloudThat to nurture the workforce ecosystem to be Generative AI-ready.



Utilizing Generative AI to Accelerate Automation:



Microsoft's Generative AI initiatives are revolutionizing industries by automating complex IT tasks. This enhances employee experiences and customer interactions and boosts efficiency in developer communities. Organizations can achieve increased efficiency, improved work-life balance, and reduced operational costs by providing dependable automated support. Azure OpenAI Service is pivotal in this transformation, empowering IT professionals to acquire resources and enabling employees to manage routine human resource tasks independently. Overall, these initiatives are reshaping IT operations and paving the way for a future defined by efficiency, innovation, and exceptional employee experiences.



Role of Generative AI in Content Creation and Design:



Effective content creation and design are vital for attracting and engaging customers. Generative AI empowers businesses to produce compelling content swiftly, transforming content creation with high-quality images, videos, and graphics. This innovation automates creative processes, saving time and resources. By incorporating brand information, customers can easily generate customized content using predefined templates for different purposes, enhancing online campaigns, marketing emails, and more.



Personalized Marketing and Generative AI



Generative AI empowers businesses to execute hyper-personalized marketing campaigns. By scrutinizing customer data, generative algorithms have the capacity to generate dynamic content tailored precisely to an individual's preferences. This not only heightens engagement but also bolsters conversion rates.



Leveraging platforms driven by Azure OpenAI Service, brands can engage in individualized customer conversations, ensuring an ongoing and limitless exchange. These interactions are seamlessly digitized, capturing customers' requests, intentions, and preferences to fine-tune the platform. This iterative process enhances the productivity of future interactions, leading to more fruitful customer engagement.



Medical Research and Diagnosis



In healthcare, swift disease diagnosis can enhance patient outcomes, and generative models are crucial in achieving this goal.



Researchers harness generative models to analyze medical images, detect anomalies, and advance new treatments. Furthermore, generative AI algorithms aid in disease diagnosis by analyzing patient symptoms and medical records, potentially leading to more precise and timely diagnoses.



In hospitals, case notes for a single patient can accumulate around 2,000 documents. In the past, retrieving information from documents 1,300 files ago was challenging. However, with Azure Cognitive Search, this process now takes as little as three seconds to locate a keyword across all 2,000 documents, revolutionizing the accessibility of critical medical information.



Power Up Chatbots & Virtual Assistants with Generative AI:



Generative AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants offer rapid and precise answers to customer inquiries.



These smart-systems comprehend and address customer questions, offer suggestions, and provide tailored assistance. This elevates customer service, minimizes waiting periods, streamlines operations, and amplifies both customer satisfaction and loyalty.



Employing a shared chatbot foundation in conjunction with Azure Bot Services, numerous organizations enable minimally tech-savvy employees to create bots independently. This approach significantly reduces the time and cost required compared to traditional chatbot development, efficiently serving internal teams and customers.



Accelerating Product & Service Innovation:



Remaining innovative and addressing changing customer needs are critical for achieving business success.



In the past, journalists were experts who concentrated on research and writing. Nowadays, they must possess a wider skill set, including generating both written and video content, while also excelling in maximizing audience engagement across various platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more.



Numerous enterprises are leveraging Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to create AI-powered tools. These tools take on the substantial work required to enhance story distribution and transform written articles into captivating videos.



Fraud Detection and Cybersecurity:



Businesses encounter ongoing risks from fraudulent activities and cyber assaults.



By analyzing patterns and anomalies within extensive datasets, businesses can employ generative models to identify and thwart fraud, ensure the security of sensitive data, and fortify their digital resources.



Numerous enterprises are adopting federated learning methodologies in conjunction with Azure Machine Learning and Azure confidential computing. This allows them to construct anomaly detection models for transactional data without necessitating the replication or relocation of data from secure enclaves.



Predictive Analytics and Forecasting:



Precise predictions and forecasts are crucial for optimal decision-making and operational effectiveness.



Generative AI models are exceptionally proficient in predictive analytics and forecasting. Through analyzing historical data and pattern recognition, generative algorithms empower businesses to make precise predictions, facilitating well-informed decisions that enhance supply chain management, inventory projection, and demand anticipation.



To fulfill system performance requirements and uphold customer service levels, numerous enterprises rely on Azure IoT. The platform scales swiftly to accommodate new Advantage+Elite customers, thereby minimizing resources dedicated to infrastructure upkeep.



On top of Microsoft's initiative to help manufacturing, marketing, cybersecurity, services, and many other fields comes their commitment to delivering Responsible AI to the core. As part of this initiative, CloudThat, a Microsoft Solutions Partner and pioneer in Cloud Training is rigorously offering Generative AI and responsible AI training programs to build a strong workforce across industries that are AI capable.



About CloudThat



CloudThat is a leading global organization with 11+ years of excellence in providing Cloud Training & Cloud Consulting services for mid-market & enterprise clients in more than 28+ countries. With expertise in major Cloud platforms, CloudThat is uniquely positioned to be the single technology source for organizations looking to utilize the flexibility and power that Cloud Computing provides.



Their business goal is providing global services on Cloud Engineering, Cloud Training, and Cloud Expert Line in all major cloud platforms including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), VMware, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to position us as pioneers in the realm.



With 6 awards in 6 years, the recent one being the Microsoft Superstars Winner for FY'23, CloudThat has rare distinction of being recognized as Microsoft Solutions Partner, AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, AWS Advanced Tier Training Partner, VMware Authorized Training Reseller, Google Cloud Partner.



Media Contact:



Saloni Singla, marketing@cloudthat.com



Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2235248/CloudThat_Logo.jpg



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

PWR
The conference in association with Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) created an environment for knowledge exchange, deliberation, and collaboration.



NEW DELHI, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Focusing on fostering innovation and development for the future of India, the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), in collaboration with the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), recently organized a two-day conference titled "Innovate India Vision 2047 -    ,    ." Day 1 of the conference brought together esteemed experts from the pharmaceutical industry, academia, and social impact ventures, facilitating engaging discussions and insightful deliberations on a wide range of topics related to innovation in healthcare.



The Indian pharmaceutical industry has a storied history of serving the nation for over a century, earning the well-deserved title of the 'Pharmacy of the World.' With over 60% of vaccine demand and 20% of the global drug supply, India played a pivotal role in providing diagnostic and therapeutic vaccines to more than 150 countries during the pandemic. Guided by the vision of India's Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the pharmaceutical industry has risen to the challenge and is poised to become the world's most favoured pharmaceutical market.



Building upon this legacy, the conference delved into a wide range of topics, including India's aspirations in new drug development, insights from global innovation hubs, cutting-edge advancements in research and development, upcoming innovative therapies, financing strategies, access roadmaps, and the transformative role of organizations in driving clinical research in India.



Mr. Suresh Pattathil, President of OPPI, underscored the significance of collaboration and visionary leadership in driving innovation. He stated, "Innovation is a collective pursuit, requiring visionary leadership, unwavering commitment, and a dream of a healthier world. Innovation thrives when diverse minds collaborate. Global pharmaceutical companies in India have been actively fostering collaborations with academia, startups, and research institutions. These partnerships enable the exchange of ideas, the pooling of resources, and the acceleration of drug discovery. Such collaborative efforts have borne fruit in the form of innovative treatments and therapies. OPPI looks forward to fostering active engagement between industry and academia, identifying, and capitalizing on growth opportunities, and strengthening India's position as a hub for pioneering research and innovation on a global scale. We extend our congratulations to the government on launching the Scheme for the Promotion of Research and Innovation in the Pharma MedTech Sector (PRIP). We have full confidence that this initiative will propel India to become a prominent global player in the pharmaceutical industry, meeting the quality, accessibility, and affordability goals."



He further added, "OPPI's renewed mission & vision, 'Bharat Ke Liye', gave the idea of the innovation conference. It underscores OPPI's unwavering dedication to India's well-being, focusing on pharmaceutical R&D, upholding industry quality standards, manufacturing, supply chain, patient care, and more, all aimed at fostering a healthier India through innovation."



During a scientific roundtable discussion on Enabling the R&D Ecosystem in the Country, panellists emphasized the crucial role of a robust research and development ecosystem in a nation's progress. The panel discussed the importance of sustained government support, funding, and favourable policies to create a conducive environment for research and development. They also highlighted the need for greater clarity on government norms and guidelines and explored ways to streamline bureaucratic processes and incentivize investments in research and development.



Mr. Manoj Saxena, President-Elect, OPPI and MD, Bayer Pharma, said "India has ensured an uninterrupted supply of medicines to all countries and will continue to pursue the same to achieve Universal Healthcare (UHC) by providing good quality medicines at affordable prices. Modern technologies such as AI, machine learning, and big data analytics play a pivotal role in expediting research and development for new products and therapies. These cutting-edge technologies have significantly reduced the time required for drug discovery and development, facilitating quicker access to innovative healthcare solutions. Digitization in clinical research and drug development, along with cross-sectoral partnerships, would not only bolster India's pharmaceutical sector but also enhance the safety of patients." He further added, "At OPPI, we envision the pharmaceutical sector to flourish over the next few years with a strong focus on innovation, patient-centricity, and global collaboration."



During the conference, OPPI Clinical Research Awards were presented to recognize entities in the field of clinical research. The awardees included Sanofi India as the winner, with Novartis India and Roche Products (India) as the runners-up. The distinguished jury panel that played a key role in evaluating the awards comprised Shoibal Mukherjee, Consultant Clinical Pharmacology and Drug Development, Dr Manish Diwan, Head of Strategic Partnership & Entrepreneurship Development, and Mission In-charge at BIRAC, and Sanish Davis, President of ISCR. Additionally, Vikrant Shrotriya, Corporate Vice President, and Managing Director of Novo Nordisk India, served as an observer during the judging process.



Eminent spokespeople present at the event included Ms. S. Aparna, Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP); Vikrant Shrotriya, Corporate Vice President & Managing Director of Novo Nordisk India; Sudarshan Jain, Secretary General of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance; Amitabh Dube, Country President of Novartis India; Meenakshi Nevatia, Country President of Pfizer India; and Amit Mookim, Managing Director of IQVIA South Asia.



The insightful discussions and interactions during the first day of the conference have set a promising tone for the remainder of the event. The collective vision of advancing innovation in healthcare for the benefit of all remains at the forefront.



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NEW DELHI, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Azure Power Global Limited (the "Company" or "Azure"), an independent sustainable energy solutions provider and renewable power producer in India, today announced that it held its 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on September 29, 2023 at its New Delhi office. Each of the proposals submitted for shareholder approval was approved.



Specifically, the shareholders (i) appointed ECOVIS (Mauritius), a member firm of ECOVIS International, as the independent auditor of the Company for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 to audit the standalone and consolidated financials of the Company for necessary filings in the Mauritius, (ii) re-elected Mr. Gowtamsingh Dabee as a Company's director, (iii) re-elected Mr. Jean-Francois Joseph Boisvenu as a Company's director, and (iv) re-elected Mr. Richard Payette as a Company's director.

About Azure



Azure is a leading independent sustainable energy solutions provider and renewable power producer in India. Azure developed India's first utility scale solar project in 2009, and since then has grown rapidly to become a leader in developing and operating large utility-scale renewable energy projects in the country.



For more information about Azure, visit: www.azurepower.com.



Forward-Looking Statements



This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the bringing of a fresh perspective and valuable guidance, driving growth and success, driving the Company forward, and achieving Company goals. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and beliefs and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements in this press release. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.



For more information:



Investor Contact

ir@azurepower.com



Media Contact

pr@azurepower.com



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Uttarakhand (India), September 30: In the heart of the majestic Himalayas, the picturesque state of Uttarakhand is gearing up to host the Global Investors Summit 2023 on the 8th and 9th of December. This significant event aims to showcase the state's abundant investment opportunities to a global audience. To kickstart the momentum, a series of international and domestic roadshows have been organized, highlighting the state's potential for growth and development.





Four international roadshows in London (26-28 September 2023), Singapore/Taiwan (8-9 October 2023), and Dubai (17-18 October 2023) have been planned to pique the interest of global investors. These roadshows will serve as a prelude to the main event in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, where the state's investment climate will be on full display.



One of the standout opportunities in Uttarakhand's real estate and infrastructure sector is the luxurious residential township known as Best Oriana. Developed by Mohd Shariq s/o Safeer Ahmed of Best Developers and builders, Best Oriana recently achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the first-ever project to be showcased in the iconic Times Square, New York, Manhattan. This recognition further solidified its status as the most promising real estate project in Uttarakhand, garnering appreciation from investors worldwide.



Best Oriana represents the epitome of luxury living nestled in the lap of nature. Its design seamlessly blends modern amenities with the serene beauty of Uttarakhand's landscape. The township has captured the attention of investors not only for its opulent offerings but also for its potential for high returns on investment in the flourishing Uttarakhand real estate market.



Honorable Chief Minister Dhami expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming Global Investors Summit, stating, "An abode to the Himalayas and the Ganges, the State is home to 5 top tourism destinations of India. Uttarakhand has chosen the path of development and prosperity, and through this Investor's summit, we look forward to your partnership with the State in achieving the common goal." His words underscore the state's commitment to progress and collaboration.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi added, "This third decade of the 21st century, this is the decade of Uttarakhand." His words resonate with the immense potential and promise that Uttarakhand holds for investors, both domestic and international.



"Dear Investors, seize the opportunity at Global Investors Summit Uttarakhand 2023 and unlock the potential of Best Oriana. Join us to revolutionize real estate in this pristine region, offering incredible returns and sustainable growth. Let's shape a brighter future together!" - Mohd Shariq



The Global Investors Summit 2023 promises to be a turning point in Uttarakhand's journey towards economic growth and prosperity. With Best Oriana and other investment opportunities taking center stage, Uttarakhand invites investors from around the world to be a part of this transformative journey, building a future that is as spectacular as the natural beauty that surrounds it.



Watch the video showcasing the beauty of Best Oriana Best Oriana - Dehradun.



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BANGALORE, India, Sept. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sasken Technologies, a global leader in cutting-edge technology solutions, is excited to announce a collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a pioneer in wireless technologies, through the Qualcomm IoT Accelerator Program. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the realm of Internet of Things (IoT) innovation and underscores both companies' commitment to shaping the future of connected devices and services.



"We are excited to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies and the distinction of being chosen as a member of their IoT Accelerator Program, to reinforce our relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation in the technology realm. Joining this program with Qualcomm Technologies holds immense promise and opens exciting possibilities for both companies. We are eager to contribute to the growth of the IoT ecosystem," said Abhijit Kabra, CEO, Sasken Technologies. "This collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies is a testament to our decades old relationship and shared vision of leveraging IoT to revolutionize industries and enhance people's lives. By combining Sasken's deep expertise in IoT solutions with industry-leading innovations from Qualcomm Technologies, we are poised to create transformative solutions that will drive meaningful change across sectors."

"The Qualcomm IoT Accelerator Program is designed to create a robust ecosystem of connected IoT devices, driven by collaborations that can transform industries, business models, and experiences," stated Atul Suri, VP, Strategy and Analysis, global head of business development and partnerships, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "This collaboration will leverage Sasken's extensive experience in IoT product engineering, combined with Qualcomm Technologies' advanced offerings, to accelerate the creation of robust, security-rich, and efficient IoT solutions."



Speaking on the occasion, chairman of Sasken Technologies, Rajiv C Mody, stated, "This collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies is a strategic step towards advancing the adoption of IoT across industries. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of what IoT can achieve, and this collaboration will enable us to deliver solutions that not only meet the current demands but also anticipate future needs. Together, we will shape the future of connected devices and enable our customers to excel in this rapidly evolving digital landscape."



This collaboration aims to address the challenges faced by various industries in their IoT endeavors, such as achieving seamless integration, scalability, and security. By leveraging Sasken's end-to-end IoT capabilities and Qualcomm Technologies' industry-leading wireless technologies, the collaboration is poised to empower businesses with innovative solutions that drive efficiency, productivity, and transformative growth.



About Sasken:



Sasken is a specialist in Product Engineering and Digital Transformation providing concept-to-market, chip-to-cognition R&D services to global leaders in Semiconductor, Automotive, Industrials, Consumer Electronics, Enterprise Devices, SatCom, Telecom, and Transportation industries. For over 30 years and with multiple patents, Sasken has transformed the businesses of 100+ Fortune 500 companies, powering more than a billion devices through its services and IP. For more information, visit www.sasken.com



Qualcomm is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm incorporated. Qualcomm branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Qualcomm patented technologies are licensed by Qualcomm Incorporated.



Media Contact:



Rekha Sahay Ghosh

Head of Marketing & Communications



E: pr@sasken.com

T: +91 080 6694 3009



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Globalstar Inc (GSAT) has recently shown a daily gain of 6.5%, with a three-month gain of 25.96%. However, it reported a Loss Per Share of $0.12. This raises the question: is the stock modestly undervalued? This article aims to answer this question by analyzing Globalstar's valuation and financial health. We invite you to read on for a comprehensive understanding of Globalstar's current market position.

Company Overview

Globalstar Inc is a leading telecommunications company, primarily generating revenue from mobile satellite services. These services are predominantly used where terrestrial wireline and wireless communications networks are impaired or non-existent. Globalstar offers two-way voice and data transmission services, as well as one-way data transmission, using mobile or fixed devices. The company owns significant satellite assets and generates the majority of its revenue within the United States. Considering its current price of $1.31 per share, Globalstar's stock appears to be modestly undervalued based on our analysis.

Unveiling Globalstar (GSAT)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding the GF Value

The GF Value is a proprietary measure that represents the current intrinsic value of a stock. It is calculated based on historical trading multiples, a GuruFocus adjustment factor based on past returns and growth, and future business performance estimates. The GF Value Line provides an overview of the fair value at which the stock should ideally be traded. If the stock price is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher.

According to our valuation method, Globalstar's stock appears to be modestly undervalued. This suggests that the long-term return of its stock is likely to be higher than its business growth.

Story continues

Unveiling Globalstar (GSAT)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Link: These companies may deliver higher future returns at reduced risk.

Assessing Financial Strength

Investing in companies with poor financial strength has a higher risk of permanent capital loss. It is crucial to review a company's financial strength before deciding to buy its stock. A great starting point for understanding a company's financial strength is to look at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage. Globalstar has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.18, which is worse than 61.79% of 390 companies in the Telecommunication Services industry. This indicates that Globalstar's financial strength is poor.

Unveiling Globalstar (GSAT)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Profitability and Growth

Investing in profitable companies poses less risk, especially those demonstrating consistent profitability over the long term. Globalstar has been profitable 2 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $192.70 million and Loss Per Share of $0.12. Its operating margin is -10.46%, which ranks worse than 88.24% of 391 companies in the Telecommunication Services industry. This indicates poor profitability.

Growth is a crucial factor in a company's valuation. A faster-growing company creates more value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. Globalstar's 3-year average annual revenue growth is 0.8%, which ranks worse than 62.96% of 378 companies in the Telecommunication Services industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 3.2%, which ranks worse than 53.43% of 335 companies in the Telecommunication Services industry.

ROIC vs WACC

Comparing a company's return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted average cost of capital (WACC) can also evaluate its profitability. ROIC measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. WACC is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the ROIC exceeds the WACC, the company is likely creating value for its shareholders. During the past 12 months, Globalstar's ROIC was -2.33 while its WACC came in at 9.23.

Unveiling Globalstar (GSAT)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Conclusion

In conclusion, Globalstar's stock appears to be modestly undervalued. However, the company's financial condition is poor, and its profitability is also poor. Its growth ranks worse than 53.43% of 335 companies in the Telecommunication Services industry. To learn more about Globalstar's stock, you can check out its 30-Year Financials here.

To find out high-quality companies that may deliver above-average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Abidjan, Sep 30 (PTI) Cote d'lvoire, the world's largest cocoa producer and exporter, on Saturday announced the farm gate price of 1,000 CNF Franc per kilogram (Rs 133.09 )for the main crop of the 2023-24 marketing year starting October 1.

The cocoa farm gate price, which is similar to India's minimum support price fixed for a dozen commodities, is a rate below which buyers are not allowed to pay.

The farm gate price for cocoa, largely used in manufacturing chocolate, was at 900 CFA Franc per kilogram (Rs 120 per kg). CFA Franc is the currency of Cote d'lvoire.

In India, no farm gate price is fixed for cocoa but usually the market rate of the commodity is higher. India produces only 27,000 tonne cocoa annually but imports about 1 lakh tonne of cocoa products. Announcing the price, Cote d'lvoire Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani said: " We have fixed the cocoa farm gate price at 1,000 CNF Franc per kg for the main crop of this year. I declare 2023-24 marketing campaign."

After two years, this high rate has been fixed despite not having elections around the corner. The main reason behind it is that global prices of cocoa are at record high.

"We don't fix high rate just around the elections," the agriculture minister said at the 6th edition of Sara 2023 Expo.

Cocoa regulator Le Conseil di Cafe-Cacao also announced a new logo. "I am happy. Even if they announce 10,000 CNF Franc per kg still I want more," local farmer Ambroise N'Koh told PTI.

Out of 5 million tonne of global cocoa production, Cote d'lvoire alone produces about 2-2.5 million tonne annually and exports almost the entire quantity including value added products like cocoa butter.

Cote d'lvoire, located in West Africa, harvests cocoa twice a year with first crop picked during October- March, while the second crop in April-September period.

Cocoa is the key driver of the agro-based economy of Cote d'lvoire, which is currently focusing on complying with the European Union regulations on sustainability.
Mumbai, Sep 30 (PTI) Tamil actor Vishal on Saturday expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for ordering an immediate inquiry into his corruption allegations against the Mumbai office of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Vishal had alleged that he had to pay Rs 6.5 lakh to the CBFC's Mumbai office for the screening and certification of the Hindi version of his film "Mark Antony". He also made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to investigate the "scam" that transpired at the CBFC's Mumbai office.

Following his post on microblogging site X, the I&B ministry said the government had zero tolerance for corruption and strictest action will be taken against anyone found involved.

"I sincerely thank @MIB_India for taking immediate steps on this important matter pertaining to the corruption issue in #CBFC Mumbai. Thank you very much for the necessary action taken and definitely hoping for this to be an example for every government official who intends to or is part of corruption and to take the honest route to serve the nation and not the steps of corruption," Vishal wrote on X on Saturday.

"I once again thank my Prime Minister @narendramodi and Maharashtra CM @mieknathshinde and everyone involved in bringing out this initiative immediately. It brings a sense of satisfaction to a common man like me and others that justice will be served to people who are victims of corruption, Jai-Hindi," he added.

The I&B ministry on Friday said that a senior officer has been deputed to Mumbai to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

Vishal's sci-fi film "Mark Antony", directed by Adhik Ravichandran, was released in Hindi on Thursday. The movie also features S J Suryah, Ritu Varma, Sunil, Selvaraghavan and Abhinaya.

According to a senior official, I&B minister Anurag Thakur wants the CBFC to speed up creating a transparent mechanism for faster certification of films in urgent cases and further strengthen the oversight measures.

The minister has sought an action-taken report in the matter by October 16.
Leh, Sep 30 (PTI) Endless queues and chants of 'love you, SRK' were some of the highlights at the screening of superstar Shah Rukh Khan's latest release "Jawan", which was showcased on a big screen on the second day of The Himalayan Film Festival (THFF) here.

Around 400 audience members were in attendance to watch the pan-India film at an auditorium at Leh's Sindhu Sanskriti Kendra, an arts centre surrounded by the Himalayan range.

Directed by Atlee, "Jawan" closed the second day of THFF. The film also stars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi with Deepika Padukone in a special appearance.

Tashi Dawa, one of the viewers, said he was waiting to watch "Jawan" on the big screen.

"There's a small theatre here in Leh with a small screen. When we found out that 'Jawan' will be shown on a big screen at the Himalayan Film Festival, we didn't go to the small theatre and instead waited for this day to come. We are getting an opportunity to watch this blockbuster movie at over 11,000 feet, so it's great," Dawa told PTI.

Zaheer Abbas Dardistani, an amateur filmmaker, said he missed out on watching "Jawan" in a cinema hall when he returned to Leh following his graduation from Pune's Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

"I came back two months ago after completing my course at FTII, that's why I wasn't able to catch 'Jawan' in theatres there. Here in Ladakh, we don't have a big screen theatre. So, it was a golden chance that this festival will screen 'Jawan' here at a big screen," he added.

As a filmmaker, Dardistani said watching films is akin to reading books.

"Both 'Jawan' and Shah Rukh Khan hold a lot of importance in my heart. We learn a lot from Shah Rukh sir and his story of struggle. He gives us hope to keep hustling in the film industry. I never miss his interviews too."

Asked if he was an SRK fan, Dawa said "Dil se (from the heart)", in a reference to the star's 1998 film.

"I'm a diehard Shah Rukh fan. 'Dil se fan hain.' When SRK was shooting for 'Dil Se' here, we would try to follow the team to watch him on the film sets wherever we could. My recent favourite movie of his is 'Pathaan'," he added.

Jawan released worldwide on September 7 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The film outlines the emotional journey of a man who is set to rectify the wrongs in the society. It stars Shah Rukh in the dual role of Vikram Rathore and his son Azad.

Stanzin Idzes, who is a student, said as someone who grew up watching Shah Rukh's films, she is excited to see "Jawan".

"There's something about Shah Rukh... The way I am able to connect with him, it's something else," added Idzes, whose favourite SRK films include "Om Shanti Om" and "Kal Ho Na Ho".

What's also heartening for Dardistani was to see Kenny Deori Basumatary play a significant role in "Jawan", thus representing the Northeastern and Himalayan region in a pan-India film. Basumatary, an Assamese actor and filmmaker, will also screen his film "Local Utpaat" at THFF on Sunday.

"We need more faces from the Northeastern and Himalayan region in Indian films. After Danny Denzongpa (who hails from Sikkim), no one seems to have done that well. They should get more work. This is how you bring diversity and spread love," Dardistani added.

THFF is organised by the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) of the Administration of Union Territory of Ladakh, in collaboration with Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh.

The film gala will come to a close on October 3.
Colombo, Sep 30 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered a probe into the resignation of a district judge in the Tamil-majority Northern province's Mullaithivu over threats to his life, officials said on Saturday.

T Saravanarajah tendered his resignation to the Judicial Service Commission on September 23, claiming threats to his life and reportedly left the country.

Among the various cases presided over by the judge, he had ruled against the building of a Buddhist shrine at a disputed archaeological site. The legal proceedings over the digging of an alleged mass grave in the same area were also presided over by Saravanarajah.

According to informed officials, President Wickremesinghe directed the Secretary to the President to probe the circumstances of Saravanarajah's resignation, as the judge hadn't lodged any complaints on the alleged threat to his life previously.

As the district judge of the northern region of Mullaithivu, Saravanarajah had ruled against the building of a Buddhist shrine at Kurunthamale, a disputed archaeological site. The Tamils in the region had protested against what they claimed were land grants by the state for Buddhist archaeological excavations.

Saravanarajah also presided over the legal proceedings at the digging of an alleged mass grave in the same area.

In June, the alleged mass grave was accidentally discovered at Kokkuthuduvai by the National Water Board workers while carrying out digging activities for a development project in the area. The minority Tamil community demanded a credible investigation into an alleged mass grave in the northeastern district.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ran a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its collapse in 2009 after the Sri Lankan Army killed its supreme leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Mullaithivu was a nerve centre of the LTTE as they ran a parallel state before May 2009 when they were defeated by the Sri Lankan military.

Many legal associations, including the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, described the judge's resignation as a "serious threat" to the independence of the judiciary in the island nation and urged the Judicial Service Commission to carry out an independent investigation.
Washington, Sep 30 (PTI) Over two dozen US lawmakers have joined the bipartisan Congressional Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain American Caucus, its founder and Indian American Congressman Shri Thanedar has said.

Thanedar on Friday formally launched in the US Congress the caucus that aims to combat religious discrimination and promote religious freedom for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains.

A congressional caucus is a group of members of the United States Congress that meet to pursue common legislative objectives.

We are not merely congregating to initiate another caucus; we're assembling to pioneer a movementone that strives for understanding, inclusion, and affirmative policy actions, Thanedar told reporters at a news conference here.

A movement that says every faith, every culture, and every community has a place in America the land of the free and the home of the brave. My name is Shri Thanedar. I am proof of Americas diversity in Congress, he said.

He was flanked by a group of eminent Indian Americans who had gathered at the steps of the US Capitol from across the country.

Today is significant for numerous reasons. To many of you, the launch of the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain (HBSJ) American Congressional Caucus may seem like a formal procedure, but let me assure you, it is so much more," he said.

It is a statement of commitment. A commitment to stand against religious discrimination, to propel the wheels of inclusion, and to cultivate a nation where diversity is not just tolerated but celebrated, Thanedar said.

This caucus will create a platform to have the discourse, engage in action, dispel the misinformation and disinformation of our culture and society, to express religious freedom, protect our existence, and speak the truth about who we are by pushing back on hate and bigotry, he said.

Thanedar noted that as many as 27 Congressmen from both the Republican and the Democratic parties have joined the latest caucuses of the US Congress.

To illustrate the urgent need for this caucus, it's important to put some numbers into context. We are not talking about abstract communities or conceptual problems. These are real issues affecting real peopleour friends, our neighbours, and our constituents, he said.

Approximately 3 million Hindus, 1.2 million Buddhists, 500,000 Sikhs, and 200,000 Jains enrich our nation's cultural and spiritual life, he said.

About 1,000 Hindu temples, 1,000 Buddhist temples, 800 Sikh gurdwaras, and 100 Jain temples are spread across America, acting as centers for community development, philanthropy, and spiritual well-being, Thanedar said.

So, when we speak about these communities, we are speaking about a substantial portion of our nation's populacea segment that contributes significantly to the American fabric yet often remains underrepresented or misunderstood, he said.

Thanedar said HBSJ American Congressional Caucus aims to fulfill four fundamental objectives; combating religious discrimination, accurate representation and inclusion, addressing cultural misunderstandings and empowerment and well-being.

Romesh Japra, founder and chairman of Americans for Hindus described it as a momentous occasion.

There was a long felt need of the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains in the country. The new caucus would help in raising the causes and protecting the interests of these minority communities in the US, Japra said.
Islamabad, Sep 30 (PTI) Amidst an acrimonious political environment and clouds hanging over the upcoming general elections in Pakistan, a former prime minister on Saturday predicted further delay in polls due to the extreme winter.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that it would hold polls in the last week of January after the completion of the delimitation process and fulfilling other legal requirements prior to elections.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in an interview with the Geo News on Saturday night said that elections may not be possible in January in several constituencies of the country due to heavy snowfall in the winter.

In my own area, people will not be able to go to polling stations as the entire area is covered with snow, Abbasi said, who belongs to Murree Hill Resort near Islamabad, which receives moderate to heavy snowfall in December and January.

Abbasi, who was prime minister from 2017 to 2018, also said that there are many constituencies in the north and northwestern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province where life is paralysed in winter.

With people unable to go to polling stations, the process will be tainted and allegations of unfair elections will be made, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said.

When asked when the polls could be held, if not in January, he responded by saying that the end of February or March would be a good time for holding the elections.

To a question about the source of his information that the poll might be delayed due to weather, he said that it was his assessment, not information.

The take of the former premier on election timing comes as the ECP has been criticized by political leaders for failure to hold the election within 90 days of the dissolution of the national assembly on August 9.

Despite doubts over the timing of elections, political parties are gearing up for the mega event by aligning with possible allies and choosing enemies to target them in the campaign.

The Pakistan Peoples Party of former president Asif Ali Zardari is apparently worrying over the increasing bonhomie between its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the powerful establishment that directly or indirectly has controlled politics in Pakistan.

Zardari has been trying to present his son and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the ideal choice for the prime minister due to the good reception he got during several visits to the US while serving as foreign minister.

It is believed that PML-N may have had greater chances to come on top if former premier Nawaz Sharif avoided confrontation with the establishment by toning down his demand to hold accountable former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and former ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed for ousting him from power in 2017.

The elder Sharif is making his comeback to Pakistan on October 21 after about four years of self-exile in London where he went in 2019 for medical treatment but never came back.

In an address to party leaders about two weeks ago, he made the above demand, sending ripples within the PML-N and prompting his younger brother and former premier Shehbaz Sharif to skedaddle to London.

According to informed sources within the PML-N, in London, he succeeded in convincing his elder brother not to upset the political applecart by targeting the armys former generals.

Another interesting aspect of the acrimonious political environment is the future of another former premier Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

According to a recent survey by Gallup Pakistan, an independent organisation, Khan enjoys the support of at least 60 per cent of the people in the country.

However, his fate hangs in balance due to about 200 cases against him in various courts. It is still unknown who would lead the party and its campaign in his absence as party president Pervaiz Elahi and senior vice president Shah Mahmood Qureshi are also in custody of authorities due to different cases.

Analysts believe that with the country ultimately inching towards polls in a charged environment and political parties struggling to find a credible narrative, the India factor vis-a-vis Kashmir may frequently come up in the speeches of leaders if major parties like the PML-N decided to spare the establishment.
Washington, Sep 30 (PTI) In a first, a Sikh Granthi from New Jersey offered prayers to start the proceedings of the US House of Representatives.

Granthi Giani Jaswinder Singh from Pine Hill Gurdwara in New Jersey started the day's proceedings at the House on Friday. The prayers before the proceedings are normally offered by a Christian priest.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced that Singh would start the proceedings.

Taking up the floor soon after the prayers, Congressman Donald Norcross described this as a historic occasion. He is the first Sikh chaplain to make prayers in the US House of Representatives.

The history made today is a reminder that the United States welcomes and values and will remain committed to free expression of religion. Giani Singh has made South Jersey proud today and it is an honour to be a part of this moment with him, Norcross said.
Mumbai, Sep 30 (PTI) Twenty-two children who went missing during the immersion processions of Ganesha idols at Girgaon Chowpatty here were reunited with their families, police said on Saturday.

Lakhs of people thronged the beaches and lakes in the city to immerse the idols on the last day of the 10-day Ganpati Festival on Thursday.



Families of the missing children, in the age group of seven to 14 years, had lodged complaints with the DB Marg police station, an official said.

Senior officials of the city police formed many teams to look for the children. The police also made appeals on loudspeakers, and the search continued through Thursday night and 22 missing children were finally traced, he said.

Some of the children recalled the phone numbers of their family members, while some revealed their home addresses to police personnel, and they could be handed over to their families, the official said.
Agartala, Sep 30 (PTI) Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Saturday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw for introducing a direct express train between Agartala and Mumbai, which is likely to begin operations before Durga Puja.

The Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express, which runs between Mumbai and Guwahati, will run up to Agartala once a week, according to a release by the Northeast Frontier Railway.

"We congratulate the prime minister and railways minister for connecting Agartala with Mumbai. The state government has been demanding for direct connectivity with Mumbai for a long time and eventually it has been done," Chowdhury told reporters.

Claiming that the extension of Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express up to Agartala is yet another benefit of having a 'double engine' government, the minister said it will help people of Tripura who visit Mumbai for medical, business and education purposes.

"The journey between Agartala and Mumbai will be around 47 hours. It will leave Agartala every Thursday," he said.

Currently, 11 express trains connect the northeastern state with the rest of the country.
Guwahati, Sep 30 (PTI) The governments of Assam and Meghalaya on Saturday decided to request the CBI to take over the investigation into the 2022 Mukroh violence along the disputed interstate boundary, in which six people were killed.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma, in a joint media briefing after holding talks to resolve the interstate boundary dispute, said both states have decided to wind up their respective judicial commissions probing the Mukroh violence.

''As a confidence-building measure, we have decided to wind up our respective judicial commissions probing the Mukroh incident. Instead, both the state governments will now urge the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the matter," Sarma said.

He said that the agency will be requested not to register the case in either Guwahati or Shillong but in a neutral location such as Delhi, Kolkata or any other place.

Sangma said it has been decided to wind up the respective judicial commissions as neither side has been able to make much progress because the witnesses of either state have not gone to the other side to depose before the commission of that state.

"We want a fair and impartial inquiry. So, we decided to refer it to an independent agency, namely the CBI," Sangma said.

Six people, including five Meghalaya residents and a forest guard from Assam, were killed in a firing incident in Mukroh along a disputed section of the Assam-Meghalaya interstate boundary on November 22 last year.
Archbishop of Mosul Calls for Prosection in Assyrian Wedding Fire

Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Benedict Younan Hanno. ( Rudaw) The archbishop of Mosul on Saturday called on the government to hold all those responsible for the harrowing fire of Hamdaniya accountable for their actions, threatening a mass strike if this does not happen.

"Either everyone responsible [for the fire] will be held accountable, or we will go on strike. If we strike, it won't be only in our areas, it will be all over Iraq," Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Benedict Younan Hanno told Rudaw's Ranja Jamal.

The archbishop said everyone involved in causing the fire, including those who licensed the banquet hall, those who approved its safety standards, and those within the tourism, civil defense, and electricity directorates in the province, must be held accountable.

Archbishop Hanno said that the Iraqi officials who visited them following the fire "all talk well and beautifully" but that what the Christian community wants is for those words to be followed by actions, "We want decisions [to be taken] following those words, a decision that saves the life of this nation," he said.

"We have now reached a point where we all know where the problem is. Our problem is corruption. Day by day we get to know the consequences of where corruption takes us and what it does to us," said the archbishop, adding that what happened to Haytham Hall is one of the consequences of corruption.

The archbishop also lauded the efforts and the hard work shown by the doctors and health workers in Mosul, saying that while the country has the finest doctors, they suffer from lack of utilities and support in the hospitals, which end up not being up to standard. He specifically pointed to the discrepancy between the province's population of four million, and the total number of hospital beds not reaching 800.

Over a hundred people lost their lives when a deadly fire engulfed a wedding hall in Hamdaniya on Tuesday night after the roof's flammable plastic ceiling caught fire when fireworks were ignited from the floor.

An estimated 1,000 were at the wedding party. As soon as they had noticed fireballs dropping from the ceiling of the hall, they en masse rushed to evacuate from the only exit door - the back kitchen door - with frightened attendants unable to open the main door.

Rampant corruption plagues all levels of the Iraqi state, a phenomenon that the country's current government has pledged to eliminate. Official figures published last year estimated that well over 400 billion dollars have gone missing from state coffers since former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in 2003. According to Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, Iraq ranks among the most corrupt nations, coming 157th out of 180 countries.

During a speech at the UN General Assembly earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani said that fighting against endemic corruption was his government's foremost priority.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV (NYSE:PAC) has been experiencing a daily loss of -5.95% and a 3-month loss of -6.31%. Despite these losses, the company boasts an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of 10.09. This raises the question: is the stock significantly undervalued? In this article, we delve into a detailed valuation analysis of PAC to answer this question. We invite you to continue reading for an insightful exploration of the company's value.

Company Overview

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV is a key player in the construction, development, and operation of airports in Mexico. With a diverse portfolio including Guadalajara, Tijuana, Puerto Vallarta, and San Jose del Cabo among others, the company generates maximum revenue from the Guadalajara segment. The current stock price is $164.37, significantly lower than the GF Value of $261.01, indicating that the stock may be undervalued.

Unveiling Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV (PAC)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding the GF Value

The GF Value is a unique measure of a stock's intrinsic value, calculated based on historical multiples, a GuruFocus adjustment factor, and future business performance estimates. The GF Value Line on our summary page provides an overview of the fair value at which the stock should ideally be traded. If the stock price significantly deviates from the GF Value Line, it may indicate overvaluation or undervaluation, thus influencing future returns.

For Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV (NYSE:PAC), the GF Value suggests that the stock is significantly undervalued. This implies that the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much higher than its business growth.

Unveiling Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV (PAC)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Financial Strength of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV

Investing in companies with low financial strength can pose a risk of permanent capital loss. Therefore, it's crucial to carefully review a company's financial strength before deciding to buy shares. Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV has a cash-to-debt ratio of 10000, ranking it better than 99.89% of 940 companies in the Transportation industry. Based on this, GuruFocus ranks Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV's financial strength as 8 out of 10, suggesting a strong balance sheet.

Story continues

Unveiling Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV (PAC)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Profitability and Growth of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV

Investing in profitable companies usually carries less risk. Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV has been profitable for 10 years over the past 10 years. With an operating margin of 48.32%, it ranks better than 97.69% of 952 companies in the Transportation industry. The company's growth also ranks better than 81.22% of 916 companies in the Transportation industry, with an average annual revenue growth of 20.4% and a 3-year average EBITDA growth of 19.5%.

ROIC vs WACC

Return on invested capital (ROIC) and weighted average cost of capital (WACC) are crucial indicators of a company's profitability. Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV's ROIC of 20.62 is significantly higher than its WACC of 13.34, indicating value creation for its shareholders.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the stock of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV (NYSE:PAC) appears to be significantly undervalued. The company has strong financial strength and profitability, and its growth ranks better than most companies in the Transportation industry. To learn more about Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV stock, check out its 30-Year Financials here.

To discover high-quality companies that may deliver above-average returns, visit GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Patna, Sep 30 (PTI) A 28-year-old man was on Saturday detained at Patna airport for alleged unruly behaviour on an Indigo flight from Ahmedabad, officials said.

He was handed over to police immediately after the flight landed around 3 pm, they said.

As per the crew, one passenger was reported to be unruly in the Ahmedabad-Patna flight. Hence, after arrival of the plane, he was handed over to the station house officer of the airport police station, an official said.

Vinod Peter, SHO (Patna Airport), told PTI: A complaint has been filed against the man by the airlines for creating ruckus, and unruly and inappropriate behaviour on the flight.

Preliminary investigation, scrutiny of medical documents and statement of his brother, who was also travelling along with him, indicate that he is suffering from some mental illness, Peter said.

At present, he is undergoing treatment at a private hospital here for his illness, the SHO said, adding, police will keep track of his activities.
New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency Saturday arrested a second accused linked to the case of a transnational conspiracy by Myanmar and Bangladesh-based leadership of terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the current ethnic strife in Manipur, an official said.

Seiminlun Gangte was the second accused arrested in the case in the past nine days. The case was registered suo motu on July 19, a spokesperson of the federal anti-terror agency said, adding the accused has been brought to Delhi and will be produced before the jurisdictional court.

"Investigation into the case revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh-based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the Government of India.

"For this purpose, the aforementioned leadership have been providing funds to procure arms, ammunition and other types of terrorist hardware which are being sourced both from across the border and from other terrorist outfits active in the northeastern states to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur," the spokesperson said.

On September 22, the NIA arrested Moirangthem Anand Singh from Manipur in connection with the case.
New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved to be the "global hero of ground zero" by depreciating dynastic dominance through decisive delivery and development, BJP leader and former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday.

"Modiji's perfect, potential performance with the passion of 'never let it rest till your good is better and your better is best' has proved that democracy can deliver with decisive determination without dynastic dominance in governance," Naqvi said at the BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 'Indian Brand and Leadership Conclave 2023' here.

The BJP leader said that a brand of any product or personality is proved potential and perfect "not by chance but by choice".

Credibility of a product and reliability of production is paramount to convert people's habits into "hysteria for a brand or brand ambassador," Naqvi said in a statement issued by his office.

Integrity and acceptability ensures the global glamour and grace of a product and popularity, he added.

Naqvi further said a technology and connectivity revolution has made the world smaller and the competition bigger.

"People keep a close watch on the business, political, economic, cultural, religious, educational, administrative activities of every part of the world," he said.

"...keep your eyes on the sky and feet on the ground" so that if you fell down, you can stand up easily, the BJP leader said.

Maintaining the global credibility of a personality, product, industry or institution is the necessity of today's digital demography, he added.

Naqvi said technology must be saved from the "confinement of chronology".

"Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do," he said, adding, "That is why transformation, conviction, commitment and credibility have become an effective and successful formula for perfect products."

The former Union minister said that while 'Bharat' is one of the fastest growing economies of the world, it has also emerged as a "favourite" global digital destination.

"Bharat is the fifth largest economy of the world after the US, China, Japan and Germany. Bharat's GDP has reached 3.17 trillion dollars and it is expected to grow at the rate of 6.5 per cent in 2023-24; Bharat's foreign exchange reserves have touched 600 billion dollars and according to the International Monetary Fund, Bharat is likely to become the third largest economy of the world by 2027-28," he said.

Naqvi said India has emerged as a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) powerhouse, leaving China "far behind".

"Bharat received FDI of about 83.57 billion dollars in 2021-22. Large consumer market, political stability and decisive leadership are the main reasons behind these tremendous achievements. Bharat's consumer market has increased to 1.5 trillion dollars and it is expected to become the world's third largest by reaching at 6 trillion dollars by 2030," he added.

Indian companies, be it from the public sector or the private sector, have become the "best brand", the BJP leader said, adding that eight companies from Bharat have been featured in the recent Fortune Global 500 list.

"After Prime Minister Modi's 'Make in India' initiative, Bharat has become a global manufacturing hub as most of the world's largest companies are setting up their manufacturing units in the country," he said.
Jaipur, Sep 30 (PTI) Communal tension erupted in Ramganj and nearby areas here on Saturday after a man died allegedly due to thrashing by a group of men over an accident between two motorcycles, police said.

Two motorbikes collided in Subhash Chowk after which a group of men with one of the two riders thrashed the other rider, Iqbal, late Friday night, police said. He was rushed to SMS hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, they said.

Several shops in the Muslim-dominated areas were shut down, and family members of the deceased and locals gathered there are demanding action against the other side.

Additional forces have been deployed around the area and efforts were being made to diffuse the tension, police said. Shops in Ramganj, Subhash chowk and nearby areas have been closed in view of the tension.
Gorakhpur (UP), Sep 29 (PTI) A man was arrested on Friday allegedly for sending a letter through post to a doctor demanding Rs 20 lakh in extortion, a police officer said.

A female doctor in Barhalganj area here had on Tuesday received a registered letter demanding her to pay Rs 20 lakh.

The doctor promptly filed a complaint with police, which then launched an investigation into the matter.

Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Grover told reporters that Dr Rolly Purvar had received a letter bearing the names of two men, Khursheed and Nadeem, both residents of ward number 7 of Gola Bazar in Gorakhpur.

After her complaint, police deployed some personnel in the woman's security, he said.

During the investigation, which involved going through CCTV footage from the post office, the person who had registered the letter was identified as Keshari, a resident of Bewari in Gorakhpur district, police said.

Keshari was detained and questioned. During interrogation, Keshari revealed that an unknown man had given him Rs 22 to post the letter, along with an extra Rs 10 for tea.

On the basis of the description provided by Keshari and the CCTV footage, the unknown person was identified as Mohd Shahid Akhtar, a resident of Karimuddin area under Ghosi Police Station in Mau district.

When Shahid was questioned he told police that he had used the names of Khurshid and Nadeem  both his relatives  with an attempt to frame them.

He said his son Tariq had in 2014 married a woman, who after some time filed a police complaint against his entire family for dowry harassment, which led to a court-ordered divorce.

Soon, his son married another woman named Shabnam, police said.

However, Shabnam's aunt Shabbo and nephews Khurshid and Nadeem, continued to instigate her to stay with them, Shahid said. She has been living at her father's house for the past one and a half months, he said.

Shahid said he discovered Dr Rolly's name and number in an advertisement posted on an electric pole and got a threatening letter posted to her in the name of Khurshid and Nadeem in order to frame them.

He confessed to have given Rs 22 to an elderly person  Keshari  for mailing the letter, police said.

Shahid was captured in the footage with an Activa scooter, which has been seized, police said.
Baghpat (UP), Sep 30 (PTI) A 17-year-old was allegedly strangled to death in a village here after a dispute over Rs 30 with three men escalated, police said on Saturday.

The class 11 student was allegedly killed by the accused on Friday night in Baraut Police Station area, they said.

The deceased was identified as Hrithik, a student of KHR Inter College in the village, police said.

Baraut Station House Officer (SHO) Devesh Kumar Singh told PTI that preliminary investigation into the alleged murder revealed a dispute over Rs 30.

According to the complaint filed by family members, Hrithik had a dispute with three men of the same village regarding a transaction of Rs 30 and the dispute escalated to a point where the accused strangled Hrithik to death. The incident happened around 9 pm on Friday, police said.

The SHO said that family members have said that all three accused knew Hrithik and added that there were no injury marks on his body.

Police said the body has been sent for a post-mortem examination. An FIR has been registered in the matter and further investigation is underway, they said.
For once, I agree with Gordon Brown. Last week, he said that artificial intelligence (AI) could save the world from a decade of low growth. 'It can transform a whole range of industries,' he declared in a Bloomberg interview. 'You will never see the accountancy or legal, or even medical professions or teaching profession, be the same again.'

He's right because he has identified the key problem the developed world faces in increasing living standards: if we are going to grow faster, we have to lift the productivity of the service industries. I would add to his list financial services and the public sector, and make the further point that the task is not simply to improve productivity but also to lift the quality of service right across the board.

So many of our day-to-day frustrations nowadays are not about the washing machine breaking down, but rather about trying to get a reply from our bank, or worse, the taxman. There is a wall of sound right now about the impact of generative AI and the problem at a time like this is to pick out the signals, what really matters, amid the clatter.

In the past few days I have seen three things that I think we will hear much more about.

One was the news that Sir Jony Ive is joining up with Masayoshi Son and OpenAI to build 'an iPhone of artificial intelligence'.

Touching: If we are going to grow faster, we have to lift the productivity of the service industries

That is huge, because when Sir Jony worked at Apple as their head of design he was the brains behind the iPhone, while Masayoshi runs SoftBank, which controls Arm, the Cambridge-based chip design company floated in New York last month.

As for OpenAI, it created ChatGPT, the AI-powered language model that generates human-like responses to almost any question. (Get it to write a Shakespearian sonnet on a subject you are interested in  the world economy, classic cars, whatever  and you will see what I mean.)

The second was a study by Capital Economics ranking countries on their ability to benefit from AI.

The US comes top of the list, well clear of everyone else and there are obvious reasons for that.

Second is Singapore. Interesting, because with the ructions in mainland China and Hong Kong, it is becoming the main focus of developed-world investment in the East Asia time zone.

And third is the UK, ahead of Switzerland and Sweden.

That is interesting too because one of the things that pushes us towards the top is our ability not so much to innovate  though we do OK on that score  but to apply new technologies to commercial use.

That is unsurprising  take the way UK shoppers buy a higher proportion of goods online than any other large economy bar China. We have a huge service sector and are the second largest exporter of services in the world after the US.

So our ability to use AI to ramp up the efficiency of that chunk of the economy will be a big competitive plus.

The third is the Government's plan for an AI Safety Summit in November. As with all new technologies, there is the danger that people will get hurt  not simply that some jobs will be lost, though the labour market implications are massive, but that society as a whole will be damaged.

Look how social media has made many young people unhappy.

So the challenge will be to do regulation well, and here we may well have an advantage having left the EU. Of course, we may make a mess of it, but I hope we can learn from our past mistakes in regulation and will get the balance right.

It is impossible, at this still-early stage of the revolution, to see any of the detail as to how it might develop. Steve Jobs could see how the iPhone would, as he said at its launch in June 2007, 'change everything'. But he could hardly have foreseen the explosion of apps. And we know for certain that he did not envisage the selfie. The original iPhone did not have a front-facing camera.

But if you accept the broad proposition that this is the key to economic growth, and hence higher living standards, then the 2020s look much brighter.

Quite aside from the benefits of general growth, there will be a host of investment opportunities.

The hunt for those is going on in earnest, though my instinct is that  aside from a few stars  the greatest beneficiaries will not be the firms that create the AI platforms and devices. It will be the companies that learn to use the new technologies really well.
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

R.N. writes: I bought an antique clock at auction in Vienna, and arranged for packing and shipping using UPS.

I had full clearance instructions in triplicate attached to the parcel, but through ignorance or arrogance UPS made all of the three potential errors in calculating tax and duties.

Tony Hetherington replies: Don't y ou just love it when the customer turns out to know more than the people getting paid for providing a service?

I know I do  I once sacked a firm of solicitors who demanded all sorts of personal information from me, falsely claiming it was their legal duty under money-laundering regulations, right up to the point that it became clear I knew more about those regulations than they did.

Flight of fancy: UPS made all of the three potential errors in calculating tax and duties

With you, UPS could hardly have picked on a worse customer to shower with demands that were simply wrong. The clock you bought was between 100 and 250 years old, so value added tax (VAT) should only be due at 5 per cent. UPS tried to charge you 20 per cent.

There is no import duty on antiques of this sort, but UPS slapped an import duty charge on your bill. And UPS based its VAT calculation on the whole amount of the invoice from the Vienna auction house. Instead, the VAT should only be due on the 'hammer price'  the 1,400 (about 1,200) you bid  and not on the additional buyer's premium and Austrian VAT.

The result of all this was that when the UPS driver turned up at your door, he demanded 321. The correct amount should have been 82, and that would have included UPS's own clearance fee of 12. You refused to pay.

And why do I say that UPS picked the wrong customer to overcharge? Well, they could never have expected that you used to be a senior official at the European Commission, where your specialist field was customs duties and VAT. You were involved in drawing up all those rules that UPS got wrong and you got right. All UPS needed to do was follow the instructions you helpfully attached to the parcel.

When I asked UPS to comment, it told me: 'The package was successfully delivered to the customer on the first attempt, and the invoice discrepancy has been resolved without additional cost to the customer.'

When you try to overcharge a customer by more than 200, it's a bit rich to describe this as an 'invoice discrepancy'! And to say that UPS sorted this out 'without additional cost' leaves me wondering how they could possibly have demanded more when they were demanding too much in the first place.

When I relayed this to you, you had received your antique clock but told me that the delivery was actually rescheduled five times. And you still had no correct bill, and no proof of import or customs clearance.

So, I went back to UPS, which said: 'Of course, there are cases where technical or clerical errors occur; we take care to resolve them for our customers.' A few days later, UPS gave you a corrected invoice and paperwork. And as a gesture of goodwill, it has cancelled the 82 charge. About time.

Help...BT is ruining business

N.H. writes: My son and I run a small firm in St Helens, Merseyside, and we are at our wits' end because BT will not reinstate our phone line.

We have been without a telephone line for over four weeks. This is grinding our business to a halt.

Cut off: N.H.'s small firm has been without a telephone line for over four weeks

Tony Hetherington replies: You told me BT came to your firm to repair the line, and then there was a discussion about renewing your contract.

BT sent a new router, and then your phone went dead. Using different phones, you called BT a number of times, speaking to someone in another country and going through the same security questions each time, but nobody solved the problem.

You are now close to the point where jobs are at stake. I contacted BT on your behalf.

Three days later, it issued an apology, saying: 'Due to an error in our records, the original order was routed to the incorrect exchange.'

An engineer came to your company on the same day and set up an interim telephone line. Your broadband is working, and your original number has now been reactivated as well.

We're watching you Investors who put their savings into shares in medicinal cannabis company Orange River Capital may now have to count the cost of their decision as the business looks likely to disappear in a puff of smoke. The company's shares were marketed with the prospect of 15 per cent annual dividends and 300 per cent capital gains, but it has failed to file accounts that were legally due in May. Bad taste: Cannabis company Orange River Capital looks likely to disappear in a puff of smoke Officials at Companies House have begun proceedings to have it compulsorily struck off and dissolved. Investors say dividends due last January and in July have not been paid. I warned in September last year that the share offering was riddled with false claims. It was promoted in marketing emails by London financial newspaper CityA.M., but the formal offer document named a director who had already quit, and claimed backing from a firm of stockbrokers that had gone into liquidation. And it advertised its 'proven track record' while at the same time its own filings showed it had not yet traded. Worse perhaps, the man behind the share offering falsified his own track record. Lee Farbrace, 45, of Folkestone in Kent, listed five directorships on his CV, but left out his role as boss of EMI Wealth Limited. An investor who poured 130,000 into the business got back just 30,000. The company was compulsorily struck off and dissolved last October. Farbrace did not reply to repeated invitations to comment on complaints that his latest venture now owes money to investors.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
The Tory party gathering kicks off today with all eyes on Jeremy Hunt for any signs of what might be appearing in the Autumn Statement next month.

Rather than scrutinise a conference speech, hacks might have an easier time checking the Treasury's account on X, previously known as Twitter.

Last week, the department's social media team encouraged followers to 'suggest policy ideas' for the Autumn Statement, triggering a flood of cynical responses.

X marks the spot: The Treasury's social media team encouraged followers to 'suggest policy ideas' for the Autumn Statement

But among the cries of 'resign' and 'call a general election' there were kernels of substance, with one commenter suggesting landlords pay council tax instead of tenants.

Another called for the 40 per cent income tax threshold to be unfrozen. Is the Chancellor listening?

Only time will tell.

Blackberry maker struggles in cybersecurity

Blackberry's heyday when it controlled nearly half the world's mobile market is over.

But the handset maker rumbles on as a provider of cybersecurity.

Shares tanked last month when BlackBerry said second quarter sales would be below expectations.

And, as a reminder the glory days are over, a film that revisits the probe into a multi-million dollar stock award scandal hits cinemas on Friday.

Nothing like a trip down memory lane.

Jury out over inheritance tax abolition

Rishi Sunak's reported plans to abolish inheritance tax have sparked plaudits from some political quarters and seething condemnation from others  though what's new these days?

But one group likely to have sweaty palms over the idea is the bosses of firms on London's junior Alternative Investment Market, also known as Aim.

Some analysts have pointed out that most Aim shares are exempt from inheritance tax, and, as a result, savers have piled in.

As much as a third of the stocks in the 90 billion market are thought to be held for tax purposes.

If the tax were scrapped, some have warned of a 'serious risk' of a big Aim sell-off.

Tory donors in the City are unlikely to be thrilled at that.

Morrisons declined to comment over right man for job

Whispers likes a good chinwag about a chief executive job vacancy  even when there isn't one, at least officially.

We previously reported several candidates to succeed David Potts at Morrisons.

There was even talk that chairman Sir Terry Leahy might take over.

Potts insisted he was there for the duration, but turns out he is leaving after all and will be replaced by Rami Baitieh, former boss of French grocer Carrefour.

Which raises the question  was Baitieh the first choice? Morrisons declined to comment.

Contributor: Patrick Tooher
Tax grab: Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves

A tax-raising Labour government could find the nest egg it needs for a bigger state by slapping VAT on goods and services currently exempt or on reduced rates. Such concessions are estimated to cost the Exchequer up to 100 billion a year.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has highlighted the potential for Labour to stage a multi-billion pound VAT grab in a recent report.

The party leader Sir Keir Starmer has already demonstrated that he is not afraid to use VAT as a political and economic tool with the pledge to penalise independent schools by ending their exemption from VAT and business rates, which he says would raise 1.7 billion to reinvest in state education.

Research by the IFS for the UK innovation agency Nesta argues that VAT 'has huge appeal as a tax-raising tool' because of 'distortions and a high compliance burden'.

Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves is showing an iron will in reining in the spending and tax ambitions of the Left of the party and the trades unions. She has already ruled out a wealth tax and retreated on Ed Miliband's proposed 28 billion a year spend on net zero from the start of next Parliament. That leaves VAT rises as one of the few options she has left on the table.

Reeves is working with tax experts to identify 'loopholes' in tax reliefs enjoyed by entrepreneurs. It would be surprising if at some point attention doesn't turn to VAT, an obvious pot of gold.

The IFS argues that VAT exemptions  ranging from food to financial services and including newspapers  distort spending and production decisions 'in unjustified and often unfair ways'.

Costly court battles have been fought over whether Jaffa Cakes and flapjacks should be exempt, leading to 'absurd' outcomes.

Tory Chancellor George Osborne was forced into an embarrassing U-turn in 2012 as he tried to impose VAT on food designed to cool down, such as pasties or sausage rolls. He was seen as out of touch with ordinary citizens. It would be surprising if Labour hadn't noticed that while most services, such as hospitality and plumbing, attract the full 20 per cent rate, financial services are excluded.

The biggest exemption is on zero-rated goods such as food, children's clothing and domestic heating. Aimed at helping poorer families, these are badly targeted. In cash terms huge benefits accrue to rich families because they spend more.

The IFS says billions could be saved if concessions were confined to Universal Credit and benefit recipients. And the 5 per cent VAT rate on domestic fuel encourages the use of gas boilers, impeding progress towards net zero targets.

But removing VAT exemptions would cause ructions. In 1993 Tory Chancellor Norman Lamont almost committed political suicide trying to raise VAT on household energy bills to 17.5 per cent. Labour is exploring a new carbon tax.

VAT is now more than half a century old and is regarded as an economically efficient tax. It replaced purchase taxes on specific goods but many say reform is long overdue. And Labour has shown with independent schools that it is ready to fiddle with the status quo.

Starmer and Reeves have launched a charm offensive in the City, lunching and dining executives. But the exemption of financial services  one of the largest and most profitable contributors to the UK economy  could prove a more appetising starter than energy, or pasties.
Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) has experienced a daily gain of 3.37% and a 3-month loss of -7.09%. Despite these fluctuations, its Earnings Per Share (EPS) (EPS) remains at a solid 3.76. Yet, the question remains: is Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) significantly undervalued? This article seeks to answer this question through a comprehensive valuation analysis. We invite you to delve into the following analysis to gain a deeper understanding of Pfizer's intrinsic value.

Company Introduction

Pfizer is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms, with annual sales close to $50 billion (excluding COVID-19 product sales). Pfizer's top sellers include pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13, cancer drug Ibrance, and cardiovascular treatment Eliquis. With international sales representing close to 50% of its total sales, Pfizer has a strong global presence. Let's compare the stock price of $33.17 with the GF Value of $50.97 to determine if the stock is undervalued.

Unveiling Pfizer (PFE)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding GF Value

The GF Value is a proprietary measure that represents the current intrinsic value of a stock. It is calculated based on historical multiples, a GuruFocus adjustment factor based on the company's past performance and growth, and future estimates of business performance. The GF Value Line on our summary page provides an overview of the fair trading value of the stock.

According to our valuation method, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) appears to be significantly undervalued. This assessment is based on historical multiples, an internal adjustment factor based on Pfizer's past business growth, and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the share price is significantly above the GF Value Line, the stock may be overvalued and have poor future returns. Conversely, if the share price is significantly below the GF Value Line, the stock may be undervalued and have higher future returns.

Story continues

Because Pfizer is significantly undervalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much higher than its business growth.

Unveiling Pfizer (PFE)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Link: These companies may deliver higher future returns at reduced risk.

Financial Strength

Before investing in a company, it's crucial to assess its financial strength. Investing in companies with poor financial strength can result in a higher risk of permanent loss. The cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage are great ways to understand the financial strength of a company. Pfizer's cash-to-debt ratio is 0.69, which is lower than 54.59% of 1057 companies in the Drug Manufacturers industry. The overall financial strength of Pfizer is 6 out of 10, indicating fair financial strength.

Unveiling Pfizer (PFE)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Profitability and Growth

Investing in profitable companies, especially those that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term, poses less risk. Pfizer has been profitable 10 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $77.90 billion and an EPS of $3.76. Its operating margin is 30.09%, which ranks better than 95.05% of 1051 companies in the Drug Manufacturers industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks Pfizer's profitability at 9 out of 10, indicating strong profitability.

Growth is a crucial factor in the valuation of a company. A faster-growing company creates more value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth of Pfizer is 34.4%, which ranks better than 90.37% of 924 companies in the Drug Manufacturers industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 29.6%, which ranks better than 76.21% of 887 companies in the Drug Manufacturers industry.

ROIC vs WACC

Comparing a company's return on invested capital (ROIC) to the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is another way to determine its profitability. ROIC measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. WACC is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. When the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it implies the company is creating value for shareholders. For the past 12 months, Pfizer's ROIC is 13.17, and its WACC is 7.2.

Unveiling Pfizer (PFE)'s Value: Is It Really Priced Right? A Comprehensive Guide

Conclusion

In conclusion, the stock of Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) shows every sign of being significantly undervalued. The company's financial condition is fair, and its profitability is strong. Its growth ranks better than 76.21% of 887 companies in the Drug Manufacturers industry. To learn more about Pfizer stock, you can check out its 30-Year Financials here.

To find out the high-quality companies that may deliver above-average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Boris Johnson is not the only former UK Prime Minister with enthusiasm for big infrastructure projects. In 1970, another Tory PM, Ted Heath, overruled the Treasury's advice and ordered work to begin on a new London airport at Maplin in the Thames Estuary.

It was a brave decision, and the grand plan was designed to ease congestion at Heathrow and end noise and polluting emissions over swathes of London.

Four years later, after expensive piling and preparation work, Heath threw in the towel as the cost escalated to 825 million  some 8.4 billion in today's money. Under pressure from the Treasury over the dire state of the public finances and surging fuel costs, Heath cancelled the project, and the dream of an airport equipping the UK for the next generation was abandoned.

History is repeating itself. Rishi Sunak's government, which claims to be committed to the longer term, is by all accounts preparing to truncate the high-speed rail link to the North amid Whitehall panic over the cost.

The excitement and vision of fantastic projects is too important to ignore. Britain's can-do spirit triumphed with the Elizabeth Line, which was slated by critics as a fast rail link to nowhere. Now, replete with air-con and the internet, it is the most travelled route in London.

Can-do spirit: The excitement and vision of fantastic projects is too important to ignore

At the Hinkley Point power plant in Somerset, with French help, one of the most magnificent engineering projects of our time is under way. The vast roof of each nuclear reactor will be pre-assembled as a giant saucer of steel to be lowered into position by the world's largest land-based crane. It is a project on a scale that would have enthused our industrial pioneers.

Yet HS2, an imaginative infrastructure project that was approved by David Cameron's government, is in danger of hitting the buffers. A Treasury mind-set, focused on the now, is triumphing over Britain's longer-term needs for an overhaul of a Victorian railway system and the huge economic benefits that could follow.

Prominent HS2 critics argue that the escalating cost of delivering the project  the Eastern leg to Leeds already has been axed  is untenable in an era of crumbling schools and hospitals and pressure on budgets. They are right to point out that the projected cost, up from 37 billion to perhaps 100 billion now, is intolerably high. But they shouldn't think that once the capital tied up in HS2 is released, all will be well for pressing government programmes.

HS2 is an architectural and civil engineering enterprise on a gargantuan scale that future generations could marvel at.

But as terrific an idea as curtailing the scheme may seem, Treasury orthodoxy doesn't work in the way that people expect. Money saved on capital investment is money pocketed and swallowed by surging welfare and NHS budgets, even if some capital is allocated to less prestigious commuter lines.

It is shameful how wasteful the HS2 management has been. The greed that extracted some 10 million in pay and rewards in the past year is unforgivable. The answer is not to truncate the project but to get it back on track. Sack the failed leadership and bring in a trustworthy one. Elizabeth Line engineers, for instance, now working in Tel Aviv, could be called back into action. The chief executive of a respected UK engineering group suggested to me that London Underground often receives a bad rap, but it has world-class engineering skills more proven than the HS2 team. There might be a case for transferring the project's management out of the semi-public sector to Britain's private engineering groups, whose skills are in demand globally.

The main cause of concern is the cost. By axing the Birmingham to Manchester leg and the distance from Old Oak Common in West London to Euston, the capital costs could be capped. An alternative proposed by one senior City economist is to switch the funding to a 'consol' model.

Consols are long-term, undated government debt and have been used since 1751. They are redeemable and paid back at the request of the government. HS2 consols, with a reliable yield, would be snapped up by long-term investors. But for a nation that prides itself on financial innovation, the public finances are run without inspiration or ambition.

The political problem with HS2 partly dates back to the way it was sold to Parliament and the public. Much of the campaign was focused on shorter journey times. It was also seen as relieving capacity for freight by taking it off motorways.

The bigger reason for the project was there in black and white in the 2017 legislation. It is an economic project that already employs 30,000 people directly and is significant for our steel industry's survival.

The biggest lessons are to be learned from Japan. Cities on bullet train routes were once economic backwaters. They are now the beating heart of the world's second-largest Western-model economy.

Headache: Ted Heath's plan for an airport off the Essex coast didn't take off

Evidence of the investment power of infrastructure can be seen in development around Elizabeth Line stations, where in less fashionable parts of London it is lifting whole neighbourhoods out of penury.

The most telling example of how HS2 could change the economies of the North comes from the greater Birmingham area, which is already benefiting from the halo effect of HS2. It has shot up the league for foreign direct investment into Britain. The regional economy has expanded by 36 per cent to 29 billion over the past decade.

In a break with the City, HSBC, decided to make Birmingham its UK headquarters. Commercial and property prices in the region have been among the UK's most buoyant.

Andy Burnham, the passionate Labour Mayor of greater Manchester, is fearful that truncating HS2 would deprive the lesser developed parts of his region of a long-term productivity and economic boost.

But it is too late now to regret that the designers did not decide to start HS2 in Manchester and build south.

Anyone considering that the HS2 terminal should be at Old Oak Common should visit the stylish Eurostar terminal at St Pancras and compare it with the Gare du Nord terminal in Paris, which is cavernous, cold and lacks facilities. Instead of seeing Euston as problem, the Government should see it as a showpiece in the manner of St Pancras.

Global Britain is meant to be reaching out to the world. Standing alone, outside the EU, the nation needs to be seen as a visionary state capable of passing on a glittering legacy to future generations.
When Bernard Looney arrived at the Royal Lancaster hotel in Central London on February 12, 2020, an air of anticipation filled the room.

The Irishman, who had been appointed as BP's chief executive just four months earlier, was about to reveal the company's ground-breaking new strategy.

The world's top media, including household name journalists from the BBC and Sky, were in attendance. For most other chief executives, presentations like these would be given to City analysts, with slide decks, impenetrable questions and maybe a couple of glasses of claret.

But not Looney.

This was a man who had set up his own Instagram account that he used as a platform to court attention and celebrate trans and gay rights.

Agenda: Alix Steel hosts a question-and-answer session with Bernard Looney

When he got to his feet, he told the audience that BP would hit 'net zero' by 2050  the first oil giant to do so  adding that to get there, the company would slash oil and gas production by 40 per cent by 2030.

The packed room was stunned by the scale of the ambition delivered by the tall, dark Kerryman, whose transatlantic drawl showed how far he had come since his early years working on the family farm.

It was clear that Looney wanted to set the green agenda, pushing the boundaries further than rivals.

The presentation was a nod to Lord (John) Browne, a previous boss of BP and a mentor of Looney who rocked the oil establishment by acknowledging the effects of global warming at a speech in California in 1997. It also included an on-stage interview with Bloomberg's news anchor, Alix Steel, who would grill him on numerous occasions.

But three-and-a-half years later, Looney has gone, undone after admitting that he failed to fully detail relationships with colleagues.

And this weekend allegations emerged that the chief executive had also promoted women with whom he had undisclosed past relationships. Clint Oswald, an analyst at Bernstein, said: 'He was a trailblazer and had a lot of committed followers in the company. That event was typical BP and Looney.

'BP has always had a different approach when it comes to the media, it is more American in that way. Ironically it's not very British.'

Looney made a strong start, selling off oil assets in Oman, Alaska and the North Sea. He was also making a reputation as an original thinker, turning the company's mentorship programme on its head. Instead of senior members of staff mentoring new entrants as was the tradition, Looney insisted that the juniors acted as tutors to older executives on issues such as trans rights.

'It was typical Looney,' said one BP employee. 'I think his focus on these topics was genuine, although many of the old guard felt it was overdone, even evangelical at times.'

But by the time the Ukraine war had started, the world and the industry was in a very different place. Oil prices shot higher and by March 2022, Brent Crude was at a 13-year high of $123 a barrel. Looney's now famous line that BP was like a 'cash machine' caused uproar, and he and other oil bosses were duly called to Downing Street to explain themselves. It came as no surprise that by May 2022, the then Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, decided to introduce a windfall tax on the industry.

But Looney managed keep investors sweet by unleashing a string of buybacks and hiking the company's divided as the share price rose.

The fear among environmentalists is that with him gone, the company will turn its back on the green agenda and instead focus on pumping more oil.

Earlier this month, Sunak as Prime Minister pushed back the country's net-zero targets and last week the go-ahead was given to develop the Rosebank field in the North Sea. Murray Auchincloss is BP's acting chief executive, but no decision has been made on who will take the job long term. The firm's big presentation with the City in two weeks might provide the first clues about the direction that it will take.

Oswald added: 'The Tories have undone pledges, the country needs more oil now than it did a couple of weeks ago. The industry knows this.' Under Looney, BP had pledged billions to develop renewable energy in the UK, including building two hydrogen facilities on Teesside. Yet while BP says it remains committed to these projects, some analysts in the City are not so sure.

David Hewitt, an oil analyst at investment bank Liberum, added: 'The chief executive seat up is up for grabs at BP. This is an opportunity for the supermajor to pivot back to its core, namely oil and gas exploration and exploitation.'

Looney's demise is yet another scandal in BP's modern history. In 2007, Lord Browne was forced to quit over revelations about his private life, while his successor, Tony Hayward, stood down over his handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.

Neil Wilson, an analyst at Markets, said: 'This is a company that is never far from controversy.' What the company's future is from here is very much up for grabs.
It is impressive enough that Doina Ionescu is one of only two female bosses of major pharmaceutical companies in Britain.

She is at the helm of giant German healthcare group Merck in the UK and Ireland and is one of the leading women in the sector, along with Emma Walmsley, the chief executive of GSK.

Her rise is all the more inspiring because she grew up in Romania in the seventies and eighties.

Her childhood was under the shadow of the repressive Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu, who was executed with his wife on Christmas Day in 1989.

As a talented young scientist, Ionescu gravitated first towards nuclear physics. Then, following the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl power station, she had a Damascene conversion about the nuclear industry.

Conversion: Doina Ionescu left nuclear physics after her father died of cancer following the Chernobyl disaster

Her father, along with a number of other men in her village, which was around 500 kilometres from the site of the disaster, died prematurely of cancer in 1998.

'On his deathbed, my dad asked me to give up nuclear physics. I believe, as he believed, that one factor in his cancer was the radiation in the aftermath of Chernobyl.'

That same year, she joined Merck in the UK, where she had moved to complete her PhD.

Starting out as a research scientist, the young woman from behind the Iron Curtain rose through the ranks and became managing director just over three years ago. 'When my father died, that was the moment when I knew I wanted to work in a health company that gives people chances and hope. Back then, in a Communist country, treatments were scarce. My dad had no choices, no chances.'

She is proud, she says, that Merck is developing a product for lung cancer, which her father had, along with other oncology treatments.

'We focus on niche cancers where big companies don't go.'

'On cancer, the paradigm has shifted from prolonging life to finding cures.

'It shows the progress humanity has made. Because of my personal story, I hope Merck will be participating in the cure.'

Her own experiences have also played a part in Merck's approach to fertility treatment. The company has been a pioneer in the field since 1906 and more than five million babies have been born with the help of its products.

Ionescu is about to launch a scheme offering financial support for fertility treatment for staff in the UK, both male and female, and their partners.

This will include fertility tests, in-vitro fertilisation and hormone treatment, which can be costly and emotionally draining.

It could make a huge difference to staff struggling with the financial side of treatment. According to a recent survey by Fertility Network UK, 63 per cent of people who underwent therapy paid for all or part of the expenses from their own pockets.

The average spent was 13,750, but 12 per cent of people had to find more than 30,000 and a few spent more than 100,000.

'Society is facing a lot of challenges and Merck is in a position to help with some of that,' Ionescu says. 'What is more important than a child, if you want one?

'I have personal experience. I have one daughter, but I would have liked to have been younger when I had her and to have had more children.

'I am encouraging my daughter, who is 22, to preserve her eggs before the age of 25. The age of the eggs is really crucial. I told her I would pay to have them preserved before the age of 25. It does cost quite a bit.'

Would she advise any young woman to do that?

'Yes. Young men need educating as well as young women. This generation is much more aware than I was in my twenties.

'We were so driven by professional achievement. I put off having a child until my thirties and then I kind of struggled a bit.

'In my twenties, I wanted to have a career, I didn't want to have a child yet  the two didn't go hand in hand.

'I did have a career and a family, but did it come at a cost? Yes. Did I have regrets? Yes, and they are mainly about not being with my daughter for moments of her life that were so precious.

'When she went to secondary school, or when she went to a sporting event, most of the time I wasn't there. So yes, I have a few regrets.' She has, however, forged a path for women at Merck, the world's oldest pharmaceuticals company, which was founded in 1668 by Friedrich Jacob Merck in Darmstadt, Germany.

When Ionescu joined the firm in 1998, she was the only woman on the leadership scheme in the UK. 'I came from a communist country where we had gender parity,' she says.

So was there more equality in Romania?

'Yes, yes, in Romania childcare was provided by the state, and families were close,' she says.

'But I have seen a lot of progress in the past 25 years. The pharmaceutical industry has a strong female presence.

'Now we have 56 per cent women in our leadership team  at first I was the only one.'

She concedes that not enough girls study science, maths, engineering and technology, and she would like to encourage more to do so. 'Studying science gives you a great base in your life,' she says.

Merck's US arm was split off during the First World War and runs as a separate company. Shares in the German business are quoted, though the family still owns 70 per cent of them.

The UK, Ionescu says, is a 'strategic market' for the company, which has 64,000 employees around the world and made global sales of more than 22 billion in 2022.

In the UK, it employs around 1,800 staff across 12 sites, including for research and development and manufacturing.

Ionescu says the UK is well-placed to be a leader in life sciences. 'We have a great educational system, great companies. All the prerequisites are in place.

'The UK has a great history. An inspirational figure for me was the Queen because she was so consistent. And David Bowie, because he was so different and he never saw any barriers.'

As well as her job at Merck, she sits on the board of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, where she is pushing for more women and girls to get into the field.

Despite pessimism from some Remainers, she argues that the UK pharmaceuticals industry can thrive post-Brexit. 'We have Project Orbis. This is one of the benefits of Brexit,' she says.

Orbis is a programme taken up by medical health agency the MHRA post-Brexit to deliver faster access to cancer treatments, and is co-ordinated by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Other non-EU countries are involved as well, including Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Israel. A number of products have been approved under the scheme.

'The UK is a cradle of science and healthcare, and we just have to maintain the momentum,' Ionescu says. 'This is the place to be, scientifically. It is a great country, and when you come from a communist country, you see that.'
A new ultra-cheap Chinese shopping app taking Britain by storm could be illegally harvesting the data of phone users, claims a report.

Temu, pronounced tee-moo, offers shoppers cut-price products shipped directly from Chinese factories. It launched in the UK in April and has surged in popularity, becoming the most-downloaded app on Google's Play Store following similar success in the US.

Distinguished by its bright orange logo, Temu is thought to have more than nine million users in the UK who have been drawn in by its ultra-low prices and free delivery.

Best-selling products on its website include touchscreen watches for 15.49 and water bottles for 2.48.

But alarm bells are ringing among analysts and observers of Chinese companies.

Concern: Distinguished by its bright orange logo, Temu is thought to have more than nine million users in the UK

This month, financial analyst Siegfried Eggert, the boss of US firm Grizzly Research, published a report claiming Temu was one of the 'most dangerous' popular apps, alleging it contained 'aggressive' programmes designed to harvest data.

Eggert also accused Temu's owner, Chinese e-commerce giant PDD, of 'intentionally' hiding the software within the app.

'We Believe Temu is the most dangerous app in wide circulation,' the report said.

The claims threaten Temu's explosive expansion, with the app having embarked on a marketing blitz this year targeting younger shoppers on social media platforms.

It is not the first Chinese-owned retail app to draw in overseas shoppers. The likes of clothing group Shein and online sellers Alibaba and Wish have adopted similar models in the past.

But Temu's expansion has sparked warnings from politicians about the potential for Chinese apps to access UK consumers' personal data, which could potentially end up in the hands of fraudsters or intelligence agencies in Beijing and elsewhere.

Lord Alton of Liverpool, a crossbench peer who has been banned from China, said the behaviour of apps such as Temu needed to be 'urgently' investigated. 'The Government and regulators need to establish the risks to UK consumers of their data being harvested and shared with the Chinese Communist Party regime under its National Intelligence Law,' he added.

PDD was based in Shanghai until recently. Its founder and boss, Colin Huang, is one of China's richest people, with an estimated net worth of around 27.5 billion.

Temu was approached for comment last night.
The London Stock Exchange is on the brink of securing a series of floats from South Korea, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

A semiconductor maker and a fast-growing chicken shop chain are among three firms expected to join the LSE by next summer  and more are likely to follow.

The plans come out of private efforts to link Korean firms with City of London investors. They began with a group called Nexfin. Based in London, it has made its name in the Far East for arranging pre-listing financing and helping firms that want to raise money in the West. The Government and LSE have also been working behind the scenes.

South Korea could represent a lucrative market for the City. A source said: 'The big banks are quite excited. These are potentially billion-pound listings.'

Indian firms are also said to be exploring listing on the LSE amid trade talks between the two nations.

In focus: South Korea could represent a lucrative market for the City

Recent changes to Indian rules to allow domestic companies to access global markets are being seen as a big boost to the Square Mile.

The LSE has been dealt many blows this year since chip-maker Arm snubbed the UK to list in New York, with other UK-quoted firms also switching.

In March, the LSE hosted the mayor of Seoul in London and later signed an agreement to facilitate the listing 'of major domestic companies' in the UK.

'There are some exceptional companies looking at London that perhaps would have gone to the US,' said Nick Davis at City law firm Memery Crystal, which is working on the floats.
The good life: Author Peter James

Award-winning crime writer Peter James has sold 21 million books. The 75-year-old author grew up in Brighton with his sister Genevieve and parents Cornelia and Jack  former glovemakers to Elizabeth II.

His books are set in the resort and have been turned into the hit ITV drama series, Grace, starring John Simm.

James tells York Membery how the series  for which he gets seven per cent of the overall profits  has boosted international sales of his books.

He lives in Jersey with second wife Lara, 44, and their two dogs, Wally, a goldendoodle, and Spooky, a labradoodle.

What did your parents teach you about money?

My dad always told me to buy 'quality' because he warned: If you buy cheap, you buy twice. Unfortunately, I initially didn't follow his advice and while at boarding school, aged 18, I bought a clapped-out Triumph 250cc motorbike for 25.

A tyre blew out late one night and I lay on the centre white line of the Hog's Back road on the North Downs as lorries roared by either side of me. I bought cheap and it nearly killed me  since then I've always bought the best I could afford.

Did you ever consider following your parents into glovemaking?

My mother Cornelia, a refugee from Nazi Europe, and my father Jack founded the glovemakers Cornelia James, which counted the late Queen among its clients, and still holds a Royal Warrant.

I did join the firm in my 20s, but my heart just wasn't in it, and when a sales rep said to me: 'Only 12 years to go until I retire!' I thought: 'What am I doing here?' So I left to try my luck writing full time and my sister Genevieve now runs it successfully... fortunately without me.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

As a student I had to survive on 8 a week, just enough to cover the rent on the converted garage I was sharing in Chelsea, pay the rail fare and feed myself. I needed to earn extra to take a girl I fancied out to dinner, and got a job as a cleaner on ten shillings an hour. But after four weeks my employer told me, politely, that 'I wasn't cut out for the job' so I was let go. Things didn't work out with the girl either!

Did you make money from your first book deal?

No, I signed a two-book deal  2,000 for my debut and 3,000 for the follow-up for a couple of spy novels in the early 1980s. But that first book, Dead Letter Drop (1981) sold just 1,800 copies in hardback, and the sequel didn't do much better. Then my fortunes changed overnight with the publication of my first Roy Grace crime thriller.

Dead Simple was published in 2005 and the third in the series became my first No 1. I now write a book a year  I'm currently writing the 20th Grace novel  and 18 months ago negotiated a new, five-book deal.

Ever been sent anything valuable by a fan?

No, but I was once sent a fan letter written on a piece of wood from a coffin  after Dead Simple came out.

Has the TV adaptation of Grace proved a money-spinner?

The TV series  with the brilliant John Simm in the title role of DS Grace  has been sold to more than 20 countries and is returning for a fourth series in 2024. I get 10 per cent of the production fee and 7 per cent of the overall profits. It's also given my books, which have been translated into 38 languages, a big international sales boost. Lara and I had cameo roles as coppers.

By the book: John Simm as Brighton-based DS Grace

What is your biggest money mistake?

Buying an old Jaguar E-type for 10,000 in 1988 as a 40th birthday present for myself. It was a wreck and I spent another 60,000 restoring it. But I had to sell it when my first wife and I got divorced. Unfortunately the classic car market had temporarily collapsed so I sold it for a measly 20,000. That hurt.

Your best ever money decision?

Firstly, setting up the third internet service provider in the UK, Pavilion Internet, when there were just 50,000 people online; my two business partners and I sold it in 1998 for a seven-figure sum. Secondly, investing in Animas, which developed a wearable patch enabling diabetics like myself to get an instant insulin read-out on their mobile. That netted me a 20 times return on my six-figure investment.

Do you save into a pension?

No, I've seen so many swings and roundabouts in pensions. My properties, my classic cars  I've got a 1962 American Racing Chevrolet Corvette, a 1964 Mini Cooper S and a 1987 Mercedes 500 SL among others  and my modern art collection are my pension.

Do you invest in the stock market?

No, but I bought 15,000 of Bitcoin as part of my research for a Grace novel. It jumped to 70,000 then dropped. I sold for 40,000, not a bad return.

Do you own your own home?

We have a 17th Century detached house in Jersey with a 75ft tower where I write. The view from the top is fantastic, and I can see the coast of Saint Malo in France. My wife Lara and I are passionate about animals and we have more than one hundred in the grounds.

Do you donate money to charity?

Lara and I have our own charity, The Really Scary Books Charitable Foundation, and donate to mainly small charities such as Martlets Hospice, in Brighton, which cared for my mother. Another one I'm passionate about is the Sussex Police Charitable Trust. I'm also a patron of the RSPCA.
Thousands of Britons living abroad who followed 'misleading' Government advice face losing a huge chunk of their pension, financial consultants have warned The Mail on Sunday.

Many pensioners are already believed to be massively out of pocket after trusting the Department for Work and Pensions-sponsored Money Helper-Pension Wise guide which said they could withdraw a quarter of their pot tax free at age 55.

In fact, only those who are in the UK and plan to stay here after retirement can be certain of keeping the full amount without being hit with hefty tax bills.

Britons who are living abroad, either temporarily or permanently, could be taxed almost half the cash they take as a lump sum by the authorities in their resident country, where different rules apply.

In Britain, the 25 per cent tax-free cash is one of the most popular pension rules  but many countries, including Australia, France and Spain do not recognise this tax-free status.

Burned: Many pensioners are already believed to be massively out of pocket after trusting the Department for Work and Pensions-sponsored Money Helper-Pension Wise guide

Those planning ahead may be better off taking the tax-free cash before relocating. But this was not signposted in the Money Helper-Pension Wise guide.

Money Helper, which now incorporates the Pension Wise scheme, is an impartial Government-backed financial guidance provider. For more than five years, pension companies have routinely supplied their customers who are over or about to turn 55, the 38-page guide entitled, 'Your Pension: Your Choices'. The must-read guide to pensions is emblazoned with HM Government insignia and contains advice about tax free withdrawals.

But after a barrage of complaints from worried financial advisers who had seen clients lose cash after trusting it, the guide was finally updated in recent weeks to warn non-UK residents or those planning to move abroad to 'seek regulated cross-border financial advice regarding your options'.

Financial experts fear its widespread circulation prior to this change has left a 'ticking time bomb' for many of the 1.2 million British pensioners living abroad and hundreds of thousands of others working overseas who followed the previous advice given and took the money in good faith.

It means those who haven't already received a tax bill from their new government could be about to be hit by one.

Missing information on risk of a tax bill

The guide was intended for those with defined contribution schemes  the most common type of workplace pension today.

This type of pension is a pot of cash that you and your employer pay into every year and to which you can gain access from the age of 55. In the UK, you can draw the first 25 per cent of your pension tax free.

Many have found the Government resources vital for navigating complicated pension and tax rules. The guide promised to 'set out your options for using your pot(s) to provide a retirement income and the benefits and any potential risks of the different choices'.But while stressing in bold that it didn't cover final salary pensions  which provide a guaranteed income in retirement  it failed to make clear that the advice was also unlikely to apply to anybody accessing their UK pension while resident in another country or planning to move abroad.

This could include those who retire abroad or who draw from their UK pension after turning 55 while working overseas.

Instead, it repeatedly advised that those over 55 will 'usually' or 'normally' be able to withdraw 25 per cent of their pot tax free, but the only qualifiers given were that, for some older policies, a higher rate of tax-free cash might be available and that the maximum tax-free cash available to withdraw is 268,275.

Pension Wise also offers free consultations. But one British expat planning to withdraw a quarter of his UK pot who attended a meeting said despite telling the advisers he now lived in Adelaide it was not made clear to him that he may have to pay tax on it in Australia.

Couple saved from pension peril

Robert Dart was saved from the brink of losing more than 8,000 after trusting the Government advice on pension transfers.

The married father of two adult sons had planned to take 25,000 out of his UK pension to make investments in Australia, where he now lives.

Mr Dart, 62, believed this would be tax free because of advice given to him in a guide and a subsequent meeting with Government-backed financial guidance provider Pension Wise  which had been recommended to him by his UK pension provider.

But he discovered at the last moment that if he went ahead with the transfer he would have lost around a third of the cash in tax to the Australian authorities. That amounts to more than 8,300. He said: 'I was all ready to go ahead. After meeting with Pension Wise and reading what they had sent to me I was certain the withdrawal would be tax free.

'I'd also spoken to my financial adviser in Australia who said, while he didn't know details of the rules in England, based on information Pension Wise had given me it seemed the best option.

'Like me, he trusted the information because it was a scheme backed by the UK Government.'

Trusted: The official guide at the centre of the financial storm

He was only saved because during delays in the planned transfer he was introduced to a financial adviser who was aware of the tax pitfalls and warned him that he would incur a tax bill from the Australian government if he dipped into his pension.

Mr Dart emigrated to Adelaide in 1988 after meeting his Australian wife, Carol, when she was working in the UK  who he jokes 'took me home as a souvenir.'

By then he had built up a 100,000 UK pension in data communications working for British Telecom in West London and then British Oxygen Company in Guildford.

But when he turned 55 he began to receive regular communications from his British pension provider directing him to Pension Wise for guidance on what to do with the cash.

On a return to the UK in 2017, as advised, he took up the free consultation with Pension Wise, where he explained that he now lived in Australia where he was a citizen.

After the meeting, Pension Wise sent him a document outlining 'the six options discussed in the appointment' which stated nine separate times that he could 'take up to 25 per cent of your pot tax free'  without once warning this might not apply because he lived abroad. Mr Dart, who is now semi-retired and runs a small business selling jewellery in markets, said: 'It was a real shock to find out the truth when I was very close to taking the money out.

'I had a lucky escape, but it worries me that others who trusted the guidance could still lose out.'

Retirees facing ticking time bomb

Most savers reading the guide will take official financial advice from the Government-backed provider as fact, financial experts have warned. Geraint Davies who runs Montfort, a financial advice group which specialises in helping people moving overseas or returning to the UK, said it appeared to be 'gross incompetence' from the Government backed provider.

Mr Davies, who campaigned for the new warning clause to be added, said: 'It's virtually unbelievable this could have happened.

'This is supposed to be a guide for people who don't understand pensions, but it was giving out misleading guidance that has likely cost thousands of people a large amount of their retirement fund.

'Quite understandably people trusted it as it's a Government-backed guidance scheme  why would anyone doubt that? But for many it will have had serious consequences.

'The issue could easily have been dealt with from the start with a line on the front cover saying this is not suitable for people living abroad or planning to move abroad.

'I already know of people who have lost out because they followed this guidance and some others we've had to pull back from the brink of accessing their 25 per cent cash.

'But it is likely there are many more recent retirees living abroad who are currently unaware they are likely to face a very large tax bill. It's a ticking time-bomb.'

Jeff Bowman, a London-based international tax consultant, who has specialised in UK-Australian tax matters for more than 35 years, said: 'What people dislike more than a tax bill, is an unexpected tax bill.

'Those following the Pension Wise-Money Helper old advice, without being alerted to the local tax implications in their current country of residence, are heading that way.'

A spokesman from the Money & Pensions Service, which operates Pension Wise and Money Helper said: 'Your Pension: Your Choices is an important resource for pension savers planning to access their pension pot.

'However, our remit is to provide help and guidance, including making people aware of their general options and the risks associated with different choices for taking money out of a pension pot.

'Guides like this cannot be exhaustive or solely relied upon for complex financial decisions.

'It can help people prepare, but they may need other resources to make the right decision for them, including a Pension Wise appointment and regulated financial advice or speaking to a pension provider.

'This guide also clearly states that before accessing their pension pot, people should read information from their provider, check for other conditions or charges and consult Money Helper, which includes detailed information on retiring abroad.'
Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS  Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Mizuho from $221.00 to $219.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $245.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $249.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $252.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $226.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $243.20.

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Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

NYSE:ESS opened at $212.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $195.03 and a 12 month high of $249.66. The company has a market cap of $13.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $233.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.54.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. Essex Property Trusts payout ratio is currently 112.41%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 120 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 89.4% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 125 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.93% of the companys stock.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.

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Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Pinterest (NYSE:PINS  Free Report) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Briefing.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $32.10 price target on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Pinterest in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Pinterest from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on Pinterest from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Roth Mkm reissued a neutral rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Pinterest in a report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Pinterest from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $31.60.

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Pinterest Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Pinterest stock opened at $27.03 on Tuesday. Pinterest has a 12-month low of $20.60 and a 12-month high of $30.86. The stock has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -62.85, a P/E/G ratio of 65.73 and a beta of 1.03. The businesss 50 day moving average is $27.00 and its 200-day moving average is $26.20.

Pinterest (NYSE:PINS  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.06. Pinterest had a negative return on equity of 4.59% and a negative net margin of 10.14%. The business had revenue of $708.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $698.28 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pinterest will post 0.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pinterest

In other Pinterest news, Director Jeffrey D. Jordan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.70, for a total value of $76,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 169,215 shares in the company, valued at $5,194,900.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Gokul Rajaram sold 1,934 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total transaction of $48,833.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,854 shares in the company, valued at $1,385,063.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Jordan sold 2,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.70, for a total value of $76,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 169,215 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,194,900.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 489,691 shares of company stock worth $13,539,879. 6.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pinterest

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PINS. Cohanzick Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pinterest during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pinterest during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in Pinterest during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in Pinterest by 315.3% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,142 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Pinterest during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. 72.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Pinterest

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Pinterest, Inc operates as a visual discovery engine in the United States and internationally. The company's engine allows people to find ideas, such as recipes, home and style inspiration, and others; provides video, product, and idea pins; and offers organizing and planning tools. It shows organic recommendations and advertising engine based on pinners tastes and preferences; and enables pinners with shoppable product pins, which include price, color, and size that redirect to retailer websites.

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Mizuho upgraded shares of PNM Resources (NYSE:PNM  Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $50.30 price objective on the utilities providers stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on PNM. Citigroup reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of PNM Resources in a research report on Monday, September 18th. StockNews.com began coverage on PNM Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PNM Resources presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $51.08.

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PNM Resources Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE PNM opened at $44.62 on Tuesday. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $44.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.41. PNM Resources has a 52 week low of $42.75 and a 52 week high of $49.60.

PNM Resources (NYSE:PNM  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $477.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.75 million. PNM Resources had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 10.26%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PNM Resources will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

PNM Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 27th will be paid a $0.368 dividend. This represents a $1.47 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 26th. This is a boost from PNM Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. PNM Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PNM Resources

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNM. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in PNM Resources by 8.2% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,260 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,493 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PNM Resources by 1.6% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 45,120 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,151,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in PNM Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,387,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in PNM Resources by 114.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 238,673 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $11,378,000 after buying an additional 127,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in PNM Resources by 0.8% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 391,228 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $18,650,000 after buying an additional 2,959 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.18% of the companys stock.

PNM Resources Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

PNM Resources, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides electricity and electric services in the United States. It operates through Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) and Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP) segments. The PNM segment engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity.

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In this article, we are going to discuss the top 15 countries for US alcohol exports. You can skip our detailed analysis of the importance of the U.S. alcohol industry, the countrys balance of alcohol trade, the growth in the U.S. spirits exports, and the American craft beer exports, and go directly to US Alcohol Exports by Country: Top 5.

Since the time of the first European settlers, alcohol has been an integral part of the economy, culture, and history of the U.S. Unbeknownst to most people, alcohol played a huge role in the Revolutionary War, and it has been a major part of United States culture ever since.

The Importance of the U.S. Alcohol Industry:

Booze plays an enormous role in the American economy. As of 2021, the total share of the beverage alcohol market in the U.S. represented almost $250 billion and over 3.4 billion cases sold. Beer/FMB/hard seltzer accounted for 43.5% of value share, followed closely by spirits at 39.5%, and wine at a 17% share.

The U.S. alcohol beverage industry is responsible for sustaining more than 4 million jobs and generating almost $70 billion in annual tax revenue. And that doesnt even scratch the surface of the economic benefits the industry provides to late night restaurants and pizza shops. Per the Beer Institute, the beer industry alone supports 1.75 million jobs.

From the farmers harvesting the barley in your beer, to the beer truck driver, to your local bartender, every aspect of your drink exists because of someone in the alcohol industry working hard behind the scenes. The positive economic impact of alcohol is something you seldom consider when having a drink, but, given the facts, maybe its time we all raise a glass to it.

The Balance of Alcohol Trade:

The United States exported $4.09 billion of alcoholic beverages in 2022. The distilled spirits category held the largest share at $2.07 billion, followed by wine and wine products at $1.47 billion, and last but not least, the U.S. beer exports amounted to $546.76 million last year. In 2021, America exported a total of $3.57 billion worth of alcohol, thus exhibiting a YoY growth of almost 14.6%. When compared to 2021, the U.S. exports of distilled spirits, largely Bourbon, have grown, while wine and beer exports have remained flat.

Story continues

The United States is also the Country that Imports the Most Alcohol in the World, with imports of $26.6 billion in 2022. The total imports of distilled spirits, beer, and wine accounted for 14% of the overall U.S. agricultural imports. Distilled spirits were the largest and fastest growing segment of these products, accounting for almost half  $12 billion  of the countrys overall alcohol imports.

Thus, the U.S. is a net importer of alcoholic beverages, with a massive negative trade balance of $22.51 billion.

Growth in the U.S. Spirits Exports:

The U.S. distilled spirits exports grew 30% to a record $2.07 billion in 2022, according to a new report by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). The rise came despite exports of American whiskey to the U.K. having not yet returned to pre-tariff levels. The U.K. joined the E.U. in halting retaliatory tariffs imposed on American goods, including whiskey, in June last year. The analysis showed that U.S. spirits exports, driven by American whiskeys, have nearly quadrupled in two decades, rising from $551 million in 2002.

DISCUS cited the lifting of tariffs, ongoing premiumization trends in key export markets, the reopening of the hospitality sector, and an increase in the number of U.S. distilleries as factors behind the continued strength of spirits exports.

The E.U. remains the biggest market for American spirits exports, making up 34% of the total. Spirits exports to the trading bloc grew by 25% in 2022, following the E.U.s decision to remove tariffs in January last year. At $703 million, U.S. spirits' exports to the European Union have now surpassed pre-tariff levels from 2017.

The removal of trade tariffs by the E.U. and the U.K. has restored a level playing field for American whiskey in Europe, and its impact was also reflected in the revenue of Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF-B)  the Largest Importer of American Whiskey in the World. The Jack Daniels maker sells its products in over 170 countries worldwide and 51% of its total sales occur outside the U.S. For its fiscal year ended April 30, 2023, the Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF-B) boasted a revenue of $4.23 billion, an increase of 8% from the previous year.

The Jack Daniels family of brands reported net sales growth of 4% was led by the increase of the Tennessee Whiskey sales in international markets and the Travel Retail channel. Higher pricing and an estimated net increase in distributor inventories in certain emerging and developed international markets positively impacted reported net sales.

The Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF-B) ranks among the 12 Best Alcohol Stocks to Own According to Hedge Funds.

American Craft Beer Exports:

American craft breweries have received help from the Brewers Association Export Development Program in shipping their ales and lagers to almost all of the worlds beer markets. According to the Brewers Association, 230,999 barrels (more than 7 million gallons) of beer, worth over $71 million, were exported by American craft breweries in 2022. The number of exporting American craft brewers has grown from just a handful of 10-15 companies twenty years ago, to more than 150 small and independent brewers now shipping beer overseas every year.

The Brewers Association and the Market Access Program of the Department of Agricultures Foreign Agricultural Service have joined forces to create the Export Development Program. Through the EDP, the Department of Agriculture and the Brewers Association split the expenses of international marketing and promotion initiatives that support the development of craft beer export markets on a commercial basis.

The American craft beer industry has witnessed massive growth over the last couple of decades, and now more than 9,500 small and independent craft brewers in the country are producing a range of beers that are of the highest quality and flavor available anywhere in the world. This gold rush has attracted the attention of several players in the market.

Tilray Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY)  a craft beer and cannabis company that was among the first to be licensed for medical cannabis in Canada  announced last month that it has agreed to acquire eight beer and beverage brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) for an undisclosed amount.

The deal includes the Shock Top, Blue Point, 10 Barrel, Breckenridge, Redhook, Widmer Brothers, Square Mile Cider, and HiBall Energy brands. Upon satisfaction of customary closing conditions, Tilray Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY) will become the fifth-largest craft brewer in the U.S. with a 5% market share.

Stocks of Tilray were held by 15 out of 910 hedge funds in the Insider Monkey database at the end of Q2 2023, with Aristeia Capital holding the largest stake of almost 24.41 million shares, valued at over $24.28 million. Tilray Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY) already owns multiple beverage brands and is also among the Biggest Marijuana Companies in the World.

The Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) is the Largest Alcoholic Beverage Company in America. However, the beer behemoth has been facing some headwinds in the U.S. market after the recent controversy regarding its best-selling brand Bud Light, which resulted in the iconic brand losing its crown as the Top-Selling Beer in America after nearly two decades.

Though as we mentioned in our article  17 Countries with the Highest Percentage of Non-Drinkers  billionaire Bill Gates portfolio managers decided to initiate a $96 million position in the firm during the second quarter.

Broyhill Asset Management said the following about Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:

The largest detractors to performance over the quarter were First Horizon Corp (FHN), Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (NYSE:BUD), and Bayer (BAYRY). Problems at Anheuser Busch InBev began on April 1 with Dylan Mulvaneys social media post, which ignited a fiery backlash amongst Bud Light customers across Merica. With volumes down sharply, and competitors gaining share at BUDs expense, operational deleveraging is set to weigh heavily on US margins amid peak demand pressure in the second quarter. Despite severe US headwinds (second-quarter operating profit maybe half of last years levels), we still expect BUD to grow consolidated operating profit at a mid-single-digit rate for the full year. With current issues well understood and investor sentiment in the gutters, we see significant upside in a stock, which is approaching a double-digit FCF yield. With FX headwinds and rising input costs reversing course, increasing margins are likely to drive positive surprises into FY24 as continued deleveraging accrues more value to shareholders.

With that said, here are the Countries that Import the Most Alcohol from America.

US Alcohol Exports by Country: Top 15

Natalya Okorokova/Shutterstock.com

Methodology:

To collect data for this article, we have referred to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, to determine the Top Destinations for U.S. Alcohol Exports. We calculated the sum of the total distilled spirits exports, wine exports, and beer exports to each country in 2022, and ranked it accordingly.

15. Honduras

Distilled Spirits Exports: $1.87 million

Wine Exports: $0.98 million

Beer Exports: $58.95 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $61.8 million

Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in Honduras and the Central American country imports a large amount of light beers from the U.S. every year. Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft are some of the American beer brands popular in Honduras.

Honduras is counted among the Top Markets for American Alcohol.

14. Hong Kong

Distilled Spirits Exports: $2.6 million

Wine Exports: $59.78 million

Beer Exports: $0.34 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $62.72 million

Since the Hong Kong government has completely abolished import duties on wine (including alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of less than 30%) in 2008, Hong Kong has therefore become the only free port among the major economies in the world, thus developing into an international market of primary importance in the wine sector.

Hong Kong is strategically positioned as one of Asias leading wine re-export centers, with most of these re-exports headed to mainland China. Hong Kong ranks among the 20 Countries that Import the Most Wine.

13. China

Distilled Spirits Exports: $23.48 million

Wine Exports: $33.47 million

Beer Exports: $13.87 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $70.82 million

Before the U.S-China trade dispute in 2017, American wine sales to China totalled about $80 million a year. That amount dropped by about $20 million each year between 2018-20 after China raised tariffs and taxes on U.S. wine from 48.2% to 93% per bottle. Wines that once cost $40 suddenly sold for $50 or more and importers stopped making new orders.

Since the initial salvoes of the trade war, many of Californias 4,200 wineries have recouped their losses by reselling domestically, expanding into other countries and capitalizing on Chinese tariffs placed on Australian wine, which has made their product more competitive.

China is among the Biggest Alcohol Producers in the World.

12. Dominican Republic

Distilled Spirits Exports: $48.01 million

Wine Exports: $20.61 million

Beer Exports: $12.08 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $80.7 million

The Dominican Republic is one of the most important markets for U.S. alcoholic beverages in the Western Hemisphere and the country imported a record $80.7 million of American alcohol products in 2022. With a share of 59.5%, distilled spirits continue to be the largest category of U.S. alcohol exports to the Caribbean nation.

11. France

Distilled Spirits Exports: $87.67 million

Wine Exports: $43.01 million

Beer Exports: $0.91 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $131.59 million

France is among the countries that drink the most whiskey per capita in the world, and French drinkers even drink more whiskey than they do Champagne or Cognac. Jack Daniels is the most popular whiskey in France, with over 3.5 million consumers in 2021.

France ranks among the Top Importers of American Alcohol in Europe.

10. Germany

Distilled Spirits Exports: $109.64 million

Wine Exports: $22.91 million

Beer Exports: $0.46 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $133.01 million

Quality Bourbon has definitely gained popularity in Germany over the last few years and brands like Woodford Reserve and Knob Creek can be found on shelves around the country. Jack Daniel's also entered the German market with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple in early 2020.

Germany sits among the Countries that Export the Most Beer to the U.S.

9. Chile

Distilled Spirits Exports: $43.07 million

Wine Exports: $0.16 million

Beer Exports: $91.66 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $134.89 million

Beer has remained among the top five agricultural and related products exported from the United States to Chile for the last five years. In 2021, beer exports from the United States reached $116.78 million, their highest recorded level, making it the number one agricultural and related export product to the South American nation.

Chile is the Top Market for U.S. Beer Exports.

8. Spain

Distilled Spirits Exports: $145.08 million

Wine Exports: $2.93 million

Beer Exports: $0.53 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $148.54 million

Despite being a relevant producer of distilled spirits, Spain imports around 40% of its spirits consumed. The biggest category is whiskey, with tequila and gin still increasing in popularity. Spain was the top importer of Bourbon whiskey in 2018, with $88 million worth of the iconic American spirit imported.

Spain is counted among the Top 10 Importers of American Alcohol.

7. South Korea

Distilled Spirits Exports: $50.02 million

Wine Exports: $89.51 million

Beer Exports: $14.91 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $154.44 million

Interest in American wines has been growing in recent years, and cult wines from the U.S. are highly sought after by wine lovers in South Korea. Californian wines, and to a lesser extent Oregon and Washington, are well-regarded in the East Asian countrys market.

6. Australia

Distilled Spirits Exports: $141.52 million

Wine Exports: $15.33 million

Beer Exports: $1.72 million

Total Alcohol Exports in 2022: $158.57 million

Australia imported a record $141.52 million worth of American distilled spirits in 2022. The Land Down Under is the nation with the highest per capita consumption of U.S. whiskey in the world. Though Bourbon is not the only style of whiskey America has to offer, it is certainly the most popular in Australia. Australia ranks 6th in our List of Top Alcohol Importers from the U.S.

Click to continue reading and see the US Alcohol Exports by Country: Top 5.

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Disclosure: None. US Alcohol Exports by Country: Top 15 is originally published on Insider Monkey.
Peel Hunt restated their buy rating on shares of Redde Northgate (LON:REDD  Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a GBX 450 ($5.50) price objective on the stock.

Redde Northgate Trading Up 0.6 %

REDD opened at GBX 338 ($4.13) on Tuesday. Redde Northgate has a twelve month low of GBX 276.50 ($3.38) and a twelve month high of GBX 438 ($5.35). The company has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 336.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 355.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 71.24. The stock has a market capitalization of 771.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 574.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.67.

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Redde Northgate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st were given a dividend of GBX 16.50 ($0.20) per share. This is a boost from Redde Northgates previous dividend of $7.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a yield of 4.37%. Redde Northgates dividend payout ratio is currently 4,067.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

About Redde Northgate

In other news, insider Martin Ward sold 367,094 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 331 ($4.04), for a total value of 1,215,081.14 ($1,483,796.73). In other news, insider Martin Ward sold 367,094 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 331 ($4.04), for a total value of 1,215,081.14 ($1,483,796.73). Also, insider John Pattullo bought 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 345 ($4.21) per share, with a total value of 34,500 ($42,129.69). Insiders bought 91,661 shares of company stock valued at $31,131,418 over the last quarter. 6.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

(Get Free Report)

Redde Northgate plc provides mobility solutions and automotive services in the United Kingdom, Spain, and Ireland. The company offers contact center support, sales, claim processing, customer service, and general insurance products; provides fleet management, rapid response, and recovery management services; and supplies and installs electric vehicle charging equipment.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL  Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on DAL. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $58.00 in a report on Thursday, July 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $56.94.

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Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of DAL stock opened at $37.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.98, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The firms 50 day moving average is $42.13 and its 200 day moving average is $39.53. Delta Air Lines has a 12 month low of $27.20 and a 12 month high of $49.81.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 13th. The transportation company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $15.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.44 billion. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 59.56%. Delta Air Liness revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 12th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Delta Air Liness dividend payout ratio is 8.62%.

Insider Transactions at Delta Air Lines

In related news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 12,129 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total transaction of $552,112.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,708 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,901,428.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 3,350 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.43, for a total transaction of $162,240.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,465 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,330,129.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 12,129 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total transaction of $552,112.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,708 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,901,428.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,479 shares of company stock valued at $1,839,353. Company insiders own 0.89% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,304 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Navalign LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 17,716 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 9,725 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,817 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Delta Air Lines by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,655 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 71.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and Seoul-Incheon.

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Shares of DT Midstream, Inc. (NYSE:DTM  Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of Hold from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.83.

Several research firms have commented on DTM. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on DT Midstream from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 20th. TheStreet raised DT Midstream from a d rating to a b- rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of DT Midstream in a research report on Friday, September 15th.

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DT Midstream Trading Down 0.7 %

DTM opened at $52.92 on Friday. The stocks fifty day moving average is $52.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.82. DT Midstream has a 52 week low of $45.10 and a 52 week high of $61.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

DT Midstream (NYSE:DTM  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $224.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.87 million. DT Midstream had a return on equity of 8.44% and a net margin of 40.13%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Analysts forecast that DT Midstream will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

DT Midstream Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 18th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 15th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.22%. DT Midstreams payout ratio is 72.44%.

Institutional Trading of DT Midstream

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in DT Midstream by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 43,524 shares of the companys stock worth $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 5,171 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of DT Midstream by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 46,098 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,276,000 after buying an additional 5,033 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in shares of DT Midstream by 246.3% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 106,454 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,256,000 after buying an additional 75,710 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of DT Midstream by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 78,439 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,335,000 after buying an additional 9,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN purchased a new position in shares of DT Midstream during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the companys stock.

DT Midstream Company Profile

(Get Free Report

DT Midstream, Inc provides integrated natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Pipeline and Gathering. It develops, owns, and operates an integrated portfolio of interstate pipelines, intrastate pipelines, storage systems, lateral pipelines, gathering systems, related treatment plants, and compression and surface facilities.

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HF Sinclair Co. (NYSE:DINO  Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of Hold from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.67.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on HF Sinclair from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on HF Sinclair from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on HF Sinclair from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on HF Sinclair from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on HF Sinclair from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th.

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Insider Activity

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HF Sinclair

In other news, EVP Valerie Pompa sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.89, for a total transaction of $284,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,217 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,150,145.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link . Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the companys stock.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in HF Sinclair by 1,307.5% in the 2nd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 746 shares of the companys stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new position in HF Sinclair in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in HF Sinclair in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in HF Sinclair by 275.7% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,022 shares of the companys stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in HF Sinclair by 88.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the companys stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the companys stock.

HF Sinclair Price Performance

DINO stock opened at $56.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 4.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.39. HF Sinclair has a 1 year low of $37.12 and a 1 year high of $66.19.

HF Sinclair (NYSE:DINO  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.33. HF Sinclair had a return on equity of 24.58% and a net margin of 6.87%. The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.38 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that HF Sinclair will post 10.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HF Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. HF Sinclairs payout ratio is currently 15.28%.

About HF Sinclair

(Get Free Report

HF Sinclair Corporation operates as an independent energy company. It produces and markets gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, renewable diesel, specialty lubricant products, specialty chemicals, specialty and modified asphalt, and others. The company also owns and operates refineries located in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming; and markets its refined products principally in the Southwest United States and Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, and in other neighboring Plains states.

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Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO  Free Report) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,619 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 1,924 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.s holdings in Southern were worth $1,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 61,472,651 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $4,277,269,000 after buying an additional 1,283,943 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,719,486 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,415,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,906,914 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,428,181 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,073,493,000 after purchasing an additional 349,353 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,190,526 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $656,296,000 after buying an additional 255,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 34.9% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,613,826 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $529,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969,743 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $99,904.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,878,289.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total transaction of $341,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,512 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,569.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $99,904.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,756 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,878,289.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,934,355 over the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:SO opened at $64.72 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $58.85 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.29. The company has a market capitalization of $70.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Southerns dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. They issued a buy rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Saturday, August 19th. They set a sell rating for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Southern from a buy rating to a conviction-buy rating in a report on Monday, July 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $73.27.

Get Our Latest Research Report on SO

Southern Profile

(Free Report)

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.

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Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWF  Free Report) by 39.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 814 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 527 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IWF. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 34.1% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 26,203 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $7,275,000 after buying an additional 6,665 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 11.6% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,211 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 3.7% in the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 7,595 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,109,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF in the first quarter worth $33,422,000.

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iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of IWF stock opened at $266.04 on Friday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $275.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.52. The firm has a market cap of $67.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 1.08. iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF has a 12 month low of $202.05 and a 12 month high of $286.96.

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Company Profile

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment returns that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 1000 Growth Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of equity securities of Russell 1000 index issuers with relatively higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth.

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TBH Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW  Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 28,820 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Medical Properties Trust by 158.9% during the 2nd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 2,933 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 64.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,289 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 94.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,505 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. 76.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $10.00 to $6.00 in a report on Friday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Medical Properties Trust in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Raymond James cut Medical Properties Trust from a strong-buy rating to an underperform rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Mizuho cut Medical Properties Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $9.00 in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Medical Properties Trust in a report on Monday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $10.27.

Medical Properties Trust Trading Up 4.3 %

MPW opened at $5.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.03. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.97 and a 12 month high of $14.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $7.50 and a 200 day moving average of $8.20.

Medical Properties Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 14th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.00%. Medical Properties Trusts dividend payout ratio is currently 545.45%.

About Medical Properties Trust

(Free Report)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 444 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds in ten countries and across four continents.

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TBH Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (BATS:VLUE  Free Report) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,472 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. TBH Global Asset Management LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF in the 1st quarter worth about $11,666,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new stake in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000.

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iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF Price Performance

Shares of VLUE opened at $90.75 on Friday. iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF has a 1-year low of $71.21 and a 1-year high of $89.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.13 and a 200 day moving average of $92.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.04.

iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF Profile

The iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (VLUE) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Enhanced Value index. The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap US equities. Stocks are selected and weighted using fundamental metrics (earnings, revenue, book value and cash earnings), aiming for exposure to undervalued stocks in each sector.

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BLB&B Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP  Free Report) (TSE:CP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,230 shares of the transportation companys stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Canadian Pacific Kansas City by 750.0% during the 4th quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 340 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Pacific Kansas City by 193.9% in the 1st quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 338 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Pacific Kansas City in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Motco acquired a new position in Canadian Pacific Kansas City in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Canadian Pacific Kansas City in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.93% of the companys stock.

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Canadian Pacific Kansas City Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CP opened at $74.43 on Friday. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited has a 52 week low of $65.17 and a 52 week high of $85.40. The companys 50 day moving average is $79.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $69.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.01.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Increases Dividend

Canadian Pacific Kansas City ( NYSE:CP Get Free Report ) (TSE:CP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The transportation company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.47 billion. Canadian Pacific Kansas City had a net margin of 41.92% and a return on equity of 8.92%. Equities analysts predict that Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a $0.1437 dividend. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CP. CSFB boosted their target price on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Pacific Kansas City currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $94.36.

View Our Latest Analysis on CP

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Profile

(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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PFG Advisors boosted its position in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG  Free Report) by 30.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,620 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 6,912 shares during the period. PFG Advisors holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF were worth $2,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 90.3% during the 2nd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the companys stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Stock Performance

EFG stock opened at $86.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.89. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF has a one year low of $67.58 and a one year high of $85.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $91.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.35.

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Profile

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East.

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A document allegedly from the US embassy in Paraguay, outlining plans to influence President Santiago Pena and counter "strategic corruption", suggests that Washington is trying to curb China's increasing diplomatic presence in the country.

The 13-page document, called "Paraguay Interagency Integrated Anti-Corruption Action Plan", was allegedly sent by the embassy in Asuncion to the White House on July 27, three months after Pena won the country's presidential election.

First reported by the Argentine newspaper La Politica Online, the plan cites the political sway of Horacio Cartes, Paraguay's former president and a key mentor to Pena, highlighting their relationship as a potential threat to US influence in the region.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

After the Paraguayan elections, it reads, Beijing might refocus its efforts on Paraguay, making Cartes' involvement with corruption schemes "an emerging threat and one with importance to our broader position in South America".

US Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of a document that his embassy allegedly produced. Photo: US State Department alt=US Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of a document that his embassy allegedly produced. Photo: US State Department>

Paraguay is the sole South American country holding diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than mainland China. During his campaign, Pena pledged to maintain relations with Taiwan.

In a news conference, US Ambassador Marc Ostfield neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of the plan. Ostfield added that Washington remained committed to "supporting Paraguayan institutions in combating corruption and impunity".

Story continues

The US has imposed sanctions on Cartes for reportedly achieving political gains through corrupt practices, including bribing several Paraguayan politicians during his successful 2013 presidential campaign.

The document suggests continuing efforts to enhance cooperation with Paraguay and stave off Beijing's bid for formal diplomatic channels with Asuncion.

The Paraguayan cattle industry has been hit hard by export restrictions to Russia following the Ukraine conflict, and Paraguayan beef producers have urged President Pena to reconsider the country's diplomatic allegiance to Taiwan, hoping for better trade prospects with mainland China.

Sources said that the Asociacion Rural del Paraguay, an agribusiness lobbying group, has analysed how closer ties with China have benefited farmers in Brazil and Peru. The group plans to present their findings to Pena, aiming to sway him more toward Beijing.

A US Department of Agriculture unit - the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - has suggested re-evaluating an existing US ban on Paraguayan beef imports, which had been imposed due to concerns about foot-and-mouth disease.

Stating that "fresh beef can be safely imported from Paraguay" under specific conditions, the proposal could offer Paraguay an alternative market, reducing domestic pressure on Pena and slowing any Paraguayan diplomatic rapprochement with Beijing.

Taiwan's dwindling relationships with Latin American countries was raised during a hearing at the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Discussing "China's malignant influence in Latin America", Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, a Florida Republican who led the hearing, questioned a State Department official, Kerri Hannan, about what initiatives the Biden administration was undertaking to ensure that seven nations in the region maintain their relations with Taiwan.

Hannan did not directly respond, saying only that the US was promoting to "public and private partners in the region" the benefits of the relationship with Taiwan.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
TFG Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM  Free Report) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,479 shares of the specialty retailers stock after buying an additional 76 shares during the quarter. TFG Advisers LLCs holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth $203,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 26.2% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 30,954 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $3,766,000 after buying an additional 6,424 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 12.5% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,892 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth $3,429,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth $260,000. 99.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Friday, September 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $139.94.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $155.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.61. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.22 and a 12 month high of $158.75. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $140.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.52.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 64.43% and a net margin of 11.68%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.87 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 13.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 20th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 19th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Williams-Sonomas payout ratio is currently 24.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 10,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.68, for a total transaction of $1,406,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,630,201.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,533 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.64, for a total transaction of $201,804.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,185 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,209,113.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.68, for a total value of $1,406,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,238 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,630,201.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,533 shares of company stock worth $16,608,604. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Williams-Sonoma Profile

(Free Report)

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.

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Telia Company AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:TLSNY  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 53,600 shares, a decline of 57.1% from the August 31st total of 124,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 559,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TLSNY shares. Barclays cut shares of Telia Company AB (publ) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Telia Company AB (publ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Telia Company AB (publ) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Telia Company AB (publ) presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $33.25.

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Read Our Latest Report on TLSNY

Telia Company AB (publ) Stock Performance

Shares of Telia Company AB (publ) stock opened at $4.09 on Friday. Telia Company AB has a 52 week low of $3.78 and a 52 week high of $6.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.53, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.57.

Telia Company AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:TLSNY  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The technology company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Telia Company AB (publ) had a negative net margin of 16.39% and a negative return on equity of 20.94%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Telia Company AB will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Telia Company AB (publ) Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 26th will be issued a $0.0899 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 25th. Telia Company AB (publ)s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -32.43%.

Telia Company AB (publ) Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Telia Company AB (publ) provides communication services to businesses, individuals, families, and communities in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. It offers mobile, broadband, television, and fixed-line services; and networking, cloud and security, mobility, enterprise mobile network, contact center, managed mobility services, collaboration solutions, enterprise telephony, Internet of Things (IoT), carrier ethernet, dedicated internet access, wavelengths, IP Transit, dark fiber, and colocation solutions.

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Pacific Sage Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ  Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 81,468 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $5,043,000. iShares MSCI Japan ETF accounts for approximately 1.5% of Pacific Sage Partners LLCs holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 270.1% during the 1st quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,594 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $135,000. Finally, Ahrens Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $131,000.

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iShares MSCI Japan ETF Stock Performance

iShares MSCI Japan ETF stock opened at $60.29 on Friday. iShares MSCI Japan ETF has a 52-week low of $47.64 and a 52-week high of $64.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.59. The firm has a market cap of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.68.

About iShares MSCI Japan ETF

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (the fund), formerly Ishares Msci Japan Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Japanese market, as measured by the MSCI Japan Index (the Index).

Further Reading

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Sendas Distribuidora S.A. (NYSE:ASAI  Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,370,000 shares, an increase of 124.7% from the August 31st total of 1,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 576,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Sendas Distribuidora Price Performance

NYSE:ASAI opened at $12.17 on Friday. Sendas Distribuidora has a 52 week low of $10.44 and a 52 week high of $20.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.05. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $12.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.16.

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Sendas Distribuidora (NYSE:ASAI  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. Sendas Distribuidora had a return on equity of 23.17% and a net margin of 1.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.22 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sendas Distribuidora will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America raised Sendas Distribuidora from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th.

View Our Latest Stock Report on ASAI

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sendas Distribuidora

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Sendas Distribuidora by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 28,969 shares of the companys stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 10,911 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Sendas Distribuidora in the 1st quarter worth about $2,544,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sendas Distribuidora in the 4th quarter worth about $194,000. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in Sendas Distribuidora in the 1st quarter worth about $305,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP acquired a new stake in Sendas Distribuidora in the 1st quarter worth about $921,000.

About Sendas Distribuidora

(Get Free Report)

Sendas Distribuidora SA engages in the retail and wholesale sale of food products, bazaar items, and other products in Brazil. The company serves restaurants, pizzerias, snack bars, schools, small businesses, religious institutions, hospitals, hotels, grocery stores, neighborhood supermarkets, and individuals.

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Brookfield Reinsurance Ltd. (NYSE:BNRE  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 48,300 shares, a growth of 125.7% from the August 31st total of 21,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.9 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brookfield Reinsurance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BROOKFIELD Corp ON increased its stake in Brookfield Reinsurance by 0.3% during the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 467,704 shares of the companys stock worth $15,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC purchased a new position in shares of Brookfield Reinsurance during the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Credit Suisse AG boosted its position in shares of Brookfield Reinsurance by 25.3% during the second quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 10,356 shares of the companys stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 2,090 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brookfield Reinsurance during the second quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brookfield Reinsurance by 3.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 307,102 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,398,000 after buying an additional 11,271 shares during the period. 49.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Brookfield Reinsurance Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of BNRE stock opened at $31.47 on Friday. Brookfield Reinsurance has a 12-month low of $28.30 and a 12-month high of $47.58. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $34.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.93 and a beta of 1.47.

Brookfield Reinsurance Dividend Announcement

Brookfield Reinsurance ( NYSE:BNRE Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Brookfield Reinsurance had a return on equity of 0.34% and a net margin of 0.07%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 14th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 13th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Brookfield Reinsurances payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

About Brookfield Reinsurance

(Get Free Report)

Brookfield Reinsurance Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides annuity-based reinsurance products to insurance and reinsurance companies in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Direct Insurance, Reinsurance, and Pension Risk Transfer (PRT). The Direct Insurance segment offers a range of insurance products and services including life insurance, annuities, property and casualty insurance, health insurance, credit insurance, and pension products.

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Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Free Report) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,140 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLCs holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 103,194.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 72,134,735 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $18,045,225,000 after purchasing an additional 72,064,901 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 22,309,285 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $5,431,195,000 after purchasing an additional 997,389 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 106,553.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,185,211 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,582,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,178,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,005,137 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,531,936,000 after purchasing an additional 545,904 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,611,731 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,363,875,000 after purchasing an additional 607,321 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.56% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ITW shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Illinois Tool Works from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $213.00 to $198.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $281.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $237.18.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $230.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $242.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.65. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.27 and a twelve month high of $264.19. The company has a market capitalization of $69.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.02. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 94.14%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.37 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a boost from Illinois Tool Workss previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. Illinois Tool Workss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.39%.

About Illinois Tool Works

(Free Report)

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment worldwide. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment offers plastic and metal components, fasteners, and assemblies for automobiles, light trucks, and other industrial uses.

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Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD  Free Report) (TSE:ABX) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 105,600 shares of the gold and copper producers stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLCs holdings in Barrick Gold were worth $1,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 22,190 shares of the gold and copper producers stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 4.7% during the first quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 12,849 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Barrick Gold by 41.7% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,088 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 0.3% during the first quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 205,860 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its position in Barrick Gold by 58.2% during the second quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,740 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.20% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on GOLD. CSFB dropped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Cormark raised shares of Barrick Gold from a market perform rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $22.48.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

GOLD opened at $14.55 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.16. The firm has a market cap of $25.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -363.75, a PEG ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.38. Barrick Gold Corp has a twelve month low of $13.01 and a twelve month high of $20.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD  Get Free Report) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.40 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 1.06% and a return on equity of 3.46%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Barrick Gold Corp will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. This is a positive change from Barrick Golds previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 30th. Barrick Golds dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,025.00%.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

(Free Report)

Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX.



In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick.

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Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW  Free Report) by 100,043.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 374,581,150 shares of the virtualization software providers stock after purchasing an additional 374,207,104 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned approximately 87.04% of VMware worth $53,823,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in VMware by 5.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,309,491 shares of the virtualization software providers stock worth $1,786,540,000 after purchasing an additional 718,084 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in VMware by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,046,294 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $1,485,582,000 after acquiring an additional 273,093 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in VMware by 2.7% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,372,625 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $611,781,000 after acquiring an additional 143,362 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in VMware by 29.8% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,729,505 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $590,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in VMware by 5.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,408,400 shares of the virtualization software providers stock valued at $388,115,000 after acquiring an additional 186,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.70% of the companys stock.

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VMware Stock Performance

NYSE VMW opened at $166.48 on Friday. VMware, Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.55 and a 52-week high of $170.19. The stock has a market cap of $71.88 billion, a PE ratio of 50.30 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.21 and a 200-day moving average of $142.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

VMware ( NYSE:VMW Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The virtualization software provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.12. VMware had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 113.34%. The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. VMwares revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that VMware, Inc. will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

In related news, EVP Jean Pierre Brulard sold 3,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.51, for a total transaction of $509,436.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,905 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,703,596.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 40.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VMW. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of VMware from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of VMware from $158.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of VMware from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of VMware from $125.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of VMware from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $160.25.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on VMW

About VMware

(Free Report)

VMware, Inc provides software solutions in the areas of modern applications, cloud management and infrastructure, networking, security, and workspaces in the United States and internationally. It offers VMware multi-cloud solutions, including VMware vSphere, a data center infrastructure that provides the fundamental compute layer; and vSAN and VxRail, which offers holistic data storage and protection options to applications running on vSphere; as well as VMware Cloud Foundation, a cloud platform that combines its vSphere, vSAN, and NSX with VMware Aria Cloud Management into an integrated stack that delivers ready cloud infrastructure for private and public clouds.

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Cornerstone Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Truist Financial Co. (NYSE:TFC  Free Report) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,948 shares of the insurance providers stock after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLCs holdings in Truist Financial were worth $1,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Truist Financial by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 100,042,278 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $3,411,442,000 after buying an additional 7,651,641 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,931,465 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $814,557,000 after purchasing an additional 332,642 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 55.2% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,461,191 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $731,827,000 after purchasing an additional 7,635,573 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 12,034.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,490,356 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $881,700,000 after purchasing an additional 20,321,500 shares during the period. Finally, Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in shares of Truist Financial by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 20,410,797 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $696,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.11% of the companys stock.

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Truist Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TFC opened at $28.61 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05. Truist Financial Co. has a one year low of $25.56 and a one year high of $53.34.

Truist Financial Announces Dividend

Truist Financial ( NYSE:TFC Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). Truist Financial had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 20.17%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Truist Financial Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.27%. Truist Financials dividend payout ratio is currently 48.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised Truist Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Stephens lowered their price target on Truist Financial from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Truist Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Odeon Capital Group cut Truist Financial from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $32.75 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Truist Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $39.36.

Get Our Latest Analysis on TFC

About Truist Financial

(Free Report)

Truist Financial Corporation, a holding company, provides banking and trust services in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth, Corporate and Commercial Banking, and Insurance Holdings. Its deposit products include noninterest-bearing checking, interest-bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts.

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Uranium Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:UEC  Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The basic materials company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.02), Yahoo Finance reports. The company had revenue of $38.95 million for the quarter. Uranium Energy had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 1.34%.

Uranium Energy Trading Down 8.0 %

NYSEAMERICAN:UEC traded down $0.45 on Friday, reaching $5.15. The stock had a trading volume of 20,297,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,114,309. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 516.52 and a beta of 2.02. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $3.20. Uranium Energy has a 12-month low of $2.30 and a 12-month high of $5.77.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Uranium Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. They set a speculative buy rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. TD Securities started coverage on shares of Uranium Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. They set a speculative buy rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Uranium Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Uranium Energy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $6.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Uranium Energy

In other Uranium Energy news, Director Moya Gloria L. Ballesta sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.21, for a total value of $160,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,303.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Uranium Energy by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 208,719 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $958,000 after purchasing an additional 41,471 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Uranium Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Uranium Energy by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 800,581 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $3,675,000 after purchasing an additional 50,810 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Uranium Energy by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 218,733 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 44,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Uranium Energy by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 122,621 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 33,941 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.03% of the companys stock.

Uranium Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Uranium Energy Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in exploration, pre-extraction, extraction, and processing uranium and titanium concentrates in the United States, Canada, and Paraguay. It owns interests in the Palangana mine, Goliad, Burke Hollow, Longhorn, and Salvo projects located in Texas; Anderson, Workman Creek, and Los Cuatros projects situated in Arizona; Slick Rock project in Colorado; Reno Creek project in Wyoming; Dalton Pass and C de Baca project located in New Mexico; Diabase project located in Canada; and Yuty, Oviedo, and Alto Parana titanium projects in Paraguay.

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Jeddah, Saudi Arabia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 30, 2023) - Saudia, the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, revealed its new brand identity and livery during a milestone event in Jeddah, in the presence of Royal Highnesses, Excellencies and leaders from both the public and private sectors, as well as prominent media correspondents and aviation experts. This new identity is in line with a wider strategic digital transformation plan aimed at strengthening the airline's support for the Kingdom's Vision 2030 to bring the world to Saudi Arabia.

The rebrand marks the beginning of a new era for Saudia, introducing innovative concepts in terms of customer services with a strong focus on digital aspects and enhancing the guest experience by celebrating Saudi culture. This transformation reinforces Saudia's national identity as it reimagines all products and services to engage all five senses. Guests can anticipate an authentic Saudi experience during their journey, showcasing the very best of Saudi Arabia and its rich culture. This includes a distinctive fragrance and sonic identity, locally inspired cuisine, all crafted by skilled Saudi craftsmen. This new identity mirrors Saudi Arabia's welcoming spirit, leaving guests with a deep sense of the country's warmth and hospitality, while promoting a deeper appreciation of Saudi culture for both nationals and visitors. The rebrand also encompasses new uniforms for cabin crew and ground staff.





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The new brand color identity, comprised of green, blue, and sand, represent Saudia's aim to expand its fleet and destinations, connecting the world to Saudi Arabia, emphasizing the Kingdom's authenticity and deep-rooted values.

It is a new era and a very exciting time for Saudia.In parallel to the rebrand, Saudia has also undertaken a huge digital transformation, entirely enhancing the customer digital experience. Saudia leads among international airlines in operating generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a virtual assistant, named "SAUDIA", being one of the first of its kind in the region. Saudia will enable guests to complete the entire transaction through this efficient process by the end of the year.

Story continues

The ambitious, long-planned digital transformation, fully improve customer experience, but also allow more streamlined operations and processes while ensuring the highest levels of protection of guests' personal data, through strong partnerships with global leading companies.





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His Excellency Engr. Ibrahim Al-Omar, Director General of Saudia Group, said: "We are experiencing a new era and a very exciting time for Saudia. Our airline has evolved from a Douglas DC-3 aircraft in 1945, to a 140-aircraft modern fleet serving over 100 destinations, becoming one of the largest airline in the region.

"The name and logo of Saudia are integral parts of the Kingdom's aviation history and development, and our people share a special emotional connection with the brand. We have incorporated this rich heritage into our new identity, adding elements that reflect our visionary approach, poised to captivate the world."

Saudia is not only rolling out a fully integrated digital program and revamping its look, it is also effectively and quickly helping advance Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, collaborating with all industry stakeholders to achieve the targets of the National Aviation Strategy. The strategy aims to turn Saudi Arabia into a leader in the global industry, by enhancing the customer experience, improving safety and working towards a more sustainable future, in line with Saudia's expansion goals to bring around 330 million visitors to the Kingdom by 2030.

-Ends-

About Saudia:

Saudia is the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Established in 1945, the company has grown to become one of the Middle East's largest airlines.

Saudia has invested significantly in upgrading its aircraft and currently operates one of the youngest fleet. The airline serves an extensive global route network covering around 100 destinations across four continents, including all 28 domestic airports in Saudi Arabia.

A member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO), Saudia has also been a member airline in SkyTeam, the second largest alliance, since 2012.

Saudia was recently awarded the "World Class Airline 2024" for the third consecutive year at The APEX Official Airline Ratings awards. Saudia has also advanced 11 places in the Skytrax airlines ranking of the World Best Airlines 2023. The Airline also ranked top among global airlines for best on-time performance (OTP) according to a report by the Cirium.

For more information on Saudia, please visit www.Saudia.com.

Media Office:

Saudia Headquarters

Jeddah 21231, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Email: mediacenter@Saudia.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/182486
Sabal Trust CO grew its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE  Free Report) by 3.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,959 shares of the conglomerates stock after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Sabal Trust COs holdings in General Electric were worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,795,835 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $6,098,882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,463,502 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of General Electric by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $4,639,533,000 after buying an additional 7,157,356 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,496,379,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,272,027 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $1,837,514,000 after purchasing an additional 319,196 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 122,242.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $878,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427,079 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.83% of the companys stock.

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General Electric Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $110.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $113.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.25. General Electric has a 52-week low of $48.06 and a 52-week high of $117.96.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

General Electric ( NYSE:GE Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The conglomerate reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $15.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.76 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 9.30% and a net margin of 13.32%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 2.27 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 25th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. General Electrics payout ratio is 3.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 112,614 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.20, for a total transaction of $12,973,132.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 57,923 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,672,729.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GE. Barclays raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on General Electric from $107.00 to $125.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $112.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on General Electric from $108.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $122.71.

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General Electric Company Profile

(Free Report)

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.

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Phreesia, Inc. (NYSE:PHR  Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,730,000 shares, a decrease of 15.2% from the August 31st total of 2,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 410,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Davidoff sold 1,075 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total transaction of $34,131.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,971,038. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Michael J. Davidoff sold 1,075 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.75, for a total transaction of $34,131.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,971,038. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Amy Beth Vanduyn sold 1,826 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.34, for a total value of $37,140.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 120,811 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,457,295.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,765 shares of company stock worth $454,810 in the last ninety days. 5.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phreesia

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHR. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Phreesia by 86.7% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,571,842 shares of the companys stock valued at $79,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,479 shares in the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Phreesia by 108.2% in the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 1,487,265 shares of the companys stock valued at $48,024,000 after purchasing an additional 772,923 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new position in shares of Phreesia in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,668,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Phreesia by 5.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,359,641 shares of the companys stock valued at $167,640,000 after purchasing an additional 349,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Phreesia by 102.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 654,294 shares of the companys stock worth $17,247,000 after acquiring an additional 331,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.37% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PHR shares. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Phreesia in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Phreesia from $40.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Phreesia in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Phreesia from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Phreesia from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $37.15.

View Our Latest Analysis on Phreesia

Phreesia Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE PHR traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.68. 607,340 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 640,580. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.50. Phreesia has a 1-year low of $17.44 and a 1-year high of $40.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Phreesia (NYSE:PHR  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 6th. The company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.03. Phreesia had a negative return on equity of 54.52% and a negative net margin of 47.75%. The firm had revenue of $85.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $85.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.89) earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Phreesia will post -2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

About Phreesia

(Get Free Report)

Phreesia, Inc provides an integrated SaaS-based software and payment platform for the healthcare industry in the United States and Canada. Its Phreesia Platform offers access solutions that offers appointment scheduling system for online appointments, reminders, and referral tracking; registration solution to automate patient self-registration; revenue cycle solution, which offer insurance-verification processes, point-of-sale payments applications, post-visit payment collection, and flexible payment options; and network connect solution to deliver clinically relevant content to patients.

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Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN lessened its stake in Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA  Free Report) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 207,751 shares of the companys stock after selling 3,988 shares during the quarter. Coterra Energy comprises about 1.5% of Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC INs holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC INs holdings in Coterra Energy were worth $5,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Coterra Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,472,575,000. State Street Corp acquired a new stake in Coterra Energy during the first quarter worth $1,493,855,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Coterra Energy by 5.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,494,265 shares of the companys stock worth $454,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,620 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Coterra Energy by 303.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,258,695 shares of the companys stock worth $374,448,000 after acquiring an additional 11,477,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Coterra Energy by 10.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,253,547 shares of the companys stock worth $349,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.54% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CTRA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Coterra Energy from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and cut their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 27th. Mizuho restated a buy rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Coterra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, September 19th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Coterra Energy from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Coterra Energy from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Coterra Energy from $25.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $31.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dan O. Dinges sold 68,275 shares of Coterra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.22, for a total transaction of $1,858,445.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,152,392 shares in the company, valued at $85,808,110.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Dan O. Dinges sold 400,000 shares of Coterra Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $10,640,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,302,392 shares in the company, valued at $87,843,627.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dan O. Dinges sold 68,275 shares of Coterra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.22, for a total value of $1,858,445.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,152,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,808,110.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Coterra Energy Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE CTRA traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.05. 4,998,839 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,422,623. The stock has a market cap of $20.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.83. Coterra Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.25 and a 1 year high of $31.76.

Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 7th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Coterra Energy had a return on equity of 23.06% and a net margin of 40.12%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Coterra Energy Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coterra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 16th. Coterra Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.05%.

About Coterra Energy

(Free Report)

Coterra Energy Inc, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company primarily focuses on the Marcellus Shale with approximately 183,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.

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Bailard Inc. raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 36.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,142 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 3,801 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $6,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Towerpoint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.5% during the second quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC now owns 4,239 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,988,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Sage Partners LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.4% during the second quarter. Pacific Sage Partners LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the companys stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Oxler Private Wealth LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% during the first quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 774 shares of the companys stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFG Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.8% during the second quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 654 shares of the companys stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 210,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.41, for a total value of $119,996,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,983,810 shares of the companys stock, valued at $57,131,748,872.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 210,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $571.41, for a total value of $119,996,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,983,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,131,748,872.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.98, for a total transaction of $678,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,760 shares in the company, valued at $4,586,004.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 693,246 shares of company stock valued at $20,948,820,977 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LLY. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $408.00 to $615.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $385.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. HSBC began coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a buy rating and a $560.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $532.78.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:LLY opened at $536.97 on Friday. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1-year low of $309.20 and a 1-year high of $601.84. The company has a 50-day moving average of $533.65 and a 200 day moving average of $454.14. The firm has a market cap of $509.74 billion, a PE ratio of 74.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.13. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.

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Sabal Trust CO boosted its stake in shares of Ford Motor (NYSE:F  Free Report) by 24.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,244 shares of the auto manufacturers stock after acquiring an additional 3,425 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust COs holdings in Ford Motor were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of F. Aspire Private Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ford Motor in the 1st quarter valued at $15,783,781,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 178.1% in the second quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,805 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ford Motor during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in Ford Motor during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ford Motor during the first quarter worth about $27,000. 52.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on F shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Ford Motor in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Ford Motor from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ford Motor from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Ford Motor from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price target for the company from $17.00 to $15.00 in a report on Monday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $14.50.

Ford Motor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:F opened at $12.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.20. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $12.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.73. The stock has a market cap of $49.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.61. Ford Motor has a one year low of $10.90 and a one year high of $15.42.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $44.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.17 billion. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 2.44%. The businesss revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ford Motor will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 25th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. Ford Motors dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.82%.

About Ford Motor

(Free Report)

Ford Motor Company develops, delivers, and services a range of Ford trucks, commercial cars and vans, sport utility vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro; Ford Next; and Ford Credit segments. The company sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments.

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Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lessened its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS  Free Report) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,173 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLCs holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,070,182 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,981,052,000 after acquiring an additional 22,635 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,936,351 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $2,038,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,350 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,044,608 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,650,142,000 after acquiring an additional 144,177 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,764,509 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,396,236,000 after acquiring an additional 52,016 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 608.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,390,752 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $114,359,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,162 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.06% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.71, for a total value of $3,457,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 128,982 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $44,590,367.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.28, for a total value of $1,496,376.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,782 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $44,457,330.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.71, for a total value of $3,457,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 128,982 shares of the companys stock, valued at $44,590,367.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $461.00 to $450.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Citigroup dropped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Finally, Atlantic Securities upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $351.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $394.32.

View Our Latest Report on The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $323.57 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $287.75 and a 1 year high of $389.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $335.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $329.90. The firm has a market cap of $106.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The investment management company reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.25 by ($0.17). The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.73 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Groups quarterly revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 25.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st were paid a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 30th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Groups previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. The Goldman Sachs Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 46.93%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in resale agreements.

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Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Free Report) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,880 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after buying an additional 240 shares during the quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DEs holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 188.5% during the 2nd quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 32,742 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $3,570,000 after acquiring an additional 21,393 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 97,996.2% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,101,555,797 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $229,111,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,099,413,455 shares in the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 13,461 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $1,468,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Nvest Financial LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 5,393 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Towerpoint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,515 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 73.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Wolfe Research raised Abbott Laboratories from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $112.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $120.82.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total transaction of $5,688,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,775,316 shares in the company, valued at $770,759,948.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total transaction of $1,092,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,829,785.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total transaction of $5,688,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,775,316 shares in the company, valued at $770,759,948.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.85. The company had a trading volume of 5,150,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,148,440. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.03. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $93.25 and a fifty-two week high of $115.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $168.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.71 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.50% and a net margin of 12.83%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess payout ratio is 69.62%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

(Free Report)

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.

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Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares New York Muni Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:NYF  Free Report) by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,145 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLCs holdings in iShares New York Muni Bond ETF were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NYF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares New York Muni Bond ETF during the 2nd quarter worth $34,419,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in iShares New York Muni Bond ETF by 152.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 236,151 shares of the companys stock valued at $12,422,000 after purchasing an additional 142,441 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in iShares New York Muni Bond ETF by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 392,622 shares of the companys stock valued at $20,573,000 after purchasing an additional 64,149 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in iShares New York Muni Bond ETF by 142.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 101,153 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,300,000 after purchasing an additional 59,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA FSB acquired a new position in iShares New York Muni Bond ETF in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,706,000.

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iShares New York Muni Bond ETF Trading Up 0.1 %

NYF stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.03. The stock had a trading volume of 90,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,034. The companys 50 day moving average price is $52.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.95. iShares New York Muni Bond ETF has a 1-year low of $49.91 and a 1-year high of $54.14.

iShares New York Muni Bond ETF Profile

iShares New York AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF, formerly iShares S&P New York AMT-Free Municipal Bond Fund (the Fund), is an exchange traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P AMT-Free Municipal Series 2016 IndexTM (the Index).

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Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd lowered its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report) by 9.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 304,965 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 33,192 shares during the quarter. Jarislowsky Fraser Ltds holdings in Pfizer were worth $11,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 25 LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 70.0% in the 1st quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 962 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Pfizer in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.05% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PFE. StockNews.com began coverage on Pfizer in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Credit Suisse Group downgraded Pfizer from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Pfizer from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $46.35.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE stock opened at $33.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 2.12. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $31.77 and a one year high of $54.93. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $35.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.59.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. Pfizer had a net margin of 27.55% and a return on equity of 28.36%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was down 54.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Profile

(Free Report)

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.

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Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN lowered its holdings in shares of EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME  Free Report) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,465 shares of the construction companys stock after selling 113 shares during the period. EMCOR Group comprises 5.6% of Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC INs portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN owned approximately 0.23% of EMCOR Group worth $20,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,152,648 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,000,359,000 after buying an additional 47,507 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,565,326 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $579,687,000 after buying an additional 82,360 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 50.6% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,262,285 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $367,825,000 after buying an additional 760,499 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,744,930 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $196,531,000 after buying an additional 61,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 562.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 978,137 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $24,087,000 after buying an additional 830,522 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.57% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of EMCOR Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at EMCOR Group

In other news, CEO Anthony Guzzi sold 824 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.27, for a total value of $153,486.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 235,722 shares of the companys stock, valued at $43,907,936.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 14,259 shares of company stock valued at $2,764,056 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

EMCOR Group Trading Down 1.1 %

EMCOR Group stock traded down $2.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $210.39. The company had a trading volume of 206,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,364. EMCOR Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.30 and a 12-month high of $227.49. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $215.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.29.

EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.58. EMCOR Group had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 24.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.99 earnings per share. EMCOR Groups revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that EMCOR Group, Inc. will post 10.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EMCOR Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 20th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. EMCOR Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 7.16%.

EMCOR Group Profile

(Free Report)

EMCOR Group, Inc provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, start-up, operation, and maintenance services related to electrical power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical processing, and food processing industries; low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security, and process control systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services.

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Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. And in light of that, the trends we're seeing at Halliburton's (NYSE:HAL) look very promising so lets take a look.

Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. The formula for this calculation on Halliburton is:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.22 = US$4.1b  (US$24b - US$5.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

Therefore, Halliburton has an ROCE of 22%. That's a fantastic return and not only that, it outpaces the average of 12% earned by companies in a similar industry.

Check out our latest analysis for Halliburton

roce

In the above chart we have measured Halliburton's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Halliburton Tell Us?

Halliburton is showing promise given that its ROCE is trending up and to the right. Looking at the data, we can see that even though capital employed in the business has remained relatively flat, the ROCE generated has risen by 61% over the last five years. Basically the business is generating higher returns from the same amount of capital and that is proof that there are improvements in the company's efficiencies. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.

Story continues

What We Can Learn From Halliburton's ROCE

In summary, we're delighted to see that Halliburton has been able to increase efficiencies and earn higher rates of return on the same amount of capital. Since the stock has only returned 5.9% to shareholders over the last five years, the promising fundamentals may not be recognized yet by investors. So exploring more about this stock could uncover a good opportunity, if the valuation and other metrics stack up.

One more thing, we've spotted 1 warning sign facing Halliburton that you might find interesting.

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Free Report) by 100,317.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 538,528,863 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after buying an additional 537,992,573 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.92% of EOG Resources worth $61,629,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EOG. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of EOG Resources by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,031 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $1,911,000 after buying an additional 2,213 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $404,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EOG Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $278,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in shares of EOG Resources by 237.7% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,155 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of EOG Resources by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 662 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 89.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,031 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.26, for a total transaction of $238,155.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,607 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,409,796.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other EOG Resources news, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 4,551 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.76, for a total value of $595,088.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 145,259 shares of the companys stock, valued at $18,994,066.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,031 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.26, for a total transaction of $238,155.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,607 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,409,796.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

EOG Resources Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:EOG opened at $126.76 on Friday. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.52 and a 12 month high of $150.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $73.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.57.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy exploration company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.21. EOG Resources had a net margin of 33.58% and a return on equity of 28.52%. The business had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

EOG Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 16th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $115.00 to $113.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of EOG Resources from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $137.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $143.00 to $147.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $149.87.

View Our Latest Report on EOG

EOG Resources Profile

(Free Report)

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.

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Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C  Free Report) by 14.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,924 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 9,485 shares during the quarter. Citigroup accounts for approximately 1.5% of Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLCs holdings in Citigroup were worth $3,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in C. Toroso Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 49,560 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,324,000 after acquiring an additional 9,117 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Leo Brokerage LLC bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $532,000. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Citigroup by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,333 shares of the companys stock valued at $953,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 904,234 shares of the companys stock worth $42,400,000 after purchasing an additional 54,729 shares in the last quarter. 69.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

C has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC initiated coverage on Citigroup in a report on Thursday, September 7th. They issued a hold rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on Citigroup from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Citigroup from $51.00 to $47.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Citigroup from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Citigroup from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $52.50.

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE C opened at $41.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $80.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $43.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.32. Citigroup Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.94 and a fifty-two week high of $53.23.

Citigroup (NYSE:C  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.34 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.80% and a net margin of 10.24%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 7th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 4th. This is an increase from Citigroups previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Citigroups dividend payout ratio is 33.60%.

Citigroup Company Profile

(Free Report)

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial services holding company, provides various financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions in North America, Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through three segments: Institutional Clients Group (ICG), Personal Banking and Wealth Management (PBWM), and Legacy Franchises.

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Alpha Cubed Investments LLC cut its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Free Report) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,650 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLCs holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ITW. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.7% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,666 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 4.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,070 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,899,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 54.7% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 9.9% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,407 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 70.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 746 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 79.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ITW. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $256.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $213.00 to $198.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $237.18.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of ITW opened at $230.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The firm has a market cap of $69.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.15. The stocks 50 day moving average is $242.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.65. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.27 and a 12 month high of $264.19.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.14 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 94.14%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.37 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Illinois Tool Workss previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. Illinois Tool Workss dividend payout ratio is currently 55.39%.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

(Free Report)

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment worldwide. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment offers plastic and metal components, fasteners, and assemblies for automobiles, light trucks, and other industrial uses.

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Bensler LLC cut its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF (NYSEARCA:DSI  Free Report) by 3.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,003 shares of the companys stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. Bensler LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Romano Brothers AND Company boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF by 1.5% in the first quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 10,100 shares of the companys stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Boston Standard Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF by 1.2% in the second quarter. Boston Standard Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,835 shares of the companys stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 10,192 shares of the companys stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 3,754 shares of the companys stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tiedemann Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Tiedemann Advisors LLC now owns 4,712 shares of the companys stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF Price Performance

DSI traded down $0.11 on Friday, hitting $81.41. The company had a trading volume of 88,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 148,933. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24 and a beta of 1.02. The companys fifty day moving average price is $84.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.51. iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF has a 1-year low of $64.72 and a 1-year high of $87.54.

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF Profile

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social Index Fund (the Fund), formerly iShares FTSE KLD 400 Social Index Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index (the Index). The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure the equity performance of the United States companies.

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Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN  Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($3.35) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.28) by ($0.07), MarketWatch Earnings reports. The company had revenue of $269.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $282.26 million. Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 9.28%. Vail Resortss revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.70) EPS.

Vail Resorts Trading Down 8.4 %

Shares of MTN opened at $221.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Vail Resorts has a 12-month low of $206.16 and a 12-month high of $269.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $235.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.19.

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Vail Resorts Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be issued a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. Vail Resortss dividend payout ratio is currently 125.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Vail Resorts from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, September 7th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $222.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, June 9th. Finally, 3M reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Friday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $271.33.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MTN

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vail Resorts

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MTN. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Vail Resorts by 21.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,565 shares of the companys stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Vail Resorts by 7.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 876 shares of the companys stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Vail Resorts by 4.4% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the companys stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vail Resorts in the first quarter valued at about $672,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vail Resorts in the first quarter valued at about $691,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the companys stock.

Vail Resorts Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Vail Resorts, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates mountain resorts and regional ski areas in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mountain, Lodging, and Real Estate. The Mountain segment operates 41 destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas. This segment is also involved in the ancillary activities, including ski school, dining, and retail/rental operations, as well as real estate brokerage activities.

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Jmac Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,926 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMY. Advocate Group LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 107,206 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $6,856,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 186.2% during the 2nd quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 19,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 12,804 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 86,002.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 659,143,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $42,152,211,000 after acquiring an additional 658,377,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 42.7% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 172,669 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $11,042,000 after acquiring an additional 51,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.98% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BMY shares. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, September 1st. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, SVB Securities initiated coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, July 10th. They set a market perform rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.64.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $58.04. 10,902,513 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,165,358. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.42. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $57.61 and a 12 month high of $81.43. The businesss 50-day moving average is $60.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.52.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.24). Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibbs quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 60.64%.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,706,915. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $1,101,642.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,706,915. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,584 shares in the company, valued at $402,545.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Rockwood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:VNQ  Free Report) by 17.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174,453 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after acquiring an additional 25,517 shares during the period. Vanguard Real Estate ETF comprises about 2.5% of Rockwood Wealth Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Rockwood Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Vanguard Real Estate ETF were worth $14,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VNQ. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in shares of Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 99,609.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 27,821,833 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,324,792,000 after buying an additional 27,793,930 shares in the last quarter. McNamara Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 8.6% in the second quarter. McNamara Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,846 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 4.1% in the second quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 6,264 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Windward Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Windward Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,102 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sabal Trust CO raised its position in shares of Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 37,045 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $3,095,000 after purchasing an additional 3,873 shares during the last quarter.

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Vanguard Real Estate ETF Price Performance

NYSEARCA:VNQ traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.66. 6,630,593 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,068,443. The firms 50-day moving average is $81.68 and its 200-day moving average is $82.04. The stock has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40 and a beta of 0.91. Vanguard Real Estate ETF has a 1-year low of $74.66 and a 1-year high of $94.53.

About Vanguard Real Estate ETF

Vanguard REIT ETF (the Fund) is an open-end investment company. The Fund invests in stocks issued by real estate investment trusts (REITs), companies that purchase office buildings, hotels, and other real property. It tracks the return of the MSCI US RIT Index, a gauge of real estate stocks. The Vanguard Group, Inc provides investment advisory services to the Fund.

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Wendell David Associates Inc. raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 5.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,306 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,215 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company makes up 2.2% of Wendell David Associates Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Wendell David Associates Inc.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $19,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the companys stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 192.0% in the 2nd quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 2,745 shares of the companys stock worth $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 533,336.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 19,059,681 shares of the companys stock worth $8,938,609,000 after acquiring an additional 19,056,108 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 14,142 shares of the companys stock worth $6,632,000 after acquiring an additional 3,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Sage Partners LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pacific Sage Partners LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the companys stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company

In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 591 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.62, for a total transaction of $275,772.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 101,028,219 shares in the company, valued at $47,141,787,549.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Eli Lilly and Company news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 600 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.51, for a total transaction of $327,906.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,378 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,939,130.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 591 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.62, for a total transaction of $275,772.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 101,028,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,141,787,549.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 693,246 shares of company stock worth $20,948,820,977. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

Shares of LLY stock opened at $536.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $533.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.14. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52 week low of $309.20 and a 52 week high of $601.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $509.74 billion, a PE ratio of 74.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LLY. HSBC began coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $560.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $565.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $385.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, 22nd Century Group reissued a maintains rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $532.78.

Read Our Latest Analysis on LLY

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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Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR  Free Report) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,794 shares of the conglomerates stock after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLCs holdings in Danaher were worth $1,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DHR. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its stake in shares of Danaher by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,840 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Danaher by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,468 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Danaher by 76.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Danaher by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,530 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $9,248,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in Danaher by 135.9% in the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 35,270 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $10,346,000 after purchasing an additional 20,320 shares during the period. 76.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Danaher news, SVP Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.54, for a total value of $147,818.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,939 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,497.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 11,213 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.65, for a total transaction of $2,922,668.45. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,288 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,979,767.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos sold 590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.54, for a total value of $147,818.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,497.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,922 shares of company stock worth $12,552,233 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.10% of the companys stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE:DHR opened at $248.10 on Friday. The stocks fifty day moving average is $255.23 and its 200 day moving average is $245.39. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $221.22 and a fifty-two week high of $283.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.18 billion, a PE ratio of 29.12, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The conglomerate reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.04. Danaher had a return on equity of 15.03% and a net margin of 20.95%. The company had revenue of $7.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. Danahers quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 8.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Danahers payout ratio is 12.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on DHR shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Danaher in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Danaher from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Danaher from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Danaher from $260.00 to $292.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $290.47.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Danaher

Danaher Company Profile

(Free Report)

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.

Further Reading

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Planning Center Inc. raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT  Free Report) by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,031 shares of the retailers stock after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the quarter. Planning Center Inc.s holdings in Walmart were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 219.3% in the second quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 137,225 shares of the retailers stock valued at $21,569,000 after acquiring an additional 94,246 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 93,272.8% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 821,003,685 shares of the retailers stock valued at $129,045,359,000 after acquiring an additional 820,124,410 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 37.1% in the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 148,025 shares of the retailers stock valued at $23,267,000 after acquiring an additional 40,045 shares in the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 13.0% in the second quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 13,421 shares of the retailers stock valued at $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 7.8% in the second quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the retailers stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.18% of the companys stock.

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Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $159.91 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.07 and a fifty-two week high of $165.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $160.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $430.41 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Walmart ( NYSE:WMT Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.47% and a net margin of 2.23%. The firm had revenue of $161.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. Walmarts quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Walmart from $174.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Walmart from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Walmart from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $177.22.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Walmart

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.40, for a total transaction of $1,576,579.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,461,509 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $237,349,061.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total value of $708,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 269,119 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $43,597,278. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.40, for a total value of $1,576,579.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,461,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $237,349,061.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,692 shares of company stock valued at $6,198,909 in the last quarter. Insiders own 46.51% of the companys stock.

Walmart Profile

(Free Report)

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next four days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. This means that investors who purchase Bristol-Myers Squibb's shares on or after the 5th of October will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 1st of November.

The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.57 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$2.28 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that Bristol-Myers Squibb has a trailing yield of 3.9% on the current share price of $58.04. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Bristol-Myers Squibb

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Bristol-Myers Squibb paid out more than half (60%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. It distributed 45% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.

It's positive to see that Bristol-Myers Squibb's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

Story continues

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. That's why it's comforting to see Bristol-Myers Squibb's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 44% per annum for the past five years. Management appears to be striking a nice balance between reinvesting for growth and paying dividends to shareholders. Earnings per share have been growing quickly and in combination with some reinvestment and a middling payout ratio, the stock may have decent dividend prospects going forwards.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Bristol-Myers Squibb has delivered 5.0% dividend growth per year on average over the past 10 years. Earnings per share have been growing much quicker than dividends, potentially because Bristol-Myers Squibb is keeping back more of its profits to grow the business.

Final Takeaway

Has Bristol-Myers Squibb got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? We like Bristol-Myers Squibb's growing earnings per share and the fact that - while its payout ratio is around average - it paid out a lower percentage of its cash flow. Bristol-Myers Squibb looks solid on this analysis overall, and we'd definitely consider investigating it more closely.

So while Bristol-Myers Squibb looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Bristol-Myers Squibb that you should be aware of before investing in their shares.

Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.

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.
Advocate Group LLC raised its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 107,206 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the quarter. Bristol-Myers Squibb comprises 1.5% of Advocate Group LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Advocate Group LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $6,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BMY. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc boosted its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 186.2% during the second quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 19,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 12,804 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 86,002.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 659,143,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $42,152,211,000 after purchasing an additional 658,377,716 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 42.7% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 172,669 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $11,042,000 after purchasing an additional 51,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 16,498 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares in the last quarter. 74.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,915. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $402,545.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $80.00 to $66.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, September 15th. SVB Securities started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Monday, July 10th. They issued a market perform rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. They set an outperform rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $69.64.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BMY

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BMY stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.04. The companys stock had a trading volume of 10,902,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,165,358. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $60.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $57.61 and a 12-month high of $81.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.42.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is currently 60.64%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Profile

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 19.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,130 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Groups holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,024 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 82,966 shares of the companys stock valued at $28,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768 shares in the last quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 103.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the companys stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sycomore Asset Management increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 225.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 756 shares of the companys stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LLY. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $360.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $617.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $560.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $532.78.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

NYSE LLY opened at $536.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $509.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.32. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12-month low of $309.20 and a 12-month high of $601.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $533.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.14.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.58 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.98, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.98, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 210,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.41, for a total transaction of $119,996,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,983,810 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $57,131,748,872.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 693,246 shares of company stock valued at $20,948,820,977. Company insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

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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Rockwood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJR  Free Report) by 93.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,482 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after acquiring an additional 6,035 shares during the period. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF makes up approximately 0.2% of Rockwood Wealth Management LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Rockwood Wealth Management LLCs holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF were worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 78,641 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $8,484,000 after acquiring an additional 6,036 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 27,546 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 67.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 52,705 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $5,686,000 after acquiring an additional 21,177 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 24,791 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,847 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Price Performance

NYSEARCA IJR traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $94.33. The stock had a trading volume of 4,753,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,919,662. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has a 1 year low of $86.74 and a 1 year high of $108.24. The stock has a market cap of $65.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $99.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.29.

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Profile

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, formerly iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poors SmallCap 600 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of publicly traded securities in the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market.

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After interviewing embattled Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino, a New York Times reporter came away from the experience thinking that her arguments that she did not commit research fraud seems plausible.

In a lengthy article entitled The Harvard Professor And The Bloggers, writer Noam Scheiber was able to gain the first interview the professor has granted since she was placed in June on an unpaid administrative leave by Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar who has also started the process of trying to strip the professor of tenure (see The Rise & Fall Of A Harvard Business School Super Star).

During more than five hours of conversation with Dr. Gino, she was proud of her accomplishments, at times defiant toward her accusers and occasionally empathetic to those who, she said, mistakenly believed the evidence of fraud, writes Scheiber. I would ask a question; she would provide a plausible answer. Often the replies were detailed and specific: She recalled dates and dialogue and the names of obscure colleagues. She did not present as a fraud. But, then, what would a fraud sound like anyway?

THE NEW YORK TIMES COMES TO NO CONCLUSION ABOUT HER INNOCENCE OR GUILT

The Times found that several of her colleagues at Harvard Business School are supporting Gino. Even in the midst of her professional disgrace, writes Scheiber, Dr. Gino finds herself with some sympathetic colleagues, who are outraged at their employers treatment of a tenured professor. Five of Dr. Ginos tenured colleagues at the business school told me that they had concerns about the process used to investigate Dr. Gino. Some found it disturbing that the school appeared to have created a policy prompted specifically by her case, and some worried that the case set a precedent allowing other freelance critics to effectively initiate investigations.

Among other things, the Times reveals that the day almost two years ago when Harvard Business School informed Gino that she was being investigated for data fraud also happened to be her husbands 50th birthday. An administrator instructed her to turn in any Harvard-issued computer equipment that she had by 5 p.m., according to the Times. She canceled the birthday celebration she had planned and walked the machines to campus, where a University Police officer oversaw the transfer.We ended up both going, Dr. Gino recalled. I couldnt go on my own because I felt like, I dont know, the earth was opening up under my feet for reasons that I couldnt understand.

Story continues

The Times comes to no conclusion about her innocence or guilt and does not refer to a recent letter she sent to her Harvard Business School colleagues or a new website she has created in an effort to prove her innocence.

I FEEL THIS SENSE OF GREAT SADNESS

In conversation, the reporter adds, Dr. Gino can come across as formal. The slight stiltedness of her nonnative English merges with the circumlocution of business-school lingo to produce phrases like the most important aspect is to embrace a learning mind-set and I believe were going to move forward in a positive way.

But she also exhibits a certain steeliness. I am a well-organized person  I get things done, she told me at one point. She added: It can take forever to publish papers. Whats in my control, I execute at my pace, my rigor.

The reporter notes that Gino has been secluded with much of her time trying to disprove the allegations of research misconduct. Dr. Ginos life these days is isolated, he writes. She lost access to her work email. A second mass-market book, which was to be published in February, has been pushed back. One of her children attends a day care on the campus of Harvard Business School, from which she has been barred. I used to do the pickups and drop-offs, and now I dont, she told me. And the few times where Im the one going, I feel this sense of great sadness, she said. What if I run into a colleague and now they report me to the deans office that somehow Im on campus?'

Scheiber seems skeptical of Ginos claims that in one of her studies there were suspicious responses from a scammer who filled out her survey for the $10 gift cards she offered participants. He writes that

its strange that the scammers responses would line up so neatly with the findings of her paper. When I pointed out that she or someone else in her lab could be the scammer, she was unbowed.

I appreciate that youre being a skeptic, she told me, since I think Im going to be more successful in proving my innocence if I hear all the possible questions that show up in the mind of a skeptic.

DONT MISS: HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL DEAN HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO or THE ACADEMIC MOB COMES FOR A HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL THOUGHT LEADER

The post What A New York Times Reporter Came Away With After Spending Five Hours Interviewing Francesca Gino appeared first on Poets&Quants.
A Washington man was arrested in Spotsylvania this week after county detectives caught him with a kilo of an illegal drug, police said.

Robert Gregory Lewis, 38, is charged with transporting more than an ounce of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine into the state. The drug is commonly known as ecstasy or MDMA.

Sheriffs Maj. Troy Skebo said Lewis was arrested in the Thornburg area as the result of an ongoing investigation involving the Sheriffs Offices vice/narcotics unit and Virginia State Police. Lewis was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

-Keith Epps
[September 29, 2023] STEM INVESTIGATION INITIATED by Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of Stem, Inc. - STEM Tweet

Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into Stem, Inc. (NYSE: STEM) f/k/a Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. On February 16, 2023, the Company disclosed 4Q2022 revenue of $156 million, versus consensus estimates of $166 million, and issued disappointing full year 2023 revenue guidance of $550 million to $650 million, mostly below consensus estimates of $647 million, among other negative results. Subsequently, on April 3, 2023, Bank of America downgraded the Company's stock from "neutral" to "underperform." Thereafter, the Company and certain of its executives were sued in a securities class action lawsuit, charging them with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws, which remains ongoing. KSF's investigation is focusing on whether Stem's officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to its shareholders or otherwise violated state or fderal laws.



If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Stem shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-833-938-0905 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ([email protected]), or visit us at https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-stem/ to learn more. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, 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 ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230929063044/en/

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[September 29, 2023] RTX 72 HOUR DEADLINE ALERT: Former Louisiana Attorney General and Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Remind Investors With Losses in Excess of $100,000 of Deadline in Class Action Lawsuits Against RTX Corporation - RTX Tweet

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 2, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in securities class action lawsuits against RTX Corporation f/k/a Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE: RTX), if they purchased the Company's securities between February 8, 2021 and September 8, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). These actions are pending in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. What You May Do If you purchased securities of RTX and would like to discuss your legal rights and how the 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 ([email protected]), or visit htps://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-rtx/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action by overseeing lead counsel with the goal of obtaining a fair and just resolution, you must request this position by application to the Court by October 2, 2023.



About the Lawsuit RTX 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., 23-cv-01035. A subsequent case was filed, New England Teamsters Pension Fund v. RTX Corporation, et al., 23-cv-01274. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, 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 www.ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230929055899/en/

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A crisis averted for the moment . . . Here are the basics of a Saturday afternoon ruckus . . .



Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, said he was disappointed that bill omitted aid to Ukraine, but he celebrated that legislation would ensure federal workers continue to receive paychecks and that mothers and children would continue to have access to the USDAs nutrition assistance program.



And after all the chaos and political theater, we ended up exactly where Democrats wanted from the very beginning: a bipartisan compromise that avoids a completely unnecessary and harmful government shutdown, Cleaver said.



Three of the lawmakers from Kansas and Missouri voted against the bill . . .



The rest of the Republicans from Kansas and Missouri and all three of the two states Democrats  Rep. Cori Bush and Cleaver of Missouri and Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas  voted in support of the bill.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

On the brink of a federal shutdown, the House passes a 45-day funding plan and sends it to Senate On the brink of a federal government shutdown, the House on Saturday swiftly approved a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open.

House passes bill to avoid a shutdown. Here's how Kansas and Missouri lawmakers voted The bill passed the House with bipartisan support just hours before the government was set to shut down.

Government shutdown live updates: House passes 45-day stopgap spending bill The deadline to fund the government is the end of the day Saturday.

Developing . . .
We always have to repeat this one because so many locals forget it every time . . .

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS KANSAS CITY'S LARGEST EMPLOYER!!!

When we talk vendors and support staff . . . It's impossible to live in this cowtown without some kind of economy connection to the federal government.

Most likely . . . Anybody living in the greater KC area knows & loves somebody working for the Feds.



And so . . .

The shut down decision isn't some abstract political game for people in KC . . . It's a problem confronting thousands of local families and workers.

Check this report . . .



Meanwhile, federal employees in the Kansas City metro are bracing for the delay of their next paycheck.



Local unions said many of their employees will be required to continue working in a shutdown. They just won't immediately receive compensation from the government.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

KC-area federal employees brace for shutdown, delayed paychecks With a federal government shutdown looming, federal employees in the Kansas City metro are bracing for the delay of their next paycheck.

Developing . . .


The Dodge County Attorney Office is back to being near full-staffing level with the hiring of two new deputy county attorneys, one who began work earlier this week and a second who will begin work sometime after Oct. 1.

Dodge County Clerk Micki Gilfry, who acts as the countys human resources director in addition to her clerk duties, confirmed to the Tribune that the two new deputy attorneys had been hired.

Gilfry said in an email that the attorney office now includes a staff of elected-in 2022 County Attorney Pamela Hopkins, as well as deputy attorneys Duke Drouillard and Justin Bignell who have been on the staff since Hopkins was elected.

The two new additions are Jared Roland, who has already started work, and Jocelyn Brasher, who has worked for several years at the Nebraska State Attorney General Office in Lincoln. Brashers start date was not released.

The new hires raise the number of lawyer employees at the County Attorney Office to five. When fully staffed, there are six total lawyers on the staff including the elected county attorney.

Hopkins did not respond to multiple emails and a telephone call from the Tribune seeking comment on the new hires.

As of July 31, the Dodge County Attorney Office was officially half-staffed with licensed lawyers, with only three attorneys employed, Hopkins, Drouillard and Bignell.

In an email to the Tribune on in July, Hopkins said she and her colleagues had been working hard to continue to do necessary work in prosecuting criminal suspects, and she also noted at the time that she personally is working diligently to hire the most qualified and competent attorneys possible.

Of the two new hires, Roland is a 2023 graduate of the University Of Minnesota School Of Law where he was honored for his academic success. While at Minnesota, Roland was a Robina Pubic Interest summer fellow.

Brasher has worked for the Nebraska state attorney general office since November of 2018. An official with the office said her last day of work was Friday, Sept. 29. Brasher graduated from Auburn University in 2013 and earned her law degree at Creighton University, graduating in 2015.

Before Hopkins took office in early January, the county attorney office was led by Sara Sopinski, who took over as county attorney following the resignation in March 2021 of now-disgraced former county attorney Oliver Glass.

Sopinksi continued to hold the job until her resignation on Jan. 4, 2023, the day before Hopkins was sworn in as the new county attorney. Sopinski now works for the Sarpy County Attorney Office.

Since mid-June, former Dodge County deputy attorneys Anthony Hernandez, Rachel Greifenkamp and Brianna McLarty also resigned their jobs and left employment of the county.

Both Greifenkamp and McLarty joined Sopinski and all three now work for the Sarpy County Attorney Office.
Who was responsible for the procurement of twenty wooden ladders for the Fire Service? It's 
In cooperation with international partners, Ukraine is taking measures to prevent Russia and Iran from reaching an agreement on the supply of ballistic missiles to Moscow.

The relevant statement was made by Andrii Yusov, the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, in a commentary to Ukrinform.

When asked about the probability of such an agreement upon the expiration of the Iran-related resolution of the UN Security Council, Yusov noted: The threat does exist. Ukraine and our partners, of course, are monitoring these processes. We are taking certain measures to prevent this step.

A reminder that the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that the expiration of UNSCR 2231s missile restrictions on October 18, 2023 may empower Iran to export missiles and missile-related technology without international oversight, providing Iran with an opportunity to fill Russian needs.
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Local animal rights activist Rachel Rae Tuff and her mother, Theresa Macrander, will both face a jury on Dec. 8 in Dodge County Court after a trial date was set by Dodge County Judge Thomas Klein on Sept. 26.

Tuff and Macrander turned themselves in to the Dodge County Sheriffs Office in late July and were both arrested, briefly detained and then released after posting bond. Arrest warrants had been issued for Tuff and Macrander following a more than three-month investigation by the Fremont Police Department.

Macrander is slated to have her jury trial at 8 a.m., Friday, Dec. 8. Tuffs jury trial is schedule for 9 a.m. the same day.

In an email to the Tribune on Sept. 29, Tuff stressed her innocence as well as her mothers and vowed to vigorously fight the charges in court.

The county offered a plea of dropping charges on my mother, dropping one of my charges, and giving me a $500 fine, and I keep the dog. I declined the offer as I look forward to bringing my accusers to the stand, Tuff wrote. I look forward to bringing the corruption to the stand and prove both mine and my mothers innocence. I have an outstanding attorney who has been ready for trial since day one.

Both women  who are local business owners and active in animal welfare issues  have vehemently denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor criminal charges each are accused of.

Tuff and Macrander both entered a not guilty pleas on Aug. 18 to charges each are facing in Dodge County Court.

The mother-daughter duo co-owns Fremont Pets Alive as well as a sibling business, Grants Wishes Rescue. In addition to the work the pair do with those businesses, each are vocal critics of area elected officials and frequently attend meetings of the Fremont City Council to voice concerns about city issues.

In April 2021, Tuff filed a petition to recall former Fremont City Council member Mark Legband with the Dodge County Election Commission office, claiming he was not fulfilling his mandated duties as a council member. The recall effort failed and Legband remained in office.

Macrander was also charged in the case, although she faces only one accusationsuspicion of violation of the Commercial Dog and Cat Operator Inspection Act, a Class I misdemeanor. Macrander also pleaded not guilty.

Tuff is charged with suspicion of suspicion of theft of services, zero to $500, a Class II misdemeanor; and suspicion of violation of the Commercial Dog and Cat Operator Inspection Act, a Class I misdemeanor. She pleaded not guilty to both allegations in a court filing made by her attorney.

In court documents about the case filed by officials with the Fremont Police Department, investigators claim the Nebraska Department of Agriculture revoked Tuffs state animal rescue operation license in September 2022.

The local police department engaged in a several-month investigation of Tuff and Macrander after being contacted by a dog rescue company in California that had been reportedly working with Tuff on several dog rescues and adoption efforts.

In the lengthy police report filed with the court, former-Fremont Police officer Kelli Brown described the investigation which eventually led to the arrest warrant being issued for Tuff. Brown no longer works at the FPD, having taken a job with the Bellevue Police Department.

Brown wrote in her report that on April 24, 2023, she received a complaint from California-based Giselles Legacy dog rescue that alleged the organization had been working with Tuff to assist in the re-homing, adoption, care of and housing of dogs they had in their possession. Officials with the company alleged they had provided Tuff with several dogs to adopt out, and that she did not follow their procedures to have the animals adopted out, and that she had also kept one of the dogs for herself.

Tuff has denied all the allegations filed against her, and she has stated to the Tribune that Brown had inappropriately targeted her while she was an animal control officer with the FPD. Tuff said she has considered possibly filing a lawsuit of unknown nature against Brown, but has not done so as of Sept. 29.

The case is the latest legal issue Tuff has faced in relation to animal issues. She was previously accused of unlawfully taking dogs from a shelter in a different county, an accusation Tuff has denied. Following that incident, she was subject to a search warrant for her electronic devices and also had a protective order sought against her.
Romania reacted to the grain crisis differently from Poland in order not to send a wrong signal to the democratic world that Bucharest is allegedly unwilling to help Ukraine.

This was announced on Wednesday by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who spoke with Digi24, Ukrinform reports.

He noted that instead, Romania implemented an export-import licensing system agreed with the Ukrainian government to protect Romanian farmers.

According to the prime minister, Ukraine needs to help until the end of the war, and that is why he found, after consultations with President Klaus Iohannis, an option to license export-import of Ukrainian grain.

"But we did not go for the ban because it would be a signal that we would send to the democratic world that we do not want to help Ukraine. And this is not true and very wrong. This is not a war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. This is not a war between Putin and Zelensky. This is a war between a dictator and the democratic world," Ciolacu emphasized.
The Republic of Korea and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have announced their partnership to deliver $5 million in fertilizer to support Ukraines agricultural sector.

The relevant statement was made on the website of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Republic of Korea announced their partnership to support Ukraines agricultural sector through the Agriculture Resilience Initiative-Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine), the report states.

The joint initiative provides for the delivery of $5 million in fertilizer donated by the Republic of Koreas Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support Ukrainian farmers and complement agricultural supplies already contributed by USAID.

A reminder that, in July 2023, USAID Administrator Samantha Power traveled to Odesa and announced an additional $250 million in USAID support for AGRI-Ukraine, bringing the USAID contribution to $350 million, while also mobilizing an additional $250 million for the Initiative from fellow donors, the private sector, international institutions and foundations.
Slovak Defense Minister Martin Sklenar has said that industrial cooperation with Ukraine will continue, because the ties between the two countries are much stronger than politics.

Sklenar said this to journalists on the sidelines of the First International Defense Industries Forum, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

He noted the fact that the Slovak people have been supporting their country's Euro-Atlantic integration for the past 30 years.

"This has been our orientation since Slovakia became independent. Our goal was to be part of the European Union and NATO and use the advantages and opportunities that this gives us. I am sure that people understand this and will vote for it," Sklenar said.

"In any case, there is the support we have already provided to Ukraine, there are specific donations, but there is also industrial cooperation, which will continue, because the ties are much stronger than just politics," the minister added.

The Slovak opposition party Smer-SD, led by former Prime Minister Robert Fico, is not leading the polls for the first time ahead of the September 30 elections.

Fico previously opposed military aid to Ukraine and called for a diplomatic solution to the full-scale war Moscow has been waging against Ukraine since late February 2022.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
After a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia can be excluded from the UN de facto by refusing to recognize the powers of its representatives.

This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by the ex-head of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania (2014-2021), who is currently a dean at the Faculty of Law of Vytautas Magnus University and member of the Venice Commission, Dainius Zalimas.

"Russia should be formally excluded not only from the Security Council, but from the UN in general. There is a reason for this  aggression as a serious violation of the UN Charter. But this is impossible because the exclusion is approved by two-thirds of the UN General Assembly after the recommendation of the Security Council. We all understand that Russia will not agree with such a recommendation and impose a veto," he said.

"But there is a mechanism to exclude Russia from the UN de facto. This is a refusal to recognize the authority of Russian representatives through a majority vote in the General Assembly, as well as in the Security Council. This is a procedural issue, it is impossible to veto it in the Security Council. The basis is the policy of the Russian government, which is not peaceful and is directed against the objectives and principles of the UN, which are laid down in the organization's Charter. Theres already been such a precedent in relation to the Republic of South Africa, when its representatives were not recognized due to the policy of apartheid", Zalimas added.

Speaking about the UN as an organization responsible for upholding peace and security in the world, he noted: "Like any other international organization, the UN is only a collection of member states. If they cannot agree on an effective response to aggression, the UN cannot do anything beyond that. The UN is not something independent of the member states."

According to Zalimas, even when this international organization is reformed, the very nature of the UN will not change since the will of the member states will still be required for effective action.

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has called on the UN to deprive the Russian Federation of powers in the General Assembly and Security Council as a terrorist state.
The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry has warned foreign diplomats against participating in the propagandist trip scheduled by the Belarusian regime to the Ukrainian children, who had been illegally deported from the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine.

The relevant statement was published on the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on October 4, the Belarusian side intends to organize a visit by representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps accredited in Minsk, to the so-called places of residence, education and rehabilitation of Ukrainian children in Belarus, who were taken out of the temporarily occupied by Russia cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, the statement reads.

The ministry emphasized that this event aims to legalize the unlawful displacement of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. According to international law, the forced deportation of children can be qualified as a war crime.

In order to avoid responsibility, officials in Belarus try to disguise themselves with international representatives. We call on foreign states whose diplomatic missions in Minsk have received relevant invitations to refrain from participating in the propaganda trip of the Belarusian regime, the ministry noted.

The Ukrainian side mentioned that, both at the level of the national investigation and as part of the investigation of the International Criminal Court, they will continue working to bring to justice all of those who committed crimes against Ukrainian children.
Earlier this year, I visited our nations southern border. I knew there was a crisis there, but that visit opened my eyes to more instability and hardship than I had previously seen. Along the border wall at midnight, my colleagues and I spoke with dozens of illegal immigrants who had been detained. I was heartbroken to meet a little 6-month-old baby sitting by the wall with her mother waiting to go to the processing center. I was told this was not an unusual occurrence.

Many of these migrants  regardless of age, ability, or family size  are forced to interact with coyotes and cartels on their journeys to the border. Despite immense danger, migrants keep rushing to our southern border. And they do it because theyve been invited by this administration to take this treacherous trek to enter our country illegally.

President Biden built his administration on promises to make it easier for migrants to get into our country. As a result, our nation has seen a historic spike in illegal immigration.

Since President Bidens inauguration, over six million migrants have made it to our southern border. Border Patrol agents have seized over 45,000 pounds of fentanyl  the deadliest drug in our country today. Thats not to mention the hundreds of known terrorists who have been identified at the border, or the many illegal immigrants who have slipped past our porous border without being counted.

The Biden administration has created a national security and humanitarian crisis at our border. In the Senate, my colleagues and I are pushing back and working to address this massive problem. I recently introduced the Secure the Border Act with Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R). This border security package has already passed the House of Representatives as H.R. 2.

The Secure the Border Act includes a collection of critical provisions that would change things at our border. The Biden administration stopped constructing a wall on our southern border, despite the fact that Congress had already provided funds and materials for the wall. Our legislation would pick up where the Trump administration left off and resume construction on the border wall.

Our border security package would also implement a range of asylum reforms. It would get rid of the Biden administrations smartphone app appointment scheduling function. Instead of giving migrants concierge services at the click of a button, our Border Patrol agents should be evaluating asylum applications in a thorough and organized manner.

The Secure the Border Act would finally close the catch-and-release loophole that the Biden administration refuses to address. It would bring back a policy similar to the Trump-era Remain in Mexico protocols. Rather than letting illegal immigrants into our country while they wait for asylum proceedings, this policy would authorize the removal of illegal immigrants to a third country during that process.

These are just some of the reforms included in the Secure the Border Act. The package would get to work fixing the mess President Biden has created at the border. It would address the humanitarian crisis that continues building, and it would ensure rigorous security standards to keep our nation safe. The Biden administration may be ignoring their border disaster, but my colleagues and I are not.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.
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Five years ago Monday, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in Istanbul. U.S. intelligence has pointed to Saudi leadership as being responsible. Meanwhile, U.S.-Saudi ties continue to normalize, disappointing some press freedom and rule-of-law advocates. VOAs Laurel Bowman reports.
Seven years after the highly-publicized total solar eclipse took place above North America, Coloradans will have a chance to see an annular eclipse  but for most, it will mean a road trip to a stunning and remote part of the state for the best view.

On Oct. 14 an annular eclipse is set to cut across the southwest corner of the Centennial State. This is a bit different than a total solar eclipse, with the annular eclipse sun appearing as a bright ring around the moon during the day as the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun instead of appearing as a total blackout. Despite this difference, it will still be a spectacular sight to see.

Mapping provided by NASA of the annular eclipse shows that it will be best viewed in Colorado from the portion of the state found southwest of Durango. The largest town directly in its path is Cortez, best known for being the launchpad for visitors headed to Mesa Verde National Park.

As The Gazette's Seth Boster reports: "Mesa Verde National Park is preparing for big crowds that Saturday, when the moon is set to pass the sun and form a rare ring of fire over the place of ancient intrigue. In the late 13th century, the land was home to Ancestral Pueblo people, who made home in the cliff dwellings that remain today." Boster continues on to note that "viewpoints along the path [that cuts through the southwest corner of the state] will be much different in experience compared with the rest of Colorado. On Oct. 14, much of the state is forecast to experience obscurity around 80%, including Denver (78.7%) and Colorado Springs (80.8%)."

Boster also reports that "the moon will touch the suns edge over Mesa Verde starting before 9:15 a.m. that Saturday [according to TimeandDate.com]. The full eclipse is set to begin at 10:31 a.m. and last for four minutes. The moon is expected to exit the opposite edge of the sun soon after noon."

So there you have it  spotting the annular eclipse in Colorado won't be difficult, but those in the southwestern corner of the state will have a much better view.

According to NASA, it's still very important to keep your eclipse glasses on while watching an annular eclipse, as "the visible part of the Sun during annularity is tens of thousands of times brighter than what you see during totality."
Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi attended talks Friday in the Russian city of Kazan, where he praised China for sending a new ambassador to Afghanistan and urged other countries to follow China's example.

The newly appointed Chinese ambassador to Kabul signals China's continued interest in Afghanistan, analysts say.

The Taliban's deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, said the new development "will play an effective role in strengthening the relations between Afghanistan and China."

During a meeting in Kabul last week, Hanafi and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Xing "exchanged views on enhancing bilateral relations and expanding practical cooperation," stated the website of the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan.

China's ambassador is the first of any country to be appointed in this role since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the appointment was "the normal rotation of China's ambassador to Afghanistan" and Chinese policy is "clear and consistent."

However, experts say the move signals China's expanding influence in Afghanistan and the region.

By sending an ambassador to Afghanistan, China aims to "maintain and expand its influence" in the region, said Claire Chao, an independent China-U.S. expert in Washington. "China sees its long-term security and economic goals in Afghanistan hinge on security and stability in Afghanistan."

Chao told VOA that China "knows that it needs to take a more active role to secure its interests," though Beijing "will be careful about its economic involvement and security commitment in Afghanistan."

China is one of the few countries that handed over the Afghan Embassy on its soil to the Taliban after the former government in Afghanistan collapsed in 2021.

China also kept open its embassy in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, but it has not yet recognized the group's de facto government. No country has formally recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

China-Taliban relations

Officially, Beijing says it "hopes" that the Taliban will form an inclusive government, while it has called on the international community and regional countries for "coordination on the Afghan issue."

A Chinese ambassador in Afghanistan "should not be seen as an immediate formal recognition of the Taliban government by China but rather indicates China's intent to sustain diplomatic ties with the Taliban," Chao said.

Considering it "a step towards recognition," Afghan political analyst Haidar Adal, told VOA that the appointment at the ambassadorial level will not only help China expand its influence but also "boost" the Taliban's position.

"It increases their [the Taliban's] self-confidence, and they can now claim that 'our relations have developed up to the level of ambassadors.' They can say that their diplomacy is working."

Human rights concerns

Adal added this "will make it more difficult for the international community to put pressure on the Taliban to respect the human rights, particularly women's rights, in Afghanistan."

"And those who suffer would be the people of Afghanistan, particularly," he said.

The international community has called on the Taliban to honor their commitment to respecting women's fundamental rights in Afghanistan before any talks about the recognition of their regime in Afghanistan.

Since coming to power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed repressive measures on the women in the country. Women under the Taliban are not allowed to work, get secondary and university education or travel long distances without a close male relative.

Palwasha Hassan, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security, told VOA that China's move is concerning, but "does not surprise" her as "China's priorities are not the human rights condition but security and economic considerations."

"For China, security is more important. It wants the Taliban to curb militants who could cause problems in China," said Hassan. "The economy is important too for China. These are the important issues, not human rights."

China is concerned about the presence in China of Uyghur separatists "who are trying to fight for the independence of Xinjiang in China," said Barnett Rubin, a former State Department official.

He added that Beijing engaged with the Taliban to "pressure them to hand [Uyghur militants] over to China," but the Taliban "have moved them away from the Chinese border."

Rubin told VOA that the Taliban have also kept their ties with other extremist organizations, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is accused of several deadly attacks on Chinese interests in Pakistan.

The Taliban, however, have said they will not allow any militant groups to use Afghanistan's soil against any country.

Chinese investments

Although China prioritizes security, it agreed in May to expand the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, a $60 billion connectivity project that is part of China's globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative.

Some Chinese companies have recently shown interest in investing in Afghanistan.

In July, officials of Fan China Afghan Mining Processing and Trading Company announced an investment of $350 million in various sectors.

Earlier in January, the Taliban signed a contract with Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Company to extract oil in the north of the country by investing $150 million annually.

A Chinese company, Metallurgical Corporation of China, which signed a contract with the then-Afghan government in 2008 to extract copper from the Mes Aynak mine in the Logar province, has met with Taliban officials in recent months on how to start the extraction of the mine.

But the work has not yet started.

Rubin said although the Taliban hope China will invest in larger projects, the conditions "for a huge investment simply do not exist in Afghanistan."

"The expectation that they [China] would come in with big projects and do a lot, I think was much exaggerated," Rubin said.

This story originated in VOA's Afghan Service.
A parliamentary investigation in Namibia found that Canadian oil exploration company ReconAfrica violated several of the countrys laws and that its local partner deceived and misled the public about the value of its shareholdings on various international stock exchanges.

Despite the findings, ReconAfrica has been allowed to continue exploring for oil.

Vincent Marenga, a ruling party member of Namibias Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, told VOA that the committees investigation found ReconAfrica did not secure the proper permits before it began its oil exploration activities. But he said the violations were minor.

That is our argument, Marenga said. We are not saying that ReconAfrica is an angel that has been doing everything accordingly. They have violated [laws], but it was for permits. They drilled boreholes without permits, and on that one there will definitely be penalties against them.

Nadia April, one of the petitioners who approached parliament to protest ReconAfricas presence in the Okavango Delta  a wilderness area in northeastern Namibia  said their opposition to the presence of Recon was based on the contamination the oil drilling could create, as well as the plight of the indigenous people.

She said the fact that the company was found in violation of the law but still allowed to proceed was a disappointment to her and the group she represents.

The project started without the proper consultation within the region, and the consultations were done without the indigenous people, April said. We were referring to also the U.N. declaration on rights of indigenous people that says there has to be free, prior and informed consent  from indigenous people, so those consultations were not being done.

Outside of Namibia, ReconAfrica is being sued in a U.S. court for having allegedly misled its shareholders. The Namibian parliamentary committee said it was concerned that ReconAfrica is seeking to raise money using Namibian resources on the basis of a 10% partnership with a local partner, the Namibia Petroleum Corp., or NAMCOR.

Rinaani Musutua, a trustee of the Economic and Social Justice Trust, opposed ReconAfricas presence in Namibia on the basis of environmental concerns, such as fracking and water pollution.

Some of the activists that are on the ground in the Kavango region have also told us that ReconAfrica has left, and its not a surprise to us at all that they have left, Musutua said. They have built up quite a bad reputation for themselves. In the end, they started getting sued by investors, first in the Unites States of America and now in Canada, for having given investors misinformation and provided them with information that wasnt true.

ReconAfricas spokesperson could not be reached despite various attempts by the Voice of America.

The parliament committee that investigated the petitioners concerns said the issues in their petitions were not serious enough to warrant the companys expulsion from the country.

While the protesters want the company to be forced to leave, the parliament committee recommended the company stay but refrain from breaking Namibian laws.
Meta's decision to not suspend the Facebook account of a former Cambodian prime minister who had used the platform to physically threaten political opponents is drawing criticism from the tech giant's Oversight Board, human rights groups and digital security experts.

Meta's Oversight Board, a group of prominent global experts that makes mostly nonbinding recommendations on some of the company's thorniest policy questions, had recommended suspending Hun Sen's account over a January 9 post of a speech delivered the day before.

In the speech, Hun Sen threatened to "beat up" opponents and "send gangsters" to their homes. "There are only two options. One is to use legal means and the other is to use a bat," said Hun Sen, who served as Cambodia's prime minister for 38 years.

He added, "If you say that's freedom of expression, I will also express my freedom by sending people to your place and home."

The video was viewed at least 600,000 times, according to the board. Meta, after initially declining to take down the video, heeded the board's recommendation to remove it.

The question of suspending Hun Sen's account has spurred debate and illuminated the tension surrounding newsworthiness, free speech and collective safety in one-party political environments.

"It is hard to imagine a clearer case of a political leader using social media to amplify threats and intimidation," Oversight Board co-chair Michael McConnell said in a statement emailed to VOA Khmer on September 12.

McConnell, a Stanford Law School professor, said the video was part of a "concerning pattern of behavior from the Cambodian government" using social media as a tool of political suppression, in what Freedom House described as "digital authoritarianism."

"Our decision sets out clear guidance to Meta to deter public figures who would exploit its platforms to incite violence. Meta's inaction is a failure to ensure its platforms do not contribute to these harms," McConnell added.

Meta did not respond to VOA Khmer's request for comment on the criticism for this story.

Banning the board

On June 29, Meta's Oversight Board released a report recommending the suspension of Hun Sen's Facebook account and a series of additional policy changes.

Hun Sen's government responded by banning Oversight Board members from Cambodia, a prohibition that remains in force. Hun Sen, a prolific user with 14 million followers, closed his account and suggested he might block the platform in Cambodia.

Hun Sen's self-enforced exile from Facebook lasted until July 20, days before an uncontested election that resulted in his son becoming prime minister on August 22.

In explaining its decision not to deactivate Hun Sen's account, Meta said on August 28 that the case did not meet its criteria for a "crisis designation," since the level of political violence and suppression at the time did not significantly exceed Cambodia's "baseline" condition.

Meta also rejected the board's recommendation to clarify its public framework for restricting accounts of public figures, to account for societies in which political violence was ongoing.

"Applying the protocol in those circumstances could lead to an indefinite suspension of a public figure's account, which [apart from fairness issues] could be detrimental to people's ability to access information from and about their leaders and to express themselves using Meta's platforms," Meta said.

VOA Khmer contacted board members for comment on Meta's decision. Those who responded referred questions to the board's public relations office, which provided the statement from McConnell.

The platform's role

Legal experts and human rights campaigners have criticized Meta's decisions and explanations, arguing the company has failed to confront the role of its platforms in political violence and is seemingly prioritizing its business interests over values like democracy, public safety and nonviolent public dialogue.

Golda Benjamin, Asia-Pacific campaigner for the digital rights group Access Now, told VOA Khmer that Meta "understands perfectly" the impact that its platforms have in countries such as Cambodia, but regularly resists efforts to make it more accountable for its contribution to political violence or other human rights abuses in those societies.

Cambodia's government has repeatedly prosecuted and jailed many of its critics who post on Facebook. Authorities often use "incitement" laws that longtime observers of Cambodia's government say are abused to suppress unwanted citizen speech and critical press.

The International Commission of Jurists has long criticized the Cambodian government's legal and extrajudicial harassment of its opponents, as well as broader human rights violations. Daron Tan, a legal adviser to the group in Southeast Asia, said Meta's decision on Hun Sen's account was "perplexing."

Not only did Meta not suspend Hun Sen's account, but Tan also said it had apparently done nothing to penalize the longtime Cambodian leader, apart from removing the offending video.

"I think that sends a really dangerous message that Hun Sen can basically do whatever he wants, right? He can say whatever he wants, can do whatever he wants, without consequences. And I think that for us is the most troubling bit about Meta's decision," said Tan.

Tan said he sensed an ulterior motive to Meta's explanation that it was prioritizing "voice" and freedom of information over concerns of political violence.

Hun Sen remains a powerful force over Cambodia's government, and Meta was well aware of the potential consequences if it suspended his account, Tan said.

Elina Noor, an Asia security expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Meta may have reached a "sound policy conclusion" given Cambodia's recent leadership transition but added, "The fact that it was against the recommendation of its own Oversight Board undermines the credence of that decision."

McConnell said the repercussions of Meta's decision reached well beyond those directly affected by Hun Sen's threats.

"This is not just about the situation in Cambodia. Meta has not gone far enough to discourage others who may seek to abuse its platforms in a similar way," he said.

"As our decision noted, failure to limit clearly violating speech in political climates where civic space is already reduced and under threat does not always protect voice," McConnell said. "It can have the converse effect, leading to more intimidation and the silencing of a broader range of views."
Libya's prosecutor general has ordered the arrest of four more officials, bringing to 12 the number held as part of an inquiry into this month's flood that killed thousands.

Flooding caused by hurricane-strength Storm Daniel tore through eastern Libya on September 10, leaving at least 3,893 people dead and thousands more missing.

The seaside city of Derna was the worst hit in the flash flood, which witnesses likened to a tsunami. The water burst through two dams and washed entire neighborhoods into the Mediterranean.

The four additional suspects, including two members of the Derna municipal council, were arrested for suspected "bad management of the administrative and financial missions which were incumbent upon them," said a statement issued overnight Thursday into Friday by the prosecutor general's office in Tripoli, western Libya.

On Monday, the office ordered the arrest of eight officials, including Derna's mayor, who was sacked after the flood.

Libya Prosecutor General Al-Seddik al-Sour belongs to the internationally recognized government in the country's west. A rival administration in the flood-stricken east is backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

The eastern government has said it plans to host an international donors conference in Benghazi on October 10 to focus on the reconstruction of flood-ravaged areas, but its failure to involve the Tripoli government has drawn mounting criticism from donors.

Libya has been wracked by division since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

'Separate' reconstruction plans

The United States called on Libyans to set aside their political differences and agree a framework to channel aid to eastern towns.

"We urge Libyan authorities now to form such unified structures  rather than launching separate efforts  that represent the Libyan people without delay," U.S. special envoy Richard Norland said in a statement Friday.

"A proposal to hold a reconstruction conference in Benghazi on October 10 would be much more effective if it were conducted jointly and inclusively," he said.

Norland echoed concerns expressed by the United Nations that mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure that foreign aid is spent accountably.

"Libyans need to be assured public funds are used transparently, accountably, and that assistance goes to those in need," the U.S. envoy said.

On Thursday during talks with the European Commission, U.N. envoy Abdoulaye Bathily said he had called for funds to be monitored.

"I ... emphasized the need for a joint assessment of reconstruction needs of storm-affected areas to ensure the utmost accountability in the management of reconstruction resources," he said.

On Friday, the eastern authorities said they would begin paying compensation to people affected by the disaster, which a U.N. agency has said uprooted more than 43,000 people.

People whose homes were destroyed would receive $20,500 in compensation, Faraj Kaeem, the eastern administration's deputy interior minister, said separately.

He said those with partially destroyed homes would get about half that amount and those who lost furniture or household appliances would be given one-fifth.

The eastern administration announced on Wednesday the creation of a fund for the reconstruction of Derna.

The authorities have yet to specify how the new fund will be financed, but the eastern-based parliament has allocated about $2 billion to reconstruction projects.
Human rights sources say the number of Baluch citizens detained during violent demonstrations Friday has risen to at least 51 in the cities of Zahedan, Khash, and Mirjaveh, as three more people were identified Saturday.

The Hal-Vash website that covers news in Sistan and Baluchistan provinces reports Saturday that, following Friday prayers, government forces detained several citizens in the cities of Zahedan, Khash, Mehrestan and Mirjaveh. The website's reporting suggests more than half of detainees are 16 to 30 years old.

Human Rights Activists News Agency also covered the events of Friday in Sistan and Baluchistan. It noted that on the one-year anniversary of "Bloody Friday in Zahedan," Zahedan residents on Friday organized protests that turned violent when law enforcement officers intervened.

Images and reports indicate that some citizens were injured by inhaling tear gas. Hal-Vash also reported at least 29 people, including eight children, were hurt in clashes between security forces and protesters.

NetBlocks, a watchdog organization that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, reported disruptions in internet connectivity in Zahedan, describing it as a "systematic effort to suppress public protests."

Demand for punishment

Molavi Abdul Hamid, the Friday prayer Imam of the Sunnis in Zahedan, referred to the events of September 30, 2022, as a "grave tragedy" during his Friday sermon. He declared, "The general public demands the punishment of those responsible for the Bloody Friday massacre."

A year ago, demonstrations broke out across Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died in custody following her arrest in Tehran for allegedly flouting the country's strict hijab rules.

The incidents Friday, along with images on social media, occurred amid a backdrop where the prosecutor of Sistan and Baluchistan province has categorically denied the existence of any gatherings or confrontations. The prosecutor asserted that "in opposition to the calls circulating for days to organize gatherings in the province, people have managed the situation adeptly, refraining from participating in such calls, and nothing particular happened."

Residents take to streets

Shirahmad Shirani Naroui, the editor-in-chief of Hal-Vash, emphasized in an exclusive interview with Voice of America, "On Friday, September 29, residents took to the streets in numerous cities within the Sistan and Baluchistan province, challenging government forces. Remarkably, even as night fell, protesters persisted on the streets of Zahedan."

Naroui underscored heightened security measures in Zahedan on Friday, pointing out that "following the departure of people from Makki Mosque and the commencement of peaceful protests, government forces confronted the demonstrators using stones, slingshots, and even live ammunition, including semi-automatic firearms. Currently, no information is available regarding the potential number of casualties resulting from this incident."

Mehdi Nakhl-Ahmadi, a journalist, also discussed with Voice of America factors contributing to the yearlong endurance of protests in Sistan and Baluchistan and the enthusiastic participation of the people in the commemoration of "Bloody Friday in Zahedan." He remarked, "The ongoing protests are a consequence of unfulfilled and unaddressed demands and the wisdom of Molavi Abdul Hamid, which led to the persistence of these protests."
The U.S. West Coast produces over 90% of America's wine, but the region is also prone to wildfires  a combustible combination that spelled disaster for the industry in 2020 and one that scientists are scrambling to neutralize.

Sample a good wine and you might get notes of oak or red fruit. But sip on wine made from grapes that were penetrated by smoke, and it could taste like someone dumped the contents of an ashtray into your glass.

Wine experts from three West Coast universities are working together to meet the threat, including developing spray coatings to protect grapes, pinpointing the elusive compounds that create that nasty ashy taste, and deploying smoke sensors to vineyards to better understand smoke behavior.

The U.S. government is funding their research with millions of dollars.

Wineries are also taking steps to protect their product and brand.

The risk to America's premier wine-making regions  where wildfires caused billions of dollars in losses in 2020  is growing, with climate change deepening drought and overgrown forests becoming tinderboxes.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, grapes are the highest-value crop in the United States, with 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of grape-bearing land, 96% of it on the West Coast.

Winemakers around the world are already adapting to climate change, including by moving their vineyards to cooler zones and planting varieties that do better in drought and heat. Wildfires pose an additional and more immediate risk being tackled by scientists from Oregon State University, Washington State University and the University of California, Davis.

"What's at stake is the ability to continue to make wine in areas where smoke exposures might be more common," said Tom Collins, a wine scientist at Washington State University.

Researcher Cole Cerrato recently stood in Oregon State University's vineyard, nestled below forested hills near the village of Alpine, as he turned on a fan to push smoke from a Weber grill through a dryer vent hose. The smoke emerged onto a row of grapes enclosed in a makeshift greenhouse made of taped-together plastic sheets.

Previously, grapes exposed to smoke in that setup were made into wine by Elizabeth Tomasino, an associate professor leading Oregon State's efforts, and her researchers.

They found sulfur-containing compounds, thiophenols, in the smoke-impacted wine and determined they contributed to the ashy flavor, along with "volatile phenols," which Australian researchers identified as factors more than a decade ago. Bush fires have long impacted Australia's wine industry. Up in Washington state, Collins confirmed that the sulfur compounds were found in the wine that had been exposed to smoke in the Oregon vineyard but weren't in samples that had no smoke exposure.

The scientists want to find out how thiophenols, which aren't detectable in wildfire smoke, appear in smoke-impacted wine, and learn how to eliminate them.

"There's still a lot of very interesting chemistry and very interesting research, to start looking more into these new compounds," Cerrato said. "We just don't have the answers yet."

Wine made with tainted grapes can be so awful that it can't be marketed. If it does go on shelves, a winemaker's reputation could be ruined  a risk that few are willing to take.

When record wildfires in 2020 blanketed the West Coast in brown smoke, some California wineries refused to accept grapes unless they had been tested. But most growers couldn't find places to analyze their grapes because the laboratories were overwhelmed.

The damage to the industry in California alone was $3.7 billion, according to an analysis that Jon Moramarco of the consulting firm bw166 conducted for industry groups. The losses stemmed mostly from wineries having to forego future wine sales.

"But really what drove it was, you know, a lot of the impact was in Napa [Valley], an area of some of the highest priced grapes, highest priced wines in the U.S.," Moramarco said, adding that if a ton of cabernet sauvignon grapes is ruined, "you lose probably 720 bottles of wine. If it is worth $100 a bottle, it adds up very quickly."

Between 165,000 to 325,000 tons of California wine grapes were left to wither on the vine in 2020 due to actual or perceived wildfire smoke exposure, said Natalie Collins, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers.

She said she hasn't heard of any growers quitting the business due to wildfire impacts, but, "Many of our members are having an extremely difficult time securing insurance due to the fire risk in their region, and if they are able to secure insurance, the rate is astronomically high."

Some winemakers are trying techniques to reduce smoke impact, such as passing the wine through a membrane or treating it with carbon, but that can also rob a wine of its appealing nuances. Blending impacted grapes with other grapes is another option. Limiting skin contact by making rose wine instead of red can lower the concentration of smoke flavor compounds.

Collins, over at Washington State University, has been experimenting with spraying fine-powdered kaolin or bentonite, which are clays, mixed with water onto wine grapes so it absorbs materials that are in smoke. The substance would then be washed off before harvest. Oregon State University is developing a spray-on coating.

Meanwhile, dozens of smoke sensors have been installed in vineyards in the three states, financed in part by a $7.65 million USDA grant.

"The instruments will be used to measure for smoke marker compounds," said Anita Oberholster, leader of UC Davis' efforts. She said such measurements are essential to develop mitigation strategies and determine smoke exposure risk.

Greg Jones, who runs his family's Abacela winery in southern Oregon's Umpqua Valley and is a director of the Oregon Wine Board, applauds the scientists' efforts.

"This research has really gone a long way to help us try to find: Are there ways in which we can take fruit from the vineyard and quickly find out if it has the potential compounds that would lead to smoke-impacted wine?" Jones said.

Collins predicts success.

"I think it's increasingly clear that we're not likely to find a magic bullet," he said. "But we will find a set of strategies."
When Carolina's captors arrived at dawn to pull her out of the stash house in the Mexican border city of Reynosa in late May, she thought they were going to force her to call her family in Venezuela again to beg them to pay $2,000 ransom.

Instead, one of the men shoved her onto a broken-down bus parked outside and raped her, she told Reuters. "It's the saddest, most horrible thing that can happen to a person," Carolina said.

A migrant advocate who assisted Carolina after the kidnapping, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, confirmed all the details of her account.

The attack came amid an increase in sexual violence against migrants in the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros, both major transit routes for immigrants seeking to enter the U.S., according to data from the Mexican government and humanitarian groups, as well as interviews with eight sexual assault survivors and more than a dozen local aid workers.

"The inhumane way smugglers abuse, extort, and perpetrate violence against migrants for profit is criminal and morally reprehensible," U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Luis Miranda said in response to questions about the rise in reported rapes.

Criminal investigations into the rape of foreign nationals, excluding Americans, were the highest on record in the two cities this year, according to state data from 2014 to 2023 obtained by Reuters through freedom of information requests.

The U.S. State Department considers Tamaulipas, where the two cities are located, to be the most dangerous state along the U.S.-Mexico border.

'Torture process'

Facing record illegal border crossings, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration in May moved to a new system that required migrants to secure an appointment -- via an app known as CBP One -- to present themselves at a legal border crossing to enter the United States.

Nine experts, including lawyers, medical professionals, and aid workers, told Reuters the new system has had unintended consequences in the two cities, contributing to a spike in violence.

The high risk of kidnapping and sexual assault in Reynosa and Matamoros is one of the factors pushing migrants to cross illegally, four advocates said. Crossings border-wide surged in September.

Biden officials say the new CBP policy is more humane because it reduces the need for migrants to pay smugglers and criminal groups to ferry them across the border illegally.

The experts said many asylum seekers are no longer paying smugglers to get them across the border - instead traveling towards the frontier on their own, hoping to make an appointment on the app.

But criminal groups are still demanding these migrants pay to enter their territory, the experts said.

"Rape is part of the torture process to get the money," said Bertha Bermudez Tapia, a sociologist at New Mexico State University researching the impacts of Biden's policy on migrants in Tamaulipas.

The Gulf Cartel and the Northeast Cartel are both active in the region and kidnap migrants for ransom, particularly those who arrive without smugglers' protection, according to security analysts. Reuters was unable to contact the two groups.

Some migrants are also spending more time in the dangerous region, waiting to secure an appointment on the app. Tens of thousands of people a day are competing for 1,450 slots, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

A senior CBP official based in Washington said CBP was troubled by reports of migrants sexually assaulted in the two cities.

"It's absolutely something that we're concerned about," said the official, who requested anonymity as a condition of the interview.

U.S. authorities temporarily suspended CBP One appointments in June in another Tamaulipas border city, Nuevo Laredo, due to "extortion and kidnapping concerns," the official said.

However, Miranda, the DHS spokesperson, said the administration's policies made it unnecessary to wait at the border since migrants could book an appointment from other parts of Central and Northern Mexico.

More than 250,000 migrants have scheduled appointments on the CBP One app, and over 200,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans have entered the United States by air under a separate Biden humanitarian program, according to CBP statistics.

'Take her'

Carolina said she arrived in Reynosa the night of May 26 on a commercial bus with her 13-year-old son. Men began trailing them as soon as they arrived at the bus station, she said.

"They said we couldn't be there without their permission," she said, speaking from Chicago.

The U.S. State Department warns that criminal groups in Tamaulipas target buses "often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments."

The men whisked Carolina away to a house where she said she and other migrants were raped.

She said she was freed after family members paid $3,100 in ransom. Reuters was unable to independently verify the payment. She did not report the attack to police, saying she saw no point.

An Ecuadoran woman said that while in captivity in Reynosa her kidnappers repeatedly allowed a drug dealer to rape her in exchange for his deliveries of a white powder, which she suspected was cocaine.

One night, she clutched her figurine of the Christ child, tiptoed past her sleeping captors, and escaped through the window. "I still have nightmares," she said, speaking from New Jersey in August.

Reuters is withholding the full names of the survivors at their request. To corroborate their accounts, Reuters reviewed medical and psychological reports; criminal complaints and legal declarations; financial records, photos and videos supplied by the survivors, attorneys and advocates.

The state attorney general's office has opened seven rape investigations of foreign women in the first half of 2023. Four were opened in June alone.

Only one of the eight survivors Reuters interviewed reported the attack to authorities: a Honduran woman who said she was raped inside a migrant camp in Matamoros in late May. No one has been arrested, authorities said.

Olivia Lemus, head of Tamaulipas' human rights commission, said official data represents a fraction of the cases. "Migrants are afraid to file reports," Lemus said. "The fact that there aren't more reports doesn't mean that this crime isn't occurring."

Mexico's national migration agency, Tamaulipas' security agency, and Mexico's foreign ministry did not answer questions about sexual violence against migrants.

Juan Rodriguez, head of the Tamaulipas migrant services agency, said the agency was "attentive" to the issue.

"Unfortunately, sometimes things happen. We can't deny it."

A Venezuelan migrant said he was kidnapped in May in Reynosa by a cartel while traveling to the border for his confirmed CBP One appointment. He couldn't raise the full $800 ransom, so he was forced to work for two months to pay off the remaining $200, he said.

Two other migrants who said they were held at the house during the same time period confirmed the man was forced to work against his will, and that they heard female migrants being raped.

On the nights the Venezuelan man was tasked with standing guard over the other migrants, he said he watched the cartel members ask the man in charge of the house for permission to rape the women of their choosing.

He said the answer was always the same: "Take her."
The U.S. Senate, in a rare weekend meeting, approved a funding bill Saturday night, sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature and averting a widely dreaded shutdown of the federal government.

The bill, which passed the Senate 88-9 after winning approval in the House of Representatives, would fund the federal government through Nov. 17. The bill contains $16 billion in disaster aid sought by Biden but did not include money to help Ukraine in its war against Russias invasion.

After the vote, Biden released a statement saying the bills passage prevented "an unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted needless pain on millions of hardworking Americans."

"We will have avoided a shutdown," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement after the vote. "Bipartisanship, which has been the trademark of the Senate, has prevailed. And the American people can breathe a sigh of relief."

Had the bill not been approved by Congress and signed by the president by midnight Saturday, the federal government would have shut down.

More than 4 million U.S. military service personnel and government workers would not be paid, although essential services, such as air traffic control and official border entry points would still be staffed. Pensioners might not get their monthly government payments in time to pay bills and buy groceries, and national parks could be closed.

For days all of that seemed inevitable.

The abrupt turn of events began Saturday when Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy changed tactics and put forward the funding bill that hard-line members of his Republican caucus opposed.

The House passed the bill, 335-91. More Democrats supported it than Republicans, even though it does not contain aid for Ukraine, a priority for Biden, Democrats and many Senate Republicans.

"Extreme MAGA Republicans have lost, the American people have won," top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries told reporters ahead of the vote.

Republican Representative Lauren Boebert criticized the passage of the short-term stopgap bill.

"We should have forced the Senate to take up the four appropriations bills that the House has passed. That should have been our play," she told CNN. "We should have forced them to come to the negotiating table, to come to conference, to hash out our differences."

McCarthy is likely to face a motion from the right-wing members of his party to remove him as speaker.

"If somebody wants to remove me because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try," McCarthy said of the threat to oust him. "But I think this country is too important."

Ukraine aid still likely

In his statement, Biden noted the lack of funding for Ukraine in the bill and said, "We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted."

Support for Ukraine remains strong in Congress and late Saturday night, a bipartisan group of Senate leadership members, led by Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, released a statement vowing to ensure the United States continues to provide critical and sustained security and economic support for Ukraine.

NBC News quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying Biden and the Defense Department have funds to meet Ukraines battlefield needs "for a bit longer," but it is "imperative" that Congress pass a Ukraine funding bill soon.

In the House, the lone Democrat to vote against the funding bill was Representative Mike Quigley of Illinois, the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. "Protecting Ukraine is in our national interest," he said.

"This does look very chaotic, but this is not the first time it's happened," Todd Belt, director of the school of political management at The George Washington University, told VOA. "There is a price that has to be paid here. But that is the price of democracy. It does seem very messy sometimes. But eventually, usually you get some compromise."

Such shutdowns have occurred four times in the last decade in the U.S., but often have lasted just a day or two until lawmakers reach a compromise to fully restart government operations. However, one shutdown that occurred during the administration of former President Donald Trump lasted 35 days, as he unsuccessfully sought funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted Ukraines first Industry Defense Forum on Saturday, aimed at developing a domestic defense industry by partnering with Western manufacturers so that Ukraine can build its own weapons.

Weapons producers from more than 30 countries attended and discussed how to partner with Ukraine to build and repair weapons in Ukraine even as it is under constant Russian bombardment.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy described the first Defense Industries Forum as extremely successful, reflecting weapons producers interest in working in Ukraine and with Ukraine in the production of weapons and everything necessary for the real defense of any free nation, he said.

Zelenskyy said he hopes to turn Ukraine into a military hub.

Our country will become one of the world's key producers of weapons and defense systems. And this is no longer just an ambition or a prospect, it is a potential that is already being realized, he said.

Ukraine is in such a phase of the defense marathon when it is very important, critical to go forward without retreating. Results from the front line are needed daily," Zelenskyy told the representatives from more than 250 Western weapons producers.

He said that air defense and de-mining were his top priorities while he also aims to boost domestic production of missiles, drones, and artillery ammunition.

Some of the executives said they have struggled to ramp up their production to meet Ukrainian demand.

Ukrainian officials also see the development of domestic defense production as a boost to the economy, which shrunk by about a third last year because of the war.

Annexed regions chose Russia, says Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday the local elections in four Russian-annexed Ukrainian regions earlier this month were conducted in full accordance with international norms and that the residents there chose to be part of Russia.

Putin made his comments in an address marking the first anniversary of the annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in the east of the country.

Putin referred to Russias Central Election Commission claim that the countrys ruling party won the most votes.

Ukraine has denounced both the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham to justify Russias tightening grip on the illegally annexed territories a year ago.

Putins address came after Russias Defense Ministry said Friday it would enlist 130,000 men for compulsory military service beginning Sunday in most regions of the country, including in the annexed regions of Ukraine as part of its twice-yearly military conscription campaign.

The conscripts are at least 18 years old, and Russia says they are not deployed to what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, or to serve in the annexed territories. After one year of service, though, they automatically become reservists, and Russia has previously deployed reservists to Ukraine.

Ukraine says it downs drones

Five people were wounded Saturday in two missile strikes on the village of Matviivka, in the northeastern part of the Ukrainian-controlled regional capital Zaporizhzhia, its Governor Yurii Malashko said.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.

Vinnytsia regional Governor Serhii Borzov said that air defenses shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region but that a fire broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.

In Romania, army radars detected a possible breach of national airspace during an overnight Russian drone attack against neighboring Ukraines civilian infrastructure, the defense ministry said Saturday.

After quitting the Black Sea grain deal in mid-July, Russia began targeting Ukrainian ports and warehouses on the Danube River, Kyiv's main alternative export route across from NATO member Romania.

Fragments of possible Russian drones were found on Romanian territory three separate times this month, increasing security risks for NATO, whose members have a mutual defense commitment.

"The Romanian Army's radar surveillance system identified a possible unauthorized breach of national air space, with a signal detected on the route to the town of Galati," the defense ministry said, adding search parties had been deployed.

It said searches will continue throughout Saturday.

In the southern Russian region of Bryansk, a Ukrainian drone attack on Saturday, injured one person and damaged an administrative building, the region's Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on the Telegram messaging app.

Bogomaz said the incident occurred in the town of Trubchevsk. He also reported earlier that a village in the region had been shelled by Ukrainian forces, damaging three homes.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
Militant attacks have surged in Pakistan, killing more than 700 security forces and civilians in the first nine months of the year, according to a report released Saturday.



The Islamabad-based independent Center for Research and Security Studies, or CRSS, published the report a day after suicide bombings and insurgent raids in southwestern Baluchistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces killed at least 69 people. No group has claimed responsibility for Friday's deadly violence.



The report noted that the number of fatalities from terrorist attacks this year has increased by 19 percent compared to 2022, with the two Pakistani provinces bordering Afghanistan suffering 92% of all fatalities.



"Pakistan's security forces lost at least 386 personnel, 36% of all fatalities  including 137 army and 208 police personnel  in the first nine months of 2023, marking an eight-year high," the CRSS said.



The report said 33 paramilitary forces, supervised by the army, also were among the fatalities.



The military, however, has confirmed the death of 214 of its soldiers and officers so far this year in counterterrorism operations and insurgent attacks, according to data compiled by VOA from official statements by the army's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations.

Deadly day



Friday's attacks marked one of the deadliest days Pakistan has had in recent months. Most of the casualties occurred in Mastung, a volatile Baluchistan district, where a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of devotees marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.



The powerful blast killed 59 people and injured dozens more. The rest of the deadly violence took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, targeting security forces.



The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, the regional branch of the Islamic State terrorist group, known as the Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, and separatist Baluch insurgents often claim or are blamed for the violence in Pakistan.

TTP claims many attacks



The TTP, a globally designated terrorist group, has primarily claimed recent attacks in Pakistan, targeting soldiers and police personnel. The group operates out of Afghanistan and has intensified attacks since the Taliban reclaimed control of the war-shattered neighboring country two years ago, according to Pakistani officials.



Commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, the TTP is an offshoot and close ally of the Afghan Taliban. However, de facto Afghan rulers maintain they do not allow anyone to threaten Pakistan or other countries from their soil.



Islamabad has lately stepped-up diplomatic pressure on Kabul to prevent the TTP from staging cross-border terrorist attacks from Afghan sanctuaries.



Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani confirmed that Taliban authorities had arrested 200 TTP militants in Afghanistan for launching attacks against Pakistan. The Afghan side has so far not challenged the claims.
The prosecution in the trial against the Colorado Springs man accused of fatally stabbing his teenage coworker on Friday continued to build its case, with more than 10 witnesses taking the stand to end the week.

It was the third day of testimony in the trial against Joshua Johnson, accused of killing 17-year-old Riley Whitelaw in June of last year.

The prosecution's most influential witness of the day was another of Whitelaw's co-workers at Walgreens, Rita Beverly Crider.

Crider was at work with Whitelaw and Johnson the day of the incident, and spoke with the prosecution about some of the odd behavior she said Johnson exhibited that day at work, and some of the worried behavior Whitelaw exhibited.

During her testimony, Crider spoke about how earlier on that day, Whitelaw approached her and asked to work with her in the beauty department, and that she seemed apprehensive, something Crider said was unusual for her.

Meanwhile, Crider noted Johnson's behavior, specifically his choice to stack numerous bins directly by the door in the storage room, as very unusual.

Several Walgreens employees who testified on Thursday, including former store manager Justin Zunino, said that there was no good reason for Johnson to stack the bins where he did, and as high as he did. Prosecutors allege that Johnson chose to stack the bins to block the security camera's view of the rear exit of the Walgreens.

Crider also talked about how she thought it was weird how Johnson, who wasn't a manager or shift leader at Walgreens, asked her to tell Whitelaw to take her break at 5:30 p.m. exactly that day. Crider said that, despite thinking it was weird, she went to tell Whitelaw to go on break and took over the register for her.

A surprise witness from the prosecution on Friday was Johnson's own mother, Victoria Cox, who gave a brief and somewhat hostile testimony about Johnson's whereabouts immediately after Whitelaw's death.

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Cox testified that Johnson came home a bit before 6 p.m. on June 11, and that he told his mother he was just going back to work, leaving about five minutes later. Cox said it was abnormal for Johnson to come home in the middle of the work day, and that she didn't know what had happened at the Walgreens until about two hours later, when she began to see news articles about an incident at the store.

Following Cox's testimony, in which she and prosecutor Brent Nelson were clearly frustrated with each other, she sat down in the front row of the courtroom directly behind her son.

Testimony was heard from several law enforcement officials, who discussed various pieces of evidence they found during their investigation.

Colorado Springs detective Mike Lee spoke about how he recovered a bloodstained hoodie from Johnson's home, detective Rebecca Joines spoke about the "overwhelming" stench of bleach in both the breakroom and Dumpster area of the Walgreens, and Colorado State Patrol Trooper Dylan Miller testified to finding Johnson on the side of Interstate 25 outside Trinidad later on the night of the killing.

Miller testified that Johnson claimed he was fleeing work because he and his Walgreens coworker were attacked, and that he decided to run away because the attacker told him his name and address. After contacting Colorado Springs police, Miller said he became aware that Johnson was actually the primary suspect.

Lee later testified that, during his interview with Johnson that night, he noticed that Johnson had significant injuries, including scratches on his face and arms, bruising on his arms and torso, and that large chunks of his hair were missing. Lee stated he wasn't sure if Johnson cut his own hair, if his hair had been torn out by another person, or if it was a combination of the two.

For the third consecutive day, the prosecution's side of the courtroom on Friday was packed with friends and family of Whitelaw, while Johnson's side of the courtroom sat mostly empty.

Johnson appeared to court in custody from the El Paso County jail wearing a blue suit with a blue tie. He sat at the defendant's table, staring directly ahead for the majority of the trial, displaying very little emotion, as he has the past three days.

Johnson's trial will continue on Tuesday morning, due to the court being closed on Monday for Francis Cabrini Day.
Former President Jimmy Carter is set to mark his 99th birthday on October 1 while in hospice care. VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports on an outpouring of admiration and well wishes for the onetime peanut farmer and Georgia governor who promoted peace and fought tropical diseases after leaving the White House.
Dozens of people from around the world lined up on a sunny morning this week in front of a former mental health hospital in Berlin to apply for asylum in Germany.

There were two older women from Moldova. A young man from Somalia sat next to them on a bench. A group of five young Pakistanis chatted loudly, standing behind two pregnant women from Vietnam.

The newcomers are among more than 10,000 migrants who have applied for asylum in the German capital this year, and are coming at a time when Berlin is running out of space to accommodate them.

"The situation is not very good at the moment," Sascha Langenbach, the spokesperson for the state office for refugee affairs in Berlin, said in an interview this week. "This is much more than we expected last year."

The former mental health hospital in Berlin's Reinickendorf neighborhood was turned into the city's registration center for asylum-seekers in 2019 and can house up to 1,000 migrants.

But it's full.

Officials have put an additional 80 beds in a church on the premises. Beyond that, there are another 100 asylum shelters in Berlin, but those are at capacity too.

Berlin's state government says it will open a hangar at the former Tempelhof airport to make space for migrants, put up a big tent at the asylum seekers' registration center, and open a former hardware store and hotels and hostels in the city to provide another 5,500 beds for more migrants the city is expecting will come through the end of the year.

There are also not enough places in kindergartens and schools. In addition to the asylum seekers, Berlin has also taken in another 11,000 Ukrainian refugees this year who fled Russia's war.

The lack of space and money for migrants and Ukrainian refugees isn't unique to Berlin. It's a problem across Germany, where local and state officials have been demanding more funds from the federal government without success.

More than 220,000 people applied for asylum in Germany between January and August  most of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Moldova and Georgia. In all of 2022, 240,000 people applied for asylum in Germany.

That's a far cry from the more than 1 million people who arrived in Germany in 2015-16. But Germany has also taken in more than 1 million Ukrainians since the outbreak of the war in 2022. Unlike others who arrive, Ukrainians immediately receive residency status in Germany and the 26 other European Union countries.

While Germans welcomed asylum seekers with flowers, chocolates and toys when they first arrived in 2015, and many opened their homes to house Ukrainians in 2022, the mood toward new arrivals has profoundly changed since then.

"After two years of the (coronavirus) crisis, then the Ukraine war with its increasing prices for basically everything  heating, gas, also food  it's sometimes pretty tough to convince people that they have to share places and capacities with people who just arrived," Langenbach said.

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, has been successfully exploiting Germans' hardening attitudes toward migrants. Polling now puts it in second place nationally with around 21%, far above the 10.3% it won during the last federal election in 2021.

AfD's rise in the polls and the party leaders' relentless anti-migrant rhetoric, including calls to close Germany's borders to prevent migrants from entering, have put pressure on the national and state governments and other mainstream parties to toughen their approach toward migrants.

On Wednesday, Germany's interior minister announced the country would increase border controls along "smuggling routes" with Poland and the Czech Republic to prevent irregular migrants from entering.

In June, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended plans to stop migrants from entering the EU altogether until their chances of getting asylum have been reviewed, arguing that the bloc's existing arrangements on sharing the burden of asylum seekers among the different European countries is "completely dysfunctional."

Germany has been taking in more migrants than most other European countries, but other countries such as Turkey and Lebanon, which shelter millions of migrants from Syria, have taken in more refugees as a percentage of their population.

Despite the changing sentiment toward migrants in Germany, those who make it and apply for asylum are generally grateful to be here.

Abdullah al-Shweiti, from Homs, Syria, recently arrived in Berlin and was waiting for the results of his medical checkup at the asylum welcome center. He said he was relieved to be "in a safe place."

The 29-year-old said he had run away from home because his family's house had been bombed in the war and he didn't want to fight in the army. He said he'd paid 3,000 euros ($3,180) to smugglers who helped him get from Lebanon to Europe. He took the Balkans route, trekking with other young Syrians north via Bulgaria through forests. They traveled on foot, by taxi and by bus until smugglers dropped them off in the German capital.

Mirbeycan Gurhan, a Kurdish man from Bingol in eastern Turkey, said he'd fled suppression by Turkish authorities. He paid 6,000 euros ($6,360) for smugglers to arrange a flight from Ankara to Belgrade, Serbia, and then a car to Germany.

"I hope I will have a better future here. I hope I can find work," the 24-year-old said with a shy smile as his uncle, who applied for asylum in Berlin four years ago, stood next to him and translated.

Michael Elias, head of the Tamaja company that runs the asylum registration center in Berlin, said the arrival of migrants from all over the world is simply a reflection of the many crises around the globe, such as climate change and wars, and that Germany needs to be prepared for even more people to arrive.

"Yes, a lot of people are coming here, but look at what's going on in the world," Elias said. "We must simply anticipate that we're not an island of the fortunate here, that things will reach us too."
John Wulu is the manager and chief editor of Top FM, a radio station in Juba, South Sudans capital. He says journalists broadcasting stories that shed light on corruption face intimidation and threatening phone calls from unidentified individuals.

Wulu said most media houses in the country have a hard time working on in-depth reports due to a lack of access, censorship and harassment  at times coming from South Sudan security operatives.

"Reporting security issues is a red line between us and the government. No. 2 is about corruption," he told VOA. "These are the red lines whereby if you report corruption, you will not be safe."

Wulu said female journalists face additional risks, such as gender-based violence, and certain assignments "put some female journalists in danger" of "harassment directly." That, Wulu added, has forced some journalists to abandon the profession.

The executive director for Community Media Network South Sudan, Josephine Achiro, said the lack of press freedoms has had a chilling effect on journalism.

"The quality of content is reducing simply because of censorship and harassment. Most of the journalists decide to censor themselves because they fear harassment, intimidation," Achiro said. "So, everyone now decides to pick a soft angle, like when you are going to write a story you make sure you pick an angle that will not create issues between you and the authority."

"Most of the journalists decide to censor themselves because they fear harassment, intimidation."

A former reporter with a Juba-based newspaper, The City Review, said the countrys media environment is challenging. Keji Janefer Silver and eight other journalists were detained by security operatives in Juba last year after covering a briefing by opposition politicians in parliament. The journalists worked for different media outlets, including VOA.

"If you are not strong enough, you are not flexible, you are not creative and you dont have that heart of endurance, media work becomes very difficult," Silver told VOA. "There are people who dont want to have friction all the time with people, and they suggest doing something where they dont face those challenges."

Reporter Anne Ayada with Mingkaman FM, a community-based radio station in Lakes States Awerial County located in central South Sudan, said female journalists have a harder time getting sources to speak on the record compared to their male counterparts.

"Journalists should have freedom to express themselves, to cover the stories, to do investigative journalism without being threatened," Ayada said, adding that she wishes "women in this field of journalism to be given [access] if there is a story they want to cover, let them cover it; give them the story, they are as important as men who also do journalism."

South Sudan Deputy Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services Jacob Maiju Baba Korok told VOA the media environment in the country is conducive despite a few isolated incidents of arrests and intimidation.

The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, commonly known by its French acronym RSF, says at least nine journalists have been killed in the country since 2014. RSF says media outlets in South Sudan are routinely blocked from covering issues related to conflict and journalists often face harassment, arbitrary detention and intimidation.

This story originated in VOA English to Africas South Sudan In Focus Program.
Labor unions are finding support among graduate students at U.S. colleges and universities, according to a new report.

Graduate students, upset by working conditions and pay, have held a series of organizing votes in the past two years, Times Higher Education reports. (September 2023).
The Supreme Court is returning to a new term to take up some familiar topics  guns and abortion  while concerns about ethics swirl around the justices.

The year also will have a heavy focus on social media and how free speech protections apply online. A big unknown is whether the court will be asked to weigh in on any aspect of the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump and others or efforts in some states to keep the Republican off the 2024 presidential ballot because of his role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Lower profile but vitally important, several cases in the term that begins Monday ask the justices to constrict the power of regulatory agencies.

I can't remember a term where the court was poised to say so much about the power of federal administrative agencies, said Jeffrey Wall, who served as the deputy solicitor general in the Trump administration.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

One of those cases, to be argued Tuesday, threatens the ability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, to function. Unlike most agencies, the bureau is not dependent on annual appropriations from Congress, but instead gets its funding directly from the Federal Reserve. The idea when the agency was created following the recession in 2007-08 was to shield it from politics.

But the federal appeals court in New Orleans struck down the funding mechanism. The ruling would cause profound disruption by calling into question virtually every action the CFPB has taken since its creation, the Biden administration said in a court filing.

Gun availability

The same federal appeals court also produced the ruling that struck down a federal law that aims to keep guns away from people facing domestic violence restraining orders from having firearms.

The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said its decision was compelled by the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling expanding gun rights and directing judges to evaluate restrictions based on history and tradition. Judges also have invalidated other long-standing gun control laws.

The justices will hear the Texas case, in November, in what is their first chance to elaborate on the meaning of that decision in the earlier case, which has come to be known as Bruen.

Abortion

The abortion case likely to be heard by the justices also would be the court's first word on the topic since it reversed Roe v. Wades right to abortion. The new case stems from a ruling, also by the 5th Circuit, to limit the availability of mifepristone, a medication used in the most common method of abortion in the United States.

The administration already won an order from the high court blocking the appellate ruling while the case continues. The justices could decide later in the fall to take up the mifepristone case this term.

Ideological differences

The assortment of cases from the 5th Circuit could offer Chief Justice John Roberts more opportunities to forge alliances in major cases that cross ideological lines. In those cases, the conservative-dominated appeals court, which includes six Trump appointees, took aggressive legal positions, said Irv Gornstein, executive director of the Georgetown law school's Supreme Court Institute.

The 5th Circuit is ready to adopt the politically most-conservative position on almost any issue, no matter how implausible or how much defiling of precedent it takes, Gornstein said.

The three Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump  Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh  have been together in the majority of some of the biggest cases in the past two years, including on guns, abortion and ending affirmative action in college admissions.

But in some important cases last term, the court split in unusual ways. In the most notable of those, Kavanaugh joined with Roberts and the court's three liberal justices to rule that Alabama had not done enough to reflect the political power of Black voters in its congressional redistricting.

Roberts and Kavanaugh, this time joined by Barrett, also were in the majority with the liberal justices in a case that rejected a conservative legal effort to cut out state courts from oversight of elections for Congress and president.

Those outcomes have yet to do much to ameliorate the court's image in the public's mind. The most recent Gallup Poll, released last week, found Americans' approval of and trust in the court hovering near record lows.

It is not clear whether those numbers would improve if the court were to adopt a code of conduct.

Questions about ethics

Several justices have publicly recognized the ethics issues, spurred by a series of stories questioning some of their practices. Many of those stories focused on Justice Clarence Thomas and his failure to disclose travel and other financial ties with wealthy conservative donors, including Harlan Crow and the Koch brothers. But Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor also have been under scrutiny.

Behind the scenes, the justices are talking about an ethics code, and Kavanaugh has said he is hopeful the court would soon take concrete steps.

Justice Elena Kagan, who backs a high court code of ethics, said in an appearance at the University of Notre Dame that her colleagues are trying to work through their differences.

There are, you know, totally good-faith disagreements or concerns, if you will. There are some things to be worked out. I hope we can get them worked out, Kagan said. There's no timetable for the court to act.

Democratic lawmakers and progressive critics of Alito and Thomas said those justices' impartiality in some cases is in doubt because of financial ties, joint travel or friendships with people involved in the cases.

Alito has rejected calls to step aside from a tax case, and Thomas, who has been silent in the past about recusals, seems exceedingly unlikely to bow to his critics' wishes now.
Syrian Kurdish fighters and American forces have captured a senior member of the Islamic State group, a militant described as one of its "key facilitators," the force said Friday.

Mahmdouh Ibrahim al-Haji, also known as Abu Youssef, was taken into custody on Thursday in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, according to the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, just days after the U.S. military said it had captured another IS operator in northern Syria.

According to a statement from the Syrian Kurdish fighters, al-Haji "was actively involved in enabling ... terrorist cells in the region." It added that the joint force raided his hideout west of Raqqa, "and successfully apprehended him."

Despite their defeat in Syria in March 2019, IS sleeper cells are still able to carry out deadly attacks that have killed scores of people over the past year.

The U.S. has approximately 900 troops in Syria focused on countering the remnants of IS, which had held a wide swath of the country until 2019.

IS declared a self-styled caliphate across the territory in Syria and Iraq that it seized in 2014. It was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017, following a three-year battle that left tens of thousands of people dead and cities in ruins.

United Nations experts said last month that IS still commands between 5,000 and 7,000 members across its former stronghold in Syria and Iraq and that its fighters pose the most serious threat in Afghanistan today.
The United States called on Belgrade to pull its forces back from the border with Kosovo on Friday after detecting what it called an unprecedented Serbian military buildup.

Serbia deployed sophisticated tanks and artillery on the frontier after deadly clashes erupted at a monastery in northern Kosovo last week, the White House said.

The violence in which a Kosovo policeman and three Serb gunmen were killed marked one of the gravest escalations for years in Kosovo, a former Serbian breakaway province.

"We are monitoring a large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. "That includes an unprecedented staging of advanced Serbian artillery, tanks, mechanized infantry units."

"We believe that this is a very destabilizing development," he said. "We are calling on Serbia to withdraw those forces from the border."

The buildup happened within the past week, but its purpose was not yet clear, Kirby said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had telephoned Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to urge an "immediate de-escalation and a return to dialogue."

And White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke to Kosovo's prime minister.

Serbia's Vucic did not directly deny there had been a recent buildup but rejected claims that his country's forces were on alert.

"I have denied untruths where they talk about the highest level of combat readiness of our forces, because I simply did not sign that and it is not accurate," Vucic told reporters. "We don't even have half the troops we had two or three months ago."

'Worrisome'

Serbia said on Wednesday that the defense minister and head of the armed forces had gone to visit a "deployment zone" but gave no further details.

The clashes on Sunday began when heavily armed Serb gunmen ambushed a patrol a few kilometers from the Serbian border, killing a Kosovo police officer.

Several dozen assailants then barricaded themselves at an Orthodox monastery, sparking an hourlong firefight in which three gunmen were killed and three were arrested.

Kosovo's government has accused Belgrade of backing the entire operation. A member of a major Kosovo Serb political party admitted to leading the gunmen, his lawyer said Friday.

Kirby said the attack had a "very high level of sophistication," involving around 20 vehicles, "military-grade" weapons, equipment and training.

"It's worrisome," he said. "It doesn't look like just a bunch of guys who got together to do this."

Peacekeeping force expected to grow

NATO would be "increasing its presence" of its peacekeeping force known as KFOR following the attack, Kirby added.

In Brussels, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that the U.S.-led alliance was ready to boost the force to deal with the situation.

Kosovo broke away from Serbia in a bloody war in 1998-99 and declared independence in 2008  a status Belgrade and Moscow have refused to recognize.

It has long seen strained relations between its ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority, which have escalated in recent months in northern Kosovo.
Editor's note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

What Happens to Immigration if US Government Shuts Down?

With congressional leaders gridlocked over the nations budget and the deadline to pass spending bills fast approaching, the federal government could shut down on October 1. And that could affect some immigration services and visa programs. If the federal government closes, only essential personnel will be working. All other federal workers will not be allowed to work. So how will that affect immigration in the U.S.? VOAs Immigration reporter Aline Barros.

Why Immigrants Are More Optimistic Than US-Born Americans

Despite any hardships they might face, immigrants in America are more optimistic than U.S.-born Americans, according to a new survey of 3,358 immigrant adults. They said, You know, I face challenges here in the U.S., but it's far better than where I came from. And I have this belief that things will be better for my children, says Shannon Schumacher, a senior survey analyst at KFF, a nonprofit organization focused on health policy formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation. Whether that's their education, their safety, their economic opportunities  on a number of measures, they think that they're better off and their children are better off. Produced by Dora Mekouar.

After Lull, Asylum-Seekers Adapt to US Immigration Changes

A group of migrants from China surrendered to a Border Patrol agent in remote Southern California as gusts of wind drowned the hum of high-voltage power lines. They joined others from Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia and elsewhere in a desert campsite with shelters made from tree branches. The Associated Press reports.

Second Texas City at Breaking Point' as Migrants Flood Border, Mayor Says

The surge of migrants crossing the U.S. border from Mexico has pushed the city of El Paso, Texas, to "a breaking point," with more than 2,000 people per day seeking asylum, exceeding shelter capacity and straining resources, its mayor said Saturday. "The city of El Paso only has so many resources and we have come to ... a breaking point right now," Mayor Oscar Leeser said. Reuters reports.

Eagle Pass, Texas, Sees Continuing Influx of Migrants

The Eagle Pass area in Texas continues to experience an influx of migrants  the majority from Venezuela, the largest displacement in the Western Hemisphere and the second-largest globally, trailing only behind the Syrian refugee crisis, per the U.N. refugee agency. U.S. border authorities said they are managing the situation, but the noticeable rise in migrant arrivals in Eagle Pass has strained local resources and overwhelmed already crowded facilities. VOAs Immigration reporter Aline Barros.

VOA Day in Photos: Asylum-Seekers Journey through Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas

Asylum-seekers waiting on the banks of the Rio Bravo River after crossing during their journey through Mexico to Eagle Pass, Texas, in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Sept. 26, 2023.

Immigration around the world

Illegal Migration to Greece Surges, Sparking Measures to Shield Borders

Thousands of migrants have made their way illegally into Greece from Turkey, using rickety rafts to cross the Aegean Sea, the narrow waterway between the two countries. United Nations data in September shows sea arrivals have already more than doubled the roughly 12,000 migrants who were caught trying to illegally enter Greece last year. Illegal entries along the land border and the massive Evros River, which snakes along the rugged frontiers of the two countries in the northeast, also count record increases of more than 65% in the last two months alone, police said. Produced by Anthee Carassava.

Australian Lawmakers Urge Outside Help for Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Refugees

Seven Australian lawmakers have toured a refugee camp in Armenia, as thousands of ethnic Armenians flee their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh. Forces from Azerbaijan took control of the contested region last week. The delegation of Australian lawmakers visited Armenia this week and toured a camp for those fleeing the unrest. Produced by Phil Mercer.

Pakistani Vocational School Helps Afghan Women Refugees Build Businesses

In a small workshop in the bustling northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, a dozen Afghan women sit watching a teacher show them how to make clothes on a sewing machine. Reuters reports.

Charity Urges Court to Force Australia to Repatriate Detainees in Syrian Refugee Camp

Australias decision not to repatriate more than 30 women and children from a detention camp in northeast Syria is facing a legal challenge. The women are the wives and widows of Islamic State fighters and have been held in custody for the past four years. Produced by Phil Mercer.

Medics: Hundreds Dead From Dengue Fever in War-Torn Sudan

Outbreaks of dengue fever and acute watery diarrhea have "killed hundreds" in war-torn Sudan, medics reported Monday, warning of "catastrophic spreads" that could overwhelm the country's decimated health system. In a statement, the Sudanese doctors' union warned that the health situation in the southeastern state of Gedaref, on the border with Ethiopia, "is deteriorating at a horrific rate," with thousands infected with dengue fever. Produced by Agence France-Presse.

Violence, Human Rights Violations Risk Future Stability of Syria

United Nations investigators say that human rights violations and abuse in Syria are sowing the seeds for further violence and radicalization, despite diplomatic efforts to stabilize the situation in the country, including through its readmission to the League of Arab States. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

Senior US Officials Travel to Armenia as Karabakh's Armenians Start to Leave

Senior Biden administration officials arrived Monday in Armenia, a day after ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh began fleeing following Azerbaijan's defeat of the breakaway region's fighters in a conflict dating from the Soviet era. Reuters reports.

Spain Turns to Tractors to Tackle Migrant Unemployment, Farm Labor Shortage

Spain's agricultural sector is threatened by an aging population and a shortage of farm labor. Now a program in Catalonia is training migrants, largely from Africa, to operate tractors to help them gain meaningful employment. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona. Videographer and Video Editor: Alfonso Beato.

News brief

 A government shutdown would affect the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys ability to respond to cyberattacks; protect and save lives on land, at sea, and in the air; secure the nations borders and critical infrastructure; deploy across the country to help Americans recover from disasters, among others.
UNITED NATIONS  More than 2,500 migrants died or went missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe so far in 2023, a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees official said Thursday.

"By September 24, over 2,500 people were accounted as dead or missing in 2023 alone," Ruven Menikdiwela, director of the UNHCR New York office, told the U.N. Security Council.

That number marked a large increase over the 1,680 dead or missing migrants in the same period in 2022.

"Lives are also lost on land, away from public attention," she added.

The land journey from sub-Saharan African countries, where many of the migrants hail from, to departure points on the Tunisian and Libyan coasts "remains one of the world's most dangerous," Menikdiwela said.

The migrants and refugees "risk death and gross human rights violations at every step," said Menikdiwela.

In total, some 186,000 people arrived by sea in southern Europe from January to Sept. 24, landing in Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta.

The majority, over 130,000 people, arrived in Italy, marking an increase of 83% compared to the same period in 2022.

As for departure points, between January and August of this year it is estimated that more than 102,000 refugees and migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean from Tunisia and 45,000 from Libya.

An estimated 31,000 people were rescued at sea or intercepted and disembarked in Tunisia, and 10,600 in Libya, Menikdiwela said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling up 130,000 conscripts for military service this fall, increasing the age limit of conscripts from 27 to 30, according to a document posted on the Russian government website on Friday.

Russia's lower house of parliament voted last July to raise the age for conscripts, and that legislation will take effect on January 1, 2024. Putin said earlier this month that he is bracing for a long war with Ukraine as Russia's armed forces press on with their "special military operation" in Ukraine, now in its 20th month.

Starting at the age of 18, all men in Russia are required to serve one year in the military.

The conscription will begin on October 1 in all parts of the Russian Federation, according to the defense ministry, including in the illegally annexed regions of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia were formally annexed by Russia in September 2022 after so-called referendums were held there, which were universally dismissed as shams by Ukraine and Western nations. Russia had annexed Crimea in 2014.

Last year, Russia announced a plan to increase its professional and conscripted combat force by more than 30% to 1.5 million, a plan made more difficult by its heavy casualties in Ukraine.

Ukraine aid

While the West continues to supply Ukraine with military hardware, it is planning to produce its own, including air defenses, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, told reporters on Friday.

I think very soon specialists will arrive here who will make a plan for our own production of everything that we need. First and foremost, this relates to air defenses, Yermak said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed confidence Friday that Poland will find ways to address disagreements with Ukraine without affecting its military support for Ukraine.
Authorities have identified the fallen parole officer in Thursdays hit-and-run crash near downtown Colorado Springs.

Officer Christine Guerin Sandoval died at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central after sustaining injuries from being hit by the suspect vehicle. Guerin Sandoval was one of two female parole officers struck in the incident. Out of a want for privacy, police did not identify the second victim, who was treated for her injuries and released Thursday night.

Christine was a mother, she was a daughter, she was a wife, she was a protector. Christine took an oath, and that oath was to protect the citizens in the state of Colorado, Executive Director of Colorado Department of Corrections Andre Stancil said at a press conference Friday at the Police Operations Center. She lost her life doing just that.

Guerin Sandoval was one of three parole officers who attempted to contact 41-year-old suspect Justin Andrew Kula, "who was known to them," and check on his welfare while parked in his vehicle Thursday. He struck two of the officers in an attempt to flee around 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of West Bijou and North Spruce streets, according to police.

Colorado Springs Police Department officers and other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies immediately began a wide-scale search for Kula, who is now being charged with manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and third-degree assault on a peace officer.

The public received an alert at 6:15 p.m. asking them to be on the lookout for Kula and his vehicle, described as a charcoal-colored Lexus RX 330. Multiple community members contacted the police as a result of the alert with details of the vehicles location.

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The Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced just before 7:40 p.m. Thursday that Kula was apprehended and the suspect vehicle had been located. The arrest followed a shelter in place order in the 400n block of Glen View Court, according to police.

I want to thank our community members who responded so quickly to our state-wide blue alert regarding the suspect. Please know that your calls truly did make a difference, and your support continues to matter to our officers, said CSPD Chief of Police Adrian Vasquez.

Kulas rap sheet includes assault, stalking, domestic violence, theft and fugitive from justice charges dating back to 2017, online court records show. In 2020 he was convicted of extortion, assaulting a peace officer, disorderly conduct across multiple incidents and received three to five years for each incident.

He received roughly one year in jail for a probation violation conviction in 2020.

Authorities are looking at "all possible charges, potentially even including murder or homicide," according to Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen
Dianne Feinstein, a long-serving Democratic U.S. senator from California and gun control advocate who spearheaded the first federal assault weapons ban and documented the CIA's torture of foreign terrorism suspects, has died at 90, a source familiar with the news said on Friday.

Feinstein's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the news, first reported by the Punchbowl news outlet.

Feinstein was a Washington trail-blazer who among other accomplishments became the first woman to head the influential Senate Intelligence Committee.

During almost 31 years in Senate she amassed a moderate-to-liberal record, sometimes drawing scorn from the left. Feinstein joined the Senate in 1992 after winning a special election and was re-elected five times including in 2018, along the way becoming the longest-serving woman senator ever.

Feinstein's political career was shaped by guns.

She became San Francisco's mayor in 1978 upon the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Feinstein was president of the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors when Moscone and Milk were gunned down by a former supervisor, Dan White. After hearing the gunshots, she rushed to Milk's office. While searching for his pulse, her finger found a bullet hole.

Feinstein said the horror of that experience never left her and she went on to author the federal ban on military-style assault weapons that lasted from 1994 until its 2004 expiration.

"This is a gun-happy nation, and everybody can have their gun," Feinstein said after a May 2021 mass shooting in her home state as she lamented years of congressional failure to pass new gun control laws to guard against "the killing of innocents."

Gun control push

Feinstein led a renewed effort for tougher gun laws including a fresh ban on assault-style weapons after a 2012 massacre of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school. The legislation encountered furious opposition from Republicans and gun rights advocates and failed in the Senate.

Health issues slowed Feinstein late in her career, when she was the oldest senator at the time. She announced in February 2023 that she would not seek re-election the following year and was sidelined from Congress for three months ending in May of that year after suffering from shingles and complications including encephalitis and Ramsay Hunt Syndrome.

As Intelligence Committee chair, Feinstein overcame resistance from national security officials and Republican lawmakers in 2014 as her panel released a 2014 report detailing the CIA's secret overseas detention and interrogation of foreign terrorism suspects following the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants.

"The CIA's actions are a stain on our values and our history," Feinstein said, defending the release of a report that revealed CIA use of "coercive interrogation techniques in some cases amounting to torture" on at least 119 detainees.

"History will judge us," Feinstein added, "by our commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say, 'Never again.'"

The report detailed interrogation practices such as the simulated drowning method called waterboarding, sleep deprivation, painful stress positions, "rectal feeding" and "rectal hydration."

Despite CIA claims that the practices had saved lives, the report concluded that such methods had played no role in disrupting any terrorism plots, capturing any militant leaders or finding al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, who was killed by American forces in Pakistan in 2011.

The late Arizona Senator John McCain, tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, praised Feinstein's release of the report and said, "Most of all, I know the use of torture compromises what most distinguishes us from our enemies."

'Protecting America'

Feinstein defended U.S. surveillance programs exposed in 2013 by a National Security Agency contractor named Edward Snowden, a leak she called "an act of treason."

"It's called protecting America," Feinstein said of the NSA electronic surveillance of telephone data and Internet communications that critics called a vast government over-reach.

During Republican George W. Bush's presidency, Feinstein backed the 2002 Iraq war resolution but later voiced regret. She supported Bush's Patriot Act to help track terrorism suspects, but criticized him for authorizing spying on U.S. residents without court approval.

At times, critics on the left felt she was not liberal enough or insufficiently antagonistic toward Republicans. For example, some liberal activists called on her to resign in 2020 after she hugged Republican Senator Lindsey Graham following a Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Republican President Donald Trump's conservative Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

She castigated Trump in 2021 after his supporters attacked the Capitol in a failed bid to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. She said Trump was "responsible for this madness" for inciting people to violence with false claims of widespread election fraud.

Born on June 22, 1933, Feinstein grew up in San Francisco and graduated from Stanford University. She was elected in 1969 to the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors and became its president in 1978, a position she held until Moscone's killing. She became San Francisco's first woman mayor and was elected to two full terms.

She ran for governor in 1990, winning the Democratic primary but losing to Republican Pete Wilson in the general election. Feinstein then ran in 1992 for the Senate seat that Wilson had previously held, easily defeating the Republican appointed to the seat. She became California's longest-serving senator and its first woman elected to the chamber.

Feinstein's first marriage ended in divorce. She then married Bertram Feinstein, a surgeon. After his death, she married Richard Blum, an investment banker, in 1980. He died in 2022.
Aline Barros

WASHINGTON  With congressional leaders gridlocked over the nations budget and the deadline to pass spending bills fast approaching, the federal government could shut down on October 1. And that can affect some immigration services and visa programs.



If the federal government closes, only essential personnel will be working. All other federal workers will not be allowed to work. So how will that affect immigration in the U.S.?



The main difference between the following agencies is that some are fee-funded and the others rely on congressional appropriations for funding.



In addition to where the budget for these different agencies comes from, we also need to look at the plans that each agency has published for just this kind of scenario, said Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez, a professor at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University and an expert on migration studies.

USCIS



U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Homeland Security Department, helps manage the country's naturalization and immigration system. USCIS is mostly fee-funded and will continue to operate as usual because it does not depend on Congress to fund its services. However, some exceptions exist - for example, the E-Verify program and the EB5 investor program, which coordinate the departments of Labor and State.

That said, while USCIS will keep looking, some [labor] applications cannot be filed unless they're accompanied by a statement from the Department of Labor that there are not enough workers in the United States who fill certain jobs, Garcia Hernandez said on social media.

Operations at the Labor Department in the Office of Foreign Labor Certification will close. So those waiting for decisions on their work permit applications will be affected by a shutdown.

This aspect of the Labor Department's work will likely close down in the event of a shutdown, and so that will affect the visa application and [other] things, even if slightly indirectly, because those [work] visa applications cannot be processed without that Labor Department certification, he said.

CBP



At the U.S. borders with Mexico or Canada, ports of entry monitored by U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be open, and processing of passengers will continue. The processing of some applications filed at the border, however, may be affected.



At the border, most CBP operations should run normally since most CBP employees will continue working, albeit without pay. That said, I would not be surprised if CBP shuts down or slows down the processing of some visas at border ports of entry - for example, a small number of visas for professionals that require in-person processing by CBP at ports of entry. To be clear, this is a small fraction of what CBP does at any port of entry, Garcia Hernandez told VOA by email.



State Department



Visa and passport operations are fee-funded and usually not affected in a shutdown. Processing of nonessential visas, though, such as those that are recreational in nature, may slow or be suspended at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide, which could result in visa interview backlogs.



ICE



During a shutdown, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will still remove undocumented immigrants. But theyll focus on those who are being held in immigration detention and have removal orders.

It will be possible for [ICE] to remove people even during a shutdown, but there will likely be fewer removals because the immigration courts will be slowed down a lot. If judges dont issue as many removal orders as they normally would, due to the fact that most immigration court staff isnt working, then there will be fewer removal orders for [ICE] to execute, Garcia Hernandez told VOA.

Immigration courts

Officials from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a subagency within the Justice Department tasked with adjudicating immigration claims, also known as immigration courts, will work only on the cases of those in immigration detention.

The American Immigration Council reports that during previous shutdowns, courts have not accepted new filings, and "it remains to be seen whether EOIR will continue to accept filings through its electronic system, or ECAS, which did not exist during the previous shutdown."



Immigration courts will postpone hearings on cases for those who are not detained.



They will try to keep moving forward on cases involving people who are imprisoned by ICE. Meanwhile, those people whose cases will get canceled or these hearings will be canceled then rescheduled are likely to have to wait a very long time to get another court date, Garcia Hernandez said on social media.



According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, immigration courts across the country already are facing large backlogs.



The wait time for a hearing on an immigrant's asylum claim is about five years or longer.

While the Executive Office for Immigration Review has ramped up recruiting efforts to add new immigration judges, decades of underfunding have meant that it has been unable to make a dent in the backlog, which continues to climb. It has reached 2,620,591 at the end of August, according to the TRAC website.



So, the longer the shutdown lasts, the more we can expect it to affect the government's duties, Garcia Hernandez said.



Some Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus said they wont support any spending bill without certain measures, including border wall construction, prolonged detention of asylum-seekers, and deportation of unaccompanied minors. And that is unlikely to win support in the Democratic-majority Senate.

Government funding is set to end on September 30 unless Congress acts.
Photo: Jenny Anderson

Melissa Etheridge, genially self-deprecating in leather pants, kicks off her solo show My Window by announcing that shes going to tell you a story about how the hell I got here, leaning into the aesthetic frisson of a folk-infused rock star taking over a Broadway house. Instead of glamming it up for the Great White Way, Etheridge pokes light fun at the grandeur of it all. In between the angsty blare of Like the Way I Do, which opens the show, Etheridge quips that her own lyrics are so dramatic, then with an impish wink adds that she knows her fans like the dramatic.

Over the course of My Window, as Etheridge travels through own biography, she alternates the approachable and the glamorous, switching between the modes of an extremely lucky and talented star and the kind of chatty aunt who might slip you a weed gummy and tell you mildly salacious stories at a family Thanksgiving. As you might expect from her lyrics, Etheridge spins a tale well and is great with specific detail  she describes the rust-tinted green eyes of a girl she had a crush on in high school  though as her series of loosely strung anecdotes progresses, it becomes harder for her to make them all cohere. Etheridges dependency on aw-shucks relatability as a performance mode can get grating, too, once shes well into talking about throwing lavish parties near Chateau Marmont as if this is all so familiar, but there, as elsewhere in the show, her performers charisma tends to right things. Whenever she goes all out and really lays into a song, everything tends to click together.

Etheridges first act is the most compelling, given that shes got a clear rise-to-fame arc to work with: Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1961, she discovered music early on, started performing regularly by high school, briefly tried out college at Berklee before dropping out, making her way back to Kansas, and heading to Los Angeles, where she played lesbian bars before being discovered. Etheridge, who did this show Off Broadway last fall, works off a script co-written with her wife, Linda Wallem Etheridge, that seasons some of the expected beats of what can feel like the book of a yet-to-be-made bio-musical with more revealing observations. Shes particularly good at describing her loneliness as a young queer woman coming into herself amid the conformity of the Midwest  a moving sequence is set to the prairie sweep of Nowhere to Go  though she can also be roguishly funny. Shes got a partner onstage in Kate Owens, who plays a silent butch roadie, always on hand to give Etheridge a prop or stand in for a music teacher, bar owner, or one-night stand. Amy Tinkham, directing, keeps the spirit of the show relatively light, pulling the audience out of a grim moment with a quick scene change or sight gag. Owens dramatically presents Etheridges tiny Honorable Mention trophy from a local talent show on a pedestal early on in the show. Later, itll be joined by a Grammy and an Oscar.

Those awards pile up in the second act, where Etheridges career gets big, but her stories tend to lose their momentum. Describing the experience of shifting into playing arena shows, she mentions that the more people you tend to play for the farther away they get from you onstage. Thats well observed but difficult to get around dramatically  theres little that hasnt already been said about the loneliness of fame. Etheridge describes love affairs that sputter, her ultimately not-too-big-a-deal coming out during the Clinton inauguration, her experience with cancer, and the impact of her explorations with psychoactive substances. There, Etheridge tends to spend a great deal of time on her soapbox, which pulls the story away from the personal toward her feelings about drug policy and alternative medicine. Thats all fine and good, but just like dreams, drug trips arent easy to make profound onstage, and its hard to weave the trippy tone of those sequences into the rest of the piece. It also leads to an abrupt tonal shift, near the end of My Window, where Etheridge discusses the recent death of her son. There, shes unsupported by the yarn-spinning affability that preceded this moment, suddenly bandaging a raw wound in public.

Etheridge brings the audience from that pain back to a triumphant finale, but you can feel the emotional strain it takes to leverage them there. Good thing she knows how to work a room. Etheridges an all-out performer, and just as she says onstage, really does seem to enjoy getting close to her audience. She wanders through the middle aisle of chairs at Circle in the Square during a number of songs, and at one point in my performance lovingly fondled one patrons purse, then sat herself between anothers thighs while wailing on her guitar. Listening to her regale her audience with so many stories from her life, with her fun tales of bedding girls in Boston and winking blind items about queer Hollywood in the 80s and 90s, I realized that what I wanted more of was her experience writing music. Etheridge doesnt spend much time talking about her process; in her telling, the songs just flow out of her after a bit of life experience. Maybe thats just how she operates; maybe for all the other parts of her life shes offering, shed prefer to keep that process safe. Or in the case of her music, shed just prefer to lead by example  to rock out, not tell.

Melissa Etheridge: My Window is at Circle in the Square.
Christopher A. Wray, who has been increasingly under attack from congressional Republicans, said the people accusing the law enforcement agency of bias are themselves trying to gain a political advantage at the FBIs expense.
Time for luxury watches is not standing still with a plethora of brands taking advantage of the rising demand and opening up flagship stores in key city locations across Sydney and Melbourne.

Watches are so popular not just for fashion use but also as investment tools and the 3Ws - watches, wheels and whiskey, are considered the male equivalent to the Hermes Birkin and Kelly Bags.

So high is the demand for some Rolex watches that customers can wait up to six months to have their orders fulfilled.

The new Piaget store at 84 King Street, Sydney

In the latest Knight Frank global Wealth Reports Luxury Investment Index, watch sales took third place, behind cars and artwork, up 18 per cent.
TikTok is fuelling the latest craze for tweens: adult skincare. Influencers and brands are introducing serums, creams and beauty routines to children as young as 10 under the allure of radiant skin and peer approval.

For tweens, aged between eight and 12, TikTok is the preferred social media and a major influencer of cultural trends, surpassing recommendations from friends, brands and magazines. The Australian Retailers Associations 2023 insights report says more than half of Gen Z start their buying journey on social media.

Does using adult skincare too early come with risks? Credit: Nathan Perri

As a mother of a tween girl, I often find myself negotiating access to the trending products, and it is not always easy to say no when all the friends are talking about them.

But how bad is this obsession?
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size This story is part of the September 30 edition of Good Weekend. See all 15 stories . I remember my great-grandmother. She had a crumpled face and faded away when I was too young to notice. She was a blank. Stories werent told about her. But four years ago, an ancient uncle asked me to find out what I could about Maud Uhr. He knew next to nothing. It wasnt long before I found myself staring at a picture of her father in the gold-braided uniform of an officer of the Queensland Native Police. Reg Uhr was a professional killer of Aborigines. Shame hit me like a blow. All this was a long time ago, and I never fired a shot on the frontier. But I was appalled. Then I discovered Regs brother Darcy was also in the massacre business. They were notorious in the 1860s, the bloodiest time on the Queensland frontier. I was embarrassed, too. Ive written about race and politics all my career but had never thought to check if my people had blood on their hands. While I was still looking at the photograph, I knew I had to write the story of the Uhr brothers in the Native Police. What began as an account of the bloody exploits of two men turned into a history of an invasion in which they were foot soldiers. I was drawn into the lives of merchants at both ends of the earth, of the colonial press, wool growers, the church, the law and Londons imperial cowardice. I was determined to make no excuses for my family. Forgive my blunt prose: to be true to the times, Im using the language of an age when Aboriginal Australians were called natives, Aborigines and blacks.

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Reg Uhr is not among the celebrated Old Boys of the Kings School, Parramatta. Military drill was the only certain skill he took away with him when he left in 1861 after three years on that unhealthy stretch of river. It would prove useful. His father, a Maryborough businessman with political connections in the new colony of Queensland, began almost at once to lobby for his boy to be given a place in the Native Police. Such forces operated throughout the Empire. In India, South Africa and New Zealand, local indigenous troopers led by white officers cleared the way for colonists driving their stock deep into black lands. They were an armed wing of government, loyal, cheap and ruthless. The old man was no friend to the blacks. His brother had been killed by them on the Brisbane River in 1845, the first gentleman to die in the occupation of Moreton Bay. For years afterwards, blacks in the district were murdered with impunity as suspected killers of the unfortunate Mr Uhr. As a magistrate in Maryborough, he had issued the warrants that sent the Native Police on the infamous invasion of Kgari  Fraser Island  in the last days of 1851 when, according to a local squatter, an unknown number of the islands Butchulla people were forced into the sea and there kept as long as daylight or life lasted. His boy Reg was 19 when he reported for duty. After a few weeks training, he was posted with eight troopers to a camp in grazing country recently seized in the hinterland of Bowen. There he displayed such zeal and efficiency that he was promoted swiftly from cadet to officer. His black troopers came from far away. They were not expected to fire on their own people. And the further they were from their own country, the harder it was for them to desert. Whole detachments vanished at times. But this was rare. They were so far from home. In the early days, there grew up a certain mystique about the black warriors recruited along the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers, in form and gait as fine fellows as would be picked up by a recruiting sergeant in an English county.

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The authors great-great grandfather Reginald Uhr (centre), Queensland Native Police officer and a professional killer of Aborigines, with troopers, circa 1868. Credit: Courtesy of the James Grant Pattison Collection Later they were trapped, kidnapped and forced into service. Black prisoners could serve out their terms as troopers. But in the first years there were many willing recruits  young men in a broken world being offered a place, adventure, women, a few pence a day and a lot of food. Victims, noted the Wiradjuri scholar Mina Murray, dont make good choices. The troopers tracked, shot and pursued their quarry into scrub so thick, officers were thought unable to follow. But the real reason for leaving them to enter the bush alone was to license slaughter. Sitting on his horse outside, an officer saw nothing and heard only the patter of gunfire. The bodies werent counted. In January 1865, Reg Uhr was summoned by Cuthbert Fethers Fetherstonhaugh of The Hermitage in central Queensland to avenge the death of two shepherds killed on his run. As was common on the frontier, Fetherstonhaugh and his stockmen joined Uhr and his troopers in pursuit of the blacks. Loading Our trip was quite a picnic, Fetherstonhaugh wrote in his memoirs. We did about ten miles a day, tracking all the time. On the 10th day, they sighted a party of blacks. Reg reported afterwards shooting six. Fetherstonhaugh put the death count at a dozen. We galloped into them. They were running in all directions. The gins [Aboriginal women] lay down, one was shot by mistake. We shot down two blackfellows and got through them and turned back. A shot from one of our fellows hit my horse in the chest  no harm done. In a few minutes all the blacks, twelve of them, were shot. If one or two tried to fight they had no chance.

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Then they rested. We sat down, and it seemed very cold-blooded that with some of the dead blacks lying close to us, and the gins scowling at us from a little distance off, we ate and enjoyed our pot of tea and our dinner. Few of the officers of the Native Police were bushmen. Most found their way into the corps through connections to politicians and colonial officials. The one essential qualification for a commission in the force was social standing. Massacring blacks was work for gentlemen. Squatters complained for years that these men werent fit for purpose. The Member for Ipswich provoked gales of laughter attacking them in the Queensland Assembly in 1861: This corps was looked upon as a refuge for broken-down characters who, after having spent a fortune and ruined their prospects elsewhere, came here with a basketful of testimonials, made friends with somebody in power, and received an appointment in the Native Police. Every morning in camp, the troopers were up early, fed and drilled. Weapons were cleaned and horses groomed. When Reg appeared, his men sprang to their feet and saluted, addressing him as they addressed all their officers as Mamae, Father. Women lived with the troopers. Many were kidnapped after massacres. There were children about. Recent archaeological digs at campsites across Queensland have turned up countless grog bottles  everyone drank  and childrens toys. The troopers carried swords and carbines. The guns came with a fine colonial pedigree. Originally designed for hunting big game in Africa, they were used by the Cape Mounted Rifles in murderous frontier wars with the Xhosa. Only slightly modified, these clumsy, double-barrelled, muzzle-loaded weapons were issued to the Queensland Native Police. Mounted trooper from the Queensland Native Police. Indigenous men were often trapped, kidnapped and forced into such service far from home. Credit: CARL LUMHOLTZS AMONG THE CANNIBALS, 1889. COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

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They delivered a fat bullet a long way. Charles Tom, a squatter, suggested in 1864 that the force might use bird shot instead of bullets to disperse the blacks. This, I believe, would frequently prevent murder from being committed. But the government of Queensland was not interested. Killing was the point. Loading Officers were expected to show discretion in both meanings of that slippery word  judgment and secrecy. Their duty was to disperse the blacks. An officer at an official inquiry confirmed what that meant: Firing at them. Before Queensland separated from NSW in 1859, the Native Police had been under some restraint. But afterwards, all restraint disappeared. The Native Police of Queensland were free to kill anytime, anywhere for any reason. The attorney-general of Queensland let it be known that Aborigines could be killed by the Native Police with nothing to warrant their deaths but the complaints of squatters. Neither proof of some crime nor positive identification of wrongdoers was required. And when the police were out to kill, any black would do. Justice was beside the point. The task was to teach the blacks a lesson. Queensland was only weeks old when Second Lieutenant John OConnell Bligh led his men on a slaughter through the streets of Maryborough. From the riverbank, half the town watched as he was rowed in pursuit of a Butchulla man swimming away. Standing in the bow of the boat, Bligh shot him in the head. Lieutenant Frederick Wheeler cut a swathe through Moreton Bay that began with an unprovoked attack on a sleeping camp at Dugandan, near Ipswich, killing two men and abducting at least one woman for the pleasure of the troopers. He then chased the survivors to Fassifern, a few miles away. Next morning, three of their bodies were found in the scrub. All three had been shot; two had their skulls smashed; all were old men. When the police were out to kill, any black would do. Justice was beside the point.

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Have Australians lost the ability to politely disagree? Can we still have a civilised national conversation on big questions like the Voice to parliament?

An ugly week began with an alleged assault on NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles  which at least some people didnt seem to take seriously  and ended with boxer Anthony Mundine posting a video of himself saying he wanted to beat up Yes campaigner Thomas Mayo.

NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles speaks to the media after the attack with a bruised left eye. Credit: AAP

Darwin real estate agent Suzi Milgate pied Fyles  the footage was widely shared  at Darwins Nightcliff markets and has been charged with aggravated assault. She told the ABC that a cream pie is not assault and that she had two grievances with the chief minister: Fyles had not listened to her concerns over crime rates; nor over the NT governments mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy.

Mundine said he had made the call for Mayo to step into the ring with him because the Yes campaigner had broken tribal law. Mayo was left shocked by the comment and added his disappointment the Voice debate had descended to that level.
Weather Alert

Bulletin: ...FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 10 AM EDT THURSDAY... * WHAT...Sub-freezing temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees expected. * WHERE...Portions of central, northern and southern Delaware, northeast Maryland, central, northern, northwest and southern New Jersey and east central and southeast Pennsylvania. * WHEN...From midnight tonight to 10 AM EDT Thursday. * IMPACTS...Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops and other sensitive vegetation. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. To prevent freezing outdoor water pipes they should be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those that have in-ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above-ground pipes to protect them from freezing. &&

Info:

Type: Freeze Warning

start_time_local: 2023-11-02T00:00:00-04:00

end_time_local: 2023-11-02T10:00:00-04:00

county_name:

state: NJ

headline: Freeze Warning from THU 12:00 AM EDT until THU 10:00 AM EDT

county_fips:

category: Met

url:

urgency: Expected

severity: Moderate

certainty: Likely

geographicname: Warren County

state_name: New Jersey
Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Free Report) by 97,996.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,101,555,797 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after acquiring an additional 2,099,413,455 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 1.4% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurichs portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned approximately 120.85% of Abbott Laboratories worth $229,111,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 315.5% in the first quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 12,182 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 9,250 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the first quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 99,836 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $10,109,000 after purchasing an additional 11,303 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.0% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,110 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the first quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC now owns 26,750 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 20.2% in the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 367,563 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $37,219,000 after purchasing an additional 61,788 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.70% of the companys stock.

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Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of ABT opened at $96.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $168.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $93.25 and a fifty-two week high of $115.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.03.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

Abbott Laboratories ( NYSE:ABT Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.71 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 20.50%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 13th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess payout ratio is 69.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley restated an equal weight rating and set a $112.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $120.82.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ABT

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total value of $1,092,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,829,785.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total transaction of $5,688,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,775,316 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $770,759,948.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total transaction of $1,092,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $6,829,785.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

(Free Report)

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.

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Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW  Free Report) by 98,836.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 759,315,387 shares of the medical research companys stock after acquiring an additional 758,547,908 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 1.25% of Edwards Lifesciences worth $71,626,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 119.2% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 55,753 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $5,259,000 after buying an additional 30,320 shares during the period. Tiedemann Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 5.0% during the second quarter. Tiedemann Advisors LLC now owns 5,032 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 6.4% during the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,018 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Sabal Trust CO boosted its position in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 231.3% during the second quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 29,783 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $2,809,000 after buying an additional 20,792 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.25% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Friday, July 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $101.00 to $110.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $92.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $504,512.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,338,505.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.54, for a total transaction of $504,512.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,338,505.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of Edwards Lifesciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.71, for a total value of $331,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 39,503 shares in the company, valued at $2,911,766.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 174,359 shares of company stock worth $14,129,361 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.29% of the companys stock.

Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW opened at $69.28 on Friday. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 12 month low of $67.13 and a 12 month high of $94.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $42.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.03.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 24.56%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edwards Lifesciences Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW  Free Report).

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Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO  Get Free Report) (NYSE:BMO) has received an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$132.58.

BMO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CSFB set a C$128.00 price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$134.00 to C$120.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$121.50 to C$130.50 in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Cormark reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$132.00 to C$130.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$138.00 to C$134.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 25th.

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Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at C$114.58 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of C$111.18 and a 12 month high of C$137.64. The stock has a market cap of C$82.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$116.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$118.24.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO  Get Free Report) (NYSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 29th. The bank reported C$2.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$3.06 by C($0.28). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 23.03% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The business had revenue of C$7.93 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 12.8920135 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 27th. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. Bank of Montreals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.99%.

About Bank of Montreal

(Get Free Report

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers.

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BLB&B Advisors LLC cut its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW  Free Report) by 11.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,120 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 527 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLCs holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Core Alternative Capital increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 96.1% during the 1st quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 353 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 179.6% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 411 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 79.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Edwards Lifesciences Stock Performance

Shares of EW stock opened at $69.28 on Friday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $77.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.38. The firm has a market cap of $42.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.03. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1 year low of $67.13 and a 1 year high of $94.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a current ratio of 3.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Edwards Lifesciences ( NYSE:EW Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 24.56%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EW. Mizuho increased their price objective on Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Friday, July 14th. 58.com reiterated a reiterates rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research note on Tuesday, June 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Edwards Lifesciences from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, September 23rd. Finally, TheStreet cut Edwards Lifesciences from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $92.30.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on EW

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.35, for a total transaction of $611,959.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,623,568.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Catherine M. Szyman sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.52, for a total transaction of $452,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 34,814 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,151,363.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.35, for a total value of $611,959.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,623,568.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 174,359 shares of company stock valued at $14,129,361. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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BLB&B Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC  Free Report) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,196 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 969 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its position in Bank of America by 1.8% during the first quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 23,584 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 12,216 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 16,685 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,288,000. Finally, Connolly Sarah T. raised its holdings in Bank of America by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Connolly Sarah T. now owns 67,258 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,924,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. 68.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total transaction of $2,364,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 185,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,836,455.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total transaction of $2,364,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 185,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,836,455.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 353,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,143,007.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock.

Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC stock opened at $27.38 on Friday. Bank of America Co. has a one year low of $26.32 and a one year high of $38.60. The companys 50-day moving average is $29.53 and its 200 day moving average is $28.97. The company has a market capitalization of $217.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $24.98 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 19.97% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of America Co. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. This is a boost from Bank of Americas previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Bank of America from $32.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. They set a buy rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $28.00 to $27.50 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $35.92.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Bank of America

About Bank of America

(Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans.

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Jmac Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,926 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the period. Jmac Enterprises LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BMY. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 67.8% in the 1st quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 495 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 74.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at $402,545.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,868 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total value of $44,754.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,545.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an underweight rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. HSBC began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, July 14th. They set a reduce rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. They set an outperform rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.64.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.2 %

BMY stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.04. The company had a trading volume of 10,902,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,165,358. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.39. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $57.61 and a fifty-two week high of $81.43. The company has a market capitalization of $121.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.52.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.24). Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.93 EPS. Bristol-Myers Squibbs revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.64%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Naviter Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI  Free Report) by 14.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,608 shares of the companys stock after selling 4,450 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLCs holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 90.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,558,458 shares of the companys stock valued at $405,933,000 after purchasing an additional 5,501,775 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 12.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,449,045 shares of the companys stock valued at $400,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,090 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 7.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,008,085 shares of the companys stock valued at $246,124,000 after purchasing an additional 464,946 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in British American Tobacco by 190.3% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,911,046 shares of the companys stock worth $242,716,000 after acquiring an additional 4,530,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in British American Tobacco by 102.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,621,654 shares of the companys stock worth $97,103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,843,715 shares during the last quarter. 7.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BTI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus downgraded shares of British American Tobacco from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of British American Tobacco in a research report on Monday, September 25th. They set a buy rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, British American Tobacco currently has a consensus rating of Hold.

British American Tobacco Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BTI opened at $31.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.93. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a twelve month low of $31.14 and a twelve month high of $42.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.78.

British American Tobacco Company Profile

(Free Report)

British American Tobacco p.l.c. engages in the provision of tobacco and nicotine products to consumers worldwide. It offers vapour, tobacco heating, and modern oral nicotine products; combustible cigarettes; and traditional oral products, such as snus and moist snuff. The company offers its products under the Vuse, glo, Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Rothmans, Camel, Natural American Spirit, Newport, Vogue, Viceroy, Kool, Peter Stuyvesant, Craven A, State Express 555 and Shuang Xi brands.

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C2C Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF (NYSEARCA:PCY  Free Report) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,701 shares of the companys stock after selling 955 shares during the quarter. C2C Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PCY. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 75,326 shares of the companys stock worth $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,001 shares of the companys stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 54,915 shares of the companys stock worth $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Wave Investments LLC boosted its stake in Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Red Wave Investments LLC now owns 156,014 shares of the companys stock worth $3,527,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter.

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Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PCY opened at $18.27 on Friday. Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF has a twelve month low of $16.20 and a twelve month high of $20.31. The firms 50 day moving average price is $19.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.12.

Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF Company Profile

The Invesco Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF (PCY) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in broad credit fixed income. The fund tracks a tier-weighted index of US-dollar-denominated sovereign debt in emerging markets with at least 3 years to maturity. PCY was launched on Oct 11, 2007 and is managed by Invesco.

Further Reading

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Cannon Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,500 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $468,000. iShares Russell 2000 ETF accounts for about 2.4% of Cannon Global Investment Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 148 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP lifted its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 450.0% during the 1st quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 154 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cowen Prime Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, 25 LLC acquired a new stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000.

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iShares Russell 2000 ETF Stock Down 0.5 %

iShares Russell 2000 ETF stock opened at $176.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $186.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.18. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a twelve month low of $162.50 and a twelve month high of $199.26.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF Profile

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Index (the Index). The Index is a float-adjusted capitalization weighted index that measures the performance of the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market and includes securities issued by the approximately 2,000 smallest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index.

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Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,736 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLCs holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cloverfields Capital Group LP boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 11.5% during the first quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP now owns 50,785 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 5,246 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 39.4% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,007 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 7,073 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 372.9% in the second quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,475 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 19,300 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 46.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,668 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 4,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 53.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,724 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697 shares during the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $46.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Charles Schwab from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, September 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $72.28.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW opened at $54.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $45.00 and a 1-year high of $86.63.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.61 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 27.54% and a net margin of 33.15%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 3,792 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.31, for a total value of $217,319.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,563,189.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 3,792 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.31, for a total transaction of $217,319.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,725 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,563,189.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 8,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.61, for a total value of $476,880.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,014 shares of the companys stock, valued at $477,714.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 159,599 shares of company stock worth $10,542,469. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Charles Schwab

(Free Report)

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.

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Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN cut its holdings in Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE:CTRA  Free Report) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 207,751 shares of the companys stock after selling 3,988 shares during the period. Coterra Energy accounts for about 1.5% of Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC INs holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC INs holdings in Coterra Energy were worth $5,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coterra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coterra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coterra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coterra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coterra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. 90.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Coterra Energy in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Coterra Energy from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lowered their price target for the company from $33.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Coterra Energy from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on Coterra Energy from $32.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Coterra Energy from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Coterra Energy currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $31.47.

Insider Transactions at Coterra Energy

In other news, Director Dan O. Dinges sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $10,640,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,302,392 shares of the companys stock, valued at $87,843,627.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Dan O. Dinges sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $10,640,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,302,392 shares in the company, valued at $87,843,627.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dan O. Dinges sold 68,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.22, for a total transaction of $1,858,445.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,152,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,808,110.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the companys stock.

Coterra Energy Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of CTRA stock traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.05. 4,998,839 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,422,623. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.74. Coterra Energy Inc. has a one year low of $22.25 and a one year high of $31.76. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $27.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.29.

Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 7th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Coterra Energy had a net margin of 40.12% and a return on equity of 23.06%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.28 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Coterra Energy Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coterra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Coterra Energys payout ratio is 20.05%.

Coterra Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

Coterra Energy Inc, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company primarily focuses on the Marcellus Shale with approximately 183,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.

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Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM  Free Report) by 3.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,783 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 599 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Groups holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the first quarter worth $26,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 88.1% during the first quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 476 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the first quarter worth $40,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 37.0% in the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 607 shares of the companys stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. 77.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Archer-Daniels-Midland

In other Archer-Daniels-Midland news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 1,455 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.80, for a total transaction of $126,294.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,809 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $938,221.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

ADM opened at $75.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.23. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12-month low of $69.92 and a 12-month high of $98.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.83.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.30. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 4.14%. The company had revenue of $25.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. Archer-Daniels-Midlands revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 15th. Archer-Daniels-Midlands payout ratio is 24.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ADM shares. Roth Mkm started coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Thursday, June 22nd. They issued a buy rating and a $92.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Argus lifted their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a buy rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $97.50.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on ADM

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Profile

(Free Report)

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities, products, and ingredients in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition.

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Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 19.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,130 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Groups holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TBH Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 18.7% during the second quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the companys stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 225.9% during the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 756 shares of the companys stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Guild Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company during the second quarter worth about $1,432,000. Sabal Trust CO increased its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 5.0% in the second quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 5,549 shares of the companys stock worth $2,602,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Black Swift Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the second quarter worth about $1,255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock.

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Eli Lilly and Company Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock opened at $536.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $509.74 billion, a PE ratio of 74.68, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $309.20 and a 1 year high of $601.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $533.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Eli Lilly and Company ( NYSE:LLY Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $375.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $615.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $490.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $617.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $385.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $532.78.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Eli Lilly and Company

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 591 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.62, for a total value of $275,772.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 101,028,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,141,787,549.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 591 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.62, for a total value of $275,772.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 101,028,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,141,787,549.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.98, for a total transaction of $678,445.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,760 shares in the company, valued at $4,586,004.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 693,246 shares of company stock worth $20,948,820,977. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Eli Lilly and Company

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.

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DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM  Free Report) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 420,764 shares of the construction companys stock after selling 7,250 shares during the quarter. Martin Marietta Materials accounts for 1.4% of DAVENPORT & Co LLCs holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned approximately 0.68% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $193,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MLM. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 391,276 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $150,599,000 after acquiring an additional 15,163 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 9,391 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $3,615,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $456,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 950 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.22% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 1,934 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.68, for a total transaction of $834,869.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,731 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,200,678.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 1,934 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.68, for a total transaction of $834,869.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,731 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,200,678.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.09, for a total value of $223,545.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,215,304.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MLM shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $446.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $470.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $475.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $469.21.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MLM

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $410.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $298.32 and a 1-year high of $463.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $439.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $410.42.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.83 by $0.77. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 13.42% and a net margin of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materialss previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Martin Marietta Materialss payout ratio is 19.42%.

Martin Marietta Materials Profile

(Free Report)

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.

Further Reading

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Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL  Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 28th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 12th will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the transportation company on Thursday, November 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%.

Delta Air Lines has a dividend payout ratio of 5.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Delta Air Lines to earn $7.28 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.5%.

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Delta Air Lines Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE DAL opened at $37.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Delta Air Lines has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $49.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a PE ratio of 7.98, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines ( NYSE:DAL Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 13th. The transportation company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.28. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 59.56% and a net margin of 5.36%. The firm had revenue of $15.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Delta Air Lines will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 3,350 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.43, for a total transaction of $162,240.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,465 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,330,129.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Delta Air Lines news, Director Michael P. Huerta sold 3,350 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.43, for a total transaction of $162,240.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,465 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,330,129.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 12,129 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total transaction of $552,112.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,901,428.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,479 shares of company stock valued at $1,839,353. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Delta Air Lines

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DAL. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 85.8% during the 1st quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 1,083 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 825.7% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,333 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 124.9% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,273 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.29% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $45.00 to $54.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $56.94.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Delta Air Lines

About Delta Air Lines

(Get Free Report)

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and Seoul-Incheon.

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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order on Thursday to try to keep Colorado's four national parks and other federal lands open during the federal government shutdown that is likely to begin at 12:01 on Sunday morning, directing a state agency to identify potential funds to sustain operations.

The efforts to keep national parks open still require permission from the U.S. Department of the Interior, which announced Friday that most of its parks will be closed, their gates locked, and employees furloughed.

Polis' executive order directs the state's Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan for continued operations and "resource protection" of national parks and other federal lands within Colorado. He tasked the department with working with his budget office to identify potential funding needed for those operations, as well as to consult with the National Park Service and Interior.

A federal agency's announcement on Friday left the door open for states, local or tribal governments, cooperating associations or other third parties to come up with the money to keep the parks open, so long as they don't expect the federal government to pay it back.

Colorado's national parks were officially closed during the last government shutdown, which lasted 35 days and went from December 2018 to January 2019.

The shutdown is all but certain to begin Sunday after House Republicans failed to garner enough votes to pass a last-ditch spending resolution Friday.

"Colorados beautiful national parks belong to the American people and help support our local communities and economy," Polis said in a statement Thursday. "The closure of the national parks and other federal lands would hurt state and local economies, small businesses and park employees."

"My action today will help ensure national parks and federal lands will remain open through a potential shutdown and protects Colorado from the damage closing the parks would have.

Last year, more than 5.5 million people traveled to Colorado to visit its national parks, spending more than $695 million, according to the governor's office.

In response to questions about whether the governor's office had sought permission to keep the parks open and whether the state expects to be paid back for those costs, spokesperson Katherine Jones said the governor is "evaluating every way of reducing the impact a potential federal government shutdown would have on Coloradans and that includes keeping the National Parks open."

"We are currently working on that plan, in discussions with the Department of the Interior, and expect to have more details in the near future," Jones added.

Polis' action is similar to actions taken this week by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who also want to keep national parks open in their states.

The Associated Press reported that Hobbs will use her state's lottery funds to keep national parks open.

Meanwhile, Cox said in a statement Thursday that his state has identified short-term funding options to keep Utah's five national parks and additional federal recreation areas open with limited operations, similar to how Utah kept its national parks open during the 2013 and 2018-19 federal shutdowns.

"As with past shutdowns, this plan still requires permission from the Secretary of Interior, and the secretary has not yet said she will allow the parks to remain open," Cox said.

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Cox's statement said Utah's economy would take a $7.1 million hit per day from closure of their five national parks.

AP reported that Cox wants his state's coffers paid back for keeping the parks open.

We expect to be reimbursed, just as federal employees receive back pay during a shutdown, and we have communicated this to the Department of Interior, Cox said this week.

But Interior's statement Friday made it clear it will not reimburse those costs.

"Subject to the approval of the (National Park Service) Director, parks may enter into non-reimbursable arrangements with state, local or tribal governments, cooperating associations, and/or other third parties for donations to fund the full operation of an individual park site or of specified services that clearly benefit the park and public by providing enhanced visitor health, protection and safety," the federal agency said.

During the last shutdown, roads to enter Rocky Mountain National Park were closed and unplowed, but volunteers with the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Conservancy operated phones at the Fall River Visitor Center to keep callers informed about what was available.

Shadow of the shutdown: Inside Rocky Mountain National Park's struggles

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has the authority to order parks to remain open in the event of a government shutdown under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.

Barasso sent Haaland a letter on Sept. 20, pleading with her to use her authority under the law to keep the parks open.

"FLREA authorizes you to retain funds from the collection of fees and to use those funds for various purposes, including visitor access and services, public health and safety, and law enforcement related to public use and recreation," Barrasso said.

"In previous years, it has been demonstrated that these funds can be successfully utilized to keep public lands open during a lapse in appropriations. During the December 2018-January 2019 shutdown, most of the national parks remained accessible to visitors because FLREA funds were available to cover costs associated with visitor services and law enforcement," he added.

The Government Accounting Office disagreed, stating in September 2019 that use of FLREA funds for paying national parks operations expenses is illegal.

In its legal opinion, the agency said, "With this decision, we will consider such violations in the future to be knowing and willful violations" of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
TFG Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK  Free Report) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,737 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the quarter. TFG Advisers LLCs holdings in Duke Energy were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,845 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. now owns 5,925 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 7,251 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 13,066 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 17,459 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.68% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 7th. They issued a neutral rating and a $99.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Duke Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Saturday, September 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $112.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Sunday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. One 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 companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $100.17.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $88.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.03 billion, a PE ratio of 49.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $91.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.21. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.76 and a 12 month high of $106.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.07). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 5.06%. The company had revenue of $6.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Duke Energys quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th were issued a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.65%. This is an increase from Duke Energys previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Duke Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 229.05%.

About Duke Energy

(Free Report)

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I) and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.

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Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW  Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $90.00 price target on the medical research companys stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on EW. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $95.00 to $102.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. 58.com reaffirmed a reiterates rating on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $92.30.

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Edwards Lifesciences Price Performance

EW stock opened at $69.28 on Tuesday. Edwards Lifesciences has a 1 year low of $67.13 and a 1 year high of $94.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.03. The companys 50-day moving average is $77.02 and its 200-day moving average is $83.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 2.30.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical research company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The businesss revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.35, for a total transaction of $611,959.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,623,568.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Edwards Lifesciences news, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.35, for a total value of $611,959.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares in the company, valued at $1,623,568.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael A. Mussallem sold 29,350 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.78, for a total value of $2,664,393.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,252 shares in the company, valued at $4,924,996.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 174,359 shares of company stock valued at $14,129,361 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.29% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Edwards Lifesciences

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baystate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edwards Lifesciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd lifted its position in Edwards Lifesciences by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 27,345 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $2,579,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Edwards Lifesciences by 0.8% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,341 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL purchased a new stake in Edwards Lifesciences in the second quarter worth about $39,818,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 261,009 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $24,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,401 shares during the last quarter. 79.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Edwards Lifesciences

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Eudaimonia Partners LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC  Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 902 shares of the railroad operators stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,205 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 28.0% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,128 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $4,337,000 after acquiring an additional 4,183 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 29.3% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 82,423 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $18,690,000 after acquiring an additional 18,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,667 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.37% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $242.00 to $262.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $245.40.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.2 %

NSC stock opened at $196.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $211.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.44. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $194.05 and a one year high of $261.71. The stock has a market cap of $44.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.29.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The railroad operator reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.20). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 20.25%. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Norfolk Southerns dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.56%.

About Norfolk Southern

(Free Report)

Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. The company transports agriculture, forest, and consumer products comprising soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizers, livestock and poultry feed, food products, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products comprising crude oil, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, sand, and natural gas liquids; metals and construction materials, such as steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, minerals, clay, transportation equipment, and military-related products; and automotive, including finished motor vehicles and automotive parts, as well as coal.

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Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Free Report) by 37.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 623,972 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 170,783 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for about 0.7% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Exchange Traded Concepts LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $28,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 9.9% during the first quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,535 shares of the companys stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 440.5% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,789 shares of the companys stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 3,903 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 7.0% during the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,136 shares of the companys stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 17.7% in the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 1,886 shares of the companys stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.94% of the companys stock.

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Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $42.06 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.35 and a 12 month high of $51.57. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $43.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.77. The stock has a market cap of $74.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

Altria Group ( NYSE:MO Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $1.31. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 225.61% and a net margin of 27.40%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a boost from Altria Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.32%. Altria Groups payout ratio is presently 102.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $47.50.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Altria Group

About Altria Group

(Free Report)

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco products and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; and on! oral nicotine pouches.

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Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI  Free Report) by 2,985.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 736,534 shares of the utilities providers stock after purchasing an additional 712,662 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned about 0.18% of NiSource worth $20,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NiSource by 10.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,613,623 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,673,113,000 after acquiring an additional 5,153,843 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in NiSource by 8.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,192,844 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $769,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,970,696 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in NiSource by 1.5% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 19,656,543 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $549,597,000 after buying an additional 294,227 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 173.1% in the first quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,520,196 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $378,025,000 after buying an additional 8,569,677 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in NiSource by 6.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,903,313 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $332,817,000 after buying an additional 767,107 shares during the period. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $130,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,905 shares in the company, valued at $828,254. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $130,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,905 shares in the company, valued at $828,254. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donald Eugene Brown sold 14,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.64, for a total value of $372,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,278 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,989,085.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NI opened at $24.68 on Friday. NiSource Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.78 and a 52 week high of $28.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The company has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.48.

NiSource (NYSE:NI  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.02). NiSource had a net margin of 12.00% and a return on equity of 10.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that NiSource Inc. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. NiSources dividend payout ratio is currently 69.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered NiSource from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Bank of America dropped their price target on NiSource from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. Guggenheim dropped their price target on NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised NiSource from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NiSource has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $30.00.

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NiSource Company Profile

(Free Report)

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 859,000 customers in northern Indiana, as well as approximately 2.4 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.

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First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund (NYSE:FPF  Get Free Report) declared a monthly dividend on Wednesday, September 20th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.108 per share on Monday, October 16th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 2nd. This is a boost from First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Funds previous monthly dividend of $0.11.

First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund has decreased its dividend by an average of 4.5% annually over the last three years.

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First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund Stock Up 0.9 %

FPF stock opened at $14.92 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.30. First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund has a one year low of $14.59 and a one year high of $19.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund Company Profile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FPF. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund by 4.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 61,050 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 2,810 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund by 2.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,760 shares of the companys stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund in the 1st quarter worth about $200,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 29,972 shares of the companys stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 227,669 shares of the companys stock worth $5,006,000 after purchasing an additional 96,306 shares during the period.

(Get Free Report)

First Trust Intermediate Duration Preferred & Income Fund is a closed end fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by First Trust Advisors L.P. The fund is co-managed by Stonebridge Advisors, LLC. It invests in fixed income markets. The fund will also invest in below investment-grade securities like junk or high-yield securities.

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Gatos Silver, Inc. (NYSE:GATO  Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 521,000 shares, a growth of 28.5% from the August 31st total of 405,600 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 356,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Gatos Silver Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GATO traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5.18. 1,566,197 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 414,517. Gatos Silver has a 1 year low of $2.53 and a 1 year high of $7.49. The companys 50-day moving average is $4.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.08.

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Gatos Silver (NYSE:GATO  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter.

Insider Activity at Gatos Silver

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In related news, VP James Woeller purchased 10,000 shares of Gatos Silver stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.44 per share, for a total transaction of $54,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $299,792.96. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . In other Gatos Silver news, VP James Woeller purchased 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.44 per share, with a total value of $54,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 55,109 shares in the company, valued at $299,792.96. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink . Also, SVP Anthony Michael Scott acquired 13,801 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $5.15 per share, with a total value of $71,075.15. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 131,945 shares of the companys stock, valued at $679,516.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here . Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 165,000 shares of company stock worth $883,912. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GATO. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Gatos Silver during the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al boosted its stake in shares of Gatos Silver by 2.9% during the second quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 113,582 shares of the companys stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in Gatos Silver by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 146,609 shares of the companys stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 25,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Gatos Silver by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 458,435 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,733,000 after buying an additional 15,643 shares during the period. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its stake in Gatos Silver by 263.2% in the 2nd quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 96,618 shares of the companys stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 70,018 shares in the last quarter. 47.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GATO. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Gatos Silver from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $5.00 to $5.50 in a report on Friday, September 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Gatos Silver from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $5.00 to $5.50 in a research note on Thursday, September 7th.

Read Our Latest Analysis on GATO

About Gatos Silver

(Get Free Report)

Gatos Silver, Inc engages in the exploration, development, and production of precious metals. It explores for silver deposits. The company explores for zinc, lead, copper, and gold ores. Its flagship asset is the Los Gatos District, including the Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua, Mexico. The company was formerly known as Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Corporation and changed its name to Gatos Silver, Inc in October 2020.

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Hiddenite Capital Partners LP reduced its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 80,000 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 200,000 shares during the period. Bank of America accounts for about 2.1% of Hiddenite Capital Partners LPs holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Hiddenite Capital Partners LPs holdings in Bank of America were worth $2,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Roundview Capital LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 1.5% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 135,764 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,596,000 after buying an additional 2,013 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Bank of America by 150.3% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Bank of America by 4.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 405,098 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $16,698,000 after buying an additional 16,319 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter worth $586,000. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new position in Bank of America during the first quarter worth $534,000. 68.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Bank of America Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of BAC opened at $27.38 on Friday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $29.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $217.57 billion, a PE ratio of 7.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.37. Bank of America Co. has a 12 month low of $26.32 and a 12 month high of $38.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

Bank of America ( NYSE:BAC Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $24.98 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 19.97%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. This is a positive change from Bank of Americas previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 31st. Bank of Americas payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Bank of America from $28.00 to $27.50 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $41.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Bank of America from $32.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $35.92.

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Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 353,971 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,143,007.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 353,971 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,143,007.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total value of $2,364,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 185,108 shares in the company, valued at $5,836,455.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock.

Bank of America Profile

(Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans.

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Hoxton Planning & Management LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB  Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,810 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. TAP Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth $259,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 80.8% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,711 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 9.3% in the first quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 9,419 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 8.2% in the second quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 67,661 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 50.3% in the first quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 28,603 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 9,572 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.40% of the companys stock.

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U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $33.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firms 50-day moving average is $36.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.49. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $27.27 and a 12 month high of $49.95. The company has a market capitalization of $50.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.98.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

U.S. Bancorp ( NYSE:USB Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.01). U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorps revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. U.S. Bancorps dividend payout ratio is presently 53.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Odeon Capital Group lowered shares of U.S. Bancorp from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a sell rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $46.67.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on U.S. Bancorp

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, CFO Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total transaction of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,992 shares in the company, valued at $6,637,932. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Timothy A. Welsh sold 13,816 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.79, for a total value of $549,738.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,737,317.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.75, for a total transaction of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,992 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,637,932. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the companys stock.

U.S. Bancorp Profile

(Free Report)

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates in Corporate and Commercial Banking, Consumer and Business Banking, Wealth Management and Investment Services, Payment Services, and Treasury and Corporate Support segments.

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Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Free Report) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,140 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLCs holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $2,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 3.7% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,666 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,024,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 4.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,070 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,899,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 54.7% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 9.9% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,407 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 70.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 746 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 79.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $281.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Illinois Tool Works from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $237.18.

Illinois Tool Works Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ITW opened at $230.31 on Friday. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $242.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.65. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52-week low of $180.27 and a 52-week high of $264.19. The firm has a market cap of $69.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.02. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 94.14%. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.37 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Illinois Tool Workss previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Illinois Tool Workss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.39%.

Illinois Tool Works Profile

(Free Report)

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment worldwide. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment offers plastic and metal components, fasteners, and assemblies for automobiles, light trucks, and other industrial uses.

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Inovalis Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:INO.UN  Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as C$3.01 and last traded at C$2.99, with a volume of 27979 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$3.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, National Bankshares dropped their price objective on Inovalis Real Estate Investment Trust from C$3.75 to C$3.50 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th.

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View Our Latest Analysis on Inovalis Real Estate Investment Trust

Inovalis Real Estate Investment Trust Trading Down 0.7 %

About Inovalis Real Estate Investment Trust

The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$3.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$3.43. The company has a market cap of C$97.36 million, a PE ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 78.91.

(Get Free Report)

Inovalis Real Estate Investment Trust is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust established pursuant to a declaration of trust under the laws of the Province of Ontario. The REIT has been created for the purpose of acquiring and owning office properties primarily located in France and Germany but also opportunistically in other European countries where assets meet the REIT's investment criteria.

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Shore Capital reissued their house stock rating on shares of Jacobs Engineering Group (LON:J  Free Report) in a research note published on Tuesday, LSE.Co.UK reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays reiterated an overweight rating on shares of Jacobs Engineering Group in a research note on Monday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Jacobs Engineering Group from GBX 219 ($2.67) to GBX 209 ($2.55) and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Jacobs Engineering Group to a buy rating and cut their target price for the stock from GBX 240 ($2.93) to GBX 225 ($2.75) in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of GBX 243.17 ($2.97).

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Jacobs Engineering Group Price Performance

Jacobs Engineering Group Company Profile

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc is challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the worlds most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

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Jmac Enterprises LLC purchased a new stake in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,400 shares of the energy exploration companys stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 873,400 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $99,706,000 after purchasing an additional 205,561 shares in the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc increased its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 186.8% in the 2nd quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 267,457 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $30,608,000 after purchasing an additional 174,207 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in EOG Resources by 2,638.2% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 931 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in EOG Resources by 100,317.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 538,528,863 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $61,629,243,000 after buying an additional 537,992,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in EOG Resources by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 18,455 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $2,112,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.21% of the companys stock.

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EOG Resources Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE EOG traded down $2.71 on Friday, reaching $126.76. The stock had a trading volume of 3,374,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,705,933. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $98.52 and a 12-month high of $150.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.39.

EOG Resources Announces Dividend

EOG Resources ( NYSE:EOG Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy exploration company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 28.52% and a net margin of 33.58%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 16th. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio is currently 22.24%.

Insider Transactions at EOG Resources

In other news, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 4,551 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.76, for a total transaction of $595,088.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 145,259 shares of the companys stock, valued at $18,994,066.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,031 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.26, for a total value of $238,155.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,607 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,409,796.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 4,551 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.76, for a total transaction of $595,088.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 145,259 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $18,994,066.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EOG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on EOG Resources from $143.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut EOG Resources from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on EOG Resources in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on EOG Resources from $143.00 to $147.00 in a report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $149.87.

Read Our Latest Report on EOG Resources

EOG Resources Profile

(Free Report)

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.

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Kercheville Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Chart Industries, Inc. (NYSE:GTLS  Free Report) by 11.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,075 shares of the industrial products companys stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLCs holdings in Chart Industries were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Chart Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,522,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Chart Industries by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,300 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Chart Industries by 66.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 30,994 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $4,953,000 after purchasing an additional 12,377 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chart Industries by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 3,978 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its stake in Chart Industries by 14.5% during the second quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 8,700 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,390,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter.

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Chart Industries Stock Performance

Shares of GTLS traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $169.12. The stock had a trading volume of 282,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,907. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Chart Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.44 and a 12 month high of $242.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of -367.64, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $170.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Chart Industries ( NYSE:GTLS Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.25. Chart Industries had a positive return on equity of 8.21% and a negative net margin of 0.28%. The company had revenue of $908.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $971.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Chart Industriess revenue was up 124.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Chart Industries, Inc. will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GTLS shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Chart Industries from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Chart Industries from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on Chart Industries from $208.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. 22nd Century Group reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Chart Industries in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Chart Industries from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $202.60.

Read Our Latest Analysis on GTLS

Chart Industries Profile

(Free Report)

Chart Industries, Inc manufactures and sells engineered cryogenic equipment for the industrial gas and clean energy markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Cryo Tank Solutions, Heat Transfer Systems, Specialty Products, and Repair, Service & Leasing.

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Kercheville Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,001 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 365 shares during the period. Kercheville Advisors LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 13.3% during the second quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 10,926 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. Advocate Group LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.8% during the second quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 107,206 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $6,856,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 24.9% during the second quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 186.2% during the second quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 19,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 12,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 86,002.1% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 659,143,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $42,152,211,000 after buying an additional 658,377,716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.98% of the companys stock.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE BMY traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.04. 10,902,513 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,165,358. The stock has a market cap of $121.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.52. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $57.61 and a 1-year high of $81.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.81 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.62% and a return on equity of 50.51%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Atlantic Securities lowered their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an underweight rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.64.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on BMY

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total transaction of $1,101,642.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,584 shares in the company, valued at $402,545.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC IN lifted its stake in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO  Free Report) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,050 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. AutoZone accounts for approximately 5.5% of Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC INs holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Kirr Marbach & Co. LLC INs holdings in AutoZone were worth $20,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in AutoZone in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in AutoZone by 600.0% in the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 14 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp increased its stake in AutoZone by 166.7% in the 3rd quarter. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp now owns 16 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in AutoZone by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 17 shares of the companys stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. 90.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AutoZone from $2,950.00 to $2,975.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 20th. UBS Group upgraded AutoZone from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $2,800.00 to $2,900.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on AutoZone from $2,721.00 to $2,742.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. 92 Resources restated a reiterates rating on shares of AutoZone in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AutoZone from $2,740.00 to $2,750.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $2,803.12.

AutoZone Stock Performance

NYSE AZO traded down $19.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $2,539.99. The stock had a trading volume of 149,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,146. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.66. AutoZone, Inc. has a one year low of $2,120.00 and a one year high of $2,750.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2,509.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2,515.24.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 19th. The company reported $46.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $44.51 by $1.95. The business had revenue of $5.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.62 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.48% and a negative return on equity of 60.66%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $40.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 146.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 120 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,548.03, for a total transaction of $305,763.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 156 shares of the companys stock, valued at $397,492.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 120 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,548.03, for a total transaction of $305,763.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 156 shares of the companys stock, valued at $397,492.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles Pleas III sold 4,200 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,546.55, for a total transaction of $10,695,510.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,425 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,721,933.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.59% of the companys stock.

About AutoZone

(Free Report)

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs.

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Shares of Morguard North American Residential Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:MNARF  Get Free Report) traded down 2.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $10.79 and last traded at $10.79. 1,188 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 53% from the average session volume of 776 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morguard North American Residential Real Estate Investment Trust from C$23.00 to C$24.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th.

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Morguard North American Residential Real Estate Investment Trust Price Performance

About Morguard North American Residential Real Estate Investment Trust

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.83 and a 200 day moving average of $12.39.

(Get Free Report)

The REIT is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust established under and governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario. The Units of the REIT trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MRG.UN. With a strategic focus on the acquisition of high-quality multi-suite residential properties in Canada and the United States, the REIT maximizes long-term Unit value through active asset and property management.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI  Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MSI. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Motorola Solutions from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Motorola Solutions from $329.00 to $322.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Motorola Solutions from $320.00 to $311.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Three 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $309.67.

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Motorola Solutions Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Motorola Solutions stock opened at $272.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.14, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.23. Motorola Solutions has a 52 week low of $212.76 and a 52 week high of $299.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $282.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.92.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.14. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 2,157.02% and a net margin of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Motorola Solutions will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Motorola Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Motorola Solutionss dividend payout ratio is currently 39.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Motorola Solutions

In other Motorola Solutions news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $284,580.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,305,382.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Motorola Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schoolcraft Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the second quarter valued at $284,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the second quarter valued at $249,000. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the second quarter valued at $132,860,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 87.4% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 268 shares of the communications equipment providers stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Motorola Solutions by 0.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 277,940 shares of the communications equipment providers stock valued at $81,514,000 after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Motorola Solutions Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Motorola Solutions, Inc provides public safety and enterprise security solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce.

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Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA  Free Report) by 3.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,087 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,905 shares during the period. Corteva comprises approximately 2.1% of Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLCs holdings in Corteva were worth $4,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AXS Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Corteva in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Corteva in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 454.5% in the 1st quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 610 shares of the companys stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Corteva by 239.4% in the 1st quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 611 shares of the companys stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quilter Plc bought a new stake in shares of Corteva in the 1st quarter valued at about $611,688,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Corteva

In other news, CFO David J. Anderson purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.97 per share, with a total value of $105,940.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 65,308 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,459,364.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.14% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CTVA. Redburn Partners lowered shares of Corteva from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an outperform rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Corteva from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Corteva from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Corteva has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $70.41.

Read Our Latest Research Report on CTVA

Corteva Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CTVA opened at $51.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.81. Corteva, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.68 and a 1-year high of $68.43. The companys fifty day moving average price is $52.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 4th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. Corteva had a net margin of 5.26% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is a positive change from Cortevas previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Cortevas dividend payout ratio is presently 49.61%.

Corteva Company Profile

(Free Report)

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.

Further Reading

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Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY  Free Report) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,166 shares of the technology companys stock after buying an additional 9,863 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLCs holdings in Infosys were worth $881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Infosys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Infosys in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel bought a new position in shares of Infosys in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Infosys in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Syverson Strege & Co bought a new position in shares of Infosys in the 1st quarter worth $46,000. 11.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Infosys Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of INFY opened at $17.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.77, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.42. Infosys Limited has a twelve month low of $14.71 and a twelve month high of $20.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Infosys ( NYSE:INFY Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.55 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Infosys Limited will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

INFY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Infosys in a report on Monday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Infosys in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. They set a buy rating on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Infosys in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Nomura raised shares of Infosys from a reduce rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, September 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $18.00.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Infosys

Infosys Company Profile

(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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O Brien Greene & Co. Inc increased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS  Free Report) by 200.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,722 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 11,148 shares during the quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Incs holdings in Novartis were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,926 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.6% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,242 shares of the companys stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 750.0% during the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 289 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 252.6% in the first quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 13,514 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,243,000 after buying an additional 9,681 shares during the period. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,553 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,523,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 7.00% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. HSBC initiated coverage on Novartis in a report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $78.40.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $101.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $102.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.24. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $74.24 and a 12 month high of $105.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.54.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $13.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.32 million. Novartis had a return on equity of 25.12% and a net margin of 14.76%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

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

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O Brien Greene & Co. Inc boosted its position in shares of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY  Free Report) by 163.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,954 shares of the technology retailers stock after buying an additional 97,443 shares during the quarter. Best Buy makes up approximately 1.5% of O Brien Greene & Co. Incs holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. O Brien Greene & Co. Incs holdings in Best Buy were worth $12,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA acquired a new stake in Best Buy during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Arlington Partners LLC bought a new stake in Best Buy in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in Best Buy in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its holdings in Best Buy by 90.6% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 385 shares of the technology retailers stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Trust Co. increased its stake in Best Buy by 3,900.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 400 shares of the technology retailers stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BBY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Best Buy from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Best Buy from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, August 31st. TheStreet upgraded Best Buy from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Guggenheim reissued a buy rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Best Buy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Best Buy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $80.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Best Buy news, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 100,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.24, for a total transaction of $8,524,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 349,448 shares in the company, valued at $29,786,947.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen Scarlett sold 34,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.30, for a total value of $2,779,728.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,287,670.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Schulze sold 100,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.24, for a total transaction of $8,524,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 349,448 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $29,786,947.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,139 shares of company stock valued at $12,211,061 over the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BBY opened at $69.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Best Buy Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.78 and a 12 month high of $93.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.01 and a 200-day moving average of $76.02. The company has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.54.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 29th. The technology retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $9.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.52 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 49.40% and a net margin of 2.91%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Best Buy Co., Inc. will post 6.22 EPS for the current year.

Best Buy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 18th. Best Buys payout ratio is currently 63.34%.

Best Buy Company Profile

(Free Report)

Best Buy Co, Inc engages in the retail of technology products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic and International. Its stores provide computing and mobile phone products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness products, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products.

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O Brien Greene & Co. Inc raised its stake in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Free Report) by 186.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 267,457 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after purchasing an additional 174,207 shares during the period. EOG Resources accounts for approximately 3.6% of O Brien Greene & Co. Incs investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. O Brien Greene & Co. Incs holdings in EOG Resources were worth $30,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in EOG Resources by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 65,998 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $7,565,000 after purchasing an additional 10,154 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in EOG Resources by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 4,659 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in EOG Resources by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 7,112 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. raised its position in EOG Resources by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,478 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $5,319,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis raised its position in EOG Resources by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 351,270 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $45,496,000 after purchasing an additional 126,454 shares during the last quarter. 89.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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EOG Resources Price Performance

EOG stock opened at $126.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.39. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.52 and a 52-week high of $150.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.39.

EOG Resources Dividend Announcement

EOG Resources ( NYSE:EOG Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy exploration company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.21. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 28.52% and a net margin of 33.58%. The firm had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.74 EPS. The companys revenue was down 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 17th will be paid a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 16th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. EOG Resourcess payout ratio is presently 22.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James lowered their price objective on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on EOG Resources from $154.00 to $152.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on EOG Resources from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered EOG Resources from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $149.87.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on EOG Resources

Insider Transactions at EOG Resources

In other news, EVP Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,031 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.26, for a total value of $238,155.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,409,796.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 4,551 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.76, for a total value of $595,088.76. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 145,259 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $18,994,066.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,031 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.26, for a total transaction of $238,155.06. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,409,796.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the companys stock.

About EOG Resources

(Free Report)

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.

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Olympus (OTCMKTS:OLYMY  Get Free Report) and Baxter International (NYSE:BAX  Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Olympus and Baxter International, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Olympus 0 1 0 0 2.00 Baxter International 1 9 4 0 2.21

Baxter International has a consensus target price of $51.07, suggesting a potential upside of 35.28%. Given Baxter Internationals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Baxter International is more favorable than Olympus.

Valuation and Earnings

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Olympus N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Baxter International $15.11 billion 1.26 -$2.43 billion ($5.66) -6.67

This table compares Olympus and Baxter Internationals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Olympus has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Baxter International.

Profitability

This table compares Olympus and Baxter Internationals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Olympus N/A N/A N/A Baxter International -19.00% 24.94% 5.11%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.5% of Baxter International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Baxter International shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Baxter International beats Olympus on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Olympus

(Get Free Report)

Olympus Corporation manufactures and sells precision machineries and instruments worldwide. It operates through: Endoscopic Solutions Business, Therapeutic Solutions Business, Scientific Solutions Business, and Others segments. The Endoscopic Solutions Business segment offers gastrointestinal and surgical endoscopy systems, surgical microscopes, endoscope reprocessors, and maintenance services. The Therapeutic Solutions Business segment provides urology, gynecology, respiratory, ear, nose, and throat products; GI endo-therapy and energy devices; and surgical single-use devices. The Scientific Solutions Business segment offers biological and industrial microscopes, industrial videoscopes, non-destructive testing equipment, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers. The Others segment offers biomedical materials, such as synthetic bone filler, and orthopedic equipment. The company was formerly known as Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Olympus Corporation in October 2003. Olympus Corporation was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Baxter International

(Get Free Report)

Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops and provides a portfolio of healthcare products worldwide. The company offers peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis, and additional dialysis therapies and services; intravenous therapies, infusion pumps, administration sets, and drug reconstitution devices; premixed and oncology drug platforms, inhaled anesthesia and critical care products and pharmacy compounding services; parenteral nutrition therapies and related products; biological products and medical devices used in surgical procedures for hemostasis, tissue sealing and adhesion prevention; and continuous renal replacement therapies and other organ support therapies focused in the intensive care unit. It also provides connected care solutions, including devices, software, communications, and integration technologies; integrated patient monitoring and diagnostic technologies to help diagnose, treat, and manage a various illness and diseases, including respiratory therapy, cardiology, vision screening, and physical assessment; surgical video technologies, tables, lights, pendants, precision positioning devices and other accessories. In addition, the company offers contracted services to various pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies. Its products are used in hospitals, kidney dialysis centers, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, doctors' offices, and patients at home under physician supervision. The company sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through independent distributors, drug wholesalers, and specialty pharmacy or other alternate site providers in approximately 100 countries. It has an agreement with Celerity Pharmaceutical, LLC to develop acute care generic injectable premix and oncolytic molecules; and a collaborative research agreement with Miromatrix Medical Inc. to develop treatments for patients with acute liver failure. Baxter International Inc. was incorporated in 1931 and is based in Deerfield, Illinois.

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PFG Advisors grew its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG  Free Report) by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,620 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 6,912 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF were worth $2,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keystone Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 731.9% in the second quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 30,382 shares of the companys stock worth $2,899,000 after purchasing an additional 26,730 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 29.7% in the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 58,494 shares of the companys stock worth $5,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. Day & Ennis LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 19.9% in the second quarter. Day & Ennis LLC now owns 95,046 shares of the companys stock worth $9,068,000 after purchasing an additional 15,798 shares in the last quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 15.0% in the second quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 12,886 shares of the companys stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eudaimonia Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 4.6% in the second quarter. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the companys stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Trading Up 0.0 %

BATS EFG opened at $86.28 on Friday. The firms fifty day moving average price is $91.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.35. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF has a 1 year low of $67.58 and a 1 year high of $85.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.89.

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Profile

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East.

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Leavell Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 99,509 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 4,471 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.s holdings in Pfizer were worth $3,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 445,384,893 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $18,171,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516,132 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Pfizer by 9.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 218,931,933 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $8,932,423,000 after buying an additional 19,602,359 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Pfizer by 89,592.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 161,143,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $8,257,000,000 after buying an additional 160,963,976 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pfizer by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 109,852,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $4,472,433,000 after acquiring an additional 577,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Pfizer by 14.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 83,901,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $3,408,836,000 after purchasing an additional 10,560,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.05% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Pfizer from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Pfizer from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Pfizer from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Credit Suisse Group lowered Pfizer from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pfizer presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $46.35.

Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of PFE opened at $33.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Pfizer Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.77 and a 12 month high of $54.93. The companys fifty day moving average is $35.13 and its 200-day moving average is $37.48. The firm has a market cap of $187.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.59.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. Pfizer had a net margin of 27.55% and a return on equity of 28.36%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.36 billion. Pfizers revenue was down 54.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Pfizer

(Free Report)

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.

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Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL  Free Report) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,126 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,194 shares during the quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLCs holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $2,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,842 shares of the companys stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the companys stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Rowland & Co. Investment Counsel ADV boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Rowland & Co. Investment Counsel ADV now owns 3,695 shares of the companys stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,329 shares of the companys stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,088 shares of the companys stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.36% of the companys stock.

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Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $71.11. The stock had a trading volume of 3,226,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,483,150. The companys 50 day moving average price is $74.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.81. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.84 and a 1-year high of $82.09. The stock has a market cap of $58.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

Colgate-Palmolive ( NYSE:CL Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 386.76%. The firm had revenue of $4.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 20th. Colgate-Palmolives dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 48,627 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.37, for a total value of $3,567,762.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,120,115.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 48,627 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.37, for a total value of $3,567,762.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,120,115.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 24,704 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.31, for a total value of $1,811,050.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 52,813 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,871,721.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 105,501 shares of company stock worth $7,838,332 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on CL shares. HSBC started coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. They set a buy rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $85.23.

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Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

(Free Report)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items.

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Russell Investments Australian Government Bond ETF (ASX:RGB  Get Free Report) announced a interim dividend on Thursday, September 28th, MarketIndexAU reports. Investors of record on Sunday, October 15th will be given a dividend of 0.109 per share on Sunday, October 15th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. This is a boost from Russell Investments Australian Government Bond ETFs previous interim dividend of $0.10.

Russell Investments Australian Government Bond ETF Price Performance

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Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Free Report) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,636 shares of the CRM providers stock after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLCs holdings in Salesforce were worth $557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 125,717.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after purchasing an additional 10,252,257 shares in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $401,215,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Salesforce by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,134,170 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $2,823,724,000 after purchasing an additional 2,481,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inclusive Capital Partners L.P. bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $216,769,000. 77.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Salesforce from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Salesforce from $248.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $242.28.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.2 %

CRM stock opened at $202.81 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.34 and a twelve month high of $238.22. The company has a market cap of $197.33 billion, a PE ratio of 127.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.19. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $214.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The CRM provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.22. Salesforce had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 4.77%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.53, for a total transaction of $3,037,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,416,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,122,236,099.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.53, for a total transaction of $3,037,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,416,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,122,236,099.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brent Hyder sold 48,737 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.50, for a total transaction of $10,795,245.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,418 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,086,087. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 710,566 shares of company stock valued at $154,694,690 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Company Profile

(Free Report)

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.

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Sendas Distribuidora S.A. (NYSE:ASAI  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,370,000 shares, a growth of 124.7% from the August 31st total of 1,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 576,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Sendas Distribuidora

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sendas Distribuidora by 19.0% in the second quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 7,643,552 shares of the companys stock valued at $110,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,034 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its position in shares of Sendas Distribuidora by 410.0% in the first quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 3,968,761 shares of the companys stock valued at $61,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,190,636 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Sendas Distribuidora by 75.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 532,505 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 229,505 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Sendas Distribuidora by 68.3% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 459,029 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,615,000 after purchasing an additional 186,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Sendas Distribuidora by 7.0% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 365,892 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,635,000 after purchasing an additional 23,784 shares during the last quarter.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America raised shares of Sendas Distribuidora from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, August 7th.

Sendas Distribuidora Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Sendas Distribuidora stock opened at $12.17 on Friday. Sendas Distribuidora has a 12-month low of $10.44 and a 12-month high of $20.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.16.

Sendas Distribuidora (NYSE:ASAI  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. Sendas Distribuidora had a net margin of 1.49% and a return on equity of 23.17%. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.22 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sendas Distribuidora will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sendas Distribuidora Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Sendas Distribuidora SA engages in the retail and wholesale sale of food products, bazaar items, and other products in Brazil. The company serves restaurants, pizzerias, snack bars, schools, small businesses, religious institutions, hospitals, hotels, grocery stores, neighborhood supermarkets, and individuals.

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Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE boosted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT  Free Report) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,867 shares of the aerospace companys stock after buying an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Lockheed Martin makes up about 1.4% of Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DEs investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DEs holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $5,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 1.4% during the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 21,403 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $9,852,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in Lockheed Martin during the second quarter valued at approximately $17,171,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 5.2% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,494 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $7,594,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Parker Financial LLC purchased a new position in Lockheed Martin during the second quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, KG&L Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Lockheed Martin during the second quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 74.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Lockheed Martin Price Performance

Lockheed Martin stock opened at $408.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $102.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.65. The firms fifty day moving average is $438.88 and its 200 day moving average is $455.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 52-week low of $381.55 and a 52-week high of $508.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin ( NYSE:LMT Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The aerospace company reported $6.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $6.45 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $16.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 71.67%. Lockheed Martins revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Director John Donovan acquired 548 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $457.07 per share, for a total transaction of $250,474.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,378 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,543,982.46. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Lockheed Martin from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $440.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Wednesday. They set a hold rating and a $435.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $579.00 to $555.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $495.13.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Lockheed Martin

About Lockheed Martin

(Free Report)

Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space.

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Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE lessened its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,986 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 401 shares during the quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DEs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the first quarter worth $332,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $12,075,000 after acquiring an additional 57,444 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the first quarter worth $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $24,725,000 after acquiring an additional 68,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.98% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, September 15th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $80.00 to $66.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lowered their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.64.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.04. 10,902,513 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,165,358. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $57.61 and a 52-week high of $81.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $121.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.42.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.24). Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibbs quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is currently 60.64%.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $1,101,642.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,706,915. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Bristol-Myers Squibb news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $402,545.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann Powell sold 17,986 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.25, for a total value of $1,101,642.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,868 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,706,915. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Shares of SSAB AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:SSAAF  Get Free Report) passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $6.60 and traded as low as $5.50. SSAB AB (publ) shares last traded at $5.50, with a volume of 300 shares trading hands.

SSAB AB (publ) Stock Performance

The companys 50-day moving average price is $5.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.58.

About SSAB AB (publ)

(Get Free Report)

SSAB AB (publ) produces and sells steel products in Sweden, Finland, Rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. It operates through five segments: SSAB Special Steels, SSAB Europe, SSAB Americas, Tibnor, and Ruukki Construction. The SSAB Special Steels segment offers quenched and tempered steels, and advanced high-strength steel products.

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Shares of Standard AVB Financial Corp. (OTCMKTS:STND  Get Free Report) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $33.00 and traded as low as $32.99. Standard AVB Financial shares last traded at $33.00, with a volume of 18,900 shares trading hands.

Standard AVB Financial Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.00.

About Standard AVB Financial

(Get Free Report)

Standard AVB Financial Corp. operates as a bank holding company for Standard Bank PaSB that provides financial services to individuals, families, and businesses. It offers various deposit accounts, including savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, commercial and regular checking accounts, and individual retirement accounts.

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Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. cut its stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK  Free Report) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,296 shares of the asset managers stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Steward Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of BlackRock by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 48 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock by 48.6% during the first quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 52 shares of the asset managers stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.01% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLK has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $928.00 to $921.00 in a report on Sunday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BlackRock from $780.00 to $820.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BlackRock in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of BlackRock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the company from $770.00 to $835.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of BlackRock from $780.00 to $785.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $767.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BlackRock news, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total value of $1,525,611.78. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,160 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,331.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 20,200 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $742.04, for a total value of $14,989,208.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 464,125 shares in the company, valued at $344,399,315. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Wiedman sold 2,079 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $733.82, for a total transaction of $1,525,611.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,160 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,331.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:BLK opened at $646.85 on Friday. BlackRock, Inc. has a 52 week low of $503.12 and a 52 week high of $785.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $692.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $680.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.21 and a current ratio of 4.21. The firm has a market cap of $96.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.29.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $9.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.76. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.29% and a net margin of 29.90%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.36 earnings per share. BlackRocks revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that BlackRock, Inc. will post 35.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th were given a $5.00 dividend. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 7th. BlackRocks dividend payout ratio is 58.41%.

About BlackRock

(Free Report)

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.

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Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO  Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Reduce from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.71.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.50 to $11.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Compass Point cut their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Sunstone Hotel Investors Price Performance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,473,209 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $324,738,000 after acquiring an additional 2,843,715 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,652,726 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $129,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,863,572 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,315,334 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $104,391,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321,934 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,227,051 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $81,283,000 after acquiring an additional 97,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rush Island Management LP grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 7,354,153 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $74,424,000 after acquiring an additional 943,686 shares in the last quarter.

SHO stock opened at $9.36 on Friday. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a one year low of $8.60 and a one year high of $11.38. The companys fifty day moving average price is $9.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.28.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.12). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 5.64% and a net margin of 10.13%. The company had revenue of $276.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $274.58 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. This is a boost from Sunstone Hotel Investorss previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. Sunstone Hotel Investorss dividend payout ratio is presently 64.29%.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors

(Get Free Report

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that as of the date of this release owns 15 hotels comprised of 7,735 rooms, the majority of which are operated under nationally recognized brands. Sunstone's strategy is to create long-term stakeholder value through the acquisition, active ownership and disposition of hotels considered to be Long-Term Relevant Real Estate.

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TBH Global Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Free Report) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,232 shares of the CRM providers stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLCs holdings in Salesforce were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 125,717.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $1,360,428,000 after buying an additional 10,252,257 shares during the last quarter. Starboard Value LP purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $401,215,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Salesforce by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,134,170 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $2,823,724,000 after buying an additional 2,481,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inclusive Capital Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $216,769,000. 77.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Salesforce Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $202.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.55, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.19. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.34 and a fifty-two week high of $238.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $214.43 and a 200 day moving average of $208.16.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

Salesforce ( NYSE:CRM Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The CRM provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.22. Salesforce had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 4.77%. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.53, for a total transaction of $3,037,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,416,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,122,236,099.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.53, for a total value of $3,037,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,416,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,122,236,099.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.49, for a total value of $263,112.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 101,236 shares in the company, valued at $21,309,165.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 710,566 shares of company stock worth $154,694,690 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Northland Securities boosted their price target on Salesforce from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Salesforce from $248.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $242.28.

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About Salesforce

(Free Report)

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.

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Advocate Group LLC increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report) by 42.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 98,439 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 29,448 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLCs holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $5,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Beacon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 54.8% during the first quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 704.2% in the first quarter. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC now owns 571 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.61% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles A. Ruffel acquired 833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $60.55 per share, with a total value of $50,438.15. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,022.30. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Charles A. Ruffel purchased 833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $60.55 per share, for a total transaction of $50,438.15. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,022.30. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 75,760 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $5,045,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 59,672,778 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,974,207,014.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 159,599 shares of company stock valued at $10,542,469 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.90. 8,061,705 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,640,969. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.31. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $45.00 and a twelve month high of $86.63. The stock has a market cap of $97.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.15% and a return on equity of 27.54%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SCHW. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $62.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $72.28.

View Our Latest Stock Report on SCHW

Charles Schwab Company Profile

(Free Report)

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.

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TransAlta Renewables Inc. (TSE:RNW  Get Free Report) shares crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$12.59 and traded as low as C$12.16. TransAlta Renewables shares last traded at C$12.19, with a volume of 214,129 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on RNW. CSFB cut TransAlta Renewables from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from C$14.50 to C$13.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. National Bankshares cut their target price on TransAlta Renewables from C$13.00 to C$12.50 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on TransAlta Renewables from C$12.00 to C$13.35 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. CIBC lifted their target price on TransAlta Renewables from C$13.00 to C$13.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, ATB Capital cut TransAlta Renewables from a sector perform rating to a tender rating and cut their target price for the company from C$14.00 to C$13.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$14.19.

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TransAlta Renewables Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$13.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$12.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.12. The firm has a market cap of C$3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 40.97, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.74.

TransAlta Renewables (TSE:RNW  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported C$0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.12 by C($0.07). The firm had revenue of C$99.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$120.60 million. TransAlta Renewables had a net margin of 15.73% and a return on equity of 4.30%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that TransAlta Renewables Inc. will post 0.6736402 earnings per share for the current year.

TransAlta Renewables Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th were paid a $0.0783 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.65%. TransAlta Renewabless payout ratio is presently 313.33%.

About TransAlta Renewables

(Get Free Report)

TransAlta Renewables Inc owns, develops, and operates renewable and natural gas power generation facilities and other infrastructure assets in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The company operates through Canadian Wind, Canadian Hydro, Canadian Gas, US Wind and Solar, US Gas, and Australian Gas segments.

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Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited (OTCMKTS:TSGTF  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 395,000 shares, a growth of 63.9% from the August 31st total of 241,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 207.9 days.

Tsingtao Brewery Stock Performance

OTCMKTS:TSGTF opened at $8.07 on Friday. Tsingtao Brewery has a one year low of $6.78 and a one year high of $10.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.16.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Tsingtao Brewery from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd.

Tsingtao Brewery Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, wholesale, and retail sale of beer products worldwide. It operates through seven segments: Shandong Region; South China Region; North China Region; East China Region; Southeast China Region; Hong Kong, Macau and Other Overseas Region; and Finance Company.

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Naviter Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC  Free Report) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,716 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 3,264 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLCs holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $1,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,664,647 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $174,365,000 after purchasing an additional 58,249 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 185,306 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $6,927,000 after acquiring an additional 28,551 shares during the period. Deltec Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter worth $224,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 7,421 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 25,076 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 3rd. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $43.75 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a buy rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $48.02.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $40.88 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12 month low of $35.25 and a 12 month high of $48.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.33. The company has a market cap of $149.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.11 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.18% and a return on equity of 11.15%. Wells Fargo & Companys revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Companys previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 3rd. 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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TFG Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM  Free Report) by 3.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,479 shares of the specialty retailers stock after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLCs holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 15,615 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at $1,359,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 8.5% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,200 shares of the specialty retailers stock valued at $2,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 29.1% in the second quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 2,660 shares of the specialty retailers stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 9.3% in the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,911 shares of the specialty retailers stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,533 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.64, for a total transaction of $201,804.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,185 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,209,113.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 100,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $15,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 565,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,875,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,533 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.64, for a total value of $201,804.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,113.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,533 shares of company stock valued at $16,608,604 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Friday, September 8th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $146.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $139.94.

View Our Latest Analysis on WSM

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM stock opened at $155.42 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.22 and a 1 year high of $158.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.52. The firm has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.61.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 64.43% and a net margin of 11.68%. The businesss revenue was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 13.97 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 24th. Investors of record on Friday, October 20th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 19th. Williams-Sonomas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.88%.

About Williams-Sonoma

(Free Report)

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.

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Xi Jinping straightens the ribbon on a flower basket during a ceremony to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2023. Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng attended a ceremony on Saturday morning in Beijing to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes. The event was held to mark China's 10th Martyrs' Day, a day ahead of its National Day. [Xinhua/Yin Bogu]

BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua)  Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state attended a ceremony on Saturday morning in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes.

The event was held to mark China's 10th Martyrs' Day, a day ahead of its National Day.

The other leaders included Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng. They were joined by representatives from all walks of life at the ceremony.

At 10 a.m., all participants sang the national anthem, and then paid a silent tribute to the martyrs who had sacrificed their lives to the liberation of the Chinese people and the development of the People's Republic of China.

Nine huge flower baskets were placed in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes. Xi and other leaders walked up to the foot of the monument, where he straightened the ribbons on the baskets before leading other senior officials in a walk around the monument to pay their tributes.

The baskets, with ribbons reading "Eternal Glory to the People's Heroes," were presented in the name of the CPC Central Committee; the National People's Congress Standing Committee; the State Council; the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; the Central Military Commission; non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and patriots without party affiliations; people's organizations and people from all walks of life; veterans, retired senior cadres and the relatives of martyrs; and Chinese Young Pioneers.

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, sustaining the spirit of the martyrs and drawing on strength from it, the Party, the armed forces, and the people of all ethnic groups are now marching on a new journey in confident strides. They are striving relentlessly for building a strong China and realizing national rejuvenation.

The ceremony was presided over by Yin Li, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC.

Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng attend a ceremony to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2023. The event was held to mark China's 10th Martyrs' Day, a day ahead of its National Day. [Xinhua/Shen Hong]

Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng attend a ceremony to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2023. The event was held to mark China's 10th Martyrs' Day, a day ahead of its National Day. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state walk around the Monument to the People's Heroes to pay their tributes in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2023. Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng attended a ceremony on Saturday morning in Beijing to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes. The event was held to mark China's 10th Martyrs' Day, a day ahead of its National Day. [Xinhua/Yue Yuewei]

(Source: Xinhua)
Transgender-rights advocates gather near the Kentucky House chamber, Thursday, March 2, 2023, in Frankfort, Ky. Tennessee and Kentucky can continue to ban gender-affirming care for young transgender people while legal challenges against those state laws proceed, a group of federal appeals judges ruled Thursday, Sept. 29(AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner, File)
A jury in Mitchell County has made a split decision in the case of Dr. Mark Haganman against Mitchell County Regional Health Center (MCRHC), MercyOne Medical Center  North Iowa, and CEO Michelle M. Russell, RN.

The jury returned its verdict on Sept. 26.

In the first matter, Haganman claimed that MCRHC wrongfully terminated his employment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Haganman had contended that a disagreement over the handling of the pandemic led to MCRHC terminating his employment. The jury decided Haganman had not proven his claim.

Haganman also claimed that MCRHC and MercyOne breached certain terms of an agreement between them, which provided benefits to him, and that he was harmed as a result. The jury again decided Haganman had not proven his claim.

Haganman next claimed that MCRHC intentionally interfered with the employment contract between MercyOne and Haganman. The jury rejected his claim.

Haganman claimed that Russell intentionally interfered with the employment contract between MercyOne and Haganman, and between MCRHC and Haganman. The jury rejected those claims.

Despite those decisions, Haganman was successful in another matter. The jury decided that Haganman had proven his claim that Russell defamed him, and it awarded Haganman $143,567.50 for past loss of wages and $4,557 for past damage to reputation, a total of $148,124.50.

As well, the jury decided that Haganman had proven by a preponderance of clear, convincing and satisfactory evidence that the conduct of Russell constituted willful disregard for his rights, and that Russells conduct was directed specifically at Haganman. The jury awarded Haganman punitive damages of $14,812.45.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference in San Francisco on October 6, 2022. The death of pioneering Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has put California Gov. Gavin Newsom under immediate pressure over whom he picks as her replacement.
Former President Donald Trump is suing retired British intelligence officer Christopher Steele over the controversial dossier he compiled which shook Washington with its unverified and salacious allegations about Trump.
Labor supporters and members of the United Auto Workers union (UAW) Local 230 march along a picket line during a strike outside of the Stellantis Chrysler Los Angeles Parts Distribution Center in Ontario, California, on September 26.
A little over one year ago at Unifors August 2022 leadership convention, Lana Payne beat Jerry Dias hand-picked successor, Scott Doherty, and Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy in the race for the unions presidency. Flush with her second ballot victory, Payne was celebrated by the assembled corporate media and the identity politics crusaders of the pseudo-left as Unifors first female president, a progressive who could bring a softer, more collegial approach to the faction ridden union bureaucracy.

During the campaign, Payne cast herself as an outsider with the self-proclaimed clean pair of hands needed to rid the union of the stench of a seedy COVID test kit kickback scandal that had exposed long-time president Dias as a scheming pandemic profiteer and attempted witness tamperer. Declared Payne at the conclusion of the 2022 convention, We can have a fighting transparent democratic union. We can build this union stronger, and we will, all of us together.

Unifor President Lana Payne at the union's 10th anniversary Canadian Council conference this past August . [Photo: Twitter/Unifor]

Thirteen months later, what is left of Payne and her teams heady promises? Mired today in her own festering scandal around a deeply suspect ratification vote for the new pattern agreement for autoworkers at Ford Canada, Payne and the union bureaucracy as a whole are once again exposed as little more than the police force for the auto bosses against the strivings of the rank-and-file membership.

With Ford workers pressing for a strike to take advantage of the simultaneous expiration of auto contracts in the United States and Canada that could initiate a powerful international offensive against the Detroit Three auto companies by uniting workers in a common struggle, Payne insisted that Unifor would chart our own course.

This nationalist course, standing squarely in the tradition of Dias and his predecessors in the Canadian Autoworkers (CAW), focused above all on blocking a joint struggle by Canadian and American autoworkers, whose contracts expired September 14. Determined to prevent Canadian Ford workers from joining the limited strike sanctioned by the UAW bureaucracy south of the border, Payne orchestrated the bureaucratic suppression of the September 18 strike deadline previously voted for by the membership. The Unifor leadership unilaterally and arbitrarily extended the contract for another day and subsequently announced a sell-out agreement with Ford that, once revealed, met with stiff resistance from the membership.

Payne took no chances. Unifor kept even the most basic details of the agreement under wraps for more than three-and-a-half days, with their release coming only hours before the ratification vote began. The one and only contract ratification meeting was held online, so as to prevent workers from collectively discussing the way forward free of bureaucratic surveillance and interference. The full contract was never presented. Only cherry-picked highlights. Voting took place by email and was open for less than 24 hours.

Paynes braggadocio about negotiating a historic, life-changing collective agreement, dutifully echoed by the lower tiers of the bureaucracy, was nevertheless met with derision by a restive and combative rank-and-file determined to put an end to concessions. And rightly so. The three-year agreementwhich Unifor now intends to make the pattern for similar sellouts at GM Canada and Stellantiscontained a meager 15 percent wage increase over the life of the contract, perpetuates the hated multi-tier wage system and provides no job security under conditions where the automakers intend to use the transition to electric vehicle production to slash jobs wholesale.

Union officials, sensing a possible rejection of the contract, reportedly resorted to voter manipulation by organizing for temporary part time workers (TPTs) to be encouraged to register for an electronic ballot on Saturday evening, despite their having missed Unifors registration deadline for all workers. The emails sought to encourage the poorly paid TPTs to vote Yes by dangling a $4,000 signing bonus as an incentive. Meanwhile, workers who no longer were employed by the company have reported they received online access to vote while other workers entitled to vote found they could not cast their ballot.

The following morning, Unifor, in a brief statement, announced that the contract had passed. No figures were initially given. Only after workers exploded in outrage at the lack of any vote results did Unifor admit that only 54 percent had voted for the deal. However, they refused to provide an actual vote breakdown. How did each plant vote? How many workers actually voted? How many workers were not provided with voting access? From the union officialdom, not a peep.

By the following day, the reasons behind Unifors reluctance to break down the vote became even clearer, when it was revealed that the skilled trades had actually voted down the contract. In violation of a 1988 union procedural letter of understanding that no Detroit Three contract can be passed until both skilled trades and production workers ratify a tentative agreement, the unions leadership simply stated that the decades-long accepted procedure to safeguard union trades is suddenly irrelevant and will be retroactively struck from the unions books at a forthcoming meeting of the National Executive Board.

So much for Paynes fighting, transparent, democratic union.

In reality, Payne is a creature of the same bureaucratic layer as the disgraced and defrocked Jerry Dias.

She began her climb through the various union bureaucracies in 1991 as a 17-year-long official in the Fisheries, Food and Allied Workers unionaffiliated at the time to the Canadian Autoworkers (CAW)before moving for six years to the presidency of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour.

Payne served as Unifors national Secretary-Treasurer under Dias leadership team, starting in 2019, having previously served a six-year stint as Atlantic Regional Director. As such, she faithfully supported Unifors corporatist alliance with big business and close political partnership with the federal Liberal government.

The now defrocked Unifor President Jerry Dias in Washington in 2019 with Canada's Deputy Prime Minister and the leading war-hawk in the Trudeau Liberal government, Chrystia Freeland [Photo: Unifor/Twitter]

She stepped in as Unifors acting president when Dias was forced in February-March 2022 to take a leave of absence, then resign due to the kickback scandal. She did her best to entirely cover up the scandal, putting out various lies, including that Dias was stepping back for medical reasons and no financial improprieties were involved. When leaks to the press made that impossible, Payne worked with the National Executive Board to sanitize and fence-off the affair as best they could. Ultimately, Payne and the rest of the Unifor top brass struck a sordid deal with Dias that saw him go off into a gilded retirement, funded by workers dues, without official union censure or criminal proceedings.

In the midst of the Dias scandal and in the immediate run-up to the August 2022 Unifor convention that selected Payne as his successor, leaks to the press revealed the lavish five-star expense accounts of 17 leading Unifor officials, including Payne. Dias expenses topped the group, reaching $317,000 in 2018 and $280,000 the following year. Scott Dohertys expenses fell just short of Dias payouts during those years. Payne also racked up six-figure expenses in 2018 and 2019 before ascending to the $170,000 per year (before expenses) top job.

The Unifor bureaucracys treachery against the workers, which finds expression in rampant corruption, is rooted in its nationalist and pro-corporate agenda. The union leadership is integrated with the auto bosses and government ministers through various tripartite corporatist bodies. These bodies helped reorganize the auto industry in 2008-9that is restore its profitability for investors through massive concessions and job cutsand they are playing a major role in the imposition of a transition to electric vehicle production that will be carried through at the expense of autoworkers. This could include the loss of up to 40 percent of all auto jobs. Imposing this unpopular agenda in the face of worker opposition requires the use of the most unscrupulous methods, which Payne has proven more than willing to employ.

As the lead organizer of last years convention, Payne proved her pro-government, pro-corporate credentials by inviting big business Liberal Labour Minister Seamus ORegan as a keynote speaker. ORegan would subsequently use draconian state powers to dictate a contract to over 7,000 west coast dockers in July 2023. Like the rest of the union bureaucracy, the Payne-led Unifor apparatus is a fervent supporter of the US-Canada-NATO-instigated war against Russia and the Liberal governments plans to spend hundreds of billion on high-tech weapon systems, including a new fleet of warships and warplanes. Only weeks before the unions 10th anniversary celebrations in Halifax this past August, Payne and a coterie of Atlantic Region union officials toured the Irving shipyards in Halifax and gushed over the meaningful contribution it is making to strengthening the Royal Canadian Navy.

Only months after ascending to the Unifor presidency, Payne played a major role in heading off an incipient Ontario-wide general strike against the Conservative government of Doug Ford when Ford moved to bypass the Federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms and criminalize an impending strike by 55,000 provincial education workers. With hundreds of thousands of workers ready to walk off the job against Fords fiat, Payne led a group of union leaders in a frenzied weekend campaign to convince Ford to withdraw his anti-worker legislation in return for an immediate end to the strike by the education workers organized by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Striking grocery workers picketing outside a Greater Toronto Area Metro store last month. [Photo: @OFLabour]

Paynes record in her first year as president has set new lows for misrepresentation, abject surrender and betrayal of militant offensives waged by her own membership. Significant strikes last year at Metro Toronto wholesale grocery warehouses and this year at Windsor Salt and Greater Toronto Metro retail grocery stores all showed workers roundly rejecting miserable tentative contracts enthusiastically endorsed by Payne and Unifor.

This weeks revelation that the Unifor bureaucracy violated its own internal procedures by declaring its sellout contract with Ford Canada ratified despite the opposition of skilled trades workers is a further glaring demonstration that for Payne, like Dias before her, the suppression of workers struggles to safeguard the profitability of the employers is job number one for these junior partners of the corporations. It underscores that autoworkers must urgently seize control of their contract struggle from the union apparatus by building rank-and-file committees to place power back where it belongs, on the shop floor.
Those who believed that the German bourgeoisie had emerged purified from its historical crimes are once again being taught better these days. Eighty years after the Second World War and the Holocaust, the ruling class in Germany is picking up where the Nazis left off, agitating against migrants and setting up a European-wide system of concentration camps in which people are interned for months on end, exploited economically and deported arbitrarily.

Moria camp in August 2020 [Photo by Faktengebunden / wikimedia / CC BY-SA 4.0

On Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz made it clear to the government cabinet that Germany would not block a further tightening of the European Unions asylum regulation. This clears the way for the adoption of a crisis regulation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which EU interior ministers have been discussing this week. The draft provides for considerable restrictions on the rights of refugees in the event of a crisis, so that standards of care may be lowered and even more people than before may be detained in camps for up to eight months.

Such cases would occur if other states tried to instrumentalise migrants against Europe. This has in mind instances like Turkey in 2020 and Morocco and Belarus briefly in 2021 when these states did not hermetically seal their borders themselves and allowed refugees to pass through. According to this perverse logic, refugees are considered enemy weapons, not people in need of help, and are treated accordingly.

The draft contains no separate provisions for children. Speaking to the press in Brussels on Thursday, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (Social Democrat, SPD) indicated that she would approve the crisis regulation on behalf of the federal government. By doing so, the German government is accepting the widespread existence of conditions like in deportation camps on Lesbos or in Libya, which are even described as concentration camp-like by bourgeois media and politicians.

In the days before, the Greens had spoken out against the EU crisis regulation, saying it could foment chaos and was not suitable for creating order on the continent. The parliamentary director of the Greens, Irene Mihalic, argued in the style of a fascist Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician that the abrogation of parts of the CEAS through the crisis regulation could lead to incentives being set for the forwarding of large numbers of unregistered refugees towards Germany. The German government could not be held responsible for this. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had made almost identical comments earlier on X/Twitter.

The CEAS in its current form is already a stain on modern European history. A joint statement by over 50 human rights and refugee aid organisations speaks of a devaluation of European fundamental and human rights and the erosion of the principles of the rule of law that call into question the foundations of the rule of law. The World Socialist Web Site recently noted that EU states are abandoning the foundations of the Geneva Refugee Convention by building detention camps and effectively abolishing the fundamental right to asylum.

The persecution of migrants is not limited to the EU's external borders but is also being intensified within the Schengen free-travel area. On Wednesday, Interior Minister Faeser had announced that the federal police would carry out additional flexible focus controls at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic with immediate effectin addition to the stationary border controls already taking place at the German-Austrian border. The controls do not have to be requested at EU level and are to be supported by the German customs authorities with up to 500 enforcement officers. They would complement the ongoing stops, which have already been intensified in recent months, she said.

This is a targeted campaign by the ruling class to advance its war against the working class and to strengthen the most right-wing forces in doing so.

When proclaiming his reactionary Germany Pact at the beginning of September, Chancellor Scholz had already explicitly called for an intensified fight against irregular migration and an expansion of detention pending deportation. At an election event in Nuremberg, Scholz now held out the prospect of further possible measures to limit migration and called for more effective deportations. With regard to possible border controls, he said that depending on the situation, further measures may have to be taken at the borders, for example at the Polish border.

Only a few days ago, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in solidarity with the fascist Italian head of government Giorgia Meloni, announced a ten-point plan to fight refugees. This plan, in conjunction with a decree by the Italian government, provides for the internment of refugees under the supervision of the Italian military in remote areas that are as sparsely populated as possible and for the interlinking of the Italian navys operations in an integrated approach with Frontex, Europol and the regimes of the transit countries.

Leading German politicians from government and opposition are engaging in undisguised incitement. For example, opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed, completely contrary to the facts, that refugees get their teeth done for free, while German citizens had to wait a long time for a dentist appointment.

According to a report in the Suddeutsche Zeitung, Chancellor Scholz had claimed in a meeting of the SPD parliamentary group on Tuesday that the number of people coming to Germany was much greater than what can be easily coped with. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also invoked a load limit being reached by migrants.

The increasing number of refugees and displaced persons can be attributed solely to the war and class-war policies of the coalition government itself. With increasingly deadly arms deliveries to the Ukrainian military, it is relentlessly pushing the brutal proxy war on the backs of the Ukrainian population and is guilty of failing to provide aid in Libya, Morocco, Turkey and other disaster-stricken areas. When state and local politicians claim that they have no financial leeway to provide for asylum seekers, it is a result of the federal, state and local governments deliberately wrecking the social systems in order to finance the costs of war and rearmament.

The smear campaign has the particular aim of making hostility to refugees the all-dominant issue in upcoming state elections. In Bavaria and Hesse, where elections will be held October 8, as well as in Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia, where elections are due next year, the far-right AfD is being strengthened in order to legitimise a further shift to the right by all other parties.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Soder (Christian Social Union, CSU) demanded that asylum seekers only be supported with benefits in kind, that an integration limit of 200,000 refugees per year be set and that the list of so-called safe countries of origin be extended to include, for example, the Maghreb states and India. Saxonys Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) and Brandenburgs Interior Minister Michael Stubgen (SPD) called for stationary police checks at the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic.

Title page of Der Spiegel 39/23 and anti-Semitic postcard from 1901 against Jewish refugees coming to Vienna [Photo: Composite]

The media plays a central role in stirring up the public with this nationalist agitation. On September 23, Der Spiegelthe country's biggest news magazineappeared with a cover unmistakably borrowed from an anti-Semitic motif circulated from 1901 onwards by the far-right Vienna city government under Karl Lueger. The Spiegel cover employs alienation and montage to paint the image of refugees, familiar in right-wing extremist circles, as a threatening and anonymous mass. Emblazoned above it is the title, Can we manage it again?

In its cover story, the magazine claims that amid rising asylum applications and overburdened municipalities in Germany, there is hardly any sign of a welcoming culture. When Der Spiegel launched a similar smear campaign in 1991 under the title Der Ansturm der Armen (The onslaught of the poor), it contributed to a pogrom-like mood at the height of which right-wing extremist gangs carried out murderous arson attacks on refugees in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, Hoyerswerda, Solingen and Molln.

In reality, surveys repeatedly show that feelings of solidarity with refugees are very high within the population. In July, a representative survey by the German Council of Experts on Integration and Migration (SVR) showed that the majority of the population in Germany expresses solidarity with refugees and is accordingly willing to help them. According to this, three out of four of the more than 4,000 respondents would make a donation; two thirds would help accompany refugees to the authorities; just under one third would take in refugees at home.

This solidarity is a thorn in the side of the ruling class because it contradicts capitalist exploitation, which is based on the division of the world into competing nation states. A united movement of the international working class, which recognises its real enemy in the respective national elites and oligarchs, is to be prevented at all costs.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) fights among workers for the perspective of the United Socialist States of Europe and demands the immediate abolition of Fortress Europe, combined with the universal right to choose freely where to live and work. All people who seek protection at the external borders and within their borders due to the inhuman policies of the EU states must be comprehensively helped by confiscating the assets of the European capitalists and using them to meet the social and economic needs of all workers.

The SGP, together with its European sister parties, will also fight for this perspective in the upcoming elections to the European Parliament.
The latest hidden wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that began in the United States in late June appears to have finally begun to ebb. According to Biobot Analytics wastewater data, levels of SARS-CoV-2 are starting to decline throughout the US, with the Northeast lagging other regions of the country.

At present, however, infections remain near the peak reached during the week of August 30 to September 6, and viral transmission remains very high in each region. Infectious disease modeler JP Weiland estimating that current wastewater levels translate to more than 570,000 COVID infections each day. Based on his modeling, by the end of October the current wave will have likely infected more than 60 million Americans.

The virus is continuing to spread unhindered throughout the world, with wastewater data on the rise in Canada, Germany and other countries that still have such surveillance systems in place. At the same time, SARS-CoV-2 continue to evolve at a rapid clip, producing new variants and mutations all over the world.

The Omicron BA.2.86 subvariant (nicknamed Pirola) appears to have picked up an important escape mutation that has been seen in the FLip variants, including in the Omicron EG.5 subvariant (nicknames Eris), which is the most prevalent variant in the US and many other countries. In a recent report, Bloom Lab noted that Pirolas affinity for ACE2 receptors is higher than BA.2 and XBB.1.5, writing, Possibly this could impact transmissibility, and certainly could impact tolerance for future antibody escape mutations.

The temporary decline in the COVID wave in the US is also evident in the hospitalization data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker, which reports that hospitalizations for COVID-19 have declined slightly from their peak in the week ending on September 9, 2023, when 20,562 Americans were admitted for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the official CDC figures for COVID deaths, the most lagging indicator, show that as of September 2, 2023, weekly deaths had reached 1,088 fatalities, up 2.3-fold from their lows on July 8, 2023. Given the lag associated with deaths, this figure may continue to climb throughout the month of September.

Unsurprisingly, amid the latest wave, even as COVID-19 deaths and excess deaths associated with COVID-19 were on the rise, the CDC announced last week that their website on provisional excess death counts for COVID-19 would be archived on September 27, 2023. The agency has taken great pains to quietly and in succession disappear virtually all meaningful data that the population requires to protect themselves from the many dangers posed by COVID-19 infection and reinfection.

Among these dangers are Long COVID, estimated to be impacting over 20 million Americans and hundreds of millions of people globally, as well as damage to myriad organ systems.

On Thursday, a study was published by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), finding that SARS-CoV-2 infects and replicates in the coronary arteries regardless of the level of plaque they contain. This appears to explain why certain COVID-19 patients have a greater chance of developing cardiovascular disease or have more heart-related complications after their infection.

Regarding the mechanism behind these observations, the authors wrote:

SARS-CoV-2 induced a robust inflammatory response in cultured macrophages [human white blood cells] and human atherosclerotic vascular explants with secretin of cytokines known to trigger cardiovascular events. Our data establish that SARS-CoV-2 infects coronary vessels, inducing plaque inflammation that could trigger acute cardiovascular complications and increase the long-term cardiovascular risk.

Despite the best efforts of the entire political establishment and corporate media to ignore or downplay the recent wave of the pandemic, the reality of mass infection has had an impact on mass consciousness and behavior.

According to Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), four in 10 adults have modified their behavior during the current wave, with a quarter of all Americans saying they are now more likely to mask in public, 22 percent planning to avoid large gatherings, 17 percent less likely to travel and 15 percent less likely to dine indoors at restaurants. Also, nearly half the population is considering getting the latest booster shot tailored to the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant.

Indeed, there is a healthy response within the population to such information which is at the heart of the issue for the ruling elites. The forever COVID policy is not just to allow a deadly pathogen to continue to infect en masse large swaths of the population every few months.

These healthy developments within the population are anathema to the dominant views of the ruling class, for whom a globally-integrated public health infrastructure is seen as a threat to the functioning of commerce.

This anti-public health and anti-science approach is bound up with the accelerating phase of capitalisms death agony, in which delirium and delusions grip the consciousness of the ruling elites, increasingly aware that their days are numbered. This makes the situation for the working class all the more dangerous and requires they openly enter the class struggle ever more determined to seize control over mankinds productive forces.

When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevention of future spillover events, capitalist leaders are gripped by a paralysis of will. Even with 28 million excess deaths in the first four years of the pandemic, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response which met after the UN General Assembly concluded their meeting without any clear resolution. Their only agreement was to hold another session in 2026.

Speaking with the Associated Press after the meeting, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark commented, I think its fair to say that the declaration is a missed opportunity. It has many pages and paragraphs and only one firm commitment and that is to hold another high-level meeting in three years time.

She explained that the ministers and political leaders speaking at the summit attempted to avoid drawing any comprehensive lessons from the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Noting the impact on rising extreme poverty, hunger, massive economic impacts borne by populations of the world, and the rising crisis of social inequality, Clark stated:

Many of them missed the point. Pandemics dont impact just health; they impact many different facets of peoples lives, and government operations. It was clear that they should have been taking the overarching view. But they went down quite a narrow track to talk about health.

At the UN Meeting, Clark warned:

Viruses that can cause pandemics will not wait for diplomacy to produce results  Ingenuity and human solidarity can make COVID-19 the last pandemic to cause such devastation. But all of it depends above all on the political choice of member states.

Beyond SARS-CoV-2, there remain many very deadly pathogens with pandemic potential that could spillover into human populations at any point, including the highly virulent H5N1 bird flu pandemic among multiple animal populations, the recent Nipah virus outbreak currently underway in Southern India, and more.

This week, former Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, Kate Bingham, promoting her book co-authored with vaccine expert Tim Hames, warned that the world has grown too comfortable with COVID.

In an interview with Daily Mail, Bingham remarked:

Let me put it this way: the 1918-19 flu pandemic killed at least 50 million people worldwide, twice as many as were killed in World War I. Today, we could expect a similar death toll from one of the many viruses that exist. Today, there are more viruses busily replicating and mutating than all the other life forms on our planet combined. Not all of them pose a threat to humans, of course  but plenty do.

Bingham then stated that in a sense, we got lucky with COVID-19, despite the fact that it caused 20 million or more deaths across the world.

Recent modeling and historical analysis note that the threat of pandemics similar to or more deadly than COVID are no longer once-in-a-century dangers. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2021 found the probability of a COVID-level event is now around 2 percent in any year. The study notes:

together with recent estimates of increasing rates of disease emergence from animal reservoirs associated with environmental change, this finding suggests a high probability of observing pandemics similar to COVID-19 (probability of experiencing it in ones lifetime currently about 38 percent), which may double in coming decades.

Even with discussions of the next pandemic taking place in various academic circles, the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to mutate, acquiring new mutations as it infects hundreds of millions in short order throughout the globe. The evolution of the highly-mutated Pirola confirms the continuous warnings of the World Socialist Web Site, based on the work of numerous principled scientists from throughout the world, and underscores the urgent need for the international working class to fight for a global elimination strategy to stop the pandemic.
Editor's Note This is the second in a three-part series examining hurdles and successes of Danville Public Schools. THURSDAY: Changes come amid three-year corrective action plan.

Changes come amid three-year corrective action plan. TODAY: Partnerships  including better relationship with school board and City Council  a boost for school system.

Partnerships  including better relationship with school board and City Council  a boost for school system. TUESDAY: The role of parents in engagement, absenteeism and overall morale.

About 10 years ago, the Danville School Board and City Council didnt always see eye to eye.

In fact, members of one board would openly bash the other in meetings.

The tension was obvious.

As Lee Vogler, a member of the Danville City Council, puts it, it was an us versus them mentality.

Now, its virtually the opposite. There are bonds instead of jabs.

The council and the school board are now partners in the drive to improve education, according to Superintendent Angela Hairston.

The proof is in the $200 million capital improvement plan underway within the division that will either upgrade schools or build new ones, courtesy of a 1% sales tax referendum.

Quality environments make a difference, Hairston explained in a recent interview with the Register & Bee following the release of testing scores for the system. She knows the upgrades will pay off for a division struggling with accreditation.

Vogler said as members changed on each board, the working relationship ebbed and flowed over the years.

Were all in the same boat, he explained to the Register & Bee terming the current relationship as a good one.

School board members regularly attend City Council meetings, he explained. We stay in regular communication.

Money matters created strains of the past.

For instance, in 2012, the City Council didnt get an itemized budget from the school system.

In fact, I wouldnt even call what we were a given a general budget, he said. We were handed something less than a one sheet with a dollar amount attached to it.

At the time, he recalls asking a council member  who is no longer there  where is the money going?

Vogler was told thats simply the way things were done. The City Council didnt micromanage the school system.

Being in the dark didnt set well for Volger, who in 2012 was new on council.

Its true that we, as City Council, shouldnt involve ourselves in the day to day operations of DPS, but as stewards of the taxpayers money, we absolutely should demand accountability on where the money we allocate is going, he said.

And he did just that.

This year, the new chief financial officer with Danville Public Schools provided a breakout of the local versus state revenues.

I think those are important metrics for local government, Hairston explained.

Vogler acknowledged that each passing year brought a higher level of transparency.

Each year it started getting a little better, but I must say, this past year was the most thorough and detailed budget process we have ever gone through with DPS, he said.

Early in the budget cycle council got an itemized budget for the school system. Thats the same report a school board member receives.

That had never happened before, and so I thank Dr. Hairston for that, Vogler said.

Beyond the boards

The partnerships go well beyond elected officials.

There are some 100 entities  from businesses to nonprofits  that are donating items or volunteering in the schools.

This effort came without any prodding from the school system. In fact, it wasnt until a full tally was completed recently that Hairston realized the extent of those helping out.

One example is Sovah Health-Danville.

After taking over leading the hospital earlier this year, Steve Healtherly decided a good way to engage in community service was to adopt a school.

Theres been a lot of discussion ... on how do we support education, he explained in a summer interview with the Register & Bee.

The hospital adopted Woodberry Hills Elementary where through individual contributions from workers and a match from Sovah Health they donated $5,000 to make sure teachers had the essentials.

The Danville Fire Department also pitched in with donations from its Fill the Truck event. On a recent Friday morning, the front office of the school administration building was overflowing with supplies, clothing and personal hygiene items the firefighters had just brought in.

They are not sitting on the sidelines, Hairston explained of the help the system is receiving from the community. Quietly our business community and agencies are adopting schools and doing things that are school-specific.

Churches also are in the education giving spirit. One even provided money and told the system to purchase whatever supplies were needed.

Changing a mindset

Community involvement is one way the stigma associated with Danville Public Schools  especially with low Standard of Learning Scores and accreditation earnings  is changing.

Before people criticize, it would be great to know if theyve volunteered in a school, seen a school or even been in a school in the last 20 to 30 years, Hairston said. Because school has changed.

Thats where these partnerships come in. With more people going into the schools and seeing whats happening  versus following a social media thread  they often come out saying this is nothing like I thought it was, she said.

The more we have those individuals in the schools, the more they can go out and spread good news, she said of the changed mindset many have after simply helping out.

With a more tethered electronic lifestyle, parents can communicate easily with educators. Yet, sometimes that interaction can be a bit much, since theres no on/off button with educators.

Adrienne Brune, an associate professor and chair of sociology and criminal justice at Averett University, suggested a possible public venue to talk about potential solutions with school issues as a way to take some of the pressure off of teachers.

It also would help get more community members engaged.

So its probably really difficult for teachers to have their own work/life balance, she said of parents being able to reach out anytime of the day or night. It definitely does have to bring down that morale.

And its often a larger problem that just one teacher.

Thats why for school districts as a whole  in general  Brune tossed out and idea of public input sessions for the community.

Before we judge, oftentimes we have to walk in the shoes of others, and sometimes you can do that by simply volunteering, Hairston explained.

She said its easy for some to criticize and ask why are they not like we were in school?

Its harder to volunteer and see whats happening.

Until we are all willing to do the hard work, our kids have a long road ahead, Hairston said.
Canadas parliament applauds Yaroslav Hunka, a former member of the Waffen-SS. Canadas Chief of Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre is on the far left.

Last week, every member of Canadas parliament, along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, took part in a standing ovation for Nazi war criminal Yaroslav Hunka, whom the speaker of the Canadian parliament declared a hero.

It has since come to light that among those applauding the Nazi was Sabine Sparwasser, Germanys ambassador to Canada.

At a press conference on Wednesday, a spokesman for Germanys Foreign Office confirmed Sparwassers participation in the standing ovation for the Nazi, along with diplomats and ambassadors from other G7 countries.

Seventy-eight years after the fall of the Third Reich, a top diplomatic official of the German government has applauded a member of a criminal organization that played a key role in the Holocaust and in Hitlers war of extermination against the Soviet Union. This action is the result of a systematic campaign, years in the making, to rehabilitate Nazism as part of the promotion of German militarism at the highest levels of the German state.

In attempting to downplay the significance of Sparwassers applause for Hunka, a spokesperson for the German Foreign Office asserted that that the true identity of Mr. Hunka, namely that he was a volunteer member of the Waffen-SS, was not known to those present, since his participation had not been announced.

This is totally unconvincing. The appearance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in front of the Canadian parliament was an important political event that was meticulously prepared. Invited guests would have been thoroughly vetted for security reasons. This is especially true for a guest of honor like Hunka, who was called by name and officially celebrated.

Even if the German ambassador had not been informed beforehand, she must have known who Hunka was when he was introduced by the now-former speaker of the Canadian Parliament, Anthony Rota.

We have in the chamber today a Ukrainian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today, even at his age of 98, Rota said. His name is Yaroslav Hunka but I am very proud to say he is from North Bay and from my riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming. He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service.

Sparwasser knew exactly whom she was applauding. She is a highly trained top diplomat who has been working in leading positions at the Federal Foreign Office for more than 35 years and is familiar with political and historical issuesespecially with regard to recent European and German history. Before her diplomatic career, she was, among other things, a research assistant on European integration.

In an effort to defend Sparwasser, the Federal Foreign Office spokesman stated that there had been a wide variety of groups in the Second World War that had resisted both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, citing the Polish Home Army as an example.

Anyone familiar with the history of World War II knows that the Polish Home Army fought against the Nazi occupation and was almost completely wiped out in Warsaw in the course of the brutal suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. Only after the victory of the Red Army over the Wehrmacht did individual fighters, referred to as outcast soldiers, take up armed resistance against the new Moscow-backed Polish government.

In the case of Hunka, it was also clear from the outset that he was not a fighter of the Polish Home Army or any other resistance organization, but a Ukrainian Nazi. The Ukrainians who fought against the Russians in World War II were fascists who glorified the Nazi regime and continue to do so to this day. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians who fought in World War II were fighting against the Nazis, either in the Soviet army or as partisans.

In 1943, when millions of Ukrainians were at war against the German invaders, Hunka joined the tens of thousands of Ukrainians, including many students, in the SS Volunteer Galicia Division of the Waffen SS. He later described his years in the SS as the happiest of his life.

The WSWS has already explained in previous articles that the standing ovation for a member of Hitlers Waffen SS was no accident. It exposes the character of the war that the NATO powers are waging in Ukraine against Russia, and which, supported by the most reactionary political forces, they are continuing to escalate. Germany is playing a leading role in this.

Just two days before Sparwassers applause for Hunka, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz launched an anti-Russian tirade at the United Nations of which Hitler would have been proud. The chancellor aggressively emphasized that Berlin rejects peace negotiations and is pursuing the goal of defeating Russia militarily in Ukraine. The German ruling class is thus directly pursuing its war and great power goals in the First and Second World Wars, when it was likewise seeking to militarily subjugate and split up the resource-rich and geo-strategically important country.

Ideologically, the realization of these revanchist goals requires the rehabilitation of Nazism. In Ukraine, the imperialist powers rely on the same fascist forces with which Hitlers Germany made a pact during the invasion of the Soviet Union. Already at the beginning of 2014, Washington and Berlin orchestrated an anti-Russian coup in Kiev, in which fascist forces such as the Svoboda Party and the Right Sector played the decisive role. Since then, they have been supporting and arming to the teeth a regime that reveres Nazi collaborators like Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych and mobilizes army units like the Azov Battalion that openly flaunt their fascist views.

The Waffen SS Galicia Division, to which Hunka belonged, is today being publicly celebrated. In Lviv, which was a centre of Ukrainian fascism during the Nazi occupation in World War II, a parade in honour of the SS Division has been held annually on April 28 since 2010. In several Ukrainian cities, roads were renamed after the Galicia Division. On September 23, 2020, the Supreme Court of Ukraine ruled that the symbols of the SS Galicia Division are not associated with Nazism and therefore should not be banned.

In addition to Kiev, Berlin itself is also a centre of this open rehabilitation of fascism. The German federal parliament already had its Hunka moment on February 27, 2022. When Scholz announced the 100 billion special fund for the German army and the first heavy arms deliveries for Kiev three days after Russias NATO-provoked invasion of Ukraine, then-Ukrainian Ambassador Andrij Melnyk was the guest of honour in the Bundestag. And although Melnyk is an avowed Bandera supporter and publicly honors and defends his murderous legacy, the entire Bundestag applauded him.

The official attitude of the German government towards the Ukrainian Nazi collaborators does not differ from that of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. In response to a parliamentary question from the Left Party on right-wing extremist manifestations of Ukrainian historical policy, the German government recently stated that it expressly does not adopt the blanket classification of certain (historical) groups or persons as right-wing extremist, anti-Semitic, anti-Gypsy or otherwise racist.

The groups and persons mentioned in the answer to the parliamentary question are, among others, Bandera, Shukhevych and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) under their command. Both were demonstrably involved in the Holocaust and in massacres of Russians, Poles and Hungarians. The OUN-M also provided the volunteers for the Waffen SS Galicia Division, of which Hunka was a member.

This despicable whitewashing of Nazi organizations and their horrific crimes has been prepared for years. In 2014, far-right Humboldt University Professor Jorg Baberowski described Hitler in Der Spiegel as not vicious, and claimed: He did not want people to talk about the extermination of the Jews at his table. In the same interview, he expressed his solidarity with the now deceased Nazi apologist Ernst Nolte, who publicly argued in the 1980s that Hitlers war of extermination was a justified reaction to the Soviet Union.

The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party--SGP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) publicly condemned this deliberate effort to whitewash National Socialism and warned that the relativisation of Nazi war crimes was aimed at preparing new wars and new crimes.

These warnings have been dramatically confirmed. The ruling class is now openly celebrating fascist forces, signaling that it will stop at nothing to ensure the defeat and subjugation of Russia. A renewed relapse into world war and barbarism must be prevented. This requires the building of an anti-war movement of the international working class based on a socialist program.
An address to the National Press Club by Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson, calling for a yes vote in the referendum to enshrine an indigenous advisory body to government in the Constitution, received a standing ovation from the assembled journalists. With little pretense of impartiality, they have since hailed Pearsons remarks as inspiring and powerful.

Noel Pearson addressing the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra, September 27, 2023. [Photo: ABC News screen grab]

In fact, Pearsons statements summed up the essentially right-wing, conservative and pro-business character of the proposal to establish a Voice to parliament in the October 14 referendum. His remarks were based on complete support for the status quo, i.e., the dominance of the corporate and financial elite, and a promotion of Australian nationalism that dovetails with the escalation of militarism and war.

In their coverage, various Yes-aligned journalists have sought to draw a parallel between Pearsons remarks and some of the famous civil rights speeches, such as those made by Dr Martin Luther King. Much of Pearsons address was delivered in a sort of free verse poetry and he used every rhetorical trick in the book.

The effect, however, was other than intended. Essentially, Pearson combined hackneyed and cliched rhetoric with banality. The strained character of the speech reflected two basic facts.

Unlike the civil rights movement in the United States, there is no democratic content to the Voice. King and others, for all their limitations, were associated with a fight against discrimination and government oppression. Pearson is promoting a government policy aimed at dividing the working class along racial lines, revamping the image of Australian capitalism and further entrenching a privileged indigenous elite, of which he is a prominent representative.

Secondly, Pearson spoke as the referendum and the Yes campaign are in a deep-going crisis. The Labor government placed the Voice at the centre of its agenda, to exploit widespread concern over the plight of indigenous people and to put a progressive gloss on its agenda of war and austerity.

However, the campaign has backfired. Polling is indicating that less than 40 percent of the eligible population will vote yes. The polls also indicate that the cost-of-living crisis, and the refusal of the government to address it in any way, is a major factor in the decline in support for the Voice.

For many months, the Yes campaign made little reference to the social crisis afflicting most indigenous people, reflecting its character as a top-down initiative. That has shifted in recent weeks, with vague assertions that the existence of the advisory body will somehow improve the situation.

This was a feature of Pearsons speech. He referenced the appalling levels of rheumatic heart disease among Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.

But as with the rest of the Yes campaign, Pearson could not provide a compelling explanation as to how the Voice would improve indigenous health in any tangible way. His only argument was the hazy assertion, When we listen to each other, outcomes improve.

Governments, however, are well aware of the appalling conditions afflicting most Aborigines. Those conditions are themselves the deliberate outcome of official policy and form part of a broader onslaught against the social rights of the entire working class, which is being deepened by the Labor government.

The Voice, moreover, will provide no voice for oppressed indigenous people. Instead it will further integrate the wealthy Aboriginal bureaucrats and businesspeople, such as Pearson, into the structures of government and the state.

The bulk of Pearsons remarks were not about the social conditions facing indigenous workers.

Instead, his pitch was that the establishment of the Voice would complete Australia. It would bring together the three strands of the Australian story and identity which Pearson identified as indigenous culture, constitutional democracy and a multicultural triumph.

This argument was connected to a full-throated promotion of nationalism. It is the love of our country that joins us all as Australians, Pearson said. As if by way of a disclaimer, he added: I said its not the same as patriotism, because theres nothing political about this love of country.

This is simply false. The peddling of nationalism is always political. In this instance it aligns completely with a key aim of the Labor government in calling the referendum. That is to revamp and prettify the image of Australian capitalism, in order to help prosecute the US-led economic, geo-strategic and military conflict with China. Labor is fearful that its agitation against Beijing throughout the Pacific and Asia will be complicated by Australian capitalisms horrific record of oppression against the Aboriginal people.

The other key purpose of nationalism is to suppress class divisions. Pearson described the Voice as a peace dividend, that would end racial and social conflicts. If we vote yes, were voting yes to orientate the relationship between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians down a safe and responsible middle path, Pearson said. Voting Yes is a rejection of confected war. Voting Yes crosses the bridge on the pathway to peace.

This is an argument for national unity that extends beyond the immediate issue of the plight of indigenous people. It is an insistence that all layers of society must unite around a new Australian identity consecrated by the Voice. This is directed against the growth of opposition in the working class, amid unrelenting attacks on jobs, wages and conditions, enormous social inequality and a resurgence of class struggle internationally.

As if to hammer away at the conservative character of his pitch, Pearson repeatedly emphasised the safe character of the Voice. It would not challenge the existing constitutional and parliamentary order in any way, he insisted. Its composition and function would be wholly determined by parliament.

In the course of his address, Pearson favourably referenced the empty calls for reconciliation by former Labor Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating. Pearson also quoted John Howard, the previous Liberal-National prime minister who denounced all references to the historical oppression of Aborigines as a form of black arm-band history.

He essentially presented the Voice as a means of blaming impoverished Aborigines for their own plight. With the establishment of the advisory body, indigenous people would have to take responsibility. Pearson stated: Blame us when you give us a voice. Hold us accountable, too, when we do this.

Those comments dovetailed with Pearsons repeated denunciations of welfare dependency. The indigenous leader has frequently joined with openly right-wing politicians to depict the plight of oppressed Aborigines as a result of excessive government assistance, which can be overcome through grit and an entrepreneurial spirit. Pearsons entire record points to the reactionary character of the Voice proposal.

Pearsons rise to prominence in the 1990s was associated with his establishment of the Cape York Land Council. Such councils have acquired some control of historically-indigenous lands under the framework of the Aboriginal land rights system, set in motion by previous Labor governments. Land rights have done nothing to improve the social plight of ordinary indigenous people, but have created a wealthy indigenous elite.

Pearson has for years been involved in official politics. He was a supporter of the Howard governments 2007 Northern Territory intervention, a police-military occupation of Aboriginal areas which involved the suspension of basic civil liberties and brutal social attacks, such as welfare quarantine. Pearson effectively participated in the intervention, helping the Howard government to establish an advisory council of indigenous elders backing the state operation.

Pearsons record also highlights the grubby origins of proposals for a Voice and for indigenous recognition in the Constitution. In September 2007, Pearson wrote an open letter to Howard, warning his political ally of likely defeat in that years election. Pearson urged the right-wing Liberal prime minister to hold a referendum to recognise indigenous people in the constitution as a means to reverse Howards deep unpopularity, resulting from Australias involvement in the criminal US-led Iraq war and sweeping attacks on workers rights, and ensure his reelection.

Pearson gushed to Howard: I believe that Australia needs your leadership during the next term of government.

Howard indicated his support and announced plans for a referendum. But before Pearsons proposal could get going, the Howard government was ousted in the November 2007 election and Howard himself lost his seat.

Pearson revived the push for constitutional recognition under the Gillard Labor government, joining an official panel to develop the proposal in 2010. Gillard continued the sweeping attacks on Aboriginal people associated with the Northern Territory intervention, as part of a broader onslaught on welfare, education and healthcare.

Pearson also had close ties with the Liberal prime minister who succeeded Gillard, Tony Abbott. An extreme right-wing figure, Abbott hailed Pearson as a prophet because of his calls for Aborigines to take responsibility for their social conditions.

Pearson was at a 2015 meeting convened by Abbott to discuss constitutional recognition, which then Labor leader Bill Shorten participated in, together with other indigenous leaders. Abbott called the meeting as a bid to deflect social opposition to the sweeping austerity measures that his government had recently introduced. That meeting would set in motion a process that has culminated in the current referendum.

The referendum is being held now, because the powers-that-be recognise that these social tensions have reached a breaking point. The aim, as Pearson spelled out, is to drum up a sense of national unity and to suppress the fundamental class questions, for fear that they will erupt.

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.
Following the one-day offensive launched by Azeri forces against Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19, it was announced that the number of Armenian civilians who had fled the region had reached 89,000. Around 120,000 people were thought to be living in the region when the offensive began.

The Russian RIA Novosti news agency yesterday morning quoted Nazeli Baghdasaryan, press secretary of the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers, as saying that since September 24, 88,780 people have arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the Interfax news agency, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday: Analysis of the situation shows that in the coming days, there will be no Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh  This is an act of ethnic cleansing.

The Azeri Foreign Ministry rejected the accusation, claiming the departures are a personal and individual decision and [have] nothing to do with forced relocation. Baku said the people of Nagorno-Karabakh would have the same rights as citizens of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijans latest offensive, which reportedly killed a total of 400 soldiers on both sides, was a final act in a decades-long fratricidal conflict between the two former Soviet republics.

This conflict is a disastrous consequence of the Stalinist bureaucracys dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and has re-emerged in the context of the ongoing war between two other former Soviet republics, Ukraine and Russia.

It points to the threat of the geographical expansion of NATOs war against Russia in Ukraine, a danger that can only be stopped by the mass mobilization of the international working class in an anti-war and socialist movement.

The Armenian-backed Republic of Artsakh in Nagorno-Karabakh, declared in 1991 but not recognized by any country, announced on Thursday that it would cease to exist at the end of this year.

A decree, signed by the unrecognized republics president Samvel Shahramanyan, who took office in an indirect election in early September, called on the population to integrate into Azerbaijan, stating: The population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including those outside the Republic, after the entry into force of this Decree, should familiarize themselves with the conditions of reintegration presented by the Republic of Azerbaijan in order to make an independent and individual decision on the possibility of staying (returning) in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijans latest military offensive, which resulted in the declaration of its full control over Nagorno-Karabakh, far from resolving the decades-long crisis, has only set the stage for a wider conflict in which the NATO imperialist powers and regional states will be involved.

Washington has seized on the conflict and the resulting humanitarian tragedy as an opportunity to increase its influence in the strategic South Caucasus region. The area is located south of Russia and north of Iran, as well as near international trade routes.

US Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power, who is visiting the region, said Washington is deeply concerned about the safety of vulnerable populations in Nagorno-Karabakh and the more than 50,000 people who have fled to Armenia. She also said that Washington would stand in solidarity with Armenia.

It is essential that a UN mission can access the territory within the next days, Brussels said yesterday, while the US called to send an international monitoring mission to the region. The European Union has however increasingly oriented to Azeri gas because of sanctions against Russia. Baku announced yesterday that it might allow a group of experts from the United Nations to visit Nagorno-Karabakh in the coming days.

Although a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Armenia has recently improved its relations with the United States under the leadership of pro-NATO President Nikol Pashinyan. Azerbaijans latest offensive follows a series of events that have heightened tensions between Yerevan and Moscow.

Armenia and the United States held a joint military exercise outside Yerevan from September 11 to 20. The exercise was also intended to prepare Armenian forces for a NATO Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) evaluation under the NATO Partnership for Peace programme later this year, according to a US official statement.

Earlier this month, Moscow responded to Pashinyans remarks that military dependence on Russia was a strategic mistake by summoning the Armenian ambassador to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

In addition, Russia issued a note to Armenia after Pashinyan made statements in favour of the Armenian parliaments possible ratification of the Rome Statute. If Yerevan ratifies it, Russian President Vladimir Putin could be arrested upon entering Armenia due to a rule of the International Criminal Court.

Azerbaijans latest offensive has been prepared in coordination with Turkey, as in the 2020 war. Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler hosted the Azerbaijani defence minister at the end of August and the Azerbaijani chief of staff on September 11.

On the basis of the Russian-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement, Baku and Ankara advocate the opening of a corridor (Zangezur Corridor) between Turkey and Azerbaijan through Armenian territory.

The agreement states: Subject to agreement between the Parties, the construction of new transport communications to link the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with the western regions of Azerbaijan will be ensured. Armenia, however, declared its opposition to any attempt to violate its sovereignty.

The corridor, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described as strategic is a crucial link in the Turkish ruling elites plans for a Middle Corridor from Turkey to China, in line with Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.

An article by the Atlantic Council in July 2021 stated:

According to Turkish officials, as well as potentially helping to establish Turkey as one of the worlds top ten economies, the Middle Corridor initiative could also significantly reduce transit time between China and European markets. The corridor offers the possibility of a 12-day freight time frame. This compares favorably to the 20-day travel time via Russia or more than 30 days via existing maritime options.

Erdogan told the press on Tuesday, a day after his meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Nakhchivan that We are doing our best to open the Zangezur corridor. There are also positive signals from Iran. If Armenia prevents the opening of the Zangezur corridor, it is possible for the corridor to pass through Iran.

The Iranian state-owned IRNA responded: This is the first time the Turkish president has welcomed Irans proposal that Azerbaijan can use Iranian territory instead of Armenian soil for its trucks to reach Nakhchivan.

However, Tehran is not keen on a Zangezur Corridor through Armenia, fearing that it could alter its border with its northern neighbour and increase the influence of NATO member Turkey and Azerbaijans other critical ally, Israel, in the region.

Following a visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Iran on September 3, an article published by Irans Mehr News Agency stated:

Tehran is against any change in the borders of its neighbors, as well as any change in the geopolitical map of the region and creation of the corridor. The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the creation of such a corridor will drain the geopolitical capacities of the region in favor of NATO and the Zionist regime. Because the Zangezur Corridor can provide NATO with access to the Caspian Sea.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Israel provided 69 percent of Azerbaijans major arms imports in 2016-2020. The Times of Israel reported that Israel stepped up its weapons shipments to Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
If you are a resident or worker in Maui affected by the fires or impacted in the aftermath and want to share your story click here to contact the WSWS.

On Thursday, about 40 people attended a public Hawaii State Senate field hearing at the Lahaina Civic Center on Maui. Hawaii, which became the 50th state of the US in 1959, has been ruled by Democratic Party since 1962. This hearing was led by Democratic state senators Jarrett Keohokalole (representing Windward Oahu), Lorraine Inouye (Hilo), Angus McKelvey (West Maui), Herbert Richards III (north shore of Hawaii Island) and Republican state senator Brenton Awa (Kaneohe, Kahuku, Schofield Barracks).

Black tarps have been erected along the roadway to block the view of destroyed homes

The hearing was held in-person and on Zoom and led by the five Hawaii state senators to ostensibly put pressure on the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) and the departments insurance division to work harder on behalf of the survivors of the August 8 fire disaster in West Maui which destroyed much of the city of Lahaina.

On display at this hearing, like so many others, was the callous indifference and hostility of the government as working class victims emotionally described their trauma having lost everything.

Several fire survivors spoke passionately about the dire conditions they are facing because of the lack of response by government officials.

Michelle Vu-Tran, a 50-year-old Vietnamese Lahaina resident, testified, My house is still standing, but its not livable, Ive been displaced since August 8, I havent seen my house. I called my insurance, and they said my house has not been burned, according to a Google map. But its a warzone. We cannot live in there. Theres no electricity, no water. My car exploded on Front Street as I tried to run away. I got caught in the fire, and I had to jump into the ocean with my husband behind a sea wall for 12 hours. I am so lucky that I am alive.

There were about 20 cars on Front Street, and anytime a car exploded, we couldn't breathe. I clung to the rocks, I cannot swim. I couldnt open my eyes because they burned. I thought I was already blind. My throat closed, we drank water just so we could breathe. We thought we died because we couldnt breathe. We tied our hands together to make sure that if our bodies washed to sea, they would find our bodies together.

Vu-Tran added that she and her husband were on the cusp of working fewer days a week before the disaster. I have two daughters who just graduated. ... We told each other we would soon reduce working to five days a week, so we can enjoy life. But now my life is upside down. My house is not livable. I cant go back... My whole neighborhood burned down.

My insurance is telling me there is no way it's a total loss, just smoke damage. The insurance is not going to pay us enough. Right now I cannot sleep. At 2:00 every morning I wake up and go to the window to make sure there is no fire. Im terrified. I cannot live like this. Just driving here my husband took me from Kihei to here, I am scared. The wind blows hard, Im scared. Someone makes a noise next to me, Im scared. Who do I contact, and what do I have to do? We are 50 years old. I dont want to take another loan to pay off until Im 80. Ive worked hard my whole life. We are from Vietnam. We worked seven days a week for years to support our kids. This is the only time I need help.

Francisco lost both his familys home and restaurant that was located on Front street in Lahaina. He told the WSWS, The fire started early in the morning. We left around 6 a.m., and we tried to come back and get some belongings. So we walked from Kaanapali to Wahikuli. We went to the house to grab what we could, and the fire was 150 feet away. And by 8:30 a.m. the house was already burning.

Its really difficult to get help. The house has insurance, and its taking a while. On the business side because the insurance was just liability they dont cover anything for the fire. Its all just gone. I was sent three checks, but its far too little to build a house. A four-bedroom house in Maui will cost about $500,000. FEMA will only grant you $41,000 but only if you dont have insurance. So we are on our own.

If you were a homeowner, you didnt get the $700 from the government. That was only through FEMA. If you have insurance as a homeowner on the house, you didnt qualify for FEMA aid. Thats how corrupt the system is. Its BS. If I have insurance, I was not qualified for the $700.

What is happening to all the money? Somebody just donated $100 million to Lahaina Strong, and lots of donations are coming in. I dont want to sound greedy, but where is the money going? Help it get to the people who need it.

Kalea, a Lahaina resident, told the WSWS, The anger is universal because of the lack of care by those whose job it was to care. She remarked on the response during the fires, There were policemen blocking the roads. Why were they so adamant about following that order? Why didn't they let people out? The telephone poles were down and wires were dead for a long time, hours, and the road was closed so there was no southbound traffic. Everyone could have gone north on the southbound road because the poles were lying on the northbound road.

Burned homes in Lahaina seen from the main highway

She recalled a traffic gridlock that created a death trap for many residents. The poles are down, you cant go that way. The fire is behind us, so we are going to die in the fire.

Kalea explained that her home was still standing, and she immediately went back when it was opened up but began to experience breathing issues and congestion in the lungs. Her doctor ordered her to go to the shelter. I just had a test done on the inside of my house so I know how to clean it. I am waiting for the results. They tested the floors and the walls. I needed those results before Id start cleaning. They said it would be 72 hours.

Im now in a hotel, and they said I had till September 29. That is why I have been frantically trying to clean my house. I got a text last night saying that I am approved for an extended stay.

As Lahaina residents were testifying before the Hawaii state senators in Maui, a separate House hearing on Maui wildfires was taking place Thursday in Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., where Shelee Kimura, President & CEO of Hawaiian Electric; Leodoloff R. Asuncion, chairman of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission; and Mark B. Glick, Chief Energy Officer of the Hawaii State Energy Office, answered questions from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Im trying to answer your questions about why we didnt deenergize. Those decisions were made years earlier as part of a plan, part of the protocols, Kimura declared. In 2019, our team started developing a wildfire mitigation plan. And based on what they had learned of the plans in California, including their preemptive shut-off programs, they determined that wasnt the appropriate fit for Hawaii. Hawaii is very unique. We have other protocols in place when there are high winds.

Kimura insisted that there were two fires: a fire at 6:30 a.m. that was caused by fallen power lines which was 100% contained by the Maui County Fire Department by 9:00 a.m. and that the fire was extinguished before they left the scene.

I want to make it absolutely clear that the afternoon fire, the cause of that fire had not been determined, Kimura emphasized, insisting that Hawaiian Electric has not been deemed responsible for the burning down of Lahaina.

In response to the public calls to bury power lines to reduce wildfire risk, Kimura and Asuncion made clear that the costs of critical life saving measures would not be funded by the federal, state or county governments, but would be placed directly on the backs of workers, emphasizing that such a move would have a significant impact on rate payers.

Furthermore, Kimura pleaded poverty, Hawaii is the most isolated population on earth, there is no electrical connection to the continental US. This is one of the reasons we have the highest electrical rates in the nation... As utilities go we are small. About 470,000 customers on 5 islands, 70,000 on Maui. However, Hawaiian Electrics parent company, HEI, boasted of a profit of more than $241 million in 2022.

The responsibility for the catastrophe that has befallen Lahaina residents lies with the capitalist system which subordinates human need to private profit and the politicians in the state and federal government who have proven their inability and refusal to provide necessary relief for the Maui survivors and commit to preventing future disasters. It was Biden who sanctioned the paltry $700 per household while unlimited funds are allocated for war. Through multiple hearings and townhalls across the island, local and state politicians have sought to suppress enormous opposition boiling over among workers and youth through feigned concern for those desperate for relief.

Similar responses by capitalist governments have been seen in every other major disaster across the planet, from the Libyan floods, to the earthquakes in Morocco and Turkey. Opposition to this requires the mobilization of workers and youth in Lahaina and internationally in a political struggle against the capitalist system and for socialism.
On September 28, 2023, longtime right-wing Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein died in her home in Washington D.C. A senator from California for 30 years, and prior to that mayor of San Francisco, she personified the intersection of great wealth and the military-intelligence apparatus that is the hallmark of the modern Democratic Party.

In this December 9, 2014 file photo, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-California) speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill as she leaves the Senate chamber after releasing a report on the CIA's torture program at secret overseas facilities after the 9/11 terror attacks. [AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]

Feinsteins death was announced early Friday morning by her staff, prompting leading members of both big business parties, former presidents, the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and phony socialists such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to pay fawning tributes and eulogize her political career.



Feinstein, a fierce war hawk, like former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, is being hailed by the entire American ruling class and mainstream press as a trailblazer for her sex. She showed the world that in America, women politicians could defend imperialist interests as ruthlessly as their male counterparts. They could authorize illegal wars, cover up government surveillance, and oversee the transfer of massive sums of wealth from the working class to the bourgeoisie.



The former national security adviser and then secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, and apologist for US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, Condolezza Rice wrote on Twitter/X: Feinstein will always be remembered as an extraordinary and influential figure in American political history... I was grateful to her for stepping across the aisle and introducing me to the Senate in my confirmation process. Rest in Peace.



The spearhead of US-NATO aggression against Libya, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton likewise praised Feinstein: She blazed trails for women in politics and found a lifes calling in public service. Ill miss her greatly as a friend and colleague



In perhaps the most damning eulogy of the late Senator, CIA Director William Burns wrote in a statement published Friday, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Senator Dianne Feinsteinthe first woman to chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.



The CIA is a byword for assassinations, military coups, political subversion and crimes of all kinds. It is currently playing an outsized role in funneling weapons to Ukraine, according to Newsweek. Its current leader, Burns, declared that Feinsteins long legacy of public service will serve as an inspiration to her colleagues, her constituents, and this Agency for a long time to come.



Former President Barack Obama wrote on Twitter/X that Feinstein, will be rightly remembered as a trailblazer ... she broke those barriers. Obama added, I came to rely on her as a trusted partner in the fight to guarantee affordable healthcare and economic opportunity for everyone.



Republican senators and Trump co-conspirators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz characterized Feinstein as a trailblazer in their eulogies. Graham called on any young person  to study the life and career of Dianne Feinstein as a role model. Cruz said it was a privilege to spend 11 years with her on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where they helped oversee the confirmation of hundreds of right-wing judges.

Senator Dianne Feinstein June 8, 2023.



Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who, like Cruz, voted to overturn the 2020 election following the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, wrote on Twitter/X that it was an honor to serve with her in the Senate and on the Judicary Committee. Feinstein was always willing to work across the aisle to get things done, he wrote.



Joining his Republican colleagues in heaping praise on Feinstein, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said Feinstein,was a woman of great courage and achievement. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez characterized Feinstein as a history-maker who paved the way for women leaders in this country.



Like former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Feinstein was an upper-class woman married to a San Francisco multi-millionaire, who had no connection to the social struggles of the 1960s or 1970s when they entered politics, moving quickly into leadership roles.

Prior to her death, Feinstein was the longest-serving female senator in US history, and, according to financial disclosures reviewed by CBS News, one of the richest U.S. lawmakers, with a net worth as high as $69.4 million this year.



Even this figure is a gross underestimation. For 42 years, Feinstein was married to billionaire financier and major donor to the Democratic Party, Richard Blum. Her husband, who died of cancer in 2022, managed Blum Capital Partners, which counted among its clients Bank of America, according to the New York Times.



A brief review of some of the most consequential episodes of Feinsteins six-decade political career provides context to the outpouring of support the senator has received from the war criminals and reactionaries in the ruling class.



Feinstein was born Dianne Goldman in San Francisco on June 22, 1933 to Dr. Leon Goldman and Betty Goldman. Leon was a surgeon while Betty was a former model. Dianne went to a private Catholic high school but practiced Judaism as an adult. After she graduated from Stanford in 1955, Democratic Governor Pat Brown appointed Feinstein to the California Womans Parole Board in 1960, where she served until 1966. In 1969, she was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where she remained for nine years.



After two failed campaigns for mayor of San Francisco, Feinstein succeeded to the position following the November 27, 1978 double assassination of then-Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by former Supervisor Dan White. She was later elected in her own right, adopting a law and order platform and appealing to police and right-wing elements.



Backed by her wealthy husband, in 1990 Feinstein ran against Republican Senator Pete Wilson in the California gubernatorial election, losing by roughly 200,000 votes. When Wilson gave up his Senate seat to assume the governorship, Feinstein ran to replace him. In what was branded as the Year of the Women by capitalist publications such as Time magazine, Feinstein, along with fellow Democratic senators Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray and Carol Moseley Braun, were elected to the Senate in 1992, while Barbara Mikulski won reelection.



Standing on the right wing of the Democratic Party on both foreign and domestic policy, Feinstein was impervious to appeals from progressives, whether for a single-payer healthcare system or for a Green New Deal. However, she gladly joined in the identity politics promoted by the upper-middle class, through which the Democrats and their Wall Street backers have sought to give the party a left cover for its thoroughly right-wing agenda. This is the pioneering aspect of Feinsteins career, as one of the first women to hold a Senate seat not previously held by her husband.



In her nearly 31-year tenure in the Senate, Feinstein became the first woman to chair the Senate Rules Committee (2007-2009) and the highly secretive Select Committee on Intelligence (2009-2015). Beginning in 2017, Feinstein was the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.



Feinsteins leading role on these committees, especially the Select Committee on Intelligence, is a testament to the faith the ruling class and its military-intelligence apparatus put in the senator to carry out the predatory objectives of US imperialism.



In 1999, Feinstein voted in favor of bombing Serbia. Three years later, she joined a majority of Senate Democrats in supporting the October 2002 Iraq war resolution that paved the way for the invasion and subsequent occupation of the country.



While Feinstein has since claimed she was misled by George W. Bush in voting in favor of the Iraq invasion, in a Twitter/X post made on September 29, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter said he briefed Feinstein on the lack of evidence he found to support the claims of the Bush administration that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD).



Ritter claimed that Feinstein told him, Your position is causing us some difficulty. You are making the US look bad in the eyes of the world. Ritter said he told her he would shut up if she could tell him she had proof Iraq possessed WMDs. Ritter wrote: She looked at her retinue, and then me. I have seen no such intelligence, she replied.



The blood of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis stains her soul, Ritter added.



A long-time rubber stamp for the intelligence agencies, as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee in December 2014 Feinstein oversaw the publication of a heavily redacted report that documented the torture of prisoners at secret CIA facilities around the world from 2002 through 2007. The investigation revealed that CIA agents, acting at the direction of the president of the United States, engaged in a torture program that included forced rectal feedings (sodomy), waterboarding, mock burials, physical beatings and even death.



The report implicated virtually every leading member of the George W. Bush administration, from the former president to Vice President Dick Cheney, former CIA director George Tenet and Justice Department lawyers John Yoo and Jay Bybee, who authored memos declaring the torture legal.



Prior to issuing an executive summary of the redacted report, whose full text has never been made public, Feinstein accused the CIA of spying on Congress and withholding documents from the committee, and said that the agency was accusing the committee of stealing documents, which the committee had a right to see because of its oversight role.

Despite these damning accusations, and the revelations from her investigation, Feinstein joined then-president Barack Obama and the rest of the Democratic Party in whitewashing not only the illegal actions of the CIA in spying on Congress, but the torture program it oversaw for years. Obama provided assurances to the CIA well before Feinsteins investigation that no one would be prosecuted, no matter how horrible the abuse and torture the agency oversaw.



As Obama said in an interview with the New York Times prior to his 2009 inauguration in regards to the torture program, we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards.



And part of my job, he continued, is to make sure that, for example, at the C.I.A., youve got extraordinarily talented people who are working very hard to keep Americans safe. I dont want them to suddenly feel like theyve got to spend all their time looking over their shoulders.



In her last years, Feinstein, like the rest of the Democratic Party, was a vociferous supporter of unending war against Russia in Ukraine. During the Trump and Biden administrations, Feinstein was a reliable yes vote on the nearly $1 trillion Department of Defense budget, and backed every crime committed by the national-security apparatus.

It is this long record of complicity with imperialism that accounts for the display of mourning in the political establishment and the corporate media.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka celebrated the 85th birthday of Comrade R.M. Gunathilake on Monday with the participation of about 60 family members, party members and supporters. He is the SEPs oldest member, with an implacable history of fighting for Trotskyism.

R.M. Gunathilake

The gathering was organised as an online event. Comrade Gunathilake, his wife Hemawathi Ratnayake, two daughters and son and seven grandchildren joined from his home at Hali-Ela, near Badulla. The members and supporters of the SEPs Bandarawela branch took the initiative to organise the gathering.

Gunathilake joined the Revolutionary Communist League (RCL), the predecessor of the SEP, just weeks after it was formed in June 1968 as the Sri Lankan section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). He was an employee of the state-owned Ceylon Transport Board (CTB).

Chairing the gathering, SEP General Secretary Deepal Jayasekera said that since Gunathilake joined the RCL, he fought steadfastly for the international socialist perspective and program of the RCL/SEP for more than fifty years.

The basic essence of his revolutionary life of more than five decades has been his firm dedication to those principles of Trotskyism and his consistent struggle for that perspective.

Jayasekera said that Gunathilake had not wavered one iota from his struggle for revolutionary principles among the working class and oppressed masses, despite immense difficulties confronting him, including state witch-hunts, the thuggery of goons and the treachery of trade union bureaucracies. That is the example we must draw from his life, he said.

Recalling his own experiences closely working with Gunathilake in the partys political work in the Bandarawela and Badulla areas, Jayasekera said: During meetings of the party branch, Gunathilake would make sharp, well-focused comments to counter any deviation expressed by any member. Such remarks were not driven by any subjective motivation but aimed to politically explain and convince relevant comrades.

Jayasekera commended Gunathilakes earlier contributions to the partys Sinhala and Tamil papers, and later the World Socialist Web Site, on the social and political issues confronting plantation workers and rural poor in Uva province where he lives.

K. Ratnayake, WSWS national editor in Sri Lanka, explained Gunathilakes struggle as a leading Trotskyist cadre of the party and traced his political history.

Gunathilake grew up at Hali-Ela, an area surrounded by tea plantations where militant workers struggles occurred. The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), and its transformation into the Trotskyist Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India in 1942, had strong support bases among Indian and Sri Lankan workers, including in the plantations.

Some of the SEP members, supporters and family members attending Gunathilake's birthday event.

Gunathilake was attracted to the LSSP. He joined the Ceylon Transport Board in August 1965, one year after the LSSPs historical betrayal when it joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party-led (SLFP) government of Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike in 1964. There was a heated debate among workers about the LSSP joining a capitalist government.

Gunathilake took the side of those who opposed it and faced threats by LSSP trade union bureaucrats. However, he could only find a political means for voicing his opposition to the LSSP betrayal when he met RCL comrades selling Kamkaru Puwath (Workers News) outside the Maharagama CTB Depot, Ratnayake said.

In an intense discussion, RCL comrades explained the roots of betrayalhow the opportunist Pabloite tendency abandoned Trotskyism and abetted the betrayal of the LSSP. The ICFI was established in 1953 to struggle against this revisionist tendency. The late Keerthi Balasuriya, founding general secretary of the RCL, and Wije Dias, who succeeded him, led this struggle in this region.

In just weeks, Gunathilake decided to join the RCL. This theoretical foundation shaped Gunathilakes future struggle for the partys perspective.

As in other sections of the working class, the RCL was able to win a strong base among CTB workers in the struggle against the second coalition government in the 1970s. Its demand that the LSSP and CP (Stalinist Communist Party) break with the coalition government and form a workers and peasants government greatly helped in educating workers by exposing these opportunist parties and it won over best sections to the party.

During this struggle, Gunathilake faced threats by trade union bureaucrats and expulsion from the union, state persecution, including police arrest, suspension from work and transfer from one depot to another. His revolutionary will, however, could not be broken, Ratnayake explained.

The United National Party (UNP) government of President J. R. Jayawardene came to power in 1977 as a result of the betrayals of the LSSP and CP. It began implementing open market economic policies, dismantling welfare programs and state institutions.

Jayawardene ruthlessly suppressed workers resistance, assisted by treachery of the LSSP, CP and centrist Nava Sama Samaja Party and the trade union leaderships. In July 1980, a general strike in the public sector was suppressed by sacking around 100,000 employees.

Gunathilake lost his job and had to return to his hometown. Facing enormous economic difficulties, he started farming to help his family while continuing party work. He joined the Bandarawela RCL/SEP branch and helped to develop the partys work particularly among plantation workers. He knew a little Tamil and contributed to the RCLs work among Tamil-speaking workers.

The UNPs anti-Tamil racist campaigns to divide the working class along ethnic lines provoked the communal war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which ended in May 2009 defeating the LTTE.

The RCL/SEP was the only party that consistently opposed the war, fighting for the democratic rights of Tamil minority and raised the demand for a Sri Lanka Eelam Socialist Republic based on an international socialist perspective.

Ratnayake said, this political struggle was particularly difficult in rural areas, but Gunathilake took the initiative in his area.

I must say something about his response to 19851986 split of the ICFI from the renegades of the British Workers Revolutionary Party. He was keen to understand how the WRP degenerated and to assimilate its political lessons in order to develop the partys struggle, the speaker said.

Ratnayake said Gunathilake faced many ailments associated with his age but is still keenly in touch with the partys work. His life is the life of a revolutionary Trotskyist and it contains many lessons for us, he concluded.

Other comrades, including Rohantha de Silva, M. Thevarajah, Vilani Peris, Sakuntha Hirimuthugoda, Panini Wijesiriwardena, R.M. Dayananda and Saman Gunadasa briefly contributed by pointing out different aspects of Gunathilakes political life.

Gunathilake thanked those who organised the celebration and expressed the appreciation of his role as a party cadre. I want to tell you that I was able to play my small part in the party because it politically and theoretically educated me. As we know, the working class cannot take power into its hands without Marxist theory and the revolutionary party, he said.

Only through the intervention of the party to change the consciousness of working class can it be organised and armed to take power. It was what happened in Russia in 1917 under the Bolshevik Party led by Lenin and Trotsky. The Russian revolution was guided by an internationalist perspective.

I was lucky to meet the RCL comrades. At that time, I had an ideaI guess that flowed from my farming backgroundthat the peasantry could provide the leadership to the revolution. I was corrected by comrade Keerthi Balasuriya, who explained the critical lessons of the Russian Revolution.

He also educated me in Leon Trotskys theory of Permanent Revolution which emphasised the leading revolutionary role of the working class. Other comrades, including Wije, Ratnayake and Wicks, have greatly helped me develop theoretically and politically.

As comrades in their contributions highlighted, we are passing through the decade of socialist revolution, he said.

Gunathilake stressed the importance of the WSWS in educating workers, youth and providing socialist perspective and added, I advise young people: please study Marxist theory; past struggles that the party has carried out; and the critical lessons of the 20th century. In this, it is critical to study two books: The Unfinished Twentieth Century by David North and the two volumes of Why Study the Russian Revolution.
Nikole Hannah-Jones

It has been nearly one year since the opening at Howard University in Washington D.C. of the Center for Democracy and Journalism, the official aim of which is to cultivate a new generation of black investigative reporters. Its presence at Howardthe most prestigious historically black college or university (HBCU)the explicitly racial slant of its presentation, and the involvement in its work of celebrities, corporate interests and powerful state actors, merits a serious analysis.

The center was founded by celebrity-journalist Nikole Hannah-Jonesbest known as the creator of the New York Times 1619 Project, which put forward a race-centered distortion of American history, framing it entirely in terms of racial conflict and eliminating the class struggle. Racialist author and reparations advocate Ta Nehisi-Coates was also a co-founder.

The record of the Center for Democracy and Journalism, one year on

Described as a first-of-its-kind academic center committed to strengthening historically informed, pro-democracy journalism, the center opened on November 17, 2022 with much fanfare. It featured lengthy addresses by Hannah-Jones, Howard Universitys millionaire president Wayne A.I. Frederick, and former US President Barack Obama.

The centers website proclaims that it is committed to defending journalism as a necessary and crucial tool for a functioning, more racially equitable, and just democratic system.

Hannah-Jones, who along with Ta Nehisi-Coates has become very wealthy giving speeches and writing books about the structural racism that supposedly pervades American society, was showered with funding for her center by powerful private foundations, including the Knight Foundation, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and the Democracy Fund, among others. Initial funding for the center amounted to $20 million.

Given the amount of corporate money provided for this endeavor, its grandiose stated goals and the fact that nearly a year has passed since its official opening, it is necessary to ask: What has been accomplished by this center?

The center has hired several academics such as Dr. Kali-Ahset Amen, who serves as its executive director. Earlier this year, Amen gave a talk at Texas Southern University (TSU), discussing a partnership with its School of Communication. In June, the universitys student newspaper announced that the center had instituted a visiting professorship program set to begin in the spring of 2024, whereby investigative journalists and scholars would be invited to spend a semester at Howard.

But the centers website is bare of substantive information about its activities aside from a handful of articles reposted from the universitys newspaper The Dig, and an advertisement for an upcoming event it sponsors entitled The Democracy Summit. There are no courses listed, no discussion of work the center is doing with Howard students, and in fact no evidence that it has produced or contributed to a single piece of journalism.

Of the five news articles posted from the student newspaper on the website, two link to stories discussing the centers opening. A third publicizes that the center has been gifted yet another multi-million dollar corporate foundation grant, this from the the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The article says the foundation will provide general, unrestricted funding for journalism focused on racial health disparities. It outlines, in vague terms, work that will take place in the future.

The center counts two subscribers to its YouTube channel, which has managed to upload a single video five months ago. This is a two-minute long clip of Obama endorsing the center. The video has 79 views as of this writing.

The World Socialist Web Site reached out to the center for clarification, asking how many journalism courses were being taught and how many students were part of these courses. No response has yet been received.

Perhaps the upcoming Democracy Summit on November 14, marking the one-year anniversary of the centers opening, will provide additional data as to what programs and projects, if any, will be offered by the center.

Regardless, there is an obvious gap between the funding and media attention lavished upon the center and its actual output. Despite its stated aims of helping the black community, there is no indication that the center has done anything to improve the lives or education of Howards majority-black student body, many of whom live in poorly maintained, moldy and mice-infested dormitories. Nor, for that matter, has it provided any assistance or opportunity to the underpaid university staff and faculty.

In an indication of her high profile credentials, and of the social forces that Hannah-Jones represents, she was recently involved in the September 21-23 Texas Tribune Festival, where she rubbed shoulders with representatives of the entire American political establishment as part of an event that included the fascistic Republican Senator Ted Cruz, the reactionary Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, and Neera Tanden, who serves as a policy adviser to US President Joe Biden.

Given the Center for Democracy and Journalisms limited output, it is fair to ask of Hannah-Jones credentials to head up a heavily endowed university studies program. She had managed to write a mere 23 articles over her seven years working at the New York Times before the major corporate foundations granted her the Howard sinecureand after she had threatened to sue the University of North Carolina for not speeding her through to tenured professor status at another endowed professorship that had been promised her.

It was, of course, the 1619 Project that gave Hannah-Jones fame as a journalist. This pretentious effort at so-called long form journalism put forward a number of demonstrably false claims about American history: that the American Revolution was a counterrevolution, a conspiracy by slaveholders to preserve slavery; that black people have always fought alone against an inherently racist white society; and that race struggle, not class struggle, is the motor force of history.

These historical falsifications were thoroughly debunked by the World Socialist Web Site and by principled historians. But the purpose of the 1619 Project was not to provide a serious historical analysis. This re-imagining of the past was to provide the basis for the achievement of present-day political aims, most importantly the accumulation of wealth by a privileged middle-class milieu.

The politics of personal identityof race, gender and sexualityare the means by which the interests of this narrow stratum are expressed, serving as a vehicle for obtaining access to greater wealth and privileges. Self-centeredness and greed are the chief characteristics of these peoplealong with hatred of the working class and of socialism. Today, this layer serves as the main constituency of the Democratic Party.

The recent scandal surrounding the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University is an indication of the money-grubbing character of this social layer. This center, founded by Ibram X. Kendi, was funded to the tune of $43 million by major corporations and other wealthy donors eager to show their progressive credentials in the midst of the mass, multi-racial protests that erupted following the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. Last week, with little to show for the last three years, Kendi fired most of the centers staff with most if not all of the $43 million having mysteriously disappeared.

Time will tell whether Hannah-Jones center at Howard will be marked by such complete debacle. But it is certain that even if it does not, if for instance the center hires a full-time staff and begins to churn out work, the social and political forces involved will guarantee that such work will further the interests of US imperialism, against the American and international working class.

Black nationalism and racialist politics in the service of US imperialism

As it lurches towards a new world war, the US state is anxious to transform American colleges and universities into training centers for the specialized technicians required to run the US military-intelligence apparatus. A no less critical role is to be played by the layer of academics bribed by the bourgeoisie to provide an ideological justification for class oppression. In this way identity politics has been utilized as an essential bulwark of the capitalist order, hence its adoption by the Democratic Party, representing wide layers of the bourgeoisie and the affluent upper-middle classes.

Howard University, as the most prestigious HBCU, is seen as an integral part of this process of militarization. Here, the noxious mixture of racialist ideology and the war aims of American imperialism finds its most advanced expression.

The $90 million Pentagon contract awarded to Howard for the opening of a war research center dedicated to the improvement of the US militarys killer drones, represents an unmistakable step in this direction. This was celebrated in the corporate press as a historic advance for the black community. It is no such thing. Instead, it demonstrates the ever-closer entwinement of racialist politics and the predatory aims of American imperialism.

The presence of Obama at the centers founding and his promotion of its operations exposes its true nature most clearly.

Obama, who oversaw a massive expansion of the reach and power of the US state, is by any objective measure one of the worlds leading war criminals and a vicious opponent of the freedom of the press. He extended Washingtons brutal neo-colonial wars in the Middle East and North Africa, destroying entire societies in Libya and Syria. Obama personally presided over the infamous Terror Tuesday meetings in the White House, during which individuals marked for death-by-droneno trial neededwere selected.

His administration utilized the power of the state to prosecute more whistleblowers than all other US administrations combined, by a factor of three. One such target was Edward Snowden, who exposed the National Security Administrations systematic spying on millions of Americans, and who was therefore threatened with prosecution and forced to seek asylum overseas. Whistleblowers Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, who exposed war atrocities committed by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan, were similarly persecuted by the Obama White House. Yet we are to believe that this center, bearing the Obama stamp of approval, will uphold principled investigative journalism in the interests of democracy? What nonsense!

The Obama administration also presided over the largest transfer of wealth from the working class to the rich in history with the 2009 Wall Street bailouts. The criminals who crashed the economy with their reckless speculation were rewarded with hundreds of billions of dollars, while wide swaths of the working population, of all races, had their lives upended.

Obama is a ruthless defender of American capitalism and implacable enemy of the international working class and of socialism. Yet his administration is portrayed by the racialists of the 1619 Project as the culmination of black history! Here the ideology of black nationalism has truly come full circle. Its past representatives, from some black power groups to the Black Panthers, presented themselves as a force of opposition and declared their enmity to Americas wars abroad and their solidarity with the poor and oppressed. Now their political descendants, comfortably ensconced in the upper-middle class and tied by a million threads to Wall Street and the state, have fully crossed over into the camp of US imperialism.

Build the IYSSE at Howard University

This positive view of Obama and what he represents is not shared by the majority of the Howard student body, or for that matter with youth throughout the world. Obamas legacyof endless war, inequality and authoritarianism and the preparation of the political ground for Donald Trumpis widely reviled. This legacy can never win any genuine popular support.

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), the youth movement of the Socialist Equality Party, fights to mobilize youth and students against endless war, inequality and climate change. At Howard, the IYSSE has covered the student occupations in response to filthy dorms, as well as the struggles of faculty and staff for higher wages. Student socialists have also exposed the money grubbing of Hannah-Jones and the layer she represents.

Earlier this year, the IYSSE submitted an application to hold a public anti-war meeting on campus at Howard as part of an international campaign aimed at mobilizing the working class and youth against the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine.

The university denied the application without explanation in what was undoubtedly a political decision, taken to ensure that the students of Howard are denied access to a socialist, anti-war perspective. This was an assault not just on the IYSSE, but on the fundamental democratic rights of the students at Howard, who have a right to hear left-wing, socialist views.

Moreover, it demonstrates how isolated and vulnerable the university administration and its state backers are. Clearly they fear that the socialist politics of the IYSSE will find substantial support among the majority working class student body of Howard. The same forces that carried out this anti-democratic act of censorship are behind this pretentiously named Center for Democracy and Journalism.

The racialist politics promoted by Hannah-Jones and Howard Universitys administration offer no solution to the great problems confronting the youththe threat of world war with Russia and China, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the defense of democratic rights, the climate catastrophe, and the impoverishment of the working masses on a world scale. These will only be resolved by the unification of the working class behind an international, socialist program.

We call upon all students and youth, and in particular the students at Howard who agree with this perspective, who wish to join the fight for socialism and against war and inequality, to get into contact with us and fight for the building of a section of the IYSSE at Howard University.
Last week, Burkina Fasos military junta said that it had thwarted an attempted coup on Tuesday. The countrys intelligence and security services have foiled the coup attempt against Burkina Fasos ruling junta by military officers and others plotting to seize power and plunge the country into chaos, the military said in a statement on Wednesday.

The failed coup attempt comes a year after Captain Ibrahim Traore came to power in Burkina Faso through a military coup in September 2022. I reassure of my determination to lead the Transition safely despite adversity and the various maneuvers to stop our inexorable march towards assumed sovereignty. THANK YOU to all Burkinabe people who continuously ensure citizen monitoring, said Traore after the junta announced the failed coup attempt.

FILE - Burkina Faso coup leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore participates in a ceremony in Ouagadougou, Oct. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Kilaye Bationo, File)

The Burkinabe military prosecutors office indicated that it had opened a detailed investigation on the basis of credible reports of a plot against state security. As a result, four officers were arrested and two more are wanted in connection with the failed coup.

On the basis of a credible denunciation reporting a plot against state security in progress, implicating officers including two on the run and four arrested ( we) immediately opened a detailed investigation to elucidate the facts denounced, Prosecutor Ahmed Ferdinand Sountoura of the military prosecutors office told the press on Thursday. In December 2022, the prosecution had already condemned the attempt to destabilize the regime and announced the arrest of soldiers.

The officers the junta has named as allegedly leading the coup attempt include:

*Lieutenant-Colonel Cheick Hamza Ouattara, who heads the Special Legion in the national gendarmerie;

*Captain Christophe Maiga, the second-in-command of the same gendarmeries Special Intervention Unit;

*Abdoul Aziz Aouoba, commander of the Burkinabe special forces;

*Boubacar Keita, director general of the Higher Institute of Civil Protection Studies.

The two other fugitive officers are former members of the National Intelligence Service. One is Commander Sekou Ouedraogo, the former Deputy Director General of the agency. Ouedraogo was relieved of his duties on September 13 by Traore, the leader of the Burkinabe military junta.

The junta also announced the suspension of all methods of diffusion, including print and Internet, for the French publication Jeune Afrique. Since 2022, the junta has already temporarily or indefinitely suspended several French television or radio channels, charging them with working to create chaos in the country. The military junta has already targeted LCI, Liberation, Le Monde and France 24 specifically, as well as expelling foreign correspondents more broadly from French media.

News of the attempted coup spread across Burkina Faso on pro-government news media and social media. Thousands of pro-military government demonstrators took to the streets in Ouagadougou and elsewhere in the country on Tuesday to show their support for the current junta, after Captain Traore issued public calls to his supporters to protect him.

While the nature of the coup threat and the activities of the officers named as coup leaders by the Burkinabe junta remains unclear, the essential political issues driving the conflicts in the Burkinabe military establishment are ever clearer.

The military junta in Burkina Faso, as in nearby Mali and Niger, came to power amid deep popular opposition to French imperialisms 2013-2022 war in Mali and across the Sahel. Strikes and mass protests by workers and youth against the French and NATO troop presence led the military to oust discredited, pro-French presidents. The military juntas ruling Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali then asked France, the former colonial power, to withdraw its troops from their countries.

A politically explosive situation has emerged across West Africa. French imperialism is pressing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to prepare to invade Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Earlier this month, these three countries established a mutual defense agreement, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This agreement specifies that they will respond to an invasion attempt against any one of the AES states as an attack on all three.

This conflict is also now deeply entwined with the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine, as the Burkinabe junta led by Traore develops military ties with the Kremlin. The Ukraine war thus threatens to spill across large parts of Africa.

This explosive global situation creates intractable divisions in the capitalist ruling elites of the AES countries, who maneuver between anti-imperialist sentiment of workers and youth, on the one hand, and their dealings with NATO imperialist countries on the other. It rules out the establishment of any stable, bourgeois-democratic regime that ends imperialist domination of the region and expels the imperialist powers from Africa. Instead, at every major political crisis and upsurge of class struggle, rival military factions vie for power.

French imperialism in particular has long experience of manipulating these factional rivalries of the African capitalist classes in its own interests.

Paris has backed countless military coups in its former African colonial empire since nominal independence in 1960. It has repeatedly used its extensive connections in African countries officer corps to oust African regimes that criticized the neocolonial policies of Paris. In Burkina Faso itself, in 1987, the French government supported Blaise Compaores overthrow and murder of pro-Soviet President Thomas Sankara.

These factional rivalries among the local bourgeoisie also reflect the intractable social and economic crisis facing workers and the oppressed rural masses in the region.

More than two million people have been displaced and tens of thousands pushed to the brink of starvation by the fighting in Burkina Faso, one of Africas worst refugee crises. Last week, officials said some 192,000 internally displaced people had returned to their homes after government forces recaptured various areas. Seventeen soldiers and 36 civilian volunteers were killed in Yatenga province in early September clashes with jihadi insurgents. Since 2015, more than 17,000 people have died in this violence in Burkina Faso alone.

Burkina Faso, home to about 23 million people, has seen two military coups in the past year. The number of people killed by rebels since Captain Traore seized power in a second coup in late September has nearly tripled compared to the previous 18 months, according to a report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

This violence, coupled with the geographic spread of extremist activities effectively surrounding Ouagadougou, puts Burkina Faso more than ever at the brink of collapse, the report said.

This explosive situation cannot be changed without the independent intervention of the working class in Africa. The entire history of former colonial countries shows that the struggle against imperialist provocations cannot be carried out without mobilizing the workers and youth against the bourgeoisie and its deep ties to imperialism. The essential question is to build a mass socialist, anti-war and anti-imperialist movement among the workers and youth across Africa, Europe and internationally.
If you are a resident or worker in Maui affected by the fires or impacted in the aftermath and want to share your story click here to contact the WSWS.

It is now eight weeks since the deadly West Maui fires that officially killed at least 97 people and destroyed much of the city of Lahaina. Officially 31 people remaining missing, a number many residents report as an undercount. About 2,200 properties were consumed by the fire. Some 7,400 residents continue to languish in hotels, with another 1,000 in AirBnB properties, while many are staying with family and friends outside the burn zone.

Residents seek relief from FEMA, the Red Cross and other agencies

Many hotels are beginning to receive notifications they will be downgraded into smaller units for displaced residents as Maui Mayor Richard Bissen and Hawaii Governor Josh Green have doubled down on proceeding with an October 8 reopening. After weeks of public outcry, Mayor Bissen announced a phased-in reopening plan Wednesday that begins with reopening the Ritz-Carlton West Maui and all hotels from Maui Kapalua to Kahana Villa for tourists.

Starting October 8, the Ritz Carlton will begin accepting reservations from visitors for $739 a night before fees, while Biden offered a contemptible $700 per household that residents realized later were only available to those who qualify.

The entire recovery effort is mired in disorganization, bureaucratic red tape and confusion, with no real progress happening to make all the victims of the fire whole. Local community organizations, including many parents and teachers, have mobilized to set up hubs to provide urgently needed supplies and food to survivors on a daily basis.

A team of World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke Friday with Lahaina residents outside the Lahaina Civic Center, which is being used as a disaster relief center.

Dirk, a small business owner whose shop was burned down, told the WSWS, People have to pay their mortgage and have to work so its like people who are in the burn zone dont want to experience that trauma by seeing the tourists having fun, having to serve them, it's hard. At the same time 90% of our economy is tourismyou drive 15 minutes from here, no one has work, those minimum wage employees who rely on tips are not getting their tips, and then tourism is down to nothing.

To reopen or not is the hardest question because it affects everyone. But we need to think realistically, we need to have a cushion for people, financial aid, mortgage deferral, and mental health care, and mental health centers set up down here and all available for free.

Some people who qualify for unemployment are not qualifying for disaster unemployment assistance. Its hard, if you have a W-2 or a part-time job they are going to mark that as your income. Because I qualify for that I dont qualify for disaster assistance. I got 50 bucks a week, what am I supposed to do with that?

There are people who are calling for civil unrest, when they are pushed towards their most desperate. Its very dangerous, people can get hurt and killed. We want to make it sustainable. Hopefully we can trust our officials enough to come through.

On the question of the US/NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, Dirk commented, That is the worst part, our country has shipped off billions to Ukraine, what about us? Thats our moneytaxation without representation. The last time that happened was 1776. I am sick with our federal government. Furious. Biden came here to tell us to go f**k ourselves. $700 per household, what is that going to do? Clear the land. What has that guy done for us? Jack sh*t.

Leilani, a retired hotel worker, told the WSWS people have been asking, Should we change to be Ukrainian so we could get some money? ... We need money! $700 wont even pay for toilet paper for us! And that $700 is only for those who qualify.

So much money goes to the war and nothing for us! And what did he [Biden] do? He came here and said, We will give whatever Hawaii needs. But how many billions have gone to Ukraine? They just happened to fund another $10 billion, right?

Biden 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.

According to the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii (UHERO), an estimated 2,000 homes in Lahaina were lost in the fire and many displaced families face the possibility of waiting years for permanent replacement housing. Maui County Property data indicates that the value of structuresresidential, commercial and tourist accommodationin the burn area totals an estimated $880 million. However, most of these structures were completely destroyed, and the cost to rebuild may be significantly higher. According to Hawaii Governor Josh Green, total damage is an estimated $6 billion.

Leilani was born and raised in Lahaina. She currently lives outside Maui. She said, We have a family home here in Lahaina. Thank god, there was no one home at the time. I am the head of the house and was not here when it happened. I went through the whole process of the fire through text messages and phone calls, at least what we could get through with members of my family, finding out their stories and tragedy.

Our home was very old, and unfortunately we did not have insurance. Of course, for the first two months since the fire, I already paid for the land tax, for the property. We have the land, we cannot get on it, but we have to pay for it.

I am concerned about the cleanup. I dont want them to clean it up, and then they throw me a bill. Im not agreeing to that. And if you do it on your own, you have to go through some certified person to go clean it up for you. But where is all that waste going? Shipped to the mainland, and where are they putting it? Where can any of us get access to that? How safe is it? I don't know.

For me, I am frustrated. There is no way only 97 people died. Im sorry. They say there are still 22 missing people. They are only counting someone missing if you document someone as missing. But people have said that there were kids dying. Thats your job to go find out the truth. Kids were at home when the fires happened.

As parents and residents, we can try and figure these things out. Like, there probably were a number of immigrants not documented. What if there were [undocumented] immigrants in a car and they perished? Leilani questioned whether in that scenario those deaths would be counted. Its not very hard, it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Be honest, thats all we are asking!

Downstairs [at the Lahaina Civic Center] was the original morgue for the people, because there was A/C here. There was a video showing a lot of refrigerator trucks. We are also trying to understand. At one point they said 115 people died, now its 97. If there were ten 40-foot refrigerator trucks, how many people were they putting in there?! Now they are saying they are finding pieces of people. It is just not adding up! We are frustrated. We are all adults, and we want to know.

Leilani also referenced a City Council meeting held on Wednesday where hundreds of residents attended, expressing anger and opposition to the overall response to the fire and ongoing nightmare thousands of residents are facing. The meeting was specifically held to discuss Mayor Bissens announcement that tourism in West Maui would reopen by October 8. During the over eight hours of public comment at Wednesdays meeting, residents expressed outrage at the announcement.

Leilani noted, People are still asking, What are we going to do? How are we going to get help? One of the council members said, We are working on it, but we need five of the panel members [who were present at that meeting] to be in agreement. Of course, everyone there was outraged! Take a vote now, the people said. They didnt, of course.

On Friday, Lisa Paulson, the executive director of the Maui Hotel and Lodging Association, sent survey data on hotel occupancy levels for October 2 through November 15 to local and state lawmakers, noting the threat of future cuts to jobs and hours, The membership obviously is very concerned about economic recovery. It could be a dual devastation, with many of our workers who have lost everything that will potentially be losing their jobs or have reduced hours.

Leilani continued, What people are feeling is that it has been almost 60 days and the government has not dealt with their housing and grieving. Only now some people are able to get back to their homes. They should have taken care of placing them somewhere until next year! Take care of that first, then talk about opening up. Governor Josh Green is still working on finding housing for people. Everyone needs good housing for a longer term.

Hawaii is a predominantly Democrat-run state, but people are starting to finally open their eyes to the fact that their mentality is if it doesn't affect me, then we are fine. And, thats not okay!

This one guy testified that he had 72 hours to find a place. Its because the Red Cross did not communicate with the hotel, and the hotel was communicating with him that they needed to get out.

Communication is the biggest issue with this whole thing. People dont know where to look for all the right information. It was days where communication was down. I was on the Big Island texting frantically trying to find missing people in my family. So people were trying to get to areas where there was service and electricity. But many people needed gas. It has been a nightmare.

I cant directly relate to a lot of these things that they went through since I was not there when it all happened, but Im there for them, Im with them, and Im pissed off.

The lasting health implications on people impacted by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, nearly five years ago, are worth drawing as a parallel. A recent entry on the Camp Fire Survivors website from Richie Vargas reads, I was part of the clean-up recovery crew that took part in removing debris from the town of Paradise, and Concow in 2019. I contracted an auto-immune disease called Sarcoidosis while working this project. It is similar to the illnesses that the 9/11 responders and workers contracted after the attacks. I am looking for individuals who are living with the same effects and are willing to share your story.

Multiple residents have raised concerns not only regarding the toxicity of the disaster area in terms of air and water quality in the immediate term, but also about long-term health impacts to humans, animals and natural resources.
The United States is plunging toward a government shutdown at 12:01 a.m., Sunday October 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

On Friday afternoon, a group of 21 far-right Republican members of the House voted down a stop-gap spending bill proposed by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The bill would have extended funding for federal agencies for one month at 70 percent of current funding levelsrequiring massive cuts in social programsand imposed further draconian and anti-democratic measures to block migrant workers from seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border.

McCarthy, in a concession to fascistic critics of the Biden administrations Ukraine war policy, who are working in tandem with ex-President Donald Trump, had stripped military aid to the Kiev regime from the temporary spending measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR).

President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California walk down the House steps Friday, March 17, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. [AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib]

The extreme-right group of Republicans in the narrowly divided House of Representatives, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, is demanding even deeper cuts in social spending and threatening to seek McCarthys removal as House speaker. Gaetz and a number of others have vowed to oppose any continuing resolution, regardless of its provisions, in line with public statements by Trump demanding that a shutdown be used to press for the lifting of criminal indictments against him.

Even had McCarthys CR been passed, it would not have prevented a shutdown on Sunday. President Biden had announced he would veto it and the Democratic-controlled Senate would have voted it down. Senate Democrats planned to seek passage of a bi-partisan CR by the upper chamber on Saturday, but even if successful, it would likely fail in the House.

For Biden and the Democrats, any spending bill that excludes money to expand military aid to Kiev and escalate the US-NATO war against Russia is a non-starter. The Democrats are seeking to impose the spiraling costs of the war on the backs of the working class, ending all COVID mitigation measures, purging millions from the Medicaid rolls, and, also on October 1, allowing the resumption of student loan payments. But for reasons of internal stability and the 2024 elections, they are posturing as defenders of what remains of past social reforms.

The potential shutdown, and the spectacle of dysfunction and political reaction attending it, are a concentrated expression of the mounting crisis of American capitalism. In its New Year statement at the beginning of 2023, The global capitalist crisis and the growing offensive of the international working class, the World Socialist Web Site cited major elements of the crisisthe ongoing COVID pandemic, the escalating US-NATO war against Russia, the economic and financial crisis, the breakdown of the institutions of bourgeois democracy and elevation of fascist forces, and the resurgence of the class struggleand wrote:

In 2022 the accumulating pressure of these intersecting elements of the world capitalist crisis attained the equivalent of critical mass: that is, they have reached the point where the dynamic of crisis has passed beyond the ability of governments to control the movement toward a social cataclysm.

The budget impasse at the center of world imperialism is an expression of this process. And it takes the form of a savage intensification of the attack on the working class.

If a shutdown occurs this weekendmaking it the 15th government shutdown since 1981it will, as in the previous cases, shift the trajectory of ruling class policy further to the right. Even were a last-minute reprieve attained to head off an immediate shutdown, it would be based on a further bipartisan deal to intensify the assault on social programs on which tens of millions of workers rely and mark a further strengthening of the far-right within the US political system.

In any event, the budget crisis will damage the US economy and further weaken the flagging global position of the US dollar. As a result of the crisis last spring surrounding the suspension of the US debt ceiling, which ended with Biden agreeing to cut $1.5 trillion in non-military discretionary spending over the next decade, Fitch Ratings downgraded the US credit rating. Last Monday, Moodys announced that it would consider following suit should a government shutdown occur.

On Thursday, the federal government began advising workers that they would either be furloughed beginning Sunday or forced to work without pay. According to the Office of Management and Budget, a shutdown would force more than 1.5 million federal civilian employees to go without pay for the duration of the impasse, as well as more than 2 million military service members. The National Federation for Federal Employees, a federal employee union, estimates that 2.1 million civilian federal workers could see delayed paychecks and roughly 4 million federal contract workers could receive no paycheck.

Furloughed workers would include federal wildfire firefighters and Internal Revenue Service workers. A shutdown lasting more than a few days would sharply impact air travel, as federal air traffic controllers, already at least 2,500 controllers short and forced to work 10-hour days, would be ordered to work without pay.

The impact on the poor, the elderly and the infirm would be severe. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) would cease paying benefits to its 7 million clients almost immediately. The program presently benefits more than half of all newborns in the USan indication of the staggering levels of poverty in America.

If the shutdown continued beyond mid-October, food stamps would be delayed. A planned expansion of school meals would be blocked, and some 10,000 children would lose access to childcare as a result of disruptions to Head Start.

Members of Congress, on the other hand, including the many millionaires and multi-millionaires in their midst, would continue to be paid. (The median net worth of members of Congress who filed disclosures in 2019 was just over $1 million).

The shutdown would take place under conditions where criminality and corruption are oozing out of every pore of the US political system. Just this past week, Trump was found liable for fraudulently inflating the value of his real estate business. On the Democratic side, long-time senator and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Robert Menendez was indicted for bribery conspiracy together with business partners linked to the Egyptian dictator and mass murderer Abdel Fatah el-Sisi. Federal agents found wads of cash totaling $480,000 and kilo-weight gold bars in Menendezs home.

On Thursday, the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee held the first public impeachment hearing into alleged corrupt relations between President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who traded on his fathers name during and after the latters term as vice president to make millions in dealings with Ukrainian and Chinese companies.

Then there is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife played a key role in the plot to overthrow the 2020 presidential election, but who refuses to recuse himself from cases related to Trumps attempted coup. Over the past week, new revelations have been published of Thomas lavish vacations paid for by billionaire fascists such as Harlan Crow and the Koch brothers.

Whatever the immediate outcome of the present budget impasse, the consensus position of the American ruling class was outlined in the moderate House Republican Study Committee budget plan released last June, following the debt ceiling deal reached by Biden and McCarthy. The Study Committee has 175 members, including 75 percent of House Republicans.

Titled Blueprint to Save America, the plan proposed to balance the federal budget in seven years by cutting spending by $16.3 trillion over the next decade, while cutting taxes for the wealthy by another $3.9 trillion. The plan would cut discretionary non-military spending by $3.64 trillion and slash mandatory non-military spending by $11.86 trillion.

It would do this in part by gutting Medicaid, raising the Social Security eligibility age from 67 to 69, eliminating other poverty programs and shutting down the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It would fund completion of Trumps border wall and prevent federal dollars from being used to pay for abortions.
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An image from 1987: When the Day Comes, a documentary about life and democracy in South Korea. | CJ Entertainment

Alfred Hitchcock famously said, In feature films the director is God; in documentary films God is the director. Documentary directors produce films for a variety of reasons, whether to educate, incite action or uncover some unknown truth.

The following list highlights documentaries and historical dramas that cover significant events, whether well-known or not, in insightful and thought-provoking ways.

1987: When The Day Comes

Plot: The road to democracy was neither simple nor easy in South Korea. Military dictators led regimes filled with corruption.

This film, which is a drama based on real events, depicts a student uprising against such a regime. Heres how IMDB describes its plot: In 1987 Korea, under an oppressive military regime, a college student gets killed during a police interrogation involving torture. Government officials are quick to cover up the death and order the body to be cremated. A prosecutor who is supposed to sign the cremation release raises questions about a 21-year-old kid dying of a heart attack, and begins looking into the case for the truth. Despite a systematic attempt to silence everyone involved in the case, the truth gets out, causing an eruption of public outrage.

Accuracy:

Film director Jang Joon-hwan said in an interview with Eastern Kicks, This film is 90% historically accurate, while acknowledging that some information about the depicted events was very difficult to uncover.

In the same interview, actor Kim Yoon-seok added that the villain in the movie represents a certain type of brutal leader, rather than one, independent person.

Chernobyl

Plot: HBO produced this series and described its plot this way: On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion. This gripping five-part miniseries tells the powerful and visceral story of the worst man-made accident in history, following the tragedy from the moment of the early-morning explosion through the chaos and loss of life in the ensuing days, weeks and months.

Although Business Insider called Chernobyl hauntingly accurate, the director did take two notable artistic liberties.

Accuracy:

The female scientist in the miniseries, Ulana Khomyuk, was not a real person but represented a team of scientists that helped containing the Chernobyl disaster.

In Episode 2, a helicopter malfunctions midflight and crashes due to radiation. While a helicopter did crash, writer Craig Mazin explained that the event was moved up chronologically. He told Mens Health, I wanted people to know that this was one of the hazards that these pilots were dealing with  an open reactor  radiation was flying over it.

They Shall Not Grow Old

Plot: Producer and director Peter Jackson collaborated with the Imperial War Museum to let a modern-day audience see that war the way they saw it, Jackson told the Radio Times.

The documentary gave an intimate view of what it would have been like to be a WWI soldier by combining the footage with interviews conducted by IWM and the BBC, according to The Imperial War Museum. The footage covers their lives from what they ate and wore to what it was like to participate in battles and tend to the wounded.

Accuracy:

Jackson told the Lowly Institute, that the whole goal of this movie was to portray the WWI soldier experience. He said, This is not a story of the First World War, it is not a historical story, it may not even be entirely accurate but its the memories of the men who fought  theyre just giving their impressions of what it was like to be a soldier.

Radio Times reported on how Jacksons crew modified the original footage. Jackson pulled from his experience making fantasy films like The Lord of the Rings look crisp. The difference came when they started to work on the speeded-up jerkiness, the Charlie Chaplin effect as he calls it, of the old film, the article said. His team used computers to create artificial frames between the existing footage, making it 24 frames a second, smooth, modern and lifelike.

102 Minutes That Changed America

Plot: IMDB describes this documentary as a compilation of 9/11 accounts from New Yorkers.

All videos are recorded with common peoples cameras from the moments that anticipate the impact of the first plane, till the collapse of the WTC 1 and 2, IMDB says. The 102 minutes that changed an entire continent are completely narrated by the people who have directly lived that frightening day.

Accuracy:

Director Seth Skundrick compiled several statements regarding this documentarys accuracy on his website, including thoughts from Suzanne Sebert of the FDNY Family Assistance Unit. She said, There is no question that 102 Minutes is the most comprehensive and accurate record of the events of that day, told from a number of very human perspectives.

The New York Times said that the film is, A minute-by-minute account of the unfolding catastrophe by piecing together footage from numerous sources and locations. Some of the footage was shot in the very shadows of the World Trade Center; some shows the scene in Times Square or New Jersey ... what pervades these 102 minutes is a sense of utter helplessness.

March of the Penguins

Plot: This film is different from the other documentaries and films listed, but no less moving. It depicts the Emperor Penguins of Antarctica making a journey to their mating ground where they have returned year after year for hundreds of generations, according to Dove.

Accuracy:

While the American version of this documentary is narrated by Morgan Freeman, the French version used the voices of human actors to make it appear as if the penguins were speaking, per History. That approach sparked a debate about family values.

French director Luc Jaquet criticized this debate, saying, I find it intellectually dishonest to impose this viewpoint on something thats part of nature. Its amusing, but if you take the monogamy argument, from one season to the next, the divorce rate, if you will, is between 80 to 90%.  The monogamy only lasts for the duration of one reproductive cycle. You have to let penguins be penguins and humans be humans.
Schwarzenegger is granddad to his daughter Katherine's two kids, Eloise and Lyla

Katherine Schwarzenegger / Instagram

Arnold Schwarzenegger is revealing the special name that his grandkids call him.

While speaking to PEOPLE about his new motivational book Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life (on sale Oct. 10), the actor, 76, opened up about what his two grandkids refer to him as. Schwarzenegger is granddad to his daughter Katherine's kids, Eloise Christina, 16 months, and Lyla Maria, 3.

"Opa," the former governor of California says when asked about the name he uses with his grandkids, which is German for grandfather.

"It's just such a fun thing to do because it's kind of like I [didn't] know how good I would be [at being a grandfather] but I have the animals so it's an easy thing," he tells PEOPLE.

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Katherine Schwarzenegger/ Instagram

When Katherine and her daughters come over, Schwarzenegger says "the first thing that Lyla would say is, 'Where's Cherry?' Which is my little dog. I say, 'Cherry's waiting for you.' 'Mommy, can we go over to see Opa, to see Cherry?' 'Sure, we go tomorrow.' So they come over: 'Cherry, Cherry, Cherry' and she holds Cherry in her lap."

Aside from Cherry, Schwarzenegger has many different animals at his home, including a pet pig named Schnelly, a miniature horse named Whiskey and a miniature donkey named Lulu.

"Then I get the pig around and then she likes the pig and feeds the pig," the proud grandfather continues. "Then I said 'You want to come out? Let's go out to the stable and see the horses.' Okay, then take my hand and then we walk out to the fields and she goes to the stables and she visits the horses."

The grandfather and granddaughter duo don't just share a love of animals  they are also both fans of the cookie he makes for his horses and the dogs. "Lyla would go and say, 'Can I have a cookie?' But it's not the regular chocolate chip cookies. It's the cookie that Lulu and Whiskey eat," he tells PEOPLE, referencing his two horses.

"So it's a specific oatmeal recipe. It has no sugar in it, just honey. And we make them for just the horses and the dogs, that we love, too," he says.



This isn't the first time that Schwarzenegger has opened up about his granddaughter's love for his animals. While speaking at An Evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger in June, the actor revealed that he had no idea his grandkids would inherit his love of animals.

"I never thought this is going to be the additional kind of joy they have because I just love animals because I grew up on a farm in Austria and I always enjoyed animals," he said.

"But I mean, my grandkids really loved it," he said. "And it gives me another way of kind of like really having them come to the house regularly. Having them enjoy themselves and then feed them."

For more from Arnold Schwarzenegger, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.

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HIGH POINT  Police say they are investigating the homicide of a 27-year-old man and multiple crimes leading up to it.

Officers responded at 2:15 a.m. Thursday to the 200 block of Westdale Drive and found Kristian Tillman-Little, of High Point, dead inside the residence from multiple gunshot wounds, High Point police said in a news release.

Police are asking nearby residents who have cameras to review any footage between 1:55 a.m. and 2:15 a.m. Thursday for information that could assist detectives with the case.

Investigators determined the violent chain of events began in Kernersville with the kidnapping of a male and a female, according to Maj. Matt Truitt, an assistant chief with the High Point Police Department.

Police said the incident in High Point involved a home invasion and robbery that resulted in the homicide of Tillman-Little.

The kidnapping victims, Truitt said, escaped when the kidnappers killed Tillman-Little at the Westdale Drive home. Police said the victims of the kidnapping ran through the neighborhood knocking on doors in an attempt to get someone to call 911.

The crime was not random, Truitt said.

The offender(s) fled the scene prior to officers arrival, police said.

Additional information about the kidnapping victims, including their ages, has not been released at this time.

This complex case involves two jurisdictions, multiple witnesses, multiple crimes, and a prolific amount of evidence. Due to these circumstances, limited information will be released so as to not undermine the integrity of the investigative process, police said in the news release.

This is the 11th homicide of 2023 in the city of High Point, which is the same number for this time in 2022, according to information provided by police.

Tillman-Little was a twin whose brother, Kristopher Bossy Tillman-Little, died in November 2019 at the age of 24 from injuries he sustained when he was struck by a car, according to information posted online about the accident. They were both graduates of High Point Central High School.

Residents who may have any camera footage or information pertaining to this case can call Detective Charlie Wade at 336-887-7841. Residents can also call Crime Stoppers of High Point at 336-889-4000 or download the P3 mobile app for IOS or Android.
Ron DeSantis was in Anaheim on Friday speaking at the California Republican Party Fall Convention. However, a new filing in federal court this week reveals that if it were up to the Florida governor, hed get as far away from Disney as he can  on both coasts.

Responding to the latest amended complaint from the Bob Iger-run Disney, lawyers for DeSantis this week asserted that DeSantis and the secretary of Floridas Department of Commerce dont enforce any of the laws at issue, so Disney lacks standing to sue them.

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Or, to cut through the legal-eze and go straight to populist soundbite decrying the now-First Amendment-focused action, DeSantis says the real point of the suit isnt freedom of speech. Instead, he claims its a last-ditch effort by Disney to reinstate its corporate kingdom in the Sunshine State.

Read DeSantis response to Disneys 2nd amended complaint filed Thursday.

Echoing a filing Thursday by defendants from the February-appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, Floridas Attorney General once again is angling for DeSantis to get the meritless matter dismissed. Failing that, they want the courts to at minimum, dismiss all claims against the State Defendants.

Contacted by Deadline today, the Disney had no comment on this fresh jab in the bare-knuckles legal brawl between themselves and MAGA-man DeSantis.

Not that the intentions of the Disney Worlds parent company are altogether unknown.

Initially, Disney sued the vehemently anti-woke DeSantis, officials from his administration and the CFTOD Board in April, claiming theyd violated the companys First Amendment rights by retaliating against its eventual opposition to a parental rights law, also known as the dont say gay bill. Not long after, Florida sued back in state court.

With both sides seeking to kneecap the other, Disney in May filed a first amended complaint in the federal case, full of further examples of onerous Sunshine State legislation directly intended to strip Disney of its jurisdiction in and around Disney World.

As DeSantis 2024 POTUS bid launched with a disastrous Twitter debut, former mentor and now arch-rival Donald Trump and President Joe Biden mocked the governor for getting in a shooting war with Disney. Eventually recognizing the damage battling one of his states largest private employers and investors was causing, DeSantis in August asserted that he had moved on from fighting with the home of Mickey Mouse and they should just drop their suit against him.

That proved about as successful as DeSantis has been at convincing GOP voters to pick him over Trump to be the partys nominee. Earlier this month, Disney was given the thumbs up from U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor to file a second amended complaint and pursue purely constitutional pathways to push back on DeSantis retribution.

Disney may have had nothing to say about the latest filing, but perhaps DeSantis will bring it up during his interview on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher tonight. It may be the last chance he has before what looks to be the inevitable collapse of his campaign next year.

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Fans were convinced that Anna Wintour deliberately moved seats to avoid Kim Kardashian at Victoria Beckhams Paris Fashion Week show on Friday.

But contrary to speculation, its been confirmed that the Vogue editor-in-chief, 73, and the reality TV star, 42, sat side-by-side for the entirety of the show. Kardashian was seen in footage from the show sitting down next to the tastemaker, but viewers believed Wintours body language indicated that she was intently ignoring the AHS: Delicate actor.

Wintour, who was flanked by both Kardashian and David Beckham, was thought to have got up and moved away from Kardashian according to a video clip with Wintour nowhere in sight. In the clip, Kardashian was seen seemingly mouthing to Beckham, I feel so bad, during a conversation with the retired athlete.

Because of the footage, fans began to perpetuate a narrative that Kardashian had been snubbed by Wintour. One person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, oh anna was P***ED, while another added: Anna moved seats?

Someone else commented Anna said lemme move chile. Another chimed in, Not Anna switched seats, and one user wrote, anna was GONE!

Page Six, however, confirmed that the pair were seated beside one another for the whole show, and were photographed talking before Wintour made her exit.

The shapewear mogul was joined by mother, Kris Jenner and her partner Corey Gamble. Beckham, meanwhile, was joined by three of his children with Victoria  Harper, 12, Cruz, 18, and Brooklyn, 24  in the front row. Beside Brooklyn sat his wife Nicola Peltz, 28, and some other famous faces invited to the show included Pamela Anderson, Olivia Palermo, Eva Longoria, Lisa Rinna, and Jenna Lyons.

Kim Kardashian arriving at Victoria Beckham ss24 pic.twitter.com/iMbQrd5C1u   (@VANITYxVAULT) September 29, 2023

This isnt the first time fans speculated that Wintour was giving Kardashian the cold shoulder. At Fendis New York Fashion Week show last fall, a video captured Wintour going up to Sarah Jessica Parker, who was right beside Kardashian, but when the CEO tried to say hi to Wintour, viewers thought the media executive snubbed her.

The pair have long had a complicated relationship, with the editor having once banned the reality TV star from attending the 2012 Met Gala. An insider at the time claimed at the time, Anna hates Kim. Since then, Kardashian has become a Met Gala mainstay, having attended multiple Met Galas and covered American Vogue three times to this day.

By 2019, it was clear that Wintour had changed her tune about Kardashian, telling her magazine, I personally admire the way that shes become a little more minimal in the way shes dressing, and a little more covered.

The media executive also gave credit where it was due, You have to admire how [the Kardashians have] created an empire through their personalities, and the creative genius of their mother.
The alleged incident occurred on Tuesday when three vehicles were involved in a collision along the southbound lanes of I-275 on the Howard Frankland Bridge

Pinellas County Sheriffas Office Patrick Douglas Scruggs

Former federal prosecutor Patrick Douglas Scruggs is at the center of an alleged road rage incident in Florida that recently shut down parts of a major bridge for nearly three hours.

A statement PEOPLE obtained from Sergeant Steve Gaskins of the Florida Highway Patrol detailed that on Tuesday, at 9:24 a.m., troopers with the FHP responded to a collision involving three vehicles along the southbound lanes of I-275 on the Howard Frankland Bridge.

The incident began when a 35-year-old Tampa man, referred to by authorities as Driver 1, was spotted slumped over in his car. Per the statement, Driver 2, a 40-year-old Tampa man, and his 43-year-old wife pulled over to see if they could assist the seemingly unresponsive individual. NBC News has identified Driver 2 as Ahmed Gahaf.

According to FHP, after Gahaf exited his own vehicle to check on Driver 1, he went back to his car to look for something to break the window in an attempt to help Driver 1, who was slumped over.

Before this could occur, Driver 1 awoke and drove forward, colliding with Driver 2s vehicle, the statement said. Unable to continue forward, Driver 1 reversed and attempted to drive around Driver 2s vehicle; rather, Driver 1 collided with Driver 3s vehicle which was passing the incident.

Driver 3 was identified in the statement as Patrick Douglas Scruggs, a lawyer, who was 38 at the time of the incident but turned 39 on Thursday. According to his LinkedIn page, Scruggs served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice between Sept. 2012 and April 2023.

Pinellas County Sheriffas Office Patrick Douglas Scruggs

The FHP statement added that Scruggs stopped, exited his vehicle, approached Driver 1, broke out the side window and began to stab Driver 1 multiple times with a pocket knife.

It was then that Gahaf and his wife intervened in an attempt to stop the attack on Driver 1, however, the statement said that "as the pair approached, Driver 3 diverted his attention and attempted to stab" the couple.

Both fled before being harmed, the FHP added.

Related: Grandmother, 2 Grandchildren and Good Samaritan Killed When Man With Beer Cans in Trunk Hits Them On Side of Road

"It surprised me why he did this," Gahaf told NBC News on Thursday. "He said, 'You with him? You two, you want to kill me?' That's when he came at me with the knife."

According to the FHP statement, a St. Petersburg Police Officer who happened to be driving along the bridge at the time observed the incident and stopped, detaining Scruggs and rendering aid to Driver 1 who was transported to an area hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

Getty Howard Frankland Bridge, Florida

"I wanted to help the guy and help the other people, too. It could have been a big accident," Gahaf explained in his interview with NBC News. "It's four lanes, and everyone is speeding 80 mph. There could have been a big accident."

Tuesdays events didnt deter Gahaf from vowing to continue helping others in need.



"I'm going to do this every time, no question," he said. "We have to help people when we see something, especially in the middle of the highway. Someone stuck in the middle of the road, he needs our help, no question."

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Authorities added in the statement that Scruggs was booked into Pinellas County Jail and charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and burglary of an occupied convenience.

Related: Two Riders and Horse Killed in Collision Between Amish Buggy and Car

According to court records seen by PEOPLE, the former prosecutor has paid a $65,000 bond and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

"He has no prior criminal history. This is a totally isolated incident," his attorney John Nohlgren said, per NBC News.

"He's got tons of law enforcement and prosecutors who are reaching out and saying, 'This is not the Patrick Scruggs we know; something must have happened.' That's been the reaction so far. The portrayal that he's some guy who jumps out and starts stabbing a person is either not what happened but is also not [who] my client [is], not his personality,' Nohlgren added.





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Choreographer Rudy Perez, at 85, in the dance studio at the Westside School of Ballet in 2015. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

For the record:

11:55 a.m. Oct. 2, 2023: A previous version of this story said one of Perezs parents was a Peruvian immigrant. Both his parents were Puerto Rican.



Groundbreaking choreographer Rudy Perez, a pioneer of 1960s postmodern dance, died Friday, according to Sarah Swenson, a fellow choreographer, friend and member of Perez's company.

Perez died of complications from asthma. He was 93.

Perezs minimalist but wildly experimental work, marked by spare, precise movements, helped ignite a budding Los Angeles dance scene after he moved west from New York in the late 1970s. L.A.s open spaces and natural landscapes inspired his innovative, site-specific works; and his interpretive abstract expressionism was so revelatory at the time, it opened up the dance landscape to new approaches.

"He came to L.A. as a major artist, a choreographic genius known for making his own rules," choreographer Lula Washington told The Times in 2015, adding that Perez was an influence on her. "There was nobody here doing that type of experimentation then. He allowed other people to see the possibilities."

Perez told The Times that his work sprang from the unconscious.

"Nothing is planned, he said in 2015. "When I put things together, unconsciously, it comes from my lifetime experience up to that moment. Then ultimately, it turns out to be about something for someone, certainly for me. But I don't expect for it to be the same for the audience."

Read more: At 85, choreographer Rudy Perez is still inspired by the rhythms of everyday life

Perez was born Nov. 24, 1929, to Puerto Rican parents, and grew up in East Harlem and the Bronx with three younger brothers. He began improvising on the dance floor at an early age, with cha-cha and the samba, at family gatherings. His father was a merchant marine who traveled frequently; his mother died of tuberculosis when he was 7, at which point he contracted the disease and spent the next three years in the hospital, mostly bedridden.



"I think a lot of the pain you see in some of my work that's very sort of contained comes from that experience, from being in the hospital and hardly having any visitors," he once said. "It's all very suppressed, but it's there in my work."

Perez studied with Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham in the 1950s, as well as Mary Anthony, but found his voice in New York's 60s-era, avant-garde dance scene. He was part of the experimental collective Judson Dance Theater with Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, Lucinda Childs and Trisha Brown.

His first choreographed work, "Take Your Alligator With You" (1963), parodied magazine modeling poses. Three years later, he put together his first solo piece, "Countdown," which featured Perez in a chair smoking a cigarette. He recalled that initially audiences werent sure what to make of his unique form of dance. But eventually, he broke through the largely white dance establishment of the time and won over audiences.

Perez moved to L.A. in 1978 for a yearlong substitute teaching job at UCLA and formed a dance company shortly thereafter.

"In L.A., I felt freer; I was able to go beyond, he told The Times. I wanted to get away from the emphasis on dance, and work more with theater and natural movement."

Read more: 7 choreographers on how dance changed in Southern California in 2022

In recent years, Perez's vision had been severely impaired due to glaucoma and macular degeneration. He continued working every Sunday with his Rudy Perez Performance Ensemble at the Westside School of Ballet. During the early days of the COVID pandemic, several dancers in Perez's ensemble kept the workshop going over Zoom. They have since moved it to MNR Dance Factory in Brentwood.

"Rudy was so pleased that we continued the workshop," said Anne Grimaldo, who danced in Perez's ensemble for 35 years. "Even when his eyesight was going, [Perez] could still 'see' like a fine-toothed comb. Hed say, 'point your toes.' ... He could see everything with extreme detail."

Shortly after she graduated with her master's degree in dance from UCLA in 1988, Grimaldo met one of Perez's dancers at an audition. He told her to come to his class. Grimaldo hesitated; she had heard Perez had a reputation for being tough. She eventually ended up going. "Right away he said he wanted me in the company," Grimaldo said. "And I never left."

Rudy Perez, rehearsing with his dance ensemble in 2015, at the Westside School of Ballet. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

"Rudy changed all of our lives," Grimaldo added. The workshop "wasnt just dance: It was theater, it was choreography, it was improvisation. It was up to a performance level and professional. You didnt sit down during a break and lean against the bar. When we first started out wed always wear black. And the company was very tight. It was like a collaboration with all of us and Rudy and his direction."

"Rudy was a titan of minimalist movement," Swenson said, "achieved by just being himself, unique in his approach and product. Fierce and demanding in the studio, he secretly had a tender heart, and I'll miss that more than anything."

Perez insisted his dancers take Pilates, Grimaldo added. "Now Im a Pilates instructor,," she said. "I met my husband, Jeff, in the company and we have a daughter. ... I mean, everything I do and what I have is because of Rudy and my connection with him."

Throughout his career, Perez created dozens of pieces, including work for the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival. He was also a teacher whose influence  at the USC School of Dramatic Arts and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, among other places  lives on in generations of choreographers and dancers.

Dance critic Lewis Segal told The Times that Perez's vision sparked "a real firestorm in L.A." in the late 70s. Teaching it and choreographing [in his style], he made a difference," Segal said. He added: It encouraged people to really go with their instincts, to go for broke."

Read more: In the dance studio with Rudy Perez

In November 2015, UC Irvine presented Perez with a lifetime achievement award during "The Art of Performance in Irvine: A Tribute to Rudy Perez." Perezs dance ensemble debuted work there that hed choreographed for the event: the three-piece performance "Slate in Three Parts." A month later, Colburn School restaged Perez's 1983 piece "Cheap Imitation."

Among his many honors, Perez was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and L.A.'s the Music Center/Bilingual Foundation's Viva Los Artistas! Performing Arts Award. He held honorary doctorates from the Otis College of Art and Design in L.A. and the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, and his archives are part of the USC Libraries' Special Collections.

"I've been very fortunate," Perez said in 2015 of his long-running career. "I've always been told, 'Grow old gracefully'  and I'm good at that. At this stage of my life, sure, it's hard, but I'm striving for excellence. I wanna go out with a flash."

He is survived by his brother Richard Perez, his niece Linda Perez, and nephews Stephen and Anthony Perez, as well as his longtime friend and caregiver James Kovacs, numerous former Rudy Perez Ensemble Members, collaborators, and friends. A memorial for Perez is being planned.

Times arts editor Paula Mejia contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
William Benjamin Adams, a 78-year-old New Hampshire man, had been missing since 1991, according to authorities

Remains discovered in a wooded area in 1996 have now been confirmed to belong to a missing New Hampshire man, authorities said.

The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office announced Thursday that a collaboration between the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has led to the identification of William Benjamin Adams.

New Hampshire Department of Justice

According to authorities, Adams, 78, left his home in Canaan, New Hampshire, in June 1991 to go for a walk but never returned. His family said that Adams had been suffering from dementia, and efforts to find him at the time proved unsuccessful.



Related: Remains of Idaho Hiker Found 7 Years After He Disappeared: 'Nobody Had Any Idea He Was Off the Trail Like That'

In November 1996, skeletal remains in a wooded part of Hanover were found by a hunter, per the attorney generals office. An additional search of the area yielded more remains.

At the time, authorities suspected that they belonged to Adams because of the vicinity of the victims last known location.



Related: Woman Missing 31 Years and Declared Dead Is Found Alive at Care Home in Puerto Rico: 'Very Big Shock'

The remains were then sent to an out-of-state forensic anthropologist in 1997, the attorney generals office said. The examination indicated that the biological characteristics were not inconsistent with those of Benjamin Adams" but that "a positive identification could not be made at the time.

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However, the case was recently reexamined with the involvement of OCME, the University of New Hampshire F.A.I.R. Lab and the State Police Major Crime and Cold Case Units with the hope that the mystery surrounding Adams disappearance could be solved through modern DNA technology.



Related: Woman Finds Husband's Body While Getting Christmas Decorations from a Closet 8 Months After He Went Missing

Authorities investigation included obtaining a DNA sample from the son of Adams. The sample and some of the skeletal remains that were found in 1996 were sent to a private lab for DNA comparison testing.

The lab, Bode Technology, confirmed the probability of relatedness is 'at least 99.999998%' and the DNA evidence is 'at least 42 million times' more likely to be from a biological parent as compared to untested and unrelated individuals, the attorney generals office said.



According to authorities, the OCME is in the process of reunifying the remains with Adams family.

PEOPLE reached out to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office and New Hampshire State Police Friday for additional comment.

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A jury has found a man not guilty in a shooting incident with a YouTube prankster who followed him around a mall food court, according to the Associated Press.

On Thursday, Alan Colie was acquitted of aggravated malicious wounding in the shooting of Tanner Cook, however, he was convicted of firing a gun inside the mall. Colie had pleaded not guilty and claimed he shot Cook in self-defense.

The guilty verdict was put aside until October 19 after Colie's defense attorney, Adam Pouilliard, said the conviction was inconsistent with the law, especially when he was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. A judge will hear arguments on the conviction, and Colie will remain incarcerated.

Jurors were shown footage of Cook getting shot that was recorded by one of his friends helping him film a prank. The interaction took 30 seconds and showed Cook holding a phone and approaching Colie, who was picking up a delivery.

Cook held his phone by Colie's ear while playing a phrase out loud four times on Google Translate. Colie asked Cook to stop three different times and backed away before the prankster continued following him.

Eventually, Colie pulled out a firearm and shot Cook in his lower left chest. Pouillard claimed his client "walked into the mall to do his job with no intention of interacting with Tanner Cook. None."

However, the prosecution claimed the facts of the case do not support a self-defense argument. According to state law, Colie needed to have reasonable fear that his life was in imminent danger, and that he use no more force than is necessary. Holmes claimed Cook's prank wasn't threatening enough to warrant he be shot.

"They were playing a silly phrase on a phone," she said. "How could the defendant have found that he was reasonably in fear of imminent bodily harm?"

The case became popular because of Cook's YouTube channel, Classified Goons, which has more than 50,000 subscribers, and the prankster himself reportedly makes $3,000 a month.

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Mexican candy holds immense cultural significance as it reflects the rich and diverse history of the country. These candies are deeply rooted in Mexican traditions, drawing from Indigenous ingredients like tamarind, chili and cacao, as well as colonial influences like sugarcane and spices.

They are an integral part of celebrations, festivals and daily life in Mexico, serving not just as sweet treats but also as a means to connect with the past and celebrate the country's culinary heritage.

Mexican dulces  meaning candies  are known for their bold and distinctive taste profiles, offering a tantalizing mix of sweet, sour, spicy and savory elements that create a memorable and exciting taste experience.

Whether it's the mouthwatering tamarind-based treats or the delectable caramel sweets, exploring these dulces allows for a broader appreciation of global confectionery traditions, highlighting the creativity and complexity that make them a must-try for anyone seeking to expand their palate and embrace the diversity of world cuisine.

If you're ready for that journey, here's a beginner's guide to navigating the different types of dulces Mexico has to offer.

Mexican dulcerias are a cultural staple. Here's how they came to be

Tamarind-based

What's Mexican candy without tamarindo? Tamarindo, or tamarind, is a popular Mexican candy flavor because the fruit itself has a naturally tangy and slightly sour taste, making it an ideal base for creating candies with complex flavor profiles.

Not to mention tamarindo candy can be made in various forms, such as pulp, paste or coating, allowing for versatility in texture and taste.

Pulparindo: A tamarind-based candy that's sweet, sour and spicy, often covered with chili powder. Comes in different flavors and spice levels.

Pelon Pelo Rico: A tamarind paste candy that's squeezed out of a tube and covered with chili powder, creating a sweet and tangy taste with a spicy kick.

Rellerindos: A tamarind-based and shaped hard candy filled with a tangy tamarind paste.

Cucharita: Cucharita translates to "little spoon" in Spanish, and this sweet is exactly that: a small disposable spoon filled with a tamarind paste, allowing you to savor a spoonful of the paste in one bite.

Banderillas: Banderillas are typically a topper for micheladas, fruit cups and other snacks. Its a yellow straw that is covered in a spicy tamarind taffy.

Tamalitos de Tamarindo: Tamalitos de tamarindo are small, chewy candies made from tamarind paste. They are often formed into bite-sized shapes, resembling little tamales.

Boxes of Pulparindo line the shelves of Dulceria Importaciones Valentinas in Phoenix on Aug. 24, 2023.

Spicy

Second to tamarind-based dulces, spicy dulces are probably the most popular among Mexican goodies.

These candies often incorporate ingredients like chili powder, tamarind and other chili-based seasonings to create a unique taste experience. They're known for their blend of sweet, tangy and spicy flavors.

Pica Fresa: Pica Fresa are strawberry-flavored Mexican gummies known for their sweet and spicy combination featuring a chewy texture with a chili powder coating.

Rebanaditas: Rebanaditas are watermelon-flavored lollipops, typically in the form of watermelon slices, with a sour and tangy taste covered in chili powder.

Vero Mango: Vero Mango is a mango-flavored lollipop with a chili coating.

Rockaleta: Rockaleta is a popular Mexican lollipop that comes in various flavors and layers, often starting sweet and gradually getting spicier as you reach the center.

Bolitochas: Bolitochas are round hard candies that come in multiple flavors such as watermelon, tamarind and mango. The center is filled with powdered chili.

Chamoy: Made from the mixture of plums or apricots with tamarind and other chilis, this candy is most consumed in its liquid form, allowing for it be used as a salsa or spread on many foods. It also comes in solid forms.

The traditional dulces

Traditional regional Mexican candy encompasses a wide array of sweet treats that reflect the diverse cultures, ingredients and flavors found throughout Mexico's various states and regions. These candies often draw inspiration from Indigenous traditions and each region in Mexico showcases its unique culinary heritage through its traditional sweets.

Obleas: Thin, round wafers that are typically filled with cajeta but can also be filled with chocolate or fruit-flavored pastes. Cajeta is a traditional Mexican caramel made from sweetened caramelized goat's milk.

Glorias: A type of nougat candy made from a mixture of milk, sugar and nuts, typically pecans.

Dulces Cristalizados: Also known as crystallized sweets, these are fruits, often citruses like oranges, lemons or limes, that have been preserved by being soaked in a sugar syrup until they become candied.

Coco Banderitas: Translates to "coconut flags," this candy is made from coconut that is often shaped into small rectangular bars resembling miniature Mexican flags. These bars are typically made from shredded coconut mixed with sugar or condensed milk to create a sweet and chewy treat.

Jamoncillos: Also known as "dulce de leche, these are made from a mixture of milk and sugar, which is cooked down until it thickens and develops a caramelized flavor and has a crumbly texture.

Cocadas: Also coconut-based, these dulces are made by mixing grated coconut with sugar or condensed milk and then cooking the mixture until it thickens and forms a cohesive mass. Cocadas can vary in texture from soft and chewy to firm and slightly crunchy, depending on the recipe.

Palanquetas: A nut or seed bar that includes peanuts, pumpkin seeds or sesame seeds which are bound together with caramelized sugar or syrup to create a compact and crunchy treat.

Alegrias: Made from amaranth seeds and honey, these treats offer a crunchy texture and are often combined with nuts, seeds or dried fruit.

Chocolate

Chocolate dulces in Mexico represent a broad spectrum of flavors and forms, catering to a diverse palate of chocolate enthusiasts.

While traditional Mexican chocolate, often characterized by its use of cacao, sugar and cinnamon, continues to hold a special place in the hearts of many, commercial chocolate candies offer a modern and accessible twist to this beloved treat. You'll find a wide variety of chocolate bars, bonbons and liquor-filled chocolates.

Boxes of Paleta Payaso line the shelves of Dulceria Importaciones Valentinas in Phoenix on Aug. 24, 2023.

Paleta Payaso: Translates to "Clown Lollipop," this hand-size lollipop is an entire marshmallow dipped in chocolate with gumdrops used to form eyes and a smile on its chocolate coating. Probably one of the most popular dulces in Mexico, its well known for not resembling the clown face on its packaging.

Carlos V: Mexico has Carlos V, a most beloved  albeit basic  milk chocolate bar.

Kranky: Chocolate-dipped cereal flakes.

Bocadin: A candy bar made from layers of thin, crispy wafers and peanut butter. It's often coated in chocolate and comes in various sizes.

Bubu Lubu: A small candy bar consisting of layers of marshmallow and strawberry-flavored jelly, coated in chocolate.

Sweets

Sweet Mexican candies, in contrast to their spicy counterparts, delight the taste buds with a symphony of sugary and fruity flavors. These candies encompass a wide range of textures and forms, from chewy taffy-like treats to peanut-based sweets that crumble delicately in your mouth.

Duvalin: Similar to icing, its a small container filled with flavored cream: chocolate, strawberry or vanilla. It's often eaten by scooping up the creamy candy with a small spoon or your finger.

Mazapan: Made primarily from ground peanuts, or other nuts, and sugar. The mixture is compacted into a solid round shape. It has a crumbly and slightly grainy texture and a nutty, sweet flavor. The real challenge is trying to open it without breaking it.

Crayon: This dulce gets its name because of its appearance, resembling a crayon. These sweet, soft and fruity candies come in different flavors such as grape, mango and strawberry.

Borrachines: The name "Borrachines" loosely translates to "tipsy" which may refer to the playful and slightly unpredictable shapes of the gummies. They have a soft and creamy texture that comes in mixed flavors like rum, rompope (eggnog), tequila, cappuccino, whiskey and chocolate.

Boxes of Duvalin line the shelves of Dulceria Importaciones Valentinas in Phoenix on Aug. 24, 2023.

Powdered

Powdered Mexican candy is usually made from a combination of sugar, salt, fruit flavors and often chili powder to create a unique blend. Powdered Mexican candy is often enjoyed by licking off of one's hand, dipping other candies or foods in it or sprinkling the powder directly onto the tongue.

These three are among the most popular:

Limon 7: Sour and salty, this one's a pale green-colored powder that will make your face pucker up.

Miguelito: Typically used as a topping or a dip, Miguelito is a sweet and tangy powder.

Lucas: Lucas powder comes in three flavor: mango, watermelon and chamoy. It's flavor profile is more sweet and sour than spicy, and kids typically just pour out the powder on the palm of their hand and lick away.

Lollipops

Yes, there are spicy lollipops, plenty to go around. But Mexican lollipops come in various flavors typically offering a burst of fruity sweetness and smooth texture. They are often brightly colored and some may include additional elements, like bubblegum-filled centers, providing a fun and enjoyable treat for both children and adults.

These non-chili-covered lollipops offer a delicious alternative to the more intense and spicy candies prevalent in among Mexican dulces.

Packages of Paleton de Cajeta line the shelves of Dulceria Importaciones Valentinas in Phoenix on Aug. 24, 2023.

Paleton de Cajeta: This one consists of an oval-shaped lollipop that is made from cajeta. The candy has a creamy and sweet caramel flavor, often with a hint of vanilla.

Vero Manitas: Vero Manitas are lollipops shaped like small hands or "manitas." It comes in a duo flavor, strawberry and cherry.

Jumbo Cereza: Jumbo Cereza are large cherry-flavored lollipops. They often feature a bright red color and a sweet cherry taste with bubble gum in the center.

Cachetadas: Cachetadas, meaning "slaps," are a type of Mexican candy that have a flat, thin disc shape, quite literally used by some to slap others  hence its name. These dulces are similar to Fruit Roll-Ups, but you can shape it into whatever form you like.

Got a story you want to share? Reach out at Tiffany.Acosta@gannett.com. Follow @tiffsario on Instagram.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What is Mexico's most popular candy? A beginner's guide to Mexican dulces
The OG has spoken, and shes not impressed.

NeNe Leakes recently sat down with Bethenny Frankel for a two-part interview. They dished on all things Housewives and reality reckoning. Of course, NeNe took some time to dish on the current status of the show. With rumors of a full-on reboot coming for The Real Housewives of Atlanta, everyones eyes on on the current lineup of peaches.

NeNe dished on the current state of affairs in Atlanta, and she admitted that the new crop of girls isnt living up to her expectations. She didnt name any names, but you probably have some ideas on who she might be talking about.

OGs do it better

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RHOA just wrapped up Season 15, which was the third consecutive season without NeNe. Although Drew Sidoras divorce drama kept us glued to our screens, everyone from the fans to Kenya Moore has complained that the dynamic just isnt what it once was. NeNe chopped that up to the fact that they just arent as authentic as they were in her day.

I think for us (the OG RHOA cast) the relationships started changing, the stories to me, Season 4 or 5. We were real. I often look at them and say that everybody on there is making sh*t up, NeNe said.

Of course, this isnt the first time NeNe expressed this sentiment about the current status of RHOA. When she appeared on former RHOA producer Carlos Kings podcast, she shaded the entire cast, from Kandi Burruss to Sheree Whitfield. Now, Nene has accused the cast of being performative and inauthentic.

Im telling you, when we entered, we were so good because we were real. It was authentic, we were real, NeNe continued. So now everybody has a fake boyfriend, a fake everything. Everything is fake, everything. They have all these stories they made up, I dont even know how they came up [with them].

Of course, Bravo isnt taking any notes from NeNe when it comes to casting, but there are rumors that the producers are interviewing women for a potential RHOA reboot. If NeNe thinks the current girls are inauthentic. What would she possibly think about an all-new batch of peaches?

TELL US  DO YOU AGREE WITH NENE THAT EVERYTHING IS FAKE ON REAL HOUSEWIVES NOW? DO YOU THINK SHES TALKING ABOUT ANYONE IN PARTICULAR?

NeNe Leakes

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The post NeNe Leakes Says Everything Is Fake on Real Housewives Nowadays appeared first on Reality Tea.
Get to know the 'Euphoria' star's dad Steven and mom Lisa

Sydney Sweeney Instagram ; Trent Sweeney Instagram Lisa Sweeney, Sydney Sweeney, Trent Sweeney, and Steven Sweeney

Sydney Sweeneys parents stay out of the spotlight.

The Euphoria actress, who was born in Spokane, Washington, and then raised in Idaho, is the daughter of former attorney Lisa Sweeney and hospitality worker Steven Sweeney. The couple divorced as Sydney began skyrocketing to fame, and Steven now lives on a remote ranch in Mexico.

Despite their unfamiliarity with Hollywood (and their early skepticism of Sydneys career in acting), both Lisa and Steven remain supportive of their daughter.

"When I go home my family doesn't understand me or the world I'm in anymore," Sydney told British GQ in November 2022. "But then in this industry, my home and the place that grounds me is so vastly different to how people live there. I'm in this in-between place where I feel like neither side understands me."

Heres what to know about Sydney Sweeneys parents, Lisa and Steven Sweeney.

They are not in show business

Unlike many of todays stars, Sydneys parents had no prior connection to Hollywood. Lisa was a criminal defense attorney and Steven works in hospitality.

He lives on a ranch in Mexico, and doesnt have internet or cell service, Sydney told Variety of her dad in August 2023. I know hes proud of me, and I know hes like, Wow, this is a crazy world! 

The actress also explained that after she and her younger brother were born, Lisa left her career in law because she could not come home to two little babies and be mentally okay.

She continued, My mom grew up with barely anything. She got her GED when she was 16; she worked five jobs to put herself through school; she took care of her brothers; she takes care of everyone. Its unbelievable seeing where she came from, and being able to show her this world now.

They have two children together

Trent Sweeney Instagram Trent Sweeney, Lisa Sweeney, and Sydney Sweeney

Steven and Lisa share two children together: Sydney, born Sept. 12, 1997, and a son named Trent. Its not known exactly how old Trent is, but the actress has spoken about being the oldest sibling.

In addition to minor acting gigs as a child, Trent is also a Twitch streamer and has an active Instagram account.

Sydney had to convince her parents to let her pursue acting

Craig Barritt/WireImage Sydney Sweeney in 2011

Though theyre now supportive of her career, Sydney said that growing up, she had to convince her parents to let her pursue acting. At age 11, the actress put together a slideshow presentation containing a multi-year plan for success.

"My parents thought I was wanting to be a princess, that it wasn't real. You couldn't touch it. I was from a smaller town, the star told Jimmy Fallon during a May 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show. "So, I put together a five-year business plan presentation about what could happen if they let me."

Sydneys parents eventually agreed, though it did take her longer than five years to reach her goals.

"It was a little harder than I imagined," Sydney confessed, adding that acting is "not as glamorous as you think it is."

They divorced amid Sydneys rise to fame

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Sydney Sweeney

In her August 2023 Variety interview, Sydney opened up about her parents split. As the actress was booking larger roles in series like The Handmaids Tale and Sharp Objects, Steven and Lisa divorced and filed for bankruptcy.

My parents sacrificed so much to support my dream, and they lost so much during it, she said. "I just felt a responsibility to show them that it was worth it."

When asked if she thought these sacrifices contributed to her parents divorce, Sydney replied, Ill never know. I think as a kid, as the eldest, I feel a responsibility. Theyll say no, or theyll say yes, depending on what fight it is. But Ill always feel responsible. But thats okay.

Steven walked out the first time he watched Sydney in Euphoria

HBO/Kobal/Shutterstock Sydney Sweeney as Cassie Howard in 'Euphoria'

Understandably, Steven was pretty uncomfortable watching his daughters explicit scenes in HBOs Euphoria.

During a June 2023 interview with Sunday Today, the actress revealed that her dad and grandfather werent properly prepared to see her on the gritty teen drama, which often features nudity and sexual content, and they both walked out the first time they watched.

My mom visited me on set quite a few times, so she knew the story, Sydney said. My dad didnt. I didn't prepare my dad at all.  So he decided he was going to watch it without telling me, with his parents."

My dad and my grandpa turned it off and walked out, she added.

Lisas 60th birthday party sparked controversy online

Sydney Sweeney Instagram Syndey Sweeney and Lisa Sweeney

After throwing a surprise hoedown-themed party in Idaho for her mom's 60th birthday in August 2022, photos from the event caused backlash on social media. In one since-deleted image shared by Sydney, one relative appeared to be wearing aBlue Lives Matter T-shirt.

Her brother Trent also shared photos that showed guests wearing parody MAGA hats, printed with: "Make Sixty Great Again."

Sydney responded to the criticism on X (formerly Twitter) saying, "You guys this is wild. An innocent celebration for my mom's milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Please stop making assumptions. Much love to everyone and Happy Birthday Mom!"

In November, the actress told British GQ, Honestly I feel like nothing I say can help the conversation. It's been turning into a wildfire and nothing I can say will take it back to the correct track."

Lisa supports Sydney on social media

Lisa doesnt post on social media often, but when she does, its mainly to show support for her superstar daughter.

In January 2023, she proudly shared a snap of Sydneys Armani Beauty campaign displayed at the JFK airport in New York City, captioning the image, Found Syd at JFK!

A few months later, Lisa posted a photo of one of Sydneys magazine covers, writing, Checked into hotel to find this! .

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Dotdash Meredith and Yahoo Inc. may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.

The hands-free style is a must-have for fall

Robert O'Neil / SplashNew; MEGA; BACKGRID; Mindy Kaling/ Instagram

If theres one trend we simply cannot ignore this season, its crossbody bags.

Over the past few months, dozens of celebrities have been spotted wearing the convenient, hands-free purse on repeat. While each of their styles vary slightly in fabric and design, they all have one thing in common: A handy long strap that can be worn across the body or off the shoulder.

Jennifer Lawrence has carried her classic black banana-belt bag hybrid at least five times recently and Taylor Swift has been opting for multiple brown leather crossbody bags for her latest outings. Theres also Sarah Jessica Parker, who keeps using the same green crossbody purse in New York City, and Mindy Kaling, who cant put down her quilted Chanel bag.

Shop Crossbody Bags Inspired by Celebrities

Related: Celebrities Are Wearing Cardigans, Blazers, and More Trendy Fall Jackets  Get Similar Styles on Sale at Amazon

Crossbody bags are practical for anyone on the go, but they're also stylish and easy to pair with practically any outfit. Weve rounded up 12 styles inspired by celebrities that range from $20 to $120, so no matter your budget, you can get in on the trend just in time for fall outfit planning.

Kate Spade Leila Mini Flap Crossbody Inspired by Taylor Swift

MEGA; Kate Spade

$239

$67

Buy on surprise.katespade.com

Taylor Swift has been spotted carrying the Ralph Lauren Shoulder Bag and the Mansur Gavriel M Frame Box Bag on numerous occasions, but you dont have to spend a fortune to replicate her look. Go for a brown leather crossbody bag, like this one Kate Spade thats a whopping $172 off.

The designer purse has a front flap and is big enough to hold your smartphone, wallet, and other small essentials, which can be neatly organized in the inner pocket. It comes in three other colors  white, off-white, and black  if youd prefer something other than brown. The genuine leather material makes it the ideal transitional bag, as you can wear it with casual matching sets and sweatpants, but also with dressy trousers and blazers.

Mali + Lili Half-Moon Sling Bag Inspired by Jennifer Lawrence

Robert O'Neil / SplashNews; Anthropologie

$88

Buy on Anthropologie

This $88 half-moon crescent bag looks strikingly similar to Lawrences go-to purse. And the number of times shes used it lately is proof that its a neutral style that works with a variety of laid-back looks. Take fashion notes from Lawrence and wear it with everything from baggy jeans to cargo pants.

This one has a small front zipper pocket in addition to the larger main compartment, which has a roomy design that would be good if youve got more items you need to stash. The actress preference is classic black, but this one also comes in brown and olive.

Related: Kate Middleton and Taylor Swift Have Been Wearing Sweater Dresses for Years  Shop 10 Under $50

Intrbleu Faux Leather Crossbody Bag Inspired by Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling/ Instagram; Amazon

$24

Buy on Amazon

Kalings iconic Chanel bag would cost you a few thousand dollars, but this Amazon dupe is only $25. The designer lookalike has that same classy, quilted pattern and silver-toned accent hardware.

The black crossbody bag has a metal lock closure to keep your items secure. While it can be used to dress up a jeans and T-shirt, like Kaling did, its also ideal for dressier occasions like cocktail parties and weddings. If youre into the quiet luxury trend, this bag should be your next purchase.

Uniqlo Round Mini Shoulder Bag Inspired by Sarah Jessica Parker

BACKGRID; Uniqlo

$20

Buy on uniqlo.com

Trendsetters, like Sarah Jessica Parker, know that a nylon bag is just as cool as a leather one  and this $20 find looks almost identical to hers. It comes in seven colors, including an olive hue that resembles Parkers.

The unisex style has a handy inside pocket and a thick, adjustable strap. Plus, the water-repellent fabric makes it a great companion for outdoor activities. But it can also easily be styled with all your everyday outfits, too. Take a cue from the Sex and the City star and wear it at the airport or while you travel.

Though were seeing an uptick in the number of celebrities carrying crossbody bags, the style is one that will never truly fade away. Keep scrolling to shop for more celebrity-inspired crossbody bags this season.

Westbronco Crescent Nylon Fanny Pack Bag, $13 with Coupon

Amazon

$15

$13

Buy on Amazon

Madewell The Transport Accordion Crossbody, $81 (Save $17)

Madewell

$98

$81

Buy on madewell.com

Madewell The Essential Convertible Top Handle Crossbody Mini Bag

Madewell

$118

Buy on madewell.com

Aldo Ameyaax Convertible Crossbody Bag

Nordstrom

$60

Buy on Nordstrom

Free People Nicola Crossbody

Free People

$78

Buy on freepeople.com

Away The Everyday Crescent Bag

Away

$60

Buy on awaytravel.com

Lululemon City Adventurer Crossbody Bag

lululemon

$58

Buy on shop.lululemon.com

Vera Bradley Cotton Utility Crossbody Purse, $46 (Save 46%)

Amazon

$85

$46

Buy on Amazon

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Todd Haynes is back on the festival circuit with May December, his Cannes hit that stars frequent collaborator Julianne Moore as a former teacher forced to reckon with renewed interest in her scandalous relationship with a former student. Critics have praised the dark comedy as one of the funniest films of Haynes career, with many speculating that it could be an Oscar contender.

Amid all of the hype, the Carol director is already thinking ahead to his next queer period romance. Haynes had previously teased that he was developing a new project with Joaquin Phoenix that he envisioned as an NC-17 period piece set in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Speaking to IndieWire on the red carpet of the U.S. premiere of May December at the New York Film Festival, Haynes offered an update on the film.

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Its still very much something that is forming, Haynes said when asked about the project. We have a script. I couldnt be happier with where it ended up right after we shot May December and before the strike. But the whole experience was prompted by Joaquin. It was prompted by his daring, his desire to push through barriers and to really get into the uncomfortable places about this relationship. And yet it felt like a very organic process.

Haynes said that the untitled film is hoping to shoot in Mexico once Phoenix becomes available, explaining that the plot involves Phoenixs character and his lover fleeing to Mexico.

I want to be back working with as many of the people I worked with on May December as possible, he said when asked about potential production plans. We hope to be mounting a production in Mexico. The two men run away to Mexico. Its set in 1937-38 Los Angeles, but they flee to Mexico. And I think theres a lot of intelligence that is leading us there, which would be an amazing experience. Because of the strike, projects Joaquin had been committed to have been postponed, of course. So, as always, its about dancing around availability and schedules.

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Tupac Shakur's sister Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur and Jada Pinkett Smith, who was his close friend, are speaking out after Duane "Keffe D" Davis was arrested Friday in connection to the 1996 drive-by shooting of the legendary rapper.

"This is no doubt a pivotal moment," Shakur, who is the president of the Tupac Shakur Foundation, wrote on Instagram. "The silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community. It's important to me that the world, the country, the justice system, and our people acknowledge the gravity of the passing of this man, my brother, my mother's son, my father's son. His life and death matters, and should not go unsolved or unrecognized, so, yes, today is a victory, but I will reserve judgement until all the facts and legal proceedings are complete."

She continued, "There have been multiple hands involved and there remains so much surrounding the life and death of my brother Tupac and our Shakur family overall. "We are seeking real justice, on all fronts."

Pinkett Smith, who befriended Tupac in high school, also weighed in on the development on her Instagram Story, writing, "Now I hope we can get some answers and have some closure. R.I.P. Pac."

Sekyiwa and Jada discussing Tupac's alleged murderer being arrested.

Jada Pinkett Smith/Instagram Jada Pinkett Smith's Instagram Story

Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the last living suspect in Tupac's death, was arrested by Las Vegas police and subsequently indicted and charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon by a Nevada grand jury, per the Associated Press. At a news conference on Friday, the outlet reported that Las Vegas Police homicide Lieut. Jason Johansson described Davis as the "shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime" and claimed that "he orchestrated the plan that was carried out."

The arrest comes two months after Las Vegas police raided Davis' home in the nearby Nevada city of Henderson. There, investigators discovered a USB drive; an iPhone; several tablets and laptops; a hard drive; "purported marijuana"; two black tubs of photographs; a copy of Davis' 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend; and an issue of Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, according to a search warrant.

Shakur was shot repeatedly while sitting in a black BMV stopped at a red light near the Las Vegas on Strip Sept. 7, 1996. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died from his wounds six days later at the age of 25. In the years since, the Grammy-nominated rapper's unsolved murder has continued to linger in popular culture  alongside the death of his rap rival Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G.  and has spawned several documentaries and television shows like 2018's Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.

Sekyiwa and Jada discussing Tupac's alleged murderer being arrested.

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty, Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Sekyiwa Shakur; Tupac Shakur; Jada Pinkett Smith

In Compton Street Legend, Davis confirmed that he was in the Cadillac from which someone fatally shot at Shakur's BMW, per the AP. By doing so, retired LAPD Det. Greg Kading told the outlet, Davis had "put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy" and given law enforcement the "the ammunition and leverage to move forward" with the case against him. There is no statute of limitations when it comes to murder in Nevada.

"It's so long overdue," Kading said. "People have been yearning for him to be arrested for a long time. It's never been unsolved in our minds. It's been unprosecuted."

Although his music career was brief, Tupac is considered one of the most influential hip-hop artists of all time. In addition to earning six Grammy nominations and releasing four No. 1 albums, he had starring roles in films like Juice and Poetic Justice. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year.

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Jacky Oh, seen above with DC Young Fly, died from cosmetic surgery complications, her autopsy report revealed. (Paras Griffin / Getty Images)

Wild N Out star Ms. Jacky Oh! died as a result of complications from cosmetic surgery, her autopsy report revealed. Her manner of death was ruled accidental.

Jacky Oh was found unresponsive in her hotel room on May 31, according to a Miami Police Department report obtained by The Times. Smith had traveled to Miami with her aunt to undergo cosmetic surgery.

According to the autopsy report, reviewed by The Times, Jacky Oh had a "gluteal augmentation procedure" the day prior; she had liposuction to transfer fat to her buttocks. She underwent the procedure without any complications, the report said. Jacky Oh  born Jacklyn Smith  was prescribed the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, pain medication Oxycodone and anti-nausea medication Ondansetron post-surgery. After the procedure, Jacky Oh developed a headache that only continued to intensify after a massage, the report said. A nurse advised her to take Ibuprofen and stop the Ondansetron.

Read more: DC Young Fly breaks silence after the death of his partner, Ms Jacky Oh. She was 32

Per the report, Jacky Oh told her aunt that her head felt like it was "burning." Her aunt contacted emergency services when Jacky Oh struggled to speak, but she became unresponsive before they arrived.

The autopsy revealed that Oh had swelling in her brain and bleeding of the skin around her torso.

She was transported to HCA Florida Mercy Hospital and was pronounced dead shortly before midnight.

Per the report, Jacky Oh's father said she didn't have any medical, surgical or psychiatric history. Hospital reports revealed that she had undergone a breast augmentation on a prior occasion.

Jacky Oh had been in a relationship with DC Young Fly since 2015. The couple met while filming the sketch comedy show Wild N Out. At the time, Smith had been a Wild N Out girl for two seasons and DC Young Fly was a rookie on the hip-hop variety series. The pair shared three children.

Read more: DC Young Fly gave impassioned eulogy for his partner Ms Jacky Oh at Atlanta memorial

In a 2017 interview with DJ Smallz Eyes, Jacky Oh opened up about pregnancy, her love for her children and the pressure to "snap back" after childbirth.

I looked in the mirror and said, 'Damn I need to lose some damn weight, because my stomach lookin crazy,' but ya know it happens, I had a baby, she said.

In June, Smith was memorialized in Atlanta at Jackson Memorial Baptist Church in a lavish celebration of life that included thousands of flowers, a horse-drawn carriage and doves that DC Young Fly released into the sky.

DC Young Fly, born John Whitfield, spoke about his longtime partner and the mother of their children  Nova, 6, Nala, 2, and PrinceNehemiah, 10 months  in a impassioned speech in which he discussed the importance of faith in trying times.

Jack, you know I love you girl. You know! he began the eulogy. But were here, baby. Like you said, this feels like a dream, feels like a fairy tale ... but this aint no fairy tale. And if Joseph didnt complain, I wont either."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
American soldier Travis King arrived back on U.S. soil Thursday, according to a U.S. official, two months after he sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border separating North from South Korea.

The U.S. official was not authorized to speak publicly.

King, a private in the U.S. Army, landed in San Antonio, Texas, according to a U.S. defense official who also was not authorized to speak publicly. Video published by CNN appears to show King being escorted off the plane.

American soldier Travis King: After North Korea expulsion he's 'happy' to be going home

In this photo taken in Seoul on August 16, 2023, a man walks past a television showing a news broadcast featuring a photo of US soldier Travis King (C), who ran across the border into North Korea while part of a tour group visiting the Demilitarized Zone on South Korea's border on July 18. North Korea has decided to expel US soldier Travis King, who was detained after crossing the border from the South in July, the KCNA state news agency said on September 27.

Senior White House officials said Wednesday that King's release was secured with the help of Sweden and China, though North Korea said it expelled King after completing an investigation into what it described as a defection motivated by "racial discrimination" and "inequality existing within American society."

King ran into North Korea on July 18 following his release from a South Korea prison on an assault conviction. He was supposed to be going to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he faced the possibility of further U.S. military disciplinary action. Instead, King joined a civilian tour of a border village between the two Koreas. After crossing into North Korea, he became the first American confirmed to be detained in the reclusive country in nearly five years.

San Antonio is home to Brooke Army Medical Center.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was treated there after he was released by his Taliban captors in Afghanistan in 2014.

Contributing: Maureen Groppe

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Travis King arrives back in U.S. from North Korea
In 2019, Canadian model Winnie Harlow became the newest SI Swimsuit rookie. To her proven modeling record, which included an appearance on the hit television series Americas Next Top Model, the 29-year-old added an SI Swimsuit magazine appearance in Great Exuma, Bahamas with Laretta Houston.

The photoshoot featured a series of vibrant high-cut one-piece swimsuitsincluding a fiery red scoop-neck pickand glamorous printed and crocheted bikinis. Harlow brought her best to the beach, taking to the sand and the water of the North Atlantic Ocean with style and poise. She even took the opportunity to get a little bit out of her comfort zone, posing for a series of photos on a swing above the ocean.

Not only was the swing unbalanced, slippery, not stableI cant swim and we were in deeper water, she explained while on set. So, that was a little bit tricky.

But the model knew that there was work to be done and beautiful photos to produce, and her mentality about the challenge reflected that. Its always best to put your best foot forward and try to make everything positive [and] light, she said. [It] wouldnt have been that positive if I fell in the water off the swing, but that didnt happen, so were A-O.K.

Her positive attitude and willingness to take risks made for some beautiful snapshots on the ocean swing. Below are nine of the stunning photos from her rookie trip to Great Exuma.

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Laretta Houston/Sports Illustrated

Now through Nov. 1, 100% of SI Swimsuits portion of proceeds from cover prints purchased here will be donated to the Maui Strong Fund, which is helping to support the people and places of Maui affected by the recent wildfires.

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Scrambled eggs are a decent breakfast on their own, and if you add elements like milk and butter, they can be super fluffy and delicious. With that said, they're not quite as flavorful as something like a breakfast sandwich or breakfast bowl, which often contains some kind of meat element as well. But if you're looking for a quick and affordable way to add that savory meat flavor to your eggs, skip the bacon and slice up some hot dogs.

Americans love hot dogs for many reasons, but two important ones are that they cook quickly and are inexpensive. When you're rushing around to get ready for work in the morning or desperately need replenishment after a fun Saturday night, a quick meal of franks scrambled with eggs is the right way to start your day. It turns out this seemingly unusual combination isn't so unexpected, either -- it's popular in certain parts of the southern United States and in Mexico, where it goes by huevos con salchicha.

Read more: 14 Liquids To Add To Scrambled Eggs (And What They Do)

Eggs And Hot Dogs Are The Breakfast Combination You're Missing

Bowl of scrambled eggs and hot dogs - Christian Vinces/Getty Images

Hot dogs are salty, meaning they offer a savory flavor that mixes well with plenty of different dishes. They were popularized with pasta and red sauce in the famous SpaghettiOs canned meals, and they pair well on a bun with almost any topping -- cheese, chili, onions, etc. Now, it's time to try them with eggs. Similarly to how bacon or sausage amplifies the flavor of an omelet, hot dogs and eggs create a salty breakfast treat that's ready in minutes.

If you're going to cook some up for yourself, make sure to chop the hot dogs into bite-sized pieces before adding them to your egg scramble; it's as simple as that. You can add other ingredients for more flavor, too, including chopped peppers, onions, and queso -- all of which pair well with hot dogs. Finish the dish with hot sauce or any kind of salsa for even more flavor. It's ready in about 10 minutes.

Feel free to use any kind of hot dogs you please. Depending on your other add-ins, the subtler flavor of chicken or turkey dogs might work best, or you can get fancy with some beefy wagyu franks to elevate the typically humble dish.

The Dish Is Commonly Served On Tortillas, Too

Hot dog-topped breakfast taco - Nicholas J Klein/Shutterstock

Huevos con salchicha is a beloved and familiar dish for kids in Mexico, and it can be served either as an egg scramble or on tortillas. Other ingredients, including onions and tomatoes, are usually added to the mix when it's turned into a taco. It's unclear how the dish got its start, but it's served not only at breakfast but also as a quick snack for young kids.

If you're unsure about adding hot dogs to your eggs, you can always stick with more common breakfast meats. That salty, meaty flavor is almost essential in any breakfast dish, though, and isn't as unusual as it sounds. While huevos con salchicha has become popular in the southern region's Tex-Mex cuisine, in Hawaii, it's spam that remains the salty meat of choice, and in some areas of the mid-Atlantic (mainly New Jersey), pork roll is often paired with eggs. Both spam and pork roll have a similar flavor to hot dogs (and they also make great breakfast tacos).

For a taste of the real deal, Texas Monthly recommends seeking out Los Muertos BBQ in Katy, a city in the southern part of the Lonestar State. The roving kitchen is run by Enrique Muniz, who notes that the weenies-and-eggs tacos he serves pay tribute to his family's work harvesting crops. "All any of us had to eat were tacos made with sliced weenies. We called them the poor man's taco," he told taco editor Jose R. Ralat.

Read the original article on Daily Meal.
The airline will add a new flight from San Diego to Atlanta next year.

Alaska Airlines will expand its presence in San Diego next year, adding a new flight from the Southern California city to Atlanta.

The new flight, which the airline plans to launch on May 16, 2024, will mark the 37th destination the airline flies to from San Diego, which Alaska said was the most of any other carrier. The new flight will operate daily between the two major cities and will depart San Diego mid-morning and once again depart from Atlanta in the early evening.

David Toussaint/Getty Images

"We want to provide our guests in San Diego the most nonstop options," Kirsten Amrine, the vice president of revenue management and network planning for Alaska Airlines, said in a statement. "Not only are San Diego and Atlanta popular destinations for leisure travelers, but both are also major business hubs. We're excited to connect the cities, especially since Atlanta is our largest unserved transcontinental market from San Diego."

Beyond Atlanta, Alaska flies to several popular destinations from San Diego, including to all four major islands in Hawaii, other cities across California, and to Mexico.

This isnt Alaskas only new route. This fall, the airline will launch new flights from Portland, Oregon, to Miami, followed by new flights this December from Palm Springs to New York and from San Luis Obispo to Las Vegas.

The new route comes as Alaska extended an olive branch to Delta Air Lines customers, offering to match their loyalty status (and even raise some frequent fliers to the next status level) after Delta made it harder to earn status with the airline in 2024.

Travelers flying with Alaska, however, may find it harder to access the airlines airport lounges after the carrier started restricting access for passengers booked on a first class ticket based on how far they are traveling.

Alaska MVP Gold, Gold 75K, and Gold 100K members can access the lounge when they travel on a Oneworld member airline to a destination outside of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, according to the airline.

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Anthony Chen s The Breaking Ice has been selected to represent Singapore in the Best International Film category at next years Oscars. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fresh off its premiere in Singapore, The Breaking Ice has been selected as Singapore's entry to the 96th Academy Awards (popularly known as the Oscars) in the Best International Film category.

The film, directed and written by Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen, follows the blossoming relationship among three young adults who are exploring their feelings for each other while confronting their individual traumas.

It stars Chinese actors Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran, and Qu Chuxiao.

This marks the third time Chens film has been selected as Singapore's entry for the Best International Film category. His previous works - Ilo Ilo (2013) and Wet Season (2019) - were selected for the same category, but unfortunately, didn't make the final list of nominees.

Justin Ang, assistant chief executive of Media, Innovation, Communications and Marketing, IMDA, said he is truly proud of our passionate homegrown talent who have found recognition on the world stage and looks forward to hearing good news at the 2024's Oscars.

Chen, who was invited to join the prestigious Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June, added, It is an honour once again to be selected as Singapore's Oscar submission and also even more meaningful in a year when I have been invited into The Academy.

This film wouldn't have been possible without the creative talents and passion of our very international team. I look forward to sharing this film with audiences in the States and around the world.

Anthony Chen's push out of his comfort zone

The Breaking Ice was conceived due to Chens desire to push himself out of his comfort zone. He gathered the cast and crew even before there was a script, and he almost backed out because of the pressure.

In a previous interview with Yahoo Southeast Asia, Chen, 39, said, There was a lot of self doubt in the process There were moments where I was calling friends in Singapore, I was calling my Chinese producing partner and going like, 'This might be too crazy an idea. Maybe we should just stop this. And then I just say that I got COVID, I tested positive, and then I just run out of China'.

Thankfully, the film has become a hit among reviewers and got a seven-minute standing ovation at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Chen told Yahoo that he is proud of the talent coming out of Singapore but feels that more support is required for filmmaking and it has to be less transactional.

He shared, When you try and ask for something, it's always transactional, it costs a lot. And then, when you try and get audiences into the cinemas, it almost feels like every time we have to sort of beg people to come look at us, you know?

Chen also pointed out that the success of Singapore cinema on a global stage shouldn't just hang on the shoulders of just a few filmmakers, or producers, or the small film community.

Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.

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The shutdown could close millions of acres of federal lands just as hunting seasons get into full swing.

A coalition of major conservation organizations is petitioning the secretaries of Agriculture and Interior to keep federal lands open during what appears to be an imminent government shutdown.

While the full list of signatories to the petition isnt finalized, the letter reviewed by Outdoor Life specifically asks the federal land-management agencies to maintain access for sportsmen and women to the maximum extent possible across the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and U.S. Forest Service.

On behalf of the millions of hunters, wildlife, and outdoor enthusiasts from all 50 states represented by our organizations, we write you today to express our deep concern about the impending threat of a government shutdown , which could have severe consequences for hunters, outdoor enthusiasts, and the conservation efforts that rely on federal public land, the draft letter states.

Federal agencies will shut down Sunday unless a spending bill is passed by Congress. But as sundown approached Washington, D.C. on Friday, no deal seemed likely to win approval.

The letter from groups such as Delta Waterfowl, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, and Congressional Sportsmens Foundation asks federal land managers to consider their lands open unless specifically closed in the case of a shutdown, which could last several weeks.

To provide clarity to sportsmen and women, we would ask that a list [of lands that are open unless closed] be made publicly available to communicate those units of land and water that are closed as a result of the shutdown, the letter states. With hunting seasons across the United States ramping up, many disabled and veteran hunts, as well as youth hunts, are occurring on federal properties in the coming days and weeks. These lands are places where sportsmen and women can connect with nature, engage in traditional outdoor activities, and contribute to overall conservation efforts.

Authors of the letter further note that because hunting is largely a self-regulating activity that occurs without direct supervision across millions of acres and millions of collective hunting days a year the vast majority of public lands and waters for these time-honored traditions should not be impacted by the potential shutdown.

Read Next: Lawmakers Threaten to Strip $1 Million in Wildlife Funding if Kansas Bans Deer Baiting

The letter is addressed to Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculturewhich manages the U.S. Forest Serviceand Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, which oversees the BLM and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, among other land-management agencies.

A final version of the letter, with a wide range of signatories from most major conservation groups, was expected to be transferred to Vilsack and Haaland late Friday evening.
The high-altitude city is still a fantastic gateway to the Galapagos Islands, too.

Karol Koslowski/Alamy Ochoymedia, a movie theater in Quito's arty La Floresta neighborhood.

In 2011, after more than a decade working and living in Paris and New York City, architect Mathieu de Genot returned to his hometown of Quito, Ecuador. At the time, the city felt quiet, remote, and more or less off the map in the eyes of the rest of the globe. The joke we always used to make about Quito is that were in the middle of the world, but also in the middle of nowhere, Genot told me.

Sitting 9,350 feet above sea level, Quito is the second-highest-altitude capital on the planet (the first is La Paz, Bolivia). It feels every bit as vertiginous as youd expect: forested hillsides stand next to rampant informal development; shining glass towers jockey for space with 17th-century churches. For most of its recent history  or at least since 1959, when Ecuador first declared the Galapagos Islands a national park  the seat of government has been something of an afterthought for travelers, a waypoint en route to the ecological wonderland off the coast. But Quito is stepping up as a hot spot for design, food, and more. People didnt really know where we were before, Genot said. Now theyre finally finding out.

The same extreme location that kept the place so isolated for so long (and that can still flummox visitors: foggy from altitude sickness, I lost my phone on the day I arrived) has also helped Quito cultivate a unique identity. Its the mountains. Its the colors. Its the beauty you see in the folk art here, said Margara Anhalzer, who presides over a curious corner of Quitos living history as the director of Olga Fisch Folklore. In 1939, the artist and designer Olga Fisch, Anhalzers great-aunt, left her native Hungary and eventually settled in Quito, joining a small band of other emigres sheltering from the Nazis. After immersing herself in Indigenous craft traditions, she began collecting both pre-Columbian and colonial art. She also sold pieces by regional artisans alongside her own Modernist textiles and jewelry.

From left: From left: Bicubik/Courtesy of Uribe Schwarzkopf; Gabriela Salinas/Courtesy of Foresta From left: Aquarela, a residential project by architect Jean Nouvel in Quito's Cumbaya suburb; the main dining room at Chef Rodrigo Pacheco's Foresta has a glass roof.

Today, under her grandnieces management, Fischs shop and museum remains very much open. On my visit, Anhalzer guided me through exhibits of colorful folk and folk-inspired artifacts, all packed into Fischs former home in the La Floresta district, long a redoubt of the citys creative class.

Its a very traditional neighborhood thats also a point where the old and the contemporary meld, said Rodrigo Pacheco, arguably Ecuadors highest-profile chef de cuisine (thanks chiefly to his turn on the Netflix show The Final Table). Pacheco chose the artsy enclave as the site of his latest venture, even making its name a pun on the place. Foresta opened just last year, and its avant-garde approach to traditional Ecuadoran fare amounts to a deluxe nationwide tour: bunuelos are topped in ice cream flavored with cinnamon-like ishpingo; cocktails feature the mysteriously rhubarb-ish naranjilla fruit; pork cracklings and sweet potatoes complement a cuttlefish, its ink pooling around the plate in surrealist-looking blotches.

All of this is served up in a suitably forest-like atmosphere. The restaurants high-ceilinged interior brims with exotic plants under a greenhouse roof, its organic elements tempered by an ultra-cool palette of white and black. I wanted it to be like an encounter with art  inside a jungle, said Forestas designer, Felipe Escudero.

For those who favor a more traditional architectural aesthetic, the best place is Quitos historic center  though even there, surprises abound. Just a short walk from the looming neo-Gothic towers of the Basilica del Voto Nacional, I stumbled on Casa Anabela. Opening a door in a blank street wall, I found myself in the hotels elegant courtyard, which has a grand focal point: a 19th-century facade, painted a vibrant pink. A few blocks away, the Carlota, which opened in 2016, pulls a similar trick, its ornate Beaux-Arts front giving way to a hip, minimal interior. The hotels subdued-yet-glam rooftop bar is topped with a shade-giving awning that doubles as a solar panel, using the hot equatorial sun to help power the building.

JAG Studio/Courtesy of nicolas&nicolas Casa Anabela, a hotel in Quito's historic center that opened in 2021, partly occupies a brightly painted 19th-century building.

Perhaps the surest indicator of Quitos current trajectory is the skyline, which has been marching straight upward in recent years, with no signs of slowing. For architecturally minded tourists like me, driving through the city  slowly, traffic being a chronic issue  means running into familiar names at every turn: Bjarke Ingels (two apartment buildings, the boxy Iqon and curvaceous Epiq); Moshe Safdie (the Qorner tower, on the edge of the scenic Parque La Carolina); and perhaps most remarkably, Jean Nouvel, whose Aquarela, in the suburb of Cumbaya, is as large and ambitious as any residential project the Pritzker Prize winner has ever devised.

The design really draws on the surrounding vegetation, and on the volcanic landscape of the area, said the architect Alberto Medem, who also worked on Aquarela. At first, the complex looks less like a piece of architecture than a geologic formation: irregular, terraced monoliths thrust out of the earth with greenery-filled courtyards between them. The first stage of the development, including half of its projected 600 apartments, was completed late last year. It lures tenants not just with its architectural pedigree but also with a suite of amenities worthy of a luxury cruise ship, from squash courts to a bowling alley to, incredibly, an indoor ice-skating rink.

Whats going up certainly proves Quitos vaulting aesthetic ambition  but in its bid for global status, whats happening below street level is no less important. As I descended a hundred feet or more beneath the historic Monestario de San Francisco, I got a sneak peek at the centermost station of the citys long-awaited subway system, which will provide Quitenos with a much-needed alternative to the clogged streets. (Construction is ongoing, though it began limited service this past April.) Practical though it is, the San Francisco stop also has style to spare, with an aboveground portion carved out of a colonial villa and gleaming platforms that borrow from Milans famously mod Metro.

Its an answer not only to our mobility and transport issues, said the Quito Metros director of operations, Roberto Custode. Its an opportunity for change. With so much to see, and so many people bound to see it, the Metro seems to be arriving right on time, a perfect symbol for a city on the move.

A version of this story first appeared in the July 2023 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline "Rising High."



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Fall has arrived, and with it the reminder of the passage of time.

It has been an eventful almost nine full months. Wildfires once again raged, burning (at the time of this writing) 104,345 acres in Montana alone, and devastating Maui and the historic town of Lahaina. Floods in Libya, China and the Northeast, an earthquake in Morocco, and an active tornado and hurricane season. So much has been lost. Lives, homes, possessions, animals, wildlife.

Recovery from these disasters often is talked about not in terms of weeks and months, but years. In our own lives, stresses are often plentiful.

When we take in the images we see of global devastation, as well as the worries and anxieties of our own lives, it can be overwhelming. How does one even begin to process and put pieces back together again and gain some sense of peace in the midst of life-changing circumstances?

Though much has been forever altered, global disasters and personal crises cannot tamp out the human hearts compassion and its capacity for resilience. We are wired for healing, recovery, restoration, and community. We see it in boat brigades saving those in distress, search and rescuers who search and rescue for hours on end, strangers helping strangers, humane societies tending to pets until they are reunited with their humans, friends and neighbors showing up with casseroles and companionship.

Lives begin to be rebuilt, piece by piece, day by day.

I am reminded of the youth group from the church I served in Wyoming going to New Orleans to work with one of the recovery agencies a couple of years after Hurricane Katrina.

The young people were transformed. They saw the beauty in a life of simplicity. They saw the richness in being as well as in doing. They learned stewardship from watching the people of New Orleans care for their community. They found meaning in a rhythm of work and rest. They discovered and devoured delicious Cajun food. Spending days unplugged and offline, they found that their ears would hear and eyes would see in new ways when they were not present in the moment.

Through stories of faith and deliverance, they learned that God is present and working in mysterious and profound ways. They moved quickly to seeing and believing, "The people, this place, are so blessed, because God is here."

"Surely God is in this place and I did not know it." Jacob, son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham - son of God - uttered these words after having a dream and receiving a promise from God. Jacob was on a journey both physical and spiritual, and stopped for the night. With only a rock for a pillow and hard ground for a mattress, he fell asleep and dreamed, and saw a ladder stretching from heaven to earth, with God's angels ascending and descending. God stood above that ladder and gave Jacob a promise of land, offspring, and blessing. God granted Jacob assurance that God would be with Jacob and would keep him wherever he would go. And finally, God promised that "I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

It was not the first time that God had made that promise. It would not be the last. God said to the people through Isaiah, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Fear not, for I am with you." (Isaiah 43:1-2, 5)

When Jacob awoke from his dream, he said "Surely the LORD is in this place and I did not know it."

When we experience dreadful losses, or have scarce resources for even day to day life; when employment is a hope but not a reality, when it is days before the doctor's office will call with test results, when our spirit is anxious, our heart worried, and our mind cannot turn itself off in the wee hours of the morning as we lie awake looking at those same stars that Jacob looked at, the promise seems faint and God seems distant if present at all.

Yet as the youth discovered, and as surely will be experienced in faraway lands and in the deserts and broken places in our lives, and as we are already seeing as Lahainas banyan tree begins to show new green leaves, God is present and working even in the unlikeliest of moments. Even when it is not clear that God is there. In our places of desolation, times of desperation, and moments of hopelessness, God's promise remains steadfast. God is with us and will keep us wherever we go and wherever we are. God will not leave us.

During their time in New Orleans, one of the families the youth assisted promised them a meal on their last day.

The family had fresh gulf shrimp and wanted to do a shrimp boil to show their gratitude. In a place that had been devastated and yet had shown resilience and healing, they watched a meal being prepared, a table being set, and food being blessed.

These were all familiar acts, and the youth did not miss the similarities. They were transported to another Table, where a holy meal, a Last Supper, was offered and shared in what would be the greatest act of love.

That day, in New Orleans, in a place wrecked by natural disaster, poverty and scarcity, they shared in fellowship and stood on the promises. "Behold, I am with you and I will keep you wherever you go," God said to Jacob and says to us.

"Fear not, for I am with you," God declares and promises over and over again, and for as many times as we need to be reminded.

Thanks be to God.
Model Emily DiDonato is taking advantage of the lasting rays of sunshine in the Greek islands as fall weather sweeps much of the United States and, especially, her home state of New York. The SI Swimsuit model has been exploring different mainland cities and islands in the Mediterranean for the past week. With stops in Athens, Antiparos, Thirasia and Santorini, she is making the most of her first trip to Greece.

The 32-year-old has been sharing several posts to social media featuring her idyllic stops around the country. From beachfront photos in the islands to snaps of DiDonato sporting her best summer linen in front of the Athens skyline, her carousels have us wishing for a trip to the Mediterranean of our own.

On Sept. 29, she shared photos of herself posing in front of the classic white walls characteristic of Greece. The mom of two brought her best vacation wear to the islands, donning a glamorous chocolate brown strapless dress and sandals for the golden hour photoshoot.

 , she captioned the trio of photos, showing that she has fully embraced the culture of the place with the classic Greek symbol of the evil eye.

And her posts just keep getting better. Her most recent carousel, which she shared on Sept. 29, featured a bike ride around the island of Thirasia. In addition to scenic photos of the island itself, DiDonato shared a sweet photo posing with her husband in front of an ocean overlook. The pair are clearly having a blastand inspiring us to book our own trip to the Greek Islands.

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A Very Venice Romance

Before we head into sweater weather and bundle up in our thermals and fleece until spring, Hallmark takes viewers to the balmy seaside Italian town of Venice in their latest Fall into Love movie, A Very Venice Romance. The film stars Stephanie Leonidas and Raniero Monaco Di Lapio, both new to the Hallmark family.

What is A Very Venice Romance about?

Amy (Leonidas) is a New York City executive that has been trying to launch health-forward deliverable meal prep kits. She needs to find a chef to help guide the venture and sets her sights on Italian chef Marcello (Monaco Di Lapio). Marcello declines to hear Amys offer, so the never-deterred Amy travels to Venice, Italy and signs up for his advanced cooking course hoping to make her case in person. While there, she meets an assortment of charming and quirky tourists as they learn to cook and travel around Venice and the surrounding area. Marcello introduces Amy to the slow-paced pleasures of Italy and shows her how the kits can be healthy by using fresh ingredients. Amys boss isnt convinced, and Amy risks losing her job if she doesnt stay on-brand. Will Amy follow her instincts and her heart, or will she stay quiet to keep her job?

Meet the cast of A Very Venice Romance

A Very Venice Romance



Stephanie Leonidas (Amy)

The British Leonidas has appeared on shows such as Endeavour, Van der Valk, American Gothic, and Killjoys. Her younger brother and sister are also actors.

A Very Venice Romance



Raniero Monaco Di Lapio (Marcello)

Monaco di Lapio has appeared mostly in Italian-language film and television but has had recurring roles on Medici and The Red Door. He got his start as a contestant on the Italian version of Big Brother.

Where was A Very Venice Romance filmed?

A Very Venice Romance was filmed partially in Venice, Italy.

When does A Very Venice Romance premiere?

A Very Venice Romance premieres on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. ET on Hallmark Channel.

When can I watch A Very Venice Romance again?

Sunday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. ET

Thursday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. ET

Sunday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. ET

Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. ET



Does Parade.com have a sneak peek of A Very Venice Romance?

Si, si, signora! Check out this Parade.com exclusive sneak peek of A Very Venice Romance below.

Courtesy of Hallmark Media



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Its prime time for seafoodand a visit to the annual North Carolina Oyster Festival.

Andrew Miller/Getty Images

Even though summer is at an end, it doesnt mean that we have to wait an entire year to embark on more fun at the beach. As the sandy-footed travelers we are, were always looking for our next coastal getaway, and North Carolinas Brunswick Islands offer all of the excitement and outdoor adventure of a beachy destination with the addition of uncrowded shores, charming small towns, and fresh seafood, as well as an annual celebration of oysters that you wont want to miss. Sounds relaxing, right? Put an autumnal beach vacation on your calendar this year, and explore the beauty of the Brunswick Islandsyour state of mind will thank you.

Thinkstock/Getty Images

Where Are The Brunswick Islands?

Located along the shores of North Carolina south of the Outer Banks, the area known as the Brunswick Islands encompasses a stretch of coastal destinations that spans Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Holden Beach, Oak Island, Caswell Beach, Bald Head Island, Leland, Shallotte, Southport, Calabash, and the mainland. According to the Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority, Five barrier islands [...] separate the mainland from the Atlantic and supply 45 miles of spacious beaches that continue to bring families back year after year.

Related: Duck Is the Tiny Outer Banks Town You Have to Visit Now

Where To Find The Beaches Of The Brunswick Islands

Beaches reign in this region of North Carolina, and the Brunswick Islands have some great ones. They cover 45 miles of sandy coastline and have public access points at Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Holden Beach, Oak Island, Caswell Beach, and Bald Head Island. Caswell Beach is one of the best-kept secret stretches of shoreline, as it is one of the less frequented but no less beautiful sections of coast. According to the Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority, Although all pristine and uncrowded, each beach has its own allure and personality, ensuring theres something for everyone. You can find more information about each one here.

Andrew Miller/Getty Images

What To Do In The Brunswick Islands

See the Lighthouses

Beyond the beaches, which are spacious and abundant, there are other things to do in the Brunswick Islands too. Several lighthouses stand tall in the area, and those interested in lighthouse architecture and lore will no doubt want to make a visit to these excellent ones. Oak Island Lighthouse is located on Caswell Beach. Tours of the light are available by appointment made in advance. While no longer a working lighthouse, the legendary Old Baldy is also open for visitors. It has the designation of being the oldest lighthouse in North Carolina. Other popular activities in the Brunswick Islands include visiting the many area museums, including the Museum of Coastal Carolina, North Carolina Maritime Museum, and Ingram Planetarium.

Go Birding

Out of doors, youll also find plenty of places to launch a kayak or paddleboard. According to the Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority, you can kayak, canoe, or stand-up paddleboard your way through local creeks and rivers that offer unmatched opportunities to view the natural wonders and wildlife habitats of the area. Look around and you'll likely spot an osprey or eagle, or maybe even a fox squirrel or white-tailed deer. Walking and biking trails can be found throughout the region, and theyre also ideal places for birding. The North Carolina Birding Trail has several sites along the coast here, including at Bald Head Island and Sunset Beach. Bird Island at Sunset Beach is an undeveloped area that serves as an outdoor classroom for researchers and students.

Take to the Water

Paddle your way along the Cape Fear River or Intracoastal Waterway for unmatched views of the coastal landscape. According to the Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority, When you're ready to plan your excursion, there are a number of expert adventure outfitters who can provide everything you need to explore the marshes and wetlands, including equipment, training and guide services. Riverside Adventure Co. is a good one for bike and beach rentals, while Long Beach Paddle Company, The Adventure Kayak Company, and Summertide Adventure Tours can set you up for a launch into one of the areas beautiful waterways. Each offers an array of excursion assistance, from rentals to tours.

Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

Where To Eat In The Brunswick Islands

Calabash calls itself the Seafood Capital of the World, and when you visit, youll likely agree. Order yourself some freshly caught shrimp, clams, fish, or oysters for a true taste of the region. Becks Restaurant dates to the 1940s, while Ellas of Calabash got its start in 1950. Waterfront Seafood Shack Market and Eatery is both a meal and an experience, with multicolored signs and straw umbrellas shading picnic tables out front next to the boats that brought in the catch.

Elsewhere, dont miss Delphina and Jules Salty Grub & Island Pub at Bald Head Island. Theyre perfect places to refuel after climbing the 108 stairs of Old Baldy. In Oak Island, Island Way and Kai-Joes have both garnered big groups of loyal fans. Try Olivers on the Cape Fear River or Mr. Ps Bistro in Southport and Jinks Creek Waterfront Grille or Sharkys Restaurant in Ocean Isle.

Where To Find Oysters In The Brunswick Islands

October brings one of the islands favorite annual traditions, the North Carolina Oyster Festival, which marks the beginning of oyster season and has been happening here for more than 40 years. It takes place at Town Center Park in Ocean Isle Beach, and it features live music as well as plenty of food, crafts, and family fun.

If youd like to order up some oysters, try The Oyster Rock for an upscale waterfront meal or The Boundary House for a little bit of everything. If youre in downtown Southport, you cant miss Moore Street Oyster Bar, which makes its home in a revamped pharmacy dating to the 19th century. Inlet View Bar and Grill near Ocean Isle Beach is another fantastic place for oysters, as is Castaways Raw Bar & Grill in Holden Beach.

zimmytws/Getty Images

Where To Stay In The Brunswick Islands

You can choose your own adventure when it comes to staying overnight in the Brunswick Islands. Visitors can always find a family-friendly Airbnb or other rental, but were partial to the areas cozy inns and hotels. Both The Inn at Bald Head Island and the Marsh Harbour Inn bed and breakfast are on Bald Head Island and offer elegant accommodations close to Old Baldy and the islands beaches.

The Robert Ruark Inn is a lovely bed-and-breakfast ensconced in historic architecture in Southport. Also in Southport, The River Hotel has bright rooms with balconies, all the better to see the surroundings which, the hotel says, includes views of the Oak Island and Bald Head Island lighthouses. As you gaze out, mesmerized, youll see the river come alive with boats under sail, ferries, and massive container ships journeying from distant shores. In Sunset Beach, The Sunset Inn Bed and Breakfast at Sunset Beach has marsh views and proximity to the Intracoastal Waterway as well as white-sand beaches. Other hotels and resorts in the islands also have water views and access to both area attractions and excellent spots for fresh seafood.

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Julianne Hough seemed to channel her "inner Barbie" recently in a look reminiscent of the vintage doll's very first look  the iconic black and white chevron bathing suit outfit  that debuted all the way back in 1959.

The former Dancing With The Stars judge hit the streets of New York City on September 13 after an appearance on Good Morning America where she announced the upcoming season's dancers in a vertically striped black-and-white sleeveless top and knee-length skirt combo by Marc Jacobs. She paired the outfit with a small black Prada handbag, earrings with dangling pearl charms, large oversized black sunglasses and pointy-toed white strappy stilettos by Paul Andrew. The 35-year-old's traditional long blonde locks were in loose curls, with some pulled back out of her face. Her makeup was very minimal and finished off with a nude lip, which allowed her bright red nails to really pop.

When the Safe Haven actress shared some photos of the look in a post she captioned, "Strolling through my favorite city ," fans were quick to share their thoughts.

Gotham





Gotham

"Such a 20s vibe ," someone wrote. "Oh oh oh . Looking fit, fab and so fashionable ," a different person commented. "One thing about you is you will serve a lewk Miss Hough!" another person said. One fan chimed in, "You look phenomenal!"

Julianne will once again be a part of the long-running professional dance competition this fall but with a twist. Although she has served as a permanent judge for five seasons total, she will now act as co-host with Fresh Prince alum Alfonso Ribeiro for the upcoming season 32, replacing Tyra Banks who left last March.

In a statement to Good Morning America, she said, "The show holds such a special place in my heart from the many years and different roles I have had the privilege of being a part of... the incredible team that brings the ballroom to life every night has been my family for the past 17 years."

After watching her evolve so much over the past 15+ years with the show, we have to say we're excited to see both her co-hosting skills and what are sure to be some stunning outfits week after week.

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No matter where you live, there's a good chance that a hot day will have you craving a frozen beverage of some sort. That could mean a slushie from a convenience store, a movie theater Icee  or, if you're in the state of Rhode Island, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Del's frozen lemonade.

You might be familiar with the brand even if you've never stepped foot in the Ocean State: Today, Del's has locations as far off as Las Vegas and Fort Myers, Florida. However, the company still has its headquarters in Cranston, Rhode Island, where it was first established in 1948 by a family of Italian immigrants. And chances are, Del's will be closely associated with Rhode Island for as long as it exists, having become one of the state's signature noshes. It even has an official collaboration with Narragansett Brewery: A shandy made with a mix of its famous lager and Del's lemonade.

If you've never had the pleasure of a cold Del's on a hot day, know that it tastes exactly how it sounds  a deliciously tangy-sweet lemonade blended into a soft slush. And unlike most slushie drinks, the traditional way to drink Del's is sans straw, straight from the paper cup. Using a straw, or heaven forbid, a spoon, will give you away as a tourist immediately. It may be a simple treat, but it's one with a rich history and consistent popularity with generations of Rhode Islanders.

Read more: The Ultimate Ice Cream Brands, Ranked

Del's Lemonade, dall'Italia

Three full cups of Del's frozen lemonade - Facebook

Long before Del's, there was granita, an icy treat made with water, sugar, and flavoring from fruit or nuts. Today, you can find granita at cafes and gelato shops all over Italy, but its origins can be traced to 7th century Sicily when Arab militaries began to invade the island. With them came an icy drink called sharbat, which was ice flavored with fruit juices or rosewater. Eventually, the Sicilians made it their own, flavoring it with local ingredients like pistachio and Sicilian lemons.

Flash forward to Napoli in 1840, where the patriarch of the DeLucia family would gather snow in the winters and store it in caves until the summer months when he would flavor it with fresh lemon juice and sell it at the market  the first iteration of the family recipe. When his son Franco immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s, he brought the recipe with him. Later on, Franco's son Angelo developed a machine to make the treat (thank you, electricity; goodbye, snow-filled cellars). The DeLucia family officially founded Del's in 1948, and what was initially just a single frozen lemonade stand eventually grew to cover the state of Rhode Island and beyond.

Nowadays, you don't have to search very hard to find Del's in Eastern New England, especially if you're in one of Rhode Island's beach towns. Just look for the crowd of bathing suit-clad, boogie board-wielding beachgoers.

A Rhode Island Classic

Stuffed quahog clam with lemon - Brett Godfrey/Shutterstock

For such a small state, Rhode Island has a more significant and distinctive food culture than you might expect, blending local Native American traditional dishes with the influence of Italian and other immigrant cultures. Coffee milk is another refreshing drink you'll more or less only find in the Ocean State: Think chocolate milk but with a coffee-flavored sugar syrup instead of chocolate syrup. Doughboys, another signature sweet treat, are similar to doughnuts or zeppoli  they're essentially squares of dough, deep-fried and coated in powdered sugar.

Rhode Island is also home to several unique styles of preparing seafood, especially quahog clams, the official state shellfish. Clam cakes, Rhode Island clam chowder, and stuffies  quahogs stuffed with bread crumbs, bell pepper, onion, celery, and herbs  all claim a Rhode Island heritage and are easily found around the state's coast. Rhode Island is also the only state with an official appetizer: Calamari, or fried squid.

And yet, nothing screams "Rhode Island" like a slushy cup of Del's. So, should you ever find yourself parched in Providence, you know what to do  look for the big, frozen lemon sign.

Read the original article on Daily Meal.
Hailey Bieber is the queen of proportions when it comes to cute and stylish outfits. She loves a good pair of micro shorts, but always balances out her leggy look with a long or voluminous jacket up top.

The Rhode founder and her stylist, Dani Michelle, are at it again with another pair of super tiny shorts and long leather trench combo. In a Sept. 26 Instagram carousel posted to the stylists account, Bieber was dressed head-to-toe in a designer ensemble featuring Balenciaga, ALAIA, Saint Laurent and Jimmy Choo.

The 26-year-old media personality posed for photos in a pair of tiny micro shorts, which she balanced with a nude-colored turtleneck and floor-length jacket. Bieber wore sheer black tights on her long legs and accessorized with pointed-toe pumps, a pair of black sunglasses, leather gloves and chunky mixed-metal earrings.

Were clearly not the only ones obsessed with the chic, autumn-appropriate look, as tons of fans chimed in to the comments sectionincluding a member of a famous reality TV familyto share their thoughts.

Dani wtf!!!!! Omg stop!!!! Khloe Kardashian gushed. Can I copy this moment? Drooling.

 Always love her in this long, leather, trench style coat, but this is probably my favorite look yet, someone else noted. Perfection.

R u kidding me , Aimee Song exclaimed.

Breathtaking as always , another fan applauded.

Bieber has been spotted at Paris Fashion Week recently, and stepped out in the head-turning ensemble as she left Costes, a luxury hotel in the City of Light.

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Milan Fashion Week may have ended on Sept. 25, but another one has just begun. All things high fashion headed to France on Monday, bringing all of the celebrities and their most fashionable outfits to bear on the City of Light.

Among the star-studded front row at the luxury fashion shows has been American model and social media influencer Hailey Bieber. In typical fashion, the trend-setter brought her A game to Paris, donning a series of glamorous outfits for her different red carpet appearances.

On Sept. 27, the 26-year-old sat front row at the Yves Saint Laurent fashion show alongside the likes of actors Zoe Kravitz and Austin Butler. After the event, she shared a series of photos of herself posing on a balcony with a view of the Eiffel Tower in the background. Bieber donned a knit figure-hugging backless black gown for the evening, which she paired with simple black slingback high heels.

tonight @ysl, she captioned the Instagram carousel. Bieber accessorized simply with a pair of gold earrings and wore her short brown hair in a dramatic side part for the night. With a pink glossy lip and moody eye makeup to match her all-black gown, Bieber completed her fashion show look.

The photos depict the Arizona native with her back to the camera, as she showed off the backless feature of the glamorous dress. With several days left of fashion week, we hope to see more of the models daring styles on display.

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Do you ever get sick of the sight of the ever-present pile of drying dishes on the drying rack in your kitchen? Of course, if youre an owner of a dishwasher then this doesnt really concern you. But if youre in the same boat as this writer and youre not so lucky as to own a dishwasher, having to manually wash the dishes every evening instead, then you will love this Finnish dish drying cabinet hack thats part of almost every Finnish kitchen.

I came across this clever kitchen idea on Instagram (of course, where else?) as Dave Cad (@dave.cad), a Brit living in Finland, has shared a reel all about the built-in dish-drying kitchen cabinet, in Finnish called astiankuivauskaappi (quite the mouthful), positioned above a sink so that the water from the dishes drips into it. Thus far, it has amassed over 15 million views. And my only question is, how have I never heard about this?

The Finnish dish-drying kitchen cabinet hack

A two-tone kitchen with a sink

Now, this is how to organise kitchen cabinets properly. Once I found out about this genius invention of the Finns, I quickly turned to my own Finnish friend whose exact words were, Yeah, most Finnish kitchens come with a dish-drying rack already built in a cabinet. Like its not a big deal. What?!

Dave, whose Insta reel plays on the comical reaction of every foreigner that comes across the dish-drying kitchen cabinet in a Finnish kitchen, shares his own first experience seeing this kitchen feature.

The first time I saw the dish drying cabinet (astiankuivauskaappi in Finnish) I was blown away by its genius. Something so simple yet effective. I started to notice them in every home I visited in Finland as it's a fairly standard instalment. Finns are quite proud of this invention and it is always a topic of conversation when showing a foreigner around their home.

Who can blame them? And it makes me wonder if this way of keeping the kitchen tidy and clutter-free is a new (global) kitchen trend in the making. So I turned to a couple of all-knowing kitchen experts.

Whilst the dish-drying cabinets are still relatively new to the UK market, I have come across them at trade shows and on social media, says Molly Chandler, designer at bespoke kitchen makers, Willis & Stone. They are a step on from the over the sink dish drying racks and do seem to be gaining in popularity. There are two choices of having the drainer open so that drips fall directly into the sink, or they can include a drip tray.

A white glossy kitchen with a washing machine and a dish rack

Having the option with a tray would solve one potential issue - that many sinks (mine included) are not positioned directly below a cupboard. But rather by a window, while some have their sinks put into their kitchen islands.

Molly agrees, saying you need to bear in mind the location of the sink as many people will choose to install a sink under a window, or on an island unit with no wall above it. In these circumstances you could still locate a drying cabinet in another cupboard and opt for the drip tray version.

A green kitchen

Richard Davonport, managing director at luxury bespoke kitchen manufacturer, Davonport, is also a fan of this clever hack. I can see the positives to built-in dish drying cabinets. They allow the kitchen to remain clutter and dish-free during the drying process but they are also eco-friendly. Dishwashers can use a considerable amount of water in comparison to running a sink full, and so choosing to wash your dishes this way can be better for the environment, and then stored away to dry.

He continues, As a bespoke kitchen maker, were able to design kitchens to our clients' desires, and so if this trend were to take off in the UK, then it would be something we could do.

Watch this space.
Yosemite Valley is shown in April. A government shutdown would close down Yosemite National Park, hurting nearby businesses. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Sundays at the Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort, 35 miles southwest of Yosemite National Parks Arch Rock entrance , are usually buzzing.

The 45-bedroom facility in the Sierra Nevada foothill hamlet of Midpines was near its 120-person capacity during the summer months, said co-owner Douglas Shaw. That wasnt counting non-guests patronizing the resorts cafe and health spa, fueling up or powering down before and after long hikes.

This Sunday, one of the last in what Shaw describes as his busy season, is expected to be starkly different.

Shaw estimates hell have only two front-office employees working that day out of 30 resort staffers. A few will be on an indefinite vacation, but most are likely to be laid off.

The reason: the potential federal government shutdown that will stop salary payments to workers at Yosemite and other national parks, shutting down the recreation areas that draw millions of visitors and tourist dollars each year.

The task of the two workers at the resort will be to inform guests that it is closed because of the government shutdown.

Look, realistically, all of our hotel guests are visitors, 95% of our restaurant guests and 50% of the spa-goers are all tourists, so theres no reason to stay open, Shaw said. The federal government is shutting down and theyre taking a bunch of us with them; its absolutely devastating.

The pain will be felt especially at communities surrounding Californias nine national parks, including Yosemite.

Funding for the federal government ends Sunday at 12:01 a.m. Unless the House reaches agreement and passes a spending bill, millions of federal employees will stop being paid. There was some hope from businesses that parks would stay open, as was the case during the last shutdown that ended in January 2019.

Read more: Congress is moving into crisis mode as Senate unveils bipartisan bill to avoid a government shutdown

However, the U.S. Department of Interior released a statement Friday afternoon saying that National Park Service (NPS) sites will be closed.

The statement added: This means that the majority of national parks will be closed completely to public access. Areas that, by their nature, are physically accessible to the public will face significantly reduced visitor services.

Governors from Arizona and Utah have vowed to use state funding to keep open parks such as the Grand Canyon and Zion.

California Gov. Gavin Newsoms staff, however, has said the state will not pick up the tab for closed parks.

Read more: Utah and Arizona will pay to keep national parks open if federal government shutdown occurs

National park patronage rose 5% last year from 2021 to 312 million recreational visits, generating $23.9 billion for local communities, according to a 2022 report on the effects of tourism by the National Park Service. Those figures translated into 378,400 jobs. Hotels and restaurants were the two biggest beneficiaries of park visits, according to the report.

Hotels and motels received about $9 billion in economic output tied to the parks, while restaurants were the beneficiary of $4.6 billion, the report said.

Tony McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, said his county of 18,000 residents is dependent on the park.

Roughly 52% of people employed in this county have a job in tourism, he said. If the park shuts down, its a disaster for so many people here struggling to put food on their tables.

McDaniel said ripple effects would be felt by nearly all businesses.

When tourism staff have their hours cut or are laid off, guess what? McDaniel said. Theyre suddenly spending less at the grocery store and at restaurants for locals.

Basically, everyone loses," he said.

McDaniel said he is working with leaders from the four rural counties that border Yosemite to coordinate cross-promotion, something we never normally do.

Ive been telling the tourism board in Madera County that Ill spread the word about Bass Lake if theyll talk up Mariposa, he said. Were doing everything we can to tell the story about small-town culture.

For Shaw, the resort owner, the anticipated government shutdown is the latest in a series of devastating setbacks over the last three-plus years.

Shaw took out a $450,000 loan to cover debt accumulated during the pandemic shutdowns and restrictions. The money was also needed to pay staff when wildfires and storms chased away tourists.

He carried $200,000 of that debt into the summer and was poised to pay that off. However, that money will be redirected if the shutdown lasts for more than a few days, he said.

Shaw estimated an approximately $175,000 loss in revenue if he has to close for October.

I just wish the politicians could realize how damaging this is and all the people theyre hurting, he said.

Travis Medlock, co-owner of a ramen house and wine shop in Mariposa, anticipates cuts in hours but no layoffs among his 12 workers in the event of a shutdown.

Read more: 'Like sitting on the 101 in L.A.': Yosemite visitors wait in line for hours to enter park

Our usual hours for the ramen shop are 4 p.m. to 9, but if it starts to wrap up earlier well just close, Medlock said. Were going to wait and see.

A national park shutdown could be painful, but Medlock and his financial partner, Melissa Takahashi, are pandemic-hardened after opening the ramen shop in February 2020, he said.

Medlock said a shutdown would have been much worse had it happened a few months earlier.

He noted that during the summer, shop sales are about 80% from tourists and 20% from locals. During the so-called shoulder season, which he says is now, that percentage changes to 65% to 35%, while in the offseason months of January and February it flips to 60% locals and 40% tourists.

For us, the key has been diversifying and trying to tap into this little but important market, he said.

Other businesses throughout the state are also preparing for the pinch.

Ventura resident Cherryl Connally heads the family-owned Island Packers Cruises.

Her fleet of three catamarans and 60 employees shuttle up to 400 tourists a day to Channel Islands National Park, which includes five of the six islands.

Connally is expecting a huge blow to the 55-year-old business.

Really, about 65% of our business is taking people to the national park, so its a big loss in revenue, she said.

Read more: How Hilary's visit to Death Valley National Park reshaped the desert landscape

But the company has a contingency plan, emblazoned on its website.

Connally plans on conducting 3- and 5-hour wildlife tours around the Santa Barbara Channel, landing on only parts of the islands that are run by the environmental nonprofit Nature Conservancy.

Connally is also considering expanding Island Packers' whale-watching options.

The 2019 partial government shutdown lasted 35 days. During that period, Connally tried to minimize layoffs by reassigning employees to positions outside their normal duties.

We created a maintenance plan for all of our staff to work during that time, she said. We had boats to take care of, so we did a lot of renovation on our vessels and a lot of office paperwork.

Connally says she's sad she may have to dust off that policy again.

Were going to do our best not to lose anyone, she said. Now we wait."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Most beauty tips and tricks shared on social media, while containing good advice for addressing different problems that you might want to address, often come at a significant cost. Whether involving buying an expensive product or spending the time and money on a cleansing or clarifying procedure, much of the advice isnt achievable.

Aware of this fact, model Georgia Gibbs took to Instagram on Sept. 27 to offer a cheap and sustainable beauty hack that she has been following for three years now. Rather than spending her money on expensive teeth whitening products or services, the Australian opts for a natural and inexpensive product that most people have access to on a daily basis. She just uses coconut oil to keep her teeth white.

I quit zoom whitening 3 years ago , she wrote in the caption of her short clip. According to the model, what is known as oil pulling, or whitening teeth using oil is really, really, really cheap and has been a tradition for a millennia. And its easy, using the four steps below.

Pick your oil of choice

Gibbs uses coconut oil, but other kinds of household oils will work as well.

Measure out a tablespoon

Before you go to brush your teeth at night, take a tablespoon of your chosen oil and put it in your mouth.

Swish it around

Gibbs recommends doing this for five to 20 minutes. Make sure not to swallow it in the process.

Brush your teeth

After the minutes have elapsed, spit the oil out, rinse your mouth and brush your teeth as you normally would.

Next time you go to reach for a box of teeth whitening supplies at the store, consider opting for the more natural, inexpensive method instead. As Gibbs said in the video, Theres a reason people have been doing things for thousands of years.

Make sure to follow SI Lifestyle on Google News!
The city of Helena is set to accept applications for its Affordable Housing Trust Fund dollars Oct. 1.

According to a news release, "The City is pleased to open another funding cycle for these funds and partner with developers to create affordable, sustainable housing options for members of our community."

The city will accept housing development proposals through 5 p.m. on Dec. 1.

The funds boasts about $1 million available for the fall funding cycle. Details, guidelines and applications are available at on the city's website, https://bit.ly/46bKxmo.

The Helena City Commission established the fund in 2020 to provide gap financing to organizations, both nonprofit and for-profit, that serve people of low to moderate income.

"Helenas Affordable Housing Trust Fund plays an important role in helping address the affordable housing needs of the community," the news release states.

Organizations that apply for funding will be required to provide a 5:1 match should the proposed project be approved. Funds will be dispersed as low-interest loans, with payments returning to the fund to address further housing needs.

"There is potential for grant opportunities if the development of housing utilizes a community land trust to ensure permanent affordability," officials said.

After the Dec. 1 application deadline, city staff will review the applications for eligibility and completeness.

The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board will then invite applicants to present their proposals at a meeting in January. The board will consolidate their evaluations and is expected to make funding recommendations to the city commission at a meeting in February.

People with questions about the trust fund and the application process should contact the Helena Community Development Department at 406-447-8490 or citycommunitydevelopment@helenamt.gov; or Housing Coordinator Anne Pichette at 406-447-8028 and apichette@helenamt.gov; or by visiting the City-County Building, 316 N. Park Ave., Room 445.
Christina Hendricks and Pamela Anderson are taking Paris Fashion Week by storm!

The two practically stole the show as they posed together at the Vivienne Westwood Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show on Sept. 30, embracing the newly minted fall vibes with their bold outfit choices.

Anderson, who has really toned down her glam in recent years, posed with a fresh, glowing face, clad in a thick, olive-green trench-style coat with red accent lines. She pulled the oversized hood up over her platinum blonde head, clutching the edge lightly with one hand as she gave a smoldering look to the camera.

Meanwhile, Hendricks stood to her right, a hand propped on her hip as she showed off a variety of fall patterns that created a patchwork-esque look. She wore a floor-length black floral gown underneath a pastel plaid vest with long sleeves, completing the look with a quilted, sleeveless overcoat. She completed the look with a pair of flashy chandelier earrings with some subtle blush and a soft pink lip.

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 30: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY - For Non-Editorial use please seek approval from Fashion House) Pamela Anderson and Christina Hendricks attend the Vivienne Westwood Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on September 30, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

>>> Sign up for Parade's Trending News newsletter and we'll keep you in the know on the viral pop culture moments and celebrity news everyone is talking about <<<

The Mad Men alum arrived in France following a lengthy vacation in Ireland, where she spent some time at falconry school, made a case to be cast as the next incarnation of Indiana Jones when she posed in a brown vest and matching hat, and survived one of her biggest fears: a dip in the Irish Sea.

Fans love to follow along on the actress' world adventures. Earlier this year, she shared glimpses into her "dreamy" visit to New Orleans and soaked up the sun in a desert oasis.

Next: Pamela Anderson Says She Went Makeup Free After Personal Loss
Stranded killer whale laying on the beach opposite 6 otters that were found inside its stomach

Scientists in Russia discovered seven perfectly intact sea otters in the belly of a beached orca, according to a new study. The doomed killer whale was found far from its normal hunting grounds, raising the question of what it was doing there.

The female orca (Orcinus orca) was found in 2020 on the coastline of one of the Commander Islands, which lie offshore the Russian Far East in the Bering Sea. Scientists performed a necropsy on the animal and discovered not only the seven dead sea otters (Enhydra lutris), which collectively weighed 258 pounds (117 kilograms), but also 256 cephalopod beak parts.

Related: Opportunistic orcas have developed a new feeding behavior that appears to be killing them

One sea otter was lodged between the oral cavity and the esophagus, which may have led to the whale's demise, the researchers wrote in the study, which was published Sept. 28 in the journal Aquatic Mammals .

Several things about the killer whale have puzzled the researchers.

"It is very unusual because orcas don't normally eat sea otters," study co-author Olga Filatova , a cetacean researcher at Moscow State University, told Live Science in an email.

Instead, they hunt seals, sea lions, dolphins and even other whales. And whatever prey species they hunt, "they normally don't swallow prey whole  they usually tear it apart and eat only the best (most fatty) parts," Filatova said.

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Gulping down whole sea otters was likely challenging for the doomed orca, as adult sea otters can reach up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. The researchers think the orca may have taken this extraordinary step because it was starving.

The researchers also analyzed the orca's DNA and determined that this individual was part of a population, known as "Bigg's killer whales," that have a vast home range that stretches from the Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska, to the coastline of California.

This is the first time any member of this orca population has ever been found in the Western Pacific, leading the study authors to hypothesize that the orca learned this hunting strategy elsewhere. Feeding strategies are usually passed on from mothers to calves, the study authors noted.

While the stranded orca raises some questions, it may help answer others. For some time, sea otter populations between the Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska have dwindled.

While some scientists suspected orcas were behind the area's decreasing sea otter population, this is the first direct evidence of an orca originally from that region preying on sea otters. The finding raises the possibility that orca predation may be behind the drop in sea otters.
If the mood for a savory pastry has struck you, and you're scouring the internet for some tasty morsel to satisfy your cravings, you have arrived at your destination. Sfeeha is the Lebanese meat pie you didn't know you were missing. In Lebanon, you'll find sfeeha at bakeries all over, which the locals flock to for their morning meat pie. You can also find them included with some mezze platters, which are collections of small plates that are put together as an appetizer or a light meal.

Sometimes enclosed like an empanada (which historians say was inspired by sfeeha) and sometimes open-faced like a pumpkin pie, sfeeha are traditionally made with lamb, but beef is sometimes substituted or added in combination with the lamb. In traditional Lebanese bakeries (called foren), sfeeha will be made in the shape of a square with the corners pinched up to almost resemble a star and with an open top for the filling to show through. Other countries in the Middle East have their own spin on it, such as the Turkish lahmacun, but sfeeha are almost always associated with Lebanon.

Read more: Tips You Need When Cooking With Ground Beef

The History And Culture Of Sfeeha

lebanese sfeeha meat pies with lemon - Stanislav71/Shutterstock

Sfeeha is to the Lebanese what pizza is to Americans, which is to say delicious, ubiquitous, and not all that healthy, but nobody cares. No one knows for certain where sfeeha originated, but it is without a doubt a Middle Eastern dish that's closely associated with the Lebanese city of Baalbek. Commonly associated with celebrations and family gatherings, sfeeha brings up feelings of family, community, and hospitality.

Some Lebanese bakeries will cook sfeeha on a saaj, which resembles an open-faced grill with a dome on top where you set the sfeeha to cook. When sfeeha are cooked on a saaj, they resemble flatbread meat pies more than pastries since the dough isn't pinched up in any way.

Sfeeha are sometimes served as a main dish, often with a side of plain yogurt, but they're also included in mezze platters as an appetizer. Sfeeha can be eaten as an after-school snack or as a side dish for dinner, too. In other words, Lebanese people can eat sfeeha whenever and wherever they get the chance. If that isn't a full-bellied vote of confidence, then what is?

How Sfeeha Are Made

Sfeeha on platter with lemon - Azra H/Shutterstock

Ask twenty different people how they make sfeeha, and you'll get twenty different answers, but the differences betray a hidden strength. Sfeeha are made with lamb, beef, or a mixture of both. Many people choose to make the dough themselves since it isn't that hard, but others prefer to use store-bought puff pastry or pizza dough.

Nearly all sfeeha will include diced onion and za'atar, which is the spice blend that gives sfeeha its distinctive Middle-Eastern flavor. Many recipes will also include diced tomato or tomato paste, and the differences begin to branch out from here. For a thicker consistency, tahini or yogurt can be added to the filling. For a bit of texture, pine nuts might be added. To help bring out the full potential of the flavors, cinnamon and allspice can be included.

Home cooks familiar with sfeeha are likely to have a family recipe that stretches back through the generations. For those of you without a family sfeeha recipe, the internet is full of options to choose from. Pick one and never look back, or try out different versions to find your favorite.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
An individual found to have prepared and remotely detonated a bomb at a TSMC fab has been sentenced to prison. The bombing was apparently motivated by a grudge held by one TSMC employee against another.

Last year, a bomb went off in a parking lot at TSMC Fab 12 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. A person sustained serious injuries, others were affected, and there was collateral damage around the explosion area. It didnt take long for the police to apprehend a suspect, finding evidence of bomb-making and materials in their dorm. On Wednesday, Taiwans UDN news reported that the suspected motorcycle bomber had been sentenced to nine years in prison.

The story goes that Mr. Lai became annoyed at a work colleague called Mr. Chen. Lai was reportedly dissatisfied with his colleague for idling at work and ignoring him. Perhaps one person taking it easy made work more difficult for others in the vocations these men worked in.

Lais simmering resentment must have grown to inspire him to carry out an extreme act. The court found that he used gunpowder and other pyrotechnic substances as the foundation for a remote-controlled bomb.

On January 14, 2022, Lai was said to have surveyed the TSMC car park and lay in wait for Chen to return to his motorcycle after his shift ended. Inside the motorcycle, Lai had put his remote-controlled bomb in the front basket, according to the machine translation of the UDN report. Lai detonated the bomb as Chen approached the vehicle at 5 p.m. that day.

Above: Taiwan TV news report on the TSMC motorcycle park bombing last year

In some ways, Chen was lucky, as Lai is said to have detonated the motorcycle bomb when he was still 30 meters away (about 100 ft) from it. Nevertheless, Chen suffered some terrible injuries, including that his right little finger had to be partially amputated, shrapnel entered his chin, and sustained injuries to his abdomen, arm, and forehead.

Some other people were affected by the blast, according to the UDN report on the incident. Leaving work simultaneously, most other people got away with damage to their clothes. The only other significant damage noted by the source was an Apple iPhone, which got blown apart.

The prosecutor in the case wanted Lai tried for attempted murder. However, the judge reasoned that Lai did not want to kill Chen, and the scale of his injuries wasnt very serious. The court case concluded with Lai being sentenced to nine years in prison. Also, Lai wont be allowed to vote or hold public office for seven years.

This isnt our first report where TSMC and bombs are involved. Earlier this year, we reported on a curious work practice where machine inspectors had to find bombs in chipmaking equipment. We also recently reported on the potential geopolitical issues of the USA bombing TSMC facilities if they were to fall into the hands of communist China.
SAN ANTONIO (AP)  The American soldier who sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago was whisked to a Texas Army base Thursday for medical checks and interviews after his return to the U.S., according to the Pentagon.

North Korea abruptly announced a day earlier that it would expel Pvt. Travis King. His return was organized with the help of ally Sweden and rival China, according to the White House.

While officials have said King, 23, is in good health and the immediate focus will be on caring for him and reintegrating him into U.S. society, his troubles are likely far from over.

King, who had served in South Korea, ran into the North while on a civilian tour of a border village on July 18, becoming the first American confirmed to be detained in the isolated country in nearly five years. At the time, he was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.

He was declared AWOL from the Army, but not considered a deserter. Punishment for going AWOL can vary, and it depends in part on whether the service member voluntarily returned or was apprehended. Kings two-month absence and ultimate handover by the North Koreans makes that more complicated.

King arrived in the early hours of Thursday at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio and was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, according to the Pentagon. He will undergo an array of medical and psychological assessments and debriefings, and he will also get a chance to meet with family.

Video aired by a Texas news station appeared to show King walking off a plane. Dressed in a dark top and pants, he could be seen speaking briefly with people waiting on the tarmac. He shook hands with one before being led into a building.

This image made from video provided by KSAT purports to show Pvt. Travis King, second right, coming out of an airplane in San Antonio, Texas, early Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. The American soldier who sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas two months ago arrived back in the U.S. early Thursday, video appeared to show.

Many questions remain about King's case, including why he fled in the first place and why the North  which has tense relations with Washington over Pyongyangs nuclear program, support for Russias war in Ukraine and other issues  agreed to turn him over.

The White House has not addressed North Korean state media reports that King fled because of his dismay about racial discrimination and inequality in the military and U.S. society.

The Norths official Korean Central News Agency reported that King made such complaints but verifying that is impossible.

On Wednesday, Swedish officials took King to the Chinese border, where he was met by U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, the Swedish ambassador to China, and at least one U.S. Defense Department official.

He was then flown to a U.S. military base in South Korea before heading to the U.S.

His detention was relatively short by North Korean standards.

Several recent American detainees had been held for over a year  17 months in the case of Otto Warmbier, a college student who was arrested during a group tour. Warmbier was in a coma when he was deported, and later died.

North Korea has often been accused of using American detainees as bargaining chips, and there had also been speculation that the North would try to maximize the propaganda value of a U.S. soldier.

But analysts say Kings legal troubles could have limited his propaganda value, and Biden administration officials insisted they provided no concessions to North Korea to secure his release.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Travis King, who bolted into North Korea has returned to the US
An appellate court Thursday night upheld a law in Kentucky and Tennessee banning gender-affirming health care for transgender minors.

In a 2-1 decision, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel said the matter was one for state legislatures to decide, not life-tenured judges construing a difficult-to-amend Constitution, they wrote in their 83-page decision.

No one in these consolidated cases debates the existence of gender dysphoria or the distress caused by it. And no one doubts the value of providing psychological and related care to children facing it, Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton and Judge Amul Thapar wrote in their majority opinion.

The question is whether certain additional treatments  puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgeries  should be added to the mix of treatments available to those age 17 and under, they wrote.

Judges Sutton and Thapar said gender dysphoria, or being transgender, was a relatively new diagnosis with ever-shifting approaches to care.

As such, they want to be humble and careful about announcing new substantive due process or equal protection rights that limit accountable elected officials from sorting out these medical, social and policy changes, they wrote. For these reasons, we reverse the preliminary injunctions issued in these cases and remand them for further proceeding.

Judge Helene White dissented.

Thursday nights decision is the latest legal blow to seven Kentucky transgender teenage plaintiffs and their families, who sued the state in May over the ban. Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who has fought for his ability to enforce the statewide prohibition, celebrated the decision, posting on social media to say another day, another win for Kentucky kids.

He added our kids would still be under attack without Senate Bill 150, which he said protects Kentucky kids from experimental sex-change treatments.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, representing the plaintiffs, called the decision heartbreaking for trans youth across the state.

It ignores evidence from medical experts and the trial court who agrees that this care is necessary, effective, appropriate, and banning it undermines parents right to direct the upbringing of their children, the ACLU said.

Kentuckys ban on gender-affirming surgeries, hormone therapy and puberty blockers for youth living with gender dysphoria has been in effect since July. After that provision  part of the larger SB 150  became law with broad Republican backing over Democratic Gov. Andy Beshears veto in March, the ACLU and the Center for Gay and Lesbian Rights sued on behalf of those seven families.

Kentuckys plaintiffs are specifically challenging the ban on hormone therapy and puberty blockers. Their lawyers argue that denial of such evidence-based care violates the Fourteenth Amendment under the Equal Protection clause because it discriminates on the basis of sex. The ACLU of Kentucky also argues it violates parents rights to seek and follow medical advice to safeguard their childrens health.

More than 20 major U.S. medical associations signed on to the lawsuit in support of the plaintiffs. In their 35-page brief filed in August, which details the clinical understanding of gender dysphoria and effective treatment for it, medical associations including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics explained such a ban put trans kids at risk of significant harm.

The widely accepted recommendation of the medical community, including that of the respected professional organizations participating here . . . is that the standard of care for treating gender dysphoria is gender-affirming care, they wrote.

A similar ban was made law in Tennessee this year and promptly challenged by three trans plaintiffs and their families. In July, the same three-judge panel denied injunctive relief to plaintiffs in that lawsuit. The decision restored the Volunteer States ban on gender-affirming health care, and in doing so, consolidated Kentuckys and Tennessees cases into the same appeals process.

Plaintiffs had asked the appellate court for previous preliminary injunctions blocking both laws to be reinstated. A preliminary injunction is only granted if theres evidence that, without one, both laws will cause irreparable harm and injury. Plaintiffs must present a clear showing they are likely to succeed on a cases merits, that there is proof of irreparable harm without that intervention, and that public interest supports them, the court wrote.

Thapar and Sutton do not find these standards were sufficiently met.

Whats more, because so many states have begun passing laws restricting this type of health care, a sweeping decision from the judiciary one way or the other prevents governing bodies from further democratically deliberating these policies, they said.

Because so many states (close to 20) have enacted similar restrictions, judicial intervention to block laws from taking effect would start to grind these all-over-the-map gears to a halt, they said.

Given the high stakes of these nascent policy deliberates the long-term health of children facing gender dysphoria  sound government usually benefits from more rather than less debate, more rather than less input, more rather than less consideration of far-minded policy approaches, they said.

Allowing the democratic process to exist is all the more critical in view of two realities looming over both cases: the concept of gender dysphoria as a medical condition is relatively new and the use of drug treatments that change or modify a childs sex characteristics is even more recent, they added.

Keeping citizens and legislatures from offering their perspectives on high-stakes medical policies, in which compassion for the child points in both directions, is not something life-tenured federal judges should do without a clear warrant in the constitution.

Who should get to decide?

Judge White, in her 32-page dissent, said the laws being challenge discriminate based on sex and gender conformity and intrude on the well-established province of parents to make medical decisions for their minor children. she wrote.

Whites lengthy dissent challenged Thapar and Suttons findings that this type of care is newer and therefore less established.

A substantial body of evidence  including cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, as well as decades of clinical experience  shows that these medical interventions work, White wrote.

As for Due Process rights, Tennessees and Kentuckys statutes plainly intrude on parental autonomy, she said. And the majoritys focus on the governments power over medical treatment, in general, misses the mark.

Gender-affirming health care is not banned for adults, just those under age 18. Thus, the issue is not the what of medical-decision making  that is, any right to a particular treatment or a particular provider, White said.

Rather the issue is the who  who gets to decide whether a treatment otherwise available to adults is right or wrong for a child? Do parents have the right to make that call, or does the government get to decide for itself, notwithstanding the parents determinations of what is in their childs best interests?

Both laws tell kids and their parents, they cannot undergo medical care because of the accidents of their births and their failure to conform to how society believes boys and girls should look and live, White concluded.

The laws further deprive the parents  those whom we otherwise recognize as best suited to further their childrens interests  of their right to make medical decisions affecting their children, in conjunction with their children and medical practitioners, she said. For these reasons, I dissent.

This story may be updated.
A government shutdown appears more likely after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass a short-term spending measure Friday, with Arizona's delegation splitting their votes on the bill.

Moderate Republicans, both from Arizona and nationally, voted for the measure while more hard-line members of the state and national GOP joined with all the Democrats in voting it down. Democrats opposed the measure because it included cuts they do not support, while the more ardent Republicans who rejected it wanted larger cuts.

The Republicans opposed to a short-term deal want to cut spending on assistance for Ukraine, and they want to cut funding for the Department of Justice because of the two prosecutions of former President Donald Trump over his handling of classified documents and attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

While Republicans control the U.S. House by a slim majority, even if they passed such cuts in a spending measure it likely would fail in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats hold the majority.

Republicans in the House are divided on how to handle the spending bills, which must pass by Saturday to prevent a partial government shutdown from starting Sunday. Some of the hard-liners have welcomed a shutdown if it forces the spending cuts they seek or invites primary challenges to Republicans they view as weak on the issues.

Who is affected in government shutdown: How would a shutdown affect Arizona?

But Republicans from more vulnerable districts in next years election favor keeping the government running. The backlash from a shutdown, including restricted services for the public at large and federal workers who either are furloughed or work without pay, could threaten their re-elections.

On Friday, 198 House Republicans voted "yes" on a short-term measure that would fund the government through the end of October. It was 34 votes shy of passing.

The Continuing Appropriations and Border Security Enhancement Act would have changed immigration laws and reduced the eligibility for asylum, and cut domestic programs by about 30%.

It also would have required the Department of Homeland Security to continue building a wall along the Mexico border.

'A true trailblazer': Arizonans react to death of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein

How Arizona's House members voted on spending measure

All of Arizonas Democrat Representatives voted against the spending measure.

Republican members from Arizona, including David Schweikert , Debbie Lesko and Juan Ciscomani all voted for it, while Republicans Eli Crane, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs were among the 21 Republicans who opposed it and joined House Democrats in voting it down.

Those members have said they do not want a short-term measure.

Federal government shutdown in AZ: Gov. Katie Hobbs says Grand Canyon to remain open

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., supported the measure, but he did not get the support of the holdouts from Arizona and others, including Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

I still got time. Ive got time to do other things, McCarthy told reporters Thursday evening at the Capitol, according to the Associated Press. At the end of the day, well get it all done.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee eagerly pounced on the Republicans for not making a deal.

Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert are enabling extreme MAGA Republicans to shut down the government, DCCC Spokesperson Justin Chermol said Friday. No matter how much they say otherwise, the MAGA manufactured shutdown will harm Arizona families, small businesses, and economy  and well make it clear to the American public who's to blame for all the chaos and dysfunction.

US-Mexico border: What would happen during a government shutdown?

Biggs hosted Crane, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont. on a podcast Friday after the failed vote.

Everybody knows we have a massive spending problem in this country, Crane said on the podcast, adding that the approximately $33 trillion in debt cant be paid by tax collections at current spending.

You guys know this doesnt add up, he said. Those of us and some other members in Congress are trying to change the way this works so that we pump the brakes on spending so that your kids and grandkids have a chance at having a financial future. And this town does not like that very much. Thats why its called the swamp.

Biggs predicted the House would vote down another short-term measure Saturday, and that then the Democrat-controlled Senate would send a short-term funding measure and moderate House Republicans would join Democrats in passing it to keep the government running.

Schweikert: 'We are living in a mathematical fantasy world'

After the vote, the House moved to special order speeches, and Schweikert, long a budget specialist and current member of the Ways and Means Committee, took the opportunity to give a presentation he said shows the U.S. cant cover a looming budget shortfall for Social Security by increasing taxes.

He said politicians are not being honest about the nation's finances.

In his presentation, he said that even if Congress passed a fantasy tax, taking all the money high-income earners make greater than $500,000, it wouldnt cover the coming shortfall.

Your government is functionally an insurance company with an army, and a problem, Schweikert said. We are living in a mathematical fantasy world."

Lesko was among the members who supported the spending cuts that failed Friday.

I voted YES to the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act which would have funded the government through Oct 31, made a 29.9% cut to non-defense/VA/homeland/disaster relief spending, and secured the Southern Border by building the border wall and reinstating remain in Mexico, Lesko said on social media.

I am in support of pressuring the Democrat-controlled Senate to secure our border by tying Republican's border security bill to any budget deal. I also want to ensure that our military and border patrol officers continue to get paid. 

Reach reporter Ryan Randazzo at ryan.randazzo@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4331. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @UtilityReporter. Dan Nowicki is The Arizona Republic's national politics editor. Follow him on X: @dannowicki.

Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Republicans split on house vote to keep government running
Artificial intelligence (AI) does have a place in education, and teachers, school administrators and school board members learned how they can use AI in school and how it can be beneficial to students in a series of trainings across the state this month.

Over 350 teachers from Rapid City, Aberdeen, Harrisburg and Chamberlain attended the four trainings with educators from University of South Dakota, Dakota State University, School Administrators of South Dakota, Associated School Boards of South Dakota, the South Dakota Department of Education and Technology & Innovation in Education leading the sessions.

As AI has become more prevalent, teachers have shared concerns with Amy Schweinle, dean of the USDs School of Education, about what AI means for their classroom and how its one more thing they have to learn.

Teachers, school administrators and school board members take an artificial intelligence training in Chamberlain on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, hosted by educators from the University of South Dakota, Dakota State University, Associated School Boards of South Dakota, School Administrators of South Dakota, the South Dakota Department of Education, and Technology in Education.

Teachers can use AI for administrative tasks that take up a lot of their time, such as writing emails about upcoming school events, scheduling, creating rubrics, or ideas for lesson plans, Schweinle said, but she recommends teachers reread what the AI came up with and edit it as needed.

Never just take what you get from AI without going through and revising it yourself, she said. Put your own take on it, read through it, make it sound like you, make it personal to you.

AI can save teachers time that they can instead use to work with their students, Schweinle said.

The number one thing teachers use AI for is lesson planning, DSU College of Education Dean David DeJong said. In the trainings, he helped teachers learn how to put their ideas into AI to look for ways to improve them.

(AI) comes up with some pretty good ideas that can help them immediately with their lesson plan, DeJong said. Theyre just amazed at how easy that is. Its been fun to be a leader across the state in elevating the profession and equipping teachers to use AI more.

Its important that educators start with their own ideas first, then run them through AI and take a critical look at what AI suggests, DeJong explained. Teachers can then continue on with their own thoughts rather than rely entirely on AI.

You can get as specific as (asking AI), Give me a hands-on idea for 22 minutes for third graders when Im introducing the concept of electricity, and you can tell AI what materials you have to work with, and it will come up with ideas or questions you can ask the students that may have taken teachers hours to create on their own, but it generates in a matter of seconds, DeJong said. Its just helping them be more efficient.

More: 'AI is going to take over a lot': SD universities make regional push for more artificial intelligence education

Students can also use AI in their education, but must do it ethically and appropriately, Schweinle said. Its not something elementary school students would be using because it requires some information literacy and critical reading skills, she explained.

Teachers could ask their students to write a paper with AI, but then supplementing every fact in the paper with an original source, Schweinle said. Teachers have also used AI to present pro and con sides to debates that their students can use to rebut against.

Students, too, need to understand what it is that theyre using, Schweinle said of AI. They also need to understand what AI is, how it works, how it was trained, (and) that its not giving you accurate, perfect information. They need to understand that sometimes they get wrong information. Sometimes AI makes up references. They need to start thinking about the ethics of (AI).

Good ethics discussions about AI in modern life  self-driving cars, Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant and personal data and information  can also be had in classrooms, Schweinle explained.

More: Data: SDSU football games have dominated alcohol sales in the last year since policy OK'd

Kids know about AI. They know its there, Schweinle said. If were not at the forefront of having these conversations with them (about) using AI appropriately, theyre going to be learning about it from their friends, so I think we need to be the ones guiding the conversation. We need to think about how we change our teaching.

DeJong compared the advent of AI to the introduction of calculators into math classes, which led to a fear kids wouldnt learn math anymore, and made math teachers rethink how they gave out assignments, having students double down on showing their work, he said.

When we talk about those lessons math teachers learned a long time ago, (for) English teachers, that sparks ideas with them about how they can tweak their assignments that they give to students instead of just assigning an essay that ChatGPT could write in a matter of seconds, DeJong said.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota teachers receive artificial intelligence training
The saga continues at West Bonner school district  and theyre still not rid of Branden Durst as the superintendent.

Board members in the North Idaho district Wednesday night held a truncated meeting that failed to part ways with their unqualified and embattled leader.

With two school board members gone because they were recalled by voters at least in part for hiring Durst, a third board member sympathetic to Durst called in to Wednesdays board meeting saying, Im sitting along the highway soaking wet and covered in mud and trying to get home, according to Idaho Education News.

This came a week after that board member, Troy Reinbold, failed to show up for another meeting, which had to be canceled for lack of a quorum.

And so the horror show that is the West Bonner district continues.

The whole slow-motion disaster offers some lessons for everyone in Idaho.

First and foremost, its so important to vote.

The number of people who voted for the two board members who wanted Durst was extremely low, typical for school board elections. In all, 844 people went to the polls in 2021 to elect the folks who hired Durst, a far-right political pugilist who worked for the Idaho Freedom Foundation, which opposes public education, and had no experience as a school administrator or teacher. He lacked even the necessary certification to be a superintendent. He has supported using taxpayer dollars to fund private schools.

The effort to recall the two board members was extraordinary. A core group of 10 residents, with a hundred participating, spent months knocking on more than 300 doors, placing 500 yard signs, mailing 3,600 flyers, posters and letters and calling about 2,000 voters, according to Idaho Ed News, culminating in the August recall of Keith Rutledge and Susan Brown, with a total of 2,162 votes cast, nearly 2-to-1 in favor of recall.

It would have been much easier to just go vote in the first place.

Even after the board members were recalled, they tried to meet twice, in the small window between the election and the official certification of the votes.

It just goes to show how some people will manipulate the system to try to skirt democratic processes.

Its sad that we have to put guardrails on our democracy against those who would abuse the loopholes in our system, but its clear we cant always rely on honesty and honor, and we cant always count on public officials to do the right thing.

Unfortunately, we need a state law to close that loophole following recall elections to ensure that bad actors dont try to take action contrary to the will of the voters after the voters have spoken.

But everyone would be better served if voters were engaged and made sure we dont put these bad actors in office in the first place.

In addition to West Bonner, weve seen this play out in the Nampa School District, where board members banned nearly two dozen books.

The lesson from West Bonner is particularly salient now, as Idaho voters face school board elections in November.

In addition to a number of mayoral and city council races on the Nov. 7 ballot across the Treasure Valley, West Ada, Kuna, Vallivue, Caldwell, Nampa, Marsing, Homedale and Parma all have contested school board races.

Research the candidates and vote accordingly, or else you just might end up with Durst as your superintendent. He is looking for a job, after all.

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesmans editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members Mary Rohlfing and Patricia Nilsson.
Seventeen inmates at Montana State Prison make up the first-ever graduates of a new computer programming class intended to prepare the cohort for life after incarceration.

"The Last Mile gave me hope when I had lost all hope of providing for my family, being a productive citizen and believing I had any purpose," said Jerold Weller, who graduated from The Last Mile program with his peers on Thursday, in a news release from the state. "

The Last Mile is a yearlong program that beams web development, coding and software engineering classes into 13 prison facilities across seven states. Montana's inaugural class went online last year; their teachers, many former participants themselves, log into a computer remotely and guide them individually through the coursework.

Graduates of the program boast an 85% employment rate within six months of release, according to the company.

"We are extremely proud of the individuals who dedicated themselves this past year to The Last Mile coding program," Montana Department of Corrections Director Brian Gootkin said in the release. "When these students return to their Montana communities, they'll be able to provide for themselves and their families with a high-paying career in the state's growing tech industry."

The program is hosted by Montana Correctional Enterprises, the prison's work and education program. Initial funding came primarily by way of the Gianforte Family Foundation, the charitable trust set up years ago by Montana's wealthy governor before he took office.

Gov. Greg Gianforte, who's career before politics focused heavily in this field, appeared at the prison last October to encourage students as the class launched.

After the program's completion, the Last Mile re-entry team provides participants with personalized plans to prepare them for a successful transition after their release date.

"We celebrate the success of this first cohort at Montana State Prison and look forwarding to partnering with companies to provide TLM-returned citizens with opportunities for apprenticeships and employment," The Last Mile Executive Director Chris Redlitz said in the department's news release. "Working alongside Gov. Greg Gianforte and the Montana Department of Corrections is a collaboration that exemplifies our collective commitment to rehabilitation and reintegration."
WASHINGTON  Black historians read passages from banned books last week in a local park in Florida.

In Washington, D.C., Black members of Congress that same week hosted panels on preserving Black history at a conference.

And in Pennsylvania, a 91-year-old pastor reached out to an expert in South Carolina to help his church set up Black history lessons.

They are part of a growing movement across the country of educators, lawmakers, civil rights activists and church leaders who say there is a renewed urgency to teach Black history in the wake of a crackdown on Black scholars and inclusive lesson plans. The effort has seen historians share ways others can teach Black history, churches hold history classes during Bible study, film festivals showcase Black history work, and Black leaders in Congress ask museums and local institutions to help in the campaign to preserve that history.

Theres a movement across the country to suppress the teaching of Black history, Marvin Dulaney, president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, said. We have to meet that challenge head-on.

The push to teach more Black history comes as dozens of states, including Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, have adopted or proposed measures that critics say omit important parts of Black history or limit language related to race, sexuality and gender issues in public schools. Some have also banned books, many by Black authors that focus on race.

Theres urgency because these histories are under assault," said Bobby Donaldson, an associate history professor at the University of South Carolina. The battles in Florida and elsewhere remind us that it's urgent that we do this work now."

From AP African American Studies to "Ruby Bridges," censorship of Black history continues.

Black history is American history

Dulaney along with other historians and activists stood last week in a Jacksonville park named after James Weldon Johnson, the late civil rights activist and composer, and read passages from banned books.

It was an unusual event for scholars attending the annual conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Often they meet, share research and go home, Dulaney said. But this years conference theme was resistance and the gathering was in Florida, a state in the national spotlight for its efforts to restrict how Black history is taught.

The organization also hosted a town hall to discuss the importance of Black history and how to best teach it to students and others.

We're sort of being proactive this year because of what we're confronting here as well as in other places in the country, Dulaney, deputy director of the African American Museum of Dallas, said.

He said the efforts are part of the organizations mission to accurately teach Black history. It was founded in 1915 by Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of Black History Month.

Teachings and studying and promoting Black history is not about trying to make white people and white children feel bad, Dulaney said. It's just a part of American history. Its also telling the truth that has been hidden so long.

Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education from Arlington, VA., right, speaks during The Senate Judiciary committee hearing to examine book bans, focusing on how censorship limits liberty and literature on Sept.12, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

GOP says critical race theory is 'teaching kids to hate'

Legislation to limit the teaching of "divisive" concepts or critical race theory in public schools and/or higher education institutions has been introduced in at least 21 states this year, according to Emily Ronco, a policy associate with the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least 14 states passed legislation. Last year, at least 24 states considered such legislation, according to NCSL.

Supporters of so-called anti-woke laws said such measures protect against teaching divisive issues and blaming current generations for past injustices such as slavery. Republicans have particularly attacked critical race theory, calling it woke indoctrination. Critical race theory is an academic framework that argues the legacy of slavery shapes systemic racism in existence today.

The debate on how Black history is taught has largely centered on Florida because state officials also banned this year the College Board's Advanced Placement African American Studies course. State officials there have said African American history is already taught in schools. They've said some course material violates state law and take issue with the inclusion of lessons on the Black Lives Matter social justice movement, Black feminism and reparations.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president, signed the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act into law in 2022, which, among other things, limits how history can be taught.

We wont allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other, DeSantis said in a 2021 statement announcing the legislation.

Jonathan Butcher, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said there were institutional examples of racism throughout U.S. history, such as slavery. But, he argued, I don't believe the United States has institutional racism any longer.

Butcher said it is the responsibility of school boards and policymakers to determine what should be taught.

I'm not arguing that we omit important topics, he said. "I think it should be done in age-appropriate ways.

Sheldon Scott, Tamar-kali and Elijah Heyward III discuss their Gullah culture at a panel Sept. 25 during the 2023 March on Washington Film Festival in Washington, D.C.

An 'educational Underground Railroad for Black history

The political battles have sparked a renewed passion for some to protect Black history, including books, films and historic documents.

In Washington, the March on Washington Film Festival kicked off its 10th year this week showcasing films that highlight Black history, including the Civil Rights Movement. Robert Raben, founder of the festival, said the push to restrict the teaching of Black history has only spurred more organizations to act.

Im immensely sorry that forces who consciously don't want us to know our history are back in force, Raben said. But the unintended consequence is a huge number of people and an increasingly diverse number of people stand up and say, You can't have democracy with that kind of fascist restrictions on our past.

The weeklong festival focuses on lesser-known heroes and activists and stories often not told.

Well rely on our own educational Underground Railroad, or in those states where we've got access to the curriculum in the classroom, we'll just double down, Raben said. People cannot be afraid of teaching the past. Ive been Jewish for 6,000 years. It is in our DNA that you have to know your history to know where youre going.

Participants joined a Banned Book Readout sponsored by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History Sept. 21, 2023 at the James Weldon Johnson Park in Jacksonville, Florida. The organization held its annual conference in Jacksonville that week.

We are not going to stand silent'

Civil rights activists and others said they must do a better job of teaching Black history in churches, community venues and homes.

Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, said his organization is exploring how it can incorporate Black history sessions in its after-school programs. Meanwhile, the civil rights organization and others have endorsed legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaws Freedom to Learn campaign, a movement to combat restrictions and misinformation about Black history and critical race theory.

We are not going to stand silent, sit on our hands and watch and not respond to this effort to degrade Black history. It is absolutely offensive to me, Morial said. Theres no American history without Black history.

Crenshaw, who is credited with co-developing critical race theory, said more than 23 states have passed a ban on the way Black history can be taught, including details of the Tulsa race massacre in Oklahoma. In 1921, a white mob burned and looted homes and businesses in a Black community there and killed possibly as many as 300 Black residents.

This is about taking away our ability to narrate our lives, Crenshaw told a packed ballroom last week at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations conference in Washington. It's about taking away our ability to talk about inequality. Its about our inability to talk about the continuing ways that racism shapes every aspect of our existence. If they can take away our ability to speak to reality, how are we going to be able to transform our reality?

Many Black people can't rely on schools for history classes

In July, Faith in Florida, a coalition of churches advocating for social justice issues, launched a Black history program offering an online toolkit that includes videos, books and other resources.

Black churches have the power and responsibility to fill in gaps if educators dont or wont, said the Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida. She dismissed arguments that teaching comprehensive Black history could offend white children.

That was ridiculous considering that Black children and Black adults have been offended for years, Thomas said. And nothing was ever watered down nor erased.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn and Bobby Donaldson of the University of South Carolina discuss the importance of preserving civil rights history at a panel Sept. 20, 2023 at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's conference in Washington, D.C.

Donaldson of the University of South Carolina called the fight over teaching Black history an awakening. He said there are organizations that have long been teaching and researching history and building archival collections.

People are now reminded that there is far more work to do, Donaldson said. We're also reminded that we can't simply rely on our schools to be the one portal or vessel by which we expect our children to be educated.

Teaching Black history by any means

Donaldson said its important to train others how to teach history, including hosting workshops and providing critical resources. He participated in a panel last week on the importance of preserving the history of the Civil Rights Movement along with South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, a civil rights veteran and one of the highest-ranking African Americans in Congress.

Not only are we engaged in a battle about the teaching of history, we have a generation who is passing away who have stories to be told and to be documented, Donaldson said.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn and Tonya Matthews, president of the International African American Museum, chat after a history panel Sept. 20, 2023 at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's legislative conference in Washington, D.C.

Its during times of such pushback that museums also play a critical role in offering rich history experiences, said Tonya Matthews, president and chief executive officer of the new International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.

One of the ways that museums fit into any of these conversations is in our superpower, she said. We refer to ourselves as free-choice learning institutions.

Matthews likened the debate over teaching African American history to the 1970s when there were intense discussions, and sometimes protests, over starting Black studies programs at colleges. She also noted fights over desegregating classrooms.

Part of these are unfinished conversations, Matthews said. Until we're willing to sit in this space calmly and carefully ... we're going to keep revisiting this conversation.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Black history bans spark 'Underground Railroad' of learning across US
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Chinese immigrant workers allege they were lured to northern New Mexico under false pretenses and forced to work 14 hours a day trimming marijuana on the Navajo Nation where cultivating the plant is illegal, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court.

Job advertisements for the operation in Shiprock promised $200 per day, housing and food in exchange for gardening and flower cutting. But when the workers arrived in New Mexico, the complaint says, their phones and car keys were taken away, they were barred from leaving and, in some instances, family members were separated.

In a statement Wednesday, lawyers for the 15 workers said their clients were treated like animals and commended their bravery for coming forward.

Ending forced labor requires that the perpetrators of forced labor and those who seek to benefit from such schemes face serious consequences, attorney Aaron Halegua said. We hope that this lawsuit will demonstrate that such abusive practices do not pay.

Dineh Benally poses for a photograph before a Navajo Nation presidential forum at a tribal casino outside Flagstaff, Ariz., Tuesday, June 21, 2022. Chinese workers allege they were lured to northern New Mexico under false pretenses and forced to work 14 hours a day trimming marijuana on the Navajo Nation where cultivating the plant is illegal, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in state court. The lawsuit names as defendants Navajo businessman Benally and Taiwanese entrepreneur Irving Lin, who was arrested in 2022 following a raid in California.

The lawsuit names as defendants Navajo businessman Dineh Benally and Irving Lin, a Taiwanese entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. It also names associates of Benally and Lin, as well as businesses linked to the farming operation, which authorities say ballooned to nearly two dozen farms and more than 1,100 greenhouses spread across 400 acres (162 hectares).

At least 19 rooms at a motel in nearby Farmington supported the operation, the complaint alleges. Workers were treated like prisoners at the motel, which was under watch by armed security guards, and like machines while toiling in the fields, according to the complaint.

More: Farmers caught up in cannabis crackdown speak against Navajo Nation's bid to take land use permits

Farmington police busted the operation in October 2020 after they were called to the motel to investigate a strong odor of marijuana. They found 2,000 pounds of marijuana, worth $3 million to $10 million, according to the lawsuit. Workers who were there at the time were arrested, but drug charges later were dropped.

In late 2020, federal, state and tribal authorities also raided the Shiprock-area farms, destroying a quarter-million plants.

The Navajo Nation Department of Justice sued Benally, leading to a court order halting the operation that the lawsuit says Benally and his associates ignored.

More: In a crowded market, Ultra Health closes dispensary in Farmington after landlord dispute

Benally didnt respond to phone and emailed requests for comment. David Jordan, who represented Benally in the Navajo case, declined to comment on the lawsuit, although he denied that Benally ignored the tribal judges order to halt farming.

Lin couldnt immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. It wasnt clear from court records whether he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf, and a lawyer in New Mexico who represented Lin previously wasnt available Wednesday evening.

But in a March 2021 affidavit detailed in the lawsuit, Lin stated there was no violence and human trafficking and no human rights violated by the farming operation.

The lawsuit filed in Santa Fe seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages.

Benally, a former Navajo Nation presidential candidate who campaigned on growing hemp to boost the economy, is accused in the lawsuit of turning a blind eye to federal and tribal laws that make it illegal to grow marijuana on the reservation. The complaint says he instructed his associates and the workers to refer to the marijuana as hemp to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.

The lawsuit claims that Benally and Lin intentionally targeted Chinese immigrants in California who were out of work in 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

More: Shiprock raid: Law enforcement operation leads to large-scale marijuana bust

Phillip Francisco, then-chief of police for the Navajo Nation, previously estimated there were 1,000 people working for the operation, mostly foreign workers brought to New Mexico from Los Angeles. Other law enforcement officials estimated the number of workers surpassed 2,000.

Navajo residents described seeing the workers sleeping in the fields and ditches, shivering through the night, the lawsuit states. One worker said he slept on the floors of greenhouses and was never paid any of the roughly $12,000 in wages he was promised. Workers did not get adequate rest, or enough food and water throughout the day, according to the lawsuit.

The workers were monitored by cameras and security guards, some of whom were armed, the complaint states. When they sought to leave or just rest, the lawsuit alleges they were forced to continue working.

Photos included in the lawsuit show cannabis plants blanketing the floor of one motel room, with the rooms mattress leaning on its side against a wall.

Yamat reported from Las Vegas, Nevada. Associated Press journalist Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Chinese immigrant workers sue over forced labor at illegal marijuana operation on Navajo land
Since winning election as Oklahoma's state schools superintendent in 2022, Ryan Walters has gone after "terrorist" teachers unions, pornography in school libraries, the teaching of "critical race theory" in the classroom and supposed transgender indoctrination.

Evidence was scant or entirely missing that any of these concerns posed a problem, and now Walters has added another concern to his list that is equally elusive  the teaching of Chinese propaganda.

What is Ryan Walters concerned about?

In early August, Walters posted an online video of himself asserting that China was giving money to Tulsa Public Schools "in order to undermine our United States government, our country."

"It's unbelievable," he said.

"We cannot allow influence from hostile governments in our schools to undermine our institutions," he added.

Walters provided no elaboration or substantiation in his 45-second video, but a spokesperson said Walters was referring to a Chinese educational program known as "Confucius Classrooms."

More: Ryan Walters claims Chinese government attempting to influence US schools at DC hearing

Is there any evidence of Chinese propaganda at Tulsa Public Schools?

Responding to the video, Tulsa Public Schools issued a statement saying it "does not receive money from the Chinese government, as Superintendent Walters alleged without evidence."

"At a time when our state faces catastrophic shortages in certified teachers and school funding, Superintendent Walters has chosen to focus on a Chinese language professional development opportunity for a single teacher," the statement said.

The district said one of its teachers had participated in a professional development program offered by International Leadership Texas Global, a group that also partners with Confucius Classrooms. It said cost of sending the teacher through the program had been paid by Tulsa Public Schools.

"Contrary to Superintendent Walters accusations, the district takes no funds from the Chinese government," the district said.

Ryan Walters finds congressional platform at U.S. House subcommittee hearing

Still, earlier this month, Walters raised the China connection again, this time in testimony before a U.S. House subcommittee hearing. Walters testified that the Tulsa school district "maintains an active connection with the [Chinese government] through a program called the Confucius Classroom.

The school district acknowledged it had entered into a contract with the Confucius Classroom Coordination Office (CCCO) through another organization, International Leadership Texas Global. It said the contract was for the professional development of a Chinese language teacher to improve his classroom instruction and involved a payment by the district, not the receipt of any outside funding. In any case, the district said, the contract had been terminated in August, the month before Walters appeared before the House subcommittee.

Walters has identified no other "connections" between Oklahoma schools and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), although the state board of education has ordered school districts in the state to report any financial contributions they are receiving from foreign governments.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks at Thursday's Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting. Walters says he's working hard to eliminate Chinese propaganda from school classrooms.

KOSU, one of Oklahoma's public radio stations, said the Tulsa district had provided a copy of the memo it sent to the state Education Department advising that its contract with IL Texas Global had been terminated. The memo was sent a week before Walters' subcommittee appearance. It cited a payment made by the district of $6,240.04 for the teacher's registration and expenses for attending a foreign language conference.

Republican senators echo concern

Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, is one of 18 members of the U.S. Senate who have called for an investigation into educational "funds from hostile foreign governments flowing into Americas K-12 schools.

The CCP is the greatest threat to Americas security today, Lankford and the other senators wrote in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in August.

The CCPs involvement in the K-12 education system further demonstrates how far the Chinese government is willing go to expand its influence and promote its authoritarian agenda," the letter said. "Parents deserve transparency and policymakers must know the extent of the problem so we can work on solutions to protect both our students and our national security.

The senators cited a recent report by Parents Defending Education, a nonprofit group that says it is "working to reclaim our schools from activists promoting harmful agendas."

The group said it found that at least seven school districts nationwide have contracts that show Confucius Classrooms, or other Chinese government-backed programs are in operation. It said Tulsa was one of those districts.

Florida takes action against four private schools

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis directed the Florida Department of Education to suspend the availability of school choice scholarships to four private schools he said had ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

According to the Florida Department of Education, all four schools are owned by Spring Education Group, a network of 220 private schools across 19 states and with others in Asia. None are in Oklahoma.

According to the schools' websites, "Spring Education Group is controlled by Primavera Holdings Limited, an investment firm (together with its affiliates) principally based in Hong Kong with operations in China, Singapore, and the United States, that is itself owned by Chinese persons residing in Hong Kong."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Evidence of Chinese propaganda in Oklahoma schools is elusive
Chuck Schumer now has a Bob Menendez problem.

Life would be a lot easier for Schumer, the New York Democrat who serves as Senate majority leader, if Menendez, the senior senator from New Jersey, would resign and fight his second corruption indictment in eight years far from the prying cameras and reporters swarming Capitol Hill.

That's also what more than 30 fellow Democratic senators would prefer Menendez to do, especially a bunch running for reelection in 2024 in battleground states. The last thing they want wafting over their campaigns in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Montana is the toxic stench of another tawdry Menendez corruption case.

Yet Menendez, who was accused, along with his wife, Nadine, of collecting more than $500,000 in bribes in exchange for, among other things, secretly assisting the Egyptian government, doubled down on his defiance Thursday after privately meeting with the Senate Democrats. He's not going anywhere.

Senator Bob Menendez is shown outside U.S. District Court, on Pearl Street in the Southern District of New York, after he plead not guilty during an arraignment to, one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, Wednesday, September 27, 2023.

"I'll continue to cast votes for the people of New Jersey as I have done for 18 years," he told reporters while he strode toward the sanctuary of an elevator at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. "And I'm sure that when they need those votes, they will be looking for me to cast them."

'We trusted him': Egyptians, human rights groups stunned by Menendez allegations

What can Schumer really do?

Schumer, known more for being a consensus builder than a strong-arming Senate boss in the mold of Lyndon B. Johnson, expressed disappointment Wednesday at Menendez's alleged conduct.

We all know that  for senators, theres a much, much higher standard," Schumer said. "And clearly when you read the indictment, Senator Menendez fell way way below that standard."

But Schumer stopped short of calling on him to step down.

The New York veteran also suggested that he would reserve judgment and have something to say about it after Thursday's meeting with the Democratic senators. But the normally voluble Schumer had nothing to say immediately after the meeting.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks at the construction site of the Hudson Tunnel Project on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in New York.

It's easy to understand why the press is hounding Schumer over his reticence. There is not much Schumer can really do to force out Menendez, who has steadfastly declared his innocence and predicts that he'll be exonerated once all the facts in the case are known.

Schumer and his colleagues can formally censure Menendez, a humiliating form of punishment and a mark on the permanent record, but it would not force him from office.

They could try the nuclear option of expulsion  but that would require Republican votes to reach the 67 needed, and Republicans see no political advantage in helping out.

Charlie Stile: Yes, Bob Menendez said he is defiant. But he is clearly weary

"Republicans are perfectly happy to have him in there as a tainted candidate," said Ross K. Baker, a Rutgers University political scientist and expert on Congress. "And I think that there are some Democrats who just don't want to do it. So I don't think it's ever going to reach a critical mass which would convince Menendez that he had lost the confidence of a majority of his colleagues."

Menendez has already resigned his post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as required, and colleagues could vote to strip him of his posts on the Finance and Banking committees. But perhaps Schumer & Co. may not want to push it too far, at least in the short term.

As Menendez noted in his post-conference remarks Thursday, Schumer will need every Democratic vote he can muster.

More Charlie Stile: Can Bob Menendez survive? The politics and evidence are very different this time

He oversees a narrow majority  48 actual Democrats propped up by a socialist Bernie Sanders, an independent Angus King from Maine and the fickle Krysten Sinema, a Democrat-turned-independent from Arizona. Menendez could be needed in a close vote on a deal to keep the government functioning, for example. Menendez's comment  "I'm sure that when they need those votes"  sounded like a less-than-veiled reminder of his relevance.

He retains a quid-pro-vote form of leverage. His colleagues, like hoodie-wearing Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who pledged to support a primary challenger to Menendez next year if that happens, can squawk all they want to about Menendez's conduct.

Menendez will likely stick around, consider his options, raise money for his legal defense funds (or tap his $7 million campaign war chest for legal needs) and wait to see just how detailed and damning the feds' case against him is.

Unless Senator Menendez is coming today to resign, I am not interested in hearing his 'explanation' for gold bars stashed in a mattress.



Were past the point of his tough talk and defiance, given the scope and scale of his alleged corruption.  Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) September 28, 2023

Is there enough patience in New Jersey for Menendez to hang on?

But some worry that there are limits to Democrats' patience.

The state's Democratic Party leadership, beginning with Gov. Phil Murphy, has called on Menendez to resign. It signals that the party is unlikely to rally around him next year if he runs for reelection.

The crucial institutional support wont be there, forcing Menendez to run as a party pariah and off the county line, denying him the status that almost always guarantees a victory.

Yet Menendez is a wily political survivor, and nobody is eager to enter a primary battle with him. Democrats will have enough on their hands next year propping up an unpopular President Joe Biden in a likely rematch with Donald Trump. No one wants to add an unnecessary and potentially expensive level of doubt in what was supposed to be a safe blue seat next year.

Democrats have a very narrow path to holding the Senate majority, and they can't afford to spend money in a Democratic state that Biden should win easily, said Nathan Gonzalez, a political analyst and editor of Campaigns & Elections magazine.

So it is no surprise that Schumer had little to say Thursday. What can he do, other than wait for the senior senator from New Jersey to decide his own future?

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bob Menendez charges are a growing problem for Chuck Schumer
STAUNTON  There is one open seat on Staunton City Council and it will be filled by a special election in November for a one-year term to complete the term of Andrea Oakes who resigned in January, 2023. Early voting is already underway.

Adam Campbell and Wilson Fauber, the two candidates for the seat, were sent questions by The News Leader about themselves, their priorities if elected and the issues facing Staunton.

Fauber has chosen not to respond to the questions. His campaign pointed to a story The News Leader published about a post he made on social media as the main reason for his choice.

"Because of your false, negative, slanderous and biased reporting, Mr. Fauber will no longer be affording you any further interviews, comments or information including the City Council Questionnaire that we spoke about getting back to you this week," Kevin Linhares wrote in an email to The News Leader Thursday. Linhares is working on Fauber's campaign.

Below are Campbell's responses.

The News Leader: How would you describe your lifes journey and how it led you to run for office?

Campbell: My wife and I moved to Staunton from Northern Virginia in 2014. After having children, we wanted to find a smaller town to raise our family. A place that valued sense of community, was unique in character, provided services that were important to us, and gave us an opportunity for a better work/life balance. Staunton was exactly the type of community we were looking for.

Almost 10 years later and this community is our home. For me, Stauntons small town character results in a greater since of pride and desire to give back to your community. While active members of our church and serving as a leader in the Boy Scouts of America since coming to Staunton, it was my opportunity to join the Staunton Planning Commission in 2018 that I first became involved with the public process in the city. This experience has been rewarding and has help me to better understand the needs of the city and opportunities for growth and improvement.

Now I seek the opportunity to apply my skills and knowledge to city leadership. Staunton is a special place. Our citys character, people, and opportunities create an exceptional community that we are fortunate to call home. We need city leadership to champion our community and embrace the needs of our citizens for Staunton to flourish. As a member of council, together we can continue to move our community forward by supporting our successes, while focusing on our needs.

The News Leader: What, in your own words, are the roles and responsibilities of local government and the city council? Do you believe Staunton adequately fulfills those obligations?

Campbell: The role of City Council is to lead our city forward with a shared vision for Stauntons future based on the ideals and values of our citizens. The role of city government is to implement that shared vision through the support of City Council. What Staunton has accomplished over the past 25 years is remarkable and the national accolades that we have received support this. However, we must continue this success moving forward by not only focusing on the big picture items, but by also focusing on improving the everyday needs of our citizens.

The News Leader: What will be your top priorities if elected?

Campbell: Improving collaboration, creating opportunities, and focusing on community benefit are the top priorities of my campaign.

We need collaboration and creativity to improve city services and reduce city costs. We need to explore new city partnership opportunities, both public and private, to benefit Staunton. Increasing opportunities and encouragement for public participation will benefit Staunton through the ability to share ideas and work together to address concerns. Finally, we must ensure that public investments focus on benefiting our community and improves quality of life for all our citizens. The city must pursue opportunities beyond local revenues to increase funding for public projects that address community needs.

Adam Campbell is running in the special election to fill a one-year term on Staunton City Council.

The News Leader: Do you have previous experience working in government/public sector? If so, could you please describe it?

Campbell: My current position with the Virginia Department of Transportation allows me to work with local governments throughout the Shenandoah Valley on almost a daily basis. I provide technical assistance to localities related to transportation planning, help communities identify transportation needs through analysis and public outreach, and work with staff and elected officials to develop solutions to those needs that will be competitive in the consideration of transportation funding.

The News Leader: What additional qualifications do you think make you a good city council candidate?

Campbell: The opportunity to serve on Stauntons Planning Commission for the past six years has allowed me to gain experience with city-specific issues and form professional relationships with many members of our city government, across multiple departments. Through this experience and my professional background, I have a strong understanding of public processes and how local governments function.

The News Leader: What are the main issue(s) facing Staunton in general? Why?

Campbell: Like most small cities, Staunton has limited resources in terms of both revenue and personnel. We need to make sure that these limited resources are being utilized efficiently and in a manner that maximizes community benefit. Not only to provide necessary services to meet todays needs of our citizens, but to also properly plan to meet the future needs of the city and to position us to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to flourish. Specific issues of need evolve over time. We need city leadership that can quickly identify and respond to those needs to ensure future success.

The News Leader: Staunton City Council has made it a priority to be more business-friendly and push for more economic development, and much of that revolves around Staunton Crossing. What is your opinion of the progress at Staunton Crossing, and what other opportunities does Staunton have for economic development?

Campbell: Staunton Crossing provides a unique opportunity for future economic development in the city. The size, location and amenities of the property make it an attractive candidate for new business and employment opportunities. With the citys commitment to investments in the property over the past decade, we are close to reaching the top marketing tier of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP).

With the work that has been completed to date, we need to be patient and stay focused on the citys vision for the property to ensure its maximum potential and benefit are realized. The city also must focus on the needs of our existing businesses and explore opportunities to better support them, as well as new entrepreneurs and start-ups that want to bring their business to Staunton.

The News Leader: Its no secret that Staunton is feeling the effects of a housing crisis. A combination of few homes being on the market and a lack of affordable housing options have made it difficult for people to move into the city. What do you see as local governments role in the creation of housing, and specifically, affordable housing? What steps can Staunton take to address this issue?

Campbell: Recent actions by our City Council to develop a housing commission is a big step in the right direction. I see this commission as an opportunity to bring together citizens, industry professionals, and city staff to collaborate on creative solutions for Staunton to help address the issue of affordable housing.

Additionally, while it will not increase homeownership in the city, there are numerous multifamily/apartment developments that have come through city review and approval over the past two years. These projects are at various stages in the process but are all moving forward (with several under construction) and should soon help the demand for housing options in the city.

The News Leader: Every election cycle, the West End is brought up as a place that needs significant attention. In addition, Uniontowns future has become a part of the revitalization conversation around the city. What is your vision for revitalizing and further developing these areas? What steps do you see for city council to push those areas forward?

Campbell: I commend recent actions of City Council to commit funding to studies in the West End and Uniontown that will evaluate redevelopment opportunities. Developing a plan of action that clearly identifies the needs and potential solutions is a necessary first step.

The Uniontown Neighborhood Action Plan has been presented to the Planning Commission and City Council. The document provides a range of recommendations, both varied in cost and implementation timeframes, to address four identified goal area to support the community (Reinvestment, Sense of Community, Preservation, and Reestablishing Connections). As a topic of focus during my time on the commission, it was a positive initial step to see city leadership request an amendment to the city comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance to support the Uniontown Neighborhood Action Plan. The West End study will come next and with the recent development of the JD&R courts facility, it is an ideal time to develop a plan for a future vision and identifying the investments needed to achieve that vision.

The News Leader: Do you believe city council does a good job communicating with the public? If not, how would you improve it?

Campbell: As I have recently addressed in my campaign newsletter series, I believe there are tremendous opportunities to improve city communications. This begins with investing in a city Communications Manager, better organization and outreach of important community information and more opportunities for public feedback in the local decision-making process. It was very encouraging to see that the city not only recently re-advertised the vacant Communication Manager position, but also adjust the position responsibilities to put more emphasis on community outreach and engagement.

More: Virginia ranks #28 in the country for Long-Term Care Services, supports for older Americans: AARP Scorecard

More: Local artists pitch in for mental health

 Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton Council candidate Adam Campbell answers questions about city issues
Minnesota has lost 15,000 people to COVID-19, a number bigger than the population of Brainerd and a sobering marker in the state's 3-year struggle with the infectious disease.

The 274 days since the last 1,000 milestone is the longest in the COVID era, reflecting the diminished risk from a coronavirus that has evolved into less virulent forms. It only took 14 days to surge from 4,000 to 5,000 COVID deaths in December 2020, before vaccines were widely available.

Infectious disease experts said the latest number is a new reminder of the need to take precautions, including newly formulated vaccine boosters that better protect against the latest variants. Minnesota's weekly update on Thursday reported exactly 15,000 deaths in which COVID was lab-confirmed, along with another 466 in which COVID was referenced in death certificates but not confirmed.

"All of us know someone who has died from COVID in Minnesota," said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "It's our grandpas and our grandmas, our moms and our dads, our brothers and our sisters and ... even our kids. That's what is to be remembered in the 15,000."

More than two Minnesotans are dying every day from COVID right now, an increase from one every four days at one point this summer. The 231 hospitalizations related to COVID on Tuesday also were the highest since early April and an increase from 41 on July 3.

Still, the latest figures bring Minnesota back to spring 2023 levels of COVID, which were low enough to prompt federal health authorities to lift the nation's public health emergency response to the pandemic.

Nancy Passofaro-Nelson had "laid low" at home in Bloomington for three years of the pandemic because she had painful medical conditions and took medications that wrecked her immune system and prevented her from being vaccinated against COVID-19, said her husband, Bob Nelson. Then the 70-year-old woman met a relative in April who had COVID, though she didn't know it.

"Nancy had no resistance to it," Nelson said. "So she died."

The relative safety of being outdoors made geocaching a popular activity for the couple, who over time found 14,000 hidden treasures. Nelson gave the moniker "Best Girl" to his wife, which caught on in the local geocaching community because she was such a warm person and dogged searcher of some of the hardest-to-find caches in Minnesota.

"She had enormous ability to stick to it until she found it," her husband said.

Geocachers will gather at Whitetail Woods Regional Park Friday night to remember Passofaro-Nelson, who died May 20. A cache has been hidden in Edina in her memory as well, called the "Nancy A Best Girl Tribute."

Age and underlying health conditions have been elevated risk factors since the start of the pandemic. People 65 and older made up 83% of Minnesota's deaths in the entire pandemic but 92% of the 939 COVID deaths so far in 2023.

Osterholm said some have questioned whether deaths associated with other conditions should be called COVID deaths, but there is little question that the infection caused them  like a match sparking a fire in dry timber.

"That's what it is like with COVID," he said. "You can have a lot of underlying conditions. That's not what kills you. It's the match. It's the COVID that does it."

Health officials haven't forecast a wintertime COVID surge akin to 2020 or 2021, but they remain concerned because each new variant brings uncertainty and the possibility of more severe illness. The XBB.1.5 variant was dominant for several months in 2023 when COVID was at its mildest, but a sampling of positive specimens found it in only 9% of cases by late August.

While the latest COVID vaccine boosters were formulated against XBB.1.5, federal authorities authorized them based on data indicating they would work against the newly circulating strains.

Shipments of new boosters have been slow to arrive in Minnesota, and right now demand is greater than supply. A spokesman said the Walgreens pharmacy chain is working with distributors "to ensure stores have the necessary supply to support the demand," and that its app and website are updated with real-time appointment availability.

St. Cloud-based CentraCare has received no vaccine to offer at its clinics yet, but they had some initial supplies to boost immunity in its health care workforce.

Dr. George Morris, who led CentraCare's pandemic response, urged people to seek the recommended vaccinations and stay at home when sick and take COVID tests. Those actions can help themselves and protect others who are vulnerable, he added.

"Let's slow down the pace of this and decrease how many people die," he said.
With Congress barreling toward its funding deadline and no solution in sight, it appears increasingly likely the federal government will shut down effective at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

Essential government functions will continue: Social Security checks will go out, doctors and hospitals will receive reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare and the troops will remain at their posts, albeit unpaid while the shutdown continues.

The U.S. Postal Service wont be interrupted, given its generally self-funded, generating sales from its products and services.

But the shutdown will affect federal employees across the country, including some 22,000 such workers in Kentucky.

According to Dustin Pugel, the policy director at the left-leaning Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, a government shutdown will also hurt the most vulnerable Kentuckians.

Shutting down the federal government always hurts the most vulnerable Americans the most because programs like SNAP, which provides food assistance to more than half a million Kentuckians, and WIC, which ensures a third of Kentuckys babies get formula, are among the first to run out of money, Pugel told the Herald-Leader in a statement Wednesday.

When it comes to federal workers, Pugel added, Kentucky is also home to tens of thousands of federal workers and tens of thousands more active duty military personnel, who would stop getting paid. The ripples of a shutdown would slow an already difficult and complex Medicaid renewals process and get in the way of hundreds of federally-funded infrastructure projects across Kentucky. Holding such a critical part of our society and economy hostage over an unrelated political fight is senseless and cruel.

Other Kentucky advocates have also raised alarm over potential interruptions to food service programs, and Medicaid renewals remain fraught following changes brought by the end of the federal emergency declaration for COVID-19 in May.

Heres what we know about how a potential government shutdown would affect Kentucky.

Kentucky military families might miss their paychecks

Should the government shut down, U.S. service members and other military personnel deemed essential would still work but without pay.

A shutdown would be detrimental for the department, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said earlier this week. Troops would go without pay. Military families would be impacted, of course. For folks that are not getting paychecks, that impacts how and when [they] can buy groceries, child care, all of these things.  So, we are still ... were hoping that Congress can reach a deal to avert a shutdown. But we are planning for that or taking steps to plan for that, should a shutdown occur.

As of Friday afternoon, it remains unclear how many personnel at Fort Knox, one of two military bases in Kentucky, might be affected by the imminent shutdown.

Reached by phone Friday, the bases media relations officer Kyle Hodges said he did not know how many might be furloughed and how many workers would have to continue showing up for their shifts. Hodges declined to give an estimate.

U.S. Department of Defense figures indicate Fort Knox has a daytime population of more than 26,000 soldiers, military family members, civilians and contractors. At Fort Campbell, Kentuckys other major military installation, there are more than 27,000 soldiers.

What will happen to Kentuckys national parks and forests?

Friday, the U.S. Department of Interior announced that should a government shutdown occur, National Park Service sites will close.

This means that the majority of national parks will be closed completely to public access. Areas that, by their nature, are physically accessible to the public will face significantly reduced visitor services, the Interior Departments announcement reads.

Gates will be locked, visitor centers closed and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed, the department said. In the event of a shutdown, it asked the public not to visit NPS sites to protect natural and cultural resources and visitor safety.

At Mammoth Cave National Park, one of Kentuckys most visited NPS sites, spokesperson Molly Schroer told the Herald-Leader when reached by phone Friday morning the park did not have any immediate contingency plans in place. She referred further comment to the NPS.

We remain hopeful that a lapse in government funding will not occur, a NPS spokesperson wrote in an emailed response to the Herald-Leader Friday.

Should there be a funding lapse, access and visitor services would be available Sunday, Oct. 1. Beginning Monday, Oct. 2, all national parks would close and visitors should expect services to be unavailable, the NPS spokesperson continued.

Individual parks are reviewing the NPS contingency plan and working to determine more specifics on a park by park basis, the NPS spokesperson wrote, adding more specific information was not immediately available.

This story may be updated.

Do you have a question about Kentucky for our service journalism team? Wed like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.
Rain over the past week has made drought conditions in Minnesota less dire, if only slightly.

While the week's rain was widespread across Minnesota and came at a good time  when cooler temperatures meant less evaporation  "we're still in a major drought," said Kenny Blumenfeld, senior climatologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources State Climatology Office.

An updated map from the U.S. drought monitor, released Thursday, shows areas of exceptional drought in southeast Minnesota and around Aitkin, Carlton and Pine counties, south and west of Duluth, have disappeared since last Thursday. Areas of extreme and severe drought have contracted somewhat.

As for how much more rain Minnesota would need to pull out of the drought, Blumenfeld said it's complicated, and much depends on timing because of things like evaporation and whether or not the rain soaks into the ground.

"It takes a long time to get into drought, and it takes a long time to get out of it," he said. "I think what we have to look down the road and hope for slightly above normal precipitation on a regular basis for a prolonged period."

For October, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Institute's Climate Prediction Center forecasts equal chances of above and below normal precipitation in Minnesota, Blumenfeld said.

The Climate Prediction Center's drought outlook forecasts persistent drought through the end of the year across northern Minnesota, except in part of the Arrowhead. The forecast predicts a likely end to drought in only a small part of Minnesota, and lessened, though remaining, drought conditions for the rest of the state.

If the rest of the year remains dry, next spring will be more dire than this spring was, a bad scenario for farmers, Blumenfeld said.

"We would really be dependent on a wet early growing season to help us out, and that's a lot of pressure to put on one season," he said.
Elon Musk believes that a wall should be built at the US-Mexico border for security reasons.

The billionaire took a trip to the border in Texas for a livestream on Thursday.

Musk has previously faced criticism for wading into political issues, such as the war in Ukraine.

Elon Musk has suggested a Trump-style wall at the US-Mexico border after claiming that it wasn't being secured.

The billionaire took a Thursday trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, to livestream the border crisis. He announced the trip on Wednesday via X, wading into the political debate with a series of posts that seemed to support policies aligned with former President Donald Trump's proposed border wall.

"We actually do need a wall and we need to require people to have some shred of evidence to claim asylum to enter, as everyone is doing that," Musk said. "It's a hack that you can literally Google to know exactly what to say! Will find out more when I visit Eagle Pass maybe as soon as tomorrow."

He added that he thought the US "border needs to be secured."

Security is present at borders throughout the country. US Customs and Border Protection says on its website that it provides a comprehensive approach to border management and control, which includes immigration and security.

Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside regular working hours.

The Tesla CEO said he visited the border to "eyeball the situation" and to "get a sense for what's going on." He also criticized US politicians, saying they cared more about the Ukraine border than the US border. He added that cities such as New York were "buckling" due to high levels of immigration.

Political figures have spoken out about the migrant crisis. New York City mayor Eric Adams recently said it was destroying the city, but immigrant advocates criticized such claims as racist, The New York Times reported.

Musk has previously faced criticism for wading into political issues, including the war in Ukraine. Earlier this month, he expressed his disappointment in Ukraine's summer counteroffensive.

In a post on X, Musk said: "So much death for so little."

Last year, Musk proposed a peace plan on the platform he owns. The suggestion, which involved Ukriane recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea, drew widespread condemnation from Ukrainian officials at the time.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Elon Musks visit to the US-Mexico border was blighted by tech issues as he attempted to livestream the experience on his own social media website, X.

The X owners livestream lasted just four minutes before it crashed on Thursday. Mr Musk was later able to start a new feed and complete his thoughts, before the feed crashed again after 11 minutes.

Mr Musk reportedly sent a company-wide email to his staff at X following the disastrous livestream. Please fix this, he instructed staff, according to New York Times tech reporter Ryan Mac.

Thursdays livestream was not the first time the billionaires attempts to use his own platform have been thwarted by tech issues. Mr Musk previously attempted to host Ron DeSantiss presidential campaign launch on X, but the two men were forced to abort the live stream after it was marred by repeated collapse of the connection.

Mr Musk said his visit to the Texan city of Eagle Pass on Thursday was prompted by his concerns about stories of violent criminals finding their way into the US after Eagle Pass law enforcement arrested more than 17,000 illegal immigrants in the last 10 days, according to the Washington Examiner.

Thousands of migrants are believed to have ventured to northern Mexico in recent days on freight trains and buses, before crossing the US border into Texas, Arizona and California.

The sharp increase, notably around San Diego, California, and the Texas border towns of El Paso and Eagle Pass, follows an earlier lull in unauthorized border crossings following a new asylum policy imposed by Democratic president Joe Bidens administration to discourage such activity.

Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, views the Rio Grande river during a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas (REUTERS)

Mr Musk live streamed his visit to Eagle Pass to obtain what he called an unfiltered view of the situation after thousands of migrants reportedly waded across the Rio Grande near a railroad bridge in Eagle Pass, undeterred by coils of razor wire placed along the river banks by the Texas National Guard.

He called for an expedited legal approval as part of a greatly expanded legal immigration system that welcomes hard-working and honest migrants, while also barring entry for those who are breaking the law.

Mr Musk also claimed some pretty extreme people were arriving illegally in Eagle Pass. He said: We are in this absurd situation where the vast majority of people are not in fact asylum seekers - you can actually read on Google in any language you want what are the magic words you need to say.

And then you are automatically in the asylum, sort of, queue. Which takes several years before you actually see anyone. And then even if you do see one, even if you are denied, you are not deported.

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk with Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) while visiting the Texas-Mexico border (Getty Images)

He added that he is very much in favor of expanded legal immigration.

I think anyone who is hard-working and honest and will be a net addition to the economy - I think we should let them in, he said.

But I mean what we are seeing are, in some cases, some pretty extreme individuals coming through. Obviously not suggesting everyone is like this.

They have murdered someone and they are so proud of having murdered someone they tattoo one tear on their face for every person they have killed, said Mr Musk.

And this person claimed asylum. And we let them in. A serial murderer. Who is proud of their murders. This is insane.

New York-based congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticised Mr Musks livestream, accusing the billionaire of taking a joyride to the border.
Montana Rep. Rosendale, a member of the so called Freedom Caucus, is willing to allow the disruption of a government shutdown.

This is not political leadership. He says, When we have these supposed shutdowns, it's more like a slowdown  I truly believe that most of the people across the state of Montana would support that. As is so often the case, Rep. Rosendale doesnt know what Montanans are like.

Thousands of Montanans would be harmed by a government shutdown. That includes recipients of SNAP, low-income energy assistance, Medicaid, CHIP, TANF, Child Protective and many other services. Employees of the Department of Transportation and Fish, Wildlife & Parks wouldnt get paid.

It might be true that most of the people across the state of Maryland, where Rosendale grew up and went to college, would support a government shutdown. In Montana people care about their fellow Montanans well-being.

In the first place, government employees who will not get paid during a shutdown will not be experiencing a slowdown. Their lives will be disrupted.

Whats more, lets face it, doing what you believe most of your constituents would support isnt leadership. Its much more akin to doing what you think you can get away with.

Our democracy desperately needs new leadership. Too many of our current politicians are like Rep. Rosendale; willing to do what they can get by with. Willing to bend the rules to stay in power and accumulate wealth. This includes Democrats like Bob Menendez as well as Republicans like Matt Rosendale.

One of the most frightening aspects of our current situation is the fact that this reality of our current governance is systematically taking us down the road to the replacement of our democracy by an authoritarian run government.

As voters it is our job to bring an end to this trend.
Marcellis Blackwell was indicted on 21 federal charges Wednesday

North County Police Cooperative

A one time police officer in St. Louis, Missouri is facing a federal investigation after being accused of sexually assaulting eight men he had detained or arrested over an eight-month period.

According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri, former North County Police cooperative officer Marcellis Blackwell  previously known as Willis Green Overstreet III  was indicted on 21 federal charges Wednesday accusing him of sexually assaulting the men between Nov. 8, 2022 and June 5, 2023.

The indictments include 16 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, meaning to willfully deprive a person of a right to self-determination over one's body and five counts of altering records in a federal investigation.

North County Police Cooperative did not immediately return PEOPLE's request for comment.

North County Police Cooperative Former St Louis police officer Marcellis Blackwell is accused of sexually abusing eight men over a six-month period.

Blackwell, 34, was accused in court documents of detaining and kidnapping eight men in separate incidents and turning off his body camera prior to fondling their genital areas while they were handcuffed, committing an act of abusive sexual contact.

The indictment also includes an accusation that Blackwell sodomized one detainee by digitally penetrating him in an act of aggravated sexual abuse.

None of the victim's names were released.

Following an initial investigation conducted by the North County Police Cooperative, the FBI St Louis Division began investigating the case.



Related: Florida Police Union Chapter President Tells Cops Accused of Misconduct  'We Are Hiring'

We are not investigating the violation Blackwell cited to detain his victims, Jay Greenberg, special agent in charge of the FBI St Louis Division, said in his statement. Our focus is on Blackwells alleged abuse of power to sexually assault his victims. Our goal is to bring justice to victims and to provide victim services.

The press release notes that the motion, which seeks to have Blackwell held in jail until trial, claims he victimized people he thought would be less likely to report his behavior.

Marcellis was first arrested on June 7 in connection with one of the alleged victims, who claimed to officers Marcellis touched his genitals without his consent while his hands were cuffed behind his back while he was taken into custody on June 3.

At the time, Marcellis was charged with one count of sodomy or attempted sodomy in connection with the alleged incident, KSDK reported. While held on a $500,000, cash-only bond, he pled not guilty to the state charges, and resigned from the North County Police Cooperative.



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In a statement provided to KSDK then, Major Ron Martin said the North County Police Cooperative began an investigation into Marcellis as soon as it received the allegation. "We will hold all of our police officers and employees accountable for their actions," he noted. "These allegations are massively disheartening, but we can reassure the community we expect the members of this law enforcement agency to conduct their duties with diligence, transparency, professionalism and within the law."

Related: St. Louis Officer Was Killed by Fellow Cop During Game of Russian Roulette: Prosecutor

From there, a reported seven more victims came forward, according to court documents. The alleged perpetrator's phone also contained videos of several more unidentified victims.

U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming said in the statement, We still have not identified all of the men who appear in recordings on the defendants phone and Id like to encourage any potential victims to contact the FBI in St. Louis or the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The conduct alleged in the indictment is unacceptable for anyone, but infinitely more so for a police officer and when it involves handcuffed, helpless victims, concluded Fleming.

Online federal court records do not have an attorney listed for Blackwell. He hasnt entered a plea yet, and has not made a first appearance.

FBI St. Louis has established a hotline for potential victims of Marcellis Blackwell to come forward with any information. Please call (314) 589-2682.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.



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Hillary Clinton , the former first lady, senator, secretary of state and Democratic party presidential candidate, can now add another feather to her cap: Emmy winner.

Clinton, along with her daughter, Chelsea Clinton , were executive producers of the Netflix documentary In Her Hands, a film about the youngest female mayor in the history of Afghanistan, which on Thursday night was awarded the Emmy for politics and government documentary during the second evening of the 44th News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

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At the ceremony, which the Clintons did not attend, it was not publicly revealed which individuals would be receiving statuettes for winning projects. But David Winn, head of the News & Documentary Awards for The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, confirms to The Hollywood Reporter: As executive producers on the film, [Hillary and Chelsea Clinton] are considered statue eligible.

In Her Hands, the first project to emerge from the Clintons production company HiddenLight Productions, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022 and went on to win the audience award at the Camden International Film Festival later that fall. Co-directed by Tamana Ayazi and Marcel Mettelsiefen, it chronicles the 19-month period before the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan, from the perspective of Zarifa Ghafari, the countrys youngest female mayor.

The doc began shooting in 2020, when Ghafari was still mayor of Maidan Shahr, the capital of Maidan Wardak province in central Afghanistan. By August 2021, the countrys capital, Kabul, had fallen, plunging Afghanistan into a humanitarian crisis.

In addition to HiddenLight Productions, In Her Hands was produced by Juan Camilo Cruz of the outfit Moondogs and Jonathan Schaerf of Propagate Productions.

Despite its acclaim, the doc was not without controversy. In Toronto last fall, Oscar-winning Citizenfour director Laura Poitras accused the former secretary of state of engaging in a kind of whitewashing by seamlessly moving into nonfiction filmmaking. And, reviewing the film for THR, Lovia Gyarkye noted: The irony of the former secretary of states involvement in the project nags at the film, which flirts with criticisms of the United States hawkish interventionism.

Nevertheless, the film prevailed at the Emmys over fellow nominees A Radical Life (Discovery+), Apart (PBS), Not Going Quietly (PBS) and Watergate: High Crimes in the White House (CBS) to take the prize.

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Every time his close friend and former co-star Andrew Rannells performed onstage, Josh Gad would make the pilgrimage to see him. And after the curtain went down, Gad would be there backstage to greet Rannells with the same refrain: I miss this, hed say. I just want to be up there with you. We have got to find something to do together.

That goal proved elusive. There arent many shows out there that can fully spotlight and support the pairs prodigious gift for singing, dancing and delivering punchlines with a zip and a zing. Plus, when the actors first appeared together as hapless missionaries preaching the gospel of Joseph Smith in Uganda in 2011s The Book of Mormon, the result was the kind of Broadway sensation thats lucky to come around once in a decade. It played to sold-out crowds, won the Tony for best musical and propelled Rannells and Gad to stardom. Every night, the actors would look out at an audience of luminaries like Bono and Oprah, who had scored the hottest ticket in town.

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You cant anticipate what becomes a phenomenon, Gad says. But you have to realize that youre not going to be able to follow something like Book of Mormon with another Book of Mormon-type hit. Thats impossible.

Ideas for a grand reunion, such as reviving A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum or The Producers, were proposed and then abandoned. Nothing appealed to the pair until Alex Timbers, the director of Beetlejuice and Here Lies Love, pitched them on Gutenberg! The Musical!

First conceived at the Upright Citizens Brigade and later produced Off Broadway, the play follows two writers trying to attract backers for a musical about Johannes Gutenberg , the creator of a movable-type printing press. The catch is that the central duo know shockingly little about Gutenberg beyond the most cursory of Google searches. And yet the characters Lets put on a show! brio was irresistible to the actors.

This is a joyful story, says Rannells. Its about two guys who are blindly following a dream. There isnt any cynicism in it, and I wanted to live in that space for two hours every night.

But the journey back to Broadway took unexpected turns. It was March 2020, and a week after the pair read the script and felt good about the prospects of doing the show, COVID upended everything, shutting down the Great White Way for more than a year. Now that theyre finally mounting Gutenberg!, theyre doing so against a similarly chaotic backdrop  the actors and writers strikes that have ground Hollywood to a standstill.

We said, Lets wait for the other half of our industry to shut down before we do this, Gad jokes before Rannells chimes in: Were not necessarily good planners when it comes to global timing.

They can laugh at all of that now, and they do  a lot  frequently cracking each other up when we meet at a rehearsal space at Ailey Extension. Thats where the two are spending eight hours a day working out the productions intricate routines and dances. As I wait for them to break for lunch, dancers from the troupe that gives the space its name walk by in flesh-colored unitards that leave little to the imagination. It feels about as comfortable as marking time in a communal shower. Its late August, and the show opens in less than two months, a short window that Gad acknowledges has him feeling anxious, particularly because he and Rannells dont leave the stage for the entirety of the production.

Not only did I come back to Broadway, but Im returning with potentially the most physically demanding role there is available to do onstage right now, Gad says, shaking his head as if briefly reconsidering the whole enterprise. This is like a two-man version of A Chorus Line. We never get a break, and we are doing choreography that was not intended for my weight class or body type.

But youre nailing it, Rannells interjects with blithe confidence.

Im going to call out twice a week, Gad jokes before asking, Is there the equivalent of steroids for theater people?

Yes, Rannells responds. Theyre called steroids.

Gad, 42, and Rannells, 45, have great chemistry, but despite the scientific nature of that word, theres no formula for predicting how two performers are going to click. In the case of The Book of Mormon, the show worked so well because Gad and Rannells contrasting comedic styles complemented each other. Gad, who describes himself as a ping-pong ball of energy, overflows with enthusiasm, chasing an audiences laughter, willing to do anything to get it to erupt. Hes always on. His jokes keep building on each other, creating little arias of absurdity. Rannells holds back, letting Gad dominate the conversation until he comes in with a perfectly timed, precisely worded quip. His deadpan is to die for.

Having Andrew in Mormon allowed the show to find an equilibrium, Gad says in between bites of chicken and rice. I was kind of a bull in a china shop, but Andrew created barriers that kept my energy inside. That changed the dynamic in the best possible way.

He has something that he does, I have something that I do, and it blends very well together, Rannells says as he slides a sandwich out of a Ziploc bag. Theres no feeling of competition like were trying to one-up each other.

Gad thinks that the pairs different body types also help their jokes land. Theres a familiar legacy of these physically distinctive odd couples, whether its Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello or Chris Farley and David Spade. When you find the right archetypes, its a tried-and-true recipe for humor, he says. Seeing the two of us together physically is fun.

And though it has been more than a decade since they last duetted in The Book of Mormon, Gad says the pair quickly fell back into the same rhythm while rehearsing Gutenberg!

In terms of our banter, we havent lost a step, he says. We know exactly what tickles the other one. A lot of times the goal for Andrew and me is to try to make each other laugh.

Which sometimes also works for the audience, Rannells notes dryly.

And hearing the audience respond to what theyre doing in real time is what makes theater so enticing for the actors, both of whom have enjoyed success in television and film, with Gad voicing the bubbly snowman in Frozen and Rannells appearing on Girls. But in between, Rannells kept returning to Broadway, scoring a Tony nomination for Falsettos and co-starring in a revival of The Boys in the Band.

Theres nothing quite like theater, he says. You experience glimpses of being in the zone when youre shooting something, but you keep having to break for different shots so you cant sustain it.

But Gad, despite his long-standing ambition to return to the theater, hasnt been on a stage since ending his run in The Book of Mormon in 2012.

My soul needed this challenge again, he says. Ive got to go back and exercise these muscles, because Im not sure I can still do it. This is a trust fall for me, and Im scared. But the one person who I know that will catch me if I fall  Gad pauses for a beat, his eyebrow arching  was not available, so I had to call Andrew.

See what he did there, Rannells says, pointing across the table. Do you get the joke?

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UPDATE: A Nevada grand jury indicted Duane Keffe D Davis on Friday (Sept. 29) on one count of murder with a deadly weapon, according to Associated Press.

PREVIOUSLY: Las Vegas police made an arrest on Friday morning (Sept. 29) in one of the most vexing high-profile cold cases in the citys history. According to the Associated Press, Las Vegas PD arrested Duane Keffe D Davis in connection with the unsolved drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996.

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The unsolved murder of the legendary rapper in a brazen nighttime assault on the citys most famous boulevard had vexed authorities and fascinated the public for nearly 30 years, spawning a number of documentaries, investigative TV series, books and theories about who gunned down the then-25-year-old MC.

Davis was reportedly arrested early Friday morning, with the exact charges he was taken in on not announced at press time; two officials with first-hand knowledge of the arrest said Davis was expected to be indicted later in the day.

The 60-year-old alleged member of the South Side Compton Crips street gang was the uncle of gang member Orlando Baby Lane Anderson, long considered the prime suspect in Shakurs killing. Anderson was beaten by the rapper and his entourage on the night of the murder, allegedly in retaliation for Andersons role in snatching a Death Row chain at a Los Angeles Mall in July 1996; Anderson, 23, who denied involvement in the Shakur murder, was shot and killed in 1998 in a gang shooting and was never charged with the killing.

Las Vegas PD announced in July that they had searched Davis Henderson, Nevada home in connection with the Shakur murder investigation, though they did not give any additional information at the time about what they found or what spurred the search.

NBC News reported at the time that a copy of the warrant it obtained noted that authorities were looking at computers and other electronic devices, as well as audio recordings and that they took away a Pokeball USB drive, a black iPhone, two iPads and a purple Toshiba laptop, among other items.

Shakur was gunned down inside a black BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion Suge Knight when it was stopped at a red light on the night of a Mike Tyson fight. A white Cadillac pulled up next to the passenger side of Tupacs car and someone inside fired 14 rounds. Hit four times, Shakur was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died a week later. The unsolved case has spawned a number of conspiracy theories about the murder, including allegations that it was tied to the similarly unsolved murder of the Notorious B.I.G. in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997 as part of a media-whipped East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry.

In 2018, Davis claimed in an episode of BETs Death Row Chronicles that he knew the name of Shakurs killer, though he did not supply one at the time, even as he said Anderson could have been the gunman. Davis also claimed in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he was in the Cadillac on the night of the shooting and has described himself as the last living witness to the incident. No arrests had previously been made in the decadeslong investigation and Nevada does not have a statute of limitations for prosecuting homicide cases.

Retired LAPD detective Greg Kading  who spent years investigating the Shakur murder and wrote a book about it  interviewed Davis in 2008 and 2009 during the LAPD s investigation into the Shakur and Smalls killings. He told the AP that he thought the Shakur investigation gained momentum recently after Davis description of his role in his memoir.

Its those events that have given Las Vegas the ammunition and the leverage to move forward, Kading told the AP before Davis arrest. Prior to Keefe Ds public declarations, the cases were unprosecutable as they stood He put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy, Kading said of Davis. He had acquired the gun, he had given the gun to the shooter and he had been present in the vehicle when they hunted down and located both Tupac and Suge (Knight).

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duane-davis-keffe-d - Credit: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Over 27 years after the shooting death of Tupac Shakur , Las Vegas police have finally made an arrest in connection to the rappers long-unsolved murder: Duane Keffe D Davis, the self-proclaimed last living person involved in the September 1996 drive-by shooting that ultimately claimed Shakurs life at the age of 25, was charged Friday with murder with use of a deadly weapon.

Davis, in essence, signed his own arrest warrant in recent years following the release of his memoir Compton Street Legend, which detailed the Crips members alleged involvement in Shakurs murder. The infamous Suge Knight, former Death Row Records CEO [who was in Shakurs vehicle], and I are the only living eyewitnesses to the deadly confrontation on the Las Vegas strip between the occupants of our two vehicles, Davis bragged in the description of the books Amazon listing.

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The revelations in the memoir  coupled with the many interviews Davis conducted following the books publication that further implicated his role in the shooting  presumably resulted in Las Vegas police revisiting the case this past summer, including conducting a search of Davis Henderson, Nevada home.

As Lieutenant Jason Johansson of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department said in a press conference Friday afternoon following Davis arrest, his book and interviews reinvigorated the investigation. He provided his own series of statements that are consistent with the evidence weve gathered, Johansson said, adding that the search warrant on Davis home corroborated the LVMPDs information as well.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stands beside a photo of Duane Keefe D Davis during a news conference on an indictment in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Las Vegas.

In Compton Street Legend, Davis detailed what he claimed transpired before the shooting: Shakur and Knight were in Las Vegas the evening of September 7, 1996, for the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon fight at the MGM Grand. In the lobby of the hotel, a member of Knights crew spotted Orlando Baby Lane Anderson, a Southside Compton Crip who had tried to rob them earlier in the year. Knights crew then assaulted Anderson, as captured by surveillance footage, before leaving the hotel to go to a post-fight afterparty at Knights Club 662 nightclub.

When conversations would come up about a million dollar bounty on the heads of Suge Knight and Tupac Shakur, that was business, Davis wrote in his book. But after Tupac, Suge and them Death Row niggas jumped on my nephew Baby Lane, the shit became ominously personal. (Davis has also claimed an alleged $1 million bounty on Knight and Shakur put out by Sean Combs as motivation; Combs, years later, called the bounty rumors pure fiction and completely ridiculous.)

According to Davis, he and his crew waited outside Club 662, but as time passed and Shakur and Death Row didnt leave the nightclub, Davis crew instead made a pit stop at the Liquor Barn on their way to another club called the Carriage House. It was on the way there that they caught sight of Shakur waving at fans out of the window of his BMW.

In unison all of our heads turned, There them motherfuckers go right there. If Pac had not been hanging out of the window, we would have never seen them, Davis wrote. Davis white Cadillac then pulled alongside the Death Row caravan and the vehicle with Knight and Shakur at a red light on Las Vegas Boulevard:

The shit was on! Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat. It was the first and only time in my life that I could relate to the police command. Keep your hands where I can see them. Instead, Pac pulled out a strap, and thats when the fireworks started. One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin back.

The first shot skinned Suge in his head. I thought the motherfucker was dead. I heard stories that Suge supposedly used Tupac as a shield when the bullets started flying. But thats some bullshit. Suge was already wounded; he was the first one that got touched. As the rounds continued flying, I ducked down so that I wouldnt get hit.

When the shooting stopped, we boned out, and a white Chrysler Sebring full of young ladies was following us. Their window quickly got shot out, so they stopped. The interesting thing to me was with all them rough ass niggas they were supposed to have with them, none of them did a damn thing and tried to come after us. There was a lot of shots let off in both directions.

The car we were in was shot the fuck up. I dont understand why people act like Tupac was an angel. Shit, the nigga had busted on some off-duty cops in Atlanta a few years earlier. So he wasnt scared to bust. On top of that, by the time we rolled up he had to know the person they jumped on in the casino was a South Side Crip. So they had to be on high alert. When the shots settled a couple of people in our car had fragments and glass in their hair. But none of us had been hit.

Davis said he and his crew quickly ditched the car they were driving, knowing the police would start looking for them, especially considering the noticeable damage that had been done to the vehicle during the shooting. Shakur was shot four times and taken to a nearby hospital, where he died four days later.

Davis has long claimed that he was not one of the shooters: In his book, he said the shooter was one of my guys without specifying, but in subsequent interviews he admitted that his nephew Orlando Baby Lane Anderson was the one who killed Shakur: Orlando rolled down the window, and popped him. If they would have drove on my side, I would have popped them. But they was on the other side, Davis said in a 2019 interview.

Anderson  who sued Shakurs estate for injuries from the MGM Grand assault and was soon after named as the main suspect in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Tupacs mother Afeni Shakur  was killed less than two years later, in 1998, in a gang-related shooting in Compton.

Davis other two alleged associates in his car on the night of the shooting  Terrence Bubble Up Brown and DeAndre Freaky Smith  are also dead: Brown was shot and killed in Los Angeles in 2015, while the Guardian reported that Smith died of natural causes in 2004.

In their press conference Friday, the LVMPD acknowledged that all four men have long been suspects in the Shakur shooting, and that Anderson, Smith, and Brown were all deceased. Davis was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon, with prosecutors accusing Davis of providing the firearm used in the shooting to either Anderson or Smith.

Following the search warrant on Davis home  which yielded desktops and other electronic storage devices, several .40-caliber bullets, plus a copy of Compton Street Legend  retired Los Angeles police detective Greg Kading told the Associated Press that it was Keffe Ds own book that would likely, finally, result in charges in the 1996 murder.

Its those events that have given Las Vegas the ammunition and the leverage to move forward, Kading said. Prior to Keffe Ds public declarations, the cases were unprosecutable as they stood.

Kading added, He put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy. He had acquired the gun, he had given the gun to the shooter and he had been present in the vehicle when they hunted down and located both Tupac and Suge (Knight). All the other direct conspirators or participants are all dead. Keffe D is the last man standing among the individuals that conspired to kill Tupac.

Davis, who has spent around 15 years behind bars for his role running a multi-million-dollar nationwide drug empire as part of the Southside Compton Crips, brushed off concerns about whether he could face charges over the Shakur slaying in an interview with DJ Vlad. They want to put me in jail for life? Thats just something I got to do, Davis said.

Speaking to the press following Davis arrest, Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo called Keffe D the on-ground, on-site commander who ordered the death of Shakur.

I stand firm on the point that Tupac, Suge Knight and the rest of those niggas didnt have any business putting their hands on my beloved nephew, Baby Lane. Period. Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something to their ass. Tupac chose the wrong game to play, Davis wrote of the shooting.

For us, Vegas was another day at the office. It may sound cold-hearted, but from a street perspective the killings of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls would be consiered nothing more than collateral damage. As a result, the hip-hop world has lost two of its most talented and revered musical artists and icons. At this point in my life, I can say I have a deep sense of remorse for what happened to Tupac. He was a talented artist with tons of potential to impact the world. I hate that Tupacs family, friends and fans, especially his mother, Afeni Shakur, had to go through the pain of losing her son. Its terrible losing people like that; I know the pain too well.

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The Trump family has been dabbling in many business ventures this year, between Donald Trump Jrs coffee endorsement and Melania Trumps Christmas ornament collection. Just when you think you know their next move, they release a Tom Petty cover.

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No, you read that right, Eric Trump s wife Lara Trump released a cover of Pettys I Wont Back Down on Sept 23. She plugged the cover on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, saying, 9.29.23 pre-save: http://Too.fm/wontbackdown. You can see the post HERE!

(And Lara isnt the only member of the Trump family to dabble in the music world.)

NATIONAL HARBOR, MARYLAND  MARCH 03: Lara Trump speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on March 03, 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland. The annual conservative conference entered its second day of speakers including congressional members, media personalities and members of former President Donald Trumps administration. President Donald Trump will address the event on Saturday. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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But before we get into that, as you can imagine, Laras cover has gotten some seriously split reactions on the internet, and many are resurfacing a previous incident involving the Trump family and the Petty family.

The song was previously used during a rally for former US President Donald Trump back in 2020 in Oklahoma, to which the Petty family spoke out against it. The Petty family made a post that many have been referring to on X that reads, Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind.

They added, Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together Concurrently, we have issued an official cease and desist notice to the Trump campaign.

Despite this, Lara went ahead three years later and covered the song.

WASHINGTON, DC  AUGUST 25: Tiffany Trump , daughter of President Donald Trump, pre-records her address to the Republican National Convention inside an empty Mellon Auditorium on August 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. The novel coronavirus pandemic has forced the Republican Party to move away from an in-person convention to a televised format, similar to the Democratic Partys convention a week earlier. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Now, remember how we said another Trump family member has dabbled in music? Well, in case you dont remember, Tiffany Trump released a single in 2011 called Like a Bird featuring Sprite and Logic.

In a previous interview with Oprah, per Broward Beach New Times, Tiffany spoke about her possible music career at the time, saying: I love music. Its always been very dear to me. Its a big passion. Its more of a hobby right now, but well see in a couple of years if I want to take it to the next level as a professional.

Before you go, click here to see presidential families over the years.

Before you go, click here to see presidential families over the years.

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Rachel Griffiths has been cast as the lead in Madam, a new dramedy series about an escort agency.

Griffiths, best known for her roles in Six Feet Under and Brothers & Sisters, stars as McKenzie Mack Leigh, who sets up an ethical brothel in New Zealand after her philandering husband and mountain of debt leave her struggling to provide for her family.

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Joining Griffiths on the show are Rima Te Wiata (The Wheel of Time), Danielle Cormack (Wentworth), Robbie Magasiva (Bad Behaviour), Martin Henderson (Virgin River) and newcomer Ariana Osborne.

The series, which started shooting on location this week, is based on Antonia Murphys unpublished memoir about an American woman who opened an ethical escort agency in New Zealand after the country decriminalized sex work. Murphys company aimed to protect womens rights, well-being and financial independence.

Showrunners are Shoshana McCallum (Inside) and Harry McNaughton (The Pact) while Kacie Anning (Class of 07) and Madeleine Sami (Gold Diggers) direct.

Madam is produced by Tavake and XYZ Films for Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ and Fifth Season, who will also distribute the show internationally. In New Zealand it is set to air on local streamer ThreeNow and corresponding network Three.

Tom Hern (Shadow in the Cloud,) and Halaifonua Finau (The Panthers) are executive producing for Tavake, with Aumua Crystal Vaega (The Panthers) on board as co-executive producer and Belindalee Hope (Guns Akimbo) as producer. Nick Spicer (Run Rabbit Run), Aram Tertzakian (The Raid 2) and Marci Wiseman (Sharp Objects) exec produce for XYZ.

Alistair Jennings, SVP for Asia Pacific sales at Fifth Season said: Madam is inspired by a compelling and surprising true story, and this series promises an unexpected new take on the worlds oldest profession. Headlined by the formidable and globally recognisable star Rachel Griffiths, with a dynamic supporting ensemble and a perfect blend of humour, intrigue, romance and motherhood, were sure the show will both captivate and resonate with fans. We cant wait to introduce Madam to audiences around the world.

Vicki Keogh, senior director of commissioning for Warner Bros Discovery ANZ added: Were delighted to bring Madam and its exceptional cast, to ThreeNow and Three next year. The teams at Tavake and XYZ are exceptional and skilled at balancing the humour and empathy needed to tell this story. With its uniquely New Zealand perspective, were confident this series will resonate with audiences both locally and overseas.

The show was made in association with Te Puna Kairangi Premium Productions for International Audiences Fund and NZ On Air and the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate.

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The family of an 8-year-old girl who was shot and killed by police outside of a Pennsylvania high school football game reached an $11 million settlement.

The settlement was agreed to this week in federal court, two years after a shooting outside of Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill, just north of Philadelphia, left Fanta Bility dead and three others wounded.

The law firm representing Bility's family, van der Veen, Hartshorn and Levin, said it hopes the settlement brings some "measure of justice and accountability to those whose lives were forever changed."

"There is no amount of money that will ever bring Fanta back or erase the horrible tragedy of what occurred on August 27, 2021, from our minds," Fanta's mother Tenneh Kromah said in a statement to NBC Philadelphia. "We hope to move on and focus specifically on the Fanta Bility Foundation and keeping Fantas name and legacy alive."

8-year-old Fanta Bility. (via NBC 10 Philadelphia)

The Borough of Sharon Hill said it hopes that resolving the lawsuit, can "provide those impacted a small measure of closure."

"In moving forward, we will continue to mourn with and extend our deepest sympathies to the Bility family," the borough said in a statement Thursday. "We will also continue to raise the bar by remaining committed to improving and implementing policies to protect against this type of tragedy, and working diligently to ensure the safety of Sharon Hill residents while restoring public confidence and trust."

The Delaware County District Attorney's Office had said that teenagers had opened fire at each other during an argument, prompting three officers stationed nearby to fire their weapons.

Fanta was killed by a single gunshot wound to her torso. District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said that authorities had determined that it was police gunfire that killed the girl.

The three officers, Devon Smith, Sean Dolan, and Brian Devaney, were fired by the department and charged with voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment in the Aug. 27, 2021 shooting. They pleaded guilty in November 2022 to 10 counts each of reckless endangerment. Under the negotiated pleas, the charges of manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter were dismissed. In May, they were sentenced to five years of probation.

Prosecutors had said that the plea deal was reached in consultation with Fanta's family.

The settlement resolves three separate lawsuits against the Borough of Sharon Hill, the attorneys for Fanta's family said in a statement. Nine plaintiffs are a part of the settlement.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Firefighters in West Memphis, Arkansas, fought a large blaze Saturday.Details are slim, and its unknown if anyone was in the 1235 N. Seventh building when the fire broke out, but plumes of black smoke were seen from miles away. Employees of a nearby business say the building is a warehouse.

West Memphis Fire Department and Marion Fire Department were on the scene and shut down North Seventh Street between Stephen Boulevard and Glen Bailey Drive for a period.We are asking everyone to please avoid the area for your safety, and to allow emergency services unobstructed access," the West Memphis Fire Department said in a statement at the time.

Our brave firefighters are working tirelessly to contain the situation and protect our community. Thank you for your cooperation during this challenging time.

As of Sunday afternoon, no injured were reported, according to Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: West Memphis warehouse fire on North Seventh Street
During mid-September it was our privilege to travel to our nations Capitol to join a gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973 by a near unanimous bipartisan vote and signed into law by a Republican president.

We wish that every Montanan could go to Washington, D.C., visit with our congressional delegation and see the pillars of our democracy. Talk about a powerful, educational experience.

Among the many things we learned about the Endangered Species Act is that its one of Americas greatest conservation successes, 99% effective in preventing extinction while helping to save over 1,600 imperiled plant and animal species in the U.S.

Regardless of ones political persuasion we all want to see species recovered. Look at iconic birds once on the ropes now commonly seen in Montana, like the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, and there are hundreds of other positive examples of recovery. This strong effective law is flexibly administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries, working with local communities for species protection.

Dont be misled by politicians complaining about onerous regs. Not a single infrastructure project has been stopped by Endangered Species review, but all have benefited with better science-based decisions.

The Endangered Species Act is supported by more than 80% of Americans. We suspect that public support in Montana is even higher, where our wide-open spaces and abundant wildlife are in integral part of our identity as Montanans.

Like so many worthwhile programs, the Endangered Species program is limping along with less than half of the funding needed to recover species. This lack of funding is deepening a biodiversity crisis fueled by human actions such as climate change, pollution and invasive species.

More than 1 million plant and animal species face extinction within the next couple of decades (2019 United Nations report). Unless mass extinction is reversed, the catastrophic impacts to human health, economies and our environment will exceed anything we can even imagine.

Despite the successes of the Endangered Species Act and the urgency of the biodiversity crisis, at least 38 bills, amendments and resolutions have been introduced in this Congress to gut or weaken the law by replacing science with politics.

For example, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., has recently signed on to a bill that would block efforts to restore wildlife protections lost under the Trump administration. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., has introduced bills that would prematurely remove protections for the grizzly bear, even while our state is passing laws and regulations than weaken grizzly bear conservation.

The list goes on.

With the election year looming there is no better time to hold our elected members of congress accountable. Ask our House members, Ryan Zinke and Rosendale, to co-sponsor H. Res. 195, which calls for a national biodiversity strategy to help deal with the ever more critical biodiversity crisis. At least 50 members on both sides of the aisle have already signed on.

On the Senate side, both Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Daines should be urged to ask President Joe Biden to establish a national biodiversity strategy by executive order. In so doing the U.S. would join 193 countries around the world that already have a strategy to conserve biodiversity.

The Endangered Species Act aint broke and needs no fixing, just more funding to get the job done. We should not have to divert our time and energy to defend this remarkably-successful bedrock law on its golden anniversary. Instead, let us redouble our collective efforts to recover the imperiled wildlife the law is designed to protect.

All life and every species are interconnected in a complex web we are only beginning to understand. We humans love to tinker. To paraphrase the great conservation philosopher Aldo Leopold, if we are to be intelligent with our tinkering, then we better save all the parts.
Democrats and Republicans in the state are ramping up their attacks ahead of high stakes state-wide elections in Virginia, releasing dueling ads about abortion -- a hot-button issues at the center of nearly every race in both the GOP-led state House and the Democratic-controlled state Senate.

Last week, Virginia Republicans ran an ad titled "No Limits" accusing Democrats of fighting to make late-term abortions "the rule and not the exception," while Democrats released a number of ads across the state this week warning Republicans would ban abortion if they take full control of the General Assembly.

Virginia is currently the southernmost state that hasn't banned or restricted abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Political science experts told ABC News that while Republicans in the state refrained from campaigning on the issue of abortion last year and much of this campaign season, they are joining in now to mobilize Republican voters.

"While Dobbs served Republicans well, they lost the messaging enemy in Roe that had been successful for them," Dr. Chapman Rackaway, a professor and Chair of Political Science at Radford University. "The inverse happened for Democrats. Dobbs gave them a threat on which they could message, and they did so aggressively in 2022."

"From the newly-released ads, it looks like Republicans believe that using the extremist tag on Democrats is the messaging on which they can mobilize," Rackaway added.

Activists who oppose abortion told ABC News that Republicans in the state are backing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin 's stance on abortion -- a 15-week ban with exceptions.

"In 2022 with the midterm elections, Republicans used the ostrich strategy ... kind of burying your head in the sand and hoping the issue goes away," said Billy Valentine, the vice president of Political Affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. "Looking ahead to Virginia, I think the party has recognized that strategy didn't work. We need to find where we stand and contrast that with the Democrats."

PHOTO: Virginia Governor Glen Youngkin addresses the Economic Club of Washington's luncheon event at the Marriott Marquis, Sept. 26, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Valentine told ABC News that he believes Democrats in the state are trying to misrepresent Republican candidates' stance on abortion by saying they would ban abortion without exception, pointing to several recent ads from Democratic candidates.

"It's incumbent on our candidates to tell the truth, which is what we are advocating for, is a 15-week limit, not a ban because it has exceptions for life of the mother, rape, and incest," he said.

Republicans in the state say Democrats are putting out "misrepresentations and half truths" about several Republican candidates' stance on abortion.

"This is out of character even for them," said Garren Shipley, director of communications for Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert. "They're our caucus and our candidates. We're behind the governor on the 15-week limit with common sense exceptions."

PHOTO: Abortion rights protesters demonstrate outside Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's home, June 27, 2022, in Alexandria, Va. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Democrats in the state say their ads are informing voters that the Virginia GOP will ban abortion if they take full control of the General Assembly.

"This is nothing more than the Governor's handlers trying to correct a narrative that their candidates themselves have been pushing," said House Democratic Caucus Leader Don Scott.

"Just this year Republicans introduced life at conception bills, banning all abortions at the moment of fertilization and criminalizing anyone who performs the procedure," Scott said. "No matter how they try to dress it up, if something is legal today, and a law changes making it illegal tomorrow, then that's a ban. There's no lies about that."

Virginia Democratic Party Chairwoman Susan Swecker echoed Scott's concerns that Republicans will increase restrictions on abortion.

"Anyone who has looked at Republicans' records knows that Youngkin and the MAGA extremists who are running to control the General Assembly want to ban abortion immediately and will increase the restrictions every chance they get," Swecker said in a statement. "They'll overturn our rights and then keep taking more."

In the highly competitive Fredericksburg-area state Senate race, Republicans criticized Democrats for releasing an ad about Republican candidate Tara Durant who is running against Joel Griffin, the Democratic nominee.

The ad published by Griffin's campaign said Durant supports letting Virginia ban abortions without exception.

"Virginia Democrats are reverting to their tired tactics of overt falsehoods and flagrant fear mongering," said Dave Rexrode, Youngkin's political adviser and chairman of his PAC, Spirit of Virginia.

"Joel Griffin's ad is just the latest desperate and despicable attempt to mislead voters. It will not work," Rexrode added in a press release.

Griffin's campaign defended the ad, saying Durant publicly praised the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

"While we watched the legal landscape shift, Durant reaffirmed where she was on abortion rights, sending a mailer stating her 100% pro life stance," a spokesperson for Griffin's campaign told ABC News. "The stakes are clear: If elected, Tara Durant would let Virginia ban abortions with no exceptions."

On Tuesday, Durant responded to Griffin's ad, calling it "misinformation" and doubled down on her support for a "15-week limit on abortion with exceptions for rape, incest, and to protect the life of the mother."

Control of both chambers of the General Assembly is up for grabs, with several political experts indicating that the results could be viewed as a referendum on Youngkin given his successful push for his preferred candidates to win their primary races earlier this year.

Democrats, Republicans release dueling abortion ads in high-stakes Virginia elections originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A Delaware state trooper is facing multiple felony charges for "brutally assaulting" a 15-year-old and fracturing his orbital socket in response to an apparent doorbell prank, according to Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings .

A grand jury indicted 29-year-old Dempsey Walters on felony deprivation of civil rights -- the first use of a new statute -- felony assault, two counts of misdemeanor assault and two counts of misdemeanor official misconduct. He has been suspended without pay.

"When Dempsey Walters actions were uncovered through a DSP internal body-worn camera review, we immediately suspended him and initiated a criminal investigation. Since then, we have been working tirelessly with the Delaware Attorney Generals office to pursue justice," Col. Melissa Zebley, superintendent of the Delaware State Police, said.

"This indictment is a stark reminder that all citizens of this great state will be held accountable for their actions," Zebley said.

Walters' lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

MORE: 2 found dead after plane crash launched massive search

Timeline of events

On Aug. 17, Walters was off duty and returning to his residence when he got into a verbal altercation with a 17-year-old. Walters contacted Elsmere Police Department. The minor was driven home and turned over to his mother without being arrested, according to the attorney general's office.

The next day, Walters looked up the minor on the law enforcement database, according to the attorney general's office.

On the evening on Aug. 21, Walters was on duty when a 15-year-old and his three friends were walking past Walters' residence and decided to play a prank, the attorney general's office said. The 15-year-old ran up to Walters' house, covering his face, and kicked the door before running off, authorities said.

Walters' girlfriend called him and described the 15-year-old, telling him the teenagers had fled, according to the attorney general. Walters drove to his neighborhood and called DSP troopers and other police departments for assistance.

MORE: Suspect arrested in murder of Baltimore tech CEO Pava LaPere

After hearing the 15-year-old and his friends were found and detained, he drove to their location, the attorney general's office said. The 15-year-old was face down on the ground with a different trooper attempting to handcuff him when Walter dropped his knee onto the back of the 15-year-old's head, causing injury and for him to scream in distress, according to the attorney general's office.

"Trooper Walters abused his position in a case of State sanctioned swatting. Punching a handcuffed, defenseless, 15-year-old in the face is an act of brutality and vengeance. Dropping a knee on the neck of a child is illegal and unconscionable, especially when a child begs for his mommy and none of the officers intervene," Sam Davis, one of the attorneys for the teens, said in a statement.

PHOTO: Bodycam footage shows an incident involving a Delaware State trooper and a 15-year-old boy after a prank, Aug. 21, 2023. (Delaware Attorney General's Office)

Walters then turned off his body-worn camera and walked up to the 15-year-old, who was handcuffed and in a police vehicle, and punched him in the face, fracturing his right eye socket, according to the attorney general's office. Walters then walked around the police vehicle and turned his body-worn camera back on, the attorney general said.

"As a mother and grandmother, the footage in this case is hard to watch. As a prosecutor, the constitutional violations are stunning," Jennings said.

According to the attorney general's office, the body-worn cameras capture 30 seconds of buffer video when the camera is activated. Because the camera was off for less than 30 seconds, Walters' body-worn camera captured footage of the incident.

MORE: Ghost guns found at licensed Manhattan day care: Police

"Over the course of the evening, the Defendant chose to extract his own form of personal justice by embarking on a violent rampage, assaulting two defenseless minors, and attempting to conceal his misconduct. He will now face criminal consequences for his actions," Jennings said.

Walters is currently free on bond, according to victims' lawyers.

The victims' lawyers claim Walters "fabricated a story of a home invasion in his home, in order to embark on a personal vendetta and extract violence against the local teenagers."

"Witnesses who saw the incident indicate that Trooper Walters and other officers acted unjustifiably and unreasonably towards the teenagers and the families that evening," the lawyers said in a statement. "The families Attorneys are grateful for the swift investigation and prosecution against Trooper Walters, and look forward to a continued ongoing investigation against any and all officers who aided and abetted in the heinous crimes against the teenagers on the evening of August 21, 2023."

What to know about the Delaware state trooper accused of 'brutally assaulting' a 15-year-old originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs affirmed her support for state universities while pushing them to propose funding formula options and create a new student aid tool during an address Friday morning.

She said that the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University are "key" to her plan of "building an Arizona for everyone" during an address to the Board of Regents, which governs the state's three public universities. She also came with a gift of $11 million for an initiative the public university system is undertaking to fill gaps in Arizona's health care workforce.

"Our universities are truly one of our states strongest assets," she said.

Hobbs asked the state universities and the regents to put together several options for a funding formula that will "recognize growth, prioritize Arizona students and drive attainment." Hobbs said she'd heard interest in developing a funding formula for the universities from regents.

Pay raises: Arizona's university presidents just received pay raises. Here are the details

The universities are not currently allocated funding via a set formula. Each university submits a legislative budget request annually that the Legislature and the governor can use to determine how much money to set aside for them. A funding formula would set up a funding regime like the one used for public school districts, which is based on a variety of factors, including the number of students enrolled.

State spending on public universities was slashed amid the Great Recession. Since then, state lawmakers have been reluctant to loosen the purse strings. The regents and the schools have long said that the state should invest more substantially in higher education.

When the regents approved multi-year tuition increases for the public universities earlier this year, they directly tied the increases to how the Legislature funds the universities. Tuition increases won't happen if the Legislature increases the amount of money it gives the universities on an ongoing basis.

Meanwhile, the universities are facing increased scrutiny from state lawmakers because of a politically fueled free speech controversy at ASU. On Wednesday, during an event at ASU prompted by the controversy, Turning Point USA founder and conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk said that Arizona's public universities should be defunded.

"The notion that some would doubt our existence is mind-boggling to me," Arizona Board of Regents Chair Fred DuVal said at the start of Friday's meeting.

Hobbs also said the regents and the universities need to work quickly to develop a tool to give undocumented students in Arizona greater access to financial aid.

"This should be prioritized, as many students need aid for the upcoming semester," she said.

Hobbs said she hopes to continue to grow the Arizona Promise Program, a state grant for resident students that helps fill in higher education costs not covered by other aid such as the federal Pell Grant or merit scholarships.

Additionally, she wants to see more students completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a form that helps determine financial aid eligibility for students. Arizona students' completion rate of the form has for years been one of the lowest in the country.

Sasha Hupka covers higher education for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip on Arizona's universities, community colleges or trade schools? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gov. Katie Hobbs tells regents to create university funding formula
Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is defending New Jersey Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez against demands he resign this week. The defense comes less than a week after Menendez was charged with three felony counts: conspiracy to commit bribery, honesty services fraud and extortion under color of official right.

Rubio said the details in the indictment are "nasty" but argued that a jury should decide his fate instead of fellow U.S. Senate members.

"The allegations against the Senior Senator from New Jersey are nasty & the evidence offered difficult to explain away," Rubio wrote in a Sept. 26 post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "But in America guilt is decided by a jury, not politicians in fear of their party losing a Senate seat."

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, speaks during the Republican presidential debate sponsored by Fox Business and the Wall Street Journal at the Milwaukee Theatre on November 10, 2015, in Milwaukee, Wis.

Menendez pleaded not guilty to the charges Sept. 27, but more than half of his fellow Democratic senators, including New Jersey counterpart Cory Booker, have called for his resignation. Menendez has stepped down as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

Rubio defense of Menendez: Politics, consistency, loyalty?

Rubio serves on the foreign affairs panel with Menendez, and the two have worked on legislation on Cuba and other matters of mutual interest.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, leaves the US District Court, Southern District of New York, in New York City, after his arraignment.

The two senators come from similar backgrounds: both were born in the United States to Cuban immigrants who left Cuba in the 1950s. When Rubio was sworn into the Senate in 2011, he and Menendez were the only two Latinos in the chamber.

Justice Department officials announced Sept. 22 that Menendez and his wife were indicted on federal bribery charges, alleging that the corruption involved gold bars, stacks of cash and using the senator's political power to benefit the Egyptian government. This is the second time Menendez is accused of wrongdoing, but the previous charges in 2015 were dropped in 2018.

Rubio doesn't comment on Trump : Marco Rubio dishes on UFO whistleblower. But not on Trump discussing 'secret' document.

Multiple comments underneath Rubio's X post accused the Florida senator of defending Menendez only because the Republican has spoken out in defense of former President Donald Trump, who is facing four different sets of state and federal indictments.

But Rubio's defense of Trump has been, generally, more reassuring to the former president. While referring to the Menendez charges, Rubio said they were nasty and hard to explain away. By contrast, he called Trump's alleged illegal possession and handling of documents, including what are reportedly extremely sensitive secrets, a "storage issue."

Really? Then I wish you would let a jury do its jobs on Trumps charges instead of having the entire Republican party attempt to do whatever necessary to protect him  WRAPTHx  (@wrapthx) September 27, 2023

Translation: I cant call on Menendez to resign because it will highlight the fact that I refused to do the same with crooked Trump who was indicted 4 times.  Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 26, 2023

Seriously, if Trump wasnt under indictment you would be screaming from the rooftops. Menendez should step down until this mess is sorted out. Oh, and Im a true  Democrat and (even) I know thats how this should work.  TrueBlue (@cabresister) September 27, 2023

Rubio is not the only GOP lawmaker in the chamber to speak out in support of Menendez. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas also said Sept. 26 that the jury and voters should decide on what happens with Menendez's political future.

Menendez said in a press conference that he would not step down despite the growing calls from more than a dozen lawmakers asking him to resign.

First federal charges: N.J. Sen. Menendez, North Palm eye doctor indicted in bribery case

The allegations leveled against me are just that: allegations, Menendez told a New Jersey crowd. I recognized that this will be the biggest fight yet. But as I have stated through this whole process, I firmly believe that when all of the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I will still be New Jerseys senior senator.

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida's Marco Rubio: Indicted Bob Menendez should stay in U.S. Senate
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KOLR)  Gypsy Blanchard has been granted parole and is scheduled to be released in December, the Missouri Department of Corrections confirmed.

Blanchard, 32, pleaded guilty to murder in 2016 for her role in the killing of her mother, Clauddine Dee Dee Blanchard. Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison but has been granted early release.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is now married despite still being in prison

The Greene County case attracted a national spotlight and inspired documentaries and an eight-episode miniseries on Hulu. Gypsys attorneys say her mother abused her and held her prisoner for years as part of an elaborate fraud scheme.

They say the abuse included Blanchards mother isolating her, forcing her to use a wheelchair and subjecting her to unnecessary medical procedures. The Louisiana native advanced the lies by claiming they were Hurricane Katrina survivors and Gypsys medical records had been destroyed in the storm.

In June of 2015, Gypsy arranged for her online boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn to travel to the familys home in Springfield to kill her mother. After the murder, Gypsy and Godejohn fled back to his home in Wisconsin where they were arrested days later.

For his role, Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, but Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson struck a deal with Gypsy, taking into account the abuse she suffered.

Crime Traveler: Gypsy Blanchard Part 1: The con artist

Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to the minimum of 10 years in prison. She will soon be released after serving 85% of her sentence, as required by state law. She was given credit for the time she spent in the Greene Couty Jail before pleading guilty.

Gypsys expected release date is Dec. 28.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
The Arizona Humane Society's director of field operations, Tracey Miiller, speaks to the media at the Humane Society's South Mountain location in Phoenix on Sept. 23, 2023. She informed the press about an operation with the Chandler Police Department to seize 55 dogs during a rescue the day before.

Worried rescue officials and members of the public took to the Arizona Humane Society's Facebook comments to ask about the more than 50 dogs temporarily in their care after they were seized in Chandler.

On Friday, Sept. 22, Chandler police arrested April McLaughlin on 55 counts of animal abuse, 55 counts of animal cruelty and one count of vulnerable adult abuse, the latter of which is a felony. The dogs were taken in by the Humane Society who were on scene with police.

Since the incident, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office confirmed with The Arizona Republic that McLaughlin was released from jail.

A spokesperson with the Humane Society said they are following orders from the Chandler Police Department not to release additional information about the dogs in their care. Rescue owners were advised to contact the Human Society directly to inquire about their dogs. They told The Republic they are pointing rescues who believe their dogs were involved in the Chandler seizure to go to the "contact us" form on their website in order to inquire.

The Humane Society said the pets who were seized are going to be held due to a legal court order.

"AHS is not law enforcement. We operate within the law and must adhere to the 10-day mandatory hold of these animals while allowing the legal process to unfold," a spokesperson with the Humane Society said.

Previously: After over 50 dogs found in Arizona home, police ask for public help in investigation

The Humane Society is pointing questions relating to dropped charges or the Maricopa County Attorney's Office decision to send the case back to Chandler police to law enforcement officials. A spokesperson with the Humane Society said their role is to work in partnership with police to provide investigative resources and to help provide medical care to pets who enter the legal system.

"Like our animal welfare partner organizations, animal rescues and all those who use our voice for animals, we are frustrated by the lack of oversight and laws that arent strong enough to protect animals from neglect and abuse in Arizona," a spokesperson with the Arizona Humane Society said.

If the Humane Society is awarded custody in the case and the dog is microchipped, they said they will work with the last known owners in order to attempt a desirable placement.

The Humane Society said they are continuing to care for the dogs who were seized and that their team is providing medical and "other" care around the clock. They said their objectives are to care and heal for the dogs and to work within the law to seek justice for them and to push for change to protect animals from neglect and abuse.

Humane Society's trauma hospital veterinarians and the Humane Society Animal Cruelty investigations are providing evidence and medical records to the Chandler Police Department.

"This is a critical element in helping us reach our ultimate goal of being awarded custody and returning dogs to rescue groups and individuals who shed light on the situation, contacted authorities, offered support, and care for these dogs very deeply," a spokesperson with the Humane Society said.

For more information, the Humane Society provided the Arizona animal seizure law.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 55 dogs involved in Chandler seizure cannot return to rescues yet
Calls for a budget deal to be reached in Congress ahead of an impending federal government shutdown are coming from across the nation, but inside South Carolina, too.

What would happen for South Carolinians if the government does shut down? Heres what you need to know.

Congress must pass funding legislation before this Sunday, Oct. 1, to avoid a government shutdown, which would mean nonessential federal government agencies would have to stop all spending operations. Some federal employees would be furloughed, and some  such as military personnel  would have to continue working without pay, though they would be back-paid once a government spending plan is passed.

If your employer depends on federal funds and you are a part of the nonessential agencies, you could be impacted. These nonessential agencies include the Food and Drug Administrations food safety inspections, Environmental Protection Agency inspections and disaster relief by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Federally funded programs such as the nations food aid, including WIC benefits, and Head Start education programs for preschoolers would also lose funding.

More than 86,000 people in South Carolina participated in the WIC supplemental nutrition funding program for women, infants and children in fiscal year 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Money will stop being added to WIC purchasing cards if the government shuts down. The timeline for how quickly this would occur is unclear, but reports suggest the programs contingency funding could run out within a few days. Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits are expected to be able to continue for several weeks.

The federal Head Start program funds early education for some 12,000 children across South Carolina, according to the National Head Start Association. It is unclear if Head Start-funded centers will close right away, or shut down over time.

National parks also will also be affected: Some will completely close, while others wont have staff to run them. Its not clear yet how that will specifically affect South Carolinas national parks sites, including Congaree National Park near Columbia. Because Congaree has free, open gates, its likely the park will remain open to visitors but unstaffed, and its unclear whether there will be any restrictions in place. The Department of Interior has said a majority of national parks will be completely closed to public access, and areas that are accessible to the public near them will face significantly reduced visitor services.

Social security recipients will continue to receive checks and Medicare benefits will continue. Student loan payments will continue to be due, but there may be delays in loans, according to Politico.

South Carolina is home to more than 33,000 active military personnel, who will go unpaid but continue to be on duty during the shutdown, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Military veterans will continue to receive benefits, and most Veterans Affairs employees will continue working as usual, either because their pay is not dependent on annual appropriations or because they are exempt from furlough, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs Contingency Plan. South Carolina is home to an estimated nearly 400,000 veterans.

Post offices and postal services will continue to operate as usual. Most passport and visa processing operations will continue as well, according to the U.S. State Department. However, passport agencies located inside a government building that will be affected by the funding lapse may not be able to operate, the State Department says.

If youve got travel plans, youll still be able to fly in or out of a South Carolina airport, though you might experience some slowdowns. Transportation Security Administration agents and air traffic controllers will continue to work, but without pay.

South Carolina Democratic U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, in a virtual press briefing Thursday, said he is frustrated with House Republicans who are focusing on trying to impeach President Joe Biden instead of pushing to reach a deal to fund the government.

There is no reason for us to be moving forward with any type of impeachment of President Joe Biden, Clyburn said. These people are bullies. These people are not here to make headway on the behalf of the American people. Theyre seeking headlines.

I would hope we can get something passed and not disrupt the lives of the people of South Carolina, Clyburn said. Nobody has to tell me what this would do to South Carolina, what it would do to our farmers, what it would do to our military families, what it will do to our children, our senior citizens.

There is nothing Congress can necessarily do to prevent the impacts of a government shutdown other than work to make a deal, Clyburn added.

How many of our first responders are being paid by federal funds? If that goes away, we would be asking them to work without pay, Clyburn said.

He also said because South Carolinas No. 1 industry is tourism, with more than a million people coming to the state each year for attractions including parks, restaurants and wildlife, the shutdown poses threats to the state economy as well.

We now have three national parks in South Carolina, and that will be disrupted and peoples habits change because of something like this. We may not ever get those people back, Clyburn said.

Clyburns congressional colleague Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Daniel Island, said Friday that she planned to refuse her paycheck during the government shutdown, though she, like other federal workers, would be back-paid after a spending deal is reached.

We were sent here to work on behalf of the American people, and if we cant do our job and pass regular order spending bills like we are tasked in the constitution, then we dont deserve a dime, Mace said.

The government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1, if lawmakers do not pass a resolution by Saturday.

Clyburn said he believes American people are growing weary of the contentiousness of the few people who are hell bent on the floor of the House of Representatives.
The North Carolina House of Representatives will hold votes on a $30 billion state budget and a separate bill that would authorize four new casinos and expand Medicaid in the state this week, a top House budget writer confirmed Sunday.

After the question of whether and how to move forward on a contentious casino proposal temporarily derailed budget talks last week, the House is ready to hold votes to approve the budget on Wednesday and Thursday, House Appropriations Chairman Jason Saine told The News & Observer.

The House will also vote on a separate bill, discussed by the House Republican Caucus during a Saturday morning conference call, that would combine legislation authorizing four new casinos across the state with legislation to expand Medicaid in North Carolina, Saine said.

Votes on the combined casinos and Medicaid expansion bill will also take place on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Saine.

The Houses decision to move forward with a standalone bill containing the casino provisions and Medicaid expansion provisions comes after state Senate leader Phil Berger, a chief proponent of the casino proposal, insisted last week that the proposal must be added to the budget and that it would not be appropriate to advance in a separate bill.

House Republicans caucused for several hours last week but opposition to the Senates proposal to put casinos in the budget didnt budge, with House Speaker Tim Moore later telling reporters that 30 of the Houses 72 Republicans had said they wouldnt vote for a budget that included casinos.

Negotiations between the House and Senate appeared to break down, but Berger and Moore subsequently said they had resumed talks.

Saine told The N&O on Sunday that the bifurcated process of holding separate votes on the budget and a standalone bill that will contain the casino and Medicaid provisions was requested by members who were opposed to the casino legislation.

Reacting to reports that casinos could be paired with Medicaid expansion, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said the proposal was the most brutally dishonest legislative scheme Ive seen in my 3+ decades.

People are right to be suspicious, Cooper wrote in a social media post on Saturday. Something has a grip on Republican leaders and its not the people of NC.

Its unclear how taking out Medicaid expansion provisions from the budget could affect the mechanism by which expansion could finally be triggered. Since an expansion bill was passed and signed into law earlier this year, lawmakers and state health department officials have been operating under a mechanism that requires passage of a state budget for expansion to take effect.

Its also unclear if Berger and Senate Republicans will be open to the Houses decision to take casinos and Medicaid out of the budget and combine them into a separate bill.

Bergers office provided The N&O and other media outlets over the weekend with a copy of the casino legislation that has been discussed privately for months, and said the legislation had also been shared with Senate Democrats.

The N&O asked a spokeswoman for Berger if he would support the Houses new proposal to vote on casinos and Medicaid in a separate bill, but hadnt received a response as of Sunday afternoon.
Oregon State Police is investigating a shooting that left one dead and a police officer injured early Saturday morning just outside of Salem.

The shooting and investigation closed Oregon Route 22 between West Salem and Oregon Route 51 for most of Saturday causing congestion impacting traffic into downtown Salem.

According to OSP, an Independence police officer was conducting a traffic stop at 1:30 a.m. Saturday when the vehicle fled.

Strike strips were used to disable the vehicle, OSP said, and a man fled on foot.

Responding officers located the man as he tried to flee in another vehicle, OSP said.

The man shot at police and struck a Polk County Sheriffs deputy. Officers returned fire, OSP said.

OSP said the man was arrested but have not released his name. During the shootout, police say another suspect was killed and another was injured.

The sheriff's deputy, who has not been identified, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

The identity of the deceased and the injured suspect have not been released.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: One dead, officer injured after shooting along Hwy 22 outside Salem
Each member of Iowa's all-Republican U.S. Senate and U.S. House delegation voted with a majority of their chambers Saturday to pass a last-minute funding deal to keep the government running.

The legislation continues government funding at current levels for roughly 45 days and includes natural disaster aid and FAA reauthorization. It now goes to President Joe Biden , who is expected to sign it.

The government was poised to shut down at midnight Saturday if Congress had failed to send a deal to Biden.

More: House moves closer to avoiding catastrophic government shutdown, passing short-term deal

A shutdown would have furloughed thousands of federal employees and halted or delayed government services. Although some services deemed essential would have continued, many federal employees would have had to work without pay until Congress reached a resolution.

Here's what Iowa's members of Congress are saying about the deal:

1st District U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican representing southeastern Iowa, said she's glad the House reached a deal to fund the government.

"Shutting down the government should be a last resort," she said in a statement on social media. "My priority has always been to protect and represent my constituents to the best of my ability and I cannot justify shutting down our entire government over obscure policy decisions."

Miller-Meeks said a shutdown would mean a lapse in pay for military families and veterans.

"These are real people that would have been affected by the political games both sides in Washington were playing," she said. "I am glad that we came together and reached an agreement to fund the government and I will continue to work to pass legislation that strengthens our military and our border."

2nd District U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican representing northeastern Iowa, said she voted in favor of the deal while the House works to pass year-long spending bills.

"I supported today's short-term measure to keep the government open while the House continues to pass single-subject appropriations," she said in a statement on social media. "D.C. is so beyond broken, and it's the American people who feel the pain from the brinksmanship  not politicians. I will continue working around the clock to keep our government open, bring conservative, fiscally responsible spending bills across the finish line and work to make this place run better for taxpayers."

3rd District U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn

U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican representing metro Des Moines and central and southern Iowa counties, said "the status quo in D.C. is critically broken."

In a statement, Nunn criticized the process of passing continuing resolutions that fund the government at the previous year's spending levels, but said he voted in favor to avoid shutting down the government.

"We cannot continue stumbling along with continuing resolutions that do nothing to cut spending, but we also cannot right the ship by letting it sink," Nunn said in a statement. "Thats why Im voting to keep the government open  ensuring no Iowan loses their access to critical services and programs  while we urgently continue working to cut wasteful spending. The Senate must now do its job to keep the military paid, defend our national security, and protect our economy from disaster."

More: Iowa's Zach Nunn says United States shouldn't send any new taxpayer dollars to aid Ukraine

4th District U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, a Republican who represents western border counties and northwestern and north central Iowa, released a statement saying the House must continue to pursue "a transparent and fiscally sound appropriations process."

"The American people are fed up with the dysfunction in Congress and expect us to deliver real results," Feenstra said in a statement. "Thats why I voted to ensure that our troops and border patrol agents receive their full pay, our seniors receive their Social Security checks, our veterans receive the quality healthcare they have earned, and our government remains operational. This legislation provides us the necessary time to curb President Bidens wasteful spending policies through a transparent and fiscally sound appropriations process. We must now continue our important work to secure our border, reduce reckless government spending, and honor our Commitment to America."

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst

Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst made this statement on Facebook: "I just voted to keep the government up and running to serve Iowans and pay our servicemembers.

"Theres no excuse for Congress consistently failing to pass spending bills on time. Ill continue holding Washington accountable to cut the pork and do its job."

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley

Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley posted a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying he was thankful the government didn't shut down.

"Unfortunately shutdowns & short term continuing resolutions fail to address the fiscal insanity we are experiencing(.) Dems need to get serious about addressing our fiscal future lets work in a bipartisan way to make real fiscal reforms(.)"

Democrats criticize Republicans ahead of potential shutdown

Earlier Saturday, before the House and Senate approved the deal, Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, criticized the state's Republican congressional delegation for "following Donald Trump and MAGA extremists" who have stood in the way of a deal.

"Lead, talk to people, work inside your caucus and get something done," she said of Iowa's GOP representatives. "Iowans didn't send you there to sit back and wait. Iowans sent you there to work, and if you can't, get out of the way, because we got some great candidates who can."

Former state Rep. Christina Bohannan, a Democrat who is running against Miller-Meeks, criticized her opponent for promoting a tailgate fundraiser with GOP presidential candidates in the final days before the government ran out of money.

"The fact that Miller-Meeks is asking taxpayers to fund her campaign while she has done nothing to stand up for the real people back here in Iowa who will be affected by the shutdown is the definition of out of touch," Bohannan said in a statement Friday, before the House voted on the continuing resolution.

More: How would Iowa be affected by a government shutdown? Here's what to know:

Deal to avert government shutdown follows tumultuous week

The last-minute deal follows a tumultuous week in which hardline Republicans in the House pushed for steep spending cuts that Democrats said violated a deal that Republicans made with Biden when they voted to raise the debt ceiling over the summer.

As negotiations moved into their final days, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy introduced a stopgap bill that would have kept the government open for 30 days while cutting most programs by 30%.

All four of Iowas Republican House members voted to support it, but the proposal failed to pass.

McCarthy has focused on passing year-long spending bills with steep spending cuts, although he's suffered several setbacks from conservative members of his caucus.

As of Saturday, the Republican-controlled House had passed four of the 12 appropriations bills necessary to fund the government through the next fiscal year. However, the Senate was not expected to consider much of the legislation because of the depth of the spending cuts.

The impasse could mean trouble for keeping the government open once the short-term funding deal expires in November.

Grassley has said that the cost of shutting down the government and reopening it, as well as the disruption to services, was reason enough to avoid a shutdown.

"Even more idiotic in this whole argument about shutting down the government is the fact that people say they want to accomplish A, B, C or X, Y, Z," Grassley said Wednesday. "And so you shut the government down and then a few days later, or in one instance three weeks later, you get so much heat that you open government up again and you didn't accomplish A, B, C or X, Y, Z."

He said he would support an amendment to make continuing resolutions automatic, thus avoiding future government shutdowns, if the proposal came up for a vote.

"And that would just take all of the wind out of the sails of the 20 people in the House of Representatives that are kamikaze as they approach this whole issue," Grassley said.

Des Moines Register reporters Brianne Pfannenstiel and Galen Bacharier contributed to this article.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's senators, representatives vote for deal to avoid a shutdown
Two Kansas City correctional officers have been put on unpaid leave after surveillance cameras captured footage of a man in custody being struck repeatedly as he was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair.

Videos taken from inside Kansas Citys downtown Municipal Court building show a sequence of events that apparently began with a struggle in a restricted hallway. In them, a man is seen pulling away from and resisting officers before he is slowly brought to the ground.

The man is then restrained on the hallway floor as handcuffs and leg shackles are brought out and put on him. Near the end of that confrontation, as he is being carried away, the man appears to kick one of the citys correctional officers in the backside and is forcefully taken down.

While on the ground again, two officers appear to strike the man, including with kicks, briefly before he is dragged down the hall by the chain between his ankles.

In another clip, taken in a holding transportation area dubbed Inmate Tunnel 1, the man is seen being pushed through a caged area in a wheelchair. After turning a corner, one officer appears to address him verbally before dousing him with pepper spray.

She then strikes him from behind several times as one of the officers pushing the wheelchair goes around to the front and also strikes him in rapid succession.

Others are seen intervening to break up the melee as the man appears to bring his handcuffed hands up to block the hits.

According to the city, the man declined medical care that was offered to him afterward.

Mayor Quinton Lucas released the videos and a statement through his office late Friday afternoon. His office said the disclosure was meant as a show of transparency.

In the statement, the mayors office says city leaders became aware of the incident, which occurred late last week, on Thursday. It happened after the detainee spit on and kicked officers, according to the office.

No matter the provocation, I am disturbed by the behavior displayed by two corrections officers toward a City detainee, the mayor said The officers were immediately placed on unpaid administrative leave and we have referred the incident to the Kansas City Police Department for a thorough investigation.

These are difficult jobs and I thank the corrections officers and Kansas City police officers who intervened to protect the detainee and their fellow corrections officers, he added.

The city did not name any of the people involved. The statement from the mayor was the only official comment provided from the city on Friday.

Capt. Corey Carlise, a KCPD spokesman, said Friday the departments assault unit was handling the investigation. He said it was reported to KCPD on Tuesday.

Carlisle declined to share other details requested by The Star, including an incident report, citing an ongoing investigation.

At the time of the incident, according to the mayors office, the man was being transported to the Vernon County jail, one of two in Missouri that hold people arrested on alleged municipal offenses. The city has relied on Vernon County to house its inmates since 2019.

The videos shared Friday caught the attention of civil rights activists, including Kansas Citys Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, or MORE2.

We are dismayed to see yet another occurrence of brutality at the hands of those entrusted with all of our safety, Lora McDonald, the organizations executive director, said Friday.

McDonald questioned whether Kansas City police should be the agency tasked to investigate the incident, saying her organization believes an outside review would be more appropriate.

She also called on city leaders to keep the community informed of developments.
Las Vegas pet parents question what remains they have after crematory alerts them to issues

LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Several people have contacted the 8 News Now Investigators saying they do not believe the remains given to them by a Las Vegas pet cremation company are their beloved animals.

On Monday, the 8 News Now Investigators reported a woman received photos of her deceased dog months after she was sent what she believed were her pets cremated remains.

After months of delays, Natalie Smyers received a box, a paw print and a certificate from 1st Call Pet Cremation. But last Friday, the co-owner of an Arizona-based pet cremation business sent her a message on Facebook, saying he still had her dogs uncremated body.

Donaldo Frixione is one of several customers who have contacted the 8 News Now Investigators since Monday.

Frixiones dog, Aida, died in mid-April. (Donaldo Frixione/KLAS)

My biggest question is, What do I have? Frixione said. Is this somebody elses pet? Is this some other remains? What is it?

Frixiones dog, Aida, died in mid-April. After several months of waiting, Frixione also received his paw print and Aidas ashes, or so he thought. The same Arizona-based company contacted him, saying they had Aidas ashes.

A company co-owner, who declined an on-camera interview, said they were contracted with 1st Call Pet Cremation to take care of cremations in March and April. He said they had not been paid and had not transported any ashes back to them.

As of Wednesday, the Arizona company had about two dozen sets of ashes and dozens more remains that have not been cremated, the co-owner said.

1st Call Pet Cremations website said it is accredited by the Better Business Bureau, but a spokesperson for the organization said the business profile was currently under review due to recent concerns.

We currently have four reportable complaints over the past 36 months that primarily pertain to delays in receiving services taking several months, a BBB spokesperson said. We do have some recent complaints that also pertain to delays as well as concerns about receiving their pets ashes. We are unable to discuss pending complaints in detail.

Frixione used the company in a prior pet death and said he had no problems.

They were very empathetic, and it was a positive experience, he said, adding he now plans to drive to Arizona to pick up Aidas ashes.

Aidas ashes in the care of an Arizona-based crematorium. A co-owner said they have not provided any ashes to the Las Vegas business. (KLAS)

These are pets that have had lives, Frixione said. They have a lot of people that care for them and just the idea of them being discarded and kind of left elsewhere something like that is just very unnerving.

The Nevada Attorney Generals Office had received two recent complaints about the company, a spokesperson said.

We urge anyone who feels they have been the victim of an unfair or deceptive business practice to file a complaint with our office, the spokesperson said.

Customers can contact the BBB online at bbb.org. The Nevada Bureau of Consumer Protection Consumer Protections website is ag.nv.gov/About/Consumer_Protection/Bureau_of_Consumer_Protection.

A representative from 1st Call Pet Cremation did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
This isnt what you might expect from a Disney vacation.

Courtesy of Adventures by Disney

Adventures by Disney, part of the Walt Disney Company, unveiled its latest vacation itineraries, and they all take place in the land of cannoli and The White Lotus.

The company operates group tours on all seven continents, from Alaska to Antarctica. While it already offers trips through Rome, Venice, and Tuscany, in late May, it launched its first foray into the southern Italian island of Sicily, which sits just off the toe of the boot-shaped country.

Chantel Pevey, the lead trip developer for the Sicily adventure, says that while the company is always looking for new places to take families to explore, Sicily felt like the perfect choice this year.



Families love traveling to Europe with Adventures by Disney  especially Italy  so we wanted them to experience the storytelling of this unique part of the country, she told Food & Wine.

Related: Missing 'The White Lotus?' Here Are Some Excellent Sicilian Wines to Try

The 8-day journey dives into the islands culture and 10,000-year history, including visits to five different UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The itinerary kicks off in Palermo, with visits to the Monreale Cathedral and Teatro Massimo, Italys largest theater and opera house, then winds across the island with stops in Agrigento for a tour of ancient Greek architecture at the Valley of the Temples, Siracusa for a backstage tour at the storied Opera dei Pupi, and Mount Etna for an off-road Jeep tour of the islands iconic volcano. The tour finishes on the Ionian coast in Taormina, famed for its idyllic vistas and, more recently, as the backdrop of The White Lotus. In the Disney version, though, a privately chartered boat takes guests on a more relaxed outing  around Isola Bella and the Blue Caves, with ample opportunities to swim and snorkel.

Courtesy of Adventures by Disney

And since this is Disney, the storytelling aspect is ever-present, with immersive activities  like a puppet-making workshop in Siracusa and ceramics painting in Caltagirone  woven into each day. But perhaps the best part of the island adventure is the food.

Weve purposely designed this trip with a lot of experiences that foodies would enjoy  and to showcase the flavors of the island, says Pevey. The trip developer adds that one of her favorite food-focused experiences is a visit to a village in SantAngelo Muxaro, where travelers make stops at places like the local bakery and meet artisans like a shepherd they might watch making cheese, sampling foods like olives, bread, honey, and almonds along the way. Afterward, theyll enjoy a traditional lunch prepared by local families.

Besides the village-to-table lunch, the itinerary delves into Sicilys culinary treasures with tours of Palermos Capo market, tasting around stalls selling panelle, or fried chickpea fritters, caponata, and cannoli, and lunch at the Barone Villagrande Winery in the Mount Etna region. At the 10th-generation family-owned winery, the adults can taste Nerello Mascalese made with grapes grown in the volcanic soil and aged in chestnut barrels, while the kids do their own tasting of regional foods.

Courtesy of Adventures by Disney

A hallmark of Adventures by Disney trips is whats known as adventure guides, i.e., embedded tour guides, or the trips secret sauce, as Pevey calls them. They are really what brings the magic of the destination to life with their signature Disney storytelling and impeccable service, she adds. On each trip, one of the guides is a local from the destination, which means travelers are guided by an expert who speaks the language and knows the ins and outs of the culture.

During the trips inaugural summer, an Adventure Guide named Davide got to show off his homeland  and some of his favorite Sicilian specialties, including pasta con le sarde, arancini, and cannoli. The wineries, meeting with locals and farmers, food market tours, and street food experiences  these activities give our Adventures by Disney guests a true taste of Sicily and allow them to connect with the local culture, he says. Sicilian food is some of the best in Italy!

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Read the original article on Food & Wine.


Kate Middleton is breaking a royal tradition, but the detour from the norm stems from a very good reason.



While the Princess of Wales has always accompanied Prince William at the annual Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony, she will not be in attendance this year. According to People, the mom of three is focusing on a major event for one of her children rather than appearing at the Singapore ceremony.

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LEEDS, ENGLAND  SEPTEMBER 26: Catherine, Princess of Wales arrives for a visit to visit AW Hainsworth on September 26, 2023 in Leeds, England. The Princess of Wales is visiting Leeds and Lancaster to learn more about the textile industrys heritage, sustainable practices and work educating and upskilling young people. Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images.



The Earthshot Prize Awards will take place on November 7, which coincides with a big week in Prince Georges world. The 10-year-old will endure a busy few days of exams at school, and Kate will stay home to support George through his studying and testing. The princess has joined her husband at the ceremony the past two years after William founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020, but he confirmed he would be traveling to China solo this year.



This isnt the first time Kate has put motherhood ahead of her royal duties. Shes reimagined what being a mom in the monarchy can look like, establishing her own boundaries around how she prefers to raise George and his siblings, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.

We love seeing Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, do totally normal mom things! https://t.co/OImyVixkSG  SheKnows (@SheKnows) July 16, 2023

Click here to read the full article.



Rather than having caretakers look after the children, Kate immerses herself in their day-to-day activities, taking them to school, chasing them around at events, and even baking their own birthday cakes. She clearly adores her kids, and the way she embraces motherhood reminds us of how Princess Diana mothered William and Prince Harry.



In August 2022, an insider told People they believed the princess commitment to her kids over the crown is because Kate is not royal by birth, so she has that belief that she should spend time with her children. Her parenting style was compared to Queen Elizabeths more detached method, which, in the late queens defense, was likely a result of her demanding role as Sovereign. Whatever the reason may be, Kate has made it clear her children are non-negotiable  and its a quality we love about the future queen.

Before you go, check out the most heartwarming and relatable photos of the royals being normal parents.



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The new fee is expected to go into effect on January 1.

SCStock/Getty Images

The U.S. Virgin Islands will charge Royal Caribbean Group ships that dock in St. Thomas or St. Croix a new per-passenger fee in order to fund port improvements.

The new fee, which is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2024, will charge each Royal Caribbean Group passenger a $5 Capital Cost Recovery Charge, according to the Virgin Islands Port Authority. The new charge will apply to Royal Caribbean Group ships  which includes popular cruise lines like Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises  that dock at either the Austin Babe Monsanto Marine Terminal in St. Thomas or the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility in St. Croix.

We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with Royal Caribbean Group as we move forward in the development of these exciting projects that will benefit the territory and strengthen this U.S. Virgin Islands position as a premier destination, Carlton Dowe, the executive director of the Virgin Islands Port Authority, said in a statement. The Caribbean and the rest of the world are not waiting for the USVI to advance. The time for progress is now.

The group said the fee would be used to improve infrastructure at the ports, including the development of a third cruise ship pier in Crown Bay on St. Thomas and to fund pre-development costs to eventually allow Royal Caribbeans larger Freedom-class cruise ships to dock in St. Croix.

A representative for the Royal Caribbean Group did not respond to a request for comment from Travel + Leisure. A representative for the Virgin Islands Port Authority also didnt respond to a request for comment from T+L on why the fee was only being imposed on Royal Caribbean Group ships.

The U.S. Virgin Islands is one of the most popular cruise stops for many ships touring the Caribbean, offering gorgeous beaches, a vibrant food scene, and incredible history.

The islands arent the only popular cruise destination to impose a fee on visiting ships. Next year, the Bahamas plans to implement a new passenger tax increase, which will cost even more if travelers are visiting a cruise ships private island without visiting another port in the Bahamas. In addition, the Bahamas will also charge a $5 tourism environmental tax and a $2 tourism enhancement tax for each cruise passenger.

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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
The Ruler Foods grocery store that closed because of mine subsidence will remain closed for at least the next four to five weeks, the Belleville fire chief said Friday.

Thats how long it is expected to take for a formal structural analysis to be completed by engineers on the building at 1703 North Belt West, according to Fire Chief Stephanie Mills.

Then at that point they will reevaluate and make some decisions, she said.

Inspectors from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and a private engineering firm examined the building Friday, Mills said.

Mills said she saw cracks on the floor when she was inside the building, which opened in late 2014 on the site of the former Bel-Air Bowl.

You can see some separation in the floor, she said.

The mine subsidence also caused fissures in the stores parking lot and nearby streets.

The ground where the mine subsidence occurred has settled 1 inch since Tuesday according to information relayed from the Department of Natural Resources to Mills.

The subsidence was reported to state officials on Sunday.

Three nearby homes were affected but those residents have been allowed to return to their homes, Mills said.

Ruler Foods, which is a subsidiary of The Kroger Co., said in a statement that it continues to work closely with experts and city officials while the store remains closed.

Land subsidence outside of Ruler Foods in Belleville, Ill., where an old mine below the store caused the land surrounding the building to sink into the ground on Sept. 26, 2023.

Nearby business remains open

Nicole Shanks, owner of Weave & Wobble at 1537 Donna Drive near Ruler Foods, said the mine subsidence did not affect her business, which offers pottery and weaving classes.

Who knows if theres a domino effect with these things, said Shanks. Everythings good for now.

She said she plans to stay up-to-date on the situation in case any later damage could affect her shop.

When news of the mine subsidence first broke and a subsequent water main break, Shanks was contacted by concerned customers via text and phone asking if Weave & Wobble was also shut down or had running water.

Acknowledging that traffic at the grocery store also brought people to her shop, shes hopeful there will be no additional damage and that Ruler Foods will reopen.

Im really hoping they dont end up with an abandoned building in the end, said Shanks.

Previous mine subsidence cases

Ruler Foods is located near a neighborhood that had mine subsidence reported in May 2021.

To find out if your home or business is located over a coal mine, you can check an interactive map produced by the Illinois State Geological Survey.

Mine subsidence happens when the roof of an underground, abandoned coal mine collapses and causes the ground above the mine to shift, or subside, because of the collapse.

Pillars of coal that were used to support the mine shafts can deteriorate over time and cause the mine to collapse. Walls and floors of buildings, sidewalks, driveways and roads can crack when mine subsidence occurs. Natural gas and water lines also can be damaged.

Homes, schools, commercial buildings and roads in the metro-east have been damaged by mine subsidence over the past several decades.

Belleville News-Democrat reporter Jennifer Green contributed information for this article.
A 60-year-old Georgia man can now retire a lot sooner after winning big with a scratch-off, North Carolina officials said.

Dewayne Townsend of Canton, Georgia, an avid scratcher, stopped at a convenience store in Warne near the state line where he works, according to Sept. 29 news release by the North Carolina Education Lottery.

He didnt know the $5 Carolina Panthers scratch-off he bought would land him a $200,000 prize, officials said.

I go to that store all the time, Townsend said in the release.

Townsend, who said hes worked since he was probably 14 years old, plans to retire a whole lot sooner now, officials said.

It makes me feel good. Real good, Townsend said in the release. It will make life so much easier for me now.

After claiming his prize at lottery headquarters, Townsend walked away with $142,501, officials said.

After saving some money for his retirement, Townsend plans on putting the rest toward paying off his house, lottery officials said.

This win means there are four Carolina Panthers tickets with a $200,000 prize left to be claimed, the release said.

Warne is about 220 miles west of Charlotte.

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.

Family members pitch in for Powerball tickets  and win big. I started shaking

Lottery player wins big Powerball prize in CA  but just misses $850 million jackpot

$1 lottery ticket scores Michigan dad a life-changing multi-million dollar prize
As part of Chad Lequires normal routine, he walked into a convenience store and bought a lottery ticket for one of his favorite games, he told North Carolina officials.

His normal routine ended in an out-of-the-ordinary win on Sept. 27. Lequires $10 Big Bucks Bingo ticket landed him the jackpot of $827,330, North Carolina Education Lottery officials said in a Sept. 28 news release.

Ive never won anything big like this before, Lequire said.

The Whittier resident plans to use the winnings to buy a new home for his family, he told lottery officials. Hell also use some of the money to pay bills and help his family.

Big Bucks Bingo has a progressive jackpot, which increases until someone wins, according to the North Carolina lottery site. Lequires $10 Fast Play ticket won him the full jackpot.

He bought his winning ticket in the early morning at PJs Fast Food Mart in Sylva, and before the end of the day he had claimed his prize. After taxes, he walked away with nearly $590,000, officials said.

I still cant believe it right now to be honest with you, Lequire said.

Whittier is 170 miles west of Charlotte.

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.

$1 lottery ticket scores Michigan dad a life-changing multi-million dollar prize

Woman couldnt sleep, so she checks Missouri lottery numbers. Thought I was dreaming

Lottery player kept winning and winning online game  then she saw this big number

Life-changing lottery win brings SC man to his knees. He wants to spread the wealth
A love triangle and a deadly dog walk: Killer says he got played by girlfriend

A decorated U.S. Special Forces medic who killed his girlfriends husband wants Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene and shorten his six-decade prison sentence, saying that he deserves leniency because he helped put his girlfriend behind bars once he knew she had lied about being abused and used him in an elaborate murder-for-hire plot.

"I became her weapon," Darrin Lopez, 51, exclusively told NBCs " Dateline " in his first interview since being sentenced to 62 years in prison for murder. I understand that.

Darrin Lopez. (Courtesy Ashley Shaw)

"The true criminal is in jail for life, Lopez said from the Dallas County Jail before he was moved to a prison east of Waco. I helped put her there.

Lopez, 51, shot Jamie Faith, 49, while Faith was walking his dog on Oct. 9, 2020, outside his Dallas home with his wife, Jennifer Faith.

Lopez was convicted and sentenced in July. The previous year, in February 2022, Jennifer Faith pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire, admitting to prosecutors that she falsely convinced Lopez that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her.

In reality, Jamie Faith never hurt his wife and the allegations were fabricated, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert of Texas' Northern District told Dateline. But Jennifer Faith used fake email accounts and photos of previous injuries  as well as a picture of a bloody lip she got from a stock photography company  to convince Lopez otherwise, Calvert said.

Calvert called Faiths lies, which included violent sexual assaults by multiple people, some of the most sadistic things you can possibly dream up."

Jennifer Faith and Jamie Faith. (Attorney Juan Sanchez)

High school sweethearts reconnect

Jennifer Faith, a speech therapist, and her husband, an IT director with American Airlines, had been together for 15 years and had a teenage daughter when he was fatally shot. During her marriage, Jennifer Faith reconnected with Lopez, who she dated in high school. The pair had a seven-month emotional affair, Dallas County prosecutors said.

Jennifer Faith and Darrin Lopez at prom. (Attorney Juan Sanchez)

Lopez retired from the Army after six deployments to Iraq, said Andrew Cheramie, a supervisory special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who investigated the case. Lopez had earned a purple heart and a bronze star and suffered a traumatic brain injury in combat, Cheramie told Dateline."

Lopez and his wife separated in 2018, and hed become increasingly isolated while living on a large, rural property outside Nashville, Tenn., with two of his daughters during the pandemic, his lawyer, Juan Sanchez, said.

"So hes sitting in this farm on his computer, Sanchez told Dateline. And he says, you know what, Im going to try to reconnect with her. And he found her on LinkedIn and sent her an email. Thats how it all started.

Tens of thousands of messages

After reconnecting in March 2020, Lopez and Jennifer Faith talked often, trading tens of thousands of messages and phone calls in the months that followed, said Eric Barnes, a Dallas detective who investigated the case. Jennifer Faith called Lopez her soulmate and they came up with a five-year plan to be together.

Lopez said he had no intention of breaking up Jennifer Faiths marriage. When she told him there was no intimacy between her and her husband, Lopez said, he pushed her to be honest with him.

By April, Jennifer Faith told Lopez that her husband had discovered their relationship  and had begun abusing her. At one point, Lopez later told Calvert, she said her husband had sexually assaulted her and shed awoken to him performing CPR on her, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by Dateline.

Email correspondence between Jennifer Faith and Lopez showed that he wanted to alert American Airlines to the alleged abuse and pushed her to go to the police. But Jennifer Faith refused, telling Lopez that she didnt want her daughter to lose her father and feared doing so would only make the abuse worse, Calvert said.

She also told me that she would say nothings happening if he told authorities, Lopez told Dateline. She would deny everything to the police.'

'If I didnt do something, she was going to die'

As the Faiths' anniversary approached on Oct. 8, 2020, Lopez said he received text messages that appeared to be from Jamie Faith that threatened the sexual assault and possible drowning of Jennifer Faith.

So he drove 10 hours to Texas, convinced that if I didnt do something, she was going to die, he told Dateline. I made that commitment right there.

Darrin Lopez while in the military. (Attorney Juan Sanchez)

On Oct. 9, moments after the Faiths left their home to walk their dog, an armed Lopez approached Jamie Faith and squeezed the trigger nine times. Three bullets struck him in the head, Calvert said.

To make the killing look like a robbery, Lopez removed Jamie Faiths wedding ring, punched Jennifer Faith and bound her hands, Lopez later told Calvert, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by Dateline.

Then Lopez fled in his pickup. Somewhere in Arkansas, he told Calvert, he tossed Jamie Faiths ring out the window.

Pleading for help

In the killings aftermath, Jennifer Faith portrayed herself as a grieving widow and pleaded for help finding her husbands killer.

"My hope is that someday perhaps the person will realize the gravity of what theyve done, what theyve taken from myself and my daughter, she told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth at the time.

Lopez was arrested the following January after authorities tracked his pickup  a black Nissan with a distinctive T sticker  to his Tennessee home. Although he claimed that Jennifer Faith had deceived him, the local prosecutors office said, evidence shows Mr. Lopez took no logical steps to confirm the abuse or to otherwise secure Jennifer Faiths safety.

There were other avenues Darrin could take besides driving across multiple states and murdering someone in cold blood, Calvert said. But thats the option that he chose.

Jennifer Faith was arrested in February 2021 as investigators began untangling the plot to kill Jamie Faith. She was charged with obstruction of justice after authorities discovered that shed told Lopez to remove the T sticker from his truck, Calvert said.

Seven months later, Jennifer Faith was charged with murder-for-hire.

Lopezs lawyer, Juan Sanchez, said it took him six months to convince Lopez that Jennifer had fabricated the allegations. Once he came around, Lopez said, he was devastated.

"When I got arrested, I went to jail truly believing I saved Jennifer and her daughter, he told Dateline.

"That thought never registered in my mind that she could use me this way. I believe she loved me.

Lopez apologized to the Faiths daughter and said he couldnt forgive himself for what hed done. But he could help by working with prosecutors to put her away, he said.

Cooperating with officials

In October 2021, the month after Jennifer Faith was charged with murder-for-hire, Lopez spent two hours walking Calvert and other officials through the case. He told them about how theyd agreed to make the killing look like a robbery and how hed come up with a code word  575, the number of his Special Forces team  for her to use in text messages after she began claiming her husband was abusing her, according to the transcript.

Four months later, Jennifer Faith pleaded guilty. She was later sentenced to life in prison.

Lopez told Dateline his cooperation with prosecutors was instrumental.

"It was because of me that they were able to go to her and, 'Say hey, Darrins going to testify against you, he said. But when Lopez went to trial in July, prosecutors in Dallas County allowed the jury to hear few of these details, he said.

"The jury did not know how much help I gave, Lopez said.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for Texas Northern District declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Dallas County District Attorneys Office did not respond to a request for comment, nor did lawyers for Jennifer Faith.

In court, Lopezs lawyer argued that his client believed Jennifer Faith was facing immediate harm when he fatally shot her husband  a use of self-defense that can be considered justified under Texas law.

But a jury convicted Lopez and sentenced him to 62 years in prison.

How the jury saw it

In an interview with NBC News, a juror in Lopezs case recalled that it took little time for the jury to reach a verdict. The juror, who asked not to be identified because he didnt want to be publicly associated with the case, said the group didnt find the self-defense argument persuasive.

"There were far too many other options, he said.

But the jurys deliberations over how much time Lopez should serve took several hours, he said. Lopez faced five years to life in prison, and part of the group believed he should never step outside a cell again, the juror recalled.

For them, the juror said, the case was simple: This very innocent person is dead because of your decision.

Jamie Faith. (Courtesy Jason Snyder)

But others, at least initially, believed Lopez should spend far fewer years behind bars, including one who thought he should serve the minimum sentence, the juror said.

In the interview, the juror said he didnt view Lopez as an ongoing danger and believed the convicted killer had been manipulated  though he faulted Lopez for not asking bigger questions and pushing back more.

The panel eventually decided on 62 years  a number the juror said he was comfortable with after reviewing text messages that seemed to contradict Lopezs contention that he had no alternative but to fatally shoot Jamie Faith, he said.

The juror said Lopezs cooperation with authorities was briefly mentioned in court but not described in detail.

Now, Lopez said, he hopes Abbott will consider that assistance, along with his self-defense claim, and show him leniency.

Citing Abbotts promise to pardon Daniel Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant convicted of killing a protester in Austin in 2020, Lopez said he wasnt looking for a pardon, but for a reduction to his sentence.

Lopezs lawyer, Juan Sanchez, said he has not filed a request for clemency. The lawyer handling Lopezs appeal did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokeswoman for the governors office.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A man has been sentenced to 28 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections for the killing of another man who attempted to intervene in a fight, according to Pinal County Attorney's Office.

Giovanni Olivieri, 24, was sentenced by Pinal County Superior Judge Daniel Washburn. The jury found Olivieri guilty of second degree murder, endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm within city limits, disorderly conduct and assault, the news release said.

In Sept. 2021, the Casa Grande Police Department responded to reports of a shooting at a hotel in the area of West 8th Street and North Pinal Avenue. When they arrived at the area of the incident, police found an injured man on the ground in the parking lot of the hotel, along with multiple shell casings, according to the Pinal County Attorney's Office.

Witnesses later told officers that Olivieri was arguing with his girlfriend in the parking lot, and he grabbed her by her hair and neck area before dragging her across the parking lot, police said in the news release.

Police reported that during the argument, a man identified as Brian Robinette, 35, happened upon the scene in the parking lot without knowing either of the individuals involved. He approached the couple in an attempt to get Olivieri to release his grip on his girlfriend. Olivieri then fatally shot Robinette, firing eight shots, according to the police.

Once Olivieri's sentence of 28 years is completed, it will be followed with him being placed in community supervision, the PCAO said in a news release.

The incident was captured on surveillance video, police said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man sentenced to 28 years after killing man, endangering girlfriend
A man was shot Thursday during a protest against plans to reinstall a statue of a controversial Spanish conquistador in northern New Mexico, police say.

Demonstrators were gathered in the city of Espanola, where officials had planned to reinstall a statue of Juan de Onate but canceled the event over public safety concerns.

Ryan Martinez, 23, is suspected of shooting a man during an altercation that broke out at the protest, Rio Arriba County Sheriff Billy Merrifield said.

Martinez, who was taken into custody Thursday, was being held on charges of attempted murder in the first degree and aggravated assault, New Mexico State Police said Friday.

The man who was wounded was airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque, said Merrifield, who did not know the victims condition.

New Mexico State Police are investigating the shooting, they said.

The statue of Onate, who established the colony of New Mexico over 400 years ago, initially stood in the neighboring city of Alcalde, but was taken down in 2020 after protests demanding its removal. That came amid a wave of demonstrations in cities nationwide over monuments of controversial historical figures, including slaveowners, Confederate leaders and colonizers.

Onate led a massacre of 800 to 1,000 indigenous people, after which he cut a foot off some survivors and sold some into slavery. He was later convicted of using excessive force and banished from New Mexico, and he remains a controversial figure in the state.

Rio Arriba County commissioners decided to reinstall the statue in a new location in front of a county building in Espanola, according to the sheriff.

The rededication of Onates statue was scheduled to take place Thursday, but county officials postponed the event, citing safety concerns.

Despite the postponement, some demonstrators still showed up at the site on Thursday to protest the plan to install the statue.

Video recorded by a witness shows the moments leading to the shooting, in which a scuffle breaks out between a man and a group of others. The man eventually jumps over a retaining wall to escape the others before producing a gun and aiming toward them, the video shows. A gunshot is heard.

Its unclear what led to the initial scuffle.

Ryan Martinez, center, stands at a rally outside a Rio Arriba County building on Thursday. Police say he later shot and wounded a man during a scuffle. - Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal/Zuma

The witness, Ray Naranjo, told CNN the shooter fled in a car as someone at the event followed him.

Merrifield had submitted a letter to the countys commissioners on Thursday advising them that he disagreed with them moving the statue at the current time and wanted to prevent any kind of safety issues (or) concerns, which we knew we were going to have, he said at a news conference Thursday.

Obviously we have a situation as of today, he added.

Merrifield added he was grateful for the two commissioners who decided to stop the statues planned installation Thursday.

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The next time you worry about young adults spending too much time on TikTok, consider that they might just be studying for finals.

Starting next year, a university in Ireland is offering a bachelor of arts degree in influencing. Courses include crisis management, public relations, celebrity studies, social psychology and video and audio editing. Several dozen students will join the inaugural class in 2024, hopeful for a leg up in a fierce, attention-driven profession that can be lucrative if successful, though still volatile.

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Irene McCormick, a senior lecturer at South East Technological University (SETU) in Carlow, Ireland, who co-designed the degree, told The Washington Post that while shorter courses have been offered before, the university is likely the first around the world, to offer a degree specifically tailored toward the influencer economy.

Harvard Business Review put the value of the global influencer market at $16.4 billion last year, with estimates suggesting more industry growth in 2023 as businesses devote larger shares of their marketing budgets to influencer partnerships. And among Gen Z, the profession is particularly appealing, with NPR's Planet Money noting in April that one survey reported 1 in 4 Gen Zers aspire to the job. However, academics raise concerns about the viability of the degree in the years to come, given the ever-changing nature of social media.

SETU's Content Creation and Social Media degree did not materialize overnight. The seed was planted in 2019, when McCormick came home after the first day of the school year and learned from her daughter that one of the new students, Lauren Whelan, was a "massive TikTok star with a global following."

Her daughter's passionate reaction to Whelan's presence at SETU made McCormick recognize the hold influencers have on younger generations.

This led to the creation of a summer program, the Digital Hustle, for teenagers interested in learning how to become social media influencers, said McCormick. For at least two years, the summer program invited TikTok stars and media theorists to teach young students how to build a personal brand.

After that initial foray, "the degree was a not a hard sell," McCormick told The Post. "We knew there was a space and need for this, we just needed to develop the course into a bachelor's degree and get it ratified."

Some experts pointed out that the demand among young people for professions that steer clear of the traditional 9-to-5 job has grown since the pandemic.

"Now, more than ever, everyone wants to maintain a semblance of control over their lives. And an influencer career promises an independent entrepreneurial career," said Brooke Erin Duffy, a professor of communications at Cornell University. "Everybody wants to work remotely. Everyone wants to set their own schedule."

The nature of work has also been changing fast, requiring more specialized knowledge, rather than a broad education on unrelated topics.

"Degree programs have gotten hyperspecialized because work has gotten more specialized," said Dawn Lerman, a professor in the marketing department at Fordham Graduate School of Business. "As societies became more complex, so did our tools, thanks to technology."

Historically, universities trained students to be ready for careers, as opposed to jobs. "Companies and organizations today hire students who are ready for specific jobs on their first day," Lerman said. "And that requires a specific kind of teaching."

To an extent, SETU's influencer degree offers courses similar to those of a digital marketing degree. However, SETU's unique program could encourage students to be "scrappy and entrepreneurial," Duffy said.

SETU's new degree is also coming at a time when "platform companies are really pushing the myth that influencer careers are a dream job with dazzling provisions," Duffy added.

Reality might be less glamorous. Influencers Duffy has spoken to warn of constant battles with fickle algorithms that change frequently, social media platforms that unravel overnight, harassment from viewers and inequities in terms of labor compensation, she said.

Even if one does make it to the top rung, there may still be a stigma around that success.

"Influencing is a highly feminized field and any feminized field is going to be denigrated or relegated to inferior status," Duffy said, while pointing out that fields like coding, computing and social media marketing, first occupied by women, were dismissed in their early years.

"Such fields have historically been overpopulated by women and in certain cases, people of color," she said. "As more men have made inroads into these spaces, they are seen as more valuable."

Creative industries have always been volatile, but the influencer industry faces unique challenges because algorithms change abruptly, particular features, like reels or short-form video, can become irrelevant quickly and platforms can disappear entirely. Translating success on YouTube to TikTok, or Vine to Instagram is no easy feat.

"The level of uncertainty and precarity in today's platform environment is very likely to make a lot of the specific platform-based training outdated almost immediately," Duffy said. "Any program that tries to bill itself as a space to learn about the industry is really going to have to focus on higher-level concepts."

McCormick at SETU agreed that while the influencer market is changing fast, "it isn't unlike other aspects of media landscape, and we have been offering degrees in media for decades, so the staff are well skilled."

Next year, SETU will be enrolling 40 students, but McCormick isn't yet sure how many more will try to apply.

If the overabundance of applications from the summer programs is any indication, she said, they will have to turn scores of hopeful influencers away.

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If the stroke of midnight comes Saturday and the U.S. Congress fails to avert a shutdown by agreeing on a plan to fund the government, that doesn't mean your Sunday trip to one of Colorado's national parks has to be canceled.

Gov. Jared Polis has directed the Colorado Department of Natural Resources to form a plan to keep Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado's three other national parks and other federal lands open in the event of a federal shutdown.

Colorado is coming into peak fall colors viewing, and this time of year hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to Rocky to watch and listen to the elk bugling for rut season.

"The closure of the national parks and other federal lands would hurt state and local economies, small businesses, and park employees," Polis said in a statement announcing his executive order Thursday.

Live updates: U.S. could be headed for government shutdown

Colorado has four national parks: Rocky, Mesa Verde National Park, Sand Dunes National Park and Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

"Coloradans and millions of visitors every year  many of whom are looking forward to seeing the beautiful fall colors  hike through trail systems and see the iconic natural wonders in our parks," Polis' statement said. "My action today will help ensure national parks and federal lands will remain open through a potential shutdown and protects Colorado from the damage closing the parks would have."

The order directs Natural Resources to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and develop a plan for continued operations and resource protection of Colorados national parks and federal lands.

More than 5.5 million people traveled to Colorado to visit the national parks last year, spending more than $695 million in the state, according to the announcement.

The federal Department of the Interior says on its website that a government shutdown means the closure of national parks, but sites can make agreements with local governments, states, tribes or third parties to fund operations. However, the National Park Service won't reimburse them.

Governors in Arizona and Utah are planning to take similar action to keep national parks open.

In 2018, the National Park Service allowed entry into parks, and governors also took action to keep access to parks operational. And back in 2011, citing the Estes Park community's reliance on tourism, former Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith vowed to keep Rocky Mountain National Park open during a government shutdown threat.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Will Colorado's national parks be open in government shutdown?
No Republican senator has publicly called for Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez to resign.

But the GOP's Senate campaign arm has been using the scandal to hit vulnerable Democrats.

The group's chairman, Sen. Steve Daines, says the matter is "for Democrats to decide."

Not a single Republican senator has called for Sen. Bob Menendez to resign in the wake of his latest indictment.

But that doesn't mean they don't smell a ripe political opportunity.

In statements and tweets over the course of the last week, Senate Republicans' official campaign arm  the National Republican Senatorial Committee  has sought to tie politically vulnerable Democratic senators to the corruption allegations against their colleague.

On Monday, when Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was still the only senator who had called for Menendez to resign, the committee pointed out the silence of most Democrats.

"You'd think it would be a no-brainer to say someone who took gold bars from foreign businessmen to rig US foreign policy is unfit to serve in the Senate, but apparently Senate Democrats disagree," said NRSC spokesman Phil Letsou at the time. "Democrats have made clear they will tolerate Bob Menendez's comical levels of corruption as long as he continues to back their extreme agenda."

But 48 hours later, the story was far different  the vast majority of the Democratic caucus, largely led by the party's most vulnerable members, had issued public calls for Menendez to go.

And it's now Republicans who appear unwilling to do so.

"That's for Democrats to decide," replied Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the NRSC chairman, when asked by Insider on Thursday if he believed Menendez should resign.

Asked what he personally thought of the allegations, Daines tersely replied: "The allegations speak for themselves. They're very serious."

Republican senators have generally argued that Menendez is innocent until proven guilty, and that the matter is for New Jersey voters to decide in 2024, when Menendez would be facing re-election.

"Everyone's entitled to a presumption of innocence," Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told Insider on Tuesday.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas even suggested on Twitter that Democrats were only calling for Menendez to resign because he's seen as "inconvenient to their hold on power."

The only Republican who's come close to issuing a resignation call for Menendez is Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who told Axios that the New Jersey Democrat should resign "if one ounce of what's in the indictment is true."

Meanwhile, the NRSC has issued statements pressuring Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania  two of the party's vulnerable incumbents  to return thousands in political contributions they've received from Menendez's political action committee over the years.

Both senators' campaigns have said they'll donate $10,000 to charity, but they haven't said they'll return the entirety of the sums they received, including $26,500 to Casey's campaign accounts and $30,000 to Tester's campaign.

In a statement for this story, NRSC spokesman Phil Letsou argued that the matter of Menendez's resignation was solely up to Democrats, given that they currently hold a majority in the Senate.

"We asked why Jon Tester and Bob Casey only returned some of the cash they received from Menendez," said Letsou. "If they think Menendez's money is dirty, why not return it all? We'd also like to know if Menendez made his contributions to Casey and Tester in gold bars."

Read the original article on Business Insider
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Furloughed workers. Closed visitor centers. A partially closed national park. Stopped drinking water and food safety inspections.

Heres what we know so far.

What would federal government shutdown mean for Idaho?

The possible event is only hours away, yet its implications for the state are still unclear, indicating the chaotic nature of closing the U.S. government amid a revolt within the Republican Party in Congress over government spending.

If Congress does not pass new funding bills, the federal government will shut down Sunday. However, at the 11th hour Saturday, Republicans and Democrats reached a deal on a 335-91 vote in the House that includes a 45-day continuing resolution with disaster relief funds, an extension of a federal flood insurance program and FAA reauthorization, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

After passing the resolution, the House adjourned until Monday. Its unclear what will happen in the Senate.

Many federal agencies have not yet announced their plans for a shutdown, which would furlough hundreds of thousands of government workers and close many federal offices. There are more than 9,000 federal employees in Idaho.

The Treasury Department released its contingency plans Thursday, noting that the Internal Revenue Service would stop answering calls from taxpayers if a shutdown happens.

Generally, workers deemed essential  law enforcement and public safety workers  are allowed to keep working, though their pay is usually delayed.

While federal criminal litigation would continue, lawsuits and other civil litigation could stop, said Cassandra Fulghum, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Boise, told the Statesman by email.

Civil litigation will be curtailed or postponed to the extent this can be done without compromising to a significant degree the safety of human life or the protection of property, she said.

Josh Hurwitt, the U.S. attorney for the District of Idaho, would not be furloughed. But other federal attorneys could be furloughed, which would lead to delays in litigation the U.S. government is a party to, Stephen Kenyon, the clerk of the federal courts in Idaho, told the Statesman.

Kenyon said the courts will remain open during a shutdown, and the courts have enough funding to pay employees for two weeks. After that, they would be coming to work without a paycheck.

What would happen to campsites?

The U.S. Forest Service last updated its contingency plans in 2020. Such plans, which every agency puts together, describe how an agency will operate if there is a lapse in funding.

While Forest Service campsites could remain open under the 2020 operating plans, the 2020 procedure  produced during former President Donald Trumps administration  relies on visitor fees to fund basic maintenance, clean bathrooms and staff campgrounds. The National Park Service did that during the 2018 shutdown, which the Government Accountability Office thought was illegal, because the funds were meant for other purposes.

While most Forest Service workers are furloughed, there would be no staff available to authorize new livestock grazing permits, according to the 2020 plan.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which the Forest Service is inside of, did not respond to request for comment.

The Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that most of its visitor services would close, including its Boise office. Campgrounds, boat ramps and other public lands will remain open, but bathroom cleaning and trash collection may cease. If residents have campsites reserved through Recreation.gov, they may not be honored if the locations are not staffed.

The agency would stop offering new oil, gas and other extractive permits.

The Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge near Nampa would likely close, unless access to the lands does not require the presence of a federal employee or contractor, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services contingency plans.

In 2019, the refuge canceled events because of a government shutdown, according to previous Statesman reporting.

National Parks have operated differently during recent government shutdowns. During the Obama administration, parks largely closed for a 2013 shutdown. During a 2018 shutdown, the Trump administration left parks open but unstaffed.

A small portion of Yellowstone National Park is in Idaho. The Park Service also oversees National Monuments, which include Craters of the Moon, the Minidoka Japanese internment site and other locations.

In 2019, national monuments like Hagerman Fossil Beds and Craters of the Moon stayed upon but were unstaffed.

What do Idahos leaders say about the potential shutdown?

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Gov. Brad Little, Madison Hardy, said the lapse would have no impact on Idahos state-funded programs.

Federally funded programs that pass through state agencies may be impacted, but the impact is blunted by programs having access to mandatory federal funding streams and carryover funds, she added. Unlike other states, in the event of a shutdown, Idaho will not use state funds to underwrite the federal governments fiscal indiscipline.

A spokesperson for Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, Marissa Morrison, said the senator opposes omnibus spending packages. Congress has a dozen appropriations bills to pass each year, which can be grouped together into one big bill.

That said, he is opposed to federal government shutdowns, Morrison said in an email. Crapo is a co-sponsor of the End Government Shutdowns Act, which would continue funds for 120 days after they have lapsed, reducing that funding by 1% every 90 days thereafter.

A spokesperson for Senator Jim Risch did not respond to a request for comment. Risch told KTVB that the American people expect Congress to at the bare minimum keep the government running.

A spokesperson for Rep. Russ Fulcher did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Mike Simpson released a statement Wednesday opposing the shutdown.

To Idaho, a government shutdown means thousands of furloughs for government workers and contractors, no new vouchers to homeless veterans through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a halt to U.S. Small Business Administration loans, and the closure of our national parks, just to name a few impacts, Simpsons statement said. He also said the lapse would jeopardize funding for American soldiers.

A handful of my colleagues believe the American people would not notice if the government stopped operating, Simpson added. But what happens when our constituents need help with a federal agency, and nobody answers the phone?
An administrative law judge with the Colorado State Personnel Board ruled Thursday that a manager in the nursing department at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo violated the states whistleblower protection laws when he demoted one of his subordinates last year.

Judge Susan Tyburski determined that Brian Gonzales, a former program chief nurse at the hospital, breached the states whistleblower act when he demoted former hospital employee Christine Mendias from a mental health clinician role to that of a client care aide on Oct. 24, 2022.

The whistleblower act protects state employees from retaliation when they disclose actions by state agencies. Tyburski found that Gonzales retaliated against Mendias with his decision, which came after a Sept. 2 nursing staff meeting last year in which Mendias reported patients concerns about an incident that occurred at the hospital a few months prior.

Chief Nurse Gonzales retaliatory discipline of complainant for reporting patient concerns was in bad faith, malicious and a means of harassment, Tyburski wrote in her judgment. In addition, the ALJ finds that Chief Nurse Gonzales testimony during the evidentiary hearing was disrespectful of the truth.

A three-day administrative hearing was held in July this year to determine whether Mendias speech was protected under the states whistleblower act and whether the disciplinary action against her was arbitrary, capricious or contrary to rule or law. She, through her attorney Mark Schwane, filed a complaint with the state personnel board last year over Gonzales' decision in which she argued her comments were of public concern and protected through the act.

Attorneys Carlos Ramirez and Jacob Paul, who represented Gonzales as well as the Colorado Department of Human Services, which oversees the hospital, in the hearing, contested that Mendias failed to treat others with respect," and "made unsubstantiated allegations possibly leading to the harmful reputation of others and assigned blame.

I think its pretty obvious that he did it purely for retaliatory purposes, Schwane told the Chieftain on Thursday. There was never any justification for demoting her to a position and job she had never done in her career and lowering her pay 25%. Its nothing more than him being punitive. The judge was pretty clear about that.

CDHS, through a spokesperson, declined to comment to the Chieftain.

The Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo

What the parties say occurred at the Sept. 2 staff meeting and how the judge perceived it

At the nursing staff meeting, Mendias disclosed that some patients had reported to her that they felt unsafe in their unit at the hospital because of the behavior they witnessed by nurse Misty Phillips on July 2 during an incident that required emergency assistance.

Phillips, a former hospital employee who was in the unit that day, was found by the state board of nursing to have failed to respond appropriately to the emergency and did not immediately call a Code Zero or medical emergency when a patient, identified only as "RB" in court documents to protect patient confidentiality, collapsed in one of the units. Other patients witnessed the incident and patient RB died a week later. Phillips was placed by the board on a one-year probation in April when it issued its ruling.

Phillips was kept on staff by Gonzales after the event but was under the supervision of another nurse. Prior to the Sept. 2 meeting, Mendias sent emails to some of her superiors and told them that some of the patients were still fearful following the incident.

Mendias on Sept. 8 filed a complaint with the state board of nursing, which involved Phillips based on her actions that day and how patients felt about her continued presence at the hospital afterward. Gonzales filed his own complaint against Phillips on Sept. 27.

Mendias at the meeting, when asked by former colleague Cynthia Howard if she had ever made a big mistake, responded that she had, but that she "hadn't killed anyone, which she argued was in reference to patients concerns and interpretation of Phillips actions.

In raising patient concerns about nurse (Phillips), complainant was acting as an advocate on behalf of her patients, Tyburski wrote.

Witnesses at the meeting also said that they heard Mendias say, "Misty (Phillips) killed RB." During the hearing, hospital employee Carla Carriere testified that she was "shocked" by Mendias' implication that Phillips was to blame for the patient's death but said it "was a risk" to have her stay on the unit. Another employee, Dawn Genzer, at the hearing said it was clear to her that Mendias was speaking on behalf of the patients who witnessed the incident when she made that comment.

"Considered as a whole, the witness statements support complainant's testimony that, in stating that nurse (Phillips) was responsible for patient's death, she was reporting what the other patients on the unit were telling her," Tyburski wrote.

Pueblo employees at state-run mental hospital lambast work environment, site leadership

Gonzales questioned Mendias about the complaint she filed against Phillips before he decided to demote her, concluding that her comments at the Sept. 2 meeting violated CDHS' and the hospital's codes of conduct, according to Tyburskis report.

Gonzales, in his reasoning for the decision, also wrote that Mendias during the meeting acted inappropriately and created a negative impact on coworkers and patients. He was not at the meeting but relied on witness statements from people who were.

Tyburski, however, ruled that Mendias disclosures involved matters of public concern," ultimately led to the disciplinary action against her, and didn't violate CDHS' or the hospital's codes of conduct. She also determined that the proximity between her declarations and Gonzales discipline justifies an inference of retaliatory motive because he started the disciplinary process after learning about her comments and nursing board complaint.

Chief Nurse Gonzales punitive action, in and of itself, smacks of retaliation, Tyburski wrote. The preponderance of the evidence establishes that reasonable persons fairly and honestly considering the evidence must reach a contrary conclusion concerning the appropriate discipline  that a demotion from mental health clinician to client care aide was not justified by complainant's comments during the Sept. 2 meeting.

Mendias initially sought to be reinstated to her role as a mental health clinician. She later asked for financial compensation from lost pay and compensatory damages and for her attorney fees to be covered. She left the hospital in April.

The demotion came with a nearly $7 reduction in hourly pay  she had been making $25.72 per hour prior to that  and left Mendias in a position where she could no longer use her education and mental health skills, Tyburski wrote. Mendias as client care aide had to help patients with physical care needs, toileting and showering, among other tasks that were vastly different from those she had as a mental health clinician.

Tyburski in her decision wrote that CDHS and the hospital must reimburse Mendias $6,673 in lost wages because of the demotion and pay her attorney fees since Gonzales violated the whistleblower act. She also ordered that the demotion be "reversed and expunged" from her personnel file.

Other claims for compensatory damages, including those for the "emotional distress and financial harm" that Mendias said she experienced, weren't awarded because she didn't prove during the hearing that she suffered such losses, Tyburski wrote. Schwane said he was "disappointed" about that decision but that he and Mendias were "pleased about the findings of fact and ultimate conclusion."

Gonzales, who has been employed at the hospital since 2021, was promoted last spring to interim director of nursing, one of the top positions in the nursing department at the facility. He is currently the hospital's assistant director of nursing.

A CDHS spokesperson in August shared that the hospital hired Kameron Post as its director of nursing.

Its hard for whistleblowers to come forward with these claims because it really alters their lives, said Schwane, who has represented other hospital employees in similar matters. From our perspective, theres been zero change on part of the hospital to reform their practices. Its a pretty clear indictment on Brian Gonzales and not only is he still employed there, he was recently promoted. Its hard to understand how the hospital can continue to have an employee like that and promote them.

Tyburski in her ruling didnt impose discipline on Gonzales for violating the whistleblower act but rather delegated that action to his appointing authority or supervisor, which would consider the nature and severity of the retaliatory conduct involved. Mendias contested that Gonzales should be demoted to a position inferior to the one he has now.

The penalty for violating the act can range from a one-week suspension to termination. Any form of discipline issued toward Gonzales would remain permanent on his personnel record.

Prior to her departure, Mendias was praised in her 2021 and 2022 performance evaluations for listening to and anticipating patients needs and concerns, Tyburski wrote.

Tyburski says Gonzales action was arbitrary,' 'capricious, and violated board rules

Tyburski in her ruling determined that even if CDHS proved that Mendias violated its code of conduct, the demotion was arbitrary and capricious because Gonzales failed to give candid and honest consideration of the evidence."

Multiple witnesses during the hearing had differing versions of what Mendias said during the Sept. 2 meeting and Gonzales testified that he didnt believe Mendias explanation and discounted witness statements that supported it.

Tyburski called Gonzales penalty to Mendias extremely punitive, finding that it wasnt appropriate and didnt align with her alleged misconduct.

Tyburski also found that Gonzales violated three Colorado State Personnel Board Rules because his decision to demote Mendias was based on a reason he failed to identify or investigate during the Rule 6-10 process. That process requires meeting notices that must be given to employees if a supervisor wants to meet with them because theyre considering discipline.

Gonzales during the hearing testified that he demoted Mendias because she wasnt providing the required care for patients, citing an absence of chart notes regarding her care for patients. Tyburski, however, wrote that Gonzales didnt mention that in meeting notices he sent to Mendias.

Poehlein testimony was consistent and credible

Ramirez and Paul during the hearing attempted to discredit the testimony of David Poehlein, a former hospital employee who documented 40 pages' worth of notes on what was said in meetings he sat in on while working there. Gonzales and Tiffany Greenfield, a nurse manager at the facility, were also in those meetings.

The CDHS attorneys asked Poehlein several questions about corrective actions in his own personnel file, and questioned another witness about times Poehlein was untruthful. However, Tyburski wrote that Poehleins testimony was consistent and credible.

Poehlein testified during the hearing that Gonzales in a Nov. 22 meeting called Mendias a f------ b---- and said that he hates her. Gonzales in the hearing said he couldnt remember if he made those comments.

Poehlein also testified that Gonzales in another meeting told him to watch out for Mendias because she is looking to report people. At a separate meeting, he said Gonzales told him he hoped that the judge doesnt side with her concerning her legal action. Gonzales during cross examination said he remembered that comment.

Chief Nurse Gonzales comments to nurse Poehlein provide direct evidence of retaliatory animus towards complainant, wrote Tyburski before later adding that Gonzales comments about Mendias demonstrated his animosity toward her after her disclosures.

Gonzales was not made available for comment to the Chieftain after the administrative hearing.

CDHS cannot comment on personnel matters, a spokesperson said in an August email to the Chieftain. However, the department does not condone inappropriate language or treatment of any staff.

Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @josuepwrites. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo mental hospital violated whistleblower act in employee demotion
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Hunting enthusiasts are gearing up for October 1 as the beginning of archery big game season kicks off in the state.

According to the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation website, bow hunting only makes up a small part of hunting in Oklahoma, and it is growing in popularity.

A mature white-tailed deer buck stands alertly in a suburban neighborhood in Moreland Hills, Ohio on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011.

 Find more Top Stories from KFOR.com

Below is a list of seasons hunters can expect to open this weekend: Deer archery season runs from Oct. 1, 2023, to Jan. 15, 2024.

Oklahoma Hunting Seasons are as follows:

Deer

Oct 1, 2023  Jan 15, 2024

Oct 20, 2023  Oct 22, 2023

Oct 28, 2023  Nov 5, 2023

Nov 18, 2023  Dec 3, 2023

Dec 18, 2023  Dec 31, 2023

Elk

Oct 1, 2023  Jan 15, 2024

Oct 20, 2023  Oct 22, 2023

Oct 28, 2023  Nov 5, 2023

Nov 18, 2023  Dec 3, 2023

Dec 18, 2023  Dec 31, 2023

Antelope

Oct 1, 2023  Oct 14, 2023

Aug 31, 2023  Sep 3, 2023

Sep 4, 2023  Sep 13, 2023

Nov 25, 2023  Jan 15, 2024

Bear

Oct 1, 2023  Oct 15, 2023

Oct 28, 2023  Nov 5, 2023

This is just disheartening: Comanche Nation speaks out as US Fish & Wildlife says bison humanely euthanized

Season dates & Bag limits are as follows:

Deer Archery

Oct 1, 2023  Jan 15, 2024

Six: no more than two may be antlered. All deer taken during the deer archery season count toward the hunters combined season limit of six deer.

Youth Deer Gun

Oct 20, 2023  Oct 22, 2023

Two: no more than one may be antlered. Harvest of antlerless mule deer is prohibited. All deer taken during the youth deer gun season are included in the hunters combined season limit of six deer, but are not included as part of the hunters regular deer gun season limit of four deer.

Youth Deer Gun Age Requirements

17 years old and younger. All youth hunters must be accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older.

Deer Muzzleloader

Oct 28, 2023  Nov 5, 2023

Four: no more than one may be antlered. Harvest of antlerless mule deer is prohibited. Antlerless harvest limits are set by zone. Zone 1: No antlerless harvest. Zones 2, 7 & 8: four antlerless. Zones 3, 4, 5, 6 & 9: two antlerless. Zone 10: one antlerless. See Antlerless Deer Zones for the Antlerless Deer Zones map. All deer taken during the deer muzzleloader season count toward the hunters combined season limit of six deer.

Deer Gun

Nov 18, 2023  Dec 3, 2023

Four: no more than one may be antlered. Harvest of antlerless mule deer is prohibited. Antlerless harvest limits are set by zone. Zone 1: one antlerless. Zones 2, 7 & 8: four antlerless. Zones 3, 4, 5, 6 & 9: two antlerless. Zone 10: one antlerless. See Antlerless Deer Zones for the Antlerless Deer Zones map. All deer taken during the deer gun season count toward the hunters combined season limit of six deer.

Holiday Antlerless Deer Gun

Dec 18, 2023  Dec 31, 2023

Two: antlerless only. Harvest of antlerless mule deer is prohibited. Deer taken during the holiday antlerless deer gun season do not count toward the hunters combined season limit of six deer.

Youth Deer Gun Accompanying Hunter Requirements

Accompanying adult hunter may not gun hunt, but may archery hunt provided they have the appropriate licenses.

Accompanying adult hunter may not possess any firearms for hunting purposes, see the Carry of Firearms section on General Hunting Regulations for constitutional carry exemption(s).

Youth Fall Turkey Opportunity

Oct 20, 2023  Oct 22, 2023

Resident youths participating in the youth deer gun season may harvest a turkey (see map on Turkey Regulations for open counties and legal means of take), provided they have a fall turkey license (unless exempt). Nonresident youths participating in the youth deer gun season may also harvest a turkey (see map on Turkey Regulations for open counties and legal means of take) but must possess a nonresident hunting license and a fall turkey license (unless exempt).

Legal means of taking are the same as equipment described as legal for the fall turkey season (see Turkey Regulations ). Turkey cannot be harvested within 100 yards of any bait (see Turkey Regulations ). A turkey taken during the Youth Deer Gun season counts toward the statewide fall turkey bag limit of one.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
When you think of the CIA, James Bond-esque escapades might come to mind, but this real-life saga put the spy agency in a controversial spotlight right on American soil.

Launched in 1967, Operation CHAOS aimed to track down possible foreign influence on domestic protest movements against the Vietnam War. Then-CIA Director Richard Helms authorized the program under President Lyndon B. Johnson , and it continued until 1974. Spoiler alert  Helms wasnt exactly the most well-liked CIA director in history. But more on that later. CHAOS involved illegal surveillance, mail tampering and infiltrating anti-Vietnam War and civil rights groups. It amassed thousands of files on American citizens who were never accused or suspected of a crime.

The inner workings of Operation CHAOS

Picture the United States in the late 1960s. The airwaves buzzed with news of protests against the Vietnam War and for civil rights. Campuses like UC Berkeley and Columbia University were practically boiling over with student demonstrations. The powers that be were nervous, really nervous. Amid the swirl of social unrest, government officials began to worry that these dissenting voices weren't just homegrown. The cloud of paranoia thickened as fingers pointed toward foreign culpritsspecifically, the Soviet Union and Communist China. The belief was that these countries were fueling the fires of domestic discord to weaken the United States.

Spy gadgets meet constitutional challenges

When it comes to Operation CHAOS, the spooks didn't skimp on their spy gear. While we might laugh today at what now seems like primitive tech, back in the day, it was cutting-edge cloak-and-dagger stuff. Picture this: wiretaps so advanced for their time that they could remotely turn on your home phone's microphone, effectively turning it into a room bug. They even developed disguised antennas to avoid detection while snooping. It's like Q from James Bond moonlighted as a CIA tech advisor.

Now, let's delve into the mail interception program. Agents used what were known as "covers," secret locations where mail was sent to be opened and analyzed. They didn't just skim these letters. They went so far as to photograph them and build an archive. Imagine your personal letters, full of heart, dreams, or maybe youthful rebellion, getting clicked and cataloged by some suit in a nondescript room.

What about human assets? Undercover agents were the crown jewel in the CIA's toolkit. Agents would establish credibility within the group, sometimes rising to leadership roles, and guide actions to discredit the organization. They were so effective that some activists still don't know the true identities of these agents.

So, what's the scorecard? The CIA utilized wiretaps, advanced for the era, to turn homes into hot mics. They went through thousands of letters, building a creepy archive, and they used undercover agents not just to spy but also manipulate. All this targeted against Americans who were, for the most part, just exercising their First Amendment rights. Talk about a constitutional quagmire.

Washington D.C. Anti-Vietnam Demonstration in 1967. (National Archives)

What did Operation Chaos do?

If you think Operation CHAOS was just about collecting data, think again. This program had real-life consequences for everyday Americans.

Student activists found themselves on "watch lists," which had chilling effects on their academic and professional lives. Picture being an 18-year-old, passionate about social change, and suddenly, you can't get a job because you're flagged in some secret CIA database.

Activists weren't the only casualties. Journalists who reported on civil rights or anti-war movements also came under scrutiny. They faced wiretaps and intimidation, leading to self-censorship and a less informed public. In essence, Operation CHAOS didn't just target suspected dissidents; it cast a wide net that snagged anyone who dared question the status quo.

However, this did lead to significant reforms. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was enacted in 1978 to provide judicial oversight of surveillance activities. Intelligence operations now had to get a warrant for wiretapping and other forms of spying on U.S. soil.

But the question of surveillance never really disappeared. With the advent of the internet and the era of Big Data, agencies like the NSA have been embroiled in modern surveillance controversies. You can draw a straight line from Operation CHAOS to the Patriot Act . It's a grim reminder that the ethical debates ignited by Operation CHAOS are still relevant.

Eyes wide open

In a time when information flows like water and data privacy is under constant threat, Operation CHAOS remains a relevant episode in American history. For young folks interested in military and intelligence matters, it's a must-know event, a sobering look at what can go wrong when the guardians become the trespassers.

Knowing about Operation CHAOS equips us to ask critical questions about the reach of government agencies into our private lives today. It serves as a stark lesson that keeps both citizens and intelligence agencies on their toes, reminding everyone that the eyes watching you might need watching too.
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.
The man once called the patron mayor of the Tri-Cities has died.

John Fox, the mayor of Richland for six years through 2013, died Tuesday at the age 95.

John was a reasonable and calming force in our community and he will be missed, said Joe Schiessl, deputy city manager.

The flags at Richland City Hall will fly at half mast this weekend in his honor.

Fox came to the Tri-Cities in 1951, fresh out of Oregon State University with a masters in mechanical engineering, planning to work at what would later become Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for a few years before moving on.

He liked bigger city life, he thought at the time.

But he met his wife, Kathryn, a South Dakota native, and never left.

She told the Herald on Thursday that he felt like he had such a good life that he should give back. He spent decades making Richland a better place to live and work.

He served on the Richland School Board for two terms in the 70s and 80s. In the 90s, he served on the citys parks and planning commissions.

John Fox is shown in January 2014 shortly after retiring as Richland mayor. He died Sept. 26, 2023.

In 2002 he joined the council and served there until his retirement as mayor more than 11 years later.

It was the late Steve Young, the former mayor of Kennewick, who called Fox the patron mayor of the Tri-Cities.

Young turned to Fox for guidance after being selected as his citys mayor, and Fox met to talk him through the ups and downs, the highs and the lows.

A new tradition grew out of that meeting  the mayors of Kennewick, Richland, West Richland and Pasco began getting together regularly, leading to greater understanding among the cities and even opportunities for some of them to work together on projects to save money and gain efficiency, Young said.

He described Fox as the most honest, professional, compassionate person I think Ive ever known, and said Foxs commitment to the Tri-City community was an inspiration.

Matt Watkins, former mayor of Pasco, praised Fox at the Richland mayors retirement for the wisdom and perspective he brought to the mayor gatherings.

David Rose, the Richland mayor pro tem when Fox retired, said then that he had learned patience from Fox and to make sure he knew both sides of each issue before commenting.

Fox listened, built consensus

Fox told the Tri-City Herald in an interview as he retired from the council that he learned a valuable lesson about public participation and public opinion in his first hot-button issue as a public official.

As a new school board member in 1975 the council was considering whether to start building schools in south Richland and West Richland or go to year-round schools.

He supported new schools, with the board ultimately proposing a bond measure that voters approved.

Afterward, (some) people would come to us and say, Well, we dont agree with your decision, but you listened to us and you gave your reasons for doing it, so well accept it, he said.

Herald/Richard Dickin Retired Battelle engineer John Fox is the newly appointed Richland councilman. Fox, 74, was appointed to fill an open seat on the council that was vacated by Terry Tanner, who resigned in August for ethical reasons.

Fox spoke with an engineers deliberateness and logic, but he was also known for his dry sense of humor. He said at his retirement from the council that he tried to build consensus on the council and foster a collegial atmosphere.

After leaving the school board and retiring from full time work at the national lab, he joined the citys Parks and Recreation Commission and worked on the effort to build the community center at 500 Amon Park Drive.

He also became a city planning commissioner and was then picked to fill a vacancy on the city council.

He served on the council during years of strong economic growth, with assessed property value swelling by 96% and sales tax revenue increasing 30%. He called developing a long-range strategic plan for the city that was responsive to its residents one of his most important projects.

He his survived by his wife, Kathryn; his son and daughter-in-law Jay and Celina Fox in Pasco; daughter and son-in-law Ann and Eric Oliner in Issaquah, Wash.; two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by son Ryan Fox.

Einans at Sunset in Richland is in charge of arrangements.

John Fox is shown in January 2014 shortly after retiring as Richland mayor. He died Sept. 26, 2023.
HICKORY  On Saturday, Sept. 9, and Sunday, Sept. 10, St. Albans Episcopal Parish celebrated its 50th year as a parish in Hickory.

At the Festival Eucharist on Sunday, St. Albans rector, the Rev. Tryggvi G. Arnason, served as celebrant, and the parishs first rector, the Rev. Randy Ferebee, served as concelebrant. A large crowd of current and past members, including charter members, enjoyed the anniversary celebration.

Saturday afternoons festivities included activities for children, youth and adults, such as a bouncy house, corn hole, face painting, balloon figurines, dancing to 1970s music with a DJ and jugglers. A catered taco bar, barbecue sliders and pizzas were served. Close to 300 people attended.

The parish was founded as a mission when 13 families, led by Fr. Ferebee, were sent forth by Bishop William G. Weinhauer from Church of the Ascension on Sept. 9, 1973.

A highlight of the weekend celebration was the exhibit of a timeline outlining the past 50 years in the life of the parish. The exhibit will stay for the remainder of the year for people to enjoy in the Ferebee Hall of the Parish.
This story originally ran in the Idaho Capital Sun on Sept. 27, 2023.

Renovations will soon begin at the Payette National Forests Huckleberry Creek and Cabin Creek campgrounds thanks to funding from the Great American Outdoors Act, according to a U.S. Forest Service press release.

The work on the campgrounds will begin the week of Oct. 2. Work at the Huckleberry Campgrounds is expected to be complete by 5 p.m. Oct. 5, but the Cabin Creek Campground will be closed beginning Oct. 4 through the rest of fall 2023 and most or all of summer 2024, the release said.

Additional work at Huckleberry Campground will occur during the summer and fall season of 2024 but is expected to require only short-term closures, the release said.

During these closures, dispersed camping continues to be allowed in the general vicinity of both campgrounds, the release said. Developed camping is available at Lafferty Campground, approximately 15 miles south of Huckleberry on Council-Cuprum Road. Developed camping is available approximately 20 miles south of Cabin Creek Campground at Big Flat Campground on Forest Road 206, along the Little Weiser River.

Some of the improvements at Cabin Creek will include realigning the campsites to be more user-friendly, replacing campground amenities like tables and fire rings, replacing and relocating the areas restroom, repairing and realigning the roadway and replacing nearby fencing.

The renovations to the Huckleberry Campground will improve access for visitors with RVs by increasing the turnaround radius of the road loop, realigning some campsite turnouts, and grading and improving the campground roadway. Forest officials also hope to replace the campgrounds water system in 2024.
A private investigator has released new information in the unsolved missing person case of a 24-year-old Tempe geologist.

Daniel Robinson, last seen on June 23, 2021, disappeared after leaving his worksite in Buckeye, Arizona, where he was employed by the engineering company Matrix New World.

After finding Robinson's jeep crashed in a ravine, Buckeye police initially ruled out foul play, but David Robinson, Daniel's father, remained convinced something more was at play.

The official explanation just does not make sense," said David. "Why would he want to disappear like a monk?

Daniel Robinson, 24, was last seen June 23, 2021, driving west from his work site in an area west of Sun Valley Parkway and north of Cactus Road in Buckeye.

Private investigator for 3LawsRecon, Jeff McGrath, is a retired police officer who specializes in collision evidence.

McGrath suspects the crash was deliberately set up. McGrath discovered that Daniel's jeep had been driven for approximately eleven miles after its airbags deployed, according to David.

Furthermore, McGrath identified red paint transfer on the jeep, suggesting a prior collision before it ended up in the ravine. The rancher who located Daniel's jeep has also expressed skepticism about the accuracy of the official timeline of events surrounding this incident, said David.

[The rancher] was in that ravine on July 17th looking for his cattle. He came back back on the 23rd and reported the vehicle. So it was not there for 30 days, explained David.

McGrath also discovered that somebody besides the police went into Daniels room after the disappearance. This individual not only ransacked Daniel's closet but also gained access to his laptop.

I was able to get the Tempe Police Department to do forensics on all of my son's electronics from his personal computer to his gaming system," explained David. "And in that information that I did receive back, someone was in his apartment looking through his computer searching Google history, just fooling around on this computer.

David, an Army veteran, can't imagine why someone would want to hurt his only son, but he does have a few theories.

Im looking at every angle," he said. "Hes a young black male, a black geologist, it could have just been simple jealousy.

A Fox10 article reported that police cited strange behavior from Daniel in the days before his accident, like saying he was in love with a woman he barely knew. David takes issue with this account.

I talked to him on the phone for about two hours about two days before he went missing," said David. "We talked about that young lady and it was the first time I ever heard about her. But he never said he loved her and I never said that to law enforcement. I dont know where they got that from.

David was displeased with Buckeye Police Department's handling of his son's case.

They set us in an interrogation room and had us sit there for 15 minutes, and try and come up with any behavior that seemed odd or strange," said David.

Eventually, Daniel's sister told police that her brother stared off at the wall for a long period of time two weeks before disappearing.

In my opinion, my son's case has been sensationalized by the Buckeye PD and I am currently fighting against that, said David.

As a father, Robinson says this fight will never end.

I cannot stop searching for my son," said David. "I cannot stop making sure he receives the justice he deserves and the respect he deserves.

Robinson hopes the public will continue to show interest in his case so that it does not become a cold case. He actively maintains a YouTube channel, website and an anonymous tipline at 844-602-0660.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New information on Daniel Robinson, who has been missing since 2021
Special counsel Jack Smith and federal prosecutors said former President Donald Trump could have broken the law on a trip to South Carolina Monday where he admired a Glock branded with his likeness, according to a court filing Friday.

"The defendant either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release, or seeks to benefit from his supporters mistaken belief that he did so," prosecutors wrote.

Felony defendants cannot purchase a firearm under federal law. Trump faces 91 felony charges across his four criminal cases.

In a now deleted video posted by Trump's campaign, the former president posed for pictures at the gun store.

"I want to buy one," Trump said in the video. "Isn't a Glock a great gun?"

His campaign later released a statement saying, "President Trump did not purchase or take possession of the firearm. He simply indicated that he wanted one."

Prosecutors pushed for a gag order on Trump, also noting his online statements about retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and other witnesses. The former president attacked the top general in a Truth Social post earlier this month, accusing Milley of treason and suggesting the death penalty.

"No other criminal defendant would be permitted to issue public statements insinuating that a known witness in his case should be executed; this defendant should not be, either," prosecutors wrote.

More: Gun rights. Herring fishermen. An ethics hangover. The Supreme Court gets back to work.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Prosecutors say Trump may have broken the law, push for gag order
RICHMOND, Ind.  Sometimes you have to stand up for what you feel is right.

That was the message from the Richmond Education Association, both prior to and during Richmond Community Schools' Board of Education meeting last Wednesday evening.

A couple hundred people attended both the rally and school board meeting up through the public commentary, facing the RCS and the school board in support of REA President Kelley McDermott, an RCS graduate and Dennis Middle School teacher.

REA's Initial Statement

On Sept. 6, Richmond Community Schools recommended cancelling the contract of McDermott.

On Aug. 9, McDermott was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. The REA stated on their Facebook page on Aug. 4, as teachers exited Civic Hall following RCS Opening Day addresses, teachers sought guidance from McDermott, who reassured them that REA would "steadfastly work to protect their rights."

The guidance teachers sought stemmed from RCS in May taking "unilateral action to change compensation for teachers for the 2023-2024 school year, bypassing the established bargaining process with REA," per the post.

The REA filed two complaints of Unfair Labor Practices after each occurrence, the first on June 19 and the second on Aug. 19.

REA's rally in front of Civic Hall

Prior to the Board of Education meeting at 5:30 p.m., REA held a rally in front of Civic Hall, with attendees wearing Richmond red T-shirts reading "#standwithmsmcdermott" and holding signs in support of her and REA.

Speakers at the rally were REA Vice President Jay Lee; Jennifer Smith-Margraf, Tecumseh Junior High School Spanish teacher and Vice President of the Indiana State Teachers Association; and Richmond High School social studies teacher and union member Tre Ronne.

"She has been a teacher for 35 years," Lee said of McDermott. "She has never been written up. She has never had a bad evaluation. RCS actions were intended to stifle REA members' voices, discourage teachers from joining our association and to retaliate against our efforts to seek justice through unfair labor practice complaints.

"Let me be crystal clear," he continued. "The Richmond Education Association remains steadfast in defending the REA president and all its members against these unfair attempts to silence our voices."

Smith-Margraf, on behalf of ISTA, began her remarks by saying everyone was there to hold Richmond Community Schools accountable for their actions.

"We understand deeply the importance of collective bargaining rights, and what it means when those rights are violated, she said. "Collective Bargaining is a democratic act where all members are represented equally and have an equal voice in the process to determine their pay and benefits. Collective Bargaining has also ensured that women and are black, indigenous and other people of color are treated as equals at the bargaining table and receive equal pay for equal work."

Smith-Margraf demanded that RCS reinstate McDermott to her teaching position and called on the Richmond community to continue to stand united with REA.

"To the members of the Richmond Education Association," she said, "Know that your ISTA siblings see you, hear you and stand with you and President McDermott. Know that we will not rest until this injustice is corrected."

Ronne then took the podium, speaking about his 10 years living in Richmond, describing his first impression of the city as immediately seeing the potential for the city to thrive.

"In order for Richmond to thrive, we must have a strong public school system," he said. "And in turn, strong schools must have teachers who are dedicated and passionate. And for teachers to be dedicated and passionate, they must be respected and empowered."

Ronne continued, "The framers of the U.S. Constitution were wise to recognize that checks and balances are necessary to maintain a responsible and responsive government. Unchecked, power inevitably leads to uninformed and unwise decisions, lack of trust and harm. The teachers' union serves as a valuable and necessary check on the power of the administration and the board for the purpose of bringing more perspectives into the key decisions that guide the school corporation."

RCS School Board Meeting

Once the rally was finished, everyone in attendance shuffled into Civic Hall, a change of venue from the Administration Building due to the predicted size of attendance.

After sitting and waiting patiently for an hour and 42 minutes, where the school board discussed the community partnershipp between Starr Elementary and First English Lutheran Church, the success of the Homecoming Parade and week and a budget hearing meeting, the crowd of about 200 people erupted into cheers when School Board President Nicole Stults announced that they would be opening the floor to public commentary.

Eight people spoke on the issues surrounding the REA and school board, with teachers, parents and even a former student body president making comments.

Six of the eight speakers  Penny Schneck, Dixie Robinson, Sam Thomas, Ben Guard, Beth Harrick and Jimmy Freiberger  spoke as union members, while parent John Wessel-McCoy and former student body president Keith Morey also gave comments.

The school board has a policy, like many other districts in the state, to not respond to public comments at the meeting, though Stults did issue a statement on behalf of the board in a YouTube video posted Tuesday, Sept. 26, in response to the accusations that the REA have made and are currently under investigation.

Following public comments, the couple hundred attendees dwindled to approximately 20, as the meeting continued on for about an hour longer as consent items were passed, including personnel hiring, a preschool stipend, and an eighth-grade overnight field trip to New York City.

One of the final items of business was a proposal from Operations Officer Karen Scalf to purchase McBride Stadium, and along with it, Cate Field. More on the proposal in a future article.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: RCS holds board meeting, REA holds rally for president
Ask Rodney Williams about his lifes work cooking and serving Jamaican food, and the Johnny Cash song Ive Been Everywhere comes to mind.

These days, Williams, 52, a native of Montego Bay, Jamaica, has his Rodneys Jamaican Grill food truck parked at 420 67th St. W., Bradenton.

Thats right outside the 120-seat Jamaican Grill restaurant, which Williams operated before moving his business to Palmetto 7 1/2 years ago.

Williams will begin cooking in the restaurant as soon as he gets his Florida state inspection. For now, the food truck handles the food preparation and guests may dine in the restaurant.

Williams culinary journey has also taken him to restaurants in Longboat Key, Bradenton Beach and more.

He worked at The Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs in 2000, and for Hilton Hotels for 2 1/2 years, also in Colorado, before being transferred to the Hilton on Longboat Key.

While the majority of his career has been in brick-and-mortar restaurants, he got into the food truck business about 18 months ago, in part because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The food truck business took off with Rodneys Jamaican Grill visiting trailer parks, Ellenton, Lakewood Ranch and the local Nissan dealership.

Rodney Williams recently brought Rodneys Jamaican Grill back to Bradenton at 420 67th St. W. Williams has been cooking and serving Jamaican food in the Bradenton area for more than a decade.

There was a lot of takeout during the pandemic, he said.

The success of the business comes down to the authentic cuisine and the personality of the genial Williams himself.

Long-time friend Winfred Spencer stopped by Rodneys Jamaican Grill this week for the jerk chicken alfredo and for the reggae music.

I always know that Rodney will be here, Spencer said. I met him when his restaurant was on Longboat Key.

The jerk pork tenderloin dinner at Rodneys Jamaican Grill is served with two sides and sells for $14 at Rodneys Jamaican Grill, 420 67th St. W., Bradenton.

The most popular entree at Rodneys?

That would be the slow-simmered oxtails, seasoned with Jamaican spices, Williams said.

Also popular is Mama Gs Sampler: curry goat, oxtail and jerk chicken served with rice, beans and plantains.

Other entrees include jerk chicken, Montego Bay snapper, curry chicken, brown stew chicken, ribeye steak, and more, starting at $13.

The jerk chicken dinner at Rodneys Jamaican Grill is served with two sides and sells for $14 at Rodneys Jamaican Grill, 420 67th St. W., Bradenton.

Also available are a variety of starters (jerk wings, mozzarella sticks, grilled shrimp kabobs and more), salads and sandwiches (jerk chicken, sirloin burger, Philly steak and ham, and more).

Beer, including Jamaican favorite Red Stripe, and wine are available. Williams expects to eventually have a full bar.

For dessert, request the bread pudding.

Asked about the success of great Jamaican athletes like sprinters Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Williams has a ready answer.

We dont eat fast food. We eat real food, he said.

Rodneys Jamaican Grill shrimp salads are lined up and ready to go for hungry customers.

Rodneys Jamaican Grill is open six days a week and closed Monday. Hours are 11 a.m.- 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. - midnight Thursday through Saturday and 1 - 9 p.m. Sunday.

Food trucks, like Rodneys Jamaican Grill, have become an integral part of the Bradenton dining scene.

Rich Knowles, a chef and owner of Innovative Dining, a catering business, also operates Bradentrucky Grub Truck at 5239 Manatee Ave. W. That is the same address where Knowles is preparing to relaunch his EnRich Bistro, which he closed in 2020, early in the pandemic.

Others making the transition to brick-and-mortar include TK Grill & Barbeque, 4927 96th St. E., Palmetto, and sisters Mindy and Ali Converse with their American Honey Creamery, 4949 96th St. E., Palmetto.

Tu Tran, who operates the T & T Hibachi Japanese Food at 8003 U.S. 301 N., Parrish, is making plans to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Orange Blossom plaza at 403 Cortez Road W., Bradenton.

For more information, about Rodneys Jamaican Grill, visit https://rodneysjamaicangrillinc.com/.

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A South Korean man has been sentenced to jail for using artificial intelligence to generate exploitative images of children, the first case of its kind in the country as courts around the world encounter the use of new technologies in creating abusive sexual content.

The unnamed man, aged in his 40s, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison this month, according to the Busan District Court and the districts Public Prosecutors Office.

He had created about 360 AI-generated images in April, the prosecutors office told CNN. The images were not distributed, and have been confiscated by police.

Prosecutors argued during the case that the definition of sexually exploitative material should include descriptions of sexual behaviors by virtual humans and not just the appearance of actual children.

The ruling showed that sexually abusive content can include imagery made with high level technology that is realistic enough to look like real children and minors, the prosecutors office said.

The case comes as governments around the world grapple with the explosion of the AI industry, with far-reaching impacts ranging from copyright and intellectual property to national security, personal privacy and explicit content.

Many are now racing to regulate the technology  especially as cases like the South Korean sentencing highlight how AI can be used to violate peoples bodily autonomy and safety, especially for women and minors.

Earlier this month, police in Spain launched an investigation after images of underage girls were altered with AI to remove their clothing and sent around town. In one case, a boy had tried to extort one of the girls using a manipulated image of her naked, the girls mother told the television channel Canal Extremadura.

For years, deepfakes  highly convincing fake videos made using AI  have been used to put womens faces into often aggressive pornographic videos, without their consent. The videos often appear so real it can be hard for female victims to deny it isnt really them.

The issue was thrust into broader public view in February this year when it emerged that a high-profile male video game streamer had accessed deepfake videos of some of his female streaming colleagues.

From the very beginning, the person who created deepfakes was using it to make pornography of women without their consent, Samantha Cole, a reporter with Vices Motherboard, who has been tracking deepfakes since their inception, told CNN at the time.

The streaming platform, Twitch, responded to the controversy by tightening its policies, calling the deepfake sexual videos personally violating and beyond upsetting. Other major platforms are similarly updating their rules, with TikTok adding further restrictions on sharing AI deepfakes in March.

The European Union became one of the first in the world to set regulations on how companies can use AI in June, followed by China in July. And earlier in September, some of the biggest tech leaders in the United States  including Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg  gathered in Washington as the Senate prepares to draft legislation on AI.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark.  A warehouse occupied by a cleaning products company caught fire Saturday morning in West Memphis, says the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.

Photo courtesy of the West Memphis Fire Department

Photo courtesy of the West Memphis Fire Department

Photo courtesy of the West Memphis Fire Department

Photo courtesy of the West Memphis Fire Department

Photo courtesy of the West Memphis Fire Department











Photo courtesy of the West Memphis Fire Department

Photo courtesy of the West Memphis Fire Department

Photo courtesy of the West Memphis Fire Department

The fire is approximately .2 miles south of I-40 at 1235 North 7th Street in West Memphis. Officials say the fire started around 9:30 a.m., and as of 4:30 p.m., the fire is under control.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are blocking off the street as West Memphis and Marion County fire crews battle the blaze. West Memphis Office of Emergency Management and Crittenden County Office of Emergency Management are also on the scene.

We called in mutual aid from the Marion Fire Department, said West Memphis Fire Chief Barry Ealy. They came in to assist us. Basically, we had about 50 firefighters on the scene

The City of West Memphis Office of Emergency Management says that the warehouse was used for Awesome Products, a cleaning products company. However, Ealy says its contents mostly included cardboard and plastic.

When we got here there was a lot of heavy fire, Ealy said. The fire flashed so we backed out our personnel. 

Ealy says the warehouse is around 168,000 square feet.

We used the aerial ladder to attack this from above because you dont want to send anybody in on a fire like that because there is nothing to gain at that point, Ealy said.

The West Memphis Fire Department is asking for everyone to avoid the area for their safety and to allow emergency services unobstructed access.

Our brave firefighters are working tirelessly to contain the situation and protect our community. Thank you for your cooperation during this challenging time, said WMFD in a Facebook post.

Another major concern is the air quality and the health effects. Division Chief Robert Mabe says Mother Nature assisted with that.

The smoke that folks saw was that real dark, black plastic container smoke, Mabe said. It went up high and blew away. So the solution to pollution is dilution. The further it got away, the better it was for everybody.

Terrian Sumner says she first noticed the blaze around 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

We were standing right up here, and you could feel the heat and just hear the explosions. We were like Lord have mercy, said Sumner.

There have been no reported injuries.

WREG will provide updates when they become available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Editor's note: This column was written before the news that the U.S. Senate is reinstating its "business casual" dress code. Given the change back, Jim Memmott is no longer contemplating a Senate run.

One bit of good news. Were I to be elected U.S. senator, I wouldnt have to go out and buy a lot of suits and ties.

No, the Senates unwritten business casual rules (dresses and suits for women; coats and ties for men) have been dropped at the command of the majority leader, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York.

"Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor," Schumer told Axios, the political news website. He added that he will continue to wear a suit.

Thus, if I were in the Senate, I could get by with a Bills sweatshirt or two, some chinos and a few pairs of Bermuda shorts for those sticky Washington summers.

If anything, this would be dressing down from how I dressed when I became a journalist in 1980.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., walks to the Senate chambers in the U.S. Capitol Building on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington, DC. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has dropped dress code rules for the Senate.

When I arrived in 1980 at the Rochester Times-Union, the now-defunct afternoon newspaper, I quickly learned that while I was out there reporting, I was supposed to dress like the people I interviewed or wrote about.

Male school superintendents usually wore jackets and ties, as did town supervisors. Jack C. Hart, the Gates supervisor, was all coat-and-tie, as was Don Riley in Greece. They became my role model. However, if I were interviewing someone at a game, or someone stuck in snowbank, it was OK to ditch the tie.

More Memmott: Author writes best-selling horror novels from her Greece home

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I generally wore a tie in the office, and, imitating the editors, I learned to roll up my sleeves to a halfway point between my wrists and elbows. Im not sure why wearing your sleeves at half-mast was the way of the newsroom world, but I was eager to fit in, and so I rolled.

Its been a while since I was a real reporter, but my friends at the Democrat & Chronicle tell me that the general fashion advice is still to mirror the people youre writing about.

Tracy Schuhmacher covers food and drink for the Democrat and Chronicle.

I dress pretty casual, she says, usually black pants, some sort of blouse and flat shoes. Sometimes I wear jeans. But the people I encounter on a day-to-day basis on the food beat generally dress pretty casually.

Gary Craig, a veteran courts reporter, says that he still wears a tie to court, fitting in with the lawyers. Television reporters are more dapper than he, Gary says. No surprise, as they are seen by the general public.

The loosening of the dress codes for the Senate has sparked some huffing and puffing about the decline of western civilization.

I think western civilization will survive whether or not Sen. John Fetterman wears shorts on the Senate floor, but a popular culture case can be made for sticking with the suits and ties.

Good clothes make a new man in the best episode of the second season of The Bear, a drama about a Chicago restaurant on a comeback.

The slovenly Richie Jeremovich is sent to be trained at a high-end restaurant. After a week behind the scenes at a place where attention is given to every detail, he adopts a new look. Coat, tie, the works. I wear suits now, he says of his transformation from beach bum to authority figure.

via GIPHY

Theres also Suits, the legal drama/soap opera that originally ran from 2011 to 2019 and now is a chart-topper on Netflix.

The men reflect the shows title and wear suits, power suits, at that. The women, from the head of the firm to the secretaries and paralegals (one of them played by Meghan Markle, soon-to-be royalty in real life), wear fitted suits or dresses, an Armani here, an Alexander McQueen there.

While their clothes are too expensive for most humans, the lawyers are basically following the rules of their game. They make me think that the Democrats head honcho, Mike Kilian, should outfit Gary Craig in a couple Tom Ford suits so he can look even more like a lawyer.

Not to worry, I dont need to enhance my wardrobe. Ive got the sweatshirt, the Bermuda shorts. Im Senate worthy. Bring it on.

From his home in Geneseo, Livingston County, retired senior editor Jim Memmott, writes Remarkable Rochester, who we were, who we are. He can be reached at jmemmott@gannett.com or write Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: dropped dress code has columnist thinking of running for U.S. Senate
Want to nanny for Vivek Ramaswamy ? "This is an exceptional opportunity to join a high-profile family," the job ad gushes. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A job ad likely posted by Ramaswamy seeks round-the-clock care for two young boys.

The Republican presidential candidate has sought to portray himself as down-to-earth.

But he appears to be paying a team of nannies $100,000 or more each to care for his children.

It looks like billionaire Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is padding out his household staff. A remarkable job listing on a staffing web site that caters to hyperwealthy families is seeking a nanny at an eye-popping annual salary of $100,000 or more  and the details in the posting point squarely at Ramaswamy, who has two young sons.

Anyone who takes a job as Ramaswamy's nanny may be in for a stressful ride. Insider previously reported that the pharma baron can be high-maintenance and persnickety , demanding his personal staff operate with near military efficiency.

Insider found the listing on EstateJobs.com, a specialized job board for wealthy patrons to look for butlers, private chefs, chauffeurs, and other household staff.

"Curiosity, adventure, and constant motion define the family's lifestyle," the job ad gushed . "This is an exceptional opportunity to join a high-profile family, contributing to the growth and development of their children while participating in unique family adventures."

The job  which requires 84 to 96 hours of work a week, with seven days on and seven days off  would include coordinating with "a dedicated team including a Chef, Nannies, a Housekeeper, and Private Security" to provide "a seamless daily routine for the children," who are described as "gifted."

The nanny would be expected to "curate" their "play areas, toys, and clothing to foster a stimulating and organized environment."

The client's name isn't listed in the ad, but multiple details point strongly to the Ramaswamy family. The zip code on the ad matches the Columbus, Ohio, address on Ramaswamy's voter registration. The ages of the children to be cared for match the ages of Ramaswamy's two young sons. The ad says that the nanny will be responsible for preparing vegetarian meals for the children; Ramaswamy is vegetarian.

The ad says the family travels roughly two to three days each week, mostly by private jet. Ramaswamy's sons and wife Apoorva, a professor and physician at Ohio State University, often join him on the campaign trail, which has repeatedly taken him to Iowa and New Hampshire in recent months. Until recently, Ramaswamy was a part-owner of three private jets, according to campaign filings.

The advertisement describes the family as "high-profile." To identify which families in the zip code could likely afford to travel by private jet and match the ad's other criteria, Insider used the county assessor's database to identify the owner of every home in the zip code that sold for more than $1 million in the past 10 years.

Of the 91 matching sales, many buyers were surgeons, lawyers, wealth managers, and professors  there was even one jazz pianist. But only Ramaswamy had a public profile of any significance.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy's campaign, initially told Insider that, since the family does not employ live-in nannies, "I imagine it's someone else." When Insider clarified that that ad does not specify that the nannies must live with the Ramaswamy's, but that they must work 12- to 14-hour days, McLaughlin did not respond.

Less than a day after Insider informed the Ramaswamy campaign that the story would be published, the ad disappeared from EstateJobs.com. The placement agency that posted it did not respond to a request for comment.

The high cost of child care figured briefly in the second Republican primary debate Wednesday, where Ramaswamy's sharp tongue and college debate-like flair appeared to backfire amid more pointed attacks from other candidates.

"I'm gonna go with a question that is on the minds of a lot of moms and dads and Americans and I know that you've been thinking about it: childcare costs," moderator Dana Perino asked South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. "Some families are spending up to half of their income on childcare. And they're having to decide, is it worth it for me to work or is it not going to make sense financially?"

At the tail end of Scott's response, Ramaswamy jumped in to proclaim that "the real divide is between the majority of us in this country who love the USA and share our founding ideals," like free speech and meritocracy, "and the fringe minority in the Democrat party that has a chokehold over that party."

Later in the debate, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley remarked of Ramaswamy that "every time I hear you, I feel I get a little bit dumber."

The former pharmaceutical entrepreneur's big spending on his own kids throws into sharp relief his skinflint plan for how average Americans should deal with rising childcare costs, which now top $10,000 annually , according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. At a campaign stop in May, Ramaswamy said he wants people to pay for childcare by borrowing from their future expected Social Security benefits.

Instead of waiting to use those benefits in retirement, Americans should be able to access Social Security "earlier on in life when you actually need it to be able to provide for your children," he said. Doing so is not currently allowed.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Months after three Valleywise Behavioral Health Center employees were arrested in Phoenix, a police report obtained by The Arizona Republic provides details of the suspected abuse of a patient with quadriplegia in June.

The incident spawned two separate investigations  one internally by Valleywise along with a criminal investigation conducted by Phoenix police  after three employees from the Maryvale campus allegedly took the victim from the hospital to a nearby park in a wheelchair and left him there on June 14.

With the help of video surveillance, charges were ultimately brought upon three suspects, identified as 53-year-old Luis Garcia, 39-year-old Eric Espinoza and 37-year-old Kalen Powell, who were placed on administrative leave and later booked into jail.

On Aug. 21, they were indicted by a Maricopa County Grand Jury on criminal abuse charges.

According to police records, the patient, 33-year-old Jesus Gomez, was admitted to the center on June 14 by Phoenix fire personnel after experiencing complications with his catheter and was in need of treatment.

Gomez required a wheelchair as a result of being shot in 2009, paralyzing him from the waist down, as well as suffering a brain aneurysm, leaving him medically diagnosed with quadriplegia. His condition was confirmed to Maryvale staff upon his arrival at the center, the report says.

According to the report, Gomez's mother, Cessie Garcia, asked medical crews not to take him to the Maryvale campus, but he was taken there anyway because it was the closest medical center.

Cessie told investigators that three hours after Gomez was taken to the hospital, she received a call from her son  who used a passerby's phone, she told police  telling her that he was placed in a wheelchair by hospital staff and left at the Maryvale park, located near 51st Avenue and Camelback Road, because they "didn't want him there anymore."

Upon Cessie's arrival, she saw Gomez lying along a paved walkway at the park, with dirty and torn socks, injuries to his knee and right toes, and ants covering his torso and lower extremities resulting in bits that swelled and blistered, police documents state.

The Phoenix Fire Department responded to the area and took Gomez from the park to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, where he was admitted for six days, requiring surgery for his original catheter issue.

Police obtain security footage, conduct interviews

Investigators spoke with responding Phoenix fire crews' Capt. Noah Katz, one of the firemen who rescued Gomez from the park, who told authorities that in their conversation with hospital staff, they were told that Gomez was "disrespecting staff members and had stolen a hospital wheelchair," the report states.

Katz, though, refuted this, telling police that Gomez likely couldn't have operated the hospital wheelchair as the safety lever would have needed to be deactivated by the person pushing it. Additionally, he told police that when the team arrived, he did not see a wheelchair near Gomez.

Security footage from the incident was later obtained by investigating officers, which broke down the event, from Gomez's arrival to the Maryvale center to being picked up by Phoenix fire at the park.

Timestamps, detailed in the incident report, list Gomez reaching the Maryvale campus at 11:06 a.m. on June 14, and being wheeled out at 1:58 p.m. Of the suspects, both Luis Garcia and Kalen Powell are seen walking with another staff member who pushes Gomez outside, the incident report states.

The staff member then left, leaving Gomez outside with Garcia and Powell. The two then walk inside, behind the front desk and then back outside where Garcia begins to pull the wheelchair.

Espinoza then arrives in a white SUV, gets out and assists the other two staff members in getting across the street with Gomez. No other mention of Espinoza was made in the report.

According to the report, Gomez, Garcia and Powell can be seen from a distance in the video pulling the wheelchair down a walkway at the park. Garcia and Powell then found a shaded area under a tree, where they removed Gomez from the wheelchair and placed him on the ground.

At around 2:13 p.m., Garcia and Powell leave Gomez at the park, and head back to the hospital four minutes later, bringing back the empty wheelchair with them.

In total, Gomez's removal by staff took around 20 minutes while responding fire personnel did not arrive at the scene until 3:25, leaving Gomez in the park for around 1 hour and 10 minutes, per the incident report.

Though audio was unavailable in the security footage, investigators spoke with both Garcia and Powell, who told them Gomez had been yelling and screaming profanities at the RN and ER Tech during his treatment process.

According to the police report, Gomez had become "quite agitated" after the nurse placed an IV, saying he wanted to leave and was having pain "all over" after previously being fine. The nurse added that Gomez was under a sheet, unwilling to talk and refusing treatment, so they asked if he would sign an Against Medical Advice (AMA) document.

Once Garcia and Powell were notified that Gomez had signed, they attempted to contact Gomez's mother so that she could pick him up. However, the two told police that when they called, they were met with a message saying the phone was no longer in use or unavailable.

According to Garcia and Powell, Gomez had said his phone was not charged and didn't have service, so he could not call his mother.

Gomez was able to use his phone to look up his mom's number to use the citizen's phone in the park, the police report states. Through verifying phone records, it was also revealed that a six-minute call had taken place between Gomez's mother and the Maryvale Valleywise center's main line, according to the police report.

Garcia and Powell told police that they ran through a list of ways to get Gomez home. A bus pass or cab was on the list, but they decided not to for different reasons, adding that when asked for his address, Gomez kept yelling cross streets and "Fairmount" while hurling repeated expletives in the process.

Powell was going to order a taxi, but the pair ultimately decided against it after saying Gomez would not confirm the address and that "it's not going to look good" if they sent him to the wrong address.

As the two continued to discuss options, they told police that Gomez began to spit toward the ground in their direction. Garcia said he told Gomez to calm down and Gomez yelled out "the park".

Gomez said he did not use profanity toward hospital staff, spit in their direction, or behave belligerently when speaking with investigators.

According to the report, Gomez told investigators that he had asked Garcia and Powell to take him back to the hospital.

"I needed medical attention, my penis was bleeding," Gomez told investigators as stated in the incident report. "Why would I want to go to the park for? They threw me in the dirt with ants."

In a follow-up interview with Garcia, he told investigators that Gomez had yelled "the park, take me to the park", but did not verbally confirm when questioned again, only shaking his head as if to say yes.

According to Garcia, the temperature outside on June 14 was around 100 degrees, which is confirmed by National Weather Service Phoenix data, showing temperatures around the Valley peaking at 101 degrees for the day.

Further questioning by investigators revealed that Garcia said they had not thought about calling the fire department or a paraplegic ambulance, claiming that everyone he advised was fine with what they did.

The thought process behind the decision, according to the report, was that if Gomez needed help, he would get it "with somebody walking by, because the park was filled with people."

Garcia told investigators that he planned to check on Gomez every hour to see if he was still there and if he needed any help, but noticed when Phoenix fire arrived.

"Okay, well, he actually called for help, he got someone to come help him out," Garcia told investigators.

When asked if he knew what Gomez had been seeking medical attention for, Garcia said, "no."

Trail set to begin in January

Prior to their indictment, the suspects were placed on administrative leave.

"Valleywise Health takes all instances concerning patient safety very seriously," Valleywise communications director Michael Murphy said in a statement to The Republic at the time of the arrest. "This incident is an opportunity to reevaluate all of our processes to ensure our health system is providing the highest level of care for each and every patient, even under the most difficult and challenging circumstances."

The trial against the three staff members is expected to start on Jan. 25, 2024, each facing one count of child/vulnerable adult abuse charges.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Report details alleged patient abuse by 3 Valleywise Maryvale staff
We have a president that sees nothing wrong with millions of people illegally rushing across our border. Ironically, he insists there is no problem and that the border remains closed. To whom is the border closed? Six million have crossed illegally since Biden's inauguration. That number does not include the hundreds of thousands of getaways that are unaccounted for.

The President's disregard for Article 4, Section 4, of the Constitution is apparent. It is the responsibility of the federal government to protect the states from invasion by air, land, or sea. Anyone that believes millions of people breaching a countrys borders is not an invasion has serious issues with reality.

The Biden administration argues that they are unable to enforce immigration laws, hence the excuse. That assertion is entirely without merit. We have many appropriate immigration laws. People who lawfully come to America pay thousands of dollars and spend years navigating the complex immigration process. It appears we have a society in which only suckers obey the law. The question lingers: Who will offer an apology to those who play by the rules?

We certainly have a president who appears not to care about the situation. His inaction in addressing the problem is evidence of his indifference. By not responding to our open borders, it seems like this is exactly how he wants things to be. Instead of addressing the crisis at our southern border, our president and his administration have chosen to ignore it.

The fact these illegal immigrants can move around the country unchecked is a cause for concern. We know nothing about the people who are violating our laws and swarming our borders. The numbers are soaring again. It is unmanageable and unsustainable.

The cost to taxpayers is significant, but the intangible cost is even greater. The current state of affairs has led to a sense that breaking the law is no longer taken seriously. After calling for defunding the police, the political left celebrated open borders. The "Great Replacement" theory was popular for a while, but I never gave it much credence. Now, I'm not so sure.

A clear solution exists for this problem. Close the border to illegal immigration.

Mike Zimmerman

Conover
For years on end, Wisconsin has been consumed by political and legal battles over redistricting and what our state legislative and federal congressional maps should look like. It would be an understatement to say that Democrats and Republicans havent exactly seen eye to eye on the matter.

Since 2021 when the U.S. Census Bureau delivered its apportionment counts for Wisconsin, our state has endured endless legal battles, new maps, re-drawn maps, tossed maps, and court-drawn maps. This is not a sustainable path for our state to continue on.

I have always firmly believed that it is the legislatures duty to draw our electoral maps. Wisconsins elected legislators represent every corner of the state, and its important that our democratic system incorporates the voice of every Wisconsinite. That is something only the legislature can do; not the governor and certainly not the judiciary.

In our system of checks and balances, compromises are necessary, and its not fair to the people of Wisconsin to live in a state of political limbo, unclear which district they live in. This could lead to thousands of Wisconsin residents switching districts every other year, unable to depend on consistent representation. The constant battles have also been a drain on taxpayers and a continued standstill could cost millions more.

Iowa model a non-partisan way to restore confidence

That is why I recently proposed that we establish an independent, non-partisan redistricting commission to remove politics from the process, restore confidence in our states electoral system, and help our state move on from the bitter partisan battles of the past two years. Our neighboring state to the southwest, Iowa, has employed a nonpartisan, independent redistricting commission for many years and has had great success with this process. Countless Democrats and even our own governor, Tony Evers , have previously endorsed such a system.

'Iowa model' led to fair electoral maps: Would it work in Wisconsin?

In 2019, Evers proposed Wisconsin adopt the Iowa Model for redistricting for the 2022 elections. A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline read in part, Want to end gerrymandering in Wisconsin? Tony Evers says look to Iowa. You can imagine my surprise and disappointment when he and his colleagues rejected our proposal to enact the very plan they originally endorsed.

If Evers is truly interested in resolving this issue, why wont he take yes for an answer? And why did all Assembly Democrats but one vote no on the very proposal they authored, even after we made changes and adopted 7 amendments to address their new-found concerns? I sincerely doubt this is a simple change of heart; more likely, it appears the financial and political calculus has changed. Deep-pocketed donors have recently committed millions of dollars to advocating for judicial-drawn districts.

Wisconsin Supreme Court justices shouldn't draw maps

Consultants, lawyers, and the political class stand to make a lot of money by a drawn out fight. But this shouldnt be about donors or politics. Wisconsin needs and deserves a resolution to this problem, ideally one decided by our legislative and executive branch, not the judiciary. That is why I proposed the Evers plan to adopt the Iowa model, an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission, that would be created by the legislature and the executive branch.

Partisan advantage: Robin Vos' change of heart doesn't mean he champions fair election maps for Wisconsin

In his 2019 budget address, Gov. Evers said People should get to choose their elected officials. Now, he and his political allies are advocating for state Supreme Court justices to draw our maps, instead of pursuing the more democratic and representative proposal he initially endorsed. We are simply calling on the governor to stick to his word, take yes for an answer, and work with us to help our state move forward.

The alternative, kicking the can down the road and continued instability, is untenable. Lets embrace bipartisanship and cooperation so we can get back to the business of governing, from addressing the cost of living, to ensuring our kids have a quality education, and building a strong economy for all Wisconsinites.

Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, is Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Robin Vos: Assembly Democrats didn't even support a plan they promoted
A tropical bird native to Florida made an unusual visit to the opposite corner of the country, piquing the interest of bird enthusiasts and experts.

The winged traveler, a limpkin  a gangly and speckled swamp-dweller  touched down in Barry County, Michigan, on Sept. 26, according to a Facebook post from the Historic Charlton Park.

The park was busy this morning with birders out to spot this rare visitor, park officials said. As far as we know, this is the first sighting of one in Barry County, and possibly only the third sighting of one in Michigan!

The brown-and-white bird can be seen wading in the Thornapple River and guzzling down snails in photos released by the park.

What are Limpkins?

While theyre widespread throughout Central America, limpkins are typically found in only two American states: Florida and Georgia, according to the National Audubon Society.

The solitary birds wade in shallow marshes, rivers and ponds, foraging for large snails  typically apple snails.

The lanky, long-beaked birds are known for their piercing banshee wails, often heard at dawn or at night, according to the organization.

Theyre named for the way they appear to limp across bumpy wetland terrain, according to the Florida Museum.

Why are they in Michigan?

This is now the third limpkin officially recorded in The Mitten State, Chad Machinski, a conservation manager with the Michigan Audubon Society, told McClatchy News in an email.

The first two were spotted in 2022, while eight other states recorded their first limpkin sightings that year, Machinski said.

The phenomenon was dubbed the Hot Limpkin Summer by the American Birding Association.

Its difficult to pinpoint what exactly might cause the birds peculiar pit stops, Machinski said. But several factors could be at play.

Limpkins can be spurred to wander if their wetland habitats dry up, Machinski said. Parts of Florida, including the Tampa area, are currently experiencing drought, which could trigger movement in limpkin populations.

Florida, which has most of the United States Limpkins, has undergone significant land changes and has lost many freshwater wetlands, Machinski said. This may be putting a strain on the available habitat for Limpkins, causing the birds to be more exploratory.

When it comes to new habitats, Michigan may be appealing as it is home to the Chinese mystery snail, a large invasive species, Machinski said.

So when Limpkins turn up here, they do have a food source, Machinski said.

Young limpkins may also become vagrants if they are pushed from their territories, requiring them to establish their own, Machinski said.

While weather events such as hurricanes have buffeted birds like flamingos across the U.S., they are less likely to affect limpkin disbursement, Machinski said.

Limpkins dont migrate, Machinski said. They are somewhat sedentary birds that are not as exposed to the complications of migration.

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How a U.S. government shutdown may affect weather and disaster prep

Click here to view the video

The United States federal government will shut down at 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 1, if lawmakers dont authorize new spending bills this weekend to fund vast swaths of the governments daily operations, including vital weather data and repairs and upgrades to critical computer modelling.

A government shutdown in the U.S. can have serious consequences for weather forecasters, disaster recovery, and climate and weather data used by experts throughout the global community. While most shutdowns only last for a day or two, some have dragged on for weeks.

Heres how a U.S. government shutdown would affect weather data and disaster preparedness in the days and weeks ahead.

Funding is finite, and tensions flare as the deadline approaches

Government shutdowns can have high-stakes consequences across the U.S. and around the world.

American federal agencies like NOAA, NASA, and the National Park Service are forbidden from spending money without direct approval from Congress. Lawmakers approve of this spending through a series of appropriations bills that cover projects as lofty as the next Moon missions and as humdrum as keeping the spotlights shining on the Washington Monument.

DONT MISS: Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen chosen to fly around the Moon on Artemis 2

These spending bills all expire on a certain date. Under normal circumstances, Congress passes new bills before that expiration date in order to keep things running smoothly.

(WHITE HOUSE) President Joe Biden shakes hands with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

President Joe Biden greets House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he arrives to deliver his State of the Union address, Tuesday, February 7, 2023, on the House floor of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

But increased polarization has turned this relatively bland chore into a spicy ordeal.

Republicans currently hold a very slim five-seat majority in the House of Representatives, meaning that individual lawmakers in this 435-member body can wield significant leverage by threatening to scuttle a deal, essentially triggering a government shutdown unless their priorities are addressed.

This year, the last dollars allotted to keep the government functioning runs out at 11:59 p.m. on September 30, forcing the government to shut down beginning on October 1.

Lifesaving forecasters forced to work without pay

The most tangible effect of a shutdown is the closure of national parks, monuments, and attractionsincluding destinations like Yellowstone, the Statue of Liberty, and possibly even the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.

But essential services like weather forecasting keep on running.

Thousands of government forecasters monitor the skies 24/7 and issue forecasts, watches, and warnings that are critical to the protection of life and property. This includes the National Hurricane Center's (NHC) forecasts for all tropical systems in the Atlantic Ocean.

WEATHER HISTORY: The interesting story behind NOAAs founding in 1970

These forecasters are the epitome of essential workersand theyre expected to report as usual during a shutdown, working without pay for the duration of the political standoff.

(NWS) National Weather Service office Norman, Oklahoma

Meteorologists working at the U.S. National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma. (NWS)

Critical equipment like weather radars, satellites, and observation stations also continue operating during a shutdown, though repairs and upgrades may be delayed until funding is restored.

The two major weather satellites that monitor the skies over the Atlantic and the Pacific are widely used among meteorologists keeping an eye on storms over Canada. These advanced satellites have many complex systemssome of which have failed in the past. Any delays in staffing or funding as a result of this government shutdown could affect satellite coverage over Canada.

Essential employees who work through a shutdown are given their rightful back pay once Congress approves new funding. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers missed two full paychecks during the 34-day shutdown in 2018-19, significantly harming morale and putting them in a financial bind.

Many folks who perform work for the federal government are contractors who may not be eligible for back pay during a shutdown. These workers may wind up looking for other jobs in the event of a prolonged disruption, which may harm long-term projects like weather modelling and computer system upgrades.

The prospect of a lack of staffing for weather models is a critical issue for meteorologists. Major computer models like the GFS, NAM, and hurricane models are run by stateside scientists.

If these experts are furloughed or deprived resources as a result of a shutdown, it could degrade model performance across North America and around the world in the weeks and months ahead, potentially affecting forecast accuracy.

WATCH: Canadian astronaut is heading to the moon, fulfilling a childhood dream

Click here to view the video

Websites go dark, disaster prep and recovery pauses

The website you are trying to access is not available at this time due to a lapse in appropriation.

This simple sentence on a white screen is all visitors will see when they visit most of NOAAs websites during a federal shutdown.

While critical websites like the NHC will stay online to provide life-saving weather forecasts and warnings, most other webpagesincluding climate data, historical archives, and services like the agencys climate change hubwill go dark for lack of funds to keep them running and a lack of employees to tend to their operation.

The American weather agencys wealth of data is relied upon by experts around the world. This in-depth climatological data has uses that go far beyond checking a days record temperatures. Lawyers often seek out certified weather data for legal disputes. Investigators dive into radar data and wind reports after plane crashes.

Its not just the weather thats affected during a shutdown.

(NPS/Diane Renkin) Old Faithful Geyser Yellowstone National Park

Old Faithful Geyser erupts at Yellowstone National Park on January 29, 2011. (NPS/Diane Renkin)

The Washington Post reported on September 27 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began pausing $2.8 billion USD in funding in preparation for the shutdown, holding the money back as a reserve in case it needed to respond to an emergency during a funding lapse.

Such a gap in finances will affect FEMAs efforts to engage in nearly 2,000 long-term disaster relief projects across the United States, according to a press release issued by the White House on September 28.

For example, Wilson County School in Tennessee would continue being unable to push forward with rebuilding due to a deadly tornado that left 100 teachers and 1,000 students without classrooms, the statement read.

The White House outlined further impacts for communities hit by recent storms.

In New Jersey, millions of dollars meant to help rebuild a senior citizen building following Hurricane Ida would remain frozen. And in Florida, hundreds of millions of dollars of Hurricane Ian recovery obligations would continue to be delayed.

Hurricane Ian Summary

SEE ALSO: Streets turn into small lakes in New York as heavy rain triggers flooding

Disaster preparedness would take a significant hit, as well.

FEMAs National Flood Insurance Plan (NFIP) is a vital financial lifeline for folks who live in flood-prone areas. The NFIPs funding stems directly through these annual spending bills authorized by Congress.

Congress must reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by no later than 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2023, to avoid a lapse in the NFIPs authority to sell flood insurance and borrow, the program said in a warning on its website on September 29.

Header image courtesy of Unsplash.

WATCH: Groundbreaking 'saildrone' films inside powerful Hurricane Sam in Atlantic Ocean

Click here to view the video
BOSTON (WWLP)  A federal grand jury has indicted a Massachusetts man on charges stemming from an in-flight incident in March, during which he was accused of trying to stab a flight attendant with a broken spoon.

Francisco Severo Torres, of Leominster, was indicted in a Boston federal court on Wednesday. He faces one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon.

The 33-year-old was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport on March 6 after he allegedly tried to open an emergency exit door while aboard a United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston. He is also accused of attempting to stab a flight attendant in the neck.

Im going to kill everybody: Woman recounts United passengers violent outburst

Prosecutors say the flight crew became aware of the plane door becoming disarmed about 45 minutes prior to landing in Boston. Another flight attendant reported seeing Torres near the door, and believed he had been the one tampering with the handle.

When asked about the door, Torres allegedly responded by asking if there were cameras showing that he had done so, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts.

The suspect later became disruptive and said he planned to kill every man on this plane before declaring he was taking over this plane, according to the release.

Video previously shared with Nexstars WPRI allegedly shows the suspect racing down the aisle toward a small group of people. He then appears to assault one of those people.

Court documents indicate Torres attempted to stab a flight attendant on the neck area three times with a broken spoon. A witness told WPRI the suspect was then tackled by a bunch of other passengers.

As he was running down the aisle, 10 to 15 men on the plane just got up and started chasing him, Lisa Olsen said. [The men] tackled him and restrained him  It took four guys to just sit on him since he was still erratic and screaming.

Suspicious: Flight attendant found dead in airport hotel with cloth in mouth, police say

Members of the flight crew further subdued the suspect afterward, she said. He was arrested upon the flights arrival in Boston, according to court documents.

If found guilty, Torres could face a sentence of up to life in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
With a government shutdown looming, Gabe Vasquez, a former Las Cruces City Councilor and first-term Democrat congressional representative, voted against a Republican short-term spending solution.

During a Friday teleconference on Zoom, Vasquez was joined by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico). The two spoke about the likely government shutdown and the impacts it could have on residents.

We're most certainly going into a government shutdown scenario that is going to cause more harm than any type of good that these extreme members are trying to bring forward, Vasquez said. In New Mexico, and in my district, in particular, we're talking about food for families. We're talking about hungry kids. Benefits from WIC and SNAP that feed our children would be limited, and some would be eliminated under these cuts.

"We're talking about wildfire prevention and assistance during a time where we're trying to get benefits out to the victims of the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and the Black Fire. To not have that support for New Mexicans is completely irresponsible."

Representative Gabe Vasquez speaks to a crowd during a reelection event for Gabe Vasquez on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, at the Mesilla Community Center.

Vasquez said he is working with his colleagues to come up with an agreeable compromise.

Im counting on my colleagues in the Senate, like Senator Heinrich and Senator Ben Ray Lujan, to be able to help strike a deal with leadership that we can all agree to, he said.

The final tally of Fridays vote was 198-232, including 21 Republicans that opposed the legislation.

Congress has until Saturday night to pass a short-term funding bill. If it doesnt pass, 26,000 Federal employees in New Mexico would be affected along with 14,300 active duty and 7,700 National Guard and reserve troops who will work without pay.

A shutdown would also disrupt federal services and programs for families.

We are grinding through a bipartisan agreement in the Senate right now to create a stop gap spending bill, Heinrich said. We are negotiating in good faith. We are very close to a deal in the Senate. We will send that to the House.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich joins Las Cruces community leaders and stakeholders to discuss meeting the housing needs of Dona Ana County residents on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Vasquez, Heinrich discuss possible government shutdown
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Heres whats on TV tonight.

Dateline: Losing Faith (9 p.m., NBC)

Dateline officially starts its 32nd season with a two-hour show on a high-profile murder in Dallas. Correspondent Josh Mankiewicz reports on the fatal shooting of American Airlines manager Jamie Faith in October 2020. Jamie was shot dead in front of his home as he and his wife, Jennifer, walked their dog, Maggie.

The episode features an exclusive interview with Darrin Lopez, the retired Army Special Forces Medic who was convicted of the murder. In the interview, Lopez talks about his relationship with Jennifer Faith and says he was manipulated by her false allegations of Jamies abuse. The episode will give updates on how the case and charges have been resolved.

Also interviewed: homicide detective Chris Walton, detective Eric Barnes, federal prosecutor Rick Calvert, reporter Cyrus Cezar AKA Smash Da Topic, Darrins attorney Juan Sanchez, friends and family members, and others.

Streaming this week:

 A new Netflix four-part series called Encounters landed on Wednesday, presenting four true stories of otherworldly phenomena. Stories include encounters in Texas, a Welsh village, Zimbabwe and Japan. The stories are told from the perspective of firsthand experiencers  in the places where the sightings occurred  and guided by cutting-edge scientists and military personnel, the series goes beyond the science to highlight the profoundly human impact of these encounters on lives, families, and communities.

 The Hulu series The Kardashians returned for Season 4 on Thursday, opening with an episode in which the family goes on vacation to Cabo San Lucas and Kourtney and Kim get into a big fight.

Some programming descriptions are provided by networks.
Images emerged Thursday of Racine native Travis King stepping onto U.S. soil more than two months after he ran across the heavily guarded border into North Korea.

The 23-year-old U.S. Army private became the first American confirmed to be detained in the reclusive country in nearly five years, which sparked international headlines.

King sprinted into the country through the Demilitarized Zone on July 18 after being released from a South Korea prison on an assault conviction. He was released on July 10 and was to be returned home to Fort Bliss, Texas where he could have faced additional military discipline and discharge from the service.

Instead, he was escorted as far as customs but left the airport before boarding his plane. On July 18, King joined a tour group at the Demilitarized Zone and decided to run into North Korea where he detained by North Korean officials shortly thereafter.

Some 72 days later, U.S. officials said Thursday that King landed in San Antonio, Texas after he was expelled from North Korea on Wednesday. His release was secured with the help of Sweden and China.

King's arrival was captured on video by San Antonio TV station KSAT. Dressed in a dark top and pants, he could be seen speaking briefly with people waiting on the tarmac. He shook hands with one before being led into a building.

King appeared to be in good health and good spirits, senior administration officials told USA TODAY on a condition of anonymity this week. King had already spoken with his family.

King is a 2020 graduate of Park High School in Racine and his family lives in the area.

In this photo taken in Seoul on August 16, 2023, a man walks past a television showing a news broadcast featuring a photo of US soldier Travis King (C), who ran across the border into North Korea while part of a tour group visiting the Demilitarized Zone on South Korea's border on July 18. North Korea has decided to expel US soldier Travis King, who was detained after crossing the border from the South in July, the KCNA state news agency said on September 27.

Claudine Gates, King's mother, will be forever grateful to the United States Army and all its interagency partners for a job well done," said Jonathan Franks, a spokesperson for King's family.

We can confirm that Pvt. King was very happy to be on his way home, an official told reporters Wednesday.

The state-run North Korean Central News Agency claimed that King confessed "that he illegally intruded" into the country because "he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army" and that "he was disillusioned at the unequal American society."

The Associated Press said the White House has not addressed those reports. Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, declined to comment, saying he didn't want to speculate on the motives of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

King's legal troubles are likely far from over, but first he will undergo an array of medical and psychological assessments and debriefings.

He was declared AWOL from the Army, but not considered a deserter. Punishment for going AWOL can vary, and it depends in part on whether the service member voluntarily returned or was apprehended. Kings two-month absence and ultimate handover by the North Koreans makes that more complicated.

It's unclear if King will face charges as U.S. officials said their focus is on the physical and mental well-being of King.

Biden administration officials insisted they provided no concessions to North Korea to secure his release.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Video shows Travis King step onto U.S. soil after North Korea expulsion
A boy fishes by the Staunton reservoir on Sep. 4, 2023. The mud bank in the foreground and the lack of water near the top of the dam wall on the right illustrate the lower water level in the reservoir this summer.

STAUNTON  A few rainy days have not been a big help to boosting water levels in Stanton and the city is encouraging everyone to continue their water conservation efforts.

In early September, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality issued a drought warning advisory for the Shenandoah Drought Evaluation Region, that included the City of Staunton. At that time, the city asked that all citizens voluntarily reduce their water use.

"While our conservations efforts are having the desired effect of stabilizing our water supply, and despite the recent rain, water levels at the Staunton Dam are below normal," Amanda Kaufman, assistant city manager, said at the city council meeting Thursday.

Councilor Mark Robertson asked Jeff Johnson, the director of public works, if a recent water main break on the city's west end affected water levels in the city. Johnson said he wasn't sure because there's no way to tell how long the water main had been leaking, so they don't know how much water was lost.

"I will say that when we checked the reservoir levels today, the rain gauge at the reservoir only registered just over a quarter of an inch of rain from the last week," Johnson said. "So the rain we had in the city really didn't get up there. And what did get up there the thirsty ground took a big chunk out of it before it got to the reservoir."

Johnson did say conservation is working and the water level has gone up an inch in the last week.

"So we're holding our current level," Johnson said. "If everyone keeps contributing we'll get out of this just fine."

Here are a few ways residential users can reduce water consumption:

Check toilets for leaks. A leaking toilet can waste over 100 gallons each day. Take shorter showers.90 seconds less each day can save hundreds of gallons a month. Dont use the toilet as a wastebasket. Theres no need to expend five to seven gallons of water to get rid of a tissue or cigarette butt. Turn off the water while brushing teeth or shaving. Only run dishwashers and washing machines when they are full. Water lawns only when needed. If grass springs back after stepping on it, it doesnt need water. Only water lawns early in the morning or in the cool of the evening. Morning is better as it helps prevent the growth of fungus. Dont use a hose to clean driveways, walkways and steps. Use a broom or blower instead. Rinse fruits and vegetables in a bowl of clean water instead of under a running faucet.

Commercial users can reduce water consumption by:

Implementing interior retrofit for all high-water use faucets and materials. Restricting washing of sidewalks, driveways, parking lots or any other paved surface except in the case of meeting health and safety standards. Prohibiting operations of fountains at commercial sites.

If you have any questions about the situation you can call Public Works Director Jeff Johnston at (540) 332.3892.

More: Council candidate Adam Campbell answers The News Leader's questions on issues facing Staunton

More: Virginia ranks #28 in the country for Long-Term Care Services, supports for older Americans: AARP Scorecard

 Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton Drought: Residents asked to continue water conservation
There's been a major change in Canadian Parliament, as the speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota, has resigned. Rota's four-year tenure as the presiding officer of Canada's lower house came to an end after he invited a Canadian-Ukrainian World War II veteran to sit in on a speech given by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

However, it soon came to light that this 98-year-old man had served not for the Canadian Army, but for Nazi Germany. After this fact was revealed, calls came from across the legislature for Rota to step down from his position, something he chose to do days after the speech.

In a statement prior to his resignation, Rota said that he "subsequently became aware of more information" regarding the veteran. How did this lapse occur, and what will happen in the House of Commons moving forward?

What prompted calls for Rota's resignation?

The Canadian Parliament had invited Zelenskyy to give a speech during a visit to the nation's capital, Ottawa. During the speech, the Ukrainian president spoke of defending freedom and thanked Canada for its support during the ongoing Ukrainian-Russian war.

To show support for Ukraine's military, Rota invited 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka to sit in on the speech. The speaker introduced Hunka as a "hero" and "a veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians," prompting a standing ovation from Zelenskyy and Parliament members.

In the days following the speech, however, numerous media reports began to emerge that Hunka had in fact fought on the side of the Nazis during the war. While Rota had introduced him as a veteran of the First Ukrainian Division, this was another name for "what had previously been called the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the 1st Galician Division," according to the Toronto Star. This unit "fought alongside Germany during World War II and declared allegiance to Hitler," The New York Times reported.

While the goal of the unit may have been Ukrainian independence, "being trained by SS officers, you can imagine the kind of political indoctrination they got," Dominique Arel, the chair of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa, told the Times. Hunka's unit "fought for and were trained by Nazis. Theres no question about it.

After Hunka's participation in the division was revealed, calls came from Canadian and Jewish groups alike for Rota to step down. It was "incredibly disturbing to see Canada's Parliament rise to applaud an individual who was a member of a unit in the Waffen-SS, a Nazi military branch responsible for the murder of Jews and others," the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies said in a statement. The center added that Hunka's unit "was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable." All four recognized political parties in the House, including the senior leadership of Rota's own Liberal Party, also urged Rota to resign.

Amidst these universal calls for his resignation, Rota stepped down from his role as speaker on Sept. 27. During a speech announcing his resignation, Rota spoke of his "profound regret" for actions that "caused pain to individuals and communities, including the Jewish community in Canada and around the world."

What's next for Canadian Parliament?

Rota was replaced in the role by Louis Plamondon, who will serve as an interim speaker until a permanent replacement is chosen. The legislature won't have to wait long for this to occur, as an election for a new speaker is slated to take place on Oct. 3.

Four candidates have emerged for the job, according to the National Post. This includes two MPs from Rota's ruling Liberal Party. The first is Greg Fergus, who said the House "needs to have frank, honest debate, but it also needs to be a place where people can speak," per the Post. Alexandra Mendes, another Liberty Party member who is also one of the two assistant deputy House speakers, has also announced her intention to pine for speaker.

The other assistant deputy House speaker, the New Democratic Party's Carol Hughes, has also put her name in the running. The four pledged candidates are rounded out by Conservative Party member Chris dEntremont. Though dEntremont is currently the deputy speaker, the Post noted that it was "rare for an opposition MP to be named speaker."
The value and excitement of the New Hampshire presidential primary is created during the unscripted moments between voters and candidates. For more than 100 years, these exchanges have ensured the people vying for our nations top elected office have heard and understood the hopes and fears of Americans who dont normally have such personal access to their leaders.

In 2016, cries from the hearts of mothers and fathers across New Hampshire ensured future nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton fully understood the pain and devastation of the opioid crisis in the state and nation. In 2020, with Trump in the White House, the action took place in the Democratic primary. In 2023, we have seen the great tradition come roaring back with a particularly robust Republican primary chock full of compelling candidates.

In keeping with that tradition, Seacoastonline and the USA TODAY Network will host 2024 Republican presidential candidates Oct. 10-15 in a series of events at the historic Exeter Town Hall. The town hall forums will be streamed on Seacoastonline.com  the website for the Portsmouth Herald, Foster's Daily Democrat, Exeter News-Letter and Hampton Union  along with USA TODAY and the nationwide USA TODAY Network.

In December 2007, Executive Editor Howard Altschiller welcomed U.S. Sen. John McCain to a Seacoast Media Group town hall with voters in Portsmouth ahead of the 2008 presidential primary. McCain went on to win his party's nomination.

One frustration weve heard expressed by candidates at primary campaign events is the difficulty in getting their unfiltered message through to voters. At these town halls, voters will have the opportunity to ask questions, and candidates will respond directly. Candidates will share a few opening remarks and then have a conversation with voters. Seacoast Medias publications will report on these exchanges in its New Hampshire-based publications, and USA TODAY and the USA TODAY Network will report the conversation to the nation.

Six of the Republican presidential primary candidates have committed to meet with voters between Oct. 10 and Oct. 15: Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and Texas Congressman Will Hurd. Were continuing our discussions with the remaining campaigns and will publish a final schedule of appearances by candidates in early October. Attendance will be first-come, first-served.

6 takeaways from second GOP debate: Rivals call out Trump's absence, claw each other

The location of the forums is ideal.

Candidates will meet with voters in the iconic Exeter Town Hall, which has the distinction of being the only location remaining in New Hampshire where Abraham Lincoln spoke in 1860, just months before launching his presidential campaign.

As the Exeter Historical Society reports: On February 29, 1860, Abraham Lincoln  having just given an electrifying anti-slavery speech at Cooper Union in New York City  arrived in Exeter, New Hampshire, to visit his son, Robert, a student at Phillips Exeter Academy. After speaking to ever-larger, quickly assembled crowds of New Hampshire citizens in Manchester, Concord, Dover, and Exeter, Lincoln went on to accept his party's nomination for President in May of that year, and then to the White House.

Exeter also makes a convincing claim to being the birthplace of the Republican Party, 170 years ago this month.

Amos Tuck, who was from Exeter and lived during the mid-1800s, assembled disenchanted political leaders there in 1853 to establish the GOP, according to the Tuck Society, the Associated Press reported.

Mike Chaney, then director of the New Hampshire Political Library, told AP in 2004, "The Republican Party was clearly founded here in Exeter on Oct. 12, 1853."

The town of Exeter, which owns and operates the historic town hall, has been a helpful and supportive partner in this endeavor.

Seacoast Media Group, USA TODAY, and the USA TODAY Network of newsrooms across the country are honored to provide this access to voters in New Hampshire and our readers nationwide. It is our privilege to bring candidates and voters together for an honest and unfiltered dialogue that will help shape American history.

The First in the Nation primary is alive and well. Candidates will file to run in New Hampshire from Oct. 11-27. With the second debate now in the rearview mirror, candidates are laser focused once again on the Granite State.

As the event draws near, we will bring you profiles of all the candidates, letting you know their priorities for New Hampshire and the nation. Follow our election coverage at Seacoastonline.com.

Howard Altschiller, executive editor of Seacoast Media Group, discusses the future of local news with the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth on May 23, 2023.

Howard Altschiller is Seacoast Media Groups executive editor. He can be reached at haltschiller@seacoastonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Meet GOP presidential candidates at town halls in Exeter NH
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The ninth annual Throwback Machine Spooky Movie Showcase begins a bit early this year, because its October in my heart, and because I was dumb enough to research five movies before realizing that October has only four Saturdays this year.

We can accept that theres beasties lurking in our basements, attics and outbuildings. But once you put any of that on a spaceship, folks generous ability to suspend disbelief often goes out the airlock.

A smart writer would choose this moment to talk about Alien and its sequel Aliens. But no ones ever accused me of being smart, because instead Im going to write about 1998s Species 2, one of those sequels that starts on a spaceship and yes, ends in a grubby outbuilding.

Knowledge of the first film is not needed. Just know it was mostly an excuse for a clutch of established character actors to chase a foxy killer alien through Los Angeles, and that said babe was played by Natasha Henstridge; blonde, tall, Nordic but actually Canadian, and clearly in that stage of her career when her contract said she had no problem being filmed, as they say in Canada, in le buff.

It sure was nice enough for her to come back for the sequel, and good on her bargaining the producers down to just one nude scene as long as she agreed to spend the rest of the movie either in sweaty workout clothes or with strategically placed science stuff glued to her.

Since the first rule of government spending is why have one sexy human-alien hybrid when you could have two for twice the price, she returns here, not as killer alien Sil, but as Eve. Shes a clone kept under strict top secret isolation in a Plexiglas living room, with her, ahem, urges under control, monitored by a team of lady scientists and shielded from all male contact. Although she is allowed to watch "The Dukes of Hazzard," which seems dangerous since you all remember how hunky those Duke boys were, and thats including Coy and Vance.

Those urges get reawaked once a handsome astronaut is infected with black sentient alien goo while on Earths first manned mission to Mars. So yeah, weve got a psychic link thing going on, giving us numerous opportunities to see Ms. Henstridge gasping and writhing around in extreme close ups while he roams around D.C. sowing his alien oats, with, lets just say, alarming results.

Exactly why either he, or Eve, are not able to sense the also-infected lady-astronaut space shuttle co-pilot are never explained. Probably since her very presence was a final remnant of a plot thread included before the producers knew if Henstridge would sign back on or not.

Its the same movie all over again, just gender-flipped and with the brakes disengaged. Although a smart writer might say that the first Species was the story of a lonely alien gal on the make in L.A. with nothing to her name but her looks, and this time, the evil alien dude has way less to worry about thanks to a baked-in patriarchal power structure provided by his ambitious senator father, played by the farmer from Babe, whos grooming him for greater political aspirations. But again, Im not that smart.

Michael Madsen returns from the first film as mercenary troubleshooter (ahem) Preston Lennox, no doubt signing the contract the very second he realized his first line in the movie was, Ladies and Gentlemanthe embassy is secure. Lovely Marg Helgenberger, eternally 38 years old, also returns as the lead lady-scientist in charge of raising Eve right by getting her to remember shes also half-human, an element of the film that, with a running time of barely 90 minutes, is no doubt buried in the loamy earth underneath the cutting room floor.

It shouldnt surprise you that I saw this movie on opening night. For reasons that probably got someone fired, it was booked in one of the two large screening rooms of the Showplace 8 in Mattoon. Counting my friends who I begged to see it with me, there were probably 20 people in attendance, something which actually improved the experience. A girl screamed so loud during the part where an alien tentacle comes exploding out of a corpse and the doctor has to kill it with the swing of a bone saw, that she instantly started nervously chuckling at herself and then we joined suit. One big happy family.

So sure was I that this was going to be a cult classic that I rushed to buy it on VHS when available. I was wrong. I maintain the first half is something to behold, but it never quite jumps through the trapdoor of insanity both feet first the a way a movie like this needs to do to be remembered; ending, like I said, in a barn with our heroes running around with chrome anti-alien puffer guns that wouldnt pass muster in an episode of Sliders while we watch two cheaply-made alien marionettes slathered with goop fight  or do something else, or both. Its awfully hard to tell.

The films distasteful final shot, where our redeemed alien heroine is reduced to yet another motionless corpse chucked in the back of a, for some reason unsupervised, ambulance, implied that Sil, or Eve, or whatever, might returnpossibly in the form of a cat.

This did not occur. When Species 3 premiered, producers just found another young blonde to play the alien  who was herself replaced by yet another young blonde for Species: The Awakening.

Meanwhile, Mathilda May, the also oft-unclothed killer Space Girl from the 1985 sci-fi horror movie Lifeforce has never been replaced or equaled in this regard. Because they never made a sequel, and because shes a brunette. And that movie ends in a cathedral.
Santiago Ochoa's reporting for the Yakima Herald-Republic is possible with support from Report for America and community members through the Yakima Valley Community Fund. For information on republishing, email news@yakimaherald.com.
Jasper Kenzo Sundeen's reporting for the Yakima Herald-Republic is possible with support from Report for America and community members through the Yakima Valley Community Fund. For information on republishing, email news@yakimaherald.com.
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Disney pune pe masa o suma impresionanta pentru a finaliza tranzactia cu Hulu

Disney, care este deja actionar majoritar al Hulu, va cumpara o treime din actiunile platformei de streaming pentru 8,6 miliarde de dolari de la NBC Universal, o filiala a operatorului de cablu Comcast, consolidandu-si astfel pozitia in acest [citeste mai departe]
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot on Friday announced the resumption of its direct flight to Goa from Moscow and Ekaterinburg on September 30. The services will be operated at Goa's Dabolim International Airport, Aeroflot said in a statement. Besides Goa, the Russian carrier will also operate direct flights from Moscow to Delhi.

In line with a bilateral agreement between India and Russia, from September 30, three weekly flights from Sheremetyevo airport will be operated on wide-body Airbus A330 on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, Aeroflot said.

Also read: Akasa Air Mumbai-Varanasi Flight Receives Bomb Threat; Passengers Deplaned

From October 3, three weekly flights from Ekaterinburg will be operated on Boeing 737- 800 on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, it added.

"These flights operated on A 330 to Moscow will cater to cargo demand from the western side of India, where domestic Indian airlines will be benefitted as feeder carriers, similarly road transport will play a significant role for custom bonded cargo transportation from Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai," said Karpov Dmitry, Head of Cargo Department at Aeroflot Russian Airlines.

Traditionally, south India is a favourite place for beach holidays of Russians in fall and winter, the airline said, adding the flights are expected to be in high demand.

"Approximately 15 tons of cargo capacity from Delhi and an additional 10 tons from Goa will allow us to take DG (dangerous goods) and other special commodities," said Anish Khatri, GM global at Delmos Aviation. Delmos Aviation is the general sales and service agent for Aeroflot Russian Airlines in India.
Bhopal: Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath lashed out at the Madhya Pradesh Government for the rape of a minor girl in Ujjain stating that the State has been turned into a "Chaupat Pradesh" (ruined state).

The Congress leader's remarks come after the shocking incident where an 8-year-old girl was found lying in an unconscious state in a pool of her blood in the state's Ujjain district on September 25. Seeing her soaked in blood, locals informed police, who reached the spot and took the girl to the hospital where a medical examination confirmed she was raped.

"A lot of similar such incidents happen in the state that go unnoticed. While some get noticed. But there are a lot of such incidents that happen in the state whose information we do not get. 'Aaj yeh chaupat pradesh bann gaya hai," the former chief minister said.

So far police has arrested two accused in the case. An autorickshaw driver Bharat Soni, the main accused has been charged under the POCSO Act and a case also been registered against him under IPC section 376. The second accused also an autorickshaw driver Rakesh Malviya has been charged with suppressing evidence.

The Special Court in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain has sent Bharat Soni, to a seven-day judicial remand. The prime accused was presented before the Special Court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) in Ujjain.

According to Ujjain Superintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Sharma, the incident was reported within the jurisdiction of the Mahakal police station.

"As soon as we received the information, the girl was immediately taken for a medical examination. The girl was unable to inform the police about what had happened, so a counsellor was called to assist. The counsellor interacted with her and was able to confirm to the Police about the assault, SP Sharma said.

On medical grounds, a case was registered, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed for further investigation. The police launched a probe and collected all available technical evidence, based on which an auto driver was taken into custody.
Amritsar: Farmers in Amritsar, under the aegis of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, continued to sit on railway tracks as they staged a 'Rail Roko Andolan' (Rail Roko Agitation) on Sunday over their demands, including a Committee for MSP (Minimum Support Price), withdrawal of cases regarding agitation in Delhi, and compensation and jobs for families of farmers who died during the agitation.

The farmers sat on railway tracks, disrupting rail traffic in Punjab. DRM Moradabad rail division Raj Kumar Singh said that several trains have been cancelled or delayed due to the protest. The farmers protested half-nude to remind the Central government of the promises it had made to them. The farmers said that the government had promised to implement the MSP Act, compensation for drug-related issues, and many more issues, but it had gone back on its promises.

"Today we have protested while being half nude. The reason for the clothless protest was that the Modi government had promised to implement the MSP Act, compensation issue and many more, which has not been implemented yet. Government seems to forget their promises" said a farmer.

#WATCH | Punjab: Farmers, under the aegis of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, continue to sit on railway tracks as they stage a 'Rail Roko Andolan' over their demands, including Committee for MSP, withdrawal of cases regarding agitation in Delhi and compensation & jobs for pic.twitter.com/ybgfbBdaQH September 30, 2023

The three-day protest called by farmers in Punjab's Amritsar led by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee began on Thursday and will continue on Saturday.

Sarwan Singh Pandher of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, who was present at the protest said, "If anyone tries to be unfair with the farmers of Punjab, then farmers from Haryana will also join Punjab farmers. Farmers are united throughout the country."

"The agitation has been called by 18 unions in North India. Home Minister Amit Shah came to Amritsar and he promised to bring MSP guarantee law but the committee has not been formed yet. The cases that had been registered during the Delhi agitation have not been withdrawn," Pandher said.

Police official Balvir S Ghuman said that massive security has been deployed to deal with the situation.
BILASPUR: Launching a scathing attack on the Congress government in poll-bound Chattisgarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the people have made up their minds to stand up to the "atrocities" perpetrated on them and vote for "change". "A change is in the air in Chhatisgarh. The excitement that I sense among the people itself demonstrates their desire to vote for change. The people of Chhattisgarh have decided not to tolerate the atrocities perpetrated on them by this Congress government," PM Modi said while addressing a Parivartan Maha Sankalp Rally at Bilaspur on Saturday.

He said the dreams and aspirations of the people could only be fulfilled when there is a change of guard at the hustings. "It is my guarantee that we will work to fulfill your dreams and aspirations if voted back. Your dreams will be realised only when the BJP returns to power in Chhattisgarh. No matter how much we try to meet the expectations of the people from the Centre, the Congress government here scuttles all our efforts in this direction," PM Modi said.

He added that Chhattisgarh received thousands of crores worth of central funds for infrastructure development here over the last five years. "Be it for roads, rail, electricity, and various other development projects, we did not leave the state wanting for funds. In public life, the realities seldom stay hidden. The deputy CM (TS Singh Deo) here went on record to say that Delhi does no injustice to the state. The statement ought to have been a matter of happiness for all. However, the Congress can't stomach the praise," PM Modi said.

"The central government approved infrastructure projects worth thousands of crores in Chattisgarh. However, these projects were delayed or stopped altogether," PM Modi said, in a swipe at the ruling party in the state. Before starting his address, PM Modi chanted 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' at the end of two 'Parivartan Yatras' in the state by the BJP.

Earlier in the day, women clad in traditional attire welcomed PM Modi's convoy during a roadshow. A sizeable crowd of cheering locals lined both sides of the road through which the convoy travelled, raising slogans in support of PM Modi. Bilaspur is electorally significant as it accounts for 24 of the 90 assembly seats in the state.

The first Parivartan Yatra began from Dantewada in the southern part of Chhattisgarh on September 12 while the second started from Jashpur in the north on September 15. The first Parivartan Yatra covered a distance of 1,728 km over 16 days, from Dantewada to Bilaspur, covering 21 districts across three divisions.

More than 45 public meetings, 32 welcome meetings and a roadshow were held during the yatra. This is PM Modi's third visit to the Congress-ruled state and second visit to the Bilaspur division within a span of 15 days. The second yatra started with BJP leaders taking blessings of Goddess Khudiyarani. It covered a distance of 1,261 km in 12 days, touching 39 assembly constituencies in 14 districts across two divisions.

More than 39 general meetings and 53 welcome meetings were held during the yatra. BJP did well in Bilaspur in the 2018 Assembly polls, with the division accounting for 7 of the 15 seats that it won. Chhattisgarh was carved out as a separate state from Madhya Pradesh under the Prime Ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

BJP released its first list of candidates for 21 seats in Chhattisgarh in August. The party had lost all these seats in 2018 polls. Elections in Chhattisgarh, along with four other states, would be held before the end of the year.
100 years ago,

Sept. 30, 1923

50 years ago, 1973

25 years ago, 1998

MATTOON  Two separate businesses that offer related services broke ground on a new building Tuesday morning. The 6000-square-foot building at the corner of Lake Land Boulevard and Marshall Avenue is to house the First National Bank Mattoon Community Banking Center and Bank Central Trust. The businesses represent two separate companies that are independent of one another, though they are to be housed in the same building and refer customers to each other. Construction started this week with the projected completion date of about April 1...CHARLESTON  Five EIU students have admitted responsibility for the recent bottle bomb incidents on the EIU campus. The male students who have not been identified in accordance with federal privacy law, have been referred to the university's Judicial Board. After final analysis of the bottles is complete, decisions will be made concerning possible criminal prosecution. It would be "premature" to comment before seeing the report from the EIU Police Department, said State's Attorney Steve Ferguson. The students told police that the bottles contained water and a heating catalyst that would have caused the plastic bottle to heat up and explode, the students said. No other chemicals or harmful devices were included, EIU police said. The students, four juniors and a freshman, said they built the bombs as a prank against a couple of friends who probably would have been responsible for cleaning the mess...MATTOON  The two candidates for state representative in the 106th District are debating about campaign debates. Democrat Carolyn Brown Hodge issued a press release last Friday saying she'll participate in all four remaining public forums and one private forum scheduled by various organizations in the district. Republican Dale Righter said he too will participate in forums but said those are not enough. Righter said the race deserves a one-on-one setting in which the two candidates go more in-depth into issues unique to the state representative race. He challenged Hodge to a one-on-one debate in each of the five counties. Righter said the event sponsored by the EIU student organizations is tentative on his schedule because of an effort by Hodge to "stack" the panel. Righter is upset that one of the proposed panelists, Curt Richardson, the president of the University Democrats, made calls regarding the debate from Hodge's campaign office and signed a letter to the editor attacking Righter. Richardson and Hodge representatives said it should be no surprise to Righter that a panelist from the University Democrats is partisan, just as they expect the panelist from College Republicans to support Righter...MATTOON  A German exchange student who spent a year attending Stewardson-Strasburg High School in 1992-1993 returned for a visit this week. Dana Ritzmann, 22, is a fourth-year University of Dortmund student in Germany and just completed a one-year internship at the West Germany General Newspaper. As a 16 year old, she came to Illinois and lived with Bruce and Susie Carruthers of rural Windsor and graduated from Stew-Stras High School. Ritzmann has spent this week with Larry and Ardis Larvick of Mattoon. Ardis Larvick is a German teacher at Stew-Stras High School. Time also has been set aside to spend with the Carruthers family in Windsor, but she said they are busy harvesting crops.
In a joint operation, Jammu & Kashmir police and Army foiled an infiltration bid in the Machil sector of Kupwara district and eliminated two terrorists. Bodies of both terrorists have been retrieved by the security forces along with arms and ammunition.

Kupwara police said on Twitter, "Based on an intelligence input provided by Kupwara Police, in a joint operation carried by Army and Police in Kumkadi area of Machal sector, 2 infiltrating terrorists have been killed so far. The operation is still in progress."

The area is still under cordon and a search operation is going on. Forces have recovered huge quantities of arms and ammunition, with other materials which Indicates that the infiltrators were coming from Pakistan.

Kupwara police said, So far, 02 AK47 rifles, 4 AK Magazines, 90 rounds, 01 Pakistani Pistol, 01 Pouch and Rs 2100 Pak currency have been recovered from the encounter site. Search continues."

Its the fifth infiltration bid foiled in Kashmir this year so far.
BHOPAL: Launching a scathing at the ruling BJP at his first public rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of making the state "an epicentre of corruption" in the country. Addressing the rally in Kalapipal assembly constituency of Shajapur district in Malwa region, he cited the 'Vyapam scams'.

"MBBS degrees are being sold, exam papers are being leaked and sold, and corruption was done in the construction of Mahakal Lok corridor," he said. Participating in the Congress's Jan Aakrosh Yatra in Shajapur, Gandhi claimed that his party was fighting against the ideologies of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP.

"On one side, there is the Congress and on the other side, there is the RSS and the BJP. On one side, there is hatred and violence and on the other side, there is love, respect and brotherhood," he added. Accusing the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh of not giving adequate compensation to the farmers whose crops get damaged due to heavy rain and drought, he said the farmers in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh have been benefited with various schemes.

"We have fulfilled all promises we had made to the people of Chhattisgarh in 2018, Gandhi said, adding that anyone can visit Chhattisgarh to find the reality." Meanwhile, he reiterated the Congress stand on the Women's Reservation Bill, and pushed for reservation for OBC women within it. "When I ask the question how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, generals are there in the country, PM Modi maintains silence on it. After forming the government at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct a caste census," he added.

He reiterated his claim that the country was being run by only 90 officers, including the Cabinet Secretary and Secretaries at the Centre, while the BJP MPs and MLAs had no role in framing policies and laws in the country. "The RSS and bureaucrats are framing laws instead of elected BJP members," Gandhi alleged.
WASHINGTON: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was struck by how little people in the US, specially officials he met over the last days including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan,, knew about Canada's permissive attitude towards terrorism and the thriving nexus of crime, extremism, and human trafficking that exists in that country. This lack of awareness, the minister said "is a part of the problem".

It was important, therefore, for him to present to them the "accurate picture" and "our point of view" so that the ongoing debate is not confined to just one or two issues but "the bigger picture which has been going on for some time, and it's a very serious picture". "A lot of Americans are astonished, the minister told reporters on Friday, unlike Indians who won't be surprised if told there are people in Canada "who are advocating violence or advocating separatism; there is a history out there".

"I suspect very few American know this, he went on to say, and added: "So, in a way, a lot of what I said at the meetings, I think, was new to the Americans." At an event at Hudson Institute, a think tank, Jaishankar first raised this difference in the way Americans look at Canada and how Indians look at Canada. "When Americans look at Canada they see something; when we in India look at Canada we see something else.

"And that's part of the problem," the minister said, in a thinly veiled criticism of American officials who have been calling on India to cooperate in Canada's investigation into allegations by Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India was behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani activist, in June.

White House and state department officials have expressed "deep concern" over Trudeau's allegations and have said they support the investigation and want India to cooperate. In fact, according to reports, it's the US that provided key information to the Canadians about alleged India links to the killing as part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement that the two countries have with the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Jaishankar said it did not come up in the meetings. "It's important that we, you know, talk it out with the Americans. After all, they are very close to Canada, they are good friends of ours," the minister said about why he brought up the larger context for his American interlocutors. "It's important that they also have an accurate picture, that they have our point of view on this matter as well."

This is a conversation that should continue with focus on all issues. "I'm not prejudging issues. I'm not taking absolutist positions," the minister said. "What we have taken is a very reasonable stance. It should not be that the entire debate focuses on issue one, issue two, and the bigger picture which has been going on for some time, and it's a very serious picture."

To underscore the seriousness of issues at hand, Jaishankar brought up threats faced by Indian missions. "When was the last time that any of our missions was intimidated to a point where it could not continue with its normal functioning? And if someone says this could happen in a G7 country, in the Commonwealth countries it gives you a lot to think about."
Gandhi Jayanti is a day set aside to celebrate and remember Mahatma Gandhi's life and teachings. On this day, people across the country pay tribute to Gandhi's message of nonviolence, simplicity, and sacrifice. Some of the best places to visit in India on Gandhi Jayanti are listed below:

Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad

The Sabarmati Ashram, a tranquil retreat by the river, is located in the center of Ahmedabad. It was Mahatma Gandhi's home before becoming a museum and educational retreat. One cannot help but feel a strong connection to the spirit of the Indian freedom movement when visiting the ashram on Gandhi Jayanti.

Mani Bhavan, Mumbai

Mani Bhavan, which is situated amidst Mumbai's busy streets, acts as a silent observer of Gandhi's influential tactics and movements. His time in Mumbai is best encapsulated by the residence that has been turned into a museum. You should go there if you want to grasp the intricacies of the Mahatma's life in an urban environment.

Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai

Traveling south to Madurai, you can visit the Gandhi Memorial Museum, which presents a thorough account of India's struggle for freedom. The dhoti on display, which is marked with the Mahatma's blood from his murder, serves as a solemn reminder of the price paid for freedom.

Raj Ghat, Delhi

Gandhi's cremation took place at the Raj Ghat, which is now a national shrine. People congregate here during Gandhi Jayanti to pay their respects, present flowers and give prayers. On this day, the President and Prime Minister of India also go to Raj Ghat to honor the Father of the Nation.

Dandi, Gujarat

Gandhi's legendary 'Salt March' took place in the seaside village of Dandi, and it is because of this event that Dandi will always be remembered. When one comes here, one can almost imagine the march of steadfast opponents of the British salt tax.

Gandhi Teerth, Jalgaon

Gandhi Teerth in Jalgaon is the place to go if you're interested in learning more about Mahatma Gandhi's life in-depth and academically. It acts as a hub for philosophical inquiry and discussion on a global scale.
LONDON: Indias High Commission to the United Kingdom on Saturday said it has reported to authorities in the UK the disgraceful incident at the Glasgow Gurudwara where elements from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised for the Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami. On September 29, 2023, three persons- all from areas outside Scotland-deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised by the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner and the Consul General of India. This interaction was to discuss community and consular issues, the High Commission of India, London said in a statement today.

The High Commission further said that it has reported this disgraceful incident to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police. Multiple community organisations including the organisers, comprising senior community leaders, ladies and Committee members and a member of the Scottish Parliament, have formally regretted the incident and have urged the authorities to take action against the culprits, the statement read.

They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival, it said. The Indian Mission also stated that one of the non-local extremist elements attempted to violently force open the High Commissioner's car door  a matter that will require suitable police consideration.

The Indian mission in London also said that due to the quick reaction of one of the organisers, who physically intervened at the car door, a bigger incident was avoided. The statement was released after purported social media videos showed Doraiswami being accosted near the parking area of the gurdwara located on Albert Drive in Glasgow reportedly by pro-Khalistani elements who blocking the Indian envoy from entering the gurudwara.

On Vikram Doraiswami, Indian High Commissioner to the UK, allegedly stopped from entering a Gurudwara in Scotland, High Commission of India, London says "On September 29, 2023, three persons-- all from areas outside Scotland--deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organized pic.twitter.com/pAUmo5ijXl September 30, 2023

Government sources earlier today said that India had raised the issue with the United Kingdom foreign office and the police. Doraiswami was on Friday stopped by a few radicals from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow. The Indian High Commissioner decided to leave instead of getting into an argument," the sources had said.

The latest incident comes amid a diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar this June outside a gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
JAIPUR: A youth lost their life in a violent altercation in Jaipur following a collision between two groups of bikers and a verbal exchange, as confirmed by the police on Saturday. Subhash Chowk's Station House Officer (SHO), Suresh Singh Khatik, stated that Iqbal (18), son of Abdul Majeed and a resident of Ramganj, was lynched during the altercation.

According to reports, Iqbal's motorcycle collided with another two-wheeler at around 10:45 pm in Gangapol. An argument ensued between the two young individuals involved in the collision, escalating into a clash between the two groups. Unfortunately, Iqbal sustained severe injuries to his legs and head during the confrontation and tragically passed away.

The Director General of Police, Umesh Mishra, promptly issued orders for the immediate apprehension of those responsible. Authorities have detained around a dozen suspects, and the situation is reported to be under control in Subhash Chowk and Ramganj areas of Jaipur, according to the police. Following the incident, today a huge protest erupted in the area and hundreds of people blocked roads as shops remained shut.

A heavy police presence has been deployed, including the Special Task Force (STF), and the Police Commissioner, along with senior officers, are on-site overseeing the situation. Drones are being utilized for monitoring, ensuring a vigilant approach, stated Mishra. He emphasized that strict actions would be taken in accordance with the law against all individuals involved in the incident. Mishra also urged the public to maintain peace and order during this challenging time.

Meanwhile, the state government has announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the victim's family.
SPRINGFIELD  Downstate members of Illinois' congressional delegation expressed a mix of frustration and resignation over the increasing likelihood that the federal government will shut down on Sunday.

The sentiment comes as federal lawmakers continued working vainly into the weekend towards reaching an agreement on a spending plan, with the Democratic-controlled Senate advancing a bipartisan bill that would fund the government for about a month-and-a-half.

But that plan has been rejected by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose own plan to keep the government open failed Friday afternoon after 21 far-right Republicans joined with Democrats to tank it.

McCarthy has been imperiled for weeks by the arch-conservative bloc of his caucus, who have threatened to oust him from his role if he compromises on a spending plan.

"I think Speaker McCarthy is more focused on keeping his own job than keeping the government running," Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, told Lee Enterprises in an interview. "He is putting his own job above country. And I don't say that lightly. And we see that because there was a bipartisan agreement that should have been our north star as to how we were going to pass a budget to keep the government open."

Budzinski said that, under pressure from his most conservative members, McCarthy "is walking back" on the funding levels that he agreed to in the debt ceiling deal he cut with President Joe Biden this summer.

The frustration among members of Congress from both parties has been palpable, though Democrats have been more direct in their critiques of McCarthy and the conservative holdouts.

Budzinski and Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Moline, though fashioning themselves as bipartisan dealmakers, both referred to the small cohort of House Republicans in separate interviews as the "chaos caucus."

"In any previous Congress, this wouldn't be a problem because we're in agreement," Sorensen said. "But what's happening today is there's a very small faction of extremists in our government that have taken everything hostage."

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, though criticizing Democrats for not getting on board with the GOP-backed appropriations bills that passed earlier in the week, said it "makes no sense to me" why his fellow conservatives would not support McCarthy's stopgap measure to keep the government open.

"I don't have an answer for what they do or why they do it," Bost said. "I am a governing conservative. The bills that we have passed so far are some of the very most conservative bills dealing with the ... national debt ... fully funding veterans, fully funding the military and still making sure that Social Security and all of these issues are taken care of."

"The bad thing is that we have, I believe, negotiated in good faith to get them on board," Bost continued. "And I don't know whether they have a problem with the speaker or whether they just want to get on Fox News (or) whether they want to get likes on their social media page."

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, was among the 21 far-right members who voted Friday against McCarthy's short-term spending bill that would have kept the government open, though she did support four appropriations bills that passed on a partisan roll Thursday night. Those are viewed as having little to no chance of passage in the Senate.

"I voted no on the continuing resolution because I will not be part of the process to kick government funding down the road until the holidays, when Senate and House 'insiders' will agree to ram through some massive omnibus with Ukraine funding behind closed doors," Miller said in a statement.

American aid for the war-torn eastern European country has become a hot-button topic in the government funding debate, with some House conservatives seeking it removed from the larger defense spending bill.

With all this, most members who spoke with Lee Enterprises seemed resigned to the view that it is not a matter of if there will be a shutdown, but how long it will last.

Bost said that even if progress was made in the next 24 hours, the process of reaching consensus between the House, Senate and White House would likely take time.

"I think it is responsible to be starting to prepare for the likelihood of what looks like will be a shutdown on the 30th," added Budzinski.

Sorensen said he was worried about the 7,448 federal workers that live in his district who will go without a paycheck during a shutdown.

He said constituents will feel it in other ways too, such as pregnant women, new mothers and children who will lose access to the WIC nutrition assistance program. Or those who need passports if they are planning to travel for the holidays.

"These are the real impacts that we're going to have in our district and that's just here at the beginning," Sorensen said. "If this is a prolonged shutdown, then the ramifications get greater and greater with each passing day."

Bost, who has 11,026 federal workers in his district, which includes Scott Air Force Base, said he was worried about the impact a shutdown could have on servicemembers and veterans.

"A shutdown is bad," Bost said.

Budzinski said she would support the continuing resolution that has garnered bipartisan support in the Senate if it is brought for a vote in the House.

"It very closely aligns with what was negotiated with by Speaker McCarthy and President Biden during the debt ceiling discussion and something that I already voted for," she said.

Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Sorensen said he's "an eternal optimist," noting his belief that "85% of the people in Congress today are here to do the work of the people."

"I do believe that common sense could prevail here," Sorensen said.

But the clock is ticking.

U.S. states with the most job openings U.S. States With the Most Job Openings Hires have failed to keep pace with soaring job openings The leisure and hospitality industry has the most job openings Alaska and Hawaii have the highest job openings rates 15. West Virginia 14. Indiana 13. Maryland 12. Massachusetts 11. North Carolina 10. Missouri 9. Vermont 8. South Carolina 7. Michigan 6. Wyoming 5. New Hampshire 4. Georgia 3. Montana 2. Hawaii 1. Alaska
The Commonwealth Edison scandal engulfing indicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is now costing its parent company, Exelon Corp., $46.2 million in penalties under a new settlement with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC charged Exelon and ComEd with fraud in the alleged scheme to influence and reward Madigan as several lucrative pieces of utility legislation passed the Democratic-dominated General Assembly from 2011 to 2019. Exelon agreed to pay the penalty, the SEC said.

Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore also faces new SEC bribery-related charges, but her case will be litigated, according to the commission. Pramaggiore already was convicted in the high-profile ComEd Four corruption case in federal court this year and awaits sentencing in January.

The new SEC penalties follow ComEds July 2020 deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorneys office to pay a $200 million fine and cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for dropping a bribery count against the electric utility. The bribery count was dropped earlier this year.

The Illinois Commerce Commission also previously approved a roughly $38 million refund for ComEd customers  or about, on average, a little less than $5 per residential customer  to address the question of whether customer costs were tied to the inappropriate conduct. The refund was derided by one utility watchdog as chump change.

The developments in the SEC investigation and the $46.2 million settlement were based entirely on past conduct that led to the previous agreement with the U.S. attorneys office, according to an Exelon statement.

Exelon said it has since substantially enhanced its compliance program and corporate governance by putting in place additional policies, controls, oversight and employee training aimed at preventing the prior conduct from happening again.

Pramaggiores criminal defense attorney, Scott Lassar, declined to comment on the SEC charges on Friday.

Madigan, the longest-serving state House speaker in American history before his own colleagues ousted him from the job in 2021, is charged in a sweeping racketeering case and faces an April 1 trial. The once-mighty Chicago Democrat has pleaded not guilty.

The trial is expected to focus heavily on allegations ComEd, while the utility successfully pushed its legislative agenda, went along with Madigans recommendation for a ComEd board appointment and showered his allies with no-work jobs, legal work and college internships.

ComEd acknowledged in the July 2020 deferred prosecution agreement that the legislation it successfully passed was worth more than $150 million in benefits for the utility. ComEd also acknowledged payments of more than $1.3 million went to Madigan associates, according to the SEC.

A large portion of the payments allegedly were funneled through lobbyists in an attempt to conceal the activity and help ComEd mask its responsibility to oversee Madigan associates who did little or no work.

In the SEC complaint against Pramaggiore, the commission alleged she participated in, and in some instances directed, the bribery scheme and lied to Exelons auditors. She allegedly misled investors when she characterized ComEds lobbying activities as legitimate.

As alleged in our complaint, Pramaggiores remarks to investors about ComEds lobbying efforts hid the reality of the long-running political corruption scheme in which they were engaged, said LeeAnn G. Gaunt, chief of the SEC Enforcement Divisions Public Finance Abuse Unit. When corporate executives speak to investors, they must not mislead by omission.

The SEC said Exelon and ComEd consented to a cease-and-desist order that found the utilities violated antifraud and accounting controls required under federal securities laws.

Along with Pramaggiore, a federal jury in the ComEd Four case convicted Madigans most prominent confidant, Michael McClain, a ComEd contract lobbyist, as well as John Hooker, a longtime ComEd executive and lobbyist, and Jay Doherty, the former City Club of Chicago president and ComEd contract lobbyist who distributed ComEd payments to Madigan pals.

McClain is a co-defendant with Madigan in the April racketeering trial and he has also pleaded not guilty.

Though the Madigan racketeering case is heavily tied to the alleged ComEd scheme, it also includes similar allegations involving AT&T Illinois. AT&T has similarly agreed with the U.S. attorneys office to pay a fine, in its case for $23 million.

Next years Madigan-McClain case also alleges Madigan worked with now-disgraced Ald. Danny Solis, 25th, in a failed attempt to transfer state-owned property in Chinatown to the city of Chicago with an eye on eventually getting a hotel developer to send property tax business to Madigans private law firm.

The longtime Madigan & Getzendanner firm has now changed its name to Holland Hicks Law. It is in recognition of partners Jeffrey Holland and Harold Hicks.
Hank Aaron is a personal icon. His chase of Babe Ruths home run record captured my attention. My admiration for Aaron grew after learning about the racist threats Aaron endured as a Black man chasing the record. Aaron persevered in the face of this ugliness, responding with dignity.

I was reminded of this youthful esteem when reports revealed that Hank Aarons Dream, a book for Aarons courage, was blocked from Florida classrooms while its content were reviewed. How could the story of a national hero be controversial? The explanation is that discussion of racism could somehow make some white students feel bad.

The American Library Association recently reported that attempts to ban books in public libraries increased by 20% in 2023, compared to last year.

We think that banning books occurs in other states. Governor Pritzker recently signed a measure that denies some state funds to libraires that do not put policies in place that require careful, thoughtful processes before books are removed from circulation.

But book ban mania is present in Illinois. In Yorkville, the school board recently voted to remove "Just Mercy" by civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson from the curriculum. The book explores racial bias in the criminal legal system, focusing on two Black men wrongly convicted for murder who spent years on death row, and Stevensons fight to vindicate them. At least one person in the Yorkville situation suggested the school needs to offer an alternate view of racism in the legal system.

This objection is simply absurd, as students who spoke at a September school board meeting well understood. Are we Florida now? one asked.

This local incident fits a national pattern. Across the country a handful of parents are targeting mainly books that feature themes and voices from the LGBTQ+ community as well as those of people of color. According to the Washington Post, just 11 people were responsible for the vast majority of book ban requests.

But it is not enough for supporters of book bans limit marginalized voices; those favoring bans actually suggest that these voices are somehow dangerous.

Opponents of LGBTQ+-themed books regularly claim that they are pornographic or actually amount to grooming children for sexual activity. Materials that candidly discuss our history with race are labeled as anti- American, suggesting that factual history makes white students  especially young people  feel collective guilt about this history. These materials allow youth who are LGBTQ+ to see themselves represented in print and allows all of us to reflect on the racial bias that has marked so much of our history.

The hyperbolic words have consequences. Illinois public libraries recently experienced a spate of bomb threats, causing the libraries to close. It is time for us to act  we simply cannot allow libraries and librarians to be portrayed as a threat.

As we mark Banned Books Week, we must speak up against the calls to ban certain stories and voices even in Illinois. Each of us should stop by our local library and express appreciation to the librarians build collections that serve a diverse community. And, we should commit to speaking at school board and library board meetings to say that while any parent can keep their child from being exposed to materials they do not like, they cannot make that choice for an entire community.

Hank Aaron remains a hero. His story is inspirational, not dangerous. No ideological movement can change that fact.
The Illinois Senate Republicans are amplifying complaints made earlier by the Illinois Republican Party and others about a massive economic development project in Manteno.

The ILGOP complained in a recent fundraising email about the encroachment of the Chinese Communist Partys influence on the economy, then connected Gotion, Inc. to the CCP. Gotions American subsidiary is building a massive $2 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Kankakee County with big help from state and local governments.

Elements of the far right, including former state Rep. Jeanne Ives and various newsletters and social media forums, have essentially claimed that the communists are using taxpayer funds to build some sort of spy base, or use it to promote CCP activities, or something. Its not totally clear what. The state GOP claimed the plant would be built right next to a military base, which isnt true, unless you count National Guard and Army Reserve camps in that category.

Anyway, the Senate Republicans expressed their own concerns in what was supposed to be a private letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week which I obtained. Gotion is based in California, but its parent company was founded in China and has standard language in its Chinese charter about how it will carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.

During your conversations with Gotion Inc., the SGOPs asked the governor, were there any discussions concerning whether the company will continue to ensure necessary conditions for carrying out Party activities while in Illinois?

Man, what I wouldnt give to see Chinese commies try to organize a cell in Manteno. That would be a hoot.

Look, the Chinese are already here. Several Chinese companies invest in Illinois and several Illinois companies do business in China. The computer used to create that letter was probably made in China or has lots of Chinese components.

More importantly, Illinois Manufacturers Association CEO Mark Denzler pointed out to me when I called that a federal process exists to assess security risks for companies like Gotion and, he said, that process will play itself out here as well. Denzler, a lifelong Republican, doesnt seem to have any major concerns and was at the projects Manteno unveiling. Gotion was already given a federal green light in Michigan.

The U.S. Departments of Defense, Justice and State have not expressed any qualms about the project that anyone knows of. The company is required to invest $2 billion and create at least 2,600 good-paying jobs. Gotion is using American workers to build a product with lots of American-made components for American-made automobiles. Yeah, its the Chinese government. They have to be watched, for sure. But thats not the states responsibility. Thats on the federal government.

And the Senate Republicans questions about whether the plants workers will be union members or whether there are any safeguards for workers rights have some legitimacy, particularly since a majority of the caucus voted for the union-backed Workers Rights Amendment.

Manteno is about 15 miles from the Indiana border. If Gotion had opened its massive new plant in Hoosierville, the Republicans wouldve undoubtedly pounced on the governors failure.

Manteno is represented in the House by a Republican, Rep. Jackie Haas, who supports the project. The state party and Senate Republican attacks are not sitting well with the House Republicans, but theyve had to remain mostly silent.

The governor has put an enormous amount of time and effort into getting this deal done. Illinois has a bad reputation among business types. Overcoming those reputational hurdles aint easy, which is why Pritzker has had to work so hard to achieve this goal.

Pritzker also believes that closing this deal will convince other companies to follow along. So, hes not about to sit back while people dump on this accomplishment.

The letter Pritzker sent back to the Senate Republicans was brutal, accusing them of doubling down on your own irrelevance.

Opposing 2,600 jobs and $2 billion dollars in investment for a community that needs it is a curious position, but I have long since stopped trying to understand what the Illinois Republican Party has become, he wrote.

The Republicans replied that they were simply asking some questions and would still like them answered. Then again, a cynic could point to the fact that Democratic Sen. Patrick Joyce is up for reelection next year. The Manteno plant is in his district, and he is an enthusiastic supporter.
COLES COUNTY  Eastern Illinois Foodbank is distributing food to area families facing food insecurity.

The Foodmobile will travel throughout Coles County from 9 a.m. 2 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 11.

Distributions times and locations include:

Humboldt: Fire Department, 400 Commercial St., 9-9:30 a.m.

Oakland: Main and Walnut streets, 10-10:30 a.m.

Ashmore: Ashmore Community Center, 211 S. Illinois St., 11-11:30 a.m.

Lerna: Main 5th streets, 12:30-1 p.m.

Mattoon: Old State Village Manufactured Housing Community, 1501 Old State Road, 1:30-2:15 p.m.

Those attending are asked to bring boxes or bags to transport food.

The distribution is part of the Foodbanks Foodmobile Program, a system of mobile food pantries designed to help bring nutritious food to rural or underserved areas.

Those planning to attend should pre-register at www.EIFclient.com, although doing so does not guarantee a place in line. Income guidelines can be found eifoodbank.org/help/mobile.html
Q: What is the new construction on the corner of Reynolda Road and Winona Street in Winston-Salem? A.J.

Answer: According to information from the City of Winston-Salem, the building will be a blood plasma donation center.

Q: Can you give me the status of daylight saving time? Some say its the same and some say we are on it permanently? D.D.

Answer: No, daylight saving time is not permanent. The time will change back to standard time at 2 a.m. on Nov. 5. Set your clocks ahead one hour.

In March, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida introduced a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. Rep. Vern Buchanan, also of Florida, introduced a similar bill in the House. The bill passed in the senate but has not been approved by the House.

In March, a bill was introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly to make daylight saving time permanent in North Carolina if Congress makes it permanent in the country. All the bills are pending.

Q: How can I sign up to stop junk mail? Im tired of having to sort through a mountain of offers for things I dont want. T.W.

Answer: There are a couple of groups that handle removing names from junk mail.

One is DMA Choice (DMAChoice.org), which is sponsored by the Association of National Advertisers. You can register online for a $4 processing fee, which is good for 10 years. You can also register by mail for a $5 processing fee, also good for 10 years. The registration form is found at DMAChoice.org.

Family members or caregivers can also register someone who has died to get their name off mailing lists for companies and nonprofit organizations. There is no charge for the Deceased Do Not Contact List.

This covers most all direct mail advertising. It will not stop mail from companies that you have an existing relationship with, nor will it stop advertising from local businesses. DMAChoice does not ask for Social Security numbers.

There is another organization that will help cut down on unsolicited mail. Its website is www.optoutprescreen.com. It is sponsored by the big four credit-reporting services (Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion) and is for stopping prescreened credit and insurance offers. It asks for Social Security numbers.

According to the website the reason for providing your Social Security number is to make sure the correct person is being removed.

Your Social Security number and date of birth are not required to process your request. However, providing this information will help to ensure that we can successfully process your request.

This websites security protocols and features are designed to protect your personal information from unauthorized access or alteration. As an added security measure, we only display the last four digits of your Social Security number on the confirmation screen.

If you do not provide your Social Security number, we will attempt to process your request without this information.

Optoutprescreen.com will remove names from prescreened credit and insurance offers only.
Services

Ardmore Baptist Church, 501 Miller St., Winston-Salem, will celebrate World Communion Sunday with one service at 10:45 a.m. Sunday. Pastor Scott Hsu, of the Winston-Salem Chinese Christian Church, will be the guest speaker continuing the sermon series about meals and food shared in the scriptures. This weeks sermon is titled A Meal that Heals exploring Matthew 14:13-21 & 15:29-38. Ardmore Baptist and the Chinese Christian Church will worship and partake of communion together. Online worshipers are encouraged to gather their communion elements before the service. The service will be live streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Bible study groups for all ages meet at 9:30 on Sunday mornings. All Together Ardmore fall classes and small groups, many of which meet on Sundays from 4 to 6 p.m. began Sept. 17. Signups are still available on the church website. For more information, go to www.ardmorebaptist.org.

Mount Carmel United Methodist Church, 4265 Ebert Road, Winston-Salem, will have worship at 10 a.m. Sunday. Sunday school is at 8:45 and childrens church starts at 9:30 a.m. There will be a New Beginnings dinner church for all ages from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Everyone is invited for a free meal, a message and music in the church fellowship hall.

Victory on the Frontline Church and Event Center, 4307 Welcome-Arcadia Road, Arcadia, Sunday morning starts at 9:30 with a light breakfast. Sunday school for all ages starts at 10. The Victory worship service with Pastor Michael Duffy begins at 11. Wednesday evening, choir practice will be at 6 p.m., a fellowship meal will be served at 6:30 and the Just as I Am casual and family service is at 7. For more information, call 336-577-2873 or email mktvfl@att.net.

Green Street United Methodist Church, 639 S. Green St., Winston-Salem, will have an in-person service at 8:45 a.m. Sunday. The 11 a.m. service is held in-person and is streamed online via Facebook and YouTube and is a blended service featuring jazz and blues musicians as well as hymns, spirituals and elements of social gospel. The 8:45 a.m. service is a quiet, contemplative space including prayer, scripture, preaching and communion. Masks are optional in the building for services with some exceptions. For more information, go to www.greenstreetumc.org.

New Unity Missionary Baptist Church, 2946 Ivy Ave., Winston-Salem, invites you to join Pastor Willie Davidson and the New Unity Church Family each Sunday morning at 10 a.m. for in-person worship service. Let us praise the Lord together. Masks are available.

Trinity Methodist Church, 3819 Country Club Road, Winston-Salem, invites you to worship at 10 a.m. each Sunday. The Rev. Doug Miller is the lead pastor ordained in the Global Methodist Church. During worship there will be special music, busy bags for children, and prayers for the community and our congregation. There are two Sunday school classes for adults. One is at 9 a.m. and the other is at 11 a.m. You are invited to the Connection Cafe which consists of light refreshments and coffee at 9:15 a.m. in the fellowship hall. For more information, call the church office at 336-765-0150.

First Baptist Church  East, 700 N. Highland Ave., Winston-Salem, will have a worship service at 10 a.m. Sunday. Pastor A. Ray Campbell, the interim pastor, will deliver the message. The service is available on Facebook and YouTube. For more information, go to fbcwinston.org.

Parkway United Church of Christ, 1465 Irving St., Winston-Salem, worships at 11 a.m. Sunday. The sermon series on Touchstones for Building Trustworthy Community will continue. For more information, go to www.parkwayunited.org, or call 336-723-1395.

Lewisville United Methodist Church, 6290 Shallowford Road, Lewisville, will have contemporary worship at 9 a.m. Sunday in the fellowship hall. Sunday school is at 10 a.m. and traditional worship is in the sanctuary at 11 a.m. For more information, go to lewisvilleumc.org.

Unity Moravian Church, 8300 Concord Church Road, Lewisville, will have adult Sunday school at 9:45 a.m. and worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday. The service at 11 is in-person and live streamed. A nursery is provided. Childrens church is offered during the worship service. For more information, go to www.unitymoravianchurch.org or call 336-945-3801.

Mount Tabor United Methodist Church, 3543 Robinhood Road, Winston-Salem, offers two Sunday services: 9 a.m. modern worship in the Alspaugh Worship Center, and 11 a.m. traditional worship in the sanctuary. Both services are available online at http://youtube.com/MountTaborUMCVideoStreaming and the Mount Tabor United Methodist Church Facebook page. For more information, visit www.mttaborumc.org or call 336-765-5561.

Winston-Salem Friends Meeting, Quaker church, meets at Fairview Moravian Church, 6550 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem. Sunday morning live services begin with Unprogrammed (silent) Worship at 9:15, First-Day (Sunday) school for adults at 9:30, and Meeting for Worship at 10:30. David Teague will bring the message Sunday. We are a community of seekers who meet together to worship God. We seek to express our faith through action, focusing on peace and social justice. We seek to find the Light of God in ourselves and in others. We seek to treat all persons with equality and integrity. For more information, email mary.simmons51@icloud.com.

New Philadelphia Moravian Church, 4440 Country Club Road, Winston-Salem, will meet in-person at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Sunday and will live stream its 9:30 service on Face-book.com/newphiladelphiamoravianchurch. You do not need a Face-book account to view the service. If you are unable to view the live stream, a recorded version is on the churchs YouTube page.

Ardmore United Methodist Church, 630 S. Hawthorne Road, Winston-Salem, has a traditional service at 10 a.m. and a contemporary service at 11:15 Sunday. The Rev. Bob Kerr and the Rev. Katy Medinas Lockley welcome all and lead the worship service. A special family Worship for children is held inside. Services are streamed on YouTube. For more information, go to ardmoreumc.org or call the office at 336-723-3695.

Lewisville Baptist Church, 125 Lewisville-Clemmons Road, Lewisville, invites all to celebrate Jesus Christ at 10 a.m. Sundays. Services are live streamed on Facebook and YouTube. Sunday school is at 9 a.m. There will be midweek activities for all ages at 6 p.m. Wednesdays. For more information, go to lewisvillebaptist.com.

Kingswood Church, 6840 University Parkway, Rural Hall, welcomes all to their Sunday services. Sunday school for all ages begins at 10 a.m. The traditional worship service begins at 11 and is led by the Rev. Mark Muckler. Weekly worship services, and other ministry related events, are also available online on the Kingswood Facebook page. For more information, call the church at 336-969-5437.

Olivet Moravian Church, 2205 Olivet Church Road, Winston-Salem, will have Sunday school at 9 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall and an inside worship service at 10 a.m. Sunday. The worship service will also be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube. For more information, call the church office at 336-924-8063.

Salem Creek Friends Meeting (Quakers) meets in the parsonage of Fries Memorial Moravian Church, 271 N. Hawthorne Road, Winston-Salem. The unprogrammed meeting for worship starts at 10 a.m. each Sunday. For more information, email clerk@salemcreekfriends.org.

Burkhead United Methodist Church, 5250 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, invites you for worship at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday. Sunday school classes begin at 9:15 and 9:30. The service is also available on the website and the Facebook page. For more information, go to www.burkheadumc.org or call 336-765-6590, ext. 3.

Konnoak Hills Moravian Church, 3401 Konnoak Drive, Winston-Salem, will have a worship service at 10 a.m. Sunday. The church receives a drive-thru food offering for Sunnyside Ministry each Sunday. Drop off non-perishable donations from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Primary needs are canned vegetables, crackers, pasta, rice, cereal, dry/powdered milk and bread. For more information, call 336-788-9321.

Union United Methodist Church, 8935 Shallowford Road, Lewisville, will have a Sunday worship service at 9:30 a.m. with Sunday school at 10:45. For those who cannot worship in person, the service is live streamed and archived on Facebook. Live and archived services may also be viewed on the churchs website, unionumclewisville.org.

Clemmons First Baptist Church, 3530 Clemmons Road, Clemmons, will have Sunday school at 9:15 a.m. At 10:30 a.m. Sunday there will be an in-person worship service. The Rev. David Pace will bring the message. The service will also be live streamed on Facebook and YouTube. For more information, call 336-766-6486 or go to cfbctoday.org.

First Waughtown Baptist Church, 838 Moravia St., Winston-Salem, doors will open at 8 a.m. for Sunday school at 8:15 a.m. This weeks lesson is Inward and Outward (Scriptural Reference  Romans 212-16, 28-29; Key verse Romans 2:29). At 9:45 a.m., the FWBC will celebrate the 40 anniversary of Pastor Dennis W. Bishop as senior pastor. The theme will be Supernatural Ministry Requires Supernatural Power and Annointing, based on Zechariah 4:6b. The service will also honor Pastor Bishops 55 years in ministry. Overseer Michael Ellerbe, pastor of New Beginnings Full Gospel Ministries in High Point, will be the guest preacher for the service. He will be accompanied by his congregation. The service will also feature the FWBC Youth Reunion Choir.

Home Moravian Church, 529 S. Church St., Winston-Salem, will have in-person and live stream worship at 10 a.m. Sunday. Bible discussion via Zoom and in-person will be held after the service using the adult programing link on the churchs website.

Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, 1905 N. Jackson Ave., Winston-Salem, will have joint Sunday school Bible study at 10 a.m. and morning worship at 11. COVID protocols are practiced. Paul W. Hart is the pastor.

Pfafftown Christian Church, 3323 Transou Road, Pfafftown, invites everyone to worship in the sanctuary at 11 a.m. each Sunday. The Rev. Rodney Stilwell is the pastor, and the Rev. Timothy Shoaf is the minister of Music and Programs. Other events and ministries are listed online at www.pfafftownchristian.org. For more information, call 336-692-5214 or the church office at 336-924-9925.

New Friendship Baptist Church, 4258 Old Lexington Road, Winston-Salem, will have Sunday school at 9:15 a.m. A morning worship service will begin at 10:30 a.m. For more information, call the church office at 336-788-3112.

Clemmons Presbyterian Church, 3930 Clemmons Road, Clemmons, invites you to worship at 10 a.m. Sunday. The Rev. Leigh Wisner will bring the morning message and the Lords Supper will be celebrated during World Communion Sunday. The service will be in-person and live streamed on YouTube at youtube.com/ClemmonsPresbyterianChurch. For more information, go to www.clemmonspresbyterian.org or call 336-766-4631.

First Baptist Church of Stanleyville, 851 Ziglar Road, Winston-Salem, will have Sunday services at 8:45, 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday school is at 10 a.m. On Wednesday, a prayer and worship service is at 6:30 p.m. and Children in Action and Mission Friends are at 7 p.m. For more information, go to www.stanleyvillebaptist.com.

Rural Hall Christian Church, 280 Bethania-Rural Hall Road, Rural Hall, will hold the following in-person services on Sundays: The BLEND at 10 a.m. with Christian classes for all ages and congregational worship at 11 a.m. Youth ministries will continue at 6 p.m. Sundays, unless otherwise announced. For more information, go to RuralHall-Church.org and the churchs social media pages.

Shallowford Presbyterian Church, 1200 Lewisville Clemmons Road, Lewisville, offers a service in-person and live stream via YouTube at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. For more information, go to spcnc.org or call 336-766-3178.

Central Tabernacle Church, 715 Waughtown St., Winston-Salem, invites you to worship Sunday. Refreshments will be served during hospitality time at 9:30 a.m. Sunday school for all ages is at 10. Morning worship and Junior Church begin at 11. Pastor Sandra Bovender will bring an inspiring message. At 6 p.m. Wednesday the adults will continue their Bible study on the book of John taught by Bob Bennett. Handouts for the study are available each week.

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4055 Robinhood Road, Winston-Salem, the 10:30 a.m. service Sunday will be held in-person, and also livestreamed at uufws.org/virtualworshipservice. The Rev. Kayla Parker will present It Started with an Ad. The Unitarian Universalist fellowship of Winston-Salem began when a handful of people answered an advertisement in a newspaper in 1951. Are you a Unitarian without knowing it? A look at the fellowships history. The Forum will be at 9 a.m. Tina Firesheets will speak on Amplifying Asian American Voice. The Forum will be in-person, and also live streamed at https://uufws.org/virtualforum. For more information, go to www.uufws.org.

St. Philips Moravian Church, 911 S. Church St., Winston-Salem, is worshipping regularly in the brick church in Old Salem at 11 a.m. Sundays. All are welcome for traditional Moravian worship in the historically African American church.

Union Cross Baptist Church, 4350 High Point Road, Kernersville, invites you to Sunday school at 9:45 a.m. and morning worship led by Adam Woods at 11 a.m. each Sunday.

Bible Fellowship Baptist Church, 4950 Warner Road, Pfafftown, will have services at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday. The topic at 11 a.m. will be Discovering the Beautiful Son of God, based on the Gospel of John. The topic at 5 p.m. will be Unusual Things in the Bible. There will be Bible study at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The topic will be Doing the 52, studying 52 chapters, 52 verses, in 52 weeks. For more information, go to BFBCnow.org or call 336-462-4844.

Faith and Family Baptist Church, 105 Nathan Ave., Winston-Salem, schedule of services: Sunday worship services are at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sunday school is at 9:45 a.m. and the midweek service is at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The church live streams all services at www.facebook.com/faithandfamilybaptist. A Facebook account is not required to access the video, scroll down for the live stream. Archive services are available there if you are unable to watch live. For more information, contact Pastor Robert Hutchens at 336-782-3747.

Liberty Baptist Church, 1548 Old Hollow Road, Winston-Salem, invites you to join them for services. They offer Facebook live for all services on the Facebook page of Gary Styers. For their schedule of services and more information, go to www.libertybaptistnc.org.

Rural Hall Moravian Church, 7939 Broad St., Rural Hall, has in-person Sunday School for all ages at 10 a.m. Sundays, followed by worship service at 11 with the Rev. Andrew Craver. Worship services are also available via online streaming at https://www.youtube.com/user/RHMoravian. For more information, go to www.rhmc.org.

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 357 Old Hollow Road, Winston-Salem, will have Sunday school at 10 a.m. and worship with Pastor Emily Schlaman Larsen at 11 a.m. Sunday. The nursery is open. Weekly sermons are available on YouTube for people who prefer to join worship remotely. Search for: St. Andrews Presbyterian Church Winston Salem NC. For more information, go to www.standrewsnc.org.

First Christian Church, 2320 Country Club Road, Winston-Salem, will have an in-person worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday. Childrens worship and youth worship are available. A noon-day prayer service will be held at noon Wednesday. Worship services are also available by online streaming at www.wearefcc.church. For more information, go to www.wearefcc.church or call the church at 336-722-2714.

St. Paul United Methodist Church, Winston-Salem, will live stream its 11 a.m. worship service Sunday at www.facebook.com/stpaulumcws/live. Facebook does not require an account for access to the page. Additional information regarding prayer services and Bible study may be found on the churchs website www.stpaulumcws.org or by calling the church at 336-723-4531.

Fundraiser

Hickory Ridge United Methodist Church, 6012 Germanton Road, Winston-Salem, will host a Friday Night Supper fundraiser from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday. Dine-in and takeout are available. Menu will consist of breakfast fare: Tenderloin; bacon; eggs; grits; gravy; biscuits, and peach cobbler. The cost is $9 per person, and proceeds will benefit the churchs insurance fund. For more information, call 336-406-8669 and leave a message.

Home Moravian Church, 529 S. Church St., Winston-Salem, will have a Stuff Sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 7 in the fellowship hall. The proceeds will support world mission throughout the Unity. There will be antiques, newtiques, uniques and previously used merchandise for sell. The Unity Womens Desk will also have Moravian items to sell.

New Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, 6408 Friendship Ledford Road, Winston-Salem, will have a bake sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 21.

Burkhead United Methodist Church, 5250 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, will have a Port-a-Pit chicken barbecue from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 4. For more information, go to www.burkheadumc.org or call 336-765-6590, ext. 3 or go to https://www.burkheadumc.org.

Bible Fellowship Baptist Church, 4950 Warner Road, Pfafftown, is accepting donations for its roof replacement project. For more information, call Pastor Loyd Taylor at 336-462-4844.

Special events

Mount Tabor United Methodist Church, 3543 Robinhood Road, Winston-Salem, will have Songs of the Spirit, at 4 p.m. Sunday. The concert will feature the Chancel Choir of Mount Tabor United Methodist Church and the Voices of Gods Children, a multicultural community ensemble whose mission is to preserve Negro Spirituals and other sacred music.

Shallowford Presbyterian Church, 1200 Lewisville-Clemmons Road, Lewisville, will offer a service of Taize Prayer for Peace and Reconciliation at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The service will include the sung prayers of the Community of Taize, scripture readings, and a period of silence. An introduction to the sung prayers of Taize will begin at 7:25 p.m. The outdoor Shallowford Labyrinth will be open for meditation prior to the service. For more information, go to www.spcnc.org or call 336-766-3178.

Friedberg Moravian Church, 2178 Friedberg Church Road, Winston-Salem, will have a car, truck, and tractor show from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 14. Admission is free. Registration is $10 on the day of the show. Trophies will be awarded. There will be a silent auction, vendors, and live music during the day. Food and beverages will be available. For more information, go to friedberg.church or call 336-764-1830.

Union Cross Baptist Church,4350 High Point Road, Kernersville, will celebrate its annual Homecoming at 11 a.m. Oct. 15. The guest speaker will be Steve Ayers. Lunch in the fellowship hall will follow the worship service.

Burkhead United Methodist Church, 5250 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, will have its October Third Thursday program at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 19. The program will be a Hot Dog Halloweenie celebration with the YMCA. Bring a lunch to each program. For more information, go to www.burkheadumc.org or call 336-765-6590, ext. 3.

St. Paul United Methodist Church, 2400 Dellabrook Road, Winston-Salem, will have Homecoming at 11 a.m. Oct. 22. The Rev. Pamela Blackstock will be the speaker. A revival will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 23-24. Bishop Michael R. Trogdon, senior pastor of Kingdom Life Community Church in Asheboro, will be the speaker.

New Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, 6408 Friendship-Ledford Road, Winston-Salem, will have the fourth annual Memorial Cruise-In for John Kermit McGee from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 21. The rain date is Oct. 28.

Trunk or treat

New Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, 6408 Friendship Ledford Road, Winston-Salem, will have a Halloween Trunk or Treat from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29. There will be trunks with candy, hot dogs and all the trimmings.

Information for the Religion Calendar should be emailed to news@wsjournal.com by 3 p.m. the Wednesday before you want it to run. It can be mailed to Religion Calendar, Winston-Salem Journal, 418 N. Marshall St., #100, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.

Information for the Religion Calendar should be emailed to news@wsjournal.com by 3 p.m. the Wednesday before you want it to run. It can be mailed to Religion Calendar, Winston-Salem Journal, 418 N. Marshall St., #100, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.
The police chief who led a highly criticized raid of a small Kansas newspaper has been suspended, the mayor confirmed Saturday to The Associated Press.

Marion Mayor Dave Mayfield in a text said he suspended Chief Gideon Cody on Thursday. He declined to discuss his decision further and did not say whether Cody was still being paid.

Voice messages and emails from the AP seeking comment from Codys lawyers were not immediately answered Saturday.

The Aug. 11 searches of the Marion County Records office and the homes of its publisher and a City Council member were sharply criticized, putting Marion at the center of a debate over press protections offered by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Codys suspension is a reversal for the mayor, who previously said he would wait for results from a state police investigation before taking action.

Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel, whose home also was raided Aug. 11, praised Codys suspension as the best thing that can happen to Marion right now as the central Kansas town of about 1,900 people struggles to move forward under the national spotlight.

We cant duck our heads until it goes away, because its not going to go away until we do something about it, Herbel said.

Cody has said little publicly since the raids other than posting a defense of them on the police departments Facebook page. In court documents he filed to get the search warrants, he argued he had probable cause to believe the newspaper and Herbel violated state laws against identity theft or computer crimes.

The raids came after a local restaurant owner accused the newspaper of illegally accessing information about her. A spokesman for the agency that maintains those records said a newspaper reporters online search was likely legal even though the reporter needed personal information about the restaurant owner that a tipster provided to look up her driving record.

The newspapers publisher Eric Meyer said the identity theft allegations simply provided a convenient excuse for the search after his reporters went digging for background information on Cody, who was appointed this summer.

Legal experts believe the raid on the newspaper violated a federal privacy law or a state law shielding journalists from having to identify sources or turn over unpublished material to law enforcement.

Video of the raid on Meyers home shows how distraught his 98-year-old mother became as officers searched through their belongings. Meyer said he believes that stress contributed to the death of his mother, Joan Meyer, a day later.

Another reporter filed a federal lawsuit against the police chief over the raid.
In fall 1773, Daniel Boone departed North Carolina after living in our neck of the woods for 21 years. He was headed for Kentucky, moving his family, not wanting to miss the new opportunity. But, in the valleys of southwest Virginia, tragedy struck. Daniels oldest child, James, then 16, was murdered.

James was returning to the main camp with a small party of men after running an errand back to Castles-wood to check whether the William Russell family was joining up. Darkness forced them to camp along Wallen Creek after crossing Kane Gap (todays Duffield, Va..)

Before dawn on Oct. 10, a war party of perhaps 20 Shawnee, Cherokee and Delaware fell upon the James Boone party, which they had been stalking for days. The attackers shot and killed some of the party, wounded others, and then set about torturing James and the like-aged Henry Russell. The attackers were known to James; Big Jim had been to the Boone cabin. This act of violence, this betrayal, was intended to dissuade more settlers from trespassing into the homelands of these indigenous people.

George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch coordinator, had been sitting in his vehicle watching for trouble and imagining himself a guardian of his gated neighborhood. Trayvon Martin, 17, was walking back home from a store. Zimmerman did not like what he saw. He stalked up behind the youth in the dark, confronting, accosting, shooting Martin, perhaps to dissuade such as him from continuing to pass through his neighborhood.

Big Jim stabbed at the wounded James, who fended off vicious thrusts of the knife with his forearms, suffering deep cuts with each effort to defend himself. James had been shot in the hips and could not move. He could only plead for mercy, at first, to stop, but soon the pleas became cries to finish the job, with death his only escape from the relentless mutilation. Big Jim obliged, leaving a war club behind as a message. He then shot arrows into Henrys lifeless body to emphasize the warning.

Emmett Till, from Chicago and then 14 in August 1955, was visiting extended family in Money, Miss. Whatever his behavior in the presence of a young, married white woman inside a country store, Emmett was kidnapped, beaten, tortured and killed, his body dumped into the Tallahatchie River for crossing local cultural norms as instilled into the womans husband and conspirators, understood only by those taking offense. Emmetts mangled body was wrapped with bailing wire around the blades of an exhaust fan to weigh him to the river bottom.

The war party, perhaps viewing themselves as great protectors, took property from the Boone camp. including Charles, a Black man enslaved by the Russell family. After traveling some 40 miles from the scene, two in the war party argued about who then owned Charles. They settled the argument by tomahawking Charles.

Derek Chauvin had George Floyd pinned to the ground. He kneeled on Floyds back, making it difficult for him to breathe. Bystanders pleaded for relief; fellow officers refused to intervene. I cant breathe, Floyd pleaded during more than nine minutes as he called out for his mother. Only when the pleading stopped did the police officer relent, his deed done.

The horrifying story of James Boones death has been told for 250 years with blame in the foreground while introducing participants  good guys and bad guys. But now we might ask, which are we? I and my tribe, which are we? Who is harming whom and why?

We might study history to remember or to learn, to judge or to justify, or to consider the what-ifs in life, the different choices leading to different outcomes. This story saddens me whenever I think of it. The reality of its truth that I might be part of that same problem today saddens me more.

It was easy to other the perpetrators. Who do I know who would do such a thing?

But now we all do. We see them on the news; we know of their heinous acts. But we draw back from calling it what it is because we see some of those people look like our tribe, sound like us, are us.
North Carolina Republican legislators have rarely, if ever, been in a stronger position. Their leaders  Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore  have a combined 23 terms of legislative experience and political chits upon which to draw, millions of dollars in campaign cash and dark money at their disposal, and loyal and skillfully gerrymandered veto-proof majorities at their command.

Like old-time, big-city bosses, Berger and Moore accumulate personal wealth in ways that push the limits of the law, reward their friends and family members with plum government gigs, and punish those who dare to challenge or cross them.

And even when there is discord within the GOP caucuses  as with the recent kerfuffle over Bergers effort to expand casino gambling  this almost never results in a partisan defeat or meaningful crack in the total control the GOP wields over final policy debate outcomes.

With rare exceptions, Republicans can pass anything they want, anytime they want, without even consulting Democrats or Gov. Roy Cooper. Moreover, with the relentless and ongoing effort to transfer more and more executive powers to the Legislative Building and gerrymander legislative maps, its easy to foresee a scenario in 2025 in which a new governor  be they a Democrat or a Republican  will be rendered a virtual figurehead.

And yet, bizarrely, this unfettered power seems to have bred surprisingly little confidence in the hard-right policy agenda these lawmakers so aggressively pursue.

See, for example, last weeks action that marked what appears to have been the climax of the 2023 legislative session.

Republicans pushed through an agenda that reflects the passions of their political base. Slashing taxes, privatizing public education, remaking our colleges and universities, limiting environmental regulation, erecting barriers to voting, reversing progress for LGBTQ people, reducing reproductive freedom, expanding gun rights.

Ordinarily, youd think such a lengthy and ambitious agenda would represent an opportunity for aggressive political evangelizing: See what were doing and why its the right thing for our state!

If youve followed developments in Raleigh, however, you know that no such effort took place. Rather than loudly and proudly explaining and championing the details of the legislation they advanced, Republicans instead adhered to a strategy of cloak-and-dagger secrecy.

In the new budget, several momentous changes to state law that had never before seen the light of day were hurtled through the legislative process in just 48 hours. Even over the weekend, observers were still unearthing nuggets that escaped the attention of reporters, lobbyists and Democratic members who had been forced to speed read the whole budget overnight like college freshmen cramming for a final.

And yet the bill emerged right after a three-month period during which the legislature scarcely met  which raises an obvious question: If GOP leaders really believe in the bevy of new laws they pushed through last week, why didnt they use the summer months to discuss and promote them openly?

The answer, of course, lies in the peculiar and rigged nature of the Republican legislative supermajority and the gerrymandering that undergirds its strength.

Simply put, North Carolina is a deeply purple state. While conservative true believers undoubtedly make up a sizable portion of the electorate, they are nothing close to a genuine majority. And thats why so many parts of the political rights agenda  private school vouchers, regressive tax policies, bans of abortion and contraception, reversing marriage equality, making voting more difficult and preventing the passage of gun-safety laws  remain very unpopular with average voters.

While theyre happy to tout their accomplishments on Fox News and at select conservative church and party gatherings, when it comes to day-to-day lawmaking in Raleigh, politicians of the right remain wedded to stealth and backroom maneuvers. Their last-minute move to concoct and add new secrecy laws to the budget that allow legislators to hide and even profit from records they produce  while shutting out news media and the public  are part of the same phenomenon.

In short, the GOP may enjoy powerful supermajorities, but the secrecy surrounding the budget makes clear once again that party leaders know their policies lack broad popular support, and as such, are best enacted with as little sunlight as possible.
In 1992, an over-the-top Robin Williams made the Genie the hilarious centerpiece of the 1992 animated Disney movie "Aladdin." Twenty-two years later, James Monroe Iglehart played the Genie to the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.

So, Marcus M. Martin, is there any pressure to perform when youre following those guys as the Genie in the national touring company of "Disney's Aladdin" coming to Lincoln's Lied Center for Performing Arts?

"The legacy of this role is so rich," Martin said by phone from Tulsa, Oklahoma. "Robin Williams did amazing things with this character and he is synonymous with the Genie. James Monroe Iglehart, the original Genie on Broadway, he perfected the role in 2014. I have incredibly big shoes to fill.

"But I've really been lucky that our creative team and the entire team at Disney has really given me a lot of trust, you know, to make this role my own. Ive really added my own personal flavor to it, so I don't really feel the pressure to recreate something that's already been done. But then I'm not arrogant enough to think that I ever could, try to emulate what those guys have done with the role. So I might as well just try to make it the best version of my journey as it can be."

Martin, who grew up singing in church in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, started in theater at 7 and decided he wanted to be in musical theater at 12. He found his inspiration to play the Genie not from Wiliams, but Iglehart.

"It really was the musical that really changed things for me, getting to see the original Genie, a plus-size African-American actor play an amazing role like that," Martin said."It's not something you get to see every day, you know. I've always kind of been a bigger kid; to have that representation, while watching the Tony Awards was really, really big for me to see that. That was really when things changed for me, and I really decided that I was gonna play this role one day. It became my dream role at that moment."

Pursuing that dream, for Martin, meant working at the role years before he had a chance to play the Genie in the adaptation of the story from "One Thousand and One Nights" that follows Aladdin, a poor young man who is granted three wishes by a genie in a lamp.

The first of those wishes has to do with wooing Princess Jasmine. The second, thwarting the Sultan's Grand Vizier. For the third, Aladdin promises to use it to free the Genie from his lamp.

"I put a lot into making this dream a reality," he said. "Since I've known I've wanted to play this role, I've always been kind of keeping track. I've watched a lot of interviews of the actors that have played the role on Broadway and on tour to see what they did, how they prepare. I tried to watch as many YouTube videos of them performing the songs as possible. I tried to practice. I've been practicing this material for years because I knew one day I'd get a chance to audition for it. And I wanted to be ready."

Martin, who graduated from the Baldwin Wallace Musical Theatre Program in Berea, Ohio, in 2020, landed the role of the Genie, making his national touring debut with the company that will do eight performances at the Lied Center from Tuesday through Oct. 8.

So, Marcus, whats next after the tour ends in March? Another dream role?

"Touring is a lot of fun, but I'd love to be on Broadway in New York City," he said. "I'm getting married soon. So I want to be stationary in New York City. So I want to make my Broadway debut in a principal role. Then I want to do TV and film, but I'm gonna try not to limit myself and, most importantly, limit God. Whatever he has for me. That's what I'm gonna do."

While he doesnt have a specific role in mind, Martins got a far larger goal: following another icon, who happens to be from Akron  LeBron James.

"Growing up being a huge LeBron fan, seeing the impact on the city, I always said I wanted to have a similar impact on our city," Martin said. "I want to make people proud to say that they're from Akron. It's definitely something that I've thought about, something that I'd love to see. Id love for people from Akron to be able to say they're from Akron, Ohio, home of LeBron James and Marcus M. Martin."

Here's what iconic concert took place the year you graduated high school Here's what iconic concert took place the year you graduated high school 1960: Pete Seeger at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine 1961: Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall in New York City, New York 1962: James Brown at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York 1963: The Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island 1964: The T.A.M.I. Show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California 1965: The Beatles at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York 1966: Bob Dylan World Tour 1966 1967: The Monterey Pop Festival at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California 1968: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison in Represa, California 1969: Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, New York 1970: Isle Of Wight Festival on the Isle of Wight, England 1971: The Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York 1972: Grateful Dead Europe '72 Tour 1973: Elvis Presley at the Honolulu International Center 1974: The California Jam Festival at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California 1975: Elton John at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California 1976: The Last Waltz at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California 1977: Pink Floyd at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada 1978: Bruce Springsteen at Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey 1979: The Clash at The Palladium in New York City, New York 1980: Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England 1981: Simon & Garfunkel in Central Park in New York City, New York 1982: The Police Picnic at CNE Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Canada 1983: Talking Heads at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, California 1984: The Jacksons Victory Tour 1985: Live Aid 1986: Jean-Michel Jarre in Houston, Texas 1987: Billy Joel Soviet Union Tour 1988: Tina Turner at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1989: The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Tour 1990: Madonna Blond Ambition Tour 1991: Lollapalooza 1992: Nirvana at the Reading Festival in Reading, England 1993: Janet Jackson World Tour 1994: Woodstock '94 on Winston Farm near Saugerties, New York 1995: Rod Stewart at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1996: Oasis at the Knebworth Festival in Hertfordshire, England 1997: U2 at Kosevo Stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1998: Tibetan Freedom Concert at RFK Stadium in Washington DC 1999: Woodstock '99 at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York 2000: Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, Somerset, England 2001: The Concert for New York City at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York 2002: Party at the Palace at the Buckingham Palace Garden in London, England 2003: The Chicks Top of the World Tour 2004: The Montreal Jazz Festival in Montreal, Canada 2005: Live 8 2006: Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California 2007: Led Zeppelin at O2 Arena in London, England 2008: Radiohead In Rainbows Tour 2009: Farm Aid at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Missouri 2010: Sonisphere Festival 2011: Kenny Chesney Goin' Coastal Tour 2012: Jay Z and Kanye West Watch the Throne Tour 2013: Leonard Cohen Old Ideas World Tour 2014: Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee 2015: Prince at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan 2016: Beyonce The Formation World Tour 2017: One Love Manchester at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Stretford, England 2018: Taylor Swift Reputation Stadium Tour 2019: An Evening with Fleetwood Mac World Tour 2020: Billie Eilish Where Do We Go? World Tour 2021: Day N Vegas Music Festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds in Las Vegas, Nevada 2022: The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts
One of Americas most decorated female gymnasts of all time will make her way to Lincoln next week to talk about her journey with anxiety and depression.

Aly Raisman, a two-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist, will share her experience with mental health and touch on the pressures of being a world-class gymnast at St. Marks United Methodist Church, 8550 Pioneers Blvd. on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The event, hosted by Bryan Health, is free to attend, but registration is required.

I think everyone in the world either knows what it feels like to struggle with their mental health or they know somebody who is, Raisman said in an interview with the Journal Star. The more that we can normalize the conversation for athletes and everyone else, I think the more people that can be helped.

Raisman, 29, led the U.S. womens Olympic gymnastic team  dubbed the Fierce Five  to the top of the podium at the London games in 2012. She helped the team capture gold again at the 2016 Olympics in Rio with the team nicknamed the Final Five. Now retired, Raisman also earned a gold medal for her floor routine in 2012, the first American woman to win the event at the Olympics.

In honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week, Bryan Health hosts a guest speaker each October to touch on mental health. In past years, Sean Astin, Taya Kyle, Ryan Leaf and Joe Pantoliano have been featured. This year, the organization chose Raisman.

We're extremely excited to welcome Aly to Lincoln this week to share her mental health journey, said Dave Miers, senior director of behavioral health at Bryan, in an email. Hosting an event like this and having Aly share her experiences shows the people of our community that they are not alone and can overcome their struggles to improve quality of life.

This will be the third time Raisman has visited Nebraska, she said, and shes looking forward to being back in the Cornhusker State.

I'm very excited, Raisman said. I'm excited to be back and Im looking forward to meeting people and seeing everyone in person.

Raisman became passionate about mental health after a lengthy battle with anxiety and depression. Throughout her gymnastics career, which officially ended in 2020 when she announced her retirement, Raisman struggled to prioritize herself and her mental health, she said.

Now, she lives by these 15 words: If you don't pick a day to rest, your body will pick it for you.

I think as an athlete, I always was taught that if I had an ankle injury, I had to really prioritize that and really heal that, but there wasn't a lot of emphasis on mental health, or on anxiety or depression, Raisman said. I've learned that, just like if I have an injury, if I want to heal, I also have to really emphasize and focus on my mental health.

In 2017, Raisman was one of several women to come forward with sexual abuse allegations against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, and later read an impact statement at his sentencing hearing.

By sharing her experiences with mental health and her story of surviving sexual abuse, Raisman hopes to help other people across the country who may be struggling.

Trying to speak about mental health, and speaking up for yourself, and speaking your truth and taking time for yourself is really important, she said. If we don't take time for ourselves, it's really hard to figure out and understand what we're going through and what we need.

Top Journal Star photos for September 2023
For the first time in five years, The Presidents Own U.S. Marines Band will return on tour to Nebraska, performing a free 7:30 p.m. concert Tuesday, Oct. 3, at Lincoln Northeast High School.

An ensemble of the Marine Corps, the band frequently performs at the White House delivering on its unique mission: To provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Organizers from Lincoln Public Schools, including Northeast High School Band Director Ashley Cypher, have worked to bring the ensemble from the nations capital and make this community event possible.

For full details, please visit www.marineband.marines.mil/Tour. Free tickets are available online (limit for per request). Seating is general admission and ticket holders must be seated by 7:15 p.m.; remaining seats will be released to the standby line at that time.

Marine Band Director Col. Jason Fettig has programmed musical selections in the style of the bands 17th director John Philip Sousa, who initiated the concert tour tradition in 1891. Concertgoers can expect a mix of works including traditional band repertoire, Sousa marches, contemporary compositions, vocal and instrumental solos, and a patriotic salute to the Armed Forces.

Since Sousa was first granted permission to tour the country by President Benjamin Harrison in 1891, the Marine Band has delivered a White House experience from Washington D.C. to the far-reaching corners of our nation.

By the end of this years 31-day tour, the Marine Band will have covered more than 4,600 miles to and around the Midwest, performing in 29 cities in 11 states, with concerts in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The Marine Band is Americas oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Founded in 1798, the band has performed for every U.S. President since John Adams. Known as The Presidents Own since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the Marine Bands mission is to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Philanthropy for non-millionaires

SOMERS  Adventures in Lifelong Learning is hosting a lecture entitled Philanthropy for Non-Millionaires: Planned Giving and More at 2 p.m. Oct. 6 in the Rita Room, L131, at the University of Wisconsin Parkside.

Hannah Wallisch, director of development at the school, will discuss ways to give and support charitable organizations with a focus on simple planned gifts (wills, IRAs, etc.)

Adventures in Life Long Learning is an active senior group that offers a variety of education-oriented activities. An annual membership fee of $50 includes access to lectures, focus groups, classes and day trips at a cost. For more information, visit www.uwp.edu/ALL or call 262-595-2793.

UNDERSTANDING DEMENTIA

UNION GROVE  The public is invited to learn about dementia at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, or 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at Yorkville United Methodist Church, 17645 Old Yorkville Road. Kimberly Meitner, dementia care specialist with the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Racine County, is the speaker. For more information, call 262-878-2388

AURORA OFFERS CLASSES

BURLINGTON  Aurora Health Care is offering these classes:

Free Blood Pressure Clinic  8 a.m. to noon and 1-4:30 p.m. every Wednesday. To make an appointment, call 262-767-8000.

Exercise class  3:30-4:30 p.m. Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; Nov. 7, 14, 21, 28. Wisconsin Parkinson Association Movement and Music Exercise Classes are free and held in Classroom C at Aurora Wellness Center, 300 McCanna Parkway, Burlington. The classes incorporate stretches, strength training, posture, balance and walking drills, as well as vocal exercises. Modifications will be provided to ensure a safe and effective setting for all participants. Caregivers also are welcome. To register, email maryw@wiparkinson.org or call 414-430-3561.

Breastfeeding Basics  6-7:30 p.m. Oct. 5 and 7:30-9 p.m. Nov. 2 via Zoom. This course will help expectant mothers have a better breastfeeding experience by learning how to establish a healthy supply of milk; how to help baby latch; how to know if baby is getting enough milk; different breastfeeding positions and who to call if help is needed. To register visit aurora.org/events.

Preparing for Labor and Birth  6-8:30 p.m. Oct. 11 and 18, and Nov. 8 and 15 via Zoom. This two-session class will teach expectant parents what they need to prepare for the childbirth experience, including anatomy, the process of labor and delivery, and medical and non-medical care options. Relaxation techniques for coping with contractions will be briefly practiced. To register, visit aurora.org/events.

Stroke Support Group  1-2:30 p.m. Oct. 16 in Classroom C, lower level, at Aurora Lakeland Medical Center. This free group provides emotional support through opportunities to interact with other who have experienced stroke. Informational programs also will be provided about topics related to stroke/brain attack. The group welcomes individuals newly diagnosed, as well as those with a history of stroke. To register, visit aurora.org/events, call 800-499-5736 or email communityeducation@aah.org.

Memory Cafe  9:30-10:30 a.m., Oct. 20 and Nov. 17 at Aurora Wellness Center, Classroom C. The free Memory Cafe is a comfortable social gathering that allows people experiencing memory loss and a loved one to connect, socialize and build new support networks. For information, or first-time attendees, contact Chad at 262-212-3596 or csutkay@touchinghearts.com.

Walk with a Doc  8:30-9:30 a.m., Oct. 21 and Nov. 18. The topic for September is vaccine updates (Kristin Cassidy M.D.). Octobers topic is Whats in with Skin? (Sarah Kaldem N.P.) and the topic for November is foot health and longevity (Kevin Liberty DPM). Walk with a Doc is free and no registration is required. Participants should meet in the front entrance vestibule by the flagpole at Burlington High School.

Infant CPR & Safety  6-7:15 p.m. Oct. 25 and Nov. 29 via Zoom. This non-certification class is recommended for families with infants and small children to learn rescue breathing, CPR, safe sleep guidelines, SIDS reduction strategies and infant/child safety. To register visit aurora.org/events.

Stepping On Workshop  1-3 p.m. Mondays, through Oct. 30 at Aurora Wellness Center, Classroom C, 300 McCanna Parkway, Burlington. This free workshop is for those age 60-plus who live independently and can help participants avoid dangerous and costly falls. Attendees will learn to identify and remove or avoid fall hazards both inside and outside their homes; how vision, hearing, medication and footwear affect their risk of falling; strength and balance exercises they can adapt to their individual level; and how to get back on their feet the right way if they do fall. To register, visit aurora.org/events or call 800-499-5736 for more information.

Bringing Baby Home  Nov. 2 via Zoom. This class helps families prepare for their baby by covering the essentials of caring for baby during the first few months, including feeding, diapering, comforting, sleep schedules, signs of illness and when to call the pediatrician. To register visit aurora.org/events.
NEW YORK  The Vatican will open an unprecedented gathering of Catholic clergy and laypeople from around the world Oct. 4. The synod is intended to be a collegial, collaborative event, though the agenda includes divisive issues such as the role of women in the church and the inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics.

If theres Exhibit A for how elusive consensus might be, its the United States participation. In effect, there are two high-level U.S. delegations widely viewed as ideological rivals  six clerics appointed by Pope Francis who support his aspirations for a more inclusive, welcoming church; five clerics chosen by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who reflect a more conservative outlook and more skepticism of Francis priorities.

Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College in New York, worries that the synod might widen rifts among U.S. Catholics rather than narrow them.

The polarization of the country has infiltrated the church in such a way that I worry we cant see our way out of it, she said.

Francis himself recently evoked the resistance he faces among some conservative Catholic leaders in the U.S. At a meeting in August with Jesuit priests in Portugal, he assailed the backwardness of some of those conservatives, saying they have replaced faith with ideology.

The vision of the doctrine of the church as a monolith is wrong, he said. I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that theres a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals.

Some conservative American clerics vehemently disagree, saying high-level discussions of such issues as womens empowerment and LGBTQ inclusion could tear the church apart.

In a forward to a recent book calling the synod a Pandoras box, American Cardinal Raymond Burke warned the synod was part of a revolution to radically change what the church has always taught. Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas  critiquing the synod on social media  said, It is a travesty that these things are even proposed for discussion.

The synod, which will run through Oct. 29, follows a first-of-its-kind two-year outreach in which bishops and other clerics around the world met with lay Catholics to learn about their hopes for the churchs future. There will be a second session of the synod in October 2024, when participants will vote on a final document to be submitted to Pope Francis for his consideration.

For many conservatives, there are multiple reasons for concern  not only the hot-button issues on the agenda, but the novelty of having laypeople, including women, entitled to vote alongside bishops on the final document.

The U.S. synod delegates selected by Francis include three of the men he has appointed as cardinals  Archbishops Blase Cupich of Chicago and Wilton Gregory of Washington, and Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego.

McElroy has been one of the most prominent voices expressing hope that the synod will expand the roles women can play in the church and broaden the acceptance of LGBTQ Catholics.

In an essay in March, he said the church should eliminate barriers to women in the leadership of parishes and dioceses, allowing them to preach and to serve as deacons.

It is clear that the Church in the United States must transform its outreach to LGBT+ persons if it seeks to be a truly welcoming presence in the world, McElroy wrote.

McElroys writings were assailed by conservative Catholics. One bishop, Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, suggested the cardinal might be committing heresy.

Francis synod selections also include the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who has advocated for years for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the church.

The first step is to invite people to listen to the voices of LGBTQ people and others who feel ignored, rejected or excluded by their church, Martin said via email. For me, conversion happens mainly through encountering the stories of those considered to be other. And that is a reasonable goal for the synod  to listen.

At synods, all voices should be welcome, he added. Does the Holy Spirit speak only through cardinals, archbishops and bishops? Thats a very strange theology of the Spirit.

Bishops appointed by USCCB include its president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, as well as Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York; and Bishops Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas; Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; and Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.

Barron, who has developed a large following with a global media organization called Word on Fire, conveyed relief at Pope Francis assurances that the synod will not be a forum for changing church doctrine.

The American delegation, if you look at the whole thing, kind of balances out ideologically. So I think thats what the pope seems to like, Barron told Fox News Digital.

Imperatori-Lee had a different take on the ideological split.

This is how American Catholics are starting to see the Church: Youre either for Team Francis or for Team Strickland and Barron, she said. Thats not a healthy situation.

Photos: Pope Francis through the years
RAYMOND  A Raymond School principal is planning to file a discrimination complaint against the school district.

Principal Jeff Peterson was placed on paid leave Thursday, a day after the Raymond School Board voted 4-1 during a special meeting in favor of a motion to consider non-renewal of his contract.

In a statement, the Raymond School Board said Peterson has been placed on leave to allow the districts administration, through a third party, to investigate concerns about the principals conduct.

Peterson, who is gay, intends to file a discrimination lawsuit against the school district.

Its my opinion that, but for him being gay, the school district would not be treating him this way, said Ben Hitchcock Cross, Petersons attorney. If they were just evaluating him on his performance, there would not be such an issue.

The Raymond School Board statement refuted that claim.

Any notion that the school district or its board members would tolerate any discrimination, including that which is based on sex, sexual orientation, or any other protected classification, is ridiculous and extremely disappointing, the statement reads.

Raymond School, 2659 76th St., is a K-8 building with about 400 students.

Peterson, who was a student at Raymond School, said he dreamt in eighth grade about one day being principal of the building.

He is in his third year as school principal and said Wednesday that the building inspired him to pursue an education career.

The last few weeks and months are certainly a time for me to reflect on why I became an educator and the motivation to serve Raymond School, Peterson said. I have only continued to be motivated to come to work every day because I serve teachers, I serve students, and this community school should be the best place on earth for all kids.

Miguel Salas, teachers representative of the Union Grove Area Education Association-Raymond, the union representing Raymond School staff, said teachers are disappointed that Peterson has been placed on leave because he is a highly regarded school administrator.

Mr. Peterson sets a high bar in terms of professionalism and personal conduct with staff, so this whole experience has been troubling for staff, Salas said. In terms of putting students first, many staff would want Mr. Peterson back in the building as soon as possible.

Parents, staff support principal

Many teachers and parents attended Wednesdays board meeting to support Peterson.

Brianna Fendt, Raymond School parent, said she is frustrated with the boards actions and statements.

It gives us a lack of trust in our School Board, said Fendt, who has three children at the school.

Fendts children told her that Peterson was at school for Thursday morning announcements and that the principal sounded really sad.

When Fendt told one of her children that Peterson was placed on administrative leave, the child began to cry. Fendt also was moved to tears when she heard that Petersons job was in jeopardy.

My kids all think the world of this man, and so do my husband and I, Fendt said. Its really sad.

According to Hitchcock Cross, Raymond School Superintendent Michael Garvey walked Peterson out of the school Thursday morning and gave Peterson a letter informing him that he was under investigation for misconduct.

Hitchcock Cross said that was a humiliating, public way for Peterson to be placed on leave. He said Peterson was shocked to be placed on leave and saddened that he cannot work with students and staff.

With Peterson on leave, the rest of the districts leadership team will assume the principals responsibilities with assistance from key instructional leaders, according to the Raymond School Board statement.

Still, Salas said teachers are concerned about how the schools daily operations will be managed.

Of immediate concern is a vacuum of leadership, Salas said. The concerns would be day-to-day operations may or may not be able to be met if theres not an administrator.

Hitchcock Cross said the school district has not provided specific reasons for why Peterson was placed on administrative leave.

Were befuddled and bewildered as to what the reason is or what possible misconduct they could be referring to, Hitchcock Cross said.

Salas said the teachers union is not aware of any staff complaints regarding Peterson.

Fendt said there has been minimal explanation to families about why Peterson is under investigation.

We have nothing to go on, Fendt said. Nobody is saying anything.

Hitchcock Cross said he does not know how long the investigation will take because it is unclear what is being investigated.

The Raymond School Board did not provide an investigation timeline in its statement.

Hitchcock Cross said an investigation is often a way to put pressure on a school employee to resign.

Usually its some kind of prelude to further action, Hitchcock Cross said. I dont think that the investigation is the priority. The priority is removing Mr. Peterson from the school.

Fendt said she often saw Peterson while dropping off and picking up her children and described him as friendly, genuine and charismatic.

She said the school will feel different without him.

My kids are sad, I can tell you that, Fendt said. Seeing him not be there and not being on the morning announcements  it kind of breaks your heart.

Fendt said Peterson has cheered up her children when they are having tough days.

Hes just a good man, Fendt said. From everything Ive seen, this guy is stellar at his job, which is the only thing that we think should matter  I have a hard time believing that hes not the best choice.

Until very recently, Fendt said her children had excellent experiences at Raymond School, but this situation has caused the family to seriously consider whether they should continue attending the school.

Sheriffs Office investigating threat

Wednesdays Raymond School Board meeting was held virtually due to several written threats of violence received by school district officials, including the board president and superintendent, according to an amended board agenda.

Lt. Michael Luell, public information officer for the Racine County Sheriffs Office, wrote in an email that RCSO is investigating some concerning anonymous letters that have been sent to a board member and an employee of Raymond School.

Close Second grader Nakarii Williams smiles with the school mascot Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Kim Krause, physical education teacher, hugs two students Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Breonna Paton, from left, second grader Delantiy Campbell and Emily Etchison get ready Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Kim Krause, physical education teacher, welcomes a student Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Aleisha Baugh takes a photo of kindergartener Kelex Jackson on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. A student high-fives the school bear Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Kindergartener Ky-ree Jones gets ready to walk into school Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Students line up Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Eight photos of Racine Unified's first day of school at Wadewitz Elementary Tuesday was the first day of the Racine Unified 2023-24 school year. Second grader Nakarii Williams smiles with the school mascot Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Kim Krause, physical education teacher, hugs two students Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Breonna Paton, from left, second grader Delantiy Campbell and Emily Etchison get ready Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Kim Krause, physical education teacher, welcomes a student Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Aleisha Baugh takes a photo of kindergartener Kelex Jackson on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. A student high-fives the school bear Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Kindergartener Ky-ree Jones gets ready to walk into school Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St. Students line up Tuesday on the first day of class at Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout St.
One of the three former Wisconsin Supreme Court justices whom Assembly Speaker Robin Vos asked to explore the prospect of impeaching newly minted liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz argued in court Friday the group is not subject to the states open meetings law.

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, a conservative and the only former justice to confirm being on the three-person panel, said the group is not a governmental body by any stretch of the imagination and is no different from a legislator meeting with a private citizen.

It seems to me ... when members of the Supreme Court or members of the Legislature meet with some people or talk with some people about issues, thats done all the time and that is not something that is going to require notices and people coming and listening to everything that happens, Prosser said. Thats just not realistic at all.

Prosser made his comments in a Dane County Circuit Court motion hearing for a lawsuit filed Monday by liberal watchdog group American Oversight arguing that the justices must hold their sessions in public under the states open meetings law.

Vos, R-Rochester, tasked the three-member panel with advising him on whether Protasiewiczs comments during the campaign knocking the states GOP-drawn legislative maps are impeachable. Vos and other legislative Republicans have floated the idea of impeaching Protasiewicz if she does not recuse herself from sitting on lawsuits challenging the maps, which she has previously called rigged.

It just boggles my mind that all of this can all be done in secret to the point where we dont even know who is advising the Speaker on these issues, American Oversight attorney Christa Westerberg said.

Both Prosser and Vos attorney Matthew Fernholz refused to name the other two members of the panel when asked by Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington. Prosser confirmed that the group has met at least once.

Three people had lunch together, Prosser said. We had lunch together because we didnt know what we were really supposed to do.

Asked if the group intends to meet again, he said, I will say this: The people that I had lunch with had the same view of what we might say and that we would do it individually.

No injunction

In the end of Fridays hearing, Remington denied American Oversights request for a preliminary injunction to stop the panel from meeting and said Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne still has time to make a decision on the American Oversights initial complaint against the panel. Remington, who said American Oversight established a likelihood of success on the merits, scheduled a hearing on the matter for Oct. 19.

Ozanne said it appears the panel is violating the states open meetings law, but added his investigation has been hindered because he does not know the identity of the panels other two members.

Right now, were dancing around the periphery, Remington told Fernholz. We know that Justice Prosser is a member. We dont know the other members. We dont know if there is one, two or three. At some point, those facts are germane to your legal argument that this group is not subject to the open meetings law.

Panel formed

Vos announced on 1130 WISN on Sept. 13 that he had asked a panel of former members of the state Supreme Court to review and advise what the criteria are for impeachment. The panels creation comes as Republicans seek to have Protasiewicz recuse herself from lawsuits challenging the states legislative boundaries, which strongly favor Republicans and are considered some of the most gerrymandered in the country.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court hasnt accepted either case yet, but legislative Republicans have said in court filings that Protasiewicz must recuse herself from the cases and have threatened to impeach her if she doesnt. Protasiewicz has not said if she will recuse herself from the redistricting cases.

Impeachment is permitted under the Wisconsin Constitution only for corrupt conduct in office or for the commission of a crime. It takes a simple majority in the Assembly to impeach and a two-thirds majority in the Senate to convict.

Vos also has refused to say who is sitting on the panel. He told WisPolitics.com on Wednesday it is intended to collect opinions from individuals who understand the law and state Constitution.

I didnt want this to be some kind of a public flogging of the people who volunteered to be part of this, which is exactly whats happened, Vos told the outlet. Ultimately I would like to put (a report) out for a public review, but again its not really a public document. Its certainly not a public process. Theres nothing in statute to do it. Its just people giving me advice.

Prosser told the Wisconsin State Journal earlier this month he may need more time to reach a conclusion on impeachment than the few weeks that Vos told The Associated Press it would take for the group to finish its work.

Narrowed down

In addition to Prosser, the only former justice to confirm hes on the body, the panel likely includes Patience Roggensack, who is the only other former justice who has not said shes not on the panel or been identified by Vos as not a member. The other seven have all been ruled out, which makes the membership of the third person a mystery.

Vos has said former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman isnt on the panel. Former justices Dan Kelly, Janine Geske, Jon Wilcox, Louis Ceci, Louis Butler and Diane Sykes have either said they are not on the panel or were not asked by Vos to participate.

The AP reported Friday that Roggensack, a conservative, hung up when asked if she was on the panel.

Two former liberal justices, Butler and Geske, wrote in a joint column last week that impeachment is unjustified.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Close Former firefighter Dale Emmerich of Middleton runs with athlete John Bodeau of Eden Prairie during IRONMAN Wisconsin on Mid Town Road in Verona this month. Sam Steinich, left, of Mount Horeb, plays in the Wisconsin River with her daughter, Amelia, 2, son, Elliot, 6, and Shayne Crank, 8, at Riverfront Park beach in Sauk City in July. Revelers celebrate the approaching end to the UW-Madison academic year during the annual Mifflin Street Block Party in Madison in April. Wisconsin Badgers defender Caroline Harvey at LaBahn Arena in Madison. Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs catches a touchdown pass against New Orleans Saints cornerback Isaac Yiadom to put the Packers in a position to take the lead in a game they would win 18-17 after trailing the Saints 17-0 going into the fourth quarter. Mike Mulhaney walks his 9-month-old German Shorthaired Pointer, Monty, as they head to a nearby park to work on training for hunting in Belleville in December. After surviving a 2010 earthquake that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more, Haitian native Mona Augustin, pictured at his home in Madison in March, is dedicated to improving the lives of others through his music. Despite the days blustery winter weather conditions, Isaac Andrus takes advantage of the recently-opened waters of Fowler Lake during a jet skiing outing in Oconomowoc in March. Makayla Wittmer, 9, and her sister, Mariah, 5, right, from Woodburn, Indiana, wait with their brother as he prepares to show his Standardbred horse, at left, that is up for auction during the Midwest Select Draft and Driving Horse Sale at Alliant Energy Center in Madison in April. State Journal photographers share some of their favorite photos These are a few of the best photos from this year. Former firefighter Dale Emmerich of Middleton runs with athlete John Bodeau of Eden Prairie during IRONMAN Wisconsin on Mid Town Road in Verona this month. Sam Steinich, left, of Mount Horeb, plays in the Wisconsin River with her daughter, Amelia, 2, son, Elliot, 6, and Shayne Crank, 8, at Riverfront Park beach in Sauk City in July. Revelers celebrate the approaching end to the UW-Madison academic year during the annual Mifflin Street Block Party in Madison in April. Wisconsin Badgers defender Caroline Harvey at LaBahn Arena in Madison. Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs catches a touchdown pass against New Orleans Saints cornerback Isaac Yiadom to put the Packers in a position to take the lead in a game they would win 18-17 after trailing the Saints 17-0 going into the fourth quarter. Mike Mulhaney walks his 9-month-old German Shorthaired Pointer, Monty, as they head to a nearby park to work on training for hunting in Belleville in December. After surviving a 2010 earthquake that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more, Haitian native Mona Augustin, pictured at his home in Madison in March, is dedicated to improving the lives of others through his music. Despite the days blustery winter weather conditions, Isaac Andrus takes advantage of the recently-opened waters of Fowler Lake during a jet skiing outing in Oconomowoc in March. Makayla Wittmer, 9, and her sister, Mariah, 5, right, from Woodburn, Indiana, wait with their brother as he prepares to show his Standardbred horse, at left, that is up for auction during the Midwest Select Draft and Driving Horse Sale at Alliant Energy Center in Madison in April.
If you're an ATF agent who supports the constitution and has never violated your oath of office, the time to start looking for a new job is now.

An agency-wide comeuppance is coming. It is only a matter of time.

The next administration will not look kindly upon your current role as Joe Biden's anti-gun enforcers. The people will see to that. Americans have long memories, you see, and we are keeping track of your civil-rights abuses  each and every one.

If you're lucky, the ATF will only be abolished, but there are a growing number of law-abiding Americans  including many in law enforcement  who believe criminal charges should be filed against you, your leadership and their co-conspirators in the Biden-Harris administration. This is what happens when you knowingly follow illegal orders, like warrantless search and seizures, multiple civil rights violations, theft of personal property and a host of other unforgiveable crimes.

The Great Awakening has begun. Judges are pushing back against ATF's unconstitutional regulations and bogus FFL revocations. Lawmakers are demanding investigations after ATF agents violated their constituents' civil rights. Even the legacy media now realizes that they have been hoodwinked, and that many of ATF's enforcement actions are illegal. .....
1. Yes. If KHA cant continue to run it, the city should step in. Its a necessary asset to the area.

2. Yes. The city already uses it as a warming and cooling center. It would be a smart move.

3. No. It may be in the citys interest to help subsidize insurance for the center, but nothing more.

4. No. The city doesnt need the added burden of staffing and insuring the center. Its a bad idea.

5. Unsure. It may be seem like a good idea, but other options should be explored as well.

Vote

View Results
Photo: The Canadian Press A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane Flight SV872 from Jeddah is shown at an isolated area at Manila's International Airport in Pasay, south of Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, is resuming flights to Toronto in December, after five years of no direct connections with Canada since a 2018 spat over the Liberals' loud condemnation of the kingdom's human-rights record. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Aaron Favila

Saudi Arabia's national airline is resuming flights to Canada after a five-year diplomatic spat.

Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, will fly three times a week between Jeddah and Toronto's Pearson International Airport starting Dec. 2.

Transport Canada says it's the first time there have been direct routes between the two countries since 2018, when Saudi Arabia suspended flights as it protested the Canada's loud condemnation of its human-rights record.

That year, Global Affairs Canada called on the country to "immediately release" detained women's rights and democracy activists.

In response, Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Ottawa and expelled Canada's envoy, while also moving to reduce the number of its citizens studying in Canada.

The two countries agreed in May to welcome new ambassadors to each other's capitals.

Saudi Arabia is trying to grow its tourism economy, after years of largely restricting visas to those travelling for religious or business purposes.

The Canadian Press has reached out to its embassy in Ottawa for comment on the resumed flights.

The spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia occurred just months before the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

Saudi Arabia has denied findings by U.S. intelligence agencies that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved his killing.

Before the diplomatic spat, the Liberal government had temporarily paused arm sales to Saudi Arabia over reports the countrys Canadian-made light armoured vehicles were being used in a bloody conflict in Yemen.
If youve bypassed the Transformers franchise, you might want to look at Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. It's a primer of sorts that answers questions.

This time out, Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, as Brooklyn residents, get pulled into the Transformer-verse after he steals a Porsche, and she tries to decode its tribal markings.

Together, they go on a journey to Peru where, supposedly, the other part of a key is hidden.

On their trail: Unicron (voiced by Colman Domingo) and Scourge (voiced by Peter Dinklage) who want to destroy Earth.

Once in Peru, the two have to make their way through Indiana Jones-level ruins and find the missing link.

Just in case you dont follow the dots, Rise of the Beasts also has a mechanical ape who looks suspiciously like a former New Yorker. Director Steven Caple Jr. spells out a lot (we know who the good and the bad are before we start wondering why Pete Davidson is here) and has plenty on the precipice to suggest this could be Hasbros Endgame.

Like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl, Fishback covers for her boss (shes a museum intern, no less) and does the heavy lifting for Optimus Prime and his ilk. (Optimus Primal, in case you didnt pay attention, is the mechanical gorilla).

She bonds with Ramos, whos so likable you forgive his thievery. When the car turns into a robot, you can see a 10-year-olds wonder wash across his face.

Because its simple (and doesnt have some of the convoluted subplotting of earlier installments), Rise of the Beasts has a chance to take this in another direction  particularly since the bad guys vow revenge and theres enough left in the human relationships to keep it percolating.

While Transformers is nothing more than a way to extend the shelf-life of toy cars that twisted into robots, it does have the accessories young movie goers have come to love: car chases, battling bots and humans in peril. That weve seen this dozens of times over doesnt matter. Characters  like Fishbacks and Ramos  act like theyve never heard of transformers, even though theyve been destroying things for decades. That naivete serves the old story well and avoids some of the otherworldly stuff previous installments embraced.

As summer movies go, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is harmless enough you could bring a kid and see the excitement through his eyes.
On this episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast we discuss both the pros and cons of nuclear power, especially as it pertains to combatting global climate change.

The international community is attempting to keep the world from warming no more than 1.5-2.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century.

While there have been incredible efforts to achieve thisefforts that have likely taken the worst-case warming scenarios off the tablewe are still on track for closer to 3.0 degrees warming by 2100 instead of 2.0 degrees.

Some would argue that the expansion of nuclear power would go a long way toward closing that gap.

Friend of this show and frequent guest, The BulwarksMona Charen, has written that:

The worlds demand for energy is not going to diminish, but only increase in the coming century. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates world energy demand will increase 50% by 2050. . . The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] countries cannot in conscience deny development to the worlds poorer nations. Nor can we delude ourselves that renewables, at the current state of technology, can take up all the slack created by giving up fossil fuels. Amazingly, there is an existing technology that can produce the energy the world needs without harming the climate. And yet we hesitate. Nuclear power is the key to limiting climate change and hobbling some of the worlds worst aggressors. If were serious about both problems, well clear the air of superstitions about nuclear power. Nuclear power plants cannot explode like nuclear bombs. They require much less land than solar or wind. Nuclear waste can be safely buried. The U.S. Navy has been powering ships with nuclear reactors since the late 1950s. According to the Naval Post: U.S. Nuclear Powered Warships (NPWs) have safely operated for more than 50 years without experiencing any reactor accident or any release of radioactivity that hurt human health or had an adverse effect on marine life. Nothing is perfect. One death from radiation exposure at the Fukushima power plant has been noted by the Japanese government: a worker who died of lung cancer in 2018, seven years after the tsunami and meltdowns. But if we are in a new hard-headed era, we will evaluate trade-offs like adults. Are we serious about choking off the source of Putins power or not? Are we serious about combating climate change without illusions that wind and solar will do the job? Nuclear power can be a major part of the solution to both challenges.

Our guest on this episode, Robert Zubrin, has written a new book on this topic titled The Case for Nukes. We hope you enjoy this conversation about an important issue facing our world.

And dont forget to subscribe to our FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER! The Connors Forum is an independent entity from the institutions that we partner with. The views expressed in our newsletters and podcasts are those of the individual contributors alone and not of our partner institutions.

Episode Audio:

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Headliner and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

On today's program, we discuss both pros and cons of nuclear power

Speaker A: Utterly moderate is the official podcast of the Connors forum. Visit us at connorsforum.org and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter while you are there. Please listen carefully. Carefully, carefully. Hey.

Speaker B: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the program. This is the utterly moderate podcast. And I'm your host, Lawrence Eppard. On today's program, we are talking about both the pros and the cons of nuclear power, especially when it comes to tackling climate change. So if this isn't something that you pay a lot of attention to and you're not really familiar with what the international agreements are, basically what countries around the world are trying to do is by the end of this century. We are attempting to keep the world from warming no more than 1.5 to two degrees Celsius above where we were before the Industrial Revolution. And it's pretty amazing how much work has been done in the international community to tackle climate change. It's been pretty amazing. And the worst case scenarios, it looks like, are off the table because of international cooperation. But there's still a lot of work to be done. We're still closer to three degrees of warming rather than two degrees of warming, and we really need to close that gap. And there are many who would argue that nuclear power is one really important tool in our arsenal to help us close that gap. Mona Charon, who you probably know is a frequent guest on this show, and a friend of this podcast. She has written the following about nuclear power quote the world's demand for energy is not going to diminish, but only increase in the coming century. The US. Energy Information Administration estimates world energy demand will increase by 50% by 2050. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries cannot in conscience deny development to the world's poorer nations. Nor can we dilute ourselves that renewables at the current state of technology can take up all the slack created by giving up fossil fuels. Amazingly, there is an existing technology that can produce the energy the world needs without harming the environment. And yet we hesitate. Nuclear power is the key to limiting climate change and hobbling some of the world's worst Aggressors. If we're serious about both problems, we'll clear the air of superstitions about nuclear power. Nuclear power plants cannot explode like nuclear bombs. They require much less land than solar or wind. Nuclear waste can be safely buried. The US. Navy has been powering ships with nuclear reactors since the late 1950s. According to the naval Post us Nuclear powered warships have safely operated for more than 50 years without experiencing any reactor accident or any release of radioactivity that hurt human health or had an adverse effect on marine life. Nothing is perfect. One death from radiation exposure at the Fukushima power plant has been noted by the Japanese government, a worker who died of lung cancer in 2018, seven years after the tsunami and meltdowns. But if we are in a new, hard headed era. We will evaluate trade offs like adults. Are we serious about choking off the source of Putin's power or not? Are we serious about combating climate change without illusions that wind or solar will do the job? Nuclear, power can be a major part of the solution to both challenges. End quote.

Robert Zubrin has written a new book on nuclear power

Speaker B: Our guest today, Robert Zubrin, has written a new book on this topic titled The Case for Nukes, where he argues that, quote, the bottom line is this we are going to need to produce a lot more energy, and it will need to be carbon free. The only way to do that is with nuclear power. In my book, I go into great detail about how nuclear power is generated, new technologies coming online, and what all of this will mean for the future of humanity, including space exploration. End quote. Robert Zubrin, we are so happy to have you on the show today. Thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker A: Thanks for inviting me.

Speaker B: No problem.

You have a new book called The Case for Nukes about global warming

Speaker C: So you got a great new book out called The Case for Nukes how We Can Beat Global Warming and Create a Free, open and magnificent Future. So let's start with what's your background? What's your training? What brought you to write this book?

Speaker A: Well, I actually have a doctorate in nuclear engineering. I've only worked, a fraction of my career in the nuclear industry. Mostly I've worked aerospace. But, now we have this whole global warming alarm. There are people who are pushing solutions which are basically reactionary, essentially rigging up fuel prices to, deter people of limited income from using fuel or electricity. That's what it amounts to. And, I think that's unethical. And furthermore, it hasn't worked. We've doubled our carbon emissions in the past 30 years, just as we did in the 30 years between 1960 and 1990. We doubled it. We doubled it between 1930 and 1960, and we doubled it between 1990 and then 2020 because people don't want to be poor. And not using fuel essentially amounts to poverty. and the answer is straightforward. It's nuclear power. And, it's very unfortunate that the groups who are, making the greatest alarm about global warming are fighting against nuclear power.

Speaker C: All right, so you, propose the answer, at least in terms of a bridge technology, until we do something like fusion or whatever in the future, might solve this problem.

One of the disadvantages of nuclear power is it has been made expensive

Speaker C: So let's talk about advantages and disadvantages. Let's start with disadvantages, and you can tell me what you make of it. So, one of the disadvantages is it has been expensive to build. Correct?

Speaker A: It's been made expensive. the first nuclear power plant we built in this country took three years to build. Now, it takes 16. And, this has been the result of hostile regulation. and if you look at the numbers, and I present them in my book, the Cost to Build a nuclear power plant has gone up precisely in proportion to time squared. Okay? Construction time squared is the cost of the nuclear power plant. Anything can be made, prohibitively costly. If the FAA were run like the NRC, there would be no airlines. If a city government banned parking in the city, they would say it was impossible to park. Or they would say you can only park in places where it's $100 an hour to park. And they say, well, gee, parking costs $100 an hour. Well, you can make anything cost, excessive amounts through regulation. And that's what we've had with nuclear power.

Nuclear power is the only power which has such a small amount of waste

Speaker C: Another disadvantage people point to, and I want you to tell me if I'm making too much of it, not enough of it. You give us your take on the problem of nuclear waste. So what's the problem? And do you think it can be overcome?

Speaker A: Well, it's ironic that they single out nuclear waste as a problem because nuclear power is the only power which has such a small amount of waste that you actually can store it. The idea of sequestering and storing the waste from coal fired power would be absurd. And of course, fossil fuel in any kind, it sends its waste right into the atmosphere. and the waste products from making photovoltaics are enormous in the way of, ah, fluorine compounds. It caused massive fish kills and damage to public health in China, where these things are made. nuclear power, on the other hand, the amount of waste is, minuscule, and we could reduce it still more by reprocessing the waste. Ah, but of course, the, anti nukes have been first in line to, prevent that. But there's no technical problem with disposing of nuclear waste. The French reprocess and then store their waste. The US. Military, the nuclear navy, stores its waste in salt caverns in New Mexico. the, anti nukes have had no effect on implementing that solution because the Navy needs nuclear submarines and they're just not willing to have their program sabotaged. So the anti nukes have focused on preventing any storage of civilian nuclear waste. And they claim they're interested in safety. How can that be when they are saying, we would prefer to have nuclear waste stored at nuclear power plants in the suburbs of major cities rather than under a mountain in the middle of the desert? Nevada.

One of the fears about nuclear waste is the possibility of a meltdown

Speaker C: All right, so you say nuclear waste can be solved. You say that, the cost can be brought down with changes to regulation. One of the fears, and I want you to talk about this fear and how we should contextualize it, is, of course, the danger of a meltdown. So tell us, is that a reasonable fear? How should we think about that danger?

Speaker A: Okay, meltdowns are possible. That is, while a pressurized water reactor, which is pretty much all the reactors we have in the United States, cannot, have a runaway chain reaction because it needs the water in order to sustain the chain reaction. And if the water boils too much, the reaction shuts down. There is still waste heat left in the reactor, that is from radioactive, waste particles in the fuel. And they continue to give off heat whether the reactor is running or not. And so if the water is gone, you'll have heat and there's no cooling, the fuel will melt down. And the anti nukes said, well, gee, it will melt down. It'll melt down right through the steel pressure vessel, which is eight inches thick, and then through the concrete containment, vessel, which is 8ft thick. we actually had, ah, a meltdown at Three Mile Island. And what happened was the core did melt down and it hit the steel pressure vessel and it melted its way about one inch into the steel, and then it stopped. It didn't penetrate the steel pressure vessel. It never even reached the containment building, let alone China. So this is, a, greatly, overhyped, situation. it is an engineering concern. The Three Mile Island reactor was lost. It was a loss of investment, but there was no harm to the public.

Speaker C: One of the examples, people point to is Chernobyl. But, that was very different technology and very different, political and leadership context, right?

Speaker A: Correct. Chernobyl was not a pressurized water reactor, as I mentioned. you, see, to make the chain reaction work, you got to slow the neutrons down. It's called moderating the neutrons. They're going too fast. They go right by nuclei without splitting, okay? So you got to slow them down. So we use water to slow down the neutrons. And, the advantage of that is, if the reactor gets too hot, the water turns to steam, it can't slow the neutrons down anymore, and the reaction shuts down. So it's physically impossible to have a runaway chain reaction in a water moderated reactor. Chernobyl was not a water moderated reactor. It was a graphite moderated reactor. And graphite doesn't turn into vapor. it's solid. And so, it didn't have, this negative feedback. And in fact, the reactor operators did a crazy experiment in which they set off, a runway chain reaction. and then furthermore, another thing that Chernobyl reactor didn't have, which all, reactors in the civilized world have, is a containment building, okay? So all it had was an ordinary, building. And so when the reactor had a runaway chain reaction, it blew a hole in itself and a hole in the side of the building. And now you had the hot graphite exposed to air. And, so the graphite caught fire. And so this reactor was not only unstable, it was flammable, which is crazy. so you had the whole reactor literally go up in smoke and scattering, radioactive waste products, all over the landscape. the firefighters that were brought in to put the fire out were exposed directly to this cloud of radioactive material being, turned to radioactive smoke right at the reactor. And so about 80 of them were killed. then the fallout came down over a wide area. There's no documented, fatalities from that fallout. but a large area was evacuated and, has turned into an incredibly, flourishing wildlife reserve. but also, the response the Soviet authorities was completely incompetent. And, more could be said about that. But basically, the people who died at Chernobyl were not victims of nuclear power. They were victims of the Soviet Union.

Speaker C: Now, this is, totally anecdotal. I don't have any data to back this up, but when I speak to environmentalists today, I do see their perspective on nuclear softening a bit. Do you see that happening in the US. Or am I overstating that?

Speaker A: Well, you have a certain faction in the Democratic Party. It even has an organization called the Third Way. say, well, why aren't we going to nuclear? it's clean energy. It's the common sense answer. if you actually believe that global warming is an existential crisis that is, one that threatens the existence of the human race, it should take a lot of convincing to tell you that the hazard from nuclear power no nuclear power plant in the United States or, actually anywhere outside the Soviet Union has ever killed anyone. Not even at Fukushima, where, several nuclear power plants were destroyed by an earthquake and tidal wave. there was still no one, who got a harmful radiological dose outside of the plant gate. So here you have a situation where you've had over a thousand nuclear reactors on land or sea for the past.

Speaker C: 60 years not harming anyone now, beyond the benefits. So, no pollution, no greenhouse gases. you write in your book that also, could help opening the space frontier. So tell us what your argument was there.

Speaker A: Well, I mean, look, here's the thing. All the chemical elements that you need to make anything are on Mars, for example. But as is usually the case on Earth, with some exceptions, they're there in a useless form. In other words, you have iron, but it's in the form of iron oxide, silicon in the form of silicon dioxide and so forth. well, those can all be turned into useful resources if you have energy. Okay, now, what's the energy? Well, they don't have fossil fuels on Mars. You can make them, but it would take energy to do it. There's no waterfalls. the air is too thin for wind power to do much. You can do solar power on Mars, but it's only 40% as strong as it is on Earth. And on Earth, it's not terribly attractive. so it's significantly worse on Mars. So what are you going to do for power? Nuclear power. And if you look at the universe, the vast majority of it is far away from any star. so, the vast majority of the universe is dark. so whether you want to develop Mars or do interstellar travel or anything, you're, in general going to be operating out of range of effective solar power. It will take nuclear power to, develop space.

Robert Zubrin says fusion is a doable thing

Speaker C: Does, Robert Zubrin watch movies? Did you happen to see Oppenheimer by any chance?

Speaker A: Yes, I did. And in fact, I wrote a review of Oppenheimer, favorable, for the, online magazine Quillette. they actually had two reviews, one by another person who focused on the artistic merit of the movie. I focused on, they asked me the question, is it, realistic? And, my answer was fundamentally yes. There's only one significant technical error in the film and that's its obsession over this question of whether people were worried that the first atom bomb would ignite the atmosphere. there was no such concern. I mean, Edward Teller did bring it up that we should do that calculation to make sure that that would not happen. But once the calculation was done, he was quite satisfied. and in fact, there was no chance whatsoever, that that could happen. fission of nitrogen would not release any energy at all. And fusion of nitrogen, occurs so slow that the various loss mechanisms would quench the reaction virtually immediately. what people were worried about at Trinity was whether it would work. Because you got to realize this is an incredibly complex thing and they're testing it for the first time. I ran an R and D company for 27 years and it's pretty rare that something new works the first time, but it did.

Speaker C: before I let you go, the future, is it going to be fusion?

Speaker A: Well, eventually, yes. I, think we will have improved, versions of fission. I think we'll have breeder reactors, I think loth thorium reactors. These things are on the way. but definitely fusion, is a doable thing. and right now, really, as a result of the success of SpaceX demonstrating, entrepreneurial approaches to reusable space launch vehicles, in other words, doing the impossible, so to speak investors have taken a look at advanced vision and fusion and said, maybe the reason why we don't have it is the wrong people are doing it. maybe the problem is institutional. And so you have both advanced fission and fusion entrepreneurial companies getting large amounts of funding from investors and these people are moving ahead on very fast timelines. So while, fission has stagnated, since its initial golden age of the think, we're going to have new kinds of fission reactors and we're going to have fusion as well.

Speaker C: Robert Zubrin. He's got a new book. It's called The Case for Nukes how We Can Beat Global Warming and Create a Free, open and magnificent Future. Robert, thank you so much for joining the program.

Speaker A: You are most welcome.
The many months Josh Burton was in the hospital, dinosaurs kept him company.

They were there when his lungs failed, comforting him while he awaited the miracle of new lungs, just as his first dinosaur, a stuffed animal purple Barney, buoyed him as a small child.

And when those lungs also failed and his family faced the impossible, when hospitals told them over and over they would not be able to try to save him, toy dinosaurs kept watch as his body struggled to breathe.

The soft-spoken, studious 17-year-old from Madison is now on his third set of lungs.

In 2020, he had shortness of breath after helping a neighbor retrieve a runway pet. He told his mom, Kelly Burton, he felt like he was having a heart attack; she thought surely that couldnt be the case. But they went to the doctor anyway, and soon found out he had a rare case of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease, which can lead to heart failure.

Because of this, he needed a double lung transplant, an intensive procedure that involved finding donor lungs and transferring them into his teenage body. That happened in 2021.

But the following year, his mother entered a room to find a team of doctors, an empty chair, a box of Kleenex and the information that her sons donated lungs were no longer working in his body.

Of this time, Josh remembers, My mother wouldnt stop crying.

Another double lung transplant, called a retransplant when its the second time, was his only option. But hospital after hospital said they couldnt do it.

Resourceful, persistent, with her sons life at stake, Kelly Burton asked people from all layers of their life to help  former students she knew through her work at UW-Madison, a cousin who worked at the Mayo Clinic, nurses at their local hospital where theyd initially been admitted.

For Josh, who bounced back and forth between adult and childrens floors, his age meant he was sometimes in a gray area. His mother also found a gray area in the space of trying to save his life.

You have to be sick enough to get a transplant but not so sick that youre going to risk having a successful outcome. Its a real fine line, she said. Throughout, she was determined, Im going to get him somewhere.

In Chicago, Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery at the Canning Thoracic Institute at Northwestern Medicine, knew Joshs case was tricky. But those are the kind of cases he wants to take.

We think of ourselves as a destination of hope, he said. We want to take patients who have low odds of survival and make them very high odds of survival.

After all, Bharat said, Northwestern has stellar, experienced surgeons and anesthesiologists and specialists. If not there, where? If they only take cases where they are absolutely sure of success, who would they be leaving behind?

So he looked at the teenager struggling to survive  at Northwestern, Josh was on an ECMO machine that was doing the breathing for him, one of medicines last-ditch efforts to keep severely ill patients alive  and kept trying to find him lungs.

Because it is impossible to know until inspecting the actual organs if they will work for a transplant, the family said that year of waiting became a roller coaster of finding out lungs were available, specialists going to examine them and returning with the news that, again, it wouldnt work. This can happen because of pneumonia or other undetected illnesses in the donor lungs.

Thirteen times, their team went to assess lungs only to deliver bad news.

For three weeks, Kelly remembers, there were no offers of lungs. There were moments she would look at her sons skin and recognize it as the waxy texture that she knew meant the body was failing.

Even her son, she feared, was giving up. He would tell her he couldnt do it anymore. He said he overheard nurses worrying he wouldnt make it. He had nearly died, at this point, several times. She told him, You can do it. You are doing it. You will do it.

Finally, one night, a nurse came into their room, one who had been there before and gone to assess lungs before and knew the disappointments theyd shouldered. She hugged Kelly, on her way to see new lungs, both of them feeling giddy at the thought that this, the 14th set of lungs, might be it.

Hours later, she received the news: Lungs are on their way.

Josh entered the operating room in the middle of the night on June 28, returning after the hourslong surgery to a recovery room and waking up, his mom says, a different child.

For the first time in months, Kelly saw his chest move. Up and down, up and down. Before he went into the operating room, she said, There was no movement. His lungs were doing nothing.

Before the surgery, Josh said, The only thing that went through my mind was I didnt want to die. I didnt know how to drive; I didnt go to high school, or even prom.

Now, he said, Its nice not to have to drag a whole canister around of oxygen. Breathing easier.

Since then, theyve spent time doing occupational and speech therapy at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, and staying in Chicago, as his doctors wanted him to stay nearby for three months to closely monitor his recovery.

We think hes going to do really well long term, Bharat said. The teen has to take care of himself, taking medications and being careful not to expose his lungs to things like plumes of dirt, protecting the organ and himself. Still, Bharat expects this third set of lungs to last a long time.

Over the years, Kelly Burton has looked for small signs that they were on a hopeful path. One was finding out Joshs first set of lungs was donated from another boy, also 14 at the time, also named Joshua. She has since met those parents. They are family to us in a way I cant describe, she said. Their Josh will always be our hero.

Before they leave Chicago, after an only-in-Chicago, lifesaving transplant, Josh had one more only-in-Chicago experience. He got a behind-the-scenes look at the skull of Sue, the famed T. rex housed at the Field Museum.

After a member of his medical team reached out to them about his dinosaur interest, the Field Museum offered Josh a special visit, during which he was able to see the fossils and speak with associate curator of fossil reptiles Jingmai OConnor, known as the punk rock paleontologist.

A paleontologist is what Josh wants to be  something he was worried he could no longer become because of the need to avoid dirt or anything that can hurt his lungs. His favorite dinosaur is an ankylosaurus, because of its cool protective spikes.

OConnor delivered some good news. Josh can research dinosaurs without dust flying around. In fact, a majority of a paleontologists work is not done in the field, OConnor said.

Many dont spend any time in the field and instead focus on, for example, fossil prep or analysis. Each fossil the Field Museum brings back can take weeks or even years to prepare, she said.

Kelly and Josh are ready to return to life in Madison  for him to finally experience high school after years of pandemic-related closures and hospital admissions that meant hes never really been at school for a time that feels real to him.

Seeing him today  except for the scars  its hard to believe he was ever that sick, Kelly said.
Photo:Adrian Lam/Times Colonist Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto at City Hall.

If the province wants to help municipalities deal with the problem of short-term rental housing, it should take over the responsibility for regulating the industry. That was the reaction of Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto Friday, after provincial Housing Minister Ravi Khalon promised there would be new legislation introduced this fall to help cities get a better handle on the short-term rental industry.

Alto said if she had a wish list, the first item would be for the province to create regulations that are consistent across B.C. and that the province would enforce those rules.

It would take the lions share of this off of our plates. Frankly, I would be willing to give that up if I had access to a provincial regulation that was provincially enforced, she said. Given the size of the companies they are dealing with and the scale of the rental platforms, the companies ought to be dealing with a provincial or a national government, she said.

Alto said if the province isnt contemplating that kind of legislation, her second choice would be to ensure municipalities have adequate resources to handle the market.

One of the real frustrations is enforcement. We have a very limited bylaw division. We dont have very many bylaw people, and theyre often doing things that are more urgent.

Khalon did not go into specifics about what the province is planning for the short-term rental industry, but he told reporters the government has been made aware that cities are concerned about the lack of data on the number of short-term rentals and the lack of teeth in enforcement of existing rules.

We believe with this legislation that the hosts, the companies that make a lot of money from the short-term rentals have a role and a responsibility to be part of the solution and help communities with their bylaws, said Kahlon.

The legislation will put in teeth to ensure that they have an important role to help local governments enforce the rules.

Kahlon said short-term rental homes are diverting too much housing from the long-term rental market.

Weve heard from local governments and from various studies that have been done that theyre taking away rental housing that people desperately need and driving up rents across our communities, he said.

It is clear there needs to be additional tools to address the challenges around compliance around enforcement of local bylaws that ensure that the short-term rentals are working within communities, he said.

The proposed legislation that were bringing will make it easier for local governments to ensure that short-term rental platform hosts play by the rules and help them return much of that long-term housing back into communities.

With studies confirming short-term rentals are contributing to housing affordability problems and in the absence of real power to regulate the industry, the City of Victoria took some action against the industry this year. Victoria council approved several changes to its short-term rental regulations.

The new Victoria regulations included increasing fines for operating without a business licence to $1,000 from $500, and to $500 from $250 for those who advertise without a licence; doubling the fine for contravening allowable use to $700; and increasing the cost of a licence for a non-principal residence to $2,500 from $1,000.

The city moved to restrict the occasional rental of someones entire home to four bookings per year and require those renting out their principal residence to furnish proof that the home is their principal residence.

The changes came in the wake of a study released by McGill University that found growth in the short-term rental market is driving up the cost of long-term rentals.

The researchers said short-term rentals took another 16,810 housing units out of B.C.s long-term rental market in June, tightening up the rental market and driving up rental rates.

The study noted the addition of one dedicated short-term rental per 100 rental units in a neighbourhood contributes to an average rise in rent of $49 a month for that neighbourhood, while across the province, rents increased up to 16.6 per cent last year as a result.

The McGill study noted the short-term rental market in Victoria grew 7.4 per cent to 800 daily active listings over the past year. It said host revenue growth jumped 3.8 per cent over the last year to $4 million.

Across the Island, the number of short-term-rental listings grew 17.5 per cent to 6,310 over the last year, while host revenue grew two per cent to $29.6 million.
Lavrov Warns of Foreign Operations Directed against Afghanistan

Sept. 29, 2023, (EIRNS)Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed that Moscow is concerned about the attempts by certain extra-regional players to become more active with regard to Afghanistan, according to the transcript on the Foreign Ministry website. Lavrovs statement came from a written address to the participants of the Moscow Format of Consultations on Afghanistan taking place in Kazan, which include representatives of the Taliban, reported TASS.

Lavrovs text was read out at the meeting by Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, who also serves as director of the Foreign Ministrys Second Asian Department.

His statement came in the context of last weeks meeting of the C5+1, where U.S. President Joe Biden met in New York with the Presidents of the five Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. That meeting was followed up with a Sept. 26-27 meeting in Uzbekistan with the commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Michael Eric Kurilla, and the defense chiefs of the five Central Asian republics. The Prime Minister of Pakistan had also warned earlier this month that U.S. weapons left behind in Afghanistan after the hasty U.S. withdrawal in August. 2021, are falling into the hands of terrorists.

Lavrov said in his Sept. 29 statement to the Kazan forum that

A full-scale pooling of efforts between the countries in the region and the NATO states is only possible under the condition that the latter fully recognize their responsibility for the lamentable results of their 20-year military presence in Afghanistan, which has culminated in a complete fiasco.

Lavrov also took aim at the U.S. and EU freezing of Afghan central bank assets: The Western countries, which have inflicted irreparable damage on the people of Afghanistan, must shoulder the main burden of post-conflict restoration of that country. In this connection, Washingtons blocking of the Afghan banking assets is counterproductive and only aggravates the state of affairs, complicating the already difficult living conditions of ordinary Afghans.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

The Calm Needed Within the Storm

Sept. 29, 2023, (EIRNS)Hopeless would be the wrong way to describe the current situation in the world, although it certainly may appear that way to one who is dispirited. Reports over the recent days have indicated that a new banking crisis may be being ignited, now sparked by what should be the protected bastion of safety: U.S. Treasury Bondswhich have been infected by leveraged investments from hedge funds. This speculative phenomenon runs deep, as the news is only the latest development in a process that has been underway for decades, literally rotting out the economies and nations of the trans-Atlantic from underneath.

Nowhere is this more clearly portrayed than in Germany, whose economy is being rapidly dismantledfirst as an effect of the long-term cancer, then combined with a radical green deindustrialization, and now is being finished off by the effect of anti-Russian sanctions and ensuing high energy prices. The crisis is made all the worse by the fact that there has been no genuine effort to investigate the Nord Stream attacks from one year ago, despite calls internationally to do soan indication of the deep moral and cultural effects of submission to todays powers that be.

At the same time, Western nations seem numb to the effects of their actions around the world, ignorant, for example, of the decades of pain and suffering inflicted on Afghanistan at the behest of U.S. occupation. Or similarly, to the multitude of nations across Africa that were destroyed by NATO interventions or neocolonialist economic lootingor bothwhose citizens are today fleeing into European and other countries in search of some kind of future.

Is it any wonder that Russia and others have lost trust in Western countries? Not only can these countries not admit their responsibility to the crises they have caused around the world, as the Russian Foreign Minister today called out in the case of Afghanistan, but they are even numb to their own collapsing economies, and the plight of their own people. How could someone be trusted who is so blind to even their own short-term survival?

From that standpoint, the danger is extreme, and the rays of hope are slim to none. However, that would not be the full story, as human civilization is not one-dimensional in that way. Just because the trend is toward a lessening of sanity doesnt mean that is all that is going on.

The ongoing collapse of the trans-Atlantic and the insane ratcheting up towards a world war between superpowers is causing nonlinear things to happen. Take, for example, Polands growing spat with Ukraine over the latters dumping of grain onto Polands marketsitself now being combined with the surfacing of a pro-Ukrainian Nazi rally in Canadas Parliament of a mass-murderer of Poles. Or, take the case of Tunisia, who rejected the coy attempts by European nations to manage the hordes of migrants there so they wont travel to Europeand who has now sent their foreign minister on a trip to Moscow. Similarly, there are growing revolts taking place in the U.S. Congress, though it remains to be seen whether or not this will go anywhere.

The most notable development, however, is coming from Germany in the form of the Aug. 28 peace proposal written by four military and diplomatic experts. Their proposal has gone beyond mere complaining and identifying the problem, to the bold assertion that there is no other alternative than a thoroughly organized, negotiated peaceotherwise the existence of the entire world is at stake.

During the weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition on Friday, Sept. 29, Helga Zepp-LaRouche emphasized that the forces behind Ukraine and NATO are responding to Ukraines failing war efforts and counteroffensive by involving themselves deeper into the war directly, thereby increasing the threat of a direct NATO-Russia conflict. This is a situation that will inevitably lead to a thermonuclear war, if not derailed in some way. From this standpoint, the new proposal from Germany not only signifies a break from within the deadlock of that country, but a potentially explosive igniter for others more broadly. The proposal should therefore be circulated internationally to help break people free who are otherwise surrounded by the mainstream narrative, but who are now in an elevated state of recognition of this reality.

Reality, albeit dangerous, can and must be the friend of the true organizer in search of a pathway out of an otherwise hopeless situation.

The dynamic within the International Peace Coalition on Friday was electric, and many commitments were made to grow the process in the coming weeks. Work with the LaRouche movement to make this breakthrough now, which has never been more ripe for this kind of targeted and revolutionary intervention.

 Watch Harleys Updates with Harley Schlanger on Monday October 2, 2023: Every weekday morning on The LaRouche Organization, Schlanger will give you the strategic briefing you need to start your day.
Our story today is called "Luck." It was written by Mark Twain. Here is Shep ONeal with the story.

I was at a dinner in London given in honor of one of the most celebrated English military men of his time. I do not want to tell you his real name and titles. I will just call him Lieutenant General Lord Arthur Scoresby.

I cannot describe my excitement when I saw this great and famous man. There he sat, the man himself, in person, all covered with medals. I could not take my eyes off him. He seemed to show the true mark of greatness. His fame had no effect on him. The hundreds of eyes watching him, the worship of so many people, did not seem to make any difference to him.

Next to me sat a clergyman, who was an old friend of mine. He was not always a clergyman. During the first half of his life he was a teacher in the military school at Woolwich. There was a strange look in his eye as he leaned toward me and whispered  Privately  he is a complete fool. He meant, of course, the hero of our dinner.

This came as a shock to me. I looked hard at my friend. I could not have been more surprised if he had said the same thing about Napoleon, or Socrates, or Solomon. But I was sure of two things about the clergyman. He always spoke the truth. And, his judgment of men was good. Therefore, I wanted to find out more about our hero as soon as I could.

Some days later I got a chance to talk with the clergyman, and he told me more. These are his exact words:

About forty years ago, I was an instructor in the military academy at Woolwich, when young Scoresby was given his first examination. I felt extremely sorry for him. Everybody answered the questions well, intelligently, while he  why, dear me  he did not know anything, so to speak. He was a nice, pleasant young man. It was painful to see him stand there and give answers that were miracles of stupidity.

I knew of course that when examined again he would fail and be thrown out. So, I said to myself, it would be a simple, harmless act to help him as much as I could.

I took him aside and found he knew a little about Julius Caesars history. But, he did not know anything else. So, I went to work and tested him and worked him like a slave. I made him work, over and over again, on a few questions about Caesar, which I knew he would be asked.

If you will believe me, he came through very well on the day of the examination. He got high praise too, while others who knew a thousand times more than he were sharply criticized. By some strange, lucky accident, he was asked no questions but those I made him study. Such an accident does not happen more than once in a hundred years.

Well, all through his studies, I stood by him, with the feeling a mother has for a disabled child. And he always saved himself by some miracle.

I thought that what in the end would destroy him would be the mathematics examination. I decided to make his end as painless as possible. So, I pushed facts into his stupid head for hours. Finally, I let him go to the examination to experience what I was sure would be his dismissal from school. Well, sir, try to imagine the result. I was shocked out of my mind. He took first prize! And he got the highest praise.

I felt guilty day and night  what I was doing was not right. But I only wanted to make his dismissal a little less painful for him. I never dreamed it would lead to such strange, laughable results.

I thought that sooner or later one thing was sure to happen: The first real test once he was through school would ruin him.

Then, the Crimean War broke out. I felt that sad for him that there had to be a war. Peace would have given this donkey a chance to escape from ever being found out as being so stupid. Nervously, I waited for the worst to happen. It did. He was appointed an officer. A captain, of all things! Who could have dreamed that they would place such a responsibility on such weak shoulders as his.

I said to myself that I was responsible to the country for this. I must go with him and protect the nation against him as far as I could. So, I joined up with him. And away we went to the field.

And there  oh dear, it was terrible. Mistakes, fearful mistakes  why, he never did anything that was right  nothing but mistakes. But, you see, nobody knew the secret of how stupid he really was. Everybody misunderstood his actions. They saw his stupid mistakes as works of great intelligence. They did, honestly!

His smallest mistakes made a man in his right mind cry, and shout and scream too  to himself, of course. And what kept me in a continual fear was the fact that every mistake he made increased his glory and fame. I kept saying to myself that when at last they find out about him, it will be like the sun falling out of the sky.

He continued to climb up, over the dead bodies of his superiors. Then, in the hottest moment of one battle down went our colonel. My heart jumped into my mouth, for Scoresby was the next in line to take his place. Now, we are in for it, I said

The battle grew hotter. The English and their allies were steadily retreating all over the field. Our regiment occupied a position that was extremely important. One mistake now would bring total disaster. And what did Scoresby do this time  he just mistook his left hand for his right handthat was all. An order came for him to fall back and support our right. Instead, he moved forward and went over the hill to the left. We were over the hill before this insane movement could be discovered and stopped. And what did we find? A large and unsuspected Russian army waiting! And what happened  were we all killed? That is exactly what would have happened in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. But no  those surprised Russians thought that no one regiment by itself would come around there at such a time.

It must be the whole British army, they thought. They turned tail, away they went over the hill and down into the field in wild disorder, and we after them. In no time, there was the greatest turn around you ever saw. The allies turned defeat into a sweeping and shining victory.

The allied commander looked on, his head spinning with wonder, surprise and joy. He sent right off for Scoresby, and put his arms around him and hugged him on the field in front of all the armies. Scoresby became famous that day as a great military leader  honored throughout the world. That honor will never disappear while history books last.

He is just as nice and pleasant as ever, but he still does not know enough to come in out of the rain. He is the stupidest man in the universe.

Until now, nobody knew it but Scoresby and myself. He has been followed, day by day, year by year, by a strange luck. He has been a shining soldier in all our wars for years. He has filled his whole military life with mistakes. Every one of them brought him another honorary title. Look at his chest, flooded with British and foreign medals. Well, sir, every one of them is the record of some great stupidity or other. They are proof that the best thing that can happen to a man is to be born lucky. I say again, as I did at the dinner, Scoresbys a complete fool.

Download activities to help you understand this story here.

Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. Have you ever had a teacher help you in a special or unusual way? What was that experience like? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

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Quiz - Luck by Mark Twain Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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For Teachers

This lesson plan is based on the CALLA Approach and teaches the strategy of selective attention for picking out the key ideas of the story.

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Words in This Story

ally n. (pl. allies) a country that supports and helps another country in a war

disabled  adj. having a physical or mental disability : unable to perform one or more natural activities (such as walking or seeing) because of illness, injury, etc.

dismiss  v. to send away; to refuse to consider

dismissal  n. the act of sending a person away (from a position at work or in a school)

join up  (idiom) enlist in the military service

superiors  n. a person of higher rank or status than another
The average life expectancy of North America's largest and rarest tortoise species is unknown. But scientists say the animals could live more than 100 years.

The Bolson tortoise is an endangered species. Saving it from extinction is a long-term project. But a conservation effort took a step toward that goal last week.

United States wildlife officials reached an agreement with the Turner Endangered Species Fund. The deal permits the release of Bolson tortoises on land owned by Ted Turner, a media industry leader.

The release of captive tortoises on the Armendaris Ranch is designed to create a free-roaming population. Last week, 20 adult tortoises were released on the property, which is already home to 23 of them. There are also many younger tortoises.

The tortoises usually spend about 85 percent of the time in their underground burrows, which in some cases can be about 20 meters long. The animals live long lives and are slow to reproduce.

Shawn Sartorius is with the Fish and Wildlife Service. He said the results of the breeding and restoration project will not be seen in his lifetime.

What were doing here is establishing a population here that can be handed off to the next generation, Sartorius said.

It is a step toward one day releasing the tortoises in more places in the Southwest. Conservationists are also pushing the federal government to consider creating a recovery plan for the species. The tortoise is part of a growing effort to find new homes for endangered species as they flee climate change and other threats to their natural habitats.

Wild Bolson tortoises are found only in the grasslands of north-central Mexico. The animal once lived in a much greater area that included the southwestern United States. Fossil records also show it was once present it the southern Great Plains, including parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

Scientists estimate the wild population of Bolson tortoises in Mexico is under 2,500. Experts say the animals are hunted as food and as pets. Their habitat is shrinking, as more desert grasslands become farmland.

The 1,450 square kilometer Armendaris Ranch appears to be a great area for the tortoises. In all, the Turner Endangered Species Fund and its partners have been able to grow the population from 30 tortoises to about 800, said Chris Wiese. She leads the project at the Armendaris Ranch.

The releases are the essential step to getting them back on the ground and letting them be wild tortoises, she said.

The tortoises released last week will be able to live freely in the 6.6-hectare pen. They are given electronic trackers, and wildlife workers will check on them once a year.

Depending on weather and other factors, it can take a few years or more for a hatchling to reach just over 110 millimeters long. They can eventually grow to about 370 millimeters.

The species was unknown to science until the late 1950s and has not been studied closely.

The goal is to build a strong captive population that can be used as research for future releases into the wild  both in the U.S. and Mexico. That work will include getting state and federal permits to release tortoises outside Turner lands.

Those recently released hit the ground crawling. They wandered through grass and around desert plants as the Fra Cristobal mountain range appeared in the distance.

It was a moment that Wiese and her team have been working toward for years.

We are not in the business of making pets, she said. We're in the business of making wild animals and that means you have to let them go.

Im Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

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Words in This Story

species  n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

extinction  n. the state or situation that results when something has died out completely

ranch  n. a large farm especially in the U.S. where animals are raised

burrow  n. a hole or tunnel in the ground that an animal makes to live in or for safety

breed  v. to keep and take care of animals or plants in order to produce more animals or plants of a particular kind

fossil  n. something that is from a plant or animal which lived in ancient times and that you can see in some rocks

essential  adj. extremely important and necessary

pen  n. a small enclosed area for farm animals
Hi there! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about the difference between a teacher, a tutor, and a lecturer.

Question:

Hello Teacher,

My name is Saddam, and I am from Uganda in Africa.

I request your help to differentiate between three words and their deep meanings: teacher, lecturer and tutor.

Thanks,

Saddam

Answer

Thanks for this great question, Saddam. All three words are nouns used to describe educators. All three teach students in different ways and have different experiences and qualifications. Lets look at each word so we understand the differences.

Teacher

A teacher is a professional educator who teaches students.

When we think of a teacher, we see a smaller classroom with 15 to 25 students. A teacher might teach in front of the class or go around to work with individual students.

In the United States, we call those who teach students up to 12th-grade teachers. They teach all subjects in elementary school or specific subjects like math, English or history in middle or high school.

Teachers are usually required to have an advanced degree, such as a masters in education. They also must pass a certification or test in general teaching knowledge and specific subjects.

Ms. Leslie is a first-year elementary school teacher. She recently completed her certifications and spent many hours in a classroom helping another teacher.

Lecturer

A lecturer, or professor, is an educator who teaches in colleges or universities.

Lecturers often teach larger classes and stand in front of a big room. For one-on-one time with students, they meet outside the classroom during office hours.

Lecturers or professors usually have an advanced degree, like a Master's or Ph. D, in their subject or special field of study.

Angela is an economics lecturer at a university. She has a Ph.D., but this is her first year of full-time teaching.

Tutor

A tutor is an educator who specializes in a certain subject or content area. Tutors usually help students one-on-one or in small groups.

They do not need a degree. However, some professional tutors have at least a bachelors degree.

High school students can be tutors to other students if they have advanced knowledge in a subject.

Tutors usually give study help to students at different times, like in the evening or on the weekends. They make lessons more personal and help students with specific problems.

I have a big English test coming up, so I am meeting with my tutor after school every day this week so I can be prepared.

Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Saddam.

Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.

And thats Ask a Teacher.

Im Faith Pirlo.

Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

qualification  n. a special skill or type of experience or knowledge that makes someone suitable to do a particular job or activity

grade n. a level of study that is completed by a student during one year
The short-term impact of a federal shutdown on Madison and Dane County is likely to be minimal, officials said this week.

Although essential government services will continue, some offices will be closed and some federal employees who work in the area will be furloughed.

A long-term shutdown could wreak havoc, though, threatening research grants at UW-Madison and funding for city transportation projects that receive federal funds, among other things, officials said.

The last government shutdown lasted more than a month, from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019.

Madisons lack of major federal installations, such as military bases and federal agencies, makes for a relatively small federal workforce, so city officials foresee relatively minor immediate economic impacts.

Federal grant disbursements, however, are a significant revenue source within the city and will likely be delayed in a shutdown. According to Deputy Mayor Sam Munger, Madison has sufficient cash to cover those expenses in the short term, but a longer-lasting shutdown could mean greater consequences.

For example, federal transit funding: The city has made significant investments in a number of transit projects including the Bus Rapid Transit program and electric buses, so federal funds for these projects will be closely monitored, Munger said. A number of other city projects in which private partners depend on federal funding such as Small Business Administration loans could be affected.

Federal resources that thousands of Madisonians depend on, such as SNAP, WIC, Head Start, Section 8 housing vouchers and Meals on Wheels will likely be impacted. Munger says the city will try to help fill those gaps with local resources.

Officials are also deeply worried about potential budget reductions or sequestrations that could arise from compromises to bring the shutdown to an end.

The longer the shutdown goes on, the worse the impacts will be, Munger said. Overall, any shutdown will be a huge blow to this area and the rest of the country, and we strongly urge congressional leadership in the House to do the right thing and come to an agreement that continues to fund the federal government.

Dane County

Dane County officials are evaluating what a shutdown could mean for their employees. While County Executive Joe Parisi doesnt foresee any immediate impacts in county government, he says the damage remains to be seen, adding that delays in basic services will likely have the highest impact on the countys most vulnerable residents, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck, some of whom are federally employed.

Many county infrastructure projects require federal permits or environmental review, and Parisi said these will have to be re-evaluated, depending on how long the shutdown lasts.

Hopefully, congressional House Republicans understand how damaging this could be to communities across the country and do everything they can to avoid a shutdown, Parisi said. Even a brief shutdown impacts local economies, and expecting workers to show up when they dont know if they will get paid that week is unreasonable.

The shutdown wont impact employees of Dane County Regional Airport, who are employed by the county, but furloughs to federal employees in the Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation Administration could mean travel delays.

Airport staffers such as spokesperson Michael Riechers are ready for travelers at all times, but disruptions to the screening or air traffic control processes, both federally staffed functions, will likely mean delays. Just how widespread or long-lasting those delays will be, Riechers said, is unknown.

Theres no swapping out federal employees for county employees either, which Riechers attributes mostly to training and responsibility differences. So, the lights will be on and the bathrooms will be clean, but it just may take longer to get through security or into the air.

As a facility, were always ready for our passengers, he said. From the airlines point of view, were ready, but if there is a disruption in the screening process or the air traffic control process, then that would just cause delays. We are reliant on our federal partners to do their respective jobs.

Federal courts

At the federal courthouse in Madison, work will go on largely as usual, at least in the short term, officials said.

Joel Turner, clerk of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, said the court will have funds to operate until Oct. 12. Operations could continue beyond that date if additional funding is located.

If not, we will shut down similar to other executive branch agencies, Turner said.

While the courts will remain open, he said, certain restrictions will be in place for staff, such as a travel prohibition and a bar on entering into long-term financial obligations. The office is fully staffed, he said, but if an opening were to arise, it would not be filled during the government shutdown.

At the U.S. Attorneys Office in Madison, which prosecutes federal crimes and represents the government in civil matters in court, assistant U.S. attorneys from the offices Criminal Division are excluded from furloughs, U.S. Attorney Timothy OShea said in a statement.

Criminal matters will continue without interruption as an excepted activity to maintain the safety of human life and the protection of property, OShea said.

He added that schedules and deadlines in both criminal and civil cases in which the U.S. Attorneys Office represents the government or another party will remain in effect, as ordered on Thursday by Chief U.S. District Judge James Peterson.

Office support staff, OShea said, are excluded from furloughs only to the extent needed to support criminal prosecutions and necessary civil litigation.

Health services

At Madisons Veterans Hospital and other Veterans Affairs health care facilities, services would continue under a government shutdown, said Jim Bove, spokesperson for the Madison VA.

Pension and other benefits would keep being delivered to veterans, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said last week.

However, we would not be able to conduct outreach to veterans, our public-facing regional offices would be closed, and many regular operations like career counseling, transition assistance and cemetery grounds maintenance would not be available, McDonough said.

Medical care at Madison-based Access Community Health Centers, which is partly supported by a federal grant, would not change, said Dr. Ken Loving, Access CEO. Access, like the 18 other federally qualified health centers in Wisconsin, gets a federal grant to treat low-income people and those without insurance on a sliding fee scale.

Medicaid and Medicare payments and the federal grant  all of which will continue  make up about 80% of the $40 million annual budget at Access, with payments from private insurance and partial payments from the uninsured accounting for the rest, Loving said. The shutdown could prevent or delay Congress from passing a bill to sustain and expand the role of the health centers in future years, which could make planning more difficult.

There wont be any interruption to operations, Loving said. But that uncertainty about our funding long term makes it harder.

At the U.S. Geological Services National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, which investigates disease outbreaks in wildlife, staff spent much of the week planning for the shutdown. The center houses labs and a vivarium where live animals are kept, so some personnel will have to remain on site, officials said Wednesday.

In the event of a government shutdown, science activities at the National Wildlife Health Center will be curtailed, USGS spokesperson Dave Ozman said Friday. Excepted activities will focus on maintaining infrastructure and property.

UW-Madison

UW-Madison will be fairly isolated from impacts of the looming federal government shutdown in the short term.

Federal student aid already has been disbursed, as have many grant and research dollars from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, a statement from UW-Madison on Thursday said.

UW-Madison Federal Relations Director Mike Lenn said preparations for a potential federal government shutdown began months ago.

Should a federal government shutdown occur, the impact to campus operations and day-to-day life for most students will not change dramatically in the short term, Lenn said. We have experience from past shutdowns, and we have the resources in place to ensure smooth operations.

UW-Madison and other college campuses could start feeling the pinch if a government shutdown were to drag on for months, though. Students looking to apply for federal aid could expect delays if a shutdown lasts into December, when the application opens; many of UW-Madisons labs operate with federal money that wouldnt be disbursed.

UW-Madison graduate students such as Brandon Cortez and MegAnn Haubold, who were both awarded multi-year NSF grants Sept. 1, dont expect to be affected in the short-term, as the grant money supporting their research and paychecks already has been allocated to the university.

Cortez called the looming shutdown disappointing and said even though he doesnt expect it to affect his research in the short term, dysfunction in Washington, D.C., could limit his options after graduation.

Theres already a shortage of people who want to work for the government, Cortez said, and shutdowns dont help.

I would love to work for the government, just for the sake of taking a job thats not purely money-motivated, as it might be for a private industry, he said. But Ill tell you right now, the fear of losing pay over something like this, when the people in (Congress) still get paid, that are making decisions, thats frustrating.

Top 10 most visited National Park Service sites in 2022 1. Blue Ridge Parkway 2. Golden Gate National Recreation Area 3. Great Smoky Mountains National Park 4. Gateway National Recreation Area 5. Lincoln Memorial 6. George Washington Memorial Parkway 7. Natchez Trace Parkway 8. Gulf Islands National Seashore 9. Lake Mead National Recreation Area 10. Vietnam Veterans Memorial
MADISON, Wis.  The Great Lakes' frigid fresh water used to keep shipwrecks so well preserved that divers could see dishes in the cupboards. Downed planes that spent decades underwater were left so pristine they could practically fly again when archaeologists finally discovered them.

Now, an invasive mussel is destroying shipwrecks deep in the depths of the lakes, forcing archeologists and amateur historians into a race against time to find as many sites as they can before the region touching eight U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario loses any physical trace of its centuries-long maritime history.

"What you need to understand is every shipwreck is covered with quagga mussels in the lower Great Lakes," Wisconsin state maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen said. "Everything. If you drain the lakes, you'll get a bowl of quagga mussels."

Quagga mussels, finger-sized mollusks with voracious appetites, have become the dominant invasive species in the lower Great Lakes over the past 30 years, according to biologists.

The creatures have covered virtually every shipwreck and downed plane in all of the lakes except Lake Superior, archaeologists say. The mussels burrow into wooden vessels, building upon themselves in layers so thick they will eventually crush walls and decks. They also produce acid that can corrode steel and iron ships. No one has found a viable way to stop them.

Wayne Lusardi, Michigan's state maritime archaeologist, is pushing to raise more pieces of a World War II plane flown by a Tuskegee airman that crashed in Lake Huron in 1944.

"Divers started discovering (planes) in the 1960s and 1970s," he said. "Some were so preserved they could fly again. (Now) when they're removed the planes look like Swiss cheese. (Quaggas are) literally burning holes in them."

Quagga mussels, native to Russia and Ukraine, were discovered in the Great Lakes in 1989, about the same time as their infamous cousin species, zebra mussels. Scientists believe the creatures arrived via ballast dumps from transoceanic freighters making their way to Great Lakes ports.

Unlike zebra mussels, quaggas are hungrier, hardier and more tolerant of colder temperatures. They devour plankton and other suspended nutrients, eliminating the base level of food chains. They consume so many nutrients at such high rates they can render portions of the murky Great Lakes as clear as tropical seas.

While zebra mussels prefer hard surfaces, quaggas can attach to soft surfaces at greater depths, enabling them to colonize even the lakes' sandy bottoms.

After 30 years of colonization, quaggas have displaced zebra mussels as the dominant mussel in the Great Lakes. Zebras made up more than 98% of mussels in Lake Michigan in 2000, according to the University of California, Riverside's Center for Invasive Species Research. Five years later, quaggas represented 97.7%.

For wooden and metal ships, the quaggas' success has translated into overwhelming destruction.

The mussels can burrow into sunken wooden ships, stacking upon themselves until details such as name plates and carvings are completely obscured. Divers who try to brush them off inevitably peel away some wood. Quaggas also can create clouds of carbon dioxide, as well as feces that corrode iron and steel, accelerating metal shipwrecks' decay.

Quaggas have yet to establish a foothold in Lake Superior. Biologists believe the water there contains less calcium, which quaggas need to make their shells, said Dr. Harvey Bootsma, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences.

That means the remains of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a freighter that went down in that lake during a storm in 1975 and was immortalized in the Gordon Lightfoot song, "The Ballad of the Edmund Fitzgerald," are safe, at least for now.

Lusardi, Michigan's state maritime archaeologist, ticked off a long list of shipwreck sites in the lower Great Lakes consumed by quaggas.

His list included the Daniel J. Morrel, a freighter that sank during a storm on Lake Huron in 1966, killing all but one of the 29 crew members, and the Cedarville, a freighter that sank in the Straits of Mackinac in 1965, killing eight crew members. He also listed the Carl D. Bradley, another freighter that went down during a storm in northern Lake Michigan in 1958, killing 33 sailors.

The plane Lusardi is trying to recover is a Bell P-39 that went down in Lake Huron during a training exercise in 1944, killing Frank H. Moody, a Tuskegee airman. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of Black military pilots who received training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama during World War II.

Brendon Baillod, a Great Lakes historian based in Madison, has spent the last five years searching for the Trinidad, a grain schooner that went down in Lake Michigan in 1881. He and fellow historian Bob Jaeck finally found the wreck in July off Algoma, Wisconsin.

The first photos of the site, taken by a robot vehicle, showed the ship was in unusually good shape, with intact rigging and dishes still in cabins. But the site was "fully carpeted" with quagga mussels, Baillod said.

"It has been completely colonized," he said. "Twenty years ago, even 15 years ago, that site would have been clean. Now you can't even recognize the bell. You can't see the nameboard. If you brush those mussels off, it tears the wood off with it."
Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

As autumn heralds a time of reflection and gratitude, join the Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship for a service celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day.

This day beckons us to honor the resilience, cultures, and wisdom of Indigenous communities whose legacies flow inseparably with this beautiful lands rivers, mountains, and skies.

Our service will explore the intricate tapestry of indigenous traditions, cultural resilience, and the common threads with Unitarian Universalism. This service will be provided by Guest Speaker Denyee Matthews anthropologist and Assistant Professor from the College of Southern Idaho.

Our service Sunday will be both in person at our location 160 Ninth Ave. E. in Twin Falls, as well as on Zoom beginning at 10:30 a.m. To access Zoom, email mvuuf83301@yahoo.com for sign-in information. In the subject line write ZOOM Service.

Everyone is welcome; NO EXCEPTIONS. We believe in justice, equality and compassion in human relations; and acceptance of one another. We are handicapped accessible.

Please park at the rear of the building or on the street. Childcare is available.

Join us Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at 160 Ninth Ave. E. in Twin Falls.

For more information, call 208-420-1345 or email mvuuf83301@yahoo.com.

The Episcopal Church of the Ascension

All are welcome at Ascensions services of worship, including children.

Ascension Churchs Sunday service is available online at Ascensions YouTube channel The Episcopal Church of the Ascension  Twin Falls. The building is handicapped accessible and located at 371 Eastland Drive N., Twin Falls. More information about Ascension is online at www.episcopaltwinfalls.org or 208-733-1248.

The Blessing of the Animals free event (weather permitting) will be held outside on Sunday at 3 p.m., at Ascension Church Courtyard. Everyone from the community is invited to come with pets. All species are welcome; please bring animals caged or leashed. Let us know if you plan to attend so we have enough blessing scarves and catnip.

Jehovahs Witnesses

At a time when the desire for better government is on the minds of many Idahoans, Twin Falls resident BriAnna Duff is taking action. Along with thousands of other volunteers, she has participated in a special campaign during the month of September to highlight a compelling solution.

I love talking about Gods Kingdom with my neighbors, and I am excited to share this special magazine with as many as possible, Duff said in a news release. Everyone is dealing with so much, and this is the real solution to the problems we face. I think our community will respond well to the positive message we have to offer.

Duff is one of many Jehovahs Witnesses featuring a special edition of The Watchtower magazine, with the theme What Is Gods Kingdom? The publication is available in over 780 languages in print and online and is being distributed worldwide.

A free digital copy of this special issue of The Watchtower, as well as information about the activities of Jehovahs Witnesses, is available at jw.org. The Witnesses site offers practical Bible-based content for people of all ages and beliefs in over 1,080 languages.

First Presbyterian Church of Twin Falls

209 Fifth Ave. N.

Pastor: Don Hammond

Worship Time  10 a.m.

Adult Bible Study  8:30 a.m.

Everyone is Welcome!

Community Outreach: Sandwich Saturday  Free bag lunch at 10:30 a.m. every other Saturday (Sept. 30) located outside the church.

Blessing Box  always available. Food for the needy, take some food or be a blessing to someone else and leave some. Located outside the church entrance.

To submit an item, email it in plain text to frontdoor@magicvalley.com.
A 38-year-old man driving westbound on Falls Avenue, west of Eastland, at about 7 p.m. and didnt see Bryan Hayhurst in the roadway because of the sun in his eyes, Twin Falls Police Lt. Craig Stotts told the Times-News on Friday.
TWIN FALLS  "Stay away from the Snake River" is the warning multiple agencies are shouting from the rooftops.

Unfortunately, many aren't heeding the warnings, Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Terry Thompson told the Times-News on Friday.

With the recent discovery of the tiny quagga mussel larvae in the Snake River at Centennial Waterfront Park, many boaters, kayakers and anglers are looking for other locations to recreate.

"The number of cars trying to get into Shoshone Falls is staggering," Thompson said.

The Idaho Department of Agriculture, which has taken the lead in battling the invasive species, has closed the river from Idaho Power Co.'s hydroelectric plant  several miles below the Hansen Bridge  downstream to Niagara Springs State Park, south of Wendell.

"This stay-out order includes all water-related activities, including fishing, wading, using floating duck decoys, etc. Any waterborne conveyance  whether its a boat, a kayak, a stand-up paddleboard or float tube  poses a risk of spreading these mussels," Idaho Power said Friday in an email.

The Fish and Game department has taken a step further by closing the river to fishing, hunting and trapping all the way to Idaho Highway 46 at Clear Lakes near Buhl, Thompson said.

Other bodies of water are closed as a precaution, including Murtaugh Lake, Dierkes Lake, Wilson Lake, Oakley Reservoir, Box Canyon, Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir, and now Lake Walcott on the Snake River in Minidoka County.

Want to know more? To access the map of closures or sign up for updates from ISDA please go to www.agri.idaho.gov/main/plants/snake-river-quagga-mussel-veligers/.

If the mussels spread unchecked in Idaho, it could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in actual and indirect costs, said Braden Jensen, director of governmental affairs for Idaho Farm Bureau Federation.

If they become established here, they will have an extreme cost to deal with, Jensen said in a statement. I think its incumbent upon all of us to do our part to be really conscientious of what were putting into the water, and where our watercraft and other possible conveyances have been before. I would really encourage people to take heed to the states campaign: clean, drain and dry these things that go into the river, every single time.

Thompson agrees.

"We need to keep the message in front of people," he said. "Even dogs should stay out of the river."
The Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office asks that anyone with information please call 208-735-1911 or Crime Stoppers at 208-343-2677, where they can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward. Tips can be made at www.343cops.com or download P3 Tips on your mobile phone.
If it werent for our Hispanic business owners, where would we get our taco cravings satisfied?

Since 2005, Janitzio Mexican Restaurant isnt just one of the best places to get Mexican food in Twin Falls  just take a look at the Google reviews  but its also been an essential part of the communitys economy.

Gloria Guzman, manager of the Mexican restaurant, started her business back in 2005 with her husband, moving across the state to Twin Falls.

We worked for a different restaurant before and then we moved to Twin. We didnt even live here, but we came for our business, Guzman told the Times-News. We lived in Coeur dAlene.

At the start of her business, Guzman had about eight employees working for Janitzios before it doubled in 2016 to 16 employees  and moved locations because of the limited parking at their prior location.

Janitzios was located on Main Avenue before they relocated to Kimberly Road.

We moved because of the parking. That was an issue, but we also moved because we wanted to expand, Guzman said.

Guzman also expressed that although theyve had success and growth within their business, theyve also had their moments of difficulty, mentioning the pandemic.

There are just things that happen out of your control, but we stayed open, Guzman said. We did to-go orders and delivery orders to help out our employees financially. And our customers supported us a lot. We got a lot of help from them.

In the 2017 American Community Survey done by the U.S. Census Bureau, 15% of Hispanic-owned businesses in Idaho are in accommodations and food services. Thirty-five percent are in manufacturing and 11% in retail trade.

Roughly 1,100 Hispanic-owned businesses in Idaho had at least one employee in 2017.
Middle Eastern companies are keen on exploring the Sulu Sea for oil and gas, reflecting the increased interest of investors in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the Department of Energy (DOE) said Friday.

The areas in the Sulu Sea are relatively underexploredNow, because of their [Middle Eastern companies] greater confidence that the administration is welcoming foreign investments, they have expressed interest in doing exploration activities in the Sulu Sea area, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said.

Lotilla said the DOE and the BARMM Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy signed in July the intergovernmental energy board (IEB) circular on the joint award of petroleum service contracts and coal operating contracts in the BARMM.

The circular operationalizes the provision of Section 10, Article XIII of Republic Act No. 11054 or the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to jointly grant rights, privileges and concessions for the exploration, development and utilization of uranium and fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas and coal within the jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro.

We already have a number who have discussed with us, and [we are] not yet at liberty to tell you which company, but definitely it is a major company that is looking at opportunities again in the end especially in the offshore areas between Sulu and Mindanao, that area, Lotilla said.

Lotilla expressed hope more Middle Eastern countries would invest in the energy sector in the Bangsamoro region.

In the case of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and the Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, we would like them to particularly invest in the Bangsamoro region, Lotilla said.

Because while we are not limiting their investment interests in these areas, there is a natural affinity and there is great interest on their part to be able to help out in Bangsamoro region. So we hope that we can look forward to deepening our cooperation with these countries, the energy chief said.

He said Qatar was looking at opportunities in the natural gas industry, while the United Arab Emirates was keen on renewable energy projects.

So we are welcoming these opportunities for them to come to the Philippines as wellWe will do our best to make sure that the foreign investors indeed find a welcoming investment climate in the country, Lotilla said.
The Circular Explorer continues to make progress in its mission as an ambassador vessel for circular living and to support the rehabilitation of Manila Bay.

A partnership between the Holcim Group and One Earth  One Ocean (OEOO), the solar-powered Circular Explorer is raising awareness on the importance of a circular economy, which includes reusing materials for as long as possible to prevent wastage and conserve natural resources.

We are proud to see the Circular Explorer in action and responding to the enormous challenge of marine pollution. The vessel also plays a key role in amplifying our message on the importance of circularity to preserve natural resources and minimize wastes. Already, we are advancing circularity, having recycled around 600,000 tons of waste in our operations in the first half of 2023 while also advocating for policies on the use of construction and demolition wastes in new structures, said Holcim Philippines president and CEO Horia Adrian.

The Circular Explorer is also advancing research on marine plastic pollution while collecting wastes to support Manila Bays cleanup. In September 2023, the vessel has collected 18,415 kilograms of wastes including 7,965 kilograms of plastics covering an area close to 3.84 million square meters.

The Philippine Coast Guard Marine Environmental Protection Command helps in the daily cleanup. A partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is also in the works to align the Circular Explorers activities with the agencys initiatives for Manila Bay rehabilitation.

The vessel is spreading awareness on the importance of a circular economy against marine wastes through an education campaign with advocacy organization Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation.

With the first months of cleanup-operations, a vision has become reality. We are now actively helping clean Manila Bay with this unique prototype vessel. I am stoked to see even more important milestones coming up soon, as we are about to do the next exciting steps towards consolidating our education and scientific pillars. Many thanks to Holcim for being such a reliable and strong partner in this, said OEOO Circular Explorer Project Manager Daniel Scheler.
Chicago Public Schools officials announced the first enrollment increase the district has seen in a dozen years, with 1,185 more students this school year.

At the first in a series of community meetings Thursday, the district also said its attendance rate has held steady despite the loss of bus service for thousands of students, and it shared efforts to devise a five-year road map for improving school facilities and achievement, particularly for Black students.

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CPS CEO Pedro Martinez also celebrated a partial reversal in learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with elementary students test scores in spring showing improvements in reading and math, and in some cases returning to 2019 levels.

But among certain demographic groups, the scores also show stark disparities. And community members at Thursdays meeting at Austin College and Career Academy High School on the West Side raised a host of issues  from opportunity gaps experienced by Black students to the impact of lacking bus transportation  that remain ongoing, despite the districts recent successes.

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Chicago Pubic Schools CEO Pedro Martinez attends a meeting at Austin College and Career Academy High School on Sept. 28, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Black Student Success and CPS strategic plan

For kindergarten through second grade i-Ready tests, scores increased sixfold among Black students, Martinez said. We need to keep this momentum going, he said. Because we know achievement and opportunity gaps still exist and closing those gaps must remain a top priority moving forward.

As part of its five-year strategic plan, CPS announced the creation of an advisory team, reporting to Martinez, to helm the creation of a Black Student Success plan.

Speaking alongside other community organizers, former board member Dwayne Truss said folding the initiative into a broader five-year plan wouldnt suffice. He said advocates had met with CPS to propose the creation of a committee similar to the boards Special Education Advisory Committee, whose proceedings are public, formed in July.

(We) met with you. Sounded good; gave us hope. And then for you to turn around and say, Well, were gonna wrap this thing up to a bigger picture, Truss said. Were just simply asking for a seat at your table. ... We have community people that brought this idea up, met with you sincerely, South, West Side of Chicago, and its like youre making that announcement without even giving us the courtesy.

Talking to board President Jianan Shi, Truss said, Dude, its not a good look, especially when youre an Asian American person talking to Black folks in a Black neighborhood, saying, This is what were gonna do.

Board member Elizabeth Todd-Breland, a CPS parent and University of Illinois at Chicago professor of African American history, said she recognized that previous reforms have failed Black students, resulting in ongoing inequities.

These persistent opportunity gaps for Black students in particular are a sign of our collective failures as adults, not some type of inferiority among Black children. And this ... then requires a bold new vision for the future of Chicago public schools. And I understand why people distrust us to do that work, said Todd-Breland, who was appointed to her first term on the board, like Truss, by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2019. After he expressed opposition to Lightfoots plans to build a new high school in the South Loop, Truss term was not renewed when it expired in 2022.

The only way to address the needs of Black students and communities is for us to do this work together, Todd-Breland said, encouraging community members to help the district create a Black Student Success plan that she said would be voted upon later this year.

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This is why we are here, Shi said of community members criticisms. Were not going anywhere; we are not shying away from the feedback that we got today.

Chicago Board of Education President Jianan Shi leads a meeting at Austin College and Career Academy High School on Sept. 28, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

From October to May, the district will hold a series of events to engage community members in devising a five-year road map meant to guide reforms and improvements from 2025 to 2030.

A survey and dedicated site will be released next month, when Martinez is scheduled to hold multiple State of the District events. Community roundtable meetings on the budget and facility improvements are slated to take place in November and December, with additional meetings in the new year dedicated to planning. A draft of the five-year plan will be released in June, according to CPS.

After the meeting, CPS announced the appointment of Nicole Milberg, recently the chief of schools for Network 6, as the districts new chief of teaching and learning, a role that will provide leadership and support in implementing CPS core instructional vision and goals, according to a district news release.

Slight reversal of enrollment trends

In a presentation on district enrollment trends Thursday, Sara Kempner, CPS director of enterprise data strategies, said the current student population of nearly 323,300 students  a 1,185 student increase  represents a slight reversal of the districts longtime downward trend.

Largely driven by the expansion of free, full-day prekindergarten, the number of students joining the district this year outpaced the number who left, as graduates or transfers, for the first time in 12 years, Kempner said.

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Meanwhile the number of students transferring to schools outside of Chicago, home schooling or transferring to private schools fell, Kempner said. CPS doesnt track students immigration status, she noted. But a substantial increase in the number of students in temporary living situations and a 10% increase in English learners may reflect the influx of newcomer students from the southern border who arrived with their families seeking asylum, according to the district.

Spanish speakers represent the bulk of English learners, who comprise 22% of all students. Enrollment also increased among students whose home language is Russian, Ukrainian and Arabic, CPS said in a news release.

The racial composition of the district hasnt significantly changed, the district said. Enrollment declined by less than 2% among Black students this year, which is half the rate of decline in previous years, Kempner said. Latino and Asian students enrollment increased by less than 2% each and other groups have remained at current levels, she said.

smacaraeg@chicagotribune.com
Sheraton Manila Hotel is rolling out Pranzo & Cena: Italian Family Feasts, a culinary experience that celebrates the rich flavors of Italy and aims to elevate communal moments  fostering stronger ties among family and friends.

Pranzo & Cena is the brainchild of Chef Andrea Burzio, who brings his 15 years of international culinary expertise to Sheraton Manila Hotel.

Drawing from his passion for authentic Italian cuisine, Chef Burzios Pranzo & Cena will be available from Monday to Saturday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., starting October 2, 2023.

Weekday dining is priced at P3,200 net per person, while weekend dining is offered at P3,500 net per person.

Chef Burzios culinary journey is a captivating narrative, beginning with his role as Executive Sous Chef at Sandy Lane Barbados, an iconic luxury resort in the Caribbean. He not only oversaw the fine dining restaurant Acajou but elevated it to receive a prestigious 5-Star Forbes inspection rating.

His adventures then took him to Shangri-la Kowloon Hong Kong, where he started as the Chef de Cuisine at Angelini, a fine dining haven in the bustling Tsim Sha Tsui district. His dedication and leadership played a pivotal role in earning Angelini a place among the Top 100 city restaurants in Hong Kong for two consecutive years.

From Hong Kong, Chef Burzio continued at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts Mactan where he managed Acqua Restaurant and the VIP Ocean Club Lounge, before moving to France to take charge of a 45-seater restaurant and worked as an executive consultant for a new tapas bistro project in Aix En Provence.

After stints in Thailand and Myanmar, his journey then led him to the prestigious Michelin-starred La Barrique restaurant in Italy, where he worked closely with Michelin-starred Chef Stefano Gallo. This chapter of his career involved mastering the art of slow cooking, mousses, espuma, and advanced food preparation techniques.

(To ensure a delightful and intimate experience, reservations are highly recommended and can be made via http://www.skitchenmanila.comor by calling (02) 7902 1800 or 0917 859 7496. Exclusive discounts are available for Club Marriott members, Marriott Bonvoy members, Newport World Resorts members, and those eligible for government-mandated discounts.)
The Ergoneering: GAIA Economics Product Design Competition challenged the most promising talents to conceptualize and create novel and sustainable design solutions that may revolutionize ergonomics in diverse industries.

Organized by the Industrial Management Engineering Society (IMES) of the De La Salle University (DLSU), innovators from Mapua University, Adamson University, DLSU, and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), embarked on a joint journey of econovations to showcase their visions for a greener future.

The proposals were screened based on originality, content, and feasibility of the product design; logical flow of the submitted infographic; and social media engagement.

Glenn Hernandez, Ralph Sales, and Justin Osorio of Team Benildet Different were hailed as the Top Winner for Cooltivate, a wall-mounted miniature vertical hydroponics system that allows home-scale plant cultivation without soil.

Air conditioners typically drain around five to 20 gallons of water daily in humid weather, the students explained. Cooltivate allows reuse of wastewater and introduces greenery in the home through hydroponics.

With the help of sprinklers, water collected in the reservoir will continuously drip downwards to the foldable plant pockets. It likewise features an air-purifying curtain ideal for tiny living spaces as well as sensors to prevent overflow.

Team Ideation Catalysts, comprised of Paolo Aquino, Aurmalouise Matriano, Joey Manalansan, Ma. Czjenn Bustamante, and Kaitlyn Rae Ong, landed as First Runner-Up for their revolutionary tumbler cover dubbed as ClinCap.

Say goodbye to plastic bottles and embrace sustainability, they beamed. ClinCap filters out impurities and disinfects water using UV-C light, ensuring clean and safe drinking water.

The rechargeable device is powered by a built-in filtration with absorbent and fine filter layers made from micro-cellulosic plant-based fibers. It was developed with comfort and convenience in mind and comes with an anti-leak silicon.

Al-nair Zambrano, Bhea Mallari, John Dence Flores, Viven Dazo, and Alex Estorque of Team Golden Ratio finished as the Second Runner-Up with Jupiter, a mobile composting unit that produces biogas through digestion of food wastage.

About 1,717 metric tons of food are wasted daily in the Philippines, releasing significant methane emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere, they expounded. To divert food waste from landfills and slow down climate change, methane can be harnessed as an alternative energy source to produce biogas.

The unit comes with biomass bags, a methane tank, and a stove unit. It can be used for two to three hours of cooking both indoors and outdoors.

The trailblazers from the Industrial Design Program of Benilde School of Environment and Design (SED) nabbed the top three spots.
The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) is thrilled to announce the upcoming EV Summit 2023, set to take place from October 19th to 21st at the SMX Convention Center in the Mall of Asia (MOA) complex. Under the leadership of EVAP President Edmund Araga, this years summit promises to be an electrifying showcase of electric vehicles (EVs) and cutting-edge technologies.

President Araga and his team have meticulously curated an impressive lineup of EVs for the event. Attendees can look forward to more than just electric cars; the summit will feature e-buses, e-trucks, and e-motorcycles, all under the L3 category. This diverse range of vehicles exemplifies the rapid evolution of electric mobility in the Philippines.

In addition to the compelling EV lineup, the summit will host a bustling exhibition of EV suppliers and innovators. Attendees will have the chance to explore the latest advancements in EV components, batteries, charging infrastructure, and more. This exhibition promises to be a hub of innovation, fostering connections and collaborations within the electric vehicle industry.

President Araga stated, Our objective is not only to showcase EV diversity but also to foster partnerships that drive electric mobility adoption in the Philippines. By bringing together suppliers, manufacturers, and stakeholders, we aim to create a sustainable and eco-friendly future for our nation.

With the surge in electric vehicles nationwide, the EV Summit 2023 is poised to be the Philippines most thrilling exhibit this year. It offers a unique opportunity for businesses, government agencies, and the public to engage, learn, and contribute to the electrifying future of Philippine transportation.
Savory September

On Sept. 22 Piedmont Arts hosted its annual fundraiser, Savory September. This fundraiser is a themed meal that features food and drink items made by local professional and amateur chefs.

Attendees also experienced a bar and music by Jake Earls.

This fundraiser has been the fall fundraiser for the museum for over 30 years and this years Buon Appetito theme was the most successful yet, a release states.

Savory September featured handmade creations from local chefs including: Luke Pollom and Janet Ashby from Kings Grant; Julia and Blake Shumate; Ouss Sahar and Kerry Smith; Beverly Lyle and Jennifer Reis; Spencer Koger; Susan Critz and Marty Gardner; Blanche Mahoney, Barbara Stanley, and Esther Schilbe; Anna Wheeler and Monique Holland; Holly and Robby Burton; and Laura Frazier, Christina Slate and Liz Harris.

Many tables also served themed cocktails including: limoncello cannoli martinis, espresso martinis, aperol spritzes and negronis. The chefs decorated their tables in red, white and green; twinkly lights; flags; and illustrations. The flower arrangements on the tables and the main centerpiece in the gallery were all created by Brad Draper of Draper Flowers & Gifts.

The committee that made the event possible included Piedmont Arts staff, past and present board members and community members.

56th Annual Pancake days

The Meadows of Dan Ruritan Club and Fire Department are hosting the 56th annual Pancake Days fundraiser Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Meadows of Dan Community Building, 2858 Jeb Stuart Highway.

The Pancake meal includes: buttermilk pancakes, buckwheat pancakes, sausage, gravy and all the fixings. Both buckwheat and buttermilk pancakes are made from scratch with a recipe by Clara Harrell and Claudia Wood.

Entry is $12 for adults and $6 for children ages 12 and under. Cash and credit cards will be accepted.

To-go orders are available and Neeses freshly ground sausage will be available for purchase along with commemorative t-shirts.

More than 50 years ago, this event started out serving $2 plates raising $200. Today an average of 2,200 people are served each Sunday.

People attend the fundraisers from states away including: Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Proceeds from Pancake Days benefit various local community causes and organizations including: the volunteer fire department, rescue squad, schools, college scholarships, food drives and other needs in Patrick County.

Families from miles around come together to host Pancake Days, Ruritan Treasurer Debra Shelor said. The impact on our community is significant by supporting youth education, ensuring our local safety squad can care for area residents, and that our community building remains a place for all area events.

The Ruritans arent the only organization putting on the event, Pancake Days Chairman Emily Handy said. Its also the fire department and the rescue squad. We could not do this without them. It isnt about a group; it is about everyone coming together.

Dippin for Dolly

A fundraiser for the Patrick County Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program will be on Oct. 7 from 2 to 7 p.m. at The Back Yard Cow, 9869 Woolwine Hwy.

The proceeds from the fundraiser will support the continuation of the book gifting program.

Since launching in 1995, Dolly Partons Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world, a release states.

The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has gifted over 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and The Republic of Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and Local Community Partners.

The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to childrens homes each month. Each child enrolled in the program receives one book per month from birth to age five, at no cost to families.

The Patrick County branch was established in 2022 through a partnership between the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce, One Family Productions, STEP Inc. and Rotary Club of Stuart.

Monsters on Main Street

The Patrick County Chamber of Commerce revamped its Scarecrow Contest this year to hold Monsters on Main Street in its stead.

Businesses, individuals and organizations can participate in this free contest that will help decorate Main Street, Blue Ridge Street and Patrick Avenue for the Halloween season.

Once registered, businesses located on those streets will have first pick and other participants will be randomly placed in a location after.

Traditional monsters of vampires, Frankenstein or cookie monster are acceptable, along with new monster creations of homework monsters, stress monsters or even scarecrows are still welcome.

Once all monsters are installed, signage will be displayed with the name of the monster, business, company, individual, or organization it was created by and a link to the online voting form.

Monsters will be installed by Oct. 13 and voting will take place between Oct. 13th and Oct. 31st for the Stuart Spooktacular. Registration for Monsters on Main Street runs from Sept. 27 through Oct. 4.

To register and for a complete list of dates, details and rules visit patrickchamber.com.

Drug court awarded $1 million

The U.S. Department of Justices Bureau of Justice Assistance has awarded $1 million to the Piedmont Regional Community Services Board, which serves the city of Martinsville and the counties of Henry, Patrick and Franklin, for the enhancement of its adult drug court.

The funding, through BJAs fiscal year 2023 Adult Treatment Court Site-Based program, will be used to increase the courts capacity, serving an additional 60 participants, according to a release from Congressman Morgan Griffiths office.

This funding by the Bureau of Justice Assistance will allow the Piedmont Regional Community Services Board to expand its drug court to help an additional 60 individuals with pending felony drug or drug-related charges battle their addiction, reduce their chance of recidivism, and find stability, through housing and employment, Griffith said in the release.
Martinsville addiction treatment center BrightView celebrated its one-year anniversary by honoring its partners and recovery patients.

BrightView began in Cincinatti, Ohio, as a response to the opioid epidemic and has since expanded into six other states, including Virginia. It has branches in various locations spread throughout the state and last year a location in Martinsville was established.

The clinic provides medication for addiction treatment, individual counseling, group therapy, social service support and work on co-occurring disorders. In the next four to six months the clinic in Martinsville will have an on-site pharmacy so that patients can get medication in-house without having to travel to another local pharmacy.

Were really here not to supplant their primary care physician, but we are here to kind of mimic all those things and get them back into the idea of being in a medical facility, BrightView Health Outreach Director Thomas Fraticelli.

When a new patient comes in, they get weighed and are offered a locker free of charge before going to a location for a urine test.

We test not for it to be a gotcha or to catch them and say youre out of the program now, Fraticelli said. We test for understanding.

The test is to see what may be in the patients system so that staff have a full understanding of where they are, Fraticelli said. It can also indicate if a new issue has arisen if a patient has been clean for months on end and is off track again suddenly or if their pattern of usage is inconsistent, he added.

There is an on-site lab to test but if more in-depth screening samples are sent to their lab in Virginia Beach which typically has results back within three to five days.

The facility also has two waiting rooms, a nurse stations, multiple offices, a lab, exam rooms, counseling rooms and group activity rooms. They accept all insurances including Medicare and Medicaid.

For the one-year anniversary, BrightView held a reception on-site and offered tours before honoring its partners and three of its recovery patients. Around 45 to 50 community partners and members attended to show support.

Partners recognized include: BrightView office staff, Piedmont Community Services, Henry-Martinsville Department of Social Services, Patrick County Family Practice, Patrick County Urgent Care, PACE to Recovery, Henry County Adult Detention Center, Martinsville Adult Probation and Parole, Aetna, Martinsville Fire & EMS, Total Health Care, Caring Hearts Counseling, Life Stages, Bassett Family Practice, Ridgeway Family Health and Connect Health + Wellness.

Since September is recovery month on top of the anniversary, BrightView also recognized three recovery patients: Maurice Roberts, Derrick Watkins and Kerri Underwood.

I am proud of each and every one of yall and congratulations, BrightView Community Outreach Manager Beth Vaughan said.

Im very grateful for BrightView and to my recovery family that I have come to love so much, Underwood said after she accepted her certificate and gift.

BrightView is amazing, but recovery is not possible unless you develop coping skills and you seek out other people in recovery who can help you and support you and just walk with you on your journey, Underwood added.

Im grateful to accept this award but I didnt accomplish this on my own, she said. I accomplished it with the love and support of my recovery team, some of them are here today  so thank you.
What lies between sans and serif? Surprisinglydespite the kajillions of digital fonts now in circulationnot much. Though maybe theres a reason for that: with most fonts sitting clearly on one side of the divide or the other, those in between can feel as if theyre rolling around the uncanny valley.

The most pitiable victims? Those fonts that start life with serifs and endure a series of amputations. Reading a page set in one of these is like hearing a thousand tiny phantom limbs wail in unison. Theres an infamous text family from the 1980s that offered both Semi Serif and Semi Sans variants, cruelly extending the trip through the abattoir. (No picture. Its caused enough heartache.)

For this reason, its not a category that ever interested me much, either as a typographer or type designer. Though there are good examples, e.g.

The criminally underused Penumbra, designed by Lance Hidy:

Penumbra was originally designed to showcase a certain 1990s type technology that would allow users to select any font style within an interpolated range between light and bold, or between sans and serif. Unfortunately, when this technology sank, Penumbra went down with the ship.

But the category goes back much earlier. Of course, theres Optima, designed by Hermann Zapf:

Optima has been consistently popular since the 1960s. (For whatever reason, its gained a particular toehold in packaging for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.) Like most of Zapfs work, its both extremely well made and preternaturally bloodless. This is the font an android would choose for their autobiography. Hard to criticize, but also hard to love.

Sometimes this style is called flare serif as a description of the shapes at the tips of the letters. Im not sure it fits, however. The so-called flare serifs dont read as serifsa word that connotes protuberances in the horizontal direction. (Compare, e.g., slab serif, a term that is entirely accurate.) Rather, they read more like modulations of the stroke width in the vertical direction. Maybe tapered stem? Though flareface is catchy.

Earlier still, we have Albertus, designed by Berthold Wolpe in the 1930s:

If Optima is carved out of ice, Albertus is pure warmth: strange and angular and full of unexpected details. Wolpe worked for many years at Faber and Faber on book jackets. No surprise that his own tastes in type ran toward the expressive and eye-catching. To be fair, Optima was intended for body text; Albertus wasnt.

Or so I thought. Not long before the pandemic, I was playing Uncharted 4 and immediately recognized the in-game menu font as Albertus:

It looked fantastic! Who wouldve guessed that an odd typeface from the 1930s would turn out to be a great screen font nearly a century later.

At that point, I started to reconsider my prejudices. Maybe a font family in this tapered category could be both nicely readable and nicely weird.

Zapf and Wolpe were both calligraphers by training. Their sense of letterforms naturally arose from their understanding of how a broad-nib pen moves across the page and how the stroke changes as the nib rotates in the hand.

(Their biographies also had a nexus via Nazi Germany. Wolpe was a German Jew who fled the Nazis and, during the 1930s, re-established himself as a typographer and designer in England. The younger Zapf, also German, was drafted into the German military in 1939. Eventually, due in part to his calligraphy skills, he trained and served as a cartographer for military intelligence, preparing for the eventually aborted Operation Felix. After the war, he taught calligraphy in Offenbachthe city Wolpe had originally fled.)

Unlike Zapf & Wolpe, I have no calligraphy skills whatsoever, due to the unfortunate genetic defect of writing left-handed. Worse, I cant even draw letters with pen & ink. Nevertheless, when I tell people I cant draw, they dont believe me. Doesnt the existence of my font library prove otherwise? Truthfully, Ive never thought of letterforms in terms of drawing. It feels more like building a mechanical device from small moving parts, grinding & polishing them until they mesh smoothly.

Speaking of pens. There is a theory of type designformalized and popularized by Dutch design educator Gerrit Noordzij in his book The Strokeclaiming that letterforms arise primarily from the stroke of the pen.

I dont want to say Mr. Noordzij is wrong, exactly. But in the context of making fonts, Ive always thought of letterforms not as strokes so much as constructions. And pen-based writing is one of many influences on those constructions. As an aesthetic matter, surely the most enduring influence. Though there are also plenty of fonts that have no antecedent in written forms. Moreover, in terms of what makes type on the page workat the scale of hundredths of an inchthe behavior of a pen is only mildly instructive. Heliotrope ends up as my most calligraphic font by far, but I promise that not a single pen was wielded during its creation.

Heliotropes roman weights are the less weird members of the family. With these, I imagined a Mendelian breeding of Optima and Albertus that captured Optimas clean readability with the crunchier rhythm of Albertus. (Some of the offspring had to be drowned in the river. But we got there.) If you only used these styles of Heliotrope, youd think it was rather polite.

And then the italics appear. In typical serif families, the italic styles achieve their complementary contrast by using a completely different geometric vocabulary built from slanted, curvy strokes. But in typical sans families, the italics are often not much more than a slanted version of the roman. Optima and Albertus belong to this boring tradition.

Heliotrope does not. Instead, its italics are inspired by blackletter writing. Blackletter is the name given to the dense, dark script style today most strongly associated with German typesetting. (The Gutenberg Bible, for instance, is set in type designed to resemble blackletter writing.) Though there are many variants under the umbrella of blackletterthe curious should seek out Fraktur Mon Amour by Judith Schalanskyit is arguably the most constructed of calligraphic scripts, relying more on straight, uniform strokes instead of the round, modulated strokes we associate with the Roman tradition. (By the way, Wolpe made a wonderful blackletter typeface called Sachsenwald. Zapf made the somewhat less wonderful Gilgengart.)

For me, the most surprising feature of Heliotrope is that on their own, the italics are rather weird; but when used in body text, they provide the right amount of emphasis, contrast, and energy. That may sound like a humblebrag. But even after all this time designing fonts, the process still contains elements of experimentation and mystery. Often I feel Im following the idea where it wants to go, not vice versa. So the destination can be, in fact, a surpriseeven to me.

So whats Heliotrope good for?

First, due to its neither-sans-nor-serif design, Heliotrope will probably find the most use as a secondary face in a layout. If youre using a typical serif or sans for body text, Heliotrope would work as a complementary face for headings, notes, and other display or incidental elements.

Second, Heliotrope is an elegant body-text face in its own right. I cant say I expected that when starting the project. But it turns out to have a pleasant color & rhythm that, due to its stroke contrast, isnt fatiguing. Of course, I did some serious user research. When I completed the first prototype of Heliotrope, I used it on Beautiful Racket to see how many people complained. Nobody did. On the contrary, several wrote to ask whats that font? and where can I get it? Its staying. (Its also available as a body-text option on Practical Typography.)

Third, Heliotrope is a distinctive face for user interface elements, especially in apps. This is an area where sans serif families typically rule because of received wisdom that the simpler letterforms of a sans remain more legible at the tiny sizes UI elements often must endure. This maxim isnt without merit. But it was more true of the coarse computer displays of the 1990s. Today, with high-resolution screens being the norm, the sans advantage is much reduced. Heliotrope can hold its own in those contexts, combining the simplicity of a sans with the flavorful contrast of a serif.

Oh, the name. Heliotrope is a flowering plant with small purple blooms and allegedly the scent of cherry pie. But I only know that because I just looked it up. I came to know the word Heliotrope because its a street in central Hollywood where I often ride my bike. (Curiously, LA street signs never put a dot on the lowercase i.)

Every type designer has a jealously guarded list of potential font names. Guarded because many, many good names have already been used. Discovering another feels like finding buried treasure.

Bike rides are a good source of names. To me, a good font name should be easy to pronounce, remember, and spell. These are also considerations in many street and business names. An earlier name was inspired while I was coming over a hill on my bike and caught sight of a building on Wilshire Blvd. with the word EQUITABLE at the top. Not bad. But Equity? Even better.

Furthermore, the name should show off the font to good effect. To that end, I like to have a mix of straight, round and diagonal letters, and ideally an ascender or descender. Its especially nice to avoid repeating any letters (though difficult in practice).

For some strongly held but mysterious reason, I prefer names that contain plosive consonants. (Wait, has Plosive itself been used? Updating my secret list now )

Heliotrope met all my criteria, so it went on the list. When I started this project, it immediately stood out to me as a good choice. That partmatching a name to a designis art, not science.

I hope you enjoy using Heliotrope as much as I enjoyed making it.
The Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), scheduled from October 9 to 15 in Marrakech, will showcase the strength of Morocco, said IMFs Director of Strategic Communications, Julie Kozack.

After more than five years of hard work and preparations, I am confident that these meetings will showcase the strength of Morocco, the Moroccan people and the Moroccan authorities, Kozack pointed out at a press conference.

The IMF official, who recalled that these meetings were originally scheduled to be held in Marrakech in 2020 before being postponed because of the pandemic, noted that these meetings will be held while being respectful of the situation in the country following the Al Haouz earthquake.

We are conducting the meetings very mindful of the people of Morocco, she said, adding that this is the first time in 50 years that the Annual Meetings will be held on the African continent.

This global event is also an opportunity to bring the global community together in a particular time, as the global economy is gradually healing from a series of chocs, including the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis, the IMF official stressed.

We see this as a time to bring the global economy together to discuss how we can come together as a global community to overcome these challenges which are particularly affecting low income and vulnerable countries, she added.

Kozack also underlined the importance of climate resilience, which, she said, will be a major topic at the Marrakech meetings.

The Annual Meetings will bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives, civil society, media, and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, global financial stability, poverty eradication, inclusive economic growth, and climate change.
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: Julie Leonard-Duke et al. / University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science

Using a new recipe for growing blood vessels from living lung tissue in the lab, a University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science research team has developed an analytical tool that could lead to a cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF, a lung-destroying disease.

Fibrosis is chronic scarring of tissue and it can strike nearly every system in the body. According to the National Institutes of Health, the government estimates that 45% of deaths in the United States can be attributed to fibrotic disorders. In the lungs, fibrosis restricts breathing, so understanding how scarring occurs, and ultimately how to stop it, are essential questionsespecially in the case of IPF, a form of pulmonary fibrosis with no known cause.

In search of answers, assistant professor of chemical engineering Lakeshia J. Taite is leading a team in collaboration with Shayn M. Peirce-Cottler and biomedical engineering Ph.D. student Julie Leonard-Duke in Peirce-Cottler's lab. Peirce-Cottler is the chair of biomedical engineering and Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor.

Their work combines computational models of how blood vessels behave in the fibrotic lung developed by Leonard-Duke in Peirce-Cottler's lab with experiments using hydrogels engineered in Taite's lab. The result is a new investigative platform for studying the formation of blood vesselsa process called angiogenesis.

Taite and Pierce-Cottler want to understand the role of angiogenesisa natural part of tissue repair after injurywhen the lungs won't stop trying to heal, turning pliant tissue stiff and fibrous until they no longer function.

The research was published in Microcirculation, whose editors selected a figure from the paper to feature on the cover of the August 2023 issue.

The image shows vascular sprouting from mouse lung tissue planted on a hydrogel, a water-swollen biomaterial that resembles a soft contact lens. Taite's lab functionalizes these hydrogels with bioactive molecules that closely mimic the angiogenic signals that encourage blood vessel development.

To achieve this functionality, Taite's team chemically couples specific peptidesstrings of amino acids, the building blocks of proteinswith derivatives of polyethylene glycol, a common off-the-shelf crystalline polymer, to form a PEG-peptide conjugate. The peptides are either purchased or made using a programmable synthesizer.

This multistep process produces a fluffy white powder akin to store-bought gelatin mix. Dissolved in a water-based solution and exposed to ultraviolet light, the molecules crosslink to form a soft but solid material that mouse lung cells planted on the surface can interact with, triggering new cell growth.

"The hydrogel was tailored to have mechanical propertiesfor example, stiffness and elasticitymatching healthy lung tissue," Taite said. "The hydrogel acts as the vascular cells' native extracellular matrix, the complex mixture of proteins, carbohydrates and minerals that provide important cues for tissue development and maintenance."

The broad goal of the project is to understand the biomechanical and biochemical cues to blood vessels in the lungs during the development and progression of fibrosis. The team is building laboratory modeling systems to accelerate the search for treatments to stop IPF in its tracks.

"This project represents a novel angiogenesis assay that allows investigation of matrix stiffness on microvascular sprouting," Taite said.

Taite began the research just after her arrival at UVA in 2021, using her experimental techniques with Leonard-Duke's computer models to validate and improve the models, which in turn inform Taite's experiments.

"We incorporate data from this sprouting assay into our computer models which simulate the complex cell behaviors contributing to lung fibrosis," Leonard-Duke said. "We then use artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches to comprehensively explore the genes and proteins that could be targets for new drugs."

Also contributing to the research were Anthony C. Bruce, biomedical engineering lab manager and a co-author of the paper, Samuel Agro, a now second-year chemical engineering Ph.D. student in Taite's lab, and Yixuan Yuan, who graduated with his B.S. in chemical engineering in spring 2023.

Agro and Leonard-Duke are working on a continuation of the project.

The paper "Variations in mechanical stiffness alter microvascular sprouting and stability in a PEG hydrogel model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis" is published in Microcirculation.

More information: Julie LeonardDuke et al, Variations in mechanical stiffness alter microvascular sprouting and stability in a PEG hydrogel model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Microcirculation (2023). DOI: 10.1111/micc.12817 Journal information: Microcirculation
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A new study is strengthening the evidence that stem cell transplants can be highly effective for some people with multiple sclerosissending the disease into remission for years, and sometimes reversing disability.

Researchers found that of 174 MS patients who underwent stem cell transplantswith cells from their own bloodtwo-thirds had no evidence of "disease activity" over 10 years.

That meant no symptom relapses, no worsening disability and no signs of new damage in their brain tissue.

In fact, of patients who'd already developed disabilities before the procedure, more than half saw improvements afterward.

The findings were published Sept. 25 in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

Experts said the study bolsters evidence that stem cell transplantation is a good option for some people with MS.

"We do know that this treatment works and it can be performed safely," said co-author Dr. Joachim Burman, a neurologist at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden.

However, stem cell transplants are not for everyone.

From a safety standpoint, relatively younger patients are likely to fare better, Burman said. And people with "highly active" MSincluding flare-ups despite medicationstand to benefit most.

MS is a neurological disorder caused by a misguided immune system attack on nerve fibers in the spine and brain. That leads to symptoms like vision problems, muscle weakness, numbness and difficulty with balance and coordination.

The vast majority of people with MS initially have what's called the relapsing-remitting form, which means symptoms flare for a time and then ease. Most people, though, eventually transition to a progressive form of the disease, and their disability worsens over time.

Why treat MS with a stem cell transplant? The basic idea is to "reboot" the faulty immune system, said Bruce Bebo, executive vice president of research programs for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The procedure involves removing stem cells from a patient's own blood, then using powerful chemotherapy drugs to knock down the existing immune system. After that, the stored stem cells are infused back into the patient, and the immune system rebuilds itself over time.

Bebo, who was not involved in the new study, said the results are "very consistent" with past studies following MS patients who've undergone stem cell transplants.

"We feel the evidence really has reached a tipping point," Bebo said.

In 2020, he noted, a National MS Society advisory committee published recommendations on which people are the best candidates for a stem cell transplant.

They include people who are younger than 50, have had relapsing-remitting MS for fewer than 10 years, and have suffered symptom flares or developed new brain lesions despite being on an optimal MS medication.

The younger age recommendation, Bebo noted, is aimed at safety.

A stem cell transplant is no simple matter. It requires a hospital stay and leaves people initially vulnerable to infections.

The infection risk is highest in the few days after the procedure. "After 10 days or so, you can safely be discharged from the hospital," Burman said, "and after three months you can get back to work."

The patients in this studymedian age: 31all underwent the procedure at one of seven Swedish transplant centers, dating back to 2004. Overall, 73% showed no signs of disease activity at the five-year mark, and 65% were still in that category after a decade.

Of 149 patients who'd had disabilities before the stem cell transplant, 54% showed improvements afterward.

Burman said no one knows why that happens. One theory is that the chemotherapy reduces inflammation in the brain, leading to a regression in some disabilities.

"That remains to be proven, however," Burman said.

For people who are wondering whether the procedure is right for them, the best place to start is a conversation with your doctor, Bebo said.

But, he added, it's not only a matter of being a good candidate: You also need access to a medical center with experience in the procedure and an insurance plan that will cover it.

Bebo stressed that this is not an undertaking that can be done at self-described "stem cell clinics" that advertise their services for various medical conditions.

Stem cell transplants are also distinct from other stem cell therapies being studied for MSwhich are in a "much more experimental" stage, Bebo said.

More information: Thomas Silfverberg et al, Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in Sweden: an observational cohort study, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry (2023). DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2023-331864

Copyright  2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Family History Month Series: Family History Writing Contest

Calling all family historians! Enter genealogical writing about your Montana ancestors in Missoula Public Library's first annual Family History Writing Contest. Memorialize your familys history and compete for cash prizes. Prizes will be awarded for the top three submissions. The contest launches Oct. 1 and entries will be accepted until March 1, 2024 via Submittable: missoulapubliclibrary.submittable.com/submit. Full contest rules are available on our website: tinyurl.com/FamilyHistoryWritingContest.

'Stolen  If They Havent Come for Yours, They Will' with Chris La Tray

While many people believe that what happened to the Indians is old news, the careful observer will understand that this is far from the truth. History is a living, breathing thing, and the darker aspects of our society continue to cycle through Indian Country and beyond. This program is held on Oct. 3 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Cooper Room on Level Four of the library and is told through the lens of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians experience, the 574th, and most recently federally recognized tribe in the United States. Metis storyteller Chris La Tray will draw parallels between the Little Shell  known for more than 150 years as the Landless Indians  and events unfolding with a broader reach every day in communities across the country. Chris La Tray is a Metis storyteller, a descendent of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North and an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

NEA Big Read: Seeley Lake Library Book Discussion  'The Cold Millions'

Missoula Public Library continues its National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read exploration of "The Cold Millions" by Jess Walter with this public book discussion on Oct. 5 from 11 a.m. to noon in the Seeley-Swan High School located at 456 Airport Road in Seeley Lake. An initiative of the NEA in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience.

Kids Cook with ChopChop

Taking inspiration from our kids magazine ChopChop, join Missoula Public Library to learn how to create tasty snacks and easy meal options you can make at home. This program is held on Oct. 5 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Demonstration Kitchen on Level Three of the library.

Missoula Scholastic Chess Club at MPL

New at Missoula Public Library! Join the Missoula Chess Club for this monthly meeting the first Thursday of each month throughout the school year. Students from grades 2-12 are welcome to come play and learn new moves and beginners are welcome. The next club meeting will be held on Oct. 5 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Imaginarium on Level Two of the library.

Tech Time @ MPL

On Oct. 5 from 11 a.m. to noon in the Ellingson Room on Level Three of the library meet with a library staff member during our drop-in tech help hour and get one-on-one assistance with basic technology issues and library services. Bring your own device, or use a library laptop. No appointment required, first come/first served.

Talk Time

On Oct. 5 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Imaginarium on Level Two of the library come in and practice speaking with other English language learners. Learn about U.S. culture and meet people from around the world. Child care enrichment activities are provided onsite in collaboration with Families First Learning Lab.

Missoula Public Library Watercolor Painting Class

During this class, held on Oct. 6 from noon to 2 p.m. in Cooper Room A/B on Level Four of the library, local artist Robert Peltzer will help you understand and develop the skills and techniques necessary to enjoy and succeed at watercolor painting. This class is open to adults ages 18 and older. For questions call Robert at 406-541-8868.

Home ReSource Spontaneous Construction Reception

Join us on Oct. 6 from 5 to 7 p.m. in Cooper Room A/B on Level Four of the library during Octobers First Friday art walk to celebrate creative reuse with Home ReSource, the nonprofit working for sustainability in Western Montana. There will also be a creative reuse pop-up of local artisans selling goods like jewelry, art, and home decor, a scavenger hunt and refreshments! This event is family friendly and free to attend. You can come to the library to view the functional art created by local builders, artists and hobbyists from items otherwise destined for the landfill through Oct. 12.

Introduction to Nature Journaling with Kathy Settevendemie

On Oct. 7 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the Blackfoot Boardroom on Level Four of the library join Valerie Bayer and Kathy Settevendemie of Northern Rockies Nature Journaling for this introduction to the principles, techniques and joys of nature journaling. Learn to connect with the natural world using a journal, curiosity and focused attention. Valerie is a Montana Master Naturalist who has been nature journaling since 2009. Registration for this workshop is required. Email Sarah at svelk@missoulapubliclibrary.org to register.

Missoula Public Library closure

The library will be closed in observance of Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, Oct. 9. Patrons can access their accounts at missoulapubliclibrary.org/.
Anish Jethmalani (as Emanuel Lehman), Joey Slotnick (as Mayer Lehman) and Mitchell Fain (as Henry Lehman) in "The Lehman Trilogy" by TimeLine Theatre at the Broadway Playhouse. (Liz Lauren/HANDOUT)

Three main truths roll down from the stage of the Broadway Playhouse in The Lehman Trilogy. One is that hubris long has been the biggest human trap, whether youre a celebrity, a presidential candidate or a businessperson. The second is that American capitalism has always relied on both chutzpah and psychological manipulation. And the third is that grown kids are just as likely to subvert their parents as to follow their ways.

Many is the family business that Junior blew up. Including this one.

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As anyone with an MBA knows, a factor yet more dangerous to a business than Oedipal offspring is the passage of time. And in the end, thats the biggest takeaway from this London and Broadway hit about the history of the Lehman Brothers, variously retail shopkeepers, wholesale merchants, savvy middlemen, brokers, bankers, investors, industrialists and, finally, speculators on the wrong side of everything.

This play, which opened on Broadway in March 2020 and, aptly given its themes, found itself out of business in matter of weeks  only to return triumphantly after the pandemic pause to win five Tony Awards.

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Then, I thought director Sam Mendes production one of the best I ever had seen and was hardly alone. It wasnt so much that this three-act script was a literary masterpiece as it was a semi-narrated, semi-dramatized blueprint for thrilling theatrical storytelling, an epic yarn for three actors playing multifarious characters cascading down through the years.

The show, penned by the Italian writer Stefano Massini and adapted for the stage by the British writer-director Ben Power, was a tour de force for its original cast, three men playing everyone from the original Lehmans, fresh off the boat from Germany, to wives, children, customers and interlopers.

The version of The Lehman Trilogy now playing at the Broadway Playhouse is not a tour of that production, although that may appear the case, being as this is on the Broadway in Chicago subscription season. Rather, its the first local production of this licensable title, codirected by Nick Bowling and Vanessa Stalling and staged by the midsized company TimeLine Theatre, which long has presented works rooted in history.

Anish Jethmalani (as Emanuel Lehman), Mitchell Fain (as Henry Lehman) and Joey Slotnick (as Mayer Lehman) in "The Lehman Trilogy" by TimeLine Theatre at the Broadway Playhouse. (Liz Lauren/HANDOUT)

Three Chicago actors star. Mitchell J. Fain plays Henry Lehman, et al. Anish Jethmalani plays Emanuel Lehman, et al. And Joey Slotnick plays Mayer Lehman and his descendants, compatriots and customers. Et al.

How do the shows compare? Not a fair question, to my mind, given the extraordinary nature of the international original with Mendes at the peak of his formidable powers. And only relevant if you saw it in New York. Here in Chicago, TimeLine is offering a very potent, if still a tad wobbly, new staging, honestly performed and quite gripping in its best moments. And it leans far more into the comedy of the piece; there also was a bit more of a mention of slavery, the heinous institution that propelled events.

I found the big physical production, as designed by Collette Pollard, to be highly imaginative. Its like a giant sculpture of Lehman-dom, all the decades-long detritus in view. But its probably more than this show really needs; it lacked the ability of the simpler original to transition in a jiffy and to put things into sudden, sharp relief. Sometimes the actors seemed to take a long time to fight their way in the dark to the spot for the next scene, and you dont want those pauses with a show this long.

The Lehman Trilogy is a huge undertaking for a company of this size and everything, I suspect, will get better as this relatively long run (by Chicago standards) progresses. So I bet will the performances, which just need more zest, sharper verbosity and higher stakes. Already, these are rich pieces of acting, well on their way.

Jethmalani is especially moving as a Lehman forced to hand over the reins to another, for better or worse, even as the world keeps spinning on. Fain and Slotnick also dig deep as they set fire to this story of progress and innovation, catastrophe and collapse.

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Its all told about one company, but it really is all about America itself.

Theater Loop Weekly Get the latest news and reviews from America's hottest theater city, delivered to your mailbox weekly. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Review: The Lehman Trilogy (3.5 stars)

When: Through Nov. 26

Where: Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St.

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Running time: 3 hours, 20 minutes

Tickets: From $41.50 at 800-775-2000 and www.broadwayinchicago.com
South Dakota cowboys and cowgirls are rounding up a herd of more than 1,500 bison as part of an annual effort to maintain the health of the species.
On American Indian Heritage Day, Last Chance Community Pow Wow kicked off festivities Friday at Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds by welcoming hundreds of area schoolchildren to participate in Native culture.

The annual event, now in its 24th year, always invites local schools to participate as part of its Demonstration Day, but this year's theme, "Honor the Children," made the opening ceremonies more special.

Taylor Hayes teaches fourth grade at Bryant Elementary School and said her students are excited to share in a culture different than their own.

"For the last couple of weeks, we talked a lot about what we would be seeing when we came here, the significance behind it," Hayes said.

She said her Native students also shared with their peers their personal experiences at pow wows and what it means to their families.

"It's really important for kids to have exposure to different cultures," she said.

Orion Rides Horse, an 11-year-old Helena resident, said he has practiced traditional Native dances since as long as he can remember.

"I think maybe since I was 3, but that's as far back as I can remember, so probably longer," Rides Horse said.

He said he dances to keep the tradition alive, but also he just enjoys dancing.

"I like showing other people -- I don't know how to describe it. I like showing our culture," he said.

Linda Kinsey works for the Helena Indian Alliance, which sponsored the Demonstration Day, and attended the event to show her support.

While being interviewed, Kinsey pointed to the dancers performing a Round Dance.

"The Round Dance here is a friendship dance," she said. "All of this helps to encourage positive relations."

She said the omnipresent drum beat represents "the heartbeat of Mother Earth."

"We're here to celebrate life, our lives, and include everyone in our culture," Kinsey said.

The Last Chance Community Pow Wow continues Friday at 6 p.m. through Sunday at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds, 96 W. Custer Ave.

Grand Entry times are scheduled for Saturday at noon and 6 p.m. and Sunday at noon.

In addition to the dances, the pow wow features dancing contests, beauty pageants, raffles, arts and crafts and concessions.

The pow wow is free and all are welcome.

Photos: Last Chance Community Pow Wow welcomes local students Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow Last Chance Community Pow Wow
Hard-right Republicans in the House of Representatives have all but guaranteed a government shutdown this weekend, but federal law enforcement in Montana will still continue Monday.

In the days leading up to Saturdays potential failure of Congress to allocate funding for the U.S. government, dozens of federal organizations drafted contingency plans, frameworks for federal employees to rely on for determining if theyll be working until funds are assigned.

We're hoping for the best but preparing for the worst," said Jesse Laslovich, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana. "There's lots of preparation, but its weird because youre preparing for something you have no control over.

The government shutdown, despite what its name suggests, will not result in all functions of the U.S. federal government coming to an end. Come Monday, prosecutors in Montana will still appear in U.S. District Court. Airmen at Malmstrom Air Force Base will still attend morning formation. Air traffic controllers at Billings-Logan International Airport will still guide flights. There is a chance, however, that none of them will be paid.

There are 12 appropriations bills holding up financing for the federal government. Halting the passage of the bills are demands from a fraction of Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives for cuts to major government institutions, along with aid to Ukraine, and investments in security at the U.S. southern border. Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale is among those Republicans.

Federal employees either placed on furlough or required to work during the shutdown are guaranteed backpay, but paychecks wont come until Congress passes those 12 appropriations bills. That lapse has historically lasted anywhere from a few hours to several weeks. Missed paychecks would begin Oct. 13, should the shutdown extend that long.

The Department of Defense has raised concerns that a shutdown would be a major detriment to the more than 1.3 million active duty U.S. troops and 800,000 civilians employed through the Pentagon. Congress has until Saturday to either fund the entire government or pass continuing resolutions to pay for portions of the government workforce. About 4,000 active duty service members and civilians are assigned to Malmstrom AFB, according to the base's website. Questions regarding the lapse in funding's impact on base operations were referred to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.

On Friday, the Department of the Air Force published a sheet detailing that individual employees would be told by their supervisors about their status of being furloughed. While all active duty troops will report for duty in the event of a government shutdown, civilian employees will be "limited to activities essential to national security or other emergency work involving safety of human life or the protection of property." With about one in four active duty members reporting at least one financial challenge in a 2022 report, the Air Force suggested airmen worried about paying their bills ask their commanders about assistance organizations like Military One Source and Air Force Aid Society.

Of the roughly 2 million federal employees in the United States, about 11,000 live in Montana, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Looking specifically at public safety in Montana, all of the law enforcement agencies in Billings will continue with their jobs. Officials with the Billings Police Department and the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office told the Gazette it will be business as usual for their officers, despite the shutdown.

I dont anticipate any major changes, Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder said. But well be sure to adapt to any major changes as needed.

Laslovich said prosecutors in his office will be attending trials in federal court scheduled for the next two weeks. He is frustrated, however, that as of Wednesday he was still uncertain which staff members may be furloughed by Monday.

Crime will not stop with the government shutdown, Laslovich said, and a reduction in staff will mean inefficiencies for law enforcement. Laslovich could not say exactly how many members of his office would be furloughed by a government shutdown, but he said travel for federal attorneys in Montana would absolutely be impacted.

"Theres this unknown that makes people uncomfortable," he said.

Two of the longest government shutdowns in U.S. history have occurred in the past decade. In 2013, Republican objections to the Affordable Care Act led to a 13-day shutdown that reduced the U.S.s gross domestic product by $20 billion, according to economic analysists. A partial shutdown in 2018 lasted five weeks and reduced the GDP by $11 billion, per the Congressional Budget Office.
A little over a week ago on Sept. 22 we had our autumn equinox. I have always heard the term but did not realize exactly what it meant. Our vernal equinox, which occurs around March 20, and our autumn equinox are each two moments in the year when the sun is exactly above the equator. This change of seasons almost makes the daylight and darkness equal in length and occurs when the Earths axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun.

This seasonal phenomenon went unnoticed by most of us as we went about our daily routines. It seems like a week or so later that we notice the shortened daylight hours and realize that 7:30 p.m. is dusk.

When my family visited Cancun, Mexico with friends in the 1980s, I toured the ruins at Tulum. Our guide was a professor at the university in Mexico City and very knowledgeable. He told my tour group that the Castillo on the cliffs of Tulum is thought to be positioned so the sun shines directly through the entrance at the vernal equinox and creates a circle on the farthest wall. He said a groups of students accompanied him to witness this event through the years. We were told that a building like this cannot be recreated today using the latest of surveying equipment.

So, when I think of an equinox, I think of a solstice. Our summer solstice occurs about June 21 at the moment the Earths tilt toward the sun is at a maximum creating the longest daylight of the year. We enjoy our long summer days and extended time on Lake James or around our favorite swimming holes on our creeks.

Winter solstice is on around Dec. 22 and with it we have the least amount of daylight. This happens when either of the Earths poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun when two points in the sky where the Suns annual pathway and the celestial equator intersect.

The subsolar spot on the Earths surface directly beneath the sun slowly moves along a north-south axis. It reaches the southernmost point at the December solstice. It then stops and starts moving northward until it crosses the equator on the day of the March equinox. Then at the June solstice, which is the northernmost point of its journey, it stops again to start its journey back south. The term solstice is made from the words sun and to stand still.

More familiar terms for seasonal times are Dog Days which are July 3 through Aug. 11. We blame some of our hottest summer weather on Dog Days. Another time is Indian Summer which is a term given to any unseasonable warm weather during October and November. This name was given because Native Americans gathered their crops during the warm days before frost.

If your favorite season is cold or hot, you will at least be pleased part of the time. If you lather yourself with sunscreen to spend hours on the beach or don yourself with layered clothes to ski down a mountainside, nature fulfills our need for sun or snow.

I prefer mild weather, neither too hot or too cold and, as for the solstice and the equinox, Ill choose the equinox by Chevrolet for my next vehicle. Solstice is a pretty name, but I dont think there is a car by that name.
VALDESE  With Autumn quickly approaching, bluegrass patrons who are eagerly awaiting the sound of banjos, fiddles and mandolins will soon hear them echoing throughout the beloved Old Rock School.

Bluegrass at the Rock has hosted countless legendary acts over the decades from Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver to Alison Krauss. The popularity of the Valdese bluegrass scene continues to grow each season.

The 2023-24 Bluegrass at the Rock season starts on Saturday, Oct. 7, and features an extraordinary lineup of bluegrass musicians.

Authentic Unlimited has quickly climbed the bluegrass charts. Recently nominated in 2023 for International Bluegrass Music Associations new artist of the year, vocal group of the year and mandolin player of the year, the group creates a unique sound that fans thoroughly enjoy.

With three of the groups members previously playing for Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, when Lawson announced his retirement, the group formed Authentic Unlimited.

Lawson has commented on the band with nothing but admiration.

The key to longevity for a band is creating a distinctive sound of music, Lawson said. Authentic Unlimited is doing just that, and with the wealth of talent among these five men, they are destined for a bright future.

John Meador plays guitar and is one of the lead and harmony vocalists. Meador says he began singing before he was walking. His father began teaching him to play the guitar when he was 12 years old. Meador joined his first band (Kentucky Just Us) at the age of 14, along with his younger brother. When he was 16, he was offered a scholarship in music that he completed while he was still in high school. Meador is married to wife, Grace, and they have a daughter, Bethany.

Jerry Cole plays guitar for Authentic Unlimited and at the age of 6, his father, Jerry Lee, taught him to play. Jerry Lee sang with the Betterway Quartet for nearly 30 years. During Jerry Lees practice sessions at home, young Cole learned to sing lead and harmony. He began touring with Cody Shuler and Pine Mountain Railroad, recording two albums with the band. He later joined Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out, where he stayed for three years. In December 2018, Jerry joined Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver where he stayed until Lawsons retirement in December, 2021.

Eli Johnstons grandfather, Joe Riker, bought him his first guitar when he was 11. Seeing that his son had a love of music, David would drive Johnston all over the country, attending festivals. Johnston joined his first band, Nothin Fancy, while he was in high school. Later, he became a member of Pine Mountain Railroad. In 2013, Johnston joined Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. During his time there, two of Johnstons songs were recorded by the band.

Jesse Brock grew up in a musically inclined family and began singing at the age of 7. At 8, he learned to play the fiddle but soon decided that he was better suited for the mandolin. His first experience as a band member was with his family. Since then, he has performed with some of the top acts in the industry. His efforts were recognized in 2009 and again in 2015 as he was awarded IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year. Brock is married to his wife, Kristine. Stephen Burwell learned to play fiddle when he was 8. In 2014, he moved to North Carolina where he auditioned for Lawson only a few days after the move. He was made part of Quicksilver on Oct. 1, 2014. He describes Lawson as the best boss ever and contributes much of his dedication to the craft to the years spent in Quicksilver. Burwell also is a recording engineer and has a studio located at his home. Burwell is newlywed, marrying wife Haley in September 2021.

Tickets for the concert are $28 on presale and $30 at the door. Season tickets for Bluegrass at the Rock are $110.

Doors open for each show at 6:30 p.m. and music starts at 7:30 p.m. The Old Rock School is located at 400 Main St. W. in downtown Valdese.
A man who was charged with killing his own dog last year will serve 14 to 26 months in prison after pleading guilty Friday to one count of felony cruelty to animals, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill said.

Elson Ditrez Warren entered the guilty plea in Forsyth County Superior Court before Judge Aaron Berlin. The charge stemmed from a May 7, 2022, incident in which Winston-Salem police officers went to a dwelling on Petree Road in response to a domestic dispute, and found Warren covered in blood and a dead tan and white American Pit Bull on the property.

Warren denied hurting the dog and told officers the blood was his, police said, but officers were suspicious and asked the Animal Services Division of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office to investigate.

O'Neill said investigators learned that Warren was the owner of the dog, a 28-pound puppy named Blondie. Deputies interviewed witnesses, who said that Warren picked up the dog on the back deck, swung her against the railing, then stomped on the dog repeatedly. When a neighbor yelled at Warren to stop, O'Neill said, the man continued his attack on the dog.

Investigators found multiple blood spots along the back deck. A necropsy performed by the state medical lab found that the dog died of severe blunt force trauma, with severe injuries to her head, neck, face, front limbs, and thorax.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Parent prosecuted the case. Warren was represented by Public Defender Paul James.

O'Neill said that as a dog owner, he can't understand why "anyone would hurt an innocent animal that depends on you for everything, much like a child."

"To abuse the animals who trust and love you is a vile, despicable act that will be prosecuted by my office with the most severe charges possible," O'Neill said.

O'Neill said his office asked for the maximum penalty against Warren, and that the sentence was "one month shy" of the mark.
Craig Johnsons latest book The Longmire Defense was at No. 7 on the New York Times Bestseller list for combined print and e-book sales when the author spoke with the Chronicle over the phone last week.

On the way, Johnson will visit Country Bookshelf in Bozeman to sign books at noon on Saturday, Sept. 30, and will read from and discuss The Longmire Defense at Elk River Books in Livingston at 7 p.m. the same day. Both events are free and open to the public.

The call found him in Philadelphia amid his latest book tour. Johnson will meet fans around the country before heading home to the ranch he built in rural Wyoming, some 20 miles outside Buffalo.

Tours are a bit different now than when Johnson premiered sheriff Walt Longmire in The Cold Dish in 2004. Publishers at the time offered minimal support, suggesting a local tour and giving Johnson a chuckle thinking about touring his tiny town of Ucross, Wyoming, which he usually punctuates with population 26. There was not a local bookstore. There wasnt a bookstore within 30 miles. Johnson, however, was already equipped with an old BMW GS dual sport desert bike, perfect for the dirt and gravel roads prevalent around the Big Horn Mountains that feature heavily in his book series.

I like doing the research myself, Johnson said. I like going out and seeing the places Walt is going to be seeing and doing the things Walt is going to be doing, getting kind of a sense memory for the writing. It seems like it helps out a lot.

Transportation secured, Johnson mapped out a loop around the northwest United States, knowing that the bike could travel 80 miles on a gallon of gas and there would be couches to sleep on along the way. At first, the local tour was grueling, and Johnson would find himself traveling more than eight hours on the bike between readings, essentially riding 5,000 miles to go to six different bookstores.

The Longmire mysteries have since gained traction, with new fans brought in by the Netflix series Longmire and a popularity resurgence of the Western as a genre. By the time Johnson stopped the local motorcycle tour about five years ago, it included 32 book stores in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Washington and Montana.

People will write me and say I slow down when I get to the end of your books because I dont want them to end, and I always write them back and say Yeah, me too, Johnsons said. Its not like I dont know that those characters are going to be back, but Im losing them for one moment of their lives.

The moment is short. When Johnson finally writes that last page, he closes the document, opens a new one and starts the next book. Newspapers he picks up in his travels, especially those from small Western towns, provide source material. Each novel begins as a story from one of these papers, leaving Johnson no shortage of ideas. Recently, he read about a woman with the longest postal route in the contiguous United States, driving some 304 miles each day.

All I could think about when I read that article was If she went missing, where would you look for her? Johnson said.

Though the Longmire mysteries may be novels, using real stories as a base keeps Johnsons sheriff grounded in reality, dealing with things that Western sheriffs deal with. The setting also allows Johnsons writing to dabble in truth.

We really love your books because you have real locations, Johnson recalls representatives of the Wyoming Office of Tourism telling him at a meeting. Its a fictitious county and a fictitious town, but everybody knows that its Johnson County and its a version of Buffalo You dont change the street names, you dont change the trail names up in the Big Horn Mountains.

While nearly 20 years have passed in real time since Johnson introduced the world to Walt Longmire, the author said the books follow a Vivaldi version of time, referencing composer Antonio Vivaldis The Four Seasons violin concertos. A year is a four-book cycle.

The Longmire Defense begins in the spring and centers on a very cold case that allows readers to delve into Walts relationship with his grandfather.

Basically, Johnson said, its a murder case where he suspects that his grandfather may have been guilty of killing this man who was the accountant for the state of Wyomings treasury department.

Though the murderer may be long dead, the cases ties to the state mineral fund worth billions thrust Walt into a series of dangerous situations in and around the fictional Absaroka County.

Johnson describes Longmire himself as emblematic of the good people left in the American West. If Johnson slid off of Interstate 90 and buried the front of his truck in a snowbank, Longmire is the person he hopes is behind the wheel when he sees headlights behind him. He describes his lead characters  the sheriff, his lover/undersheriff Vic, his daughter Cady, friend Henry Standing Bear and the retired sheriff Lucian Connally  as interesting and intelligent, each with their own sense of humor, and each grappling with the events life has thrown at them.

I have to spend eight hours a day with these people, Johnson said, recalling how he said the sheriff was "good company" in his last interview with the Chronicle in 2018. So if they dont have that ability to change and adapt and move on and all that, then Im not really going to enjoy the time that Ive spent with them.

Though Walt continues to question if he should retire, Johnson assured that this does not mean he plans to have him hang up his hat any time soon. His character is aging, and questions like Am I doing what it is I should be doing? Is it making any difference? How long should I do this? Do I still have the capacity to be relevant? only make him more human. These are the questions we all ask ourselves as the years start to catch up with us.

I dont know what I would do if I retired Walt, Johnson said. I would be wandering the streets of Ucross, population 26. Thats a grim thought.

Instead, he will continue to evolve with the characters he has created, continue touring to meet the fans and support his books, and continue coming home to the ranch in Ucross.

After 19 years, Im still having a blast, he said.
Montana has a special code of behavior for attorneys called the professional rules. It imposes standards for attorneys' behavior: professionalism, civility, excellence. I'm not sure the average Montanan knows about the promise that attorneys make to follow this code as a condition of practicing law in Montana. Practicing law is a privilege, and attorneys must conform their behavior to the professional rules.

I think the opinion piece in the Standard by Kendall Cotton on Sept. 19 about the ODC complaint of professional misconduct against AG Austin Knudsen shows a lack of understanding of the professional rules. In his opinion piece, Cotton concludes that the only certain consequence of the complaint against Knudsen is to infuriate Knudsen. He wonders what the motivation is behind the ODC complaint.

Whether Knudsen is angry about the complaint is not important to me. Knudsen's conduct and behavior is the issue  not his feelings. I'm a mom, and I recognize Cotton's immature response to this complaint. He's talking about Knudsen possibly having a temper tantrum as though a temper tantrum should determine whether we enforce rules. It's a silly idea that anyone should be more concerned about Knudsen's feelings than his actual behavior.

Cotton wonders about the motivation behind the ODC complaint. Cotton doesnt need to wonder; he can read the complaint which explains the motivation. The issues are not complicated.

If there are two attorneys arguing opposing sides in court, then typically half of the attorneys are dissatisfied with the court order. Theres always a winner and a loser. It's something attorneys learn to deal with. The professional rules are clear about how attorneys can behave after they lose.

Attorneys do not get to defy court orders, even after attorneys receive an adverse ruling. The parties can ask for reconsideration or appeal an adverse ruling; thats okay.

Attorneys do not get to attack judges, even after attorneys receive an adverse ruling. Attorneys are allowed to disagree with rulings. The newspapers are full of stories with attorneys saying, we disagree with the ruling. Thats okay.

If we have a concern about a judge, we use the proper mechanism to complain. We do not disparage judges or the justice system in the news or court filings. As attorneys, we agree to this when we take our oath and promise to behave in a professional way.

Anger or disappointment should not guide our professional behavior. The professional rules guide our behavior. Those are the rules that we agree to when we are sworn in and we promise to uphold the laws of this beautiful state. It is proper to enforce those rules.
Every state has a lightning rod issue. In Montana, its wildlife management.

Unfortunately, in the public view, wildlife management looks very black and white. Whether its in the newspaper, public opinion, or conversation among people who arent directly working in wildlife co-existence efforts.

Anybody who works to reduce conflict and increase co-existence will tell you there are no easy solutions for the complex challenges we face.

The black-and-white perspective is the opposite of helpful for several reasons. First, we need creative and innovative solutions. When we sit on opposite sides of a table pointing fingers, raising voices and making inflammatory statements, nothing creative or innovative finds its way into the conversation. Second, decision-makers inevitably dont make a decision due to the divide of opinions and interests. We, as a public, slow down an already slow bureaucratic process. Third, its time for people to start thinking about the welfare of wildlife and people in the landscape. We live here together. Thats not going to change. Its time to set personal agendas, and organizational agendas aside. Step down from the soap box and do the hard thing of working with people who might think and do things differently than you do.

Not that long ago the lightning-rod wildlife issue was wolves. Today, grizzly bears are the hot topic. Why? Because the population is expanding, we are seeing more confrontations with hunters, recreationists, and livestock producers.

Livestock producers who rely on public lands grazing in southwest Montana know the challenges firsthand. Wildlife conservation groups also understand whats at stake. Wildlife management agencies are threading the needle of public opinion, management, and the success of the species.

The layers of challenge are daunting. The personal layer we can control is ego and emotion. None of us are exempt from this reality. However, we can make progress when we engage in meaningful dialogue, gather data, and develop solutions to our grizzly bear conflict reduction and co-existence challenge.

This is happening in southwest Montana in the Upper Ruby and the Gravelly Mountain Range.

A handful of ranchers in the Ruby Valley recognized the need to work in partnership with conservation groups. In 2015, the Ruby Valley Strategic Alliance (RVSA) was formed to address several challenging issues including grizzly bear conflict reduction and co-existence.

The ranchers in the Ruby Valley take great pride in managing soil health, high-standard grazing practices, maintaining a healthy plant community and supporting clean and cool water in streams. Their operations on private and public land reduce the chance of catastrophic fire and manage invasive weeds. Conservation groups who work with these ranchers understand the importance of their land stewardship for the health of the landscape. Now ranchers, wildlife and land managers, and conservationists are partnering to address grizzly bear co-existence and conflict reduction together.

Together, a diverse group of stakeholders invested time and resources to better understand whats happening on the ground in the Gravelly Range. Some of the efforts include an additional range rider, camera trap studies, and workshops to learn more about livestock management on allotments. The RVSA maintains a partnership with wildlife and public land managers. Together, all of these interests work to figure out the best next steps to support a healthy grizzly bear population and viable ranching operations.

This is a shared landscape. Thats the mandate of public lands in this country. In that spirit, its time to let go of the extreme positions, educate ourselves, and understand that ranchers are doing a good job working with cattle in a landscape where grizzly bears roam.
We have just completed our Montana Energy tour, traveling over 2,000 miles and holding nine events in seven days. The tour highlighted the impact of Bidens war on energy and the policies we need to unleash Americas vast energy resources.

From sweet crude oil and clean coal to renewable hydroelectric power, we visited the sites where this power is, and should continue to be generated.

But there is strong opposition to energizing Montana and America, and we hope to reverse it.

I emigrated to Montana in 1991 because I loved the mountains, the rivers, the family-friendly security of the West and its reputation for rugged individualism. I have never regretted it.

My parents are Holocaust survivors  sole survivors of their respective families. My dad fought in the war, my mom survived eight labor camps. They came to America for the promise of freedom and opportunity.

It grieves me to write about the top-down policies of this administration and some elected officials that threaten our freedom and prosperity.

These bad policies include: Bidens cancellation of the XL Pipeline and the lost jobs, revenue and private infrastructure funding; the EPAs Mercury Air Toxin rule thatll likely shutter two more coal power plants in Colstrip and its impact on energy supply; the administrations desire to breach four dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers; and a state trial judges indefensible ruling in Held v. Montana threatening the oil, gas, coal industry or anything that produces greenhouse gases.

The Keystone pipelines cancelation alone cost Montana 2,000 construction jobs, a loss of $949 million in economic activity and a loss of $60 million in annual property taxes.

Unfortunately for Montana, Sen. Jon Tester voted against the XL Pipeline just hours after he voted for it, casting the deciding vote in the Senate.

In the Held v. Montana case that ruled that energy sources producing greenhouse gases are a violation of Montanas Constitution guaranteeing a clean and healthy environment, proponents used a 2-year-old kid as a plaintiff. Since when does a toddler understand the complexities of public policy? Left unchallenged, this ruling poses a threat to the use of the most affordable energy sources without meaningfully addressing any environmental issue.

We learned how EPA regulations, including the Mercury Air Toxins rule (MATs), threaten the shuttering of two more Colstrip power plants even though existing control technology already captures 99.6% of all filterable particulate matter. These closures make us more dependent on unaffordable energy imports. Thats in stark contrast to just four years ago, when Montana exported 50% of its energy. On a cloudy day, our clean coal can provide up to 42% of all energy in Montana.

Lastly, Bidens stated goal to breach four dams in the Columbia and Snake Rivers threatens hydroelectric power to our region and would harm agriculture, irrigation and transportation. Overall, hydro provides a whopping 38% of Montanas energy resources.

These are serious threats to our way of life and to human flourishing. Just think, last winter we were within hours of implementing rolling blackouts when temperatures plummeted to 40 degrees. While we champion innovation in all energy production, renewables like wind and solar alone cannot fulfill market demands and human needs.

While the war on energy is a challenging mental concept, visiting these sites including abandoned man camps in Miles City and the Colstrip power plants and seeing them made a far greater impression than mere words.

Despite challenges facing Montana energy, we still believe that prosperity is possible with good polices driven locally, by those closest to the problem. Government mandates and cronyism that benefit a few provide a disincentive to energy innovation are not the answer.

An all-of-the above approach to unleashing energy abundance should be based on safety, efficiency and affordability. As individuals we can unite to accomplish extraordinary feats. That is what we must do to ensure that present and future generations enjoy freedom, opportunity and abundant clean energy.
Ruben Pepe Olivares, pushes his elote cart over a mile down Commercial Avenue to cater an event on Sept. 29, 2023. Olivares, a beloved elotero in the South Side of Chicago was robbed at gunpoint in mid-September on the corner where he has set shop for over a decade. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

The corner of 91st Street and Houston Avenue, next to a youth arts center in South Chicago, is not the same without Pepes elote cart, neighbors say. He has been selling corn, churros and other snacks there for more than a decade.

There are the children who run up to hug him  mijos, he calls them, a colloquial way to say dear, in Spanish  the long conversations with neighbors and the jokes and laughs with the kids at the nearby arts center from where he parks his cart. And even if someone is short a dollar or two, he still gives them their corn or whatever snack theyre craving.

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Luego me lo pagas, he tells them. You can pay me later. But what he really means is that its OK to take the snack without ever paying in full. Its his way of showing love and appreciation for the community that has given him so much, he said.

But two weeks ago, on Sept. 21, Ruben Pepe Olivares was robbed at gunpoint right before 5 p.m. while selling on his usual corner outside the SkyArt studio at 3026 E 91st St. Three of his customers were standing with him when a masked man approached, pointed a gun and demanded money.

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The gunman took more than $2,000 and shot in their direction five times  a sound heard by the children in the art studio. But no one was struck and the gunman fled, according to Chicago police. No one is in custody and Area 2 detectives continue to investigate.

Since then, Pepe has not returned to set up shop. The robber didnt just take a weeks worth of income, Pepe said, he also stole his sense of peace in a community that he loves.

I just need some time to recover, said Pepe in Spanish while sitting outside his home a few houses from where the robbery occurred. But I also just didnt know just how many people cared for me, that they knew that I existed; that I matter in this community.

Hundreds of the South Chicago community members, including children at the arts center, donated to a GoFundMe that Alex Galvan, an art therapist at SkyART created to help Pepe recover financially. It has reached almost $10,000.

Pepe is a staple in our community, said Tasha Robinson, chief operations officer at SkyArt. I hope that he knows that now.

Selling elotes, sometimes tamales and even Mexican flags, has been Pepes and his familys livelihood since he migrated to South Chicago in 2010. But he has been a merchant his whole life, he said. In his native Veracruz, Mexico, he sold groceries.

Ruben Pepe Olivares pushes his elote cart over a mile down Commercial Avenue to cater an event. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Now he works most of the year. He starts in February, and only puts away his cart through the colder months of the year. He named his business Las Dos Hermanas, after his two daughters.

His daughters, 21 and 19, now also run their own elote cart in the neighborhood.

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Some people make fun of us or undermine us, but this is a business like any other and its allowed me to support my family all these years, he said.

South Chicago is a Black and Latino neighborhood that is, for the most part, quiet and peaceful, said Robinson. The robbery really struck the community and its response is no surprise, she said.

Many of the students at the center grow up not only seeing him, but getting to know him, forming a bond that goes beyond age, language and race. He and his wife, Patricia Mota are known beyond their elotes  they often participate in festivals and community events, often offering their goods for discounted prices.

Everyone at the center knows Pepe, Robinson said, and he participates in most of their events as a vendor. His wife also helps to clean the center.

The center, another pillar in the community, provides children and young adults free visual art programs. It coincidently recently received a $250,000 grant to provide Safe Space Programming for youth through the Illinois Department of Human Services - Chicago Youth Development & Intervention Services.

We teach our children how to take care of each other, how do we show up for our community, Robinson said.

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Pepe, is the epitome of that, Robinson said.

Riana Green, a community member, recalled the times that Pepe would walk over to her uncles car to give him his raspa  crushed flavored ice  through the window so that he wouldnt have to get out of the car while he was undergoing chemotherapy.

You helped him so I wanted to help you. You are a blessing to this community. Praying for you and thank you for what you did for my uncle. God bless, Reene wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Pepe and his family said they are in awe of the immense amount of help that theyve gotten. May God bless them, Pepe said.

Ruben Pepe Olivares, a beloved elotero in the South Side of Chicago, was robbed at gunpoint in mid-September on the corner where he has set shop for over a decade. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

He said its his faith in God that is giving him the strength to cope with the traumatic event: What if those bullets had struck me or my clients? he said he asks himself. I cant help imagining an altar on that corner rather than my cart.

The morning before the robbery an instructor at the center approached him to say hello. She gave him a hug and pointed out his shirt because it had an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that matched the image of a pendant she had on.

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After the robbery, she ran out and hugged him again.

Afternoon Briefing Weekdays Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >

Ella nos cuido, she told him. She took care of us.

In Mexico, his mother still waits for him. It was she who taught him to have faith in God and the Lady of Guadalupe. The two kept him safe.

larodriguez@chicagotribune.com
NEW YORK  U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death creates a vacancy in the Senate at a time when her Democrats hold the slightest majority in the chamber.

Feinstein, a centrist Democrat who had represented California since 1992, had medical struggles in recent months that already had prompted questions about whether she'd resign and who might replace her.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to pick a replacement soon. An election to pick the state's next senator serving a full six-year term is scheduled for next year.

Here's a look at what Feinstein's death means for the Senate at a critical time on Capitol Hill:

HOW DOES IT IMPACT CONTROL OF THE SENATE?

Before Feinstein's death, Democrats held a 51-49 majority. They had control of 48 seats, plus three independent members who generally vote with Democrats. Until her seat is filled, Democrats will be at least one vote short of a majority as they try to advance their priorities. There are no major votes looming in the Senate that are expected to fall totally along party lines.

HOW WILL FEINSTEIN'S SENATE SEAT BE FILLED?

Newsom, a Democrat, has the power to appoint a replacement for the rest of her term, which was set to end in January 2025.

The race to replace her in the fall 2024 election is already underway, with a primary scheduled for March.

In the meantime, Newsom is expected to select a Democrat to fill the seat.

HOW LONG WILL HER SEAT BE VACANT?

It's not immediately clear how quickly Newsom will move to pick a replacement. No timeline is set forth in state law.

When then-Sen. Kamala Harris left her seat after being elected vice president in 2020, it went vacant for about two weeks until then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla was appointed by Newsom.

WHO WILL REPLACE FEINSTEIN?

Harris' departure from the Senate left Black women without any representation in the Senate. Newsom was under dual pressures to name either a Black woman or Latino to replace her, and he chose Padilla, who became California's first Latino U.S. senator. After that, Newsom said that if Feinstein's seat became vacant, he'd appoint a Black woman.

As Feinstein's health challenges intensified, California political chatter of potential replacements included obscure names and famous, including Oprah Winfrey.

Newsom, who is seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, will face pressure to make good on his promise. He could choose one of the candidates running in the primary underway to replace Feinstein, though he has said he will not do that. The candidates include U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, who is Black, along with Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, who both are white.

Newsom could choose merely a caretaker to hold the seat as a short-term replacement until someone is elected in November 2024.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who is Black, shied away from directly answering a question Friday about whether she would consider serving as a replacement if Newsom chose her.

Newsom could also appoint himself, though that is seen as unlikely.

IS THERE ANY IMPACT ON THE LOOMING SHUTDOWN?

The biggest issue Congress is facing is the near-certain shutdown, and there has been overwhelming bipartisan support for Senate spending bills so far.

Still, if Newsom doesn't appoint a replacement quickly, Senate Democrats could have a more difficult time winning enough votes as they try to keep the government open over the weekend.

It's unlikely that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republican caucus in the Senate will suddenly side with House Republicans pushing for a shutdown, but if that were to happen, it could make the votes around a shutdown tougher for Democrats.

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

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Photos: Sen. Dianne Feinstein through the years
The death of Dianne Feinstein has given rise to numerous memories and tributes to Californias longest-serving U.S. senator  including expressions of gratitude from state and local leaders in the Napa Valley.

From upholding the cause of air quality in the 1970s to supporting flood control, earthquake relief and efforts to combat gun violence decades later, Feinstein proved herself an ally to the people of Napa County, elected leaders said in interviews and statements on Friday.

Her legacy will never be forgotten, Rep. Mike Thompson, the 13-term Democratic congressman from St. Helena, said in a statement.

Feinstein, who spent more than a decade as San Franciscos mayor before her election to the Senate in 1992, died at her home in Washington, D.C. Thursday night.

At 90, she was the oldest member of Congress and the longest-serving female in the chambers history. During a lingering bout of shingles earlier this year and ongoing reports of her mental decline, Feinstein resisted pressure from her own party to resign her seat.

In a statement Friday morning, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called Feinstein a dear friend and lifelong mentor who was a role model not only to him but to his wife and daughters for what a powerful and effective leader looks like.

She was a political giant, whose tenacity was matched by her grace. She broke down barriers and glass ceilings, but never lost her belief in the spirit of political cooperation, Newsom said. And she was a fighter  for the city, the state and the country she loved.

There is nobody, he said, who possessed the strength, gravitas, and fierceness of Dianne Feinstein.

Feinsteins ties to Napa County arose early in her political career.

The late L. Pierce Carson, a longtime Napa Valley Register reporter and editor, interviewed a 37-year-old Feinstein in January 1971. Feinstein had been elected 14 months earlier to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and was soon to appear at a Napa Chamber of Commerce dinner.

Carson asked her about her political aspirations, such as maybe someday becoming the first female mayor of San Francisco. Feinstein didnt close the door to seeking higher political office.

If there is a higher calling and people want me to continue (in public office), I will have to make that decision, she said.

The Napa Register covered Feinsteins February 1971 appearance at the chamber dinner at the Napa Elks Club Lodge. Feinstein brought about 350 people to their feet with her speech.

Feinstein called property taxes an anachronistic form of taxation and praised Napa County for joining the regions air district to help tackle air pollution in the Bay Area.

If we are going to solve problems, we must do it together. This red device will have to have a smog control device, she said, pointing to a bottle of wine.

Napa Countys assessor-recorder-county clerk John Tuteur was on the countys Board of Supervisors from 1973 to 1981. He served as vice chair of the Association of Bay Area Governments regional planning committee in the late 1970s, when Feinstein was chair.

We werent friends, we were acquaintances, Tuteur said on Friday. But we served together. She was busy most of the time, so I acted as chair of the committee when she wasnt there.

He described Feinstein as incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent, someone who knew local politics and was good at it. And he thought the president of the big-city San Francisco Board of Supervisors was in tune with rural Napa Countys agricultural protections.

Dianne was a champion; coming from a major urban area, she was a champion of open space and preservation of agricultural land, said Tuteur.

Feinstein returned to the city of Napa in the wake of a flood that inundated the area at the end of 2005.

On a visit to the city in April 2006, Feinstein  by then a second-term senator  viewed the Napa River from the deck of the Hatt building and pledged to seek money for flood control.

Well try to be helpful, Feinstein said as she and Thompson unveiled their strategy. Were going to get some funds.

The half-billion-dollar Napa River flood control project has done such things as build the Oxbow Commons bypass, replace bridges and, create flood plains and wetlands in and near the city of Napa. It was funded by a local tax, but also with federal and state money.

Local officials on Friday said Feinstein left her mark on Napa County through her support of flood control work. State Sen. Bill Dodd was at that meeting in 2006, when he was a Napa County supervisor.

She had an incredible grasp of every detail of our transformational flood control project and was instrumental in securing federal dollars, Dodd said in a news release.

Former county Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht said on Friday that Feinstein was huge on flood control. He recalled the times the Napa contingent would visit Washington D.C. to talk to her staff and she would drop in.

Were kind of in the weeds talking about it and she was able to pick up what we were talking about and why we needed this or that, he said.

Wagenknecht found Feinstein to be knowledgeable about the area.

I was just amazed about what she knew and how she was able to work that into a conversation in just a couple of minutes, he said.

Feinstein met Napa Mayor Jill Techel during the 2006 event. A woman mayor. I like it, she told Techel, as reported by the Napa Valley Register at the time.

Techel, who served four terms as mayor before retiring in 2020, said Feinstein always supported Napa, particularly in the wake of the 2005 flood and the 2014 earthquake.

The night before the flood I got a phone call from her staff saying that Feinstein was aware of the forecast and Washington would be available if anything would need attending to, Techel said Friday. And indeed by the next day, it was very clear we were flooding, and we needed attention from Washington, D.C.

Later, Feinstein came to Napa and met with government agencies at Hatt Hall.

She was getting in the elevator to go down and I was going down the stairs and she said, Mayor, please ride in the elevator with me, I want you right next to me when I talk to your community, she recalled. It was wonderful to have that support.

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, recalled the senators support for Napa amid the damage from the earthquake of Aug. 24, 2014. Feinstein was part of the on-the-ground delegation in Napa that helped secure disaster funding in the wake of the Bay Areas most severe quake since Loma Prieta 25 years earlier.

While Aguiar-Curry was not in office at the time, she remembers the impact the senator was able to have on the community as residents coped with the effects of the earthquake.

Senator Feinstein was a highly respected leader who always fought for her constituents, she said in a statement shared by her Napa district manager, Tracy Krumpen. ... She, along with Congressman Mike Thompson and then-Sen. Barbara Boxer, helped secure much-needed earthquake disaster relief to aid the community in rebuilding and supported the state of California's request for a major disaster declaration to provide needed assistance.

After the quake, again, the same attention from her  she came out and walked around a neighborhood over by Fuller Park and there was a lady there that wanted to tell her story, said former mayor Techel. After talking, Feinstein gave the woman a personal check to help with some of her expenses.

I think her legacy is that she did the job so well and took care of all parts of California, she said.

At the start of her political career, Feinstein was a trailblazer for women and gay rights, and after the November 1978 assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, she emerged as a reassuring leader and formidable force who pulled together a city that was still reeling from the Jonestown massacre in Guyana 10 days earlier, in which 900 people connected to the San Francisco-based Peoples Temple died.

In what would become known as The Year of the Woman in 1992, she shared a historic moment with Barbara Boxer when they were both elected to the U.S. Senate and California became the first state with two women senators. Feinstein won in a special election and was sworn in first.

She had tenacity. She never gave up, especially in passing the federal assault weapons ban in 1994, Boxer said in an interview with the Bay Area News Group. I will always remember how proud I was when she stood her ground on the floor of the Senate, when some of the men said, Well, you dont even understand what an AR-15 is, and she said, I understand what gun violence is. I had to put my finger through a hole in the wrist (of Harvey Milk). It was very emotional.

Feinstein also pioneered a number of other firsts: first woman mayor of San Francisco, first woman to chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the first woman to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, a watershed moment after public outrage over the handling of Anita Hills testimony during the male-dominated Supreme Court nomination hearings of Clarence Thomas in 1991.

There are few women who can be called senator, chairman, mayor, wife, mom and grandmother, her chief of staff, James Sauls, said in a statement Friday. Senator Feinstein was a force of nature who made an incredible impact on our country and her home state.

In 1994, the same year she passed the weapons ban, Feinstein wrote the California Desert Protection Act that established Death Valley and Joshua Tree as national parks. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as chair of the Intelligence Committee, she publicly released the Torture Report that exposed the CIAs interrogation program that failed to work on terrorist suspects and, along with the late Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, authored legislation outlawing the CIAs use of torture.

Feinstein is the 302nd senator to die in office and the first since McCain in 2018. President Biden was in Phoenix on Thursday honoring the late senator with funds for a library in his name.

In a statement, Biden said Friday that he had a front row seat to Feinsteins accomplishments serving in the Senate together for 15 years and recruited her to serve on the Judiciary Committee when he was chair.

Theres no better example of her skillful legislating and sheer force of will than when she turned passion into purpose, and led the fight to ban assault weapons, Biden said. Dianne made her mark on everything from national security to the environment to protecting civil liberties. Shes made history in so many ways, and our country will benefit from her legacy for generations.

For those old enough to remember the assassinations at San Francisco City Hall on Nov. 27, 1978, it was Feinsteins brief videotaped news conference and its aftermath that launched her national political career.

Standing outside the supervisors offices, news cameras illuminating her face, she delivered the shocking news: As president of the Board of Supervisors, its my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed, she said as the media erupted in gasps and shouts. The suspect is (former) Supervisor Dan White.

She would later detail her actions that morning; when she heard the shots, she raced into Milks office. I tried to get a pulse, she said, and put my finger through a bullet hole.

Duffy Jennings, a former San Francisco Chronicle reporter who was in the crowd when she made the announcement, said her leadership through a tumultuous era would come to define Feinstein.

She was incredibly resilient, strong and decisive, Jennings said in an interview with the Bay Area News Group. It wasnt just Jonestown and Dan White. The 70s had the Zodiac killer, Patty Hearst, the SLA, the New World Liberation Front, counterculture extremism. It was a horrific decade in San Francisco and the Bay Area. And politically, she was as strong as anybody in holding the town together.

At one point, New World Liberation Front  an anti-capitalist terrorist group  planted a bomb on the windowsill of her daughters bedroom. It failed to explode.

Born in San Francisco in 1933, Feinstein was the daughter of a prominent surgeon. Feinstein was Jewish but attended the prestigious Convent of the Sacred Heart Catholic girls school, where she acted in plays and  because of her 5-foot, 10-inch height  often played male roles. She attended Stanford University in the early 1950s, where she was elected vice president of the student body.

When Feinstein entered San Francisco politics in the late 1960s, nobody took her seriously, said Jerry Roberts, the Chronicles former executive editor who wrote an early biography called Never Let Them See You Cry, named for one of Feinsteins tips for businesswomen.

Early media reports of her campaigns, he said, were unbelievably sexist, and often characterized her as a raven-haired beauty with a slender figure. Her husband at the time, Dr. Bertram Feinstein, was widely mocked as a first husband.

Just in terms of the cultural obstacles that she had to overcome to be taken seriously and to win is something people dont think a lot about now, Roberts said. She was never a movement feminist, but she was a feminist.

She kept a firefighters turnout jacket and helmet in her trunk to race to fires, and once gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a man she saw collapse in the Tenderloin. She listened to a police scanner in her office.

Although she opposed domestic partnership legislation for the city in 1982, when the AIDS epidemic was in its early stages, Feinstein got right on it. I mean, instantly, said Louise Renne, whom Feinstein appointed as San Franciscos first female city attorney. The folks at San Francisco General were pulled in to deal with the AIDS epidemic, and San Francisco took a leadership role in solving that problem.

Feinstein was considered moderate politically, supporting environmental causes but also encouraging commercial high-rise development in downtown San Francisco. She is credited with completing the Moscone Convention Center project, renovating the citys cable car system and retrofitting Candlestick Park before the Loma Prieta earthquake struck minutes before Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.

Feinstein ran for governor of California in 1990 and lost to Republican Pete Wilson, whom she would replace in the Senate. In 1996, she was one of only 14 senators who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act that prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Feinsteins leadership opened doors for two San Francisco women who would become the most powerful female politicians in the country  Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House and Kamala Harris as vice president.

Although she announced she would not seek a sixth term in 2024, Feinstein remained in office despite her lingering illness. Her absence from Senate votes earlier this year opened her to criticism that she handicapped her fellow Democrats in the split Senate to appoint judicial nominees.

Her death in office will set up a tense decision for Gov. Newsom, who has said he would appoint a Black woman to the seat if Feinstein retired early. But with three high-profile Democrats  Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee  battling for Feinsteins seat in the 2024 election, Newsom has said he would turn to an interim appointment rather than somebody running.

Those remarks earlier this month on NBCs Meet the Press angered Lee, the only Black woman in the race. The longtime Oakland congresswoman is struggling to gain traction, running third in most polls behind Schiff and Porter.

Feinstein was married three times. The first to Jack Berman ended in divorce. Her second husband, neurosurgeon Feinstein, died of colon cancer seven months before the Moscone and Milk assassinations. She married investment banker Richard Blum in 1980. He died in 2022.

She has one daughter, Katherine Feinstein, a former San Francisco Superior Court judge, who helped care for her in her mansion on the Lyon Steps in San Franciscos Pacific Heights neighborhood.

Looking back, Boxer recalls when she and Feinstein were first elected to the Senate, her colleague sat her down and told her, Youve got to stick with this. The longer you stay, the better youll feel, the more youll get done.

Feinstein stuck with it on Capitol Hill for three decades, perhaps summing up why in her final acceptance speech before her re-election in 2018, years before the political implications of her frail health in her final years threatened her legacy.

In the speech, she called serving in the Senate the greatest honor in my life.

Bay Area News Group reporter Julia Prodis Sulek contributed to this report.

Local leaders on Dianne Feinstein Napa Valley elected leaders recalled the late senator in comments and statements Friday. State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa: She had an incredible grasp of every detail of our transformational flood control project and was instrumental in securing federal dollars. John Tuteur, Napa County assessor, recorder and clerk: Dianne was a champion, coming from a major urban area; she was a champion of open space and preservation of agricultural land. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena: Dianne and I worked closely together on projects that have improved the lives of the people of in our state, particularly on the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act that protected hundreds of thousands of acres and will ensure these pristine lands and opportunities for outdoor recreation will be enjoyed for generations to come. Her legacy will never be forgotten. Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters: Senator Feinstein was a highly respected leader who always fought for her constituents. ... She, along with Congressman Mike Thompson and then-Sen. Barbara Boxer, helped secure much-needed earthquake disaster relief to aid the community in rebuilding and supported the state of California's request for a major disaster declaration to provide needed assistance. Senator Feinstein will be dearly missed. Former Napa Mayor Jill Techel: I think her legacy is that she did the job so well and took care of all parts of California.  I always felt lucky to have her representing us. She will be missed.
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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. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa  Having stood out in two presidential debates, Nikki Haley has booked her largest venue in Iowa since launching her campaign. Shes hoping to fill a 600-person hall in a western Des Moines suburb on Saturday.

That would be a huge number for most of her rivals. Its also less than the smallest crowds usually drawn by Donald Trump, who is dominating the Republican field for the 2024 Iowa caucuses less than four months away.

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The former president will be in rural southeast Iowa the following day to headline an organizing event. Aides were expecting at least 1,000 to attend.

In essence, there are two Iowa campaigns underway: Trump is holding fewer, bigger events that demonstrate the strength of his organization and grip on GOP base voters, while his rivals attend the states traditional candidate forums and meet-and-greets, searching for ways to cut into his lead or consolidate second place.

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While things could change before the Jan. 15 caucuses, some campaigns are trying to shift expectations. Theyre hoping a close runner-up to Trump in Iowa  or even someone who falls well short of Trump but pulls away from other rivals  could begin consolidating support and force others out.

Whats crystal clear to me is that until there is a winnowing event, youre never going to get to the head-to-head that it would require to have somebody other than Trump win the nomination, said Gentry Collins, who managed Mitt Romneys campaign for the 2008 caucuses. That winnowing starts in Iowa and it changes the dynamics of the race.

Heres a look at the campaigns working hardest in Iowa to catch Trump.

Ron DeSantis

Campaign overspending and donor jitters prompted the Florida governor to shake up his organization and narrow a broad, national approach to one increasingly focused on Iowa. His national support has slipped substantially from its high point earlier this year.

DeSantis hired David Polyansky as a senior deputy campaign manager in August. Polyansky is a top strategist with Iowa chops from past presidential campaigns. He was working for Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting DeSantis.

Never Back Down has taken on a huge share of work normally done by candidates directly. It has put on almost 50 of DeSantis Iowa appearances, hired 22 paid staff in Iowa  more than on any campaign team in the state  and purchased almost $8 million of television and digital ads this year, the most of any single political group, according to analysis from the tracking firm AdImpact.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, two DeSantis advisers suggest he could survive three second-place finishes  in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina  and try to force a head-to-head matchup with Trump ahead of Marchs Super Tuesday slate of primaries.

DeSantis has already visited two-thirds of Iowas counties, Polyansky said in an interview, The candidate pledged earlier this year to visit all 99, a goal that could net extra support and allow him to shore up more populous counties down the stretch.

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Knocking out a majority of our 99-county swing this early, before the caucus campaigning heats up even further, gives us the freedom down the stretch to travel where we want to go and when we want to go in Iowa, New Hampshire and beyond, Polyansky said.

Nikki Haley

Haleys team pumped up expectations going into Wednesdays second debate and hopes her energetic performance  including several tussles with rivals  translates to a rise in polls.

She impressed Nicole Schlinger, an Iowa Republican campaign phone and text vendor who has not committed to a 2024 candidate.

Nikkis showing she can be strong and assertive and put these guys back on their heels, said Schlinger, who is not committed in the 2024 race.

Toiling before smaller crowds throughout the spring and summer, Haley, the former United Nations ambassador and governor of South Carolina, drew a noticeably more robust 400 to stops in rural eastern Iowa this month. She took the wheel of a combine among amber rows of corn.

She has recently signed noteworthy Iowa GOP talent, including Troy Bishop, who was Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassleys organizational director. And shes lured some donors away from DeSantis, including billionaire former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. Now, the super PAC supporting her is spending more on ads in Iowa.

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Tim Scott

Scott was striding toward the midway at the Iowa State Fair this summer when a man approached from behind to tell him, Ive seen your ads.

He wasnt alone. Scotts campaign and the super PAC supporting him have combined to spend roughly $10 million in advertising this year introducing Scott to Iowans, about a quarter of all GOP caucus campaign and super PAC ad spending, according to AdImpact.

The South Carolina senators team argues Iowans are more familiar with him through advertising and ready to see him emerge in the up-close settings that are traditionally critical here.

He has started criticizing his rivals more, going after Trump, DeSantis and Haley for refusing to push for a federal abortion ban. His more aggressive posture was on display during the Wednesday debate in California, when he criticized a proposal by Haley to increase the gas tax.

I think I come across as a nice guy. I will say, though, that I am not an angry guy, Scott told one Iowa audience after being asked if he was tough enough to confront Russia. I think we sometimes confuse anger with strength.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Long before he grabbed attention at the first debate, Ramaswamy was working hard in Iowa.

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The 38-year-old entrepreneur has traveled the state more than any candidate, holding nearly 70 campaign events. Hes gotten buzz for his youth and charisma, his lack of political background, and a brashness that reminds some people of Trump. Some Iowans have also voiced unfavorable impressions sparked by what some see as foreign policy naivete and lack of experience.

Ramaswamys Iowa team is small and led by outspoken social conservative former state Sen. Jake Chapman and former Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz.

Ramaswamy, who is Hindu and the son of Indian immigrants, always cites what he calls his lists of truths, the first of which is God is real. Evangelical Christians are critical in Iowa.

While few will say out loud that Ramaswamys faith is an obstacle, one voter raised it at a Tim Scott event last week.

He talks about God all the time, but its a pagan god, said Liz Kuennen of Fort Dodge.

Hindus worship several gods, who they believe to be manifestations of the one formless supreme being.

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Mike Pence

For a former vice president so closely identified with evangelical Christians, it would seem Pence would have a leg up.

Yet Pence faces distinct challenges.

Among the most stubborn is the lingering  and false  perception that Pence could have refused to certify the 2020 election. A man in the state fair crowd this summer confronted Pence and asked him, Why did you commit treason?

Pence patiently walked through the constitutional requirements of the vice president during the certification process.

Even though my former running mate and his outside lawyers told me that authority was there, I knew it never was, Pence told the crowd. Ill always believe, by Gods grace, I did my duty that day.

Though the now well-rehearsed answer sparks respectful applause, Pence faces stubbornly high unfavorable ratings in Iowa among likely GOP caucusgoers.

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Still, Pence, who had seven events planned in Iowa over the coming days, was on track to top 60 campaign stops by the end of next week, second only to Ramaswamy.

___

Associated Press writers Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles, Linley Sanders in Washington, and Will Weissert in Grand Mound, Iowa, contributed to this report.
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In the picturesque village of Sarnaghbyur nestled in the Askeran region of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), there was only one school. Within its humble walls, six children from different grades attended classes. The school was more than just an educational institution; it was a symbol of resilience, a testament to the endurance of the people who called this village home. Director Zhanna Gabrielyan was determined to preserve this small school, viewing it as a beacon of hope for the continued existence of her community. Today, however, both the school and the village lay in ruins, shattered by the aggression of Azerbaijan on September 19, 2023.

Artsakh's Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan recently reported the grim toll exacted on this tiny village of 76 residents: five lives lost, 15 wounded, and four captured. Among the five casualties were three children -- David Aleksanyan, brothers Mikael and Nver Kazaryan. On September 30, the funeral for the two brothers took place in the city of Masis, Ararat region of Armenia. David had been laid to rest just a few days earlier.

"I clung to our small school with every fiber of my being, holding on with sheer determination," the director recounts to reporters. Much like the rest of Artsakh's population, she was compelled to leave her homeland, finding refuge in Armenia.

"In every classroom, we had one or two students, but I took pride in it," she says with conviction. "I believed that as long as even a single student remained, the school should endure! I told the children that the school bell should ring so loudly that even the Turks stationed in their outposts could hear it."

On that fateful day, September 19, the morning found everyone -- the children and the director -- engrossed in their studies. At 11 o'clock, gunfire erupted from posts near the village. Yet, it hardly registered within the school's walls; everyones focus was firmly on their lessons.

The children, particularly joyous that morning, shared their excitement, proclaiming that many parents had journeyed to Stepanakert, Artsakh's capital, to bring back food and sweets.

"Our mothers will bring chocolate, and we'll share it with you!" the children exclaimed, their enthusiasm bubbling over.

Director Zhanna Gabrielyan couldn't help but feel a sense of unease amid these conversations. Reports of the road connecting Artsakh to Armenia reopening had circulated, but she harbored doubts about its permanence or whether it signaled a positive change.

It turned out to be the final class held at Sarnaghbyur school, the last time the bell tolled in its hallowed halls.

After the school day ended, the director and the children headed home. Soon after, the intensity of the gunfire dramatically escalated. Fear gripping her, the director sought shelter with her family, clutching the lone bag she had in her possession. There had been no time to gather documents, precious gold jewelry, money, or even a photograph of her child.

Residing in the upper region of the village, the director and her family, along with neighbors, narrowly escaped when the village was bombarded, finding cover by sheer providence. However, those living in the lower region weren't as fortunate. As the barrage subsided, the director, along with her husband, child, mother-in-law, and several neighbors, ventured to the lower region to assess the situation and offer aid to fellow villagers. What they encountered was a scene of grievous injuries and tragic loss.

It transpired that her students, like many other civilians, had sought refuge in what they believed to be a relatively secure location. Tragically, indiscriminate enemy fire, either from an artillery shell or a kamikaze drone, found its mark, injuring and claiming the lives of civilians, including three innocent children.

Subsequently, Azerbaijani forces launched another assault on the village, leading to injuries sustained by Gabrielyan's husband and another villager. Those capable of moving were compelled to abandon their homes, their village, and ultimately, Karabakh itself.

"After a protracted struggle, we lost not only our cherished loved ones but also our homes and our homeland," the school director laments, her voice quivering with suppressed grief.
Families gripped by terror as they escape the threat of ethnic cleansing following the collapse of Nagorno-Karabakh are facing shortages of water and fuel during their urgent two-day trek to Armenia, Britain's The Independent reports.

More than 90,000 Karabakh Armenians  around three-quarters of the total population  have now left their homes in the breakaway enclave, which is internationally recognised as being part of Azerbaijan.

The United Nations fears the fall of the region could mean there will eventually be no Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting concerns of ethnic cleansing. It is the largest exodus of people in the South Caucasus since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Fearing reprisals, as Bakus forces moved into the main cities and arrested Armenian officials, hungry and scared families packed what few belongings they could into cars and trucks and left their homes for good.

Valeri, 17, fled the village of Kichan, 70km north of the Armenian border with his family and neighbours. In total, they squeezed 35 people into a Ford Transit and made the four-day journey to safety, sitting on top of each other and sleeping in shifts.

We couldnt take anything with us because the shelling was too intense as we escaped, he told The Independent.

They had to hide in a large waste water pipe to escape artillery fire, he said.

In the chaos, families were separated and the poor mobile coverage in the mountainous regions means they are still trying to reconnect.

In the lead-up to Azerbaijans operation, Baku had imposed a 10-month blockade on the enclave leading to chronic shortages of food and petrol supplies, the news agency writes.
The recent arrest by the Azerbaijani government of philanthropist, entrepreneur, Armenian citizen and co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Ruben Vardanyan is outrageous and politically motivated. As representatives of the global humanitarian and human rights community, we call for his immediate release, says the statement of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.

The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, to which Ruben has given so much, has for the past eight years honored and supported the work of those who fight for basic human rights, often at the risk of their own lives, all around the world. The irony is that Ruben now finds himself a victim of the same persecution as those he has sought to help as a human rights defender.

When Ruben moved to Nagorno-Karabakh over a year ago, prior to the 10-month-long blockade of all food and basic necessities and recent bombings, he did so knowing that there were significant risks, but he was determined to help find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Detaining Ruben, a man who has spent the last 20 years dedicated to advancing the socio-economic development of the region, is unjust. This action deprives him of his basic rights much like the tens of thousands of Armenians of the region whose fundamental human rights are violated daily.

Ruben Vardanyan is being held captive because of his support for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and their right to a democratic way of life. The Azerbaijani government must release him and demonstrate their respect for human rights  his and those of all Armenians of the region, the statement reads.
A mass exodus of Karabakh Armenians is currently taking place, as a result of Azerbaijans military operation of 19 and 20 September and of the previous months-long blockage of the Lachin corridor. People are fleeing their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh and are finding refuge in Armenia, Press Service of the EU External Action Service said in a statement.

It is urgent to ensure continuous unimpeded humanitarian support to those who are still in need in Karabakh, as well as to those who have left. The European Union supports the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is facilitating the urgent evacuation of wounded people as well as patients, and the provision of emergency assistance on the ground.

The European Commission announced an additional package of humanitarian aid of EUR 5M to assist people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and those who find themselves in a vulnerable situation inside Karabakh. The EU and its Member States stand ready to provide additional humanitarian assistance.

Azerbaijan bears the responsibility to ensure the rights and security of the Karabakh Armenians, including their right to live in their homes in dignity without intimidation and discrimination, as well as the right to return for those displaced. It is essential that a UN mission can access the territory within the next days.

The European Union has taken note of the announced launch of a process of registration of Armenian residents through a dedicated portal by the Azerbaijani authorities. The EU will continue following closely the developments on the ground.
More than 100,000 people from Artsakh crossed the Hakari Bridge. At night, most of the 46 buses arrived in Goris, the smaller part went to Vayk. Most of those who arrived have already been accommodated in the regions. This is the last group. This is the sixth day in a row that we have been here 24 hours a day, Governor of Armenian Syunik Province Robert Ghukasyan told a Hetq correspondent.

Possibly some people will still arrive, they may be from the villages of Artsakh or other places, but there are very few of them left, perhaps 100 people. But this is just my guess.

"The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs transport these people from here with special vehicles to different regions of Armenia, but the number of such people is very large. Our volunteers are doing their best, but professional support is needed, the Governor said.

The governor said that people are now going through a very difficult emotional period.

Almost everyone wants to move to Yerevan. We offer to go to Kajaran, but people refuse, although Kajaran is one of the few cities where there are no problems with work. This emotional background, I think, will pass in a couple of weeks. In Goris alone, 3 times more people than its main population settled. When everyone comes to Armenia, we must urgently solve all their problems. We will soon begin a needs assessment, after which funding for programs will begin. We overcame this stage, were able to bring all the people and provide support. To be honest, we were afraid of the large influx of people, but it seems that we managed to accommodate everyone, he added.

According to his assessment, at least 7-8 thousand people are stationed in Syunik.

The large-scale aggression initiated by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh since September 19 has led to a heart-wrenching exodus, with countless residents urgently leaving their native lands behind and making the arduous journey to Armenia. In the face of this crisis, they have little opportunity to gather their personal belongings, leaving their homes and possessions behind.

As of 14:00, 100,437 forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh arrived in the Republic of Armenia along the Lachin corridor, which was blocked for 9 months. The city of Goris became a transit point for refugees.
Co-chairs of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., front left, Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, along with Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in second row at right of Fitzpatrick, attend a news conference, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, about the war in Ukraine, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago was the only Democrat in the U.S. House to vote against an emergency funding plan aimed at averting a federal government shutdown, citing the bills lack of funding for Ukraine in its fight against Russias invasion.

The continuing resolution passed the Republican-led House on the strength of Democratic votes as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California proposed a clean bill that also was stripped of items pushed by far-right elements of the GOP caucus who demanded increased border security and spending cuts.

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As a result, Quigley, a progressive from the North and Northwest Side and west suburbs, found himself in the rare position of being on the same side of the bill as U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and all three Illinois House Republicans, Darin LaHood of Peoria, Mike Bost of Murphysboro and Mary Miller of Oakland.

The overall roll call was 335-91 as House lawmakers approved the 45-day funding measure, which passed with 209 Democrats joining 126 Republicans in favor, while of the 91 opposed, 90 were Republicans. The Senate voted 88-9 late Saturday night to approve the measure, which President Biden was expected to sign.

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Quigley is co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Ukraine Caucus and he lashed out at those Republicans who have been critical of increased U.S. aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

This bill is a victory for Putin and Putin-sympathizers everywhere. We now have 45 days to correct this grave mistake, Quigley said in a statement, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

I had a responsibility to my constituents to voice my opposition to this decision and raise concerns now, before Russia-friendly Republicans dig in their heels or claim victory in the next funding agreement, Quigley, in his 14th year in the House, said in explaining his no vote.

Quigley said attempts by Republicans to argue that a choice must be made between America and Ukraine are presenting a false dilemma. Protecting Ukraine is in our national interest.

In a news conference after the vote, McCarthy was noncommittal on bringing a separate Ukraine aid bill to the floor, though he said he supports Ukrainians in their cause against Russia.

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston, a member of the House Democratic leadership, derided infighting among Republicans for putting the nation on a collision course towards a government shutdown. But she also acknowledged I would have liked to see funding for Ukraine included.

There is still broad bipartisan support for continuing our assistance to Ukraine. We will never turn our backs on them. We will get Ukraine the support they need, she said in a statement.

Bost, who is facing a primary challenge from last years unsuccessful Republican governor nominee, Darren Bailey of Xenia, said his vote against the funding measure was because it lacked any serious reforms on spending or border security.

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The people of Southern Illinois sent me to Washington to restore fiscal sanity and secure our southern border, Bost said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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It happened quickly, the last invasion, and the aggressors killed hundreds of Christians. Armenia had no choice but to save thousands of its citizens from death by surrendering its enclave in Nagorno-Karabakh to the brutal forces of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev, says the article written by former UN war crimes judge Geoffrey Robertson on The Telegraph.

According to the former UN judge, placing responsibility on Russia for ensuring the safety of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh was an unwise decision.

In his article, Robertson points out that 120,000 Armenians are now forced to either leave their ancestral homes or live under tyranny that has fueled hatred against them for years.

Nagorno-Karabakh won the war by 1994 and declared, like Kosovo, its right to self-determination. For the next quarter-century it governed itself with help from Armenia. It did so, reasonably enough, with fair elections and democratic institutions like an independent judiciary - as I found when investigating the situation in the country for a court case in 2014. It was not, as many news reporters said last week, a country of Armenian separatists but of an Armenian people whose ancestors had lived in these highlands for centuries and who had fought for, and won, for a quarter of a century, the right to resist a brutal dictator. But there were many Azeri provocations at the border - the line of control.

As for the United Nations, Nagorno-Karabakh will be remembered as yet another reason why it is no longer fit for purpose. That purpose, its Charter reminds us, is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, yet it cannot expel Russia (even were Putin to use nuclear weapons) which would veto its own expulsion, and it cannot even expel Azerbaijan for aggression (because Russia would veto the necessary Security Council recommendation).

The only way forward is to replace the United Nations, because its Security Council is not fit for purpose. It is incapable of reform, because Russia and China will veto reform. Security will only come from an international representative body with the moral, military, economic power to deter authoritarian aggression, Geoffrey Robertson writes.
On September 18, Larisa Gabrielyan turned 74 years old, and the next day she was forced to leave her home in the village of Sarnaghbyur in the Askeran region.

The woman who survived three Artsakh wars admitted that the last one was the most cruel, although she lost her husband during the first war.



As a result of Azerbaijani aggression on September 19, the village of Sarnaghbyur was completely destroyed. Larisa Gabrielyan clearly remembers the events of that tragic day.



In the morning we heard the sounds of several explosions, then we sat down to eat, and then the sounds of shots were heard again, which gradually began to intensify. First we hid in the bathroom, where it seemed to be relatively safe. But a little later the house began to shake from the impact. After this, my son suggested leaving the house, going to the village administration building and making a decision to evacuate. He went along one road, and we went along another. As soon as we left the house, our son, who had gone a different route, and another person discovered wounded soldiers, she said.



The head of the village brought the wounded to the peacekeepers, and then returned to evacuate the residents, but he could not take everyone out in one car.



Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan previously reported that of the 76 people living in the small village, five were killed, another 15 residents were wounded, and four others were captured. Three of the five killed were children - David Aleksanyan and brothers Mikael and Nver Kazaryan. Today, September 30, the funeral of two brothers was held in the city of Masis, Ararat Province of Armenia. David was buried a few days earlier.



Nine of the villagers, all hungry and exhausted, traveled in one car for two days.



Larisa Gabrielyans family of six settled in the village of Sayat-Nova in the Ararat Province.



"The woman is overwhelmed by a sense of uncertainty; she doesn't know what future awaits her family that left their home, car, tractor, a regular sewing machine, and other acquired property in their native village."



The woman is filled with a feeling of uncertainty; she does not know what the future awaits her family, who left a house, a car, a tractor, a seed drill and other acquired property in their native village.



I was going to marry off my grandchildren, and the dowry was ready. We've already been back twice [], and we're not going back again. Is it possible to live with animals? There is no homeland, the homeland is gone, otherwise we would have been there, Gabrielyan stated.
Armenian Ambassador to Israel Arman Akopian gave an exclusive interview to The Jerusalem Post.

Jerusalem Post: Can you describe the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh from your perspective?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: What is going on is classic ethnic cleaning. We see the indigenous population of the region of Armenia, people who were there for 3,000 years, leaving their homes and their spiritual and national heritage behind, leaving the graves of their loved ones behind.

Jerusalem Post: Why are they leaving?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: They have no choice but to leave Nagorno-Karabakh because their lives are unbearable. Just a week ago, 120,000 Armenians lived there. Today, about 100,000 have already left.

Jerusalem Post: Azerbaijan firmly maintains that they want the residents to stay and that the only people who left Karabakh are military personnel. Who is telling the truth?

Ambassador Arman Akopian:

Jerusalem Post:

Ambassador Arman Akopian: The official number of people who left is 95,000. Do you believe there were 95,000 military in that region? You can see the videos on TV: Women and children are being expelled because they see no future there. There is no guarantee for their lives. Even the Azeri people do not have guarantees because they live under an autocracy. How can the rights of the Armenians be guaranteed?

Jerusalem Post: Tell me about the land mines that Armenia has reportedly placed in the area and the military personnel that were on the ground. These landmines have killed or maimed dozens of Azeri civilians and soldiers. Wasn't that breaking the ceasefire agreement, and did the country not expect repercussions?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: These were self-defense forces to protect local Armenians against the Azeris. There were two wars [in 1990 and 2020], and the people's safety was not guaranteed. Any community has a right to protect itself. Who else would have protected them?

Azerbaijan claims these units were part of the regular army of the Republic of Armenia. It is a lie. There are no standard army units of the Republic of Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Jerusalem Post: Would you compare the situation of the Armenians to the current plight of the Palestinians?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: I would not, no. It does not make sense to compare conflicts. Each conflict is unique.

Jerusalem Post: Leaders have been meeting on both sides to achieve a final peace agreement. What is the status of those talks, and do you see this as something that could happen soon - and last?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: Any war ends with peace, and we remain optimistic that we will reach an agreement. But under the current conditions, when Armenians are expelled from their ancestral homeland, [it is hard to foresee]. I hope this meeting [between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on October 5] will take place because there is no other alternative but to sit at the table and talk.

Jerusalem Post: Is Israel too pro-Azerbaijan?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: I don't believe Israel has Armenia on its agenda. We have seen a lot of military cooperation: Azerbaijan buying Israeli weapons worth billions of dollars, and there is cooperation on military defense and intelligence. Iran, of course, is a factor in that. I would not say Israel is 'pro,' but cooperation is very strong, and the strategic partnership is very strong. Every time there is an escalation in our region, from the second war in 2020 until September 19, we know that Azerbaijan's Silk Way Airlines is making frequent flights to Israel to import weapons. Before this last escalation, a flight went directly from Israel to the city of Ganja, situated just north of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Any country can sell and buy weapons. The issue is that these weapons end up on our borders and are fired at peaceful civilians.

So, if you ask whether Israel is pro-Azerbaijan, I cannot answer. But the countries' strategic, military and intelligence cooperation is strong, and it is no secret. It is something both sides declare with pride.

Jerusalem Post: Is Israel anti-Armenia?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: No. The civil society is very pro-Armenia in the case of Nagorno-Karabakh and recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Jerusalem Post: Would you compare the plight of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karbach to that of the Jews during World War II? And given the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust, would you not expect more support from Israel?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: We can find parallels. Armenians and Jews have so many things in common. We are two peoples who suffered terrible genocides: the Armenians during WWI and the Jews in WWII.

Raphael Lemkin, creator of the world' genocide,' referred to both the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust in parallel in an interview with CBS.

Jerusalem Post: Is there anything you want to add that I did not ask you?

Ambassador Arman Akopian: We are witnessing a terrible human tragedy unprecedented in the 21st Century. Armenians are being forced out of their historic homeland, leaving their heritage, churches, monasteries, and tombstones behind. I see no hope for them. As long as Azerbaijan remains an autocracy, we will continue to witness this tragedy.

I am also thankful to all the Israelis who call the embassy, write open letters, and place ads in local papers supporting the Armenians. I am grateful for all the goodwill and support.
PNN New Delhi [India], September 29: Maldives Airport Company Ltd. (MACL), which operates the primary international airport in the Maldives, Velana International Airport, and two domestic airports, has chosen ZingHR's comprehensive Cloud HCM solution to modernize and integrate their HR functions. This strategic move comes as MACL aims to consolidate the HR operations of its 4000+ employees spread across three airports. ZingHR, a Gartner recognized, global HR tech venture accelerated at Microsoft and backed by Tata Capital Growth Fund, is renowned for its innovative, cloud-based HCM suite and unwavering commitment to customer success. The partnership will see ZingHR deploy its full Hire to Rehire solution for MACL, encompassing Core HR, Payroll, Leave Management, Recruitment, Performance Management, Zing Social, Pulse Surveys, and ESG capabilities. This integration will automate the entire employee lifecycle, from hiring to rehiring, ensuring optimal business outcomes. ZingHR has carved a niche for itself in the aviation industry, partnering with renowned brands like Air India SATS, Frankfinn - Institute of Air Hostess Training, Travel Food Services (TFS), Kannur International Airport, Air Works and Saudi Ground Services. Their commitment to innovation is revolutionizing the HR landscape in the aviation sector, driving companies towards strategic growth. Guraisha Ismail, Deputy CHRO at Maldives Airport Company Ltd., expressed her satisfaction with the ZingHR platform, stating,"We found the ZingHR platform very user-friendly. They have been instrumental in transforming our people processes with new age practices. The platform is not only progressive, but the team behind it is also very hands-on and participative. They have encouraged us to rethink our existing processes, and by adapting them, we anticipate better business outcomes." Prasad Rajappan, CEO & Founder of ZingHR,commented on this significant collaboration,"Our primary focus is on achieving business outcomes through our targeted solutions. Our value proposition is enabling organizations to realize tangible success, from ESG goals to employee engagement and productivity." Chandrasekar Subramanian, Chief Operating Officer, Middle East and Africa at ZingHR,added,"We are excited about our partnership with MACL. Our aim is to become their trusted HR partner, ensuring their continued success through streamlined processes and an unparalleled employee experience." Headquartered in Mumbai, ZingHR has more than1000+customers and 2 million+ active users worldwide. ZingHR offers a completely cloud-based, Hire to Rehire HCM solution delivered using future-ready technologies including Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Machine and Deep Learning Algorithms. We pride ourselves on providing industry-specific solutions accessible in 26 global languages, covering SEA, EMEA, and European languages. Our value proposition lies in enabling organizations to achieve audacious, tangible and measurable success such as ESG goals, Top Line increases, EBITDA improvements, People Engagement, Employee Experience and People Productivity. In the Middle East, ZingHR boasts a presence in 8 countries, serving 50+ customers across various industry verticals. With a strong local team and offices in UAE, Qatar, and KSA, they offer product localization for GCC and Africa, along with Arabic language support. For media inquiries,please contactclara@zinghr.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)
ATK Pattaya [Thailand], September 30: The city of Pattaya witnessed a grand and spectacular Tricolor Yatra that lasted for about 3 hours, on September 29. People everywhere welcomed the Yatra and supported Indians. It will be remembered as a historic day in Thailand's famous city Pattaya. IHRCC Chief Dr VP Singh, who arrived from Delhi organized a grand Tiranga Yatra. A large number of Indians and Thai residents participated in the event. About 200 cars, a large number of people on foot, scooters and bikes participated in this journey of about 25 kilometres, carrying the tricolor in their hands. Foreign tourists also enjoyed this yatra a lot, everyone participated in this, held the tricolor and joined in every step. The International Human Rights & Crime Control Council was engaged in this special event for the last several months. Dr VP Singh had made preparations on a large scale for its preparation. Here he not only united the Indians but also inspired the people of Thailand to participate in this Tiranga Yatra. He thanked the people who participated in this event and also said that this kind of event will create awareness among the people. The message of brotherhood was spread eliminating discrimination and people walked with each other, which sends the message of humanity. The most interesting thing was that small children showed the power of the tricolor and participated with great enthusiasm in the entire journey. Dr VP Singh said that India's principle from the beginning has been "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam". "We consider the entire world as our family. Our country has given such a big message, we are moving forward with this message. Today our country is creating a different identity under the leadership of Modi ji and it is our duty to connect people through such events and to motivate them to be aware of the country," Dr Singh added. Dr VP Singh said that we will continue to organize similar events in the future also, so that the glory of our tricolor keeps waving and shining all over the world. At this event, he also thanked the Police Administration of Thailand who supported this huge event. He not only gave permission but also played a major role in making the entire system run smoothly. Pigeon Tour and Travels had a special contribution in making this program successful. With the special support and hard work of the company's director Mantu Singh and assistants Vicky Singh and Akash Singh, the Tricolor Yatra was successfully completed here. To make this journey successful, Dr Akanksha, High Commissioner (IHRCCC); Priya Sharma, Saurabh Sachan, Deepak Rana, Roshni Singh, Priyanka Kaur, Ghanshyam Yadav worked hard day and night and the program was completed with the special support of senior members and officials of IHRCCC. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PRNewswire Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], September 30: The KIIT Deemed to be University (KIIT-DU) has emerged as the 6th best university in the country out of 91 institutes that featured in the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024. It secured the top position in Odisha. Like every year, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings has been published and KIIT-DU has retained its position from the last year. The University's global ranking stood in the cohort of 601-800 as it continued to improve its overall score, reflecting its sustained focus on quality teaching, research activities and a steady rise in its global reputation. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is widely followed by academia, including students, in deciding their institute of choice for pursuing higher education. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 include 1,904 universities across 108 countries and regions. The methodology used for ranking the universities by Times Higher Education is teaching environment, research, citations, international outlook and industry income. Academicians in the State and outside have applauded KIIT's achievement, emphasizing its growing prominence in the higher education sector and matching the accomplishments of the legacy institutes despite being relatively new in comparison to them. They have lauded the tireless efforts of the Founder of KIIT and KISS Dr Achyuta Samanta and his visionary leadership to transform the University in a short period into a globally renowned institute. Dr Samanta, in his comments, said the improved ranking was the result of the collective efforts of the faculties, students and staff, even as the KIIT family credited him for the success. The results of 2024 have been met with jubilation on the campus. About Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT): Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar is among India's most sought-after universities, attracting students from all over India and more than 53 countries to pursue professional and technical education. It has built its reputation as the most student-friendly university, anchored on the principles of Compassion and Humanity. Founded in 1992-93 as a modest vocational training centre by eminent educationist and social activist Prof. Achyuta Samanta, it took shape as a centre of higher learning in 1997, which is considered as the base year. Since then KIIT has grown exponentially, setting a high benchmark in each area of education. Photo:https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2235324/KIIT_University.jpg Logo:https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2234144/KIIT_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)
PNN Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], September 30: In a world where innovation, leadership and entrepreneurial spirit drive progress, it is imperative to celebrate excellence in business. It is that time to recognise achievers, who have set exemplary standards of excellence, across diverse realms. Veteran industry leaders from across business, entrepreneurship, technology, and more, came together at the awards night to celebrate new benchmarks of success. ET Achievers Awards 2023, which honours and recognises those who have made remarkable contributions across sectors, held on September 25, 2023, at Hotel Sheraton Grand, Bengaluru. Saurabh Goenka, CEO & Co-Founder of MindMap Digital, felicitated at the ET Achievers Awards ceremony by the well-known Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon. Speaking after being felicitated,Saurabhresponded, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the award committee for recognizing our efforts, and this accolade is a testament to the dedication, passion, and innovation of each member of our team, says Saurabh Goenka, the CEO of MindMap Digital. I dedicate this award to every individual at MindMap Digital, especially Deepali Maheshwari for converting our ideas into marketable products, Parth Bakshi for overall business leadership, Keshav Soni for leading the Founders Office and Manoj Sisodia for AI leadership whose contributions have been pivotal in driving our mission forward. Founded by three astute Chartered AccountantsSaurabh Goenka, Susheel Saboo, and Shilpa Saboo MindMapspecializes in enabling and consulting services in digital transformation, emphasizing Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Operating extensively in India, the UAE, and the USA, MindMap has been instrumental in democratizing RPA, having implemented over 200 bots and serving 50+ enterprise customers globally. The firm is well-acknowledged for its proficiency in automating finance processes, liaising with global finance leaders, and integrating generative AI capabilities, including pioneering work in Large Language Models (LLM), Computer Vision, and OCR/ICR. With a unique and patented framework, ROQS, MindMap catalyzes digital transformation by templating use cases, thus expediting RPA and AI implementation across various domains like F&A, ITSM, SCM, and HR. This robust framework, coupled with official implementation partnerships with major RPA and AI firms worldwide, has enabled MindMap to drive the discovery process and overcome known challenges efficiently, offering full-cycle RPA advisory, consulting, and implementation services. Saurabh's leadership has propelled MindMap to receive stellar customer feedback and numerous awards. Apart from spending time on his own business, he is also an active angel investor with close to a dozen investments in AI and Machine Learning startups. MindMap Digital's business models are diverse, including consulting engagements for roadmap creation, deployment of Analytics and RPA based solutions, platform design and development, and bespoke algorithm development. Their consultative approach in assessing the state of digital operations and processes for digital maturity underlines their commitment to supporting sustainable and scalable end-to-end transformation for their clients. Their work with both enterprise customers as well as MSMEs across various industry verticals like healthcare, manufacturing, BPM, telecom, retail and others makes them emerge as a uniquely positioned firm which understands underlying business models and value streams for their customers before infusing automation. Theyve also riding big on the recent Generative AI wave with a suite of very interesting applications like the AI Interviewer and their own proprietary OCR and document intelligence solution which are being used by leading global enterprises including banks, recruitment and training firms, insurance companies and healthcare providers. Being at the forefront of AI services, MindMap has showcased its expertise in developing intricate algorithms and implementing AI, which underscores its innovative approach to solving complex industry challenges. The firms commitment to offering bespoke and pioneering solutions has significantly impacted various sectors, reinforcing its standing as a true catalyst in digital transformation. In a world swiftly moving towards digital reliance, MindMap Digital emerges as a beacon of transformative solutions, harnessing the uncharted potentials of AI and driving industries towards a future sculpted by groundbreaking innovations and sustainable digital operations. (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)
Purdue Northwest Professor Nicky Jackson, executive director of the Center for Justice and Post-Exoneration Assistance at PNW, holds her Heart of Indiana Torchbearer award following last weeks ceremony. The award was presented by the Indiana Commission for Women. - Original Credit: Photo courtesy of Nicky Jackson (Photo courtesy of Nicky Jackson/HANDOUT)

When Purdue Northwest Professor Nicky Jackson got the call she would receive the Heart of Indiana Torchbearer award, she was shocked.

I thought it was a total joke. They said it was for real, said Jackson, who is the executive director of the Center for Justice and Post-Exoneration Assistance at PNW.

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She was at lunch with a police detective, who was curious, of course.

He was trying to figure out, wow, what just happened? Jackson said.

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The Torchbearer award has been called the states most prestigious award for women, which is determined by the Indiana Commission for Women.

They said they had more nominees than in the history of this award, Jackson said.

Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Nancy Vaidik, a Portage native and former Porter Superior Court judge, received the Trailblazer Torchbearer award.

Jackson has received numerous awards, but the Torchbearer award and being named a Sagamore of the Wabash, both of which required the governors approval, stand out, she said.

Maranda Williams, Indiana state organizer with Reform Alliance, nominated Jackson for the Torchbearer award. They have worked together in the past.

I was just so enamored and inspired by her, Williams said. Jackson is relentless in seeking to change monstrous systems, Williams said.

If you see her resume and her cover letter, it would be very difficult to condense of all Jacksons accomplishments for awards nominations, Williams said.

Shes just a force to be reckoned with, Williams said. Thats the same description Gov. Eric Holcomb used, Jackson said.

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She is a strong, beautiful woman inside and out, working in a male-dominated world, Williams said. People have been trying to throw boulders down on her trying to get her to stop her work.

Jackson said her world is changing. She was one of few female students in her criminal justice classes when she started out. Now, though, the majority of her criminal justice students are women.

Jackson has been a driving force behind events like Hatta Girl, which examines the different hats women wear in their daily lives, and an event that encouraged donations of feminine products and bras.

At the Center for Justice and Post-Exoneration Assistance, she has worked to free wrongfully convicted individuals like Willy T. Donald. He spent 24 years in prison for a crime he didnt commit, Jackson said.

But just freeing people like Donald isnt enough. They also need help getting reestablished in society.

Jackson worked with legislators to pass a law offering financial compensation to exonerees. She has also helped exonerees get a job, a car, even dental care to get them on sound footing again.

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So far, Jackson has also used a Legacy Foundation grant to train Lake County police departments on wrongful convictions. For four of the police departments, the chiefs sat in on the training and were very engaged in the process, she said.

The Pacers Foundation and PNW are donors to the center she runs. Jackson is now seeking other donations to continue its operation.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
PNN Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], September 30: In a world where innovation, leadership and entrepreneurial spirit drive progress, it is imperative to celebrate excellence in business. It is that time to recognise achievers, who have set exemplary standards of excellence, across diverse realms. Veteran industry leaders from across business, entrepreneurship, technology, and more, came together at the awards night to celebrate new benchmarks of success. ET Achievers Awards 2023, which honours and recognises those who have made remarkable contributions across sectors, held on September 25, 2023, at Hotel Sheraton Grand, Bengaluru.Esha Tiwary, Founder & CEO of Furrl, felicitated at the ET Achievers Awards 2023 ceremony by the well-known Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon. Speaking after being felicitated,Esharesponded, Its special to receive the ET Achievers Award. Thank you for your faith in our potential, and for recognizing startups that are challenging status quo and have big ambitions! With the sea of new brands available today, even online savvy consumers find it difficult to discover the brands and products right for them. At the same time, brands are also struggling to get their story in front of the right set of customers, despite the reach of social media. Understanding this discovery challenge and the massively evolving consumer behaviors, Esha Tiwary started Furrl with the mission to lead the next wave of disruption in e-commerce, globally. In a nutshell, Furrl is a unique #Vibe-first shopping app that helps its customers discover the coolest new brands right for them and enables a seamless, hassle-free shopping experience right from the Furrl app. Esha Tiwary has donned many hats in the entrepreneurial ecosystem over the last 16 years. After working and scaling early-stage businesses, Tiwary founded Furrl in 2022 which is tapping into the USD 100 billion D2C opportunity in India, while focusing on savvy and experienced online shoppers. As Millennias and Genzs slowly takeover online customer cohorts, they are struggling to express their unique sense of identity and are increasingly looking for brands they can personally connect with. Furrl solves this exact problem for its customers with a vibe-first browsing experience. Moreover, the shopping experience on Furrl is highly social, enabling its digital-first customers to share anything from brands, products or the collections they vibe with, making it easier than ever for consumers to share their new finds in their circles. This means that users can discover products based on their mood, beliefs, occasion etc. and also discover the best brands recommended by people they trust. With 10,000+ products across fashion and lifestyle, Furrl, a Bengaluru-based startup, is curating a unique shopping experience not just in apparel, but also in categories such as accessories and home dcor. This is especially attractive for consumers considering the upcoming festive season, and their constant search for products that stand out from the crowd. Furrl not only solves a big pain point for end consumers, but is also designed specifically for the needs of small and medium homegrown brands. Their advanced product enables an exemplary 30-min on boarding for new brands on Furrl. "We did months of deep consumer research before building the product. This allowed us to really understand how consumer needs are changing and how traditional search-based e-commerce products cannot solve what the new age consumer is looking for. Furrl has reimagined brand discovery for todays savvy online consumers Furrl is the Spotify for e-commerce. Apart from their deep insight into emerging consumer behaviors, the success of Furrl also stems from the fact that Tiwary has worked closely with and mentored several start-ups over the last one and a half decades. Her deep industry networks have allowed Furrl to build collaborations and move fast, as well as attract top-notch talent in record time. The company has big ambitions having started with a focus on women, they will soon be expanding to men and kids categories in a big way. Given the global nature of these changing consumer behaviors, international expansion if not far behind. (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)
The RBI had originally set September 30 as the deadline to facilitate the completion of the withdrawal process.

Last month, the RBI reported that approximately 93 per cent of Rs 2,000 banknotes had been returned to the banking system since May, when the central bank initially announced the withdrawal of the high-denomination note from circulation.

Individuals were instructed to exchange or deposit their Rs 2,000 notes at bank branches or regional branches of the RBI. Even non-account holders were permitted to exchange Rs 2,000 banknotes, up to a maximum of Rs 20,000 at a time, at any bank branch.

the RBI announced the decision to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation On May 19, though it maintained their status as legal tender. RBI had advised banks to cease issuing these banknotes with immediate effect.

Rs 2,000 banknote was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the rapid currency requirements of the economy following the demonetization of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in circulation at the time.

Once banknotes in other denominations became readily available in sufficient quantities, the objective of introducing the Rs 2,000 banknote was achieved, the government said. (ANI)
Veteran actor Anupam Kher visited the Kanak Bhawan temple in the holy city of Ayodhya on Saturday to offer prayers. The actor wore a white kurta for the visit. He told ANI why it was important for him to come to Kanak Bhawan temple. He said, God has given me everything. I came here to thank God and offered prayers for happiness and peace." Yesterday I went to Hanuman Garhi, today I came to the place where the grand construction of Ram Temple is being done. Now I have come to Ram Siyaram's Kanak Bhawan to pray for my loved ones, and for the country. Every Indian should come to Ayodhya and visit the Dev Bhoomi, this beautiful land and visit the Sitaram Hanuman Garhi Ji temples here, Kher said. He added, Apart from acting, our contribution is important in the society and keeping that contribution in mind, I have come here. I and Priya together have prepared a series for 21 Hanuman temples and yesterday was the first episode which was about Hanuman. We will keep posting one episode every Saturday and Tuesday. Meanwhile, on the work front, Kher was recently seen in the Extraction series, 'The Freelancer. He was also in The Vaccine War, which was released on September 28. Kher is also all set to come with his 528th film, the Telugu drama, 'Tiger Nageswara Rao'. 'Tiger Nageswara Rao' is a period film set in the 1970s based on real incidents around a notorious and courageous thief (Ravi Teja) and the people of Stuartpuram. Written and directed by Vamsee, the film is produced by Abhishek Agarwal under the Abhishek Agarwal Arts banner and presented by Tej Narayan Agarwal. Kher has also completed the shoot of his film 'Calorie' in Amritsar, Punjab. The film is directed by Canadian director Eisha Marjara. (ANI)
Having recovered from his knee injury after a three-month-long hiatus, actor-filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran is all geared up to kickstart the shoot of his highly anticipated directorial L2E Empuraan starring Mohanlal. Taking to Instagram, Prithviraj shared an L2E launch video and captioned it, #L2E - Empuraan. Its an honour for the L team to welcome #LycaProductions to the Malayalam Cinema industry. Jointly produced by #AashirvadCinemas and #LycaProductions, the 2nd instalment of the #LUCIFER franchise starts rolling from 5th Oct 2023. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx0Hd6pPut5/ As soon as the actor shared the news, fans and followers flooded the comment section. One of the users wrote, The king is coming to show you what his kingdom. The launch video of L2E-Empuraan showcases sequences from Lucifer and Indrajith Sukumaran was heard saying, He is coming back." Sequel to Prithviraj Sukumaran's directorial debut, 'Lucifer,' starring cinema icon Mohanlal, L2: Empuraan was officially announced in August 2022. L2E Empuraan is going on floors from October 5 with its first official schedule. The actor also welcomed on board Lyca Productions as they mark their debut in the Malayalam cinema with this magnum opus Lyca Productions is the label behind some of the biggest films including Ponniyin Selvan: I and Ponniyin Selvan: II, the upcoming action drama Indian 2 and the newly released Chandramukhi 2 amongst others. An enthralling political action thriller, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and produced by Aashirvad Cinemas and Lyca Productions. Meanwhile, Prithviraj had injured himself while filming an action sequence for the film 'Vilayath Buddha'. In June, he informed fans about his injury via social media post. "Hello! So yes...I had an accident while shooting an action sequence for 'Vilayatha Buddha'. Fortunately, I'm in the hands of experts who performed a key hole surgery and I'm now recouping. It's rest and physiotherapy ahead for a couple of months. Will try my best to use that time constructively, and I promise to fight through the pain to recover fully and get back into action asap. Thank you to all those who reached out and expressed concern and love," his note read. Helmed by Jayan Nambiyar, 'Vilayath Buddha' also stars Anu Mohan and Priyamvada Krishnan in prominent roles. Apart from that, he also has 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' alongside actors Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar. Helmed by Ali Abbas Zafar, the film is all set to hit the theatres on Eid 2024. He will also be seen in 'Salaar' with Prabhas. The film will hit the theatres on December 22, 2023. (ANI)
"The prime conspirator in the case is Abhishek Bandopadhyay. He wants to spread an atmosphere of fear in Santanu Thakur's area for his own electoral benefits. He wants to create fear in the general public. So that people cannot come out to vote," the MP from Bangaon said while speaking to reporters.

Charging the West Bengal police, Thakur said, "The police are guarding the houses of the accused. The police have become a slave. They said they will do five more murders, we will also see how big they are."

Union Minister of State Shantanu Thakur, Bangaon District BJP President Devdas Mondal and Gaighata MLA Subrata Thakur paid a visit to the house of the deceased on Friday to pay condolences to her family.

A 62-year-old woman, Kanon Roy was allegedly murdered by TMC local youth leader Sameer Mallick in Gaighata of North 24 Parganas on Wednesday night. (ANI)
In the final photo Electoral Rolls, there are 1,78,00,127 voters including over 89.86 lakh male voters and 88.12 lakh female voters of 40 election districts of the state.

"The Panchayat Electoral Rolls are prepared by District/Sub Divisional authorities by taking the relevant portion of the concerned Legislative Assembly electoral rolls, as prescribed in the Assam Panchayat (Constitution) Rules, 1995. The date of eligibility was fixed as 01.01.2023 by the Assam State Election Commission," Assam State Election Commission said.

The election body said that a final photo Electoral Rolls for the ensuing Panchayat Elections has been published for 40 election districts by Deputy Commissioners/Sub Divisional officers of the state, excluding Sixth Schedule Areas and Municipal Areas.

According to the Assam State Election Commission, there are 420 Zila Parishad Constituencies, 185 Anchalik Panchayats, 2195 Gram Panchayats, 21936 wards and 23640 polling stations in 40 election districts of the state.

The Assam State Election Commission also said that this year, the State Election Commission took the initiative to prepare the Panchayat Rolls digitally in the state, using an Online Electoral Roll Management System (OERMS) developed by the NIC (National Informatics Centre) and the OERMS, which is a web-based application software, was customized to meet the nuances of Panchayat Electoral Roll.

The digital electoral roll enhances transparency, accessibility and purity and this has been done for the first time for Panchayat Elections in Assam. (ANI)
After the Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee announced that a two-day protest will be held by TMC in the national capital on October 2-3, West Bengal BJP General Secretary Agnimitra Paul on Friday called his family a drama company. Agnimitra Paul said that such protests will not help TMC MP escape the ongoing Enforcement Directorate investigation. Speaking to ANI, Agnimitra Paul said, "Banerjee family is anyway a drama company. They are experts in theatrics. But this will not help. He (Abhishek Banerjee) will have to give an explanation (to ED)." BJP leader Paul further stated that TMC MP Banerjee thinks highly of himself and should behave like an ordinary citizen. "He says 'Stop me if you can'.Why does he think that he is very important? Who is he? Just an MP. He should not think highly of himself. He is an ordinary citizen," she said. The TMC is scheduled to hold a mega protest at Delhi's Raj Ghat on October 2 and 3, against the central government for delay in release of funds to West Bengal. Abhishek Banerjee said that the fight against the deprivation of West Bengal by the Centre will continue and he will be joining the protests in Delhi on Oct 2. Banerjee has been under the radar of ED. He was summoned by the ED in connection with the alleged teacher recruitment scam in September. The day coincided with the opposition INDIA bloc's first Coordination Committee meeting in Delhi. Abhishek, being a member of the INDIA Coordination Committee had to skip the meeting owing to his summon at the ED's Kolkata office. Following his questioning last time, Banerjee said, "I have done my duty, I have come to the ED office, joined the investigation, faced the questions, answered to the best of my abilities to the questions that were asked to me." The summons to Banerjee came weeks after the central probe agency conducted raids in the office of 'Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd' which the federal agency alleged was "used for making dubious transactions running into crores of rupees." The ED claimed that Banerjee is the chief executive officer of the company. (ANI)
The Special Court in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain has sent the prime accused in the minor rape case, Bharat Soni, to a seven-day judicial remand. The prime accused was presented before the Special Court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain. The judge also asked for the victim's health report. Meanwhile, the accused has been referred to Indore for he had sustained injuries in his leg while fleeing from the police on Thursday. Earlier, he was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Ujjain. The Police have arrested two accused in the case. Bharat Soni is the main accused against whom a case has been registered under IPC section 376 and the POCSO Act. The second accused is the auto driver Rakesh Malviya in connection with suppressing evidence. A minor girl was raped in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain district on Wednesday. According to Ujjain Superintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Sharma, the incident was reported within the jurisdiction of the Mahakal police station. "As soon as we received the information, the girl was immediately taken for a medical examination. The girl was unable to inform the police about what had happened, so a counsellor was called to assist. The counsellor interacted with her and was able to confirm to the Police about the assault, SP Sharma said. On medical grounds, a case was registered, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed for further investigation. The police launched a probe and collected all available technical evidence, based on which an auto driver was taken into custody. During questioning, some crucial facts came to light. Notably, a bloodstain was found in the backseat of the auto-rickshaw. The auto driver confessed that he was with the girl at the time of the incident. Even after this, we continued our investigation, and we have managed to determine that the girl is from Satna, the SP said. (ANI)
Along with 2% planned raises for all city employees next year, the city of Valparaiso 2024 budget includes $1.3 million for fire department equipment. (Philip Potempa/Post-Tribune)

The 2024 proposed city of Valparaiso budget includes 2% raises for all qualifying city employees, but the mayor and city council member positions might not receive increases.

The process we use is one that weve used for many years and we start with what we think we can pay our employees a reasonable wage and benefits, City Administrator Bill Oeding said while presenting the budget for the first reading and public hearing at the Sept. 25 Valparaiso City Council meeting.

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We had a wage study and our goal was to show the low, medium and high levels for salaries and then work to hit that midpoint plus 2% increase for adjusting to the cost of living.

Wages, insurance and benefits and growing cost for fuel and new city vehicles were among the top expenses, including more than $1.3 million for replacement of fire protection equipment. In 2021, the city of Valparaiso designated more than $1 million when purchasing of a pair of new fire engines to add to the fire department fleet.

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The just under $52.5 million budget first reading was approved unanimously by the city council, with the exception of council President Casey Schmidt, R-3, who was absent. The budget will have a second vote for final approval at the Oct. 9 meeting.

A suggestion by Councilman Peter Anderson, R-5, that the city council members and the mayor leave their salaries frozen and forgo raises stirred discussion.

I feel the mayors salary and the city councils salary should be unchanged, Anderson said.

Clerk Treasurer Holly Taylor calculated the annual savings to be $27,000 if the raises are declined.

The raise, if passed, would increase the council annual salaries from $12,000 to closer to $13,000, an amount Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2, argued was fair compensation when equated to the amount of work the elected position entails.

At worst, I believe this disposition reflects an indifference or contempt toward anyone who is potentially less able to serve short of being paid fairly and in accordance with the market, Cotton said following the meeting.

The reality here is that any council member who desires, for altruistic or any other reason, to forgo their raise can donate it, along with their entire salary if they want to. But this a personal decision and it would therefore be patently wrong to impose a decision based upon ones personal means onto those who desire being compensated fairly and in accordance with the prevailing market.

Cotton reminded that during the course of his term, when council pay was previously increased from the long-standing $6,000 a year, he voted against it.

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The reason I voted against that original increase was because it looked like it was only being done as a way to cover the huge executive increase that nearly doubled the mayors salary that same year, from $57,000 to nearly $100,000, Cotton said.

I strenuously disagreed with having taxpayers pay essentially two full-time mayor salaries when we also pay a full-time city manager who is tasked with a good 70% of the responsibilities that would otherwise be handled by a full-time mayor.

Valparaiso Mayor Matt Murphy said if the council agrees to pass the budget with a forfeit of raises for both the mayor position and the council members, the funds would still be included in the approved budget.

I agree (with Anderson) but this is something the next council can take up, Murphy said.

I wont be the mayor by then and the money will be budgeted but it will be something for the next mayor and council to decide.

Philip Potempa is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court issued a notice to the State government regarding a public interest litigation seeking an order to restrict the entry of outsiders and vehicles inside the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tirunelveli district. A division bench Justices SS Sundar and Bharatha Chakravarthy directed the State to file a counter affidavit to the petition filed by V Savithri of Tirunelveli in the Madurai branch of the High Court. She said that the entry of outsiders and vehicles should be restricted to protect the flora and fauna. The petitioner said that Sorimuthu Ayyanar Temple is located in the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Reserve in the area between Papanasam and Karaiyar Dam in Nellai District and devotees visit this temple from Nellai and surrounding districts. However, she further said that during the festival, a large number of devotees were permitted to enter the reserve and stay at a camping site in violation of the rules. The public failed to follow the rules and the reasonable restrictions imposed and discarded waste along the Thamirabarani River due to which the pollution affected not only the indigenous people living there but also the flora and fauna. The authorities should restrict the entry of outsiders which should not be beyond the carrying capacity notified in the Tiger Conservation Plan, she said. Therefore, it was stated in the petition that only a certain number of devotees should be allowed into the temple. (ANI)
National Commission For Protection Of Child Rights Chairperson, and BJP leader Priyank Kanoongo on Saturday compared Congress leaders to Ghisu and Madhav, the characters of Munshi Premchand ji's story Kafan and said that people who did not help the girl are looking for their own benefit in her crisis. In his post about the Ujjain incident, Priyank Kanoongo compared Congress leaders to Ghisu and Madhav, the characters of Munshi Premchand's story Kafan. In Premchand's 'Kafan' Story, Ghisu and Madhav are two selfish and uncaring individuals who are only concerned with their own needs. They are so caught up in their own petty squabbles that they are unable to see the suffering of others. Priyank Kanoongo posted on X "Regarding the Ujjain incident, a spokesperson of the Congress Party held a press conference yesterday and challenged the people of the political party to meet the victim girl. As per the advice of the doctors treating the girl, in view of the mental trauma suffered by the girl, a day before, I had requested everyone, quoting the Commission, not to crowd the hospital and not to harass the victim. Despite this, these acts are a demonstration of fallen human sensibilities. The people who did not help the girl, and who are looking for their own benefit in her crisis, all of them are Ghisu and Madhav, the characters of Munshi Premchand ji's story Kafan. May God give them wisdom," The BJP leader's remarks come after the shocking incident where an 8-year-old girl was found lying in an unconscious state in a pool of her blood in the state's Ujjain district on September 25. Seeing her soaked in blood, locals informed police, who reached the spot and took the girl to the hospital where a medical examination confirmed she was raped. TheSpecial CourtinMadhya Pradesh'sUjjainhas sent the prime accused in the minor rape case, Bharat Soni, to a seven-day judicial remand. The prime accused was presented before theSpecial Courtunder the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) inMadhya Pradesh'sUjjain. The judge also asked for the victim's health report.Meanwhile, the accused has been referred to Indore for he had sustained injuries in his leg while fleeing from the police on Thursday. Earlier, he was undergoing treatment at a hospital inUjjain. The Police have arrested two accused in the case. Bharat Soni is the main accused against whom a case has been registered under IPC section 376 and the POCSO Act. The second accused is the auto driver Rakesh Malviya in connection with suppressing evidence.A minor girl was raped inMadhya Pradesh'sUjjaindistrict on Wednesday. According toUjjainSuperintendent of Police (SP) Sachin Sharma, the incident was reported within the jurisdiction of the Mahakal police station. "As soon as we received the information, the girl was immediately taken for a medical examination. The girl was unable to inform the police about what had happened, so a counsellor was called to assist. The counsellor interacted with her and was able to confirm to the Police about the assault, SP Sharma said. On medical grounds, a case was registered, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed for further investigation. The police launched a probe and collected all available technical evidence, based on which an auto driver was taken into custody. During questioning, some crucial facts came to light. Notably, a bloodstain was found in the backseat of the auto-rickshaw. The auto driver confessed that he was with the girl at the time of the incident. Even after this, we continued our investigation, and we have managed to determine that the girl is from Satna, the SP said. (ANI)
CH-47F (I) Chinook helicopters of the Indian Air Force showcased thrilling aerobatic performances over the lake.

Apart from Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, senior officers of the Indian Air Force were present to witness the fly-past program.

Earlier this week Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari met veteran air warriors in New Delhi as part of Air Force Day celebrations.

IAF officials said, "As part of the Air Force Day celebrations, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari met veteran air warriors in New Delhi. The Air Force Chief used the occasion to discuss different issues faced by the veterans and instructed the officials concerned to address them at the earliest."

Air Force Day marks the official induction of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 1932. Every year, the day is celebrated in the presence of the Indian Air Force chief and senior officers.

The Air Force was officially raised as the supporting force of the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom in 1932 and the first operational squadron was created in 1933. Major operations undertaken by the IAF include Operation Vijay, Operation Meghdoot, Operation Cactus and Operation Poomalai since 1950.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is celebrating its 91 anniversary on October 8, 2023. (ANI)
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for Ek Tareekh, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath' campaign for cleanliness, Union Minister of State for Culture, Meenakashi Lekhi, participated in a cleanliness drive near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Saturday, as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission). Lekhi's participation in the cleanliness drive comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a nationwide cleanliness drive on October 1, 2023, at 10 am. In a tweet, PM Modi urged people across the country to take part in the drive, saying that Swachh Bharat is a shared responsibility and every effort counts. She also hit out Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and said that the AAP government has not worked regarding the segregation of waste and there is no cleanliness on the dividers in Delhi. Meenakashi Lekhi said, " They have not worked regarding the segregation of waste. There is no cleanliness on the dividers. Swachh Bharat is the responsibility of all of us and we should work together. I hope the Delhi government will come forward and work for cleanliness." Earlier during his 105th episode of Mann ki Baat, PM Modi said, "A big event on cleanliness is going to be organised on October 1 that is on Sunday at 10 am. You too should take out time and help in this campaign related to cleanliness. You can also join this cleanliness campaign in your street, or neighbourhood or at a park, river, lake or any other public place." "1st October at 10 AM, we come together for a pivotal cleanliness initiative. A Swachh Bharat is a shared responsibility, and every effort counts. Join this noble endeavour to usher in a cleaner future," PM Modi posted on X (Formerly Twitter). 'Ek Tareekh, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath' campaign is a mega cleanliness drive to mark the celebration of Gandhi Jayanti. This initiative is a run-up to the Swachhata Pakhwada- Swachhata Hi Seva 2023 campaign. This follows PM Modi's appeal for one hour of 'Shramdaan for swachhata' at 10 am on 1st Oct by all citizens. Every town, Gram Panchayat, all sectors of the government like civil aviation, railways and public institutions will be facilitating cleanliness events led by the citizens. A special portal has been set up to help organizations put up different events. This portal will also invite influencers and citizens to join this peoples movement as Swachhata Ambassadors. People can click pictures and upload them on the portal to mark their presence. TheSwachh Bharat Missionwas launched on October 2, 2014, with an aim to make the country open defecation-free and also universal sanitation coverage. Earlier in 2021, PM Modi launchedSwachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 to make all Indian cities 'Garbage Free' and 'Water Secure'. Swachh Bharat Mission(SBM-U) 2.0 was launched on October 1, 2021, for a period of five years with a vision of achieving Garbage Free Status for all cities through 100 per cent source segregation, door-to-door collection and scientific management of all fractions of waste including safe disposal in scientific landfills. It is also aimed at remediation of all legacy dumpsites and converting them into green zones. Exhorting the people across the country to get involved in the cleanliness campaign, PM Modi said taking the campaign forward would be a giant step towards fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi's dream of a clean India. (ANI)
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over the disability pension rules for Armed Forces and said that they (BJP) are working against the welfare of jawans, ex-servicemen and veterans. Mallikarjun Kharge in a post on X said BJP's Fake Nationalism is yet again visible in the new disability pension rules for our brave Armed Forces! Around 40% of Army officers retire with disability pension, and the present policy change shall flout multiple past judgements, rules and acceptable global norms. The All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association has strongly protested this new policy by the Modi Government, which places soldiers at a disadvantage when compared to civilian employees. In June 2019, the Modi Government had come out with a similar betrayal, when they announced that they will be taxing disability pension! Modi Government is a habitual offender in working against the welfare of our Jawans, ex-servicemen and veterans, Kharge added. Kharge further listed points and schemes mentioning the Agnipath Scheme and One Rank One Pension (OROP). Agnipath Scheme: Explicit admission that Modi Govt does not have funds for our soldiers. Large scale anomalies in OROP-2. Withdrawal of the much deserved Non-Functional Utility (NFU) to ensure automatic time bound pay promotion. Snatching away of medical benefits/pensions to our Jawans who have valiantly served the Nation under Short Service Commission. Privatisation of Ordinance Factory Board and rationing in CSD outlets, Kharge said. On behalf of the party, the Congres President further suggested setting up an ex-servicemen Commission. In this context, Congress party reiterates its demand to set up an Ex-servicemen Commission at the earliest to address the grievances of military veterans, the Congress President said. (ANI)
Karnataka Janata Dal (Secular) President, CM Ibrahim has expressed his disappointment over the partys alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party and he said that nothing should be hidden in politics. CM Ibrahim told the media HD Kumaraswamy is like a younger brother to me and Deve Gowda is like a father figure and I respect them. I am hurt that Kumaraswamy met with Amit Shah. Any decision of a party is taken by the Party President. Deve Gowda's leadership is the oldest in India. BJP should have come to Deve Gowda. I am hurt that Deve Gowda had to go to BJP. Kumaraswamy said that he has not told some things to the President, nothing should be hidden in politics. The JD(S) had on September 22 joined hands with the BJP-led NDA to take on the Congress party in Karnataka in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. JD(S) leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy made the announcement of the tie-up after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in the national capital. CM Ibrahim further said that if he wanted he would have joined BJP a long time ago, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. If you are making an alliance with the BJP, then who has accepted whom? If you have power, you don't need to ask for anything. If we wanted to join the BJP, I would have joined long back when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the PM and offered me a ministry. We don't have anything personal. We respect each other. I respect PM Modi and Amit Shah. I'm still a party President. I'm an elected president," Ibrahim added. Following the announcement of the new alliance, JD(S) state vice president, Syed Shafiulla Saheb and other leaders including M Srikanth and UT Ayesha Farzana resigned from the party and reportedly there is discontent among several Muslim functionaries in the party. Kumaraswamy said We will not disrespect any Muslim leader from the JDS-BJP alliance. We have discussed about the BJP-JDS alliance with JDS state president CM Ibrahim. (ANI)
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday expressed confidence that by 2047 the country's economy will increase tenfold. "I am confident that the country's economy will increase tenfold by 2047. India will be free from poverty, will emerge as a big power in the world, and the youth will have a good education, Piyush Goyal said. He further said that every class is on the path of progress today. India made new records in terms of exports. "The people of MP are going to defeat the corrupt Congress leaders. Under the leadership of PM Modi and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a new direction has been given to the development of the state,' he said. Earlier today Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized making the country a developed nation by 2047. PM Modi said that the model of a developed country does not mean that grandeur should be seen in Delhi, Mumbai, or Chennai and that the countrys villages should be left behind. "We want to take charge of the destiny of 140 crore people and bring about a change in their lives," the Prime Minister said. Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go for the assembly polls later this year. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies. The last Assembly polls in 2018 saw the Congress coming to power, with veteran leader Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister. Nonetheless, a political upheaval rocked the state in 2020, after the then Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 22 loyalist MLAs, switched over to the saffron camp. The Congress government fell after being reduced to a minority and the BJP formed the government, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan returning as chief minister. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the country forward on the path of progress in the last two months. Invoking the success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, Amit Shah said that India and the world showed their capability to the world by hoisting the tricolour on the Moon. India took a giant leap as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the moon's South Pole on August 23, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat and bringing to an end the disappointment over the crash landing of the Chandrayaan-2, four years ago. "New Parliament, Chandrayaan-3, G20, Nari Shakti Act, these four works were completed by Narendra Bhai in the time span of three months which had never been done before," Shah said. He further said, "Narendra Bhai inaugurated the new Parliament on Ganesh Chaturthi and also passed the Women's Reservation Bill under his leadership." The Parliament on September 21, passed a historic legislation to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Lok Sabha passed the Bill on Wednesday in the Parliament's Special Session with 454 members voting in favour of the legislation and two against it. The Rajya Sabha passed the Womens Reservation Bill unanimously with 214 members voting in support and none against. Shah also laid foundation stones and inaugurated projects of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (Auda). Shah laid the foundation stones for the renovation of the Okaf Lake in Sarkhej ward after performing bhoomi poojan. Moreover, Shah will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for various development works worth over 1,600 crore rupees in his Lok Sabha constituency Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The Home Minister will also inaugurate the permanent campus of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research at Palaj in Gandhinagar. Union Minister will inaugurate the permanent campus of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research spread over 60 acres of land at Palaj in Gandhinagar. (ANI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a strong attack on the BJP, saying its government in Madhya Pradesh was epicentre of corruption and was not paying the proper price to farmers for their crops. Addressing a rally in Shajapur in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi also attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre, saying it had not released caste census data and there was very small representation of OBCs in central governments secretary-level posts. Gandhi accused the BJP government of trying to create divisions in society. "On one side is the Congress Party, Gandhiji and on the other side is the BJP, RSS and Godse. On one side there is hatred and violence and on the other side, there is love, respect and brotherhood. Wherever they (BJP) go, they spread hatred but now the youth and farmers of Madhya Pradesh have started hating them... Madhya Pradesh is the epicentre of corruption in the country," he said. Gandhi attacked the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and said Congress state governments work for the poor and keep their promises to the people. Madhya Pradesh government is not giving the right price to the farmers for their crops. Go and ask the farmers of Chhattisgarh how much money they get for the paddy crop. What we promised, we completed it. For the first time in the history of India, farmers are paying taxes. They implemented GST, our government works for the poor and farmers, Rahul Gandhi said. He said a Congress government at the Centre will go for a caste census. "When I ask the question how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, Generals are there in the country, no one is able to answer it. After forming the government at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to conduct a caste census, Gandhi said. (ANI)
Taking the attack to the Congress in Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the ruling party in the poll-bound state of dividing women on the lines of caste. Further, in a veiled dig at the Congress, which has flagged concerns over the non-provision of an OBC sub-quota, PM Modi hailed the women's reservation law as a path-breaking legislative effort whose will be felt over the "nextthousand years". In a further swipe at the Congress, he said the central government, under his leadership, fulfilled one more "guarantee" by bringing a law that had been hanging fire for the last 30 years. "Our government fulfilled one more pormise that we had made to the people. Under the women's reservation law, 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures would now be set aside for women.Nari Shakti Adhiniyam is now a reality under the BJP rule," PM Modi said while addressing a 'Parivartan Maha Sankalp Rally in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur. "Our President, Droupadi Murmu, signed it into a law yesterday. Amid all the statements from the Opposition, our mothers and sisters need to remember that this law had been pending for the last three decades,"PM Modi said. He added that the Congress is worried how this piece of legislation has brought about unity among the women while making them aware of their rights. "The Congress and its allies are rattled and upset since this legislation secured passage in both Houses of Parliament. They are only worried about the electoral fallout, fearing that the women will shower their blessings on Modi. Afraid of the oneness and awareness that this law has brought about among our women, the Opposition have now resorted to dividing them on the lines of caste. This is nothing but a poll gimmick," PM Modi said. "The impact of this law will be felt over the next thousand years. I would urge the women not to fall for the lies of the Opposition," he added. PM Modi said only Rs 300 crores were allocated for railways in Chhattisgarh during the previous Congress rule at the Centre. "But this year, we raised this outlay toRs 6000 crores. This is the 'Modi Model', this is a token of my affection for Chhattisgarh. This is my commitment to Chhattisgarh's development," PM Modi said. He also underscored the allocation of a Vande Bharat Express to Chhattisgarh. "It is the BJP which gave the Vande Bharat train to Chhattisgarh," PM Modi said. (ANI)
Fruitful achievements have been made in joint archaeology programs involving China in the past decade thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative, and the highlights of these are on display at a major exhibition in Beijing.

A visitor looks at panels of stone funeral beds during an exhibition at the Palace Museum in Beijing on Thursday. The panels, which feature the artistic style of the Sogdian people, who played a key role in cultural communications along the ancient Silk Road, were repatriated from the United States in May. ZHU XINGXIN/CHINA DAILY





Thriving in a Collaborative World: "Belt and Road" Cooperation in Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, opened on Thursday in the Shenwumen (Gate of Divine Prowess) Gallery at the Palace Museum in Beijing, displaying 84 artifacts from 17 institutions from home and abroad.

According to Hu Heping, minister of culture and tourism, China has conducted 44 cooperative archaeological projects involving 24 countries in the past decade. The country also took part in 11 international historical monument conservation programs in six nations.

"Cultural heritage conservators from China and the rest of the world joined hands to safeguard the shared treasures of humanity," Hu said at the opening ceremony of the exhibition. "They've written a charming chapter of people-to-people connectivity.

"The exhibits also highlight the spirit of the Silk Road that emphasized inclusiveness, mutual learning and win-win cooperation," he added.

Many artifacts in the ongoing exhibition, which will run through January, were excavated in Sino-foreign joint archaeological programs in recent years along the land and maritime Silk Road.

Cultural heritage research institutes from countries including China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates are also presenting their key collections reflecting communication among civilizations along the ancient trade routes.

For example, the exhibits include a rubbing of a stone tablet, which was discovered by Chinese and Saudi archaeologists at Al-Serrian, the ruins of a port near Mecca, and Chinese porcelain shards were unearthed in a China-UAE joint mission at the ruins of Jurfa in the UAE.

According to Wang Guangyao, a researcher at the Palace Museum and a curator of the exhibition, the blue-and-white imperial porcelain pieces from the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) found in the UAE may come from one of the voyages across the Indian Ocean made by the great Chinese mariner Zheng He's fleets.

An exhibited Tang Dynasty (618-907) pottery figurine of a camel, unearthed in Xianyang, Shaanxi province, may remind people of the busy caravans along the Silk Road.

Other artifacts such as murals from a 9th-13th century Nestorian (a branch of Christianity in Syria) temple ruin in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and a winged Sphinx pendant, from the second to the first century BC, excavated in Uzbekistan further point to the inclusive nature of that trade network throughout history.

Two exquisite panels of Chinese stone funeral beds, which were believed to be between the 4th and 7th century, also made their debut for public exhibition. Once lost overseas, they were repatriated from the United States in May, demonstrating close China-US cooperation in cracking cultural relic-related crimes.

At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Saida Mirziyoyeva, presidential assistant of Uzbekistan, recalled Chinese monk Xuanzang's westward journey during the Tang Dynasty to connect China and Central Asia. She said the exhibits dating back to Xuanzang's time would inspire more economic and cultural cooperation in modern times.

Nurlan Akkoshkarov, minister counselor of the embassy of Kazakhstan to China, said, "The ancient Silk Road was not only for the movement of goods, but also for the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and the mutual enrichment of cultures."
According to the information, the incident was reported at Ganesh Krupa Cooperative Housing Society, situated in the Girgaon area.

The fire which originated on the third floor of the 14-storeyed building, spread to electric wiring and installations within an electric duct, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials.

Thick smoke could be seen emanating from the building which prompted some of the residents to evacuate the building before the fire tenders arrived at the spot.

Upon the arrival of fire tenders, the fire was extinguished, and the power supply to the building was also cut off to contain the fire.

A total of 27 persons, including 17 Females, 5 Males, and 5 Children on various floors were safely rescued through the staircase at the terrace, said BMC officials.

The officials further informed that no injuries were reported in the incident. (ANI)
Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr. BR Ambedkar, on Saturday announced that his party Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) will contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in the general elections next year. While announcing that his party will field nominees in all Lok Sabha seats in the state, the VBA chief also declared his candidature from the Akola constituency. He added that his party has already started preparing for the mega electoral battle next year. "We will contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats (in Maharashtra) next year. All our party units have started preparing for the next general elections. I have also decided to enter the fray from the Akola Lok Sabha constituency," Prakash Ambedkar told ANI on Saturday. The VBA contested 47 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, garnering6.98 per cent of the total votes polled. Earlier, in a letter to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, the VBA had expressed its interest to join the Opposition bloc Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) if invited, sources said. Further, according to sources, the party, in its letter to the Congress national chief, said it had evinced an interest to join the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Oposition alliance in Maharastra, during discussions with leaders of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT). "We are a party committed to fight for the rights of Vanchits, Bahujans and Muslims, and against the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).We garnered 6.98 and 5.57 percentage vote share in the Lok Sabha election, 2019 and Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Election, 2019 respectively.Why an invitation, to join INDIA,has not been sent to us remains a mystery and puts a question on the alliances commitment to fight BJP-RSS without the support of Vanchits, Bahujans and Muslims," VBA spokesperson Priyadarshini Telang wrote in the letter to Kharge.(ANI)
TDP leader Nara Lokesh staged a protest along with his supporters in the national capital after the CID in Andhra Pradesh served a notice on him in connection with the Amaravati Inner Ring Road 'scam' case. The protest was held outside the Delhi residence of TDP MP Jayadev Galla. Earlier, on Saturday, officers from the state CID reached Galla's residence and served the notice on Lokesh, son of TDP chief and former Andhra chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu. TDP supporters at the protest held up placards reading "We condemn the arrest of TDP president Chandrababu Naidu". Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday directed the state CID not to arrest Nara Lokesh in connection with the alleged skill development and AP FiberNet scams till October 4. The high court passed thedirection during a hearing on anticipatory bail pleas in both cases by Lokesh. The court adjourned the hearing on both bail pleas to October 4. Significantly, Chandrababu Naidu is currently in judicial custody in connection with the alleged multi-crore skill development scam. The former Andhra CM has approached the Supreme Court, seeking cancellation of the FIR against him alleging that the YSR Congress government in the state had "falsely" implicated him in the case in a bid to muzzle the voice of the Opposition in the state. Earlier in the day, the high court dismissed Lokesh's anticipatory bail plea, directing the police to serve a notice under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). His legal team had filed an anticipatory bail petition in the Andhra High Court prior to the 41A Notice. However, the courtdismissed the bail petition and instructed Nara Lokesh to cooperate with CID officials in the case. The 41A notice by the CID askedLokesh to appear for further investigation in the case. The CID alleged in a memo that Lokesh tried to derive personal benefits by changing the order of the inner ring road and also played a key role in the scam. It alleged further that corrupt activities were committed by highly placed officials in the Andhra government between 2014 to 2019, with regard to the drawing up of themaster plan for developing Andhra's capital, Amaravati and the alignment of Ring Road and arterial roads. Lokesh was named accused number 14 in the case. (ANI)
A Punjab court here on Saturday sent Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira to 14-day judicial custody in connection with a 2015 drugs case. Khaira's counsel Nitin Madha told ANI that the Bholath MLA was produced in the court by Punjab Police who requested another remand of seven days. "The police demanded a 7-day remand. After seeing the police's evidence, the judge turned down their request. The court sent him to judicial remand of 14 days," the counsel said. Congress MLA Khaira was arrested from his Chandigarh residence on Thursday morning in connection with an old case registered in 2015 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The Aam Aadmi Party and Congress-- members of the opposition's INDIA bloc-- have been at loggerheads in the border state over the arrest of Khaira. While the Congress is calling it vindictive politics of AAP, the ruling party is terming the development as part of their "zero-tolerance policy" against drugs. Earlier in 2015, there were two cases originated with the unearthing of a cross-border drug smuggling network in Fazilka, Punjab, leading to the seizure of heroin, gold biscuits, weapons, cartridges, and Pakistani SIM cards and the second of a fake passport racket being run in Delhi. As the trial went on, nine smugglers, including Gurdev Singh, Manjit Singh, Harbans Singh, and Subhash Chander, were sentenced in October 2017 in connection with the Fazilka case. As per the chargesheet, Khaira was closely associated with Gurdev Singh, the leader of the Fazilka drug smuggling racket, and is accused of having sheltered him. The primary accusations against Khaira include supporting an international gang of smugglers, having sheltered him and receiving financial benefits from drug traffickers, and enjoying the proceeds of crime. On February 16, 2023, a Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the drugs case. The arrest of Sukhpal Khaira is expected to further dent the relations of AAP and the Congress which have come together to form the INDIA alliance at the centre. The state unit of the Congress has opposed any tie-up or seat-sharing arrangement with the AAP in Punjab. (ANI)
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Parlhad Joshi and Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda called on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar at the latter's residence here in the national capital to hold discussions regarding the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) scheduled to be held next month, sources said on Saturday. The summit, also known as Parliament 20 (P20) is expected to be held between October 12 and 14 in the new Parliament building. Congregation of Parliamentary Speakers from the G20 nations, P20, is a meeting that pertains to Speakers and presiding officers of the Parliament from the G20 countries and invitee nations. This will be the 9th meeting of the P20 group, which was set up during the G20 Presidency of Canada in 2010. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while underlining that Indias G20 Presidency lasts till the final day of November, and the nation intends to utilize it to the fullest, supported the Lok Sabha Speakers resolution to conduct a P20 Summit (Parliamentary 20) under his chairship. The 8th G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit was attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Jakarta, following the conclusion of the G20 Summit under the Indonesian Presidency. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday hit out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi saying that his statement at a rally in the poll-bound state was nothing but a lie. Taking to the social media platform, X, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said, "Rahul Gandhi-ji came to Madhya Pradesh and spoke a lot. But alas, he only spoke lies.No one is going to fall prey to your false promises. The people know everything." On a visit to the state earlier,Rahul launched a blistering attack on the BJP, saying its government in Madhya Pradesh was epicentre of corruption and was not paying the proper price to farmers for their produce. Addressing a rally in Shajapur in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi also laid into the BJP-led government at the Centre, saying it had not released caste census data and there was very small representation of OBCs in secretary-level posts in the central government. Gandhi also accused the BJP government of trying to create divisions in society. "On one side is the Congress Party, Gandhiji and on the other side is the BJP, RSS and Godse. On one side there is hatred and violence and on the other side, there is love, respect and brotherhood. Wherever they (BJP) go, they spread hatred. However, the youth and farmers of Madhya Pradesh have started turning away from them. The state, under the BJP, has emerged as theepicentre of corruption in the country," he said. Taking a further swipe at the Shivraj Chouhan government, Rahul said the Congress-run governmentswork for the poor and keep their promises to the people. The Madhya Pradesh government is not giving the right price to farmers for their produce. Go and ask the farmers of Chhattisgarh how much money they are getting for the paddy produce. We fulfilled all the promises that we made to the people.For the first time in the country's history, our farmers are paying taxes. Our government works for the poor and farmers, Rahul added. He said if voted back, Congress government at the Centre will get a caste census done. "When I ask how many Dalits, OBCs, tribals, and general category people are there in the country, I get no answers. After forming the government at the Centre, the first thing we will do is to get a caste census done, Rahul said. (ANI)
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O Brien on Saturday said the Delhi-bound flight of party leaders, who are to join the protest in the national capital against MGNREGA arrears next week, has been cancelled. This comes amid TMC's protest after their 'special' Howrah-Delhi train, to ferry thousands of MGNREGA job cardholders, was cancelled by Eastern Railway. However, the ruling party in Bengal has arranged several buses for the protestors, as an alternative. They will now cover the entire 1,500 Km plus journey to the national capital by road. The TMC has called for a two-day 'Dilli Cholo: A fight for our rights!' protest in the national capital on October 2 and 3 to raisechorus for the payment of alleged arrears for 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. Taking to the social media platform, X, party MP Derek said, "First, they abruptly cancel special train services from Kol to Del to prevent those who were to travel to participate in protests on Oct 2 & 3, demanding 10s of 1000s of crores owed to Bengal by BJP Union govt. Now a flight gets cancelled! Try as you might, we WILL TAKE YOU ON." The party's Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said, It is astonishing how a flight, which had more than 100 leaders from Barasat travelling to the programme declared by AITC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee for 2nd and 3rd October in Delhi, was cancelled. Never in my life have I seen a flight being cancelled because of atechnical glitch." MGNREGA job cardholders, after reaching Delhi, are expected to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat on his birth anniversary on October 2 and move on to Krishi Bhawan, housing the Rural Development Ministry which oversees the MNREGA programme. The day after, on October 3, the protestors will hold a protest near the iconic Jantar Mantar in the national capital. The protest will be spearheaded by TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Abhishek will frontline the protest, ignoring summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the alleged teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal. The agency had earlier asked him to appear for questioning in the case on October 3. However, the TMC leader said he would be unable to appear before the ED owing to his preoccupation with the party's protest in the national capital. Earlier, on September 16, a delegation from the TMC had written to the officer of Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh, seeking an appointment with him. However, a notice from the minister's office said he would not be available in Delhi on October 3 due to "unavoidable circumstances". Earlier in the day, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told ANI that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not be attending the protest, as she was advised 10 days of rest by doctors after suffering a leg injury. "But the party's top leaders, including MLAs and MPs, will attend the protest," Ghosh said. (ANI)
A series of activities have been launched in Hong Kong to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival which falls on Friday this year, showcasing a blend of new technology and traditional culture.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, marking the reunion of family and friends.

The Wan Chai waterfront was swarmed with people taking pictures of images formed by unmanned aircraft during a drone show. When a "mooncake", a traditional pastry dedicated to the festival, appeared in the sky, three-year-old local resident Miriam was excited and asked her parents to take it down for her.

Large-scale lantern carnivals that took place in various public parks in Hong Kong were highlights of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Spectacular lanterns of different shapes crafted by masters from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong were on display.

At the Victoria Park in Hong Kong Island, where one of the carnivals was held, the lanterns were displayed with the theme of "Chinese Delights in Full Splendour", attracting crowds of people.

In addition, the carnivals also featured other activities, including lantern riddles, orchestra performances, workshops on Cantonese opera accessories, and demonstrations of folk crafts.

The lantern carnival at the Hong Kong Cultural Center Piazza water pool in Kowloon Peninsula was another popular attraction. The Moon Machine, an interactive lighting installation, created lighting effects through visual and sensory technology. It will change colors in response to the size of the crowd nearby and people can appreciate different shapes of the moon.

The Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance, a local intangible cultural heritage (ICH) item selected as one of the Remarkable Examples of Good Practice for Safeguarding the National ICH Items in 2019, brought the atmosphere to the peak.

A giant glowing dragon, made of more than 10,000 burning incense sticks, was hoisted by around 300 people and paraded through the streets of Tai Hang, a neighborhood in the vicinity of the Victoria Park. The three-day dragon dance will end on Saturday, wrapping up the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Vice director of the Tai Hang Residents' Welfare Association Cheung Kwok-ho, who took over as commander of the fire dragon dance this year, hoped that the fire dragon dance will become an annual cultural event and promote Tai Hang to become a tourist attraction.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with and former Wagner commander Andrey Troshev, who is now already working with the Defence Ministry, CNN reported on Friday citing a statement by Kremlin. Putin has also assigned Troshev, with the task of forming volunteer units to perform combat missions for Russia in Ukraine. He said that he wanted to discuss social guarantees for anyone who had fought to defend the fatherland, according to a partial transcript of the meeting. Putin also referenced a previous meeting with Troshev in which they had talked about the formation of volunteer combat units to fight in Ukraine, CNN reported. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov that Troshev "is already working with the defense ministry. Putin has assigned the former chief of staff, Troshev, with the task of forming volunteer units to perform combat missions for Russias war in Ukraine, New York Times reported citing a video clip of the Thursday evening meeting that the Kremlin published on Friday. Without referring to Wagner by name, Putin added that Troshev fought in such a unit for more than a year and knows how its done. Notably, the Wagner fighters, thousands of whom were recruited from prisons in Russia, operated under a largely independent command until June, when the Defence Ministry moved to integrate them into the broader military, according to New York Times. The move would have reduced the power of the groups former leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and, analysts believe, helped touch off his failed mutiny against Russias military leadership. However, since the mutiny and Prigozhins death in August, the fate of Wagner has been unclear. Putin signalled as much in his meeting with Troshev, telling him that state-sponsored support measures for veterans of the fight in Ukraine were also available to members of volunteer groups that fought there, New York Times reported. Troshev is a retired Russian colonel and a founding member and executive director of the Wagner Group, according to sanctions documents published by the European Union and France, according to CNN. Troshev is a veteran of wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya who uses the call sign Sedoi, or Gray-haired. According to European and United Kingdom sanctions documents, he provided a crucial contribution to Bashar al-Assads war effort and repressed the civilian population in Syria. In June, Putin proposed that Troshev command the private military group in the wake of the failed Wagner rebellion. Following the failed mutiny, security experts predicted that the Kremlin would seek to further absorb the group into the Russian military. Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials said Wagner fighters had returned to the eastern front, now working as individuals for the Russian Defense Ministry, CNN reported. (ANI)
India and Argentina on Friday signed a Social Security Agreement (SSA). The agreement was signed by Indias Ambassador to Argentina Dinesh Bhatia and Argentinas Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship Santiago Cafiero in the presence of Argentine Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security Raquel Kismer de Olmos. The SSA applies to legislation in India concerning old age, survivor's pension and permanent, total disability pension for employed persons as well as to legislation in Argentina concerning contributory benefits of the Social Security System, as per a release issued by the Indian Embassy in Argentina. The agreement provides detached workers, i.e., employees working in another country on a temporary basis, and their family members with rights to contributory benefits such as cash allowance for retirement or pension, rent, subsidy or lump sum payments as per local legislation without being subject to any reduction, modification, suspension, suppression or retention. It establishes the legal framework regulating insurance period i.e., period of services credited with contributions, contributory benefits and export thereof, in respect of detached workers, including crew members of airlines and ships. The economic and commercial ties between India and Argentina have grown exponentially in recent years. Several Indian companies, including TCS, Infosys, Crisil, Bajaj Motorcycles, Royal Enfield, Hero Motors, TVS, Glenmark, and Godrej have investments in Argentina exceeding USD 1 billion. Argentine companies including Globant and Techint also have large operations in India. The number of Indian professionals working in Argentina for Indian as well as multinational companies under intra-company transfers for the short or long term is steadily rising. There is also a growing number of Argentine nationals who are seeking employment in India. These growing people-to-people exchanges have necessitated a legal framework to protect their rights, especially those related to social security contributions, as per the official release. The Indian Embassy in Argentina said the Social Security Agreement has been signed after detailed yet speedy negotiations, particularly expedited in 2022. The agreement would protect the rights of professionals and workers against loss of benefits or contributions made towards social security in both countries and thus facilitate greater movement of professionals and the labour force. This is yet another step forward in building a Strategic Partnership between the two countries which share deep traditional bonds of friendship, as per the release. (ANI)
Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was on Friday prevented from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland. According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurudwara on Albert Drive. This comes amid a diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow, the man is heard saying in the video. The Sikh Youth UK claims that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities. The video shows two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside. The purported video then shows the high commissioners car leaving the gurudwara premises. The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the Gurdwara will be treated. We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats, he said. The incident was first reported by the Times of India TOI. A pro-Khalistan activist told TOI that the Indian High Commissioner was supposed to hold a meeting with the gurdwara committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive. The activist said: A few people turned up and told him he is not welcome and he left. There was a slight confrontation. I dont think the gurdwara committee is too happy about what happened. But Indian officials are not welcome in any gurdwara in the UK. We are fed up with the UK-India collusion. The recent tensions since the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing have led to British Sikhs being targeted. This is to do with Avtar Singh Khanda and Jagtar Singh Johal too, he further said. Meanwhile, a formal reaction from the Indian High Commission in London and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the incident is awaited. The UK incident comes amid a growing strain in India-Canada ties following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations regarding the Indian governments involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it absurd and motivated. Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Nijjar. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has highlighted incidents of threats, violence, and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions in Canada. He has questioned whether the reaction would have been the same if a similar situation had occurred in any other country. He further emphasized that the situation in Ottawa should not be normalized. Addressing a press conference in Washington DC on Friday, S Jaishankar said, ...Our point is that there is today a climate of violence, an atmosphere of intimidation...Just think about it. We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We have had our consulatesviolence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people. The UK has meanwhile said it is in "close touch" with its Canadian partners about serious allegations made by PM Trudeau on India's link in the alleged assassination of Nijjar. "We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations," a UK government spokesperson told ANI. It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities, the official said. Recently, the United Kingdoms Security Minister Tom Tugendhat announced new funding to enhance the UKs capability to tackle 'pro-Khalistan extremism.' Tugendhat made the announcement after a meeting with Jaishankar in the national capital on August 10, the British High Commission in India said. The 95,000-pound investment will enhance the governments understanding of the threat posed by pro-Khalistan extremism, complementing the joint work already underway between the UK and India through the Joint-Extremism Task Force, the British High Commission said in a statement. (ANI)
BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa has condemned the incident where Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was allegedly stopped from entering a gurdwara in Scotland. I strongly condemn this (that Vikram Doraiswami was allegedly stopped from entering a gurdwara in Scotland)... Anyone from any religion or community can come here (Gurdwara)..., Sirsa told ANI. We are not that religion that believes in violence instead we are among those who are saviours of humanity... Sikhs are the saviours... PM Modi has praised the work of our community..., the BJP leader said. Sira said that anyone from any religion or community can visit a gurdwara and that the safest place for the Sikhs in the world is in India. The BJPs leaders remarks come after the Indian envoy Doraiswami was on Friday stopped from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland. According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive. This comes amid a diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow, the man is heard saying in the video.The Sikh Youth UK claims that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has also condemned the action. SGPC General Secretary Grewal said that the UK Envoy should not have been stopped from entering the gurdwara and that gurdwara is for every religion. He further said that he is still not aware about the reason behind why the envoy was stopped and pointed out that such behaviour was not right. The purported video released on Instagram by the Sikh group in UK shows two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area of the Glasgow gurdwara. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside. The purported video then shows the high commissioners car leaving the gurdwara premises. The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the Gurdwara will be treated.We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats, he said. The incident was first reported by the Times of India (TOI). A pro-Khalistan activist was cited by the daily that the Indian High Commissioner was supposed to hold a meeting with the gurdwara committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive. The activist said: A few people turned up and told him he is not welcome and he left. There was a slight confrontation. I dont think the gurdwara committee is too happy about what happened. But Indian officials are not welcome in any gurdwara in the UK. We are fed up with the UK-India collusion. The recent tensions since the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing have led to British Sikhs being targeted. This is to do with Avtar Singh Khanda and Jagtar Singh Johal too, he further said. Meanwhile, a formal reaction from the Indian High Commission in London and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the incident is awaited. The UK incident comes amid a growing strain in India-Canada ties following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations regarding the Indian governments involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. (ANI)
Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was on Friday prevented from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland. According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK, a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive. This comes amid a diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow, the man is heard saying in the video. The Sikh Youth UK claims that there is an ongoing ban on Indian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities. The video shows two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside. The purported video then shows the high commissioners car leaving the gurdwara premises. The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how any Indian ambassador or any Indian government official who visits the Gurdwara will be treated. We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemned India and expelled Indian diplomats, he said. The incident was first reported by the Times of India TOI. A pro-Khalistan activist told TOI that the Indian High Commissioner was supposed to hold a meeting with the gurdwara committee of the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive. The activist said: A few people turned up and told him he is not welcome and he left. There was a slight confrontation. I dont think the gurdwara committee is too happy about what happened. But Indian officials are not welcome in any gurdwara in the UK. We are fed up with the UK-India collusion. The recent tensions since the Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing have led to British Sikhs being targeted. This is to do with Avtar Singh Khanda and Jagtar Singh Johal too, he further said. Meanwhile, a formal reaction from the Indian High Commission in London and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the incident is awaited. The UK incident comes amid a growing strain in India-Canada ties following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations regarding the Indian governments involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it absurd and motivated. Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Nijjar. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has highlighted incidents of threats, violence, and intimidation against Indian diplomats and missions in Canada. He has questioned whether the reaction would have been the same if a similar situation had occurred in any other country. He further emphasized that the situation in Ottawa should not be normalized. Addressing a press conference in Washington DC on Friday, S Jaishankar said, ...Our point is that there is today a climate of violence, an atmosphere of intimidation...Just think about it. We have had smoke bombs thrown at the mission. We have had our consulatesviolence in front of them. Individuals have been targeted and intimidated. There are posters put up about people. The UK has meanwhile said it is in "close touch" with its Canadian partners about serious allegations made by PM Trudeau on India's link in the alleged assassination of Nijjar. "We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations," a UK government spokesperson told ANI. It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities, the official said. Recently, the United Kingdoms Security Minister Tom Tugendhat announced new funding to enhance the UKs capability to tackle 'pro-Khalistan extremism.' Tugendhat made the announcement after a meeting with Jaishankar in the national capital on August 10, the British High Commission in India said. The 95,000-pound investment will enhance the governments understanding of the threat posed by pro-Khalistan extremism, complementing the joint work already underway between the UK and India through the Joint-Extremism Task Force, the British High Commission said in a statement. (ANI)
India has raised with the United Kingdom foreign office and the police the incident in which its High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami was prevented from entering a gurdwara in Scotland, according to government sources. "Doraiswamiwas on Friday stopped by a few radicals from entering a gurdwara in Glasgow. The Indian High Commissioner decided to leave instead of getting into an argument," as per the sources. According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of Sikh Youth UK a man reportedly a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow gurdwara located on Albert Drive. This comes amid a diplomatic row betweenIndiaand Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday has condemned the incident. "I strongly condemn this (that Vikram Doraiswami was allegedly stopped from entering a gurdwara in Scotland). Anyone from any religion or community can come here (gurdwara). We are not that religion that believes in violence instead we are among those who are saviours of humanity. Sikhs are the saviours. PM Modi has praised the work of our community. Sikhs are represented everywhere in the world. The safest place for the Sikhs in the world is in India," BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has also condemned the action. SGPC General Secretary Grewal said that the UK Envoy should not have been stopped from entering the gurdwara and that gurdwaras are for every religion. Meanwhile, in the purported video posted on social media by the Sikh Youth UK, a protestor is heard saying, "They are hurting Sikhs in Canada and other places, every Sikh should protest against any Indian Ambassador like we did here in Glasgow. The SikhYouthUK claims that there is an ongoing ban onIndian officials visiting the gurdwara in their official capacities. The video shows two men near the High Commissioners car in the parking area. One of them is seen attempting to open the car door, which has been locked from the inside. The purported video then shows the high commissioners car leaving the gurdwara premises. The video then shows another man speaking to the camera that this is how anyIndian ambassador or anyIndian government official who visits the Gurdwara will be treated. We know what games they are playing, whats happening in Canada. The Canadian PM has openly condemnedIndiaand expelledIndian diplomats, he said. Meanwhile, a formal reaction from theIndian High Commission in London and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the incident is awaited. The UK incident comes amid a growing strain in India-Canada ties following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations regarding the Indian governments involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar Indiahas outrightly rejected the claims, calling it absurd and motivated. Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Nijjar. (ANI)
People visit the Zhanqiao bridge scenic spot in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 29, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

The National Day holiday, overlapping with this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, will last from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, with consumption expected to mark another peak during this period.

A total of 190 million passengers are estimated to travel by rail, with passenger flow reaching its height on Sept. 29. More than 20 million of which are set to travel on the first day of the holiday season.

Around 11,500 passenger trains will be operating every day to meet holiday demand, an increase of 1,850 trains compared to the daily average, according to the country's railway operator China Railway.

China's Ministry of Transport estimated that the number of cross-region road trips in the country will reach 2.05 billion passenger trips, with average daily trips increasing 11.5 percent over the same period in 2019, and 58.8 percent over the same period in 2022.

In particular, road traffic in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Chengdu-Chongqing regions are expected to increase by more than 40 percent compared with the same period in 2022.

During the holiday, the number of average daily cross-border travelers will reach 1.58 million, more than tripling the same period last year, according to a forecast released by the country's immigration administration Wednesday. The rebound is attributed to continuous recovery of international flights and travel policies such as visa exemption.

In addition, a series of measures have been launched by the authorities to stimulate consumption and enrich the holiday experience.

For example, north China's Heilongjiang Province is issuing more than 28.55 million yuan ($3.91 million) worth of consumption coupons, while Henan Province in central China is encouraging businesses to extend operating hours.

Consumer banks and other financial institutions have also made efforts by launching consumption subsidies and discounts.
In the aftermath of Azerbaijans victory over the Nagorno-Karabakh and thousands of people displaced from the territory, United Nations will send a mission to the territory, CNN reported on Saturday. The American media outlet said the United Nations will send a mission to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend, amid reports that about 80 per cent of the population have been displaced. Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said during a press briefing on Friday that the missions visit had been agreed by Azerbaijan and would go ahead over the weekend. We havent had access there in about 30 years. So its very important that we will be able to get in, he said. While there, the team will seek to assess the situation on the ground and identify the humanitarian needs for both people remaining and the people that are on the move, the spokesperson added. Earlier it was reported that the self-declared republic of Nagorno-Karabakh will cease to exist from next year. This comes as the region's president signed a decree dissolving state institutions following its defeat to Azerbaijan, according to CNN. Further, as per CNN, the Azerbaijani victory last week triggered a huge exodus of ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh and marked the end of decades of conflict, and potentially the end of centuries of Armenian presence in the region. After the defeat, President Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree that calls for all institutions and organizations of the Republic of Artsakh, which is not recognized internationally, to dissolve from January 1, 2024. The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) ceases its existence, read the decree. Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijans borders but has for decades operated autonomously with a de facto government of its own. Last week, Azerbaijan reclaimed control of the breakaway region after an offensive lasting just 24 hours. Azerbaijan has long been clear about the choice of confronting Karabakh Armenians: Stay and accept Azerbaijani citizenship, or leave. The majority of the population has already voted on its feet and tens of thousands have fled their ancestral home rather than submitting to rule by Baku, CNN reported. Azerbaijan launched its offensive on September 19, firing missiles and drones at the regional capital of Stepanakert in what marked the start of a third war fought for control of the region in as many decades. Under the Soviet Union, of which Azerbaijan and Armenia are both former members, Nagorno-Karabakh became an autonomous region within the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to CNN, Karabakh officials passed a resolution in 1988 declaring its intention to join the Republic of Armenia, causing fighting to break out as the Soviet Union began to crumble, in what became the First Karabakh War. About 30,000 people were killed in over six years of violence, which ended in 1994 when the Armenian side gained control of the region. The Second Karabakh War began in 2020 after years of sporadic clashes. Azerbaijan, backed by its historic ally Turkey, reclaimed a third of the territory of Karabakh in just 44 days before both sides agreed to lay down their weapons in a Russia-brokered ceasefire. (ANI)
A Sikh restaurant owner, who earlier received threats from Khalistani elements for being vocal against them, has nowclaimed that his car was shot at and vandalised by the extremists in West London. A video posted on X by Insightuk2, which describes itself as a social movement of British Hindus and Indians, claimed that some unidentified assailants allegedly opened fire at the car of Harman Singh Kapoor, adding that his family has been subjected to constant threats of violence and rape by alleged Khalistan supporters. However, there has been no formal statement from the UK police on these claims. Notably, the claims came to the fore on the very day elements from outside Scotland deliberately disrupted a planned interaction organised for the Indian High Commissioner, Vikram Doraiswami. They were threatened and abused by these elements. In an effort to prevent any potential altercation, the HC and CG decided to leave the premises shortly upon their arrival, Indias High Commission to UK said in a statement. A UK-based journalist and researcher, Charlotte Littlewood, in a post shared on X, claimed that the attack on Kapoors family was ongoing. Attack on Harman Singh Kapoor + family is ongoing. They are awaiting police as Khalistani extremists are thought to have shot at their vehicle in London. As feared the Canada row has emboldened extremists - we will see more of this, her post read. Earlier in the day, she also questioned the decision of removing the panic alarm from the car of family amid the diplomatic fallout of Canada's claim of an Indian hand in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. "At this heightened time of threat following the India-Canada row. Where the Khalistani extremists are threatening India High commissions in the West and assassinating Indian officials in India. How was the decision made to remove their panic alarm? (sic), her post added. Meanwhile, INSIGHT UK, also alleged that Khalistani extremists were threatening Sikhs in the UK. It also alleged that no arrests were made despite several months of alleged torture of Harman Kapoors family. The Police have made no arrests in what has been months of torture for this family. When will action be taken against these Khalistani extremists who pose a serious law and order threat @metpoliceuk, INSIGHT UK posted on X, adding, Why is the UK government not taking stringent action against an extremist ideology with a history of terrorism. Earlier, on May 4, Kapoor and his family alleged that they have been receiving constant online threats after they posted a video about the Khalistan movement on social media, Khalsa Vox reported. The alleged threats were made despite repeated assurances by the police of safety and special safeguarding measures. The family had experienced three attacks, and do not feel safe, according to Khalsa Vox, a portal on news related to Punjab politics, history, culture, and heritage. Harman's restaurant was attacked by pro-Khalistan supporters, an incident that occurred just days after the Indian High Commission in London was vandalised in April 2023. Harman then posted a video which garnered two million views in two days, leading to abusive calls, social media trolling, and threats against him and his family. Harman said following the video, he received death threats and his restaurant was attacked. The attackers demanded that he remove the video, raise pro-Khalistan slogans and burn the Indian flag, or face death. Harman said his wife and his daughter even received several rape threats. "Our address was put online with calls to rape and kill them. Videos of miscreants licking the pictures of my wife and daughter were posted as well," he added, according to Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human rights. An independent report commissioned by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had expressed concerns over the rising influence of pro-Khalistan extremists within the British Sikh community, Khalsa Vox reported. The Bloom Review, an independent report commissioned by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, called on the Rishi Sunak government to address the issue urgently and safeguard most of the Sikhs in the UK who do not support their extremist ideology. The report stressed time-bound action on the issue. The report noted that the Sikh communities in the UK face coercion and intimidation by fringe Khalistani elements, Khalsa Vox reported. These pro-Khalistan groups artificially inflate their influence and attract disproportionate attention by lobbying political bodies under the guise of human rights activism. According to the news report, the actions of pro-Khalistan groups create a false image of legitimacy which is not in accordance with the beliefs of the Sikh faith. It is important to understand that Khalistani separatists do not represent the views of most of British Sikh communities, as per the Khalsa Vox report. (ANI)
The United States has expressed deep concern over Serbia's significant military mobilisation near the Kosovo border, calling it an "unprecedented" development, Al Jazeera reported. Following deadly clashes at a monastery in northern Kosovo, Serbia deployed advanced tanks and artillery to the region. The violence, which resulted in the death of a Kosovar police officer and three Serb gunmen, marked a severe escalation in tensions between Serbia and Kosovo. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated, "We are monitoring a large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo, including an unprecedented staging of advanced Serbian artillery, tanks, mechanized infantry units. We believe that this is a very destabilising development." The US has urged Serbia to withdraw its forces from the border, emphasising the need for immediate de-escalation and a return to dialogue, according to Al Jazeera. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken telephoned Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, urging him to take action to de-escalate the situation. While Vucic did not directly deny the recent military buildup, he rejected claims of heightened combat readiness. "We don't even have half the troops we had two or three months ago," Vucic stated. On Wednesday, Serbia said that the defence minister and head of the armed forces had gone to visit a deployment zone but gave no further details. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also expressed concern to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti regarding the Serbian military mobilisation. The two leaders discussed the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia as the long-term solution for stability in the region. The recent military buildup followed clashes initiated by heavily armed Serb gunmen who ambushed a patrol near the Serbian border, resulting in the death of a Kosovar police officer. Subsequently, dozens of assailants barricaded themselves at an Orthodox monastery, leading to an hour-long firefight in which three gunmen were killed, and three were arrested. Kosovo's government accused Belgrade of supporting the armed operation. Kirby described the attack as highly sophisticated, involving approximately 20 vehicles, military-grade weaponry, equipment, and training, raising concerns about its origins and motivations, as reported by Al Jazeera. Its worrisome. It doesnt look like just a bunch of guys who got together to do this, he said. In response to the situation, the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo, known as KFOR, announced plans to increase its presence in the region. NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg affirmed the alliance's readiness to bolster the KFOR force to address the escalating tensions. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move that Belgrade and Moscow have not recognised. Tensions have persisted between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority, with recent months witnessing a sharp escalation of tensions in northern Kosovo, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)
Expressing his concerns over the recent rise in the incidents of Khalistan extremism, Colin Bloom, former advisor to the UK government said that the situation has escalated because the Western governments have not done enough to tackle the sinister and aggressive behaviour of extremists. Bloom stressed that both the British and Canadian governments should take more proactive measures to address this issue. He warned that the situation could spiral out of control if the issue is not addressed. Bloom is the author of The Bloom Review, Does Government do God?. He was also appointed by former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson as an Independent Faith Engagement advisor in order to make suggestions on how the government should interact with religious organisations in England. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Colin Bloom said, What I think we're seeing at the moment is a rise of pro-Khalistan extremismNow, look, just for the record, I am 100 per cent in favour of free speech and people being free to think and believe and support pretty much anything that they want, so long as they don't harm and intimidate and harass other people. But what we saw with the Indian High Commissioner was very much an overreach of free speechThis was, in fact, limiting the free speech of the people who run the Gurdwara in Glasgow and of the High Commissioner himself, he added. Earlier in the day, a planned interaction of the Indian High Commissioner to Britain, Vikram Doraiswami at the Glasgow Gurdwara was disrupted by some extremist elements. Scotland Police has responded to the incident and said an investigation is happening in the case. However, Bloom also highlighted that the majority of the Sikh population in the UK does not share extremist ideologies and is feeling let down by these radical elements within their community. And I think what we're seeing is this increase in activity partly because Western governments have not done enough to address and tackle this rising extremist and sinister and aggressive behaviour, Bloom said. He added, I'm very concerned that the vast majority of British Sikhs, many of whom wrote to me and I interviewed as part of my evidence gathering for the report, are being let down by these very small number within their own community and by British government and I guess would be the same in Canada, the Canadian government who are not doing enough to protect them from these fringe elements that exist within their community. Regarding the rising extremism in Canada, Bloom emphasized that the UK, US, Canada, and other Western governments should collectively address the issue. He called for an improvement in the British government's efforts to protect British Sikhs who want no involvement with such extremist elements. In another incident on Saturday, a Sikh restaurant owner, who earlier received threats from Khalistani elements for being vocal against them, alleged that his car was shot at and vandalised by the extremists in West London. I think the British government do need to improve their game. I think they've done a lot in the last few years, but I think they need to do a lot more to protect the vast majority of British Sikhs who want nothing to do with this nonsenseI guess that the Canadian government and the American government and other Western governments also need to do more to make sure that this small minority is not ruining the lives of others, he said. The British author also cautioned, stating that if the issue is not addressed, it will get out of control harming more people. He also advised that the authorities need to take closer look at online materials being put out. And I think that is where we've got to be really very careful because if this issue with these extremists within the Sikh community, if it's not addressed, if it's not dealt with, then it will get out of control and more people will be intimidated, more people will be harmedThere's no doubt in my mind that there are extremists within all faith communities, but there are extremists within the Sikh community that they need to be dealt with, Bloom further said. Notably, the report by Colin Bloom for the UK government warned that some pro-Khalistan Sikh groups aim to artificially inflate their influence by lobbying political bodies under the guise of human rights activism, presenting a false appearance of legitimacy. It noted that the subversive, sectarian, and discriminatory activities of these groups do not reflect the true nature of the majority of British Sikh communities. (ANI)
Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Mohamed Muizzu, won the Maldivian presidential elections on Saturday, Al Jazeera reported citing local media. This was the second round of polling after no candidate emerged clear winner in the first round. Muizzu had emerged as the frontrunner in the first round with around 46 per cent votes, followed by Ibrahim Solihs 39 per cent. Al Jazeera reported citing several local media platforms that Muizzu has won with more than 53 per cent of the vote, after the tallying of results of all 586 ballot boxes. After the thumping win, the Maldives president-elect delivered a brief statement at his partys headquarters, thanking all those who voted for him and calling on the government to release former President Abdulla Yameen, who is serving an 11-year jail sentence on a corruption conviction. Today is a very happy dayI would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the Maldivian people. This outcome today is a huge encouragement for us in our pursuit to build a better future for our country, and to ensure the sovereignty of our nation, Al Jazeera quoted him as saying. Yameen, the leader of the PPM, must be released, Muizzu said. The president has the power to transfer [Yameen] home imprisonment. And doing so, I believe, is the best action that can be taken in our nations interests, he added. Notably, Muizzu and his is considered pro-China because of the huge Chinese loans by the country, under the previous PPM government. After the results, Maldives President Ibrahim Solih conceded defeat in Saturdays run-off vote and congratulated Muizzu Congratulations to the winner of the presidential election @MMuizzu. Thank you for the beautiful democratic example shown by the people in the elections. Thank you to the MDP and AP members who worked together and to all the people who voted for me, he posted on X (formerly Twitter). Maldives Foreign Minister and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader Abdulla Shahid also congratulated Muizzu and also thanked President Ibrahim Solih for his tenure. Congratulations to President-elect Dr @MMuizzu for winning the Presidential Election 2023. Many congratulations and much gratitude to President @ibusolih, for the many seeds of hope he had sown over the last 5 years, which will surely reap much prosperity for our country and people, he posted on X. Parliament Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed also congratulated Muizzu on his apparent second round victory. Congratulations, President-elect Dr. @MMuizzu, he posted on X. Muizzu is currently serving as the mayor of the capital, Male. He holds a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. He was the Minister of Housing in former President Abdulla Yameens cabinet, according to Al Jazeera. Notably, Solihs defeat to Muizzu marks the first time Maldivians have voted out a liberal democratic government in favour of an authoritarian challenger since the country held its first multi-party elections in 2008, Al Jazeera reported. The outcome also marks a stark reversal of fortune for Solih, who won the last election in 2018 by a landslide, amid widespread anger over human rights abuses and corruption under his predecessor. (ANI)
A 2019 photo shows Iliah Miguel, second from the right, with his family. Iliah Miguel, 14, was part of a group of people who rushed to help the victim of a shooting at the Oklahoma State Fair.

When shots rang out at the Oklahoma State Fair, most attendees ran in a scene of chaos toward the nearest exits.

But a 14-year-old boy, when he saw the victim lying down outside the Bennett Event Center with bright red blood blooming against his white shirt, instead ran toward where the shooting took place.

Iliah Miguel said when he saw the 22-year-old victim, whom police have not named, he just wanted to help. A video captured by Miguel's friend, Trisidy Gabehart, shows Miguel trying to keep the victim awake by waving his hand in front of his eyes, while another person came and placed a piece of clothing under his head.

Miguel and the other person lifted and tore the victim's shirt, revealing the wound on his chest left by the bullet, and Miguel gave his own sweatshirt to apply pressure and slow the bleeding. According to the American Osteopathic Association, applying pressure to a gunshot wound to stop the bleeding was the right move.

"When I seen him bleeding and stuff, I told him to apply pressure," Miguel said. "And I didn't really know if it was gonna work or not. But we managed to stop the bleeding in time for the paramedics to get there."

Juvenile shoots victim during argument at Oklahoma State Fair

Oklahoma City police have said an argument led to a fight at the Bennett Event Center just before 9 p.m. Saturday, which led to one person being shot.

A 17-year-old suspect was arrested on a complaint of assault with a deadly weapon after the shooting and is being held on a $75,000 surety bond, a court docket shows.

Capt. Valerie Littlejohn said that after the initial shooting, someone fired some rounds into the air as people started running.

Miguel said he was inside the event center lobby trying to get money from the ATM for a hot dog. That's when he and his friends heard the gunshots.

Iliah Miguel, 14, was part of a group of people who rushed to help the victim of a shooting at the Oklahoma State Fair.

"At first I thought that shot hit me or one of them," Miguel said. "I felt my heart sink and my legs felt slow ... When I seen everybody started running, I started running with them."

But he didn't make it very far, after seeing the victim and deciding to stay and help.

Teen's mother in 'utter amazement' at son's instinct to help shooting victim

Miguel's mother, Claydene Miguel, said she is proud of her son, but was surprised by how he reacted. It's one thing to see these situations in movies, but another to experience it in real life, she said.

She lives in Arizona and found out what had happened through a phone call from Miguel after she had gone to sleep for the night. He was calm as he recounted what happened, but her mind was racing wondering if her son was going to be OK.

"I'm in like, utter amazement because he just stopped what he was doing and he knew what to do," Claydene Miguel said.

More: Arrest made in Oklahoma State Fair shooting, victim still in critical condition

Iliah Miguel is originally from Arizona  his family a part of the Gila River Indian Community, which consists of the Akimel OOtham and Pee Posh People  and is attending boarding school in Oklahoma.

Although being so far from home is hard during this time, Miguel said his family has been completely supportive. He also has found support from his school, where some of his teachers are veterans and have a sense of what he's going through.

Teen boy and family hope to see shooting victim recover

To the victim, Miguel said he wishes him the best in recovery and life. He said he felt a sense of peace when he read in news reports that he was still alive after the shooting.

He also said he wants to thank the man who was with him while helping the victim, who told him he "did a good job."

Claydene said she would love to hear from the victim's family with updates on his condition.

"I really would like Iliah to meet him," she said. "If that's possible ... Coming from a tribal community, that's what we're about. We're about family and love. We're praying for him as well, too, so I hope he knows that."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Teenanger steps to help victim after Oklahoma State Fair shooting
Xi Jinping straightens the ribbon on a flower basket during a ceremony to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2023. Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng attended a ceremony on Saturday morning in Beijing to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes. The event was held to mark China's 10th Martyrs' Day, a day ahead of its National Day. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)



Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state attended a ceremony on Saturday morning in Tian'anmen Square in Beijing to present flower baskets to fallen national heroes.

The event was held to mark China's 10th Martyrs' Day, a day ahead of its National Day.

The other leaders included Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, Li Xi and Han Zheng. They were joined by representatives from all walks of life at the ceremony.

At 10 a.m., all participants sang the national anthem, and then paid a silent tribute to the martyrs who had sacrificed their lives to the liberation of the Chinese people and the development of the People's Republic of China.

Nine huge flower baskets were placed in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes. Xi and other leaders walked up to the foot of the monument, where he straightened the ribbons on the baskets before leading other senior officials in a walk around the monument to pay their tributes.

The baskets, with ribbons reading "Eternal Glory to the People's Heroes," were presented in the name of the CPC Central Committee; the National People's Congress Standing Committee; the State Council; the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; the Central Military Commission; non-Communist parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and patriots without party affiliations; people's organizations and people from all walks of life; veterans, retired senior cadres and the relatives of martyrs; and Chinese Young Pioneers.

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, sustaining the spirit of the martyrs and drawing on strength from it, the Party, the armed forces, and the people of all ethnic groups are now marching on a new journey in confident strides. They are striving relentlessly for building a strong China and realizing national rejuvenation.

The ceremony was presided over by Yin Li, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC.
The 100-year-old Flying Scotsman locomotive was involved in a "low-speed" accident in the Scottish Highlands on Friday, resulting in two hospitalizations, officials said. File Photo by Barry Lewis/Wikimedia Commons

Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Two people were hospitalized in an accident in Scotland involving the historic Flying Scotsman locomotive, officials said.

The incident happened at around 6:15 p.m. local time on Friday at Aviemore Station in the Scottish Highlands, officials of the historic Strathspey Railway said in a social media post issued by Britain's National Railway Museum.

According to the statement, the Flying Scotsman locomotive was visiting the railway as part of a planned excursion by the Belmond line's vintage Royal Scotsman service. The "low-speed" accident happened when the locomotive was being coupled with the Royal Scotsman train carriages.

Strathspey and Belmond officials said emergency services were called to the scene, located about 130 miles north of Edinburgh, Scotland. The two people who were hospital were later released, they said, while others were treated at the scene.

"Appropriate authorities were notified immediately, and we are co-operating with their investigations," they said.

The newly restored, 100-year-old locomotive was at Aviemore Station as part of a festival celebrating historic steam engines and was employed on 20-mile round trips through moorlands and woods alongside the River Spey on a restored section of the original Highland Railway mainline.

Flying Scotsman was built in Doncaster, England, in 1923 and was the first locomotive of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway. Its fame was secured after it became the first steam locomotive to reach a speed of 100 mph.

Tourists who had booked a trip on the vintage train were disappointed after the Scotsman was pulled out of service for inspections.

A railway spokesman confirmed to the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald that the world's most famous locomotive has been taken to a trainshed and withdrawn from service for inspection by its owner's own engineers.
Two Ukrainian soldiers were rescued after hiding for 18 months in Russian-occupied territory.

They were able to hide with the help of locals, Ukraine's Navy said in a Facebook post.

The men managed to evade capture despite being "seriously injured" while fighting Russian troops.

Ukraine's special forces successfully rescued two paratroopers who had been hiding for over a year and a half in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, Ukraine's Navy said in a Facebook post.

The paratroopers had been "seriously injured" while fighting Russian forces, but they managed to evade capture by hiding with the help of local communities, the post said.

The two servicemen were successfully removed from the occupied territory and returend to the safety of Ukrainian-controlled regions.

"Every life is important," the Ukrainian Navy said in the post, which included a video of soldiers hugging each other.

"A decision was made to conduct a special operation to rescue and evacuate the servicemen, the preparation and conduct of which was entrusted to the special unit of the Navy "Angels," the post says.

"Thanks to joint efforts, two servicemen who had been in the occupied territory for more than a year and a half have recently been brought to the territory controlled by Ukraine," it adds.

Units from Ukraine's Air Assault Forces Command were also involved in the operation, providing covering fire for the Angels unit, the post says.

A former British paratrooper was killed in November while trying to rescue Ukrainians during a battle, the BBC reported.

Simon Lingard, 38, died in the war-torn region of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Lingard was hit by fragments from artillery fire, with a post-mortem examination finding that he died of wounds sustained to his head and chest.

His ex-partner Stacey Longworth said he was "an amazing dad and not just a soldier," per the BBC.

"There's a lot of people that don't agree with what Simon did and have voiced opinions but his family are unbelievably proud of him and we backed him every step of the way," she added.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A total of 30 Russian attack drones have been shot down over Ukraine on the night of 29-30 September.

Source: Ukrainian Defence Forces

Quote: "Shahed-131/136 UAVs were launched from Cape Chauda in [Russian-occupied] Crimea, mainly towards the southern oblasts.

Air defence forces brought down 30 attack drones in our area of responsibility:

20 in Vinnytsia Oblast,

6 in Odesa Oblast,

4 in Mykolaiv Oblast".

Details: The Defence Forces in the south noted that an intense fire broke out due to a hit to an infrastructure facility in Kalynivka hromada in Vinnytsia Oblast [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories].

"The local authorities promptly took preparatory measures to evacuate the civilian population to protect them from the spread of the fire. However, with the fire contained, there is no need to evacuate the population," the statement said.

There was no information about casualties.

Background: Nine trains have been delayed in Ukraine because of Russian attacks overnight.

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Denys Shmyhal , Prime Minister of Ukraine, has stated that 37 defence industry businesses in Ukraine have been affected by Russian attacks.

Source: Interfax Ukraine, citing Shmyhal at the Defence Industries Forum

Quote: "Our defence industry remains one of the main targets for Russian missile strikes, which have affected 37 businesses."

Details: The prime minister said that the government is currently working on additional proposals for their rebuilding.

Shmyhal also stated that the strengthening of cooperation with foreign manufacturers and the involvement of foreign companies in the production of weapons in Ukraine is a short-term and strategic goal of the country.

The prime minister said that everyone understands the risks, but everyone should also understand that Ukraine will become a new centre for producing military products in Europe.

The private sector is a key partner of the government, and it is ready to help anyone who produces quality weapons for the Ukrainian army, Shmyhal said.

The prime minister said that in 2023, the government started several experimental projects for the production of various types of drones and also systematically simplified bureaucratic procedures for the production of various types of equipment and weapons.

"The Russian regime dreamed of the demilitarisation of Ukraine, but Ukraine is increasing the production of weapons and military equipment every month," Shmyhal stated.

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Ukrainian companies have signed 20 documents with foreign partners as part of the International Defence Industries Forum, and 38 companies from 19 countries had joined the Defence Industries Alliance by the time the forum closed.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Quote: "As part of the forum, Ukrainian companies signed 20 documents with foreign partners. These are agreements and memoranda on the drone manufacturing, repair and production of armoured vehicles and ammunition. Joint production, technology exchange, and component supply are among the cooperation formats."

Details: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reported that 38 companies from 19 countries had joined the Defence Industries Alliance by the time the forum closed.

Every weapon and military equipment manufacturer from different countries in the world can join the Alliance.

The First International Defence Industries Forum (DFNC1) in Kyiv brought together 252 companies from over 30 countries that produce a full range of weapons, military equipment and defence systems. Three Ukrainian ministries, including the Ministry of Strategic Industries, the Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, jointly organised the forum.

Tanks, artillery, drones, ammunition manufacturers, innovative software developers and unique complex technology owners from partner countries took part in the event. In addition, the Ukrainian state and private businesses of the defence-industrial complex, both extensive groups of companies and defence-tech startups, also joined.

The forum was opened by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Defence Minister Rustem Umierov, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin and President's Office Head Andrii Yermak delivered their speeches to guests. Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and representatives of the partner countries made special video messages. Eric Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Futures, delivered his speech too. Honorary speakers of the forum were Slovak Defence Minister Martin Sklenar and Wendy Gilmore, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence.

Background: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of a Defence Industries Alliance and the establishment of a special Defence Fund.

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Several people indicted alongside former President Donald Trump in a Georgia election interference case filed motions to have their trials held in federal court. The court says they will have to stand trial in Fulton County.

Court documents released on Friday afternoon denied requests by former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, State Senator Shawn Still, former Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer and Coffee County elections official Cathy Latham.

Judge Steve C. Jones ruled that there is no federal jurisdiction over the case against the four co-defendants and that their cases will remain in the Fulton County Superior Court.

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This Orders sole determination is that there is no federal jurisdiction over the criminal case. The outcome of this case will be before a Fulton County judge and trier of fact to ultimately decide, U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones wrote in his conclusion.

Attorneys for Clark argue that he was acting within the scope of his official duties when he helped Trump try to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.

Governor Brian Kemp previously appointed a commission to determine whether or not Still could fulfill his duties as a state senator while facing charges. The commission determined that Still should not be suspended.

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Earlier this month, Jones rejected former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows request to have his case moved to federal court.

Former President Trump previously stated he may file a motion to have his case heard in federal court as well. On Thursday, he announced that he would not be seeking a federal trial because he feels like he will receive a fair trial in Fulton County.

Bail bondsman Scott Hall, another of the co-defendants, took a plea deal on Friday afternoon and was sentenced to community service, probation and a $5,000 fine.

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A Mesa Police Department badge is seen here.

A man whom Mesa police shot and killed Friday afternoon was identified as 46-year-old Thomas McGinty.

Det. Brandi George, a department spokesperson, said officers responded to a home near Stapley Drive and Southern Avenue just before 5 p.m. to a report of a man attempting to end his life. An adult child of McGinty called saying their father had attached a hose to the tailpipe of his vehicle and fed the exhaust back into the car, police said.

McGinty exited the car after his child detached the hose.

George said McGinty refused to speak with officers and approached them while brandishing a large knife. Four officers shot McGinty when he refused to stop, George said. No officers were injured.

Suicide, crisis hotlines for Arizonans

Services for Arizonans in crisis include:

Dial 2-1-1 to reach 211 Arizona.

Solari Crisis & Human Services offers a free, statewide crisis line 24/7/365  dial 844-534-HOPE (4673). Help is also available 24/7/365 via text by texting hope to 4HOPE (4673).

Dial 988 to reach the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Help is available in English and Spanish. It's free and confidential for those in distress who need prevention or crisis resources for themselves or loved ones.

La Frontera Empact Suicide Prevention Center's crisis line serves Maricopa and Pinal counties 24/7 at 480-784-1500.

Teen Lifeline 24/7 crisis line serves teens at 602-248-8336 for Maricopa County and 1-800-248-8336 statewide.

The Trevor Project Lifeline serves LGBTQ youth at 866-488-7386.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mesa police fatally shoot man attempting to die by suicide
Five Arizona Republican members of the House voted against a last-minute deal Saturday aimed at preventing a government shutdown, but the measure passed anyway.

The threat of shutdown was averted after the Senate passed the measure late Saturday.

Republican Reps. Andy Biggs, Eli Crane, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko and David Schweikert were among the 90 members of their party who opposed the continuing resolution, which aims to keep federal spending at current levels for another 45 days while cutting funding to Ukraine.

Arizona Democrats in the House, Reps. Ruben Gallego, Raul Grijalva and Greg Stanton, as well as freshman Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani, voted for the short-term deal.

Lesko took to social media to explain why she voted for a deal Friday that failed but voted against the deal Saturday that passed, putting her on the losing side of both votes.

"Securing our border and ensuring our military and Border Patrol agents are paid are my top priorities," Lesko said. "Thats why I voted for a stopgap funding measure that would have kept the government open, reined in spending, and secured our border. Todays bill didnt do those things, so I voted no."

But her explanation is a bit of misdirection because by voting "no" Saturday she threatened a shutdown that would force military and Border Patrol agents to keep working but possibly not be paid. The deal that passed Saturday did not include the ramped up Mexican border provisions that Friday's failed deal included.

Biggs and Crane didn't flip-flop, sticking with their opposition to any short-term deal.

During a Friday podcast, they discussed why they prefer to vote on spending items one by one, rather than through a continuing resolution. They said that forces members to defend frivolous spending items one by one rather than take one vote they can defend by saying they approved it to keep things running.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif., dropped demands for steep spending cuts and relied on Democratic votes for passage to send the package to the Senate. Now he is almost certain to be facing a motion to try to take away the gavel from him, but it's not clear his critics have enough votes to topple the speaker. Most Republicans voted for the package Saturday while 90 opposed it.

Were going to do our job, McCarthy said before the House vote. Were going to be adults in the room. And were going to keep government open.

Biggs questioned after the vote whether McCarthy should keep his leadership position.

"Instead of siding with his own party today, Kevin McCarthy sided with 209 Democrats to push through a continuing resolution that maintains the Biden-Pelosi-Schumer spending levels and policies," Biggs said on social media. "He allowed the DC Uniparty to win again. Should he remain Speaker of the House?"

McCarthy addressed the criticism Saturday.

If somebody wants to remove me because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try, McCarthy said of the threat to oust him. But I think this country is too important.

The spending measure later passed the Senate, with much less drama than in the House. The vote was 88-9, with Arizona's two senators voting yes and the only opposition coming from Republicans.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., said the vote was a relief.

While Im relieved to see Congress come together and avoid a government shutdown, legislating at the last minute to avoid harming servicemembers, small businesses, wildland firefighters, and our brave men and women at the border is the bare minimum," Sinema said Saturday in a written statement. "Both parties willingness to cater to the extremes instead of delivering lasting solutions is dangerous and harmful for Arizona families. Now its time for Congress to do its job, put partisanship aside, and pass a commonsense, responsible budget to help everyday Arizonans build better lives for themselves and their families.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said in a statement after the vote it was "ridiculous" that the matter came down to the wire, and blamed House Republicans and partisanship for the delay. He also lamented what was left out of the bill.

Im extremely disappointed that partisan dysfunction prevented Congress from extending U.S. support for Ukraine at such an important moment in their counteroffensive," Kelly said. "There is strong bipartisan support in both chambers to keep backing Ukraine and we must work urgently to get them the weapons and support they need to beat Putin.

The White House was tracking the developments on Capitol Hill and aides were briefing the president, who was spending the weekend in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Biggs, Crane, Gosar, Lesko, Schweikert oppose government shutdown deal
The FBI is asking the public for help in locating five men wanted for allegedly defrauding EBT users.

According to a social media post from FBI Los Angeles, the five men illegally installed skimming devices on point-of-sale terminals to access funds in victims EBT cards.

5 men sought by FBI in Los Angeles for EBT scams

The five men have been identified as:

Birdal Osman

Walerian Grabowski

Ilie-Sebastian-Laur Vasilescu

Bogdan Adrian Purgariu

Silviu-Florin Spiridon

All of the men are charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Former Anaheim City councilmember found dead at Orange County home

They were all last seen in Southern California, the FBI said.

Anyone with information on any of the mens whereabouts is asked to call the FBI Los Angeles at 310-477-6565 or visit the FBI Los Angeles Field Office website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Human-driven climate change is causing Antarctica to transform before our eyes.

Coastlines are crumbling from rapid permafrost melt, and snow's turning black from carbon pollution.

Antarctica was once a pristine preserve, but humans are ruining it.

Last year, ice beds holding thousands of Emperor penguins melted and broke apart from beneath their feet. Scientists estimated up to 10,000 penguin chicks, too young to withstand the freezing waters, died as a result.

It's just one of many disturbing changes that humans and human-driven climate change are causing to happen on the frozen continent.

1. Wildlife is disappearing

Antarctica is home to more than 1,100 species of plants, animals, and microbes, but probably not for long. Researchers estimate that 65% of all its wildlife could cease to exist by the year 2100.

"Antarctica has been losing ice at an accelerating rate over the past few decades," Emma MacKie, assistant professor in geological sciences at the University of Florida, told Insider.

Melting ice in Antarctica. AP/Natacha Pisarenko

Recent research found that the most intense heat wave ever recorded on Earth was in Antarctica last year. And this past winter, the frozen continent reached record-low sea ice levels.

"Entire marine ecosystems are affected by such changes in sea ice cover," Eric Rignot, a distinguished professor of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, told Insider.

What's more, "we have reason to believe that this ice loss trend will continue to worsen," MacKie said.

Data suggests that even if scientists try their best conservation strategies, they still won't be able to save 37% of life forms on the continent.

2. The ground is breaking apart

Permafrost is soil or ground that's been frozen for at least two or more years. It's typically found in polar and hilly regions and is part of what holds Antarctica together.

Human-driven climate change is causing Antarctica's permafrost to thaw rapidly, according to NASA.

When permafrost thaws it can destabilize the ground and, in the case of shorelines, cause giant chunks of the continent to fall off.

Beaufort Island is in Antarctica's Ross Sea. Permafrost melt is causing its shorelines to crumble. USGS

"This region is nearing a threshold of rapid landscape change," researchers noted in 2017. These changes are making the sea bed thinner and more mobile, they said.

3. Antarctica's pristine white snow is turning black

Antarctica's once-white snow is turning black in regions where humans stay. The reason is black carbon.

Black carbon is the dark, dirty, dusty pollution that forms from burning fossil fuels. Not only is it filthy, it also absorbs more heat, causing the snow and ice around it to melt faster.

Antarctica saw temperatures 39 degrees Celsius above average last year. Pauline Askin/Reuters

And depending on the location, that ice melt could turn up some pretty nasty stuff.

During the 1950s, there was a lack of proper waste management protocol. So researchers often buried waste in the ground, as a permanent frozen dumpster  except it's no longer frozen.

"Everything from fuel to batteries to dead huskies  that's already starting to melt and there's this concern about what to do to clean those up," Sharon Robinson, a climate change biologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia, told ABC News in 2020.

4. Human encroachment threatens biodiversity

Human activities and structures can be found over 22,500 square miles across Antarctica, according to a 2019 study.

What's even more worrisome is that "human impacts are disproportionately concentrated on the most environmentally significant areas of Antarctica," the researchers noted.

Tourists on Wolf's Fang Runway in Antarctica. White Desert

A report from the University of Colorado Boulder suggested that the Western Antarctic Peninsula, a major biodiversity hotspot in Antarctica, is under threat because of infrastructure development, tourism, and other human activities.

The region has great ecological importance as it provides unique habitats for various species of lichens, mosses, plants, microbes, and animals.

Many experts argue that there is an urgent need to expand Antarctica's network of specially protected areas as this is the only way to prevent human encroachment.

5. Overfishing krill is reducing humpback whale populations

Fishing vessels alone hunted over 450,000 metric tons of krill in 2020, and experts suggest that this number is expected to increase further because of rising demand for krill oil-based supplements.

Humpback whales were removed from the endangered species list in 2022. Auscape/Getty Images

Antarctic krill is a keystone species, meaning that the survival of many other species depends on them. One study found that a decrease in krill population results in reduced humpback whale pregnancies.

"Continued warming and increased fishing along the Western Antarctic Peninsula, which continue to reduce krill stocks, will likely impact this humpback whale population and other krill predators in the region," Logan Pallin, a postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Santa Cruz, said in a press release about the study.

Krill is also the primary food source for seals, penguins, and many species of seabirds in Antarctica.

6. Boats bring invasive species that are changing Antarctica's landscape

In 2018, researchers from the British Atlantic Survey reported the invasive flowering grass species Poa annua at multiple locations in the Antarctic Peninsula.

Two years later, another team of researchers identified 13 invasive species on the continent that could negatively affect the native biodiversity.

Invasive dandelions seen on South Georgia Island, sub-Antarctica. Wolfgang Kaehler / Contributor / Getty Images

"Although Antarctica is quite far away for most people in the world, the continent and the surrounding ocean area have a very significant impact on global processes related to both the atmosphere and the ocean," Deneb Karentz, a marine biologist at the University of San Francisco, told Insider.

Changes in Antarctica's ecosystem are likely to cause a rise in sea levels, alter weather patterns, and trigger extreme events such as tsunamis that could adversely affect millions of people across the globe.

"The future of Antarctica is totally relevant to the future of humanity," Rignot said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
DENVER (KDVR)  Free meals will be offered in all of Colorados eligible public schools thanks to a voter-approved program funded by high earners.

Every eligible school district in Colorado opted into the program, the Colorado Department of Education said in a Friday release. That means more than 800,000 public school students will have free breakfast and lunch.

7 new Colorado laws go into effect in October

In November 2022, Colorado voters approved the so-called Healthy School Meals for All program. It reduces tax deductions for households earning at least $300,000 a year, raising an estimated $100 million annually to feed the states public schoolchildren.

Districts had until Sept. 15 to decide whether to participate, and all eligible districts decided to do so, according to the state.

Its not just Colorado: California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont also have made school meals free to all students regardless of income, according to The Associated Press.

Which Colorado schools are eligible for free meals?

Some places are not eligible to opt into Colorados free school meals program, including day treatment facilities, residential childcare facilities and private schools.

Heres a list of ineligible schools and programs:

Alternative Homes For Youth

Annunciation Catholic School

Arrupe Jesuit High School

Bethlehem Lutheran Parish

Colo School F/T Deaf And The Blind

Corpus Christi School

Divine Redeemer

Division Of Youth Services

Escuela De Guadalupe

Gateway Youth & Family Services

Guardian Angels Church

Jefferson Hills Corp.

Landmark Baptist School

Laradon School

Maslow Academy Of Applied Learning Inc.

Morgridge Academy

Shiloh House

St. Columba School

St. John The Evangelist School

St. Rose Of Lima

St. Therese School

Tennyson Center

Third Way Center

Cornell Corrections Of California

Assumption Catholic School

Dayspring Christian Academy

Good Shepherd Catholic School

Nativity Of Our Lord

Most Precious Blood School

Notre Dame Catholic School

St. Paul Catholic School

Peace With Christ School

Shrine Of St. Anne School

Sts. Peter And Paul School

Adams State University

Fort Lewis College

Office Of Childrens Affairs, City And County Of Denver

Ute Mountain Ute Recreation Center

Pre-Collegiate Program University Of Colorado (Colorado Springs)

Blanca / Ft. Garland Community Center

Salvation Army

Food Bank Of The Rockies Inc.

Food Bank For Larimer County

Prairie Family Center

Weld Food Bank

Jewish Family Service Of Colorado, Inc.

Wildwood Child And Adult Care / Cfp101385

Breakthrough Kent Denver

Jovial Concepts Inc

High Valley Community Center, Inc.

Denver Inner City Parish

Debbies Toy Closet

Colorado Food Cluster

Kids At Their Best

Proponents of the program say feeding students brings learning benefits.

Experts say that providing fresh, accessible school meal options to every student throughout the day fuels their success and grows healthy habits that drive lifelong learning and achievement, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
It all started with The A-Team.

Ahead of All Elite Wrestlings Pay-Per-View debut in Seattle, founder Tony Khan spoke with us about his love of professional wrestling and the stamp the Pacific Northwest has made on the business.

First some background. Tony Khan was born and raised in Champaign, Illinois. The son of Shahid Khan , the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C. in London.

The first time I saw wrestling on TV, I saw Hulk Hogan on The A-Team, Khan said. I watched a lot of TV. I was a TV kid. I had a TV in my room and a satellite dish.

Khan said before the advent of Direct TV, his family had a satellite dish that he could watch all sorts of programming from around the world.

He recollected watching the news via a satellite feed and Peter Jennings would be smoking cigarettes during the commercial breaks.

I could find pretty much anything I wanted to watch, Khan said. And I really liked The A-Team a lot.

The A-Team starred George Peppard and Mr. T and was an hour-long action-adventure show about a commando squad who were accused of a crime they didnt commit.

One of the things I found pretty unbelievable about The A-Team  in hindsight  I never would have questioned as a six, seven-year-old kid, Khan said. Hulk Hogan was supposedly in Vietnam.

At the time, Khan said he didnt understand that Hulk Hogan existed outside of The A-Team.

The A-Team were trying to distract the cops and they did so by having Hulk Hogan lift a car, Khan said.

Another show Khan loved as a kid was G.I. Joe.

I watched G.I. Joe after school every day, Khan said. When I watched G.I. Joe, Sgt. Slaughter was a live-action host. He introduced the show, did the wraparound, and closed the show. He was also an animated character.

Unknown to Khan at the time, Sgt. Slaughter was a professional wrestler whose gimmick was that of a former U.S. Marine who fought in the Vietnam War.

When I was around seven years old I started seeing wrestling on TV, Khan said.

This was about 1990. Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter were beginning to feud in the then-WWF.

I saw Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter were wrestlers who were wrestling and I watched their matches, Khan said. I followed other people and watched their matches and thats how I started watching.

From there Khan said he started watching WWF competitor WCW, reading all the magazines, and using his satellite dish to watch independent wrestling throughout the country.

Khan said he went to his first show shortly after he started watching wrestling on TV. The WWF came to his hometown in Illinois. The main event was the Undertaker vs. the Ultimate Warrior.

He said he remembers trying to get other kids to watch wrestling with him. A budding wrestling promoter was born.

Nearly three decades later, Khan formed All Elite Wrestling in 2019.

A promotion that now has the record for the most tickets sold for a wrestling event in history, with over 80,000 tickets sold at AEW All In in London.

He books three shows a week  totaling five hours of television  with his stable of talent which includes several wrestlers that call Puget Sound home.

Talent which includes Darby Allin, Swerve Strickland, Nick Wayne, Aubrey Edwards, and the American Dragon Bryan Danielson.

I think its fantastic and Im so glad to come to a market thats home to some of our biggest stars, Khan said.

One of those stars is Bryan Danielson. Danielson, who was born in Aberdeen, told us that he fell in love with professional wrestling when his family took him to a WWF show at the Tacoma Dome.

When I was like eight or nine years old  probably in third grade  I got to see the Ultimate Warrior  who was my favorite wrestler  and Rick Rude, Danielson said. Its really funny because my dad talked about it until the day he died. The Ultimate Warrior have Rick Rude a sunset flip and then pulled his pants down and Rick Rudes butt cheeks were facing right towards us.

A moment that Danielson said his father loved because of the embarrassment his sister endured after witnessing the exposure.

One of the greatest things thats ever happened to AEW was when Bryan Danielson took interest in the company and wanted to come here, Khan said.

Khan called Danielson one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Bryan has become one of my favorite people in real life and Im very fortunate to work with him every week, Khan said. Hes got one of the greatest minds for pro wrestling and he has a fascinating mind. Hes one of the most well-read, affable, and intelligent, thoughtful people Ive ever met.

Traits not commonly found among wrestlers, he noted.

He stands in a class of his own, in my opinion, in terms of respect, Khan said. He commands from his peers and his fans and anybody whos ever worked side-by-side with him.

On the AEW television shows, Danielson has been referencing winding down his long career, with many thinking Sundays WrestleDream PPV in Seattle to be his last match in his hometown.

Im excited for the Seattle crowd, Khan said. I really am so happy to be able to create a homecoming for some of our top stars and I think the fans are going to be really happy with WrestleDream and the great show theyre going to get on Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena.

More information about tickets for AEW WrestleDream can be found at aewtix.com.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, standing, listens in as participants share their thoughts during a listening session organized by the governor to hear the concerns of residents of Fort Collins and Larimer County on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Colorado State University's Lory Student Center in Fort Collins, Colo.

There were no magical solutions to the affordable housing crisis facing Fort Collins and the surrounding area that dominated discussion during a local listening session with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday night.

But there was a lot of good discussion around housing, transportation, workforce, small business and water, open spaces and neighborhood issues among the 120 people invited to participate, ranging from single mothers and college students to homeless advocates and school-district superintendents, county commissioners and city council members.

Participants, in general, seemed pleased with the wide range of voices that came together to participate in a roundtable format at Colorado State Universitys Lory Student Center.

The goal, the governor said, was to listen to the concerns of people living and working in Fort Collins and Larimer County and what could be done at the state level to navigate the challenges they were facing.

It felt validating to know that other people are facing the same concerns and the same issues that I am, said Mellisa Rasor, who described herself as a low-income single mom struggling just to pay the rent each month."

To know that the state is trying to do something to support us and help us through these challenges is super important.

More: Time is running out to influence Fort Collins land use code. Here's why it matters

The prompt was to think about what the headlines might be in a Time magazine cover issue about Colorado in 2026, when the state celebrates its 150th anniversary.

Participants sat at 10 different tables, each seating up to a dozen people, and jotted down responses that were read out loud to a handful of questions on that tables specific topic. Questions were asked by members of the governors cabinet and staff, and each table had someone typing in the responses that will be shared with Polis senior staff as it sets the governors policies and agenda.

Participants were randomly placed at tables covering one of the five topics  housing, transportation, workforce, small business and water/open spaces/neighborhoods to begin the session, and the topic at each table changed after the first of two 20-minute sessions. For the final session, which lasted 30 minutes, participants moved to tables where their topic of choice was being discussed.

Listening sessions using the same topics and formats were recently held in Aurora, Grand Junction and Pueblo, said Katie Jones, a deputy press secretary in the governors office.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks to the 120 or so invited participants during a listening session designed to hear the concerns of residents of Fort Collins and Larimer County on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Colorado State University's Lory Student Center in Fort Collins, Colo.

Theres so many different communities all over our state, from Pueblo to Grand Junction to Fort Collins, and the states role is really to help communities become what they want to become, to help empower you to live up to your aspirations, Polis told a reporter between check-ins at various tables to hear, first-hand, what was being said. And so, we need to really hear about the vision for Fort Collins, so we can align state policy to help Fort Collins and Larimer County realize its potential.

Affordable housing was the topic that drew the most attention. People were concerned about solving local homelessness issues, and increasing housing costs that are forcing people to leave the community for jobs elsewhere or longer commutes that would add to the growing problems of traffic congestion and air pollution.

Longtime resident Jerry Gavaldon said it is disappointing that so many of the children of current residents cant afford to remain in Fort Collins as adults. A similar concern was expressed by a CSU professor, who said many of her students would like to stick around after graduation but cant. The community suffers, they both said, because those people would be able to make valuable contributions to Fort Collins and the surrounding area.

Unregulated rent increases, rising property taxes, ethnic segregation prompted by housing costs and a brain-drain that is forcing highly educated professionals to leave the area to find work were other common themes.

Transportation was a big focus, as well. The limited routes and service hours of Fort Collins Transfort bus system makes the use of mass transit difficult, as does the siloed approach of each community in the region having its own bus system with little regard for connectivity to others in Northern Colorado.

Conversation about specific topics often overlapped, with zoning restrictions limiting higher density residential dwellings described by many as a roadblock to an improved mass-transit system.

There was a lot of discussion about needing to have the density that would support public transit and more opportunity for people to live closer to where they need to go that will help lessen transportation problems, a table leader said while providing a summary afterward to the full group.

Rail service, traditional or high speed, linking Fort Collins to Denver and possibly as far south as Colorado Springs, was also pushed as a way to alleviate traffic congestion along Interstate 25.

Not all the talk was focused on what Fort Collins doesnt have, though.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, standing, listens in as participants share their thoughts on housing, one of five topics of discussion in a listening session organized by the governor to hear the concerns of residents of Fort Collins and Larimer County on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Colorado State University's Lory Student Center in Fort Collins, Colo.

Participants praised the citys bicycle-friendly culture, including the extensive network of bicycle routes and trails that make commuting by bicycle an option for many residents. They also expressed gratitude for the city and countys commitment to open spaces, incentivizing xeriscaping and other environmentally friendly landscaping and the quality of the local water supply.

On the small-business front, participants spoke highly of the commitment of residents to support locally owned businesses and mostly praised the work of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce. Additional support that would connect small businesses and better allow them to help each other navigate some of the roadblocks they encounter was endorsed by a majority of participants.

But like the discussion at the workforce tables, talk quickly reverted back to the high cost of housing and the resulting struggle businesses of all sizes have in recruiting and retaining employees.

More: Larimer County ceases talks with potential landfill operator: What it means for the future

Many participants praised Polis for his efforts to allow higher density residential development centered around rail and bus transportation hubs through executive orders and later a bill in the Colorado General Assembly that was passed by the House of Representatives but blocked by the Senate.

Polis issued another executive order last month directing his administration to promote and streamline affordable, environment-friendly housing development in Colorado thats focused around transit, the Colorado Sun reported.

Discussing his efforts to address concerns about a lack of affordable housing and the impacts it is having on communities across the state, the governor told the Coloradoan on Thursday evening that he would continue to push for solutions.

Of course theres pushback, because if there wasnt opposition, it would have been done already and houses would be a lot less expensive, Polis said. If were serious about making housing available at lower cost in Colorado, then of course we need to look at every avenue that we can to do that. We need to think really big and take ideas from across the state to make that really happen.

Kristin Stephens, a Larimer County commissioner, said she took four full pages of notes on the discussion that took place at her tables. The format of the listening session, she said, was conducive to open dialogue, and the extreme views on both sides of issues that tend to dominate public comment during formal meetings of local governing boards were not heard.

If you take a big sampling of the general public, I dont think theres so much animosity, Stephens said. Theres this willingness to come together to try to solve the problems. That part was really nice. Everybody at all the tables I was at were really active and engaged.

Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, twitter.com/KellyLyell or facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Affordable housing dominates Colorado governor's listening session
A zoning change near a small Patton Township neighborhood to accommodate a proposed attainable housing community was approved by the Patton Township Board of Supervisors Wednesday.

After months of discussions among township staff and the planning commission, the supervisors voted unanimously to approve a zoning request for a 2.5 acre parcel at 160 W. Clearview Ave., State College. Supervisor Pam Robb was not at the meeting.

The parcel was zoned R-2 low density residential and the request was to change it to R-3 medium density residential. The township received a request from HFL Corporation in May to consider rezoning that property for a proposal of a 31-unit attainable housing community for people 55 years and older.

With the boards approval, the zoning change will go to the Centre Region Planning Commission for further review and recommendation. The board cant take final action on the request until it has been reviewed by the CRPC, the proposed rezoning has been advertised and impacted property owners have been notified, according to the township website. CRPC will likely discuss the request at its November meeting, the townships website states.

Many township residents have shared their concerns about the zoning change, with several noting an increase in traffic in the neighborhood and fears of it altering the neighborhoods small and quiet character. Supervisor Dan Trevino said he understood those concerns but also took into consideration the transition that the area has seen and will continue to see.

All your views are very valid. ... I live in a residential area so I understand your concerns about what transition and changes might occur with the neighborhood youve lived in, and many of you for a very long time, Trevino said.

The board weighed doing a Small Area Plan prior to acting on the zoning request, but Trevino said he wasnt sure what would change if they waited.

This is my personal view but I dont see that waiting for a Small Area Plan and waiting a year is going to change it anyway  the preferred potential use of that corner. I would like to ensure that it remains a dwelling, whether its multifamily or not, at least that corner there will remain a residential area and not turn into an office complex, or heaven forbid, some kind of a commercial space. So bottom line for me, I think its appropriate for us to go ahead and approve the rezoning request to R-3, Trevino said.

Supervisor Betsy Whitman agreed, adding that she thought there are ways commercial and residential uses can go together, as it helps create a more walkable town, but wanted to see the use of housing remain there specifically. Supervisor Sultan Magruder said by acting on the request now, they could avoid future requests for commercial uses, which residents have made clear they dont want.

...If we dont move on this, at some point in the future, theres going to be a request that comes in for something, particularly for commercial or something like that which residents definitely dont want in that area. And so, I think moving on this now and for residential  makes the most sense, Magruder said.

He and other supervisors encouraged residents to remain engaged as the process continues.

If the rezoning request goes through, the developer can submit a land development plan for the site. Supervisor Elliot Abrams said he hopes actions can be taken to lessen the impact of the neighborhood through that process.

What I was hoping is that  and we may not be able to  is that when that site plan comes in, well do whatever we can to minimize the impact to the adjacent residential properties, Abrams said.

Patton Township Manager Amy Farkas said through the land development process, theyll have the opportunity to have a traffic impact study and mitigation, as well as some stormwater concerns.

There is an opportunity there once a land development plan is received by the township, to work on and making sure that were not making the situation worse and hopefully doing something to make the situation better for the residents out there, Farkas said.
A large-scale air-raid warning was issued on the morning of 30 September in the left part of Ukraine due to the threat of Russian ballistic missiles.

Source: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Details: At around 10:10, an air-raid warning was issued in Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv oblasts.

The Air Force warned Ukrainians that there is a threat of the Russians using ballistic missiles.

Later, an air-raid warning was issued in Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts for the same reason.

Updated: The all-clear was given at around 11:00 (Kyiv time).

At the same time, an air-raid warning was issued in Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts due to the activity of Russian army aircraft along the border.

"Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, enemy UAVs (probably reconnaissance ones). Air defence systems are responding! Enemy tactical aviation is active on the eastern and southeastern fronts!" the Air Force also reported.

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 issuing of air-raid warnings began to extend across Ukraine for the second time during the night of 29-30 September, as the countrys Air Force warned of missile danger.

Source: Ukraines Air Force, map of air-raid warnings

Quote from the Air Force: "There is a threat of the use of ballistic weapons in areas where the alarm has been issued! Do not ignore air-raid warnings! Head for cover."

Details: For the second time, an air-raid warning was issued in the oblasts at about 02:45.

As of 03:55, a warning was issued in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts.

Update: At 04:18, the Air Force declared a threat of ballistics missile attacks over all areas.

Earlier: On the evening of 29 September and the night of 30 September, an air-raid warning was extended across Ukraine due to the threat of Russian drones and ballistic missiles.

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Extreme MAGA Republicansunderstand that they have difficulty winning elections or upholding their majority in the House without gerrymandering congressional districts illegally, said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries .

The Supreme Court rejected Alabamas plea to keep a discriminatory congressional map in place and reinforced the order to have a special master redraw it after Republicans failed twice to comply with constitutional standards.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told theGrio, Extreme MAGA Republicans here in Washington, in Alabama, and throughout the country understand that they have difficulty winning elections or upholding their majority in the House without gerrymandering congressional districts illegally.

US House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks during a press conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 29, 2023. The US government began on September 28 informing workers of an impending shutdown that could see millions of federal employees and military personnel temporarily sent home or working without pay, unless Congress reaches a funding deal. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

In a previous interview, Svante Myrick , president of People For the American Way, told theGrio, The Republicans in Alabama are presenting as many hurdles as they can, including closing polling locations, eliminating voting hours and early votingto limit Black voters in the upcoming election.

He said Republicans are sending the message, Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.

Fortunately, the judicial system overruled them, added the former mayor of Ithaca, New York.

Some experts believe a new map could help Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives during the 2024 elections.

Earlier this week, the court-appointed special master submitted proposals for a new congressional map that does not violate the civil rights of Alabamas Black voters under the Voting Rights Act.

A special hearing for the three-judge panel to examine the special masters proposed map is slated for Oct. 3.

This latest development comes months after the Supreme Court upheld a three-judge panels ruling to have Alabama lawmakers redraw its congressional map to include two districts where Black voters can elect a candidate of their choice.

On Sept. 5, the Supreme Court issued a court order to have a special master redraw the congressional map.

The order stated that the appropriate remedy is a congressional redistricting plan that includes either an additional majority-Black congressional district, or an additional district in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.

On Thursday, Jeffries told theGrio that The Supreme Court has been definitive.

FILE  A map of a GOP proposal to redraw Alabamas congressional districts is displayed at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., July 18, 2023. The Supreme Court is allowing work to proceed on a new Alabama congressional map with greater representation for Black voters, rejecting the states plea to retain Republican-drawn lines struck down by a lower court. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler, File)

The Alabama map violates the Voting Rights Act, he said.

In fact, I believe there will be other decisions that are made in places like Louisiana, in Georgia, and beyond to show that the Republican efforts to engage in unlawful gerrymandering, particularly as it relates to communities and districts of color, will be stopped dead in its tracks, Jeffries added.

Myrick told theGrio that the Supreme Courts refusal to adhere to Alabamas GOP lawmakers request to keep the discriminatory map in place has been a victory for Black Alabamians.

Voters go to the ballot box thinking of whos going to improve their pocketbook, improve their streets, and keep them safe, he said.

However, he emphasized this case illustrates why it is important for voters to also think about which judges will be appointed by the politicians they vote for.

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The post New Alabama map could help Democrats gain control of the House appeared first on TheGrio.
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary in Plains, Georgia

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans celebrated the 99th birthday of former President Jimmy Carter this weekend, with the White House putting up a wooden cake display on its north lawn and the Carter library in Georgia hosting a party for the public.

Carter, a Democrat who served as U.S. president from January 1977 to January 1981, is in hospice care after deciding in February to decline additional medical intervention. He turns 99 on Sunday.

In Atlanta, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum hosted a celebration that it said would feature cake, games, trivia and a food truck. The party was moved up to Saturday ahead of a possible government shutdown that could start around midnight on Sunday.

Back in Washington, a three-tiered wooden cake display, decorated in the red, white and blue colors of the American flag and featuring 39 candles in recognition of Carter's being the country's 39th president, festooned the White House lawn with a "Happy Birthday President Carter" message.

Carter, who was born on Oct 1, 1924, has lived longer after leaving office than any former president in U.S. history. He has garnered worldwide admiration for his post-presidency humanitarian work and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Carter has faced health challenges in recent years, including melanoma that spread to his liver and brain, but he has continued to show resilience, even after his decision to start hospice care.

He and his wife, Rosalynn Carter , who has dementia, took an outing a week ago to attend the annual peanut festival in their hometown of Plains, Georgia.

Carter's grandson Jason told the New York Times that the former president faced physical limitations and was "coming to the end," but was home, with his wife, and at peace.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Leslie Adler)
 Flash

Deputy Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Monique Nsanzabaganwa has called for further deepening Africa-China relations across a range of sectors.

Noting the great value that the African continent, under the umbrella of the continental bloc -- AU, attaches to its comprehensive relations with China, Nsanzabaganwa stressed the need to improve the bilateral ties.

"We need further opening up of new prospects for Africa-China cooperation -- expansion of trade and investment, experience sharing on poverty reduction, strengthening of cooperation on digital economy and the promotion of entrepreneurship by young Africans, and the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises," said Nsanzabaganwa.

The senior AU official made the remarks during an event marking the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Tuesday night.

Nsanzabaganwa further said the AU will continue to appreciate China in the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, which she said is in line with the AU's 50-year continental development blueprint -- the Agenda 2063 -- as well as the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

She said the AU welcomes the active support and participation of African countries in the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, and commended the Chinese government for its support of different programs implemented by the pan-African bloc and its member African countries.

During the event, He Youlin, the charge d'affaires of the Mission of China to the AU, on his part echoed Nsanzabaganwa's sentiment, as he called for further strengthening China-AU cooperation in particular and China-Africa ties in general.

"China and the AU are key partners in upholding international fairness and justice," He said. "We are confident that, with our joint efforts, we will gather the great strength of the 2.8 billion Chinese and African people, elevating the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership to a new stage, and building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future."
Everyday when PJ Haynie wakes up, he prays to God for two things.

As farmers, we go out and as they say, we plant and pray, Haynie said. We plant a crop  we pray for rain; we pray for prices.

Its a hot Saturday morning and Haynie is sitting on the porch of his familys farming office in Heathsville, Virginia. For years, he has prayed over his enterprise of crops here and a large rice mill, Arkansas River Rice, that his family co-owns more than a thousand miles away in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

The familys ties to land in Northumberland County, Virginia  and to farming  stretch back generations; back to when their ancestors were enslaved and forced to farm to fuel the American economy.

But now, Haynie said his familys story has come full circle and hes using those generations of agricultural knowledge to continue their legacy of feeding others, both at home and abroad.

The weight of his ancestors sacrifices hit the 45-year-old farmer hard, as he spoke to CNN.

I teared up one day because I thought, My ancestors came from Africa as slaves. I have been blessed with the ability to know how to grow crops and grow food here in America  and now were shipping rice back to Africa to help feed (the children) of my ancestors.

It was a very emotional moment for me, Haynie said.

According to the family, in 1867, Robert Haynie, freed from slavery, purchased 60 acres of land in Northumberland County, Virginia. That land has been passed down within the Haynie family for more than 150 years.

Part of the original 60 acres that Robert Haynie purchased in 1867 in Northumberland County, Virginia, as seen from above. - CNN

The Haynie family also has farming operations in Arkansas, where they grow rice, wheat, soybeans and corn. And when an opportunity came to expand the family business by purchasing an industrial rice mill in the state, Haynie said he stepped out on faith.

In December 2021, PJ Haynie, along with his father, Philip (Ricky) Haynie II, and their business partner bought the Arkansas River Rice mill.

My grandfather would be rolling in his grave if he could see what were doing now, Haynie said. The only option he had was hauling [crops] five miles down the road and selling it to Perdue Farms or Southern States back then.

An alternative food source

As many countries endure food insecurity  exacerbated by the war in Ukraine  the US has stepped up to meet the increased global need for agriculture products like rice, Daniel Whitley, Foreign Agricultural Service administrator for the US Department of Agriculture, told CNN.

Whenever theres a crisis, American agriculture is always one of the first to be called upon and one of the first to respond and this situation has been no different, Whitley said.

The war in Ukraine has led to an increase in food security concerns, and many of those countries are interested in finding alternative sources for products they may have gotten out of that region of the world.

The Haynie family is hoping their rice mill can be counted among those alternative sources.

In 2022, the US exported $1.7 billion (2 million metric tons) of rice, according to the USDA. That grain is produced primarily in four regions, including parts of the Gulf Coast and Californias Sacramento Valley.

Arkansas, where the Haynies rice mill is located, produces the most rice of any state in the country and Arkansas River Rice is one of the few Black-owned mills in the US.

The Haynie family co-owns Arkansas River Rice, a rice mill located in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. - Courtesy atLocal

By creating more export opportunities for farmers of color, Whitley said the USDA also hopes to boost inclusivity in its programs and reduce inequality.

Many Black-owned agriculture businesses and Black farmers, Whitley added, have not had the opportunity to export their products abroad on the scale the Haynie family has, which makes the Arkansas River Rice mill rare.

That is something PJ Haynie said he takes pride in, and he hopes to pass that pride down to the next generation of Haynie farmers.

Arkansas River Rice can process 22 metric tons of rice in an hour, which Haynie told CNN is the equivalent of an 18-wheel tractor trailer filled with rice. A year after opening, the company secured two contracts from the USDAs Foreign Agricultural Service to export rice internationally for humanitarian aid, he said.

Arkansas River Rice has shipped hundreds of metric tons of rice to address food insecurity in the Central African Republic and Kyrgyzstan this year.

Employees at Arkansas River Rice prepare a shipment for USAID. - Courtesy PJ Haynie

As he thought about the impact his familys grain would have on countries around the world, PJ Haynie recalled a moment with his 21-year-old daughter, Colette, when she first visited the mill.

She said, Dad, this is pretty cool. We could help feed people with this thing. And that was an emotional punch to the stomach that I wasnt expecting, he told CNN.

Harvesting ancestral knowledge

Long before they were captured and sold into bondage, Haynies West African ancestors grew a variety of rice in their homeland called Oryza glaberrima.

Commonly known as African rice, the grain, ranging from a reddish-brown to black or purple hue, was domesticated more than 3,000 years ago, UCLA geography professor Judith Carney told CNN.

Carney, who has studied African ecology and food systems for more than 35 years, traced the journey of rice from West Africa to the Americas in her book Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas.

Long before the transatlantic slave trade, farmers grew Oryza glaberrima across the African continent. - VW Pics/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Her research shows Oryza glaberrima was the first rice brought to the Americas.

African rice likely led the way for the plantation system based on the crop in the Carolina colony, she told CNN. By the end of the 17th century, planters were accessing rice occasionally left over from slave voyages to plant and contacting ship captains requesting seed from Asian rice societies.

When enslaved people were brought to the Carolina wetlands, they were forced to clear dense forests to grow rice, as well as their own food. Carney said White enslavers appropriated the knowledge curated by African rice growers and forced them to plant new, higher yielding varieties of rice brought from other countries.

To meet demand for the crop, enslaved Africans milled the rice by hand in a wooden mortar with a pestle until the mid-eighteenth century when mechanical milling devices were invented, Carney said.

According to Carney, milling rice by hand combined with hours of exertion and high demand for the grain was grueling and contributed to the death of many enslaved Africans.

Plantation owners in the Carolinas, Georgia, and northern Florida profited mightily from a farming system perfected by West Africans, Carney said.

The Haynie family believes their ancestor Robert, born enslaved, left them a legacy of land ownership so they would not endure the same oppression he experienced and could have a better life.

He wanted to leave his children something; somewhere that they would have a place over their head, Philip (Ricky) Haynie II, 69, said of his great-grandfather.

He set an example and a lesson for them.

Building a legacy for the future

In 1920, there were 925,708 Black farmers in the United States. By 2017, that number had dwindled to only 48,697  roughly 1.4% of all 3.4 million US farmers  according to the most recent USDA census of agriculture.

PJ Haynie and his family, like thousands of other Black farmers, have battled racism and discrimination across generations to maintain both their land and farming businesses.

Haynie said his family has faced threats from White farmers and recalled a time he was intimidated by a White USDA employee when inquiring about loan options.

The USDA has begun making progress in its efforts to remedy decades of mistreatment experienced by farmers of color like the Haynie family.

The agency has paid out more than a billion dollars in financial relief to farmers who have faced discriminatory lending practices and recently extended its deadline for farmers to apply for relief.

Standing in a field next to the family farming office, PJ and his father explain the wheat harvesting process to Philip Haynie IV, 19, and Colette.

Holding kernels of wheat, Colette and Philip listen intently as their father and grandfather explain how to preserve the grain to yield the best quality for good prices.

Haynie holds a piece of wheat grown in Northumberland County, Virginia. - CNN

The Haynie family hopes to one day sell their rice and other farm products directly in stores.

They also hope owning the rice mill will encourage other Black farmers and young people to pursue farming careers. But for now, their focus is on ensuring they can do their part to help alleviate hunger around the world.

PJ said he feels fortunate his ancestors paved the way for him to become a farmer and wants to do the same for future generations.

My family has given me the ability and the confidence  to go out a thousand miles away, to put our stake in the ground and grow, he said.

And now were very blessed to be able to grow crops in two states and be part of a processing facility where we can process rice and help feed the needs of the world and feed those that are hungry.

CNNs Aaron Fisher and Mackenzie Happe contributed to this report.

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Oklahoma County and its troubled jail face yet another lawsuit that claims a detainee was denied constitutional rights.

The latest lawsuit filed earlier this week seeks financial compensation for the death of Kyle Steven Shaw, 36, who is one of more than 40 detainees who have died at Oklahoma County's jail since July 2020 after its operation was taken over by the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority.

Beyond those deaths, the jail has experienced a hostage situation, failed health inspections and was the subject of a scathing grand jury report calling for control of the facility to be returned to the sheriff.

Shaw was taken to the jail in May 2021 by sheriff's deputies after he was arrested on a assault and battery with a dangerous weapon complaint.

He was being held at the jail while awaiting trial. Shaw was discovered dead inside his cell on Feb. 13, 2022.

An autopsy revealed he died from a fentanyl overdose.

More: Broken Trust: How the Oklahoma County jail leadership failed those it sought to protect

While attorneys for plaintiff Jeffrey Allen Simmons admit it hasn't been determined how Shaw ingested the illegal narcotic, they argue the jail's operator failed to take needed steps beforehand to protect the victim and others like him from the risk.

Like other lawsuits filed against the jail, Simmons' case highlights findings made by both the U.S. Justice Department after reviewing the jail's operations in 2008 and the grand jury's report, which criticized the jail's operations, insufficient staffing levels and inadequate attempts to keep illegal drugs like fentanyl out of the building.

Handcuffs are attached to a security bar at the Oklahoma County jail.

"One of the most significant design flaws within the jail is its cinderblock construction and the ease in which inmates can break through the walls, including the external walls," making it possible for detainees to both bring contraband inside the building and to pass it from cell to cell, the grand jury's reported stated.

At least one instance where a former jail employee was arrested after being accused of bringing contraband inside the building is highlighted by the lawsuit, too.

Former detention officer China Lynn Tucker faces charges of aggravated trafficking of illegal drugs-fentanyl, unlawful possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, acquiring proceeds from drug activities, bringing contraband into a penal institution and conspiracy to commit a felony. Her case is working its way through pre-trial hearings.

New rules and procedures to catch attempts to bring illegal drugs into the jail were implemented about a month after Shaw's death, the lawsuit states.

Meanwhile, the jail has released some employees after uncovering other instances where they were trying to bring contraband into the jail, cultivating improper relationships with detainees or just not pulling their loads.

"As the grand jury report details, the Oklahoma County Jail, its operators, and its staff maintained a problematic culture of deliberate indifference to the danger posed by controlled substances entering the jail  a problem only exacerbated by outrageously shoddy hiring, little to no oversight of inmates by employees, poor training, and a crumbling facility," the lawsuit states.

More: Commissioner: New jail to be 'night and day' improvement from current jail's problems

The lawsuit claims Shaw's rights under the U.S. Constitution's Eighth and 14th Amendments were violated and that jail officials were negligent, leading to his wrongful death. It seeks at least $75,000 in compensation, plus attorneys fees.

County, Criminal Justice Authority face multiple lawsuits

Numerous lawsuits have been filed in the federal courthouse in Oklahoma City against Oklahoma County and its criminal justice authority that claim detainees' civil rights were violated. They include:

A lawsuit filed in June 2022 that claims detainee Ta'Vion Murphy was attacked and stabbed nearly 30 times with a shiv by inmates from another cell in his pod with the implicit approval of a guard. Murphy survived the attack.

A lawsuit filed in July 2022 that claims detainee Roy Lee Parkerson Jr. was attacked on Dec. 3, 2020, by another detainee who was on administrative segregation but still allowed into his cell by a guard. Parkerson survived the attack.

A lawsuit filed in August 2022 that claims detainee Jazmine Miller was attacked by a guard using excessive force as she showered at the Oklahoma County jail on Aug. 6, 2020. Miller survived the attack.

A lawsuit filed in September 2022 that claims detainee Billy Joe Altstatt was severely beaten by a cellmate, despite Allstatt reporting the threat to jail guards before the attack happened. After being hospitalized for weeks, Allstatt was returned to the same pod where his previous attacker was being held, it claims.

A lawsuit filed in December 2022 that claims detainee Aaron Lemeal Cooper deliberately was moved by a guard from one pod to another, where he was attacked by numerous members of a rival gang. Cooper survived the attack.

A lawsuit filed in January that claims detainee Stoney M. Currin II was severely beaten by two guards on Jan. 10, 2021. Currin survived the attack.

A lawsuit filed in February that claims the jail didn't do enough to prevent Parker Stephens from committing suicide in his cell on Feb. 2, 2021.

A lawsuit filed in April that claims the jail didn't do enough to prevent detainee Lee Alexander Chouteau from dying in a holding cell on June 24, 2021.

A lawsuit filed in May that claims the jail should have prevented detainee Brad Lane from being beat to death by a cellmate using a walking boot Lane had been wearing.

A lawsuit filed in August that claims the jail should have prevented detainee Gregory Neal Davis from dying in August 2021 inside the jail after having been arrested for indecent exposure while suffering an apparent mental health crisis.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma County jail facing another wrongful death lawsuit
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Abortion opponents in Ohio are at odds not only over how to frame their opposition to a reproductive rights initiative on the state's November ballot but also over their longer-term goals on how severely they would restrict the procedure.

The disagreements, roiling the anti-abortion side just six weeks before Election Day, are providing a window into the challenges the wider movement is preparing to navigate next year. Initiatives to protect reproductive rights are expected in multiple states and abortion will be a central issue in candidate races up and down the ballot.

Scattershot campaign messaging in Ohio hints at some of the internal conflict among members of the broad anti-abortion coalition aligned against the constitutional amendment that seeks to protect abortion access in Ohio.

Early ads played on voters' fears by warning that the amendment, known as Issue 1, would be a gateway to teenagers getting abortions and gender-transition surgeries without their parents consent. Other efforts focused on advancing legal arguments about the amendment's specific phrasing, including the meaning of reproductive health care."

In its first statewide TV ad, which began airing this past week, the opposition campaign Protect Women Ohio went in yet another direction. It combined clips of former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden on screen to try to unite Republicans and Democrats against the proposal's ability to protect abortions into the ninth month of pregnancy, even though health statistics show later-term abortions are a rarity, generally reserved for life-threatening circumstances.

Terry Casey, an Ohio Republican consultant, said the opposition campaign's reliance on two unpopular politicians in the ad only extends a disjointed approach that ultimately will be unlikely to win the day with voters.

The key thing Im looking at is, Whats the message on the no side, and is it clear and understandable?" he said. "So far, I havent seen that, nor that they have the money and resources to define the issue to the 11.5 million people of Ohio.

Casey said Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, the coalition advocating a yes vote, seems to have developed a consistent message  freedom from government interference in one's personal reproductive health decisions  and stuck with it. That's easier to do when you're on a winning streak, he said.

The U.S. Supreme Courts ruling last year that overturned Roe v. Wade kicked the abortion question back to the states. Since then, voters in both Democratic and deeply Republican states  California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont  have voted to protect abortion rights in one form or another. Abortion rights questions are planned in more than half a dozen states next year.

David Zanotti, president and CEO of the conservative American Policy Roundtable, said it's crystal clear that the abortion rights movement was ready for the high court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and that "the anti-abortion community was not.

For 50 years, we didnt have to think about this because the big people in the black robes said its not your business, he said. Now suddenly, its our business.

Republicans across the country are divided over how to move forward on the issue, particularly because the string of defeats is backed up by public polling that suggests about two-thirds of people in the United States believe abortion should generally be legal. Do Republicans capitalize on the Dobbs decision to push for an abortionless future, concede to a patchwork of individual state laws or compromise on federal legislation?

Protect Women Ohio is funded largely by the campaign arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading national anti-abortion group. Last spring, the organization enlisted Kellyanne Conway, a pollster and onetime Trump adviser, to get pro-life candidates on offense in the 2024 election cycle.

Conway and Marjorie Dannenfelser, Susan B. Anthonys president, defined what they mean by pro-life when they wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that the anti-abortion movement should embrace a minimum standard of banning abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy.

The column appeared after Ohio Republicans defeat in an August special election, when the state's voters resoundingly rejected a proposed amendment that would have made it tougher to pass the abortion measure and other future constitutional changes.

The American Policy Roundtable doesn't support federal action, after conservatives spent half a century fighting to bring decision-making power on abortion back to the state level. Zanotti said it has chosen to run its own campaign against the Ohio amendment focused on its phrasing and legal reach.

Another major player in the anti-abortion movement, the Catholic Conference of Ohio, is part of the statewide coalition but is also running its own parallel effort opposing the amendment. Executive Director Brian Hickey said that campaign focuses on three points: parental rights, the safety of women and the fact the amendment would allow abortions through all nine months.

I would place the Catholic Conference as supporting as much human life as possible and as expansive resources as possible to pregnant women, single mothers and young families, he said. That includes tax credits, affordable housing, social support, that sort of thing.

Austin Beigel, president of End Abortion Ohio, does not consider the 15-week policy that Susan B. Anthony is supporting as pro-life. He said he has begun referring to himself as an abortion abolitionist because he believes the term pro-life has become meaningless.

I dont use that phrase anymore, because it seems the pro-life movement no longer wants to accomplish the goal of abolishing abortion, he said. Somewhere along the line, the various groups began to abandon the idea.

To groups like his, one date stands out  May 12, 2022. Just days after a draft leaked suggesting the Supreme Court would overturn Roe, but before the court had acted, Louisiana was poised to pass a bill defining abortion as homicide, exposing women to criminal prosecution and prison. More than 75 anti-abortion groups, led by National Right to Life, signed an open letter condemning the legislation.

The president of Ohio Right to Life was among those signing the letter, which Beigel's group criticized. The divide between the state's anti-abortion camps widened earlier this year over an effort to introduce a similar bill in Ohio, which would have banned abortions from conception and criminalized the doctors and women involved in them.

That bill was nearing introduction this summer when another anti-abortion activist active in the Protect Women Ohio campaign pressured the sponsor to spike it, Beigel said. Their concern was that publicity over the bill would generate backlash and make it harder to defeat the abortion rights amendment, which had just qualified for the fall ballot.

Ohio's top Republican, Gov. Mike DeWine, is offering yet another message to voters in an effort to bolster the opposition to the constitutional amendment. A staunch Catholic who opposes abortion, DeWine is pledging that if voters defeat Issue 1, he will work toward a legislative compromise that the majority of the people are comfortable with.

To supporters of abortion rights, the divisions that the Ohio amendment have exposed in the anti-abortion movement are merely cosmetic, said NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland.

She pointed to legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to ban abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks. With a Republican majority state supreme court, Copeland said she has no doubts about what Republicans will do if Issue 1 is defeated.

No matter whos taking the lead, or what theyre saying, their goal has been and remains a total ban on abortion with no exceptions, she said. What theyre arguing about is strategy, tactics for holding onto voters who are not on their side.
A federal appeals court ruled late Thursday that bans on gender-affirming care for minors can continue in Tennessee and Kentucky.

The appeals court ruling overturns injunctions from lower courts earlier this year that blocked the sections of the states laws regarding gender-affirming care, citing sex discrimination.

The courts 2-1 decision states that Tennessee and Kentucky lawmakers made precise cost-benefit decisions in instituting the bans and did not trigger any reason for judges to second-guess them.

Both bans were passed by Republican legislatures in the states. Kentuckys ban was vetoed by Gov. Andy Beshear (D) in March, but the veto was overridden.

Prohibiting citizens and legislatures from offering their perspectives on high-stakes medical policies, in which compassion for the child points in both directions, is not something life-tenured federal judges should do without a clear warrant in the Constitution, Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote in his opinion.

At least 22 states have implemented bans on gender-affirming care and other transgender care for minors, nearly all of which have been challenged in court. Bans on gender-affirming care have been stopped by courts in Arkansas, Alabama, Indiana and Florida, mostly on procedural grounds.

LGBTQ advocates criticized the ruling, but committed to pressing on in legal challenges against the laws.

Were disappointed with the courts ruling, Corey Shapiro, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said in a statement. The majority ignored the extensive evidence from the actual medical experts and the trial court who all agreed that this care is medically necessary, effective, and appropriate.

While it is disheartening that the panel believes it is constitutional for the government to prohibit transgender youth from accessing such necessary health care, this is only a temporary setback, he added.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a major advocate for his states ban, called the ruling a win for democracy.

Decisions that are not clearly resolved by the Constitution should be resolved by the people through their elected representatives, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Authorities are investigating a shooting that killed a man Friday night, Dallas police announced in a news release.

At around 10:45 p.m. Friday, police responded to a shooting call in the 13400 block of Esperanza Road.

The preliminary investigation determined a suspect and the male victim were in an argument when the suspect shot the victim.

Dallas Fire-Rescue responded, and the victim died from his injuries.

No arrests have been announced and the victims identity has not been released.

This is an ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to contact Detective Phillip Wheeler at 214-671-3686 or phillip.wheeler@dallaspolice.gov.
The corner of 91st Street and Houston Avenue, next to a youth arts center in South Chicago, is not the same without Pepes elote cart, neighbors say. He has been selling corn, churros and other snacks there for more than a decade.

There are the children who run up to hug him  mijos, he calls them, a colloquial way to say dear, in Spanish  the long conversations with neighbors and the jokes and laughs with the kids at the nearby arts center from where he parks his cart. And even if someone is short a dollar or two, he still gives them their corn or whatever snack theyre craving.

Luego me lo pagas, he tells them. You can pay me later. But what he really means is that its OK to take the snack without ever paying in full. Its his way of showing love and appreciation for the community that has given him so much, he said.

But two weeks ago, on Sept. 21, Ruben Pepe Olivares was robbed at gunpoint right before 5 p.m. while selling on his usual corner outside the SkyArt studio at 3026 E 91st St. Three of his customers were standing with him when a masked man approached, pointed a gun and demanded money.

The gunman took more than $2,000 and shot in their direction five times  a sound heard by the children in the art studio. But no one was struck and the gunman fled, according to Chicago police. No one is in custody and Area 2 detectives continue to investigate.

Since then, Pepe has not returned to set up shop. The robber didnt just take a weeks worth of income, Pepe said, he also stole his sense of peace in a community that he loves.

I just need some time to recover, said Pepe in Spanish while sitting outside his home a few houses from where the robbery occurred. But I also just didnt know just how many people cared for me, that they knew that I existed; that I matter in this community.

Hundreds of the South Chicago community members, including children at the arts center, donated to a GoFundMe that Alex Galvan, an art therapist at SkyART created to help Pepe recover financially. It has reached almost $10,000.

Pepe is a staple in our community, said Tasha Robinson, chief operations officer at SkyArt. I hope that he knows that now.

Selling elotes, sometimes tamales and even Mexican flags, has been Pepes and his familys livelihood since he migrated to South Chicago in 2010. But he has been a merchant his whole life, he said. In his native Veracruz, Mexico, he sold groceries.

Now he works most of the year. He starts in February, and only puts away his cart through the colder months of the year. He named his business Las Dos Hermanas, after his two daughters.

His daughters, 21 and 19, now also run their own elote cart in the neighborhood.

Some people make fun of us or undermine us, but this is a business like any other and its allowed me to support my family all these years, he said.

South Chicago is a Black and Latino neighborhood that is, for the most part, quiet and peaceful, said Robinson. The robbery really struck the community and its response is no surprise, she said.

Many of the students at the center grow up not only seeing him, but getting to know him, forming a bond that goes beyond age, language and race. He and his wife, Patricia Mota are known beyond their elotes  they often participate in festivals and community events, often offering their goods for discounted prices.

Everyone at the center knows Pepe, Robinson said, and he participates in most of their events as a vendor. His wife also helps to clean the center.

The center, another pillar in the community, provides children and young adults free visual art programs. It coincidently recently received a $250,000 grant to provide Safe Space Programming for youth through the Illinois Department of Human Services - Chicago Youth Development & Intervention Services.

We teach our children how to take care of each other, how do we show up for our community, Robinson said.

Pepe, is the epitome of that, Robinson said.

Riana Green, a community member, recalled the times that Pepe would walk over to her uncles car to give him his raspa  crushed flavored ice  through the window so that he wouldnt have to get out of the car while he was undergoing chemotherapy.

You helped him so I wanted to help you. You are a blessing to this community. Praying for you and thank you for what you did for my uncle. God bless, Reene wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Pepe and his family said they are in awe of the immense amount of help that theyve gotten. May God bless them, Pepe said.

He said its his faith in God that is giving him the strength to cope with the traumatic event: What if those bullets had struck me or my clients? he said he asks himself. I cant help imagining an altar on that corner rather than my cart.

The morning before the robbery an instructor at the center approached him to say hello. She gave him a hug and pointed out his shirt because it had an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that matched the image of a pendant she had on.

After the robbery, she ran out and hugged him again.

Ella nos cuido, she told him. She took care of us.

In Mexico, his mother still waits for him. It was she who taught him to have faith in God and the Lady of Guadalupe. The two kept him safe.

larodriguez@chicagotribune.com
The Group of Twenty (G20), a forum of 1,900 industrialized nations plus the European Union, has 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.

Arthur I. Cyr

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 strengthen strategic partnership between the United States and Vietnam. The relationship was formally raised to a comprehensive strategic partnership by Hanoi. This is their highest designation for cooperation. Previously, our relationship had been at their lowest designation.

Last year in November, Indonesia hosted a G20 summit. President 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 their powerhouse economy  and stable political democracy  during the years following the devastating Korean War of 1950 to 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 long-time 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.

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 this 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 UN 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). Contact acyr@carthage.edu.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Arthur Cyr: The G20 gathers again
ASHEVILLE - Activists, nonprofits and community leaders paraded through downtown Asheville on a sunny Sept. 30 to celebrate Blue Ridge Pride, donning rainbow outfits and signs of support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Prior to the precession starting, Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara spoke to the crowd through a megaphone, recalling her first time at a Pride parade and stating that 2023's Blue Ridge Pride could be "life-changing" for the younger members of the community.

"When I was 18 years old it was life-changing for me to see Pride in Durham, North Carolina," Beach-Ferrara said. "To feel like there was a version of North Carolina that can be home to everyone."

Almost seven years ago, Beach-Ferrara made history in becoming the first openly gay Buncombe County Commissioner. Last year, Beach-Ferrara ran in the general election for the NC 11th Congressional District, losing to Chuck Edwards.

Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara speaks to the crowd through a megaphone prior to the 2023 Blue Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30.

Formed in 2009, Blue Ridge Pride is a nonprofit organization that serves 23 counties in Western North Carolina. This year, the organization chose the theme of "advocate" in response to recent "bad bills, anti-drag narrative and numerous other attacks against the LGBTQ+ community," according to the Blue Ridge Pride website.

Many carried signs that protested or alluded to recent anti-LGBTQ+ bills being pushed in both state and federal bodies, with Democratic State Chair Anderson Clayton speaking against the bills during the event.

"The state general assembly that we are under right now has targeted the LGBTQ+ community this year with 12 different pieces of legislation  trying to harm trans youth in this state, trying to make people afraid to be who they are, and to love who they love," Clayton said.

"In the land of the free, that should never happen."

In June this year, the North Carolina House passed House Bill 808, which restricts certain types of gender-affirming care for transgender people under the age of 18, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgical gender transition procedures. It also creates penalties for doctors who perform those treatments.

House Bill 808 was vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper, which was overridden by the Republican supermajorities in the NC House and Senate.

In June, a Target in Asheville pulled its LGBTQ+ merchandise after national threats to staff and vandalism.

Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina State Democratic Party, speaks during 2023 Blue Ridge Pride Sept. 30. Clayton is the youngest chair of any state Democratic party.

LGBTQ+ coverage last year: Macon County commissioner denounces library Pride Month display; opposes funding increase

Same sex marriages rise: Asheville same-sex marriages skyrocket as LGBTQ community braces for rollback of rights

Organizations show support, spread joy.

For drag queen Dahmit Janet, who is the president of The Beer City Sisters, Pride is a place to spread the message of her organization and to celebrate.

"We're here to expiate stigmatic guilt  guilt that it put on you for who you are  and to spread universal joy," Janet said. "Is there a better place to do that than Pride?"

The Beer City Sisters is a local nonprofit that is "dedicated to promoting and celebrating diversity, social awareness, universal joy, and the expiation of stigmatic guilt," according to Beer City Sisters website. The organization serves through "self expression and irreverent humor for advocacy, education, outreach and philanthropy."

The Beer City Sisters, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting "diversity, social awareness, universal joy and the expiation of stigmatic guilt," marching in the 2023 Blue Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30.

For Janet, Pride also serves as an opportunity to provide spaces for younger members of the LGBTQ+ community.

"Seeing and knowing that there's spaces for them. Just giving them a smile and they smile back  that really warms my heart," Janet said.

Lucy Robbins, pastor at Biltmore United Methodist Church, said the congregation came to show the importance of "being a partner in ministry and loving all people." Robbins also believes it is a way to avoid misconceptions about Christians.

"We're excited to be present and to be welcoming and open as an inclusive congregation and letting people know that the story of the church is a positive one," Robbins said. "It's not always a negative emphasis that Christians have against the queer community; we believe in in all people and that God's love is for all people."

2023's Blue Ridge Pride also was supported by local sponsors Mission Health, Harrahs Cherokee Casino Resort, Wicked Weed and Explore Asheville, among others.

More: Hendersonville LGBTQ pastor criticizes Lt. Governor's 'filth' comments

More: After NC abortion bill, will Asheville Planned Parenthood close? Will DAs prosecute?

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.

A flag that says "human" flies during the 2023 Blue Ridge Pride Precession Sept. 30. Each letter represents a different pride flag.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Blue Ridge Pride brings support from local, state leaders for LGBTQ+
 Flash

Cambodia highly appreciated the current development of economic and trade cooperation with China, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Aun Pornmoniroth told Xinhua in an interview on Friday.

Pornmoniroth, who is also the minister of economy and finance, said many infrastructure projects, technology transfer, and investments in Cambodia, which are a crucial source of economic growth, have been promoted under the Cambodia-China financial cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.

The trade volume between the two countries is increasing yearly, even with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. "It is believed to increase further in upcoming years."

Cambodia can export agricultural products to China directly, including bananas, mango, and longan, just to name a few, he added.

Besides, the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which took effect in 2022, demonstrate the commitment of participating countries to safeguarding the multilateral trading system, maintaining economic openness, and upholding a spirit of cooperation, which will, in turn, enhance socio-economic development.

"Undoubtedly, the two agreements will largely contribute to Cambodia's graduation from its status as a least-developed country in the next five years and an achievement of Cambodia's vision to become an upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050," Pornmoniroth said.

He added that the bilateral economic and trade cooperation reached another significant level during the official visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to China, resulting in the signing of a crucial document, namely, the action plan on building a Cambodia-China community with a shared future in the new era (2024-2028).

Also, he said both countries agreed to enhance trade facilitation to promote high-quality development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, including making full use of the CCFTA and RCEP, promoting e-commerce cooperation, China International Import Expo, China Import and Export Fair, China-ASEAN Expo, China International Consumer Products Expo, and China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair, among others.

Pornmoniroth said the signed action plan emphasizes the key priority areas of cooperation, such as politics, production capacity, agriculture, energy, security, and people-to-people exchanges, called the Cambodia-China Diamond Hexagon cooperation framework.

He added that the action plan clearly reflects the two countries' commitment to deepening the building of a high quality, high level, and high standard Cambodia-China community with a shared future in the new era.
Attorney Robert DeSanto urged the Ashland County commissioners to vote and enter into record a Resolution of Opposition to State Issue 2, which proposes legalizing recreational marijuana use and sales in Ohio.

These folks that deal with it every day know that Issue 2 should be defeated, DeSanto said at the Thursday meeting. I would assume that many of the social agencies in town should stand up and be heard about this too because they see the effect of drug use in the home.

DeSanto said this is not about medical marijuana, and that the bill is 42 pages long, not to just legalize marijuana, but to create an industry in Ohio.

I ask the county commissioners to pass a resolution, that at least as far as youre concerned, it is not in the best interest of Ashland County and the taxpayers of Ashland, to vote positively for Issue 2," he said.

Commissioners voted and entered into record their opposition to Issue 2.

The Ashland County Office Building at the intersection of West Main and Cottage Streets is seen here Tuesday, April 6, 2021. TOM E. PUSKAR/TIMES-GAZETTE.COM

Other action at the Ashland commissioners meeting

Concurred with the appointment of Dawn Souslin, as administrative assistant, a non-bargaining unit position within the Department of Job and Family Services, with a starting pay rate of $21.21 per hour, effective Oct. 2, as recommended by Peter Stefaniuk, director.

Entered into a contract with Armstrong Utilities for fiber optic internet service for the County Office Building and Courthouse at a monthly rate of $740, with a one-time $500 installation fee.

Accepted a proposal for $21,000 from GOP Limited Structural Engineers to evaluate the grandstand at the fairgrounds.

After Stefaniuk spoke on the PRC Plan Revisions as part of the bi-annual review, the revisions were approved. Revisions included language dealing with programs such as with Ready, Set, Go, Project Comfort and Kinship Sharing among others.

Amy Hoffman from Palmer Energy gave an update on aggregation options for county energy needs as part of a new, 2-year contract.

Commissioners will meet 9 a.m. Thursday, in the Commissioners Conference Room on the second floor of the County Office Building. The meetings are open. They are livestreamed on the Ashland County Government Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland commissioners put opposition to legalizing marijuana on record
After Asian American woman attacked on train, she thanks other women for helping her

A woman who was attacked in the Boston subway is speaking out after a group of teens were recorded harassing her with racist language and attempting to block her from leaving the train.

Vivian Dang, 25, told NBC News that she was on the red line at around 10 p.m. last Thursday when the unidentified teens followed her into a train car. A video she took of the incident shows them hurling racial slurs, mocking her in an accent and physically cornering her.

Can I get some dumplings? one of the teens can be heard saying with a fake accent. Can I get some ramen with the egg?

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Transit Police confirmed to NBC News that the investigation is active and declined to comment any further on the incident. But the morning after the attack, police said on social media that they were looking for the teens, who had not only taunted, harassed and threatened passengers, but had also smashed a train window before fleeing.

Video of the incident has since gone viral on TikTok, prompting discussions over public transit safety.

While the train was crowded, Dang said that three women helped her throughout the ordeal. Two of them had encouraged her to sit next to them, while another spoke up for her.

We did have a moment when I was thanking them for sticking up for me and one of them even gave me a pepper spray because she had extra, Dang said. We just had a casual conversation about how she always has these things prepared.

One of the women also assured her of the severity of the situation and brought the police over to Dang, she said, helping her report the incident.

Since, Dang said shes been reflecting on their support, emphasizing that she thinks its no coincidence that women came to her defense. She said she thinks theres been a showing of solidarity among women over the public safety threats and harassment that they deal with.

Were kind of looking out for each other. Its always the women, Dang said. You see women pretending they know each other on the street just to have them avoid a stranger approaching them or something. Its very the norm to really just stick up for one another as a woman.

Im hoping that this is an eye opener for people taking public transport and just being more cautious of the people around you, Dang said. And I hope that this sparks more conversation into the racism thats been occurring, every day  not everybody gets to record their incident.

The 25-year-old said that when the teens entered the train, they immediately began to threaten passengers.

I was in the first cart with them. They were already saying stuff like, This is a mass robbery. Everyone get on the ground, Dang said. One of them sat right next to me, speaking really loudly at me, but I was just ignoring it.

When the teens attempted to yank the shoes off a male passenger, Dang said she moved to another train car. But the group trailed her.

One of the first things they said to me already was that I was being racist for staying away from Black people, Dang said. Then they started spewing things at me.

What followed, Dang said, was a barrage of anti-Asian insults, some of which didnt make it into her recording.

I didnt catch this on the clip, but they just went off in one part with so many comments about dogs and cats, saying, Oh, this is why my dog is missing, Dang said, referencing the racist stereotype around Asian cuisine. When one woman spoke up in defense of Dang, the teens began to mock her accent, the video shows.

For the most part, Dang said she stayed calm and quiet, attempting to appear unfazed by their remarks, until the teens tried to trap her in the car.

They were starting to say stuff like, Dont let her leave. said Dang, who was concerned they would follow her home. That was when I was starting to get really scared.

The group ended up getting off the train before Dang did.

Dang said that receiving racist remarks isnt new to her, and that during the height of the Covid pandemic verbal attacks became more common on public transit. To truly address the problem, Dang said that media, politicians and those with a platform need to be more cognizant that their words and the blame that was shifted toward the Asian community has led to real-life consequences.

Lack of education, lack of resources of being able to control the things that people are hearing, and saying  thats ultimately the reason why we still deal with these things every day, Dang said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Authorities have made an arrest in connection with the shooting deaths of a man and a woman in a parking lot in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Friday night.

Victor Rivera, 48, of Nashua, is slated to be arraigned Monday in Hillsboro County Superior Court on charges of knowingly causing the deaths of two victims by shooting them and recklessly causing the deaths of two victims under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella and Nashua Police Chief Kevin Rourke said in a joint news release.

Officers responding to a report of gunshots in the area of the Maple Street parking lot in Nashua around 10:30 p.m. found a man and woman dead from apparent gunshot wounds, according to Formella and Rourke.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Concord will conduct autopsies on the victims, whose names havent been released.

Video from the scene showed police and firefighters gathering evidence near a boarded-up building that had a posted No Trespassing sign.

The exact circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.

There were no additional details immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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An autopsy confirmed that the death of a toddler at a New York City day care earlier this month was caused by fentanyl overdose.

On Sept. 15, Grei Mendez, 36, who operated El Divino Nino day care from an apartment in the Bronx, called the police to report that some of the children at her day care were unresponsive. The children were taken to the hospital and received treatment for what medical professionals determined to be symptoms of opioid poisoning.

One of the children, Nicholas Feliz-Dominici, was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital. The New York City medical examiners office confirmed on Friday that the 1-year-old died from acute fentanyl intoxication, CBS News reported.

During a search of the apartment, police found large quantities of fentanyl, including a kilogram of fentanyl stored on top of a childrens play mat, and machinery and paraphernalia used to package narcotics. In a further search, a secret compartment with large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs was found.

Mendez was arrested on federal drug charges in this case, and is also facing state murder charges. According to the Associated Press, three other people have been arrested on federal charges in relation to this case, including Mendezs husband, Felix Herrera Garcia, 34, who had fled the day of the incident.

Prosecutors say Mendez had called Herrera Garcia as well as another employee before dialing 911 on Sept. 15 to report the unresponsive children. Mendez allegedly also deleted about 21,526 messages between her and her husband dating back to March 2021 through an encrypted app.

Parents entrusted Grei Mendez with the care of their children, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. As alleged, instead of diligently safeguarding the well-being of those children, she and her co-conspirators put them directly in harms way, running a narcotics operation and storing deadly fentanyl out of the very space in which the children ate, slept, and played. The disregard shown by Mendez and her co-conspirators for the lives of the children under her care is simply staggering.

Related...
This is the story of how an aspiring actors unquenching thirst for justice and long documented trouble with the law ends with a redemption arc straight out of a comic book.

At least thats how Cleve DuBois would explain it.

Im finally starting my acting career and this time Im going forward with it instead of losing everything and getting in trouble. Im looking for a lead role and even can be the bad guy. Id make a good looking bad guy, DuBois, who is on the long side of 50, said from Myrtle Beachs Chapin Park.

South Carolinas city by the sea is where DuBois hopes to wash away a past that includes multiple prison sentences, beatings and habitual drug use  taking inspiration from the legendary superhero he emulated for years as a crime-fighting character on the streets of Charleston.

Homeless for the past seven years, DuBois arrived in Myrtle Beach earlier this month and has been staying at New Directions. He has family in Aynor and fond memories of rolling through the city decades ago for Bike Week.

For years, the heavily tattooed DuBois was the self-styled Palmetto State Batman. It began in the early 2000s when the Charleston native customized a 1978 Mercury Cougar sedan into a Batmobile for his then 9-year-old son, complete with a fire spitting tailpipe.

From there, DuBois leaned into the character, constructing himself a Batsuit complete with a Kevlar vest. Hed navigate Charlestons dark alleys and backrooms breaking up crimes in progress or halting them before they could begin.

By his estimation, DuBois has intervened to help more than 1,000 people.

Im still in the Batman mode. I want to get back on with my life, though. Ive seen so many people beaten, hurt and so much blood, DuBois said.

Hes also seen his fair share of the criminal justice system.

Most recently, DuBois beat a 2019 drug charge out of Summerville after Berkeley County police claimed to have discovered 4 1/2 pounds of meth under the hood of a car he owned.

Court records show he faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted, but the case was dropped in August 2021. DuBois says the drugs were planted by enemies he made after renouncing Folk Nation.

In 2017, he was given two years probation following a domestic violence case in Spartanburg, according to publicly available court records.

DuBois spent years in top echelons of the violent gang that built a reputation for drug running and assaults, though he said he never had any involvement with dealing illicit substances.

With a young daughter to raise and finally clear of prison and probation, DuBois is aggressively marketing himself and his past, hoping a major film or TV studio takes note of his larger than life story.

Im completely free and clear and ready to start over, you know? Im an older guy, you know, and I got a daughter out there. I want her to be able to look back even though Im not there anymore and say, theres my dad on TV, DuBois said.

Not ready to hang up his batsuit just yet

Dressed in all black save for the yellow on his Batman T-shirt, DuBois realizes his street look could give passersby the wrong idea, but its a signal on the streets.

It puts fear in the hearts of ones that know Im coming. When they see me or know Im on the way, they usually leave whatever theyre doing alone, DuBois said.

Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said self-appointed responses to crime is not advisable within city limits. He said officials arent familiar with DuBois.

I would point out that committing a crime to right a crime is not acceptable, he said. Two wrongs dont make a right.

As he looks for steady employment and a place to live, DuBois also hopes to adopt Batman as his legal name.

Hes building a new car and working on an updated suit  one with a bit more room for his larger frame.

A longtime student of kung fu, DuBois acknowledges hes not the Dark Knight he once was, but isnt ready to hang up the cowl.

I mean, if it came to something happening, its time. Thats all because Ive already done what Im supposed to do, and Ive done right by everybody, he said. I dont think theres really anyone thats been a vigilante like, been in the situations like me, and lived.
Ukraines Foreign Ministry has found out that the Belarusian government is hoping to arrange for foreign diplomats to meet children illegally deported from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Quote: "According to the information obtained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on 4 October, Belarus intends to arrange for representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps accredited in Minsk to visit the so-called places of residence, education, and rehabilitation of Ukrainian children who have been taken from the cities of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, temporarily occupied by Russia, to Belarus."

Details: Ukraines Foreign Ministry explained that the aim of the visit is to legalise the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territories of Ukraine.

The norms of international law stipulate that forcible deportation of children can constitute a war crime, the Foreign Ministry stressed, adding that Belarusian officials are trying to use international diplomatic representatives to avoid being held accountable.

Quote: "We are calling on foreign countries whose diplomatic representatives in Minsk have received invitations [from the Belarusian government to attend the event] to avoid taking part in the Belarusian regimes propaganda event.

We will continue to work to bring to justice everyone who has committed crimes against Ukrainian children, both nationally and as part of the International Criminal Court investigation."

Background:

In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin, finding him guilty of the illegal deportation of thousands of children from Ukraine. The issuance of the warrant means that Putin can be arrested if he travels to any member state of the International Criminal Court.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin confirmed that the US intends to hand over data on Russian war crimes to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

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!
Toni Cuello meets with a small group of her kindergarten students to study in her classroom one afternoon.

Its the first full week of class at Desert Sky Elementary in West Richland, and these students are learning their ABCs.

With each letter, Cuello raises a laminated sheet showing an image reference and a mouth shape. She works with them to sound the letter out.

Students then take little sticks and form the shape of each letter. How might they write it on paper? How might they see it in a book or a sentence?

We still have a lot of kids that arent reading on level in the upper grades, and I teach kindergarten because I know that the foundation for literacy is so important, said Cuello, who is in her 20th year teaching. Thats why I love kinder. Its important to me that these kids leave prepared.

This method of reading instruction isnt just new to her students  its also new to Cuello.

For two years, she and more than 100 of her colleagues in the Richland School District have spent hundreds of hours in a new literacy training called LETRS, or Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, to relearn how to teach students reading.

The district is also field testing two new K-5 curricula  Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts, and HMH Into Reading  with nearly 600 students in all 11 elementary schools participating.

One will be chosen and implemented in time for the 2024-25 school year.

Kindergarten teacher Toni Cuello works with Desert Sky Elementary students to build letters of the alphabet using wooden shapes.

Both efforts are based in the science of reading  a broad term describing a comprehensive body of empirical research spanning several decades detailing what matters and what works in the field of literacy instruction.

Within that science, Richland teachers are shifting to a structured literacy model where students are explicitly taught word identification and decoding strategies to support reading instruction.

This isnt something new  educators have been debating the best ways to increase literacy rates for decades, and the science of reading has been at the center of many of those discussions.

But its taken off in popularity since the COVID pandemic. And now the Richland School District is placing its bets on a nationwide trend that aims to back up early childhood literacy instruction with some science.

We have too many students who arent reading, said Derek OKonek, the school districts executive director of elementary teaching and learning. If we cant get them a solid foundation by third-grade, its very challenging to catch them back up.

Richland Superintendent Shelly Redinger said her goal is to increase the percentage of K-3 students meeting grade-level reading standards by 3 points by the end of this school year.

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Building reading confidence

Cuello began implementing Language Essentials and structured literacy methods last year in her lessons.

As summer approached, she saw more students gain confidence in reading, spelling and writing.

I really felt like last year, the students that I had left much more confident and able to tackle something without prompting or asking for help right away, which is pretty common for that age group, she said. I think that there was a lot of, Ahas! and things that I saw over the years that were challenging for kids, and it really gave me the research to understand why and the understanding.

Structured literacy focuses on five pillars of reading instruction:

Phonics

Phonemic awareness

Vocabulary

Fluency

Comprehension

Writing and oral language development have also been recent additions to this model.

Students come into kindergarten knowing very little about reading and writing. Many may know just a few letters  perhaps their ABCs  while others have a basic foundation of how to string words together.

As those students leave for 1st grade, Cuello says, those students should have a solid foundation in the alphabet, and should begin reading and writing some. She said most do learn with those skills, but there are many who struggle.

Having that foundation is important because students begin to use reading and writing as a primary medium to learn other concepts by the time theyre in the third-grade, she said. This is also the time when students begin to foster a love and desire for learning.

I really came into teaching during balanced literacy  a readers and writers workshop model, where kids were exposed to literacy in a variety of ways, and we hoped that they would kind of hook to one of the ways that we were teaching, Cuello said.

But many students  especially those with reading disabilities, like dyslexia  never did catch on.

Under structured literacy, Cuello said shes teaching students to decode language and break it down to its core basics. Gone are the days of guessing at a word.

Theyll look at letters and come to a word that they dont know, and instead of looking at the picture or guessing  which is really what they did often in reading in the past  theyre looking at sounds that they know and putting things together, Cuello said.

April Mitchell teaches third-grade at Tapteal Elementary, where one in five students are English language learners. Shes also begun implementing Language Essentials and structured literacy into her classroom.

Before the pandemic, less than half of new students would come into her classroom at the beginning of the year reading at grade level.

That struggle was exacerbated after the pandemic.

Just one in four students in her third-grade class last year were meeting reading grade-level standards. These were the students who were in kindergarten when the pandemic forced schools to close for several months.

It was a Herculean task, but by the end of last year about 43% of students were reading on grade level  about what they would normally see at the beginning of the school year.

LETRS (training) helped us tremendously to know how to help these kids who are not coming in to class at a third-grade reading level, she said.

Most students struggle with phonics, which is the science of sound and pronunciation. That can be explained because English for some is not their primary language spoken at home.

She also sees students struggle to read and build a vocabulary, which can be a sign that some students just arent reading enough at home.

The wholesale instruction of all these skills are important because theyre intertwined, Mitchell says.

Sometimes just getting a book in a childs hand is incredibly powerful... but sometimes there are skills that need to be taught before you can put a book in a kids hand, she said.

Colorful phonic signs are posted in Toni Cuellos kindergarten classroom to help her students learn the sounds of the letters of alphabet.

LETRS and the science of reading

Theres something of a reading revolution happening in America today as educators and academics discuss how best to crack the code of literacy instruction.

This revolution was sparked by setbacks seen after the pandemic-era remote learning, as well as decades of subpar national reading scores.

There is a literacy crisis across our country, Redinger said.

More than half  nearly 60%  of Tri-City third-grade students did not meet grade-level reading standards last year. In Richland, that number is at 43%.

While Pasco and Kennewick both provide structured literacy training for teachers to use in small groups and one-on-one intervention, Richland is the first school district in the Tri-Cities to go all-in on this reading science.

Nationwide, 37% of fourth-graders performed below basic on a reading assessment, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

LETRS has spread in popularity among teachers for many years, with many citing the Mississippi model as evidence of its effectiveness.

The book Mouse Count by author Ellen Stoll Walsh is on display in teacher Toni Cuellos kindergarten classroom at Desert Sky Elementary School in West Richland.

The Southern State saw big reading gains on the NAEP exam in 2019 after implementing training for K-3rd grade teachers in 2014, according to Education Week, although those gains havent been solely attributed to the training.

Regardless, that excitement has spread to the Richland School District, where more than 120 teachers, principals and educators have so far taken the course, which totals upwards of 160 hours of professional development time.

Its picking up speed. Its like wildfire, said Kristina Tucker, Richlands English-Language Arts program coordinator. Educators are very excited to get in.

LETRS takes a speech to print approach to teaching foundational skills, beginning first with phoneme awareness, which is the ability to hear, identify, move or change sounds in spoken word.

Once kids have that skill, they can connect sounds to letters and letters to words (phonics), and then begin to read words, according to Education Week.

It also goes over how and why to teach word parts, also known as morphology.

In the second part, LETRS goes over how to develop student vocabulary knowledge, how to create a language-rich classroom, and how teachers can build connections between reading and writing.

Its different from the balanced literacy approach of throwing kids head-first into reading and expecting them to understand key concepts by osmosis. The concept of LETRS is based on decades of research and is a core tenet of the science of reading approach.

Simply put, LETRS is popular because it equips teachers with more tools to holistically instruct their curriculum, evaluate student progress, diagnose deficiencies and make timely interventions.

Mitchell says the training has staying power and goes beyond the trendy things teachers see in education. It goes back to the basics of spelling, phonics and word comprehension.

It just leads to students becoming better readers, better writers and, ultimately, better communicators, she said. Its all interlinked.

A silver bullet for reading?

Teaching early literacy is neither wholly a science or an art  its a little bit of both.

And as science of reading concepts continue their momentum into the mainstream, some researchers caution against searching for a silver bullet approach.

Margaret Vaughn, a tenured professor in Washington State Universitys College of Education, argues theres no perfect recipe for teaching kids how to read.

What we need to have is an adaptive approach thats really looking at student interests, motivations, their background knowledge and how that all fits together to meet the needs of students, she said.

Vaughns perspective was informed by nine years of teaching elementary education in Philadelphia and the Raleigh-Durham area, as well as several years researching what drives student motives and engagement in the classroom.

Vaughn believes its important to use teaching methods based in the science of reading, but focusing on the instruction of discrete skills without awareness of a students interests, backgrounds and cultures can be detrimental to their education.

She argues building administrators should encourage teachers to feel free to be adaptive in the classroom and to help students find an authentic purpose for their education. It can also have a bottom-line benefit on state test scores, she argues.

The important thing is that (teachers) see students as collaborators in the learning process and that they value student agency, Vaughn said.

While 30 states in the U.S. have passed legislation supporting evidence-based reading and writing, Washington is not one of them.

Science of reading advocates, including Sara Buetow of Decoding Dyslexia Washington, feel that the state is falling behind on this front and is allowing its under-served students to fall through the cracks.

And only in recent years has Washington state begun mandating school districts to screen students in grades K-2 for dyslexia in order to provide evidenced-based multi-sensory structured literacy interventions.

Kindergarten teacher Toni Cuello works with a group of her Desert Sky Elementary students sound out letter of the alphabet recently in her classroom of the West Richland school.
As Speaker Kevin McCarthy tries to placate his House Republican conference in the fight over spending, the White House is holding out hope that a bipartisan deal brokered days ago in the Senate can eventually overcome the standoff.

Until then, however, President Joe Bidens aides are confident that any blame for a government shutdown will land squarely on McCarthy and his fellow Republicans, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Theres no expectation that McCarthy will be able to pass something on his own that could clear the Senate, one senior administration official said. How long a potential shutdown lasts depends on how much pain McCarthy can endure.

Watching the chaos unfold from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Biden and his aides have adopted a mostly hands-off approach, accusing McCarthy of reneging on a spending deal and listing the ways a shutdown would inflict damage on normal Americans.

McCarthy has declined to schedule a House vote on the Senate bill, which includes $12 billion in total aid for Ukraine and domestic disasters and would keep the government open until November 17. Hardline House Republicans have been seeking steep, across-the-board spending cuts to federal agencies and funding for border enforcement  and are waging a battle to remove McCarthy as speaker if they dont get it.

I think that the speaker is making a choice between his speakership and American interests, Biden told Democratic donors in San Francisco this week, highlighting the administrations view that Republicans will ultimately suffer politically if they fail to avert a shutdown.

Behind the scenes, senior White House aides are in close contact with lawmakers and congressional aides. Top congressional Democrats have signaled their willingness to relinquish their votes in favor of a deal if McCarthy brings it to a vote.

Top officials such as White House legislative affairs director Shuwanza Goff and senior adviser Steve Ricchetti are in touch with lawmakers as the funding deadline draws closer, sources said, and are consistently briefing the president on the state of negotiations.

And while Biden has been in touch with some members directly, the White House is making clear that any dialogue between Biden and McCarthy remains unlikely, at least for now.

The people that McCarthy needs to talk to is his own caucus, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters when asked whether Biden would consider meeting with the speaker. The conversation needs to happen between Speaker McCarthy and his caucus.

With funding set to end at midnight Saturday, the White House has continued to publicly hammer House Republicans to get their act together. It is their chaos. They can fix this, Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday.

Biden and his aides have been working to ensure the blame for a shutdown is placed on what they call extreme Republicans, including by highlighting the effects on disaster relief, food stamps, airports and pay for active-duty troops.

More broadly, Bidens aides believe the inability of McCarthy to rally his House Republican conference around a funding plan illustrates a level of dysfunction that will benefit the president. Biden has framed his opponents as unable and unwilling to serve the publics interests.

For weeks, Bidens advisers have been mulling how involved to get in lawmakers deliberations over funding and ultimately decided to take a hands-off approach. Their expectation: Should the GOP-led House struggle to reach consensus before October 1, Republicans would ultimately shoulder the blame for any disruption.

Watch the GOP struggle and force them to govern or be blamed for shutdown, a Biden administration official said, summing up the strategy.

Administration officials have ample evidence on their side: Congressional Republicans have regularly caught the blame for government shutdowns over the last two decades as they sought to extract concessions on spending from Democrats and moderates.

On Friday, Biden condemned Republicans for a potential government shutdown  which would leave more than a million active-duty service members without a paycheck  calling it an absolute dereliction of duty.

Our service members will keep upholding their oath, showing up for work standing sentinel around the world, keeping our country secure, but they wont get paid, he said.

The president called that a disgrace as he urged Congress to never lose sight of the direct impacts of decisions we make, and the impact they have on the lives and families around the world.

Biden spent much of the week traveling on the West Coast, avoiding getting entangled in the Washington wrangling.

Republicans have tried to turn blame back on the White House for the impasse, accusing Biden of ignoring a wave of migrants at the US southern border and of being absent from the talks.

I think it would be very important to have a meeting with the president to solve that issue, McCarthy said this week, later calling on Biden to return from his trip on the West Coast to engage directly in the discussions.

Those appeals were not given much consideration inside the White House. Thats a different approach from the last time a spending crisis was looming, when McCarthy called on Biden in May to cut short a trip to Asia in order to negotiate over raising the debt ceiling.

After resisting direct talks, Biden left that trip early for a meeting with McCarthy at the White House. One difference: Republicans had coalesced around a specific position, passing a bill in the House that reflected their priorities and catching the White House off guard. Negotiations escalated in the weeks that followed, resulting in a deal that set broad guardrails around federal spending for the 2024 fiscal year.

Biden is expected to remain in Washington this weekend, a relatively rare occurrence as he typically decamps for one of his Delaware homes or Camp David on Friday afternoons.

The spring deal was supposed to usher in months of in-depth appropriations work that would yield a full-year spending package and avert a government shutdown. Now, the White House says Republicans dropped the ball.

How to handle a possible shutdown was a key agenda item when White House chief of staff Jeff Zients huddled with senior advisers in the West Wing last weekend, according to people familiar with the matter. Senior officials have been meeting throughout the week to continue discussions on the issue.

Even if they dont believe they will bear the political blame, the White House itself wont be immune from the shutdowns fallout  including furloughs of nonessential staff.

During previous government shutdowns, presidents have been all but grounded. In 2013, President Barack Obama canceled a trip to Asia due to the difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown.

Some senior West Wing employees in recent days have been learning how to perform tasks that would typically be executed by junior aides, officials said.

Among other things, theyre learning how to blast out news releases and making updates to the White House website  just in case.

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 Flash

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Friday's two separate terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

This photo taken with a mobile phone on Sept. 29, 2023 shows rescuers evacuating the injured in a powerful explosion in Mastung district, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. The death toll of a blast that hit a religious gathering in Mastung district of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday rose to 50, police and health officials said. (Xinhua)





"We very much condemn the terrorist attacks that took place in Pakistan, killing more than 50 people. The people responsible need to be held to account," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN chief, when asked for Guterres' reaction to the attacks.

The fact that these killings took place during religious ceremonies makes them even more heinous. It is even more horrific to target people as they go about a peaceful religious ceremony, said the spokesman.

An explosion that hit a religious gathering in Mastung district of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday left 50 people dead and at least 50 others injured, Pakistani police and health officials said.

The explosion, believed to be a suicide attack, occurred near a mosque when people were gathering to celebrate Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

In a separate attack on Friday, five people were killed and 10 others injured when a suicide explosion took place inside a mosque in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Allegheny County residents are continuing to raise money for the families of the victims who were killed in an explosion in Plum.

On Saturday, several bikers decided to ride from 3 Rivers Harley Davidson in Glenshaw to Tarentum in honor of Michael Thomas, who died in the explosion. His nephew Bryan, helped organize the ride.

He was an avid rider, so why not organize something to get the riders out on this beautiful day and raise some money for these families who were affected by this tragedy? said Bryan Thomas.

Michael Thomas was the Plum Borough manager.

RELATED COVERAGE >>> Plum manager, community development director among those killed in house explosion

When the bikers ended the ride they held a post-ride meal and began raising money with different raffles.

The ride from Glenshaw to Tarentum was 15 miles long.

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Former Bitwise Industries president Bethany Mily wont hand over her company-issued laptop computer to the court-appointed trustee overseeing the companys bankruptcy case in Delaware.

Bankruptcy trustee Jeoffrey Burtch alleged Thursday in court filings that Mily, through her legal counsel, has thus far refused to voluntarily produce the company laptop in her possession on the grounds that it may contain information that is subject to attorney-client privilege.

Burtchs assertions came in his response to a request by Mily that she be allowed to seek coverage under a $5 million business insurance policy that Bitwise purchased prior to its collapse to defend the companys executives and directors against lawsuits or investigations.

Mily, who lives in the Chicago suburb of La Grange, Illinois, was the president of Fresno-based Bitwise from mid-2015 through May 2023, when the companys co-CEOs Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. announced that all 900 of its employees nationwide were being furloughed immediately, including about 400 in the Fresno area. Soberal and Olguin were fired days later by Bitwises board of directors.

The employee furloughs became permanent layoffs a few weeks later, and five Bitwise-associated companies filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on June 28.

Mily has been named as a defendant in one of the many civil lawsuits filed against Bitwise Industries, its former co-CEOs, and former directors after the Memorial Day blood-letting but before the June 28 bankruptcy filing.

Multiple sources have confirmed to The Fresno Bee that agents from state and federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are looking into possible wrongdoing related to the financial meltdown of Bitwise. The company was founded in 2013 to provide technology training, tech services for businesses, and leasing space to budding tech entrepreneurs.

Bankruptcy court records indicate that Bitwise Industries Inc. and four other associated entities have stated liabilities of more than $511 million, plus additional claims from creditors that add up to another $25.5 million.

Burtch continues to investigate what factors contributed to Bitwises demise and what assets may be available to satisfy at least some of the companies debts. As part of that process, Burtch wants Milys laptop computer.

The bankruptcy trustee is asking that as a condition to being allowed to access coverage under the insurance coverage, that Mily first turn over the laptop computer and any other devices provided by Bitwise prior to the bankruptcy filing.

The company-issued laptop indisputably remained Bitwise property at the time that the company filed its bankruptcy petition on June 28, Burth said. The computer, therefore, is property of the Bitwise bankruptcy estate  and Mily is required to deliver it to the Trustee. 

Under the terms of Bitwises employee handbook, Mily could not have reasonably expected that information on the computer might be kept private because she was specifically advised that it was not, Burtch argues in the court filing. The Trustee does not believe that any individual employee may refuse to turn over a computer that is property of the estate on the grounds that it may contain privileged communication.

Burtch said he would agree to accept the computer from Mily under a court order that the handover would not represent a waiver of attorney-client privilege for Mily.
Creditors claim more than $500 million is owed them by now-bankrupted Bitwise Industries and associated entities. Court filings this week show less than $400,000 in assets found so far, including several bank CDs that were used as collateral and the value of some furniture and equipment.

Thats a debt-to-assets ratio of more than 1,250 to 1.

With numbers like that, the likelihood is that many of the creditors  investors whose claims were supposedly secured by interest in the company and its assets, and those including many former Bitwise employees whose claims are unsecured  will receive little, if anything, as a result of the bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware.

A court-appointed bankruptcy trustee is still trying to sift through the financial rubble of Bitwise, to figure out how and why the 10-year-old company failed, and what assets there are that can be sold to raise money on behalf of creditors.

As that investigation continues, a Fresno-based bank is asking the court this week to allow it to seize more than $300,000 in certificates of deposit. And Jeoffrey Burtch, appointed by a federal judge in Delaware to shepherd the Chapter 7 cases of five separate Bitwise entities that filed for bankruptcy on June 28, earlier this month asked the court to authorize the sale of a cache of office equipment and vehicles from one of the companys now-defunct enterprises in Bakersfield  potentially just a drop in the ocean of debt.

Bitwise Industries was founded in 2013 as a self-described mothership of technology entrepreneurship offering training in software coding and website development, subleasing space in its buildings to budding tech-related companies, and providing technology services to local businesses.

But the promising vision of co-founders Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. to foster a critical mass of technology companies in downtown Fresno  and over the past couple of years in other cities across the U.S.  came to an abrupt end over the Memorial Day weekend in late May. Thats when Soberal and Olguin announced to their entire workforce, about 900 employees nationwide, that they were being immediately furloughed.

Within days, Bitwises board of directors fired Soberal and Olguin, and within weeks the employee furloughs became permanent layoffs as the companys collapse led to the bankruptcy filings.

In motions filed recently in the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, trustee Burtch is asking Judge Mary L. Walrath to approve the sale of three vehicles that formerly belonged to Stria LLC, a document digitization business that BW Industries Inc.  a parent company of Bitwise  purchased in August 2022.

The proposed sale to Bakersfields Advanced Data Storage Inc. also includes an array of office chairs, furniture and supplies; computers, monitors and related equipment; copiers and printers; and more.

If the sale is approved by the court, it would only generate about $60,000  thats $30,000 for the three vehicles and $30,000 for the office equipment.

That stacks up against liabilities stated in bankruptcy petitions by BW Industries and associated entities of about $511.4 million, plus registered claims from other creditors including laid-off Bitwise employees that add up to more than $25.5 million.

BW Industries is one of five separate Bitwise entities that filed for bankruptcy, including Bitwise Industries Inc., BWRD LLC, Alpha Works Technologies LLC, and Bruces Bagels, Beverages and Bites LLC. Those companies are part of a complex web of at least 32 different limited liability companies, partnerships and corporations created by Bitwise co-founders and former co-CEOs Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. over the past 10 years.

Beyond the vehicles and equipment in Bakersfield, trustee Burtch indicated in court documents that there may not be much else in terms of assets or property that can be sold to help raise money for investors who hold secured claims, or hundreds of other creditors with unsecured claims against the companies.

The Trustees investigation and evaluation of liens and security interests is ongoing, but it presently appears that the only unencumbered assets of significant value are the vehicles that belonged to Stria, Burtch wrote in the motion.

Bank seeks to cash out certificates of deposit

Fresno-based Central Valley Community Bank this week asked the bankruptcy judge to allow them to seize more than $307,000 in Bitwise certificates of deposit to compensate the bank for the companys default on letters of credit issued by another lender.

The CDs represent Bitwises security for two letters of credit in 2021  one in April for more than $167,000 to lease 100 Apple MacBook Pro laptcop computers, and a second in June for the purchase of more Apple MacBook computers.

As a result of Bitwises financial collapse and default on its payments, lender De Lage Landen Financial Services, Inc. demanded payment from Central Valley Community Bank under the two letters of credit  amounts which were paid.

Now, the Fresno bank wants to cash out the certificates of deposit to make up for its payout on the letters of credit.

As part of his investigation into potential assets, Burtch asked for and received authorization from the bankruptcy court in August to issue subpoenas to Central Valley Community Bank and to San Francisco-based First Republic Bank for bank statements and signature cards for Bitwise and its associated entities.

The trustee has learned of bank accounts that (Bitwise and affiliated entities) hold or held at Central Valley Community Bank and First Republic Bank, Burtch wrote in court filings. The trustee also has cause to believe that there may have been significant transfers of funds between Bitwise Industries and its various associated companies in the months before the bankruptcy filing.

The bank account information is critical to assessing possible transfers of funds among Bitwise entities as well as examining allegations in civil lawsuits and bankruptcy court filings that Soberal and Olguin misled investors, board members and others and falsified financial records.

Burtch added that the banks were generally cooperative in providing documents for the Bitwise companies that filed for bankruptcy. but, he said, they had refused to provide information for other Bitwise entities that were not involved in the bankruptcy filings.

The court granted Burtchs motion to subpoena the banks on Aug. 18.
Black community leaders and professionals connected with residents on Saturday during the State of Black Miami 2023 event at Brownsvilles Joseph Caleb Center. The event consisted of three panels covering mental health, generational wealth and education and had more than 60 community members in attendance.

Our vision is to be the voice of Black Miami, said Black Affairs Advisory Board chairman Pierre E. Rutledge. We seldom get opportunities to talk about real issues. We just dont get a chance to talk. The panels that were having are with some real serious issues, talking about mental health, generational wealth, and we should have more of these.

Miami-Dade County has a nearly 20% Black population. Even though Miami is regarded as being a diverse city, Black community needs can often go unnoticed, increasing the need for events like the State of Black Miami to amplify local Black voices.

Black youth account for only 17% of the local youth population and make up 63% of arrests in that age group, according to education panelist Dr. Marcus Bright. Supporting young people begins with these candid, open community discussions, he said.

During the generational wealth panel, real estate investor Robert Henderson said he believes people should still buy property when possible as a way to build wealth even in South Floridas current housing crisis.

I was 21 when I bought a duplex in North Miami for $70,000, he said. Today that duplex is worth $490,000 and each side brings in $1,750 a month. The problem is that we spend everything that we get. Income is not wealth. You can be rich today and poor tomorrow. Wealth is having an overhead of $3,000 a month and bringing in $5,000 a month.

Attendees applaud panelists during The State of Black Miami event at the Joseph Caleb Center. The State of Black Miami, is celebrated with the purpose of identify and address critical, ongoing issues impacting the black communities in Miami today. on Saturday, September 30, 2023.

Daniella Pierre is the president of the North Miami chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was emphatic when discussing the need for community support to preserve Black history education in Florida schools. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has worked to diminish the importance of Black history for school age students.

Our Jewish brothers and sisters who helped found the NAACP are serious about preserving their history and legacy, she said. We have to be the same. While we advocate for our policy at the state level, we need you locally at the school board meeting.

Liberty City resident Theophilus Williams was in attendance and believes more people would attend community meetings if they were aware the meetings were happening, At 67, Williams remembers a time when crowds of residents would attend meetings at the Joseph Caleb Center.

When it comes to Black issues, they dont put it out to the public for the people to come out and attend the meetings, he said. Most people arent on social media. What they need to do is go door-to-door and put the word out. You have people come to talk, but they dont address our concerns. Some panelists dont stay the entire time.

Rutledge is hopeful that community events such as the panel discussions can happen more frequently to bridge the gap between Miamis political leaders and the Black community.

This is the start and its an annual event. Were hoping to broaden it so that we can have it maybe quarterly or semi-annually every year where we sit down and we just have a dialogue, come up with some action items and then take those items and try to bring them to fruition to help our community.

Ruben Roberts with RER Consulting speaks as panelist in the Mental Health panel during The State of Black Miami event at the Joseph Caleb Center. The State of Black Miami, is celebrated with the purpose of identify and address critical, ongoing issues impacting the black communities in Miami today. on Saturday, September 30, 2023.
The vision for the Bob Jones Trail has always called for linking the path in Avila Beach to the stretch in San Luis Obispo that now ends at the Octagon Barn  but the project has hit a few roadblocks over the years.

Without that 4.5-mile connection, the walking and biking route from the city to the sea is incomplete.

Thats because at least one property owner, Ray Bunnell, has refused to sell a sliver of his San Luis Obispo land to accommodate the project.

Meanwhile, two county supervisors oppose using the eminent domain process to acquire land to expand the trail  which effectively halted the projects progress.

But now, there may be a new path forward for expanding the trail.

On Tuesday, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to direct staff to create a presentation on how they could re-design the project in a way that avoids construction on Bunnells property.

In November, county staff will present the new design to the board, according to San Luis Obispo County Public Works Director John Diodati.

Eventually, the board will vote on whether or not to pursue the new pathway design.

A cyclist glides by fossil-filled Monterey shale on the Bob Jones Trail on Sept. 22, 2023. The rocks were on the ocean floor about 14 million years ago, then uplifted to the surface by plate tectonics, according to a trail interpretive marker. The county wants to complete the trail from Avila Beach to San Luis Obispo but now will likely need to alter the route around at least one property whose owner has refused to sell a sliver of his land.

Battle over the Bunnell property

In February 2021, the states Active Transportation Program awarded the county $18.25 million to expand the Bob Jones Trail.

The county planned to conduct soil boring tests near Clover Ridge Lane on the edge of Bunnells land to design a bridge for the trail over San Luis Obispo Creek, according to court documents  but Bunnell refused to allow the county to purchase an easement there.

In July 2021, the county filed a lawsuit in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court to use eminent domain to compel Bunnell to sell, according to court documents.

His 80-acre property is located next to Highway 101 and San Luis Obispo Creek.

The land is zoned for agriculture and includes a residence located some distance away from proposed trail, a court document said.

Nothing is really going through the Bunnell property, Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said. Its sort of clipping the edge of the property.

In order for the county to use the eminent domain process to acquire the land, however, four of the five supervisors must vote to approve it  but one supervisor doesnt support the use of eminent domain, and the other cant vote on the project.

In September 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1439, which expands the Levine Act to prohibit local elected officials from voting on a project if a financially affected party donates more than $250 to the officials campaign.

According to campaign finance documents, Bunnell donated $1,000 to Peschongs campaign for re-election in May  preventing the supervisor from participating in a vote on the project.

A map shows the plan for the full Bob Jones Trail with the missing piece between the Octagon Barn in San Luis Obispo and the parking lot on Ontario Road.

If Peschong could vote on the trail expansion, however, he said he wouldnt support using eminent domain to acquire the land.

Peschong hopes the county can find a way to expand the Bob Jones Trail, but he only supports using the eminent domain process if its necessary for public safety, he said.

I believe that people should come together  not, you know, fight these things out in court, Peschong said. Just go talk to each other and figure out if they can make it work.

Supervisor Debbie Arnold also opposes using eminent domain for the project out of respect for private property owners, she told The Tribune.

She prefers that the county find a new route for the trail that doesnt interfere with private property.

Its a want, not a need, Arnold said of the trails location.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, because the county must meet state deadlines to keep the $18.25 million grant.

The county must approve a design and acquire the necessary land by June 30, 2024, according to county Public Works Department project manager Aaron Yonker.

Without the four votes needed to move the project forward, Ortiz-Legg proposed that the county redesign the trail to avoid the Bunnell property altogether.

Were hitting a brick wall, so were going to look into other alternatives, Ortiz-Legg said.

Ortiz-Legg said shes frustrated by Arnolds no vote.

It really could be a big boon for the entire neighborhood, she said of the trail. Were talking about something that really has a great benefit to not only our working people that could ride their bikes back and fourth from San Luis Obispo all the way to Pismo, but also to our tourism industry.

Anytime that we can get the bikes on their own trail like they do in Europe, I think is really an important quality-of-life issue, she added, noting that its safer for cyclists and drivers.

The county is currently negotiating with owners of other properties to acquire easements for the proposed trail, Ortiz-Legg said.

Theres ongoing negotiations right now to make sure that everybody is taken care of and gets their concerns and needs addressed in this process, she said.

The Octagon Barn in San Luis Obispo is envisioned as a future trailhead for the Bob Jones Trail.

SLO Land Conservancy acquires land for Bob Jones Trail

Bob Jones, the trails namesake, was originally a board member for the SLO Land Conservancy, according to the organizations deputy director Daniel Bohlman.

You might say the trail and his vision are rooted in the history of the conservancy, Bohlman said.

The conservancy owns the Octagon Barn in San Luis Obispo, which will serve as a trailhead for the Bob Jones Trail if the project moves forward, he said.

The conservancy also owns about 150 acres of land on either side of San Luis Bay Drive that abuts the proposed pathway for the trail. The land is an active floodplain that the conservancy maintains, and also includes an apple orchard, according to Bohlman.

Bohlman said the conservancy will allow the county to build the trail through its land, and hes particularly excited that the path may be built next to the apple orchard.

It gets people close to experiencing agriculture firsthand, he said. People could pop off the trail and go to a you-pick.

He also said the trail expansion project is important because it allows cyclists to commute safety in the South County away from the highway.

You could now safely bike, for example, between Shell Beach, Avila Beach, Pismo Beach, and even further south than that, in a way that takes you safely, on a class one connector trail, off the highway, he said.

Bohlman said he hopes the county can build the trail.

When you look at communities that have this access to open space, you see that the communities are healthier, you see that those communities are happier, and I think that the Bob Jones trail plays a huge role in that, Bohlman said.
Newly released body camera footage shows state Sen. Charles Schwertners February arrest for suspicion of drunk driving after refusing to take a breathalyzer test. Travis County prosecutors dropped the charge in July, saying there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction.

The video was released to The Texas Tribune on Friday in response to a public records request. It shows Schwertner, a Georgetown Republican, being pulled over in the early morning hours of Feb. 7 in Austin. The officer tells Schwertner he was driving between two lanes, and Schwertner apologizes, saying he and his passenger were changing channels and stuff.

State Rep. Claudia Ordaz, D-El Paso, can be seen in the front passenger seat with Schwertner as he is being pulled over. In a statement, she said, I had no involvement in this matter other than being a passenger at the time of this incident and was fully cooperative with authorities at all times. I regret this incident occurred, and in the future, I will use more caution to prevent this type of unfortunate circumstance.

The video goes on to show Schwertner repeating he had not been drinking, performing field sobriety tests and being handcuffed. He was released from the Travis County jail later that day, telling reporters he was deeply apologetic and made a mistake.

Schwertners lawyer, Perry Minton, declined to answer questions about the video and instead provided a brief statement.

This is the video the Travis County Attorneys Office viewed when it rejected any charges against Senator Schwertner months ago, Minton said. Its time to move on to newsworthy stories.

The Tribune provided the video to both Schwertners and Ordazs offices shortly after it was released on Friday evening. Minton provided his statement Saturday morning, while Ordaz did not respond with a comment until just 1 minute before this storys publication.

In the video, Schwertner tells the officer he was picking up Ordaz at the airport and they had gone out to dinner at Whataburger. Ordaz tells the officer they are parked at her place, and Schwertner confirms it is where she lives.

The officer asks if they have been drinking and both say no. The officer asks Schwertner to come out of the car, and once he does, the officer tells Schwertner he notices a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. The officer asks again if Schwertner had anything to drink, and Schwertner says no.

A little while later, the officer continues to ask Schwertner whether he has been drinking, at one point asking him to rate how drunk he is on a scale of zero to 10. Part of the audio of the exchange is missing, but Schwertners response is audible.

Im sober, Schwertner says. Zero.

The officer proceeds to conduct field sobriety tests on Schwertner, during which his wife apparently arrives at the scene.

My wife just showed up, Schwertner says, explaining he was distracted while balancing on one foot.

They try to restart the exercise, but Schwertner is still distracted.

Belinda. Belinda, Schwertner says. Shes an attorney.

While a voice can be heard offscreen, the words are inaudible. It is unclear who exactly Schwertner was referring to as an attorney. Neither Belinda Schwertner nor Ordaz are listed as attorneys in either of their public profiles.

The officer and Schwertner resume the exercise, but Schwertner becomes impatient. He asks the officer if the length of time he has been balancing is sufficient, and the officer tells him that is not for him to decide.

Officer, this is getting to be a interrogation, Schwertner says.

The officer says all he is trying to do is get Schwertner to follow instructions for a standardized field sobriety test. Schwertner insists he has done everything the officer has asked him to do and tells the officer he is acting inappropriately.

Schwertner ultimately completes the test and he and the officer walk over closer to a police car, where a second officer assures Schwertner he is going through a standardized thing and not getting any unique treatment. A third officer presents Schwertner with what he calls a preliminary breath test, explains it detects alcohol and asks if he would like to take it. Schwertner says no and is handcuffed and told he is under arrest for driving while intoxicated.

The video goes on for about another half hour, showing Schwertner being placed in a police car, calmly interacting with officers and arriving at the jail.

At one point, Schwertner asks the first officer if he can sit in the front of the police car. The officer says he has to put Schwertner in the back due to policy. Schwertner gets in the back of the car and sighs.

Ive done so much for you guys, Schwertner says.

The officer replies that he appreciates it but he is just doing his job. Schwertner says he understands.

While Schwertner is in the car, the arresting officer is approached by another officer.

I need to call the watch commander because thats a senator, a Texas state senator, and theyre in the legislative session right now, the other officer says before adding in a reassuring tone: You do everything right. Everybodys treated the same.

Schwertner was booked into the Travis County jail at 2:12 a.m. and charged with driving while intoxicated. He received a personal recognizance bond and was released from jail shortly after noon that day.

Im deeply sorry, apologetic to my citizens and my family, Schwertner told reporters as he left the jail. I made a mistake.

The officer who arrested Schwertner wrote in an affidavit for probable cause that in addition to the smell of alcohol on his breath, Schwertner had bloodshot, glassy, watery eyes, was confused, and had slurred speech patterns. The officer also described Schwertners demeanor as polite, sleepy, cooperative.

Travis County Attorney Delia Garza announced July 18 that there was not enough evidence to continue with the case. She also said Schwertner voluntarily submitted to alcohol counseling and alcohol monitoring with no violations. Minton, Schwertners lawyer, said it was the right decision based strictly on the evidence.

After Schwertners arrest, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said there was zero excuse for drunk driving, especially by a member of the legislature whose conduct should be held to a higher standard. Patrick added he would withhold further comment until the final outcome of this issue in court. Patrick has since not commented on the situation.

Schwertner chairs the Senate Business and Commerce Committee and has served in the upper chamber since 2013. He represents Senate District 5, a Republican-friendly district that covers the north Austin suburbs and spreads east to include College Station.

Schwertner, 53, previously had a personal controversy in 2018, when he was accused of sending sexually explicit photos of his genitals to a graduate student at the University of Texas. He denied the allegations, saying that someone else sent the messages using his LinkedIn account and another privacy phone messaging app that belongs to him.

A university investigation did not clear Schwertner of wrongdoing but said it could not prove Schwertner sent the texts. Investigators said Schwertner was uncooperative.

After the allegation, Schwertner voluntarily gave up his chairmanship of the Senates Health and Human Services Committee.
EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell made an unannounced visit to Odesa on Sept. 30, during which he reiterated the EU's support for Ukraine.

"Odesa is a beautiful historic city. It should be in the headlines for its vibrant culture (and) spirit," Borrell wrote on Twitter. "Instead, it marks the news as frequent target of Putin's war."

As Russia's illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts reaches the one-year mark, Borrell said Ukraine has "every right to defend itself against the Russian aggression and regain full control of its territory."

"The EU stands with Ukraine for as long as it takes," he continued.

Borrell also spoke at the Defense Industry Forum in Kyiv via video address, where he lauded the successes of the forum's work.

He noted the importance of marking the achievements of the European defense industry in its support for Ukraine, but also added that the local Ukrainian industry also had many valuable experiences to share with its European counterparts.

There is a need for increased cooperation between Ukrainian and European defense industries, Borrell said, stressing that the maintenance of strong local military industry will be crucial for Ukraine's ability to ensure its security.

Read also: Josep Borrell: Making Ukrainian victory possible

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Police are looking to identify the suspect behind a string of disturbances at Boston businesses.

Police say the individual entered stores in Downtown Boston and the Back Bay over the past few days, harassing customers and storeowners with a bullhorn while tossing fliers.

Anyone with information is asked urged to contact investigators at (617) 343-4683.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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Systemic racism against people of African descent pervades America's police forces and criminal justice system, and U.S. authorities must urgently step up efforts for reform, a new United Nations (UN) report has said.

The report was issued by the UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the context of Law Enforcement on Thursday following its official country visit to the United States earlier this year.

During the visit, the UN experts heard testimonies from 133 affected individuals, visited five detention centers and held meetings with civil society groups and various government and police authorities in the District of Columbia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York City.

"In all the cities we went to, we heard dozens of heart-breaking testimonies on how victims do not get justice or redress. This is not new, and it's unacceptable," said Tracie Keesee, a member of the team.

"This is a systemic issue that calls for a systemic response. All actors involved, including police departments and police unions, must join forces to combat the prevailing impunity," the expert added.

The report found that racism in the United States -- a legacy of slavery, the slave trade, and one hundred years of legalized apartheid that followed slavery's abolition -- continues to exist today in the form of racial profiling, police killings and many other human rights violations.

The report said that Black people in America are three times more likely to be killed by police than whites and 4.5 times more likely to be incarcerated.

It also said that of the more than 1,000 cases of killings by police each year, only 1 percent result in officers being charged.

"We reject the 'bad apple' theory," said Juan Mendez, another member of the team. "There is strong evidence suggesting that the abusive behavior of some individual police officers is part of a broader and menacing pattern."

The report cited with profound concern instances of children of African descent being sentenced to life imprisonment, pregnant women in prison being chained during childbirth and persons held in solitary confinement for 10 years.

It also described how some people of African descent have been prevented from voting years after completing their sentences and how some are subjected to forced labor in "plantation-style" prisons, which constitutes a contemporary form of slavery.

The report made 30 recommendations to the United States and all its jurisdictions, including over 18,000 police agencies.
Nivi Achanta and Ben Mallory got married on August 25, 2023.

Achanta told Insider she struggled to plan a sustainable wedding while honoring Indian customs.

The couple wore secondhand outfits, minimized food waste, and worked with a sustainable flower vendor.

Sustainability was a big part of Nivi Achanta and Ben Mallory's relationship from the start.

Achanta and Mallory met through mutual friends in 2016 while they were attending UC Davis. They officially started dating in 2018, and were together for five years before getting engaged in July.

In college, they both made a conscious effort to adopt sustainable habits, whether that was biking to campus, buying produce from farmers markets, or working toward being zero-waste. Today, Achanta works as founder of the Soapbox Project, which provides "bite-sized action plans" to help people take steps toward a more sustainable lifestyle, according to the website.

So it's no surprise that sustainability was a big priority for Achanta and Mallory when it came to wedding planning. From secondhand outfits to rent-and-return florals, the couple set out to minimize waste, travel, and costs  and make mindful choices that felt special to them as a couple.

Ben Mallory proposed to Nivi Achanta with a new bike in July of this year.

Mallory's passion for both cycling and sustainability led him to propose to Achanta with the bike. Nivi Achanta

At the start of 2022, the couple agreed that Mallory, who is currently pursuing his doctoral degree, wouldn't propose to Achanta with a traditional engagement ring.

"Nivi can be prone to misplacing things, especially smaller items like rings, so spending a large amount of money on something that might get 'permanently misplaced' was a leading factor in our deviation from a wedding ring," Mallory told Insider.

He added: "If I was going to spend a good chunk of money on something for our engagement, I wanted it to be an investment in our relationship and something that would bring us closer together."

Achanta said she also started thinking critically about weddings, particularly how customs like getting a ring are systemic rather than individual choices.

"We have invented a lot of the cultural concepts within the past 200 years, like how the diamond industry marketed diamonds as engagement rings," she said, referencing the De Beers marketing campaign that popularized its diamonds for engagement rings. Decades later, diamonds continue to reign supreme as the stone of choice for engagement rings, with it being the top choice for 85% of ring shoppers in 2021, according to The Knot.

Since biking has always been a big part of their relationship, Mallory decided it made more sense to buy Achanta new wheels rather than an expensive ring.

However, Achanta said they did still mark their engagement with a "cheap, fashion jewelry ring"  a moissanite option from a local Asian-owned company called DovEggs  that Mallory chose after the proposal.

"I wouldn't have to worry about if I lost it, both cost-wise and because it doesn't carry that much importance to us," Achanta said. "The bike is the star of the show."

When it came to wedding planning, Achanta and Mallory knew they wanted to celebrate sustainably.

Achanta's mehndi artist channeled the wedding's core value of mindful sustainability with a design of planet Earth on her palm and a bike for Mallory. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

Sustainability is important to Achanta, but she said she also thinks people should be able to do things that bring them joy. Achanta, however, wanted her wedding to be helpful rather than harmful, so she focused on planning "mindfully sustainable" events.

She said she thought a lot about a video from The Story of Stuff, which visualizes humanity's current rate of consumption and concludes that we will need five planet Earths to hold the "stuff" being consumed.

"Weddings for me are supposed to be the 'happiest day of your life', and I don't want to associate that with doing harm to the planet that I love living on," Achanta said. "I just see no reason to have a very wasteful wedding."

Mallory, who was equally as excited about planning their sustainable wedding, said the choices they made allowed them to create their own traditions.

"It has been an awesome experience getting to work with individuals and companies that also care about sustainability," he said. "It has given a purpose and meaning behind every item and activity we have, which makes everything feel more special."

The couple planned to have a Hindu-Christian celebration, with their wedding events spread out over a weekend in August.

The couple welcomed their guests with a game night that included Jenga, Polaroid photo books, and pizza. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

The couple wanted to have events that represented both of them. Their wedding weekend kicked off on August 25 with a welcome dinner for their guests in the style of a game night, catered with pizzas from a local business.

This was followed by their Hindu wedding ceremony and sangeet, a traditional event in Indian weddings that involves singing and dancing. The wedding festivities concluded with a Christian ceremony held in a church in a local community hall and a karaoke reception.

The couple struggled with honoring some of the more extravagant Indian wedding traditions, which Achanta said are part of a bigger problem.

Achanta and Mallory shortened their ceremony to an hour and a half, a bold choice given some Hindu weddings can last between four and seven hours. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

Achanta thinks the emphasis on collectivism in South Asian and, more specifically, Indian communities has hugely influenced the continuation of the "big fat Indian wedding."

She said it's a culture of comparison that has pushed families like hers to have big weddings because of the statement it makes in their community. She added that social media trends and economic privilege have had a part to play in creating this culture, where the people consuming the most have the most resources, creating a discrepancy in the quality of South Asian weddings and heightening feelings of comparison.

Instead of conforming to these ideals, Achanta wanted to make purchases and create traditions that were meaningful to her, as well as mindfully sustainable  but her grandma didn't always agree with the couple's choices, she said.

For instance, her grandma was expecting a larger guest list  Indian weddings typically have guest lists of around 400 people. But Achanta and Mallory scaled down their invites to 150 people.

"I would love to throw a party for 150 people to celebrate us and everybody has a good time, and I think that's the core of what it is supposed to be about," she told Insider before the wedding.

Achanta's grandma was also unsure about the decision to cut the Hindu wedding ceremony time down to an hour and a half. Typically, Achanta said, it would be over four hours. This meant the length of certain rituals within the ceremony would inevitably be shortened.

"I think she'd be mad if I called this 'traditional,'" Achanta said of her ceremony.

"I didn't want to sit through hours and hours of a ceremony," she added. "In my family, the wedding ceremony itself can be even seven hours long."

Sustainable outfits were important to the couple  even if it meant breaking tradition.

The Adidas sneakers Achanta wore at her sangeet were advertised as being made with at least 50% recycled content. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

Achanta said South Asian weddings can sometimes feature up to three outfits in a day  two for the ceremony itself, and another for the reception  and they're typically always new garments.

But Achanta only wore one outfit for her Hindu wedding ceremony, breaking from Telugu tradition.

"In the middle of the Telugu ceremony, you have one outfit when you're entering, and then you change into white," Achanta explained.

"I don't unnecessarily want to get a bunch of outfits that I'm never going to wear again," she said of her decision to only wear one look, adding that it was another one of the "points of contention" with her family.

It was, however, the only event where Achanta wore something new. Her mom bought her a bright-pink silk sari from India, which was within the $250 budget Achanta gave her beforehand.

Achanta said there's a stigma around used clothing at Indian weddings. Despite that, she really wanted to buy secondhand fashion for her nuptials.

Achanta wore a new outfit for her Hindu ceremony, but the rest of her looks were bought secondhand. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

Indian party and bridalwear is typically bought through vendors in India, where items are custom-made. Buying these items secondhand would help to minimize both carbon emissions and the habitual disposal of Indian clothes as fashion changes.

"I don't want to associate my wedding with doing harm to the planet I love, specifically in the case of fashion," Achanta said. "I don't want to be further responsible for exploitation and the exploits of labor practices that come with that."

But as a Brahmin  deemed the highest of the Hindu caste system in India  Achanta was raised to believe there is a strong disdain for things that appear contaminated because it deters from welcoming good energy.

"That translates into having new stuff," Achanta said, meaning buying secondhand would have been seen as dirty.

She added: "I never started thrifting until college  when I started thinking through these beliefs for myself."

It was important to Achanta to buy secondhand outfits for the rest of her wedding events. For her welcome dinner, she wore a bright-teal lehenga with sparkly tasselling at the waist. She said she purchased it for $175 from a buy-and-sell group on Facebook and spent an extra $100 on tailoring.

Meanwhile, for their sangeet, she wore another secondhand lehenga from the same Facebook group. The fully sequined piece  which had a navy-blue blouse and a vibrant, multicolored skirt  cost her $125, including the $20 she spent for hemming.

Indian fashion rental startups have never really taken off, adding to the problem.

The couple decided not to translate the Hindu ceremony. They had their friend, a performance artist, tell the story to their guests. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

While the market has made itself known in recent years, not all startups have been able to gain momentum  and a lot of the options are for wedding guests rather than brides.

"It sounds like a very obvious fix of, 'So many of us have clothes. Let's build a marketplace  we'll solve it,'" Achanta said. "But it goes a lot deeper than that."

"There are so many South Asian people waiting for businesses that understand the problem, instead of entrepreneurs that say they can fix this problem with tech-driven solutions," she added.

Achanta said another issue is the lack of incentive to buy secondhand Indian fashion, as the costs of buying something used are often similar to buying new. She said she posted about the issue of "negligible markdowns" in the buy-and-sell Facebook group that she had been buying most of her wedding outfits from.

"I don't really know what the solution is," her post reads. "I think we have to think of Indian clothes in a similar way as driving a new car off the lot and depreciating maybe 50% after the first wear."

Initially, listings in the group hardly had any markdowns, which Achanta said blew her mind.

"These are outfits that you're wearing when around smoke and fire," she said, referring to the holy fires of Hindu wedding ceremonies. "And you're dancing around and sweating in them."

"In my opinion, when you post a secondhand outfit, you should mark it down by half because you're not going to wear it again, and the other person probably has to make further alterations to it," Achanta said.

She said her post garnered a lot of support among the group's 6,000 members, with many voicing their agreement.

Achanta said it was easier to buy a white bridal dress secondhand than an Indian bridal outfit.

Achanta said her Christian wedding dress was an easy purchase. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

Achanta said she felt confident browsing for white wedding dresses because of the high number of options to choose from.

"There are at least 10 different marketplaces where you can get affordable, good condition, verified white wedding dresses," she said. In the end, Achanta found hers for $500 on Facebook Marketplace. She said alterations cost more than the dress itself.

She had shortlisted three dresses on Marketplace and made the trip to try each one on.

"The sustainability route for a white or Christian wedding is honestly painless," she said. "I feel more optimistic for people not doing a multicultural wedding because there's just so many options."

When browsing for Indian clothing, Achanta found a lot of what was available was limited in choice and to certain areas, like New Jersey, which has a larger Indian community than where she lives on the West Coast.

"I'm only 5 feet tall, so a lot of outfits are too big for me or they're also all made to measure, so I would have to fit all the dimensions," she said. "I didn't want to blindly just have someone ship an outfit from the East Coast without trying it on."

She said her final Indian outfits came together by luck, but she doesn't feel hopeful for future Indian women searching for secondhand clothing given the lack of options.

The outfits weren't the only sustainable aspect of the couple's wedding, though. They also chose their venues with waste management in mind.

The couple had an outdoor dinner reception after their Christian wedding ceremony. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

Two of the venues the couple chose were community centers and halls in the Bay Area.

"I love community centers and want them to be more well-funded," Achanta said.

"And because they are owned by the local government, all information is very transparent on their website," she added, referring specifically to composting and waste disposal.

Couples have to bring in their own reusable plates and cutlery or make sure that they are compostable, which the venues' composting facilities accommodate.

However, some mindfully sustainable choices were limited by budget.

Achanta and Mallory wanted to create their own traditions at their wedding. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

There were certain things Achanta wished the couple could have afforded but ultimately had to sacrifice  including choices around sustainable food and catering.

"A lot of [caterers] that count their sustainability credentials are farm-to-table restaurants that are really gorgeous," Achanta said, "but we're not doing that because of budget."

One of those caterers included a taco vendor, who they chose because of affordability.

"I don't know if they have sustainably sourced chicken or not," she added, because it's not flagged in their credentials, "but I'm an entrepreneur and [Ben] is a Ph.D. student. So we are working with a lot of constraints."

Balancing budget with sustainability and her family dynamics meant Achanta had to tell herself, "We can't have everything," and think more about the compromises she was willing and unwilling to make to help her work through the planning.

Achanta aimed to limit food waste as much as she could.

Achanta and Mallory wanted to work with a nearby women's shelter to donate any excess food from one of their events. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

Achanta said they provided to-go boxes and asked guests to take food with them at each event over their wedding weekend.

"Last September, when my best friend got married, I was in charge of bugging every single person to take boxes of food home with them," Achanta said.

"I made the DJ take home 3 tupperwares of food!" she said, meaning that they only had one tray of food left over, as opposed to what was initially 10 before leftovers were given out.

One of the couple's venues was also next to a women's shelter, which they worked with to donate the rest of the uneaten food.

"I just think it's unconscionable to waste food, where so many people don't have enough to eat," Achanta said, calling it the most frustrating part of planning the wedding.

A more mindful choice for their wedding florals was a no-brainer.

The couple was excited to work with vendors who shared their passion for sustainability. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

Something Borrowed Blooms, a rent-and-return flower business specializing in silk florals, worked with the couple to provide decorations for the wedding. The company says fresh wedding flowers alone contribute to approximately 4 billion tons of waste each year.

"Every single person has a huge opportunity to sit and think for 15 minutes about different options that they have for any event, whether it's a wedding, or baby shower, or birthday party, and think if you want to contribute to the problem or the solution," Achanta said.

The couple said they were thrilled to work with the floral company because of their aligned values on affordability and sustainability. According to the company's website, it rents out each of its silk flower arrangements an average of 26 times per year.

"It's awesome seeing that there are companies that can do this sort of thing at scale, and even if we didn't have the partnership with them, it would still be so much more affordable," Achanta said.

Achanta is optimistic about a future with more sustainable Indian weddings.

The couple had a karaoke night reception after their Christian ceremony, marking the end of their wedding weekend. Stavan Shah, Vision Infinie by Stavan

After messaging in the buy-and-sell Facebook Group, Achanta said a wave of other brides started posting about wanting to plan their weddings in a mindfully sustainable way.

This, along with the release of the Netflix show "The Big Day," which highlighted 12 South Asian weddings across the spectrum, gave her great hope for the cause.

One couple on the show planned an entirely sustainable wedding, which Achanta said she admired.

Exposure of this issue to a mass audience on Netflix, coupled with her own experience, made Achanta feel that enough people are thinking about wanting to be more sustainable, but they might not have the courage or language to advocate for it in their own families.

"If your whole family would look down on you for wanting to do something sustainable  kind of how I'm experiencing  some people have a lot more to lose," she said.

On the flip side, Achanta said she felt confident bringing up these conversations with her family, and she doesn't think she's the only one beginning to do this.

"I think that more people are starting to feel like it's low stakes and can start these conversations," she said.

When it comes to Indian  and broader South Asian  families planning more sustainable weddings, she does think "a tipping point is totally possible."

"It's just about having people take those first steps on behalf of other South Asians," she said, "specifically women that are thinking about the same things."

Read the original article on Insider
Former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine will be the featured speaker at a fundraising breakfast celebrating Elder Care Bartlesville's 40th year in service.

A Giving Day fundraising breakfast is set for 9:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Tri County Technology Event Center, 6101 Nowata Road. An open house will follow from noon to 2 p.m. at Elder Care, 1223 Swan Drive.

Jim Bridenstine

Bridenstine is a former United States House of Representative from Oklahomas First Congressional District and the nation's 13th NASA Administrator.

will be the featured guest speaker during the fundraising breakfast. Elder Care Board President Mark Wilburn says the event theme  Setting New Heights  describes Elder Cares vision for 2024 and beyond.

Elder Care is setting new heights for future programs and quality services, and the funds raised during the Giving Day celebration will provide resources to offer services in 2024. It is an honor to feature Mr. Bridenstine as our guest speaker for this milestone event," said Elder Care Board President Mark Wilburn. "Looking to the future, Elder Care continues fully committing to improving our services for aging adults."

The event is open to the public. Individual tickets are $50 each for general seating or $75 each for reserved seating with a commemorative T-shirt. Tickets may be purchased by calling Elder Care (918) 336-8500 or online at www.AboutElderCare.org/breakfast.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bridenstine to speak Nov. 11 at Elder Care 40th anniversary event
Texas has produced many powerful political figures in its long history. In the 1930s, Texas had one of the most influential congressional delegations in the nation, including Sen. Morris Sheppard , the Senate Minority Whip, House Speaker John Nance Garner, and other congressmen such as future House Speaker Sam Rayburn and Wright Patman. Among those figures was Congressman Hatton Sumners of Dallas, a 34-year veteran of Congress and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee for fourteen years, helping to shape the direction of the federal judiciary.

Hatton Sumners was born in 1875 on a farm in Lincoln County, Tennessee, on the border with Alabama. His father had been a Confederate officer during the Civil War, and his parents also operated a boarding school. When he was 19, the family moved to Texas, settling in Garland, then a tiny community of just over 500 residents a few miles from Dallas.

Sumners wanted to pursue higher education and was interested in a law career. However, money was tight; and there were few alternatives at the time. He went to the Dallas city attorney, Alfred Wonzencraft, and explained his plight. Impressed by Sumners, Wozencraft hired him to work at his law firm, allowing him to study the law at night and even sleep in the offices. By 1897, Sumners passed the bar exam and began his work as an attorney.

In 1900, he decided to run for Dallas County Attorney. Though only having practiced for three years, Sumners won easily and became county attorney at the age of 25. He made shutting down gambling in the county a priority, a crusade that he claimed led to his defeat in the 1902 primary. He was re-elected in 1904 and convinced the state legislature to push through a bill making running a gambling establishment a felony. He declined to run for a third term in 1906 and was named president of the state district attorneys association and spent the next few years running his own law firm.

In 1912, he was elected to Congress. He jumped into his work, quickly passing a bill to make Dallas a port of entry, easing the importation of products from abroad. Sumners was an enthusiastic supporter of the Federal Reserve Act to reform the nations banking system. He was instrumental in bringing the regional Federal Reserve Bank to Dallas. The move solidified the position of Dallas as a major financial center in the state.

His congressional colleagues acknowledged his expertise on constitutional law and had him assigned to the House Judiciary Committee in 1919. He worked on a number of reforms to the federal judiciary, including changes to case loads and retirements. Though he supported a fair and transparent judiciary, he was often hostile to civil rights legislation, as were many southerners at the time.

Sumners became chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in 1932. As part of his committee work, he served as a House manager in the impeachment cases of three federal judges in their trials before the Senate. He also appeared as an attorney before the Supreme Court on several occasions to defend the interests of Congress in several cases. In 1934, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt prepared to grant independence to the Philippines, Sumners wrote a constitution for the islands.

In 1946, he announced his retirement after seventeen terms in Congress. He enjoyed a quiet life upon his return to Dallas. He lived on the campus of Southern Methodist University for several years while working as the Director of Research in Law and Government for the Southwestern Legal Foundation. In 1949, he established the Hatton Sumners Foundation to offer scholarships to aspiring students and grants for researchers. He published a book outlining his ideas about government and the importance of the civic responsibilities of individuals in The Private Citizen and His Democracy in 1959. He died quietly in 1962.

Ken Bridges is a writer, historian and native Texan. He holds a doctorate from the University of North Texas. Bridges can be reached by email at drkenbridges@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Bridges: Texan Hatton Sumners helped shape direction federal judiciary
The discovery of a whites-only mom & tots poster in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, is raising major concerns about the rise of racism and hate speech in the province.

Posted on Instagram by Indigenous journalist Brandi Morin, thousands of Canadians have commented, horrified by the poster that asks white parents if theyre tired of being a minority? The poster also shares how white people can escape forced diversity by joining other proud parents of European children to create an atmosphere in which their kids can feel like they belong.

Invest in your childs sense of well being and racial identity by giving them the gift of time spent amongst their own people  because they deserve it, the poster states, accompanied by a URL link and an email address for parents to join a chat group.

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Morin joined the "White Tri-cities" group and posted screenshots of the chat discussion which includes hundreds of members being encouraged to keep their identities anonymous. The chat mainly focused on when and where the parents can meet, as well as discussion about why they feel theyre not the racists.

Its a thinly veiled meeting of white supremacy that breeds hate into the next generation  truly sickening and wholly unsafe, commented Instagram user @indigi_nish under Morins post.

Its pretty easy to see the scandalous unethical behaviour in this country, especially when most leadership stood and applauded for a Nazi veteran in our parliament. Nothing here is unbelievable anymore, wrote another user.

Their ancestors imposed their presence on native lands at the expense of Native American and African people and now they want to act victimized, commented another user.

Poster may be a 'campaign for attention'

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) says the posters messaging aligns with groups like White Lives Matter that have used similar language.

It is draping racist messaging in the same terms used by social justice movements. It is an old tactic, but effective. The poster isn't advocating to create a place where children can thrive, but where they can be kept apart from those they view as lesser. There is also the very real possibility this poster is not actually seeking parents for a white-only daycare, but a campaign for attention, Peter Smith, a journalist and researcher with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, wrote in an email to Yahoo News Canada.

While CAHN doesnt track the number of incidents of posters and propaganda distributed in the country, the network says its a very common tactic to put up posters with hateful messaging in public places with hopes that locals will see the material firsthand and that media outlets will spread the message for them.

We are seeing growing support for the far-right and racist politics. There are a number of opinions about what is driving this global rise of the far-right, but it is also important to remember that prejudice and intolerance of people who exist outside the majority is nothing new, and certainly not in Canada.Peter Smith, journalist and researcher, Canadian Anti-Hate Network

He says the good news is that most people are outraged and do not want this type of hate in their communities.

Vigilance and education against intolerance is the best preventative steps people can take. Those who want to be proactive against racist and authoritarian groups and movements should consider organizing within their communities, monitoring and sharing information on the local far-right, and connecting with like-minded individuals to build strong networks of support for each other, Smith wrote on behalf of CAHN.

Despite government support, 'racists are getting too comfortable'

Under Morins Instagram post that exposes the group, many online users are calling on the government to address whats been called an escalating and unsettling organizing of white supremacy.

In an email to Yahoo News, Mable Elmore, the B.C. Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives, wrote, I am deeply troubled by the appearance of posters promoting a white-only moms and tots group in the Metro Vancouver area. This is completely unacceptable. These acts of racism and bigotry have no place in any community in B.C. I applaud citizens' and local municipal leaders' proactive response to this ignorance. Everyone has the right to feel safe and to participate freely in their community.

Through the Resilience BC Anti-Racism Network, Elmore says the government is improving support services and empowering more people to diffuse hate incidents where and when they happen. One way that she says the government is working to address racism at the community level is through the recently launched K-12 Anti-Racism Action Plan, which puts tools and resources into the hands of parents, teachers and students to better equip them to be active agents of anti-racism in their communities.

B.C. is the only province in Canada with a dedicated integrated Hate Crimes policing unit. This team provides advice and guidance to police throughout the province investigating hate crimes, as well as to Crown Counsel that prosecute those crimes. This policy provides guidance to prosecutors dealing with offences that are motivated by the offenders bias, prejudice, or hate towards others and notes that these offences are driven by bigotry and intolerance for others and are to be regarded as serious matters, Elmore wrote.

She explains how this year, the government reinstated B.C.s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner and increased funding by $4.5M per year to the Human Rights Tribunal and Community Legal Assistance Society to improve access to justice, fight racism and other forms of discrimination across the province.

Yet, despite government policies, people online still say, Racists are getting too comfortable.

In her Instagram post, Morin reminds users that Canada is founded on Indigenous land by a European settler society.

She ends her posts with a simple quote, Racism has nothing to do with feelings. It is a measurable reality that white people are not subject to, regardless of their income or status (Harriot, 2018).
Volusia County deputies, elated by the long-awaited identification of a murder victim found in 1990, are hoping the same techniques will lead to success in more frustrating cases.

A Texas-based lab called the agencys cold case unit Thursday with the news that the body, discovered on a dirt road off Clyde Morris Boulevard, was Roberta Bobbie Weber, 32.

Weber was found by a person walking along the path. Her badly decomposed remains were scattered in multiple places, and a rope was found around her neck. Deputies estimated she had been dead for as long as six months.

 WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

The state of decomposition left few avenues for deputies to pursue while trying to solve her case, until technology allowed researchers to reconstruct Webers family tree through forensic genealogy and locate her sister in Texas.

Webers remains were one of six or seven cases sent to different labs for processing. The other one sent to the same Texas-based lab, which has now made identifications in 100 cold cases this year, was a case simply known as John Doe 1992.

Does body was found on Maytown Road five miles east of Osteen in July 1992. Reports at the time noted signs of severe trauma, including the removal of Does head and hands.

Read: DNA tests help ID woman found dead in Volusia County in 1990 as mother of 3

Since then, Doe has not been identified. He was believed to be a middle-aged Black man with a small beard.

Getting a victim identified is the most important thing you need to do in a cold case, VCSO Sgt. Seth Amrhine said. Not having that identification hamstrung the case.

Detectives did not detail the other cases sent for testing but said all were homicide victims. Those cases are considered a priority since the cost of the testing is significant.

Read: A horrific incident: New details released in cold case of slain Central Florida woman

The murder investigation into Webers death has been reopened, with deputies now trying to figure out how she got from Salinas, California, where she was last seen, to Florida.

We vet every tip that comes in, Amrhine said. No tip is too small; no piece of information is too small from someones memory way back then.

Read: Flagler County deputies ask for help identifying 1993 cold case victim

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Bulgaria has banned the import of sunflower seed from Ukraine until the end of November.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Bulgaria

Details: The ministry's message states that an online meeting between the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Mykola Solskyi , and his Bulgarian counterpart, Kiril Vatev, had taken place.

Vatev reported on the Memorandum signed between the Bulgarian government and the Farmers' Initiative Committee, which provides for a ban on the import of sunflower seed from Ukraine until the end of November.

The Bulgarian minister says that the licensing regime for the export of sunflower seed, wheat, maize and rapeseed will operate after this period, in accordance with the agreed plan between Ukraine and the European Commission.

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Bulgaria has banned the import of Ukrainian sunflowers until the end of November after a meeting between both countries' agriculture ministers, Bulgaria's Agriculture Ministry said on Sept. 29.



Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev said the ban accords with a memorandum between the government and a farmers' collective in the country.



After the deadline expires, the import of Ukrainian sunflower, wheat, corn, and rapeseed can be facilitated through a license negotiated with the European Commission.



Ukraine's neighbors, including Bulgaria, Poland, Moldova and Slovakia, have imposed various bans on the import of Ukraine's agricultural produce, trying to shield their farmers from local market oversaturation and price crashes.

A European Union-wide ban on the import of grain was lifted on Sept. 15, raising tensions.

Ukraine was forced to export overland because Russia is blocking its primary mode of export through the Black Sea. Agriculture contributed over 10% of Ukraine's GDP in 2021.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A memorial tribute will be held Saturday morning in Elk Grove for retired California State Fire Marshal Ronny J. Coleman, who died earlier this month in Sacramento at 83.

The service is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon at Herberger Funeral Chapel, 9101 Elk Grove Blvd.

Cal Fire announced on social media that Coleman passed away peacefully at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento on Sept. 21.

Coleman, appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson, served as state fire marshal from 1992 to 2000. In 60 years of fire service, Coleman became recognized and revered for his talents as a prolific writer, powerful speaker and skilled leader, Cal Fire officials said.

Daniel Berlant, the acting state fire marshal and deputy director of community wildfire preparedness and mitigation for Cal Fire, said in a statement to The Sacramento Bee that Coleman will always be remembered for his dedication to his work and his unwavering commitment to the safety of our community.

Chief Colemans impact on our lives and the firefighting community was immeasurable, and we hope to come together to honor his memory and share stories that capture the essence of the remarkable person he was, Berlant said.

Before his appointment as state fire marshal, Coleman served as fire chief for the cities of San Clemente and Fullerton. He was also the operation chief with the City of Costa Mesa Fire Department.

He also served as president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, directing a multitude of fire service committees and associations.

And hes authored 19 books, most of them on the topic of fire protection services.

Coleman is survived by his wife Marie, son Chris Coleman, daughter Lisa Coleman and their families.

A funeral service for Coleman will be held Friday at Calvary South OC, a church in San Clemente.
More than 150,000 California workers who lost their jobs since 2020 are still fighting for delayed or denied unemployment benefits. At the same time, the state paid out an estimated $30 billion in fraudulent claims, dramatically more than any other state on both a real and per capita basis.

The state fund that supports unemployed workers is more than $18 billion in debt, with no fix in sight.

With an unemployment system so clearly in crisis, one might have expected lawmakers to spend the final days of the legislative session this month focused on shoring up the Employment Development Department, which administers the unemployment system in California.

Instead, they made it worse.

After a fierce lobbying blitz, lawmakers approved granting unemployment to an entirely new category of beneficiary: striking workers. The move was a dramatic departure from the program President Franklin D. Roosevelt created through the Social Security Act of 1935, which was intended to relieve economic hardship for workers who had lost jobs through no fault of their own.

New responsibilities are clearly the last thing the EDD needs. In her recent book, Re-Coding America, former Obama administration official Jen Pahlka detailed just how dramatically the agency collapsed three years ago. Legislators will recall how their offices were inundated with calls from thousands of constituents desperate to secure their unemployment benefits and unable to get through to the EDD.

Perhaps more troubling, the EDD did not even know how large the backlog was: The agency estimated 239,000 cases. In reality it was five times that amount.

Another recession is still possible. A recent Wall Street Journal poll of economists puts the chances of a recession in the next 12 months at greater than 50-50. Now is the time to make the system capable of providing jobless benefits to folks out of work. This is about blocking and tackling  the most basic work of government on behalf of the people. It is not the time to be drawing up new plays in the dirt.

Even if Californias unemployment system were in good condition, this law would break troubling new ground. California has a relatively supportive unemployment system, in which even workers who quit their job may receive unemployment benefits if they had good cause to leave, and made all reasonable efforts to keep the job. The new legislation, Senate Bill 799, has no provision for evaluating whether there is just cause to strike. If signed, any strike becomes a good strike. Yet history makes clear that even as the strike has been a critical tool for workers asserting their rights, it has also been at times abused by labor leaders focused on their own power and prestige.

With the jockeying of the legislative session behind us, all eyes now turn to the governor. Unlike the Legislature, he does not have the luxury of indulging narrow interests in the face of hard fiscal reality. He has wielded his veto pen accordingly in recent years, including difficult choices like denying unemployment benefits to undocumented workers last year.

If the state could not afford extending unemployment benefits to those doing uneven and backbreaking work in the fields, we should think long and hard before extending such benefits to folks with a job waiting for them.

To gauge what Californians think about this policy, we should consider the hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income workers who have left California in recent years. They have not gone to the two states that provide unemployment insurance for striking workers (New York and New Jersey). Instead, they have left for states that have lower housing costs, better schools and less poverty.

If we want some commentary on what workers closer to home think about the priorities of our unemployment system, however, the EDD has the names of 150,000 Californians who would likely be glad to share their opinions.

Scott Syphax is the president of Syphax Strategic Solutions. He is a board member of the 21st Century Alliance, an organization of philanthropists, civic leaders and public advocacy groups focused on Californias long-term success.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Californias Employment Development Department has enough problems
A viral tweet criticizing a California professors policy on pronouns quickly escalated this week into a bomb threat that stirred faculty and students at California State University, Fresno, into a panic and prompted campuswide evacuations.

The situation is indicative of a pattern becoming increasingly common on school campuses nationwide. As anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online spirals into real-world violence, or threats of it, schools are scrambling to respond.

LibsofTikTok  a group described by the Anti-Defamation League as a popular anti-LGBTQ+ Twitter account  tweeted screenshots Wednesday that appeared to be from a class assignment requiring college students to state their preferred pronouns.

The tweet suggested the assignment came from Ida Jones, a business and finance professor at Fresno State. It also included screenshots of a Dec. 30 post on a popular online forum for rating college professors. In the post, a student suggested Jones removed a large amount of points off of an assignment because I didn't address my pronouns, which the student said they didnt believe in.

The next day around 11:30 a.m., the Fresno State Police Department was notified about a bomb threat toward the university and a professors house, according to an alert from Jennifer Curwick, the universitys interim police chief. The threat was related to a social media post, Curwick said, though she did not specify more about which post.

The school immediately evacuated its dorms, dining hall and a child-care facility. Some professors moved their classes online. A lecturer feared for her family, who was on campus, and frantically texted them. Law enforcement responded to ensure the safety of the professors home, Curwick said.

Ultimately, the bomb threat was deemed not credible. Curwick said Thursday the university is working diligently to identify the source of this threat.

The universitys public information officer, Lisa Bell, confirmed in an email to USA TODAY that a professor at the university required students to share information about themselves, including their preferred pronouns, as part of a class assignment. Though the school does not have an academic policy requiring students to identify their preferred pronouns, Bell said faculty members are encouraged to create inclusive learning environments.

While we fully support freedom of speech and expression, we condemn in the strongest possible terms, any actions that threaten the safety of our campus community, she said.

In a statement to USA TODAY, Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the LGBTQ rights group GLAAD, condemned the incident. She characterized it as the latest example of escalating violence toward LGBTQ people amid an onslaught of online hate.

Using the correct pronouns for transgender students, and for any students, is a matter of treating others with dignity and respect, and it shouldn't incite hate, she said. We all must speak out against this wave of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and hold platforms and others accountable for their role in perpetuating it, because the consequences are too dire otherwise."

Jones declined to comment for this story.

When reached for comment by USA TODAY, LibsofTikTok wrote in a direct message to this reporter on X, formerly Twitter, You have pronouns in your bio which tells me that nothing you say should be taken seriously.

Anti-LGBTQ posts from LibsofTikTok are common, expert says

Five bomb threats were also called this week into a school district and library in northern California. It came on the heels of a different LibsofTikTok post taking issue with a teachers lessons on gender identity.

More: Library, schools in one California city are getting bomb threats after right-wing posts

The pattern is a common and recognizable one, said Ari Drennen, LGBTQ program director for Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog. Chaya Raichik is a former real estate agent who runs the LibsofTikTok account.

Its just truly a dangerous new era, Drennen told USA TODAY. We cant really afford to pretend that theres no separation between what goes on social media and what happens in the real world.

GLAADs annual social media safety index, which came out in June, ranked X as the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people." Yet the report placed blame on all major social media platforms, which it said are largely failing to mitigate harms for their queer and transgender users.

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: A viral tweet criticized a professor's pronoun policy. A bomb threat followed.
As House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was turning to Democrats for help passing a stopgap government funding bill, his fellow California Republicans were busy at the party's state convention in Anaheim, bantering about the party's platform and ogling presidential candidates.

McCarthy's deal to fund the government through mid-November passed the House with more support from Democrats than Republicans, demonstrating his inability to hold his caucus together on key votes. Ninety Republicans opposed the measure.

The short-term funding bill, which passed the Senate on Saturday night and was later signed by President Biden, avoiding a government shutdown, excluded support for Ukraine.

Read more: News Analysis: Kevin McCarthy avoided a government shutdown. But the fiasco shows he's weaker than ever

Attendees at the state Republican Party convention were just as divided as their representatives in Congress.

Cynthia Kaui, 28, president of San Diego Young Republicans, said the club's members are mixed about whether to send more aid to Ukraine. Support for Ukraine is divided sharply along ideological lines, with 62% of conservatives believing the U.S. is doing too much to support the nation against Russia's invasion, compared with just 17% of liberals, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll released this week.

More important than any particular aspect of the spending bill, Kaui said, was that Democrats and Republicans work together to keep the government operating.

That's one thing, in general on the national side, that we've lost sight of, is the ability to have discourse and dialogue," Kaui said. "I hope ultimately that both of the sides can come together and compromise."

A government shutdown could negatively affect Republican candidates' chances in next year's elections. A Morning Consult Pro poll released Tuesday indicated that 34% of voters would blame a government shutdown on congressional Republicans, compared with 23% who'd put the onus on Biden, and 21% who'd blame Democrats in Congress.

There are moments when its important for Republicans to take a stand and draw attention to budgets they see as bloated and social programs they consider problematic, Sacramento County Republican Party Chair Betsy Mahan told The Times as she stood in line for a platform committee meeting.

This, she said, was not one of those moments.

There are a few people holding it up over purity tests, she said of the funding. Its fine to speak up, but you need to go along with everyone else at some point.

GOP delegate Randall Jordan of Paso Robles disagreed.

I dont believe in the big tent. I believe in a tent that will house like-minded people, he said.

Jordan, who owns a construction company, said that when there is a downturn or he cant meet his budget, he lays people off. He acknowledged that a shutdown could put some Republicans in swing districts at risk. But one has to happen, he said.

In the short run, I think it could hurt us," he added. "But I still believe that most of our citizens are conservative, and it will be OK.

Generally, attendees to the weekend convention seemed more concerned with the spectacle of visiting presidential candidates or local matters than the budget battle happening across the country.

Kimberly Nguyen of North Pasadena arrives at the California Republican Party Convention in Anaheim on Friday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Today the real threat to us is not even from Congress on the eve of whatever artificial shutdown debate they are having at a given hour today, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said to a luncheon crowd of about 500 people Saturday. Thats not the real threat we face. The real threat we face in the United States is the rise of that managerial class from our universities to corporate America to the ultimate model of that managerial class in the administrative state in the federal government today.

In particular, convention attendees were caught up Saturday with a vote on whether to change the state party's platform to make it more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. That effort failed, frustrating some delegates who had hoped to see the party remove language that says it is important to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

This will hamstring Californias Republican Party as voters wonder what decade the party is focused on ... the past over the future," said Charles Moran, a Los Angeles County delegate and president of Log Cabin Republicans, a national group representing LGBTQ+ conservatives and their allies.

Read more: California GOP may strip opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage from platform

Covina Mayor Walt Allen said that, as a former FBI employee, he feels for the families who could yet face a government shutdown if no deal is reached in November. But he said the government has to send a message about the nations tremendous deficit.

So I'm hoping that there's going to be a resolution brought to bear. I know Kevin McCarthy is trying real hard to have a united front and to not shut the government down, Allen said, before acknowledging that the Bakersfield Republican had lost the support of several hard-right members of his caucus.

Flags hang from balconies of guest rooms at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel during the California Republican Party Convention. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Montecito resident Thomas Cole, 66, who said he is planning to run for Congress next year against incumbent Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), said it would be fine with him if the government were to shut down, which he hoped would send a message to voters that they should be concerned about the national debt.

I'm not worried about [a possible shutdown]. I'm sorry a few people won't get their paychecks on time, but they all get paid eventually, Cole said. The government is way too big, in my opinion, so let it shut down.  Let them have a break from spending money.

Convention delegate Beth Holder said Saturday that she supported McCarthys move to push through a stopgap bill to continue funding the government, without funding for Ukraine.

I really don't think the shutdown is a good idea, Holder said. Anytime we freeze government, it kind of puts everybody in a paralyzed situation.

Get the best of the Los Angeles Times politics coverage with the Essential Politics newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
FILE PHOTO: 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 Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian Sikhs are grateful to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for giving voice to their fears and standing up to India at the risk of severe backlash from New Delhi, which he said could be linked to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader.

The Indian government considered Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen who was shot to death in June in British Columbia (BC), a terrorist because of his advocacy for Khalistan, an independent Sikh state.

India forcefully denied its involvement in Nijjar's murder, which took place in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Surrey, BC. But Canadian Sikhs are unconvinced, and the minority who are active proponents of Khalistan are afraid.

"There's a lot of fear," said Sentokh Singh, who was among the small group who protested in front of the Indian High Commission (embassy) in Ottawa this week. "That's why we are here today."

Both countries expelled diplomats in a tit-for-tat retaliation after Trudeau's bombshell announcement last week, but India has gone further, issuing a travel warning and halting visa issuance to Canadians.

Trudeau's move risks derailing a strategic economic and political shift many Western countries are making towards India to counter China. It also distracted attention from his push to address cost-of-living concerns, which have weighed heavily on his popularity in opinion polls.

Canada is home to about 770,000 Sikhs, the highest population outside the northern Indian state of Punjab, and the Indian government has for decades expressed its displeasure with some community members' outspoken support for Khalistan.

Sikhs punch above their weight in Canadian politics. They have 15 members in the House of Commons, more than 4% of the seats, mostly from key battlegrounds in national elections, while comprising only about 2% of the Canadian population.

Furthermore, one member is Jagmeet Singh, leader of the opposition New Democrats, a left-leaning party that is supporting the Trudeau's minority government.

"In political terms, this is no-brainer: You got to get out ahead of the story and you got to express outrage," said Fen Hampson, professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Trudeau's "unsubstantiated allegations" seek to shift focus away from "Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been provided shelter in Canada," India's foreign ministry said.

Canada says Sikhs have a right to peaceful protest and there has been no evidence of violence, terrorist activity or wrongdoing.

'RELIEF'

A friend of Nijjar's, Gurmeet Singh Toor, is an active member of the same temple and a Khalistan supporter. He was told in August by the federal police that his life might be "in peril", according to a document he was given by police that provided no details about the potential threat.

The RCMP would not corroborate the document, saying it could increase the risk to the individual who received it.

An insurgency seeking a Sikh homeland of Khalistan killed tens of thousands in the 1980s and 1990s and was crushed by India. It has almost no support in Punjab today.

However, on Friday hundreds of Sikh activists staged a demonstration outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar, in Punjab, demanding punishment for the Nijjar's killers.

Mukhbir Singh, a member of the Ottawa Sikh Society, said Canadian Sikhs' views on Khalistan vary and everyone should be able to express their own opinion. He said Trudeau is sticking up for Canadian democratic values.

"Prime Minister Trudeau has taken a stance" to make "paramount" the safety of its citizens, he said, even though the Canadian government does not support Khalistan. "In Canada, we have the right to express our opinions even if they don't align with the opinions of the government."

Trudeau, the longest serving progressive leader in the G7 group of wealthy nations, is trailing badly in opinion polls. As he rolls out a series of measures to address cost-of-living concerns and try to claw back support, the tensions with India have interfered with attempts to communicate those new policies, senior officials in Ottawa said.

Suk Dhaliwal, a Sikh Liberal member of parliament for Surrey, told Reuters he is not a Khalistan separatist, but a Canadian, and Canadians have a right to protest peacefully. He said his constituents have suspected since June the involvement of the Indian government in the murder.

"The community feels a bit relieved now that at least there is someone who has shown leadership to bring this message forward," Dhaliwal said.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Additional reporting by Wa Lone in Toronto; Editing by Denny Thomas and Daniel Wallis)
(FOX40.COM)  A bill that would allow Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes to open in California cities that allow them has been approved by both chambers of the state Legislature and only needs the signature of the governor to be turned into law.

AB 374 by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) would allow local governments such as cities and counties to license cannabis businesses that would let the public purchase and consume other products on the premises.

Lee troubled by Newsom comments about appointing a caretaker to Senate

The bill was introduced as a way to help existing dispensaries and cannabis businesses offer more services, as well as to help bring more tourists, according to a statement from Haneys office.

The bill was modeled on the cafes in Amsterdam and across the Netherlands, renowned for offering cannabis, coffee and other drinks, food and even live music.

Lots of people want to enjoy legal cannabis in the company of others, Haney said in a statement. Theres absolutely no good reason from an economic, health, or safety standpoint that the state should make that illegal. If an authorized cannabis retail store wants to also sell a cup of coffee and a sandwich, we should allow cities to make that possible and stop holding back these small businesses.

Schiff, Porter lead in Senate race, but nearly one third of voters undecided, poll shows

Haneys office said that consuming cannabis at a cannabis retailer is technically legal in the state, but selling other products is not.

Recreational use of marijuana was legalized for adults over 21 in California in 2016 through the voter-approved Proposition 64, but dispensaries function only as a point of sale.

Haneys office said that while legal marijuana sales in the state in 2020 were $4 billion, illegal marijuana sales across the state that year were projected to be above $8 billion.

AB 374 still needs Governor Gavin Newsom s signature to become law. If Newsom does sign the bill, it will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, and the cafes would only be allowed in cities and counties that approve them.

West Hollywood has already passed ordinances that would allow for a licensing system, and similar ordinances are being crafted in San Francisco, Haneys office said.

Newsom yet to sign bill legalizing some psychedelics

The Legislatures passing of AB 374 comes several days after both chambers also approved a bill that would legalize several naturally occurring psychedelics, so-called magic mushrooms.

Bill that decriminalizes psychedelic mushrooms passes state assembly

SB 58 was introduced at the end of 2022 and underwent several amendments in the legislative process before being passed by both the Assembly and Senate.

If signed by Newsom, the bill would legalize the possession and cultivation of limited amounts of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline (but not peyote), psilocybin and psilocin for personal use by adults 21 and older.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Days after the release of a blistering audit that found widespread financial mismanagement at Capital Public Radio, Sacramento State announced Saturday that the operation is expected to be insolvent by January and that a new administrator from the school is being put in charge.

Sac State President Luke Wood said he was appointing Jonathan Bowman, the university vice president for administration and business affairs and its chief financial officer, to oversee CapRadio.

The appointment follows an internal analysis of CapRadios finances that projects the university auxiliary will have no financial resources remaining in January 2024, Sac State said in announcing Bowmans appointment. This finding follows a CSU system audit that revealed significant problems with CapRadios financial health, governance, and operations.

As a nonprofit auxiliary, CapRadio cannot file for bankruptcy, and any debt accumulated is the ultimate responsibility of Sacramento State, its fiduciary.

The move comes in the wake of deep financial troubles at the operation, which laid off 12% of its staff a month ago and was the subject of a highly critical audit from the Chancellors Office of the 23-campus Cal State system that was released Wednesday.

The bombshell led to Sacramento State announcing it was taking over control of the operations accounting, financial and other operations except for content.

The financial implications of CapRadios mismanagement have significant consequences for Sacramento State, but we will make it through, Wood said in a statement after the release of the audit.

Sacramento State holds the license for CapRadio, a National Public Radio member that operates KXJZ-FM (90.9) and KXPR-FM (88.9) and a network of repeater stations, including KUOP-FM (91.3). CapRadio also manages North State Public Radio, which has two stations owned by Chico State.

The audit, which was requested a year ago by former Sacramento State President Robert Nelsen, found numerous management problems, including unpaid rent and annual audits by an outside firm that have been identified as potentially inaccurate, the audit said.

Other problems identified by the audit included lax control over employee credit cards, a lack of written agreements with the two entities CapRadio uses for its vehicle donation fundraising efforts and a lack of programs for university students.

Based on discussions with campus and CPR management, we noted that CPR did not have handson student involvement in staffing, internships, or programming and therefore did not appear to provide any instructionally related activities for the benefit of Sacramento State students, the audit found.

CapRadios board of directors brought in Tom Karlo, a longtime San Diego public broadcasting executive, several weeks ago to serve as interim general manager. Wood, who took over as Sac State president in July, urged the board to make the move.

Karlo replaced Jun Reina, who served as general manager and vice president as the operation sought to move from the university campus to a new headquarters and performance space in downtown Sacramento.

Capital Public Radios new performance space, CapRadio Live, at the corner of Eighth and J streets in downtown Sacramento is pictured on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. The station has not yet moved from its offices at Sacramento State.

Reina left the station in March after 15 years with CapRadio, and Karlo is staying on in the interim post.

Sac State said Bowman was the official who noticed inconsistencies in CapRadios financial reports and operations in 2021, a discovery that led to the audit.

Bowmans accounting and financial team assumed control of CapRadios finances in August, Sac State said.

I am a believer in public broadcasting and am committed to public media and to seeing CapRadio through this difficult time, Bowman said in a statement. I look forward to collaborating with interim General Manager Tom Karlo and CapRadio to address the issues identified in the audit, restore public trust in the station, create sound financial practices, and develop a new operating agreement with the University.

I also believe strongly in preserving CapRadios journalistic and programming independence, which has made it a leading source of news in Northern California.

Sac State officials had said after the audits release that the broadcasters news operations would remain independent of university management.
WASHINGTON (Nexstar)  A black cloth and white roses sat upon the senate desk that for years belonged to Sen. Dianne Feinstein .

The other California senator, Alex Padilla (D-CA), joined a tearful remembrance on the senate floor, just hours after Feinsteins death was announced.

We bid farewell to my dear friend, Padilla said. An outright champion for the state of California.

Lawmakers also honored her as a trailblazer for women.

When we talk about the giants on whose shoulders we stand, for me thats Dianne. said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

Dianne was a leader in fighting for womens rights and protecting our communities from violence and gun violence, noted Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).

Sen. Feinsteins legacy includes her work to help pass the 1994 assault weapons ban. She was known on Capitol Hill for fighting for the causes she believed in and she worked until the very end, casting her vote Thursday afternoon.

And she won and she won and each time made the country a better place, stated Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Senate Republicans remembered Feinstein for working across the aisle and for her warmth, with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) remarking, Her beloved home state of California and our entire nation are better for her dogged advocacy and diligent service.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
A Columbus city employee handling a firearm purchased during the Saturday gun buyback program at the Trinity Baptist Church in King-Lincoln Bronzeville.

The cars stretched for blocks in King-Lincoln Bronzeville on Saturday as Columbus police bought back hundreds of firearms from the public.

The gun buyback program, which ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Trinity Baptist Church, in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood, drew people looking to sell as few as one to more than 10. In exchange for their guns, the Columbus Office of Violence Prevention offered up to $750 in gift cards per gun.

In total, the city bought 344 guns, including 201 handguns, 75 shotguns and 68 rifles  amounting to $136,600 paid out to residents.

There was a heavy police presence as vehicles filed into the church parking lot, where pistols and rifles were removed from their trunks and residents were compensated. The process was anonymous, and police said they weren't checking IDs or license plate numbers.

Cars stretched for blocks in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood Saturday for a Columbus gun buyback program hosted by the city's Office of Violence Prevention.

Around noon, Bruce Millard, 57, had been waiting for over an hour to sell an old gun that was in his safe for which he figured he'd get a couple bucks. The real point, he said, is to get guns off the street in a state where the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly opposes controlling firearms.

"You don't want guns that are laying around that could get stolen and end up in the hands of a kid," Millard said.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther called the event a resounding success, drawing even more people than anybody imagined.

"Having this many folks participating  lined all the way around the block to get guns off the streets  we think it's absolutely critical to help protecting children, families and our officers," Ginther said.

Firearms purchased Saturday during the gun buyback program in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood.

He said the reason they held it at Trinity Baptist Church was to create a welcoming environment in which people would feel comfortable.

Ali Alexander, 54, said that was the reason why he came by with an old firearm. His friend's funeral was held at the church several years ago, and he said he thought he'd do his part to help address gun violence.

"It's good to get it off the street with all this gun violence we got going on," Alexander said.

A Columbus police officer handles a collection of rifles purchased during the city's Saturday gun buyback event.

The buyback program comes as the Columbus homicide rate continues to track higher than 2022, with 120 homicides to date this year, compared with the 107 homicides at a similar time last year.

Columbus Assistant Chief Greg Bodker said the program is anticipated to remove hundreds of guns from the street, although they would not have a final tally until they finished. However, he said any guns off the street is good news.

"That's one less gun on our streets," Bodker said.

The guns that police bought back, he said, will be run through ballistics analysis to see if they match with any violent crimes in the city.

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police buy hundreds of guns back at Saturday event
(KXAN)  A storm with hail moved through Central Texas late Sunday, damaging cars and homes. If youre driving through a hail storm like this, heres a few tips for drivers to keep themselves, their passengers and others safe.

If you do need to drive during hail, drivers should slow down, pull over and stay clear of other vehicles, according to AAA Texas.

The average hail claim for AAA Texas was nearly $6,000 in 2021, according to spokesperson Daniel Armbruster, and hail can be more damaging to your car if youre driving at a higher speed.

Large, damaging hail pummels parts of Central Texas

If you pull over, drivers should avoid overpasses because they can become congested with other drivers seeking relief, leading to a traffic jam or accident. Wind also becomes more dangerous underneath a bridge, Armbruster said.

When it comes to other drivers, its hard to see outside if the rain is coming down, so it can be hard to see other drivers, Armbruster said. If youre all trying to pull up under an overpass it just creates a dangerous situation where you could have other other potential problems aside from hail.

Overpasses are also unsafe during tornadoes or during high winds because they act as wind tunnels and flying debris can cause injuries or deaths, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

No cover? Here are tips and tricks to protect your car from hail

Auto repair company Gerber Collision & Glass recommends turning on your low beam lights and reducing your speed. Drivers should be aware of the vehicles around them and keep three times the usual distance from other cars.

Then, drivers should safely get off the road and to a covered shelter like a parking garage or a gas station canopy. If you need to pull over on the shoulder of the road, the car should be completely out of traffic lanes, Gerber Collision said.

Insurance company Progressive recommends positioning your car so the hail hits the front of it because the windshield is reinforced, unlike other car windows.

Texas has most hail damage of any state. Heres what is and isnt covered

Drivers and passengers should also protect themselves by lying on the floor or reclining the seat and positioning their bodies to shield their faces from glass, according to Progressive. This includes keeping their backs to the windows. Blankets and jackets can also be used as protection.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools quickly reversed a ban Friday on Banned Books Week events planned in schools.

In an email to principals Friday afternoon, a CMS spokeswoman warned that the American Library Associations Banned Books Week Oct. 1-7 is not aligned with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools academic curriculum or our pillars of excellence.

It is not something we teach in our classrooms or as supplementary material for out of school learning, CMS chief communications officer Shayla Cannady said in the message, a copy of which was obtained by The Charlotte Observer.

WFAE first reported about the message.

Please do not out any communication on Banned Book (sic.) Week or use school resources to promote or communicate about this observance, Cannady wrote. This includes but is not limited to daily announcements on the loudspeaker, visuals on screens, bulletin board displays, book displays in the media center or in classrooms.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools quickly reversed a ban Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, on Banned Books Week events planned in schools.

Additionally, please do not hold any book readings or offer suggestions for resources for staff and students, the message continued.

CMS had learned that some schools planned events to mark the week, Cannady said in the message.

If this is the case, all principals are requested to cancel all events and messaging associated with this observance, she wrote.

By Friday night, CMS reversed course.

We are not taking a position on banned book week as it is a site-based decision, according to a follow-up message Cannady sent to principals after 8 p.m. It is not a violation or in any way associated with Parents Bill of Rights.

It was not immediately clear Saturday what prompted the ban on planned Banned Books Week events and the later lifting of the ban.

Friday nights follow-up email, provided to the Observer by Susan Vernon-Devlin, CMS executive director of communications, said only that CMS received several inquiries about whether the information shared earlier about Banned Book (sic.) Week was mandatory for distribution.

The original message shared by the Communications Division was shared in response to several principal requests about the observance, Cannady wrote.

CMS employees clearly werent pleased by the edict, Stacy Staggs of Mecklenburg Countys chapter of Public School Strong told the Observer Friday night.

Multiple CMS employees reached out to her that night about the CMS email, she said.

The recent community engagement survey collected 60,000 pieces of feedback from the community and the No. 1 topic is literacy, Staggs said. Specifically, early literacy. They cant come for books and expect people to be quiet about it.

The annual Banned Books Week has been around for at least 40 years, according to the American Library Association.

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship, according to the association website ALA.org.
Chicago Public Schools officials announced the first enrollment increase the district has seen in a dozen years, with 1,185 more students this school year.

At the first in a series of community meetings Thursday, the district also said its attendance rate has held steady despite the loss of bus service for thousands of students, and it shared efforts to devise a five-year road map for improving school facilities and achievement, particularly for Black students.

CPS CEO Pedro Martinez also celebrated a partial reversal in learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with elementary students test scores in spring showing improvements in reading and math, and in some cases returning to 2019 levels.

But among certain demographic groups, the scores also show stark disparities. And community members at Thursdays meeting at Austin College and Career Academy High School on the West Side raised a host of issues  from opportunity gaps experienced by Black students to the impact of lacking bus transportation  that remain ongoing, despite the districts recent successes.

Black Student Success and CPS strategic plan

For kindergarten through second grade i-Ready tests, scores increased sixfold among Black students, Martinez said. We need to keep this momentum going, he said. Because we know achievement and opportunity gaps still exist and closing those gaps must remain a top priority moving forward.

As part of its five-year strategic plan, CPS announced the creation of an advisory team, reporting to Martinez, to helm the creation of a Black Student Success plan.

Speaking alongside other community organizers, former board member Dwayne Truss said folding the initiative into a broader five-year plan wouldnt suffice. He said advocates had met with CPS to propose the creation of a committee similar to the boards Special Education Advisory Committee, whose proceedings are public, formed in July.

(We) met with you. Sounded good; gave us hope. And then for you to turn around and say, Well, were gonna wrap this thing up to a bigger picture, Truss said. Were just simply asking for a seat at your table. ... We have community people that brought this idea up, met with you sincerely, South, West Side of Chicago, and its like youre making that announcement without even giving us the courtesy.

Talking to board President Jianan Shi, Truss said, Dude, its not a good look, especially when youre an Asian American person talking to Black folks in a Black neighborhood, saying, This is what were gonna do.

Board member Elizabeth Todd-Breland, a CPS parent and University of Illinois at Chicago professor of African American history, said she recognized that previous reforms have failed Black students, resulting in ongoing inequities.

These persistent opportunity gaps for Black students in particular are a sign of our collective failures as adults, not some type of inferiority among Black children. And this ... then requires a bold new vision for the future of Chicago public schools. And I understand why people distrust us to do that work, said Todd-Breland, who was appointed to her first term on the board, like Truss, by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2019. After he expressed opposition to Lightfoots plans to build a new high school in the South Loop, Truss term was not renewed when it expired in 2022.

The only way to address the needs of Black students and communities is for us to do this work together, Todd-Breland said, encouraging community members to help the district create a Black Student Success plan that she said would be voted upon later this year.

This is why we are here, Shi said of community members criticisms. Were not going anywhere; we are not shying away from the feedback that we got today.

From October to May, the district will hold a series of events to engage community members in devising a five-year road map meant to guide reforms and improvements from 2025 to 2030.

A survey and dedicated site will be released next month, when Martinez is scheduled to hold multiple State of the District events. Community roundtable meetings on the budget and facility improvements are slated to take place in November and December, with additional meetings in the new year dedicated to planning. A draft of the five-year plan will be released in June, according to CPS.

After the meeting, CPS announced the appointment of Nicole Milberg, recently the chief of schools for Network 6, as the districts new chief of teaching and learning, a role that will provide leadership and support in implementing CPS core instructional vision and goals, according to a district news release.

Slight reversal of enrollment trends

In a presentation on district enrollment trends Thursday, Sara Kempner, CPS director of enterprise data strategies, said the current student population of nearly 323,300 students  a 1,185 student increase  represents a slight reversal of the districts longtime downward trend.

Largely driven by the expansion of free, full-day prekindergarten, the number of students joining the district this year outpaced the number who left, as graduates or transfers, for the first time in 12 years, Kempner said.

Meanwhile the number of students transferring to schools outside of Chicago, home schooling or transferring to private schools fell, Kempner said. CPS doesnt track students immigration status, she noted. But a substantial increase in the number of students in temporary living situations and a 10% increase in English learners may reflect the influx of newcomer students from the southern border who arrived with their families seeking asylum, according to the district.

Spanish speakers represent the bulk of English learners, who comprise 22% of all students. Enrollment also increased among students whose home language is Russian, Ukrainian and Arabic, CPS said in a news release.

The racial composition of the district hasnt significantly changed, the district said. Enrollment declined by less than 2% among Black students this year, which is half the rate of decline in previous years, Kempner said. Latino and Asian students enrollment increased by less than 2% each and other groups have remained at current levels, she said.

smacaraeg@chicagotribune.com
The Polk County Sheriff's Office is looking for this truck in connection with a hit and run that killed a 9-year-old boy Friday south of Fort Meade.

A 9-year-old boy riding a bicycle was killed in a hit and run in unincorporated Fort Meade on Friday afternoon, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

The accident happened in the 2400 block of Hutchins Road, southwest of Fort Meade, about 4:45 p.m.

Sheriff Grady Judd said in a Friday evening news conference at the scene that Andres Martinez, 9, "a good student, a good child," got on his bike Friday after school and began riding to a friend's house.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office is looking for this truck in connection with a hit and run that killed a 9-year-old boy Friday south of Fort Meade.

Judd said a red pickup truck struck the child and killed him.

"You see the child's bicycle, which was torn in half, in the road," Judd said. "The red pickup truck continued to flee eastbound down Hutchins Road.

"It is beyond comprehension that anyone could hit another person with their vehicle and not stop to render aid, to help, to report what happened," Judd said. "But that's even a thousand ... times worse when it's a child, a little 9-year-old boy."

A child was killed in a hit and run on Hutchins Road in Fort Meade early Friday evening, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office said it needs the public's help locating a four-door, red Chevrolet Silverado, 2015 to 2018 model year, with a lift kit, mud tires and factory aluminum rims. It asked the public to check any home or business surveillance footage for the timeframe of 4:45 p.m.

Judd said the Sheriff's Office is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to the driver.

Convenience store attack Haines City man wanted for battering woman, severely beating another man arrested

"You don't have to get involved, just tell us where the vehicle is and where the suspect is ... and we'll take it from there," Judd said. "We need that person in jail tonight."

Contact Heartland CrimeStoppers at 800-226-TIPS (800-226-8477) or www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk sheriff looking for hit-and-run driver who killed 9-year-old boy
BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States is the true "empire of lies", the Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday, lashing out at a U.S. State Department report that accused Beijing of ploughing billions of dollars annually into information manipulation efforts.

China is manipulating global media through censorship, data harvesting and covert purchases of foreign news outlets, the U.S. State Department said in the report on Thursday.

Despite the unprecedented resources devoted to the campaign, Beijing had hit "major setbacks" when targeting democratic countries, due to local media and civil society push-back, according to the report, which was produced under a congressional mandate to detail state information manipulation.

The report has disregarded facts, and is itself false information, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

The agencies of the U.S. State Department that produced the report "were the source of false information and the command post of 'cognitive warfare'," the Chinese ministry said.

"Facts have repeatedly proven that the United States is the true 'empire of lies'," it added.

The U.S. report comes amid controversy over China's attempts in recent years to increase the global footprint of its government-controlled media. Beijing is seeking to combat the negative images of China it feels are propagated by global media.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Giles Elgood)
CHRISTIANA, Tenn. (WKRN)  The owner of a horse stable in Christiana has been charged with multiple counts of rape following an extensive investigation, according to a Rutherford County detective.

On Thursday, Sept. 28, Jason Lancaster, 51, was charged with multiple counts of rape of a teenage girl.

 Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts 

A Rutherford County Sheriffs Office detective said Lancaster owns Pinnacle Stables in Christiana, and it is believed there are other victims as well.

Jason Lancaster (Courtesy: Rutherford County Sheriffs Office)

Leya Victory (Courtesy: Rutherford County Sheriffs Office)

Lancaster is the owner of Pinnacle Stables in Christiana where he possibly had sexual contact with other victims, said Detective Amanda McPherson.

According to the sheriffs office, the charges include two felony counts of rape, three counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, three counts of sexual battery by an authority figure, bribery of a witness and stalking.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime news from Middle Tennessee

During the investigation, multiple horses were found in need of medical and nutritional attention, officials said. At least 20 horses were removed from the property.

Authorities reported that a second suspect  identified as 23-year-old Leya Victory of Christiana  was charged with conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence.

Additional charges are pending in the incident, according to the sheriffs office.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Lancaster is being held on $1 million bond in Rutherford County Adult Detention Center. He is expected to appear in General Sessions Court on Monday, Oct. 2 for a hearing.

If you feel you have been a victim of Jason Lancaster or feel you can help with information, please call me at 615-904-3190, McPherson urged.

No further details were immediately released.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie went after former President Trump for suggesting the Republican National Committee (RNC) nix remaining primary debates, claiming Trump is scared of the competition.

He wants to end these things for purely selfish reasons because he doesnt want to give exposure to the candidates who are challenging him out there, Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, said in a CNN interview Friday.

Trump chose to skip the first two primary debates and will likely skip the third, arguing that they are not necessary given his large polling lead. Christie has consistently called out Trump for not showing up.

He has no validity to the point hes making. Hes ducking these debates, Christie said. Its wrong and its disrespectful to Republican voters and thats why Im going to continue to push for these debates to go forward.

He also criticized Trumps argument for not attending, saying national polls dont show the full picture of the primary campaign.

I know all the media organizations pay for these national polls and they are a monumental wase of time and money, he said. We dont have a national primary.

On the debate stage Wednesday, Christie spoke to Trump directly and called him out for not attending. Few other candidates made jabs at Trump, to the former governors disappointment.

I dont understand what theyre doing, because if you want to go beat, you have to go beat him, he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis  seen as Trumps closest competition in the 2024 race  and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley also criticized the former president for his decision.

Donald Trump is missing in action, DeSantis said Wednesday during the second GOP debate in California. He should be on this stage tonight.

You cant win if youre absent, Haley said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday. I think that, you know, hes got a lot of questions to answer to.

The next GOP primary debate is scheduled for Nov. 8 in Miami. Christie doesnt think Republican leadership will be getting rid of the debates any time soon.

I think theyll just ignore whats obviously self-serving, he said, adding bad advice from Donald Trump.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A new shared-use path is coming to Meadowview, just south of downtown Sacramento, officials announced this week.

The 0.6-mile trail will be a Class I bike trail, 12 feet wide running adjacent to northbound Interstate 5, and will connect those coming from the east side of the highway to access to the Sacramento River, Garvia Bend Park and the Del Rio Trail, which is currently being built.

This trail is one example of the implementation of the Citys Transportation Priorities Plan and is focusing investments in our communities that lack basic infrastructure, Transportation Planning Manager Jennifer Donlon Wyant said in a news release. Were centering equity and providing a vital connection from Meadowview and South Sacramento to open space and active transportation infrastructure.

The project, which the city says cost $1.3 million coming from CMAQ funds and bikeway program funds from the city, was celebrated with a recent ribbon cutting ceremony that included city council member and Mayor Pro Tem Mai Vang.

The South Sacramento Parkway Trail is breaking down barriers and connecting communities throughout our region, Vang said in the news release. Too often, residents in South Sacramento lack safe streets and basic infrastructure. This project expands safer, more accessible, and healthier routes for travel. From Freeport to Meadowview to Delta Shores, this critical project is a step towards progress, ensuring accessibility for all residents living in South Sacramento.

A benefit of the project is eliminating the barrier created by Interstate 5. The new trail will provide biking and walking access connecting to the future South Sacramento Parkway. Officials plan on the corridor connecting the Sacramento River Parkway to the southwest corner of downtown, and then Elk Grove connecting to the Sacramento River Parkway.

The project is a part of the citys Vision Zero initiative, a traffic safety philosophy designed to limit driver deaths and improve the safety of Sacramento streets.
It appears that Russia lost another Su-35 Flanker-E multirole fighter Friday.

The Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS)-connected Fighterbomber Telegram channel posted a brief, solemn message Friday with a photo of a Flanker.

Eternal flight, brother

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1707683193166463098

The loss of a Flanker has yet to be officially confirmed by either Russian or Ukrainian authorities. However, video emerged on social media purporting to be Russian air defenses activated near the occupied city of Tokmak in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and several Telegram channels have suggested without verification that the Flanker was accidentally downed by friendly fire.

https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1707679523657945525

Video of the downing of a Russian Su-35 this night, the Russian WarGonzo Telegram channel posted. The Russian air defense tried their best, firing at friendly forces.

...Tokmak is restless, the Ukrainian War Monitor Telegram channel wrote. Very early - the shooting down of an enemy tactical aircraft. We are waiting for details in the morning.

Later, War Monitor posted an update.

The good news is minus the Su-35 by Russian air defense forces at night over Tokmak.

Tokmak is a prime target of Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive through Zaporizhzhia Oblast and is about 20 miles from Ukrainian lines and within range of air defense systems like Ukraines SA-11 Buk .

Tokmak is about 20 miles from Ukraine's front lines. (Google Earth image)

https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1707558506507698685

Flankers have served in several roles, such as counter-air and air-to-ground - including suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) sorties. With a powerful radar and long-range air-to-air weapons, as well as an advanced electronic warfare suite , the Su-35s are superior to Ukrainian fighters, and they have proven to have a significant edge .

Interesting that this appears to still be happening periodically, despite the Russian Aerospace Forces employing very rigid command and control over fighter ops, which hampers effectiveness but should make deconfliction with the ground-based air defenses relatively simple, military aviation expert Justin Bronk, Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Military Technology at RUSI , London and Professor II at the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy , said in a Tweet about the incident.

Bronk appeared to be commenting hypothetically, without confirming a Flanker loss.

That a Flanker would operate so close to the front line is unusual, he added. The VKS generally takes great care to remain outside known and suspected Ukrainian SAM coverage. This is a tactic that has been omni-present since not long after Russia's all-out invasion began and its air arm failed to achieve air superiority over Ukraine.

Such a loss would be an excellent example of how much chaos a few longer range drone or missile strikes can cause by keeping an enemies air defense network at both high readiness and trigger happy," Gary Bagwell, a former RAF Senior Commander, president of the UK Air & Space Power Association and RUSI Distinguished Fellow, said in response to Bronk. "Saturating or wearing out an enemys AD system is a relatively simple element of a [suppression of enemy air defenses] SEAD Campaign.

Like Bronk, he appeared to be speaking hypothetically.

https://twitter.com/gregbagwell/status/1707701123019096439

The assessment, however, matches the explanation provided to us by the commander of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate for why Kyiv has been carrying out attacks on Russian air defenses with drones and missiles .

One reason, said Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov , is that were making those holes in the overall air defense coverage . Those holes are exploited for other things. Also, we're depleting their air defense missile stocks because those are not limitless.

You can read more about Budanov's insights in our exclusive interview from his D.C. hotel room last week here .

The open-source tracking group Oryx said that this is at least the fifth Su-35 Russia has lost since the all-out war began. That figure could be higher though because Oryx only counts losses it can visually verify. In this case, it based its assessment on the purported air defense video and the Fighterbomber statement we mentioned previously in this story.

Russia has lost about 90 fixed-wing aircraft in combat since the start of the war out of about 900 tactical aircraft it had before Feb. 24, 2022, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.

https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1707277098677629239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1707277098677629239%7Ctwgr%5E4caa9d442a4b28a7bb1fc68573bae52d3b695182%7Ctwcon%5Es1_\u0026ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fukraine-situation-report-russia-has-gained-the-most-ground-this-year

If it turns out that the Flanker was indeed shot down by a Russian air defense system, it would not be the first time that's happened in Ukraine.

In July, 2022, Russia apparently shot down one of its Su-34 Fullback strike fighters as it flew over the occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. You can read more about that incident, apparently captured in the video below, in our story here .

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1548962354595069958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1548962354595069958%7Ctwgr%5E8aed25ec30b5ddaa0f1353430d0477039d52d690%7Ctwcon%5Es1_\u0026ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fukraine-situation-report-russia-appears-to-shoot-down-its-own-su-34-strike-fighter

Ukraine too has lost fighters to its own air defenses. One of its MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters was shot down in January by a Ukrainian-Army operated Osa air defense system, according to the Key Aero aviation news site .

These things happen from time-to-time in highly contested airspace during a full-on war. However, given Budanov's vow to continue taking out Russian air defenses and Bagwell's suggestion that such a campaign creates an additional level of wartime confusion that could allow these incidents to occur, Russian combat aircraft could be facing increased dangers from their own side.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
Gov. Bill Lee announced Thursday the appointment of Columbia attorney Julie Heffington to 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court Judge, one of three key judicial appointments for newly-created state courts.

Heffington, who was raised on a farm in Summertown, currently serves as an attorney and partner at Middle Tennessee Law Group.

The 22nd Judicial District covers Giles, Lawrence, Maury and Wayne counties.

"I am honored to have been selected as Circuit Court Judge to serve the people of the 22nd Judicial District," Heffington said. "I had the privilege of growing up on my familys farm in Summertown, where my family still resides. My upbringing instilled a love for and understanding of this community  a community I look forward to serving in this new role."

Heffington, a partner at Wolaver, Carter & Heffington, practiced in the areas of insurance litigation, divorce, adoption, property disputes, wills and estates.

She earned her bachelors degree at Middle Tennessee State University and juris doctor at Nashville School of Law.

Other appointments include:

Shawn Fry  13 th Judicial District Criminal Court

Ashleigh Travis  19th Judicial District Circuit Court

The new judicial position was created by the Tennessee General Assembly through Public Chapter No. 396, enacted May 11.

I am proud to announce the appointment of these highly qualified individuals and value the significant experience they will bring to their respective roles, Lee said. I appreciate their leadership and am confident they will serve Tennesseans with integrity.

Prior to attending law school, Heffington was a Registered Nurse for 14 years, specializing in labor and delivery, recovery and pediatrics. She earned a nursing degree from Middle Tennessee State University and juris doctor degree from Nashville School of Law, where she also received the Moot Court Award.

She remains licensed in the State of Tennessee and is active in promoting the nursing profession. She also is a part of the Maury County Bar Association and Tennessee Bar Association.

Additional appointments

Fry currently serves as an attorney at Fry, Fry, Knight & Looper.

Fry earned his bachelors degree at Tennessee Technological University and juris doctor at Nashville School of Law. The 13th Judicial District covers Clay, Cumberland, Dekalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam and White counties.

Travis currently serves as a magistrate judge in the 19th Judicial District. Travis earned her bachelors degree at Austin Peay State University and juris doctor at Nashville School of Law. The 19th Judicial District covers Montgomery and Robertson counties.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Columbia attorney Heffington appointed 22nd Dist. Circuit Court Judge
Gov. Gavin Newsom spent the past few days as one might expect, privately grieving his "dear friend" Sen. Dianne Feinstein as "a lifelong mentor and a role model not only for me, but to my wife and daughters.

But sooner rather than later, he'll have to reemerge and deal with the political mess that he's made for himself  and when he does, there will be a lot of unhappy Black people waiting for him.

Newsom is under the delusion that theres a sizable pool of powerful Black women in California who are eager to put aside their own political ambitions and break ranks with the sisterhood to accept his offer to serve as an interim appointment to the Senate. This caretaker would agree to merely finish out Feinsteins term and not run again  and make it harder to ensure theres a Black woman in the upper chamber at all.

Who wouldnt want that?

In fact, the idea that some Black woman would seems to be something of a mass delusion.

Read more: Whom will Newsom pick to replace Dianne Feinstein? Here are some possibilities

Following Feinstein's unexpected death in Washington, only hours after casting what no one knew then would be the last vote of her trailblazing career, everyone now wants to know: Whom is Newsom going to pick?

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber perhaps? San Francisco Mayor London Breed ?

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass or L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell?

Rep. Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) or State Controller Malia Cohen?

Why the governor seems to believe any of these Black women  or the others on his shortlist who I can only assume are equally accomplished  would settle for being a lame duck in the Senate, I have no idea. But this is essentially what he told Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" in early September.

I dont want to get involved in the [March] primary," Newsom said, referring to the race to succeed Feinstein after she announced that she wouldn't run for reelection.

Reps. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) and Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) have been polling far ahead of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), the only Black woman running. That's why giving her the appointment  and the advantage of incumbency  would be "completely unfair." Or so the story goes.

A recent poll from UC Berkeley found that 51% of Californians believe Newsom should appoint someone who is prepared to run in 2024. Only 25% said he should choose an interim appointee.

"That primary is just a matter of months away," Newsom explained. "I dont want to tip the balance of that.

It was an unexpected caveat to the promise he made to MSNBC host Joy Reid back in March 2021 when asked whether he would pick a Black woman to replace Feinstein if she were to resign.

I have multiple names in mind, Newsom said confidently. We have multiple names in mind  and the answer is yes.

This, of course, was back when the wrath of a national coalition of Black politicians, lobbyists, activists and academics was still fresh on his mind.

For months in late 2020, they cajoled and outright demanded the governor keep the seat by appointing another Black woman to the Senate to replace Kamala Harris, who had been tapped to be vice president. The coalition wanted Lee or then-Rep. Bass.

Possible appointees to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat include clockwise from top left: Angela Glover Blackwell, Judge Leondra Kruger, Lateefah Simon, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and California State Controller Malia Cohen. (Los Angeles Times)

Instead, Newsom appointed Alex Padilla as California's first Latino U.S. senator.

Since then, many in the sisterhood  not to mention the brotherhood  have harbored something of a compounding grudge against Newsom. This is true even though Newsom appointed Weber to replace Padilla in a move than many considered a consolation prize.

The bottom line is the Senate still doesn't have a single Black woman as a member, even though we are the most loyal voting bloc in the Democratic Party.

This is our seat, Weber told me in 2020, lamenting how hard and how expensive it is for Black women to win statewide positions. We have fought to get the seat, and there was a reason why we fought for the seat. And we should not have to justify it.

Three years later, and it seems Newsom has deluded himself into believing that the powerful Black women in his midst who wanted that seat will take another consolation prize. And that it won't have any repercussions for him when  not if  he runs for president and needs the support of Black voters in other states.

Read more: Column: Black women lost a Senate seat, but got a secretary of state. That's not good enough

Breed spoke to this on CNN on Friday night.

"Whomever he appoints  which I know that the governor made a commitment to appoint an African American woman to serve in that role  my hope is that person decides to run for office," she said. "I don't support the idea of a caretaker. I do think that we need someone in that role who understands what it means to be courageous, similar to Dianne Feinstein."

Similarly, Weber told the New York Times on Friday that she doubts she would want to serve under such time constraints.

I never take anything in which I dont think I can make a difference, and being a senator for a year, I probably couldnt accomplish an awful lot, she said. I do know that all the African American women in the state would love to have an African American senator, not just for a year but for a full term.

Waters also shot down the idea on Friday afternoon, telling my Times colleague Erin B. Logan that she had no interest in being a temporary successor to Feinstein.

"Absolutely not," she said.

Or as Lee put it after Newsom's appearance on "Meet the Press": The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election.

So for now, much to what I'm sure is Newsom's annoyance, many of the Black women he might ask to be a caretaker are lining up behind Lee.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2017. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Breed: "I think Barbara Lee is an extraordinary congresswoman, and she knows what it means to be courageous. I'm a big supporter of hers and my hope is to see her in the Senate."

Waters: "Not only has she been an excellent legislator, but she has been a leader in inspiring other women to seek office and assisting other women. ... You can't find a better committed legislator than Barbara Lee."

The Congressional Black Caucus also has stepped up its lobbying campaign, sending a letter to Newsom to make the case for Lee.

The most qualified person on day one to fill the legacy of Sen. Dianne Feinstein is none other than Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chairman of the caucus, told MSNBC on Sunday.

Were asking him to understand the moment of this appointment not only for the people of California, but for the people of the United States, Horsford said.

This sisterhood of support could crack if Newsom were to offer another Black woman more than an interim appointment. Some, including Bass, have been adamant that they're not interested in the Senate, period. Others, including Breed, who is struggling to win reelection in San Francisco, have been conspicuously vague.

"That conversation can be saved for another day," Breed said when asked about it by reporters Friday.

Newsom also might have more luck finding a caretaker among Black women who aren't in elected office, including rumored candidates Angela Glover Blackwell, founder-in-residence of the nonprofit PolicyLink or Laphonza Butler, president of Emilys List.

Read more: Dianne Feinstein, the first woman to represent California in the Senate, dies at 90

Or, then again, he might not.

All of these women know, like those in elected office know, that anyone who agrees to be a temporary successor to Feinstein will essentially be squandering the best chance for California to have a Black woman as a fixture in the Senate. Because, short of something seismic, polls indicate Lee probably will lose the primary to Schiff or Porter.

They would be sacrificing the sisterhood to go along with what is essentially Newsom's pitch: "Hey, you there, Black woman. Can you keep this seat warm for a few months? Vote and do Senate stuff. You know, just until we elect a white person to replace you?"

Is it unfair for Newsom to put his thumb on the scale for someone who would probably lose the primary just because, in a half-baked political calculation, he promised to appoint a Black woman to the Senate?

Probably.

Will he take a political hit from Schiff, Porter and their respective deep-pocketed backers if he appoints Lee?

Definitely.

Will Black voters make him pay politically if he doesn't appoint a Black woman with the freedom to run again to the Senate?

Absolutely.

But that's why this is a mess  one very much of the governor's own making.

On Sunday, roughly 24 hours after this column first published online, the governor backed away from his ridiculous requirement that anyone he appoints serve only as a caretaker.

If that person decides she wants to seek a full term in 2024, then she is free to do so. There is absolutely no litmus test, no promise, Newsom spokesperson Anthony York told my Times colleague Laurel Rosenhall.

A wise move.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
President Biden's appearance on a picket line stakes out a position in one fight: labor versus capital. But the culture war can shatter union solidarity. (Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images)

The recent visit to Michigan by President Biden, in a show of support to striking laborers , was more than a photo op. Donald Trump held a rally in Michigan the next day. The two are fighting over the same voters. But theyre engaged in two different wars.

Biden, now the first sitting president to join a picket line, is choosing sides in the war between labor and capital.

Trump can see only the culture war. He may speak in support of striking workers, but his record as president reflects disdain for unions . He won Michigan back in 2016 despite thin union support. Thats because the culture war has always been a way to slice through union solidarity. Its the Achilles heel of the labor movement. Every laborer wants fair wages and a safe work environment, but not every laborer supports reproductive rights.

Like many conservative politicians before him, Trump relies on culture war fearmongering to undermine union efforts. And its been a very successful strategy, starting with the threat of racial integration being used to derail a huge union push in the South during the 1940s. Operation Dixie attempted to combine the workforces of the textile, oil, steel and wood industries. It fell apart because the Ku Klux Klan got involved to sabotage it.

Read more: Granderson: Can the U.S. ever recover from Rupert Murdoch's exploitation?

Today, the nations poorest region is  where? Exactly.

Thats not to suggest labor unions havent contributed to their own decline in membership. Allegations of corruption within leadership date back to President Kennedy. In fact, it hasnt been a year since Ron Herrera resigned as president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor after leaked audio of a racist conversation in which he took part.

In the war between labor and capital, there are no angels. However, there are sides. And in this, I find myself in agreement with the assessment made by another former president  Lincoln.

Read more: Granderson: The Panama Canal is running dry. That's the U.S.'s fault and the U.S.'s problem

In an 1861 address to Congress, he denounced the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not above, labor in the structure of government.

Capital is only the fruit of labor and could never have existed if labor had not first existed, he said. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.

Read more: Granderson: Here's how bad things have to get before Republicans and Democrats cooperate in Texas

Unfortunately, our post-Lincoln history is overrun with examples of capital missing this point.

In 1911, 146 workers died in a plant fire in New York City because only one of the four elevators was operational, and owners refused to install sprinklers in case they needed to burn the building down for insurance. A century later Walmart, one of the richest companies on the planet, was ordered to pay $275,000 for firing an employee after a cancer surgery . Jeff Bezos built a rocket ship while thousands of his employees at Amazon were relying on food stamps .

Read more: Granderson: Biden's job now is to remind voters how well he's done his job

Lincolns remarks about labor still ring true today, but in the culture war, they never mattered. Operation Dixie could have lifted countless Southerners out of poverty, but the thought of integration brought a visceral response. Just as gender-affirming care for transgender youth does for many voters today. If the dynamics in Michigan were solely about fair wages and safe working conditions, Bidens appearance on the picket line would make him tough for Trump to defeat.

Thats why Trump held his rally at a nonunion factory. He is hunting for Reagan Democrats, working-class white voters who feel disenfranchised. The ones Biden will never reach because he supports abortion rights and same-sex marriage.

And why doesn't the left's economic argument prevail? Because the right found a way to neutralize it.

Whereas Lincoln spoke of the importance of making labor the governments top priority, Reagan convinced voters that capital should be most important. He didn't come up with the concept of trickle-down economics, but he is certainly responsible for its implementation. Along with tax breaks for the wealthy, he fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers, decimating the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. Today Reaganomics is credited with the shrinking of the middle class.

But hey, at least he stopped welfare queens from taking advantage of the system, right? Trump, Reagan, and others always found a way to distort simple economics with culture war fearmongering. Biden is trying the Lincoln approach. Thats how the two presidential hopefuls ended up in the same state but two entirely different states of mind.

@LZGranderson

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
By Ange Kasongo

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Martin Fayulu confirmed on Saturday he will submit his candidacy for the December presidential election, where he is expected to be one of the main challengers to President Felix Tshisekedi.

The 66-year-old former Exxon Mobil executive came second to Tshisekedi in the contentious 2018 election.

His party, the Engagement for Citizenship and Development party, the African Union and Congo's influential Catholic Church questioned the outcome and Fayulu challenged the results in court.

Since then he has remained a vocal critic of Tshisekedi's presidency, threatening to boycott the Dec. 20 ballot in protest at alleged fraud linked to the voter list - a decision he now says would have played into his opponents hands.

"Many preferred for me to stay away, the better to cheat," he told a news conference in the capital Kinshasa, saying he would formally register his candidacy with the election commission on Oct. 4.

In an effort to allow greater scrutiny, his party is pushing for election results to be announced by polling station unlike the 2018 vote, which pre-election polls had predicted Fayulu would win by a landslide.

"We will continue to fight for transparency in the elections, and if we don't have transparency in the electoral register, we will have it in the monitoring of the elections," Fayulu said.

TSHISEKEDI EXPECTED TO RUN AGAIN

Tshisekedi, the son of Congo's beloved long-term opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, says he won the 2018 election fairly. He promised to root out corruption and authoritarianism and has rejected accusations by rights groups and critics that he has fallen short on this goal.

The ruling coalition is set to confirm Tshisekedi as its presidential candidate in a ceremony on Sunday.

Responding to criticism of the electoral list, Congo's electoral body in May hired international experts to conduct a review, and they declared it reliable. But the United States, the European Union and other Western powers have jointly expressed concern about the handling of the audit.

The lead-up to the polls has been tense for months, with several opposition candidates complaining of delays and issues with electoral process which they say disadvantage them.

In May, security forces fired tear gas and fought running battles in the streets with anti-government protesters demonstrating over alleged the irregularities in voter registration.

(Reporting by Ange Kasongo Additional reporting by Justin Makangara; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
After watching Day 2 of the Kansas Legislatures joint hearing on elections, its hard to resist the temptation to poke fun at the crackpots the committee invited to spin debunked conspiracy theories about voting machines.

I wont promise not to come back to that another time, but we have a more important issue to deal with right now.

The thing that struck me hardest about this hearing was the contempt the committee displayed toward hundreds of thousands of Kansans  there were 459,229 in the 2020 general election  who prefer to vote by mail.

Leaders of the Joint Special Committee on Elections made it clear they plan to take another stab at repealing a common-sense law allowing citizens to mail their ballots up to election day, with a three-day grace period for the Post Office to deliver those ballots to the election office.

Hardcore Republican partisans who control the Legislature have learned to hate that law, because more often than not, those last-minute mail ballots have tended to favor Democrats.

We had a demonstration of that in Sedgwick County in 2020, when they swung the County Commission election to Democratic challenger Sarah Lopez over the scandal-plagued Republican incumbent Michael ODonnell. ODonnell held a 567-vote lead on election night, but late-arriving ballots nibbled away at his lead and Lopez eked out a 264-vote victory.

The County Commission has since decided to cease sending mail-ballot applications to all registered voters, a thinly veiled attempt to discourage mail voting and maybe torpedo the re-election chances for Lopez, the only Democrat who holds a county elected office.

So back to the states hearing, where the committee trotted out former state Rep. Keith Esau, former chairman of the House Elections Committee, to admit his mistake in passing the grace period bill in 2017.

We have people who do not like seeing the counts change radically after the election night, Esau said. Every day (after an election) in Johnson County, were seeing hundreds of ballots being added, and it just makes people nervous that somebody was stuffing a ballot someplace.

You know what makes me nervous? When state officials try to throw away thousands of legitimate votes because counting them makes conspiracy theorists nervous.

And then there was a public scolding of voters whove done nothing wrong.

Without the grace period, I imagine people would just change their behaviors, said committee Vice Chairman Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth. If we told them (mail votes) had to be in on election night, theyd just get them in on election night.

That line got a rousing round of applause from the tinfoil-hat section of the audience.

Esau also was also dismissive of voters who use the grace period to get their ballots delivered.

I think most of the people who are mailing that late are not paying that much attention to whats happening, he said. If you have a mail ballot, fill it in and and send it in right away and then you wont have a problem.

Then again, you just might.

In the ODonnell example I mentioned above, it was only nine days before the election that the public learned that the district attorney had started an ouster investigation over ODonnells involvement in a false smear campaign and cover-up targeting Brandon Whipple in the Wichita mayoral race. And it was a mere four days before the election when ODonnell announced that if elected, he would resign and not serve a second term.

If wed had an election day deadline on mail ballots then, its highly likely the selection of a county commissioner, representing more than 100,000 people, would have been left up to a tiny handful of Republican Party insiders.

At the state hearing, hands were wrung and pearls were clutched over dozens of ballots that went uncounted in recent years because they arrived after election day without postmarks in some unnamed rural county.

Failing to postmark a ballot is a violation of federal postal regulations. So you tell me why it makes sense to disenfranchise thousands of citizens statewide, rather than making the postmaster of Podunkville do their job properly.

One good thing that happened at the hearing was what didnt happen.

We didnt have to hear from one Tore Maras, a QAnon podcaster who was invited to testify but then was dropped after I reported that shes a serial grifter who bilked fire victims and Christians.

Apart from that, I dont have much hope for this committee, or the Legislature, when they take up their annual round of voter-suppression bills.

Last session, lawmakers passed a bill to eliminate the grace period but couldnt muster enough votes to override a veto by Gov. Laura Kelly. The year before, it didnt get out of committee, because Kris Kobach, the former secretary of state, opposed it.

Given his long track record of authoring and defending unconstitutional restrictions on voting, a really good rule of thumb is that if Kobach says youre going too far, you are.

Coming Tuesday: Exposing the flaws in plans for our 2024 presidential primary
Christopher Worrell, 52, of East Naples, remains in custody on a hold for Hillsborough County. He's charged as a fugitive from justice with the FBI, obstructing justice and violating the conditions of his release.. He was awaiting sentencing for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection and captured last week more than a month after he disappeared..

Christopher Worrell, of East Naples, likely will be sentenced for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capital between Oct. 25 and Nov. 3.

U.S. Government authorities are asking that he be held in custody until then.

Worrell, 52, was convicted in May on charges related to the Capitol insurrection with his sentencing scheduled for Aug. 18. He disappeared four days prior to his sentencing, having removed a GPS tracking device that was part of his release. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia revoked Worrell's release on August 15, 2023, and issued a bench warrant. He was arrested on that bench warrant Thursday at his home in East Naples.

According to authorities, Worrell was found unconscious, treated by first responders and taken to an undisclosed hospital. He remained in a hospital Monday morning, a Collier County Sheriff's spokesperson. She referred questions from the Naples Daily News to the FBI.

"I do not have any further information to share at this time," Andrea Aprea, spokesperson for FBI Tampa, wrote in an email responding to questions from the Naples Daily News.

More: Christopher Worrell found unconscious, in custody at hospital on Jan. 6 related charges

Court documents show Worrell is likely to make a first appearance in the Middle District of Florida United States District Court this week. The local FBI office is in Tampa.

"The government will request that Worrell remain in custody pending sentencing, and (given his absconding) anticipates that he will be detained pending sentencing," officials wrote in the court document.

"The government has conferred with Worrells attorney, William Shipley, regarding his availability for the sentencing hearing," according to the document. Sentencing is subject to U.S. Marshals Service transport schedule.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Convicted Jan. 6 Naples' Christopher Worrell sentencing soon
David and Susan Schwartz are self-described Costco superfans.

The couple, who wrote an entire book about the retailer, have visited over 200 Costco stores.

During their research, they made a discovery about Costco's beloved $5 rotisserie chicken.

Even if you aren't familiar with Costco, you've probably heard a thing or two about its signature rotisserie chicken.

Sold for just $4.99, the birds have amassed such a fanbase among Costco regulars that the retailer sells millions a year. Shoppers are even known to race to grab a chicken, beloved for their flavor, tenderness, and size.

But the most surprising thing about the rotisserie chicken is how little time it actually spends on the shelf, according to a couple who spent seven years visiting over 200 Costco stores around the world.

David and Susan Schwartz, authors of "The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z," told Insider they spent seven years researching Costco, which led them to circumnavigate the globe a total of three times in their pursuit to find out as much as they possibly could about their favorite wholesaler.

Costco is known for its $5 rotisserie chicken. Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Along their travels, they made a discovery: Costco's rotisserie chickens only spend approximately two hours on the shelf of any warehouse.

"They time stamp the rotisserie chicken so that it's only on the shelf for two hours because it doesn't taste as good after two hours," David said.

When time runs out, the couple says employees remove any remaining chicken from the shelf and repurpose the meat in other dishes, such as soups and salads.

Costco did not respond to Insider's request to confirm David and Susan's discovery.

According to the authors, time-stamping Costco's signature rotisserie chicken is just one example of why they believe the wholesaler is a cut above other retailers.

"They do the right thing when no one's looking," Susan said. "They just are decent. And that's just a great thing."

It's safe to say David and Susan Schwartz are two of Costco's biggest fans. From "The Joy of Costco," Susan Schwartz

Costco and its famed chicken aren't without controversy.

In 2019, the chain spent upwards of $450 million building a chicken-processing plant in Nebraska, CNN Business reported, in an effort to provide two million chickens per week for Costco and help keep the rotisserie chicken priced at $5. In 2022, however, a lawsuit was brought in Seattle alleging "Costco illegally neglects and abandons its chickens." The suit is ongoing and Costco did not respond to Insider's requests for further comment.

The amount of time the chicken spends on the shelf isn't the only fact David and Susan learned in their travels. In their book, the pair break down some of the local delicacies found in Costco stores around the world, including a rotisserie chicken sold with the head on in Taiwan.

You can read more about David and Susan Schwartz and their book, "The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z," here.

Read the original article on Insider
WASHINGTONCrisis averted. For now. For about a month and a half.

The country came within two hours of a federal government shutdown, but in a day with multiple twists Congress ultimately passed a temporary plan to keep the lights on until mid-November.

A continuing resolution, the temporary stopgap measure, passed the House Saturday afternoon and the Senate Saturday night. President Joe Biden signed it shortly before midnight.

The work is not done, and lawmakers will return Monday to continue hashing out annual spending bills.

Congress remains divided on the biggest fight in the shutdown showdown: providing more Ukraine aid. Democrats and some Republicans have called to approve more money to help Ukraine fight against the Russian invasion, but some Republicans want to stop providing aid and instead focus on securing America's southern border.

US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, celebrates after meeting with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 30, 2023. Last-gasp moves to prevent a US government shutdown took a dramatic step forward Saturday, as Democrats overwhelmingly backed an eleventh-hour Republican measure to keep federal funding going for 45 days, albeit with a freeze on aid to Ukraine. The stopgap proposal adopted by the House of Representatives with a vote of 335-91 was pitched by McCarthy. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Senate passes short-term stopgap, averting government shutdown

The Senate approved the House's short-term stopgap measure to extend government funding levels through Nov. 17 by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 88-9.

President Joe Biden signed it shortly before midnight, successfully averting a government shutdown.

 Ken Tran

Will Senate Majority Chuck Schumer pass the deal too?

After the House shocked the country and passed a short-term deal to keep the government's doors open until mid-November, all eyes are on the Senate to sign off on the measure.

But the Senate can't pass their own deal to avoid a government shutdown. Both chambers have to pass the same agreement to avoid a government shutdown, with the same details to keep funding flowing.

 Marina Pitofsky

How long is the government funded?

Lawmakers on Saturday passed a continuing resolution, which is a temporary funding plan that buys lawmakers more time to negotiate spending legislation for the country.

The continuing resolution House lawmakers passed keeps the government funded for another 45 days. While the Senate hasnt voted on the legislation yet, theyre expected to take it up Saturday evening.

If at the end of that 45-day period Congress hasnt come up with another temporary solution, or actually approved the dozen spending bills that would grant the government longer-term funding, the nation will be facing another government shutdown.

 Marina Pitofsky

House Democrats take victory lap after chamber passes 45-day, short-term funding measure

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., celebrated the passage of the 45-day, short-term measure that will keep the government funded at current levels, saying the extreme MAGA Republicans have lost.

The American people have won. The extreme MAGA Republicans have lost, Jeffries said at a press conference. It was a victory for the American people and a complete and total surrender by right-wing extremists who throughout the year have attempted to hijack the Congress.

House Minority Whip, Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said McCarthy admitted defeat, when he put the measure on the floor.

Speaker McCarthy admitted defeat and asked Democrats to put out the fire that he and his party had started, Clark said.

 Ken Tran

In significant step towards averting government shutdown, House passes 45-day stopgap measure

The House made significant progress towards averting a government shutdown, with lawmakers passing a short-term stopgap measure to keep the government funded for 45 days at current levels. The funding package includes President Joe Bidens request for $16 billion in additional disaster relief funding, but omits his request for more U.S. aid to Ukraine.

The bill, which had to pass with two-thirds of the chamber, earned bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans.

While it is unclear if the Senate will approve the measure, the stopgap marks a significant shift in strategy from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to cooperate with Democrats, after his previous insistence on passing a stopgap bill along party-lines.

 Ken Tran

House Democrats: 'I think we won'

House Democrats are largely expected to support a temporary measure to keep the government open with funding at current levels. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told reporters before entering the chamber that the stopgap "is a bill that Democrats can support."While GOP lawmakers were consumed by infighting, House Democrats repeatedly urged House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to put the short-term deal on the floor. The 45-day extension, McGovern said, is a sign Democrats "won." Ken Tran

House begins vote on stopgap measure

House lawmakers are now voting on the 45-day short-term stopgap measure to keep the government open.If passed, the Senate will have to take up the bill and vote on it to avert a shutdown. Ken Tran

President Joe Biden wont meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before government shuts down

The White House said Friday that President Joe Biden will not meet with McCarthy to negotiate a deal before the government shuts down, demanding that House Republicans act to avoid a crisis of their making.

The conversation that needs to happen is between speaker McCarthy and his caucus, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Biden plans to spend the weekend in Washington and will be in touch with members of Congress, the White House said. The House voted Friday afternoon to defeat a resolution backed by hardline Republicans to keep the government operating for 30 days in exchange for 30% cuts that the White House warned would be devastating.

Joey Garrison and Francesca Chambers

Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman accused of pulling fire alarm in House office building

As Democrats worked to delay a vote on the stopgap measure, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., was accused of pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House office building, according to Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chair of the House Administration Committee.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Steil said "an investigation is currently underway."

USA TODAY has reached out to Bowman's office for comment.

 Ken Tran

How long was the longest government shutdown?

The longest government shutdown lasted 35 days. Spanning from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019, it is also the most recent federal shutdown in U.S. history.

It was the third federal shutdown to occur during former President Donald Trump's administration; the first lasted three days in January 2018, and the second lasted only a few hours in February 2018.

 Olivia Munson

Democrats on Senate floor urge colleagues to prevent shutdown, stand with Ukraine

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on Saturday urged House members to stand with the people of Ukraine and provide aid to the country.

The Republican House leadership is not only trying to remove all assistance for Ukraine, but literally trying to prevent our Defense Department, our State Department and other agencies from transferring already existing funds to those necessary areas that are gonna be most in jeopardy if we walk away from Ukraine at this moment in time, he said on the Senate floor.

We need to stand up for Ukraine, he added.

In an effort to avoid a shutdown, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., also urged her colleagues to keep moving the Senates bipartisan continuing resolution forward.

The shutdown will hurt our families. It will hurt our economy. And it will hurt our national security, Murray warned.

 Sudiksha Kochi

House Democrats continue to stall vote to read through temporary measure

In a bid to buy more time for House Democrats to read a 71-page stopgap measure proposed by House Republicans to keep the government runing, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is using what is referred to as a "magic minute" to delay the vote.Under House rules, leadership is able to speak for an unlimited amount of time. McCarthy in November 2021 spoke for over eight hours to delay Biden's "Build Back Better" bill."Strap in, because this may take a while," Jeffries said on the House floor. Ken Tran

Will schools be affected by a government shutdown?

Most K-12 schools won't be immediately impacted by a government shutdown. While schools across the country do receive some federal funding, the vast majority of their budgets come from their state and local governments.

Schools that do use federal funding have mostly already received money for the 2023-2024 school year, Education Week reported.

But some programs for kids would be hit by a government shutdown. For example, Children from low-income families could lose access to Head Start preschool programs.

 Marina Pitofsky

Latest updates on government shutdown: McCarthy blames Dems

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday afternoon said he's going to be "the adult in the room," immediately pointing the finger at Senate Democrats, the White House and hardline House conservatives like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for why the shutdown threat continues.

He said the House is moving a 45-day continuing resolution that would keep troops paid, the Federal Aviation Administration funded and pay for disaster relief in Maui and elsewhere.

As House Democrats asked for more time to consider that bill, McCarthy questioned whether President Joe Biden and the White House are urging House Democrats to vote for or against the short-term spending measure.

The Senate, McCarthy said, has not done its work. But most of the shutdown threat has come from House Republican infighting. Senators will vote on their version of a continuing resolution Saturday afternoon.

Candy Woodall

McCarthy says he's not worried about losing his job

A defiant and determined House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters early Saturday afternoon he's not afraid of Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., or other members of his right flank threatening to remove him.

"If somebody wants to remove me for putting Americans first then so be it," McCarthy said.

Gaetz has threatened to file a motion to vacate the speaker if McCarthy works with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution that would extend current funding levels, avert a shutdown and give lawmakers more time to work on spending bills.

Candy Woodall

House Democrats delay vote, citing 'trust issues'

House Democrats are delaying a vote on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's 45-day continuing resolution, a short-term measure designed to keep the government funded, in order to read the bill.House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on the House floor there are "trust issues" with Republicans.To buy them more time to read the 71-page bill, Democrats filed a motion to adjourn. Democratic lawmakers have slowly been trickling in to the chamber to vote, further delaying the bill to peruse the stopgap measure.Ken Tran

House to vote on short-term funding measure

Exiting a conference meeting, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters a short-term stopgap measure will be considered on the House floor Saturday.The stopgap bill would maintain current government funding levels for 45 days and include President Joe Biden's request for disaster relief funding, but no additional aid to Ukraine.The measure, which will be considered under suspension to expedite the process, will require two-thirds of the chamber to be approved, meaning Democrats will have to support the measure.Ken Tran

Stopgap measure likely to trigger motion to oust Speaker McCarthy

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's move to vote on a 45-day short-term stopgap measure that would avert a government shutdown could inflame another fight in the House.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., could follow through on his threat to file a motion to vacate in an attempt to boot McCarthy from the speakership.

The stopgap, considered a "clean continuing resolution" would maintain current funding levels to buy more time for lawmakers to pass a more fleshed-out spending deal.

Gaetz has threatened to move to eject McCarthy from the speakership if he puts a clean stopgap on the floor and told USA TODAY Saturday morning his position has not changed and called the measure a "white flag of surrender."

"It looks a lot like a white flag of surrender to me," Gaetz said, accusing McCarthy of surrendering to Democrats and President Joe Biden.

Ken Tran

Issa: Focus to 'mitigate' effects of a shutdown, not avert one

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., leaving a closed-door conference meeting Saturday morning, told reporters there are a handful of hardline conservatives who won't vote for a stopgap measure under any circumstances. The focus now, he said, is to mitigate the effects of a shutdown.House Republicans will look at what is "passable" on the floor, suggesting the House will vote to sustain troop pay and reauthorization for the Federal Aviation Agency first."It is our obligation to anticipate and do whatever we can to mitigate it," Issa said. Ken Tran

What causes a government shutdown?

A government shutdown takes place when Congress is unable to pass a dozen annual spending bills that funnel money to government programs and agencies.

A shutdown is likely when both chambers in Congress  the House and Senate  cant come to an agreement on how much money to allocate to certain agencies or agree on certain spending provisions, putting federal agencies at risk. A partial government shutdown can occur if Congress is able to pass any of the 12 individual spending bills.

When both chambers can't reach a compromise, funding levels expire and federal agencies must cease all non-essential function.

Rachel Looker

Who is causing the government shutdown?

The biggest fight comes from a small group of House conservatives who have been impeding nearly all progress toward funding the government.

These House conservatives make up a small portion of the House GOP conference and represent a sliver of the country, but they have outsized power because of the razor-thin House Republican majority. The GOP has a four-seat majority, and these hard-line conservatives have been leveraging their critical votes to extract deep spending cuts that won't pass the Democratic-controlled Senate  or even some moderate GOP lawmakers.

The most vocal of this handful is Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who has threatened to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., if he works with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution that would avert a shutdown and give lawmakers extra time to pass spending bills.

Their refusal to entertain anything less than their demands has embroiled the House in chaos for the last few weeks.

Ken Tran and Rachel Looker

When will the government shutdown start?

The U.S. government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 1 if lawmakers don't pass a continuing resolution or a federal budget by Sept. 30.

The continuing resolution, a stopgap measure that would temporarily fund the government while lawmakers work to pass a comprehensive budget, would prevent a shutdown from occurring on Oct. 1.

Sudiksha Kochi

Would a government shutdown affect air travel and TSA?

Flights will likely not be affected by a shutdown and TSA screenings should proceed normally. Transportation Security Administration agents and air traffic controllers are considered essential and will continue working, though they wont be paid.

However, during the 2019 shutdown, air traffic controllers started calling in sick at higher rates which might occur again this time around. The White House warned that a shutdown could risk delays for travelers.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also said in a press conference that air traffic controller hiring and training would be paused, which would impact the Department of Transportations efforts to address a shortfall in staffing.

Zach Wichter and Sudiksha Kochi

Will Social Security be paid during a government shutdown?

Social Security recipients will continue to receive checks in the event of a government shutdown and Medicare benefits will not be interrupted.

However, employees in the Social Security Administration are likely to be furloughed and government food assistance benefits could see delay.

A few services that are not directly related to Social Security payment benefits and direct-service operations would be temporarily suspended.

 Marina Pitofsky and Sudiksha Kochi

Will Yosemite or other national parks close if there is a government shutdown?

The Biden administration said Friday it will be forced to close the majority of national parks if the government shuts down at the end of the week resulting in funding to lapse.

Gates will be locked, visitor centers will be closed, and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed at national parks across the country, the Interior Department said in a statement. The public will be encouraged not to visit park sites during a shutdown.

The National Mall in Washington, Washington Monument and other park sites that are physically accessible to the public will remain accessible but staffing will vary site to site and not be guaranteed.

The National Park System has 425 individual sites that includes 63 national parks made up of iconic landmarks like the Grand Canyon National Park, Everglades National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

-Joey Garrison

What happens in a government shutdown?

Millions of Americans would be impacted by a government shutdown.

Federal workers would be furloughed without pay. "Essential" federal workers, such as those who work for the Federal Aviation Administration, would work without pay  but would receive backpay once a shutdown ends. Numerous subcontractors would be out of work and would not receive backpay.

The impact would stretch far beyond federal workers though. It would also be felt in millions of homes across America.

Here are some ways a government shutdown would impact your family:

Funding for WIC  the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children  would stop immediately

Food stamp benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would remain intact in October but could be impacted after that

Children from low-income families would lose access to Head Start preschool programs

College students could see delays in their student loans

The Food and Drug Administration would delay nonessential food safety inspections

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration would limit its work

Travelers could see delays with receiving passports

National parks could close

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would have no money for disaster relief

Agencies that publish government data, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, will close up shop. That means investors and other market-watchers might not get to see the jobs report scheduled for October 6 or the monthly Consumer Price Index update on October 12

The Securities and Exchange Commission would scale back operations, potentially delaying work on initial public offerings, which require federal scrutiny. Birkenstock, the sandal brand, has signaled it expects to proceed with its October IPO

Candy Woodall and Daniel de Vise

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shutdown averted: Congress passes short-term solution with hours to go
The Crown should be viewed purely as entertainment rather than for its depiction of the royal family, biographer Gyles Brandreth has said, ahead of the shows sixth and final season.

In recent years, the Netflix drama has come under scrutiny for its depiction of events such as the tumultuous marriage of King Charles and the late Princess Diana.

In 2020, the then culture secretary Oliver Dowden was widely mocked for suggesting that episodes of The Crown should come with a note explaining that it portrays a fictional interpretation of events.

Helena Bonham Carter, who played Princess Margaret in seasons three and four, however, agreed with Dowden and went so far as to call for an end to the series as its timeline neared the present day.

Appearing at Henley Literary Festival to promote the reissue of his extensive 2022 biography Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, Brandreth, who was well acquainted with the late monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, urged the audience to watch The Crown if you like entertainment and Frasier isnt on.

But you dont need to watch it for learning anything, he said. Not for a moment, not remotely. Well, a tiny bit  like a cartoon, theres no harm in that. I have no objection to it as entertainment, none whatsoever. But I think the challenge is theyve turned [the royal family] into a soap opera.

Brandreth recalled a conversation he had with the late Duke of Edinburgh in the Nineties, while the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of York were making headline news, in which he expressed concern about making personalities out of royal family members.

It just doesnt work, Brandreth said. [The royal family] is not about personalities.

Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II in season one of The Crown

He remarked: The Crown is as truthful about the present royal family as Shakespeares play Richard III is about Richard III... but its not quite as well written.

I have no objection to it existing at all, and the first season rang a bit true. It was entertaining. But as it became more and more recent, there were inaccuracies.

He continued: Its riddled with mistakes, but that doesnt really matter, because its a bit of fun! Its a bit of nonsense. Its slightly frustrating if youre real people, but theyre not. The Queen wouldnt dream of watching it.

I think the challenge is theyve turned [the royal family] into a soap opera, says Brandreth (Getty)

Brandreths remarks come shortly after Netflix teased its sixth and final season of The Crown, which will feature a royal wedding storyline.

The streaming giant has said it will sensitively cover the death of Diana in 1997, as well as the marriage between the now King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

After six seasons, seven years and three casts, The Crown comes to an end later this year, the shows official account posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Well be back with more soon, but heres a hint at whats to come in our final season.

Included in the post was a photo of a programme for the service of prayer and dedication following the marriage of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall, which took place on Sunday 9 April 2005.

Season six of The Crown is due to be released later this year.

Elsewhere during his talk, Brandreth recalled an apparent quip Queen Elizabeth made to the then governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, during a visit to its London headquarters in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis.

While visiting the Bank of England with Prince Philip in 2008, while the world was in the grip of a financial crisis, the Queen was apparently saying goodbye to the governor when she paused and asked him to remind her how many people worked there.

After being told that 2,317 were employed at the Bank of Englands headquarters, she then remarked: And yet none of you saw it coming!

She was a very shrewd cookie, Brandreth said, following laughter from the audience. She was much more amusing than I think we were led to believe, particularly during the earlier years of her reign.

Henley Literary Festival continues until 8 October.
A recent update in a Kentucky cold case has brought an eight-year mystery back into the spotlight.

Crystal Rogers, a 35-year-old Bardstown mother, was reported missing July 5, 2015, by her mother, Sherry Ballard. Now, more than eight years later, her former boyfriend Brooks Houck has been arrested and faces charges of murder and evidence tampering in connection to the case.

Houck is believed to be the last person to see Rogers prior to her disappearance. The same day she was reported missing, her car was found abandoned along the Bluegrass Parkway with a flat tire and her keys, phone and purse inside. She is presumed dead, but has never been found.

The Sept. 27 arrest of Houck is the second in connection to the case in a months time.

Houck has previously maintained his innocence and is set for a court appearance next week.

Crystal Rogers, 35, is seen in this file photo. She disappeared from Bardstown, Ky., in July 2015.

More than a year after Rogers disappearance, on Nov. 19, 2016, her father, Tommy Ballard, was shot in the chest while out hunting. Tommy Ballard had been leading community efforts to search for his daughter, and his family has said they believe his unsolved murder is connected to his daughters disappearance.

The two cases are not the only unsolved murders in Bardstown, and the Rogers disappearance has long captivated the public and true crime community, a growing subset of enthusiasts and citizen sleuths. In light of recent events, weve rounded up some true crime coverage of the Rogers case over the years, including podcasts and national TV appearances.

TV mini series profiling Rogers case

A six-episode mini series titled The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers was released in 2018 and analyzes Rogers disappearance and the death of her father through interviews with investigators and family members.

The show, created by Oxygen, can be purchased on Amazon Prime, Oxygens website and streamed on Peacock TV. Clips from the series can also be viewed on Oxygens YouTube channel.

True crime podcasts covering the Crystal Rogers case

The Bardstown podcast hosted by Louisville journalist Shay McCalister analyzes not only Rogers case, but also previous murders in the same Kentucky town.

The podcast can be listened to on multiple platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The entire season one playlist can be viewed on the podcasts website, BardstownPodcast.com.

The podcast is produced by Vault Studios and WHAS11 in Louisville.

The case has been covered by big name true crime podcasts, as well. With more than 500 million downloads, the Crime Junkie podcast is one of the most popular true crime podcasts on the market. It was also recently named one of the 20 best true crime podcasts to listen to by Vogue.

Cohosts Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat discussed the case of Crystal Rogers, and the other cases in Bardstown, in a 52-minute episode released in 2018. The podcast can be listened to on platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, as well as its website. The homepage for the episode also includes a timeline of the case.

The 176th episode of the Mile Higher podcast, hosted by husband and wife Josh Thomas and Kendall Rae, also discussed Rogers disappearance. The 53-minute podcast episode reviews Rogers past and events leading up to her disappearance, along with her fathers death.

The Mile Higher podcast began in 2018. With more than 260 episodes, the podcast has an excess of 560,000 subscribers on YouTube. Raes solo podcast, True Crime with Kendall Rae, also dedicated an episode to Rogers case. Both podcasts can also be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Books covering Rogers disappearance

The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers: An anthology of True Crime discusses Rogers case in book form, along with other cases in Bardstown. Written by Amanda Storm, the book is advertised but unavailable for purchase on Amazon.

Another book on the case, A Murder in Bardstown: The True Crime Story of Crystal Rogers, is more widely available. The book, which covers the 2015 disappearance, is written by Allison Tinley.

National TV features of the Rogers case

The case has also been discussed extensively on national television programs, including an episode of Nancy Grace and a feature on the TODAY show.

In 2015, shortly after Rogers disappearance, Grace interviewed Houck about his girlfriends disappearance, in which he maintained his innocence.

In August 2018, Rogers mother and sister appeared on the TODAY show with Megyn Kelly. The 12-minute feature discussed the case and the upcoming release of Oxygens mini series.

Do you have a question about crime in Kentucky for our service journalism team? Wed like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.
Americas most influential doctors group once marched in lock-step with Republicans, joining forces to try to keep government out of medicine.

But now, as public health gets sucked into the culture wars, the American Medical Association has become a leading voice opposing GOP policies on everything from abortion and transgender care to gun rights and climate change. And Republicans are firing back with charges that the 176-year-old physicians organization is practicing wokeism.

The rift over social issues is threatening to undercut the AMAs clout on the bread-and-butter health care issues it typically lobbies on  such as how much doctors should get paid by Medicare, which the GOP-led House is planning to debate this fall. And its tainting the AMAs relationship with one group its long been able to rely on as a staunch ally: Republican lawmakers who are doctors.

They do have some issues and some credibility to regain with those who practice, said Rep. Greg Murphy, (R-N.C.), a urologist who co-chairs the GOP Doctors Caucus, citing disagreements over the AMAs social justice and equity agenda.

The caucus tried to clear the air with their AMA colleagues at a January meeting in which they discussed the groups credibility among Republicans, but concerns remain.

The AMA says its been forced to speak out against attacks on science as the Republican Party moves right.

We continue to see an attack on science and evidence-based medicine, said AMA President Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, suggesting that Republicans rightward shift has given doctors no choice. And we will always stand up for the science.

At the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago in June, AMA delegates adopted a resolution condemning the war on drugs. In his farewell address as the organizations president, Jack Resneck, a dermatologist, decried divisive political rhetoric and policy on abortion and transgender adolescents  and called for gun control, an issue many U.S. doctors have raised as a public health concern.

And with the Supreme Court decision barring universities from considering race in admissions just days away, Ehrenfeld, in accepting the groups presidency, predicted the ruling would undermine decades of progress in creating a diverse physician workforce.

The AMA says its positions on public health issues arent undermining its lobbying clout.

I don't think it's an issue at all  In spite of sometimes what are headline-grabbers, we really, I think, are being very effective at bringing people together, Ehrenfeld said.

But those in the rooms discussing provider policy on the Hill tell a different story.

Lobbyists who work on Capitol Hill on behalf of doctors, and the congressional staffers who meet with them, said those positions  as well as the AMAs support for abortion rights, transgender care, gun control and action to combat climate change  havent gone over well with Republicans.

A lobbyist for health providers whom POLITICO granted anonymity to avoid damaging their relationship with the AMA said mentions of the group are almost always met with an eye roll in GOP offices.

The person added that, the social issues just feel like theyre eclipsing everything.

Another lobbyist representing another physician group, granted anonymity for the same reason, said their employer thinks twice about teaming with the AMA because of its reputation among conservatives.

Their credibility is so diminished that its a liability, the lobbyist said, adding that Republicans on the Hill often ask: What the hell is with the AMA?

Checks and existential threats

The AMAs ability to keep Republicans on its side, even as it opposes many of the partys policies, could have far-reaching ramifications not only for doctors pay but also for patients.

The group has repeatedly warned that Medicare payment cuts would lead doctors to cease treating Medicare patients  though the vast majority of non-pediatric physicians remain part of the government program  or could lead doctors to close their practices.

In his farewell address, Resneck called the possibility that Congress will allow cuts to Medicare reimbursements existential threats to our profession and to our patients.

Its a major reason why the AMAs political action committee continues to give generously to GOP candidates who oppose its stances on abortion and other polarizing health issues.

In the 2021-22 cycle, AMPAC contributed nearly $350,000 to lawmakers who were given ratings of A or A+ by anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, according to a POLITICO analysis of Federal Election Commission data.

Likewise, the political action committee contributed more than $26,000 to candidates who co-sponsored legislation to limit doctors ability to provide gender-affirming care.

In the days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the AMA suggested that it might withhold contributions to Republicans who voted against certifying state results for the 2020 presidential election.

At the time, the group added a note to its webpage explaining that physicians abhor violence and were shocked and dismayed by the insurrection, adding its political action committee would include a review of the recent electoral college certification vote and the violent attacks when donating to campaigns for the 2022 election.

But in the 2021-22 cycle, AMPAC donated more than $110,000 to candidates who voted to sustain objections to the electoral votes in the 2020 election. The group also donated $25,000 to the leadership funds of Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise (R-La.), who both voted to sustain objections to the election.

But overall, AMPAC gave a record share of its contributions to Democrats  61 percent, according to an analysis by Open Secrets.

Ehrenfeld noted that the AMAs political action committee makes its own decisions and is led by its own board. Dr. Brooke Buckley, AMPACs chair, said in an email she wasnt permitted to speak on the issue and referred questions to the AMA.

From country club to protest march

AMA members were once seen as stereotypical country club Republicans.

The group opposed the creation of Medicare in 1965 and gave the majority of its campaign contributions to Republicans until 2006.

But that began to change in the 2000s, when Democrats like then-Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts sided with doctors in their fight with health maintenance organizations over insurer interference in medical decision-making.

The AMA later embraced Obamacare, moving further from its 1960s opposition to government involvement in medicine.

The organization has seen other big changes over the decades, including the share of physicians who are members. In the 1950s about 75 percent of American doctors were AMA members. That figure has likely fallen to less than a quarter of professionally active physicians paying dues, even as the AMA touts a decade-long strategy to boost membership.

Dr. Jordan M. Warchol, an emergency medicine doctor and chair of the governing council of the AMAs Young Physicians Section, said the rising generation of AMA members reflects a more polarized American culture  emphasizing that is her personal perspective, not the view of the AMA.

After the coronavirus arrived, the breakdown in relations picked up steam, as Republicans condemned pandemic mitigations like lockdowns, mask mandates and school closures that many doctors endorsed.

In the summer of 2020, the AMA joined the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, adopting a resolution recognizing police brutality as a manifestation of structural racism.

Warchol said shifts in the medical marketplace may also be driving change in the AMA, with more physicians working directly for hospitals or private equity owners. That provides some insulation from the Medicare pocketbook issues.

In their mind, the payment issues come second to these other  public-health facing issues, she said of some younger members in the organization.

Still Worchal, who once worked for Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, said she lamented the strained relations with her former boss party.

My one concern moving into the future is: How do we, as a profession, sustain the ability to have friends in lots of places in politics? she asked. You cant address gun violence if you cant have reimbursement rates for seeing those patients. You have to figure out: How do we do both?

Republicans respond

While Congress mostly helped the AMA avert Medicare payment cuts in years past, it allowed a 2 percent cut this year, with a further 3.25 percent scheduled for 2024.

Republicans, even as some continue to accept the AMAs checks, are divided on how sympathetic they should feel.

On the unsympathetic side are more conservative members, like Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator and ophthalmologist, who accused the group of embracing far-left wokeism and said they dont have much of a voice talking about fees or talking about the business of medicine.

Its not always just rhetoric  social issues and provider policy issues are getting tangled up in legislation. Earlier this year, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) introduced legislation that would have made funding for childrens hospitals contingent on their refusal to offer gender-affirming care.

On the other hand, some Republicans said they could distinguish the areas of agreement and disagreement. I disagree with them on abortion, but obviously, for rural America, keeping doctors properly reimbursed is something weve got to do  and were going to do it in December, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, pledging a year-end fix for the Medicare cut.

Murphy, too, said he was on the AMAs side when it comes to another key issue for doctors, blocking nurses from gaining authority to do more work now reserved for MDs. Im completely aligned with the AMA with respect to physician practice and scope of practice creep, Murphy said.

But at a recent House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on what kinds of procedures should be reserved for medical doctors in the VA system, Republican Derrick Van Orden wasnt focused on that.

Can a biological male become a biological female? the Wisconsin representative asked Ehrenfeld.

When Ehrenfeld balked at the question, Van Orden responded: You are not a subject matter expert in the medical field  or youre exercising administrative cowardice.
Frank LaPere, Nico LaPere and Caroline Frank, the family of Pava LaPere, founder of tech startup EcoMap Technologies, speak during a vigil on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

The man accused of killing Pava LaPere was being sought by police in the days before her death for another violent crime.

But authorities did not alert the public that they were looking the suspect until after the Baltimore CEO's death.

A former New York Police Department sergeant told Insider that Baltimore police "dropped the ball."

In the days before Baltimore, Maryland, tech CEO Pava LaPere was killed, police had linked the sole suspect in her death to another violent crime, but they did not alert the public that they were looking for him until after the young entrepreneur's death.

A former New York Police Department sergeant told Insider on Friday that the Baltimore Police Department "dropped the ball" by not notifying the public sooner that the suspect  a convicted sex offender with a violent criminal history  was wanted in a September 19 attempted murder, rape, and arson investigation.

"His picture should have gone out to the public," retired NYPD sergeant Joseph Giacalone said. "Someone might have seen him and called the police and been able to prevent something else from happening in the future."

The Baltimore Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Friday.

Following a days-long manhunt, Jason Billingsley, 32, was arrested by law enforcement late Wednesday in Bowie, Maryland, in connection to LaPere's killing  which investigators believe happened on September 22  and in connection to a September 19 crime that involved an attack on a couple.

Police had been tracking the suspect since September 20

Baltimore Police Department acting commissioner Richard Worley revealed during a Thursday news conference that authorities had quickly identified Billingsley as the suspect in the September 19 incident and had been surveilling him since September 20, when a warrant was issued for his arrest.

But Billingsley evaded capture for days despite police tracking his phone, financial transactions, and social media.

On September 25, LaPere, the founder and CEO of the startup EcoMap Technologies, was found dead on the roof of the Baltimore building where the 26-year-old executive lived and worked.

According to court documents obtained by Insider, investigators say surveillance footage showed Billingsley waving LaPere down on the night of September 22 to gain access to her apartment building before her death.

A medical examiner ruled that LaPere died of strangulation and blunt-force trauma, according to the court documents.

Worley said at Thursday's news conference that police didn't initially go public in naming Billingsley as a suspect in the earlier September 19 attempted murder, arson, and rape case, in part, because "it was not a random act" and said the suspect was "familiar" with the victims in that case.

"At that time, we did not believe that he was committing random acts," Worley said of the suspect.

Worley added that as soon as investigators realized the suspect "had committed an act that seemed to be random"  referring to the killing of LaPere  authorities put out a wanted poster identifying Billingsley.

Police have said that investigators do not believe Billingsley and LaPere knew each other and haven't yet released a possible motive.

'You have got to get that information out to the public,' Giacalone said

Giacalone, an adjunct professor at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said police should have put out a wanted poster as soon as they tied the suspect to the September 19 crime, given the violent nature of the incident and the suspect's criminal background.

Billingsley received a 30-year prison sentence in 2015 with all but 14 years suspended after he pleaded guilty to a sex offense, officials have said. He was released early from prison in October 2022 on mandatory supervision, according to a spokesperson for the state's prison system  a move some, including Baltimore's mayor, have blasted.

"The police department is responsible for letting the public know when they're in danger," said Giacalone. "He's a violent felon. You have got to get that information out to the public."

Giacalone said that it should not have mattered that Baltimore investigators believed at the time that the suspect was not targeting random victims.

"The idea is, get this guy off the street as fast as you can," Giacalone said. "And sometimes putting his picture all over is something that helps.

'Hindsight's always 20/20,' Baltimore's acting police commissioner said

When asked by a reporter this week whether Baltimore police should have alerted the public sooner and put out a photo of Billingsley in the immediate aftermath of the September 19 attack, Worley said, "Hindsight's always 20/20."

"If I would have known that he was going to go and kill someone, we would have put the flier out, but we had no indication that he was committing random acts," Worley said during Thursday's press conference.

Worley continued, "There was no reason to believe that he was out committing random acts. Had we believed that, the flier would have came out to everyone on September 20 as soon as we got the warrant" for Billingsley's arrest in the September 19 case.

The police official insisted that authorities didn't make any mistakes.

Read the original article on Insider
Rescue workers clear the rubble from a damaged mosque, after a suicide blast in Hangu

By Saleem Ahmed

QUETTA (Reuters) - The death toll from a large blast at a mosque in Pakistan rose to 59 on Saturday as the government vowed to find the perpetrators and accused India's intelligence agency of being involved.

Friday's blast tore through a mosque in Mastung in the southern province of Balochistan after a bomber detonated his explosives near a police vehicle where people were gathering for a procession to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad.

Pakistani officials have long claimed that India sponsors violent groups in Pakistan - claims India has always denied.

"Civil, military and all other institutions will jointly strike against the elements involved in the Mastung suicide bombing," interior minister Sarfaraz Bugti told media in Balochistan's capital, Quetta.

"RAW is involved in the suicide attack," he added, referring to India's Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) intelligence agency. He did not provide details or evidence on the alleged involvement.

India's foreign ministry and a government spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wasim Baig, the spokesman for Balochistan's health department, said seven more people had died in hospital since Friday, which had caused the rise in the death toll, adding that more patients remained in critical condition.

A second attack on Friday at a mosque in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had killed at least 5 people. Police on Saturday filed a report to launch an investigation, saying they had sent DNA from the suicide bomb attacker to be analysed.

No group has claimed responsibility for either attack. A surge in militant attacks in Pakistan's western provinces has cast a shadow on election preparations and public campaigning in the run-up to January's national vote, but until now the attacks had mostly targeted security forces.

The Pakistani Taliban (TTP), responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan since the group's formation in 2007, denied responsibility for Friday's blasts.

(Reporting by Saleem Ahmed in Quetta; Additional reporting by Saud Mehsud; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Giles Elgood)
The Ministry of Defence will propose to the leadership of Ukraine a strategy for the development of the Ukrainian army of the future, the Future Force Concept, after the end of the war.

Source: Ukrinform and Interfax Ukraine, citing Rustem Umierov , the Minister of Defence, at the Defence Industries Forum

Quote: "The Future Force Concept will be a very important document. My colleagues have already started to develop it, but in order to move forward, we will have to analyse what our current situation is, how many people we have, and how many capabilities we have. After that, conduct consultations with all branches [of the army  ed.], defence and security forces and look at the NATO status, security guarantees, national capabilities, regional security guarantees and international security guarantees. And after that, we will propose to the leadership of Ukraine ... to approve this vision."

Details: Umierov said that Ukraine will proceed from its own interests, develop and propose a new architecture of internal and global security.

Regarding developing the domestic defence industry, Umierov said that Ukraine's vision is to develop world-class military products and services.

The minister said that Ukraine wants to produce military products and services of very high quality that can be scaled and "cover all of Ukraine's needs now".

"And further, after the war's end, it will be exported," Umierov emphasised.

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It happened quickly, the final invasion, and with hundreds of Orthodox Christians killed by the aggressors. Armenia, led by a one-time human rights lawyer, had no alternative but to save thousands of its people from death by surrendering their enclave at Nagorno-Karabakh to the brutal forces of Ilham Aliyev , dictator of Azerbaijan.

It was Russia, once again, that was principally to blame: it was given by a foolish UN Security Council the duty to keep the peace, but when Armenia condemned the invasion of Ukraine, Putin in revenge withdrew all protection of Nagorno-Karabakh and let the Azerbaijan army off its leash.

120,000 citizens are now at its mercy, being forced either to abandon their ancestral homes or else live under a tyranny that has fomented hatred against them for many years.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a small, mountainous country in the clouds, settled by Armenians for many centuries. It was the first in 301 AD to adopt Christianity.

Hundreds of Orthodox churches, and their ancient mysterious tombstones (many now defaced or demolished by the aggressors), attract visitors from Yerevan, Armenias capital, who take the 6 hour road trek via Mount Ararat to Stepanakert, centre of the Karabakhs democracy that was this week snuffed out. The trip is only 20 minutes by air from a modern airport. But planes have not flown for years because the Azeri government threatens to shoot them down.

The country fell to Russia in the early nineteenth century, and the demographic evidence from the first census of that time proves that it was all-Armenian and the area should have been allocated to this state when Stalin divided the territory in 1920. Instead, he gave it to Azerbaijan, and the mistake was not rectified until a civil war after the collapse of the USSR.

The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh  still the great majority of the population  voted first to join with Armenia (the wiser course) but then (courageously as they thought) opted for independence. The war had commenced with pogroms by Azeris in Sumgait and Baku. But in time a local Karabakh defence force took the upper hand. Fighting was brutal. With ethnic hate on both sides. The siege of Stepanakert during which Azeri forces killed several thousand in bombings of schools and hospitals, was Guernica writ small. The people only survived because of supplies brought on a narrow road - a humanitarian corridor - from Armenia, which Azerbaijan closed earlier this year.

Nagorno-Karabakh won the war by 1994 and declared, like Kosovo, its right to self-determination. For the next quarter-century it governed itself with help from Armenia. It did so, reasonably enough, with fair elections and democratic institutions like an independent judiciary - as I found when investigating the situation in the country for a court case in 2014. It was not, as many news reporters said last week, a country of Armenian separatists but of an Armenian people whose ancestors had lived in these highlands for centuries and who had fought for, and won, for a quarter of a century, the right to resist a brutal dictator. But there were many Azeri provocations at the border - the line of control.

The Security Council, quite absurdly, entrusted the enclave security to Russia which did not take its duties seriously and in 2020 the war broke out again. Armenia voted at the UN to condemn Russia for attacking Ukraine and in consequence Putin determined to end all support for it and to take revenge. The last straw came this month, when Armenia joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is prosecuting Putin for kidnapping Ukrainian children. Last week the Kremlin carpeted the Armenian ambassador and made what it described as a harsh protest: it threatened to withdraw its security mandated protection for Nagorno-Karabakh. When it did so, Azerbaijan invaded.

How should the UK react? Aliyev, like Putin, is guilty of the international crime of aggression, and this country should denounce this violation. Russia, too, should be condemned for betraying the duty imposed on it by the Security Council. We should certainly offer to take some of the many thousands of refugees: they are innocent victims of an international double-cross. They have every reason to fear persecution if they stay where they belong. Their political leaders are already being arrested.

As for the United Nations, Nagorno-Karabakh will be remembered as yet another reason why it is no longer fit for purpose. That purpose, its Charter reminds us, is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, yet it cannot expel Russia (even were Putin to use nuclear weapons) which would veto its own expulsion, and it cannot even expel Azerbaijan for aggression (because Russia would veto the necessary Security Council recommendation).

The only way forward is to replace the United Nations, because its Security Council is not fit for purpose. It is incapable of reform, because Russia and China will veto reform. Security will only come from an international representative body with the moral, military, economic power to deter authoritarian aggression.

Geoffrey Robertson AO KC is a former UN war crimes judge and author of An Inconvenient Genocide: Who Now Remembers the Armenians?

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Dmitry Medvedev , Deputy Head of Russias Security Council, has said that Russia intends to capture more Ukrainian territories.

Source: Dmitry Medvedev on Telegram on the Day of "Reunification" of Ukraines Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts with Russia

Quote: "The special military operations [Russias euphemism for the war against Ukraine - ed.] will continue until Kyivs Nazi regime is annihilated and historically Russian territories are liberated from the enemy. The victory will be ours.

More new territories will become part of Russia."

[Russian officials often refer to the lawfully elected Ukrainian government as the "Nazi regime" and claim that internationally recognised Ukrainian territories are "historically Russian" and thus in need of being "liberated" in an effort to justify Russias war against Ukraine - ed.]

Previously: On 6 August, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not want more Ukrainian territory; the four oblasts and Crimea that were illegally included in the Russian Constitution are enough.

Background:

On 30 September 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the "agreement on the accession to Russia" of the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts and declared that henceforth, residents of those territories would be recognised as citizens of the Russian Federation. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation approved this decision, which was later ratified by the State Duma and the Federation Council.

On 28 September 2023, Putin signed a law establishing 30 September as the Day of "Reunification" of Ukraines Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts with Russia.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used his platform during the California GOP convention to mock the current GOP presidential frontrunner former President Donald Trump .

I understand that one of my residents was here earlier saying that he turned Florida red, DeSantis said in his speech on Friday. I just wish if he was the one that turned Florida red, that he wouldnt have turned Georgia and Arizona blue.

His remarks came after Trump, who resides in Palm Beach, Fla., spoke at the same event on Friday  crediting himself as being the one that turned Florida red, not DeSantis.

The Florida governor was referencing the 2020 presidential election, when the two swing states both elected Democratic senators and were turned blue for President Biden. In elections prior, both Arizona and Georgia were won by Republican candidates  including 2016, when the former president won each state by narrow margins.

Trump continues to claim responsibility for DeSantiss success in Florida, saying he was a lousy candidate before his endorsement.

He was so far behind, cause, you know why? Cause he was a lousy candidate, and I endorsed him and he became like a rocket ship, and he ended up getting the nomination, Trump said earlier this year at a campaign stop in Iowa.

Then I held a few rallies for him cause he was not going to beat the man that he was running against, who at the time was said to be the hottest guy in the Democrat Party, he added, referring to Andrew Gillum, who lost by less than half of a percentage point.

DeSantiss comments in California can now be added to a long list of attacks from each of the GOP rivals from abortion policy to COVID-19 response as Trump holds steady in the lead for the GOP nomination and DeSantiss numbers continue to fall in the polls.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were also scheduled to speak at the event.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A 2021 decision by voters to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms and similar substances in Detroit is being put to the test.

Detroit police last week raided a psychedelic religious institution, Soul Tribes International Ministries. Police searched the building, seized substances and shut down the facility, calling it an illegal operation.

Soul Tribes founder Shaman Bobby Shu told the Free Press he plans to reopen Monday.

Detroit Assistant Corporation Counsel Doug Baker said that while Proposal E, a ballot measure approved by 61% of voters in 2021, was intended to decriminalize psychedelics in the city, it does not specifically allow for the sale or distribution of psilocybin mushrooms and does not override state law  which still categorizes psilocybin as a controlled substance.

Detroit's first-ever psychedelic religious institution, Soul Tribes International Ministries, was searched and shut down by the Detroit Police Department on Friday, Sept. 22.

"As a result of the operation, which involved DPD personnel, BSEED (Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department) inspectors, and the work of our city attorneys, illegal controlled substances have been confiscated, and an illegal operation that posed a threat to this community has been closed, police said in a prepared statement.

Soul Tribes opened inside Bushnell Congregational Church over Labor Day weekend at 15000 Southfield Freeway. The ministry offers psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca and other entheogenic plants they call sacraments. Bushnell itself has been operating for over 97 years.

"These sacraments reflect our deeply-held religious beliefs and form an integral part of our worship and religious practices, as supported by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993," reads the Soul Tribes website. "Our mission is to support the religious freedom and practices of those who believe in the therapeutic power of these plants."

More: Marijuana screening tests end Sunday for most state of Michigan jobs

More: Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California dies at 90

Shu, previously known as Robert Shumake, founded and operates Soul Tribes and was involved in the effort to pass Proposal E, he said. The city ordinance adopted as a result of the successful ballot measure states: "The enforcement of any laws imposing criminal or civil penalties for the personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants by adults shall be the lowest law enforcement priority in the City of Detroit."

It defines therapeutic use as "the use, possession, storage, propagation, provision, transfer or sharing of entheogenic plants with another adult or adults with or without remuneration under the advisement or supervision of a licensed therapist, medical professional, or religious leader."

According to the ordinance, its purpose and intent is to:

Decriminalize, to the greatest extent possible under Michigan and federal law, the personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants by adults.

De-prioritize in the city of Detroit the imposition of criminal or civil penalties on adults for the personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants.

Not interfere with or prohibit the enforcement of any state or federal law that prohibits the personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants.

Prior to the search and shutdown, Shu said he also met with the DPD and was in contact with them via email, explaining that Soul Tribes is a legal and religious structure, registered in the state.

Shu claims police seized over $700,000 worth of entheogenic plants. He has not been charged with a crime in connection with the raid. He said he is working with his legal team to reopen the building Monday.

In addition to access to entheogenic plants and guidance through sessions, Soul Tribes teaches attendees breath work, how to manage thoughts, reiki, meditation and more, Shu said.

"You cannot discriminate against us because of our religious beliefs, that's the First Amendment," he said. "The police's job is to enforce city ordinances."

Contact Nour Rahal: nrahal@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @nrahal1.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit psychedelic church shut down by police plans to reopen
FILE - San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein carries a candle as she leads an estimated 15,000 marchers also carrying candles during a march in memory of slain Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in San Francisco, Nov. 28, 1979. After Feinstein, the nations oldest sitting U.S. senator, died at age 90, LGBTQ+ leaders are lauding her as a longtime friend dating to a time when not many could be found. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Dianne Feinstein once stood at the center of a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history. Decades later, in death, she's being lauded by LGBTQ+ leaders as a longtime ally who, if she didn't always initially do the right thing, was able to learn and evolve.

Feinstein was president of the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors when she stood behind reporters microphones in November 1978 and grimly announced: Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed. The suspect is Supervisor Dan White.

George Moscone was the liberal mayor of San Francisco; Milk was Californias first openly gay elected official. White was a disgruntled former fellow county supervisor who was the boards sole vote against a gay anti-discrimination ordinance. And Feinstein, at age 45, found herself at the helm of a global center of gay life that, already roiled by the violence, was about to be further upended by AIDS.

She rose to the challenge and then some, advocates said after Feinstein, the nation's oldest sitting U.S. senator, died Friday at age 90.

Senator Feinstein stood with our community back when few others did, fighting for funding and action to combat the AIDS crisis when most elected officials chose to look away, the advocacy group Equality California said in a news release Friday.

Feinstein had a tense relationship with Milk but later championed his legacy, Stuart Milk, the assassinated supervisor's nephew and a family spokesperson, said in an interview.

She had become a consistent supporter of LGBTQ inclusion after a harder road for her to get there, Milk said, noting that she was a sponsor of the Navy ship named for his uncle.

The Human Rights Campaign, a large LGBTQ+ advocacy group, cited Feinsteins sterling record of support for the LGBTQ+ community."

Feinstein, a Democrat, voted against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which banned federal recognition of same sex marriage, and the dont ask, dont tell policy that required LGBTQ+ military service members to stay in the closet.

It makes no sense to ask our gay and lesbian soldiers to put their lives on the line, while at the same time asking them to live in the shadows, Feinstein said in a 2010 statement when dont ask, dont tell was being repealed.

The Human Rights Campaign pointed out she was also a sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which President Joe Biden signed in 2022 to solidify the right to same-sex marriage.

But Feinstein could be polarizing, especially on her home turf.

She drew the ire of Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco mayor and future California governor, by saying that his issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004, in violation of state law, was an action that was too much, too fast, too soon and motivated conservative voters who gave Republican President George W. Bush a second term.

And, in the 1980s, her mayoral administration caused an outcry in some quarters for closing gay bathhouses to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS.

But at the same time, she dedicated huge amounts of city resources and funding, more so than the federal government was doing at that time, to try to stem the spread of this disease that was killing gay men in the city, said Matthew S. Bajko, an editor and political columnist for the Bay Area Reporter, an influential LGBTQ+ newspaper.

Feinstein visited an AIDS hospice in Los Angeles in 1990 during her unsuccessful campaign for governor, telling patients, I was there at the beginning and I hope Im there at the end, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.

"No one could ever say she was, you know, the biggest champion of LGBTQ issues and people when she started her journey," said Kierra Johnson, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. What I think is so powerful about who she is, is that we saw her evolve over time.

Feinstein was the one who had found the bullet-riddled body of her colleague Milk, who was later celebrated in the book The Mayor of Castro Street by journalist Randy Shilts, the Academy Award-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk, and the Hollywood biopic Milk, starring Sean Penn.

I remember it, actually, as if it was yesterday. And it was one of the hardest moments, if not the hardest moment, of my life, Feinstein told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2008. It was a devastating moment. For San Francisco, it was a day of infamy.

She told the newspaper she believed White, who was convicted of manslaughter and died by suicide in 1985 after his release, was motivated by feelings of personal and political betrayal, not homophobia.

Still, she said, the assassinations helped form who I am and what I believe.
It was 1990, and a self-identified city girl in a denim skirt and boots perched herself atop bales of hay near Los Banos in Californias farming heartland. Dianne Feinstein was running for governor and looking for votes.

I want to be a good governor for the agriculture industry of California, she told the crowd, the Los Angeles Times reported. But the former San Francisco mayor lost the race to Pete Wilson, a more familiar face in the world of Central Valley agribusiness.

Feinstein would win election to the Senate two years later and become a powerhouse, the longest serving woman U.S. senator. With her passing this week, she left behind a strong legacy on the environment, brokering deals to restore precious landscapes.

On California water, her record is less straightforward. It was marked by a testy relationship with environmentalists, strong rapport with the states agricultural power brokers and a ferocious work ethic that led her to master the subject.

Particularly in the last decade, San Joaquin Valley farmers saw a friend in Feinstein, who increased their water allocations in drought. Environmentalists, in turn, often faced an uphill battle to protect ecosystems and native fish as the climate grew more extreme.

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, called the senators legacy on California water complicated. She pointed out that the senator gave Central Valley environmental groups a win in 2013 when she designated the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as Californias first National Heritage Area.

She thought there were trade offs that you can make to keep everybody whole and that the environment would remain healthy, Barrigan-Parrilla said. California has a long history of managing water the way we do without significant environmental impact. But climate change has caught up with all of that and made it all much worse.

After taking office in 1992 following a decade as the mayor of San Francisco, Feinstein championed conservation legislation. She worked to pass a bill protecting millions of acres of California wilderness, including a 1994 measure that created the Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks.

Feinstein grew up attending summer camp on Lake Tahoes shores, and it made a lasting impact. She authored multiple restoration efforts starting in 2000 that directed more than $1.3 billion to North Americas largest alpine lake. She hosted summits in the area, where she owned a palatial vacation home.

A tough deal broker, she built a reputation for bringing the competing interests of farmers and environmentalists to compromises after long hours of negotiating. In 2006, that resulted in the San Joaquin River restoration package.

The agreement resolved an 18-year-old lawsuit and called for $500 million-plus worth of investment to revive the river fishery that had been wiped out decades before following the construction of Friant Dam.

According to a participant in the deal, Feinstein closed it by leaving the negotiating table to talk privately with former general manager of Westlands Water District Tom Birmingham.

Historically Californias largest and most influential farm water utility, Westlands grows nearly $2 billion in nuts, fruits and vegetables a year. After the federal government blessed these farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley with subsidized water in the 1960s, the district has seen a dwindling water supply.

The senators relationship with Westlands Birmingham started out rocky. In a 2000 meeting at her office, an injured Feinstein asked Birmingham for help and he accidentally let her injured foot fall a couple inches to the ground. But they ended up forming a close friendship, in which the two would schedule late-day meetings in D.C. to chat over a glass of wine.

Birmingham credits Feinsteins fondness for San Joaquin Valley farmers in part to the summers she spent at a Kern County ranch belonging to a friend of her fathers, an experience that left her with a positive impression of agriculture and its need for water.

I feel truly blessed by having had the opportunity to work with her and and to get to know her and become her friend, said Birmingham. Senator Feinsteins lasting legacy is that people in every region of this state will be served by projects that are operated utilizing the best information available, and in the smartest way possible, to supply water and to minimize or avoid environmental impacts.

In 2016, Birmingham proposed a piece of legislation to Feinsteins office that became the WIIN Act, which encouraged increases in water allocations south to farmers and cities from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Environmental advocates say they werent consulted on the proposal.

In turn, the senator was heavily criticized by Democratic allies. California Senator Barbara Boxer concluded her legislative career by opposing her own bill because Feinstein had attached the WIIN Act to it.

This is so wrong, it is shocking, Boxer told reporters at the time.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who worked with Feinstein on the bill, credited the WIIN Act on Friday as the most significant California water bill in 25 years.

But even among environmental advocates who wanted to see more water in Californias system preserved for fish and ecosystems, there was respect for the senators intellectual rigor, attention to policy details and deep love for the state.

Barry Nelson, longtime environmental advocate formerly with the Natural Resources Defense Council, called her a ferociously effective senator even though I disagreed with her.

I used to tell staff that the hardest thing theyre going to do is meet with senior elected officials who are really hard to get, and I would always cite Feinstein as the example, Nelson said. She would start against us, but you could get to her if you worked incredibly hard.

As Gov. Gavin Newsom receives pressure to appoint a replacement for Feinstein, longtime observers of water politics say he is unlikely to find someone so willing to to work across the aisle with congressional Republicans and whose affinity for agricultural interests belies her San Francisco roots.

Senator Feinstein was always willing and eager to listen and find solutions, said Johnny Amaral, chief operating officer and chief of external affairs for the Friant Water Authority, which serves farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. For ag water agencies, it has been very difficult to find elected officials on the Democrat side of the aisle.
In 2009, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) became the first woman to lead the storied Senate Select Committee on Intelligence  just as Barack Obama became the second president to oversee the massively expanded national security establishment that America developed after the 9/11 terror attacks.

Both Democrats had condemned the way President George W. Bush handled security matters, and both particularly opposed the Bush administrations use of a global detention and interrogation program for suspected terrorists. Feinstein, who died on Friday at age 90, channeled that concern into a years-long battle, defying opponents ranging from Obamas team to the CIA and its allies. The result was a lasting statement against torture and in favor of accountability.

Feinsteins unlikely push to reveal the truth about U.S. misconduct in the name of keeping Americans safe is likely to be one of the most consequential elements of her legacy. By producing a 6,700-page report on Bush-era torture  and insisting that a lengthy executive summary be released publicly  she irrevocably changed Americas national security conversation.

A Grueling Battle

Starting soon after Sept. 11, 2001, the CIA began sweeping up supposed plotters of terrorist attacks and held them at secret facilities worldwide. American interrogators, or foreign partners they directed, meted out gruesome tactics the agency called enhanced interrogation techniques.

Weeks after Feinstein took over the Intelligence Committee, two members of the committees staff told the panel they had reviewed CIA cables showing the agency had subjected detainees to extensive waterboarding and stress positions, as well as threats, near-constant nudity and slaps. The staffers also reported that CIA officials had kept torturing detainees even after they were ready to cooperate or after the officials assessed that the detainees lacked valuable information.

Feinstein was well-known as a supporter of intelligence agencies. But she determined the entire CIA program needed to be probed  and nearly every member of the intelligence committee from both parties agreed with her. The committee began a sprawling inquiry.

Soon after Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) took over the Senate Intelligence Committee, she directed the panel to probe the CIA's rendition and interrogation program.

Soon after Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) took over the Senate Intelligence Committee, she directed the panel to probe the CIA's rendition and interrogation program.

The Obama administration agreed to give Senate personnel access to a huge cache of operational cables, emails and memos related to the detention program, so long as they worked at a CIA office in Virginia rather than transfer material to Capitol Hill. The arrangement was not perfect: On at least two occasions, CIA personnel stopped committee staff from accessing previously provided documents.

Still, by December 2012, the staff finished a report painstakingly dismantling examples the CIA cited as proof that torture had prevented terrorism and exposing new details of the agencys viciousness, such as its use of rectal feeding and sleep deprivation periods of up to a week. Feinstein sent the document to the Obama administration for its response, which the CIA delivered in the summer of 2013, admitting some mistakes but firmly denying the reports overall conclusions.

Then John Brennan  Obamas third CIA director and the deputy executive director at the agency from 2001 to 2003, when it was carrying out some of the worst abuses in the rendition program  escalated the dispute. In January 2014, Brennan privately berated Feinstein and the committees vice chair, then-Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), over his suspicion that Senate staffers had accessed CIA material they were not entitled to. John didnt handle that right, Chambliss recalled to The New Yorker.

Brennan has such an explosive temper. His face turns really red. Dianne seems to bring that out in him  because shes so West Coast, calm, cool, stately, former Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Feinsteins predecessor on the committee, told the magazine of the dynamic between the two.

Feinstein said the terrible meeting was something I never expected to see in my government.

By March, McClatchy News reported that the CIA inspector general was investigating an explosive claim that Brennans staff had been monitoring Feinsteins team. The implication: A national security institution had become so overconfident it was willing to challenge the constitutional separation of powers between the executive branch and Congress.

After weeks of trying to quietly mend the CIA-Senate rift, Feinstein went to the Senate floor to reluctantly address it in public. She specifically defended Senate staffers for keeping a copy of a skeptical internal CIA review of the rendition program.

How can the CIAs official response to our study stand factually in conflict with its own internal review? Feinstein asked. She noted that a CIA attorney working under Brennan who had reported her staff to the Justice Department was himself one of the top CIA lawyers involved in the rendition program.

Were not going to stop, Feinstein continued. How this is resolved will show  whether our work can be thwarted by those we oversee.

Senate Democrats gave her a standing ovation at a lunch later that day. Appearing on Fox News a few weeks later, former CIA director Michael Hayden cited Feinsteins speech to launch a sexist assault on her work, saying the remarks showed an emotional feeling on the part of the senator that compromised her report.

Brennan ultimately acknowledged the CIA had misstepped in monitoring the Senate committee and apologized to Feinstein that summer.

Feinstein spent most of 2014 trying to publish her report. The White House told her the CIA would lead the process of declassifying the document. When she said that represented a conflict of interest, she got no response. She pushed back against the CIAs recommended cuts and spent months negotiating with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough over questions like whether the document could include pseudonyms for key figures in the rendition program, which the CIA first said Senate staffers could employ but then claimed would make operatives identifiable.

The tense bargaining process directly pitted Feinstein against the president, her ostensible political ally. Obama participated in the slowdown process and thats a hard thing to forgive, Rockefeller told The New Yorker.

Obama aide John Brennan (left) committed to supporting Feinstein's investigation into the CIA torture program but then spent months challenging the probe and her efforts to release its findings.

Obama aide John Brennan (left) committed to supporting Feinstein's investigation into the CIA torture program but then spent months challenging the probe and her efforts to release its findings.

By Dec. 5, with Republicans set to take over the Senate within weeks and unlikely to prioritize releasing the report, Feinstein sent the report to be printed. Then-Secretary of State John Kerry  a personal friend  called her to say releasing the document would put America at risk by sparking a backlash. Multiple government agencies publicly made a similar claim in a threat assessment.

Feinstein released the report anyway on Dec. 9, sending the full classified version to government agencies and publishing the executive summary with agreed-upon redactions. In remarks that day, she said: There are those who will seize upon the report and say See what Americans did, and they will try to use it to justify evil actions or to incite more violence. We cannot prevent that.

But history will judge us by our commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth and say Never again, Feinstein continued.

The executive summary said waterboarding and painful restraints had been more widespread than was known, shed light on the CIAs efforts to hide its activities from other officials all the way up to the president and emphatically denied any national security benefit of deploying torture. As human rights groups and watchdog organizations commemorated a win for transparency, hawks  including high-profile former intelligence officials  trashed Feinstein for weeks. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) called the veteran senator a traitor akin to Edward Snowden.

They rolled out the big guns, said then-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), himself a survivor of torture, of the pushback to Feinstein. Im proud of her resilience.

A Lasting Message

Feinsteins report had an immediate impact for the prospects of the U.S. living up to its stated values.

Because the Senates executive summary was the first public detailing of the governments responsibility for torture, it allowed attorneys representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay to talk in court about what their clients had experienced  helping Americas justice system more fully reckon with the war on terrorism era.

Less than a year after the torture reports release, Congress and Obama approved legislation from Feinstein and McCain reiterating the ban on torturing detainees in U.S. custody and curtailing interrogation techniques that any government agency could use. As a bipartisan statement from two high-profile legislators, the step made it much more difficult bureaucratically for the U.S. to engage in any kind of systematic torture program ever again, said Andrea Prasow, an activist who spent years working on anti-torture advocacy at Human Rights Watch.

In the following years, Feinstein continued challenging defenders of torture and people involved in the CIA rendition program, notably helping lead opposition to Gina Haspel, who was President Donald Trumps nominee to run the agency and who helped run a secret CIA prison in Thailand.

The California senators record on torture stood out amid her broader views on national security. She had voted for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and she defended government surveillance programs and the CIAs authority to maintain a covert drone program.

But her somewhat hawkish credentials helped bolster her advocacy against CIA rendition, observers say.

She was the only person who could have done that because of her relationship with the intelligence community, said Prasow, who is now the president of the Freedom Initiative nonprofit. Whatever her flaws, she took very seriously her role as an overseer, as someone who provided the necessary checks on the agencys behavior. So it was from the perspective of someone who believed in the agency  and wanted to see it fulfill its actual mission.

Feinstein approached the rendition investigation by emphasizing consensus and intense rigor, urging her team to be cold and calculating, Daniel Jones, a former Senate staffer involved in writing the torture report, told CNN on Friday.

Without her steadfast leadership  I dont think we would have the facts out on the table as we have them, Jones said.

For advocates who are still urging greater steps toward accountability  like holding CIA personnel responsible or securing compensation from the U.S. for torture victims  Feinstein provided a baseline to build on.

Its easy to reflect on the things that she didnt accomplish: I would love to see the torture report made public in an unredacted form, and there is so much more that could be done, Prasow said. Yet she said the existence of comprehensive government documentation of CIA misdeeds gives heft to calls for further reform, praising Feinstein for a tremendous legacy.

Amid the political success of Trump, who purports that torture is effective, Feinsteins data-driven rebuke of that lie offers a corrective.

Despite the best attempts of the reports detractors, none of the details in the report has been proven wrong, the late senator said in a statement on the five-year anniversary of her reports release. To anyone who would claim that torture works or that the United States should ever again lower ourselves to such barbaric acts, I say Read the Report. It puts those claims to rest in a clear, coherent and comprehensive manner that will serve this country for many, many years to come.

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U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who died Friday at age 90, is being remembered as a champion of LGBTQ+ equality  with a few exceptions.

Feinstein began her political career as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the combined city-county government body, and she eventually became its president. She served nine years, beginning in 1969. Early in 1978, the board passed the most far-reaching gay rights ordinance in the nation.

She became acting mayor in November 1978 when Mayor George Moscone was assassinated along with Supervisor Harvey Milk. She was the one who found Milk's body and the one who announced their deaths to the public. She has referred to the date of the deaths as "the darkest day of my life."

Thirty years later, she expressed regret that she hadnt been able to do something to stop shooter Dan White. White had resigned from the Board of Supervisors but changed his mind and wanted his position back, but Moscone had appointed someone else. She wanted to explain the decision to White but never got the chance. The day of the killings was her first day back after being gone for three weeks on vacation and recovering from an illness contracted during the trip.

I still believe that if I could have been there for that three weeks, I could have stopped it, she told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2008. Now, who knows? Who knows?

Feinstein was elected to a full four-year term as mayor in 1979 and was reelected in a landslide in 1983. Although she had been one of the first San Francisco politicians to court the gay and lesbian vote, she took some actions as mayor that upset the community.

In 1982, she vetoed an ordinance that would have allowed unmarried couples to register their domestic partnerships and extended spousal benefits to the same-sex partners of city employees. She said she didnt oppose the concept but found the ordinance full of ambiguity, vagueness, and unclarity. San Francisco didnt adopt such an ordinance until 1989, when Feinstein was no longer mayor.

In 1984, she ordered that the citys bathhouses be closed as a means to combat the spread of HIV. This came although public health officials and activists hadnt reached agreement that such a move was necessary.

Her other actions against the epidemic, however, have received widespread praise. In the mid-1980s, San Francisco's spending to combat HIV and AIDS outstripped that of the federal government. "I don't recall any moment in the early epidemic when I was told, 'No, we can't do that because we don't have the resources,'" San Francisco physician Paul Volberding told NPR.

She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992. Early in her tenure, she opposed dont ask, dont tell, a compromise reached between President Bill Clinton and Congress when Clinton wanted to lift the ban on lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in the military. DADT was supposed to make things better for LGB troops, protecting them from being investigated and discharged, but it didnt. Feinstein had supported lifting the ban altogether.

In 1996, she was one of only 14 senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages and allowed states to deny recognition to those performed in other states.

She wasnt always a supporter of marriage equality, though, saying she favored civil unions instead. In 2004, she criticized the decision by Gavin Newsom, then San Francisco mayor, to perform and recognize same-sex marriages in the city. She said it was partly to blame for Democrat John Kerrys loss to George W. Bush in the presidential election that year. I think that whole issue has been too much, too fast, too soon, she said at the time. And people arent ready for it.

She eventually came around, however, speaking against Californias Proposition 8 in 2008. That was an amendment to the state constitution to revoke marriage equality after the California Supreme Court had ruled in favor of equal marriage rights earlier in the year. It ended up being approved by voters. Feinstein was among those who cheered when Prop. 8 was struck down by court action  the U.S. Supreme Court declining to overturn a lower courts decision  in 2013.

Related: From AIDS to Assassinations, Sen. Feinstein Was Always There for Us

In 2011, she introduced legislation in Congress to repeal DOMA. DOMAs main section, on federal recognition of same-sex marriages, was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013 and the rest in 2015, but the law remained on the federal governments books. It was finally repealed last year, when Feinstein took a lead role in introducing the newest version of the Respect for Marriage Act, which also will keep marriage equality part of U.S. law even if the Supreme Court reverses its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision. The act was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Feinsteins other pro-LGBTQ+ actions have included supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and its successor, the Equality Act, neither of which have been passed by Congress; backing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which did become law; supporting repeal of DADT, which happened under President Barack Obama; speaking out against Donald Trumps ban on transgender people in the military, now lifted by Biden; and calling for an end to adoption laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people.

From the earliest days of her career as one of Californias most devoted public servants, Senator Feinstein has been a stalwart supporter of the LGBTQ community, Chad Griffin, then president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in endorsing Feinsteins reelection bid in 2018. As Donald Trump and Mike Pence attempt to undo our progress and drag our country backwards, Senator Feinstein is standing up to this administrations dangerous attacks on LGBTQ people and fighting for the equal dignity of all Americans. HRC is proud to endorse Senator Feinsteins bid for reelection and we look forward to continuing to work with her to secure full federal equality. She has usually received high scores on the HRC Congressional Scorecard, with solid 100s in the past few sessions of Congress.

Upon Feinstein's death, the National LGBTQ Task Force issued a statement lauding her record.

The loss of Senator Feinsteins voice as an advocate and champion is immeasurable," said Executive Director Kierra Johnson. "Our hearts are with her family during this time. She was a champion for those who call California home and those seeking justice everywhere. She was a trailblazer who paved the way for so many. Her deep roots in the queer community, forged as a city councilmember in San Francisco and shaped by her relationship with Harvey Milk, contributed to her unwavering support for LGBTQ people.

"She was a leader who took risks. She was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and a key champion for legislation like the Violence Against Women Act. She is succeeded by and undoubtedly inspired a deep bench of congresspeople like Tammy Baldwin who are bold and unapologetic freedom fighters who are unrelenting in their quest for freedom and justice for all! She will be deeply missed.
A Georgia district attorney filed a motion Friday to ban a rapper from their county until he goes to trial.

According to the motion filed by the Chatham County District Attorneys Office, the state says that 24-year-old Tyquian Bowman, also known as Quando Rondo, should be prohibited from entering the county as part of his bond conditions.

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Based upon information and belief, the defendant has been the target of a recent shooting, which fits a pattern, and his presence poses a danger to the citizens of Chatham County, the filing stated.

Bowman was indicted in June for violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, two counts of conspiracy to violate the Georgia Controlled Substance Act, and illegally using a communication facility.

According to an indictment, Bowan is part of the Rollin 60s gang and is accused of making gang members provide him with guns and setting up a marijuana sale in Macon before going there to buy it.

He is also accused of buying hydrocodone pills separately in Savannah.

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According to the indictment, other gang members trafficked more than four grams of cocaine, about 20 grams of M30 pills, hydrocodone pills, and 28 grams of fentanyl. Some used jail phones to schedule drug sales. Others sold drugs out of a house located at 1301 E. 39th Street.

These incidents show that there are individuals or groups of individuals that are actively seeking to harm the defendant, the filing said. The assailants have time and again indicated that they have no respect for the lives of other humans, including members of the Chatham County Community.

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Officials said in the filing that Bowman could enter the county only for court appearances, meeting with his attorneys and receiving medical treatment.

The filing added that Bowman lives in Midway and has no reason to enter Chatham County.

As Quando Rondo, the rappers singles I Remember and ABG led to a deal with Atlantic Records, which released his debut album, QPac, in 2020. His follow-up album, Recovery, came out in March.

IN OTHER NEWS:
Nearly 200 years after he was beaten to death in a racially motivated lynching, the story of John Tucker is now preserved on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.

Uncovering and documenting uncomfortable history is an obligation that we all must share, said Eunice Trotter, director of Indiana Landmark's Black Heritage Preservation Program. We must always seek to tell the full story of our history.

Trotter was joined by state and local leaders and members of the Indiana Remembrance Coalition Saturday morning to unveil a historical marker that tells Tuckers story. It is placed on the cultural trail close to where the Black man was killed at the intersection of Washington and Illinois streets.

Having the knowledge of such instances forces us to confront some of the most harmful, painful layers of the African American experience in Indiana, Trotter said at the unveiling. Acknowledging them is an important part of the process of healing and reconciliating and saying that Black lives matter.

Tucker was born in Kentucky around 1800 and later obtained his freedom. He moved to Indianapolis in the mid-1830s and was a father to a boy and a girl.

Leon Bates, a historian and PhD. candidate at the University of Louisville, and Nicole Poletika, a historian and the editor of Indiana Historical Blog and the Indiana Historical Bureau, unveil an official state marker Saturday remembering John Tucker, a Black man beaten to death on July 4, 1845. The marker is on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail near at the intersection of Illinois and Washington streets.

More: New exhibit reckons with Indiana's racial violence through anti-lynching art

A white laborer, Nicholas Wood, assaulted Tucker on July 4, 1845, as he walked down Washington Street. Tucker defended himself while retreating up Illinois Street as a crowd gathered and watched. Wood and two other white men beat Tucker to death.

Wood was later convicted of manslaughter, a rarity in an era when Black Hoosiers could not testify in court, according to the remembrance coalition. The other men involved in the beating served no time.

Tuckers lynching forced his children into a legal battle over his property and perpetuated generational trauma for the family he left behind, said Nicole Poletika, historian and editor of Indiana History Blog.

Lynchings in Indiana from the mid-1800s to 1930 intentionally terrorized Black communities and enforced the notion of white supremacy. While often associated with hangings, the term lynching actually is broader and means "to put to death by mob action without legal approval or permission," according to Merriam Webster. They were not uncommon and occurred in communities across the state, Trotter said.

More: 'He's changed my life:' IUPUI professor remembered for commitment to Black community

The remembrance coalition is a group of volunteers working to tell the full story of racial history in Indianapolis. Last year the coalition helped uncover the story of George Tompkins, whose death certificate was corrected from suicide to homicide 100 years after he was killed in Riverside Park. He now has a headstone at Floral Park Cemetery.

Now more than ever the stories of the past need to be told to acknowledge the good, the bad and the ugly so we can all come together and lay a strong foundation of understanding and respect leading to a brighter future for this city and this state and this country," said Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement Judith Thomas.

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: New marker preserves story of Black man lynched in Indianapolis
SAN DIEGO  Theres good news for San Diego County taxpayers who have unclaimed money thats owed to them.

Regional Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced Monday the deadline to reclaim $543,171 collectively has been extended.

The previous deadline of Sept. 21, has been pushed to Friday, Oct. 6, which means time is of the essence.

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Dont trash your cash, said McAllister. It pains us greatly to see people walk away from money. So far, only a handful of people have filed claims. There is still over $500,000 unclaimed. Because of that, I have extended the deadline and we are expanding our outreach efforts to reach those who may be owed money.

Finding out if youre owed money by the county is easy. All you have to do is scroll the register online, which is in alphabetical order, to see if your name is listed.

My staff and I are working hard to return this money to the citizens of San Diego, said McAllister. The average refund is $998.76, and that can go a long way for those who are the rightful owners and who need it.

If you are owed money, you then need to fill out a County Wide Unclaimed Monies Form and submit it to the Treasurer-Tax Collectors office ahead of the new deadline.

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You can email your claim to refunds@sdcounty.ca.gov, or mail your claim form and documents to the County of San Diego Auditor and Controller at 5530 Overland Ave., Rm. 410 San Diego, CA 92123. Keep in mind, this must be postmarked no later than Oct. 6.

Need help? Taxpayers can call 1-877-829-4732 for more information.

Each year, the Treasurer-Tax Collector and other county departments have thousands of dollars that are owed to taxpayers. This usually results from warrants/checks that are undeliverable by the postal service, overpaid taxes, or instances in which individual and organizations are doing business with or receiving county services, McAllister explained.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
Justice Department (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith on Friday pushed harder for a gag order that would limit what former President Trump can say publicly, citing his recent posts threatening witnesses in the criminal cases against him.

Smith and federal prosecutors initially made the request for a limited gag order earlier this month, seeking to restrict certain prejudicial extrajudicial statements from the former president about the case and witnesses.

The defendant should not be permitted to continue to try this case in the court of public opinion rather than in the court of law, and thereby undermine the fairness and integrity of this proceeding, prosecutors argued in the updated request late Friday.

The new request specifically cites Trumps posts on Truth Social lashing out against Judge Tanya Chutkan, as well as former Vice President Mike Pence and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark Milley  who retired on Friday. Both men are expected to be called as witnesses in the case.

In the post about Milley last week, Trump said the general committed treason and should be executed. That threat drew derision from former Trump administration officials, with Milley responding that he would take appropriate measures to protect himself and his family.

No other criminal defendant would be permitted to issue public statements insinuating that a known witness in his case should be executed; this defendant should not be, either, prosecutors wrote in Fridays filing.

Trump has also spoken about taking retribution against those her considers political enemies if he is elected to a second term, sparking fears that he could be intimidating witnesses or impacting the jury pool for his multiple criminal trials.

The defendants baseless attacks on the Court and two individual prosecutors not only could subject them to threats  it also could cause potential jurors to develop views about the propriety of the prosecution, an improper consideration for a juror prior to trial, prosecutors argued.

Trump denounced Smiths attempt at a partial gag order earlier this month, calling it a limit on his constitutional rights  a claim prosecutors have refuted.

Deranged Jack Smith, hes the prosecutor, hes a deranged person, wants to take away my rights under the First Amendment, Trump said earlier this month. He wants to take away my right of speaking freely and openly.

Never forget our enemies want to stop us because we are the only ones that can stop them, the former president continued. They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom.

The updated request from prosecutors also references Trumps visit to a South Carolina gun store last week, where he appeared to purchase a handgun. Purchasing a firearm as a person charged with a felony is a crime.

A Trump spokesperson initially said he purchased the gun, but later clarified that a purchase had not taken place.

The defendant either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release, or seeks to benefit from his supporters mistaken belief that he did so, prosecutors said. It would be a separate federal crime, and thus a violation of the defendants conditions of release, for him to purchase a gun while this felony indictment is pending.

Chutkan, who earlier this week refused to recuse herself from the case, is expected to rule on the motion at an Oct. 16 hearing.

Trump pleaded not guilty in the case related to his alleged attempts to remain in power after losing to President Biden in 2020. The case is scheduled to go to trial beginning March 4.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
One of Donald Trumps co-defendants in the Georgia election racketeering case, Scott Hall, became the first to plead guilty Friday to five misdemeanors.

Hall, 59, a bail bondsman, pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties.

He will receive five years of probation and agreed to testify in further proceedings as part of the deal.

Donald Trump co-defendant, Scott Hall, pleads guilty in GA racketeering case

Hall had been charged with racketeering and a half-dozen conspiracy charges related to the alleged tampering with election equipment in Coffee County.

Hall is one of 19 co-defendants in the case charged with trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The rest have all pleaded not guilty.

Other co-defendants in the charges dealing with the election equipment include Sidney Powell, whose trial is scheduled to start Oct. 23; Cathy Latham and Misty Hampton.

Scott Hall, an Atlanta-based bail bondsman, allegedly met with a group from the data solutions firm Sullivan Strickler at the Coffee Countys election office, who copied data from the election management system server and other voting systems, the AP reported. The company said it believed its clients had the necessary permission. Hall faces seven charges in the indictment, which include violation of the RICO Act, conspiracy to commit election fraud and conspiracy to defraud the states.

Hall was indicted on charges of helping employees of an electronic forensics company, SullivanStrickler, tamper with ballot markers and tabulating machines while inside the Coffee County elections office, according to the indictment.

The conspiracy charges covered election fraud, computer theft, invasion of privacy and defrauding the state.

Hall allegedly flew from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport to Douglas Municipal Airport in Coffee County on Jan. 7, 2021, to help with the unlawful breach of equipment, according to the indictment.

Hall also allegedly investigated potential election fraud contacting other co-defendants, including former assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark and Robert Cheeley, according to the indictment.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Scott Hall becomes first Trump co-defendant in Georgia to plead guilty
Former President Donald Trump expects to attend at least the first day of the civil trial pitting him and his company against New York Attorney General Letitia James , sources with knowledge of Trump's plan say. The trial begins Monday.

Trump's plan was first revealed in a court filing related to a separate court case, Trump's lawsuit against his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen. In it, the judge in Cohen's case said that Trump asked to postpone a scheduled Oct. 3 deposition because of his intention to attend the first week of the trial.

The sources told CBS News that Trump expects to attend at least Monday's proceedings.

The document in the Cohen case indicates Trump made the decision in the days since Judge Arthur Engoron, who will be presiding over the trial, issued a ruling finding Trump and the company liable for fraud.

"Plaintiff represented that, now that pretrial rulings have been entered in the case that materially altered the landscape, it was imperative that he attend his New York trial in personat least for each day of the first week of trial when many strategy judgments had to be made," wrote the judge in Cohen's case.

At a campaign stop in California Friday, Trump was asked if he intended to attend the trial Monday.

"I may, I may," Trump repliled. "What a disgrace. It's a rigged  everything about this city is rigged. It's all rigged now."

Trump, two of his children, and his company were sued in Sept. 2022 by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Her office accused them of perpetrating years of fraud, and vastly overrepresenting both Trump's wealth and the values of many of his properties on financial statements. On Tuesday, Engoron found that Trump overvalued the properties by hundreds of millions of dollars  and misrepresented his own worth by billions  while pursuing bank loans. The upcoming trial will now focus on other allegations in the lawsuit related to falsification of business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy.

Lucian Chalfen, a spokesperson for the court said, "We are prepared for any eventuality. Court Officers have been on a heightened state of readiness and officers have been cautioned to remain alert and vigilant both inside the courthouse and while on perimeter patrols. "

A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James declined to comment. A spokesperson for Trump's campaign did not reply to a request for comment.

Zachary Hudak contributed to this report.

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Two out-of-state organizations teamed up with Springfield-area animal rescue, Rescue One, to help find forever homes for a group of dogs that were reportedly dumped on someone's property.

Rescue One received an email earlier last week saying 15 beagles had been dumped in Kirbyville. As of Friday, most of the beagles have been transferred to a California rescue.

Helpless Hounds of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had responded to a Facebook post by Rescue One's foster coordinator that detailed the situation and requested help. While Helpless Hounds couldn't take all of the dogs at once, founder Amity Edwards knew her foster-based rescue could take a couple.

"I had committed to (taking a couple), and I talked with Sherri (Jones of Rescue One) about that, but then my partner in California called," Edwards said. "I guess they saw I had commented on the post, and they were like, 'Hey, Amity, get them all.'"

The California partner was Priceless Pet Rescue, which is based in southern California. Priceless Pet Rescue has a hound transport program and previously participated in the February 2022 rescue of 150 beagles from an Envigo breeding facility in Virginia.

Priceless Pet Rescue works with organizations to frequently coordinate and transport hounds to the West Coast. Lisa Price, founder of Priceless Pet Rescue, explained that there is a "plethora" of hound breeds in the Midwest and the South.

From July 2022: 4,000 beagles to be rescued from Virginia breeding facility after animal welfare violations alleged

"We are an all-breed rescue, but any time we can help a hound or a beagle, we certainly will," Price said.

Edwards emphasized that Rescue One was an integral part of the effort. Many of the dogs were scared and wouldn't come to rescuers, so Rescue One's emergency rescue team used humane traps to catch them.

Three beagles sit in a crate after being trapped in Kirbyville on Sept. 24, 2023. After spending a night in Tulsa, the dogs were transported to Priceless Pets Rescue in California.

"We could not have done it without them. When we got there, (Rescue One) had gotten them all, luckily," Edwards said. "That was a huge help because we were fully prepared to dive in the dirt and tackle the beagles, get bit in the face, whatever. (The beagles) were pretty scared around strangers but they warmed up really quickly."

Edwards said they ended up rescuing 12 dogs  10 beagles, one "fluffy dog" and a German shepherd that were on the property. The German shepherd went to a rescue that specifically handles that breed.

Once the dogs were caught, they took a ride out to Edwards' office in Tulsa for an overnight stay and some love. As a foster-based rescue, Helpless Hounds does not have an adoption facility but they have "one crate for emergencies" in her office.

More: Are exotic pets like lemurs legal in the Ozarks? Here's what to know about local laws

Beagles play outside before being transported to California. Springfield's Rescue One trapped the dogs in Kirbyville on Sept. 24, 2023.

"All day Monday, we played with them, we got them out, we socialized them and named them," Edwards said. The beagles also got flea and tick medication.

While the rest of the beagles made the ride out to California on Monday evening, the mother beagle and her 2-day-old puppies stayed in Tulsa. Priceless Pets Rescue has four facilities, where the beagles will be available for adoption.

"It's nice to raise awareness that these kinds of situations happen and that people really have to step up and help in these ways," Edwards said.

Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Rescue One, out-of-state rescues work to find homes for beagles
SAN DIEGO  Two suspects were arrested after more than 50 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition were seized at a home in the unincorporated area of Potrero, authorities said.

A search warrant connected to an investigation of an assault with a deadly weapon incident that happened several months earlier was served Thursday at a home in the 25000 block of Potrero Valley Road, Lt. Jeff Ford with the San Diego County Sheriffs Department (SDSO) said.

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Authorities found more than 50 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition inside the home, including assault-style weapons, according to law enforcement.

Richard Dale Fox, 50, was booked into the San Diego Central Jail, per SDSO. He faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of firearms and felon in possession of ammunition, per SDSO.

Christina Lee Griffin, 41, was arrested and booked into the Las Colinas Detention Facility on suspicion of knowingly furnishing firearms to a prohibited person, authorities said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sept. 30 announced the creation of an international alliance between defense industries. They will work together to build capacities to defend against outside aggression.

Any defense contractors are welcome to join, as long as they share Ukraine's values of resisting hostile encroachment and upholding international law, the Ukrainian leader said.



Zelensky made his speech at Ukraine's first ever international forum for defense industries, which was attended by 252 companies from over 30 countries spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia.

"We have developed a basic declaration as the foundation of this alliance. It can be joined by weapons and military equipment manufacturers from all around the world, who share our intent to provide real protection against aggression," Zelensky said.

"Today, this declaration already includes 13 prominent companies that, together with Ukraine, are ready to build the new arsenal of the free world."



The Foreign Ministry soon came out with a statement that 38 companies from 19 countries already joined up.

Among other capabilities, the alliance will eventually pave the way for Ukraine to localize production of licensed foreign weapons on Ukrainian soil, said Andriy Yermak, head of the president's office. During his recent visit to Washington, Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to have their teams hammer out a roadmap for this kind of localization.

Yermak pointed out that before independence, Ukraine was the scientific and manufacturing center of the Soviet Union.

Zelensky also announced the creation of a special defense fund that will support the development of new weapons and existing military assets and programs. It will be financed with dividends from state defense companies and the sale of seized Russian assets.

Several major defense contractors such as Rheinmetall have previously expressed interest in opening factories on Ukrainian soil, in spite of the threat posed by Russian attacks.



Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
An investigation is underway into a crash that killed an unidentified driver in Portsmouth, state police said.

At approximately 4:59 p.m. Thursday, state police responded to Ocean Road in Portsmouth at the request of the Portsmouth Police Department for the report of a motor vehicle crash.

At approximately 4:47 p.m., deputies from the Rockingham County Sheriffs Office saw a gray Nissan Sentra with an expired inspection sticker and front-end damage on Route 101 in Hampton.

The Sentra continued traveling, getting onto Route 27, state police said. After attempting to stop the vehicle on Route 27, it fled from deputies and was last seen heading northbound on Route 1 in Hampton. Rockingham County Sheriffs Office put out an alert for the vehicle to other local agencies.

Minutes later, an officer from the Greenland Police Department saw the vehicle on Post Road, state police said. The officer activated his emergency lights but due to the Sentras high rate of speed and erratic driving, the Greenland Police Officer lost sight of the vehicle on Post Road.

The vehicle took a right on Route 33 and then took a right onto Ocean Road, continuing at a high rate of speed until the driver lost control and went off of the right side of the roadway into the woods in the area of 424 Ocean Road in Portsmouth, state police said.

The driver of the Sentra was taken by ambulance to the Portsmouth Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead. His identity is being withheld pending positive identification.

No other vehicles or people were involved in the crash.

All aspects of this crash remain under investigation.

Anyone who may have witnesses the crash, or has any information related to the incident is asked to contact Trooper First Class Nathaniel Goodwin at (603) 545-4288 or Nathaniel.D.Goodwin@dos.nh.gov.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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The former personal assistant to Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, was murdered in Texas this week, allegedly by her own husband.

Ferguson paid tribute to her former aide in an Instagram post released Friday, as news spread that Jenean Chapman, 46, had been found murdered in her Dallas apartment on Monday.

Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her family and friends, Ferguson wrote. I heard from her just a couple of months ago and she seemed so happy.

Authorities deemed Chapmans death a homicide a day after her body was discovered. Two days after the murder, Chapmans husband, James Patrick, was identified as a suspect and taken into custody 200 miles from the scene of the crime, the Dallas Police Department said. University of Texas Police found and arrested the 48-year-old, who is now being held in Travis County jail on murder charges.

Chapmans sister took to Instagram with a touching tribute for her sibling, writing of her sisters many accomplishments and the impact she left on those who knew her.

She had so much to look forward to and impacted so many people in her life, Crystal Marshall wrote. Her accomplishments are too many to count. Even though her presence is no longer with us her light will continue to shine in our hearts and fond memories we have of her.

I love and miss you dearly sis and wish you werent taken away from us so soon. I hope now that you have eternal peace and find rest in the Father of Spirits, she wrote.

Nicole Marshall, another sister of Chapman, described to NBC the toxic nature of Chapman and Patricks on-and-off relationship. Noting that the two had only been married a couple months, she said: It was rocky, we were aware of that.

Police have not revealed details on how Chapman was killed, but her family said her place of employment alerted authorities after she failed to show up for work.

Chapman had spent four years working with the office of Sarah Ferguson in the early 2000s. Nearly two decades later, she had worked her way up to senior vice president at the Canadian marketing company Critical Mass, according to her LinkedIn.

She was a force to be reckoned with, she was a role model. She was an amazing person, and I still look up to her. I always look up to her as like what I wanted to accomplish in my corporate career, Nicole Marshall told NBC.

The Duchess of York has shared an appeal to help Chapmans family bring her home in the wake of the tragedy.

Her family is raising money to transport her body back to New York City and pay for legal and funeral costs, Ferguson wrote. I will be making a donation and supporting the family in any way possibleplease help if you can.

Chapmans family created a GoFundMe page in her name, urging those who can donate to help with the cost of transportation and for assistance with legal fees in order to help provide justice.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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In honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September, Dunkin of Jacksonville presented the Wolfson Childrens Hospital with a $14,189 grant through the Dunkin Joy in Childhood Foundation.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Thanks to the support from guests and the generosity of local Dunkin franchisees, the Dunkin Shine Gold program collectively raised over $670,000 at select participating Dunkin locations to support Childhood Cancer Awareness.

A local Dunkin crew member in the Jacksonville area knows all too well the hardships of childhood cancer, as her son is a survivor himself. Joshua Riberio, also a local Dunkin crew member, is 17 years old and a survivor of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Joshuas mom speaks of the struggles and trauma that cancer brings on a child, but credits Wolfson Childrens Hospital for making the experience a better one in such a dark time.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

My sons experience was overall amazing, said Nerissa Riberio, mother of Joshua. The staff at Wolfsons was emotionally attentive and accommodating. The nurses have truly become a part of our family.

Joshua has been in remission for almost three years now. He is passionate about spreading childhood cancer awareness, as he has lost many friends to the disease, and knows firsthand what it is like going through such a difficult experience. Joshua likes to play video games and his dream is to be an actor.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

As part of the Shine Gold program, guests were invited to make a $2 donation to the Dunkin Joy in Childhood Foundation and received a free Gold Joy Donut as a thank-you.

The Dunkin Joy in Childhood Foundation is committed to supporting these children and their families as part of their mission to bring joy to kids battling illness or hunger. Since its inception in 2006, the Foundation has granted more than $45 million to national and local nonprofits. In 2022 alone, the Foundation awarded more than 650 grants to hospitals, amounting to over $9.5 million, in a bid to spread joy to kids battling illness.

To learn more about the Dunkin Joy in Childhood Foundation, visit www.bringjoy.org

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Scientists have found that earthworms help produce as much grain as Russia does. These invertebrates, which live in the soil, provide 6.5% of the world's grain harvest.

The corresponding study was published by Nature Communications, The Guardian reports.

The researchers say earthworms help produce 140 million tonnes of food a year.

For comparison, Russia produced 150 million tonnes of grain in 2022 (but 6 million tonnes were stolen in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine).

There is no comparison with the Russian Federation in the scientific article itself. But if we calculate it, we can conclude that the contribution of earthworms to the world grain harvest is about the same as in Russia.

And if worms were a country, it would be considered the fourth largest grain producer in the world.

Earthworms are essential in soil ecosystems: they break down organic matter, aerate soils, and support plant growth in many ways.

However, their contribution to global agricultural production is underestimated.

Scientists at the University of Colorado investigated the dependence of yields on worms and their impact on the global production of major crops.

It turned out that invertebrates living in the soil provide 6.5% of the crop of cereals (rice, corn, wheat and barley) and 2.3% of legumes (soybeans, peas, chickpeas and lentils).

"The earthworm contribution is especially notable in the global South, where earthworms contribute 10% of total grain production in Sub-Saharan Africa and 8% in Latin America and the Caribbean,"the study says.

The researchers recommend investing in promoting agroecological management practices that improve soil biodiversity.

"Our findings suggest that earthworms are important drivers of global food production and that investment in agroecological policies and practices to support earthworm populations and overall soil biodiversity could contribute greatly to sustainable agricultural goals," scientists say.

At the same time, they do not call for the spread of earthworms in regions where they do not exist, as this can have "highly undesirable ecological consequences".

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Ukrainian commandos on jet skis conducted a mission to damage a Russian electronic warfare station in Crimea.

Members of the group told The Times of London how they carried out their covert and daring mission.

The group had also been tasked with flying a Ukrainian flag on the peninsula for the first time in a decade.

A unit of Ukrainian commandos traveled covertly across the Black Sea on jet skis in a daring raid on a Russian electronic warfare station in Crimea, a report says.

A group of about 20 soldiers from the Brotherhood Battalion carried out the mission on Ukraine's Independence Day, August 24, The Times of London reported.

Each jet ski carried two Ukrainian frogmen and traveled 125 miles across the sea to reach the peninsula.

"Our first target was an electronic warfare station so powerful not even a compass could work within 20 miles of the shore," Borghese, the battalion commander who coordinated the mission on the day, told The Times.

The electronic warfare station had thwarted drone strikes and tracked British Storm Shadow missiles.

Levan, the second in command of the elite special forces regiment the Timur group, told The Times that he spent two weeks practicing the journey on a jet ski before their mission.

While the unit approached the peninsula, five Ukrainian support ships fired at Russian positions as a diversion tactic, per The Times.

The original plan was to place explosives at the site before leaving, but the soldiers were spotted and had to resort to their backup plan, and instead struck it with anti-tank weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, Borghese told The Times.

The commandos need to be "battle swimmers" with a "belief in God"

The Timur group had also been tasked by Ukraine's spy chief Kyrylo Budanov, to raise a Ukrainian flag on the peninsula for the first time in nearly a decade, The Times reported.

At the time, Ukraine's intelligence agency GUR said that a successful mission had been carried out which involved destroying enemy equipment, and said that the "state flag flew again in the Ukrainian Crimea."

After the attack, Russian forces chased the Ukrainian soldiers using warplanes and Raptor patrol boats, prompting a rapid and dramatic evacuation.

"It was a battle for several hours of all these modern defense systems and aviation," Levan said.

The unit's name refers to a religious aspect of its mission. Its recruitment posters appeal for "battle swimmers" with a "belief in God," The Times said.

Targeting Crimea

Smoke rises from the shipyard that was reportedly hit by Ukrainian missile attack in Sevastopol, Crimea, in this still image from video taken September 13, 2023. REUTERS TV via REUTERS

In recent weeks, Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on the Crimean peninsula, striking various bases of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Levan claims that his group's mission was the catalyst for the following attacks.

"I'm proud of my guys, the courage of our fighters and their incredible physical training. You can see that after we landed on the peninsula, a lot of interesting things started to happen there. I can tell you that this mission triggered all of this. It worked to make the enemy more vulnerable," said Levan.

"We now have the means to plan and execute even larger operations. There's a lot more to come."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Elon Musk departs following a meeting in the office of US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2023.



Elon Musk departs following a meeting in the office of US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2023.

Elon Musk is learning the hard way (again) that X is not his personal diary (which might have been a good lesson to learn before he bought it).



Last week, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that Musk illegally threatened workers via tweet (or whatever were supposed to call it now) by suggesting that they would lose stock options if they unionized. The court additionally held that his car company, Tesla, illegally fired a worker, for unionizing efforts. Days later, Musk was also ordered to face a separate lawsuit over claims that he defrauded Twitter shareholders by failing to disclose his investment in the company in a timely manner.

Read more

This also isnt the first time Musks companies have come under fire for alleged workplace misconduct. Its not even the first time this specific plant has faced allegations of racism. Tesla was previously sued by seven women in 2021, who claimed that the company allowed rampant sexual harassment to occur. Tesla had to pay $137 million in damages when an employee claimed theyd dealt with racist abuse at the very plant site at the center of this lawsuit.

Oh, and last month, the Justice Department sued Musks company, SpaceX, over allegations that SpaceX discriminated against refugees and asylum seekers.

This latest lawsuit only furthers concerns that Musk has no business running a social media website that already has a massive white supremacist problem.

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The EUE/Screen Gems Studios complex in Wilmington, a hub of film and television production for nearly four decades now, has been sold to Cinespace Studios, according to a news release Wednesday afternoon.

As part of the deal, Cinespace also acquired the EUE/Screen Gems complex in Atlanta. A price tag for the purchase, which had been rumored for months but not confirmed until today, was not announced.

"Were excited to announce our expansion into Atlanta and Wilmington," Ashley Rice, president and co-managing partner of Cinespace, said in the release. "Through the strategic acquisition of these well-regarded studio facilities, we're expanding our footprint in the industry."

According to the release, "The locations will operate as Cinespace Atlanta and Cinespace Wilmington."

Cinespace is one of the largest sound stage businesses in the world, with 86 active stages in Chicago, Toronto and Germany that have hosted such productions as Hulu/FX show "The Bear" and Academy Award-winning film "The Shape of Water."

The deal gives Cinespace an additional 360,000 square feet of production space on 13 sound stages in Atlanta, and 152,000 square feet of production space on 10 stages in Wilmington.

EUE/Screen Gems acquired the Wilmington studio lot in 1996 when it was known as Carolco Studios. Frank Capra Jr., son of the Oscar-winning director, came to Wilmington to run Screen Gems. The studios were orginally built by Italian film producer Dino DeLaurentiis in 1984.

Hundreds of film and TV productions have shot there over the decades, including "Iron Man 3," "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" and many more.

It's the second big studio news to hit Wilmington this year. In August, independent film studio Dark Horse announced a major expansion.

Film and TV production in Wilmington and nationwide has been shut down since May, when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, seeking better pay in addition to other demands. The writers were later joined on the picket line by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

The WGA recently ended its strike, but SAG has not. Industry insiders predict a surge in production once both strikes have ended.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington NC sold to Cinespace
Komodo dragons are only found in one remote area across several volcanic islands in Indonesia.

The reptiles are powerful carnivores. They can smell blood from miles away and move up to 12 mph.

There are only an estimated 1,400 adult Komodo dragons and 2,000 juveniles remaining in the wild.

Known for their size, sharp teeth, and long tongues, Komodo dragons are only found on a few remote, volcanic islands in Southeast Asia.

Back in the early 1990s, rumors circulated about the existence of gigantic reptiles discovered on the islands by Western scientists. Since then, Indonesia has been promoting the area as a tourist destination.

Now, with tourist numbers predicted to grow exponentially in coming decades along with climate change, wild Komodo dragons may be at risk.

Here's a look at Komodo National Park.

The Komodo National Park is located in the South Pacific Ocean on the eastern edge of Indonesia.

A view of an island in Komodo National Park. Francis Demange/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

About 850 square miles of sea and land make up Komodo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Indonesian government established the park in 1980 to protect its wildlife, banning hunting or fishing across its 29 islands.

Labuan Bajo, once a small fishing town on the tip of Flores Island, is the gateway to the national park.

An aerial photo shows seaside scenery in Labuan Bajo. Xu Qin/Xinhua/Getty Images

One of the easiest ways to get there is to take an hour-long flight from Bali.

The islands here are known for being remote, rugged, and beautiful.

Rinaca Island in Komodo National Park. Mikel Bilbao/VW Pics/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The landscape of volcanic mountains and long grasses is reminiscent of Jurassic Park, or Kong Island.

An aerial view of Padar Island. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket/Getty Images

A tourism project being built on the islands was dubbed Indonesia's "Jurassic Park" after a social media post of a Komodo dragon standing in front of a truck went viral.

Komodo National Park is also known for its marine life.

A scuba diver swims underwater among the marine life in Komodo National Park. Reinhard Dirscherl/Ullstein Bild/Getty Images

The surrounding waters are filled with thousands of types of fish and coral, as well as turtles, manta rays, and whales.

But mostly, it is known as the only place in the world where you can find wild Komodo dragons, the world's largest lizard.

A Komodo dragon is walking through the grass on Rinca Island, part of Komodo National Park. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket/Getty Images

The dragons have lived on five islands  Komodo, Rinca, Gili Montang, Gili Dasami, and Flores  but the majority of them are only found on Komodo and Rinca.

For the last 50 years, none have been on Padar due to the decimation of its deer population, which was their primary prey.

Komodo dragons have captured people's imagination for over 100 years.

A young boy strokes the head of Sumbawa, a Komodo dragon in captivity at London Zoo. Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Getty Images

Early in the 20th century, rumors circulated about lizards that looked like dragons living in Southeast Asia, which led to them being called "dragons."

In 1910, a Dutch officer named Jacques Karel Henri van Steyn van Hensbroek investigated the rumors and discovered they were true.

A technician adds the finishing touches to a preserved Komodo dragon at an exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

He managed to photograph a Komodo dragon and get a dragon's skin to prove their existence to the world.

Komodo dragons are large, long, and dangerous. They can smell blood from six miles away and can cover 12 miles in an hour.

Komodo dragons covered in blood eating a dead dolphin. Reinhard Dirscherl/Ullstein Bild/Getty Images

They grow up to 330 pounds and 10 feet long. The reason they are so massive has been attributed to "island gigantism," which occurs when there are no competing predators on a certain piece of land.

Experts also recently found that Komodo dragons actually came from Australia and migrated to Indonesia about 900,000 years ago, when the two countries were still joined by land.

They eat all sorts of animals, including chickens, pigs, deer, smaller dragons, and buffalo.

Komodo dragons eating a chicken inside a zoo in Jakarta Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images

They can consume 80% of their own weight in one meal and then go for several months without eating again. The females sometimes eat their own children.

They have glands full of poison, which lowers their prey's blood pressure and stops blood clotting.

A Komodo dragon sticking out its tongue. Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket/Getty Images

They often kill using a "grip, rip, and drip tactic," National Geographic reported.

Their sharp teeth tear through flesh, then their powerful necks yank away leaving their prey with a huge wound that is full of poison and won't stop bleeding. Once their prey has been poisoned they will follow them until they weaken and die.

"They don't really think. They act on basic instinct and are opportunistic carnivores," Agus, a Komodo National Park guide, told the South China Morning Post. "They need meat. Any meat."

Komodo dragons have attacked and killed humans before, though it doesn't happen often.

A grave for a German tourist who disappeared and is thought to have been eaten by Komodo dragons. Gerhard Joren/LightRocket/Getty Images

Since 1987, there have been 16 Komodo dragon attacks on humans and four deaths, Vice reported.

In 1990, a tourist reportedly went sunbathing and was never seen again. All that was found was a camera and some sunglasses. Locals assumed he was eaten by Komodo dragons.

In 2007, a young boy went to go to the bathroom behind a bush and was killed by a Komodo dragon.

In 2009, a man fell from a tree and was killed by two Komodo dragons who were waiting below.

Despite the reptiles' predatory nature, guides still take tourists over the islands to see them, usually wielding nothing more than a large stick to keep them at bay.

Tourists in a line trek over grassy hills on Rinca Island. Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images

Komodo dragons don't live alone on the islands. Local people live there, too.

Kids playing football on Komodo Island. Daniele Frediani/Archivio Daniele Frediani/Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

One local told National Geographic they were used to it and that dragons were shooed off the same way one shoos away a squirrel.

There are now only an estimated 1,400 adult Komodo dragons and 2,000 juveniles left in the wild.

A Komodo dragon walks on the shore of Komodo Island. Daniele Frediani/Archivio Daniele Frediani/Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images

They were recently classified as endangered due to falling population, climate change, and human encroachment.

Compared to other predators of a similar size, Komodo dragons don't like to travel far, which means habitat loss could hurt them more.

A Komodo dragon leaving the beach on Rinca Island in the Komodo National Park. Arterra/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, they don't like to go higher than about 2,300 feet above sea level, but 30% of the islands they live on will be impacted by rising temperatures and sea levels.

They are also fairly slow to breed.

A worker holds a two-week-old Komodo dragon in a zoo incubator. Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images

After a female dragon lays her eggs  typically 15 to 30 at a time and each the size of a grapefruit  incubation takes up to eight months.

When they hatch, baby Komodo dragons are only about 12 inches long.

A newborn Komodo dragon perched on a branch in a cage at a zoo in Indonesia. Suryanto Putramudji/NurPhoto/Getty Images

They are extremely vulnerable and have to live in trees for the first few years of their life to ensure they aren't killed by predators, including other Komodo dragons, before coming down to the ground.

A push for more tourism in Indonesia prompted concern for the lizards, which could cause their habitat to deteriorate.

Tourists walking trough the savannah like hilly landscape of Rinca Island. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket/Getty Images

The Indonesian government is doing its best to increase tourism across the country. In 2019, it set a goal of 20 million visiting tourists each year, with 500,000 of them going to the national park, which it dubbed one of "10 new Balis."

In 1992, there were about 1,500 visitors going to the national park every year.

Labuan Bajo has transformed from a small fishing town into a tourist destination.

A view of the Labuan Bajo marina, a gateway to the Komodo National Park. Achmad Ibrahim/AP

The town now has multiple hotels and restaurants and more than 20 dive shops.

But it's unclear if the increased tourism is going to be sustainable. A study done in 2018 found that Komodo National Park could only sustain about 170,000 visitors to the islands each year.

Even while COVID hurt tourism, the area still got 49,719 visitors in 2020, and forecasts predict there will be more than 280,000 visitors per year in 2030.

While more tourists will provide more jobs and money for the local economy, not everyone is behind it.

A tourist films a Komodo dragon. Gerhard Joren/LightRocket/Getty Images

Even some of the people who will earn more from it are skeptical.

"This is the last natural habitat for the Komodo dragon," Agus, the Komodo National Park guide, told South China Morning Post. "Too much tourism will not be good for the local marine life or [the park]."

"We need to balance tourism [with conservation] of the ecosystem," Agus added.

It remains to be seen whether a healthy balance can  or will  be found.

Read the original article on Insider
Katarina Mathernova, the newly appointed EU Ambassador to Ukraine, has met with the chiefs of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and named the priorities of reforms for Ukraine in the anti-corruption sphere.

Source: European Pravda, referring to Mathernova on Twitter ()

Assured Heads of  AC bodies Semen Kryvonos @nabu_ukr and Oleksandr Klymenko #SAPO of continued strong  support & assistance. Important to prioritise further reforms for institutional & procedural autonomy of SAPO & enhance legislation to boost corruption investigations. pic.twitter.com/l0eZsxByLp  Katarina Mathernova  (@kmathernova) September 30, 2023

Details: Mathernova said she met with the heads of key Ukraines anti-corruption bodies, including Semen Kryvonos, Chief of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, and Oleksandr Klymenko, Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, and assured them that the EU would continue its assistance and support.

Quote: "Important to prioritise further reforms for strong institutional and procedural autonomy of SAPO and enhance legislation to boost corruption investigations."

Background: The new EU ambassador to Ukraine started her work on 20 September, arriving in Kyiv and presenting copies of her credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On 27 September, she handed over those credentials to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Media reports said Mathernova's appointment as ambassador to Kyiv is another signal of support for Ukraine's European integration efforts.

Read also: "Ukraine's Accession to the EU in 2030 Is Realistic." First Interview with the New EU Ambassador

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Josep Borrell , High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has arrived in Odesa with an unannounced visit.

Source: Josep Borrell on Twitter

Quote: "Odesa is a beautiful historic city. It should be in the headlines for its vibrant culture [and] spirit.

Instead, it marks the news as [a] frequent target of Putins war. The EU supports the stabilisation of sites impacted by Russias [barbaric] destruction.

A year has passed since Russias illegal annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia [and] Kherson.

Odesa is a beautiful historic city. It should be in the headlines for its vibrant culture & spirit.



Instead, it marks the news as frequent target of Putins war.



The EU supports the stabilisation of sites impacted by Russias barbarically destruction.

https://t.co/GSaSr71RSW  Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) September 30, 2023

Ukraine has every right to defend itself against Russian aggression and regain full control of its territory."

Details: Borrell added that the EU will stand with Ukraine "for as long as it takes".

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
FILE - Turksih philantropist Osman Kavala is photographed in Istanbul on April 29, 2015. A European human rights organization on Saturday Sept. 30, 2023, condemned the decision by Turkey's Supreme Court to confirm the aggravated life sentence for activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala. (AP Photo/File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

ISTANBUL (AP)  A European governmental body that focuses on human rights, democracy and the rule of law on Saturday condemned the decision by Turkey's Supreme Court to confirm the aggravated life sentence for activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala .

Kavala is the founder of a nonprofit organization, Anadolu Kultur, which focuses on cultural and artistic projects promoting peace and dialogue.

He was sentenced to life in prison without parole last year after a court found him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government by financing mass protests in 2013, known as the Gezi Park protests.

Kavala, 65, has been jailed in Silivri prison, on the outskirts of Istanbul, since he was detained in 2017.

We wish to express our deep consternation at the decision of the Turkish Court of Cassation which confirmed the aggravated life sentence for philanthropist Osman Kavala, said John Howell and Stefan Schennach, co-researchers for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, or PACE, on Saturday.

They noted that the confirmation disregarded two decisions by the European Court of Human Rights, in 2019 and 2022, ordering his release.

Western governments and rights groups quickly condemned the court ruling at the time. Human rights groups said that Kavala was prosecuted with flimsy evidence and that the case was politically motivated.

In addition to Kavala, seven other defendants had been sentenced to 18 years over their involvement in the Gezi Park protests. Fridays ruling upheld that sentence for four of the defendants, including lawyer and activist Can Atalay, 47, despite his being elected to parliament in May and earning legal immunity. The other sentenced defendants are Cigdem Mater, Mine Ozerden and Tayfun Kahraman.

Three activists out of the seven sentenced last year were released by the court.

The PACE co-researchers concluded that they will continue to exert pressure on the Turkish authorities to comply with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and release all defendants.

Amnesty International also condemned Friday's ruling, calling it a politically-motivated blow for human rights.

The appeal courts decision defies all logic given that the prosecuting authorities have repeatedly failed to provide any evidence to substantiate the baseless charges laid against them, it added.

Kavala is one of the three candidates shortlisted for the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, which will be awarded on Oct. 9 in Strasbourg, France, during a PACE plenary session.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  Evergy announced Friday evening it reached an agreement with the Kansas Corporation Commission regarding rate changes for its customers.

Evergy says the two sides have agreed to the deal, but it has not yet been approved. If it is approved, Evergy Kansas Central will have a net increase of $74 million  or close to $4.64 per month, while Evergy Kansas Metro will decrease by roughly $6.07 per month.

Evergy Kansas Central provides for customers in Topeka, Pittsburg, Wichita, Hutchinson and other communities in the eastern third of the state, while Evergy Kansas Metro provides for customers in Lenexa, Overland Park and other communities near the Kansas City metro area.

Winning $1 million Powerball ticket sold in Kansas

This settlement is a very strong result for our customers, said David Campbell, Evergy president and chief executive, in a news release. As a result of this settlement, average retail rates in Kansas will have increased just one percent, cumulatively, since 2017. And Evergy will recover investments made to improve the electric grid and build a cleaner, more reliable energy future for our Kansas customers, all while improving our record of regional rate competitiveness.

On Aug. 29, the KCC said in a news release an increase of 1.66%  or $34,706,527  was all that could be justified to provide service to Evergy Central customers.

Evergy had previously submitted documents requesting a net revenue increase of 9.77%, or $204,152,629. This rate hike would affect the average customer in the green area on the map, which includes Wichita, Hutchinson, and Salina.

The KCC said in a news release Friday the Commission still needs to evaluate the proposed settlement, and may approve, reject, or modify the agreement. It will conduct its hearing on Oct. 9 at the Topeka office.

A link to the proposed settlement agreement is available here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Chaos has been the norm in Congress for some time now, but this week a truly noisome stench is looming over the Capitol as Republicans prepare to shut down the government.

At its core, a shutdown is a failure of Congress to accomplish its most essential legislative task: funding the government. The federal governments operations are maintained through 12 annual appropriations bills that approve budgets for federal agencies. If Congress doesnt pass any of these bills before established fiscal deadlines, the agencies affected are legally not allowed to operate outside of their essential functions until their funding is approved by Congress.

As of now, only four of the 12 bills  securing funding for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, defense spending, and Homeland Security  have passed in the House. None have been approved by the Senate, and the chaos plaguing Republicans in the lower chamber means were barreling for at least a partial shutdown.

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sent a pointed message to his colleagues in the House. Shutting down the government is a choice, he said on the Senate floor. Its not an interlude that lets us pick up where we left off. Its an actively harmful proposition.

House Republicans are poised to make that choice this weekend. Heres everything you need to know:

Why are Republicans going to shut down the government?

In essence, its because a small cohort of Republicans within the narrow GOP majority in the House are pissed at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who guaranteed major spending cuts to the right-most faction of his party, and that hes now struggling to deliver on.

McCarthy negotiated several agreements with his caucus, including a vow that appropriations bills would be debated and voted on separately, not lumped together into what is commonly referred to as an omnibus spending bill. Individual votes take more time, and time is about up. McCarthy also made various deals with individual members to gain their support as he was trying to secure the speakership, further sweetening the pot during this years negotiations over the debt ceiling.

Now everyone is refusing to let McCarthy renege on his word, even if it means triggering a shutdown.

Led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the Republicans upset with McCarthy have made issues like funding for the Department of Homeland Security (which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol), military aid for Ukraine, and major cuts to federal agencies a sticking point in negotiations. The House has only managed to push through a third of the 12 bills, and the versions of the bills that have passed stand no chance of passing the Senate.

What has Congress been doing to avoid a shutdown?

Mostly fighting, and passing a few appropriations bills that are likely dead on arrival in the Senate.

On Thursday night, House Republicans managed to come to an agreement on their heavily disputed defense appropriations bill. The final product revoked military aid for Ukraine and cut the salary for the Secretary of Defense to $1. It also included rewrites of the Pentagons abortion access policy for service members. The bill doesnt stand a chance in the Senate. Same goes for the other two appropriations bills the House managed to squeeze through on Thursday.

One option Congress often falls back on to avoid a shutdown, and a strategy that has been endorsed and passed by the Senate is a continuing resolution, or CR. A CR is a stopgap bill that temporarily extends funding approvals through a later deadline at their previously agreed-on levels, and sometimes with minor changes.

Its looking like a no-go in the House, though. Gaetz and his allies have coalesced around a policy of #NoCR and have stated quite plainly that theyre willing to shut down the government if it means securing the individual debate and passage of each appropriations bill. It doesnt help that the group is being egged on from the sidelines by former President Donald Trump, who wrote to Republicans that UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN!

McCarthy has attempted, without much progress, to negotiate a deal with his split caucus, and even floated a bipartisan measure with the support of House Democrats. However, his hardline Republican opponents have maintained that unless McCarthy finds a workaround theyre satisfied with, theyll move to expel him from the speakership. On Friday, McCarthys last-ditch effort to pass a stopgap funding measure was shot down by 21 members of his own party.

When would a government shutdown take effect?

The deadline to pass these bills is Oct. 1, and if Congress doesnt reach a deal and approve legislation by 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, the government will enter its 15th shutdown in American history.

What happens when the government shuts down?

Primarily, government agencies must immediately cease all non-essential operations. The government would not be able to issue paychecks to more than 4 million employees, including 2 million military service members, many of whom have families and dependents. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees would be placed on furlough or told not to come to work. Once the funding is approved, they would be allowed to return to their jobs and receive back pay, but in the meantime, the salary they rely on to pay their bills wont be given to them.

The shutdown would also impact services available to Americans who dont work for the government. While existing Social Security and Medicare payments are authorized to continue, auxiliary services like benefit approval and registration may be affected. In previous shutdowns, food safety inspections were halted, and the Nation Health Institute was barred from admitting new patients.

National parks will close, air travel may be affected, and loan applications through the federal government for farmers, students, and small businesses will not be processed. Families relying on Supplemental Nutrition Program Assistance Programs (SNAP) or WIC may lose access to critical funds if the shutdown lasts more than a few days.

This seems pretty serious. Why are Republicans launching an impeachment inquiry with a shutdown hours away?

Republicans cant even give avoiding a shutdown their full attention. Theyre also launching an impeachment inquiry sideshow against President Joe Biden.

Speaker McCarthys invertebrate appeasement of the most fanatical elements of his conference now threatens the well-being of every American, said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) during the first inquiry hearing on Thursday. I see a method in the madness. A week ago Donald Trump posted a comment, saying that a government shutdown is the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other patriots.

The Constitution is irrelevant to them, Raskin added. What counts is what Donald Trump wants.

When was the last government shutdown?

The last government shutdown took place under former President Donald Trump between Dec. 21, 2018 and Jan. 25, 2019.

At 35 days, it broke the record for the longest shutdown in the history of the country. The critical issue at the heart of the dispute was Trumps desire to build a border wall. The former president threatened to veto appropriations bills approved by Congress if they did not contain funding for the wall he wanted to build on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The shutdown was partial, affecting only about one-quarter of the government, but Its ramifications were widespread. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the shutdown cost the U.S. economy $11 billion, $3 billion of which was unrecoverable. 380,000 federal employees were placed on furlough. Another 420,000 worked without pay. Families lost homes, were unable to afford food, or had their immigration status put in jeopardy. Native American communities, which rely heavily on federal funding for basic services were severely affected.

With the 2019 shutdown being such a recent experience for many federal workers, theyre already dreading what may come on Sunday. For a lot of these workers, going a day without pay is the difference between putting food on the table and paying the bills, Jaime Contreras told DCist. Contreras heads the D.C. chapter of the Service Employees International Union, and represents thousands of custodial and security employees contracted by the federal government in the D.C. area.

When will this all be over?

Its over when funding is approved, be it through a stopgap bill that extends the previous appropriations agreements, an omnibus spending package, or after each bill is individually debated and passed.

The first two would likely imply a quicker end to the shutdown, but the latter could result in weeks of negotiations and votes as individual sticking points are worked out amongst legislators.

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The family of an 8-year-old girl who was shot and killed by police gunfire near a Pennsylvania high school football game in 2021 has settled its lawsuit against a Philadelphia suburb, its police chief, and the three officers involved for $11 million.

Fanta Bility was shot and killed when police opened fire on a car in Pennsylvanias Sharon Hill Borough, CNN previously reported. Police started shooting after a verbal fight between teens escalated to a gunfight, according to officials. Three others were also injured in the shooting, including Fantas 12-year-old sister who was inside the car.

Three former police officers  Brian Devaney, Sean Dolan, and Devon Smith  were fired and later sentenced to probation in connection to Fantas death in May. They pleaded guilty to charges of reckless endangerment. The three men were initially charged with manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, but the charges were dropped as part of a plea deal.

There is no amount of money that will ever bring Fanta back or erase the memory of the horrible tragedy that occurred on August 27, 2021, from our minds, said Siddiq Kamara, a spokesperson for the Bility family, in a statement. However, with the criminal and civil cases now resolved, we hope to move on and focus specifically on the Fanta Bility Foundation and keeping Fantas legacy alive.

The family established the foundation on what would have been Fantas 10th birthday to ensure she is never forgotten, advocate for police training, and help support families and children around the country, according to the nonprofits website.

Investigators were unable to determine which officer fired the fatal bullet, according to the Delaware County District Attorneys office.

The three officers involved in the fatal shooting were fired and later sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to charges of reckless endangerment. - Delaware County District Attorney's Office/AP

As a part of the settlement, Sharon Hill Borough has agreed to provide more extensive training to its officers, especially with regard to the use of deadly force, according to a statement from the familys attorneys.

Though this chapter has come to an end, our hearts and the spirit of the Sharon Hill community will be forever changed, a statement from the Borough of Sharon Hill reads. Although we cannot undo the tragic events of that day, we hope that the resolution of the lawsuit might provide those impacted a small measure of closure.

Robert DiDomenicis, the attorney representing Sharon Hill, the three officers involved, and the police chief, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CNNs Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.

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Like a game of Monopoly, Donald Trump may be forced to sell off his iconic properties under a New York judge's ruling that he committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire.

In a civil trial starting Monday, Trump's lawyers will return to court to begin a trial to determine how much he and his companies will be penalized for the fraud. New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in damages. Potential witnesses include Trump, his children and former business associates.

At stake? Whether the former president will have to shutter or break up his namesake Trump Organization and sell off those famous properties  and whether he will have to pay millions.

Trump's lawyers vowed to appeal the ruling. Trump called the decision "ridiculous and untrue."

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Tuesday canceled Trump's business certificates by ruling he committed fraud for years through "pure sophistry," a "fantasy world" of real-estate valuations that "can only be considered fraud."

In fact, Engoron quoted a Marx Brothers movie to ridicule Trump's explanations for altering objective data such as the size of an apartment  an unusual approach for a judge to take.

Well, who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes? Engoron quoted Chico Marx from the movie "Duck Soup."

Engoron ruled that Trump valued his Mar-a-Lago resort at 20 times the tax assessment, that apartments at Trump Park Avenue gained millions of dollars on his corporate balance sheet beyond their appraised values, and that Trump falsely nearly tripled the square-footage of his own Trump Tower penthouse apartment to increase its value by calling the measurement "a subjective process."

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Dubuque, Iowa.

Uncertainty about what the New York ruling means

But even Engoron acknowledged uncertainties about what his ruling means. On the eve of trial, Engoron told Trump's lawyers he would take it up "in various contexts."

Government and defense lawyers have 30 days to submit proposals for who should manage what happens under the judge's ruling.

Here is what we know about the case and where it stands:

What did the judge decide in Trump's real estate fraud case?

Trump companies often valued properties far higher than appraisers or tax assessors, Engoron found. Trump testified that a disclaimer on property values given to lenders meant they knew the estimates were worthless," according to the decision.

This is a fantasy world, not the real world, Engoron wrote.

Language accompanying Trump's estimated values acknowledged they are not necessarily indicative of the amount that could be realized. In a sworn deposition, Trump called it the worthless clause for stating property values are uncertain.

I think it had very little impact if any impact on the banks, Trump said. I felt it was a meaningless document.

But Engoron ruled even though banks gave Trump loans and he paid them back, the fraud could disrupt the market and future lenders could unfairly be left holding the bag.

The defenses Donald Trump attempts to articulate in his sworn deposition are wholly without basis in fact or law, Engoron wrote.

Protesters gather outside Trump Tower on Friday, March 31, 2023, in New York. Former President Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, Thursday, a historic reckoning after years of investigations into his personal, political and business dealings and an abrupt jolt to his bid to retake the White House.(AP Photo/Bryan Woolston) ORG XMIT: NYBW107

Differences in Trump property values 'can only be considered fraud': judge

The judge outlined several glaring disputes over Trump property values:

A 200-acre Westchester County property called Seven Springs LLC was appraised by Royal Bank of Pennsylvania in 2006 at $30 million if converted to residential homes. A Cushman & Wakefield appraiser estimated the value in 2014 at $30 million. Trump reported the value at $261 million to $291 million during that period.

Trump Park Avenue, a residential building, had a dozen rent-controlled apartments unsold in 2011, when Oxford Group appraised the units at $62,500 each. Newmark Knight Frank appraised six remaining units in 2020 at $3.8 million each. Trumps lawyers argued the units could eventually become market-rent units, but Engoron ruled the numbers are supposed to represent current" values, not someday, maybe values.

A lease at 40 Wall St. in New York was appraised in 2010 by Cushman & Wakefield as worth $200 million. But the Trump Organization valued the property at $525 million in 2011 and at $735 million in 2015. Trump argued the differences were irrelevant because Ladder Capitol received $40 million in interest on a loan for the property and the company never defaulted.

Mar-A-Lago, Trumps Florida resort, had a market value ranging from $18 million to $27.6 million during the decade ending 2021, according to the Palm Beach County assessor. Trump valued the property at up to $612 million during that period.

Trumps own apartment in Trump Tower is 10,996 square feet, but he submitted claims it was 30,000 square feet, according to Engoron. The difference resulting in an overvaluation of $114 million to $207 million, Engoron wrote.

A discrepancy of this order of magnitude by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud, Engoron wrote of the Trump Tower apartment.

President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, on Aug. 26, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla.

Trump lawyers sanctioned for 'fatally flawed' and redundant arguments

Engoron also sanctioned five of Trumps lawyers for filing the same frivolous arguments to dismiss the case repeatedly, which he called pure sophistry and fatally flawed.

The judge ordered lawyers Michael Madaio, Michael Farino, Clifford Robert, Christopher Kise and Armen Morian to each pay $7,500 to the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection of the State of New York within a month.

The lawyers had asked to dismiss the case by arguing James didnt have the authority to pursue the case, that the public interest wasnt served by the lawsuit and that the allegations should have been considered in a court specializing in business.

But the lawyers had already made those arguments, which Engoron rejected, with his decision upheld on appeal.

Defendants conduct in reiterating these frivolous arguments is egregious, Engoron wrote. Defendants repetition of them here is indefensible.

FILE - New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. New York's attorney general filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday, June 8, 2023, against an anti-abortion group whose members have been arrested for blocking access to health care clinics in New York and other states. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File) ORG XMIT: NYSS407

Trump calls judge 'deranged,' James looks forward to trial

Trump called Engoron's finding of fraud "both ridiculous and untrue" in a post on Truth Social. He called the judge "deranged" and the prosecutor "biased and corrupt."

His son, Eric Trump, who oversaw the company while his father was in the White House, said he lost faith in the justice system.

"Never before have I seen such hatred toward one person by a judge  a coordinated effort with the Attorney General to destroy a mans life, company and accomplishments," Eric Trump said on X, formerly known as Twitter. "We have run an exceptional company  never missing a loan payment, making banks hundreds of millions of dollars, developing some of the most iconic assets in the world."

Kise, one of Trump's lawyers, called the decision "outrageous" and "completely disconnected from the facts and governing law." He threatened to appeal, "to rectify this miscarriage of justice."

But James, the attorney general who filed the case, noted the judge found "Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in years of financial fraud."

"We look forward to presenting the rest of our case at trial," James said on X.

Kevin Wallace, the senior enforcement counsel in James' office, said the trial would allow evidence that could bolster the case for monetary penalties for benefits derived from the fraud.

Potential witnesses at the trial include Trump and his children: Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. Other witnesses include former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who described the company's questionable property valuations at a congressional hearing, and Trump Organization officials including Allen Weisselberg, who was convicted of tax fraud.

Donald Trump with his children in 2014. From left, Eric, Donald Jr. and Ivanka.

What does the decision mean for Trump?

The implications of Engoron's ruling are uncertain.

The judge canceled Trump's business certificates in New York and ordered lawyers to recommend no more than three potential managers to oversee the dissolution of the companies.

But Kise, one of Trump's lawyers, asked the judge whether the decision meant Trump would be required to close up shop or relinquish prized assets such as buildings with his name on them.

"Is it the court's position that those assets are now going to be sold or just going to be managed" under a court-ordered receiver? Kise asked.

Engeron huddled with his law clerk, Allison Greenfield, before asking government and defense lawyers to submit written proposals for a manager, which is technically called a receiver, within 30 days.

"I'm not prepared to issue a ruling right now but we will take that up in various contexts, I'm sure," Engoron said.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 8: E. Jean Carroll arrives at Manhattan federal court on May 8, 2023 in New York City. Attorneys for E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump are set to give closing arguments Monday morning in the battery and defamation trial against the former president in Manhattan federal court. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775975213 ORIG FILE ID: 1253154783

Trump faces five other civil and criminal trials in next year while campaigning for president

The fraud case is one of a handful of civil and criminal trials Trump faces during the next year as he campaigns to return to the White House:

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York trial to set Trump damages after judge finds real estate fraud
Christopher Worrell was arrested as he attempted to return to his home in Naples, Fla., on Thursday. Photo courtesy of the FBI

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- FBI agents in Tampa, Fla., arrested a man convicted of assaulting officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol after he went missing last month while awaiting sentencing, officials announced Friday.

Christopher Worrell, 52, was arrested Thursday "when he attempted to covertly return to his home in Naples, Florida," the FBI said in a statement. The Collier County Sheriff's Office assisted federal agents in Worrell's capture.

The FBI said officials provided Worrell with medical attention after they found him unconscious at his home. No other information about his unconsciousness was provided.

"Worrell was transferred to an area hospital, where he remains at this time. In his residence, the FBI found night-vision goggles, $4,000 in cash, and survivalist gear," an FBI statement said.

The FBI launched a search for the self-avowed member of the Proud Boys, a far-right organization, in early August after his sentencing date was canceled. Officials issued an arrest warrant accusing him of violating conditions of release pending sentencing on federal charges.

Worrell had been on house arrest awaiting sentencing.

He was convicted of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds using a deadly or dangerous weapon; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; civil disorder; and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon.

The Justice Department was seeking a 14-year prison sentence for Worrell.
A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily blocked a grant program for Black women-owned businesses.

American Alliance for Equal Rights, a nonprofit backed by conservative legal activist Edward Blum, sued the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund in August, alleging that the venture capital funds grant program violated the 1866 Civil Rights Acts guarantee of race neutrality in making contracts by discriminating against other races.

The lawsuit follows a Supreme Court decision in June that struck down race-based affirmative action in higher education after challenges brought by Students for Fair Admissions, a group also backed by Blum.

After a district court judge in Georgia refused to issue an injunction earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit granted the injunction in a 2-1 decision on Saturday. Robert Luck and Andrew Brasher, both appointed by former President Donald Trump, were in favor. Charles Wilson, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, dissented.

The targeted program intends to support Black women-owned businesses by awarding grants and providing mentorship and business support services  however, in the Saturday opinion, the judges said that it was substantially likely that the program was illegal.

Blum has filed similar suits against several businesses that he says use the same kind of racial classifications previously used in higher education admissions  such programs are likely the next target for conservative legal activism.
UPDATE: Congress votes to avert shutdown

SAN DIEGO  The federal government is poised to enter a partial shutdown over the weekend with Capitol Hill still in a stalemate over spending bills for the next year.

Congressional lawmakers have until 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, Oct. 1 to pass a bipartisan spending package or temporary funding bill to keep the government open.

However, infighting amongst Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have stopped efforts to avert a shutdown, making it all but certain that federal agencies will start to shut down over the weekend.

A shutdown would likely have far-reaching impacts, starting with federal agencies placing hundreds of thousands of workers on unpaid furlough until congress restores funding. This would place a pause on some federal services, programming and more.

San Diego mayor issues statement on Sen. Diane Feinsteins legacy of service

A government shutdown would force service members and law enforcement officers to work without pay, endanger disaster response, undermine research on cancer and other diseases, risk significant delays for travelers, undermine public health and environmental protections, deny capital for small businesses, undermine food safety, delay infrastructure projects, and impair workplace safety, a spokesperson for Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) said in an email to FOX 5.

Should the government enter a shutdown, it would be the fourth in the last decade.

The previous shutdown, which occurred due to an impasse over allocating $5.4 billion for President Donald Trumps proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, was the longest in U.S. history, lasting 35 days from December 2018 to January 2019.

For San Diego residents, heres what a government shutdown could mean:

Who will be hit first? What federal employees are still working?

The initial impacts of a government shutdown in San Diego County would be primarily felt by civilian federal workers, federal law enforcement and the military community.

Most non-essential federal employees will be furloughed without pay immediately after the shutdown begins. Meanwhile, certain types of essential employees would be expected to continue working without pay at the start of the shutdown.

Among those that would continue working without pay include: Congress and their staffers, the U.S. Postal Service, active duty service members in all branches of the military, U.S. Border Patrol agents, employees at Veterans Affairs, Transportation Security Administration agents and air traffic controllers.

In San Diego County, these changes would hit tens of thousands of federal workers, including 64,000 civilians  accounting for about 3.6% of the regions civilian workforce  and 115,000 military personnel.

Aside from civilian employee furloughs, all operations at bases like Camp Pendleton will be expected to continue as normal without pay for on-duty personnel.

Most of these workers will likely be able to collect back pay for the duration of the shutdown when the government reopens. Some banks will be offering a paycheck assistance program for impacted patrons, including Navy Federal Credit Union.

Are federal assistance programs impacted?

Safety net programs to help low-income households access food and education could see interruptions during a government shutdown. The extent of those impacts would largely depend on how long a shutdown lasts and availability of program-by-program contingency funds.

Nearly 7 million women and children  972,418 in California  who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children could be at risk of losing assistance almost immediately, according to White House officials.

Things to know about Californias new proposed rules for insurance companies

Head Start, which offers free education for disadvantaged children ages 3 to 5, would also immediately get cut, pulling funding for over 1,500 programs that serve more than 10,000 children nationwide. San Diego County has roughly 140 preschools that offer Head Start slots.

Benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) should be sent out for October as usual. However, low-income families that rely on this program to put food on the table could risk losing benefits too, should a shutdown persist for a significant period of time.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income will continue in the event of a shutdown. Medicare and Medicaid benefits will also be largely unaffected, as they are funded separately from annual appropriations. Although, response times for recipients with issues could be delayed due to furloughs.

What happens to National Parks?

Most National Parks will also close at the start of a shutdown, including visitor centers, campgrounds, research facilities and museums. Around San Diego, this could potentially lead to the full or partial closure of destinations like Cabrillo National Monument or Joshua Tree National Park.

Will air travel be impacted?

Air travel at San Diego International Airport could also be another of noticeable disruption due to a government shutdown, despite most employees required to remain on the job. During the last shutdown, hundreds of TSA agents across the country stopped showing up as it wore on, leading to longer screening lines, flight delays and cancellations.

A government shutdown would also place a pause on the hiring and training of new air traffic controllers, potentially complicating efforts to address staffing shortages at airports that have led to flight delays and cancellations.

San Diego International Airport advises travelers to anticipate traffic delays

How would a shutdown end?

Congress will have to either pass a complete appropriations package to fund the government through the next year or get a stop-gap spending bill to President Joe Bidens desk to continue funding the government temporarily.

On Friday, the House of Representatives failed to approve a partisan 30-day stopgap bill that would extend funding to Oct. 31 while imposing across-the-board cuts of about 30%. All House Democrats and 21 hardline Republicans ultimately voted against the measure.

In the Senate, the Democratic-majority is moving ahead with a separate bipartisan resolution for temporary funding, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy indicated that he would not bring it for a vote without provisions that provide disaster relief funding and aid to Ukraine.

A government shutdown is nothing more than a cruel political stunt that would hurt San Diegans and is in fact very fiscally irresponsible, Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) said in an emailed statement. San Diego families shouldnt be forced to pay the price for a few extreme House Republicans outlandish demands  A shutdown threatens the safety of all San Diegans, as critical services and federal assistance will be curtailed across the board.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
A big federal investment is expected to support manufacturing in Gaston County.

The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded Gaston College in Dallas a $1.1 million grant to help the school expand its Textile Technology Center.

ALSO READ: Employers in trade industries say its getting harder to fill jobs

Officials say the investment will strengthen the areas talent pipeline.

This grant will bring good-paying jobs to the Dallas area and help our states textile industry thrive, said N.C. Governor Roy Cooper.

The grant is being matched with local funding.

The federal agency said itll help create or retain as many as 160 jobs.

(WATCH BELOW: Multi-million dollar expansion project bringing several jobs to Union Co.)




A federal court judge lifted some restrictions in North Carolinas abortion ban Saturday.

A District Judge, identified as Catherine Eagles by the ACLU, granted a preliminary injunction to Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, making portions of the abortion ban requiring determination and documentation of an intrauterine pregnancy and requiring surgical abortions to be performed in a hospital after twelve weeks unenforceable by the defendants, which includes North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D).

Having demonstrated the Act likely poses a direct threat to their constitutional rights and those of their patients, the plaintiffs also have established that they would be irreparably harmed, Eagles stated in her ruling.

Eagles had previously temporarily blocked the portion of the law focused on doctors documenting a pregnancy in the uterus back in June. The 12-week ban was signed into law in June.

We will always fight for every inch of ground so that as many people as possible can get the health care they need in North Carolina, Planned Parenthood South Atlantics president and CEO Jenny Black said in a statement. The courts decision recognizes that abortion is health care and that there is no medical reason to deny even more patients access to this safe, compassionate, evidence-based care.

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic remains committed to helping every patient navigate the unjust and inhumane confines of this law, and we encourage anyone in need of abortion care to contact us as soon as possible, Black continued.

Attorney General Josh Stein praised the ruling, calling the anti-abortion law sloppily written.

Women, not politicians, should be making these decisions, Stein said in a statement. And I will never stop fighting for womens freedom.

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade last year, many states passed restrictive abortion bans or limitations. Data from the Guttmacher Institute showed a significant rise in the number of legal abortions in states sharing borders with those with limiting anti-abortion laws in the first six months of 2023 in comparison to a period akin to then in 2020.

The Hill has reached out to North Carolina State Sen. Phil Berger (R) for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Bloomberg) -- Long before she became a symbol of an aging Senate, Dianne Feinstein was Californias most admired politician.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Reserved, revered in her day, omnipresent, Feinstein was through her 60 years of public life Californias version of the Queen. And like Queen Elizabeth II, Feinstein continued working until the last day of her long life, casting her final vote to avert a government shutdown only hours before she died in Washington, D.C., on Thursday night at the age of 90.

It was Feinsteins sense of duty  coupled with her stubborn, often contrarian nature  that kept her from resigning from the US Senate seat shed held since 1992, said those close to her during her public deterioration.

Her mindset was to do the job no matter what else was going on and for everyone around her to do their jobs too, no matter what, said Jim Lazarus, who first worked for Feinstein when she was president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the 1970s and later served as her deputy mayor and adviser in the Senate.

It was in her role on the Board of Supervisors that Feinstein took her place on the national stage, in the hours after the City Hall assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk on Nov. 27, 1978.

Feinstein, who had seen the killer, ex-Supervisor Dan White, run by her office, discovered Milks body and checked for a pulse, her hand sliding into the bullet hole in his wrist. She had only a short time to wipe off the blood before it fell to her, next in the line to the mayors seat, to tell the city what had happened.

Composed and steely, Feinstein, who became mayor, assured people that San Francisco would recover from the spiritual damage of the killings.

The following spring, there were riots in the streets when a jury found White guilty of manslaughter rather than murder in the City Hall killings. At a time of chaos what you got from Dianne was this sense that somebodys in charge, this sense of stability, said former House speaker Nancy Pelosi in an interview before Feinsteins death. People knew that she wouldnt be emotional and pop off. She was this serious, respected person who had the confidence of the city.

In the mid-1980s, Feinstein and her husband Richard Blum moved across the street from Pelosi, who was becoming more active in the citys Democratic political circles as her five children grew up.

We were friends and we were neighbors, but we were not particularly on the same place on the political spectrum, said Pelosi, who was first elected to Congress in 1987. My oldest daughter Nancy absolutely worshiped Dianne and the other kids would joke and say If mommy ran against Dianne, who would she vote for?

Feinstein failed in 1990 in a run to become governor, but in 1992 along with Barbara Boxer, she was elected to the US Senate, making California the first state to elect two women senators. In becoming the longest serving woman in the bodys history, Feinstein was also the first woman to chair or serve as the Democrats most senior member on the Senates powerful Judiciary, Intelligence and Appropriations committees.

Even as Feinstein drove historic legislation, including the 1994 assault weapons ban and landmark environmental protections, she diverged from Pelosi and other Democrats in her support for the death penalty, refusal to back the Green New Deal or to embrace the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2018, in an unprecedented rebuke, the California Democratic Party declined to endorse Feinstein for re-election.

Centrist Politics

Feinsteins centrist politics  shaped during the bygone era when local offices in California were nonpartisan  increasingly put her at odds with her fellow Democrats as the party became more progressive. Feinstein appeared out of step not only due to age, but her refusal to engage in the culture wars.

In a 2011 article on the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagans birth, Feinstein wrote even though Reagan was a conservative Republican, he had a common-sense conviction that helped his achievements. You would not have seen him giving a speech like many do today  calling his opponents names.

Although criticized by her fellow Democrats for not being progressive enough, Feinstein was in many ways a woman ahead of her time. She was a staunch supporter of abortion rights. As mayor, she backed legislation banning employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and as senator she hosted a wedding reception at her San Francisco home for a well-known lesbian couple who were advocates for same-sex marriage.

Though she was not a movement feminist in the mold of Pelosi or Hillary Clinton, Feinstein said she lived a feminist life, according to the Washington Post.

Ive Lived It

I had to quit a job because there was no maternity leave, she said. I raised a child as a single mother. I put together legislation. I havent been a marcher, but Ive lived it.

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown first met Feinstein in 1961, when local activists organized a protest against real estate agents who refused to show a new home to the then young, unknown Black lawyer and his wife.

There was Dianne, this housewife, pushing a stroller and holding a sign, Brown said in an interview before Feinsteins death. I dont think she had ever protested anything in her life.

Former House member Jackie Speier was running for the California state assembly in 1986 when Feinstein showed up for her.

I was not the partys chosen candidate and couldnt get endorsements or funding, Speier said. Dianne endorsed me. When Speiers husband was killed in a car crash while she was pregnant, Feinstein comforted Speier and encouraged her to remain in public life.

Like Feinstein, Speier also had personal experience with gun violence, having been shot as a young aide to Representative Leo Ryan on the tarmac in Guyana prior to the Jonestown massacre in 1978.

Later elected to Ryans old seat in Congress, Speier says she and Feinstein never discussed their history as survivors. Instead, says Speier, they focused on Feinsteins work on the landmark Senate Intelligence Committees report criticizing the CIAs torture of detainees suspected of terrorism.

That insistence on hewing to the task at hand, paying little attention to the politics of identity, party orthodoxy or the demands of the news cycle made Feinstein an unlikely feminist icon.

This is a woman who led a life of phenomenal firsts, says Speier. And she didnt get there by saying, Mother may I but by having a steel spine.

Feinstein seemed willing to endure the indignities of growing old and frail in the public eye, including a lawsuit filed by her daughter in a family battle over her late husbands estate, describing her as the victim of elder abuse.

This is all a family matter. It has nothing to do with the Senate or, frankly, anything else, Feinstein told the San Francisco Chronicle in what would be her final interview.

Ive got my hands full with committee work and intelligence work and other things. Im proud of it, I work hard and try to  because were far away  look after the California issues like wildfire and water that are vital to our survival.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death while in office has reignited a discussion about congressional term limits, and an ongoing, uncomfortable conversation about the age of elected public officials.

Feinstein, who at 90 was the oldest serving U.S. senator, was in her fifth full term. First elected to the Senate in 1992, she had defied calls for her resignation in recent years as she faced health complications. However, in February, she announced she would not seek reelection next year to serve beyond January 2025, when her term was to end.

A poll released this month by the Pew Research Center found that there was "overwhelming" public support for congressional term limits, with 87% of those surveyed in favor. The polling also found widespread support among adults for imposing age limits on elected politicians in Washington (79%) and for Supreme Court justices (74%).

Congressional term limits have garnered support among Republicans in Congress including members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, who demanded a vote on the issue as part of their deal to support Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) during his difficult run for the speakership.

But congressional Democrats have been lukewarm on the idea, with several octogenarian politicians in their party, including President Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats.

In January, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) reintroduced a bill that would amend the Constitution and cap senators at two six-year terms and House members at three two-year terms.

"The Founding Fathers envisioned a government of citizen legislators who would serve for a few years and return home, not a government run by a small group of special interests and lifelong, permanently entrenched politicians who prey upon the brokenness of Washington to govern in a manner that is totally unaccountable to the American people," Cruz said earlier this year. He is running for a third term in 2024.

Calls for congressional term limits heightened following Feinstein's lengthy absence from Capitol Hill earlier this year as she recovered from a shingles infection. The debate was revived when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is 81, appeared to freeze and was unable to talk during two news conferences this summer.

Casey Burgat, legislative affairs program director at George Washington University, said term limits have public support because "Congress is incredibly unpopular and doesn't fulfill a lot of its basic obligations."

However, Burgat said, instituting term limits would upend the rights of voters.

"Feinstein won an election four years ago when obviously her age was well known," Burgat said. "The voters saw her compared to the alternatives and chose her to continue her career. To institute draconian measures such as term limits that kick out good politicians, bad politicians, all at the same pace takes away the fundamental right for voters to choose who they want to represent them."

"We have presidential term limits because we realize that putting too much power in one person's hand for a long period of time is not a good thing, and the people agree that the same thing should apply to Congress," said Scott Tillman, national field director of U.S. Term Limits, an organization that advocates for caps in state legislatures and on the federal level.

In 1995, U.S. Term Limits was party to a Supreme Court case that barred states from imposing term limits or congressional qualifications in addition to those enumerated in the Constitution.

In a 5-4 majority opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens said that "such a state-imposed restriction is contrary to the fundamental principle of our representative democracy, embodied in the constitution, that the people should choose whom they please to govern them."

Burgat said term limits would lead to a revolving door of lawmakers and a loss of institutional knowledge about federal policymaking that comes with experience in Congress.

"If that experience is not in house, then you go find it out of house  and in politics, that means special interest groups, that means lobbyists," he said. "The deference would increase to special interest groups and an executive branch who have longer-serving bureaucrats who, by the way, are unelected."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
In a lawsuit from Boises former police oversight director, Boise officials are challenging requests that they testify on a quick timeline.

Lawyers for Jesus Jara, the former director of the Office of Police Accountability, have asked to question Police Chief Ron Winegar as well as Mayor Lauren McLean and her chief of staff. The city has asked to delay those last two interviews until after the November election.

The Boise City Council fired Jara last year, citing job performance problems. Jara then sued the city.

Heres a Q&A on whats happening.

Why is Jara upset with the city?

The director of the Office of Police Accountability was fired in December for allegedly breaking city policy by randomly viewing thousands of police body camera videos. Mayor Lauren McLean suspended Jara in early December, and the City Council voted to fire him later that month.

In a statement, McLean called Jaras actions unauthorized surveillance.

This is a serious violation of the privacy of our residents and a worrisome erosion of the trust we intended to build with the OPA model of oversight, she said.

Three days after he was fired, Jara sued the city. He denied he had violated city policy, instead saying he had been retaliated against for investigating complaints against former Police Chief Ryan Lee and concerns about how internal investigations within the department were conducted.

Whats happened since?

Over the last couple of months, Jaras attorney, Grady Hepworth, has attempted to schedule depositions with city officials to obtain pretrial testimony. This is known as the discovery phase of a lawsuit, when both parties seek evidence, all the while informing the other parties and the court of the kind of evidence they want.

On Aug. 4, Hepworth scheduled depositions with McLean, her Chief of Staff Courtney Washburn, Winegar and Council Member Luci Willits, according to court records.

Police Chief Ron Winegar

Depositions are out-of-court statements given under oath by people involved in a case.

In response, the city has objected to some of Hepworths requests. Dan Williams, an attorney representing the city, has asked a judge to allow both the city and Hepworth to designate certain private personnel information as confidential, according to a memorandum filed this month. That would keep those records out of public view.

A second request from the city is to limit the scope of Winegars deposition. Hepworth asked Winegar to produce any evidence, documents and all communications related to Officer Tim Greens involvement in the off-duty shooting that occurred near Challis in August 2020.

The Statesman has previously reported that Green, who joined the Police Department in 1994, was on vacation at a campground near Challis with other law enforcement officials from around Idaho when the off-duty chief of the Bonners Ferry Police Department, Brian Zimmerman, shot and killed a 73 year-old man, Russell Liddell.

Jaras lawsuit mentions concerns Jara had while working at the city about the investigation of an off-duty shooting that resulted in a death.

Hepworths deposition request also asks for communications or other documents related to allegations of excessive use of force or other violations of BPD procedure by Officer Tyson Cooper in the past six years.

This spring, the Police Department released body-camera footage depicting the arrest of a 17-year-old Black youth in 2019. In the video, Cooper antagonized the youth, handcuffed him and threw him onto the sidewalk, according to previous Statesman reporting.

Green and Cooper did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent Friday through the department.

Williams has asked the court to prevent Jaras legal team from getting such records, calling them irrelevant to the present case.

Moreover, internal investigation records are highly confidential, Williams wrote in a memo to the court. As a result, the city now requests a protective order prohibiting the plaintiff from requesting these records or addressing the substance of the internal investigations of officers Green and Cooper at the deposition.

Third, Williams asked to cancel or delay McLeans deposition until after the November election, and to delay Washburns until after the election.

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean

For McLean, Williams said the court should prohibit her getting deposed because it is an apex deposition  testimony from a high-level employee who might not have firsthand knowledge of the facts at issue. Williams said prior court decisions say generally that high-ranking government officials are not subject to deposition absent extraordinary circumstances.

If the court allows her to be questioned, Williams asked that it be delayed until after the November election.

Both the mayor and Ms. Washburn are currently unusually busy managing the press of city business, Williams wrote. In addition, the mayor must also manage the additional work of engagements related to her reelection campaign. Following November 7, the two schedules will ease considerably and scheduling the depositions will not unduly burden the individuals.

Depositions often take several hours or longer.

Courtney Washburn

When were they supposed to be interviewed?

In a Sept. 26 filing, Williams said lawyers for Jara and the city met in early August to discuss evidence topics. Jaras lawyers named the city officials they hoped to depose and filed official deposition notices two days later.

Winegar was asked to meet with Jaras lawyers on Sept. 20, Washburn on Sept. 21, Willits on Sept. 29 and McLean on Oct. 11.

In September, before those dates, city lawyers communicated further with Jaras legal team, reiterating the scheduling conflicts, according to Williams memo.

In response, an attorney for Jara replied that the attorney understood Mayor McLean preferred to be deposed after the November election, but stated the city would need to file a motion for a protective order because he saw no reason to reschedule the subject depositions, the memo said. The protective order would protect McLean from being deposed or postpone her interview.

Williams added that Jaras attorney canceled the depositions of Washburn and Winegar days before they were to occur after Williams informed him rhat he had contracted COVID-19, but declined to cancel McLeans October date.

Luci Willits

It is unclear whether Willits, who was the only council member to vote against firing Jara, appeared for her scheduled deposition on Friday. She declined to comment.

I do not feel like this office was set up for success, Willits said in a statement after Jara was fired.

McLeans spokesperson Maria Weeg declined to comment on the litigation. Hepworth also declined to comment.

A trial is scheduled for next June.
The U.S. Air Force has provided the first real look at a future hypersonic air-breathing cruise missile, a type weapon it hopes to start fielding in 2027.

The U.S. Air Force has offered the first peek at its secretive air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile. The service also looks to have given us our best, detailed look at a live example of its now-canceled AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile.

All of this comes from pictures released today that were taken during what was described as a "hypersonic weapon familiarization training" event at Edwards Air Force Base in California yesterday.

"U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Komives, Hypersonic Employment subject matter expert, orients operational crews B-1 Lancer , B-2 Spirit , B-52 Stratofortress , and F-15E Strike Eagle units across Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Combat Command on the Air Forces Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile [HACM]," reads the caption of one photograph that the 412th Test Wing at Edwards released today. In the foreground of the picture, seen at the top of this story, is what appears to be a previously unseen hypersonic air-breathing cruise missile design.

Another picture of Lt. Col. Jeffrey Komives, in the center in the camouflage uniform, as he provides an 'orientation' about the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile at Edwards Air Force Base yesterday. USAF

Without additional context and not being able to see the full missile, it is hard to say definitively that this missile is meant to directly represent HACM, as the picture caption implies. There is a possibility that the weapon, which may also be a test article or a mockup, could reflect a previously developed, but related design. HACM follows on directly from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Hypersonic Airbreathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program , which the Air Force was closely involved with. HACM is also leveraging past testing of Boeing's HyFly 2 experimental air-breathing hypersonic vehicle and work done through the U.S.-Australian Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE).

DARPA is also now pursuing its own follow-on effort to HAWC, called More Opportunities with HAWC , or MoHAWC, which will help continue to advance relevant technologies.

In September 2022, the Air Force declared Raytheon, in cooperation with Northrop Grumman, the winner of the HACM composition. The service is hoping to begin fielding a weapon of this type through its Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile program , or HACM, starting in 2027.

Raytheon and Northrop Grumman had previously worked together on a design as part of the HAWC program. Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne also teamed up on a missile that was tested under HAWC.

What can be seen of the missile in the pictures from yesterday's event at Edwards is fully in line with renderings that DARPA has previously released in relation to HAWC. It is a two-stage weapon with a large booster at the back and a narrower vehicle section in front with fins at its rear.

A rendering DARPA previously released in relation to the HAWC program above what can be seen of the hypersonic cruise missile in the picture from the training event at Edwards Air Force Base yesterday. DARPA/USAF

The broad understanding of how HAWC, and by extension HACM, will function is that the booster will help accelerate the complete weapon to an optimal speed before falling away. An air-breathing scramjet engine in the front section will then take over. Scramjets do not function effectively at lower speeds, requiring an initial boost up to high Mach velocity.

This two-stage design concept is also one that has been utilized in the development of other air-breathing hypersonic test vehicles in the past. This includes Boeing's aforementioned HyFly 2 and that company's missile-like scramjet-powered X-51 Waverider hypersonic test vehicle . The Air Force flight tested four X-51s between 2010 and 2013.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qGNEmDMVDU

Specific details about the Raytheon/Northrop Grumman design that was tested under HAWC and the one that the two companies are now developing under HACM are limited. In one test, "the prototype developed by Raytheon and Northrop Grumman reportedly flew more than 500 km [just under 311 miles], but it is unclear how long the scramjet was operating during that flight," according to a January 2023 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Whatever the case, the main benefit that hypersonic cruise missiles offer over existing subsonic and even supersonic designs is the ability to cross large distances in very short amounts of time. This allows them to engage targets, especially time-sensitive ones, faster and gives opponents less time to react as a result. The extreme speed of these missiles, which are also expected to be capable of making irregular course changes and being retasked in flight, also complicates any attempts to intercept them, making them very hard to defend against.

Raytheon

"Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) is a hypersonic air-launched weapon that will enable the U.S. to hold fixed, high value, time-sensitive targets at risk in contested environments from standoff distances," the Air Force's 2024 Fiscal Year budget proposal , which was released earlier this year, explains. In addition, "HACM offers a smaller form factor than ARRW for fighter integration and expanded bomber capacity, and thereby imposes cost on potential adversaries with additional complexity."

Interestingly, the pictures from the hypersonic weapon familiarization training event at Edwards yesterday also include a very good look at what appears to be a live AGM-183A missile. The weapon, seen loaded on B-52, has a yellow band around its body, which typically denotes a live round. It also has a protective cover over its rear end and is marked "AR-AUR-004," with AUR very likely standing for "All Up Round," a term that refers to a complete missile.

A picture from the event at Edwards yesterday of what looks to be a live AGM-183A ARRW missile under the wing of a B-52 bomber. USAF

A close-up look at the markings on the side of the ARRW missile. USAF

The Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), also designated the AGM-183A, is a missile that utilizes an unpowered boost-glide vehicle, a different kind of hypersonic weapon concept that you can read about in detail here . The design is much larger than what is expected of HACM and, to date, has only been launched by B-52 bombers. In March, the Air Force announced that it was canceling further work on the AGM-183A and refocusing its resources on HACM, though it would still complete the rest of its already planned ARRW flight tests. ARRW's test record is checkered and the Air Force declined to say whether the most recent known test of that design, which occurred in August , was a success or failure. Initially, it was planned that ARRW would be the USAF's first hypersonic weapon. It was slated to be in service now, but those plans were clearly overly ambitious.

A low-quality shot of an ARRW after launch during a live-fire flight test. USAF

The Air Force's current plan is to begin fielding HACM in 2027, with the F-15E being the first aircraft to be able to carry it operationally. The expectation is that it will eventually be integrated onto other platforms. Members of the B-1, B-2, and B-52 bombers communities were all present at the event at Edwards yesterday. The service's forthcoming F-15EX fighters have been touted as a potential hypersonic weapons platform and its future B-21 Raider stealth bombers could be another future HACM carrier.

There could be interest from the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps in HACM, as well. It's unclear if the F-35 or Super Hornet will be able to lug the big HACM missiles with enough efficiency that it would make sense to integrate them with USN and USMC aircraft, though. The Navy is separately pursuing an anti-ship optimized hypersonic air-breathing cruise missile of its own through the Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare program, or HALO.

The training event at Edwards also simply highlights the Air Force's commitment to developing and fielding hypersonic weapons in the near term and how it is laying the groundwork to be able to employ them operationally. It also underscores how important the service views them as part of its future arsenal, especially in the context of a potential high-end conflict against China in the Pacific.

With the Air Force aiming to begin fielding its first HACM hypersonic cruise missiles within the next four years, and the need to begin testing the design before that, more details about this weapon will continue to emerge. But at least for now, we have finally seen it or its precursor for the first time.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
Father, two young children among 5 dead in crash of truck carrying anhydrous ammonia

A father and his two young children were among five fatalities in a multi-vehicle crash involving a semi-truck carrying potentially toxic anhydrous ammonia in central Illinois, authorities said.

Late Saturday the Effingham County coroners office confirmed the five fatalities plus another five airlifted to other hospitals. Their conditions had not been made public, and the office said earlier it was checking for updates from medical personnel.

The children were under age 12, said Kim Rhodes, the coroner of Effingham County. Identities for those victims as well as two others were unavailable, but her office said earlier three of the deceased were local and two were from out of state.

There was no indication anhydrous ammonia, which transforms from liquid to gas when exposed to air, was directly involved in the fatalities, but a leak of the chemical compound following the overnight crash prompted evacuations in south-central Illinois, authorities said.

Illinois State Police were notified of a crash on U.S. Highway 40 about half a mile east of Teutopolis in Effingham County, roughly 210 miles south of Chicago, around 9:25 p.m. Friday. The semi-truck carrying anhydrous ammonia began leaking after rolling over in a ditch, officials said.

A semitruck carrying anhydrous ammonia overturned causing multiple fatalities about a half-mile east of Teutopolis, Illinois on U.S. Highway 40 on Sept. 29, 2023. (Google Maps)

Anhydrous ammonia is a colorless liquid and gas with a pungent odor and the ability to burn skin, irritate eyes, and attack airways, according to North Dakota State University Department of Agriculture.

Breathed in sufficient concentrations, it can burn and paralyze the respiratory system and lead to death, the institution states.

It is a base for nitrogen fertilizer, a staple of contemporary farming that is common in farm country.

The truck was carrying around 7,500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia at the time of the accident and, according to preliminary estimates, approximately 4,000 gallons were released, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a statement. The leak has been partially patched.

"Due to the plume from the ammonia leak, people within an approximate one mile radius of the crash on U.S. Highway 40, including northeastern parts of Teutopolis, have been evacuated," Illinois State Police said in a statement.

Around 500 people have been evacuated from the area, officials said. The evacuation order will be in place at least through Sunday morning, according to the Illinois EPA.

A 15-person team including motor carrier, hazmat, and survival-factor investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board was expected to arrive at the crash site Saturday night, NTSB spokesperson Jennifer Gabris said.

The U.S. Highway 40 between Teutopolis and Montrose is closed. Illinois State Police are asking the public to avoid the area of the leak.

"Crews are working to contain the leak while first responders and emergency workers continue to respond to the incident," state police said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Extremely heavy rains flooded much of New York City on Friday, freezing traffic and shutting down much of the citys public transportation.

The city experienced around 6 inches of rain on Friday, with more expected to fall Saturday. A nearly 8-inch daily rain figure at John F. Kennedy Airport is the most since at least 1948, the National Weather Service said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul both declared states of emergency over the flooding, freeing emergency relief funds for response and recovery efforts.

Nearly every line in the New York Subway system was partially or completely suspended, as excessive rain flow made it unsafe to use some stations and tunnels. The worst of the impact was in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.

Service across the MTA network has been severely disrupted today due to heavy rainfall and flooding throughout the New York region, the authority said in a statement late Friday.

If you dont have to travel, please stay home. If you must travel, head out as early as possible, use caution, and expect delays or cancellations throughout the evening.

The quickly falling rain caught some New Yorkers off-guard, with many finding themselves with no way to get home due to transit outages. In addition to subway suspensions, over 40 city buses were stranded due to flooded streets, the authority said.

The weather also impacted overground trains, including halting all trains from Grand Central Station on Friday afternoon. All Metro-North lines, commuter services to suburbs in New York and Connecticut, were temporarily halted.

Amtrak service in and out of New York City was also impacted, with trains experiencing delays of up to an hour, the service said.

LaGuardia Airport was forced to close an entire terminal due to the weather, sparking a cascade of flight delays and cancellations. Over 150 flights at LaGuardia and 100 flights at JFK were canceled Friday, according to tracker FlightAware.

The New York City Emergency Management Department issued a travel advisory beginning Friday that goes through Saturday morning.

New York City will be under a flood watch starting tomorrow and we urge New Yorkers to prepare for heavy rain and potential flooding throughout Friday and Saturday morning, emergency commissioner Zach Iscol said in a statement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Florida Democratic leaders have talked a big game about going all out in 2024, winning back seats and being competitive with Gov. Ron DeSantis not on the ballot.

But almost one year out, its not yet clear whether the party is recruiting enough viable candidates in both winnable and longshot districts, as well as raising enough money from donors.

In the purple state House districts surrounding Orlando, which lean Democratic on paper but were all won by Republicans last year, there were still no filed Democratic candidates in districts held by freshmen GOP state Reps. Doug Bankson and Carolina Amesty.

There also is just one Democrat filed to run in Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Mills congressional seat in Seminole and Volusia counties, and so far former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is the biggest name in the race to take on the deep-pocketed Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

There are going to be several seats that we might look at on paper and say, Wait a minute, why arent the Democrats really contending for this specific seat in Orange County or this specific seat Seminole? said Matt Isbell, a Democratic elections analyst.

But one of the big issues for Democrats is theyre only going to have so much money, he said. Its going to be a fraction of a fraction of what the Republicans have. And theyre going to have to make decisions.

Democratic leaders say there is plenty of time to find quality candidates to achieve their primary goal: winning enough state House seats to end the GOPs legislative supermajority, which makes it much more difficult for Democrats to slow or stop the Republican agenda.

Our job is to flip six, said Drew Shannon, executive director of Florida House Victory, the Democrats legislative campaign arm. That eliminates a supermajority. Thats focus number one.

Mac Stipanovich , a Tallahassee consultant and former anti-Trump Republican-turned-Democrat, said the party had the right idea.

My general feeling is that they ought to conform their goals to their resources, Stipanovich said. That would not be a statewide race. And it may or might not be even congressional races.

Taking on Rick Scott

The U.S. Senate race may be the highest-profile campaign next year, but the drubbing the Democrats took in 2022 have made candidates seemingly wary.

Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings, D-Orlando, by more than 16 percentage points last year, a margin almost as big as DeSantis 19-point win over Democrat Charlie Crist in the governors race.

Scott, in comparison, has won all three of his races for governor and Senate by razor-thin margins, and hes coming off a rocky year that included a widely disparaged tax plan, his party losing ground in the Senate under his leadership and a doomed bid to become minority leader.

But his ability to self-fund with a net worth upwards of $200 million and the GOPs statewide strength still make him the favorite for reelection, as does the growing Republican advantage in voter registration of more than 500,000 voters as of August.

Its going to be a tough haul next year, and a lot of things would have to go right for Democrats to be really competitive, Isbell said.

While speculation about a Democratic candidate included names such as former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Orlando, instead it was another former congresswoman who entered the race.

Mucarsel-Powell, who lost her bid for reelection to Congress in a close race in her Miami-Dade district in 2020, hadnt filed fundraising numbers for the third quarter as of Thursday, while Scotts campaign had taken in $12 million.

Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

But, Isbell said, She at least would be a strong candidate in terms of being able to raise some money, and I would argue shes the strongest candidate the Democrats would be able to run [without] sacrificing a safe blue seat.  It comes down to them at least having somebody with a pulse, and she does.

Its a similar situation in congressional seats, he said, where just having a viable candidate, even when a win is unlikely, helps raise profiles and aids down-ballot candidates.

The district held by Mills, R-New Smyrna Beach, has only a 4- to -5-point advantage for Republicans on paper. But Mills won last year by 17 points over Democrat Karen Green, who faced questions over degrees she claimed she had earned.

So far, only Allek Pastrana, a computer engineer, has filed to run as a Democrat in Mills district. Pastrana raised just about $6,000 to Mills $319,000.

Lynn Moira Dictor, chair of the Seminole Democrats, said she expected another candidate to enter the race soon but could not divulge details.

Ending the supermajority

The state House is where the hardest-fought battle will be in 2024.

First and foremost, weve got to win those six seats to break out of a super-minority, said Aaron Jacobs, executive director of the Florida Leadership Council, a group of former Democratic officeholders, officials and activists.

The group has already issued its first primary endorsements, including Marucci Guzman in the special election for a vacant seat in District 35 in eastern Orange and Osceola counties and Sarah Henry in District 38 in southern Seminole County.

These [two] districts are certainly crucial to winning those six seats, Jacobs said.

Guzman and former 2022 candidates Rishi Bagga and Tom Keen are running in the special election for the Democratic primary in November for District 35, left vacant when former Republican state Rep. Fred Hawkins resigned to take a college president position.

The special general election in January could be a major bellwether for whether donors across the state and the country decide to invest in the 2024 races, Jacobs said.

Specials are tough because Republicans are going to point all of their firepower and spend tons of money on this race, Jacobs said. But it is winnable for Democrats. And being able to flip a Republican district in January of 2024 would certainly send a really strong message.

Two challengers

Henry, 27, a nonprofit project manager from Altamonte Springs who lost to incumbent Republican state Rep. David Smith by less than 5 points in 2022, said she has raised about $70,000 so far in her bid to take on Smith again. Smith had raised about $60,000 as of the last filing period in June.

Even though were a year out, even though were in between legislative sessions, were hearing directly from folks who know what bills were passed, who know how their legislator voted on bills, Henry said. People are frustrated with whats happening in Tallahassee, and more than just being frustrated, theyre very aware of whats happening.

The six-week abortion ban passed this year and signed by DeSantis, which would take effect if the state Supreme Court rules against a challenge to the prior 15-week ban, has made people furious, Henry said.

The ban could do for Florida in 2024 what the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs decision, which overturned abortion protections in Roe v. Wade, did for Democrats nationally in 2022, Shannon said.

[Itll be] a real test case of whether its as toxic with voters as we think it is, Shannon said.

In District 37, which includes parts of Seminole and Orange counties, the only Democrat to have filed is Nate Douglas, a 22-year-old policy researcher and former Soil and Water Conservation District member.

The seat was held by former state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith until his defeat by GOP state Rep. Susan Plasencia last year. Douglas said he has raised about $35,000, while Plasencia had raised about $20,000 as of the last filing period in June.

The Democratic Party recognizes, and this is something that the other party does not recognize, that theres going to be a new generation of voters coming up, said Douglas, whose seat would include the University of Central Florida.

Slots left to fill

Dictor called Douglas a fantastic candidate and praised Henry as well. But the northern Seminole district held by Republican state Rep. Rachel Plakon still had no Democratic challenger, as did the district in western Seminole and Orange held by Republican state Rep. Doug Bankson.

We have to have all four filled, said Dictor said.  We know, and the Florida party actually knows, that Seminole County holds the key to flipping the supermajority so were not so underwater in Tallahassee. And they have made a commitment to our county to help us get these candidates to the finish line.

On the Orange County side, county party chair Samuel Vilchez Santiago also stressed the importance of finding a good candidate against Bankson as well as Amesty, who the Orlando Sentinel reported has left a trail of falsehoods on taxes, bills and the university she works for and has been sued by a legislative aide for alleged defamation.

Weve had really good conversations [with] people who have grown up in those areas, people who will bring real strengths to the Legislature, and also people who understand both the policy and the politics of what it means to run for office here in Florida in 2024, Vilchez Santiago said.

Isbell said the Amesty seat is a juicy target, especially after all the drama, but a seat that includes GOP-leaning, upper-income neighborhoods such as Windermere not be the best use of Democrats limited funds.

Democrats can do some television ads that just broadly promote Democrats, and can hit multiple districts at once, Isbell said. But some seats are just better opportunities than others.

Stipanovich said regaining lost ground will be long and difficult for the party.

Theyre going to pull a rabbit out of a hat here, Stipanovich said. The Republicans didnt pull a rabbit out of a hat. It took a couple of decades. Its going to be a long, hard slog.

The Republican Party of Florida did not respond to a request for comment.

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  On Nov. 1, 1993, Roslin Kruse was found dead on the shoulder of a road in Gibsonton, Florida, having been strangled to death.

Now, nearly 30 years later, detectives in Hillsborough County say they have identified the man they believed murdered the 23-year-old woman thanks to a significant breakthrough.

In the realm of law enforcement, there are few challenges as daunting as solving a cold case that has lingered for nearly three decades, Sheriff Chad Chronister said.

Angry customer kills auto shop owner 2 years after service: police

Kruse was last seen alive on Nov. 1, 1993, entering a vehicle with an unknown person. The sheriffs office traced this vehicle to a home in Tampa.

Investigators said a man named Michael Rizzo, who lived less than a mile from where the victims body was found, had picked up Kruse on the day of her death. But Rizzo, too, had maintained she was alive the last time he saw her.

Deputies said a polygraph examination and conflicting accounts between Rizzo and his girlfriend found that he was not being truthful.

Rizzo was never convicted, and ultimately died on March 1, 2011, in Orange County.

Then, a breakthrough came in November 2021, when investigators obtained a DNA sample from Rizzos daughter. Her sample matched an unknown DNA sample that was found on Kruses body.

After nearly 30 years, this evidence allowed authorities to positively identify Rizzo as the man who strangled Kruse to death.

Detectives spoke to Kruses family in Ponte Vedra, Florida, after closing the case.

This investigation demonstrates the commitment of our cold case investigators to bring justice to victims and their families, no matter how much time has passed, said Sheriff Chad Chronister. We extend our deepest condolences to Ms. Kruses family, and we hope the resolution of this case can provide them some closure.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
Belarus is planning to organize a visit for foreign representatives at locations where Ukrainian children taken from regions temporarily occupied by Russia are kept, the Foreign Ministry said on Sept. 30.

The visits will reportedly take place on Oct. 4 at the so-called "places of residence, education, and rehabilitation" of Ukrainian children from the cities of Lysychansk and Sieverodonetsk.

"This measure aims to legalize the illegal movement of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said. "According to international law, the forced deportation of children can be qualified as a war crime."

The Foreign Ministry urged state representatives who have received invitations to refrain from participating.

According to official estimates, Russia has abducted over 20,000 children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, although the actual number is likely much higher.

Belarusian authorities have confirmed hosting over 1,000 children from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

Belarus claims the children, taken from the occupied parts of Ukraines occupied regions, have reportedly been relocated for so-called recreational programs, a term falsely employed by both Moscow and Minsk to justify their abductions.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Russian Childrens Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for organizing the illegal transfers.

The European Parliament called on the ICC in mid-September to issue an arrest warrant against Lukashenko for his complicity in the crime.

The head of the Red Cross Belarusian branch, Dzmitryi Shautsou, has also confirmed his organizations involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies recommended he step down until the investigation into his support for Russias war is concluded.

Read also: This Week in Ukraine Ep. 13  How, and why, Russia kidnaps thousands of Ukrainian children

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Former Anaheim City Councilman Jordan Brandman, who became the city's first out gay council member after he was first elected in 2012, was found dead at his home Friday night, officials said.

Police responded to Brandman's home about 7:45 p.m. after receiving a request for a welfare check, according to a statement from the city. Officers found the 43-year-old Brandman unresponsive.

There were no signs of foul play, but the cause of death remains under investigation, officials said.

"It is with sorrow and sadness that we learned of the passing of former Council Member Brandman," Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said in a news release. "Any loss of life in our city is a tragedy, and my heart goes out to all who knew Jordan and who are now coping with the news of his passing."

After serving his first term, Brandman lost his bid for reelection in 2016 by 72 votes. He got a new job working for a consulting firm co-owned by a prominent lobbyist who did work in Anaheim.

In 2018, Brandman was reelected to the City Council. But he resigned in 2021 after texts he sent using crude and sexist language to disparage another council member became public.

Brandman struggled with mental health issues during his second term in office and at one point took time off from work.

Police conducted welfare checks at his apartment on two separate occasions during this time.

Buena Park Councilman Connor Traut said Saturday that he considered Brandman a close friend.

"Even during those times when it seemed his whole world was falling apart around him, he had a very caring heart," Traut said. "Jordan meant the world to a lot of people. I wouldn't be where I am without him."

Traut mentioned that Brandman seemed optimistic for the future, especially as his friend just recently moved to a new home. Traut had planned a surprise housewarming visit to Brandman when he learned of his passing.

Brandman's death comes amid a sprawling FBI investigation into political corruption in Anaheim that became public in 2022.

Since that time, three people have pleaded guilty to corruption-related criminal charges, including Harry Sidhu, the city's former mayor.

Before his death, Brandman gave a tell-all story to The Times about the extensive influence of lobbyists on city politics based on his experiences in office.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The long-time chief financial officer for Clinicas del Camino Real has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the nonprofit health system, claiming she was fired for telling her employers they were violating fiscal guidelines in federal contracts.

The lawsuit, filed Sept. 19 in Ventura County Superior Court, alleges Chris Velasco was wrongfully terminated in an act of retaliation and discrimination. It comes on the heels of a federal investigation that concluded her ouster was payback for allegations involving CEO Dr. Gagan Pawar and Board President Chuck Hookstra.

Velasco told the investigators she complained to Pawar and others that the board, as a governing body, did not have the authority to purchase services for Clinicas but did so anyway. She alleged the board didn't put contracts out to bid but instead awarded them to friends and colleagues. She said Pawar signed off on the transactions.

The investigation by the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has been submitted to the agencys leader, Secretary Xavier Becerra, for a final decision. Pawar said the health system was still awaiting that decision.

The CEO said she couldnt comment on the lawsuit because it's a pending legal matter but earlier offered a denial to similar claims made in the federal investigative report.

"We do not accept any allegations of Clinicas wrongdoing in this report, which has not yet been adopted or acted upon by the agency itself," she wrote in a text.

Allegations against the health system mounted days after the lawsuit was filed when board member Candelaria Franco called for the resignation of Pawar, Hookstra and the Clinicas board's executive committee.

In a letter, Franco alleged the executive committee submitted false information to government agencies and also withheld information from the full board regarding the decision to release former CEO Roberto Juarez two years ago after more than 40 years of service.

Pawar did not respond to Francos allegations but said in a statement that Clinicas follows all applicable laws and regulations.

Founded more than a half-century ago, the system of clinics received $14.5 million in federal funding last year to provide care to under-served populations. The network sees more than 100,000 patients a year.

Pawar, who had been the systems medical director, was named acting and then permanent CEO in 2021 after Clinicas directors opted not to renew Juarez's contract.

Velasco, hired in 1985, was a vital player at the system for decades, sometimes serving as interim CEO in Juarez's absence. In the lawsuit, she alleged Pawar was not qualified to serve as CEO and said the board violated its own bylaws in hiring her.

Velasco was fired in September 2021. She said Clinicas leaders knew before they fired her she filed multiple whistleblower complaints with the federal government, detailing her concerns about retaliation and Clinicas' alleged violations.

Chris did what she needed to do, said her attorney Laura Horton who specializes in whistleblower cases. I think the person who blows the whistle, theyre one of the most courageous people around. They are doing what is right and the company is vilifying them for it.

Velasco, who is 62, alleged her age and Mexican-American ethnicity contributed to her termination and claimed the factors also played a role in Juarezs removal. She asserted Pawar and others harassed her in the form of bullying and constant criticism, also spreading falsehoods in alleged defamation.

The former chief financial officer is asking for damages and compensation to cover back pay, economic losses, emotional distress, legal fees and other impacts.

Franco, a board member since 2018, called for immediate resignations of Pawar, Hookstra and other leaders in a Sept. 21 letter to the Clinicas board. She alleged the board's executive committee submitted a letter with false information to the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services regarding the leadership change from Juarez to Pawar. She also alleged multiple other violations and asserted care at the clinics has deteriorated since Pawar became CEO.

In a phone interview, Franco said she has also made the allegations in a whistleblower complaint filed with the Office of Inspector General.

"I am submitting this letter in fear of retaliation. I fear that I will be removed from the (board of directors) and/or that there will be efforts to intimidate me or something worse," she wrote to the board.

Pawar did not address any specific claims. She praised the system's care, cited its growth and offered a blanket denial.

We have an unwavering commitment to ensure all our actions continue to be in full compliance with all the applicable laws and regulations governing our industry," she said.

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ex-CFO sues Clinicas over firing; alleges discrimination, retaliation
Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) weighed in on the government shutdown drama between conservatives and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Hours after McCarthys bill to avert a government shutdown was voted down by many Republicans, Walsh appeared on CNN. Walsh said he thinks the drama has been fueled by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) hatred for the speaker.

He hates McCarthy  to put it bluntly this Friday evening, Walsh said on CNN. Matt Gaetz cant stand Kevin McCarthy.

Walsh said he thinks the government shutdown battle stems from Gaetzs personal agenda.

Matt Gaetz is already trying to run for governor of Florida. This is about promotion of the Gaetz brand, Walsh said.

In recent weeks Gaetz has held up passing appropriations bills, pausing the process for the government to fund itself as it nears a deadline at the end of the week. He has called for a motion for McCarthy to vacate his chair as Speaker, and the pair have exchanged heated words behind closed doors.

Look, very few House Republicans really respect McCarthy. They always have had a hard time believing that you can trust his word. They know he wants to be Speaker more than anything. Gaetz is just verbalizing that better than anyone else, and theyve been making life miserable for him ever since, Walsh said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE)  Former University of Tennessee System President Joseph E. Joe Johnson died Friday, according to a release from the university. He was 90 years old.

The university said Johnson worked for the University of Tennessee for more than 50 years, including serving as system president from 1990 to 1999 before returning as interim president from 2003 to 2004.

He was groomed as president of the University while working for long-time presidents Andy Holt and Ed Boling, and he is considered the architect of the UT System structure, created in 1968. In 2014, the UT Board of Trustees presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The release said.

Johnson was well known for his popularity with the UT Alumni Association and his acumen as a fundraiser and advocate for the university.

Oliver Anthony concert takes over Smokies Stadium with thousands in attendance

Current UT System President Randy Boyd shared the news on social media, paying kind words about Johnsons legacy.

It is with a heavy heart that we mourn President Emeritus Joe Johnson. His legacy as a tireless advocate for higher education will continue to inspire generations to come. His memory will forever be etched in the history of our institution, Boyd wrote.

In addition to all of his work, while he was president, the university reached several milestones, such as its bicentennial in 1994 and the completion of the 21st-century campaign that raised $432 million in 1998. An award was even named in Johnsons honor for UT employees to mark 50 years of service: the Joe Johnson Lifetime Service Award, which was first given out in 2013.

The University of Tennessee provided a long record of Johnsons accolades.

Chancellor Donde Plowman also remembered on Johnsons life on social media, saying:

He has been the mentor for each one of us who has followed him in leadership positions at the university. So cheerful, so interested in others, so inspiring, such a courageous leader. The stories of Joe Johnson and the type of leader he was will live on and on.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
This is a locator map for the Gulf Cooperation Council member states: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A fourth Bahraini soldier has died of wounds from an attack earlier this week by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted forces patrolling Saudi Arabia's southern border, the island kingdom said late Friday.

The state-run Bahrain News Agency, citing a military statement, identified the slain soldier as 1st Lt. Hamad Khalifa al-Kubaisi.

Al-Kubaisi succumbed to the injuries he had suffered as a result of the Houthi act of aggression last Monday, while performing his sacred patriotic duties defending the southern borders of Saudi Arabia, the statement said.

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have not claimed the attack. The attack on Monday, which also wounded a number of soldiers, threatened recent progress in winding down Saudi Arabias eight-year war against the Houthis.

The Saudi-led military coalition said it had the right to respond at the appropriate time and place. However, there has been no such response yet amid efforts to reach a peace deal to end the war. Saudi Arabia also sought to blame elements of the Houthis, not the overall power structure of the rebel group.

Yemens war began in 2014 when the Houthis swept down from their northern stronghold and seized the capital, Sanaa, along with much of the countrys north. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.

The fighting soon devolved into a stalemated proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, causing widespread hunger and misery in Yemen, which even before the conflict had been the Arab worlds poorest country. The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the worlds worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.

Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations earlier this year in a deal brokered by China. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia welcomed a Houthi delegation for peace talks, saying the negotiations has positive results."

A U.N.-brokered cease-fire largely halted the violence, and Yemen has seen only sporadic clashes since the truce expired nearly a year ago.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German healthcare group Fresenius said it was examining whether the state aid it received to help offset high energy costs at its hospitals business would bar it from making management bonus and dividend payments.

"Fresenius is examining the pertinent rules and the legal repercussions very carefully at the moment," a company spokesperson said in a statement, adding it would discuss the matter with a new German regulatory body.

In an interview with Sunday paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung made available to Reuters, CEO Michael Sen was asked how the group would deal with a legal provision that bonus and dividend payments could not be paid by companies that accepted state aid.

"The law is complex and not entirely clear," Sen was quoted as saying. When asked whether the company would legally challenge any ban on payouts, he said that would have to be analysed.

The company paid an unchanged annual dividend of 0.92 euros a share this year, or 518 million euros in total. It has a policy of increasing the payout per share in line with currency-adjusted growth in earnings per share, at least maintaining the previous year's level.

During the first half of 2023 German hospitals of the group's Helios division received 88 million euros ($93 million) in government aid to compensate for a rise in energy costs, according to its financial report.

The spokesperson said the assessment would inform a decision on whether state aid will be accepted during the second half. The company declined to comment further.

The Helios unit posted earnings before interest and tax of 622 million euros in the first half against 609 million a year earlier.

CEO Sen took over a year ago and has been restructuring the group, which was hit by a decline in earnings at its kidney dialysis division.

He has been cutting costs, is seeking to reduce the group's financial debt, and is looking into selling smaller non-core businesses to focus on generic drugs unit Kabi and hospitals operator Helios.

($1 = 0.9451 euros)

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Jan Harvey)
TAIYUAN, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Prominent travel platforms reporting full bookings, bustling queues in international departure halls at airports, and Chinese tourists flocking to popular global destinations... China's outbound tourism market is certainly brimming with exhilaration.

Wang Shihua from Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, has joined the wave of tourists during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, lasting from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6.

After spending the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese festival usually marked by reunions which fell on Friday this year, at home, he flew to Thailand together with his family. During their six-day trip, Wang plans to visit popular attractions including the Grand Palace, as well as savor Thai massage and local cuisine.

"I visited Thailand several years ago, and the experience left me with great memories. Now that my city has opened direct flights to Thailand, I have got to visit it again," Wang said.

China's outbound tourism during the National Day "golden week" holiday has shown a "blowout" growth. According to data from China's leading travel platforms, including Trip.com Group and Fliggy, orders for overseas trips during the eight-day holiday surged nearly 20 times compared with the same period last year.

As one of the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists, Thailand announced a five-month visa-free policy for Chinese tourists in September. Since then, the number of travel inquiries and bookings for the Southeast Asian nation has continued to grow, ranking among the top destinations for outbound travel during the ongoing holiday.

Li Gaochao, assistant general manager of a major international travel agency in Shanxi, said that the visa-free policy saves around 500 yuan (about 69.64 U.S. dollars) in travel costs. After Chinese travel agencies and online tourism service providers resumed offering group tours to an expanded range of countries and regions in August, travel routes to Central and East Africa, as well as Europe, have gained popularity. Additionally, tour packages for Middle Eastern destinations like Dubai were fully booked early September.

Representatives from numerous countries have flocked to China to attract customers, capitalizing on the swift resurgence of the country's outbound tourism market. Recently, the national tourist boards of countries such as Denmark, Finland and Sweden, and the European Travel Commission joined hands with China's online travel agency Mafengwo to attract tourists to Northern Europe.

In mid-September, the Korea Tourism Organization signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Trip.com Group. It is expected that during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, the number of outbound tourists to the Republic of Korea will usher in the annual peak.

Industry insiders believe that with the change in consumption preferences, Chinese tourists are more inclined to in-depth experiences and high-quality services, so flexible private group tours have become more popular during this holiday season.

Zhao Wenzhi, president of GZL International Travel Service Ltd., located in south China's Guangdong Province, said that tourists' demand for high-end outbound tourism is increasing, and some quality small-group routes with scarce tourism elements are expected to become dark horses over the "golden week."

Zhao's viewpoint is backed by data from travel platforms, revealing a substantial increase in the number of group tour bookings to countries such as Uzbekistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Sri Lanka and Kenya during this period compared to 2019.

Experts pointed out that as the world's largest source of outbound tourists, China's resumption of outbound group tours will play a positive role in promoting the recovery of the global tourism industry.

According to the 2023 Global Consumer Insights Survey China Report released by global auditing and consultancy firm PwC, to a much greater extent than their global counterparts, 62 percent of Chinese consumers expected they would increase spending on travel. More than 50 percent of them anticipated they were likely or extremely likely to travel on an international flight in the next six months. It will bring significant opportunities for the global tourism, hospitality and retail sectors.

"The gradual return of Chinese tourists around the world will inject recovery momentum into the global economy," said Zhang Yang, who works with the China Tourism Academy. 
Fresno in California is now the second US city to ban caste discrimination as authorities marked caste and indigeneity under two new protected categories into its municipal code.

The caste system  one of the oldest forms of social stratification that denies basic dignity and human rights to lower castes  is increasingly coming under scrutiny in the US by activists who oppose the discriminatory system and its practice across the country and have called it another form of racism.

Fresno city council vice president Annalisa Perea said she is proud of the Californian city for raising the bar on civil rights protection.

While we acknowledge that discrimination wont end overnight, our City took bold action by passing this anti-discrimination policy to strengthen civil rights protections against caste discrimination, she said in a press release.

Other local leaders cheered the categorisation which will protect people subjected to caste discrimination.

It is an honour and a dream to have brought freedom for so many peoples in Fresno with this historic win, Amar Daroch, president of local Sikh temple Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha, said in a news release.

There are so many of us who are survivors of global caste systems, the Fresno resident said.

Earlier this year, Seattle became the first US city to outlaw caste discrimination.

In late August, the state assembly in California cleared a bill in the US state aiming to ban caste discrimination. After near-unanimous voting, it was also passed by the state Senate in early September.

The bill now awaits a signature from governor Gavin Newsom.

Once signed into law, the bill will deem California the first US state to ban caste discrimination.

In Canada, a city council vote and Torontos school board have recognised that caste discrimination existed in the citys schools.

The caste system dates back thousands of years and critics and activists say that to this day, it continues to offer many privileges to upper castes and represses lower castes.

Mostly practised in India, the Dalit community is on the lowest rung of the Hindu caste system, with its members treated as untouchables and having been subjected to several forms of violence.

While India outlawed caste discrimination decades ago, several studies in recent years showed bias persists. One study found people from lower castes were underrepresented in higher-paying jobs.

Dalits still face widespread abuse across India, where their attempts at upward social mobility have at times been violently put down.
Sikhs in Fresno and across California have joined residents of Oaxacan descent in working to outlaw caste-based discrimination, which both have been subject to. (Gary Kazanjian / Associated Press)

As a teenager picking apples in the Central Valley town of Mendota, Miguel Arias was puzzled when Mexican farmers yelled the insult Oaxaquita" at Oaxacans working in the fields.

His parents explained that in Mexico, the system of casta persisted, with some people looking down on those with darker skin or Indigenous heritage.

As a Mexican immigrant, I just thought we were all Mexicans, and we were all immigrants, said Arias, a Fresno City Council member who immigrated from Michoacan when he was 2 years old. Discrimination that Indigenous people in Mexico got  for lack of a better description, it was the dirty secret among our Mexican immigrant community.

On Thursday, Arias and his council colleagues voted to make Fresno the first city in California to ban discrimination based on caste or Indigenous heritage, while a similar bill sits on Gov. Gavin Newsom 's desk.

The state bill, which passed the Legislature in early September, was intended to protect supposedly lower-caste people of South Asian descent as well as Indigenous people like Oaxacans. It has sparked intense support, as well as opposition from those who say it singles out Hindu Americans as potential perpetrators of discrimination.

In Fresno, the push for the ban was led at first by Sikh residents, whose religion rejects the idea of castes, and the Ravidassia community, who are followers of a 14th century Indian guru who preached caste equality. People of Oaxacan descent soon joined them, as discrimination against those with ties to the southern Mexican state gained widespread attention with the leak of a recording that captured three Los Angeles City Council members and a labor leader in a racist conversation.

Read more: For Oaxacans in L.A., City Council members' racist remarks cut deep

These proposals in Fresno are trying to say we have an opportunity to address ... this historical legacy of discrimination against untouchables and against Indigenous people, said Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, a Oaxacan American who is director of the Center for Mexican Studies at UCLA, as well as a board member at the Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities, which was among the groups advocating for the Fresno ordinance.

When Spain colonized Mexico, it established the Sistema de Castas, according to Rivera-Salgado. Those born in Spain as pure Spaniards were at the top, followed by Spaniards born in Mexico. Indigenous groups were near the bottom, along with Black people.

During the colonial period, the Spaniards implemented this system that resembled very much the system of India, where Brahmins are at the top and Dalits, or untouchables, are at the bottom, Rivera-Salgado said.

In the leaked recording, then-L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez described Oaxacans as little short dark people and tan feos"  so ugly. Then-L.A. County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera referred to them as Indios, or Indians.

They were speaking disparagingly about Oaxacans. Why?" State Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Hayward), author of the state caste discrimination bill, said of Martinez and Herrera. "Because caste systems exist all over the world, and they may have a different look or a vibe to it, but the discrimination happens, and I think Oaxacans can appreciate that this bill would also protect them in some regard as well."

Luis Lopez Resendiz, program director for the Indigenous interpreter program at the L.A. Indigenous organization CIELO, said his dad insisted that he dominate Spanish as a way to hide his Indigenous identity. His father had often been called Indio or Oaxaquita.

People hated me when I was speaking my own language in the streets, Lopez Resendiz recalled his dad telling him. People tried to shame me because of who I am. I dont want that for you.

But schoolmates still made fun of Lopez Resendiz, guessing that he was Oaxacan from the design of his huaraches, he said. Only in college did he begin to speak openly about his background.

Read more: Im Mexican American. But the L.A. City Council audio leak reminded me that Im Oaxacan too

Advocates for the Oaxacan community have long pushed back against the discrimination. In 2012, the Oxnard school district prohibited the words  Oaxaquita  and  Indito , or little Indian, from being used on school property.

Arcenio Lopez, executive director of Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project, which pushed for the resolution in Oxnard, recalled hearing the epithet Oaxaquita when he came to California from Oaxaca in 2003 and worked in the strawberry fields.

Many of those youths were facing similar experiences I faced as a farmworker, but in the classroom, he said. They felt they didnt belong to the school system, because other classmates were making fun of them.

Tens of thousands of Sikhs and Oaxacans, many of them farmers or farmworkers, live in Fresno County and the Central Valley. The two communities have worked together for years.

Read more: A Central Valley high school goes Bollywood

The racist audio leak in L.A. and the passage of a caste discrimination ban in Seattle inspired the two groups to push for the Fresno ordinance.

When groups have shared a common experience of inequity and being treated as less than, right away they can understand each others pain," said Deep Singh, executive director of the Jakara Movement.

But the state caste discrimination bill, SB 403, has provoked outrage from some Hindu residents.

Satish Vale, a national convenor with Americans4Hindus and an IT consultant in Santa Clara, said existing laws already protect against discrimination based on caste. The bill imposes the idea of caste, when Indian Americans are trying to move away from it, he said.

"When we came from India, we dont have the caste anywhere represented in our identity cards or in our passports or in our degrees, Vale said. "Caste is like an N-word for us."

In Fresno, there was little opposition to the city caste discrimination measure, which passed 6 to 0.

At a news conference Thursday after the City Council vote, leaders of the Jakara Movement and the Binational Center for the Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities called for Newsom to sign SB 403.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, who has been on a hunger strike for nearly a month as she awaits Newsom's decision, was among the advocates for the bill who joined the news conference.

"When we think about things like the casta system, things that led to genocide, things that led to the othering of Indigenous people, we see ourselves in their struggle as caste-oppressed people," Soundararajan said, "because we, too, have been oppressed for centuries."

Times staff writer Suhauna Hussain contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Soldier and photographer Volodymyr Myroniuk, call sign "John," was killed on the front lines near Kurdiumivka in Donetsk Oblast, journalist Yurii Butusov reported via Facebook on Sept. 29.

Myroniuk, aged 59, was an independent photographer who documented Ukrainian soldiers at the front.

Butusov, who is the editor-in-chief of Censor.net, described Myroniuk as a "hero photographer" who "thanked every soldier he met with photographs."

According to Butusov, Myroniuk was Ukrainian but worked for many years as a long-haul truck driver in the United States and had U.S. citizenship. He came to Ukraine to photograph protestors during the EuroMaidan Revolution.

"He loved brave people who risked themselves for high goals, and he was glad to be able to capture the real faces of real heroes in moments of great challenge," Butusov said.

Myroniuk filed his last report a few days ago from an infantry position that was heavily shelled by Russian forces. Butusov said Myroniuk died with "camera in hand," and that his body could not be retrieved for three days due to the intensity of the shelling.

Friends of Myroniuk are hoping to organize an exhibition of his war photography, Butusov said.

"Volodymyr Myroniuk's archive contains unique footage of many Ukrainian heroes, wonderful portraits with many stories behind them," he said.

Read also: Russia is covering Ukraine with landmines. Clearing them will be extremely difficult

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) blasted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over chaos in spending negotiations, accusing the Speaker of making too many contradictory promises to fund the government.

A government shutdown will start at midnight Sunday, unless a last-minute spending bill passes both the House and Senate, which is unlikely.

It is by design that Kevin McCarthy brought us to this moment, to put our backs against the wall as part of shutdown politics, Gaetz said in an CNBC interview Friday.

I am concerned that he hasnt been true to a deal he made to become Speaker of the House, he said. We made him agree to spending guardrails. He has blown through those guardrails, and even worse, Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises to the White House, to appropriators, to House conservatives.

Gaetz was referencing the controversial deal McCarthy made in order to win enough votes to become House Speaker, after over a dozen failed votes  which ceded significant influence to hard-line conservatives.

In negotiations over the debt ceiling months later, McCarthy made a deal with Democrats to keep federal budget cuts small. His budget proposals now go beyond the terms negotiated in that bipastian deal, to the ire of Democrats, while they still dont go far enough to please Gaetz and other House conservatives.

The Florida lawmaker and other GOP holdouts have framed a shutdown as a way to stop government overspending and force legislators to make significant cuts. The Senate passed a short-term funding bill with bipartisan support on Thursday.

A government shutdown would shutter most government offices and services, including most national parks, as well as force employees deemed essential  including active duty military, border patrol and TSA agents  to work without pay.

I dont want a shutdown. Im not a cheerleader for a shutdown, Gaetz said. It looks like were going to have one, I want it to be as short as possible, but I know the only way to rescue ourselves from financial ruin is to pass single-subject spending bills that are able to be reviewed at a programmatic level.

Its nothing personal, Ill still send [McCarthy] a Christmas card, but we do need compliance with the agreement he made for fiscal sanity, he added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
U.S. General Mark Milley formally transferred responsibility as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to General C.Q. Brown on Sept. 29, the Pentagon announced.

The chairman is the highest-ranking member of the U.S. military. Milley served in the role for four years before retiring on Sept. 29.

In a speech thanking the general for his service, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Milley "led the world to help Ukraine fight back after Russia's imperial invasion."

Milley also mentioned Ukraine in his farewell remarks.

"We supported Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Putin's war of aggression and strengthened the NATO alliance," he said.

Milley recently spoke with CNN about the Ukrainian counteroffensive, saying there was still time to achieve results and reporting that Russia had amassed over 200,000 troops in Ukraine's occupied territories.

Milley's successor, General C.Q. Brown, was formerly the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff. He was tapped for the chairman role by U.S. Presidnet Joe Biden in May.

"We must focus on integrating our military power within our services, across the joint force, and with our allies and partners to deter aggression," Brown said at the transfer ceremony.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the Defence Committee at the German Bundestag, has urged the German government to give long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine because she believes that Ukraine has the right to attack targets on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Source: Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann in an interview with Funke-Mediengruppe; European Pravda, with reference to Merkur

Details: Strack-Zimmermann said that the Ukrainian army can deploy Taurus missiles to severely disrupt Russian military logistics. She added it was time to recognise that Kyiv has the right to launch missiles to strike targets on the territory of Russia.

Quote: "International law also allows Ukraine to attack military targets on the territory of the Russian aggressor  regardless of where these weapons were produced and who supplied them."

Details: Strack-Zimmermann also warned German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against further delays in sending missiles to Ukraine after six months of discussions.

"Each of us has weighed everything up [to decide whether to supply Taurus missiles to Ukraine]. But delaying it would only prolong suffering," she explained.

Background:

On 25 September, Bild reported that the main challenge preventing Germany from giving long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine was the time it takes to train Ukrainian military personnel and the specialists who have to set the missile targets.

It was earlier reported that Germany was not opposed to giving Taurus missiles to Ukraine and was considering the possibility of doing so.

Though the United States and Germany are discussing the supply of ATACMS and Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine, they believe this raises a number of "sensitive issues".

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
Germany has hit back at Elon Musk after the billionaire businessman waded into the countrys debate on migration.

Musk reshared a post on the platform X, formerly Twitter, that criticized German NGO operations in the Mediterranean for unloading illegal immigrants in Italy.

The post also called for a victory for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the next elections.

There are currently 8 German NGO ships in the Mediterranean Sea collecting illegal immigrants to be unloaded in Italy. These NGOs are subsidized by the German government. Lets hope AfD wins the elections to stop this European suicide, the post from an X account with the handle Radio Genoa read.

Sharing the post to his 158 million followers on Friday, Musk, who owns the social media platform, wrote: Is the German public aware of this?

Hitting back at his comment, the German Foreign Office took to X to write: Yes. And its called saving lives.

Musk doubled down on his criticism on Saturday, writing in another post: Frankly, I doubt that a majority of the German public supports this.

Migrants walk past a housing block at Brandenburg's Central Immigration Authority center, in Eisenhuttenstadt, eastern Germany. - Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Musks comments come with Berlin locked in a spat with Italy over NGO sea operations.

Earlier this month, Germanys Interior Ministry said it would postpone until further notice its intake of migrants coming via Italy under a European voluntary solidarity plan.

Speaking at the sidelines of the 10th summit for MED9 countries on Friday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned that problems regarding migration will never be solved completely if every country thinks of unloading it on another.

Leaders of the MED9, which includes France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Croatia and Slovenia, gathered in Valletta, Malta, on Friday.

Meloni said she spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday and said it seemed Germany was taking half a step back.

For us redistribution has never been the priority, for me the problem will never be solved completely if every country thinks of unloading it on another. The only way to solve everyones problem is the work were doing on the external dimension, Meloni said.

Following Fridays meetings, the MED-9 released a joint statement outlining the need to respond rapidly to the recent challenge of increasing arrivals through Mediterranean routes.

The statement said short and medium-term solutions were needed and called on the European Union (EU) to effectively reduce primary movements and prevent departures, to improve the rate of returns of failed asylum seekers, and to address the root causes of irregular migration.

Every year, tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty risk the treacherous route in search of safety and better economic prospects.

In many cases, their vessels are overcrowded and unfit for the journey, and the need to rescue migrants on board often leads to disputes between countries about who should take them in.

CNNs Jessie Gretener, Sharon Braithwaite, and Barbie Nadeau contributed reporting.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
HARARE, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Six miners died and 15 others were trapped after a mine collapsed Friday morning in Chegutu District, Mashonaland West Province, a top government official has confirmed.

Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Polite Kambamura told the state broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation on Friday night that a total of 34 miners were trapped after the collapse at Beyhose Mine, but 13 had managed to get out.

Six bodies had been recovered while efforts were underway to account for the other 15 people trapped underground. 
If one were to believe the op-ed published Wednesday by General Motors President Mark Reuss ("GM president fires back: 'Flow of misinformation' could prolong UAW strike," Detroit Free Press, Sept. 20), autoworkers in the U.S. are living in the lap of luxury. We have nothing to complain about, let alone strike over. Unfortunately for Mr. Reuss, his claims about the wages and conditions of rank-and-file autoworkers are demonstrably false.

According to Reuss, the vast majority of GM workers make "more than $150,000 a year" when factoring in overtime and benefits, and have ample vacation time, great retirement benefits and job security. It is wrong, he said, to claim that "record profits go toward fueling corporate greed." It is a "fundamental reality" that workers' demands are "untenable" because the company cannot afford them, states Reuss.

But what do workers actually confront?

First, the pre-tax wage for a temp at GM is $16.67 an hour, or $34,000 a year. Full-time workers who have reached a top rate of $32 only make $66,000 a year, before taxes, which is still not enough to provide for a family in the current cost-of-living crisis. According to the Economic Policy Institute, autoworker wages have fallen 19.3% since 2008 alone  due in large part to past concessions made by the UAW.

A truck waits for striking workers to step aside before driving into the Michigan Assembly Plant on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. The Teamsters support the UAW and are not providing truck service during the strike

If Detroit Three workers were paid in real terms the same as the average autoworker in 1973, we would be making an average of $38 an hour today. The reality is many of us work second jobs, and we are struggling to keep our heads above water. It used to be the case that an auto job was enough to provide for an entire family, but today there are Detroit Three workers and parts workers who are homeless. Speed-ups and grueling 12-hour days have made workplaces much more dangerous, and the companies kept us working through three years of an ongoing pandemic. The companies shut production for a brief period in 2020 after workers went on strike for their own safety.

GM president fires back: 'Flow of misinformation' could prolong UAW strike

If the wages paid by GM are so extraordinarily generous, and if workers are living in comfort, why is it necessary for GM CEO Mary Barra to receive nearly 400 times as much as an average worker? Barras total compensation is $29 million a year, an hourly rate of $13,800. A temp would have to work for 853 years to make what Barra pockets in a year.

If it is true, as Reuss claims, that GM cannot afford to meet workers demands, then how is the company able to find all those millions to pay its executives and shareholders? In the last decade, GM has paid out more than $20 billion in stock buybacks to wealthy shareholders. If that was divided equally among Ford's 57,000 US autoworkers, each would get a bonus of $368,421.

How is UAW strike impacting you? Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

Ruess declares that nobody wins a strike, that the interests of all involved  management, shareholders, workers  could be met if workers simply accepted the offer that GM and the other companies have magnanimously offered to workers. In reality, workers, who produce all the wealth, are engaged in a bitter life and death struggle to survive in a society characterized by unprecedented levels of social inequality.

As for UAW Vice President Mike Booth's reply to Reuss ("UAW to GM: Show me a Big 3 executive who'd work for union pay," Detroit Free Press, Sept. 21) what he covers up is that the UAW bureaucracy agreed to all the concessions workers have been forced to give up over decades. It is now working to prevent the type of battle that is required. Rather than organizing a united fight against all three companies, mobilizing the full strength of the working class, the UAW has only called out three plants, leaving workers on strike isolated, while others are being laid off or victimized.

Will Lehman

The writer is a member of the UAW who is challenging the unions election processes in court.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM president's strike op-ed got it wrong. So did UAW's response.
Felix Herrera Garcia, the husband of the owner of the Bronx day care where a 1-year-old died of suspected fentanyl poisoning, returned Thursday to the United States and was placed under arrest after he was initially taken into custody in Mexico earlier this week.

Herrera Garcia is due to make an initial appearance in federal court in San Diego later Thursday before he is brought to New York where he faces federal charges, along with three others, including his wife, in connection with the death of Nicholas Dominici and the poisonings of three other children at Divino Nino day care.

The death of Dominici highlighted how New York City is awash in fentanyl, which is now the most common drug involved in overdose deaths in the city. In response, Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday he would convene a fentanyl summit next week.

MORE: Husband of owner of Bronx day care where child died of fentanyl arrested in Mexico: Sources

"As opioid use skyrockets, illegal drugs are often contaminated with fentanyl or other dangerous substances, and overdoses have hit historic levels, including in New York City," Adams said. "We cannot allow this crisis to continue taking lives and destroying communities."

Herrera Garcia was seen on surveillance video carrying shopping bags and running from the day care out a back alleyway before first responders arrived to tend to the ailing children, according to prosecutors.

His wife, Grei Mendez, pulled their 2-year-old son from her own day care last year after she worried he was exhibiting signs of fentanyl exposure, law enforcement sources familiar with the case told ABC News. Mendez never reported the suspected exposure to police and did not allow the boy to return to the facility, according to the sources. However, she kept the day care open for other children.

PHOTO: Felix Herrera Garcia was seen running out the back of the day care with garbage bags where a 1-year-old died of fentanyl exposure on Sept. 15, 2023. (U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York)

NYPD officers and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration tracked him to Texas on Sunday, but learned Monday he had managed to slip across the southern border into Rosalia, Mexico. Working with Mexican authorities, the DEA and other federal agents isolated him Tuesday on a bus headed to Sinaloa.

"Felix Herrera was arrested for his alleged role in running a fentanyl mill hidden inside a Bronx daycare, which caused the tragic death of a one-year-old boy and seriously injured three other children," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "Herrera's arrest on the other side of the nation reflects our tireless pursuit of Herrera, who fled the daycare even as the children he abandoned inside were suffering from his poisonous trade."

MORE: 3rd person arrested in Bronx fentanyl day care case, search continues for owner's husband

Herrera Garcia did not go through extradition. Rather, he was expelled by Mexico and walked across the border into California where he was detained by Customs and Border Protection, law enforcement sources familiar with the case told ABC News.

He is charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death in connection with the poisoning of four children under the age of 3. He faces up to life in prison.

Herrera Garcia has been known to law enforcement since last October, when he called 911 to report a 42-year-old man, believed to be his brother, unconscious on a bedroom floor with pills, according to sources. The man later died of an apparent overdose.

Owner of Bronx day care where baby died pulled her child out over fentanyl concerns: Sources originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
This is a KFF Health News story.

Several members of Congress are calling on the Social Security Administration to answer for issuing billions of dollars of payments it says beneficiaries werent entitled to receive  and then demanding the money back.

Many of the recipients are elderly, poor, or disabled and have already spent the money. They have little or no way of repaying it.

The governments got to fix this, said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who chairs a Senate panel that oversees Social Security.

Its a management problem, and people there should be held accountable, Brown added.

Rep. Mike Carey of Ohio, the No. 2 Republican on a House panel that oversees Social Security, called for a congressional hearing on the subject.

We need to have a hearing, he said. The general sense from members is  we do have a problem, weve got to address it, weve got to fix it, he added.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a member of the Committee on Aging, questioned how the volume of overpayments was allowed to grow to more than $20 billion. Is somebody going to be held accountable at the federal level for, you know, messing this up?

Those lawmakers and others commented in the wake of an investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group (CMG) that found many of the nations poorest and most vulnerable, including people receiving disability benefits, have been called on to repay the government sums that can reach tens of thousands of dollars or more.

PHOTO: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is a member of the Senates Committee on Aging. (Cox Media Group)

The Social Security Administration recovered $4.7 billion of overpayments during the 2022 fiscal year but ended that year with $21.6 billion of overpayments still uncollected, according to a November 2022 report by SSAs inspector general.

MORE: Social Security is overpaying billions to people and then demanding the money back

In many cases, the overpayments were the result of errors by the government rather than the person receiving the money, the agency has stated.

For example, in a disclosure covering some of the programs involved  Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, collectively known as OASDI  the agency reported issuing about $2 billion of overpayments in the 2022 fiscal year, of which about $1.5 billion was within agency control.

The beneficiary or third-party provided the information we requested, but we failed to use the data/information to validate accuracy prior to making a payment, the agency reported.

Social Security Administration spokesperson Nicole Tiggemann declined to comment for this article or to arrange an interview with the agencys acting commissioner, Kilolo Kijakazi.

Overwhelmed and Panic-Stricken

For some benefits, recipients are required to keep the Social Security Administration updated about changes in their circumstances  for instance, whether others are giving them food or a place to stay.

Beneficiaries can lose certain benefits if they earn or save too much. For individuals in the Supplemental Security Income program  which supports people with little or no income or other financial resources who are disabled, blind, or at least age 65  having more than $2,000 in the bank is generally disqualifying.

By the time the government catches mistakes, years can pass, and the amounts it says people owe can balloon to staggering levels. Social Security beneficiaries struggling to make ends meet described being overwhelmed and panic-stricken by demands that they repay money they no longer have.

Those who recounted their experiences to KFF Health News and Cox Media Group included a woman with multiple sclerosis, a man with autism, and a former police officer trying to support his family after being shot in the face.

PHOTO: Renee Walker says her mother was disabled by covid-19 and dying of cancer when the Social Security Administration sent her a letter in August saying it would withhold five months of benefits plus additional money to recover an overpayment. (Cox Media Group)

Since that coverage was published and broadcast, almost 200 people have contacted KFF Health News and CMG television stations around the country to share their experiences with Social Security overpayments. Many criticized the system.

I think its disgusting, its vile, its evil, Renee Walker told CMGs WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh.

Walker said her mother, a nurse, was disabled by covid-19 and dying of cancer at age 64 when SSA sent her a letter in August saying it would withhold five months of benefits  $1,214 per month, her entire income  plus an additional $309 to recover an overpayment of $6,379. According to Walker, the Social Security Administration said her mother, Rita Walker, had earned too much money in 2022. Walker said that wasnt true.

What she needed to survive was taken away from her, Walker said, and she passed away penniless.

PHOTO: Nicole Eberhardt, who has been legally blind since birth and receiving Social Security benefits since childhood, was told that the SSA overpaid her by $9,664.50. (Cox Media Group)

Nicole Eberhardt, 39, told WSOC-TV in Charlotte that she has been legally blind since birth and had been receiving benefits since childhood.

Then, in July, the Social Security Administration told her she had been overpaid by $9,664.50. She wondered how that was possible because her employer monitors her wages to make sure she doesnt earn too much.

In August, her monthly benefit check didnt arrive. As a result, she and her family were evicted this month, and they had to split up, she said.

Now I have to pay not only Social Security back, but I have to pay my apartment complex back for the eviction, she said.

Tammy Eichler, a 70-year-old retiree, described sleepless nights after receiving an overpayment notice from SSA demanding she repay $5,575 in retirement benefits.

The agency stopped sending her Social Security checks and told her she wont get another until June 2024.

Its just devastating to us, Eichler told WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio.

Eichler still doesnt understand what went wrong.

Ive been trying to call Social Security and on the phone for like an hour, just on hold every time, Eichler said.

Eichler filed an appeal and waited.

At 60 days, I still didnt hear, she said. So, I called Social Security again. And they said it could take six months to a year because of so many people being involved in this mess. And I said, What are people supposed to do in the meantime?

PHOTO: Tammy Eichler received an overpayment notice from the Social Security Administration demanding she repay $5,575 in retirement benefits. The agency stopped sending her Social Security checks and told her she wouldnt get another until June 2024. (Cox Media Group)

Lawmakers Call for Change

In a Sept. 21 news release, Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) said the Social Security Administration should fix its systems and immediately stop seeking back overpayments.

The Social Security Administration screwed up, and now theyre demanding that seniors pay for the administrations mistakes, Molinaro said.

Demanding repayment is absolutely unfair to the Americans who unknowingly received overpayments from the SSA, and this needs to be addressed immediately, he wrote in a letter to the agencys acting commissioner.

In an interview Sept. 27, Brown, the chairman of a Senate subcommittee on Social Security, said he had taken action in the wake of the CMG-KFF Health News investigation.

Weve let the federal agency know we expect them to stop and not penalize those people, Brown said. They may have been overpaid over the years, but its not like they have a savings account now of those overpaid dollars that they can simply pay back.

Brown said he wanted to push the agency to do the right thing.

Theres a lot of ways to hold their feet to the fire, he said.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), a member of the Senate Finance subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy, said in a statement that the administration needs to keep working to prevent overpayments in the first place while also not causing undue harm on some of the most vulnerable Social Security recipients if overpayments do occur.

In notices informing beneficiaries of overpayments, the government routinely asks people to repay the amount owed within 30 days. People receiving those letters can appeal, ask for a waiver, or request an arrangement that allows them to repay the debt in small increments. Absent such forbearance, the government can reduce or cut off peoples monthly benefit checks.

The Social Security Administration, which issues more than $1 trillion of payments annually, has said its overall payment accuracy is high. The agency is required by law to adjust benefits or recover debts when it establishes that someone has been overpaid, SSA spokesperson Tiggemann said in a Sept. 13 statement for the recent investigative report by KFF Health News and CMG.

The White House did not address questions for this article, including what if anything President Joe Biden is doing about overpayments, how many people are facing overpayment notices, and whether SSA should disclose that number.

Would refer you to SSA, White House spokesperson Michael Kikukawa said.

The agency has declined to say how many people are facing overpayment notices.

Lawmakers said the SSA should disclose that information.

Theyre a government agency, and they need to be transparent, Brown said.

Theyre receiving government money, theyre government employees, and they should give the answers to the American public, Carey said.

As for the more than $20 billion in overpayments, its an outrage, and it should have been caught, said Rep. John Larson of Connecticut, the top Democrat on a House panel that oversees Social Security.

Larson called for Congress to increase funding for the agency.

They need personnel bad, he said.

PHOTO: Rep. John Larson of Connecticut, the top Democrat on a House panel that oversees Social Security, has called for Congress to increase funding for the Social Security Administration. (Cox Media Group)

That echoed the views of SSA employees and advocates for beneficiaries, who said the agency is so understaffed that members of the public have trouble communicating with it  either to submit information or to sort out alleged overpayments.

Were like a ghost town, said Angela Digeronimo, a claims specialist for the SSA in New Jersey and an official in a union for agency employees.

Bill Sweeney, AARPs senior vice president of government affairs, said the overpayments and collections pose a real crisis for people trying to just get by, and Congress should take responsibility.

That includes funding the agency adequately and making sure it has enough people in place who know what theyre doing, who can make these decisions right in the first place.

They need to have some committee hearings, Sweeney said. They need to be focused on this. They need to dig into it.

Jessica LaPointe, an SSA claims specialist in Wisconsin and the president of a union council for agency employees, encouraged Congress to hold hearings. Its a moral imperative that we fix the situation, and its on Congress right now to do that, she said.

Reporters contributing to this investigation: Samantha Manning, Cox Media Group, Washington D.C.; Josh Wade, Cox Media Group; John Bedell, WHIO-TV, Dayton, Ohio; Alyssa Raymond, WPXI-TV, Pittsburgh; Madison Carter, WSOC-TV, Charlotte, North Carolina; Amy Hudak, WPXI-TV, Pittsburgh; Justin Gray, WSB-TV, Atlanta; Jesse Jones, KIRO-TV, Seattle.

Social Security overpayments draw scrutiny and outrage from Congress originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The dysfunction in Washington reached an even higher peak on Saturday, as a New York congressman pulled a fire alarm while Democrats were trying to stall a short-term funding bill.

Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman was the person responsible for the alarm. The Committee on House Administration, which is helmed by Republican lawmakers, said an investigation into why it was pulled is underway.

A spokesperson for Bowman offered an inscrutable explanation for the incident in a statement to Axios reporter Andrew Solender: Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion.

Bowman, for his part, reportedly framed the situation as an accident, saying, I thought the alarm would open the door.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to weigh in. Until I see the video, I have no further comment, he said.

The 45-day spending resolution passed on Saturday afternoon. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy assailed Bowman in a press conference soon after. I think [the Office of Congressional Ethics] should look at this, but this is serious, he said, invoking rioters who were charged after storming the Capitol in 2021 in an attempt to change the course of what was happening in this building.

This should not go without punishment, McCarthy added. This is an embarrassment.

A spokesperson for the Capitol Police said that an investigation into what happened and why continues.

Prior to Saturdays vote, hard-line members of McCarthys party were angling to force him out of the speakershippressure that is likely to continue. Some Democrats had also initially signaled their skepticism to the bill and demanded to give it a thorough read.

It was just dropped upon us at the 11th hour, and our members are of the view that nothing that Republicans have said this year is trustworthy. Nothing, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

The stopgap bill now moves to the Senate for a vote. If it fails to pass, a shutdown is scheduled to begin just after midnight.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Some of the most vulnerable GOP lawmakers have sounded the alarm that a government shutdown could pose a threat to their slim, five-seat majority in the House.

This is the kind of tough situation.  Youre putting one of those swing seats in California and New York into trouble. And we just cant have that. Weve got to win those seats and then take three or four more seats back and have a bigger majority going into 2025, Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Tuesday morning.

But behind the scenes, Republicans believe voters may yet forgive them for not funding the government in time to avert a shutdown. Even as they face early Democratic campaign ads criticizing battleground-district members over the chaos in Washington, Republicans take heart that there's more than a year until November 2024, and a track record that shows voters quickly move on to other things after such shutdowns. They may still have tough elections, but they don't expect the shutdown to play a major role in them.

Were still so far away from next years election, one Republican strategist told NBC News.

While we expect short-term political pain, you know, voters minds  our memories are short, the strategist added.

Democratic-aligned groups have targeted vulnerable Republican House lawmakers in TV ads over the shutdown.

Just as the middle class is getting back on its feet, Juan Ciscomani wants to pull the rug out from under us. He sided with MAGA Republicans who threatened to shut down the government, says a narrator in one ad targeting first-term Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., who represents a district President Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020.

Republicans have shown time and time again that they are incapable of governing. The threat of a government shutdown is another perfect example of how dysfunctional Republicans are for the American people, said C.J. Warnke, the communications director for the flagship House Majority PAC, the Democratic super PAC focused on electing Democrats to Congress.

Two Republicans in swing seats  Reps. Marc Molinaro and Mike Lawler of New York  say they are open to almost anything to avoid a government shutdown, including working with Democrats and going around Speaker Kevin McCarthy to approve a short-term funding measure.

Whether or not they actually help end the government funding impasse, such vocal statements by Molinaro and Lawler, along with those of fellow first-time Rep. Anthony DEsposito, R-N.Y., and other vulnerable House Republicans may help them curry favor with voters, even if a shutdown does occur.

"We had a meeting late last week, probably Friday, in my office, with some Biden-district Republicans who are very set on making sure this country and our government does not shut down," DEsposito told C-SPAN on Wednesday.

"It is very important to us. This country cannot afford to be shut down," D'Esposito said.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., whose district Biden won in 2020, echoed D'Esposito.

"We don't want to shut down, so I would do what we can. We should prevent a shutdown. Thats the bottom line," Bacon told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday.

Theyre communicating directly with the voters in our districts right now. So, you know, thats a strategy and theyre getting ahead of any potential political attacks. And by doing so, theyre putting themselves above the mudslinging, the GOP strategist said.

The idea that swing-district Republicans won't be as vulnerable to attacks about the shutdown a year from now is backed up by data from past government shutdowns, before the 2014 and 2018 elections.

In September 2013, the government shut down for 16 days under a Republican-led House. The following year, only three House Republican incumbents who sought re-election lost their general election races amid a GOP wave. At the same time, 10 incumbent House Democrats lost their general elections.

In January 2018, the government shut down for two days, again under a Republican-led House. That following November, 21 House Republican incumbents lost their seats in general elections.

Theres scant evidence, though, that voters punished these members solely for their role in the government shutdown. It was a wave election year for Democrats and widely seen as a referendum on the first two years of the Trump administration.

And, for the first time in more than a decade, a plurality of voters did not name the economy as their top concern in exit polling during the midterms.

Instead, voters cast their votes with health care and immigration front of mind.

For lawmakers like Molinaro, Lawler and the other freshman Republicans from swing districts in New York, strategists believe immigration will be a particularly salient issue for voters.

You look at the migrant crisis in New York City. That is a great issue for our vulnerable New York members because they cant deny that the border crisis is now everywhere in the United States. And [Democrats have] been put in such a pickle that it allows the New York swing district members to be the only face of reason in the state, the Republican strategist said.

Still, Democrats see an opportunity to target swing-district Republicans by linking threats of a shutdown to the issues voters care about most.

Voters obviously vote on kitchen-table issues, but I think the shutdown is an example of how Republicans are not prioritized on any of those types of things, Warnke said.

One national Republican operative broadly dismissed these claims, reiterating that the shutdown could very well be just a short-term distraction.

Is this a problem in the short term? Absolutely. Any day that we are talking about Joe Biden we are winning. Any day that we are threatening to shut down the government ... we are not winning, the GOP operative said.

But the 2024 election is not happening in the short term  and Republicans hope any shutdown is well in the past by the time it does happen.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
As a 20-year-old student at Yale, I cannot help feeling sorry for my conservative peers who are forced to find inspiration in the 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls. After a second debate in which more blatantly wrong statements were made and personal attacks prevailed, the seven candidates have only further established themselves as hypocrites who have grown comfortable with misinformation.

The way that some candidates  particularly Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy  talk about their higher education backgrounds shows that they simply do not care.

Opinion

Both hold coveted dual degrees from Harvard and Yale and are cunning in the narratives they choose to present to the world  and to young Republicans who seek to follow in their footsteps.

Famously comparing his education to political scarlet letters, DeSantis mentioned that during his early days at Yale, he felt like a fish out of water  and these experiences made recurring appearances in his book The Courage to Be Free: Floridas Blueprint for Americas Revival.

He remembered being slammed with a liberal tsunami that drowned out his expression and speech. Although classmates recalled a subsequent growing level of distance between him and the cosmopolitan setting at Yale, DeSantis remained a member of some of the most influential groups on campus. He was a member of the secret society St. Elmo, known for being a feeder of senators and politicians, and DKE, a fraternity with a disturbing history of sexual assault.

The truth is, DeSantis spent his college years rapidly climbing the rungs of elite America, and some of his fraternity brothers noted that he quickly became comfortable with power and bullying at college.

As the child of immigrants myself, a part of me wants to find the space to empathize with DeSantis, whose parents are blue-collar workers. I cant. Yes, Yale has a checkered past. But it takes a special kind of arrogance not to acknowledge reaping the benefits and galactic fortune of getting into an elite school.

Being a Republican does not equate to being a racist. It does not mean being a liar. It does not equate to being homophobic, or anti-LGBTQ, but the behavior of some of the most high-profile Republicans has and will continue to stifle the chances of younger Republicans striving for a political future in an increasingly progressive climate.

Ramaswamys comment accusing transgender individuals of having a mental health disorder  even if some transgender people do experience gender dysphoria  fits snugly alongside DeSantis as an example of discrimination.

A fine line separates discrimination and debate, ignorance and deliberately articulated lies. College campuses are criticized by the right for making some students uncomfortable with articulating their conservatively aligned perspectives. But the idea of cancel culture frequently associated with Democrats isnt weaponization against free speech. If done right, the culture is corrective and not condemning, working as a measure to hold individuals accountable for the intellectual property they actively share with others.

This is a lesson for us young Democrats and Republicans. We have a responsibility to curate an environment that sees value in incorporating all perspectives, and this responsibility falls upon people everywhere.

Both of us have a long way to go.

As the younger left learns that the media arent always representative of their right-leaning classmates, conservative youth should also feel confident calling out the dangerous stereotypes and lies purported during this presidential race.

Even though the U.S. has the patience for 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds to learn the ropes of what constitutes debate versus sibling shouting watches, the presidential seat  the executive representative in foreign relations and the highest office in our country  is absolutely not for 38-, 45-, and 61-year olds who still have a lot of learning to do.

DeSantis and Ramaswamy, among the other candidates during the GOP debate, have seriously disrespected their Republican supporters.

Their performance on Wednesday night was nothing more than a reminder of just how much America as a whole needs to invest in our fact-checking programs, high school speech and debate classes, and kindergarten table manners.
Republican presidential candidates, from left, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum , former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley , Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy , and Sen. Tim Scott , R-S.C., stand at their podiums during a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by Fox Business Network and Univision, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. | Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press

This article was first published in the On the Trail 2024 newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday mornings here.

Good morning and welcome to On the Trail 2024, the Deseret News campaign newsletter. Im Samuel Benson, Deserets national political correspondent.

Im writing from Los Angeles, where I attended the second Republican presidential debate on Wednesday. Whew. More on that in a moment.

But first, the latest from the Deseret News 2024 election coverage:

The Big Idea

GOP presidential debate winner? Anyone? Bueller?

No one seems to agree about what to make of Wednesdays Republican presidential debate. Some say it was entertaining. More say it was the worst theyd ever seen. A group of New Hampshire college kids say Nikki Haley won. The Politico cohort thought Tim Scott. A poll of Republican voters said Ron DeSantis. Doug Burgum, in the spin room post-debate, implied it was Doug Burgum.

Amid the cacophony, I think we can agree on a few things. The debate, by most metrics, was bad. The moderators tried to maintain control, but it only lasted so long. The candidates flat-out refused to answer their final question (which, in the candidates defense, felt more fitting for Jeopardy! than a presidential debate). The most viral moments were not substantive policy discussions, but cringey one-liners (Chris Christie calling the president Donald Duck and Mike Pences attempt at a risque joke) or the South Carolinians one-on-one shouting match.

If there was a clear winner, there wouldnt be so much disagreement on who it was.

Case in point: the hottest commodity in the post-debate spin room was not any of the Republican candidates, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who held court for the Biden administration. He commanded a suffocating cluster of reporters for his entire visit, staying longer than any of the Republican presidential candidates, and finding ways to critique just about each of them in unique ways. One camerawoman eventually pulled out a stepstool to get a clear shot of him. Another reporter got hit in the head, twice, by a boom mic, and eventually withdrew from the scrum to prevent a concussion (in her words). Meanwhile, the candidates  Vivek Ramaswamy, Burgum, and surrogates for DeSantis, Scott and Pence  meandered around the room, talking to no more than half a dozen reporters at any given moment.

Related

If there was a consensus winner among the candidates, Newsoms visit would have been viewed as an afterthought. A newsy one, to be sure, but an afterthought nonetheless. Instead, the candidates  each of them gasping for air amid Trumps suffocating, 40-percentage-point-plus lead in the polls  fought among themselves for two hours, desperately trying to distinguish themselves from the front-runner. But aside from Christie, whose blows on Trump are the central fixture of his campaign, they critiqued the former president no more than necessary  only when it was convenient to chide him for not attending the debate, or when discussions of federal spending called for acknowledgement of the Trump administrations failure on that end.

The candidates seemed content with this. Look, (Scott) has said that Donald Trump should come debate, Matt Gorman, Scotts senior communications adviser, said in the spin room after the debate. Whoevers on the stage, whoevers not on the stage, its an opportunity were not going to pass up.

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, took a victory lap. Trump spent the evening in Detroit, speaking to striking auto workers, and sent Kari Lake  the former Arizona gubernatorial candidate  as his surrogate. After his last debate no-show, Trump dipped slightly in the polls, then quickly resurged to higher levels than before; his team expects much of the same this go-around.

I applaud President Trump for being a true leader and standing with the folks in Michigan, a critical state, while the D-list debate team fought onstage and really embarrassed themselves, Lake told me.

And what of Ronald Reagan? While candidates sparred at the Reagan Library, a stone toss from his resting place, the late president was barely mentioned, aside from a handful of references to a time for choosing or a city on a hill.

Ronald Reagan would be ashamed by what we saw tonight, Newsom, the latest in the line of Reagans California successors, said.

Maybe it was an easy jab for a Democrat to make. Maybe he had a point. When asked about the on-stage feud over aid to Ukraine, Burgum  whos been a staunch advocate for defending Ukraine from Russia (and Taiwan from China)  echoed Newsom: I think Ronald Reagan wouldve been deeply concerned about some of the comments made tonight.

Poll pulse

A new survey from Pew Research Center shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans want to see major changes to U.S. elections.

By about 2 to 1, Americans want a popular vote, not the Electoral College, to determine who is president. 65% of Americans favor scrapping the Electoral College for a popular vote; 33% support keeping the current system.

There is a big partisan divide: 82% of Democrats want a popular vote, compared to 47% of Republicans. But that figure has nearly doubled since 2016, when only 27% of Republicans favored a popular vote.

Ad of the week

At Wednesdays Republican debate, Univisions Ilia Calderon  one of the moderators  welcomed viewers in Spanish. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to attract the Hispanic vote, too, releasing their third Spanish-language TV ad in three months.

Republicans say they support us, but we know they work for the rich and powerful, the ad says. Joe Biden is different. He fights for us.

Weekend reads

Anything youd like to see from our campaign coverage? Drop me a line: onthetrail@deseretnews.com.

See you on the trail.

Editors Note: The Deseret News is committed to covering issues of substance in the 2024 presidential race from its unique perspective and editorial values. Our team of political reporters will bring you in-depth coverage of the most relevant news and information to help you make an informed decision. Find our complete coverage of the election here.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold , a Democrat viewed as a national leader in voting rights, has received 67 death threats and over 900 threats of online abuse within just three weeks, according to a system used by her office that tracks harassment and threats against election workers.

In 2020, Griswold's office launched a "rapid response" election security unit, a team of election security experts tasked with protecting Colorado's elections from cyber-attacks, foreign interference and disinformation campaigns. A year later, her office set up a tracker to monitor the growing number of threats against election workers.

Griswold told Salon that "if anybody understands" what election workers around the country "are going through, it's me." She continued, "Everything that we have done for my security, we have had to fight tooth and nail for. State and federal governments have largely abandoned election workers. I understand what these county clerks are going through and I'll do anything I possibly can to ease their burden and make sure that they feel safe and supported."

Election workers in many states and counties are leaving their jobs in large numbers due to an increase of harassment and threats, the proliferation of conspiracy theories and heightened workloads, according to a new report released this week by Issue One, democracy-focused nonprofit group.

The group's research focused on 11 states in the American West and found that roughly 40% of counties in those states have had a new chief local election official since the 2020 presidential election. In four states, that number exceeds 50%.

These turnover rates, experts say, pose a distinct threat to American democracy, since election administrators with decades of knowledge and experience are leaving their roles and being replaced by individuals with vastly less experience not long before a pivotal presidential election that is likely to see near-record voter turnout.

"Election workers across the country are dedicated to keeping our democratic processes secure, fair and safe," Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, told Salon. "When experienced election officials leave their positions, they take with them years of institutional knowledge and expertise. Our leaders have an obligation to protect our nation's election workers and make sure they have what they need to keep our elections strong."

According to Griswold, Republicans allied with Donald Trump's MAGA movement are doing everything they can to "destabilize" elections and convince local election officials to quit, up to and including harassing workers and threatening them with violence.

"There is a coordinated national effort to undermine American elections," Griswold said, pointing to the example of Trump supporters showing up to county clerk's offices in 2021 and threatening them if they didn't provide access to voting equipment.

The turnover rate among local election officials since 2020 is far higher than it was previously, particularly in battleground states where local election officials have faced a heightened level of death threats and harassment, the Issue One report found.

Making matters worse, the report found, new election officials are grappling with a shortage of resources to staff other vital roles essential to ensure that elections run smoothly.

More than 160 chief local election officials have departed from their roles since November 2020 within the 11 Western states tracked by Issue One tracked. Those 11 states includes two perennial battleground states and a mix of Democratic-leaning and Republican-leaning states, where elections are typically managed at the county level by a single official.

As these threats have surged and election officials have left their positions in droves, Griswold said, not enough has been done to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.

"State and federal governments have abandoned our quest to safeguard democracy, to a large extent," Griswold said. "With that said, people in my office  we are very scrappy and dedicated, and we're going to get the job done."

Griswold said she has implemented specific measures to address likely issues ahead of next year's elections. She has expanded her team to offer direct support to Colorado's counties and, within the past year, has contracted with former election officials to increase much greater on-the-ground presence.

She has also spearheaded changes in the Colorado state legislature, such as criminalizing retaliation against election workers and providing a process to shield their personal information and to make "doxxing"  or revealing a person's home address and phone number without their consent  a punishable offense.

Colorado has also enacted a law prohibiting the "open carry" of firearms close to drop boxes, voting centers and areas where ballots are being processed, in an effort to ensure that election workers are not intimidated by armed individuals. Her team has also prepared for hypothetical "disaster scenarios," including such potential instances as a "deepfake" video showing Griswold spreading false information.

"We've overcome a lot of challenges with a great outcome," Griswold said, "including armed men filming people at drop boxes to county clerks that breach their own security trying to prove the Big Lie. "There has been massive disinformation, and we continue to have incredibly well-run elections. I think 2024 will be no different."

The Brennan Center released a poll in April that surveyed local election officials and found that 12% of workers were new to their jobs since the 2020 election, and that 11% said they were likely to leave their jobs before the 2024 election.

Nearly one in three election officials have been harassed, abused or threatened because of their jobs, the survey found, and more than one in five are concerned about being physically assaulted on the job during future elections. Nearly half the respondents expressed concern for the safety of other election officials and workers.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

The Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland has created a task force on election threats, but so far it has been quiet. Just 14 cases have been prosecuted involving threats against election officials and workers, leading to nine convictions, according to an August press release.

For many years, local election officials were relatively anonymous figures, working behind the scenes with little controversy to ensure the integrity of democratic processes.

But the spotlight was turned on many of them unexpectedly during the 2020 presidential election, largely due to a coordinated disinformation campaign led by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters. Most officials say the surge in harassment and threats came as a direct result, prompting numerous officials to retire or resign.

Josh Daniels is a former county clerk of Utah County, the second-largest county in its namesake state. He says he faced this dilemma personally. He initially joined the county's election team in 2019 as chief deputy after being recruited by a friend who had been elected clerk.

Then the 2020 presidential election happened.

"People came out of the woodwork in our community to spout, parrot and share these sorts of national election-denying conspiracies," Daniels said. "It became quite exhausting," Daniels said.

His office was inundated with phone calls from individuals accusing election officials of being untrustworthy. They were subjected to what he called "Cyber Ninja-style audits," similar to the one conducted in Arizona's Maricopa County.

Daniels was forced to spend many hours in public meetings with "angry" individuals who made baseless allegations drawn from internet conspiracy theories.

Utah County is predominantly white and predominantly Republican. Donald Trump won nearly two-thirds of the vote there in 2020. Nonetheless, Daniels said, the "political dynamic" of the community changed in the wake of that election, thanks to a "loud faction" of the community that spread distrust about how the election had been conducted.

"We didn't get a lot of help from other political leaders in our community," Daniels said. Instead, some "would almost accelerate" the tension, creating "forums for more of these concerns to be shared and create further political chaos."

Daniels decided not to seek re-election in 2022, but he says the conspiracy theories and threats against election workers have continued.

In Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah  the four states with the highest turnover rates among election officials  Issue One's research found that twice as many local election officials had left their positions than had done so in Washington and Idaho.

Among the 161 counties in Western states that have new chief local election officials since November 2020, the report notes a significant decline in the average years of experience held by these officials, going from a previous figure of about eight years to roughly one year. The "brain drain associated with this exodus is real," the report finds, calculating that departing election officials in those counties have taken with them more than 1,800 years of combined experience.
How would a government shutdown affect the lives of everyday Americans? Some benefits, like Social Security and those for veterans, go on unimpeded. But other services, such as assistance at the IRS or access to national parks, will come to a halt.

Federal employees who are deemed essential will need to work without being paid, while the rest are furloughed.

Heres a look at different facets of federal government and what will happen if the government shuts down at midnight Sunday.

Air traffic controllers and TSA

Federal air traffic controllers would work without pay, as would transportation security agents.

Campaign finance

The Federal Election Commission would collect data but would not update its website during a shutdown. According to the agencys contingency plan, virtually all core agency functions will stop, including enforcement of the Federal Election Campaign Act, releasing of data to the public and more.

COVID response

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, under Health and Human Services, will maintain the minimal readiness for all hazards, including COVID-19, pandemic flu, and hurricane responses.

Disaster recovery

Long-term recovery projects could be delayed, the White House said.

Farm loans

Farmers will be unable to obtain marketing loans from Department of Agriculture local offices as they seek to market their harvest, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters on Sept. 25.

Head Start

During a shutdown, Head Start programs lose funding, with grants unable to be awarded.

Homeland Security

Nearly three-quarters of the Department of Homeland Securitys staff would work without pay, including those securing the nations borders, processing, detaining and removing people who enter the U.S. illegally, seizing illegal drugs and more.

IRS

Two-thirds of staff will be furloughed, meaning audits, examination of returns, non-automated collections, taxpayer customer service outside of filing season, and more will not occur. The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) will not help taxpayers until the shutdown ends.

Law enforcement

Many federal law enforcement personnel would work without pay.

Mail

US Postal Service is unaffected.

Medical research

National Institutes of Health would not be able to begin new clinical trials.

Medicare and Medicaid

Benefits still available, but new applicants may encounter interruptions in service. Medicaid will continue so long as a shutdown doesnt extend past the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

Military

Active-duty service members, as well as civilian employees deemed essential to national security, would work without pay. Other civilian defense employees would be furloughed.

National parks

Units of the National Park Service will be closed completely to public access, the Department of the Interior said Friday, with staff furloughed. The public may be able to access sites on Sunday, and those sites would close Monday. Arizona and Utah may pay the federal government to keep their states national parks open, including Grand Canyon, Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef and Canyonlands.

Small-business loans

The Small Business Administration would stop processing new loans and applications would not move forward during a shutdown.

Smithsonian museums, National Zoo

The cultural institutions that dot the Mall in Washington, as well as the National Zoo, will close in the event of a shutdown.

SNAP and WIC benefits

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Monday that millions of Americans who depend on WIC  also known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children  for support could see a denial of those benefits and opportunities in the event of a shutdown.

Social Security

Benefits still distributed but applications may be disrupted.

Student loans

Servicing of student loans, processing of FAFSAs and distribution of Pell Grants and Federal Direct Student loans should continue but may experience disruptions.

VA benefits

No impact on VA health care, veteran burials at national cemeteries. But career counseling, transition assistance and maintenance at cemeteries would not be available.

Workplace inspections

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration could curtail inspections of work sites under a shutdown.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SINGAPORE, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on Lianhe Zaobao, the flagship Chinese-language daily in Singapore, to provide objective and high-quality reporting while attending a gala dinner to mark the centennial celebrations of the media on Friday.

Noting that geopolitical tensions are rising and media outlets are accused of taking sides, Lee said that Zaobao should remain independent and objective in coverage and uphold its credibility.

Lee also encouraged the newspaper to rise to challenges in the digital era and affirmed the government's continuous support of Zaobao to ensure a trustworthy news source in the city-state.

Lee Huay Leng, Editor-in-Chief of Singapore's Chinese Media Group, noted that Zaobao is dedicated to engaging a wider group of Chinese-speaking readers in the world while speaking at the gala dinner.

Lianhe Zaobao was formed in 1983 through the merger of Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh, which were founded in 1923 and 1929 respectively. 
The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building at sunset seen from Upper Senate Park in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. | Andrew Harnik, Associated Press

A full government shutdown is all but certain this weekend after House Republicans failed to unite around a temporary funding measure Friday.

The last ditch effort to keep the government open suffered a dramatic, if not entirely surprising, defeat as 21 GOP holdouts joined all House Democrats in voting against the measure, doubling down on their previous commitment to refuse any stopgap spending bill.

This act of defiance towards House Speaker Kevin McCarthy shined the spotlight on his struggle to find consensus in his fractious conference, which holds only a three-seat majority. Government funding is still likely to expire at midnight Saturday night, unless McCarthy can find 218 votes for a reworked, potentially shorter-term, proposal.

Utah Republican Reps. Blake Moore, John Curtis and Burgess Owens all voted in favor of the continuing resolution Friday.

Last minute votes on continuing resolutions or omnibus spending bills have become a regular feature of Congress annual appropriations process, rather than passing the 12 annual spending bills on time.

McCarthys failed resolution, a more austere version of last weeks proposal, would have cut discretionary spending across all government agencies  excluding disaster, defense and veterans agencies  by around 30% and included provisions from the Secure the Border Act and the creation of a commission on debt and deficit, in exchange for keeping the government open for 30 days.

Related

While McCarthys continuing resolution would have been dead on arrival in the Senate, it represented an opening bid laden with conservative priorities, similar to the initial deal worked out by House Republicans in Mays debt limit increase, Moore told the Deseret News Friday.

What we just did a few minutes ago, makes it impossible for us to do that, Moore said shortly after the failed continuing resolution vote. We had 21 Republicans that voted against a bill that literally would have cut an enormous amount from the budget. And it would have been the best border security bill the Republican conference has ever done.

Moore, like Curtis and Owens, agrees with the holdouts stated goal of passing annual spending bills individually so Congress can spend taxpayers dollars more responsibly, but insists that forcing a shutdown is counterproductive.

Shutdowns do not solve our debt issues, Moore said. This is not a serious way to address our true, long-term, dangerous debt issues. And I feel that some want to grandstand as if theyre doing something about it, when theyre fundamentally not.

Moore said the strategy of some House Republicans of objecting to every continuing resolution produced by their own party undermines the House GOP conference in future bipartisan negotiations with the Democrat-led Senate.

Any bill to solve this problem is going to have bipartisan support. And we need to make sure that we get some of our conservative priorities in that bill. We failed to do that just a moment ago, Moore said.

A possible solution from the Senate? Or a plan B in the House?

The Senate, under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, advanced a continuing resolution earlier this week that would keep the government funded for 47 days and included billions of dollars in new Ukraine assistance and disaster aid.

This proposal is a nonstarter among House Republicans and also among some in the Senate, including Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who have held up a final vote on the measure until at least Sunday morning, after a shutdown will have already begun.

In an effort to make the Senate proposal more palatable to conservatives, a bipartisan coalition, which includes Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, is seeking to include an amendment with border security provisions, while others are making the unlikely attempt to remove Ukraine funding.

Related

Amid the confusion that followed the failed continuing resolution vote in the House, some members of the House Freedom Caucus, which has led the charge against McCarthys proposals, expressed interest in a potential three-day or seven-day, short-term spending bill to keep the government open and the focus on appropriations bills. McCarthy said Friday evening that a Senate proposal without additional Ukraine assistance could potentially make it through a floor vote in the House  an idea that Sen. Lee has echoed.

Regardless of what else you put in it, a clean CR with Ukraine funding will be dead on arrival in the House, Lee said Friday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

While he has also called for procedural changes to encourage addressing the nations debt and annual budget deficit, Lee has repeatedly spoken against the utility of a shutdown.

I dont want to see a government shutdown, and I am actively working to prevent one from occurring, he said in a statement to the Deseret News on Friday.

Lee continued: If the government runs out of funding, Ill advocate to ensure the prompt return to work for all federal employees. Federal law now guarantees that federal employees receive back pay for any pay delayed because of a shutdown, Lees statement said.

Moore, whose 1st Congressional District is home to nearly all of the states federal workers  an estimated 27,000  has made a return to fiscal responsibility his central focus on the Hill but agrees a shutdown is nothing but harmful to his constituents and the Republican cause.

Now, using these moments, like a debt ceiling, like a potential shutdown, as an opportunity to find wasteful spending, Im all for it, and we have been doing that, Moore said. But you cant leverage this for any type of attention getting, fundraising, grandstanding moments, to say that youre actually doing something about the debt. Thats just not the case.

Whats next in Congress appropriations negotiations?

In a burst of progress after two weeks characterized by dysfunction and stand still, the House passed three appropriations bills Thursday night, covering defense, homeland security and the State Department.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hoped this would seed confidence that his return to regular order was working and would continue under a temporary funding regime. However, Fridays events quashed McCarthys hopes these late wins would motivate members to back a short-term spending bill to keep the government open.

The Peoples House made significant progress this week, passing three appropriations bills through regular order totaling 74% of federal funding, with the inclusion of the military funding bill we passed before August recess, Rep. Owens said in a statement given to the Deseret News on Friday. Earlier today, I supported a stopgap measure to keep the government open, secure our border, and bring fiscal sanity back to Washington. Unfortunately, it failed to pass the House.

Despite this disappointment, Owens remains optimistic about the results of the current debate within the GOP.

As negotiations and discussions continue, my colleagues and I are hard at work identifying the right path forward that funds our government, pays our troops, solves the border crisis, and ends the debt culture in Washington, Owens statement continued.

Congress must pass 12 annual spending bills each year to fully fund government. The House passed the military construction and veteran affairs appropriations bill in July, bringing the total to four from the House. The Senate has not yet passed any of the annual spending bills.

House leadership said the chamber will stay in session all weekend to try and find a funding solution and will cancel the October district period to ensure maximum time to work through appropriations bills.

Related
In 1956, Alma Merrick Helms announced that she was bound for Stanford University. But she would not be attending classes. Upon learning that there was a special shortage of womens bodies for medical students, this semiretired actress had filled out forms to donate her corpse to the medical college upon her death.

As historians of medicine, we had long been familiar with the tragic tales of 18th- and 19th-century grave robbing. Medical students had to snatch unearthed bodies if they wanted corpses to dissect.

But there was little to no discussion of the thousands of Americans in the 20th century who wanted an alternative to traditional burial  those men and women who gave their bodies to medical education and research.

So we decided to research this especially physical form of philanthropy: people who literally give themselves away. We are now writing a book on this topic.

Grave robbing and executed criminals

As more and more medical schools opened before the Civil War, the profession faced a dilemma. Doctors needed to cut open dead bodies to learn anatomy because no one wanted to be operated on by a surgeon who had only been trained by studying books.

But for most Americans, cutting up dead human beings was sacrilegious, disrespectful and disgusting.

According to the ethos of the day, only criminals deserved such a fate after death, and judges intensified murderers death sentences by adding the insult of dissection after their executions. As in life, the bodies of enslaved people were also exploited in death, either consigned for dissection by their masters or robbed from their graves.

Yet there were never enough legally available bodies, so grave robbing flourished.

The unclaimed poor

To meet the medical professons growing demand for cadavers, Massachusetts enacted the first anatomy law. This measure, passed in 1831, made the bodies of the unclaimed poor available for dissection in medical schools and hospitals.

With more medical schools opening and grave-robbing scandals pushing politicians to act, similar legislation eventually took effect across the United States.

One of the most visible incidents occurred when the body of former Rep. John Scott Harrison, both the son and the father of U.S. presidents, involuntarily turned up on an Ohio dissecting table in 1878.

In many states, kin and friends could claim a body that would otherwise be destined for dissection, but only if they could pay burial costs.

Monuments to honor those who have donated their bodies to science like this one can offer opportunities for their loved ones to mourn and remember them. Michael Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Donated bodies

Yet not everyone shared the horror at the very idea of being dissected.

By the late 19th century a growing number of Americans were willing to let medical students cut up their bodies before eventual burial or cremation. It did not apparently frighten or disgust them.

Doctors volunteered, but so did nurses, store owners, actors, academics, factory workers and freethinkers  even prisoners about to be executed. Some were people who simply sought to avoid funeral expenses.

Other Americans hoped that doctors would use their bodies to research their diseases, while others wanted to enable medical science to enlarge its knowledge for the good of mankind, as George Young, a former wagon-maker, requested before he died in 1901.

Cornea transplants

By the late 1930s, advances in cornea transplant surgery made it possible for Americans to gift their eyes to restore the sight of blind and visually impaired men, women and children.

Along with World War II blood drives, heartwarming stories about corneal transplants spread a radically new understanding of corporeal generosity.

As efforts to attract donors who would pledge their eyes at death spread in the 1940s and early 1950s, so too did a new problem for anatomists: a decline in the number of unclaimed bodies.

Anatomists blamed a host of factors: rising prosperity in the postwar years; new laws that allowed county, city and state welfare departments to bury the unclaimed; veterans death benefits; Social Security death benefits; and outreach by church groups and fraternal orders to take care of their poverty-stricken members.

Dear Abby and Readers Digest

By the mid-1950s concerns arose about cadaver shortages for anatomy classes. But media coverage of people who had chosen to donate their bodies started to sway others to follow suit. Good examples include a Dear Abby advice column published in 1958 and a Readers Digest article in 1961.

In 1962, Unitarian advocate Ernest Morgan published A Manual of Simple Burial, which promoted memorial services as alternatives to lavish funerals. He included a directory of medical schools and dental schools that accepted whole-body donations.

Journalist Jessica Mitford, in her wildly popular 1963 book that condemned the funeral industry, The American Way of Death, also endorsed that practice. She helped make giving your body to science a respectable, even noble, alternative to expensive conventional burials.

In the early 1960s, Protestant, Catholic and Reform Jewish leaders also came out in favor of donating bodies to science.

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, some anatomy departments began to organize memorial services to acknowledge donors and provide some closure for their loved ones.

Word of such efforts further encouraged whole-body donation.

Letters of encouragement

We reviewed dozens of unpublished letters to and from donors in the 1950s to the early 1970s, in which anatomy professors encouraged potential whole-body donors to see themselves as heroically giving to medical science. Early donors frequently expressed this altruistic vision, wanting their mortal shells to participate in advancing knowledge.

By the mid-1980s, most medical and dental schools relied on donated bodies to teach anatomy, although a few unclaimed bodies still make their way today to medical schools. Technology has revolutionized anatomy teaching, as with the National Library of Medicines Visible Human Project, but cadavers are still needed.

Images and models cannot replace hands-on experience with the human body.

Where many Americans once regarded medical students as butchers for exploiting their beloved dead, contemporary students honor what some of these future doctors call their first patients for the precious gift they have been given.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. The Conversation has a variety of fascinating free newsletters.

It was written by: Susan Lawrence, University of Tennessee and Susan E. Lederer, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Read more:



The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday said she thinks most Americans are not worried about a government shutdown, saying they know what it feels like after the COVID-19 pandemic.

I promise you most Americans arent too worried about a government shutdown, she told CNNs Manu Raju, saying a shutdown is a serious problem.

People in Washington need to understand how it feels to be shut down because the American people know exactly how it feels, she said. They lost their businesses, they lost jobs, kids lost almost two years of school. I mean, its not like the American people dont understand shutdowns.

Greene made the remarks at a point where a shutdown seemed likely, with Republicans deeply divided over how to fund the government. On Saturday, however, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reversed course, moving a clean, 45-day funding bill to the floor that was passed by the House. It appears likely to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Biden, preventing a shutdown.

In the last several weeks, Green has been among a group of House conservatives pressing for deep spending cuts as part of the shutdown talks. Greene previously said she was a hard no on two spending bills proposed by McCarthy because they included aid for Ukraine. She also said she wouldnt vote on government funding without the House holding a vote to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Gyles Brandreth has recalled the moment Queen Elizabeth II made a somewhat tongue-in-cheek remark to Mervyn King , then governor of the Bank of England, in the middle of the global financial crisis.

The author, broadcaster and former MP for the City of Cheshire was discussing his reissued biography, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, at Henley Literary Festival on Saturday (30 September).

Sporting one of his signature jumpers  a deep purple knit with a corgi on the front  Brandreth told the audience one of his favourite memories of the late monarch, having first met her in 1968.

While visiting the Bank of England with Prince Philip in 2008, while the world was in the grip of the financial crisis, the Queen was apparently saying goodbye to the governor when she paused, and asked him to remind her how many people worked there.

After being told that 2,317 were employed at the Bank of Englands headquarters, she then remarked: And yet none of you saw it coming!

She was a very shrewd cookie, Brandreth said, following laughter from the audience. She was much more amusing than I think we were led to believe, particularly during the earlier years of her reign.

He continued: We got a flavour of the Queen, I think, when she let her hair down for that wonderful sketch at the London Olympics, with Daniel Craig as James Bond. And even more so last year  only a year ago! Isnt that incredible? With that lovely sketch with Paddington Bear, an absolute enchantment.

In the same conversation, Brandreth recalled the nerve-wracking experience of interviewing the late Prince Philip, with whom he developed a rapport through their mutual association with the National Playing Fields Association.

Queen Elizabeth II with Lord Mervyn King in 2009 (AFP via Getty Images)

Brandreth said that writing the Duke of Yorks biography was a frightening experience, in part because the royal disliked being interviewed, but also because he was a stickler for facts.

He apparently took issue with Brandreths description of his father floating down to the south of France, because he travelled by train.

He was quite literal like that, Brandreth said. He corrected the proofs, which was a nightmare. But he didnt challenge any opinion, he only challenged matters of fact. And he would put in the margins: No. Incorrect.

Tom Parker Bowles, left, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Gyles Brandreth, founder of Poetry Together, right, in 2022 (2022 Getty Images)

In an interview with The Times after Prince Philips death in 2021, Brandreth said the toughest times for Philip and Elizabeth came immediately after the coronation, and in the late Nineties.

Things went wrong for the royal family, but he had great perspective because he had seen it all, Brandreath said. Exile, deaths, abdications, Princess Margarets wedding and divorce, he had been through the rollercoaster ups and downs and he knew that this too would pass.

Henley Literary Festival continues until 8 October.
The first casualty when the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti was sealed shut over a river dispute was financial, paralyzing the normally brisk trade between the two nations.

Now its becoming a matter of life and death.

Trapped between armed gangs on one side and a closed border on the other, clinics and hospitals east of Haitis capital along the 220-mile border say they have been forced to turn patients away as they ration anesthesia and other medical supplies. They fear its just a matter of days before some facilities have no choice but to shut down altogether.

We are performing only emergency operations to salvage what anesthesia medications we have left, said Dr. Ted Higgins, a retired vascular surgeon based in Kansas City who built and operates a medical center in Fond-Parisien along National Road 8, which connects Port-au-Prince to the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo. These are not easy decisions to make, and soon we will need to close down our operating rooms entirely simply from lack of obtainable medications for surgery. I am sure we are not alone.

Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope, named after Dr. Higgins father and uncle, both surgeons themselves, is located about seven miles from Malpasse, the Haitian border town across from Jimani on the Dominican side. It has two full-sized operating rooms along with an emergency room open round the clock and a trauma facility with 10 surgeons and anesthesiologists. The physicians, all Haitian, perform all types of surgeries, from orthopedic to urological to obstetrics and gynecology.

Our clinic sees probably 1,300 patients a month, said Higgins, who noted that about a quarter of the Haitian patients traditionally come from the Dominican Republic, and seven of the centers staffers also live in Dominican towns. We have a dentist who does restorative work, we have an HIV clinic that sees about 200 people a month, a maternity clinic, general medical clinic, pediatric.

Haitis ongoing gang violence helped forced the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter to go to solar power. The medical facility, located about 7 miles from the border with the neighboring Dominican Republic, also built housing for employees so they dont have to make the daily trek on gang-infested roads to Port-au-Prince.

Because heavily armed groups control the road to his facility from Port-au-Prince, Higgins has been relying on the Dominican Republic for the past three years to get into Haiti. He flies from the U.S. into Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, then hops in a car for the four-hour long drive to Jimani and over the border into Malpasse. Hes had to halt his medical mission teams, which used to travel to Haiti so that U.S. specialists could train local Haitian doctors. He also suspended a teaching program with the State University of Haiti Hospital in Port-au-Prince.

When a tanker truck coming to deliver fuel was commandeered by gangs for ransom  and his chief surgeon, in a separate incident, took a bullet from armed gunmen  Higgins took drastic action. He switched the hospital to solar power and told staffers he didnt want anybody traveling on the gang-infested roads to Port-au-Prince, so he began building them local housing.

Weve suffered. Weve had a container that was hijacked, weve had people who have been kidnapped So, we just go over to the Dominican Republic and work with them, Higgins said, adding that the center turned to buying fuel, food, medicines and construction supplies in the Dominican Republic. Its been a lifeline.

Higgins said hes come to accept that ending the gang problem is going to take time. But now its been two weeks since Dominican President Luis Abinader suspended visas for Haitians and ordered a hard stop to all air, sea and land traffic with Haiti. The shutdown was in response to the construction of a canal by Haitian farmers near their northeastern border to divert water from the Massacre River, which straddles the two nations, to alleviate drought in Haitis Maribaroux plain.

To shut down a border over irrigating a canal on the Massacre River? I mean, that doesnt make sense, Higgins said. I know its a political situation and the [Dominican] president is running and he wants to get tough on Haiti. But thats not the way you do it. You dont pick on the weakest kid on the playground and beat him up, and then say, Hey, see what I can do. 

The financial losses from the shutdown are spreading as well. The countries free zones of Caracol and CODEVI, and the industrial park in Port-au-Prince, are suffering as factories near the towns of Ouanaminthe and Dajabon, on either side of the river, find themselves unable to get raw materials and forced to suspend operations, affecting the livelihoods of some 200,000 workers on both sides of the border.

For several days now, dozens of U.S.-bound cargo containers with Hanes T-shirts and other products for major U.S. and Canadian brands have been paralyzed. Trucks with the products from over a dozen factories located on the border have been unable to cross into the Dominican Republic, where they traditionally ship from, and theyve been unable to head to a Haitian port over fears by local authorities that the highly emotional population will be upset and retaliate thinking they are Dominican exports. On the Dominican side, more than a million eggs rot every day, because they cant be sold across the border in Haitian markets.

Haitians get a lot of their eggs from the Dominican Republic, said Dr. David Vanderpool, founder of LiveBeyond, a medical disaster-relief organization that operates a 60-acre compound with a surgical hospital, demonstration farm, school and maternal health program not far from the Malpasse border near the community of Thomazeau. This obviously is a basic food thats going to be in short supply... and Haitians are already hungry.

Patients in Haiti at the Higgins Brothers Surgicenter, a medical facility located about 7 miles from the border Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic east of Port-au-Prince. The hospital has started to curtail services due to the ongoing border closure by the Dominican Republic.

Before the shutdown, nearly half of Haitis population of 12 million was already going hungry, according to the World Food Program, which was forced in July to cut its food assistance to 100,000 Haitians due to lack of funding. Vanderpool, who runs a food program that provided meals to 8,000 children a day, said it has been forced to cut back by about 20% because of gangs blocking roads and preventing supplies from getting through from Port-au-Prince.

He believes the border closure will only worsen the humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Since the shutdown, Vanderpool said, his doctors, who were treating about 20,000 patients a month, are seeing tremendous levels of hunger and increasing malnutrition.

The U.N. and the U.S. have asked the Dominican Republic for a humanitarian exemption to allow emergency aid, food and medicine to pass through, and the Haitian embassy in France appealed to the European community, saying Haiti has a sovereign right to the water from the shared river under a 1929 international treaty.

On Tuesday, the Organization of American States said it has been holding talks with authorities from both nations over the canals construction.

There can be no doubt that Haiti and the Dominican Republic have equal rights of use over the Dajabon or Massacre River and that its water resources are vital for both, given the needs of its inhabitants, especially in the current context of drought, the OAS said. This use must be ensured in accordance with international law and the treaties in force between both countries.

The situation benefits neither country and the controversy should be resolved based on the principle of good neighborliness and friendship between both countries and their leaders, the OAS said.

But since the shutdown began the positions on both sides have hardened. Haitians, who see the Dominican stance as an affront to their sovereignty and a violation of the treaty, have rallied around the construction of the canal, donating money and construction material. Dominicans are divided. While the far right has applauded Abinaders move, opposition politicians and businesses leaders dependent on the trade with Haiti have accused him of going too far.

And theres a new development that threatens to escalate the crisis: The National Institute of Hydraulic Resources in the Dominican Republic has begun testing a pumping system in the La Vigia irrigation canal that would bypass Dajabon, the Dominican border town where the river runs. The pumps would counteract the effects of the canal being built on the Haitian side. The new system, critics say, was done without consultation with the Haitian government, which is supporting its farmers in the canal dispute.

There is just this terrible animus between the Dominicans and Haitians, and closing the border over this irrigation canal, that just seems to me like an excuse, said Vanderpool, whose nonprofit employs a staff of 125 in Thomazeau. It is a huge problem.

The Higgins Brothers Surgicenter in Fonds Parisien Haiti, for the time being, is only doing emergency surgeries, its founder Dr. Ted Higgins said. The retired vascular surgeon said the shutdown of the border by the Dominican Republic is fanning a new humanitarian crisis.

The border closure is also affecting cancer treatments. The University Hospital of Mirebalais, which recently came under a barrage of gunfire from gangs, sends between six to 10 patients a month to the Dominican Republic for oncology treatment, including radiation therapy that is not available in Haiti. The patients stay at guest houses in the Dominican Republic during their care and travel back and forth. There are currently eight patients who are stuck in the city of Santiago in the Dominican Republic, and with the border closed, the hospital says its bracing itself for a higher number of deaths due to the inability of Haitians to get care.

The Fort Myers-based nonprofit Love A Child, which runs a medical complex not far from the Malpasse-Jimani border, is also feeling the squeeze between armed gangs, just 12 miles away, and the border shutdown.

We cant go up and we cant go down, said Dr. Assonic Barthelemy, the charitys head physician, referring to its location between gang-ridden Port-au-Prince to the west and the shuttered border to the east.

Love A Child, founded by missionaries Bobby and Sherry Burnette, runs a free clinic, Jesus Healing Center, in the Fond-Parisien area and has a birthing center and malnutrition program. Patients do not pay for medical, consultations, labs or medicine.

The gang violence in the Croix-des-Bouquets area, where American missionaries were kidnapped in 2021, has made medical transfers to hospitals in Port-au-Prince out of the question. That left only Higgins surgical center and the town of Jimani on the Dominican side, where patients were sometimes transferred by ambulance, for specialized care or testing.

Now these patients cant go because of the closed border, Barthelemy said.

In the two weeks since the shutdown, he said, we have had so many patients coming to see us that we really dont have the ability to accommodate them.

The border closure is also aggravating the other crises Haiti was already facing.

Earlier this month, the U.N.s lead child welfare agency, UNICEF, said that nearly 3 million children in Haiti  the highest on record  are in need of humanitarian support due to alarming levels of violence, unprecedented hunger, malnutrition and a resurgence of deadly cholera.

Barthelemy, 36, said that while the escalation in violence is a factor in the increasing hunger rates, the border closure is making things worse. Haitian farmers who have been dealing with soil erosion, disastrous floods and the high cost of seeds and fertilizer have struggled to harvest crops, and had come to rely on the commerce of the border to make a living. Now that is gone, he said.

We used to have two, three kids a week with malnutrition, he added. Now, there are so many children that are coming to us with malnutrition we dont even have a place for them.

Added to the worries, Barthelemy said, is that his facility is running low on supplies. A container full of medical supplies is stuck on the other side of the border in the Dominican Republic.

This closure is really having an impact, he said. We are down to using our reserves.
CAMDEN - A halfway house resident who fled from state oversight has been captured after six days as a fugitive.

Edward Berbon, 54, was taken into custody without incident in Camden on Friday afternoon, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Berbon went missing on Sept. 23, when he failed to return to a residential program in Camden from his work-release job with a retail business in Mount Laurel.

Tip leads to arrest of Westmont man Haddon Township man, a Bridgeton high school teacher, is accused of a child-porn crime

He was four months away from completing a sentence imposed in June 2005 for an attempted murder in Mercer County, authorities said.

Berbon had "community custody status" and was living at Hope House, a Camden facility with programs to help people prepare for life after prison.

The DOC's Fugitive Unit, which tracked down Berbon, "is among the best at what they do and we are grateful for their work to bring this case to a quick resolution," DOC Commissioner Victoria Kuhn said in a statement.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Fugitive Edward Berbon captured after six days on the run
Unless the US House of Representatives and Senate can agree on legislation to continue funding the federal government past the end of the 2023 fiscal year, the federal government will have to furlough as many as half of the 1.5 million civilian employees on its payroll and close operations at numerous facilities while shuttering vital programmes.

The fast-approaching deadline is 11.59pm on 30 September, the last day of the US governments fiscal year.

When the clock strikes midnight on 1 October  the start of fiscal year 2024  no part of the US government will be able to legally spend any money to pay its workforce unless Congress passes, and President Joe Biden signs, a law appropriating funds for the new fiscal year.

This is due to the effects of an 1883 law known as the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the government from entering into contacts that are not fully funded.

That law states that no federal officer or employee may make or authorize an expenditure or obligation exceeding an amount available in an appropriation or fund for the expenditure or obligation.

In laymans terms, this means that the government cant spend a single dollar  even to pay workers  unless Congress has enacted a budget for the fiscal year.

And because employees who show up to work must be paid for their work, this means many of them wont be legally allowed to show up for work.

According to the Office of Management and Budget, complying with that law means up to 700,000 workers could be sent home after reporting to work on Monday if theres no spending deal in place, while another 800,000  mostly in public safety and national security roles  will be forced to work without pay.

Moreover, a government shutdown would mean the two million soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in Americas armed forces will be made to remain on duty without paychecks.

OMB Director Shalanda Young told reporters at the daily White House press briefing on Friday that a large amount of people who will be furloughed across the government and said the White House would feel the same as the rest of agencies.

We will do the best we can to continue to serve as the American people. Clearly, our men and women in uniform will be at their duty stations without pay, unfortunately, she said. So, we will keep vital national security things going ... though it will be hard to do everything government should do for the American people in a shutdown.

The Capitol Building in Washington, DC., USA lit up in the early evening (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Earlier on Friday, the House of Representatives rejected a Republican-authored attempt at a short-term spending bill that would have kept the federal government from shutting down, making it much more likely that federal employees will be furloughed or forced to work without pay and many government programmes will be shuttered when the fiscal year ends at midnight on 30 September.

The bill would have provided a 31-day extension to government funding while enacting massive cuts in domestic programmes and new immigration restrictions that were opposed by Democrats.

Conservatives have insisted that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy prioritise passage of each of the 12 individual spending bills the House is supposed to complete before 30 September each year, three of which were successfully passed earlier this week. But none of those bills have any chance of passing the Senate or being signed into law by President Joe Biden.

As of Friday evening, Mr McCarthy was still demanding that a stopgap measure under consideration by the Senate not contain any funding for Ukraines defence efforts against Russia. Its unclear whether senators would be willing to honour his request.
A Harlem bodega worker jailed last year in a fatal self-defense stabbing over a bag of potato chips filed a false arrest lawsuit against the city and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg , with court papers recounting the plaintiffs continued fears of lethal retribution.

The paperwork filed Friday in Manhattan Federal Court said Jose Alba used lawful self-defense in the deadly July 1, 2022, confrontation inside the Blue Moon bodega in Harlem, with the worker plunging a knife into intruder Austin Simon after the angry attacker charged inside the neighborhood bodega. Video showed the 35-year-old Simon getting into the employees face and shoving the clerk into a chair during the fast-escalating dispute that ignited criticism of the DA after his decision to prosecute Alba for murder.

Despite the fact that Simon and (his girlfriend) were the initial aggressors, it was [Alba] who was arrested, incarcerated, and wrongfully prosecuted, alleged the 40-page document from attorney Richard Cardinale, charging the decision to charge the Hispanic man for the death of the Black man was based on Braggs policy to achieve racial equity' in the Manhattan criminal justice system.

The plaintiff was seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages determined by a jury for his injuries, emotional distress, and fear and anxiety from his arrest, prosecution and incarceration for five days. According to the lawsuit, Alba remains without a job since his arrest and worries that Simons fellow gang members or friends will seek vengeance and attack or kill him.

A spokesman for the Manhattan DAs office declined comment Saturday, while a Law Department spokesman said the city will review the case when served and respond accordingly. The lawsuit also named an NYPD detective and a Department of Corrections official.

Simon, 35, swore at the victim and grabbed him by the shirt, ordering Alba to apologize to his girlfriend before the clerk grabbed a knife and stabbed his assailant six times during the wild caught-on-video confrontation, authorities said. Simons girlfriend stabbed Alba during the frenzied fracas, with the store clerk arrested and charged with the homicide.

The deadly encounter began when Alba grabbed a bag of potato chips from the girlfriends 10-year-old daughter after the mom was unable to pay. The girlfriend and the child returned five minutes later with the outraged Simon, with Alba recounting the man shouting Come fight me, come!

A public outcry followed his arrest, with Mayor Adams among those coming to the defense of the defendant. The 62-year-old Alba, a 35-year resident of the city after immigrating from the Dominican Republic, returned to his homeland once released from Rikers Island.

The court papers also invoked the DAs charges against Daniel Penny for applying a lethal chokehold on a homeless Black man aboard a Manhattan subway train, with the ex-Marine arrested for manslaughter.

Bragg and his office apparently decided that the racial element in the Penny case warranted a large prosecution team to rebut the numerous witnesses on the train who corroborated Pennys account of the incident, the court documents alleged.
OFF THE COAST OF CORSICA - Nicolas Tomasi has never laid eyes on it. He has worked these waters for years without seeing one but has heard the tales from old-timers - of a patient predator, hiding under the sand off this French island's shores, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The angel shark does not want to be found. But it can hide no longer.

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On a hot August afternoon, Tomasi lowered a long, plastic tube attached to a weight over the edge of a dinghy and into the indigo water.

With the push of a few buttons, an electric pump began sucking up a small portion of the Mediterranean Sea - and with it, the ocean's secrets.

The thin stream of siphoned water looked ordinary, but floating in it were microscopic particles laden with DNA from dozens of ocean animals. If an angel shark was below, this device could detect it.

Today, said Tomasi, a project manager with the Natural Marine Park of Cap Corse and Agriate, we can find rare sea life "sans avoir a plonger." Without having to dive.

This is environmental DNA, or eDNA, a revolutionary technology that is helping scientists detect the treasure trove of genetic information animals leave in their wake and understand the breadth of life on Earth like never before.

Before, biologists had to drag nets through the sea or run electric currents through the water to incapacitate and count animals. Now, they can tally biodiversity simply by sampling water, soil or even air for the DNA animals shed in their environments daily.

Around the world from the Arctic to the Amazon, eDNA is rewriting the way biologists do conservation, allowing them to spot invasive pests entering ecosystems before anyone has seen them and to follow animals' migration fueled by climate change without deploying an army of people to track them.

But the most promising place for deploying eDNA may be Earth's oceans, where many species remain unknown and many threats, such as warmer waters and ocean acidification, are mounting.

In the case of France's elusive angel shark, eDNA helped scientists rediscover an animal many thought to be lost for good, and gave ocean managers key information about where it lives so that they can protect it.

"They are always surprised that from a sample of water, you can detect the species," said Stephanie Manel, a professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes who was showing Tomasi how to collect DNA.

"But this is DNA," she said. "DNA is there. So it's not magic."

Her ambitions extend beyond the angel shark. Her goal is nothing short of "a map of the biodiversity in the Mediterranean."

- - -

Fallen angel

It used to be easy to find an angel shark.

A 19th century zoologist in the British Isles wrote it "haunts our coasts in abundance." Once widespread from Scandinavia to the Western Sahara, it was so plentiful in Europe's seas that the crystal-blue water off Nice in the French Riviera is named Baie des Anges, or the Bay of Angels.

With a flattened body and eyes on top of its head, the common angel shark, or squatina squatina, lies on the bottom of the ocean, burying its body in the sand. For hours it waits in shallow waters until - whoosh! - it pops its head up, opens its jaws and sucks an unsuspecting fish into its mouth.

For as long as humans have known about the shark, they have exploited them. The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder lauded its rough skin for its ability to polish ivory and wood.

But it was the advent of modern fishing that really did the carnivorous fish in. That lie-and-wait strategy for ambushing prey also made it easy for fishermen to scoop it up in trawls scraping the sandy sea bottom, even when trying to catch other fish.

Slow to grow and reproduce, the fish's population plummeted and the Mediterranean lost a key predator. Today, the common angel shark is no longer common, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature listing the species as critically endangered.

By 2015, its last stronghold appeared to be the Canary Islands off northwestern Africa. The shark had disappeared everywhere else. Or so scientists thought.

But locals in Corsica knew better. "I've seen the bite," Sebastien Leccia said. As a teenager, he remembered a man showing him a scar on his arm. "We knew," said Leccia, now an official with the Office of the Environment of Corsica. "But it wasn't studied."

Until in 2019, a fisherman shared pictures of the odd, flat fish caught off the northeastern coast with biologists. Some were juveniles, suggesting a hidden shark nursery. Another series of photos from a diver further confirmed Corsica's angel sharks were no myth.

But those fleeting images only painted a partial picture. Where else around Corsica did the angel shark swim? Did these sharks stay put, or mingle around the Mediterranean? In 2020, during covid lockdowns, the sharks started "to come back to the shore," said David Mouillot, a University of Montpellier professor collaborating with Manel. Had the decline in beach and boat activity during the pandemic made angel sharks less shy?

"We don't know whether it's covid, climate" or something else, he said.

For the past several years, Manel and Mouillot's team have been siphoning water along the Corsican coast to find its genetic finprint and map its whereabouts. In late August, a 56-foot trimaran named the Victoria IV cut a course along the island's northwestern shoreline to continue the search.

After dropping the tube into the blue water on that hot August afternoon, the eDNA team waited as a pump whooshed water through a fist-sized amber capsule. Inside, an accordion-shaped filter collected tiny DNA-laden particles.

After half an hour running the pump, Tomasi snapped on rubber gloves and poured a bottle of clear solution into the amber capsule, preserving the genetic material so it could be sent to a lab onshore.

There, the snippets of DNA would be multiplied using a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR - a technique also used for detecting covid in humans - and then compared to DNA from a database to see what species were swimming below. The plunging cost of analyzing DNA over the past decade opened the door for this work.

So far, the team has used eDNA to find at least seven spots along the Corsican coast where angel sharks were still patrolling, according to a paper the team published in May. But more may be lurking undetected.

"Because it is endangered, the DNA is rare," Manel said.

- - -

'A young science'

Manel first got interested in eDNA after geneticists found invasive frogs in French wetlands. Much of the first eDNA work, in fact, was done in freshwater ecosystems, where DNA lingers in abundance.

More recently, scientists have refined ways of extracting strands of genetic material from saltwater, soil and air. Depending on conditions, DNA can last for days in the ocean after an animal has shed it.

"When we started nobody believed it would work," Mouillot said of their marine eDNA work as the boat chugged along Corsica's rocky coast lined with modern steel wind turbines and medieval stone towers once used to watch for pirates.

"Everyone thought we are crazy. It's a waste of money."

In the Mediterranean, the team was on the lookout for another invader: the rabbitfish.

The rabbitfish doesn't look much like a rabbit. But it shares with its land counterpart one crucial and devastating trait: It reproduces like crazy, overwhelming ecosystems. The fish has infiltrated the eastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, one of some 3,500 harmful invasive species costing society more than $423 billion a year. It hasn't been spotted near Corsica. But it's only a matter of time, scientists say.

"It's inevitable at some point," said Rick Stewart-Smith, a marine biologist from the University of Tasmania in Australia who joined Manel and Mouillot on the Victoria IV.

But biologists are doing more than just tracking endangered and invasive species. Today they use eDNA to diagnose infections in insects and reconstruct entire food webs by combing through feces.

"We got to the point where we could detect one or two molecules," said Colin Simpfendorfer, a shark scientist at James Cook University in Australia conducting his own eDNA work. "That's how powerful those sorts of techniques can become."

"What eDNA can deliver for conservation is massive," he said. "It is revolutionizing a lot of the work that we do."

Yet the field is still new, and going through growing pains.

DNA is the blueprint for life, made up of four bases - adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine - strung together in an order distinctive to every type of organism. To match DNA collected from the environment to a specific species, researchers must check samples against a reference database.

Yet the databases available right now are incomplete and disjointed. To confirm that particular sequence of A's, T's, G's and C's came from angel sharks, for instance, Manel and Mouillot's team had to test their method on angel shark tissue provided by fishers in Corsica and by an aquarium in Spain.

There is also a lack of standardization for filtration methods as well as a lack of communication with other scientific disciplines, said Louis Bernatchez, editor in chief of the scientific journal Environmental DNA. Many of the scientists sampling tissue from animals and sequencing DNA don't focus on the parts of the genome that eDNA methods are good at detecting.

"It's still a young science," said Bernatchez, a professor at Laval University in Canada. "It just keeps improving."

Then there are the privacy concerns. Wild animals aren't the only ones shedding DNA everywhere. Humans do, too. Spikes in the viral genetic signatures in sewer water, for instance, are allowing health officials to predict covid outbreaks.

In a paper this year, University of Florida biologist David Duffy and colleagues showed sleuths can recover medical and family information from genetic traces left in the environment by humans, suggesting one day police departments and insurance companies may be able to spot genetic disorders and surveil populations using eDNA.

"Essentially what we have shown is that humans are not really very different," Duffy said. "The same technologies that can allow us to recover a tiger's DNA from the environment actually can recover human DNA as well."

- - -

Going deep

And eDNA still can't capture some vital information. It can't say much yet about the quantity or body size of fish - though researchers are working on linking the amount of DNA they find in the water to the abundance of a species. And there are other fish that don't shed a lot of DNA to begin with, making eDNA detection difficult.

Some fish "don't piss a lot," Stewart-Smith said. "They don't have soft skin or mucus."

Finding some creatures requires taking a plunge. Stewart-Smith bobbed his head up and down and side to side, letting out big puffs of glistening air bubbles from his scuba gear. In one hand he held a pencil and in the other, a piece of special waterproof paper.

Swimming along a 50-meter tape measure laid along the seafloor, he counted every rainbow wrasse, painted comber and other vibrant fish he could spot. His colleague Graham Edgar passed him going the opposite direction, snapping pictures of the seafloor.

Once Stewart-Smith got to the end of the tape measure, he spun around to swim the line again - this time gently brushing away seagrass with his hand and plunging headfirst into crevices to get a better look at the life on this stretch of rocky seafloor near the small island of Giraglia at the northern tip of Corsica.

In one of the cracks he spotted a cardinal fish, a neon-orange animal that looks like a living piece of gummy candy.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Stewart-Smith, who is also co-founder of the Reef Life Survey, said back aboard the Victoria IV.

This is a tried-and-true method for surveying sea life. For the past 16 years, the Reef Life Survey has trained professional scientists and amateur divers alike to conduct underwater surveys the same standardized way. Their catalogues, which include not only the species but also the abundance and body sizes of different reef fish at thousands of sites around the world, has provided marine managers with crucial baseline data.

This old-school approach can complement eDNA analysis. Visual surveys, for instance, aren't very good at spotting sea creatures swimming in deep waters or hiding under rocks. And other fish simply flee at the first sight of divers.

"The first thing to recognize when you're surveying marine life is that no method is perfect," said Edgar, also a University of Tasmania marine biologist.

Back on the deck, the pair enter data into their laptops. No angel sharks. No fish, in fact, bigger than 6 inches. In other areas off the coast of Corsica where Stewart-Smith went diving, fish were also small and skittish, a sign of overfishing even in areas that are supposed to be protected. Both eDNA and visual surveys can let government agencies know if fishing restrictions are working, or being ignored by poachers.

"They were all very shy," he said. "If it's meant to be no entry, the fish are telling me no."

- - -

One last look

As the Victoria IV clipped up a stretch of dry coastline, Mouillot drew in a breath of ocean air. "I'm very excited to swim," he said. "Do you smell the angel shark?"

Sure, eDNA is the shiny new technology. But there is nothing quite like seeing a shark face to face.

Snapping on flippers and swim caps, Moullot and Manel plunged into the water near a smattering of beachgoers enjoying the last days of summer. This sandy cove is near one of the spots the eDNA team had detected the shark in two years ago.

To find an angel shark, look for its silhouette. Often, the only thing to see is its outline in the sand. "You don't see the angel shark," said Jose A. Sanabria-Fernandez, another reef diver looking for the shark. "You see the shape of the angel shark."

The pair swam at a brisk pace along the coast, overhead strokes and eyes down, scanning for the outline of the shark under the sand. After several minutes of searching, Mouillot stopped.

"Many beautiful fish," he said, bobbing in the water. "But no angel shark."

The eDNA samples collected on the trip may reveal the sharks once they are analyzed in the coming weeks. But he and Manel care about more than just the angel shark. Their latest survey involves an eDNA method called metabarcoding that can detect not just one species, but whole groups of animals.

"People need to be aware that you need to protect species," Manel said. "The angel shark is maybe an emblematic species."

The pair want not just to measure biodiversity but bolster it, by someday moving some of Corsica's sharks to the French mainland coast and giving Nice's Baie des Anges its angels back.

Mouillot acknowledged the political and legal hurdles. "It's a very controversial idea," he said.

"It would be the greatest challenge of the end of my career," he added, "because it means that we can reverse the decline of biodiversity."

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GATEWAY, Colo. (KREX)  GMUG Firefighters delayed ignition efforts for the Cow Creek Fire on Thursday due to high winds.

Firefighters continued to patrol and monitor the area but didnt initiate any new fires.

Higher winds have created more smoke in the area recently. Officials advise smoke may be visible in Grand Junction, WHitewater, Gateway Fruita, Delta, Montrose and Norwood.

Fire officials remind the public not to call 911 for the Cow Creek prescribed burn.

WesternSlopeNow.com will continue to follow Colorado wildfires.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
Local residents were able to celebrate Hispanic culture during an event held in Pittsburgh.

The Hispanic Heritage Festival was held at the Heinz History Museum on Saturday.

Over 60 vendors helped bring the festival to life. They worked with the Hispanic Heritage Community Festival and Concert.

One of the organizers said everyone was welcome to the event.

A lot of people think, if Im not Hispanic, should I really go to the festival? Who doesnt like delicious food, music and a little bit of dancing? Melanie Marie Boyer, executive director of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation said.

Boyer said the Hispanic population is one of the fastest growing in the country.

The celebration will end with a concert at PPG Paints Arena.

International stars Farruko and Domino Saints will perform at 8 p.m.

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Lawmakers from Kansas and Missouri were divided Saturday as Congress overwhelmingly passed Saturday a temporary spending measure to keep the government running for the next 45 days in a bipartisan vote to likely avert a looming shutdown.

While House Republicans struggled for weeks to pass a temporary funding measure with just their partys support, they picked up support among Democrats by voting on what is called a clean CR, which means its a temporary measure that keeps spending at its current levels for 45 days until Congress can pass its yearly spending bills.

Just moments ago on the House floor, we passed by overwhelming numbers the ability to keep the government open for the next six weeks, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said in a press conference shortly after the vote.

The bill also appropriates about $16 billion for disaster relief and temporarily extends the authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, which was also set to expire September 30. But it excludes two more controversial additions  money to support Ukraine and money to increase security at the southern border.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver , a Kansas City Democrat, said he was disappointed that bill omitted aid to Ukraine, but he celebrated that legislation would ensure federal workers continue to receive paychecks and that mothers and children would continue to have access to the USDAs nutrition assistance program.

And after all the chaos and political theater, we ended up exactly where Democrats wanted from the very beginning: a bipartisan compromise that avoids a completely unnecessary and harmful government shutdown, Cleaver said.

Five of the lawmakers from Kansas and Missouri voted against the bill  Rep. Eric Burlison, a Missouri Republican who is a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus; Rep. Ron Estes, a Kansas Republican; Rep. Tracey Mann, a Kansas Republican; Sen. Eric Schmitt , a Missouri Republican; and Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican.

The rest of the Republicans from Kansas and Missouri and all three of the two states Democrats  Rep. Cori Bush and Cleaver of Missouri and Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas  voted in support of the bill.

While I dont agree with every piece of this legislation or how it was rushed to the House floor without bipartisan cooperation, it averts a harmful government shutdown in the short-term and gives Congress more time to work towards a bipartisan agreement that keeps our government open for the long term, Davids said after the vote.

Congress will now have until the middle of November to negotiate several sticking points in its annual spending bills, including whether to cut any federal spending, whether to give additional financial aid to Ukraine and whether to provide more funding for border security.

Heres how the Representatives from Kansas and Missouri voted:

A yes vote means the member supported the temporary spending bill.

Kansas

Rep. Tracey Mann (R)  No

Rep. Jake LaTurner (R)  Yes

Rep. Sharice Davids (D)  Yes

Rep. Ron Estes (R)  No

Sen. Jerry Moran (R)  Yes

Sen. Roger Marshall (R)  No

Missouri

Rep. Mark Alford (R)  Yes

Rep. Cori Bush (D)  Yes

Rep. Eric Burlison (R)  No

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D)  Yes

Rep. Sam Graves (R)  Yes

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R)  Yes

Rep. Jason Smith (R)  Yes

Rep. Ann Wagner (R)  Yes

Sen. Josh Hawley (R)  Yes

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R)  No

This story was updated to include how senators voted.
President Joe Biden signs a stopgap "continuing resolution" keeping the U.S. government open for 45 more days late on Saturday, only minutes before a looming deadline. Photo Courtesy of The White House/X

Sept. 30 (UPI) -- The Senate approved a 45-day stopgap funding resolution and President Joe Biden signed the measure into law late Saturday with only hours to spare before a government shutdown.

After the House of Representatives passed the "continuing resolution" by a 335-91 margin Saturday afternoon, the upper chamber similarly approved it by in a lopsided 88-9 vote despite a lack of funding for Ukraine sought by Democrats.

Biden announced at 11:28 p.m. EDT that he had signed the measure into law, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown that would have begun only 32 minutes later.

The White House and congressional Democrats had warned that any shutdown would have a dire set of consequences, including forcing many federal employee to work without pay and interrupting services providing food to millions of lower-income Americans.

A shutdown, they warned, would also compromise food safety and public health protections, small business loans, border enforcement and infrastructure projects and throw the Transportation Security Administration into chaos, meaning possible delays and disruption for air travelers.

President Joe Biden departs services at Holy Trinity Church Saturday in Washington D.C., as Congress debated a spending bill to avoid a looming government shutdown. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI

"Tonight, bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate voted to keep the government open, preventing an unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted needless pain on millions of hardworking Americans," Biden said in a statement after signing the measure.

"This bill ensures that active-duty troops will continue to get paid, travelers will be spared airport delays, millions of women and children will continue to have access to vital nutrition assistance, and so much more. This is good news for the American people," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer returns to the chamber Saturday in Washington D.C., after the approval of a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI

But he also blasted a group of "extreme House Republicans" who spent weeks "demanding drastic cuts that would have been devastating for millions of Americans" as a price for their support to keep the government functioning.

"They failed," Biden said, adding he was displeased the bill contained no additional funding for Ukraine in its battle against Russian invaders.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy addresses the media following a meeting of the House Republican Conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. The House voted to approve a stopgap government funding measure later in the day. Photo by Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE

"We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted," he asserted, saying he expects House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to "keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also hailed passage of the continuing resolution, which was reached only when McCarthy reversed course earlier in the day and offered a "clean" resolution free of ideologically driven demands sought by a hard-right group of GOP lawmakers led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday offered a "clean" stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, admitting the move may put his job in jeopardy. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

"Bipartisanship, which has been the trademark of the Senate, has prevailed," he said in a remarks on the Senate floor. "And the American people can breathe a sigh of relief.

"But this is a bridge CR, and [Republican Senate] Leader [Mitch] McConnell and I have agreed to continue fighting for more economic and security aid for Ukraine. We support Ukraine's efforts to defend its sovereignty against Putin's aggression."

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy scheduled a vote Saturday in a last-ditch attempt to avoid a government shutdown by passing a short-term spending bill. The measure passed by a 335-91 margin. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

"All extreme right-wing policies have been removed from the House spending bill. The American people have won." House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in a post on X. "MAGA Republicans have surrendered."

While the measure crafted by McCarthy did not include additional funding for Ukraine as sought by Democrats, it crucially eliminated divisive demands for tougher border security and deep budget cuts sought by members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and the rest of the House Freedom Caucus came out publicly against any stopgap measures that include funding for Ukraine, looking to trigger a government shutdown. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

McCarthy on Saturday offered the "clean" spending bill after previous stopgap measures had failed. He spent the morning meeting with his Republican colleagues aiming to gather support for the latest short-term measure, admitting his job as speaker is at stake with his support for the measure.

Following the vote, he sharply criticized the holdouts, who now seemed likely to force a vote on his ouster.

"If you have members in your conference that won't let you vote for appropriation bills, doesn't want an omnibus and won't vote for a stopgap measure -- so the only answer is to shut down and not pay our troops -- I don't want to be a part of that team," he told reporters.

A McCarthy-backed measure failed by a 198-232 vote Friday with 21 Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

"There's only one person to blame for any potential government shutdown, and that's Matt Gaetz. He's not a conservative Republican. He's a charlatan," Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said Friday.

Gaetz is an outspoken member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

Before Saturday's vote, House Democrats reviewed the proposal to gauge its support, but the lack of funding for Ukraine initially appeared to be a major obstacle.

"It's a huge problem" Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said Saturday afternoon.

"I think if we had a clean (bill) without Ukraine on it, we could probably be able to move that through," McCarthy told reporters Friday.

"I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses Ukraine over America, I think I think that could cause real problems."

Republicans hold a four-seat majority in the House, meaning they needed Democratic support in order to pass any bill.

The House hardliners had demanded that McCarthy renege on a bipartisan budget deal he had reached with Biden four months ago in a bid to extend the nation's debt ceiling, instead demanding budget cuts of at least $120 billion below the agreed-upon levels.

"You remember what it took to get to that deal," White House Budget Director Shalanda Young said Friday. "We shook hands, two thirds of Congress voted for it, and the President signed it into law -- a commitment to the American people that reduced the deficit, protected critical programs, and ensured their government remained open.

"Today, four of those five sides I just listed are sticking by that deal. The one side, House Republicans, are refusing to live up to their end of the bargain. They have turned their back on the deal. They are on an island entirely by themselves and entirely of their own making. Their chaos -- and their chaos alone -- is now threatening to push us into a shutdown."
(Bloomberg) -- Representative French Hill, an ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy , said he doesnt think fellow Republicans are on the right track when it comes to trying to avert a US government shutdown.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Hill, an Arkansas Republican, spoke on Bloomberg Televisions Balance of Power on Friday after his partys hardliners had helped defeat McCarthys proposal to keep the government open for 31 days past the Sunday deadline.

The discord among House Republicans, who hold a thin majority, not only heightens the likelihood of a shutdown, but again puts off negotiations with the Democratic-led Senate and the White House.

In response to reports that he had shouted an expletive at a prominent hardliner, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, Hill said he was expressing frustration that a lot of people have: That we need to come together as a team, be House Republicans that lead on the most conservative outcome for the American people.

McCarthys bill proposed new asylum and immigration restrictions, as well as 30% cuts to most federal agencies, excluding the Defense Department, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.

But far-right House members have been pushing for a vote on 12 spending bills that would likely take weeks to pass, rather than a piece of legislation to keep the government running in the short-term.

Earlier: Hardliners Defeat McCarthy Shutdown Bill, Risking Longer Closure

Even if McCarthys proposal were to pass the House, it would almost certainly be dead on arrival in the Senate in part because of the conservative immigration policies included. At the same time, the GOP is mulling several other options to finance the government and avert a shutdown.

The Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers have said blame for the turmoil lies with Republicans.

The House has been hijacked by extremists obsessed with making life harder and more expensive for working people. It does not have to be this way, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said Friday. This impending disaster can still be averted if just a handful of Republicans would stop listening to Donald Trump  if just a few Members would honor their oath of office and say, enough is enough.

--With assistance from Annmarie Hordern and Joe Mathieu.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
The House on Saturday approved a clean stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown, sending the legislation to the Senate for consideration hours before the midnight funding deadline.

The measure would keep the government funded at current spending levels through Nov. 17 and it includes $16 billion in disaster relief  matching the figure the White House included in a supplemental request. It does not include Ukraine aid or border policy changes.

The chamber cleared the stopgap bill in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 335-91 vote hours after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) rolled out the proposal. One Democrat and 90 Republicans voted against the measure.

The plan marked a stark shift in his posture when it comes to government funding. And it could spell trouble for his Speakership as conservatives heighten their threats to confiscate his gavel.

But the decision is poised to prevent the government from falling off the shutdown cliff, which many lawmakers thought was inevitable after weeks of disagreements within the House GOP conference and between both chambers.

Just moments ago on the House floor we passed by overwhelming numbers the ability to keep government open for the next six weeks, McCarthy said in a press conference following the vote.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced shortly before the House voted that members of his conference would not allow the upper chambers bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) to advance, deferring to the House plan. The Senates proposal would keep the government funded through Nov. 17 and it includes $5.99 billion in disaster relief and $6.15 billion in Ukraine aid.

That message was a welcome communication for McCarthy, who told members of his conference earlier this week that he would not bring the Senate measure to the floor for a vote after a number of conservatives voiced concern with the inclusion of Ukraine funding and the lack of border security provisions. Support for Ukraine has become a hot-button issue in the House GOP conference.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the House bill Saturday evening.

While the House vote marked a large step forward in averting a shutdown, it did not come without its fair share of drama.

House Democrats deployed a number of stall tactics ahead of Fridays vote in an effort to buy time to review the 71-page bill, which had been unveiled earlier in the day. Democrats were concerned that language in the legislation could lead to members getting a pay raise and would deny resources for the Department of Educations Office of Federal Student Aid.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) brought a motion to adjourn, and members slowly trickled into the chamber to cast their vote. The motion failed 0-427, but the vote ate up more than an hour of time.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) then took to the House floor for a magic minute, which allows leaders to speak in the chamber for an unlimited amount of time. He spoke for more than 50 minutes.

As the time passed, Democrats huddled behind closed-doors in the Capitol.

The House finally kicked off the highly anticipated vote just before 2:25 p.m., which quickly racked up support from both sides of the aisle.

McCarthy bringing a clean stopgap bill to the floor was a departure from his previous stance on government funding.

The Speaker in recent weeks had been pushing his conference to coalesce around a GOP-crafted stopgap bill that includes border security, a move that was designed to give Republicans greater leverage in negotiations with Senate Democrats and the White House. He had brushed aside the possibility of working with Democrats to avert a shutdown, underscoring the importance of getting border security provisions in any funding measure.

But on Friday, a band of 21 conservatives voted down that GOP stopgap bill, leaving McCarthy with few options to avert a shutdown ahead of the looming deadline. Hours after the failed vote, the Speaker floated a clean stopgap bill without Ukraine, following through with that idea Saturday morning.

Let me tell you, today wasnt the choice we wanted to have, McCarthy said following Fridays vote. We tried to pass the most conservative stopgap measure possible. We had members from all sides of the aisle work on it. We put it on the floor but unfortunately, we didnt have 218 Republicans that would vote for that to help us secure the border then.

But today, were able to move forward to make sure we can challenge that, he added.

Some Democrats also had qualms with the stopgap bill, particularly its lack of funding for Ukraine. The White House requested $24 billion for Kyiv in its supplemental request, and the Senate continuing resolution included $6.15 billion in aid for the embattled ally.

McCarthy, however, left money for Ukraine on the cutting room floor as a number of conservatives call for curtailing additional assistance to the country.

The lone Democratic no vote  Rep. Mike Quigley (Ill.)  pointed to the lack of Ukraine aid in the stopgap.

The Republican Party has become the party of appeasers, pro-Putin folks, Quigley said. Today our folks were forced into a decision and no one wanted to make, have Americans suffer or do what we did today, which was to abandon Ukraine.

We gotta fix this in 45 days because right now, Putin is celebrating, he added.

While the Saturday vote brings the country one step closer to averting a shutdown, it also puts McCarthy at a greater threat of losing his gavel. Hard-line Republicans for weeks had been publicly warning that the Speaker could face a vote on his ouster if he worked with Democrats to fund the government.

If Kevin McCarthy puts a continuing resolution on the floor, its going to be shot, chaser; continuing resolution, motion to vacate, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of McCarthys foremost adversaries, said earlier this month.

McCarthy, for his part, brushed aside those threats on Saturday.

If someone wants to remove because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try, he told reporters.

But I think this country is too important. And I will stand with our military. Ill stand with our border agents. Ill stand with those that have to get their medicine from government as well, McCarthy added. I think thats too important.

Updated at 4:55 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Glynn County Police Patrol Officers responded to a call for assistance from the Glynn County Public School Police.

The location was a wooded area near Habersham Street and Faith Avenue.

The property is owned by the Glynn County School Board and was being checked for homeless encampment.

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While GCSP was checking the area, they found human remains and contacted GCPD.

GCPD Detectives and Crime Scene Technicians have searched the area and are processing the scene. The remains will be collected and sent to the GBI laboratory for identification.

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The National Transportation Safety Board has opened a safety investigation into the collision that caused a cargo tank carrying 7,500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia to overturn in Illinois on Friday.

The cargo tank was in an accident that involved "multiple" vehicles about a half-mile east of Teutopolis, Illinois, on U.S. Highway 40 at about 9:25 p.m. local time, authorities said in a statement.

Five fatalities were reported, and six other people were hospitalized. The identities of the victims have not been released.

The impact of the accident caused the cargo tank to start leaking, which prompted the evacuation of 500 people, according to a news release from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

At a press conference Sunday afternoon, NTSB board member Tom Chapman said a preliminary investigation determined the accident was caused when the driver of a semi-truck pulled to the right of the road in reaction to another vehicle.

The truck rolled over, compromising the cargo tank carrying the ammonia, Chapman said.

The cargo tank was punctured after it collided with a parked utility trailer, causing about half of the tank's 7,500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia to leak, according to Chapman.

"We will not be determining the probable cause of the crash while we were on scene, nor will we speculate about the cause," Chapman said.

The investigative team will be on the scene for four to six days and a preliminary report is expected to be published in about 30 days, according to Chapman. Final reports take from 12-24 months to complete.

Chapman encouraged witnesses or anyone with relevant information regarding the collision to contact the NTSB.

Effingham County Sheriff Paul Kuhns earlier told reporters that there was a "large plume" from the ammonia leak. Because the leak caused "terribly dangerous air conditions in the northeast area of Teutopolis," an evacuation was ordered within an approximate one-mile radius of the crash, Kuhns said. Evacuation orders for some areas were lifted Saturday evening, Effingham County reported.

Officials declined to comment on what caused the deaths.

The air conditions meant emergency responders had to "wait" and "mitigate the conditions" before they could "get actual access" to the crash site, Kuhns said. Kuhns said the crash site covered a "fairly large area." The highway between Teutopolis and Montrose is closed.

"We have a lot of brave firemen, EMT, hazmat specialists, police officers that are working on the scene as we speak," said Kuhns.

The NTSB said in a statement shared Saturday on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, that it will investigate the crash in coordination with the Illinois State Police and the Effingham County Sheriff's Department.

Inhalation of anhydrous ammonia, which is toxic, can be fatal at high concentrations. The ammonia can also burn the skin and eyes, and cause severe respiratory injuries. In the news conference, one official called the substance "terrible."

Teutopolis is a town of just over 1,600 people about 92 miles southeast of Springfield, Illinois, the state's capital.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Joan Baez, revealing secrets

AI: The next battlefield

The story of one of the most iconic photos in hip-hop history
The author and her husband. Courtesy of the author

My husband speaks French and I speak English, and we live in Tel Aviv.

I joke that we speak "Fringlish," a mix of French and English.

We were determined to raise our children bilingually.

At home, my Strasbourgeois husband and I speak "Fringlish," our ad-lib language: a little bit of French and an abundance of English. While our marriage is bilingual, our life is more trilingual since we live in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Thirty-four years ago, I fell in love with Philippe for his lingua franca, homemade crepes, and his great abs. From the beginning, we spoke French, thanks to my mother, who enrolled me in a program in my Northern California hometown, my host family's race-car-fast French during my junior year of college in Paris, and my polyglot coworkers at the European Jewish Congress, where I worked after college. During my two sojourns in the city of love, I pursed my lips to pronounce the basic "bonjour," "merci," and "au revoir." I hid my braces-straight American-white teeth and dunked in Frenchdom.

We spoke French, so no one else could understand us

Notably, Philippe and I met after I quit my job and flew to Israel for an extended stopover to learn Hebrew. Seconds after swapping kisses on each cheek at a Shabbat retreat with Francophones, we flirted, reading Sha'ar LaMatchil, the defunct newspaper for new immigrants written in beginner Hebrew, and playing backgammon.

The attraction was mutual and fierce. Two months later, I moved into his apartment in Haifa, Israel. Seven months later, we got engaged. Nine months later, we wed. Mostly, we spoke French, especially when we didn't want anyone to understand, always on the telephone.

We wanted to raise our kids bilingual

In our late 20s, after our first baby was born, language got messy. Philippe and I each spoke our mother tongues to him and mixed them together like a science experiment to one another.

After our marriage turned mobile  Paris for his MBA program, the San Francisco Bay Area for my soul  communication became territorial.

In California and committed to raising bilingual children who could connect with their faraway grandparents, we indoctrinated our children with French videos, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. That's until, at some point in my home country, as my husband grew more comfortable with English and I lost my doggedness for French, my lingo usurped his.

With age, things have gotten more complicated

Now, three decades later and back where our story started, Israel, language is even messier. Age plays tricks on our linguistic prowess. We can no longer converse from different rooms in our apartment if one is in the shower or music is in the background.

Sometimes, my slipshod French accent makes it tough for Philippe to follow. Likewise, his inability to process my garbled English makes me question his comprehension. I worry for us when we're in our 80s. Will we still be able to communicate?

Yet I feel hopeful that my multilingual marriage will keep my mind agile. Perhaps I'll avoid my father's fate, being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, along with 6.7 million other Americans. One University of California, Los Angeles, medical study found that people who spoke two languages proficiently could forestall dementia symptoms by about four years compared with monolinguals.

Rather than dwell on "woe is us," I opt for the glass half full. I do Wordle before starting my day. I shop at the souk for Shabbat. I speak Franglais with my family. And I cross all 10 fingers and toes that both Philippe and I remain married and nimble-minded, since everything else is out of our control.

Read the original article on Insider
The cactuses arrived strapped down to sheets of plywood in the back of a truck. They had been uprooted from a swath of scrub that was slated for development before coming to us: a nature reserve in need of plants for a restoration project along a coastal bluff in Southern California.

Its been 20 years since I did that work, and when I look back on it, I cannot help but understand it as an analog for migration, all those unruly bodies in transit out of a landscape that was about to vanish.

Read more: Opinion: One surprising source of hope for climate change? Fiction

As an ecological restorationist, Ive long felt that Asian American perspectives and those of other immigrant communities have been sidelined in the American environmental conversation, which tends to feel like a dialectical tug of war between whiteness and Indigeneity. It took me several decades to even begin to imagine the possibilities of immigrant environmentalism.

In that time, the publics conception of climate change transformed from a future concern into a maelstrom of heat domes, atmospheric rivers, fires, floods and droughts. Climate catastrophe has already begun transforming all our homes into unfamiliar and dangerous terrain. Weve never needed immigrant environmentalism more than we do today, and well need its insights even more in the future.

Read more: Opinion: On the climate crisis, it's time to lean into pessimism

As a young ecologist, I viewed my work through the lens of American environmental literature. One of the penalties of an ecological education, Aldo Leopold writes in A Sand County Almanac, is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Leopold explains that this is because ecological damage is so often invisible to laymen, so only a select handful of ecologists understand what a damaged ecosystem looks like and what the long-term consequences of this damage could be.

I was deeply drawn to the concept of living alone in a world of wounds. Reading Leopold allowed me to believe I was on natures side, one of the educated few who had the capacity to grieve for ecological destruction. I imagined that I was lonely, but it was a romanticized loneliness because my friends and my colleagues and all my favorite authors were in on the secret too.

Read more: Want to read more books about climate change? Here's a list to get started

But Ive come to believe that my sentimental attachment to Leopolds romantic writing was a mistake, and not just a personal one, more of a collective misstep in American environmental sentiment that has narrowed the possibilities of how we imagine our relation to nature. Weve all got this urge to be on the right side of things rather than reckoning openly with what it means to relate to nature as invaders or destroyers.

In 2013, Robin Wall Kimmerers Braiding Sweetgrass skyrocketed into national popularity. Its an important and beautifully written book that cracked the largely white environmental canon. Kimmerer introduces the idea of becoming indigenous, speculating that one might become Indigenous by taking care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it.

I cannot count how many friends have raised this part of Kimmerers book in casual discussion as if theyd finally found the key to a long-locked gate  Can you believe it? their faces exclaim, We can finally all become Indigenous!

Read more: Opinion: How to dig your way out of climate grief

Id like to believe that Ive spent my lifetime taking care of the land, that Ive turned to it for sanctuary and sustenance, but I didnt become Indigenous, any more than I became white American. Instead, I relate to nature as a multiracial second-generation Chinese immigrant.

I stopped believing in mainstream American environmental romanticism when my fathers mother died in her tiny condo kitchen in the outskirts of Taipei, Taiwan, across the strait from anywhere that had ever seemed like home. At the bidding of our familys spiritual advisor, we folded origami lotus leaves and ingots of paper gold. The gold was all that shed bring with her to the afterlife, and the lotus leaves would buoy her footsteps along the way.

Even though she had imagined shed be buried, our family ended up settling for cremation because the monasterys crowded grounds had no more room for bodies. When my grandmother left this world without a plot of land to call her own, when I watched my father sift through the incinerators ashes to salvage the remaining shards of bone, when he asked me to do the same, it was undeniably obvious that I had been denying the extent to which my family was severed from the land.

Read more: Opinion: Climate change is worsening the world's refugee crisis. Here's one way leaders can help

Global warming is expanding that experience. Climate fiction, or cli fi, is often premised upon the notion of the climate refugee, and it seems increasingly clear that climate-change-driven migration will scatter much of humanity in new diasporas. So why, when climate catastrophe migration may reshape global politics, are immigrant perspectives still steadfastly excluded from mainstream environmental discourses?

Every immigrant knows the anguish of estrangement. As a second-generation immigrant, I know it doubly in my estrangement on American soil and my even greater disorientation returning to my familys historical homes in Taiwan and mainland China. Out of this anguish, new questions emerge.

How am I connected to the land if my familys history falls far outside American myth? What if I could stop thinking of my own rootlessness as a deficiency? What if we acknowledged rootlessness as wisdom, a rejection of the idea that the only way to know something is to own it? What if we started imagining the wisdom of diaspora communities as wisdom that could help us prepare for and live with climate change?

As climate catastrophe turns all of us into strangers on the land, I cant help but wonder whether the questions that have rendered me an outsider to the American environmental imagination will become the questions that all of us should be asking.

Jenny Liou is an ecologist and currently teaches at Pierce College. She is the author of the poetry collection Muscle Memory and is at work on a book of essays on ecology and Asian American identity. @jennyjadeliou

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
MANILA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank said on Saturday that it has approved 600 million U.S. dollars in financing for the Philippines to support reforms aimed at increasing digitalization.

The Philippines' First Digital Transformation Development Policy Loan aims to promote the digital transformation of government and digital infrastructure policies, expand financial inclusion through digital finance, and stimulate the growth of digital services.

"It will help the government digitize government operations and service delivery, foster competition in the digital infrastructure markets, and encourage the adoption of digital payments and financial services," the bank said.

It will also facilitate reforms to promote e-commerce, enhance competition and value-added activities in digital services markets, and strengthen skills development in the industry, the bank noted.

"Greater adoption of digital technology can improve the efficiency and transparency of government services, empowering individuals who were previously far away from decision-making centers," said Ndiame Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

The bank said widespread adoption of digital payments in the Philippines is essential for developing a digital economy, benefiting millions of citizens and small businesses.

"Digitalization can also drive productivity growth by reducing operating costs for firms and enhancing their resilience and preparedness for future crises," Diop said.

Currently, cash is the dominant form of payment for the country's over-the-counter purchases in grocery stores, government service payments, and government fees and penalties.

"Transitioning to a cashless economy would provide various benefits, especially during climate-related and natural disasters, enabling the government and the private sector to respond swiftly and efficiently," said Smita Kuriakose, lead economist in the World Bank's finance, competitiveness, and innovation global practice. 
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report)  A man wanted in connection with a homicide in Central Texas was arrested after attempting to fake his way through the border into El Paso on Tuesday.

Jesus Javier Rios, 47, arrived in the U.S. from Mexico at the Paso Del Norte Bridge in Downtown El Paso.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said although he presented a Texas-issued identification card, officers believed he was an imposter making a false claim of U.S. citizenship and conducted a secondary screening.

Border officers scanned his fingerprints and determined that Rios was not the man on the ID card but rather a man wanted for homicide in Tarrant County, Texas.

Women allegedly picked up 19 migrants at border near Santa Teresa

A records check also revealed that Rios, a U.S. citizen, had warrants out of Ector County for a probation violation and Coconino County, Arizona, for failure to appear.

CBP officers process thousands of law-abiding people on a daily basis, El Paso Director Field Operations Ray Provencio said in a statement. Fugitives will try to blend into regular traffic, however, the thorough inspection process employed at our area ports by CBP identities and stops those who are being sought by law enforcement.

Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the U.S.-Mexico border

Rios was taken into custody and turned over to the El Paso Police Department and booked into the El Paso County jail to await extradition, according to the news release.

He was among 22 individuals CBP officers apprehended who had outstanding warrants for parental kidnapping, assault and robbery, among other charges.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
Police in Independence were searching for a person suspected of shooting two people, one fatally, and stabbing another on Friday evening.

Officers were dispatched around 6:10 p.m. to the first 911 call near South Osage Street and East 40th Terrace, officer Jack Taylor said. The victim of a stabbing was taken from there to the hospital by ambulance, according to police.

After the stabbing, the suspect is believed to have run across Interstate 70 and become involved in a separate confrontation with someone outside a residence in the 4200 block of Osage. There, the suspect shot two people, one fatally, and fled the area in a vehicle, according to police.

Detectives were still working to figure out what led up to the violence, Taylor said, and had yet to get a description of the suspect or a vehicle as the surviving victims were still receiving medical care.

Police were asking anyone with information to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
Autumn is here and if you are wondering where the cool fall weather is, the National Weather Service says it will arrive in Indiana later this week.

But first, Hoosiers will have to get through a few more unseasonably warm days.

Meteorologist Cody Moore at the National Weather Service said Indiana is currently under a ridge of high pressure that is allowing warm air from the south to spread over our region, but an incoming system will result in cooler weather soon.

What will happen as this trough comes over us, it's ushering in all of that cooler air from Canada down to the Indiana and the Ohio Valley, Moore said. So thats when well get our fall weather back.

While we have experienced a warmer September, it has not been record-breaking heat. It has, however, been an unusually dry month. Indianapolis was poised for a record-dry for September before the most recent rainfall. Moore said the lack of rain contributed to the heat.

When you have dry grounds that is easier for this the temperatures to heat up faster, Moore said. I believe our average high temperature has been around 80 degrees, which is a couple degrees above normal and that warm weather is stretching into the first week of October as well.

According to Moore, we should see warmer weather through at least Wednesday and then, around Thursday and Friday, the cold front should bring a chance of storms and cooler temperatures.

I think by Friday and then into next weekend, we'll see more typical fall conditions for this time of year, Moore said.

Contact IndyStar reporter Katie Wiseman at klwiseman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @itskatiewiseman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana weather: Fall weather is on the way
By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Friday there was a "climate of violence" and an "atmosphere of intimidation" against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has frustrated New Delhi.

"Because there is freedom of speech, to make threats and intimidate diplomats, I don't think that's acceptable," Jaishankar told reporters on Friday evening in Washington.

Relations between India and Canada have been tense of late, mostly due to the presence of Sikh separatists in Canada who have kept alive the movement for Khalistan, or the demand for an independent Sikh state to be carved out of India.

Canada's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents may have had a role in the June murder of Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was labeled a "terrorist" by India.

New Delhi dismissed the allegations as absurd. Washington has urged India to cooperate with Canada in the murder probe.

In 2018, Trudeau assured India that Canada would not support anyone trying to revive a separatist movement in India, while repeatedly saying that he respects the right to free speech and assembly of protesters to demonstrate.

Canada is home to an influential Sikh community, and Indian leaders say some fringe groups there remain sympathetic to the cause of an independent Sikh state. The cause hardly has any support in India.

The demand for Khalistan has surfaced many times in India, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s which paralyzed the state of Punjab for over a decade.

The insurgency killed tens of thousands of people and the Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by the Indian government. 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.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by two Sikh bodyguards after she allowed the storming of the holiest Sikh temple, aimed at flushing out Sikh separatists.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Sundar Pichai, Alphabet's CEO, is one of the world's highest-paid executives, earning $226 million in 2022.

Pichai has been at Google since 2004 and rose through the ranks, becoming its CEO in 2015 and taking the helm of Alphabet in 2019.

As CEO, Pichai has reorganized Google's workforce, issued mass layoffs, and emphasized AI.

Sundar Pichai has had a meteoric rise since joining Google as a 31-year-old product manager in 2004.

In the 11 years that followed his first steps on the Googleplex, Pichai was promoted four times, eventually becoming the CEO of Google in 2015.

In that role, he was responsible for the company's core businesses and cash cow  and did a good enough job that, in December 2019, he was promoted one more time, replacing Google cofounder Larry Page as the CEO Alphabet.

Since, he has had to lead the trillion-dollar company through the pandemic, layoffs, and the AI renaissance currently taking Silicon Valley by storm.

So who is Pichai and how did he scale the ranks to get one of the most important jobs at one of the most important companies in the world? Here's his story.

Jillian D'Onfro, Avery Hartmans, and Mary Meisenzahl contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Pichai, whose full name is actually Pichai Sundararajan, grew up in Chennai, India.

Students in Chennai, where Pichai grew up. Babu Babu/Reuters

Pichai's father was as an electrical engineer and his mother worked as a stenographer before having him and his younger brother. The family wasn't wealthy, and the boys slept together in the living room of their two-room apartment, Bloomberg reported.

Early on, Pichai had a talent for remembering numbers, which his family realized when he could recall every phone number he had ever dialed on their rotary phone. He will still sometimes show off his memorization skills at meetings, Bloomberg reports.

After becoming interested in computers  the first software program he wrote was a chess game  Pichai studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur. His success there won him a scholarship to Stanford University.

Pichai got his master's degree at Stanford University. Ben Margot/AP

Pichai has said that moving to California was a huge leap.

"I always loved technology growing up," Pichai said in a 2014 interview at Delhi University. "I used to read about what was happening in Silicon Valley, and I wanted to be a party of it."

When Pichai got to America in 1993, he couldn't believe how expensive everything was.

Pichai with his wife Anjali. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

He "was in an absolute state of shock" about the price of a backpack  $60  he told Bloomberg.

He also missed his girlfriend, Anjali. The two eventually got married, and now have a son, Kiran; daughter, Kavya; and a dog named Jeffree.

Pichai earned a master's degree from Stanford, and later attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for his MBA.

Pichai got his MBA at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Charles Mostoller/Reuters

Before Google, he had stints at semiconductor manufacturer Applied Materials and consulting firm McKinsey.

Pichai interviewed at the Googleplex on April Fools' Day in 2004  the same day the company launched Gmail.

Pichai interviewed at the Googleplex in 2004. Justin Sullivan/Getty

Pichai told Bloomberg that he initially thought that the free email service was one of Google's famous pranks.

Pichai got his start working as a VP of product management, focused on Google's Toolbar.

The Toolbar, which Pichai worked on when he started in 2004. The Way Back Machine

The Toolbar was a web-search feature on Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Another early achievement for Pichai: he convinced cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin that Google should build its own browser.

Google Chrome was created after Pichai pushed the company's cofounders on a Google web browser. Stephen Lam/Reuters

In 2006, Microsoft created a "doomsday" scenario for Google by making Bing the new default search engine on Internet Explorer. To mitigate the effect of this change, Pichai helped convince Google execs to create its own web browser called Google Chrome.

Chrome is now world's most popular browser, according to Similarweb data.

As a leader, Pichai was known to be well-liked and focused on results, which resulted in more responsibility.

Pichai is known for bringing a "substance over overt style" attitude to Google. Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

His "substance over overt style" approach was, in part, led to his taking over of the Android division in 2013.

He spearheaded Android One, Google's push to "make high-quality smartphones accessible to as many people as possible," and was also instrumental in ensuring Android was better integrated with Google, proper.

Pichai was also behind Chrome OS, the operating system that powers Google's inexpensive Chromebook laptops, and was reportedly instrumental in helping put together Google's $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest in 2014.

His success garnered attention, and he was reportedly approached for a leadership role at Twitter.

Pichai's ascent at Google reportedly led Twitter to attempt to poach him for a leadership role. Adnan Abidi/Reuters

He was rewarded for his allegiance, reportedly getting $50 million and a promotion when he turned down the gig.

As he rose through the ranks, he was considered the right-hand man of Google cofounder and former CEO Larry Page.

Pichai and Page worked closely together at Google. Getty

"He's like the Aaron to Larry's Moses," a source told Insider in 2014, referring to the biblical prophet's brother.

That knack and his success led to Pichai's next important promotion in late 2014, when Page put him in charge of the company's core products.

Pichai oversaw products like Google+, Maps, and Search, to name a few. Getty / Steve Jennings

After proving himself with Chrome and Android, Pichai added Google+, Maps, Search, commerce and ads, and infrastructure to his portfolio. The move cemented his move as Page's second-in-command.

"Sundar has a tremendous ability to see what's ahead and mobilize teams around the super important stuff," Page wrote in a memo announcing Pichai's promotion. "We very much see eye-to-eye when it comes to product, which makes him the perfect fit for this role."

Less than a year later, he was named CEO of Google.

Pichai, who became CEO of Google in 2015, is well-liked among the company's employees. AP

When Alphabet was established as Google's parent company in 2015, Pichai was made the top-man at Google, which encompassed search, YouTube, and Android.

As his power amassed, he remained well-liked.

"He is literally worshipped inside Google. Engineers love him. Product Managers love him. Business people love him," one Googler wrote on Quora.

In July 2017, Pichai was named to Alphabet's board of directors.

Pichai joined Google parent company's board of directors/ Stephen Lam/Reuters

"Sundar has been doing a great job as Google's CEO, driving strong growth, partnerships, and tremendous product innovation. I really enjoy working with him and I'm excited that he is joining the Alphabet board," Page said at the time.

Two years later came his final promotion, when Alphabet's CEO, Page, and president, Brin, announced that were stepping down, and Pichai would become Alphabet CEO.

Larry Page, left, and Sergey Brin, right, stepped back from Google in 2019. James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images

Page and Brin cofounded Google in 1998. They announced the change in a letter saying that Alphabet and Google "no longer need two CEOs and a President."

He's well-compensated for his work.

The Alphabet CEO earns nine-figures annually. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Google said in an April regulatory filing that Pichai earned a total of $226 million in 2022, mostly in stock awards, making him one of America's best-paid CEOs.

But the top job also comes with increased public scrutiny.

Pichai has testified in front of the US government multiple times over. Alex Wong/Getty Images

In 2018, the House Judiciary Committee grilled the CEO about Google's data privacy practices and plans with China.

Two years later, he testified in front of Congress again over anti-trust concerns.

Google dealt with internal turmoil when it fired one of its top AI ethicists.

AI researcher Timnit Gebru (left) was fired from Google. Kimberly White/Getty Images/Denis Balibouse/Reuters

In December of 2020, Google fired Timnit Gebru. Gebru's exit came weeks after she was asked to retract a paper on the dangers of large language models and spoke out against the company's treatment of minority employees.

Google employees were "seriously pissed" over how the firing was handled, one told Insider at the time, and Gebru said that Pichai and other managers helped create "hostile work environments."

Pichai eventually apologized for how the company handled Gebru's exit.

"I want to say how sorry I am for that, and I accept the responsibility of working to restore your trust," he wrote.

In 2020, Pichai was at the forefront of Google's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pichai led Google's COVID-19 efforts in 2020. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Under his leadership, Google launched initiatives to help search users find accurate, useful information about the coronavirus.

Late last year, Pichai had to oversee an era of cost-cutting at the company, which resulted in layoffs in January.

In January, Google laid off 12,000 employees in an effort to cut costs. Justin Sullivan /Getty Images

Like many large tech companies, Alphabet hired rapidly from 2020 to 2022. Alphabet hired nearly 37,000 new workers in the 12 months leading up to October 2022.

The overhiring led to cost-cutting: In the fall of 2022, the company said it would tighten its belt perks and travel budgets.

The cuts culminated in layoffs in January, when Google laid off 12,000 employees, or 6% of its global workforce. Pichai said he took "full responsibility for the decisions that led us here."

Two months later, more than 1,400 Google employees wrote an open letter to Pichai about the handling of the layoffs.

"Don't be evil," it read.

Googlers also criticized Pichai's big payday in the face of the layoffs, accusing him of "destroying morale and culture" at Google.

Pichai has also led Google in the AI arms race that's overtaken Silicon Valley.

In 2016, Pichai said that Google will one day become an "AI-first" company. Getty Images

Google issued a "code red" in December 2022 after the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT sparked concerns over the future of its search engine. Pichai redirected resources to focus on building Google's AI products.

It wasn't the first time Pichai expressed interest in AI. In 2016, Pichai announced that Google would be an "AI-first" company. Two years later, he said the technology is "one of the most important things that humanity is working on" and "more profound" than "electricity or fire."

One result of Google's AI effort is the chatbot Bard.

A demonstration of Bard, Google's AI chatbot. Google

In February 2023, Google demoed its AI chatbot Bard for the first time. The demo, which included the bot making a factual error, was called "rushed, botched, myopic" by one employee.

Google made Bard available to the public in March.

Now, Pichai is shifting Google's focus to integrating AI into its other products.

CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the 2023 Google I/O conference. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

At the 2023 Google I/O conference, the CEO announced that Google is adding AI features across Google Workspace, including to Search, Gmail, Docs, and other existing products.

When Pichai isn't spending his team leading Google, the CEO meets with influential world leaders.

Pichai met with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the 2022 CEO Summit of the Americas. Jose Luis Magana/AP; Pavel Golovkin/AP

In early June of 2022, Pichai attended the CEO Summit of the Americas  hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce and the US Department of State  where business leaders from private sectors across countries in North, South, and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, come together in Los Angeles to discuss how they can work together to stimulate economic growth in their countries.

During the three-day summit, Pichai met with Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, to discuss Google's investments in Canada and how the company can work with the government to spur innovation in the country.

The Alphabet CEO also announced his $1.2 billion commitment to Latin America.

While Pichai is quite private, he is known to start his day with a cup of tea and an omelette  plus a copy of The Wall Street Journal.

Pichai said he reads a physical copy of The Wall Street Journal everyday. Mark Lennihan/AP

"I read the physical paper every single morning," he told Recode in 2016, adding that he reads The New York Times online.

Although he's private, Pichai has spoken out about certain causes since he became a public figure.

Pichai has pushed back against former president Donald Trump's takes on Muslim immigrants in the US. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

In 2015, he responded to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's suggestion that Muslims be banned from immigrating to the US.

"Let's not let fear defeat our values. We must support Muslim and other minority communities in the US and around the world," he wrote on Medium.

In his home country, Pichai is seen as something of a hero.

Harsha Bhogle (right) interviewing Pichai at Delhi University in 2018. Saumya Khandelwal/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

"You are what they would like to be, an Indian who studied here, went overseas, and did what everyone would dream of doing," interviewer Harsha Bhogle said in a conversation with Pichai for students at Delhi University.

In 2020, Pichai announced that Google will invest $10 billion into India's tech sector over the next five to seven years to make the internet "affordable and useful" to everyone living in the country.

Read the original article on Business Insider
This is Explainer, a column that answers questions we all have (or should have).

As someone who depends on corrective lenses, it sometimes strikes me how thin the line is between my life and a dangerous one. If I got lost in the woods or stumbled into a Hunger Games situation, I figure Id have a day or two before my contacts dried up, and I wandered off a cliff or fell victim to an attack that my nearsightedness simply did not see coming. Its the stuff of horror movies. No, really, theyve actually made horror movies about it.

According to online wellness influencer Samantha Lotus, though, all I would need is some eye exercises and verbal affirmations, and I could wave bye-bye to my glasses. Lotus went viral recently after she claimed that people do not need glasses. Instead, per a TikTokker who goes by @mallorysthoughts who attended Lotus $11 master class on healing vision, Lotus suggested eye yoga and affirmations like I SEE WITH LOVE AND JOY. She also, per Mallory, recommended rubbing essential oils around the eyes, which makes more sense when you learn shes a rep for doTerra, a company that sells essential oils. (Lotus, for her part, told Rolling Stone that she is reviewing the presentation, sources and studies cited to ensure the materials presented are compliant and safe.)

But when it comes to the idea that you can self-care your way out of needing glasses, theres zero evidence that any of that works, ophthalmologist Christopher Starr of Weill Cornell in New York emphasized to me. Especially not the oils.

While Lotus claims were swiftly shut down by TikTok doctors, her fearmongering campaign against Big Optometry stems from a common question that pops up in optometrists offices around the world, which is: Can glasses or contact lenses, as useful as they are, make eyesight worse in the long run?

A significant portion of the global population believes so. Last year in Saudi Arabia, 22 percent of surveyed young adults said that glasses cause harm to eyesight. That number was 23 percent among parents surveyed in India, and as high as 64 percent among undergraduates in Nigeria. In rural China, focus groups of children, parents, and teachers all expressed concerns that wearing glasses could cause eye problems to progress faster. While studies suggest lower percentages in the United States, its clear that the belief proliferates here, too.

One of the most devout anti-glasses campaigners was American. Long before Samantha Lotus, there was William Horatio Bates, an ophthalmologist at the turn of the 20th century who developed the so-called Bates method for improving vision. He later wrote about the method which included removing your glasses, imagining the color black, and, horrifyingly, looking at the sunin his 1920 self-published book Perfect Sight Without Glasses.

The concept of natural vision improvement has stuck around for decades, championed by occasional evangelistswhich included writer Aldous Huxleyand fringe organizations. Set in that context, its perhaps not so crazy that online influencers like Lotus without any medical background can successfully sell a natural vision healing course to curious consumers.

The premise behind Bates doctrine is that vision problems like nearsightedness are caused by problems with the muscles around the eye and that a person can cure their vision problems by reducing mental strain. If you think of vision problems as a muscle problem, the notion might make some sense. After all, dont your muscles atrophy in the leg that wears a cast?

But take a look at the anatomy of the eye, and the proof is in the pudding: Theres just no good, clear scientific mechanism why the eyes would deteriorate faster, says Starr, if youre wearing glasses versus not.

The most common vision problems, which include nearsightedness and farsightedness, are related to refractionthat is, how light bends when it enters the eye. And that is determined (as scientists have known since before Bates time) by the shape of the eye. In the front of the eye is the cornea, the window where light enters (and where a contact lens would sit). In the back of the eye is the retina, which acts like the film of a camera; it processes the light and sends the signal to the brain. In between the cornea and the retina is the lens. The cornea and lens work together to guide light that comes into the eye onto the retina. It has to refractbendjust so in order to produce a clear, sharp image.

If the eye is too long, or the curve of the cornea is too steep, the rays will focus in front of the retina; thats what causes nearsightedness (or myopia). Too short or too flat, the rays will focus behind the retina, and you have farsightedness (hyperopia). Corrective lenses on the cornea (or in front of, in the case of glasses) help to bend the light so that it lands directly on your retina and you can see a clearer image.

Thats all that glasses do, says Starr. They dont weaken the eye, they dont strengthen the eye, they dont have any impact on eye health. They just purely focus the light so that you can see it clearly.

Still, patients often come into Starrs office with questions about when and how to wear glasses. For older adults, a common concern is that starting on reading glasses too soon will cause their eyes to get worse faster, or make them dependent on glasses. But theres no truth to that, says Starr. As we age, our lensesbetween the retina and the corneastiffen and thicken, making it harder to focus light when seeing close-up. While wearing reading glasses helps correct blurry vision, it doesnt affect the shape of the eye, so it wont worsen (or improve) refractive problems over the long term.

Its a different matter when it comes to kids, whose eyes are still growing. In fact, not wearing glassesor wearing glasses that are too weakcan accelerate vision declines in kids with myopia. Thats because if a kid hasnt fully corrected their vision, the eye will work to find a clearer image. The eyeball cant shrink, but it can grow, says Bryce St. Clair, an optometrist at John Hopkins in Maryland. So it elongates, causing the light rays to fall in front of the retina and the myopia to progress.

Myopia cases have spiked in recent years; over 40 percent of Americans have myopia, up from 25 percent in the 1970s, and its projected that half of the globe will have myopia by 2050. Risk factors include too much close-up work and not enough sunlightso the pandemic saw a rise in cases. Once a kid has myopia, the condition tends to be progressive. Current interventions to slow the progression include specialty pediatric contact lenses and FDA-approved eye drops containing atropine.

One very small point in favor of the glasses-skeptical here: Overcorrecting of vision is fairly common in kids, because children have extremely malleable inner eye muscles that compensate for vision issues (a process called accommodation) and make it hard to get an accurate prescription during eye exams. A prescription that is too strong will not accelerate vision declines, but it can cause headaches and other symptoms because those inner eye muscles are working harder than they have to. The fix here is pretty simple: return to the ophthalmologists chair for a cycloplegic refraction, which temporarily paralyzes those inner eye muscles so you can get an accurate prescription. But the lesson in that case is not that you dont need glassesjust that wearing the wrong prescription can lead to annoying symptoms.

There arent many studies that look at the impact of corrective lenses over time aside from research into myopia control. Part of that may be because a randomized control trial on the long-term effects of glasses wouldin addition to not being necessary based on what we know about eyesbe a hard study to conduct. If some people in a trial couldnt wear glasses, half of them will be dead, jokes Starr. Because they got in car accidents or didnt see a car coming on the street and got run over. Much like if I got thrown glasses-less into the Hunger Games, where I would instantly die. But with the right prescription? Im unstoppable.
Polk County is "ground zero" for Iowa Democrats to make gains in 2024, the party's leaders told supporters at their annual steak fry Saturday in Des Moines, as they criticized both Donald Trump and local Republicans alike.

A series of speakers  elected officials, activists and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz  railed against U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn , state senators and representatives as they rallied in preparation for what they hope is a bounce-back election cycle.

"You, Polk County Democrats, are the wind beneath our wings," Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum said. "This is where the rubber meets the road."

Several races were top of mind for attendees: challenging Nunn, who narrowly defeated Cindy Axne to flip the seat to Republican control and does not yet have a declared challenger; taking on state Sen. Brad Zaun; and several other local and state offices that Democrats see as attainable if the party properly organizes.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, ticking off those priorities, hit Republicans for their support of school vouchers, banning gender-affirming care for kids and restricting abortion  policies that were met with boos from the crowd at Water Works Park.

"We're going to send them home," Konfrst said, calling the Republican supermajority "minions" to Gov. Kim Reynolds. "Polk County is ground zero for flipping the Iowa House."

And Democratic leaders criticized Nunn and Iowa's three other Republican representatives as negotiated within their caucus to avoid a government shutdown.

Saturday afternoon, the House had agreed on a 45-day temporary funding solution as Congress continues to negotiate the details of a permanent budget. The Senate must still approve the plan to keep the government open.

Konfrst called the shutdown a "Trump shutdown" in a news conference, accusing Republicans of doing the bidding of the former president.

"What are you doing to lead? Instead, you're following Donald Trump and MAGA extremists when Iowans need you to stand up and lead," Konfrst said. "They could lead right now, and instead they're following Donald Trump. Is that what Iowans want? We know it's not."

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Democrats rally in Polk County, decry Republicans' shutdown effort
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley rides in a combine with farmer Dennis Campbell, left, during a tour of the Crystal Creek Enterprises farm, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Grand Mound, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Having stood out in two presidential debates, Nikki Haley has booked her largest venue in Iowa since launching her campaign. She's hoping to fill a 600-person hall in a western Des Moines suburb on Saturday.

That would be a huge number for most of her rivals. It's also less than the smallest crowds usually drawn by Donald Trump , who is dominating the Republican field for the 2024 Iowa caucuses less than four months away.

The former president will be in rural southeast Iowa the following day to headline an organizing event. Aides were expecting at least 1,000 to attend.

In essence, there are two Iowa campaigns underway: Trump is holding fewer, bigger events that demonstrate the strength of his organization and grip on GOP base voters, while his rivals attend the state's traditional candidate forums and meet-and-greets, searching for ways to cut into his lead or consolidate second place.

While things could change before the Jan. 15 caucuses, some campaigns are trying to shift expectations. They're hoping a close runner-up to Trump in Iowa  or even someone who falls well short of Trump but pulls away from other rivals  could begin consolidating support and force others out.

Whats crystal clear to me is that until there is a winnowing event, youre never going to get to the head-to-head that it would require to have somebody other than Trump win the nomination, said Gentry Collins, who managed Mitt Romneys campaign for the 2008 caucuses. That winnowing starts in Iowa and it changes the dynamics of the race.

Heres a look at the campaigns working hardest in Iowa to catch Trump.

RON DESANTIS

Campaign overspending and donor jitters prompted the Florida governor to shake up his organization and narrow a broad, national approach to one increasingly focused on Iowa. His national support has slipped substantially from its high point earlier this year.

DeSantis hired David Polyansky as a senior deputy campaign manager in August. Polyansky is a top strategist with Iowa chops from past presidential campaigns. He was working for Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting DeSantis.

Never Back Down has taken on a huge share of work normally done by candidates directly. It has put on almost 50 of DeSantis Iowa appearances, hired 22 paid staff in Iowa  more than on any campaign team in the state  and purchased almost $8 million of television and digital ads this year, the most of any single political group, according to analysis from the tracking firm AdImpact.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, two DeSantis advisers suggest he could survive three second-place finishes  in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina  and try to force a head-to-head matchup with Trump ahead of March's Super Tuesday slate of primaries.

DeSantis has already visited two-thirds of Iowa's counties, Polyansky said in an interview, The candidate pledged earlier this year to visit all 99, a goal that could net extra support and allow him to shore up more populous counties down the stretch.

Knocking out a majority of our 99-county swing this early, before the caucus campaigning heats up even further, gives us the freedom down the stretch to travel where we want to go and when we want to go in Iowa, New Hampshire and beyond, Polyansky said.

NIKKI HALEY

Haley's team pumped up expectations going into Wednesday's second debate and hopes her energetic performance  including several tussles with rivals  translates to a rise in polls.

She impressed Nicole Schlinger, an Iowa Republican campaign phone and text vendor who has not committed to a 2024 candidate.

Nikki's showing she can be strong and assertive and put these guys back on their heels, said Schlinger, who is not committed in the 2024 race.

Toiling before smaller crowds throughout the spring and summer, Haley, the former United Nations ambassador and governor of South Carolina, drew a noticeably more robust 400 to stops in rural eastern Iowa this month. She took the wheel of a combine among amber rows of corn.

She has recently signed noteworthy Iowa GOP talent, including Troy Bishop, who was Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's organizational director. And she's lured some donors away from DeSantis, including billionaire former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. Now, the super PAC supporting her is spending more on ads in Iowa.

TIM SCOTT

Scott was striding toward the midway at the Iowa State Fair this summer when a man approached from behind to tell him, I've seen your ads.

He wasn't alone. Scott's campaign and the super PAC supporting him have combined to spend roughly $10 million in advertising this year introducing Scott to Iowans, about a quarter of all GOP caucus campaign and super PAC ad spending, according to AdImpact.

The South Carolina senator's team argues Iowans are more familiar with him through advertising and ready to see him emerge in the up-close settings that are traditionally critical here.

He has started criticizing his rivals more, going after Trump, DeSantis and Haley for refusing to push for a federal abortion ban. His more aggressive posture was on display during the Wednesday debate in California, when he criticized a proposal by Haley to increase the gas tax.

I think I come across as a nice guy. I will say, though, that I am not an angry guy, Scott told one Iowa audience after being asked if he was tough enough to confront Russia. I think we sometimes confuse anger with strength.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY

Long before he grabbed attention at the first debate, Ramaswamy was working hard in Iowa.

The 38-year-old entrepreneur has traveled the state more than any candidate, holding nearly 70 campaign events. He's gotten buzz for his youth and charisma, his lack of political background, and a brashness that reminds some people of Trump. Some Iowans have also voiced unfavorable impressions sparked by what some see as foreign policy naivete and lack of experience.

Ramaswamy's Iowa team is small and led by outspoken social conservative former state Sen. Jake Chapman and former Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz.

Ramaswamy, who is Hindu and the son of Indian immigrants, always cites what he calls his lists of truths, the first of which is God is real." Evangelical Christians are critical in Iowa.

While few will say out loud that Ramaswamy's faith is an obstacle, one voter raised it at a Tim Scott event last week.

"He talks about God all the time, but it's a pagan god, said Liz Kuennen of Fort Dodge.

Hindus worship several gods, who they believe to be manifestations of the one formless supreme being.

MIKE PENCE

For a former vice president so closely identified with evangelical Christians, it would seem Pence would have a leg up.

Yet Pence faces distinct challenges.

Among the most stubborn is the lingering  and false  perception that Pence could have refused to certify the 2020 election. A man in the state fair crowd this summer confronted Pence and asked him, Why did you commit treason?

Pence patiently walked through the constitutional requirements of the vice president during the certification process.

Even though my former running mate and his outside lawyers told me that authority was there, I knew it never was, Pence told the crowd. Ill always believe, by Gods grace, I did my duty that day.

Though the now well-rehearsed answer sparks respectful applause, Pence faces stubbornly high unfavorable ratings in Iowa among likely GOP caucusgoers.

Still, Pence, who had seven events planned in Iowa over the coming days, was on track to top 60 campaign stops by the end of next week, second only to Ramaswamy.

___

Associated Press writers Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles, Linley Sanders in Washington, and Will Weissert in Grand Mound, Iowa, contributed to this report.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A strong message to his peers from California Congressman Jim Costa as he shared his disgust and disappointment surrounding a looming government shutdown.

I think its irresponsible for the Republicans to continue down this path without reaching out, which is what we normally do, for a bipartisan agreement to avoid government shutdowns, its irresponsible, you should never, in the 19 years Ive been here, ever vote to shut down government, said Costa.

The federal government is just a day away from a shutdown that will disrupt many services.

What Valadao is doing in case of a government shutdown

Costa continued by saying that those who shut down the government are never successful.

This is the greatest nation in the world and we are impacting all federal employees; 194,000 in California, 2.1 million American men, and women in service to our country to protect our nations security, air traffic controllers, women, infants, and children programs, all of these things are so critical to the National Security of our country and for those that attempt to shut down the government, theyre being irresponsible, said Costa.

Echoing fellow California Congressman David Valadao, Costa says this is all going to come down to compromise.

Ultimately, we have to reach a compromise. That comprise was made in May of this year when President Biden and Speaker McCarthy put a cap on spending for two years and at the same time, added work requirements. Theres some people in our Democratic caucus that didnt like the spending caps, didnt like the work requirements, but you know what  you make an agreement, you keep your word, Costa emphasized.

Costa says that putting the population of America and our economy at risk is wrong.

While some government entities will be exempt, Social Security checks, for example, will still go out, but other functions will be severely impacted such as federal agencies stopping all actions deemed non-essential, and millions of federal employees, including members of the military, will not receive paychecks.

This shutdown could happen as a result of Congress failing to pass some type of funding legislation that is signed into law by the president.

Government funding expires Oct. 1, the start of the federal budget year. A shutdown will begin effective at 12:01 a.m. Sunday if Congress is unable to pass a funding plan that the president signs into law.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
HARARE, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- An industry lobby group in Zimbabwe reaffirmed its commitment to help drive the country's vision of becoming an upper-middle income economy by 2030.

The group said industry is prepared to play its part in the country's industrialization drive to ensure broad-based economic empowerment, poverty alleviation and achieve the country's development goals, said Sekai Kuvarika, the chief executive of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, the country's largest industry lobby group, said at a press briefing on Friday.

"We do want to be a business that contributes to an upper-middle economy. We want an upper-middle income economy market as well because that is an economy in which business will also continue to thrive and grow," Kuvarika said.

The Zimbabwean government is formulating a new national industrial development policy to drive industrialization and achieve its goal of becoming an upper-middle income economy by 2030, with an emphasis on structural transformation to build a strong industry with linkages to agriculture and mining, two critical sectors of Zimbabwe's economy. 
A former contractor who worked with the Internal Revenue Service until 2021 was accused of disclosing tax return information of a high-ranking government official and "thousands of the nation's wealthiest people" without authorization, according to criminal information filed Friday in Washington, D.C.

Although the court documents do not reveal the name of the government official, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News that it is former President Donald Trump .

Charles Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., allegedly obtained Trump's tax return information and gave it to a news organization, the court documents said. He has been accused of one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information, and if he's convicted, he could face a maximum five years in prison.

The government also alleges that Littlejohn took tax return information belonging to thousands of the richest people in the country and disclosed it to a different news organization.

Prosecutors said the news organizations  which the person familiar with the matter confirmed were The New York Times and Pro Publica  published "numerous articles" based on the information obtained from Littlejohn, according to the court documents.

An attorney for Littlejohn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for Trump has also not yet responded to a request for comment.

The New York Times and Pro Publica have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Pro Publica said in a statement to CBS News, "We have no comment on today's announcement from the DOJ. As we've said previously, ProPublica doesn't know the identity of the source who provided this trove of information on the taxes paid by the wealthiest Americans."

The New York Times declined to comment. But when the Times published its extensive reporting on Trump's tax returns in September 2020, then-editor Dean Baquet wrote, "Some will raise questions about publishing the president's personal tax information. But the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment allows the press to publish newsworthy information that was legally obtained by reporters even when those in power fight to keep it hidden. That powerful principle of the First Amendment applies here."

Ryan Sprouse contributed reporting.

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Federal prosecutors announced charges Friday against a contractor with the Internal Revenue Service who allegedly stole the tax returns of a high-ranking government official. A source familiar with the matter told CNN that official is former President Donald Trump .

The man, 38-year-old Charles Edward Littlejohn, worked with the IRS from 2018 to 2020, according to court documents. During his contract, Littlejohn allegedly stole tax returns and return information associated with Public Official A and disclosed that information to a news organization.

Though the official is not named in court documents, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN the tax returns in question were Trumps.

In addition to the former presidents tax documents, Littlejohn is also accused of stealing IRS information on thousands of the nations wealthiest people, including returns and return information dating back more than 15 years. Littlejohn then sent that tax information to a second unnamed news organization.

Both news organizations published numerous articles describing the tax information they obtained from the Defendant, court documents said.

The New York Times and ProPublica both published articles based on tax records of the former president and other wealthy Americans around the same timeframe  in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Court records do not name the news organizations, which have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Littlejohn is charged with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

A lawyer for Littlejohn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for ProPublica said in a statement to CNN that ProPublica doesnt know the identity of the source who provided this trove of information on the taxes paid by the wealthiest Americans.

CNN has reached out to The New York Times and Trump for comment.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNNs Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Editor's note: A previous version of this story used incorrect pronouns for Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City. The Oklahoman apologizes for the error.

In spite of a looming national financial crisis, the U.S. Senate has been involved in a squabble over what its members should wear.

Unlike Congress, the Oklahoma Legislature has had few issues with its dress codes, although one state representative thinks the rules are out of date and need to change.

The problem in the U.S. Senate started when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued some "informal guidance" that senators could wear what they want when voting or speaking in the chamber.

The guidance was apparently to accommodate Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman who had been wearing shorts and sweatshirts around the Senate chambers, voting from doorways so he didnt walk on the chamber floor and get in trouble for his casual dress.

However, the new policy met with objection from lawmakers in both parties arguing that the Senate floor should have some standards for dress. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said he was concerned about the change, and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said senators ought to dress up to go to work.

More: Lawmakers to study possible moratorium on death penalty

So, the Senate passed a new resolution on a voice vote and with no objection requiring that business attire be worn on the floor of the Senate, which for men shall include a coat, tie, and slacks or other long pants. It did not specify what women should wear.

The Oklahoma House and Senate both have similar dress codes, and for the most part they are noncontroversial.

Newly elected members of the House in suits, ties, dresses and blazers are sworn into office for the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Nov. 16, 2022, at the state Capitol.

What is the dress code in the Oklahoma Legislature?

Senate Rule 5-5 (a): On the floor during session, appropriate business professional attire, including a suit jacket/blazer, shall be worn by all members of the Senate and other persons granted privileges of the floor, unless otherwise authorized by the President Pro Tempore or Majority Floor Leader. Male members shall wear a tie. Jeans are not considered appropriate business professional attire.

House Rule 4.4 (e): All members shall conduct themselves in a manner becoming a member of the House of Representatives. When the House is in session all members shall, while in the Chamber or Gallery, be appropriately dressed. Members shall wear appropriate professional business attire; male members shall wear suitcoats, slacks, and ties. No member shall wear jeans, denim pants, T-shirts as outerwear, nonreligious head coverings

Rep. Mauree Turner, shown addressing a trans rights rally during the beginning of the 2023 state legislative session, thinks the Legislature's dress code is obsolete.

Does the Oklahoma Legislature's dress code need to change?

Except for a few men who characteristically wear bow ties, bolo ties or big cowboy hats, hardly anyone in the Oklahoma Legislature would stand out in a crowd.

The exception is Rep. Mauree Turner , D-Oklahoma City. Turner is Oklahoma's first Muslim lawmaker and its first nonbinary legislator.

Turner's attire, even when not in the traditional Muslim style, is distinctive and on occasion is chosen to make a political point. In 2021, they were admonished for wearing a "statement" sweatshirt bearing the words "Protect American families, end the incarceration crisis." They agreed to put on a jacket.

In 2023, Turner said, they were called out for wearing a similar sweatshirt in the House chamber, but when they pointed out that a member nearby was wearing a "Thin Blue Line, Protect the Blue" necktie, the matter was dropped.

"It's heinous when we say that the only people who get to represent people on the floor are folks who can afford a suit, right?" Turner asked. "Folks who can afford a tie or dress shoes or whatever. That continues to bar people from being able to access the Oklahoma Legislature in ways that represent them."

Also, Turner said, "Our dress code specifically says what men and women can wear. That's a dress code that does not include me."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Does the Oklahoma Legislature need to reevaluate its dress code?
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) is likely supporting a proposed law expanding digital surveillance of Russian internet, banking, and telecom users, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its Sept. 29 report.

Amendments to a proposed bill in the Russian State Duma would allow law enforcement agencies direct access to personal data from Russian companies, including internet giant Yandex and telecommunications businesses.

The bill would give law enforcement the power to remotely access these databases, and edit or delete information therein.

According to Russian media, the amendments aim "to protect the personal data of Russian judges, FSB employees, and police from data leaks."

Russia's Big Data Association, which includes Yandex, Russian banks, and other companies, opposes the measure and said the move would increase the risk of data leaks.

Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support Us

"The FSBs efforts to gain control over large companies databases are likely part of an attempt to strengthen surveillance measures over the Russian populace and populations in occupied Ukraine," the ISW said.

The ISW also said that the FSB would likely use the heightened access to "mask its operations more easily."

Countries outside Russia that relied on services from Russia's Big Data Association could also face security risks, the ISW said.

In July, the Kremlin reportedly granted the FSB advanced surveillance technologies to monitor activity in encrypted applications, such as Signal and Telegram.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Jada Pinkett Smith hopes for some closure after a Nevada man was arrested in connection with the long-unsolved murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

"Now I hope we can get some answers and have some closure. R.I.P. Pac," she wrote in an Instagram Story on Friday, shortly after officials announced that Duane Keith Davis had been charged with murder with a deadly weapon committed to promote a criminal gang.

Smith has spoken out many times about her relationship with Shakur. In an interview in 2015 with Howard Stern, she said that she had "never in my life met a person like Pac."

"He had so much charisma," she said.

Tupac Shakur and Jada Pinkett Smith (Mychal Watts / WireImage)

Smith said Shakur's death was really tragic but that he had left a very strong and powerful mark on the world.

People are still inspired by him, she said. So he did his work.

Davis, 60, also known as Keefy D or Keffe D, had previously acknowledged being in the car that pulled up next to Shakur's vehicle in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996, the night the rapper was shot.

The indictment alleges that Davis was involved in the shooting and obtained a firearm for the purpose of seeking retribution against Shakur and Marion Suge Knight, the head of his record label, Death Row, and a longtime affiliate of a rival set, the Mob Piru. The indictment doesnt say Davis pulled the trigger, but says he and three other gang members conspired to kill the rapper by acting in concert throughout.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson said at a news conference Friday that Davis was the shot caller for his group and orchestrated the plan that was carried out.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson celebrated the indictment.

This is the indictment weve been waiting almost three decades for, he said Friday. Justice will be served.Officials said Shakur's death was sparked by a fight earlier in the evening when the rapper and Knight roughed up a man identified as Orlando Anderson, Davis nephew, inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino following a heavyweight fight between Mike Tyson and Bruce Sheldon.

Davis immediately sought revenge, according to officials, and got the gun that was used to kill the rapper.

Anderson was long suspected of pulling the trigger, but he had denied his involvement. He died two years later in an unrelated gang shootout.

For decades, Shakur's murder and case have fueled conspiracy theories, song lyrics and movies.

CORRECTION (Oct. 10, 2023 11:02 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the year Howard Stern interviewed Jada Pinkett Smith. It was 2015, not 2022.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A Texas man pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6 riots on Friday, the Department of Justice announced.

Adam Jackson participated in the riots and threw what appeared to be a large cone at law enforcement battling rioters in the tunnels outside the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, prosecutors claim.

Prosecutors said Jackson and his brother Brian Jackson attended the riots together and both participated  including taking photos and videos of violence against police. They were arrested after being identified by a distant family member last year, according to court documents.

Brian Jackson was offered a plea agreement earlier this month but has not decided on whether to accept it, according to court filings.

Adam Jackson also attempted to destroy evidence of his involvement in the riots by deleting Facebook posts and messages that detailed his participation in the insurrection and racist remarks, prosecutors claim.

In since-deleted Facebook posts after the insurrection, Jackson shared that the violence of the riots was caused by Antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters, often-cited and debunked conspiracy theories. The post also said that former President Trump would attempt a military coup before inauguration day.

If POTUS doesnt stop this, [Trump] will be hunted down and arrested along with his entire family by the left. Thats a fact. And with him gone, our country is gone too. He knows this. Hes not going to sit there and do nothing, the post read, according to prosecutors.

From now to the 19th is show time, we just dont know exactly when. So yes, we are in a full blown Military Operation right now to remove the threats and install our President back in power and control the violence in the big cities, it continued.

Adam Jacksons sentencing is scheduled for February.

More than 1,100 people have been charged with crimes related to the insurrection, the Justice Department said, including about 400 charged with assaulting police officers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Saturday hailed Democratic efforts in passing a short-term bill to fund the government, calling it a defeat for MAGA Republicans.

This spending bill was a complete and total victory for the American people. And a total defeat for the extreme MAGA Republicans, Jeffries said during a press conference.

The House on Saturday passed a stopgap funding bill that if passed by the Senate by the Sunday midnight deadline would avoid a government shutdown. It came after weeks of infighting and finger pointing within the House Republican conference.

The CR would keep the government funded at current spending levels through Nov. 17 and includes $16 billion in disaster relief. Ukraine aid wasnt included in the bill, to the chagrin of Democrats, but neither were the spending cuts and border policy provisions Republicans had demanded.

House sends Senate bill to avert government shutdown

A bipartisan effort over several weeks to keep the government funded left extreme MAGA Republicans on an island all by themselves, Jeffries said.

The House, led by Democrats, were able to accomplish the right thing on behalf of the American people, he added.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the House bill Saturday evening.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A federal judge blocked two provisions of North Carolinas controversial new abortion law on Saturday.

The main thrust of the law went into effect on July 1. That includes a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of gestation and several other parts of the law, including some that were challenged by Planned Parenthood and a Triangle OB-GYN for being contradictory and confusing, and were later revised by GOP lawmakers with last-minute clarifications.

But U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles sided with Planned Parenthood on one part of the law that she said was unconstitutionally vague, that said physicians prescribing medication abortions had to document the existence of a pregnancy at the early stages of gestation.

On Saturday, Eagles granted a preliminary injunction blocking the provision in question, which requires physicians to document the intrauterine location of a pregnancy before prescribing medication to end the pregnancy.

In a 34-page order, Eagles wrote that the restriction on medication abortions didnt provide physicians with a clear standard, was open to differing interpretations and didnt provide reasonable notice of what is prohibited, and could subject physicians to arbitrary accusations that they have violated the provision.

The injunction also blocks a second provision, which was slated to go into effect on Oct. 1, that requires anyone seeking an abortion after 12 weeks, under one of the laws exceptions carved out for rape and incest, fetal abnormalities, or the life of the mother, to have the procedure in a hospital.

In a statement, Dr. Beverly Gray, the Duke OB-GYN who joined Planned Parenthood in challenging the law, applauded the court for blocking a few of the onerous barriers to essential reproductive health care that have no basis in medicine.

Despite todays decision, North Carolinas 12-week abortion ban has created unnecessary hurdles to obtain care, with providers across the state scrambling to support pregnant women who now face the nightmare of government-imposed forced pregnancy, Gray said.

Jenny Black, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said the organization remains committed to helping every patient navigate the unjust and inhumane confines of this law, and we encourage anyone in need of abortion care to contact us as soon as possible.

Attorney General Josh Stein, who said earlier this year that his office wouldnt defend parts of the new abortion law that he believed were unconstitutional, said he was encouraged by the courts decision to block two provisions in the law that he called restrictions on womens reproductive freedom.

The law is not based in medical reality, and it was sloppily written, Stein said in a statement. Women, not politicians, should be making these decisions. And I will never stop fighting for womens freedom.

After Stein said his office wouldnt defend parts of the law, GOP legislative leaders asked to join the case as intervenor-defendants, to defend the law in court.

The News & Observer has reached out to the offices of Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore requesting comment on Saturdays ruling.
The perpetrator of a stabbing attack in Southeast Boise in November 2018 was convicted Friday by a jury after a five-day trial.

Ruben Diaz, 40, was found guilty of felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon enhancement, of being a persistent violator and of resisting or obstructing police. It was nearly five years ago when he approached then-74-year-old Gary Vinsonhaler, a stranger, as Vinsonhaler was raking leaves in his yard and stabbed him repeatedly.

Vinsonhaler suffered severe injuries to his face, facial nerves and hands as he tried to fight off the attack, resulting in permanent mobility damage, according to previous reporting by the Idaho Statesman.

The Boise Police Departments investigation revealed that the two men did not know each other and that Diaz was a resident of a nearby assisted-living home.

Diaz was deemed mentally unfit for trial but had his competency restored in 2019, according to court records. He has a lengthy history of mental illness, according to a prior Statesman investigation, and a history of acting violently when not properly medicated.

He pleaded not guilty to the crimes. The jury delivered the guilty verdict Friday after three and a half hours of deliberation.

Thank you to the jurors for their time and attention during this trial, Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts said in a news release.

Diazs sentencing is set for Nov. 7 before 4th District Judge Jonathan Medema. The maximum penalty for the crimes he was found guilty of is life in prison.

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VIENTIANE, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Due to the spiraling cost of fuel, more and more people in Laos are switching to electric vehicles (EVs) with the aim of saving fuel costs and reducing air pollution.

Sengchan Khamxay, a 35-year-old trader in Vientiane province, decided to shift to using an electric vehicle five months ago, and now he is very happy because it helps cut cost of living.

"My job requires me to drive to various locations several times a day. Previously, I used a diesel-powered car and my expense on petrol costs was high at 200 to 300 U.S. dollars per month," Sengchan told Xinhua on Friday.

"I think electric car will be the best way to help save my money, and I was right."

"Besides saving money, electric vehicles are environmentally-friendly. With its competitive price, modernly designed, advanced technology, and safety features, I think many people can afford to buy one," he said.

The Lao government is strongly encouraging the use of electrically powered vehicles in a bid to reduce the need for imported fuel and ensure greater energy security.

Buavanh Vilavong, director general of Department of Industry and Handicraft under the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said the use of EVs in Laos is urgent to minimizing the budget for importing petroleum, adding that the import value of this product in Laos is relatively high, accounting for 20 percent of the country's total import value.

Meanwhile, Laos has great potential for electricity production, thus, promoting the adoption of EVs nationwide is the right direction to take advantage of internal resources as well as to ensure trade balance.

In July, the Lao government imported about 65 million U.S. dollars of diesel and 20 million dollars of regular and premium grade petrol. In August, the spending dropped to 58 million dollars for diesel and 17 million dollars for regular and premium grade petrol, official data showed.

That was because the government is encouraging the use of electric vehicles.

"I still remember when Laos faced months of fuel shortages in early 2022, with many petrol pumps closing down and long queues experienced at those that remained open. It was terrible," 36-year-old man named Phakdy told Xinhua on Friday.

"Since the cost of fuel is still high, I don't want to waste more money on petrol. Now I am planning to buy an electric car at the end of this year," he said.

The continued depreciation of the Lao kip amid rising global oil prices has caused havoc for fuel distributors, who must import fuel from abroad in foreign currency and sell to consumers in local currency.

To prevent a drop in fuel imports, the government is working to ensure that fuel importers have access to sufficient foreign currency to buy all the fuel that is needed for Lao consumers.

In 2022, the number of electric vehicles in use was recorded at 3,201, comprising 1,428 cars and 1,773 motorcycles. There are currently more than 20 charging stations in Laos and 18 dealerships have expressed interest in importing electric vehicles for sale across the country.

As of April 2023, a total of 3,895 electrically powered vehicles had been imported into Laos, of which 1,773 were motorbikes.

The Lao government promotes EVs to advance clean energy use in transportation, aiming for an action plan by 2025, a strategy by 2030, and a vision by 2050. 
One guilty verdict. One acquittal. Well, sort of.

Jurors on Thursday convicted one man in connection with a shooting in a residential community that occurred several years ago.

The next day, jurors said a man was innocent in a case involving a reported melee at an Ocala movie theater. But it also found him guilty of resisting arrest in that same incident.

Here's an account of what happened in court on those days:

State v. Jihad Kiran Elvy

About the case: In the summer of 2021, police officers said, Elvy shot and wounded a young man at an apartment complex located off Southwest 27th Avenue.

A K-9 officer found Elvy not far from the apartment complex. Elvy denied shooting the victim and told a detective he was visiting his girlfriend at the complex. He said he was smoking outside when he heard gunshots and ran.

Judge: Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti.

Lawyers: Assistant State Attorneys Sasha Kidney and Shanae Pickens, and defense attorney Jack Maro.

Assistant State Attorney Sasha Kidney

Charges: Aggravated battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with no serial number.

Trial: Proceedings began Sept. 27 and closing arguments from both sides were on Sept. 28.

Verdict: Guilty

Sentence: Elvy will be sentenced at a later date. He could face up to life in prison. He's also on probation for a gun offense.

State v. Armando Moreno

Trial: One-day trial on Sept. 29.

Judge: Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon.

Lawyers: Defense attorneys Ivonne Alecia Antonian and Mark O'Brien and Assistant State Attorneys Jorge Alberto Jaramillo Jr. and Marissa Meyer. Antonian and Jaramillo were the lead lawyers.

Defense lawyer Ivonne Alecia Antonian

Charges: Battery, second offense on person 65 or older; battery, prior offense; and resisting an officer without violence.

About the case: Earlier this year, a husband, his wife and their daughter were watching a religious movie at the Epic Theatre in Ocala when Moreno began causing a disturbance. Patrons, including the family, told Moreno to keep quiet.

Moreno, according to a lawsuit later filed by the victims against the theater company, punched the husband in the face. Moreno tussled with the man and his daughter, who were attempting to prevent Moreno from leaving the building, since law enforcement officials had been called to the location, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit is being handled by Morgan & Morgan. No one from the firm could be reached for comment as to the status of the suit. At trial, the family declined comment about the lawsuit to a Star-Banner reporter.

Assistant State Attorney Jorge Alberto Jaramillo Jr.

At trial: Antonian argued that Moreno was touched first and therefore defended himself. But Dean Kettner and his daughter Catie refuted that claim. They said Moreno attacked first.

The altercation started, the prosecutor said, because patrons in the movie theater repeatedly told Moreno to keep quiet and he refused. One woman reported the matter to a manager.

The manager came to the area, but left when he apparently did not hear any noise. Witnesses said Moreno, who was talking and laughing loudly on his phone, resumed disrupting the movie once the manager left.

Cathy Kettner went to get the manager again. When she left, her daughter, followed by her husband, went to where Moreno was sitting. That way, when Cathy Kettner returned with the manager, they could point out Moreno's location, according to testimony provided in court.

Jaramillo said Dean Kettner stood close to Moreno and Moreno lunged from his seat and punched the man in the face. The man's daughter intervened, which escalated the confrontation.

Dean Kettner, 68, a retired Minneapolis police officer, testified at trial. He said he told Moreno to shut up. He said he was punched by Moreno.

Kettner said the punch dazed him and knocked off his glasses. He said he held onto Moreno to steady himself and to prevent him from leaving the theater. Kettner said he received seven stiches to close a laceration on his face.

The defense team at Armando Moreno's trial on Friday.

Asked by the defense why he went with his daughter, Kettner said because he wanted to protect her. He said he only raised his hands to protect himself from the oncoming blow.

The prosecution showed videos from a portion of the altercation inside the movie theater, and of Moreno with Ocala police officers. There were no videos showing how and when the altercation began, because no surveillance cameras were stationed inside the theater where the incident occurred.

When a police officer later interviewed Moreno, he said he was "attacked" and "thrown down the stairs." At one point, he said, he was severely injured with multiple broken bones, including a broken back, legs and arms.

Once officers finished with their investigation, Moreno was arrested and taken to the county jail. There, he refused to go into the facility because of his injuries, according to a video shown to the jury.

Closing arguments: Prosecutor Jaramillo said Moreno was "loud, boisterous and disruptive," even though patrons told him multiple times to be quiet. He said neither Dean Kettner nor his daughter "posed a threat to him," referring to Moreno.

He said the defense cannot have it both ways: On one hand, Jaramillo said, Moreno said he never punched the man. But on the other hand, Moreno argued that if he did punch the man, then he did so in self defense.

The prosecutor said Moreno was walking and moving fine until he was asked if he had any injuries.

Defense attorney Antonian said her client was defending himself because two people approached him in a dark movie theater. She admits that Moreno was rude and loud, but said Cathy Kettner was the only one who acted responsibly by going for a manager.

She said Kettner's husband and daughter decided to deal with the situation themselves and acted with what she called "a hero complex."

A view from inside Armando Moreno's trial on Friday.

Antonian said Moreno didn't have any broken bones. But she also noted that his injuries may not have been visible, or the pain he was feeling could have come on later.

Verdict: Not guilty of the battery charges but guilty of resisting without violence.

Moreno was remanded to the county jail because, at the time of his arrest earlier this year, he was on probation for numerous offenses including grand theft, burglary and battery. State records show his probation ends in May 2025. He does have prior criminal convictions, according to court records.

At the courthouse: Ocala courthouse: Two deaths, two trials, two guilty verdicts

Lawyers before sentencing: Antonian said her client has violation of probations from Miami and therefore will be sent back to Miami to answer those charges, regardless of what's happening in Marion County. She asked the judge to sentence Moreno to time served and noted that he has been compliant at the jail.

Jaramillo gave the court Moreno's criminal history.

Sentence: The judge sentenced Moreno to 364 days in the county jail with 181 days of credit for time already served.

Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Man cleared of battery charges after movie theater tussle
After deliberating into the night Friday, jurors finally reached a verdict in the murder trial of a Columbus man who traded 16 shots in a tiny apartment bathroom with his estranged and pregnant girlfriends new beau.

The jury found Quincy Tyrek Wade not guilty of all felony charges in the Sept. 7, 2021 death of 26-year-old Maurice Vaughn Jackson, including:

Malice or intentional murder.

Felony murder for killing Jackson while committing aggravated assault.

Aggravated assault for threatening the estranged girlfriend with a gun.

Home invasion for entering the apartment without authority.

The jury found him guilty only of criminal trespass, a misdemeanor and lesser offense to home invasion. The maximum penalty for that is a year in jail, which Wade already has served awaiting trial.

Though the 27-year-old has other pending charges, he has paid bonds to be released on those counts, and may soon be freed from jail, his attorneys said.

The jury of eight women and four men began weighing the evidence at 1:15 p.m., and later spent about an hour reviewing some of the video evidence in court, before resuming their deliberations. They asked several questions about legal definitions as the hours wore on, and finally reached a decision around 7 p.m.

The evidence

Three days of trial testimony showed Wade had a tumultuous relationship with Channa Powell, who was 11 weeks pregnant with their child the night he came looking for her at the Patriot Place apartment of her friend, Rickell Paulk.

Powell had just broken up with Wade two days earlier when he questioned whether the child was his, and she had been spending time with Jackson, with whom she worked at a solar farm.

The day before the shooting was Labor Day, and Powell had spent the afternoon with Jackson at a family cookout before returning to Paulks home on Buena Vista Road around 12:30 a.m. Wade began texting and calling her around 2:20 a.m., then came to the apartment and banged on the door around 2:30.

Jackson retreated to the bathroom, where Paulk was, and hid in the tub behind a shower curtain. When no one answered the door, Wade came in through an unlocked, sliding glass door off the patio, carrying a 9-millimeter pistol.

Powell ran into the bathroom with Paulk and Jackson, and locked the door. Wade kicked the door in, so frightening Paulk that she ran out of the apartment and hid outside.

Powell said Wade put his gun to her head and then her abdomen, threatening to kill her and her unborn child.

Thats when Jackson snatched the shower curtain aside, and the two men opened fire as Powell cowered in a corner. Wade was shot through the legs, and Jackson was hit four times, with a fatal shot through the center of his chest.

Both guns jammed as empty bullet casings lodged in the firing chambers.

Wade fled through the patio door as Powell snatched his Smith & Wesson pistol and threw it on a couch. She ran back to Jackson, cradling him in her arms as he died.

Wade drove back to his apartment on Ruben Street, and had his roommate take him to a hospital in LaGrange, where police tracked him down.

Quincy Wade walks back into the courtroom after a break in his Columbus murder trial. Tim Chitwood/tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com

Whats self-defense?

With these circumstances in evidence, the defense and prosecution focused their closing arguments Friday on whether Wade or Jackson acted in self-defense, under a Georgia statute sometimes called the stand your ground law.

Representing Wade, law partners William Kendrick and Mark Shelnutt claimed Jackson ambushed Wade, shooting him first, so Wade had to shoot back.

When youre shot, what choice do you have but to defend yourself? Kendrick asked jurors, later adding, When youre shot, its necessary to stop getting shot.

He claimed Wade and Powell were having only an argument when Jackson intervened, and thats what triggered the ensuing violence.

Theres no evidence that Mr. Wade even knew Mr. Jackson was in the apartment.... Whoever interjects violence into the situation is responsible for what happens, he said.

After Fridays verdict, Kendrick said he thought that perspective resonated with the jury.

They probably tuned in on the injection of violence, he told reporters. Theres no way to dial it back once the shots are fired.

Wade has been jailed for two years, he said. He was unsure when his client might be released.

Kendrick also argued in his closing that Wades charges of home invasion and aggravated assault were manufactured to justify Jacksons shooting first. He called adding those counts fixing it up to make the case more palatable to jurors.

He noted Powell did not report Wades alleged threat the day of the shooting, but in an interview on Sept. 16, 2021. He said that detail was added to justify Jacksons shooting first.

With a diagram of the crime scene on the screen behind him, defense attorney William Kendrick addresses jurors during client Quincy Wades murder trial. Tim Chitwood/tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com

What the prosecution said

Chief Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly then outlined each element of the self-defense law, arguing it was not in Wades favor at any point.

The law allows Georgians to use deadly force in defense of themselves or others, to defend someones home, and to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

It does not allow them to claim self-defense if they provoke the violence themselves or act as the initial aggressor; if they are committing a felony; or if they are seeking revenge for a prior wrong.

Under the law, Jackson would have been justified in shooting Wade dead when Wade came through the patio door with a gun, Kelly said. Instead Jackson retreated to the bathroom, though the law says residents have no duty to retreat when threatened.

Jackson was a welcome guest in Paulks apartment, and Wade was not, Kelly said. Carrying a gun, he entered the home without authority when no one answered the door, committing the felony of home invasion.

Then he kicked in the bathroom door, causing Paulk to flee out of fear. Because Jackson heard Wade threaten Powell with the gun, Jackson by law was justified in shooting Wade to stop the commission of another felony, aggravated assault, Kelly argued.

The offense of aggravated assault does not require that victims be injured, he explained, only that they be placed in immediate fear of a violent injury.

So, Jackson was justified in shooting Wade to prevent the felony of aggravated assault, to defend Paulks home, to defend Powell, and to defend himself, the prosecutor said.

Wade, by comparison, had no right to self-defense, Kelly said.

Hes the aggressor to start with, he said, later adding, He forfeited the right to self-defense the moment he walked into that apartment with a gun.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly outlines the evidence in Quincy Wades Columbus murder trial during closing arguments. Tim Chitwood/tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused Chipotle of religious harassment and retaliation after a manager at a Johnson County restaurant grabbed and partly removed a Muslim employees hijab when she refused his demands to see her hair.

The EEOC filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, on behalf of Areej Saifan, who worked at the Chipotle Mexican Grill at 16101 W. 87th St. in Lenexa.

The EEOC contends in the three-count suit that Chipotle deprived Saifan of equal employment opportunities due to the harassment based on her Muslim faith, the hostile work environment that forced her to resign and the retaliation that followed when she complained.

In a statement responding to the suit, Laurie Schalow, Chipotles chief corporate affairs officer, said that the company encourages employees to contact the company, including through an anonymous 800 number, with concerns so that they can be investigated and respond to make things right.

We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we have terminated the employee in question, Schalow said.

The EEOC, however, contends that the manager was not terminated for the harassment, rather it was for engaging in a romantic relationship with another supervisor, which was against company policy.

Grabbed hijab, yanked it

According to the lawsuit, Chipotle hired Saifan in 2020 as a line server at the Lenexa location. In observance of her faith, she wears a hijab, including when she worked for Chipotle.

At the time, Kevin Silva Garcia was assistant manager for the restaurant and supervised Saifan.

Beginning in early July 2021, Garcia began asking Saifan, who was 19 years old at the time, to remove her hijab because he wanted to see her hair, the suit contends.

Saifan declined, explaining she wore it because of her religious beliefs. She also told him requests to see her hair were inappropriate for the workplace and that removing her hijab would be similar to taking off clothing and exposing her body, according to the suit.

Garcia, however, continued to pressure Saifan, demanding that she let him see her hair approximately 10 to 15 times over the course of about a month, the lawsuit says.

Some of the requests were made in front of other employees, including Kim Benavente-Fernandez, who was a shift manager and also supervised Saifan.

She complained to Benavente-Fernandez about the harassment, saying it was unwelcome and made her uncomfortable.

Benavente-Fernandez told Garcia he should stop asking to see Saifans hair, but never took any further actions to stop him, the suit contends. Benavente-Fernandez also failed to report the alleged harassment to higher management, which the suit contends violated Chipotles policies.

The lawsuit identified Benavente-Fernandez as the person who was in the romantic relationship with Garcia.

On Aug. 9, 2021, Saifan was closing the restaurant for the evening and Garcia again asked to see her hair.

When she again refused, he reached out, grabbed and yanked her hijab. This caused the hijab to partially fall off, exposing her hair.

Only the pins holding the hijab in place kept it from falling to the ground, the suit says.

Benavente-Fernandez, who was also working, witnessed Garcias attempt to physically remove Saifans hijab.

The lawsuit says Saifan reported Garcias repeated harassment and physical attempt to remove the hijab to the store manager and Chipotles field manager but doesnt identify when she did.

Hostile work environment

On Aug. 10, 2021, as a result of threats by Garcia and managements failure to address the harassment, Saifan resigned, giving two weeks notice, according to the suit.

Although she listed Aug. 24, 2021, as her last day, Chipotle didnt schedule her for any new shifts, which was unusual because the companys usual practice is to continue to schedule employees up to their last day, the EEOC contends in the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, other non-Muslim employees who quit at the same time as Saifan continued to be scheduled for shifts at the Lenexa location.

The store manager contacted Saifan on Aug. 17, 2021, asking if she would like to be transferred to a different location so that way you dont lose your job, the lawsuit said.

On Aug 20, 2021, Chipotle terminated Garcias employment.

Under the unlawful harassment claim, the EEOC contends that Garcias actions created a hostile work based on religion, and that Chipotle knew or should have known about the harassment but failed to prevent or correct it.

Because of his conduct, Saifan was deprived of her rights to equal employment opportunities based on her religion, according to the lawsuit. The EEOC also contends that because of the hostile work environment, Chipotle discharged her because of her religion.

A reasonable person in Saifans position would have felt compelled to resign when Saifan did, the lawsuit says.

The EEOC contends that Chipotle retaliated against her by refusing to schedule her for shifts unless she was willing to work at a different location, which would have allowed her harasser to continue to work at the Lenexa restaurant.

The EEOC sent a letter to Chipotle in January saying it found reasonable cause to believe Saifans claims. It attempted to work out an agreement with the company, but was unable to reach one that the EEOC found acceptable, according to the lawsuit.
After a months-long back-and-forth with state regulators over its proposal to raise rates, utility company Evergy has agreed to significantly lower its ask  at least for now  for Kansans who rely on its services in the Kansas City suburbs.

The Kansas Corporation Commission, which oversees utility rate changes, announced Friday afternoon a proposed settlement approved by the power company. It comes one month after the state commissions staff objected to a rate increase proposed by Evergy, saying the companys request was unjustified.

Under the new proposal, Evergy customers in the defined Kansas Metro coverage area, which includes much of Johnson and parts of Wyandotte counties, would see their monthly bills drop by $6.07 on average. The coverage area also serves customers in Douglas, Franklin, Miami, Osage, Anderson and Linn counties.

Those in the Kansas Central part of its coverage area, which reaches past Wichita but still overlaps with some parts of western Johnson County, will still see an increase  though a much smaller one. The average hike is expected to be $4.64 per month for customers there, which was initially projected to go as high as $14.24 per month.

The settlement agreement still requires final approval by the KCC, a three-member panel appointed by the governor. A hearing on the matter is scheduled to take place in Topeka on Oct. 9 as the commission faces a late December deadline to render its decision.

Evergy was projected to see a $218 million net increase to its revenues through the rate changes. It now stands to see a net increase of $41 million, according to KCC, though the settlement agreement leaves the door open for Evergy to seek rate increases again in the near future.

Under the settlement, the parties also agreed that Evergy should be permitted to petition for another rate increase next year, as the utility has said those may be needed to accommodate Panasonics new battery plant in De Soto.

In its initial rate-increase request, Evergy had said the company wanted to make adjustments to accommodate the power load for the plant. Evergy had argued that the demand, which would double that of its largest customer, would require two new substations, upgrades to three current substations and work on 31 miles of transmission lines.

In testimony, KCC staff did not recommend approval for the abbreviated case, citing uncertainty around the Panasonic project.

In a statement Friday, Evergy CEO David Campbell called the settlement a very strong result for our customers.

As a result of this settlement, average retail rates in Kansas will have increased just one percent, cumulatively, since 2017, Campbell said. And Evergy will recover investments made to improve the electric grid and build a cleaner, more reliable energy future for our Kansas customers, all while improving our record of regional rate competitiveness.

The Stars Katie Bernard, Natalie Wallington and Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
Marion, Kansas police chief Gideon Cody was suspended this week after he conducted a series of raids including on the office of a local newspaper.

According to the Marion County Record, the paper that was raided, Cody was suspended by Mayor David Mayfield, and the suspension took effect on Thursday. The city administrator announced the suspension in an email to city council members on Friday.

The newsroom, the home of its publisher, Eric Meyer, and the home of Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel were all searched on Aug. 11. Cody said he had reason to believe that a reporter had committed identity theft, alleging in previously unreleased court documents that the reporter impersonated someone or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local business owner.

The reporter said she was acting on a tip, examining a previous DUI from the restaurant owner to see if she could obtain a liquor license for her business.

The police department faced criticism for the raid and for seizing computers and cellphones. Meyer said he believes the raid stressed out his mother enough to cause her death that weekend. Press freedom watchdogs condemned the actions, saying it is a violation of the Constitutions protection for a free press.

Until Thursday, however, Mayfield had been steadfast in stating that he would not suspend Cody until after Kansas Bureau of Investigation released a report on the raids, the paper reported Saturday.

No report has been released. Mayoral candidate Mike Powers said that suspension could precede termination. Under the citys code, the mayor has the right to suspend a police chief but the city council is the group with the power to fire a police chief, the Record reported.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The police chief of a small Kansas town was placed on suspension Thursday after his department conducted a controversial raid on a local newspaper last month which sparked criticism from press advocates over whether it violated First Amendment rights.

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody's suspension was reported Friday by the Marion County Record, the same newspaper that was raided. Marion Mayor Brogan Jones confirmed the suspension to the Associated Press on Saturday.

Police raided the newspaper on Aug. 11, seizing personal cellphones, computers, the newspaper's file server and other equipment. Police also raided the home of Joan Meyer, the 98-year-old co-owner of the newspaper. Meyer collapsed and died at her home the following day, Aug. 12.

According to the search warrant, Cody alleges that reporter Phyllis Zorn illegally obtained driving records for local restaurateur Kari Newell. According to the Record, Newell had accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining drunk driving information about Newell and supplying it to Marion Councilwoman Ruth Herbel.

There are also questions regarding when the search warrant was approved. Bernie Rhodes, an attorney for the newspaper, told CBS News in a statement in mid-August that the three probable cause affidavits that were the basis of the warrant were not filed in state court until Aug.14, three days after the search was conducted.

The affidavits, which were obtained by CBS News, claim to have been signed by Magistrate Judge Laura Viar on Aug. 11.

"While the affidavits purport to be signed before Magistrate Viar on the day of the illegal searches, no explanation has been provided why they were not filed prior to the execution of the illegal searches," Rhodes said in a statement back in August.

About a week after the raid, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey announced that there was "insufficient evidence" to justify the raid, and said he had directed police to return all seized material.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is conducting an independent investigation of the incident. According to the Record, Mayfield had initially been unwilling to suspend Cody until after the bureau had released its report of the investigation. That report has not yet been publicly released.

The federal Privacy Protection Act protects journalists and newsrooms from most searches by law enforcement, requiring police usually to issue subpoenas rather than search warrants.

 Aliza Chasan contributed to this report.

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History came alive at the former Wood Island Life Saving Station this past weekend; some local eateries got to showcase their stuff; and we were again reminded why Kittery, Maine, is such an awesome place to live.

But oddly enough, this story starts in Rodanthe, North Carolina.

Last month, our family embarked on a road trip entirely inspired by a certain members fanatical obsession with the teen-oriented TV show Outer Banks. (Dont ask!) During our visit to the real Outer Banks, we learned of a former life saving station on Hatteras Island that had been transformed into an historical site.

D. Allan Kerr

We proceeded to the Chicamacomico Life Saving Station in Rodanthe on a Thursday afternoon, and upon arrival learned we had just missed their celebrated weekly breeches buoy rescue drill. But as we headed into the gift shop, we overheard the sites executive director, John Griffin, tell someone the reenactors were heading up to Kittery, Maine, the following month to provide a demonstration here.

Naturally, this perked our ears up. We approached Griffin and informed him we had actually just come down from Kittery. He confirmed they were indeed planning to perform their drill at Wood Island, and I assured him we were quite familiar with the ongoing renovation of our local station.

Ah, the envy of the nation, Griffin proclaimed.

For those not familiar with the old United States Life Saving Service, this was the precursor to todays U.S. Coast Guard. Starting back in the 1870s, the rugged men of this agency  known as surfmen  were charged with heading out in wooden rowboats during stormy seas to rescue mariners in distress.

Ive become fascinated with the legacy of the surfmen over the past few years, so naturally geeked out at Chicamacomico. The site includes two original station structures and several other outbuildings, all preserved in spectacular fashion. Its quite an impressive and well-run facility, very much in line with what I would love to see here at Wood Island in the not-so-distant future.

But we were bummed to miss the breeches buoy drill, which is apparently conducted there every Thursday afternoon.

Then last week, we learned the Chicamacomico reenactors were to be at Wood Island on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, their demonstration was to coincide with the 3rd annual Taste of Kittery in the local post office parking lot. This event has become something of a family tradition for us in its very short history, and we had arranged for four generations to attend.

Thats one of the ordeals we have to wrassle here in Maines Oldest Town  sometimes theres just so much to do, you have to prioritize. The wife and I decided to go ahead and paddle out to the picturesque island from Fort Foster around noonish  me in my kayak, her on her paddleboard  with the idea of checking out as much as we could before heading back to shore and catching the rest of the Taste festivities.

The non-profit Wood Island Life Saving Station Association, which oversees the restoration of the Kittery station, was hosting the annual meeting of the US Life Saving Service Heritage Association, a group of like-minded folks from all across the country, including Alaska. The schedule called for the Chicamacomico crew to demonstrate their skills after a Coast Guard helicopter training exercise, which meant we would have to depart before that part of the itinerary.

The launching of the Mervin Roberts, a fully restored, original 1930s Coast Guard rescue craft, arrived at Wood Island Life Saving Station in Kittery, Maine, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.

But its funny how things work out sometimes. As we beached our stuff and headed up toward the iconic pearl-and-crimson station, we saw the North Carolina reenactors getting into position for their drill. By some dumb stroke of luck, the scheduled events had been reversed and we were able to observe the teams rescue drill.

And at this point, its probably a good time to summarize this unique exercise.

Back in the day, if a stranded vessel was close enough to shore, the local surfmen of the US Life Saving Service would conduct a breeches buoy rescue. There simply isnt enough space here to justly describe the procedure, but safe to say its pretty damn cool to witness. It requires both ingenuity and sinew, as well as lines, pulleys and a small cannon-like gadget known as a Lyle gun.

Decked out in the summer whites of the Life Saving Service, the crew last Saturday wrestled into position a cart bearing the heavy gear (the demonstration is also known as a beach apparatus drill). The man in charge of each station used to be known as the keeper, and the keeper of the Chicamacomico team, an imposing-looking gent named Larry Grubbs, also happens to be the president of the North Carolina stations board of directors. He would also be at the top of my call list if I ever had to cast the role of a hardy keeper.

Grubbs aimed the Lyle gun and fired a line of rope over the yardarm of Wood Islands 30-foot wreck pole, installed for such training. Then the crew secured lines which enabled one of their members to sit atop a sort of floatable harness designed to put ones legs through (hence the term breeches buoy) and be hauled hand-over-hand down to safety. Keep in mind this was all accomplished within mere minutes, which was the point of the weekly drills conducted by the surfmen of yesteryear.

Not long after this 19th-century drill was concluded, a 21st-century Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter arrived at the scene to take part in a search-and-rescue exercise for members of the local Coast Guard station here in Portsmouth Harbor. Likewise, it was quite stirring to see individuals wearing the uniforms of the old Life Saving Service posing for pictures with the young men and women currently serving in the Coast Guard.

And the wife and I still managed to get back in time to indulge in the offerings of local dining establishments and breweries at the Taste of Kittery.

The Chicamacomico folks believe they may be the only station in the country to conduct the breeches buoy drill on a regular basis. But WILSSA hopes to open their own maritime museum at Wood Island next summer, and to eventually acquire the expertise to perform the historic drill here. As it is, Wood Island is the only station to boast a marine railway, which was used Saturday to launch a restored surfboat.

Saturday was the first time in nearly 80 years the iconic rescue drill has taken place at Wood Island, but might turn out to be just a hint of things to come.

D. Allan Kerr is an ex-dockworker, former newspaperman and U.S. Navy veteran living in Kittery, Maine.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kerr: Another tale of why Kittery, Maine's a cool place to live
Toronto Blue Jays' Bo Bichette hits an RBI double against the Tampa Bay Rays during seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Toronto. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

TORONTO (AP)  Alejandro Kirk homered and drove in three runs, Bo Bichette had four hits and the Toronto Blue Jays put themselves on the brink of a playoff berth by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 11-4 on Friday night.

One more win or a Seattle loss would give Toronto an AL wild card.

Brandon Belt and Matt Chapman each hit a solo home run for the Blue Jays. Bichette went 4 for 5 with an RBI and scored three times as Toronto pounded out 16 hits to win for the ninth time in 13 games.

This is what we can do, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. These guys are hitting their stride a little bit. The power is coming around and at the right time.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 3 for 4 with a walk and Cavan Biggio finished 2 for 4 with a walk and two RBIs.

The Blue Jays (89-71) scored in double figures for the 11th time and matched a season best by moving 18 games above .500.

It feels great when everybody is hitting, Kirk said through a translator. Its a good feeling. Hopefully we can carry on for the next few days.

Tampa Bay (97-63) has gone 5-6 against Toronto this season.

Yandy Diaz returned as the Rays designated hitter after missing two games because of a sore right hamstring and hit a two-run homer, his 22nd. Diaz went 2 for 2 with a walk before being replaced by Jonathan Aranda in the seventh inning.

I feel good because I didnt really feel too much of the pain, Diaz said through a translator.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said Diaz will likely sit out Saturday and play again Sunday in a final postseason tune-up.

He looks really healthy, especially with a bat in his hand, Cash said.

Yusei Kikuchi (11-6) allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings, improving to 4-0 in four career home starts against the Rays. Kikuchi walked two and struck out four.

That slider has become a pretty big pitch for him, Cash said.

Kirk hit a solo home run off Aaron Civale (7-5) in the second, his eighth, and added a two-run single off Zack Littell in the third.

Belt greeted right-hander Erasmo Ramirez with a homer in the fourth, his 18th, and Chapman hit a leadoff drive against Ramirez in the fifth, his 17th. Belt and Chapman both homered for the second straight game.

Biggio circled the bases in the fourth with a Little League homer when his single to center field skipped under the glove of Manuel Margot and rolled to the wall for a three-base error. Bichette scored from first base on the play.

It was a rough night for Margot, who also misplayed Chapmans liner for a two-base error in the third.

Its going to happen, Cash said. Sometimes those days, they just get you. It looked like he might have taken his eye off the ball. Its more shocking than anything because hes so solid for us out there.

Chad Green replaced Kikuchi after the left-hander gave up three straight hits to begin the sixth.

Civale faced nine batters and got five outs, giving up Kirks home run in the second. Littell came on and got four outs while Civale got some extra work in the bullpen after his 40-pitch outing, throwing another 35 pitches.

TRAINERS ROOM

Rays: 3B Osleivis Basabe (left shoulder) exited after seven innings after he landed awkwardly diving for Bichettes double in the seventh. Hes sore, Cash said, adding that he didnt think the injury was serious.

SIX FOR FOUR

Bichette has six games with at least four hits this year, matching Shannon Stewart (2000) for Torontos single-season record.

MARGOTS WOES

Margot also failed to make a leaping catch at the wall on George Springers drive Sunday in a home loss to the Blue Jays, leading to an inside-the-park home run.

UP NEXT

LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (3-3, 3.31 ERA) is expected to start for the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon. RHP Shawn Armstrong (1-0, 1.41) will open for Tampa Bay.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo on Saturday demanded that Serbia withdraw its troops from their common border, saying it was ready to protect its territorial integrity.

Tensions between the two countries have been high since last Sunday when Kosovo police fought around 30 heavily armed Serbs who stormed the Kosovo village of Banjska and barricaded themselves in a Serbian Orthodox monastery. Three attackers and one police officer were killed.

The gunbattle prompted new international concern over stability in Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority and declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a guerrilla uprising and a 1999 NATO intervention.

"We call on President Vucic and the institutions of Serbia to immediately withdraw all troops from the border with Kosovo," the Kosovo government said in a statement.

"The deployment of Serbian troops along the border with Kosovo is the next step by Serbia to threaten the territorial integrity of our country."

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the Financial Times he did not intend to order his forces to cross the border into Kosovo because an escalation of the conflict would harm Belgrade's aspirations to the join the European Union.

On Friday the United States said it was monitoring a troubling Serbian military deployment along the Kosovo border that is destabilizing the area.

"Kosovo, in coordination with international partners, is more determined than ever to protect its territorial integrity," the Pristina government said.

This deployment also includes the deployment of anti-aircraft systems and heavy artillery.

The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has been in constant contact with the USA and the EU countries regarding this serious threat from Serbia.

NATO, which still has 4,500 troops in Kosovo, said on Friday it had "authorized additional forces to address the current situation".

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Giles Elgood)
TIRANA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide a loan of up to 2 million euros (2.11 million U.S. dollars) to Albania's Union Bank, to support the financing of the agribusiness and tourism sectors in the country, the EBRD said in a statement on Friday.

The investment will boost on-lending in the two underfinanced sectors that are crucial to Albania's economic development, the EBRD said.

So far, Union Bank is the seventh partner financial institution in the country to join the EBRD's Albania Agribusiness and Tourism Support Facility (AATSF), a financial instrument designed to support commercial banks in offering more loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the two target sectors.

Since the launch of the EBRD's AATSF in 2016, around 180 million euros in credit lines and risk-sharing facilities has been allocated to partner banks in Albania, of which those banks have on-lent over 110 million euros to more than 6,200 local agribusiness and tourism SMEs. (1 euro = 1.056 U.S. dollars) 
Slovaks have been voting in a knife-edge parliamentary election on Saturday that could radically reshape Slovakias approach to Ukraine and create deep rifts within NATO and the European Union.

The frontrunner, former Prime Minister Robert Fico , has made no secret of his affinity for the Kremlin during the election campaign. He has criticized the West for supporting Ukraine and adopted a strong anti-US message, even accusing Slovakias President Zuzana Caputova of being an American agent. He has said that if elected, he would stop sending weapons to Ukraine and block Ukraines NATO ambitions.

On election day, Fico accompanied his mother to the polls in the capital, Bratislava. He told reporters that he wants to see that Slovakia not be run by amateurs and bums without experience. So they wont drag us into adventures, whether its migration or military.

Ficos left-wing populist SMER party has been leading for months, although opinion polls published earlier this week showed SMER neck-and-neck with the Progressive Slovakia (PS) party.

The liberal PS party, led by the EU Parliament Vice-President Michal Simecka, is pushing for a completely different future for Slovakia  one that includes a continued strong support for Kyiv and strong links with the West.

Whatever happens in this election, whatever government comes out of this election, we will continue to support Ukraine, Simecka told reporters outside a polling station.

Experts said that misinformation and Russian propaganda have become prominent during the election campaign, with social media companies criticized for not doing enough to stop it.

Slovakia has been chosen (by Russia) as the country where there is fertile soil for success of the Russian pro-Kremlin, pro-war narratives, Vera Jourova, the European Commissions top digital affairs official, told a news conference Tuesday.

She said the election was a test case on the power of social media and misinformation. The approach to Russian war in Ukraine is a divisive line (in the election), she said.

Coalition likely

While either of the two parties could end up winning the election, according to the polls, neither is likely to secure a majority that would allow them to form a government on their own.

With as many as nine parties potentially reaching the 5% threshold needed to enter the parliament, coalition negotiations will almost certainly include multiple players and could be long and messy. It is also far from certain that the leader of the biggest party will become the prime minister.

Hlas, a party that was formed as an offshoot of SMER following an internal dispute between Fico loyalists and the-then Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, was polling third in the last and could turn out to be the kingmaker.

Pellegrini became prime minister in 2018 after Fico resigned following weeks of protests in the wake of the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiance Martina Kusnirova.

But opinion polls suggest that neither Fico nor Simecka are likely to have enough seats to form a government with just Hlas and will have to bring in more coalition parties.

Fico has also not ruled out working with Republika, an extremist far-right party which claims that the war in Ukraine is a consequence of NATOs expansion toward Russia and Kyivs aggression towards the Russian minority in eastern Ukraine.

PS, meanwhile, is most likely to court the Christian democratic KDH party, the liberal Freedom and Solidarity Party or a coalition grouping formed around the center-right Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO) party. OLaNO won the last election in 2020, but its government collapsed following a series of scandals and infighting.

PS said in its manifesto that Ukraine deserves all the humanitarian, financial, diplomatic and military help it needs to succeed against the Russian aggression.

Not another round of ammunition for Ukraine

Fico is a proven vote winner, a populist with a strong voter base. He has won parliamentary elections three times in the past, including in 2012 when he secured an absolute majority  the first and only time any party has managed that since the 1989 revolution.

His potential return to power could have serious consequences for the region. Slovakia is a member of both NATO and the European Union and has been one of Kyivs staunchest allies. It was among the handful of European countries pushing for tough EU sanctions against Russia and has donated a large amount of military equipment to Ukraine.

But this would likely change under Fico, who has blamed Ukrainian Nazis and fascists for provoking Russias President Vladimir Putin into launching the invasion, repeating the false narrative Putin has used to justify his invasion.

Fico has called on the Slovak government to stop supplying weapons to Kyiv, and said that if he were to become prime minister, Slovakia would not send another round of ammunition. He is also opposed to Ukraine joining NATO.

While in opposition, Fico has also become a close ally of Hungarys Prime Minister Victor Orban, especially when it comes to criticism of the European Union. If Fico wins, he and Orban could gang up together and create obstacles for Brussels. If Polands governing Law and Justice party manages to win a third term in Polish parliamentary elections next month, this bloc of EU troublemakers could become even stronger.

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African countries are interested in buying Ukrainian weapons and creating Ukrainian defense manufacturing plants on their soil, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sept. 30 at Ukraine's first international defense industry forum.

Kuleba said that as a geographic region, Africa was one of the top customers of Ukraine's defense contractors and its countries would like Ukrainian products to return to their markets.

Plagued by weapon and ammo shortages, Ukraine is not able to export anything defense-related at this time but is looking to return to being one of the world's leading armorers.

The production of Ukrainian weapons on African soil is seen as an alternative to currently-impossible exports, Kuleba said, calling it a "new trend."

Ukraine has stayed within the top 20 defense exporting countries for the majority of its independence, occasionally climbing to 11th place. The country is especially renowned for its advanced aircraft engines.

The forum united 252 defense contractors from over 30 countries, as the Ukrainian government tries to build closer relationships and joint production capacities with the world's leading arms manufacturers, to include localized production of foreign arms inside Ukraine.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Sushi omakase, with its kaleidoscopic cuts of fresh, raw seafood that melt on the tongue, has in recent years experienced a surge in popularity in major U.S. cities.

That's especially true in Los Angeles, as omakase is tied to a storied history in L.A.'s Little Tokyo district. More than two dozen upscale omakase bars have sprung up from downtown to the South Bay over the past decade or so. And in this years Michelin guide, released in July, nearly half of the 26 short-listed restaurants in the L.A. area specialize in a style of sushi developed hundreds of years ago, during Japans Edo period.

And across the country, demand is high for reservation-only sushi omakase dinners  and you're lucky to get seated at all. Elite establishments require bookings months in advance; a secret omakase speakeasy in Las Vegas has a waiting list of thousands.

An omakase meal typically includes at least a dozen courses of nigiri-style sushi  in which thin slices of raw fish are stacked on top of rice  made with premium seafood often flown in overnight from Japan.

While many fine dining chefs in L.A. tend to embrace fusion, sushi masters at omakase restaurants have excelled by importing ancient Japanese culinary traditions to L.A.s competitive fine dining scene. The results are often prohibitively expensive: a meal at a Michelin-rated L.A. institution averages around $300.

Clockwise from top left, golden eye snapper, squid and uni, sweet shrimp, otoro, ikura and needle fish at Sushi Ginza Onodera in Los Angeles. (MST Creative)

Directly translated as Ill leave it up to you, omakase offers an intimate, rarefied dining experience in which the chef chooses, sometimes at the spur of the moment, what gets served depending on available ingredients or the days catch. In lieu of a fixed menu, the customer entrusts the chef to do the ordering. Omakase is the preferred way of service for esteemed sushi masters, though its not limited to sushi.

The L.A. branch of the Tokyo-based Sushi Ginza Onodera, which has two Michelin stars, imports high-quality seafood from Tokyos Toyosu Market and rice from the Niigata prefecture. The restaurants 23-course omakase meal  featuring immaculate slices of bluefin tuna, golden eye snapper and Hokkaido scallop layered atop cubes of vinegar-infused rice  is priced at $400 per head.

I aim to let you experience Japans four seasons and savor various regional fish as if you were traveling through Japan, executive chef Yohei Matsuki wrote in an email.

Matsuki, who trained for years at the restaurants Tokyo outpost, said hes committed to using only Japan-sourced ingredients because the quality control and handling of fish by people in Japans fishing industry are among the best in the world.

Like many other modern sushi masters, Matsuki said he deploys late 19th-century Edomae-style techniques, such as marinating ingredients in soy sauce and curing them in salt or kombu sea kelp  a process that could last a few hours to several days.

Sushi Ginza Onodera in Los Angeles. (Jun Hiraoka)

Matsuki said hes pleased that traditional Japanese cuisine has garnered greater critical appreciation in recent years. I hope this will increase awareness of Japanese culture among people from around the world, he said.

Experts say the omakase boom took off in L.A.  because the citys historic Little Tokyo enclave, founded in the late 19th century, was once the largest Japanese community in the country. It has long served as the countrys epicenter of Japanese food, offering an extravaganza of craft ramen and late-night yakitori bars.

Sushi, in particular, has a storied history in L.A., said Samuel Yamashita, a food historian who has studied the evolution of Japanese cuisine in North America. Kawafuku, a beloved local institution in Little Tokyo, opened the countrys first sushi bar in 1966. A few years later, chef Ichiro Mashita at the nearby Tokyo Kaikan invented the now ubiquitous California roll.

Sushi places in Japan in the 70s, 80s and 90s were very macho, Yamashita said. If you dont eat the sushi right away the chefs would get pissed off. Things have really changed.

The high-end sushi craze didnt take off until the 2000s, Yamashita said. By tracking spots in phone books, Yamashita found that the number of sushi restaurants listed in the city jumped from nine in 1995 to 115 in 2019. Pop culture played an important role: The 2012 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, which profiled a revered Japanese sushi master in lush detail, introduced the esoteric art of sushi making to Westerners.

A towering force behind L.A.s now formidable omakase scene, Yamashita said, is Masayoshi Takayama, whose flagship New York City restaurant, Masa, became the countrys first three-Michelin-star Japanese restaurant. (Its also the priciest: Dinners top $1,000 per diner, excluding beverages.) Ginza Sushi-ko, Takayamas first restaurant in L.A., became a training ground for local sushi chefs in the 1990s. A host of Michelin-star omakase spots in the city, including Sushi Q, Sushi Kaneyoshi and Nozawa Bar, followed what Yamashita called the Masa effect.

Haute Living and Grand Seiko Omakase Experience on Nov. 11, 2021 in New York. (Eugene Gologursky / Getty Images for Haute Living file)

Eric Rath, a professor at the University of Kansas and sushi expert, said nigiri sushi dates back to before the 19th century. There were references to the dish in eighth-century literature, he said. In those early days, sushi was primarily a street food; a piece of sushi was three times the size of todays offering.

It was a very inexpensive snack that commoners could have, Rath said. One piece of sushi might have been the same price as a bowl of noodles.

The professionalization of sushi, Rath said, began after World War II with the advent of refrigerators. Sushi restaurants didnt start offering fixed menus until Japan began Westernizing in the late 1800s, he said.

Dine Out: Benkay sushi chef Hiro Ishii puts the final touches on Omakase in Portland, Maine in 2018. (Ben McCanna / Portland Press Herald via Getty Images file)

With refrigeration, people started to refine sushi, and you can serve premium fish like bluefin tuna, he said. You had to cook with a certain degree of licensing  there was nothing like that in the past.

But the U.S. sushi sector will likely reach a saturation point in the next five years, Yamashita said, due in large part to climate change and overfishing. Bluefin tuna populations, for example, have fallen rapidly over the past few decades because of consumer demand for sushi and sashimi.

A lot of fish wont be available because of global warming, so sushi will be more expensive than it is now, Yamashita said. Because of that, first-rate places will probably only survive in big cities.

The next chapter for refined Japanese cuisine, Yamashita said, might focus on kaiseki, a traditional multi-course tasting menu that includes sashimi as well as cooked meat and vegetables, rice, a hot pot and dessert. Two of L.A.s Michelin-star restaurants, Shibumi and n/naka, pay homage to kaiseki.

David Schlosser, the head chef at Shibumi, said he came up with the concept of the restaurant after a trip to Japan in the early 2000s, when he became inspired by the simplicity and elegance of Japanese culinary traditions.

I had such a deep respect for trying to understand and honor the food that I realized then I didnt want to do fusion, he said. When you can make something classic perfect, why put olive oil, parsley, and tomato peppers? I wanted to keep the culture for the future generation.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Lake Tahoes internationally revered blue waters  once described the fairest picture the whole earth affords by humorist Mark Twain  could instead be muddy brown if not for the late senior senator from California, who died Friday at the age of 90, environmental advocates said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein , who spent her childhood and adult life in the mountainous region, was the biggest champion Tahoe ever had and will ever have, said Amy Berry, the CEO of the nonprofit Tahoe Fund. The states longest-serving U.S. senator secured more than half a billion dollars to keep Lake Tahoe from environmental harm.

She used to say Tahoe is in her blood, Berry said.

It was Feinsteins sharp political acumen that brought Tahoes environmental threats to the national spotlight. Protecting Tahoes famed clarity was a symbol of protecting the environment, said Darcie Collins, the CEO for the League to Save Lake Tahoe, the oldest environmental organization tasked with protecting its waters commonly known for its slogan Keep Tahoe Blue.

If we cannot protect Tahoe, what can we protect? Collins said of the message at the time.

Feinstein spearheaded the 1997 Lake Tahoe Presidential Summit, now an annual event, and persuaded then-President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore to attend. Their appearances helped to spark the efforts behind the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act passed in 2000, said Geoffrey Schladow, the director of Tahoe Environmental Research Center and a professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis.

Schladow added that Feinstein was an acute politician who leveraged federal funding to secure state and private monies for conservation efforts.

The restoration act is up for renewal again in Congress, this time through 2034.

Schladow said Feinstein took the environment personally  she allowed weather instruments to be attached to her private boat dock to collect real-time data.

Feinstein and her late husband, Richard Blum, who died last year, wrote the first checks for Tahoe Fund and came to fundraiser dinners, Berry said. She emphasized the bipartisanship needed behind supporting the efforts of Lake Tahoe.

Tahoe stretches across California and Nevada, which led Feinstein to work with Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who was the Senate majority leader and other stakeholders from both states, said Julie Regan, the executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The respect Feinstein commanded from her colleagues, Regan said, helped to keep protecting the lake a nonpartisan issue.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein speaks during the 20th anniversary Lake Tahoe Summit in 2016. President Barack Obama and Sens. Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid also took part in the summit.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, noted in a statement Friday that Feinstein helped support legislation that saved the city of South Lake Tahoe from the destructive 2021 Caldor Fire.

We couldnt have done it without her, he said.

Collins noted more than 100,000 boats have been inspected over 25 years for the destructive quagga mussels, preventing the invasive species from running afoul. Keeping the lake clear is directly related to Feinsteins dedication to Tahoe, Regan said, who remembered the times Feinstein would carry a pipe teeming with mussels on Capitol Hill to remind them of what could happen without their help.

Tahoe is blue thanks to her, Collins said.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Two Las Vegas men were convicted Friday by a Pennsylvania jury on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, posing as distressed grandchildren in phone calls to get money from the victims.

Roderick Feurtado, 56, and Tarek Boanane, 47, traveled to the Pittsburgh area in September 2021 and defrauded elderly victims out of at least $250,000 with their scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan.

Feurtado and Bouanane represent the worst that society has to offer, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker said. They prey upon the love and concern that our amazing senior citizens have for their families.

Nigerian citizen sentenced in rent scheme that took $3.3 million from 3,500 victims

They contacted victims and claimed that a family member, usually a grandchild, had been detained in connection with a legal proceeding and needed money for bail. The victims were directed to withdraw cash and provide it to a courier who would come to their homes. Bouanane acted as one of these couriers while Feurtado acted as the safehouse, who gave directions to the couriers and collected the money that had been obtained from the victims.

The defendants kept a portion of the money, and they had plans to pass along the rest to others, including by converting it to cryptocurrency.

Pennsylvania State Police seized about $220,000 from the defendants, who were responsible for at least $250,000 in total victim losses in the Western District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere as a result of the conspiracy.

The law provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey R. Bengel and Michael R. Ball prosecuted this case. The Department of Homeland Security Investigations, Pennsylvania State Police, and Bethel Park Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the convictions in this case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
A Nevada man, believed to be the last living suspect investigated in the 1996 slaying of Tupac Shakur , was arrested Friday in connection with the long-unsolved case, officials said.

A grand jury handed up a murder indictment against Duane Keith Davis, 60, also known as Keefy D or Keffe D, on Thursday, with the indictment officially filed late Friday morning, according to Clark County District Court documents.

Davis has previously acknowledged that he was in the car that pulled up next to the rappers vehicle when he was shot. But until Friday, no charges had ever been filed in the case that has fueled headlines, conspiracy theories, songs and movies for years.

This is the indictment weve been waiting almost three decades for, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Friday, holding a copy of the indictment. Justice will be served.

Davis has been charged with murder with a deadly weapon committed to promote a criminal gang, the South Side Compton Crips.

It wasnt immediately clear if Davis had a criminal defense lawyer to speak on his behalf. The Clark County public defenders office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The indictment alleges Davis obtained a firearm for the attack for the purpose of seeking retribution against Tupac Amaru Shakur and Marion Suge Knight, the head of his record label, Death Row, and a longtime affiliate of a rival set, the Mob Piru.

The document does not contend Davis pulled the trigger, but it argues his hand in the crime was just as heavy as any shooters. The indictment states Davis and three other gang members with him that night conspired to kill Tupac by acting in concert throughout.

Davis, the document states, willed Tupacs death by counseling, encouraging, hiring, commanding, inducing and/or otherwise procuring the other to commit the crime, it alleges.

Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson said at a news conference Friday announcing the arrest.

On Sept. 7, 1996, the night he was shot, Shakur and his entourage were in Las Vegas for a heavyweight bout between Mike Tyson and Bruce Sheldon.

His murder was sparked by a fight earlier that night when the rapper and Knight roughed up rival Anderson inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, officials said.

Andersons beating led Davis to immediately plan revenge against Shakur and he got the gun that was used to kill him, officials said.

Shakur, 25, and his friends were stopped near East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane when a Cadillac pulled alongside and someone inside that car opened fire, hitting Shakur. He died Sept. 13.

Of the four people thought to be in the car that attacked Shakur, Davis is the last known survivor.

In this case, the only living suspect related to this investigation is Duane Davis, all other three suspects are deceased, Johansson said.

Orlando Anderson, Davis nephew, has long been suspected of pulling the trigger. Anderson was killed in a 1998 gang shooting in Los Angeles.

Wolfson, the district attorney, said his office has been in contact with Shakurs family and theyre aware of the indictment.

We understand that they are welcoming this news, Wolfson said. They are pleased with this news.

Shakurs sister, Sekyiwa Set Shakur, called the arrest a pivotal moment and said she would reserve judgment until the proceedings are complete.

The silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community, she said in a statement. There have been multiple hands involved and there remains so much surrounding the life and death of my brother Tupac and our Shakur family overall. We are seeking real justice, on all fronts.

After decades without answers, the case was reinvigorated in 2018 by statements Davis made, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.

While Las Vegas authorities didnt specify what statements from Davis contributed to his indictment, he had been in talks with Los Angeles police in a separate drug investigation in 2018 when he discussed Shakurs slaying in a non-prosecution agreement.

He provides his own series of statements that are very consistent with the evidence that we have obtained, Johansson said.

The next year in interviews and in his book, Compton Street Legend, Davis said he provided the gun that killed Shakur.

Police served a search warrant on Davis at his home near Las Vegas on July 17, looking for laptops and other electronic devices in connection with the decades-long investigation.

Johansson declined to detail what items in that search led to the indictment but he said items seized corroborated information obtained through our investigation.

Less than six months after Shakurs slaying, Brooklyn rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.

No one has ever been charged for Biggies March 9, 1997, slaying. Its long been believed the killings were connected to a rivalry between the two rappers.

Tension between the South Side Compton Crips and the Mob Piru came to a boil as the Crips provided security for Shakurs rivals, rappers for New York City-based Bad Boy Entertainment, and Shakur started to resent his old friend, Biggie.

Months before Shakurs shooting, a half-dozen or so South Side members, including Anderson, beat up a Mob Piru member wearing a Death Row Records medallion, a former Compton law enforcement officer testified in documents released Friday.

Authorities on Friday maintained the motive in Shakurs death was tied directly to the fight.

This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Fifteen years ago when I embarked on my scientific journey, I was an undocumented immigrant from Peru who never dreamed of becoming a scientist. My parents were not scientists or professors, my mom worked in a glass-making factory and my father in a fast-food restaurant. Having had no scientific role models growing up, I always thought that career was reserved for geniuses and didn't think it was a path for me.

Being an undocumented immigrant meant my options to pursue higher education were extremely limited, as I could not afford college tuition and did not qualify for financial aid. The probability of me becoming a scientist was very low. All that changed due to mentors.

Today I am a Latino neuroscientist who became the first in my family to earn a Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale. I've also co-founded Cientifico Latino, a science organization that improves the pipeline of students of color into higher education in the sciences.

So how did I become a scientist? For this National Hispanic American Heritage Month, celebrated from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, I want to share my story.

Robert W. Fernandez, in red, with his parents, Rosa and William, and brother Diego in New York City in 1996, four years after arriving from Peru.

My first role model is my mother

I had the privilege of having inspiring role models throughout my career. Though growing up I might not have had any Hispanic role models in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the ones I had were instrumental.

My first role model is and will always be my mother. It has been three decades since our family left Lima to the United States to pursue a better future. I cant begin to thank her for her sacrifice as a single mother raising two teenagers while working at a factory over 80 hours a week. She taught me the value of education, the importance of pursuing my dreams and that with resilience, you can make it through difficult times.

My interest in science began as a student at Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey. There I met biology professor Tracy Felton, who encouraged my budding interests to conduct an independent literature study on evolution.

Value the teachers: Should you use college rankings to pick a good school? Here's a critical factor they miss.

She also advocated for me when I confided to her about my immigration status. This small but important act made me think that maybe I could become a scientist.

While my college options were limited as an undocumented immigrant back in 2010, the City University of New York welcomed me with open arms. At York College, CUNY, I met professor Anne F. Simon, who changed my life by asking me one question: Have you thought about doing research?

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

She taught me how to be a scientist through designing experiments, analyzing results and presenting at academic conferences. At this stage of my life, I knew that I wanted to continue a career in science, but I did not know what that path looked like. I had no idea what someone does with a degree in the sciences let alone what a Ph.D. was. The mentorship I received from professor Simon led to a domino effect that resulted in me doing summer research at Princeton, presenting at scientific conferences and learning what a Ph.D. was and how to apply for one.

What learning about Hispanic STEM leaders taught me

My story is one of serendipity. I would not have become a scientist if it weren't for the role models who took the time to invest in me. My experience made me question why didnt I have any Hispanic STEM role models growing up? Why did I not learn about their scientific contributions in the classrooms.

US semiconductor production ramps up. But without STEM workforce, we'll lose the race.

I often pondered this during graduate school, and I was inspired to learn about the stories of Hispanic scientists after seeing John Leguizamos one-man show "Latin History for Morons." This one quote resonated deeply with me when discussing Latin peoples contribution to America:

But where are our contributions? ... Can you imagine if they were put back into history? Written back into history textbooks? Can you imagine how America would see us? More importantly, can you imagine how we would see ourselves?

In my search, I learned about the contributions of Hispanic STEM leaders such as Mexican scientist Mario J. Molina, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995, and Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina astronaut and the first Hispanic director of the Johnson Space Center.

Robert W. Fernandez is a Junior Simons Fellow at Columbia University and co-founder of Cientifico Latino. He is also a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow and Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project.

Additionally, the scientific journal Cell Press has highlighted "100 inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists in America." While these are a few notable examples, there are thousands of Hispanic scientists whose contributions deserve to be known.

How can you help this National Hispanic American Heritage Month?

Teach your students about the stories of Hispanic scientists and their contributions.

Invite and pay Hispanic scientists to speak at your high schools, colleges, universities, institutions, nonprofit organizations and companies.

Invest in Hispanic organizations helping the Hispanic community, such as HISPA, Ciencia Puerto Rico and Cientifico Latino.

If we want to increase the pool of Hispanic scientists in the United States, representation is critical. How can we envision ourselves in scientific careers if we do not see STEM role models who look like us? Its time for America to tell our stories and highlight our contributions in the history books.

Robert W. Fernandez is a Junior Simons Fellow at Columbia University and co-founder of Cientifico Latino. He is also a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow and Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: We need more Hispanic scientists. Recruit Latino students in STEM
Hospitals play a critical role in communities; protect access

A recent article, Public Eye: Sticker shock at the doctor's office  Why do hospitals charge 'facility fees? paints an incomplete picture of hospital billing practices and facility fees. At the Oklahoma Hospital Association, we see every day the compassionate and unique care our states hospitals provide and the challenges they face.

Since the onset of the pandemic, rural hospitals across the U.S. have faced intense financial and supply pressures. Hospitals revenue has shrunk while expenses continue to rise, leaving most hospitals  especially in rural areas  on incredibly thin margins. Rural hospital closures have already left thousands of patients without access to the care they need.

Hospitals play a critical role in their communities.

While other care options sometimes exist, they cannot provide the same level or quality of care as hospitals. So called site-neutral legislation being proposed in Congress simply ignores the fact that emergency and specialty services like burn, neonatal and psychiatric care are only available at hospital facilities. In our rural communities, having an available ER 24/7 to respond to auto and industrial accidents, as well as natural disasters, is put at risk under site-neutral proposals. In addition, hospitals adhere to safety and regulatory codes that other sites of care do not and care for sicker and more complex patients.

Hospitals play a critical role in their communities  and its vital we urge lawmakers to protect access to care and reject site-neutral policies that ignore key differences between hospitals and other sites of care.

Running a hospital is incredibly expensive, and despite our best efforts to reduce costs, we still must find ways to stay open. This is a complex issue, and while site-neutral payment proposals may seem appealing, they will only exacerbate the diminished access to care impacting underserved communities like many of those in rural Oklahoma.

 Rich Rasmussen, Norman, Oklahoma Hospital Association president

More gun laws? Strictly enforce the current laws on the books

It's a fact that many people are yelling for more "gun laws" to control the major upswing in crime all across America. New gun laws are not necessary to control crime. The only thing necessary is strict enforcement of the laws on the books now.

 Joseph M. Lusk, Oklahoma City

Not all service animals are the same, so what does this mean for businesses' rules?

Why should 'service animals' dictate private business rules?

In reference to the story "WE HAVE RIGHTS Law allows service animals, but some businesses dont understand," which was published on Page 4A on Sunday, Sept. 24.

We know most of these are emotional, or comfort animals.

And anyone can get a service dog collar/vest on Amazon for $15.

And you want to dictate that a private business has to accept animals? What happened to no shirt, no shoes, no service, and No firearms allowed?

 Greg Clift, Anadarko

How is moral turpitude measured, and when does it count?

Moral turpitude is a behavior getting recent attention as being unacceptable in our education systems. The hits from Googling the term show fairly consistent types of immoral behavior. Interestingly, hypocrisy does not appear, and yet there is no better example of moral turpitude than the behavior of one Donald J. Trump, the unquestioned favorite in Oklahoma for national leadership. Go figure.

 John Mueller, Edmond

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Letters on community hospitals, gun laws, service animals
A liberal group on Friday filed a lawsuit to keep former President Trump off the 2024 ballot in Michigan, saying he violated the 14th Amendment and should be banned from being able to participate in the election.

It is the third challenge to Trumps ballot eligibility after similar actions were filed in Colorado and Minnesota. It was filed by Free Speech for People, the same group behind the Minnesota lawsuit.

The suit argues that because of Trumps alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol, he should be disqualified from running for federal office.

The suit also compares Trump to members of Congress that were kicked out of their seats during the Civil War for supporting the Confederacy.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which is cited in the lawsuit, states that no person shall hold elected office who engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.

The insurrection defeated the forces of civilian law enforcement; forced the United States Congress to go into recess occupied the United States Capitol, a feat never achieved by the Confederate rebellion and blocked the peaceful transition of power in the United States of America, another feat never achieved by the Confederate rebellion, the suit reads.

Donald J. Trump, through his words and actions engaged in insurrection or rebellion, or gave aid and comfort to its enemies, as defined by Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, the group continued. He is disqualified from holding the presidency or any other office under the United States unless and until Congress provides him relief.

Trump was impeached by the House following the insurrection, but was not convicted by the Senate. He has also been charged in two criminal cases over his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election to President Biden  one in Washington, D.C., and a second case in Georgia.

Both of those criminal cases allege that Trump formulated a scheme to overturn the results of the election by using fake Electoral College votes. The federal case also cites his perceived actions ahead of the Capitol riot.

A group of New Hampshire lawmakers urged their states election chief to prevent similar 14th Amendment arguments for their 2024 ballot, calling the attempts an absurd conspiracy theory.

Trump himself dismissed the attempts earlier this month.

Almost all legal scholars have voiced opinions that the 14th Amendment has no legal basis or standing relative to the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 30)  The Philippine Army will pursue "legal remedies" against environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano even after they sought protection orders from the Supreme Court.

Philippine Army spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad on Saturday said while they respect the activists' rights to seek redress from the high court, this will not stop the Army from "pursuing legal remedies within the bounds of law against Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano for their actions during the press conference."

In the press conference organized by the government's task force against communist rebels, Castro and Tamano denied voluntarily surrendering to authorities and claimed they were abducted by the military.

The activistswho went missing on Sept. 2have asked the Supreme Court to issue a writ of amparo and writ of habeas data against members of the Philippines Army, the Philippine National Police, and some government agencies.

Trinidad insisted that the army "acted in good faith" in assisting Castro and Tamano's surrender, and said the two showed "their true colors and intention to deceive their family, the government, and the Filipino people."
A local club is helping prepare the next generation for the workforce.

Located at Johnson C. Smith University, The Westside History Club was founded to help kids look towards the future by getting answers from the past.

Channel 9 investigative anchor Madison Carter and photographer Reuben Muiruri met with members of the club on Saturday to give them a sneak peek into the news world.

The club was founded by Che Abdullah. He wanted to give children the opportunity to share their interpretation of the legacies that surround them in Charlotte.

ALSO READ: Nonprofit program in Charlotte making difference by preparing kids for preschool

Knowing their history is a very important part of their development; most of the kids arent exposed to it, Abdullah said.

Both Carter and Miruri broke down the basics of storytelling for the young crowd. They were able to interview filmmaker Frederick Murphy and community elder Trilby Meeks.

While this was their first time chasing down news stories and interviewing sources, Abdullah hopes it wont be their last.

Right now, theyre not that excited about it, but once I tell them the stories of the people who live in their neighborhood, they will change, Abdullah told Carter.

(WATCH BELOW: Volunteers at Concord ranch care for adults, kids with special approach)
The local branch of the NAACP has expressed its outrage and condemnation following the death of a six-year-old boy from a triple shooting in a Mixon Town apartment complex on September 27.

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The incident has once again highlighted the alarming levels of senseless violence plaguing the area, prompting a call for unity and action among African-American leaders to address this ongoing crisis.

In a strongly worded statement, the local NAACP chapter decried the recurring violence that has plagued their community and urged African-American leaders to stand together as they had done in response to a recent mass shooting.

READ: The 6-year-old who was shot and killed in a triple shooting has been identified

The full statement reads:

The Local Branch of the NAACP is outraged at the overnight killing of a six-year-old child. The senseless violence and shootings in our communities are unnecessary and need to end. The African American leaders should continue to stand in solidarity as they did previously over the recent mass shooting and call out the violence and senseless killings in the black community. The NAACP is strongly speaking out against these atrocities and is demanding a cease-fire. We strongly encourage anyone with information on this latest shooting or any other shooting to report it to the authorities immediately. The Branch extends its deepest condolences to the families of these latest victims and offers any support to bring peace back to our communities.

Community leaders and residents alike hope that these collective efforts will help put an end to these heartbreaking incidents that continue to devastate their neighborhoods.

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Warning: Spoilers from Season Five of Love Is Blind below...

The drama surrounding the previous relationship between Love Is Blind Season Five stars Uche Okoroha and Lydia Velez Gonzalez boiled over in the latest group of episodes, leading to an intense conversation between Uche and Aaliyah Cosby.

Episode Four ended on a cliffhanger as Uche discovered that Aaliyah, whom he planned to propose to, left the experiment. The new group of episodes, out Sept. 29, confirmed that Lydia and Uches past relationship played a role in Aaliyah choosing to quit the show.

Producers required Uche and Lydia to keep their previous romance a secret if they wanted to continue with the experiment, according to show creator Chris Coelen.

Uche asked producers in Episode Five to allow him to contact Aaliyah.

She says that she could see herself marrying me. She can see a life with me. To just walk away without saying anything  This doesnt make any sense, he said before producers called Aaliyah.

She agreed to talk to Uche and told him that she chose to leave because, There was, like, an exchange of words between Lydia and Ithat didnt really go well.

Aaliyah, a ICU travel nurse, said she also started to question if Uche was being honest with her.

How do you not know that when she was at your place earlier this year, she didnt see an email and apply to be on this damn show? she asked.

He balked at her suggestion and ended the call, telling producers he did not want to see or talk to her anymore.

Aaliyah wasnt the only one convinced there was more to the story involving Uche and Lydia. The theory that Uche and Lydia planned to appear on the show together has been floated on social media. One person even wondered if Lydia and Aaliyahs friendship was genuine.

Please Aaliyah, Lydia is not your friend. She befriended you specifically for a reason. That woman is not real ok #Loveisblind, one fan tweeted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Now, Aaliyah isnt so certain. In an interview with TODAY.com, Aaliyah shares the new perspective she has on her interactions with Lydia in the pods.

To this day, I dont really know what her intentions were 100 percent, Aaliyah says. But I do feel like, after just having discussions with her, I understand where she may have been emotionally and what guided her decision making throughout everything  as far as just navigating having a friendship with me and having the past relationship with him.

She adds, I think she did her best. And I did my best in trying to grant both of them grace in that, even though I did feel a sense of a little bit of betrayal.

The nurse says that it was a difficult and complex situation and she, Uche and Lydia tried to get through it the best they could. She believes that everyone was being authentic during the experiment.

In the pods, however, she had doubts about Uche and could not continue with the show after her conversation with Lydia.

Although she tells TODAY.com she does not want to specifically reveal what was said during her talk with Lydia, Aaliyah says she knew that the best decision at the moment for her and Uche was to walk away.

Because, at that time, I was really focused on wanting to build the right kind of relationship with him, she explains. And if we were gonna get engaged, I wanted it to be an enjoyable engagement for the both of us.

She says she also did not feel comfortable involving their families in the messy situation. So, Aaliyah says she made an executive decision to leave and hoped that they could reunite in a different environment.

At the end of Episode Six, Uche and Aaliyah met and discussed their relationship for the first time in person.

She immediately said she regretted how she walked away from him and still loved him.

My heart is still in your hands  I would marry you, she said.

Aaliyah told Uche she wasnt expecting their love story to end just because she left the pods early. But, he was not interested in pursuing a relationship. He said her abrupt departure was a sign she didnt have confidence in their connection.

I think its over between us, he said, ending their relationship.

While speaking to TODAY.com, Aaliyah says she was hoping that they would leave their sit-down with a mutual understanding and respect for one another.

She says she did not have any expectations about rekindling their romance.

We were both hurt and I just wanted us to have (an) understanding for one anothers perspective, she says.

She achieved that goal, she says, and is at peace with all the decisions she made on the show.

Her relationship with Uche didn't end after they seemingly went their separate ways in Episode Six. In an interview with Us Weekly, she revealed that they didn't cut ties and actually tried to date outside of the show.

"We talked almost daily for a while. We were trying to pursue a relationship," she shared.

But, they eventually realized they weren't a good match.

"It just didn't end up working out for us," she explained.

Uche has also spoken about his relationship with Aaliyah and called out the show for misrepresenting their connection in a series of Instagram stories.

On Oct. 1, the lawyer responded to multiple questions from fans about his time on "Love Is Blind." When one social media user asked why he rejected Aaliyah in Episode Six, he claimed that wasn't the case.

"The 'it's over between us' is a post-production sound byte," Uche wrote. "At lunch we both forgave each other, we held hands and shared our first kiss. Then we agreed to date outside of the show."

In response to another question about his current relationship status with Aaliyah, he replied, "We're on good terms."

Fans might be able to see Aaliyah share more about why their connection fizzled in the real world during the Season Five reunion, but it sounds like Uche won't be there to offer an explanation.

One Instagram user asked if he would participate in the reunion and the answer wasn't promising.

"When I am able, I look forward to sharing more through outlets where I can express my unfiltered opinion about all aspects of experience  such as interviews, podcasts, and and most importantly, directly through my social media," Uche said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Warning: Spoilers from Season Five of Love Is Blind below...

The plot has thickened in the ongoing drama between exes Lydia Velez Gonzalez and Uche Okoroha on "Love Is Blind" Season Five after the second group of episodes dropped Sept. 29.

Lydia and Uche dated in the real world before signing up for the experiment. After Lydia recognized Uches voice in the pods, they agreed to focus on their other relationships and leave their connection in the past. (Producers also required them to not communicate in the pods if they wanted to continue with the experiment, creator Chris Coelen confirmed.)

She got engaged to James Milton Johnson IV, and Uche left the show early after Aaliyah Cosby, whom he planned to propose to, quit. Aaliyah struggled after learning about Lydia and Uches history as she and Lydia had become close friends.

During Episode Seven, some of the cast, excluding Aaliyah, reunited, which allowed Lydia and Uche to see each other for the first time in months. He confronted his ex and accused her of using the show to rekindle their relationship.

Although she denied his accusation, a teaser for the next group of episodes, which drop Oct. 6, shows Uche addressing it with Milton.

In an interview with TODAY.com, Milton reacted to Uches allegation that Lydia planned to reunite with her ex.

(The) allegation of them planning it, I mean, I cant speak on. I wasnt there, he says.

He adds, however, that he believes the rumor is unlikely.

But, I mean, you know, people will come up with things. Thats fine, I suppose, Milton says.

He also opens up about his reaction in the pods after Lydia revealed her past with Uche. The petroleum engineer told Lydia that he needed to process the information and later affirmed he would not have pursued her if she shared her secret earlier.

Milton says in the moment he realized he had to follow his heart and move on from the drama.

Im not really concerned about anyone thats dated her in the past. The same way she wouldnt care about anyone Ive dated in the past. We were there because we both wanted the chance to potentially get married and find a partner, he explains to TODAY.com.

But not everyone was convinced by the couples connection, particularly Uche. The lawyer and entrepreneur told Aaliyah during one of their pod dates he wasnt sure Milton was ready for marriage.

Milton tells TODAY.com he did not discuss his feelings for Lydia with the other men in the pods, and he continued to keep his cards close to his chest throughout the experiment.

Expressing my feelings is not natural, he shares. For me, its not as simplistic or easy for people like Lydia, like, I cant do that.

Uche wasnt the only skeptic. The trailer for the upcoming episode includes a clip of Milton's family appearing to voice their concerns about the quick experiment and the age difference between Lydia and Milton. (During filming, Lydia was 30, and he was 24.)

Milton says wasnt bothered by their age difference, noting that he has dated older women in the past.

I think what was really most important for me and Lydia building a relationship was we have the same morals and we want the same thing and our values aligned. Plus, an added bonus to that, were in the same industry. Like, we just kind of speak the same language, he says. So getting past the age part was something that was pretty easy for us. Im just naturally a jokester, so Im going to continue to make jokes on it.

Viewers have also chimed in about their relationship online.

Lydia from Love is Blind was literally begging Milton to pick her. I dont believe shes that much into him. I think shes just desperate to be part of the main cast, one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Its not surprising Milton comes across as a reality television novice in Season Five. He reveals that he had never seen more than two episodes of the show before filming began.

Ive seen the first two episodes of Season One, and I think maybe like a tad bit of an episode here and there. So, I really didnt know how many couples typically get engaged if any at all. All of it was kind of a rollercoaster unique experience for me, he shares.

He says he was glad to be part of the ride and that he was confident in every decision he made because his head and heart aligned.

Fans will have to wait until the finale and reunion air Oct. 13 to find out if his head and his heart told him to say I do to Lydia.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
By Mohamed Junayd

MALE (Reuters) - Voters lined up at hundreds of polling stations in the Maldives on Saturday in a run-off election for president of the Indian Ocean archipelago that pits the incumbent India-leaning leader against a strong pro-China contender.

Opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu led President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the first round three weeks ago by 6 percentage points. A poll last week by the local Baani Center think tank showed the incumbent ahead with 30% and Muizzu at 24% but with 36% of voters undecided.

Thousands turned out early at over 586 polling stations across 187 islands known for their sun-kissed beaches and resorts. Maldivians were also voting at polling stations in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Britain and Abu Dhabi.

"Everything is going on as scheduled. There are no issues yet," Fuwad Thowfeek, the president of the Elections Commission, told Reuters.

Solih, seeking a second five-year term, has championed an "India first" policy. The coalition backing Muizzu has launched an "India out" campaign, promising to remove a small Indian military presence of several surveillance aircraft and some 75 personnel.

Muizzu entered the fray with support from pro-China former President Abdulla Yameen , who was banned from contesting the election by the Supreme Court in August following a conviction for corruption and money laundering.

(Reporting by Mohamed Junayd in Male and Uditha Jayasinghe; Editing by William Mallard)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 30)  Retired Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said he "would appreciate" a formal apology letter from the Canadian Embassy, one that clarifies the issues he had encountered with immigration officers in Canada.

According to Azurin, the Department of Foreign Affairs has already relayed the embassy's apology, but he has not received any formal letter.

"I just don't know if they will issue an official statement of apology to me and perhaps a formal letter will be much appreciated, recognizing that there was indeed a mistake committed by Canada Immigration in Vancouver," the former PNP chief told CNN Philippines.

Azurin cut short his personal trip to Canada after he was "intercepted" and questioned by immigration authorities.

READ: DFA confirms ex-PNP chief Azurin encountered issues with Canadian immigration

"As far as I know, my visitor's visa was not canceled by Canada Immigration," he said.

"However, there is an ongoing validation to determine if I can be admitted or if I can be allowed to enter Canada to visit as a tourist to visit my family who are all Canadian citizens too," the former PNP chief added.

The Canadian government has yet to submit a full and official report on the incident.
A man who runs an insurance training school was arrested for alleged sexual battery of his students.

The suspect was identified as Marcello Tagliente by the Glendale Police Department.

Tagliente owns MGT Insurance which is located on the 600 block of W. Broadway. The company provides training to prepare students for insurance licensing and related certifications.

Through his company, Tagliente would allegedly lure students into his office under the guise of assisting them with exam preparations, police said.

Once alone, Tagliente is accused of sexually battering his students which included several women in their 20s, authorities said.

The suspect has been arrested and charged as police continue searching for additional victims.

Marcello Tagliente in a booking photo from the Glendale Police Department.

Anyone with information or who may be a victim is urged to call the Glendale Police Assaults Bureau at 818-548-4840.

Your information is crucial, police said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Man Arrested In Connection To Tupacs 1996 Murder, Former LAPD Detective Says People Have Been Yearning For Him To Be Arrested For A Long Time | Steve.Granitz via Getty Images

On Sept. 29, a Las Vegas man was arrested following his connection to iconic rapper Tupac Shakurs death in 1996.

Officials who spoke with the Associated Press said Duane Keffe D Davis was taken into custody. He is suspected of being connected to the drive-by shooting that took the life of Tupac nearly three decades ago.

Documents obtained by the Associated Press state that police are searching for items concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.

In his 2019 memoir titled, Compton Street Legend, Davis admitted that he witnessed the murder of Tupac. The now-arrested suspect said he was in the Cadillac from which shots were fired. Tupac, who was just 25 when he was fatally shot, was sitting in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion Suge Knight. The BMW had stopped at a red light when the shots erupted.

Davis wrote in his book that he was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac when he passed the weapon to the backseat, where two people were sitting. One of those people, according to Davis, was his nephew Orlando Baby Lane Anderson. Before Anderson died, however, he said he was not involved in the shooting.

Davis, who was facing drug charges and life in prison at age 46 in 2010, said he spoke to officials about what he witnessed when Tupac was murdered. He also said he gave police information about the death of Tupacs rival, Biggie Smalls, who was fatally shot a mere six months after the All Eyez on Me rapper.

They offered to let me go for running a criminal enterprise and numerous alleged murders for the truth about the Tupac and Biggie murders, Davis wrote in his book. They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out.

Former Los Angeles Police Department detective Greg Kading spoke to the Associated Press following the latest developments in the decades-old case.

Its so long overdue, Kading said. People have been yearning for him to be arrested for a long time. Its never been unsolved in our minds. Its been unprosecuted.

The retired officer, who interviewed Davis in 2008 and 2009, said the suspect put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy.

He had acquired the gun, he had given the gun to the shooter and he had been present in the vehicle when they hunted down and located both Tupac and Suge (Knight), he added. All the other direct conspirators or participants are all dead. Keffe D is the last man standing among the individuals that conspired to kill Tupac.
MADERA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A man has been arrested following a shooting in May in the area of Berenda Elementary School in Madera, the Madera County Sheriffs Office said on Friday.

Deputies say the Madera County Sheriffs Communications Center received a call reporting shots fired in the area of Club Drive and Midland Way in Madera on May 25 around 6 p.m.

Upon arrival, deputies say they discovered evidence suggesting a shooting had occurred near the area of Berenda Elementary School. They also learned there was a school dance in progress at Berenda, and placed the campus on a precautionary lockdown. The school and those in attendance were searched and cleared.

The Madera County Sheriffs Investigations Bureau took over the investigation, and they say they identified the suspect as 21-year-old Marvin Anthony Brewer of Madera.

After a follow-up investigation, detectives say they obtained a possible location where Brewer was hiding in the County of Merced. On Friday, detectives observed Brewer in a vehicle that was occupied by three other individuals. A traffic stop was initiated and Brewer was taken into custody by the Madera County Sheriffs Detectives and members of the Madera County Narcotic Enforcement Team (MADNET).

Deputies say a subsequent search of the vehicle also recovered a short-barreled rifle that is illegal in California.

Once in custody, sheriffs officials say Brewer attempted to flee while handcuffed but was quickly apprehended by detectives and MADNET members. Brewer was transported and booked into the Madera County Jail on suspicion of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, and discharge of a firearm.

I would like to commend the diligent efforts of the Sheriffs Investigations Division. They worked tirelessly throughout the night of the incident to identify those responsible and did not relent in their pursuit until a suspect was in custody. This is the type of dedication, professionalism, and competence that often goes unseen on a daily basis. Our community should rest well tonight knowing this individual is in custody, said Sheriff Tyson Pogue.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
An Arizona man was killed early Saturday in Boise County after driving an off-road vehicle into a ravine along a rural road.

About 12:49 a.m., the 54-year-old from Mesa was driving on Deadman Gulch, a road near Clear Creek Lodge, which is southwest of Idaho City, according to a news release from the Idaho State Police.

The man was traveling with a 49-year-old woman, neither of whom were wearing seat belts, according to the release. Neither party has been identified by name.

The woman was taken to a hospital by air ambulance, and the man died at the scene, according to the release. The womans condition is unknown.

They failed to negotiate a sharp corner and drove 20 feet into a ravine, according to the release. The pair were driving in a utility terrain vehicle, police said.

The crash remains under investigation by the state police.
SAN DIEGO  A man was found dead in his San Diego Central Jail cell Thursday, said the San Diego County Sheriffs Department.

Around 4 a.m., authorities say sheriffs homicide investigators were notified that 63-year-old Kenneth Galen Bach had died in-custody.

Man gets prison for smuggling drugs into San Diego County jail

Deputies located Bach unresponsive in his cell. Jail medical staff immediately provided medical aid, utilized an AED device, performed CPR, and administered Naloxone in attempt to revive Bach, SDSO explained.

San Diego Fire Department personnel were also called and provided life-saving measures upon their arrival, authorities said. Despite those efforts, Bach was pronounced dead.

We extend our sympathies to the Bach family and those affected by his passing. A Sheriffs Family Liaison Officer will support the family as they deal with their loss, SDSO stated in a press release on the matter.

Three arrested at DUI checkpoint in Lemon Grove

Authorities say Bach was arrested by the Chula Vista Police Department for on suspicion of criminal threats and felony vandalism. Bach resided in the city of Chula Vista at the time of his arrest.

The Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) was notified of this incident. SDSO says the Sheriffs Homicide Unit will conduct a thorough investigation.

The cause and manner of death will be determined by the Medical Examiners Office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
SAN DIEGO  A man was sentenced to four years in prison for smuggling drugs into a San Diego County jail, authorities said.

Israel Calvillo, 27, pleaded guilty to possessing a controlled substance inside of a jail, Sgt. Aaron Brooke with the San Diego County Sheriffs Department said in a news release Friday.

On June 20, Calvillo was arrested for violating the conditions of his post-release community supervision, according to law enforcement.

Las Vegas Police provide details on Tupac Shakur murder charge, suspect

While being booked into custody at the Vista Detention Facility, Calvillo was taken to the hospital, where authorities found six bindles of drugs inside of Calvillo after they suspected him of smuggling drugs into jail, Brooke said.

In early September, a North County woman was arrested on suspicion of mailing a drug-laced letter to a county jail, per the sheriffs department. The letter had the appearance of being soaked in an unknown liquid that had already dried, authorities said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
A man in South Korea was jailed for creating sexually explicit images of children.

He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in a landmark case, The Korea Herald reported.

A Spanish town has been rocked after an AI app was used to create fake naked photos of girls.

A South Korean man was jailed for using AI prompts to create sexually explicit images of children, The Korea Herald reported, citing local outlets.

The unnamed man, aged in his forties, was charged with violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

The man is alleged to have used an image-generating AI program to create about 360 sexual images, the prosecutor's office told CNN. He did not distribute the images, which were confiscated by police.

He used prompts such as "10 years old," "nude," and "child" to generate the images, which the court ruled were life-like enough to be able to dismiss the defense's claims that they could not be deemed to be sexually exploitative, The Korea Herald reported.

The court's decision showed that fake but realistic images of minors created with "high level" technology could be considered as sexually abusive content, the prosecutor's office told CNN.

Earlier this month, a small town in Spain was rocked by the creation and distribution of AI-generated naked images of young girls in several of its schools.

More than 20 girls aged 11 to 17 have been identified as victims in the town of Almendralejo, in the western Extremadura region.

The deepfake images were reportedly made using made using Clothoff, an AI-powered app that allows users to "undress girl for free." They'd mainly been created using photos taken from the girls' social media accounts that had showed them fully clothed.

Deepfake technology is where AI is used to generate new and realistic video, audio, or imagery to portray something that didn't actually happen.

The technology has a murky past and has often been used to create non-consensual pornography, as an FBI public service announcement from June 2023 warned.

"The FBI continues to receive reports from victims, including minor children and non-consenting adults, whose photos or videos were altered into explicit content," the agency said, adding that this content was often then "publicly circulated on social media or pornographic websites, for the purpose of harassing victims or sextortion schemes."

The South Korean prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Placer County Sheriffs Office is investigating a shooting that happened Friday afternoon in a rural area near the Sacramento-Placer county line.

Sheriffs deputies went to the area of South Brewer and Baseline roads just before 3:40 p.m. for an initial report of a medical emergency. They found a man suffering a gunshot wound, the Sheriffs Office.

The man was taken to a hospital, authorities added.

No suspect information was publicly released.
(CNN)  US President Joe Biden is expected to convene his Cabinet early next week to discuss continuity of government after a potential shutdown begins Sunday, four administration officials familiar with the plans told CNN.

The meeting will be in person at the White House, one of the sources said.

Biden will stay in Washington, DC, over the weekend and keep in close touch with his legislative affairs team, getting updates on any shutdown negotiations on Capitol Hill. He has no public events on his schedule Saturday, in the final hours before the government runs out of money, or Sunday.

The White House is beginning regular communication with agencies and its own staff about what to expect in case of a funding lapse, and agencies have begun their own contingency planning.

Additional officials at two government agencies told CNN that contingency plans are being drafted for a shutdown that could last weeks, though there is not a unified view within the administration on the potential length.

The outlook, described by one official, is hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

The likely possibility of a shutdown is already affecting planning, including possible travel next week, for Cabinet members and other top officials.

In communications to staff about shutdown procedures, the White House acknowledged the uncertainty as Congress has so far failed to reach an agreement on government funding.

We understand uncertainty can be unsettling. Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and patience through this process, and for all that you do for the Executive Office of the President and the American people, an email sent to White House staff and obtained by CNN said.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Biden to convene his Cabinet early next week to discuss continuity of government"
A journalist on Sky News found out live that she was being paid less than the man she was invited to debate about misogyny. designer491/Getty Images

A woman on Sky News found out she was being paid less than the man she was debating about misogyny.

Moya Lothian-McLean went on the show to discuss recent comments by actor Laurence Fox .

Lothian-McLean said Sky News apologized to her.

A journalist on Sky News was surprised to find out during a live interview that the man she was invited to debate about misogyny was being paid more than she was for the discussion.

Moya Lothian-McLean was debating Connor Tomlinson, a conservative GB News contributor, about a controversy involving a TV presenter's misogynistic remarks.

At one point during the debate, Lothian-McLean remarked that she was tired of having to come onto TV programs to discuss misogyny. Tomlinson interjected and sarcastically said, "I'm so sorry you're exhausted to be paid to go on air."

Lothian-McLean reacted with surprise.

"Are you getting paid for this?" Lothian-McLean asked. "I'm not getting paid for this. Are you getting paid for this?"

She added: "I'm not being paid for this interview. I came on because I wanted to talk about the problem with misogyny and the degradation of women in public life."

Later, in a video posted by Novara Media, Lothian-McLean said she was initially offered 75 for the interview, but Sky News upped the fee to 200 and apologized to her after the interview. It's unclear when Sky News made the original offer of 75.

Lothian-McLean said in the video she had originally been invited by Sky News to discuss "the misogyny platformed by Laurence Fox," an actor-turned-TV presenter who was recently suspended from GB News for making degrading comments about a female journalist.

Fox had drawn widespread criticism for his remarks on GB News that no "self-respecting man" would ever "climb into bed" with politics reporter Ava Evans.

"That little woman has been fed, spoonfed oppression day after day after day after day starting with the lie of the gender wage gap," Fox said.

The gender pay gap in the United Kingdom has declined slowly over time, but still exists, according to the UK Office for National Statistics.

The gender pay gap for full-time employees was 8.3%, up from 7.7% in 2021, according to the agency. The gender pay gap is also higher in every English region than it is in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the office says.

Sky News did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider
Built in 1765, Morris-Jumel Mansion is the oldest surviving residence in Manhattan.

I went on a tour of the house that included the use of paranormal investigative equipment.

While I'm still a skeptic and didn't see any ghosts, I enjoyed learning about the historical site.

Located just off 162nd Street in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood, there is a historic mansion dating back to the Revolutionary War that is said to be terribly haunted.

The Morris-Jumel Mansion, now a museum, functioned as George Washington's military headquarters during the Battle of Harlem Heights. Later, former vice president Aaron Burr married its owner, Eliza Jumel , who was one of the wealthiest women in America upon her death in 1865.

Jumel is said to haunt the mansion, along with other past residents and soldiers from the War of Independence. Every year around Halloween, the museum offers ghost tours to educate the public about the house and its history of paranormal activity.

I went on a ghost-hunting tour featuring the use of paranormal investigative equipment. While I still emerged skeptical about the existence of spirits, I enjoyed learning more about the little-known historical site  and witnessed some things I can't fully explain.

Here's what it was like.

Morris-Jumel Mansion, which was built in 1765, is the oldest surviving residence in Manhattan.

Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

The Morris-Jumel Mansion was built by Colonel Roger Morris, a Loyalist who returned to England when the Revolutionary War broke out.

During the war, George Washington used the home as his military headquarters during the Battle of Harlem Heights. It was then purchased by Stephen Jumel, a wealthy French merchant, and his wife Eliza, an actress and socialite as well as a shrewd businesswoman, in 1810.

After Stephen Jumel died in 1832, Eliza Jumel married former vice president Aaron Burr. She filed for divorce less than a year later, and successfully protected the fortune she accrued from real-estate investments in what is now lower Manhattan. She died in her bedroom on the mansion's second floor in 1865 with a net worth of $1 million, or around $15 million in today's money, according to the Museum of American Finance, making her one of the richest women in America at the time.

The house is also said to be haunted.

A plaque at Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

The New York Times reported in 1981 that Eliza Jumel negotiated a $2,000 discount on the house because even then it was said to be haunted by the ghost of a Hessian soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War.

Visitors and employees of the museum have also reported incidents of paranormal activity since it opened to the public in 1904. Some tour groups have claimed to see Jumel in full period dress on the second-floor balcony. Tour guides say they've heard voices and footsteps with no one else present. Others report running into that same Hessian soldier on the stairs.

The museum's staff keeps a record of these unexplained encounters known as the Book of Haunts.

I signed up for one of the mansion's paranormal-investigation tours to see for myself.

A sign advertising a paranormal-investigation tour at Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

In the months leading up to Halloween, the Morris-Jumel Mansion offers two spooky tour experiences in addition to its regular schedule. The 75-minute candlelight ghost tour, where guides share ghost stories related to the home, costs $39.19. The paranormal investigation, lasting two-and-a-half hours and featuring the use of paranormal investigative equipment, costs $65.87.

Madeline Mungo, the mansion's public programs and visitor services manager, recommended that I book the paranormal investigation for a "more ghostly experience."

I'm not a big believer in ghosts and paranormal activity, but I do love exploring haunted places in the name of journalism.

The tour began with an introduction to the ghost-hunting equipment we'd be using, such as REM pods.

A paranormal research instrument. Talia Lakritz/Insider

REM pods light up and make noise when they detect temperature shifts and "changes of the surrounding energy field," which some believe are indicators of paranormal activity, according to the device's Amazon listing.

Tour guide Karen Compton explained that staff would bring the REM pod from room to room as our tour progressed.

Each participant also received an electromagnetic field (EMF) meter.

An EMF meter. Talia Lakritz/Insider

Electricians use EMF meters to diagnose electrical or wiring issues. Paranormal researchers use them to measure electromagnetic energy that is thought to be associated with ghosts or spirits.

For example, Compton said, if we held up the EMF meter to a piece of wooden furniture with no electric wiring inside and the lights flashed to indicate a strong electromagnetic field, it could mean a ghost is responsible. Or, she said, it could mean that we're near a lightbulb.

Another surprising tool used by paranormal researchers: motion-activated cat ball toys.

Cat balls on a mantle. Talia Lakritz/Insider

The cat ball toys light up when something touches them or moves near them. If they lit up during the tour with no one nearby, paranormal activity could be one explanation, according to my guide.

I admit the cat balls made me feel more skeptical going into the tour since they seemed like a less scientific approach than the REM pod and EMF meters. Then again, as Compton reminded us, there's no proof for any of this. When it comes to paranormal investigations, it's more about the experience and feeling of the ghost hunt than the mechanics of the hunt itself.

As we assembled in the entryway, Mungo began telling us about the Morris family and the history of the house. Then, the cat ball inside the Octagon Room across the hall went off.

The Octagon Room. Talia Lakritz/Insider

"This was built as their summer home to escape the city, which is funny to think about now, but at the time the city had only reached ..." Mungo paused as the cat ball lit up in the empty Octagon Room, where it had clearly not been touched. I, along with other members of our group, let out a nervous giggle.

"Interesting. Well, hello," she said, before continuing. "The city had only reached about Canal Street, so this up here was farmland. Before the Morrises, before colonization, this was the land of the Lenape, and this continues to be the unceded land of the Lenape."

The tour continued in the parlor, where Eliza Jumel married Aaron Burr in 1833.

The parlor at Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

None of the paranormal-investigation equipment lit up in the parlor, but Compton said that three weeks ago, she walked into the empty house on a Sunday and heard the room's original pianoforte playing music on its own.

In the dining room, Mungo pointed out a clock decorated with a moon that is said to wink at handsome men.

A clock inside the dining room at Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

A few visitors stood in front of the clock, but none reported seeing the moon wink at them. I didn't get a wink, either.

Mungo said that while the dining room "is not one of our more active spaces," the moon is known to be flirty.

"He did wink at me last week, so he is exploring himself," Mungo said, eliciting a laugh from the group.

We then headed upstairs to Jumel's bedroom, where Compton introduced dowsing rods, another ghost-hunting tool.

Karen Compton uses dousing rods to detect paranormal activity at the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

Dowsing rods have historically been used to locate underground water sources, Compton said. The L-shaped tools feature long sticks that swing from side to side, even when held still by their handles.

"The idea is that if they cross, then you've found a spirit," she said. "Would anybody like to try them?"

I volunteered. I tried to stay perfectly still, but I could feel the way the slightest movement would cause the rods to swing.

"Eliza, are you here?" Compton asked.

After a few seconds, the rods crossed. I wasn't convinced that a ghost had caused the movement, but I was excited that something had happened.

I handed them to another member of the group, and the rods pointed towards a lamp in the corner of the room. Compton explained that everything in the room was original except for the carpeting and that lamp. The original fixture shattered during the installation of new carpet, which some interpreted as Jumel expressing her displeasure at the design choice.

"Do you like the carpet now?" someone asked.

The rods remained still.

The parlor that served as George Washington's war room in 1776 seemed particularly active as Compton told us about his valet, an enslaved man named William "Billy" Lee.

My EMF meter lit up in George Washington's war room. Talia Lakritz/Insider

Many people's EMF meters, including my own, flashed yellow, orange, and red, as Compton explained that Lee was a constant presence at Washington's side for two decades and was the only enslaved person freed in his will.

"He's excited to hear you," a member of our group said of Lee.

"William Lee always responds," Compton said.

Did the presence of electromagnetic energy indicate the ghost of Lee? Were all the EMF meters in the small space simply activating each other? Perhaps my EMF meter was responding to the electric candlesticks placed on the windowsills to fill the room with a flickering yellow glow. I don't know enough about how the devices work to say, but I did appreciate the acknowledgement of Washington's complicated history as a slave owner as part of the tour.

Compton said Aaron Burr's bedchamber, where Lin-Manuel Miranda spent time writing his hit musical "Hamilton," has featured a paranormal peculiarity known as EVP, or electronic voice phenomena.

Aaron Burr's room at the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

In paranormal investigations, EVP is defined as "apparent ghost voices attempting to communicate through typical audio recording equipment," according to a 2022 study about paranormal experiences and sensory-processing sensitivity published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

Authors Jess M. Williams and Mark Blagrove wrote that EVP is "an example of an illusion that results in the perception of meaningful patterns in meaningless stimuli, referred to as pareidolia, occurring in both visual and auditory forms, such as seeing faces in clouds or hearing phantom words in white noise."

Compton showed us a video taken in the room around seven years ago during a ghost tour like ours. It took a few listens, but I could make out what sounded like a scratchy, high-pitched voice exclaiming something unintelligible. It just as easily could have been a creaky piece of furniture, or distortion caused by overlapping voices in the recording.

Downstairs in the kitchen, we tried some more EVP by recording ourselves asking questions to the home's former residents and listening back to see if we got any response.

The kitchen in the basement of the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

I asked the ghost of Burr what he thought of his portrayal in the musical "Hamilton," but unfortunately did not get a response.

Mungo also spoke about the people who would have worked in the kitchen  the enslaved individuals whose names and stories were never recorded  and asked if they wanted to come forward. The REM pod and recordings remained silent.

I still didn't believe in ghosts by the end of the tour, but I was surprised by how much I wanted to see or hear one during my visit.

Inside Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

Even as a skeptic, I found myself hoping to hear some mysterious footsteps or feel a sudden chill. This made me hyper-aware of every aspect of my surroundings, which caused some false alarms, like a mysterious shadow that turned out to be my own reflection in a glass barrier. I was struck by how easy it is to interpret anything as a sign of paranormal activity if you want to find it badly enough  even if you don't really believe in it to begin with.

Even so, I enjoyed learning about the way paranormal investigations are conducted and getting to try out some of the equipment, which I never would have known about or bought myself. I also appreciated that the tour welcomed skeptics and simply presented stories and theories without trying to convince anyone of anything.

Mungo told me that more than anything, the goal of the ghost tours is to educate visitors about the history of the mansion and its extraordinary occupants.

Morris-Jumel Mansion. Talia Lakritz/Insider

The Morris-Jumel Mansion didn't always embrace its reputation as a haunted building, but Mungo said the museum started offering ghost tours and paranormal investigations about a decade ago to help bring more visitors to the little-known site.

"We're kind of a hidden gem, and because this is a fun thing that has a different audience than museums tend to have, it's a gateway for them to come and see this place," Mungo said. "You do still get the history of the house. We do sneak it in."

Whether or not Jumel's ghost haunts the property, Mungo feels that her story is worth telling.

"Eliza Jumel is the coolest lady in American history and we completely forgot about her," she said. "This is the only place that's still talking about her. It's layers upon layers of history."

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Marine Corps commanders down to the battalion and squadron level are allowed to authorize troops to wear desert pattern uniforms or flame-resistant gear, also known as FROGs, amid an ongoing uniform shortage in the service, top leaders announced Thursday.

Gen. Eric Smith, the newly confirmed Marine Corps commandant, and Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz, the service's top enlisted leader, formally acknowledged the shortage of woodland camouflage uniforms and announced the decision to allow flexibility on uniforms in a video message to Marines.

The shortage of the woodland Marine pattern, or MARPAT, uniforms that serve as the primary daily utility attire for troops across the service began plaguing military clothing outlets when the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted supply chains around the world and has yet to abate.

Read Next: Troops and Tattoos: A History in Ink

"I can't get cammies," Smith said in the video posted to Instagram Thursday. "That problem is going to stay with us until the fall of 2024 when the manufacturer can fill the backlog that has been created after COVID."

Until that logjam has been resolved, Marines are adapting by authorizing the wear of other uniforms.

"What we cannot have is a situation where a Marine is wearing unserviceable cammies, because that looks bad for the Corps," he said. "And we can't have a situation where that Marine is given a hard time about those unserviceable cammies."

The authorization does not mean that individual Marines can decide to wear a different uniform if they are having issues with serviceability or finding a uniform, according to Maj. John Parry, a spokesperson for Marine Corps Installations Command. That decision is up to the battalion or squadron commander, usually a lieutenant colonel.

"Marines should communicate with their chain of command if they are having serviceability issues to enable an appropriate authority to make a decision," Parry told Military.com over email.

In 2017, American Apparel Inc., a manufacturer out of Alabama, was awarded an over $48 million, firm-fixed-price contract for the Marine Corps' combat utility uniforms for the next five years.

"Nobody even knew the word 'COVID,'" Chuck Lambert, the company's CEO, told Military Times last month.

Marines have been having issues finding those uniforms on military-supplied shelves since at least 2022, Parry told the publication.

"Unfortunately, we are experiencing supply delays on this item," according to the My Navy Exchange website, which refers to both woodland and desert utility uniforms. "The estimated back-in-stock date is fall 2024. We greatly apologize for this inconvenience."

Despite hopes that replacement uniforms were en route earlier this year, the problem has persisted. And until the shortage is rectified next year, leaders are asking the force for flexibility.

"We're gonna get this fixed, Marines," Smith said. "But it's gonna take a little patience."

The senior leaders' address to the force came on the heels of a visit to troops in the Indo-Pacific region.

Smith and Ruiz also got feedback and questions about tuition assistance funding, which they encouraged Marines to take advantage of after they complete formal military schools. Smith also noted that no changes were coming to the physical or combat fitness tests.

-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on X @df_lawrence.

Related: Marines Say New Uniform Orders on the Way Amid Shortages
The Marion, Kansas, police chief was suspended this week following a series of raids that included the office of a local newspaper and the home of the city's vice mayor.

Marion Mayor David Mayfield suspended Police Chief Gideon Cody on Thursday, according to the Marion County Record, the same newspaper that was raided.

The Marion Police Department confirmed the suspension on Saturday. The mayor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The newsroom, it's publisher Eric Meyers home and Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel's home were all searched on Aug. 11 following Codys stated belief that a reporter had committed identity theft by accessing the driver records of restaurant owner Kari Newell, court documents previously released by the papers attorney stated.

The chief wrote in affidavits that "downloading the document involved either impersonating the victim or lying about the reasons why the record was being sought."

The newspaper, however, said reporter Phyllis Zorn obtained the records through the state Revenue Departments online search engine after the newspaper received a tip that Newell was convicted of a DUI in 2008. The publication wanted to know whether that would prevent Newell from having a liquor license. The newspaper said it even asked police about the tip.

Herbel had also received the same tip.

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey later asked police to return any property that was taken, saying they did not have enough evidence to justify the raids.

Herbel, who had called for Cody's suspension, has said that the raid at her home was "illegal" and that her computer and phone were seized with "no justification." She also accused the police chief of falsifying the documents used to obtain the search warrants.

"The county attorney withdrew all search warrants and then he falsified the documents by changing the warrants 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," she said at a City Council meeting last week. "This is criminal fraud."

Joan Meyer, co-owner of the Marion County Record, swears at police officers in her home on Aug. 11, 2023. (Marion County Record)

The newspaper has also said the search was unjustified. A day after police raided Meyers home his 98-year-old mother, Record co-owner Joan Meyer, died. He blamed her death on stress caused by what happened.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
On Friday, former Army General Mark Milley retired from leading the US military.

Milley finished his four-year term as the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which included two years under Trump.

The two often disagreed, and Milley made it clear what he thought of Trump's legacy.

At a retirement ceremony for former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, the Army general offered some parting words seemingly aimed at former President Donald Trump.

Milley finished his four-year term as the chairman, which included serving two years under Trump's presidency. The two often butted heads and Milley made it clear  without mentioning Trump by name  that he still fundamentally disagreed with Trump, whom he has previously called a threat to democracy.

"We don't take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator," Milley said on Friday, according to the Associated Press. "We don't take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we're willing to die to protect it."

Milley spoke with a booming voice at times throughout his speech, adding that the military takes an oath to honor the constitution "against ALL enemies, foreign AND domestic."

US President Joe Biden also spoke at the event.

During his tenure under Trump, Milley stood against Trump's plan to place US armed forces on the streets of Washington, DC, as racial justice protests related to George Floyd's death spread in the summer of 2020.

Milley also clashed with Trump's decision to pull US troops from Iraq and Syria between 2020 and 2021, according to the AP.

Just last week, Trump lashed out at Milley on Truth Social, calling him a "woke train wreck," saying that his retirement was "a time for all citizens of the USA to celebrate."

Trump added that had Milley served in the past and held the same legacy, "the punishment would have been DEATH!"

Following the posts Milley responded telling CBS News' "60 Minutes" that the comments don't just affect him but the whole US Military: "As much as these comments are directed at me, it's also directed at the institution of the military. And there's 2.1 million of us in uniform."

In the speech, Milley also appeared to respond to Trump's latest threat, speaking collectively for the military.

"We are not easily intimidated," Milley said on Monday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Oct. 1 will see new laws regulating guns, where to carry them and how to store them as Maryland continues to grapple with the U.S. Supreme Court decision that upended the states former rules.

There have already been challenges to these policies from people who see them as too restrictive.

Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Vice Chair Jeff Waldstreicher, a Democrat from Montgomery County, will go into effect Sunday. The law will prohibit people with concealed carry permits from bringing firearms into public and private elementary, middle or high schools, health care facilities, buildings owned or leased by the state or local government, public or private university buildings, active polling places, electrical plants or electrical storage facilities, gas plants, nuclear power facilities, stadiums, museums, racetracks, video lottery facilities, venues that serve alcohol or cannabis for on-site consumption, and private property unless the owner has given permission to do so.

Gun control advocates celebrated the legislation made by Marylands majority-Democratic General Assembly.

Were very grateful that the General Assembly is a gun-sense majority, Melissa Ladd, a campaign lead for the Maryland chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said in a phone interview.

Ladd called the organizations work with the legislature in the fast and furious year since the Supreme Court ruled Marylands concealed carry gun policy unconstitutional a whirlwind.

But not everyone is thrilled with the legislatures response to the Supreme Court.

One of two federal lawsuits brought in opposition to the new law was done on behalf of the Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc.  the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association  and Susannah Warner Kipke, the owner of a gun storage facility and wife of Republican Anne Arundel County Del. Nic Kipke.

Plaintiffs in the case, Kipke et al. v. Moore et al., are suing Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, and Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler, alleging that Senate Bill 1 violates the Second Amendment by unconstitutionally restricting where Marylanders with concealed carry permits can take their firearms.

A second lawsuit, Novotny et al. v. Moore et al., was filed on behalf of Katherine Novotny, Sue Burke and Esther Rossberg as well as the guns rights organizations Maryland Shall Issue, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition.

This lawsuit, filed against Moore, Butler, the states attorneys from Baltimore City and Baltimore and Harford counties, Paul Wiedefeld, the secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, and Josh Kurtz, the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, challenges Senate Bill 1s prohibition on carrying firearms in more specific locations  health care facilities, museums, establishments licensed to serve alcohol for on-site consumption, and privately owned buildings that are open to the public.

The cases were combined in mid-July.

The 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to have a handgun for the purpose of self-defense. But the majority opinion clarified that the ruling was not to disrupt existing policies, for example, the prohibition of guns in sensitive places like schools.

In the 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court overturned New York states gun licensing policy, which required that people applying for permits to carry guns in public demonstrate proper cause to successfully receive a concealed carry permit. The decision disrupted the licensing process in Maryland, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island  all of which held similar policies.

According to a memo published this summer by Giffords, an anti-gun violence organization, there have been more than 450 court decisions analyzing the 2022 Bruen decision in Second Amendment challenges to gun laws.

Marylands now-stricken policy required applicants to provide a legal, established reason for their desire to carry a firearm. This was known as the good and substantial reason standard.

Following the 6-3 Supreme Court ruling, former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, called on the Maryland State Police to suspend the good and substantial reason standard, causing an influx of concealed carry applications.

Under the 2022 Supreme Court opinion, states can prohibit guns only in places analogous to those that were deemed sensitive when the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791  like courthouses, polling places and legislative buildings.

Plaintiffs in the case against Moore allege that many of the places deemed sensitive in the new law, including schools, bars and places of worship, existed at the time of the founding of the United States but didnt have firearm prohibitions and, therefore, cannot be deemed sensitive.

The case is ongoing.

Kirk Evans, an attorney and the president of U.S. LawShield, told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday that, while the Supreme Court did say prohibitions are applicable in places analogous to those deemed sensitive around the nations founding, it didnt go back that far to tell us exactly what those sensitive places were.

According to Evans, many places deemed sensitive in Marylands new law have the same designation in other states  and those have not been decided thumbs-up or thumbs-down as to whether or not theyre constitutional, he said.

The big thing that makes it much more palatable under the Constitution is taking out the good and substantial standard, he continued. Maryland knocked that out  and now its a little tougher than a lot of states, but its frankly not that much more burdensome than many other states.

Concealed carry permits and gun storage

Another law going into effect Sunday will limit who is eligible to receive a concealed carry permit.

Under the multifaceted House Bill 824 sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chair Luke Clippinger, a Baltimore Democrat, applicants to receive a concealed carry permit must be at least 21 or a member of the military. They cannot be on supervised probation for driving under the influence or while intoxicated, violating a protective order, or any crime punishable by at least one year in prison. Applicants also cannot have a history of violence against themselves or others, been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility for more than 30 consecutive days or be subject to a protective order.

Before they receive a permit, the Maryland State Police must perform an investigation into the applicant proving that they are not barred from handgun ownership by federal or state law. After Oct. 1, anyone with a second or subsequent conviction for leaving or storing a firearm in a location that is accessible to an unsupervised child is ineligible to receive a permit.

The secretary of the Maryland State Police has the ability to revoke licensure from any permit holder, and must routinely review active permit holder information to determine their eligibility. The law will also increase the maximum penalty for wearing, carrying, or transporting a handgun without a permit from three to five years.

Marylands firearms storage policy will also change.

Anyone who stores or leaves a loaded firearm where they know or should have reasonably known that it would be accessible to anyone under 18 is in violation of a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine. Anyone convicted of improper storage may not possess a firearm for five years.

With so much policy change happening, Evans said its imperative for Marylanders to become acquainted with the new laws.

Most other states have had 20 to 30 years getting accustomed to people carrying around guns, so theyve had a chance to get accustomed to nuances, but this is, sort of, within the last year a brand new deal in Maryland and its going to take time, he said. Please get to know the law.

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This is a photo of a damaged elementary school in Lahaina due to fires.

This article was originally published in Civil Beat.

After an uncertain and challenging start to the school year, students will be able to return to Lahaina schools in mid-October, officials said Tuesday.

Hundreds of children from Lahaina have been attending schools elsewhere on Maui or undergoing distance learning since the Aug. 8 inferno that left much of the historic town in ruins, killing 97 people and uprooting thousands from their homes.

One school, King Kamehameha III Elementary, was burned beyond repair, but the other three will reopen next month after extensive air, drinking water and soil quality testing and debris removal, according to the state Department of Education.

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Lahainaluna High School will be the first to reopen on Oct. 16, followed by Lahaina Intermediate on Oct. 17 and Princess Nahienaena Elementary on Oct. 18. The elementary school will serve its original student population as well as students formerly enrolled in King Kamehameha III Elementary.

The Army Corps of Engineers is building a temporary replacement for the destroyed King Kamehameha III Elementary while other schools with intact buildings will resume classes after fall break. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat)

Meanwhile, a temporary campus is being built to replace King Kamehameha III Elementary at the Pulelehua project, a mixed-use development located between Kaanapali and Napili. The school should be ready for operations in approximately 95 days, said Col. Jesse T. Curry of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is helping build the facility.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will fund the $5.36 million in building costs, said DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi. He added it is premature to talk about a timeline for building a permanent replacement for the school, although the departments lease for the temporary site is currently set for three years.

Prior to the start of the school year, 603 students were registered at King Kamehameha III Elementary, and 680 students were registered at Princess Nahienaena Elementary. A total of 3,001 students were registered at the four Lahaina campuses, which have been closed since the start of August.

Families may continue to enroll their students in central and south Maui schools or in the Department of Educations virtual learning option, Hayashi said. The department is still assessing its plans for the West Maui learning hubs providing in-person support to students enrolled in distance learning.

Our hope is that by providing the reopening dates, with about three weeks of lead time, families can use this information to make decisions that are in the best interest for their situation, Hayashi said.

The DOE said all large debris has been removed from the schools, and theyre undergoing professional cleaning.

Related

Hawaii Officials: Number of Students Missing, Killed In Maui Fires Is Too Small To Release

Kara Scott, who lives in Napili, said her 8-year-old son was set to start third grade at King Kamehameha III Elementary this year. She said her family needed the temporary school site yesterday, adding that she and her partner cannot afford to take more time off to supervise their son as he completes the states distance learning program.

Even when Princess Nahienaena Elementary reopens after fall break, Scott is unsure if she will enroll her son, citing concerns about unsafe air and soil quality on the campus.

We dont know enough about the air quality and soil and water, and were afraid, Scott said.

David Brown, a special education teacher at King Kamehameha III, echoed Scotts concerns of returning students to Princess Nahienaena Elementary, adding that some parents may not want their children passing by the site of the fire on a regular basis. However, he believes any site north of Kaanapali should be far enough away from the fires to ease parents concerns about their childrens health.

DOH Director Kenneth Fink offered assurances that testing has shown its safe for students to return to three Lahaina schools. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat)

Kenneth Fink, director of the state Department of Health, emphasized that the drinking water and soil at the three Lahaina schools opening after fall break are safe.

The air quality monitors on the three campuses have also consistently reported good air quality, Fink said, although the department will continue to monitor the air for any residual ash.

Were very happy to be at this point that we can confidently say its safe for students and staff to return, Fink said.

In a Board of Education meeting last week, deputy superintendent Tammi Oyadomari-Chun said the departments reopening plan will include procedures for monitoring any changes to schools air quality.

Rebuilding can take years, Gov. Josh Green said, but he hopes that a return to school will provide Lahaina students with a stable routine that can aid their recovery.

The best way for us to heal is to achieve normalcy, Green said.

Civil Beats education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.

This story was originally published in Civil Beat.
Ionut Pucheanu, Mayor of Galati, a Romanian city near the Ukrainian border, thinks that air-raid warnings that were issued in Galati during Russian attacks on Ukraines Danube ports are an excessive measure.

Source: European Pravda, with reference to Digi24

Details: Pucheanu said that he was waiting on the assessment of Romanian experts regarding whether the latest air-raid warning was justified, adding that he believes the alerts that local residents are now regularly receiving are excessive.

He said that he personally did not understand the need to issue air-raid warnings, which frighten people at night, because they make people feel as though "war came to the country". He also thinks that this makes it impossible to escalate the scale of warnings if the threat level grows more serious.

"With all due respect to the army, I think that we need to de-escalate the show were currently witnessing for the sake of the residents mental health, particularly in this area. If something more serious transpires, then they should tell us to prepare," Pucheanu said.

He also remarked that if missiles and drones were indeed crossing into Romanias airspace, it is the armys responsibility to prevent this from happening.

Background:

Romania is investigating possible violations of its airspace near the city of Galati during Russia's drone attack on Ukraine's Danube ports on the night of 29-30 September. No remains of Russian drones have been found so far.

On 14 September, the Ministry of National Defence of Romania jointly with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, announced additional flight restrictions in the airspace adjacent to the border with Ukraine after Russian drone wreckage fell in Romania.

On 13 September, residents of settlements in the Tulcea district of Romania were urged to take cover in shelters during a Russian drone attack in Ukraine's south.

On 28 September, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova reported the discovery of missile debris in a lake near the city of Anenii Noi in Moldova's southeast.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
A Russian soldier who had been working with Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR) has defected to Ukrainian forces, the military intelligence said on Sept. 30.

The soldier, Daniil Alfyorov, had been working with Ukrainian intelligence since July and had successfully convinced 11 other Russian soldiers to defect to the Ukrainian side, Andriy Yusov, a HUR spokesman, said.

When it became clear that suspicions had arisen and there was a risk to Alfyorov's life, Ukrainian special forces undertook an operation to evacuate him to Ukrainian-controlled territory, Yusov added.

Alfyorov said that he initially contacted Ukrainian forces via the hotline called "I want to live."

Launched in September 2022 by Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence, the 24-hour hotline helps Russians to willingly surrender themselves or their units to the Ukrainian army. Russians are promised that after surrender, they will be held in compliance with the Geneva Conventions.

A report by Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War found in March 2023 that nearly 10,000 Russians had contacted the hotline.

In Aug. 2023, the hotline marked a significant 70% increase in traffic after a Russian helicopter pilot defected to the Ukrainian side with a fully intact Mi-8 helicopter, and subsequently received the hryvnia equivalent of $500,000 (approximately Hr 18.48 million).

In April 2022, Ukraine's parliament passed a law offering up to $1 million to Russian military personnel who manage to transfer equipment to Ukraine. The size of the reward depends on the type of equipment they hand over.

At the time of this publication, it is unknown what Alfyorov's status is in Ukraine, or what his monetary reward may be.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia reduces offensive pace on Kupiansk-Kreminna line

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(CNN)  Former President Donald Trump is suing retired British intelligence officer Christopher Steele over the controversial dossier he compiled which shook Washington with its unverified and salacious allegations about Trump.

The lawsuit  which brings a data protection claim against Steele and his business, Orbis Business Intelligence  is the latest twist in the dossier saga since it became public in January 2017, days before Trump took office.

The central allegations, that Trump conspired with the Kremlin to win the 2016 election and that Russia had compromising information on him, were given a veneer of credibility by many because they originated from Steele, who had a solid reputation.

But over the years, the credibility of the dossier has significantly diminished. A series of US government investigations and lawsuits have discredited many of its central allegations and exposed the unreliability of Steeles sources.

Trump has repeatedly denied the claims Steele put forward, and the former presidents UK legal team is asking that the inaccurate data contained within the Steele Dossier be erased or rectified together with the payment of damages, Tim Lowles, a lawyer for Trump in the UK, told CNN last month.

The former presidents legal action is set to start on October 16 with a two-day hearing into the claim at Londons High Court, according to court documents. Trump is not expected to attend the hearing, according to a source familiar with his plans.

CNN has reached out to Orbis Business Intelligence for comment.

Trumps new lawsuit comes several months after special counsel John Durham wrapped up his criminal inquiry into potential wrongdoing in the FBIs Trump-Russia probe.

Durham further exposed problems with Steeles handiwork and the material in his dossier. However, Durhams criminal case against Steeles primary sub-source ended in an acquittal last year.

That sub-source, Russian analyst Igor Danchenko, told US investigators that the information he passed onto Steele was mostly hearsay, just talk, word of mouth, and came from conversations he had with friends over beers, according to Justice Department reports. Danchenko also said Steele puffed up the memos and leaned too hard into the raw information he received.

Steele, meanwhile, has always maintained that his claims was unverified, required further investigation and were not meant for public disclosure. I stand by the work we did, the sources that we had, and the professionalism which we applied to it, Steele said in 2021 in his first TV interview about the dossier.

Multiple US government inquiries uncovered dozens of contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russians, which have since been acknowledged. Trump himself and his closest advisers even welcomed the Kremlins interference in the election. Still, none of it added up to the collusion suggested in Steeles memos.

The money trail behind the Steele dossier has also been a subject of intense political scrutiny for years. About one year after the 2016 election, it became public that Steele was indirectly paid by Democrats to research Trump. More than $1 million flowed from Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee to the law firm Perkins Coie, which then hired the opposition research company Fusion GPS. That company later hired Steele and asked him to use his overseas contacts to dig up dirt about Trumps ties to Russia.

US election regulators ultimately fined Clintons campaign and the DNC for not properly disclosing the money they spent on the opposition research that led to the dossier.

Steele has faced a series of civil lawsuits in the US and UK stemming from the dossier. As part of Durhams scrutiny of the underlying Trump-Russia probe, he investigated some of Steeles contacts with the FBI, but never charged the retired spy.
PORTSMOUTH  Memorial Bridge connecting Portsmouth and Kittery, along with the Community Church of Durham, are local sites taking part in #LightUpMBC in October. The bright lights are part of a global landmark campaign that aims to shine a light on the importance of awareness and funding for metastatic breast cancer research and benefits nonprofit Metavivor Research and Support Inc.

The campaign was founded by a local resident in memory of her best friend taken by the disease at 36 years old. Every year, more than 685,000 people worldwide die from metastatic breast cancer (MBC), also known as Stage 4 or advanced breast cancer, for which there is no cure. MBC is when the cancer spreads beyond the breast to other parts of the body.

Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth lit up in the MBC awareness colors of teal, green and pink, as part of the #LightUpMBC campaign.

On Oct. 13, National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, over 200 landmarks across all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico alongside iconic landmarks around the globe will light up in the MBC awareness colors of teal, green and pink, as part of the #LightUpMBC campaign.

Iconic landmarks participating in #LightUpMBC include One World Trade Center (NYC), The Tampa Skyway Bridge (Florida), Alamo Quarry Smokestacks (Texas), LAX Airport Pylons (California), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Ohio), Ness Bridge (Scotland) and BC Place (Vancouver).

The first landmark to light in MBC colors was the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth in 2017.

New Hampshire landmarks also include The Hotel Concord of Concord, Town Common of Londonderry, CCA Global Partners and Elliot Hospital Cancer Center of Manchester.

The Granite State #LightUpMBC Fun Run is being held at Derryfield Park in Manchester Sunday, Oct. 1 at 10:30 a.m. (check-in at 9:30 a.m.).

Information on all events: Metavivor.org/LightUpMBC. To donate: Donate.Metavivor.org/LightUpMBC_NH.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Memorial Bridge to light up for metastatic breast cancer cause
For Americans under age 45, the most likely way of dying prematurely is opioid overdose. Stadiums full of people are dying, an average of 110,000 people each year and a recent Stanford Lancet Report predicts that, barring serious intervention, we will see over 1.2 million more deaths by 2030.

Methadone is the scientific answer to this problem, with potential to cut death rates by 50 percent or more. Buprenorphine, a more recently developed medication has similar outcomes but has also struggled to gain traction among providers despite recent deregulation efforts. (Buprenorphine is also much less regulated, and some patients turn to it despite preferring methadone simply because it is easier to get).

Despite the promise of these treatments, for many people being on methadone is simply worse than risking death. Things like daily dosing for decades, restrictive hours, long lines, superior attitudes of staff, and people watching you pee (to make sure you aren't cheating on a drug test) have most people who use drugs preferring a contaminated drug supply over being in treatment. Research shows that only 1 in 5 people who meet the criteria for an opioid use disorder (those most at risk of overdose) have ever been on methadone. If we have the tools at our disposal to solve the overdose crisis, why are so many Americans still dying?

For over half a century, little has changed about the methadone regulations, and the attitudes of providers toward people who use drugs have changed very little, too. Even during COVID-19 when the DEA allowed patients "take homes" to keep them from cramming into methadone clinics, not much changed. Many opioid treatment providers either didn't give the recommended number of doses, or only did so for a minimum amount of time, citing concerns about diversion (giving away or selling one's dose) or a lack of structure that they say patients need.

These types of concerns placed both staff and patients at an increased risk of virus transmission. While governments scrambled to implement vaccines and social distancing, other countries like Australia and Canada pivoted to pharmacy-based delivery of methadone. Meanwhile, by and large, patients in the U.S. continued crowding into clinics, spreading the virus to friends and loved ones.

Patients on methadone, and those who would otherwise be, are fed up with this type of mistreatment. During and after COVID, a national coalition of methadone patients, researchers and even sympathetic providers have coalesced with the hopes of sparking a conversation about reform. Big cumbersome lock boxes that make it obvious that a person is on methadone, random 24-hour calls back to the clinic for bottle checks, and forced counseling are all things that keep people away from treatment, according to the National Coalition to Liberate Methadone, a group led by current and past patients.

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes.

No other branch of healthcare uses the types of surveillance present with methadone, and there just isn't evidence to support them. It has been rightly stated that "a person on methadone is monitored more closely than a paroled murderer." What does it say about treatment when a person would rather risk death than seek it? As a one time methadone patient  and someone who owes my life to diverted methadone  I can say with confidence that the word "compliance" has a far different meaning in methadone clinics than in the rest of healthcare.

In methadone, the word compliance stands for adherence to a gauntlet of ridiculous rules, policies and attitudes that no other person seeking health care would tolerate. A new storytelling podcast "Naturally Noncompliant" chronicles the untold struggles of patients who refuse or fail to comply. Rather than the effective solution it could be, opioid treatment is too often part of the problem.

Too many Americans needlessly die from whatever illegal drugs happen to have in them, while a bird in the hand solution stays behind lock and key. Every day that a person plays roulette with illicit fentanyl or xylazine rather than seek treatment is a testament to the culture of cruelty against drug users that the methadone regulations create.

Last week, patients across the country came together in our fight to change these policies. "Liberating Methadone: Building a Roadmap & Community for Change," the first ever conference by and for people on methadone took place at NYU Langone, hosted by the university's Department of Population Health. Reformists took to the streets in open protest of the clinic policies and state and federal regulations keeping people away from lifesaving care. It isn't that we want the clinics to go away, there just isn't enough methadone to begin with and we want a choice of where to seek healthcare just like every other American. Past, present and future patients will no longer comply with the types of unscientific restriction that cause those who enforce them to treat people at risk of death like criminals.

People on the outside of this clandestine system assume that where there is smoke there must be fire. This is one of the main reasons methadone is so stigmatized to begin with.

"If we can't get methadone right, we are doomed to lose the battle against overdoses," says my colleague Louise Vincent, a disabled long-time methadone patient who struggles to get to a stable dose because of the daily dosing requirement and refusal of a nearby clinic to treat her due to urine drug screen results. Louise and I opened the recent Liberating Methadone conference with a call to silence in honor of the many preventable deaths our community has seen. The lack of access and substandard treatment that most people on methadone receive just wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else in healthcare.

Research in The Lancet found that during COVID patients who received "take home" medications and made fewer mandatory clinic visits experienced significant life improvements. They were able to reach a stable dose quicker by not having their dose reduced every time they couldn't make the trek or showed up a single minute late. Methadone patients have even begun calling the mad dash to a clinic before its doors slam in thier face the "Methadone 500." At clinics that did allow the recommended number of take homes there was little or no diversion, a major reason cited in defense of today's stringent rules.

During the '70s and '80s when the race and class wars against drugs were burning hot, the DEA ran its own campaign against methadone right alongside heroin, spotlighting instances of methadone diversion and overdose wherever they occurred and overblowing cause for concern relative to the burgeoning heroin overdoses of the era. The resulting rings of fire that methadone patients now routinely jump through faced little initial opposition. Until the current overdose crisis, methadone was seen to be just as much of a nuisance as any illicit drug; the rules that exist today emerged in a climate of either condescension or hatred toward people who use drugs.

It is time to rethink, revamp, and reform the way this gift of science is offered. Treating people who use opioids as deserving of the same right to healthcare as any other American demands an about face to the way methadone is delivered. As someone who owes my life to diverted methadone bought on California's heroin-filled streets as a teenager, treating drug users worse than everyone else didn't work then, and it certainly won't work now. Until our healthcare system accepts the miracle molecule of methadone and begins providing people with a safe supply of it, my people will continue dying in droves, while seemingly well-meaning doctors, nurses, counselors and citizens repeat the mantra on loop, "they just weren't ready yet."

Disclaimer: The editor of this commentary, Troy Farah, knows Aaron Ferguson through podcasting about drug policy.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Metro police are searching for two women accused of robbing a business while threatening employees in the central Las Vegas valley.

On July 24, around 4:40 p.m., the two suspects entered a business in the 2000 block of East Desert Inn Road near Eastern Avenue and stole several items while threatening employees with a weapon, police said.

The first suspect is described as a woman with a heavy build wearing a black hat, pink shirt, black and pink shoes, and a blonde and blue wig.

The second suspect is described as a woman with a medium build wearing a black and white hat, black shorts, and white shoes.

Metro police are searching for two women accused of robbing a business in the 2000 block of East Desert Inn Road on July 24, 2023 (LVMPD)

Metro police are searching for two women accused of robbing a business in the 2000 block of East Desert Inn Road on July 24, 2023 (LVMPD)

Anyone with information is urged to call the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Commercial Robbery Unit at (702) 828-3591. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555 or visit crimestoppersofnv.com. Tips directly leading to an arrest or an indictment processed through Crime Stoppers may result in a cash reward.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
A southeast New Mexico district judge has a week to decide if the states redrawn congressional districts were unconstitutional.

A two-day trial was held amid outcry from the Republican Party that the redistricting weakened its influence.

The districts were redrawn by the New Mexico Legislature, controlled by Democrats, in response to population changes in the 2020 Census, but Republicans alleged they were largely blocked out of the process.

Thats why they sued Democrat leadership, hoping to get a ruling against the maps.

The bench trial was held in Lea County District Court in Lovington before Ninth Judicial District Judge Fred Van Soelen, and concluded Thursday. Van Soelen was appointed to the case after all the judges in the Fifth Judicial District where the case was brought, covering Eddy and Lea counties, were either recused or unavailable.

More: GOP, Democrats clash over election data in final day of New Mexico gerrymandering trial

Van Soelen was given an Oct. 6 deadline to render his verdict following the trials conclusion Thursday. He was awaiting additional evidence  mostly emails and text messages from lawmakers  provided by the defense.

Ninth Judicial District Judge Fred Van Soelen exits the bench at the conclusion of the New Mexico gerrymandering trial, Sept. 28, 2023 in Lea County District Court in Lovington.

The verdict could significantly impact New Mexicos southern Second Congressional District, where Democrat Gabe Vasquez defeated incumbent Republican Yvette Herrell for the seat in what was viewed as a Republican stronghold before the redistricting was completed the year before.

The new map altered the district to include an urban area south of Albuquerque and moved out portions of Eddy and Lea counties.

More: GOP says Democrats diluted oilfield votes in first day of New Mexico gerrymandering trial

If Van Soelen finds the redraw was illegal, it could be vacated  either meaning the districts would be redrawn again by the judge or reverted to the previous map.

More: New Mexico gerrymandering trial starts this week. Here's what to know about the case.

Heres how the gerrymandering trial wrapped up.

Closing arguments debate impacts of redrawing New Mexicos maps

Oil and gas interests were at the center of the trials final moments, as plaintiff attorney Misha Tseytlin said Democrats purposefully diluted the impact of the oil and gas industry, and thus the deep-red southeast corner of the state where it is centered.

He argued Democrats failed to prove they properly redrew congressional district lines in 2021, and that the evidence showed Democrat state leaders engaged in an egregious partisan gerrymandering effort to give their party an unfair advantage.

This was largely achieved, he said, by cracking the oilfield, as the map passed by lawmakers in Senate Bill 1 in December 2021 broke up swaths of the southeast Permian Basin region by dividing portions of Eddy and Lea counties into different districts.

Plaintiff attorney Misha Tseytlin takes a seat after completing his closing arguments during the New Mexico gerrymandering trial, Sept. 28, 2023 at the Lea County District Court in Lovington.

More: 'Gerrymandering' lawsuit against New Mexico Democrats delayed ahead of trial

The north half of Lea County was moved from the Second Congressional District to the Third, along with a northern section of Eddy County containing Artesia.

This spread-out oilfield interests, which are largely tied to conservative politics, Tseytlin said.

There is no grounding in New Mexico history. No grounding in New Mexico law. It wasnt asked for by the industry, he said. It was only asked for obliquely by those accused of gerrymandering. It was meant to crack southeast New Mexico, which is just what a gerrymanderer would do.

More: New Mexico GOP's 'gerrymandering' case will proceed after Democrat arguments rejected

He pointed to the testimony of Jowei Chen, a political science professor at the University of Michigan who conducted a series of map simulations for the defense, which Chen alleged showed the new map was not extreme or a political outlier.

Chens simulations were given a condition that no district have more than 60% of New Mexicos oil wells, although it was unclear if that factor was added in the SB 1 map.

Chen did testify he was told splitting up the oil wells was a policy consideration by the defense.

More: Gabe Vasquez wins race for New Mexico's 2nd congressional district

It showed, Tseytlin said, that the redistricting process was designed to shift the vote balance in favor of Democrats, an act he said the defendants failed during the trial to prove did not happen.

Text messages from lawmakers to staff, Tseytlin said, would show this was an intentional plan.

They scooped Democrats into that district and scooped Republicans out, he said. This (the map) is an extreme outlier.

More: Redistricting complete in New Mexico after Gov. Lujan Grisham approves senate map changes

Defense says New Mexicos Second District still competitive after redistricting

Attorney for the defense Sara Sanchez pointed to a requirement in the case that the plaintiffs prove the alleged gerrymandering did indeed dilute Republican votes.

She argued the 2022 election, where Vasquez defeated Herrell by a narrow, 1,300-vote margin, displayed that the shifted maps did not swing the Second District (CD2) unconstitutionally toward Democrats.

Sanchez contended splitting the oil and gas industry was an issued heavily debated during the legislative process that resulted in the new map.

A map of New Mexico's three congressional districts

More: City of Carlsbad and Eddy County raise concerns over redistricting maps

Under this plan, CD2 is a highly competitive toss up district that either party can win, Sanchez said. A competitive district that either party can win is not entrenchment of either political party. In fact, it is the opposite.

She pointed to problems with Republican voter turnout expressed by Sen. David Gallegos (R-41) of Eunice, listed as a plaintiff in the case, when he took the stand Wednesday.

Clearly, this is a highly unpopular map in certain parts of the state, Sanchez said, alluding to opposition from the southeast region. The reality is the GOP is in the political minority in the legislature.

Political analyst who worked on redistricting says southern New Mexico a toss-up

Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling Inc., a consultant used by the legislature to process the maps, took the stand for the defense ahead of closing arguments, and described the competitive nature of the Second District for decades.

He contended Herrell could take the seat back in 2024, now that Vasquez has developed a political record during his first term in Congress.

President of political consultant firm Research and Polling Inc. Brian Sanderoff testifies during the New Mexico gerrymandering trial, Sept. 28, 2023 at the Lea County District Court in Lovington.

After the new map was instituted, Sanderoff said based on past elections and without considering other factors like name recognition or scandals, the average Democrat candidate would likely get 53% of the vote, while the GOP would get 47%.

He said this was well within the range of a competitive election, and that the new map does not entrench the Democratic Party in New Mexico.

Any party can win, Sanderoff said.

In a report Sanderoff provided on the redistricting, he said he studied the Second Districts elections dating back to 2002, when long-time Republican Congressman Steve Pearce first won the seat.

Pearce held the seat until 2008 when he ran for the U.S. Senate in a losing bid.

That year, Democrat Harry Teague won the Second District against Republican Edward Tinsley.

Pearce then ran and won the seat back from Teague in 2010 and held it until 2018 when he ran for governor.

That year, Democrat Xochitl Torres Small defeated Herrell for the seat, then lost it back to Herrell in 2020.

This pattern, Sanderoff said, showed that the Second District was a strong, Republican-leaning district, but never a safe guarantee, and testified Herrell might already have an edge going into 2024 based on recent polling.

People who control very safe districts can be very strong-willed in their viewpoints and inflexible, Sanderoff said. I think competition is good.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: New Mexico gerrymandering trial concludes, judge has a week to rule
By Andrew Hay

(Reuters) -A New Mexico man was charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting a demonstrator at a protest over plans to reinstall a statue of a Spanish conquistador in the north of the state, police said.

Twenty-three-year-old Ryan Martinez of Sandia Park was arrested on Thursday after he shot a 42-year-old man while attempting to disrupt a peaceful protest at a civic center in Espanola, state police said in a statement.

The return of the statue of 16th-century colonial ruler Juan de Onate to a pedestal outside the public offices had been planned for Thursday but postponed by officials due to security concerns. The bronze was taken down in 2020 during nationwide anti-racism protests to topple monuments to European colonizers and Confederate officials.

A public defender assigned to Martinez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The wounded man, identified by family as Native American climate activist Jacob Johns of Seattle, was in critical condition at University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque awaiting surgery, said Mateo Peixinho, an organizer for the protest rally.

"We strongly believe this fits the definition of a hate crime and domestic terrorism due to the fact that he was wearing a MAGA hat and displaying instigating behavior all morning," Peixinho said in a statement, referring to the "Make America Great Again" slogan used by former President Donald Trump.

Police said Martinez jumped a low wall and got into a scuffle with protesters before he pulled a handgun from his waistband, fired one shot and fled.

It was the latest violence around statues to Onate, the area's first colonial governor, erected in the 1990s to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Spaniards.

The monuments have long outraged Native Americans and others who trace Onate's brutal 1598 colonization to contemporary problems ranging from gender inequality to institutional racism.

Some ancestors of Spanish colonial settlers, known as Hispanos, say he should be celebrated as part of New Mexico's Hispanic heritage.

(Reporting By Andrew Hay; Editing by Chris Reese and William Mallard)
A Miami-Dade police officer shot a man near Hialeah late Friday morning after authorities say he pulled a gun on the cop.

Around 11:40 a.m., officers responded to reports of a man shooting outside of a business in the 3100 block of Northwest 95th St., Miami-Dade police said.

When the officers arrived, they found the man and a confrontation ensued. Exactly what happened is unclear, but the man eventually pulled out a gun, police said.

One of the officers shot the man. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospitals Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition. No one else was injured.

The mans identity was not released, and it is not clear what charges he may be facing. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident since an officer fired his weapon.
Theyre in it for themselves.

That is the only conclusion we can reach when half of Miamis elected politicians are either under investigation or facing legal challenges for allegedly using their office for personal benefit.

Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla was arrested on Sept. 14  and suspended by the governor  on charges that include money laundering and bribery.

A federal jury in June found Commissioner Joe Carollo liable for violating the free-speech rights of two businessmen  a ruling he vowed to reverse on appeal. They accused him in a lawsuit of using the citys code enforcement rules to retaliate against them for supporting his opponent.

Mayor Francis Suarez received $170,000 in consulting payments from a developer who received help from his office to overcome a permitting hurdle. Its unclear if what Suarez did was illegal, but the FBI began investigating the issue in June, the Herald reported. He also faces a state ethics investigation over expensive tickets he accepted to sporting events, including the 2022 World Cup.

All three deny any wrongdoing.

Political scandals, corruption and arrests of elected officials are part of Miami history. In the 1990s, a massive FBI investigation resulted in the conviction of a commissioner and city manager.

That was almost 30 years ago.

Why hasnt Miami shed its reputation for dysfunction? Because there are no consequences at the polls for bad behavior.

Suarez was reelected two years ago, before Herald reporters revealed his lucrative outside employment. But Carollo and Diaz de la Portilla have decades-long records that range from Carollos Crazy Joe days to Diaz de la Portillas bad boy reputation during his years in the Florida Legislature.

Yet, in the past five years, Miami voters have put them back in office  twice, in Carollos case.

A self-serving alliance

The two commissioners have dominated City Hall  often through intimidation and political payback  since their elections two years apart. Diaz de la Portilla and Carollo benefit from a small City Commission of only five members. The Herald Editorial Boards series Miami Dysfunction has proposed adding more commission seats so that no two politicians can come so close to controlling it.

Carollo denies doing anything wrong and accused the Editorial Board of painting him as a bad person because he refused to attend a candidate interview with the Board during his 2021 reelection.

This is the image that you and the Editorial Board have been trying to put out for a long time, he told Board member Isadora Rangel.

For the record, our criticism of Carollo has nothing to do with his interview two years ago, and everything to do with wanting Miami to have elected officials of integrity.

Its an open secret that those who cross the duo often pay the price, whether they are the wealthy entrepreneurs who sued Carollo, or regular citizens who speak at public hearings and are berated from the dais. In 2021, Carollo infamously orchestrated a two-day political circus that led to the firing of former Police Chief Art Acevedo that included bizarre footage of Acevedos crotch area in a tight Elvis Presley costume.

Power play

The day Alex got elected, everything changed, former Miami Commissioner Ken Russell told the Editorial Board. Joe knew he had a partner in revenge.

Shortly after Diaz de la Portillas 2019 election, the two commissioners led a political power shift in city agencies in charge of millions of dollars.

A 3-2 vote gave Diaz de la Portilla chairmanship of the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, ousting Russell from the post. Diaz de la Portillas arrest affidavit accuses him of using that position to champion an athletic facility in exchange for $245,000 in political contributions. He calls the charges politically motivated.

Last year, Miami-Dades ethics commission found probable cause that Diaz de la Portilla abused his power in using the Omni CRA to hire a friend for a no-show job and who then used a city-issued car to pick up alcohol for him and drop off his dry cleaning. The other commissioners, including Carollo, stripped him of his chairmanship, but later reinstated him.

Diaz de la Portilla asked for a meeting with the Editorial Board, to which we agreed, but then didnt show up, saying afterward that his attorney had advised him not to discuss his case.

Chairmanship of another agency, the Downtown Development Authority, went to Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who provides the third deciding vote on the commission.

Meanwhile, Carollo maintained control of the Bayfront Park Trust Management, which he used to push a no-bid giveaway of nearly $1 million for a pet project of his: the installation of metal dog and cat statues at Maurice A. Ferre Park in downtown.

Carollo also pushed the commission in 2020 to pass restrictions on outdoor music that were widely believed to target the Little Havana night club Ball & Chain, co-owned by one of the businessmen who were suing him. Carollo has always contended that his efforts to crack down on Bill Fullers establishments were meant to protect Little Havana residents, but Russell said, We all knew what it was all about.

And then there was the redistricting process this year, subject of a federal racial gerrymandering lawsuit. Carollos longtime house was added to his district, allowing him to officially reside in it, and Diaz de la Portillas main opponent in the November election was drawn out of his, though a judge ruled on Wednesday he could still be on the ballot.

Carollo said the citys paid consultant, not him, drew district lines to account for population growth. Yet its hard to believe it was a coincidence how the two commissioners personally benefited in the process, as seems to be the motto of many Miami politicians.

The two Little Havana businessmen who successfully sued Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo for $63.5 million in federal civil court for violating their First Amendment rights, are now arguing that the city should be on the hook for a quarter of the money because it conspired with Carollo to damage the men and their businesses.

Wheres the mayor?

On paper, the mayor should have been the relief that Miami needed from its bad reputation. Instead, Suarez seems to have cashed in on his high-profile position.

Aside from the payments he received from a developer with business before City Hall, in the past 20 months Suarez had 15 consulting arrangements or jobs that contributed to an income between $2.1 million to $12.9 million, the Herald reported. Some of those arrangements were in industries he promoted, such as cryptocurrency, as he branded himself Miamis next-generation leader and presidential candidate. He dropped out of the race within a few months of his speech announcing his run.

From left to right, photographs posted to Instagram show Miami Mayor Francis Suarez wearing the color-coded passes granting access to the 2023 Formula One Grand Prix Paddock Club on May 5, May 6 and May 7, 2023, respectively.

As a part-time mayor, Suarez is allowed to hold outside employment. But Miamians should ask how his net worth grew 400% in his first term as mayor, as the Herald reported. Unfortunately, accountability is not his forte. Suarez even tried to grab a Herald reporters cell phone when she asked him questions.

Ironically, perhaps a sensible solution to Suarezs potential conflict of interest comes from no one other than Carollo: making the mayor position full-time.

Miami residents should demand that their elected officials work for them, not to protect their self interest.
Migrants Victor Arana, left, Jose Leal and Argenes Cedeno outside the shelter, in the storm

Migrants Victor Arana, left, Jose Leal and Argenes Cedeno outside the shelter, in the storm

This article was originally published on Sep 29 4:39pm EDT by THE CITY. Sign up here to get the latest stories from THE CITY delivered to you each morning.

While New Yorkers were cautioned to stay home and avoid travel during Fridays pummeling rainstorm, migrants at a Brooklyn shelter were unceremoniously shown the door  with some forced to trudge across Bushwick with all their worldly belongings.

Despite everything they kicked us out, said 30-year-old Victor Arana, in Spanish, while lugging a suitcase and two bags wrapped in plastic down Wyckoff Avenue towards the M train. It doesnt matter to them if were OK or not.

The men had to leave the Jefferson Street shelter, a converted commercial building, as part of a new city policy aimed at reducing the time migrants without children can spend in shelters. Migrants who dont have a place to stay within 60 days have been instructed to return to the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown, the citys main intake center for arriving migrants, to seek a cot in another facility. Those who receive another shelter bed, and newly arrived migrants, are now given just 30 days to stay there.

Several hundred men had left shelters since the new policy kicked in since last Saturday, THE CITY reported, but even as a storm that Gov. Kathy Hohcul called a life-threatening rainfall event bore down on the five boroughs, the new eviction policy continued through some of the morning.

They told me I had to get up and get out, said Argenes Cedeno, a 19-year-old from Ecuador, who was also walking in the rain to the M train. His 60-day notice didnt expire until Saturday, he said, but staff at the shelter had told him he had to depart a day early.

I left because I didnt want to cause trouble, he said in Spanish.

I cant stay there crying or asking for something. Im not like that, he said. I came here to move ahead.

City officials disputed Cedenos claim that he was told to leave on Friday.

Local City Councilmember Jennfier Gutierrez had urged the Adams administration Friday morning, before the mayor had declared his belated state of emergency, to delay the ongoing evictions at the Jefferson Street site given the conditions.

By then, a group of men had already left to huddle under the cover of the Jefferson Street L train stop, waiting for the heaviest squalls to pass, even as the L train was suspended through much of the morning. Others set off across Bushwick on foot to the M train about a mile away, to make their way to the Roosevelt Hotel to seek another shelter bed.

HPD spokesperson William Fowler told THE CITY late Friday afternoon buses had been dispatched to take anyone at the train station or still at the shelter to the Roosevelt Hotel. Men werent allowed to return once theyd been discharged, he said, because newly arriving immigrants were already on their way to take those cots.

In the days leading up, weve worked diligently to prepare everyone for this day and worked to ensure everyone had a plan in place, Fowler said.

Many guests left the site on their own accord yesterday and early this morning, but as we monitored the weather we stopped all further exits and informed those still inside that they would be allowed to stay for one additional night and organized transportation so that anyone who had already left could have a safe ride to the arrival center, he added.

If You Are Home, Stay Home

City and state officials both issued states of emergency on Friday, after the hard rain had already started falling. By then, cars were trapped on major highways across the city, emergency workers rushed to rescue stranded motorists, and subway service came to a grinding halt.

If you are home, stay home. If you are at work or school shelter in place for now. Some of our subways are flooded, cautioned Mayor Eric Adams at a press conference, hours after the school day had started. Its extremely difficult to move around the city.

Despite the mayors words, migrant men said theyd received firm directives from shelter staff to get out. Jose Tobar, 30, a Venezuelan migrant, said people staying at the shelter had pleaded with staff to stay one more night.

Waiting out the rain

Waiting out the rain

Let us wait till the rain passes and then well go. Give us until the morning, he said, in Spanish. But no, they kicked us out and look how we are now. We were here for two months, why not one more night?

A reporter for THE CITY asked Housing Preservation and Development, which oversees the Jefferson Street site, on Friday morning if the men would be able to stay while flooding was ongoing. Late that morning, Illana Maier, a spokesperson for HPD, said the men would get a reprieve.

They are allowed to stay, she said.

But the directive did not seem to trickle down to staff at the site, as a small group of men whod remained huddled under a nearby overhang waited to see if theyd be let back in.

An employee at the site, who declined to give her full name, said they had stopped discharges at around 10:30 a.m., but anyone who had already been formally discharged wouldnt be let back in

They can go to the arrival center, she said of the men waiting outside the shelter in the storm.

By around 12:30 p.m., the shelter employees relented and allowed some of the remaining men outside to return indoors, said Jolfrank Hernandez, 31, from Venezuela.

We ask them, to look in their hearts, that they have a little humanity, Hernandez said, in Spanish. Were human beings, like anyone else, and if we cant stay here, well be in the street.

THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.

https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/9/29/23896458/migrants-rain-jefferson-shelter-hpd-adams-brooklyn
Ukrainian air defense shot down 30 Shahed drones used to attack the southern regions overnight on Sept. 30, the southern command of the country's armed forces reported.



Most of the drones targeted Vinnytsia Oblast, where 20 of them were destroyed, the military said. Some are believed to have gotten through, striking infrastructure and causing a fire in Vinnytsia Oblast's Kalynivka community.



Local authorities prepared to evacuate civilians away from the fire but this turned out to be unnecessary.



Six Shaheds were shot down in Odesa Oblast and four in Mykolaiv Oblast, according to the armed forces.



Russia is expected to repeat last year's barrage of Ukraine's infrastructure, ahead of the arrival of colder weather.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(CNN)  Record-setting rain overwhelmed New York Citys sewer system Friday, sending a surge of floodwater coursing through streets and into basements, schools, subways and vehicles throughout the nations most populous city.

The water rose fast and furious, catching some commuters off guard as they slogged through Friday mornings rush hour. First responders jumped into action where needed, plucking people from stranded cars and basements filling like bathtubs.

More rain fell in a single day at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport  nearly 8 inches  than any other since 1948. A months worth of rain fell in Brooklyn in just three hours as it was socked by some of the storms most intense rainfall rates Friday morning.

Track travel delays: NYC airports hammered with heavy rain and flooding

The prolific totals are a symptom of climate change, scientists say, with a warmer atmosphere acting like a massive sponge, able to sop up more water vapor and then wring it out in intense spurts which can easily overwhelm outdated flood protections.

Overall, as we know, this changing weather pattern is the result of climate change, Rohit Aggarwala, New York Citys Chief Climate Officer said in a Friday morning news conference. And the sad reality is our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond.

A widespread 3 to 6 inches of rain had fallen across the New York City by late Friday afternoon. More rain will fall through the evening, though it will gradually taper off.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley Friday morning as the worst of the flooding hit. In an interview with New Yorks WNBC-TV, she urged residents to stay home because of widespread dangerous travel conditions.

This is a very challenging weather event, Hochul said. This a life-threatening event. And I need all New Yorkers to heed that warning so we can keep them safe. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also declared a state of emergency for his state Friday afternoon.

Firefighters performed rescues at six basements in New York City flooded by torrents of water, according to the New York City Fire Department.

The water also found its way into 150 of New York Citys 1,400 schools, which remained open on Friday, New York City school chancellor David Banks said at a news briefing.

One school in Brooklyn evacuated when floodwater caused the schools boiler to smoke, he said.

Our kids are safe and we continue to monitor the situation, Banks said.

Floodwater spilled into subways and onto railways and caused major disruptions, including suspensions of service on 10 train lines in Brooklyn and all three Metro-North train lines. Gov. Hochul said the city was deploying additional buses to help fill the gap caused by the train outages.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority fully restored service on seven subway lines by Friday evening, according to Demetrius Crichlow, senior vice president of the New York City Transit Department of Subways.

Today was just not an easy day for us but like New Yorkers, we are resilient, we continue to press on, Crichlow said.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said Friday evening one of three Metro-North Railroad lines was back up and running  the Hudson line  and noted the Long Island Railroad also has good service. The MTA also said it is working to restore limited service to the remaining two lines on Friday night.

Air travel didnt fair any better. Flight delays hit all three New York City area airports Friday. Flooding inside the historic Marine Air Terminal in New Yorks LaGuardia Airport forced it to close. The terminal is the airports smallest and serves Spirit and Frontier airlines.

A travel advisory remains in effect for New York City through 6 a.m. ET Saturday with more flooding possible.

The New York tri-state area is facing a Level 3 of 4 moderate risk for flash flooding for the rest of the day Friday, the National Weather Service warned.

The flood threat stretches beyond New York City and impacts roughly 25 million people across the Northeast.

Heavy rain will expand north and east and impact a wide swath of southern New England through Friday evening. The heaviest rain in the region will center on Connecticut, where flash flood warnings were already in place on Friday afternoon. Rainfall of 3 to 4 inches slammed the southwestern portion of the state earlier Friday.

One to 3 inches of rain is also possible from central Connecticut to portions of Rhode Island through Friday evening. Parts of Massachusetts, including Boston, could tally up widespread rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches by the time the heaviest rain comes to an end Friday night.

Record-setting rain

The extreme rainfall rates over have produced prolific totals:

 In Brooklyn: A months worth of rain, up to 4.5 inches, fell in only 3 hours on Friday morning, according to National Weather Service data. This three-hour rainfall total is only expected about once every 100 years in Brooklyn, according to NOAA estimates.

 In Manhattan: Nearly 2 inches of rain fell in one hour in Central Park, the second-wettest hour there in 80 years. More than 5 inches of rain have fallen there so far.

 In Queens: Its the wettest day on record at John F. Kennedy International Airport, preliminary data from the National Weather Service shows. At least 7.88 inches of rain has fallen there since midnight.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Record rain in New York City generates life-threatening flooding, overwhelming streets and subways"
The 14th Amendment isn't going to save us from Donald Trump . Nor is a ruling in New York state that he defrauded multiple banks and insurance companies over a ten-year period. Nor are the 91 charges against him in his four criminal indictments. Nor is another ruling by a New York judge that he raped E. Jean Carroll and is liable for $5 million in civil damages. His base loves him for every scam he pulled, every norm he trashed, every law he broke.

There may be red state after red state across the South and Midwest voting for Trump every time he says "jump," but there aren't enough of them, and they don't have enough electoral votes. What will save us are our numbers. Republican presidential candidates have won the popular vote only once in the last 35 years, when George W. Bush beat John Kerry in 2004. In every other election, Democrats won the popular vote, even when they lost the election overall because of the electoral vote count. Put simply, there are more of us than there are of them.

What we're going through today, right at this moment, are the beginning rumblings of the ground beneath the feet of Republicans that will become an earthquake in 20 years, when demographers predict that White people in this country will reach minority status. For a long time, they said it was going to happen in 2050, now they say it will be 2045, but check this out: non-Hispanic White Americans under 18 are already a minority.

And it's happening from both directions.

There are more non-White babies being born at the same time that there are more White people dying. They're dying for all the reasons people do  heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, liver disease, diabetes, emphysema  and now they are also dying because of the political party they belong to. Nate Silver reported on his Silver Bulletin Substack on Friday that the death rate from COVID in red states is 35 percent higher than in blue states. A study from Yale University published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in July found that Republican-leaning counties in Ohio and Florida had excess death rates from COVID that were 43 percent higher than Democratic-leaning counties. Silver pointed out that the methodology behind the study was simple math: Researchers cross-checked voter registrations against death records, county by county, and added them up. After COVID vaccines became widely available early in 2021, "Republicans began having considerably higher excess death rates," as compared to Democrats, Silver reported. Note that the study was done by comparing people by party registration. The people dying from COVID were voters, and more Republican voters than Democratic voters died by a large margin.

Republicans know this, and they are terrified by it, or at least they should be. This isn't a normal shift in death rates that could be attributed to ecological factors or more people in one party than the other working in higher risk jobs. This statistical anomaly was brought on by the Republican Party on its own members as they opposed vaccines and started scare mongering about "the government" putting microchips into you using COVID shots. Some Republicans even spread the utterly bogus rumor that more people were dying of the vaccine than of COVID. Too bad they can't interview the corpses. Maybe that would change their minds.

Republicans know they have had only one candidate win the presidency by a majority vote since 1988. They know the numbers are against them. They know people of color will be a majority in twenty years. That's why they appointed Supreme Court justices who would deliver Shelby County v. Holder for them, the decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and led to a tsunami of voter suppression across the country. What do you do when the number of your voters is going down? Why, you make it harder for the voters of the opposing party to vote. What do you think the panic in the Republican Party over immigration is about? They know immigrants coming over the Southern border aren't taking jobs from American citizens. They know immigrants don't commit more violent crime than American citizens  in fact, it's the opposite. What scares Republicans is that the immigrants who crossed the border yesterday fleeing oppression and poverty and seeking asylum and opportunity will become voters not tomorrow, but soon enough. And they will remember who was on their side as they struggled to better their lives and eventually become citizens.

So will young people reaching voting age this year and next year and the year after that. They'll remember which political party was pushing enormously unpopular restrictions on abortion, which party had banned books in school libraries in their high schools and colleges. Already the 18 to 29 vote nationally goes to Democrats by a 28-point margin, 63 percent to 35 percent. And young people vote. A study by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life found that 27 percent of young people between 18 and 29 cast votes in the 2022 midterm elections. The same study found that the aggregate youth voter turnout was 31 percent in 10 of the most electorally competitive states  Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Another piece of very bad news for Republicans.

Republicans know that they will eventually have to appeal to voters with policies that don't turn them off and turn them against their party, but they're not there yet. You would think that having won the war over abortion at the Supreme Court, Republicans would be celebrating their win and resting on their laurels. But no, they're doing just the opposite. They are attempting to make abortifacient medication illegal, to ban buying it online and having it shipped by mail, and some states are even attempting to pass laws to make it illegal for women to travel out of state to get an abortion. Right now in the Senate, Tommy Tuberville is holding up the promotion of over 300 general officers because he opposes a Pentagon policy that allows female soldiers to take leave and travel away from the posts to which they are assigned to get an abortion when they are posted in a state that forbids the procedure. How do you think that makes women who serve in the military feel about the Republican Party?

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

This kind of regressive, authoritarian politics is costing Republicans votes, and because their party is led by the Authoritarian in Chief, Donald Trump, they are stuck. Even voter suppression is working against them  look at the results of the 2020 election in Georgia and Arizona. Look at the overall results of the 2022 midterms, usually a blow-out for the party out of power. They failed to retake the Senate and held onto the House by a margin that has plunged the Republican Party into such disarray that they are on track to shut down the federal government this weekend because Speaker Kevin McCarthy cannot control his caucus with the narrow majority Republicans hold over Democrats in the House.

Republicans are holding onto red states with gerrymandered majorities, but their control is slipping, and it is beginning to weaken in presidential election years. Georgia isn't going to go to the Republicans next year. Neither is Arizona. The abortion issue is beginning to turn reddish but competitive states like Ohio into toss-ups. Abortion is also costing Republicans votes of women in the suburbs and across the board in states like Kansas, which recently voted to keep abortion legal in the state by voting down a state constitutional amendment that would have made it illegal. Voters affirmed by referendum abortion rights in 2022 in California, Michigan and Vermont, and turned away statewide referendums that would have further restricted abortion rights in Kentucky and Montana.

Even if Republicans wanted to do something to appeal to voters more broadly, they are hamstrung by what we call the Trump base  voters in thrall to the man more than to the party. That base is White, and it's old, compared to voters in general, and they are headed into two decades when this country will get increasingly younger and less and less White.

This is not a good trend for the Republican Party, because politics is a game of numbers, and the numbers are going against them. It's good news for Democrats that there are more of us than there are of them, but only if we turn out and vote. We can't sit back and let the actuarial tables and the issue of abortion carry the day for us. There is power in numbers only if we exercise it with our votes. It's either that, or we won't have a vote that's worth anything anymore. Stand up and be counted. Vote.
The Miss USA beauty pageant has been around since 1952.

Contestants have continued to wear even more daring looks over the years.

Here's a look at the most head-turning outfits ever worn at the Miss USA pageant.

Miss USA 1971 Michele McDonald wore a white dress with sheer sleeves.

Michele McDonald during Miss USA 1971. The Miss Universe Organization

The dress was also designed with ruffled cuffs.

Miss USA 1982 Terri Utley wore a brown high-low dress for her crowning moment.

Terri Utley during Miss USA 1982. The Miss Universe Organization

Utley's dress also had long sheer sleeves with jewels sewn in throughout.

Courtney Gibbs made a statement during Miss USA 1988 in a black gown with a thigh-high slit.

Courtney Gibbs during Miss USA 1988. The Miss Universe Organization

The stunning black gown was designed with an intricate gold pattern.

Carole Gist won Miss USA in 1990 in a black-and-red dress with jewels sewn along the hems and sweetheart neckline.

Carole Gist during Miss USA 1990. The Miss Universe Organization

The pageant queen's dress was also designed with a dramatic skirt and thigh-high slit.

Susie Castillo had her crowning moment at the Miss USA 2003 pageant in a semi-sheer lace gown.

Susie Castillo during Miss USA 2003. The Miss Universe Organization

Castillo's dress also had a thigh-high slit down the middle and ruffles going down the skirt.

Shandi Finnessey won Miss USA 2004 in a jeweled semi-sheer dress.

Shandi Finnessey during Miss USA 2004. The Miss Universe Organization

It also had a two-tone blue-and-gold skirt with a thigh-high slit in the middle.

Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley looked chic in a black gown with a plunging neckline and slit.

Chelsea Cooley during Miss USA 2005. The Miss Universe Organization

The dress also had a flowing train. She paired it with simple black heels.

Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner stunned in a white gown.

Tara Conner during Miss USA 2006. The Miss Universe Organization

Conner's gown had a ruffled thigh-high slit and a dramatic train. She paired it with simple gold heels and dangling earrings.

Rachel Smith won Miss USA 2007 in a striking red gown with side cutouts.

Rachel Smith during Miss USA 2007. Miss Universe Organization

Smith's dress also had a plunging neckline and sequined skirt.

Miss USA 2011 contestant Ana Christina Rodriguez looked stunning in a dress with a sheer thigh-high slit.

Ana Christina Rodriguez during Miss USA 2011. Richard Harbaugh/Miss USA

The thigh-high slit of Rodriguez's dress also had feathers sewn into it.

During Miss USA 2011, Ashley Durham sparkled in a one-sleeve, icy-blue dress.

Ashley Durham during Miss USA 2011. Rick Salyer/Miss USA

Durham wore the dress designed with a thigh-high slit with simple silver heels.

Miss USA 2012 contestant Katherine Webb wore a sheer illusion dress during the competition.

Katherine Webb during Miss USA 2012. Richard Harbaugh/Miss USA

Webb's dress was also designed with a thigh-high slit.

During Miss USA 2013, Chelsea Caswell looked chic in a sparkly black dress.

Chelsea Caswell during Miss USA 2013. Patrick Prather/Miss USA

Her black dress was designed with a sweetheart neckline and a thigh-high slit.

Marissa Powell looked fabulous in a white dress during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.

Marissa Powell during Miss USA 2013. Patrick Prather/Miss USA

Powell's dress had a sheer skirt.

During Miss USA 2013, Ashley Love-Mills turned heads in a sparkly bodysuit with a white skirt.

Ashley Love-Mills during Miss USA 2013. Patrick Prather/Miss USA

She accessorized the dress with statement earrings and simple silver heels.

Miss USA 2015 contestant Mame Adjei's dress had a completely sheer skirt.

Mame Adjei during Miss USA 2015. Patrick Prather

Adjei's gown was also designed with a sheer top and a dramatic skirt.

At Miss USA 2015, Anea Garcia wore a white dress with a sheer cutout going down the middle.

Anea Garcia during Miss USA 2015. Darren Decker/Miss USA

Garcia's dress featured jewels going down the middle.

Miss USA 2016 contestant Sydnee Stottlemyre wore a white dress with sheer cutouts.

Sydnee Stottlemyre during Miss USA 2016. Darren Decker

The sheer cutouts across her thighs, midriff, and chest were all embellished with jewels.

During Miss USA 2017, Kara McCullough wowed in a gold-and-white dress.

Kara McCullough during Miss USA 2017. Patrick Prather

McCullough's dress was designed with a plunging neckline and thigh-high slit.

Miss USA 2018 contestant Marianny Egurrola looked stunning in a sparkly blue dress.

Marianny Egurrola during Miss USA 2018. Brittany Elizabeth Strickland

Egurrola's off-the-shoulder dress featured a plunging neckline and sheer skirt.

Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst turned heads in a sleek one-shoulder dress.

Miss USA 2019 winner Cheslie Kryst. The Miss Universe Organization

Kryst's dress had a thigh-high slit and gold chains draping off the right sleeve.

Mariela Pepin competed as Miss Maryland in 2019 in a yellow dress with sheer cutouts going down the skirt.

Mariela Pepin during Miss USA 2019. The Miss Universe Organization

Pepin's dress was also designed with a plunging neckline.

Tianna Tuamoheloa competed as Miss Nevada in Miss USA 2019 wearing a beautiful one-shoulder dress.

Tianna Tuamoheloa during Miss USA 2019. The Miss Universe Organization

Tuamoheloa's dress was designed with a sparkly sheer bodysuit and a white skirt with a thigh-high slit.

Miss USA 2020 contestant Alexis Lete hit the stage in a red dress.

Alexis Lete during Miss USA 2020. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

She looked beautiful in a fringed gown designed with a thigh-high slit.

During the Miss USA 2020 pageant, Andreia Gibau turned heads in a red gown.

Andreia Gibau during Miss USA 2020. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

Gibau's strapless gown had a thigh-high slit and a fun crystal design on the front.

Miss USA 2020 Asya Branch took home the title in a black-and-white look.

Asya Branch during Miss USA 2020. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

Branch walked the stage in a sparkly, strapless dress that she paired with matching earrings.

Miss USA 2020 contestant Haley Pontius walked the runway in a vibrant shade of blue.

Haley Pontius during Miss USA 2020. Jessielyn Palumbo/Miss USA

Her blue gown had a strapless, corset-style bodice made from satin, as well as a floor-length, sparkle-covered skirt. The latter also had a thigh-high slit.

During Miss USA 2020, Kim Layne represented Idaho in a sleek blue dress.

Kim Layne during Miss USA 2020. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

Her sparkly dress was designed with a thigh-high slit and a cutout in the back. The sparkle from her dress caught the lights onstage.

Miss USA 2020 contestant Mariah Jane Davis had the standout look at the competition.

Mariah Jane Davis during Miss USA 2020. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

Davis' one-shoulder gown featured a thin, sheer slit across the front, and had sparkly pink details on the sleeve and waist.

Taylor Fondie wore a unique dress covered in what looked like small mirrors at the Miss USA 2020 pageant.

Taylor Fondie during Miss USA 2020. Jessielyn Palumbo/Miss USA

The reflective pieces on Fondie's sleeveless dress, which had a thigh-high slit, were seemingly red, white, and blue  though they shifted in color with the stage lighting.

Miss Kentucky Elle Smith won the title of Miss USA 2021 in a glittering gown.

Miss Kentucky Elle Smith after winning Miss USA 2021. Felipe Espinal/Miss USA

Smith's dress, which was covered in glistening gems, featured a plunging neckline, as well as a daring leg slit.

Miss Texas R'Bonney Gabriel won Miss USA in 2022 while wearing a sheer, gem-covered dress.

R'Bonney Gabriel winning Miss USA. Miss USA

Gabriel, a fashion designer from Houston, Texas, won the crown while wearing a sheer, crystal-encrusted gown.

In 2023, Miss Maryland USA, Savena Mushinge, wore a dazzling silver dress with a cape.

Miss Maryland USA 2023 Savena Mushinge. Miss USA

Mushinge wore a sheer gown with glittering stripes during 2023's competition. Her dress was complete with a thigh-high leg slit and flowing shawl.

Miss Utah Noelia Voigt took home the crown in a dazzling yellow gown.

Noelia Voigt was crowned Miss USA 2023. Courtesy of Miss USA

Voigt was crowned the new Miss USA in Reno, Nevada, on Friday.

To accept her new title, Voigt wore a floor-length yellow gown coated with crystals. The dress had cutouts on the bodice.

Read the original article on Insider
Tampa, Florida  Not since early explorers came to Florida in search of the fountain of youth has there been a crazier quest than that of 47-year-old Andrew Karr.

"We all have things that grab us," Karr told CBS News. "And I just found myself charmed by this."

Karr is what they call a "county high pointer," someone who tries to climb to the highest point of every county in a given state  typically Colorado.

Karr spent some time there, but now teaches at the University of South Florida and lives in Tampa. It got him wondering if he could he climb Florida's high points.

Unfortunately, Florida makes Kansas look like Kilimanjaro. It's arguably the flattest state in the nation and doesn't really have any high points. But if you want to get technical, or topographical  and you are truly desperate for adventure  it can be done.

And Karr is doing it  using maps, apps and good old-fashioned sightlines.

He pinpoints every peak. In Union County, for example, the high spot was in a well-manicured, public place. However, other county high points are often deep in the woods, or on private property.

In one case, it was the backyard of Debbie Mitchell's home in Volusia County.

Perhaps his most absurd ascent was at the front door of a JCPenny in the Countryside Mall in Pinellas County.

"I bought a shirt at that one," Karr said.

Sir Edmund Hillary he is not. But Karr's response is, "So what?" And he has now hit the high points of almost every one of Florida's 67 counties.

"On any adventure, and also in life in general, you have to make the most of wherever you are," Karr said.

"Every peak is equal," Karr said, because attitude trumps altitude. That applies to whether you're conquering Colorado's front range, or just Debbie Mitchell's front yard.

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TEUTOPOLIS, IL (WTWO)  The Illinois State Police have announced multiple confirmed fatalities after a crash near Teutopolis involving multiple vehicles, including a semi-truck that was carrying anhydrous ammonia.

The crash also resulted in a leak of the hazardous material.

The incident took place just before 9:30 p.m., a release from the Illinois State Police (ISP) said. At the time, ISP confirmed multiple fatalities.

How hot is too hot for the human body?

Kim Rhodes, the Effingham County Coroner, had later confirmed that five people, including two children, died as a result of Friday nights crash and subsequent ammonia leak, Nexstars WCIA reported. Both children and one adult were confirmed to be from the same local family; the other fatalities involved victims from Missouri and Ohio.

Five other people were airlifted to nearby hospitals, including the driver of the truck that was carrying the ammonia, WCIA reported.

The surrounding area was since evacuated out of an abundance of caution.

Due to the plume from the ammonia leak, people within an approximate one mile radius of the crash on U.S. Highway 40, including northeastern parts of Teutopolis, have been evacuated, the ISPs release stated.

Evacuation orders will remain in effect until Sunday, October 1, police said. U.S. Highway 40, between Teutopolis and Montrose, has also been closed.

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At a press conference Saturday, Effingham County Sheriff Paul Kuhns said emergency crews were initially delayed by the terribly dangerous air conditions caused by the plume.

The wind changed three or four different times on us, added Tim McMahon, chief of the Teutopolis Fire Protection District. Thats another reason we got crews out in different places, reporting back on which way the winds going.

McMahon said the tanker began leaking after rolling over in a ditch.

Kuhns said he did not have information on whether the deaths were the result of the crash itself or the chemical leak. But he said that the accident scene was large.

These are Americas deadliest national parks

Jennifer Gabris, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the agency is investigating the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
The roaring engines and speed of NASCAR are coming to Roseville this weekend.

Local division NASCAR racing will take place beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday at the All American Speedway 20 miles northeast of Sacramento, highlighted by the Napa Autoparts 150. It will be the 25th nationally televised appearance of the ARCA Menards Series.

There will be races featuring stock cars, Wild West Super Series late models, pro late models, modifieds, super stocks, F4s and junior late models, according to the speedways website. The headlining race is scheduled to start at 7:55 p.m. The event, which will benefit the Placer Breast Cancer Foundation, will be televised on CNBC.

Tickets are available through eventbrite, ranging from $35 to $65 for VIP tickets. Kids ages 6 through 12 get in for $25 and children 5 and younger are free. The VIP tickets include catered barbecue with two drinks, music, VIP pit tours and a chance to meet some of the participating drivers.

The event is also expected to feature fireworks, vendors and a car show. Organizers say the annual race is one of the largest events in Placer County each year.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  The Nashville Zoo announced the arrival of a new 10-year-old male Andean bear, Pinocchio, from the Salisbury Zoo in Maryland.

Pinocchio arrived in Nashville back in July and underwent a standard quarantine period and has slowly been acclimating to his new habitat.

The Nashville Zoo was selected to receive Pinocchio as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Andean Bear Species Survival Plan (SSP) and he will eventually be introduced to Nashville Zoos female Andean bear, Luka, as a breeding partner.

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The Andean Bear SSP helps to ensure genetically diverse populations of this species in human care, according to a release.

(Courtesy: Nashville Zoo)

(Courtesy: Nashville Zoo)

(Courtesy: Nashville Zoo)

(Courtesy: Nashville Zoo)

The Nashville Zoo reported Pinocchio was originally rescued as an abandoned cub from the rural countryside of Ecuador and was ultimately deemed unfit to be released back into the wild. He arrived at Salisbury Zoo in 2017 and successfully fathered three cubs during his time there. The Nashville Zoos former male Andean bear, Muniri, did not experience breeding success with Luka and has since moved to the Potawatomi Zoo in Indiana, according to the zoo.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Andean bears are native to the Andes and outlying mountain regions in South America and are the only bear found on this continent. This species is also known as spectacled bears for the lighter fur and coloration around their eyes. Andean bears are considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature due to deforestation. In recent decades, Andean bear populations have been on a rapid decline mainly because of habitat loss and there are an estimated 18,000 bears in the wild.

You can visit the award-winning habitat, Expedition Peru: Trek of the Andean Bear, at the Nashville Zoo to see Pinocchio or Luka.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
The National Federation of Republican Women's Convention is occurring at the Oklahoma City Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

More than 1,000 Republican women are in Oklahoma City this weekend to talk politics, make plans and  they hope  pave the way for electing more conservative women to office.

Members of the National Federation of Republican Women are holding their 42nd Biennial Convention this weekend, a three-day event that organizers said is one of the largest meetings of Republicans this year and the official kick off to the NFRW's 2024 political season.

Eileen Sobjack, the NFRW's national president, said more than 1,000 members have registered. Sobjack said that number represents one of the largest convention turnouts in a decade. She said the group has 64,000 members and has clubs in 47 states and Puerto Rico.

"Our registration has been epic," Sobjack said. "We've had more than expected."

One reason for the increased attendance could be delegates had fewer concerns about the pandemic; others said they came because of internal issues  such as whether or not the organization should open its doors to transgender women.

What are the main issues Republican women are thinking about this election cycle?

Andrea Pisarcik, a delegate from Greenville, South Carolina, said she traveled to Oklahoma to network and because of concerns about including transgender women within the organization. Pisarcik said she was a firm 'no.'

"We don't want a man wearing a dress in our organization," she said. "We want to make sure that no trans women are allowed to join."

Women check in at the National Federation of Republican Women's Convention at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.

Sharon Shuthard, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, agreed. Shuthard, a NFRW member since 2010, said the organization was private, and should stay for "women only.

"Were very conservative," she said. "We are.

Maria Sofia, a delegate from the D.C. area in Maryland, countered that Republicans need to focus on being welcoming and inclusive. "Arguing, bickering and dividing each other, I think that's exactly what the Democrats want," she said.

More: Largest Republican women convention in a decade to be held in OKC next week

Shuthard, a volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center, said she also expected abortion to remain a key issue for Republicans at the ballot. She said she became a Republican at the age of 17 after the Roe v. Wade decision. I cant speak for the whole nation, I can only speak for me, but it will absolutely decide my vote," she said.

Still, for Sobjack, the big goal of this year's convention is education.

Sobjack said campaign training is a big part of what the organization does. "Our women are putting in the hours," she said. "In the past two years we have made more than 5.7 million phone calls, and our women have put in over 14 million total hours on campaigns."

Nancy Stirman, a past president of the NFRW's Oklahoma chapter, said the convention offered a chance for Republican women to network and learn together. Its not just about getting Republicans elected, she said. Its about getting Republican women elected.

Diane Van Parys wears a Trump and DeSantis pin at the National Federation of Republican Women's Convention.

Workshops, straw poll for the presidential election on the schedule

Sobjack said the convention would hold workshops on fundraising and leadership and would conduct a straw poll of likely GOP presidential candidates. Polling opened Friday with results expected Sunday. Sobjack said the poll would be conducted via a phone application or at a convention polling booth.

Kyle Loveless, a representative of WPA Intelligence  the group conducting the straw poll  said as of 9 a.m. Friday more than 300 delegates had voted.

With a focus on the 2024 election, the NFRW is working to hold on to female voters. An analysis by the Pew Research Center showed that women voters had previously shifted their support to Democratic nominees but Pew reported that shift has narrowed in the past few years  for example, Trump won 44 percent of female voters in 2020, up from the 39 percent he captured in 2016 when his opponent was Hillary Clinton.

Many of those same voters  some of them known as Mama Bears  are conservative mothers and grandmothers who have pushed back against gender identity discussions in public schools, questioned book choices in public and school libraries and have been vocal opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Sofia, the delegate from Maryland, said the organization is also working to increase its reach with young women by focusing on issues that people can agree upon, such as the economy. She said right now, only about 10 to 15 percent of the group's membership is age 45 or younger.

Dianne Pauls checks in at the women's GOP convention at the Oklahoma City Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

"I expect to see young women more fired up because I think some of the issues are hitting a little closer to home," she said. "The millennial that was buying that Starbucks every day might not be buying that Starbucks every day."

Republican women, Stirman said, have worked and campaigned for more than a century. We have worked civic organizations, political organizations and organized. We have raised money, and we continue to do all that. Its about getting out the vote and its about helping women get elected.

Those efforts have intensified in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Stirman predicted many Republican women would withhold an endorsement of the partys frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, until Trump announces who he plans to name as a running mate.

I, myself  and I know many others  are waiting to see who Trump names, she said.

Several Oklahoma officials are expected to speak to the convention, including U.S. Sen. James Lankford, Gov. Kevin Stitt, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and State Auditor Cindy Byrd.

Sue DeVillez brings a gun shaped clutch to the National Federation of Republican Women's Convention at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.

Stitts spokesman, Abegail Cave, said the governor would deliver a welcome message and speak about the need to elect more Republicans to office.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Republican women meeting in OKC to plan for next election cycle
(CNN)  Environmental lawyer and 2024 presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday teased a major announcement in upcoming weeks amid speculation he is considering dropping his bid to primary US President Joe Biden as a Democrat and instead running for US president as an independent or on a third-party ticket.

I want to tell you now what Ive come to understand after six months of campaigning: There is a path to victory, Kennedy said in a video announcing an October 9 event in Philadelphia. We all recognize that theres a genuine possibility of national transformation and its source is the goodness in the American people.

News of the upcoming event, first reported by Mediaite, comes as the super PAC supporting Kennedys presidential bid has conducted national polling to gauge his viability in a hypothetical three-person race against Biden and former US President Donald Trump, a person familiar with the polling told CNN.

In the two-minute video announcing the event  which was shared with CNN in response to questions about the possibility of Kennedy running as an independent  the US presidential candidate criticized corruption in government and on both sides of the aisle. He also called out the established Washington interests and said his campaign will change the habits of American politics.

I understand that deeply felt concern that people have about the way corruption has overtaken our government. Its in the executive branch. Its in Congress. Its in the leadership of both political parties, he added.

In July, Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, met Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle at an event in Tennessee. They discussed their shared beliefs, including around vaccine mandates and pandemic-era shutdowns, and the two have been in touch since, McArdle told CNN Friday. She said she has not received a commitment from Kennedy to run as a Libertarian Party candidate.

I havent heard anything official or unofficial about him switching, McArdle told CNN.

The New York Times first reported the meeting between Kennedy and McArdle.

Kennedy, who is the nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy and son of assassinated 1968 presidential candidate and former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, has run a controversial campaign that has sought to be a thorn in Biden and the Democratic Partys side.

Since launching his bid to primary Biden in April, Kennedys campaign has failed to gain traction with Democrats despite polling indicating they are open to supporting alternatives to Biden. In a recent CNN poll of Democratic-aligned voters around the country, just 1% of those surveyed who said they want Democrats to nominate someone other than Biden named Kennedy as the person theyd like to see win the nomination.

Kennedys campaign has also failed to gain traction with New Hampshire Democrats, despite making the Democratic Partys proposal to reorganize the primary calendar and demote the Granite State from its first-in-the-nation primary status a centerpiece of his effort to win supporters in the state. A CNN/University of New Hampshire poll of likely Democratic primary voters released last week showed Kennedy with 9% support compared with 78% support for Biden.

At campaign events in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Kennedy has attracted support from voters of both parties who are drawn to his views on Covid-19 and the coronavirus vaccine. A longtime vaccine skeptic, Kennedy founded the Childrens Health Defense, an organization that promotes discredited claims linking vaccines to autism, and has frequently promoted vaccine skepticism on the campaign trail. At campaign events, he also frequently criticizes corruption in both political parties and by private corporations and asset management firms, painting himself as an outsider candidate who can root out corruption in all forms.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "RFK Jr. teases major announcement amid speculation he will make independent or third-party run"
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Sept. 29 that the military alliance had approved additional peacekeeping forces in Kosovo after unrest along the Kosovo-Serbia border that left four people dead.

"We call on all parties to urgently de-escalate. We continue to urge Belgrade and Pristina to engage in the EU-facilitated dialogue as the only way to resolve outstanding issues and reach solutions that respect the rights of all communities. This is key for lasting security in Kosovo and stability in the region," Stoltenberg said.

About 30 masked men shot at a police patrol in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo earlier this week. They stormed the gates of a Serbian Orthodox monastery, trapping priests and religious pilgrims inside. A 12-hour shootout occurred, resulting in the deaths of one Kosovo police officer and three Serb gunmen.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti welcomed NATO's decision and told the Associated Press that Serbia wants to destabilize the region with the help of Russia.

"These people want to turn back time," Kurti said, as quoted by AP. "They are in search of a time machine. They want to turn the clock back by 30 years. But that is not going to happen."

We need NATO because the border with Serbia is very long, and the Serbian army has been recently strengthening its capacities, and they have a lot of military equipment from both the Russian Federation and China, Kurti added.



Serbia has a history of close ties with Russia and has attempted to remain neutral in Russia's all-out war against Ukraine.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to recognize the country's sovereignty. The Kosovo War of 1998-1999 left more than an estimated 13,000 people dead.

The press service of Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry repeatedly refers to Kosovo as a "project" of the U.S. and the EU, effectively denying its sovereignty as well.

The NATO-led KFOR (Kosovo Force), which is meant to implement peacekeeping measures until the country's military becomes self-sufficient, has been in place since 1999.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged Ukraines partners to ensure that Ukraine receives the modern weapons it needs in sufficient quantities as soon as possible.

Source: Jens Stoltenberg during a video address during the Defence Industries Forum in Kyiv

Details: Stoltenberg noted that in resisting Russian aggression, Ukrainian military personnel have shown heroism that inspired the whole world.

"But courage alone does not stop drones. Heroism alone cannot intercept missiles. Ukraine needs capabilities. High quality. High quantity. And quickly," Stoltenberg stressed, adding that "There is no defence without industry".

Stoltenberg said that over the past year and a half, since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion, many of Ukraines allies have significantly depleted their stocks in order to support it. He explained that NATO is working to aggregate demand and increase interoperability through its Defence Production Action Plan.

He added that NATOs Support and Procurement Agency is overseeing a number of major initiatives, including putting framework contracts in place for 2.4 billion worth of key ammunition, including 1 billion of firm orders to cover capabilities including 155 artillery, anti-tank guided missiles, and main battle tank ammunition.

"From drones to de-mining, Ukraine has innovated at lightning speed," NATO Secretary General remarked.

"The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger their position will be at any negotiating table. So while it may sound like a paradox, weapons for Ukraine are the way to peace," Stoltenberg stressed.

Background:

The Defence Industries Forum was held in Kyiv on 29 September, bringing together over 250 firms from 30 countries  more than the organisers expected ahead of the event. Wendy Gilmour, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, was present at the event.

During the Forum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the establishment of a Defence Industries Alliance and said that 13 major manufacturers had already joined it.

Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said following the forum that a "new era" for Ukraines defence industry has begun.

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!
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed his confidence that Slovakia will continue supporting Ukraine in repelling Russian aggression after the parliamentary elections taking place today, on 30 September.

Source: Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with Reuters

Details: Stoltenberg said that whoever comes to power in Slovakia, the country will continue to take part in NATO meetings.

"I'm confident that we'll find ways to continue to provide support  as we have been after every election in this alliance since the war started," Stoltenberg said.

Slovakia is among the NATO countries that have sent military equipment to Ukraine, including MiG-29 fighter jets and S-300 air defence systems.

Earlier, former Slovak populist prime minister Robert Fico , whose party is a contender in the early parliamentary elections in Slovakia, said he planned to revoke military and political support for Ukraine.

Polling stations in Slovakia opened at 07:00 this morning and will close at 22:00. The Election Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said all 5,996 polling stations opened without issues. There are 25 political parties competing for votes.

Background:

Recent polls have shown that the populist and anti-Ukrainian Smer-SD party headed by former Prime Minister Robert Fico, although still the leader of Slovak sympathies, is increasingly losing ground to Progressive Slovakia, which was not represented in the current parliament.

They are followed by the Voice party headed by former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (13.7%), which has slipped in the polls, and OlaNO (Ordinary People and Common Citizens; 8.2%), which, on the contrary, has gained popular support.

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 52-year-old North Carolina doctor appeared before a federal judge in Charlotte Friday, accused of illegally prescribing and distributing an addictive drug mixture, prosecutors said.

Henry Emery Jr. lives in Waxhaw and practiced family medicine in Weddington, public records show.

He was still practicing medicine when he is accused of conspiring with other people to unlawfully prescribe, dispense, and distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of buprenorphine, according to an indictment unsealed after his court appearance.

Buprenorphine is an FDA-approved synthetic opioid used to treat pain and opioid use syndrome, according to the National Institutes of Health. The drug is classified as a Schedule III controlled substance because it can be addictive, federal health officials say.

Emery prescribed and distributed the mixture multiple times from September 2018 through last year, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors have not said what else the mixture contained.

Emery made his first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Rodriguez on Friday on a charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances outside the bounds of professional medical practice and 11 counts of distribution of controlled substances outside the bounds of professional medical practice, according to a news release by U.S. Attorney Dena Kings office.

Emery didnt return a text message from The Charlotte Observer. It was unknown Saturday if he is still practicing medicine. A phone number at his last known office is out of service.

If convicted, Emery faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine on each count in the indictment, according to Kings office.

King announced the charges on Friday and thanked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the IRS Criminal Investigation branch for investigating the case.
Emergency teams made 28 rescues on Friday in New York as heavy rainfall and flash flooding plagued the region, Governor Kathy Hochul said on Saturday.

I want to thank all the first responders who did show up, including our Swift Water teams who made 28 rescues  28 rescues in raging waters to help save New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island yesterday, she said. And thousands of utility crews have also been on standby, ready to keep our state moving.

The governor announced during the press conference on Saturday morning that full weekend MTA services had been restored thanks to workers diligent efforts under challenging conditions.

There are some New Yorkers whove never seen the likes of which we experienced yesterday in their entire lives, she said. This event was historic, in some areas was record-shattering, and it is the most rain ever recorded in a single day in a place like JFK ever  not just this summer, not this year, but ever.

And the record is still coming in, she said. Were still monitoring, the rain is still falling. And its such in some places, itll be the most rain that has ever hit in 70 years.

Before the end of Friday, the National Weather Service had already reported record amounts of rainfall at JFK Airport, Central Park, LaGuardia Airport and Bridgeport Airport.

This was the kind of rain that was once unimaginable  called them once-in-a-century storms, Gov Hochul said. But this is the third time since I was sworn in two years ago [that] Ive had a once-in-a-century storm. This includes the historic flooding we had in the Hudson Valley this summer, which was deemed a 1,000-year flooding event, so its Mother Nature at her most powerful ... and, of course, we know this is a result of climate change.

Flash flooding hit parts of the Northeast on Friday as heavy rainfall shattered records (The Independent)

This is unfortunately what we have to expect as the new normal. It makes us be more prepared than ever before. And it requires us to focus on resiliency to head off the horrific impacts that could be there if were not ready for the next storm.

The governor declared a state of emergency on Friday amid the downpours while joining New York City Mayor Eric Adams in urging residents to stay home. She thanked New Yorkers for heeding that call during her conference on Saturday along with fellow state officials who jumped into action as threatening weather loomed.

Our emergency responders, our Swift Water teams, you dont call them to come to a region once the crisis has already started, she said. You have to pre-position them, and thats exactly what we did.

People wait for the bus as trains get cancelled due to flooding from heavy rains. The governor specifically thanked bus drivers on Saturday for helping to keep the city moving (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Gov Hochul said on Saturday that officials continued to assess the damage from Friday and ensuing costs.

I spoke with the White House yesterday, and I spoke with majority leader [Sen Chuck] Schumer, who contacted me immediately, the governor said. Theyre prepared to support an emergency declaration, a declaration of disaster, from the federal government, if necessary. There is a threshold that has to be met  $30m worth of damage ...itll take a number of weeks for us to add up and calculate that.

A spokeswoman for NYC Mayor Adams told The Independent on Saturday that we are in the process of assessing the damage.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), talking to reporters Tuesday, had to rely on Democratic votes to pass Saturday's bill that prevented a government shutdown. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

Kevin McCarthy's struggle to become House speaker should have been the most embarrassing moment in his political career. The U.S. House of Representatives had to vote 15 times before he was able to secure enough support in his party to lead the lower chamber.

But months later, the fight over whether to fund or shut down the federal government is the latest in a series of humiliations.

The speaker failed to get his party in line and had to rely on Democrats to pass a resolution funding the government for about seven more weeks, which would delay a potential shutdown until Nov. 17.

The House approved the short-term funding Saturday afternoon, 335 to 91, with Democrats overwhelmingly backing the resolution. The Senate approved the resolution late Saturday in an 88-9 vote, and President Biden signed it before midnight, ensuring the federal government would stay open.

The short-term House spending resolution did not include military aid for Ukraine. The White House has signaled it wants Congress to pass supplemental funding to help the war-torn country fend off Russia's invasion.

In a floor speech ahead of the Senate vote Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that his caucus will "remain committed to help our friends on the front line," and that he was "confident the Senate will pass further urgent assistance to Ukraine later this year."

McCarthy has not committed to giving Ukraine funding a separate vote on the House floor.

But the Republican speaker's need to rely on 209 Democratic votes to fund the government leaves him weaker than ever. Only 126 Republicans voted for the extension.

Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) was the only California lawmaker to vote against the resolution. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), who is running in the 2024 race to fill the late Dianne Feinstein's Senate seat, did not vote. The congresswoman had a family commitment that forced her to head back to California, Porter spokeswoman Lindsay Reilly told The Times.

Read more: Dianne Feinstein's final day in the Senate

House Democrats had asked for more time to examine the 71-page resolution, which they complained had been given to them less than one hour before the scheduled vote. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) used his magic minute," an unlimited floor speech only party leaders can give, to speak for 45 minutes Saturday afternoon, giving his allies more time to read the proposal.

For much of September, a handful of conservatives repeatedly torpedoed McCarthy's spending bills, sinking any hope of projecting Republican unity to Senate Democrats and Biden.

The 45-day funding resolution only delays McCarthy's inevitable choice: Shut down the government, or betray the conservative hard-liners who can make or break his speakership  and enrage former President Trump, who has made clear he wants to see the government shut down unless far-right Republicans get everything they demand.

The hard-liners, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Andy Biggs of Arizona, all voted against the resolution to temporarily fund the government. Trump has egged on the group, repeatedly saying he's eager to see the government shut down.

"It is clear that I tried every possible way, listening to every single person in the conference," McCarthy said in a news conference after the vote.

"I don't want to be a part of that team," he said of the far-right members who wouldn't budge. "I want to be part of a conservative group that wants to get things done."

After the vote, House conservatives expressed ire that McCarthy had relied on the Democratic minority to delay the shutdown. In a tweet, Biggs referenced hard-liners' long-standing threat to oust McCarthy from the speaker's chair.

"Instead of siding with his own party today, Kevin McCarthy sided with 209 Democrats to push through a continuing resolution that maintains the Biden-Pelosi-Schumer spending levels and policies," Biggs tweeted. "He allowed the DC Uniparty to win again. Should he remain Speaker of the House?"

In his news conference, McCarthy dismissed threats to overthrow him, saying that "if somebody wants a motion against me, bring it. There has to be an adult in the room."

It remains unclear what policy wins House conservatives can realistically hope to secure with Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House. But it is clear that a shutdown is unlikely to sit well with voters.

Read more: In California, Republicans are divided over McCarthy's deal to avoid government shutdown

Shutting down the government has never worked to Republicans' advantage, said Ed Rollins, a GOP strategist and former senior advisor to President Reagan.

"You get blamed for it," he said. "A lot of people are unhappy about it. They see no purpose in it."

"Kevin is in a very precarious situation," Rollins added.

McCarthy is the most visible Republican in Congress, and the role of speaker usually commands authority and respect from one's party. But is the speakership worth all of this indignity?

"There's no secret: There's a giant leadership vacuum in the Republican Party," Alex Conant, a GOP strategist, told The Times. "We're seeing that play out on the House floor, where nobody can force every member to fall in line."

Historically, when Republicans have shut down the government, they had a clear objective. The last shutdown occurred under then-President Trump, when Republicans controlled Congress, over funding for a wall at the southern border. Under President Obama, the fight was over appropriating funding for the Affordable Care Act, his signature legislation.

This time, the messaging is not clear, making a complicated issue even harder for voters to understand.

"I would say that the messaging is bad, but that would suggest there's a message," Conant told The Times. "There's no communications plan. There's no political strategy."

He added: "It's just an unmitigated disaster for Republicans."

By Saturday, House Republicans seemed to finally land on a clear objective: cutting funding for Ukraine. The House spending measure is identical to the Senate proposal, with the exception of funding for Ukraine, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) asserted in a speech on the floor.

"If you are telling the American people with a straight face that you would shut the government down for Ukraine, then shame on you," Lawler said.

Earlier this week, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate sent the House a clean no-frills spending bill that included Ukraine funding. This effort was supported by McConnell. But McCarthy, bowing to conservatives, refused to give that bill a floor vote.

By Friday, he had put forth a similar bill with no funding for Ukraine.

Stripping the Ukraine money made the stopgap measure more palatable for some House Republicans, many of whom have grown hostile to sending Kyiv more military aid. Democrats and Senate Republicans remain overwhelmingly in support of sending Ukraine more money, though that position has become increasingly unpopular among the GOP base.

The fact that McCarthy and McConnell were initially on opposite sides of the shutdown battle reflects the realities that lawmakers up for reelection face, Conant said.

The Kentucky senator is focused on his party reclaiming the Senate majority. For Republicans to do that, their candidates need to be able to win in purple states, Conant said.

"McConnell recognizes the political damage that's going to be done to Republicans by a shutdown," he said. "He's putting as much pressure as he can to keep the lights on."

But in the House, McCarthy has to consider his members who are concerned about losing primary challenges from conservatives who are loyal to Trump, Conant said. Aligning with Trump and bashing an incumbent GOP lawmaker as a "Republican in name only" is a way to win in deep-red districts  and to lose in purple ones.

Times staff writer Benjamin Oreskes contributed to this report from Anaheim.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
In 1995 and 1996, the federal government shut down as House Republicans and the Clinton administration clashed over spending cuts. In 2013, the government shut down because of a partisan disagreement over President Barack Obama 's Affordable Care Act. In 2018, Democrats bucked President Donald Trump 's demands to fund a U.S.-Mexico border wall, leading to the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

And now?

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"We are truly heading for the first-ever shutdown about nothing," said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. Strain has started referring to the current GOP House-led impasse as "the 'Seinfeld' shutdown," a reference to the popular sitcom widely known as "a show about nothing." "The weirdest thing about it is that the Republicans don't have any demands. What do they want? What is it that they're going to shut the government down for? We simply don't know."

Lawmakers have until 12:01 a.m. Sunday to pass a new law to extend government funding, or a wide range of critical federal services will come to a halt. On Friday, House Republicans voted down their own proposal to approve a short-term spending bill to fund the government, as well as a separate effort that would have cut numerous essential government services by at least 30 percent. The failure left House GOP's leadership path forward unclear.

Typically, funding showdowns in divided government between Congress and the White House have featured pitched battles over specific policies, such as Trump's border wall or Obamacare. But budget experts and historians say the current impasse stands out for its lack of a clear policy disagreement.

House Republican leaders had already worked out an agreement with President Biden in May on government spending levels for the next fiscal year, but they're working on legislation that would spend far less than the agreed amounts. The House has no plans yet for a temporary extension to government funding, which means there haven't been significant negotiations with the Democratic Senate and White House. As long as House Republicans cannot find consensus on their demands, Democratic policymakers - largely backed in this fight by Senate Republicans - have declined to offer concessions, because they don't know which ones would suffice.

Asked by reporters Wednesday what could be done to avoid a shutdown, Biden responded, "If I knew that, I would've already done it."

Compounding the confusion is that it is not clear how or when House Republicans can forge consensus. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has for weeks tried to unify his caucus around a set of spending demands, but his efforts have been stymied in part because a handful of far-right insurgents keep changing their own demands. And so with less than two days until a shutdown, the legislative leaders tasked with funding the government appear stuck.

House Republican appropriators have advanced legislation that would dramatically slash the safety net and other domestic programs, including gutting some education subsidies by 80 percent. Those bills, however, are not only doomed in the Senate but also have failed to pass the House, leaving the lower chamber's policy priorities unclear.

"I frankly don't understand it - I think it's sort of nuts. There are times people vote yes one day, and then they come back and vote no the next day, and can't explain why they switched," said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and a McCarthy ally. Gingrich led House Republicans through two different shutdowns nearly 30 years ago, a brief one in late 1995 and a longer one weeks later. "I find it hard to understand what they want, too, because they change constantly - that's a big part of the problem."

Asked if he has a hard time tracking the insurgents' demands of McCarthy, Gingrich said yes, adding, "So do they."

Grover Norquist, the president of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, has tormented generations of GOP officials by organizing House backbenchers against their leaders. But he chastised the current group of House insurgents for failing to coalesce around an intelligible set of demands. The shutdowns in 1995 and 1996 eventually pushed Clinton and the GOP-led Congress to agree on balanced-budget legislation and other federal changes. Now, Norquist said, far-right members throw out so many different demands - an end to Ukraine funding, tougher immigration restrictions, dramatic spending cuts, changes to House procedures - that it is impossible to know what they want.

"You can't have seven reasons, and a different one each week, and expect American people to understand what your point was. In prior fights, there was a focus on why you were doing this. But right now, what would someone watching this on TV be taking away? It's about too many things, which makes this about nothing," Norquist said.

If this weekend truly does bring the "Seinfeld" shutdown, Norquist said, it will in part reflect the lack of clarity about what the holdouts in the House are demanding.

"One of the rules of 'Seinfeld' was: 'No learning takes place,'" he said. "And one of the rules from that show is the case here - there's no attempt here to learn from previous episodes."

In the White House and the Senate, Democrats have watched with a mixture of frustration and bafflement as House Republicans have struggled through successive rounds of infighting.

Though shutdowns typically get blamed on the GOP, the Biden administration wants to keep the government open, and White House aides are in frequent contact with leaders in the House and the Senate about the best way forward.

But there appears little for them to do: If McCarthy manages to advance a bill through the House, then Democratic officials can consider what to offer in response. Until that happens, the administration's options are limited.

"There is quite literally nothing for the White House to do. Are they supposed to try to mediate between the House Republican leadership and Freedom Caucus?" said Dean Baker, an economist at the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research who is a Biden ally.

As frustrating as the House's indecision may be for the White House and the Senate, McCarthy faces his own vexing path forward.

The House speaker has for months tried to build consensus within his party on government spending. And at nearly every turn, a small faction of far-right lawmakers has blocked his plans.

First, folding to pressure from the right, McCarthy broke the deal he reached months ago with Biden during the debt ceiling negotiations that would have kept government funding levels largely flat, instead urging that legislation cut spending for fiscal year 2024. But when House GOP leaders moved forward with appropriations bills that met lower spending targets, far-right House conservatives again objected, derailing the defense bill McCarthy tried moving. More recently, McCarthy has floated enormous automatic cuts to domestic spending programs of as much as 8 percent or even 27 percent, potentially coupled with an immigration crackdown, to try to get some legislation through the House.

Those efforts also floundered because the small faction of hard-line conservatives have rejected any attempt to pass one bill to fund the government, even temporarily - and even if they include massive cuts that could never pass the Senate. They instead want to pass 12 separate appropriations bills, which McCarthy promised during his campaign for speaker. But passing all 12 of the appropriations bills necessary to fund the government would take weeks that Congress does not have.

McCarthy and his top aides have also started blaming the White House's immigration enforcement work for the shutdown. This strategy, too, has faltered, in part House Republicans as recently as last week introduced a bill to fund the government that would have cut spending for the Department of Homeland Security by about 8 percent, undermining their demands for more immigration enforcement.

Some Republican strategists have complained about Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), one of the most bombastic GOP holdouts, who recently sent a fundraising email that blamed McCarthy for the potential shutdown.

"Gaetz is threatening the speaker's job if he works with Democrats, while leaving no choice to but to rely on Democratic votes," said Liam Donovan, who worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "The entire exercise is designed to fail. It's all impressively nihilistic."

The action on the House floor this week captured just how far afield the debate has strayed.

Far-right lawmakers offered dozens of amendments to the defense bill that had no chance of passing the Senate and an uncertain fate in the House. Lawmakers voted on stripping tens of millions of dollars from the Peace Corps, reducing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's salary to $1, and eliminating international aid for disaster assistance. Other amendments included cutting the salary of U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield to $1 and banning State Department employees from using taxpayer dollars to attend events or conferences hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative.

"It's a symbolic fight for bomb-throwing lawmakers who want to pick a fight with Republican leadership, no matter what," said Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank. "It's not really about anything."

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After months of anticipation, new COVID-19 booster shots are arriving at pharmacies, clinics and health departments around the Kansas City area.

The new vaccine is formulated to protect against the XBB strain of the Omicron variant, which dominated U.S. cases earlier this summer.

While some data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that the recent uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations is beginning to wane across the U.S., infections appear to still be on the rise in Missouri. In Kansas, they were down slightly during the week of Sept. 16 after eight weeks increasing.

Its too early to know for sure whether the uptick in infections is starting to wane  but one way to stay safe from the virus is by getting a newly formulated booster shot. The CDC is recommending that all people over 6 months old get one. Heres where and how to get a booster in Kansas City.

Where can I get one of the new COVID-19 boosters in Kansas City?

New COVID boosters have already arrived in many pharmacies around the metro. CVS, Walgreens, and Hy-Vee Pharmacy are all offering the new shot to patients, who can make appointments online.

Another place to get a booster is through your local health department. The Star reached out to the six local health departments in the Kansas City area to find out whether they are offering the vaccines. Heres what we know so far:

Kansas City Health Department: Has not received its shipment of vaccines yet as of Wednesday, Sept. 27. Updates will be posted online. When vaccines become available, call 816-513-6108 to make an appointment.

Jackson County Public Health: Has received its adult doses but is still waiting on its doses for patients age 5-11. The department hopes to start vaccinating next week. Appointments will be available online.

Clay County Public Health Center: Currently vaccinating anyone 6 months and older with the new COVID-19 booster. Call 816-595-4355 to make an appointment.

Platte County Health Department: Expects to start vaccinating next week. Call 816-858-2412 to make an appointment once vaccines are available.

Wyandotte County Public Health Department: Still awaiting its shipment of vaccines as of Tuesday. No start date is set yet for appointments. Call 913-573-8855 to schedule an appointment when the new vaccine is available. You can also ask about getting a free ride to and from your appointment.

Johnson County Department of Health & Environment: Not yet offering the new COVID-19 vaccines, but expects to offer them soon at its walk-in clinics in Olathe and Mission. You do not have to sign up or make an appointment.

What does the new COVID-19 vaccine cost?

Many health insurance plans cover the new booster entirely. But some plans dont cover it, and other people dont have health insurance at all. For these patients, the cost of a COVID-19 booster can vary depending on where you get it.

If you are an uninsured adult or have insurance that doesnt cover COVID-19 vaccines, you might be able to get vaccinated for free at your local pharmacy through the CDCs Bridge Access program.

You dont need to sign up for this program  your vaccine provider will let you know whether you are eligible. If you arent, you may have to pay for the new vaccine out of pocket.

At CVS, the out-of-pocket cost for a booster is $190.99. At Walgreens, it costs $155. And at Hy-Vee Pharmacy, it costs $189.99.

Heres what you can expect to pay at local health departments:

Kansas City Health Department: The department plans to set aside free vaccines for the uninsured and underinsured. If you have insurance, the vaccine will be processed through your insurance.

Jackson County Public Health: Free for uninsured people, while those with insurance will have the vaccine processed through their plan. At the departments upcoming drive-through vaccination clinic in Oct. 20, all vaccines will be free for everyone.

Clay County Public Health Center: The center charges a $21 administrative fee for everyone, $129 out-of-pocket cost for the vaccine if you dont qualify for a free shot.

Platte County Health Department: As of Tuesday, the department is still working on the final price structure for the new COVID-19 vaccine. There is a $10 administrative fee per vaccination.

Wyandotte County Public Health Department: The price and administrative fee havent been decided for the new COVID-19 booster shot yet. All other vaccinations come with a $20 administrative fee per shot for people without insurance.

Johnson County Department of Health & Environment: The county will process vaccinations through your insurance, but does not currently list an out-of-pocket price for the new COVID-19 vaccine.

Do you have more questions about staying safe from COVID-19 in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that he thinks concerns about former President Trump seeking retaliation on officials  such as outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley  are legitimate.

Look, I think its a legitimate fear, Esper told CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins. If you recall from my memoir  I cite a circumstance where [Trump], egged on by his close advisers, wanted to call back to active duty Adm. McRaven and Gen. McChrystal, to court-martial them, for some things that they allegedly said in in the public domain, and Milley and I had to talk the president out of doing that, for any number of reasons.

The president has also said that a second term would be about retribution, right? So, I think these are all legitimate concerns, he later added.

Trump made comments last week accusing Milley of a treasonous act in which he was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States. The former presidents remarks seem to reference calls made by Milley to China for reassurance at the end of Trumps term.

This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Milleys relationship with the former president is especially notable when it comes to one of the multiple indictments Trump faces. The former president was captured on audio attempting to push back against reporting by The New Yorker about Milleys attempts to prevent Trump from attacking Iran as his days in the White House waned.

Trump said he had a document about a plan of attack on Iran that revealed it was Milleys idea. He also claimed the document was secret and not declassified.

Milley has denied Trumps claims, saying he doesnt know the document theyre talking about.

No ones presented me with what it is theyre talking about. So I really still cant comment on it, Milley said in the interview. But I can assure you that  a military attack on Iran is a very, very serious undertaking.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
COVID-19 tests provided through the federal government are photographed in Salt Lake City on Dec. 15, 2022. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

With COVID-19 on the upswing nationwide and in Utah, free at-home testing kits are once again going to be available from the federal government.

Thursday, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services said there have been seven newly reported deaths from the virus in the state over the past week. Thats the most lives lost to the virus since nine deaths were reported for the week ending May 5.

Utahs death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 5,425, with the highest single-day loss of life coming during the first year of the pandemic, in November 2020, when 26 Utahns were reported to have died from the virus.

The current deaths are a Cache County man, 25-44 years old; two Salt Lake County women, one 65-84 and the other, over 85; a Salt Lake County man over 85; a Sanpete County woman over 85; a Utah County man over 85; and a Wasatch County man, 65-84.

Related

Testing is still seen by health care experts as key to slowing the spread of COVID-19, but free at-home testing kits have been harder to come by since the pandemic emergency ended earlier this year.

Now, the Biden administration has announced the reopening of a program to provide COVID-19 at-home testing kits by mail at no cost. Starting Monday, Americans can order four kits online, at covidtests.gov.

The price tag for approximately 200 million more at-home test kits is $600 million, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which said the kits are being manufactured domestically in seven states.

These critical investments will strengthen our nations production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Older at-home testing kits may still be usable, since the expiration date has been extended on many. A list of tests authorized for home use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the updated expiration dates for each, is available online.

Even though new variants of the virus are circulating, including BA.2.86 or Pirola, which has been detected in wastewater from a Tooele sewage treatment plant, the tests are still expected to detect COVID-19.

Related

The tests perform as well as they did a year ago, Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of the University of Utah Health Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, told reporters at a recent virtual news conference about a dramatic increase in COVID-19.

But, Pavia advised, one home test is pretty good, but far from perfect. Where you get really accurate information is if you do a home test and if its negative, you repeat it within the next 24 hours.

Two negative at-home tests approaches the accuracy of a lab-processed PCR test, he said.

So one test, all by itself, is only fair. Two tests are very good. And the new virus variants dont change that, Pavia said, noting that even someone who tests negative after being sick with COVID-19 could still be contagious for several more days.
WASHINGTON  Outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Friday that the U.S. military owes its loyalty to the Constitution, not to a "wannabe dictator" in apparent reference to former President Donald Trump with whom he has clashed.

We are unique among the worlds militaries, Milley said at his retirement ceremony attended by President Joe Biden and the nation's top military leaders. We dont take an oath to a country. We dont take an oath to a tribe. We dont take an oath to a religion. We dont take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we dont take an oath to a wannabe dictator.

While Milley did not specifically mention Trump, his unusually strong comments came a week after Trump called Milley a traitor who might deserve the death penalty for his communications with China near the end of the Trump administration. Two days ago, Milley said in an interview with CBS News that he was taking steps to protect his family after Trump's comments.

The comments were extraordinary because troops, especially officers in leadership positions like Milley's, stress the need for service members to avoid politics.The imperative of staying out of politics was the reason Milley cited when he apologized publicly in 2020 for his appearance with Trump after Lafayette Square was forcibly cleared of protestors.

Milley said Friday members of the military commit their lives to protecting and defending the Constitution, regardless of personal price.

And we are not easily intimidated, he said.

During a speech in Arizona on Thursday, Biden criticized Trump for his attacks on Milley and lamented that hardly any Republican called out such heinous statements.

The silence is deafening, Biden said.

At Fridays tribute to Milley at a military base in Virginia, Biden saluted the Pentagons top officer, for his steady hand and blunt talk.

Ive relied on Marks council because I know he always gives it to me straight, no matter what, Biden said during a farewell tribute to Milley who retired from the military Friday. He doesnt hold anything back.

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Milley was an unusually notable figure during his service for Biden and during the Trump administration as he navigated a number of crises, including the 2020 racial protests, the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Heres a look at some of Milleys most notable moments.

Retiring Chairman of the Joints Chiefs, Army General Mark Milley, reviews the troops during the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of Milley, at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, on September 29, 2023.

Lafayette Square walk with Trump for photo op

Milley delivered a mea culpa for creating a perception that the military was involved in domestic politics when he joined Donald Trump and other top administration officials on a walk across Lafayette Square for a photo op at historic St. John's Church after peaceful protesters were forcibly cleared from the area in 2020.

"I should not have been there," Milley said weeks later, when speaking at a National Defense University commencement ceremony.

As protests erupted in Washington, D.C. and across the nation after the police killing of George Floyd, law enforcement agents used pepper spray and other chemical irritants to clear protesters from the area near the White House ahead of Trump's walk to the church.

In this June 1, 2020 photo, President Donald Trump departs the White House to visit outside St. John's Church, in Washington. Walking behind Trump from left are, Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley crafted a low public profile in his first eight months on the job, but that changed after the walk. Milley walked with Trump and the presidential entourage across Lafayette Square to be positioned near a church where Trump held up a Bible for photographers.

The photograph of Milley, in his camouflage combat uniform, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper walking along a path cleared of protesters by police and National Guard forces sparked outrage among retired military officials.

Milley considered resigning, according to multiple reports. Instead, he used the commencement address to apologize.

"My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics," he said. "As a commissioned uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from, and I sincerely hope we all can learn from it."

Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot

Milley resisted an effort to involve him in another political battle, according to his testimony to the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Mark Meadows, Trumps chief of staff, wanted Milleys help in spreading the message that Trump  and not Vice President Mike Pence  was the one trying to get the situation under control.

He said, we have to kill the narrative that the vice president is making all the decisions. We need to establish the narrative that, you know, that the president is still in charge and that things are steady or stable. Or words to that effect, Milley testified. I immediately interpret that as politics, politics, politics.

Milley said he refused to comply with Meadows request.

The committee used Milleys testimony to illustrate their point that Trump did not call on any part of the federal government  including deploying the National Guard or contacting the Pentagon  to respond to the attack as it unfolded.

Youre the commander-in-chief. Youve got an assault going on on the Capitol of the United States of America. And theres nothing? No call? Nothing, Zero? Milley said in an audio recording played by the committee.

Aftermath of 2020 election

In the last weeks of Trumps presidency, Milley spoke with his Chinese counterpart to reassure him the U.S. would not suddenly attack China, according to a 2021 book by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa

After descriptions of the calls were revealed in the book, Milley defended his actions as routine and perfectly within the duties and responsibilities of his job.

Milley said the calls were generated by concerning intelligence that caused us to believe the Chinese were anticipating an attack by the United States and he was told to diffuse the concerns.

When the incident got renewed attention in a recent profile of Milley, Trump accused the general of treason.

This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! Trump posted on Truth Social this month.

Milley said this week he'll take "appropriate measures" for his and his family's safety.

I wish those comments had not been made, but they were, he said in a 60 Minutes interview. And I'll take appropriate measures to ensure my safety and the safety of my family."

President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and retiring Chairman, Army General Mark Milley attend the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of Milley, at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, on September 29, 2023.

Afghanistan withdrawal

In testimony to the Senate in 2021, Milley unsuccessfully argued to Biden that some troops should remain in Afghanistan but did not publicly fault the president for his decision to withdraw even after Kabuls government collapsed much faster than anticipated.

Milley, along with Biden and others, were forced to answer what led to such a chaotic withdrawal that included a suicide bomber killing 13 U.S. troops and at least 170 Afghans at the Kabul airport.

At a 2021 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Milley blamed the meltdowns surprising speed on the Taliban having failed to fully honor its commitments under the peace agreement.

Military leaders also said the United States decision to withdraw military contractors doomed the Afghan military, which was built to be dependent on those networks for logistical and operational support.

When you pull contractors, you pull troops. That, I think is one of many contributing factors to the rapid collapse. So thats a big lesson, Milley said, calling it one of several takeaways that should inform how the Pentagon approaches future wars.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mark Milley, in apparent Trump rebuke, calls him 'wannabe dictator'
Georgias Republican Senate Caucus is suspending a GOP state senator who attacked them for opposing his plan to impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for indicting former President Donald Trump.

The caucus announced Thursday that it was indefinitely suspending state Sen. Colton Moore of Trenton, who represents a district in Georgias northwest corner.

Sen. Moore has a right to his opinion, the caucus said in a statement. However, during his advocacy for his ill-conceived proposal, Sen. Moore has knowingly misled people across Georgia and our nation, causing unnecessary tension and hostility, while putting his caucus colleagues and their families at risk of personal harm, said the group, which has 32 of the Georgia Senates 56 members.

Moore attacked his colleagues as Republicans in name only, or RINOs.

Republican Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore outside the Georgia Capitol.

Republican Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore outside the Georgia Capitol.

The Georgia RINOs responded to my call to fight back against the Trump witch hunts by acting like children and throwing me out of the caucus, Moore wrote on X, formerly Twitter. But Im not going anywhere.

Its the latest display of a divide between Gov. Brian Kemp and many elected Republicans, on the one hand, and grassroots Trump backers who have captured control of Georgias Republican Party organization.

Kemp refused to endorse Trumps false claims about the 2020 election and help him try to overturn his narrow loss in the state. Willis has charged Trump and 18 others, including the former state Republican Party chair, with crimes related to the effort. All have pleaded not guilty.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was targeted for possible impeachment by Moore.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was targeted for possible impeachment by Moore.

Moore will still be a member of the Senate and will still be a Republican, but may find it hard to pass legislation without support of the majority caucus. But he already often functioned like a party of one in the body, voting against measures that all other Republicans or all other senators supported.

Moore was the most prominent backer of a special session to impeach and remove Willis or defund her office, winning Trumps endorsement. Kemp denounced the call as some grifter scam to raise campaign contributions for Moore, in a news conference that was unusually impassioned for the buttoned-up Kemp.

Kemp called the push political theater that only inflames the emotions of the moment, saying a special session would ignore current Georgia law and directly interfere with the proceedings of a separate but equal branch of government.

Kemp said he didnt think Willis had done anything to merit removal. Moore launched a petition for lawmakers to call themselves into special session, requiring signatures by three-fifths of both houses.

That would require some Democratic support because Republicans have a less than 60% majority in each chamber. And the Senate would have required a two-thirds vote to remove Willis after the House impeached her.

Moore never got close to persuading fellow Republicans, much less Democrats, winning the signatures of one Republican House member and one other Republican senator.

However, Moore attacked some other state senators. After Republican state Sens. Bo Hatchett and Shelly Echols issued a joint statement criticizing Moores call, they said Moore targeted them for retaliation and they received threats.

The caucus claimed Moore violated internal rules and was suspended by Republican leaders after refusing to follow those rules. The caucus claimed Moore was not being retaliated against for his wrongheaded policy position.
A government shutdown is looming, and the nation is waiting to see if lawmakers will pass approximately a dozen appropriations bills before the Oct. 1 budget deadline.

Congressional leaders may pass a continuing resolution to keep the government operating under the current budget temporarily, giving lawmakers additional time to approve a budget for fiscal year 2024.

In the event of a federal shutdown, how will it affect Mississippi? Here are some of the things that can or will happen during a shutdown.

What will be affected?

Federal food programs will stop operations, although the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will continue through October. If the shutdown continues, funds will dry out. Additional food assistance for the Women, Infants and Children supplement will not be available after the shutdown. Nearly one-third of all households in Mississippi are eligible for SNAP benefits.

Food safety agencies like the USDA will shut down or significantly reduce staffing. Farmers may not have access to federal services and loans, if needed, during harvest season, which could further affect food resources.

Most parks and monuments operated by the National Parks Service will remain open, but visitors will not have access to services or facilities like restrooms and road maintenance, since the parks will be unstaffed, except for security and emergency services. More than 7 million people visit Mississippi's national parks each year, creating an economic impact of more than $610 million.

Travel could be affected. While most Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation Administration employees will continue to work, some services will be limited during the shutdown. The workforce may dwindle as the shutdown continues, which could cause delays and service disruptions.

Active-duty military will continue working, but civilian personnel will be furloughed.

Federal courts will continue to operate until funds run out, but many nonessential employees will be furloughed.

Agencies like NASA and the National Weather Service will shut down, but critical and emergency personnel will continue to work.

Federal employees who work for agencies that are shut down will not receive pay, even if they are required to work. Mandatory employees, like those in the military, TSA and FAA, who work during the shutdown will not be paid during the shutdown but will receive back pay once the shutdown is over. In Mississippi, there are approximately 17,300 federal employees and more than 8,000 military personnel.

USA TODAY Live: Status of a possible government shutdown and how it could affect your family

What will not be affected?

U.S. Postal Service: Operations will not be affected by a shutdown. The postal service operates as an independent agency funded by the sale of goods and services.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will not be affected because those agencies are funded through income taxes that are not part of the annual appropriations.

National cemeteries  there are five in Mississippi  will not be affected.

How will you be affected if there is a government shutdown? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: How will government shutdown affect Mississippi
The House passed a defense spending bill on Thursday that cuts Sec. Lloyd Austin 's salary to $1.

That's thanks to an amendment from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene .

But Rep. Jared Golden, one of two House Democrats who voted for the bill, sees little issue.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine voted for a bill on Thursday that would reduce Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's salary to essentially nothing.

But Golden  a centrist Democrat who represents a swing district and has a history of bucking his party  is standing by his vote.

"I doubt Lloyd Austin's spending much time thinking about that," Golden told Insider on Friday. "If he is, then he shouldn't be in that position."

Austin currently makes over $235,000. Golden also noted that he previously voted against a waiver to allow Austin, a former active-duty member of the military, to serve as the Secretary of Defense, a civilian position.

"I'm not particularly concerned about him," said Golden. "It's public service, I don't think he does it based upon the size of the paycheck that he receives."

The provision was just one part of the Republican-led defense spending bill that passed the House on Thursday, which would fund the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2024. The bill is unlikely to become law in its current form  the Senate, which has drafted its own bipartisan bill to fund the Pentagon, is unlikely to accept the House-drafted legislation.

"I'm a veteran. I served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I'm a member of the Armed Services Committee," said Golden, explaining his vote for the underlying defense bill.

The salary cut was only added to the bill because of an amendment from Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who cited the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and COVID vaccine mandates in the military as among the reasons she wanted to "fire" the nation's top military official.

Perhaps in a sign that Republicans know the bill is unlikely to become law, Greene's amendment was tacked on via a simple voice vote earlier this week.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) September 27, 2023

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told the New York Times that Austin is "focused on leading the Department of Defense and ensuring our service members worldwide have the resources and support the U.S. military needs to conduct our mission to defend the nation" when asked about Greene's provision.

Nonetheless, all but two Republicans voted for the bill, and they were joined by two Democrats  Golden and Rep. Marie Gluesekamp Perez, whose office did not respond to Insider's request for comment on her vote.

The duo also voted for House Republicans' version of the National Defense Authorization Act, a separate bill pertaining to the military that included provisions targeting the teaching of race and healthcare for transgender service members.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Wisconsin man faces felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Charles R. Walters, 37, of Sparta, was arrested Wednesday and made his initial appearance in federal court in Madison later that day, according to a statement from the Justice Department.

He's charged in a criminal complaint filed in Washington, D.C., with one felony offense of destruction of government property.

Walter also faces other charges:

Entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds.

Disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

Disorderly conduct in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

Parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

More: Two Wisconsin residents have pleaded guilty in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol

Walters' next court appearance will be Oct. 5 before Moxila A. Upadhyaya, a federal magistrate in Washington D.C.

Prosecutors have argued the riots were an effort to disrupt a joint session of the U.S. Congress that convened to count the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election.

According to federal court documents papers, Walters was identified through multiple open-source videos and body-worn camera footage from U.S. Capitol police officers.

Prosecutors say Walters is seen wearing a helmet and a ballistic-style vest kicking and stomping fencing near a police line, and climbing the inaugural stage risers to enter the Capitol building. They say he stayed on Capitol grounds until he was forced to leave by police.

In the 32 months since the attack, more than 1,100 people have been charged for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 who were charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.

More: Milwaukee man charged in Jan. 6 insurrection, the 9th Wisconsin resident tied to the event

Some already have been sentenced to prison terms of more than a dozen years.

Former President Donald Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in August for his alleged role in conspiring to overturn the election.

Last month, Joseph Cattani, 40, of Colgate, was charged with civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers in the attack.

More than 1,146 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump has said he would pardon many of the rioters if he were to gain a second term in the Oval Office.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia, and is being investigated by the FBIs Milwaukee and Washington field offices.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Another Wisconsin resident is charged in Jan. 6 riots on the Capitol
OTAY MESA, Calif.  Authorities are asking for the publics help in locating four suspects in connection to a deadly shooting in Otay Mesa.

According to the San Diego County Sheriffs Department, Cal Fire San Diego firefighters located a man who had been shot near the base of the U.S.-Mexico border fence around 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 28.

Sheriffs deputies were called in to investigate the shooting.

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The victims location was reported to be about three miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. He told deputies that he and his friend had crossed into the U.S. through a gap in the border fence the night before, authorities explained.

After crossing, the man says they were contacted by a group of four Hispanic men. The suspects reportedly asked the victim and his friend who they had paid to cross the border, SDSO explained further.

When the victim informed the suspects they had not paid, he and his friend were allegedly forced to walk up a mountain, ordered to get on their knees, and then were both shot, authorities said.

Scripps Health cutting ties with insurance covering thousands of SD seniors

After the suspects left, the victim told authorities he checked on his friend, but he was deceased. He then walked along the border fence until he ran into Cal Fire San Diego firefighters.

At this time, the only information on the suspects are composite sketches of three of the four men involved in the shootings.

Suspect No. 1

shooter

Suspect No. 2

suspect

Why do Californians pay so much for gas?

Suspect No. 3

suspect

Anyone with information about this incident or that may recognize any of the suspects are encouraged to call the Sheriffs Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is faced with a difficult decision over who will fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein s (D-Calif.) seat after her passing Friday at age 90.

Feinstein, the longest-serving woman in the Senate, died after three decades in the upper chamber. The pressure is now on Newsom to appoint a replacement to temporarily serve as senator for the Golden State until voters elect their next choice in 2024.

Newsom has said he will pick a Black woman to fill the seat, though he has also signaled he wants to stay above the fray in next years Senate race  drawing rebukes from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), one of the declared candidates, in the process.

He has a big political calculation to make, California-based Democratic strategist Kate Maeder said of Newsoms huge task at hand in picking a replacement to follow Feinsteins titan legacy representing her state.

Choosing her replacement is no easy task, and I think generally people understand how challenging this decision is for him, both politically and personally, Maeder said of Newsom.

Feinsteins absence now puts Democrats down one member in the upper chamber they hold by a slim margin, adding urgency for Newsom to quickly select a temporary successor. It also draws attention to an already intense battle for her seat.

California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter launched bids for Feinsteins seat before the senator announced in February she would not seek reelection. Lee announced her run shortly after, becoming the third candidate to jump into the competitive race.

Newsom has said he wont appoint any of the candidates currently running in the primary, instead appointing someone to serve essentially as a caretaker of the seat until the next election.

Interim appointment. I dont want to get involved in the primary, Newsom told NBCs Chuck Todd on Meet the Press earlier this month.

Pressed on whether hed appoint anybody who has already filed for the race, the governor said, It would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off and that he doesnt want to tip the balance of the upcoming primary.

Newsom made no mention of any appointment plans in his statement on Feinsteins passing on Friday.

In March, Newsom pledged to appoint a Black woman as Feinsteins replacement if she retired from her role. But that pledge on top of his decision not to draw from the pool of current primary candidates has troubled Lee, who is Black.

I am troubled by the governors remarks, Lee said this month. The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election.

Who Newsom will pick is a big question mark at this point, said Steven Maviglio, a Sacramento-based Democratic strategist. Theres been a lot of speculation with a lot of names, he said, but no clear favorite. Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell are among the names some are floating.

Theres great Black women serving in office  but do any of these women want to be a caretaker? Maviglio said.

Though the front-runner isnt clear, strategists say Newsoms likely looking for someone who can give the Democrats another solid blue vote for the next year and a half until the 2024 election.

Newsom has dismissed the idea that he could be a possible 2024 presidential contender, making the rounds instead as an outspoken supporter of Biden and Harris running for reelection. Some consider him a possible White House hopeful in 2028 or beyond.

Everything that the governor does is through the prism of how its going to reflect on him and his future ambitions, and I think this is no different, Maviglio said of the impending appointment choice.

Given the timing of the Senate seat vacancy, hell likely have to move more quickly for the Feinstein seat appointment than he had to as he picked Padilla to replace Harris, said Democratic strategist David Thomas  though exactly when he would need to make the appointment isnt clear.

The timing also means that a special election for who will serve out the remainder of Feinsteins unexpired term  after Newsom makes an interim appointment  will likely be grouped in with next years primary and general elections, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The California secretary of states office was still figuring out what a timeline for an appointment or special election would look like on Friday, Politico reported.

Im sure he views this as an opportunity again not just to appoint somebody to represent California, Thomas said of Newsom. But also to make another historic choice.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Plans to ensure troops don't miss a paycheck if Congress fails to approve funding and the government shuts down on Sunday made little progress this week.

Some lawmakers were still working Friday to pass protections with less than two days to go. Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., told reporters she was in talks with House leadership to take up her bill to keep paying troops during a shutdown and expressed optimism that the bill will get a vote.

But in the Senate, Democrats twice this week blocked GOP attempts to pass a bill to shield troop pay during a shutdown, arguing that every federal worker should be protected by preventing a shutdown in the first place.

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"I share my colleagues' concern with making sure that our service members do not miss a paycheck because of a potential government shutdown," Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., said on the Senate floor Friday. "In fact, I do not want any of our federal workers to miss a paycheck, whether they are cancer researchers whose work saves lives or brave firefighters who risk their lives for us."

The uncertainty over troop pay comes as government funding is on track to expire at midnight Saturday, leading to a government shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, with no signs that Congress will reach an agreement to keep the government open before the deadline.

Service members generally cannot be paid during a shutdown even though they have to keep working; they are entitled to backpay when the government reopens. In practice, though, troops have rarely gone without a paycheck during a shutdown.

The main exception was 2019, when most of the government shut down for 35 days and members of the Coast Guard went the entire shutdown without pay, forcing some Coasties to rely on donations and food banks. The rest of the military was unaffected that time because Congress had passed a full-year Pentagon spending bill, but the Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security.

In 2013, when the government shut down for 16 days, the House unanimously passed a bill to keep paying troops two days before the shutdown started, the Senate unanimously cleared it the next day and the president signed it into law hours before the shutdown started.

As a shutdown this weekend drew closer, all sides used military pay as a cudgel in the political fight.

The White House issued a statement Tuesday that warned an "extreme Republican shutdown would force troops to work without getting paid." Hours before his plan for short-term government funding was blocked by far-right members of his own party, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., argued his bill would "make sure our military gets paid."

But it remains unclear if Congress will replicate what it did in 2013.

Kiggans introduced a bill last week to pay all active-duty military, including the Coast Guard, as well as some Defense Department civilians and contractors. On Friday, she said she "absolutely" expects the House to act on her bill in the event of a shutdown.

House leaders "certainly are prioritizing it," said Kiggans, who is a Navy veteran and represents a Navy-heavy district. "These are people that serve our great nation, and we certainly can't afford to not pay them."

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, introduced a bill in his chamber that is identical to Kiggans' measure. He and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who was widely considered the instigator of the 2013 shutdown, took to the Senate floor on Wednesday and Friday to try to pass the bill, but Murray objected both times.

"The idea that we would leave the men and women who protect this country uncertain about whether they're going to get paid -- even though they're still going to deploy, they're going to still be fighting all over the world protecting this nation -- so we're going to leave them out hanging," Sullivan said on the Senate floor. "All we're trying to do ... is the most common-sense thing you could do if you cared one bit about the troops."

The Senate has been pressing forward on a bipartisan bill for short-term government funding, but won't be able to pass it before the government shuts down unless every senator agrees to speed up the Senate's procedure. The Senate funding bill is also expected to be doomed in the House. Cruz voted against two procedural motions on the funding bill this week, while Sullivan voted against one of the procedural motions.

"You cannot grandstand about wanting to make sure service members get paid during a shutdown and then vote against the very bipartisan bill that prevented a shutdown," Murray said. "Our service members will see the harm of a government shutdown in so many other ways."

Permanent change of station moves, or PCS, would be curtailed, and some families could be left without a place to live if they've already sold their house or broken their lease, Murray said.

"Service members' elective surgeries and procedures at DoD medical and dental facilities would have to be postponed. And by the way, an elective surgery could be anything from removing a kidney stone to a mastectomy for breast cancer," she said. "Essentially, post and base services will be closed or severely limited."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on X @reporterkheel.

Related: Will Congress Protect Troop Pay if the Government Shuts Down Sunday? For Now, That's Unclear
With migrants in need of housing, safety and economic opportunity continuing to enter the United States, the overall number of migrant encounters with U.S. authorities this year has already surpassed last year's total.

And that number is expected to keep climbing.

How many migrants crossed the border in 2023?

More than 2.8 million migrants have had encounters with authorities so far this fiscal year, compared to more than 2.7 million migrants in 2022, according to the latest Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics. The current migrant figure includes August, but not September, the last month of this fiscal year, which has yet to be announced.

About 2.2 million people were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border through August, compared to 2.38 million border encounters for all of last year.

"They've already exceeded last year's totals by now. There's no doubt. The encounters probably beat 2022 sometime during the middle of this month," said Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight for Washington on Latin America (WOLA), a nonprofit advocacy organization. Isacson, who researches border security, said it's possible the overall migrant encounter number this year could reach 3 million or more. "It looks like it's on pace," he said.

The latest numbers come as some Americans are getting frustrated with migrants arriving in their neighborhoods with limited shelter and assistance options. Many said they want the federal government and local officials to do more to provide help to those in need and find a better solution for migrants hoping to enter the U.S.

A group of migrants climb over razor wire as they cross the Rio Grande river at the US-Mexico border to Eagle Pass, Texas.

Where are the migrants coming from? Venezuela, Nicaragua and more

Isacson said the migrant arrivals, mostly asylum seekers, at the U.S.-Mexico border have now risen to about 8,000 migrants daily. It's a level last seen in April, before the termination of Title 42, a COVID-19 pandemic policy that allowed the U.S. to cite fears of spreading the virus as a reason to expel migrants.

"I think that's going to be the new normal, this current high level seems to be the baseline and it's changing quickly. It could go up to 10,000 migrants," said Isacson about the daily arrivals, adding that migrants from Venezuela, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador are trying to enter the country. "Parts of the world, especially Latin America, haven't recovered from the pandemic and their economies have worsened and some governments have been dictatorial as of late."

Isacson added that Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said during a press conference last week that U.S. authorities encountered more than 142,000 migrants at the border during the first half of September, according to CBP figures. That's slightly more than half of the August total of 232,000.

Because of various upheavals in their homelands, many migrant arrivals today have "fewer social ties than in the past" to the U.S. as they "now need more of a safety net," said Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, an associate policy analyst with the nonprofit Migration Policy Institute.

Why are so many migrants arriving in the US?

Many migrants are seeking to improve their lives, find jobs, and places to seek refuge, be it in shelters, hotels, community centers, airports, bus stops, and even sidewalks, experts said.

"The flow is continuous," said Laura Cruz-Acosta, a city spokeswoman in El Paso, Texas, a border town accustomed to welcoming migrants. The city receives more than 1,800 migrants a day but is now feeling somewhat strained as its shelters are over capacity, she said.

Mayor Oscar Leeser said at a news conference on Sept. 23 that the city had reached "a breaking point." The city's data dashboard showed Thursday that 7,600 migrants were in CPB custody, and more than 1,300 were being released into the city daily.

Why are Abbott, DeSantis sending migrants to NYC?

The migrants have sparked both local and federal debates among government officials.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has blamed a lack of federal aid and Republican Govs. Greg Abbott in Texas and Ron DeSantis in Florida, who's also a GOP presidential candidate, for sending asylum-seekers to Northern states in recent months and causing a crisis.

During a speech in New York City Wednesday, Abbott said he sent 15,800 migrants to New York City, about 10% of the nearly 120,000 who have arrived there in the past year.

"What you're dealing with in New York, what you are seeing and witnessing in this state is a tiny fraction of what's happening every single day in the state of Texas," Abbott said. "This is unsustainable, and those are the words of your mayor. Those are the words of the mayors of Chicago and Los Angeles. Those are the words of the governor of Texas. Whats going on is unsustainable. Its a crisis thats chaotic and must stop."

Abbott's criticism didn't stop there. He also took aim at President Joe Biden.

"Joe Biden can flip that switch any day and stop New York from having to deal with the consequences of an open border," Abbott said. "They must prevail upon their president for more than just money. They need a change in policy."

In response, Adams' office said in a statement, "If he genuinely wanted to be part of the solution to this humanitarian crisis, Gov. Abbott would urge his Republican colleagues in Congress to collaborate with President Biden on desperately needed and long overdue immigration reform."

White House says Congress must pass immigration reform

A White House spokesperson said in a statement that Biden has called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

"Without Congressional action, this Administration has been working to build a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system and weve led the largest expansion of lawful pathways for immigration in decades," the statement said. "The federal government is working to provide information and services to ensure that those who are eligible submit their work permit applications immediately."

Most of those big U.S. cities weren't prepared for the arrival of migrants en masse ranging from single adults to large families with small children, said Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, an associate policy analyst with the nonprofit Migration Policy Institute.

"It's not like migrants haven't been going to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.," Putzel-Kavanaugh said. "They are arriving in larger numbers and those larger numbers are exacerbating the situation."

How many migrants arrive at the US-Mexico border each month?

In August, there were 232,972 migrant encounters, either arrests or detainments, at the southern border (the most since December 2002), a spike from the 183,494 encountered in July and the 144,570 encountered in June, according to Customs and Border Protection. Last month's figure is also an increase from 204,087 encounters in August 2022.

Within the last five- to 10 years, the Border Patrol has been dealing with "different flows of migrants, changes in their nationalities and demographics, and the tools Border Patrol have at their disposal aren't fit for that," said Putzel-Kavanaugh, of the Migration Policy Institute.

Customs and Border Protection officials said migrants without any legal basis to stay will be processed for removal and face consequences that include a minimum five-year bar on re-entry, loss of eligibility to access lawful pathways, and prosecution for repeat offenders.

"We remain vigilant and expect to see fluctuations, knowing that smugglers continue to use misinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals. CBP is executing our operational plans and working to decompress areas along the southwest border," a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY. "We are safely and efficiently vetting and processing migrants to place them in immigration enforcement proceedings consistent with our laws and operational planning efforts."

Illegal border crossings worth the risk for some

For many migrants who travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles, many with their families, to get to the U.S., they may think it's worth the risk, said Victor Manjarrez, a former Border Patrol chief in the El Paso sector and the director of the Center for Law and Human Behavior at the University of Texas at El Paso.

He said many migrants come to the U.S. to work. He pointed to a decision this month from the Department of Homeland Security that it would grant Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. as of July 31 to help ease a path to work authorization. The TPS is in addition to nearly 243,000 Venezuelans who already qualified for the temporary status.

Manjarrez said many migrants tend to believe what smugglers and others who are misinformed tell them, rather than government officials.

Isacson, the defense director of WOLA, said while there may be a lot of policies migrants have to contend with, many of them might assume it can't be as bad as what they've endured to get to the U.S.

"When you compare risking your life going through a jungle, a desert, or the Rio Grande to escape living in a dangerous slum in Caracas (Venezuela)," Isacson said. "Compared to that kind of life, they probably think there's no level of misery that these policies can impose that is worse than what they are fleeing from."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How many migrants crossed the border in 2023? More people are arriving
FILE - A bear forages near the Donnie Creek wildfire burning north of Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada, on July 2, 2023. A rising bear population is posing a threat to people in an area in the western part of North Macedonia. A dozen cases of bears attempting to break into houses in search of food have been reported by fearful villagers living in the mountainous area of the Mavrovo National Park, the countrys largest. Some villagers have demanded that authorities take urgent measures for their protection. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  A rising bear population is posing a threat to people in an area in western North Macedonia, where bear break-ins are increasingly common.

A dozen cases this year of bears attempting to break into houses in search of food have been reported by fearful villagers living in the mountainous area of the Mavrovo National Park, the countrys largest. Some villagers have demanded that authorities take urgent measures for their protection.

The head of the national Crises Management Center, Stojance Angelov, told The Associated Press on Saturday that in the last five years the population of brown bears in the national park has doubled.

There are between 160 and 180 brown bears in Mavrovo National Park," Angelov said. "Experts indicate that there should be up to 70 bears in this region, and their number now has doubled."

Angelov said that according to the residents of the village of Zirovnica, there are about 30 bears that feed in the area and often enter the village. They pose a danger to the lives and health of the villagers, especially because there are many children, he said.

Brown bears have been protected in North Macedonia since 1996.

Angelov explained that bears have been reproducing at an increased rate and, because of global warming, they no longer hibernate.

Bears are now active during winter, and this alone makes them search for food to survive year round. It is becoming more and more common for bears to have three cubs each, which used to be a rarity, he said.

Angelov said that people from the village of Zirovnica have reported a dozen cases of bears trying to enter their houses. They have also reported many attacks on beehives and the killing of livestock.

This year there is not enough food and fruit and bears are entering the village more frequently," he said. "All the villagers are carrying firecrackers to scare and drive them away. There have been no attacks on people, for the time being, but it is only a matter of time before it happens.

Zirovnica villager Sanie Kukoli says bear attacks on livestock have increased recently. Several calves have been eaten; four to five cows have been killed and eaten by bears. The situation is alarming, he said.

His neighbor, beekeeper Ahmet Ahmeti, said that bears started entering his property in 2018, but this year especially their arrivals have increased.

A bear entered my house, destroyed the kitchen. It is already normal to come face to face with a bear here in Zirovnica," Ahmeti said. We carry firecrackers in our pockets when we go out at night and thats how we defend ourselves. We villagers have noticed 10 bears entering the village, but around the village I think there live about 40 bears.

Another beekeeper, Xhevat Kukoli, said he used to have 80 bee swarms but this year he has none.

A bear took the beehive, crushed it and ate the content," he said. "I have dogs, they didnt drive her away and only firecrackers help  the stronger ones. The children cannot go out at night because of bears, we are afraid to let them out in the yard and certainly not farther away.

Brandishing a pot and its lid, Azire Neziri, an elderly woman, explained how she defended herself from a bear trying to crash the door and enter her house.

I was doing the dishes (and) the bear tried to enter through the door. ... The glass had been shattered. I shook the pot and lid and went up to the balcony. After she saw me, the bear left, she said.

I dont sleep at night," Azire said. "I live alone. I went to the doctor and he gave me medication for the stress.

Angelov, the crisis center chief, said residents are demanding that authorities declare a state of emergency in the municipality and remove the danger presented by the bears. We have not had such a situation until now, he said.

Angelov said he has called an urgent meeting of an assessment group comprised of members of the crisis management center and outside officials, for Monday to evaluate whether the conditions for declaring a state of emergency have been met.

He explained that the Ministry of Agriculture and Ecology can allow the shooting of the brown bears even if they are protected in cases where they become too aggressive.

According to the villagers, there are several bears that are quite aggressive. Shooting is the most undesirable and ignoble thing and we want to avoid (it), but the lives and health of citizens are always our first priority, he said.

Angelov said Romania is facing a similar situation and the shooting of bears has become a political issue. In the past five years, 14 people have been killed and 154 injured in encounters with bears in Romania, he said.

We should not wait for something like this to happen in our country, for someone to die or be injured," he said. "We will also include the animal protection activists in the decisions. We love bears but we love people more.
(Bloomberg) -- A fire alarm went off in a Capitol Hill building Saturday, adding to the tension as US lawmakers worked to hash out a last-minute deal to avoid a government shutdown.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat from New York, is accused of pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building, where some members of Congress have their offices. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would seek an ethics investigation into the incident, which Bowman said was a mistake.

This should not go without punishment, McCarthy told reporters.

Bowman told reporters he had been trying to open a door. It was a mistake. Thats all it was, he said. McCarthy is trying to weaponize an innocent mistake.

I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote, Bowman said in a statement late Saturday. It was the exact opposite  I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open.

The US Capitol Police said it is investigating the incident, which it said took place at 12:05 p.m. on the second floor and prompted an evacuation order. Pulling a fire alarm is a misdemeanor in some jurisdictions. Bowman said that after the vote, he met with the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police to explain what happened.

The US Committee on House Administration said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it would also investigate why the fire alarm was pulled. The comment, attributed to Chairman Bryan Steil, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, was confirmed by the committee.

The incident was caught on camera, according to Politico. The alarm added to the already tense scene on Capitol Hill, with McCarthy working to sidestep hardliners in his own party to secure a government funding deal ahead of a midnight deadline for shutdown.

Read more: Congress Averts Government Shutdown Hours Before Oct. 1 Deadline

--With assistance from Erik Wasson.

(Adds new statement from Bowman)

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
New York has officially transitioned into the recovery phase after Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency following historic rainfall and flash flooding, officials said over the weekend.

The governors declaration came as torrential rain pummelled the northeastern US, her pleas for residents to stay home echoed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whod also asked New Yorkers to shelter in place.

Most people heeded the call, the governor said Saturday  though at least 28 rescues were conducted by New York emergency services, she said.

Brooklyn was particularly hard hit by rising water with shocking videos showing streets and subways underwater, and one hospital forced to evacuate more than 150 patients after electrical damage forced its temporary closure. Widespread outages and delays were reported on the MTA, the agency that runs the citys transit system, before it returned to full weekend service on Saturday.

Historic rainfall levels were recorded at locations from LaGuardia Airport to Central Park, where a sea lion named Sally gained viral video fame after briefly exploring the flooded plaza inside the zoo, officials said.

Key Points

Worst of deluge hit during Friday morning rush hour

Up to eight inches of rain could fall across city on Friday

Disruption across New York Subway

Streets across Brooklyn flooded with water as New Yorkers told not to travel

Governor Kathy Hochul declares state of emergency

Mayor Eric Adams tells New Yorkers to stay home or shelter in place if at work or school

New York City flooding linked to climate change

New York becomes the latest state to require flood disclosures in home sales

Storm-affected residents urged to report damage

19:58 , Sheila Flynn

Damage assessments continued Sunday after historic rainfall throughout the Northeast as state and city officials urged residents to officially report problems.

Please share: If your home or property or street experienced damage, you can request service AND we also need. you to submit a damage report so we can fully assess the weather events impact to collect data, NYC Emergency Management posted Saturday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Reporting damage, the agency continued, can help you get repairs faster, and helps NYC know where the worst damage occurred. Data is used by city to determine funding for recovery.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Saturday morning that shed spoken with the White House yesterday, and I spoke with majority leader [Sen Chuck] Schumer, who contacted me immediately.

Theyre prepared to support an emergency declaration, a declaration of disaster, from the federal government, if necessary. There is a threshold that has to be met  $30m worth of damage ...itll take a number of weeks for us to add up and calculate that.

A spokeswoman for NYC Mayor Eric Adams told The Independent on Saturday that we are in the process of assessing the damage.

Two Red Cross shelters still operational Sunday

18:16 , Sheila Flynn

The Red Cross continued to operate two shelters Sunday opened to accommodate affected residents after Fridays downpours and flooding, a spokesman told The Independent.

The organization, in coordination with local county offices of emergency management, opened shelters at Mamaroneck High School in Westchester and New Hyde Park Memorial High School in Nassau County on Long Island.

I think were looking at how the population is adjusting, and Im not sure what our plans are going forward, the Red Cross spokesman said Sunday morning. As long as people need them, well still have them.

The Red Cross was providing refuge for 11 residents on Long Island on Sunday and 10 in Westchester County. In addition to supporting shelters, Red Cross teams were canvassing communities to assess damage and distribute cleanup kits, GNY Red Cross posted on Saturday.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday during a news conference that had no deaths had been reported during the storm, while 28 rescues had been made by emergency services. Police departments from other affected areas such as New Jersey were also posting footage of rescues as fast-moving floods overtook communities on Friday.

Officials were continuing to assess the damage on Sunday.

Emergency officials detail rescue team, equipment deployments

17:07 , Sheila Flynn

The New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services deployed myriad resources amid Fridays historic flooding, including 12 pumps from the DHSES stockpile sent to NYC for pre-staging, authorities said.

Another six pumps were sent to pump-out of the fuel yard of LaGuardia Airport, which recorded historic rain amounts.on Friday, NYSDHSES shared on social media.

The agency also deployed its Office of Fire Prevention and Control Waqter Rescue teams to assist residents who found themselves in trouble as flash floods swept the region. The agency posted images of the rescue of a woman in New Rochelle and said teams were assisting emergency services Friday in Westchester County and other areas.

Our OFPC Water Rescue team members continue to be on the ground in Westchester County. Today they rescued a woman from a car in flood waters in New Rochelle. pic.twitter.com/i9gVX0JbIi  NYS Div. of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (@NYSDHSES) September 29, 2023

On Saturday, DHSES also reminded social media users that 30 September marked the end of National Preparedness Month, urging Americans to take precautions such as developing an emergency plan for the whole family and building an emergency kit.

15:55 , Sheila Flynn

A perhaps unexpected consequence of Fridays historic rainfall and flooding may seem contradictory, at first glance  with fires reportedly cropping up across Manhattan.

Among the sights one might expect during a flood  floating trash bags, gushing toilets, subway waterfalls  street fires might not be high on the list, New York Magazine posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in the wake of the deluges..

And yet, several are popping up throughout the city, most of which appear to be manhole fires, the magazines account posted, along with accompanying blaze footage.

Among the sights one might expect during a flood  floating trash bags, gushing toilets, subway waterfalls  street fires might not be high on the list. And yet, several are popping up throughout the city, most of which appear to be manhole fires https://t.co/iTDh5jnjSP pic.twitter.com/HIrweUX5dV  New York Magazine (@NYMag) September 29, 2023

Will Anderson, a Brooklyn resident who observed one such fire and shared footage with Curbed.com, told the outlet: I saw all the smoke outside my window, and all these firetrucks, so I thought an apartment was on fire.

When I saw it on the street, me and my friend went and got breakfast in case it exploded.

The FDNY did not immediately return a request for comment Sunday from The Independent.

More than 150 patients transferred from Brooklyn hospital before temporary closure

12:30 , Sheila Flynn

More than 150 patients, including 17 in intensive care, were transferred out of Brooklyns Woodhull Hospital on Saturday before the facility closed down to fix electrical damage, CBS reported.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams had earlier in the day held a press conference regarding the power issues, outlining the multi-agency response as it continued to transfer the remaining few dozen patients.

There was an energy outage and the hospital was running on emergency backups, and as soon as those started to run out the hospital had to close down and evacuate the patients who were in the hospital to go to sister hospitals, City Councilman Chi Osse told CBS.

The councilman said the hospital and Con Edison were working diligently to restore full power at the facility, located within his constituency.

Yesterdays storm rally shined a light on our crumbling infrastructure, not just my district, but Brooklyn, he said. Woodhull Hospital is a hospital in deep need of investment.

NJ police video shows Friday water rescue of motorist

10:30 , Sheila Flynn

Footage of rushing waters  and subsequent rescues  continued to circulate on social media over the weekend after record-breaking rainfall sparked flooding on Friday through New York and other parts of the Northeast.

In one particularly poignant video from the Fairfield Police Department of Essex County, New Jersey, Corporal Steven DArgenio can be seen freeing a motorist trapped in a car in a parking lot on Passaic Avenue.

Please understand this flooding is serious, the department wrote in a Friday Facebook,post, adding: Do not drive into flooded waters or around barricades. If you find yourself trapped, stay calm and dial 911.

More than two dozen rescues were made on Friday during heavy rainfall that flooded regions of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The governor held a press conference in New York City on Saturday following historic rainfall levels one day earlier.

I want to thank all the first responders who did show up, including our Swift Water teams who made 28 rescues  28 rescues in raging waters to help save New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island yesterday, she said.

Images capture workers tireless cleanup efforts

08:02 , Sheila Flynn

Pictures were emerging on Saturday of ongoing cleanup efforts amidst tireless work by city staff and residents to recover from Fridays flooding.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul repeatedly thanked workers, posting images on X, the platform formerly known as twitter, with an accompanying message.

Union labor keeps New York running every day no matter the challenge! the Democratic governor wrote.  Im especially grateful to the first responders and state and local government employees for getting us through this historic rainfall.

Union labor keeps New York running every day no matter the challenge! Im especially grateful to the first responders and state and local government employees for getting us through this historic rainfall. pic.twitter.com/ckkXO2dK8Q  Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) September 30, 2023

Damage assessments were also continuing, with the governor saying Saturday that federal aid had not been ruled out. Record rainfall amounts Friday were observed at locations from JFK and LaGuardia Airports to Central Park, according to the National Weather Service.

Zoos reopen following sea lions brief viral fame

05:45 , Sheila Flynn

Various New York zoo locations had safely reopened on Friday after one City resident  a sea lion  made headlines during Fridays heavy rains and flooding.

A sea lion named Sally at the Central Park Zoo on Friday was able to swim out of her pool due to flooding of the plaza caused by severe rains in New York City, Jim Breheny, director of the Bronx Zoo and Executive Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Societys Zoos and Aquarium, said in a statement.

He posted on X that, after briefly exploring the flooded plaza inside the zoo, sea lion Sally returned to the enclosure, the flood waters receded & all is well @centralparkzoo w/ our sea lions all safely content in their exhibit.

 ZOO UPDATE:

There are several videos circulating online about flooding & escaped zoo animals. These videos are misleading & inaccurate.



All sea lions & animals are accounted for & safe at the @centralparkzoo. The zoo remains closed due to the heavy rain & flooding. pic.twitter.com/g9RCADJDG8  NYPD Central Park (@NYPDCentralPark) September 29, 2023

A spokeswoman for the zoo on Saturday told The Independent that three of our Wildlife Conservation Society zoos  Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo and Queens Zoo  and our NY Aquarium reopened today.

Prospect Park Zoo remained closed Saturday, she added.

NY Sanitation officials clearing debris from catch basins across the City

03:33 , Sheila Flynn

Cleanup efforts were continuing throughout Saturday in the New York region after historic rainfall one day earlier led to flash flooding and other challenges.

NYC Sanitation authorities on Saturday evening posted on X, the platform formerly known as twitter, that they were clearing storm debris from catchbasins across the City.

DSNY is clearing storm debris from catchbasins across the City.



Collection is ongoing, and storm-impacted residents may place material at the curb as needed. pic.twitter.com/nek4Byrkbj  NYC Sanitation (@NYCSanitation) September 30, 2023

Collection is ongoing, and storm-impacted residents may place material at the curb as needed, NYC Sanitation posted, along with accompanying photos.

Various New York residents responded to the post, including New York State Assembly Member Khaleel M. Anderson, who represents Queens, who posted photo and video of a few that need this support in my district.

I have a few that need this support in my district



Battery Road B/t Chandler St. & Pinson St.



Edgmont Pl.



145th Rd and 182nd St.



183rd Street b/t 145th rd in front of specified address pic.twitter.com/GvGwkRlex3  Khaleel M. Anderson (He/Him/His) (@KhaleelAnderson) September 30, 2023

Hospital electrical damage in Brooklyn prompts transfer of patients

Saturday 30 September 2023 23:43 , Sheila Flynn

Electrical damage caused by Friday flooding at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn forced the transfer and evacuation of patients and staff, authorities said Saturday.

Yesterday, @NYCHealthSystem-Woodhulls electrical system suffered damage as a result of flooding, New York City Mayor Eric Adams posted Saturday evening on X, the platform formerly known as twitter. The hospital was able to switch to back-up power, and service to patients continued under the close, watchful eye of medical professionals.

But as repairs continue, we need to transfer patients to other @NYCHealthSystem hospitals. Weve moved swiftly, with only 50 patients left to be moved. We immediately notified patients and families.

We can report these New Yorkers are in the best care with no major issues, the mayor wrote. I thank our frontline workers for making sure this process is as smooth as possible.

New York officially transitions to recovery phase'

Saturday 30 September 2023 21:34 , Sheila Flynn

New York officials on Saturday said they had officially transitioned into the recovery phase following historic rainfall on Friday throughout the Northeast.

Our teams remain fully engaged on the ground, rigorously working to restore essential services and evaluate the full scope of the damage to infrastructure and buildings. Emergency Management is actively coordinating with our partners to execute emergency plans that encompass operations like debris management, addressing downed trees, damage assessments, sheltering, and community outreach, an Emergency Management spokeswoman said in an email to The Independent.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Saturday morning that shed spoken with the White House yesterday, and I spoke with majority leader [Sen Chuck] Schumer, who contacted me immediately, the governor said. Theyre prepared to support an emergency declaration, a declaration of disaster, from the federal government, if necessary. There is a threshold that has to be met  $30m worth of damage ...itll take a number of weeks for us to add up and calculate that.

A spokeswoman for NYC Mayor Eric Adams told The Independent on Saturday that we are in the process of assessing the damage.

Governor calls bus drivers true heroes during storm

Saturday 30 September 2023 19:30 , Sheila Flynn

Lessons learned from previous storms helped avert disaster Friday as the New York region faced torrential downpours and flooding, officials said  but the governor particularly called out bus drivers for the heroic part they played in the days events.

At one time, during the storm, we had 4300 buses on the roads at the peak about 3500 a little bit later in the day, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday. What these buses did, and these brave bus drivers, the bus operators were able to give an alternative, a lifeline, to people who otherwise would have been stranded. The last thing we want ever is for someone to be stranded in a tunnel. That is frightening.

So when things are starting to look bad, the trains are being pulled back into the station, passengers discharged, well what happens then? Where do they go? And thats something we dealt with literally by the minute yesterday, making sure there were buses in place, enough operators called in to service them, to make sure we could keep it going, as well.

So these bus drivers were the true heroes, she said. They drove into water not knowing what was on the other side; they knew their job was to get people to the next destination safely. And they did an extraordinary job  99% of the bus routes continued during the storm.

Governor details 28 rescues amid historic rainfall

Saturday 30 September 2023 17:47 , Sheila Flynn

More than two dozen rescues were made on Friday during heavy rainfall that flooded regions of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The governor held a press conference in New York City on Saturday following historic rainfall levels one day earlier.

I want to thank all the first responders who did show up, including our Swift Water teams who made 28 rescues  28 rescues in raging waters to help save New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island yesterday, she said. And thousands of utility crews have also been on standby, ready to keep our state moving.

The governor announced during the press conference that full weekend MTA service had been restored thanks to workers diligent efforts under challenging conditions.

There are some New Yorkers whove never seen the likes of which we experienced yesterday in their entire lives, she said. This event was historic, in some areas was record-shattering, and it is the most rain ever recorded in a single day in a place like JFK ever  not just this summer, not this year, but ever.

And the record is still coming in, she said. Were still monitoring, the rain is still falling. And its such in some places, itll be the most rain that has ever hit in 70 years.

NWS: Lingering rain expected before tapering off from west to east:

Saturday 30 September 2023 17:11 , Sheila Flynn

The National Weather Service on Saturday shared a graphic showing residual rain in the same region where Friday flooding plagued much of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

There is lingering rain moving across much of the region as indicated here with our Doppler Radar imagery late this morning, NWS New York NY posted on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. The rain will be mostly light and is expected to last into this afternoon before tapering off from west to east.

There is lingering rain moving across much of the region as indicated here with our Doppler Radar imagery late this morning. The rain will be mostly light and is expected to last into this afternoon before tapering off from west to east. #NYCwx #NYwx #NJwx #CTwx pic.twitter.com/knIolmsSDa  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) September 30, 2023

In a late-night Friday update, the account advised social media users that Flood Watch had been cancelled for all locations except New Haven County Connecticut and Suffolk County New York.

Before the end of Friday, new daily rainfall records had already been set at JFK Airport, Central Park, LaGuardia Airport and Bridgeport Airport, according to the NWS.

Transit, city services returning to normal after flooding

Saturday 30 September 2023 15:51 , Sheila Flynn

New York transit problems caused by Fridays flooding had been almost entirely fixed by Saturday morning, with most lines back up and running the previous evening, an MTA spokesman told The Independent.

Subways had largely resumed normal function by about 9pm Friday, with further flooding problems to the N line servicing Brooklyn fixed by 5am Saturday, he said. MetroNorth lines had also resumed following diligent efforts of workers  basically, just waiting for the water to recede, just having crews help do that process, he said. Buses, thankfully, did not get heavily impacted.

The spokesman said Long Island Rail Road lines were the same deal after two little hiccups on routes closer to the water.

Meanwhile, NYC sanitation officials urged Bronx residents to bring hazardous items to a previously scheduled safe disposal event on Saturday in the Bronx, tweeting after the floods Friday that rubbish collection was ongoing and the department would provide additional services as needed, including collecting storm debris and material that comes out of flooded homes.

Saturday 30 September 2023 13:45 , Kelly Rissman

Sea lion breaks free from pool at Central Park Zoo

Zoo staff monitored the sea lion as she explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions. The water levels have receded, and the animals are contained in their exhibit.

Jim Breheny, Director of the Bronx Zoo and Executive Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Societys Zoos and Aquarium reported that no visitors or staff members were in danger and the sea lion never escaped the zoo.

We had closed our four zoos and aquarium this morning so staff could focus on the animals and our facilities during the storm. Animal care staff will continue to monitor the situation through the duration of the weather event, he added.

Read more

Sea lion breaks free at Central Park Zoo during terrifying New York City floods

Saturday 30 September 2023 12:30 , Kelly Rissman

Subway system suspended

Half the New York subway system was suspended due to flooding and delays remained widespread on Friday afternoon. Commuter rail across the tri-state areas was suffering delays and cancellations due to impacts, The Independents Louise Boyle reports.

Janno Lieber, head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said 3,500 buses were operating for those who needed to get around. But even those were not immune: video posted online showed one bus in Brooklyn traveling through flooding with a submerged floor.

Saturday 30 September 2023 11:30 , Kelly Rissman

WATCH: Shelter in place and state of emergency issued in New York over flash flood warning

Saturday 30 September 2023 10:30 , Kelly Rissman

Just how much rain was NYC dealing with?

As much as 6.7 inches (17 cm) of rain had fallen in parts of Brooklyn by midday, with at least one spot seeing 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) in a single hour, according to weather and city officials.

The 6 inches (15 cm) of rain at John F. Kennedy Airport surpassed a record set during Hurricane Donna in September 1960, the National Weather Service said.

The torrential downpour caused travel mayhem, submerging subway stations, causing flight delays, and even putting cars and bikes mostly under water.

Saturday 30 September 2023 09:30 , Kelly Rissman

Flashback: Hurricane Ida floods New York in 2021

In pictures: Chaos after New York and New Jersey storms

Saturday 30 September 2023 08:30 , Kelly Rissman

All rain, no storm surge

Whats frightening about this flooding on the FDR is that ALL OF THIS WATER IS FROM RAIN. There was no storm surge today. Zero. In the coming storms, well get massive rain plus a storm surge and the border between the river and the land will disappear, NYU Professor Eric Klinenberg pointed out in response to a shocking video of a highway in NYC.

Saturday 30 September 2023 07:30 , Kelly Rissman

A message from the governor

New Yorkers should expect heavy rain and flooding to continue throughout the night tonight.



To our Jewish neighbors celebrating the beginning of Sukkot, please take steps to stay safe during this severe weather event.  Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) September 29, 2023

Saturday 30 September 2023 06:30 , Kelly Rissman

NYCs flooding is linked to climate change

Three to six inches of rain have fallen with several more on the way in the next 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Some forecasters warned the flooding has the potential to be historic.

Forecasters said rainfall was coming down at a rate of one to 2.5 inches an hour in some places.

From 8am to 9am, the Brooklyn Navy Yard received 2.58 inches of rain, said Rohit Aggarwala, from New Yorks Department of Environmental Protection, at a Friday press briefing. The citys sewer system was built to handle 1.75 inches.

This is the result of climate change. Our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond, Mr Aggarwala said.

Read the full story here

New York flooding chaos is result of climate crisis, city official warns

Saturday 30 September 2023 05:30 , Kelly Rissman

The dangers of the downpour extends to Long Island

[Ongoing Flooding]: We have multiple reports of water rescues and motorists stranded in flood waters in Nassau County. Do not travel this evening if you do not need to do so. This area of heavy rain is moving into western Suffolk county with flooding likely to begin shortly. pic.twitter.com/FrQ9q6FS3s  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) September 29, 2023

Saturday 30 September 2023 04:33 , Kelly Rissman

29 September is poised to be the wettest day on record at JFK

Three to six inches of rain had fallen by Friday morning with several more on the way in the next 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Some forecasters warned the flooding has the potential to be historic.

Today is now preliminarily the wettest September day on record at JFK Airport, eclipsing the record from Hurricane Donna in 1960, NWS tweeted, noting that 6.08inches of rain had fallen since midnight. The previous record was 5.83 inches.

Read more

New York City declares state of emergency

Saturday 30 September 2023 03:30 , Kelly Rissman

Photos of the floods

The Independent captured shocking photos of the floods that are keeping locals indoors and submerging vehicles.

Bike submerged in the rainwater in NYC (The Independent)

NYC flooding (The Independent)

deep flooding plagues Brooklyn (The Independent)

Saturday 30 September 2023 02:33 , Kelly Rissman

WATCH: Transportation disrupted in NYC due to the downpour

Saturday 30 September 2023 01:33 , Kelly Rissman

New York requires flood disclosures in home sales as natural disasters worsen in the state

Ahead of todays flooding, Gov Kathy Hochul last week signed a bill requiring people selling their homes to disclose whether their properties have been flooded or are at risk for future flooding.

The new law comes as inland areas in the state have become more vulnerable to flooding, with climate change spurring on rising sea levels and more intense storms like the one impacting the city on Friday

The signing will make New York at least the 30th state in the country to require flood disclosures during home sales. New York has a similar law in place for rental properties.

The Independents Louise Boyle has the full story.

New York is latest state to require flood disclosures in home sales as storms worsen

Saturday 30 September 2023 00:33 , Kelly Rissman

Flight misery at New York airports

As of Friday afternoon, 283 flights were cancelled at LaGuardia Airport and 377 were delayed, according to FlightAware.

The situation is even worse at JFK, where 203 flights were cancelled and 416 flights were delayed.

Saturday 30 September 2023 00:00 , Kelly Rissman

Metro North riders urged to leave earlier in the day

We strongly urge customers to travel as early as possible today. Metro-North Railroad remains suspended in both directions between Manhattan and The Bronx; build in added time to get to the Bronx via the subway system for continuing MNR service. Details on our TrainTime app. pic.twitter.com/EY37qT2PiM  Metro-North Railroad (@MetroNorth) September 29, 2023

Friday 29 September 2023 23:45 , Kelly Rissman

Mayor Adams under fire for rain response

Mayor Eric Adams urged New Yorkers to stay home or shelter in place if they had already gone out to work or school. He warned that the city could see eight inches of rain before the storm passes.

Once again, the mayor came under fire after he did not speak publicly to New Yorkers until late Friday morning when conditions were already dire. Mr Adams had been criticized in June for his handling of New Yorks air quality threat from Canadas wildfires.

Read the full story

New York City declares state of emergency

Friday 29 September 2023 22:45 , Kelly Rissman

WATCH: Flash flooding causes chaos in New York City

Friday 29 September 2023 22:33 , Kelly Rissman

A different view of the storms

The last four hours of rain storms continually funneling over New York City.



These storms have produced dangerous flash floods this morning and afternoon. pic.twitter.com/yAZAyeZcCa  CIRA (@CIRA_CSU) September 29, 2023

Friday 29 September 2023 22:15 , Kelly Rissman

Sea lion breaks free from pool at Central Park Zoo

Zoo staff monitored the sea lion as she explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions. The water levels have receded, and the animals are contained in their exhibit.

Jim Breheny, Director of the Bronx Zoo and Executive Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Societys Zoos and Aquarium reported that no visitors or staff members were in danger and the sea lion never escaped the zoo.

We had closed our four zoos and aquarium this morning so staff could focus on the animals and our facilities during the storm. Animal care staff will continue to monitor the situation through the duration of the weather event, he added.

Read more

Sea lion breaks free from Central Park Zoo in terrifying NYC floods

Friday 29 September 2023 22:00 , Kelly Rissman

NYC in state of emergency as rain submerges the city

Friday 29 September 2023 21:45 , Kelly Rissman

Superfund site hazard

A scientist posted on X to remind New Yorkers to avoid entering the floodwater near Gowanus Canal  it is a contaminated site that contains hazardous materials, the EPA says.

Huge storm and flooding in NYC today. This is 4th Ave and Carroll St in Brooklyn, which is near Gowanus Canal, a superfund site.



Reminder: Do not go in the flood waters, it contains pathogens and is a threat to human health.pic.twitter.com/uzPQLfSL3G  Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) September 29, 2023

Friday 29 September 2023 21:33 , Kelly Rissman

Hourly precipitation in NYC

Here's the estimated hourly precip across NYC from midnight to 11 AM today. Some locations have received up to 4-6+ inches already with additional rainfall forecast through tonight. Remember to practice flood safety- NEVER walk or drive into flood waters, turn around don't drown! pic.twitter.com/LitpHIiXLx  NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) September 29, 2023

Friday 29 September 2023 21:15 , Kelly Rissman

WATCH: New York underwater amid flash flood warning

Flashback: Hurricane Ida floods New York in 2021

Friday 29 September 2023 21:00 , Kelly Rissman

In pictures: Chaos after New York and New Jersey storms

Friday 29 September 2023 20:45 , Kelly Rissman

NYC zoos are closed, due to flooding

Due to continuing heavy rain in NYC-area and with @GovKathyHochul calling a state of emergency for NYC, WCSs Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and New York Aquarium will be closed today. Pumpkin Nights at the Bronx Zoo will be cancelled this evening.  WCS Newsroom: #EarthStrong  (@WCSNewsroom) September 29, 2023

Friday 29 September 2023 20:27 , Kelly Rissman

New York requires flood disclosures in home sales as natural disasters worsen in the state

Ahead of todays flooding, Gov Kathy Hochul last week signed a bill requiring people selling their homes to disclose whether their properties have been flooded or are at risk for future flooding.

The new law comes as inland areas in the state have become more vulnerable to flooding, with climate change spurring on rising sea levels and more intense storms like the one impacting the city on Friday

The signing will make New York at least the 30th state in the country to require flood disclosures during home sales. New York has a similar law in place for rental properties.

The Independents Louise Boyle has the full story.

New York is latest state to require flood disclosures in home sales as storms worsen

Friday 29 September 2023 20:15 , Kelly Rissman

Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency across New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley, warning locals: Plan your escape route. Dont wait until water is over your knees before you leave. Dont wait until its too late.

Forecasters said the expected rainfall rate is between 1-2.5 inches in the space of an hour in some areas. Between 8am and 9am, the Brooklyn Navy Yard received 2.58 inches of rain, said Rohit Aggarwala from New Yorks Department of Environmental Protection. The citys sewer system was built to handle 1.75 inches.

This is the result of climate change. Our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond, Mr Aggarwala said. On a hotter planet, more moisture is held in the atmosphere meaning that storms have a greater likelihood of bringing intense rainfall.

The Independents Louise Boyle has the full story.

New York City declares state of emergency

Friday 29 September 2023 20:00 , Kelly Rissman

Mayor Eric Adams said this is a time for extreme caution

The NYC mayor warned residents: If you are home, stay home. If you are at work or school, shelter in place for now. He outlined that transportation has been affected; some subway stations are flooded and some airports are experiencing heavy delays.

If you are home, stay home. If you are at work or school, shelter in place for now.



 NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D), after declaring a state of emergency due to flooded streets and subway stations from heavy rain pic.twitter.com/bPifujuMsP  The Recount (@therecount) September 29, 2023

Friday 29 September 2023 19:51 , Kelly Rissman

WATCH: The heavy rain has seeped the citys transportation

Friday 29 September 2023 19:30 , Kelly Rissman

Photos of the floods

The Independent captured shocking photos of the floods that are keeping locals indoors and submerging vehicles.

Deep floodwater plagues NYC (The Independent)

Bike submerged in the rainwater in NYC (The Independent)

NYC flooding (The Independent)

Friday 29 September 2023 19:15 , Kelly Rissman

Flash flood warning for Queens and Brooklyn is set to end at 2.30pm

Flash Flood Warning continues for New York NY, Brooklyn NY and Queens NY until 2:30 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/DyOGgRIy6q  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) September 29, 2023

Friday 29 September 2023 18:58 , Kelly Rissman

NYCs flooding is linked to climate change

Three to six inches of rain have fallen with several more on the way in the next 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Some forecasters warned the flooding has the potential to be historic.

Forecasters said rainfall was coming down at a rate of one to 2.5 inches an hour in some places.

From 8am to 9am, the Brooklyn Navy Yard received 2.58 inches of rain, said Rohit Aggarwala, from New Yorks Department of Environmental Protection, at a Friday press briefing. The citys sewer system was built to handle 1.75 inches.

This is the result of climate change. Our climate is changing faster than our infrastructure can respond, Mr Aggarwala said.

Read the full story

New York flooding chaos is result of climate crisis, city official warns

Friday 29 September 2023 18:38 , Kelly Rissman

If people decide to venture out in a vehicle, they do so at their own peril

New York Gov Kathy Hochul sent out a warning message on Friday afternoon, urging New Yorkers to stay home if possible.

Watch the full video message:

My message to New Yorkers impacted by todays severe rain: Turn around, dont drown.



Were expecting to see more rain throughout today & tonight. Roads are closed & public transit is delayed or suspended in many areas due to flooding.



Please avoid travel as much as possible. pic.twitter.com/zrni25rPHw  Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) September 29, 2023

Latest in series of floods across northeastern US

Friday 29 September 2023 18:30 , AP

The deluge came less than three months after a storm caused deadly floods in New Yorks Hudson Valley and left Vermonts capital, Montpelier, submerged. A little over two years ago, the remnants of Hurricane Ida dropped record-breaking rain on the Northeast and killed at least 13 people in New York City, most of whom were in flooded basement apartments. Overall, 50 people died from Virginia to Connecticut.

Watch: Flooded Prospect Expressway seen from Kensington

Friday 29 September 2023 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Crossing the street in Kensington, Brooklyn this morning and seeing the flooded Prospect Expressway pic.twitter.com/4WsHR3rBkB  Liz Herron-Sweet (@eherronsweet) September 29, 2023

Watch: Flooding in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Friday 29 September 2023 17:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Friday 29 September 2023 17:37 , Kelly Rissman

The flash flood warning for Manhattan the Bronx continues

Flash Flood Warning continues for New York NY, Manhattan NY and The Bronx NY until 3:00 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/MovJ6jVX0m  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) September 29, 2023

Full story: New York declares state of emergency as flash flooding leaves parts of city underwater

Friday 29 September 2023 17:30 , Louise Boyle

Large swaths of New York were underwater on Friday morning as torrential rainfall caused flash flooding across the city.

A severe storm lodged over the city on Thursday night, leaving the five boroughs and parts of upstate New York, New Jersey and Connecticut under flood watches and warnings.

New Yorkers were urged not to travel as the subway system largely shut down in the conditions, and vehicles were trapped by rising waters.

Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency across New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley due to the extreme rainfall. She said that officials were worried about basement homes, during an interview on Friday, after a number of people drowned during Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Plan your escape route. Dont wait until water is over your knees before you leave. Dont wait until its too late, Gov Hochul said.

New York City declares state of emergency

Friday 29 September 2023 17:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Friday 29 September 2023 17:04 , Oliver O'Connell

Zach Iscol, the commissioner of New York Citys Office of Emergency Management said that today is the wettest day weve had since Hurricane Ida swept this city two years ago.

This changing weather pattern is the result of climate change, said Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner of the citys Department of Environmental Protection.

HE added that the weather is changing faster than our infrastructure can withstand.

Recovering transportation a priority

Friday 29 September 2023 17:02 , Oliver O'Connell

Governor Kathy Hochul described the storm as a life-threatening rainfall event and stressed that getting the transportation system back up and running was a priority.

We want to make sure we get the subways, the trains, our communication system, our transportation system working because theres children who use the subway to get home from school.

New Yorkers reminded not to drive in floodwater

Friday 29 September 2023 16:59 , Oliver O'Connell

Just 12 inches of water can carry away a car and 18-24 inches can move a large SUV.

If safe to do so, please send us any reports of flooding you come across!



This could include water over roadways, closures, or rescues. Be sure to include the location and time of report. #TurnAroundDontDrownhttps://t.co/u9uL802OW4 pic.twitter.com/NUV4MtjNGX  NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) September 29, 2023

Mayor warns New Yorkers to exercise extreme caution as dangerous weather is not over

Friday 29 September 2023 16:52 , Oliver O'Connell

Mayor Eric Adams said at a news briefing with Governor Kathy Hochul that he was issuing a state of emergency for New York City.

He warned New Yorkers to exercise extreme caution and stay home or to shelter in place if they were at work or school.

We could possibly see 8 inches of rain before the day is over, Mayor Adams warned.

This is a dangerous weather condition and it is not over and I dont want those gaps in heavy rain to give the appearance that it is over.

The mayor said he has already visited some of the worst-hit parts of Brooklyn and encouraged residents to assist in helping clear clogged drains.

Friday 29 September 2023 16:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Flooding on Walton St between Union Ave & Harrison Ave. pic.twitter.com/ovsvRoz9uX  WILLIAMSBURG NEWS (@WMSBG) September 29, 2023

Watch: Basement floods in Williamsburg

Friday 29 September 2023 16:40 , Oliver O'Connell

No Metro-North trains between Manhattan and Bronx

Friday 29 September 2023 16:38 , Oliver O'Connell

Metro-North Railroad, which links Manhattan with the Bronx, Connecticut, and Westchester County, has announced that there is no service on its three lines into or out of Manhattan because of flooding.

There is no Hudson, Harlem, or New Haven service in either direction between Manhattan and The Bronx because of flooding caused by today's storm.



Northbound Hudson Line service will originate at Yankees-E-153 St.



Northbound Harlem Line service will originate at Wakefield. pic.twitter.com/iEBsmNgpiQ  Metro-North Railroad (@MetroNorth) September 29, 2023

Recap: Storm floods New York City area, pouring into subways and swamping streets in rush-hour mess

Friday 29 September 2023 16:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A potent rush-hour rainstorm swamped the New York metropolitan area on Friday, shutting down swaths of the city's subway system, flooding streets and highways, and cutting off access to at least one terminal at LaGuardia Airport.

Up to 5 inches (13 centimetres) of rain fell in some areas overnight, and as much as 7 inches (18 centimetres) more was expected throughout the day, New York Gov Kathy Hochul said.

This is a dangerous, life-threatening storm," Hochul said in an interview with TV station NY1. "Count on this for the next 20 hours.

Photos and video posted on social media showed water pouring into subway stations and basements, and reaching the top of cars' wheels in parts of Brooklyn and elsewhere.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs subway and commuter rail lines, urged residents of the nation's most populous city to stay home if they could. Virtually every subway line was at least partly suspended, rerouted or running with delays, and two of the Metro-North Railroad's three lines were suspended.

Flooding also was reported in surrounding areas, including Hoboken, New Jersey.

Multiple major road closures due to flooding

Friday 29 September 2023 16:29 , Oliver O'Connell

FDR Drive closed in both directions at Delancey Street in Manhattan

All lanes on the Cross Island Parkway are closed in both directions at Bell Boulevard in Queens

Major Deegan Expressway closed in both directions at 230th Street in The Bronx

Consider alternate routes.

Brooklyn Queens Expressway flooded

Friday 29 September 2023 16:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Delays to Amtrak service out of New York Penn Station

Friday 29 September 2023 16:10 , Oliver O'Connell

SERVICE ALERT: As of 10:06 am ET, due to inclement weather in the area, Services originating out of New York (NYP) may experience delays departing. Updates to follow as more information becomes available.  Amtrak Northeast (@AmtrakNECAlerts) September 29, 2023

Brooklyn resident says water came up through sewer pipes

Friday 29 September 2023 16:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Watch: Floodwaters inundate bus in Brooklyn

Friday 29 September 2023 15:49 , Oliver O'Connell

INSANE: This video was taken inside an @MTA bus on 18th Avenue and 60 Street in Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/h3dpsOy2hG  NYScanner (@nyscanner) September 29, 2023

'I didnt realize nyc buses were amphibious. Hmm.

Friday 29 September 2023 15:45 , Oliver O'Connell

FDR Drive at full standstill in Lower Manhattan

Friday 29 September 2023 15:38 , Oliver O'Connell

View from Williamsburg bridge, FDR is at a full standstill, multiple cars trapped in oily waters. pic.twitter.com/QL4wqUKlnl  Gwynne Hogan (@GwynneFitz) September 29, 2023

Watch: Water pours into New York Subway

Friday 29 September 2023 15:33 , Oliver O'Connell

Yikes! Flooding at Grand Army Plaza station in Brooklyn, New York this morning with more rain on the way!



LSC Viewer: Andre Forbes pic.twitter.com/M0V8WWtAcj  Live Storm Chasers (@LiveStormChaser) September 29, 2023

NYPD and FDNY responding to numerous calls for help

Friday 29 September 2023 15:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Tom Winter of NBC News writes: The NYPD & FDNY are responding to numerous flooded basements with people inside, minor roof and ceiling collapses, cars trapped in water with people inside and other emergencies all tied to the flooding in New York City, a senior official says.

He adds: So far, no reports of deaths.

Governor declares State of Emergency.

Friday 29 September 2023 15:26 , Oliver O'Connell

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency due to the extreme rainfall.

I am declaring a State of Emergency across New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley due to the extreme rainfall were seeing throughout the region, she tweeted.

Please take steps to stay safe and remember to never attempt to travel on flooded roads.

Watch: Storm system moves across New York City

Friday 29 September 2023 15:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Big-time flash flooding event underway in NYC with 1-2per hour rainfall rates! Storm totals could exceed a half a foot. The widespread pavement and concrete creates a nearly impermeable surface. Be careful out there! pic.twitter.com/fyNCSV7KSn  Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) September 29, 2023

Flooding strands commuters as disruption hits subway and streets flood

Friday 29 September 2023 15:16 , Oliver O'Connell

Major flooding in Brooklyn today. Trains shut down and the only way out of the station is through this. pic.twitter.com/yQPLOyc6dX  Seth Chinnis (@sethchinnis) September 29, 2023

New Yorkers seen clearing blocked drains

Friday 29 September 2023 15:14 , Oliver O'Connell

I see many brooklynites stepping up and helping to clean out catch basins! https://t.co/UyeSFs7wqi  Mike_W  (@WeinbergerMike1) September 29, 2023

Residents warned to prepare to move if needed

Friday 29 September 2023 15:12 , Oliver O'Connell

New York Emergency Management tweeted: Heavy rain in NYC causing flooding of streets & low-lying areas, including basements. Prepare to move to higher ground if needed as flooding may occur with little to no notice and can be life-threatening. If you must travel, exercise caution and avoid flooded roadways.

Further, the agency reiterated: Flash Flood Warning for MN,QN,BK: Until 12:30PM. Heavy rain of 2-5in. have fallen, 1-3in. additional expected, & rates up to 2.5in/hour will cause flooding of roadways. Significant flash flooding is likely. Avoid travel. Move to higher ground.

Flash Flood Warning for MN,QN,BK: Until 12:30PM. Heavy rain of 2-5in. have fallen, 1-3in. additional expected, & rates up to 2.5in/hour will cause flooding of roadways. Significant flash flooding is likely. Avoid travel. Move to higher ground. pic.twitter.com/td5H877TPB  NYCEM - Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) September 29, 2023

Manhattans borough president warns New Yorkers to avoid travel

Friday 29 September 2023 15:01 , Oliver O'Connell

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has warned New Yorkers to avoid travel if they can as service disruptions hit every line of the New York Subway.

There are currently service disruptions on *every single line* in the NYC subway system amidst extreme rain and flash flooding across the city.



Avoid travel is you can. pic.twitter.com/IeACVXea2k  Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) September 29, 2023

Mr Levine tweeted: NYC is in the midst of an extreme rain event. 2-5 inches has already fallen. Rates of up to 2.5 in/hr expected. Flood warning in effect til 12:30pm.

He adds: FDR at Delancey full closure both directions due to flooding. Numerous subway delays. Use extreme caution if you must travel.

NYC is in the midst of an extreme rain event.



2-5 inches has already fallen.



Rates of up to 2.5 in/hr expected. Flood warning in effect til 12:30pm.



FDR at Delancey full closure both directions due to flooding. Numerous subway delays.



Use extreme caution if you must travel.  Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) September 29, 2023

Water more than halfway up car wheels

Friday 29 September 2023 15:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The scene on Flushing Avenue in Brooklyn at 8.45am ET

Dramatic video shows southern Brooklyn streets inundated

Friday 29 September 2023 14:54 , Oliver O'Connell

Southern Brooklyn is flooded, please head warnings. Many local roads not passable! @NWSNewYorkNY pic.twitter.com/va4FXnpoyP  Mike_W  (@WeinbergerMike1) September 29, 2023

Brooklyn hardest hit by flooding, so far

Friday 29 September 2023 14:51 , Oliver O'Connell

Per CBS News:

Emergency responders are on the scene of a partial roof collapse at a warehouse in Lexington Avenue between Classon and Franklin Avenues in Brooklyn. It happened around 8:30 a.m.

Fortunately all workers at the warehouse were accounted for, according to the FDNY.

In Windsor Terrace, the FDNY said firefighters rescued a person in danger of drowning in a basement of an apartment building at Sherman Street near Greenwood Avenue.

Major disruption to subway service

Friday 29 September 2023 14:48 , Oliver O'Connell

There are major disruptions to subway service because of the rain, with the borough of Brooklyn hardest hit.

There are major disruptions to subway service, especially in Brooklyn, because of flooding caused by heavy rainfall.



Check https://t.co/vhZQ2kZ2vb for the latest information on how your train is traveling. pic.twitter.com/q1MtBMEJoo  NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) September 29, 2023

Watch: Carroll Street in Brooklyn under inches of water

Friday 29 September 2023 14:46 , Oliver O'Connell

Emergency in nyc pic.twitter.com/oNl1idC937  EveryThing Plus ULTRA (@EveryTPlusULTRA) September 29, 2023

Flash flooding strikes New York during morning rush hour

Friday 29 September 2023 14:43 , Oliver O'Connell

Good morning.

Torrential rainfall has heightened the threat of flash flooding in New York City and other parts of the northeast on Friday.

A severe storm has lodged over the city, and parts of upstate New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, leading to widespread flood watches and warnings.

The New York area could see more than three inches of rain in 24 hours with some parts of the city already recording one to two inches since midnight.
New Yorkers on Saturday were reeling from one of the city's wettest days in decades, which flooded flooded subway stations, stranded dozens of buses and snarled travel in the city.

The worst was over by afternoon Saturday after some continued rainfall in the morning, and drier, sunny days were ahead, said Dan Pydynowski, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.

Parts of the city saw a record-breaking amount of rain on Friday. John F. Kennedy Airport received 8.65 inches by nightfall, a record for any September day. Some places in Brooklyn saw more than 7 inches of rain.

Photos and videos posted to social media showed cars struggling to drive through flooded out streets, water pouring into subway stations, a flooded terminal at LaGuardia Airport and basements of homes with rising water levels.

No lives have been lost because New Yorkers heeded warnings, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news conference Saturday.

Check back for the latest developments:

Still some flooding risk on Saturday, but dry days ahead

More rain was forecast for earlier in the day Saturday, but it was expected to be clear by night with sunny skies Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Pydynowski told USA TODAY there isn't any more rain in the forecast until Friday, at the earliest.

The National Weather Service said a coastal flood statement was in effect through noon in Manhattan as up to 1 foot of water above ground level could be seen in "vulnerable areas" near the waterfront, causing potential brief minor flooding. Coastal flood advisories continued through Sunday for New York's Hudson and eastern Essex counties and eastern Union County in New Jersey.

"The bulk of the rain has come to an end," Pydynowski said. "The general theme for the rest of the weekend is for the threat of any kind of coastal flooding to gradually diminish."

Residents are cleaning up flooded neighborhoods

Felipe Jorge is ready to move. His house was flooded on Friday after Westchester County was slammed with torrential rain.

"I got about 5 1/2, 6 feet of water in here. My whole basement, it's all gone," he told the Rockland/Westchester Journal News, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Friday's major rain event was the latest in a string of historic floods throughout the Hudson Valley this year. Westchester County received between 3 and 6 inches of rain.

But Jorge said this is a common occurrence for his neighborhood. "Last time I lost three cars and everything. It's always the same thing," he said.

Kristen Calle lives in Blauvelt and teaches in Westchester. She said her car got stuck on the Saw Mill River Parkway coming back from her lunch break. Five people helped Calle push it to the side of the road, but she said it took two hours for a tow truck to get her car to Yonkers. She said her car was fully damaged, and she is now using a rental.

-Alexandra Rivera, Rockland/Westchester Journal News

Village of Bronxville employees hose off mud on Paxton Avenue in Bronxville Sept. 30, 2023, after heavy rains the day before.

Sewers can't handle torrential rainfall

Friday's rainfall once again highlighted city infrastructure not equipped to handle increasingly common extreme weather events. Officials said the city's sewer system isn't built to withstand the amount of rainfall seen on Friday.

"The system was designed long ago for a rainfall at the rate of 1.75 inches per hour and we're consistently getting more than that," MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said.

Hochul said some parts of the city saw up to 3 inches in an hour on Friday.

What's the role of climate change in the flooding? University of Pennsylvania meteorologist Michael Mann told USA TODAY Friday that "a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and we see a sharp increase in the occurrence of very extreme rainfall events now in cities like New York City."

Mann also reported that Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner of environmental protection and chief climate officer for New York City, commented Thursday on the increase in extreme rainfall events with warming that the city is experiencing.

"Its not complicated. Warmer air holds more moisture," WFLA-TV chief meteorologist Jeff Berardelli said on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, on Friday afternoon.

Subway back in service Saturday

The subway was back to full service Saturday, Hochul announced.

Virtually every subway line was at least partly suspended, rerouted or running with delays Friday. Some commuter trains were also suspended for most of the day. Over 40 of the city's thousands of buses became stranded during the day, officials said.

"Grateful to the incredible transit workers who worked quickly through the storm to get riders moving again," Hochul said.

See photos of NYC flooding

Flooding snarled transit, stranded drivers and flooded homes

Torrential rains and flooding overwhelmed roads and transit in the New York City metropolitan on Friday, triggering officials to declare states of emergency in the city, state and neighboring New Jersey.

City officials said six basement apartments were reported to be flooded, but the occupants were able to escape.

Many drivers were stranded in the rising waters, and video showed cars stuck with tire-high floodwaters. Hochul said the Swift Water and Flood Training team made 28 rescues in raging waters in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island Friday.

Even a sea lion took advantage of the flooded Central Park Zoo to briefly escape her pool enclosure.

Contributing: Doyle Rice and Dinah Voyles Pulver; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NYC flooding updates: Rain forecast, travel news, Hochul news
NEW YORK  New Yorkers were still drying out Saturday from the record-setting deluge of a day earlier, with Gov. Kathy Hochul describing the pounding storm as New Yorks worst in decades.

There are some New Yorkers who have never seen the likes of what we experienced (Friday) in their entire lives, the governor said as rain continued to fall in some areas. This event was historic  In some areas it was record-shattering and it is the most rain ever recorded in a single day at JFK airport in Queens.

Its Mother Nature at her most powerful, she added one day after the FDNY executed three rescues from flooded basements and 15 car rescues of stranded drivers. And a state of emergency remained in effect Saturday in the storms aftermath, with some New Yorkers complaining about a lack of updates from officials during the deluge.

I think there was a lot of under-communication, said Jessica Langrock, 26, of Chinatown. There were phone alerts sent  The alerts were morning of, after the storm already happened. So at that point, your basements sort of already flooded.

Long Islander Faith Maldonado, a restaurant worker, couldnt make it to work Friday because of the bad weather. She agreed about a lack of weather warnings. Her usual 20-minute ride was quickly shut down by flooding and three cars trapped in the floodwaters, their emergency lights blinking.

I was inconvenienced by not being able to get to work, she said. But it was nowhere near my house being flooded.

Mayor Eric Adams, who came under criticism Friday for his handling of the storm response, offered his praise a day later for the citys efforts after touring Canarsie, Flatbush, Sheepshead Bay and other Brooklyn neighborhoods Saturday.

(We) just really need to commend the city, he said. Its unprecedented when you get this level of rainfall and now were moving to the second phase to make sure we clean up those areas that were heavily hit.

The powerful storms aftermath remained visible around the city, with one disabled vehicle still sitting in the middle of a South Williamsburg street one day after the deluge, with a light rain still falling.

When I came out here, this whole walkway was flooded, said local resident Stacy Youmans, 42. You can still see all the garbage. The whole courtyard was flooded. I had to walk down and around. It was a lot of people trying to get to the train station.

Once she reached the G line stop, Youmans found the stop was flooded and boarded a bus to a J line station.

Hochul reported 28 New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley and Long Island were rescued Friday from the raging waters, adding severe weather like the storm was becoming a more regular threat because of climate change.

This was the kind of rain that was once unimaginable, she said. Called it a once-in-a-century storm. But this is the third time since I was sworn in two years ago Ive had a once-in-a-century storm.

The National Weather Service reported more than eight inches of rain at the airport, along with more than six inches in the Bronx and Manhattan and seven-plus inches in Brooklyn one day after the downpour wreaked havoc across the boroughs.

The Saturday forecast included stifling humidity with a chance of additional showers, giving way to a sunny Sunday with temperatures in the mid-70s.
Levaugh Harvins two children looked on as he and a woman were executed by a gunman on a Washington Heights street while they were out walking their dogs, the womans nephew told the Daily News on Saturday.

Harvin, 42, often walked his dogs with Jacqueline Billini, 57, the womans nephew Luis Billini said. Harvin and Billini both lived in the neighborhood, steps from the Morris-Jumel Mansion, Manhattans oldest house.

Harvin was very generous man, Luis Bellini said. He would always help walk her dog.

As the four and the dogs walked past past Highbridge Park along Edgecombe Ave. near W. 165th St. on Friday at around 6:30 p.m., a man clad in black stormed up and shot both Harvin and Billini in the head, said police.

(Harvins) kids were walking in front and they heard the shots and saw them dropping, Luis said.

Billinis dog, Zeus, was also shot dead before the gunman fled on foot, cops said. Harvins dog wasnt harmed.

That was a family dog. It doesnt bite anybody, Luis, 44, said about Zeus. The dogs arent vicious. The only time (they) bark was when someone got next to the door.

No arrests were reported in the case as of Saturday evening.

Police said the gunman was targeting one of the victims, but they declined to say which.

It couldve been any of us, because we would always try to walk with her when she walked the dogs, Luis said.

Billini had been a victim of violence before.

In a harrowing incident April 11, a neighbor armed with a hammer kicked in the door of Billinis apartment and attacked her and her family, Billinis surviving relatives say.

The neighbor was upset over the constant barking coming from Billinis W. 163rd St. apartment, Billinis relatives say. Besides Zeus, Billini had two other dogs  Blue, who is Zeus mom, and Zina.

The attack was caught on video. According to court documents, when the neighbor kicked in Billinis door, it slammed into her so hard it broke her right arm.

Billinis relatives rushed over to hold the door shut, but the neighbor continued to kick the door in, swiping at them with a hammer when the door opened wide enough, the video shows.

There was four people at the door and he was still able to muscle through, Luis Billini said. Hes a big guy, like 290 pounds. You can tell by the video hes a strong man.

Two of Billinis relatives were struck with the hammer, but werent seriously injured, prosecutors said.

The 31-year-old neighbor was released without bail after arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.

The neighbor was later indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on charges of burglary and assault with a weapon with intent to injure, among other charges. A judge authorized orders of protection for Billini and her family, forcing him to move out of the building, Luis said.

The dogs didnt even attack (the neighbor), Luis added. Theyre friendly so like why would he get crazy about them?

NYPD detectives told Luis Billini Friday night that they couldnt immediately connect the killing to the neighbor, who is not being named by the Daily News.

Months after the attack in her apartment, Jacqueline Billini still felt menaced, said people who knew her.

During one recent nightly walk with Zeus, someone drove up to Billini and told her Youre going to die, Luis said.

A friend of Jacqueline Bellini said Harvin had been accompanying her on her walks for the past two or three weeks as an informal bodyguard.

Harvin was like family to her, said the friend, Janet Santana.

She was a nice neighbor  she was the best neighbor. She had no problems with anyone.

Billini worked as an analyst for the state court system in the Bronx and was close to retirement, her nephew said.

She worked 25 to 30 years with the government and then this happens, he said.

Its impossible for someone who served our country for 25 years to be done like this. A woman who was about to retire shouldnt have to live that way, just constantly watching over her shoulder. Its ridiculous.

Besides her two adult daughters, Billini cared for her frail 88-year-old mother, who still didnt know about the murder Saturday.

Billinis two sisters recently died, one from natural causes and another from a fall, Luis said. Another tragedy could be more than the elderly woman could bear.

Her mother has had too many losses. We dont know how to tell the mother right now, Luis said.

We have to make sure theres doctors around when we break the news to her, he said. She speaks to her daughter every day, so shes going to find out.

Jackie is everything to the family, he said. (Were) in shambles.
Members of the Herrera family hold hands as they wait to enter the Conference Center for the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

The 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City is now complete.

President Russell M. Nelson was not in attendance at the Conference Center but gave a recorded message. He announced Thursday that he will participate remotely due to an injury he sustained from a fall two days after his 99th birthday.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland watched the conference from home due to health issues.

Related

Below are photo galleries from Deseret News photojournalists as well as talk summaries from the Church News for each session.

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President, Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor, and Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor, sit prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Sister Jacintaya Cuellar greets an attendee during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Atendees listen to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, sit prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. President Russell M. Nelson was unable to attend. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Susan H. Porter, Primary General President, Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor, and Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor, chat prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

General authorities wives sit during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Matthew Ellen, 12, sings during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Evelyn Wagner, Ann Peterson and Jeff Rogers sing during during the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Greg McConnell, Bella Waugh, Patricia Waugh and Rondie Waugh sing during the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings during the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, right, talks with fellow apostles prior to the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Emily Belle Freeman, Young Women General President, and Sister Tamara W. Runia, First Counselor, are seated prior to the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the conference center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The Salt Lake Temple construction continues during the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder Gary E. Stevenson, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, walks into the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees walk to the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees walk into the Conference Center during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers file in before the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Melissa Alcivar puts a bow in her daughter Samantha Alcivars hair before the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Conferencegoers file in before the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Davis Ebohon poses for a photo with his son Ikponmwosa Ebohon before the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Sister Skidmore, a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hugs Avery Mclaws before the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

International singers sing with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square during the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, walk into the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. President Russell M. Nelson was unable to attend. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Saturday morning

Attendees sustain leaders during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees sustain leaders during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

A multicultural choir from stakes in Northern Utah sing during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees walk past art work during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Leaders are sustained during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees sing during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees pick up translation equipment during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees sing during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees sustain leaders during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Gary E. Stevenson enter the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder Ulisses Soares, Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Dale G. Renlund wait for the beginning of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Gary E. Stevenson talk prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf pose for a photo with Donny Osmond prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees sing during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder Gary E. Stevenson, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, speaks during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees listen to the prayer during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers exit after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Conferencegoers exit after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Savannah Lancaster does a cross-stitch of the Atonement as she sits outside and listens during the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Conferencegoers talk as they exit after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

People sit outside the Conference Center during the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

People stand and look out at the Salt Lake Temple after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

People stand and look out at the Salt Lake Temple after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Alex Von Forell listens to the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Aaron Robles and his sister Valeria Robles do a photo after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Enrique Martinez watches conference on his phone while sitting outside with his daughter Rebecca Martinez during the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Two young girls play under a table during the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Conferencegoers exit after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Audience members listen inside during the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Conferencegoers walk past a painting during the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Scott and Amity Frewing sit outside and listen during Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

People stand and look out at the Salt Lake Temple after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Conferencegoers stand on the plaza and talk after the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Saturday afternoon

Sister Tamara W. Runia, first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, speaks during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

The choir consisting of single adults from the Utah County area sings during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

The choir consisting of single adults from the Utah County area sings during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Crowd members listen during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Crowd members listen during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Elder Gary B. Sabin, General Authority Seventy, speaks during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Elder Ulisses Soares, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, speaks during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, walk onto the podium at the beginning of the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Elder Joni L. Koch, General Authority Seventy, speaks during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

The choir consisting of single adults from the Utah County area sings during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Elder Gary B. Sabin, General Authority Seventy, speaks during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Crowd members listen during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Sister Tamara W. Runia, first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, speaks during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Elder Ulisses Soares, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, speaks during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Elder Joni L. Koch, General Authority Seventy, speaks during the Saturday evening session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Saturday evening

The storm clouds clear as conferencegoers walk to the Conference Center for the Sunday morning session of 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Leaders greet each other prior to Sunday morning session of the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Leaders greet each other prior to the Sunday morning session of 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, sit prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. President Russell M. Nelson was unable to attend. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, walks to the podium during the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, and President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, stand prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. President Nelson was unable to attend. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings during the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

General leaders of the church greet each other prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers walk to the Conference Center before the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees walk into Conference Center prior to the193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

People hoping to get tickets stand outside the Conference Center before the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints nter in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Members of the Herrera family hold hands as they wait to enter the Conference Center for the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Lainee Mitton, 10, plays with a leaf in the fountain before the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Conferencegoers file in before the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Ricko Putra and his daughter Kikanaya put a katydid he rescued from the ground on a tree before the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Tim Fowers plays hymns on the bagpipe next to groups of people hoping to get tickets before the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. Fowers began playing the bagpipes outside of conference during the COVID-19 pandemic and thinks its a nice service to be able to provide for conferencegoers as they file in and out of sessions. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary General Presidency, greets Elder Isaac K. Morrison of the Seventy prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers wait in line for the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, talk prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder Neil L. Andersen, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Gifford Nielsen, A General Authority Seventy, talk prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the conference center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sings during the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers walk the plaza prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers walk the plaza prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Guest service missionary Dil Strasser takes a photo for someone before the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Former Young Women General President Bonnie Cordon talks with Henrique Reis prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers walk the plaza prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

People ask for tickets prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Leaders greet each other prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

General authorities sit during the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, waves to attendees prior to the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Sunday morning

President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks through video message during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks through video message during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks through video message during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks through video message during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees sing during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees sing during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Stephanie Muro sings during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President M. Russell Ballard and Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf talk prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Elder Ulisses Soares, Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Dale G. Renlund talk prior to the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Right to left, Blessing Wachukwu dances next to her mother Godgift Opah in between the Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon sessions of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Munashe Tanjani, Pearl Maduna and Brenda Tanjani attend the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees walk near the Conference Center during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Attendees stand in line for the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers file out after the Sunday morning session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Left to right, Theodore Setu, Sol Setu and Raphy Diaz play with toy cars in between the Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon sessions of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

An attendee walks past a historical photo during the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Conferencegoers stand outside on the balconies after the final session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Claire Little takes a selfie with her friends after the final session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Conferencegoers file out after the final session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Conferencegoers file out after the final session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

Sunday afternoon

You can find the April 2023 general conference talk summaries and photo galleries here.

Related
By Alexander Tanas

CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldova launched a nationwide discussion on securing European Union membership, with senior officials and academics urging their compatriots to seize every opportunity to join the bloc or run the risk of being left behind or sinking into chaos.

Ex-Soviet Moldova, led by pro-European President Maia Sandu and one of the continent's poorest countries, won formal recognition from the EU in June as a candidate for the arduous process of joining the 27-nation bloc.

Buffeted by Moscow's 19-month-old invasion of adjacent Ukraine, which has been regularly denounced by Sandu, Moldova is further beset by the presence on its eastern border of the pro-Russian separatist enclave of Transdniestria.

Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu launched the discussion on EU membership on Friday, saying that public participation "has a critical meaning in building a more prosperous future within the framework of the community of Europe".

Academics quickly lent their support.

"If Moldova loses this European vector, it will turn into a chaotic country," Vlad Culminschi, director of the Institute of Strategic Initiatives, told the news site point.md on Saturday.

Culminschi, a former deputy prime minister, said there was no time to lose as Sandu's allies control parliament for now.

"Striving for European integration is not the work of one person. It transcends personal ambitions," he said.

The Moscow-sympathetic opposition, thrown out of power by Sandu's landslide 2020 election victory, is sceptical about EU membership.

Moldovans, their country wedged between Ukraine and EU member Romania, have proved enthusiastic. Tens of thousands attended an open-air rally in May to applaud Sandu's drive, which will involve long negotiations on bringing legislation in line with EU standards and overhauling the justice system.

Sandu and other officials have suggested that Moldova should forge ahead with its EU membership bid and ignore separatist Transdniestria, much like Cyprus was allowed to join despite the Turkish occupation of its northern regions since the 1970s.

Transdniestria broke away from Moldova as the Soviet Union was collapsing, and its separatist forces fought a brief war with the newly independent country's army in 1992.

A 1,500-strong contingent of Russian peacemakers remains in the region, but for 30 years there has been virtually no violence, and business and other links thrive across the border.

"This would not mean abandoning Transdniestria. It could occur in several steps," Sandu said in televised comments this week. "We cannot remain in this situation for another 30 years, with no consolidated democracy and no high standard of living."

(Editing by Ron Popeski and Leslie Adler)
LA MESA, Calif.  The city of La Mesa kicked off its 50th Oktoberfest celebration on Friday.

The free event runs through the weekend and features live music, traditional food and drink, games, and other family-fun activities on La Mesa Blvd and Spring Street.

Over 40 food vendors will be on site offering a variety of food including traditional German food, giant pretzels, bratwurst and schnitzel.

Competitors can participate in games like Keg Stands, NXPT Workout Challenges, Air Bike Sprint, Sandbag Toss, Farmers Carry and Tank Push for Oktoberfest medal and bragging rights.

2 SD-area cities among least affordable rental markets for average income: study

Shoppers can browse at the Artisanal Market where there are more than 100 vendors selling unique and hand-made items.

Pup lovers can make their way to Dackeldorf Dachshund Village, which has activities from Weiner dog races to a fashion show.

On Saturday, Oktoberfest will start at 10 a.m. -10 p.m., while Sundays hours are noon- 8 p.m.

For those who would like a Biergarten Pass, which gives you access to all three gartens, is only $5 (kids are free). VIP packages range from $10 to $45.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
SAN DIEGO  One person was killed in a house fire Friday in the Mira Mesa neighborhood, authorities said.

The blaze occurred around 6:30 p.m. in the 11000 block of Eridanus Court, Mark Reece, a battalion chief with San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD), told FOX 5.

Firefighters battled a heavy fire in the second floor bedroom of a two-story home, per SDFD. When they extinguished the fire, first responders found a deceased person.

Smugglers damage trucks waiting to cross US border

Thanh Nguyen lives in the home, but he was at work when the fire happened. He says his wife called him to rush home when the fire happened.

Nguyen said four other tenants live in the home, as well as his wife and five-year-old daughter. He confirmed one of the tenants, who Nguyen said had just got back from the hospital Friday, died in the fire.

Another tenant said the tenant who died had a walker and couldnt walk too well.

The fire is currently under investigation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
As the military services compete for an ever-shrinking pool of eligible recruits, some are faring better than others.

The Army and Marine Corps are set to fall on opposite sides of what has become a recruiting crisis as enlistment estimates roll in this week and the fiscal year comes to a close on Oct. 1.

The Army is expected to end up roughly 10,000 recruits short of its goal to bring in 65,000 new active-duty soldiers, according to a service official with direct knowledge of the situation. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps has met its recruitment goals for fiscal year 2023, Gen. Eric Smith, the service's newly confirmed commandant, announced Thursday.

Read Next: After Recruit Death, Navy SEAL Community Will Impose Forcewide Urinalysis to Root Out Performance Enhancing Drugs

"It's a difficult environment right now," Maj. Gen. Johnny Davis, commander of the Army Recruiting Command, told Military.com in August. "I feel good about going into 2024; we're seeing some positive momentum. Everyone is also competing for these young men and women. We want the very best to serve; we're competing for them."

The services are facing one of the toughest recruiting times in many years, caused partly by high employment rates and a shrinking pool of eligible Americans. Roughly 23% of 17- to 24-year-olds are eligible to serve, and that issue has gotten more dire due to rising obesity and falling academic scores.

The Army is not alone in its floundering. Military.com reported earlier this month that the Air Force will fall about 10% short of its intended goal; the last time the air service fell short of its enlistment target was 1999. The Navy also expects to fall short by 6,000 sailors.

While the Army did not meet its active-duty recruiting goals this year, it fared better than last year when it missed a recruiting goal of 60,000 new soldiers by 15,000.

Some of that can be attributed to the service's new Future Soldier Preparatory Course, which takes applicants who do not meet academic or body fat standards for the Army. About 10,000 soldiers who otherwise would be not eligible to serve have completed the course and moved on to boot camp since August 2022.

Davis said recruiters have been back in public schools after the pandemic shut them out, providing valuable access to young Americans as other recruiting areas, mostly shopping malls, have become less relevant.

The Army also offered historically high enlistment bonuses of up to $50,000 for jobs that are becoming especially difficult to fill, such as Special Forces, tankers and medics, according to service data reviewed by Military.com.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth recently signaled the service will be making some changes and upgrades to its recruiting apparatus.

"We do need to make more profound changes," Wormuth said during a panel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C., last week. She stopped short of providing specifics and said announcements will come soon.

Meanwhile, as the Army and other branches struggle with recruiting, the Marine Corps successfully hit its enlisted, officer, active and reserve accessions this year, though not without significant effort.

"I'm mindful of how challenging an environment this is and want to publicly give credit to our professional recruiters and all our Marines who uphold our rigorous standards 24/7. They are setting the example," Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps, said Thursday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In January, the Marine Corps announced thousands in cash bonuses to encourage recruiters to extend three-year duty assignments by up to 12 months amid the recruiting uncertainty.

Last year, the service only made its recruitment goal by eight Marines. It also tapped into its delayed entry program, a system that allows the Corps to stack its shipment of recruits in an efficient way and better forecast shortfalls.

According to the Associated Press, it did not have to dip into the delayed entry program this year.

The service is holding off on announcing the number of recruits, according to one senior Marine Corps official. Some recruits who ship out may not make it through boot camp, affecting the final count.

The last recruits to ship out for the year did so earlier this week, the official said, so the service expects to have final numbers by Oct. 15.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on X @StevenBeynon.

-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on X @df_lawrence.

Related: Once a Pilot, Army Program for Recruits Who Fall Short of Weight, Academic Standards Is Becoming Permanent
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hit back at former President Donald Trump at the California GOP convention, chiding him for having turned Georgia and Arizona blue.

I understand that one of my residents was here earlier saying that he turned Florida red, Desantis said during his speech late Friday. I just wish if he was the one that turned Florida red, that he wouldn't have turned Georgia and Arizona blue.

Trump, who delivered a combative address including a lengthy broadside at DeSantis at the convention earlier Friday, said of his rival for the GOP presidential nomination: Im the one that turned Florida red, not him.

DeSantis has served as Florida governor since 2019 and was reelected in 2022. Georgia and Arizona  typically purple states  both elected Democratic senators during Trumps tenure and went blue for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The former president maintains a longtime seasonal residence at a Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago.

DeSantis and Trump have sparred over Florida recently, with Trump frequently asserting on the campaign trail that DeSantis would not have won his first gubernatorial election without his endorsement.

Trump notched a recent win after the Florida GOP decided to scrap its requirement for primary ballot candidates to pledge loyalty to the eventual GOP nominee.

In July, Trump said he was dominating DeSantis in Florida and told him to get home, attacking him for high property and auto insurance rates in the state, which are a result of insurers pulling back due to the high hurricane risk.

DeSantis was initially viewed as one of Trumps more formidable rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. However, recent polls show Trump still vastly outperforming DeSantis and his other opponents.
TOMAH, Wisc,  Several survivors who attended the Tomah Indian Industrial School in Tomah, Wisconsin and others gathered on Friday, September 29, 2023, to commemorate an annual observance called "Orange Shirt Day." The commemoration holds significant meaning to tribal citizens who attended boarding schools decades ago.

The Tomah Indian Industrial School was one of 11 Indian boarding schools that operated in the state of Wisconsin. The schools averaged about 350 Native American students The Tomah school operated from 1893 to 1941 and was one of the largest in Wisconsin. Most of the students were from the Ho-Chunk Nation with ages ranging from 6 to 21 years old.

Indian boarding schools were established throughout the United States and Canada. In Canada they were called Indian residential schools. The purpose of the boarding schools was to assimilate Indian students into mainstream society. In a military-style, they were made to wear uniforms, they were given haircuts, and forbidden to speak their Native languages.

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Orange Shirt Day honors Indian boarding school survivors and Indigenous children who died at the schools. The event began in Canada in 2013, its name derived from a shiny orange shirt a member of the Stswecemc Xgattem First Nation, Phyllis Webstad, received from her grandmother before moving to a residential school in British Columbia. The school took the shirt away as soon as she started and she never saw it again.

An honor song was presented for those who attended Indian boarding schools. (Photo Kaili Berg for Native News Online)

On Friday, in Tomah, an honor song was performed for children who attended Indian boarding schools. To commemorate the history the Waaksik Wosga Revitalization and the Hoocak Remembrance Day Planning Committee arranged for guest speakers.

Even though I went to a residential boarding school, I will always know that I am Ho-Chunk, Ho-Chunk elder and Indian boarding school survivor JoAnn Jones said at the event. We all have memories of our childhood, we all have memories of the strength of our family members. Their ways help us with our Native identities.

Display of history of the Tomah Industrial Indian Boarding School. (Photo/Kaili Berg for Native News Online)

Historical records show that these boarding schools often forced Native American children to attend against their will. They often faced abuse and other harsh conditions that included physical, emotional, and sometimes sexual abuse.

Now the healing is returning to our original spiritual place." Jones said. We are just as viable and as fulfilling as any other group. Our spiritual beliefs and our ways of life are what heal us and what helps keep us going.







About the Author: "Kaili Berg (Aleut) is a member of the Alutiiq\/Sugpiaq Nation, and a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. She is a staff reporter for Native News Online and Tribal Business News. Berg, who is based in Wisconsin, previously reported for the Ho-Chunk Nation newspaper, Hocak Worak. She went to school originally for nursing, but changed her major after finding her passion in communications at Western Technical College in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. "

Contact: kberg@indiancountrymedia.com
In the 19th century, miners found a hunter-gatherer burial site in a bat cave near Granada, Spain.

The items included baskets, a mallet, and sets of sandals.

Researchers now confirm that the items could be 9,500 to 6,200 years old.

It appears dads could have been making fashion faux pas even since the Stone Age.

Researchers recently confirmed a set of sandals that were discovered in a bat cave near Granada, Spain, in the 19th century could be up to 6,200 years old, according to a study published in Science Advances on Wednesday.

And they may be some of the earliest iterations of the shoes utilitarian and barbecuing dads and fashionistas have come to love.

The dating reveals evidence of basketry  the ancient craft of basket making  in hunter-gatherer communities in southern Europe during the Mesolithic period and the early Neolithic period when societies began to transition to agricultural ways of life.

A team of researchers from the University of Alcala and the Autonomous University of Barcelona analyzed 76 objects, including baskets, mallets, and sandals, that were discovered by miners two centuries ago while in the bat cave, Cueva de los Murcielagos, a press release from the Barcelona school stated.

Scientists previously found that bones discovered in the same cave may have been modified to be used as tools and drinking cups.

Using carbon-14 dating, which allows scientists to determine the age of an organic material, the Alcala and Barcelona researchers determined that the 76 objects were between 6,200 and 9,500 years old.

Although there has been evidence of basketry dating back tens of thousands of years, basket weaving is often not tied with the hunter-gatherer societies of the Mesolithic era and is more associated with a sedentary lifestyle offered through an agrarian culture that dominated the Neolithic period.

"The quality and technological complexity of the basketry makes us question the simplistic assumptions we have about human communities prior to the arrival of agriculture in southern Europe," Francisco Martinez Sevilla, a researcher from the University of Alcala said in the press release.

Not exactly Nike Air

The sandals, a pair of which had been on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, were made from crushed esparto grass which could have allowed the footwear to be flexible, according to the study.

One set of sandals is believed to have "a small group of fibers" that may have been meant to go between the first and second toes, the study said  much like the strap found on flip-flops.

Researchers also identified a "braid fixed to the middle of the sandal" that could have gone around the ankle.

"This sandal set therefore represents the earliest and widest-ranging assemblage of prehistoric footwear, both in the Iberian Peninsula and in Europe, unparalleled at other latitudes," the study said.

Some of the sandals showed signs of being worn, while others appeared unused, suggesting that some individuals had clothes prepared for them when they were buried, according to the study.

"The esparto grass objects from Cueva de los Murcielagos are the oldest and best-preserved set of plant fiber materials in southern Europe so far known," Maria Herrero Otal, a researcher and co-author of the study said in the press release. "The technological diversity and the treatment of the raw material documented demonstrates the ability of prehistoric communities to master this type of craftsmanship, at least since 9,500 years ago, in the Mesolithic period."

As to whether the sandals were rocked with socks  that fashion offense wouldn't appear until several millennia later.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A parent whose daughter was one of several high school marching band students injured in a fatal bus crash in upstate New York last week has filed a lawsuit against the bus company and the driver, court records show.

Lawrence Doreson, the father of a 14-year-old Farmingdale High School student, filed a lawsuit Thursday against Regency Transportation Ltd., the company that owns the bus involved in the deadly crash, and Lisa Schaffer, the bus driver, the complaint states.

The lawsuit accuses both the bus company and Schaffer of negligence, saying both parties reckless and careless acts led to the fatal crash and many students being injured.

Two teachers were killed and several students were injured on September 21 when the bus carrying about 40 students from Long Island careened off Interstate 84, crashing through a guard rail and flipping into a ravine in Wawayanda, New York, CNN previously reported. The students, who were part of the schools marching band, were on their way to Pennsylvania for a band camp event.

The suit claims, among other things, that Schaffer failed to control the bus, driving at speeds that would cause the bus to veer off the road.

The lawsuit also alleges Regency Transportation neglected to properly maintain, repair and inspect their vehicles, allowing the bus to drive in an unsafe, defective and/or hazardous condition.

New York State Department of Transportation records show Regency Transportation had failed five out of 15 safety inspections during the states 2023 fiscal year, according to department spokesperson Joseph Morrissey.

Doresons daughter sustained severe and serious personal injuries to her mind and body, with permanent disability, disfigurement and loss of body function, the lawsuit states.

While the student was discharged from the hospital a couple of days ago, she sustained multiple broken bones and scarring to her face, the familys attorney, Andrew Finkelstein, told CNN.

This lawsuit is the first step in holding the bus company and their driver accountable for a crash that never shouldve happened and resulted in significant and serious injuries not just to my client, but to every passenger on that bus, Finkelstein said to CNN Friday.

While no damages were listed in the lawsuit, Finkelstein said the family hopes to seek full recovery for all medical expenses the family has incurred, which includes extensive surgery for their daughters facial injuries and monitoring for possible brain damage.

This is the first known lawsuit filed against the bus company and its driver since the crash, according to Finkelstein, who said he is in contact with several other families of students involved in the crash.

Regency Transportation Ltd. and Schaffer did not immediately respond to CNNs requests for comment.

CNNs Rob Frehse, Artemis Moshtaghian, Christina Maxouris and Emma Tucker contributed to this report.

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Five people are dead and five more seriously injured after a tanker truck overturned in a multivehicle accident in central Illinois on Friday evening, spewing hazardous chemicals and prompting evacuations, authorities said. Multiple crews continued to try to contain the chemical leak on Saturday.

Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said the five dead included three members of a family  an adult and two children under 12. Rhodes didn't say where the family was from. The other two killed were adult motorists from out of state, Rhodes said. In addition, five people were airlifted to area hospitals; their conditions were unknown.

Emergency responders were on the scene Saturday morning, and road closures blocked residents from reaching their homes. Representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were also at the site of the spill Saturday. The semi-truck was carrying about 7,500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia and more than half of the toxic chemical compound had leaked out by Saturday, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency said in a press release. The leak has been partially patched, the agency said.

Federal regulators are investigating the cause of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday.

Emergency responders work the scene of semitruck crash in Teutopolis, Ill., on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. Federal regulators confirmed Saturday they are reviewing the crash of a semitruck carrying a toxic substance in central Illinois, resulting in multiple fatalities and dangerous air conditions that prompted the evacuation of area residents.

Tim McMahon, chief of the Teutopolis Fire Protection District, said the tanker began leaking after it rolled over into a ditch.

The crash happened about a half mile east of Teutopolis in the central part of the state.

The crash caused a plume of anhydrous ammonia to escape, and residents within a 1-mile radius, including northeastern Teutopolis, were told to evacuate. The highway was also closed, police said.

"The public should avoid the area," Illinois State Police said in a press release.

About 500 people have been told to evacuate, and evacuation orders were expected to remain in place through Sunday morning if not longer, authorities said.

The crash happened on Highway 40 after another accident in the region caused traffic to be rerouted, police said.

"Crews are working to contain the leak while first responders and emergency workers continue to respond to the incident," police said in the release.

Teutopolis has a population of about 1,600.

What is anhydrous ammonia?

Anhydrous ammonia is a gas that's commonly used in the agriculture industry and sometimes in refrigeration.

It is stored as a liquid under pressure and becomes a toxic gas when released, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health.

The compound can be a health hazard if safe handling procedures are not followed. Effects of inhaling anhydrous ammonia range from lung irritation to severe respiratory injuries, with possible death if a person is exposed to higher concentrations. Anhydrous ammonia is also corrosive and can burn the skin and eyes.

"It's terrible, it's bad stuff if you are involved with it and breathe it, especially," Effingham County Sheriff Paul Kuhns, who oversees law enforcement for Teutopolis, said at a Saturday press conference.

If people come in contact with it, the CDC recommends immediately removing them from the source and calling a poison control center or seeking medical care.

In 2019, dozens of people were sickened in suburban Chicago after the valves were left open on tanks of anhydrous ammonia en route from a farm in Wisconsin to another farm in Illinois, creating a toxic gas cloud. Seven people were initially hospitalized in critical condition in that event. A tank leaking anhydrous ammonia pulled by a tractor released a plume over the northern Chicago suburb of Beach Park.

And in 2002, a train derailment released anhydrous ammonia in Minot, North Dakota, killing one man and injuring hundreds of others, causing burns and breathing problems.

Motorists in 'tight-knit community' told to turn around

Phillip Hartke, 75, who lives in Teutopolis but farms with his son outside of town, said he finished harvesting corn at about 9:30 p.m. on Friday. Driving home, as he neared the center of town, he could smell anhydrous ammonia. When he reached US 40, emergency vehicles swarmed the area.

Firefighters advised us right there: Evacuate to the west,' Hartke said.

Hartke estimated that 85% of Teutopolis was subject to the evacuation. He and his wife are staying with his son. Such familial ties should serve most evacuees well.

'T-Town' is a tight-knit community, Hartke said. Many people have sons and daughters, aunts and uncles within 5 or 6 miles of town.

The Teutopolis Civic Club had scheduled its third annual Oktoberfest on Saturday at the village banquet hall, serving $3 German bratwursts and $3 pork burgers, among other options.

But on Saturday, organizers wrote on Facebook that they canceled the event in the wake of the fatal accident. Instead, into the evening, they served bratwursts, hot dogs and burgers at a local business, located south of the evacuation area, for free to anyone hungry and to first responders.

Contributing: Associated Press; Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Teutopolis, Illinois, evacuations: 5 dead after crash, ammonia leak
Members of a military color guard carry the flag-draped casket of Sen. Dianne Feinstein into a hearse upon its arrival at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday. (D. Ross Cameron / Associated Press)

A U.S. military plane flew the body of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C., to San Francisco on Saturday, accompanied by the senators longtime friend and colleague Rep. Nancy Pelosi .

Pelosi boarded the flight for the journey home with the senator's daughter, Katherine Feinstein, and chief of staff James Sauls, said Adam Russell, a spokesperson for Feinstein's office.

The 90-year-old senator died at her home in Washington early Friday.

Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said Feinsteins indomitable, indefatigable leadership made a magnificent difference for our national security and personal safety, the health of our people and our planet, and the strength of our Democracy.

Personally, it was a great honor to serve alongside Dianne for decades  from the hilly streets of San Francisco to the hallowed halls of Congress, the former House speaker said in a written statement. We were not only colleagues, but neighbors and friends.

Plans for Feinstein's memorial and funeral have not yet been announced.

Feinstein became the first woman to represent California in the U.S. Senate when she was elected in 1992 and served the state longer than any other senator. She served for years on the Judiciary Committee, Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Appropriations Committee.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is soon expected to appoint someone to fill Feinstein's Senate seat.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Pennsylvania State Police in Butler are searching for a missing and endangered man.

Zhamare Wyche, 19, was last seen on Friday at 2:50 p.m., wearing a black hoodie and black gym shorts.

Police said Wyche may be carrying a black duffel bag with red on the side.

Troopers believe Wyche may be at special risk of harm or injury. He has multiple mental health conditions and is diabetic.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call 724-284-8100.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

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It is over and everything is lost. This is the refrain repeated by Armenian families as they take that final step across the border out of their home of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In just a handful of days more than 100,000 people, almost the entire Armenian population of the breakaway enclave, has fled fearing ethnic persecution at the hands of Azerbaijani forces. The world barely registered it. But this astonishing exodus has vanished a self-declared state that thousands have died fighting for and ended a decades-old bloody chapter of history.

On Saturday, along that dusty mountain road to neighbouring Armenia, a few remaining people limp to safety after enduring days in transit.

Among them is the Tsovinar family who appear bundled in a hatchback littered with bullet holes, with seven relatives crushed in the back. Hasratyan, 48, the mother, crumbles into tears as she tries to make sense of her last 48 hours. The thought she cannot banish is that from this moment forward, she will never again be able to visit the grave of her brother killed in a previous bout of fighting.

He is buried in our village which is now controlled by Azerbaijan. We can never go back, the mother-of-three says, as her teenage girls sob quietly beside her.

We have lost our home, and our homeland. It is an erasing of a people. The world kept silent and handed us over.

She is interrupted by several ambulances racing in the opposite direction towards Nagorno-Karabakhs main city of Stepanakert, or Khankendi, as it is known by the Azerbaijani forces that now control the streets. Their job is to fetch the few remaining Karabakh Armenians who want to leave and have yet to make it out.

Those left are the poorest who have no cars, the disabled and elderly who cant move easily, a first responder calls at us through the window. Then were told thats it.

As the world focused on the United Nations General Assembly, the war in Ukraine and, in the UK, the felling of an iconic Sycamore tree, a decades old war has reignited here unnoticed.

It ultimately heralded the end of Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway Armenian region, that is internationally recognised as being part of Azerbaijan but for several decades has enjoyed de facto independence. It has triggered the largest movement of people in the South Caucasus since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan has vehemently denied instigating ethnic cleansing and has promised to protect Armenians as it works to reintegrate the enclave.

But in the border town of Goris, surrounded by the chaotic arrival of hundreds of refugees, Armenias infrastructure minister says Yerevan was now struggling to work out what to do with tens of thousands of displaced and desperate people.

Simply put this is a modern ethnic cleansing that has been permitted through the guilty silence of the world, minister Gnel Sanosyan tells The Independent, as four new busses of fleeing families arrive behind him.

This is a global shame, a shame for the world. We need the international community to step up and step up now.

The divisions in this part of the world have their roots in centuries-old conflict but the latest iterations of bitter bloodshed erupted during the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh Armenians, who are in the majority in the enclave, demanded the right to autonomy over the 4,400 square kilometre rolling mountainous region that has its own history and dialect. In the early 1990s they won a bloody war that uprooted Azerbaijanis, building a de facto state that wasnt internationally unrecognised.

That is until in 2020. Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, launched a military offensive and took back swathes of territory in a six-week conflict that killed thousands of soldiers and civilians. Russia, which originally supported Armenia but in recent years has grown into a colder ally, brokered a fragile truce and deployed peacekeepers.

But Moscow failed to stop Baku in December, enforcing a 10-month blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh, strangling food, fuel, electricity and water supplies. Then, the international community stood by as Azerbaijan launched a 24-hour military blitz that proved too much for Armenian separatist forces. Outgunned, outnumbered and weakened by the blockade, they agreed to lay down their weapons.

Refugees pick through donated clothes as they were forced to leave everything behind when fleeing Nagorno Karabakh (Bel Trew)

For 30 years the Karabakh authorities had survived pressure from international powerhouses to give up statehood or at least downgrade their aspirations for Nagorno-Karabakh. For 30 years peace plans brokered by countries across the world were tabled and shelved.

And then in a week all hope vanished and the self-declared government agreed to dissolve.

Fearing further shelling and then violent reprisals, as news broke several Karabakh officials including former ministers and separatist commanders, had been arrested by Azerbaijani security forces, people flooded over the border.

At the political level there are discussions about reintegration and peace but with so few left in Nagorno-Karabakh any process would now be futile.

And so now, sleeping in tents on the floors of hotels, restaurants and sometimes the streets of border towns, shellshocked families, with a handful of belongings, are trying to piece their lives together.

Among them is Vardan Tadevosyan, Nagorno-Karabakhs minister of health until the government was effectively dissolved on Thursday. He spent the night camping on the floor of a hotel, and carries only the clothes he is wearing. Exhausted he says he had no idea what the future brings.

For 25 years I have built a rehabilitation centre for people with physical disabilities I had to leave it all behind. You dont know how many people are calling me for support, he says as his phone ringed incessantly in the background throughout the interview.

Armenian border police observe explosions in Nagorno Karabakh as Azerbaijan starts building new mountain roads (Bel Trew)

We all left everything behind. I am very depressed, he repeats, swallowing the sentence with a sigh.

Next to him Artemis, 58, a kindergarten coordinator who has spent 30 years in Steparankert, says the real problems were going to start in the coming weeks when the refugees outstay their temporary accommodation.

The Azerbaijanis said they want to integrate Nagorno-Karabakh but how do you blockade a people for 10 months and then launch a military operation and then ask them to integrate? she asks, as she prepares for a new leg of the journey to the Armenian capital where she hopes to find shelter.

The blockade was part of the ethnic cleansing. This is the only way to get people to flee the land they love. There is no humanity left in the world.

Back in the central square of Goris, where families pick through piles of donated clothes and blankets and aid organisations hand out food, the loudest question is: what next?

A refugee cuddles a teddy after arriving from a two day journey to Goris in Armenia (Bel Trew)

Armenian officials are busy registering families and sending them to shelters in different corners of the country. But there are unanswered queries about long-term accommodation, work and schooling.

I cant really think about it, it hurts too much, says Hasratyans eldest daughter Lilet, 16, trembling in the sunlight as the family starts the registration process.

All I can say to the world is please speak about this and think about us. We are humans, people made of blood, like you and we need your help.
Several creators that are in romantic relationships are revealing that theyre big proponents of whats known as the Scandinavian sleep method.

Erica Stolman Dowdy (@ericastolmandowdy) and her husband love visiting Copenhagen, Denmark. As a result, she recently felt compelled to give their home a Copenhagen-inspired makeover  like using fun colors for their bedsheets. The most exciting part of this makeover, according to Dowdy, was their adoption of the Scandinavian sleep method.

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So in Copenhagen, not once have I slept with one duvet, she said on Sept. 22. Its always two twins. And we sleep so good. Nobodys too hot or too cold. Its absolutely amazing.  This is just absolutely the comfiest way to sleep.  It could save marriages.

Dowdys video, which as of reporting has more than 4.4 million views and 360,700 likes and was even featured on The View, has also garnered nearly 2,000 comments. Many creators, it appears, are also in favor of using separate duvets when sleeping alongside their significant other, or anybody else in general.

My husband and I have been doing this unknowingly for years. We call it hotdogging, @luvdubb wrote.

Everyone thought my husband and I were crazy for sleeping w/ 2 comforters but its truly saved us! @alyssatuller added.

This is a game changer, @hazofaus also replied. So dam good, after spending time in Norway its the only right way to sleep with your partner.

What exactly is the Scandinavian sleep method?

Also recognized as the 2-duvet system, the Scandinavian sleep method is popular in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway and is also practiced in other European countries, including Iceland and Germany, Verywell Mind reported.

By integrating two separate duvets (or blankets or quilts) for you and your partner, it is believed that couples, according to Verywell Mind, have a happier and easier time sleeping in a bed together by taking away the problems that sharing a blanket can lead to.

Aric Prather, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, spoke to the Knot about the benefits of integrating this method:

Helps resolve temperature differences.

Cuts down on sleep disturbances.

Preserves the shared bed experience.

Improves relationships.

On Sept. 23, Courtney Stacey (@courtneybstacey), who recently got back from a trip to Norway with her husband, explained that they slept so well in their own little duvet pods.

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It feels almost taboo to say we wanna sleep with two separate blankets, but it was kind of awesome, she said. I dont know. I think I would do it again.

Raychel (@notluxe) explained on Sept. 9 that people used to think she and her husband were so weird for always sleeping with separate comforters. A recent trip to Europe, however, made her feel vindicated.

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Liz Udell (@lizoodell) stitched her own video with Dowdys and claimed that she felt seen.

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Oh my God, I had no idea that this was a thing, Udell said on Sept. 26. But yes, yes. Two different blankets. Thats how we sleep. Thats how weve always slept.  I guess we are doing the Scandinavian method. And we couldnt be happier.

In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News  follow us here!

The post People are taking to TikTok to reveal theyve adopted the Scandinavian sleep method: It could save marriages appeared first on In The Know.

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FILE - Police block off a road near the National Zoo in Washington, DC, on August 29, 2023, after a bomb threat caused the zoo to be evacuated. (AFP via Getty Images)

A Peruvian man faces charges in the US for allegedly sending hoax bomb threats to synagogues, airports and hospitals after teen girls refused to send him nude photographs.

Prosecutors say that 33-year-old Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos posed as a 15-year-old boy online and asked teen girls in the US to send nudes to him.

Mr Nunez Santos then allegedly threatened to bomb their schools or kill them after they refused his requests or cut off communications with him.

The suspect reportedly sent bomb threats to more than 150 school districts, synagogues, airports, hospitals, and a shopping mall between 15 and 21 September.

The threats spanned multiple states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona, and Alaska, and resulted in massive disruptions to the targeted communities, including evacuations of thousands of schoolchildren, a lockdown of a hospital, and flight delays, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Mr Nunez Santos was taken into custody on Tuesday by Peruvian authorities in Lima.

US Attorney Damian Williams said that the threats diverted critical law enforcement and public safety resources, and sparked fear in hundreds of communities.

His actions wasted limited law enforcement resources, put first responders in unnecessary danger, and victimized children, FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith also said. The FBI will not tolerate anyone who seeks to induce fear in our communities, and we will do whatever it takes to put the perpetrators of such actions behind bars, regardless of their location.

The bomb threats were sent via email or online contact forms and had similar language, with the suspect allegedly writing that the bombs would blow up in a few hours and that many people would lay in a pool of blood.

More than 1,100 schoolchildren across 20 different schools were evacuated after a threat was sent to a school in Pennsylvania on 19 September.

I placed multiple bombs in all of the schools from your School Districts, one of the messages read. The bombs will blow up in a few hours. Ill gladly smile when your families are crying because of your deaths.

In the threats, Mr Nunez Santos allegedly referenced specific phone numbers or IP addresses that authorities linked to teenage girls. Investigators later determined that the teens had engaged in conversation online with a man who called himself Lucas.

Nunez Santos faces charges of transmitting threatening interstate communication, conveying false information and hoaxes, attempting to sexually exploit a child, attempting to coerce and entice a minor and attempting to receive child pornography.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  Neighboring Tropical Storm Rina and Tropical Storm Philippe are continuing to interact this weekend, with Philippe expected to become a Category 1 hurricane and steer a weakening Rina to the northwest.

The phenomenon of two tropical systems interacting is not a common one in the Atlantic.

Tropical Storm Rina was several hundred miles to Tropical Storm Philippes east-northeast, and the more pronounced binary interaction with Rina had moved Philippe slightly farther to the south than forecasters expected, the National Hurricane Center said early Saturday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the Fujiwhara Effect is a binary interaction where two tropical cyclones within 345 miles to about 860 miles of each other start to spin around a common point.

The bigger of the two sometimes absorbs the smaller storm, or the smaller storm will satellite around the bigger, Craig Setzer, a hurricane preparedness specialist, said.

The National Hurricane Center describes the Fujiwhara Effect as an intense dance around their common center. The smaller storm, after orbiting the bigger, can eventually come crashing into its vortex and be absorbed.

Two storms closer in strength can gravitate towards each other until they reach a common point and merge, or merely spin each other around for a while before shooting off on their own paths, the National Hurricane Center says. Rarely, it can create one larger storm rather than two smaller ones.

Philippe is expected to continue strengthening in the next few days and reach Category 1 strength by Tuesday while Rina will gradually weekend this weekend and dissipate by early next week.

No coastal watches or warnings have been issued for either storm as they spin in the open Atlantic Ocean far from land, but swells from Philippe will affect parts of the northern Leeward Islands, the U.S Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico through the early parts of next week and could cause dangerous rip currents and surf, according to the NHC.

Rina was located about 810 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands in the far eastern Caribbean, moving northwest at 14 mph, as of 5 p.m. Saturday. Its maximum sustained winds were 45 mph, slightly weaker from 50 mph earlier in the day. Rinas tropical-storm-force winds extended out to 80 miles.

Rina is expected to continue moving northwest through Sunday along the northern edge of Philippe, then turn north on Monday and dissipate early next week, the latest forecast said. Strong wind shear will remain until it dissipates.

The NHC forecast has Rinas wind speeds dropping to 40 mph, just over the minimum 39 mph wind speeds to be classified a tropical storm, by Sunday morning and losing its tropical-storm status by Sunday evening.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, Philippe was located about 455 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands, moving southwest at 5 mph. Its maximum sustained winds slightly increased to 50 mph from 45 mph Friday. Tropical-storm-force winds extended out to 150 miles.

Philippe will move more quickly to the west-northwest and northwest into Monday, then turn north Tuesday, the latest advisory said. The storm will only moderately strengthen in the next day or so while it battles with wind shear, though forecasters expect more strengthening after that over the warm waters of the Atlantic.

In the near term, the models suggest Philippe will not move very much and could drift erratically through early Sunday while Tropical Storm Rina passes to its north, forecasters said late Saturday afternoon.

The forecast for Philippes maximum wind speeds had increased by late Saturday afternoon to 90 mph by Wednesday, which is Category 1 strength.

Setzer said the type of interference between Rina and Philippe is more commonly seen in the Pacific rather than the Atlantic.

The Atlantic, despite the fact that we do get hurricanes in it, is really not a real favorable hurricane environment, he said. Conditions have to be just right to get hurricanes in the Atlantic.  So because we have fewer of these hurricanes in general in the Atlantic, we just dont see this type of interaction as much.

And when two storms do interact, it doesnt necessarily mean it combines into one storm thats twice as large, Setzer said. He described it as each storm existing in almost like a cocoon in a way. Storms create their own wind shear on their periphery that can weaken other storms.

So that out process on the outside of the storm creates wind shear, so when you have two storms that try to merge, especially if they are the same size, they kind of disrupt each others whole circulation, and thats why its hard to have two storms just congeal into one bigger storm, he said. They just dont do that. They tend to disrupt each other.

Its possible a bigger storm can absorb a smaller storm and to an extent use moisture inside that storm and grow from it, but  the storm that survives isnt necessarily going to be twice as big, Setzer said.

Typically when two storms do end up orbiting each other in a Fujiwhara Effect, Setzer said, theyre usually fairly healthy and fairly mature, unlike Philippe and Rina.

So far this season in the Atlantic, there have been 16 named storms, six of which were hurricanes. Of those, three were major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or above.

Those were Hurricane Lee, a rare Category 5; Hurricane Franklin, a Category 4; and Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall on Floridas Big Bend region at Category 3 strength on Aug. 30.

The next named storm will be Sean.

Hurricane season officially runs through Nov. 30.
Hurricane Idalias incredible influx of flamingos expanded deeper into the country over the past 10 days with sightings of the bright pink birds in Wisconsin, Missouri and even Kansas.

Bird-watchers and others first spotted flamingos dropping out of the clouds as Idalia arrived along Floridas west coast on Aug. 30. Over the next four weeks, at least 150 American flamingos were seen in more than four dozen locations across Florida and in at least 14 states.

Flamingos are seen from time to time in Florida and the birds  real and plastic  are synonymous with the states tropical vibe, so the sightings there may not be all that extraordinary. But Wisconsin? And the Ohio River?

A flamingo rocked the world of Kansas birders this week when it showed up in Chase County Lake in the Flint Hills. An unconfirmed sighting reported a flamingo in Missouri the evening before.

Its amazing to me that so many people all over the country got to experience this, said Amy Davis, associate editor for North American Birds for the American Birding Association. Theyre just so beautiful and so gawky.

At least five of the flamingos were traced back to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and experts surmise they were somehow picked up in the bands of Idalias winds as the storm lingered over the northwestern Caribbean Sea.

Now it appears the birds may be returning southward, said Jerry Lorenz, state director of research for Audubon Florida, which dubbed the event the pink wave. But he and others hope some of the birds remain.

Five American flamingos, including three adults and two less colorful juveniles, were seen in Lake Michigan at Port Washington's South Beach on Sept. 22.

Flamingos in Wisconsin?

A flamboyance of flamingos showed up in Lake Michigan at Port Washington, Wisconsin on Sept. 22. Word of their arrival quickly spread among birders, who flocked to the lake.

Dexter Patterson, a photography instructor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, was among a group of birders who captured photos of five flamingos seen in Lake Michigan in Port Washington, Wisconsin on Sept. 22. The flamingos are likely part of a huge flock carried to the U.S. with Hurricane Idalia.

When Dexter Patterson, a faculty associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, got the call from a friend, he thought it was a joke, in part because Madison is the site of one of the greatest plastic flamingo pranks of all time, he said.

I was like get out of here, said Patterson, co-founder of the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin. His friend soon sent a second message confirming the birds were real.

I was like how fast can I get in my car and get to Port Washington, he told USA TODAY. It was a Friday and I have no classes on Friday. The trip took about 90 minutes, he said, but it was worth it.

Dexter Patterson, who teaches photography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a co-founder of the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, was among those lucky enough to see five flamingos in Lake Michigan in Port Washington, Wisconsin on Sept. 22.

It was the states first documented wild flamingo sighting and the only day sightings were reported in Port Washington.

The next day, a group on a boat reported seeing five flamingos on the Wisconsin River, roughly 100 miles to the west. Because it was the same combination of three pink adults and two grey juveniles, birders think it might have been the same flock, since the birds werent seen again in Lake Michigan.

What was the flamingo prank in Madison?

On Sept. 7, 1979, two leaders of a student government association placed 1,008 pink plastic flamingo lawn ornaments on the schools Bascom Hill, according to the alumni association. The prank became an annual tradition and fundraiser. Then in 2009, the pink plastic birds were named the official bird for the city of Madison.

Where did these flamingos come from?

Flamingos from breeding populations in the Caribbean have been blown into the U.S. with hurricanes before, said Jennifer McKay, a wildlife biologist in the Bird Banding Lab at the U.S. Geological Survey's Eastern Ecological Science Center.

This time there are more birds in more locations, experts told USA TODAY.

Through correspondence with the Pedro and Elena Hernandez Foundation, Lorenz and others learned that most, if not all, of the flamingos likely came from the Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The Foundation is one of two environmental nonprofits placing identification bands on birds in the reserve, where many migratory flamingos gather for the summer breeding season.

The reserve is less than 500 miles from South Florida, said McKay, the lab's liaison with bird banding partners around the world. "If they got a lot of oomph from a tailwind, it's an easy hop, skip and a jump."

Three birds banded in the reserve have been reported in the U.S. over the past decade, McKay said. Since Idalia, six birds banded there have been reported, she said, five in Florida and one in North Carolina.

One of the flamingos seen in the Florida Keys, was banded as a chick in 2000, making it 23 years old, said Maria Hryniewich, a South Florida birder who talked with the bird banders in the Yucatan. The 23 years makes the flamingo the second-most long-lived wild American flamingo in the geological survey's database. The bird was seen in Florida at least seven times between Sept. 1-23.

Whats happening to the flamingos?

At least five flamingos have died, Lorenz said. Of three that were taken to rehabilitation centers  including a flamingo attacked by a snapping turtle in Pennsylvania  only one survived. That bird, rescued off St. Petersburg Beach, recovered and was released after being fitted with a satellite transmitter under a research permit from the geological survey. Scientists say the bird may provide valuable information about the eventual destination of the Idalia flamingos.

Based on recent sightings, Lorenz said it appears the flamingos may be moving southward and beginning to form larger groups. A group was seen in Charlotte Harbor, on Florida's southwest coast, he said. A group of five in Mosquito Lagoon on Florida's east coast has become a group of a dozen. And a growing flock in Everglades National Park has reached 75 birds, according to a Sept. 23 report on eBird, a voluntary bird reporting website.

Once it starts getting a little chilly, Lorenz believes the birds will all head south. "Whether theyll stay here or not is the question," he said. "Hopefully, theyll stay in Florida, but I suspect they'll end up going even further south."

Dexter Patterson, a photography instructor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, was among a group of birders who captured photos of five flamingos seen in Lake Michigan in Port Washington, Wisconsin on Sept. 22. The flamingos are likely part of a huge flock carried to the U.S. with Hurricane Idalia.

Are flamingos endangered?

None of the world's six species of flamingos are classified as endangered, but four are considered near threatened or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Natures red list.

The flamingos being seen in the U.S. are American flamingos, also known as Caribbean flamingos, and the conservation union considers them a species of "least concern." Their home range includes the Caribbean, parts of the southern Gulf and Southeast coasts of the United States and the northern coast of South America.

Though their numbers were reduced by as much as 80% by feather hunters between 1880 and 1905, the species rebounded, according to a study Lorenz co-authored. A 2020 conservation union assessment estimated the population at 150,000-200,000.

They are protected in the U.S. by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Are flamingos native to Florida?

Yes. Thousands of the birds were reported in South Florida in the late 1800s, but they were believed to be eliminated by feather hunters by the early 1900s.

Sightings and the numbers of birds seen in those flocks have increased in recent years, Lorenz said. For example, a flock of more than 140 birds was seen in South Florida in 2011.

Although no nesting has been documented, there could be birds nesting in the Everglades already, Lorenz said. We just dont know where to look."

At least 3,476 square miles of protected public land is found in Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve at the tip of South Florida.

Several scientists point out that the locations where many of the birds have been seen, including several national wildlife refuges, are a testament to land conservation and restoration programs in the U.S.

By efforts to fix the Everglades and restore the water quality in South Florida, "we may have repaired Florida Bay to the point where it can sustain flamingos again," Lorenz said. "We're hoping this pink wave will be the re-establishment of that population."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Idalia flung flamingos across US: What states are they in?
A Pittsburgh Pirates employee was honored by the American Red Cross for saving a coworker who was choking.

Patrick Benedict, who is a gameday security team member for the Pirates, was honored at Friday nights game.

Benedict was given the Red Cross Lifesaving Award after he used his Red Cross training to save his coworkers life on June 7.

On Benedicts first day on the job, he noticed a fellow team member was choking and couldnt breathe. He jumped into action and performed abdominal thrusts and saved his coworker.

Were extremely proud to present a Lifesaving Award to Patrick, Jorge Martinez, CEO of the Red Cross, said. In my time with the Red Cross, Ive learned that heroes are all around us  but it takes a special person to step forward and act quickly and decisively in a crisis. We commend Patrick for stepping up in an emergency and using his Red Cross training to help save a life.

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PLYMOUTH  Immigrant-rights advocates are calling on the Plymouth County Sheriffs Department to join all other Massachusetts counties in not providing detention services for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Plymouth County jails most recent intergovernmental service agreement, which allows the jail to detain immigrants on behalf of ICE, was set to expire Sept. 21 but has been extended until January 2024, a move that prompted advocates to again raise their concerns about such arrangements.

We take this opportunity to demand that Sheriff Joseph McDonald cease contracting bed space to ICE at (the Plymouth County jail), and that ICE use its discretion to release the immigrants who remain confined there," a recent news release from a coalition of immigrant advocates and social justice groups said in response to the extension.

More: Tempers flare as Quincy debates temporary shelter for homeless refugee families

There were 90 such detainees at the jail as of Tuesday, Sept. 26, said Karen Barry, external communications director for the sheriffs department.

Barry said the jail houses detainees from the local to federal level as their cases move through the court system.

We provide care and custody for the duration of time determined by the court, she said. We do not determine who is sent to us, and our mission is to provide safe care and custody while a detainee awaits adjudication.

In the coalition's statement, civil rights and civil liberties advocate Marco Battistotti said, "With just under 100 immigrant detainees at Plymouth, this moment marks a crucial opportunity to prevent ICE from incarcerating any more of our community members and to keep families together and stop criminalizing immigration.

Protesters, as shown in this 2021 photo, have long called on the Plymouth County sheriff to end an agreement in which it holds detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Those against the agreement with ICE said detainees have suffered various forms of abuse, from unsanitary cell conditions and spoiled food to threats of deportation and solitary confinement. There also have been accusations of physical abuse.

Nobody should be treated the way those detained by ICE in Plymouth are treated, said Annie Gonzalez, of the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network.

Barry said such claims are investigated.

A report of misuse of a detainee is taken very seriously, and we will investigate any concerns and take immediate action, she said.

The facility is audited throughout the year to review confinement conditions, she said.

We are held to a high standard and welcome auditors almost monthly, she said. Our conditions of confinement are scrutinized, and we have received a perfect score for the past 10 years from the Massachusetts Department of Correction.

More: Dozens of 'migrant' families being moved to Plymouth, Kingston

She said the facility earned its three-year reaccreditation with a score of 99.6% from the American Correctional Association in August and that the department would be able to talk more about the future of its agreement with ICE in January.

In one of the more high-profile charges of abuse, a Honduran man who was detained at the jail in 2021 said he was beaten after reporting sexual harassment by a fellow detainee. He sued the sheriffs office at the end of that year for refusing to approve a special visa intended for crime victims who work with police.

The sheriff's office, in a form letter on Oct. 19, 2021, denied that the man was the victim of a crime and said he was not helpful to investigators.

More: Plymouth sheriff sued by immigration detainee who says he was beaten, denied a visa

A judge reversed the sheriff's denial in 2023, according to a statement at the time from the ACLU.

"In what may be the first ruling of its kind, the Superior Court judge found that Plymouth County officials acted illegally when they denied the mans request for U visa certification, and remanded the matter for a new hearing," the statement said.

It's unclear whether that hearing has been held.

Even without claims of abuse, immigrant advocates said detaining immigrants for ICE in itself is a problem.

The fewer cages we have for ICE, the fewer people they will detain, Gonzalez said.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Immigrant groups want Plymouth County sheriff to end ICE contract
A photograph taken by a speed camera in Slovakia appeared to show a dog behind the wheel of a car.

Police said the vehicle owner claimed that his dog had suddenly jumped onto his lap.

Officers found no evidence to support his claim and issued him with a fine.

Police in Slovakia have fined the owner of a car after a speed camera appeared to show a dog behind the wheel.

The vehicle was traveling 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) and hour over the speed limit in the village of Sterusy, in western Slovakia.

The image captured by a speed camera appears to show only a dog in the driver's seat.

Slovakian police said in a post on Facebook on Friday that the image showed a brown dog "sitting obediently behind the wheel of a Skoda," per an English translation.

A 31-year-old man, who was actually driving the vehicle, claimed that his dog had suddenly leapt onto his lap, according to the police.

However, officers said in the post that there hadn't been any sudden movement in the car and they fined the man for violating traffic regulations. It's not clear how much he was fined.

Police did seem to see the funny side of the incident, though, with a mock conversation with the dog about speeding that may sound better in the original Slovak than an English online translation.

Police urged drivers to properly secure all pets when travelling, as even small animals can endanger vehicle safety.

US researchers found that drivers who didn't restrain their dogs in cars were considerably more likely to lose concentration as a result of their pet's behaviour, according to a 2019 Volvo Car USA study.

It found the number of "unsafe driving behaviours" that diverted a driver's attention away from the road ahead rose 137%, from 274 to 649, when dogs were not properly secured in cars.

Slovakian police did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Delaware State Police have identified a 59-year-old man who was killed early Thursday while crossing the northbound lanes of I-95 near New Castle as Hector Hernandez.

Police continue searching for the tractor-trailer driver who fled the scene after striking Hernandez a little after 2 a.m. on Thursday.

Investigators said Hernandez ran across the northbound lanes of I-95 from a sandbox in the median toward Airport Road. Hernandez, who was wearing dark clothing, was struck by a tractor-trailer while in the highway's right center lane.

The tractor-trailer did not stop and police said the driver fled.

Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the collision to investigators at (302) 365-8484.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware police ID man killed in hit-and-run crash on I-95
By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday further cemented his legacy, elevating 21 prelates to the high rank of cardinal and significantly raising the percentage of electors chosen by him who will have the right to vote for his successor.

At a ceremony in St. Peter's Square known as a consistory, Francis "created" 21 new cardinals, the red-hatted "princes of the Church" who are his closest advisers at the Vatican and around the world.

There are now 137 cardinal electors, about 73 percent of them chosen by Francis. This increases - but does not guarantee - the possibility that the next pope will share his vision of a more progressive, inclusive Church.

Eighteen of the 21 are under the age of 80 and thus eligible under Church law to enter a secret conclave to elect the next pope after Francis' death or resignation. They are known as cardinal electors. The three 80 or over were given the honour because of their long service to the Church.

The new cardinals come from the U.S., France, Italy, Argentina, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, Colombia, South Sudan, Hong Kong, Poland, Malaysia, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Portugal.

South Sudan got its first cardinal and Malaysia got the second in its history, a continuation of Francis' policy of giving more recognition to places he has called the "peripheries" of the world, often those racked by war or where Catholics are a minority.

KEY APPOINTMENTS

One significant appointment is that of Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-Yan of Hong Kong. Chow is one of the major links to the Catholic Church in communist China, where the Vatican is trying to improve conditions for Catholics. The bishop made a historic visit to Beijing in April.

Another is that of Italian Bishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Francis' apostolic administrator in the Holy Land, where the Vatican fears that the historical presence of Christians is under threat.

"Diversity is necessary; it is indispensable," Francis said in his homily at the service, during which each new cardinal received a ring of office and the red, three-blade hat known as a "biretta".

It was the pope's ninth consistory since his election in 2013 and continued changes over the past decade, during which the percentage of Asian and African cardinal electors has grown while that of those from Europe has fallen.

Francis turns 87 in December and whether he convokes another consistory next year or in 2025 depends on how long he lives. While he uses a wheelchair and a cane and has undergone several operations, overall he has not slowed down and still keeps a busy schedule.

On October 4, he will open a month-long major meeting in the Vatican, known as a synod, that could chart the Church's future.

In his homily on Saturday morning he called for "an ever more symphonic and synodal Church".

Using the metaphor of an orchestra, Francis appeared to refer to divisions between progressives and conservatives in the 1.3 billion member Church, saying one section or instrument cannot play alone or drown out the others.

It was his job, as "conductor" to listen and try to achieve a "creative fidelity".

The Oct. 4-29 synod has been in preparation for two years, during which Catholics around the world were asked about their vision for the future of the Church.

Proponents have welcomed the consultations as an opportunity to change the Church's power dynamics and give a greater voice to lay Catholics, including women, and people on the margins of society.

Conservatives say the process has been a waste of time, may erode the hierarchical structure of the nearly 1.3 billion-member Church and in the long run could dilute traditional doctrine. A second final session will be held in 2024.

(This story has been corrected to show that Malaysian is the second in the country's history, not the first, in paragraph 6)

(Reporting by Philip Pullella, Editing by William Maclean)
Vatican City, Vatican - Pope Francis on Saturday elevated 21 clergymen from distant corners of the world to the rank of cardinal, saying diversity was indispensable to the future of the Catholic Church.

Under sunny skies and with a crowd that filled half of Vatican City's grandiose, colonnaded St Peter's Square, the 86-year-old pope welcomed the new "Princes of the Church" -- one of whom could one day become the successor to the current pontiff.

"The College of Cardinals is called to resemble a symphony orchestra, representing the harmony and synodality of the Church," said Francis, seated under a canopy before the gathered cardinals on the steps of St Peter's Basilica.

Pope Francis appoints as new cardinal Archbishop of Hong Kong Stephen Chow Sau-yan during the Ordinary Public Consistory for the Creation of new Cardinals at St. Peter's Square on September 30, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican. / Credit: Franco Origlia via Getty Images

Diversity signals church priorities

"Diversity is necessary; it is indispensable. However, each sound must contribute to the common design," said the Argentine Jesuit.

The choice of the new cardinals, who include diplomats, close advisers and administrators, is closely watched as an indication of the priorities and position of the Church.

One of them could also one day be elected by his peers to succeed Francis, who has left the door open to stepping down in the future should his health warrant it. In June, the Pope had his second abdominal surgery in just two years was completed "without complications." His health problems have fueled rumors that the Pope could resign.

Saturday's ceremony, known as a consistory, is the ninth since Francis in 2013 was named head of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.

One by one, the scarlet-clad cardinals knelt before the pope, who bestowed on them the two symbols of their high office: a scarlet four-cornered cap known as a biretta, and a cardinal's ring.

To some, a grinning Francis uttered an encouraging "Bravo!" or "Courage!" as he shook their hand.

Newly appointed cardinals receive congratulations from cardinals and bishops during the Ordinary Public Consistory for the Creation of new Cardinal. / Credit: Franco Origlia via Getty Images

During his papacy, Francis has sought to create a more inclusive, universal Church, looking past Europe to clergy in Africa, Asia and Latin America to fill the Church's highest ranks.

Eighteen of the 21 newly made cardinals are under the age of 80 and thus currently eligible to vote as "cardinal electors" in the next conclave, when Francis' successor will be decided.

They are among 99 cardinal-electors created by Francis, representing about three-quarters of the total.

That has given rise to speculation that the Church's future spiritual leader will be similar to Francis, preaching a more tolerant Church with a greater focus on the poor and marginalized.

A growing Catholicism

With his latest roster of cardinals, Francis has again looked to the world's "peripheries" -- where Catholicism is growing -- while breaking with the practice of promoting archbishops of large, powerful dioceses.

The array of cardinals represent "a richness and a variety of experience, and that's what the Church is all about," the Archbishop of Cape Town, Stephen Brislin, told AFP Thursday. "The Church encompasses all people, not just a certain group of people," he said.

There are three new cardinals from South America, including two Argentinians, and three from Africa, with the promotion of the archbishops of Juba in South Sudan, Tabora in Tanzania, and Brislin from Cape Town.

Asia is represented by the Bishop of Penang in Malaysia and the Bishop of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow, who is seen as playing a key role in seeking to improve tense relations between the Vatican and Beijing. Some of the new cardinals, like Chow, have experience in sensitive zones of the world where the Holy See hopes to play an important diplomatic role.

Pope Francis appoints as new cardinal Archbishop of Tabora (Tanzania) Protase Rugambwa during the Ordinary Public Consistory for the Creation of new Cardinal at St. Peter's Square. / Credit: Franco Origlia via Getty Images

The list includes the Holy Land's top Catholic authority, Italian Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the first seated Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem to be made cardinal.

"Jerusalem is a small laboratory, interreligious and intercultural, and that's a challenge that the whole world is facing at this point," Pizzaballa told AFP.

Also to be promoted is the apostolic nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, France's Christophe Pierre, whose decades-long diplomatic career includes posts in countries including Haiti, Uganda and Mexico.

Top administrators in the Curia, the Holy See's government, are also being recognized. There is Italy's Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches; Argentina's Victor Manuel Fernandez, whom the pope recently named head of the powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Chicago-born Robert Prevost, a former missionary in Peru who leads the Dicastery for Bishops.

The last consistory was held in August 2022.

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If youre pregnant in Bonner County, Idaho, youll likely spend a lot of time on Route 95.

Bonner General Health, a 25-bed hospital, discontinued obstetrics, labor and delivery services this year. So for residents, Route 95 is the way to the closest in-state hospital with obstetrics care, which is at least an hours drive south  or longer in the snowy winter.

The hospital, which staffed the countys only OB-GYNs, cited the states legal and political climate as one of the reasons it shuttered the department. Abortion has been banned in Idaho, with few exceptions, since August 2022.

Laura Olin, 32, lives in the city of Sandpoint, where Bonner General is, and gave birth to her twin boys at the hospital in 2020. When she became pregnant again, she opted to deliver her daughter in Spokane, Washington  90 minutes away  in August.

As the reality of doing the drive while in labor set in, she said, it was very scary those last few weeks of pregnancy.

It made her think differently about her previous birth experience, Olin added. To go into labor at home and arrive at the hospital five minutes later was a blessing that I didnt know was a blessing, she said.

Laura Olin at City Beach Park in Sandpoint. (Margaret Albaugh for NBC News)

The four OB-GYNs who previously worked at Bonner General, meanwhile, have left Idaho to practice in states where abortion is legal. All four told NBC News that the states ban contributed to their decisions to move.

As a whole, the situation has left mothers-to-be in Bonner County to contend with an unexpected consequence of their states abortion policy: reduced access to medical care for women whose pregnancies are very much wanted.

Olin is one of a half-dozen pregnant or recently pregnant women who spoke to NBC News about how the closing of Bonner Generals maternity department upended their birth plans and disrupted their lives. They say further travel times have introduced logistical burdens, financial difficulties, stress and anxiety.

I really feel like its inevitable that there will be poor outcomes for women and babies who now have to travel longer to care in those emergency situations, said Elizabeth Smith, 35, a lactation consultant in Bonner County who has opted to deliver her baby  due in December  at a nearby birth center with a midwife. Delivering with a midwife is the only local option left in Bonner County.

Smith said that as a former neonatal intensive care nurse, she would have preferred a hospital but that traveling for appointments and labor would require someone to watch her four children.

I dont feel like that was an option for me given my large family and the need for child care, she said.

Bonner General Health Hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho. (Margaret Albaugh for NBC News)

Research has shown that women who lack access to hospitals with obstetrics care are more likely to face health consequences, including a higher risk of preterm birth, which is associated with asthma, hearing loss, intellectual disabilities and other lifelong impacts for children. An analysis published in 2019 found that rural residents had a 9% greater chance of maternal morbidity and mortality compared to urban residents, in part because of limited access and longer travel times to obstetrics care. (Women of color had at least 33% higher odds of those negative outcomes than white women regardless of where they lived, according to the research.)

Olin, a supporter of abortion rights, said the ripple effects of Idahos policies still caught her by surprise. She decided to cross state lines to deliver her daughter, she added, out of fear that abortion restrictions could affect her care if complications arose.

When it actually affected my pregnancy, I couldnt believe that that was happening, Olin said.

Her former OB-GYN at Bonner General, Dr. Morgan Morton, who now practices in Washington, said many of her former patients  including those with opposing political views to Olins  shared that reaction.

I definitely have patients that I know wouldve been in support of these laws and now are very surprised at the downstream effects, she said.

In case of an emergency, what do I do?

Bonner General announced the closing of its obstetrics department in March, citing a lower patient volume and the loss of pediatricians as factors in the decision, alongside what a spokesperson recently described as some of the most restrictive reproductive laws in the country.

Idaho law prohibits abortion at any stage, with exceptions only to save the life of the mother, ectopic or molar pregnancies and cases of rape or incest in which the incidents were reported to police and the pregnancies are terminated within the first trimester. In April, the state also became the first to criminalize some out-of-state travel for abortion, with a law that makes helping a minor cross state lines for that purpose punishable by two to five years in prison.

In a statement to NBC News, the Bonner General spokesperson said that the services were eliminated with a heavy heart and that hospital providers worked with patients to coordinate alternative plans and make the transition as easy as possible.

We hear the community and want desperately to meet their needs, the spokesperson said.

Many former Bonner General patients now go to Kootenai Health in Coeur dAlene, which is the closest in-state hospital with OB-GYNs on staff. It is more than 40 miles from Sandpoint. In June, Kootenai Health recorded its highest number of births ever, according to Kim Jorgensen, the hospitals director of womens and childrens services.

When this closure was announced, we were getting a lot of calls from women asking, What do I do? Jorgensen said.

Candice Funk, 34, is one of those patients. She moved from California to Sandpoint  and got pregnant  around the time Bonner General stopped providing obstetrics care.

Funk developed HELLP syndrome  a rare and life-threatening form of pre-eclampsia  during her last pregnancy, so this one is high-risk. That means she most likely would have had to go to Kootenai for her delivery and some appointments anyway. Even so, she said, theres a persistent worry: In case of an emergency, what do I do?

Candice Funk is in her second trimester of a high-risk pregnancy. (Margaret Albaugh for NBC News)

During her previous pregnancies in California, Funk was a 20- or 30-minute ride from the hospital, she said. This time, shes prepared to stay at the Ronald McDonald House  or an affordable hotel  in Coeur dAlene if she needs more frequent monitoring.

I know how drastic my conditions can be, she said. Hopefully it wont be a surprise if something happens overnight.

Sandpoint resident Lauren Sanders, 34, whos due to deliver her second child in November, faced the type of situation Funk fears this summer: For a few days, she didnt feel fetal movement.

So Sanders got in the car for a really intense 45-minute ride to Kootenai. Throughout the drive, she said, she kept wondering: Is my baby still alive?

The drive to Bonner General would have taken five minutes.

The Kootenai doctors determined that everything was fine and released Sanders after some monitoring. But if something goes wrong during her planned home birth with a midwife, she might wind up on another agonizing ride.

Ive had to get comfortable in the discomfort in having a riskier birth at home, Sanders said.

Image: Lauren Sanders, six months pregnant, holds her daughter, 2 and a half. (Courtesy Madison Sanders)

Chronic, elevated stress and anxiety during pregnancy are associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure and heart disease for the pregnant woman, preterm birth, and asthma and behavioral problems in young children, studies suggest.

Financial burdens further impede access to care

Katie Bradish, 36, said she shells out hundreds of dollars to go to prenatal appointments in Spokane, 90 minutes from her home. Each trip requires her to take time off her job as a vice president at a grilling supplies company, she said, and pay $200 for a babysitter to watch her 2-year-old daughter, plus gas money.

In May, early in her pregnancy, Bradish began feeling sharp abdominal pain and decided to go to the Bonner General emergency room because of the distance she would have had to drive to reach an OB-GYNs office. The visit, which included an ultrasound scan and exam, showed no major problems, and she later received a bill for more than $475 out of pocket. The copay for an ultrasound appointment with an OB-GYN would have cost her $23, she said.

Its absolutely a burden, Bradish said. This is thousands of dollars we would have in our familys economy.

For low-income residents of Sandpoint, such travel brings particular challenges. Around 14% of the citys population live in poverty, which is above the state and national averages.

Drs. Amelia Huntsberger, Kristin Algoe and Lindsay Conner  former Bonner OB-GYNs who now work in Oregon, New York and Colorado, respectively  each said some of their Sandpoint patients had to start strategizing about whose car they could borrow or how they would pay for gas to travel for maternity care after the department closed.

Huntsberger, who was on the Idaho Health and Welfare Departments now-disbanded Maternal Mortality Review Committee, emphasized that poverty and maternal mortality are intertwined. In Idaho, she said, Medicaid recipients accounted for the majority of pregnancy-related deaths in recent years. Despite the committees recommendations to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage to last 12 months, Idaho was one of just three states where legislators finished this years session without doing so.

A lot of those people for whom its going to get harder, they dont have a lot of power, Huntsberger said. Theres no microphone readily accessible to them, so many of them are going to suffer in the shadows.

Losing personal care

Olin said her birth experience in Spokane made her miss the care she got at Bonner General, where Morton was present throughout her 16-hour labor. At one point, the doctor even made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Olins husband, who is vegan and didnt have anything to eat.

They took such great care of us, she said. The care was personal.

Krista Haller, a therapist in Sandpoint who works with pregnant and postpartum women, said she has heard similar sentiments from many local moms. Some lament the impact on their former doctors, Haller said, telling her: These people are wonderful. They helped me so much in this very specific time of my life, and now theyre being hurt by these laws.

The Bonner General spokesperson wrote that hospital leaders support our providers who made the hard decision to move.

Haller said she has also counseled local mothers who are thinking about getting pregnant again but worry about doing so without easily accessible obstetrics care.

Its a lot scarier, and theyre a lot more aware of the decision to have a child and whether or not its worth it to move forward to have a child and go through that journey knowing that the health care just isnt there, she said.

View of Lake Pend Oreille and the town of Sandpoint, Idaho, from the top of the mountain (Ekaterina Bespyatova / Alamy Stock Photo)

Bradish said her biggest fear is about the timing of her due date in January  what she calls blizzard time, given that Sandpoint can get more than 30 inches of snow that month.

She plans to stock up on shower curtains and some rubber gloves for the car, Bradish said, in case she winds up delivering on the drive to Spokane.

That may sound like a joke, but its not, she said.

Because Sandpoint has a birth center and local midwives, the area isnt technically among the more than 1,100 counties nationwide considered to be maternity care deserts by the nonprofit organization March of Dimes. Such places lack hospitals providing obstetrics care, birth centers, OB-GYNs and certified nurse midwives. In addition, an OB-GYN from the Kootenai Clinic began traveling to Sandpoint once a week in August to make it easier for residents to attend prenatal appointments and access gynecological care. That doctor sees nearly 30 patients a day in Sandpoint, a hospital spokesperson said.

But 13 of Idahos 44 counties are maternity care deserts. The number of those deserts has risen nationwide in the past few years, according to March of Dimes. Theyre more likely in states that have banned or restricted abortion, according to an analysis from the Commonwealth Fund, a healthcare research foundation.

The month Bonner General made its announcement, another Idaho hospital, Valor Health, announced it was discontinuing labor and delivery services because of staff shortages, declining births and financial difficulties. A hospital in Oregon stopped providing obstetric services in August, as did one in Tennessee this month and four hospitals in California so far this year.

Is Idaho a canary in the coal mine?

The former Bonner General OB-GYNs are not the only doctors choosing to practice in states without strict abortion bans.

A survey of third- and fourth-year medical students conducted this spring found that nearly 58% reported being unlikely or very unlikely to apply to a single residency program in a state with abortion restrictions. Data collected by the Association of American Medical Colleges shows that states with abortion bans had a 10.5% drop in applications for OB-GYN residencies this year.

About 40% of OB-GYNs in states with abortion bans say theyve felt constraints in providing necessary medical care since the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision, which struck down constitutional protections for abortion, according to a survey published in June by the nonprofit research organization KFF. More than 60% said theyre concerned about legal risk when they make decisions about the necessity of abortions.

Carole Joffe, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, said she sees Idaho as the canary in the coal mine.

We will continue to see doctors fleeing these states that have banned abortion, Joffe said.

Idaho state Sens. Todd Lakey and C. Scott Grow, the Republicans who co-sponsored Idahos abortion trigger ban in 2020, didnt respond to requests for comment.

State Rep. John Vander Woude, who chairs the House Health and Welfare Committee and co-sponsored the trigger ban, said he and other Republican legislators did not foresee all the ripple effects of the law. There needs to be clearer guidelines on what becomes criminalized, he said, as well as broader exceptions to protect the health of the mother, not just her life.

Its really hard, I think, right now, under the current language to recruit or try to keep them, Vander Woude said of the states OB-GYNs.

Idaho state Rep. Julianne Young, who also co-sponsored the ban, added that lawmakers this year already took steps to clear up concerns over things such as ectopic pregnancies and provide more clarity for health care providers and will continue to assess the medical communitys concerns.

Bonner Generals former OB-GYNs said they didnt take their decisions to leave Sandpoint lightly.

Thinking about what our community has lost  that is gutting, Huntsberger said.

Image: Laura Olin and her newborn daughter in Sandpoint, Idaho, on Sept. 26. (Margaret Albaugh for NBC News)

Olin and her husband plan to follow the doctors example: They hope to move out of the state within the year. Idaho isnt a place where shed want to be pregnant again, Olin said  or where she wants to raise a daughter.

If youre planning to have a family, why would you move here? she said.

This article was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalisms 2023 National Fellowship.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A group of progressive Christian churches from across Florida are protesting in Tampa on Saturday against Gov. Ron DeSantis policies on LGBTQ issues, abortion and K-12 education.

The rally, hosted by Equality Florida, will include clergy and members from Metropolitan Community Churches, an international coalition founded in 1968 by an openly gay Christian pastor. The group welcomes the LGBTQ+ community, and combats the narrative that queer people cannot exist within the Christian faith.

The notion that a church would say to anyone, LGBTQ or otherwise, you dont belong is antithetical to the Gospels, said Rev. Craig A. Cranston, rally organizer and senior pastor at St John the Apostle MCC in Fort Myers.

The group is protesting new Florida laws related to instruction on LGBTQ issues, gender-affirming care for transgender people, drag shows, diversity and inclusion in higher education and the states six-week abortion ban.

READ MORE: DeSantis signs six-week abortion ban. Next step is up to Florida Supreme Court

Between 200-500 people are expected to attend, according to Cranston. Speakers include Miamis Jennifer Solomon, the parents and families support manager for Equality Florida; Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston, CEO and spokesperson for MCC; and students who will speak on the impact of the legislation in their schools.

We hear so many conservative Christian voices that support these kinds of initiatives; progressive Christian voices must stand up and be counted, said Cranston, who noted that a little more than half of the congregation at his church are members of the LGBTQ community. We have to speak out and say that these initiatives are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Supporting young people

Even if the protests dont elicit immediate change, the Rev. Durrell Watkins said its important to speak up to set an example for young people.

We cant make you do what we think is right, but we can make sure you dont keep us from doing what we think is right, said Watkins, senior minister of Sunshine Cathedral, a Metropolitan Community Church in Fort Lauderdale. So theres a resistance to showing up and saying, Queer kids deserve to be safe in school. 

About 80 percent of Americans support laws that protect gay, lesbian, bisexual,and transgender people from discrimination in jobs and other aspects of daily life  an uptick of 8 percent from 2015, according to the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for the LGBTQ community. Yet, the outcry against LGBTQ protections from conservative religious groups has become louder in recent years.

In early September, the Miami-Dade School Board rejected a proposal to recognize October as LGBTQ History Month for the second year in a row. Members of the public who spoke out against the measure  which would not have affected instruction  outweighed the students, parents and advocates who showed up in support. The majority of those in opposition espoused the Christian faith, arguing that homosexuality is against their religion.

READ MORE: After marathon meeting, Miami-Dade School Board rejects LGBTQ Month  again

A students story

One of the stories protesters will hear Saturday is from 16-year-old Ella Taylor-Clark, a non-binary student from Hillsborough County. As president of the Gay-Straight Alliance Club at their school, Taylor-Clark says the hostility around LGBTQ issues in school is palpable.

I dealt with a lot of bullying, mainly in my freshman year. Im not gonna say its gotten a whole lot better, but I think I have developed a slightly thicker skin. From physical to verbal abuse in the hallways, I felt unsafe. I had a panic attack at least once, Taylor-Clark said.





For LGBTQ history month in October, Taylor-Clark requested to hang a pride flag in school as a symbol of support for gay and transgender students. The administration denied the request, citing a disruption to education, particularly during PSAT month, which is also in October.

I love the fact that religious organizations are standing up for queer rights, as so many of them do not, said Taylor-Clark. I think it gives a lot of hope for the future of Florida. We need more organizations and churches to stand up for LGBTQ rights.

Metropolitan Community Church principles

The first MCC church was founded by a gay Pentecostal minister, Rev. Troy Perry, who was kicked out of his church. It has evolved over the years to become an all-inclusive safe haven, advocating for other social justice issues along with LGBTQ rights, said Watkins, the Fort Lauderdale minister.

If were going to be advocates for same-gender-loving people, and for people who are non-binary and and intersex and transgender, we have to care about people who suffer from racism, and we have to acknowledge our contribution to racist systems, said Watkins. And we have to be aware of misogyny. We shouldnt be telling women what to do with their bodies and so on.

Though the church has been around for over 50 years, Cranston said people are still surprised to find a Christian church thats accepting of the LGBTQ community.

There isnt a gay pride event that I go to, not one, where somebody doesnt come up to me see me dressed as I am now and just wrap their arms around me in an embrace of desperation, and joy. And they begin to cry: Nobody ever told me that God could actually love me. And it breaks your heart, he said.

Were the church that says God loves you exactly as you are, beautifully and wonderfully made.

This report was created with philanthropic support from Christian, Muslim and Jewish funders in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all work.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a video celebrating the anniversary of the referendum called illegal by the U.N. in four Ukrainian regions one year ago, in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday insisted that the residents of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed a year ago made their choice  to be with their Fatherland.

In an address released in the early hours to mark the first anniversary of the annexation, Putin insisted that it was carried out in full accordance with international norms. He also claimed that residents of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions had again expressed their desire to be part of Russia in local elections earlier this month. Russias Central Election Commission said the countrys ruling party won the most votes.

The West has denounced both the referendum votes carried out last year and the recent ballots as a sham. The votes were held as Russian authorities attempted to tighten their grip on territories Moscow illegally annexed a year ago and still does not fully control.

A concert was held in Red Square on Friday to mark the anniversary, but Putin did not participate.

The address came after Russias Defense Ministry said Friday it would enlist 130,000 men for compulsory military service this fall, beginning Oct. 1, in most regions of the country. It announced it would for the first time begin enlisting residents of the annexed territories as part of its twice-yearly military conscription campaign.

Russia says conscripts are not deployed to what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, or to serve in the annexed territories. However, after their service, conscripts automatically become reservists, and Russia has previously deployed reservists to Ukraine.

In Ukraine, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell referenced the anniversary of the regions being illegally annexed by Russia in a video recorded during an unannounced visit to the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Saturday. Speaking from the citys Transfiguration Cathedral, severely damaged in a Russian missile strike in July, Borrell reiterated the EUs support for Ukraine.

Odesa is a beautiful historic city. It should be in the headlines for its vibrant culture and spirit. Instead, it marks the news as frequent target of Putins war, the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy chief wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, the governor of Ukraines partly occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region, Yurii Malashko, said five people were wounded on Saturday in two missile strikes on the village of Matviivka, located on the northeastern outskirts of the regional capital, also called Zaporizhzhia.

Air defenses shot down 30 out of 40 Iranian-made kamikaze drones aimed at the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia provinces overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.

Vinnytsia regional Gov. Serhii Borzov said that air defenses shot down 20 drones over his central Ukrainian region, but that a powerful fire broke out in the town of Kalynivka when a drone struck an unspecified infrastructure facility.

Romanias Ministry of National Defense said Saturday that a possible unauthorized entry into its national airspace occurred overnight amid the bombardment.

It said the radar surveillance system of the Romanian Army detected a possible unauthorized entry into the national airspace of NATO member Romania, with a signal detected toward the city of Galati, which is close to the border with Ukraine.

At this moment, no objects have been identified that fell from the airspace onto the national territory, the statement read, adding that NATO allies were informed in real time and that searches will continue through Saturday.

Emergency authorities issued text message alerts overnight to residents living in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, after detecting what the defense ministry said was groups of drones heading toward Ukrainian territory near the border.

In recent weeks, Romania has found drone fragments on its soil from the war next door at least three times as Russian forces carry out sustained attacks on Ukraines Danube ports.

Russias Defense Ministry said Saturday that it had shot down nine Ukrainian rockets fired at its southern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said that an artillery shell created a crater and shrapnel damaged a house, a store and a gas pipeline in an attack on the regional capital, also called Belgorod. Local officials in Russias Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, reported disruptions to the power supply following an unspecified attack on the town of Pogar. Drone strikes and shelling in the Russian border regions are a regular occurrence.

___

Associated Press writers Stephen McGrath in Sighisoara, Romania, and Elise Morton in London contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The new head of Wagner is likely seen as a "traitor" by his men, per a UK intelligence assessment.

Andrei Troshev had served as Wagner's second in command before the aborted mutiny in June.

Vladimir Putin met with Troshev this week, charging him with leading "volunteer" units in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has picked someone to lead the powerful Wagner paramilitary group who is likely viewed as a "traitor" by his own men, according to a British military intelligence assessment published Saturday.

On Friday, the Kremlin released photos and a brief transcript of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Andrei Troshev, who previously served as Wagner's chief of staff. Putin named Troshev the new head of the paramilitary organization after the aborted mutiny in June led by former boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who later died in a plane crash.

This week Putin publicly charged Troshev with leading "volunteer" units in "various combat missions," including in Ukraine. A Kremlin spokesperson later described Troshev, a veteran of Wagner operations in Syria, as an employee of Russia's defense ministry.

One problem is that Troshev, around the time of the Wagner rebellion, was "probably involved in encouraging other Wagner personnel to sign contracts" with the Ministry of Defense, according to the UK's military intelligence service, siding with Putin in a fight over the future of the paramilitary organization and to whom it would answer. As a result, "Many Wagner veterans likely consider him a traitor," stated the Sept. 30 assessment.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine  30 September 2023.



Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/FzRQzZXa3O



 #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/ihM88PyKYU  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) September 30, 2023

Joining Putin and Troshev at this week's meeting at the Kremlin was Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, pointing to the ongoing effort to subsume Wagner's operations into the formal Russian military. Yevkurov recently toured a number of African countries, the UK assessment noted, where Wagner has played a key role in propping up Russian allies.

"Presidential endorsement of Troshev and Yevkurov indicates Russia's continuing utilization of volunteer units and private military companies, and planning for the future of Wagner," the assessment stated. And that future, it continued  in contrast with the Prigozhin days  will likely entail "greater oversight from the Kremlin."

Read the original article on Business Insider
As human access to space expands, the influx of new actors promises to forever alter the dynamics of space. The head-to-head U.S.Soviet rivalry that once dominated the Space Race will evolve into something more inclusivebut also messier. Aspiring space nations, such as Luxembourg, India, and China, together with new categories of nonstate actors, including large industrial players, startups, and universities, raise questions about how we should regulate space. Explosive commercialization is particularly challenging for existing space law, whose foundations were set in the 1960s and designed with national governments in mind.

This rapidly changing environment is dramatized in Little Assistance, a new Future Tense Fiction story from Stephen Harrison. The story follows the first judge in space, who is considering a case that highlights how publicprivate collaborations and commercialization are testing existing national and international space laws.

The story propels us into the future, where NASA has contracted with the corporation Stellarco to run its Luna Homestead settlementa claustrophobic off-Earth mining town. Stellarco files suit against NASA when its drill is damaged after hitting a pocket of hardened lunar bedrock. Who should be responsible for the cost of repairing the drill, and the time and money lost during the process of repair? Commercial mining is an underdeveloped aspect of international space law, and as someone who researches the future of property rights in space, I often turn to science fiction like Little Assistance to fill in the gaps of what we can expect.

Since the dawn of the Space Race, science fiction writers have been dramatizing the legal and political dimensions of space exploration. For example, in 1961s Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein describes a fictional court decision that establishes that the moon is owned by those who reside on it. Stories like Heinleins and Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars trilogy (19921996) illustrate the limitations of existing space law, which largely excludes corporations and other nonstate actors, concentrating instead on protecting state sovereignty and preventing state conflict over territory and resources. This creates ambiguity around commercial actors like the fictional Stellarco, especially when they are functioning in partnership with governments. And this ambiguity is where speculative fiction can be a useful tool: How can we better align regulation with the actual activities humans will be undertaking in space? How can governments and private enterprise maneuver around one another, sharing jurisdiction on the moon and beyond?

To understand how we ended up with our current governance regime for outer space, its worth looking back to the 1957 Sputnik launch. The Soviets successful launch made space regulation urgent in order to avoid the escalation of weaponization between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in space. During the Cold War, negotiations started at the United Nations, and in 1963, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space. Subsequently, the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space penned five international treaties and five sets of principles, which were ratified by 114 countries. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 was the most wide-ranging and influential.

These treaties deal with lots of sticky issues: non-appropriation of space by any one country, arms control, freedom of exploration, liability for damage caused by human-created objects, safety and rescue of spacecraft and astronauts, prevention of harmful interference with space activities and the environment, notification and registration of activities, scientific investigation, exploitation of natural resources, and settlement of disputes. Dispute resolution is at the center of Harrisons story, which illustrates how enforcing the principles of the Outer Space Treaty becomes more challenging when space and its resources are opened to commercial activities. The arrival of new actors like SpaceX has put pressure on states to update their legal and political frameworks.

Responding to the commercialization of spaceand, perhaps, seeking to take the lead in a new kind of space racethe U.S., Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan have adopted laws that allow commercial mining. They assert that private mining activities comply with Article II of the Outer Space Treaty, which stipulates that outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use, or by any other means.

Not all space lawyers agree with this interpretation: These national laws are controversial, with some experts claiming that they violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the Outer Space Treaty. As the preamble to the treaty states, the exploration and use of outer space should be for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all peoples irrespective of the degree of their economic or scientific development. For a small number of wealthy nations to allow exclusive property rights over commercially mined resources muddles the idea that space should be for the common good.

Little Assistance highlights another often-overlooked aspect of the debate over the future of space exploration by representing Stellarcos legal dispute with NASA as a matter decided by the U.S. federal court system. Although the Outer Space Treaty bars states from claiming sovereignty over the moon or any other celestial bodies, this doesnt mean that commercial entities like SpaceX operate without regulatory oversight.

The treaty requires states to authorize and supervise the activities of nongovernmental entities. The U.S., like other spacefaring nations, exercises jurisdictional authority over its own registered space entities, including government agencies, private companies, and individuals involved in space exploration or commercial endeavours, in accordance with both national and international space law. In this way, even private-sector activities in space can have the effect of extending a nations power by establishing zones of governance and oversight off Earth.

U.S.-registered space companies operate under the oversight of U.S. federal agenciesprimarily the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission. These agencies grant licenses and permits for space activities, regulate radiofrequency spectrum use, and ensure compliance with U.S. laws and regulations. This means the U.S. government has a responsibility to ensure that private companies mining activities align with the obligations set forth in U.N. space treaties.

In other words, although the influence of the commercial space sector will certainly expand over the coming decades, as Harrisons story illustrates, corporations do not yet have the power to dictate a new set of extraterrestrial laws. This is where the law and science fiction stories depart. While Heinlein, Robinson, and other sci-fi authors imagine space enterprises and communities declaring their independence from earthly powers, the contours of international law are still being drawn by nation-states.

But in contrast to the early movements of space law in the 1960s, the main platform for policymaking may no longer be the U.N. In 2020, NASA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State and seven other founding nations, established the Artemis Accords, currently signed by 29 countries. Like in Little Assistance, these accords indicate that national governments may tighten their grip on the moon and other celestial bodies, rather than losing ground to emerging private-sector firms.

The Artemis Accords propose strengthening and extending territorial jurisdictions through safety zones. In theory, these zones give states operating on a piece of lunar land the power to exclude other states and their nationals from accessing the zone, and to enforce the laws of the state operating the zone.

Although to what extent this equates to expanding territory and asserting sovereignty is debatable, claiming a piece of lunar real estate as a safety zone comes close to national appropriation, even if there isnt a formal claim of ownership. In Little Assistance, Stellarcos Luna Homestead may not represent a formal U.S. territory, but it flies the U.S. flag (alongside the corporations banner), and legal disputes unfolding on that land are governed by U.S. law, subject to U.S. federal jurisprudence.

These multilateral agreements, in tandem with national laws that help to expand the commercial space sector, could enable nations and their commercial partners to carve up the moon and other space arenas into exclusive zonessetting the stage for another high-stakes geopolitical game of space chess. If we value the ideals of the Outer Space Treaty, its urgent that we develop alternatives that curb national appropriation and ensure that space is used for the benefit of all humankind, not just the first and most assertive movers.
Celeste Parker, a retired state employee, sure made it sound easy as she checked in for her fourth trip rappelling down the Wells Fargo office tower in downtown Raleigh to raise money for the Special Olympics.

I like to stop and look around and take it all in, she said.

Parker and more than 100 others each raised at least $1,000 to take the harnessed and tethered walk down the 30-story, 400-foot high tower on Saturday, helping Special Olympics North Carolina raise nearly $150,000 to provide sports opportunities for roughly 40,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.

Keith Fishburne, the CEO of the nonprofit, said 14 years of rappelling down the tower has brought in over $2 million.

People see it as something that is unique, he said. A lot of people come in looking at it as kind of a bucket list thing to do and then when you wrap that into the fact that it is benefiting what I consider a very notable and worthwhile charitable organization, its just a win-win.

Special Olympians help put on the event. Two were emcees, announcing each rappeller and interviewing them after they finished. Rappellers each receive a medal.

Kristine Hughes, athlete leadership manager for Special Olympics North Carolina, began competing in the games in 2002 and now officiates the volleyball competitions. She has rappelled six times down the building.

Its a challenge, but thats the whole goal, Hughes said. We want people to feel a little bit of a challenge of what we go through as athletes with intellectual disabilities in our daily lives.

Its called the Over The Edge challenge, but for organizers, the challenge is to entice more people to try it, Fishburne said. Unlike Parker, many only do it once.

Lauren Greer gets a rappelling lesson before descending the Wells Fargo office tower in Raleigh on Sept. 30, 2023. The rappelling raises money for Special Olympics North Carolina. Dan Kane/News & Observer

As Parker stood on the ledge at the top of the tower midday, hooked up and ready to start her descent, Lauren Greer and Stephen Votino took a rooftop lesson from trainer David Bright. Votino owns the Century 21 Triangle Group, and Greer is one of his brokers. His firm is a regular donor to Special Olympics, but neither had rappelled before.

I went to get a massage yesterday to get my anxiety down, Greer said.

It worked. She slept well and woke up ready to go.

I kind of figured at this point, were going for it.

Votino admitted to a fear of heights. But the two were soon slowly lowering themselves down, their sneakered feet lightly bounding off the glass exterior. Roughly 10 minutes later they had made it to the bottom, big grins on their faces.

I had a lot of fun. I wasnt even freaking out, Votino said.

And he didnt have to look around to enjoy the view.

Its funny, it took me a little bit of time to realize I could be looking at the reflection in the windows, he said. That was cool, really really cool.

Parker, however, said this time around wasnt as copacetic as the ones before. It was gustier up at the top, and that made it more difficult to hew to the side of the skyscraper.

It was OK, she said. I bounced around a bit.

Fishburne said it takes months to organize the event, in part because rappellers have to raise a significant amount of money, and have enough lead time to fit it into their schedules. He said Special Olympics NC will begin getting the word out in February for next years challenge.

Lauren Greer displays the medal she received for rappelling down the Wells Fargo tower in Raleigh on Sept. 30, 2023. The event raises money for Special Olympics North Carolina. Dan Kane/News & Observer
The most recent events in the wake of Canadian allegations against India on the alleged killing of a Sikh separatist and the ongoing war in Europe are tests for American diplomacy. There is no doubt nations are looking at United States for leadership in finding amicable solutions to complex diplomatic issues. America is also focusing on its strategic interests by trying to realign and establish partnerships.

On Sept. 18, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped a bombshell allegation against India in the alleged killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada. This briefing in the Canadian House of Commons occurred right after Trudeau returned to Ottawa from India after the G20 summit. The meeting apparently did not go well for Trudeau as there were ongoing tensions between the two countries about the Khalistan movement in Canada. Although the reasons behind going public without disclosing the evidence and the timing of such an announcement by the Canadian Prime Minister are not well understood, certainly it has created a diplomatic standoff between two important nations bringing global attention. This situation has put the United States in a diplomatic hotspot as it tries to be a mediator between an ally and a strategic partner.

It is common in situations of such sensitivity; discussions happen in private settings by providing compelling evidence to back up the allegations. The United States has been trying to be an effective mediator by coordinating with the Canadians to complete the investigation while encouraging India to cooperate. The government of India has stated that if Canada provided any reliable evidence, it would certainly cooperate with the investigations, which was echoed by Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India during his current visit to the United States.

Given the rising clout of India on the global stage, being the most populous nation on earth with the 5th largest economy, nations are handling the situation carefully so tensions do not escalate. That is the reason there has not been a public condemnation of India by the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, who are expecting that the investigations in Canada would produce result that can be shared. The muted response by leading nations for Canadas allegation is a clear diplomatic strategy, while encouraging proper investigation to provide results.

The United States understands the importance of India, all the way acknowledging the long-standing support of Canada by being an ally and one of its largest trading partners. In the past 20 years the friendship between the United States and India has been on an upward trajectory, which is valued by the two nations and other freedom-loving countries due to the enormous possibilities in the global security, economy, and political arenas. Amidst the ongoing diplomatic spat between India and Canada, the United Kingdom has not halted the trade talks with India and is expected to reach an agreement soon.

The relationship between the United States and India is getting strengthened with many high-level visits and talks as is evident by the first state visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United States in June. This visit resulted in bilateral collaborations in science and technology and strengthening the semiconductor supply chain between the two nations and increasing investments in chip manufacturing and research in India by U.S. companies. Likewise, President Biden visited India for the recent G20 summit in New Delhi which had high level absentees such as President Xi of China and President Putin of Russia. This event was a witness to the rising clout and global aspirations of India, and its interest to engage with the global north to create win-win strategic partnerships. India and the United States view China as a competitor and challenge, and hence joining forces in technology, defense and global security arenas will weaken China and would benefit the world.

There is today, you have a very compelling need for India and United States to work together, said Dr. S. Jaishankar while touring United States recently for the United Nations general assembly. When pressed about the areas of cooperation, he answered that there are opportunities for partnerships in technology, defense and security, and geopolitics. The two nations have ongoing collaboration in initiatives such as India-U.S. Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, given the importance of AI, cyber security, and information sharing.

The United States values India as a strategic partner and a friend to counter the influence of China in the Indian Ocean region as a way of bridging the divide between North and South and engaging the West with the East. This strategic partnership may prove valuable in countering China s political growth in Africa and the Indo-Pacific zone and strengthen the supply chain in security tools and products of critical needs.

In a joint statement issued during the G20 summit, President Biden and Indian Prime Minister Modi called on their respective governments to strengthen strategic partnerships, emphasizing the importance of freedom, democracy, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens.

India aspires to be a developed nation in the next 25 years, which is focused on growth termed as Amrit Kal, and is wanting a seat in the UN Security Council as a permanent member. The partnership with United States will prove valuable toward achieving these goals. Given Indias global presence and strength in the IT and service sectors, and its investments in space research by becoming the first nation to land on the south pole of moon, the United States can gain a reliable partner for its global outreach, particularly in the South. Recently, the U.S. State Department has released a report on the information manipulation by China and hence having a global IT powerhouse like India will help with tackling cybercrimes and counter Chinese false propaganda.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indias External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar met Thursday to further strengthen the bilateral partnership. Certainly, there were discussions on the ongoing diplomatic spat between India and Canada and such private discussions may prove to be more productive and fruitful.

The United States is practicing right diplomacy by constantly engaging with growing global power India. Engaging in high-level discussions by the United States in closed settings and some backchannel-door diplomacy would help with easing tensions between India and Canada.

The United States handling of the India-Canada tensions with careful diplomacy gives confidence in the role of America in a multi-polar world. The partnership between the United State and India and engaging with common friends and allies will result in enormous possibilities for a secure world.

Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar is a professor in the department of environmental toxicology at Texas Tech University.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Ramkumar: The United States in a multi-polar world
An entire Air Force squadron at Ramstein Air Base in Germany is banned from late-night drinking off base because of a trend of "irresponsible alcohol consumption," according to a new internal memo.

The memo sent to the 721st Aerial Port Squadron was first posted on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page, where airmen share inside information. It was confirmed as authentic to Military.com by officials at the air base.

The subject line of the Sept. 16 memo is "Updated Alcohol Policy" and states "alcohol consumption outside of your dorm or residence is prohibited" between midnight and 6 a.m. local time. It also states that "alcohol consumption is also prohibited within eight hours of any shift."

Read Next: After Recruit Death, Navy SEAL Community Will Impose Forcewide Urinalysis to Root Out Performance Enhancing Drugs

"Irresponsible alcohol consumption is putting the lives of our airmen at risk and we will aggressively address this trend," the memo reads.

No details were included on how the prohibition will be enforced, especially when drinking happens off base and in the community, and the policy will only be revoked when "the trend is corrected," according to the memo.

The new rule only applies to airmen in the 721st Aerial Port Squadron, according to Lt. Cameron Silver, a spokesman for the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing. He did not respond with any specifics when asked if any incidents prompted the new policy.

"If a member is caught in violation of this new alcohol policy, they will receive corrective action on a case-by-case basis," Silver said. "Alcohol related incidents are a threat to our airmen and, in turn, our mission. This policy is meant to deter our members from putting themselves in those situations and promote their safety as well as good order and discipline."

Strict alcohol bans are rare but not unheard-of in the Air Force, and they're notably only used for extreme measures.

Retired Chief Master Sgt. Eric Benken, who served as the Air Force's top enlisted leader from 1996 to 1999, told Military.com that it's a drastic measure to get leadership involved and it's a balancing act between keeping morale high but also keeping airmen safe.

"There's personal responsibility associated with this, and there's also leadership responsibility that's associated with this," Benken said. "I kind of feel for the commander in this case. It's, you know, what are his options if he keeps on allowing these incidents to happen? They're going to lose their job."

The 39th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey temporarily banned its airmen from drinking alcohol in 2019 and the commander provided images of a red sedan that had hopped a curb as evidence of why it was needed.

In 2017, the military temporarily banned all service members in Japan from drinking after a 61-year-old Okinawa man was killed when a Marine collided with his car in what appeared to be an incident involving alcohol.

The 721st Aerial Port Squadron is involved in loading and unloading cargo, equipment and personnel for a wide variety of missions. Katherine Kuzminski, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security think tank who researches military culture and family issues, told Military.com that there's also diplomatic issues to think of.

Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Kuzminski said it's clear that commanders are making sure their units in Europe are ready for whatever could occur. Additionally, if U.S. service members cause problems in local communities in Europe, it could upset host nations.

"There is an active war occurring on the continent, and so I think there's probably a consideration of not only the behavioral side but also the readiness side," Kuzminski said. "It's kind of like a parent saying, 'If you can't handle this, then I'm going to take it away from you,' because we still need to be able to meet our mission."

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: Alcohol Ban Lifted for US Troops in Japan; Curfew Still in Effect
A Raritan Township woman is facing an attempted murder charge for allegedly setting fire to a River Road home Wednesday night.

Forty-seven-year-old Laura Duran has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, arson and criminal mischief, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee M. Robeson said.

When Raritan Township police arrived around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday at 127 River Road, officers found two adult residents of the two-family house on the roof yelling for help, police said.

By using their patrol vehicles, the officers were able to get the two off the roof without injury. Two other residents were able to safely exit the house, police said.

The Raritan Township Fire Department responded to the scene and had the blaze knocked down in a half hour.

Investigators determined the fire originated in the second-floor apartment of the house and that it was started intentionally, Robeson said.

Crime: Arrest made in slaying of former Franklin High School football star

Investigators further determined that Duran, an occupant of the second-floor apartment, purposely started the fire, the prosecutor said.

Aggravated arson is more than a crime against property  it is a crime against the person and, in this case, a personal invasion that endangered the lives, safety, and dignity of the victims in their own home, Robeson said in a statement.

Duran was being held at the Warren County Correctional Center pending her first court appearance.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Raritan Township River Road fire leads to attempted murder charge
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building on Saturday ahead of the House passing a stopgap measure to fund the government ahead of the midnight deadline, causing the building to be evacuated.

Republicans are accusing Bowman of intentionally trying to sabotage the vote, launching an investigation into the incident and preparing legislation to expel him from the House.

But Bowman says it was an accident.

Today, as I was rushing to make a vote, I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open. I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused, he said in a statement.

But I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote. It was the exact opposite  I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open.

House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) said he will launch an investigation into the incident, saying that the committee has video of the incident.

Capitol Police are also investigating the incident, saying in a statement that the fire alarm was pulled at 12:05 p.m. on the second floor of the Cannon building.

But House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) mentioned the fire alarm pull in a press conference, saying the stopgap passed despite House Democrats attempts to delay, to obstruct, and to even pull a fire alarm to stop this important vote from happening.

This is serious, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) added in a press conference, saying he would talk to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) about the incident. This should not go without punishment.

Jeffries said in a press conference that he would have no further comment on the incident until he sees the video.

McCarthy also appeared to compare Bowman to those charged with crimes in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

We watched how people have been treated if theyve done something wrong in this Capitol. It will be interesting to see how he is treated on what he was trying to obstruct when it came to the American public, McCarthy said.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also compared Bowman to Jan. 6.

Im demanding that the Department of Justice prosecute him using the same way they prosecuted Jan. 6 defendants. Its the exact same law, Greene said, pointing to a federal statute that prohibits obstructing or impeding any official proceeding.

And Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) is drafting a resolution to expel Bowman from the House.

This is the United States Congress, not a New York City high school, Malliotakis posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. To pull the fire alarm to disrupt proceedings when we are trying to draft legislation to AVERT A SHUTDOWN is patheticeven for members of the socialist squad.

Not long after the Cannon building was cleared, members of Congress voted to advance a bill to fund the government, sending it to the Senate. Lawmakers have until midnight Sunday morning to avert a government shutdown.

The stopgap measure, which continues the current federal budget for 45 days but removes funding to support the war in Ukraine, passed on a bipartisan 335-91 vote. Bowman voted in favor of the resolution.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Senate Republicans would support the House bill.

Updated at 10:02 p.m. ET

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON - Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House office building on Saturday as both parties negotiated over a deal to avert a government shutdown.

Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chair of the House Administration Committee, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that an investigation into why it was pulled is underway.

But Emma Simon, Bowman's spokesperson, later said in a statement that Bowman "did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote.

"The congressman regrets any confusion," Simon said.

A short-term stopgap measure, which passed the House, would keep the government funded at current levels for 45 days and includes President Joe Bidens request for $16 billion in additional disaster relief funding, but omits additional aid for Ukraine.

In a bid to buy more time for House Democrats to read a 71-page stopgap measure before it was voted on, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries , D-N.Y., used what is referred to as a "magic minute."

Under House rules, leadership is able to speak for an unlimited amount of time. McCarthy in November 2021 spoke for over eight hours to delay Biden's "Build Back Better" bill.

"Strap in, because this may take a while," Jeffries said on the House floor.

The measure will move to the Senate to be voted on to avoid a government shutdown in less than twelve hours.

A shutdown would not only lead to furloughs among thousands of federal workers but impact families who rely on WIC benefits and Head Start programs for childcare, members of the military, visitors to national parks and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bowman's office says he pulled fire alarm in rush to vote
Crockett recently went viral for her remarks during the GOPs opening hearing on the impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden .

As a freshman member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight, Rep. Jasmine Crockett , D-Texas, admits she can get pretty worked up and pissed off over her Republican colleagues.

Yall are aholes, Crockett said of House Republicans while discussing the temporarily averted threat of a government shutdown during a nearly 30-minute phone interview with theGrio.

The shutdown was engineered by a group of far-right members of the GOP who demanded steep spending cuts to various federal programs, including in education. Congress ultimately passed a spending bill that keeps the government funded for 45 days.

Crockett went viral on Thursday after delivering remarks defending Democratic President Joe Biden and scolding Republicans during their opening hearing on the impeachment inquiry of Biden. Rather than using their congressional powers to avert a shutdown that wouldve impacted millions of Americans and the U.S. economy, Republicans were playing politics over a sham investigation, Crockett argued.

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) participates in a meeting of the House Oversight and Reform Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on January 31, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

[The president] has unfortunately been guilty of loving his child unconditionally. And that is the only evidence that they have brought forward, Crockett said on the committee dais on Thursday.

Until they find some evidence, we need to get back to the peoples work, which means keeping this government open so that people dont go hungry in the streets of the United States.

Crockett also feverishly displayed photographs of classified documents left around the Florida home of former President Donald Trump.

These are our national secrets  looks like in the shitter to me! she exclaimed.

The 42-year-old attorney and congresswoman told theGrio she was really surprised that her committee remarks went viral.

I knew something was happening because on my personal phone  its logged in on our campaign Facebook page  and I started getting all this MAGA hate. I was like, Oh, I did something right today because the MAGAs are out for me, honey, Crockett recalled.

The congresswoman from Dallas, who understands why her moment of passion resonated with so many, said a lot of her committee remarks were intentional.

This was for the people in the back that dont understand, like, whats going on  I need people to understand that their tax dollars are being wasted, Crockett said. It was annoying that we were wasting time. We werent doing anything productive.

The federal government almost ceased funding for critical programs, like SNAP and WIC, and stop paying federal workers  including people serving in the military. Crockett said, for her, its also personal because she was raised by a federal worker.

[Republicans] want to talk about federal government employees being lazy  and Im like, yall are not even on her level. You just happened to luck into this position, she said of her counterparts on the other aisle.

My mom graduated college at the age of 19 after she got a full ride to go to [Washington University in St. Louis]. She did college in three years.

Crockett also got a lot of reactions to her using profanity during Thursdays committee hearing. She admitted to theGrio that she has a terrible mouth, but usually avoids cursing during official committee or congressional business. However, when she heard Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina curse during the hearing, she decided to go for it.

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is seen is seen during the first hearing held by House Oversight Committee in impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden at Rayburn House Office Building in Capitol Hill of Washington D.C., United States on September 28, 2023. (Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

She just kept using shit  and it wasnt even effective. And I was like, well, I can use this word effectively. Like, I know how to use my words, the congresswoman said.

Crockett said she also recognizes her unique role as a Black woman in Congress and feels a responsibility to show communities that look like her that they are enough in their authentic way.

I do have the credentials. My resume is there. And its gotten there  in all of my beautiful Blackness  without affirmative action, she told theGrio. Aint nobody give me sht. Ive kicked down the door for everything that Ive gotten, obviously with the help of an amazing village.

Being confident and unapologetically Black is how Crockett runs her office. Her motto is, Whos gonna check me?

Its not that I try to be Black. I am Black. And when I get passionate  you know how we get. It is what it is, said Crockett, who added, You may not get as many head rolls when Im not so worked up.

Crockett said she was most concerned about what impact a shutdown wouldve had on Black and brown communities nationwide, particularly in her district. Crockett represents Texas 30th congressional district, which includes parts of Dallas and Tarrant counties.

The congresswoman pointed out that dried-up spending for federal programs like Head Start would affect not only childrens ability to learn but also who may even be able to go to work because working parents might not be able to access childcare.



Childcare has been so expensive for so many folks, especially middle-class or lower-income people. Thats about to be felt  almost immediately, Crockett said, adding federal workers and contractors are not like wealthiest of folk.

Her message to Americans is that Republicans are not for the people and are beholden to one man.

I need you to know that these boys yall keep voting for, they dont care about you. I needed people to understand and see that the priorities are misplaced, Crockett said.

Our priority should never be on doing the bidding of a two-time impeached loser, who has been found liable for being a fraud, a sexual abuser and has 91 pending counts against him.

Gerren Keith Gaynor

Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Rep. Jasmine Crockett talks shutdown scare, going viral over ahole Republicans appeared first on TheGrio.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York. Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Republicans on Saturday said Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in a House office building.

"Rep Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in Cannon this morning," Rep. Bryan Steil wrote on X.

The US Capitol Police confirmed on Saturday that an investigation of the incident was underway.

House Republicans on Saturday said that Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in a congressional office building as Democrats sought to delay a vote on a GOP-authored stopgap spending bill.

Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, the chairman of the House Administration Committee, took to X, formerly Twitter, in making the announcement about the two-term New York Democrat.

"Rep Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in Cannon this morning. An investigation into why it was pulled is underway," he wrote.

Bowman's chief of staff, Sarah Iddrissu, responded on X that the lawmaker "did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion."

The congressman later told reporters: "I thought the alarm would open the door." Republicans have said that the act was captured on camera.

While a video of the incident has not yet been released, a photo of an individual near a fire alarm was released Saturday afternoon by the Capitol Police.

The US Capitol Police later confirmed an investigation of the incident.

"Today at 12:05 p.m., a fire alarm was activated on the 2nd floor of the Cannon House Office Building," the agency wrote. "The building was evacuated while USCP officers checked the building. The building was reopened after it was determined there was not a threat."

"An investigation into what happened and why continues," the agency added.

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, with whom Bowman has sparred in the past, quickly took to X to accuse the progressive congressman of interrupting "an official proceeding."

The House did eventually pass the stopgap spending measure, which keeps the government funded for 45 more days, on Saturday afternoon. It now heads to the Senate for a vote.

If the Senate doesn't pass the bill by midnight, the federal government will officially shut down.

Insider reached out to a representative of Bowman's office for further comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Environmental lawyer and 2024 presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday teased a major announcement in upcoming weeks amid speculation he is considering dropping his bid to primary President Joe Biden as a Democrat and instead running for president as an independent or on a third-party ticket.

I want to tell you now what Ive come to understand after six months of campaigning: There is a path to victory, Kennedy said in a video announcing an October 9 event in Philadelphia. We all recognize that theres a genuine possibility of national transformation and its source is the goodness in the American people.

News of the upcoming event, first reported by Mediaite, comes as the super PAC supporting Kennedys presidential bid has conducted national polling to gauge his viability in a hypothetical three-person race against Biden and former President Donald Trump, a person familiar with the polling told CNN.

In the two-minute video announcing the event  which was shared with CNN in response to questions about the possibility of Kennedy running as an independent  the presidential candidate criticized corruption in government and on both sides of the aisle. He also called out the established Washington interests and said his campaign will change the habits of American politics.

I understand that deeply felt concern that people have about the way corruption has overtaken our government. Its in the executive branch. Its in Congress. Its in the leadership of both political parties, he added.

In July, Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, met Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle at an event in Tennessee. They discussed their shared beliefs, including around vaccine mandates and pandemic-era shutdowns, and the two have been in touch since, McArdle told CNN Friday. She said she has not received a commitment from Kennedy to run as a Libertarian Party candidate.

I havent heard anything official or unofficial about him switching, McArdle told CNN.

The New York Times first reported the meeting between Kennedy and McArdle.

Kennedy, who is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of assassinated 1968 presidential candidate and former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, has run a controversial campaign that has sought to be a thorn in Biden and the Democratic Partys side.

Since launching his bid to primary Biden in April, Kennedys campaign has failed to gain traction with Democrats despite polling indicating they are open to supporting alternatives to Biden. In a recent CNN poll of Democratic-aligned voters around the country, just 1% of those surveyed who said they want Democrats to nominate someone other than Biden named Kennedy as the person theyd like to see win the nomination.

Kennedys campaign has also failed to gain traction with New Hampshire Democrats, despite making the Democratic Partys proposal to reorganize the primary calendar and demote the Granite State from its first-in-the-nation primary status a centerpiece of his effort to win supporters in the state. A CNN/University of New Hampshire poll of likely Democratic primary voters released last week showed Kennedy with 9% support compared with 78% support for Biden.

At campaign events in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Kennedy has attracted support from voters of both parties who are drawn to his views on Covid-19 and the coronavirus vaccine. A longtime vaccine skeptic, Kennedy founded the Childrens Health Defense, an organization that promotes discredited claims linking vaccines to autism, and has frequently promoted vaccine skepticism on the campaign trail. At campaign events, he also frequently criticizes corruption in both political parties and by private corporations and asset management firms, painting himself as an outsider candidate who can root out corruption in all forms.

CNNs Annie Grayer contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) Archives and Special Collections has received more than $102,000 in grant funding to enhance and ensure long time preservation of various artifacts that tell the story of the universitys 132-year history.

The Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Library Alliance awarded ECSU $25,000, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded *$75,639, and the North Carolina Preservation Consortium (NCPC) awarded $1,815 for 2023-2024.

The universitys Archives and Special Collections is housed inside the G.R. Little Library. It stores items like VHS and U-Matic tapes of ECSU commencement ceremonies, papers from former ECSU chancellors, ECSU school catalogs and Rosenwald School books. Grant funding will help uphold some of these materials, literally. New shelving that can hold more than 3,000 items is also part of planned upgrades. Any work done for the universitys archives is funded through grants.

University Archivist A. Paige Hendrickson likens the importance of special collections to mining for treasure.

Its like an archeological dig, just not in the dirt, she said.

Elements of preservation such as room temperature and humidity control, document scanners, microfilm readers, appropriate boxes and containers, and a disaster preparedness plan that includes archives are important, but often overlooked, Hendrickson said.

However, funding from the NCPC grant will be utilized to purchase Dataloggers that measure the temperature and humidity (Rh) levels more accurately in the multiple rooms that house the Archives collections. With the equipment, comes the capability to make adjustments for consistent levels to better protect historical materials from deterioration.

Environmental monitoring is key for long-term preservation of archival collections, Hendrickson said.

Former faculty member Leonard Ballou established ECSUs Archives and Special Collections in 1971. However, the collection houses materials dating back to the school's founding by the North Carolina Legislature in 1891, as a training school for colored teachers. So far, the oldest thing within the Archives is a book of hymns by Martin Luther published in 1790 and written in German. Oral histories and an HBCU radio station preservation project are in the works, as well as partnership projects like the Harvard-HBCU Digital Library Trust.

Being able to preserve history thats tangible and time stamped is important, Hendrickson said.

Just because it's not online, she said, doesn't mean it isn't valuable information.

*This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MH-253357-OMS-23].
Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr., greets supporters after speaking at a campaign event on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, in Spartanburg, S.C. | Meg Kinnard, Associated Press

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly planning to announce his run as an Independent in the 2024 presidential election on Oct. 9.

Kennedy is currently registered as a Democrat but has reportedly been a critic of the party, and may be announcing his plans to separate and run as an independent.

Heres what we know.

Is RFK Jr. running as an independent?

Kennedy released a video teasing a major announcement in Philadelphia on Oct. 9 where he states that he will share with you our path to the White House.

Mediaite was first to release the story with Kennedys nonprofit Childrens Health Defense news outlet, The Defender, reporting on it closely after saying that Kennedy plans to announce his run in Pennsylvania.

Theres been no statement from Kennedy himself on this recent revelation, but a Kennedy campaign insider reportedly told Mediaite that, Bobby feels that the Democratic National Committee is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go.

The Guardian reported that this decision is, a move that could upset the 2024 race for the White House.

Related

Why would RFK Jr. run as an independent?

The Messenger reported that Kennedy has been outspoken about his opinions on the Democratic Party and how the Democratic National Committee leaders have succumbed to a siren of control through their support of President Joe Biden.

DNC officials have also been reportedly outspoken in their their opinions of Kennedy saying that allegedly not a single Democratic activist is supporting Kennedys run for the White House.

Its kind of obvious, Lincoln Chafee, a former Rhode Island governor and senator who is backing Kennedy, told The New York Times. The primaries are so rigged, theres no debates.

Chafee continued, saying that Kennedy has to look at his options.

Related

How do Democrats feel about RFK Jr.?

Democrats, have watched Mr. Kennedys candidacy nervously since it began in April and are on high alert, as Kennedy could potentially run independent, according to the Times.

Vanity Fair reported that the idea of RFK Jr. running independent is legitimately terrifying for a number of reasons.

One of the reasons listed is that by running independent, Kennedy reportedly could take votes away from Joe Biden and help Donald Trump.

The Deseret News reported that Kennedy has been outspoken in urging the importance of holding debates so that Americans, know that their president has the vigor to handle this very rigorous job and I think there are enough doubts about that now that President Biden really needs to come out.
Robert F Kennedy Jr is reportedly planning to announce that he will pull out of the race to become the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate and run instead as an independent.

The lawyer and vaccine-sceptic is expected to release campaign ads targeting the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ahead of the announcement in October.

Mr Kennedy, who is the son of the late US Senator Robert F Kennedy, previously filed candidacy papers for the democratic nomination with the FEC in April.

But according to news outlet Mediaite, Mr Kennedy believes that changes to DNC rules may exclude his candidacy and that running as an independent is the only way to go.

Campaign ads aimed at the DNC are intended to pave the way for the announcement on October 9 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mediaite reported.

Mr Kennedy Jrs father, the late New York Senator Robert F Kennedy Sr, was a candidate in the 1968 presidential election before he was assassinated.

Though he is currently running as a Democrat, the 69-year-old has ties to the former president and 2024 Republican hopeful Donald Trump, and some of his biggest supporters are on the right.

In 2017, he was tapped by the then-president-elect to oversee a presidential panel to review vaccine safety and science - despite having repeatedly expressed scepticism about vaccines.

He continued pushing those beliefs through the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Kennedy, who is the son of the late US Senator Robert F Kennedy, previously filed candidacy papers for the democratic nomination with the FEC in April. (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Since its announcement, Mr Kennedys campaign has teetered on the edge of seriousness, buoyed by his famous last name and financial support from right-wing operatives eager to weaken President Joe Bidens reelection bid.

He has clashed numerous times with the media and members of the party he is ostensibly a member of over issues including the Covid vaccine, the independence of medical experts, and even antisemitism.

Last month appeared to come out in support of a national abortion ban three months into a pregnancy, after being questioned at the Iowa state fair.

His campaign team later claimed that Mr Kennedy had not meant what he had said, as he had misunderstood the question and that he does not support legislation banning abortion.

At an event in June, Mr Kennedy said that he would not take away peoples guns as a solution to reducing mass shootings, and made unfounded claims that the nationwide problem was linked to psychiatric drugs.
Robert F Kennedy Jr is reported to be ending his challenge to Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination and run instead as an independent candidate, in a move that could upset the 2024 race for the White House.

Kennedy, 69 and a scion of a famous political dynasty  a son of the former US attorney general and New York senator Robert F Kennedy, and a nephew of the former president John F Kennedy  will announce his run in Pennsylvania on 9 October, according to Mediaite.

Related: RFK Jr draws quite a crowd  what does it mean for 2024?

Bobby feels that the Democratic National Committee is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go, the website quoted a Kennedy campaign insider as saying.

Whether Kennedy; Cornel West, the Green party pick; or a notional nominee backed by No Labels, a supposedly centrist group, a third-party candidate is widely seen to be likely to peel more support from Biden than the likely Republican nominee, Donald Trump, thereby potentially handing the presidency to the Republican.

Kennedy is an attorney who made his name as an environmental campaigner before achieving notoriety as a prominent vaccine sceptic, particularly over Covid-19. His campaign has been rife with controversy, not least in a podcast interview released this week in which he repeated a conspiracy theory about the 9/11 attacks on New York.

His campaign has also been roiled by an antisemitism scandal after Kennedy told reporters at a press dinner that Covid-19 was ethnically targeted at white people and Black people, while Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people had greater immunity. The false claim was embraced by neo-Nazi groups and condemned by scientists and Jewish organizations.

Kennedys remarks echoed antisemitic tropes that circulated widely during the pandemic and portrayed the coronavirus as a global Jewish plot, causing members of Kennedys own family to denounce him for deplorable and untruthful comments.

Polling has shown Kennedy performing relatively well against Biden, the incumbent president, in the Democratic primary, but not close to posing a serious threat.

However, Biden aides are reportedly nervous about the possible impact of third-party candidates in a likely presidential election match-up with Trump.

Polling shows widespread concerns, including among Democrats, that at 80, Biden is too old to serve an effective second term in the White House. Trump is only three years younger  and faces 91 criminal charges, including for election subversion, and assorted civil threats  but polls show less concern among his fervent Republican base that he could be unfit to return to office.

Rightwing figures  prominent among them Steve Bannon, formerly Trumps White House strategist  have encouraged Kennedy to run against Biden or as an independent.

As cited by Mediaite, in July the Fox News host Greg Gutfeld said: I think he should run as a third-party candidate because I do think he should, he would win.

But not every observer thought Kennedys move would be bad for Biden.

Joe Conason, the editor of the National Memo, said: Go Bobby! Running independent means youll draw more voters from the candidate you resemble most in political ideology, personal conduct, and narcissistic mentality. (Thats Trump, not Biden.)
Romania is investigating whether Russia once again violated its airspace during its latest attack on Ukraine on the night of Sept. 29-30, Romania's Digi24 news site reported, citing the country's Defense Ministry.



The ministry reported that, as Russia was attacking Ukraine's ports on the Danube river, air alert sirens were activated in the nearby Romanian cities of Tulcea and Galati as radar systems detected an unsanctioned object heading towards the latter in Romania's airspace.

Local residents said that they saw something fall from the sky and heard the sounds of low-flying military jets.

Local authorities are still looking for evidence of an attack.

This isn't the first time that Russian attacks on the Danube ports violated Romania's territory. Romania's Foreign Ministry summoned the head of the Russian mission in the country to answer for how Russian drone debris ended up in Romanian territory on Sept. 9.



Romania has introduced new security measures to protect the civilian population near the Danube River.

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Romania is investigating possible violations of its airspace during Russia's attack on Ukraine's Danube ports on the night of 29-30 September.

Source: European Pravda, citing Digi24

Details: The Romanian Ministry of Defence stated that during another Russian attack on Ukrainian ports on the Danube late on 29 September, an air-raid warning was issued for residents of the Romanian judets [administrative units] of Tulcea and Galati, located near the Ukrainian cities of Izmail and Reni.

Quote: "The Romanian army's radar surveillance systems identified a possible unauthorised entry into the country's airspace; the signal was detected on the way to the city of Galati."

More details: Residents of the area say they saw something falling from the sky and then heard fighter jets at low altitude.

Services conducting searches in the area have not yet found anything.

Background:

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doesnt want California Republicans comparing him to former President Donald Trump . He wants them to contrast their states politics with those of his own.

DeSantis addressed the state GOP convention in Anaheim on Friday night, following Trumps fiery, 90-minute lunchtime address. The Florida governor largely ignored Trump and his almost insurmountable lead ahead of the March 5 primary contest.

And he mostly sidestepped the former presidents claims that he had done a number on DeSantis in the presidential polls after helping him become governor following a tearful plea for help from the Florida leader.

All I will say is Ronald Reagan made the point, Theres no limit to what you can do when you dont care who gets the credit, DeSantis said. I just wish, if he was the one that turned Florida red, that he wouldnt have turned Georgia and Arizona blue, because thats not been good for us at all.

DeSantis mostly focused on telling Californians disillusioned with their own leadership they should consider taking the Sunshine States policies national by electing him president.

The Florida model represents a way for us to reverse American decline, DeSantis said. It represents a way to have an American revival. And thats ultimately the choice that people are going to have to make. This is our time for choosing.

DeSantis brags about Florida policies

DeSantis spoke to a crowd in a noticeably smaller hotel ballroom than the one Trump filled. While the former president addressed a crowd of thousands who waited hours to see him, DeSantis spoke to several hundred Republicans in a less raucous setting.

His reduced circumstances mirrored the standings in the Republican presidential race. A Berkeley IGS poll from August shows 55% of California voters favor Trump, while DeSantis lags far behind with 16%.

Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting DeSantis, shut down its California operations late this summer. That decision could be attributed to a new California GOP rule that changed the way the state awards its national convention delegates.

The candidate who wins 50% or more of the vote gets all of Californias 169 delegates, a sizable block of the 1,234 needed to become the presidential nominee. Trump appears to be well on his way to winning the states entire haul.

But DeSantis on Friday had the same message he shared Wednesday during the Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley: he is the candidate who has enacted policies GOP voters want to see.

He touted Floridas commitment to school book bans and its so-called dont say gay policy, which bans teachers from talking about sexual orientation or gender identity with students. DeSantis also celebrated Floridas move to ban critical race theory curriculum.

Well also be able to say that the school systems in this country are dedicated to educating our kids and no longer indoctrinating our kids, he said. Well be able to say that the rights of parents are universally respected throughout this country.

In addition, DeSantis pushed a law-and-order attitude toward criminal justice issues. He bragged about giving bonuses to police officers and calling up the Florida National Guard to respond to Black Lives Matter protests.

As president, DeSantis said he would empower the military to use deadly force against the Mexican drug cartels.

Theyre killing our people, he said. Its time we leave them stone-cold dead at the border.

DeSantis vs. Newsom

DeSantis ended his 30-minute talk by saying he would see Republicans on Nov. 30, when he is scheduled to debate California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Georgia during a Fox News-hosted event.

The governor said he has already won the debate, because more Californians are moving to Florida, a claim that has already been debunked. Numerous fact checks have shown roughly an even number of residents are migrating between the two states.

I think this debate is useful because California is really the petri dish for American liberalism and American leftism, DeSantis said. And what Biden is doing are things that California was doing many years ago. What California is doing now is likely what a second Biden term would do, or God forbid, Kamala Harris, or God forbid Newsom himself. Who knows, right?

Ultimately, DeSantis told Republicans, Florida politics represent the turnaround the United States needs.

The California model represents more American decline, he said. The Florida model represents a way for us to reverse American decline. It represents a way to have an American revival and thats ultimately the choice that people are going to have to make. This is our time for choosing.
Russia's fall draft begins October 1 and seeks to call up 130,000 new soldiers to fight in the war.

The Kyiv Independent reported eligible men from occupied regions of Ukraine will be drafted.

Russian state media claims no conscription has previously occurred in occupied Ukraine.

Russia's Defense Ministry announced Friday that its upcoming conscription campaign will for the first time include eligible men from four occupied regions in Ukraine.

The Russian draft, beginning October 1 and running through the end of the year, seeks to call 130,000 new soldiers to service, according to the Russian state media outlet, TASS. Russian men aged 18-27 are required to enlist for a year of mandatory military service.

The fall draft will, for the first time, include residents of occupied territory in Ukraine including Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, the Kyiv Independent reported. Putin announced the annexation of the four regions last September after holding elections regarded by Ukraine and its Western allies as "shams," per CNN.

While the territories are currently held by Russian forces, allegiances among the residents who remain in the regions are divided between Ukrainian loyalists and those who support the Russian regime, France24 reported.

Earlier this year, Russia passed a law raising the upper age limit of the draft to 30 years old to broaden its pool of prospective soldiers, but the change will not go into effect until January 2024. In mid-July, Insider previously reported, Russia also increased the maximum age for veteran reservists to be called back to fight, making the country's highest-ranking officers eligible for mobilization as old as 70.

Representatives for Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, and the Government of the Russian Federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.

Russia mobilized 300,000 troops last year, resulting in a mass exodus of young Russians fleeing the country over fears they would be called up to fight. In response, the country passed a measure banning people who had been drafted from leaving the country.

While the country's strict measures have made it increasingly difficult for eligible Russian men to avoid their compulsory military service, Insider reported President Vladimir Putin fears a backlash among his citizens and wants to avoid a general call-up.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Russia lures Cubans to fight in Ukraine with offers of fast-tracked citizenship, Reuters reported.

Recruiters are also offering a signing bonus worth more than what the average Cuban makes in a year.

"Almost all of our friends have gone over there," one Cuban man told the news agency.

The Russian government is luring poor Cubans to fight in its war in Ukraine by offering a fast track to citizenship and a signing bonus worth more than most residents of Havana make in a year, according to an investigation by Reuters.

Russia has lost tens of thousands of soldiers since invading Ukraine in February 2022. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin has expanded the draft, spurring tens of thousands of Russian men to flee the country.

Hundreds of Cubans, meanwhile, have headed in the other direction as Russia turns to foreign fighters to fill its trenches.

"Almost all of our friends have gone over there," 24-year-old Cristian Hernandez told Reuters. One man interviewed by the news agency said he personally knew of more than 100 people who had been recruited.

In early September, the Cuban government, an otherwise staunch ally of Russia, described the recruitment of its citizens as being part of a "human trafficking network." Some recruits have complained of a bait and switch, saying they signed up for civilian jobs  a truck driver or a construction worker  only to end up in a war zone.

But Cubans interviewed by Reuters said people generally know what they are signing up for. They described being recruited over WhatsApp by another Cuban. Messages shared with the outlet show a woman, identifying herself as "Dayana," quickly offering a contract to people who message her.

"This is a contract with the Russian military by which you receive citizenship," she said in one message reviewed by Reuters.

Russia is also offering relatively generous terms to residents of a country where the average salary is under $200 a month. According to the terms offered by "Dayana," the signing bonus alone is just over $2,000 a month; the annual salary is nearly $25,000.

"Everyone here knew what they were coming for," a Cuban man at a training camp in Russia told Reuters. "They came for the war."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Russia in July militarized the Black Sea, threatening commercial ships and Ukraine's ports.

Lacking major warships, Ukraine has turned to sea drones and cruise missiles to respond.

Kyiv's forces have used these weapons to increase attacks on high-profile Black Sea Fleet targets.

When Russia announced its intentions to militarize the Black Sea in July, Moscow tried to dominate the waters by issuing a sweeping threat to civilian ships transiting the waters: proceed and we'll consider you party to the war.

Ukraine, on the other hand, doesn't have much of a navy, having scuttled its last major warship at the start of the conflict to keep it from falling into Russian hands. But in the weeks since Russia's proclamation, Ukraine has completely flipped the script on Moscow by ramping up attacks on its Black Sea Fleet, including cruise missile strikes on a key shipyard and the fleet's headquarters and sea drone assaults on warships in port. Collectively, these attacks have damaged and destroyed several vessels, killed and injured dozens of military personnel, and threatened to disrupt Russian naval logistics and operations.

"The recent strikes on the Black Sea Fleet are another example of how Ukraine retains the initiative," Adm. Tony Radakin, Britain's chief of the defense staff, said this week. Russian President Vladimir Putin "has lost control of the war he started."

After withdrawing from the United Nations-brokered Black Sea grain deal in July, Russia announced that it would consider any ships in the region as potential carriers of military cargo aiding Kyiv in the fight. Moscow then immediately started increasing attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets along the Black Sea, including the targeting of ports and food storage facilities.

"We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks," a top White House official said at the time.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet warships take part in the Navy Day celebrations in the port city of Novorossiysk on July 30, 2023. STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

It was several weeks before Russia appeared to follow through on its threats when, in mid-August, it carried out a helicopter raid of a Palau-flagged cargo ship. Russian forces stormed the bridge and interrogated the crew, searching for what Moscow said was "prohibited goods," but ultimately the ship was allowed to keep sailing into a Ukrainian port.

In a tremendous escalation several days later, a missile carrier belonging to the Black Sea Fleet fired two Kalibr cruise missiles at a Liberian-flagged cargo ship moored at a port in Odesa. Britain's foreign office said Ukraine's air-defense systems "successfully shot down" the missiles, but the attempted strike, nevertheless, marked the most serious attack on a civilian vessel since Russia withdrew from the grain deal.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has taken the fight right back to Russia, and to compensate for its lack of a proper navy, it's turned to uncrewed surface vessels (USVs)  or sea drones  to wreak havoc on the Black Sea Fleet. Leadership in Kyiv has sought to prioritize developing what they call "the formation of the world's first naval fleet of drones."

Early August featured two major sea drone attacks: the first targeted the Russian port of Novorossiysk, which damaged the landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak, and shortly after that, the Russian merchant tanker Sig was "attacked and disabled" near the Kerch Strait, according to intelligence shared by Britain's defense ministry. Experts have described these cheap, explosive, and remotely operated drones as being able to give Ukraine an "asymmetric advantage" against Russia, which hasn't yet figured out how to consistently stop the systems.

To complement the threat posed by its sea drones, Ukraine's military has also turned to its arsenal of long-range Western-made cruise missiles like the UK-provided Storm Shadow to pound targets belonging to the Black Sea Fleet in its home of Sevastopol, which is located on the southwestern edge of the occupied Crimean peninsula.

A Ukrainian surface drone called "Sea Baby." Screengrab via the Security Service of Ukraine Telegram

A September 13 attack on a shipyard there severely damaged a landing vessel and a submarine that were undergoing repairs at the time. Ukraine mocked Russia for losing a submarine to a country "without many warships" as experts said the strikes marked a tremendous blow to Russian maritime logistics and will for quite some time render the critical dry dock inoperable.Western intelligence assessed the damage will pose a maintenance challenge for the Black Sea Fleet, especially considering the lack of suitable alternative yards and backlogs elsewhere.

A little over a week after the shipyard attack, Ukraine bombarded the nearby headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet during a meeting of Russia's naval leadership. Ukraine's Special Operations Forces claimed nearly three dozen people were killed in the attack, and over 100 others were injured.

John Harvey Jr., a retired US Navy admiral who previously oversaw US Fleet Forces Command, said the Russians continue to show a lack of caution and awareness with where they place high-value targets like ships, aircraft, and personnel, and he said it was surprising to see Moscow hold an important meeting in such an obvious location.

The attack is "probably a pretty significant step backwards for them and their control of near-term operations in the Black Sea," he told Insider.

During the war, the Black Sea Fleet has been disrupting Ukrainian exports and launching missile attacks on military and civilian targets on land, but these missions have steadily become more complicated. Kyiv's military said it recently established a new shipping corridor in the Black Sea so it can avoid Russian blockades and move cargo, which is critical for its economy.

Photos and videos showed the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters up in flames after a devastating missile strike. Emergency Sevastopol/Telegram

Black Sea Fleet targets in Crimea have been within striking distance of some of Ukraine's Western-made cruise missiles for several months, and the problem could get worse for Moscow in the future. The Biden administration is reportedly slated to send Kyiv missiles that would extend the range and lethality of its arsenal of the US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) by way of the much-sought-after MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS. These could, however, be tasked with taking out other targets.

Harvey said it appears as though Russia has been "very slow to react to the growing compromise" of its overall force layout in Crimea and "what that means for them to be able to sustain a fleet at sea." He said that Moscow is either going to come up with a different fundamental plan of how to mitigate this exposure or just accept living with these losses.

Russia has also seemingly demonstrated poor judgment in assessing Ukraine's capacity to actually carry out such impactful strikes on Black Sea Fleet targets, Harvey said. In other words, Moscow has a "failure of imagination" that Kyiv can put several pieces together to stage successful attacks.

"The Ukrainians are learning to adapt to a maritime theater and having a significant impact on the Black Sea Fleet without having a fleet," he said. "What you're seeing is going to be just the tip of the iceberg here in terms of a campaign that will grow steadily  not just in importance, but also in size."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Russia shelled nine communities along the Sumy Oblast border on Sept. 29, firing 25 times throughout the day, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

The communities of Esman, Shalyhyne, Mykolaiv, Putyvl, Velyka Pysarivka, Khotin, Krasnopillia, and Yunakivka came under fire. The day's shelling caused over 100 explosions.

The administration reported that the Russian military attacked with artillery, mortar, tank, and cannon shelling. They also dropped mines on Putyvl.

No casualties were reported.

Sumy Oblast is located on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia. It has been the target of daily shelling from across the border since parts of the oblast were liberated from Russian troops in early April 2022.

Read also: Abducting the future: How Ukrainian parents fight to rescue their children from Russia

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Russian troops have hit a residential building in the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast with a KAB-500 bomb (guided aerial bomb), injuring a child aged 13.

Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutors Office

Details: The Russians launched an air strike on Kostiantynivka at around 16:00, dropping a KAB guided air-launched bomb on the territory of a transport company and a residential area where two children were walking outside at the time. A boy, 13, sustained a blast injury and a shrapnel injury to his head.

Two more women, 43 and 54, were affected by Russian artillery attacks on the villages of Lastochkine in the Pokrovsk district and Novoukrainka in the Volnovakha district.

Both had been in their homes during the bombardment and later were hospitalised.

The destroyed and damaged facilities include over two dozen private and multi-apartment residential buildings, outbuildings, company premises, personal vehicles and power lines.

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Russians have distorted the words of a journalist reporting on Russian attacks on Mariupol in a pirated dubbing of the American TV series The Morning Show.

Episode 4 in season 3 of the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show referred to the war in Ukraine, the attack on a hospital in Mariupol, and the Russian war crimes committed there.

However, when one of the characters says, "The Russians arent just bombing the city, theyre shooting civilians on the streets", Russian studio Rudub translated this as "Here they arent just bombing the city - the Azov Brigade is shooting civilians in the streets."

Ukrainian TV producer Alexander Rodnyansky pointed this out on social media, and Russian media outlets have reported on it.

Azov defenders' families have reacted to the Russians' attempt to hide the truth.

"This is an example of classic Russian propaganda - an attempt to shift responsibility from themselves to the people who resisted them in Mariupol. When my husband was being held captive in Taganrog, during interrogations, he was asked in all seriousness who bombed Mariupol and the Mariupol Drama Theater.

When he replied that they did, they didn't like that answer very much. It seems that this is an Orwellian situation where good is called evil and evil is called good. And, unfortunately, the Russian population takes this at face value," Yuliia Fedosiuk, Deputy Chair of the Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders, told Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia.

What was on The Morning Show?

In this story, photographer Andre Ford travels to Mariupol for the TV company UBA. A few days later, he calls journalist Mia Jordan and tells her what is happening in the city.

In the original, the photographer says: "The Russians arent just bombing the city, theyre shooting civilians in the streets." However, in the pirate dubbing, the Russians blame Azov fighters for their war crimes.

Original:

 Where are they evacuating the wounded?

 A military hospital in Donetsk. The Russians are back to shelling the shit out of this place. Im gonna just stay put for a moment.

 Are you OK? It looks really bad.

 I'm below ground, Im fine. As long as you can get those pictures out there. Mia, the Russians. It's not just a bombing. Theyre shooting civilians in the street.

Russian translation:

- Where are the wounded being evacuated?

- A military hospital in Donetsk. The military is attacking the city.

- Are you OK?

- I'm below ground, it's okay. I hope you get the pictures. Mia, its not just the city being bombed here. Azov are shooting civilians on the streets.

The Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders has not yet contacted Apple TV+ to let them know about this. Yuliia Fedosiuk believes that the series' creators will learn about the Russian distortion from publicity in the media.

"We didn't think about writing a separate letter. In fact, we also need to realise that a limited number of people in Russia will hear this voiceover.

Although I support the fact that Ukraine should work even with the Russian population, I think these people have already been turned into zombies by watching Russian television. So it doesn't add anything or take anything away," Fedosiuk said.

The most intense period of the defence of Mariupol lasted about three months, until the defenders of Azovstal were ordered to leave the steelworks.

Throughout this time, the Russians attacked the city continually, killing civilians. In particular, on 9 March, the Russian invaders dropped several powerful bombs that hit a maternity hospital and a children's hospital in the centre of Mariupol.

On 16 March, the Russians dropped a super-powerful bomb on the Mariupol Drama Theatre, where local people, particularly children, were hiding. Mariupol City Council said at least 300 people were killed as a result, but journalists have established that the Russian terrorist attack may have killed 600 people.

For reference: The Morning Show is an American television series about the behind-the-scenes goings-on at TV channel UBA, starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. It began airing on Apple TV+ in 2019.

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Late in the evening of 30 September, the Russians launched air strikes on Kherson Oblast.

Source: Air Force, Kherson Oblast Military Administration

Details: The Air Force warned civilians of Russian aircraft activity.

An air-raid warning was issued in the south and east of the country's east and south.

Later, Kherson Oblast authorities reported that Russian Su-34 and Su-35 jets were flying towards Kherson Oblast, and a minute later, launches were recorded, with missiles heading to the oblast's Beryslav district.

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Russian forces launched 25 attacks on the border areas of Sumy Oblast over the course of the past 24 hours, with 116 explosions recorded.

Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration

Details: Krasnopilla, Yunakivka, Khotin, Vekyka Pysarivka, Esman, Shalyhyne, Bilopilla, Putyvl, and Mykolaivka hromadas came under Russian fire [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories  ed.].

The Russians deployed mortars to attack Esman hromada, with 18 explosions recorded.

Shalyhyne hromada came under mortar (two explosions) and artillery attack (four explosions).

Russian forces fired mortars on Mykolaivka hromada, causing eight explosions.

The Russians dropped four bombs on the territory of Putyvl hromada.

Velyka Pysarivka hromada came under mortar shelling (five explosions) and artillery shelling (three explosions).

The Russians used tanks (two explosions), tubed artillery (two explosions), AGS grenade launchers (14 explosions) and mortars (13 explosions) to attack Bilopilla hromada.

Russian forces deployed mortars to attack Khotin hromada, and 13 explosions were recorded.

Krasnopillia hromada came under artillery shelling, with 21 explosions recorded.

Russian forces deployed mortars to attack Yunakivka hromada, and seven explosions were recorded.

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The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) intends to expand its own capabilities to spy on users of the Russian Internet, as well as disguise its operations.

Source: ISW (Institute for the Study of War)

Details: The report notes that the FSB is likely to support amendments to the bill of the State Duma of Russia, which will expand its digital authoritarianism tools to spy on users of the Russian Internet, banking and telecommunications companies.

Experts conclude that the FSB's efforts to gain control over the databases of large companies are probably part of an attempt to strengthen surveillance measures over the population of the Russian Federation and occupied Ukraine.

The FSB also intends to use potential new access to databases to disguise its operations more easily.

Potential new FSB access to databases of private companies may affect information security in other countries that use the services of the Russian Big Data Association.

Experts recall that in August the Kremlin tried to force Yandex to provide the FSB with their international users data.

Analysts also noticed that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on 29 September that 130,000 troops will be drafted into the Russian army from October to December 2023, compared to 147,000 troops drafted during the spring conscription.

Regarding operations at the front, the review notes that on 29 September, the Ukrainian military continued counteroffensive operations in the west of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast and in the vicinity of Bakhmut.

Russian sources claim that on 28 and 29 September, Ukrainian forces attacked north of Robotyne (10 kilometres south of Orikhiv), as well as near Verbove (18 kilometres southeast of Orikhiv) and Novoprokopivka (13 kilometres south of Orikhiv).

Russian milbloggers claimed on 20 September that Ukrainian forces unsuccessfully tried to advance east of the railway line south of Bakhmut in the area of Klishchiivka (7 kilometres southwest of Bakhmut) and Kurdiumivka (13 kilometres southwest of Bakhmut), and also reported heavy fighting on the Klishchiivka-Andriivka-Kurdiumivka line.

To quote ISW Key Takeaways for 29 September:

Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast and in the Bakhmut area on 29 September.

The Russian government announced details about the semi-annual conscription cycle set to begin on 1 October in most of Russia, reportedly including the illegally annexed territories in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and former Wagner Group commander and current Ministry of Defence (MoD) employee Andrey Troshev on 29 September signalling that Putin will likely back the MoD in its apparent competing effort with the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) to recruit current and former Wagner personnel.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is likely supporting amendments to a Russian State Duma bill that would expand its tools of digital authoritarianism to surveil users of Russian internet, banking, and telecom companies.

The apparent self-censorship in the wider Russian information space has likely opened the door for some fringe elements to directly criticise and speculate about senior Russian military commanders without pushback.

Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast and advanced in some areas on 29 September.

Russia may be continuing attempts to circumvent sanctions through military-technical cooperation with Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries.

Russia is relaxing passport controls on Ukrainian citizens leaving and entering Russia likely in an attempt to simplify the movement of Ukrainian citizens to Russia.

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A sailor died in Australia after a whale struck and flipped his boat

A 61-year-old man has died in Australia after a whale struck and flipped his boat, police said.

His crewmate and brother-in-law survived.

Experts said there is an "incredible' number" of migrating whales close to Australia's east coast.

A 61-year-old man has died in Australia after a whale struck and flipped his boat, ejecting both members of its crew, local authorities said.

New South Wales Police said officers pulled the unconscious man from waters off La Perouse, a suburb south-east of Sydney, on Saturday morning after an unoccupied boat was found circling in the waters.

Efforts were made to resuscitate the man, named by Australia's 9 News as Stuart Collings, but they were unsuccessful and he was declared dead at the scene.

A 53-year-old man  Collings' brother-in-law Darren Curmi and the skipper of the boat, according to 9 News  was rescued from the water and treated by paramedics. He was taken to hospital in a stable condition, police said.

Siobhan Munro, acting superintendent of NSW Police, said at a press conference on Saturday that early reports indicated that a whale may have breached near or on top of the boat.

Police described the 15-foot boat as a "runabout vessel."

A witness told 9 News he had heard a big bang early in the morning and saw the boat capsize and "something big" emerge from the water.

The pair of men were thought to have been in the water for around 45-minutes before being rescued, with Curmi staying close to Collings, 9 News reported.

Police didn't say which whale species was likely to have collided with the boat.

Mark Hutchings, executive director of the NSW maritime authority, told a press conference that "an incredible amount of whales around this year, migrating south."

Thousands of humpback whales were due to swim passed Sydney on the way to their summer feeding grounds in Antarctica, Marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta told ABC News.

Australia's coastline is home to 20 small and 10 large species of whales. The largest is the blue whale, which can frow to 100 feet long.

Read the original article on Insider
FTX spent $15 million on flights and plane upgrades with a charter airline, a court filing said.

Bankman-Fried made 21 trips to or from Washington, DC, on a Learjet 60, a person with direct knowledge told Insider.

FTX also chartered smaller Cessnas, which two people said transported Amazon parcels.

Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX frequently chartered private jets from a Bahamian company called Trans Island Airways (TIA), three people familiar with the matter told Insider.

That included several trips to Washington, DC, according to one of the people who has direct knowledge of the matter.

Two of the people told Insider that TIA operated the private planes that transported FTX's Amazon packages from Florida to the Bahamas, because Amazon didn't deliver to the Caribbean nation.

Bankman-Fried's association with TIA was first publicly detailed in a legal motion filed last Thursday. The motion said a "handshake deal" between Bankman-Fried and the firm's CEO saw FTX loan it $28.4 million to buy two private jets  a Bombardier Global 5000 and Embraer ERJ-135BJ Legacy 600.

The motion, which arose from a months-long dispute with the FTX Debtors over who owns the aircraft, also says FTX spent more than $15 million with the aviation company on flight services.

Beginning in October 2021, TIA provided "private charter and cargo flights, customized plane upgrades and other services" to FTX executives, employees, and their associates, the filing said.

One of Trans Island Airways' Learjet 60 planes. Insider

Bankman-Fried's flights included 36 journeys on a Learjet 60, the person with direct knowledge of the matter told Insider. They added that each trip cost between $20,000 and $30,000, which means the Learjet flights alone could cost more than $1 million.

Some 21 of those trips were to or from Washington, DC, the person said. The trips to DC are especially notable because FTX executives' political donations form a key part of the evidence against Bankman-Fried, whose trial is due to start next Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried orchestrated a scheme that involved funneling $100 million of FTX funds through executives to politicians . It was intended to "weed out anti-crypto" politicians and gain favorable influence among lawmakers, while avoiding criticism for appearing too partisan, prosecutors said in the most recent indictment.

Bankman-Fried's father, Joe Bankman, joined the FTX founder at meetings on Capitol Hill that aimed to change regulations on crypto exchanges, The New Yorker reported.

Bankman-Fried is also known to have met with senior officials in the US financial system, and this week the New York Times reported that Bankman-Fried met with Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell in February 2022. The meeting took place inside the Federal Reserve's Martin building in D.C, his calendar shows.

Ryan Salame , the former CEO of FTX's Bahamian entity, has pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. He was released on $1 million bail.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to seven charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

The FTX founder also traveled via Learjet to New York and Chicago, the person said. They added that Bankman and biographer Michael Lewis sometimes accompanied him. In a lawsuit filed against Bankman-Fried's parents earlier this month, FTX lawyers said Bankman "flew on privately-chartered jets."

Bankman and a representative for Lewis did not respond to requests for comment from Insider.

Online listings for TIA's Learjet 60s, registered as C6-ZIP and C6-ROV, show they can carry up to eight passengers, and have beige interiors with wooden details.

TIA's Cessna Grand Caravan from the side. Insider

Bankman-Fried also chartered flights on TIA's smaller Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft, two of the people told Insider. They said the Caravans were typically used for cargo flights, like transporting the crypto exchange's Amazon packages.

One of them, a former TIA pilot, said the FTX founder often flew to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in Florida.

"I flew all of them," he said. "I flew Sam, I flew Ryan, Sam's girlfriend, Sam's dad. I mean everyone from FTX."

The pilot added they would make up to four trips a day to Fort Lauderdale, transporting "goodies" like the Amazon packages.

Trans Island Airways and a representative for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.

Got a tip about FTX's use of private jets or other large expenses? Contact this reporter at psyme@insider.com or on Twitter @PWSyme. You can also ask for his Signal or WhatsApp number.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon and Sheriff Jack Campbell speak about an investigation opened Friday into the cremation practices of Heinz Funeral Home in Carlinville.

Sangamon County has opened an investigation into the cremation practices at a Carlinville funeral home after several families received the wrong ashes following the death of a loved one.

Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon and Sheriff Jack Campbell said at a Friday press conference that there were numerous incidents of incorrect identification and poor treatment of human remains at Heinz Funeral Home, also known as Family Care Cremations in Carlinville.

Allmon said his office was tipped off on Monday when a local hospital contacted him regarding a woman whose body had been in the hospital morgue for over a month.

The woman's family went to Heinz shortly after her death to arrange a cremation, according to Allmon. The funeral home gave the family ashes that were purported to be their mother's. After the hospital tip, the family provided Allmon with the ashes for investigation. He determined that the ashes were not of their mother's, but of someone else who resided in Sangamon County. Their mother's body was still in the hospital morgue.

The discovery led Allmon to investigate other cremation services Heinz had handled. He found other families had received ashes that weren't their loved ones, and similarly, Allmon said, cremation never actually took place.

"I felt it necessary to open an investigation based on the evidence I had learned," he said. "It's important for my office to assist Sangamon County residents in any way possible." He declined to release the identities of the deceased out of respect for the families.

Jim Allmon - Sangamon County Coroner.

Law enforcement officials from Sangamon and Macoupin counties, along with Allmon, Macoupin County Coroner Anthony Kravanya, and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations met in Carlinville Thursday to examine Heinz's facilities. They found a series of three remains that hadn't been refrigerated as is required  with Allmon noting that they had been in an advanced state of decomposition to such an extent that they couldn't be identified.

More: Audit of Illinois DCFS finds delayed reports of child abuse, torture, death

Allmon and his office took possession of the remains so that they could be identified and returned to their families. He also said he had been in contact with other families who had received the wrong remains from Heinz, with one being cremated under a different name.

State Journal-Register calls to Heinz for comment were not returned.

It was unclear how many families were affected by the mishandled cremations. Allmon said that any number of possible explanations, such as people being intentionally switched, was still a possibility.

He said the situation was unlike anything he had seen in 20 years.

"It's unimaginable what these families are going through," Allmon said. "It's not my job to make sure that funeral directors are doing their job. Let me say this: this area is blessed with a lot of amazing funeral homes. This is not a reflection on any other ones that I'm aware of."

Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell

Allmon also acknowledged that the incidents have taken a toll.

"We've been working tirelessly to try to return the cremains to the right people," Allmon said. "That's what we're focusing on at the coroner's office, to make sure we identify these people appropriately, take care of them, and service the families."

More: 'A beautiful woman inside and out:' Wenonah Bish turns 111 and shares secrets to longevity

He said that he couldn't imagine the emotions of families who trusted Heinz to provide care for their loved ones amid their deaths.

"These families have been through enough and this is almost like kicking someone when they're down," Allmon said.

Allmon cautioned that it was still early in the investigation and it wasn't clear how long the improper cremations had taken place. Campbell said that his department was working to ascertain if Heinz had broken any laws by how the remains were handled.

"We're in contact with the State's Attorney's office to determine what evidence we would have," Campbell said. "There's nobody in custody, but as we continue the investigation, we're going to see what possible criminal charges there could be."

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Sangamon County officials investigate Heinz Funeral Home in Carlinville
Japan's overtourism led to the new entrance tax. The Hiroshima prefecture city of Hatsukaichi introduced this.

Other Japanese islands, such as Taketomi in Okinawa prefecture and Sado in Niigata prefecture, are also considering adopting the newly introduced fee. If you are a tourist who regularly visits Japan, here are the major details you need to know about the new entrance tax.

What Tourists Need to Know About Entrance Tax?

According to Nikkei Asia's latest report, Japan's new entrance tax is expected to be implemented by the Hiroshima prefecture city starting in October. The new tourism fee is expected to secure funds needed to manage the ongoing overtourism in Japan. Currently, massive streams of tourists are still flocking to the Asian country to spend their vacations.

However, overtourism also puts the country's culture and nature of the islands in danger. Japanese officials said the new entrance tax, the "Miyajami Visit Tax," will have exemptions. These include Hatsukaichi's residents, commuters, preschool children, and other students. If you are not among these individuals, you must pay the tax to their fair on ferries.

Specifically, tourists will face a 100 yen fee ($0.67) per person on every visit. But, for regular tourists, the new tax offers an annual payment of 500 yen (more than $3). Japanese authorities expect the Miyajami Visit Tax to generate around 140 million yen (around $940,000) in fiscal 2023 until April 2024. This revenue will be allocated for toilet and park maintenance and free WiFi provision.

Read Also: Japan: Potential Radioactive Scrap Metal From Fukushima Nuclear Plant Stolen, Sold by Contractors

Japan's Worsening Overtourism

CNN reported that the overtourism issue in Japan is getting worse. The latest victim of this tourism problem is Mount Fuji. Veteran ranger Miho Sakurai, who has been patrolling the slopes of Mount Fuji for over seven years now, said that there are too many people in Japan's highest peak.

He added that the number of tourists visiting the mountain is much higher compared to the past few years. In 2023, UNESCO added Mount Fuji to the World Heritage Sites list.

Because of this, UNESCO's advisory organ, ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), urged Japanese officials to handle the tourists and local visitors to Mount Fuji effectively.

However, the authorities' efforts were insufficient since the number of visitors to Mount Fuji increased twice between 2012 (2 million) and 2019 (5 million).

With the new entrance tax, Japanese officials hope to decrease the number of tourists visiting Japan's islands and other protected destinations.

Related Article: Japan's Troubled Toshiba To Leave 74-Year Stock Market History After Successful Takeover Bid

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Sarah Ferguson has paid tribute to her former personal assistant who was found dead at her home in Dallas, Texas.

Jenean Chapman, 46, worked with the Duchess of York in her first job after graduating from New Yorks Syracuse University with a degree in TV, film and production.

On Monday (25 September), Chapman was found dead in her apartment in Dallas, five months after moving to the Texas city.

Dallas Police Department announced two days later that they had arrested a man named James Patrick on suspicion of Chapmans murder. According to family members speaking to local press, Chapman and Patrick had been in a tumultuous relationship over several years, and had been married for a few months.

On Friday, Ferguson shared her response to Chapmans death in a social media post that included an image of them together in a car.

I am shocked and saddened to learn that Jenean Chapman, who worked with me as my personal assistant many years ago, has been murdered in Dallas aged just 46, she began her caption. A suspect is in custody.

Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her family and friends. I heard from her just a couple of months ago and she seemed so happy.

Ferguson concluded her message with an appeal for followers to contribute to her familys GoFundMe page raising funds to pay for Chapmans body to be transported back to New York City, as well as legal and funeral costs.

Crystal Marshall, Chapmans sister, told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth that she was the definition of an independent Black woman. She added that Chapman had most recently been working as a senior vice president at Critical Mass, a digital marketing firm, and that she had also worked at music company Def Jam.

Chapman was planning to embark on a new journey and start her own business, Marshall told the Dallas news station.

Were in a state of shock, Nicole Marshall, another sister of Chapman, told US press. Definitely feel blindsided. Were trying to be a support system for our mother, but its just a really hard time.

Discussing Chapmans relationship with suspect Patrick, Nicole said that the family were shocked to learn of their marriage due to its on-and-off nature.

It was rocky, we were aware of that, she noted.
Fifty-five years ago Saturday, Boeing rolled out the first ever 747 Jumbo Jet at their Everett assembly line.

The now world-famous aircraft was originally intended to haul passengers and cargo for Pan American Airways (Pan Am) according to HistoryLink.org

The plane was more than two times the size of Boeings previous project, the 707.

The size of the 747 was so large, that Boeing was forced to build the worlds largest structure by volume to assemble it.

Plans for the record-breaking aircraft were first created in the early 1960s.

Six years later, Pan Am signed a $550 million contract for 25 of the planes. A very short turnaround time, especially by Boeing standards.

When the project was ready for its official release in 1968, orders had already been placed by 26 airlines.

The morning of the planes debut, a replica of Boeings first airplane, the B&W, flew over Paine Field. Each of Boeings previous models then made the same ceremonious flight until the 747 appeared in the sky as the largest aircraft that many of the onlookers had ever seen.

The 747 was painted white and red which was quite a change from the companys old canary yellow and brown color scheme.

Stewardesses from each of the 26 airlines then attended the planes maiden flight after smashing their 26 bottles of champagne against the planes frame.

Back in February of 2023, Boeing said farewell to the 747 with the last ceremonial flight taking place from the Everette facility where the first plane was assembled all of those years ago.
Zealandia broke apart from the supercontinent Gondwana millions of years ago then sank.

It's hard to study an underwater landmass, but researchers say they've created a complete map.

Studying Zealandia's geology helps scientists understand how and why supercontinents break up.

After decades of work, a team of scientists has finally completed a map of Zealandia. It's helping them unlock the secrets of this lost continent's mysterious past.

Zealandia is sometimes called Earth's eighth continent. It stretches over 1.9 million square miles  about half the size of Australia.

But it was hidden, lost for millennia, because 95% of it is underwater. That makes it extremely difficult to map since most of its volcanoes, valleys, rifts, and mountains lie at the bottom of the ocean near New Zealand.

But that didn't deter scientist Nick Mortimer, who led the team that's been studying Zealandia for over 20 years.

In a new study, the team finished mapping the final piece of the continent, the northeast corner.

Combined with their data from years of research, they've mapped the continent's surface features like plateaus and ridges. As well as the boundary where the continent and ocean usually meet  a feature that's largely unknown for other continents, because it's not typically studied, Mortimer said.

As a result, the scientists believe they've mapped Zealandia more thoroughly than any other continent on Earth.

"As far as we're aware, this is a world first," Mortimer, a geologist with GNS Science who led the study, told Insider.

Decades of work establish Zealandia as a continent

Some have argued Zealandia isn't a continent because so much of it lies below the water. Others consider it a continental fragment or microcontinent.

For geologists, like Mortimer, the definition of a continent doesn't necessarily have to do with sea level.

In addition to a continent's large size and defined boundaries between land and sea, another important factor is the continental crust.

A continent typically has a thicker crust and is geologically much more varied  with granites, schists, limestones, and quartzites  compared to the sea floor.

A bathymetric map of Zealandia, with darker blue representing deeper water. Nick Mortimer/GNS Science

It took a large international collaboration and a combination of satellite, radar, and rock data to understand Zealandia's geology.

By 2019, the team had mapped the boundaries of South Zealandia. Based on years of research and accumulating evidence, the team felt they could finally "pronounce Zealandia as a continent, albeit one that is a lot more hidden than other ones" Mortimer said.

But the researchers also wanted to know how Zealandia looks, from its volcanoes and ridges to its basement geology  the oldest crust that serves as its foundation.

Geologically mapping Zealandia

Their latest paper, published in the peer-reviewed journal "Tectonics" on September 12, fills in the maps' geological gaps in the northeast section, the last piece of the puzzle.

The researchers gathered and dated basalt and sandstone rocks from the seabed of the Fairway Ridge area of Zealandia, located in the Coral Sea to the northwest of New Caledonia. They ranged between about 36 and 128 million years old.

By gathering rock samples then plotting where they lay on Zealandia, the team could get a sense of what geological forces, like volcano formation and sinking crusts, were happening and when.

Granite rocks dredged from North Zealandia on the Australian ship R/V Investigator. Nick Mortimer/GNS Science

From left to right, the paper's bathymetric map shows Zealandia's basement geology getting progressively younger, from the Paleozoic to the Permian-Mesozoic eras.

The data helps geologists understand what happened when Zealandia broke off from a bigger landmass.

Zealandia is likely Antarctica's cousin

Mortimer calls Zealandia an extra piece of the supercontinent Gondwana puzzle.

For a long time, geologists have known Gondwana was a landmass containing what's now Antarctica, Australia, South America, Africa, and India. It began to break up during the Late Jurassic period, about 160 million years ago.

Zealandia's basement geology gave clues about where it fit into the supercontinent alongside Australia and Antarctica.

That included finding where granite once met granite and records of reversals in the Earth's magnetic field. "We can get some very satisfying geological matches across these continents before the supercontinent broke up," said Mortimer.

Under its ice, much of West Antarctica is submerged underwater, Mortimer said. Around 100 million years ago, the two nested together in Gondwana. "Both of those parts were stretched, a lot like pizza dough, pulled out and stretched," Mortimer said. "They got wider, but they got thinner."

As the crust cooled and thinned, Zealandia started to subside below the water and continued sinking until about 25 million years ago. Meanwhile, crustal uplift created mountains and islands, though New Zealand may never have been fully submerged.

An artist's impression of the dawn crested penguin Eudyptes atatu in New Zealand, 3 million years ago. Simone Giovanardi/Massey University

"Adding Zealandia into the data mix is bound to give us some insights into why supercontinents break up," Mortimer said. It also provides biologists with important information about the plants and animals  like ancient penguins  that lived on Zealandia.

The answers to that question and many others remain unsolved, Mortimer said. But now that geologists have a basic idea of the outline of Zealandia and its geology, they can shape their research projects and questions in a much more informed way to answer the whens, the hows, and the whys.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Island Anomaly

After hundreds of years of speculation, scientists say they've finally mapped out Earth's "lost" eighth continent, Zealandia.

In a new study published in the journal Tectonics, researchers announced that they've finished mapping out most of the two million square miles of Zealandia, Earth's mostly-submerged eighth continent that mainly breaks the surface as the island of New Zealand.

The researchers, led by New Zealand's GNS Science research institute, dredged up geological samples from the submerged land mass and found a veritable treasure trove of minerals, including multiple types of sandstone, basaltic lava, and limestone. They then dated the samples, interpreted their magnetic anomalies, and plotted where they were found to map the mostly-underwater continent's geography.

The prevailing theory about how Zealandia came to be submerged, which the GNS Science team affirms, posits that as the former supercontinent of Gondwana stretched out, its tectonic plates began to crack and allow ocean water in. After Antarctica later broke off, the crust of Zealandia continued to thin out until it became submerged  and lost to the depths.

European Hubris

As the BBC recounted in 2021, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, whose surname was the root of both Zealandia's old name, Tasmantis  as well as the Australian island state of Tasmania  is heralded as the "discoverer" of the island now known as New Zealand when he and his men made landfall there in 1642.

He didn't stay for long, however  the Maori people, who are believed to have settled on the island a few centuries prior, rammed one of the Dutch boats with a canoe, leading to the death of four Europeans. The rest, including Tasman, hightailed it back to the Netherlands. During their brief encounter, however, the Dutch explorer did become convinced that there was an eighth continent that the rest of the world didn't know about. Ultimately, he was right.

As the team behind this latest Zealandia triumph noted in their 2017 paper reintroducing the world to the lost continent, Zealandia is distinct from the continent of Australia in spite of their relative proximity.

Indeed, as the researchers wrote in their paper, New Zealand and its neighboring island cluster, New Caledonia, "have never been regarded as part of the Australian continent, although the geographic term Australasia often is used for the collective land and islands of the southwest Pacific region."

While nobody's likely to live on the rest of the planet's eighth continent anytime soon, it's still an incredible discovery. Here's hoping Atlantis is next.

More on continents: Scientists Say Earth Will Become a Barren Wasteland
Using artificial intelligence, researchers have discovered mysterious "fairy circles" in hundreds of locations across the globe.

These unusual round vegetation patterns have long puzzled experts, dotting the landscapes in the Namib Desert and the Australian outback.

But according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the unusual phenomenon could be far more widespread than previously thought, cracking the case wide open and raising plenty more questions than answers.

The international research team trained a neural network by feeding it more than 15,000 satellite images of locations in Namibia and Australia, roughly half of which contained fairy circles.

Then the team used the AI system to analyze satellite views of over half a million 2.5-acre plots of land found in other parts of the world. The AI identified more fairy circles across 263 dryland locations in 15 countries, similar to those previously identified in Namibia and Australia.

These new spots were found across Africa, Madagascar, Western Asia, and Southwest Australia, and were predominantly hot and sandy locations that received anywhere between four to 12 inches of rainfall a year.

But whether all of these instances are in fact arising from the same naturally-occurring mechanisms remains to be seen.

"In all arid regions of the world various types of bare patches exist, which are caused by different processes," Norbert Jurgens, an emeritus ecologist at the University of Hamburg, who was not involved in the research, told the New York Times.

The topic of fairy circles remains a "hotly debated topic," as co-author Fernando Maestre, an ecologist at the University of Alicante in Spain, conceded to the NYT. "We are not trying to fight with anyone."

For one, there's no consensus around how they form. Some experts believe they're the result of termite activity underneath the soil, as CNN reports. Others suggest that they're created by self-organizing plants.

Some experts questioned whether the newly identified sites even fell under the current, albeit loose, definition of fairy circles.

"Unfortunately, the only guardians of the term 'fairy circle' are self-appointed," Michael Cramer, an ecophysiologist at the University of Cape Town, who was not involved, told the NYT.

In short, the new finding adds to the mystery around the peculiar circles, and plenty more research will be needed to find consensus.

"I think that the world can be complex and that all the hypotheses of the formation of fairy circles could have a place depending on the site or the moment," co-author Emilio Guirado, from the University of Alicante in Spain, told Newsweek.

"It is likely that all of them are valid where they have been described and that some could be combined in a few places at once," he added. "For example, our results show that the importance of termites is greater in the Namibian zone than in Australia or the Sahel zone."

But "more specialized fieldwork is required to provide more information and results on the formation of these intriguing vegetation patterns," Guirado said.

More on the desert: Scientists Crack Open Lid of Canister Holding Asteroid Sample
A hippopotamus was one of many animals that escaped a flooded zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, and had to be shot with a tranquilizer dart. Associated Press

Heavy rainfall flooded the streets of New York City, prompting an emergency declaration.

A sea lion escaped from the Central Park Zoo to "explore the area" during the flooding.

Here are three other times animals have escaped from zoos during floods.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on Friday for New York City after rainwater flooded the streets and filled subway stations across the city. LaGuardia Airport was forced to close access to Terminal A and officials closed FDR Drive in Manhattan because of floodwaters, among other road closures and transportation delays.

Also during the flooding, a female sea lion escaped from the Central Park Zoo and "explored the area" before returning to the zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement. The sea lion never breached the zoo's perimeter and was monitored by zoo staff during it's expedition, the statement said.

As rising sea levels continue to threaten New York and other areas, excessive rain has become more likely to cause quick, extreme flooding. Here are three other times that floods and other natural disasters helped zoo animals escape from their enclosures:

More than 30 animals escaped from a zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, that was destroyed by floodwaters

A hippopotamus walks across a flooded street in Tbilisi, Georgia, June 14, 2015. Reuters

Dozens of animals, including lions, tigers, bears, and hippopotamus, escaped from a zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, in June 2015 after heavy flood waters destroyed much of the zoo. The flood also killed at least 12 people.

Officials had to corner a hippo walking down one of Tbilisi's main streets and subdue it with a tranquilizer dart. Six wolves were also shot to death and several other animals died during the flooding, NBC reported at the time.

A German town went on lockdown after a bear escaped during flooding from stormwaters

Police in Germany killed a bear that escaped from its enclosure in 2018. Bryant Aardema -bryants wildlife images/Getty Images

In June 2018, a bear escaped from the Eifel Zoo in Germany. Two lions, two tigers, and a jaguar were also thought to have escaped from the local zoo, causing a massive police search, but were later found to have never left the facility, CBS reported at the time.

Police in Luenebach, Germany, shot and killed a bear that escaped from the zoo as well shortly after the flooding started. Western Germany had seen several strong storms for days leading up to the flood, according to CBS.

A polar bear escaped from its cage in a Minnesota zoo after a creek flooded the facility

A polar bear escaped from a zoo in Duluth, Minnesota in 2012, according to reports. Getty Images

Flooding from a nearby creek allowed several zoo animals to "float" over the walls of a zoo in Duluth, Minnesota and escape in June 2012, BBC reported at the time. The animals that escaped included harbor seals and a polar bear.

Zoo officials were able to tranquilize the polar bear and return it to its cage, but nearly a dozen other animals drowned in the flooding, prompting the zoo to temporarily close, according to the report.

Read the original article on Insider
NEW YORK (WPIX)  One New York City resident did not follow orders to stay home as a powerful coastal storm swept through the city: a sea lion from the Central Park Zoo, who briefly left her enclosure on Friday.

A female sea lion at Central Park Zoo was able to swim out of her pool due to flooding of the plaza caused by severe rains in New York City today, Jim Breheny, executive vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Societys zoos and aquariums, said in a statement obtained by the New York Daily News.

Toby Keith speaks out about cancer battle: I lean on my faith

After waddling around for a bit, the sea lion was returned to its enclosure by zoo workers. However, that did not stop rumors on social media from swirling that the animal had escaped.

There are several videos circulating online about flooding and escaped zoo animals, a social media post from the NYPD read. These videos are misleading and inaccurate. All sea lions and animals are accounted for and safe.

The Central Park Zoo was closed on Friday due to the heavy rain and flooding.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Charleston County law enforcement converse before giving an update to the press on the search of a shooting suspect outside KJ's Market, Thursday Sept. 28, 2023, on Johns Island, S.C. (Gavin McIntyre/The Post And Courier via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (AP)  A man who shot two people, including a sheriff's deputy, along the South Carolina coast was killed by officers after he fatally wounded a police dog, authorities said.

The dog, named Rico, was sent into a home on Johns Island, west of Charleston, Thursday afternoon to search for Ernest Robert Burbage III in places a robot couldn't reach, State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said. After killing the dog, he came out of the home and pointed the same high-powered rifle at officers, who shot and killed him, authorities said, ending the daylong ordeal.

Law enforcement had been looking for Burbage since he randomly fired at a car on the island on Wednesday, authorities said. After shooting at the vehicle, Burbage fired on members of a SWAT team as they got out of an armored vehicle late Wednesday, and one of the shots struck the deputy driving the vehicle in the head, Sheriff Kristin Graziano said.

Charleston County Master Deputy James Gilbreath was alert and recovering in a hospital, and he's soon to be discharged, said Graziano, who released photos of the deputy's bloodstained ballcap.

Thursday afternoon, a different SWAT team was sent to the Johns Island home where Burbage had been earlier in the search. A robot was sent inside first, but it couldn't get to every place in the home, Keel said.

The police dog was sent in to finish the search but was killed. Rico was 3 years old and tracked suspects nearly every day, said Keel, who asked for prayers for Rico's team and handlers.

If it wasn't for Rico, this could have been much, much worse. We're very appreciative, Graziano said.

Deputies had asked people on Johns Island to stay in their homes and report if they see something out of place in storage sheds, boats or other places someone could hide.

A high school, middle school and three elementary schools in the area were closed before students arrived Thursday morning, Charleston County School District officials said. The park surrounding Johns Island's Angel Oak, a tree up to 400 years old that is the largest oak east of the Mississippi River, was also closed as the search for Burbage continued.
Seattle firefighters were at the scene of a 2-story Green Lake house fire Friday night.

The Fire Alarm Center got reports of heavy smoke coming from the basement of a two-story home at 7:31 p.m.

The Seattle Fire Department said the house was in the 100 block of Northeast 63rd Street. A person who lived there told firefighters that one person was still inside but the first unit confirmed that person was able to escape.

Firefighters went into the house to do a search and pour water on the fire but were stopped by excess furniture and debris that blocked their paths.

The fire quickly spread to the first and second floors and then into the attic.

Command ordered all firefighters to get out of the house as the fire got worse. Crews then poured water from a safe distance away from the home.

The SFD said all six people who lived there were found. A 40-year-old man and a 59-year-old man were treated for injuries but declined further medical care. The Red Cross was able to find them temporary shelter.

Firefighters stayed at the scene as they worked to get the fire under control and then put it out. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Republican presidential candidates efforts to move popularity away from former President Trump during the second GOP debate fell short, according to a new poll.

The Messenger/Harris poll found that more than a quarter of respondents said Wednesday nights primary debate make them more likely to vote for Trump, who remains the GOP frontrunner despite mounting legal woes.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second with 21 percent of respondents saying they were more likely to vote for him after the debate, closely followed by former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley , who brought in 20 percent, according to the survey.

Roughly 18 percent said they were more likely to support entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy post-debate. He was followed by former president Mike Pence, who earned 16 percent; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 15 percent; South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott with 14 percent, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum bringing in only 8 percent likely support, according to the survey.

Trump, who skipped the first two debates, spent Wednesday evening giving a speech to striking auto workers in Michigan. The remaining candidates argued on stage despite none of them being near Trump in the polls.

More than half of the respondents, 63 percent, said the debate was too unorganized to learn more about the candidates agendas.

While 51 percent of respondents said they oppose Trumps decision to skip the second debate, 49 percent said they supported his decision to travel to Michigan amid the United Auto Workers strikes.

While 26 percent of poll respondents said the debate made them more likely to vote for Trump, 25 percent said it made them less likely to vote for him. Nearly half, 49 percent, of respondents said the former presidents absence on Wednesday had no impact on if they would vote for him.

Thirty-nine percent said Trump is focused on issues that matter to them.

Trump has not said definitively whether he will join the other candidates on stage for the third GOP debate, which is set to take place in Miami on Nov. 8. However, his team said it is likely he will skip this one as well, citing his lead in the polls.

The Messenger/Harris survey was conducted online between Sept. 28-29 among 1,615 voters and has a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Elon Musk decided to visit to visit the Texas-Mexico border. He even recorded the current migrant crisis.

The billionaire claims that his livestream on the Texas-Mexico border offers an "unfiltered" view of the asylum seeker issue in the area.

Elon Musk Visits Texas-Mexico Border, Livestreams Migrant Crisis

Elon Musk posted a live stream via his official X account. As of writing, the video already generated almost 50 million views and more than 470,000 likes, 23,000 comments, as well as 84,000 retweets.

According to Reuters' latest report, the tech executive visited the border while thousands of migrants have been venturing to northern Mexico in the past few days.

They were traveling via buses and trains. Some of these asylum seekers are crossing the U.S. border into Arizona, Texas, and California.

Elon Musk arrived at the Texas-Mexico border wearing a black cowboy hat and black t-shirt. He said that he would roam around the area to speak with officials and "eyeball the situation to get the real story."

"This is real-time, unfiltered. What you see is what I see," said the billionaire.

While livestreaming, the billionaire shared that he is also an immigrant. This is why it supports asylum seekers who are trying to have a better life in the U.S.

But, he said that there should be an expanded immigration that will filter the honest and hardworking migrants from the law-breaking immigrants.

He also talked about one of his fears, which is the flow of illegal immigrants leading to the collapse of social services in the United States.

"We want to do both things - smooth out legal immigration and stop a flow of people that is of such magnitude that we're leading to a collapse of social services," explained the billionaire.

Read Also: 'You're Not Welcome!' Protestors in NYC's Staten Island Block Bus Carrying Migrants, Asylum Seekers; 10 Arrested

What Netizens Say About Elon Musk's Initiative

Many X users shared their opinions regarding the latest visit of Elon Musk to the Texas-Mexico border. One of them said that there's no such thing as illegal migrants.

The netizen explained that the law today states that as long as immigrants are seeking asylum after crossing, they are legal.

On the other hand, many netizens agreed with Elon Musk's statements about the migrant crisis happening in the U.S.

They stated that people should understand that having a strong stance against "illegal" immigration doesn't mean you're an anti-migrant individual.

These are just some of the comments of netizens on Elon Musk's viral Texas-Mexico border visit video. You can click this link to see more.

Related Article: Texas Governor Belittles NYC Migrant Crisis, Claiming It's 'Calm' Compared to Theirs

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Outside of San Francisco's City Hall, several U.S. flags were at half-staff in memoriam Friday of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein . Inside, a blue and yellow floral arrangement was gently tucked in the left arm of a bust of a smiling Feinstein erected outside the mayor's office.

Outside Feinstein's hilly home in the city's Pacific Heights neighborhood, a makeshift memorial of yellow, pink and white flowers began to accumulate.

And in the city's Castro District, a historic haven for the LGBTQ+ community, mourners reflected and celebrated the pioneering politician who passed away Thursday night in Washington, D.C. and who was known as an ally and longtime champion for LGBTQ rights.

Sitting in a coffee shop in the Castro, Mike Karpa, 63, of San Francisco, said Friday that he and his older sister and younger brother began sharing their memories of Feinstein in a group text after learning of her passing.

"We had a big party at my house when she won her seat in the Senate in 1992," Karpa recalled. "It was a really momentous occasion."

Karpa said his family recalled when Feinstein made history as the city's first female mayor after the assassinations of then-Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, her historic Senate run, her gun control advocacy by authoring the 1994 assault weapons ban, which then-President Bill Clinton signed into law, and, of course, her fight for same-sex marriage protections. This included voting against the Defense of Marriage Act, the Federal Marriage Amendment, and Dont Ask, Dont Tell," policies that discriminated against same-sex marriage or LGBTQ people in the military.

"As a gay man, I appreciate what she did to this day," said Karpa, a writer, teacher and Japanese translator. "I thought that took some courage."

San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who is openly gay and HIV-positive, said he cherished working with Feinstein in his various roles in city government for more than two decades and admired the senator's determination.

"I come from a generation after Harvey Milk and I dont know if other generations following me can fully appreciate the bravery it took for Sen. Finestein to stand up for LBGTQ rights and having a bigger budget for AIDS prevention funding that was higher than the federal government when she was the mayor of San Francisco," Dorsey said. "She was unwavering and fearless when it came to that."

Terry Asten Bennett, president of the Castro Merchants Association in San Francisco, said Friday that Feinstein was a fierce advocate who never backed away from making tough choices.

"As the mayor, she had some really hard decisions to make during the height of the AIDS crisis here in the 1980s, such as closing the bathhouses across the city," Asten Bennett said about Feinstein. "But she probably saved hundreds of thousands of lives in the process,"

An American flag flies at half-staff in front of San Francisco City Hall on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, to honor Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein, who served on San Francisco's Board of Supervisors from 1970 to 1978 and as the city's mayor from 1978 to 1988, died Friday. (Credit: Elizabeth Weise)

What LGBTQ policies did Feinstein lobby for?

Many national and local LGBTQ+ organizations Friday honored Feinstein.

Feinsteins passing is "a loss for us all," Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nations largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, said in a statement. "She was a fearless champion for equality, (a) tireless fighter for justice, and paved the way for a new generation of women in leadership. Her history is our history."

The organization recognized Feinstein as the original co-sponsor of the Equality Act, which seeks to protect LGBTQ people under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and a lead sponsor of the Respect For Marriage Act, which protects interracial and LGBTQ couples, which President Joe Biden signed into law last year.

"We mourn her loss, but we carry her legacy forward by committing to the fight for equality and justice without exception," Robinson said.

Feinstein's support for LGBTQ+ rights "shattered glass ceilings," Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner said.

"I experienced her leadership firsthand during my time at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, witnessing her fight to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic," Hollendoner said in a statement. "her fight, her legacy, and her bravery will remain eternal."

Closer to home, Okan Sengun, executive director and co-founder of the San Francisco-based LGBT Asylum Project, said Finestein was a strong backer of comprehensive immigration reform and advocated finding a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

"She has supported legislation to ensure that LGBTQ+ immigrants are treated fairly and with dignity, including advocating for asylum protections for individuals facing persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender identity," Sengun said. "Rest in peace, Senator! We will always remember you!"

Feinstein celebrated by people of San Francisco

Many Feinstein fans appreciated her strong persona.

"She was her own person, she didn't care what anyone thought," Karpa said. "She could be infuriating at times, but you want a person who has their own mind and can think for themselves.".

He remembers when Feinstein voted against sending funding to help Ukraine around 20 years ago, but changed her mind after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

"I'm glad she eventually came around," Karpa said. "It's good to be inconsistent sometimes."

Meanwhile, at another coffee shop across the street in the Castro, San Francisco native Carmen Alfaro-Rojas, 45, said Friday she reminisced with her mother on the phone about Feinstein after learning about the senator's death.

"I'm incredibly sad. As Latinos, we take a lot of pride in a lot of the activism the senator did on our behalf," said Alfaro-Rojas, whose family migrated to San Francisco from El Salvador in the 1960s. "And as a woman, and as a mother, like myself, she showed that we can be seen and heard as effective leaders. She paved the way."

Mayor Dianne Feinstein at the 1984 Democratic National Convention held at Moscone Center in San Francisco

An office manager for a local construction company, Alfaro-Rojas said she wasn't surprised that Feinstein remained in the Senate, despite the constant calls for her to step down, until she took her final breath.

"She wanted to serve her country, state, and even this city no matter what," Alfaro-Rojas said. "I'm glad she showed the strength and tenacity to hold on, right until the end."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diane Feinstein, LGBTQ ally in San Francisco, celebrated at home
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) speaks at a committee meeting after assuming the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the U.S. Capitol on Capitol Hill in Washington

By Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee vowed on Saturday to block military aid and arms sales to Egypt if it does not take concrete steps to improve human rights in the country.

Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin issued the threat in a statement, saying "it is imperative that we continue to hold the government of Egypt, and all governments, accountable for their human rights violations."

The announcement came a day after U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said he had asked the State Department to pause a portion of military aid to Egypt conditioned on human rights criteria.

The stepped-up pressure follows the Sept. 22 federal indictment of the then-chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez , tied partly to allegations that he had accepted bribes in exchange for wielding his influence to aid Egypt's government.

Menendez denies wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.

The Egyptian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cardin's announcement.

Cardin, who replaced Menendez as head of the Senate panel, said Egypt must show progress in efforts to accelerate the release of political prisoners and "provide space" for human rights defenders, civil society advocates, political opposition and independent media.

"I intend to exercise fully the committees oversight responsibilities and my authorities to block future foreign military funds as well as sale of arms to the government of Egypt if it does not take concrete, meaningful, and sustainable steps to improve the human rights conditions in its country," he said.

Washington has long provided Egypt with large amounts of military and other aid, ever since the Arab world's most populous nation signed a peace deal with neighboring Israel in 1979.

Much of the aid has been withheld in recent years over concerns about human rights abuses under the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

But President Joe Biden's administration announced this month it had decided to waive human rights restrictions on $235 million of the aid, citing security benefits to the U.S. It is currently withholding $85 million of the aid, a fraction of the $1.3 billion a year allocated for Egypt.

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
A Near South Side man who allegedly fled home confinement in 2020 while awaiting trial for several separate felony charges, including two separate sex assaults, was arrested earlier this week in Portland, Oregon, according to Cook County sheriffs officials.

Rene Chandler, 34, had been missing from Cook County since April 2020 when he disappeared after posting a $500 bail after a judge granted his release from jail as officials began releasing supposedly low-risk detainees as COVID-19 closures swept the country. This past April, near the third anniversary of his release, a grand jury indicted Chandler for felony escape charges.

A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force arrested Chandler on Wednesday in Portland after the trackers from the Cook County sheriffs fugitive apprehension unit learned of his location, according to a statement from the sheriffs office.

During this arrest, authorities recovered more than $19,000 cash, several drivers licenses, and numerous stolen credit cards and Social Security cards that they said he used to elude capture for three years, authorities said. Chandler also has three active warrants out of Colorado for charges including theft and bribery, sheriffs officials said.

Chandler remained at Multnomah County Jail as of Friday evening.

At the time of his disappearance, Chandler was facing three felonies, including two 2018 sex assaults on separate women in the Near North and Gold Coast neighborhoods, according to court records and published news reports.

While out on bail for the alleged assaults, Chandler allegedly robbed a third woman in April 2019 and was ordered held in custody for the new charge and violating terms of his bail. He remained in jail for about a year before his court request for a COVID release was granted in early April 2020.

Weeks later, an arrest warrant was issued after, according to court records, Chandler was found to have cut off his electronic home monitoring bracelet and left his mothers home.

It was unclear whether Chandler was expected to fight or accept extradition back to Illinois to face charges.

wlee@chicagotribune.com
Russian Shahed drones are moving towards Odesa Oblast; local authorities are urging people to take shelter.

Source: Ukraine's Air Force; Odesa Oblast Military Administration

Details: The Air Force reports that Shahed drones are moving from the Black Sea towards Odesa Oblast.

The military say that the air defence system is already responding in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Quote from the Oblast Military Administration: "[Residents of] Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district, please stay in shelters, it is important!"

Later, the Air Force also clarified that a group of UAVs was flying from the Black Sea towards the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district of Odesa 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!
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Support and heartfelt messages continue to pour in for the longest-serving woman senator in American history, Dianne Feinstein , after her passing Thursday evening, including a reflection from Fresno-area Congressman Jim Costa .

Im sad, terribly saddened today. Senator Dianne Feinstein was an icon in the United States Senate. She was a Californian true and true who loved her state, said Costa.

Costa continued his admiration for Feinstein saying she made impacts during her entire career to better her state and our nation.

She made a difference during her entire public career in helping people in California and throughout the country. She made a difference  every day. And I had the privilege and honor to know Dianne for 33 years.

Costa also said he believes he was the first elected official to endorse her for governor of California in 1990  which didnt work out, but instead turned into her being elected as the first woman Senator from California.

She broke so many glass barriers in her terrific career in the United States Senate, she was not only a mentor, for me, for 33 years, she was my friend  and were going to miss her, Costa said while holding back tears.

One of Feinsteins biggest legislative accomplishments was an amendment to ban the sale and manufacture of assault-style weapons, which then-President Clinton signed into law in 1994 and lasted for a decade.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Friday evening floated passing a clean continuing resolution without Ukraine aid, marking a clear shift in the possibilities he is willing to consider to avert  or end  a shutdown after being repeatedly undercut by his own party.

The Speaker on Friday did not commit to putting such a measure on the floor, and other Republicans leaving a conference meeting said lawmakers are still exploring GOP-only possibilities to bring up for a vote on Saturday.

But it is clear that McCarthy has nearly exhausted his options for working exclusively within his own party. Earlier on Friday, 21 House Republicans voted against a 31-day GOP-crafted stopgap bill that included deep spending cuts and conservative border policy changes.

I think if we had a clean one without Ukraine on it we could probably be able to move that through, McCarthy said after a lengthy GOP conference meeting on Friday when asked about a clean continuing resolution. I think if the Senate puts Ukraine on there and focuses Ukraine over America, I think that could cause real problems.

The Senate is considering a separate, bipartisan continuing resolution that would fund the government until Nov. 17 and includes $5.99 billion for disaster relief and $6.15 billion for Ukraine  a figure that has drawn criticism from Republicans in both chambers.

And Senate leaders appear to have little incentive to strip the Ukraine funding. The Senate bill overwhelmingly cleared two procedural hurdles with support from both sides of the aisle. And in the House, more than two-thirds of the chamber  all Democrats and a little less than half of Republicans  voted in favor of a separate $300 million Ukraine funding measure.

McCarthy earlier this week told his members that he would not bring the Senate bill to the floor in its current form. Hardliners were frustrated that the legislation did not include border security provisions, and they took issue with the Ukraine aid.

House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said that one option is bringing a clean CR plus disaster relief funding up under suspension, a mechanism that fast-tracks consideration of legislation but needs two-thirds support to pass. The mechanism is traditionally used for non-controversial bills.

McCarthy said that he has talked with Democrats about a stopgap, but that they would not support what he floated.

I proposed to put a clean one up, but the Democrats wont vote for it so that would be a shutdown but Im working through maybe be able to do that, McCarthy said.

McCarthys comments came after a lengthy meeting on Friday evening that ended with no solidified course of action for scheduled Saturday votes.

Government funding runs out Saturday night ahead and a shutdown appears likely.

Members said that multiple paths forward were discussed, including options for adjusting the House GOP stopgap bill in a way that might win enough support to pass and whether something that came out of the Senate may be viable.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus who supported the stopgap bill on Friday, said the closed-door GOP conference meeting did not go well.

I think the Speaker has basically surrendered to the Senate, Good told reporters.

He wants to do a CR, Good said at a separate part of the conversation. I dont know if hes gonna do a clean CR or the Senate CR but its not gonna be a good CR.

House leaders, according to multiple GOP members, still plan to go back to the 21 Republicans who tanked the conferences own short-term funding proposal earlier in the day and see how many could flip to support it after some tweaks  and after seeing a proposed course of action to finish considering regular full-year House spending bills.

It is unclear whether any fixes to a GOP-only plan could win them over. While some holdouts said they wanted answers from leadership on the rest of the years funding bills, a significant chunk of the holdouts on the House GOP plan have said they will reject any continuing resolution.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), however, did tell reporters that the number of holdouts on a GOP stopgap decreased from 21 to nine after seeing a proposed appropriations bills schedule in the meeting.

The consensus was to try to get the Senate something rather than just be on the receiving end, Norman said.

People just realize the reality of accepting what the Senate does, he added, which is not gonna be good for the country.

Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), one of the 21 holdouts, said that solidifying a timeline for the rest of the appropriations bills would get the conference pretty close to getting agreement on a GOP stopgap.

What is clear is that House Republicans will no longer leave Washington for the next two weeks for a scheduled recess as they work through the funding issues and shutdown.

Some Republicans think a shutdown is a foregone conclusion at this point.

I think its pretty safe to say that tomorrow at midnight, you know, the lights are gonna go out for a while, Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), an appropriator, told reporters following the meeting.

And a small contingent of GOP lawmakers are content with that reality. During the meeting, McCarthy asked members if they are okay with a shutdown and about 10 members raised their hands, according to a House Republican.

McCarthy, though, said he does not think a shutdown is a forgone conclusion.

And the Speaker rejected the idea that his party sinking a GOP-only stopgap was a failure.

The CR didnt pass, but its just like in life if you quit after the first time, McCarthy said. Its only a failure if you quit.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, says she is shocked and saddened by the murder of former personal assistant Jenean Chapman, who was found dead in Dallas earlier this week.

Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her family and friends, Ferguson wrote in an Instagram post which also contained a photo of she and Chapman in the back of a car. I heard from her just a couple of months ago and she seemed so happy.

Officers with the Dallas Police Department found Chapmans body in an apartment in downtown Dallas around 1:15 p.m. Monday, according to a DPD news release. The manner of death was determined to be a homicide.

Chapman was 46 years old.

Las Vegas police provide details on Tupac Shakur murder charge, suspect

The day after Chapmans body was discovered, police identified James Patrick, 48, as a suspect. Patrick was arrested in Austin.

Patrick will be charged with Murder and is [in] custody in Travis County, DPD officials said Wednesday in the release.

According to Travis County jail records, Patrick is being held on a $100,000 bond and has an out of county felony charge.

Angry customer kills auto shop owner 2 years after service, police say

In her Instagram post, Ferguson noted that Chapmans family is raising money to transport her body to New York City. The familys GoFundMe page indicates theyre seeking funds for funeral and legal costs, as well.

I will be making a donation and supporting the family in any way possible  please help if you can at the link in my bio, Ferguson wrote.

Chapman had worked for the Duchess of Yorks office between 2001 and 2005, according to her LinkedIn profile. Her most recent role was listed as Senior Vice President  Client Partner at Critical Mass in Dallas.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Congress late Saturday averted a government shutdown with just hours to spare after Speaker Kevin McCarthy abandoned hopes of uniting his party, turning instead to Democrats for help.

Hard-right House Republicans have many times threatened to oust McCarthy for leaning on Democrats. The question now is whether this latest maneuver will cost him his speakers gavel.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, said Sunday he would move to remove McCarthy from his speakership this week. Its unclear if Gaetz has enough support to actually take McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, out.

If at this time next week, Kevin McCarthy is still speaker of the House, it will be because the Democrats bailed him out, Gaetz said on ABC News, and he can be their speaker, not mine.

Ill survive, McCarthy told CBS News after. You know, this is personal with Matt.

On Saturday, 209 Democrats and 126 Republicans in the House of Representatives supported a last-minute measure to push off a government shutdown through Nov. 17.

Several hours later, the Senate agreed, with all lawmakers minus nine Republicans voting for it. President Joe Biden signed the continuing resolution into law before the midnight deadline when the government was expected to run out of money.

Congress will still need to pass, and the president must sign, spending measures by mid-November to fund federal agencies for the rest of the fiscal year, which runs through Sept. 30, 2024, or risk another shutdown.

Over the past few weeks, the House Freedom Caucus repeatedly refused to back short-term efforts to avert a shutdown that didnt incorporate steep cuts and more border security provisions. But those demands wouldnt pass a Democratic-held Senate, which needed to approve an identical measure.

Until Saturday, it seemed highly likely that the government would shut down Oct. 1.

Instead of trying to enlist hard-right support, McCarthy presented a short-term fix Saturday that Democrats were more comfortable with.

If I have to risk my job for standing up for the American public, McCarthy told reporters before the House vote Saturday, I will do that.

The 48-day funding extension offers $16 billion in supplemental funding for disaster relief and does not make any of the significant cuts that GOP hardliners wanted.

Ninety House Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago, Ill., voted against it.

The plan lacks funding for Ukraine, which Democrats had desired. Lawmakers are working on a separate measure for it: House Democrats released a statement Saturday evening requesting McCarthy bring a bill to the floor; Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle said they would work to pass legislation aiding Ukraine.

Immediately after the House passed the spending resolution, it adjourned until Monday. Gaetz, a Republican who has long said he wants to oust McCarthy, was seen trying to call for another action, but was too late.

After the House vote, McCarthy said, If somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it. There has to be an adult in the room.

As part of his deal in January to become speaker, McCarthy agreed to let any single lawmaker call for a vote to oust him. A majority of the House would have to offer their vote of no confidence to remove him.

The House is split with 221 Republicans to 212 Democrats  a problem for McCarthy if enough of the GOP wanted him gone. It would force him, once again, to look for Democrats for help.

While Democrats voted to avoid default earlier this year and a shutdown Saturday, they might not be willing to save McCarthys speakership. None voted for McCarthy during the 15 rounds it took for him to get the job and none voted present to help lower the threshold of Republican support he needed.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, reportedly told her Democratic colleagues not to rush to save McCarthy in a vote to oust him. Rather, POLITICO reported, she recommended letting Republicans deal with their own drama.

In a bipartisan compromise to raise the debt ceiling in May, McCarthy required Democratic support. In that vote too, more Democrats than Republicans voted for the measure. No one called for a motion to vacate at that time.

Who could replace McCarthy? The logical successor would be Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana. Hes adored by conservatives and respected by moderates. But hes also battling multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.

Next in line would be Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, then New York Rep. Elise Stefanik.

If the GOP wanted to turn to a committee chair  as it did in 2015 when it elevated Paul Ryan of the Ways and Means Committee  the chatter mostly revolves around Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, a physician and Army veteran who chairs the Homeland Security Committee. Republicans have praised his work getting tough on border security and his tough-but-fair demeanor.

McCarthys Republican predecessors faced similar reckonings. House Speaker John Boehner resigned amid a 2015 funding battle that would have required him to rely on Democratic support to keep the gavel. Boehner, who became speaker in 2011, had already extended his tenure when he had not wanted to.

Ryan, who held the role from 2015 to 2019  when McCarthy did not have the votes to succeed Boehner  decided he had enough in April 2018. Surprising many in his caucus, Ryan said he would not seek re-election; he wanted to spend more time with his children.
Donald Trump is in court in New York over claims he defrauded banks and other businesses by repeatedly overstating the value of his properties, something he denies (REUTERS)

The office of Special Counsel Jack Smith mentioned both former President Donald Trump seemingly threatening the life of recently retired Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley and his visit to a South Carolina gun store in a Washington, DC legal filing pushing for a gag order.

The prosecutors have been trying for some time to place limits on Mr Trumps public speech to stop him from threatening possible witnesses or tainting the pool of possible jurors.

The prosecutors noted that if Mr Trump had bought a firearm, he would have been in violation of his release conditions in the election subversion case.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign wrote in a social media post that Mr Trump had bought a gun, only to later remove the post and say that the ex-president hadnt bought a gun, but had only said that he wanted to.

Attorneys from the office of the Special Counsel mentioned the gun store visit and Mr Trumps targeting of Gen Milley as they argued that federal Judge Tanya Chutkan should place additional restrictions on Mr Trump and what he can say ahead of the trial.

In a late-night filing on Friday, the prosecutors wrote: Despite his spokespersons retraction, the Defendant then re-posted a video of the incident posted by one of his followers with the caption, MY PRESIDENT Trump just bought a Golden Glock before his rally in South Carolina after being arrested 4 TIMES in a year.

The defendant either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release, or seeks to benefit from his supporters mistaken belief that he did so, they added. It would be a separate federal crime, and thus a violation of the defendants conditions of release, for him to purchase a gun while this felony indictment is pending.

The defendant should not be permitted to obtain the benefits of his incendiary public statements and then avoid accountability by having otherswhose messages he knows will receive markedly less attention than his ownfeign retraction, the prosecutors wrote in the 22-page filing.

If Mr Trump is found to have violated the conditions of his release, he could be forced to wait for the trial in jail.

The office of the special counsel also mentions Mr Trumps attacks on Gen Milley.

On 22 September, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social: Mark Milley, who led perhaps the most embarrassing moment in American history with his grossly incompetent implementation of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, costing many lives, leaving behind hundreds of American citizens, and handing over BILLIONS of dollars of the finest military equipment ever made, will be leaving the military next week. This will be a time for all citizens of the USA to celebrate!

This guy turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States. This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act. To be continued!!! he added.

The prosecutors included a screenshot of the post in their Friday filing, writing that the defendant falsely claimed that the retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a witness cited in the indictment, had committed treason and suggested that he should be executed.

The limited-time gag order is set to be considered by Judge Chutkan at a hearing on 16 October.

Mr Trumps legal team has argued that such an order would be in violation of the Constitution, claiming that it would be an attempt to silence Mr Trump as he campaigns to return to the White House.

The prosecutors also pointed to several moments during Mr Trumps 17 September appearance on NBCs Meet The Press.

The special counsels office writes that Mr Trump said that the Georgia Secretary of State, a witness identified in the indictment, recently said things that he had not, including that the defendant didnt do anything wrong during a phone call constituting an overt act in the indictment.

The prosecutors also noted that Mr Trump said that another witness identified in the indictment, the former Attorney General, didnt do his job during the charged conspiracy because he was afraid of being impeached.

The prosecutors also mentioned Mr Trumps attacks against them.

On September 26, on Truth Social, the defendant posted a link to an article singling out a specific prosecutor in the Special Counsels Office and claiming that the SCO is a team of Lunatics that are working so hard on creating Election Interference . . . they wrote.

The prosecutors then went on to argue that Mr Trumps baseless attacks on the Court and two individual prosecutors not only could subject them to threatsit also could cause potential jurors to develop views about the propriety of the prosecution, an improper consideration for a juror prior to trial.

They also note Mr Trumps attacks on Judge Chutkan for allegedly being unfair and that he shared an article circulating a false accusation against a Special Counsels Office prosecutor with the caption, Really corrupt! on 5 September.

The special counsels office also cited Mr Trumps attack on former Vice President Mike Pence the following day, in which he said that he had gone to the Dark Side.

In the defendants oppositionpremised on inapplicable caselaw and false claimshe demands special treatment, asserting that because he is a political candidate, he should have free rein to publicly intimidate witnesses and malign the Court, citizens of this District, and prosecutors. But in this case, Donald J. Trump is a criminal defendant like any other, they write,

Far from being the contempt trap that the defendant claims ... the proposed order is more targeted than others previously entered in this District, they add.
The jury of the Loudoun County Circuit Court found delivery driver Alan Colie not guilty in the shooting of YouTube prankster Tanner Cook at a mall food court in Virginia earlier this year.

The court heard that Colie, 31, was doing his daily business when he shot Cook, 21, for following him. Cook is the showrunner and creator behind the YouTube channel "Classified Goons."

The jury found Colie not guilty of aggravated malicious wounding and the use of a firearm in an aggravated malicious wounding. However, he was found guilty of unlawful discharging a firearm within an occupied dwelling,

As for Cook, he insisted he would still continue making prank videos, from which he earned $2,000 to $3,000 per month. This is despite the testimony of sheriff's deputies saying they were aware of Cook and had received calls about previous stunts.

Read Also: LAPD Says 2 Men Shot in Altercation in East Hollywood

Prank Gone Wrong

The shooting happened on April 2 at the Dulles Town Center, 45 minutes west of Washington. Colie pleaded not guilty as he was acting in self-defense, a matter the jury had earlier divided on.

Colie's defense attorney, Adam Pouilliard, said the conviction on the firearms charge is inconsistent with the law, given his acquittal on self-defense grounds. Pouilliard asked the judge to set aside the conviction. A judge would hear arguments on the issue at a hearing next month while Colie remains in custody, the Associated Press reported.

"[Cook] is trying to confuse people to post videos," Pouilliard said of the prankster's intimidation tactics in his videos. "He's not worried that he's scaring people. He keeps doing this."

However, prosecutor Eden Holmes said the facts do not support a self-defense argument as the law required Colie to reasonably fear he was in imminent danger of bodily harm, and that he could have used no more force than is necessary.

"They were playing a silly phrase on a phone," she added. "How could the defendant have found that he was reasonably in fear of imminent bodily harm?"

Related Article: Student Shoots 2 Dead in Rotterdam; Teenage Girl Injured

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Two Ukrainian airborne assault operators have been extracted from occupied territory by special forces after spending over 1.5 years behind enemy lines, the Ukrainian Navy said on Sept. 30.

The Navy's intelligence arm was several weeks ago informed about the two Ukrainians who had been in occupied territory since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.



The announcement did not say in which oblast they were trapped.



The two operators had engaged in combat against the Russians and were too seriously injured to slip out on their own. They were being concealed by local residents, according to the navy.



The rescue was conducted by the navy's special forces unit Angels, while an airborne assault detachment provided covering fire during the extraction.



A video posted with the announcement showed two camouflage-clad men approaching and embracing another group of soldiers waiting for them.



When the full-scale invasion began, some Ukrainian troops, law enforcers and civilians stayed behind in various occupied territories to serve as spies, scouts, smugglers and assassins against the Russian forces and their local collaborators.



Russian security forces sought to find and break resistance cells, using interrogation under torture.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraines Defence Intelligence has successfully conducted the special operation Barynia, as a result of which they managed to recruit a Russian soldier.

Source: Ukrinform, citing Andrii Yusov, the representative of Ukraines Defence Intelligence, at a press conference with the participation of Russian military officer Danil Alfyorov

      ,  

Andrii Yusov at a press conference on Ukraine's Defence Intelligences special operation.

Photo: Ukrinform

Details: The Special Operations Forces of Ukraines Armed Forces were responsible for Alfyorovs transportation to the Ukraine-controlled territory.

The Russian said he contacted the Ukrainian side using the Hochu Zhyty (I Want To Live) project [the Ukrainian state project Hochu Zhyty was set up to help soldiers of the Russian army safely surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine  ed.].

The soldier convinced 11 Russian servicemen to surrender during his cooperation with Ukraine's Defence Intelligence.

 ,  

Danil Alfyorov.

Photo: Ukrinform

Background:

On 23 August a Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Armed Forces ended up in Ukraine as a result of a long-term special operation of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence.

The pilot remained in Ukraine, and his family was taken there in advance. The M-8 stayed in Ukraine, along with the fighter jet parts.

After that, Ukraines Defence Intelligence stated that the number of Russian soldiers who want to surrender to Ukraine has increased by 70%.

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 Dave Sherwood

LA FEDERAL, Cuba (Reuters) - Cuban seamstress Yamidely Cervantes has bought a new sewing machine for the first time in years, plus a refrigerator and a cellphone - all on Russia's dime.

She said her 49-year-old husband Enrique Gonzalez, a struggling bricklayer, left their home in the small town of La Federal on July 19 to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine. Days later, he wired her part of his signing-on bonus of about 200,000 roubles ($2,040) which she received in Cuban pesos, Cervantes told Reuters.

That represents a windfall on the economically stricken communist-run island. It's more than 100 times the average monthly state salary of 4,209 pesos ($17 in the informal market), according to the national statistics office.

Few places feel the pinch more than La Federal, a community of about 800 people on the outskirts of Havana where one in four residents are unemployed, government data for 2022 shows.

On the 100-meter dirt road where Cervantes lives, at least three men have left for Russia since June, and another had sold his home in anticipation of going, she said.

"You can count on one hand those who are left," the 42-year-old said as she surveyed the street from a small terrace where she'd repurposed two broken toilet bowls as flower pots.

"Necessity is what is driving this."

Reuters traced the stories of those four men, together with more than a dozen other Cubans recruited to go to Russia from districts in and around the capital Havana, ranging from a builder and a shopkeeper to a refinery worker and phone company employee. Eleven of the men ended up flying to Russia while the other seven got cold feet at the last moment.

Interviews with many of the men plus friends and relatives, together with a trove of WhatsApp messages, travel papers, photos and phone numbers they provided to corroborate their accounts, paint the most detailed picture yet of how Cubans are flocking to shore up Moscow's war machine.

The Kremlin and Russian defence ministry didn't respond to queries about Cubans being recruited for their military. The Cuban government also didn't respond to queries for this article.

News of Cubans ending up in the Russian military hit headlines this month when the Havana government - a longstanding ally of Russia that says it is "not part of the war in Ukraine" - said it had arrested 17 people connected with a human-trafficking ring that lured Cubans to fight for Moscow. Reuters could not establish the identities of those involved in the alleged trafficking ring and when or whether they were arrested.

The recruits identified by Reuters volunteered to go to Russia to work for the military following overtures on social media from a recruiter who identified herself as "Dayana". In La Federal, for example, all nine recruits identified by Reuters signed up to fight in the war. In Alamar, an eastern Havana suburb, most of the five men signed up for non-fighting roles such as in construction, packaging of provisions and logistics.

Cervantes' husband Gonzalez, speaking via video call from a Russian military base outside the city of Tula, south of Moscow, told Reuters he was one of 119 Cubans training there. When he arrived in Russia, he said, he had signed a contract to work for the military, translated into Spanish.

"Everyone here knew what they were coming for," he said, smiling in military garb as he gave Reuters a digital phone tour of the camp, ringed by pine trees. "They came for the war."

Gonzalez said the 119 Cubans there were being trained to fight in the war, though still wasn't clear where they'd be sent.

"I have several friends in Ukraine, and they are in places where bombs are falling but they haven't actually been in confrontations with Ukrainians," he added. "Everything is good here, but when we go there, we will be in a war zone."

Reuters was unable to contact any of the other men who joined the military, though confirmed via WhatsApp messages and photos that they had flown to Russia and two are now in Crimea.

Contacted for comment on the recruitment of Cubans into the Russian military, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said: "I can confirm that the Ukrainian embassy in Havana has reached out to the Cuban authorities on this matter."

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the United States was monitoring the situation closely. "We are deeply concerned by reports alleging young Cubans have been deceived and recruited to fight for Russia," the spokesperson said.

DAYANA IN CAMOUFLAGE CAP

The Cuban recruitment activity identified by Reuters began weeks after a May decree issued by President Vladimir Putin that allowed foreigners who enlisted with the military on year-long contracts to receive Russian citizenship via a fast-track process, along with their spouses, children and parents.

In La Federal, word of the army work began to spread in June, according to the residents interviewed. Offers to join up, shared via Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, became the talk of the town, with Dayana named as the contact.

More than two dozen young men interviewed by Reuters in and around Havana spoke of the scale of the exodus.

Cristian Hernandez, 24, broke into laughter when asked how many people had left the area around La Federal. "A ton of people," he said. "Almost all of our friends have gone over there."

Yoan Viondi, 23, who lives a few-minute bike ride up the road from the main drag, said he knew about 100 men in Villa Maria, the district that includes La Federal, had been recruited for the Russian war effort since June.

He said a friend gave him the WhatsApp contact for Dayana, a Cuban woman who he said bought plane tickets for recruits. Dayana was also mentioned as a key contact by most of the recruits and relatives Reuters spoke with.

Viondi wasted no time.

"Hi, good afternoon," Viondi said to her in a July 21 message, viewed by Reuters. "Please I need information."

Dayana, who appears in her chat icon as a dark-haired woman in a camouflage cap, responded with contract terms almost instantaneously, according to time stamps. The first line of the message states: "This is a contract with the Russian military by which you receive citizenship."

The contract was for one year and offered a signing bonus of 195,000 roubles followed by a monthly salary of 200,000 roubles, plus 15 days of vacation after the first six months of work.

Those terms are in line with those relayed to Reuters by other recruits and their families.

"If you're in agreement, you should just send (a copy of) your passport," Dayana's message read.

Within two minutes, Viondi had sent a digital copy of his passport. One hour later, Dayana responded in an audio message heard by Reuters: "Perfect, tomorrow I'll be able to tell you what day you will travel," she said.

Reuters was unable to reach Dayana for comment on the number used by Viondi and others, or to confirm her full name.

I WON'T DIE OF HUNGER

In the end, despite his initial enthusiasm, Viondi became anxious about going to Russia and cut contact with Dayana. He stressed that the people who signed up in La Federal knew they would be going to fight.

"It's hard living here. Everyone said, 'If I choose this, I wont die of hunger in Cuba," he said. "But they knew where they were going. I knew perfectly well where I was going too."

Viondi told Reuters neither Dayana, nor anyone else, had asked him to keep their interactions a secret.

He said he maintained contact with at least four friends who had signed contracts in Russia with the army and that, as far as he knew, "they were fine". Most, he said, were now in Ukraine.

Cuba is mired in its worst economic crisis in decades, with long lines for even the basics like food, fuel and healthcare, spurring an exodus of Cubans to the U.S., Latin America and Europe last year.

Alina Gonzalez, president of a neighborhood block committee in La Federal tasked with mobilizing support for the communist-run government, recalled the excitement stirred by the Russian military work.

Many men jumped at the opportunity in her neighborhood, she said, including her nephew Danilo.

"The one that lives over there? He went with his wife and two children. That one over there, with his wife. And the mother of another lives further down," she said.

Roberto Sabori told Reuters that many of the men who left - including his 30-year-old son, Yasmani - had done so in a hurry, keeping their plans secret from even their families.

"I heard he was leaving the same day he left," said the 53-year-old, who lives around the corner from Gonzalez, adding that his son had called him as he prepared to board a flight from the resort town of Varadero to Moscow.

"He never told me anything."

'MAMI, I CAN'T TAKE IT'

Cervantes, the seamstress of La Federal, recalls the desperation her husband Gonzalez, now in Russia, had felt in the months before he left. "Work, work, work," she said of his life. "One day, he said to me, 'Mami, I just can't take it anymore'."

"One day he told me, 'I'm going to Russia. He showed me the photocopy of his passport, and had the ticket and everything. That was the 17th (of July) and he left on the 19th."

While Cervantes chose to stay behind, Reuters confirmed through WhatsApp photos and videos that at least three wives from La Federal had joined their husbands in Russia, as well as at least one child.

Cervantes said her cousin, Luis Herlys Osorio, had enlisted in the Russian army weeks after her husband departed, and that his wife, Nilda, was also now in Russia: "She went, and so did many of the women in the neighborhood."

Reuters reviewed photos on social media of Nilda, with two other wives from La Federal, at a rented home in the city of Ryazan in western Russia. Osorio is in Crimea, Cervantes said.

Cuba has sent mixed messages this month about its citizens fighting for Russia.

On Sept. 8, when it announced the trafficking-ring arrests, it also said it was illegal for its citizens to fight for a foreign army, punishable by life in prison.

Days later, though, Cuba's ambassador in Moscow said Havana didn't oppose Cubans "who just want to sign a contract and legally take part with the Russian army in this operation." Within hours, Cuba contradicted its envoy, reiterating that Cubans were prohibited from fighting as war mercenaries.

Gonzalez objects to being called a mercenary. The former bricklayer, who had received his Russian passport, likens his decision to fight with Russia to that of the Cubans who fought in a Soviet-backed war in Angola in the 1970s.

In that war in southern Africa, widely viewed as a Cold War proxy conflict, Cuba deployed tens of thousands of troops to fight for a communist guerrilla group supported by Moscow against a rival, U.S.-backed anti-communist movement.

"I'm following their example," Gonzalez said of those Cuban fighters in Angola, adding Moscow had been a steadfast ally of Cuba for decades and the Soviet Union had provided economic aid to the island.

"Russia helped to maintain my family."

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Additional reporting by Alexandre Meneghini, Mario Fuentes and Carlos Carrillo in Havana, Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Tom Balmforth, Filipp Lebedev and Felix Light; Editing by Pravin Char)
In 2022, Ohios tourism industry generated $53 billion in visitor spending, the states highest ever. Even with this record-setting year, we need to continue to grow this industry due to Ohios robust economic growth setting it on pace to have more jobs than people in the state to fill them. Investing and putting focus on economic development related to Ohios travel and tourism efforts are a great way to help grow the population and fill open jobs.

The Ohio Chamber recently released our Blueprint for Ohios Economic Future, a report that analyzes Ohios economic outlook and compares it to other states. In creating this report, we identified six key areas for improvement, including Sense of Place.

Sense of Place reflects the characteristics and resources that make a community a desirable place to live, work and visit. Investing in Ohios tourism and travel industry is an integral part of creating a strong sense of place that will keep Ohioans here and attract newcomers to our state. In the Blueprint, we highlight that it is equally as important that economic development policies focus on investing in amenities and quality of life in Ohio as it is that they invest in business attraction.

One of the ways the Blueprint recommends improvement in sense of place is by capitalizing on those many unique amenities the state has by analyzing the most impactful R.O.I. for amenities and natural environment in set areas. It urges us to find the most impactful attractions, opportunities and gaps in these amenities and reevaluate resources based on which features make the greatest impact on tourism, migration and sense of place.

Ohio has great parks, museums, libraries and other amenities that we must continue to invest in to grow the states sense of place. Investing in these amenities will help build qualities in the state that enhance the lives of current residents and that attract potential new citizens. Those qualities include a vibrant culture, sense of community and strong natural environments.

The state has already begun a forward movement in this process by investing more in Ohios parks, with a more than $150 million increase in investments toward state parks from 2018-2019 to 2020-2021. According to the Trust for Public Land, in 2022, Ohio had 4 cities rank top 60 among the top 100 largest U.S. cities based on their park systems, including Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus and Cincinnati, which ranked number 4.

The many amenities of the state provide a natural marketing tool for attracting new Ohio citizens, but physical advertising is just as important. According to the Ohio Department of Development, their visitation ads combined with a trip to Ohio more than doubled a persons impression of Ohio as a good place to live, start a business and more.

Tourism in Ohio is a growing industry. Ohio saw a 6% increase in tourism visits from 2021 to 2022 and a 3% increase in tourism-supported jobs, totaling up to 233 million tourism visits and 424,339 tourism-supported jobs. These are great numbers, and the Ohio Chamber looks to help Ohios travel and tourism industry continue to grow.

To lead that effort, the Ohio Chamber recently hired former Ohio Tourism Director Matt MacLaren as its new Director of Travel and Tourism Policy and created the new Ohio Chamber of Commerce Travel and Tourism Committee, which Matt will help lead. The committees first meeting was held on August 16 with 50 Ohio tourism leaders attending. They will meet quarterly, with the next meeting occurring on November 28.

The committee will help Ohios travel and tourism industry achieve recognition from the statewide level and will work to attract more visitors to the state, which will lead to more new citizens and workers. The committee will help put into action recommendations from the Blueprint on how to improve the sense of place in Ohio. The committee is open to all Ohio Chamber members at the Advocate membership level or above who are involved in Ohios travel and tourism industry. Many resourceful partner associations of the Chamber are a part of the committee, including the Ohio Hotel & Lodging Association, the Ohio Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, the Ohio Restaurant Association and the Ohio Travel Association.

Ohio public officials and economic development groups must find ways to develop dining, shopping and other commercial opportunities to enhance natural amenities around the state to add on to the already countless places that make people fall in love with Ohioplaces like the shores of Lake Erie, Hocking Hills State Park and the many notable cities and college towns throughout the state.

We must continue to invest in and develop the state of Ohios tourism industry, not just to attract visitors and future residents but also to strengthen the sense of place for all current and future Ohioans.

Steve Stivers is President & CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Ohio must continue to grow its tourism industry, even after record-setting year
A new $1 million program to help relieve struggling religious institutions and other charitable organizations in District 5 was approved as a part of the Miami city budget, which begins Sunday, Oct. 1.

Commission Chairwoman Christine King, who represents District 5, which includes Overtown, Liberty City, Little Haiti and parts of the Upper East Side, initiated the measure, approved Thursday evening. The package was originally slated to include aid only for historic houses of worship struggling to maintain their buildings, but was expanded to include any nonprofit in the district that owns their property.

King created the program to fund one-time grants to historic religious buildings  churches, synagogues and mosques  in District 5 that are facing financial hardships and need to update their sanctuaries. Churches and other nonprofit institutions that are facing a 40-year recertification inspection, which can result in costly building renovations to keep up with hurricane safety measures, structural repairs and ADA-accessibility standards, will be eligible.

The relief program was borne out of conversations King had with pastors in her district about their struggles with low attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic and skyrocketing construction costs, making it difficult to maintain their sanctuaries.

When I got elected, I recognized a major stakeholder in my district are the churches, said King. This relief package is intended to cure some of the burdens that our institutions are facing.

Miami Commission Chairwoman Christine King, who led the effort for a $1 million fund in the citys budget to help struggling houses of worship and other nonprofits in District 5.

The program will focus on providing aid for struggling churches in Little Haiti and Liberty City neighborhoods, but any established institution, regardless of denomination, in District 5 will be able to apply, King said.

These churches, they feed the community. They have the outreach. They were a beacon during the pandemic, King said. I just cant sit back and watch these institutions just disappear because they dont have the money.

The program, which King developed in partnership with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, comes just weeks after the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency voted to purchase about $4 million in debt from one of Miamis oldest Black churches days before it was scheduled to lose three buildings in a foreclosure auction.

READ NEXT: One of Miamis oldest Black churches faces financial cliff due to loans by ex-pastor

King, who is also chairwoman of the CRA, was a part of the board that allocated the agencys funds to save the historic St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church, 1328 NW Third Ave. in Overtown. She said community redevelopment agencies have been helping struggling churches in some Miami neighborhoods, but more has to be done.

They are investing in the historic churches in Overtown, but I didnt have any such relief in the Liberty City area because we dont have a CRA in the Liberty City area, King said. So I got together with Francis, our mayor, and I said, Hey, were having this issue. Lets do something about it.

Many of the programs details are still being figured out  such as how much funding one institution can receive, and how old it has to be to apply for the program. There will be some sort of age requirement of the religious institutions, King said, as the program is not meant for those just starting out.

Many predominantly Black churches in Liberty City and Little Haiti neighborhoods would qualify for the program including St. Paul AME, Mt Calvary Missionary Baptist Church and The Church of Incarnation, said King. These are churches that have provided relief to immigrant communities  particularly those coming from Haiti, as well as outreach services to struggling residents.

Theyre really suffering, and you dont want to lose a church that has been providing spiritual relief and other relief to the community  some of them for over 100 years, King said. So this is a good thing for our community.

This report was created with philanthropic support from Christian, Muslim and Jewish funders in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all work.
Washington  Supreme Court justices are returning to the bench Monday for the start of a new term after a summer recess throughout which questions swirled about the justices' adherence to ethics principles.

On the docket for the justices in the upcoming term, which runs through June 2024, are cases involving the First Amendment, administrative power, and gun rights. Also set for action from the high court is a closely watched request for it to decide the rules for obtaining the widely used abortion pill mifepristone, a challenge to the federal ban on bump stocks originating from the Trump administration, and potentially, a review of school rules that prohibit transgender students from using the bathroom that matches their gender identities.

If the Supreme Court agrees to take up the Justice Department's appeal in the dispute over mifepristone, it would be the first case involving abortion heard by the justices since a conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. A decision restricting the rules surrounding the drug's use would impact abortion access nationwide, even in states where it is legal.

Looming over the docket is scrutiny of the ethics policies that the justices adhere to following a series of reports from ProPublica about Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito's ties to wealthy Republicans. At least two of the justices, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh , have publicly suggested that they are working behind-closed-doors to address recent ethics concerns, and Chief Justice John Roberts said in May that the justices "are continuing to look at the things we can do to give practical effect" to their commitment to the highest ethical standards.

"This term will give us more evidence to try to assess what kind of court this is: is it a 6-to-3 divided court or is it as many suggest a 3-3-3 court, with the three Democratic appointees, three very extreme conservatives in Alito Thomas and Gorsuch, and three sort of in the middle who determine results, Roberts, Kavanaugh and Barrett," David Cole, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, during a briefing with reporters about the upcoming term.

The First Amendment

The term set to kick off Monday is the first in recent years that does not include a case involving religious liberty, but several that will be heard by the justices involve free speech rights.

Two of the disputes involve how elected officials interact with the public on social media, and specifically whether they engage in state action subject to the First Amendment when they block users from personal social media accounts that are used to share job-related information with the public.

"In a sense, this is the new context for the always puzzling problem of what hat are you wearing? Are you actually functioning as a government official here or are you actually functioning as a private person?" said Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, a law professor at Georgetown University, at an event hosted by the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization.

The issue of whether elected officials are crossing a constitutional line when they block followers who mount criticisms on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, was at the center of a lawsuit brought against Donald Trump in 2017, when he was president. A federal appeals court found that Trump violated the First Amendment when he blocked online critics of his policies, and he asked the Supreme Court to review the decision in 2020.

But the high court ordered the case to be thrown out in April 2021, after Trump left office, leaving unresolved the question of where is the legal line for government officials when they interact with constituents  or take steps not to  on social media.

The justices are poised to provide some clarity this term with the cases involving two California school board members, and a city manager from Michigan, which they'll hear Oct. 31.

"Everyone agrees that the local government officials in these cases are obviously government officials, but they also are private individuals with their own private lives, and in their private capacities, they are entitled to First Amendment freedoms just like the rest of us," Evelyn Danforth-Scott, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told reporters. "This is really a case about how we distinguish between public officials' public and private capacities in the digital space where those boundaries are more porous than they may have been in the pre-digital era."

Though Trump is no longer in office, he's also at the center of a trademark dispute the high court is set to hear Nov. 1, which involves a California lawyer's unsuccessful effort to trademark the phrase "Trump Too Small." The phrase is a nod to a memorable exchange between then-presidential candidates Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio in 2016, when Rubio mocked Trump for having small hands.

The t-shirt included in Steve Elster's application for a trademark of

Lawyer Steve Elster applied to register the trademark "Trump Too Small" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but the agency refused to do so under a provision of federal trademark law that bars the registration of any trademark that includes the name of a living person unless they give written consent. An examiner with the office also denied registration under a section of the law that bars registration of marks that falsely suggests a connection with a living or dead person.

Elster argued two provisions of the law, the Lanham Act, were unconstitutional, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said applying the provision requiring written consent unconstitutionally restricted his right to free speech.

The battle follows two recent cases brought after trademark denials, which resulted in the Supreme Court invalidating neighboring provisions of the Lanham Act. One case, Matal v. Tam, involved a band's request to trademark the name "The Slants." The application was denied after the trademark office said it ran afoul of the Lanham Act's prohibition of disparaging trademarks. The other case, Iancu v. Brunetti, arose from an attempt to register the trademark "FUCT," a clothing brand. The government refused to register the mark under a section of the Lanham Act barring the registration of "immoral" or "scandalous" marks.

"The government's problem is trying to explain why this is different and why the statute should survive with this provision, and I think it's an uphill battle for them to distinguish it is," Rosenkranz said of the challenge facing the Biden administration.

Just before the new term begins, the court agreed to consider a pair of cases from Texas and Florida that arose from challenges to state laws imposing new rules on big social media companies. The laws were passed in response to claims from Republican lawmakers that platforms like Facebook and X censored conservative viewpoints, and they seek to regulate content-moderation policies.

The legal battle involving the government's efforts to address the spread of misinformation on social media is the latest before the justices that stand at the intersection of the First Amendment and online speech.

The Second Amendment

One of the closest watched disputes before the Supreme Court this term follows a June 2022 decision in which the court's conservative majority expanded the scope of the Second Amendment and imposed a new standard for lower courts to apply when deciding whether firearms restrictions are within the bounds of the Constitution.

In the 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the court said the government must show a law is consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearms regulation and can justify a restriction by identifying historical analogues.

The case to be heard this term, on Nov. 7, involves a law that prohibits people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from having guns. The plaintiff, Zackey Rahimi, was under a restraining order granted to his former girlfriend in February 2020 when he threatened another woman with a gun and was involved in a series of five shootings in December 2020 and January 2021.

When police searched his home, they found a .45-caliber pistol, a .308-caliber rifle, magazines and ammunition.

Rahimi was charged with violating the federal law barring gun possession by people under domestic violence restraining orders, and sought to dismiss the indictment, claiming the 1994 law violated the Second Amendment. A federal appeals court eventually found the law to be unconstitutional, as the government failed to meet its burden of showing it is "consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation."

The Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court.

"The real legal question that everyone is interested in with Rahimi is to see how the court clarifies and applies the text, history and tradition test that it had announced two terms ago in Bruen," said Robert Leider, a law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School, at the Federalist Society event. "Unquestionably the government sought review in this case to water down the test."

Leider predicted that given the facts surrounding Rahimini's case, the court could "duck a lot of the hard issues if it wants to" and leave them for another day.

Joseph Blocher, co-director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, said he expects to see more thought from the justices about what constitutes a historical tradition and what forms of evidence count for that purpose.

"The court can give some better guidance about what it means to find a historical analogue, at what level of generality to ask the questions," he told CBS News. "Maybe rather than looking for a specific historical law disarming people who are subject to a domestic violence restraining order, courts should be looking for historical laws disarming people thought to be dangerous. Those are both historical inquiries, but the second one has a broader aperture."

Separate from the Rahimi case, the Justice Department is also poised to ask the justices to take up a case involving the Gun Control Act's ban on firearm possession for felons. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit invalidated the felon-in-possession law in a challenge brought by a Pennsylvania who admitted in 1995 to making a false statement to obtain food stamps in violation of state law.

Leider noted that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 cases on the federal docket per year where the felon-in-possession law is the lead charge, compared to roughly 30 cases each year for the domestic violence restraining orders prohibition.

"Mr. Rahimi is the poster child for irresponsible gun possession," he said, "and I think the government wanted this case and not the welfare-fraud case because it views this case as much easier on the judgment line even though as far as the day-to day-business is concerned, the felon-in-possession cases are much more significant."

Agency power

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 23, 2020. / Credit: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Following two consecutive terms in which the Supreme Court rolled back the nationwide right to abortion, expanded Second Amendment rights and barred higher education institutions from considering race as a factor during the admissions process, the justices are hearing numerous cases this year involving administrative law.

"This term is an administrative law professor's dream," said Jennifer Mascott, a law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, during the Federalist Society event.

The most significant of these cases, a dispute between the Biden administration and the commercial fishing industry, presents the high court with a chance to overrule a nearly 40-year-old decision and curb the authority of federal agencies.

The case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, involves a 1976 law that governs management of marine fisheries in federal waters and requires at least one federal observer to be on board domestic fishing vessels when they're at sea.

Four family-owned and operated fishing companies in the Atlantic herring fishery sued the federal government in 2020 over the at-sea monitoring requirements and alleged the National Marine Fisheries Service did not have the authority to mandate industry-funded monitoring in the herring fishery.

The U.S. district court in Washington ruled in favor of the government, citing the long-standing doctrine known as Chevron deference, which stems from the 1984 Supreme Court decision in Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council. The high court said in that ruling that courts should defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of statutes when they are ambiguous.

A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed, concluding after applying the Chevron framework that the National Marine Fisheries Service acted within the scope of its statutory authority when it adopted a plan that mandates industry-funded at-sea monitoring.

The fishing companies appealed to the Supreme Court and asked the justices to overrule Chevron "or at least clarify that statutory silence concerning controversial powers expressly but narrowly granted elsewhere in the statute does not constitute an ambiguity requiring deference to the agency."

Mascott said the latter part of the question gives the justices a "back door," in which the high court could decline to outright overrule 40-year-old precedent but clarify whether silence in a statute constitutes ambiguity.

"All of these questions actually are independently arguably of really significant import about the constitutionality of how a branch of government that has many, many agencies engaging in many, many areas of authority operates," she said.

Arguments in that case have yet to be scheduled.

Another closely watched dispute, which the justices will hear Tuesday, involves the mechanism for funding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has been in the crosshairs of conservatives since its creation in 2010.

While most federal agencies and departments are funded by Congress through the annual appropriations process, the CFPB is funded by the Federal Reserve, as laid out in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The law, which created the bureau, stated that the CFPB's funds "shall not be subject to review" by congressional appropriators.

Two trade associations sued the CFPB over a 2017 payday lending rule and alleged in part that the agency's funding mechanism is unconstitutional because it improperly insulated it from congressional supervision. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit found the funding scheme violates the Constitution's appropriations clause, which states "no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law."

The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to review the 5th Circuit's ruling, warning that it "calls into question virtually every action the CFPB has taken" since its creation more than a decade ago.

"These cases are getting at arguably more systemic questions even about how Congress and the executive branch interact and the substance and form of how agencies are acting," Mascott said.

Voting rights

After the court split 5-4 in an unexpected decision involving the congressional map drawn by Alabama Republicans, the Supreme Court took up a battle over the lines for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, which gave Republicans an edge.

Voting rights groups challenged the congressional map drawn in 2021, alleging in part that the bounds of District 1 were racially gerrymandered and intentionally drawn to dilute the power of Black voters. A three-judge federal district court panel agreed and said the district constituted a racial gerrymander because race was the predominant factor in the adoption of the redistricting plan.

The justices will hear arguments Oct. 11, and South Carolina Republicans urged the court to issue a decision by Jan. 1 to ensure there is clarity for the 2024 election cycle. South Carolina's Democratic primary election is set for Feb. 3, and the Republican primary will take place Feb. 24.

Residents of Richland County, South Carolina, vote early on June 1, 2022. / Credit: Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

"Black voters in Congressional District 1 have already had to vote under this unconstitutional congressional map once," said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, referencing the 2022 elections. "They shouldn't have to endure that yet again in another election."

Lakin said the case involves a "straightforward application" of a 2017 Supreme Court decision, Cooper v. Harris, in which the justices said race cannot be used as a proxy for political behavior.

Cole, the ACLU's national legal director, noted that while the Supreme Court has said racial sorting is not permissible, partisan sorting is effectively allowed because federal courts can no longer decide claims of partisan gerrymandering following a pair of Supreme Court rulings in 2018.

"In many parts of the country, race and party overlap, and so how do you disentangle the prohibition on racial sorting and the permission for partisan sorting?" he said, adding that South Carolina officials have argued they engaged in sorting by party, not race. "That issue of disentangling race and politics will continue to be a major one for the court on voting rights cases."

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AI: The next battlefield
The conservative Supreme Court could soon eviscerate a key part of Congress response to the 2008 global financial crisis, with payday lenders challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in one of the first hearings of the courts new term.

In its challenge to the CFPB, the Community Financial Services Association of America, a trade association for the payday lending industry, argues that the agencys funding through the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional under the Constitutions appropriations clause. It is the latest attack on the CFPB by the financial industry following a 5-4 decision in the 2020 case of Seila Law v. CFPB, which allowed the president to fire the CFPB director at will instead of giving them a defined six-year term.

Originally conceived of by now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) before she entered politics, Congress created the CFPB as part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law in 2010. That law housed the CFPB inside the Federal Reserve and provided for it to be funded by up to 12% of the Feds 2009 operating costs  expenses that top out at $597.6 million per year. The CFPB director must also appear before Congress biannually to justify the agencys programs and budget.

But the payday lenders claim that the appropriations clause requires the CFPB to be funded through annual appropriations alone and not through continuous funding mechanisms. In addition, the payday lenders, which have vociferously opposed a CFPB rule prohibiting illegal debits from bank accounts, want all enforcement and regulatory actions taken by the agency since its inception to be voided. The payday lenders, whose Supreme Court case is set to begin Tuesday, are supported in their push to gut the CFPB by 33 Republicans in the Senate, 99 Republicans in the House, 27 Republican state attorneys general, and big business lobbying groups like the Chamber of Commerce.

The problem with their argument is that it flies in the face of the text and history of the appropriations clause. The clause states, No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. Nowhere, however, does the clause state that appropriations must be made through the annual appropriations process.

Indeed, Congress has funded agencies in a similar manner to the CFPB going all the way back to the founding of the country. The Customs Service, the very first agency Congress created, was financed by an indefinite stream of funds collected through fees. The same was true of the Postal Service, then the largest component of the federal bureaucracy, and hundreds of agencies and programs created throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) came up with the idea for a consumer financial regulator before she entered politics. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by Congress in 2010.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) came up with the idea for a consumer financial regulator before she entered politics. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by Congress in 2010.

And the same is true for a number of extremely important agencies operating today, including the Federal Reserve itself, which is funded through assessments on regional reserve banks. While the payday lenders want the court to only invalidate the CFPBs funding mechanism, its hard to see how a brand-new interpretation of the appropriations clause would not threaten to destabilize funding for other vital agencies.

The CFPBs future is at stake in this court decision, along with the future of every other banking regulator, Warren said Thursday in a speech at the Center for American Progress think tank. And the possible fallout doesnt stop there. Social Security and Medicare are also operated outside of annual appropriations. A bad decision by the Supreme Court could wreck the financial security of millions of families and turn our economy upside down.

The case comes before the high court after two appeals courts reached different interpretations of the appropriations clause.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, noted for its extreme conservative bent, last year sided with the payday lenders in declaring the CFPBs funding unconstitutional and voided all of its enforcement actions.

Instead of dealing with the history of the appropriations clause, the 5th Circuit claimed that the CFPBs funding mechanism circumvented the separation of powers by limiting Congress oversight and appropriations authority over the executive branch. The court asserted that the agency is protected by a double insulation from Congresss purse strings because, the argument went, its funding comes from the Federal Reserve Board, which itself is funded by the Federal Reserve System.

To void the CFPBs funding structure, the 5th Circuit created a new interpretation of the appropriations clause that requires Congress to only fund agencies under its sufficient control. What this term means is open to judicial interpretation.

There is no textual basis for that argument, said Aziz Huq, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. There is no historical basis for the argument that an appropriation is something more than a law that Congress passes authorizing a fiscal stream.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a separate case citing the 2022 ruling, agreed that the 5th Circuit decision lacked any historical basis. In an opinion written earlier this year by Judge Richard Sullivan, who was nominated to the court by Donald Trump, the 2nd Circuit ruled that it cannot find any support for the Fifth Circuits conclusion in Supreme Court precedent, or in the history or text of the Constitution.

A sign warning of predatory payday lenders leans against a chair during a speech by then-CFPB Director Richard Cordray in 2015.

A sign warning of predatory payday lenders leans against a chair during a speech by then-CFPB Director Richard Cordray in 2015.

Huq and five other law and history professors filed a brief with the Supreme Court in the CFPB case detailing the actual history of the appropriations clauses legal interpretation.

At the Founding, as today, to appropriate money by law simply meant to designate a purpose for that money in legislation that has satisfied the requirements for a bill to become a Law, the brief states.

That means that agencies must be funded through congressionally approved legislation, and that funds for those agencies can be appropriated as Congress sees fit. Congress did this with the Customs Service in 1789. It did it with the Postal Service in 1792. And it does so now with the CFPB, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, the Farm Credit Administration, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, among numerous other executive branch offices.

The Fifth Circuit called it novel and anomalous to give a powerful agency perpetual funding in its enabling statute, to finance the agency from a source that is itself outside the appropriations process, and to allow its leader to set the agencys budget within a statutory cap, states the professors brief. These claims are belied by the nations earliest laws, contemporaneous and weighty evidence of the Constitutions meaning.

The 5th Circuits decision also relied on a misinterpretation of the CFPBs funding source in its claim about a double insulation from Congresss purse strings. This argument states that the CFPBs funding comes from the Federal Reserve Board and not the Federal Reserve, which, it claims, acts as an inappropriate financing body circumventing Congress constitutional role.

But the CFPB is not funded by the Federal Reserve Board; it is funded by the Federal Reserve System, of which the board is a part. The board plays a purely ministerial role in transferring the funds that Congress set out in the Dodd-Frank law that it could receive from the Federal Reserve System, according to a brief filed by 10 financial regulatory experts.

Although the Federal Reserve Banks send the CFPBs assessment to the Federal Reserve Board, the Board merely [routes] ... the CFPBs funds to the CFPB, states the regulatory experts brief. The Board acts as the CFPBs payment processor, not its financier.

For the Supreme Court to invalidate the CFPBs funding and void its enforcement decisions, it would need to lie about the facts, and make up a distinction that doesnt exist, according to Huq. It would also need to ignore the express will of Congress  yet again seizing power from the legislative branch on behalf of the judiciary.

The decision by Congress to fund the CFPB outside of the annual appropriations process was the product of extensive research and numerous hearings following the 2008 financial crash. In its investigation of that crisis, Congress determined that a key driver was the sale of risky financial products, like adjustable-rate home mortgages, based on misleading information. Congress also discovered that a federal housing watchdog failed to provide proper oversight and was hamstrung by the annual appropriations process.

Payday lenders are set to challenge the funding mechanism of the CFPB in a case before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Payday lenders are set to challenge the funding mechanism of the CFPB in a case before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Armed with its assessment of what went wrong in the financial crisis, Congress determined that to be effective, the CFPB needed independence from unpredictable annual funding cycles, 140 current and former members of Congress, including the authors of the Dodd-Frank law, said in a brief filed with the court.

Beyond the fact that the arguments made against the CFPBs funding lack any support in the history and text of the Constitution or in the courts precedent, a decision to gut the agencys funding source and void its enforcement and regulatory actions would have substantial negative effects on consumer finances and the financial system.

Since its inception, the CFPB has won $17.5 billion in restitution from companies that, among other things, defrauded homeowners and veterans, engaged in racial discrimination, imposed illegal overdraft fees and put erroneous information on peoples credit scores. This would all be void if the court agrees with the payday lenders arguments.

Financial lenders are already using the 5th Circuits decision to try and evade CFPB actions. Federal judges are currently delaying a case in New York against an auto lender and a CFPB case against the payday lender MoneyGram. Meanwhile, credit reporting company TransUnionis using the decision to stymie a CFPB investigation.

If the court decides to overturn the CFPBs funding structure or also void its enforcement actions, it would create significant uncertainty in a financial system that has organized itself around rules the agency has put forward. Such a decision could set off a wave of challenges and the housing market could descend into chaos, to the detriment of all mortgage borrowers, according to a brief filed by the Mortgage Bankers Association, an industry group.

Theres going to be a lot of uncertainty if this goes the way we dont want it to go, said Elyse Hicks, counsel for Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, a pro-financial regulation group that joined a brief in support of the CFPB.

Furthermore, voiding the CFPBs funding mechanism cannot be done without calling into question the funding for the entire financial regulatory apparatus, from the Federal Reserve on down.

You cannot invalidate the CFPBs funding mechanism without invalidating the funding mechanism of the Federal Reserve, Huq said.

This question of real-world outcomes hangs over the Supreme Court as it weighs more theoretical arguments about the original meaning and text of the Constitutions appropriations clause.
A suspect has been arrested after the former assistant to the Duchess of York was found dead in a Dallas apartment earlier this week, officials said.

Officers responded Monday afternoon to a home in downtown Dallas where they found Jenean Chapman, 46, had died, according to the Dallas Police Department.

The following day, the medical examiners office ruled her death a homicide, Dallas police said.

Chapman worked as an assistant for the duchess, Sarah Ferguson, years ago, Ferguson said in a social media post.

Jenean Chapman, 46. - Courtesy of Sarah Ferguson

Ferguson said she was shocked and saddened to learn of Chapmans death. Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and fun and my heart breaks for her friends and family, Ferguson said.

Ferguson said she had spoken to Chapman a couple of months ago and she seemed happy.

Dallas police said in a Wednesday update theyd identified a suspect and took James Patrick, 48, into custody in Austin, about 200 miles southwest.

He was booked in the Travis County Jail and will face a murder charge, police said.

As of Saturday afternoon, he is still being held on a $100,000 bond, according to jail records.

Dallas police did not outline any motive in the case and did not say whether Chapman and the suspect knew one another or had any relationship.

CNN has been unable to determine if Patrick has any legal representation.

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The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) issued a statement Friday (September 29) vowing that they would do "whatever it takes" to remove more floating barriers installed by China, sparking a brand new diplomatic issue between Manila and Beijing.

The statement was made after Filipino officials confirmed the presence of a 300-meter barrier which has since been removed after authorization from Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier this week.

According to Al Jazeera, the floating barrier was found across the entrance of Scarborough Shoal, which is within the Philippines's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), while PCG personnel were conducting a resupply mission to Filipino fisherfolk.

"In the next coming months, if ever that barrier will once again be in place, the Philippine Coast Guard will do whatever it takes for us to remove the barrier," PCG spokesperson Comm. Jay Tarriela told reporters aboard the ship that conducted the special operation.

Read Also: Philippines Slams China's Floating Barrier in Contested South China Sea, Claiming It Prevents Filipinos From Fishing

Marcos: Our Fisherfolk Just Want to Make a Catch

Marcos provided remarks on the incident Friday, saying his government was "not looking for trouble."

"[We will] continue to defend the Philippines, the maritime territory of the Philippines, the rights of our fishermen to ply their trade in the areas where they have been fishing for hundreds of years," he added.

Marcos also said Filipino fishing boats caught about 164 tons of fish daily in the shoal, which the barrier was preventing fisherfolk from doing so.

Meanwhile, officials in Beijing have warned the Philippines to not "stir up trouble" over the incident. The Chinese Coast Guard earlier said it deployed the line of buoys to after the Philippine vessel's "intrusion" into the Scarborough lagoon.

Pentagon Officials Call Philippine Operation a 'Bold Step'

Officials from the Pentagon also monitored the incident and said Thursday (September 28) that the US praised the action of Filipino authorities in removing the floating barrier as a "bold step."

"The department has been incredibly clear that when it comes to our treaty commitments to the Philippines, we believe an armed attack against the Philippine Armed Forces, public vessels, and aircraft, apply to the South China Sea. That includes the Philippine Coast Guard," US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Lindsey Ford told a congressional hearing.

Related Article: [Update] Philippines Removes Chinese-Built Floating Barrier in Disputed South China Sea Region

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Suspected driver in Polk County hit & run that killed 9-year-old boy arrested

The suspected driver in a hit-and-run crash that left a nine-year-old boy dead has been arrested, the Polk County Sheriffs Office announced Saturday.

 WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

They identified the suspect as 45-year-old Gilbert Almaguer of Bowling Green.

The crash happened around 5 p.m. Friday evening on Hutchins Road in Fort Meade.

READ: Multiple fatalities reported after truck carrying anhydrous ammonia overturns in Illinois

During a press conference, Sheriff Grady Judd said the boy, identified as Andres Martinez, was riding his bicycle to a friends house when the driver of a red four-door Chevrolet Silverado struck and killed him. The truck driver then fled the crash site.

According to Almaguers arrest report, parts of the truck were recovered at the scene. Deputies also reviewed video that showed no other vehicles in the area at the time.

Later that night, deputies say Almaguer called the Hardee County Sheriffs office and claimed he was a passenger in the truck that hit and killed Martinez.

According to the report, Polk County Traffic Homicide Unit deputies responded to Almaguers Bowling Green home where they found the suspect truck enclosed in crime scene tape.

READ: FHP: 4 children hospitalized after school bus crash in Marion County

The arrest report says Almaguer initially tried to claim a man named Hector Ramirez was driving his truck when the crash happened then drove to Bowling Green and got out of the truck, at which point Almaguer got into the drivers seat and drove home.

A short time after the initial interview, Almaguer approached a deputy still investigating near his home and admitted that he was driving the truck and hit the child.

The deputy noted Almaguer said he was sorry and that he just got scared.

According to the report, Almaguer tried to claim Martinez came out of nowhere and that he didnt mean to hit the boy. He also confirmed there was no one else in the truck with him.

READ: Brutal 1992 murder among other cases deputies hope to solve with DNA

The report says Almaguer called the Hardee County Sheriffs Office after he saw a report about the crash on Facebook saying that a nine-year-old boy had died.

Almaguer was booked into the Hardee County jail late Friday night and will be transferred to Polk County at a later date.

He faces a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death without rendering aid, a first-degree felony.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.




SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX)  The checked baggage system at the Salt Lake International Airport was brought to a screeching halt for two hours earlier this month while the Transportation Security Administration investigated a suspicious item in someones luggage.

The suspicious item? A plastic skull fitted with a sensor and a 9-volt battery.

5in1 Rocker Bassinet recalled; company not cooperating

The skull was flagged on Monday, Sept. 18, around 8 a.m. by a TSA explosive detection unit as a potential security threat. When TSA officers reviewed the X-ray image on-screen, they saw what appeared to be a human skull with unidentifiable components inside. Altogether, authorities said, it resembled an improvised explosive device.

The Salt Lake City Police Airport Division was notified of the discovery. Together with TSA, officers worked to mitigate any immediate threat with an explosive canine. Officers also located the passenger to explain what they found in his luggage.

A suspicious skull found in checked luggage at Salt Lake International Airport (Courtesy of TSA)

A suspicious skull found in checked luggage at Salt Lake International Airport (Courtesy of TSA)

A suspicious skull found in checked luggage at Salt Lake International Airport (Courtesy of TSA)

A suspicious skull found in checked luggage at Salt Lake International Airport (Courtesy of TSA)

The passenger said the plastic skull was simply a medical training device for neurosurgeons. It can be used to instruct them on how to properly conduct a lobotomy. The passenger told officers he was taking it to a trade show in Cancun, Mexico for display.

This incident and subsequent response is an example of how TSA must take every potential security threat seriously while making sure that the transportation system is not put at risk, said TSA Federal Security Director for Utah Matt Davis. I was pleased at the professionalism of everyone involved who worked closely to fully resolve the matter to ensure that security was not compromised and to resume operations as quickly as possible.

What to know as fall vaccinations against COVID, flu and RSV get underway

TSA said anyone who is traveling with a highly unusual item that could be seen as a potential security threat should contact a TSA supervisor or manager before going to the airport. Contacting TSA beforehand gives TSA a preview of what will be screened and helps avoid potential suspicion.

Passengers can also reach out to TSA on social media at @AskTSA or by contacting the TSA Contact Center by filling out a contact form online.

After their investigation, TSA agents determined the plastic skull was not allowed to fly on a commercial aircraft and was retained at the Salt Lake City airport. TSA confirmed the passenger will be able to retrieve the device when he returns to Utah.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX)  The checked baggage system at the Salt Lake International Airport was brought to a screeching halt for two hours earlier this month while the Transportation Security Administration investigated a suspicious item in someones luggage.

The suspicious item? A plastic skull fitted with a sensor and a 9-volt battery.

5in1 Rocker Bassinet recalled; company not cooperating

The skull was flagged on Monday, Sept. 18, around 8 a.m. by a TSA explosive detection unit as a potential security threat. When TSA officers reviewed the X-ray image on-screen, they saw what appeared to be a human skull with unidentifiable components inside. Altogether, authorities said, it resembled an improvised explosive device.

The Salt Lake City Police Airport Division was notified of the discovery. Together with TSA, officers worked to mitigate any immediate threat with an explosive canine. Officers also located the passenger to explain what they found in his luggage.

A suspicious skull found in checked luggage at Salt Lake International Airport (Courtesy of TSA)

A suspicious skull found in checked luggage at Salt Lake International Airport (Courtesy of TSA)

A suspicious skull found in checked luggage at Salt Lake International Airport (Courtesy of TSA)

A suspicious skull found in checked luggage at Salt Lake International Airport (Courtesy of TSA)

The passenger said the plastic skull was simply a medical training device for neurosurgeons. It can be used to instruct them on how to properly conduct a lobotomy. The passenger told officers he was taking it to a trade show in Cancun, Mexico for display.

This incident and subsequent response is an example of how TSA must take every potential security threat seriously while making sure that the transportation system is not put at risk, said TSA Federal Security Director for Utah Matt Davis. I was pleased at the professionalism of everyone involved who worked closely to fully resolve the matter to ensure that security was not compromised and to resume operations as quickly as possible.

What to know as fall vaccinations against COVID, flu and RSV get underway

TSA said anyone who is traveling with a highly unusual item that could be seen as a potential security threat should contact a TSA supervisor or manager before going to the airport. Contacting TSA beforehand gives TSA a preview of what will be screened and helps avoid potential suspicion.

Passengers can also reach out to TSA on social media at @AskTSA or by contacting the TSA Contact Center by filling out a contact form online.

After their investigation, TSA agents determined the plastic skull was not allowed to fly on a commercial aircraft and was retained at the Salt Lake City airport. TSA confirmed the passenger will be able to retrieve the device when he returns to Utah.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
DENVER (KDVR)  Suzanne Morphews remains have been found, but the investigation continued Friday with another search.

Multiple law enforcement agencies conducted a comprehensive search Friday near Moffat, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in a release. Its the area in Saguache County where Morphews remains were found a week ago.

Suzanne Morphews family releases statement after her remains were found

The search included more than three dozen investigators from the CBI and the sheriffs offices for both Saguache County and Chaffee County, where she was reported missing more than three years ago.

Information on what was being sought or recovered was not released. The search followed a multi-day investigation by CBI crime scene agents last week when Morphews remains were found.

Law enforcement investigators conduced a search on Sept. 29, 2023, in the area where Suzanne Morphews remains were found. (Credit: Colorado Bureau of Investigation)

Law enforcement investigators conduced a search on Sept. 29, 2023, in the area where Suzanne Morphews remains were found. (Credit: Colorado Bureau of Investigation)

Law enforcement investigators conduced a search on Sept. 29, 2023, in the area where Suzanne Morphews remains were found. (Credit: Colorado Bureau of Investigation)

This is an active investigation so no other information will be released at this time, CBI said Friday.

Morphew, 49, had been missing since May 10, 2020. Her remains were recovered on Sept. 22 about 40 miles south of the Salida area, where she was first reported missing.

Investigators were pursuing an unrelated case when they found the remains. They announced a positive identification of Morphews remains on Wednesday.

CBI said the unrelated search was for missing Saguache woman Edna Quintana, 55, who was last seen walking in the area on May 3. According to CBI: Investigators have ruled the disappearance of Edna Quintana and the disappearance of Suzanne Morphew are not related.

A framed portrait of Suzanne Morphew on a table next to a candle with her face on it

Suzanne Morphew was missing since 2020

The Chaffee County mother of two adult daughters had reportedly gone for a bike ride before she was reported missing on Mothers Day 2020. She was presumed dead, and prosecutors ultimately charged her husband, Barry Morphew, with her murder  even though her body had not been recovered.

Timeline: What has happened since Suzanne Morphew disappeared in 2020?

Prosecutors eventually dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning they could again bring charges in the future.

Barry Morphew has maintained his innocence. He is suing county officials for $15 million over the dismissed prosecution, alleging his constitutional rights were violated.

No arrests have been made since Suzanne Morphews remains were found.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
This article is from Big Technology, a newsletter by Alex Kantrowitz.

On a Saturday night in mid-September, a senior Google engineer shared some rough news with more than 50 colleagues. Part of the companys cloud services offering was failing Anthropic, a darling A.I. startup and key strategic customer, and theyd have to work overtime to fix it.

To repair the faulty part of its servicean underperforming and unstable NVIDIA H100 clusterGoogle Cloud leadership initiated a seven-day-per-week sprint for the next month. The downside of not making it work, the senior engineer said, was too large, for Anthropic (most importantly), for Google Cloud, and for Google, according to documents I reviewed.

One week after Google initiated the sprint, Anthropic announced it had landed a new investment of up to $4 billion from Amazon and that it would make Amazon Web Services its primary cloud provider for mission-critical workloads. The Amazon deal was in the works long before Google Clouds performance issues, and the two were unrelated, according to a source familiar with the matter. But Googles sprinting engineers couldnt have felt good seeing Anthropic ink a major deal with the competition. Especially after Google put about $300 million of funding into Anthropic late last year for 10 percent of the company.

Anthropic is one of the few independent A.I. research firms that can credibly stand alongside OpenAI and the tech giants. A handful of OpenAI expatriates founded the company out of concern their ex-employer wasnt as open and safe as it claimed. Earlier this year, Anthropic released Claude, its answer to ChatGPT.

In addition to Claude the bot, Anthropic allows developers to build on top of its A.I. models, and the training and execution require significant capital and computing power. To that end, Anthropic has relied on the tech giants to support it, similar to how OpenAI has relied on Microsoft. But the agreements are not quite parallel. Even after its Amazon deal, Anthropic will continue to partner with Google, making itself more of a neutral player among A.I. research houses.

Still, Anthropics new funding deal should leave Google a bit puzzled. For Amazon, it means landing a new strategic partner that can help it advance the research status quo in A.I.something its been missing despite an eagerness to serve as an infrastructural backbone for the space. For Google, the deal leads to a number of questions, especially regarding where it wants to play in A.I. As it builds its own A.I. models with Google DeepMind, will it risk losing A.I. customers in cloud? Does it want to prioritize reinventing search with A.I., or helping businesses reinvent themselves with it? Can its lower-margin divisions like the Google Cloud Platform operate with the same urgency as its higher-margin search businesses?

Google may successfully be able to do it all at once, but as it looks ahead, it will risk being outflanked by competition with less fraught tradeoffs. Google Clouds performance issues with Anthropic, meanwhile, seem to be settling down. But it took forcing engineers into something not often associated with life at Google: weekend work.
She's telling it to our hearts!

Taylor Dayne has entertained audiences with her classic songs like "Tell It to My Heart," "Love Will Lead You Back," "I'll Always Love You," "I'll Be Your Shelter," and many more since the 1980s.

Since her debut, Dayne has shown love and admiration to her passionate LGBTQ+ fans that still know every word to all of her songs.

"It was instant love. I was going to drag clubs with the greatest shows in London [and] Frankfurt. They do this better than me! They look better than me. God knows they got about 12 inches of height on me. As success came to me, [I had] the privilege of watching this community grow."

As she continues to release new music, including the latest rendition of her massive hit "Tell It to My Heart," Dayne will continue supporting her dedicated queer fanbase.

In fact, her new version of "Tell It to My Heart" with Cash Cash celebrates the 35th anniversary of the iconic song.

"[I have the] deepest friendships and my greatest loyalty of fanbase worldwide [is with the LGBTQ+ community.] It's really quite amazing. My music was always powerful and it delivers a message. There's a connection. I'm very proud of that."

One of Dayne's biggest fans to this day is none other than RuPaul. The LGBTQ+ icon has supported Dayne by interviewing her a handful of times and many queens on RuPaul's Drag Race have lip-synched to "Tell It to My Heart."

Plus, she even competed on the recent season of RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race and came in 8th place.

"When RuPaul calls me, I jump. I love him. He's obsessed with my music career. He's been such a fan. I've watched her career storm. I have history with these people. This is part of my legacy. They're part of my life and I'm part of theirs. It's wonderful that I've worked with this person on and off for 30 years."

Keep up with Taylor Dayne on her website here. To see the full interview, check out the video below.

Taylor Dayne Talks Friendship With RuPaul & Her Love for the Gays youtu.be
Warning: Spoilers for Love Is Blind Season Five below.

Did a conversation about makeup end an engagement? Not quite  but it certainly brought Taylor Rue and JP Pierce's relationship on Season Five of "Love Is Blind" closer to its conclusion.

The premise of the Netflix reality show entails singles connecting and getting engaged, before seeing the other person. When they finally meet face-to-face, they have to square the other's appearance with their personality.

Fo Taylor and JP, this posed a problem. While they connected inside the pods, both Taylor and JP stumbled on the other's appearance. Taylor dwelled on the gap in JP's teeth, saying it might have stopped her from going after him in the real world.

JP, once in Mexico, pulled back emotionally from Taylor. When pressed about why, he said it had something to do with her makeup  namely, that she wore too much.

Taylor's grooming came up during their first face-to-face meeting, when her false eyelashes started to droop.

"These are fake, by the way. You cant tell? she asked.

JP responded, You can tell, but said she looked pretty.

Turns out he had been harboring different feelings internally. At the resort in Mexico, JP said Taylor struck him as "fake" at the reveal. "That's what started the whole awkwardness," he said.

"When I first saw you and you had all that stuff on, I was like, 'Is this gonna be like, an everyday thing? I'm gonna have to deal with you putting on a totally different face?' That's not really what I want."

The conversation took place while the couple was in bed and Taylor was bare-faced. Taylor said she only wore makeup once in the process, during the reveal.

Moving forward in their relationship, he said hed prefer if she didnt wear makeup. Just dont wear makeup, he said. He added, "You don't need it. I was like, 'This is not a real person.' If you looked like this, I would love it."

Taylor was adamant about not compromising.

"I'm going to do what I'm want to do," she said. "You're not gonna tell me what to do."

The two were at a standstill: Taylor, wanting to wear makeup when she went out, and JP, wondering why it was "so bad" that he didn't want her to.

Speaking to TODAY.com, Taylor reflected on the interaction, saying it was "hurtful."

But, you know, I can handle a comment here and there and everybody has their opinions, she says. But, for me, ultimately, I left because the emotional connection that JP and I had built in the pods was completely thrown out the window in Mexico.

Online, reactions to the moment were heated. Some viewers classified JPs behavior as manipulative and controlling.

The advice viewers gave Taylor was a variation of the word run. One said, RUN, dont walk, run as fast as you can and run girl, run.

JP has not publicly commented after the episode dropped Sept. 29, and Netflix representatives did not immediately respond to TODAY.com's request for comment.

Clinical psychologist Kelsey Latimer helped unpack viewers' instincts and explained that there is a "definite line" between expressing a preference and a "red flag," a term for a warning sign in relationships.

"Expressing a preference like, 'You look so beautiful without makeup,' is something that could make someone feel better about themselves. That is different than putting someone down saying they look fake with makeup," she says.

On the surface, there is "nothing wrong" with having a personal preference  like JP had with makeup. The line is crossed when "the tone that is used suggests that there is only one way to be or that a person has to appear a particular way to be attractive."

She continues, "Preferences are not commands."

Latimer says asking a partner to change on a fundamental level, even their appearance, can constitute a red flag.

"Relationships that are healthy will not be ones in which you will feel less than or a need to change. If you are trying to change someone else, then this is not healthy either and not fair to the other person,"she says.

Latimer says relationships that make you question your worth are worth running from.

Indeed, Taylor did run: She ended the engagement rather than move in with JP after Mexico.

I had never lived with a guy before and so thats a huge step in a relationship. And because I had one foot out the door, one foot in the door, I didnt feel like moving forward with our relationship would have been smart for either of us," she said.

"I dont have any regrets. I learned a lot from it, she concluded.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
AUSTIN  Anything that rolled onto the showroom floor shiny and new in 1973 is bound to have picked up its share of rust, dings and dents in its 50-year journey to the present.

And so it is with the Texas law that began as a model for the nation because it began with a simple premise: The paperwork government generates, the meetings elected and appointed leaders hold and the money that governments at every level spend is open to public inspection except in the narrowest of circumstances.

State Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, speaks of his appreciation to Speaker Dade Phelan on the final day of the 87th Texas Legislature. Al left is Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock.

The law was enacted by the reform-minded Legislature that took office in the wake of the public corruption scandal known in shorthand as Sharpstown that included allegation stock fraud, bribery and sundry other examples of malfeasance. But over the decades since, politicians being politicians and bureaucrats being bureaucrats, governments have found work-arounds to keep much of the public's business private.

The list of available exceptions to public disclosure has expanded and, in many cases, governments have found that they can take advantage of legal delays when asked to provide requested information, including seeking opinions from the Texas Attorney General's Office on whether they have to comply with the Public Information Act at all.

State Rep. Todd Hunter, a longtime Corpus Christi Republican who's played legislative whack-a-mole to close loopholes that pop up with some regularity, expressed some exasperation during a conference Thursday by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas to mark the 50th anniversary of what's often called the state "sunshine law."

"The process isn't supposed to be an obstacle course," Hunter said during a panel discussion on ways that might help strengthen and modernize laws pertaining to open government.

The foundation's conference was well represented by news organizations, several of which helped underwrite the cost, in no small measure because reporters rely on the Public Information Act as they go about the business of covering local city councils, school boards, county commissioners' courts, the Texas Legislature and other entities paid for by taxpayers and established to protect the public's interest.

Several years ago, news organizations were flummoxed when the Texas Supreme Court interpreted the Public Information Act as granting governmental bodies authority to keep from the taxpayers how much money they spend on things like hiring a big-name entertainer to perform at civic celebrations. The notion was that a performer's compensation package was on par with the trade secrets of a company that manufactures some of the world's sophisticated passenger airliners.

Hunter was instrumental in finally closing that loophole in 2019. "What's wrong with the public knowing what's going on?" he said Thursday. "They paid for it."

Kathy and Robert Dyer, whose 18-year-old son, Graham, died while in police custody in 2013, speaks with Kelley Shannon (center), executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, in the Texas Capitol.

But the Public Information Act is not only important to news organizations and the journalists they hire. Robert and Kathy Dyer, who were speakers at the foundation's conference, were very much anonymous and ordinary Texans in in 2013 when they learned that their son, Graham, died while in the custody of police in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite.

Graham Dyer, a week short of his 19th birthday, took LSD while hanging out with some friends. The experience did not go well, his parents recalled. His behavior was unruly. Police were called. Graham was tased by officers in the effort to control his actions. Once in jail, Graham was found unconscious in his cell and taken to the hospital where he died.

His parents wanted to find out the complete story of the events that led to their son's death. The police wouldn't tell them. And they didn't have to. Another legal loophole allowed law enforcement agencies to withhold the details of investigations that don't result in the conviction or deferred adjudication of suspect. The idea was to protect the privacy of wrongly accused people, or at least those who could not be proven guilty.

But a suspect who dies in custody never gets to court. No possibility of conviction or deferred adjudication, so no public disclosure of what happened between arrest and death unless they police agencies want to make the files public.

The Dyers said they hired lawyers to force the disclosure without success. But they did catch a break. The feds looked into the circumstances of Graham's death. And although they found no evidence police misconduct, much of their investigation was made public and handed over to the Dyers under federal sunshine laws.

But the Dyers didn't just take that small victory and go about their private lives. During the legislative sessions since Graham's death they lobbied the Legislature close the so-called "dead suspects loophole" in the Public Information Act so other families in their would not have to get tangled up by the "obstacle course" that Hunter had alluded to.

Finally this year, the Legislature closed the loophole. But not before the Dyers told their story to several news organizations, which helped focus attention on the benefits of prying information that rightfully belongs to the public out of the hands of governmental entities that would prefer to keep such details under seal.

Craig Garnett, the owner and publisher of the Uvalde News-Leader, has been fighting a battle similar to that of the Dyers, but on a larger scale. His newspaper, along with countless of other news outlets across Texas and some out of state, has still not been given a full account of what happened May 24, 2022, when 19 school children and two of their teachers were gunned down inside Uvalde's Robb Elementary School.

More: Kimberly Mata-Rubio, mom of slain Robb Elementary student, announces run for Uvalde mayor

"Time keeps slipping by as these families wait to hear what happened to their children," Garnett said at the conference. "But we're keeping it alive in our paper."

Garnett, who raised his own family in Uvalde and has been the South Texas town's top journalist since 1989, said his twice-weekly newspaper will keep pushing the government to release all of the information it has collected on the shooter, the rampage and the myriad missteps by law enforcement no matter the cost.

And the News-Leader's determination has come with some cost. "We don't have as many friends (in local government) as we used to," Garnett said.

Robert Dyer said the value of the effort by news outlets to shed light on the Uvalde tragedy and his own family's ordeal is immeasurable to a society built on the principle that the people are in charge of the government led by the people they elect and paid for by the money they earn.

"We have the greatest experiment on the face of the Earth with our government," he said. "But it's a fragile little mechanism. Without the press asking these tough questions these entities can do whatever they want. It's the freedom of the press that guarantees our freedom."

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly called Twitter, @JohnnieMo.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Is the 1973 Texas Public Information Act keeping up with the times?